Thursday, November 30, 2006

Christmas in the South

Sorry to offend anyone, but since I have lived here since 1999, I guess I would be offending myself too! Anyway, today I took the kids to the Christmas parade in the tiny town their school is in. It wasn't anything that big, just lots of police/fire/ambulances/people that thought they were important, a few floats/ one band, etc... driving making noise and throwing out candy.

Anyway, on to my southern/redneck thing...

This parade is for the kids right? Well, one car with two older people on sitting on the open convertible on the back were throwing out candy with one hand and the guy was smoking a cigar and the woman a cigarette with their other hands. As one local radio personality would say, JEEZ!

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Benefit of Dual Monitors

I can "watch" a webcast on one monitor and surf the web on the other!

Breaking News: Wiggles Lead may quit!

BD sent me a link to this article today on Charlotte.com. I hope nothing is seriously wrong with him. I know the two times we saw the Wiggles, Greg was not there. The first time he was actually having his hernia surgery, I believe. The last time, he went home due to the fainting spells. As much as the Wiggles will miss his presence, I am glad he is putting his health (and family) first.

You may have to register to view the article. Sorry about that, but I wasn't sure if I could paste the entire thing here or if that would violate some copyrights...

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Photography

I love to take pictures. I love to look at other peoples pictures. I wish I was a better photographer and am just starting to take chances and try to be a little artsy with my pictures. Here are a few shots from the weekend before Thanksgiving of the kids at swim lessons.

The first is the only shot that was actually taken while I was in the pool area:



The rest of these were taken through the glass windows from the second story looking down at them:







This is such a typical shot of DQ, as she is always playing with her hair!



And, I'll leave you with a cute one taken on Thanksgiving day!

Monday, November 27, 2006

Justice League Rise!

So, any idea how I can get Justice League to come alive? We let PM and DQ break apart the wishbone from the turkey tonight. We explained that they each needed to make a wish and whoever's side ended up the biggest may have their wish come true. Here they are breaking the bone:


When they were through, we asked what they wished for. True to form, PM said he wished that the Justice League came back to life, and he got the bigger half. DQ followed saying she wished the Care Bears were in town because she likes the purple one.

So, if anyone knows how to get Justice League alive, let me know...

Yikes! I missed it!

With the holidays and all of the shopping, I have officially blown my every day posting for the month of November. Booo-hooo!!!

But, on a happy note, I have all of my Christmas shopping done! We even have most of our decorating done at the house! I'll be back with a longer post tomorrow.

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Thankful

We spend so much time trying to get better, be better, do better that we really never stop and sit down to be thankful for what we have. It seems like in todays society, we are always striving for a bigger/better house, a nicer car, nicer clothes, etc... We always say we want better than we had for our children. I would venture to guess that 90% of people who have children want better for their children than what they had and a high percentage actually have succeeded in that.

Today I am going to stop wanting and start thanking. I am thankful to God for my healthy children. Although PM has asthma, he is healthy. We do not spend our days/nights at hospitals and in and out of treatments. We do not worry about how much longer he has on this earth (although sometimes I wonder, but that is a whole other topic). DQ is healthy and so are BD and myself.

I am thankful to God that I have two beautiful children. I am thankful to God that both BD and I have good jobs that we can provide so much for these children, that yes, is more than what either of us had growing up. I am thankful to God that we have a nice home and everything else.

What I am most thankful for though is life in general. With all that is going on in the world today, I am very thankful to be an American. I cannot even begin to imagine what it is like to grow up or raise a family right now in some other places in the world (Iraq & Afghanistan being a few). So, on this Thanksgiving, I am most thankful for my family and for being born and raised in the United States.

(I know there are lots of bad things happening right here in our own country. Please don't flame me for my rosy view, because I think you will agree that things are not near as bad here as other places in the world.)

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Bodily Functions

As was sat at dinner last night, DQ let out the loudest belch I have ever heard come out of her. Immediately following, PM started passing gas, very loudly. He was laughing so hard that he kept doing it. It was so hard not to laugh that BD and I finally gave in and just laughed along with them.

I guess at some point that won't be funny to them anymore. Right? Right?

