An average day for an average gal

7:00 am- Alarm goes off and I stumble, literally, to Maddy's room to wake her. I shake her a bit and say "time for school." Argue with her while I open the window to let some light in. I leave with one last warning that she needs to get up. I return to my room to attend to the business of waking up. By the time I go downstairs Maddy is dressed and unloading the dishwasher. I make the only sandwich she will eat, peanut butter and jelly, and pack her backpack. Argue with her a little more about buying lunch. My argument being that she doesn't need to BUY a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, I can MAKE her one. Feed her breakfast and then marvel at how much time she can spend in the bathroom.

8:00 am- Get Maddy off to the bus stop and magically as soon as she is gone Connor wakes up. Go get him and then prepare round two of breakfast.

9:00 am - Get on the computer while Connor watches PBS kids. Agree that "yes, that is a very big truck!"

10:00 am- Go out and run errands. Basically kill as much time as possible. And "yes, that is a very big truck!"

11:30 - Come home and feed Connor lunch. Eat half his food in an effort to get him to eat one bite. Tell him that if he wanted to eat then he should have done that while he was sitting at the table.

Noon - Put Connor down for a nap. Put in the next disk of Seinfeld and get back on the computer. Maybe have some lunch myself.

2:30 if I'm lucky pm- Connor wakes up cranky and we snuggle on the couch with a sippy cup and watch Home Improvement.

3:00 pm - Larry comes home. Great excitement!

3:30 pm- Maddy comes home. More excitement!!! Unpack her backpack and discuss her day. Tell her what is for dinner and then threaten no dinner at all if she is going to complain about it.

4:00 pm - Start dinner. Try to get Maddy involved in the cooking since this has shown an improvement in her attitude in the past. She refuses.

5:00 pm- Eat dinner.

5:15 pm- Clean up dinner.

6:00 pm - Someone gets a bath.

7:00 pm- Put Connor to bed.

7:30 pm- Maddy starts getting ready for bed. Explain that yes, she has to clean up ALL the toys.

8:00 pm- Put Maddy to bed and then have some grown up time. This of course means getting out the good desserts and eating them in front of the TV.

9:30 pm- Go to bed.

Woot Woot!

I painted my bedroom today. I love it. I don't have a very good record for picking out paint I actually like once it's on the wall. Only one room in the whole house hasn't needed repainting. The kitchen. Maddy's room and the spare room both have been repainted. The family room needs to be repainted but hasn't been yet. And Connor's room, eh, it's ok but I'm just not feeling it. I'll repaint it when he gets a little older. So I was pretty nervous. But I love it. Here, I'll post a pic.



It took exactly one gallon of paint. We kept saying how close it was going to be, how much it was going to suck to have to stop and go to Home Depot just to finish one square foot of wall space. But it finished it. I was using the brush to get the last bits out of the can to finish the touch ups. Of course now that we have cleaned up I can see all kinds of touch ups that we missed, but I am without paint. Oh well. When you come visit please don't look too closely. Especially around the door frame. :)

Connor made me laugh so hard tonight. He has one of those wooden train whistles and we were trying to show him how to use it. We could get him to blow air if the whistle wasn't near his mouth. But as soon as we would put it up to his lips he would just say "woot woot". OMG I was crying. Finally he would blow air but not hard enough to make any noise. Then he would hand it back so slobbery you could barely stand to put it to your mouth. But he was so cute, I had no choice but to wipe it on my shirt and continue on. He did eventually get a little bit of actual whistle blowing noise.

Ok, my recipe of the week. I got a Rachel Ray cookbook for Christmas and I'm very inspired. So I made this the other night. I actually diverged from my weekly menu and made a special trip to the grocery store just to make it. I know... CRAZY!

The sauce is to die for. I loved it. And if you notice it uses apple cider vinegar. So I now have a use for the bottle I bought to make that bad "Apples and Chicken" recipe I made a few months ago. Double bonus.

Honey Mustard BBQ Chicken

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Ingredients

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1/2 red onion chopped

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup chicken broth

1/2 cup prepared honey mustard

1/2 teaspoon allspice

1/2 teaspoon curry powder

Chicken

4 pieces bonelss, skinles chicken breast

4 bonless, skinless, chicken thighs

Vegetable oil

Salt and peper

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Directions

1. To make the sauce, place a small saucepan over medium-high heat and add vegetable oil. Add red onions and saute, 3 to 5 minutes. Add vinegar and cook to reduce by half, 1 to 2 minutes. Add brown sugar and cook 1 minute to incorporate. Whisk broth, honey mustard, all spice, and curry powder.

Coat chicken with a drizzle of oil and some salt and pepper. Place chicken on hot grill and cook 4 to 5 minutes, then turn. Baste chicken liberally with sauce and grill another 5 minutes. Turn once again and baste. Cook 2 or 3 minutes more, then transfer chicken to a platter and serve.

Good bye 07, Hello 08!

So 2007 is almost over. Crazy. Inspired by my good friend Shane on Dec 21 (http://www.landofsavages.com/) I will write about the best moments of 2007.

Hmm… I have to be honest that nothing pops into my mind. I really feel like the days just blend into one. Days blend into weeks, weeks into months, and then bang.. the year is over and I can’t believe it.

I will have to think more carefully. Well, Connor turned one. He also learned to walk, which was amazing to watch. The first time he took more than one or two steps to our outstretched arms was to follow Maddy around and pretend to be a train. It was just the beginning of following Maddy everywhere she goes. He also started talking. I can’t even list the words he can say.

I got my minivan and turned 30 in May. What can I say? Some things just go hand in hand. Haha. I’m old now… I’ll drive the minivan. No, really, I love my van. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

What else? Well, Lindsey got married. Which is awesome, and I got to go visit back home all by myself! Which was a blast and half.

Then we landscaped the back yard. Which is soooo nice. Its like a whole new room to the house. Now that it isn’t hot as blue blazes outside we can open the back door and the kids can come in and out as they please. Not to mention the hot tub!

