Basil Fiasco 2011 - Crisis Averted

I am back for a quick report on Basil Fiasco 2011.

I know all 3 of my readers have been wondering about this all day, so I am pleased to report that Mrs. Bone came to my rescue and loaned me her food processor.

Holla Mrs. Bone.
Holla.

Now, back to the food processor. That sucker rocks! I never registered for one when we got married because I pretty much only cooked canned soup and mac n cheese and you don't really need a food processor for those delicacies.

I am now coveting one of my very own.

 Sweet, sweet Cuisinart.

Okay, enough about that. Let me just tell you that my house is a disaster. I was attempting to clean the kitchen this afternoon, and surely you know that this is a nearly impossible task to accomplish whilst the littles are present.

Consequently, I sent them outside with Popsicles.

And consequently, they did this.

Things to note:
1. Half naked toddler. What in the world happened to his shirt?
2. Flinging of popcicle components with stick and hands
3. Smearing of popcicle on table and clothes.

I watched Mr. Jenkins chase this gum ball (formerly Popcicle Batman's eye) across the porch and then pop it in his mouth.

5 second rule?

Anyway, I scooted them into the bath and returned to the porch to wash away what was left of Batman.

When I came back into the house to get another pitcher of water, I heard squealing and shrieking and discovered that the kids had pulled the "shower" valve on the bath faucet and they were getting themselves (and a considerable portion of my bathroom) soaked.

Little rascals.

I wanted to be mad at them, but then when they were doing their post-bath streaking, and then their pajama dances, they were so dang cute that I forgave them.

Honestly, I am having a really hard time with how fast these years are going. Of course there are days when I long for them to be a bit more independent (and perhaps less messy!), but lately, I have been trying to cherish my time with them.

I hope you had a great Sabbath with your families, it really was a nice (albeit messy) day at the Curl house.

Maranda

A late entry

Stop the press!

We have another contender for the Curl Family outfit of the week category.

I know what you are thinking. What could possibly beat out this little number?:

I am sure you find this hard to believe, but Sassy was wearing something odd today.

Ahh yes. Going for the Russian Babushka look are we?

Here's a side view:

She was quite committed to the scarf for most of the morning.

My mother has been known to recount a similar fashion choice that I made in my early childhood years. She tells this blatant lie story that I supposedly wore a "kerchief" to school for a week during second grade.

I have no idea what she is talking about.

In other news, the hubs has been systematically deconstructing our back deck. He has grandiose plans about which I wish I could feign more excitement. Don't get me wrong, I'm very excited about the finished product... but not so much the process, and I am not a very good sounding board.

Most of our conversations regarding the porch go something like this:
Brent: Honey, what do you think about a pergola for the porch?
Me: What's a pergola?

The progress on the deck has meant saying goodbye to the Summer garden. It will be relocated to a container bed he built for me.

He is such a stud.

So, I harvested the basil and several green tomatoes today before pulling everything up. Here is my bounty:

I'm excited to cook up some fried green tomatoes.

Yes, I am from the South and we do actually eat such things.

I got the basil all prepped to make pesto only to discover that my blender/food processor is broken.

Well, to be honest, I discovered the broken blender while trying to blend some frozen margaritas tonight.

Don't worry... they tasted just fine on the rocks.
Thank you for asking.

However... I am distraught about the basil situation. What should I do? I have it "de-stemmed", washed and drying on towels in the kitchen. Can I freeze it and make my pesto batch at a later date? If anyone knows... please advise!

Maranda

'Fess Up Friday

Mr. Jenkins "finger painted" my coffee table with peanut butter.

Why was the peanut butter accessible to him you ask?

Well, I'm sure it wasn't because I was scooping globs of peanut butter onto mini Hershey bars and stuffing my face.

Surely not.

Poor tricker-treaters... at the rate I am eating candy, there will not be any left for the little goblins.

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There are a few contenders for "outfit of the week" at the Curl household:

Exhibit A:

Things to note: Mr. Jenkins is wearing a "tool belt" (which he has taken to napping in!) and some awesome "moon boots" (not visible in this photo). Sassy is sporting some mittens because the child is either running around in just her skivvies or ridiculously bundled.

However, the winner could not be denied.
Exhibit B: THE WINNER

Yes... we wore this outfit in the driveway trying to ride our bike. When I said, "please put some shoes on so that you don't scuff up your feet," I wasn't expecting the Elmo slippers.

Also, if it is not readily apparent... she favors the color purple.

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We went to Chick-fil-a for family night on Tuesday. This is somewhat ironic because Tuesday is the night that Brent has his seminary class, so we weren't really there as a family, as much as we were there for the "free kid's meal"... oh and face painting!

It was a bit of an adventure (as it usually is when you are outnumbered 3 to 1), but to complicate matters it was pouring rain and the kids still wanted to play on the playground. In general, I don't care too much about my kids getting messy and wet...perhaps this is why I have peanut butter smeared on my coffee table, so I let them play and get soaked.

It was however slightly embarrassing when we came back inside and my children dripped and slogged through the restaurant leaving a trail of wetness in their wake.

Dripping.
Everywhere.

