Sweet Success and Virginia Pics

I did it! At least one post per day for 28 days straight!! :) One bonus picture, that I should have posted yesterday but didn't, is of Ceara (with Adam). I meant to post at least one picture of each of my kids, but forgot I had this one on my camera. ;)


For Valentines Day, we kinda did a double date thing and went to the mall (in Fairfield) so Ceara could make Adam a teddy bear. Afterwards, we were supposed to go to the movies, but someone *ahem* didn't look up directions to the movie theater from the mall and we couldn't find anyone to give us directions, so we just went out to eat at Don Pablos. I think it was his plan all along since he had been talking about craving Don Pablos for weeks.

Then we rented some dvds to watch at home. Ceara fell asleep within 15 min of the movie starting and Jeff followed not long afterwards. Such an exciting night wore them both out. I don't get to take nearly as many pictures of Ceara and I made a point to take my camera with us, but only got the one shot.

Onto Virgina pictures. We stayed with Kenny while we were there - the house in the middle is where he lives:





It is split and someone else owns 1/2 of the first floor and the middle floor, so he and his sister have 1/2 of the first floor and the top floor.



This is a shot from the balcony looking into the living room. The door to the left is the stairs going to the 1st floor. There are 3 bedrooms and a balcony over looking the living room.

And here is the ocean view:

Conor was, of course, the first one up every morning. To avoid waking everyone else up, we would go down to the beach to look for shells and play in the sand.

We made a sand castle,

found some surprises in the shells,

and waded in the water.
Conor met a little girl and started swimming with her.

They would pretend there were sharks and he would save her from them.

On our last day there, we got to go visit the ship that Kenny works on - he's in the navy.

It was very interesting - huge. Conor had a blast.

All of the stairs were very steep.

He got to sit in a chair on the top deck - I'm sure the chair is for a specific job, but... it was last year, how do you expect me to remember that?

And a couple of sunset pictures, of course...

Alli didn't spend much time at the beach with us, so she didn't get into any of the beach shots. It was a nice long weekend - Conor had a blast. We had a ton of shells that we brought home with us. I'm glad I was able to get the pictures from my camera for the memories. ;)

Random Phone Pictures

Now that I've figured out how to access the pictures I have taken with my phone and put them on my computer... I have several events where I have forgotten my camera but took some pictures with my cell phone. There are several that deserve full posts, but that will have to be another day since it has taken me forever to organize them and I'm tired of sitting here at the computer.

So, here is just a sample:

A little pumpkin taken at John and Mary's (my uncle and aunt) pumpkin patch - you know, when I "forgot to take my camera" but these pictures didn't turn out too badly!.

Sara, Alli and Conor on the Forth of July.

Conor with his mask on when he had H1N1.

Curls in Alli's hair the night before her school pictures (the third one down in that link).

Summer day at the pond at John and Mary's house. It has come a long way since that post back in 2005!

I also have a bunch of pictures I took when we went to Virginia last summer. No teasers for that post though. ;)

Hope everyone is having a good weekend! I'm just mostly resting up and trying to get better.

3 posts to go!

Yeah, that's right. Almost there. Just 2 more posts after today. I came home today to find my kids were going to my mom's for the night. Jeff is still in Michigan, so... that left me the whole night to myself! Too bad the only thing I felt up to doing was absolutely nothing. I thought about doing stuff. But I had no energy. This whole week has just worn me out. Although my face doesn't feel like it has been beaten repeatedly anymore, but that's the extent of the healing so far.

Yeah, I know you are all probably tired of hearing about my sickness. I should be posting pictures, or recipes, or something. But that's just not happening. I have 28 min left to get this post up, and the creative juices are not flowing.

I will try really hard tomorrow, I promise!

Yes, I did almost forget...

But here's a quick one.

The cupcakes were good.

Made for a messy kitchen...

And the dishes fairy didn't show up to do my dishes as I slept...

But the cupcakes turned out pretty well.

And yes, he does need his hair cut. We have appointments on Tuesday.

Love you!

PS - note that the date on my pictures is now correct!! :)

No, I didn't forget

In light of being sick and all that is happening at work... I don't really feel like it, but since a promise is a promise, and I only have 5 days left (including today), I'll just write a little something.

Just a wait and see as to who will be remaining when the dust settles. Rumors flying. Who even knows what is truth and what is made up?

The office was extremely quiet today, what with me being the only one there for most of it, and I haven't learned to talk to myself yet.

I'm sure that will start soon.

If they hadn't disabled my CD player on my computer, I could be listening to music that wouldn't bother anyone all day long.

Well, at least no one is around to hear me fart.

