Tickle monster

I love to hear the giggles from my boys!

No snow

So of course I knew we wouldn't get any snow. Just slight wishful thinking. We basically have just gotten alot of rain, with a slight potential for sleet tonight I think.

I am still keeping up with my 365 project. I just haven't posted them yet, probably tonight.

I stopped by the bank on the way taking the boys to school the other day and they gave us lollipops. Well, it was 8am so I told the boys they could have them when I picked them up from school. Of course they don't forget, Dev especially. Well as I am about to head into the school yesterday I was rummaging through my purse to find the lollies. I could not find them. I must have taken them out or something. Not too big of a deal, although I like to stick to what I say to the boys no matter what. I hated the thought of hearing the sad voices of " you said you were going to bring the lollipops" As I was signing the boys out of school I was telling the director my dilemma. She ran to her office to find a lollipop, but to no avail. She did however have a mini kit kat candybar. Perfect, I said! So as I got the boys into the car and they were looking for their treat I pulled out the kit kat bar. "huh? A candy from Papa!!" they exclaimed! I started laughing so hard. When we go to my dad's he usually has some type of small candy bar for them and of course they remembered that. So after all my troubles of searching for the candy to substitute for the lollipops..........they thought it was from Papa. Too funny!! It did make them very happy I have to say!Gotta love it!

To any Biggest Loser fans out there...thank goodness. I have been waiting for one of the purple chics to be voted off and finally. Sorry but I don't think they have been working as hard as everyone else and I was so sad when Betty Sue left. The soda temptation was pretty funny. I have to be thankful that I'm not much of a soda drinker. I don't drink regular soda, only diet and now Coke zero. I try to only drink a soda or two on the weekend, with only water or light juice during the week. Coke Zero is pretty good, tastes more like the regular but it's diet! As Jillian the trainer stated best "WE DON'T DRINK OUR CALORIES" unless of course it's a margarita I say! :)

Still fighting off this cold and I'm not happy. I have this annoying cough and it's worse at night of course. 2am I was up from coughing and took a few tablespoons of Nyquil. Ah--much better after it kicked in 30 min or so later.

I did get to see American Idol last night in Miami. I ususally don't see the Tues night show because it's up against Biggest loser and I'm not so upset to miss these first episodes of craziness on AI. The belching girl was something. Why would you go on TV and do that? Just insane! It seemed they did have some talent there. I am looking more forward to when the real season starts though. I hope it doesn't stay up against Biggest Loser, so that I get to watch both shows.

One month of 2008 gone already. Can you believe it? The time sure does go faster and faster all the time! Never take advantage of what you have today while waiting for tomorrow! We must live in the now, because you never know what's in the future! Toodles....till next time.

To be or not to be...

Well, they are saying ice, sleet and maybe snow. We will see. I'm not getting my hopes up for a snow day at home. Although it would be nice to let them play in the snow a little while. The great thing about my new job is that they will actually close for bad weather, yahoo!! Like I said though, they usually predict and we get nothing!
Short post for now....off to get some sugar free peaches and free cool whip! Sounds scrumptious doesn't it? Ha!

Nice shower

Well we are back in town and trying to get ready for the work week ahead. We had a great time back home for the baby shower for Amanda and Tim. They received alot of very nice gifts. It was great to see everyone and see those that we haven't seen in a long long time!! The weather was cool and rainy the day of the shower but everyone still came anyway. My mother and father in law and aunts in laws did a great job getting the house ready for the shower. The food was spectacular also. My hubby did a great job preoccupying the kids during the gift opening at the shower. If the weather was nicer they could of been outside but it all worked out well. Of course Sunday was sunny and 55-60 degrees outside. My in laws watched the boys Fri night and we had a date night. We ate at BoneFish Grill. The food is so wonderful, it was nice to get a night out alone. Thanks to them!! The boys did wonderful on the trip there and back. The movies were so helpful and they even napped really good during both trips!! :)

I am in the process of fighting off a cold. I am staying on top of my doses of airborne. It works well!! I just hope I don't pass it on to the boys!

