Monday, December 28, 2009

Another year has flown by!

It's time to say good bye to 2009 and move aside for 2010 because it's flying in a full speed! 2009 was a busy but quick year. We had our fair share of gains and losses, laughter and tears. We saw our girls grow, Lil Miss became a " Big Girl" and KB has become a little woman since she's entered the double digits age wise. We've lost loved ones and welcomed new souls into our lives. I turned 30 and it wasn't as horrible as i thought it would be. I started blogging again, even though I have 2 readers and am horrible at updating. Reconnected with a friend I had a falling out with, and it's like nothing ever happened. I gained new friends and co workers, finally had that garage sale, and my whole family including me, excluding my husband survived the swine flu.

I'm sure more has happened in 2009 but I'm just touching on high and low lights. I hope your year was full of blessings, laughter and love. May 2010 be just a generous!


Happy New Year!!

Friday, December 25, 2009

Merry Christmas!

From my family to yours, Merry Christmas!

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

T'was 2 nights before Christmas...

Things I have done today:

1. Started making Menudo ( for the first time ever).

2. Took Penn and Teller to the vet. Penn got his Rabies booster and Teller got neutered. Merry Christmas Teller.

3. Went to Target for last minute Shopping. Bought Mike and my father in law the perfect gifts.

4. Met my friend at the carwash to exchange gifts, it was behind Target so I didn't have to go far.

5. Went to HEB, or hell on earth for last minute groceries. I wont be going there again for awhile!

6. Made my husband homemade salsa in my magic bullet. He said it was delicious.

7. Made red sauce for the menudo in the magic bullet. I love that thing!

8. Ordered dinner from Jason's Deli and picked it up.

9. 2 Loads of laundry

10. Made homemade fudge with 4 different chocolates and walnuts. Yum!

11. Made my famous rum cake. I can't wait to have a slice.

12. Finished up Menudo, we'll have it for lunch tomorrow when the inlaws come over.

13. Went to Walgreens.

14. Gave Lil Miss a bath

15. Washed dishes.

16. Took trash to the dumpster in the dark and rain.

17. Made glaze for rum cake and drowned the delectable thing in it.

18. Checked facebook, I'm an addict.

19. Typed this.

20. I'm signing off, taking a shower and crawling my tired self to bed. Teller has to be picked up pretty early in the morning.


Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Monday, December 21, 2009

Much ado reviews the new line of Ouchies!



I was thrilled when Ouchies emailed me to ask if I wanted to review their new line of Little Miss and Mr. Men bandages. It was a easy decision to make, Yes Yes Yes!!

These are seriously the cutest bandage ever! So cute in fact, that I can't choose a favorite. Ouchies are great for kids and grown ups and the best part, is that they stick like no other! Soon after they arrived in the mail my kids were so excited to get a booboo. Unfortunately my kids aren't as clumsy as they need to be when I have a bandage review to do! It was I that eventually needed a bandage after cutting my finger. As a mom I have to cook, clean and do the washing around here. Usually when you have a bandage on your hand one or two washes with soap and water and it will slide right off. Not these babies, It stayed on all day, I love that!

Ouchies has designs for boys, girls and everyone! They have also redesigned the original Ouchies adding new bandage designs and revamped tins. To find a retailer near you, or to purchase Ouchies online, click here!

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Mission Possible

Last Monday at girl scouts a special visitor made a surprise appearance. Can you guess who that was? Yep, it was Santa Claus. I do have a point here. Lil Miss told Santa that she wanted a sparkly Michael Jackson glove. When I found that out I had asked a friend, " Where on Earth am I going to find a Michael Jackson glove this close to Christmas" to which Lil Miss said "No mommy, you don't have to find one, Santa will get it for me." Little does she know...

So I set out yesterday on a mission, a mission to get the materials needed to make my girl a sparkly Michael Jackson glove. First I headed to Hobby Lobby to find the perfect sparklies and the right way to attach them. I ended up with a bag if silver sequence and jewel to fabric glue. I would have bought rhinestones but they were too expensive.

Next I had to find white gloves. I knew I wouldn't find white dress gloves without spending a fortune so I headed to dollar stores to find white winter gloves. After 3 dollar stores I finally ended up at Walgreens and just as I was giving up, I found the white gloves I needed.

I'm going to make her glove tonight, if I can get the girls to sleep at a decent hour. I can't wait to see her face Christmas morning when she see's that Sparkly glove hanging out of her stocking! I promise to take pictures.

Friday, December 18, 2009

Picture pages

Do you remember Bill Cosby's Picture Pages? I used to love to watch it during my Saturday morning cartoons! Here is a picture of my KB and our dog Penn on 12/4/09. School was canceled due to snow so we took advantage of the photo opportunity!
Me and Lil Miss! She had so much fun playing that she didn't want to come inside!
This is this years Christmas card picture. I can't believe how big my girls are!
The laptop my husband surprised me with 2 weeks ago. I love it, but I love my husband more!
I'm so proud of this cake I made for my hardcore Twilighter KB. The cake is red velvet and I did all the writing freehand! Am I good or what? When she saw her cake, she said " It's just how I imagined it!". Awwwwww, she's adorable right?

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Just 1 more day!

It's that time of year again for the folks that work in the school district (me me me) to have our Christmas vacation. Two weeks of workless bliss. I am really looking forward to my little vacation.
We are just about ready for Christmas! Shopping, decorating, wrapping. All done! I can't believe that I'm so ahead of the game this year. Usually I'm scrambling up until the last minute finding the right things for the kids, my husband hates it! I'm really proud of myself! The kids are ready for the holiday too! Today they had their class holiday parties, and tomorrow is their annual Polar Express day. The kids wear their pajamas to school and watch the Polar Express, the the librarian gives each student a copy of the book. My girls love it and look forward to Polar Express day. My husband is actually looking forward to next week, which is weird because he's usually so "Bah Humbug"! He's taking Wednesday through Tuesday off so I'm glad he'll be able to spend some time with me and the girls while we're on vacation.


The past few weeks have been a blur. Work and school have been keeping us very busy. I may be tired when I come home, but in these times, I'm thankful my husband and I both have steady jobs. The girls are finished with Girl Scouts for the year and come January they'll go full throttle selling cookies.( If anyone wants to buy some, just let me know :)


I must apologize to my 3 readers. I have been a terrible blogger lately and I promise to be better! I have 2 reviews to type up and lots of new pictures to post. Bear with me as I finish out a very busy work month. One more day!!!!

Saturday, November 28, 2009

In these tough times...




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Bittersweet doesn't even come close.

Whew, what a week. With 2 Thanksgiving dinners and my daughter turning 10 tomorrow it has been busy to say the least.

Wednesday we did our "family" Thanksgiving at my mother in laws house. I was in charge of all the deserts and made blueberry crumble, peach crumble, banana pudding and a lemon pie. My mother in law did the rest of the cooking and everything was yummy. I enjoyed the company of my husbands 2 younger sisters, my brother in law and his wife and the numerous nieces and nephews running around. I especially enjoyed seeing Mo and Po my husbands grandparents. They're wonderful people.

Thursday I got up and started my cooking. Our menu was as follows: Turkey stuffed with onions and garlic, herb stuffing, giblet gravy, sauteed fresh green beans and carrots, mashed potatoes, rolls, and broccoli rice casserole. For dessert I made a fruit salad with macapuno, pumpkin pie and a friend brought irony cookies. Inside joke, sorry. SHe brought homemade white chocolate macadamia nut cookies. I did 99% of the cooking and enjoyed all of it. My husband invited his friend and his family over, and another friend who has no family here to join us. It was nice and quiet. THe food was delicious and the company was good.

