Post 928, if you're keeping track at home

I talked to a co-worker this morning. We started blogging on the same day. He never gets comments of any kind, let alone snarky ones, but he had a brilliant idea - turn off comments. Huh! Hadn't thought of that.

Just eliminate the feedback.

Maybe that's a solution?

Regardless -

Here's one of those lame posts where people just put up a lot of pictures of what they've been up to lately because 1) they can't think of anything better to write about; 2) they think we all really care about their weekend or 3) they are tired of reading about health care on the blogs of everyone else.

No health care debate here. What is health care anyway?

Here you go:
1: We got invited to our first official pre-schooler birthday party. Well, I wasn't invited, neither was the Chick but we tagged along for the ride because cupcakes were involved and the Monkey can't drive.





2: The boys spent some time at their favorite store - home depot. They made some returns. Because my husband was too embarrassed to just make returns while pushing around a giant shopping cart, he made a few purchases.

You know, Bee Killer!

To kill all the bees that are going to be a problem....



3: I've started knitting hats again. In the spring. Brilliant idea, no? And what's better than a springtime knitted hat than a hat with felt roses on it.



4: Someone know where the spoons are. Enough said.



5: These two boys look great in green. They choose to be all matchy-matchy, too.

Flash back Friday

I was looking through some old movies the other day and found this one. It was from March 2009 and I cannot believe how my little monkey has grown up (literally and figuratively) in the last year.




This just absolutely made me smile and laugh.

Stealing the question from Hamlet

To be or not to be....

a private blog, that is.

I'm really not sure.

Nine of you voted in my little poll.  Thank you.  The votes for "No!  do not go private!" won by a vote.

Not that the little poll was going to make my decision for me, but it was helpful thanks.

Two years ago I ranted about people who put things on the internet in private and how dumb I thought that was - my argument being why use a public forum and turn around and privatize the users and content.  I just didn't get it.

Perhaps now I've been humbled a bit.  I know a lot of people who have hit the "private" button on their blogs and I get it.  There are too many people out there, too many potential cat-fights and too many goobers.  I'm not nervous about the safety or me or my kids, but I guess that the element of the unknown is starting to eat at me a bit.

I've been told many times (thanks Mom) that I'm a decent writer.  I've even been published twice in the last few years in a magazine and a book.  I enjoy writing and really like the fact that there are people out there, even some who aren't related to me, that enjoy reading what I write.

Regardless - there is the whole private vs. public issue looming in my head.  Most of my family has told me to go private and my husband has told me to just quit all together.  I think that maybe I've found a compromise.

This little blog was started in 2005.  That was 5 years ago.  In that time, I've written nearly 1000 posts, about 926 to be exact.  I'm not 100% on the idea yet, but I think that when I hit post 1000, then the blog will be laid to rest.  It could take me the year, or it could take me a few months.

We'll see what happens, right?

Sugar Rush

On Saturday, my mom and I hosted a baby shower for my cute cousin.  Her baby is due in a month.  She received some wonderful gifts.  I have a very kind and generous family.

As usual, I was put in charge of the sugar.  I'm pretty sure that I didn't let anyone down.

The menu:
Chocolate brownies (store bought)

Lime bars (made by my momacita - yummy)



Chocolate Mousse in edible white chocolate cups



Cake Ball cupcakes (thanks Bakerella for the ideas and recipie)



Giant turtle and whale sugar cookies for the party favor



Limeade punch with such a kick that my family, who all enjoy sour, guzzled the stuff up like it was going out of style.

With a menu like that, it's no wonder I gained two pounds over the weekend.  On Friday night, I was covered in powdered sugar and on Saturday morning I was covered in chocolate.

What a yummy weekend.

Next up?  A baby shower for my sister......

what to make...what to make...???????

A Special Dinner

Picture trois, originally uploaded by bookemdano1978.

On St. Patrick's Day the boys and I visited my grandparents. I asked them if it would be okay if I brought dinner to them on Friday night.

My grandma informed me that it was their wedding anniversary today, March 19. They've been married for almost 60 years.

"You mean you aren't going out to a fancy restaurant to celebrate?" I asked my grandma, who is on oxygen among many other things.

"We're going to the eye doctor!" my Grandpa answered for her, "So no, we're not going to dinner!"

I decided then that it was not only the perfect night to bring them something tasty to eat, but that it was an even more perfect night to do it up a little fancy.

I snuck over to their house when they were at their doctor's appointment. I set the table up real pretty, got them some "champagne", typed up some menus and put all the food in the fridge. I then left them a note pinned to the cupboard over the sink with all their cooking instructions. It may have been a fancy dinner, but they did have to cook it themselves.

My grandma called me in tears when they got home. It had been a rough visit to the eye doctor with some bad news about her vision. Just one more thing to add to my amazing grandma's list of serious ailments. Dinner made her day.

It made me happy to know that today at least, on her wedding anniversary, there was a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel.

