Counting the days!

My brother-in-law is to be married in June. Of course my parents-in-law will be here to attend the wedding. Out of the kindness of their hearts, they have offered to stay the week after the wedding to babysit the kiddos so Big Daddy and I can take a trip. We spent WEEKS combing the internet for a good deal. Hawaii... too expensive, Florida... too spring break, Caribbean... a little out of budget, Central America... do-able. Alright so where to go? We looked at Cabo and Puerta Vallarta, Mazatlan, Playa Del Carmen, thought about Belize or Costa Rica (unfortunately both were a little pricey), so where did we finally decide? Cozumel, Mexico. Cozumel is a little island off of the tip of the Yucatan Peninsula, not far from Cancun or Tulum. We found a swanky all-inclusive little number that provides 4 restaurants, grills and buffets, all the liquor (top shelf included) and many excursions. We will get an hour with the dolphins at the dolphinarium next door and the hotel has a little pier where you can jump right into the water to snorkel. You can rent a convertible VW Beetle for $25 a day, or $15 for a scooter if you're brave enough! The hotel is within walking distance to the main downtown area and you can take a free ferry over to the mainland. I will have to figure out how to deal with the boat ride, me and boats don't jive (can you say GREEN!), but if I could hang we would be able to hit the mainland and take that tour of Chichen Itza that we didn't take and regretted the last time we were in the Yucatan. We will have a gorgeous ocean-view room complete with a hammock on the balcony and a two-person jetted tub that is situated so we can enjoy the view while hot-tubbing! Fun!

I am SOOOO looking forward to this! I have not had an honest to goodness VACATION for at least 6 years. In fact, I think the last true destination vacation was in 1996, Big Daddy and I hit Waikiki Beach on Oahu for a week after I graduated from college. So 12 years since our last vacation? That is just too damn long! I guess we'll be spending our government "stimulus check" in Mexico, ARRIBA! I just know that I'm achin' to have my toes in the sand and drink in my hand! Now for the hard part, waiting another 2 1/2 months before I can go!

I've run into a slump... again!

It's weird, there have recently been many things that I have wanted to blog about, HOWEVER, I just can't seem to get off my duff and do it! I was greatly amused by the announcement of the 7 NEW deadly sins (as if the first 7 weren't enough) and I am greatly disturbed by the state of California and the measures they are taking to keep parents from homeschooling unless they have teaching credentials. So both are good, meaty subjects, but I just have a block! I don't know if I'm just unmotivated, plain lazy or overwhelmed by a crabby baby and the whole rigamarole that I'm dealing with in regards to insurance policies and whatnot. It kind of seems like when it rains it pours! I feel like I have spent the entire week gathering quotes and crunching numbers. Insurance pisses me off! I think I finally have my ducks in a row as far as auto and homeowner's, but we decided to FINALLY get our shit together and get some life insurance, and of course dealing with the phone interviews to discuss health and the setting up of paramedics to come by and draw blood and take pee samples is just such a complete pain in the ass! But I guess I can't expect them to cover us for that kind of money without making sure we're not in tip-top shape. Still, what a pain! So, I promise at some point, I will have an entry worthy of viewing, but for now, I have to go get a squawking baby up from her nap!

A couple of random pics from NM

Why a picture of my feet? Because I can.


A red bush with snow.


Making snow angels.


Finished product.


Baby slippers.

I have returned!

As I am sure many of you can relate, it is always fun to get out of town and go visiting, but it is also SO nice to come home again. I think that is what vacations are all about. Get you away from your real life long enough to make you miss it! The week in Clovis was completely uneventful, and that was fine by me! My son spent time with his grandparents at their little framing shop, coloring, making bead necklaces and generally sweet-talking anyone and everyone who came in. I think he was a big hit! And the Piggle spent the week re-wrapping her grandfather around her little pinky finger. It is amazing to see the power of a 20-month old! We got to have dinner at our favorite little Japanese steak house. The kids LOVE watching the chef sling knives around and make volcanoes out of onions!

We were stunned when mid-week a snowstorm blew through! We were ill-prepared in the clothing department, but I went through the suitcase and my MIL went through the closets and we managed to bundle the kids up for at least a little bit of fun in the snow. My son has experienced snow 3 times prior, but the Piggle had never laid eyes on it (not something common in Central TX!) The Monkey Man had a blast making snow angels and throwing piddly snowballs, the Piggle is her mother's daughter for sure and the first instance that she lost her balance and sat in the snow, getting her hands wet, it was ALL OVER! That girl will be like me, I enjoy the snow, so long as I can sit inside by a fireplace with a cup of hot tea (English style) and a good book. Snow is GREAT as long as I can watch it from indoors! OK, I can swing an occasional snowman with the boy, if I have good gloves, but that is the extent of my snow play!

I managed to get to Roswell to visit my 91-year old grandmother. She recently bought herself a Wii and she and the boy "bowled" for hours! It was so cool watching the first generation (so to speak) play with the 4th generation! And it is so cool to know that he will look back at his time with her with great fondness. I only remember one of my great-grandparents and she was a grumpy old lady that wouldn't let me sit on her furniture because I was a dirty kid. No fun there!

Some other highlights included getting to visit with my hubby's aunt and uncle from Amarillo. They were also immediately wrapped around the Piggle's little finger, go figure! We did a little shopping and the Monkey Man came home with some bitchin' t-shirts. The Piggle got her first haircut, which is funny because she really didn't have that much hair, but what she did have was super whispy and getting into her eyes alot. So she now has blunt cut bangs and short in the back, very Buster Brown! She also received her first little pair of ballet slippers. Not saying that I necessarily think she will be a dancer, she might or might not, but my MIL knows a little girl that just loves to wear them. And my little girl loves to wear them too. In fact, she just found them and asked me to put them on her! Too cute!

I will post some photos of the trip in the next post. Glad to be back!

Taking some time off.

I have had a crappy couple of weeks, stomach flu, dealing with my crazy ass father (I'm sure there will be a post at some point regarding this insanity) and having to put my precious kitty to sleep. Luckily my in-laws called and said they had some frequent flyer miles and wondered if I would like to get the hell out of Dodge for a week! Nice! So I am off to Eastern New Mexico for a week, in the windiest time of the year! But it will be nice to break out of my mundane and remotely psychotic existence for a few days. And of course the kiddos are thrilled. It's always nice to visit Nana and Papa. So, don't be alarmed if I don't post, I'll be back in a week or so, maybe even sporting a couple of nice pics or stories! Ciao!

Miriam 1991-2008

She was a little, tabby cat that was known by alot of names... Miriam, Miriam Piriam, Baby Kitty, Meow Meow Baby Kitty Meow, Tooncy Pooncy, Toonces and lovingly, Bitchy Little Cat. Miriam was adopted some time in December 1991 while we lived in Albuquerque, NM. She was a kitten of 8 weeks old. I immediately began choosing names that started with "M" because of the sweet little tabby "M" that she had on her forehead (those of you with tabbies know what I'm talking about). She was mainly adopted so my hubby would have a kitty of his own as the only pets we had at the time were a snake and my 8 year-old kitty Amelia (who was a Mama's girl extraordinaire). I remember bringing her home and Amelia hissing at her right off the bat, but it didn't deter her a bit! And we spent the next year with an overly rambunctious kitten who didn't realize that 3 am was NOT the time to go zinging through the house like a wild cat! She was truly crazy and we were both covered in little scratches for years!

