Perfect Side Dish

Messgetti with a side of snot.

She will be happy to share the recipe with you.

A glimpse into yesterday afternoon.

I have been watching Ashton, our wonderful friends' baby this past week (that should explain the lack of posts). I was asked to take some pictures of her in her fancy schmancy flower girl dress. I got Ashy all dressed up and took her outside to take some quick shots.

After I took some pictures of her, I thought, 'Ashton can't be the only cute one in that dress.' So I ripped it off, I mean I asked Ashton if Clara could borrow the dress for just a couple of minutes.

I took this picture and a few more. While I was doing that,

this is what was going on in the playpen inside the house.

I bet you a million bucks this kid had something to do with it. The goatee is a little too perfect looking for a 10 month old to do. It has 3 year old written all over it.

A little religion for you.

Steve and I had to stay after for church this afternoon to renew our recommends. We had both kids with us. While Steve was in his interview, I was trying to keep Thomas under control. He was starting to run around and I said, “Thomas, we don’t run in the church. It is Jesus’ house.”

When we were finished with the first round, we had to make our way over to the stake center to meet with the stake presidency. Thomas was bouncing off the walls at this point (who can blame him after being at church for 4 hours). He started to pull the cushions off the couch in the Stake Presidents office. I turned to him and said, “Thomas, leave those cushions alone! We are in Jesus’ house and we need to be good.” He turned to me, and with a completely amazed look said, “You mean Jesus has TWO HOUSES?!!!”

"It's not going to happen, Mom."

Yesterday I tried to get some shots for Clara's Birthday invitations. The photo shoot didn't go as well as I had hoped.

You can see the evidence for yourself below...

Thomas wanted to make sure that he contributed his part.

Another Giveaway

No, this time it is not an apron. This is for all you women (and men) out there who don’t care if your crock-pot salsa chicken splatters all over your white t-shirt (yes, Aim, I mean you).

First, you need a little background information…

We are bad DVD renters.

We really need to sign up for Net Flix, but to tell you the truth, I am a little impatient, and I don’t think I could wait for the movies on my list, let alone not know exactly what one is going to come. So when Blockbuster Video came out with their new policy about never paying late fees again, we were thrilled. This was our kind of place, especially since we owed a lot of money to Hollywood Video and would often drive out of the way to avoid the strip mall where it was located. We didn’t want the clerks who think they work in the move industry chasing after us, yelling Two Dollars! Two Dollars! (Please refer to Better Off Dead for the Two Dollars quote.) Although they would most likely be shouting Twenty Dollars.

Anyway, about a long time ago, Steve rented two movies for me, Made of Honor and Definitely Maybe. We watched the movies, and then they sat. They sat so long they actually collected a layer of dust on the case. We would have returned them, but we kept forgetting. Then we would remember, and then forget. Robo Blockbuster Man even called a couple of times, but we never really listened to what he had to say. We would just think ‘oh, yeah. We need to get those back to the store.’ and then hang up on him. We eventually returned them and thought all was good with the universe once again.

Until last Friday.

Steve took Thomas to rent a DVD for family movie night. When he went to the counter to rent the movies, the clerk said something to the effect like.. “You dummy, you returned the movies that you bought because you didn’t bring them back on time.” He quickly made his way into the back room and brought out our DVDs that we were now the owners of. This was the part when Steve got really angry and covered Thomas’s ears while he let Blockbuster know exactly what he thought. Then the clerk said all the stuff they are trained to say like ‘we called, it’s on the bottom of the receipt, yada, yada , yada…these movies are now yours. Congratulations.’

So Steve came home with 4 DVDs instead of 2. 2 that we now own and 2 that we rented. So because I will probably never watch Definitely Maybe again, I am using it as my give away. Just for fun and because it is late and I can’t sleep.

So, comment away before Sunday at midnight. I want to see my stat counter hit 10,000 within the next two days, and I don‘t have time to sit around refreshing it all by myself.

Lesson Learned #42353B

This morning, Thomas had preschool. Most preschool days I make sure that I am showered, dressed, and even have make up on because there is always interaction with the other moms. Today wasn't one of those days. We all woke up late. When I looked at the clock, I realized I had a decision to make. Get the kids dressed and make them breakfast, or quickly take a shower and get ready. I decided the kids needed to eat, and that I couldn't send Thomas to school in his jammies (The first time was bad enough!). I would take one for the team and shower after dropping him off. Five minutes before we had to be in the car I ran upstairs and threw on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt.

