Clever is as Clever does.

Cleverness.
It's an ancient Chinese/farmgirl secret.
A secret I learned very well from my mother--who, learned it from her mother--one that I hope to pass along as well....Cleverness is the key.

For instance.....
Let's just say that you are the kinda gal that really enjoys baking.
And let's just say that you are the kinda gal that likes baking so much that she bakes almost every day.
And let's just say that you are the kinda gal that 80-90% of your baking is treats (hypothetically speaking, of course).
And let's just say that you bake so much that---ohhh, I don't know??...your oven dies.
And let's just say that it is at this point that you realize that you are not only addicted (addicted? addicted is such a strong word....how about compelled) compelled to baking treats, your family is also compelled to eating treats, so much so that your self proclaimed non-treat-loving husband says, "I miss your treats."

What are you going to do???

You may go into some form of denial.
You may say to yourself, I don't bake that much....what's the big deal, it'll be fine.
You might think---ehhh, treats? Who needs 'em?
You might even agree to not eating any treats for a whole week. (You may want to think long and hard before you hastily jump on board that band wagon.)

But,
in the end--if you are smart, if you have your farmgirl game on, you'll start thinking outside the box.
And that's when clever mode starts to kick in....

You'll make blondies in the microwave.
You'll make no bake cookies.
You'll make rice crispy treats
You'll make brownies in the microwave.
You'll make carmelle popcorn.
You'll make scotcharoos.
And then if you dig deep, real, real deep and become one with your true farmgirl self....
you will remember a recipe from your childhood.
And you will make that recipe.
And your children will think you are the most clever woman that ever did walk the face of the Earth.
And they will praise your name.
And they will call you Wonderful, Mother.
And they will tell all of their friends about the beautiful genius that is their mother.
And their friends will come, and they will see that it is true.
They too, will attest that you are, indeed CLEVER.

This recipe could change your life,
use it wisely.
Behold, I give you....

Chocolate Waffle Cookies
Melt 3 squares unsweetened chocolate & 1 cup butter.
Beat 4 eggs and 1 1/2 cup sugar & mix.
Add to chocolate mixture and mix well.
Add 2 cups flour, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp vanilla.
Mix well, drop 1 Tablespoon full on each section of waffle iron heated to medium and bake 1 minute. Remove, cool and frost.
Frosting.
Melt together and stir 1 square unsweetened chocolate, 5 Tbl butter, 1/4 cup milk, 1/2 cup granulated sugar.
Add 1 1/2 - 2 cups powdered sugar.
Mix well.

*one more clever tip*
I never use unsweetened chocolate.
Neither does my clever mother.
She taught me that:
1 Tbl butter + 2 heaping Tbl cocoa = 1 square chocolate

Bizarre Proof

That Lucy is as crazy as I have always claimed....

I was shocked she was willing to perform for the camera,
but,
once she did I could not resist
posting it for all to appreciate.
Just so you know, this is not Goose at her craziest.
This is just totally normal Goose.
And she is crazy.

Some of my personal favorites...
Gimme money, gimme money.
The armpit smelling.
And the shooting,
that's nice too.

Funny, funny girl.

Thoughts On: No Treat Week.

To put it succinctly, not my favorite.

A little back ground...
My sister, Sara, is running the Wasatch Back with us this year. Last week we were discussing our training and how we have noticed that as we are, well, how do you say....er, um....no longer spring chicks that we actually have to be a little more aware of what we are stuffing our faces with. Some how, I'm not totally clear on how this came about, I'm pretty sure she used some sort of hypnosis-voodoo thing over the phone--- the next thing I knew, I had agreed to do a 'No Treat Week' with her. After one week treat free, here is what I think:

• I'm really not the dieting type. I've always assumed this about myself, now I know. My logic has been that it would be silly to make any changes I wasn't willing to stick with. Yup, I was right. If I ever went down that road, I would be the queen bee of yo-yo dieting. No questions asked. And I only gave up treats, not sugar all together.
• Even though I don't have an oven, there are a lot of treats that I can still make. Trust me, I spent quite some time considering my options.
• As it turns out, I actually do have a fair amount of will power. I turned down caramel popcorn (Among other very tasty treats). Not just any old caramel popcorn, my mom's caramel popcorn. That, my friends, is will power.
• I think about treats. A lot.
  
