The perfect cookie

Ever since we got our new oven in December of 2005, I have had a problem baking cookies. Any drop cookie or roll cookie or really any cookie that cooks as an individual cookie has just had problems. The cookie would spread too much, the edges would cook too fast, the center would be raw. It was really getting frustrating. I am pretty much stopped cooking cookies that weren't bar cookies. And I tried everything: reducing the oven temp, parchment paper, less cooking time, everything!
For Christmas, my mother-in-law had asked me what I wanted for Christmas. I requested regular cookie sheets, some that were NOT non-stick.
She did perfect and got me just what I asked for (though she said it was really really difficult to find them). She also got me a sheet stand that unfolds and holds four hot baking sheets so they aren't spread out all over the counter. I was pretty excited to try my new baking sheets, so even though I am really sick and miserable, I whipped up a batch of chocolate chip cookies. They were perfect!! I didn't have to modify the recipe or reduce the temp or cooking time. I made plain chocolate chip cookies (recipe from the Nestle package, the one I've used for well over a decade) and they were perfectly cooked and delicious!
I am so excited that I want to try all my other favorites to see if they will work out normal too! I see way to many calories in my future!
My husband has been sorta laughing at me because I am so excited. It's the little things that make life great!
I went scrapbooking yesterday with my friend and neighbor Dorene. A local store does a 12 hour scrap every month or so. This is the first long scrap we have been to together. Dee said many times that she wasn't going to stay the whole time, only from like 10 to 3. At 3, she said she would leave in time for dinner. At 6, she said she would leave when she got the things she was working on done. At 8, we both packed up to leave. She couldn't believe that she had been there that long. For me, it is no surprise. I would have stayed all the way til 10, but unfortunately, there was a lady there that I just couldn't stand. I have known her for about 4 years and she drives me absolutely crazy. I just couldn't take it anymore so I left at 8. I wasn't feeling very good so it was a good idea for me to leave and get some rest.
I am going to a weekend crop at the February. I am really excited and looking forward to having some fun with my gals.
I have a lot going on in January. I have a workshop on this coming Saturday plus 3 other home Gatherings! I am excited that my business is growing so well.
Time for bed!

Our Christmas

Our Christmas Eve was fairly quiet this year. I made a last minute run to the grocery store and had to park a long walk away. For those familiar with Pasadena, I needed to go to the Giant (for my prescription) and I had to park in the parking lot of the KinderCare Child Care Center!






It was a mad house and I was happy to leave. I had to run to BJ's too, but it is a much bigger place and didn't seem quite so packed.






We had beer can chicken, baked beans, strawberries and veggies for dinner. I just felt like making something very untraditional for Christmas Eve dinner.






After dinner and bath, the boys sprinkled reindeer food on the lawn outside the basement door. The reindeer food is oatmeal and cookie sprinkles and a little poem about how it will sparkle in the moonlight so the reindeer can find our house. It was super cute to watch all three of them carefully sprinkle and spread out the food. We left a plate of homemade chocolate chip cookies and a glass of milk for Santa and headed upstairs to read "The Night Before Christmas". Each boy hung their stockings on the railing and went to bed after the story.






After the boys were asleep (it took them a while because they were so excited!), Jay and I wrapped all of the gifts to the boys. As a child, our stuff wasn't usually wrapped, but Jay had grown up with everything little thing wrapped, even the toothbrush in the stocking! We decided on a mix. Wrap the big stuff, and some of the stocking stuffers, but leave some unwrapped as well.






Jay decided that breakfast on Christmas day would be cinnamon rolls. From scratch, (using our bread machine to start the dough) they take about 4 1/2 hours from start to finish, including all of the rise time. He had the bread machine set to start at 5:30 am so that it would be ready for the next step at 7.






We headed to bed and I had to get up around 1:30 am with Joe. He had thrown up in bed and needed help getting everything cleaned up. We cleaned everything best we could in the dark since we didn't want to wake up Tommy and he went back to sleep, no problem.






Joe woke up again at 6:15. We had told them that they couldn't get out of bed before 7 and couldn't go downstairs before everyone was awake. Joe got out of bed and checked the clock about every 10 minutes until it said 7:01 am. It was just about everything he could do to not go downstairs.






Everyone was awake at about 7:15 and ready for stockings. Joe and Tom really thought that that was all they had gotten. Joe looked at it and sighed "I guess we just weren't good enough this year." I didn't say anything, because I wanted the surprise when we went downstairs.

We collected our stockings and headed downstairs to open them by the tree. As soon as Joe and Tom reached the basement, they were so surprised! Joe kept saying "oh my gosh!" It was really really cute.

All of the red/white and red/white/green presents are from Santa. We opened our stockings and then had to wait while Jay did the next step for the cinnamon rolls. The boys really had a hard time waiting. I don't blame them, it seemed like forever.

Jay came downstairs and we started opening gifts. Poor Joe! He said he felt sick, ran to the bathroom and coughed a bit, but nothing happened. He came back downstairs, opened up 1 more present and then threw up all over the floor! He barely missed his new toys! Jay was a saint and cleaned it up and Joe hasn't had a problem since then. But oh, that was gross!

The boys had a great time giving gifts to mom and dad and we all had a really nice day. We had ham (cooked in the roaster) for dinner and I was starting to feel under the weather so no pie was made.

