The Oil Spill

So. I woke up at 5:30am to snoring and crying and I'm not sure which was loudest. That's not that big of a deal except that I didn't go to bed until after midnight. AND when I ran downstairs to make crying baby a bottle I stepped in something slimy. Shocked, I realized it was a puddle of olive oil. Then it all came back to me. The night before, right as we were rushing out the door to see the Lakers game and BBQ at a friend's house, I grabbed a box of crackers and accidentally knocked the olive oil off the shelf. The bottle broke and oil gushed out under the pantry. But we were in a rush and I was wearing a white skirt so Jesse easily convinced me to leave it for the evening when we got back. But the evening became night and we didn't get back until after 11pm. I'm sure you can see where this is heading but, yes. I forgot about the oil spill.
So, I'm standing in a puddle of oil at 5:30ish am and finally notice that the oil is now EVERYWHERE. The once semi-contained puddle under the pantry had traveled via the tile grout and was ALL over my kitchen. And the little river of olive oil had also carried little flecks of glass with it. 
Ava screamed bloody murder when I plopped her into her highchair so I screamed bloody murder for Jesse to come help me! Who, by the way, was asked late yesterday evening to cover the pulpit of a friend who had gotten ill so he stayed up well past midnight preparing a sermon!
20 minutes, 1 roll of paper towels, 2 kitchen towels, 2 thorough sweepings and a good mopping and the oil/glass mess was done.
That should have clued me into what kind of morning I would have...Let me just sum it up: fussy baby, cranky toddler, staying home from church to care for the before mentioned, accidental poop smearings, fat lip, bloody finger catastrophe, fighting neighbor kids under the window of FINALLY asleep fussy baby and realizing I have to go shopping at Costco before a major BBQ day. 

Moral of the story=oil spills are always bad.

Trader Joe's Thursdays. Ummm...Friday...

Ok, life is crazy busy and I have so many other things going on that I haven't blogged in awhile-even missing my TJ's blogs. But I wanted to share this super easy, yummy thing I made this week while my carnivorous hubby was away:
Veggie Stir-Fry w/ Veggie Egg Rolls
(everything is from TJ's)
pack of pre-cut Stir Fry veggies*
bag of frozen veggie fried rice, thawed
pack of veggie egg rolls
Sweet Chili Sauce
soy sauce
olive oil
One Omega-3 egg, beaten
~Bake egg rolls according to package. Heat some olive oil, saute the veggies in it. Pour in a dash or two of soy sauce. Cook until done. Put to the side. Put a little olive oil in a pan, saute the rice. When almost done, push all the rice to the outer edges and pour in the egg to scramble. Once scrambled, mix the rice in. Pour in a dash of soy sauce. Egg rolls should be done. Cut in half because they are sooooo hot and will burn little mouths if they don't cool down first.
Put some rice and veggies and an egg roll on a plate with some sweet chili sauce. Or mix the rice and veggies with a dash of sweet chili sauce in it. It's up to you.

My big boys had seconds and thirds of this! It was so easy, healthy and tasty.

*Or make your own with onions, bell peppers, cabbage, mushrooms, broccoli, etc.

10 birthdays

Knox is 10 today. A decade old-so amazing. He's such a gift to us. He truly makes this family happier, fuller...just better! He is a fabulous son, big brother and is daily becoming a fabulous man. Seeing his heart for God is one of the greatest joys in my life. Thinking about how to honor him on his birthday made me think of all his past birthdays. And I thought it would be fun to remember them...

1st= I made a huge 4-tiered star cake and frosted each layer a different color. everything was bright and cheerful and the party was held at a friend's lake house since we lived in an apartment and too many people wanted to come celebrate Knox's birthday! Knox ate the top star and LOVED the cake! He also got a cool rocking airplane from Kristi and her mom that he was obsessed with.

2nd= A football party! Knox loved football and was so excited to see the football cake I made. My mom flew up to help and bought every kid at the party a little football shaped cup with matching straw-big hit! Jesse borrowed an Elmo suit from a customer and my cousin wore it to surprise Knox and the kids. Scared Knox to death!! He hated it!

3rd= Knox saw a Kawasaki kid motorcycle at the store and asked for it for his birthday. We told him yes and he patiently told us that he  would be getting it on his birthday. For 6 months he waited! We were so amazed and proud of him! We had a fireman party with a pinata and lots of friends. We rented Dizzy's Tumblebus to come to the party. After cake, Jesse brought out his new motorcycle. His face lit up and he zoomed around the yard on his new motorcycle. Everyday. For a year!

4th= We had a race car party complete with a race car cake and a race car jump house. The cake took me 4 hours to make but was worth it when Knox proudly showed his friends. He was concerned that the crushed oreos were real dirt though.

5th= Super Hero party. All of Knox's friends came dressed as Super heroes and Knox dressed up like Spiderman. Everyone looked so cute in their costumes running around the yard and playing hilarious games. Our yard was covered in silly string for a few weeks afterwards!

6th=Star Wars. I think this is the first year I bought a cake. Knox helped design it and insisted on flames all around the sides. It came out perfectly. Our house was jam packed since it rained that day (1st rainy birthday in WA. Miracle!) and Knox got tons of cool Star Wars presents.

7th=Ninja party. My brother-in-law made amazing invitations for Knox's Ninja party. Everyone came dressed as a Ninja or in all black. I made black Ninja headbands and wrote every one's name on it in silver fabric paint. Jesse made an amazing Ninja training center in our yard-obstacle course, bow and arrow shooting range and Ninja skill tests. Knox designed the cake again this year too. Same flames all around and I found Ninjas and dragons for him to put on the top.

8th=Seahawks sleepover. Knox invited eight friends over for a BBQ, bonfire and sleepover. The dining room was decorated so cute-all Seahawks. But the boys thought it would be more fun to have a food fight than admire the decor! And during the Smores time, they had a serious flaming marshmallow fight.

9th=Pirates of the Caribbean party. Since Knox's 9th birthday was just a week after I came home from the hospital after having Ava, I was hoping it would be something easy. Knox chose to have a party at our apartment clubhouse (where we were living after the house sold/before moving to Cali). We rented out the theatre to watch Pirates of the Caribbean 3. Jesse took the boys swimming, ordered tons of pizza, and then they ate cake, candy, popcorn and soda in the private theatre. Probably one of the easiest, cheapest parties we've ever thrown but Knox said it was his favorite so far! Go figure...

10th= Some friends from church have awesome laser tag guns that work off each other’s and that was all Knox wanted for his birthday. Well…a ball, shoes, clothes, itunes gift cards and a cool hat. But mostly those guns! So we bought them and arranged a laser tag party with his friends who have the guns and two school friends (his friends have 2 extra) . Jesse is taking the boys to a park to play laser tag for a couple hours. then back home for pizza and an ice cream sundae bar (Knox decided he doesn't like cake) and a movie.


~Birthdays are a big deal in our house because I hope my kids remember their birthdays as being special and a time that they were celebrated. My kids are all growing up so fast and I know I only have a short window to impress upon them how special they are to us, how much we love them and what a blessing we think they are! So, I can’t wait to celebrate another birthday with my precious son Knox and am praying for many more decades of birthdays to celebrate with him!