Maddy started school. Wow. What a milestone for her. She loves it and is doing awesome. It was a big deal for me too. Going from having two kids home during the day to just one. It was hard to get used to at first but now I love it.

And our family vacation to Disneyland. Fun as always.

Now for things I’m looking forward to in 2008.

Starting school. I hope that it gives me what I’m looking for. A little time away from the house and kids. An outlet to be myself again. An actual person, not just someone’s mom all the time. Plus, it’s something that I need to get done anyways. I really can’t think of a better time to do it.

Paying off Larry’s car. Anyone who knows me knows I love a good loan payoff!

Connor is going to turn 2. Which hopefully means the start of potty training. Maybe 2008 will be the last year of diapers?! Let’s hope.

I will be thrilled if 2008 mirrors 2007. We had a pretty good year and I just hope for more of the same.

Our new toys

I hope everyone had a great Christmas. We did. Every year we get the kids way too much and every year we vow not to make that mistake again. After the toys are unwrapped comes the most frustrating part of Christmas. Trying to get the toys out of their boxes. My God. The person who invented those metal twisty ties is going to burn in hell. I'm sure he was cursed at least a half million times on Christmas day. It starts out so innocent. Your sitting on the couch minding your own business and your kid brings over a toy. "Can you open this for me?" Of course you can! Oh the joy your kid will have playing with this toy. The toy you carefully picked out so many weeks ago. Your kid is standing there eagerly awaiting the fun inside that box. First you have to break through the industrial grade tape. Then pull out the inside cardboard to which the fun is bolted down. Someone offers some scissors at this point but you are still confident you can do it. I mean, some things just shouldn't require tools. You start unraveling those cursed twisty ties. One at a time. Twist, twist, twist. and just when you think you have it then you realize that there is also some clear plastic around it that has been taped down with that unbreakable tape. Your 30 mins in and bleeding. "Where are those God damned scissors!" you yell. By the time you get the damn toy out of its packaging, your kid is no where to be found.

But I was the big winner this year. Larry got me a fancy new laptop!! I love it. I'm writing this from my couch with my cozy blanket watching TV. I'm loving it. I was very surprised. He got me good. All the presents were opened and I have to say, I was kinda disappointed. I liked everything I got, but ummm... there wasn't very much. Maybe that sounds bad. I had socks, underwear, jammies, and some measuring cups. All things I wanted, but I did the math and it just didn't add up to what he had to spend. Ya know? I was expecting more. But then he leaves and comes back and hands me a laptop bag. I was confused. I'm thinking "gosh, this sure looks like a laptop case." But I still didn't think it could possibly be one. I opened the case and there it was, all shiny and pretty. I really still didn't believe it. I asked "Are you serious?" So yeah, now I've done the math and he doesn't have to get me another present for like 4 years.

Santa claus is coming to town.

I am terrible at the Santa thing. I probably can't even list all the mistakes I've made. First of all I pointed out Connor's power wheel to Maddy at the store and told her that we got it for him for Christmas. Forgetting that Santa is bringing it. I had to cover it with a lame "I"m just kidding. Maybe Santa will bring it." Then, the wrapping paper that I wrapped all the Santa gifts in was left laying on the kitchen counter for like a week. Oh yeah, no chance she saw that! Plus I didn't think to pick up different gift tags so Santa's gifts will have the same tags as ours. Funny how me and Santa have the exact same taste.

Despite my ineptness Maddy still totally believes. This is THE year. The one she will remember for the rest of her life. Unfortunately Santa isn't bringing any of the gifts she asked for in her letter. But I bet you $100 she won't remember what she wrote come Christmas day. Next year will the last hanging on Christmas. The one where you have some serious doubts about Santa but still want so much to believe. I played a trick on Santa that year and told him that my stocking was the red and white one and I told my mom that I wanted the red and green one. I think you know how that ended. But hey, we still have this year. I can't wait!

Today we watched Elmo's Christmas Countdown and there was a lot of singing in it. Afterwards Connor was walking around the living room making up a song with facial expressions and hand movements. It was adorable. It ended with "bye bye DeeDa, bye bye DeeDa". (bye bye, Santa) Those were the only words we could understand. awwww. He is so fricken cute.

Dear Santa,

Here is Maddy's letter to Santa and her picture she drew. She leaves him a picture every year with his cookies. He likes that. :) I helped her spell and encouraged complete sentences but other than that it's all her. Sorry they are so big.

Christmas singing

We had carolers the other night. Which is weird because Maddy is obsessed with Christmas caroling. She asks me every night if she can go outside and sing Christmas songs. I let her do it once a year. She goes out on the front porch and sings and sings. It's funny. But the other day she was up in her room getting her jammies on and she comes racing down stairs saying there are people out side caroling. Yeah right. I'm thinking there are some teenagers out there who happen to be singing as they are walking home or whatever. But we go outside and sure enough... actual Christmas carolers. A big group of them. They came over and sang us two song and gave us a plate of cookies. Pretty weird. I didn't know that people still did that sort of thing. Then I went inside with my lantern and wrote a letter with a quill.

This morning Maddy had a little Christmas performance. It was very cute. Each grade did a little something. I took video and will put it up on photobucket when I have a chance. It was very short... like a minute or less. But what can you do. I can't not go watch her sing. Even if the drive over there is longer than the actual performance.

Well, I hope everyone has a great holiday. Merry Christmas.

Oh the fun we can have.

Connor's ear infection seems to coming along nicely. He slept through the night last night. For the first time in at least two weeks. We are both beat. Yesterday he took a 4 hour nap, and don't think I missed the chance to leave a full body impression in the couch.

