Leap Day!

Now Playing at the White house: Underdog

This is what we will watch tonight when we resume Family Movie Night. We all get into pj's, eat popcorn and watch movies in the dark on the wide screen. I hope we're making lasting memories.


It's Leap Day! I can't pass up the opportunity to post today since Feb. 29 only occurs every four years. Other than that I don't have a lot to say! It was a calm day. Hubby worked from home and surprised Mini#1 by going to his school for lunch. Hubby also put mini#2's medicine in some orange juice this morning and down it went...and stayed down! Yea! I need to give this man more credit! Actually a lot of credit. Last weekend he took the builder's florescent light out of our kitchen and replaced with 7 recessed lights. He already installed under cabinet lighting. He's very handy to have around. I need lots of light in my kitchen. This weekend he may paint Mini#1's room. He told me he's looking for a project.

Ok, off to dinner. I've given in and agreed to get pizza. Not my favorite, but I'm Pink in a sea of blue.

Continuation to last post...

Warning: This post isn't pretty.

Thursday- Mini#2 threw up all over cute frog sweater while taking his antibiotics this morning. Amazingly it missed all furniture, rugs, floors. Just on him. This was minutes before I had to drive Mini#1 to school. He does not like this medicine, but this was a first at throwing it up.

Thursday- bedtime. Mini#2 was doing a good job at taking his medicine when all of a sudden that look came across his face and then I instinctively put my hand under his mouth. Yep! He threw it up in my hand, but not nearly as much as this morning. Ewwwww. I didn't know I signed up for this part of motherhood. He did say "sooorrrry" both times. I scoured my hand raw afterwards.

This was day 7 of 10 for the medicine. I guess we'll both wear trash bags tomorrow morning before trying this again. Poor little man. Poor me.

I'm a good parent. I promise!

Here is a sampling of a few things my almost 3 yr old has done in the last 5 days. You be the judge. Is this normal?

1. Last Friday- he hit a whiffle ball (with a bat) into a pan on the stove while I was cooking.

2. Sunday- on the way out the door to a birthday party I touched his head and felt goop! I smelled it and determined it was baby shampoo. His brother said he was trying to wash his hair.
We went as is since we had no time to correct.

3. Monday- He went into the garage, dragged his brother's real golf clubs inside, and proceeded to start playing. I quickly dove for the clubs before divots appeared in my hardwoods.

4. Tuesday- I saw him eating something. When asked, he said it was cheese. What cheese? He can't reach where the cheese is kept. Upon investigation I discovered it was BUTTER that was on the counter from breakfast toast about 15 mins prior. Who eats chunks of butter and likes it?
Apparently mini#2.

5. Wednesday- while hurriedly running around after I threw on clothes for the bus stop, I found mini#2 quietly pouring out a small bottle of hand sanitizer onto his cute pirate toddler bag. I smelled his breath just in case he decided to sample any. All clear there. See. I'm a good parent.

6. Wednesday- late a.m. While I was gathering dry cleaning he walked into my bedroom, naked, and told me he needed new "big boy pants". The reason being he had pee-peed all over my foyer floor. The only good thing about this was he had found and changed into that NC State jersey and had pee-peed all over the front of it, too. Remember this is the jersey he wants to wear 24/7... the one I want to burn.

I swear these things happen at the weirdest times. It's not like I've locked myself in my room and given him free reign of the house. Thought about it, but haven't done it. This kid scares me sometimes. Where did he come from?

Ellen

Ellen is my hero. Nap time around here is my free time. This could mean time spent doing any or all of the following: folding clothes, prepping dinner, paying bills, reading blogs, putting toys away, napping myself (although it's usually just a 15 minute power nap) but I cannot miss Ellen. I hope 50 looks as good on me as it does her. I just love her show. The monologues, the dancing, the guest stars, the games, the giveaways and her surprise telephone calls. I am always amazed that she is never huffing and puffing after dancing all over her studio just to find her way to her seat. She's always kind, especially when she has children on as guests. Those are probably my favorite interviews. Yesterday she had an 11 year old girl on from my state who knew 11 languages! Holy cow! It was a great interview. She has this way of being comedic for the audience while being entirely engrossed in the kids' talents. I especially love it when she calls people on a whim and how genuinely surprised they are. Her show just makes me happy and want to dance...ok maybe not, but she definitely gives me that extra boost to tackle mini#2 when he wakes up rejuvenated from his nap. We both are ready to take on the rest of the day. Now, if I can just think of some talent to teach mini#2, we can dream of being a guest on Ellen one day. Is it just me or are there other huge Ellen fans out there?

