Whirlwind!

It's been a weird week and Spring break started for Peanut yesterday for 2 weeks, and Goosie on Wednesday for 1.5 weeks. We have no vacation plans.

Derek hired guys to mud and sand the drywall in the basement and they started Thursday, will be back Monday. I'm trying to figure out a color scheme and theme for down there. Crap is everywhere and I can't get into the room that has my shawl pin idea things. (I'll find a way Mandy and Alexis!)

I finished and gifted 3 baby blankets and tried really hard to get gauge for my new project and I think I've failed-have to measure my dried swatch today, and pray!

I thought I shed 2 grey hairs today, but it was just one, folded weirdly.

I keep forgetting to run the dirty dishes, and more are piling up.

Peanut is starting to sneeze, which means she's getting sick.

Goosie is cutting a molar. She gets really cranky in the afternoons. Did I tell you she got hit with a door at school and she has a black eye? It's healing well.

I'm antsy to plant a garden and it keeps being freezing here. I'm ready for the warmer weather.

I have a bazillion ideas floating in my head. I can't DO any of them! Ack!

I haven't emailed my mom once this week and I've intended to call her on 3 days, but suddenly it's been time to make dinner, bathe the kids, do the night routine. Last night I tucked them in at 7:30, fell down on our bed and slept for an hour and a half. Then I woke up, watched "A Walk in the Clouds" with Derek and went back to bed. :)

I feel like I need to be productive today and I'm not sure what to do. So. Off to plan! (Well, after some catch-up emails!)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

How I love St. Patrick's Day! As per our tradition, we started preparing the other day for setting our trap. Yes, we set traps on St. Patrick's Day. We try to catch a leprechaun so that we can get his gold! So we started getting crafty.

We made a rainbow:

We made the clouds:

I love that you can tell there were two kids who colored this rainbow!! (even if you can't see two kids...;P)

Last night we set the trap! We put out pot of gold under the rainbow to tempt the tricksy leprechauns, complete with signs warning "Keep Off!" and "Stay Out!" You know how those leprechauns like to do all the things they shouldn't.

When we woke this morning, we checked the trap first thing! Did we get one?! The gold wasn't on the steps anymore!!

Oh man! Looks like our tricksy leprechaun just managed to escape! He spilled the gold into the trap, but was able to escape our grasp.

Or did he? Peanut was upset that she blinked and fears Goosie may have as well, so while the lucky little guy was in our grasp, we lost him. As the morning went on, Peanut made another discovery--a tricky little leprechaun used our bathroom and didn't flush!! (I know!) There was "green stuff" in the toilet and Goosie said "It's probably cleaner." They then said "Mom, you left cleaner in the toilet." I denied it and said our cleaner isn't green! Peanut gasped loudly: "*gasp!* It's leprechaun pee!!!???" The girls thought that was just too funny.

Once we settled down, we had an authentic St. Patrick's Day breakfast of Lucky Charms, and as we were eating I noticed Peanut had something on her hand. It was a green spot and Goosie shouted out: "A kiss! You got kissed by a leprechaun!" "Yes!!" Peanut cried, "and it's in a heart shape!!" Then we searched Goosie's hand and found a kiss further up near her arm! Oh it was so exciting! And all this before breakfast was finished. :) It was a great start to the day.

We were able to play outside in gorgeous weather, did some yard work, the girls rode bikes and played some baseball. Then I got the corned beef going and decided to make some rosemary clover rolls and used this recipe. I was worried when I checked the corned beef and the broth was boiling vs. simmering and the meat was done waaaay ahead of time. I thought it'd be dry and horrible, but it was fantastic! The rolls? Equally fantastic!! I was so happy :) Topped off with a Guinness and then for dessert we had a pumpkin roll. That was so good too!

I decided we should be able to have St. Patrick's Day more than once a year. I also am really bummed that tomorrow is Friday, during Lent, and I can't have left overs until Saturday. tsk!

You're a schmoopy!

Happy Anniversary to Derek and me! Yesterday was 13 years for us. Ah, wedded bliss! Really, our time together has been full of so much happiness, and we're just as schmoopy as we were in the beginning. That makes me so very happy. ~*sigh*~ stares off into the distance all glassy-eyed.

I love you honey. :)

My Dirty Little Secret

We've all got them. I'm about to share mine. Ready? Well, wait. First let me explain some. You know how I like to talk. My friend Tamara and her husband Jean have begun a wine tasting party business until they open their own wine shop. (Go see and shop or book a party here.) So a couple weekends ago, Derek and I hosted a wine tasting party. It was much fun, but of course with having people over comes the scurry and flurry of housekeeping. I do it every day, but there are always those hot spots and nooks and crannies. And flat surfaces. And the floor. And, and, and.

Things were looking good-really good if I may say so. Better than it's looked since before kids for sure. Since we moved in maybe! The clutter was gone, things looked crisp and clean. But my thoughts and critical eye brought me to the kitchen. My dreaded stove. I love how my stove, a Maytag, works, but years ago my dad was here and was saying how he liked the neat lines and colors and the like in the house, and just as those words left his mouth, he saw my stove. And he laughed. "That's hysterical!" he said. "NO IT'S NOT! Don't laugh at my gross stove!" I shrieked! Ugh, embarrassed all over the place. (Remember that dad? No? See, yet another parenting moment forever etched in my brain! ;P)

I've done everything to this stove to try to clean it. Oven cleaner, Bar Keeper's Friend, SOS pads, all sorts of grease cutters, vinegar and baking soda scrubs and soaks, butter knife scraping...all to no avail. I think my father in law even tried once when they were here watching the girls. I was pleased that he couldn't clean them either. I'd throw them in the dishwasher and try to calm my agitation, saying they were surface clean at least. But oh, those burners and trays!

We looked at buying replacement parts, but it was over $200 or something silly. That money can be spent in much better ways. :) Then one day, on my knitting website of all places, I received a tip:

Boil the burners in water with a dryer sheet.

What? That's crazy! But what was there to lose? I've done everything else but sandblast the things (which was on the list of possibilities). So, here. Here's proof of my dirty little secret (ugh, and I'm embarrassed, but this tip is too good not to share all over the place):

I know. Look at that. SO gross. So I took the burners and put them in my roaster. Covered them with water and added a dryer sheet and set it to boil. I let it go for about 20-30 minutes, then let them cool in the water until I could touch them. I took a butter knife and all the grody things came right off! I also used a scrubby (the mesh bags that lemons come in). I think the results will speak for themselves.

Look at that! It feels like a brand new stove. So much better now and I don't have to cringe when I walk in to the kitchen. Or anyone else for that matter.

Now, one word of warning. The dryer sheet boiling away isn't the most pleasant of smells. It can really irritate your throat and eyes. Wait for a nice day when windows can be open, and don't stand over it while it's boiling away. Oh, and don't burn yourself! That's two words of warning I suppose.

So that's it. My dirty little secret. This decade at least. Really, that's it. (Dude, my parents read my blog, yo. ;)