Scootin...

Today I took the girls out to see Alvin and the Chipmunks. It was a cute show and they really enjoyed it. When we got home, I thought the girls would be tired but instead, it was very nice out (that's right 70's in January) so we went out to play with their new toys. Jennah got a new scooter for Christmas so I watched her from the driveway just waiting for the accident to happen. Much to my surprise, she did very well and is getting the hang of it rather quickly. No spills or anything like that! She's still a bit cautious on it but I'm sure before long, speed will come and she'll be zooming around the neighborhood on it. Until then, I'll stand off to the side and pray to the teeth god that she'll be spared any kind of dental issues while scooting!

Stay off the sidewalks...

There are new drivers in town... Ok, not really but I know two lucky little girls who are driving around the cul-de-sac! Yep, Santa came through and brought them a John Deer Gator! They love it! I'm glad he went with this one because as you can see, Jennah is getting bigger every day and will outgrow it soon enough. Luckily for now, she can teach Kaylee how to drive safely around our neighborhood! They LOVE this! I love the fact that the seat is adjustable and it has a working dump bed so now they can help us with the yardwork! LOL


Jennah teaching Kaylee how to drive


Whooo Hooo! LOL

A Jennah story...

Today was the last day of school for holiday break. Jennah was a bit confused by this while waiting at the bus stop today. She apparently thought school was out just for Christmas day. So, I explained to her that she was out of school for the holidays... here's how it ended:

Jennah: "Oh, so we're just out for Christmas day and then we go back?"
Me: "No Jennah, you're out of school for two and one half weeks and then you go back."
Jennah: "Two and a half weeks?"
Me: "Yes, so you can play with all the toys that Santa brings you."
Jennah: "I think I'm going to need more time."

I cracked up and then she laughed as well. She is sooo darn funny!

Santa claus is coming....

Tonight we went to Dade City to walk down Church Street. It's a street in a small town where every year, they decorate all the historic homes and churches for Christmas. There are live manger scenes, carolers, little boys and girls dressed as angels singing, Santa, church choirs, and so on. It is very nice to be able to take the kids for a walk at night to enjoy all the lights and activities. They even had a chance to talk with Santa and Mrs. Claus for a few minutes. Kaylee and Jennah both enjoyed that! Here are a few pics... enjoy!

Santa and Jennah

Santa and Kaylee

One of my favorite homes

Run, run as fast as you can...

you can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man! Tonight we decorated gingerbread people! We're not sure if they're men or women so we're calling them people! Anyway, we all had fun making a big mess! Here are pics of the finished gingerbread family...The first two on top are mommy's and daddy's. The rest were done by the girls - I'm pretty sure you can tell which ones Kaylee did and which ones Jennah did!

The Egg Yolk Game...

We were driving through town tonight and playing a game we call Egg Yolk. It's a silly game where you say "egg yolk" every time you see a yellow car. Kaylee decided that she was going to say (a.k.a. YELL) "egg yolk" every time she saw the color yellow whether it was a car or a street sign or a hint of yellow on a sidewalk. Here's her conversation with us about the game and the rules:

Kaylee: "Egg yolk street sign!" (laughs loud)
Jennah: "Kaylee, you're only supposed to say egg yolk when it's a car, not a sign or a yellow light."
Kaylee: "No Jennah, I say it if it's a sign or just yellow."
Jennah: (getting aggravated) "No Kaylee, the game is for yellow cars only."
Kaylee: "Mom?"
Mom: "Yes Kaylee."
Kaylee: "Jennah's stupid."
Mom: "No she isn't Kaylee, she's just trying to play the game the right way."
Kaylee"Mom?"
Mom: "What Kaylee."
Kaylee: "You're stupid too."

I'm sorry, I normally don't like my children to call another person stupid but coming from Kaylee, it was kind of funny so we all had a good laugh. And yes, I told her afterward that calling people stupid was not nice.

say cheese...

