The day's events

Today started very early for us. We received a call at 5:30 a.m. that awakened us from a stone cold dead sleep. Charles fumbled around until he found my cell phone and the caller had already hung up. We had no idea who it was since the call came in as "withheld". Anyway... they called again around 6:50 a.m. and it was the post office telling us our baby chicks had arrived! We hurried to get things done and Charles left to go and pick them up. They literally arrived in a chirping box. They are so cute, but... like everything else they grow up! So that was the start of the day.

Our newest responsibility!


First look at the new chicks.

Then I had to rush and get ready since I forgot to get something for Ryan's class to celebrate his birthday. Mother of the year! I knew his birthday was today but in all the commotion I had just forgotten to remember it this morning. I felt horrible. So I scurried to get donuts from Safeway once I dropped everyone off where they needed to be. He was surprised when I showed up with them and everyone was happy. I then stopped by Cody's class to check out the sea world party that was going on but didn't stay too long since I had plenty of other things I would have rather been doing. I love to know what goes on in their day but you just can't be at everything. Or really want to be at everything for that matter :) I do love 'em though!

Then the best thing of all took place. I saved the best for last! I made Ryan's birthday cake. He told me about 3 weeks ago that he wanted a chocolate, peanut butter cake!( My older kids are big on flavor. They don't care for the character crap anymore.) When we celebrate birthdays around here, health is not in our vocabulary. A birthday is a time to eat whatever the heck we want and we take advantage of the opportunity. My kids love it too! Anyway...back to the point. I cannot explain to you the deliciousness of this cake. Moist, peanut buttery goodness. You must make this cake the next time you celebrate something. Easter is Sunday! Goodness gracious folks! I can think of only one thing that pleases me more :| DELIGHTFUL! The recipe and pictures are at the bottom. Please make it. You'll be glad you did. Now you must know mine came out a little lopsided but like I said before, we're big on flavor, not looks! I will tell you how to make yours not lopsided. Anyway, this was my life today in a nutshell. I do love it. Happy Birthday Ryan. I'm glad you were given to me, buddy!

Ok, this recipe is not mine. I wish badly that I could take the credit. Now you must know the person that posted this made the recipe unnecessarily long and drawn out. I would have given you the quick and easy Ashley version but I didn't want to type it all out. I am all about quick and easy! I would recommend not lining the cake pans with wax paper. This is how mine came out to be lopsided. I followed the directions to a T. You may want to make just a little more PB frosting because I didn't have enough to cover all the dark pieces of the cake. Does that make sense? There was enough to get the cake covered but you could still see dark pieces once it was completed and I was out of frosting. If seeing the dark spots doesn't bother you then don't worry about making more. Maybe I should have been a little more sparing when I was icing between the layers. Oh and I used 9 inch cake pans, not 8 inch and it worked just fine.

This is what the cake looked like immediately after completion.

This is what it looked like after the kids got home from school and crapped it up! I was PISSED!!

Makes an 8-inch triple-layer cake; serves 12 to 16 (the book says, I say a heck of a lot more)

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, preferably Dutch process
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup neutral vegetable oil, such as canola, soybean or vegetable blend
1 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups water
2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs

1/2 cup coarsely chopped peanut brittle (I skipped this)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter the bottoms and sides of three 8-inch round cakepans. Line the bottom of each pan with a round of parchment or waxed paper and butter the paper.

2. Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl. Whisk to combine them well. Add the oil and sour cream and whisk to blend. Gradually beat in the water. Blend in the vinegar and vanilla. Whisk in the eggs and beat until well blended. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and be sure the batter is well mixed. Divide among the 3 prepared cake pans.

3. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a cake tester or wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out almost clean. Let cool in the pans for about 20 minutes. Invert onto wire racks, carefully peel off the paper liners, and let cool completely. (Deb note: These cakes are very, very soft. I found them a lot easier to work with after firming them up in the freezer for 30 minutes. They’ll defrost quickly once assembled. You’ll be glad you did this, trust me.)

