Expedition Everest

This has to be one of my top 2 favorite rides at WDW. I remembered to take my little camera with me in line so I got a few pics of the queue area as well as on the ride itself. So. Much. Fun!



All of the gear you'll need. The mountains are cold you know.


Shrine to the Yeti










Going up


And up...


You can't really make it out but that's Epcot (Spaceship Earth is visible from the ride but not so much in this pic unless I circle it for you) in the center and Hollywood Studios (formerly MGM) to the right.



Oh no! The Yeti ripped up the tracks!


Going backwards... there's the Yeti!

Sorry for the Interruption- We're Baaack

Did you miss me? I've been busy! We left for Disney Friday night and while we did bring our laptop, I just never pulled it out. Can you believe it? I didn't get on the computer all. weekend. long. Wow. That's just unheard of for me.

So anyhoo, we left Friday night after dh got home from work (and after dinner) and headed to the Animal Kingdom Lodge. We apparently got the ghetto (dh's words) side of the hotel. LOL That's what you get when you go *cheap* at a deluxe hotel. Our balcony looked out over the parking lot and the bus stop. We also had a rather large piece of equipment right outside and since the bus stop was there, we had buses running back and forth from 6am-2am. You'd just hear a deep rumbling sound when they pulled up. We always take a noise machine with us so it didn't bother me so much but dh didn't like it.

We ended up with a bunk bed room with dh and I in a queen size bed and the boys in the bunks which they loved. They're used to those. Bella was relegated to the pack and play in the middle of both. Her bedtime is usually 6:30 and we pushed her to 8:30/9pm for two nights. So we were in bed early both nights. I must say that the boys were very good about keeping quiet and going to sleep so Bella wouldn't wake up. Dh listened to his audio book and I played the DS until we got tired. Despite it being a luxury bed and all(there was a catalog so you could buy all the sheets, mattress, pillows, etc), all we did was toss and turn. There's just nothing like your own spot in your own bed with your own pillows. The only part of hotel life I do love is the curtains. No matter how high the sun is, your room is as dark as you want it.

The hotel is simply gorgeous. The lobby is amazing and there are so many artifacts on display. I wish we had had more time there to explore and hang out. There are three savannahs in which you can see animals. We even went out and looked thru night vision goggles last night. Very cool! The pool is large and there were quite a few people swimming (it's heated). They have a nice playground, fitness and massage rooms, a sitdown restaurant (Jiko), buffet restaurant(Boma) and also a casual quick service area(Mara).

One major duh on Disney's part: The lobby is considered the 3rd floor. Our room was on the 2nd floor. The way they explained how to get to our room confused me but they said we had to go down this hallway and take the elevator down. We spotted elevators and took them down but couldn't find our room. The numbers didn't even match up so we had to go back up and ask again. Dh wasn't happy about dragging our 2 suitcases around. Apparently when they built this wing, it wasn't connected to the main elevators. We had to go down the hallway next to the elevators and about halfway down there we found another elevator and we had to take that one down to our floor. Confusing!

We had a really good time though and upcoming posts will include the Hollywood Studios, Lego Store, T-Rex Cafe and Animal Kingdom. I'll upload all our pics and share them this week as I get time. I've got to unpack, do laundry (already started) and get back into a routine. Fun, fun!

P.S. I'm getting really, really depressed at the thought of no longer having Disney passes. They expire Feb 19th so only 3 more weekends to go. Waahhh. Anyone want to gift me $1200 for more? Ian was very unhappy when we had to leave today. How do you explain to a 3yr old that's been going whenever he/we wanted that he can no longer go and won't get to go again for a few years? Heck, Logan doesn't get it! So depressing. :*(

Service Outage

Dear World:
The United States of America, your quality supplier of Ideals of Liberty and Democracy, would like to apologize for its 2001-2008 service outage.

The technical fault that led to this eight-year service interruption has been located, and the software responsible was replaced Tuesday night, November 4th.

Early tests of the newly-installed program indicate that we are now operating correctly, and we expect it to be fully functional by mid-January.

We apologize for any inconvenience caused by the outage, and we look forward to resuming full service---and hopefully to even improve it in years to come.

Thank you for your patience and understanding,
The USA

F-f-f-freezing

Brrr It's COLD outside! I feel for my dad who's been camping this week. It got down to 25 degrees in my area last night. Um hello? Did someone forget to give out the memo that this is FLORIDA?! Global warming my arse.

Anyhoo, I've been bundling the kids up the best I can given we are Floridians and don't own a whole lot of cold weather clothes. Poor Bella this morning was so bundled up that she couldn't crawl. She kept falling over. Hahaha! She was not happy. Thank goodness for remote starters on our cars. I started my truck 10min before we had to leave and it was nice and warm inside. The outside of the truck however was ice. Yes, we had ice last night. I've got pictures to prove it! The kids thought it was neat. Ian and I walked around the house a bit when we got home from dropping off Logan at school to take some pics and to play with the ice on the truck.

