My 3 Sons?

One of my 3 sons happens to be a 140 pound dog. He is nevertheless considered one of the family! Luckily, he is the least mobile. He will lay and not move unless something really interesting comes by… like the FedEx or UPS trucks. Still, I do have to keep an eye on him as well as the other 2 boys. As this pictures shows… #1DogSon is lying in the road, #1 Son is headed somewhat towards me and #2 Son is headed away from me. Life is getting very interesting. This time I had my Husband with me to help run after the boys. I have decided without him around, we stay in the fenced yard. It at least gives me an extra 25 seconds before #1 Son can get over the fence.



Talking about my sons being able to do some unbelievable feats (like climbing OVER the fence) - I do wish I was able to do as many squats as my sons can do. Just take a look at #2 Son. If I sat like that for more than 30 seconds, I would not be able to walk for a week. He did this squat at least 10 times in less than 30 minutes and stayed in it for at least 2 minutes each time trying to find and eat rocks. UGH.



Ahh. I do love these boys. I can’t wait to see how life progresses as they are both moving at faster rates of speed.

Side Note: There was a finger smudge on the lens that I did not catch until I saw these pictures. This is why they are a little odd looking.

Something lite

A man took his wife to the rodeo and one of the exhibits was that of breeding bulls.

They went up to the first pen and there was a sign that said, "This bull mated 50 times last year."

The wife poked her husband in the ribs and said, "He mated 50 times last year."

They walked a little further and saw another pen with a sign that said, "This bull mated 120 times last year."

The wife hit her husband and said, "That's more than twice a week! You could learn a lot from him."

They walked further and a third pen had a bull with a sign saying, "This bull mated 365 times last year."

The wife got really excited and said, "That's once a
day. You could REALLY learn something from this one."

The husband looked at her and said, "Go up and ask him if it was with the same cow."


FOOTNOTE: The husband's condition has been upgraded from
critical to stable and he should eventually make a full recovery.

At Best - 9 months

Papa is headed home. Hospice will be coming by about 3 times a week to help out. They are providing a lot of the stuff Mamaw needs in the house to help Papa.

He has improved from using a wheelchair all the time to being able to use a walker occassionally. He still has a great attitude and is so much fun to joke with on the phone.

Hopefully we will be headed home in a week or so to see him. I'll forwarn everyone when we leave for the visit.

Carnival of the Recipes

Stolen word by word from Boudica at Boudica's Voice:

The Carnival of the Recipes is being hosted this week by the lovely Sarahk of Mountaineer Musings!

If you have a recipe you would like to share, you need not have a blog. Just e-mail it to her at recipes.carnival (at) gmail (dot) com. If you have a blog, you have an instant easy post! Post your recipe and then throw her the permalink via the same gmail address.

So, cook, type, send. Piece of Pie... I mean Cake. And yes... you can submit any type of recipe. Dessert, main course, side dish, you name it. I think they even have a special category for 'mixed drinks'.

Deadline... Thursday at Midnight, EST. Don't be late

Pajama time

This Pajama time has gotten to be humorous to me. Trying to come up with what I wear while blogging. Most everyone claims to be wearing pajamas (which is where the name came from). Not me. So I have been randomly looking at different outfits and posting them, with one exception.

Then I realized some of Blog Grandpappy's family live up north. Hence, the decision to let them know how nice it is in Florida. 80 degrees but feels like 83 is what weather.com has to say for 10/28/2004.

I went looking to find just the right outfit. For only $98 I can get this little bathingsuit to wear while blogging and in October still walk outside and get a tan too. GRIN.



If someone is truly interested in buying it, you can find it at http://www.exquisiteswimwear.com

More Wednesday Humor

Stealing these links from Indigo Insight:

Don't care who you are, this one's funny about Bush and Kerry.

So you think you're getting old?

Poke fun at the vote HERE with Rocky Horror Fun.

Humor for Dreaded Wednesdays

Since it is football season, I thought this one was good!

A guy took his blonde girl friend to her first football game. They had great seats right behind their team's bench... After the game, he asked her how she liked the experience. "Oh, I really liked it," she replied, "especially the tight pants and all the big muscles, but I just couldn't understand why they were killing each other over 25 cents."

Dumbfounded, her date asked, "What do you mean?" "Well, I saw them flip a coin and one team got it and then for the rest of the game, all they kept screaming was: 'Get the quarter-back! Get the Quarter-back!" Hel-LLLO! It's only 25 cents!

Accomplishments!

The kids are still cute and doing cute things. Yesterday we had breakfast with Bou and the kids were great. #2 Son even let Bou stay with him at the table while I took #1 Son to the bathroom. That is a great accomplishment!

Will someone explain to me how to get #1 Son to ‘P’ in a toilet when I’m trying to hold him on it? He can’t seem to get comfortable and then won’t go. Of course it doesn’t help that I’m trying to make sure he doesn’t shift and ‘P’ on me in the process. Sigh. No, he is not quite tall enough to stand in front of it yet. At home, he has a little seat you put on the toilet seat and it works great. I.will.not.carry.it.around! Some other help would be appreciated. ;-) And this is a wonderful accomplishment for #1 Son, he asked to go!!!

Papa’s cancer is now in his bones

If you haven’t seen many entries over the last couple of days (and the next couple of days) is because I am trying to learn how to deal with Cancer and my Dad (Papa). Yesterday I heard it was now in his bones. In the spine down below the shoulder blades. Some days I do better than others. But I'll keep letting you know about Papa and the kids!

Kathy’s Biscuits

These biscuits are best made with bacon drippings. So save those drippings if you have them!

