Our holiday...

So here they are...

the pictures I promised from the 2 week whirlwind.

Our first event... getting my new 2010 Nissan Armada!! "The Papa" wanted me and the kiddos to feel safe so we traded my smaller SUV for an 8-seater.  I'm so happy with it... and we had bluetooth installed so we can talk hands-free ... even safer. :)

Next was a bout with an unknown rash that had us pretty worried until we realized it was hives.  It came and went for a day and a half... and then I realized it was the sweat pants G was wearing.  Needless to say... he hasn't worn those since... and we haven't had hives since! Yikes!

Then... a long car ride to the big city of Houston, Texas.

 

Our time there involved a ride on a ferry (the kids thought that was SO cool), a stay in a hotel (the kids ALWAYS think that is cool) and a random alligator (that the kids could never actually find in the distant grass).

So then we came home (the night before Thanksgiving) and had our first Turkey Day at my grandfathers house the following day.

Here we had four generations: my grandfather, my mother, me and my little G.  So amazing.

The next day... our 2nd turkey day... was at our house.  Tons of food, fun and family.  It's not often that all 5 grandkids in the immediate family get to be together and play. It was a great day!

In the end... I was able to capture two victims of the turkey coma on camera.

I hope everyone else's holidays were as good as mine!

Have a great day!!

The Missing Blogger...

Well, I have never done a blog without pictures ... but I've been M.I.A from the blogging world for about two weeks now and I just wanted to say (before drifting into a deep sleep)... I'm still here!!

It all started with a new car for me (Yay!!), then we left town for five days (without Internet) to spend some quality time with "The Papa." Then it was two Thanksgivings, two days of everyone in a turkey coma and then finally back to school... and now back to blogging.

It has been a whirlwind two weeks and I am SO happy to be back on schedule.. and let me just say that I for one am ecstatic at all the Christmas music I hear now! It is my favorite holiday and favorite time of year. I plan to post pictures from the last two weeks starting tomorrow... so don't go anywhere!! Until then...

As I tell my six year old... "Nighty Nighty Tighty-Whitey!!" :)


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Fuzzy Friday...

I like to imagine what he was thinking about in this picture. :)

Boys are gross...

I am a girl.  I have always been and always will be a girl.  By that, I mean I am not one of the opposite sex that is... yes, gross.  I am, however, fortunate enough to be raising two boys (fortunate in so many ways, unfortunate in this one).  Therefore, sometimes I am speechless when it comes to the level of gross they are able to achieve. Literally, speechless.  Really, I'm referring more to the six yr old... since Fuzz isn't old enough to "use" the bathroom yet, but you get my point.  I have made it a habit for the last 6-12 months to simply ignore the "boys" bathroom and pretend that it does not exist.  Since being a stay-at-home mom again, I've decided I simply cannot ignore it anymore.  So, about 10 days ago I decided to do a thorough scrub down.  The result?... 2 days later it looked EXACTLY as it had looked 3 days earlier.  Don't ask me how... but I am serious... exactly.  So... I came up with a solution very quickly.

This... is our new addition to DAILY chores.  

Whew... SO much better!!

The cook in me...

     I love to get in the kitchen and try out new recipes... whether that be appetizers, dinner or dessert... I like to try it all.  However, I am cursed in that the majority of my attempts are complete failures.  It never discourages me... I'm just pretty sure that my family comes in to the kitchen quite frequently with hidden grimaces as they are used as taste testers.  Today's test... was a hashbrown quiche.     

     If you've never had a quiche... its sort of like a breakfast casserole.  Sort of.  It consists of egg, cream or milk, veggies, cheese and some type of crust. I have always loved quiche... but normally its a bite size quiche that came straight out of a box and into the oven.  Today... I was cooking in full Paula Deen style. The best thing about a quiche is that you have base ingredients... but you can add and subtract any number of veggies or meats that you want.  Look in your fridge and you probably have ingredients for a quiche. For mine... I chose onions, cilantro, turkey pepperoni, salt, pepper and crushed red pepper.  I also used egg beater (instead of real egg), skim milk (instead of cream) and shredded cheddar cheese (2%).  For my crust, I used frozen shredded hashbrowns  I didn't take before pictures... because like I said... I fully expected this to come out looking like egg and potato soup instead of hashbrown quiche.  However... let me say... this was a HUGE success!! I mean... Delicious... yes with a capital D.  After it was done, I added a little homemade hot sauce and it was pure heaven.  So if you're a (not-so-good) cook... try one of these.  Super simple, fairly fast and amazing!!

