Fifteen years ago today I married my sweetheart! It was the best thing I ever did. He is such a great guy, I'm so lucky to have him as my husband!
I just dropped the kids off at my mom's house for their annual New Years Eve sleepover. Grandma likes to spoil them. They gorge themselves on pizza, soda pop and other treats all night until midnight when they go outside to make as much noise as possible.
Noise is their specialty.
DH is taking me to a nice steak place for dinner. I still haven't figured out what I'm going to wear. It's a toss up between fashionable, or comfortable. I'm trying to come up with a compromise. This would be SO much easier if I hadn't gained those 7 pounds last week. Right now I kind of regret stealing the chocolate out of the kids stockings. Next year, Santa needs to leave me my own chocolate.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!
Jill
Monday, December 31, 2007
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Christmas cooking with the Little Red Hen
Once upon a time there was a Little Red Hen. She lived with her Hunky Rooster Husband and her four darling little chickadees.
One day the Little Red Hen realized that Christmas was only two days away, and she asked her little chickadees if they thought it would be a good idea to make Christmas goodies to take to the neighboring farm animals. They all agreed that it would be a lovely thing to do, and so she asked them who wanted to help her make the goodies.
"I do!" said chick #1.
"I do!" said chick #2.
"I do!" said chick #3.
"I go pway wif cars" said chick #4 because, well, he's only two and wouldn't really be much help anyway.
So the Little Red Hen made some cookie dough and said "Who will help me roll out the cookies?"
Chick # 1 -"Not I"
Chick #3 - "Not I'
Chick #2 - "OK"
But apparently chick # 2 has a short attention span and she soon wandered off downstairs to play the Playstation with her brothers.
So the Little Red Hen made the cookies herself. She rolled out the dough, cut out the cookies, and baked them. She even went so far as to decorate them with m&ms and sugar sprinkles.
Then the Little Red Hen said "Who will help me make the fudge?"
"Not I" said Chick #1.
"Not I" said chick #2.
"Not I said chick #3.
"Watch yaiying a'keen" said chick #4. (That would be LIghtning McQueen from the movie "Cars")
So the Little Red Hen made the fudge all by herself. She measured the the ingredients, and stood over the boiling mixture until it was done cooking, and poured it into a pre greased pan. It smelled delicious.
"Who would like to help me make the pecan tarts?" asked the Little Red Hen?
"Hey, Chick #1 just made it to level 5!" yelled chick #3.
"Hooray!" said chick #2.
The Hunky Rooster was snoring on the couch, and Chick # 4 was busy moving all of the refrigerator magnets to the dishwasher and back to the fridge.
So the Little Red Hen made the pecan tarts all by herself. She made the dough for the crusts, and molded them into the tiny muffin pans. She chopped the pecans and made the filling. She baked them in a 350 degree oven for 20-25 minutes.
The aroma was heavenly.
Next the Little Red Hen was about to ask if anyone would want to help her make another batch of fudge when she heard the sound of racing cars coming from the direction of the playstation. She was annoyed, and didn't even bother asking.
She decided to make a batch of white chocolate fudge this time because it was such a hit at the Christmas party last year. She put almond flavoring in it and poured it into another pre greased pan, but alas, she had not cooked it long enough, and it didn't set up. It was soft, and very sticky.
The Little Red hen thought for a moment, and had a great idea. She scooped the soft fudge into balls, rolled them in chopped nuts and put them in little paper candy cups.
The fudge smelled so good, that the Little Red Hen ate a bunch of it. So much in fact, that she began to feel sick to her stomach.
"HEY!" she yelled "Is anybody going to help me dip pretzels?!?!?!?!"
Chick #3 appeared out of nowhere. "I will help" he said, and he proceeded to dip the tiny pretzels in the cocolate that the Little Red Hen had melted.
Before long, the Little Red Hen noticed that chick #3 was eating more pretzles than he was dipping, and the chocolate was going hard, so she finished dipping them herself.
Suddenly, Chick #1 & chick #2 came upstairs & said "Wow! What smells so good? What are you making that for?"
The Little Red Hen shot them a dirty look and said "Who will help me put these goodies on plates, and wrap them with cellophane to give to the neighbors?"
"Do we have to?" asked chick #1
The Little Red hen looked at her brood, her eyes open wide, her teeth clenched, and hissed "YES!!!"
So chickadees #1,2,&3 all grabbed plates, and loaded them full of the lovely goodies that the Little Red Hen had spent the last 6 hours making.
At some point, chick #4 got hold of a piece of fudge. The little chick thought the fudge was delicious. So delicious in fact, that he ate more, and more. He kept stuffing the fudge in his pie hole until the Little Red Hen noticed the melted chocolate all over his hands, and the stream of chocolate drool flowing from his mouth, and dripping all over his new shoes.
Finally, the plates were filled and wrapped.
"Who will help me deliver these fine goodies?" asked the Little Red Hen.
"I will!" said chick #1.
"I will!" said chick #2.
"I will!" said chick #3.
"WANT MORE CHOCKIT!!!!" yelled chick #4.
"Fine" said the Little Red Hen "Then go deliver them."
The chickadees gathered the goodies and went out into the cold night to deliver the fine Christmas goodies to the neighbors.
The little Red Hen poured herself a large glass of Dr. Pepper, took some Motrin, and then sat on the couch with her feet up.
Right at that moment, the sugar kicked in from all of the fudge that chick #4 had eaten, and he began running around the room, jumping on the couch, and screaming "WWHHEEEEEEEEEEEE"
And then the Little Red Hen wrestled chick #4 into his pajamas.
And put him to bed.
When the 3 chickadees returned home, they brought happy Christmas greetings from the neighboring farm animals.
Then the chickadees all said "Dear mother Hen, it has been so much fun making goodies, may we do it again next year?"
One day the Little Red Hen realized that Christmas was only two days away, and she asked her little chickadees if they thought it would be a good idea to make Christmas goodies to take to the neighboring farm animals. They all agreed that it would be a lovely thing to do, and so she asked them who wanted to help her make the goodies.
"I do!" said chick #1.
"I do!" said chick #2.
"I do!" said chick #3.
"I go pway wif cars" said chick #4 because, well, he's only two and wouldn't really be much help anyway.
So the Little Red Hen made some cookie dough and said "Who will help me roll out the cookies?"