Monday, November 20, 2006

Holiday Shopping

Is it bad that what I am really looking forward to about Thanksgiving is the shopping that I will do the next morning? I am actually kind of dreading the meal itself. While I know the meal will be awesome (tooting my own horn here), I am not looking forward to the company. We have another family from our neighborhood coming over that don't have any family around. I really like them, but they don't watch their kids. For those of you that have been reading for a while, this is the one who let their two year old ride the four wheeler by himself in the road unsupervised. You can just imagine the chaos that will ensue in my house on Thursday.

What have I gotten myself into?

Sunday, November 19, 2006

He made it!

PM spent the entire night at his friends house. I am so proud of him, yet also sad. My little boy is definitely growing up. I still want him to stop...

Saturday, November 18, 2006

Slightly intoxicated post

I have had a little too much wine to drink tonight (approximately 2/3 of a bottle of shiraz reserver) and don't think I can write too much. DQ is so sleepy that I just put her in her bed and it didn't require an entire nightly ritual. PM is attempting to spend the night at a friends house. I'll update tomorrow on how it went. Last time he tried, he only made it to about midnight. The last time that same friend tried at ours he only made it until about 3AM.

Have a good night everyone!

Friday, November 17, 2006

Favorite Thanksgiving Recipe

For those of you that are wondering (Enquiring minds anyone?), I usually take Sweet Potato Casserole to any thanksgiving potluck. It gets rave reviews and is actually pretty easy to make. I got the recipe from one of my Southern Living cookbooks. (Have I told you I LOVE cookbooks and have a ton of them? I'll have to take a picture sometime.) Anyway, the recipe is below. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Sweet Potato Casserole

6 medium-size sweet potatoes
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup half-and-half
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup butter
1 cup coarsely chopped pecans

  1. Cook sweet potatoes in boiling water to cover 30 to 45 minutes or until tender. Let cool to touch; peel and mash potatoes. (I put mine in my KitchenAid Stand Mixer and mash them that way, because I am lazy like that.)
  2. Combine sweet potato, 1/2 cup brown sugar, and next 4 ingredients; beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Spoon into greased 13 x 9-inch baking dish.
  3. Combine 1 cup brown sugar and flour; cut in 1/4 cup butter with pastry blender, or fork, until mixture is crumbly. Stir in pecans; sprinkle over casserole. Bake uncovered at 350 for 30 to 35 minutes or until lightly browned and bubbly around edges.
Yield: 8 servings
You can make this ahead and refrigerate, just add about 5 minutes to the baking time.

Per Serving: Calories 644; Fat 32.1g; Cholesterol 103mg; Sodium 247mg

If you make this some time, let me know how you liked it!

Thursday, November 16, 2006

I'm so full...

I could pass out right here at my desk and not wake up until tomorrow! There was so much food, I cannot even begin to describe it. Next year I will have to get a picture of all of the food. I still have my desert plate sitting at my desk with a Kahlua brownie, pineapple upside down cake, banana pudding and peach cobbler.

Ok, it is an hour later, yes, still haven't finished the post, and I now just have the banana pudding left.

I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...

FOOD!

Today, at the office, is our annual Thanksgiving carry in. With close to 300 people, you can imagine the amount of food we end up with. The firm provides the main meats and people bring the rest. Being in the South, we have a TON of good cooks that can make some REALLY good food! Of course, none of it is on my healthy eating diet, but I need to cheat once in a while. I am so excited for noon to come around that I can hardly wait! I'll try to post again this afternoon in my food induced stupor.

International Night

Last night BD and I decided to get ourselves Chinese takeout for dinner. The kids don't generally like Chinese food so we didn't get them anything, except some extra egg drop soup for PM. He heard me talking on the phone with BD and immediately starting yelling that he wanted egg drop soup! It was very cute.

Anyway, DQ had her staple, macaroni & cheese from MarketDay and PM had his staple butter, peanut butter and jelly sandwich with three pieces of bread. Then, when BD got home with the food, PM had some egg drop soup. He got a little more adventurous and tried some of the egg roll and exclaimed he liked it! He also really liked my sesame chicken.

DQ shocked us by also wanting to try the egg roll. She didn't like it and spit it in the trash can. She turned her nose up at my sesame chicken because, well, that's chicken silly. She doesn't eat chicken, except chicken nuggets. She did want to try my egg drop soup, after repeatedly asking if it had chicken in it. She actually liked it. I was shocked and poured her some in a bowl as well for her, which she ate all of.

So, there you have it. They are growing up in more ways than one. I think trying new and different foods is high up on the list of acting more grown up.

