Goode to Know: Like It, Love It, Hate It

Tonight is going to be pretty random.  I need to do some brainstorming of blog topics. Suggestions welcome BTW:).  You can comment or email me directly-- and yes I am serious.

So in true random fashion, I am going to do one of my favorite type blogs: Love it, Like it, Hate it :)

I love avocados.

I dislike raw celery.

It bums me out when someone makes fun of someone else.

I love my little girl's new haircut.

Sweets do me in every time.

I adore aprons.

I can't stand bullies.

I love being a facilitator.

I don't like that Big chews up everything in sight.

I love how Add adores Big.

I love that Big lives outside.

I heart cookbooks...but you already knew that.

I could spend hours editing photos I like it so much.

I hate doing dishes.

I hate folding laundry.

I hate making the bed.... do we see a non-domestic goddess trend developing here???

I heart country decor.

I heart using "heart" instead of "love" from time to time.

I love my friends and family and the meaning they bring to my life.

I love and hate El all at the same time (see Dear Ole El ).

I hate traffic.

I really like picture frames. Wooden ones, ones with phrases on them, big ones, little ones... Pretty much anything that holds a picture!

I love reading to Addie.  Favorite book right now: Cock-A-Doodle-Moo!

I really like having multiple Gilberts. Takes the pressure off! Shhh!!!

I hate dust. It is such a bother. Please note: My hatred of dust does not imply that I am good or consistent at doing anything about it.

I hate that I have a very messy car and house. Please note: See above note and substitute "mess" for "dust".

I have really grown to love blogging :)

I love whipped cream cheese. (less calories...and light and fluffy!)

I love the children's program at our church.

I heart listening to Addie sing songs.

I really like my job and the people I get to work with and partner with.

I hate not having enough time in the day.

I love flipcharts and smelly markers.

I hate when a good photo is out of focus.

I love the way my husband loves me.

I heart Gilmore Girls and want to move to Stars Hollow.

I love Pioneer Woman and I am completely addicted.

I heart Rosemary. It is my favorite herb. (Dill is a close second...oh and fresh parsley... but wait... gots to have me some basil and oh thyme....)

I heart fresh herbs.

I hate that I stink at garden growin'.  I am so much better at it in my head.

I hate weeds and their constant neediness to be picked all the time.

I love photoshop and actions... lots and lots of actions.

I hate that the only thing I can get Addie to eat on a regular basis is a peanut butter sandwich... or "Butter Sandwich" as she calls it... which when said in public causes even more mommy condemnation.

I heart hairbows and headbands.

I love that I grew up on a farm.

I love being a big sister.

I hate when someone crushes someone's spirit.

I hate that I am a total night owl that has to get up early in the morning.

I love that Addie loves to sleep in.

I really like pizza... All kinds. Homemade, deep dish, supreme, mushroom, PM Delite Mushroom, PM Papa's Favorite with banana peppers, PM Delite Hawaiian, PM Delite Chicken Bacon Artichoke... you get the point... pretty much anything with cheese and sauce that comes from Papa Murphys!

I hate clipping Addie's nails.  It comes from a bad incident when she was still a little infant and I made her bleed.  Haven't had an interest in clipping her nails since.

I love trackball mice and how my wrists don't hurt when I use them.

I heart the color red.

I love my red kitchenmaid mixer.

I hate my red micro-suede couch and its non-toddler approach to life.

I heart quilts.

I love my chocolate brown frieze style carpet.

I hate having light colored hardwood floors. Love the hardwood--hate the color.

I love that so many of you love this blog. It has been so rewarding... Feel free to send me your ideas for future topics: crisgoode@gmail.com  or comment here.

Goode to Me: Aunt Lou

Turns out when you blog, folks begin asking if you are gonna blog about them.  Case in point... Sister Sara otherwise known as Aunt Lou.  Aunt Lou was a sitter for me last weekend while I took my tutued husband to the Halloween party.  (If you don't understand that last sentence, see my previous post Tutus Large and Small , I don't have the energy to explain why he was wearing a Tutu or how it was ok or how it is still REALLY weird to think about or... you get the point)

Anyhow, so Aunt Lou was a sitter for us (not to mention Mikey's make-up artist that night) and so therefore, I owe her a blog.  So here's to you my little Lou, Lou.

My sister's real name is Sara... no "h".  Truth be told mama had something against "h"s  hence my name is Cris not Chris...

Random thing my sister does: Even though I go by Cris, she always spells it Criss--on purpose. That would be because she insists on spelling it the same way my grandfather spelled his name.  I tell ya, these Benefiel women and their stubborn spellings.

