Fabric Pumpkins

My sister, my mom, and I got together to sew these fabric pumpkins. I love craft projects but this one was a little more difficult than I anticipated.

Lessons learned:

1. Don't go to the fabric store with my mother if you're hungry . . . it's gonna be a while, and there is just nothing you can do about it.

2. I'm very talented in many areas, but sewing is just not one of them.

3. I've accomplished many things in my life yet I am still unable to make a fabric pumpkin in less than 4 tries and without the use of foul language.

4. Making fabric pumpkins with my mom and sister is a great way to waste an evening :)

5. Sewing machines are complicated pieces of machinery. Operating them takes patience, skill, and a bachelor's degree in rocket science . . . none of which I possess.

They ended up turning out ok. Two of them ended up in the garbage because they didn't even remotely look like pumpkins, and my mom re-sewed the brown one for me. Yikes!

Hysterical quote of the evening:

Mom: "Didn't you girls take home ec. in high school?"

I'm not sure what gave her the impression we didn't . . .

A Hurricane . . . in Ohio???

Yes, that's right. We were hit with hurricane force winds yesterday that tore siding off people's houses (not ours, luckily), uprooted trees, and downed power lines all over the city. We lost power last night and I discovered I would have made a terrible pioneer woman. As John sat at the kitchen table huddled over a magazine, I couldn't stop complaining about the lack of modern conveniences. I spent the evening text messaging my sister on the cell phone - the only piece of modern equipment still working. We cracked each other up pretending to be experiencing a true hurricane. She complained her swing set was smashed to smithereens while I "worried" about storm surge from the lakes in the neighborhood. It is so great to have a sister who understands my unique sense of humor and how trivial our own worries can seem in the face of others' true emergencies.

Seriously, though, I think it would be incredible to be one of those reporters who keep us filled in on all the action LIVE from the hurricane zone. I would be great at that job! My short legs would be sturdy in the wind and I have stamina like nobody's business. I can stay up all night . . . no problem. Unlike the reporters I saw wearing ugly blue raincoats, I would wear a cute polka dot parka with a matching rain hat and boots. Can you picture it? I'd be a hit! Oh, I think I hear the Weather Channel calling now.........

Anyway, we got our power back this morning and had a great day. John went to work and Megan and I made some delicious White Bean Chili. When John got home from work, we ate our yum yums out on the patio and enjoyed the evening. We even found a caterpillar for Megan to examine. There is something about White Bean Chili and the company of the two coolest people in the world. Simply magic!

Try some magic for yourself. Make my mother-in-law Julia's recipe for White Bean Chili and I'll bet you have a perfect evening! It is so, so GOOD.


White Bean Chili (1/2 Recipe)

Servings: 4

2 cans Northern Beans (drained and rinsed)
2 cups cooked and chopped chicken breast
1 TBSP Olive Oil
1 4 oz. can green chillies
1 tsp. cumin, ground
¼ tsp. paprika
1 ½ cups Monterrey jack cheese, shredded
1 medium onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
¾ tsp. oregano
3 cups chicken broth


Cook chicken breasts in chicken broth until done if they are not already cooked. Remove chicken and cut up into 1 inch pieces. Saute onions in oil until tender. Add garlic, chillies, cumin, oregano and paprika. Cook 2 minutes. Add beans and broth and bring to a boil. Add chicken. Reduce heat to medium and heat thoroughly for 10 minutes. Serve in bowls. Sprinkle cheese on top.


*For lower-fat version, I use olive oil cooking spray instead of olive oil and reduced fat cheese.

*You can double the recipe for more servings.
*You can prepare all the ingredients and put in the crockpot to keep it warm.

I've Been Tagged

I guess that means I'm somehow obligated to answer a bunch of questions. Thanks Katie. To check out her blog, click here.

