Karie Herring, Author at The Five Fish

February 12, 2009April 15, 2018

DIY Chocolate Covered Strawberries – Last Minute Valentines

For those of you who have procrastinated for Valentine’s Day and are not sure what to give as a gift….I have a solution! My DH HATES and I mean HATES Valentine’s but he plays into the whole holiday for me….even though I truly don’t care for it. But I love the holiday only because he proposed on this day 9 years ago and not over dessert but in the desert! Yup, in the desert, in front of a Jeep, at the base of the Sandia Mountains over looking the twinkling lights of the city. So to celebrate I made some easy do-it-yourself (DIY) chocolate covered strawberries at home.

He did this just when I thought that the whole night was over and he was never going to propose. I was wrong. THERE! I said it…..I was wrong. He will be so pleased. Anyway, off on a tangent, back to the gift idea. FOOD! Yes, food is the best gift when you can’t afford to go out and spend a fortune and you can’t spend a fortune to get a unique gift so here is the gift idea….ready for it………

Chocolate covered fruit! Strawberries always come to mind, but hey, oranges are great, blueberries, bananas, just about any dang fruit out there is FABULOUS in chocolate! So here is you pantry list:

Fruit: Strawberries, bananas, anything listed above
Chocolate chips or Hershey Kisses
Toothpicks
Wax paper
Cookie sheet or 13X9 baking pan

1. Pour 6 ounces (3/4 cup) chocolate chips or kisses into a microwave safe bowl and melt for 1 minute on HIGH. Stir, and reheat if consistency is still chunky.

2. While chocolate is melting, prick all your fruit with toothpicks. This makes dipping and placing a breeze and cleanup is a snap! Line sheet/pan with wax paper.

3. Start dipping fruit and place carefully on sheet/pan.

*If you want to get creative use a couple different chocolates like semi-sweet and white for fancy designs or different flavors like the picture posted below.

4. Place fruit into fridge for 2-4 hours for chilling and setup (overnight preferred) and VOILA! You have now created a loving gift of food for your Honey Bunny without breaking the bank and who doesn’t just love chocolate on Valentine’s and chocolate covered fruit to boot!

For more last minute foodie ideas that won’t break your bank or require an extra trip to the store feel free to email me at karie@thefivefish.com and I would be more than happy to provide some fantastic recipe ideas. Bet you didn’t have any idea I was a chef!

November 9, 2008September 13, 2015

Before and Not Quite After

So I said like a week ago that I would be playing construction and not sure if I could blog……well let me share the fruits of my labor for the last week(s) or so which includes moving 200 sq. ft. of sh-tuff into my garage and other miscellaneous storage areas in my house. My shed is slowly morphing into what we will call the “pool house” if we ever sell our house. (BTW- We do have a pool to the left of the picture of the “pool house”)

Painting is a slow and go….only because I hate to primer ugly colors…..so enjoy my crasptastic primer job that I am still working on. But the pool house will hold our office and a futon for folks to stay with us and the current office will become 200sq. ft. of play area for my munchkins with all their toys and a twin bed for naps and extra bed space. The huge queen seen in the picture will be moved into G’s room so maybe he will quit sleeping in our room. He sneaks into our bed in the middle of the night since we have a super comfy Seely Posturpedic. So he gets the comfy huge queen. Luckiest 5 year old I know!!

Anyway here is what the interior looks like now….equipped with A/C for those bloody hot summers here in Arizona. Now all we have to do is put up the wall coverings and insulate the ceiling (I did a lot of the insulation with DH….and ALL of the painting by myself). But once the walls go up…..VOILA!!!! Office and area away from the kids. I plan to decorate the area and paint with colors that suggest….um…..whats the word….peace, solace, calm.

November 4, 2008April 15, 2018

The Working Mother

Ah yes the working mom. We know the stereotype as the Mom who works outside of the home. The mom who commutes and holds a “real” job. I can say I have come to resent that whole stereotypical bravado of “the working mom”. I mean really, what am I doing…..sitting on my duff watching soap operas and eating take out?

I used to be the working mom. The stereotype in the expensive suits commuting to the office making me and my bosses lots and lots of money. I would get Starbucks for lunch and have expensive Vodka drinks after work and I would also be the working mom who would pick up her son from daycare. Yup, I was that Mom. I would drive tirelessly home to fix dinner, cawtch up on laundry and miscellaneous house work and get my son and husband to bed and I would finally crash, then I would wake at 5am to do the same thing all over again. Yes, I was the working mom.

