"Mama, I Tink."

I think it's time. But I'm beating around the bush because I'm just not ready to do it. But it has to be done sooner or later. Eventually I'm going to have to potty train my daughter. She just turned 2 in September so it's not like she's ready to enroll in Kindergarten or anything. But here's how I know it's time...

When she is due for a diaper change, she will bring me a diaper, the box of wipes, and if she's poopy she also brings the diaper rash cream. And if that's not enough to convince you, she recently climbed upon her diaper changing table, layed down, and took off her diaper. When I went into her room, there she was with her legs straight up in the air, waiting for me to change her. "I tink," she said. If that's still not enough to prove that she's ready to be potty trained, I will tell you about what happened last night. She took off all her clothes and threw her diaper in the trash. Then she pooped on the floor. She attempted to put on a new diaper by herself. When she realized she wasn't able, she threw the new diaper in a box of too-small clothes and put her pants back on. Only she had both legs in the same leg hole. It was quite a sight to behold. I was only able to put these events together when I discovered A) the wet diaper in the trash, B) a wad of poop on the floor, and C) a dry diaper, smeared with poop.

So yes, it's time. Little tiny pairs of Dora panties await us.

A Heated Debate

The biggest ongoing fight Hubby and I are involved in is the Saga of the Electric Blanket. This self-heating square of fuzzy, blue fleece is putting a strain on our marriage. First, you have to know a little bit about the make up of the two of us. I am always hot. I overheat easily and refuse to wear a coat until the temperature is below freezing. Hubby, on the other hand, is always freezing. He wears gloves from September to May and dons pitiful looking long johns under his Sunday suits. So when it comes time to say goodnight, I in my flannel pajamas and he in only his undies don't exactly get along. He cranks the blanket up to "H" every night and leaves it on. In retaliation, I flip over all my blankets on his side, giving him double the warmth. That just makes him happier. In time, we may resort to the I Love Lucy style of matching twin beds. But then where would I put my cold feet at night, the only part of my body that does occasionally resemble ice cubes?

'Tis the Season?

I am a person who does not like to rush holidays. I still have my Halloween decorations up (well, that's just laziness) and I've barely started thinking about Thanksgiving. Well, the other day in the car, dear Hubby jumped the gun. He surprised me by playing Bruce Springsteen's Santa Claus is Coming to Town. We have agreed that this song kicks off the Christmas season and it's the first Christmas song we listen to every year. Great, thanks a lot...now I'm in the Christmas spirit! But I'm not ready yet! If I start now, how long can I hold out? How many times can I watch Elf, Christmas Vacation, and A Christmas Story? Is it time to buy wrapping paper? Who is on my list? Are they naughty or nice? Should I bring up the tree, hang the pine wreath on the door, and unpack the Nativity Scene? No! It's just not time yet! It's only November ninth and I'm a stickler for waiting until December first. So for now, I will do my best to push aside my Christmas spirit and keep it hidden for another couple weeks. But I'll still watch out, I won't cry, and I won't pout. Because I know that, soon enough, Santa Claus IS coming to town.

Random Act of Kindness

My husband IS a random act of kindness! He spreads joy everywhere he goes. I don't think there's anyone who doesn't like him and I strive to be more like him. Here is his random act of kindness from over the weekend.

We were dining Saturday afternoon in the highly upscale eatery at our local mall. (It's just a food court; I'm over-dramatizing.) While I feasted on a gourmet chicken sandwich, Hubby & Son enjoyed the delicacy of pepperoni pizza. A Supermom, who was alone with her 3 kids, was attempting to push a stroller, direct her older kids, and balance a plastic tray carrying their afternoon meal. Well, Supermoms fall. She somehow dropped the cup of French fries from her tray, spilling them all over the floor. I didn't notice the event until she was picking up the last of the fries. I felt bad for not noticing sooner and helping her. I've been there and done that. It's hard not to cry when faced with such frustration. I told Hubby about it who decided he must spring into action. He went back to the kiosk and bought her another cup of fries. When he took them over to her table (where she sat not eating, having thrown her lunch in the trash), I enjoyed seeing her look of sheer surprise. He didn't expect a thank you or anything in return. He just wanted to be a nice guy. It made her day. It made my day. I'm just thankful for people in this world who still care. And I'm very grateful to be married to one. He's a hero to some. He's a hero to me.

I was a good girl yesterday

I cleaned out the Appliance Garage in my kitchen! It was beyond messy! When we remodeled our kitchen, I was so excited about this new little cubby. I can keep my Oster mixer in here since it's so heavy and I don't have to leave it out on the counter top any more! Well, you can only leave the mixer in the Garage if there's enough room for it in there! But instead, this small space has been crammed full of school newsletters (that I needed to keep for reference reasons), pictures colored especially for me by the kids (who could ever throw out a hand-drawn rose with "To Mom" at the top?), last year's Christmas cards (people worked really hard on these...I can't throw them out!), and the list goes on and on!

