It's a Goode Life: One of these things is not like the other

So I am walking by my picture wall today and something caught my eye...

I didn't notice how crooked my frames were... that is their natural state and they like it that way.

So, in true Sesame Street fashion I played a little "one of these things is not like the other"

What did I find?

Addie's Potty Sticker Card. I guess she wanted her friends on the picture wall as well!

Daddy says it is going to stay until she decides to take it down :)

And THAT would be why I married that man.

It's a Goode Life: Lil' Miss Manners

At our last trip to the Pediatrician, the Doc mentioned that Miss Add had great manners.

The trip was filled with "Please" and "Thank Yous" as are many of our outings. Many folks often give Add a pat on the back for her Goode Manners.

I share this info not to brag...(as you will soon learn this has little to do with my parenting skills) but rather to set the stage for the story behind Lil' Miss Manners.

You see, the manner police around here is not Mommy as some might suspect, but instead Daddy.

Yep.

Big Ole tough railroading Mike doubles as Emily Post around here ;)

You can overhear his lectures on the importance of "Excuse mes" and "Bless yous" quite regularly.

And for the most part Miss Add picks up on them pretty quickly. She says "No thanks", 'Thank you", "Please", "Excuse me", "Bless you" and my personal favorite: "Good bye boys and girls".

However there was one she had a little trouble with the other night.

I was listening in as Daddy went right into correction mode and began to instruct Miss Add.

"Move Daddy"

"Addie, you don't say move."

"Please Daddy???"

"You say Excuse Me"

"Excuse me"

"Good! Let's try again."

"Move, Daddy...please?"

"No, what do you say... Excuse Me"

"Excuse me"

"Great job! Now move so Daddy can go get firewood."

LOL!!!

He didn't even realize that he said move until I started laughing hysterically.

I guess this falls into the "do as I say, not as I do" parental category.

Get used to it Miss Add. If I know your parents at all, I doubt this will be the last time ;)

It's a Goode Life: Goode-ies

Last night I discovered that I could add pages to this blog. So, I have been busy doing some rearranging around here :) It has been nice giving my blog a little TLC. I have been neglecting her this month and I am ready to get back into the swing of things. I really miss her (and you ;) ) when I am away.

At the top of the blog you should find several new lil' nooks and crannies that I will stash nuggets of information and Goode-ies from time to time :)

Now you will find Goode Characters to help readers new and old keep all us Goode folks straight. (Truth be told Aunt Lou is none too pleased that she is listed below Gilbert. Cheer up Lou, you ranked above El ;P )

Then you will find Goode Posts. This is where I will keep a listing of my favorite posts. Goode Classics so to speak.

My favorite new little area is Goode Designs. This is where I will highlight some fun design projects. If you check it out right now you will find a free offer as a special gift to my readers.

I have also added a place for Goode Words. Right now this is a place for our favorite quotes. Eventually it might house some Goode-isms...

The last page (for now) is under construction. Goode Photos will be a place for some of our favorite family photos.
 
Thanks for stoppin' by our little neck of the woods.

It's A Goode Life: The Girls have been freed!

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Girls have been freed!

And no, I am not referring to the burning of any undergarments.

I am referring to my Gilmore Girls DVDs that have been trapped in our broken DVD player...

If you are unfamiliar with Lorelai and Stars Hollow and Luke and Rory and Emily and Kirk and Suki... well I am not sure we have much to talk about until you do...so quick, go get the series and watch them--do not pass go, do not collect 200 dollars.

Now back to our hostage situation.

I have been imagining Lorelai hollering "Help me, helllllllppppp me!" over and over again-- in a way that only Lorelai can.

So, I have been holding a "Puddie Save the Girls" campaign until he finally caved and began the rescue. ;)

He was not amused by my gasping at every little sound as they were being rescued.

It was VERY hard for me to see them in peril.

The Girls (as Addie calls them) are a fixture in our home and have a lot of sentimental emotions tied to them. We first got to know them right after Addie was born and watched them constantly during my maternity leave. 

Addie loves the Girls.

We watch them so much that one day Add and I were taking a photo of  us in a mirror and when she saw the picture, she turned to me and said, "Look Mommy! The Girls!!!" I melted.

But Puddie, he took charge and saved the day.

I was so relieved.

And then it was revealed that not only had the Girls been trapped...

 but Miss Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy as well!

Thank heavens I was unaware of the extent of this misfortune or someone would have had to fetch my smelling salts!

But fear not, My Puddie came through for me.

However, the theater system was not as lucky. (Don't tell Puddie, but serves it right for holding my favorite folks captive!)