We had our family photos taken for the holidays today. I'll first start by saying "Get well soon Randy!" " We need our photographer back!" With that said, our normal holiday picture is taken by our dear friend Randy. This year, due to Randy having surgery, we had to go to the portrait studio. We were there for just a short time when I remembered why we opt to have Randy take the pics for us...It boils down to this - with our kids, getting a good picture is much like nailing Jello to a tree! They're all smiley and looking cute BEFORE the photographer starts. Then, after the first two shots, the smiles fade and they get wiggly - really wiggly - and why is it that no two children can look at the camera at the same time? Is there some kind of law that I wasn't informed of? I will say, our photographer was very good and we did get in some good pictures of the girls. Until next year...

The life cycle explained...

Jennah's science class was studying life cycles. She had to write her explanation of the human life cycle - so here it is:

"First you come from your mom's belly. Now you are a baby. Then you grow to be a kid. Then an adult. Then you get old."

Love it! I'm going to guess that I'm in the adult stage!

and the winner is...

Kaylee brought home an award from school! She's student of the month for demonstrating cooperation! WHAT!?Cooperation? Kaylee? Are you sure? After all, this is the child that I have to pry out of the car, pick her up in a football hold maneuver and listen to her scream just about every day when we get home because "she doesn't want to _______..." Oh well, even if they're mistaken, and as her mom I'm sure they are, we'll take the award and proudly display it in the curio cabinet along with taking her to Chick-fil-A which was part of the award as well! Congratulations Kaylee - we love you!

Oh yes, please note that I coudn't get her to COOPERATE with me so I could get a nice picture!

The tree...

We put up our Christmas tree tonight. I'll first say that I'm surprised the pre-lit tree lasted another year in the garage. So far, only one branch refuses to light up. Now, I'm going to admit that there really wasn't any rearranging to be done after the girls went to bed. You moms and dads know what I mean -when all the red ornaments are piled together on one branch and so forth and you wait for the kids to go to bed before you make "adjustments"! I thought it would be worse this year with two girls helping but really, only one or two ornaments had to be - ahem - adjusted and only because they were small ornaments that I needed for the top of the tree. So, now we just sit and wait for Santa!

The Plot...

I"m going to start off by saying that we have an alarm on our home. Not because we live in a bad neighborhood or anything like that, it was just part of the "builders package". Anyway, we have it set up so that if anyone opens a door or window, it beeps. I like it for the reason that I always know if the kids are going outside, or if someone is coming in. I told you this because it is part of today's Jennah story:

Jennah: "Mom, I've decided I'm going to sleep under the living room chair this year in order to catch Santa Claus."
Mom: "Well, if you catch Santa Claus, how will he bring toys to the other girls and boys?"
Jennah: "I'm not really going to catch him like with a net or a cage! I just want to catch him in the act of putting my gifts under the tree." "I tried to do this with the Easter Bunny last year but I was too late." "This year, I have a plan though."
Mom: "What's the plan?"
Jennah: "I'm going to secretly listen for the alarm beeps and then I'll know when he's sneaking in so I can watch him from under the chair."
Mom: "Oh."
Jennah: (evil giggles) "Yup, won't he be surprised when he sees I'm watching him this time."
Mom: "Oh yeah, he'll be real surprised."

Too cute!

School tomorrow...

After being home for 5 days for the holiday, the girls go back to school tomorrow. Last Tuesday, when it was their last day of school before vacation, I thought I'd be more excited for tomorrow to come. Honestly though, I enjoyed my time with them while they were home. We had fun playing games like hide and seek, doing puzzles, some shopping and took in a movie as a family. I really enjoyed it. I'm amazed every day as to how far Kaylee has come in the last year and even in just the last few months. As for Jennah, she is so smart and her thought process always catches me off guard. For instance, the other day we were in the car and I asked her "If Santa could bring you just one thing for Christmas, what would you want it to be?" She thought real hard for a minute and then said "A big bag of toys." Wouldn't most kids have picked out the one favorite toy they wanted?

nail biter

I'm going to admit - I'm a nail biter! There, now you know - it's out in the open! LOL I'm telling you this because today, I had my hair done and a manicure as well. The only reason I had the manicure was because it was something I won back before EASTER at the salon I go to. Of course, after I picked "the winning egg", I immediately said "Really, I won a manicure? When that lady that does nails sees my hands she's going to laugh and give me a pair of gloves to wear!" The gal at the front desk said "No she won't, she's real nice." Ok, that was reassuring - which is part of the reason I waited so long - the other part being because I kept biting my nails and there was nothing to "manicure"! LOL So, for the last three weeks or so leading up to my appointment today, I stopped nibbling at my fingertips. It was very hard to do but I am happy that I stopped biting them and went to get them done today. My nails look great - it just may be my incentive to stop biting them for good!