*****As a side note, the link I have above for the macaroni and cheese is a godsend from MarketDay. It comes pre-cooked in 7oz frozen packages. You simply cut a small slit in them and microwave for two minutes. It tastes much better than the easy mac. In fact, it tastes just like you made the original blue box! I highly recommend it.

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Another Ninja Turtle Purchased

I think I should have started a running count of how many ninja turtles I have bought throughout the years for PM and all of his and DQ's friends having birthdays! It would probably be over 30 by this point.

From about the end of October until the middle of January, my kids seem to have at least one birthday party to attend each weekend. Many weekends, we have 2-3 to attend. Not only does it get expensive to keep buying all of these gifts, but it is so time consuming as well.

This coming weekend, I thought I was getting a birthday party free weekend. But no, a neighborhood friend scheduled her son's party for this Friday night at 6PM at the last minute.


What is it with people and last minute invitations? I thought maybe we were a last minute invite, but then saw her handing them out to a few other people at their school and another friend in the neighborhood.

So much for a birthday party free weekend. At least it is Friday night and we have the rest of the weekend to ourselves.

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Growing up

You are going to hear a lot about growing up for a while, as both PM and DQ having birthdays soon. I still cannot believe that PM is going to be 5. It just seems so old. I am noticing more of the little things lately that show me how much he has grown. Last night, we had DQ and PM stand with their backs to each other. They used to be only about 1/2" different. Now they are at least 2" different. My how he has grown, physically.

Mentally is a whole other ballgame. His mind is just so sharp! Last night, BD was working on one of his books with him and I got to do the last page, as BD had to go and lay with DQ for a few minutes. WOW! I am so amazed at him! He is really reading and sounding out words he doesn't know. When we were done with the book, he proceeded to dim his ceiling fan light with the remote himself. He said, "I know how to do it better than you now mommy!"

Where did my little boy go? He can get dressed all by himself. He can button up his shirts. He can put away his dishes and his milk. He can help push his sister on the swings. He can let the dogs out everyday when we get home and feed them. He can clean up his room and the playroom and help DQ with hers. He can tell his left from his right. He knows when a car has their left blinker on that they are turning left (he told me this on the way to school this morning). Now he can read...

Anchor Stores

You probably thought this was another post about shopping, huh? Ha! Gotcha, it's not!

DQ has a cancer sore in her mouth. It is driving her bananas. What is driving me bananas is that no matter how much I work with her, she can't say "cancer sore". Instead she says "anchor store". I think she is definitely a girl and has shopping on the brain!

Monday, November 13, 2006

Clothing

Why is it that as the seasons change, none of my old clothes look good anymore and I feel the urge to go out and buy, buy, buy? So far, this past week, I have bought 5 shirts, 2 pairs of pants and 2 pairs of boots. Of course BD is hysterical with it all, but jeesh, I have to look good don't I?

Sunday, November 12, 2006

Christmas Countdown has begun!

Every year, I attend a hug Christmas show called the Southern Christmas Show. There are over 700 boutiques to visit and find that special gift or item. This year, I don't know why, but I didn't seem to find all that much. Maybe it was the fact that everything felt very similar to last year or that I had a massive headache, but I didn't buy very much at all.

The one thing that I did really seem drawn too and buy the most of was food. Imagine that. I think I tried every dip mix in the place. I also got my favorite dip mix and salsas from Wild Rooster. I absolutely love the Artichoke and Spinach Dip Mix. I bought some last year and was out by March. This year, I got one of those jars, a jar of Smoked Jalapeno salsa that you can also mix with cream cheese and a jar of Black Bean and Roasted Corn. Who says going to the Christmas show is all about Christmas?

The one thing I did buy, that I absolutely love, is a wall decoration for DQ. It has her name on it done in glittery pink. It has a purple ribbon at the top and all colorful swirls and such on it. This description doesn't do it justice!

Saturday, November 11, 2006

Saturday Ramblings

First, I must say that I am very proud of PM. Today, we went to the library to get him some early reader books and he is reading!! Yes folks, at one month shy of his 5th birthday, he is a reader. I cannot believe it. I want to cry. I want to jump for joy. I want to stop him from growing and changing. I want him to reach as far as he can. So many feelings all at the same time.

Hand washables, for kids?? WTF?! I bought DQ lots of very nice, expensive clothing second hand from one of PM's friends moms. One of the sweaters, I just discovered, is hand wash only. Who buys their kids hand wash only clothing? Me obviously. ARGH!

