Quote of the day

"I loooooooooooooove baby Jesus!"

-Bubba, age 3

Dora Dora Dora the Explorer!

So...should I be concerned that Bubba is obsessed beyond belief with Dora? Just means he likes chicks, right? Not that he wants to be one...? Ha!

What is even stranger is that 4 months ago, this child would not watch anything on TV. The only thing he would watch is The Wiggles on DVDs. It's nice that now that the TV can babysit him he'll watch Dora while I get blogging stuff done around the house.

Off to watch Christmas Dora!

It's still funny to me!

This just never gets old.

Not my finest parenting moment...

Peanut: "Carson doesn't like me."


Me: "Why not?"


Peanut: "Because he says I'm stupid."


Me: "Well, you tell Carson that he's stupid."

Peanut: "I can't! I'll get in trouble!"



Me: "Then tell him I said he's stupid."

Peanut's eyes are as big as saucers.

I have been diagnosed on more than one occasion with a very serious disease. It can affect your personal life, your professional life and everything in between. It's called verbal diarrhea. As I've gotten older, I've come to realize that isn't always a good thing. (And I should add that I've learned I'm not always right. Go figure!) I've had to take my medicine and have learned to bite my tongue.

So, couple my case of verbal diarrhea with my momma bear instinct and you get my not-so-finest moment in parenting.

Last horrah with Ama & Papa

At least it's melting!

I'm not really shy about hiding my dislike for winter. If Iowa wasn't such a great place to raise the tater tots, I would be outta here. Well, if the rest of my family would move to FL too.

My parents leave on Friday. They'll be gone 4 months. I'm really sad this year because I don't think we'll make it down for a visit. We usually do, but with Trophy Hub and Peanut in school (and both of them already missing school for Disney last month) we'd need to go over spring break. Spring break plane tickets aren't exactly cheap. Not exactly cheap x 4 + rental car = really expensive. I think the winter is going to seem really long without the break. Boo hoo. I know I get no sympathy, so moving on.

My ever so helpful MIL offered to keep the boys last night after our Christmas at her house. I was tired after the final holiday festivity so I took her up on it. Trophy Hub had to work so I had the house to myself. After we got home, I started to not feel well, which is NOT like me at all. I just don't get sick. Sick, meaning influenza or colds, I just don't get it. Now, if someone who has had the stomach flu within the last 3 months comes within 500 yards of me, I get that. But I had a fever and started getting body aches. I took some Aleve and the aches were gone, but I still had a fever.

It was about 11pm and my MIL called. I should have known it wasn't good. I could hear Bubba crying. He woke up with an earache. She ended up bringing them home. Bubba was up all night. He was a train wreck. It was like when he was an infant and had ear infections. He finally fell asleep about 6:30 this morning and slept for 3 hours until I woke him up.

Our doctor's office isn't open on Saturdays, so I took him to UI's Not-so-Quick Care. With one person in the waiting room, they told me it would be an hour to an hour and a half. Then I got to sit in the waiting room and listen to them bitch gripe about people coming in. Oh, pardon me for bothering you at your JOB.* We finally got called back and PA looked in his ear and told me it looked like his ear drum had burst. Lovely. At least that would explain why he was in so much pain. I left with a prescription for antibiotic and ear drops. And, by the way, I was really bothering the lady working at the Wal-Mart pharmacy too. Grrrr.

*Don't mess with me when I'm sleep deprived.

But...all is well now! After it burst (I'm thinking that must have happened before he fell asleep at 6:30 this morning), it must have felt better because he woke up a new child. When I put him down tonight, he felt a bit warm, but was acting just fine. He's a tough cookie.

A post-Christmas post is coming soon!

These are a few of my favorite things

There are so many things I love about Christmas. Here are my boys enjoying two of my favorite things...lights and candy.

Birthday and Santa Claus

Today was Peanut's 6th birthday! It was very odd to not be with him on his special day, but he had fun being special at school. He got to wear a crown all day and got a card from his teacher. I told him I would make him a cake for school, but he just wanted dirt cake. That's definitely easier than a cake, so I didn't argue!

Tonight we went to see Santa at South Slope. Peanut did very well. He was super nervous and although you can't really tell from the pic, he got red faced. I was very proud of him for not backing out. (And not only because we waited for an hour.)
Bubba, on the other hand, was in full panic mode....

