Wordless Wednesday - Tuesday Edition - Stuffed Theatre

Manic Monday - Pull

Over at It's A Blog Eat Blog World, Mo's word is Pull. Why? Well because he get a hankering for some pulled pork.

My entry isn't really about pulling pork, it is more about pulling at my heart strings. The person doing the pulling in this picture is my bacon (mula) (eh...see the pork tie in there?) making hubby. In this, one of my favorite pictures from last year, he is pulling our little rug rats or the players of my heart strings for a walk/ride around the block.

The Blink of An Eye sign I have on the back of the wagon is for my other blog "In the Blink Of An Eye." I loved this shot because it was a beautiful sunny evening. My husband doesn't usually have time to do little things like this with us. I love when he makes the effort to really show us that in the craziness of his overextended life at the moment he truly loves us.

Watching them walk ahead of me while I took pictures, really pulled at my heart strings because it encompassed everything I imagined before having kids of what I wanted my life to be after them. Just being together and enjoying the walk, the weather and just being together is really all it takes for this small town girl to be truly happy.

The little people in the wagon are my heart on legs and they pull on my heart strings at least 100 times a day. The man has pulled on my heart strings for seventeen years. Sometimes a good pull and sometimes a OMG BAD pull, but that is what relationships are about. As long as we continue to pull together, things will always be ok.

Photo Friday

I love this Meme. Where have I been? Head on over to Photo Friday if you want to participate. The weekly challenge is EMOTIONS

She is soon to be 3 and full of emotion. Not sure what most of these faces say but she is my little actress.

Friday 5 for March 28: Odd Jobs

Who in your life would make a really good butler? Clarissa
Who in your life would make a really good head of state? My Hubby
Who in your life would make a really good TV talk-show host? Teresa
Who in your life would make a really good astronaut? Ohio
Who in your life would make a really good movie director? Sheress

Thanks for playing, and have a wonderful weekend!

Friday Fill - In #65

1. Some relationships are meant to last forever
2. Aerosmith is the last concert I saw; it was ages ago.
3. Spring should be here any day now.
4. Oh no! I forgot to check the eggplant
5. I've recently started thinking about my daughter's 3rd birthday.
6. My kids never fails to make me smile.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to my kids seeing their Daddy, tomorrow my plans include cleaning and playing, and Sunday, I want to take the kids to Church.

Wordless Wednesday - My Little Actress

In Your Easter Bonnet - Play in Dirt

I don't get it.

What is it with kids and dirt?

The first part of this story is that my daughter and I were (ok me, I was), very excited that this would be the first time she would wear an Easter bonnet and white gloves. She was excited to put them on and she picked out the bonnet herself.

I bought her something to wear (probably the 5th thing I have purchased for her clothing wise in the almost 3 years she is here). Something new, not handed down, hers and hers alone. It wasn't my favorite but there wasn't much to chose from. Easter is really early this year and it is pretty cold for the typical Easter wear.

She was all dressed sitting waiting to leave for her Abuela's when she asked me to change her diaper...insert screeching car tires here because ummm hello she hasn't worn a diaper in just over 3 months. In the 3 months since she has trained she has had 3, count them, 3 accidents. So why, oh why on this particular day, when the outfit had only been on her for 1/2 an hour would she decide to use it as her own personal portable potty?

I told her that she didn't have a diaper on and that I hoped she was kidding. I had just washed and dried her tights. The reason she wasn't wearing them earlier was because they were in the dryer, drying so that she could wear them with her new stinkin' Mommy doesn't love Easter outfit.

Anyway, I digress. I change her, and tell her how disappointed I am that she pee'd in her clothes and next time ask me to take her to the potty. She says what she always says, "I'm sorry Mommy." We put on the next best thing. A punky, fun, pair of stockings, the only ones that would be warm enough but didn't have snow flakes on them and head out the door.

We go to the in-laws with my son looking like the little man and the girl looking like a little funky punk. Eat a wonderfully delicious lunch and then my husband decides to take the kids outside.