4. To frost the cake, place one layer, flat side up, on a cake stand or large serving plate. Spread 2/3 cup cup of the Peanut Butter Frosting evenly over the top. Repeat with the next layer. Place the last layer on top and frost the top and sides of the cake with the remaining frosting. (Deb note 1: Making a crumb coat of frosting–a thin layer that binds the dark crumbs to the cake so they don’t show up in the final outer frosting layer–is a great idea for this cake, or any with a dark cake and lighter-colored frosting. Once you “mask” your cake, let it chill for 15 to 30 minutes until firm, then use the remainder of the frosting to create a smooth final coating. Deb note 2: Once the cake is fully frosting, it helps to chill it again and let it firm up. The cooler and more set the peanut butter frosting is, the better drip effect you’ll get from the Chocolate-Peanut Butter Glaze.)

5. To decorate with the Chocolate–Peanut Butter Glaze, put the cake plate on a large baking sheet to catch any drips. Simply pour the glaze over the top of the cake, and using an offset spatula, spread it evenly over the top just to the edges so that it runs down the sides of the cake in long drips. Refrigerate, uncovered, for at least 30 minutes to allow the glaze and frosting to set completely. Remove about 1 hour before serving. Decorate the top with chopped peanut brittle.

Peanut Butter Frosting
Makes about 5 cups

10 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
5 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
2/3 cup smooth peanut butter, preferably a commercial brand (because oil doesn’t separate out)

1. In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy. Gradually add the confectioners’ sugar 1 cup at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl often. Continue to beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes.

2. Add the peanut butter and beat until thoroughly blended.

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Glaze
Makes about 1 1/2 cups

8 ounces seimsweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
3 tablespoons smooth peanut butter
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/2 cup half-and-half

1. In the top of d double boiler or in a bowl set over simmering water, combine the chocolate, peanut butter, and corn syrup. Cook, whisking often, until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth.

2. Remove from the heat and whisk in the half-and-half, beating until smooth. Use while still warm.

Please make this cake!

You decide....

If there is one good thing I can say about myself, it's that I have good people skills. I can pretty much get along with anybody, as long as you aren't too big of an a-hole. I have come to learn that this is a God-given gift. Not everyone was given people skills. As a matter of fact my husband has a few in his family that have no tact whatsoever. But....lucky for him, he has married someone that has a decent personality and a wonderful ability to make people feel comfortable. Now this isn't to say that people don't bug. Believe me, there are some out there that I would appreciate better stuffed! There is a point to my story. I recently had an impression to check out the ACS office on post to see what opportunities are available. So today was the day I decided to go in and check it out. Now, mind you, I was looking into VOLUNTEER opportunities. So, I walk in and ask the old fart standing behind the counter what was available. He handed me the paperwork and asked me what I can do. I told him I can do anything and that I was willing to learn new things. He tells me that "anything" was too broad for him. He was turning into one of those that bug me. I walked off to fill out the paperwork and he walks over to me and disturbs me once again. He asks me what I was interested in and what I wanted to do. I told him I wasn't really sure. He didn't like this answer and flew his arms up in the air and was just an all out asshole. I couldn't believe the way he was treating me. I told him he needed to calm down. I also said I was coming in to find out what was available. I mean my dream job would be the taste tester for Ben & Jerry or working for the travel channel but I knew those jobs wouldn't be available there. I told him I for sure didn't want to be shoveling horse crap but I can do most other things. Once I let him know he wasn't going to able to treat me like that he toned his butthole-ness down a notch. He said he was frustrated since I wasn't giving him the answers he needed to find out what I could do. I told him I was the mother of 4 boys and I can pretty much do anything that needed to be done.