She eventually grew up and mellowed a bit and actually turned out to be quite a nasty, little cat in many respects. She loved my husband and tolerated me, but absolutely despised other people. She would hide under the bed and hiss at people if she had no hiding place. She literally made her mark on a good friend of ours when he picked her up and cradled her like a baby. She showed her ultimate disdain and contempt for this by practically ripping his face off. Not that I didn't warn him!

Miriam never got very big, she was always a short, stout, little thing with lovely tabby markings, a pristine white chin, piercing green eyes and the most wonderful caramel-colored belly I ever saw. In her later years, when I was sure she wouldn't shred my face, I used to pick her up and rub my cheek on that fuzzy belly... SO soft!

She was always the healthiest little cat. The only time she was ever at the vet for anything other than shots was when my brother-in-law's giganto iguana bit her on the ass on our wedding day! I was so lucky to have a happy, healthy little cat. One of her favorite things in the whole world was sun-bathing in any window she could find. I would constantly find her "caramel side up", laying on her back in the windows. It was so cute. Unfortunately in the long run, that wonderful, warm, relaxing habit may have been her ultimate downfall.

About 2 years ago, when she was 15-ish, I noticed a strange growth on the pad of her back right foot. We went to the vet, they aspirated it and determined that was some sort of tumor. We had surgery to remove the mass, which was identified as a fibrosarcoma. They felt pretty confident that they got good margins, but warned me that fibrosarcoma is usually very aggressive and regrowth was definitely possible. Sadly, the cancer re-grew rapidly, it began to cause serious pain. We tried many different types of meds to manage the pain, but it progressed to the point where she could hardly walk and she would viciously attack the tumor, causing it to bleed and become infected. After many months of trying to get the pain under control, I finally determined that there was nothing I could do to make her life bearable.

Yesterday I had to put my Baby Kitty to sleep. The decision disgusts me, the whole situation disgusts me. Other than that leg, she was a fairly healthy kitty. She ate well, drank well and she looked GREAT. But you could tell that the pain definitely had taken its toll. I keep trying to comfort myself with the thought that I freed her from a prison of pain. At this point, it's not really helping though. No matter how I look at it, she's gone and I could give a shit if it was the right thing to do or not, I just miss her.

So... Miriam Elise, I love you and I will NEVER forget you! I am so happy that I got to be your "Mommy" and I will miss your crabby, little ass more than you will ever know! Rest in peace sweet girl.

Trying something new!

So I have been wanting to do more with my photography. I take beautiful pictures of my kids, I think I do a pretty nice job with nature and landscape and I LOVE traveling the backroads of the southwest taking photos of old buildings, barns and farmhouses. I have been considering delving into portrait photography. I would prefer to work with entertainers, musicians and just interesting people, not the typical, white, hazy background with the little All-American family, after all, kids are HARD to take pictures of! But I'm a long way off from getting to do the fun stuff. Now it is time to just experiment with portrait photography, the use of lights and reflectors and all the gadget-type crap that I'm not used to. When I do landscape and nature photography, I rely on natural light. Anyway, I have a wonderful friend who is VERY pregnant and I have convinced her that she needs to do belly photos. I did belly photos with both my pregnancies and they are, by far, my favorite photos of myself. The pregnant woman is a wondrous, glowing, sexy thing and far too few women embrace this time of their lives. So I am happy that she is allowing me the honor of photographing her beautiful body. I hope I get at least a few really nice shots to commemorate this wonderful time in her life! I will ask her if I can post one of them, depending on how good I do!

It's Leap Day!

So... what should I do with my one extra day of 2008? Hmmmmm... if I could do anything I wanted, I would blink my eyes and be on some beautiful white sand beach, where the sun is shining, there is a slight, warm breeze and I would drink wonderful drinks made with fresh coconuts and pineapples, I would have a massage, pedicure, and manicure. I would eat luscious tropical fruits and fresh fish. I would swim and snorkel in warm water and I would be at peace with everything around me. I would have Big Daddy there to enjoy all these wonderful things with me and I would have my children there, running and leaving their sweet little footprints in the sand and splashing in the water (of course all of this would be under the direct supervision of an EXTREMELY qualified young woman who could take care of all the meltdowns and whining!) It would be a wonderful day!

As it is... I will probably blog a bit, have a nice big cup of hot tea with sugar and milk, do some dishes, pick up the house for the weekend, take my kiddos to park day, finish my window seat cushion, and go through some pregnancy photography sites (I'll explain later) and do my best to show my sweet little kitty I love her. Sadly, I have an appointment to put her down tomorrow, her pain is extreme and I can't let her suffer any longer. I am so NOT alright with all this, but what can I do? Anyway, don't want to get into it too much right now, I need to have a halfway decent day and don't need to start crying this early!

Book Meme

My friend Sean posted a book meme that I thought was interesting so I thought I'd participate. You have to go to the nearest book that has over 123 pages, go to p. 123, find the first 5 sentences, then post the next 3. You're supposed to send it on to 5 other bloggers, but I don't know that many, so there ya have it. But I still thought it was kind of cool.


"At the microscopic level, it gives each of our tissues and organs its distinctive appearance and function. An eyeball looks different from a leg bone whether we look at it with the naked eye or under a microscope. In fact, much of the difference between a leg bone and an eye rests in the ways the cells and materials are arranged deep inside."

So what is the book?

YOUR INNER FISH--A Journey Into the 3.5-Billion-Year History of the Human Body
Written by Neil Shubin

I haven't started reading this yet, but plan to knock it out over the next week, seems fascinating! I can't wait!

McKinney Falls State Park

We took advantage of a gorgeous, sunny Sunday afternoon by packing the kids up and heading out to McKinney Falls State Park for a little day hike. It was nice to get outside and into the fresh air and the scenery was nice, but we learned pretty damn quick that the jogging stroller was NOT gonna happen. The more scenic trail was definitely rugged with lots of stairs and rocky terrain. In fact, the majority of the area was VERY rocky and hard for Miss Piggle Wiggle to get around. It sucks when you're 20-months old and don't quite have a handle on the whole walking thing yet! I didn't have the backpack, so we ended up passing her back and forth and implementing ALOT of shoulder rides! Once we got down to the water though, we just relaxed and watched the kids throw rocks into the ponds. I tried a few times to teach the Monkey Man how to skip rocks, but he just didn't seem to grasp the concept of throwing the flat part of the rock to keep it parallel with the water. Oh well, with time! It was fun though and we were so happy to get out of the house! And I managed to snap a couple of cool pics. Gotta love that hat, right??? And have I mentioned how tickled I get at Texas "waterfalls"? I guess after living in the Pacific NW, I'm a little biased and know what a WATERFALL should really look like. Here they kind of look like kitchen faucets or at best a leaking fire hydrant!

OK Nature... here we come!

I have fond memories of camping with my family as a child. So, I thought this might be a fun thing to do with my little family now that my youngest is more mobile and my oldest REALLY enjoys the outdoors. I wasn't too sure how Big Daddy was gonna feel about it, I mean hell, neither of us have camped in like 15 years or something! What really got me motivated though was my homeschooler group. They have yearly spring and fall camping trips and this year they are going to Dinosaur Valley State Park and I've always wanted to go there (at least ever since I saw Pee-Wee's Big Adventure). I figured this would be the perfect opportunity for our "virgin" trip. We will be right along side a bunch of camping pros and worst case scenario, we'd be about an hour away from my cousin in Dallas! Big Daddy found a great tent and he set it up all by himself out in the front yard yesterday. I was quite impressed! I think it is a good size and will house family and gear just fine. I'm looking forward to getting out there are trying this, a little nervous, after all keeping an eye on 2 kids literally 24-7 for 3 days is a little daunting, but how will we ever get into it and learn if we don't just jump right in!

