Random Craziness and Mr. Bombdiggity

So.
 
It's been an interesting week, to say the least.  A weird, sometimes frustrating, when-is-the-anvil-going-to-fall-on-my-head kind of week, concluding with my currently throbbing thumb.  But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Our saga begins last Wednesday evening.  After praise team practice at church, I had to run to Walmart (ugh) for a few things.  As I pulled out of the parking lot to leave, my gas light blinked on.  No problem.  I'll just drive home (4 miles) and get gas in the morning.  Or so I thought.

I stopped at a red light not quite halfway to my house, and when the light turned green, I pushed the gas pedal and nothing happened.  Yay.  After muttering angrily to myself for a few seconds, I grabbed my cell and called Mike.  Little did I know, life at the casa had been nuts, with 7th grade homework drama, bickering brothers, and a pee-pee accident (ridiculously rare) on the part of the 4-year-old.  Mike had just gotten the little ones in bed and Seth settled in with math homework when I called.  So he was less than pleased.  However, being the awesome husband he is, he came to rescue me.  

As I sat there in my van, waiting, counting how many cars passed right by (and even stopped behind me for two traffic light cycles, DUH!) I watched for Mike's car to hang a U-turn and park behind me.  I was in the left lane, with a turn lane next to me.  Instead of turning around, he just came straight at me and parked behind me, facing the wrong way.  Traffic was sparse, so it's not like he was playing chicken with anyone.  I leaned out the window and, after thanking him, said, "I bet the cops are going to get a call about you with your parking job!"
Mike:  "I'm not too worried about it.  This won't take long."

A few moments later, two cop cars pull up behind Mike's car.  Fortunately, the officer from the first car, who gets out, turns out to be someone we know.  He laughed and told us they'd gotten a call about a drunk driver going the wrong way down the road!  That would be my husband's car, thank you.  Ha!  Anywho, we finished up and went on our way.  That was Wednesday.


Thursday wasn't too bad, until the bottle warmer I use for the little duck flipped over with an 8 oz bottle in it.  Score.  Milk all over me, all over the floor, and a very confused baby, who did NOT want to go back into her chair while I cleaned it up.  Bonus:  my mop was nowhere to be found.  I guess it found its way out during the last garage cleanup?   So, I used a wet mop cloth and pushed it around with my hands.  I became the mop. 

How Zen.

Friday, Mike told me that he had been invited to hang out at a friend's house for the evening.  A guy thing. Here's the best part:  he wanted to take the kids!  Seth went to a youth weekend, so it was just Luke and Zoe.  They each have a friend at this particular house, and there were going to be four additional kiddos there, as well.  Rock on, Mr. Bombdiggity!!  So, they went, and I got to spend the evening all by my lonesome....it was great!  Except for the fact that I had to spend 45 minutes looking for the remote because Zoe dropped it inside the couch. Yay.

Saturday was date night!  Mike cleaned the entire house while I was at dance!   See?  Bombdiggity.  We went to dinner and a movie, and had a wonderful time together.  Of course, Saturday wouldn't be complete without something wacko going on, such as nearly getting hit by a car while walking in the parking lot.  When I say nearly, I mean I'm surprised I didn't get silver paint on my shoes.  When your car is moving, stay off your phone!!!


Sunday was church and relaxation.  Church was great, and I even got to share my running-out-of-gas story, to which my friend gasped, "That was you???"  Yup.  Thanks for stopping. :P


Monday, the kids were off from school.  Seth went to help my dad work at the Christian Care Center for the morning, I had little duck and my two little ones to entertain.  Got Seth back at 1, took him to a friend's house, then took the others to another friend's house, where we hung out and played until about 4:15.  Got home, Mike was home from inservice, and my 2 nieces and nephew were already there.  We were watching them while my brother-in-law and his wife went to a viewing for her grandmother, who had passed away Friday.  We had them until about 8:45.  So Monday was FULL!


Nothing major happened Tuesday or Wednesday, so I thought things were calming down, until the thumb incident tonight.  I made baked potato soup from scratch, people...scratch!  It cooked all day, and the only thing left to do was to blend in the cream cheese using the blender.  I carried the base over to the counter and plugged it in as I was setting it down.  


It was on.


My thumb got caught in the little rotating thingy that turns the blades when the whole thing is put together.  Thank you, Lord, the blades weren't on it!  As it is, just the black thing sliced my thumb pretty badly.  


I cried.


A lot.


Mike was so sweet.  He turned off the blender, which I had thrown down on the counter before doubling over in pain.  Then he came right over to me to see how bad it was.  After a few minutes, it looked like things weren't ER-worthy, and I went to the bathroom to wash it (ow, ow, ow-ow-ow) and he told the kids to get shoes on and get in the car.  He was taking them to pick up pizza.  My sweet man.  While he was gone, I calmed down and bandaged myself up.  My soup turned out really well, but we will eat it tomorrow. :o)  My thumb really, really hurts.  Really.  It throbs with every heartbeat.  Ouch.  