Friday morning I headed out around 11am to get a few things. Target had really nice crock pots for $19.00 and easy bake ovens for $16.99 so I had to get one of each. Then Hastings had $8.99 bluray's. Wal mart had the whole Miley Cyrus collection on sale and with KB's bday Sunday I had to get a few things for her. I also picked up some great movies. Some were $2, others $3.99 and one was $10. I'd hate to say what I bought since KB reads this and she'd def spill the beans.

So now my vacation is ending and it's back to work Monday. This vacation was such a tease. Really, it was. Tomorrow is KB's 10th birthday and it really makes me sad. Sad that my baby girl is really growing up, she's in the double digits now and before Iknow it, she won't want to spend time with me like my little one does. It's all downhill from here. Not really but 10, come on! I wish I could freeze time for a little bit and not have my daughter grow so fast.

Ok now that my rant is over, I did allow her to have a slumber party tonight. Hana and My neice Sam are here and they girls are having a blast. I can her Miley Cyrus "Party in the USA" blaring from my iPod so that's a good sign. I'll have to send them to bed soon becasue we have a date to see NEw Moon at 11am. My girls are so excited to see it. Tomorrow evening we're having a small get together here with Pizza and Cake. It should be a good time.

I hope everyone had a wondeful holiday, Christmas is just around the corner!

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Feeling hot, hot, hot!

New Moon was awesome! I knew going into it that it would be different from the book as all books to movies are, so imminent disappointment aside, I loved it. If you haven't read any of the Twilight saga, give the books a chance before you hate on the " Twilighters" out there. If you can get through the first wanting more, then you'll love the other 3 in the series. They just keep getting better.

Have a wonderful Sunday. I'm off to Thanksgiving shop and afterwords I'll be tackling the mountain of laundry in the hall.

Saturday, November 21, 2009

So sue me!

I am so happy right now! Today starts my Thanksgiving vacation, I can seriously hear the bells I'm so happy. Vacations with pay are one of the few perks of working for the school district. These are the times when I love my job, because just when I need the break from the monotony of my everyday work life, the holidays give it to me.

Tonight I'm finally going to see New Moon!!! Yes, I am a Twilight fan, and yes, I have read all of the books. I've read them ONCE and have watched Twilight a few times. In the first book I was reminded of what falling in love feels like. The author is so descriptive that reading the book actually made me feel butterflies when the characters did. And when Edward finally kisses Bella in Twilight, It was ABOUT DAMN TIME! The second book broke my heart when Edward left Bella to keep her safe, and I was pissed. But then Jacob Blacks character comes in and like Bella, the absence of Edward wasn't as unbearable as before. The books keep getting better, but I won't bore you with my love for Twilight anymore.


Thanksgiving is just around the corner and I'm almost ready for it. I just need a few groceries like fresh veggies and rolls, pie ingredients, and cool whip and I think I'm set. We are having a Dinner with my In laws on Wednesday where I'm cooking the turkey and desserts. I'm still not sure what desserts I'm making for them but pumpkin pie is definitely on the list. Thursday I'm cooking a small lunch for us. Turkey, stuffing, giblet gravy, sauteed green beans and carrots, rolls, pies, rum cake. I love cooking thanksgiving dinner for my family, and my husband says that my turkey is AWESOME. That always makes me feel good.


The kids are off all week with me so I have a few things planned. Cleaning house and catching up on laundry is numero uno! THen KB is turning 10 on the 29th so she wants to see New Moon and have a slumber party. Money is tight, so I bought the kids Christmas crafts at the dollartree and I plan on decorating the before I go back to work on the 30th. Right now theres a heavy TV where my Christmas tree usually stands so my husband will have to move it before the tree can go up. Here's hoping that gets done. I did want to do some black Friday shopping but honestly, I don't think I'm in the mood for it this year. The deals on clothes and movies are great, but the crowds are a real turn off.


I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Miss me?

I can't even remember the last time I posted a blog entry! Pathetic I know. So much has been going on though, so surely the 3 people that might be reading will forgive me... right?

The last few weeks have been a real pain with deadlines and work drama. Add my other full time job as wife and mother and I'm surprised I haven't packed my bags and pulled an Ashley Judd in that movie " Divine secrets of the YaYa sisterhood". I could never do that, but that doesn't mean I don't dream of peace and quiet.

Work has been more dramatic than it's worth. In a nutshell, I am a salary employee who is now being forced to clock in and out everyday, because "someone" spent a lot of money on this clock system and wants to see it utilized. Usually I'd be ok and say fine, I'll work my 40 hours and skrew you if you need me to stay late, I don't work for free. But... I'm not given the opportunity to earn comp time. Which translates to if I have to leave to pick up a sick child, or if another emergency arises to where I have to be off campus I now have to clock out and make up that time or lose my leave time. It sucks. I would be less upset if everyone at my school had to clock in, but it's just the office staff and the 3 aides totalling 5 of 65 people on campus that have to clock in and out. It's stupid, stupid, stupid.

But enough of that, I'm trying to enjoy my weekend! I signed both of my girls up for Girl Scouts and they are loving it! KB attended her very first camp in last Friday and had a blast!!! They made smores, sang songs, played hide and seek and wore their troop leaders out! All the things I remember doing in girls scouts! Lil Miss is really enjoying Brownies! HEr troop leaders are so awesome, and are great with the 20 brownies they have every Monday! They even recruited KB as a helper and it really boosts her self esteem having 20 little girls looking up to her and turning to her for help. I love seeing her light up and I love the pride Lil Miss shows when she tells the other girls that KB is HER big sister. I'm so happy I signed my girls up. I think it is so important to have an outlet other than school.

Halloween was a fun night. Lil Miss was Wonder Woman and KB was a Punk Witch. Both of the girls looked great. KB has a school friend originally from Japan who has never trick or treated or even celebrated Halloween before so we did the American thing and invited her and her family to join us for pumpkin carving and trick or treating. Hana already had a Ninja costume and we gave little sister Momo an old Lil Miss costume to wear. She ended up picking LM's Mulan costume and she looked adorable. Pumpkin carving was new to them, but mom Tomoko really enjoyed it. Her husband took great pictures of her first Jack o Lantern. We headed out to trick or treat at around 6:30pm and little Momo was so cute running to the door saying " Trick or treat trick or treat me too me too me too!". She kills me she's so cute. I'll post some pictures as soon as I get them off my phone and on my computer.

Report cards have already come out and LM got Straight A's! I was so proud of her. KB got A's and B's and 1 C. I realize 4th grade is hard, so I'm just encouraging her to keep up the hard work and always try her best.

Lastly is anyone else as excited for New Moon as I am? I already have a date with my friend Janine since my husband refuses to subject himself to a crowd of Twilight fanatics and sparkling Vampires. I can't say I blame him, I'm one of those Twilight fanatics. Just 12 more days, I can't wait!

I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend, I'm going to head to bed. Hana is spending the night and I know I am going to have 3 hungry girls knocking on my bedroom door at first light!

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Domo Arigato!