No... I didn't die, but almost wished I had!

Sorry for the lapse in any blogging entries as of late. Turns out last Friday the Miss Piggle Wiggle started up with the puking flu. And of course, being a good mother, I made a little bed in the floor of her room and stayed with her and of course got barfed on and all that great stuff. So it was no wonder that Sat. night I too joined the ranks and began puking my guts out. Fun, fun, fun! I tried my hardest to stay far away from the Monkey Man and his daddy, but to no avail. The Monkey Man started with the puking on Monday. I had a relapse on Tues. and basically life has just sucked ass this past week! Luckily Big Daddy made it through without contracting the deadly Valentine's Plague of 2008 and he should feel VERY lucky! So, if any of you wondered where I've been, that would be it. Hope everyone out there is doing well and staying healthy. This flu was really the worst thing I've had in a couple of years! Ugh!

What's on the menu?

I'm a little late in posting this, but hey, better late than never, right? We always host the yearly Superbowl party and I always serve up something yummy and warm. I generally do some sort of soup or stew because I can make alot, it keeps well on the stove so people can eat when they want, and it really sticks to the ribs! This year I prepared my awesome and completely tasty Green Chile Stew (poor girl's version)! This recipe is great with stew meat or tender pork, but when you're poor or have ALOT of people to feed, it is just as tasty and alot cheaper to use ground beef. And for those of you who are not familiar with the difference, when I say "chile", I do not mean a red meat sauce that may or may not contain beans like Hormel or Wolf brand chili, I am talking about the actual peppers, green chiles, Hatch green chiles are probably the most famous. The recipe is simple and very satisfying, enjoy!




Green Chile Stew

Meat--1 lb ground beef, stew meat, diced pork (whichever you prefer)
2-3 cloves of garlic
1 cup or more (depending on how spicy you want it) of green chiles
1 can corn or equivalent frozen
4 diced potatoes
2 cups cooked pinto beans
salt, pepper, dried oregano
3-5 dried red peppers (preferably chipotles)
1 tbsp Crisco (if using stew meat or pork)

Brown meat, add and saute garlic and green chiles. Add water like a regular stew. Add the rest of the ingredients and let cook until done and potatoes are tender. Serve with tortillas.

Heathens of Suburbia

So, if any of my neighbors pay any sort of attention to what goes on at our dwelling, they are probably convinced that we are total heathens (which probably isn't too far from the truth). I have hex ball that hangs in the window over my black front door, when I moved into my home and got my new car (which was actually used) I smudged them with sage in the Native American tradition. Last year before my good friend moved to Minnesota she dropped by in a big rush to give me a picture frame with an image of the Chinese kitchen god that she asked me to hang in my kitchen. I was supposed to hang him up and ask him to watch over my home. When the Chinese New Year hit I was to pull him out of the frame, rub honey on his lips (so he would go up to whatever higher god there is and tell it sweet things about us) and just as an extra measure, you dip him in alcohol so he's a little loaded and happy when he arrives to his destination! So here I was on a wind advisory day in a dry ass backyard, smearing honey on his lips and dipping him in Sailor Jerry's spiced rum and catching him on fire. The damn wind kept blowing him out, then it would catch a piece and blow it onto the dry grass where I'd have to run and stomp it out! Anyway, he was sent off in not so fine fashion, hope he was drunk enough not to notice! :-) Then as if all that weren't enough to have us labeled, we had the windows wide open the last couple of nights as the hubby has been having some ringing in his ears so we decided to candle them and clear them out. So picture him sitting on a stool in the bathroom with a long, burning candle sticking out of his ear! The smoke was awful so we had to open windows to ensure that the smoke alarm wouldn't go off and wake the baby! The Monkey Man was actually a little weirded out by the whole ear candle thing, he wanted to know why I was burning Daddy's ears, so I told him it was because Daddy doesn't listen to me! I think he is still a little unnerved by that little revelation! Anyway, I suppose I need to finish off my ecclectic heathinistic household by finding a horseshoe to hang over the back door, a four leaf clover to wear around my neck and a nice little black cat. Then hopefully I will have sufficiently covered my karmic ass on most levels!

I may hate Valentine's Day, but I LOVE strawberries!

The Monkey Man and I spent the morning making chocolate dipped strawberries to take to the hubby and his co-workers. Last year I had a partner in crime, but she moved to Minnesota and is up there freezing her tail off as we speak (and most likely cursing). We did 3 different kinds this year, milk chocolate, white chocolate and my fave, dark chocolate. I think they turned out quite lovely, even if I do say so myself!

Did you know...?

That cat barf is the slickest substance on the planet?? I did not know this until 2 nights ago when I walked into the utility room to check on a load of laundry and unbeknownst to me the cat had barfed on the floor and I stepped right in the middle of it (with my favorite Rocket Dog shoes mind you) and slipped a good two feet and damn near fell and broke my arm! It was like stepping on a banana peel that had been placed on a pile of pudding! Had I died, I would have ended up on the Darwin Awards for sure... "Woman in Texas Slips on Cat Vomit and Meets Her Ultimate Demise".

I have read in so many places that pets are good for you, they help you live longer because they lower your blood pressure, give you companionship and that warm fuzzy feeling. Has anyone ever researched how many people have DIED due to pet ownership? I read of a woman in Albuquerque NM who drowned in one of those big rain collecting barrels trying to save her kitten! I am personally convinced that if I don't get killed slipping on cat puke, that I will surely expire from the toxic gases that eek out of my dog's butt EVERY night! It is so bad that we have actually considered gas masks! I never even get the slightest hint of a foul odor from this dog during the day, but I kid you not as soon as you crawl into bed and get all snuggly, he lets one fly and the room becomes a toxic wasteland! It's no wonder why my hubby and I don't have more of those "intimate" moments, it's because we've been rendered unconscious! We may need to rethink the dog's sleeping arrangements!

Just curious...

Why is it when you try to step over a sleeping dog, he immediately wakes up and instantly stands straight up underneath you? And continuing in that train of thought... Why does your dog, who has been sleeping soundly at the top of the stairs, decide to bolt downstairs like a bat out of hell the very same moment YOU start to descend the stairs with a baby in your arms, knocking you COMPLETELY off-balance?

Just wondering.

Valentine's Day... uh, yeah.

