My funny boy! and Valentines Day

Today as I was reading a book to E boy, I pointed to a picture of chickens and sask him what they were.

He replied "Baw-kens".
How funny!
(Do you get it? Chickens say Bawk..he got a little confused!)

I laughed so hard.

I also booked an overnight stay at a indoor water park for our family Valentines Day present!
We go Feb 5, got a good deal=)
Excited
(not about the bathing suit thing though)

Wordless Wednesday times 2

One picture of my Callie and my hubby!



And one hilarious picture of my cute son! (When I found this I couldn't resist posting two today!)

My baby is back

I am not really a dog person. They are cute and I like to pet them and stuff, but I hate barking, urination on my stuff and them being under my feet constantly (aren't 2 kids enough?)

But my brother has this adorable Boxer named Callie, and I LOVE her. She is sweet and this dog never barks, I love it!

We are watching her for about a week, and I am sure I will be done with her by then, but currently I am enjoying her!

I have a cute picture for Wordless Wednesday tommorow!

a fraction of the time

FINALLY!!
My washer and dryer are now fixed. Previously (before Christmas) you heard me ramble about my broken washer, and how I got the part and put it in myself. Well it turns out that was not the problem ($100 dollars I did not need to spend) and though it was working better it still wasn't right (random times between cycles, up to an hour). The dryer also decided it would take 2-3 cycles to dry a load completely, I have just been putting off the fix or replacement, I have better things to spend my money on. But it became a BIG headache to do laundry. 1 whole day to do 2-3 loads, YUCK.

So Mr fixer guy solved both of y problems and charged me $85. (I gave him a nice tip because he has been here 3 other times and not charged).

But they are fixed and now my love of doing the laundry is back!
(I really do like it! It get to go in the basement and be in quiet while I fold clothes...my escape!)
Such and interesting post=)

Wondering?

Today as I was cleaning our room (we are having family over for a birthday dinner for hubby tomorrow), I wondered why it is people put their guest coats on their bed?
I tried a few phrases in google and couldn't find the origin.
Do you know why people do this?
Just wondering?

Almost there

I did get A LOT done on closing out our business today.
I was behind, so I had to do Oct-Dec monthly Income/Expense report and I did it!
You get so much done with no kids around...LOL.
Still have stuff to do, but I can see the light, that makes me SMILE.
Thanks for all the smiles that were sent my way, they kept me going!!

I am grateful my husband took Eboy with him today. A nice break, I must say. Wish I could have been doing other things, but nonetheless I was grateful.
I even got a pass from cooking.
Whenever I say Costco the mouths start watering for hot dogs, pizza and churros!
We had to get Josh a cake and some stuff to make lots of lasagna for Josh's birthday dinner with my family on Saturday, and his on Sunday.
We love going to Costco, not sure why, we must be boring people=)
Anyway, I know I need t post something more interesting soon, so I will be thinking 'bout it.
Any ideas?

The Will Question

My MIL called the other day to ask if we would be willing o be legally responsible for her kids, under 18, if something was to happen to her an her husband. I guess I already figured that would be the case and my husband did too so we are now...or whenever they get the will finished...legal guardians of my husbands sibling if anything was to happen to their parents. Currently there are 4 under the age of 18, but soon there will only be 3.

I was joking with her and told her as long as they ha left us with a good life insurance policy on them...LOL.
If they don't have one they better call for a term life insurance quote soon.

We don't have a will but have talked about getting one many times.
We should get a move on it for our kids sake.

Fun Fun

Mgirl is at school.
Hubby and Eboy are out.
I am left to close out the year for our business. Been dreading and avoiding it, now I HAVE to do it.

Send me smiles, I will need them=)

::Taste Testing::

I have been asked to taste test a few Grey Poupon mustards and here are my thoughts:

I found a recipe that called for a specific brand of spicy brown mustard, to make a cheesy mustard sauce, since I had the Grey Poupon handy I decided to us that instead. It turned out wonderful.



My husband and I had much fun making and tweaking a new recipe with a new ingredient!
Here is the final product:


We also were very fond of the Hearty Spicy Brown Mustard on ham sandwiches. The Coarse Ground Mustard was not a hit though, I am not a texture person. Mustard is something we do already love in this house, so trying one we may have not tried on our own was fun, plus it brought back fond memories of my childhood.

I used to carpool with this family of boys, crazy boys. They were always yelling things out the window at people, and I was quite the shy one, so this embarrassed me big time. But they always thought it was fun to yell "Pardon me sir, do you have any Grey Poupon?" at old people driving by...LOL. If you grew up in the 80's I am sure you remember that commercial! And I am sure you have used that line yourself at some point.