BTW - If anyone knows of someone selling a good used 1000w system for cheap-- email me. (We are a Ramsey family these days afterall ;) )

Anyhow, this little detainment made me think of how humorous it might be to imagine Lorelai meeting Mr. Darcy *swoon* and his prejudice ...(or better yet Catherine Deberg...lol!)

In honor of their freedom I found a couple sets of clips of Gilmorisms...

And one great Pride and Prejudice moment...

Betcha can't guess what I have playing on the Xbox right now. You get two guesses ;)

It's a Goode Life: 10 Things

Just for kicks let's do a little game called 10 things you probably didn't know (but may have suspected) about the Goodes...

#1 We TiVo more kids programs than adult programs.  There is something comforting about having that kiddie crack on demand and I am woman enough to admit it.

#2 About once a year Puddie gives us a scare with some self-inflicted accidental injury. Whether it be sawing off part of his hand with the Christmas tree trunk or busting his hand up with a fight with the ceiling fan, he does it up right.

#3 In reference to #2, we are all good for this year. Tonight Puddie lopped off the tip of his thumb while cutting up onions for our veggie soup. Fear not, the soup and 5/6ths of the thumb survived.

#4 There is not a single picture on my picture wall that is hanging straight... It is a talent. I am available for consultations.

#5 I really thoroughly enjoy helping Puddie to cut and stack firewood.

#6 Currently 2 of our Gilmore Girls DVDs are being held captive in our broken DVD player. :( I am about to start a "Puddie Please Save the Girls" campaign.

#7 In other uncooperative appliances news, we currently have a ceiling fan (the one I CAN find light bulbs for) that suddenly refuses to shut off the light when requested. This is in addition to a light fixture that refuses to turn on... I think my house is turning on me.

#8 In our house fruit snacks are called  "ponies" and Capri Sun is called "box juice".

#9 After 9 months of no wasps, I have seen 2 wasps in the floor in the wee hours of the morning in the last week since blogging about it... weird. Do you think Puddie is putting them there to mess with me?

#10 Reports are that Big is living large with our Amish friends. He has taken quiet the liking to life on the farm and they have taken a liking to him. Their only disappointment is that he likes to spend so much of his time with... you guessed it, the sheep!

It's a Goode Life: A Goode Night

Miss Add is back from a visit with MeMaw and Papaw and boy, oh boy did she have a lot to fill me in on...

When I first walked in the door...

"Hi Mommy! Books!"

"Hi Addie! Books?"

"Books Mommy, I want the books!"

Pretty soon I saw what she was talking about... a large box of books was sitting in my entry way and Miss Add--well she wanted them. So without asking questions,(questions like where the heck did these books come from?!?) I took the books in the living room before even taking my jacket off and we got down to business.

That would be a lot of books. Some classics. Some new adventures.

We love books around here.

Miss Add sat in the floor singing, "I LUUUUVVVV these books!" 

I got a chuckle when she told me this book was about Papaw...lol!

Memaw then called and explained how she bought the box of books (and 6 other boxes) for a dollar! Memaw always finds the best deals.

After I got off the phone with Memaw, Miss Add told me all about her time with Memaw and Papaw. She told me about riding horsies with Papaw and about playing picture takin' with Memaw..."Cheese!"

Hmmm... I am a little familiar with that game.

Gilbert got in on the fun too.

She then told me the big story of the trip...

She got to build a snowman!

She talked about him quite a bit.

I do believe there was some drama around a nose that fell off...

And a mouth that fell as well...

Looks to me like they got 'er figured out though...

After the story was over, we decided to get a heapin' helpin' of Veggies!

Veggie Tales that is ;)

We watched the story of Flibber-O-Loo and it had us all enthralled and in stitches!

I have a feeling that we will be having many more nights like this in the future... and ya know, that is fine by me.

Just sayin'

Goode Goodeness: Breakfast, It's What's For Dinner. But should it be?

Tonight was Breakfast for Dinner Night at the Goodes.

Truth be told, I have a love/hate relationship with this concept.

I heart food. Shocker, right?

I am a calorie-collector you could say. But unless I want to be as big as a house I have learned I have to choose a limited number of calories each day...And, Breakfast has always struggled to "sell" me on its the worth in the calories department.

Back in the day, I would only splurge on Breakfast cals when my Daddy would take me to breakfast bright and early every Saturday morning. I would get biscuits and gravy... I heart biscuits and gravy. (Truth be told, I hearted those breakfasts even more than the B'n'G.)

I also loved my mom's French toast and can remember waking in the morning to that smell and being so excited. She made the best French toast.

Anyhow, pretty much any other time breakfast was involved I kind of felt it was a waste of calories, so I would eat healthy for breakfast and splurge my calories on more important matters like pizza and cookies... I was such a health nut ;)

I recall being bummed anytime someone would suggest the Breakfast for Dinner concept. Why anyone in their right mind would choose pancakes over lasagna was beyond me.