Sorry. I had to make you smile a little bit. ;)

Still Sick

I did go to Urgent Care yesterday, the doctor was really nice - for the 2 min I spent with him. He looked at my throat and *ahem* up my nose with one of those light things. Then he wrote me 2 prescriptions and gave me a note to go home and to bed.

So I went back to work.

What can I say? I'm dedicated! It was Monday and lots of billing to do on Mondays. And other stuff.

I started the antibiotic immediately because they were able to fill the prescription there. The other medicine I got after work because I didn't need it until night time anyway. A cough syrup that was supposed to help me sleep. It didn't exactly work like that.

So, today, I'm a zombie. In desperate need of sleep. And today, I wasn't so dedicated. There isn't anything that has to be done today, so I did take a sick day. And now? I'm going back to bed to hopefully get a little more sleep with the aid of some Nyquil. That codeine syrup just didn't cut it last night, so I'm going for the proven stuff.

Good night! Or... Good day! Or... whatever.

Yes this does count as a post!

I signed in and did "create a new post" and typed it in. IT COUNTS! I had planned to tell you about the cupcakes Conor and I made on Saturday. That will wait until another day.

A little off topic, but if you have never clicked over and looked at Smitten Kitchen, then you probably haven't seen her absolutely adorable baby boy. Gosh he is just the cutest baby.

OK, back to the subject.

Just a short one because I'm calling off sick from posting anything creative or funny. I am sick. Have been all weekend, but it just keeps getting worse. I usually sleep a lot when I'm sick. Not this past weekend. 3.5 hours Saturday night; 4.5 or 5 hours last night. Mostly because I CAN'T BREATHE. I have a stuffy nose that only gets worse if I try to lay down. Or is it lie down? I don't really care. Anyway, I can't breathe through my nose when I'm in a horizontal position. So then I breathe through my mouth (HA! mouth breather!) and my already sore throat becomes dry and I begin coughing. It's quite horrible.

Alli even came to check on me this morning as I was coughing so much.

"Mom are you OK?"

"Yes, it's just a cold. I'll be fine."

She gets a space heater and turns in on pointed directly at me.

"What are you doing? Don't turn that on, I'm burning up."

"I thought you said you were cold."

"Oh, no... I said it's just a cold. But thanks anyway."

I believe I have a sinus infection, the worst I've ever had. My face feels like it was a punching bag for someone - feels bruised to the touch. My TEETH hurt. It hurts to chew. I'm miserable. I didn't call off work though, that wouldn't do.

I need to see a doctor. But since I didn't like my family doctor, and I haven't found a new one to go to, I don't have anywhere to go. I suppose I'll have to go to Urgent Care... which I dread because you know it is going to take hours.

Oh, and can I ask you something? If you are eating or have a weak stomach, please don't continue reading. Seriously. I'm sorry it has come to me typing out the word snot on my blog, but WHERE CAN IT ALL POSSIBLY COME FROM?! I don't get it.

Sorry about that. I have wondered a lot this weekend though. So, nothing exciting to read today. Although I guess this is a rather long post. Huh. Definitely counts. Even though I put the word snot in it.

Super Duper Mario Wii Something

Can I just say I hate this game? I mean... it just brings out the worst in me. I used to be really good at the regular Super Mario when I played in my teens. And even when Alli was little. I could beat her easily. Now Conor has the Wii and we got him errrr, Santa got him the Super Mario for Wii for Christmas and I suck. He makes me play it with him and the whole time he's yelling at me.

"Mom! You gotta save the crying little baby! Press 1 and shake the controller to pick it up! Don't let go!!"

I'm shaking the dang controller and pressing all the buttons I can. I manage to pick him up and then put him down again. Little turtles and mushrooms surrounding me, trying to kill me, trying to kill it.

"MOM! YOU KILLED IT!!"

"SHUT UP! You're making me nervous!!"

"Mom, you have to jump on Yoshi, then carry him in Yoshi's mouth." "Mom, you're doing it wrong!"

"Mom, DON'T LOSE HIM!!"

"I don't wanna save the crying little brat."

"Mom, we get cool stuff if we save him."

"I don't need any cool stuff. I don't use it."

"Mom, Me and Alli want the cool stuff, so it's 2 against 1 and you have to do it."

"Then you and Alli can save the little whiner."

"Mom, we gotta act like we fall for Bowser's trick."

"What does that even mean? I don't know what his trick is"

*insert 7 year old explanation that I don't understand a word of and can't remember*

Aaaaargh! I give up.

