My little chefs..

There's nothing like home made rice crispy treats. I actually like the store bought better but the boys had a wonderful time. D was simply amazed that we could make them at home, he thought you only could get them at the store:) We personalized them with some candy sprinkles too!

We had a great Thanksgiving with all the family. It was great to see everyone and taste some new recipes. I must get the coconut creme pie recipe, I loved it!! The old recipes like the famous crab dressing were wonderful too!! Thanks to everyone for their help in cooking and bringing great food! Now that the eating is over, at least for a month, I must get back on track. My clothes are getting a little snug. It always goes on 10 x's faster than it comes off!! Terribly!!

I'm going to try to get some Christmas decorating and shopping done this week. The holidays have come so fast this year, I am way behind on my plans!! It rained all day today pretty much. I would of liked to have gone a few places today but the rain kept us inside. I did get to download the boys a few more songs for their own playlist on my ipod. They wanted 'who let the dogs out', "wipeout", you've got a friend in me from toy story, and I also got the Dora theme song. I loaded a bunch of kids Christmas tunes also to get them in the holiday spirit. Just as I was thinking of some more songs my internet connection went down so I'll have to finish later, but at least I got a few more for them.

Here's a few pics from our cooking feature: rice crispy treats!

Family

After the serious pic, we had the adults do a fun pic....here ya go! Say cheese!

The holidays are wonderful times of sharing with family!

Great holiday

Hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving!!

WE DID!!

Cold, wet feet!

YUK! Heavily raining this am when I dropped the boyz off for school. There was about a 5ft wide stream in the parking lot that I had to jump through(of course I couldn't make it over- especially with a child on the hip). To top it off I had to jump through it 4 times! It was raining SO hard that I told the boyz one at a time so that I could hold the umbrella with one hand, and the other hand holding them on my hip and trying not to get drenched. I didn't get very wet, but obviously my feet didn't fare so well. I arrived at work 10 min late and with wet sock, shoes and feet! We do have a dryer here, BUT I was informed that NO personal items could be put in the dryer! Whatever!! So I did run down to Walgreens to get some footies to wear while my shoes try to dry out. Almost like having slippers on at work:) Lots of fun..

Home this afternoon to visit with my sister in laws family. They arrived this am from Albuquerque. We haven't seen them since D was only 6 months old. I sent over a basket with snack bars and cereal bars and such for them if they get hungry. Amanda has had alot to do with getting the house ready, job hunting and resting I'm sure with her now 6 months along with child. I hope they enjoy the snacks and I put a few "kid" items in there for approx 7 yr old Hannah. :) I know the boyz will enjoy playing with her. I have quite a few food items to prepare for tomorrow. I want to try to do as many as possible this evening so that I can relax and go over and visit in the am without having to worry about cooking. Just enjoy! Looking forward to the grandpa's putting together her nursery furniture too. Can't wait to see it. I'll have to post pics. She doesn't have the bedding yet but when she does I'll add it here for you to see. We are going to try to narrow her down to a day to for the shower also. I can't wait to help out with that, how fun!

Well to all those traveling for the holiday BE SAFE! Hope everyone enjoys all the great food and fellowship for the holiday too!! HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!

Weekend pics

Here are a few pics from last weekend.. You can click on them to see them a little larger..

Crazy? No just not thinking...

So I'm not crazy, just lost my mind a little. I normally am off of work on Mondays, but I volunteered at work to work for the other girl while she is off. I didn't realize that it was going to be the Mon. before Thanksgiving. I guess I was thinking Turkey day was the last thursday of the month. None the less I am working, yuk!! I only have about 1 million things that I would love to be doing today, like shopping for new shoes and finishing up my grocery shopping for Thanksgiving and cleaning and organizing a few things around the house. Oh well. I'll check the calendar better next time!! And to top it off I think it's like 70 degrees outside :(

D did really well at his TKD testing on Friday. He was very shy though this time. I think it was because none of the other little kids from HIS class were there. They haven't been going long enough and weren't ready to test. He was hoping to see his old classmated Jonathan who had moved into the bigger boys class last time, but he wasn't there. The master had to call his name like 3 or 4 times before he realized he was supposed to go up and get his belt. Everyone laughed as he ran quickly up there to get his belt, he was so happy to get it.! There are no classes this week but next week he'll be in a new class. I hope he does well with the little bit older kids. I am very proud of him!