I woke up to the sound of Sam destroying his room since he nows crawls in and out of his bed at will. We are switching his bed today since he got his leg stuck yesterday at naptime. It was bad enough where I thought we may have to break the bed to get him out. It was really stuck. (He also poop painted yesterday during nap-Jay's fault for not changing him when Sam asked to be changed!)

I hope that I will be feeling better soon.

This day would come

I knew it. I didn't want it to happen, but it did. Sam has finally learned how to crawl out of his crib. No longer can he be contained to a small space, but must be allowed to run free in his room. We plan to move him to a twin bed the day after Christmas since it isn't real safe for him to be climbing out of the crib. I knew it was going to happen one day, but I was hoping to hold off for a while longer. Joe climbed out at about 18 months, and since he and Tom were sharing a room, Joe taught Tommy to do it when Tom was about 19 months. So, Sam being almost 23 months, means it's about time.
On the bright side (the brightess side of all!!!), Sam seems to be changing his painting habits. (KNOCK ON WOOD..very very loudly)
He has decided he doesn't like having a wet or dirty diaper and yells loudly for me to change him if he is in bed or climbs out of bed and comes looking for me. Unfortunately, he woke up at 11:30 last night because he had peed. I woke up and changed him, put him back to bed. He bounced and played around in bed for a bit, then climbed out again. I put him back and was then quite awake and decided to read for a bit. I finally fell back asleep after 1:30am, though Sam was still bouncing in his crib. Sam woke me up again at 3:30 yelling "Ewww!" I got up and changed his diaper. I doubt he had gone back after 1:30. He fell asleep around 4 and so did I. Joe woke me up at 5:20, to tell me he had thrown up in bed. I cleaned that up (thankfully, not a big mess) and put him back to bed. The alarm went off at 6, and Jay just laid there. I think I kicked him and he got up. He woke me up again as he was leaving because it was already 7:15, and I needed to get a move on to get everyone ready for school.
I am tired.

Maybe...

Perhaps we have turned a corner with Sam. Last night, I really didn't have any other ideas about how to secure his diaper so I didn't really try. I just did a onsie and some pj's. He woke up this morning and just stood in his crib yelling "wake up." Since he was being noisy, I knew he wasn't painting. I left him in there for about 20 minutes. We have a rule about getting out of bed before 7 am. I went in at 7, and he had a dirty diaper, but didn't touch it!! Yea!!!! Then at nap time, he unsnapped his pants, but again, didn't play with his dirty diaper. Do I dare hope? Do I dream of a time when I don't have to scrub the walls and the crib? Oh I really hope so!

Poop and the Spirit of Christmas Present

Okay, so I have finally seem to get over most of my troubles and am in full Holiday spirit mode. Unfortunately, things keep trying to squash that holiday feeling. First the cat and the cards, then Joe and the mantle, today...well...poop.
Today I was planning to wrap Christmas presents while Sammy took his nap. I gathered up the wrapping paper, scissors, tape...oh wait, out of scotch tape and had to use packing tape, and the presents and headed to wrap in the basement where Tom was playing. I was down there for about 15 minutes when Sammy started crying. He was supposed to be going to sleep and crying is pretty normal for that. He wants to play, not sleep...hence the crying.
After a few minutes, he was really really crying which is unusual so I came upstairs to lay him back down and tuck him in again. Part way up the stairs, the smell hit me. I really had to fight the urge to turn around and go back down stairs. What kind of mom would I be if I left my child in his own filth? It wouldn't be so bad if he would just leave it in his diaper where it belongs. But, I trudged upstairs to clean anyway.
He had gone down for his nap with a snappy crotch onsie, topped by a thin-weight zipped, footed sleeper (with the zipper diaper pinned shut) and a sweatshirt on top of that. It was his favorite shirt so I was hoping he wouldn't do anything like this. It was all in vain.
He had taken the shirt off and carefully put it on the side of his crib out of the way (very comical, if a less crappy situation.) He managed to un-pin the diaper pin (How???!!!???) Once the pin was gone, he just unzipped and removed the sleeper and reached around the crotch of the onsie to get to his bottom.
Thankfully, no wall today and none on his favorite shirt. Not much else was spared. Crib, sheets, carpet, bedtime buddies, everything!
After everything was cleaned and Sam was bathed, I redressed him the best I can (though I have throughly run out of ideas). He cried and cried for his buddies and his favorite blankies. But he couldn't have them as they were on their way to the wash.
After all that, I really didn't feel like wrapping presents. Tommy, however, was so excited to wrap a few presents that I just couldn't quit. I sat down and started wrapping, and pretty soon, I was humming again. "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas..."

No cometh the Christmas Spirit

Because of all the stress this year, I have had a really hard time getting into the spirit of the holidays. Christmas is my favorite time of year. I keep trying to do Christmasy things, but something always happens to dampen my good cheer. I keep trying to decorate the house, something goes wrong and I have to stop. I made cards, the cat ruined them. I tried to get the kids dressed to do Christmas pictures and Joe (for some unknown reason) decides to hang on the mantle. It then pulled off the wall because it is not made to hang on. Truely the only non childproof things in the house are on this mantle of course. Many of the items were gifts from people who went on out of country trips. The Cambodian peguins and owl are fine. The Tahitian God is fine. The Japanese and Italian vases are fine BUT the statue my brother got in China is broken. The green glass elephant that belonged to my husband's great aunt (and one he admired greatly as a child) is broken. One of our wedding presents was a praying girl that came with a whole story about how she prays over our family and watches out for us. It was a beautiful gift and has had a place of honor in our house ever since our wedding. She is now in lots of pieces. I just don't know what to do about Joe anymore. He had a blue day a school today and his teacher is loses patience. Needless to say, I didn't feel like doing Christmas pictures anymore.