More Un-Posted

Thanksgiving 11/20/08 – this was going to be a post about our Thanksgiving plans, and also what I was thankful for – the people I am thankful for. Then it started getting sappy. And long. And then I started thinking about who might get their feelings hurt if I forget to list them and tell why I was thankful for them. Hey, I have a very big family and I love every member of my family! And then I decided not to post it. I couldn’t handle the pressure!

My baby turned 6 yesterday 12/12/08 - This was about Conor's birthday, obviously. I started writing what we did for his birthday and I believe I eventually just re-wrote another post. Oh, wait. No I didn't. I started to write about it in another un-post (the next one) and never posted that one either.

I’m sorry, OK? 12/15/08 - This was me apologizing for not posting and catching you up on Conor's birthday and what we did, and I never finished it, and I didn't post it either.

Teddy 02/12/09 - This was a post about how we found Teddy, what he's like (freak, but a lovable one!), and stuff like that. I probably was going to put pictures in it, but then forgot and it just went by the wayside. Maybe I'll update it and put it as a Feb post! ;)

When my best isn’t good enough… 03/04/09 - See, it was the end of winter, I was going through a phase where I felt like nothing I did made anyone happy and I wanted to tell them all to kiss my... well, you know what I mean. I changed my mind and didn't post it. I didn't even finish it. It was just one sentence.

Busy 03/25/09 - this was about Jeff's traveling and trying to fit everything in during the short times he was home. It also went into work stuff, how busy I was at the time - so different a year later! It was another long post that never got posted! I may go back and just post it so that I can re-read it one of these days.

NOT a morning person 10/03/09 - I wrote this one day when Jeff rudely woke me up and then proceeded to badger me with questions and talking and I hadn't had my coffee yet! And how we had been together for almost 10 years and he could at least know this stuff about me! Sheesh.

Happy Thanksgiving 11/26/09 - Another attempt at a sappy "I'm Thankful For" post that I chickened out of. To list all the people in my life I am thankful for, I'd have to start now. I might have it done by Thanksgiving. It would be one heck of a post!

And that's it! For now anyway. I have a couple of other un-posts that I intended to post in Feb. but since I haven't yet, and I don't know if I will, I will leave them off this post! :)

Dog Vs Spider

Conor got a mechanical spider for Christmas and Teddy does not like it one bit.

My Valentine

Jeff went to visit his mom on Tuesday to hang out with her before he left for Michigan, and to make sure her driveway was clear. He came home with a box of goodies! He didn't know what was in it, so we gathered around to see.

It was full of these little boxes, with all our names on them and then some! See how creative she is?!?!

I can't tell you what was in them because some of them haven't been given out yet and that would just ruin the surprise!

Or I could just tell everyone they are empty and take their treats too... hmmmmm. Well, I guess I can't now! Unless I find something else to put in there... something I don't like.

And yes, the lame date is still on there. I took these at the same time as the icicles! :P

Hope everyone had a wonderful Valentines Day!

The lates snow

Looking out our front door - the sidewalk was shoveled from the prior snow, then we got more and just gave up for the night.

This is a HUGE icicle hanging from the front of our house. I don't know if this picture gives it justice. It is almost as tall as me, definitely taller than Conor. He wants it.

These are the ones over the door, and yes those are two stickers on the windows. Conor put them there when we first moved in and I just never removed them.

You will note that I hid the year in the pictures because I was lame and didn't set the correct date on my camera yet. As soon as I went to edit them I saw the date and immediately corrected my camera.

The bush out front even has icicles on it. I'm really hoping that snow storm that is supposed to hit this weekend gets blown into a different area!

Jeff should be in his hotel room in MI by now - he left this afternoon. He will be gone for 2 weeks so I won't have anyone to shovel the snow for me. :( Maybe I can con one of the neighborhood kids into it... those cupcakes might come in handy this weekend to bribe someone!

Stay warm!

Whew!

What a day! No, I didn't get to make the cupcakes. To start, we got a lot more snow last night and our road and driveway were a mess this morning. I had already brought my laptop home with me, so I called my boss and worked from home. Of course he said to try to come in, but by the time the driveway was cleared, and the road was finally plowed, it was in the afternoon and there was no sense in driving to work to do what I could just do here. I can VPN into our network at the office, so I had access to everything I needed. Besides that, the rental car wouldn't start and my car has a flat tire. Pancake flat.

I could have probably made them today, but I would have felt guilty doing that when I was supposed to be working. So, no cupcakes today.

Then my mom called to tell me my aunt Betty is in the hospital with pneumonia, they had taken her this morning and she was admitted. Jeff left to go see his mom, and I took Conor with me to go see Betty and take her some magazines and chocolate. Just in case she needed something to pass the time, but with all the people there, who knows if she will get to read them. She will probably be so exhausted by the time everyone leaves that she will just go to sleep. We got there around 6:30pm and my mom and aunt Judy were there. Judy left after we got there, and then my aunt Maggie came in. Conor and I were on our way out the door when Andy, Missy, Grant and Mason were walking in. So she has had a pretty steady stream of visitors since getting her room.

