Happy Birthday

My sweet boy, you just turned 4. You are growing up so fast, right before my eyes. And as much as you frustrate me, I love you ten times more. You are a skinny little thing and are nearly half my height. lol. You can be so sweet and loving and so over the top frustrating and angry. I'll figure you out one of these days. You love all vehicles and you could have a thousand firetrucks, but if they're not all the same you still don't have enough. You're getting very interested in playing dress-up and will wear your Halloween costume often.

For your birthday this year you got several tractors, some Star Wars stuff, a Leapster, and your favorite, a chainsaw from your auntie Jenna. You still refuse to talk to her and we're not sure why, but you love your cousins and could play with them all day. Boy you need to show auntie a little love, but I know you will in your own time.

And of course we have to have a birthday "Justisism". Upon opening a pair of Pajama's that you asked for, your reaction was "Oh just a fluffy old shirt". Just like a child :) I love you.

Songs

I've been listening to a lot of music the past few days and heard a new song today on KLove. I guess it's a Christmas song, but I have never heard it. It touched me in this time. Yes, I do know it's about Mary and all, but the chorus really got me. And who does not need help in their daily walk?

Breath of Heaven

I have traveled-Many moonless nights-Cold and weary-With a babe inside-And I wonder-What I've done-Holy Father-You have come-And chosen me now-To carry your son

I am waiting-In a silent prayer-I am frightened-By the load I bear-In a world as cold as stone-Must I walk this path alone-Be with me now-Be with me now

CHORUS
Breath of Heaven-Hold me together-Be forever near me-Breath of Heaven
Breath of Heaven-Light in my darkness-Pour over me your holiness-For you're holy
Breath of Heaven

Do you wonder-As you watch my face-If a wiser one-Should have had my place-But I offer all I am-For the mercy of your plan-Help me be strong-Help me be-Help me

Breath of Heaven-Light in my darkness-Pour over me your holiness-For you're holy
Breath of Heaven

Signs

I am all about signs, omens, dreams, etc. I think Friday the 13th is a good day. And I was born on 7/7/74, at 4:44, no joke. 7/7 is also my uncles birthday, we both share my grandma's middle name.

At the same time, I am also religious. I consider myself a Christian and I do pray. I refuse to ask for silly stuff, like being able to speed without getting caught or even asking for my husband to ace a test, but I do pray for things like patience, calm in my son, and that my husband be able to comprehend the questions and relax so that he can do his best on his tests. I guess I ask for skills, not things.

My grandma was also religious. She is who first brought me to church when I was little. Her funeral will be held at the same church, which I have not been to in forever. I don't even know if she went faithfully, but I do know she was religious. She is being buried because she believes that if you get cremated, you will not go to heaven, which I also found out yesterday.

All day yesterday I was looking for a sign. A sign that she is with me, that she is watching over me. I did not get one. I was sad. I walked my son in the door at daycare and thought about something I told him one day and thought I should do the same. I told him that there is a piece of my heart in his pocket and any time he is sad or lonely that he can stick his hand in his pocket and a piece of me would be with him. It made me feel a bit better.

All day today, still no sign. Until I went to the store. I went for Gatorade because my husband is sick. I was going to get two bottles and that's all. The I remembered a lady at the store telling me if you drink the juice of 2-3 lemons, it will cure anything. Just for the heck of it I got 3 lemons and an 8 pack of Gatorade. I swiped my card, and for things like this I really never pay attention to the amount (bad I know), but when I looked up, there was my sign. Total $7.77.

It's silly I know, but in the weeks/months to come I will be looking for these signs. And I will smile each time I find one. And it will make it easier.

My Grandma

This is short, and I will write more as I am able, but yesterday I lost my grandma.

This is the first death I have had to process. And I knew it would be, and I knew it would be incredibly painful. Everything I thought about it, it is.

For me?!?

I got a blog award...really. I know this seems nearly impossible since no one reads this blog, but I did. Granted it's my own fault that no one reads it. Maybe if I posted a bit more and told more people about it I might have a reader or two, but I have at least one. I'm excited.:) Oh and for the record, one of my closest friends, who considers me her bff and who does know about the blog, does not read it. So what does that say about me?

It was Viv at A Proud Mom To Many who bestowed this award on me. Awww, thanks Viv. I think the easy part will be answering the questions, but do I even know of 6 bloggers I want to give this to? Heck two of them already recieved it, and I can't regift. This is not helped by the fact that another favorite blogger has decided to stop blogging and yet another has dissappeared. Not to mention that on most blogs I read but never comment. Well, without further ado...the award. :)

So my favorite bloggers (even if they don't read me) would have to be:
1. Kristen at UpDown...But her blog is private
2. Casey at Dancing On The Edge
3. KP at Ventalicious
4. Margret at Margret and Helen

So now it's your turn. The rules are simple, answer the following 35 questions in one word and name six (yeah yeah, I could only think of 4) of your favorite bloggers! Have fun.