Luckily for us this is FL and it will be back in the low 60s by this afternoon. A 40 degree temp difference! By tomorrow night, the freezing temps will be behind us for at least another week and our weekend at Disney will be perfect! It will be back in the 70s all weekend long. Yippee!! I can break out my capris and tshirts once again. And don't forget the flip flops. For my northern friends, don't be jealous. I know y'all are freezing your tushies off but your time will come. I'll be jealous of your mild temps in the summer when we're sweating to death. :)

MNO Tonight

I've been at the Melting Pot all night and I've got to get ready for bed now so I'll update you tomorrow on all our fun!

Bella's 9mo well visit

Aye yi yi. No I haven't changed pediatrician's yet. Yes, I'm just lazy and like bitching about him.

Everything went pretty well today. My main problem was with the nurse. I no sooner put Bella on the scale and she was pushing the button to show the weight (14lbs 15oz). I said, no, she weighs more than that so she tried again and this time she was 15lbs 14oz (3%). That one pound makes a big difference on the charts! Then she measured her length- 27.5in (33%) but marked it in the computer as 23.5in. Umm she just lost 4 inches! And then she measured her head- 15.5in., 16.5in. the 2nd time and finally the Dr. did it and it was 17in which is right on target. Good heavens. Slow down and take your time already. Our ped still wants her to gain some weight but she's on the same curve as the last appt and she's perfectly healthy so I'm not worried about it AT. ALL. She loves her food. All in all, a good appt. She's most definitely my petite baby girl.

So her stats at 9mo (although technically she'll be 10mo this weekend)
weight- 15lbs 14oz (3%)
height- 27.5 inches (33%)

Inauguration Day

What a great day! I watched bits and pieces of the Presidential Inauguration today (as much as I could with 2 kids at home) and enjoyed it a lot. Our new president speaks well, carries himself well and seems so down to earth. I know he's made a lot of promises and I really hope he can make good on many of them. I also know he's a politician and you just can't trust them. LOL I'm very excited about this new era and I hope President Obama can bring a new voice for the people of the USA. It was wonderful to see so many people out there today supporting him and to see so many US flags flying. Not since 9-11 have I seen such a display of patriotism.

I also noticed him with his family today. What a sweet family they are. He and his wife both seem so down to earth and in love. They have danced at a few balls tonight and are just so cute together. His children are lovely and I hope they take to this new life easily even though I can't imagine it being easy at all.

Lots of luck to you Mr President. May God watch over you and your family and God bless America!

Sad but true

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=19852075

Why does this *I Spy* bag cost over $17,000? Read the description! Way to go CPSIA!

Little Loopy

My friend Nicole C. up in frigid Michigan recommended a new vodka to me the other day and on a whim I grabbed a bottle this afternoon. It's called Sweet Tea Vodka. There are 2 brands right now available here which are the original Firefly brand and now the Carolina brand. The clerk at ABC recommended the Carolina brand over the Firefly as he'd had both and to make it even sweeter- the new brand was $6 cheaper.

So anyway, after all the kiddos were in bed I decided to break out the bottle. It calls for mixing it was 1 part water and 1 part vodka or lemonade. I tried a small, small amt just mixed with water but it was too strong that way so I experimented and made up some Crystal Light rasp lemonade and added some water (bc CL is always too sweet) and some of the vodka. O.M.G. It is soo good! It was like drinking a rasp tea with a hint of lemon. Of course, I did the *bad* thing and sucked it up with a straw so now I'm feeling rather loopy. ;) I'm a happy drinker. I don't drink- ever- anymore so just that little taste plus the one glass has me feeling very good. My arms and legs feel all funny and I keep misspelling lemonade and have to keep going back to fix it. LOL I think I'll be sleeping very well tonight but I'll be saving the drinking for the weekend from now on. Next MNI- I may be bringing a bottle to share!

Girl's Day

It was just Bella and me today. Dh took the boys to his mom's house for a few hours so Bella and I went shopping at Bealls. Since I knew I was planning on trying some clothes on I put her in her stroller instead of wearing her. She was okay at first but the minute I closed that fitting room door she had had enough. Haha. I tried cheerios and shushing her but she was tired and she could see me in the mirror and just wanted me. Once I reclined her seat and pushed her around a bit though she fell asleep and shopping became a tad easier. I ended up with just 2 pairs of capris although I may go back for a Teez-Her tank. Since I knew she probably wouldn't tolerate another store we came home afterwards and chilled by ourselves. We ate some dinner, played on the floor and couch and enjoyed the peace and quiet.

Please vote!