Friday, November 10, 2006

An open letter to Mother Nature

What in the world are you thinking? It is currently 83 degrees outside and it is November 10! It should be, at the warmest, 65 right now where I live. That is even warm for me, as usually it would be in the 40's where I grew up.

Here you go screwing with everyone's bodies again. Today 83, tomorrow 78, then Sunday only 60. It's no wonder people get sick this time of year.

Can we please just get to fall/winter already. I am sick of this back and forth shit and really sick of the warm weather. I didn't move to Florida for a reason!

Thursday, November 09, 2006

Cow, Bat, Cat, Tin, Pig

These are just a few of the words that PM sounded out for me tonight while I was lying in bed with him. I would say "T", "A", "N" and he would sound it out and tell me the word.

Have I said he is growing up to fast lately?

19 Flights of Stairs and Wine

So, another woe is me post...

Today I have a sore ankle from the iron and today they decide to do our fire drill. Lucky me got to walk down 19 flights of stairs!

I think I'll soak in a tub tonight.

On a happy note, I just payed for a friend and myself to attend a holiday wine tasting next Thursday night. One of the guys in my neighborhood and his friend do the catering. So, there will be good food and lots of good wine to sample! I LOVE WINE & FOOD!

Presidential Poll

Who do you think will be president first? Not who will win the next election, but more who do you think the public will accept/elect first?

Black Male
White Female
Black Female

Why? Let me know if your comments. BD and I were having the conversation last night and I am curious of your thoughts as well.

Iron + Ankle = OUCH!

So, as my usual clumsy self, I went to unplug my iron this morning and knocked it off the ironing board. It hit my ankle and bounced off onto a pile of clothes on the floor in my closet. It hurt so bad that I couldn't tell if I was burned or if it just hurt from being hit by what felt like a 10 pound iron! I have a very heavy Rowenta, which is probably at least twice as heavy as my old Black & Decker.

In the end, I am not burned. I do have a nice looking bruise with a lump under it though. And, it hurts to walk, though not bad enough that I can't manage. I am sitting right now at work with my foot/ankle resting on a box and an ice pack on it.

Stay tuned for the next installment of clumsy me!

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Countdown

The countdown has begun. In just a month (and 2 days) PM will be FIVE!!! I cannot fathom it. Tonight, as I layed in bed talking to him, it hit me. He is growing up. As much as I dread these long bedtimes, they won't last too much longer. Pretty soon, he won't be my cuddly little boy. He did promise to always be my little boy, no matter how big he gets though.

Should I have recorded that moment on film to remind him of the promise?

Topless no more!

Well, according to the very, very prompt tech support at the company that manufactured my card, my system does not have very good airflow. Imagine that. Isn't that what I said?? Anyway, I think I am going to add a fan to help alleviate the problems.

Ok, done with my techi talk. Back to mommy mode.

More to come later/tomorrow.

So I'm having this problem

My pc at work keeps overheating. It started yesterday when our office was EXTREMELY warm (I am talking 79 degrees!). It has cooled down, but for some reason it overheated again today. GRRR!!!! I know it is due to the additional video card I have installed to run my dual flat panels both DVI, but I don't want to remove that. I guess I'll be running it topless for a while!

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

PM's Fall Program

I must say, I am a sap. When I started watching him perform last night, it brought tears to my eyes to realize how grown up he is getting (yes, and he will only be 5 next month). But, then after his classes portion was complete, I got teary thinking that I have probably another 13-14 years of these types of programs. I get to watch a few short moments of my child and then spend the rest of the time watching other peoples kids. ARGH! I pray PM or DQ don't decide to be in band or something!

Anyway, here is a link to the video of his performance.
YouTube Video

Here are a few pictures from it as well:
PM at the beginning:



PM's best friend at the beginning:



PM waving from stage:



PM walking back to his seat:

Out of the mouth of a child

So, last night at PM's fall program, DQ says the following: "Mommy, that girl is blind! Look, the one with the long dark hair, she is blind!" Of course I am trying to figure out what she is talking about when I notice the girl with the long dark hair. She is not blind. She is simply of Asian descent and has very thin eyes. I wanted to crawl under the bleacher and hide, as everyone around us figured out what she was talking about too...

