The Rogers Family

A Few Pictures from the Wedding (Congrats Geoff and Mel!!!)

2011-06-21T07:05:00.000-07:00

Summer Fun!!

2011-06-13T12:42:00.001-07:00

Milestones

2011-06-09T11:45:00.001-07:00

Annabelle Lee - Kindergarten Graduate

This was Grace's last year at St Anne's (and most likely Annabelle's as well, but more on that later). We love this school so much, but it is time to move on. Thankfully, Michael will be starting pre-kindergarten next year so St Anne's isn't quite done with the Rogers Family yet. And in a year or two Miss Faith will follow her big sisters and brothers and go to preschool there as well.

The kids will have one more week to roam the halls when they attend science camp this summer. This will be Michael's first taste of school, and will give Annabelle and Grace another opportunity to see their friends.

We have an extremely busy summer ahead of us.....

Some Things...

2011-05-26T16:22:00.000-07:00

Nap time with Annabelle and Grampa

We are trying a new method of bathing here since the weather is warming up. As you can see, Faith is getting ready for her turn.
Gramma and Faith (and George)

Delicious

2011-04-09T11:03:00.000-07:00

After seeing this recipe over at Smitten Kitchen, and due to the fact that I happen to have a whole bag of onions, we will be having French Onion Soup for dinner.

I can hear the protests from the kids already, and I could not possibly care less.

Sisters

2011-03-28T05:00:00.000-07:00

Happy 6, Annabelle!!

2011-03-26T16:51:00.000-07:00

Ok, so these are a little late...but here are a few pictures from Annabelle's birthday last week.

Here she is with her birthday hat, decorated by Grace, and her gift from her Daddy.

The cake - which is actually 18 cupcakes - decorated to look like a mama owl and her 4 babies. Grace decorated the 4 baby owls!

The birthday knitting lesson at The Salty Sheep in Swansboro.

Happy Birthday, Annabelle Lee.

Faces

2011-03-09T17:08:00.000-08:00

Socks!!

2011-03-07T04:43:00.000-08:00

I always have knitting with me in the car since it is a great way to pass the time while waiting for the kids (to get out of school, dance class, Daisies, ets..... I do a LOT of waiting int he car).

Playing

2011-03-06T04:33:00.000-08:00

Mama: Michael, what are you doing tied to the piano bench?

Michael: I'm playing with Annabelle and Grace.

Mama: I see. Where are Annabelle and Grace now?

Michael: I don't know.

Swingin'

2011-02-21T06:15:00.000-08:00

Work Clothes

2011-02-18T04:30:00.001-08:00

Michael came running into my room yesterday, yelling "Mama, I need to put on my work clothes!!!"

House 8810 $60 Gift Card Giveaway

2011-02-15T16:06:00.000-08:00

Here is a great giveaway you should check out!!

House 8810 $60 Gift Card Giveaway

Happy Valentine's Day

2011-02-13T18:01:00.001-08:00

2011-02-04T13:06:00.000-08:00

Love this. You can find it here

2011-02-01T19:36:00.000-08:00

Mama: Michael can I take your picture?

Michael: Yep. You want me to look cute?

Mama: If you wouldn't mind...

Michael: Of course!! I can do cute.

Food For Thought

2011-01-27T13:19:00.000-08:00

Bacon Popcorn

Dulce de Leche Marshmallows

Blue Cheese Mashed Potatoes

Potty Time

2011-01-26T05:36:00.000-08:00

So, guess what I found the other morning....

Faith had removed her pants and diaper, and decided she wanted to use the potty. Never mind that she is sitting on it backwards, apparently the child has decided enough is enough with the whole diaper thing. I could not agree more.
And as you can see, she is pretty happy about it.

Sounds Like a Plan

2011-01-23T07:41:00.000-08:00

(I found this little gem here in case you are interested. Lots of cute stuff to check out.)

A Moment of Silence

2011-01-18T18:23:00.000-08:00

I am not exactly sure what they are doing here, plotting to take over the world no doubt (more likely playing a game on pbskids.org, but you never know). But I do know that for about 5 glorious minutes, there was no fighting, screaming, or yelling. Actually there wasn't any noise at all.

Ah, sweet silence.

2011-01-15T10:06:00.000-08:00

Dearest Uncle Mac -

We are so glad you were able to come and see us, if even for such a super short visit. We miss you already and can't wait to see you again.

