It's carnival time again

Saturday was the school fall carnival. Things got moving around here on Friday with baking cakes for the cake walk.

The best part of helping mommy bake....

While on the other side of the counter dinner was cooking...


...a yummy pot of chili. I have to say that I'm partial to the chili that I usually make on the stove. It seems to have a bit more veggies in it (although all I can think of are green peppers...so maybe I'm just being a snob about it). Actually, it was very good, and I could always add peppers to it. So, I can look at it as a good place to start.

Back to the cake walk...

...around and around and around we go. Where you'll stop, nobody knows. Actually, I was in control of the music (think I got my Beatles fix for the year). I must have had some bad ju-ju. Every time my kids played, they were one square off from the winning square.

Today we're back home steam cleaning the carpet (stains due to an angry cat, a geriatric dog and a puppy with an upset tummy), cleaning my daughters room (she has taken to piling EVERYTHING up at the end of her bed), and making tuna fish.


Having 4 kids...I'm all about self-sufficiency. My 10 year old and my 4 year old worked together to make tuna.
"Make sure you use a separate spoon to get the mayo out." says the sensible 10 year old.
"Tuna is good for you. It has chicken in it." says the imaginative (and a bit grumpy) 4 year old.
"Um, no. That's tuna fish in there."
"Chicken. Chicken, chicken, chicken, chicken. Um, I'm stirsty."
And there you have it.

A few changes...

I've been playing a little. I added a photo to the title and changed the colors a bit (but of course no one knows this since I'm still hanging out here solo). The photo seemed fitting to me. A perfect representation of so many aspects of my life...the fun, the chaos, the children, enjoying the simple things and cherishing the little blessings of the day to day...a peanut butter and honey sandwich made by my 4 year old.

So much for 30/30...

My friend, Ashley, told me about the 30 posts in 30 days challenge so, even though I'm currently too chicken (BWACK!) to have my blog public I thought I'd use the challenge for inspiration and to get motivated and comfortable with the whole blogging thingy. Well, today is the 7th of November and so far I've written ONE day, but hey, life is not about perfection, right.

I spent too many hours this week on snapfish uploading photos and creating photo albums to give to my kids for Christmas (shh). I've been tossing around the idea of giving each of them an album of photos from the past year for every Christmas. Gift giving has gotten WAY out of hand around here and I want to work on giving gifts with a bit more meaning and lasting-power in them. Snapfish was having a buy-one-get-one-free deal that ended last night. So I was up until 11:00 last night finishing up. Nothing like last minute shopping. I have to say, all of that computer time made for a grumpy mama. I was glad to rest my weary head last night and let go of the books. But now I'm thinking of giving them to the grandmas too. Later...

I'm still wanting to get my photos taken of the work I have done from Taking Flight. I am so thrilled with and proud of what I have been able to create. Kelly does such a wonderful job walking you through the steps with helpful photos to boot. It's really been fun.

Along the lines of the crock pot creativity experiment...I can't say that every meal has been a hit with the younger crowd, but certainly edible and...I am seeing that I do have more time during the day. It's almost as though I'm getting dinner done first thing in the morning (if it's an all-dayer) or in small, manageable steps throughout the day (like with the Twice Crocked Potatoes where I crocked them first, gutted them and refilled them a few hours later and re-crocked them so they were done right before dinner). With many experiments and new things in life there is often an unexpected bonus. Here's mine thus far...I have a new verb in my vocabulary: 'crocked'. Just goes to show you that you never know what you'll learn. So go for it! Whatever 'It' may be.

The Low Down

So, I started taking this class in August. It's based on the wonderful book by Julia Cameron called The Artist's Way. I have tried to complete the course a few times before, solo. Praise be to the power of communal support. I doubt I would have come this far in such a short time if it weren't for the accountability of the weekly classes.
There are two basic tools in The Artist's Way that you learn about and use from day one...Morning Pages and the Artist's Date. The morning pages, or just pages as they have become to me, are 3 pages of stream of conscious writing. The Artist's Date is a planned (although often better unplanned) time to just have fun with no expectations. This is always the hardest part for me...the guilt of taking time alone without a goal is too much. That first week, with guilt in hand, I headed to the local book store/coffee shop to hang out (whew hoo, I'm talking BIG fun now). I wandered into the craft area where I discovered a book called Taking Flight by Kelly Rae Roberts.
This book was what really got things moving outside the pages of my journal. I decided to take on the projects, one by one, and work through the book along with The Artist's Way. So far I have made three of the most yummy, most delicious pieces of art that have come from these hands in many moons. I'm hoping to post images soon (this post I learned to to make links, next should be adding images).

You mean this might actually work!

Well, it's been a week and there's something to be said for listening to that inner voice. I have to admit, I was a bit resistant at first. The thought of sitting down and planning out recipes and a grocery list seemed counter productive to the idea of creative freedom. But I went along with it for the sake of giving it a shot. As I was looking for recipes, I noticed that many of them didn't sound hugely appealing to me or were things I wasn't sure the kids would eat. So, I tried to find a few things that seemed safe or that I already had many ingredients for. The first day I tried tamale pie since I already had the meat thawed out. About 4:30 that afternoon I found myself wandering around, restless. Then I realized this was my usual time to start supper. Whew hew! Okay, now we're talking! I pulled out my journal and got some work done.
"Okay", I thought, "so I might just be on the right track". Two days later, I had jambalaya going. And tonight, pork and black beans.