But things haven’t changed. Well, my wardrobe has and I added a few kids (by accident, not like I planned for my biology to say “Here, here’s an extra egg smart girl”).

Here is to the true working mom! The undervalued, underappreciated, underpayed, no thanks at all Mom who busts her ass everyday to take care of her children, her home, her husband and show pride in doing so. We are the true working Mom’s.

I used to mock those women who would stay home. Like “What the hell? Yeah, you so do not have it rough lady?” Oh how I ate my words. Yes, one child is such a breeze. Believe me I got so much more accomplished but add a couple more and let me tell you…..well you probably know. The job is hard. Trying to appease three little mob bosses barking at you for more food at the table. Caring for the homeless when those children ask for “money”, “Food” and “a ride somewhere”. Yes, I just referenced children to being like a homeless person. Then add in the mix laundry, housecleaning, running the kids to this function or that, to and from school, yard work, dinner, dishes, then add a couple of screaming kids and you have to stop what you are doing to pay attention to that situation and your whole day can be shot. So the “working Mom”…yeah….that broad has got it easy. I did your job….for many years…..you come do mine and then we’ll compare notes. Until then…..here is to the true working mom and all of our selflessness for caring for the ones we love and showing pride in our home. Way to go Girl!!!

October 28, 2008November 20, 2011

Project Manager

I think that is my new term I will use for everything since I am not treated like the CEO who runs this operation almost flawlessly everyday. Here is how a typical week of operations look like, including G and the Squids:

Sunday: attempt to finish any school projects, follow around kids cleaning up messes, attempt to blog about said messes, feed dog, water dog, brush pool, sigh at weeds that need pulled, make lunch, breakfast, dinner, play clown to Squids, personal assistant to G and Chad, watch my HBO shows, set up coffee for morning, bed.

Monday: Awake @ 3 by Squid Seth, lost bottle looking to crawl and fails miserably, back to sleep until 5 where I stumble for coffee and attempt to wake up alone and in peace only to have said Squid wake up babbling LOUDLY (dada, yaya, lala….squeals in the dark), in shower by 6 or 6:30 to be dressed and ready before G wakes up at 7 to feed him breakfast that he argues about (every morning), get him ready, Squid Sara is awake, load all three in car, drop off G at school, haul back to the house to put garbage can out by street before I miss pickup. Home to look over school, attempt to do some school work, squids down for a nap, take inventory of all dirty laundry (at least 3 loads), make beds, have Pepsi, back to pick up G at 11. Back home, fix lunch, take inventory of perishable and non-perishable food items including those that add to the side of my rear end (because Costco has the best damn cookies EVER!!!), make Costco run for said needed items. Come home, unload, back to Fry’s to pick up small items not needed in bulk from Costco, back home to unload. Fix dinner, play clown and wait staff to the three small mob bosses barking at me from the counter eating. Clean up dinner, baths all around, then bed for the three little amigos, I then pull in the trash can sitting at the curb all day waiting for someone else other than me to bring in. I get to watch some DVR shows with DH (if he is not occupied by War Crack, I mean War Craft) bed.

Tuesday-Friday: Rinse and repeat. Except on Thursday, put out recycling bins instead of trash bin.

Now in the mix throw in doctors appointments for the Squids which is a circus (oh are they twins, oh, oh….SLAP), PTO committees, school functions like the Halloween parade on Friday, picture retakes, school recycling program. I swear, you think that parents are like the parents on TV and from Desperate Housewives….I mean seriously….who is over scheduled here? The kids or the parents? Sheesh!

Add on top of all of this….I have an electrician doing something outside of my home…that I need to check on right now…he is doing what we asked…though I hear funny noises. I have to pick up G in 20 minutes, write two papers this week (BLAH!), cut the last two pieces of trim for my room that DH said he would do Saturday (is it still Saturday?!!!), nail said pieces of trim in, caulk, touch up paint, move bed back, somewhere in there clean my house and find some peace. So as project manager I will delegate all BS projects to DH as I am tired of getting them all done. Which also include making a trip to an e-cycler (electronics recycler) to do my duty to our environment and get rid of the SHIT computer stuff taking up precious space, trekking through Home Depot with the Squids to pick up building materials, and I don’t even know what else!! So, that is my rant for today. Here is what I have done though so I have proof of my hard work!! Now all of these items have been cleared out so the entire shed is EMPTY!!! Ready for the electrician to run lines and us to close in, etc.

