by Sarah | Mar 17, 2014 | All About Kennedy, All of Us, Redefining Perfect
*You sang it, you know you did. The Addam’s Family theme song just danced through your skull. 😀
“When children die, they rot. Their skin falls off, and the worms eat them.”
“And the monsters creep under the house.”
“The ghosteses eat people.”
“And then the dead people came out of the ground, and they had skin falling off. And his eye was missing. And…”
“Children are zombies, too.”
Such are the examples of random snippets of conversation Kennedy has held with her sister, with us, and just with her own imagination.
She’s fascinated with Monster High “because it’s creepy”.
She watches horror movies with Erik.
I don’t know who this child is.
For while she might be a “mini-me” in appearance—she is all Daddy’s in her morbid fascination with death, horror, and the like.
I call her my morbid Kennedy.
But maybe I should just all her “Wednesday”.
Do you have a creep-tastic kid like mine? Please share, I’d hate to think I was alone in this.
by Sarah | Mar 12, 2014 | All About Home, All About Me, Redefining Perfect
A couple weeks back I mentioned that I’d be de-cluttering my photos, and my house, and etc.
I haven’t been dedicated to doing it every single day, because it’s a huge job. However, I’ve gone through quite a few folders. I’ve started with the least overwhelming-the non-family pictures, and I haven’t touched any of my “pre-2010” folders yet.
Still, I started with 29,428 files.
I’ve added about 120 photos that I’ve taken on excursions.
Even with the added photos, my numbers are down to 24,660.
Calculated out, that’s 4,880 photos deleted in two weeks. They need far better organization and some editing, but the doubles are deleted, the blurry shots are gone, and my files are definitely trimmer.
I’m going to keep going, and hopefully in two weeks when I check back in, I’ll have an even bigger drop to report (or more organization, whatever I tackle this go-round).
*~*
In other news – I’ve started working on de-cluttering the house, too. I dove head-first into my kitchen today and made huge leaps with that. My house is a far bigger prospect that’s going to take many weeks and lots of baby steps. It’s nice to get something accomplished, though.
by Sarah | Mar 11, 2014 | All About Family, All of Us, Redefining Perfect, Top Ten Tuesday
At this point in our life, a family vacation is a dream…so this list is appropriate.
I’d love to take my kids on vacation just about anywhere. Some of these are more realistic than others, but they’re al ideas I’ve had.
10. Disney. Of course. I’d be happy with Disney World visits – or a Disney Cruise. I think my kids would get a total kick out of it.
9. Washington D.C. As a former nearly-resident, I’d love to take my kids to see the nations capital.
8. Hawaii. Okay, this is a dream family or no…I just always wanted to go. 🙂
7. California. Yup, the state, not a specific place. My parents took my brother and I when I was in middle school. We drove the coastline, and back up through-started in Fresno, ended in San Fran. It was amazing, and while I’d never want to live there, California is a cool place to visit.
6. Yellowstone. A given, right?
5. Florida – the Gulf beaches. This was Erik’s idea, and I agree. Every time we went to Florida, we always went to the beaches, not just the hot attractions.
4. A drive around the country. I mean the whole country. A friend of mine did a Great American Road Trip last year. I think that’s an awesome idea.
3. Gatlinburg. A “simple” vacation – just renting a cabin in the mountains and enjoying the time away. This is on the docket for “maybe next year”.
2. Colonial Williamsburg/Busch Gardens. I’ve been & LOVE. Plus, we could visit w/ my BFF Jess and her family, and even stay with them for a few days. This is also on the “maybe next year” list.
1. Universal Studios. I mean, what Geek family wouldn’t want to? Especially one with a Harry Potter obsessed little one like Kennedy. She’d kill to see Hogsmeade…and this summer they’re going to open Diagon Alley. I think Kennedy and I would be totally geeked out there.
*
And that’s my list for this week. Many big dreams, a couple of realistic ones. Just need to start those savings jars.
What about you? What are your dream family vacation destinations? I’m always looking for new recommendations!
Feel free to join me for Top Ten Tuesday! If anyone is interested, I can create a linky 😀
by Sarah | Mar 10, 2014 | All About Denver, All About Erik, All About Kennedy, All About Me, All About Molly, Redefining Perfect, Special Needs
Every day I wake up, and my first thought is of my kids.
My first emotion is fear.
Will today be the day Kennedy gets sick? Maybe sick enough for the hospital?
