Checkout lady will never have children

....almost positive. Poor Wal-mart check out girl having to check us out while both of my boys are screaming, balling and throwing a major fit in the checkout line. I could tell by the look on her face that she won't be having kids anytime soon....and no thanks to mine. Why do I do this to myself? Really? I think...oh, it's just a short trip....running in for a few things...what could go wrong in 20 minutes?

Duh. Key phrase here: "WHAT COULD GO WRONG IN TWENTY MINUTES." Hello! Don't get me started. Reason 345 why you shouldn't take your children shopping until they're 25. I digress.

Had a few people ask for the chili recipe so here it is! I'm going to dedicate this chili recipe to the check out lady at Wal-Mart. So here's the recipe for Wal-mart checker outer Chili.

2 lb lean ground beef

1 red onion chopped (or dried onions if you don't have a real onion)

pinch of garlic powder or minced garlic

Salt/pepper to taste

(chili powder and italian seasoning if you like it hotter)

2 cans tomato sauce

1 can tomato paste

1 large can Bush's baked beans

1 can diced Italian style stewed tomatoes (drained)

1 can Mexican style pinto beans (drained)

Brown meat with onions, salt, pepper and garlic. Put in a big ole crock pot. Dump everything else in. Heat on low or "keep warm" until warm. Serve with shredded cheese. This will last you all week! That is if your family eats leftovers.....which mine does not. Enjoy!

I'll see if I can find the pumpkin bread recipe that made me gain 5lbs yesterday. I'm fairly certain I ate half of the loaf in one sitting. It's yummy but killer on diet.

On a positive note. BSF was wonderful this morning (even after being scolded for bring in coffee..ooops!)

Smells like fall....

Here's what's for dinner at the Speidel house.....home made chili, with real beef. Yes, real beef. We were using ground turkey but read an article that lean ground beef is just, if not better for you. We were also blessed to have someone give us a bunch of ground beef and a few steaks that they had from butchering a half of cow. My iron levels and my tummy thank you.

Beef......it's what's for dinner.

Fresh pumpkin bread......which Baylor and I have already devoured a good chunk of.

...and shoes. Wait....not shoes. These are my new clearance fall shoes and gold arrrrrrrrgyle (say with a piraty voice) socks. I'm very proud of them, so I thought I'd show them off to you. They probably don't match, but I like them and they're fun. I haven't had new shoes in a very very long time.

A taste of fall

..dare I say it.....okay, here goes.....

I'm a little teeny weeny bit chilly.

Which freaks me out for winter because it's a mere 57 degrees outside. I love this weather though! Fall is my most favorite season of all. Changing leaves, crisp air, warm beverages, chili, sweatshirts, socks and football! Speaking of football (and baseball) did you see the Hawks kick some Penn State hiney this weekend?! And to top it off...the Cardinals are National league central division champs....the World Series is calling!

Weekend Review:

Had a wonderful time at the arts fest this weekend. I ended up selling about six large pieces and a few small ones, I have to do some inventory to make sure! A huge blessing indeed. So remember when you said I couldn't paint? Take that. I have a few leads on commissions and I'm headed to house with lots and lots of windows on Thursday to check them out. I had a lot of wonderfully ego boosting comments from many people and the weather held up until literally the very last minute! The root canal bill will be greatly reduced and I actually have a little bit to spend on myself for some fall clothes. I bought argyle socks today...just because it's fall. I also bought Baylor his first pair of new shoes (not garage sale or second hand) which is a big deal. They were on sale and this kid has the worst foot (think duck) to find shoes for! He's pleased and I'm pleased...we'll see how long that lasts!

Sunday was beautiful and the boys headed to my parents house for some fishing fun. Baylor held and caught his first fish and is now hooked (pun intended) We had a great bible study that night and I got in a good run. I'm planning on doing the Anamosa Run for the Pumpkin 5K this weekend. I feel like I'm in the best shape of my life right now (besides when I was playing soccer in college and running for 90 minutes....!)

...and we can't forget Baylor

Not nearly as cooperative as the little Brody man, this dude hates having his photo taken. I've figured it's probably because I do it almost every day. Yes, his mom is the paparazzi or should I say mamarazzi. When he does smile for the camera it's the cheesiest or goofiest grin ever. I love that grin. My baby is growing up so fast and becoming a little man. Most of the time I have to fake him out in order to get him to look at the camera. He's too smart for me and just like his mother, has become quite a sneaky little dude. I did let him play around with the camera and he took a few great photos like this one.