We have planned a trip to Orlando in about a month. I am very excited! Mike's cuz works for Disney and we're going to take the boys to "Mickey's house" as Dev says. We haven't told the boys yet though. I am gonna make a calendar to hang the 1st of Feb and let the boys cross off the days till we leave. I saw on a website also to let them start earning some money to save up for some Disney dollars and let them pick out what they want to buy while we're there. It should be so much fun and I'm already excited!!

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I think we're going to have a small get together this weekend for the Superbowl. Most of our family doesn't enjoy watching football like we do, but the fellowship and food will be good. Although, I'm trying to make all healthy snacks.....huh? Is that possible? I don't know but i'm going to try. It should be interesting! We must try to stay on track! A trip to Orlando in one month and also a cruise to Cozumel in April.... no slacking allowed....there will be swimming involved on these trips....yikes!!

D's bed will be arriving this week! I am very excited to get it in his room. He will love being in the lighting McQueen bed! Bry is happy too about moving into a "big boy" bed! I just have to get the bed rail guards from mom. So hopefully by the end of the weekend we'll have all the beds rearranged and the crib mattress over to Amanda and Tim! I post pics when done.

Well here's a few pics from the fun baby shower! I'll have to get over this weekend and get some updated tummy pics and nursery pics for her album. I'll post them later too!

The boys couldn't wait to get there and have Mimi's chicken salad!

Dev thought he'd go out with us and wear my shoes!

The adorable expecting parents!

A non edible cake I made out of diapers and baby stuff for them.

A sweater for their mini Schnauzer dog Walter. He'll be a big brother soon!

Busy evening

Tonight the boys were pretending to play Rock Band with daddy, very cute!! We leave tomorrow for the baby shower for my bro and sis in law. Tonight's to do list: pack boys clothes, toys and snacks, pack my own stuff, get all things together that I'm taking down for the shower, with a few suprises included. :) I'm also making some chocolate covered pretzels for the shower in cute baby girl colors. I'll try not to taste test too many while I'm making them tonight.

We're burning some more movies on my ipod to take for the trip too. It's works well through our portable car DVD player but instead I control it through the ipod. It's much better than constantly switching out the DVD's the whole trip when they change their mind 2 minutes into the movie to watch a different one. I'll post pics when we return. I believe the weather should be a nice 65 degrees or so while we are there, yeah! Happy weekend to everyone!!

27 degress?

Yes, I actually took the boys out in 27 degree weather. I have personally come along way as a mommy. I don't like all the bundling and freezing outside so I usually choose to stay indoors. Well Mike and his bro were taking their airplanes flying on Sun so I decided to go along to help out watching the boys. My boys and the two big boys had a great time. Mike actually did well for his first flight and actually didn't break the plane, although Tim broke part of one of his. Typical for RC adventures!

The boys had fun running back and forth across the field. Little House on the Prairie anyone? That was what I was thinking when my baby B fell flat on his face in mid stride!!But he got right up and kept on running!! Good job baby!!

Just a few bath pics to share also. They were taking turns making faces. Don't they know their faces will stick like that if they keep doing that!! (right mom and dad?)

So, I am finally getting over being crabby. But now I have turned to being pure mad!! I bought a new scale today because we were convinced that ours wasnt' working right. It keeps track of your inital weigh in, gives you a 10% lower goal weight and will show you change in weight loss between weigh ins. Pretty fancy huh? Well...... we both weighed in. I wasn't happy with that since it weighed me higher than our old scale did, but whateva! Anyway, smarty pants Mike decided to weigh in again after he worked out.....WHAT? LOST ALREADY!! WHAT THE H***! I weighed again and had gained 2 pounds just from lunch! OK that really sucked!! A weight watchers chicken wrap, baby raw carrots and 2 small pickles....that's 2 pounds?? what the h***! Yes I got a little angry to say the least! I WILL beat that scale!! I am determined, I have decided to turn my crabbiness into anger and win the fight over that dumb scale!! So, I put on my workout gear and headed out the door, determined in the 46 degree weather. I ran for 19 minutes non stop and then came in and did 25 minutes of arms and ab work. I WILL WIN!! I am going to put a tracker on the side of this blog to track my exercise. I despise exercise that's for sure, but I refuse to let the scale win! I am mad because I'm not obviously doing enough to make a large enough difference....so here it goes! HA! They always say to turn your negative energy into positive right?