Car seat safety is an issue I'm passionate about. Too many children are not restrained in the car properly if at all. It makes me sick everyday when I take my son to school or pick him up and see so many kids even smaller than him that don't buckle up or don't have any kind of car seat in their caregiver's vehicle.

Florida laws SUCK when it comes to child passenger safety. Did you know at 4 years old they can legally sit in just a seat belt? Did you know that car seat belts are built to size for the average adult not a small child? Do you know the internal damage that can occur for a child using a seatbelt without a booster or an improperly used booster or seatbelt? The shoulder belt is there for a purpose! Did you know a child in a booster seat is 59% LESS likely to be injured or killed that a child in just a seat belt?

I could go on and on but with a new president comes the chance- even if it's slight- to make your thoughts known on this and many other issues. I urge you to go to the Citizen's Briefing Book at Change.gov and vote for your hot button issues. If you type in Car Seats, you'll find a few different letters. Please VOTE to bump these up so our government will see that this means something to us. HERE is one letter and HERE is another if you can't find them for some reason.

Also, please vote to repeal the CPSIA law that is to go into effect on February 10, 2009. This law will put so many work at home/stay at home parents and small companies out of business. Not only does this affect those families trying to supplement their income but it will also have a direct effect on the economy. How about they go after the paint mfg and the jewelry mfg that make the lead paint and metals?! Go after the Chinese made products. Leave the American produced and European made toys(who have strict guidelines and testing already in place) and children's items such slings, clothes and books alone.

Make your voice known!

Darn DMV

Why are they making me go down to the DMV to renew my license this year? Why can't they just send me the darn sticker? They are even making me retake the eye exam. Ugh. I have until my birthday next month to get it done and I'm dreading it. It means taking at least 2 of the kids with me and even with an appt I'm sure I'll be sitting there and waiting. I guess the good thing is that it will show a slimmer me on the new picture, right? I hope they don't make me do a written test, I may just fail! LOL It's been a long time since I read that book. I think my record should just speak for itself- no tickets, no accidents. (KNOCK ON WOOD!!!)

And it made me make an appt with my new optometrist to get new contacts which I did today. I went to Costco and WOW their prices are fantastic! I'm used to paying something like $300-400 for exam and lenses and I paid right at $200 today for everything. I'm stoked about that. I didn't have time to pick out glasses but that's next. Mine are old, old, old. Now if I can only get dh in there for an exam...he needs all new everything too!

Honor Roll

Logan got his first report card today with actual *grades* on it (the 1st 9 weeks were blank) and he made honor roll along with getting a Citizenship award and he got a pencil (he brings home more pencils that we'll ever be able to use LOL) for having no tardies. His report card showed he was above grade level for math, reading and writing and he got excellents for everything else. Yay Logan!

Doomed

I'm doomed to be a 14 until she weans. Doomed! Ugh.

Think Light

And cross all fingers and toes for me tomorrow as I attempt a weigh in. I lost NADA my first week back on WW. I'm used to losing at least 3-4lbs the first week and hell, I'd take even one. Am I doomed to stay the same weight until Bella weans? That would be yet another year minimum hopefully. Think light for me tonight! You'll see my ticker move if anything happens, that is if I even remember or have time to do it in the morning. Knowing me, I'll completely forget.

Just my luck

Why is it that everyday I get to school early so I can park up front and inevitably a big ass truck/SUV will park -this- close to me so I can't open Logan's door and buckle him in? Really? The other day I had to climb in my door, lean over Bella's seat in the middle and struggle to get Logan buckled. Ugh.

(almost) Wordless Wednesday

All three of my babies at approx 9-10 months old.

Logan


Ian


Bella

Simple Woman's Day Book...

That's what today's blog is. Sorry I don't have more for you.

FOR TODAY - January 13, 2009

Outside my window... It's dark, cloudy and cold.

I am thinking...Should I go to the grocery store or not? I'm lazy and it's cold.

I am thankful for...my family, our health, food on the table and the roof over our heads.

From the kitchen... I hear the click, click, click of my dog's nails.

I am wearing... jeans, my cute black top and fuzzy slippers.

I am creating... nothing. I buy stuff to start projects that never. get. done.

I am going... to the kitchen to make popcorn once the boys are in bed.

I am reading... Marley & Me and various magazines.

I am hoping... that I can find clothes that fit me and are warm for the rest of the week.

I am hearing... the pitter patter of little feet running thru the house.

Around the house... the boys are getting ready for bed, the toys are all over the floor and the dishwasher and washing machine are full and waiting for me...

One of my favorite things... hearing my children's laughter

A few plans for the rest of the week: back and forth to school, tumbling class, and possibly a day trip to Disney.

Here is a picture thought I am sharing...

These are my playgroup friends back in 2003 I believe. We're all still friends too.

Our kids have all gotten so big!

Low fat yummy cookies!

Pumpkin Spice Cookies

These are cake-like cookies and so good!

