TGIF!! And Happy Leap Year!!

I am really happy that it's Friday but unfortunately I have a lot of work to do over the weekend. I have gotten really, really behind (so why am I blogging you ask?) plus - I am in SO much pain - my teeth are killing me and the inside of my mouth is all chewed up - I went and got a 2nd batch of wax and DentaPaine medicine (like Oragel for babies only stronger!!) from Drug Mart tonight (and a bottle of wine to ease some of the pain...). It may not be all bad...I've lost 2 pounds in 2 days so maybe I'll just turn this into a diet plan...

We had a snowy week - the kids had a late start day on Weds. so Ella didn't have preschool and it was beach day. They will do a make-up day on Monday. They pull out the sandboxes, pools and beach gear. Would it be bad if I showed up with Margarita mix and hung out?

Ella got her school pictures today -is she saying
"I'm only smiling because my mom threatened to take away my birthday AND Christmas if I don't" ??

When I picked her up that day she had one braid in and one completely out so I had no clue if they were like that for the picture as well.

And here is the little guy - how many years of braces do you think he'll need?

And little Miss finishing up some dinner
Any guesses as to what this is?? Clue: I took it last week at night outside (Turn around Bright Eyes...)

I have to keep you hanging awhile longer on the braces picture. Justin took a couple of the sores in my mouth but that isn't really blog-pretty.

With any luck, you'll hear from me again over the weekend (as I avoid more work)...

Words of the Week...

Silas -as we turned the music on the other night - "let's rock out"

Silas -this morning when I went in to get him out of bed and I asked him how he was - he said "I sleep tight"

Ella - last night at dinner we had black eyed peas. I cooked them wrong and they were gross. She said "yuck, I don't like those Eye Ball beans!"

Mommy says - "son of a #$!@# OUCH!" I got braces on today - and man does it suck!!! Don't expect to see me out for the next 6-8 months! If you are lucky, Justin will take a picture so you can see how dorky I look ;-)

Mason said - "ha, ha Mom, you look like a Geek." To which I was happy to tell him that he'll be getting HIS on by this summer!!

One year anniversary today

Justin just asked me how long we've been doing our weekly dinner menus...I pulled them out and oddly enough February 25th, 2007 was our very first day of planning - how about that. And I've said this a THOUSAND times...it has been a life saver and cut out almost all the stress of dinner making - I will never go back to not having it all planned out...at least until the kids are grown and Justin and I can go out whenever we want!

This week's menu is:
Sunday - jambalaya
Monday - Beef tips and noodles (crockpot)
Tuesday - Hamburgers
Weds - Cheesy penne pasta (crockpot)
Thursday - chicken wings
Friday - homemade pizzas
Saturday - Spaghetti and meatballs

Before and After...or After and Now

This is what my desk looked like when it went ka-put and gave out on me:And this is the now:Love it! (I know I need a matching chair!)

And this is the face that Si now gives me when he is trying to get me to give him something (like junk) - would you give in to that face??


I spied on my neighbors yesterday and took their picture w/my super zoom while they were out in the snow - love Gavin face down in it :)
We are getting snow dumped on us right now and freezing rain and more snow expected tonight and tomorrow...which means another SNOW DAY most likely!

Another week has flown by!!

I can't keep up...with my life - let alone the blog!!

Here are a few pictures and videos from the past week.

Wednesday the 13th was Justin's birthday. We had enchiladas for dinner (one of his favorite recipes) and then birthday brownies.
Here is the birthday video:




And Si with the birthday brownies all over him
And then the next day was Valentine's Day - Daddy was so good to his girls - we got flowers and chocolate. Ella was such a sweetie when she got her flowers. I would have loved to have gotten it on video. Justin helped her open the box that came special delivery to her and put her tulips into the vase. She THREW herself at Justin and hugged him so big and so genuinely that we both had tears in our eyes.

And I got lovely roses

The best part of my week last week was getting my new desk - I will post a picture soon because I LOVE it! If you are looking for a very cute, compact, stylish desk (so that you don't have to work at the kitchen table or your 4 year olds Princess table that is 16 inches off the ground...) then this is the desk for you!

Target had hair towels in the $1 bin so I got two of them. Supposed to be one for me and one for Ella but Si had other ideas...

Last night we had the chocolate fondue that I bought the kids for V-day. wow, what a mess! We dipped strawberries, bananas and angel food cake into it. The kids Loved it!!

Justin left for NJ today for a couple days of follow up training for work. All is going great with his job and it is a really busy time for him to go but hopefully he's having fun and I know he's eating and drinking well!

I will leave you with one last video. Si is very interested in the potty chair - sits on it a bit but REALLY likes to run around it. Beware of a nakie butt!

Any David Sedaris fans?

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE David Sedaris and his totally warped humor about his life and family. After a day with the kids today - I TOTALLY relate to the mother!

