I am ready for 2009

I am so ready for 2008 to be over. What a long, strange year. Not one of the best ones either. So I am glad it will be over soon. I wont dwell on things from 2008....I have accepted them and moved on. But I am going to name some hopes I have for the new year. I don't make resolutions either, they are too easy to name and then break in a few days. Instead I will hope for the following changes to happen.
In 2009 I hope to:
Read the entire Bible
Pray more
Trust God more
Potty Train R
Lose weight and eat healthy
Watch less TV (my boys included)
Have a less messy house
Do more meal planning (and stick to my meal plans)
Spend less



I'm sure I will think of more things later, but I think that the shorter the list, the better chance I have of doing these things. Does anyone else have any plans or hopes for the New Year? Do you have any special ways of sticking to your plans?


I wish all of you a safe and Happy New Year! Enjoy yourselves tonight and be safe!

Is it really Tuesday already?

Last week was wonderful. Seeing my parents is always a blessing and seeing them during the holidays was a double-blessing. With them here, I was able to not dwell on missing C and Poppop on Christmas. Not that I didn't think about them, it was just that they kept my mind occupied enough that I didn't get too sad. Mom and Dad made it home safe and sound and they told me they will be back when C graduates high school, which will be in June 2010.
Let's talk about Christmas...mine was wonderful. We got up and watched the boys open presents. It doesn't get much better than watching the amazement and gratefulness in the faces of little ones on Christmas morning. Even though they didn't get much, they were thrilled with EVERYTHING they got. I know that when C was little I would go totally overboard. I wanted to give him the same kinds of Christmas's that I remembered growing up. I remember presents overflowing under the tree, so many that it took forever to open them all. But (and I HATE to admit this) I only remember one particular toy. My Barbie RV. I know that I got pretty much everything I asked for but when I think back, I only remember the wrapped presents and I remember who I was with on Christmas. I remember my immediate family being there, and occasionally my grandparents. I remember going to my grandparents, opening presents (again, I don't remember anything that I got) and eating. Lots of eating. I remember going to see my other grandparents too. I can tell you all about my grandparents living rooms, decorations, food and how I felt on those days. And now that I am older I realize that it isn't about the presents and my kids wont remember their presents any more that I do. Hopefully we will make enough happy memories for them to look back on and then share with their children. If not, then at least we didn't go broke buying toys, lol.

This a a beautiful hand painted vase that my BFF Val sent me for Christmas. She is so talented, in so many ways...including making hand painted vases. I LOVE her!!!

Now I am going to read some of the blogs I missed....I'm sure I missed a ton. Please be patient with me if I don't post comments for another day or two. But eventually I will get caught up and be back to normal.

One more time......Go Nancy!!

My parents are heading back to AZ today...so I am very, very sad. Mom wanted to write another blog before she left so here it is....

Hi Bloggers, It is Denise's mom Nancy again. Wow we are so sad this week is over. It went by so fast and we didn't do half of the things we wanted to do while we were here. We laughed, cried, hugged and kissed everyday. Her Dad and I are exhausted and everything hurts from playing with J and R (plus she has TOO MANY stairs for us old people). I have one knee that is bone on bone and it popped out twice this week, which was horrible. We feel like all we have done here is complain about one pain or another. We played with the kiddie kitchen set and then went on a picnic. We played trains and I wont miss that sound till at least next year. We took over 100 pictures that we will download to our computer at home and Denise can decide if she wants to put any of them on here for all of you to see. As for C (her 17 year old) OMG! He has changed and grown up to be a fine young man. We have always enjoyed our time with him but this time was extra special. In fact, all 3 of them have grown up and changed so much we feel bad about living so far away. Like Denise tells people...We live 3 miles from the Sun, lol. Arizona is hot but it is a dry heat.
J got an Easy Bake Oven and made hot pretzels for us. R got a Cars Laptop and he made a letter which we couldn't read, but we love it because it was made from his heart.
It was nice being a guest Blogger and since I am unemployed looking for a job I will have time to continue reading your blogs everyday. I cant promise to read them after I find a new job but I will check in occasionally. Hope you all have a Happy New Year and a safe one too!