I love seeing the world through the lens of a camera operated by a four year old. He also took a photo of my butt....what can I say, he's just like his father.

Friday Photos: The many looks of Brody

Here is an example of a cute grin or in other words, "don't get mad at me mom, I just ate an entire package of graham crackers." Seriously. The WHOLE package...but who can resist that cute dimple? Even the inhalation of crackers doesn't stand a chance against this look.
This is the, "you think I'm joking when I told you I flushed an entire box of wipes down the toilet, but I'm really not." Although often confused with the, " Uh, Baylor did it," look.
Bully. Straight up bully. I laugh in the face of toddlers smaller than me....no one stands a chance when I'm in the house. I play with an iron fist.
Serious booger picker face. We see this WAAAAAAAY too much. The kid digs for gold.
This is my tongue and I know how to use it....usually to lick things i'm not supposed to like dog food, fridge handles and electrical outlets.

HOME RUN CARDINALS!!!!!

Seriously concerned with life face. Even though he is joyful 98.5 % of the time, the other part is spent in deep contemplation of life's uncertainties. This look is also very much confused with the, "I'm dropping a deuce in my diaper please leave me alone" face.
I'm going to pretend I don't see you face. Smile with your eyes.....pretend you're not paying attention. Try not to laugh.....
And my all time favorite the, " so four nuns walk into a bar," look.

Blog Party

I just updated my blog lists with some new inspiring websites. So scroll down.....yes, keep scrolling until you come to the part of the blog on the sidebar that says, "BLOG PARTY"

There you go. You found it. Pat on the back.

Now, grab a cup of hot liquid and a comfy chair and get ready to be inspired in some way shape or form.

Cheers!

Filled up

There are days when I swear the only time I sit down is to pee and even then, I find myself multitasking on the john. Many a checkbooks have been balanced simply by taking a wee. From sun up to sun down I feel as if I pour out a lot and rarely get poured into. You feeling me? I know you feel that way sometimes too.

I had Bible Study Fellowship this morning, my second class, and it was perfect timing. God is really teaching me to learn how to be still. This concept is far from grasping by any means, but I know what needs to be done. From a young age I have always felt that if you sit you are then in turn lazy. I should always have something to do and be doing it. My mother always told me that bored was a bad word in our house and that you make your own fun. So I am good at making my own fun as well as always being busy. So busy in fact that sometimes I forget to "be still." Today during the lecture portion of our study, I was able to sit and just listen. For me, listening is taking notes or drawing, but I was able to take pages of notes. I swear I have ADD and am always finding other things to do during sermons or lectures like doodle, plan my next piece of art, make a grocery list or think of how I'm going to finish all the things on my to do list. Even with taking large amounts of notes, I was able to concentrate solely on the Word. I can't remember the last time that I sat through anything and soaked up as much information as this. It was refreshing and it filled me up.....and not a moment too late, I was running on empty!

Truthful Tuesday

Ten truths for Tuesday.

1. At this time in my life, I would rather sit in a hot bath and read a magazine than a book. Don't get me wrong, I love books and reading but when you have children suddenly your attention span goes from long minutes to short seconds.

2. I had a candy bar for lunch. These cute girls were selling them and I had a spare two dollars (which doesn't happen very often!) and I ate it for lunch. I had a V8 and I ran six miles, so doesn't that count for something? I totally deserved that candy bar.

3. I wish I had more fashion sense. I go by what is comfortable, what fits and what feels nice. I walk by racks of clothes and have to touch everything. If it ain't soft, I don't buy it. I've secretly always wanted to be on one of those makeover shows.

4. I can pretend all I want, but I dislike red wine. I'm a wussy and like the white wines. Until someone shows me a good sweet red wine, I'm going to have to be girlie and unsophisticated and stick with white.

5. Sometimes I feel like the biggest failure of a mother and wife. Not all the time, but sometimes. I wonder if my children will turn out okay or if my husband still thinks I'm beautiful. I feel these feelings when my children aren't acting the way I want them too (or should) and usually after I fix dinner. Why dinner you ask? Because I suck at it. I can bake anyone around the block but when it comes to dinner, I draw blanks and would rather eat cereal. I feel bad for my family sometimes because I am truly not a domestic goddess when it comes to dinner. I'm working at it though!