Ingredients

2 cups self-rising flour
1 cup milk
2-3 Tbspn melted bacon grease
1 tsp salt

Mix all ingredients*. Kneed until well blended, rollout and cut into biscuits.** Grease pan (I usually use the extra bacon grease to grease my square glass pan). Put biscuit into pan rubbing it into the grease and then flip it over. Continue until all biscuits are in the pan. Put the pan with biscuits into a 425 degree oven and cook for approximately 20 minutes.

* I usually save 1 Tablespoon bacon grease
** I usually use a 3” diameter circular cookie cutter. I also take any extra dough, reblend it, roll it out and cut any more biscuits I can get out of it.

Graumagus of Frizzensparks

I was so busy with my Husband’s birthday, I forgot my Blog Grandpa Graumagus’ Anniversary. Obviously those in my immediate family won’t be surprised. This is the woman who was 8 months late mailing a birthday gift to my own mother. Hey, I’m only a day or two late putting out a nice Happy Anniversary to Blog Grandpa Graumagus.

I really enjoy going over and reading Grau’s blog. The stories on his children and wife, as well as his ‘Random Rants’ on so many other items keep me going back for more. I am hoping one day his family will make a trip to Florida and Boudica’s family, my family and Grou’s family can all make a trip to Disney. What a handful! But it would be so much fun.

Happy 1 Year Blogging Anniversary!!!

Dad’s Birthday

I like to get my son’s involved in helping with Dad’s birthday. So today we, #1 Son and I, decorated his cake.



Then I heard a noise behind us. I see #2 Son walking up with a brush in hand. Acting innocent, I can hear the words in his mind “Not me mom, I’m not going to whack my brother with this brush as he is distracted with cake decorating.”



When I turn back to #1 Son, I notice that the pan is now getting decorated as well as the cake. Good thing I like the icing I made for decorating the cake. ;-)



Overall, the cake turned out fine. The kids had a good time and no one was injured by brush or icing.

Who’s worse?

I know my children and my Husband are good at practical jokes. What I forgot was my friend was as well. Who else would take good food and make it into this awful creation?



The sad part… is there is no way I can eat it. I just can’t. Not even if I cut it up, I just won’t be able to get this picture out of my mind. Nope, not going to tell you what it is… though my friend swears she was trying to make it into a ‘tootsie roll’. Yaa – right.

For Blog Grandpappy Harvey

There seems to be a lot of blog entries on s.x lately. Like Anita from Fighting Inertia talking about the latest poll or Grandpappy Harvey at Bad Example was boasting about his hits on Google for s.x type entries (I tried to find the post 3 times but it froze my machine every time – so I gave up). Then I saw a comment at Frizzen Sparks from Grandpappy Harvey under "Why the Alias" and took a piece out of it:

. . . when I first started blogging, my topics were fairly bland & innocent. I'm not really sure WHEN my name became synonymous with s.xual innuendo... it just sorta evolved. …

So with all that in mind… I saw this picture and just had to post it for my Blog Grandpappy Harvey.

Halloween Prank on Papa

My sisters included me in a prank on Papa. They blamed it on me! Hahahaha. I love it. They decorated his hosptial room for Halloween. They hung a spider and bat over his bed, put an empty candy jar out, a glow in the dark rock that says Get Out and they put a skeleton in his bed. I will not type what Papa said when I talked to him on the phone and wished him a Happy Halloween. Too funny. He absolutely loved it. Being his normal self, he complained there was no candy in the candy jar. Mama put some in later. Yes, my family has an odd sense of humor… but I’m just glad they found a way to include me in on it.

Halloween Costumes

My children are not quite ready for Halloween costumes, but I can’t resist putting out this list of ideas that Disney sent me. What cool costumes from boxes:

Great Costumes from Boxes: TV Set (cut a hole & cover with plastic wrap, put flashlight inside, glue a remote to box); Lego (paint a primary color & glue upside-down plastic bowls to the front); Post-It Note (cover with yellow construction paper, paint white across top to look like glue, scribble note on front); Dice (paint white & add black construction-paper dots); Rubik's Cube (cute & retro) -- all concepts contributed by our readers.

Here is a link to Disney’s Halloween Family Fun. Enjoy!

Cheerios

Both of my boys love cheerios. I am very thankful for that. It’s a quick, easy snack that can be taken anywhere. Now #2 Son has started to feed cheerios to me. It seems like an innocent, sweet thing for a child to do. But I still remember this from #1 Son. Those wet cheerios are not necessarily wet from water or milk. You must watch your child VERY carefully. Why? Because those wet cheerios are likely to have been licked or even partially chewed. Turn your back for a second and you’ll never know how that cheerio got wet. So do you eat it or not? Me? No way. I did enough of that with #1 Son. I have learned how to nicely say no… like picking up a new cheerio and eating it instead. But today I was distracted by #1 Son and turned around to have #2 Son wanting to give me a cheerio. So cute. Wanting to share… so I ate it. Ehwwwwww. It was soggy. I just have got to remember not to do that.

Carnival of Recipes

Oops, missed getting a recipe out this time. But that is no reason for you to miss seeing what delicious food is out there.

Inside Allan’s Mind has offered to host it this week and there are recipes from breakfast to dinner, sweet to savory.

Take a look and enjoy all the delicious food.

Time for the Pajama Party

Don’t want to miss the Pajama Party… so here is my picture for this week. One of my important parts of what I wear when blogging crawled off before I could get the picture. Yep, it's really a picture of me this time.