• In my predawn, post-slumber, hazy brained head ramblings lying in bed on Monday morning, I was contemplating my day/week and what it entailed, I actually had a moment where I nearly sat bolt upright thinking it was a new week and therefore I was done with this 'No Treat' nonsense....and then I remembered we started on Friday. I was slightly bummed.
• When I stepped on the scale this morning my actual words were, "Oh crap. I lost three pounds." Could it be true that by avoiding sweets I might actually drop some weight?? Say it aint so! Don't get me wrong, I'm happy about the drop--but, seriously? Did I really need to know that it works that way for me too, and not just the rest of the world? Whatev. *Started this post last night, got back on the scale today, and I'm down anther pound. :)*
• I don't think I will be participating in 'No Treat Week' again any time soon. Fewer Treat Week, maybe. No Treat Week, not so much.
• Baking therapy is every bit as real as retail therapy. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I LOVE TO BAKE. I love everything about it, not just the end result, but the whole process.
• I'm really grateful for good genes. Shout out to my parents. I remember my mom telling me when I was young that if life were fair I would be as big as a barn, well aren't we so glad that life isn't fair. Yes, this is also the woman who told me to 'get a grip' a few posts ago. She's a no nonsense kinda gal, that mom of mine--and I like her like that. :)

All right, so that just about wraps it up. In conclusion, I would like to say that No Treat Week was actually no treat for me.
But, I am glad I did it all the same.

Even a Blind Squirrel finds a Nut Every Once in While.

And every so often I come up with what I believe is a fantastic idea.
I'll share...

So, we all know my love of chaos.
Which, by the way, was well demonstrated this morning when I agreed to watch eight children at once.
Not including my own. See, who would do that??
Only someone who adores chaos.
And is really nice.
(p.s. I'm going to need to give Heidi one of my kidneys if she ever needs it.
She came and helped to save my sanity. Thanks.)

Ahyhoo, where was I?
Oh, yes, chaos.
What's farmgirl's least favorite part of summer?
The chaos.
And not just the kid chaos, but the whole house run by hoodlums chaos.
What's one of farmgirls pet peeves?
Okay, so we know she has a lot.
(family members: no need to list them here. kthanks.)
How 'bout a gazillion cups on the counter that apparently belong to NO ONE.
Yup, that bugs!!
Therefore each child feels the need to get out another cup every time thirst strikes them!
5 kids + 3 cups/day (bare minimum. I'm rounding down)
= 15 freaking cups on the counter!
at least 15.

Now, I know I could go the paper cup route.
The paper cup route feels wasteful to me.
We could also go the water bottle route, again- feels wasteful.
I could reuse them...
Frankly, they get disgusting and sorta gross me out.
Gee, what else could we do...??

Well,
you could be as smart as me,
go to the dollar store,
get some tumblers (3 for $1, thankyouverymuch),
and

*voila*

personalized water cups that we can run through the dishwasher every night.

Your welcome.
:o)
I do what I can for the masses.

p.s. Little tip.
They didn't actually come with the names.
Used the good ol' sharpie for that.
Aren't you glad I told you?
Now you won't need to search for cups
with your kids names already on them.
Again, your welcome.

....on the bright side.

I'm taking the lead from my sister in law, Natalie (happy birthday btw), here.
Every once in a while we just need to take stock of some positives.
Not too often, you know I don't want to turn into one of
"those kind of blogs"
where every thing is sunshine and roses all the live long day.
No need to gag myself every time I look at my own blog,
right?

So...here it goes.

On the Bright Side:

• Grant's brilliant parents have trained him to NOT wake them up every. single. morning. at 5:30 in the AM. They got smart enough to put milk and snack in the fridge and set the T.V. the night before. Geniuses, those two are--especially his mother (it was all her idea).

• My kiddos really are sweet. After field day I brought Lucy home early, Elsie was planning on walking home with some friends. Lucy offered to walk back to the school to make sure she would be okay walking home.

• Mike has dropped about 15+ pounds which means he no longer snores. Yippee!

• Our garden is looking beautiful.

• This one is for Amanda. It's her birthday today. The bright side for her is that I decided to stick with this post instead of the "27 things Amanda loves about herself, but is just too shy to put on her own blog" post I was going to compose for her. Your welcome, MandaMoo.

• Book club, and the Pack of Chicks are always a good time waiting to happen.