Normally I don't mind them being little rug rats because well as far as rug rats go they are pretty clean. They never have crusty messes under their noses, they never smell, their clothes don't have huge unidentifiable stains and they don't argue to wash their hands, but why on Easter must we play in the dirt?

I guess they had a good time and Tide will take out the stains. My mother and father would have freaked if we were all dressed up playing in the dirt but I guess there are worse things they could have gotten into.

So Easter and dirt, perfect together. Who knew?

What a difference year makes.

Happy Birthday To The Teach

Although my husband does not read my blog (*gasp* I know right!?), today is his birthday and I want to honor him here where I spend about 35% of my day.

Since this blog was intended as a legacy for my children I want to tell them just how much he means to me and how awesome he is.

Written with the limited knowledge I have learned through the 17 years of knowing his parents.

Daddy was born in Newark NJ back in 1971. His parents came here from Spain about 3 years earlier to live "the American dream," the one his father saw in all the movies he watched.

His father (your Abuelo) was a hard worker who learned English, went to college, got a job as an electrician at CBS and made a decent life for his family.

Daddy grew up in New Jersey and was the only boy and the youngest of 3. He went to high school, played football, was in the band, eventually taught himself to play amazing guitar. He was a really great guitar player and joined a few bands. I used to go watch him play and everyone would come up to me telling me what a great guitarist he was.

We met while I was driving around with Aunt Teresa after breaking up with a boyfriend. She knew that I liked long haired guys and noticed him change lanes next to us. He was in front of us and she honked to get his attention. He looked in his rear view mirror and she told me to wave. She didn't want him to think she was trying to get his attention. She was very adamant about that.

We followed him through 2 towns until he stopped his car. He says now that if his car was faster he could have outrun us. I remember telling her to stop following him because it seemed a bit manic and we didn't know who he was, where he was going, or what he really looked like. We saw a long haired guy in a car and we were following him? If I had been driving we would never have met because I would not have followed him. She takes total credit for setting us up and also blames herself when we had problems, "If I hadn't chased him you would have been with someone else."

We could have met somewhere else because we did like the same music so it may have been inevitable anyway that we ran into each other in a club or bar. Although he wasn't 21 years old yet so he didn't go out as much as I was. So who knows.

Anyway, when he finally stopped the car at his destination, and he was cute and had a guitar I was thankful that she had followed him.

She was pushing me to get out so that he again didn't think she was the one after him. I had no idea what to say. What do you say to someone you obviously chased for 15 minutes, cutting in and out of traffic and park behind him on a suburban street? As I was walking around the car I noticed a blue WSOU Pirate Radio bumper sticker. So what do you think my opening line was? Yup, "where did you get the bumper sticker?"

He told me that he got it at a club, party, someone's house...I don't even remember his answer. I just remember feeling stupid and wondering if he was interested in my friend, the tall blonde or in me the short brunette.

I asked about the guitar and he said he was going to rehearsal at his friend's house. He pointed the the house. I felt like I should let him go but why follow him if I wasn't going to at least get his phone number?

He said he was looking for a singer for his band and I told him I knew a lot of band people. He gave me his phone number and said if I knew someone who was looking for his band to have them call him.

We got paper and pen and he leaned on the car to write his number. I remember that the name he wrote looked like Toe. I joked about the name and he smiled and said, "No dude, that's a J", then he playfully shoved at me and I felt like we knew each other.

I don't recall the rest. I don't recall him walking away, or us getting back in the car. I don't even recall how many days it took me to call him but what I do remember is calling him and telling him that I was the girl who chased him down the other day. He said he knew and that he remembered. I know also that I wanted to be certain that he knew which I was, blonde or brunette. I told him that I was the short brunette and he told me that he knew and that he preferred short brunette's. Yeah...score.

I'll save the rest for another day, I just wanted to get into writing how we met.

There are so many reasons as to why "The Teach" is the guy I decided to spend my life with.

Mostly what I want you guys to know as we celebrate his 37th birthday, is that he loves you. He works hard to make sure that you guys have what you need and what you want. He comes home after running his own company (anyone who has their own knows you work 24/7) and plays Xbox with Handsome and hugs and kisses you both until you can't stand it.