What NOT to do on a Thursday Night

It was bound to happen. I love fudge. I know it takes ‘time’ to make fudge. But when you have 2 kids, a friend comes over and brings her kid; you just don’t have ‘time’. So up went the heat on the burners. Not a smart move. Just wanted to get it done faster. Hmmmm. Also thought we would try to make 3 batches at once. Bet you can guess where this is going. And you would be right. One batch is going to be used for a topping for ice cream. One batch hardened ok, but is a little gritty (not much – very edible). One batch would make a great cake icing. Not quit hard enough for fudge pieces, not soft enough for ice cream topping.

The day went by too fast and instead of slowing it down, I tried to speed it up some more. Never seems to work, but I just have to keep trying it every once in a while. While the kids were cute today, I am off to slow the day down and get some sleep. Stay tuned for the next episode... I’ll tell you more tomorrow about Jelly boy and Strawberry boy.

More Wednesday Humor

I thought this was funny when we acquired #1 DogSon, but with 2 sons as well... this is just perfect because it applies to all 3.

DOG PROPERTY LAWS

1. If I like it, it's mine.
2. If it's in my mouth, it's mine.
3. If I can take it from you, it's mine.
4. If I had it a little while ago, it's mine.
5. If it's mine, it must never appear to be yours in any way.
6. If I'm chewing something up, all the pieces are mine.
7. If it just looks like mine, it's mine.
8. If I saw it first, it's mine.
9. If you are playing with something and you put it down, it automatically becomes mine.
10. If it's broken, it's yours.

Time for some Wednesday Humor

MOM'S BROWNIE RECIPE

• Remove teddy bear from oven and preheat oven to 375.
• Melt 1-cup margarine in saucepan.
• Remove teddy bear from oven and tell JR. "no, no."
• Add margarine to 2 cups sugar.
• Take shortening can away from JR. and clean cupboards.
• Measure 1/3-cup cocoa.
• Take shortening can away from JR. again and bathe cat.
• Apply antiseptic and bandages to scratches sustained while removing shortening from cat's tail.
• Assemble 4 eggs, 2-tsp. vanilla, and 1-1/2 cups sifted flour.
• Take smoldering teddy bear from oven and open all doors and windows for ventilation.
• Take telephone away from Billy and assure party on the line the call was a mistake.
• Call operator and attempt to have direct dialed call removed from bill.
• Measure 1-tsp. salt & a cup nuts and beat all ingredients well.
• Let cat out of refrigerator.
• Pour mixture into well-greased 9x13-inch pan.
• Bake 25 minutes.
• Rescue cat and take razor away from Billy.
• Explain to kids that you have no idea if shaved cats will sunburn.
• Throw cat outside while there's still time and he's still able to run away.

FROSTING
Mix the following in saucepan:
1 cup sugar
1 oz unsweetened chocolate
1 cup margarine

• Take the teddy bear out of the broiler and throw it away-far away.
• Answer the door and meekly explain to nice police officer that you didn't know JR. had slipped out of the house and was heading for the street.
• Put JR. in playpen.
• Add 1/3-cup milk, dash of salt, and boil, stirring constantly for 2 minutes.
• Answer the door and apologize to neighbor for Billy having stuck a garden hose in man's front door mail slot. Promise to pay for ruined carpet.
• Tie Billy to clothesline.
• Remove burned brownies from oven.
• Start on dinner!

Found at http://www.nanceestar.com/KidsMomsRecipe.html

Showcasing

My Blog Mother (Boudicca at Boudicca’s Voice) got me started in Blogging. Then I found out I had some grandparents (Blog Grandpappy, Harvey at Bad Example, and Blog Grandpa, Graumagus at Frizzen Sparks.) Then the harassment started. I have loved every minute of it. They repeatedly suggested I ‘showcase’ my blog. Since this blog is mainly for family and friends, I kept putting it off. Since then I discovered I have made new friends that I am getting to know quite well. I also noticed in my stats that I have a lot of new comers to my blog. With that in mind, I decided to ‘showcase’ my blog. There is a blog just for new bloggers. It is called Showcase.Mu.Nu and I have multiple links to it via this entry as well as it is listed under Favorites. Give it a try. Take a look at the new bloggers coming out into our world. Enjoy.

Repeat this phrase 20,000 times in one day – Help Mommy

Ok Ok, I know you are thinking, “why would Mommy need help?” Wrong question. This is my #1 Son saying one of his first 2 word phrases. When he needs help, he says “ep mommy” with an occasional “help mommy”. I’m hoping the H and L will come out more often than it does right now.

I was forewarned that once we started Speech Therapy and he started talking I would want him to shut up. What they didn’t tell me was why I would want him to shut up. His two most often used phrases are

1. Help Mommy
2. Come Mommy

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH.

Yes, I am proud of him for increasing his vocabulary. Yes, I am proud he is starting to use 2 word phrases. But geeze, give a Mom a break. If he wants something he can’t reach it is “Come Mommy” and everything else is “Help Mommy”. I love him but I have got to get some more words in his vocabulary…

Monday Entertainment

You would think that sometime soon my brain cells would kick in and I would not continue to do stupid things. What did I do this time you ask? I signed my #1 Son up for “Story Time” at the library on Monday mornings. Like I don’t have enough going on that I’m going to add 1 more item to my todo list.

I must say I was proud of both my sons while we were there. I was amazed at the parents that let their children run amuck as this was going on. It wasn’t like the kids had to sit the whole time. There was dancing, singing, reading and coloring. Luckily it only lasted about 40 minutes. #2 Son was starting to get fussy sitting in the stroller that long while everyone else was doing something.