So I'm seeing all the commercials for diamond necklaces, greeting cards, and teddy bears, it can only mean one thing... Valentine's Day. Maybe I've just lost my flare for romance, after all, I've been married for 13 1/2 years and I have two kids, romance is hard to come by in this house. Or maybe romance just means something different to me now? If my hubby came home with a box of chocolates and teddy bear, I'd laugh my ass off at him! If he came home with a bouquet of flowers and a diamond necklace, I'd appreciate the flowers and make him take the necklace back as I can think of ALOT of other, more useful things that could be bought with that money. Besides, what makes February 14th so damn special anyway? OK so according to some research, St. Valentine was killed around that time, so it is a celebration of his contribution to life, OK... It is the beginning of the mating season for many birds... AND??? I mean seriously, what is so much more romantic about February 14th then say, May 24th or November 16th? Maybe I'm just a non-conformist, I can't stand someone telling me when I should or shouldn't feel amorous with my mate! Besides, Valentine's Day has become a holiday of commercial stupidity! A bunch of guys running around trying to find cute and romantic little gifts so they can score! And I can vouch for many women and say, we truly don't want these silly little gifts, hell half of them end up in the trash within a week, or in the case of chocolates end up on our asses in a week, which the guys don't seem to like, so why not actually offer something that we can really appreciate? If you REALLY want to impress someone of the female persuasion on Valentine's Day, here's a hint... if you used half the energy you exert to try to get us into bed and used it to sit down and truly focus on US, you would find that the majority of us don't want diamonds and trinkets (think of the money I'm saving you here!), we want a good man that treats us well, appreciates what we contribute to the relationship and tells us so, and I have to say it, is a considerate lover! And I tease about kids being the end of romance, but that isn't exactly true, for in my case, my husband became 10 times sexier when I saw what kind of father he was! It's the simple things boys, we actually want to feel loved, we want to have your honest and genuine affection, we want to be important. It's pretty much that simple. I'm not saying we don't appreciate a nice gift on occasion to let us know you care, but make it heartfelt, and it's even better when it isn't on Valentine's Day. Because seriously, none of us give a shit about the singing dinosaur or heart-holding teddy bear!

Hella Hogwarts cont...

Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble! Or as one of the little party-goers said, "Bubble, bubble, toilet trouble???" Kids and toilet talk! Anyway, this was our "magic powder" with the "enchanted water" and the subsequent reaction. Needless to say, the kids LOVED this!

The Hella Hogwarts Party

The Monkey Man is turning 6 this week, so we had a big 'ol birthday bash last Saturday! My mom was able to come out that weekend so we decided to do the party early so she could participate. I think I might have gone a little ballistic! I am such a nerd about this shit! I researched Hogwarts parties and science experiments and all sorts of stuff. I will be honest, alot of what I did, I found online. I am very creative in certain aspects of life, but party-planning ain't one of those areas! I am learning though and I am inspired by all the crazy parents out there who come up with some SERIOUSLY mind-blowing crap!

It all started with the invitations. I bought this great translucent paper and went through about a million different fonts to find the perfect one. I used all the best Hogwarts language that I could. I then rolled up the paper like a scroll and tied it off and we delivered them all by hand. The next week I made up directions to our home that resembled The Marauder's Map (that took a chunk of time out of my day!) but they were cool to look at! All the moms were VERY impressed!

The day of the party we hung up this huge black, plastic tablecloth that we had shredded and painted to say "Platform 9 3/4" in front of our door. Once the children arrived and gave the proper password they were given student robes (which I made out of LARGE black t-shirts that I decorated with a glue and glitter Hogwarts emblem). I looked for the stupid gold, sparkly "puffy paint" at Hobby Lobby as that stuff is washable, but I didn't find any, that sucked. They were each allowed to pick a wand (dowels that we cut into 12" pieces, sanded down and painted with metallic colors and dusted with glitter). Each child was also allowed to pick out their own "Sorcerer's Stone" (smooth rocks that I painted with all sorts of wild stuff and dusted with glitter of course). Are you getting the picture that my house was FILLED with glitter?

Once the children were robed and given wands, we went outside for potions class. Each child was given a little plastic goblet. I provided them with loads of "magic powder" aka baking soda and they also were given "enchanted water" aka vinegar. They put a couple of spoonfuls of powder into their goblets then were asked to pour in the vinegar. The reaction was a great, bubbling, foaming mess and they all had to do it again and again! Now I actually had planned on doing invisible ink, but in all honesty, it was such an unexpectedly beautiful day that I sent them all off to the trampoline for "flying lessons". This of course was a huge hit! While they were "flying" my hubby and brother-in-law decided that foaming vinegar and baking soda was not at all good enough, so they bowed out and ran to Walgreens to get Mentos and Diet Coke. Now THAT is a volatile reaction! And of course anything that involves liquids spewing at high speeds out of coke bottles is BIG FUN! After all the potions and flying, we opted to come in for cupcakes, which I decorated with sugar cones that I dipped in chocolate and decorated with white icing. Once massive amounts of cupcakes were consumed it was back outside for more games. We played "Dementors and Werewolves" a game where I allowed the older children (and the adults on occasion) to chase the littles around the yard. They had to "defend" themselves by casting charms such as "Immobulus" or "Expecto patronum" which rendered the werewolf or dementor motionless for a count of five or so. It was fun, although a couple of us got accidentally whacked by the wands and they smart! Sadly, the Sorcerer's Stones ended up just being party favors. The intent was to hide the stones and allow the children to seek them out, but it got just too late and the kids were fading fast after 2 hours of potions and charms and flying! It was a brilliant success! I took a "class photo" of the kids in their robes and included the photo with the thank you notes I had the MM hand make. One more party down and one stressed out Mama who has no clue how I'll top this next year!
Invitation and Marauder's Map
Marauder's Map First Opening
Marauder's Map Second Opening
The "Great Hall"

Good 'ol doggies!

As I mentioned in a previous post, my mom traveled with her dog, Booney. I was a little worried about introducing my 75-pound male to her 65-pound male (granted they are both neutered, but still). They got along pretty well which was great. Anyway, just thought I would post a couple of photos of the two coolest dogs in the world. Otis and Booney... good 'ol doggies!

Something you don't see everyday...

A possum waddling at high speed across the driveway at the J.J. Pickle Research facility in the middle of the day! What, did it escape from the facility (possibly from the vertebrate paleontology lab)?? ;-) Anyway, just weird to see a possum cruising around in broad daylight.

Taking advantage of a beautiful day!

It was gorgeous yesterday! So how could I keep my little family all cooped up in the house?!? I packed up Mom, kids and Booney (mom's dog) and headed to St. Edwards Park which runs next to Bull Creek. It was a lovely walk, the boy, Mom and Booney, of course, left me and the girly in the dust. But little girly held her own and walked almost the entire hike. She was TIRED when we got home! Although the leaves were off the trees and the majority of the greenery was far from green, it was still a beautiful walk. Plenty of stuff to please the senses! My son enjoyed chunking rocks into the creek, I think all little boys dig that, and my daughter was just hellbent on trying to actually get IN to the creek. At one point she amused herself by using a little stick to dig in some damp earth when she decided it would be a good idea to try a taste. From the look on her face, it didn't taste at all good! After all was said and done, we packed up and headed to the Arboretum for some Amy's Ice Cream (Mexican Vanilla with strawberry crush'ns... mmmmm!) What a fun day!

Guess I'm Kermit!

You Are Kermit

Hi, ho! Lovable and friendly, you get along well with everyone you know. You're a big thinker, and sometimes you over think life's problems. Don't worry - everyone know's it's not easy being green. Just remember, time's fun when you're having flies!

The Muppet Personality Test

Hooray for me!

The hubby informed me last night that his recording session was canceled, so what does that mean for me??? It means I get to go on my Mom's Night Out, Woo-hoo! I'm going to Red Robin to meet up with loads of other fun, yet over-worked, over-tired mamas and I'm gonna get a California Chicken Burger and a tall iced tea, to be followed with some sort of decadent, completely ridiculous dessert! Why? BECAUSE I CAN!!!! I get to have a night out! I get to have a night out! Come one people, let's get a little rhumba here... I get to have a night out!

Seriously folks, can you tell this doesn't happen that often?

