Domestic Goddess!

So, I have many talents, but as anyone who knows me can attest - cooking is not one of them. When my husband and I started dating, several of my friends pulled him aside to say stuff like: she's a great girl, but you DO know she can't cook, right? So I definitely lucked out when I married C, who not only likes to cook, but is a pretty great cook!

But guess what I did last night?

I baked sweet bread - from SCRATCH!!! And it came out GREAT!!



I got to use the beautiful bunt pan that I got for our wedding. (That thing hadn't been taken out of the cabinet since I got it!) And I only messed up the recipie a little - I measured about half the ingredients with a 1/3 measuring cup instead of a 1/2 meaasuring cup, so then I had to throw a little extra of stuff in... But it came out great, and C was so impressed! We enjoyed it last night right out of the oven, and I caught him having a big piece from breakfast this morning too. My mom would be so proud!

–The Good Stepwitch

Home Improvement

HAP is in Texas visiting their grandmother for 10 days. Whenever the kids are away for a time, I usually take advantage of a quiet house by doing some sort of house project. So this weekend I started the project of re-doing the kids's bathroom. We hadn't really done anything in there, so it will definately benefit from a makeover. I painted all the trim white (because all the trim throughout the whole house was earthy olive-brown-beige. I have slowly been changing that to white.) and started painting the vanity white as well. It already looks so much better. The walls will be light blue. The original plan was to put up chairrail as well, but now I don't know if that is in the cards for right now, we'll see. Anyway, I like having a project going on. C helps me a little, but it's really not his thing. So I end up doing most of it myself and that is fine. Painting is sort of soothing to me. Except when the cats sneak in and leave little paw prints on a freshly painted window sill. Darn cats.

–The Good Stepwitch

Tea Time

The girls and I spent Sunday afternoon at my mom's house for our second annual "Ladies Afternoon Tea". Afternoon tea is something my mom and I have enjoyed doing together for several years, and my mom had the idea to introduce H and A to it as well. She gave them their own tea pots, and now whenever we have our Ladies Tea, they get out their little tea pots and clean them and bring them to my mom's house where she plays hostess for our tea party! It is so much fun. The girls got all dressed up and the table looked lovely. My mom made scones, and little sandwiches and pocket-pizzas. There was fruit, fudge, cookies and other treats, and of course a wide selection of tea for the girls to make in their pots. We ate a ton, and the girls each had 3 pots of tea!! Afterwards the girls raided mom's library to borrow all kinds of books for summer reading. It was a great afternoon. Our next tea time will be in MAINE!!

Waiting for tea to brew...



My mom and the girls...



The Ladies Afternoon Tea Group...




– The Good Stepwitch

Let's hear it for the Dad

So it was Father's day this past weekend, and HAP and I made C breakfast in bed and let him sleep in as long as he wanted. (which he totally didn't take advantage of, because my husband can sleep until 2 in the afternoon if he really puts his mind to it, and he was up by 10.) But I thought I would take a minute to list the reasons C is a wonderful father...

• He is never to busy, tired, or cranky to spend time with the kids
• He reads to them/with them every day
• He drives them all over creation and back, to play dates, to soccer games, to the pool, to school, to anywhere
• He helps them with homework
• He chaperones their fieldtrips
• He coaches all three of their basketball teams
• He makes dinner almost every night (OK, that's why he's a wonderful husband...)
• He plays Barbies with his daughters
• He plays Hannah Montana in the car - sometimes
• He gives out lots of hugs and bandaids
• He lays down with scared kids during thunderstorms
• He takes his son to concerts and moshes with him
• He keeps their stepmom from feeling overwhelmed

Let's hear it for the Dad!



– The Good Stepwitch

P's 14th Birthday Party

P had his birthday party this weekend at our house. It's not his birthday until July, but the summer gets so crazy he decided he wanted to have it early this year. So we geared up for a house-full of teenage boys, which meant getting plenty of chips, cookies, soda, brownies, and pizza on hand, and renting several funny movies and shoot-em-up video games, and moving the window air conditioner from the girls bedroom to the 1st floor where the party would be taking place. We also decided the girls would have their own camp-out in our air conditioned bedroom upstairs, and watch movies and eat pizza. The girls went to sleep at 9:00. At that point, C and I realized the flaw in our plan. It was 9:00, and we didn't have anywhere to go. Our room was occupied, and the whole downstairs was occupied. So we claimed the girls bedroom for ourselves and just read books and hung out in there until it was time for bed. It started thunderstorming while we read, and so then we started praying the electricity wouldn't go out, because what would we do with a house full of teenage boys and NO POWER for movies and video games?????? The lights flickered a couple of times, but thank God they stayed on! The boys were up pretty much all night, but they were really good and we didn't hear them much at all. P had a really good time, too. Can't believe he's (almost) 14!

– The Good Stepwitch

C's dad at Penn

C's dad was transfered to Penn last Thursday night. His doctor was not happy with the progress he was making at Chester Co, so he recommended the transfer. He had surgery on his lung to repair the hole there, since it was not healing on its own. He is now recovering from the surgery and doing better. He was able to get up and go for a walk, something we hadn't seen him do in the 2 weeks he was in Chester Co. He is not on oxygen anymore, though he still does have a chest tube, because there is still a small leak in his lung. But it is a size that should be able to heal on it own, unlike the big hole that had to be fixed surgically. So, it was a positive weekend for him, and C and his two brothers were all able to be there on Sunday at the hospital for a Father's day visit. Keep us in your thoughts, and thanks for your well wishes!

-The Good Stepwitch

Cat in the box

So our one cat, Charlotte, has always been a box-kitty. If there is a box around, she is likely to be in it. But she has become particularly attached to a shoe box we got over the weekend. She lets herself be carried around all over in it, and even lets the kids tote her from room to room in it, and she usually doesn't put up with that sort of thing for long! The funny thing is she doesn't fit in the shoe box at all! She does everything she can to cram herself in there, but usually ends up hanging out of it somewhere. It's pretty cute and funny to watch!

Here she is -- doesn't it look comfy?


Here is A with the cat in the box...


And here's P with her!


-The Good Stepwitch

Update on C's dad

I thought I'd post an update on C's dad to keep people informed and to request your continued prayers. Last week dad was suffering from shortness of breath and a bad cough, and generally feeling pretty lousy. This was disheartening because at the end of the week prior, we had all gotten the good news that the chemo is working and his blood is getting healthier. But he still wasn't feeling good. On Friday morning he woke up and was unable to get his breath at all. It sounded very scary. C's mom called the ambulance and they rushed him to the hospital where they found he had a collasped lung. He was given a chest tube to inflate the lung, but what's happening now is the lung keeps collasping. Today they are putting a new chest tube in, in the hopes that this tube will keep the lung inflated long enough for the lung to heal. The other news we got is that the doctors think C's dad is also coming down with pneumonia. We are not sure when he will be leaving the hospital, hopefully after today we will know more. But this past week really set everything back a bit. Please kepp us all in your thoughts and prayers.

- The Good Stepwitch