**Special note not pertaining to this post: Oprah had Rick Springfield on today. The first concert I ever attended was his when I was in 6th grade. I also had the pleasure of seeing him in Atlanta in 2000 with a bunch of office mates. Both times I squealed like a teenager. This man does not age. After all these years I still wish I was Jesse's Girl. He can sing to me any day.

Meds, Meals, Memories and a Movie

It's been a busy weekend. We're all finally feeling better. Mini#2 did have an earache so he's on antibiotics. Unfortunately, he does not like this medicine at all and he's on it for 10 days twice a day. I've gotten smart and added a tsp of water to dilute it slightly. Is this ok? Oh well. It's the only way he'll attempt to take it. This morning I had to pretend each sip was a different food. Once it was strawberries, once chocolate cookies, bananas, pizza... You get the picture. In all I named about 8 things to get it all down while he giggled. We have 7 more days of this!

Anyway I've been thinking that May is a very amorous month because February is filled with birthday parties and new babies around here. Friday night I took dinner to a friend down the street that had baby #2 on Feb. 7. Get this. Her first turned 1 on Dec. 13. Barely fourteen months apart. Yikes. Another neighbor I don't know too well had her 2nd on Super Bowl Sunday. They expected girl#2 and had a boy! I would have freaked. How do you recover from a shock like that? I know I'm late on this one, but I've just made chocolate chip cookies and bought them a gift yesterday to take over on our way out to another birthday party this afternoon. It's kind of nice NOT to have to make a meal for them, but I feel a little guilty, too. The mothers in my Bunco group and playgroup all make meals for our friends that have babies. These women get meals Monday, Wednesday, Friday for at least a month! Is this a southern thing? Just curious. I think it's great, but then I'm kind of glad I didn't have all those meals in Georgia. These ladies can cook. I'd be as big as a house right now if I had had my kids here.

It's Oscar night. I love the red carpet interviews best and miss Joan and Melissa Rivers. Joan really knew how to embarrass herself. I went to see Juno with my friend and college roommate Friday night so I could at least say I saw one oscar nominated film this year. We had a nice time catching up over some appetizers before the movie. We also went to high school together in another city and...do I admit this...we're having our 20th reunion this year. Neither of us can believe it's been that long. We're excited to see/hear what everyone did with themselves or didn't as I'm sure could also be the case. We had 540 in our graduating class and we probably discussed half of them Friday night. My friend and I left for college 2 weeks after we turned 18. Our b-days are 5 days apart. We were just babies! Now we talk about our babies. The circle of life they say. Ok, off to jump in dreaded inflatables. I'll be standing back with a somewhat fake smile drinking a diet coke counting the minutes 'til this party is over. Ha! Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Earaches, colds, cancelled plans

It's been a long week. Mini#2 woke up last night crying. His 10 day cold has settled in his ears I believe. We missed playgroup yesterday and library reading Wednesday. Which leads me to a little complaint. When my child is sick I do not take little precious to playgroup, nor library readings. Why can't others follow this simple Mother 101 class rule? I know he got this "bug" from library group. It's a small library with an even smaller reading area where they host weekly preschool read along, sing alongs. Last week, as I sat among the wee and their mothers, I saw about 7 running noses and heard beaucoup coughing. I wanted to run, but when I noticed, class was about 10 mins. from finishing. I mean I know we're all desperate to get out of the house during the winter months, but please. Respect others mothers and keep your ill children home! Any opinions on this?

Muffin Tin Meatloaves

I was asked to post this recipe. It's definitely kid friendly. It's low fat and has carrots and zucchini hidden in it so the kids don't know it's in there. It's not even a Sneaky Chef recipe. It was in a low fat cookbook. I served it with brown rice and asparagus with a browned butter sauce. Awesome! I sound like my 1st grader. Of course the minis didn't eat asparagus. I gave them green peas which mini#1 had to mix with applesauce to get down. Hey. Whatever works.