You might want to brush up on your Just Dance skills, though. The kids are practicing pretty hard. Especially Michael, and as you know his dance skills were pretty smokin' already.

Much Love,

Grace, Annabelle, Michael, Faith, George, Eric and Anne

Game Day

2011-01-11T08:47:00.000-08:00

Annabelle : 28 matches

Mama: 7 matches

Snow Day

2011-01-10T11:54:00.000-08:00

T-R-O-U-B-L-E

2011-01-07T17:37:00.000-08:00

While they may appear to be sweet and innocent, don't be fooled.

These two are nothing but trouble. (Especially when they are in cahoots. One must always be on the lookout for cahooting.)

The Boy

2011-01-04T05:59:00.000-08:00

Annabelle Lee

2011-01-02T04:01:00.000-08:00

Annabelle Lee - sitting in my room, playing around on her new guitar and looking way too old for this Mama.

Party Pics

2011-01-01T07:15:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures from Faith's party yesterday.

We bought a package of scrapbook paper and made the decorations (Daddy and Grace did most of the work).

Everyone had a party hat.

And clearly we were all very excited...
Faith didn't quite understand the whole blowing out of the candles thing (as you can see she is looking at us like we are nuts), so we had to help her out a bit.
But she loved the cake! Chocolate cake, strawberry filling and peanut butter frosting. Yum.

Two

2010-12-31T11:40:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday to you... Happy Birthday to you... Happy Birthday Faith Charlotte... Happy Birthday to you!

Merry Christmas

2010-12-25T07:20:00.000-08:00

Daisy

2010-11-24T04:56:00.000-08:00

Pumpkin

2010-11-21T12:36:00.000-08:00

The Boy

2010-11-20T07:07:00.000-08:00

First Day of School

2010-09-07T09:18:00.000-07:00

It is finally here...

Annabelle stayed up for hours organizing her pencil case. I finally had to take it away from her or she never would have gone to sleep.
Grace filled Annabelle in on everything she could expect from Kindergarten. Based on her description, it sounds like a pretty good time.
The girls got up on time (we shall see how long that lasts) and didn't complain too much about me wanting to take pictures. Their only complaint was how heavy their backpacks were this morning, but I assured them that the first day was always like that and pretty much everything that they brought in today would be staying at school.

Let's hope this is the start of a wonderful school year.

Annabelle Lee

2010-09-02T05:36:00.000-07:00

Annabelle has started a new craft project - making friendship bracelets!! It is pretty slow going, but she is working so hard. Hopefully she will have a finished bracelet to show you all soon.

Peekaboo

2010-08-28T15:36:00.000-07:00

Happiness Is....

2010-08-27T09:26:00.000-07:00

The registration finally arrived from Florida, so today was the first day Eric could drive his Jeep.

Vacation

2010-08-25T07:19:00.000-07:00

Excellent Adventure: At the Plaza with Eloise

2010-08-09T20:35:00.000-07:00

Excellent Adventure: First Day of Camp

2010-07-19T09:53:00.000-07:00

Excellent Adventure: Take 2

2010-07-15T05:51:00.001-07:00

Annabelle and Grace are off on another Excellent Adventure with Nami and Geet. They left at about 6:30 this morning (which is why Grace looks a little less than thrilled - she is actually very excited, it is just *very* early for her) to be able to make a Ferry ride this afternoon. I miss them already.

Stubborn Much?

2010-07-11T09:08:00.001-07:00

Faith has been in no hurry to walk. At a little over 18 months, she is just now starting to walk around in the house - albeit only when absolutely necessary. At her last checkup, the pediatrician suggested we only pick her up when she could not get to where she needed to be on her own (as in when getting into her crib, high chair, car seat or stroller). He said she wouldn't like it at first, but eventually she would get tired of crawling and discover how much she loved walking.

I think perhaps he underestimated her will to crawl.

If in the first picture you aren't noticing anything unusual (besides the face of a child who clearly is not in the mood to be photographed), please scroll down to picture number #2. We shall call this exhibit A.

These bandages are covering the scrapes on her knees from crawling on the driveway. She had many toys to ride on, grass to crawl on, as well the ability to *gasp* walk around. Nope, she decided it would be more fun to crawl on cement until bloody.
One would think that crawling on cement would be painful, that there would be tears... Apparently not. She was laughing and chasing her brother around when I picked her up and noticed that she was bleeding.
And in true stubborn form, apparently she won't be keeping the bandaids on either.