From his story Let It Snow:

Winters were frustratingly mild in North Carolina, but the year I was in the fifth grade we got lucky. Snow fell, and, for the first time in years, it accumulated. School was canceled, and two days later we got lucky again. There were eight inches on the ground, and, rather than melting, it froze. On the fifth day of our vacation, my mother had a little breakdown. Our presence had disrupted the secret life she led while we were at school, and when she could no longer take it she threw us out. It wasn’t a gentle request but something closer to an eviction. “Get the hell out of my house,” she said.

We reminded her that it was our house, too, and she opened the front door and shoved us into the carport. “And stay out!” she shouted.

My sisters and I went down the hill and sledded with other children from the neighborhood. A few hours later, we returned home, surprised to find that the door was locked. “Oh, come on,” we said. I rang the bell, and when no one answered we went to the window and saw our mother in the kitchen, watching television. Normally she waited until five o’clock to have a drink, but for the past few days she’d been making an exception. Drinking didn’t count if you followed a glass of wine with a cup of coffee, and so she had a goblet and a mug positioned before her on the countertop.

You can read the rest here:

http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2003/12/22/031222fa_fact3

Snow Day!

Mason flushed ice down the toilet yesterday after school...apparently that is the voodoo that middle schoolers do when they want a snow day - and it worked. We got overnight snow and we're supposed to get much more today and freezing rain.

February is flying by - things have been very crazy here and this week is Justin's b-day and Valentine's day. Both of which I am unprepared for. Here is Ella's February calendar picture:


Last week seemed like a week from HECK. I knew it was going to be busy, and it was. Monday Ella had her school pictures taken plus it was her snack day/line leader day. Tuesday she had kindergarten registration (seems hard to believe that she will be starting school in August!!). Wednesday was ballet night for little Miss, Thursday my dad had surgery (he's doing great) and Mason had an orthodontic consult (expensive braces are in his future), Friday I had to do an all day workshop for work, Saturday Ella and Mason both had birthday parties to go to and we had to get our taxes done (and it was REALLY painful)...Sunday was errands, cleaning and several conversations with the tax guy.
In the midst of all that, on Tuesday night I came home from kindergarten registration to find my desk looking like the leaning tower of Pisa

When I was putting Ella to bed we heard a loud crash...whoosh...bang. I knew it was my desk. Ella and I went down to take a look and the desk was on it's side and everything, including my laptop, was on the floor in a nice huge avalanche of papers and junk. Where is now sits in a big fat pile on the floor. It's really hard to get organized and focused when you work from home and don't have a desk or place to work...I've been at the kitchen table for a week.

I found a desk cabinet thing at World Market that would have been great but they are all sold out and have discontinued it - of course they have because that is the ONE out of 200 that I've looked at and liked and was willing to pay for. Struck out at Pier One, Staples, Office Max, Target, several furniture stores and then finally at Value City Furniture found one online that is cute, smallish and affordable. The desk part actually swings around and closes up over the drawers which is perfect for our front room. They didn't have any in stock at the store but had 200+ at the warehouse so I am just waiting (impatiently) for it to come in so we can pick it up and pick all my *(&^* up off of the floor.
Mason brought home his interim report this week and somehow has an "F" right now in Shop class. How well do you think Justin took that news? Being the handy-guy that he is, NOT WELL. Justin is in the process of building wall shelves for Ella's room and now he has a helper for the project.
I need to go to my happy place for awhile...

I'm a slacker!

I've not posted in a whole WEEK! It has been a very crazy week - and I will go into much more detail sometime soon, but until then I will leave you with a video of Silas running around like a mad man before bedtime. He's like a wind up toy...I swear it has nothing to do with the 2 suckers he had shoved into his head at the same time. OR the candy necklace he was attacking while it was still around his sister's neck. He gets incredibly upset when we won't give him candy. Justin and I told him the other day: NO MORE JUNK. He sobbed and threw a fit while yelling, "me want junk, me want junk".
So here you go...the best thing out there with the writers' strike going on still!

Ella says...

to Mason: "When I'm older, I'll like you more than now" Is she taking this honesty thing a bit too far?

We've had another weekend of just hanging around the house. Friday night we watched Evan Almighty. It was good in a very odd way. This morning the kids had Big Trouble in Little China (with Kurt Russell) on - anyone remember that one from when we (30 somethings) were kids?

Today I took Mason to Walmart to get Guitar Hero 3 - we paid for half as his reward for doing well on his report card. So now he's got long hair AND a guitar...

Here is a video of Ella and Si jumping on the bed and being silly



And here is one of Ella doing a bit of ballet




Now it's time to get ready to watch the Super Bowl - and my favorite part...to eat chili and wings!

Pictures of Ella

Ella had a Valentine's Day mini-session with Melissa on Sunday. Here is a link to the pictures:

Ella V-day