Overall, I think it was a good experience for #1 Son. He got to hear other children talking and interacting (whether it was good or bad). I noticed that he was watching the misbehaving children rather closely versus the good children. Now I just have to remember to repeatedly tell him what a good kid he is when he is behaving at “Story Time”, so he doesn’t think running around being obnoxious is acceptable.

Not like they aren't busy enough at home running around. They certainly keep me on my toes and I definitely don't need to be on my toes in public as well. ;-) ;-)

30 second rule

In my household you cannot turn your back for more than 30 seconds. Longer than that and no telling what my children will end up doing. As you can see, #2 Son has discovered he will fit in the dishwasher. Click the picture to Enlarge the picture.

Stage 4

Update on Papa. The Drs have said he is at Stage 4 in his cancer. Though they have not done a biopsy, from other tests and general knowledge, they believe it has moved into his lymph nodes. I will post more next week after the test results come back from the tests they are running this week.

First Shoes

I forgot how much fun it was to watch a baby try to walk with shoes on for the first time. If you ever get the opportunity to see this first hand, please take it. For those without children but with dogs, it is as funny as watching a dog walking with shoes on for the first time. Yes, I have mutt-luks (dog shoes) for my dog since he had a hurt foot and had to have the bottom of his feet protected.

Today was the day that #2 Son got his first shoes. He did the spider crawl (this is with the buns up in the air – no knees on the ground). He tried tugging on the shoes and shoe laces. He basically refused to walk for the first 15 minutes. Hard to decide to buy those $45 shoes if he won’t walk in them. Finally got him to walk about 2 feet in them, double checked the sizing and put out the money.

Got home, had dinner and went for a walk. It’s a family thing I love to do - #1 Son walking, #1 Dog Son walking, #2 Son in the stroller and Mom & Dad trying to keep it all together. {snicker snicker – never happens}. Tonight was the night! At the end of the walk, #2 Son got out of the stroller and got to walk around. I had the camcorder, I was so excited. Every time I turned it on, one of two things happened. 1 – He sat down or 2 - he turned around and walked away from me. I have some great bun shots of him walking away in his new shoes. Ahhhh. This is the life.

Of course I realized this means that I now have 2 very mobile children who will always go in opposite directions. Life is going to be much more entertaining for the next couple of months. I am just hoping that I don’t get to know the people in the Emergency room by a first name basis. ;-) ;-) I know my Mom and I knew them by first name basis for many years, so we will see if “Like Mother Like Son”.

Feeding Baby Humor

Since I have breastfed both of my children, this picture had me ROTFL. Thanks Bou for sending it my way. Click to enlarge it.

Papa is in the Hospital

My sister brought him some chapstick. My cousin was there when he was putting it on and told him she loved the shade of pink lipstick he was using. My sister said she never saw dad wipe his face so fast in his life. They all laughed so hard. And my sister had to put some on her arm to show him it really had no color to it when it was put on. They still have a sense of humor up there.

Basically the cancer has moved to his neck and spine. They are waiting to get more information from the Doctors on Monday morning. When I hear, I will let everyone know what is going on.

While I will try to post about the kids and the zany things that my family does, it might be a little sparse over the next couple of days. Ohhh and Happy National Boss Day… bah hahahahaha. Sorry, I just had to laugh that they had to make a day for the Boss and put it on a Saturday. What's next? Employee's day? On Sunday?

It's Fall in Florida

Ahhh... It hit 69 degrees last night. It stayed below 90 today. Definitely getting to be the best time of year besides spring. And I think this comic says it all:




Note: Changed the size of the cartoon so the Blogroll information would come back to the top. You can find this image at http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ch/1993/ch931015.gif

One of those days

Ever have one of those days. I’m talking about one that just seems strange. Good things, bad things, they all seem to out of proportion. Yesterday was one of those days.

I had a great time at breakfast with Bou. Laughed at the kids and some of the stuff going on in our lives. Got home, put #1 Son down for a nap and when he woke up he was running a fever of 103. He had caught a cold. #2 Son was in a great mood and wanting to play play play. Talked to my Mom (MaMaw) and she was on the way to the emergency room with my Dad (Papa). Later in the day, I seemed to get the cold. Ugh. Then that night my sister called to say they are admitting Papa to the Hospital. They don’t know what is wrong and I will update everyone when we find out. Shortly afterwards in the living room, #2 Son started to dance. It was hilarious. He had his hands out in front pointing his fingers like he was saying #1 and then moving up and down. If I did that many squats that fast I would not be able to walk for 3 days.

I give. Some days are better than others and some are just ‘one of those days’.

Easy Cheesecake

Time for Carnival of Recipes. This time it is hosted by Beth from She Who Will Be Obeyed.

I got this recipe from The Frugal Gourmet. It is extremely easy, extremely rich and tasty. Two items:

1) I usually make a topping of Strawberries soaked in Grand Marnier overnight.

2) I have tried it with premade crusts and it works just fine.

Ingredients:
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
¾ cup sugar
¼ cup plus 2 tbl melted butter
1 ½ cups sour cream
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 lb cream cheese, broken into small pieces

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325degrees F.
Blend the cracker crumbs, ¼ cup sugar, and ¼ cup melted butter, and line the bottom of an 8- or 9-inch ungreased spring-form pan.

Blend the sour cream, ½ cup sugar, eggs, and vanilla in a food blender for 1 minute. Add the cream cheese. Blend until smooth.

Pour 2 tablespoons melted butter through the top of the machine. Pour into the spring-form pan.