Summertime

2010-07-08T06:28:00.000-07:00

It has been super hot here - just like everywhere else. Yesterday we beat the heat by filling up the mini pool on the deck and having popsicles.

We're Still Here

2010-06-30T10:37:00.000-07:00

Nap Time

2010-04-12T17:25:00.000-07:00

Miss Annabelle turns 5

2010-03-22T14:33:00.000-07:00

Sisters

2010-03-06T06:53:00.000-08:00

Southern Snow

2010-02-28T14:07:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures from the "blizzard" that hit NC. Miss Faith stayed inside since she had a cold.

The Boy's First Real Haircut

2010-01-12T06:04:00.000-08:00

The days of cutting Michael's hair in the kitchen in his high chair were long gone. He needed to go in for a real haircut and now that Daddy was home, he was just the guy to take him.

Michael did fairly well, with Daddy holding his shoulders and the man cutting his hair with a pretty firm grip on his head.

He looks much better now, and much older (which I am not too happy about).
He is thrilled about the cookies he got for behaving, he doesn't really care so much about the haircut.

Faith's 1st Birthday

2010-01-10T05:53:00.001-08:00

The first time we celebrated Faith's birthday, she was not so sure about the cake. And even less sure about making a mess with it. She required some assistance.
The second time, however, she was clearly completely over whatever reservations she had the first time.
This time, cake was FUN....
... Squishy fun.
And she was even kind enough to share with George.

Playing Catch-Up

2010-01-10T05:51:00.000-08:00

Yes, it has been a while. Over the next few posts, I will catch you up on what you have missed.

Merry Christmas

2009-12-25T08:35:00.000-08:00

Welcome Home Captain Rogers

2009-12-19T07:10:00.000-08:00

We couldn't be more proud of you and couldn't possibly be more excited to spend the Holidays together this year.

Grace's Concert

2009-12-09T15:33:00.001-08:00

Sleepy Girl

2009-12-05T15:15:00.000-08:00

Two of Michael's Favorite Things

2009-12-02T05:43:00.000-08:00

2009-11-26T07:54:00.000-08:00

Yes - it has been a long time. Besides the day to day craziness of four kids, one dog, and a deployed husband we have been blessed with every sickness under the sun (including strep throat, the flu, and I won't even tell you what we have going on now).

We had an unwanted visitor which made for some excitement when someone went to use the toilet. (In case anyone is wondering, I did make a real effort to remove the frog before I gave up and flushed him.)

We have had to replace a water logged computer. The guilty party is extremely remorseful, especially once they heard that a family trip to Disney would now not be happening because we needed to spend the money to replace the computer. Most effective punishment EVER.

So I guess I will reintroduce you to who you have been missing.

Miss Faith
Muckle giving his sister kisses.
Annabelle after a night with curlers in her hair.
Grace at her Thanksgiving Feast at school. Her teacher named her Chirping Bird, because she is always talking.

OK, so here we are.

It is kinda funny. Everyone has been complaining about not being able to see the kids and here I am with them everyday, almost always willing to ship one or all of them off to a relative.

Happy Halloween

2009-10-31T14:45:00.000-07:00

Pebbles and Bamm Bamm
Fancy Nancy

Snow White

Cookies

2009-10-26T02:42:00.000-07:00

Annabelle Lee

2009-10-25T09:55:00.000-07:00

The Field Trip

2009-10-18T05:44:00.000-07:00

Grace's class went on a field trip this past week to the Fire Station. For their last field trip, they went to a puppet show and I was unable to go. I told Grace I would try my best to go on the next one with her. Fire Station - here I come.

We were thinking that this would be fun for Michael as well. The Boy LOVES trucks. Loves them. And most of the time we would be outside anyways, so I decided to bring the little ones along (really, there was no option here. No sitter, therefore they come along, too).
As you can see in the picture, Michael was having a hard time from the moment we arrived. He wanted to run around. He wanted to scream. He wanted to do just about anything EXCEPT look at the fire truck.

Go figure.

So I was walking around with him, trying to get him interested in doing anything but screaming when Grace's teacher came over and told me she would be happy to drive Grace back to school since Michael didn't seem to want cooperate. (Hint Hint - please get the loud kid out of here as he is disturbing the rest of the kids).

