Wordless Wednesday

Ticked Off Tuesday-Returns

They started asking for the kids sizes in September. I gave them the kids' sizes and nicely asked for gift receipts since sizes can vary so from store to store. (Caitlin has 3T pants that fit and size 5 that also fit.)

Christmas Day arrives the kids got lots of toys and clothes. We got not one gift receipt. Most stuff fit so it is not a huge problem. I also know the stuff that I need to exchange will be on sale and if I can't get the appropriate size for the same item that I will get less for their money. It just seems like a shame.

Also what is up with stores mailing merchandise credit to your house instead of giving it to you in the store?

(The relatives are very generous. I know I sound ungrateful. Really I'm not. Both sets of grandparents are very good to the kids and I really do appreciate them.)

Weekly Winners-Holiday Lights

I love the holiday lights. Here are some of my favorites.





Go to Sarcastic Mom's weekly winners to check out some great shots.

All I'm saying...

All I'm saying is if you brought these blocks for your little ones and didn't assemble them till 10 pm Christmas Eve you would be extremely agitated. Not that I wait till the last minute to do stuff like that. Not me.

Wordless Wednesday

Have a happy wordless Wednesday and a very merry Christmas.

The Bestest Cookies Everah!

Chocolate caramel delight cookies are my all time favorite cookies. (To rip off Friends) I think they taste like little drops of heaven.

Ingredients:
2 1/2 Cups all purpose flour
3/4 Cup unsweetened cocoa
1 Teaspoon baking soda
1 Cup sugar
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 Cup butter softened
2 Teaspoon vanilla
2 Eggs
48 Rolo candies unwrapped
4 oz. Vanilla candy coating or white chocolate chips

First get yourself some child labor to unwrap all those Rolo candies. Keep in mind you need 48 candies so the little helper can only eat 8 (at least most packs).

Heat oven to 375 degrees. In a small bowl combine flour, cocoa, and baking soda. In another large bowl, beat sugar, brown sugar, and butter until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and eggs, beat well. Add flour mixture, blend well.

For each cookie take about 1 tablespoon of the dough and form a ball around the rolo candy.


Bake for 7-10 minutes till set and slightly cracked. Cool for 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheets. Cool completely on wire rack.


Melt candy coating or white chocolate chips in a sauce pan over low heat. Drizzle over cookies.

They recipe is suppose to make 4 dozen. I never get that many. I also don't have 48 rolo candies left if I brought them more than a day ahead of time.

Another note, dogs love these cookies. I know chocolate is bad for dogs. Tell that to Maximus who ate half the batch this weekend. One container was left on the counter "out of his reach."

Hope you like the cookies!

Weekly Winners

I tried some experiments with the Christmas tree lights this week. Thanks to Karly for the idea in this post.

Also come back tomorrow to get my recipe for chocolate caramel delight cookies. There are rolo candies melted right in them. They are my favoritest cookies everah!

You have to click on this one to really see it well. Its my tree outlined with the lights only.

Close up light painting.

Go to Sarcastic Mom's weekly winners to check out some great shots.

Funny Photo Friday

Photo Bliss has stopped their funny photo Friday meme. I really liked it so I decided if I have a funny photo I'll continue to share it. I feel like the blog meme killer. I just get into a meme and they stop it. I also did the Rookie Mom Challenge over at Temporarily Me until they discontinued that too. Anyway hope you enjoy the photo.

Should I be concerned that Caitlin made this snowman look so angry?

Wordless Wednesday

This dog checks us out each day through this hole.

Ticked Off Tuesday-Jogging perverts

"So you can jog in place while you wait", said the creepy crossing guard near the middle and high school that I jog by. I don't think that this Charles Manson look-a-like was concerned about my heart rate staying elevated. I think he wanted to see the girls bounce. I felt like reporting him after this exchange.

Another exchange that is not uncommon is high school boys yelling out of moving cars something clever like "Hey sexy. Wanna f**k." What do they expect to occur after saying this? Am I suppose to run after the car and yell, "Yes of course I want you"?

I once went jogging and actually had a car of boys circle the block in their car to follow me. I went to someone's house I knew.

I don't know why young men think this behavior is acceptable. Or maybe they simply don't care. All I know is this behavior is at best annoying and at worse scary.

If it is not fun then don't do it.

Financial surprises have been abundant since September. We have had 2 major car repairs, the entire roof redone, a basement that needs a sump pump, and news of no bonus this December.

We have had to restructure are spending this holiday season. We stopped buying for my brother and his wife and just buy for their baby. They do the same. We have definitely reduced what we spend on each other. That seems to be the easiest place to cut costs. We decided to wait to buy a big present for each other till January or February when we know there will be more money coming into the budget. I get so much more joy now from watching the kids open presents than receiving them myself. Honestly I'm lucky that I really don't need anything either.

We have reduced how much we buy for the kids too. The main reason for that was not financial but spacial. I get stressed after Christmas trying to figure out where to put all the new toys. My kids have very generous grandparents, aunts, and uncles who also buy for them.

I am also trying to remember the real meaning of Christmas. For me that doesn't mean spending a ton of money but rather spending quality time together. I have enjoyed watching special Christmas shows with my daughter, Caitlin. The best part of watching the shows is the fact she gets so much joy from it and cuddles with us on the couch. I know the days of her cuddling with us are numbered so I enjoy it each time. We also try to find the cheap or free seasonal events like going to the local park that has a great light display.

Giving the kids hot chocolate is an event in itself.

Another thing that stresses me out is making a zillion types of Christmas cookies. I decided I'm not doing it. I'm making two types of cookies, the rolo cookies (that are my favorite) and the store brought sugar cookie dough ones, that Caitlin will help me decorate. There is another great activity.

