Kissin My Domestic Diva Card Goodbye

Yesterday was NOT the most stellar day in my career as a housewife/stay-at-home-mom. In fact, it quite possible rates among the bottom 3. It started off semi bad and then took a swift downhill turn. Let's just say that, by noon I was takin pictures because I knew that, at the very least, I would need evidence and at the very most, it would be very bloggable.

Yes, I have no shame.

So here, in all of it's photographic glory, is my day ...

Now, first of all I must say that up until yesterday I was feelin pretty good about my Domestic Diva status - even going so far as to brag on it to my twittery and facebook friends. And, yes, I think the Sweet Lord felt I needed to be taken down a notch.

First thing yesterday morning I loaded the washing machine and proceeded to the kitchen to unload the dishwasher. All was going swimmingly until I bent low to put some stuff away in a lower cabinet. I glanced up and caught a glimpse of a thick layer of CRUD on the counter top. It was, ummm, gross. I was a little disgusted, but just cleaned it and went on.

A little later I had put the second load in the washer and was feeding the girls their lunch - complete with fruits AND veggies! Go me!!! And then I heard a noise. NOT a good noise either.

I ran to the breezeway and saw a flood of water coming from beneath the washing machine. I threw down some towels and ran to call the hubbs. Seems a hose had come loose. He told me to just turn it off and wait til he got home.

But I was hearing none of that. I still needed to wash at LEAST one more load. See, I had located (in the mess that is our garage of doom) the ONE PAIR OF PANTS that actually fit and I needed them clean. So, I located the errant hose, fixed it myself and attempted to move the machine to clean up behind it. It would not budge, but since MOST of the water had ran to the drain, I decided to attempt another load. I needed those jeans after all - I have Bible Study today!!!

So I packed the perimeter with towels ...

... and started her up. And it worked! YAY ME!

Uh Oh. There's that pride again ...

After lunch I got Sophie down for a nap and decided to start dinner. I felt like spaghetti would be a good choice, so I went in search of sauce. I found a couple of cans and emptied them both into the crock pot. As I was scraping the second clan clean I noticed that it was not spaghetti sauce at all, but a can of Bold Manwich.

Panic struck in my heart. So, I did what any self respecting (wanna be) Southern Belle would do. I consulted Aunt Bee!

However, in the pages of the cookbook that every good (wanna be) southern wife should have, I found NOTHING from Aunt Bee. I did find a little somethin from Goober, however ...

But his recipe called for mushrooms. Now, I know this may cause a stir, but I do not do fungus. Especially since I saw an episode of Dirty Jobs that showed how they are grown. Lets just say that the "soil" was steaming and the "water" ... well, some are known to write their names in the snow with it.

Just sayin!

So, I moved on to this one ...

I got some ideas and headed on back to the crock pot, pantry shelf and spice cabinet...

I, however, did not have any tomato paste, so I grabbed a couple cans of stewed tomatoes and went to town ...
What? It's close enough isn't it?

I threw it in with the rest of the concoction, along with some assorted seasonings I pulled from the spice cabinet!

I decided it needed some meat, so I went in the freezer and found some of this:

I also do not do the raw meat, so I let it float in a sink of hot water for a while to defrost and then just drained it and dumped the whole thing into the crock pot. BEFORE I had tasted it! So, I had NO idea what we were in for!

After a while I figured I better start the noodles. I went for a pan... Have I mentioned that our fridge BARELY fit into the fridge pocket and, thus, made it a tight squeeze into the cabinet where all of the assorted pans had already been placed?

Ummm ... yeah ...

... THAT is where the pans live in our house! Yikes!

I managed to squeeze one out and started the noodles.

About 15 minutes (and one burned finger) later, both noodles and sauce were ready. And just in time for Hubbs to walk through the door. I served it up and told Hubbs to take a taste and tell me what he thought ... and that I would THEN have a story to share.