1. Where is your cell phone? Desk
2. Your hair? Curly
3. Your mother? Strong
4. Your father? Pushover
5. Your favorite food? Junk
6. Your dream last night? Forgotten
7. Your favorite drink? Coke
8. Your dream/goal? Calmness
9. What room are you in? Office
10. Your hobby? Baking
11. Your fear? Fire
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Colorado
13. Where were you last night? Park
14. Something that you aren't? Confident
15. Muffins? Chocolate
16. Wish list item? Camera
17. Where did you grow up? SoCal
18. Last thing you did? This
19. What are you wearing? Shorts
20. Your TV? Home
21. Your pets? Dog
22. Friends? Far
23. Your life? Boring
24. Your mood? Decent
25. Missing someone? Always
26. Vehicle? Sonata
27. Something you’re not wearing? Makeup
28. Your favorite store? Target
29. Your favorite color? Blue
30. When was the last time you laughed? Saturday
31. Last time you cried? 9/11
32. Your best friend? Kristen?
33. One place that I go to over and over? Crazy
34. One person who emails me regularly? Kristen
35. Favorite place to eat? Anywhere

Blog Addresses

I just read a post over at mymommyneedsatimeout about her 3yr old not sleeping. Is it in the water, is there a full moon, becuase man my little guy is being crazy at night. She has 6, I have 1, so I can't even begin to understand her pain, I mean where she's coming from. But child, please sleep and please STOP calling me. I hate to make you cry, I do, but sometimes I'm at my wits end.

Oh and on a somewhat similar topic...My blog adress. I chose my blog adress when I was newly pregnant, due with the "lil butterball" the day after Thanksgiving. I should have known it was a bad choice when he rufused to be born, seriously, refused. They had to go in and get him. So now I'm more in the thick of being "mom" and I realize that the cutsie blog name is not as fitting as I had hoped, nor will it describe any other child I have. I do have another blog, a dark, sinister blog (aka vent party) that is kind of a private journal where I rarely post, but it has a much more fitting title "I HATE BEDTIME". I've had it for awhile, and it still rings true.

I command you...SLEEP!

Tinkerbell

So my child wants to be Tinkerell for Halloween. If you have stopped by here before you're aware that my child is a boy. Do I have a problem with this? Nope! Does everybody else, Yup! Ok I shouldn't say everybody. Daycare thinks it would be cute and I say have at it boy! My husband, I can't really tell for sure. I'm 90% sure he's fine with it, at least he says he is. But a childhood friend and my brother in law...they are trying to give me suggestions. As if they don't think I have not already asked him if he wants to be batman, spiderman, a ghost, wolverene, a pirate, a dinosaure, etc etc. Nope his heart is set on Tinkerbel and who am I to break a little guys heart?

Walkin

I know this blog doesn't get much traffic, but I had to post this just in case someone happens upon it.

I have a friend who has been training to walk the Breast Cancer 3-day (the3day.org). She has been training for months and has been walking miles per day to be able to make it through the walk. Even more difficult then walking has been the fundraising. There is a minimum she must raise in order to be allowed to walk, after all the training and fundraising she has done.

She has raised $1,600 so far but needs another $700 to meet her "goal". I agree that $2,300 is a lot, but this is not a goal that she chose, it is the minimum amount they require once you choose to walk.

This is for a great cause and there is no doubt that someone you know has, or will be affected by this disease. I know for me personally that my risk is increased because my maternal grandmother is a survivor. I have wanted to walk in this race myself for the last few years and it is a personal goal that at some point I WILL accomplish, but for now, please donate to her. Even $5 will help and that's what, your morning coffee? $10, a fast food lunch? So make lunch and coffee at home one day, and donate $15 (or more). It will help her reach her goal and you will feel good doing it.

Thank you
http://www.the3day.org/site/TR/Walk/SanFranciscoBayAreaEvent2009?px=3112183&pg=personal&fr_id=1299

How do you pee?

I was telling J the other day that he needed to learn to hold his pen.is when he goes potty so that he does not dribble everywhere. He agreed :)

The next time he went he came back and told me "I held it mommy" and I said "good job" . Then he proceeded to tell me "you don't have to do that because you don't have a pen.is, you have a uterus" I did have to explain that while that was true, my uterus was not used for that purpose.

