Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Christmas Sickness

This year for Christmas, everyone here gave each other a stomach bug.
It's the gift that keeps giving. 

Who Puked & When
Cousin Ryder - 21st & 22nd
Cousin Gavin - 23rd
Aunt Alisha - 23rd
Jagger  and Aunt Kenzie- 24th
Cash and Grandpa- Christmas
Brei - 26th
Grandma - 28th

And hopefully that is the end of that.  Here is to hoping that your Christmas was merry, and a little less "eventful" than ours. 

Monday, December 20, 2010

The Thought That Counts?

What kind of sick person would bring a hermit crab to an office gift exchange party?

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My husband, that’s who. 

I felt like someone was about to get mad when they received this as their $15 gift in Dirty Santa, so I threw in the itunes gift card so no one felt ripped off. 

But still, really?  A hermit crab, Grant?  It was hysterical though, I have to admit. 

And in the end, it actually went to a good home. 

Later that night, same party, different gift:

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Yeah, it was made specifically for my dear husband.  I’m not going to tell the story, the shirt pretty much says it all.  You can ask Grant if you need to know the specifics. 

Saturday, December 18, 2010

More “That’s What He Said”

Cash:  (Talking, not singing)  “Our God is an awesome God who reigns from heaven above.  With a flashlight so he can find monsters and skeletons.”

While I attempting to to explain a couple political things to Jagger (the president’s job and what voting means,) I used such phrases as running for president and race.  Jagger’s response:  “So the first one who gets there wins?”

Jagger to Cash:  “Didn’t I just tell you NO?….Well clearly I meant NO.  What part of NO don’t you understand?”  -Oh dear, he’s been listening to his parents. 

Me, watching college basketball:  “This game is stressing me out!”  Jagger:  “But I can stress you out more Mom, right?”

Uh, right.

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Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Christmas-y Shenanigans

 

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Monday, November 22, 2010

I Lied

Before, I mentioned that the tree wasn’t gonna get decorated until after Thanksgiving. 

But now, the bottom two feet of it look like this: 

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I later heard Cash say, “The dinosaurs want to go to Jesus’ birthday party!”

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Mid November Nothings

  1. i haven’t blogged for a long time.  lack of motivation.  sorry three readers that i have. 
  2. we spent halloween with the chicago cousins.  ‘twas fun.  jeffy babysat so sister and i could do lots of shopping.  i like him for that. 
  3. except for when we got home one evening my kid was pantless in the driveway. 
  4. cash is so stinkin’ cute sometimes. 
  5. he still loves to cuddle me and asks if i am happy.  he really wants me to be happy.  i love it! 
  6. he’s still seems so little to me.  love it again. 
  7. my big sis got her referral for her baby girl from ethiopa, and i couldn’t be more excited.  i can’t stop looking at baby girl clothes for her.  she should be here early next year i believe. 
  8. we’re still trying to move, but no bites on the house yet. 
  9. not sure how well this for-sale-by-owner-thing is gonna work.  we’ll probably get more aggressive the first of the year.
  10. the boys have been begging to put up the christmas tree and i finally gave in today.  although we aren’t decorating it yet.  i am determined to leave it alone until after t-day.
  11. this getting dark at 5 o’clock is not for me. 
  12. grant and i have been playing a lot of the old school super mario 3 lately.  we would like to challenge some friends.  anyone interested? 

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Grant’s Fav Meal

On the Menu:

The Pioneer Woman’s Steak Bites

Cheddar Biscuits

A Green Vegetable, just for good measure

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Cheddar Biscuit Recipe

1/2 lb Bisquick

1 1/2 oz shredded Cheddar

5 1/2 oz water

Mix it all and plop a dozen balls onto a pan.

Bake 10-12 minutes in a 375 degree oven.

Meanwhile, mix

2 TB melted butter, 1 tsp garlic salt, & 1 tsp of parsley

Brush over freshly bakes biscuits. 

So easy, so delish. 

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Hometown Parade

2010-10-23 Oct 10

Perfect weather.  Team spirit.  Cool trucks.  Free T-shirt.  Lots of candy.  Political stickers.  Marching bands.  Funny college kids.  Popcorn.  M-I-Z chants.  Familiar faces.   Endless high-fives.  

Naps on the way home:)

Monday, October 18, 2010

Operation: Decrapify the House

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The idea of packing up our stuff and moving out is getting a little more real every day. 

Our first mission:  Pack up all the crap and hide it, so that someone will think the house is cute and will want to buy it. 

Mission 2:  Sell the house to that certain someone.

Mission 3: Live in Grandpa’s house while we save money and build a new place. 

Mission 4: Never move again? 