Back to it

I haven't blogged in awhile, just because I needed a break and we were out of town.

We got to go to our friends new house and help them move ( about 3.5 hours away), the kids were at my aunts house one night and my parents the other night. We had a nice little break from kids, house, business etc. I was much welcomed.

Josh turned 29 yesterday! Old man...oops, I actually told him I would leave him alone and not call him old for another year, it is hard though!! LOL. I will be 27 in March and that feels really weird.

Back to having to worry about school. I have an assignment due today but I can't do it because my book isn't here..uggg. Starting off the semester with a big fat zero, nice.

Well gotta run. E is not staying in his bed for his nap and I do have some English work I can do. Or I might just eat a little snack and take a snooze myself.

I want a mixer so bad!!! and My Old Navy Trip

So why not try to win one!

But before I tell you how... let me tell you about my trip to Old Navy today! I am sure most of you have heard that they are having their fabulous 50% off all clearance sale. And since I love great deals ( I usually will not buy clothing for full price...I ALWAYS start at the clearance racks!) I couldn't pass up the chance to to SAVE!! So I went today and got...
Me- 3 tanks, 1 pair of sequin ballet flats, & a 3/4 sleeve t-shirt for $13
Josh- 2 button down long sleeve shirts for about $10
Merci-2 plain tanks, 2 cutsie tanks, a pair of school uniform shorts, bermuda jean shorts, 1 long sleeve cute shirt, 1 khaki skirt for right about $20 (a little less)
Ethan- 2 button down long sleeve shirts, jean jacket (only $3), 2 pairs of socks, 1 set of pj's for $13

$3.00 was the magic price. And nothing over, that I kept, $4.75!!!

I did have to decide what to keep and what not too after trying stuff on, and realizing I spent a little more than I wanted.

I overheard the lady tell someone the sale ends today, not sure if that is true, but you better hurry up!

So now here I got trying to win a mixer:

A Cowboy’s Wife is having a contest on her food blog! You can win a Hamilton Beach® Stand Mixer and she’ll ship anywhere so everyone is eligible!

Cheap textbooks!

School has started again.
But I am not worried about it, I am only taking 1 class this semester=) Last semester was too much for me.
I am in English, it is mostly about poetry (yuck), good thing I have a husband who loves English and can help me=)
(since when does poetry have anything to do with English??)

I just realized that I should probably get my books, since class started last Saturday.
I am not feeling well (sinuses) so I was annoyed that I would have to lug E and drive a half hour to the campus(there is actually a campus 10 minutes from here but I would be too scared in the neighborhood) to buy over-priced books.

My husband came up with a good solution:
call and find out the price and check on-line for cheaper books.
Why didn't I think of that? I'm sick...that's my excuse and I am sticking to it=)

The price of the main book used was $50...yuck.
Well I got 2/3 books on half.com for less than $30, and that was with shipping.
YAHOOO! I just saved a 1 hour round trip drive, a headache from lugging E with me and lots of moolah. ( not to mentioned I would have probably detoured to Target, Toys R Us or event eh mall while out there)

I am a happy camper today=)

Did you have something exciting happen to you today?

Highlighting!

I want to highlight one of my favorite places to stop.

Would be 5 minutes for Mom. They always have great things to giveaway. Today you can sign up to win a Red '65 Mustang Pedal Car
from their fabulous on-line store www.pedalcarsandretro.com
They have MANY pedal cars to choose from.
My husband loves Mustangs and I know he would love to see our son follow in his footsteps.

They are always have great giveaways or just highlighting some great products.
They have great stories and keep me entertained.
If you don't stop there already I suggest you check them out.

::Fabulousness::

This morning E and I went to visit Bek and her boys. We took lunch and played for a bit, Bek is due in 6 days so I thought she could use some distraction. Sometimes our play time becomes difficult, traing 2 3 year old boys to get along and share is tricky, but I think God is working in them and in us as moms.

My husband was home early due to the wonderful snow that is gracing us with it's presence.

He took E and went to pick up Merci for me. 1 hour of fabulous quiet and all about me time.

Haven't had this in awhile. I turned on a wonderful worship cd, made some green tea and honey (sinuses are messed up again), and cut coupons from the Sunday paper ( I love coupons!!), now I am spending just a few minute here and then I am off to do some more stuff without interruptions!!

Awe...the quiet!
Hope you get to enjoy some YOU time today!
You deserve it=)

Valentines Swap

Another swap, how fun. I did the Christmas ornament exchange and it was great, I never did post pics but I got some great green snowflake ornaments and a very pretty angel one.