Ya may have caught on that we all call her Lou.  Why? Because that is her name... legal name? No.  But it is her name.  We have called her that as long as I can remember.

Addie calls her Sara, Sara Lou, Lou Sara or Lou.  Even the two year old has caught on to the fact that either name will suffice and Lou is preferred... so keep up ...lol!

Lou will always be my little sister. 

Ahh, how sweet right?  What you DON'T see are the clumps of hair she pulled out of my head as I was told to sit still and be good.  Babies of the family, always getting away with murder.

As you can see I wised up here and didn't turn my back on the lil hair puller...lol

This is my favorite pic of us as kids.... a total big sis/lil sis moment

My sis is a special gal.  It has been a pleasure watching her grow into the woman she is today.  She is strong yet kind-hearted. She is free-spirited yet grounded. She is smart yet willing to remain a child at heart.

Note: Poor child to the left... I really think she flung him out of the way.

Truth be told we are very different in many ways.  Even as kids she would run to the edge of a cliff while I would white knuckle the guard rail 10 feet from the edge.  She has never met a stranger and I take a lot of warming up. She would throw a flip, tuck or other acrobatic feat while I would sit and contemplate just how risky that was. She puts up with a lot of things I wouldn't.  But I don't tolerate a lot of things that she is kind- hearted enough to see through. She is approachable. I am protected. 

Many times, she is what brings me back to love. 

God has often used her to renew and shape my faith.

As different as we are, we are defintely still cut from the same cloth.  We both have our Daddy's frankness and our Mama's attention to thoughtful detail. We both are super protective of our family. We both get spittin' mad when someone isn't treated with respect.  We both LOVE Mama's yeast rolls.

Perhaps one of my greater joys is watching her experience Aunthood with little Add.  She relishes in the role and is amazing at it.  Addie is so lucky to have Aunt Lou.

Ultimately, I am blessed to call her Sara Lou Lou Sister Friend.

Thank you for being you Lou.

A Goode Tradition: Punkin' Carvin'

It's Punkin' Carvin' night at the Goodes. We had an unusual amount of pumpkins this year, so we made the best of it!  Big thanks to Aunt Mary and Grendells for all the great pumpkins :)

We were so excited to carve pumpkins this year because Addie could really help and experience all the fun.  In years past we have done the stenciled pumpkins and loved them, but this year we went freestyle and had a blast doing it!

We started out by cutting the tops off all the pumpkins...

and Addie helped gutting them

After she had enough (look at that face...lol!) she and Gilbert watched Daddy gut the pumpkins

Daddy is such a good gutter ;)

Addie loved the cool new hats...Doesn't that poor pumpkin look scared?

Before long, we had made a REALLY big mess

But it was for a good reason ;)

This guy got a little sick

Betcha can't figure out who made that dude...

These are my guys

and these guys...

ooooooohhhh spooooky!

We had so much fun we might just not go back to stencils anytime soon. 

I heart our little Goode Traditions.

Goode to Me: Goode Ole Boy

"So Pud, what should I blog about tonight" (These are family decisions ya know ;))

"Blog about how good looking your husband is"

Lol... this is sooo a typical conversation with Mikey.  I often tell waitresses and store clerks alike that "We are still working on his self-esteem" when he catches them off guard with his "Is so and so as good looking as I am?" routine.

Well ladies and gentlemen I have a breaking annoucement:

He is.  Inside and out.  Surprised aren't ya?  Shocker that I find my hubby attractive... lol. 

He has the most gorgeous blue eyes and an infectious smile (infectious in a good sortta way...not a flu sortta way;) ) He is strong.  And he is an AWESOME daddy.  I love watching him be the father my daughter needs.

He has the most engaging personality.  He makes everyone feel welcomed and loved.  He loves to make you smile and will do just about anything to make that happen...

He made me smile the other day when he took a detour on our usual date night and instead bought me this :)

and this for my cookbooks :)

I love the way they look all on the shelf...

While "things" are nice, it is the thought he put into it that is so great.  He prides himself in taking care of his girls and he does such a good job at it.  He takes Addie to play dates and mommy to movie dates.  We Goode girls know we got it good:)

So, here's to you Pud and all your good lookin'ness... inside and out :)

Gooey Goode Goodeness: Oh Great Punkin'

The other day I saw a super cool idea on the new Gooseberry Patch blog about taking a cheeseball recipe and inserting a stem in it to make it look like a pumpkin.  This got me thinkin' so this weekend I decided to give it a try.  I altered a few things to make it a little more punkin-ey. You can make it with about any cheeseball recipe, just switch out your nuts for slice almonds for a more interesting punkin' shell. But I just started with my basic cheeseball recipe:

1/2 brick of Velveeta cubed

(Now quick, put the rest away before it sticks to your hips!)

