No respect

As Jay was on the way out the door tonight to get me some Trader Joe's mac & cheese (what? I had to have it!), he asked me if I was going to be folding laundry while he was out. I looked at him from my comfy position on the couch and asked him, "Did you know that even when I'm just sitting here, my body is hard at work?"

He could barely contain his laughter as he went out the door.

I swear, creating another human doesn't get the respect it used to around these parts.

And the winner is...

Well, the polls are closed and I have to say: wow! I'm impressed. So many of you did so well on Amy's Amazing Movie Quote Trivia, that the winner only won by ONE answer! You should all be very proud of yourselves, with a few expections of course. Some of you need to watch a few more movies... you know who you are.

But before I announce the winner, here are the answers:

1) I'm king of the world!! TITANIC

2) Get out of town, I didn't know you did anything creative! BACK TO THE FUTURE

3) Does the rolling help? GALAXY QUEST

4) I keep coming back to the Heardsmen. THAT THING YOU DO

5) These mashed potatoes are so creamy. WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING

6) FOR-EV-ER. THE SANDLOT

7) Did you not tell them they were the Lord's chips? NACHO LIBRE

8) Good morning Gil. I said, Good morning, Gil! WHAT ABOUT BOB?

9) Then Margaret is right… piracy is our only option. SENSE & SENSIBLITY

10) How much is it without the bufferin? WHAT'S UP DOC?

11) You think anyone wants a roundhouse to the face when I'm wearing these bad boys? Forget about it! NAPOLEON DYNAMITE

12) Asps. Very dangerous. You go first. RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK

13) If you could only keep half of your son, which half would it be? CHARLIE & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY

14) I'm singing to my Nelson… ain't I baby? A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN

15) See? Billy Idol gets it. Why doesn't she get it? THE WEDDING SINGER

16) Got it Grace… Grace, I got it. RETURN TO ME

17) Nobody puts Baby in a corner. DIRTY DANCING

18) Murdered by pirates is good. THE PRINCESS BRIDE

19) Person 1: Not bad… you say this is this your first lesson?

Person 2: Yes, but my father was a piano mover, so… GROUNDHOG DAY

20) And machine washable, darling. That's a new feature. THE INCREDIBLES

21) Everytime I eat roquefort cheese, I think of those teeth. THE MAN WHO CAME TO DINNER

Ok, ok, enough stalling. I feel like Ryan Seacrest here! Drumroll, please... the winner, with 15 correct answers, is.... BRENDA!!!! Congratulations, Brenda! I know how much you love to win, so this should really make your day. Be on the lookout for your prize in your email inbox soon.

Thanks again everyone for playing. It was fun (for me at least)! I will probably do another trivia contest in the future. In the meantime, I highly suggest renting the following two movies. Then you'll know what us Fears' are talking about when we randomly say things like, "No, I am Hugh," or, "My headache is gone with the wind."

Because we all love a little healthy competition...

Back in the day, when I was a "working mom" (because you know I don't do any work now), one of my favorite office activities was our informal daily trivia contests. Me and the gang in aisle 2L-13C rocked the house with our mad trivia skills. It really is amazing how much useless knowledge we all carry around in our heads. For instance, do you know who the last person to win baseball's triple crown is? I do. (You might want to log that trivia answer somewhere in the recesses of your mind... you'd be surprised how often it comes up.)

Anyway, my point (and I do have one) is this: I miss trivia. Therefore, it is with great pleasure that I announce the creation of:

Amy's Amazing Movie Quote Trivia Contest!

Here's how it's going to go. Be the first one to leave a comment with all the correct answers, and you will win a $5 gift certificate to Amazon.com. If no one gets all the answers correct (by "correct answer," I mean you have tell me the name of the movie the quote is from), then the person who gets the most answers correct will win. (Edited to add: you can also email me your answers if you don't have a blogger account: fearfam (at) sbcglobal (dot) net.)

Contest ends Monday 5/26/08 at 8 p.m. PST. Winner will be announced here on the blog.

If you cheat (google/IMDB/reading the comments/etc), I won't know. But Jesus will. :)

And with that... here we go!!