Tuesday :-)

Our visit is wonderful! Spending all this time with my parents is such a HUGE blessing. And the boys are thrilled, just like me to have them here. Last night we met my Dad's side of the family at a restaurant for dinner. We only see each other when my parents make visits back East, so it was really great to see everyone. When we were leaving J saw my mom having trouble with the zipper on her coat. At the same time, he was trying to zip himself and was having trouble. So my mom stopped to help him and told him to "suck it in". He didnt know what she meant so she explained that he needed to pull him tummy in, so the coat would zip up easier. Then when she went back to fighting with her own zipper, he turned to her and said "I guess you need to suck it in too.". This had us all cracking up.
Today mom and dad watched the boys all afternoon because I had a doctors appointment. After a few hours, some x-rays and 15 vials of blood later, we came home with dinner. Ribs from Famous Daves BBQ and Crab Cakes from Bobby Chez....anyone who lives in NJ knows these are the best BBQ and Crabcake joints and Totally worth the drive. Luckily these two places are only 3 miles apart and only about 4 miles from my doctor.
After dinner the door bell rang.....YAY! it was the Fed Ex man bringing our new Poingo that I won from Miranda at the Keeper of the Cheerios! We LOVE this Poingo! The boys just finished the Cars book and are starting the Finding Nemo book. The pen is the perfect size for little hands, and besides the great benefits of the story being read to my kids(So I dont have to do it all the time) there are also lots of learning activites. Thankfully so far the boys are sharing nicely. I cant wait to get more books for them to use with the pen :-) Thanks again Miranda....this was an awesome Contest giveaway!!!


I also wanted to thank Anna from Boogers, Bibs, Books and Bubbles for my big pack of Coupons! I got it in the mail yesterday and cant wait to get down to business planning next months meals. These coupons (and I got a TON of them) will be such a big help with our grocery bill. Thanks again Anna!!

105......Go Nancy!!

Good morning!! Welcome to my 105TH post! WooHoo....and to help me celebrate I brought along my mom....She is awesome! She is one of my Best Friends! And this year she is my Christmas present, well, her and my Dad. I am best friends with mom but I have always been a Daddys girl <3 So here is my Mom and her post....be nice and show her some comment love!



Hi ladies, (and men if any are out there). My name is Nancy, (Mom to Denise). She put me on the spot here saying I would guest write. I feel like I know most of you since I read your blogs now too. We finally arrived Saturday night after a very short plane ride thank goodness. I hate flying and it usually takes 5 hours to get here and 5 1/2 hours to get home. We were here in less than 4 hours due to 140 mph hour tailwinds. Not as much turbulence as usual or at least with my meds it didn't seem like it anyway. Thank God for Valium, my little friend. So now we are here and after many hugs and kisses we have finally pried our self away from each other to spend the rest of the visit talking each others ear off. (Nothing new since we do that on the phone daily anyway). Next to my husband, Denise is my best friend in the entire world. I love her like a mom should love a daughter, but I love her more than any other girl friend I ever had. We do tend to get in trouble when we are together. We always have had so much fun and I will tell you one experience that I bet she hasn't thought about in years. We would wait till her dad went to work and then ship her brother off somewhere for the day and the two of us would head down to the shore for the day. This one particular day we hadn't even gotten very far before we got in trouble for the first time of many that day. We got thrown out of a Wawa market. Yep, from there on it was fun and trouble the rest of the day. We laughed so hard I swear we bruised our ribs. We always had a tradition every year of making Christmas cookies to give to our friends and relatives. Well one year we were both feeling pretty good (which was another tradition that went with making our Christmas cookies) and we laughed so hard I can't remember which one of us wet our self first her or me but believe me by the end of the night we both managed to do that and the worst part was we made cookies that we could not give to anyone. I will let her decide if she wants to tell you why but it is one of many many wonderful memories I have of the two of us spending time together. I love living in Arizona because of the weather but I hate living there because she is so far away from me and her dad. I just never did like living back here in the cold and the snow or the heat and the humidity. We told her ALL HER LIFE that when we retired we were moving to Arizona. She hates that we live there but she accepts it thankfully. I guess I better stop now, I could spend all night typing about her and me and some of our experiences, but as much as it would make the two of us laugh and chat more it would probably bore you. Thanks for all being a BIG part of her life. She talks to me non stop about all of you every day. I feel like I know you.
Happy Holiday's. Nancy

Yay Mom! Great job!! Thanks for the post and the memories. XOXOXOXO

Tomorrow we celebrate.....

Hi....Im stopping by quickly to say Hello and tell you that I have a big surprise.....Tomorrow to celebrate my 105th Post (since I wasnt feeling well to celebrate my 100th post) I will have a guest poster....My Mom! Since my parents are here visiting I plan to put her to work and make her type out a message to all my bloggy friends....so check back tomorrow. We should have pictures posted too!

