The Peanut Walker Chronicles

It’s been a typical summer around here, rain almost everyday. There for a while things were so dry, we prayed for rain. I love the rainy afternoons. The sound of the rain hitting the tin roof, the rumbling of thunder and the darkness that comes are all so comforting and relaxing. It’s what happens afterwards that  drives me MAD! Frogs, happy frogs everywhere!

These past few days we have had frogs move in. I can’t tell you how many or where they are exactly, because, I can’t find them. I’ve looked! They are VERY happy frogs and it’s starting to cost me my sanity. I like frogs. I like to collect things that have frogs on them. Today, after a solid week of rain and frogs, well, I no longer like frogs! They are loud and croak for HOURS!! I really mean hours. I can turn the back porch light on and nothing. It doesn’t stop them.

Yesterday, it was still light when they started their croaking. When I went out back I saw one swimming in the pool. The nerve of him! To make so much noise and help himself to MY pool. Or maybe it was his frog buddies egging him on to keep swimming in the “mad human woman’s” pool that was so loud. It’s not just one frog croaking either, it’s several.

I’ve never had a frog problem before. But it sure sounds like we live next to a swamp. The only natural predator I know of for frogs is snakes. Can’t have that. I don’t see the frogs during the day so the birds can’t get them. I guess I am going to have to find some way to make peace with the frogs. They surely do not care that I’m teetering on the edge!

I thought I’d share one of my favorite pictures. This is a typical day at our house. One of the boys picking at the other and Millie out of her cage. She has started clawing at the sides so we will get her out.

I made a mistake on the date for the deal. It said the 12th. BUT, I got an e-mail today stating it has been extended to the 15th. I read this several times to make sure. So, the Snapfish deal of 50 prints for $.50 plus S&H goes through July 15th.

I really hate it when I mix things up like that. I usually only do it when I am stressed. Growing up was another story. So many people suffer from Dyslexia.

This deal is good until  July 21. Using code JUL4PENNY08  you will get 50 prints for $.50 plus S & H. Go to www.snapfish.com. If you are new to this you’ll need to create an account. Once you have, just upload your pictures. Snapfish walks you through the steps to create your album and upload your photos. It’s not hard at all.

From time to time Snapfish will have a great deal like this. I love using this for family members who don’t own a computer. It’s great to be able to send a big stack of pictures to the grandparents.

 Remember, this deal is only good until July 21. I just did my order and my total was $3.98! I just LOVE a deal!!!

It’s that time again. Free samples at Walmart!

Bearded Dragons eat live food. I think that is SO gross!! Here I’m always telling the boys that they can’t bring the bugs they catch in the house but yet, I’m buying live bugs to feed to Millie. Well, on such a trip, we bought 50 live crickets for Millie. We took our cricket cage and had them ‘filler up‘.

Since we were so close to Grandma’s we HAD to meet for lunch. (They boys and Grandma would never pass up a chance for a visit.) We had a nice, quick lunch, then we went back to the car. When I opened the door to put Walker in his car seat a cricket jumped out at us. I froze thinking,” Not good, those buggers are in a cage!!” But, maybe just one got out. Then I hear Brandon, “Mom there’s a cricket on the seat.” OH NO!!!!!!!!!

Now, remember, we BOUGHT 50 crickets. I picked up the cage to see only about 10 left in there!!!!!

Let’s paint the picture. We went to town today. I decided to dress up a little. My hair looked nice; my cloths matched and didn’t have any stains from the kids, yet. I had on some cute sandals and even wore perfume. Oh, and I wore white pants. (Now, the boys were dressed nice too but who cares at this point.) It’s very hot outside. The parking lot is packed because it’s lunchtime. The drive way was right behind our car because of the design on the place.

We now see that the crickets are everywhere! For some reason they really liked being on the driver side. They were all around the gas and brake pedals. Brandon says,” Let’s get Millie out and let her start eating them.” In theory, that sounded good so we gave it a try.

The new picture: I now look like a MAD WOMAN!! My hair is either stuck to the side of my face with sweat or just sticking straight up. My voice, while trying to remain calm, is starting to get shrill. Walker could care less about the crickets and is bored. He keeps wondering behind the car, which is sending me over the edge because of all of the people driving by who could care less about the panicky mom! Brandon is having a great time showing Millie all the crickets she can eat. The thing is, there are over 30 roaming around and she’s only eaten about 5!!!!!

Ok, I’ve GOT to calm down!! We’ve been in this parking lot over 30 minuets now. I put Walker in his seat and sweep out any crickets that are next to him. I tell Brandon to put Millie up and just sweep out the crickets. We have to get out of this parking lot. The area of town we are in isn’t that great and we’ve made ourselves a perfect target for carjackers and thieves. (This was going through my head the whole time!)

