Missing days

Short recap as I find myself with such little time these days.

Our Tio Roberto passed away earlier this week, we went to mass on Saturday morning to say good bye. It was beautiful and well thought out. Later we did taxes which took a few hours. We dedicated the rest of the day at home working in the garden or playing inside. Sunday we visited with cousins, went to the home and garden show in cypress, and went to the dog park.

Amazingly enough, Yuliya who is terrified of most dogs(even though ours is large and she loves him) was finally able to walk almost the entire track with us at the dog park; confidently! She didn't cower when a dog came her way or scale me like a cat up a tree. This is a huge step for her, scaling me is the general reaction to seeing a dog.

 Demo starts on Thursday which means tonight Heather and I will attempt to pack and move my entire pantry, bar, and 1/3 of the kitchen. Thank goodness for best friends. Anyone wanna help us???

This weekend Keith and I may attempt the rest of the kitchen.

I will take plenty of before pictures tonight and let you see as the process moves on (4 weeks)

P.S. I still have not picked counters, wall colors, back splash, urggg

Friday morning

Thank goodness for Fridays, this has been a long week, hence no blogging. I have a figure on the kitchen repair and a potential start date. After bringing me a ton of ideas and a plethora of paint swatches for cabinets and walls I can not decide at all. Cabinets, back splash, wall color, counter top colors...how do people do this, especially with black and avocado green appliances. Yes that's right, I refuse to get rid of my super sweet avocado green stove tops and possibly the matching sink. So this is what I will be doing this weekend, pondering colors. 

Cuddly child Cash likes to dive into bed with me usually 45 minutes before we need to wake up for school and work. This is his only child time. We usually nap together for a short period, then he snoozes until I am done getting ready. Last night however he dove into bed sometime before midnight, had I known it was so early I would have put him back to bed, but habit tricked me. So at 3 am I woke up to feet in my face. 

I am not very good in paint but this is what it looked like. 

He's not that round in real life, and my butt isn't that triangle, but he does sleep sprawled out like that and his feet were for sure on my pillow.

Interesting how much room they take up isn't it?

So a long week is rounded off by a long night of restless feet in the face sleep. I did get to start the day off with an extremely windy morning which always makes me happy. I look forward to the following weeks as the kitchen is fixed (4-6 weeks)and we get closer and closer to Yuliya's 5th birthday(less than a month). 

P.S. Remember the cranes I made last year? A thousand of them. Literally. Well I hung about as many as I could in the house, I find them magical and would like to share. So let me know if you would like some, email me and your address and I will be sure to send a string your way. 

Fat Tuesday

Happy Fat Tuesday!

Guess what!

Here's a list of things that make me want to puke.

1. Raw Apple Cider Vinegar-try taking a shot of this, it makes you want to yak

2. The smell of Cheese Doritos

3. Cleaning up after a sick dog while I am also nauseous

4. Morning sickness/food poisoning

5. The smell of pork

Yes it's a short list, I have one tough tummy.

This list is brought to you by my attempt at trying Apple Cider Vinegar out since so many people do this daily to "stay healthy" 

Holy moly it's harsh. 

Kitchen update: The plumbing is fixed as of ten minutes ago, now on to bigger and better things..like ripping soggy walls out!

Kitchen again

Alright folks, here it is in all its glory, my 37 year old antique kitchen that is about to be redone. Yes I just said antique for 70's. You know why? Because 80's and 90's are now considered vintage! How did this sneak up on me? They play The Beatles and Led Zeppelin in the grocery store and at the dentist. This morning Yuliya sat in bed with me and talked about birthdays with me. She said her next birthday she will be 5, and then 6, and then 7 and 8 and 9 and 10. Yikes! I am not ready for all of this time to pass, where's my pause button?

 The water damage is under my sink going back towards the lower left hand side of the picture all the way to the wall. Cabinets and counter tops will need to be replaced. Feel free to send me ideas. There are so many variables in a kitchen. counter top, back splash, hardware, cabinet colors, I find it all pretty overwhelming and would rather be in the garden. Tomorrow the plumber comes to tell me just how far this leak goes.