So I took the little ones to the car, turned on a movie for them, and both Michael and Faith proceeded to cry for what appeared to me to be no reason whatsoever for the next 30 minutes.

I waited for the trip to be over and then I found Grace so I could at least drive her back to school. She was very upset. She was upset I didn't spend any time with her on HER field trip, but mostly she was upset because her brother continues to ruin her life entirely.

Queen of Hearts and Alice in Wonderland Costume Set GIVEAWAY!!!!

2009-10-17T11:30:00.000-07:00

Queen of Hearts and Alice in Wonderland Costume Set GIVEAWAY!!!!

The Bangs Are Back

2009-10-16T08:30:00.000-07:00

After a brief yet frustrating period of Grace growing her bangs out, she finally asked me to cut them. I could not have been more happy to do so, as it was getting quite tiring following her around with a clip or a headband to keep her growing bangs out of here eyes.

I was trimming Annabelle's the other night and she came in the bathroom declaring that she would like hers cut as well. I asked her repeatedly if she was sure, making clear there was no putting them back on once they were cut. She said she was sure. When we were done, she said, "you were right, Mama. This does look better."

Sweet victory.

No matter how small a victory, I will take it. I know this is just the first of many battles her and I will fight over the years. And I am pretty sure one of the few I will win.
And she seems quite pleased with herself.

The Boy

2009-10-14T08:43:00.000-07:00

Poor George

2009-10-07T06:47:00.000-07:00

George used to have his own chair in the living room. It had seen better days, and since George repeatedly tried to take up residence on my couch I needed someplace else for him to call his own. He felt like he was "winning" when he was allowed in the chair, and he also stopped trying to get up on the rest of the furniture.

Sadly, recently the chair had to go. It smelled more like a dog than George did. And it was dirty. So I hauled it out to the garage and replaced it with a dog bed.

Apparently he still prefers "people" furniture, because now that the chair is gone he has decided to take up residence on the kids table in the front window.

That doesn't look comfortable, not even a little bit. But you can tell by the scratch marks on the top that he gets up there quite often. Usually he gets down as soon as he hears me coming, but for this picture he was in such a deep sleep he didn't even notice.

Poor George. How dare we expect him to sleep on an actual dog bed.

Chicken Fried

2009-10-06T08:47:00.001-07:00

Here are a few snapshots of Michael dancing to his most favorite song, Chicken Fried. I wish I could post a video because he is pretty darn hilarious. And he asks me to play the song at least 47 times a day. At least.

Grace Gets Crafty

2009-09-27T16:40:00.000-07:00

Grace got a sewing machine from Santa last Christmas. She was finally ready for her first project - a quilt - last weekend. First, Gramma showed her the basics.
Then I stepped in to help her sew together the quilt top (made from 4 bandanas), make the quilt sandwich, and sew it all together.
Grace did so well. She seems to be a natural, which is exciting because should I ever take up making purses again I will be sure to employ her in my sweat shop.
The finished project - the front.
And the back. She is pretty proud of it (and so am I) and even took it to school for show and tell this past Friday.

Happy Birthday Grace Lenore!

2009-09-17T16:24:00.000-07:00

First Day of School

2009-09-08T12:15:00.000-07:00

Today was the first day of school - first grade for Grace and pre-kindergarten for Annabelle. Last night we had a celebratory dinner (pasta with no sauce), ice cream and dance party to get ready. Their outfits were all picked out, backpacks were packed, and lunches were made. They were both excited, but slightly anxious.
MAMA: Grace, can't you just stand still and stop doing all these crazy poses so I can take a normal picture???

GRACE: Mom, I am a poser. I pose, that is just what I do.

MAMA: I see. Well, can we just get a little pose?

GRACE: Fine.
Annabelle was a bit nervous - this year she is at a new school, away from all her friends and the teachers she knew and loved. But she had a good time. Both girls were a tired when they got home, but are ready for day two.

Michael, Faith and I went to Target to celebrate. Michael may not be starting school, but he is attending potty boot camp at home with me. We picked out some big boy underwear and some pull-ups for nighttime. This should be interesting...wish us luck.