And thanks to my friend Dana! She sent me a great email thanking me for helping her to lose 15 lbs. Several months ago when I did the WW before I made her a notebook like mine to help keep track of points and recipes ect. She started using it recently and has lost 15 lbs. WAY TO GO GIRL!! Keep up the good work! She also gave me some inspiration to not give up, thanks.!

TGIF

Yeah! Another work week gone! Although it's a short weekend for me this time, I don't get my usual four days off since I'm working on Monday. I switched days so I could be off next Fri to head to Mobile for my sis in laws shower. Anyway then I'll have a five day weekend so it's worth it!

So any of you looking for a weight watchers hint? I found these great english muffins that are zero points and some WW cream cheese for 1/2 pt. A great low point breakfast item and you could put some sugar free jelly on it and away you go.

Although I would much rather eat this! It's been sitting in the pantry since Christmas calling my name! I think at some point this weekend I'll treat myself for losing seven lbs. so far. Only 1 million to go....ha ha....it feels like that sometimes.

I've still been practicing my Rock Band drumming skills. I can actually play a few of the songs on expert level. I have mastered several of the songs at hard level now I just have to practice the expert level, on some of the songs I just don't know that my mind can comprehend and react fast enough to play totally different beats with my right hand, left hand and foot pedal all at the same time. D was playing some Tiger Woods 08 with his daddy the other night and beating him. It was hilarious, one game they were playing D almost his a hole in one like about 5 times in a row, we were beside ourselves. It was so funny. Mike could only hit his into the water :)

Tonight before bed I had the kids put on their headlight headbands they got for Christmas and play in the gameroom in the dark. They thought it was absolutely fabulous!! I tried to take a pic and got this:

Then I switched to a night mode on my camera and caught this:

What great effect huh? I just laughed when I saw the pic, I told the boys to look at the ray beam coming out of their heads.... hee hee.."take more mommy, take more!" They had a blast and then off to bed, a little cranky for D though. I think sometimes staying up a little late really gets to him. Maybe he'll sleep in tomorrow to make up for iT.

BIG CONGRATS TO SUSAN AND HER FAMILY ON THE ARRIVAL OF THEIR HEALTHY BOUNCING BABY BOY!! He's adorable!!

Hope to have some inside fun this weekend with the boys. It's supposed to be really cold here this weekend so we'll probably be homebound most of the weekend. I have a few ideas planned for the boys with some new inside games to play. I got some ideas off of a few websites, we'll see how it goes. Toodles for now.

Crab Apple

That's my name for today. I am feeling like a crab today. Not so sure why.. just one of those days! The scale is going down again finally but I'm just irritated that I have to starve and exercise forever, ya know! I hate it I must say, but my mission is to stay healthy for my boys and my husband. I want to be around forever to take care of all of them!! So as I'm feeling terrible today I get the most wonderful text message (to be my POTD #17) that I'll post later on tonight! What can I say.... I just smiled as tears ran down my face! Thanks baby!! I needed that!

A little bit of this, and a little of that

Well, I got quite a bit of reorganizing done over the last few days. There is still so much more to do, but I have tried to convince myself not to fret and just take it a little at a time. I made quite a to do list and I'll try to work down the list by priority....we'll see.

My friend and her family came over Sat. We had a great time chatting while her daughter kept my boys busy playing. The guys were out in the yard of course, running the RC stuff. I think my hubby might have gotten her husband hooked! It's kinda contagious apparently for the guys to be able to drive things that go really fast! It was nice to spend time with them, it was alot of fun! We'll have to plan another one real soon Beth!

The boys are doing good! B is continuing to copy everything his older brother does. The good thing is that most of it is positive. I am currently in the process of looking for a new bed for D. It's about time to move B up into a big boy twin bed. We'll also be able to pass the mattress down to my bro and sis in law whose baby is due in a few months. I figured I will put D's bed into Bry's and look for D a new bed since he's older. I am really thinking about the Lightning McQueen bed. I think D would absolutely love it. I just have to convince his daddy of that!