Bake in the lower third of the oven for 45 minutes.

When baking is finished, remove from oven, and turn oven on to broil. Broil the cheesecake just until the top begins to show attractive spots of brown.

Refrigerate for 4 hours, preferably overnight, before cutting and serving.

This is NOT a low-calorie version. Cut into small pieces – it is very rich.

Delay Tactics

#1 Son has learned delay tactics. Amazing in my eyes that a 2 year old can figure all that out in his developing brain. What is this delay tactic? It’s saying to Dad he has to go ‘P’ at night when he is in bed. Or to Mom when she is trying to get him down for his nap during the day. But it works. Why? We are trying to potty train him. Hence, if he says he has to go, off to the bathroom one of us will take him. So far, he has actually gone when he says he needs to go.

Now getting him off the toilet is a whole different story. He does not want to get down once he is through. And sometimes he actually does go again. But it seems to be hit or miss on whether he really needs to go a second time or not. Delay tactics again. Though it is getting to be the general consensus that once is enough and off the toilet.

I’m up for any hints on how to work this issue. For now, we’ll just continue as is until the next surprise comes our way. Kids learn early how to get what they want… But I can’t see how either of us taught him that one… he had to figure it out for himself. Just incredible.

More Wednesday Humor

While I usually keep my warped humor out of the blog... I cannot resist this one. Found it over at a Bad Example's blog entry. Go on over and enjoy it. I laughed really hard. Don't forget to push the play button to watch the commercial after reading the text.

Also, the comments for Bad Example are somewhat vulgar. In case you can't get there due to firewall restrictions, here is the video that Bad Example stole from Gerard of American Digest.

NOTE: There is a bandwidth problem getting to the video above. So I have copied it to my harddrive. Let me know and I'll send it to you. It's 3 1/2 meg.

Enjoy!

Dreaded Wednesdays - some humor to lighten the day

Most people hate Mondays, over the last year and a half, I have come to hate Wednesdays. So to lighten the mood... here is some humor:

God Created Children
(and in the process grandchildren)

To those of us who have children in our lives, whether they are our own, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, or students… here is something to make you chuckle. Whenever your children are out of control you can take comfort from the thought that even God’s omnipotence did not extend to His own children. After creating heaven and earth, God created Adam and Eve. And the first thing he said was “Don’t”!


“Don’t what?” Adam replied.


“Don’t eat the forbidden fruit.” God said.

“Forbidden fruit? We have forbidden fruit? Hey Eve… we have forbidden fruit!!!”

“No Way!”

“Yes Way!”

“Do NOT eat the fruit!” said God.

“Why?”

“Because I am your Father and I said so!” God replied, wondering why He hadn’t stopped creation after making the elephants. A few minutes later, God saw His children having an apple break and he was angry! “Didn’t I tell you not to eat the fruit?” God asked.

“Uh Huh,” Adam replied.

“Then why did you?” said the Father.

“I don’t know,” said Eve.

“She started it!” Adam said.

“Did not!”

“Did too!”

“DID NOT!”

Having had it with the two of them, God’s punishment was that Adam and Eve should have children of their own. Thus the pattern was set and it has never changed.

But there is reassurance in the story! If you persistently and lovingly tried to give children wisdom and they haven’t taken it, don’t be hard on yourself. If God had trouble raising children, what makes you think it would be a piece of cake for you!

Short Stories and Odd Thoughts

#1 Son is always good for a story or two. We have been working so hard to get him to talk and this weekend he said “My ‘ouse”. I was so proud. I had Dad listen and our neighbor listen. He then said “Momma ‘ouse”, “Dadda ‘ouse”, “Baby ‘ouse”, “og ‘ouse”. Wow. I was excited. And again came out “My ‘ouse”. Now if I had paid attention, I would have realized what was really going on in my Son’s brain. He had discovered how to put into words what he really thought about stuff. Like today he ran over and grabbed a book from #2 Son and said “My Book!”. Hmmmm. I’m not liking the sounds of this. I have a feeling that over the next week, I’m going to have my life cut out for me.

#2 Son is walking all over the house. He also has a huge bruise down the side of his face. He and #1 Son were playing run around the couch the other night. It was hilarious. #2 Son is trying to walk (and gets about 3 steps in) when #1 Son comes zooming around and passes him. This causes #2 Son to start laughing. Many times he laughed so hard he fell. One of those times he took a face plant into the corner of the couch, hence the bruise. It did not stop him from getting back up and trying to go after his brother. I think #2 Son may have walked a whole 3 feet that night and they played for over 20 minutes. When he is not laughing, he is walking really well and even making some decent turns. I have a feeling over the next week, I’m going to have my life cut out for me. Hmmm. I think I’m repeating myself. Oh boy am I in trouble.

Odd thoughts: Why do we get so much fruit from other countries versus our own in the grocery store? I’m not talking about fruit that is out of season over here and can be gotten from the other side of the equator, I’m talking about the same fruit we grow here at the same time.

Why is it that cereal that is good for us has a distinct cardboard taste and feel? I try to hide it with fruit but my kids have discovered this and have a tendency to eat it.

Why does a child’s tennis shoe cost $40 and mine only $15? I can’t believe less materials cost more. And I can’t believe it is due to manufacturing costs, they make a whole lot of these kids’ shoes.

Smells so Good

I am definitely a person who notices the smell of different items. It also can evoke different moods and memories. Smelling spaghetti sauce cooking or fresh bread baking causes a warm fuzzy. My Husband sweating after working hard, particularly house work, causes a lu-stful feeling. The smell of trees and flowers can bring back memories of growing up. When I was single I quit dating a man because he didn’t smell right. Cologne can mask some smells but not all the time.