For the full recipe and directions... click here.

Details...

     We all have things that we enjoy... things that we could live without but would rather not.  Mine... is Red Bull.  I don't know what it is about that little blue can... I think I've grown immune to the effects... that's not what I like about it.  There is just something about opening the ice cold can and taking that first drink... it's absolutely delicious.  I know they aren't the greatest things for you (there isn't much that comes in a can that is) so I try to make myself feel a little better by drinking the sugarfree.  Well today, I decided I must either DRINK them too often, or TALK about drinking them too often. 
    

    Skip ahead... C gets a "day snack" every day if his color at school doesn't change to red.  It is very rare that he doesn't get a day snack, therefore, it is crucial that I keep my cabinet stocked with some sort of small snack so that he can have something before he starts homework.  Today... I failed in that regard and my cabinet was bare.  So, I told him he could go in the little corner store down the street and pick out any snack he wanted... and added that while he was in there... could he grab ME a drink.  Of course he said yes.  So as he got out of the car I rolled down my window and asked him if he knew what a Red Bull looked like.  He said, "Yes! And you want the LIGHT blue can right? Not the dark blue... it has too much salt in it!" Lol.  You've got it kiddo.

Kids listen so much more than we think.  Even if the details don't always turn out just right.

And since we missed our Fuzzy Friday this week... here's a Fuzzy Monday. :)

Hope you have a great week!!

A surprise for C...

     Well I will be the first to admit that I am a pretty strict parent.  I'm not real keen on messes (unless the circumstances are very controlled by yours truly) and I don't step out of my parental comfort box very often.  Now that I'm a stay-at-home mom again and not exhausted at the end of every work day... I'm trying to work on this.  I will always be a strict parent... but I could definitely stand to loosen up when it comes to the  kids having fun... the last thing I want to is stifle their amazing creativity.

     So last week was finger paint and playdough... what would this week be?  I started thinking about it and poor little C comes home EVERY day after school and goes straight to work on 1-1 1/2 hrs worth of homework, takes a bath, eats dinner and has very little time between dinner and bedtime.  So today I decided Fuzzy and I would surprise him with his very... own...  fort.  I don't think I've built a fort since I was 8... so this project was as much enabling my creativity as it was intended to enable my children's.  Out came the dining room chairs, the coffee table, the blankets, pillows, books and flashlight.  Fuzzy and I actually had a great time building it... but not near as much fun as C's anticipation of his "surprise." 

     He guessed all the way home... "Is it cupcakes?"  "A cake?"  "Mom... Mom... What is it!!??"  We drove into the garage and he bolted out of the car... fully prepared to bust in on whatever secret I had prepared.  "Whoa!!" I pulled him back out of full sprint mode and covered his eyes.  He bounced all the way to the living room with his eyes closed and the pleasure in his face and voice when I uncovered his eyes was enough to tell me that I definitely need to loosen up more often.  Now it's this... "Mom, can I do my homework in the fort?" "Hey Mom, can I watch a movie in the tent." "Mooommm... can I SLEEP in the tent!!??"  Well sure, why not.  :)  He has now added a door, half the toys in his room and a bag of marshmallows.  I'm so glad we did this.  :)



And I even climbed in there myself... quite a nice place to lay and type a blog.  Don't you think?

My perfect husband...

Well I want to start by saying that approximately 23 hrs and 58 minutes per day... I have the BEST husband in the world. There are very few things that fit into that two minutes of the day... but one of them... is bread.