Whew! What a week it has been. Between kids, my husband, my mother, work, school and girl scouts, this week has been a chart topper. Not bad, just busy. This week at school we had 3 events that spanned 4 days. Magnet Show-Offs on Tue and Wed, then Fall Production on Thurs and Fri along with dance marathon Fri as well. For those of you that don't work at a busy performing arts elementary school, that equals parents coming to the school by the masses! Parents that have to come to the office to sign in first, and always want to take their kids home after they watch the show. This also means that we in the office, don't get anything done because we're on crowd control. Luckily, even with shows galore, I was able to meet a huge deadline ahead of schedule. Unluckily, as soon as I closed the door on that deadline, another one came a knockin. October is a very busy month for the school district so don't be surprised if I don't post again until November. I will probably be sick of typing and looking at a computer screen.


Last night after dinner I decided to go to my favorite getaway, Target. I LOVE Target! The dollar bins and clearance racks delight me to no end. I spent over 2 hours, by myself just looking at everything. I'm such a bargain shopper and get excited every time a see a red reduced price tag. I found so many great deals and got some great holiday ideas for the girls.


This morning I headed out early to mail a package, but the post office was closed. Is it just me or does anyone else remember a time when the post office was open until Noon on Saturday's? Sine that plan was thwarted I headed to hell, I mean wal-mart for groceries. I was able to find a few items on sale, but not many. Damn economy, seriously! I would hate to go several different places for groceries, but I think I'm going to have to. Lowe's has the best meat prices, where Wal-mart has the best prices on fresh fruits and vegetables, and HEB has some insane combos where you buy one item and get 8 other items for free. I could give that a shot, and maybe expand our menus in the process.


This afternoon KB's friend came over. She's a very sweet little girl. Her mom is japanese and her father is malaysian. We enjoy our friendship with this family so we were all looking forward to her visit. THe girls made brownies while I started a pot of beef stew. The girls played barbies, ate popcorn and watched TV. After dinner I let them each have a brownie for dessert. H has never had beef stew before and she loved it so much she had 2 bowls!


Tonight will be quiet.... I hope. I also hope everyone enjoys what is left of the weekend. Sayonara!

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

A random act of kindness and an update.

My co worker and I have been planning a random act of kindness for about a week now. We decided to buy lunch for one of our less fortunate students, who also happens to have health problems. The child decided that he wanted chicken strips, and we were happy to get him some. I went to pick up his lunch at Bush's Chicken and the manager happened to be the person taking my order. When I told him I was buying lunch for a child at my school he just smiled and told me how nice he thought that was. I thanked him and drove on up to the window to pay and get the food. The manager totally outdid our random act of kindness and gave me the boys lunch plus lunch for the office staff, a gallon of tea and free meal coupons, all for FREE. I asked if I could at least pay for the child's meal but he wouldn't hear of it. He said we inspired him, and how touched he was to hear of us caring for a child enough to make sure he has a good meal. He continued to tell me how much teachers and school staff are under-appreciated and he wanted to show his appreciation. I was truly humbled. My co worker and I didn't think anything special about buying this baby lunch, but were touched to know that we inspired another person to commit a RAK. Giving is contagious, and I hope that in some small way I can encourage others to give selflessly.


And now an update. KB unfortunately did have the flu and spent a week out of school per doctors orders. a couple days after her diagnosis my mom came down with it making the flu toll count 4. Luckily my husband never caught the flu, and I hope it stays that way.


This week the girls are both back in school together, and life is almost back to normal. Yesterday Lil Miss's Brownie Troop met at the fire station in honor of Fire Prevention Month. She was able to Get in the driver seat of the fire truck and test out the thermal camera. She had a blast! Her troop leader took some pictures and plans on sending them into the newspaper. I hope she does, how fun for Lil Miss! KB had girl scouts tonight and her troop is planning a camp in for Oct 30th. She's excited to go, but as a over protective mom, I'm not sure yet if I'll let her go. Is that bad of me? I don't even know her troop leaders last name, so leaving her in her possession overnight scares me. We'll see, it's still a couple weeks away.


I guess that's it for now. I hope everyone is having a great week and enjoying the beginning of Fall. Please remember Fire Prevention Month by talking to your kids about fire safety, what to do in the event of a fire, and escape routes like doors and windows. Also, it's good to let your children know that firemen are there to help. Did you know that 80% of kids that die in fires, die because they hide from the fireman trying to save them? It's sad but true. Also October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. I'm proud to say my Mother in Law is a breast cancer survivor and I will do what I can to support the cause. Click the "My blog cares" Button to the right to get the button for your blog. For every button placed on a blog, Diets in Review.com will donate $5.00 to breast cancer research. It's worth the copy and paste!

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Pass the Lysol please!

I know that bad things usually come in 3's but this is ridiculous! Last Friday Lil Miss was diagnosed with the Flu, followed with me on Tuesday. She went back to school Wednesday and I spent the rest of the week forbidden to go to work and laid up in bed.

Finally today I woke up fever free and mildly achy as opposed to super achy all week. I thought to myself " Cool, now I can enjoy my weekend with my family out of bed." Today we went to the mall to have lunch at Fuddruckers, then to Target to pick up an FM transmitter for my hubby's iPhone. We came home and took a catnap. I'm still not 100% where my energy levels are concerned. At around 7 I picked up pizza, planning to play games with them tonight. When I came home from Little Cesars KB was in the bathroom complaining of stomach pain. She seemed ok after using the rest room and ate pizza and crazy bread... which she just finished throwing up moments ago.

See in 3's I tell you. Luckily no fever or body aches so I don't think it's the flu. It's probably just a tummy bug and I'm crossing ever apendage I have in hopes that the geyser also known as KB doesn't blow again tonight.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Get Popping!


Ugh, Today I was diagnosed with the flu and I'm being treated as if I have the H1N1 flu virus. I feel like I have been hit by a big rig, but life must go on. Don't you know Mom isn't aloud to get sick? Luckily Maia is back to her ornery self and has been fever free for 24 hours! I'm happy she can go back to school tomorrow and I can finally get some rest. I've been ordered to stay home until Monday which means I'm missing a whole week of work! I am trying so har to NOT think of the catch up I'll be playing when I go back on Monday. Think happy thoughts Melissa, happy happy happy.


Although I'm sick I still want to participate in the first ever National Family Game Night! I blogged about it a couple of weeks ago and tomorrow is the day. Break out your favorite board games, pop some popcorn and settle in for family fun. I probably wont go too crazy with the kids, but a game of Spongebob SORRY and Crazy Old Fish War must be played.


If you and yours participate in NFGN I'd love to hear about it and see pictures. You can email them to me at MissyPissy98@gmail.com.

I'm going to take my flu meds and hit the sack. I'm praying for a good nights sleep with little to no interruptions. One can dream right?

Monday, September 21, 2009

Ugh! Stupid Internet connection, I loathe you at this moment as I type this post on my iPhone!

Today I am home from work because lil miss has the flu! We spent the better part of our Friday night at the pediatric after hours clinic. I initially thought she might have appendicitis because of her high fever and right side tummy pain. Luckily after throwing up several times the tummy pain went away. The poor Dr was so puzzled by my girl that he finally decided to swab her for flu, she tested positive. Since she has asthma and was vomiting the dr said she was at high risk for flu complications and prescribed Tamiflu right away. He also ordered 5 day house arrest and no contact with Grandma.

I'm happy to report she is on the mend. Still not fever free, but no vomiting or wheezing since Friday night.