We went to the park Sat. Mike and his brother went riding on some mountain bike trails and I took the boys in the bike trailer and we went to the playground. We went around the corner and saw some horses. The boys were pretty scared and wouldn't hardly get close enough for a pic(hence my blurry pic when I post it). They were excited to see a John Deere tractor sitting in a field so we went closer for a photo op. D was in pure excitement! This park was really nice, we had never been there before. We then rode around a huge pond, where they have paddle boats and canoes. I told the boys maybe next time.....Then I got out the boys big wheels and let them ride. M was putting the other bike stuff away while I walked with them. Well I learned a pretty big lesson.......As we went in one direction I let D ride pretty far ahead because I could see him and there seemed to be no harm. Well as we turned to go back towards the car, I again let him ride ahead. I was staying back with little B. Well D got farther and farther away and I realized that I could barely see him and that the parking lot and a crosswalk was ahead. I pretty much panicked. I didn't see M and they were too far away for me to yell, B was going so slow and I didn't know what to do. I decided to start running to look for D, since I couldn't see him now and I was panicking about the cars. I figured I'd just leave B a little behind and come back to get him....I felt I needed to run. Well as I ran a little I noticed M standing there with D. My heart almost stopped in relief. I went back to get B(not far behind) and we went to the car. M knew I was shaken and really didn't say much to me. I told him, I learned a lesson today in a quick way. What I thought was just letting him ride a little ahead turned into a bit of a situation that became scary. Needless to say, I won't let that happen again, my mind starting thinking all kinds of bad things. Eventhough it turned out well, I got a pretty good scare.

Well that's all for the moment...back to work!

Yipee....

Yeah! Mom bought a new car! Now she can pick up the boyz again:) She called to get Mikey's help to get a good deal and luckily he was home. She went to TKD to meet the boyz and D got to ride to our house with her. The prob was she didn't have Bry's car seat in yet so he was very upset that he didn't get to ride with Granny too. But now in the future he can again, yipee!! I am so happy and so are the boys.

Tonight Dev has his 2nd TKD belt testing. I am very excited.. Uncle Tim and Aunt Amanda will be there along with Aunt Jen, Pearl and Papa and Grandma Dee and of course mommy and daddy and bry! I am so happy to have soooooooooooo much family around to share in the joys of the boys growing up!! It's so wonderful. I'll be sure to post some pics and maybe even a video! Happy Friday!

Free Rice

This link is from Susan's blog. I tried it out and it's pretty fun and it is addictive. You don't have to enter any personal information to play. Check it out and see how many words you really know the meaning of while donating Free rice through the United Nations. Click this link to try it out. Dee.....how many do you know?? Brain teaser for sure!!

No-No reports

AGHHHHHH! Not 1, not 2, but 3 no- no reports for my little angel! B got in trouble the other day for fighting, pushing, hitting and spitting. WHAT?! Not my angel! He has been under the weather and kinda fiesty but still, that's kinda over the top. I do have to say he had two different teachers that day and not his usual ones. I don't know. But of course we talked to him about being nice to his friends and praised D for doing so good at school. I hope this doesn't continue, I can't have a little bully! I think it really was an unusual day for him and the fact he has had the cold crud like me, who wouldn't be grumpy!

All else is chugging along. Amanda and I are starting to plan and get ready for the great feast next Thursday. We are having it at their new house. Her family will be in town too, so we'll have about 18 family members. GREAT! It should be alot of fun. I am digging through all my recipes deciding what to make. I love it when all the family gets together. I haven't seen her parents since she got married. D was the ring bearer at 6 months old. Adorable I have to say so myself. They have never seen little Bry in person. Her sister's little girl has grown up quite a bit too and they have a new little baby. I am looking forward to it alot!

Here's a great recipe if you want something that's healthy and even tastes great too! I made it a couple of weekends ago and I'm going to make it for the work potluck on Friday. It's pretty easy to make and it's best if you make it the night before.