1) I'm king of the world!! (that's a freebie, people)
2) Get out of town, I didn't know you did anything creative!
3) Does the rolling help?
4) I keep coming back to the Heardsmen.
5) These mashed potatoes are so creamy.
6) FOR-EV-ER.
7) Did you not tell them they were the Lord's chips?
8) Good morning Gil. I said, Good morning, Gil!
9) Then Margaret is right… piracy is our only option.
10) How much is it without the bufferin? **
11) You think anyone wants a roundhouse to the face when I'm wearing these bad boys? Forget about it!
12) Asps. Very dangerous. You go first.
13) If you could only keep half of your son, which half would it be?
14) I'm singing to my Nelson… ain't I baby?
15) See? Billy Idol gets it. Why doesn't she get it?
16) Got it Grace… Grace, I got it.
17) Nobody puts Baby in a corner.
18) Murdered by pirates is good.
19) Person 1: Not bad… you say this is this your first lesson?
Person 2: Yes, but my father was a piano mover, so…
20) And machine washable, darling. That's a new feature.
21) Everytime I eat roquefort cheese, I think of those teeth. **

Clue #1 - no movie is used twice
Clue #2 - all movies are rated PG-13 or under
** - if you are not a Fear, married to a Fear, or formally known as a Fear, and you get these correct, you get 5 bonus points.

This is either going to be really easy or ridiculously hard. It's hard for me to know since I obviously know all the answers. Have fun and good luck!

Look What We Did!

The brutally hot weather this past week was the inspiration I needed to finally get off my duff and make a hair appointment for me and the girls. You would think with a hairdressing sister I would be more inclined to make appointments, but that is not the case. I really am that lazy.

Here are the before and after shots... the girls are so cute I just want to squeeze them! And now I don't have to hassle with ponytails all summer long.

Natalie













Beatrice













Oh, and me.














Now we are all ready for summer! As a bonus, both Natalie and I were able to cut off enough hair to donate to Pantene Beautiful Lengths. Now I just have to actually get the ponytails off of the kitchen counter and mail them in. Anyone want to take bets on how long it takes me to do that? (That's a rhetorical question, people.)

The beat of her own drummer

It’s a familiar scene. I’m trying to go to Target before I have to pick up Natalie from school, so I load Dexter in the van and yell to Bea for the fifth time, “Get your socks and shoes on and let’s go!”

“I’m coming!” she responds, and out she finally trots, wearing this:


I used to care. Really, I did. When Jay was the stay-at-home parent and I would see some of the outfits he let the girls wear, I usually burst out with some comment along the lines of “You let her wear THAT?!?” Now I totally get it. They have minds of their own and I am trying really hard not to stifle their freedom and creativity, especially when it comes to something as trivial as clothes. (I can’t believe I just said that! Stacy and Clinton, please forgive me.)

So off we went to Target, with Bea in a sparkly pink Valentine’s shirt, a brown skirt, one of Natalie’s red socks pulled up to her thigh, one yellow chic-adorned Easter sock pulled up on the other leg, and sparkly black church shoes.

There were a lot of smiles in our direction the whole afternoon, but I felt proud of myself for letting her make her own choice. Well, mostly. I did draw the line at this addition:

Beatrice is Four!

Today marks 4 years since our little Blond Bomber arrived on the scene!


You know, it still feels like it was yesterday. Jay and I couldn't decide on a name and were still talking about it on our way to the hospital for my scheduled c-section. We were down to two choices: Lucy or Beatrice. On the way to the hospital we actually passed "Beatrice Drive," and took it as a sign. That is, until 10 miles later when we passed "Lucy Brown Lane." Back to square one.

As the nurses did all the prelimary poking and prodding they have to do before the surgery, the strangest thing happened. I started having contractions. Real ones. Semi-painful ones. I guess Bea decided she was coming that day, one way or another! Our little girl was born at 7:58 a.m., and as soon as we saw her, we both knew she was Beatrice. I can't imagine any other name that would fit her so well. (As a side note, we recently gave the name Lucy some more thought and came to the conclusion that we really dodged the bullet. Say it together: Lucy Fear. Say it a little faster. See? No good. If you don't get it, just keep trying... and imagine little red horns and a pitchfork.)

So we celebrated Bea's birth moment on Friday with a small family party at our house. The party wasn't until after dinner, so Bea was pretty amped up all day long. She actually kept it together pretty well, considering she had to wait all day. I think the mid-afternoon trip to Powell's Sweet Shoppe in Willow Glen helped get some of her wiggles out. It wasn't a bad experience for me, either...

The party was a lot of fun and everyone was well-behaved, including Jay (well... kinda). The mayonnaise cake frosting didn't turn out as thick as I like it, but it still tasted awesome, so I guess I can't really complain. A few people have asked for the recipe, so I have posted it below.

Bea enjoyed her evening and of course loved opening her presents. She was pretty worn out by the end of the night, though. As we're telling her it's time to get into pajamas she bursts into tears, rubs her eyes and exclaims, "But I'm not tired!!!!" Yeah, right kid.