Hurricane Michael

2009-09-04T16:57:00.000-07:00

This is Hurricane Michael.
This is what kind of damage a Category 3 "nap" can do.
It is a lot of work making such a mess. Sometimes the hurricane passes out for a few, in the middle of his destruction.
But that just makes him stronger. By bedtime, he is a category 4.
I should have left him in there.

Caught Green Handed

2009-08-29T17:11:00.000-07:00

Normally I would be very upset to find that Michael had gone into the kitchen and taken food. When I heard the commotion as I was coming downstairs this evening, I expected to find him with cookies or goldfish, or even a bag of chocolate chips from the pantry.

I was ready with my "Mama's really upset with you" voice. And when I finally caught a glimpse of him, I was not prepared for what I saw.

Broccoli. That's right. Could I get mad at him for eating broccoli??? No, but I could get mad at him for stealing the broccoli and feeding it to the dog. I prepared my "angry Mama" voice once again and asked him if he was feeding George.

Then he opened his mouth and showed me he was not sharing, but eating it all himself. And by the way George was salivating, it was pretty clear the dog wasn't getting any.

Way to catch a Mama off guard, Michael. I moved him, and the broccoli, to his chair and he finished the entire bag.

Bathing Beauty

2009-08-27T08:58:00.000-07:00

Excellent Adventure: Hula Girls

2009-08-26T18:51:00.000-07:00

I am pretty sure that this is not in Hawaii, but instead in Nami and Geet's backyard. But who knows... they are on an excellent adventure.

Big Boy Bed

2009-08-25T04:58:00.000-07:00

After putting it off way too long, I finally moved Michael out of his crib. He had been climbing out pretty much daily and it was only a matter of time until he hurt himself.

So I found some Toy Story bedding and he is thrilled. He is already very particular, too - the Buzz Lightyear side of the pillow case must ALWAYS be facing up.
Faith wanted to check the new bed out as well. She was excited because a big boy bed for Michael meant she was now in a room of her own and wouldn't have to dodge all the stuffed animals Michael had started throwing in her crib.
He is still a bit confused how all the sheets are supposed to work. To solve that, the first night he pulled all the sheets and comforter off the bed, made a pile on the floor and slept on that.
Perhaps the biggest change for Michael is the freedom he now enjoys. He can move around his room however he wants when he is supposed to be sleeping. I think this may be his favorite part. He loves standing at the gate at the door and yelling for me to come and get him.

Excellent Adventure: At the Beach

2009-08-24T08:27:00.000-07:00

The girls went to lunch with Nami, Nana and PopPop and afterwards were able to enjoy some time at the beach.

Excellent Adventure: Behind the Wheel

2009-08-17T08:03:00.000-07:00

The girls looking pretty comfortable in Geet's car.

Nami and Geet's Secret Garden

2009-08-15T10:49:00.000-07:00

Annabelle and Grace at Longwood Gardens, part of their Excellent Adventure.

Happy Happy "2" Michael!

2009-08-14T06:21:00.000-07:00

Excellent Adventure

2009-08-13T05:18:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morning, Nami and Geet took Grace and Annabelle on an Excellent Adventure. They packed up some of their favorite stuffed animals and set off about 7 in the morning.
The house is so much quieter (and I had been blaming Michael for most of the noise). I can't wait to hear about all of their adventures. Hopefully they will send some pictures that I can post.

Here We Go Again...

2009-08-12T05:00:00.000-07:00

Eric is off again on another deployment. It is never easy, but this time just seems too soon. We were just getting used to having him home again, and now he is gone. He had to report to base at about 9:00 last night, so the little ones stayed home and Annabelle, Grace and I drove him into work to say goodbye.
We hope this deployment goes by quickly, that we have many visitors along the way (hint, hint), and that Eric is home safely before we know it.

My Favorite People

2009-08-11T09:59:00.000-07:00

Maine, Part 2 - Watersports

2009-08-01T04:13:00.000-07:00

Michael just looks like trouble, doesn't he?
Annabelle was not a huge fan of the boat. She enjoyed tubing for a bit, but too much time made her feel sea sick.
Grace loved every second. You could hear her screaming "Wahoo" the whole time.
Annabelle kayaking with Uncle Geoff.
Michael kayaking with Daddy.