Kailani at Island Life is at it again, this time she is hosting a Valentines Day Goody Swap!!



You should sign up!
It is a great way to meet new bloggers, and send fun gift to people.
I love gift giving so I think it is fun=)

Here are my answers to the Valentines questionnaire:

What is your idea of a romantic Valentine’s Day?
Anything with my hubby, but who wants to babysit your kids n Valentines Day??I love when my husband picks stuff out for me on his own, without help or suggestions from me. A card with a few sweet words would really be fine!

In reality, what is your Valentine’s Day really like?
Nothing out of the ordinary. My husband isn't a holidays person. Last year we got a Wii as a family Valentines gift, I think I like the who family idea.

If you could have a lifetime supply of your favorite sweet indulgence, what would it be?
I have to pick just one? Reese's Peanut Butter cups or mini M&M's, Laffy Taffy is great too.

Is there any sweet treat you absolutely do not like?
Black liquorice (does anyone like this stuff?), and I am not too fond of nuts in my food.
I really don't like boxes of chocolate either, I don't like surprises in my food.

If you fell into a pool of chocolate, how would you get out?
I would probably jump in, it's good for your skin, right??

Hopefully something I can stick to

I have been a lurker on Candi's blog ~~All Day Night~~
She takes part in this thing called Menu Plan Monday. I like the idea and meed to get more organized in my meal planning. We have been eating out a lot due to my lack of planing and motivation.
So I would like to do this.
Not sure I will post it every Wednesday, but I will randomly.

I will not assign a day, I like to decide daily what I will make, so I will post 6 meals and not assign days!



1.) Grilled Chicken and Twice Baked Cauliflower* (idea from Candi who got it from somewhere else!)
2.) Beefy Mushroom Meatballs* (made with Turkey, I don't eat beef)
with veggies.

3.) Tex Mex Cream of Chicken Soup

4.)Pretzel crusted chicken breast with Cheddar Mustard sauce (Rachael Ray)*
and steamed broccoli.

5.) Italian Mini meatloaves (Kraft Food and Family)

6.) Flat Bread pizza's and salad/cut up veggies (for kids)

7.) Sunday is always CORD day! (Clean Out Refrigerator Day)

I am so sick of the same old meal. I need some ideas!!!

My day

Church, home for lunch and naps, ( I did manage to do some dishes and laundry), do some paid blogging, go to home group, home for bedtime, on the couch for relaxing time with hubby!

Exciting? Nope.
Hopefully a more intriguing post tomorrow=)

Tax Help

It is time again that we need to start thinking about our taxes. Yuck. Because we have a small business I take care of all the kind of stuff, and I really don't like it, but gotta do it.
I hope that it isn't a stressful thing for you, but if it is, it doesn't have to be. Do you owe back taxes? Do you need help with tax questions. Well, then American tax reliefcan help you. Check them out and see what they have to offer. Get you questions answered!

Changing technology

With all this changing technology I can't keep up. All I know is that it cost a lot of money, money we don't have to spend on stupid stuff like TV's and new electronics equipment. I don't understand all this high definition stuff, High def TV's, high def radio, and because of all this new stuff you need to go buy all this new HDMI stuff to go with it. etc etc. Crazy. Maybe if we didn't rely so much on entertainment we wouldn't be unhappy with what we have.
I am happy with what I have, thank you very much!

Skating didn't go as planned

Merci had a great lesson, but E didn't get to skate. He decided to throw a big fit before we left and deliberately disobeyed me 2 times before we could get out the door. I am usually the sucker who gives in but I am turning over a new leaf and will be true to my words. We will try again next week. I really wanted to let him, I saw all these other little kids doing it, and knew he would have fun. But hopefully I am one step closer to getting him to know that I mean what I say.

We all came home and ate lunch and took naps.

Tonight we are off to use the rest of our Cold Stone Creamery gift card=)

Tools

Another thing my husband loves it tools. Let me just say this, we have a 2 car garage and I can't park in there, yep filled with tools. He has anything you need, yet he thinks he doesn't. I bet he would love to get some more Ingersoll Rand air tools.

I guess I can't complain much because he does save us lots of money when he fixes our cars.
He also makes me stuff, like shelves and furniture.
He is very good with tools and loves to play for hours in the garage.

Just be happy, would ya

My husband has a really nice truck, a 2003 F 250. We got it for a GREAT price and I sometimes wish he would just be happy. I am glad our business is going well, and I am glad he has enough money to buy 20 huge ladders, but I don't understand why he has to carry all of them at one time?