Chick # 1 -"Not I"
Chick #3 - "Not I'
Chick #2 - "OK"
But apparently chick # 2 has a short attention span and she soon wandered off downstairs to play the Playstation with her brothers.
So the Little Red Hen made the cookies herself. She rolled out the dough, cut out the cookies, and baked them. She even went so far as to decorate them with m&ms and sugar sprinkles.
Then the Little Red Hen said "Who will help me make the fudge?"
"Not I" said Chick #1.
"Not I" said chick #2.
"Not I said chick #3.
"Watch yaiying a'keen" said chick #4. (That would be LIghtning McQueen from the movie "Cars")
So the Little Red Hen made the fudge all by herself. She measured the the ingredients, and stood over the boiling mixture until it was done cooking, and poured it into a pre greased pan. It smelled delicious.
"Who would like to help me make the pecan tarts?" asked the Little Red Hen?
"Hey, Chick #1 just made it to level 5!" yelled chick #3.
"Hooray!" said chick #2.
The Hunky Rooster was snoring on the couch, and Chick # 4 was busy moving all of the refrigerator magnets to the dishwasher and back to the fridge.
So the Little Red Hen made the pecan tarts all by herself. She made the dough for the crusts, and molded them into the tiny muffin pans. She chopped the pecans and made the filling. She baked them in a 350 degree oven for 20-25 minutes.
The aroma was heavenly.
Next the Little Red Hen was about to ask if anyone would want to help her make another batch of fudge when she heard the sound of racing cars coming from the direction of the playstation. She was annoyed, and didn't even bother asking.
She decided to make a batch of white chocolate fudge this time because it was such a hit at the Christmas party last year. She put almond flavoring in it and poured it into another pre greased pan, but alas, she had not cooked it long enough, and it didn't set up. It was soft, and very sticky.
The Little Red hen thought for a moment, and had a great idea. She scooped the soft fudge into balls, rolled them in chopped nuts and put them in little paper candy cups.
The fudge smelled so good, that the Little Red Hen ate a bunch of it. So much in fact, that she began to feel sick to her stomach.
"HEY!" she yelled "Is anybody going to help me dip pretzels?!?!?!?!"
Chick #3 appeared out of nowhere. "I will help" he said, and he proceeded to dip the tiny pretzels in the cocolate that the Little Red Hen had melted.
Before long, the Little Red Hen noticed that chick #3 was eating more pretzles than he was dipping, and the chocolate was going hard, so she finished dipping them herself.
Suddenly, Chick #1 & chick #2 came upstairs & said "Wow! What smells so good? What are you making that for?"
The Little Red Hen shot them a dirty look and said "Who will help me put these goodies on plates, and wrap them with cellophane to give to the neighbors?"
"Do we have to?" asked chick #1
The Little Red hen looked at her brood, her eyes open wide, her teeth clenched, and hissed "YES!!!"
So chickadees #1,2,&3 all grabbed plates, and loaded them full of the lovely goodies that the Little Red Hen had spent the last 6 hours making.
At some point, chick #4 got hold of a piece of fudge. The little chick thought the fudge was delicious. So delicious in fact, that he ate more, and more. He kept stuffing the fudge in his pie hole until the Little Red Hen noticed the melted chocolate all over his hands, and the stream of chocolate drool flowing from his mouth, and dripping all over his new shoes.
Finally, the plates were filled and wrapped.
"Who will help me deliver these fine goodies?" asked the Little Red Hen.
"I will!" said chick #1.
"I will!" said chick #2.
"I will!" said chick #3.
"WANT MORE CHOCKIT!!!!" yelled chick #4.
"Fine" said the Little Red Hen "Then go deliver them."
The chickadees gathered the goodies and went out into the cold night to deliver the fine Christmas goodies to the neighbors.
The little Red Hen poured herself a large glass of Dr. Pepper, took some Motrin, and then sat on the couch with her feet up.
Right at that moment, the sugar kicked in from all of the fudge that chick #4 had eaten, and he began running around the room, jumping on the couch, and screaming "WWHHEEEEEEEEEEEE"
And then the Little Red Hen wrestled chick #4 into his pajamas.
And put him to bed.
When the 3 chickadees returned home, they brought happy Christmas greetings from the neighboring farm animals.
Then the chickadees all said "Dear mother Hen, it has been so much fun making goodies, may we do it again next year?"
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Toxic glue?????????
Yesterday we got all of our Christmas cards addressed and sent. 70 of them. I had no idea that we actually knew that many people. (And yes, I know it's kind of late to be sending them, and that they probably won't arrive before Christmas. I should have started them sooner...........ect.)
We got the kids involved in the whole project. They stuffed the envelopes, stamped our return adress on them, and put the stamps on.
I tried to talk them into licking and sealing the envelopes. They each sealed one and decided that the glue tasted bad, and so guess who got to lick all the envelopes.
Yep, it was me. And yes, the glue tasted bad.
As I was finishing up the last few envelopes, I had a flashback to that episode of Seinfeld where George's fiancee licked all the envelopes for their wedding invitations, the glue turned out to be toxic, and she died.
So far I'm feeling O.K.
Jill
We got the kids involved in the whole project. They stuffed the envelopes, stamped our return adress on them, and put the stamps on.
I tried to talk them into licking and sealing the envelopes. They each sealed one and decided that the glue tasted bad, and so guess who got to lick all the envelopes.
Yep, it was me. And yes, the glue tasted bad.
As I was finishing up the last few envelopes, I had a flashback to that episode of Seinfeld where George's fiancee licked all the envelopes for their wedding invitations, the glue turned out to be toxic, and she died.
So far I'm feeling O.K.
Jill
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Purple Christmas Cookies
Monday was the first chance I had to do any Christmas shopping. I am happy to report that after several days of "Power shopping" I am nearly finished.
For some reason, no matter where or when I start my Christmas shopping, I always end up at the same place.
Wal Mart at 1:30 a.m. Wandering around with a glazed look over my face, wondering what in the heck I am doing at Wal mart at 1:30 a.m.
I was in the toy department and found several strange things.
A play tatoo kit. It has a pen type thing that vibrates just like a real tatoo needle. It uses washable markers.
A 'three fingered ring' which looked suspiciously like brass knuckles.
And my personal favorite, the 'Alien in a test tube' kit. It comes complete with alien food.
I am not making these things up!
I have a question. Why do people bring their small children shopping at Wal mart in the middle of the night? WHY??????