I am: preparing to go on vacation in a week
I need: lots of sunscreen
I know: being a good mom is very important to me
I want: another baby sometime next year
I have: a very blessed life
I dislike: seafood, people who drive too slow in the left lane, wasting time
I miss: when everyone in my extended family lived in the same city
I fear: spiders
I feel: happy and content
I hear: silence because Megan is sleeping
I smell: nothing, and that is a good thing
I cry: more often because I'm happy than sad
I usually: stay up way too late
I search: for a cute Halloween costume for Megan - anyone with ideas?
I wonder: if Megan will ever stay in bed at night
I regret: the times I should have been more kind to people as an officer but was frustrated/busy
I love: everything about being a mom
I care: about eating healthy foods
I always: kiss Megan goodnight and tell her I love her
I worry: before hosting an event - (will I have enough food, what if I burn the roast, etc.)
I am not: shy
I remember: the first time I ever saw John smile
I believe: happiness is all about your perspective
I dance: when I listen to the CD Mary burned for Cooters in the Ozarks '08
I sing: all the time and Megan says, "Mommy, don't sing. Shhhhh!"
I don't always: screw the lid on tightly when I'm done with something . . .this bugs St. John
I argue: when certain individuals want to spend more money than the city has
I write: lists and then lose them before I complete them
I win: if I set my mind to it
I lose: my keys and cell phone at least once a day - my bank card about once a month
I wish: parents would stop forgetting about their babies in the car on hot days - so, so sad
I listen: to Megan read her book You Can't Move a Hippo and smile
I don't understand: why people ever hurt children
I can usually be found: at home or out shopping
I am scared: of flushing the toilet after dark (charming, I know)
I need: to go exercise
I forget: at least 3 items every time I go to the grocery store
I am happy: because I've learned to see the good in all things, create my own happiness, and be glad for what I have right here inside these four walls

A New Tradition

We started a new tradition this year . . . baking cupcakes for the firefighters in honor of September 11.

It is important to me that Megan get a sense of what a "hero" means, and how important it is to remember the people who are willing to risk their lives for us.

Making the cupcakes was great fun . . . giving them away was another story. Megan cried almost the whole way to the firehouse, begging us for permission to eat them ALL. She had one earlier but that didn't seem to be enough for her voracious appetite.

Megan was really afraid at the firehouse. She kept begging us to hold her.

Colin, on the other hand, was "Junior Firefighter of the Year!" They even let him honk the horn on the firetruck.

This ladder truck, which I know from being on city council, is in need of replacement. It will cost $1,000,000 to replace. And you thought your car payment was high!!!

We stopped by the other city fire house as well. Megan still doesn't look too excited about giving away the cupcakes.

Checking out the inside of an ambulance.

That helmet is so ridiculously heavy! I can't believe they actually walk around while wearing it.

One of the firefighters told me it really meant a lot to him that a council member came by the fire house. While I'm glad about that, my visit wasn't political. Tonight, I was just a mommy trying to teach her daughter an important lesson about life. I hope she got the message.

We Will Never Forget

Where were you?

This song always reminds me of where I was on September 11, 2001 . . . "teaching a class of innocent children." It was my first year teaching 5th grade at Willis Middle School. I'll never forget how little my students seemed to me, especially compared to the high school students I was used to teaching.

An office helper brought a folded note to my classroom. Since I was in the middle of teaching a lesson, I thanked the person and placed the note on my desk. The office helper said, "Umm, Ms. Grandits, please read it now." In front of my students, I read that both World Trade Centers had been hit by airplanes in an act of presumed terrorism. Our nation was under attack. All flights were grounded by the FAA but there were other planes in the sky that were not responding to this request. DO NOT tell your students. We don't want to terrify them. Please carry on as usual.

My thoughts flashed to my father who I knew was out of town on business. Was he flying today? Oh my God, please don't let him be flying today.

The cell phone on my hip vibrated. It was my chief of Police. It was the first and only time I've ever answered my cell phone while teaching. He told me to come to work . . . now. Our nation was under attack and we were needed to keep order, just in case. I told him I was in the middle of teaching a class and I would see what I could do after it was over.