He wanted nothing to do with Santa. I can't say I was surprised and I didn't push him.

That's all for tonight!

The post where I link to YouTube twice, share recipes & ramble...a lot

I felt like doing this today when the boys went outside twice and played nicely for longer than 5 minutes together. Peanut has loved the snow for several years.

When we had our snow day on Wednesday, Bubba didn't have much interest in playing outside. It was a lot colder, but it may have also been because he looked a little like this. So I was pleasantly surprised how well he did outside today. Only a few meltdowns over mittens falling off.

Our weekend was very uneventful. Trophy Hub deer hunted both mornings and worked both nights. We did head into the mall yesterday and hit a few stores. Didn't get one Christmas present, so I'm very far behind now. My MIL is going to watch the boys some night this week so I can get my shopping done. I usually shop slowly over 2 months, but I could not get into the spirit before our vacation. I'm paying for that now!

I have a question for you...what do you do with your Christmas cards? I love getting them, but haven't come up with a good way of displaying them. Right now, they are sitting in a pile on my kitchen counter.

What is your favorite Christmas sweet or snack? Send me your recipe! I have 3 get togethers next weekend and would love to try one of your favorites!

Here is my all time favorite and they are so easy:

Chow Mein Cookies

1 bag semi sweet chocolate chips

1 bag butterscotch chips

Chow Mein Noodles

Melt chips and add noodles. Drop onto wax paper to set. Enjoy!

Here is another favorite, a little more work and totally worth it:

Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls

1 c peanut butter (you can use chunky, but I use creamy)

1/4 c butter, softened

1 c powdered sugar

2 c Rice Krispies

1 1/2 c semi sweet chocolate chips

2 T vegetable shortening (or paraffin wax)

Beat peanut butter, butter and powdered sugar with an electric mixer until thoroughly combined. Stir in Rice Krispies. Shape into balls. (You can either put these in mini muffin cups or just put on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper - I do the latter.) Refrigerate or freeze. Melt chocolate chips and shortening. Spoon over balls.

Yum.

My three favorite people in the whole world

Over my head?

Do you think it's a bad sign that I had to read the instruction manual for my new camera to attach the neck strap?

Never mind.

Don't answer that.

Budding shutterbug?

Bubba took this photo of me.

Water slide party!

It's birthday party day! We had (once again) a joint birthday party for the boys. With their birthdays only being a month apart, the last few years we have opted to have them together. This saves money and time. Two of my favorite things to save!

We rented out a pool at a local hotel that has a 100 ft water slide. It was a blast for all the kids - there were about 15 of them. It was also a blast for the adults that opted to partake - that would include me. Ahem.

Peanut is a total fish. All my pics of him today look like this:

Bubba had a ball too, but since he couldn't touch in the pool he relied on Trophy Hub and I to tote him around. Except in the hot tub, of course, which is his favorite place to be anyway. And yes, we do feed him.
I had planned on making 2 cakes. When my first one fell apart (literally) so did my plan. We ended up with just one, which was fine since I had made Bubba's last month anyway, remember? Just like that one, please don't look too close - I'm an amateur! The picture I had to use to make this one was bad and unlike everyone else in my household, I don't know Darth Vader's facial features like the back of my hand. So I just had to wing it. Peanut was happy with it and it tasted pretty darn good, so I'm calling it a success.

If my kids make me tired, other people's kids exhaust me.

Snuggled in the Snuggie

Trophy Hub loves gift giving. He loves it so much that once he has bought me something he has a really hard time keeping it from me. Which is why I have no gifts to open on the actual holiday, birthday, anniversary.

Tonight at the end of our date, he surprised me with my first early Christmas present. I am the proud owner of a pink Snuggie. You know, the blanket with sleeves. It's wonderful! Its keeping me nice and toasty as I type this.

I have been cold since...oh, September. And it's snowing and below 30 degrees outside. I don't see me warming up until summer. So I know I will get lots of use out of it. He will probably regret getting me a pink one because I'm sure he'll want to use it!

Love 'em!

I love the big personalities that my kids have. They are both so over the top. I love it.

Tree farm

Yes, we're back. Not really happy about it, but all good things must come to an end.

Today we did something fun. A family tradition of going to get our Christmas tree. We love picking it out, putting it up, decorating it...but I absolutely hate the mess that real trees make. The mess becomes fuzzy in my brain though as the months go by and the sticker shock of a nice artificial sends me back to the tree farm year after year.