Now if you are wondering why I don't shop earlier in the day, it is because my children are in year round school, and they have the ENTIRE MONTH of December off and I try NOT take 4 children shopping with me if at all possible.
Things I don't like about the kids being out of school:
#1. They don't always get along with each other as well as I would like them to.
#2. See #1
There are some things I DO like about them being off school.
#1. I get to sleep in :)
#2. No homework or school projects to worry about.
#3. We can do fun Christmas type things.
Yesterday, my cousin and her two kids came over for our annual cookie making activity. (O.K. It's only the second year we have done this, but I think it will be a yearly tradition from now on)
MMMMMMM don't they look delicious! These are the colors you get when you let 9 and 10 year old girls color the frosting.
The kids really had a good time. This was Max's first time making cookies, and he loved it. We gave him a wad of dough, a rolling pin and some cookie cutters, and this kept him occupied for the better part of an hour. For some reason, he thought that he needed to roll the rolling pin over the cookie cutter to make it work.
You should have seen his face when he discovered that he could eat the dough.
As with any fun project, there comes the mess. Believe it or not, I took this picture after we had already cleaned up quite a bit of it.
I'm not sure what the magnet is doing on the counter. I'm pretty sure we didn't use it for the cookies.
Here's a useful bit of information. Did you know that if you take a magnet and put it on your television screen, you will see a bunch of pretty rainbow colors around the screen? Slide the magnet around and the pretty colors will follow in a pretty pattern.
Did you also know that if you do this enough times, the pretty colors never go away?
Seriously, DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME!! One of our T.V.'s seems to have recovered from this experiment, however, the other is a lost cause.
We make the children use that one.
The A.Q.O.D. (Aaron quote of the day)
"Mom, do we belong to your side of the family, or Dad's?"
Jill
For some reason, no matter where or when I start my Christmas shopping, I always end up at the same place.
Wal Mart at 1:30 a.m. Wandering around with a glazed look over my face, wondering what in the heck I am doing at Wal mart at 1:30 a.m.
I was in the toy department and found several strange things.
A play tatoo kit. It has a pen type thing that vibrates just like a real tatoo needle. It uses washable markers.
A 'three fingered ring' which looked suspiciously like brass knuckles.
And my personal favorite, the 'Alien in a test tube' kit. It comes complete with alien food.
I am not making these things up!
I have a question. Why do people bring their small children shopping at Wal mart in the middle of the night? WHY??????
Now if you are wondering why I don't shop earlier in the day, it is because my children are in year round school, and they have the ENTIRE MONTH of December off and I try NOT take 4 children shopping with me if at all possible.
Things I don't like about the kids being out of school:
#1. They don't always get along with each other as well as I would like them to.
#2. See #1
There are some things I DO like about them being off school.
#1. I get to sleep in :)
#2. No homework or school projects to worry about.
#3. We can do fun Christmas type things.
Yesterday, my cousin and her two kids came over for our annual cookie making activity. (O.K. It's only the second year we have done this, but I think it will be a yearly tradition from now on)
MMMMMMM don't they look delicious! These are the colors you get when you let 9 and 10 year old girls color the frosting.
The kids really had a good time. This was Max's first time making cookies, and he loved it. We gave him a wad of dough, a rolling pin and some cookie cutters, and this kept him occupied for the better part of an hour. For some reason, he thought that he needed to roll the rolling pin over the cookie cutter to make it work.
You should have seen his face when he discovered that he could eat the dough.
As with any fun project, there comes the mess. Believe it or not, I took this picture after we had already cleaned up quite a bit of it.
I'm not sure what the magnet is doing on the counter. I'm pretty sure we didn't use it for the cookies.
Here's a useful bit of information. Did you know that if you take a magnet and put it on your television screen, you will see a bunch of pretty rainbow colors around the screen? Slide the magnet around and the pretty colors will follow in a pretty pattern.
Did you also know that if you do this enough times, the pretty colors never go away?
Seriously, DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME!! One of our T.V.'s seems to have recovered from this experiment, however, the other is a lost cause.
We make the children use that one.
The A.Q.O.D. (Aaron quote of the day)
"Mom, do we belong to your side of the family, or Dad's?"
Jill
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Teeth, floods flying trophies & vacuums
O.K., So I went to the dentist yesterday, and after an hour of x-rays, putting ice on my teeth, and whacking them with a metal thing, he came to the conclusion that they can't find anything wrong with me.
ME: "OK,then what could be causing this stabbing pain in the side of my face?"
Mr. Dentist: "Well it's possible that you could have a micro-fracture that won't show up in the x-ray, the beginning of an abcess or something like that. If it gets any worse, call me."
He did give me a prescription for some pain pills before I left. They worked really well, as soon as I paid for them at the pharmacy, my tooth stopped hurting.
Yesterday, I read someones blog, who was complaining that some blogs are not funny, and we need to try harder.
Today I will try harder.
I will write about my 7 year old son, Aaron.
This is one of those kids that looks at things differently from the rest of us. He thinks "outside of the box" WAAAAY outside of the box.
When he was younger, he had a fascination with water. He loved to see how it would flow across the many surfaces of our house. He once managed to flood both of our bathrooms at the same time. (And before anyone asks why I wasn't watching him closer, it was because I was sitting on the couch watching soaps and eating bon bons:P )
When Aaron was almost 3, I woke up one morning to the sound of his older brother yelling "NO Aaron, that's BAD!!!"
I went downstairs to find that Aaron had removed the hose from the vacuum cleaner, and hooked it onto the faucett in the bathroom. He had created a "Fire hose" and had managed to flood the bathroom without wasting that all that time filling the sink with water.
I once walked into the kitchen to see him standing on top of the kitchen table pouring an entire gallon of milk directly on the top of the table, watching it flow over the edge of the table and onto the floor. (again, I was watching soaps & eating bon bons)
When he was almost 2, we woke up at 2:00 am because my daughter was screaming at the top of her lungs. We ran into her room (which she shared with Aaron) and Aaron was standing on top of the dresser next to her bed, completely naked, throwing trophies at her. Apparently he has a great aim, because he hit her every time.
We got him dressed, calmed Brielle down, put them back to bed, and went back to sleep. An hour later, he did it again.