In the kitchen

I have been very low on time the past few days. With work, children, a migraine and a leak in the kitchen paired with a musty smell.  Adjusters have come out, contractors have come out, now it's time for the plumber. What I know for now is about 1/3 of my cabinets will need to be replaced along with dry wall and all of my counter tops. This is a bummer because we cook often which is hard when you have no kitchen, also am not looking forward to spend so much money. But it does offer up a chance to update my 37 year old kitchen with original counter tops. Now here is where I meant to have a picture ready for you....but I forgot to upload it. Tomorrow I will be sure to post and hope to receive advise on what to do.

When I found the leak and all of the damage from it, I promptly grabbed a box of girl scout cookies while I fretted over what might need to be done. Yesterday I found this cute blog that made me laugh and I absolutely relate to. For parents out there that have read any of the "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" series to your children. It is both in tune with the book but also completely accurate about those wicked little cookies.

 Read the entire story here

"If you give a mom a Girl Scout cookie, she’s going to say she can eat just one.

When she eats just one, she’ll realize she was lying.

When you go to school, she’ll eat the rest of the box of cookies.

Then she’ll feel bad because there are no cookies left for anyone else.

When she feels this guilt, she might decide to get more cookies before anyone realizes what she did.

So she’ll probably go to Target to look for Girl Scouts.

When she gets to Target, she’ll go inside to have a quick look around.

She’ll start browsing.

She might get carried away and end up filling her cart with things that she doesn’t need but really really wants.

She may end up buying almost $100 worth of merchandise.

When she’s done, she’ll probably feel a sense of giddiness mixed with buyer’s remorse."

Happy Friday!

Have you noticed

Getting gas now takes much longer than it ever did in the past? I am convinced the dollar counter only runs at a certain speed causing it to take 10-15 minutes to fill a tank of gas now. More time and money. Where's the leaf.

What's a blog without a picture?

 Cash playing peek a boo with toast. No one can see him when he's behind it.

Valentines

I opted for a late night post today instead of the regular A.M. one. I want to know how you and/or you kids spent Valentines.

Were you cuddled up together with you special someone? Child or spouse? 

Did you skype with someone long distance? 

Go to a party? 

On a date? 

Were you surprised? 

Do you not celebrate this day? 

Tell me, what DID you do?

Here's a little of our day.

I stayed home for the insurance adjuster to come by and check out my leaky kitchen sink and the wonderful musty smell it is putting off. So we slept in and dawdled about playing and getting ready for school.

 

I was surprised when I got in the car to see flowers and a love note from my Mr.

The kids were so excited about an entire day of Valentines Celebrations. They cradled their love notes all the way to school flipping through each one over and over again.

Silly children

Of course when the day was over they couldn't wait to get home and eat their candy. Lucky me tonight falls on a night where I pick dinner. I picked Veggie Corndogs, Edamame, Strawberries and Blueberries and Cheese.  They had to eat everything before candy. This of course backfired on me when Cash attempted to stuff the last 6 bites of food in his mouth so he could move on to bigger and better things...and promptly vomited. Cash-1 Momma-0 Lesson learned.

 

For me, tonight concludes with a surprise visit from the same person that sent me flowers this morning. Thanks for being a great Valentine!  

 

 Staring at Cash eating with his shoe on the table, a little distracting when trying to enjoy her cup of yogurt.

We spent the entire weekend with cousins(pictures to follow) on Saturday we grabbed frozen yogurt with Amy and Alyssa. We love frozen yogurt! Yuliya is much like her momma with just one or two toppings and rarely a mess.

Note he took his shoe off and ate with it next to him...

After many trips for yogurt I finally learned my lesson. Cash does not like ice cream or frozen yogurt, he likes the idea of it, but eating it is way too cold for him. He always makes a pained face and wipes his tongue with a napkin. 

The reason I do not like it is because he is usually so eager to get to the toppings without getting much of the yogurt that he uses his hands to fish them out and we end up with a wonderfully sticky mess at the end.

So this weekend when getting frozen yogurt at Orange Leaf I opted to JUST give him toppings. I thought he would object, but he was 100% satisfied with his cup full of blueberries, strawberries, cereal, chocolate, marshmallows, ect. (interesting combo I know)

I was very happy to not have a sticky child at the end.