Will today be the day Molly has a breakdown? Will I need to go to school because she isn’t manageable?
Will today be the day Denver ends up in the hospital…again?
Every parent has fears and worries, and mine aren’t “worse” – they’re just different.
But they’re real.
There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t suffer through the torments of worry. Whether through a passing thought, or an entire run through of possible calamity. Whether for one child, or another, or even all. Whether triggered by a cough, or a teacher email, or just my overall sense of awareness.
It’s always there, lurking, leering, waiting to pounce.
Every day I wake up afraid.
Every day I shove the fear aside and face the day.
I don’t have a choice, and I don’t want one. So long as I can push the fear aside I will. It’s a defense mechanism. Preparing me for the worst, so the every day can feel better for me. So I can see the bright side when things look horrifically dark. So when the worst does happen, I am prepared. I am ready for the hospital check in. I am ready for the teacher meeting. I am ready for the specialist appointment.
I’ll embrace the daily fear, as long as I can continue to see the daily joy.
*~*
Written for Things I can’t Say’s Pour Your Heart Out
by Sarah | Mar 7, 2014 | All About Me, Personal, Redefining Perfect
I’m not prone to nightmares.
I’m prone to strange dreams, colorful dreams, and sometimes insanely happy dreams. At least, the ones I remember.
So when I have nightmares they tend to stick out. Like a few years ago Erik was watching Friday the 13th as I fell asleep and that set off a nightmare about zombies chasing me. I wasn’t even watching the movie, just the music lulling me to sleep set off that nightmare.
Oh, and did I mention all the zombies were movie stars?
Yeah.
*~*
The first nightmare I ever had has been talked about here – you know, I was young enough to be in a crib, but remember the nightmare of tearing up my favorite book.
Yes. My first nightmare was about tearing up a book. Telling, I know.
*~*
At the tender age for four I scared the living daylights out of my dad (or rather, my whole family) early one Sunday morning by screaming bloody murder.
The dream?
I was being chased down by a hive full of angry bees. To my recollection the dream was rather like a cartoon, but at that age, it didn’t matter – it scared the bejeebus out of me.
*~*
At six it was my closet.
See, in the house I grew up in I had a fabulous closet. So big I could lie down in the bottom of it with room to spare. I made pop tab bracelets and necklaces sitting in that closet, made it a clubhouse with my friend Beth from across the street.
That all stopped the night of the dream.
A skeleton was in my closet. A moving, creeping, freaky skeleton.
To this day I don’t like sleeping with doors open. It still freaks me out that bad.
*~*
What about you? Do you have any nightmares you remember? Are you plagued by them regularly? Or are you like me, and they only randomly arise and stick in your memory?
by Sarah | Mar 5, 2014 | All About Home, Blogging Life, Pinterest Challenge, Redefining Perfect
I’m a Pinterest junkie. I pin everything and anything, really. I even have a tendency to make probably 5% of all I pin, that’s capable of being made. Usually food items first, but a craft or two slips in. I want to be more active so I’ve decided to try to do two a month, one food, one craft.
I’m starting with these Mini Red Velvet Cheesecakes (from Sally’s Baking Addiction).
I’m a sucker for Red Velvet, and for cheesecake, so what better, right?
First off, I only have one mini-cupcake pan, so I made regular size cupcakes. The final product looked identical to the mini ones pictured on the original site.
I managed to make the cupcakes in about an hour with little mess. I was even able to wash my mixer while the cookie base baked. The recipe was easy to follow, and I loved the addition of yogurt in the cheesecake.
Of course, the proof is in the final product. The cupcakes came out beautifully. Just stunning.
I could hardly wait the appropriate cool-down period to dive in.
The cheesecake tasted amazing. The red velvet was good, but too much. Because it’s a dense “cookie” form instead of a light cupcake sort, there was too much cookie to cheesecake in the ratio.
My end result? A definite YAY ~ with a sidebar. Next time I make it, I’ll adjust the recipe and make half the cookie recipe, and double the cheesecake. In my opinion that would make perfection!! (and that is just my opinion, the teen is scarfing them down like nobody’s business)
And no, I’m not going to put the recipe here, I made no adjustments, just followed it exactly. So head on over to Sally’s Baking Addiction to get the recipe. It’s delicious.
*You sang it, you know you did. The Addam’s Family theme song just danced through your skull. 😀