Age 3, our pediatrician wanted to have a blood test done for Aaron. It took 4 of us to hold him down because he was screaming so hard. After they drew his blood, he wouldn't stop screaming. The nurses and receptionists tried everything. They actually gave him a toy from the waiting room, and one lady offered him candy from a bowl she had in her desk drawer, not only did he take a handful of candy, he insisted that she give him the package of microwave popcorn that was sitting next to it. He still didn't stop screaming. I picked him up and hauled him out of there, and as soon as he got on the elevator, and the doors closed, he immediately stopped crying, looked up at me with a very serious face and said "You know, it didn't really hurt that bad."
Aaron also has quite a way with words. We have what we refer to as the "A.Q.O.D.".
Aaron Quote Of the Day.
Here are a few of my favorites:
"Mom, when C.J. is 100 years old, will Dad be dead?"
"I'm stronger than a big pile of beef"
"Your tongue is like a little hand in your mouth that moves your food to the right
teeth to chew it."
"Crunchy peanut butter tastes the same as regular, it just makes your teeth work harder." (Now there's an advertising slogan if I've ever heard one)
"A take 5 candy bar is really good. It has so much stuff in it, that you can hardly taste the peanuts"
"It's better to breathe dirty air than no air at all"
"If it weren't for horses, hay would take over the world."
Aaron is also obsessed with cleaning. His idol is Don Aslett (author of 'Is there life after housework', 'Clean in a minute' and 'Why is it a woman's job to clean')
Aaron says when Mr. Aslett dies, he will take his place as "America's #1 cleaning expert". He is obsessed with Mr. Aslett. He named his build-a-bear after him, and dressed up as him for Halloween. He even did a book report about one of his cleaning books.
Aaron got his own vacuum (a real one) from Santa when he was 4. For the last 2 years, he has used his birthday money to buy mops. He has asked for a new "cooler" mop for Christmas this year. The kid has his own squeege, and is an expert on cleaning windows.
Now before you start getting all jealous of my live-in janitor, I need to mention that he can't seem to pick up any of his clothes off the floor. There is a constant trail of dirty socks and underwear from the bathroom to his room. I think he might be marking his path like Handsel and Gretel did, so he can find his way back.
O.K. enough about Aaron.
We are now going to put up our tree (finally) Hopefully it will help me get rid of some of my grinchiness ;)
Jill
ME: "OK,then what could be causing this stabbing pain in the side of my face?"
Mr. Dentist: "Well it's possible that you could have a micro-fracture that won't show up in the x-ray, the beginning of an abcess or something like that. If it gets any worse, call me."
He did give me a prescription for some pain pills before I left. They worked really well, as soon as I paid for them at the pharmacy, my tooth stopped hurting.
Yesterday, I read someones blog, who was complaining that some blogs are not funny, and we need to try harder.
Today I will try harder.
I will write about my 7 year old son, Aaron.
This is one of those kids that looks at things differently from the rest of us. He thinks "outside of the box" WAAAAY outside of the box.
When he was younger, he had a fascination with water. He loved to see how it would flow across the many surfaces of our house. He once managed to flood both of our bathrooms at the same time. (And before anyone asks why I wasn't watching him closer, it was because I was sitting on the couch watching soaps and eating bon bons:P )
When Aaron was almost 3, I woke up one morning to the sound of his older brother yelling "NO Aaron, that's BAD!!!"
I went downstairs to find that Aaron had removed the hose from the vacuum cleaner, and hooked it onto the faucett in the bathroom. He had created a "Fire hose" and had managed to flood the bathroom without wasting that all that time filling the sink with water.
I once walked into the kitchen to see him standing on top of the kitchen table pouring an entire gallon of milk directly on the top of the table, watching it flow over the edge of the table and onto the floor. (again, I was watching soaps & eating bon bons)
When he was almost 2, we woke up at 2:00 am because my daughter was screaming at the top of her lungs. We ran into her room (which she shared with Aaron) and Aaron was standing on top of the dresser next to her bed, completely naked, throwing trophies at her. Apparently he has a great aim, because he hit her every time.
We got him dressed, calmed Brielle down, put them back to bed, and went back to sleep. An hour later, he did it again.
Age 3, our pediatrician wanted to have a blood test done for Aaron. It took 4 of us to hold him down because he was screaming so hard. After they drew his blood, he wouldn't stop screaming. The nurses and receptionists tried everything. They actually gave him a toy from the waiting room, and one lady offered him candy from a bowl she had in her desk drawer, not only did he take a handful of candy, he insisted that she give him the package of microwave popcorn that was sitting next to it. He still didn't stop screaming. I picked him up and hauled him out of there, and as soon as he got on the elevator, and the doors closed, he immediately stopped crying, looked up at me with a very serious face and said "You know, it didn't really hurt that bad."
Aaron also has quite a way with words. We have what we refer to as the "A.Q.O.D.".
Aaron Quote Of the Day.
Here are a few of my favorites:
"Mom, when C.J. is 100 years old, will Dad be dead?"
"I'm stronger than a big pile of beef"
"Your tongue is like a little hand in your mouth that moves your food to the right
teeth to chew it."
"Crunchy peanut butter tastes the same as regular, it just makes your teeth work harder." (Now there's an advertising slogan if I've ever heard one)
"A take 5 candy bar is really good. It has so much stuff in it, that you can hardly taste the peanuts"
"It's better to breathe dirty air than no air at all"
"If it weren't for horses, hay would take over the world."
Aaron is also obsessed with cleaning. His idol is Don Aslett (author of 'Is there life after housework', 'Clean in a minute' and 'Why is it a woman's job to clean')
Aaron says when Mr. Aslett dies, he will take his place as "America's #1 cleaning expert". He is obsessed with Mr. Aslett. He named his build-a-bear after him, and dressed up as him for Halloween. He even did a book report about one of his cleaning books.
Aaron got his own vacuum (a real one) from Santa when he was 4. For the last 2 years, he has used his birthday money to buy mops. He has asked for a new "cooler" mop for Christmas this year. The kid has his own squeege, and is an expert on cleaning windows.
Now before you start getting all jealous of my live-in janitor, I need to mention that he can't seem to pick up any of his clothes off the floor. There is a constant trail of dirty socks and underwear from the bathroom to his room. I think he might be marking his path like Handsel and Gretel did, so he can find his way back.
O.K. enough about Aaron.