Maine, Part 1

2009-07-30T06:03:00.000-07:00

The new car was totally packed and we were off. You can see how excited the kids look for it being 6:30 in the morning. Eric tried to wake me up at about 3:30 or 4 to leave, but after being diagnosed with strep throat the day before, I respectfully declined and went back to sleep until about 6.
Grace's expression pretty much sums up how we feel about traffic in the D.C./Baltimore area. After 5 hours of barely moving (for no apparent reason), we decided on the way home we would take an alternate route.
This is Windemere, our home for a week on beautiful Sebago Lake.
Grace felt it appropriate to do her best swan pose (she has seen Barbie's Swan Lake a few hundred times). This was part of the beach at Windemere.

Ok, more to come. I figure I can stretch these vacation pictures out for a few posts.

The Great Outdoors

2009-07-13T05:25:00.000-07:00

I have decided that Michael should spend as much time as possible outside. Naked. It just makes cleanup easier.

The One With the Mustache

2009-07-11T06:23:00.000-07:00

Grace: In North Carolina do they have those guys who ride their bikes and throw newspapers at your door?

Daddy: You mean paper boys?

Grace: Yes, paper boys, do they have them?

Daddy: Well, yes. You know who was a paper boy when he was a little boy?

Grace: Who?

Daddy: Geet.

Grace: GEET! Did he still have a mustache?

My Boy

2009-07-06T04:48:00.000-07:00

I love this boy. I am pretty sure you already knew that, but I felt the need to tell you again. Love him. And for the record, he kinda likes me, too.

The Girls

2009-06-27T18:05:00.000-07:00

Popsicles

2009-06-27T06:11:00.000-07:00

Mud

2009-06-17T05:36:00.000-07:00

The other afternoon, Annabelle and Grace wanted to play in the backyard while Michael and Faith were sleeping.

MAMA: Fine. Let's go outside. But - DO NOT PLAY IN THE MUD (It had rained)

The girls oh so sweetly agreed, and out we went. It was not 5 minutes later that Grace came to me looking like this....

And then while I was cleaning Grace off, George decided that if Grace could get all muddy then he could as well.

At least Grace didn't get into the same mud that George did, because he came home smelling like a sewer.

Saturday Afternoon

2009-06-13T16:21:00.000-07:00

Where Babies Come From

2009-06-09T07:52:00.001-07:00

Daddy was being his normal self, teasing the children. He was trying to convince Grace and Annabelle they were not born, but instead were purchased them from the store. Annabelle seemed to be in on the joke, playing along. Grace, however, was not amused by this one bit. It took a bit of coaxing to get her to play along.

And then Daddy took it one step too far...

GRACE: So, what store did I come from then?

DADDY: WalMart. You came from WalMart and Annabelle came from Target.

GRACE: WHAT? WALMART??? No way. No, NOT WalMart. I would definitely have come from Target.

Super Michael

2009-06-06T10:52:00.001-07:00

Grace Graduates

2009-06-05T10:49:00.000-07:00

Grace's Kindergarten Class at St. Anne's

Grace and her teacher, Mrs. Asher.

Very close to a great pic of all the kids. Faith was sleeping, and by the time I got her the other three were long gone.

Grace and Annabelle - they really love each other.

Mama and the First Born - I don't know where she got the idea she could go and grow up so darn fast. SLOW DOWN, child.

Oreos

2009-06-05T04:33:00.000-07:00

I am out after dinner running a few errands. Eric is home with the kids, presumably putting them in bed. My phone rings...

MAMA (walking into grocery store at about 9pm): Hello? Hello? HELLO?!

CHILD: Hi Mama

MAMA: Grace? (I am startled because at this time, clearly they should be in bed)

CHILD: No, it is Annabelle. Hi Mama.

MAMA: Hi Bellie. Are you ok? (As many of you know, Annabelle NEVER talks on the phone)

CHILD: Yes. Can you buy me some Oreos?

MAMA: I am pretty sure we have Oreos at home.

CHILD: Not anymore.

DADDY (joining the conversation): Oh my Gosh, Annabelle! Did you call Mama ALL BY YOURSELF?

CHILD: Ummmm

DADDY: Dear, I had no idea that she called you. I was so busy putting Michael to bed, and dealing with Faith.

MAMA: Really (please note extreme sarcasm)

DADDY: Yeah, ask Bellie. Bellie? Tell Mama what Daddy was just doing...

CHILD: Sitting on the couch eating Oreos.