Ingredients-
1 box Spice Cake mix
1 15oz can pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)

Mix ingredients together and drop by spoonfuls (I used a cookie scoop) onto greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 10-12 min.

**you can also make a cake like this.

My recipe made approx 60 cookies and my nutritional stats for each cookie were 38cal/ 0.6fat/ .29fiber or 1 WW pt each.

New Blog Header

I like to keep it fresh. I made this today thanks to Annie Brigg's Tomboy kit. I love the colors! The font is called Pass the Chex.

Grr vent

I don't usually vent about dh at all. He's a good father and husband but he's like most other men- when he's sick or hurt he's a big ole baby! He hurt his back somehow over a week ago. He won't go see anyone about it and he won't let my aunt who does massages help him out. Instead (and I may be PMS'ing on top of it) he groans and gives me attitude about watching the baby so I can get ready to go grocery shopping (he was messing with his PC) or he complains that all he wants to do is lay down yet he's on his computer in the dining room. He did manage to wash both cars tonight though- maybe he's trying to make up for it?? Nahhh. He really wanted to wash his car and knew mine would never get washed if he didn't do it.

Someone pray that his back starts feeling better soon. If I'm PMS'ing I can't be held accountable for my actions, right?

Shrinking Saturday

We packed everyone up today and headed off to the Magic Kingdom. We got there about 20 min or so after opening and we actually got to park right up front. I mean a very short walk to the TTC- no trams even bother stopping here. Nice!

Our first agenda was grabbing Fastpasses to Space Mountain, especially considering the crowd size! There were Brazilian tour groups everywhere. Ugh. Logan had never been on it before. I don't know why except that it's the one coaster I was nervous to let him go on since he'd have to sit by himself. From there we went straight to ToonTown via a semi-hidden back pathway and got in line to see the new Disney Fairies at Pixie Hollow. Yippee! :) It was a long 45 min.wait! When they call you back (a few families at a time) they tell you that you'll be shrinking down to fairy size. Well that just freaked Logan and some other kids out. They did NOT want to shrink. We had to explain to him that it was just pretend and he seemed okay with that. When we got to the fairies and I commented again on how it wasn't so bad to shrink he didn't get upset but he still looked at his hands and such to see if he had changed. Hahaha!

Iridessa- a *light* fairy


Tinkerbell- a *tinker* fairy


Fawn- an *animal* fairy



And a little tidbit- did you know that everytime a baby laughs for the first time, a fairy is born? I watched the Tinkerbell movie the other day and it's so cute!

The boys and I did Thunder Mt RR which Ian really likes and of course it's one of Logan's favorites. Logan did Space Mt with daddy and when I met back up with them Logan had THE biggest grin on his face. He LOVED it. If the park wasn't so busy we probably would have let him go on again. We did Buzz Lightyear which is one of Ian's faves and dh went with them to the Indy Speed Racetrack. We took Bella on It's a Small World thinking she'd love it and she was asleep the whole time. Oh and of course they did Pirates. We never miss it.

Dh decided to record everything from a stroller occupants POV. That should be interesting when we finally play it back! I'm imagining a lot of butts and backs on film. I wore Bella almost all day so at least she had a better view. And at the risk of jinxing it, I will just say that she is the best baby. She's so mellow and go with the flow when we are out and about. She'll nap if I'm wearing her. She doesn't scream for food and ate when we ate plus some cheerios for snacks. She did try her first Dole Whip and loved it. LOL Yeah, I had no idea until the boys and I came down from the Swiss Family Robinson treehouse. I took her to the Baby Care center to nurse her after dinner (less distractions) and she was so good. She nursed and when she was done we went to the other room and hung out on the floor playing until daddy and the boys came back. I've just been blessed with another good baby I guess.

I saw quite a few fashions that shouldn't even be called *fashion*- like four color neon sneakers or leg warmers ( or REALLY super thick scrunchie socks) with heels. And here's a PSA for all the ladies- if you can see your bra thru the sides/arms of your shirt, the shirt doesn't fit right AND if your boobs are popping out of the top of your bra in said shirt, the bra doesn't fit either.

All in all it was a good day. I wanted to stay longer but dh's back has been hurting for a week so he wasn't up to it any longer. He refuses to go see someone though or even call my Aunt who's a massage therapist. He'd much rather suffer. Whatever. That's a whole other vent/post!

More pics:

my found *hidden mickey*- so it's not exactly an official HM but I noticed it as we were eating our Dole Whips and thought I'd share.

Drinking the pineapple juice

Yum!

Ever see a palm tree like this? I'm not sure I've ever noticed it before.

I still don't get it

Logan got a Webkinz from one of his friends at school for Christmas (I've known her mom for years). I finally got around to registering it so I could see what the hype is and I Just. Don't. Get. It.