We are now going to put up our tree (finally) Hopefully it will help me get rid of some of my grinchiness ;)
Jill
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
My turn to whine
O.K. Yesterday I had one of "Those" days. You know the kind. The day when one thing goes wrong and that causes something else to go wrong, and the domino effect just lasts throughout the rest of the day.
To top things off, the entire day there was this stabbing pain running from my tooth up the side of my face.
I go to the dentist in one hour.
Wish me luck.
To top things off, the entire day there was this stabbing pain running from my tooth up the side of my face.
I go to the dentist in one hour.
Wish me luck.
Monday, December 10, 2007
Home from vacation
Hi, I'm back!
We just spent the last 10 days on Vacation in southern California! (Well, actually only 6 days there, the other 4 were spent driving to and from.)
It was such a great trip! We went to all the touristy spots. Universal studios, Sea World, and 3 days at Disneyland/California adventure.
We have had enough of Disney to last us for several years.
The weather was perfect, and the crowds weren't too bad. The older kids were even willing to go on all the fun rides with us. It took a while to convince Aaron to ride space mountain and California Screamin', but after that, we couldn't get him off. Brielle(9) was willing to ride everything once, and CJ(12) loved everything.
Max, on the other hand, was totlly freaked out by all of the characters walking around in the parks. (I should have expected this. He was, after all completely traumatized by the "Tickle me "Elmo" he got for his birthday)
Max was O.K. until the characters got about 2 feet away from him, then he started screaming. Poor kid. Even Santa scared him. All I wanted was a really cute picture of Max sitting on Santa's lap. Instead, we have a photo of me standing a few feet away from Santa holding Max who is screaming hysterically.
Also, for weeks before we went on our trip, Max said he wanted to fly on the Elephants. (Dumbo) We stood in line for 30 minutes, the whole time he was so excited, "I go up high in the air wif efephants" then when I went to put him in Dumbo, he started screaming "I can't ride, I can't ride". So I handed him to Daddy, and rode by myself.
Oh well.
Max did really like meeting Mickey, and for some reason Sully from Monsters inc. didn't scare him a bit. Go figure.
The great thing about this trip is that I was able to combine my two favorite things, Christmas and Disneyland. Everything was decorated for Christmas, and Christmas music played throughout the parks.
The last day we were there, we woke up to a downpour of rain, and 30mph wind gusts. This was the day we had planned to go to Sea World. The weather cleared up a while later, and we went to Sea World wearing our winter coats. The park was practically deserted, it was so great! No lines for anything. The highlight of the day was feeding and petting the dolphins. It was so cool!
I learned a few things on this trip.
1. I will never again travel without the portable DVD player. It kept the kids entertained, and we had very few fights along the way.
2. As far as I am concerned, the Onstar turn by turn navigation system is one of the greatest inventions of all time. I am so amazed by this technology. I didn't need to look at a map, and give directions the entire trip. It got us where we needed to go every time.
3. Even if your toddler seems really tired, and you are only staying in the hotel for one night, and you think carrying the travel yard clear up to the hotel room for him to sleep in is going to be more trouble than it's worth, and you are sure the toddler will probably be able to sleep in the bed with you just for one night, because, really he is a very good sleeper, and again he looks really tired.............BRING THE TRAVEL YARD!!!!! Because, otherwise, you will end up with your darling offspring jumping on your face all night long.
Trust me on this one.
We just spent the last 10 days on Vacation in southern California! (Well, actually only 6 days there, the other 4 were spent driving to and from.)
It was such a great trip! We went to all the touristy spots. Universal studios, Sea World, and 3 days at Disneyland/California adventure.
We have had enough of Disney to last us for several years.
The weather was perfect, and the crowds weren't too bad. The older kids were even willing to go on all the fun rides with us. It took a while to convince Aaron to ride space mountain and California Screamin', but after that, we couldn't get him off. Brielle(9) was willing to ride everything once, and CJ(12) loved everything.
Max, on the other hand, was totlly freaked out by all of the characters walking around in the parks. (I should have expected this. He was, after all completely traumatized by the "Tickle me "Elmo" he got for his birthday)
Max was O.K. until the characters got about 2 feet away from him, then he started screaming. Poor kid. Even Santa scared him. All I wanted was a really cute picture of Max sitting on Santa's lap. Instead, we have a photo of me standing a few feet away from Santa holding Max who is screaming hysterically.
Also, for weeks before we went on our trip, Max said he wanted to fly on the Elephants. (Dumbo) We stood in line for 30 minutes, the whole time he was so excited, "I go up high in the air wif efephants" then when I went to put him in Dumbo, he started screaming "I can't ride, I can't ride". So I handed him to Daddy, and rode by myself.
Oh well.
Max did really like meeting Mickey, and for some reason Sully from Monsters inc. didn't scare him a bit. Go figure.
The great thing about this trip is that I was able to combine my two favorite things, Christmas and Disneyland. Everything was decorated for Christmas, and Christmas music played throughout the parks.
The last day we were there, we woke up to a downpour of rain, and 30mph wind gusts. This was the day we had planned to go to Sea World. The weather cleared up a while later, and we went to Sea World wearing our winter coats. The park was practically deserted, it was so great! No lines for anything. The highlight of the day was feeding and petting the dolphins. It was so cool!
I learned a few things on this trip.
1. I will never again travel without the portable DVD player. It kept the kids entertained, and we had very few fights along the way.
2. As far as I am concerned, the Onstar turn by turn navigation system is one of the greatest inventions of all time. I am so amazed by this technology. I didn't need to look at a map, and give directions the entire trip. It got us where we needed to go every time.
3. Even if your toddler seems really tired, and you are only staying in the hotel for one night, and you think carrying the travel yard clear up to the hotel room for him to sleep in is going to be more trouble than it's worth, and you are sure the toddler will probably be able to sleep in the bed with you just for one night, because, really he is a very good sleeper, and again he looks really tired.............BRING THE TRAVEL YARD!!!!! Because, otherwise, you will end up with your darling offspring jumping on your face all night long.
Trust me on this one.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Christmas traditions
Sue over at Navel gazing at its finest is having a contest for the best Christmas traditions.
Here goes.
Every year, my husband's family gets together to make gingerbread houses. All we need to do is show up with multiple bags of candy, small cookies, cereal, pretzels, and other things that will work well for decorating the houses.
When we get there, everyone gets a gingerbread house "kit" which consists of all of the parts of the house, ready to ba assembled, and a square of cardboard covered with foil to sit the house on. There are also bowls and pastry bags filled with royal icing to use to glue those puppies together.