Now some of you will probably blame this more on my previously mentioned obsessive-compulsive problem than actually blaming the husband... but of course I see no problem expecting the bread bag to be free from air, completely sealed, with all edges tucked under the loaf after using it. Like this...




Instead, I get this...

This is a battle I will not pick. :)
Have a great day!!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Goodbye Halloween

Well... I am officially ready for the Halloween candy to be gone. It seems as though it has found its way into every nook and cranny of our home. That why for the past two days I have let C eat as MUCH of it as he wants. And let me just say, he's taking full advantage of the situation.
He actually tilted the bowl, leaned his head down to it and said, "Mom, I'm just going to gobble this up!"






 

Even Fuzz has caught on.

Hope y'all are enjoying all the candy at your house!! :)

The end of a season...

It's always a little bittersweet at the end of summer... bitter because most of the things we love to do outside must come to an end.  Sweet because that means it is time to get creative indoors and pull out the things we've forgotten about most of the summer.

Good-bye soccer... see you in the spring!

Hello Play-Dough!!

And Hellooooooo Finger Paint!!

 Hope y'all are having as much fun in the colder weather as we are!!

Fuzzy Friday...

Life as a SAHM...

     I have known since the day I had my son that I was meant to be a stay-at-home-mom.  I had a small taste of it right after he was born... but 6 months later had to return to the rat race.  A house payment cut in half and two payed off cars later... I am now back at home... right where I am supposed to be.

     This is only week one but I feel full of energy (much needed for a toddler) and am ready to make up for lost time.  We've already had a ton of fun... but I do believe that today was one of the best days I've had with just the two of us.  If you've ever heard of a little place called "Jumping Party," it's amazing.  One enormous room ... completely filled with bounce houses, bounce slides and bounce obstacle courses.  But even better than that... the "Jumping Party" in my town has... "Toddler Tuesday."  That means that every tuesday you can take your toddler and pay their AGE to get in.  You got it... $1 for 2 1/2 hours of non-stop dancing, jumping, laughing, climbing and sliding. 

     In that short 2 1/2 hours my little guy went from not knowing how to get on the bouncy things... to climbing in, up and around the entire obstacle course by himself.  I was so proud... and it was a sweet reminder that being a mom is the best job anyone could ever ask for... and I feel so blessed to call that job mine.

     





Now THAT is a fun-filled face! :)

Oh McDonald...

Well, I must say that I have NEVER been a fan of McDonald's.  It never appeals to me... every time I drive by it, it screams "GERM POOL!, NASTY FOOD!, GRUBBY GRUBBY GRUBBY!" However, McDonald's has a [disgusting] playground and [cheap] toys with their food... so in lies the reason that my six year old LOVES it.  Everytime we talk about going to eat... McDonalds is his choice. 

So today... I had a friend call and want to meet me somewhere... well, not somewhere... McDonalds.  She has a son four months older than G and thought it would be a great place for them to play together.  So, I closed my eyes to the grubbiness and decided to deal with it. 

What an adventure it was.

     A: My son decided that the sweaty shoes and socks in the shoe rack looked cool... so he decided to try and pull them all out and play with them instead of the jungle gym. Nice.
     B: Once that was put to an end (by me), he decided he would climb to the VERY top of the jungle gym... at which point he couldn't get over the net to the slide.  Of course... he couldn't come back down without sliding... so he just stared down at me with his sad eyes hoping for help.  So what did I do? You guessed it.  I climbed my big hiney up to the top of that jungle gym and slid him down that slide.

                                      

C: G got stuck halfway down the above mentioned slide and was at that point scared to death and screaming.... luckily saved by friend climbing her hiney to the bottom of the slide and retrieving him.

D:  Friend's son decided that the anonymous fry located somewhere in the jungle gym looked more appetizing than the full order he had back at the table.  Yum.

But their is a positive and a negative to this story.

Positive: G had the cutest little girl follow him around the entire time (so cute) and most of all, we got to spend some good quality time with friends.

Negative: My six year old was at school... which means he will need his turn at McDonalds.