I don't see the appeal. For kids- yes. For moms? I don't get it!

Every mom I know is into Webkinz. They all talk about how fun it is and this and that and I should try it..... Someone explain to me what I'm missing. I did an odd job. I attempted to decorate our bear's room and I did some of those Quizzy's questions. I found a star and I think I did some other game. What am I missing? Where is the *Wow this is so addictive!* part of Webkinz World?

Until someone can explain whatwhere it is I think I'll leave WW to Logan. Maybe I'll eat my words one day but for now I'll just let all the other moms have their fun.

4:30am Fun!

Really, there's nothing like it. You're sleeping soundly and you hear the pitter patter of little feet and then *cough cough* in the hall bath. More little feet back to the bedroom so you think it's nothing and roll back over. Oh no, not so fast. Here he comes again and then you hear it. The unmistakeable sound of someone tossing the previous night's dinner. That was what I got to deal with early this morning. He made it to the toilet fine the first time and went back to bed and so did I. Did you really think that was the end though? Nope. There he went again and apparently this time he missed. Big time. And I went to help him and stepped in it(it was dark and I didn't have my glasses on fwiw). OMG. Guess what I got to do this morning? Have I grossed you out yet? I went back to bed and sometime a couple of hours later dh asks me if Logan will be going to school. Um nooo. He was throwing up last night! The only good thing that came from it all is that I got to sleep in this morning. I think it well deserved.

How is he now you wonder? He's fine. F.I.N.E. Running around, ate some waffles (against my advice) and is now playing a video game. Makes you wonder how they do it. How can a kid be so sick and then perfectly fine just a few hours later? I have no idea what made him sick. He didn't eat anything different than us. And he was fine when we went to tumbling last night and when he went to bed. Who knows.

Finally have answers

After testing a couple of times and meeting with the counselor and school psychologist I finally had the meeting this morning about Logan getting into the Gifted program at school. And he is in. He scored well enough and has the recommendation from his teacher for it. He'll be pulled from class for 30min a day to work one on one with the gifted teacher and with other students as well. Right now their focus is on science but they'll also be working with him on math since that's where he excels the most. He'll also get a chance to do some work from home on the computer thru a certain website. I think he'll really enjoy this. He does well one on one and is always so eager to learn so I'm excited for him. It only took us half a school year to get here but at least it's done.

Addicted

My baby girl is addicted. She's 9 months old and loves music. If she's fussy in the car I can usually just turn the radio up and she'll quiet back down. Apparently though I've put Baby Einstein on too much recently because it's the only thing I've discovered that will put her to sleep during her afternoon nap in her swing. It doesn't matter which dvd (and I have a bunch). She calms down immediately and falls asleep. Maybe I need to record some of the music on dvd and play it in her room so she'll sleep in her crib instead of the swing everyday. She's already a little diva though so I doubt it.

Be Honest

Am I the only one who keeps going back to my Meme post just to see that pic of LL Cool J? Yum. I have loved that man since I was a teen!

Woohoo!

Back to school! Logan was very excited to get back to school this morning. He saw his buddy Jack and they both ran to each other and gave huge hugs (they don't know that won't be *cool* in a few years). Jack was bouncing up and down he was so excited. They both went straight to the teacher to say Good Morning and give her their Christmas gifts to her (she was absent the last day of school). Logan couldn't even wait for her to open his so he opened it for her and took it all out. Aye yi yi. I'm so glad he loves school. I'm glad break is over for now too but it sure as heck doesn't make it any easier for me to get up in the morning!

Fun New Meme!

I saw this on a food blog I was just browsing and thought it looked like fun!

So Me & So NOT Me

This is So me


This is so NOT me



This is so me


This is so NOT me



This is so me


This is so NOT me



This is so me (mmm nothing like eye candy in the morning- love his music too)


This is so NOT me



This is so me


This is so NOT me



This is so me


This is so NOT me


This is so me



This is so NOT me


This is so me


This is so NOT me


This is so me


This is so NOT me


I'm tagging anyone who wants to take the time to do this meme. It's fun I promise!

Busy, boring Sunday

Sorry there's not much else to say. We cleaned and cleaned and hounded the boys to clean and we took the Christmas tree down today and I think that's about it. There's always more to do though. ugh.

Only one more day of vacation for Logan. I'm happy and mildy sad too. I'm glad he's going back as he loves school and misses his friends. I'm glad I'll get a few argument/fight free hours, at least between brothers, as I'm sure I'll have to argue with Ian at some point. I'll miss getting to sleep in though. I hate having to rush, rush, rush out the door every morning. No, I won't get up earlier. I like my sleep. I need my sleep. Wish me luck. I'm not going to be a happy camper Tuesday morning at 6:30am. And if you see me posting on the PC after 10pm tomorrow, email me and give me a kick in the butt so I'll get to bed!

