EGGS

I think eggs are a funny thing, you can do so many things with them and make them taste so many different ways. Everybody has their preferences on how to eat them and just bc you like an egg one way does not mean you will like it a different way. We had eggs for breakfast 3 days last week and everytime it was like a different meal. We all like scrambled eggs but Glenn doesn't like scrambled egg casserole (scrambled eggs with tater tots, cheese, chopped turkey, ham or bacon bits) that much and yet we all love quiche! We all love a good hard boiled egg but Glenn and the babies don't like deviled eggs and I love them! especially with bacos. :) Kirsten says, "you can scramble em, hard boil em, sunnyside up em and then you get egg crazy and then their eggcellent!" lol Mmmm...sunnyside up or over medium eggs! gotta love some runny yolks! :) Glenn likes those with grits, I like them with hashbrowns. Cayden likes ranch on his eggs (all kinds) and Kirsten drenches hers in ketchup! Oh, yes, and we can't forget a good scrambled egg sandwich! soooo good! Eggs for breakfast, eggs for lunch, eggs for dinner, I think maybe we need some chickens! lol all this talk of the versatility off eggs kinda makes me think of potatos and all the things you can do with one of those too! Oh, but maybe that should be a discussion for another time, or maybe you just get the idea! :) lol

Menus

I plan 2 weeks worth of menus at a time (breakfast, lunch and dinner) and make my grocery list from that. We have a very tight budget and this helps me make sure that we have enough food to last till the next payday. Now none of this is "set in stone" and can be changed as needed but it gives me a good guideline and Kirsten and Chris like to "see what the menu says". One thing that they enjoy is they get to put one thing on the menu each week and I do my best to make sure it gets bought. Chris' favs are pringles (original) and he just recently requested CHOCOLATE ice cream! They look forward to these treats bc we can't afford them all the time. When we first started letting them choose, Kirsten ALWAYS chose grits! I got so tired of grits and I usually love them! lol. Seems like Glenn wants to challenge me, quite often he will request something I have never made before! Another thing I do is if something happens (like mama feeds us!) :) then I put what we didn't eat on the next set of menus bc I have already bought the stuff for it so it just helps with the next checks grocery $. Menus were Glenn's idea and I thought I would hate it but then my OCD took over and I made it more detailed (he was thinking just planning dinner) and now I love it! It is nice when I am having a hard time with brain freezes and can't make decisions and that is one thing that is already decided for me!

randomness

wow, I haven't typed up a blog in awhile. Sorry to all of you who anxiously await my writings, assuming you do. :) ok, so here are a few happenings at the Derr house! Enjoy! So many times I think throughout the day: OH, I should blog that. but then when I sit down to do the actual typing I am usually so tired I just sit there in front of my blank screen with an equally blank mind so I have decided to keep notes on what I think you might enjoy or what I would like to remember and then when I sit down to type all I have to do is check my notes. :) On 3-9-11 Kayson had his first mashed bananas, he seemed to enjoy them. Then I was holding Kayson wrapped in a light blanket and Keegan wanted to know where his "feet go?" and had to move the blanket over to find Kayson's feet. lol so cute! Then Keegan starts waving Kayson's arms, saying, "fly, fly, fly" and Kayson is smiling and laughing!! :D We went to a pizza place in Marshall for the first time (Larry's Pizza) to celebrate Honey being on spring break and really enjoyed it, good pizza, good service, great atmosphere! They even had a loaded baked potato pizza!! I had never eaten a potato pizza before, I loved it! Cayden was practicing his Ii's and other letters and started singing Jingle Bells! Kayson has started saying, "dadadadadadadada" - Kirsten claims it is his first word and of course Glenn concurs! "that's my boy!" he says! Keegan wanted "another cookie" and pouted (complete with stuck out lip) at all gone. Then they were ALL laughing at me bc the boys were in bed and Chris was yelling Keegan who was pulling on and extension cord that was hanging from the top bunk onto the bottom bunk for plugging in various electronics (I have told them numerous times NO cords in bed, it scares me to pieces!) so I climbed halfway up the side (no ladder to keep Keegan off!) to untangle the cord from the top, got that done, took one look down and couldn't move! (yes, scared of heights) Chris had to go get Glenn (who threatened to video and post it) to come help me!! sososososo mean of all of them to laugh at me! ok I will leave you with one last funny, I was letting Kirsten read an FB post and I had wrote =D in it and she says, "what does the equals d mean?" took me a second to get it and then I just had to laugh! I turned the netbook sideways and she saw the smile then. guess it is all in how you look at it! oops that was a lesson wrapped in a funny and I didn't even realize it at first! Sometimes I really need to let God change the way I see things! love to all, sweet dreams, God bless and prayers to Japan!