It was like unlocking another level on the game of parenting. 

I consider it a win

A boy and his dog

This morning as I sat on the phone with the Insurance company Yuliya and Cash played in the living room occasionally poking their head in to tell me something dire.

"The sun is awake!" 

"This is E in sign language!" 

"I can draw a dog"

"Cash smells like poop"

and most excitedly was probably "He ate it! He ate it! Soldier ate it!" this one came with a eager bouncing up and down Cash. I figured that Cash gave him a treat or cracker. The boy does love his dog and loves to feed him

I figured wrong.

As soon as I was off the phone I grabbed my poopy smelling boy to change his diaper. Only...where's his diaper?

"Wait, Cash...where's your diaper. "

"Cash..where did you go poop? "

He had it on his bum and trailing down his legs. 

"Cash, where's your poop??"

"Soldier ate it"

"What???"

"Soldier ate it!"

Really..A boy and his dog, a team like no other, through thick and thin. This might be a little overboard though guys. Blegh.

How's your Saturday going?

A full day of rain

It started raining here last night and is forecast to rain all day today. 

Beautiful isn't it?

For me rain means my dog whimpering at all hours of the night because the thought of raindrops is completely horrifying(he's an inside dog) Do you think rain is the dog equivalent of a general fear of needles that seems to be common in humans?

It means not wanting to get out of bed, and feeling oh so tired as I drive to work with a pitch black sky and soothing rain.  This of course means rainy skies directly result in my choice to ditch green tea for coffee this morning.

Waking up to the rain meant I should make the wise decision to wear contacts instead of glasses(and I am), as my glasses are an awful vision source when covered in raindrops. 

 It means I do not need to water my plants today, rain all day means I probably won't need to water them all weekend. Thanks lovely winter sky for breaking and giving me a break this weekend!

Rain means there's no point in mopping today as I had planned, too many animals and children will be tracking mud in.

And last but not least Rain for me means reciting the first 6 pages of Cat in the Hat in my head....most likely.. all day. 

"The sun did not shine. It was too wet to play. So we sat in the house. All that cold, cold, wet day. 

I sat there with Sally. We sat there, we two. And I said "How I wish we had something to do!"

Too wet to go out and too cold to play ball. So we sat in the house. We did nothing at all.

So all we could do was Sit! Sit! Sit! Sit! 

And we did not like it. Not one little bit.

And then Something went BUMP! How that Bump made us Jump!

We looked! Then we saw him step in on the mat! We looked! And we saw him! The Cat in the Hat! 

And he said to us, "Why do you sit there like that? I know it is wet and the sun is not sunny. But we can have lots of good fun that is funny!"

One could say reading Cat in the Hat every night has it's consequences....

What does rain mean for you?

Recycle

Last week we received new recycling cans as well as less limitations on recycling. We can now recycle pretty much anything. We are pumped!

Well, I am.

The kids are probably still trying to figure out why I am treating throwing things in the trash like making a three point shot in the last 5 seconds of a ball game.

Yes, I might be THAT mom. The one that overly celebrates small victories such as recycling, pooping on the potty(which is actually a huge victory to a parent) using proper manners, and cleaning up after yourself.

The first day our cans were dropped off we had junk mail, yogurt cups and a milk carton in them before the dust had time to settle around the can. We have so much in there now it is absolutely worth the space of the new trash can versus the small dinky box we originally had.

Currently we compost all organic non dairy matter outside, every time I cook there is a bowl set to the side for this purpose and is promptly taken outside for composting.  A better recycling program means we will be able to send the least amount possible to landfills.

I am trying to figure out a way to make this can more accessible than any other disposal option making recycling in our household the more convenient option. Ideas welcome. FYI it is a mini sized rolling trashcan, a little bigger than the old aluminum cans.

P.S. People name their cars all the time, I decided to use a palindrome for the recycling can since it's a form of recycling in itself. It's come down to either Hannah or Izzi.


 

Completely unrelated: Thank you Michelle for the advice on Jansport and their lifetime warranties!