You need to wait for the frosting to set on the walls of the house before adding the roof or the whole structure will collapse. We always get to learn who is not vary parient at this point, There are usually at least two serious cave-ins each year. After you add the roof, and it sets, you get to decorate the house with all of the candy that everyone has brought. (We usually eat more than we put on the houses)
Everyone gets to make their own house, from the little kids to the grandparents. The really little kids get a gingerbread man to decorate.
We all leave on an incredible sugar high.
NOTE:In order for this to be a great experience for you, you need to find a kind, grandmotherly type who is willing to mix up, cut out and bake all of the gingerbread, seperate the pieces into individual ziplock bags, cut out a large number of cardboard squares, cover them with foil, make gallons of royal icing, set up church tables, and be willing to let everyone come over to her home and grind frosting into the carpet. Otherwise, this is just too darn much work!
Every year, we like to invite my cousin and her kids over to make sugar cookies. We let the kids do most of the work, and they have a blast! I get to spend an afternoon with my totally cool cousin. The kids make an incredible mess, and are once again on a huge sugar high.
One more.
This was actually my kids idea, and we will be doing it this year. They want to do the 12 days of Christmas for someone. They are having so much fun coming up with ideas for gifts that go along with the lyrics of the song. They are SO creative! ("hey, for the 5th day, lets give them 5 glazed doughnuts!")
They wanted to do it for friends of ours, but I suggested doing it for a neighbor that we don't know very well. They loved the idea! They are all so excited to be the one who rings the doorbell and runs away. It's so much fun to see them this excited about GIVING.
This does require some advance planning. The kids will come up with all the ideas, I will get the items and help them put it all together. We just need to decide who will count backwards from the 25th to figure out which day we should start.
Hey Sue, You are looking FABULOUS today! Did you do something with your hair? New outfit? I know, you've lost weight! You are so amazing! A true inspiration. You are like the coolest and most adorable person I know! And what's more, I will never call you on the phone!
Jill
Here goes.
Every year, my husband's family gets together to make gingerbread houses. All we need to do is show up with multiple bags of candy, small cookies, cereal, pretzels, and other things that will work well for decorating the houses.
When we get there, everyone gets a gingerbread house "kit" which consists of all of the parts of the house, ready to ba assembled, and a square of cardboard covered with foil to sit the house on. There are also bowls and pastry bags filled with royal icing to use to glue those puppies together.
You need to wait for the frosting to set on the walls of the house before adding the roof or the whole structure will collapse. We always get to learn who is not vary parient at this point, There are usually at least two serious cave-ins each year. After you add the roof, and it sets, you get to decorate the house with all of the candy that everyone has brought. (We usually eat more than we put on the houses)
Everyone gets to make their own house, from the little kids to the grandparents. The really little kids get a gingerbread man to decorate.
We all leave on an incredible sugar high.
NOTE:In order for this to be a great experience for you, you need to find a kind, grandmotherly type who is willing to mix up, cut out and bake all of the gingerbread, seperate the pieces into individual ziplock bags, cut out a large number of cardboard squares, cover them with foil, make gallons of royal icing, set up church tables, and be willing to let everyone come over to her home and grind frosting into the carpet. Otherwise, this is just too darn much work!
Every year, we like to invite my cousin and her kids over to make sugar cookies. We let the kids do most of the work, and they have a blast! I get to spend an afternoon with my totally cool cousin. The kids make an incredible mess, and are once again on a huge sugar high.
One more.
This was actually my kids idea, and we will be doing it this year. They want to do the 12 days of Christmas for someone. They are having so much fun coming up with ideas for gifts that go along with the lyrics of the song. They are SO creative! ("hey, for the 5th day, lets give them 5 glazed doughnuts!")
They wanted to do it for friends of ours, but I suggested doing it for a neighbor that we don't know very well. They loved the idea! They are all so excited to be the one who rings the doorbell and runs away. It's so much fun to see them this excited about GIVING.
This does require some advance planning. The kids will come up with all the ideas, I will get the items and help them put it all together. We just need to decide who will count backwards from the 25th to figure out which day we should start.
Hey Sue, You are looking FABULOUS today! Did you do something with your hair? New outfit? I know, you've lost weight! You are so amazing! A true inspiration. You are like the coolest and most adorable person I know! And what's more, I will never call you on the phone!
Jill
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Hair today, gone tomorrow
Dear mom,
Why did you cut your hair? Don't you know it's the only thing that makes me feel better when I am sad? I can no longer twist it around my hand and wipe my runny nose with it. I can no longer wrap it across your eyes and play peek a boo with it. You have ruined my life.
Your adorable 2 year old,
Max
Dear Max,
I am so sorry that I ruined your life, but really dude, I haven't had my hair cut for nearly a year, it was way past time. I mean, it looked really bad, especially with all the dried snot. I hope someday that you will understand. Maybe you can start playing with your older brother's hair. He does not want to get it cut.
Your loving mother,
Mom
I finally did it, I cut my hair. It took a while for Max to notice, and when he did, it was brutal. He just kept swiping at it, and then started acting very panicy. He kept saying no!.... No!..... NO! Then he said "Fix it! Fix it, hair!"
"Honey, I did get it fixed."
"No! Fix it! Hair broken"
At this point, I'm starting to feel pretty bad about the whole thing. He was VERY close to tears. The bottom lip was quivering and everything.
He finally figured out that he could still run his little fingers through my hair, he just needs to hug me really close, and that's O.K. with me:)
(It was so much easier with my other kids who had actual objects for their comfort objects, however one time my daughter cried herself to sleep in front of the washing machine because I had the nerve to wash her blankie.)
I like my new haircut. It makes me look less frumpy.
Follow up from my last post. No we did not go to the early morning day after Thanksgiving sale. I started to set my alarm, and then decided that I needed my sleep more than I needed anything at the store. I woke up at 8:30 and my three older kids were up. Aaron(7) had actually set his alarm, and had been up since 4:00.
This week, they have still not been able to get out of bed for school any earlier than 8:00 a.m. What's wrong with these people?
Why did you cut your hair? Don't you know it's the only thing that makes me feel better when I am sad? I can no longer twist it around my hand and wipe my runny nose with it. I can no longer wrap it across your eyes and play peek a boo with it. You have ruined my life.