And can someone please tell me how to explain to my 3yr old what a tampon is? He asks about those darn machines every time we go to the bathroom and "it's just something that girls use" just ain't cutting it anymore.

A camping we will go

So I really lagged at getting this post up, but better late then never, right?

On 8/16/09-8/18/09 we took Justus on his first camping trip. We had hoped to take him sooner, but it just never worked out. At the last minute we made the decision to go since R was off from school only until the 24th. Since I couldn't find anything on a weekend on such short notice, I decided to take Mon & Tues off and go during the week. We had a really good time.

On Sunday we began loading up the car, until we realized there was no way we were getting all our stuff into it, so we unloaded it and loaded up the truck. We headed out and stopped for a quick lunch before heading out the whole 20min to get to the campsite. We decided to stay close since this was J's first trip as well as the first time that we decided to take our dog. When we got to the site my first thought was "Man it's HOT". We got our spot and started unloading. Justus wanted to help put up the tent, but we all know how helpful a 3yr old can be :) . We we're hot, we we're sweaty, but it was up. I remember why we love our tent. It's big, and roomie and easy to get up. Thank goodness the directions are on the bag though or we would have been screwed. We relaxed for a bit and then took a walk. It seemed like the pool/store was pretty far so we decided to take a drive around the park to see the rest of it. Justus ended up napping in the car which was good because it was HOT and I did not think he would sleep in the tent. We made dinner, steak kabobs, potatoes, and corn. Since he kept asking, we finally let Justus roast marshmallows over the fire. He loved it. We made smores too, but he didn't seem all that interested in those. He just like the gooey mellos. It was finally time to hit the bed and all my worries about him sleeping were laid to rest. He fell asleep quickly and slept soundly all night. Only mishap today was when daddy tried to spray some OFF! on him and he looked down and it got in his eyes. Poor baby, and daddy too, he felt so bad.

On Monday we got up and had breakfast, eggs, pancakes, and sausage. I love camping food, for some reason it's just more fun. The we let J play around in the dirt for awhile while we took in the coolness of the morning. Just before I was going to think about taking a shower, wouldn't you know it, our dog got stung by a bee! So not fun. We both kind of freaked out because bees and dogs are not a good mix. When we looked at his lip we saw the stinger and Ryan was able to pull it out with his fingers. We called the vet just to ask what to look for and I headed up to take a quick shower in case we had to rush him in. While I was in the shower my phone went off and I thought "ahh man", but R just wanted me to know "so far, so good." Really? In a time like this, only text me if I have to grab my clothes and go. lol. R took his next and everything seemed to be fine. His lip was slightly swollen, but no more then you would expect from a bee sting so we headed to the pool. After a nice long time in the cool pool we went and had lunch, chicken drumsticks with cucumbers and carrots, with Ranch of course. We relaxed for a bit after lunch before heading back up to the pool again where I got the boys and ice cream from the store. After the pool we went to the "playground" which consisted of two swings, an inverted U climber and three big tires, needless to say we did not stay there long. We headed back to camp to make some dinner, Steak, corn, and potatoes. It was getting late by this time and we were cooking by lantern light. After dinner R took Justus to the bathroom and I was alone at camp. I realized it was the first time I was alone and I didn't know what to do with myself. I just enjoyed the sounds of the evening. When R got back he said we needed to get J ready for bed because while they were gone he had told R "daddy, I'm so tired." That's a first! So we got him dressed and laid him down and within a few minutes, he was out. We followed close behind. Camping wears you out. I had been checking the dog often and he was fine, thank goodness.

On Tuesday it was time to go home. We got up and made breakfast, with ham this time, and then took our showers. We started packing up pretty much right away before it got too hot. Justus actually did a really good job of helping to pack up, and didn't even get in the way. Once we were packed we drove up to the pool and went swimming before heading home. When we got home, we all crashed, we were so tired!

Oh, and the geese. J loved the geese. They were too funny. If you turned around they would start running after you, when you turned back around they would put their wings out and lower their head like they were trying to challenge you. It was a pretty funny sight. Too bad I didn't get a picture of that. :) And what is with a "catch and release" lake? Really, what's the purpose?!?

It was fun, and if it hadn't been so darn hot it would have been even nicer. We can't wait to to go in December during "winter" break.

Da Theater

A few weeks ago I found out that during the summer Edwards Cinema offers free movies for kids(and their parents). R had finally finished his summer class and I thought it would be a great way for him and J to have some daddy/son time. So on Wed 8/12 J got to stay home from preschool and go with daddy, and grandma, to his first movie at the theater. They went to see the Curious George movie.