Merry Christmas to me...

It's not quite Christmas yet but I did receive my most awesome gift already - yep, I am now a part of the front loader family! LOVE THEM! I can't believe I was able to wash a king size comforter and shams and have them completely dry in 30 minutes! Our old washer would have choked and then it would have taken the comforter at least 90 minutes to dry! Mike is impressed as well. It took about 25 minutes to dry 14 towels and I probably could have gotten more towels in the washer than that! Anyway, a HUGE hug for Mike for letting have my presents early! Oh, and did I mention it's going to save money on vacations... we'll just set a chair in front of them for the kids (see pic) No more Disney World!! joking of course...LOL...

Things happen...

Kaylee had a luncheon today at school for Thanksgiving. Thanks to my mom and to my hair dresser, I was able to move appointments around, have my mom stay for my washer and dryer delivery and join Kaylee along with Mike for a very nice, yet chaotic lunch! Here she is waiting patiently for our table's turn to get in line for food.

Our little Indian...

Jennah was in her very first class play today at school. It was a three part play all about Thanksgiving. She and her class did a great job but of course, I'm especially proud of her. She had all her lines memorized for one part and was the only one who didn't have to read off a script. The class made their costumes. They were all very cute. On the back of Jennah's, she wrote "You Rock!" Too funny... Here's a picture of her - enjoy and have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Oh the weather outside is frightful...

Ok, so it's not really frightful.. it's pretty darn nice! I bought some new Christmas lights for the outside of the house today yet something about putting them up when it's 82 degrees out at the end of November is just wrong! So, we've decided to put it off until it gets cooler. Like tomorrow - it'll only be 80! Oh Mike, get that ladder ready! Pics to follow...

Our Disney Trip...

We took the girls to Disney World this weekend. Of course, we didn't tell them where we were going Friday night so they were a bit excited once we got closer and Jennah began to read the Disney signs! We had a beautiful room at the Animal Kingdom Lodge -Kidani Village thanks to our friend Randy. We were able to catch a view of some animals from our balcony every day which was pretty cool. The weather was absolutely gorgeous. The kids had so much fun at the Magic Kingdom on Saturday, we decided to spend Sunday there as well. Needless to say, they didn't want to come home Sunday night and both girls were pretty tired on Monday. Getting Kaylee up for school this morning was fun - not! She rolled over and said "no, I'm still sleepy - go away!" and put her blanket over her head. I told her that she had to go to school so she could tell her friends that she saw Mickey Mouse. Then she rolled back over and said "Oh yeah." and got right up! Too cute. Well, now it's back to the grind. Here are some pics... enjoy!

Pinnochio and the girls

This is just the bedroom of the villa we stayed in! It was huge!

My house - ok maybe not! Cinderella's house!

back to school...

The girls went back to school today after a whole week of being sick. Kaylee brought home strep throat and scarlet fever from school on Friday and Jennah caught it on Sunday. I took them to the Dr. on Monday and got them on antibiotics as soon as I could. Kaylee keeps getting it - after all, this is her third time since August. Most of the children in her class are not very verbal yet and they just don't have it in them to say "hey mom, I've got a sore throat!" so, like me, the parents send them to school to "share" their illnesses and for some reason, Kaylee gets it every time. Anyway, they are finally well enough to get back to school so now I can get caught up on my housework instead of coloring, playing Iron Chef in their play kitchen and watching multiple episodes of Sponge Bob! The pic is of them waiting at the Dr. office.

cooking 101

Tonight I promised the girls we would make brownies. I decided to let Jennah read the directions while I helped Kaylee add the ingredients. I read the directions before hand as well. We added the three ingredients to the bowl and only then did I realize that we had added 3 tsp of oil and 1/2 cup of water when it should have been 3 tsp water and 1/2 cup of oil. It was totally my fault! Jennah read the directions correctly, I just wasn't paying attention as I was too busy trying to keep a steady eye on what Kaylee was doing. Now it's wait and see time! No way to fix the problem at this point - we just may have made pudding instead - we'll see!

kids in the kitchen...

