As you may have heard, the Oxford Dictionary added “selfie” to their list of real, actual words this week. Evidently that was the best that 2013 had to offer.
(Dear History Book Writers of the Future,
We’re sorry.
Sincerely,
Everyone Alive in 2013)
According to Time magazine, here’s the justification:
“We don’t enter that many words from pop culture,” says executive editor Steve Kleinedler. “When we do they are ones that tend to be very widespread, very ubiquitous, used without further explanation.” And selfie, he says, is an example of a word that has become organically popular in a short period of time. “It’s a good word that shows the pulse of the nation,” he says.
The pulse of the nation. It is no freaking wonder the whole country is going to pot.
“Selfie” narrowly beat out “twerking,” a word made well-known by the unfortunate performance that we can’t un-see by Miley Cyrus at this year’s MTV Video Music Awards, for word of the year.
Miley might be famous for twerking, but we all know who is famous for selfies.
There are more where that came from. So many, many, many more.
Jenny’s facebook wall pretty much exploded when news of the new official word broke. Who would have thought Jenny was so influential?!? We will definitely have to add this accomplishment to our media kit – I mean, not many bloggers can say that their face single-handedly got a word into the dictionary. This goes to show that Jenny is not only more influential than Miley, but she’s also more influential than me, because not long ago I proposed that “selfie” be among several other incredibly annoying words that should be abolished.
Jenny won this round.
Jenny loves taking pictures of herself not because she’s vain, but because she thinks she looks so damn good all the time. She just can’t resist. She loves her face that. much.
Wait, maybe it is because she’s vain.
Anyway, at her house, the apples aren’t falling far from the tree. Just today she caught Jonah in the act of admiring his reflection. The next thing you know, he’ll be starting his own blog carnival.
#doyourhair 11/20/13 #nofilter #beauty #hair #hairblogger #todayshair #toddlerstyle #vanity #toocute today’s look is a combination of Johnson & Johnson Baby Shampoo, applesauce, and bedhead. Styling tool by @fisherprice. What does YOUR hair look like today?
I’m a few days late with this post because Sophie’s birthday was on a Saturday and it was a crazy busy day. As I mentioned in an earlier post, Sophie is going to be a flower girl in a wedding in December. Of course, the bridal shower for the bride happened to fall on her birthday! Since Sophie’s birthday is so close to the holidays, I really felt that we needed to just get her parties overwith on that day anyway. SO, our schedule was:
11:30 Bridal shower
2:00 Friends party where Sophie takes gymnastics
5:30 Family party at our house
9:00 Mom passes out
Despite the busy-ness, we had a WONDERFUL day celebrating our girl!
Sophie and Krisha, the bride, and our favorite babysitter whom we hate to lose! Dang growing up and all that.
Krisha’s mom is my best friend Luanne, and we met their family when I was about six months pregnant with Sophie. Krisha came to the hospital and held Sophie on the day she was born, so I thought it was very fitting that we’d celebrate her wedding shower on Sophie’s birthday!
Next, Sophie and I beat it over to the gym where she takes gymnastics, Jack n Jill’s Hill, for a super-fun friends party. Bobby met us there and my mom watched the boys at our house. This party was a blast! Since it wasn’t at our home, she could invite more friends than usual and the girls had a GREAT time. The party coordinator did an awesome job, involving the girls in several fun relay games and then guiding them through a circuit of jumping, cartwheeling, and other gymnastics fun. They played HARD!
And then it was time for cake and presents!
Sophie and her friend Brooklynn have been friends since they were both in utero! They are 3 weeks apart.Just a few of her closest pals…
The party was awesome. Sophie has some really sweet friends! After it was over we headed back home to celebrate with our family.
Slacker mom WIN: I ordered these Disney Fairies decorations from Amazon, and on Friday afternoon went to Kroger and found a cake that just happened to be decorated to match. WOOT! I did make the gluten-free cupcakes w/ caramel icing for us G-free folks.
I must say I enjoyed every minute of celebrating my Sophie. She is truly the daughter of my dreams. The night before her birthday, when I was tucking her in to bed for the last time as a 6-year-old, I said, “I’m so proud to be your mommy.” And she said, “I love being your daughter.” and then she burst into song: “I love you mommy, oh yes I do, I don’t love anyone as much as you…” It was so sweet and made me a little misty-eyed.
Sophie has definitely proven to me in her seven years that she can accomplish just about anything she wants to if she works hard. Her sweetness to others brings me so much joy. I love the way she loves and cares for her friends, and I am so proud of the young lady she is becoming.
Happy birthday, Sophie Diane! I love you with all my heart!