Eternal "sunshine" of a spotless mind

OK, so as you all know, I am officially 1 year into my massive home improvement saga. It was supposed to just be floors, but then came utility room and bathroom, then paint and changing out practically every light fixture in the house, blah, blah blah. I am sure this is never going to end, at least until we sell the damn thing! Not that we are planning on that anytime soon, but still. Anyway, when we moved into this house, the ENTIRE house was painted this light sunshine yellow. I LOVED my son's yellow room in Oregon, but it was ONE room and it was in Oregon! You have to have bright cheery walls in a place that rains 360 days a year! Anyway, this yellow has been the bane of my existence for 2 1/2 years! I painted over it with Granny Smith Apple green in my daughter's room, blue in my son's room and gray in the den and kitchen. I have never tackled the horrid yellow in the great room because of the 20-ft. vaulted ceilings. I just gave in to the fact that I was going to have to deal with it. Well I couldn't! Once we started with the floors and the new tile and the fireplace, I opted out of the gray in the den and kitchen and wanted to go with a nice subtle taupe. Somewhat neutral, yet dark enough to have interest, looks AMAZING with my tile. We have noticed on alot of the homeshows that the trend in painting is to paint the ceilings now (which is great for the lazy painter, no more edging around white ceilings)! Anyway, I had gray in one part of the house, yellow in the front and an off white in the stairwell that for some reason always had a pinkish hue to it. So I decided to paint it all, create seamless, flowing lines and continuity. Things went great in the den and kitchen, we were able to get one coat coverage and it is STUNNING! I love it! We started in the great room this past weekend and HOLY SHIT what a pain in the ass! The high walls are a nightmare and if that weren't bad enough, it has become blatantly apparent that we are going to have to double coat over this damn yellow! I painted and painted yesterday and this morning I came into yellow bleeding through taupe! It's like the Amityville house except instead of the walls bleeding red, it's bleeding sunshine yellow!!! AAAAAARRRRRGH! And how ironic that the rooms with 12 ft. ceilings took the paint beautifully with one coat and minimal problems, but the room with 20-ft. vaulted ceilings I'm going to have to double coat... what a bitch! It's like this yellow paint refuses to give up! Some strange cosmic joke of sorts meant to drive me out of my mind! (Maybe it's the Stephenville UFOs?) Anyway, if I can ever get that damn yellow covered up, the new paint will be amazing, it's just getting there that sucks. I'm beginning to think I should have paid the painter guy the $750 to do it! But then again, I'm an idiot and that's what idiots do!

Worst combination ever...

So we had the family at Chick-Fil-A the other night for a quick dinner. Yep, Mama was just too tired to cook, mostly since the kitchen was trashed from painting. It's hard to cook when your counters are covered with outlet covers and books from bookshelves and all that kind of stuff. Anyway... we were eating and trying to get our son to finish up. My hubby, the guy who dips his fries into BBQ sauce, was trying to get my son to dip his fries into his honey mustard, then he was trying to get him to dip his fruit into the honey mustard. My son, being a pretty smart kid was having none of this, so hubby thought he'd prove his point and grabbed an apple from the fruitcup. He then took that apple and dipped it into his BBQ sauce and popped it in his mouth! Although he maintained a very calm look on his face and he chewed and swallowed the entire thing, he informed us after he cleared his palate that apples in BBQ sauce is quite possibly the most disgusting taste combination on the planet! He looked a little green for awhile afterwards! So note to reader, no matter how tempting it might be, DO NOT DIP APPLES IN BBQ SAUCE!!

The Christmas cactus

I received a XMAS cactus last year (XMAS 2006), it was in full bloom and beautiful. Then of course the blooms died off and it has just been a little cactus for the rest of the year. Much to my surprise, it actually bloomed again right at XMAS time. I never imagined that they truly bloom at XMAS time! Anyway, we got a new camera for XMAS and I was playing with the macro function and got a couple of pics. I have to say the blooms are quite spectacular!

Writer's block!

It's been awhile since I've posted anything. I seem to have a bit of a writer's block or something. Or maybe there has just been nothing truly exciting happening around here. Since Christmas all I have done is clean house, school my son, take care of my baby and I've managed to get some painting done downstairs. It doesn't help that I've had a sick kid and sick hubby which equals very little downtime at the moment! I have also been making a concerted effort not to spend as much time on this stinkin' machine. Blogging has proven to be slightly addictive, as is checking email and surfing the web. I decided if I continued to spend much time on here, I'd end up with Carpal Tunnel and a big butt! So, I've been spending more time playing with my kids and that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy!

Just too cute not to post.

As most of you have probably noticed, I don't usually post pics of my kids, but this one of my daughter was just too funny and I had to share. This was after opening presents on Christmas morning. Her future was so bright, she had to wear shades!

Lights on the Riverwalk!

Here are some pics the hubby took while we were taking a boat ride on the Riverwalk in San Antonio. They do a really nice job! I just LOVE Christmas lights!

A hard transition for mother and daughter...

Over the holidays, our family took a little trip to San Antonio (I'll post some pics soon). Anyway, while in San Antonio, we had a rough time with my daughter, especially at night. She is used to sleeping in her own bed, in her own room, so noise of any sort disturbs her, sheet rustling, coughing, snoring, clanking of the trash trucks and street sweepers, etc... Well due to all the noise pollution, she slept like hell, getting up every couple of hours and the only way I could get her to sleep was to nurse her. I was a human pacifier! And ever since her fall off the couch a few weeks ago, she has just been obsessed with the "booby". She follows me around the house, "Mmmmmmm, Booby, booby, booby!" I was only nursing at nap times and bed times, but she was bugging me for it constantly! I had originally thought that weaning would happen as she lost the naps and so on. But she just hit this point where all she wanted was the boob, and I was sick of it! So, as of Dec. 31st, I cut her off, cold-turkey. I really felt like I needed my body back and she is 18 mos. old now and by no means really NEEDS the breast milk. It seemed like a good idea.

Hmmph! Good idea my ass! I have a seriously pissed off baby that isn't napping well, who is spending 90% of her time screaming and my boobs are not too happy either! Granted, the engorgement has been pretty low in comparison to Sept, when I was an idiot and forgot my breast pump when we left the kids with the folks for 3 days, THAT was MISERABLE!! I am still uncomfortable, but that isn't really the worst part... I just miss that time with her! It was a quiet time, a time for me to really take her in, look at her eyes, her lashes, her hair, her little fingers, her soft cheeks, and she was so peaceful! I still sit with her, give her a bottle and read or sing to her, but it isn't the same. She gets frustrated with the bottle and I can see why, the bottle, at least to a breastfed child, is cold and impersonal, and she just doesn't get it. That warmth and comfort has been taken away from her. She is hating this! I am hating this!

Do I plan to give in and return to breastfeeding? No. I am four days into this and I'm not going to start up again and have her or myself relive this, that would be shitty. Am I happy about my decision to do this? Not so much, but it's too late now. Bottles are a pain in the ass, it is so much easier to just pull up my shirt! Not to mention I will be nagged relentlessly at the doctor's office next week as they don't want babies over 18 mos to take bottles because it's bad for their teeth. But it's like SHIT, what am I supposed to give her? Sippies cups are not mastered yet and certainly are not soothing in any sense. I suppose I will just have to tell the docs to piss off, it wouldn't be the first time! I don't plan on keeping her on a bottle until she's 5, but let's wean one thing at a time!