I have the BEST Bloggy Friends

Young Momma at the Perfect Pen loves me like I love her <3 She gave me this new, beautiful award.

The award states "This blog invests and believes the PROXIMITY - nearness in space, time and relationships!These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers! Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award."

Now I get to pick 8 bloggy friends to give this award too.....and I would totally give this one to Young Momma and Deb if they didnt already have it.
So here is my list....I love these women and value their frienships....
Em from Life, Liberty and the Pursuit
Mimi at Screaming Mimi
Jillene at Jillene's Journal
Sam at NOLA Blues
Tonya at Fox Tale Follies
Lisa at The Adventures In Jujuboo
Janie at Sounding Forth

I know, I know thats not 8.....but I have a ton of stuff to do before my parents arrive so I have to run......Have a great weekend!

My new AWARD!!!!!

I LOVE this award....it comes from Quirkyloon. I was the first to answer her identify this book question....it was Twilight. I am not sure if that makes me look good, because I can identify a book by one or two sentences or makes me look bad, because it proves I have Twilight-obsession issues. I guess we will leave that one up for debate.


P.S. (especially to EM) That Eggnog Tastykake pie was one of the most PUTRID things I ever tried in my whole life. I am gagging just thinking about it. I dont know if that bald guy from the show "Bizarre Foods" could eat it. Seriously, it was THAT bad.

One more day......

YaY! This time tomorrow I will be hugging my parents. Actually, to be honest, this time tomorrow we will be driving home from the airport. But chances are I will be at least holding my moms hand on the way home. Just the thought of that makes how crappy I feel seem insignificant. Look....here is a picture of me today....looking as Crappy as I feel.

And can you see how nice my double chin is looking? Yes, all those yummy goodies I bake are heading straight to my belly, hips and neck.
In case anyone was wondering what I did today I will give you all the details.....first I lied several times to my children and husband. They kept bugging me to get out of bed and I kept telling them I was getting up. HA! I managed to drag that little charade out until nearly 9am. That really annoyed Hubby but to be truthful, I didnt care this morning and dont now. My body is flairing and one of the last things on my mind is whether or not he had to pour cereal in a bowl for the kids. OK, after I finally did get moving I made it to the couch where I sat and drank my Decaf and watched Regis and Kelly. Alan Alda was on there and I just love him. He was so funny in MASH. After breakfast we went to the bank and then to my MIL's. Her tree was in desperate need of decorations and my kiddos wanted to be the ones to do it. So the next few hours was spent making MIL's house all Christmassy.


The lights on her tree are awesome....she has Cows with Santa hats. How cute it that! Pretty much everything in her house is cows since she has a Cow farm. LOL

Here is a picture of the tree after all the ornaments and lights were put on....it is so crowded at the bottom because the boys cant reach very high.....but it is pretty anyway.

After we were done decorating (ok, I mainly sat on my butt and watched...Im too stiff and sore to be much help right now) we ate pizza and salad. Then headed to the store to buy a few things my parents wanted during their visit. Thats when I found this wonderful looking pie......Any tastykake lovers out there???? How about an EggNog Pie? I cant wait to eat this after the kids are in bed.

And I have to mention Russ....he is one of Hubbys buddies from work. When I make cookies or other goodies I always try to send some in for him. Well, it all paid off when Hubby brought home some Homemade Chocolate Covered OREOS !!!! He gave me 8 and there is only 1 left.....and it doesnt have long until it is history. (Just because I think I could use a triple chin or something)


So that was my day. I still need to do a few things to get ready for my parents....but it will all be done before bed. Please say a prayer that my parents get here safely. Thanks!!!

The big one oh oh

*Sigh*

This could not have happened at a worse time. Seriously. This is my 100th post. And I had big intentions on celebrating. But I just cant. I am miserable. I have horrible PMS and my arthritis is kicking my butt. I have no energy. No smiles. No happiness to spread. So there. Happy Friggin 100 post to me. Ugh.

My Picaso

After Hubby left for work and I put R down for a nap, me and J started working on wrapping the gifts that he made to give on Christmas. I cut squares out of tissue paper and let him color them with markers to make the wrapping paper more colorful. He also signed each gift tag. When he was almost done all the papers, he asked me to stand very still and smile. I kinda figured what he was doing, he was drawing a picture of me. I was a little shocked that he needed me to stand still... but I thought maybe he is starting to develop his artistic side, and wanted to add some extra "details". I was smiling ear to ear and thinking how proud I was of him and his portrait idea. Then he told me I could move again, and he proceeded to draw again. He told me that he was putting himself, R and Daddy in the picture. So here is his masterpiece.....isnt it grand?!?