We have a Super Wal-mart near our house. The buzz on the street is that it is the biggest Wal-mart in the state and its only been open since August so it hasn't really caught on yet. It's my own personal Wal-mart. Complete with fully stocked shelves and helpful employees. (ok, I'm exaggerating on the helpful employee part). It's awesome. We went there this morning and it was empty. Did you know that the lights in the freezers are on motion detectors? Neither did I. This was quite a source of amusement for us today. I would push the cart down the aisle and the lights would come on just ahead of us. It was really cool. haha. Connor was loving it. By the time we would get to the last aisle the first aisle would be dark again so we could do it all over. Connor would point to the dark freezer and say "on" and the light would come on. It's a magic Wal-mart.

Nothing like some hot chocolate to cheer you up.

Do you ever get so bored that you can't even think straight? I did yesterday. I just woke up bored. It was the kind of bored where every little thing that makes you get off the couch is a huge irritant. Like "UG...I can't put a movie in for you. I'm too busy being bored." I was so busy being bored that I didn't even take a shower. Which is too bad cause that could have killed a lot of time. Hair removal alone would have taken me 30 minutes. Never mind the cleaning I could have done while I was in there. I bet I could have created a plume of chemicals big enough to make the neighbor's eyes sting. But instead I laid on the couch with a pillow over my face and got frustrated with the kids for wanting lunch.

But today has been more productive. I took Connor to the doctor's. I really felt like an idiot. He isn't sick. He really doesn't even have any symptoms that I could list. I just wanted to know if he had an ear infection or not. Then when they are making the appointment they ask questions like "why do you feel he has an ear infection?" Ummm... no reason. I just think it. I could almost hear their eyes roll. But the thing is that he has never gotten sick and not gotten one. He was sick last week and just hasn't been himself. Nothing dramatic. Just off. When we got there I got the same "you're a freak" vibe from the nurse (purely my imagination I'm sure) when she took his temp and it's 98.6. But Connor DID have an ear infection. I was right. And Connor did soooo good. It was the best doctor's appointment we have ever had. He even let them weigh him! That's huge. He only cried when the doctor looked in his ears and then stopped right away. I was so proud.

Oh, I didn't do a new recipe last week. I also never told you that the pork chop recipe from two weeks ago was pretty good and really easy. I've made it again since then. This week new thing is hot chocolate. I've actually already made it so I can tell you right now... it rocks! Perfect for the holdiays.

SPECIAL HOT CHOCOLATE

1 (6 oz.) pkg. semi-sweet chocolate morsels
1/2 c. sugar
1/3 c. water
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1 tub of cool whip
Hot milk

Combine chocolate morsels, sugar, water, and cinnamon in large measuring cup. Microwave at medium 2 to 3 minutes or until chocolate is melted, stirring twice during cooking. Cool to lukewarm. (takes about 20-30 mins)

Gradually mix cool whip and cooled chocolate mixture together. Chill. Chocolate mixture keeps well in refrigerator in covered container up to 1 week.

For individual servings of hot chocolate, place 1 cup milk in serving mug. Microwave at high 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Do not boil. Stir in 1 rounded tablespoon chocolate mixture until smooth. Chocolate mixture will yield 15 to 18 cups of hot chocolate.

100 degree ice water

If you are the first person to read this then you are my 100th hit. Congratulations!! Pretend there is confetti and streamers falling down from the ceiling around you. Your prize is that you get to be the first one to hear me complain. wohooo!!!

Our hot tub was delivered about two and half months ago. We shopped all around and looked at places online and what not and decided to go with a local company. They had been in business 20 years and offered a 10 year warranty. We just thought it would be nice to be able to have the hot tub delivered, set up, and worked on by the manufacturer. To be able to go down and talk to someone face to face if need be... you know? Rather than buy it online and have it dropped off in the drive way and have no recourse of something crazy happened. I guess we were kinda nervous since this is a huge purchase and we have never owned a hot tub before. That and we are big worry warts.

Well about a month ago we had a question about the chemicals to use. We called them and they answered a bunch of our questions and they said [enter hot tub speak here] and that someone would be out to look at it. The guy came out but didn't have a key and I couldn't find ours so he left and said he would be back in two days. He never came back. We called and they said they would call us back with an appointment time. They never called. Then we put off calling them again cause we were going to Disney and figured it would just be easier to deal with it when we got home. So last night we called them and guess what........ they are out of business. I can't believe it. When you call there is just a message saying that warranty work will be done by so and so and gives their number. It says they will do the work at a "substantial discount". You know what the big discount is? $15.00 off. $15 bucks! Thats it. They said it would be $60 just to have someone come out and look at it. It's usually $75, oh wow, thanks so much.

It is just so messed up that a company can do that. There were no signs that they were going out of business. They even had a new line of hot tubs coming out and everything. I don't get it!

You know... really the hot tub is just fine. We have figured out the whole chemical thing and even if the whatever could use some adjusting it really isn't a big deal. We use it everyday and its just fine. But I still feel totally cheated.

Disaster avoided

Connor has been sick. He was throwing up Saturday and Sunday night. So far so good since about noon yesterday. What is weird is that he has also been in the BEST mood. He has been a total angel. He even gave me a hug and kiss without me having to ask. Talk about a heart melter.

I had to run a few errands yesterday. I went to the post office and then to UPS. The whole thing took about an hour. Afterwards I was starving and Connor was being so good I thought maybe we should just get some lunch and then go and do some Christmas shopping. But then I thought better of it and figured that since he was sick I had better not push it. So we just came home. We walk in the door and I'm putting my stuff down and he starts crying. Crying a lot. For no reason. I bent down to give him a hug and he puked all over the place. I would have impressed you with the ninja like skill I used to get out of the way. But all I could think of was how unbelievably lucky I was that I didn't go to lunch. And that he didn't puke at the post office. What a good boy I have. He didn't even get any on himself. Except a little on his shoes. So I take him over to the stairs and take his shoes off and he just sat there the whole time I was cleaning it up and said "ewww". hahaha. And then when Larry came home he took Larry into the kitchen and pointed to the spot and was telling him "ewww". He is such a smart boy.