Underwear and Skittles... I love that she still appreciates the little things! :)

Nothing says "little girl" like a Barbie Head!

Well, maybe pink leopard print... :)

I could be seriously shunned for this...

Alright... this is a Teutschman Family secret recipe, but I feel bad always mentioning mayonnaise cake and not passing on how to make it, so... here you go!

Mom's Mayonnaise Cake

Cake:

Preheat oven to 375
1 cup sugar
1 cup mayonnaise (full fat, none of that light junk)
2 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
4 tbls cocoa
1 cup water
2 tbls vanilla

Blend together sugar and mayonnaise, set aside
Sift together flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and cocoa
Add dry ingredients to the sugar & mayo mixture with 1 cup water. Add vanilla.
Mix with mixer until smooth
Bake in two cake rounds at 375 for 30 minutes (watch it... in my oven it can take as little as 20 minutes)

Frosting: (this makes the cake - one look at the ingrediants will tell you why)

1 cube butter (don't use margarine - the frosting will not set)
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup cocoa
1 tbls vanilla

Heat all ingrediants (EXCEPT vanilla) to a boil. Boil for 2 minutes.
Remove from heat, add vanilla.
Whip with mixture until set. This is the tricky part... it takes a long time to cool and set, but don't give up! It's worth it! You need it to set so that it's thick enough to spread, but not so thick that it's clumpy.

Frost your cake, and enjoy! If anyone tries the recipe, let me know how it turns out!

Bad Surprise, Good Surprise

I have been a negligent blogger this week, but I swear I have a good reason.

I threw out my back on Wednesday while trying to pick up my moose of a son. It was so bad that I was incapacitated on the floor for 15 minutes while Dexter screamed out of hunger and Bea cried out of worry. I was finally able to get a hold of my mom (who luckily was coming to visit me that day anyway), and she came over and took care of me and the kids until bedtime. Hurting your back really stinks, you know that? It has not been a fun few days. Luckily, through a miracle of circumstances, Jay was able to get Thursday off in addition to his regularly scheduled days off of Friday and Saturday, so he was able to take care of me and the kids on those days. I was feeling better yesterday, but being out and about at church today has not helped, and now my back is hurting again. Alas, Jay is at work and I am just going to have to deal. At least I can walk now... that first day was so horrible I thought I was going to have to have back surgery.

Anyway, the reason I bring this up is this: While I was in my invalid state on Wednesday, my friend Stacy kindly brought Natalie home from school for me. When I opened the door for her, I saw a UPS package on my porch. Stacy handed it to me and as soon as the door was closed, I tore it open. I was excited to see what it was because #1, I hadn't ordered anything recently, and #2, there was no return address, except the name of a company. When I got the package open and saw what it was, I started to cry.

It's our blog, made into a book. MY WORDS, published in a book. Our Academy experience, complete with pictures, for us to hold and read and pass down to our children. I was so touched that I couldn't stop crying. It was such a wonderful surprise and it brought a smile to my face on the cruddiest of days. There was no note, no return address, so I had no idea who had sent it to us. I called a couple of people but did not discover the source of the gift until later in the day when I had an "ah ha!" moment and realized who it was. I won't tell you all who it was, since they probably wouldn't want me to, but I hope they know how sincerely both Jay and I appreciate the thought, effort, and love that went into the book. It blew us both away, and we know it will become a family heirloom that we will treasure always. Thank you so very much.

So that is what has been going on these past few days. I have more to post but it will have to wait for another time. Right now, I need to go rest! Happy Mother's Day to all you wonderful mothers out there. I hope you have a relaxing and treat-filled day!

All I want is...

...Jamba Juice.

When I was pregnant with Natalie, I wanted baked potatoes (with cheese and sour cream), my mom's meatloaf, and Taco Bell tacos. That's not too weird, unless you take into account that I hadn't eaten red meat for approximately 10 years. I am now a full-fledged carnivore.

When I was pregnant with Beatrice, I still wanted baked potatoes (with cheese and sour cream), but I also ate two bowls of Cream of Wheat per day.

When I was pregnant with Dexter, I wanted Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop-Tarts for breakfast every day for about 4 months. And dark chocolate. Lots of dark chocolate.

So what does this current fruit craving mean?!? We are not going to find out the gender of this baby (sorry, folks!), so I was kind of hoping to get the inside scoop by seeing if my cravings matched any of my other pregnancies, but so far it's a no-go. I guess Baby #4 already has a mind of his/her own...