Yeah, any truck will be too small when you carry all your crap with you at the same time.
He loves looking at auto accessories for his truck, and I guess I do agree that he needs new boxes, because his don't lock. But that is all truck boxes and then be done, Please!

Need a vaction?

I think I need a vacation. My mom, aunts and grandma just got back from a beautiful warm place. My mom was telling me about all the wonderful places they visited and I just wanted to cry. I NEED A VACATION to a warm beautiful place, please just once? I feel like it will never happen, but hopefully it will. I would love to rent some beautiful Condo Hotels and just have a nice relaxing vacation.

Ice Skating #1

Today is the first ice skating lessons for Merci.
Last week was just the test to see what class to put them in, but today is the real thing!
I am excited to see what she learns and how well she does listening!
I think I may even try to get E out on the ice for open skate.
I know he wants to do it, just not sure he physically can.
I am sure he will surprise me.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Cheap Prescription glasses

I am excited to find this Great Discovery: www.ZenniOptical.com. They have very reasonably priced glasses.
This comes in handy for people without eye care insurance ( like us).
Zenni Optical can offer such great prices because they only sell frames that they manufacture.
I don't care who makes the glasses, as long as they look good, especially for my 3 yo son who has to wear glasses, he's gotta be cute!
They have a great selection of styles and types.
Check them out next time you have to pick out prescription glasses.

Flaunt it Friday!

The Mommy Kelly at Taken With a Grain of Salt hosts a fun posting challenge on Friday's
Flaunt it Friday
is the name of the game.

Today we had to take a photo of the inside of our refrigerator.
::Yikes::
Mine is quite messy.
I usually like to keep it organized, but whatever.
I can't be perfect.

And I bet you couldn't tell there is a 9 lb. ham in there...rotting.
Long Story= cooked it too long, was very nasty, didn't want to waste it, was gonna make dog food for my aunt, never did, forgot to toss it on garbage day ...if I put it in the can out back the neighborhood cats will get into it...gotta wait until next wednesday=(

Anyway Here it is:



In the first picture there was a bag of shredded cheese covering our stash on Smirnoff Ice's, so I took a closer picture for you. (I feel like a liquor store, we bought a few6 packs for New Years and nobody drank much, so we have a ton left..Oh well, it will be consumed!)
We aren't big drinkers, so it might take awhile.

Can't wait to see your fridge!

Short lived

I am back. I know, that was short.
I decided I would just control my time on the computer the next few days, instead of not doing it at all, I wouldn't want to set myself up for failure.
Plus my husband thinks I should just not dwell on the issue right now.
And don't worry, we are all fine, just a big decision we have to make about something, so fasting and praying lots is in my future.

Sad I missed Wordless Wednesday, maybe I will do one today, or maybe not.

I am trying to comment more, I hope you all notice!
Maybe you should comment more here too!!!
::Wink::Wink::
I like friends=)

Fasting....

e-mail, blog, MySpace, Facebook...anything for my entertainment. I can only use this for research for the rest of the day maybe until Friday, we will see. I have a pressing issue I need to concentrate on.

This will be hard, but I feel it will be beneficial for me.

Will miss you all=)

Ethan's prayer and more!

We always pray with our kids before bedtime, and I have encouraged Ethan to pray on his own as well. He has been doing so well, but this is hi sprayer for everything (bedtime, dinner...)

"Jesus, Help our bodies feel good, Daddies and Ethans and mommies and Mercis and everyone in our town. Amen"

I think the everyone in out town part is pretty funny, because town is not a word we usually say around here. He is too cute!

Ethan's breathing seems to be getting better. I guess he was up a lot last night.
(Here is where I have to admit that, I rarely hear the kids at night, not sure why, Josh always get up with them...I try to tell him he is dreaming, because I don't see how I can just sleep through them crying and Josh getting out of bed...at least he hears them.)

For Christmas Merci got Ethan a Spiderman ( his newest infatuation) puzzle.



I wasn't sure he would be able to do it ( age 3+ 24 pc). Christmas Day he showed me how wrong I was.
After a long day at my Grandmas we came home and had to keep the kids occupied for a few hours before bedtime, without falling asleep ourselves. Ethan found the puzzle, opened it and proceeded to sit at the kitchen table for an hour putting it together. I helped him with only 5 pieces. I was amazed.
He still sits at the table and puts the puzzle together and takes it apart about 3 times a day...all by himself now.


I am so amazed because Merci can't even do the 24 piece puzzles, she gives up so quickly.