Insult to thumb injury?  I am in the middle of a huge rush order for a customer, and this doesn't help me get things done!  Argh!  Hopefully, the next several days will be calmer, quieter, and will not include injury by kitchen appliances!  


P.S.  I have kept my kitchen sparkly clean since Saturday, thankyouverymuch!  Martha would be proud. :o)

Nothin' Says Lovin' Like Heart-Shaped Bacon

Somewhere, Martha Stewart's head is exploding, because my kitchen looks like this:

I love having a clean kitchen, but doing dishes seriously grosses me out.  I approach it in the same way I approach dirty diapers:  just hurry up and clean it, while trying not to think of what I might be sticking my hands in.

 My intention yesterday was to clean the kitchen after the kids went to bed.  Instead, I sat down "just for a minute" and PASSED OUT until after midnight.  Oops. 

By the time I post this, the mess will be long gone.  I'm not a barbarian, I promise. :)

Before I can clean, though, all my ducks must be in a row.  This is also true before I can pee, shower, think, make a phone call, finish a sentence, etc.  Can I get and "amen" on that one, mom peeps?
Here's what the ducks  were doing while I did dishes:

Littlest duck isn't mine, of course.  I take care of this little cutie during the week.  Sometimes it stresses me out, since it's like having a fourth child, but she's a doll and generally happy. 

Zoe drew a picture for her friend who lives down the street.  She thinks about her friends often and is always talking about them.  It's so sweet to see them together and listen to their little conversations.  I met my childhood bestie when I was 5 and we're still close now.  When she was done, we walked down the street so she could deliver it.  Her little friend was so excited!

Luke's new favorite thing to do after school is play the Wii.  I don't let him play for too long, but he really enjoys it, especially when he's doing well. :)

After the baby went home, I made breakfast for dinner for the kiddos:  heart-shaped pancakes and bacon, also heart-shaped! 

                                            

It was a hit!  Mike and I couldn't go out, so he went to the store and got a special dinner just for us: five cheese ravioli, garlic parmesan tomato sauce, fresh french bread, and salad. It was delicious. We put the kids in bed a little early, made a fire and ate next to it, using the piano bench as our table.  Nice, quiet, and just the two of us!  
I'm totally not doing the dishes until morning.  HA!
I hope your day was wonderful, too! 

I LIke Big Words and I Cannot Lie

I like big words and I cannot lie...you otha brothas can't deny...when a girl walks in with a....AHEM...sorry.  Today's smarty-smart word is "encaustic!"  Say it with me:  en-caus-tic.  Awesome sauce.


Ok, so I have been wanting to do this project for SUCH a long time!  I know the word "encaustic" sounds all fancy-shmancy, but all it means is a painting done with hot wax.  In other words, MELTED CRAYONS!  Why didn't I just say so, you ask?  Because I live amongst littles all day long and rarely get to use big, smart words like "encaustic."  :o)
Soooooo...to get started, all you need is a canvas, some paint (spray or brush-on, whatever you want), a foil muffin tin, and a whole mess of crayons.  I'm going to use all the random crayon bits that have accumulated over the years.  *Make sure you take the wrappers off. (DUH.)

I had a canvas left over from an art class I taught last year.  It was a collage that a student didn't want to keep, and there was a really cool picture on there...at first, I didn't want to cover him up.

 
I wanted some texture on the canvas, so I used torn-up pieces of tissue paper and mod podged them on.  Once dry, I put a coat of white paint over everything to even out the color, and cover up Mr. Face.  
Once you know what you want your background color to be, paint your canvas and let it dry.  I wanted a wash effect, so I diluted my paint a bit and brushed it on, making a streaky look.  I used two colors, French Blue and Pool Blue.  

Here comes the fun part:  Heat your oven to 200, then put your muffin tin(s) on a cookie sheet and pop them in.  It takes a while for all the pieces to melt, so feel free to go play on Pinterest while you wait. :o)

You'll need to work somewhat close to your oven, so you can pop your crayons back in there every so often to re-melt.  They cool pretty fast!
Now go all Jackson Pollock on this thing and start dripping wax in random patterns, all over the canvas.  This can be a great project to do with kids, as long as your kids take direction well.  Add as many or as few drips and colors as you want.  You can leave at that, and have an awesomely textured, colorful piece of art, or you can be like me, who can't leave anything well enough alone.  I wanted more. :o)

I was making this for Zoe's room, and decided to put a butterfly right in the middle of the canvas.  I started with the outline, dripping the darkest colors around until I had my basic shape, antennae, and body.  Then I just filled in the wings with color, and voila!

Zoe approves. :o)  If you try this, I want to see!  Send me a picture!  Also, try to use the word, "encaustic" when you tell people about your masterpiece.  They'll be impressed...you know you like big words.