This shop is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group™ and Kleenex but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #KleenexTarget http://cmp.ly/3/8vNxcO
As I mentioned recently, I don’t exactly welcome cold weather with open arms. I mean, if we could just hibernate like the bears do (furry geniuses!!), we could avoid snow, ice, and cold and flu season altogether. I think I’m going to start a hibernation petition!! Who’s with me? We’ve had an early start to sickie season; Sophie, Jonah and I all got hit with nasty colds in OCTOBER, for goodness’ sake! If that’s any indication of how this winter is going to be, I’d prefer to just opt out. Because this happy guy?
Turns into a tiny devil when he has a cold. The coughing, the sneezing, the sore throat – it all just ticks him off HARD. So when Jonah or any of my family is suffering, I don’t just pull out the honey cough medicine and the vaporizer, I also bring out items that will keep us as comfortable as possible: Kleenex for our noses and my (soon to be famous??) potato corn chowder for our tummies.
Of course, with three young kids, I don’t just have Kleenex around during cold and flu season, I’ve always got a box or two handy. You can typically find one sitting on our (decorative old) organ in our dining room, and on the ottoman in our living room amidst Jonah’s favorite toys. We just always have a box of Kleenex around and they do the job here so very well (and often times it’s a really snotty job!) I love Kleenex with lotion for my delicate little nose and all those delicate little noses I am privileged to wipe when the need arises. It’s my fave!
Last week I had a late-night coffee date/much-needed Mommy break at Target with my friend Tess (Starbucks in Target? Best invention since the KLEENEX!!) and threw a 4-pack of Kleenex into my cart, which is always a great value…but since you know I’m cheap thrifty, of course I had a $1 off Kleenex multi-pack Target printable coupon to use (and you should print before heading to the store as well!) I also happened to have a manufacturer’s coupon from the paper and saved 5% off Kleenex with my Target Cartwheel app at the same time, so basically I totally scored on my Kleenex! Woot! I love saving on our must-haves!
Totally gratuitous shot of me and Tess being nerdy at Target. You know you love it.
To go along with our comforting Kleenex, another must-have in the Rapson house during cold and flu season is my favorite soup EVER, potato corn chowder. It’s a hybrid of three different potato soup recipes I’ve used over the years, and I’ve finally found the PERFECT mix. It’s delicious, hot, and totally hits the spot when you’ve got a cold, or when the weather outside is frightful and you’re just plain cold. It starts with just some simple baking potatoes.
Then you add milk, onions, and garlic. Mmmmm.
(I love making mine in this Pampered Chef baker in the microwave. If you don’t have one, I recommend making it in a slow cooker.)
Then add creamed corn, more milk, sour cream, butter, bacon, and cheese(I didn’t say it was health food, I said it was COMFORT food!)…
…and you’ll end up with the yummiest, richest, most comforting soup ever. It really soothes what’s ailing ya. Don’t worry, I’ll include the full recipe below!
I will confess, picky Sophie isn’t into soup. She doesn’t know what she’s missing. But my favorite oldest child, Joshua, really digs it!
9-year-old approval acquired!
And Bobby and I *may* have had occasion to fight over the leftovers. Honestly, like my Kleenex, this soup is something I can’t get through cold & flu season with out. And? Making it for the fam, or my house church group, or a friend who’s had a new baby, is an act of love. It’s just. That. Good.
As promised, I’ll list the recipe I follow below, but first I want to know: what are your must-haves to get through cold and flu season? And what’s your favorite comfort food?
Potato Corn Chowder – Slow Cooker Version
6 large baking potatoes
2.5 cups milk
1/4 cup sour cream
2 tbsp butter
1 can cream corn
1 onion, chopped or diced
1 clove garlic, pressed or minced
optional toppings: bacon and cheddar cheese
Directions: Cube potatoes (I leave the peel on, up to you). Combine with diced onion, 1/2 cup of the milk, butter, and garlic. Cook on low for 4 hours. Add creamed corn, remaining 2 cups of milk, and sour cream. Turn slow cooker up to high and cook an additional 2-3 hours, until potatoes are very tender. Top with cheese and bacon crumbles if desired. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Microwave version (I use a Pampered Chef Deep Covered Baker, I don’t know of any other dish you can do it in like this):
Note: I only use about 4 large baking potatoes in this version because of space in the baker.
Combine cubed potatoes, 1/2 cup milk, garlic, and onion in deep covered baker. Cover and microwave on high for 10 minutes. Remove and mix potatoes around. Cover and microwave for an additional 10 minutes. Add creamed corn, remaining 2 cups milk, butter and sour cream and stir, coarsely mashing potatoes. Return to microwave for 4-6 minutes. Top with cheddar cheese and back and add salt and pepper to taste.