ITALIAN VEGETABLE SALAD
5 cups fresh broccoli florets(1 large bunch)
5 cups fresh cauliflower( 1 small head)
4 plum tomatoes, chopped ( i used a few regular ones and just chopped into pieces)
1 medium cucumber, peeled and sliced or chopped
1 medium sweet onion, thinly sliced
1 cup sliced fresh carrots
2 cans (2 1/4 oz each) slice black olives, drained
1/2 cup pimiento stuffed olives
1 bottle (80z) Italian salad dressing
1 bottle (8oz) Creamy Italian salad dressing
2 cups (8oz) shredded mozzarella cheese part skim

In large bowl, combine first 8 ingredients. Combine salad dressings; pour over vegetable mixture and toss to coat. cover and regriferate (best overnight or can be at least 4 hrs). Stir in cheese just before serving. Yields 14 servings.

Busy week

So the week went by so very fast.
Monday.. I didn't feel very well we are passing the cold and runny noses around but I convinced myself into some much needed winter clothes shopping. I guess because I wasn't very into it since I didn't feel well....but I actually liked everything I tried on the first time and it all fit except for one pair of pants that I just took a leap and hoped I might could squeeze into (NOT). Then home for much needed rest and off to Taekwondo practice with Dev. He was a little distracted prob due to the lollipop I let him have before class.Oopps. I learned my lesson.

Tues. Much of a blur. I long day at work. Home to eat dinner and then play with the boys, baths and bedtime. Oh yeah I did put a wonderful porkloin in the crockpot. It was from Sam's and preseasoned with Cranberry and Pomegranite. It was delicious!!!

Wed. My hubby went out of town. So late night at work then pick up kids and hurry home to eat and bathe. Mom did come by to visit and help out a little. She forgot the milkshakes she was supposed to bring the boyz but made up for it with a hot wheels car each. Yeah, now we have 102 million:) the boys love the cars!!!!!!

Thurs. Another long day at work. Dad and Dee agreed to pick up Dev from school since Mike was out of town and take him to TKD. The class is at 430 so I can't obviously take him since I work til 5pm. They did a great job and even gave him a "car candy". He told them that I said it was OK. ha ha. Thanks Dad and Dee for doing that. I didn't want him to miss a class since he has belt testing next Friday. I'm excited. AFter this testing he will be able to move up to the bigger kids class on a trial basis at first. We have to see if he'll just fit right in or be overwhelmed and distracted. We'll see.

Friday. USual day at work. I spent the evening catching up on Tivo'd shows of Dr. Phil and Oprah. I watched her show with the Osmond's . I didn't know if I'd like it when I first started but it turned out to be a very interesting show. I watched quite a few shows and then turned into bed early with some Nyquil on board. I still have this annoying hacking cough. Mike went over to his bro's house and they worked on their remote control cars. We are heading over to Dad's on Sun to help him with a new car that he bought. He doesn't know the ropes so they will help him out.

Sat. Took Dev to his first movie at the theater. We started out with a small shopping trip at Kohl's then to have pizza. Then at the movie of course he had to have the works for his first trip right?! We got popcorn, a big cup of fruit punch and some MnM's. He really enjoyed seeing the "Bee Movie". He did great with only one potty break! He didn't like all the previews though, he kept asking when the movie was going to start! I thought the movie was cute but not a big fan of Seinfeld. Kinda wish the main Bee could of been someone else but oh well.Bry stayed home with daddy and had one on one time. Bry has also been sick with the crud and has been unusally cranking and slightly defiant. He even got a no-no report at school this week for fighting. I know.....terrible. But the (girl) he was fighting with gave him a few battle wounds to go home with. She wasn't going to put up with it:)

We booked a cruise with the boys in April. It leaves from New ORleans and goes to Cozumel. My mom and his parents are going along too. It should be a fun family cruise. I really wanted to go to the Bahamas, since we've never been and have been to Cozy but the flight to Orlando area would of cost us more than the cruise. Anyway it was a longer cruise too and we figured we'd try a closer and shorter one first with the boys to see how they do. We took advantage of a one day promotion through our travel agency. See link to right. The cruise was 250-300 per person for us and his parents and the boys were only 170. Can't beat that I say!! And we got a two category room upgrade also! The ship is bigger than the one we took out of Mobile last year. There are three swimming pools and even one shaped like Mickey Mouse's head for the boys. Should be alot of fun. I know it's several months away but with the holidays approaching I know it will be here before we know it.