I was told he was so excited he could hardly wait for grandma to get to the house. Once there he kept asking when the movie was going to start, and then I guess he was busting up during the movie. He had a really great time. They also ended up going to lunch and I guess he asked if they could pick me up, but they told him I was working. I'm happy he wanted to include me, sad I couldn't go with them.

It turned out to be a great time for him. I'm so glad he got to do this because I have wanted to take him to the movies, but could not see spending the money in case a) his attention span was too short or b) the theater was too loud for him, cause he tends to be sensitive like that. Neither thing happened, so bring it on Disney and Pixar.

Recent Justusisms

We were driving in the car the other day and J was making noises. R says "Your Driving me crazy" to which J responds "I'm not driving". All sarcastic of course. He gets that from me.

We went to a mini wedding for one of J's teachers and the girls had little veils and the boys had black top hats and they paraded out for us to see. After the ceremony J announces"I'm a circus man"... You know top hat, ring master. I think he also put it on his back and said he was a turtle.

Then the other night he says to me "Mommy, I think I see my kidney" as he looks into his belly button.

Cute things he says

On our trip from the bus to the car at the fair, J was riding in the stroller and says "mama, it's gonna be an awful mess when we get home." Lucky for me I was about 3 feet in front of my husband pushing the stroller, so I was able to laugh and compose myself before asking "really, why?" To which he answered "because I've got lots of sand in my shoes." Of course, why else. Just too cute. I have to wonder where he hears this because I don't think I've ever said anything would make an awful mess.

Full Weekend

This weekend was a full one. On Saturday we went to Santee Lakes to celebrate my nephew's birthday. While it was nice, it was also long and hot and I think J was pretty bored at times. He didn't want to play at the sprayground because he doesn't like water in his eyes and the only playground close consisted of a swing set with two swings and sand. Lucky for me he loves sand and he did play in the sand for a bit, but we were there for FIVE hours. And while I just wanted to lay on the blanket since I was melting from the heat, he wanted to run up and down the bank to go watch the ducks or watch his cousin play in the sprayground. Since the ducks were down a steep incline, I was inclined to follow so he would not fall in the water, and the sprayground wasn't exactly within good viewing distance either. Finally I decided that it was time to split from my family since everyone was doing their own thing anyhow and head to a real play structure. Oh I should have done this soooo much sooner. Needless to say I think he had fun, just being out and about. We were both worn out from the heat and he crashed as soon as we headed home and slept for about 30min, only to wake up, eat, watch a little George and head to bed, where he promptly fell asleep again.

Yesterday we stayed home during the morning, which he did not like. He ended up playing out back for a bit and being happy with that. After nap we headed to the Fair and got there around 4. It wasn't as hot as Saturday which was nice, but it was crowded. While J enjoyed seeing the animals and watching his other cousin ride rides, we both thought he was a little bored. Finally he got to play some games. He said his favorite part was the balls (throwing ping pong balls into jars) but he wished he had made it in. :) He still won a prize though. After the rides I suggested we take them to the playground (free) and on the way they found some hay bales and had fun running through and over those while the adults sat down for a minute and then we headed to the playground. There was a boy J's age there and this kid would not stop bugging him. I swore J was gonna deck him. I actually saw him turn around and the boy fall to the ground but I think, and J confirmed, that the boy just fell to the ground, no pushing or hitting involved. That kid was a brat. After a bit we decided to head home and I realized we didn't even hardly eat anything. J had a slice of pizza and an Icee, R some nachos, and I split some Tasti-chips with R. That's all I ate! I didn't want to deal with food at that point as it was already after 8 and we needed to get home and I knew J had eaten enough, which is all that really matters. When he was in bed I asked him if he had fun and he said "yes but I wanted to play another game, one that you ride." I felt so bad, he wanted to go on a ride, but just a few months ago we tried that at the carnival and he was super scared, and that just went in a circle. I guess we should have taken him on the little train or something :( Don't worry baby, mommy didn't get to do the one thing she wanted to go to the fair for either, to look at the cakes.

Ummm Hunny?!?

NOT what you want to hear when you go tuck your 3yr old into bed after being gone that evening while Dad was in charge...

"we looked at pen.ises on the computer" HUH??? "yea daddy showed me pen.ises on the Internet" ummm...I'll be right back.

As I suspected it was NOT the Internet, it was daddy's anatomy CD-Rom and yes they also looked at shoulders, hands, legs, etc. He just neglected to mention that part.

Please don't say that at day care.