Christmas Card Frustration

Okay, I decided that since I sell card making supplies, that I would make my cards this year. I had them almost all done and sitting in nice little stacks in the office on the craft table. I was working in there and got up to wash paint brushes and go to the bathroom. I came right back and found that my cat had spilled my glass of water on my craft table...all over my cards!!! The water made the ink run, so they are now ruined and I am so frustrated that I don't even want to make any more. Seriously, what is going on with this year! AHHHHH!! Okay, I feel slightly better.
Also, by this time, I usually have several Christmas cards from friends and family. I love placing them all together on the cabinet for people to see. I have two so far this year. Two? What is going on? I am usually a little late getting mine out, so I know that is not the reason.

That little devil

Yes, I am talking about Sam. He did it again. He managed to unzip his footed sleeper that was zipped up and pinned shut!!! This child is an escape artist! Thankfully, it wasn't much of a mess this time. I am really really losing my mind over this. I am 30 years old and graduated with honors from college! How is a 22 month old smarter than me!!
Jay thinks that I am just not letting him be creative enough during the day. I think he is just doing this to spite me.

Rats, foiled again

More often than not, I come up with a great gift for Jay only to have him guess what it is before I ever even get it wrapped! It is very frustrating to me because I always feel like Jay just thinks I am buying him what he asked for, but most of the time I already have it bought! This year, I have a great idea and have been shopping for the best deal on it since August. Jay comes to me last month and says "if anyone is looking to get me a gift..." and of course it was the gift I planned on getting him. It really takes the fun out of giving a gift if someone has already guessed what I am giving them...

Handmade Christmas

Last year, I made the decision to make a handmade Christmas. The vast majority of gifts that I gave were handmade. In the days leading up to Christmas last year, I swore up and down that I would never, ever do it again. The stress and extra work was too much. Because of all the stress, I didn't have any time to enjoy the season. Imagine my dismay when my mother (who loved my idea) annouced that Christmas 2008 would be all handmade gifts (except those given to the kids.) I complained. I begged. I pleaded. I cried. All to no avail. My mom and sister were dead set on a homemade Christmas. So here I am, on December 13, with little to no Christmas spirit and no time to enjoy the season. I was supposed to go to a Holiday Tea with fellow CTMH consultants, but finally, I canceled because I just don't have the time to drive to VA, spend several hours, and drive back. That's 6 hours out of the day that I need to spend working on gifts. My house isn't decorated. I want to decorate, but I feel I need to clean up a bit first...so I haven't done anything. The tree is downstairs in the family room and Sam has quite a bit of affection for pulling off ornaments. He has broken 4 now so I can't leave him alone downstairs. If he is there, I have to be there. The family room is fairly clean, but the upstairs is a wreck!
On the plus side, my sister's gifts are done and wrapped. I just need to pack and ship them. My brother's is done and I have started my sister-in-law's. I still have to make Jay's, Mom's, and Dad's. Oh, and Christmas (like last year) is early because family can't all get the same days off. We are holding Christmas next Friday and Saturday so everything needs to be done by Thursday night.

Dentist and such

Ever since Joe was about 6 months old, Jay and I have had the same dentist. We love him. He would clean our teeth himself, not give us too many complaints about not flossing and just was generally a good dentist. It didn't hurt that he was easy on the eyes either! About 2 months ago, we got a call that he was not longer with the practice and we got moved to a different dentist within the practice. Today was our rescheduled appointments. Our new dentist was very very rough and seemed to rush all through the appointment. I was not pleased at all. Jay happened to ask what happened to our previous dentist. He moved to another practice fairly close by. Jay didn't ask where he moved to, but we are going to track him down!

I spent a whole lot of hours today sorting out the boys' Legos. They had dumped them all into one big tub and now suddenly wanted them sorted so that they could build the kits with them. My back and neck hurts from leaning over and sorting so many of them.

Jay and the boys decided they wanted to go out to eat at Rocky Run. They do a "kids eat free" (with adult meal) on every Thursday, as well as a balloon man. I really had no interest, but I had to go too. It wasn't very much fun for me as I had a big headache and didn't really want to be there. We also took the kids to see the train garden, which they loved.

Red hair, part 2

Okay, my friend said my hair wasn't really red and that she couldn't notice it. So maybe I am over reacting, but to me, my hair is red...or at the very least, redish.

My hair doesn't look totally red in this picture, but if you look at a large version of this picture, and look at my bangs and the top of my head, my hair is red.

Oh my...my hair is red!

For my 30th birthday, some of my friends got me a variety of gifts. One of the items that they gave me was hair dye with the thought that it will cover the gray and make me feel young. I do have a little gray and I do dye it occasionally. I always just dye it dark brown. I have brown hair with brown highlights. That's just how it is. Well, not anymore. The semi-permament hair dye was pretty much a red color. I promised to use it and decided to use it. Now my hair is red. I am not sure how I feel about it at all. I don't think that my hubby will be real thrilled about it. It is just really different. I'm sure that my friends will like it, and I may like it more in the morning. Currently, I am thinking about wearing a hat for the next 28 washes.