Are you kidding me? I stood still for this? He obviously wasn't
LOOKING at ME....I only wish I was a stick figure. Do you see the kinds of crap I make and eat? Hello...where is my hair?? And what is with R and Daddy on the ceiling? He told me that this is a picture of us at Chuck E Cheese and Daddy and R are up in the tunnels on the ceiling. Oh really? Do you think your Daddy will FIT in that tunnel. He is 6'2" for goodness sakes.
Well, anyway....I love the picture because it shows that he is happy and loves us and the time we spend together. That or he is trying to kiss-butt so we take him back to Chuck E Cheese. Sneaky kid.

My calorie count for today must be in the triple digits by now....because I ate so many goodies today. Those saltine toffee bars are incredible. But mine didnt break...they are kinda chewy (even better). I took them out of the oven after 4 minutes because they looked like they were going to bubble over the edges of my cookie sheet. And NO ONE wants butter and sugar burned to the bottom of their oven a week before Christmas.

After making the toffee I made a pumpkin pie. I remembered seeing an idea on how to make jam pastries on Tonya's site awhile ago so I tried to make them and they turned out yummy too! I made 4 and there is only one left.

So now the boys are in bed. Hubby wont be home from work for 2 hours and I am planning all the things I need to accomplish tomorrow in my head. My parents will be here soon.....and I havent even started to get the room ready. Can anyone send me some energy and OCD like qualities....I need to borrow them at least until Christmas is over....please? Oh Heck.....I will just wait and let my Mom help me clean. How does that sound? Hmmmmm....I think I'm on to something :-D

Lisa at Adventures in Jujuboo gave me a Lemonade Award! Yay! I love awards :-) I love her blog....you should run over there and check it out. Its OK, I will wait....

It's that the cutest little lemonade stand!! Thanks again Lisa. Now I need to follow the rules...
The rules for the Lemonade Award are as follows:
1. Put the logo on your blog or post.
2. Nominate at least 10 blogs which show great Attitude and/or Gratitude!
3. Be sure to link to your nominees within your post. Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
4. Share the love and link to this post and to the person from whom you received your award.

I nominate ...
Mommy Cracked
Vodka mom
Anna
Laura


Ok, on to the rest of my day. I spent this morning cleaning off the bottomless pit that is my Kitchen Bar. This bar collects EVERYTHING....and no matter how much time and attention I give it daily, it still grows to epic proportions. Ugh. Well this morning I took everything off and put it on the dining room table. Then I sorted stuff and put things away. It was a long job but I feel better now that it is done. And before everyone thinks that I am the only pack-rat around here....I filled up another tupperware container full of Hubbys stuff. This is the 5Th time I have done that and who can guess how many times he empties these containers? Any guesses? Ha! None....yep, that's a big ZERO. Now I have 2 big containers full of crap in my bedroom, one box in the living room and 2 in the kitchen. But I'm the packrat and the reason the counter gets cluttered. Wow! I guess I needed to vent....sorry about my little rant.

Now on to the goodies....I made Pam's Saltine Toffee Cookies today. And if it wasn't for the fact that they just came out of the oven and are RED hot, then I would have eaten them all by now. OK, maybe not all of them but enough to give myself a tummy-ache. They smell so good. I licked the pan after it cooled down....yummy caramel! Now I have to play Uno with J while R sleeps and then make a pumpkin pie.

Have a great day!!!

Monday Ramblings

We had a pretty uneventful weekend. Saturday we did go see Santa but that was the end of our excitement. Yesterday we went to my MIL's farm as usual. She made a big family lunch, as usual (thankfully!!) and me and Hubby finished hanging her lights. OK, all I did was stand under him and hold the lights so they didn't sit on the ground. Hubby climbed the ladder and hung them all very nicely. And I am only slightly jealous of this (because we bought icicle lights for our house and they are not hung, and are not getting hung this year) I also made some pretty darn tasty cookies....Gingersnaps with Orange Ginger Cream filling.

I also fell in love with a new blog yesterday...Cookies with Boys and Pamela if your watching I wanted to tell you that I ran out this morning to buy everything I need to make those scrumptious looking Saltine Toffee Cookies. Except that Hubby wants them made with Club crackers instead. I will post pics and tell you all about them after I recover from my sugar coma :-)

And before I go...I am going to ask that everyone pray for my Poppop again. I saw him for a few minutes this morning and he looked very sad and lonely. But because of Hubby's work schedule I couldn't stay as long as I needed. Please pray that he is at peace and comfortable. And I also would like you to pray for my friend D. She and her family are going through some horrible things right now and need all the prayers they can get. I can't go into detail but believe me....no one would want to be in her shoes right now. Thanks!!!