We have enjoyed the 60+ degree days but back to low 40's tommorow=(
We even walked to the corner store and got ice cream to eat on our porch...our Summer tradition, but today we had ice cream on our porch in JANUARY!


We are really anticipating Spring now.

Ethan had fun watching daddy work on the car from way up high (Yes someone was right next by him)


Good Night.

Why I didn't post

I didn't have time to post yesterday because it was freaking 66 degrees here. What the heck??
January, the coldest month of the year and we had a 66 degree day.

We had some running around to do during the day, but after school we went outside, rode bikes, mommy vacuumed the very messy car and raked up some leaves, the kids played and had so much fun. Anticipating Spring already=)

Ethan's breathing isn't very good, he had wheezing and a seal bark cough, I shouldn't have let him out to run. Waiting for him to wake so I can see how he is doing. My poor baby=(

We are watching my aunts dog and he likes to roll in nasty smelling stuff outside, so Josh and I ventured to bathe him last night...he did good, but he kept eying my like he was gonna bite me had off. I like dogs, other people's dogs, but I have realized I am NOT a dog owning
person. Kids are enough work.

We ended the night with a movie, Captain Morgan Pineapple Orange coolers and some pretzels!

Exciting...I know;)

After Dinner Mint

is the kind of ice cream creation I got at Cold Stone Creamery last night ( I LOVE that place). My brother got us a gift card so we decided to share with the kids.

After Dinner Mint-Dark Chocolate Mint ice cream with Oreo, marshmallow and shaved chocolate (which I didn't get).
Josh got apple dumpling A La Mode with half vanilla bean ice cream and half sweet cream ice cream.
Merci got coffee ice cream with gummy bears.
Ethan got cotton candy ice cream with gummy bears.
We then came and put our crazy kids to bed.

-------------------------------------------

Merci had ice skating today, they tested to see what level the kids needed to sign up for.
Merci is in basic 1.
She did good.
I even put on some skates afterward and got some exercise.
It would have been good if the skated were sharp.
But it was fun nonetheless.

Gold Anklets

My mom has been looking for a cute gold anklet for awhile now.
She is very picky, so I should send her to this site and maybe she will actually find one she likes.

I am not a real jewelry person, but have been getting more into accessorys lately.
I have a lot of necklaces, but that is about all.
I actually have a gift card from Christmas just waiting to be spent on some more cute necklaces!

Donating your car

I love to hear about great companies like Car Angel.
Car Angel is a non-profit company who uses proceeds from danted cars to make videos for children of all ages.

Like this video that is subtitled in Spanish to teach great messages.
http://youtube.com/user/boatangel

I wish I would have known, 2 of my brothers were trying to give away their old cars that needed too much work. They ended up selling them for like $100.
I am sure they would have donated their car if only they would have known.

If you have a car you are no longer in need of, why not consider to donating?

If you choose todonate car to Car Angle you know your gesture will go to make someone happy.

Rental Car

This past Summer, my dad's car got hit by a motorcycle. There was a lot of damage so he had to get a rental car. At first they gave him a pick up truck, which wasn't going to work since he drives all over the state for his job (bad gas mileage). Next they gave him a BRAND spanking new Chrysler 300, it seriously only had 4 miles on it. It was a nice car, he drove when we went to he beach and boy were me and the 2 kids comfy in that back seat!
If you have a Chrysler 300 check out this
Chrysler 300 accessory site.

Routine!

We are back to our normal routine (even though we don't have a real set routine).

Merci is back at school, so we have to be up at a certain time, and E has to nap at a certain time, we have to leave to get Merci at a certain time, and I have to remember to shower before I leave...LOL.

A few fun things:

1.) I wanted to start a circle journal for my side of the family this year. I cut out an article about circle journals YEARS ago. It has always been in the back of my mind. It kinda just happened, while at Target the other day I randomly remembered and found the perfect little journal.
I started it today! i have yet to tell my family we are doing this, but half of the family is out of town for a wedding, so I have until next weekend to finish all that I want to do with it.

2.) M starts ice skating lessons tomorrow, for FREE (well $1 skate rental per week) at our local outdoor ice rink (that is right around the corner and only realized was there not too long ago).

3.) Our bathroom is almost complete. I haven't talked much about it, but I will tell the story someday!

Well I am going to go now and work on my first entry in the circle journal, while my cute hubby plays Forza!

And if you are curious...I am LOVING my iphone!!!!
I read blogs and check my e-mail every morning before I get out of bed.
I have yet to do a blog post on it though.

TaTa

Wordless Wednesday

I am loving it!

Sharing the ipod!