Ok, but since then no puking. I felt so bad for him last night cause we haven't been giving him milk. We have noticed that when he drinks milk, he pukes. But he wanted some so badly. He was just walking around saying "guk" "guk". I made some decaf iced tea and gave him that as a treat. He loves iced tea for some reason. And he drank that but you could tell it wasn't as good as his beloved "guk".

Disneyland

Ever been on a vacation where you go to bed for the night at 6:30? No? Then you have never been on vacation with me. The term "with 2 kids in tow" makes me laugh out loud. In tow. hahaha. When you are laying quietly in bed with the curtains drawn tight because it's still light out I think it's pretty clear who is "in tow".

But Disneyland was a blast. Thanks for asking. The very coolest thing was the character breakfast. It costs a small fortune but it's totally worth it. We had breakfast with Minnie and friends. It was a buffet breakfast and all the characters come around and give hugs and pictures. It was really fun. Oh and we also got a room with a view of Disneyland. Also worth the extra cost in my opinion. On the first day we skipped the crazies and went back to our room to watch the fireworks. That was very cool. We had a great view and didn't have to fight the crowds. We went on the train that goes around the park. Connor was loving it. We got a seat right in the front where he could watch the engineer and he was loving it. He caught the engineer's eye and they were waving and he would blow the whistle for him. It was very cute. Then the engineer came over and gave Connor two little plastic trains which are Connor's prized possession now. I couldn't even see them for like a half hour Connor had them so tight in his little fists.

The pics are on photobucket. If you know me in real life and don't know how to see my pics then please ask.

Disneyland here we come!

We are leaving for Disneyland tomorrow!!!!!! I'm soooo excited. Tomorrow isn't going to be very fun at all considering it's going to be a 6 hour drive with Connor and Maddy in the back. Maddy has a lot to do (video games, books, music, movies) but Connor is going to be bored. He can watch some movies maybe but he really isn't a big tv watcher. Maybe there will be a lot of trucks on the road. He likes that. Maddy can't stop talking about the snacks. She has it all planned out, which snack she is going to eat first, second, third... ect. She is such a dork. She is very concerned about the drive. With good reason, Connor screamed the entire time last year. I think this year will be better though. It really can't be worse. Anyways, she keeps coming to me with concerns and I have to tell her our plan for that particular worry. Most recently it was, "what if I get thirsty?" and I assured her that we could stop and get something to drink.

I just called the hotel and asked for a room with a view of Disneyland and they said they would reserve one for us so I'm excited about that. I'm excited about everything. I've been getting ready all day and all last night. So much to do trying to get 4 people ready for vacation. What is really scary is the one thing I forgot to put on my list of things to pack were the tickets to the park. How awful would that have been? OMG I would have died. The only thing that even made me think about it was when I was looking for the confirmation number for the hotel. So I could call get our park view. I thought "we might need that to get the room", then I thought "hmmm... what do we need to get into the park?" THE TICKETS!

So I'll be gone for a week... til Friday. I'll upload the pics to photobucket as soon as I can.

see you then....

Santa needs to get a life.

Connor: "Santa" while pointing at an ornament on the tree
Maddy: "That's not Santa. That's Santa's mom"
Me: "That's not Santa's mom. That's Santa's wife."
Maddy: "No, it's his mom"
Me: "It's not his mom, it's his wife"
Maddy: "No, they are like Mom and Dad. Like you and Larry."
Me: "Yeah, I'm Larry's wife."
Maddy: "No, a wife wears the pretty dress and the stuff on her head."
Me: "That's a bride."
Maddy: "oooooooohhhhh"

Santa is like what 300 years old and still lives with his mom? Jeeze, what a loser!

Injury after injury

Connor had a rough night last night.

I was doing the dishes and he pushed one of the kitchen chairs out into the middle of the kitchen. I don't know why. I really wasn't paying attention to him. I just heard the chair go across the floor. I guess he was trying to see what I was doing. He climbs up there and I don't know what happened but when I looked over at him he is falling head first. I mean he is seriously upside down. His whole body is straight and is feet are pointing towards the ceiling. He lands on his head and the rest of his body all hit at once. He is sprawled out flat on his back. And screaming. Considering the event it was a relatively quick recovery. I picked him and we went and sat on the couch together. He screamed, I cuddled and before long he was pushing me away. So I go to finish the dishes.

I don't think I even washed one dish and he goes zipping across the family room. When he gets to the couch he starts screaming again. I figure this is just leftover from a moment ago. You know, maybe he saw the chair in the middle of the floor and had a flashback or something. He was fine a minute ago so I leave him to work it out on his own. But he doesn't stop. Larry goes over and picks him up to find his foot bleeding. Not bleeding a lot, bleeding the absolute least amount that something can bleed. But he had a cut on his toe. On the bottom right where the toe meets the foot. In that little chubby crease. So again, he is screaming and won't walk on it. You can tell it hurts. We would get him calm and then he would go take a step and start crying again. It had a little skin flap so Larry took him upstairs to put a band-aid on it. I think getting the band-aid was more traumatic than getting the injury. OMG I could hear the screaming from the kitchen. So finally they come down. Each with a band-aid on their toe. Connor kept showing it to me. Which was the cutest thing ever! He would sit down and hold up that cute little foot with his toes all spread out and point to the band-aid and say "cut". Then he would point to Larry's foot to show me his. So proud to have a band-aid just like Daddy.

We had a visitor in the night...

the Tooth Fairy!!

Yup, Maddy lost that tooth!!