O Christmas tree

Okay, I have this tendency to pick pathetic Christmas trees. I can't help it. I feel sorry for them and something about them just speaks to me. Jay tends to do very well and overrides me when I pick one that is too pathetic. We picked our tree on Saturday at a farm in southern Anne Arundel County. It was a cut your own farm so I was hoping I wouldn't feel sorry for any "unpicked" trees since they weren't pre-cut ones. But I managed to do it again, and since we had been there so long, Jay let me pick it!
(Jay and boys cutting down tree)


I swear it didn't look too bad at the farm, but it looks really thin and very short at home. We actually had to put boards in the tree stand in order to hold the tree because it has such a small trunk that the stand couldn't tighten down enough. Usually we have to trim the trunk to fit it in the stand.

(The tree in our basement)

The kids had a great time decorating the tree, and it does look slightly better all decorated, but I can't believe I did it again and picked a grown up Charlie Brown Christmas tree. We couldn't even put on all the ornaments because the tree is too small. I am such a schmuck!

(After decorating)

30th birthday

I had a very wonderful 30th birthday yesterday. My mother sent me flowers, Jay brought me flowers and I went out for the evening at a Moms Night Out event. I got to spend the evening with some great gals. They gave me some wonderful, fun gifts and I ate a lot of really bad for me food. While I was out, Jay and the boys wrapped a special gift for me and made a delicious carrot cake. I came home around 12:30 in the morning and noticed a Circut City bag laying on the couch. I had a pretty good guess about could have been in the bag, but it was a very large bag and my guess was something pretty small, so I wasn't sure. Jay told me the boys had hid my gift and I was supposed to find it in the morning. He also said I would never find it.
This morning, Joe told me that he was going to help me find the gift. I decided to ask some questions:
"Is it in a bedroom?" Yes
"is it in my bedroom?" Yes
"is it under the bed?" yes
Okay, so maybe I wasn't supposed to find it that easily, but what can I say? I am good at guessing sometimes.
The gift was the digital SLR that I have been drooling about for months and months, but never dreamed that we could afford. Thankfully, Jay was employee of the month in October and got a little bonus for that. We finished the morning with carrot cake (with cream cheese frosting!) for breakfast and it was great all around.
We plan to get a Christmas tree today, but it is really cold outside today. We are also dropping the boys at my mom's house this afternoon and letting them babysit while we go out for an evening.
Jay has been reading over my shoulder for this entire post and I am not comfortable with someone reading while I type. I have no problem with him reading after I type but during the typing is just uncomfortable. He laughed and left just now.
I decided to drink a very little bit last night in celebration of my b-day. I had 1 beer, a little peach wine, and a splash of champagne. I woke up feeling like I'd been run over by a truck. Lexapro and alcohol just don't mix. Of course, there is a big label on the bottle that says I shouldn't drink while on these meds, so perhaps it is my fault.

Painting

Poopo Picasso, Vincent Van Pooh, Leonardo da Feces...I think I will rename Samuel. His name is just too nice for the little devil that he is.
Yet again today, Sam poop painted all over his walls, himself and his bed. He had gotten woken up from this nap, but fell back asleep before I left for the bus stop. I peeked in on him and he was actually asleep. Perhaps when I left, I must have woken him. I came back from the bus (Joe got a green today! So Yuri, Haley, and McKenize came over to play) and heard him awake. I went in to get him up, only to discover that in the 6 minutes I was gone, he had covered everything in poop. It certainly wasn't the worse that he has done, but it was really bad. He managed to throw plenty on the carpet today as well. I honestly don't know how he even got into his diaper today. This has been a really bad ongoing problem and our diaper security has gotten pretty tough. He went down for his nap wearing a diaper, a onesie that snaps in the crotch, footed, long sleeve zipper pajamas. The zipper is the pinned to the top of the pj's (since he just takes off the pj's to get to the diaper easier). He managed to pull one arm down his sleeve and then somehow reach into and through the bottom of the diaper. It looks like he then passed the poop up through the neck in his pj's and to his other hand, at which point he painted with it. In 6 minutes no less!!! Seriously Sam!!! It's my birthday!!! Could you give me a break??!!??
I have run out of ideas. I think I will just cover the walls and floors with plastic and remove all the furniture from the room. He can sleep on a washable dog bed or something, with nothing but a diaper. Perhaps then it will at least be easier to clean, right? I am sure it would be illegal or neglectful...but I am running out of options.

Joe and school

I have to go to the bus stop in 15 minutes to get Joe and I am not looking forward to it. His behavior at school has really taken a turn for the worst this week. September was shaky, but October was so much better that his teacher and I had hoped that he was used to school and settled in. About halfway through November, he started have trouble again. First it was just a couple yellow days a week, then a blue here and there, but no reds. At my conference with his teacher, she voiced her concern that his behavior has spiraled down again. Joe supported her concern this week. Monday, Joe got a yellow and then a blue on Tuesday (his class had a substitute teacher that day). Wednesday was a red day and Thursday was yellow. I really really want him to get a green day today. I would hate for him to finish the week out on a "bad" color.
I am really truely out of ideas on what to do for him and how to help him. His blue on Tuesday was because he was disrupting class and smearing glue on the wall. Wednesday he was not following directions and then pushing kids down and stepping on them! When I asked why he was pushing, he said he was playing a game and that the other kids thought it was funny. His teacher says that Joe was just being mean and the kids were complaining so if they were playing a game, those other kids didn't know that they were playing.
I really want Joe to love and enjoy school and have a good year. I loved school as a kid, but I just don't know how to help him.