He may not have time right now to go to the park with us, or family outings but when he is with us he does try to spend as much time as possible talking to you, asking how your day was, what you did, and what you learned. He is eager to see what you drew, colored, painted, etc. He hands over his TV most of the day until 7:00 when he wants the news on. He wrestles, carries, spins and throws you until everyone is exhausted. He takes you out of the bath, dresses and combs your hair, fills milk cups, brings home pizza on Friday's, cuddles you until you fall asleep Goddess, or carries Handsome to bed when he falls asleep in the living room. Shh's you when you wake at night and holds you if you get hurt.

He is amazing in so many little ways and in the biggest way of all. He gave me my biggest reason to be here. He gave me the two of you. Without him there would be no you and there would possibly be no me.

Sadly, we were unable to get him much for his birthday but I am sure that the sight of you guys bringing him his gift and saying "Happy Birthday Daddy" this morning were enough for him.

If not, next time he will have to give us a list right????

Self Portrait Friday - Your Favorite Picture

My favorite picture? It is almost impossible for me to chose just one of my picture because I love so many of them. Any picture that has my kid or my kids in it is an absolute favorite but Kristine of Random and Odd is asking for my "Favorite"

I guess if I had to chose just one (kill me now) it would be my son's baptism picture.

I love the way his face is looking up toward the sky. It is as if he is looking toward the Heavens and they are shining down on him. He looks proud to have just been baptised. I also love how happy and proud my husband and I look. I love that we were both wearing blue and that you can see his wedding band as he hold back my hair (it was so damn windy that day).

I am not an overly religious person by any means but I always thought the light shining on my son's face and his smile shows me that something special happened that day and my son was the only one who knew it at the time. I have these pictures at Webshots and would have loved to crop out the random people in the background but I couldn't download my own damn picture from my website.

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Reasons I love Being A Mom

1. The unsolicited kisses - who doesn't want one of those?

2. Waking up to a sleepy little one walking over to me and saying, "good morning Mom" with their arms raised for me to lift and kiss them good morning.

3. Getting to re-read some of my childhood books with an eager audience.

4. Feeling those little arms around my neck when I lift them up.

5. Getting to play with Play doh, Barbies, Crayons, Little People, pretend food and baby dolls without someone looking at me funny.

6. The smell of the top of my kids head and the little soft spot under their chin.

7. Being able to grab a handful of baby butt and squeezing anytime I want. Love that little baby butt.

8. The smile they get on their face whenever I look at them.

9. Waking next to them every morning.

10. Hearing them bless me in their prayers at night.

11. Listening to them talking to each other the way I talk to them.

12. Loving someone so deeply it makes you want to cry.

13. The biggest reason I love being a mom if my kids make me smile more than anyone else in the world. I laugh every day.

Wordless Wednesday - My Little Ones

Amateur Book Review - Veil of Roses

Last night I finished Veil of Roses by Laura Fitzgerald and after P.S. I Love You I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

It is about Tamila, a 27 year old Iranian women who comes to America for 3 months on a birthday Visa from her parents to find a husband and stay in the States.

She stays with her older sister and her sister's husband, takes an English class, goes to Starbucks, and falls in love with America, her freedom and an American.

I liked this book for a couple of reasons. Tamilia is likable, the characters are interesting, the

story witty, her potential husbands comical but the biggest reason is that I was reminded of how much I love my freedom. As an American I know we take this for granted. I try not to but I don't think we realize just how lucky we are to live in a Country where we have choices.

It was interesting looking through the eyes of someone who never knew freedom and watching her amazement as she acquaints herself with the freedom she and everyone should have if they so desire.

Her reactions to police, her friends, a free sample at Starbucks and sneakers were uplifting, humorous and captivating.

The ending was somewhat predictable and I wish that the conclusion I was hoping for, played out longer than the last 4 pages. I was happy with the ending and reminded of how "free" we really are.

Manic Monday - Drink

Today’s word over at It’s A Blog Eat Blog world is DRINK.