MUFFIN TIN MEATLOAVES

1 1/2 lbs lean ground turkey
1/2 lb lean ground beef (93/7)
1 cup shredded zucchini (about 1 small zucchini)
1/2 cup shredded carrots (about 1 small carrot)
1/4 of a grated onion (I grated so kids couldn't see onion)
2 egg whites
1 cup soft breadcrumbs (I used canister plain crumbs I had)
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 tsp poultry or Italian seasoning (I used a little of both)
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup ketchup

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine turkey, beef, shredded
vegetables, onion, egg whites, breadcrumbs, Worcestershire sauce,
poultry seasoning, salt and pepper. Using your hands, squeeze
together until evenly mixed.

Pack the meat mixture into 12 muffin cups. There is no need to
grease the pans. These can be made up to one day in advance.
If doing so, cover tightly and refrigerate. Just prior to baking,
top with ketchup. Bake for 30 mins. Unmold from muffin cups
and serve. Per serving: Calories: 235 Protein: 37 g Fat: 5 g
(Saturated: 2 g) Carb: 9 g Fiber: 1 g

ASPARAGUS WITH BALSAMIC BROWNED BUTTER

30 asparagus spears, washed and trimmed (1 1/2 lb)
cooking spray
kosher salt/pepper
2 tbsp butter (not margarine)
2 tsp low sodium soy sauce
1 tsp balsamic vinegar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Arrange asparagus in a single
layer on a baking sheet and coat with cooking spray. Sprinkle
with salt/pepper. Bake for 13-15 mins until tender.

Melt butter in a small skillet over medium heat; cook 3 mins.
or until lightly browned, shaking pan occasionally. Remove from
heat; stir in soy sauce and vinegar. Drizzle over asparagus,
tossing well to coat. Yummy!!!!

Monday, Monday.

It's Monday...and school was out. Need I say more. The house is a wreck, I'm tired and Intervention is a repeat tonight.

However, yesterday was a "me" day that I enjoyed immensely. Husband kept boys all day. I shopped 'til I dropped, but restrained myself nicely. I am on a budget. I was so excited to see all the preppy plaid shorts out. Don't get me wrong. My kids aren't total preps. I love dressing them hip and sometimes even skater, but I'll always love classic clean prep look. Luckily right now they don't care what they wear and probably won't be as difficult as I hear girls are as they get older. Anyway I also saw 27 Dresses yesterday. It wasn't too bad. Katherine Heigl's sis really aggravated me and Ed Burns isn't the heartthrob he used to be. However, loved Katherine's wardrobe and makeup. She looked so fresh and pretty the entire movie. Definitely a chick flick.

Today I didn't even try to venture anywhere with the minis until late afternoon. It was rainy this morning and none of us even got out of pj's until about 11:00. Hadn't done that in a while. I organized my closet, chased mini#2 out of my room with some play doh he found (only in the kitchen!), played crazy 8's and Go Fish with mini#1 as mini#2 napped, prepped mini turkey meatloaves (bake in a muffin tin. very tasty recipe), went to karate (mini#1, not moi!), ate dinner and gave baths. Since today was so incredibly boring (is anyone still reading this?) I even let the minis take their baths in mommy and daddy's big tub. Then I remembered why I don't do this. It breaks my back and they splash all my cute decorations. Oh well. I hope everyone else had a more exciting day than the White house... I'm off to shower my day away.

Glass and Ice

We experienced another first tonight as a family. We took the boys to see the '06 national hockey league champs, the Carolina Hurricanes, play the Florida Panthers. Woo hoo! Just 2 hours prior, the NC State Wolfpack basketball team played and lost to Clemson (Clemsongirl is celebrating as we speak) in the same arena. I would have liked to be there instead, but I actually had a nice time at the hockey game. Let me now mention that we were in hubby's company's box complete with free parking pass 4 steps from the door and free eats/drinks. Now that's the way to go to a hockey game! Well minus the kids, but then it wouldn't have been a family first.