Though the smells I remember most bring back good feelings or memories. And I have a new smell I have added to my collection – my children. There is nothing in the world like smelling a child just after his bath. My kids squirm to get away from me because I will just hold them and sniff their hair and neck. Of course sometimes it turns into a game and I make them laugh by sniffing like a puppy dog all over their face and neck.

Ahhhh. Life is good and after bath time it smells so good too!

Mr. Mom

Ok, I had a long Saturday night taking care of 2 extra kids. The 12 year old was no problem, but the 4 year old kept saying “Where’s my mommy?” every 30 minutes. At 11am today the 4 year old did not want to leave, but had just asked 5 minutes earlier, “Where’s my mommy?”. Too funny. Thankfully my Husband was home and able to help keep it under control. So today, I’m just posting stuff that requires very little thought or effort on my side.

I heard this on the radio recently and found the words to the song. It’s Mr. Mom by Lonestar (country music). I laughed so hard when I heard it. Hope you enjoy it as well.

Mr. Mom

Lost my job, came home mad
Got a hug and kiss and that's too bad
She said I can go to work until you find another job
I thought I like the sound of that
Watch TV and take long naps
Go from a hand working dad to being Mr. Mom

Well
Pampers melt in a Maytag dryer
Crayons go up one drawer higher
Rewind Barney for the fifteenth time
Breakfast, six naps at nine
There's bubble gum in the baby's hair
Sweet potatoes in my lazy chair
Been crazy all day long and it's only Monday
Mr. Mom

Football, soccer and ballet
Squeeze in Scouts and PTA
And there's that shopping list she left
That's seven pages long
How much smoke can one stove make
The kids won't eat my charcoal cake
It's more than any maid can take
Being Mr. Mom

Well
Pampers melt in a Maytag dryer
Crayons go up one drawer higher
Rewind Barney for the sixteenth time
Breakfast, six naps at nine
There's bubble gum in the baby's hair
Sweet potatoes in my lazy chair
Been crazy all day long and it's only Monday
Mr. Mom

Before I fall in bed tonight
If the dog didn't eat the classifieds
I'm gonna look just one more time

'Cause
Pampers melt in a Maytag dryer
Crayons go up one drawer higher
Rewind Barney for the eighteenth time
Breakfast, six naps at nine
There's bubble gum in the baby's hair
Sweet potatoes in my lazy chair
Been crazy all day long
Oh been crazy all day long and it's only Monday
Mr. Mom

Balancin' checkbooks, juggling bills
Thought there was nothing to it
Baby, now I know how you feel
What I don't know is how you do it

You're brilliant

Saw this quiz at Pamibe’s and had to try it. Loved the answer, so posting it.


You are mRNA. You're brilliant, full of important,
interesting information and you're a great
friend to the people you care about. You may
have sides to you that no one understands. But
while you understand more than most people,
you're only half-there most of the time.


Which Biological Molecule Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Happy Birthday

Today is #2 Son’s birthday. Hard to believe that a year has past. He went from being a premie (and this is a picture before the iv was put in):



To being this HUGE cute kid:



I look at him in Orange and think – Halloween pumpkin. Grin. Just need a green hat.

I also have a couple of pictures from today. We went to the park with JC and CC today. #2 Son tried climbing after JC and #1 Son… as you can see from these pictures:





Hard to believe he is walking (well, when he isn’t laughing too hard to walk) and becoming a rough and tough little boy versus a baby. Happy Birthday Son.

New Florida State Quarter?

Since my dad collects coins, when I saw this I could not resist putting it out on my Blog. Hope you enjoy the latest suggestion for a Florida State Quarter. I wish I could actually get one to give to Papa… it would be way too funny.

Bou and Breakfast

There is so much to talk about I am not sure where to start. I guess the real eye catcher would be to start in the middle and talk about Aunt Bou teaching my #1 Son about master - bation and how to put on con - doms. Hmmm. Bet I got your attention now. Actually she was helping him with the crayons at the restaurant this morning and my mind was just not in the right frame. The crayon wrapper came off extremely easy and I saw her showing #1 Son how to push the crayon through the wrapper. So when I saw the tip of the crayon missing with her hand wrapped around it and pushing the wrapper down the crayon and the tip of the crayon come out. I just lost it and started to smile. She did this a couple of times before she saw me staring at her. About that time my son then took the wrapper all the way off. She proceeded to show him how to put the wrapper back on. I thought I was going to ROTLF except #2 Son was asleep so I was just smiling really big. He took it off, she put it on. Finally he tried to put it on. I was dieing to laugh at loud.

Some of the lesser items from breakfast, but made me a proud Mom. He actually greeted Bou when he saw her. He said “Hi Bouie”. Yes, he adds an ie or y to everything lately. They actually held a conversation, though she didn’t understand much of what he said. I was still proud that he tried to talk. The other item that really thrilled me was at the end of breakfast he said ‘P’. I asked if he needed to ‘pee’ and wanted to go to the bathroom and he nodded yes. Yaaaa. Off to the bathroom we went. Now I have a new rule, do not take your son out with jeans on when he is learning how to go to the bathroom. It is difficult for a boy to get his pants down to his ankles and it is also difficult to point his pe-nis down if he can’t get his legs apart due to said jeans. Live and learn.

We also made HUGE progress with #2 Son and Bou. She was able to ‘get in his space’ without him crying or lunging for me. Ahhh. Life is finally settling down. Wonder what’s next up next on the chart of child insanities?