Naptime

Thankfully Sam takes a regular time every day. He goes down around 1-1:30 and sleeps for about 2 1/2 hours. It is great! It is my time to get some things done and spend some 1 on 1 time with Tommy.
Today, Sam took a little longer to fall asleep and everyone is trying their best to wake him up. First, a friend called to see if she could pick something up. I then had to stay close to the door so that I could run out to her car so the dogs didn't bark. Then I got a delivery and the dogs when crazy barking. Then my mom called and poor Sam is still tired and fussy now because he didn't get his normal nap.
I understand that the world doesn't revolve around my kids, but seriously people, don't bother me during my son's naptime. LOL

Tradition interrupted

Every year for the past 5 years, I have filled our Avent calendar with goodies for Jay and the boys. We have a wonderful advent calendar that hangs on the wall with pockets for goodies. I was feeling really guilty because it is the 4th of December and I hadn't gotten the calendar up. I already had the stuff to fill it, but I just didn't have the time carved out to fill the pockets. Today I made sure that I had that time. Unfortunately, I am unable to find the calendar. I have searched every place that I have stored it in the past, but I just can't find it. I am sure that I stuck it up in the attic last year (where it belongs) but it is nowhere to be found. Ahhh! That basically sums up my holiday spirit right now. I was hoping to get our tree up Saturday, but now Jay is saying he would rather work on the house instead of picking a tree. Picking a tree in the past has always been an unpleasant experience since Jay and I don't work well together when making on the spot decisions. We are hoping to cut our own tree this year. I would love to do a living tree, but there is no where we could afford that.
Sam has just been unhappy all day. Perhaps another molar is arriving. I finally got tired of him crying and hitting me, so I placed him in bed for a bit to cry it out. He has been going straight fo 10 minutes non stop now. I will probably give in and get him out of bed before he calms down.
Joe did a little better at school today. He had gotten reds on Tuesday and Wednesday and got a yellow today. Hopefully, he will get settled down again.
Our basement is clean and sorted with the new furniture installed. I am happy how it turned out, even though we were planning on a few other changes. I am not sure if we will do them now or not.
We are having split pea soup and homemade bread for dinner. Not a soup I would pick (though I did pick to make it...), it is Jay's favorite. Joe and Tom dislike it so they are having bread and ham and a veggie for dinner. We will see if Sam will try it, but I am sure he won't eat it either.

Thanking our troops

No matter what your personal feelings are on the War, our troops are serving our country and are away from their families over the holidays. Xerox is doing a neat thing. From the website www.LetsSayThanks.com, you can select a postcard that was designed by a child from various places. After selecting the postcard, you can select or write your own message for the back and the postcard gets sent to a military person serving overseas. You can't select who it goes to, but it is free and only takes a minute.

Shoes and the Christmas Spirit

Okay, I have to admit that I am not really the least bit interested in shoes. They cover my feet when I leave the house, I don't look at them and I could care less. That being said, I do think many other people have lots of cute shoes and I do notice them and compliment them honestly. It's just that I, personally, am not interested in my shoes. Out of all the women (and most men) I know, I own the least pairs of shoes. I believe that my dad even owns more shoes than me. I have 6 pairs of shoes currently (though it is 7 if you count the flip flops that stay at the cabin). I have been shopping for a new pair of tennis shoes for a while, but haven't had much luck. My old ones are just plain worn out with a small hole on the side. I have just compensated by wearing my black shoes more often. Lately though, my black shoes have been making my socks damp if it is wet outside. I finally took the time this morning to investigate the soles of my black shoes and found a hole in both of them!!! So they were retired to the trash can and I headed to the mall with Tom and Sam. I promised them if they were good, then we would go to the Holiday Train Garden at a different mall when I was done. I managed to find a pair of name-brand tennis shoes for my price range (under $40) at a store that was having a sale, buy one get one 1/2 off. I couldn't find any black casual shoes that I liked so I put the tennis shoes back and continued my search. I found a pair of black shoes for under $40 at another store that was having the same kind of sale, but they had no tennis shoes that would fit. The second store did have a pair of brown casual shoes that I liked, but I couldn't see spending the money to get those shoes too. So I bought black shoes at one place and tennis shoes at another and wasn't able to take advantage of the sale at all. Now of course, I am thinking of returning the black shoes because they weren't quite what I wanted...
Tom and Sam were very well behaved at the first mall so I traveled to the second mall to pick up my film and let them go to the Holiday Train Garden. It is a huge room full of model trains and Christmas decor. They loved it! For the first time this season, I have felt the holiday spirit and now maybe I can make the Christmas gifts that I am being forced to make.

Vacation...

Somehow vacation never really feels like vacation. I still have all the same responsibilities that I do at home and the added stress of being somewhere not childproof or full of things for kids. The kids had fun and I did get some time to relax here and there. We have to head home a day early due to inclement weather that is forcast for Sunday.
Poor Sam had a rough week. First he ran into a doorframe because he was looking back at the blanket he was dragging. That left a nice bump and bruise on the forehead. Then when we went to the playground, he walked too close to the swing that Jay was on. Jay managed to miss Sam with his feet, but hit him with the swing and his full body weight. It was horrible to watch Sam get hit and do a full head over heels flip flop. Sam now has a huge scrap and bruise on the other side of his face from the first bruise. Sam woke up from his nap the following day after the playground with pinkeye!!! (on the opposite side of his face from the playground bruise). The looks completely beat up!! Plus he has a cold and cough. Poor little guy!
I was hoping to do Christmas pictures this week, but I am not sure if I am going to now. Joe also has a big scratch on his face from playing hide and seek in the yard and bushes.
Well, it is time to head back to the real world. I am going to be extra busy over the next couple weeks with making Christmas presents. This trip did at least give me a idea what to make for Kelly and Nick.