We made it to school on time, and I started to drive home, but then... I was already out. I really had to pick up a couple things at Wal Mart, and it is so much easier to shop with one kid rather than two. I made the bad decision to run over there and grab what I needed. I knew I would run into people, I always do. But I figured 'who cares. It's Wal Mart, not Target. Plus, it's not like anyone's going to say anything.' Wrong.

I was in the fabric department buying a button and a little old man and his wife stopped to play with Clara. I should say that I had Clara's hair pulled up into a ponytail on her head. I also had my hair pulled up, something that us people with short hair should not do in pubic. As the friendly seniors were walking away, the wife turned to Clara and said, "it's so cute, you and your mommy have the same hair-do."

I didn't think it was so cute.

Bone to pick

Dear manufactures of mens' socks,

I have a question that has been on my mind for close to 9 years now. I am finally frustrated enough to ask. Why, why, why do you make black and blue socks so similar in color? Do you know the stress you cause me? They really all look the same unless you take them to the window, hold them up to the sunlight and squint your eyes together so you can try to decipher the difference.

I look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

A wife and mother who has nothing better to do than try to figure out what color socks she is pairing up.

The path to Hell...

Things I wanted to accomplish today vs. things I actually accomplished today.

1. I wanted to get up early and get a good start on the day.
Instead, Thomas woke me up at 8:30. I made him get in bed with me. I turned on PBS for him so I could squeak out and extra 30 minutes of sleep while he watched “Educational TV.”

2. I wanted to wash my floors.

I really washed the “upper” level, but never made it down into the family room / office area.Instead I had my nephew over and let the boys run in and out of the house tracking in dirt and mud. I’ll just do it again tomorrow and finish up everything I didn’t get to.

3. I wanted to get all my laundry finished.
I really only stuck one load in and have not advanced it. At this point I risk having it smell like mildew, so I am just going to let it rot overnight and run it again in the morning.

3. I planned on getting back on my diet today.
Instead I started the morning off with two brownies. It was all downhill from that point. I lost count of the amount of tootsie rolls I consumed. I think the only healthy thing I have eaten all day is a fiber one bar (and is that really healthy? Wait…I did have 2 slices of banana bread. Aside from the sugar and flour, bananas are good for you, right?).

4. I planned on creating a menu for the week and doing my grocery shopping today.
Instead, I played around on the Internet while Thomas and Maverick played and Clara slept. I figured we could go one more day and I would just make something from the freezer. Instead, it is now 6:00 pm and we are going to Costco for hot dogs as soon as the baby wakes up from her nap she should have taken from 2:00-4:00.

Then again...Cafe Rio is in the same parking lot. Why not just end the bad diet day with a bang!

Winner!

I know you are all sitting on the edge of your seats and that you couldn't sleep last night because you were so anxious to hear who won.

Drum roll please.....

Tana did!

Yeah for her! darn for the rest of you!

Check back again, because I love doing this and will do it again in a couple weeks.

(Heidi, you were disqualified from this contest because you already get to pick one out because I convinced you to give me your serger. It pays to be a push-over.)

New Baby

Today Clara and I went to Target. (Oh, how I love Target, especially when I don't have both kids and I can meander all over the store.) I wanted to go check out the Halloween clearance and see if there were any costumes the kids could use to play dress up. Unfortunately, all they had left were dog costumes, and since I have human kids, I couldn't stock up.

I was standing in front of one of the end caps checking out the other junk they had for sale when Clara started going crazy. She was using her I-want-that-and-am-going-to explode-if-you-don't-hand-it-to-me gestures. I quickly tried to figure out what she wanted, and was horrified when I realized she wanted the scary little "baby" that screams like a banshee when you press the red spider. I handed it to her and she just smiled and giggled and hugged and kissed it. I pressed the spider for her thinking she would have a melt down when the ghoul started screaming, but she continued giggling. She loved it. She held onto it the entire time we were in the store and kept handing it to me to press the button. I am sure all the other shoppers thought I was pretty demented.