My Boys Friday: Goonies

Goonies is one of my more favorite movies.  It's fun, clever, and the recorded off HBO copy we owned my entire life growing up didn't have the ending.  The Goonies made it to the pirate ship and then it ended. 

Seriously.  I grew up never knowing how the movie ended.  They found One-Eyed Willie and that was the end.  Not until I was much, much older did I finally see what happened.

Lucky for me though, Goonies is on tv all the time.  Really, all the time.  Those HD movie channels that I spend my days perusing while the Chick is drinking his bottle or I'm rocking him to sleep, the 500's, are always showing the movie.  Let's just say I've seen the end plenty of times now.

And, it seems, that I've got my own Goonies, living in my house these days. 

Please meet my oldest child, One-Eyed Willie.


And my youngest child, Sloth (yes, there is no movie make-up disfigurement, but when I saw this face, that's what it reminded me of) or Chunk, whichever you feel the resemblance fits best.

Conversation with my husband

While the BYU vs. Florida game is in it's first and second overtimes.
(He cares, I don't.  We support different teams.  His team never wins come tournament time.  My team at least made it to the final game once.  One day I'll have to share with you why my family and I don't like Kentucky.)


Ross: 79-75 florida

me: we're watching nemo and I'm making my little candy cups for chocolate mousse

Ross: they are going to blow it.

me: sorry
doesn't matter how good you are during the season when you can't make it happen during a tournament

Ross: nope.

me: or how many times you beat your rival if you can't make it happen later

Ross: nope.

me: or how many times you beat your rival if you can't make it happen later

Ross: nope.

me: score?

Ross: 79-79
I might puke

me: don't puke
are you sweating?

Ross: no

me: double ot?

Ross: maybe
jimmer just had the worst turnover ever
florida with last possession
potentially

me: it's bc his name is jimmer
worst name ever

Ross: double OT

me: oh no
they're gonners

Ross: yes

me: are you watching game tracker?
maybe you will throw up

Ross: they survived an awful 1st OT

me: have you eaten lunch yet?
Ross: watching on tv
steam
half of my lunch and then I stopped

me: i just asked emh if he wanted to watch he said no

me: final score?

Ross: not done
byu 87-83
2:53 left
byu ball

Ross: they may actually win
93-86
1:20

me: were watching
i'm watching
elliott is crying and wyatt is climbing up the stairs

Ross: I am about crying too

me: you are such a nerd
Ross: byu is going to win
finally

me: i'm sure it's for a different reason than your son
I know
it's on the tele

Ross: it has only been 17 years

me: that long?

Ross: yes

Wearing o' the green

There is Irish blood in my maternal family line.

There are red heads in my family.

We all LOVE potatoes.

May the luck o' the Irish be with you today and the Ides of March be far, far away.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

It's those brave people out there....

...who leave anonymous comments on blogs.

Nasty, despicable, deplorable comments probably made by the same type of people.

It's not often I go on a rant on my blog, generally about once a year.  And when I do - it seems to be the only time I ever get any comments.  Go Figure.  And they are always by mean spirited lurkers who are nice enough to be mean, but not brave enough to leave their name.

That's the beauty of the Internet, right?  Being name-less, face-less and able to spit venom in every direction one chooses, at as many people one doesn't know as possible.

I guess my post, and the anonymous comments I received yesterday proved my point.  There are some real winners out there on the Internet.

Stupid is as stupid does

There are some really stupid people out on the internet.

They shouldn't be allowed to write - because they cannot form complete sentences, they lie, they steal content from other noteworthy websites and blogs, and they are all around dumb.

I wish there was a basic literacy test that individuals needed to take before they would be allowed to start writing on website or a blog or an etsy shop, or a stupidity test before posting something to YouTube.

There are a few things out on the internet that I ocassionaly look at - not because the content is quality, or the writing is superb or the photo's magnificent.  I look because it's like driving my brain past a traffic accident.  I just cannot stop staring.  Wouldn't it be cool if we had red pens to correct all the writing mistakes (yes, I make mistakes too, so me included), grammatical errors, misuse of vocabulary and arcaic phrases that exists out there, published on the web?  A while ago I investigated trying to block or filter these sites from my life and my internet because they are pure drivel and every time I look, they get me worked up, anywhere from merely bugged to absolutely infuriated.

Don't you wish I was brave enough to list them here for you now?  I wish I was brave enough - but I'm not.

I've been blogging now for 5 years.  When I started it was still a pretty new phenomenon and there weren't many but the computer literate who were willing and able and capable of doing such a thing.  Now, everyone and their dead turtle blogs.  It no longer seems to be a bastian of the cool.  Not that I ever was cool, I just had/have some computer skills.  I blog for myself, for my family, for the grandma's, and for the 50-75 other people who somehow manage to look at this site every day from all over the country.  It's fun to make books at the end of the year, rant about things I think about, and share my thoughts on the world, parenting, books, and anything else that pops into this often out of line/out of place brain of mine.