Coupon Virgin

Up until Sunday I had been a coupon virgin. Oh sure I dabbled in coupons here and there, getting lucky. Mostly from the store ad, right down the street. They offered a few items highly discounted with the "in-ad" coupon, so I would rush down and get them, often buying several other things I may or may not need in the process. But never full on couponing or better yet stacking* coupons, to actually save money.

Until Sunday...Sunday R said "I want hot dogs." A light clicked on and I remembered I had a coupon for free hot dogs, and that started the ball rolling. I then remembered I had the stores flyer and they had some in-ad coupons that I wanted to use, but I also thought I had some manufacturers coupons for their coupon items so I started searching. Pay dirt!

I headed to the store, an bit anxious I admit, to try out this coupon game. And it worked! I walked out of the store paying less then I actually saved. I spent $28.05. With club savings and coupons I saved $49.01!! 64%. And what did I get?

4 boxes of granola bars, 4 boxes of cereal, a jar of PB, a box of cheese-its, a 4pk of Easy Mac, 3 frozen lunches, 2 bottles of whip cream (yes we use this a lot and it was B1G1), Bryers Ice Cream, London Broil, hot dogs, and buns.

Not bad. And while I admit that I did spend a bit more time preparing to shop, I want to do it again. I want to see how much I can save! All in all, since I had the free hot dog coupon, I think I spent $1.50 on dinner that night!

Yea, I'm proud of myself.

*Stacking-I didn't even know you could do this till I read about it. You can use a manufacturer's coupon on top of the stores coupon.

First Joke

Justus told us his first joke :)

What do call a dinosaur that's sleeping?

A Borontosnoreaus...said with just the right inflections.

Questions

Where does he come up with theses?

Mommy, why do blind people have eyes?

Blasts from the Past

Recently I took it upon myself to find two people from my past, that I think about often. The mom of a girl I use to babysit for and my 6th grade teacher. I emailed them both. I haven't heard from the mom, but my teacher emailed me back in less then 10 minutes.

I was so happy to hear back from her. So excited that I honestly just wanted to cry.

This was someone who helped shape my life. Someone I think about often and hope she is doing well. Someone who made 6th-12th grade, and my parents divorce a little less painful. Someone who I would love to sit down with and tell my entire life to.

Oddly enough she was a teacher who most students disliked as she was extremely strict, to the point that she wouldn't even let her students wear makeup. I remember she let me bring my Cabbage Patch Kid with me to 6th grade camp, even though it was frowned upon. In taking me under her wing she did things that would be soooo frowned upon now. Like making me make a promise to not...before I was 18. Or inviting me into her family life where I spent a weekend with her and her family (after the school year ended). Things were just different then. She asked me difficult questions that I hated her for and then years later went to see her to apologize because I understood why.

I'm so so glad she is well and that she has become a principal like she wanted. I really doubt that she truly knows how much her mentoring and friendship meant to me.

Contact a teacher that made a difference in your life. It will make you feel good, and most likely make their day.

Earf Day

Thanks to daycare, after going to the store today J held up the plastic bag and said to me "this is bad for da earf."

Yes sweetie, I know that. Now just remind me to bring my reusable bags.

Bunnies and Birthdays

Wow it seems like there have been a lot of birthdays this weekend. My bosses was Sunday but we celebrated it here at work on Thursday. I got to make a gluten free, organic chocolate cake...from a box. It didn't smell very good, and J did not want to lick the bowl, but after it was cooked and frosted it was actually okay. Thursday was also my dad's birthday and Friday was my grandma's and R's (who's the only one that really matters in this story).

Friday I left work at 10. I never do that so it was a huge shock for R. I wanted to take him down to San Diego for lunch and a trip through the Body World exhibit but with the drizzly weather and the roll over accident next to our house we thought it would be best to just stay in. Not to mention daycare probably would be less then ecstatic if we ran late on Good Friday. Heck we had originally planned to go to Disneyland, free birthday and all, but that plan was foiled when we realized it was Easter weekend.

Thursday I had made R's chocolate cake. A deliciously sinful, full sugar, full gluten cake with sour cream frosting. Staying in on Friday gave me a chance to whip up some butter cream icing and decorate the cake. He wanted me to make roses, so I could practice, but with only a half hour to pick up, there just wasn't time. I grabbed the boy, the cake and off we went to pizza with his family. Where R and his brother got in an argument on the state of our economy. Why or why? It's so interesting to see how different two people form the same family can be, especially since they are only a couple years apart. Despite that bit of tension it was a really relaxing dinner, for me at least.