6. I'm really happy with my jean size...for the moment.

7. I haven't mopped the floor in a week and the reason I can tell is because children are beginning to stick to it. I'm waiting for a steam mop to fall out of the sky for Christmas.

8. I'm kind of nervous about this art show. I'm nervous my stuff won't be good enough and I'll get secretly laughed at.

9. I don't think I can make it another winter without another vehicle. My sanity depends on it.

10. I check girls out. Really. Not because I like girls, I'm a happily married woman...to a MAN, but I check them out to see what diverse people God has made. Everyone has beauty no matter who you are and I like finding one beautiful thing about that person. I know it sounds awfully shallow, but people are so interesting. I am a detail person and I remember details that no one else can.

The Farm

Baylor, Brody and I spent the day at my grandparents farm in Illinois. They have a standard bred racing horse farm. Back in the day they had bunches of horses but now they just have around 12 head. They do have lots of tractors, cats, a big dog and fun things to play with so the boys were in heaven.
We went out in the horse pasture to pick apples. Apparently the horses beat us to the ones on the lower branches. Here is my mom and grandma shaking the tree, trying to get the apples down. Hilarious.
I decided to climb the tree and do a little shaking myself. Baylor was following me.....until he fell out of the tree. He's fine, a few scratches and a, "Mom, I'm never climbing a tree again."
Here he is contemplating life's uncertainties....or maybe why he just fell out of an apple tree.
...and then the short one....throwing a fit in the dirt. Big surprise. Sometimes I wish I could throw a fit in the dirt, but I restrain myself.

This week has been SUPER busy. Awana started, my bible study started, Baylor's preschool is in full swing and I'm still trying to figure out what I'm doing at this art show. We're hoping and praying that we can get another car, it's really stressing only having one small Bessie (our Carolla) and getting people to the places they need to go. Our "car" fund is currently in my mouth....in the form of a root canal. Since I refuse to buy a minivan (sorry mini van mom's, I just can't do it) I've taken a liking to small SUV's such as a Ford Escape, Honda CR-V, Saturn Vue or Hyundai Santa Fe. It will be a while before we can pay for one with cash, but we're saving! Someday!

Whoa Nellie.

All of a sudden, I feel as if my head is spinning and my body hasn't caught up. Every single fall activity seemed to start this week along with working on art for the Lincoln Highway Art Festival (more on that later!) trying to clean this house that won't stay clean and being a good wife and mother. My to do list as multiplied five fold and every time I cross something off, I add another! What is up with this? I am however proud to announce that I started BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) yesterday and I already know it will be great. It will give me the structure and accountability I know I need as well as diving deeply into the book of John. I know that I'll need at least a half hour with it each day (if not more...there are no pictures and I'm slow) and trying to find time will be a challenge. I am always up for a challenge. In fact, I'm cutting this short so I can work on it.....see ya!

P.S If you haven't marked your calendar yet, Saturday the 26th (next Saturday) is the Lincoln Highway Arts Festival. It's my very first and I think you need to come. Over 30 artists, food and entertainment. Mount Vernon is only a hop, skip and a jump away from most of you. Do it!

Shoe Thief

Here's to hoping this high heel wearing behavior is only a, "stage."

Here are some things that Brody has accomplished this past week:

1. Unlocking both the front door and the screen door and escaping....into the street. Houdini would be proud.

2. Flushing and entire container of wipes down the toilet.

3. Flushing three blocks, an army guy and a toothbrush down the toilet.

4. Lining up the entire box of blocks from end to end until perfect.

5. Pinching both of the dogs with pliers and chasing them around the yard. He claims he was just, "ficking" (fixing) them.

6. Sneaking out of his bed and into ours and promptly falling asleep, only to be found later that night.

7. Being a completely different child when he's alone with me while Baylor is at preschool. LOVE IT.

8. Taking a diving header off the couch on to pillows that weren't really pillows.....they were hairy and barked.

9. Opening the fridge and energetically removing salad dressing, chocolate syrup and olives.

10. Exploding with laughter after, "tooting" in the bathtub and gleefully proclaiming, "I TOOOOOOTTEEEEDD!!!" Men.

My boys

I can't tell you how much I love ALL of my boys......I am one lucky woman.

I wish I had his joy

First you start with the belly, see exhibit A.
...and then move to the hair, because nothing is more fun than shaving cream in hair. Really.
Then laugh. Laugh in such a way that dogs come running.

...and then pray. Pray that mom doesn't sell you on eBay.