Identifying your impossible people

The Critic - constantly complains (about you) and gives unwanted advice (in the prescence of others)
The Martyr - forever the victim and wracked with self-pity
The Wet Blanket - pessimistic and automatically negative
The Steamroller - blindly insensitive to others (just doesn't care how you feel or how things affect you)
The Gossip - spreads rumors and leaks secrets
The Control Freak - unable to let go and let be (my way or the highway type person)
The Backstabber - irrepressibly two-faced
The Cold Shoulder - disengages and avoids contact
The Green-Eyed Monster - seethes with envy (seethes seems like such a fun word to say)
The Volcano - builds steam and is ready to erupt (my children seem to turn up my heat quite often!)
The Sponge - constantly in need but gives nothing back (heard this said of babies, that they just take take take and yes, babies are a lot of work and they do take alot but I think what they do give back is priceless and worth it all! their love and their trust, their smiles, they are glad to see you no matter what, that is what makes it all worth it!)
The Competitor - keeps track of tit for tat
The Workhorse - always pushes and is never satisfied
The Flirt - Imparts innuendoes, which may border on harassment
The Chameleon - eager to please and avoids conflict
(parenthesis are my words)
from High-Maintenance Relationships by Les Parrott III PH.D.

The high-maintenance self-test

By answering these questions you can assess whether or not you are in a high-maintenance relationship. Answer each item carefully and honestly.
(questions with stars are my yesses)
Do you feel especially anxious when a particular person has called and left a message for you to return the call?
*Have you recently been dealing with a relationship that drains you of enthusiasm and energy?*
Do you sometimes dread having to see or talk to a particular person at work or in a social situation?
Do you have a relationship in which you give more than you get in return?
*Do you find yourself second-guessing your own performance as a result of an interaction with this person?*
*Do you become more self-critical in the presence of this person?*
*Is your creativity blocked, or is your clarity of mind hampered somewhat, by the lingering discomfort of having to deal with a difficult person?*
*Do you try to calm yourself after being with this person by eating more, biting your nails, or engaging in some other unhealthy habit?*
**Do you ever have imaginary conversations with this person or mental arguments in which you defend yourself or try to explain your side of a conflict?** (I thought I was the only one that did this!)
Have you become more susceptible to colds, stomach problems, or muscle tension since having to deal with this difficult person?
*Do you feel resentful that this person seems to treat other people better than she or he treats you?*
*Do you find yourself wondering why this person singles you out for criticism but rarely acknowledges things you do well?*
Have you thought about quitting your job as a result of having to interact with this difficult person?
*Have you noticed that you are more irritable or impatient with people you care about because of leftover frustrations from your interaction with this difficult person?*
*Are you feeling discouraged that this person has continued to drain you of energy despite your efforts to improve the relationship?*
Scoring: Total the number of yesses(10). 10 or more, you are certainly in a high-maintenance relationship.
Taken from the book "High-Maintenance Relationships" by Les Parrott III PH.D.
sord of makes ya think doesn't it?

funnies, take 2!

ok, let me try this once again and see if I can keep from erasing everything I type! still don't know what I did last night! Cayden comes out of his room with his elmo costume (a shirt type costume with an elmo head hood) on and Keegan (the one that has been refusing to start talking) says "melmo!" so then Cayden puts "melmo" on Keegan who promptly walks over to Kayson who starts SCREAMING! As I am wondering why I pick him up and calm him down and then he looks back at "melmo" and starts SCREAMING again! Keegan puts the hood down and Kayson becomes all smiley! lol, a few minutes later I am holding Kayson helping Cayden read a book on the ipad and here comes Keegan with the hood up again and Kayson starts shaking and SCREAMING! He is scared of the Elmo costume!! so the next thing I know is Keegan had left the room and came back and was standing there when all the sudden I see this shooting stream! I look and he has NO diaper on! so I get him cleaned up (elmo now needs laundered so Kayson doesn't have to be scared till then) and a clean diaper on then go in search of his other diaper (I know he had one on bc I had changed him that am!) When I can't find it, Kirsten suggests the trash so I look and guess what?! it is there and wet! He had taken it off and thrown it away! Today we spent the afternoon/evening at my mom's so we were getting ready to leave and Kirsten and Chris had already went out the door and I realize the house is locked! I find them sitting on the porch and Kirsten informs me that she had tried to use her pocket knife to unlock the door! apparently she has seen her daddy do it! My own daughter tried to break into my house! lol

crying

I was almost through typing a post about funnies this am and my finger slipped and hit something and it ALL disappeared! I have no idea what I did or how to get it back and I just want to cry! I can't retype it all bc I need some sleep, so goodnight to all and I hope to retype it for you later, we had a very interesting morning that I would like to have written down to remember. :(