Such a sweet little face......

He's turning into a terror.
Won't stay out of things, except for his crib. He gets into EVERYTHING!!!

He's woken up at 6:00 the last three days, gets himself on out of bed and of course wakes his brother in the process. I make it to bed by midnight most days, so this isn't at all conducive to my beauty sleep.

Last week, I was getting ready for work and came out to the living room. The front door was wide open and he was down by the street. I hadn't even heard the door open. There goes a car zooming by! He got an earful that day, let me tell you.

Good thing he's so dang cute!!!

Things to remember

Jason and Justin love Diego and Dora the Explorer.

Whenever I tell Justin he's stinky (i.e. he has a dirty diaper) he says, "No, Daddy" ; or "No, Jason", or whoever else might be in the room. Funny how they learn so early to blame it on someone else.

Bugged

Back in January of 2005, I believe it was, we had about a week straight of rain here in Vegas. Something we're experiencing again this year. That following March, I was working at the Tropicana for the Titanic Exhibit and let me tell you--we had the worst beetle infestation that year. Now, I don't normally have any kind of problem with beetles. Ladybugs are beetles, and I love to hold them in my hands. Beetles are not half as bad as those filthy cockroaches that I detest. But that year there were bugs dropping from the rafters onto people's shoulders as they walked through the exhibit. Mind you, it's fairly dark throughout the exhibit to add to the atmosphere, so things dropping on you in the semi-dark cannot be a particularly enjoyable experience. They would crawl across the gift shop floor, and even fly through the air!! There were several times when one of the creepy little suckers would fly across the counter and into my register drawer. To say the least, I was a little bit jumpy for the two or three months that this continued on. It finally got to the point that I carried around a broom to whack them with. I just couldn't step on them. The sound of those things crunching under my shoes----makes me shudder just to think about it.

I sincerely believe it was the onslaught of rain that year in January that brought these creatures out of hibernation. So, I'm a little concerned that there might be a recurrence this year. I was hopeful that since we're in a new location this year and not at the beat up old Tropicana that it wouldn't be such a problem. However I was told the other day by someone who remembers the infestation that year, that the little buggers were lined up across the bridge walkway between the casino (that I'm currently working at) and the parking garage. Let me tell you, I was not happy to hear that.
Let's just say if you hear about some crazy woman wielding a broom around Vegas in the coming months, it's probably me.

So, Miss Merrianne tagged me with this the other day, and I thought, what a great way to exchange recipes!!! The rules are:
Post the cute little pic up there and link back to Merrianne, or/and me?(maybe both, that way there's a broader recipe exchange going on here).
Post about what you had for dinner along with the recipes you used.
Tag a couple other people to do it too.

The dinner Merrianne posted looks SO yummy. In fact, I actually made that casserole for dinner tonight. It was awesome!!! Thanks Merrianne!

So here is what we actually had for dinner yesterday, you know since I didn't want to post the same thing Merrianne already posted.

Don't really know what it's called.

Let's just call it

Fried hot dogs, corn and potatoes

This is something that Jon ate growing up. I don't know where his mom got the recipe, but I really like it alot. Simple ingredients too.

1 pkg hot dogs sliced (I prefer beef franks)

1 onion diced

4-6 potatoes halved and sliced

1 can whole kernal corn, drained

oil

salt & pepper to taste

Heat enough oil in skillet to barely coat bottom of pan. Add potatoes, salt and pepper, and fry several minutes. Add onions and fry until potatoes begin to be tender. Add hot dogs, continue to cook until heated through, adding corn the last couple minutes to heat through. Serve immediatley. Tastes great by itself or with a little cheddar cheese sprinkled on top.

So let's see....I tag:

Jenny

Cherie

Tammy

Amy J.

Hope you guys play along. I can sure use some new recipes!

more great mothering moments

So, I can't get Jason to stay in his crib for naptime. He's pretty much done with his naps, but Justin still needs his naptime. Jason is AFRAID of the vacuum cleaner. Whenever I mention the word, he heads for his room, and actually likes to be in his crib while I'm vacuuming. So, what did I do today? After he climbed out of the crib for the third time, I told him I needed to vacuum again. He laid right down and covered up his ears. Not sure if he'll actually nap though.