We were almost out the door when Sassy saw the face painting. *sigh*

By the grace of God and a full bag of Annie's Bunny Grahams, we survived the 20 minute wait to get her face painted.

For the sake of the children still waiting in line, I made her sit on a food tray as a means to keep the seat dry. She was seriously, seriously wet.

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Check out Kira's blog for other fun 'fess ups!

Well, that's all I've got for now...
Hope everyone has a good weekend!
Maranda

Nothin' says fall like a pen of baby bunnies

Ahhh... Fall.

Cooler weather, long sleeves, hearty soups and stews, vibrant leaves on hardwoods... baby bunnies.

huh?

But apparently so.

I took the kids to a little pumpkin patch today to get our requisite jack o' lanterns and they had a bunny pen (that you could enter for the low, low price of $2/child).

The kids loved it!

The bunnies were super tame, and dare I say, "friendly". Several bounced right up to the kids and this one "kissed" Mr. Jenkins' knee.

It made him happy.

The bunnies were in fact for sale. On some level I was actually tempted by the thought of friendly bunnies as pets. But then I texted Brent so he could make me see reason...
I need a "friendly bunny" like I need a hole in my head.

Mr. Jenkins was very helpful unwilling to let anyone else pull the wagon.

He was also unwilling to wear his jacket.
And it was quite blustery.
At least I managed to get socks on him.
Socks and Keen sandals look hot.

I would have taken more pictures of Chilli and Sassy, but I was "wearing" Chilli in the Ergo, and Sassy was not being particularly photogenic cooperative.

But at least she was having fun!

Maranda

Three Little Pumpkins

So the kids and I made some little construction paper pumpkins yesterday.

I was so proud of Sassy's completed design. I cut the shapes based completely on her direction (she can be rather opinionated!) and she pasted everything on. She also had the idea to make her pumpkin a "girl" pumpkin by adding the "prickly things" (A.K.A. eyelashes).

Mr Jenkins was more into an abstract rendering of a pumpkin.

I totally love it too!

I made one quickly for Charli and we had a complete set:

Did you know that we are very classy types around here and that we often partake in "high tea"?

Not really.

We are not classy nor is our tea "high"... or even tea for that matter.

But we do have a tea set that Grammy brought us from her trip to London and it has provided us with much joy and entertainment.

Here is a recent tea party:

Happy Tuesday!
Maranda

Lovin' my littles

Do you ever take a picture of your kid hoping to get the "cute shot" but instead, it just keeps getting weirder...

...and weirder

...and sillier

...and stranger

...and just flat out bizarre

Yeah. Me neither.

Do you ever worry that people are going to think you abuse your child because he is so scuffed up from his wild boy shenanigans?

Yeah. Me neither.

Have I told you about Sassy's affinity for making nests.

Every night she requires a "kitty nest".

What? Didn't you know that cats sleep in nests?

Well, at least Sassy Kitty does.

The nest is comprised of one of her special blankets spread out on her bed and a second special blanket draped over her, with her little kitty-self sandwiched in between.

Isn't that just the most high maintenance adorable thing you have every heard of?

Anywho. She has taken to making nests in other locations as well.

Yes, at the park my dear child stopped up the slide with a nest, complete with pine cone eggs.

Look at the proud little chicken.

I am also a proud little chicken. My little hatching is 9 months old! Can you believe it?

I love all of these littles.
I am so blessed!

Maranda

Despicable Me

My sister lovingly told me that I have been a “slacker blogger” lately.

It’s true.

We’ve just been away on vacation at Panama City Beach for a week and with all the shenanigans required to get us from point A to point B and back again, it has been a bit nutso.

Don't worry though. Nothing has changed... my children are still wild Indians.

Last night, I found the following popcorn kernel...

...In Mr. Jenkins' NOSE!!
And “found” is not the correct word since it was lodged beyond sight and was only “found” via violent sneezing, crying, snorting, wailing, etc...

Chilli has also been putting things in her orifices.

Last week I found a googly eye in her diaper.

I guess we dodged a bullet with that one. Thank goodness it just passed on through and didn’t get caught up somewhere inside.

Despite all this madness, we had a great time at the beach.

Yes... there is a Sonic cup in the background. Don't judge.

Mr. Jenkins eating a sandy naner (banana)

Sassy and one of the 50 + hermit crabs she collected. Thank goodness she practiced "catch and release" fishing guidelines.

Mr. Jenkins took a special liking to one of the decorative items at the beach condo. He was dragging it around with him everywhere... out on the deck, on the couch to watch a movie, up to the bedroom. At some point I realized that he was calling it “Despicable Me”

I think he thought it was Mr. Gru!

What do you think?

I think it is the nose.

Today I am headed up to Ohio for work. I have an extremely flexible job that I am blessed to do from home most of the time, but this is one of the weeks when I have to be away. I left all three kids with my awesome mother in law and sister in law.

Pray for them.

And if you think of it, pray for me. I am nervous to give my presentation... and I am missing my munchkins mucho. I have never been away from Chilli for more than 4 hours since she was born so I am having some separation anxiety.

At least I have my breast pump to console me.

Maranda