Channeling Derek Zoolander

How could a person NOT LOVE Derek Zoolander?! :o)  Magnum... its just.... beautiful.  :o)  Except when my children do it...

     

Really, that is what they're trying to do! :o)  

See?  :o)  Scary isn't it?  I thought so.

I'll leave you with my very favorite line from the movie....

What is this? A center for ants? How can we be expected to teach children to learn how to read... if they can't even fit inside the building? ...  I don't wanna hear your excuses! The building has to be at least... three times bigger than this!

Every time I hear that line, I nearly die laughing... its just classic!  :o)

Todays random moments...

Went to my SIL's today... Rick NEEDED a haircut :o)  None of us have had one for months... happens when your stylist has a baby :o)  An ADORABLE baby...  Miss Gianna Marie :o)

So while I snuggled with Miss Gianna, her mommy shaved Rick's head :o)  He'll kill me for this picture (we were playing with his hair), but I LOVE the look on his face :o)  Rowr!!

Then she trimmed the girls bangs and trimmed my hair... fun times :o)

We all got to snuggle with Miss Gianna, but this picture is my favorite.  Not sure if it comes across to anyone else, but my man LOVES babies :o)  And I can't have anymore... but holding this wee little one... I sure wish I could, and I know he does, too.  :o)

So we're getting ready to leave, and MY wee little one grabs her daddy's Lakers hat (yes, its green... gotta show our Irish pride!) and starts posing for me...  LOVE THIS!!!

'Sup?  :o)  She's so stinkin' cute :o)  (And see my man in the back?  Finishing up that haircut)

Where's a break when you need one?

My body seems to be under the impression that it needs a break, or at least my mind is. Its a scary place to be... at least for me.

All is fine and well in my world, but when the heck do I get a break?! Children 24/7, school (my choice totally), no date nights, hardly any alone time with Rick, hardly any alone time with ME! It kind of snuck up on me today... with a force. Like I said, scary place to be. The big girls are outside playing, Abi is in the hall making a mess... so I guess this is my alone time?

Frustrated.

If I turn around, I'll be reminded that they thrashed my living room while I was in the bedroom this afternoon. I'll be reminded that I'm the only one who ever does the dishes, and I haven't done them since yesterday morning. I'll be reminded that the recycle never got recycled and is now threatening to attack my kitchen floor. Reminded that, even though FISH is wonderful and blessed us with food, I still have to find somewhere to put it. Reminded that its 7 o'clock and I need to make my girls dinner.

Where is my break? :o(

Rick would tell me that the dishes are fine, the living room will live, the kids can microwave chicken nuggets, that he loves me whether the house is spotless or not. He would tell me to go out, get that break I so desperately want. Which then leaves me in a vicious circle... 10 months here and I haven't met a soul to 'go out' with. Guess this is the downside to homeschooling in a new town.

I will suck it up, and I will survive. :o) It is what I do. But, like I said, it just kind of snuck up on me. Times like these, I wish I were a drinker! LOL

Time to turn around and face the house. Time to fix whatever mess Abi has made. Time to make dinner. Only 2 more hours until the kids are in bed. Maybe I'll get them in bed early today... maybe. :o)

Only Kiera...

My girl has the oddest luck. To the point where the phrase, "Only Kiera" comes out of our mouths at LEAST once a week! Seriously. She hates it. "Why do these things always happen to ME?" she wants to know. I just don't know!

Yesterday, she was standing next to the breakfast bar, not doing anything. In a flash, there is a loud bang/bump sound and she is crying... what the heck just happened?! I think she must have gone to lean over something, but she smacked her forehead into the corner of the cabinets that hang over the breakfast bar!

So.

Rick and I have been going through boxes and putting them in our newly constructed storage shed (WOOHOO!). In one of the boxes, Rick found a folded up piece of paper that he set aside to look at later. I found it first. :o) It was a story Kiera had written from 2nd grade. Now keep in mind that this is a TRUE story, and this is EXACTLY, down to the spelling, what she wrote...

Seagull Attak

It was lunch. I was putting down the lunch buket. I left the bucket down then I walked away then turned around and a seagull had my sandwich. I ran then it flied away. Ms. Brown saw me running after the seagull. Then she walked over to me and said, "Was that your sand which." I said, "yes, and that was all I had for lunch. She giggled then took me to the cafaterea. Then she said, "A seagull took her sandwhich." "ok." Said the cafaterea lady. SO I had hot lunch for lunch. It was bean chulupa. I will never forget that day.