Your adorable 2 year old,
Max
Dear Max,
I am so sorry that I ruined your life, but really dude, I haven't had my hair cut for nearly a year, it was way past time. I mean, it looked really bad, especially with all the dried snot. I hope someday that you will understand. Maybe you can start playing with your older brother's hair. He does not want to get it cut.
Your loving mother,
Mom
I finally did it, I cut my hair. It took a while for Max to notice, and when he did, it was brutal. He just kept swiping at it, and then started acting very panicy. He kept saying no!.... No!..... NO! Then he said "Fix it! Fix it, hair!"
"Honey, I did get it fixed."
"No! Fix it! Hair broken"
At this point, I'm starting to feel pretty bad about the whole thing. He was VERY close to tears. The bottom lip was quivering and everything.
He finally figured out that he could still run his little fingers through my hair, he just needs to hug me really close, and that's O.K. with me:)
(It was so much easier with my other kids who had actual objects for their comfort objects, however one time my daughter cried herself to sleep in front of the washing machine because I had the nerve to wash her blankie.)
I like my new haircut. It makes me look less frumpy.
Follow up from my last post. No we did not go to the early morning day after Thanksgiving sale. I started to set my alarm, and then decided that I needed my sleep more than I needed anything at the store. I woke up at 8:30 and my three older kids were up. Aaron(7) had actually set his alarm, and had been up since 4:00.
This week, they have still not been able to get out of bed for school any earlier than 8:00 a.m. What's wrong with these people?
Thursday, November 22, 2007
No whining, Pleeeaaaaaase!
O.K. this is my first post. I have been lurking in other blogs for a while now, all the time thinking, "Wow, I have a lot that I could blog about", and now faced with the blank screen, I don't know where to start.
We have 4 children, ages 12, 9, 7 and 2. We are currently dealing with issues from potty training to puberty.
I named my blog "Thou shalt not whine because I have a large plaque hanging in my kitchen with that very saying on it. I have a friend with a similar sign, she told me "It works really well, when someone starts to whine, I just point to the sign, and they stop" I thought that sounded like a great idea, so I got the sign. Guess what, it doesn't work. The whining just gets worse.
I hate whining. So much so, that I have taught my 2 year old that when he wants something, not only does he need to say please, he also needs to say it in a low voice. It's so funny to hear this little kid say in a really low voice "More cookie please".
With today being Thanksgiving, tomorrow is the biggest shopping day of the year. I jokingly asked my three oldest kids if they wanted to get up at 4:00 a.m. to go shopping in the morning. To my surprise they all said yes. DH told them that they would need to clean their rooms if they wanted any chance of going shopping with me in the morning. They cleaned their rooms.
Am I now obligated to get to WalMart at 5:00 a.m. with the rest of the immediate world? Do I really need to give up one of my precious and few sleep in days? I can only hope that the kids change their minds when the alarm goes off. I mean they can't seem to drag themselves out of bed at 7:30 to go to school every day, certainly they don't really want to get up that early to get trampled under the feet of hundreds of half crazed bargain hunters.
Come to think of it, my oldest son has a brown belt in Karate. Maybe he could go ahead of me and punch his way through the crowd.
Then there's Wal Mart. I used to enjoy a good trip to Wal mart, especially when they built the SUPER Wal Mart. I could get everything I needed at one place. To me that meant I only needed to wrestle the current toddler into the car seat one time.
Lately I have noticed that when I have been there about 20 minutes, I start feeling weird. Is it the flourescent lights, subliminal messages in the muzak, or a combination of both. I just have to get out of there! Then of course, I am faced with the lengthy check out line. No matter which line I get into, there is some reason why it comes to a dead stop. Then if I have any children with me, I get to deal with them standing right next to all of the candy and trinkets so conveniently placed at the check out line at children's eye level.
"No we don't need any nail clippers."
"No I am not buying you a candy bar"
"No gum either, you know you can't chew it, you have crowns"
"No I am not buying you a candy bar"
'No chips either"
"No I am not buying you a candy bar"
'No, we already have batteries"
"No I am not buying you a candy bar"
"No, you have a perfectly good toothbrush at home, you should try using it sometime"
"No I am not buying you a candy bar"
I don't know why they always ask me for that stuff, I never buy it. It's almost like it's a challenge for them.
This year I am refusing to go to the mall to shop. We may make one small trip for my little one to see Santa, but that will be the extent of it.
Me & DH went to the mall a while ago. We were just wandering around, killing time waiting for the line to die down at a nearby restaurant. We were looking at calendars at one of those booths that they set up in the middle of the mall. The girl working the booth came over and asked if she could help us.
ME: "No thanks, just looking."
HER: "Wow, when is your baby due?"
ME: "What?"
HER: "When is your baby due?"
ME: (sarcastically)"Um, two years ago."
HER: "Huh?"
ME: "I'M NOT PREGNANT!"
HER: "Oh,......well, I just thought.......um.......the way your coat.......um...................................."
(I was wearing a big winter coat, but in no way did I look pregnant!)
As we walked away from "Rude girl" I got thinking, what if whenever those annoying salespeople come up to bother me, before they get a chance to say anything to me, I can just get in their face and yell "I'M NOT PREGNANT!" They will think I am crazy and hopefully leave me alone.
Just think of the possibilities, I think it might even work on door to door salespeople and on telemarketers.
O.K. before I forget it, I need to tell one potty training story.
First of all, I need to explain that my toddler LOVES my hair. It is his comfort object. He twists in through his fingers, and rubs it on his face. This always makes him feel "Aw bettah"
A few days ago, out of the blue, he says "Sit on potty!" Wow, you can't let that pass by. I got out his potty chair, took off his diaper and sat him on the potty chair. I left the room for a few minutes, and heard him say "pee pee in potty" so I go and look, and there's nothing inside, however, his hand and the whole side of his leg is wet. I congratulated him thinking that he aimed things wrong, put a diaper on him, and told him to wash his hands. A few minutes later, I was holding him and he was running his fingers through my hair. He says "Put hand in potty" What? "Put hand in potty", So I ask "DId you put your hand in your potty or Mom's potty?" He replies "Put hand in mom's potty" EEWWWWWW.
O.K. I lied, one more potty training story.