Growing up in the 80s/90s

I saw some pics tonight on Facebook that just have me remembering days past. Skating on Fridays and Saturdays at Skateland and in later years dancing at Off Limits which was a teen club in town. If we couldn't find a ride, we would walk and thinking about it now, it was a long ass walk! Backwards skates, couples skates only, hokey pokey, and jam skates (I swear I thought I was good but in retrospect it was probably only in my head LOL).

Think about the fashions we wore! Parachute pants, teased hair, *speed* skates (how sad is it that I still want a pair? I have my old ones still I think! I loved to skate.), baggy pants, rolled up shorts, big earrings, banana clips, shoulder pads, tight rolls, stirrup pants, etc. Some of these fashions have rolled around again and honestly, they should have stayed in the past!

I wonder if I have some old pictures around here. I could probably scan some from my yearbook. Maybe my mom has some. I'll have to ask.


You Know You Grew Up In The 80's or Early 90's If...

1. You've ever ended a sentence with the word "SIKE"
2. You watched the Pound Puppies.
3. You can sing the rap to the "Fresh Prince of Belair" ..and can do the "Carlton".
4. Girls wore biker shorts under their skirts and felt stylishly sexy.
5. You yearned to be a member of the Baby-sitters club and tried to start a club of your own.
6. You owned those lil' Strawberry Shortcake pals scented dolls. I still have a couple!
7. You know that "WOAH" comes from Joey on Blossom. Joey was hott!
8. Two words: Hammer Pants
9. If you ever watched "Fraggle Rock" They are making a remake movie!!!
10. You had plastic streamers on your handle bars... and "spokey-dokes" or playing cards on your spokes for that incredible sound effect. Yep!
11. You can sing the entire theme song to "DuckTales" (Woo ooh!)
12. It was actually worth getting up early on a Saturday to watch cartoons.
13. You wore a ponytail on the side of your head.
14. You saw the original "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" on the big screen...and still know the turtles names. 15. You got super-excited when it was Oregon Trail day in computer class at school. Don't remember this
16. You made your mom buy one of those clips that would hold your shirt in a knot on the side.
17. You played the game "MASH" (Mansion, Apartment, Shelter,House) Done it recently! LOL
18. You wore stonewashed Jordache jean jackets and were proud of it.
19. L.A. Gear....need I say more? Don't forget Z Cavaricci and Billabong
20. You wanted to change your name to "JEM" in Kindergarten. (She's truly outrageous.)
21. You remember reading "Tales of a fourth grade nothing" and all the Ramona books.
22. You know the profound meaning of "WAX ON, WAX OFF"
23. You wanted to be a Goonie.
24. You ever wore fluorescent clothing. (some of us... head-to-toe)
25. You can remember what Michael Jackson looked like before his nose fell off and his cheeks shifted.
26. You have ever pondered why Smurfette was the only female smurf.
27. You took lunch boxes to school... and traded Garbage Pail Kids in the schoolyard. I think I have a sticker book somewhere!
28. You remember the CRAZE, then the BANNING of slap bracelets.
29. You still get the urge to say "NOT" after every sentence.
30. You remember Hypercolor t-shirts.
31. Barbie and the Rockers was your favorite band.
32. You thought She-ra (Princess of Power!) and He-Man should hook up.
33. You thought your childhood friends would never leave because you exchanged handmade friendship bracelets.
34. You ever owned a pair of Jelly-Shoes. (and like #24, probably in neon colors, too)
35. After you saw Pee-Wee's Big Adventure you kept saying "I know you are, but what am I?"
36. You remember "I've fallen and I can't get up"
37. You remember going to the skating rink before there were inline skates. *Speed skates!*
38. You ever got seriously injured on a Slip and Slide.
39. You have ever played with a Skip-It.
40. You had or attended a birthday party at McDonalds. No McD's for me.
41. You've gone through this nodding your head in agreement.
42. You remember "Popples".
43. "Don't worry, be happy"
44. You wore like, EIGHT pairs of socks over tights with high top Reeboks.
45. You wore socks scrunched down (and sometimes still do...getting yelled at by "younger hip" members of the family)
46. You remember boom boxes.. and walking around with one on your shoulder like you were all that. I still call it that! LOL
47. You remember watching both "Gremlins" movies.
48. You know what it meant to say "Care Bear Stare!!"
49. You remember watching "Rainbow Bright" and "My Little Pony Tales"
50. You thought Doogie Howser/Samantha Micelli was hot.
51. You remember Alf, the lil furry brown alien from Melmac.
52. You remember New Kids on the Block when they were cool... and don't even flinch when people refer to them as "NKOTB".
53. You knew all the characters names and their life stories on "Saved By The Bell" Slater is still HOT!
54. You know all the words to Bon Jovi - SHOT THROUGH THE HEART.
55. You just sang those words to yourself.
56. You remember watching Magic vs. Bird. I wasn't a basketball fan.
57. Homemade Levi shorts.. (the shorter the better)
58. You remember when mullets were cool!
59. You had a mullet! Good god I hope not!
60. You still sing "We are the World"
61. You tight rolled your jeans.
62. You owned a bannana clip
63. You remember "Where's the Beef?"
64. You used to (and probably still do) say "What you talkin' about Willis?"
65. You had big hair and you knew how to use it.
66. You're still singing shot through the heart in your head, aren't you!!!