Here's what I have a hard time understanding.....most people say that motherhood is the noblest of jobs but when all you have on a resume is "mother" people treat you like crap. The rest of the world doesn't see all that motherhood entails. I mean I have lots of skills. Just because I haven't gotten paid for my skills doesn't mean I don't possess them. After I talked to Sam, the jerk, he went and got the volunteer coordinator and she more than made up for Sam's lack of tact. She was very friendly and asked if I could work in the office and do things right there for the ACS office. I told her I could and she asked if I could start tomorrow. Sometimes moms just need a little validation. To all the Sam's out there, well....they can kiss it where the sun doesn't shine. I have come to a point in my life where my kids don't need me as often as they used to. They're in school all day and I have free time. I still want to be home in the afternoons so they can irritate me to death so a job is pretty much out of the question. Seriously, who's going to hire someone that won't work before 8:30 of after 3 and wants all weekends and holidays off? I just don't have a ton of options that fit my life. I guess I could be a teacher but to tell you the truth, my own kids bug me, why would I want to be around other people's kids all day? So for now I do what fulfills me and I can go from there. I need to figure out what my interests are. I don't want to start something that I'm not sure I'll like. I need to figure some things out. I'll get there.

It's a good thing I don't have a job....

otherwise Cody may have been slung all over the bus today! The bus driver for the field trip was a maniac. She was all over the road and jerking and slinging us all over the place. My morning didn't start out so great. First, I had to get up too early. Second, it was 66 degrees in my house and I was all excited about stepping into a hot shower. I go to turn the water on to get it all warmed up when I realized it wasn't warming up and there wasn't a drop of hot water, thanks to Charlie. I had 45 minutes to get ready for the field trip so there was no time to wait for the water to heat up. I had to get a jezabel bath in 5 minutes so I wouldn't freeze to death. Completely frustrating. The zoo was pretty nice and we were able to do our own thing. We didn't have to stay with all the other people. I was in charge of Cody and another kid and we breezed through the zoo quickly. They gobbled up their lunch, played on the playground for a bit and it was back home in no time.

For my birthday, I ate half a loaf of pumpkin chocolate chip bread! Thanks, Trisha. Charles and the boys made me a table top water fountain! I love it! Also got some cute sandals and dinner out! It was good. Thanks to all who sent birthday wishes. I had a good day. Another year older and wiser and as Charles always says....I don't mind getting older cuz I get better looking everyday! I love him. It's late so I'll get Charles to post pics of his creation tomorrow. Stay tuned....

Whew!!

With much prayer, faith and hope I just finished my 7 mile bike ride for the day. It took me about 50 minutes to complete. About half way through, I thought I was going to drop dead on the multi-use path. I put it off and put it off all morning because of the tornado like winds that were brewing around out there. It's hard enough going uphill without the winds beating you up. I dropped kids off at school and was even dressed for the bike ride thinking I was going to go as soon as I got everyone out of my hair. Instead I came home and made Cody's birthday cake and cleaned my kitchen. Then I went to have lunch with Cody and went ahead and stayed to eat with Josh but to my dismay my 7 year old was embarrassed for me to be there. I mean 7, what do you have to be embarrassed about? I'm a cool mom, dang it! The other kids in the class were thrilled that I was there and some of them asked me if they could sit next to me, so there Josh! They thought I was cool. Cody, on the other hand was thrilled. Poor thing, I have never gone to eat lunch with him. I've enjoyed my free time way too much since he's been in school.

I can't believe my baby is 6 years old today. Time flies! He was actually born here in AZ. Actually, my last 3 kids were born here and Charlie was conceived here. So all of my kids have some western in them. Weird to think of it that way since I was born and bred southern. Charles isn't really southern. He was born in Virginia and I know some will argue that Va is southern since they fought with the Confederacy but how many years ago was that? It's too close to D.C. for me to be considered the south. Sorry for those that disagree, but it's my blog!

Anyway, I'm off to the dollar store to find a frisbee for Cody. That boy knows what he wants.

Cody's birthday is tomorrow and he has been very specific about how he wants the day to go. He wants donuts to share with his class, vanilla cake with chocolate icing and skateboards on top and he desires chicken ranch pizza for dinner. Oh, and he wants 6 candles on top of the cake! As we were discussing plans for my birthday Cody was for sure I would enjoy Chuck E. Cheese for the big day. My kids are all about having fun!