Amen.

A toilet possessed....

Sometimes you have to wonder what God wants to teach you today through plumbing....

I got nothin.

After cleaning up this mess (twice) watching the video does make me giggle. This is the result of the flushing of the city sewer lines, apparently it causes toilets to erupt. News to me.

Life is good

I was sitting here wallowing in self pity and making a mental note of the things that went wrong this morning. Thinking about how in the time span of about four hours this morning I had cleaned maggots out of three garbage cans, endured the UPS Store with two kids who attacked the stack of boxes like well....uh, maggots to a trash can and still has pain, can't chew out of the left side of my face and is wondering which organ to sell to pay the bill. I had made up my mind that I would never take my children to another public place again until their 25th birthday and was craving a chocolate candy bar that I could suck through a straw. Wallowing deeply until I glanced over at my two precious boys playing together....in peace (this is a holy cow moment folks) They weren't playing together, but they were immensely engrossed in whatever each of them had in hand. A tractor with Noah driving and 18 miniature dinosaurs about to attack a Frisbee. I was slapped in the face by a big hand that read, "Get over it. Life is good." Figuratively speaking, this hand lead me to change my attitude and realize that yes, each day is precious with them. So precious in fact that I might just clean maggots out of garbage cans everyday for a moment spent with them. Who am I kidding?! Life is good.

First Day!

Hey Baylor....guess what? You have preschool today!!!

...the first day cheesy smile and a cheesy sign to go along with it.
...and the awful Spiderman backpack (he loves it, that's all that matters right?)
Tons of things to see, and play and learn. Here's Baylor at the light table, he was mesmerized.

Everything went great, he was so excited and reminded his mother, "don't be sad mom when you drop me off, I'll be fine." Thanks for the encouragement! He also told me that he forgot to tell them about Jesus but he'd do that tomorrow. Good for you buddy! If I can remember all of the snacks and rules and procedures, I think I'll be okay too.

Root canal went great...as much as root canals can go. I was in so much pain this morning I would have chosen labor pains over this stupid tooth ache. I was actually looking forward to that shot of Novocaine. I'm a little sore now and will be for a while, but not nearly as bad as before. I also nearly had a coronary when the gave me the grand total. There goes my hopes and dreams of being a family with two cars! Oh well, such is life. Special thanks to Alivia and Shannon for watching the boys while I sat in a dentist chair for two hours. You guys rock.

A new chapter

Tomorrow, my baby, who just turned four, will start preschool. My baby, who uses every excuse in the book not to sleep. Take for instance today, when he comes down from, "quiet time" (naked of course) yelling that he needs a nail trim. How convenient...right at quiet time do you realize that one of your tiny little toes has a nail that is too long. Can we say manipulator? Anyways, I'm torn between feeling sad that he's growing up and excitement for his new school career to begin. We decided to put him in the three year old class that meets only on Tuesday and Thursdays. A few reasoning's behind this are 1. He just turned three and has the attention span of a fruit fly. 2. He's a boy (and yes boys don't sit well and lack social skills early on...and I don't care what you say, boys will be boys....read Dobson's Bringing up Boys) 3. I wanted to go to BSF (which is Bible Study Fellowship) on Wednesday mornings and they have a wonderful program for both boys. 4. He will be in school the rest of his life....seriously, those doctors go to school forever. He's set from an intellectual standpoint, so we're just glad he'll be getting some social now. I've been praying for him too, that he can be a light (as much of a light as a four year old boy can be!) I have much respect for those who chose to do homeschooling, but having worked in the public school system and attended a Christian school, I know that this is a good fit for Baylor. Homeschooling just isn't for us right now.

Another plus is that both of his teachers go to our Church, although this isn't a Christian preschool, I have faith that they will tell me if something should arise with Baylor as far as discipline etc. This will also give Brody and I some quality time together to work on his alphabet and not destroying the house. I love and cherish my one on one time with each boy. It will be hard on me because I love my mornings with Baylor, but I'll still have my afternoons when Brody takes a nap. It will also bring a new set of germs into our house....that I'm not sure I can deal with quite yet. I think that is the biggest thing I'm scared of....I know, I'm a freak. So if you think about it tomorrow, send up a quick prayer for Baylor (and for us!) as we start a new chapter in our life.