On Saturday we didn't do much in the morning and headed over to a carnival for about an hour in the evening. J rode one ride and was done. Thankfully he had a blast playing games and even got three ping pong balls in the little floating cups. Since I had purchased tickets for two rides I just had to use the rest of the tickets myself. Unfortunately the carnival was pretty ghetto and the only ride that looked safe was the Tilt-a-whirl. It was fun the first few times around but then it got pretty monotonous. By the time I got off I felt sick and my arm hurt, very strange. Guess I'm getting old. blah.

Sunday was a really great Easter! Other then trying to make it down to brunch, where my uncle works, in time for the egg hunt, there was no stress. It was nice. When we got home it was nap time. I guess the sun wore me out because I ended up falling asleep in J's bed. When he woke grandma came over and we dyed eggs. I think the adults had much more fun then J, as he lost interest after about 10min.

Cheesecake

Sometimes random memories pop into my head. Today it was one about Pumpkin Cheesecake. When I was TTC I had heard that if you eat Pumpkin Cheesecake it will help you get pregnant. This knowledge called for us to go to the nearest Cheesecake Factory, about 40 miles, and buy a whole pumpkin cheesecake.

Liars! But it tasted good anyhow.

I had the rest of that cheesecake in the freezer for who knows how long.

What's that for?

J had just gone to the bathroom and needed to get into the bath, but before doing so he came to me and asked "mama, what's this?"
Me- You mean your pen.is? (thinking he was asking specifically about the head)
J-No this (pointing now under said pen.is)
Me- That's your scro.tum
J-What's inside of it?
Me-Your testicles.
J-What are they for?
Me-So when you get bigger you can help make a baby.
J ponders this info for just a second and then responds quiet pointedly and with a perfect facial expression "THAT, is never going to happen."

Grease

I got caught up in watching Grease the other night (one of my faves) when I realized.... It's like totally the originally High School Musical.

Justusisms

I wasn't personally there to witness this one but daddy said it went like this...

J-Daddy, why do camels have humps?

R- Well, it's to store water because camels live in the desert and the desert doesn't have much water. It's like a storage tank. It has water inside.

J thinks and responds- So what does the front hump have?

R-Water

J ponders this again, then says "then the back hump has cups."

J, the logical one.

Snort!!!

The snort HAS been identified. See I knew it was not like J to make something like that up, at least not yet. I'm sure he'll be a little schemer when he gets a bit older though. Mental note, must find a way to channel that brain power for good, not evil.

Anyhow, the snort is the tractor that J pointed out to me. At least it is in the book "Are You My Mother?"

Oh and now my car is a snort. Heck if it makes him want to get in the car, he can call it whatever he wants.

Snort

Justus swears up and down that there is a piece of heavy construction equipment called a snort. I have asked him if he's sure and he even pointed one out to me when we were driving. Could it be some slang term or maybe a Bob The Builder name?!? Because I work in a construction office and my boss has assured me there is nothing called a snort. And J is not one that would usually just grab a name and assign it to something it's not.

Dinner Please

For dinner the other night we had cereal, yes I know great mom nomination headed my way. Oh and to top it off we made Chex Muddy buddies, even better. So when asked what kind of cereal J wanted he replied...

"Light Saber Crunch" of course he meant Cinnamon Life! Unfortunately we were out of Light Saber Crunch so Cinnamon Toast Crunch (CTC) would have to do. And yes, you would think that light saber crunch meant CTC but it really does mean Cinnamon Life, cause that's his favorite, and mine too. Would have made more sense if he said Cinnamon Light Saber, but I think I confused him when I asked if he wanted CTC.

side note-he's not real familiar with Star Wars...yet.

Three's

So I was just going to write about J's dry overnights, but then I realized that today is 3/3. Justus is 3yrs 3mo old and he has worn "panties" to bed the last 3 nights and woken up dry.

While that is wonderful, the three nights was not unexpected as his pull-up was already dry 99% of the time anyhow. I just remembered on Saturday night that I told him this weekend he could try wearing panties to bed.

I bought two lotto tickets, maybe I should make it 3.

Happiness Is

listening to Justus in the back seat try to sing to Celine's "Taking Chances" :)

No More Beetles

While I can't tell you if we still have termites, which I'm sure we do. Or if we still have mold in the garage, which we might. I finally seem to have gotten rid of the weird little beetle bugs I was finding in the kitchen and bathroom.

I was really confused to find them in the bathroom especially when I seemed to have found their lair in the kitchen, which is no where near the bathroom. Their comfy cozy home seemed to be the Masa that I had, sitting in a long forgotten cupboard from who knows when (at least 2 years because I know it was before that when I made tamales). But sure enough there was a whole mess of 'em up in the cupboard. So I tossed the mesa and sprayed the cabinet and have not seen them crawling the walls since.

I don't expect the termites and mold to be so easy.