(non) Multitasking

I thought I was a good multitasker. I really did. I've discovered recently though that certain things are just not meant to be multitasked (is that a word?). Say for instance listening to an audio book and reading/typing on the internet. I can't do both at once. Half of a chapter will be gone and I'll have no clue what I just listened too. Has it always been that way or is it just my fried brain? I can't remember. I'm blaming it on the kids. Pregnancy turned my brain to mush.

I Won!!

Check out the video! I'm sooo excited!!


Isn't that awesome?!
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Okay, seriously, isn't that awesome? I can only wish it was all about me. LOL I showed Logan and he was in awe. I had to explain it was a joke and then I made him one. Here's a link if you want to make your own.

New Years Day Fun

After my little shopping excursion we packed up everyone and headed to a friend's house for a rather impromptu get together. The boys ran around like crazy or in Ian's case 95% of the time- played Legos. He's obsessed I tell you! They had a blast though and dh and I got to relax for the most part, hang out with friends, chat and eat. I'm starting off the new year right as my GF reminded me- I got to hang out with my friends!

Happy New Year to me!

Maybe one of my goals this year should have been to spend less. ;)

I got an email last night about a one day only sale at Dillards. It was an additional 50% off all clearance items. It didn't specifically say it was good on Coach bags but I wanted to go check anyway since I really, really wanted a big black purse. It seems like I've been wearing nothing but black shirts and blue jeans this fall and winter and I'm always carrying a tan purse. So off I went this morning. I went straight to the Coach counter and it was a madhouse! Some women had bags and bags of stuff already and the sale had only been going on for 45min. I squeezed my way up to the counter and spotted a super cute black bag. It was 25% off plus the addt'l 50% off so I grabbed it plus a new wristlet to use as a wallet too. They had other really cute bags too but I contained myself although it was sooo tempting! I even went back before I left the store just to drool. :)

I spent the next 2 hours or so browsing the rest of the store. I got Bella two, 3 pc sets (2 shirts and 1 pants) for $7.50 each, I got four darling Christmas stockings that I plan to get embroidered and one Christmas ornament for Logan's teacher who was absent the last day of school and will get her Christmas gift late. Oh and yes you did read that right, I got four stockings. No, I'm not pregnant but I refuse to rule out ever having a 4th baby and I wanted to make sure if we ever had another that he/she would have a matching stocking.

I actually didn't end up spending that much OOP. I had a bunch of gift cards I used for the purse and had cash for most of the rest. I called dh to tell him I got the purse and he laughed at me. Feeling just a tad guilty ( but only for a moment- hehehe) I explained that I had used gift cards to buy it and he said *those were for both of us*. Oops. He's awesome because I know he doesn't care and wasn't going to protest me buying it. Isn't he the best?!

So here are my new beauties. They are black but the signature C's are kinda shimmery. It's a light baby blue inside.


And my adorable stockings. They are pretty big and were only $5 each.

Happy New Year!

We had a quiet night at home. Dinner was pizza and our treat tonight was homemade banana splits. Yum. Dh went out to our fave ice cream place and they were closed along with Dunkin Donuts and DQ! The boys both made it and are still up although we did just put Ian to bed at 11:55. He's sooo tired and freaking out over the fireworks. I don't think he'd freak if he wasn't so exhausted. He's hiding under the covers and will probably be asleep in seconds. LOL

Happy New Year to all my friends and family!

ETA: Logan was super excited he made it to midnight. He was the first to say HNY to us. And now he's in bed and hopefully sleeping.

2009 Goals

I never set New Year's resolutions. Resolutions just seem destined for failure. I am setting some goals though. At least goals are something I can work towards.

1.) Lose all my baby weight. This means losing a good 30 pounds or more. I lost over 70 before so I know I can do it again. I want to fit back into my size 10s and I sure wouldn't complain if I went lower. ;)

2.) Drink less soda and more water. I only drink 2 diet sodas a day but I'd like to cut at least 1 out. Good thing is that since the cost has gone up so much I refuse to pay anything but a really good sale price for them.

3.) Purge, purge, purge. Dh wants to build a walk-in closet so I need to get rid of all that crap in front of our existing closet. Plus we want to finally fix the floor in our room.