1 Cream Cheese Brick at room temperature

1 small bag shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Mix'er up the old fashion way

and shape into a ball

Now chill... the cheeseball (you can chill too, it's just a cheeseball ;) ) in the freezer while you prepare the stem and punkin' shell

Cut the stem off of the real pumpkin and insert toothpicks to prepare for the imposter....muuuwahhhhh!

Now prepare the shell... aka sliced almonds

and shape your newly chilled cheeseball...quick like

Just kiddin' you can take your time...but wasn't that a cool shot Aunt Lou got of my ninja skills?

Just shape up the sides to whatever looks good to you...

Do not be afraid, it isn't rocket science...nope, it is CHEESE:) If you mess up, roll it back into a ball and start over.

Now comes the boring, yet rewarding task of applying the punkin' shell. 

As Aunt Lou told me, "Suck it up and do it"  I hate when she listens to me and uses it against me!

Once you got your shell on, insert the stem on the top.

Ta Dah!

Plop the plate on a grapevine wreath for some extra fall fun!

Please note: Ritz did not sponsor this project. However, Ritz--have your people call my people.  Monkey loves her crackers!

It's a Goode Life: Tutus Large and Small

Anyone who doesn't know my husband is going to just have to trust me on this post. I married a good ole country boy over 11 years ago.  He chews tobacco, drinks beer, plays a mean guitar and is one tough dude.  He also will do just about anything for a laugh as you will soon see.

This year he saw that I was making a pink tutu for Addie's halloween costume. Lil Add is a Ballerina this year because every time I put her dresses on her for church she spins around and says, " I a ballerina Mommy, look at me!"

I had made a similar tutu last year for her faux hulu skirt.  I based the pattern off of a tutu my friend Allison made for her little girl one year.  Anyhow, for whatever reason, Add wasn't taking to the tutu too much as I was making it.  Not sure why, but she was less than impressed.  Her daddy on the other-hand fell in love with the idea....for him.

Ya see I would love to sit here and tell you he dressed up to convince little Add to wear her tutu.  But, that isn't exactly it.  In the end, Add fell in love with her tutu.  But that reason alone would not have him standing outside our house next to the highway dancing and leaping (for the record he was totally sober) to get reactions from drivers by.

No, Daddy had stumbled upon a brilliant idea to win the costume contest at our friend's Halloween Party.  He knew if he could pull it off, he was just about the only person he knew that was crazy enough to pull it off.

Weeks of finding just the right leotard, shoes, tights and yards (AND YARDS) of tuelle followed.  Prepare yourselves, what comes next isn't pretty...

There is a lot we take for granted as women... or better yet, a lot men take for granted about being a woman.  Many hilarious moments were had in the assembly of this costume.

For example, watching Mike try to put on panty hose like he would a pair of pants rather than rolling them up like every woman knows to do. Or listening to Aunt Lou explain to him how she was going to put mascara on him:

"Whatever you do, do not blink"

"I don't know how NOT to blink"

"I am telling you if you blink it will be bad"

"But I don't know how to NOT blink!!!"

"Ok, women usually hold their face like this" (Lou assumes the pose)

"Huh? What good does THAT do?"

In the end he won the contest.  But even though he was the best belle at the ball, his pirouette doesn't hold a candle to our orginal ballerina around here:

Very weird father- daughter moment... just glad our Add is a girl.  It would be pretty difficult explaining to a son why he couldn't wear a tutu like daddy...

That's better

Oh and in the end, Gilbert got the honor of wearing her crown.

Oh and in case you wondered what I went to the party as... I was a Facebook page :)  I was going to go as a Cowgirl, but Mike sat me down and told me he was disappointed in my lack of creativity... well THAT was not going to do.  So, after a little more thought, I thought a Facebook page describing Mike's arrival to the party was pretty fitting.  So, I worked on crafting the right messages and pieced the whole thing together using my little inkjet printer.

I have to tell you, I love being married to such a crazy nut.  Mike loves to have fun and bring a smile to everyone's face.  He got pure joy out of seeing everyone laugh and have a good time.

And in the end, we couldn't get the tutu off of little Add...