Anyway, I just miss my baby. I miss that closeness and now that it is gone, I will NEVER get that back. Not that she and I won't be close, we are, but it is just that transition, giving up that bond, while trying to find another to take it's place. And right now it's hard because she's mad at me for taking away her "security blanket". I know it will all work out, I know mothers all over the world deal with this, and I know it will be fine. But for this moment, I'm sad, I'm sore, and I'm frustrated because she's frustrated, it just sucks! It's a helluva a way to kick off the New Year!

Goodbye 2007... Hello 2008!

As with so many other folks, I too have been reflecting on the past year. For some reason I have this nagging in my brain saying I didn't accomplish Jack Shit last year. Maybe it's the stay-at-home mom thing, I think it's hard for me to quantify my accomplishments the way people in the working world can. I didn't get any promotions and I certainly didn't get a raise, there are no documented reports on whether my performance was satisfactory or not. I have to look into my heart, my home, my marriage and my childrens' eyes in order to gauge my progress. So what DID I accomplish this year?

1. I managed to bring two children another year closer to adulthood (with only one visit to the ER!)
2. I successfully completed my son's first "official" semester of homeschooling!
3. I watched my daughter learn to crawl, speak, walk, and start feeding herself (this is the good stuff!)
4. I encouraged creativity and imaginative play with my son and have watched him blossom with his new found talents!
5. With my hubby, I managed to lay over 1000 sq. ft. of flooring, remodel a half-bath and utility room, re-upholstered 6 kitchen chairs, and began landscaping the front of the house.
6. I had several garage sales which helped clear out some of the clutter in order to get a healthy start on organizing my crazy life!
7. I took thousands of photos of my kids and kept blogs to document their amazing little lives!
8. I continued with this blog as a way to express myself, whether good or bad, it was a creative way for me to document things, brag about things and bitch about things. It has given me an outlet and I love that!

So those are some of the main things I'm proud of in 2007, but what about 2008? Well, I'm not one for resolutions, as I see them as a way to set myself up for failure. I'm not saying I don't have goals for the new year, but I don't consider them resolutions, as my life is a work in progress and a year's time may not necessarily be the time frame that I'm able to make things happen. So I set my goals and work as diligently as possible to achieve them, but I try not to beat myself up about the ones that don't get completed (my dining room chairs and baseboards, for instance!) That being said, here are some of my goals for 2008...

1. Spend less time on housework and stupid shit and spend more time enjoying my children! They are only little once and I've been given the amazing opportunity to stay at home with them. I need to take full advantage of this, for their sake and mine!
2. Continue with homeschooling my son!
3. Be a little bit selfish and make a serious effort to take some time for myself, exploring my painting and photography, going out to a few movies, and reading more books!
4. Continue landscaping, finish painting and installing baseboards in the downstairs, begin re-surfacing kitchen countertops and install new backsplashes, buy and install cabinets in garage in order to organize and free up space in the garage for me (and the kids) to do artwork.
5. Try to take ONE trip with just my husband (to anywhere!)
6. Continue to nurture a great relationship with the hubby, after all in Aug. 2008 we'll celebrate 14 years of marriage!
7. Last (and most definitely least) take advantage of the fact that I dropped my baby weight and am thinner now than I was in high school. So now it's time to start exercising some to beef that up. After all, I have my 20 year high school reunion this year (UGH!) and it would just be so much nicer to go back to face all the bitches that treated me like a second class citizen with a hot bod! I know, kind of superficial, but hey, I'm allowed to be shallow on occasion!

Although I am hoping for a great 2008, I certainly can't complain about 2007. I mean it's true that money was tight, gas prices were too damn high, and the hubby had to travel more than I would have liked, but in all honesty, we had healthy children, a roof over our heads, food on the table and functional vehicles, so really, I'm pretty thankful for 2007! I just want to strive to be a good human and to teach my children to be good humans in 2008. After all, it's love that makes the world go round, right? Happy New Year to all my friends and family, may the new year bring health and happiness to each and every one of you!

DONE!!!

Well folks, I am truly done! I went to the grocery store and spent a stupid amount of money, but hey, I want to make sure my guests are well fed over the holidays. I was pleasantly surprised that the grocery store wasn't crazy, but I went around 1pm, so all the lunch folks were gone and it really wasn't too bad. I made my way through, met a nice woman in the line who has the same name as me (how odd, I've only met like 3 other Trina's in my life that were just Trina, not Katrina). So my grocery experience was fine. I hit Sonic and the mailbox on the way home, and then we had my hubby's work XMAS party last night. So as of today, my only obligation is to clean my house. I have no reason to leave the house until after the holidays! YEA!

Happy Holidays to all of you! Don't be surprised if I don't post for awhile, I'm going to be enjoying my family!

Solicitations ruin the fun

I recently took my family on it's annual excursion to the "Trail of Lights", a display of lights that the Austin Parks and Recreation Department puts up every year. You walk through with your kiddos, enjoy all the pretty lights, nosh on funnel cakes and drink cocoa or apple cider! It truly is a nice display and I look forward to going every year. However, the mood this year was dampened a bit.

In the midst of all the festive lights and Santa hats lurked a group of folks handing out "Christmas Cash". It was about the size of a dollar bill, had a nice little cartoon of Santa on the front and had the heading "The Republic of the North Pole". I pretty much ignored the ones I was handed but one of the people we were with had browsed through the fine print and brought it to my attention. It was several paragraphs of fire and brimstone, informing us that we were all, and I quote, "lying, thieving, blasphemous, adulterers-at-heart"! We were also informed we'd be treated to an eternity in Hell for our punishment. NICE! Just the thing you want to read while you are out enjoying the beautiful lights, the sweet, little elementary school choirs, and dance troops, your innocent, wide-eyed children and your friends, family and community as a whole. While making our way through the park, I personally was given 2 of these little lovelies, and everyone else in my party also came away with one or two. They were being passed out at various locations throughout the display route.

Bottom line... this REALLY pissed me off. Not that I don't think people aren't allowed to speak their opinions, I'm a huge supporter of our First Amendment. HOWEVER, I really felt that this kind of solicitation, well really ANY kind of solicitation in this type of venue was terribly distasteful! In fact, I sent a letter to the Parks and Recreation Department in regards to this. I don't feel that ANY type of solicitation should be allowed at this event. This is a community event where people of all different cultures, races, creeds, religions, beliefs, etc... come to enjoy their families, to appreciate the displays and to enjoy the season. And I'd be willing to bet I was not the only person who felt uncomfortable after reading these little flyers. I am just so tired of everything on the planet that is fun and enjoyable is now falling prey to someone's agenda. Can we not just take in the pleasures of life without being harassed at every turn? I don't go to community events to be harped at about religion or politics! I just want to go and enjoy myself and go about my life! I don't feel the need to impart MY "wisdom" onto the other people who dwell in my city when I am at such events, so why do I have to put up with it from others? Sometimes I wish that people would remember that Golden Rule that we all learned in elementary school! Seriously, there are just times that "SILENCE IS GOLDEN!" That being said, I will shut up now and get along with my day. I wonder if I will get a response from Parks and Recs?

It's beginning to look alot like... eh whatever!