Tooth update: Well, I'm still in a HUGE amount of pain and the pain medicine that she prescribed isn't working. I'm currently eating mashed potatoes because it doesn't hurt and I need food in my stomach to take the medicine and nothing else sounded good. Another obstacle I will have to hurdle will be playing my cornet Thursday, Friday and Saturday. So I'm asking all of you band nerds out there....anybody have a root canal and then play their horn soon after? I have one not so happy conductor waiting to hear if I'll go through with it and believe me, I won't be waiting a second longer. Thoughts? Any advice or personal experience would be great. I do know it's not as bad as everyone makes it out to be. So don't scare me!

Tooooooth drama

I have nothing to say but ouch. This root canal cannot come any sooner (Tuesday!). Please save me from this awful pain that Tylenol and Advil are obviously not helping ease. I'd write more, but I have to hold an ice pack on my face. Sucks.

Eye see you.

...and now that I completely freaked you out with an enormous photo of my eyeball. I actually wanted to show you the color of my hair, which I actually got a few compliments on. The lady at the dentist (story coming in the next paragraph) liked my hair and told me I was, "slender." I wanted to jump out of the chair and hug her. I guess it's not as maroon as I thought. I know you can't really tell by looking at the freaky photo, but I'm not a fan of up close and personal face shots. Can we say too much sun as a teenager?

On to the dentist story. You know a while back I was whining about how I needed a root canal and low and behold they just filled the tooth (for the time being)? Well, mister root canal is back and I'm in serious pain. I have resorted to chewing on one side of my mouth and eating hard things. Advil is my friend. My root canal is scheduled for Tuesday (if I make it through the weekend) The bill is going to be crazy and I've apologized profusely to my husband for my horrible awful teeth. I also asked the dentist and she told me, "some people just have bad teeth, no matter what they do." Once again making me feel a little better about myself. We hate not being able to pay with things with cash, but this will have to be an exception. One of life's little unexpected emergencies. God is faithful.

Not to leave on a sad note, I will tell you a joke to lighten the mood. Here goes........

What do you call cheese that isn't yours?

NACHO CHEESE!! (get it? Not yo cheese?) You can laugh now.

Thankful Thursday

Just thought I'd share a few things that I'm thankful for this Thursday...

1. For stopwatches at nap time. I've tried everything else to get this little booger to stay in bed for at least one hour. I've set my watch for a, "short" time and when it goes off...he can come down. (Update: failure, utter failure...and he came down naked...imagine that)

2. Pain Killers. I need a root canal....lots of pain, no insurance. Going to see how long I can endure this pain and chewing on one side of my mouth.

3. Mid afternoon coffee and dark chocolate. Both are healthy for you so I don't feel so guilty.

4. Change. As in...my hair color....unfortunately it is more maroon than, "rich chocolate brown." That's what I get for trying to save a buck. It's not too bad, it's very fall like.....makes my hazel eyes more greenish.

5. The art show coming up on September 26th in Mt.Vernon. God willing I can sell a few things and maybe pay for a root canal eh? If you're in town, you should stop by.

6. Becoming and adult and growing up. I'd like to say that I am a kid at heart, but there are some things in life that I'm glad I've grown out of. I drove past the Cornell campus and looked at the freshmen moving in and felt very old. They looked 14.

7. Baby monitors that can be promptly shut off.

8. Accomplishing most everything on my to do list....that is everything except the thing written in Lonnie's handwriting....hmm

9. This glorious weather and upcoming fall...my favorite season!

10. My children....even though they are about to get duct taped in their beds very soon.

Painting gone wild....

I can't even put these photos into words. All I have to say is that Baylor thought he would paint himself to resemble a monster.....

You should have seen the bathtub.

Thus the reason why we don't paint very often.

Here's the video.....

Where's Waldo?

Hi, I'm Waldo. I'm a miniature pincher even though I resemble a naked mole rat. Don't let my enormous ears fool you. I am a tough son of a booger. Weighing in at five pounds, small plastic toys don't stand a chance against me. A few of my victims include a plastic tiger, alligator and the crotch of an anonymous person's underwear. My parents are on vacation in Minnesota and so I get to spend an entire week with the Speidel family. Some of my favorite activities (besides the chewing toys of course) include hiding, yipping and chasing motorcycles. Like I said, one tough booger. I do have a soft side which includes crawling under your shirt and burrowing in your warm clothes fresh out of the dryer. A true ladies man. I rule the roost and they (the other dogs) don't stand a chance. I pride myself on being the, "third child" in this family.