My next period was a planning period. When I went to the office to speak to the principal, I was told he was in the library. The office was filled with parents there to pick up their children. On the sign-out sheet, they listed "world situation" as their reason. The sign-out sheet, normally one page, was pages and pages and pages long. I just stood there. Is this really happening? How could this be happening?

When I went to the library, I found my principal and some other teachers crowded into a little closet off the library watching TV footage. I couldn't believe it when I saw the World Trade Centers burning. Horrifying. People were jumping from the buildings. Then they collapsed. How many people were still in there? Oh my God, how many people? The Pentagon had been hit also. New York City looked like a movie set, only it wasn't a movie. It wasn't make believe. We were watching people die on the television but they weren't actors. They were real people. It was like a nightmare but it was very, very real.

Do you remember hearing the shrill? The shrill of the firefighters' alarms, screaming into the black smoke as they lay under the rubble . . . hundreds of them. I'll never forget that sound.

I never asked my principal to leave that day. I knew my students would come back to my classroom after their gym class having already heard the rumors. Most of my students, who were classified as "emotionally disturbed," came from very difficult backgrounds and family situations. I knew their parents were not amongst those who filled the office to the brim with concern and worry. I knew they would go home to empty houses to watch the TV coverage alone. They would be watching as the TV played and replayed airplanes intentionally crashing into buildings occupied by thousands of people. I had to somehow find a way to convince them that everything was going to be ok, even when I wasn't sure of that myself. My police uniform would have to wait . . . I was needed at school with my group of innocent children.

September 11 is about remembering, praying, and thanking God for our heroes. It's about the firefighters and police officers who walked up the stairs of a burning building when everyone else was running out. Would you have the courage to do that . . . to save people you had never met? It is about knowing that the greatest of tragedies provided an amazing opportunity for the human spirit to prevail. They could knock down our buildings but they couldn't take away our love and compassion for each other.

"Faith, hope, and love are some good things HE gave us, but the greatest is LOVE." -Alan Jackson

Favorite Pic of the Summer

Can it really be September already? Just last week, it was so HOT here . . . in the upper 90s and it felt sweltering. Today was the first day in a while that I could feel fall coming. It was about 72 but it felt freezing, comparatively speaking.

I love fall but I'll really miss the summer and all the wonderful things that go along with it - teaching Megan to ride a tricycle, watching her stuff her face with ripe (and not so ripe) tomatoes from the garden, taking walks around the neighborhood with frequent stops to examine the ants and anything else crawling around, finding grasshoppers in the backyard, learning to swim with floaties on her arms at GG's pool, yelling "Look Dadda! I'm doing it!" Sweet memories.

My sister took this picture of Megan, fresh from a swim in GG's pool.

I just love it!

This Day Brought to You by the Letter B

This past weekend, my friend Kasey turned 30. The girls got together to throw her a party. At the party, I ran into a lot of the girls I used to teach at Reynoldsburg High School. Many of them questioned me curiously,

"Aren't you BORED?"

They obviously aren't frequent readers of "My Stay-at-Home-Momma-Drama," or they would see my life is anything but BORING.

I decided to dedicate today to the letter B.

Megan and I looked through magazines for things that began with the letter B.

We glued them down on scrapbook paper to put them in a book.

We found pictures of a burger, button, balloon, boots, bears, bed, and a boy. Not bored yet!

Then we went on a B scavenger hunt to find things around the house than began with B. Look, a bookbag!

A book!

A ball!

A sweet baby!

Then we took out the play dough.

Wow, the letter B. Still not bored!

Then we made some lunch together. We had noodles in a BOWL while wearing a BIB.

We even had some cucumber and green pepper from our garden! Brilliant.

At naptime, we discovered a few things we missed on our scavenger hunt - BINKY, BUTTERFLY pillow, and of course, BINKYDOG!

I guess to some, this may be boring.

To me, it is absolute BLISS.