OOOOohhhhhh....I just saw a comment that Miranda left for me....I won her Poingo giveaway. Woo Hoo....Go visit Miranda and see her wonderful blog Keeper of the Cheerios!

Santa

This is R telling Santa that he has been a good boy....LIAR! Dont make me tell Santa about how you ......oh, nevermind.

This is R telling Santa what he wants for Christmas, which probably sounded like this "IWANNACHOCOLATECOVEREDPERCYBANSHEEANDTHOMASWITHTHEPAINT"

My cellphone is acting goofy and I cant send the picture of J on Santa's lap....hopefully I can get that worked out by tomorrow.

Santa gave the boys gifts when they were done having their pictures taken. R got a new teddy bear and J got a Cootie game. They are both thrilled and have played Cootie 16 Thousand times already. Im really, really tired of cootie bugs right now.


Oh....I also gotta thank Anna over at Boogers, Bibs, Books and Bubbles....I won her coupon giveaway. Yay Me! Thanks again Anna!!

Now Im off to help with dinner. Hubby has pork ribs on the smoker and I need to go make some sides....Im thinking Rice and beans....how does that sound??

Tonight I am STUFFED

We had a great time at dinner....just the two of us. No little voices to be heard, no dirty hands to be washed. Just me and him, talking about adult stuff, eating adult food and relaxing. I ate so much that I wont be able to eat for a week....ok, maybe not but it feels like it right now.
It has been a long, long time since me and Hubby have spent time alone like this...and it was long overdue.

Today I Am...

Today I am....

an Art Teacher: we painted and glittered our homemade ornaments

a Referee: The boys are in irritable moods and keep fighting over nonsense

a Waitress: sippy cups, breakfast, juice, etc.

a Nurse: gave myself an Enbrel shot

a Twilight fan: I stayed up until after 4am reading ALL 264 pages of Midnight Sun....shhhhh....dont tell Hubby (YAWN....gonna need a nap!) And YES, I said Midnight Sun....which is Twilight from Edwards point of view


And lastly,
a Woman/Wife: going to dinner with Hubby and I can't wait. I don't know if I am more excited about the adult conversation, no kiddos or the food.

What are you today??

I wish it was Tomorrow...

Well, it has taken almost a year of my bugging him and near begging but we are finally going out to dinner tomorrow night. Just us, no kids....at a restaurant that you need reservations to get into......AND I CAN'T WAIT!!! Way back when, before the kiddos, this was our favorite restaurant but I think we have only had take out from there 2 times in the last 5 years. Only takeout. So last Christmas I got him a gift certificate and it has taken this long to convince him that the world will not implode if we go out to dinner and leave the kids with a sitter. In fact, his mom is watching the kids so it isnt like we hired some teenager off the street. I already know what I plan to order....as long as they havent changed the menu in the last few years. I will get Penne Ala Crab which is penne pasta with HUGE chunks of fresh crab meat and a white sauce, similar to alfredo. Then I will have Tirimisu for dessert. AWESOME!!!!

ok, Mom and Dad....stop reading now....dont go any further unless you want your Christmas present to not be a surprise. I hope you dont look.....seriously....no peeking Mom and Dad. Everyone else is welcome to see this....

I dont have money to buy presents this year so Im trying to make some presents. Dont worry, we have presents for the kids but thats pretty much it. So here is something I made today for my parents. I know they will love it, but I still wanted to share it with my bloggy buddies and see what they thought. When we were making the homemade ornaments this morning I saved some and I made this little Christmas scene. Nothing too fancy, just a tree with the trimmings and some presents and a drum. Anyhow, I baked it and then painted it tonight. It still needs some touch ups but this is how it looks so far.
And you can see how small it is next to the coin. Ok, dont laugh...I didnt have a quarter but I did have a Token from Chuck E Cheese and they are about the size of a quarter.


So what do you think? Is it too goofy and look like something a little kid would make their parents? Or is it a keeper?

Homemade Ornaments

We are making ornaments out of homemade clay. Here is the recipe:

2 cups Flour
1 cup Salt
1 Cup Water
1 1/2 T Oil
Mix until smooth...I had too much liquid and had to add more flour so it wasnt so sticky.

After mixing I set up a workstation with Parchment paper.

Next I rolled the dough with a rolling pin, using lots of flour. This stuff STICKS! After rolling thin, the boys used cookie cutters to cut out Christmas shapes.