My motto this year is if it is not fun then don't do it.

This was written for the Parent Blogger Network as part of a sweepstakes sponsored by FFDA.

Weekly Winners

Enjoying the entertainment at Rain Forest Cafe.



Go to Sarcastic Mom's weekly winners to check out some great shots.

Douching the Dog

Maximus went outside last night at 10:30 pm to take care of business before bedtime. Usually he goes out and is back barking at the door in about 2 minutes. It is never a good thing when he is gone longer than that. When he came back in, he smelled horrid. Dave said he smelt like Au De Dirty Old Whore. (Gives you a lovely idea of what he smelled like.) We gave him a bath but that didn't seem to be cutting it. He wasn't sprayed by a skunk. We believe he rolled in something that he thought smelled great. We discussed options. I had read that tomato juice and douches get hard to get rid of skunk spray, I thought that should do it. Dave refused to douch the dog. The thought of using douch on the dog just made me giggle.

We ended up bathing him a couple of times with the dog soap. Eventually that did the trick. We had to throw away his collar and the bath towels.

I tell you this dog is more trouble than Marley lately. He has eaten hot chili off the stove, vomited a pile of sticks, and stolen candy from the children and that is just this week.

Getting back on the scale

The year is soon coming to an end. Each new year I make resolutions to make myself better. On the agenda for this new year is finally getting rid of the baby weight. The baby is now a year and half it should be gone by now. I nursed for the first year and find it hard to lose weight after the initial weight loss. Anyway what am I going to do to accomplish this? I'm planning on starting Weight Watchers (again), keeping a strict food journal, working out more intensely and weighing myself once a week.

I stopped weighing myself a couple of months ago. I just kinda gave up the fight. It is easier to ignore the problem if you don't step on the scale to see the big ugly figure. I weighed myself this morning and the good news is I haven't gained any more weight and the bad news is I haven't lost anymore. I can't really expect to lose the weight when I'm not really trying.

I know what I need to do now I need to actually do it. I'm ready for the challenge. No more excuses! My goal is to lose the baby weight by Davey's 2nd birthday in May. That should be plenty of time to achieve this goal.

This was written for the Parent Blogger Network as part of a sweepstakes sponsored by Big Tent.

Wordless Wednesday

It is hard to stand up even with only an inch of snow.

Ticked Off Tuesday-No Time for Me

I feel like I have no time to do things for myself lately. I guess it is just part of being a parent that you give up doing things for yourself. I can't count the times that I get everyone ready to go somewhere (which means putting on coats, hats, mittens and packing sippy cups and snacks, etc.) and forget to get myself those same essential items. There just doesn't seem to be enough time for me time. I wonder when people find time to go running when they have kids, jobs, and husbands. Maybe like my ob/gyn they work out at 10 pm or 5 am.

I long for the leisurely workout. I remember before I had kids, I would go for a run or the gym right after work. I didn't worry if I was gone more than 1 hour. Now I feel guilty if I'm gone too long and I only go once a week.

Now here the newest squabble I'm having with my husband, he gets mad if I go to the gym on the mornings that are mine to sleep in. I get up with the kids 5 days out of 7. On those two days I get to sleep in but I feel like my time is better spent at the gym. Dave gets angry because he thinks that there are other times that I should be working out. I work out at home most days but I really look forward to the days I get to the use the weight machines and high quality cardio fitness machines. I can go to the gym one day on the weekend during the day but during the week I can't go unless I wait till the kids are in bed. (And that one weekend workout is continginent on us not having plans.) Dave feels it is more important for me or him to sleep than for me to go to the gym. To be fair to Dave, he does suffer from insomnia from time to time. I wouldn't mind switching our days to sleep in if he has had a rough night either. I just feel that I should get to use my time how I want to. I love working out. I feel better when I do. I'm a better mom when I do.

Ok so this is a bit rambling. What do you think is a fair solution? Should I give up my gym mornings and start going at night when I barely have energy? Am I being unfair to Dave? If you think I'm wrong let me know. I'm a big girl I can take it.

Wake Up

I awoke this morning to the sound of the dog barfing at 5:30 am. I cleaned it up and tried to go back to sleep. At 5:45 Caitlin woke up crying and insisting that she didn't brush her teeth and needed a story read. Dave dealt with that one. Again I tried to go back to sleep. At 6:15 Davey woke up for the day. Boy I hope the day gets better.

Weekly Winners

I'm feeling in the Christmas spirit and took some Christmas tree shots with no flash.

Can you see me waving in the reflection?

No snow yet but this shot still feels wintery (and peaceful) to me.

Go to Sarcastic Mom's weekly winners to check out some great shots.

Funny Photo Friday

Wordless Wednesday

Ticked Off Tuesday-The Daddy Difference

Ticked off Tuesday is helping keep my rants down to once a week. What is getting me going this week? It is the daddy difference. Why do they treat Dave aka Daddy so different than me? Dave and I take turns getting up with the kids on the weekend and the days he works from home. So for 5 days out of the week, I get up with them usually between 6 and 6:30 am. When Dave gets up with them they sleep till 7:30. He jokes that he has an agreement with them. Sometimes I kind of believe him.

When Dave is watching the kids he checks his Mob Wars and Facebook about 42 times in a morning. If I try to check my email or get directions those kids jump on me like an ant on jelly. The kids play so nicely when Dave is on the computer. So not fair!

Sometimes I feel like it is so hard to get housework done with the kids clinging to me and demanding stories be read. Dave often puts me to shame and cleans the house when I sleep in. While I'm so happy Dave helps with the household chores, it is frustrating that he gets more done in the same amount of time.

On the flip side, the kids come to me first when they are hurt and need comforting. I get more cuddles. So I guess I really shouldn't complain.