Side note: Bou may not be biologically related, but the kids get to see her at least once a month. Because of that calling her Aunt works for me, particularly since my sisters are over 700 miles away and sister-in-law is in Jersey.

To Bill B

Bill, I know you have been a faithful reader because of the conversations you have with my dad. I also know it may be a while before you are out here again. I’m putting this out here, for you and me, to let the whole blog world know – I am so sorry your wife died yesterday. I know you have a huge gathering of family and friends to support you, but I am here for you as well.

My favorite story of you and I was the one my mom told me and which I do remember a little bit by myself. I was about 6 years old when you decided to get married. You and I played a lot together back then. Grin. And you came to me one day and told me about your future wife. You asked if I would give you permission to marry her. I actually remember thinking very hard about that question. It made me feel that I was an important part of your life then. I told you yes, that it was ok for you to marry her. That was over 34 years ago. You married her and you stayed together for all those years. In fact, mom says that you might have not married her if I had said no! ;-) ;-)

And I feel lucky that you and your wife came by not to long ago to see my #1 Son and family. I love those pictures. If you ever decided to come back down to Florida again, please, please come by. I think you would enjoy seeing both my kids especially as you have watched them grow in this blog.

Bill, I’m not good with words of sympathy, so the best I can do is say – I wish I was there to give you a hug. Hugging I’m good at giving. So here is my Hug to you.

Love, VW

Chicken and Dumplins

Here's the link to this week's Carnival of Recipes at Fresh as a Daisy! Go visit and enjoy.

BG asked for this recipe and I decided to use it for the Carnival of Recipes as well. This looks worse in writing than it is to make.

You can do this recipe two ways:

1 – make your own broth (which also gives you cooked chicken to use)
2 – buy the broth and use it (and cook some chicken up for the recipe).

The easy way is for you to buy broth and cook up some chicken, but for those more adventurous types, here is how I make the broth.

NOTE ADDED 10/12/04 - if you bake a chicken, take the left over meat and freeze it to use in Chicken and Dumplins. If you fry up a chicken, take the skin off the meat and keep the meat for C & D. Just remember whenever you cook chicken, if you have any left over and it is not too spicy... keep it for C & D.

Long Part (but can be done months in advanced and frozen):

Broth: 5 to 6 chicken legs, 2 cans of chicken broth, celery, and an onion (raw). Cut the celery and onion into large pieces. Put the legs, broth, cut celery and onion into a pot. Put enough water in to cover the legs and then some and bring it to a boil. Continue to simmer at a boil for 2 hours or until the meat is falling off the bone. Keep an eye on it, you may need to add more water.

Take the meat out and let it cool. Meanwhile, pour the juice from the pot through a sieve, but make sure you save this juice (ie broth). Throw away the stuff on top of the sieve. After the meat has cooled, pull it from the bones and save it. The broth and the meat can be frozen for use later.

Short Easy Way:

3 cups broth (either made or bought)
5 chicken legs of meat cooked (or thighs or breasts can be used – I find leg meat tastier)

To make the Dumplins:
2 cups “sifted All purpose flour” or Wondra Flour (no need to sift Wondra)
¼ tsp salt
1 large kitchen spoonful shortning (about 1 Tblsp)
¾ cup tepid water (start with ½ cup but have more on hand in case you need it)

Mix all above ingredients and roll out about 1/8 inch thick. It should not be too sticky, if it is, add more flour… if too dry, add more water. Cut into squares or rectangles of approximately the same size. (This can be made the day before and kept in the fridge with a moist towel over it and then rolled out and cut before use.)

To make the Chicken & Dumplins:

Put 3 cups broth in a pot, chicken and drop in the dumplins one at a time while bringing it to a boil. Then simmer for 10 minutes covered and 10 minutes uncovered. Keep an eye on it and add more water if it is getting to low.

Once you have made it, it is easy. Particularly if you have broth and cooked chicken on hand. Simple, fairly quick and delicious.

Speech Therapy Session or should I say P.U.?

#1 Son has a therapist come over to the house once a week. Actually I should say I have a speech therapist. Grin. She works with #1 Son while explaining to me how to do this when she is gone. So far so good. After about 30 minutes yesterday he actually said “More Please” for another toy. Well, he actually said “Moe Pweese”. But I’ll take it. He even said a two word phrase without prompting! He had a boat in each hand and said “two boats”. Or something close.

But the clincher for me was towards the end when she was writing up the home visit note… my #1 Son was playing with some small toys she had brought. He had a bunny in one hand and a sheep in the other. My wonderfully bright son decided to put the bunny nose in the sheep’s butt and say in a loud voice Peeeee Uuuuuuuu. (Thanks Bou for many months ago picking up a dirty sock and putting it to my #1 Son’s nose and saying – you got it – P.U.) I had a hard time not ROTFL.

I can’t wait until next week to see what surprises my #1 Son will come up with next. I do know my Husband has been working hard at trying to get him to say “Mama’s Butt” when he is not around. We’ll see if it will ever work.

Pajama Party 2

Just for my Blog Grandpappy, I am entering a picture into the Pajama party again. He loves looking at women, any woman. But I cannot find a picture of myself to post, so again I have gotten a picture from another website.



Hope you enjoy this picture Grandpappy! Soon I'll find one of myself to post... really!

