My Meager Garden

Growing up, my Dad headed the Prophet's advice to grow your own food and work to being more self sufficient. We had an Olympic sized swimming pool of a garden out back that the whole family worked on. I hated that thing...

But in my older years I have come to appreciate the self sufficiency that you can obtain from having your own garden. Unfortunately my green thumb is only equipped with growing weeds. I'm a pro at that!

I don't let that hinder my resolve to have a flourishing garden some day. I say 'flourishing' because this is my meager garden now. I have one, but so far all I can grow is flowering buds and insects. I'm hoping that through trial and error one day it will click and I will get the garden I have always worked so hard for.

Bangs

Pinterest is a funny thing. You spend all your time finding crafts, recipes and organizing ideas that you think to yourself, I could totally do that! So you pin it with the intentions of doing them. But ask yourself, how many of those things have you done?

I found a video on how to fix your hair if you have short hair like I do. The girl in the video had these cute bangs and I figured "I could totally do that.". Just like all the pins I have on my boards, I saw this as something I could actually do. And this time I took immediate action.

I parted my hair, carefully piecing off the part that would look good as bangs. I measured and remeasured, and then measured again just for good measure. I stood looking in the bathroom mirror with scissors in place to make the first cut. For 5 minutes I was a statue, staring at myself arm poised with raised scissors. The devil on my shoulder told me, just don't think about it, just do it! And the angel was no help, it reminded me of how long I have wondered if I could pull off bangs, so what the hey, just do it.

I shut my brain off and SNIP!

I thought I did a pretty good job, Theo loves it and that's what matters most! It's cute and fun, although I have to get used to the constant feeling of something on my face. I like them, but I think this might be a one time thing.

My Lefty

Benefits of being a Lefty:

Being left handed gives you an advantage in many sports.
Lefties have a greater chance of being a genius, or having a high IQ.
Left handed men make more money.
Lefties adjust more easily to seeing under water.
Lefties are better at multitasking.
Some lefties have better memories.
Left handed people are better at playing video games.
Left handed people recover faster from strokes than right handed people.
Left-handed people are more likely to be more visual-based than language-based.
Lefties are better at learning to drive than righties.

Looks like she has a bright future!

The Coach

Theo has such an easy going, but reserved personality that when he first volunteered to coach Tobie at Tee ball several years ago I was shock and apprehensive. I couldn't see this mild mannered man commanding the attention of these little leaguers. But he has really surprised and impressed me over the years in his ability to coach, and also his initiative to put himself out there.

But what is really funny is to see this mild tempered man resort to kicking, throwing his hat on the ground and muttering mild language (to himself of course, there are kids around!) when his kids don't quite make the play.

He blames me for his graying hair, but personally I think it's the coaching. But just like the hair, coaching suits him, and I love seeing him out there coaching his heart out!

The Catcher

Baseball season...two words that send shivers down my spine. Theo usually has to drag me kicking and screaming to these games. Not because I don't LOVE watching my son in action, but because I have 4 little whiny banshees that wait until we get to the field to start their orchestra of commands, "I'm hungry!" "I have to go to the bathroom!" (times 3 because they all have to go at separate times)"I have dirt in my eyes!" (from digging in the various dirt pits around the park and they are now covered in the dusty stuff) "I'm thirsty!", "I want cotton candy, gum, cheese fries...Etc." and so forth.

But I endure it just so I can see Tobie play. This kid is a force to be reckoned with! It makes a Mama proud to see her boy throw that mask off to catch a ball and chase down the other player trying to make his way to home plate! And you should see how intimidating he looks when he catches the ball to hold off a play! I think he takes after me in the "Don't you even dare!" face that I'm constantly giving him. Ha!

He's done pitching and covered third, and he's at the top of the line up in batting. But when I see him put on that catchers gear I know it's going to be a good inning.

Spring Break Beard

It seems that whenever Theo has an extended amount of time off from work, that translates into "Let's see how long I can grow my beard!". He has tried this tactic several times and I have come to the conclusion that I HATE facial hair.

First the whiskers poke my face whenever I want to make out with him. Then they turn in to sand paper that he just loves to torture me with, attacking me and rubbing his face all over mine and my neck! He may think it's funny, up until I punch!

Of course I don't punch hard, for one I'm usually in hysterics laughing too hard to get any real muscle behind it, and two I don't want to mess up that face! LOVE IT!

Then when the beard gets soft enough that it doesn't exfoliate my face, I have to deal with the feeling of hair around my mouth when he goes in for a kiss. YUCK!

So this time I devised a plan, obviously a little late in the game as you can tell by this picture, but one that I will be using from now on. I told him, if he doesn't shave, than neither do I! This picture was taken a few days before his vacation was up and was right before he shaved.

Game point - Me.

Bacon Avocado Pizza

Every Monday night in the Ikner home is pizza night. A friend of mine gave me a super simple pizza dough recipe about 4 years ago and I have been making it weekly ever since. I always do the typical Turkey pepperoni pizza for the kids, but for Theo and I, I like to get a little creative!

One of our favorites has been s Shrimp and Basil, and our Supreme puts all other store bought kinds to SHAME! I noticed an Avocado pizza on another blog the other day and since I have an unnatural obsession with Avocados I just had to give it a try. And to add to the awesomeness I found a recipe for a Bacon and Avocado pizza! I promise I was in pizza heaven!

Here is the recipe in case you have a love of avocados and bacon and pizza as I do:

Pizza dough:

2 tbsp yeast
2 cups hot water
2 tsp salt
4 tsp honey
4 tbsp olive oil
5 cups flour (I like to make mine half white and half wheat)

Mix yeast and water and let sit about 5 minutes to activate the yeast. When bubbly mix other ingredients in. Transfer dough to a greased glass bowl. Cover with a towel and let rise for one hour. Divide into 2 pizzas.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Roll dough onto pan and bake for 5 minutes. Take out and top with sauce and whatever toppings you would like. Bake another 12 minutes.

My sauce for 2 pizzas is just 2 cans of diced tomatoes with Italian seasonings and 1 small can of tomato paste, warmed in a pot just so the paste can mix in well.

With the avocado pizza you top with cooked bacon and onion. Cover in mozzarella cheese and then bake for 12 minutes, then when it is done cooking cut up the avocado and put on top. Then sprinkle with cilantro.

DISCLAIMER: Eating this pizza may result in intense or paroxysmal excitement. I do not take responsibility for the sounds you will be making while eating this!