I suppose that's why all the other people do it to.

I just wish some of them would stop.

Really though?  I just need to stop looking at their sites.

It gives me a stomach ache.

The Squirt: 10 months

So, we call you Chicker.  It's a nickname that is going to stick.  Poor kid, sorry.  Lately I've been calling you Chick Magnet, becaue of that MXPX song.  You don't seem to mind.  You have good rythm and the song's got a nice beat that we can dance to.

(watch the vide here if you are so inclined)

Besides that, you've spent two weeks of your last month sicker than sick. Not a whole lot goes on when you sound like a weezy old cat. However, just this week, this week of being well, you have made me smile - as you have made all those around you smile, too.



You are a concentrater, nook and cranny explorer, ball player, and all around busy little kid. There is no space to small, no ledge to high and no object that is out of your reach. I think that you think it's your job to DESTROY every single day; whether it be ripping paper, slobbering on toys, or unrolling every single roll of toilet paper in the house.



You are not quiet, but you are sneaky. The other morning we were doing laundry (oh how I hope you and your brother love laundry when you're older as much as you do now) and you started crawling away, around the corner. I was right behind you and as I dove to pick you up, you sat up right at the top of the stairs. Your squishy little butt was a mere centimeter from the edge. If you would have leaned back just a smidge more you would have tumbled surely to your death. My heart fell out of my throat as I swooped in and picked you up. Once the panic subsided and I told you to never do that again - you started laughing at me.

sneaky, sneaky.

Little do you know that this weekend, we're getting a gate. Ha, ha, ha, ha!



Whenever you concentrate, you stick your tongue out. And you stick it out far, leaning it to the right. What requires your concentration? Well, pretty much everything. Sneaking under the desk to get the modem right now as I'm typing. Pushing your high chair, the little shopping cart, your brother all over the house standing up. Getting into garbage cans and throwing your diapers all over the floor to name a few.



I'm pretty confident that you'll be walking by your birthday, if not a little bit sooner. This is great news for you and bad news for your brother. Every day you get a little bit more brave, and a little bit stronger and pretty soon, you're going to match that skinny kid pound for pound. That will be interesting. Good thing he loves you lots and lots.



You love to sing and talk and move around all day long. When your brother was 10 months old he stopped drinking bottles. You're now 10 months old and no longer seem to be interested in baby food. Now that you've acutally got some teeth in your mouth, food is at your beck and call.

You've tried and loved, just to name a few; sprite zero, french fries, bread, bread and more bread, oranges, marshmallows, bundt cake, lots of frosting, sugar cookies (can you tell your mama has a sweet tooth?), crasins, crackers, pretzels, tortilla chips. Pretty bland stuff really, but your moving in the real food direction every single day.



And, you're looking like a giant one year old in your high chair more and more every single day.

As always little Chickie - we love you more than words can express. You are the calm in the storm, and the yang of your brother's ying. You keep our family in balance and for that, among every thing else, I love you lots and lots.



That, and your super ticklish double chin.

traveling

I memorized this poem in the 7th grade. It comes back to my brain often. I've been reciting bits and pieces of it to myself the last week or so.

The Road Not Taken

Robert Frost

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

stale

I told my sister over the weekend that her blog was getting boring.

I mean - guns, taxes, tissues.....

She then humored me with a post about her swollen pregnant feet and a drawing, Here.

It made me laugh out loud.

It also got me to thinking.....my blog is stale. My life is dull. Comfortably lovely, but a bit dull nonetheless.

I acutally started about 3 posts over the weekend, deleting them all.

why?

S T A L E

Perhaps things will resume at a regularly scheduled time...somewhere in the future.

Chicke loves you.

This boy is a champ I tell you. The last week has been rough for the Chickster.

RSV.

Ear infection.

The arrival of four teeth. Yes, FOUR TEETH all at the same time. Over the weekend we went from a two toofer to a sixer.

He probably coughed them all out of hiding.

In spite of everything; generally not feeling well, the horrendous cough, the torturous breathing treatments every four hours, the complete lack of sleep, the kid has stuck it out and rebounded well.



He spent the last week permanently perched on either me or Ross - like we were his marsupial parent and the blanket was his warm cozy pouch.



Have you ever seen a little guy look so tired? That's what being sick and not sleeping much will do to a baby. I have felt so bad for him - but at the same time have been reminded of the great lessons of resilience and patience. All things will pass, even if your kid is so sick it makes you cry right along with him, and life gets going again.

And...when life throws lemons in your general direction, making lemonade is a good idea.

So is a little bit of uninhibited dancing.

untitled

I didn't drink a diet coke yesterday. I only drank water - lemondade falvor with hires cherry syrup and crushed ice - all day long.

How about that?

I am however, drinking a diet coke right now and loving it.

And, in case you are intersted, sudafed should not be taken by diabetics. It causes hyperglycemia...high blood sugar.

Explains the crap week I had last week, head cold and baby with RSV not included.