Stoplights and I

Ok, I admit it. I have a real pet peeve for the number of stoplights we have at one intersection. The two hurricanes have helped me prove my point. Now do not be mistaken, we need stoplights, we just don’t need 10 stoplights for one direction. Point and case:

There is a road I travel in an eastward direction almost daily. At one of the intersections there is a right turn lane, 3 lanes going straight and 2 left turn lanes. Over the last 3 weeks there has been 2 lights going. 1 for the straight ahead and 1 for the left turn lane. (side note: in Florida you can turn right on red). I’ve glanced through the traffic reports, and there has been NO wrecks in that intersection. Hmmm… now when they get it fixed it will have 10 traffic lights installed just for eastbound traffic. Those things are expensive and my tax dollars are paying for them. Not only that, take some of those intersections which have an EXCESS of lights and move those to the intersections that have NO lights.

Oops, my pc is acting up again. Guess this will be my last post for today (possible tomorrow). Please feel free to leave comments and I’ll sneak onto my Husband’s PC to answer / reply. Back to the drawing board!

The Trip to Lion Country Safari

We went to LCS (Lion Country Safari) and I’m going to show off my children. Here are 3 pictures to enjoy. It was really fun since #1 Son is getting to be able to recognize the animals and make noises or remarks about them. For the elephants he mentioned the noses, for the rhinos he said PU (mainly because the rhino’s butt was facing his window about 3 feet away – GRIN), and he mentioned the necks for the giraffes. #2 Son just played with a toy car. For those who have never been to LCS, it is a drive through park where the animals roam around you. They can come right up to the car or even cause you to have to stop as a herd of Zebras cross the road. See link above for more details.

The first picture is #1 Son trying to drive. It belongs to a car on a track for the kids to make it go around with the steering wheel. I refused to pay $1 for my child to do this. But it made for a cute picture especially since we asked #1 Son to stay there so we could take his picture. I love the expression.



The next picture is #2 Son trying to drive. Same track, still refused to pay. Grin.



Last picture is the one in the car on the way home. Ahhhh. Bliss. Side Note: #1 Son is holding the brochure to the park. He loves the pictures and he loves the animals.



Ok, time for some sleep. I’ll post more tomorrow.

The Playdate

It has always been entertaining to get my #1 Son together with his playmate, JC. JC is 4 months older than #1 Son and just a little taller. JC has always been the very cautious one when it comes to doing anything. #1 Son goes to the tallest slide and climbs up the slide while JC sits at the bottom and looks up. I try not to freak, because #1 Son is about 3 feet above my head and looking over said slide yelling at JC to join him and JC yells back for #1 Son to come down. Luckily JC’s Mom is really comfortable with the kids climbing, jumping, pushing and the general things kids do. In fact, she continues to encourage JC to climb with #1 Son. And kindly went up the slide to make sure #1 Son did not JUMP, while I stayed at the bottom with #2 Son and JC. The nice part for me is that JC speaks extremely well, so this encourages #1 Son to speak (see previous post about speech therapy). The Moms like each other and the sons like each other. Best of both worlds.

Just recently we got together at JC’s house. I was proud of #1 Son, for the first time he said JC’s name! Yaaa… of course he was yelling at him to ‘come JC’ as he ran from the living room to JC’s room. Both boys were running full out like a couple of Tasmanian Devil’s. JC’s Mom and I laughed as they ran into each other, fell on each other, chased one another… but I laughed the hardest at #2 Son. He so wanted to join in the fun. He would finally stand up and the two boys would run by and down he would go. Ok, off crawling after them he would go… then wooosh they would go by in the other direction. So up stood #2 Son and wooosh as they went by and down he would go… and this continued for a good 10 minutes.

Like normal, JC learned a new way to crawl up into his bed (don’t ask) and #1 Son picked up some new words as well. #2 Son… well, he was exhausted but not harmed. I can’t wait until #2 Son is really walking well and we have another outing. It should be fun.

What to say about the hurricane?

An interesting article in the Palm Beach Post was a list of questions that may come from out-of-town friends and relatives with suggested responses. I’ll give the example of the first one, but I would love to hear what you have to say for the rest.

1. So, who are you going to vote for in the election?
a. What you would like to say: I’ll vote for whomever gets my power turned on, or sends me a FEMA check the quickest
b. What you should say: Don’t we need power to run the voting machines?
2. What do you want for Christmas?
3. Seen any good movies lately?
4. Tried any good restaurants lately?
5. How’s work going?

Who knows, maybe I’ll use the best responses to the people asking me these questions!

Enjoy!

Blue Screen of Death

Well it certainly has been interesting the last couple of days. I just finished formatting and re-installing my laptop. Yep, started from scratch. I have not gotten the blue screen of death any more, but the problem I was working on is still not fixed. Tink and Pan gave me a gift – a Smartphone. This is a cellphone made by microsoft. Now I may be an MSCE, but that doesn’t mean I like microsoft nor their operating systems. And this problem is driving me nuts. It is suppose to allow you to sink up your outlook contacts from the phone to your outlook on the desktop and vice versa. This would require the two devices to talk. Via USB. Sounds simple… Bah Hah Hah Hah. Even Pan can’t find the answer and he works with microsoft stuff all the time. I haven’t done this much work in a microsoft environment in 2 years. Though I am looking at the SDK to see if I can fix the problem by doing some programming myself. Hmmm… Like I would have time… Sigh.

Hence, no stories about the kids right now. They have continued to be cute and grow, but this has the part of my brain I use for writing blogs. Hence, you are stuck reading me fuss about this stupid problem. I’ll be over this shortly and back to telling you the odd things that have happened. Like #1 Son’s playdate and how I think we pay too much money for Stoplights that aren’t used. Right now… ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.