Bathroom Chatter

This weekend I was at Target and had to use the bathroom. I was finally able to coax J away from the shoes and to the restroom with me. Once in the stall he asks, loudly, "why don't girls have a pe.nis?"

The lady in the next stall giggles as I quietly shush him. She then says "I can't wait to get that question, mine is 2"

I respond "yeah he's three" and we both laugh. So I told him "that's the way God made us." And she responds "there you go, that's a good answer, that's what I'd say too. Have a good day"

"You too" :) Hey at least she was the only one in the restroom and had a good sense of humor.

After she left I had to confuse the kid more by saying "most boys have a pen.is and most girls don't" lol at least he didn't ask why.

Oh and on that note I have to be over this cold by Wednesday because when he asked me what day specifically that I would be better that's what I said and he hasn't let me forget it.

Justusisms

Today at school Justus told his teacher that he was a "Destruction Worker"

Yea, that sounds about right :)

Sweet Hamburger

This happened awhile ago, and I made a note to put it in, but then forgot.

One night J was having trouble falling asleep. He told me it would be better if he could have a sweet Hamburger (aka a sausage Mcgriddle for McD's)

Lunch

This are the lunches we had this week. :)

Monday-Turkey Chili with beans (garbanzo, black, kidney, and Cannelloni) and roasted squash
Tuesday- Tri-tip, salad, and roasted squash
Wednesday- Hamburger patties, salad, butternut squash, and my chocolate cake.
Thursday-Lamb chops, salmon, or chicken (they made them all). Roasted red peppers and green onions, avocado, and salad.
Friday-I'm on my own, and getting hungry :)

My Siblings

I have four siblings. 2 sisters and 2 brother, half brothers if any ones counting. I am the oldest. As of this writing we are Tanya (34), Chandra (26), Jenna(24), Jacob(21), and Tim(18).

Tim is the youngest and the craziest. I often worry about him and where his life is headed. For the first time ever I sat with him and had an actual conversation this past Christmas. I remember Tim as little Timmy. My cute but troubled baby brother. The one I was a birth coach for. The one I would often babysit for when my mom went to work. The boy who had to have speech lessons because at two he would say "boid" you know the things that fly in the sky. I remember doing a presentation about him for Psychology class, but not the specifics. It was so cute that he would say "boid". He is the one that got kicked out of preschool and sent to special classes once he entered kindergarten. He has learning problems still to this day, anger issues, and is on and off medication. I hope that as he gets older he can get on a regimen that helps him become a wonderful young man, but still I worry.

At the other end of the spectrum is Jacob. He was the cute kid I took to school with me to show off during child development. I remember him telling me when he was very young that he was going to own his own business. I asked if I could work for him in the office and he said "would you know what to do?" :) When he got to be about 8 he was annoying as hell, and would not shut up. He has grown so much since then, into a handsome young man who I can have a real conversation with. We should be closer. He's smart too and is getting ready to graduate from the University of Boulder with a degree in Engineering, Full Scholarship! Hey where's my sweatshirt? And to be honest I did not want him to be born. How much I would have missed out on if my mom had followed my desire. :(

Then there's Jenna, my 'little' sister, who towers over me. She probably doesn't realize how protective I am of her, but I am. Ever since the breakup with her first boyfriend. She's a good girl who slips off the path every now and again and then jumps right back on. She's smarter and stronger then she realizes. She's like me in that she is a pleaser. Take her to the mall and she'll go where you want, share a soda, and be sweet. She can tend to be loud, but that's just Jenna. She would never hurt anyone on purpose. She was a teen mom, who defied the odds. Graduated with honors and went on to finish nursing school. She's afraid of failure and that can tend to hold her back. She currently lives with my dad with her two gorgeous kids Kaylee(6) and Derek(7). She will succeed in whatever she does as long as she puts her mind to it.

And last but not least, is Chandra. My sister! My "twin". The one who ruined my single child-hood. ;) She seems to constantly change, never bad, just changing. She's an adult now. She lives with her boyfriend and desires to be a SAHM so didn't go further then H.S. She was the bratty one growing up. Always getting into my stuff and making me punch her in the stomach. Which she will gladly tell you the story of even today. She is more independent, take her to the mall and you better be ready to go to the stores she wants to go to and fork out the money for the extra soda because she isn't sharing with anyone. She's gone though the "black" phase, the "pot" phase, and I've even called her a "fag hag", and now she's just chill. She's not 100% sure of herself, but she tries to hide it. She is not a girly girl.