Happy Weekend to all..

I've been tagged..

Susan, so here's my list...

Here are the rules which must be posted on your blog if you are tagged: 1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.2. Share 7 facts about yourself: some random, some weird.3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post and list their names (linking to them).4. Let them know they've been tagged by leaving a comment at their blogs.

1. I love the sunshine, the great outdoors, it just makes me feel great!

2. If I rewrote my career path, it might would be in accounting. I really do like working with numbers.

3. I love to hear my boys say "mommy" it just melts my heart. But....by the 100th time in a ROW I start to tune it out..ha! Don't we all.

4. If I could go one place in the world for a vacation, I would love to go to Europe.

5. My first airplane ride was on my honeymoon.

6. My name is NOT Patricia, it's just simply Tricia.

7. My favorite color is purple.

I know my list isn't that exciting but there you go. I would love to play along but I only have one blogger I could tag and that would be Dad. So yes Dad, I tag you!:)

A FABULOUS FIND!! I am so excited about this green wagon I got from a garage sale yesterday. It was only $5. I have been wanting a wagon for the boys for quite awhile but didn't want to pay the 50-100 bucks for one. So occasionally when I hit some garage sales I always had an eye out for one. Well this time I found it!! It was kinda dirty but hey, all clean now and the boys love it. I think this afternoon we might head over to Uncle Tim and Aunt Amanda's with a wagon of some baby pass me downs and the boys to ride of course too! Oh yeah, Congrats on their expecting a baby ................GIRL! Yippee!! Just what D wanted. I asked him what did he want their baby to be several months ago and he said a Girl. So he got his wish:) How exciting for them. Can't wait to find out the name they pick! I'll keep you posted on that!

Took the boys yesterday for their Christmas pics and 2 and 4 yr old pics. They had some taken at the school but blah! They weren't worth the over priced money. So I went back to my fav picture place Portrait Innovations. They do a wondeful job because they take about 60-100 pics! Yes, that's right! So when you have the little non picture taker(my little B) Then they have a better chance of getting a good shot because they take just candidly with some posing. The great part too is that they will zoom, rotate, crop or whatever needed to the pics. Here are some of their 2 and 4 yr old pics and of course you'll have to wait till Christmas for that one :) They are the raw pics from a CD that they gave me of all the shots. So these are not zoomed and fixed but you'll get the idea. Oh and the pics were ready in about 15 minutess..What else can you ask for? Then we did a little shopping and then ate lunch at Cheeburger Cheeburger. The food was OK if you ask me but the boys loved it just because it was a Cheeseburger :)

Mike is really enjoying his bro being here. They get a chance to hang out finally. They went biking yesterday am with a neighbor of Tim's. I think they had a great time, but Mike found out he is a little behind on the biking skills, but this gives him the chance to revamp and bike a little more like he did BK(before kids) and wife really ha ha!

Well that's all for now.

Trick or Treat

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! The boys had a great time trick or treating. Even Bry was saying :trick or treat and thank you:) I have already sorted out the candy for when they get up tomorrow. There's the: trash pile, the lollipop pile, the back in the pumpkin piles and of course the for mommy pile :) This will help save them wanting the candy I don't want them to have and to scale down the huge pile of sugar we have! They came home with a huge bag just from school before we even went out tonight. Thanks to mom for dinner and the company while trick or treating.

Here are the pics of my SUPER HEROES!!

Susan, I haven't forgotten that i was tagged and plan to do it for my next post:) I also want to post two great recipes...but I'll be back with that. Good evening to all.

Total fun

Check out my pics of the boys with toys. The boys talked my dad into getting his own truck too! Click RC fun with the boys to see the pics!
Also here are some pics of Bry's 2 yr. birthday party: See my pics
I have been tagged, I will get to it soon I promise!

Don't take anything for granted

If you have a few moments and you didn't see this on Oprah or anywhere else you must take the time to click here and watch this video! Be sure to click the link that says watch Randy's last lecture. It will take about 10 minutes or so of your time and the message he has to give is one of inspiration and motivation at the same time. Don't take one minute of your life for granted....live each day to it's fullest and don't focus on the negative; instead redirect that energy and make it positive to live the best life you can! This speech by Randy Pausch really touched me and I hope it does the same for you!