October 24, 2008September 13, 2015

McCalls Pumpkin Patch

G was in Albuquerque last week as we all know since I had some free time (HA!) last week. During his stint there Grandma ran him around and they did all sorts of fun stuff. One of his memorable activities was visiting the McCalls Pumpkin Patch in Moriarty with his cousin Colin and Colin’s church day school. Here is how their pumpkin patch visit went along with pictures of BIL #1, G-Mommy (Great Grandma), cousin Colin, and pictures of the hayride. G was able to pick out his own pumpkin which is so cute since it is the size of a softball and he brought home baby pumpkins to our baby pumpkins. Such a great brother! Also big thanks and love to Grandma Bev for setting up the field trip for G for the pumpkin patch and all the great pics!

October 23, 2008November 20, 2011

Playing Construction

I won’t be blogging…..at least I say that now….for a few days as I will be playing construction to my home along with junk sorter extraordinaire!

Chad and I decided to convert our gigantic shed into an outdoor office so now we have to relocate junk, stuff, tools, and lawn mowers somewhere else! I am thinking we need a bigger house. So I was up late last night cutting trim to finish trimming our bedroom and today I will be finishing homework so that I can finish the aforementioned.

I will post pics of the before and after! This should be fun. Especially because I have an electrician coming on Tuesday and I need concrete cut and all the junk moved! YIKES!

But the good news is that the office will be the kids’ play room for all their JUNK and toys and we will probably put a bed in there for folks to stay. Off to run power tools, research useless information, and stash junk where I have no place to stash it! HA!!

October 21, 2008August 17, 2015

Ten Things Tuesday

I have to first say Thank you to Mrs. Brownstone the XBOX wife for this wonderful gift to share with everyone!

1. I am thankful for my sister. I am thankful for having my sisters, Brittany, Nicole and Tori. I don’t always get to talk and spend time with them but I love them dearly and am thankful for them. Especially because I saw Britt doing Ten Things Tuesday and thought HOW AWESOME!

2. I am thankful for the fact that I can have breakfast for dinner and my kids eat it, they love it, and nutritious to boot!

3. I am thankful for my twins being able to sit in their high chairs to feed themselves and they ate their mashed potatoes all by themselves!

4. I am thankful for my G being able to wash his own body every night when he takes a shower. He still needs help washing his hair but he can wash his body and that is super awesome!

5. I am thankful that I will be spending Thanksgiving with 75% of my family….now I just need to convince the other 25% to come out (hint hint Britt!).

6. I am thankful for all of my extended family and this weekend I will be able to see all of their crazy selves and spend time with them. Although it may be for a sad occasion with the passing of my Aunt, we will be “waking” in her honor and celebrating life just as she would want!

7. I am thankful for this blog and other blogs and being able to share in my friends’ and families lives. We may not all connect all the time but thanks to the net we can still stay in touch.

8. This one is odd….but makes sense…I am thankful for my chunky monkey body. If I didn’t have a chunky monkey body, that would only mean I am childless and I am thankful I am chunky because that means I have three wonderful gifts to share my chunky self with hugging each one of them everyday.

9. I am thankful for my mother for teaching me how to be tough. Because some days, when I want to give into my kids, I remember my mom and how she would NEVER give in to me and she taught me independence.

10. My dishwasher. Because I have a BOAT load of dishes and my hands are so cracked and dry anyway from cleaning that I couldn’t bear to wash dishes. So I am thankful for my Whirlpool to do it for me.

October 21, 2008September 13, 2015

Passing Out Love

Chadley had lunch today with some of our favorite people. One of which is still trying to convert us for half price Sunday’s and 50% off our annual tithings (not bad!) and the other told Chad he gets all his gossip from my blog!! WOO HOO! That is a productive lunch! So here is a shout out from your Neighborhood Common-Law Mormons, the Herring’s, to:

The Jarvis’ and My Mowers

Check them out and their beautiful families!

Another shout out as well to my BIL who finally hit adulthood! Way to go Brentley, Happy Birthday! Welcome to being 30! Go check out my BIL’s beautiful wife, my sister, Mrs. Greer!

Finally, to my SIL and my brother. My brother who finally communicated to me personally…after I don’t know how long of always talking to his wife! Love you Chris and Nic! See you guys Sat!

October 18, 2008September 13, 2015

Multiple Question…..and Multiple Answer

An outing in public with twins is always an interesting ordeal. I mean the whole thing is an urban safari with all the miscellaneous gear and crap you have to take…..ridiculous! But the best part…is having fun with those who are the poor souls who do not have multiples and have deer in the headlights when they see you and they ask you these “Here’s your sign” questions:

My all time favorite and most asked

Q: Are they twins?
A: Nope. I thought the other one in the nursery was so cute I had to take it home.