After cutting the shapes out they were put on a baking sheet and baked for 1 hour at 250 degrees. I think they could have gone a little longer because they arent hard hard....but I didnt want to over bake either and make them brittle.

After they cooled I removed them from the pan, some of them stuck and I needed to use a spatula to scrape them off....then I put them aside so we can paint and decorate them later.

Now we need to make a Walmart run...I promised the boys glitter for the ornaments. Why! Why! What was I thinking?? Glitter....UGH.

I will post pictures of them later, probably tomorrow.

Open House at Em's

Em at Life, Liberty and the Pursuit is having a Christmas Open House today....complete with a giveaway and charity donation....so head over there and give her some comment love!

On another note me and the kiddos have been busy all morning making homemade Christmas ornaments. I just took them out of the oven and we will paint them later...I will be sure to post pictures tomorrow.

Have a great Wednesday!!!

Love Ya Mimi!!

Thank you Mimi for giving me this Christmas award. You make me feel so special....HUGS!!!

The Rules are simple:

You must be a true Christmas lover to receive this award.

The person to whom you give the award must also be in love with Christmas.

You must link back to the person who gave you the award.

You must list 5 things that you love about Christmas.

If you can't limit it to 5 things, then keep going till you run out of space! :o)

Pass the award along to as many people as you like. That can be 1 or 45; it's up to you. But, you must pass it on to at least one person in order to keep the Christmas cheer going!

Let your recipients know that you have tagged them by leaving them a comment on their blog.

Things I Love About Christmas

1. Celebrating the birth of the Jesus Christ...absolutley!

2. Seeing my parents this Christmas

3. Watching the boys decorate the tree

4. Seeing Hubby and the boys enjoying the train

5. Giving gifts

6. Christmas music

7. Eating......and more eating

8. Seeing the looks on my boys faces Christmas morning

9. Watching Christmas movies

10. Shopping

Now I get to tag people!

I pick:

I would pick Mimi, but she sent it to me so I have to pick a few others. And I cant pick Deb, because she isnt in the Christmas Spirt yet. (remember, I said YET...you will get there)

Tink
Rhonda at Because Mom said so
Lisa at Adventures in Jujuboo

Pics and Eclispe

This is what I'm waiting for.....with only 11 days to go.....

and this is what my kids are waiting for....
dont know why that pic was so small....sorry.

and here is a picture I came across yesterday. It was taken last year, when Poppop still lived with us. He ALWAYS wore his hat, even to sleep.

Now I want to talk about Eclipse....so DONT read any further if you havent read the book and/or plan on it. Seriously, I dont want to spoil it for anyone.....so dont read any further.....last warning.....ok, here we go.....


This was the BEST book in the series so far. Honestly, New Moon left me a little flat. It was going good and then slammed us with that goofy trip to Italy, ok whatever. But Eclipse had the same intensity that Twilight did, and I ate it up. I stayed up most of the night because I could NOT put the book down. Actually I started my evening watching The Notebook. Everyone I know who has seen that movie has gushed and cried, etc. Not me. Yes it was a very good love story. And the ending was one of those happy/sad ending. But I still didnt cry. But let me tell you that I cried like a baby when Bella was saying goodbye to Jacob. Cried. Like. A. BABY. I may have even said "NO no no" out loud a few times. I am so torn because I love Edward, but I think I might love Jacob more. Now I'm full of heartbreak and angst....and cant wait to read Breaking Dawn. But I need to borrow it from C's girlfriend because I dont have any money to buy it right now. Hurry up Sam....I NEED it. Oh, and I can't believe that after 3 whole books they haven't had "you-know-what" yet. Crazy stuff!

TAG.....8 things

I got Tagged by Young Mamma at the Perfect Pen


8 TV shows I love to watch:
Greys Anatomy
ER
Jon & Kate plus 8
Nip/Tuck
Dirty Jobs
Ghosthunters
Storm Chasers
Live with Regis and Kelly


8 Things That Happened Yesterday:
I stayed in bed until 9am
I wrapped all the Christmas Presents
I talked to my mom on the phone until her phone got so hot she had to turn it off :-)
I made my very first pie crust from scratch
I had candy pancakes for Breakfast with all 3 sons and my Hubby
I played Uno
I got lots of hugs and kisses
I prayed alot

8 Favorite Places to Eat:
DiPaolos
Applebees
The Boardwalk
Smokers (in OC, MD)
Famous Daves BBQ
China Town (Phila, PA)
My MIL's
Home