The End

Seriously. It happened! LOL I remember that day so well. I went to pick her up and she was getting in the car and she said, "A seagull took my sandwich today." **insert double-take here**
Me: "A WHAT did WHAT today?" LOL
Kiera: "A seagull took my sandwich. And I ran after it, yelling for it to drop my sandwich and give it back to me."
Me: "Did it drop it?"
Kiera: "No, it flew away."
Me: "What did you do about lunch?"
Kiera: "Ms. Brown saw me running after the seagull and she took me to get hot lunch in the cafeteria."
Me: "Was it a good lunch at least?"
Kiera: "YES! It was a bean chalupa!"
Me: "Well, at least you got to eat lunch. Maybe you should keep your sandwich in your lunch bag when you put away the bucket."
Kiera: "Yeah. Stupid seagull"

LOL She is such a funny girl. I've got more 'only Kiera' stories... I'll share another soon. :o)

Key Lime Cheesecake

Yup... Key Lime Cheesecake... made with REAL Key Limes! :o)  Not the juice you can find in the store, but cute, little limes.  See....

That is a handful of cute, little Key Limes!  :o)  They smell so wonderful!  Especially when you throw some of the rinds in the sink when you are finished with them!

Here is a cute, little Key Lime cut in half.... forgive me, I was playing with my camera :o)  And, no, I don't fancy myself another Pioneer Woman or Bakerella... I don't intend to make my blog a cooking/photo blog... this is just what I was doing yesterday.

See those limes up there?  See how they're all sqwozen?  Yup, I sqwoze thoze... I mean those.  By hand.  Seriously, have you ever sqwoze a key lime?  Its smaller than a KIWI!  And do you know how many of those little limes it takes to make 1/2 cup of lime juice?!?  I do... more than 20!  My hands were KILLING me!  LOL  :o)

Okay, so I was being 'artsy' again :o)  I totally wanted to lick the beater after this!  And because there were no eggs in it... I COULD!  (and I did!)  :o)

Oooh, ooh... artsy again! :o)  Check out my timed photo!! :o)  See how the beater looks all ethereal and hazy?  And the mixer is in focus?  Oh yeah, that was cool :o)  Hehe

Do I have a finished picture of this lovely creation?  Nope.  But I can eventually :o)  It won't be whole though, because last night, I couldn't be patient  :o)  I ate a piece of my cheesecake, and so did Rick.  It was YUMMY!  Tart, sweet, CREAMY!  It does need some whipped cream to balance the tart, so I'll be heading to the store today to buy some heavy whipping cream to make my own... it just calls for it!  :o)

Want to know how easy this was??

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Deirdre's Key Lime Cheesecake

Preheat oven 375 degrees...

CRUST

1/2 box Nilla wafers (demolished in food processor, or beaten within an inch of their lives with                                        a rolling pin)

1 cup sweetened flake coconut (about a cup anyway)

1 stick butter (melted)

~Mix it all together in a bowl, press into the bottom of a springform pan and up the sides.  Bake in oven for about 8 - 10 minutes.  Take out, let it wait for the yummy filling...

FILLING

4 bricks cream cheese (room temp)

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1/2 cup Key Lime juice (you totally don't have to squeeze them, they do sell it bottled, I'm just a                                            glutton for punishment!)

Lime zest (the amount is pretty much up to you, I only did a little, but I'd say between a                                   teaspoon and a tablespoon... the more you use, the more limey...)

                    NOTE:  I don't have a zester, so I just used the tiny, hard cheese part of my grater...                                     it worked for me :o)

~Beat the cream cheese and sweetened condensed milk together... well :o)  Start out slow, turn    it up high, beat the heck out of it :o)  With the beater on LOW, mix in the Key Lime juice.            Add in the lime zest, beat it some more.

~Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes, lower the oven to 250 and bake for 50 more   minutes.  Turn off oven, leave the oven door open a crack and let cool for another hour or so.  Remove from oven, remove the outside of the pan, let cool to room temp.  Cover and chill in fridge for at least 4 hours (I didn't do this... I ate a slice right before I covered it to put in the fridge... YUMMY, but even yummier when you chill it!)