On another note, our pediatrician up and moved without letting us know! She has treated both of my girls since they were babies. I don't know where she went, but I wish she would have reccommended a new pediatrician, at least!

Monday, September 14, 2009

Family Reunion pictures

The ride to Rankin was pretty dull and educational. I learned that there are NO pumpjack shortages in West Texas.
My adorable nephews J and X. Check out the spiffy t-shirts!
My MIL Gloria with my sister in law's two youngest kids Kristen and Derek, and Lil Miss. Yes, Baby D's shirt is on backwards.
My lil Miss taking a whack at SpongeBob!
Lil Miss with her cousins Aliza and X.
The two oldest grandkids, My KB and My neice Sam.
The water slide was a huge hit with the kids.
Our family picture, minus my husband and his youngest brother.
The long, ride home. Even though there wasn't much to see, I enjoyed looking out the window finding beauty in our little corner of Texas.

Monday, September 7, 2009

Reunited and it feels so good!

I hope everyone is having a great 3 day weekend. I wish I was thoroughly enjoying mine, but sadly I've been infected by some sort of sore throat, runny nose, slight fever bug. I've been keeping it at bay with mass amounts of over the counter drugs, because I cannot afford to miss work. I'm actually feeling much better than I did on Friday and Saturday so things are looking up.

Saturday we headed out of town for the Armendarez family reunion. The Armendarez side of the family is actually my husband's, stepfather's family. For being a "step" parent, my father in law is pretty great. He loves my husband and his brother and sister as if they were his, and treats all of our kids just like a grandpa should. My girls are very lucky to have him for thier PoPo. We knew having all of us at the reunion meant a lot to him so we loaded up the car and headed out of town to Rankin, TX. There was food, games, and lots of new family to meet. The men played washers while the women and children played bingo. They also had a huge blow up water slide for the kids to play on, and 2 pinatas for the kids to destroy. I took tons of pictures which I'll upload in another post after I finish editing them. We all had a blast and it was nice spending time with my inlaws. We don't get together enough these days!


When we came home from Rankin Saturday night I crashed out immediately! Thank God for my husband and Mom. They were such a big help with the kids while I got some much needed rest. I woke up around midnight to eat something, and fell back asleep.

Sunday was pretty uneventful. I went shopping with mom and the girls, at wal mart. (I loathe wal mart, especially when I have the kids with me. I wish target had groceries, that way I'd never have to step foot in Wal mart again. ) My husband headed out with his friends for their Sunday ritual, while I cleaned house. Mom cooked a yummy dinner of roasted garlic pork chops, salad, and baked potato caserole! It was really good, and even better becasue I didn't have to cook it. The kids went down easy for bed, and I cuddled with my husband on the couch watching a Lisa Lampinelli comedy special. I love hearing my husband laugh.


And today, despite feeling like crap, we had friends come over for burgers and homemade apple pie. I got out of bed around 10 and immediately fed the kids breakfast and started on grandma's pie. (It turned out amazing!) Our friends showed up around 2pm with their chubby baby girl Elizabeth. I haven't seen her since July so it was fun seeing how she's changed. We ate, watched netflix and just enjoyed eachothers company.


Tomorrow it's back to work and school. I have training first thing in the morning, and I'm praying that the kids do not give me a hard time getting up in the morning. I hope that everyone reading has enjoyed thier weekend. Despite not feeling good, it really has been a good weekend. Typing this up has helped me realize that. I hope the week goes by fast!

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Are you ready for National Family Game Night?

Be sure to mark your calendar for Wednesday, September 23, so you can be a part of the first-ever National Family Game Night! On this day, Hasbro is encouraging families across America to spend an evening at home playing games together to reconnect and re-energize relationships.

A few weeks ago Hasbro was nice enough to send us a few of their new games to enjoy. SpongeBob SORRY!, Scrabble SLAM, and Crazy Old Fish War. With National Family Game Night just a couple weeks away I thought this the perfect time to post my review.


SpongeBob SORRY is a riot! It still has the competitive aspects of traditional SORRY and somuch more. Each card has new rules, for instance the 12 will tell you to move your lead pawn directly home. It's great. You can choose from 4 characters. Squidworth, SpongeBob, Patrick or Mr. Crab and their home on the game board is just like their home on the television show. My girls had a blast looking for all of the characters. I think your kids will too! If you give SpongeBob SORRY a chance, you won't be SORRY.





Scrabble SLAM to me was like the card game SPEED. Everyone agrees on a 4 letter word and just slams down one card at a time to change the word to another 4 letter word. I thought it might be hard for my 6 yr old, but she surprised me. Both kids had to think and really use thier spelling skills to play. Lil Miss was pulling out words like KIND, and SUCH. I was very impressed. KB pulled off some doozies too with TRIM, SLUM, and PINT. I enjoyed this game because while having fun with my kids, they were using thier minds and learning. I highly reccomend Scrabble SLAM. I'm sure it could be fun for adults with the unlimited 4 letter options, but this is a family blog for crying out loud ;)






Crazy Old Fish War was by far our favorite. Hasbro took 4 great card games and sandwiched them together to create this wonderful game. You have fish cards, mermaids and wild cards. The fish cards are colored and numbered. This is where crazy eights comes in. You have to play a card that matches the previously played card and if you do not have that color and fish, you can either play the same number to change the suit or throw down a wild Octopus 8. If you can't do either you may draw, or go fish by asking another player if they have a certain card. (Are you confused yet?) When you are down to your last card you have to yell out the name of any fish to let the other players you only have one card left. During play you may also use a Old Mermaid but be careful. Using this card means you can change the color, but you then have to draw 5 cards. Hardly seems fair! At any time a player can declare WAR with another player. When WAR is declared each player must throw down a card, and the highest number wins. THe winner puts thier card in the play pile and the loser returns thier card back to their hand and has to draw another card. If there is a tie, keep throwing down cards one by one until someone wins. If you have an Old Mermaid, it plays like an Ace in WAR and automatically wins the war. I know it probably sounds so confusing, but like I said, this is the favorite of my girls. My kids are 6 and 9 and both had no problem getting the hang of it. It's truly a fun game and my kids ask to play it all the time.

All three games are available at your Wal Mart, Target, Toys R Us, and online at Hasbro.com.

A huge thanks to Hasbro for sending us these wonderful games to play. Family game night is a fun activity my kids enjoy. They learn to lose without tears and win without gloating.

So save the date for the first every National Family Game Night. Dig out your favorite games ( or purchase some of the above), pop some popcorn and settle in for a night of family fun.

If you do join in on NFGN, I'd love to see pictures and hear all about it!

Third times a charm... I hope!




For starters, I have been trying to publish a new post for the past few days and my internet has been a real pain in the you know what! Thank goodness I have an iPhone, otherwise I would have been going through major FaceBook withdrawals. I really hope this post gets published!


I have been back to work for a few weeks now and although it has been crazy busy, I enjoy being back among my co workers. The kids started back last Monday August 24th and so far both of the girls love their teachers. KB has a male teacher this year and she thinks he's really funny. Lil Miss has this adorable teacher who is adorably short, but don't let her height fool you, she's a tough cookie and perfect for my Lil Miss! The pictures above are from the first day of school, the kids were up at 4:30 am! Yes, insanely early, but I know it was just first day excitement. All I had to do was fix Lil Miss's hair! My big girls did the rest.