8 Things That I Am Looking Forward To:
My parents coming to visit
Going to see Santa next Saturday
Going to sleep tonight, LOL
Finishing Eclipse
Starting Breaking Dawn
Being done all my tests
Christmas Morning
Christmas Eve


8 Things On My Wish List:
Happiness for all my family and friends
Health for all my family and friends
Lots of witty topics to blog about
More visits with Mom and Dad
More sleep
Chocolate
Jewelry
Books

Now I need to tag 5 other people (I think it was 5, lol)
Amy at Elsinboro Aspergers Mom
Mommy Cracked
Lana at the Kids did What??
Sam at NOLAblues
Anna at Boogers, Bibs, Books and Bubbles

I love Santa

I got tagged by Kristin at The way it is.....this one is a Christmas quiz.....so here it goes


1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? I love both....but only drink Eggnogg around Christmas. Hot Chocolate is good anytime.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just put them under the tree? Wrap....and Santa hates to wrap, UGH.

3.Colored lights on house/tree or white? I prefer all white, but we have colored ones for the kiddos

4.Do you hang mistletoe? no

5. When do you put up your decorations up? Black Friday

6. What is your favorite holiday dish? YUM....everything! but if I had to pick one it would be my MIL's brocoli casserole.

7. Favorite holiday memory as a child? I have a few favorites....and they all sucked at the time but I love them now. I guess my top favorite would be the time my parents made us go on a scavenger hunt to find our presents. I was always a scrooge and hated Christmas so the thought of having to go around and look for clues was pure torture back then. But I love it now....because I love Christmas.

8. When and how did you learned the truth about Santa? Early...I was scared to death of Santa. and the Easter bunny. and the tooth fairy. So every holiday I spent sleeping between my parents because I was scared of those big scarey strangers coming in our house, lol

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? The kids open one on Christmas eve and the rest in the morning after Santa comes

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? With a little bit of everything....

11. Snow.Love it or dread it? DREAD IT

12. Can you ice skate? Heck No!

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? From my childhood it would probably be my Barbie RV. My fav adult present would be my Emerald ring from hubby

14. What is the most important thing about the holidays to you? Being with family and this year will be the BEST....my parents are going to be her for the holidays for the first time in 14 years.

15. What is your favorite holiday dessert? Everything, but especially cookies

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? AW..I dont get my favorite tradition anymore. My Poppop always spent Christmas with us. He would come down to watch the kids open presents and have breakfast. But he is in a nursing home now and cant travel.

17. What tops your Christmas Tree? A Boyds Bear Angel

18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving? Giving...I wish I had more money so I could give more. I love watching other people open presents

19. What is your favorite Christmas song? O Holy Night

20. Candy Canes. Yum or Yuck? I can live without them....unless they are spearmint, that would be awesome

21. What do you want for Christmas? My parents to be here

22. Do you attend an annual Christmas party? No

23. Do you dress-up for Christmas Eve, or wear pajamas? PJ's

24. Do you own a Santa hat? Yes

25. Who do you normally spend Christmas with? Hubby and kiddos in the morning, then Hubby's family in the afternoon.

Here are the rules:
1. Post the rules on your blog.
2. Fill out the questions; Tag 5-7 people at the end of your post; Pass on the tag!

Well I am breaking the rules, I have tagged alot of people lately and dont want to push it and make people hate me, lol. So please feel free to grab this up and use it...or pass it along.

100 Things Survey

100 Things Survey


I grabbed this from Kaycee...because Im not feeling very creative today and needed incentive. Plus I feel like a bad blogger because I didnt post for a few days. Things have been busy and my blog reader is backed up with a ton of unread blogs that I need to catch up on. So please bear with me...I will get there :-)

RULES: There are 100 statements and you bold the ones you have done. Grab it and play for yourself!!

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band I played flute in the school band...and I sucked at it :-(
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity.
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain.
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch Sewing
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept in an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitchhiked
23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse (solar)
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo's David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Pari
s51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten cavier.
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper It was a picture of me mailing a letter to Santa, I was probably 6 or 7
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chicken pox
89. Saved someone's life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famousActually I have met a few...mostly Nascar Drivers...Bobby Labonte, Michael Waltrip, Buckshot Jones, etc
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a lawsuit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

Tags and excuses.....

OK, I am really behind in my blog reading from today and yesterday. Please forgive me. I've been playing Uno, Yatzee and watching Elmo. I also made cookies and read 8 chapters of Eclipse. It finally came in the mail today....I guess the mail lady decided I looked desperate enough to bring it, since I stare at her putting mail in the box every morning.
So even though I am short on time, I will pass along my Tag that I got from EM.

