need: one wafflemaker, handle attached please

I made waffles today.  I was thinking waffles would be a great thing to make and freeze for mornings when I felt rushed (school starts in 4 days!).  I got them made, but there was a problem.:

 I guess sometime during the move last year, the handle broke off on the waffle iron.  (iron? maker? which do you use?) I didn't think too much of it this morning until I realized you need the handle to unlock the latch to open the darn thing.  Being the innovative person that I am though, I didn't worry.  I would find something other than my fingers to push on the buttons where the handle used to be (it gets super hot as you can probably figure out.)  I did find that the bottoms of wooden spoons would work, after not working countless many times.  But I made batch after batch because I had a plan.

To answer your questions:

1. No, I haven't made waffles in more than a year, so I never realized the handle broke off.

2. No, not homemade.  I bought a Belgian waffle mix.  Pretty good if you ask me.  I went the healthier route:  I put blueberries, cinnamon-sugar, plus a drizzle of real maple syrup and it was super-delicious.  The other route would be drowning in maple syrup and butter.  So an improvement.  Rhett had blueberries and a drowning, Noah had peanut butter and blueberries, no syrup at all.  We each had only one.

3. No, I don't really think I need to rush out and buy a waffle iron maker iron (I'm going with waffle iron.  I think) anytime soon, since I haven't used it in a year.  But, I am planning on making the boys breakfast more than I have in the past so maybe in 3-6 months.  :)

4. I'm throwing it away, as soon as it cools down.

Have a great day!

I may see the sun rise

*fresh blueberries, thrown in homemade pancake batter.  What could be better?

7:02 am. That is the time when the bus comes to pick up Rhett and his bus stop that is no longer right out the front door.  It is actually .42 miles away if we want to be precise.  (The school does apparently). 

7:02 am.

If you know me, or even read this blog a little bit, you know that I don't get up early.  Being a stay-at-home mom has afforded me the luxury of (gasp) sleeping in until 8 am or so.  Especially now that the boys are older and get up to watch tv before wanting breakfast (at least in the summer). 

Even during the school year, Rhett and Noah didn't have to be at school until 8:50 am.  We could get up at 7:30 eat cereal or frozen waffles, get dressed, and make lunches and be out the door by 8:25 or 8:30.  (And this was when the bus stopped right in front of our house around 8:15 am) 

You can see where I'm going with this. 

I don't claim to be a morning person but have recently realized that probably nobody really wants to be a morning person.  If given the chance, wouldn't anyone want to sleep in a little later? But most don't have that choice.  And now I won't either.  So I have a choice to make.  Either drag myself out of bed, realizing I woke up late, hussle Rhett out of bed, get him to gobble down breakfast and yell at him to hurry up, and we all leave feeling mad and streesed, or I wake up, make a nice* breakfast for the family, have everything ready, wake up Rhett and when he comes down stairs, everything is calm.  Seth can probably take Rhett to his bus stop and then I can do the same for Noah, whose bus doesn't come until 8:28 am.  If I look at it that way, instead of "Aww, I have to wake up early.  Do I have to? Can't I sleep in???" then the choice is easy to make.  I know when I was a child, I never felt hurried or harrassed or stressed in the mornings.  I want the same for my children. 

It won't be easy to do, but it is something I feel I must.  And I know the rest of you must be rolling your eyes, thinking, "Aimee's finally joining the grown-up party" and all and I apologize if you are but isn't this one of the purposes of a blog: a kind of personal enlightenment confessional?

So there you go.  A change is coming.  A better me may be emerging.  I may become, gulp, a morning person one of these days too. 
I

*By nice, I mean, not cereal every day.  I can fix pancakes like the picture above, more often.  I can make french toast.  I have several recipes I want to try out that I can make ahead of time (ham and cheese crossants, anyone?) so that should help too. 

thought I would drop a line

I really want this for Noah's room.  Isn't it so cool? 

this week

For some reason, this week hasn't found me in the Christmas spirit.  Or maybe it has.  Because doesn't everyone get grumpy and stressed out before Christmas?  Ha. So maybe I haven't been in the right spirit of Christmas.