Also completely unrelated: I took soldier to the vet last night. I may have gotten in trouble.... He is 10lbs over weight! Although slimmer than he was at Christmas, we will need to continue working on this. In case you wonder how his fecal test went.(I know you are) It was perfect.

Money vs Love

Yesterday I took my lovely children to target to purchase a backpack for Yuliya as she will be starting school in the fall. And...well I try to be thrifty so I do things like buy things in the off season. I bee-lined it to the backpack I wanted to get her, it's purple(her new favorite color) its sporty, durably built for a child's back pack, it is on clearance because not only is it out of season for backpacks but this model is also no longer made. 

 But, I just wasn't fast enough...

She's four, she has youth on me! I swear the kid has a radar for princess gear like a shark for blood, she can sense a jewel on a crown in a 10 mile radius.

She saw it.

The Fairy Princess backpack

(to be fair it was the only other back pack on sale, way to go Yuliya)

Given the choice between the gray and purple backpack and a fairy princess one that looks far more inferior as far as durability goes, she chose fairy princess. It's a little more expensive, she will be "over it" by 1st grade and it isn't built to last....but...she really likes it. I can remember being her age wishing I had that too, having a far too logical parent to actually get me one. So against my better financial judgement I said "okay I will look for it cheaper online"(hey I can give her what she wants, just let me find the best deal first!)

So ladies and gentlemen the search begins.

Also while at the store.. My mother (Grandmami) recently emailed and asked what Yuliya would like for her birthday. I had the grand idea of taking her to the toy section and asking her what she would want. In retrospect I should have video taped it. Would you like to know what happens when you take a four year old to the toy section and ask them what they want?

Pretty much the scene from Charlie in the Chocolate Factory of Veruca Salt running through hands outstretched touching as much as she could. I want that! and this! and that! and this! and that! Only not as bratty. I think Yuliya might have thought I was offering to take as much as we could fit in the car(leaving Cash at the store of course).

So Grandmami, to answer your question, we will be discussing further a top list of things she would like or needs. Not to worry each child had a new toy waiting for them in the car(if they were good)(they were) since I was making them eat dinner later. Cash received a neat little metal airplane, and Yuliya a set of squinkies. Something I had never heard of until Sam who when I said "What's that?" replied " They are called squishies(really squinkies) and they are small and you can smoosh them, but only once, see like this." and proceeded to smoosh each squinkie one time. Thanks for the lesson Sam.

At dinner we made silly masks out of tortillas. Don't worry no tacos were harmed in the making of this photo.

Salsa

I would like to say I am always happy to receive emails and comments in response to my posts. I love hearing every one's thoughts, advice or cheer leading.  I am especially thankful for yesterday's responses to my post. To hear from others that feel the same and/or offered stories and support in group emails or private emails they all mean a lot. Thank you.

Side note: this picture does it absolutely no justice, but I hope if you live in Houston you were able to watch the sunrise this morning. The sky was unquestionably brilliant.

Do you find yourself wondering about....

Well even if you don't I am committed to telling you. Muhaha.

On Saturday night we settled in for an all night salsa making event and this is how it went.

First we made Salsa broiled with goat cheese,

then we ate it while we made the others.

 It was decent, but I have to say I prefer my Chevre on bread with honey or grilled fruit.

Next we made Blueberry Salsa

This was pretty tasty, we ate it with chips. Having such a sweet taste I think it might pair better with Salmon or some other Main dish.

Next up was Black Bean and Corn Salsa

It is hard to go wrong with black beans and corn, it was very undeniably gobbled up entirely the day we made it. We will definitely make this again but this time add jalapeno peppers. hopefully from the garden and maybe on top of over easy eggs.

Finally we made a Feta Salsa which went great with sea salt bagel chips, but would also be great as a spaghetti dressing or main dish topping.

It's not quite as photogenic as the others...

I could not find fresh cranberries so that will need to wait. Having tasted it from Kay I can tell you already it is a keeper.