The kids were reasonably well behaved. The 30 minute behavior speech hubby and I delivered prior to departing the White house was still fresh in their minds. I did have to say "danger" to mini#1 about 3 times. Danger being our code word to straighten up or else! Mini#2 charmed everyone with his beaming toothy grin. However, I watched as he left one fingerprint after another on every inch of the glass separating us from those outside of our cozy box. I kept wanting to bound out of my seat and look for some Windex to clean the distracting prints. Whoever invented Windex had kids for sure. Right? After the kids started winding down I noticed mini#2 had his sleeve, white of course, in his mouth. The sleeve was now RED. He had been eating tortilla chips. The yummy tri color salty ones. Except he had only wanted the red ones. He called them NC State chips (we're red/white). We think he was still confused and thought he was at a NC State game because we had been to this arena recently to watch basketball. The Hurricanes are also red. It was funny, but the stain is not. I better go start on it now while it's on my mind...

Old Friends (I hate the word "old". Forever young is better.)

Just returned from a nice lunch with my former roommate. She and I lived together just out of college when we were newly thrown into the real world. I remember we used to go eat at "Darryl's" restaurant on her discount. She waitressed lunch through dinner and job searched in the mornings. We still partied like college and had tons of fun times. When we moved back to NC from Atlanta in '06 she was living in the city we ultimately settled. Unfortunately we just don't see each other enough!

The place we went to today to celebrate her birthday is so cute. It's a cafe/gift shop combo. My heart sped up a bit when I saw all the cute napkins/patterns/black and white color combo accessories. I would love to have a gift shop. I forgot to mention that mini#2 joined us. He was in rare form. We had a short wait in which I had to chase him around without bumping into displays. One time he ended up under a table piled high with baby gift items. I was mortified.During lunch he pitched a few mini 2 yr old fits. Therefore friend and I had to stop and start a few topics and even try to remember where we left off. She and her husband don't have any children so I'm sure our lunch just postponed that even longer.

While there I also saw a sorority sister that I hadn't seen in years. She moved back to NC from CA a year before we did. She has 2 daughters. My lunch friend who also knew this girl commented that I should be the one with girls and sorority girl should have the boys. She knows me well. I'm such a girl, but wouldn't trade my boys for the world. Back to the mini#2, the little devil. He was a pure angel in the car on the way home. It figures.

Ordered this yesterday from The Pink Giraffe. I've wanted one for a while. Of course my monogram will be pink, not blue. Can't wait to see it.

Cupid draw back your bow...

Happy Valentine's Day!

I thought I'd use this post to list a few things I love.

1. Going to movies and eating buttered popcorn. Big SPLURGE. I don't even want to know the fat grams/calories. I wash it all down with a Diet Coke of course.

2. Going shopping by myself or with friends...as long as no kids are present.

3. Pulling for the PACK. NC State Wolfpack that is.

4. Going to church and singing good songs. Those that give you chill bumps and bring a tear to your eye.

5. Reality TV. I'm addicted. Favorites include: The Bachelor, Jon and Kate Plus Eight, What not to Wear, Intervention, etc. I'll stop there so as not to embarrass myself, if I haven't already.

6. New York City.

7. Paris and all things French.

8. Buying kids' clothes. Preppy kids' clothes.

9. Eating crab legs. A chance to get really messy and not care.

10. Buying wrapping paper, stationary, monogrammed napkins...paper products in general. I'm a sucker for a pretty pattern.

11. Reading. Love to read when I find the time or even if I don't have time.

12. Going to the beach and people watching. Airports are good for this, too.

13. Decorating for holidays. If you come to my house around a holiday you will see decorations in a lot of the rooms.

14. Baking and cooking. Love new recipes. If only you didn't have to clean up. Luckily hubby helps with that most of the time.

15. Having a rare day when we don't have to be somewhere and nothing has to be done.

16. Spring days when I can plant new flowers. That is when your state isn't in "drought" status and you can actually water them. What am I going to do this spring?

I'll stop there. These were mainly "me" things. That's why no mention of minis or the hubby. They know I love them most of all! Have a "love"ly day!

You'll get through it...

