there's a hole in the ceiling

When we bought this house, 4 years ago (I know! I can't believe it's already been 4 years!), there was one thing I really wanted to change.

The skylight in our entry. Specifically the shaft because it was lined with plywood (instead of drywall) and when it was painted the grain rose and looked really bad.

J said he would fix it. No problem.

Well, it's been four years. The skylight itself has been replaced (we had that done when the roof was replaced in 2007), but the shabby-shaft remained.

swede in a hole

But now it. is. gone.

There is a giant hole in the ceiling, because no project is ever as easy at it seems, but there is progress.

And it makes me happy.

friday randomness

First: how do we feel about my green polish?

Sew Psyched by essie

The only opinion I could get around here is from JJ. He said "Cool mommy. Like a army guy."

* Muffin Friday! - I threw the boys in the car and we got drive-thru muffins from Biggby for breakies. And coffee, of course coffee!

* I got to dress up for an actual business meeting this week - I felt like a grown up!

* JJ just convinced me to paint one of his nails - he thinks it's pretty special.

* I think I'm going to merge my two blogs, the other one is sort of blah. I think I'll just stick it in here. Maybe that way I'll update more often.

Probably not ;) but maybe.

* I'm out of dish soap, and I have no desire to take the kids to the store. I think it's a pretty excuse to not do dishes today.

* I have a lot of stuff to do today, but I really just want to clean and organize the house...

* JJ is starting preschool in the fall. I have issues with this, and yet, I love it!

* Someone keeps stealing my camera and taking pictures (and touching the lens).

at my house

this guy loves prunes

this guy still loves building rockets

and these two have still got it
(ps - j does not have a double chin,
he just does that every time we take self portraits)

Sunday Confessional

This week, I forgot to defrost the chicken ahead of time.

I know. Someone needs to take away my Girl Scout badges.

Sometime around 4PM on Tuesday I realized that the whole chicken I was going to roast for dinner was, unfortunately, still in the freezer.

So I called my mom (because that is generally my answer for everything, call mom - she always knows what to do). She had no words of wisdom, but as we were chatting she told me about a vegetarian tamale pie she had made the week before. And as she is talking, I am digging through the kitchen cupboards.

Wouldn't you know I had all the ingredients?

pantry cooking. yes please.

And it was really good, and really easy. And the 2 year old ate it. I know.

So make some Tamale Pie!


Tamale Pie

1 cup instant polenta
1 can of beans (I used red kidney, black beans or pintos would also be great)
1 cup frozen corn
1 cup jarred salsa ( fresh would make a soupy mess)
seasoning (I used an ancient pack of taco seasoning - next time I'll use cumin, oregano, cilantro, chipotle and some salt)
1 cup cheese (I had Italian blend - I would have preferred cheddar)

preheat oven to 350

1. Prepare your polenta and spread into a buttered casserole (bonus points if it has a lid!).
2. Dump beans with liquid (bean juice?) into a bowl and mash with a potato masher. Mix in 1 cup of salsa and seasonings.
3. Spread bean mixture over polenta. Top with frozen corn and sprinkle with cheese. I sprinkled the cheese with chipotle and cilantro just to give it some color.

polenta and beans. noms.

4. Bake covered for 15 min, uncover and bake for 15 minutes more.

*I really think this would freeze well.

I Lied

Yesterday I said I had no real resolutions.

I lied.

Based purely on the amount of chocolate I consumed today, it is safe to say that my resolution for 2011 is:

To make sure that every single Christmas treat is eaten by Jan. 5th.

That is all.

Yada Yada Yada

Happy New Year!

It's been so long since I've blogged that I feel like I've forgotten how to type - let's all say a collective prayer of thanksgiving for the all-important spell-check.

Done? Super.

I'm not making any real resolutions this year, I'm just planning on continuing to nurture my family, take care of my home (as time allows) and volunteer until I can't breathe (seriously, I need to start sitting on my hands so I stop signing up for everything!).

That's it. I'm not even going to strive to write here X times per week, because that's just not how my life is going. Except I am super excited for the second season of Worst Cooks in America to start tonight. I loved it last season, so I'm going to do some recapping here, I'm hoping a few other fans will chime in? It'll be much more fun that way.

I'll be back tomorrow - or the next day...