Turns out that the creativity paid off ... for most of the family. Hattie was not a fan, but then again, she is pretty much not a fan of anything food wise - unless of course it is pop tarts, cheese pizza, peanut butter, cheese and crackers, bananas, hot dogs, macNcheese , chicken nuggets, fries or milkshakes, so, no surprise there. Hubbs liked it though, I thought it was pretty good myself and Sophie ...

... Well, looks like she liked it too.

But, then again, she's easy to please!

Praying for Stellan!

***UPDATE***

Stellan made it through surgery, but prayers are still needed. It seems the "owie" on his heart was in the spot that they did NOT want it to be in, so they were not able to do as much as they would have liked. The prayer is that it was enough to hold off another surgery until he is old enough to do the rest without as much risk as if they had to do it now! PLEASE keep praying for the little guy!!!

Check out McKMama's blog for all of the VERY INDEPTH details!!!

We love ya Stellan!!!

Stellan is having VERY delicate surgery on his little heart this morning. He is already a miracle! Would you please join me in praying for one more miracle for this little guy and his family? Thanks!

To Know vs KNOWING

Yesterday was a GREAT day - which started off at church. And, can I just say that Mr. Andy Timm can BRING A WORD!. Oh, yes he can!

The sermon was kickin' off a new series of sermons entitled From Religion to Relationship. It was a discussion on the difference between knowing OF God and KNOWING God. Do you know about Him, or do you really strive to truly KNOW Him. Do you seek a relationship with Him in which you develop a knowledge of His character and WHO HE IS?

Mr. Aron Kirk also led worship in a big way and introduced the congregation to one of my very favorite songs. A song that brings me to my knees like no other. A song which sums up the nature of the sermon. Bernadette started the song off - and OH MY WORD, Homegirl can sang! - and I was instantly in tears. So stinkin' beautiful.

Here is a version of it I found on Youtube. There was a live version that I almost used, but then I found this one ... WOW!

Enjoy (be sure to pause the music player over on the sidebar):



If you TRULY seek Him, you WILL find Him. And the more you FIND Him, the more you WILL love Him.

Oh, I beg of you, sit at his feet, drink from the cup in His hand, lean back against Him and FEEL His heartbeat.

That heart ... it beats for YOU!

Project 365 - Week 14 (Otherwise Titled "I'm Baaaaacccckkk!")

Now, I realize that the rest of the participants of Project 365 are on Week 16. But seein' as how it took a week to find my camera and then another week to find the cord to attach it to the computer, the other camera and the adapter for the cell phone card ...

Well, you get the gist ... We are just gonna skip a couple of those weeks. Which means that MY project 365 will go into 2010, but, there ya go. (And, did anyone else just have a mild panic attack over the fact that I just wrote 2010 in reference to the VERY NEAR FUTURE?!?!?! YIKES! )

Anyhoo, here is a glimpse into this week ... starting on Monday, because, yes, I am THAT mom that forgot to take a single stinkin' picture of her sweet girls in their Easter dresses.

I am ashamed ...

April 13 - Belle joined us for the day. And that calls for a Princess extravaganza! Here they are singing along with our girl Cinderella's Fairy Godmother.

April 14 - Yep, she's eating. Shocking, I know ...

April 15 - My sweet little Princesses have discovered the pleasures of a good wrestling session. Even without the Daddy (who is usually in the thick of it!!), they can get down and dirty with the best of em. Let's just hope that MUD is never involved ... and that they ALWAYS wrestle in long footie PJ's!

April 16 - Bath time. And, I am tellin' ya, the walls get just as wet as they do! Seriously, check out Hattie's splash action! And this is just a small one!

April 17 - Lost and Found. First off, forgive the quality of the pic ... stinkin' camera acting up again!!! And, of all the things we've lost in this move, somehow Sophie managed to find an old binky/paci/soother! She never used these things as a baby, but it took me all day to get this one out of her mouth!

April 18 - Aww, sweet sunshine. Welcome! PLEASE say for a while. Thank you.

And now, if you wanna check out some more pics of the weeks of people you may, or may not, know ... Head over to Sara's place. Maybe even play along!!!