Insanity. Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Albert Einstein

My parents live 3 hours away but had a quick stopover tonight (dad in town on business)and had dinner with us. Afterwards my mom got to witness, firsthand, the mayhem of my life as a mother. She hears anecdotes on the phone frequently, but that doesn't compare to a front row seat. She saw mini#2 attempting to play naked tennis. Hey, the kid actually looked like he knew how to serve...but I digress. She saw mini#1 trying to pull out his Spongebob Operation game after being told half a dozen times it's bedtime. Could have been a direct result of all the post dinner Valentine candy he ate from Mimi (my mom). It not only was clogging his arteries, but his ears. She saw mini#2 wearing his NC State jersey (I thought I hid the d@#* thing) instead of the jammies I asked him to bring to me. Once the teeth were brushed and prayers were FINALLY finished, mini#2 started asking for his "cold beebe". A beebe at the White house is a "blankie". When he was a baby I was wise and made sure he had several instead of just one to rely on when necessary. This was in case of loss. Well for some reason this came back to bite me because he now wants a COLD beebe. Still trying to figure this one out. I told him "this is your cold beebe" pointing to one. He said "no, this is the warm beebe". So I pointed to the next one and said "that's the cold beebe". Too many choices you see. He wailed and said "nooooo" which my mom witnessed as she walked into his room for kisses. I told her our crisis and we started laughing. She so poignantly said "You'll get through it. I know your pain. You might not be pretty once it's all said and done, but you'll get through it." I think I'll put on some extra beauty creme tonight. It's going to be a long, bumpy ride.

10 Things I loved about this weekend...

Since this is the week we celebrate love I thought I'd start it off by listing 10 things I loved about this weekend:

1. Friday Family Movie Night- getting to be a tradition (do 3 weeks in a row constitute a tradition?). This week the White House watched The Sandlot... boys...baseball...mean dog. Cute.

Only 3 curse words. I was proud that only hubby and I seemed to cringe.

2. Eating lunch with family at a college burger drive in type place where hubby and I used to go years ago. We told the kids we never dreamed we'd be sitting here with our sons. It was pretty cool. One of those freeze in your mind moments with the kids.

3. Seeing the kids running around the NC Museum of Life Sciences having fun...or trying to flee from the caged snakes. Wait. That was me.

4. Buying sea scallops on steroids (HUGE! and on sale, too!) Saturday and making a yummy pan-seared recipe that night.

5. Mini #1 making me laugh by asking "Mommy who delivers the mailman's mail?"

6. Watching mini#1 (1st grade) do his Valentines for school all by himself for the first time. He

even did some for his brother to give to his neighbor friends. Sweetie.

7. Hubby and I watched Waitress Saturday night. It was surprisingly funny except I want to eat and make pie now.

8. Watching the kids play/laugh/smile at the playground. Hubby and I had a good laugh after I said "Look at all the parents. Their kids are smiling and they all look like they'd rather be anywhere else." We were in the same category as all the other parents ...

9. Crawling into mini#2's bed after his nap yesterday. I try to catch him when he's sweet which, for him, is after nap. He let me kiss him for a little while! Lately he's started objecting to all my kisses. He's almost 3. Too early!

10. Going to the grocery store late yesterday and buying pretty Gerber daisies for teacher appreciation day which was today. Made me think that spring is getting closer each day.

I hope everyone else had a great weekend, too!

Please. No more change!

I'm worn out. This week I've stayed up reading too late. It's another Jodi Picoult book, Nineteen Minutes, and I can't put it down. However, it's scary to think about, too. It's about a loner high school boy who ends up killing 10 classmates (popular) at school who had kidded him since kindergarten. It's heart wrenching because it explores the boy's family and their feelings, a one-time friend of the boy dealing with the fact she was spared and her mother having to mend their broken relationship...it's just so real life. She writes so beautifully. You really get into all of her characters' lives and emotions. I highly suggest her books.

Speaking of school...it was finally determined that our neighborhood is being rezoned to the year-round school down the street. This is bittersweet because we (read: me) love mini#1's current old, small-town elementary school. I hate CHANGE. Everyone knows that about me. I'm just now adjusting to life away from Atlanta and we moved here in Aug '06! And YEAR-ROUND? That is so foreign to me. I gave myself a headache last night reading the color-coded calendar for tracks 1-4. I have to give a preference. In this case I'm going to be a follower. My friends and fellow bus stop mates are all going to request the tracks in the same order. Yes, there could be a chance that mini #1's friends and neighbors end up on different tracks. How yucky! So if mini#1 is off in January, our next door neighbor could be in school! It is so overcrowded here. 6000 kids are being rezoned. Some because new schools have been built. And did I mention that school will be starting at 7:45? This is mini #1's current wake-up time. Yikes. Since departing the "working" world for the "WORKING" world, I must say I do enjoy sleeping until 7:30. Guess that will change, too. Ok, enough of my pity party. I'm 30++. I need to get used to change and not create mini change haters. I know this. I need to own this, but can someone at least feel a teensy weensy bit sorry for me?