Yesterday was a big day. We went to Home Depot and purchased stuff for our square foot garden. I also found some dwarf fruit trees that I can't wait to get planted. One is a kumquat tree and the other is an orange tree. The good thing about both of them is that you can plant them in pots and they produce just as much as a regular sized tree! They were half the price too. We also got things ready for a chicken coop. We had some gracious friends offer us a coop and now we need to fence off an area in our back yard. I've turned into an old person here in Arizona. I'll post pictures as soon as we get everything up and going. We're pretty excited. I'm just hoping the chicken experience goes well and we don't kill them off.

Well....the main reason for this post was for Charles to post some pictures he's been wanting to make available to friends and family that are interested. Things we've captured on film since being in the great state of AZ that he wanted to share. Here ya go....


THE Hike

This was a sign I saw right where we were hiking......

Spider laden cave.....

Charles took Charlie and Ryan on a mountain biking trip and they ended up in a ghost town.....



On the way to the trail...

This is the gargantuan lizard that jumped out at me when I was unloading boxes on our carport. It was much bigger than the picture portrays. I promise!

Charlie's idea of babysitting!

Charles is a goober. He saw this weed eater in Lowes and thought the picture of the old woman holding it up to show how light it was was the funniest thing. It's what I like to call Woods' humor.

Easter....Be done!

As I sit here and type, desiring to be thin, I'm trying to muster up the oomph to go and do that 8 mile bike loop. I just returned home from helping out the 2nd graders. Today I didn't have to listen to them read. Instead I had to trace shapes for them to cut out. I like a tasking that has a nice end result. I like to see the result. Take mowing the lawn for instance, you see instant results when you mow the grass. Charles used to feel so bad when I would mow the lawn but I tell him I would rather do that than to put up with fighting kids. When one mows the lawn you don't have to deal with anyone and you instantly see improvement. It was nice to only cut shapes today and not listen to the monotone reading of a bunch of 7 and 8 year olds. Plus I got done 35 minutes ahead of schedule. On my birthday, which is April 1, I get to go with the kindergartners to the zoo! What a day that will be. I get to ride a bus with 3 kindergarten classes 60 miles to and fro. That's gonna be a great way to celebrate turning 32!

Ok, I love my boys a lot. I'm glad there are things they are interested in and I like to watch them excel. But scouts is a doosy. I have 4 boys, it's never going to end. I will get a small break in cub scouts when Ryan turns 11 in just a week or 2. Josh won't start cubs until August. I mean it's just that they are in scouts for so long. They start at 8 and don't finish until they get become an Eagle scout and they can take forever. Some kids are18 years old before they do what needs to be done. We had a pack meeting last night and I thought I was going to die trying to get through that thing. First of all, men try really hard and they do so many good things.....BUT.....I'm sorry.....women are just better at organizing things. The games the poor guy chose took forever. It was blazing hot in the room the meeting was held in and boys that age are just downright corny. To the point I want to slap them for their silliness. I have to say, my kids act like complete heathens at home and drive me nuts constantly, but they have been taught how to act in public and they do a fine job at this. I was thankful that Ryan was behaving himself and saw just how well he does outside of our home.

You know, I never thought I would feel like this, but.....I would love to get a job. I have been a mom for a while now and all of my kids are in school full time. I volunteer 3 days a week at the school and exercise most days. I cook, clean, walk the dog, and do whatever errands need to be done. Right now, I'm figuring out birthday gifts to get for the 2 kids I have getting ready to celebrate birthdays. I do various things throughout the week, things that would probably be harder and more of a pain in the butt if I did work outside the home. There is a job that has been advertised in the paper for the last few weeks and I know I would probably do well at it but there is something inside of me that tells me not to. As mundane as motherhood can be at times, I would feel so guilty to miss out on the smallest things in my kids' lives. Charlie comes home daily and talks to me about his day at school. Cody comes home and likes to read his cut out books he gets from kindergarten. Josh gets excited to tell me about all the hands-on awesome things he gets to do in class and Ryan tells me about kids that bug him. They eat their snacks and drive me nuts with their messes. Charlie has incredible math homework that I thank the good Lord each day Charles is home to help him with it. If he was gone, I would just have to hire a tutor. If I was the one in charge of that crap he would for sure flunk 6th grade math. I am seriously glad I get to be home for all of it. Even as a person that loves to see instant results, I'll wait for these results for years to come. Hopefully, they turn out well. If they don't, well....at least I can say I tried. So no paying job for now. Damn it!