This was not the only thing we did this weekend. Oh no! We also gathered camping gear for the kids, worked in the garden and veggie beds. It was one of those weekends you walk away from feeling the high of accomplishing so much, proud, excited and happy. Also one where you walk away dreading mopping the now muddy floors from all of the yard work and soldier trailing my every move. I am however looking forward to a great harvest this year, so far we have the following in the ground and growing happily:
Onions, Shallots, Garlic, Carrots, Pumpkin, Red Potato, English Peas, Green Beans, Lima Beans, Cucumber, Spinach, Lettuce, Blueberry Bushes and Okra. More to come in the following weeks!

Time

It's been Seven years now....seven...that's almost ten. I have a daughter who is almost 5 and I have missed my dad for seven years. There are those days you remember so clearly, it feels like every detail hung on a string for you to inspect as it spun with the draft. Those days stay so distinct. Every word. Every emotion. Every feeling in your chest, throat, eyes, ears.
February 6th 2005 is one.

And maybe I'll go over the others later. 

But today is saved for my dad. 

He died 7 years ago today from non Hodgkins lymphoma

That's him there with some of his brothers, mom and one of his sisters, he's on the right (with the short shorts) ha!

My dad and all but two of his siblings were graced with daughters and lots of them. They raised us to run and play outdoors. I was raised to appreciate nature and the gift of life. That message on life took me a little longer to understand than nature. You're immortal as a child and teenager, you won't die and no one you know will either even if they have terminal cancer. You're prepared for anything.

But that's just not true.

You can't prepare, with all the notice in the world there is no willing yourself to be okay.
Over a year, at 19, I went to two funerals, a far too young friend of mine and my dad's.

My dad, that guy who cradled me when I fell.
Flew kites with me on windy days and threw the foxtail on not so windy days.
Who had to sleep on the kitchen floor with me during my 2 day vomit fest.
The one who regularly took me to the dollar theatre and had me sneak in granola bars or trail mix...embarrassing(because popcorn isn't healthy!)  But the trade off was that I was able to sit in his lap even when I was far too old to be sitting in laps. He'd let me sit there until his legs fell asleep.

You know...(we all know).that guy who wore whatever the heck he felt like and as I grew to be a teenager and be embarrassed of my parents...well he really embraced it then.

Oh the visions of wool socks with leather sandals that will never ever leave me. And the school bus yellow shirt, that shirt that yes will live on indefinitely on the quilt that keeps me warm at night. Thank you Aunt Delona, that shirt witnessed many "Dad please don't wear that"'s

Seven years means you forget what their hugs feel like. You think you remember their voice but you're not certain. In 2012 seven years means I have close to no digitally stored pictures and have anxiety about losing photos.
In seven years I have grown from a "prepared"(naive) 19 year old to a 26 year old working mother of two(can't claim that I am not still naive).I've grown from the endless paper/check mortgage bill pay system he taught me in high school to online bill pay!(what a great invention) I've gone from living in the house I grew up in, to owning the home I raise my children in. I tuck them in in my old room and sometimes they dive into my bed in the middle of the night in my dad's old room. I went from waking up to see what was under the tree for me, to waking up to see my children marveling at what is under the same tree for them.

Since February 6, 2005 I've learned:

• Have two or more children, they will need each other when hardship strikes. And if none does, they will support each other's children. All of my uncles and aunts have provided a great hand when I need it,(even now) particularly my Uncle Darwin and Aunt Barbara who have helped me and have taught me so much.
• Respect yourself
• Be picky about which eco flush toilet you buy, some of them behave like angry teenagers
• Less clutter in your life means less clutter in others lives
• Say I love you every time you feel it
• We don't all get to grow up at the same time
• Pesto is the best condiment(I say that because I use it like one)
• Excuse yourself during father daughter dances
• Washable crayons are a must
• Divorce is a roller coaster, but you land safely at the end
• Goat cheese and honey on bread is bliss
• Blogging makes me less shy....virtually.

And most importantly...

Appreciation

I appreciate everything my dad taught and gave me. I appreciate all of my friends and family that stood me up straighter when I have had a hard time. The one's that were there to talk it out with me or answer my questions.  And spending time with you all, especially on the holidays.

Thank you


P.S. you can go here to watch his video again

Hold onto your socks

From the time Cash could manage his socks off of his feet and onto his hands he has been a middle of the night sock thief. Taking mine, Yuliya's and his own socks and putting them over his hands.