Cake Art

So here is the actual mask and our version for the cub scout banquet. Not too bad. We bought the last tube of black writing gel at the grocery store because they were out of black icing. We squeezed every ounce out of that tiny tube!

Huffing and puffing...

Well, it's Feb. 5 and I've exercised a total of 5 times this new year. Not so good, but way better than December where I didn't even let exercise enter my thoughts. I'm gradually trying to add minutes on our elliptical machine. Last night after a rigorous 3 minutes I got off the machine (gasping for air) and moved to the giant exercise ball for crunches. This is the ball that is usually hurled down the stairs by mini#1 for entertainment. Well last night mini #2 saw me and found a considerably smaller ball and sat on it like me to work off some baby fat. How ironic. I was working off baby fat, too. His!


We had a fun time playing and watching football this weekend. Yes, you heard me correctly...I played football Sunday with the family at our neighborhood soccer fields. Some of you are probably laughing hysterically right now because that is so un-girly. But hey, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. Mini#2 throws footballs at me all day long during the week and lately my hands instinctively go up to catch them. It's far better than being hit in the head. I've finally learned. He thinks he's Phillip Rivers (ex-NCSU QB playing for San Diego Chargers) and wants to wear his brother's Rivers jersey all the time! Just 2 minutes ago he came up to me with that d@#*
jersey wanting to wear it again. His freshly ironed going out on errands shirt was nowhere on his body. He said it had syrup all over it. Mom was blogging you see. He kept begging to wear it and said "but I said pleassse". I redirected his attention to a snack (unfinished breakfast). Note to self: HIDE RIVERS JERSEY.


Ok off to look for ideas for mini#2's upcoming 3rd birthday party. I'm leaning towards a western or farm animal theme. Any suggestions for crafts/games?

Scrapping, Screaming, Baking, on my!

I'm so ordering this cookie cutter I found online. Being the patriotic French major and all.... Now the minis can enjoy cute somewhat French snacks. They'll care less as long as sugar is a part of the snack.

Speaking of sugar, I took advantage of the rare rainy day yesterday to drag out my scrap-booking materials. I hadn't updated since the beach trip so I snipped, arranged, decorated, chronicled all events Aug- Nov. I just didn't have the strength to tackle Christmas. While I was finishing up Thanksgiving, mini#2 walked in coated in chocolate. The "hot mess" had eaten every last chocolate heart candy I had naively placed in a cute heart-shaped box on my foyer table. He wanted some milk to wash it all down. Scrapping was officially over. I had to go survey for further damage.

Before mini#2 interrupted my fun, I was enjoying TLC's riveting series...Baby Story and Bringing Home Baby. Before kids I treated this as childbirth prep. Post kids I find it smugly entertaining. Yesterday I was dumbfounded watching a woman scream as she did. She even commented that climbing Mt. Everest would be easier than birth. The thing is this was #3 and she had an epidural! She pushed TWICE and it was out. Come on drama mama. While I'm on this subject, what makes these people decide that they want to go through all of this on TV? Was the primal screaming for viewing audiences?And is it too much to ask that you hide your dirty laundry, put away cereal boxes and wash your dishes piled in the sink if you decide to invite America into your house? Especially in Bringing Home Baby. You had a couple days where a neighbor, friend, tv crew member could have done a quick cleanup.... Is it just me or does this bother others?

Well I need to go check out hubby and mini#1's progress in the kitchen where cake decorating 101 is taking place. Blue and Gold cub scout banquet is tonight and there's a cake auction/contest. I baked last night and they're attempting to duplicate, in icing, a Chinese New Year's mask. Hubby received it as a gift at work from a visiting Chinese exec. We're doing Sandra Lee's Semi-Homemade version by adding food coloring to canned icing. Why is it that red food coloring NEVER makes RED icing? We've got a really dark pink going on, but that's as good as it gets. I'll have to post a picture later.