Also, on our way to the hospital, Alli sent me a text to let me know that Austin (my nephew) was at Urgent Care because he broke his collar bone. Again. This is the 5th time that poor boy has broken his collar bone in his 14 years. Once was at birth. The other times were during various boy activities - football, basketball, skateboarding. Once was on his birthday - during his birthday party! This time was sledding. It doesn't seem to stop him from doing these things though!

So, we just got home, I had to make Conor something to eat and I just don't feel up to the cupcakes tonight. Maybe this weekend when we are supposed to get 8 more inches of snow. Ugh. Go away already! I'm ready for flowers and spring!

Cooking and Baking

I have been cooking a lot this past weekend. Well, new stuff I mean. Like the Whoopie Pies. I made the Italian Roast again, too. I also made a salsa that is almost exactly like my favorite from Chili's. I'm gonna have to take some into work or something though, because it made a whole bunch and there is no way I can eat all of it.

Some breadsticks that were a hit. And spaghetti sauce that I didn't like, but Jeff did. It was a little plain for my taste, so I added some spices, but didn't really like it much even then. Apparently Ceara and Caitlyn liked it too, though.

Tonight I went with an old favorite, by request - Taco Ring. And also had some chips and salsa to go with it.

Everything has gone over so well! Jeff just said to me, "You've been making some home runs in the cooking department lately." As he hugged and kissed me. It makes me happy when people appreciate what I cook. Makes me want to cook more! :) I've always loved cooking - usually do a pretty good job at it, but I usually don't get positive verbal feedback. I've learned a secret don't cook for them for a while and when you finally do, they will appreciate it more! haha

Coming up sometime this week, I'll be making some fancy cupcakes too. Probably tomorrow night since Jeff is leaving on Wednesday and I'd like him to be able to try them.

I have so many new recipes bookmarked to try... I will let you know about the good ones!

Hope everyone around me is safe and warm from this snow we are getting!

Love you guys!

Waxing advice

Waxing your own eyebrows - which I have been doing for a while now, since I discovered that it is a lot less expensive to do it yourself, not to mention that I can do a way better job than some people at the salon. On the occasions where I give in and let them do it because it is easier and a lot less messy than me getting mine out, I have always had to fix what they didn't do to my liking.

Oops, got a little off track there. OK, where was I? Oh yeah. Don't wax your eyebrows on the same day that you are going out that night, OK? The trauma of having hot wax applied and ripped from your skin results in very pink eye lids that no cover up in the world will work on. You end up looking like a raccoon with a pink mask, or someone who is in desperate need of make-up applying tips - putting on pink eyeshadow up to your eyebrows is never really a good idea. In my opinion, of course. I waxed my eyebrows yesterday afternoon and when we went out for Valentine's Day last night, I was rockin' the raccoon look.

While I'm on the subject of waxing... have you ever waxed your legs? I did. Once. Well, one leg, anyway. I got the wax, and instead of applying it to one small area and testing it, I figured I would just put it all on at once - save time or something. I don't know what I was thinking to be quite honest. Well, yeah, I do. I was thinking it can't be THAT bad. I mean, come on - at that point I had one child via natural child birth. I knew what pain felt like. So I thought.

I put the strips on my leg and yanked one off. OH THE PAIN. I cried. Then I looked at the rest of my leg, already covered in wax, and I cried some more. I had no idea how to get the wax OFF my leg without pulling it off with a cloth strip. So I went through the torture of having to complete that leg. I have never, EVER, even thought about doing it again.

I had another child via natural childbirth, even after knowing what that felt like. If that tells you anything. You have to weigh the pain versus the outcome. Kids are worth it. Sometimes anyway. ;)

Waxing your legs? So NOT worth it. That hair grows back. So, wax your eyebrows on a day when you have nothing planned, and NEVER, EVER wax you legs. That is my advice to any one.

Snow pictures

Just a few pictures of the snow outside our house... before it was disturbed too much.

Whoopie Pies

Conor and I made these last night, except we used a Devils Food Cake mix.

Conor has made them before, when he was at his Aunt Benetta's house. The ones they made were really good!

I don't know how many times he said, "That's not how Benetta does it..." but it was a lot!

Maybe I should have asked Benetta for her recipe, though, because oh, my are these sweet. Too sweet in my opinion, although the kids like them!

I ate a 1/2 of one and it was plenty for me - definitely have to have milk with them too!