I am not much of a drinker. I was drunk 1 time in my life and too buzzed about 3.

That feeling of having no control never really appealed to me. I like to drink an occasional beer and some wine with a meal is OK too. Occasionally a Jack and Coke might appeal to me but mostly I am a water, coffee, tea, milk girl.

Oddly enough I used to bar tend at a Go Go Bar and mostly served beer and shots. I actually love the smell of a bar. The lemon, various alcohols, and stale beer smells good to me.

Some of my favorite drinks if I am going to drink alcohol are:

Buttery Nipple - Shooter
1 oz. Bailey's Irish Cream

1 oz. Butterscotch Schnapps
Pour schnapps into glass then slowly pour Bailey's Irish Cream against side of glass.

Kamikaze
1 oz tequila

1 oz triple sec

1 oz lime juice

Pour ingredients into a shot glass and serve.

For my 40th birthday I threw a Luau and served this which were awesome.

LUAU PUNCH

1 gallon pineapple juice

6 ounces lime juice

2 quarts vodka

2 quarts 7UP

1 quart brandy

1 quart tonic

Ice cubes to chill
Mix all ingredients in a large punch bowl.

One of my all time favorites:

Tequila Sunrise Ingredients
2 oz Tequila
4 oz Orange Juice
1 oz Grenadine

Orange juice and tequila and pour over ice in a highball glass. Add Grenedine by tipping the glass and pouring it down the side of the glass. The Grenedine should go to the bottom and then rise slowly through the drink.

Wordless Wednesday - Sunday Edition

Damn Woodpeckers

I Had Bread Dad!

I wish there were pictures to document this event but even though I had the camera there wasn't a time when I felt there was time to whip it out.

This morning we got dressed and headed to church for the second Sunday in a row.

We walked in, got our palms, sat down and waited for mass to begin. Pastor came over to us and asked how we were all doing, my kids said hello and we shook hands.

The kid mass is at 9:00 but that is just too hard to do right now so the mass we do get to is nice, quiet and very intimate with only about 25 people, my kids being the only kids under 16.

They were relatively quiet. I did have to hold my daughter a couple of times to explain that she couldn't write on the bibles, tap dance, talk during the sermon, or walk around the pews. My son kept himself busy by probably zoning out and sitting like a little man right next to me while parishioners preformed "The Passion" which was mostly a reading of what happened on Jesus last day.

I would narrate everything that was going on. He told me I was doing a good job singing from time to time and my daughter asked to go home.

They "did the sign of peace" with just about anyone who came over. I was very proud of how they shook hands, they are only 2 and 4 years old and mass was 1 1/2 hours long with nothing to do but sit and listen and they were fabulous.

When it was time for our offering I handed him the envelope. He wasn't quite sure, even after I prompted him what to do. It was cute the way 5 old ladies tried to motion for him what to do with the envelope.

We walked up to the alter and knelt down to accept the body and blood of Christ. In the Lutheran Church anyone can receive communion and last year my son would not take the host (bread). This time as the Pastor got closer, I told him what was happening and he put his little hand out and was handed bread which he happily ate after the Pastor told him he could. I was beaming with the fact that my son just received his first communion.

My daughter, who I was holding was blessed as the Pastor walked by handing out bread to everyone. She was very upset the whole way back to our seat asking for bread. "I want bread!"

Afterwards Pastor told her that she would get bread next time if it was ok with me. She was happy and I was thrilled and proud of how good they were.

When we got home my kids were excited to tell Daddy they had fun at Church and my son's first words piling out of the car? "I got bread Dad!"

Next up...Good Friday.

Wordless Wednesday - The Saturday Edition

The path from me to you is lined with shadow

Amateur Book Review - P.S. I Love You

Amateur Book Review - P.S. I Love You

I finished P.S. I Love You By Cecelia Ahern about 3 days and have been putting this post together since.

In 4 words, I didn't like it.

I was loaned this book by a dear friend who also didn't like it, however, like me wanted to see how it ended.

For me, the concept was great but the story was about 300 pages longer than it needed to be.