Hello, my name is She and I'm a hoarder. (In unison here) "Hi She!"

But I was good yesterday. I finally made myself clean it out. And yes, I threw out many treasures. But I can't remember now what any of them were so I think I'll survive. I hate to even show you, but here are the BEFORE and AFTER pics:

The Football Thief

True Story:

Yesterday afternoon, my boys were playing golf in the front yard. My oldest ran in the house and said that some kids just stole a football out of our yard. They threw their $2.50 football into our yard and grabbed our nice leather ball. Right in broad daylight, right in front of my kids. In the past year and half, we have had two bikes stolen. Nice bikes. So this angered me to no end. I marched outside in my bare feet just to see the kids turning the corner at the end of the street. I grabbed my shoes and went to my aunt's house. She has three tall, 20-somethings living in her house so I solicited their help. Of course, the cousin who was available is the one who just tore his ACL. I demanded that my little cousin go home and watch the kids while his 6'3" brother and I took off down the street. Because of his hobbling, I didn't think we would ever catch up with them. We rounded the corner at the grocery store and I caught sight of them throwing up our football into the air. Would they run? Would they tackle the 34-year-old lady and Gimpy, the handicapped guy? Would they shoot us? No. When we got within 20' of them, the one with the football turned and extended his arm, offering the football to us. Gimpy tossed the K-Mart football back to him and took ours back. My hero! So, one of two things will happen now: either they will target our house and totally trash it or they will know they'd better stay away from us. I hope it's the latter.

Thanksgiving Recipes

Here are a few of my favorite recipes, tried and tested throughout the years.

Thanksgiving Stuffing
1 bag plain stuffing
1 bag sage & onion stuffing
2 cans cream of chicken
1 pint sour cream
2-4 cans chicken broth
Sauteed onions and celery

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl, using enough broth to make stuffing very moist, almost soupy. Pour into a greased baking dish. (Make sure it's not too thick or it will be mushy in the middle.) Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.


Sweet Potato Casserole
1 (40 oz.) can sweet potatoes, drained
3/4 C sugar
2 eggs
1/2 C milk
1/2 t salt
1/3 stick butter
1 t vanilla
1 scant t cinnamon

Mash sweet potatoes. Add other ingredients and put in a greased 9x13" baking dish.

Topping:
1 C brown sugar
1 C flour
1 C chopped pecans
1/3 C butter, melted

Mix flour and sugar. Add butter and pecans. If too soft, add more flour. Spread on top of potatoes. Bake, uncovered, at 350 for 45 minutes.


Pie Crust
(makes one 2-layer crust or two 1-layer crusts)
1 C flour
1 C Crisco
1 t salt
1/4 - 1/2 C cold water

Cut together flour, Crisco, and salt using a pastry cutter or two butter knives. Add cold water, the less the better, until dough is workable. Handle dough as little as possible to prevent it from warming. Roll out half of dough at a time. Turn your pie plate upside down on the dough to check the size. Fold dough in half, lift it carefully into your pie plate, and gently unfold. Cut off excess dough around edges. Fill. Prepare top crust if necessary. Brush milk on top crust and sprinkle lightly with sugar. Flute the edges. Bake according to recipe directions.

Turkey Month

Well, Pumpkin Month is officially over and we have now entered Turkey Day Month! I am very excited about this month...Thanksgiving is my second favorite holiday, only behind Christmas.

In our family, we do the whole spread: roasted turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, Mom's homemade noodles, my sweet potato casserole, Grandpa's home frozen corn, dinner rolls, salad, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, and more. I would love to hear about your family traditions!

Another Thanksgiving tradition we share is the Stuffing War. My mother and I make the best stuffing in the world. I'm not bragging; it's just a fact. We begged the recipe from an older woman in our church who is the best cook we know. So I guess I should say that HER stuffing is the best in the world. However, my Southern aunt thinks her cornbread stuffing is the best. I don't care for the taste of cornbread. So we both make our own stuffing; half of the family eats ours and half eats hers. We each roll our eyes at the people who don't prefer our recipe.

This is my 99th post on She Says! To make number one hundred noteworthy and special, I will post some of my favorite Thanksgiving recipes, including the very best stuffing!

It's almost over...

I'm thankful that, after today, all the horrible political phone calls are over and all the tacky signs are down. Until next election...

Go out and vote!

Cakes Throughout the Years

Here are some pictures of different birthday cakes I've made for my kids' birthdays. I'd like to take a class some day to get better. I've never had any training. I've had lots of fun though! I wish I could find all the pictures...I can think of a train, a camouflague cake, and an octopus that my kids really enjoyed. Those pics must be from the pre-digital age. :)