Friday I turned 30. Work had me so busy I seriously came out of nowhere this year. The excitement really wasn't there but my wonderful husband fixed that when he took me shopping for my birthday present. A new flat screen and dvd player for the our bedroom with a 20th Anniversary collector's edition of the Princess Bride on DVD. What can I say, I love my man.
When I got to work Friday my desk was decorated with Happy 18th Birthday signs that I LOVED! I work with 65 other people and have nearly 600 kids at school who all took the time to wish me a Happy Birthday. My coworkers bought me lunch and just before noon and beautiful bouquet of flowers was delivered courtesy of my bosses and the Secretary.

Sadly on my birthday I ran over a screw and got a flat tire so my husband and the kids picked me up from work. Mom cooked dinner that night and afterwords Mike took me on date to the movies. We watched Halloween 2 ,(Not my choice but I rolled with it) it was gross, scary and the perfect reason to bury my face in my husbands chest. All in all it was a great birthday.

I hope everyone is having a great Wednesday, I'm beat and have a hot Ghost Hunters date with my husband tonight. Night!

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Peek a Boo!

Anybody miss me yet? I'm working on a post that will update the socks off of my readers. Look back for it tomorrow :)


Until then, good night!

Monday, August 17, 2009

Just another...

Manic Monday, Ohh ohh. You know the words, sing along!

Work has been insane. Do you know how much work goes into a new school year? Unfortunately I do. Preparing for registration, having registration, endless data entry, endless phone calls, staff development and giving the teachers class lists that are always subject to change. There's more, but after today that's all I can remember at the moment. Maybe my husband will give me a back rub. I can wish right?

The kids start school Monday so it's back to our school schedule. In bed at 8pm, no deviating. Even though my kids are almost 4 yrs apart, they have the same bed time. KB is really hard to get up in the morning, and Lil Miss is a breeze and eerily perky. You can imagine how our mornings play out. Me getting ready for work, waking up 2 kids and getting them ready for school, hunting down last minute papers, grabbing lunchboxes, and whatever else we might need that day and heading out the door by 7:15. I drive the kids to their school, and then head to my school. I'm tired before 8am. But that's just the first week of school. Once we get back into the groove of things, mornings are a breeze.

I still have to type up my reviews for Hasbro! I promise to get it done before the weekend. I'm so excited about "Crazy Old Fish War". It's really a lot of fun. Lil Miss is the best card game partner.

Sadly, I have nothing else to offer at the moment. I hope everyone has a great week! Good night, and good riddance Manic Monday!

Friday, August 14, 2009

Say what?

Remember when I had to work registration on the 4th and 5th? I was sure that my official start date was the 10th of August. When I went to school to work registration the secretary said " No you come back on the 14th. She assured me she was right and I just thought, "Cool, a few more days off!" All that went to crap when I was cleaning house Wednesday and the secretary called me to inform me I was to report on the 11th... Hello, it was the 12th! I had already missed a day and a half of work!!! I dropped my mop and headed to work, where luckily my principal just laughed at me and reminded me I need to read my contract better next time. I was closer to right about my return date than the secretary. Next school year I will listen to no one and tattoo my return date on the palm of my hand. I am not a repeat offender.


So yes, I have been at work since Wednesday and I'm already tired. The few days before school begins is always hectic for office staff. I feel like a chicken with my head cut off I had 50 things going on all at once. I barely found time to catch my breath! I'm so glad it's the weekend!


Yesterday while at work I a huge package arrived from my Emmy on Guam. I knew the kids were dying to see what was inside, and honestly so was I. I hurried home after work so we could tear into it. Can I just say OMG, I seriously have The Best BFF ever. Each of the girls received 2 backpacks and a lunchbox. Maia's backpacks are super cool Hello Kitty and Micaylah's are very rockstar with starts and pink and black plaid. Both girls were in heaven. They were also spoiled with stationary sets, wallets, diaries, pencils, picture frames, candy, and clothes! Auntie Emmy and Uncle David outdid themselves! My birthday presents are awesome too, a brand new pair of Scott flip flops, a Fokai t-shirt and Fokai decals for my car, 6 shiny new Guam quarters, Candy and my 2 favorite snacks Meiji chips and asparagus crackers. Seriously like 80 bags of meiji chips and 80 bags of asparagus biscuits. I'm in snack heaven right now!


Tomorrow my cousin Lorraine is getting married so we all have to get up early and get ready. I went tonight and got Maia and I new dresses. I must say I love my dress. I'll post pics after I get all dolled up. I better run, I have toenails to paint, and hair to curl. Have a great weekend everyone!

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

What are you putting in your dogs' dish?

I've recently asked myself this same question. I think of my dogs as spoiled and loved and definitely not picky eaters. They will eat whatever is placed in front of them whether it be dog food or a piece of chicken left over from dinner. When it comes to commercial dog food, I thought beneful would be the best choice for our boys, and they love it. When they were puppies they would get a scoop of dry food in the morning, and then at dinner they would get the beneful meals mixed in with their dry food. Now that they are older they get fed once a day, but trust me they are not starving.

Looking at their beneful prepared meals I thought, why am I spending $1.57 to $2.00 per container when I could probably make this myself? Rice, veggies, and meat is all it takes, so why don't I make my dogs food?

So I started doing some research and didn't like what I found. I wont go into the gory details of commercial dog food, or what allegedly goes into it. I'm not about bashing a product that has yet to harm my dogs in the year they've been eating it. What I've decided as a pet owner is that, making homemade dog food is cheaper and healthier for my pets. Dogs need fiber, protein, grains, and veggies. All of which I have in my house, so this week I've been experimenting, and my dogs are not complaining.

Monday I cooked up several tilapia fillets in a little butter, and added a small cup of corn to the fish. Penn and Teller loved it! It's good for them and it was so easy since it's a one pan dish. The bag of fish was $3.00 at wal mart and the corn was 28 cents. I made my dogs roughly 5 days worth of food for under $3.50!

So here are some tips I picked up from my research.

Foods to avoid: Onions, Chocolate, Garlic, Rasins, Grapes, citrus, bones, macadamia nuts, and the leaves from tomato, potato and rhubarb, fruit pits, and persimmons. I'm sure I missed a few but you can find a more detailed list here.

Dogs may love liver, but too much isn't good for them. Too much can cause vitamin a toxicity and harm their muscles.

Foods you can use: Meat, poultry, grains, legumes, veggies and fruits.

Instead of high fat dog treats, try giving your dog a peanut or a small piece of meat. Your dog will be happy and won't end up your chunky buddy.

Check with your local grocery store Butcher. They can usually sell you meat trimmings for a very low price or even prime cuts of meat taken out of the cooler because they're close to expiring. They will still be ok for your pet.

Ziplock bags are your friend! Get the snack size and portion your homemade dog food that way. Put them in the freezer to store and put in the microwave to thaw.


I love my dogs! They really are a part of our family and I want them healthy so they'll be with us for a long time. I'll keep you posted when I try different dogfood recipies. If you would like to research homemade dog food or find recipies for your pets click here.

Monday, August 10, 2009

You spin me right round, baby right round!

Whew, what a weekend!

Friday morning I woke up bright an early, brewed a pot of coffee and as I sat down to enjoy my first cup my best friend Emmy called. She's on the other side of the world and it was almost midnight so I knew it wasn't to chat about anything good. Unfortunately her mother in law had passed away suddenly in her sleep that afternoon. My poor BF, my heart broke for her and her family. It broke for Adelaide who is too little to remember her Granny. But lucky for Ade, Emmy and David will be able to remind her with photos and stories of how much she loved her first grandbaby. I know this passing is hard for Em and her family, and how I wish I was on a plane to be by her side. It isn't possible, but Em knows my heart and prayers are with her always.