My girls have been "cooking" up some play meals for us all day in their new kitchen. I say new kitchen because without them knowing, we sold their old one in our yard sale yesterday! It was pretty bulky and really didn't have any storage room for the food and dishes. Mike and I felt a little guilty afterward because they really do love to "cook". We went out today and bought them a new smaller but nicer one. It was fun eating their "meals" at first and by at first, I mean the first hour or so. It's now been about 3 hours and I'm still ordering and eating plastic foods. Someone help me!! LOL I don't know how much more I can take! I've eaten at least 45 plastic hot dogs, countless bowls of fake salad and way too many plastic potato chips!aaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! LOL Really though, I'd do it again tomorrow - they're so fun!

A look back...

I was chatting with a friend tonight on Facebook. She is going to Costa Rica for the holidays. Yeah, I'm jealous. It is beautiful there. Anyway, I sent her the link to my Panama Canal Cruise photo page so she could get a glimpse of our stop in Costa Rica. While doing so, I had to look back at some of the pictures and came across this one. It's from a happy day yet a sad one at the same time. I'll start with the sad part: It was our last day on the ship! I know, kind of silly but when you've gone on an awesome 18 day cruise through the Panama Canal, who would want to go home! Now for the happy part: It was the second day that our little Kaylee was walking on her own! She waited and had us carry her and push her around in the stroller the whole trip until the next to the last day when she took her first steps by herself without holding on to someone or something! We were all in our pajamas ready for bed when she decided it was "her time to walk" and walked around the whole deck! Even people we didn't know were looking out their cabin doors cheering her on! For those of you who know us well, you know we had waited so long for her to walk on her own! What great memories we'll always have of that trip - thanks Kaylee!

charcoal chicken...

Monday night I marinated some chicken in some jerk seasoning I had bought while in the Caribbean. I had made it in the past several times and couldn't wait to eat it again - after all, it had marinated for 24 hours - yummy goodness! So, I had Mike crank up the grill - yes my northern friends, we still have some grillin' weather! Anyway, he turned it to low which he always does. I waited a few minutes for the grill to heat up and then went out to put the chicken on the top rack. I use the top rack because chicken has a tendency to flare up once in a while and this keeps it from coming in direct contact with any flame (or so I thought). I went out a few times to check on it and all was good. I then returned again to turn it over and lifted the lid on the grill only to find an ash grey grill rack with chicken shaped charcoal on it! I couldn't believe it - my chicken was gone - almost dust in fact! I looked at the thermometer: 600 degrees - no, that's not normal for the low setting! What I think happened was in between checking it, there must have been a flare up which toasted the racks and the chicken as well as causing the grill to reach that super high temp. And, wouldn't you know, I had invited company over for dinner - of course! So, to those of you who came over for dinner - hope you enjoyed the store bought fried chicken! Now I'll have to book another cruise to get more of that super delicious jerk seasoning!

A Jennah funny...

So, I'm sitting at the bus stop with Jennah today and as she's talking to me, I tell her to stop for a minute so I can remove a strand of hair from her shirt sleeve. She raises up her arm and I pulled the strand off. She looks at me and says "Wow, was that my first underarm hair?" Of course, I tell her "No, it's just one that was on your shirt." and then I crack up laughing! She's hilarious - even so early in the morning!

good to be home again?

This past week has been challenging. I came back form Arkansas to a sick family! I had to take Kaylee to the Dr last week - she had strep throat. Mike's been sick, and Jennah has been on the edge trying to get sick as well. I've managed to completely avoid it. As of today, they're all feeling well again. Maybe this will be a "normal" week!

I'm baaccckkk!