The obligatory post birthday post

I felt sort of bad for Haley. Her actual birthday day was kind of a bummer. I had to work, and she had to wait a couple days for her present (Heely's), I wrote down what she was getting on a piece of paper and wrapped that up-so she could still feel like she was getting something. Kind of lame I know.

We did have cake for breakfast though. Here was the home version. Really, really sad--I made cupcakes for her class and managed to burn the bottoms, and then this cake! It fell apart when I removed it from the pans. Couldn't seem to get anything right that day. Oh well, it still tasted good. Here's her cake at Chuck E's. It was pretty good, chocolate on chocolate. Can't go wrong with that combo!

Here's the group shot

fun and games (this was a roller coaster ride, I need to check it out next time we go. Jon said it was pretty cool!)

Jason and Daddy having some fun

Haley and one of her best buds.

Of course, we had to get a pic with Chuck E.
(blackmail photos when she's a teenager).

Pre-cake face.......

Post-cake.

Ashley and two of her best buds.

So, it was a pretty good day. One more little sad fact.

When we went to pay to bill, our hostess informed me they weren't allowed to include the tip in the debit card payment. Of course, I didn't take any cash with me. What to do?

I should have said, "oh sorry, I guess you won't be getting a tip then."

instead.....

I borrowed some of Haley's birthday cash.

Aren't I a great mom?

“Succor the weak, lift up the hands which hang down, and strengthen the feeble knees” (D&C 81:5).

I love this song. It is so beautiful. I hope you enjoy it as well.

Just in case you forgot....

So, here's your chance to wish I would stop blogging me a Happy 38th Birthday. You know, just in case you didn't get a card out to me in the mail.
I seriously thought about just not posting today. But I knew how disappointed you all would be if you didn't get a chance to wish me a happy day. LOL (OK, I think we all know I'd be devastated)

I think I'm going to spend the morning trying to spend some of my birthday ca$h. Don't you hate how you can always find five million things to buy when you don't have the money, but the second you get some to actually spend on yourself, you don't like anything you see?

Hmmm, I think I deleted my little signature thingy. Oops!

Mikki (that's Mikki in webdings font)

Thankful Thursday

• I'm thankful that Jason hasn't injured himself this week climbing out of his crib. Little monkey. I'm going to have to switch him to a big boy bed soon. Naptime is pretty much shot.
• I'm grateful for the rain. We really need it. I'm especially grateful to make it home safe and sound from work, that people actually slow down on the freeway in this town when it rains.
• I'm thankful for the sweet little kisses I get from my little boys. Justin cracks me up, instead of wiping my kiss of his mouth afterwards, he wipes his kiss off my mouth.
• I'm grateful for Chuck E. Cheese. Easy peasy birthday parties with very little effort on my part!
• I'm thankful for my job and hopeful that the fact that I pretty much ignored a corporate bigwig won't land me in hot water. :)
• I'm grateful for an understanding daughter who is cool with getting her birthday present a couple days late. (she had a great birthday, thanks for your warm wishes.)

Happy Birthday Haley!

My sweet little second born. I love you so much.

You are:

sweet and silly

loving and loud

funny and feisty

a great hugger!

and sister!

and daughter!

cute and confident

sensitive and did I mention sweet?

friendly and fabulous

always going, going, going

8 years old!!! I can't believe it!

I love you sweet pea! Hope you have a great day!

I am SO buying two of these

Love, love, love this item. As soon as we get the money saved up, I am going to WallyWorld and buying two of them. For the girls' room. I love the concept. They can each get their own dresser and a little homework desk to put underneath. I think it will solve multiple problems in their bedroom (hopefully). The first problem is space. They currently have a trundle daybed. It's ok, but it's kind of a pain to pull the trundle out every night and put it away every morning. Frequently it doesn't get put away, and I hate to go in there. There's zero space. So I think it will free up a lot of space for them. Then there's the whole personal space issue. Those girls are getting on my nerves. They bicker constantly. I hope this might help a bit. I see putting curtains up on the bottom part, so when they want to get away from each other, they can just pull the curtains. image courtesy Walmart.com

So we've decided we'll repaint their bedroom before we get the beds. We're going to let the girls pick a color each for one wall and then find a neutral color to go on the other two walls. Haley wants red and Ashley wants pink. It's going to look like Valentines Day in there all the time!!! I was hoping Ashley would go with purple, her other favorite color. I thought grey down the middle would be a good choice, but I don't know what to mix in with red and pink. I'm not doing black walls, that's for sure.