It has gotten good reviews on the sites I've checked. So hopefully I'll be ordering it soon. I think I'll use this time to slightly redecor his room also. Not too much to do, I like the walls, but maybe I'll change up his dresser a little and some other little touches. I'll post pics once I get going on it.

Well lunch is over, back to work now. I'll be back later.

Artichoke Dip

If you've seen my 365 POTD blog, you saw the almost empty dish with a promise of a recipe. I might have posted it in the past but for those of you who missed it or didn't try to make it, here it is. You really should try it. Another one of those recipes that is really easy and only a few ingredients, but sorry it does have just a tiny bit of fat.

HOT ARTICHOKE DIP
1 8 oz. Cream cheese softened
8 oz. Hellman’s mayo
1 8 oz. Sour cream
1 cup shredded parmesan cheese
1 small jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained and finely chopped
*Mix together and put in pie or quiche dish. Top with shredded parmesan cheese (to taste)
*Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until golden around edges.

Flashback

I was doing a little bit of early spring cleaning today and came across a great picture! I can see where B got his looks from that's for sure! Two cuties!!

365 POTD 1/11/08

Here is my pic of the day..... Bryson told me that it was cold outside so he needed his gloves on......well his gloves are actually his socks!! Gotta love the boys imagination and creativity!! I hope to get these pics over to my 365 blog,( link to the right) this weekend. so I can start putting my pics over there.

How adorable

Well Amanda should of known she'd end up on my blog. I went by to take some snap shots of her and the progress of the nursery. She's hand painting it herself and it is looking so adorable! So I just thought I'd share it with you all and show you how the nursery is coming along. She looks great and is doing a great job with the decor. Her Alabama shower is in two weeks and that will be alot of fun. I'll post pics here for sure from that.

365 POTD 1/10/08

Here's my pic for today. We had some really bad weather and tons of rain this am. My hubby actually took the pic, but I told him to go get some pics for me since I was at work (that counts right!) This is a pic of the two neighbors across the street where their yards join, flooded!! wow!!

365 POTD

Ok, after lurking several blogs I have decided to join the 365 (picture of the day) project. So the idea is to take a picture everyday for 365 days. Of course I am a few days behind, but actually have a few taken over the last few days. I will fill them in where appropriate and have to just live with missing the few others. It should be interesting, seeing that I love to take pics of EVERYTHING (so my hubby says) it shouldn't be too hard, ya think? We'll see. I'll do my best.. I think I will join Susan and design a separate blog for the pics. I will prob post some on here too, but to check out my progress I'll design it's own blog page. Not tonight of course but within the next few days I hope. So here it goes, my beginnings for 365 POTD!!


Also a few big thanks are in order for today:

*Mom---thanks for picking up the boys and having dinner with us
*Dad and Dee--thanks for the commissary goodies and the sofa recliner(looks great in playroom *Tim and mom for helping us moving the ***##%%@ heavy thing upstairs!!
*my wonderful boys for eating all their dinner without a fuss and getting a great treat after!!
*my outstanding husband for our new scanner,fax, printer combo thing, can't wait to hook it up
*my in-laws for all their constant prayers

Good night!

365 POTD 1/1/08

365 POTD 1/2/08

365 POTD 1/4/08

365 POTD 1/7/08

365 POTD 1/9/08

As for this pic from today, swim, eat, swim, eat, swim, eat and some sleep...wouldn't it be nice!

Funny story for the day

This was sent to me in an email and it's simply hysterical!!



DADDY'S GONNA EAT YOUR FINGERS ...

This one is for everyone who ...a) has kids, b) had kids, c) was a kid, d) knows a kid e) is going to have kids.