Housekeeping from the Hooiser State

Okay, I have to catch up on a few things.
First) Who are you and what happened to my husband?... On Saturday, I had a Holiday Vendor Event and I needed to get ready. Jay took care of the boys with no questions asked. When I got home at 2 and Jay volunteered to take the kids for haircuts, I mentioned that Sammy needed a cut too. Jay took him! All three boys while I stayed home!! Then, he dropped Sammy off and took Joe and Tom with him to have the oil changed in the truck. Not that I am trying to complain, but this is not normal behavior. Oh, and he made cookies with the boys in the morning while I was working. It was so great!
Second) Rolling, rolling, rolling. It took about 12 hours to drive 10 hours away on Sunday. Joe and Tom kept asking to go potty and I worried that they would have an accident. My gas milage was horrible because I was pulling the empty trailer. We are picking up some furniture from my brother for our basement. We have to replace the ruined couch downstairs.
Third) What is up with Joe? Joe's behavior has been crazy the last few days. Ever since we got to Indiana, he has been kinda out of control! He has been running around the house like crazy. I understand that there aren't many things to do here, but I have really been trying to keep him busy. He didn't want to go to bed last night so he was swinging from the curtain rods and ended up bending them. Thankfully, we were able to bend them back and they weren't broken. We took all the boys to Chuck E. Cheese tonight to celebrate Joe's birthday. We kept joking with Joe all day that we were going to take him out for his dinner, but not to any place fun. We told him we were going to the Veggie House for dinner where they only serve cooked veggies. He was so happy and excited when he saw us pull into Chuck E Cheese. They had a really good time, but then wouldn't go to bed tonight. It was a nightmare! I will be happy when Jay gets here tomorrow, but the house will be really cramped with everyone here. We did find a close by (really awesome) playground today on our walk. I plan to take the boys back again tomorrow.
Okay, enough for now.

Kindergarten

Today was parent visit day at Joe's school. From 9-11, parents are allowed to come in and observe the kids going through their day. I, of course, had to take Sammy and Tommy with me to see. I really wanted to see how Joe acted in class since we have really struggled with his behavior this year and last at school. Tommy was great and sat so still in the seat in order to watch everything the teacher was doing. Little Sam, however, was all over the room, pulling things off of shelves and knocking things over. We only got to stay 10 minutes because I felt like the students were getting off task by having Sam in the room.
Today was also parent/teacher conference for me with Joe's teacher after school. The official conferences are next week, but we will be out of town. I dropped Tommy and Sam with my neighbor and walked over to school in time to see Joe getting on his bus. My neighbor's son is also in Joe's class and she was going to let all the kids play together after school (watching 6 kids at once! Her 3 and my 3).
The conference went about like I expected. Joe won't pay attention to detail. He either won't stay on task and complete his work or he rushes through it and does a cruddy job so he can do something else. He is just too interested in what everyone else is doing and won't focus on Joe. His teacher is out of ideas. His behavior was not great in September, much better in October, but she said it is sliding downhill again. He was on 'red' today. He finished the class day blue, but was then throwing his lunch box while waiting for the bus, and ended the day on red.
Jay has poker night tonight and is due for a night out. I have been so busy lately that I haven't gotten to spend much time with him. I am going out again tomorrow night for scrapbooking. I have a Holiday Open House on Saturday and then we leave on Sunday for Indiana.
Well, I need to go scrape something together for dinner. I'm sure the kids won't eat it and Joe will complain before I even serve it that he doesn't like it or want it. That's just how it is.

The Bad

One of the worst Christmases ever was the year that my mom's mother died two days before Christmas. Grandma was in the hospital for heart problems and was scheduled for open heart surgery on the 23rd. She made it through surgery, but her heart and lungs couldn't function on their own after she was taken off bypass. Since her chances weren't great for the surgery, we all traveled to Arkansas early to vist with her. We celebrated a very subdued Christmas on the 25th and had the funneral on the 27th. As a result, my mom hates being a lone around Christmas. I don't even like looking at pictures of us opening our presents that year because I know that none of us were really in the Christmas spirit.

Preschool Preview Night is finally behind me for the year and I feel like a big weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I stress for weeks leading up to the event about whether or not the event will be a good or not. This year it all went very smoothly and was a great success!

Joe and Tom are very excited about traveling to Indiana on Sunday. They really want to go see Uncle Nick and Aunt Kelly. We have never visited them before so it will be a new experience.

This is day number 2 on the half dose of Lexapro. I am not real thrilled about these side effects. There is a lot of nausea and headaches. Hopefully, in a few days, they will go away. Mood hasn't really improved, but it is too early still and not a full dose.

The Good

Christmas for me is about giving gifts and seeing the reactions I get. It probably comes from my constant need for approval. Unfortunately, our family rips through the gifts so fast, that there are not many reactions.
When I think of my favorite Christmas reactions, I have to think of three years ago with my hubby and last year with my mom. Three years ago, I gave Jay a PS 2 which he had no clue was coming. It was a total shock for him and he was appropiately surprised and thankful.
I have the ability to get the completely wrong thing for my mom. Either she doesn't like it, or it's just not that great. It's a talent that I have. My siblings tend to do well with her, I just trip up and screw it up a lot. Last year, it was finally different for me. I made my mom a scrapbook of all of us kids growing up. She loved it so much she cried. That was the BEST reaction I've ever gotten.