Remember how Maddy told us about her loose tooth while we were eating corn on the cob? Last night we were having it again and she says "look mom, its red." I look at her corn and it has some blood on it. I look in her mouth and sure enough, that tooth is missing. We look everywhere for it. I keep asking her if she swallowed it. All the while Larry is saying "its in the corn" but it doesn't really register to me what he is saying so I just keep looking. Finally I really hear him and I look in the corn. There it was, stuck between two kernels. I was surprised how teeny tiny it was. I was also surprised at how quickly it fell out. As a kid I remember having a loose tooth for what seemed like forever. I remember my mom teasing me cause it would literally be hanging by a string and I wouldn't pull it out. But none of that with Maddy. She is tougher than I was, she really is. She likes the drama but deep down she is pretty tough.

So the tooth fairy came last night and gave her a gold dollar coin.

I'm an accidental shoplifter

I went grocery shopping today. I get into the checkout line behind a guy who is buying nothing but beer and in front of him is an old lady doing her weekly shopping. Now, I have three options when it comes to unloading my groceries.
1. Let Connor do acrobatics on top of the shopping cart.
2. Strap him in and let him scream.
3. Let him get down.

Today I let him get down. "What were you thinking?" you ask. I was thinking that maybe he would be good. hahahaha. So I'm unloading my groceries and Connor is pushing the cart into the main aisle. I get him to stop doing that and then starts to help me by taking things off the shelf and putting them on the belt. Things I don't want, like a light up Finding Nemo pen and a deck of cards. When the old lady up ahead hands me a pack of batteries that Connor had snuck into her order I decide he needs to go back in the cart. I put him back in the seat but now the seatbelt is all twisted and stuck so I just leave it. He is standing up on the seat and sitting on the very edge scaring the crap out of me. Needless to say... I was a little distracted. Finally, I pay and leave.

When I get out to the car I realize that I have a potato that I forgot to pay for. It never made it out of the cart when I was unloading. This is not new. Usually I forget to pay for the 24 pack of water that is on the bottom of the cart. So I guess one lone potato is an improvement.

Oh Christmas tree, Oh Christmas tree. How lovely are your branches.

We put our tree up yesterday. I love having the tree up. love love love it, until Christmas day anyways. As soon as the presents are unwrapped I want it gone. I have been known to take it down ON Christmas day. I wait til the night time but that is just out of courtesy to the rest of the family. I pretty much want to take it down before I even clean up the wrapping paper.

But right now, I'm still in love. I love sitting in the dark with just the tree lights on, maybe sipping some egg nog. ahhhh. The kids did most of the decorating, it was very cute. I put the pics up on my photobucket account if you want to see them.

Also, having the tree up really puts me in the mood to shop. I need to get more presents under there! So that is my mission in life this week. On friday I'm going to order everything I need to order off the internet. So I need to have my selections made. My hope is to time the orders just right that they will NOT come while we are at Disneyland. Last year two things arrived about 2 hours after we left the house. They sat on our porch for 4 days. Well, that's a lie. I don't know how long they sat there cause they were stolen. My guess is they were stolen on about day 2. So I will not be making that mistake again.

Anyways, I hope to basically finish my shopping this week. That is the plan anyways.

OH! I almost forgot. My new recipe for this week. I'm adding a new meat to the menu. Pork. I have never cooked pork before so I'm trying it out.

Polynesian Pork Chops

4 boneless pork chops, 3/4" thick
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 can Campbell's Golden Mushroom Soup
1 can (8 oz.) pineapple chunks
1/4 cup water
3 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tbsp. honey
2 cups cooked Minute White Rice
Sliced green onions

HEAT oil in skillet. Add chops and cook until browned. Add onion. (I drained excess fat and oil)

ADD soup, pineapple with juice, water, soy and honey. Heat to a boil. Cook over low heat 10 min. or until done.

SERVE with rice and garnish with green onions. Serves 4.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Gobble. Gobble.

I hope everyone had a good day. We went to my brother in law's house. It was pretty fun. Everyone ate themselves silly. I think I only had about 2 bites of turkey, I filled my whole plate up with sides that the turkey was kind of an afterthought.

Its crazy how big the kids are getting. You realize it when you get them all together. The babies joined in on the feast and Trent and Maddy were outside hanging out in the back of Scott's truck, like the big kids they are.

The people that tried my peanut butter brownies liked them, but there were soooo many sweets there that I don't think everyone tried them. That's cool though. Pretty much what I figured, I just wanted to try them out.

I'll pay more attention next time.

I went to Walmart yesterday and had an embarrassing moment.

First off, Walmart was packed. I had been wandering around the toy section for at least 15 mins cause I have no clue what to get Maddy. I was walking down the aisle and I look down at Connor and he was looking straight up at something. So I look up and see that he is looking at the bikes they have hanging from the ceiling. So I'm looking up there and saying something like "oh wow, look at all those bikes". (ok, I'm going to pause here for a second to make sure you have a clear picture. I'm walking down a toy aisle, in a packed walmart, looking straight up at the ceiling. What could possibly go wrong?) Well, I feel my cart hit something and I look down and there is this 50 year old man bent over picking something up. I had hit him right in the ass with my cart. He had to take a step forward to keep from falling. LMAO. I was just like "oh my god, I'm so sorry. I'm SO sorry. I was looking at the bikes hanging from the ceiling" But I couldn't stop laughing. He said it was ok and turned the way I was planning on going but I couldn't go after him. I just left. I didn't want to "run into" him again.

Oh and on the Walmart complaint email, so far nothing but an annoying response asking for information that has nothing to do with anything.

Corn on the cob

I made corn on the cob with dinner last night. We were all sitting at the table eating dinner and Maddy says to herself “It sure is hard to crunch this corn since my tooth keeps moving around”. My eyes got all huge and I looked at Larry. I wasn’t even sure I heard her right. But sure enough, the bottom right tooth has a little wiggle to it. I can’t believe it.

I remember when she got that tooth, I should dig out her baby book and check the date. I was feeding her breakfast and I felt something with the spoon, a little sticking point. I put my finger in her mouth and there it was. All cute and pearly. And now that tooth is going to fall out. I’m kinda sad.