Later that morning we headed to the beauty salon for makeovers! I already posted pics Friday so you know how that went. We had a blast and Zorina has magic hands, seriously! If you're in the Midland/Odessa area and are looking for a hair dresser, she is awesome!

We came home to drop off Mom and meet my husband for a late lunch. Afterwords we headed out to go school shopping. I cringe at school shopping. The kids argue with me about clothes and supplies. Especially KB, so this year I decided to let her pick all o her clothes and shoes out herself. She had a blast going through Target picking out what she wanted. Each of the kids got 4 outfits at Target and all of their supplies and I only spent $120.00! Woo hoo! Then we headed to Ross where the girls picked out a lot of really cute tops and jeans. I grabbed a few things for myself as well. Lil Miss found a pair of shoes she just had to have and KB found the ugliest Fergalicious hightop shoes. They're in right now, and she wanted them so who am I to say no to my 9 yr old finding herself? 8 shirts, 1 Jacket, 2 pr of jeans, and 2 pr of shoes $108.00. I love Ross!

Saturday Mike took us to lunch at Fuddruckers and we walked around the mall for a bit afterwords. I took the girls to payless and they each found another pair of shoes, both on clearance! Then we went to Claire's to look for earings and other accessories. They were having a great sale so each girl picked a set of earings and sunglasses. A girl has to accessorize! Then we went back to Target to get the underwear we didn't buy the day before. 2 packs of chonies and a pack of socks for both KB and Lil Miss. THen I had the sad experience of buying my KB her first real bras. She's been in a sports bra for the last year, but she really needed a big girl bra :( She picked out 2 really cute ones and even got one that came with clear straps for her spaghetti strapped tops.

I love to shop, but I was so drained by Saturday night I didn't want to hear another cash register! Sunday morning my husband asked if we wanted to go to brunch and who am I to turn down food I didn't have to cook? We ended up at Golden Corral for some good food and the company of his friend Edward. We had a great time, followed by a trip to Hastings and then home. I cleaned house and played numerous games of "Crazy Old Fish War" and "Spongebob Sorry" with Lil Miss. It was a good Sunday.

Today I have a lunchdate with an old coworker. She's a great lady and I haven't seen her all summer so I'm looking forward to it. Have a great Monday everybody!

Friday, August 7, 2009

Makeovers all around!


KB Before




KB After



Before

After

We love our new haircuts! Especially KB! We told her that it was her hair and she could do whatever she wanted. She gave specific directions to Zorina and got exactly what she wanted. I on the other hand just told Zorina how much length I wanted gone, and pretty much gave her free reign on the layers. My head feels so much lighter and my hair is much healthier. My hair is naturally curly, but I prefer it straight and my 350 degree CHI damages my hair with long term use. But I love it because it gets me from curly to straight in about 10 minutes.

Thursday, August 6, 2009

How do you like me now?

I have to send out a huge thank you to my amazing friend Supermom. She was so thoughtful and sweet to take the time to redesign Much Ado. I love the new look and my header is awesome!

Thank you Supermom for everything. Your support and kindness mean so much!

Www.theadventuresofsupermom.com

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Sleep much?


For those of you that don't know I work for the school district as the building clerk for the performing arts magnet elementary school. It's a mouthful, but truly I love my job. It's the perfect job for a mom. I have all the same days off as my kids including summer vacation, I work for 10 months and get paid for 12. I'm home every night and weekend, and get to work with great people. Seriously, what could be better for a mom who needs a job during these tough times?

Yesterday and today we had district wide registration which meant I had to work from 7am to 6pm. Which in school hours means before 7 and after 6. Tuesday was busy! Hundreds of kids and their parents coming to register. It's amazing how kids grow in just 2 months! Today was slow, and not so hectic but i was able to get all of the new kids in the computer system and update tons of student records giving me a huge headstart. I love getting ahead.

I'm so thankful that today was more laid back. Little Miss was up at 4am crying that her tummy hurt. I got up with her several times until I finally just had to get up at 6am. Poor Kaylah Bug was woken up by her crying sister too. Then of course after Little Miss had the whole house awake, she fell back asleep. KB has been on antibiotics for the last 2 days for a virus and isn't feeling 100% yet. Needless to say, I'm exhausted and after spending 11 hours a day at a computer, my butt is tired too. I think I'm going to crash after my Wednesday date with Mike to watch Ghost Hunters International.

UPS brought us a great package from Hasbro Games today. I knew they were sending me their new card game Scrabble Slam, but they surprised me with Spongebob Sorry! and another new card game Crazy Old Fish War. Crazy old fish war looks like a blast and I plan to try these games out with the family this weekend. I will let you all know how we like them, I'm so excited to scrabble slam!

Monday, August 3, 2009

Say in isn't so!

Is today really and truly my LAST day of summer vacation? Sadly it is. I've really enjoyed being a stay at home mom again. In a lot of ways I'm ready to go back to work, but not ready to leave my girls when they still have 3 weeks of vacation left. I'm sure my husband is ready for me to go back to work. It was killing him that I was home and still getting paid while he had to work.


Friday and Saturday I had my garage sale. I did pretty good considering I didn't sell my couch like I was hoping to. I got rid of a lot of the kids clothes and shoes and some of the adult clothes. I really thought more of that stuff would go. I guess it's pack it up and take it to goodwill time. I really don't want to hold on to that stuff for another garage sale. The rain stayed away too which was nice.


Tomorrow is registration for school. Every year we have to register our kids. It gets tiring, but ensures that the most current information is on file. It's just a headache for me because I do ALL of the data entry for the school. I'm not so new at it with this being my second year with the district, so I'm hoping it goes much faster this time around. I also have to register my kids so that means digging out birth certificates and shot records, social security cards and a current utility bill. Taking those to the kids school and then filling out a huge packet of paperwork for each kid. Sheesh, I'm tired just typing that out.


I plan to keep up with Much ado, and not let it sleep between the cracks of work and homelife. My posts might be fewer, but definitely juicier since I'll have more things to write about.

Enjoy your Monday, I will be hoping that it goes by very slowly!

Thursday, July 30, 2009

It doesn't pay to procrastinate!

Obviously!

Yesterday morning I woke up to to a wet Odessa. Usually I LOVE the rain and look forward to it, heck, I hope for it! But not right now when I'm planning a garage sale this weekend. Yesterday ended up staying dry. The sun was shining and it was HOT. That didn't last through the night. Around 3am thunder was booming and the lightning lit up the sky. When I got up at 6:30 the rain was still coming down and the thunder and lightning hadn't let up either.

I planned on hanging up my garage sale signs today and various street corners, but it's supposed to rain again tonight. I might just have to get up extra early tomorrow to put them out before setting up the garage sale... granted it it isn't raining when I get up. The rain stopped around 10am and the sun is shining once again. Please Lord, don't rain on my garage sale. All I ask is Friday and Saturday morning rain free. You can rain all night and all next week.. just not Fri and Sat from 7am to 2pm.

Weather willing, I will be so glad to get rid of all the stuff in my garage. If it doesn't sell it's going to the Servants of the Poor and Goodwill. Now sing with me... Rain rain go away, come again another day!