Last week, I traveled to NW Arkansas. I had a wonderful visit. The weather was perfect - well, for me anyway! When I left Florida, it was a hot, muggy 96 degrees. In Arkansas, it was about 65! Ahhhhhh, what a relief from the heat. Nice enough to get away with just long sleeves during the day! I went to a ton of craft fairs as well as getting a chance to meet up with some good friends of mine. Next year, I'm planning a longer stay so I can visit with more of my friends. That will also give me time to enjoy more of the leaves changing colors which were absolutely beautiful this trip. Here's a pic I took while I was there. It's a working mill out at War Eagle Arkansas. Oh, and here's a pic of the poster that was on our front door when I returned to Florida! The girls missed me! Of course, I missed them as well.

Li'l Miss Independent...

Just a short video of Kaylee at her first time bowling. She did NOT want our help at all. We were finally able to convince her to let us help her push the ball just enough to get it down the lane but here's a short video for you to enjoy of her without our assistance! I love the way she uses hand gestures to "keep it moving"!

Twisted...

Earlier this evening I made a purchase on-line. Sorry, I can't share what I bought because Mike sometimes reads my blog and it's a surprise for him. Anyway, when paying for my purchase, I ran into the security screen. You know the one... "Type the words in the box above" - that are all crazy shaped and hard to read. Well, here's a picture of the one I was presented with this evening. Now, I know the word Hungary is referring to the country but really, when paired up with the word bulimics, it's just wrong in all kinds of sick ways! (see mom, I'm not the only one with a twisted sense of humor) LOL

Recipe Time...

Tonight I tried out a new recipe for Pizza Stuffed Peppers and boy were they delicious! So, I'm going to share it all of you:

1/2 Cup Orzo pasta

6 bell peppers

1.25lb pkg ground turkey

1/2 Cup diced pepperoni

1 can pizza sauce (15oz.)

1.5 Cups shredded pizza cheese blend.

1/2 Cup water

Cook pasta in boiling water for 3 minutes. It will not be done but that's how you want it because it will continue to cook in crock pot. Drain, rinse with cold water to cool. Drain well.

Cut tops off peppers; remove seeds and membranes.

In a non-stick skillet, cook turkey and pepperoni over medium high heat until turkey is no longer pink. Drain if necessary. Stir in pizza sauce, 1 cup of the shredded cheese and the cooked pasta.

Divide turkey filling among peppers.

Spray 5 to 6 qt. slow cooker with cooking spray. Pour 1/2 cup water into slow cooker. Stand peppers upright in cooker; cover, cook on low about 4-5 hours.

When time is up, top filling with remaining 1/2 Cup shredded cheese. Cover and cook 5 to 10 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. When finished, remove peppers with large slotted spoon using tongs to support peppers.

FYI, I cooked the rest of the box of orzo and added 1/2 can of crushed tomatoes to the pasta as a side dish.

Enjoy!!

lately...

I haven't been blogging much lately - and boy have I been hearing about it! I have a good excuse though, or at least I think it's pretty good. The kids are in school. Yes, that's my excuse! When they were home during the summer, there were tons of thing to blog about because they are so funny and I had more time during the day to spend with them. Now, they get up, go to school, come home, have some playtime, dinner, homework, baths and bedtime. Did you see anything funny about that last sentence? I didn't think so! There are occasional stories like the one I'm about to share that do happen on school nights and I'm happy to blog about them. So, here goes:

The other night, Jennah was in her room hiding under the blanket on her bed. Kaylee was wandering around the house calling her name. I was in my bedroom when Kaylee came in and said "Mom, where's Jennah?" So, I told her "I'm not sure but she's not in here." Kaylee looks around my room, then says "Damn it" and walks out. Now, we all know, she's only three so for her to use that phrase in the manner she did was pretty funny to Mike and I but of course, we got on to her about it being a bad thing to say - before we turned and giggled to ourselves. Oh, let me clear the air while I'm sharing my story... my brother and his fiance are living with us at the moment and SHE uses this phrase quite often. I didn't want you to think Kaylee got it from me!

Fall is here!