Busy, but fun weekend!

We had a busy fun weekend. Fri was Dev's fall festival at school. It was alot of fun. There were quite a few parents their to help. I was in charge of the bowling. They had made bowling pins out of 2 liter bottles with some beans in them for stability. They rolled a BBall to knock them down. It was neat, but I didn't think about how many times I was going to have to pick up the pins...... The kids had a great time and were sugared up by the time I left. Not sure if they really took naps that day or not:)

Sat am. me and D headed out to a water bday party. It was at an aquatic center that had an indoor water park of sorts. It was great, it had sprayers, and water dumping buckets and the water was only 2ft deep at the most. D like it and his friend Harris was so glad that he came. I might have to find out what the winter hours are. It is open to the public and 4 and under are free!! It would be a great winter fun activity!!

Later we had Bry's 2 yr bday party. It's a week early but that way my inlaws could help Tim and Amanda move and be here for the party. B had such a great time! He was really shy though when everyone sang Happy birthday to him. He caught on quickly to opening the gifts with D's help of course. I told B to show everyone what he got and then after every gift he held it up for all to see:) How cute! I don't know anyone was fast enough to catch a pic of him blowing out his 2 candles:) He blew them out so quickly like a pro, I don't think anyone even had their camera ready, hee hee.Thanks to everyone that came to his party. We really enjoyed it and it was wonderul having so much family around to help celebrate! The weather was wonderful too. Just in time, because is has been raining everyday since then!

Congrats to Tim and Amanda who are officially moved into their new house. I even let the boys ride their big wheels over there the other day. They loved it, the trail is a little rocky so I had to push a little, but on the way back they did much better! I am so happy that they are so close. Amanda made green chili and we went to pick some up and dropped them off some leftover bday cake. We are glad they are here. Also a BIG CONGRATS on the baby news. They found out the sex of the baby. I won't spill the beans incase everyone doesn't know yet....but Congrats to them!!!

Last night I had such a great one on one time with my baby B! Mike took D to Taekwondo and B and I just sat on the floor and hugged and played and laughed without interuption. It was so wonderful, we have been saying we wanted to plan more one on one with the boys and it was so wonderful. I really think B enjoyed it because he just hugged me about a million times. Of course he is my cuddler of the two but it was still so very nice! It's just the simple things that you sometimes have to slow down and absorb what's around you. The days get so busy with routine and feedings, and baths, dressing and off to school so quickly. I am a little(alot really) stressed with my new hours because they are so long and I am missing my purely play time with the boys. I am sad when I think about how we have to rush them out in the mornings and have little time to play in the evening. I am trying to give myself time to adjust but I don't think this is going to last very long. I know kids are only small once and the little things and the bonding time will pass so quickly, as it already is day by day. I have been going over all the options in my head and all the alternatives... I will let you know when I decide what to do. I have a feeling it won't be long because I am already feeling such sadness with each long day that passes.

And......my wonderful hubby knows how I've been feeling and sent me such beautiful flowers to work today. It was such a suprise and so very touching to me! He is so wonderful and just sent them to "brighten my day" Of course it worked!! Thank you so much for thinking of me and truly brightening up such a gloomy day! I love you baby!! I have made a slideshow with pics from the weekend but I'm having trouble getting on my page. I will post it as soon as I get it to work right. Meanwhile, here's a pic of my beautiful flowers!

fun weekend

Oh yeah, my tribute to Walter

This is my tribute to Tim and Amanda's dog Walter................

Twins right??!!!!! :) :)

My attempt at creativity...

So I thought I'd be brave like the lion...hee hee. D has his fall festival tomorrow and I've volunteered to bring cupcakes. I wanted to make something fun, so I checked on one of my fav sites Awesome cupcakes to check for some ideas. I found this adorable lion

Looks pretty easy right???!!!! Ha... after multiple attempts, mishaps with the icing tool (it wouldn't work well *****$#%@!#%@!) I tried to use a plastic bag to put the icing on.. well it exploded and luckily landed on a cupcake. Thus, I have one pumpkin cupcake! :) Verdict is that I half way succeeded! I think the kids will like them anyway. I had fun! I can't wait for D to wake up in the morning and see them!This is my 1st attempt:

My 2nd attempt:
My 3rd attempt:
The finished product:
At first my new job wasn't going to allow me to take a few hours off to go to D's festival. I wasn't happy at all. then they suggested that I could trade days with the other girl, therefore I worked Mon. and am off tomorrow so that I can help at the school. Thank goodness. They are having multiple activities for the kids and food of course! I am looking forward to it. I just hope my job doesn't stay so strict with out any flexibility....that won't work for me at all!! We'll just have to wait and see.

