She's the Real (Double) Deal

This is Eden.

Eden will drive you NUTSO with all of her imaginative desires.  She sells candy canes in the winter, raffle tickets in the fall, popsicles in the summer and loves to put on rock concerts in our garage.  She advertises for each event, writes songs and expects the world to attend with little fear of rejection.  She never. stops. dreaming.

Love it and hate it.  I am tired.

#1 As she and I were at the local grocery store, QFC one day, the cashier informed her of a coloring contest that she could enter for a $50 gift card.  Once again, the flames of delight lit up in Eden's eyes and we went home with 3 grocery sacks to practice on.

After several rough drafts due to my perfectionist advice, she finally nailed it.  Having been an advertising and marketing major, I kept giving her different ideas to clean it up, make it pop and appeal to the masses.  We were only allowed 3 colors and it had to be religion neutral.  Finally Eden came to me with her 3rd draft, with a look of exhaustion on her face, asked "How's this mom?"  For the first time, my face lit up and I exclaimed, "Eden!  That's it!!"  She was so relieved.

That evening, I delivered the precious package to QFC with little hope since the cashier on duty took it with a confused look and I figured we would never hear from them again.

5 weeks later a letter from QFC headquarters arrived in the mailbox and I opened it with nervous but speedy fingers.  Eden wasn't home from school yet but I was unable to wait.  Walking with a friend, I exclaimed, "She WON!" and told her of Eden's dedicated endeavor.

This next part is the part I will always regret.  As Eden approached me in the driveway, I held out the envelope and she looked at it, then me, then it again.  Her eyes asked if it was good news but I was tight lipped.  As she unfolded the paper news and began to read, her reaction was one for the books.  She yelped, jumped up and chanted over and over, I won, I won, I won.  Her voice got gradually higher and my smile, wider and wider.  Oh, how I wish I had had my camera on me to record such a precious event.  That is my regret.

Out fell a $50 gift card and the accomplished dreams of a 9 year old.  Each store picked a winner in each age group but there would only be 1 over all winner to have their drawing featured on the store's grocery bags for the 2012 holiday season.  With 67 stores in the state, someone else was awarded that honor.  It didn't matter, Eden conquered the world that day.

#2 Eden participated in the school's reflections program last year with a drawing of outer space and didn't do too well.  It broke her heart as she doesn't handle loss well.  This year, in my opinion, her drawing still needed more practice but she was impatient and wanted her first draft to be on canvas and to be done.  The theme was 'magic of the moment' but as the awards night approached, I was fearful of another evening ending in tears so I let Rob take her this time.  Much to my surprise, Eden came home with the excellence award (runner up) and a medal.  She was happier and I couldn't be happier as a mother afraid of having to comfort a child.

Yeah for Eden for two artistic wins this month!!  It was an incredible self esteem boost for her!

Soft Serve gone BANANAS

This is an old summer experiment but it deserved its place in blog history.  I have a slightly ridiculous obsession with soft serve ice cream.  I HEART/LOVE/CRAVE the texture, consistency, creaminess and ease of pounding the stuff quickly.  I will go out of my way to get it, elbowing small children if necessary.
Well, soft serve is rarely readily available but I learned a trick that really REALLY works.

Get out a pen and paper because this one gets tricky.

Buy some bananas.  Peel 'em.  Cut 'em up.  Freeze 'em.  Blend in a food processor.  Add nothing. Eat like soft serve.  The end.

Did you get all that? What is that you say?

Hell ya it works.

Check out this tutorial that I started taking pictures of mid prep.

So, here are the frozen cut up bananas after I had pulsed them a couple times.  Then I let that puppy fly for a couple minutes...

 Wait...did you blink?  There's the magic.  It goes from whatever-you-say-Rachel to holy-crap-it-does-look-like-soft-serve!

 Do you see those peaks of luxuriousness? Oh mama.  This is where I start to hyperventilate and my jowls start pooling.  Of course it tastes like bananas but it is transformed to a level of airy, creamy, sophistication.

After you Hoover as much as you can straight out of the processor without cutting your tongue on the blade, scoop the rest into a tupperware and put in the back of your freezer never to be touched again.  It just isn't as good when it is hard.  It just goes back to tasting like, well, frozen hard bananas.  It's best to scoop it up to your hungry after school snackeroos and be done with it.

If you care to be caught watching something so udderly ridiculous...

#willsheevergrowoutofthis

Oh, Olivia.

When will your mischievous side die off?

Why must you experiment with scissors on the quilt my great grandmother made for me?

And can we eat food in the kitchen, using real utensils and then finish so we don't waste it?

 (found under her mattress)

Remember Fraggle Rock?

In 1983, the Fraggles made their debute on national television and now 30 years later, they are making a comeback in the Atwood house.

This is Wembley Fraggle.

The quick of it: Tatum has massive curls.  I was straightening my hair this morning and wanted to see how her hair would look straightened.

Without weight, her baby hair just floats to the sky.  I think we will stick with her corkscrew curls.

Traditions happen another year

I am always thankful when my parents choose my house to visit for Thanksgiving.  It is a sacrifice for them to drive the 9 hours but they are always a welcomed treat.  

I introduced a little pinterest fun this year and had everyone write down something they were thankful for and I rolled them up inside crescent rolls.  We each took one during our meal and went around the table reading the out loud.  It was fun to guess who was thankful for what things.  