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Come on foot, don't fail me now!

It has been a hectic last few days and it isn't going to slow down! I have been tearing up my garage and house like a madwoman getting ready for my garage sale on Fri and Sat. If you're in the area, stop by. I have lots to get rid of. Seriously. A garage full of stuff to get rid of. I have been folding, sorting, pricing, cleaning, and painting garage sale signs to post on the street corners in our neighborhood. Luckily my girls are great helpers and have really given me a hand.

So garage sale this weekend and then ( Dun dun duuuun) I go back to work. I do miss work, but at the same time I've been enjoying my stay at home status. I knew it would only be for the summer so I'm prepared for the heart ache. I hope my girls are too. School starts on the 24th so a few weeks at home with Grandma shouldn't be that bad.

Also my stupid foot is KILLING me right now. Ugh, I know I shouldn't be abusing it right now, but I have so much to do before school starts. I've got it up right now, and in a bit I'll take my magic pill that takes all of my aches and pains away.

Oooh before I forget, my family loves Yahtzee, Sorry, and Scrabble and Hasbro knows how much we love family game night. So much so that they're sending my family the new Scrabble Slam card game and a few surprise games for me to review and also to make familygame night even better. I'll let you know what comes as soon as it gets here. I'm super excited, I am a board game NERD.

Have a great evening. I am going to take that pill and crawl in bed. Good night!

Monday, July 27, 2009

Much ados reviews. "Ouchies Bandages"





I was given the awesome opportunity to review Ouchies, the coolest band-aids to ever grace the drug store shelves. There are 3 different tins, Teen-ages girl bands, Teen-ages boy bands, and Make your own-ages, this one comes with 3 color sharpies to decorate them yourself. As you can see in the pictures above the girl and boy bands have 5 separate designs and the make your own comes in 5 different colors. Kids will definitely have plenty of choices to cover their boo boos. Their motto is " Hide your wound, not your style". I love that.

Ouchies were developed by a father, Ian Madover. He was so tired of seeing seas of beige while bandage shopping and wondered why there were no cool bandages for kids. That's when his wife suggested he make some, giving him that push to create these awesome bandages.

These came in the mail Friday and I just knew one of my kids would need a band-aid before the weekend was over, and sure enough they both ended up getting one. Both kids wanted to create their own bandage, probably because this tin included sharpies. I think the create your own are a great idea especially for little ones because it gives something to do to take their mind off the boo boo. Also, afterwords the girls were proud to sport their one of a kind band-aid.

If I could make one suggestion it would be to include a finer tip marker. The markers included were pretty wide tipped and my girls had a hard time drawing shapes without my help. Over all these band-aids are super fun and very creative. My kids love them and I'm sure your kids will too. The tins they are packaged in are very cool and reusable. I'm already planning a first aid kit for my purse.

Ouchies is currently designing a line of Mr. Men and Little Miss Bandages and I can't wait to see how cute they turn out. Ouchies are available online and selected retailers, and sell for $5.00 each. You will definitely want to stock up, as these will go fast!

If you would like more information, or would like to order Ouchies check out their website here. You can also become a fan of Ouchies on Facebook.

Friday, July 24, 2009

One week down...

...And one more to go. In the granny orthopedic shoe I mean. My foot is feeling so much better, and despite wearing my shoe in the rain it really hasn't been that bad. The part I really hate is when someone asked me what happened and I don't have a great anecdote for them. Just hopping off the bed is all I can say and then I get the look like " You need to lose some weight" or " How high is your bed?".

I've set a date for my garage sale and will be so glad to unclutter my garage. I'm hoping to get enough money to buy the girls a lot of really cute school clothes and new tennis shoes without the help of my debit card. I have lots of clothes, 3 tv's a couch and other miscellaneous items that could surely be treasure to someone as it is my junk.

Last night I had to call the BFF Emmy after seeing that her facebook staus was "sad". Of course I don't want my best friend sad without me trying to find out why or do my best to cheer her up. What kind of friend would I be if I ignored that the happiest girl on Earth was sad. Anyways, poor Em had to put her cat Jewel to sleep and it was very hard for her. Jewel was 6 yrs old and suffered from epilepsy and a few other medical problems. Em rescued her when she was just a kitten and in my opinion gave that cat the best life she could have had. Unfortunately Jewel had a stroke and just couldn't recover although she fought a damn good fight. RIP Jewel.

Animals easily become family. For my 28th birthday my husband took me to the pound to pick out a dog and I adopted the sweetest black lab puppy and named her Annie. She was so smart and sweet, and we all loved her. She had puppy moments that drove us crazy but she was a good dog. Sadly 5 months later she was hit by a car in the alley behind our house. We were devastated, I had never lost an animal before. Let alone so suddenly. It was hard, but we got past it. Last June we got Penn and Teller and could not imagine our home without them. They're the boys Mike and I never had.

On another note I received 3 tins of the coolest bandaids today called "Ouchies". I read a review on www.theadventuresofsupermom.com and contacted to company to see where I could buy them. They contacted me back right away and offered to send me some to review. They sent them quicker than my kids could get a boo boo so a review will have to wait. For now they're under lock and key because the kids already wanted to get into them.

I hope everyone has a great day. I'm off to run my errands and get ready for a weekend of garage cleaning. Wish me luck!

Thursday, July 23, 2009

A new school year is closing in.

And you know what that means...shopping. I don't know about other parents but I dread school shopping. Money is usually tight and as the girls get older they get selective and really don't agree with what mom picks out. I tend to stick to sale and clearance racks. What do you do to stretch your $$ ?


Today we had to get up early and take mom to her quarterly Pulmonary Dr. visit. Usually the wait is insane, but now that she has the C-PAP machine she can go on Thursdays when he only sees his sleep patients. We were in and out in 30 minutes. It was great. Afterwords we picked up some breakfast at the golden arches and headed home. As soon as the girls finished my friend picked up the girls for their little summer job. They are helping her decorate her classroom, and love every minute of it. They spent a good 4 hours with her and came home about 10 minutes ago. She let them raid her treasure chest so we now have another jump rope, glitter silly putty, crayons, coloring books, and several sheets of stickers to add to the stuff they brought home on Monday. How fun for me.

I've decided to cook Filipino food for dinner tonight. Chicken adobo over steamed rice and a cucumber salad. Sounds weird but I'll post a recipe and then you can taste how good it is. My family enjoys all different types of food from different cultures and I wouldn't have it any other way. Probably comes from me growing up overseas and trying many different foods growing up. I don't want picky kids when it comes to food.

The weekend is near and I can't wait to sleep in with my husband on Saturday. Have a great Thursday everyone.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Is it over yet?

When I say " IT" I mean Wednesday.

Today has been the longest day! Laundry, cooking, cleaning, playdate, trip to the store, kids, and dogs. Whew it's no wonder I'm tired. Or is that the pain meds telling me to go to bed and sleep with happy dreams. I doubt it.

I do plan on getting my hair cut sometime soon. I'm hoping next week but have been unable to reach my hairdresser which is not a good sign. I'm turning 30 next month and need a new look. Any suggestions? Mike likes my hair long, but he doesn't have to fix it, or 2 little girls hair every morning before work and school.

School is creeping up on us which means school shopping. Supplies are a pain to buy at the last minute so I guess it must be done soon. My BFF did go a little crazy and bought each of the girls 2 backpacks and a lunchbox, pencils, erasers and fun stuff like that on Guam. How cool will it be that my kids will have new stuff from Guam and NO ONE else will? How's that for original?