Now, I have to drive this car, which is still full of crickets, 20 minuets back to Grandma’s house. The worst part of all this is that I have a BIG problem with things touching my toes!! It is pure torture for something to brush or CRAWL across my feet. I had on sandals!

Half way to the house the car starts chirping! Then it happened, a cricket crawled across my toes!!!!!!!!!!!! I have to say, I handled it pretty well. I did scream, but I didn’t not swerve the car. I kept thinking about my kids in the back. I told my self screaming was ok but don’t dare wreck over crickets!! The boys thought it was pretty funny.

As soon as we pulled into the driveway, we got out and opened all the doors thinking they might jump out. It was about 90 that day and apparently, the crickets were quit content to wonder through the car and trunk. They were just a singing. Brandon gets Millie out again and tries to get her to eat more of the crickets. However, it didn’t work. She had had enough of the chaos.

By this time, I have had enough! The car is still chirping and there is no way I’m getting back in there! I was suppose to go to a nice Ladies Night Out get together but now ……oh well!

Have you ever uploaded your pictures and found something like this?

I always ask if someone has been playing with my camera. There are always two little voices responding, “No, I wasn’t.” But then the youngest voice continues, “Not me Mom. I wasn’t taking pictures. No. I didn’t do it.” Little does he know I have plenty of evidence. It’s pretty bad when you take a picture of you own face and then deny it was you.

I’m so glad I’m not paying for film development anymore! That was very aggravating!

Gum is not a friend of mom’s. Certainly not when the person chewing it is 4. Today, Walker got into his big brothers gum. I decided I’d let him keep it and see how he did. He’s had gum before but I always ended up taking it from him because he plays with it like it’s silly putty. (Another enemy)Before long I hear Brandon say,” Ut-oh, Walker, you got gum in your hair.” I keep Walker’s hair short for a reason! I tell Brandon to tell Walker to come to me. You would have thought I sent a message of death. Walker starts screaming,” No, not yet! I ‘ll get it out!” I wasn’t mad and did not yell for Walker. He gets away with stuff all the time however this time he started to freak out. Then I see why. The gum is stuck is his short hair and on his skin. It must really hurt.I call for him again. This time he walks up to me like nothing is going on. He has his hand covering the gum on his head and he calmly asks me what I want. I ask him to put his hand down and he refuses. Like in the 30 seconds it took for him to come to me I forgot he had gum in his hair. He tries to change the subject by asking if he can play on the computer. I tell him to put his hand down again and this time he does.

When I first met my husband I was a cute size 6. He and his family use to make fun of me because I didn’t care for fried chicken, mashed potatoes or steak. It’s not that I didn’t like to eat but I figured the less I liked the less I would gain.

Fast forward 14 years—now I like it all and I’m no where near a size 6! I still try to loose weight but I don’t need to tell you how most of the time that’s a loosing battle! My husband cooks most of the time. He’s great at it too! Guess what he made today from scratch? Cinnamon rolls!!! YUM! It was his first time to make them and they are to die for! He’d love to open a diner one day so he’s been trying out all these new treats.

Gosh, I really don’t see how we can loose weight now! He’ll have to just stop cooking!

I just love to watch the Food Network. I’m not a very good cook at all, but am always hopeful that an easy, can not fail recipe will catch my attention. Guess what! One did. It’s corn soup. I’m not a big soup fan either but there was something about this one. It just looked too easy to screw up! So, that afternoon I tried it. To my surprise my kids devoured it and asked for more! WOW!!!Here’s what you’ll need:

Corn –I used fresh but they used frozen, a bag

Zucchini — 2 but it’s a matter of taste

Red Bell Pepper- 1 is more than enough

Tomato- I used 3 plum 

Chicken broth or Veggie–1 can

 Milk–about a cup

 What I love about this recopied is that everything is some of this and/or some of that. Nothing is exact. In fact, the second time I made it I used scallions instead of a red bell pepper. First, I sliced the corn off of 5 ears. Then, cut up everything else about the size of a corn kernel. That way it all cooks evenly. Heat up your pot, put in some oil and cook the zucchini, onion and all but 1 cup of the corn. Just cook it until it starts to get soft. Get out your food processor and blend the cup of corn with some milk. You want to make sure it is pretty much liquid. This is a substitute to using cream as a thickener. Once the veggies are starting to soften add everything else, EXCEPT the tomatoes, to the pot and bring to a slight boil. At the end add the tomatoes. It couldn’t be easier. You alter it to fit your taste. I add extra milk to the pot just to make sure it’s soupy.

It’s a perfect summer time soup. With all the zucchini and corn being harvested you can make loads and then freeze it!