What do you think?

Keep the Faith

Haircuts

So, this week I thought I'd try my hand at butchering trimming my boys hair.
Here are some before's...(actually taken on Christmas day, I didn't think to snap a pic right before I started trimming). Jason was really starting to look shaggy. People always ask if he's a girl. Even when he's wearing boys clothes. What's up with that? I mean I dress him as a boy, because he's a boy!!! (oh, yeah. Haley's a girl, but she dresses like a boy--whatever!)

Justin was getting a little long in the back as well, and shaggy-ish all around.

Here's their hair-pile. Justin's on the left------Jason's on the right. People always ask if there's a reason I cut Justin's short and let Jason's grow out. Um, no. That's just how they grow. One's got more hair.

Justin's after.....I was a little more worried about screwing up his hair, because it's straight and it would be SO obvious.

I tried to not take off too much though. The less I do, the lower my chances of messing up?

And Jason's after.

Hopefully it's ok. It's kind of hard to tell because it's so curly. But, I'm fairly pleased. Saved $25!!

Random

I had a lovely Anniversary. Thank you for all your well wishes.
Jon surprised me by staying home from work. He'd had it planned all weekend and never let on.
He woke up and got ready for work as usual, left the house and went to buy me some little sweet something's, then came back home and hung out on the couch til I woke up. (I never even knew he was gone and back til I woke up-silly boy).

This awaited me on the dining table--along with a beautiful card.

So sweet. I was really surprised and so pleased to be able to spend the day with him.

We went out for lunch and then did some window shopping.

Tonight, we got a babysitter and went out for frozen yogurt and a movie--Sherlock Holmes. We loved it.

~~~~

Haley turns eight years old on the twentieth! I can't believe it. She'll be baptized on February 6th. Ashley turns 12 in October and will enter Young Women's. Where has the time gone?

~~~~

I have to find or make a baptismal dress for Haley. She doesn't like anything to girly/frilly, so I'm kind of stumped on what to do for her.
~~~~
We went to the Wranglers hockey game on Saturday night. It was SO much fun. I think we need to get season passes. Actually, Jason wasn't too crazy about it, the noise bothered him. Maybe we'll have to wait a couple years for those passes.
~~~~
I think my computer is possessed. Or haunted. It acts SO weird sometimes. There are changes made to it, that nobody made. Very weird!
For instance, the resolution was changed overnight--but Jon and I didn't do it, and I'm pretty sure my kids didn't do it. It powers down, which isn't a problem--but it'll power up by itself, with nobody touching it. weird.
Well, as long as it doesn't start spinning around in circles, or talking back, I guess it's OK. I hope there's not some virus hidden in there somewhere, granting access to some psycho 3rd party.
~~~~
I need a haircut. I'm so bored with my hairstyle. But what should I do with it? It needs more body. I kind of want to keep it long-ish. Maybe a ton of layers? Maybe a new hair color? Suggestions?

thirteen years!

I don't post about this guy very often.

But, I sure do love him.
He works hard for OUR money.
He cooks great!
He comes home and takes care of the kids so I can go to work.
He never gets to sleep in.
He just loves to hang out with his family.
He treats me like a princess.
I love how he loves me. (I think I'm going to make that his ring tone on my phone--you know that old song?) (His ring tone for me is "Amazed" by Lonestar--what a sweetie!)
He is the perfect guy for me. I can't see myself with anyone else. He understands me, he's OK with my silliness and my stupidness (and loves me anyway).

I love how your eyes close whenever you kiss me
And when I'm away from you I love how you miss me
I love the way you always treat me tenderly
But darlin' most of all I love how you love me

I love how your heart beats whenever I hold you
I love how you think of me without being told to
I love the way your touch is always heavenly
But darlin' most of all I love how you love me

--------------------------------------Beth Orton

Happy Anniversary my silly Stud Muffin!

♥♥♥