Monday, November 06, 2006

Hate giving in

As much as I hate giving in when I "know" we are right, we did it. BD picked up his car tonight after work with his "new" (remanufactured) engine in it. Do you notice how much I am using quotes tonight? I can almost feel myself wanting to do air quotes, but instead am typing them. Can we say dork?? Ha!

Anyway, we will see how BD's car holds up now. Cross your fingers that we don't have any more problems with it!

Oh, and PM's program at school was tonight. I hope to get the pictures and video up soon for all to see. As you may have read, his costume was changed to a caterpillar, and I must say, he was the cutest little caterpillar I have EVER seen!

Tummyaches

First, let me start by saying the PM corrected me this morning and told me he was changed to a caterpillar for the program this evening. Unfortunately, both kids have been complaining off and on all weekend that their stomachs hurt. I (here I go talking about poop) thought maybe they were constipated or something, but PM went plenty yesterday and DQ even managed to squeeze some out.

PM woke in the middle of the night saying his tummy hurt and DQ came down first thing this morning saying the same. They seem to be eating fine and playing fine, just complaining now and again.

Let's hope they can make it through the day and the evening at least for PM's program. I have brought both the camcorder and digital camera with me for the event.

Sunday, November 05, 2006

PM's first school program

Tomorrow night is PM's first program at school. I am not exactly sure what they are doing, but each of the students in his 4K class are dressing as a different animal, he is a dog. He did tell me they are singing the "butterfly song". That is the one that there is a video of on this site.

So, we shall see what the evening holds. It promises to be busy, as I already have to leave work early to get to their old school to help with Market Day. And, we not only have our regular food orders, but also the fundraiser orders coming in. All that and I have to work the whole day, pick up the kids early from school so that they are fed before the program and get PM back to the school by 6:30.

So, check back tomorrow evening for pictures and an update of his program.

Saturday, November 04, 2006

November 21

That's the day Chris Daughtry's first album comes out. I took a quick listen on AOL this morning and I think it is going to be pretty good. Check it out for yourself! LINK

Friday, November 03, 2006

Atomic Fireballs

So, this morning, as a reward for going to bed good, both kids got to pick one item of candy to eat in the car on the way to school. DQ picked mini m&m's and PM picked Atomic Fireballs. When he asked what they were, I told him they were very hot candies and would burn his mouth. Of course, he never believes me when I tell him something and has to try for himself. He told me that he would drink some grape juice when it got too hot.

Well, we didn't even make it out of the neighborhood before he was screaming about them. I had him spit it out in a tissue. I asked if he would listen to me when I told him something was too hot/spicy for him and he agreed. We'll see if he really remembers...

Thursday, November 02, 2006

Sugar Rush

Watching PM eat Fun Dip and then watching one of my co-workers do the same (the one we walled in with the styrofoam) brought back memories of childhood. We weren't dirt poor growing up, but we really didn't have money either. As kids, we thought it was cool to have sleepovers in our garage. There was a large piece of carpet that fit in my room that we took out (it was just layed on the floor, not installed) and kept rolled up in the garage. My mom would let us clean out the garage, that was never used back then to park a car in, and put the carpet down. We would cover the garage door windows with newspaper and have a slumber party with our friends.

My mom, being the best mom that she is, would make us Fun Dip/Pixie Sticks. She would take a packet of Kool-Aid and put it in a bowl. She would then mix it with real sugar. Presto! Pixie Sticks in a bowl! I remember many a night sitting in the garage with my friends eating that stuff. Mom only had one rule, you were only allowed in the house to use the restroom, otherwise, we had to stay in the garage.

Sigh... Those were the days. Thanks mom for the memories. I hope my kids can have good memories like this when they are older.

Halloween

Since I never got around to posting pictures of the kids from Halloween, I thought I should do so before it is Christmas.
Here is DQ, in all her glory as SuperGirl:



And here is PM, as Superman, eating his favorite "candy", Fun Dip:



Oh, and we can't forget my adorable nephew:

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Who are you?

I am curious as to who is reading my blog. So, please comment. Who are you? Why do you read? Did you stumble here on accident and never plan to come back or do you read regularly?
Humor me...

Child Humor

This morning, while taking the kids to school, the following came out of PM's mouth:

"Mommy, that Stop sign is broken. That guy is standing there so that he can hold it up!"

Of course, what he really saw was a crossing guard by the Middle School, but I love his take on what he was seeing. There really is no better way to start your day than to have your child discover something for the first time.