I am done. Done with driving around amidst all the psycho nonsense referred to as the "Holiday Season". Holiday my ass! What in the world does driving around in the epitome of consumerism looking for gifts, trying to mail packages, or standing in line for hours with two kids to try to buy a stinkin' book of stamps to mail letters have ANYTHING to do with a holiday? The actual word "holiday" is defined (as per good old Merriam-Webster) as a day of festivity when no work is done. Bwaaa-haaaaa-HAAAAA! When exactly is THAT day, cause I want one of those! This is the time of the year when we are supposed to have good cheer and good will for our fellow man, right? The only good cheer I've received as of yet is a blaring horn and the Bird when I pulled into a parking space that was rightfully mine! (I had my blinker on and everything!) Maybe I missed the memo, but it seems the new wave of Christmas cheer is more along the lines of, "Merry Christmas and Go Fuck Yourself in the New Year!" But like I said, I'm done. I have finished my shopping and my only obligation outside of my home is grocery shopping tomorrow. I will then begin my hermit phase and not set foot out of this house until the day after XMAS! Because we all know, the closer we get to actual XMAS day, the nastier people get. So I will haul-up in the house, drink tea and apple cider, sit by the fireplace with my beautiful children and thumb my nose at all the crazy assholes that are out being menaces to society in the name of Jesus and brotherly love!

Tagged into the paranormal

I have been tagged by Sean, this was an interesting topic to delve into. The paranormal and supernatural have always been something I enjoy! However, as I really don't know many bloggers, this portion of the tag will stop with me. I guess I should maybe work on networking a bit more in the New Year! Thanks for including me and letting me play!

The Rules

You should post these rules
Recall and relate a time when you experienced a "paranormal event"
Explain it rationally if you can
Inflict this meme on 5 other people

It is hard for me to pick a specific moment that I experienced a paranormal event. I have had many unexplained occurrences throughout my life, some of which occurred over long periods of time. When I was young, my great-aunt Ruth lived next door to my grandparents. She was never married and lived in the home that belonged to her parents. Since she was right next door to my grandparents I spent alot of time with her. I LOVED going to her house to visit, but for some reason, the upstairs bedroom was always a little scary to me. It was a gorgeous room, painted a lovely, light blue with lots of windows and light, it even had it's own fireplace, very much like a little studio apartment (minus the kitchen)! You would have thought it would be a wonderful place for a child to explore with all the old books and music boxes and closets full of my great-aunts racy, roach-killer heels, flowery hats, and boxes full of costume jewelry! But I very rarely ventured up there alone and when I did, I only lasted a few minutes before absolute panic would set in and I'd go flying back down the stairs to safety.

As it happens, my great-aunt became ill with Alzheimer's and she was moved to a nursing home around the time my parents divorced, so my mother and I moved into the house, I was about 10 or 11. I of course took one of the downstairs bedrooms because of my fear of the upstairs. At some point I began longing for more privacy and therefore decided I should conquer my fears and move upstairs to the cool bedroom (it was the coolest room a kid could ask for with that fireplace, sitting area and my own bathroom)! So I started to spend more time up there, trying to get a grip. It was strange, but I always just "felt" like I was not alone up there and I distinctly felt that their were two or three different entities (for lack of a better description) and I just felt that they were female. At this point I didn't necessarily feel threatened, in some instances I actually felt comfort, a strange familiarity. So I wasn't as fearful as I was when I was a small child, but it was still strange and somewhat unnerving. There was one occasion that I recall actually seeing something that spooked me. I was sitting on the bed and happened to look over by the fireplace and it seemed as though the chair was rocking, not hard, but slowly and somewhat deliberately. I didn't see an entity per se, but just remember having a clear picture in my mind an old woman rocking slowly in the chair, knitting or something. But I swear that I saw that chair rock and it freaked me out a bit. Needless to say my move upstairs was postponed awhile.

We eventually painted the room, hung new curtains and moved a new bedroom set upstairs. I also hung a few poster of my favorite band at the time Motley Crue (who I still love by the way)! Now I don't know if it was the paint, or the posters with pentagrams or the fact that I just finally conquered my fears, but AFTER that room was transformed from a proper lady's bedroom/dressing room into a teenagers dream room, I never "felt" the presences again.

Now as family history would have it, my great-grandmother occupied that house but she didn't die there (in fact if I remember correctly she passed away at a ENMU basketball game while sitting in the stands). And I'm not sure if she ever lived in that house, but my great-aunt Audean also passed away from tuberculosis when she was a young woman. Now whether the things I felt and saw had anything to do with them, I have no idea. As far as my great-grandmother, it wouldn't seem that far-fetched for her to return to the home she loved and as far as Aunt Audean, would it be such a stretch to think she and her mother might have been reunited in whatever sense that might happen?

Now, can any of this be proven? Of course not. Do I believe in ghosts? Maybe. There are things in the universe that I can't even begin to fathom. Are there ghosts, are there just changes in the energy around us, are there multiple dimensions in which we exist? Again, I cannot claim to know as only the dead can know what happens or does not happen. But what I do know is that from the time I was a very small child, until I was a teenager, that room seemed to possess something that I could not explain. When I eventually discussed this with my mother, she admitted that she had similar feelings about that room when she was young, but she wasn't afraid of ghosts, she was convinced there were gorillas in the closet! Yikes!

Watch out Griswald's, here we come!

OK, maybe the place isn't decked out quite as cool as the Griswald's but we've done a pretty nice job. The hubby promised my son last year that we would decorate the house this year, and my son, having a memory like an elephant when it suits him, has held my hubby to that promise! I did the tree out front and hubby climbed around on the roof. I was a little bummed that we weren't able to get the lights on the peak of our roof, but it was just too steep and slick and I decided I would rather have a husband that was in one piece than lights on the peak of the roof! I'm just kooky that way! I think before it is all said and done, the tree next to the house will also get some lights, but here is what we have now! It's kind of pretty, right?

Baby Snaa-haakes!

Everytime I hear the words "baby snakes" it makes me think of a Frank Zappa song! You may be wondering why in the hell I would have even been thinking of baby snakes at all. Well... as it turns out, I was in the front yard, putting lights on the tree when my son informed me that there was an earthworm on the sidewalk and he wanted to pick it up and put it in the dirt of our flower bed. I told him I'd help as those earthworms are wiggly little buggers and they kind of freak him out when they do that. I went over prepared to pick up a misplaced worm and realized that it was no worm, but a baby snake of some sort. I'm glad I told him not to pick it up. Granted, I'm sure it was nothing but a little garden snake, but when they're that small, it's kinda hard to tell, but it didn't have that typical v-shaped head, so that was a relief! I went to the garage and got a little tin (that did have popcorn in it) and I coaxed the little guy into the tin. We showed him to my neighbor's kids and then decided we would release the little guy at the farm just outside the neighborhood. I didn't want to leave him on the sidewalk to be picked off by a bird, and honestly, even though I'm pretty sure it wasn't poisonous, I really didn't feel the need to have it cruising around my house either, mostly since there are alot of cats that lurk around. The farm seemed a much safer spot for this little guy and I'm sure a place with a greater potential for food items. Then again, I don't know what a snake that small eats, bugs maybe? Anyway, here are a couple of photos, we enjoyed its company while we had it and hopefully it lives a long healthy life on the farm!

My first attempt at gingerbread!