She loves the light up eyes. I hope she doesn't like it because it reminds her of me on my PMS days.

She loves her new baby. I wonder if it would be an appropriate church toy?

...neither shalt thou bury thy talent that it may not be known.

After mastering rubbing his stomach and patting his head, Thomas is now working on touching his tongue to his nose.

(Just so you know, his fingernails have been cleaned since this picture was taken.)

Random things made me happy today, so I am hosting an apron give-away!

1. I didn't have ANYTHING that I had to do, so I was able to stay home and actually do this thing called laundry. I have been so busy this past week that the shirts, socks, and underoos have been reproducing like rabbits. I broke my record today and did 5 loads - and actually enjoyed sitting down to fold it. Go figure.

2. Thomas was outside playing this afternoon and kept calling me to come see something. When I made my way out into the backyard he stood still for a moment, stepped to the side, and yelled "surprise!" Behind him was a random marigold that had bloomed in our grass. He was so excited to show it to me. After he showed off his discovery, he picked it for me and said I can put it in water and watch it grow.

2. Clara and Thomas played in his room for about an hour today. As much as it pains me to see her growing up so fast, it is fun to see the two of them entertain each other.

3. Thomas found a stick outside and asked me, "Do sticks grow?" I told him that sticks only grow when they are on trees. This is what I found about a couple hours later.

I think I might go get a bigger stick tonight and replace this one just for fun.

4. The election is OVER! My phone rang several times today and each time I answered it, it was an actual human that I wanted to talk to.

5. These brownies.

Brownies
1 package fudge brownie mix
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 tsp pure peppermint extract

Cook brownies in a 9 x 13 inch pan according to package directions (adding chocolate chips and peppermint extract to the dry mix). While brownies are still warm, frost with:

Mint Frosting

1/2 cup melted margarine

2 cups powdered sugar

2 TBS milk

1 tsp pure peppermint extract

2-3 drops green food coloring

Place brownies in refrigerator for 1 /2 hour. Then glaze.

Glaze

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

6 tablespoons butter or margarine

Melt chips a butter together and pour over cooled brownies. Store in refrigerator.

6. My apron sale is over. Last night there was a little open house at the clubhouse in our neighborhood. I sold some aprons, but have several left I can now use for Christmas presents. I am SO GLAD the sale is over. I am not big on the whole sell-what-you-make thing, too much rejection when people see the price.

so...
In honor of my sale being over and me being happy about it, I am going to give away one of these aprons to a lucky person who comments before Sunday at midnight. The winner will not know what one it is until they receive it (guaranteed to be cute!).

Remember back when it was Halloween?

We had a great Halloween. Hope you all did, too.

Thomas continued his reign as Superman, but we put Clara in the duck costume I made for Thomas 3 years ago. She wasn't too thrilled with the hat (can't blame her).

We started off trick-or-treating with my brothers family, but just like every other year, we end up trailing behind. Thomas was having fun just taking it all in and taking his time. After about an hour and a half, Clara and I decided to throw in the towel. However, Thomas wanted to keep going, "forever, and ever, and ever." So the girls went home, and the boys stayed out for another 30 minutes or so.

The one shot we have of her smiling in her hat.

Thomas and Steve have a yearly tradition of carving the pumpkins. Thomas said he needed a scary face and Clara needed a happy face.

See, I told you she looks like Liberace in her costume.

Missing: My Baby!

I find it so hard to believe that Clara is 11 months old today. A year ago, I was huge, cranky and counting down the days until her birth. Now, I am going crazy trying to keep her off the stairs, or things out of her mouth. She is really developing a personality, she is feisty, and knows what she wants. She will grunt, point, and flap her arms until you hand her what she has her mind on. She loves to wrestle and can hold her own with Thomas and Daddy. Last night she was body slamming both of them. She would stand up, hold her hands above her head and slam her whole body down on top of the chosen offense. She is SO MUCH FUN!

She loves to un-do her dos. Her hair is always a mess because she likes to pull out her ribbons or headbands

I fear that once she is weaned, she will be through with me. She is in LOVE with her daddy. She lights up when he is in the room and reaches for him whenever he is around.

Not fair.

Someone needs to find a way to explain daylight savings to the little people.