So, it's up and it's decorated. The ornaments are clumped in areas at about 34 inches and 42 inches respectively. At about eye level for 2 of my little helpers.

Tomorrow, it's back to reality. Reality = work. Off to bed for me!

Last day....

Good bye Mr. Duck. You are on your own now. Your pool will never be the same after these kids...

Happy Thanksgiving!

Day #7 - Rain

Today, it's rainy and cold (relatively speaking). The thermometer in our car said 68 degrees, but it feels much colder! Trophy Hub, the boys and I headed to the Lego store in Downtown Disney. In the rain. Yes, I'm the genius that came up with it. Sheesh. We didn't stay long. There were gobs of people and it's not like the boys need any more Legos. I'm always cursing the ones we have because they are everywhere. What they can do with Legos just amazes me though!

After Legos, we went to Planet Hollywood for lunch. We thought we heard someone say it's the largest one in the world. I'm guessing it's owned by Sly Stallone because there was a lot of him there! It reminds me a little of the Hard Rock Cafe because it's got so much to look at. It definitely kept the boys entertained! It had 3 levels of dining, kitchens and stuff to look at. Only the first level was in operation, but we went up to check out the stuff.

They had Bruce Willis's shirt from Die Hard. Oh, how I love Bruce Willis. I mean, he's no Trophy Hub, but....dang.

When we got home, I did something unheard of. I took a nap. A 2 1/2 hour nap! It was lovely. I was only awakened a few times by Dora, giggling, talking outside the door and pool splashing outside my window. I'm not complaining, I was happy to sleep...no matter how interrupted it was!

Not sure what's on tap for tonight. If it's something fun I'll post again!

Day #6 (I think) - Animal Kingdom

Today, we visited Animal Kingdom. It was probably the least favorite of ours. That would be because.....the vacation crowds have arrived! We have been spoiled rotten with small crowds and little to no waiting. Today, we were shocked to find ourselves in a sea of people and lines galore. Never in a million gazillion years would I ever want to come to Orlando during a peak season.

Never.

Ever.

Ever.

I'm not a big fan of crowds. Or waiting.

We managed to have some fun though. Imagine that!

We went on a few rides that were fun. Here is a pic of Expedition Everest:

Don't ask Peanut about it though...he didn't care for it much.

Speaking of Peanut, here is a comparison of a nearly 6 year old humans hands to a 6 year old gorilla's! And he has pretty big mitts!

Bubba was pretty content. He got to see giraffes - which are his favorite - during our safari ride. We have walked about 39483762 miles over the last week and he has kept up with us pretty well. He has done a fair amount of shoulder riding on my dad, but for as little as his legs are we still need to give him some props.


Tomorrow has an 80% chance of rain, so I think we're going to hit the I-4 flea market and Beall's. And when I say "we", I don't mean all 9 of us! Probably just my mom and me. And maybe my nieces. I'm way a little excited to not have to keep such a close eye on 8 other people too!

We leave early Friday morning, so we'll probably try to pack up as much as we can tomorrow so we can enjoy Thanksgiving outside since it's supposed to be nicer. The clubhouse in the gated community where we're staying has a really nice pool with a water slide so we may check that our after our not-so-traditional Thanksgiving dinner (brats anyone?).

Day #5 - SeaWorld

Oh, how I love SeaWorld! SeaWorld like most of the other places we have been was landscaped beautifully. We had another gorgeous day! The boys had an absolute ball today, as did the rest of us. There is something for everyone at SeaWorld! The big group split up today for a few hours. I spent time with Bubba in Shamu's Happy Harbor - where they had a ton of little kid rides and fun stuff to do. Peanut and Trophy Hub went to The Polar Express Experience and everyone else went to check out the park's coasters. We caught up with them later and my parents stayed with the boys so Trophy Hub and I could go enjoy the coasters with my brother and nieces. Kraken and Manta were so much fun.

Shamu's show was amazing. When I was a little girl (about Peanut's age) and visited for the first time, I told my parents that I wanted to swim with Shamu. The only thing unappealing about that now is the wetsuit. :-) It was just as amazing to watch as an adult as it was as a child. We have gobs of pics, but I thought this one was neat to share....

We have 14 day passes to SeaWorld, but unfortunately our days are dwindling. We may go back for 1 day or half day if we can squeeze it in.