I have our 2nd annual Pre-school Preview Night tonight and I am actually all caught up and ready to go. No last minute running around crazy or feeling behind. Good planning really does work!
Today is also day 1 on Lexapro. My doctor finally prescribed an anti-depressant to help with the depression, the anxiety, and the panic attacks. Unfortunately, some side effects are anxiety and panic attacks. I am starting pretty gradually on it, so hopefully the side effects won't be too bad. I am, however, not allowed to drink on this medication, so my 30th birthday is going to be a really riot, I'm sure.

Drinking in the Dena

Last night, Kira and I took our friend Melissa out for a night on the town. Melissa's hubby has been in the Middle East for the last 4 months, and she couldn't get out since she had no babysitter. We met at Melissa's house and had a beer while we planned our night. We decided to brave Coconut Charlie's which is about 1 mile from my house. I had briefly been in there once before (around midnight on a Saturday) and it was a rougher kinda of place that night. Our thinking was that perhaps it would be okay around 8ish and then we could go to Bamboo Bernies.
We drank Blue Moon's (on tap, with orange slices) and I think I did a shot of something at one point. The details are pretty fuzzy. I remember empting my stomach outside the back of the bar and Melissa and Kira calling me and cab. I think I was threatening to try to walk home. I meant it is only a mile or so and I was wearing a black shirt and would have been walking home, very very drunk on a narrow road with no shoulders. No problem, right? Probably a good thing that I got poured into a cab.
I vaguely remember the cab arriving at my house, but I don't remember getting out, coming in, going upstairs. I do sorta remember trying to sleep on the floor of the half bath. Jay was a good hubby and got me into bed.
Needless to say, I was quite hung over this morning and have swore off massive drinking. Granted I said that 8 years ago, the last time I did something like this.
I spent the day recovering and seem to be none the worse this evening.
We ate dinner at the Double T Diner, which probably has the longest menu
I have ever seen. Food was good, though more expensive than I would have guessed.

Holiday traditions

In a effort to have more holiday spirit, I decided to post some holiday traditions as well as some holiday memories. So keep your eyes out for future posts on the subject of "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly Sweater".
My family and my husband's family both have some holiday traditions. There are some that are important for Jay and not for me and vice versa. Jay's family always traveled to Illnois to spend Christmas while my family almost always stayed home. We always went to the midnight mass service on Christmas Eve, while only Jay's grandparents and mom went to church.
Now that we have our only family, we need to make our own traditions. Unfortunately, my family now trys to celebrate x-mas before Dec. 25th because it is too hard to everyone to get off work for x-mas. That worked okay last year because we then traveled to Illnois and celebrated on Christmas there.
This year, we won't be traveling due to traveling at Thanksgiving and school being in session until the 23rd. We are stuck in a disagreement for what to do on actual Christmas since my fam is celebrating on the weekend before.
Hopefully, we will be able to resolve this problem.

Maybe it's just not meant to be...

Once I started scrapbooking, I kinda wanted a bag to put it all in. I didn't want to spend a lot of money. I was so excited to earn a rolling carryall scrapbooking bag after I had my first Gathering. However, it just seems like it is not meant to be. The first bag I was sent had a handle problem and had to be sent back. The second bag was missing the removable album divider that belongs in the middle. "No problem, we'll send you the piece" says corporate. I happily took my new bag (sans divider) to my first Gathering only to have the front feet snap off! What?!? Are you kidding me?
So tomorrow, I have to try to convince them to send me yet another bag and will have to wait a few more weeks. What if it is just not meant to be?
Anyway, we had a good Gathering tonight (Thanks Jenny!) and I have another one tomorrow night after a kid's b-day party, then a vendor event/party on Saturday (while hubby takes the kids to our neice's b-day party) and a girls' night out tomorrow night.
I am tired and headed off to bed. I hope Sam sleeps tonight. He is sick and not able to sleep since he can't breathe.

"I'd rather have messed up pie than no pie at all"

My husband loves pie. It is his favorite. It pretty much doesn't matter what kind, he just loves pie. He often tells me that homemade pie (with homemade crust) is the best, but he would rather have a store bought crust as long as he gets pie.
Anyway, yesterday, he sat on the couch with a copy of one of my cooking mags and showed me a picture of a pie. I sorta glanced at it and asked if he wanted me to make it. "No, I just thought I'd point it out," he said. What this really means is "Yes, but I don't want to ask or guilt you into anything since I'm sure you are busy enough."
I planned to make the pie today, but forgot to read the receipe before leaving the house for the store. I knew it was three layers and the top layer was Cool Whip (it was in a cool whip ad) and that there was chocolate involved. I was also pretty sure that the crust was an oreo crust. I purchased 1 box of chocolate pudding and a tub of cool whip and was pretty sure I was set. I thought I had an oreo crust at home.
Lo and Behold, I didn't have the crust or the 2nd box of chocolate pudding or the pecans or the 3 oz of semi-sweet chocolate needed for the pie. Instead, I used a grahnam cracker crust, a box of vanilla pudding (to mix with the chocolate), walnuts, and semi-sweet chocolate chips.
I told Jay I messed up the pie he wanted to which he replied "I'd rather have messed up pie than no pie at all."
The pie was perfect and may have been too much chocolate had I followed the directions so I am glad it turned out well.