And, keeping on the corn on the cob theme, Connor finally figured out how to eat it. He holds it tight with both hands and takes a huge bite, but he still only gets half a kernel.

But it's still night time!

Connor aquired the very lovely habit of waking up at who knows what time. EARLY. Before dawn. I just looked and it says "Begin civil twilight 6:36 a.m." So if I had to guess I would say he was up at about 5:45. Well before "civil twilight" as it is apparently called. He did this for a few days in a row and I was beat.

So on Sunday he woke up early and we played in his room, in the dark for a while. I also had to explain that "no, we can't go get the mail." and "no, we can't go bye bye. It's still night time!" Then we went downstairs and laid on the couch together. I refuse to turn on any lights or feed him until 7:00 am. I refuse! After breakfast he seemed tired so I put him back down. Before I climb back into bed I turned the baby monitor back on. I swear I did! Anyways, I fall asleep. I fell hard and fast. I woke up in the same position I laid down in. But here is the kicker. It was 11:40!! 11:40! I slept for 4 hours. And Larry had to come wake me up, who knows how long I would have slept. I was like, "I'm sorry. I didn't hear Connor wake up" And he says, "Well you turned the monitor off" ok, no I didn't. I admit it WAS off, but I don't know how it got like that. I KNOW I turned it on because I heard Connor fuss a little before he fell asleep. I honestly have no clue how it got turned off. Divine intervention I guess. The God of sleep came down and turned the monitor off for me. That is the only reasonable explanation I can give.

I want a coupon for some free abuse!

So I had one simple thing to do today. Get my oil changed. Its the first time I've had the oil changed in the van. Yes, I've had it for 6 months but it only has 3500 miles on it cause I go nowhere. Anyways, against my better judgment I took it to Walmart. I should have known better because the last two times I have been there I've wandered around Walmart for an hour only to be told they couldn't change my oil for whatever reason. Wanna take a guess at what happened today? Yup! I wandered around for an hour only to be told they couldn't change the oil because they didn't have a filter. "Why didn't someone call me?" I ask. "Oh I just found out." he said. Yeah, sure, ok, whatever. They were kind enough to let me know that another Walmart about 15 miles away has the filter. So I guess they thought I wanted to spend another hour walking around a different Walmart. Um... no thanks. I'll just go to Jiffy Lube. Which is what I did. They charged me $60.00 but at least it's done. I sent Walmart an email complaining and asking for a coupon for a free oil change. I'm not holding my breath.

But on to tastier things....

This week I'm putting together two old things to make one new thing. Two weeks ago I made Peanut Butter Cupcakes and they were pretty good but the best part was the frosting. It was so good. It got kinda hard but would melt in your mouth. And it tasted just like the peanut butter inside a Reeses. So I'm going to make that frosting and put it on brownies instead. Holy crap that is going to be good. Here's the recipe for the frosting. I'm just making brownies out of a box, fudgy not cakey.

Peanut Butter Frosting
1/3 cup peanut butter (name brand, don't cheap out on me here)
2 cups confectioners' sugar
2 teaspoons honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 tablespoons milk

Cream peanut butter and sugar in a small mixing bowl. Add the honey and vanilla. Beat in enough milk to achieve a spreading consistency.

Thomas vs. Elmo.

I went shopping for some shoes for Connor this morning. I got him a cute pair of Thomas the train shoes. For the same price they also had some light up Elmo ones. In theory the Elmo ones were a better deal since they light up and you usually have to pay extra for that. I was really torn.

So there he was walking up and down the aisle with Thomas on one foot and Elmo on the other. While I stood back biting my nails and wearing a face like I was contemplating Faraday's Law of electromagnetic induction. In the end Thomas won simply because the Thomas shoes were dark blue and the Elmo ones were white. And I just think that dark shoes look nicer with jeans.

Oh , and I made the apple chicken last night. It was just ok. Larry gave it a 6. I think I'll give it a 7. But, I haven't given up on it yet. Our main complaint was that it was too vinegary. So I think next time I'll use apple juice instead of vinegar. Maybe that will make it less vinegary. Well I know it WILL make it less vinegary since I am taking out the vinegar, but maybe it will make it taste, you know, better. Also I'm going to serve it with rice next time instead of the recommended baked potato.

For sale: One slightly used bottle of apple cider vinegar. Just 1.99. Pick up only.

Puzzling

Maddy is really into puzzles and I think that is pretty cool. She recently started doing 100 piece puzzles. So I thought this would be something we could do together. But the problem is that we can't really do one where Connor can get to it. I'm sure you can see the problem there. Add that to the fact that any puzzle that will be fun for me at all is going to take more than one sitting to do, and you can see my puzzle problem. My "puzzle puzzle", if you will. Well, I found this mat that you do the puzzle on and then you can roll it up half done and it keeps the pieces in their places. So this weekend I bought that and a 300 piece puzzle to go with it.

Maddy picked out the puzzle. I tried to kind of guide her towards the fairies or the farm animals, but no. She wanted the kittens. Kittens sitting on a window sill playing with sea shells, to be exact. It's called "Seaside Memories". Well, come to find out that even with help a 300 piece puzzle is too hard for her to do. So I'm sitting there alone, throughly engrossed in some "seaside memories". You should just give me some bi-focals and call me 100. I did finish it in just two sittings... I was pretty proud of myself. :)

Can you tell I'm hungry?

I lost 3 lbs this week. Pretty good. I had 8 to lose, so that is almost half of it in just one week. yay! The retainer was perfectly timed. :) As were the new batteries for the scale.

What else? I'm going to try to make it til the end of the month without eating out. But its already impossible cause I have breakfast plans with Shane and then lunch plans with Jennifer. Eating out is so social... I really don't even know what else to suggest to do. Hey, instead of lunch lets take a walk. haha... no. I mean really. (edited to add that not eating out means not eating out during the week, the weekends are a lost cause)

My new recipe for this week is Apple Chicken. I'm making it on Tuesday, I'll let you know how it goes. I try a new recipe each week. I guess I'll blog about it, why not.