Tim and Amanda are closing on their house here tomorrow also. We are very excited for them. We will actually be able to walk to their house! They plan to get a pool so that's even better that we'll be able to just pack a bag and walk on over! Even a few drinks on a summer night and we won't have to worry about drinking and driving......just drinking and walking! My in laws are due to arrive in town tomorrow to help with the moving in. I have decided to move Bry's bday party up one week so that they won't have to drive up again next weekend. I am doing the Barney theme! I have bought a few decorations, and I was going to order a cake but I've decided to stretch my creativity again and make my own cake. I'll post pics. I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet, should be interesting!

Bry tagged along to a bday party with Dev and I to Chuck E Cheese for one of Dev's classmates. B was pretty scared at first and didn't know what to think. Of course after some observations of big bro putting money in machines and tickets popping out he caught on fast. He just liked to put money in and collect tickets even though he had no idea what they were for :) gotta love it! I was a little nervous about taking both boys there by myself(Hubby had a meeting). But they did excellent and I was very proud of them. It was easier than I thought it would be keeping up with them in the commotion of all the other kids running around. They are such good boys!!!!!!They both had a wonderful time and were exhausted when we got home from the sugar rush, dancing with Chuck E and playing all the games.

My husband and brother convinced my dad into getting an RC car. Very cool! He needed a hobby, right Dee?! I can't wait to see him driving it! They'll probably have him into the helicopters and boats soon! Watch out Dad!:)

Amanda is doing good with the preggo. She goes to the Dr. next week ( my OB here) I think they will be sheduling her an ultrasound. I can't wait to find out if we are going to have a boy or girl cousin for the boys! Very exciting. She'll prob have a baby half the size mine were. She's tiny! Almost 5 months along and just barely a pooch going on.......yes I'm a hater!!! hee hee

Got my little piggy today that I ordered for a cousin and his wife that just had a baby girl. A friend of mine gave me one when I had B, then I just gave one to some friends that had a baby boy. This was the first girl piggy I've ordered from her and I must say it's simply adorable. The woman that hand paints these piggies is in her 70's!! She does an amazing job! I love the personalized gifts... here are a few pics....the detail is amazing.... I know they'll love it!

That's all for now.... more this weekend! Happy Friday to all!!

bah humbug!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok so I just typed a huge long blog and it wouldn't post, saying blogger was down. I though it saved it automatically everyminute right??????WRONG!!!!!!!!! Can't find it anywhere and I am quite furious at the moment....... I might be back tomorrow to vent again and hopefully this time it will post!!! Growl!!!!!!! Growl!!!! Hiss, hiss!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Time flies

Boy how time flies! Things have been pretty busy around here. My new job for one and Tim and Amanda are staying with us while house hunting, which by the way they found one and are closing next Friday. Planning for D's fall festival at school, planning B's Barney bday party and who can remember what else has had me so busy. Life itself.
I am liking my new job but still adjusting to the new hours. I go in earlier and work later. Not to mention my first week my hubby was out of town and the daycare called saying Bry was sick and I had to leave early, Dad and Dee helped out but it was still stressful, since new job is come to find out very strict during the 90 probation, oh well. I had to do it.
The boys have had a great time playing with uncle tim and aunt amanda. She goes soon to her first dr. appt here and they will be scheduling her ultrasound. How fun! Will it be a niece or nephew for us? Either is fine, but i'm excited to find out!
The boys are already excited about Halloween. We are going to have a little Superman and Batman! Super heroes, how appropriate:)
It's time to make my to do list again. We have so many projects we want to do around the house and so little time as many of you can relate to. But we have done better in the past by simply making a list to cross off as we go. So my plan is to get the list started this weekend.
Well it seems like I've had so much going on but can't think of much at the moment. I'm still here for those of you who might of been wondering. That's all for now.