Those are my siblings in a quick nutshell. I'm sure I have forgotten to mention many things, but I love them all and just wanted to take a second to let them know I notice them, and love them. :)

Lunch

The other day Kristen mentioned something about the lunches at my work, and I too had just been thinking about them. So I've decided to start keeping track of what we had for lunch. Here goes:

Today I was on my own as is often the case on Mondays and Friday, so I went and got a sandwich. But here is the line up for the rest of this past week.

Tuesday - Grilled lamb chops, grilled veggies(zucchini and peppers) and organic salad with organic dressing (I have a feeling the veggies were organic too).

Wednesday - Grilled hamburgers with cheddar on whole wheat buns with lettuce and tomato, same type of grilled veggies and salad.

Thursday - Grilled Salmon, grilled sweet potatoes, acorn squash, and salad.

And these meats and veggies are not from the corner store, no they go to Jimbo's or Whole Foods, so most stuff is most likely organic. I am not complaining, because it is good and healthy, but I could get paid a buck more an hour for what my lunch costs! One of my coworkers is the one that gets to do all the grilling. My boss has commented that if we don't get any trenching jobs soon we'll be selling cakes and hot lunches out of the office.

New Stove

Well it looks like we are going to have to get a new range. I've been babying the one we have for quite some time now, but now it seems that my oven, yes the oven, is giving me problems and we can't have that. Two of the burners will not light by them self and so I've been using a stick lighter, but the other night it took over two hours to cook a chicken. I have to make a cake tonight and I hope it turns out okay. It may just be that the calibration is off because when I checked my oven thermometer it read about 25 deg less then where I had it set. That could possibly explain the troubles I was having with a few sheets of cookies this year, or that could have been the sheets them self. I'll be sure to check it as soon as it's preheated to see where the temp falls.

Not that I wouldn't love a new stove/oven. I would REALLY love a nice big double oven and/or a convection oven but I refuse to spend $1500+ on one. I was trying to go as cheap as possible, but there are a few things I require which the cheepos don't have and if I spend a little more I will hopefully get a better insulated product which will cost less in the long run. And maybe I can actually go digital with the oven now, instead of the turn dial. Our current oven doesn't match anything in the kitchen as it's bisque and all the others are white.

So far there are two that I have in mind but I have to go to Best Buy to look at the one I saw on their site. There is another at Sears. Both are in the $550 range, ouch. If tonight's baking shows that I do in fact need one, I hope to have a decision made by next weekend before I have to bake another cake.

One Thing

Have you ever thought about the fact that if you changed just one thing about your life, how totally different things could be? It could be something small that makes a small difference or something big that makes a huge difference.

For instance how different would your life be if you choose to stay at a job you left or vice-versa, or how about picked a different home to live in, or even chosen a different name for your child? Pick anything....

Contemplate!

Wednesday Weirdness

Wednesday Weirdness

1. Why do you keep a blog?

Because I'm horrible at things like baby books so I use it mostly as a place to write things my son has done. Oh and I can't loose it in the clutter, like the baby book.

2. Who is one long lost blogger you wish would come back?

I think all the people I read still blog.

3. If you made a New Year’s Resolution, did you break it already? If you did not make one, why?

I did decide to make one. Clean the clutter out of my house. Then I decided to expand it and just clean all the clutter out of my life. I'm keeping it so far. Two areas in my house have remained clutter free for a week already.

4. People who still have their outside Christmas lights up. Festive or Lazy? Discuss.

Smart! Our house is tall and is a bear to put up and take down lights that's why we haven't had any in several years and it's sad really.

5. What is the last annoying song that got trapped in your head?

I can't even remember the last time one did.

6. Have you ever worn or tried edible underwear? What are your thoughts on it?

Had some that I got as a gift, but they never got used. Passed the Exp date, lol

Bonus: If you could do one bad thing and get away with it, what would you do and why?
On the VERY slight chance that someone might read this I will have to say, um, I'm so boring I have no idea. I guess key someones car that pissed off R just to say "feel better babe?" Or maybe I should just let R do it.

Eggnog Recipe

Ingredients
2 eggs

Directions: Per Justus
take da egg, den take ahnder egg and nog it.

Daddy-how do you nog it?
Jusuts-it means stir

Cute Perception

Today we say a commercial for this battery operated mascara. the way J perceives things is pretty cute. First when they showed a split screen of the woman's eyes he said "she broke her face." And every time they showed someone applying the mascara he would cover his eye and say "Ouch." I ask him if we should get some for him and he will pass.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to All, a few days late!

We had a very quite New Years Eve. It consisted of us going out to dinner for Chinese and then spending the rest of the evening at home. Pretty boring, but at least I felt good the next day, unlike some unfortunate people. ;)...JENNA!