I was packing for my business trip and my three year old daughter was having a wonderful time playing on the bed. At one point she said, 'Daddy, look at this,' and stuck out two of her fingers. Trying to keep her entertained, I reached out and stuck her tiny fingers in my mouth and said, 'Daddy's gonna eat your fingers,' pretending to eat them.Went back to packing, looked up again and my daughter was standing on the bed staring at her fingers with a devastated look on her face.
I said, 'What's wrong, honey?'She replied, 'What happened to my booger?

Great check up!

D had a dental cleaning today and got a clean bill of teeth!! No cavities, yeah! All the brushing has paid off and the new electric toothbrushes from Papa for Christmas have been wonderful, they love brushing their teeth with firetrucks!!

From the dentist we made a stop at the Catholic school to check into registration for pre K in the fall. We have a tour scheduled for tomorrow am. I already am getting a little nervous...what?....school?????? My little baby is growing up sooooooo fast!!

Then we made a few stops along the way to our big destination. The jumping place!! D loves it and there is usually only a few other kids there during the week. Perfect! He had a great time on the blow up obstacle course and slide! We headed to granny's work for a cheeseburger and then to the mall to ride the carosel and a few race car games at the arcade! Whew! What a day! Then we finished by going to Toy R us to pick out a toy for him and little brother. Thomas toys...of course! He did see a Tanker truck, but oddly enough didn't want to get it. What a great day we had, lots of fun! I'm sure he'll sleep good tonight after our full day and no nap!

The weather has been great the past few days. High 60's!! Too bad it couldn't of been like this the past weekend so the boys could of went camping. Oh well, maybe the third try will be a charm. I'm not sure when they'll try to go again, but I'm sure it will be soon.

Tomorrow I will try to finish putting the decorations away! Finally! I did get them from outside, but I need to get the house back to normal and put all the bins away and the normal decor back in place.

Well, back to the boys, and then Rock Band maybe when they are asleep. I am really diggin' the drumming! I didn't know I had it in me!! It's a blast!!

Rain

Yuk! Rained all day.....

New Year, new template

Well, it's a new year and it's time for a change. I'm switching colors and templates. Still working on some of the fine tuning ,but I think I like it.
Whew! Got the tree down today :) B did very well at Papa's house, thanks Dad and Dee. Mom also picked up D on her way to work and brought him home so I had about an hour of home alone time and tackled taking down the tree. I almost got most everything down and put into storage bins, just a few things left. Oh yeah, and still have to get the decor from outside. That will be a project this weekend when the weather is supposed to be warmer, like 60's yipee!!
D is going camping with his daddy and Uncle Tim tomorrow. Should be interesting, he is very excited although he really has no idea what it's all about. I'll try to have daddy take some pictures while their gone.
Well just a short post for now. Till later this weekend, happy Friday!!

A little update

Well, D loves to play with Mac, that isn't even from Santa, he's had this toy since his Birthday, but he really likes it.









The boys also like playing air hockey on their new game table from Granny. B can even score a few points on his older bro!
My baby B woke up with a 101.5 fever today. Daddy stayed home with him today, Papa and Grandma Dee are going to watch him tomorrow am till I can get off work about 1 or so. So happy to have lots of family around to help with the kids, it's such a blessing. Thanks to everyone for their help, love and support. I hope this isn't something that sticks around for a week or so. He has a slightly decreased appetite and wants to be held alot, but otherwise doesn't really have any other symptoms. We'll just have to wait it out and see.

Stayed up till midnight (crazy us!) playing Rock Band. I was jammin away to Red Hot Chili Peppers and Metallica. My hubbs was so impressed that I might truly have some drummer skills!! He has really stepped up his game on the guitar too! Tim and Mike even played an online duel, it was really cool. But we truly were feeling our "oldness" when the alarm clock started going off this am at about 5:15, YIKES! We'll have to try to keep the play down to only a few hours at a time:) Not too much planned here for the weekend yet. The boys are getting much needed hair cuts and I think if the weather holds up D and Daddy might be going camping with Uncle Tim. We'll see. It's supposed to rain, although the temps should be in the high 60's... a far away place from our teens and 20's the past few days! Maybe me and B will do some window shopping around the mall and ride the merry go round they have in the mall for some indoor fun! Well that's about all for now, need to go cuddle my babies!!