Thursday, October 7, 2010

A few questions, a few prayers

  • have more kids?
  • public or private school?
  • adopt?
  • go back to school?
  • be foster parents?
  • get a job?
  • build a house?
  • sell our house?
  • how will this affect that?
  • will that strain us?
  • emotionally, mentally, financially?
  • does this decision make us selfish?
  • will we feel guilty if we don’t?
  • is it okay to be confused?
  • to change your mind?
  • to disagree?
  • to cry about it?
  • should i get new boots? (kidding)

feeling blessed and worried at the same time.  that’s all.

and feeling like a season of prayer is coming on.    A cascading waterfall, flanked by flowers.

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

So I got a haircut the other day…

So I got a haircut the other day, nothing major, just a trim and some bangs.  And in hopes of raising my self esteem, I asked the little boys what they thought of it.

Jagger:  I love it a lot!  You look so beautiful! You’re the most beautiful mommy!  Can I have some cookies?

Cash:  Mommy, I don’t like your haircut!  I don’t like the down part!  Take your haircut off! 

Um, moral of the story is: A 5-year-old knows how to talk to a woman when he wants something.  A 3-year-old, not so much. 

And maybe “the down part” of my haircut isn’t so good?

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

They wanna be cowboys

Last weekend we headed south to celebrate a few family birthdays with Grant’s side of the family. 

Highlights of this trip include:

Staying in a hotel & jumping on the beds

Pushing buttons in the elevator

Birthday cake

And riding horses

(And for some reason, I only have pictures of that last one!)

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A big thanks to Uncle Steve for putting on his cowboy boots and taking the boys out!

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

After the rain

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Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Chocolate Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies… or Why My Pants are Tight

I couldn’t decide on a title. 

Anyway,

Chocolate Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies!  A couple months ago I discovered my most favorite and easiest way to make Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies…. CAKE MIX.  Yeah, the recipe is on the side of the box, so this isn’t exactly groundbreaking.  But to me it kinda is. 

You need all this:

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The recipe on the box call for nuts.  But I think nuts are stupid.  So I threw in some Andes Mints.  They are so smart… and delicious!  And x-nay on the vanilla, it’s not needed. 

And then about 7-10 minutes later, you have awesomeness.  About 3 dozen awesomeness-es, actually. 

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They are delish!  I may or may not have eaten a couple dozen in a day or two. 

*ALSO* if you decide to save some of the cookie dough in your refrigerator in a log shaped form in a Ziploc bag….. your 5-year-old will later say “Mom!!!!!! Someone put POOP in the fridge!”

Here’s the recipe I use and love:

1 Box Duncan Hines Chocolate Cake Mix (other brands don’t turn out as well, I’ve found)

1/4 C brown sugar

1 stick-o-butter, melted

2 eggs

1 C chocolate chips

1 C mint baking chips

Combine first 4 ingredients, add in chips. Plop spoonfuls onto your baking sheet. 

Bake at 350, 7 minutes on a pan, or 10 minutes on a stone.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Language Lesson

Last year at the beach, Cash, trying to be funny, said “There is a crab in my diaper.”  We all thought it was wildly funny and laughed and laughed. 

And the joke has evolved over the year, with a crab on the head, on the plate, on the carseat… getting less and less funny each time. 

Today, the joke got a lot less funny.  

Jagger witnessed a dirty toilet at school and wanted to let his class know by screaming “There is a crab in the toilet!” 

Um, Jagger’s teacher had a talk with me about appropriate language.  Apparently, she heard him screaming CRAP down the hall.  And that is frowned upon. 

I thought about vindicating  Jagger’s honor and explain what he had really said, all the way back to Cash’s crab in the diaper… but I just decided to chalk this up as a parenting failure. 

Joke over. 

Sunday, September 5, 2010

Boys and Birthdays and Sleepovers and Stuff

The last week has been exhausting. 

Jagger turned 5 on Monday. 

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Cash turned 3 on Thursday. 

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He also started school on that day.

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We celebrated each occasion a couple different times. 

And on Friday, we had the big (little) bash.  The kind that stresses this mom out.   With cake and more cake, and a few friends. 

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We played.  We ate.  We played.  We had cake.  We opened presents.  We played.  We roasted marshmallows.  We watched a movie.  We played with flashlights in the backyard.  We told ghost stories.  We told Bible stories.  And at 11:30, we all slept outside in a tent. 6 1/2 hours later, we woke up, ate more cake, and played again.   

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  It was a party full of fun and of sugar.  And after everyone went home, we napped.  And then we napped again. 

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Fall Ball

This is what we did tonight, and will continue to do for the next few weeks. 

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Jagger loves it.  By the third inning he is totally bored, but he loves it. 

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He had three good hits, scored twice, and filled his glove with a lot of dirt while playing short stop. 

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We’re so proud. 

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A couple things to work on before the next game:

  • Keeping your glove on when you play first base
  • How to stand in a line and give the other team high fives

Go team green!

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

And we’re off

First day of Pre-K, here we come! 

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Lots of excitement.

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And lots of school supplies.  It’s a wonder he didn’t fall over backwards.