Apple Chicken

Serves 6

6 boneless skinless chicken breasts -- cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 1/4 teaspoons vegetable oil
4 Granny Smith apples -- cored and sliced into 1/2 inch wedges
3/4 cup dry white wine
3/4 cup chicken broth
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup cider vinegar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet. Add chicken and brown on all
sides. Add apple slices, sauté 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add
1/2 the wine and chicken broth, reduce heat, cover and simmer 10
minutes. Mix remaining wine and broth together with remaining
ingredients, add to skillet. Cook over medium heat, stirring
constantly until sauce thickens.

Per Serving: 161 Calories; 2g Fat (15.5% calories from fat); 7g
Protein; 24g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 16mg Cholesterol; 246mg
Sodium. Exchanges: 1/2 Grain(Starch) ; 1 Lean Meat; 1/2 Fruit; 0 Fat;
1/2 Other Carbohydrates.

SERVING SUGGESTIONS: Baked potatoes, baked butternut squash and
steamed broccoli.

Think Santa hits the drive-thru?

So today is day 5 of not eating out. I'm pretty impressed with myself. That is a record for me. I can't think of the last time I went that long without eating out. Maybe back when I was pregnant with Maddy. I was so poor, I couldn't afford groceries let alone eating out. I did spend 50 cents on a soda yesterday to take with me to the park, but I really don't count that.

I've also started Christmas shopping. I have two people totally done and one person I have an idea for but I just haven't bought it yet. Then come the hard people. I have Connor half done, but Maddy and Larry I haven't even started. I have NO CLUE what to get either one of them. I'm sorry but the things Maddy is asking for are dumb. Maybe I shouldn't judge like that but I really don't see long lasting play out of these expensive gifts, ya know. She wants a rocking horse, same as last year. You know why? Because we have this book that my mom gave her "Baby's First Christmas" and in that book the baby gets a rocking horse. I try to explain that she isn't a baby, and it's not her first Christmas. But to no avail. A rocking horse stays on her list. How much play do think this rocking horse would really get? I'm guessing about 5 mins Christmas morning and that's it.

Oh but the point of bringing up the whole Christmas shopping thing was to say that I'm trying to get all my shopping done before we leave for Disneyland. Which is in three weeks and two days!!! I can't wait!

School

Hello,

I forgot to write about my classes that I signed up for. Yes, CLASSES, not class like I was planning. One class met twice a week so I figured if I was already going there twice a week I might as well take another class. Usually night classes only meet once a week. So I'm taking Physics and World Religion. Sounds super fun huh? I'm actually pretty excited about both. Physics could be fun. There is a lab once a week so that could be kinda fun, especially if there are some fun people in the class. I'm hoping going at night that it will be some older people, not all people fresh out of high school. So I'm optimistic.

I have six more classes to take after this and I have my associates. How cool is that? There is an end in sight! Well, a middle anyways.

Oh, by the way... I'm taking donations for my tuition. With all these medical bills for everyone I've been accumulating, it has seriously dipped into the money I was going to use to pay for school. sigh... the life of a parent... feeling guilty about going to school... who would have thought?

One last trip to the dr... hopefully.

I took Maddy to her appointment with the Pulmologist (forgive me if I spelled that wrong). It went ok, it wasn't a waste of time like I was hoping it would be. She had to do a breathing test where they bring up a picture of some candles and Maddy blows as hard as she can into this tube and it blows out the candles. It was actually pretty cool. Well, she could blow out all but one of the candles. The doc said that she has some constricting of her air tubes way down deep in her lungs. He said there are two things that cause asthma. One is constricted airways and the other is tight muscles around the airways. He put her on Flomax to help with the constricting of the airways and then she already has the Albuterol to help with the muscle tightness. She has to take the Flomax everyday, 2 hits in the morning and 2 hits at night. So that should do her. I can't imagine we will be back at Urgent Care again for this.

The appointment was pretty long, lots of waiting and Connor was getting bored. He entertained himself by opening and shutting the door about 750 times. He would open it, go out, close it, knock, come in, close it, repeat. So the whole time the nurse is explaining what to do and when and why. We are going over the two different meds and when to use them and the signs of everything and when to call the dr, when to take her to the ER, Connor is going in and out, in and out. Then when he got bored of that he found the light switch. I'll tell you there isn't much that is more distracting then having the light turn on and off while you are talking about important things. But at least he wasn't going through the doctor's things right?


edit: It is Flovent, not Flomax. sorry.

What's my age again?

So I got my new retainer today. Awww yeah. For those that don't know about 3 weeks ago I broke my old one. Thinking that since my teeth haven't moved for 13 years I was pretty safe without a new one I let it go. Well, I was wrong. They moved. So I went in and forked over $300 that I don't have to have this really cool (not) one made. It HUGE. I have to learn how to talk all over again.

On the bright side it is going to cure two bad habits that I have. I can no longer bite my nails, since I can not touch my teeth together. And eating on the fly is out. I have to remove this gigantic piece of plastic from my mouth in order to eat and its in there so tight it practically have to get a crow bar to pry it off my teeth. Grabbing that cookie on the way through the kitchen won't be happening. I really have to commit to a meal to make it worth removing this thing.

I am also registering for classes today at MCC. Or make that A class. Only one. But hey, its something. So between a trip to the orthodontist and registering for college... I feel like I'm 18 again. If only I didn't have to take Connor with me everywhere I go.

There's a new sickie in the house.

Larry. I'm sure I'm next, so let the paranoia set in. Is that a headache? Is my throat sore? Why am I so tired?

I was hoping this weekend was going to get us back on track here. Back to normal. But no such luck.

Maddy is doing better. She is at Shaun's this weekend. I called over there tonight and they said that she didn't need a breathing treatment today, and her cough still sounds loose. So yay! She has an appointment with a pediatric pulmologist on Tuesday. So we'll see what he says. Hopefully nothing and its a big waste.