 

Peas please.

We never disappoint with desserts.

 
However, my favoritest favoritest part was having a live-in handyman for 3 days.  I made a list and my dad, the jack of all trades, knocked them off one by one.  I was GIDDY I tell ya, GIDDY like a GIDDYUP!

My very very unfavoritest part was waking up...super early to someone heaving.  Heaving up their pre-thanksgiving dinner of corn dogs and ketchup.

This is a man who takes pride in HIS carpet.  Being a homeowner doesn't allow for mediocre cleaning when it comes to blood red stains in your "new" carpet.  Even if it is 3:34am.  

Hazel turns half a year

Hazel smiles on demand, screams to compete with her siblings, loves yams and all fruit, can roll from back to front, wakes once a night, loves crinkly things, walks everywhere in her walker, is very patient, nicknames are Hazy, Pretty and Ears.

Want to Win a Pie? WINNER ANNOUNCED!!

WE PULLED 2 WINNERS TODAY SO TICKET SALES ARE OVER.

Eden earned $20.50 so thanks to all those who helped her earn money to buy gifts for her siblings.

The Kays & The Olsens.  Believe it or not, we knew 90% of the people she sold to and we didn't know either of these winners.  Funny things is...they are neighbors to each other.  One picked a pumpkin pie and the other, apple.  She had so much fun earning this money.  She says she is good at it but um, I am the one doing all the work.  We need to work on that.

Eden is selling raffle tickets to raise money so she can buy her brother and sisters Christmas presents.  If you would be interested in purchasing a raffle ticket or two, stop on by and she would be happy to accommodate.  Winner announced mid November.

Hazel = 5

September is quickly becoming my least favorite month of the year.  It seems as though it might be cursed.  Although filled with the blessing of buying a new house, September was a very trying month over here and so not much has been blogged about.  I intend to change that as I am sure things will settle down and I always get what I want.

One thing that was a bright spot...miss Hazy continues to grow more amazing everyday.  She is patient, sweet and delightful.  I am thoroughly enjoying being at home with my two little girls all day.  They are delicious and I feel bathed in warm fuzzies every minute I am around them. 

Hazel is just over 14 pounds and LOVES her momma.  She smiles A LOT, plays with her feet, travels well, wakes only once at night, takes 2 naps during the day, likes applesauce and chews on her fists if you smile at her.

Seriously?  Is she not the cutest thing you have ever seen?

4 already

Turning 4 months old...getting chubby.

A Bit of Drama for the Mama

Ah, yes. The first day of "can I get a Hallelujah?!"

Olivia was the first to come into my room that morning, positively beaming, letting me know that she had packed her lunch box but was also the first to have a meltdown. I asked her if she wanted me to do her hair to which she replied, yes. I put pigtails in with quite a bit of "ouches" and then upon inspecting her hair in the mirror, she errupted into a full scale hysterical crying conniption. She HATED them.

I couldn't blame her. They are NOT her. She is not cutesy and feminine so it was like putting lipstick on a pig. Wait, I am not calling Olivia a pig...just that, dressing up something....oh, never mind. Hopefully you can see my adoration even though my foot resides in my mouth.

As I pulled the pigtails out (no pun intended), it was the straw for my little camel and she heaved herself onto the couch, face first, in a heap of tears and vowed to never go to school, ever.

D.R.A.M.A

She is good at it.

'Not going to school' over my dead body so, by some miracle, I was able to coax (with the promise of buckets of candy bars) a picture out of her and still make it to the bus stop even if it was like taking a cat to the bath. She wanted to be excited but just could not. stop. crying. Although, I wasn't pleased with the way the morning unfolded, I was pleased she at least got on the bus...which was more than one unlucky mom got from her kindergartner by the end of the week.

E=4, I=3, O=1

Life is hard when you can't turn off the emotional faucet.

Oh boy is this girl in for a teenage hormone roller coaster ride!

Hazel - 3 months and the history behind her name

Every now and then I am asked the question, "Where did you get her name?" Up until now, I have always just told people that we "just liked it." But little did I know, Hazel is a family name.

As I was visiting my hometown this past month, my dad, nonchalantly told me the history behind Hazel's beautiful name. He informed me that growing up, Hazel was their best milking cow. A COW!

My daughter is named after the family cow.

Sorry Hazel, that little history lesson is going to come back to bite you numerous times throughout your life.

The question still remains...why didn't my dad say anything when he knew what I was going to name her before she was born?
Cooing, smiling, trying to roll over, sleeps up to 7 hours, calm, loves her mama the most.

Kickin' It Old School

Ran out of my cloth diapers down at my parents' house and before I could get to the load of laundry, my mom pulled out a cloth prefold, diaper pins and a pair of plastic pants. Circa 1979...Hazel got a taste of the good ol' days. My mom...always good for a walk down memory lane...she throws away NOTHING.

This is my summer.

I can smell, taste, see and feel summer now that I've picked a bucket of these at 8am in my hometown of Etna, California.
 

Birthday Boy Birthday Girl

JULY 10, 2012

Turning 2 is just 2 cute!

Tatum's friend Cavan turned 2 just 2 weeks prior so we shared the cupcake cake.


Turning 8 is gr8.

Homemade ice cream sandwich cake with whipped cream frosting.

Surprise water party complete with slingshoting 200 water balloons.