Q: Oh…..a boy and a girl?
A: Nope, my other son felt like wearing a lot of pink today with that cute bow on his head.

Q: Oh, you must have your hands full?
A: Nope…you see my entourage of help….I got it covered. (As I am looking aimlessly behind myself, like can you see that there is no one else around)

Q: Do twins run in your family?
A: Nope, hubby and I made the decision to go get a turkey baster and see how many we get.
(Yes they do….and Nun ya!)

Q: How far apart are they?
A: Um…like a minute? (WTF really?)

Q: Are they yours?
A: Nope I got them from the “Twins” outlet and thought I would stroll them around for the day and see how I liked them. (again….WTF?)

Q: Are you getting any sleep?
A: (crickets)

Q: Are they identical?
A: (crickets…do they not see the blue and pink?)
The best part about that question is that I had an “identical” twin ask me that…I about fell over.

Q: Can you tell the difference?
A: (I badly want to answer…between a moron and a smart person?) Yes

Q: Can you tell which one is crying?
A: Generally the one with their mouth open. I can tell the difference between each of their cries…that’s easy.

Q: Oh, you must be so busy?
A: Nope that is why I am running through here and you stopped my beeline…because I am soooo not busy.

Q: How do you do it?
A: (I answer honestly) I don’t know…I just do…you can’t stop and think about it.

Q: (The bold) Did you gain a lot of weight?
A: I smile, want to give the bird and walk away.

Q: Are these your first?
A: (As I am yelling at G to quit climbing on things and he responds telling me ‘No Momma’) I smile

Q: Are you done?
A: Um…yeah like two kids ago I was done.

Q: Are they good?
A: Dunno…haven’t thrown them on the grill yet. Oh you mean the kids……

Last but not least….my all all time high and favorite thing to say to me about twins and so not an original…………………………………………………………………………….

I’M SURE GLAD IT IS YOU AND NOT ME.

With that I want to say a big F*#% You and have a great day! I was told that if you don’t have anything nice to say…….don’t say anything at all.

October 18, 2008September 13, 2015

Parents and Children

We all say it as potential parents. We say this to ward off the evil wrongs done to us by our parents. We say it in spite at times. We all say that we will treat all of our children equally and with fairness. But really? Do we?

NO!

Not one person can say that they treat all of their children with fairness and equality, unless of course you only have one child. In that case of a single child, no other children are vying for your attention, affection, and approval. If you can say you treat your children equally I stand here telling you…You are a liar! Each child, probably with some difference in age, will require different needs to be fulfilled and honestly you feel differently for each child which by human nature results in a different outward display. This is not a flaw, just a stated fact. I have viewed this behavior by my own parents.

True equality happened to me with multiples. In all seriousness. One Mommy, Two babies and they are both crying….which one do you pick up? If you pick up one the other is still crying and visibly more upset because you picked up his or her twin and vice versa. What do you do? In my case I picked up both. I breast fed both at the same time, changed them at the same time, dressed them at the same time, bathed them at the same time, spoon fed them at the same time (and I am not ambidextrous by any means), everything happened to them at the same time. Not only did this allow for some serious time management for my oldest, but allowed me to sleep and accomplish a few things.
Now the tough part will be their needs as older children since one is a boy and one is a girl. However, I also have big G to think about too. The other day was a tough one as a mother as I told him that the toys he was hiding were for the babies, he could play with the toys, but he had to play with the toys with the babies. He hated this! So I asked him if he wanted to be a baby and he told me NO. Okay, case closed, so I then explained the difference. I also made sure that I spent equal amount of time playing with him as I did the other two so that we all were spending time together. I also made sure that he got his special time alone with me just as the other two do. I have to say that being truly equal is the most time consuming, emotional experience that happens to a parent. Normal human instinct is telling you to go with the flow of the three kids and tend to the one that needs the most attention at that time….well, who dictates that? I think as parents we have been trained that way and in the end each, child is put into a role for life!

My oldest is my oldest by time, cannot deny that. However, G is not my babysitter, G is not the babies surrogate parent, G is not responsible for his siblings, G will not be put in the perfectionist spot of most oldest children. I say this knowing that my son had obvious flaws that I love, I always want him to do his best and when he gets older he will not be the automatic babysitter. If he WANTS to baby-sit he can, but he won’t be expected to. As for the twins, I will always do my damnedest to treat them as individuals but they will be loved and treated as equally as G all the time. Alrighty….enough of that heavy stuff….off to a fun rant of sorts.