You know how when your vacation is nearly the end, you start to sort of get excited to go home? Well, that's not the case here. We have all gotten pretty comfy in our posh house and fun-filled days. Each day ends with the kids in the pool and me soaking in the hot tub. Trophy Hub says I like it hot enough to cook pasta and that's about right. Most people can't stand it and leave me for the pool!

Anyway...any guesses on tomorrow? I think it's going to be Animal Kingdom!

Day #4 - Epcot

Guess where we were today?! Epcot was pretty fun. We didn't do a lot there, buy the highlights were Soarin', Turtle Talk with Crush and Test Track. We had another pretty good weather day. It sprinkled a little in the morning and off and on a little bit throughout the day. But...it was warm!
I am sooo glad Peanut is over his fear of the characters. To celebrate, we stood in a long line (probably 30-45 minutes) and got to meet 5 of the characters and get pics with each one. We had a lot of fun meeting Mickey, Pluto, Minnie, Donald Duck and Goofy.
This little boy was having none of it today. He was content to hang with PaPa (my dad). He is definitely on sensory overload. Everything at Disney is loud, dark then really bright, wet, smelly etc. From the very first ride today he was asking if we were coming back to the "Florida house". It was a long day for him....and for me, to be honest.
I wanted Trophy Hub to get a kiss from Minnie...so here he is getting fresh with her. :-) He enjoyed it as much as he looks like he did.

What's planned for tomorrow? I don't know! I didn't want to make the decision - would hate to be perceived as bossy! Who me? Bossy? Nooooooooo.....

Day #3 - Discovery Cove

Today, I got a glimpse into what heaven looks like. Wow, Discovery Cove was beautiful. That is putting it mildly. We had an all inclusive day with a 30 minute dolphin swim. Dolphins are such amazing animals and to be so close to them, to touch them, to feed them was a phenomenal experience. Peanut got to do it with us, but Bubba wasn't old enough. :-( He probably would have gotten hypothermia from the water anyway.

We swam in beach lined pools (very odd, but very cool!) most of the day complete with snorkeling! The lagoon was filled with salt water and brightly colored fish AND sting rays. Honest to God sting rays! Swimming right with us! It was a little scary, but all in all it was just really cool.

Bubba stuck close to me and close to the shallow area. Peanut, on the other hand, was long gone most of the day with Trophy Hub. We had our choice of a wet suit or a vest that kept us warmer in the cooler water and had some floation to them. (All pics of me in a wet suit will be burned. Let's just say you could see where everyone's belly button was. Augh...) Bubba grew quite fond of his wet suit and looked pretty darn cute in it too. See...?
So, what's on tap for tomorrow? Relaxation? No way! Epcot!

Disney Day #2

Today was Disney's Hollywood Studios. This was sooo much fun! Again, the crowds were manageable so we got to do most of what we wanted to do. The Tower of Terror and Rock N Roller Coaster were both awesome and worth the trip even if you didn't see or do anything else at the park!

Peanut also seemed to get over his fear of the characters. I'm taking credit for my comparison of them to Halloween costumes for breaking him out of it. Here are the characters from the move "Up". He gave all of them a high five and posed for some additional pics. If you haven't seen it, it is a very good movie (for kids and adults).

We also got to see the Chipmunks, Tigger/Pooh/Eyeore, Mickey, Mr. Incredible/Elastigirl, Minnie, Goofey and Pluto.

Ahhhh, so magical...

Tomorrow, we are laying "low" and going to Discovery Cove. Can't wait!

Disney Day #1

We're heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeere! At least Trophy Hub and I look happy to be here. We took a pic with our town paper to send in (if you're wondering why Sam is holding a newspaper). I took a lot of pics today - 178 to be exact - but only 1 had all 4 of us in it. Thanks to Uncle Bubba for taking this one for us!

Let me just tell you...if you are planning on coming to Disney World do it the week before Thanksgiving! We did everything we wanted to do at Magic Kingdom today! The longest we waited in any line was probably 15 minutes and that was only on a few. There were many rides with no wait at all. It was amazing! We got done what takes 3 days during the busy season. The weather was PERFECT. It was about 80...not too hot. Remind me why we live in Iowa?!

Peanut loved Buzz Lightyear and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and didn't care of Space Mountain at all (understatement of the century). He also doesn't like any of the characters, so he kept his distance from them.