Okay, that's enough for now.
Don't want to over do it on the first time or anything.
That's some good stuff going on, wouldn't you say?
So, there you are...now, go start looking for the bright side of your day.
:o)

Best Diet Plan.

I may have stumbled onto the World's Greatest Diet.

Or,
as I like to call it:

The Hole in the Wall Diet.

That would be referring to the hole in the wall where my oven once was.
Yes, friends, my oven has died.
Let us all observe a moment of silence and pay our respects.

She owed me nothing...in the near eleven years we have been together we have created more baked goodness than I care to admit to.
Brownies, bread, rolls, cookies, cakes, bread sticks, blondies, cinnamon rolls, not to mention all the fabulous dinners--but really, it's all about the bread/sweet stuff...
We had a good run, she and I.

And, yes,
at some point, we will replace her.
Until then,
the bright side--
and I do mean the really bright side--
is this...
With no oven I cannot make all the things that have given me my beloved
"blue berry crumble" top.

This is a good, good thing.
Because clearly, I have very little will power of my own.
Actually, I am thinking my oven going kaput is the universe's way of helping me to drop this extra poundage and get ready for this race of mine.
Thanks, Universe.
I owe ya one.
;o)

Ode to the Sunday Nap.

Sunday Nap.
How do I love thee?
Let me count the ways.

Once upon a time, I thought taking naps was some kind of a sign of weakness.
I used to down play my love of the nap.
And the fact that I will sneak one in when ever opportunity arises.

I know now that it is a sign of wisdom.

Sunday is the one and only day that I allow myself to nap, guilt free.
It is also the one and only day that I relinquish my kitchen dinner duties completely to the masses.

While in my perfect world, almost every day would be improved with a quick 20 minute snooze-
I am completely satisfied to look forward to a nice afternoon slumber once a week.
I'm pretty sure that it was meant literally that Sunday should be a day of rest.

And you know me, I always do as I am told.

Hard to Believe...

This beautiful baby...

Has turned into this gorgeous young lady....

But, it's true.
Happy #12 Sweet Girl.
:o)

Found: farmgirl mojo

Life is life.
And some times it just gets to me.
Thanks for letting me spew it all over this here blog.
Thanks for your concern.
I'm good now.

After white knuckling it for over a year I am about to change gears from
"blind hope" to "plain old hope".
I never thought things wouldn't work out,
cuz things just always work somehow.
But,
I think I can actually see How things may possibly work out.
And that's a good thing.

So anyhoo,
that's that.
And I'm me.
And I'm sure I will have another hissy fit
at some point.
And there's a chance you may hear about it then too.

In the mean time, I am a cleaning machine.
I'm off to conquer this house and yard.
And maybe even get some cookies made.
:o)

And those are the things that make my world go 'round.

Ya, ya, ya. I know, I know....

I'm a super lame blogger.
I gotta be honest with you...I really didn't see this one coming.
I really like to blog.
What's my deal???

I am barely keeping my head above water, that's my deal.

I had a schedule change (in one of the many irons in the fire) after spring break and truth be told, I am not adapting as fast as I would like to.

Come on, Self! Come on!!!
Where's that old farmgirl spirit?
Farmgirl can do it. She can do anything.
Go farmgirl Go!
Organsize that life of yours right back into order.
Whip that baby back into shape.

And you want to know what else??? I'm freaking out (just marginally) because school is going to be out before I know it and I's got to get my junk in order before that blessed day arrives because we all know what controlled chaos summer break is, now don't we??

And you want to know what else??? Okay, this isn't a big one--but it's been bugging me. I should be a running fool by now, training for the Wasatch Back and all. Between this decrepit old thing I call my body, which, by the way is apparently falling apart, because I seem to sustain injuries that should only befall a 70 year old, and the fact that I am a wimp and won't run in the dark by myself and don't have the heart to wake up my sleeping prince to come for a leisurely (and I do mean leisurely) bike ride following me around the neighborhood at quarter to six in the AM and I am so freaking tired by the end of the day I don't have much get up and go left--- I am not, I repeat NOT getting the training in I want to or should be doing! And it's BUGGING ME. Grrrr.

I know there's a way to make it all fit. I just know there is.
Soooo....I guess what I am saying is I would like to feel back in control before I loose all control.
Here's to hoping that happens.

Soon.

Real soon.

Real, real soon.



.......Wish me luck.