4.) Volunteer in Ian's classroom when he starts pre-k next fall. I'd love to volunteer for Logan but his teacher always says she doesn't need anything.

5.) Get dh to finish the baseboards in the house, finish Bella's room (touch up painting, curtain rod), finish the boys' room (baseboards, new outlet covers, decorations) and paint the back of the house. We have almost everything to do it but it just never gets done!

6.) Hang out with my friends more often. We don't see each other nearly enough! Of course, I'll need their help with that too. ;)

7.) Take Bella and Ian to the park more often. We never go anywhere anymore.

8.) Use more coupons. I keep forgetting to cut them out!

Scary moments!

Bella just had a reaction to something she was eating. I've never dealt with this before and my heart was beating pretty fast. Talk about adrenaline. She was screaming for food and I was trying to feed her while cooking dinner too. I gave her some jarred Chicken Noodle stuff, cheerios, Gerber puffs, noodles and a little fish. Now I know not to give shellfish but I figured tilapia would be safe. I think I've given it to her before. I'm not sure what was different except maybe there wasn't as much Old Bay seasoning on it before or something. She was feeding herself the table foods.

I went back to feed her some applesauce (with some apple pie spice added as usual) and noticed her face was all red around her mouth. I didn't have the dining room lights on and I thought I could see some raised areas too like hives so I grabbed her up quick and ran to the bathroom with her. I washed her face and just as I thought, there were little raised hives. Poor baby!! I went to nurse her as a) I felt guilty she had a reaction and b) I wanted to watch her carefully. She's perfectly fine though. No hives anywhere else so it was just a contact reaction vs allergic reaction thankfully. It must have been something she fed herself which is why I'm thinking the Old Bay. She already appears to be a little less red and is happily crawling around the living room playing. Ugh. I did a bit of research on Old Bay and it does have Cayenne pepper which can be an allergen. I'll be watching in the future for that!

Look at that poor face. Everywhere her fingers touched her face it's red.




All cleared up about 45min or so later


This is the closest she's gotten to standing on her own. It won't be long.

To Leslie...

No, it's not your sister. LOL!! Thanks for the laugh this morning though. :)

Babies everywhere!

My friend Heather had her baby just a couple of months ago. Scarlett announced she's having a baby just a few weeks ago and now yet another of my friends (who shall remain nameless until she tells everyone) has announced her pregnancy. Don't drink the water around here! We went thru a baby boom just 3.5 yrs ago too with Scarlett, Jen, Amy, and me all having boys. So who is next.....?

I'm a bit sad though because they all are having babies this summer which still leaves my poor Bella-boo without a playmate in our playgroup. Why couldn't you girls have gotten pregnant like 18mo ago give or take a month?! I mean really. The rule in our group should be that noone is ever pregnant alone so all babies have a same age playmate.

Totally kidding! I wish everyone the healthiest of pregnancies and babies and I can't wait to meet them all!!

Wow!

I can't even imagine carrying around this much baby inside me! He's a BIG boy!

Date Night!

Dh's friend Johnny plays in a couple of bands and he was playing in the Jason Parker band at a restaurant in our area tonight so we went up to see him. We got my mom to come over and babysit which the boys were thrilled about! We were only gone a couple of hours. Just long enough to eat dinner and hang out with Johnny when he was on break. The food was really good- hot and fresh and perfectly cooked. I had some calamari for an appetizer and then some tortilla crusted tilapia for dinner. Yum! Dh had a hummus plate and veggie fajitas which he said was really good too.

I also had my first drink in quite a long time, a Double Espresso Chocolate Martini:
Van Gogh Double Espresso Vodka, Godiva chocolate, Baileys, crushed Oreos(didn't see these) and chocolate syrup. It was a bit strong at first since I'm just not used to alcohol anymore but I stirred in the chocolate syrup and yum!! I could feel it in my arms and legs. They felt kinda rubbery. LOL I let dh drive home just in case.

We got home right around 9pm and it's a good thing because Bella had been up crying for like 20min Mom said. She tried rocking her and nothing was working. She just wanted her Mama so I ended up nursing her and putting her back down. I completely forgot I had just had a drink. Bad Mommy! :) Oh well. She's so darn cute too. She was wide awake nursing and I'd look down at her and smile and she'd be staring at me and stop nursing to smile back. Oh how I love those moments. The boys were very good and I knew they would be. Mom said Logan tried sneaking out of bed and she told him to go back to bed and Ian crept out to try his luck just minutes later. LOL They both got up when we got home and we had to say goodnight yet again. It was a good night and was really nice to get out with just dh even for a couple of hours. Hand holding with someone other than a child and having my door opened for me again just takes me back to the good ole' days. :)

Where is everyone?

Seriously? It's almost 10pm and I'm the only one who has put up Christmas pics. Ugh. Get on the ball people. I'm waiting! Ready...set...blog!