That's it for me, I'm a little tapped out. I'm going to climb into bed and watch America's got talent while I wait for the Philanthropist to come on at 9pm. I hope everyone has a fabulous evening!

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Drumroll please!



Look at what my girl can do! She just figured out the mechanics of blowing a bubble on Saturday. Are kids amazing or what?

Monday, July 20, 2009

Baby oil beat down!




I laugh my butt off every time I see this scene. If you have not seen the movie "This Christmas" you're missing out on some good laughs. If I ever catch my husband cheating on me, I won't forget this baby oil beatdown.

Weekend/Foot update.

Don't you just love my stylish new footwear? I don't :( Maybe it need bedazzling or some candy stick lane influence. Hey Renee, I have to wear this for 2 more weeks, any suggestions? She's super talented, surely she'll have some ideas for sprucing up the ugly thing. :)

So I went to the Dr Friday morning, had some X-rays done, and the conclusion: No breaks just torn and ruptured ligaments. Apparently those can be just as bad as a break, so I ended up in a orthopedic shoe after all. I was really hoping the dr would tell me to stay off of it and let my family wait on me hand and foot like I do for them... but No. He gave me this nifty shoe to support my bum foot as I use it and told me to rest it. What an oxymoron!

So Friday after the dr I picked up my prescription and headed back to the house. When Mike came home for lunch he cracked up at my new shoe. I asked him if he thought it was sexy and he said no. He should have said yes but I guess he was just being honest. Darn you honesty! He thinks it hilarious that I have to wear it for two weeks and didn't even break anything.

Saturday morning we headed out to Midland in search of good chinese food, a game case for Mike, and a new asian market I found using google. Using the GPS on my phone we hunted down the chinese restauraunt only to find it was closed. It was a bummer but we ended up at the mall food court and got chinese anyways. It was good, but not out of this world. I wasn't really into shopping at the mall so we left there and went to best buy. My husband has this beast of a truck that he has to park far away from everything. So far in fact that I was cranky just having to walk into best buy. By the time we got inside I was too pissy to really look around. Mike picked up the 10th season of Married with Children and we left. I should have just stayed in the truck.

Afterwards we headed to the asian market. IT was this tiny little place, the owners were rude and they didn't even have what I was looking for. They did have a few things I was interested in, but don't use all the time, so I didn't get anything. I was clearly disappointed.

Mike still hadn't found a case to hold both his DS and PSP so the search continued as soon as we got back to Odessa. Wal mart didn't have what he wanted so we decided to go to Target. ( I heart Target) Target did have the perfect case so he picked that up and I found some nutrogena for my face and we left.

The rest of the day was a blur. I took my pain meds and was pretty out of it allnight. Sunday Mike went to hang out with a friend, I dropped mom off to see Harry Potter and I took the girls grocery shopping.

This morning my friend and Maia's kindergarten Teacher Janine came and stole my kids for the day. She offered them a little job helping her get her classroom decorated before school starts. They love her so it was no question they'd want to do it.

I'm going to quietly enjoy my cup of coffee and ice my foot in silence. Have a fabulous Monday everybody. See you tomorrow!

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Doh, that's gonna leave a mark!

Last night I was laying on my bed with the husband watching Ghost Hunters International. My little one walks in and asks for a drink, so I got up to get it for her. As I hopped off the bed I heard my toe pop but felt no pain. Serious delayed response on my part because as soon as I started walking into the kitchen the ouch response kicked in. Not only on my big toe but also the ball of my foot. I took some motrin and went back to bed. This morning it wasn't throbbing the way it was last night so I assumed it was ok. Nope as soon as I stepped out of bed the pain returned. I've been limping around and staying off the foot for the most part. Except for when I drove to the store to get a few things. Now don't get mad. I rocked it grandma style and hopped on a motorized cart to get my eggs, bread and milk.

I figured I'd be ok after a few days but paranoia set in and I looked up " Broken toe symptoms" via google. And it's probably broken. It's purple and painful so I have an appt tomorrow morning at 8am. Hopefully I'm the first one so I can get in and out. I'm praying I don't end up in a boot just for a busted toe.

I'll let my 5 readers know what's up when I get back from the dr tomorrow. Wish me luck and send lots of 'NO BOOT" vibes my way por favor!

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Love you like a sister.

Senior Year we were in a Chamorro play called " Ai haga hu" ( Oh my daughter)


We too casual senior pics together


I have the best, best friend in the history of best friends. I'm sure that's true for everyone with a best friend, but mine is as far as my history of best friends go.

I met Emmy in 1994 when we were freshman in high school. I was sitting in 5th period math and in walked the new girl, Emmy. She had on a Marvin the Martian t-shirt and purple/blue cross color pants.( Y'all remember cross colors?) It was Chamorro week at school so no one was giving any work due to all the festivities. I was playing a card game with a few classmates and invited her to join us. I soon learned she will try anything once. She didn't even know how to play the card game and she kicked our butts, beginners luck! The next morning she walked into my 2nd period English class and we were inseperable after that.

When I met Em, I was definitely heading down the wrong path. My friends were wannabe gangsters and I wont lie, I wanted to be too. Looking back, we were total idiots. But she showed me I could change. I ditched my friends and spent allof my time with her. Her mom was the drama/ English 12 teacher at our school and that's what got me hooked on Drama and Theater. I did a total 180! Joined Drama club, auditioned for Theater, and although we did some things our paretns wouldn't approve of we were still pretty good kids.

We both love to sing, and can carry a tune for the most part ;) Senior year we put a band together and joined the talent show. WE sang Alanis Morisette's 'Ironic' and won 2nd place. Later that night at our favorite cafe' a guy pointed to us across the billiard room and yelled " Hey those chicks can sing!" It was awesome.

Em has 1 younger brother who of course I conside my little brother too. Her parents are also the sweetest people you will meet. Her dad has been a wonderful father figure for me since I lost my dad when I was 11, and her mother is a great mom. Even when she was my teacher I called her mom. If I ever need a mom and mine isn't around, I can always rely on my Momma C.

In 2000 I got married and had my first baby. I was the first person in my circle of friends to do this so not everyone was supportive. I had 3 friends that didn't look at me funny when I walked into a room, Em was one of them. When I had Micaylah she bought me the biggest boquet of flowers and rushed to my house when she learned I had just checked out of the hospital.

I also moved in 2000, away from Guam to Texas. It was harder saying goodbye to Em than it was to my family. When would I see her again? Well it's been 9 years and I still have not seen her but I talk to her every week. If we go days without speaking, that's too long. Since I have moved, she got married, and recently had her first baby. I wished I could have been there for her when she had Adelaide, but it wasn't meant to be. She even named Ade after me, well my middle name anyways. I love that little Adelaide Rose, she's a doll.

Some of my best memories include Emmy. We did everything together and told eachother everything.She even introduced me to my first boyfriend, and we held eachothers hands through our first broken hearts. We used to stay up late at night drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes on the roof of her house, or my kitchen floor talking about nothing. When she turned 18 before me, she waited for me to turn 18 a few moths later so we could have our first legal drinks together. ( Guam drinking age is 18) Had our first corporate america jobs together too.

Ever see Beaches or Romy and Michelle's high school reunion? That's us. I know her by heart and am so blessed to have her in my life. She's more than my best friend, she's my sister and I love you Em!