But then, I became a busy adult and eventually the concept grew on me... I am still conflicted on this, but apparently I am somewhat of a breakfast for dinner gal because I had French Toast and Scrambled Eggs tonight and loved it...

But something isn't sitting right with me, so I feel the need to make a love/hate list before sharing my French toast recipe...

Perhaps it is my need to be honest with you. I mean you could go around thinking "Oh, she is one of THOSE breakfast for dinner types" and you would be sooo wrong. But hey--that is what you get for being so judgemental...

Back to the list. Why I love/hate breakfast food for dinner.

LOVE: Can eat leftovers tomorrow morning without feeling guilty about eating dinner for breakfast.

HATE: That breakfast foods don't seem to go well together. I ate my French Toast and then my Scrambled Eggs (w/ketchup :) ) because it seemed weird to me to eat them together...

LOVE: You can eat ketchup with a lot of breakfast foods ;) I heart ketchup. Seriously. I could eat ketchup for dinner.

HATE: Grits. Seriously. Sand in a bowl.

LOVE: Lots of fiber rich/fiber enhanced food is available for breakfast foods. From the new FiberOne pancake mix to oatmeal, there are a lot of healthy breakfast foods that are pretty tasty and an easy way to stay on track at dinner if you opt for the Breakfast for Dinner option.

HATE: That restaurants can't seem to figure out how to put all of your breakfast on one plate. Seriously... I do not need 10 plates for one meal.

LOVE: That I can quickly cook up a whole loaf of my mama's French toast (sans fat/sugar; added fiber) and freeze it up and have it for breakfast during the work week.

So, tonight I made up a batch of my twist on Mama's French Toast.

I started with my favorite bread in the whole wide world. (Sometimes I use low cal bread, but tonight I was out so I went with what I had on hand.)

I heart this bread. It is high in fiber, fantastic in taste and decent in the calorie department.

First I take  1/2 cup Splenda (take care this is the only "real" measurement in this recipe ;) )

Sprinkle on some cinnamon

Ok, I mean  A LOT of cinnamon

Then add an egg...

And four whites...

Now you could do this separately (no pun intended) and then add it in, but I choose to live dangerously.

Wisk'er up

Then add some vanilla. (and when you do it make sure the vanilla is in focus as you take your picture ;) )

No measurement-- Mama wouldn't have it that way ;) (1 T-ish)

Then attempt to keep the milk in focus and fail miserably ;) My cooking photog skills are apparently rusty.

No milk measurements either. Just until it "looks right." My guess is about 3-4 cups.

Wisk'er up again

K, my lack of focus here turned out pretty cool and swirly ;)

Spray the griddle with cooking spray...

Oh and remember to turn on both burners... not saying I forgot one of them or anything. Let's just say the back half of my griddle wasn't quite as warm as it could have been until my last batch... and I was puzzled as to why.

Dunk your bread. Both sides please.

Then lay 'er out on the griddle.

Don't mind that some are more cinnamon-ney than others, it all evens out in the end... and this just proves that despite my every effort, I am far from perfect...darn!

Let them get crispy on each side.

Side Note:  Did you know that CRISPY is my spell check name... Can't tell you how many times spell check has led me (and others...lol) astray on this.

Dear Crispy, ...lol

Anyhow, stack 'em up. Eat' em up. Freeze 'em up. You're done!

So what is your verdict? Where do you fall on such a controversial subject as Breakfast for Dinner?

With Love,

 -Crispy

It's a Goode Life: Lightenin' things up a bit...

This weekend I decided to kick start some changes I have been wanting to pursue by making a small subtle external change...

I'm talkin' hair dye baby...

No big deal... except that I don't dye my hair.

There were a few years of highlights in my twenties and one very unfortunate incident that surrounded an attempt to go red...but we won't talk about that.

So this little change was a bit of a step for me.

My hair usually serves as my catalyst for a change when I find myself in a funk and want to get myself in a new frame of mind... usually by way of a cut, but this time I went for color.

Hi-Lift Brown to be exact...

Now I don't think I will be strutting around in thigh-high boots anytime soon and for the record I have the good sense to get my hair out of my eyes-- but I like the confidence this chick displays.

So, I let Aunt Lou dye my hair. And, I am pretty happy with the results.

Just a hair (lol) lighter and brighter.

After playin' Beauty Shop, Puddie and I then decided to take my new 'do on the town for a long overdue date night.

We mixed it up a bit and went to AMC instead of RAVE...

We went and saw Dear John

We LOVED the movie. It was really good and not what we expected.

After the movie we were off to Carinos... Yum!

It was so nice to finally get a night on the town with my best friend.

I heart date nights.