Writing was wordy, too many characters without story lines, and the main character lack depth.

The book was an International best seller, that was made into a movie with Hillary Swank, and I am still not sure why, other than the book was written so detailed (and not in a good way) it could be a movie script.
The premise of the book was very mature. Holly's husband passes away from a brain tumor and leaves her envelopes to open every month to help her cope with his passing. The writing though was wordy, dialogue was unnecessary and juvenile.

Never did I feel compassion for Holly, I couldn't stand her or her friends. Also, the million members of her family were completely unnecessary and I truly hated the anti climatic ending.

I would love to see this concept done by another author and I am interested in seeing the movie which I hear is quite different than the book. I should hope so.

Top Five On Friday

Head on over to The Music Memoirs Top Five on Friday if you want to play along.

Top five songs with "places" in the title. (Cities, States, Countries etc..even if they don't exist)

I loved this and I found it really easy. It took about 1.4 minutes to come up with these songs.

Meet me In St. Louis by Judy Garland - I heart musicals.
Weekend in New England by Barry Manilow - One of the most beautiful piano pieces ever written.
New York City Rhythm by Barry Manilow
Born in the USA by Springsteen
Streets of Philadelphia by Springsteen

Thursday Thirteen - Internet Musts

Here are links to thirteen of my internet must.

Thirteen Sites I look at every day 1. Bloglines - Is always first. 2. You Tube is where I go for all my video needs. 3. Webkinz is the last site I go to. We have pets to feed and gardening to do. 4. Chotskies My other blog. Where I write all the things not pertaining to my kids. 5. Big Huge Labs - is awesome for photo fun. 6. Yahoo - My favorite search engine. 7. Television without Pitty - Just fun. 8. EBay - I sell a ton of stuff on there. 9. Flickr - Tons of inspiration. 10. The Sims On Stage - Just for fun. 11. Parent Dish - Great resource for parents. 12. Wordless Wednesday - Where I go to find interesting blogs. 13. Starfall - Great site for pre-schoolers.

Wordless Wednesday - My Favorite Collection - Mommy Moments

Tuesday Toddler Tales

Tuesday Toddler Tales is the meme over at My Splatter Painted Life. Check it out and participate if you have a chance.

For Christmas we got my 2 year old this amazing doll house by Fisher Price. My girlfriend who was shopping with me talked me into going with the more expensive version of the house figuring that I would save money in the long run. She is probably right if I was shopping for a 4 year old who would know how to play with the doll house.

It always looks like the doll family is in the midst of a yard sale when she plays. The house is empty save for a bed she creates with a blanket and a pillow even though there are two beds in the house, the dolls sleep on the floor.

I love listening to the conversation she provides for the dolls.

"Are you hungry? Ok, you're hungry! I'll make you something. Here ya
go. Oh, you like it? Do you want more?"

So cute. I love that she creates dialogue.

The other thing she does is with her little people. I think she is going to be an incredible engineer one day. She takes her little people and places them with meticulous precision to create curves and circles.

I heard her yesterday playing with her Little People Castle. She was taking the 500 or more animals and people and having them stand on the roof of the castle. Then she would say,

"help, help" the alligator would be placed near the castle and she would say,
"You need help? I'll help you cow"

(or whatever animal or person was up there). Then she would have the alligator shimmy up the side of the castle to gather the animal she had placed there. Together, in the same hand she would bring them to the floor where the cow (or whatever animal was up) there would say, thank you alligator and the alligator would say, "you're welcome cow". This goes on for at least an hour.

Cute!!!

Manic Monday - The Word Is CAN

Today’s word over at It’s A Blog Eat Blog world is CAN.

Can you see why I Can take 2,000 pictures of these kids a month?
Can you see why I Can love them with every single cell of my body?
Can you see why I Can live on 5 hours of broken sleep for the past 4.5 years?
Can you see why I love their Daddy sooooo much?
Can you see why I Can spend every waking moment with them?
Can you see why I call them my heart on legs.
Can you?