We were at the store last week, and I took him over to look at the "big boy underwear" and what do you know, they had his most favorite LIGHTNING MCQUEEN underwear. He picked up hugged it, stared at it , hugged it again, stared at it........... This is a great moment, I say, "Honey, if you want the big boy Lightning McQueen underwear, you will need to go pee pee in the potty" He looks thoughtfully at the underwear, I ask "What do you think, should we buy them or put them back?" He looks at them again for a moment longer, then hands them to me and says "Put them back".
I guess he isn't ready. That's O.K. I know from experience that if you wait a bit longer to make sure they are ready, they have fewer accidents.
Wow, for not having anything to say, I sure filled up a page. You should see me when I know what I want to say:)
Fortunately my kids provide endless material for me to write about, like when my oldest son sneezes, he sounds just like he is coughing up a hairball. Apparently all you need to do is open your mouth really wide when you sneeze.
Endless material.
If you have been brave enough to endure to the end of this post, please leave a comment. I feel so alone in Cyberspace.
Jill
We have 4 children, ages 12, 9, 7 and 2. We are currently dealing with issues from potty training to puberty.
I named my blog "Thou shalt not whine because I have a large plaque hanging in my kitchen with that very saying on it. I have a friend with a similar sign, she told me "It works really well, when someone starts to whine, I just point to the sign, and they stop" I thought that sounded like a great idea, so I got the sign. Guess what, it doesn't work. The whining just gets worse.
I hate whining. So much so, that I have taught my 2 year old that when he wants something, not only does he need to say please, he also needs to say it in a low voice. It's so funny to hear this little kid say in a really low voice "More cookie please".
With today being Thanksgiving, tomorrow is the biggest shopping day of the year. I jokingly asked my three oldest kids if they wanted to get up at 4:00 a.m. to go shopping in the morning. To my surprise they all said yes. DH told them that they would need to clean their rooms if they wanted any chance of going shopping with me in the morning. They cleaned their rooms.
Am I now obligated to get to WalMart at 5:00 a.m. with the rest of the immediate world? Do I really need to give up one of my precious and few sleep in days? I can only hope that the kids change their minds when the alarm goes off. I mean they can't seem to drag themselves out of bed at 7:30 to go to school every day, certainly they don't really want to get up that early to get trampled under the feet of hundreds of half crazed bargain hunters.
Come to think of it, my oldest son has a brown belt in Karate. Maybe he could go ahead of me and punch his way through the crowd.
Then there's Wal Mart. I used to enjoy a good trip to Wal mart, especially when they built the SUPER Wal Mart. I could get everything I needed at one place. To me that meant I only needed to wrestle the current toddler into the car seat one time.
Lately I have noticed that when I have been there about 20 minutes, I start feeling weird. Is it the flourescent lights, subliminal messages in the muzak, or a combination of both. I just have to get out of there! Then of course, I am faced with the lengthy check out line. No matter which line I get into, there is some reason why it comes to a dead stop. Then if I have any children with me, I get to deal with them standing right next to all of the candy and trinkets so conveniently placed at the check out line at children's eye level.
"No we don't need any nail clippers."
"No I am not buying you a candy bar"
"No gum either, you know you can't chew it, you have crowns"
"No I am not buying you a candy bar"
'No chips either"
"No I am not buying you a candy bar"
'No, we already have batteries"
"No I am not buying you a candy bar"
"No, you have a perfectly good toothbrush at home, you should try using it sometime"
"No I am not buying you a candy bar"
I don't know why they always ask me for that stuff, I never buy it. It's almost like it's a challenge for them.
This year I am refusing to go to the mall to shop. We may make one small trip for my little one to see Santa, but that will be the extent of it.
Me & DH went to the mall a while ago. We were just wandering around, killing time waiting for the line to die down at a nearby restaurant. We were looking at calendars at one of those booths that they set up in the middle of the mall. The girl working the booth came over and asked if she could help us.
ME: "No thanks, just looking."
HER: "Wow, when is your baby due?"
ME: "What?"
HER: "When is your baby due?"
ME: (sarcastically)"Um, two years ago."
HER: "Huh?"
ME: "I'M NOT PREGNANT!"
HER: "Oh,......well, I just thought.......um.......the way your coat.......um...................................."
(I was wearing a big winter coat, but in no way did I look pregnant!)
As we walked away from "Rude girl" I got thinking, what if whenever those annoying salespeople come up to bother me, before they get a chance to say anything to me, I can just get in their face and yell "I'M NOT PREGNANT!" They will think I am crazy and hopefully leave me alone.
Just think of the possibilities, I think it might even work on door to door salespeople and on telemarketers.
O.K. before I forget it, I need to tell one potty training story.
First of all, I need to explain that my toddler LOVES my hair. It is his comfort object. He twists in through his fingers, and rubs it on his face. This always makes him feel "Aw bettah"
A few days ago, out of the blue, he says "Sit on potty!" Wow, you can't let that pass by. I got out his potty chair, took off his diaper and sat him on the potty chair. I left the room for a few minutes, and heard him say "pee pee in potty" so I go and look, and there's nothing inside, however, his hand and the whole side of his leg is wet. I congratulated him thinking that he aimed things wrong, put a diaper on him, and told him to wash his hands. A few minutes later, I was holding him and he was running his fingers through my hair. He says "Put hand in potty" What? "Put hand in potty", So I ask "DId you put your hand in your potty or Mom's potty?" He replies "Put hand in mom's potty" EEWWWWWW.
O.K. I lied, one more potty training story.
We were at the store last week, and I took him over to look at the "big boy underwear" and what do you know, they had his most favorite LIGHTNING MCQUEEN underwear. He picked up hugged it, stared at it , hugged it again, stared at it........... This is a great moment, I say, "Honey, if you want the big boy Lightning McQueen underwear, you will need to go pee pee in the potty" He looks thoughtfully at the underwear, I ask "What do you think, should we buy them or put them back?" He looks at them again for a moment longer, then hands them to me and says "Put them back".
I guess he isn't ready. That's O.K. I know from experience that if you wait a bit longer to make sure they are ready, they have fewer accidents.
Wow, for not having anything to say, I sure filled up a page. You should see me when I know what I want to say:)
Fortunately my kids provide endless material for me to write about, like when my oldest son sneezes, he sounds just like he is coughing up a hairball. Apparently all you need to do is open your mouth really wide when you sneeze.
Endless material.
If you have been brave enough to endure to the end of this post, please leave a comment. I feel so alone in Cyberspace.
Jill
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