 It never occurred to me until recently how much he would love mittens.(Yuliya hated mittens at his age) I bought him a pair. I literally had to pry them off of him as he was dunking crackers into his veggie juice. He would not let me put them away though....no they must stay with him at all times...even bath time. I can envision this happening well into summer.

Yuliya says hello, Cash says "MY MITTENS!"

oh yea

In case you're thinking...wait it's Saturday..why am I still seeing these rambling blogs. 

Well...I may have forgotten to mention that I joined the NaBloPoMo for February.  

See it over there on my sidebar?

The goal is to post daily. 

There's only 29 days in February this year. 

I can do this!

This weekend is full of errands, Rockets game last night, looking to switch phone provider's today, hair cuts, checking out new computers(although I won't buy one yet, I would like to see what I will need to save up for) Doing taxes. Which always makes me think of that saying.
Nothing is certain but death and taxes.
Untrue! Completely untrue.
 I can think of a few other things that are certain.
Dogs will always smell(at least a little),
Cats will always claw,
I hope cows will always moo,
 And I will always say awwww when I see a baby anything(even awful, awful squirrels)
Okay its early, I am out of certainties, but I know there are more.

Back on subject
Catching part of the Super Bowl and making salsa are also on this weekend's to do. Usually making salsa would be so insignificant it shouldn't even really be mentioned, but not this weekend. This weekend there will be a salsa festival in my kitchen. I love to cook, as much as I love to cook I also happen to love eating(convenient right?) Last weekend I was lucky enough to stumble upon a few salsa recipes I just had to try and instead of waiting and spreading them out like a normal person might, I decided to make them all at once. Mainly because I just can't decide which to do first. So there you have it, the first celebration of the year in my household, Salsa Festival!
What I hope to have accomplished by the end of this weekend
Blueberry salsa
Tomato and Goat cheese salsa
Cranberry salsa
(Kay to make the perfect cran salsa I will need you)
Black bean and Corn Salsa
Feta Salsa

Wish me luck!
And as always,

Feel free to send me any recipes or advice. I greatly appreciate all of your emails. :)

Something Blue

We all like to do things around here.

Build

Try new things and more new things

Fix

Cook

Explore

Cook some more 

(be glad I don't post all the cooking!)

Draw

Paint

Grow

So one day we were looking out the window in the backyard(which is a war zone) and thought how nice it would be to see flowers out there. Flowers that bees, butterflies and hummingbirds would like. We like those critters, they are not only aesthetically pleasing but they help my plants and probably yours too.

So once upon a time one of my Aunts built a small produce garden where she had cinder blocks containing it and smaller plants sitting inside of them. Since then I have loved the idea of gardening with cinder blocks.

Only....they are SO drab.

Grey. Boring. Industrial. No warmth.

So naturally when Keith brought home cinder blocks for the new flower/herb garden where our birds and bees and butterflies could feast their little wings off, I looked up hopefully and said "Painting them might make the garden prettier"

Blink blink.

To which he responded...

By standing and staring blankly at me for 10 excruciating minutes.

Kidding!

What really happened is that Keith, being oh so accommodating said "Sure, let's do it!"  

So we stayed up late(well really maybe 9pm) and painted cinder blocks

In the morning they were glowing a brilliant shade of blue. 

This is what it looked like previously.

I would also like to add that when Ike hit and our neighbors fence fell some mystery plant invaded my yard...this is what you see to the left. It is super super invasive, lately I have started to think its Lantana. Later goals involve getting rid of this mystery invasive plant and having real grass again.

So here's Cash jumping on the dirt soon to go into the garden.

We laid the cinder blocks all in a row, which makes me think of "Mary Mary quite contrary how does your garden grow, with silver bells and cockle shells and pretty maids all in a row." Only I have bricks. And Keith has flip flops

Isn't it beautiful??  I was actually trying to get Cash's face here...and this is why...

Cash...

well...

Cash managed to find an empty can of paint, open it and spray it in his face. Luckily with his eyes closed. He is ever mischievous and for sure the only kid I know that could make an empty can of paint contain just enough to spray...once.

Tada!