Church Rocked

Well it didn't actually "rock" it was more like a sway.

Yesterday, I wrote about taking my kids to Church this morning. We got up a bit later than expected. The clocks being turned back totally screwed me up this morning.

I wanted to take them to the mass which would also get them into Sunday school class. Since I haven't been there in FOREVER I wasn't sure on the time. I did try to call but their answering machine doesn't mention service times. I should really mention that to them.

Unfortunately we got there about 9:30 and mass with Sunday school was at 9:00 a.m. but there was another starting at 10:30 a.m. We drove around and got back at 10:18 a.m.

I had to drive around the block 2 times to find a parking spot and finally found one.

We walked hand-in-hand into the Church. It was overrun with folks who were eating a snack from the last mass. Lovely, we were thirsty so we shared a glass of apple juice.

Trying to get my kids through a crowd of Church people was a little ridiculous. My daughter was plowed into way too many times for me, I should have carried her but didn't want to let me son's hand go either. Amazing how no one apologized, they just got out of Church you would think people would be particularly pleasant. They were pleasant just not to the tiny 2.5 year old who couldn't be seen through the crowd. Thankfully I was holding her hand or she would have hit the floor at least 2 times.

I talked to Pastor briefly and headed into a pew that would be easy for us to get out without disturbing anyone if we had to. I didn't expect a miracle but I also didn't bring any fidgets for them to occupy themselves with. I prayed for the best and reminded them that we were in Church, God's house and we had to be on our best behavior.

Pastor walked in and the organ started. My son sat and looked around while holding a Hymn book, my daughter enjoyed the sound of her dress shoes on the floor and tapped a few times but all in all we made it through about 45% of the mass. We probably would have gotten through the whole thing by Goddess said, "I have to go potty."

Picking up their coats I headed out with them in tow, we got out the door next to our pew which is exactly why I sat there and walked into the bathroom.

My daughter decided that she didn't need to go but my son did go. I told them I was so proud of them and that they had been so good in church.

As we were washing our hands, my son said, "you did a good job singing mom." I thanked him and we headed to the car with my son asking if he could play XBox.

So, this concludes our first church outing. Some juice, a song or 3, 2 readings a potty break and XBox. What are Sundays for really?

Here he is in his new Booster seat for the car. We got it on Friday afternoon but it has become his Gamer chair. Not sure what he is looking at here but he is totally concentrating.

Blast from the Past - Easter From Long Ago

This is a picture of me and my sisters circa 1973. It was Easter Morning and the only thing giving that away would be the white pocket books. We are standing facing the Church and the white hats, dresses and dress shoes were not optional.

We were raised by Catholic parents and my parents took us to church every Sunday.

I am assuming myself to be about 5 or 6 here because my little sister looks about 2 or 3. I am the one wearing the blue coat.

This picture reminds me of very happy times. My parents both around the feeling of community in a small town. You walked out of church and didn't leave for 20 minutes while your parents talked to everyone.

Funny, I can almost remember the smell of the area and the feeling we had all dressed up holding our pocket books like the little women we thought we were.

I have yet to bring my daughter to Church (that statement just shocked me). My son and I went to Church for about 5 months. I was so adamant about going to Church like my family did when I was little but my husband isn't going to come and Sunday has become our family day even though we are just indoors.

Tomorrow he is working so I hope to dress the kids and bring them to Church. We will stay as long as they can handle it which I hope is the duration but you never know.

We pray nightly and my kids know Jesus, Heaven and Noah's Ark but I really want to give them more. I still love the feeling I get when I walk into Church and I want them to have that feeling as they move forward in their lives.

Here's to going to Church tomorrow and hoping they love it or at least sit still long enough for the sermon.

My Beautiful Baby Girl

I still can't believe I made this...

Friday 5 - My Third Friday Meme

Having fun with all these new meme's I am finding.

Got this one from Friday 5

What is your keyring like? I use one of those long neck thinga majigs. I have 2 kids whose hands need holding while we walk through the parking lots of various places so my neck is the best place to keep them. It is black and says U.S.A in white with a big silver ring holding about 8 different keys.