Bubba loved Dumbo and the Carousel. He didn't care of Pirates of the Caribbean. He did meet Mickey & Minnie and gave them five!

(Now, those of you who know my boys' personalities know that it's very odd that Bubba would meet Mickey and Peanut wouldn't. Go figure.)

Trophy Hub loved Space Mountain and I liked Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Splash Mountain was pretty fun too!

Tomorrow, we go to Hollywood Studios!

Redeeming myself

So there I sat. At the stop light. And there he was. Again. The same man, with the same sign...asking for...anything. He's broke, hungry, and today it was raining.

The last time I sat at the light, I felt compelled to give him a few dollars. I dug into my purse and...nothing. No cash. Change would be degrading. To me. I'm sure to him, it would be just like his sign said...it would help. Maybe it would get him a warm cup of coffee. But, the light changed and I went on my way.

Today, I looked at him and said a silent prayer. Whatever he had done to get to where he was, please be with him. I reached into my purse and found 3 single dollar bills. I looked at him again. I sat frozen...unable to roll my window down and offer the cold, wet, hungry man the $3. I'm not sure why I couldn't bring myself to do it. Was I afraid of him? Was I afraid of what the other people in the cars would think of me if I did? Would I be feeding some sort of addiction that this man had? Again, the light changed and I went on my way.

I kept thinking of him though. Why was I such a coward? I could have bought him a meal. What if that was someone in my family? So lost and broken? Wouldn't I want someone to feed him if they could? Of course I would.

I believe that God gives us opportunities all the time to redeem ourselves. We may ignore Him, but he will keep showing us the way. It is up to us if we want to follow Him.

A few short hours later, a few miles away, I was filling up with gas. A woman pulled up at the pump across from me. She seemed a bit frazzled, opened her door and said "Excuse me. This is really embarrassing. I work in Iowa City and live in Cedar Rapids. I forgot my wallet at home and I'm on empty. Is there any way that you could spare $3 to I can at least get home?"

I gave her the $3, wished her a good day and went on my way.

On top of spaaaaaaaghetti

Tonight I made some fabulous meatballs. The boys and I gobbled them up. Here is all I did:

1 lb lean ground beef

Worcestershire sauce (not sure how much, maybe 1 T?)

Onion Onion (again, not sure how much)

How do you make meatballs?

Don't let my subject mislead you. I didn't serve these over spaghetti! I just made some tigger tails with butter (parkay spray for me!) and shredded Parmesan cheese. And of course cantaloupe for "dessert".

I'm a chicken!

This was me at work this week.

I hate that feeling.

No matter how much extra I worked, I couldn't seem to get caught up. It is one of our busiest times of the year and I'm trying to cram what normally takes a month into 2 weeks because of my upcoming vacation.

My vacation?

I'm glad you asked!!

Ok, so anyone that's been within 20 feet of me in the last month knows that we are leaving WEDNESDAY for Florida! Yippee! There are nine of my family members going.

Yup, I said NINE.

For NINE days.

In a big ole house. This house, actually.

Ok, I'm done rubbing it in.

We will be there over Thanksgiving. I suggested (although I love the food!) to forgo the traditional meal and have fajitas. Or hamburgers. Or just some mangoes. We may have Thanksgiving on Christmas. After all, the holidays are about family, not about food. Right? Right!

The boys are pretty excited about going. But to be honest, they have no clue what they're in for. Peanut asked me about a month ago (while holding his piggy bank) if all the rides at Disney cost a quarter. How stinkin' sweet is he?

HuHot

Tonight we had a wonderful early celebration at HuHot for Bubba's 3rd birthday (his actual b-day is tomorrow). My parents, nieces, brother and MIL met us for supper, gifts and cake. Why HuHot? Bubba absolutely loves it. See...?

Here is Bubba's first look at his Blue's Clues cake. I think he approves!
This is my first character cake. (Sorry the pic below is a little dark - my flash wasn't cooperating last night when I took it.) Don't look too close because you will see many, many flaws. It took me hours - a true labor of love. But...I had a ball doing it and I learned a lot on what I would do differently before tackling one for Peanut next month.

A post for women only

Ladies,

Have you ever stopped doing laundry, dishes, vacuuming, dusting, mopping and just thought....

"Damn, I wish I had a wife."