At least my kids are handsome. I don't know if I could stay home with ugly kids!

Can't think......

My kid free days can get somewhat boring, believe it or not. I'm not a very good morning person. I usually like to get going some time after the noon mark, unless there is something pressing I need to get done. This particular morning I did not want to crawl out of bed to do my motherly responsibilities. Charles and I biked around a portion of the city yesterday and it ended up being about 7-8 miles. He did almost 20 miles on his bike yesterday alone. Every muscle in my body ached this morning after the 7-8 I did. It wouldn't have been so bad if we hadn't had 20 mile an hour winds punching us in the face throughout the ride. It was all I could do to get up the hill. I'm not one of those people that will tell you how invigorating it was. Yes, I felt good knowing that I was able to slowly pedal my way through the ride and, yes I was glad I did it once it was over, but it was downright torture while I was suffering through it. We plan to do it, the bike ride that is, every night until I can ride the whole thing in 3rd gear. I'll keep y'all posted.

It has been quite some time since I have baked anything using white flour. But... I have 2 kid birthdays coming up and both have requested homemade cakes! So yesterday I ran to get some ingredients for Ryan's cake and one of these was white flour. His is a more complex cake and I wanted to make sure it came out just right. So today, as I was in my baking mood that hits every so often, I decided to put that flour to some use. I was for sure I had been missing out on the goodness that white flour provides in homemade goodies. BUT....to my surprise I was very disappointed at the taste. I made some PB&J muffins and they were good enough but not what I was hoping for as far as the white flour taste is concerned. I like the flavor of whole wheat much better. It has a stronger flavor than it's processed counterpart, plus it's much healthier and doesn't wind up as paste in your colon. So for now on the whole wheat will end up in my baked goods. Speaking of whole wheat in baked goods..... we were invited to a BBQ on Saturday by some fellow members of our ward. I was asked to bring the dessert so I made a delicious, made from scratch, chocolate cake with peanut butter icing. It was scrumptious and made with whole wheat, freshly ground flour. So as we are sitting there enjoying this dessert at these folks' house, the wife proceeds to talk about some of the things her son shouldn't eat since he has been diagnosed with some mild form of autism. As she is telling me these things she also throws in there that wheat is really hard on her body and that it screws her insides up when she eats it. OH CRAP! is what I'm sitting there thinking but did not have the nerve to say a word about my delicious cake being made with freshly ground whole wheat! I was just praying she wasn't up for the rest of the night crapping her brains out. OOOPS! I guess not everybody benefits from it. Oh well :|

Has anyone out there seen Smallville? Well I've become addicted. Charles started watching it in Iraq and downloaded every last show from every single season. We love it. We've watched through almost the end of the 2nd season and it just keeps getting better. My favorite thing to do is curl up with Charles and a pint of Ben & Jerry's and watch Smallville or 48 Hours Mystery.

So since I have been given spare time here in Arizona, teachers from the school have asked me to volunteer. That really wasn't what I had in mind to do with my free time. But what the heck.....I mean I am still a mother even when my kids are at school. The thing I don't understand though, is that you can't substitute in AZ unless you have a 4 year degree or a teacher certification. BUT.....you can VOLUNTEER with no credentials whatsoever doing the very same thing you would do as a sub. Confuses me a little. So now 3 days a week I will be in the classroom with my kids. I can't seem to get away from them. Tuesdays and Fridays I listen to 2nd graders read for 2 solid hours. If you can even imagine that. Stinky little kid breath for 2 hours straight. I don't start the kindergarten class until next week. I'll let anyone interested know about that next week:)