Brand new flower garden. Unfortunately it is not spring yet so the specific flowers we want for our garden (to attract b, hb, and b)are not available yet. So it is not the finished product.

where the arrows are we have:

Yellow: Sweet mint

Pink: Oregano

Green: Rosemary

Orange:Chives

Red Lavender

Blue: Parsley

The Yellow flowers are daffodil, Purple is ornamental cabbage (or so it said) and Orange is a Mexican Honey suckle.

We also planted Columbine in the back.

I love the way all 4 of these colors look together.

More on the flower garden as it fills in.

Arts and Crafts and Fireworks

Last part of our Winter break, I promise!

As I settle in to gather things for the kids to make Valentines cards and decorations I remembered I never posted about our crafts over winter break. Except of course our feet painting.

I bought these cookies for the kids over the break. You will notice no pictures of Sam or Yuliya with theirs. Well that is because at 2 or 7 you can appreciate art, and coloring. But at 4 you appreciate free radicals swimming around your belly way more.

I will admit there is something unsettling about coloring with an edible marker on your cookie, but it was fun. And Cash and Jack were so proud. :)

The four year olds did however enjoy making snowflakes with Keith. See the Ipad there? Momma and Papa W have no idea how much it's used. For recipes, star gazing, sports reading and even snowflake making.

Our neighborhood allows fireworks, so on New Years Eve the boys, Cody included, shot off fireworks.  They had a blast with sparklers, smoke balls and those little zippy ones that shot straight up in the sky while they make a ZING! sound. At the end of the night they also had the pleasant experience of trying to fall asleep through mass firework explosions as well....which can be a little tricky.

All in all it was a fun break.

P.S. Cash woke up at 2 a.m. last night toy keep his toys company. I heard him rustling around in the living room at the easel. At first I thought it was Yuliya, she has been the one to wake up in the middle of the night and want to play for an hour or so since she was about 6 months old. So I was a little surprised to see my super sleeper wide awake while his restless sister lay passed out on TOP of her sheets and blankets. The only down fall to it being Cash that wakes up is he is oh so much more stubborn than Yuliya, and just refuses to accept that it is still night time. It's tempting to trade in my tea for coffee today.

99%

Well my computer is on the fritz. As of yesterday it refuses to power on completely. This is my problem:

When I press the power button everything lights up and you can hear it running as if the computer is running, but the screen never comes on.

Things I have tried(that did not work)

Begging

Power on, power off

Speaking nicely to it

Taking the battery off and putting it back on

Power on, Power off

Pressed a lot of the function keys

Unscrewed some screws in the back

Screwed them back in(thank goodness for magnetic screws, those suckers are tiny)

Power on Power off

Remove battery, make sure everything in there looks secure...and only b/c this seems to be every one's advice online...I blew into it like an old nintendo game.

More begging and bargaining

Power on power off

Some of these I definitely tried more than once. Some only once.  None of them have worked. Today on the advice of my cousin I will plug it into a monitor to see if it is functioning and I just have screen issues. Then on the advice of my Uncle I will take the thing apart as much as I can and make sure everything is secure inside of it.

But as you can see...It's pretty much a Frankenstein..... It's gone through 2 babies now, one of them(Cash) has always taken joy in ripping buttons off. I have done pretty well adhering them back to the home and other rows safely with the exception of my left control button and space bar. Yes...that's right. I blog without a space bar. Every space I hit I have to use my finger tip and push that little sensor in the middle. Pathetic right? And before you say..."Just buy a new button" I will just say, I thought of that. Then after I thought of it, I bought a new button, one that was absolutely for my computer and model....only it wasn't.

Back to the main issue though. If you have any advice I welcome it. If I can fix it I would be elated. But as it stands right now I am feeling pretty defeated about this and like it might be time to reinvest.

I look forward to your input!

Also completely unrelated

I am totally 100% against crash dieting, but I am making an exception. I guess that makes me 99% against it. My dog is chubby...I mean "I rescheduled his vet appt because I know the vet won't be happy with me and my chunky dog" chubby. So you might be excited to hear that soldier is doing a 30 day weight loss challenge. Starting with no more sandwiches!

P.S. That is a picture of him in shape after he ran up a steep hill on the reservoir a few months ago.