Back to Urgent Care

My poor little guy. Connor was sooo sick yesterday. We ended up taking him to Urgent Care (yes, that means I've been there twice in two days. They are getting to know me there) after Trick or Treating was over. Not that he went Trick or Treating, but he just happened to get worse at about that time. His fever went from 102 to 104 in about an hour so I took him. They didn't do much, gave him some motrin and and prescription for antibiotics. The doc said that he has some fluids in his ears but it wasn't an ear infection yet. I think mostly he gave him the antibiotics because he didn't know what was wrong. Such a high fever for a little guy.

But again I got right in. There wasn't a soul in that place. Kinda strange that kids don't get sick on Halloween. Makes me think that a lot of kids show up there that aren't really so sick they need to be seen. Ya know, if the parents, and kids, have something else to focus on then maybe the sickness isn't so bad.

But Connor slept like a champ and only had a fever of 99.something this morning. He only woke up once during the night and that was to ask for his bear. He sleeps with 3 bears and I only gave him 2 when I put him down in case he threw up during the night he would still have a clean bear. Well, at about 2am Connor figured it out and just kept saying "Rock" "Rock" over and over until I put Rocky in his crib with him. awwww.

Huffin' Albuterol

So Maddy had a real full blown asthma attack yesterday. She came home from school really wheezy and coughing. I gave her a hit from her inhaler and it did help a little, but only for an hour or so. She really was pretty bad. Wheezing in between words when she talked. Poor thing. Finally at 7:30 at night I am convinced to take her to the doctor. There is a pretty cool pediatric urgent care about 10 miles from here so I took her there.

We go in and I'm signing the sign in sheet and making a note of the names ahead of us so that I can tell how much longer we have to wait and the lady asks "What is she here for?" I say "She is having some trouble breathing." and the lady jumps up and runs in the back. She brings out the monitor that you put on your finger that says the oxygen levels in your blood. It says 86. I don't know what it is supposed to be but I know that is low. Once when we were vising Lori in the hospital Larry put one on his finger and his level was 98. Anyways, so she goes in the back and then right away this guy comes into the waiting room and asks for her. I was surprised and all "who? her!?" They take another reading with the finger machine and he sticks his head out of the nursing station and says to someone "Get her in first". I was kinda freaking out at this point. I've never ever just gotten right in like this.

The doctor comes in and sets her up on a breathing treatment. I have no clue how long she sat there but it seemed like quite awhile. Maybe 20 mins. Breathing through this tube. When she came off I could tell she felt a lot better.

They gave us a nebulizer to take home and I have to give her a breathing treatment every 4 hours. I had to wake her at 2 am and give her one.. then I let her sleep til 7. Shoot me. I just couldn't get her up early after such a crazy night. I have to go to school to give her another one and then she will get one right before trick or treating tonight, (Happy Halloween by the way) and then again before bed. Hopefully that will fix her. She still woke up all wheezy this morning.

The nebulizer they gave her is pretty cute. It has a fish face mask and fish stickers to decorate it with. And a book about a fish who has asthma. So we read the book while she is wearing her fish mask. She likes that.

Oh I forgot.... While we were at the urgent care we are waiting in our room and the door was open and I hear a mom say to her kid. "You won't put anything in your ear again will you?" LMAO... I had to laugh. but not too hard cause I know that will be me and Connor in about 6 months.

A trip to the orthodontist.

So I went to the orthodontist today. First off let me say that his office was so cool. They had a movie theater, video games, and Ipods. Ok, well, I spent $300 for a retainer to keep my bottom teeth from moving more, which hopefully will also keep the top ones from moving. The word braces was hot on everyone's lips but no way. That memory is too fresh (even after 15 years) to get braces again.

ok, but enough about me...
Maddy can now make her own peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Very cool! She packed her own lunch today for school. If she had a better internal clock I wouldn't even have to get up with her in the morning. She can get herself ready for school, but she would either be at the bus stop before dawn... or miss it all together.

And Connor can now open doors all by himself. We had to go get those covers for the door handles. He thinks they are balls though (the covers). He thinks were are playing a funny trick on him...putting balls on all the door handles, silly momma.

What else? I think that's it.....
Tomorrow is Halloween. I can't believe it!

Say aaaaaah

So Maddy had a drs. appointment yesterday. Fun fun. She did really well in everything. She weighs 53 lbs and is 46 inches tall. I think that means she can ride just about everything at Disneyland. I should go find that out.

Anyways, we had to see a new doc cause her regular doc couldn't see her until MARCH! and even then she doesn't have after school appointments. Which I was pretty frustrated about. The lady on the phone could tell I was mad, I was like just never mind then. But I wanted to say "I will just go find a pediatrician who will see CHILDREN!" I mean hello! Kids go to school, seems like you would take that into account when setting up your scheduling. But I didn't want to freak out in case I couldn't find anyone else. :) I didn't want to have to call back and be all "Umm, remember that March appointment at 1:30? Yeah, I'll take that."

I got the list of doctors on my insurance and called every one until I found her new doc. Who, by the way, got her in the very next day at 4:00.

ok, so this does have a point. The new doc heard some wheezing in her lungs. So Maddy now has a fancy new inhaler. Yeah, she's cool like that! Maybe now the neighbor's kid won't be able to beat her in a race, running backwards in flip flops... while Maddy rides her bike. (no joke!)

Welcome

ok, so I'm 'going public" with my blog. Might as well right.

And to get things off to a great start I have awesome news.

Maddy got student of the month!

Awww. I'm so proud of her!

They do the six pillars of character here. I don't know if that is a national thing or just around here but each month they focus on a different trait. This month was trustworthiness.

Each class picks one student that displays that months trait. So she got it for trustworthiness.

How cute! She gets to have a pancake breakfast with the principal on Halloween. I am SO proud.