5 Months

2009-05-31T06:47:00.000-07:00

Making Life Better

2009-05-29T07:33:00.000-07:00

Anything titled makinglifebetter gets my attention. I mean really - who doesn't want to make their life (of the lives of others) better? So when Mom Central asked me to spread the work about how makinglifebetter was going to make dinnertime easy and fun, I was excited to do just that.

I headed over to their website and was quite eager to see how exactly they were going to make my dinnertime better. And there I found recipes. Lots and lots of recipes. Tons of time and a huge budget are not things that I necessarily have, and makinglifebetter clearly understands that.

makinglifebetter has a huge number of recipes, using ingredients easily found and probably already in your pantry. Quick, easy and priced for the times, there are so many that I cant wait to try.

Here is just one that I recommend you try:

Grilled Pineapple a La Mode

3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
6 Tbsp. I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!® Spread
3 Tbsp. rum
8 slices fresh pineapple
3 cups Breyers® All Natural Vanilla Ice Cream
1/3 cup chopped toasted pecans
Bring sugar, I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!® Spread and rum to a boil over medium heat in small saucepan. Boil 1 minute, then set aside.

Pour 1/4 cup rum sauce over pineapple in small bowl, turning pineapple to coat. Grill or broil pineapple, turning once, until golden brown, about 6 minutes. Cut into bite-size pieces.

Scoop Breyers® All Natural Vanilla Ice Cream into 6 dessert dishes. Top with pineapple and remaining rum sauce, then sprinkle with pecans.

Cost per recipe*: $11.10

Cost per serving*: $1.85

*Based on average retail prices at national supermarkets.

Not so comfortable in the kitchen? You can even link to their YouTube channel for cooking coach videos. See many ideas on how to make dinnertime fun for the whole family, not a chore for the cook. Check out this link for recipes and ideas for a family game night.

Mamapedia

2009-05-28T09:38:00.000-07:00

There are many situations that Moms have been dealing with since the beginning of time. The terrible twos, teenage angst, weird rashes, allergy treatments, when is the best age to introduce a pet - the list is endless. They are universal struggles that most parents will deal with at one time or another.

Wouldn't it be great if there was a place people could go and ask anything (and I mean anything)? A place where we can learn from the mistakes of others and maybe even soak in some well earned wisdom of those who have already been there, done that? A resource and sounding board all in one...

Well, a magical place just like this does exist. Blogosphere, meet Mamapedia.

Mamapedia enables you to search answers for your most pressing questions, such as childhood crushes, renting a house, and summer camps, to get empathetic and insightful answers from moms around the country. Everyone know of Wikipedia, right? Mamapedia is like that - only better.

An encyclopedia of motherhood? Umm, sign me up please.

Whether you have kids, or nieces and nephews, or have friends with kids and you want to have a small clue as to what they are complaining about all the time - you need to check it out.

Take One

2009-05-24T16:31:00.000-07:00

We are attempting to get a picture of all 4 kids together. I think Michael may have to be asleep for this to be successful.

Rogers Family Jeopardy

2009-05-23T04:03:00.000-07:00

Answer: A pacifier, a small truck, a marker, 7 pretzels and 2 wipes.

Question: What is the pile of "stuff" I pulled out of the VCR yesterday?

Answer: Michael

Question: Who is the one responsible for the aforementioned pile of stuff pulled out of the VCR?

Earn Your Stripes: Help rebuild America's playing fields

2009-05-18T13:29:00.000-07:00

Mom Central teamed up with Kellogg's Frosted Flakes back in January to let our community know about its Earn Your Stripes (EYS) field renovation program. Aimed at renovating neighborhood sports fields across the U.S., thousands of fields have been nominated - some with as many as 700,000 supporters!

The semifinalist fields were chosen based on the feasibility of the field makeover, the location and age of the field, how often it gets used, how many events take place, what teams use it, the number of other athletic fields in the community, the demand, condition, and the impact a field renovation would have on the community.

100 semifinalists are now counting on you to vote, and hopefully your favorite field will get a makeover. Maybe there isn't a field near you, but maybe there is one near where you grew up. How about near your favorite vacation spot, or even near distant family or friends who you know would appreciate the upgrade in their community.

Whichever story or field strikes a cord with you and your family, make sure you vote for it. We will all benefit from happy, healthy and active kids! Voting runs through this month.

Miss Faith

2009-05-06T18:55:00.000-07:00