I have never made a true gingerbread house or even cookies for that matter. It seems like a huge pain in the buttocks if you ask me. However, my hubby had to go out of town on business and my little boy wanted to make gingerbread cookies to take to Daddy and his co-workers on his first day back at work. I lugged out my big, beautiful holiday cookbook and found several nice looking gingerbread recipes and off we went. I prepared the dough and let it hang out in the fridge overnight, then the next morning I rolled them and baked them. That way they would be fresh and yummy for everyone. Now although my son was at times a big help, I had to keep an eye on him like a hawk! He kept wanting to run his nose or lick his fingers, which the licking of the fingers thing isn't so bad if you are making the cookies to eat at home, but I figure the hubby's co-workers really don't need kid spit in their cookies (call me crazy)! I even had to throw away one entire portion of dough as the kiddo decided that he needed to sneeze all over it, UGH! He was relieved of his cookie cutting duties at that point and had to wait until decorating time. I wasn't really able to find a nice selection of candies for decorating, and I certainly was not about to pay $5 for a little thing of non-pareils, so we had to be satisfied with mini M&M's, Hershey Kissables, and red and green gumdrops. I made decorator frosting as well as the icing to pipe onto the cookies. This was my first attempt at ANY of that stuff. I'm not a frosting or icing kind of girl. In fact, as far as cookies go, I only make them if I can spoon them on the pan and be done with them! I applied all the frosting and icing and my son was in charge of candy and sprinkle application. And much to my surprise, they turned out cute, but most of all, the were REALLY tasty! The gingerbread was slightly crunchy on the outside, but beautifully soft on the inside and as much as I hate icing and frosting, when it is made from scratch, it is really quite tasty! So I guess we're hooked! I'm sure another batch will be made right before Christmas to share with family! Here are some photos of our little gingerbread masterpieces!

OK, what is up with the weather?!?

Sorry for my extended absence, I have been dealing with sick kids and now I seem to have picked it up myself... lucky me! I have been downing Airborne like it's going out of style, so at least it isn't really nasty. I hope it stays that way. I guess I should be glad, better to be sick now than over the holidays.

Anyway, on to more important things like the weather. What the hell is up with this Texas weather?? Last week it was in the upper 80's, in DECEMBER!!!! Then on Sunday, I dressed the family accordingly for warm weather and while we were out running errands the temperatures tanked and I walked out of Hancock Fabrics in my capri pants and t-shirt and my baby in her shorts and t-shirt to be hit in the face with freezing wind and a little bit of sleet! Holy crap, talk about unprepared! I didn't even have a little blankie in the car for her. Definitely not winning "Mother of the Year" after that! So, it's been really cold for two days, I had to bring in all my cacti and such but lo and behold, I get up and watch the forecast only to hear that it is a freakish 72* and we'll probably end up in the 80's by late afternoon, to be followed by a cold front which will knock our temps back into the low 50's tomorrow. No wonder I'm sick! All these drastic changes in temperature and humidity, my poor little bod just can't keep up with it all. Do we turn the heater on or the air conditioning, do I put the baby in her polar fleece jammies or her light cotton jammies, do we pull out the down comforters or just leave the quilts on the bed? It's too much, my brain hurts as well as my throat! Just give me some damn winter weather so I can at least have some sort of consistency!

Not AGAIN!!!

As you probably read before, my little girly took a tumble and conked her head last week, which in turn caused her to barf all over my car! That took a good 3 hours to clean up and I had to tear her carseat apart and dig all around in the nooks and crannies to get it all off. It was AWFUL! But life returned to normal and we were all happy... UNTIL (dum, dum, DUM!) Sunday night when the boy went to bed and we heard a screech from his room. We rushed in to see what the problem was and he had puked all over himself and his bed! Not again!!! Hubby grabbed him up and took him into the bathroom to get him cleaned up, and I was left to get the bed changed out. Honestly, I don't know what is worse, carefully pulling off barfy sheets trying to make sure it doesn't hit the carpet or having to clean puke out of a kid's hair?!? Either way, we both had dirty jobs to contend with! I swear, if I have to clean up another round of kid barf this week, I'm gonna freak the hell out! Oh well, I suppose I should be thankful that it was puke and not diarrhea! Yuck!

So for those of you out there thinking of having children I would like to pass on some words of wisdom, if you have a weak stomach don't do it! Kids are not in control of their bodily functions for a VERY long time. YOU, my friend, will be forced to pick up and cuddle the crying child who has just heaved an entire bowl of vegetable soup all over his pajamas. It is you who will try desperately to get a diaper full of diarrhea off without getting it on the carpet or YOURSELF! It is you who will be cleaning toilet seats, mats and floors because your little man just doesn't have the aim you might hope for. And let's not forget trying to get the poop-covered onesie off the kicking, screaming infant in a mall bathroom and realizing you don't have another change of clothing for her or you! It is year after year of being way more familiar with another human's pee, poop and puke! I mean seriously, I worked at a children's hospital for 3 years and the stuff I cleaned up there PALES in comparison to the stuff I've had to deal with at home with my own kids!! At least hospitals are meant for that kind of mess. Linoleum floors, plastic paneling on the walls, plastic covering on all the beds, not to mention the fact that if you need to clean up a mess you are provided with all the high-tech stuff to do it with the highest level of efficiency and lowest level of exposure to yourself. If I had rubber gloves, masks, goggles, surgical gowns and shoe covers, all this puking may not bother me so bad! But as of yet, I don't have a Haz-Mat kit, so I am reduced to rags, paper towels and a washing machine that most likely hates me! I swear, the things you do for the little farts that you love!

White Elephant #1... the day after!

Went to our first White Elephant party last night, it was great fun! Nice to see friends we hadn't seen in awhile. I made some lovely lemon butter cookies to share and was pleased to find that our friend Mitch, who we knew from NM brought a batch of fresh posole and handmade tamales. The posole was SO hot and SO awesome! All hail to Mitch!

It was a big party this year, over 50 people in an 800 sq. ft. house! But we jammed in there and enjoyed the festivities. It definitely seemed that this was "The Year of the Penis"! I apologize in advance to my in-law's who might be reading this entry! The party definitely took a huge step toward the XXX this year. In years past there were always a few little "surprises" that made us all go, WHOA! But this year the presence of porn and sex toys was off the charts! Some of the offerings included a drinking game that you had to take shots from penis-shaped glasses, the "Dirty Sex" game (don't know how that one was played, but I assume it was crude!), someone got a naughty and nice gift that included a sexy white teddy in the "nice" bag, and a pair of approximately size 52 granny panties in the "naughty" bag, not to mention the kit to make a mold of your own shall we say "member". One of the big hits of the night was this funny little book called "Penis Pokey", it was a little board book with pictures that I suppose someone of the male persuasion is supposed to insert a certain piece of anatomy and it makes a picture (I'm sure you remember the little books you would stick your fingers through to make an elephant's nose or a giraffe's legs?). One of the pictures had a hotdog bun with relish and mustard... SOOOO funny and a little gross at the same time! However, I think the funniest gift I saw was opened by our host Paul, who just happens to be Hispanic, it was a box full of Taco Bell soft tacos! That was the funniest shit ever! Who in the hell would have thought to box and WRAP a 12 pack of tacos!?! I ended up with a plain brown bag that had "HO, HO Bitch!" on the front and "Jesus Hates You!" on the back and inside was some sort of SpongeBob clock, a package of blank cassette tapes, a South Park Mr. Hanky VHS tape and a rubber shark. All in all, a much better gift than the box of half-eaten candy canes I got a couple of years ago!

Anyway, just sheer silliness and perversion and it was a good laugh and a good time! I always look forward to this party every year and I'm glad I was able to go! Now I have to get thinking for my "PG-13" party for next week!