What is your purse/bag/briefcase like? My purse or backpack is black and was my old diaper bag. I am not ready to not use it but very recently I have been carrying around a white and black handbag that is big enough for a small pack of wipes, change of clothes for my 2 year old and her fold up potty seat.


What is your wallet like? My wallet is pathetic and isn't used correctly at all. My cards are never stored in there and money has never seen the inside of it. I mostly use it to carry various pieces of paper around and it holds my license. It is black and white and was given to me as a Christmas gift from an old boss about 9 years ago.

What is your mousepad like? No mousepad. I have use a laptop for the past 4 years. Before that my mousepad was just a free blue one that came free with the computer.
What are the curtains in your bedroom like? Ugh they are cream with flowers on them. Just a valance. I got them when we purchased the house just to have some until we designed the room but that was 8 years ago and they are still up there. They were taken down 8 times so far for cleaning and will again come down next month for their yearly washing.

Thanks for playing, and have a likable weekend!

Friday Fun - Sick

1. What kind of patient are you? The demanding never happy kind, the leave me the h*ll alone kind, or the grateful kind? Or some combination of them?!
When I was in the hospital I was the grateful, I know you are just doing your job kind except once when a nurse challenged me in regards to feeding my son. Then I was the don’t F with me kind.

2. Are you a good nurse, or do sick people make you want to run for it? I am a really good nurse, even when people aren’t sick I want to nurse them.

3. What is your favorite remedy for the flu? Sleep, warm/hot water and lemon, and toast

Four Foods on Friday

I love Friday and I love food so why not do this meme.

Here are this week’s four questions.

#1. What type of m&m is your favorite? I like all of them, but mostly the original hard shell with chocolate inside is my favorite if my arm was twisted and I was forced to choose.

#2. Peanut butter. Smooth, chunky, creamy. How do you like it? I like it smooth and my favorite brand is Skippy Natural Creamy yum. I like it on bread, any type with mostly Welch's Grape Jam but lately I put a little in a plate with bananas and apples for a yummy snack.

#3. Do you usually drink out of glass, acrylic, Tupperware type or paper cups? I drink out of disposable if we have them and I will use it until it is unusable. We haven't had them in a while so I use a blue glass and rinse it out every time I fill it. I only drink water in it. My other drinks are seltzer which I drink out of the can and tea, coffee, milk are drank out of my Heart Mug. Not that you asked, I'm just sayin'

#4. Share a chicken recipe. For my 40th Birthday I had a Laua and I made Huli Huli chicken it was awesome. Here is the recipe and I wish I had a picture.

Hawaii's own version of barbecued chicken is cooked with Huli-Huli Sauce (made with pure Hawaiian brown sugar cane along with soy sauce, fresh ginger and more).

INGREDIENTS:
4-5 lbs chicken pieces
1/3 cup ketchup
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons sherry
1 piece ginger root, crushed
1 clove garlic, crushed

PREPARATION:
Combine ketchup, soy sauce, brown sugar, sherry, ginger root, and garlic. Stir well.
Soak Chicken overnight, skew and BBQ the next day. It rocked and everyone wanted the recipe.

Look at that Face!

Just enjoying the warmth of the sun on a beautiful Day.

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Things I Can't Live Without My Kids My Husband My Family/Friends My Camera My Laptop Coffee TV Books Eye Liner A Toothbrush My Jeans My Car Gum

Wordless Wednesday - Someone Hearts Her Braids

I've Been Accepted

Hey check me out!!!

Thank you so much for your wonderful Mommy Moment Submission! The photo is just adorable!!! It has been approved for publication and will appear on the Mommy Moments page at My Mommy's Place beginning on March 1st.

Crazy Eights

CRAZY EIGHTS!