Take a snippet from the closest book sitting near you ... page 56, the 5th sentence:


"Nobody said that you had to."

And Im sorry to be a fun-sucker but I have to run and cant tag anyone else right now. Maybe next time.

My first Award

Kristin from The Way it is gave me this friend award. This is my first award and I'm thrilled that she thought of me. Thank you Kristin!!! Your awesome!

"These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award."
So now I have to pick eight bloggers to give this award to....and I love each of them!
Vodka Mom
Eudea-Mamia
The Mommy
Jillene
Laura
Deb
Tonya
Amy

That was hard....I have a ton of other bloggy friends that I could have listed too... Ugh, now the guilt kicks in.

New Love in my life

My love for you grew quickly, almost too quickly but regardless it is real as any other love. When we first met I didn't believe you....you promised so much but I have been disappointed before and didn't want to let my guard down. Truthfully, I thought you were too extravagant for my taste. But now I am so glad I took a chance on you and now I am so satisfied....I honestly cannot put into words how happy you have made me.
If my house were on fire I would run back in to get you.....honestly. (Of course I would get my kids out first but your next!)

So now your all wondering what I feel so strongly about? Here it is....






Yes...I'm in love with a hairbrush. My old brush was so worn and melted that it just couldn't help me anymore. Yes, I said melted....from the hairdryer. I was trying to find a replacement but they don't make them anymore. The closest thing I found was this Revlon Silver lined brush. It was expensive and if it hadn't been on sale then I wouldn't have bought it. Anyway, back to the love.....I tried it today for the first time. I used it while drying my hair as usual and it gave me incredible results. It looks like I used a flat iron...no kidding. No frizzies, no waves, no nothing....just smooth hair. I would Hug and kiss this brush if I didn't think it would hurt.

Wordless Wednesday picture

My Christmas List

Just in Case Santa really is watching...I am posting my Christmas list.

The first thing I want is sleep....I want a completely quiet house until like 11am...seriously, just once or twice. Please.

Next on my list is a maid. And I dont want one to come just once but on a regular basis. Pretty please.

Third on my list is books....I have a long list of books I would love to have and to go along with those books I would like some quiet alone time. Thats right....I want the book and the time to read it too. Call me selfish.

Fourth is for Hubby and all my friends to read 3:16 by Max Lucado. Seriously...everyone NEEDS to read this book.

My next request is a simple one....

And lastly....what Domestic Goddess doesnt love jewelry. If Santa brought me this ring I would be such a good girl, I promise. Please dont make me beg...again. Santa...can you hear me??

Lazy

Well, today was another one of those typical days where I was busy all day and have nothing to show for it. Hubby still thinks I do nothing and let the boys run wild. OK, whatever....but here is what happened while I was being lazy today....

First some oven fairys came and made Shinky Dinks...isnt it amazing!


Then the paint fairys came and made some cute spin art pictures...and dont forget how those fairys scrubbed and cleaned the spin art machine squeeky clean afterwards.


And finally some cute little Elfs came by to make Christmas ornaments. Wow...that must have taken quite awhile...but I'm only speculating since I didnt really DO anything today.


But to give Hubby a little bit of credit he did call me from work earlier and said not to cook tonight. He found some McD's coupons and is treating us to dinner. I was thrilled! Not because we are eating McD's but because I dont have to cook or clean up.....you know, cause Im so tired from doing nothing all day.

Bad Timing

Just a little hint to any and all doctors who may stumble across my little blog. It is NEVER...I repeat NEVER, OK to wish a patient "Happy Birthday" when her legs are in stirrups and your head is lower than the sheet on her knees (if you know what I mean). That was the CREEPIEST thing that ever happen to me, seriously. Two things that I know now....I will never be able to bare all my girlie parts to another doctor without thinking of my Birthday and that I will never think of my Birthday without stirrups...How sad.




On another note....we had a nice time with C last night. We had chicken tacos for dinner and then ice cream cake, yum! You can see how he spent his birthday at his Dad's if you go here, this is C's step mom Tonya's blog. She is really cool and creative. And she takes awesome pictures :D

The pictures I posted are of our Christmas tree and train. We used to buy real trees every Christmas. I love real trees but when J was born we decided it was safer to have a small artifical tree that we could put higher up, so he couldnt pull it down. Now the little tree just works out because of the train table. Hopefully someday we will have a big, giant real tree again.