This week, I have been short on temper and time.  This week, I don't seem very happy (in the words of my dear oldest son).  This week, I have grumbled and complained and cried and fretted.

This morning, I have decided that the reason for all of this is because I have finally gotten fed up.  Somehow, this past year, I have lost my faith and my optimism.  My inner joy if you call it.  And I don't like it one bit.

I want those things back. I am going to find them. Somewhere, somehow, I will find those things again.

Have you ever lost your faith?  If you are asking "faith in what?", well, I say to you, (in the nicest way possible and very gently) "It doesn't matter in what."  Could be in one thing, could be in all things.  Could be in small things, could be in big things.  Could be you aren't sure.  Which is where I am.

I think saying it out loud is the first step to findig those things again.  At least, I hope so.

already with the Christmas lists?

Hello!  I know it has been a long time.  Last week was...ugg.  Didn't feel well.  But this week is a new week so hopefully I will post more often. 

Rhett and Noah have taken it upon themselves to write their Christmas Lists to Santa.

Rhett:  Mom, do you believe in Santa?
Me: Yes.
Rhett:  Me too.  Do you know some kids in my class say that he isn't real?
Me:  Well, he is as real as you want him to be.
Rhett:  Oh, he is real alright.

At this point in Rhett's childhood, shouldn't he be a little suspicious? He is in 3rd Grade.  I am just afraid that he is going to be crushed, just crushed when he finds out the truth.  So I try to throw in remarks like "he is real as you want him to be" to prepare him.  Subtly.  I don't know what I am doing.

Anyway, with no further ado, here is Rhett's list:

Dear Santa,
I've been trying to be very good this year. My wish list is this.
1 Ipod Nano (Blue)
2 Mind Flex
3.Fossil Fighters
4 Webkins Shark
5 year supply of bacon
5 biggest star wars Lego set ever
6 10 Texas Tech window stickers.
7 2 under-armor shirts
8 Madden 2010 (Wii)
9 Baron Batch's autograph
10 pink and orange Zumbuddy

Ones I'm sure I want  
1
2
3
6
7
9
10

Rhett marked out his "year supply of bacon" because as he put it:  "I don't think I really need that much bacon."  You think?

Here is Noah's list:

Dear Santa
1 Every webkinz ther is.
2 a real webkinz bunny.
3 ipod nano (green).
4 a bird with a Texas Tech sign on it.
5 a owl webinz.
6 a webkinz Dragin.
7 a webkinz geco.
8 a webkinz Husky.
9 a webkinz Pug.
10 Babe Ruths small metal

I think that Noah secretly doesn't believe in Santa and wants to catch us in a lie because how, oh how, are we going to get anything of Babe Ruth's or is there even such a thing as #4?  And I made him mark out #1 and the real in #2.  Because as we all know, real bunnies freak me out.

So there we are.  I wonder how many times this list will change before December 24?

can un-heart be a word? edited with a clarification and again with a note

...One things I heart about the approaching of Fall:

1. The weather is actually cool in the morning. Today, it hasn't gotten over 68 degrees yet. That is because it rained all day yesterday and is cloudy today, but still. 68 degrees. That is close to Ugg weather, I tell you. To clarify: I mean close to when I can wear my Ugg boots again. :)

One thing I un-heart:

1. Flies. For some reason, they are so...sticky at the end of summer. You know, they fly around so close to you in the house, they are everywhere you are, they don't ever land...Can you tell there is one near me right now?

Note: Ha. I wondered where I came up with a great word like "clarification" so quickly and then I remembered (and noticed) Krista's blog post for today: Clarification. Ah, yes. Thanks sis for helping build my blog vocabulary. This stay-at-home mom really needs it! :)