I stole this from Lindsay All are listed in no particular order

8 Things I'm Passionate About:
1. My Kids
2. My relationship with my husband
3. Being a good friend
4. My country
5. Family & Friends
6. My spiritual and emotional growth
7. Leaving a legacy for my children
8. Being the best me I can be

8 Things I Want to do Before I die:

1. Watch my kids grown up to be amazing adults
2. See grandchildren
3. Sell something I have created (book, art, pictures, etc)
4. Make a difference
5. Go on a vacation with my family
6. Get a degree
7. Own my own business
8. Get all my scrapbooks and photos in order

8 Things I Say Often:
1. I love you
2. NO! (to my kids)
3. Oh yeah?
4. Really?
5. Sweetie (to my kids)
6. Where is my camera?
7. My kids names
8. Hun (to my husband)

8 Books/Magazines I've Read Recently:
1. Slash
2. P.S. I Love You
3. Steve & Me
4. People
5. Parenting
6. Disciplining For The Ages
7. The Good Son
8. Parents

8 Songs I Could Listen to Over and Over:
1. Black by Pearl Jam
2. Edge of Seventeen by Stevie Nicks
3. Space Between by Dave Matthews
4. Boys of Summer by Don Henley
5. Crash by Dave Matthews
6. What's this Life For by Creed
7. One by Metallica
8. Anything Barry Manilow - I am a total Fanilow

8 Things That Attract Me to My Best Friends:
1. Honesty
2. Make me laugh
3. Make time for me
4. Strength within themselves to overcome obstacles life throws at them
5. Understanding (especially that everyone is different and we don't always have to agree)
6. Can talk about anything - communication is KEY in any relationship
7. Respect individuality
8. Enjoy life

Manic Monday - WANT

Who doesn’t want something? We all go through life wanting something but feel guilty if we want something for ourselves.

Watching Oprah’s Big Tonight where you are able to give to someone else who Wants something is exactly what I am talking about.

I was raised in a Catholic household were you were taught to give to others even if you had nothing. I remember my parents who couldn’t scrape 2 pennies together getting a bonus or their overtime check and buying for neighbors who were in dire straits. Sometimes I was so jealous watching them load up the bags to be delivered to the other homes. Candy, cookies, chips, soda, on top of the obvious food that you need for a family to survive. The reason I mention the cookies, candy and other things is because WE never had any of that stuff. Sugar cereal was also not something we had but these kids in the other house were going to get it! We got the boring, generic cereal without the colorful fun box let alone a possible toy inside.

I wanted what my parents were putting in their bags.

I understood what my parents were doing and took a lot of that charity work into my life while growing up. Working Covenant House hot lines, volunteering at the local hospital in the ER, working Hospice, and running my own little soup kitchen on my ride home through the subways when I worked in the city all after my regular work hours. I loved it and eventually will get back to it when my kids are more self sufficient and I have something to give.

Ok, getting back to where I started this post.

I want respect - Respect from my husband, respect from my kids, I want to know that what I say is heard. We all want to be friggin heard damnit.

I want more time to myself while still spending as much time with my kids. Make sense to anyone else?

I want more time to think about my well being. This means I want more time to think about my health; working out, dieting, sleeping (alone), walking in the fresh air, reading, taking a nice long bath without pounding on the door.

I want more money. Who doesn’t want this but damn I am not afraid to say it. I want to put a new roof on the house, get new siding, put new windows in, take up the rugs, refinish or install hard wood floors, get a new bed and put window treatments on all my windows. I want a new bathtub, and toilet. I want a bigger vehicle. I want to get rid of all my unmentionables and buy new ones. I want a new garage door so that it is safer and doesn’t make so much damn noise the million and one times my husband opens it every morning.

I want a new set of attic stairs so that my husband doesn’t have to struggle every single time he takes them down.

I want to put money into retirement funds for myself and my husband, and I want a substantial savings for my children so that they won’t have to spend the first 10 years of their life after school, paying loans before they can get on with their lives.

Number 1 on my list for obvious reasons, I want health insurance for me, my husband and my children.

I feel that most of these things are so material but this is me being honest! I could ask for my kitchen to be redone and and I would love a new bedroom set but those are at the bottom of my want/wish list.

There is nothing wrong with wanting things and it think I should stop beating myself up for wanting more, better, extra.

Life is short and we can dream all we want!