Proud of our "green" commitment

Earlier this year, Jay and I made a commitment to try to go greener. We wanted to see if we could reduce our trash consistently down to one garbage can on the curb per week. Many in our neighborhood put several cans (not counting recycling) twice a week. We get our trash picked up on Fridays and our recylcing and trash picked up on Tuesdays. I am really proud to say that not only are we consistently a single can of trash, but we usually have only 1 or 2 bags of trash in the can. The can is no where near full! Of course, we also put out 2 1/2 cans of recycing.
How do we do it? Glad you asked! We quit using paper napkins and now use inexpensive wash cloths for napkins. I bought a few sets and they are only used as napkins at meals. We cut down on our paper towel use and try to use washable towels and clothes for spills instead. I use reusable grocery bags instead of plastic sacks. If we do get plastic sacks, we reuse them for trash can liners in the bathrooms or recycle them at the grocery store. We compost all fruit and vegatable matter as well as egg shells and coffee grounds. I buy meat in bulk so there are less styrfoam trays and we recycle anything and everything that can be recycled. Since we use cloth diapers, we don't have the bag of dirty diapers in the can either.
We are very happy with what we have done so far and are challenging ourselves to do even more.
It was 32 degrees yesterday morning so we finally turned the heat on. We only ran it for about 30 minutes until the fire place and woodstove got up to temperature. We are trying to heat only with wood this year since heating oil was so expensive earlier this year. It has come down in price a lot, but we are still going to try to limit our usage of it.

apples, apples and more apples

A while ago, we went apple picking and picked 85 lbs of apples, Mutso and Empire. We have been slowly working our way through them, making apple crisps, apple sauce, apple butter, apple jelly, apple pie, applesauce cake, etc. However, for the last three days, I have just been eating them in large quanity, about 8 a day. I just can't stop craving them. I suppose it is better to crave apples than the Halloween Candy in the house and apples are on the Weight Watchers Core Food Plan.

Speaking of WW, I weighed in last night with a lost of 1.2 lbs. Yeah! Though I have to say that it is a very mild "Yeah" because I have just been relosing (and regaining) the same 10 lbs since March. A loss is still better than a gain and I am hoping that this time, it is gone for good.

Tommy is off school today and is feeling very wound up, even though it is only 9 in the morning. Hopefully, he will calm down a bit. We don't tend to have good days when he is wound up.
Yesterday, we painted Christmas presents at Pic-N-Paint pottery as part of a fundraiser for Molly's Mission. Molly's Mission is raising money for the NICU at Anne Arundel Medical Center. I am more than happy to help raise money for them as they were really great when Sam was under their care. Thankfully, Sam was not under their care for nearly as long as little Molly.

I started the day today at 5:45 and started cleaning in order for a MOMS Club event at my house. The only mom who had RSVP'd called at 8 to explain that her kids were sick and that she would not be attending after all. So my house is partially cleaned and I have now lost motivation to clean the rest.

The sun rises after a long night

A few people are privy to the fact that I have been struggling very hard with depression for about the last two years. Some days, I feel much better and start to have hope that the tide has turned and I am starting to be closer to my own self. Other days (typically nights) are much much harder. I went to bed last night just after 11, feeling rejected for the stupidest of all reasons. The feeling of rejection just got worse and worse as I lay there and, pretty soon, the tears were rolling. For some reason, I try very hard not to let Jay know how bad it really is so I cry very quietly or I get up and leave the room. He is a sound sleeper and rarely notices anyway.
I finally drifted off to sleep well after 1 am and relieved once the sun finally came up morning, since Sam woke me up before 6.

Okay, okay, I promise to work on staying with this. I am hoping that I can motivate myself to keep up with this.
I am also working on staying motivated with Weight Watchers. I did really well this morning and walked for about 2 miles. The dogs were certainly happy to get a long walk in the morning.
I am working on getting ready for my CTMH parties this week. I have two and I am nervous about them. I think they will go well.
Joe is really enjoying kindergarten and his behavior has really improved in the last month.
Sam has gotten very needy in the last several weeks. I can't do anything at all during the day without him screaming and fussing at me. He doesn't mind if I just sit and stare at the wall, but if I try to do anything (dishes, reading, email, etc) he goes crazy! I am losing my mind.

First time blogger!

This is my first time ever writing a blog. I decided to create this blog so that aunts and uncles can keep up with our ever busy lives.
Joe (and Jay and I) will be meeting his kindergarten teacher tomorrow morning for a conference. Her name is Mrs. Maxwell. Joe is very excited about going to school and can't wait. Wednesday is the big day. However in Anne Arundel County, they do a staggered start so that all the kids can have one day in small groups. Joe's first day is Wednesday, but then he doesn't go back until the following Tuesday when everyone goes.
Joe will also be riding the bus to school which is a big joke to me. We can see the school's front door from our house and seems amusing that he has to ride, but Poplar Ridge Road is a busy road and they don't want him to cross the street without a crossing guard (which they won't pay for) and there are no sidewalks. We decided to put him on the bus when it stops across the street to pick up our neighbors so that Joe will actually have time to sit down before they reach the school!
The construction project is going well for us so far. Our old, rotted deck is gone, along with the old windows, old sliding door and the aluminum siding on the back of the house. I repainted the foundation after Jay installed the new windows and the door. Jay just finished the siding on the rear of the house yesterday. We will be working on the deck for the next couple of weeks before moving to the side of the house.
Keep checking back and I will try to update soon.