To my friends in the North, I woke up to a chilly morning and thought I'd let you know. Yeah, it was 64 degrees outside when I took the girls to school! Brrrrrr. Ok, really though, it was chilly but have no fear, it will be in the high 80's this afternoon. I love the cooler mornings and honestly would have it this way the whole day if I was in charge of the weather! Ahhhhh at least we don't ever have to shovel the snow.

Our little bowler...

It's Saturday... and that means getting up early to take Jennah to bowling. I'm amazed at how well she's doing since summertime when she was in bowling camp and barely making scores in the 40's. Her high score last week was an 85 which put her in the Pee Wee high score spot for females. Her team is in first place overall for the Pee Wee League. This week, she received a patch for her shirt. She was very excited but not as excited as her first game this morning... She bowled three strikes and ended up with a score of 101. OMG, you should have seen her afterward. She told everyone "I got a 101!" It was so cool. Here's a clip Mike took on his cell phone of her making a strike. I love how she hopped up and down afterwards... enjoy!

Here we go again...

Once again, Kaylee's got strep along with scarlet fever! How it is that she's had it twice already is beyond me. The last time she had it was back in July. Well, today, I got her dressed in my room without turning the lights on so I didn't even notice the rash until we got to school! Bad mommy! LOL Usually when we get to the school, I unbuckle her so she can sit up front with me until the teachers start unloading the kids. When she got up front today, I looked at her and saw some spots on her neck. So, then I looked at her belly - yep, it wasn't looking pretty! So, I had to put her back in her car seat which she was NOT happy about and take her to the pediatrician. Of course part of the way there, she cried, "I want my school" until I told her we were going to the Dr.s' office. She loves our pediatrician. He's very nice and makes the kids laugh all the time. He walked in today and asked me "Well, what do we have here." So I said "Well, it's been a few months since our last visit and we heard the lollipops were good." Of course we had a chuckle and then he looked Kaylee over and said "Yes mommy, we've got it again." IT meaning scarlet fever and strep. So, she's on antibiotics and now we'll just sit back and wait until Jennah gets it like last time! Oh the joy...

Cloudy With A chance Of....

Yesterday I was talking with my two girls and told them to look outside to see what the weather was like. So they did and then they looked at me and said "It's sunny". So, I turned around and said "Are you sure it's not Cloudy With a Chance Of Meatballs?" Man, you should have heard them screaming! They were so excited to know that I was going to take them to see that movie. I've never seen them get dressed so quickly! The movie was very good. We saw it in digital 3D which was way cool! Of course, there's nothing like going to a movie with two little ones who were so excited! We had a great time!

It's Friday!

I'm feeling relieved that it's Friday... not that I work and I get the weekend off but because we all know I don't work. It's just the fact that I know I get a break from Jennah and her homework! I love to help her but with her new school and everything being on the computer, I sometimes feel pretty dumb for a mom! It's all new to her and us but her teacher reassured us that it's a lot to get used to and we're not the only parents who feel this way. Luckily, she's a very nice, understanding lady! So I'm headed off the computer now to get my housework done so I can hopefully get a nice relaxing weekend in for a change! Have a good one!

A Jennah funny...

Tonight, Mike and I went to Jennah's new school for an open house event. It was a chance for her to show us around her class and tell us about the work she is doing. One of the things the class worked on this week was writing a letter to the school principal. Jennah read her letter to us and her teacher. It was mainly about how she likes school and how education is a good thing "because if you have a good education, you can get a good job and make lots of money". It went on to tell about some of the jobs you can get like being a teacher or a doctor, etc. And then on the last line, she wrote "By the way, love the shirt." So we all look at each other and start laughing. She looks at us and says "What?" We asked her about the comment regarding the shirt and she says "Well, I really like the shirts the principal wears." It was too funny. Oh yes, the teacher made a comment to us about how Jennah has a wicked funny sense of humor....hmmmmm WHERE do we think she gets that from? LOL

Pepper In Some Hope...

Just a reminder to everyone...

On Sept 28th, Chili's restaurants are doing their annual "Pepper In Some Hope" fundraiser for St. Judes Children's Research Hospital. It's simple - all you have to do is dine at Chili's on the 28th and ALL the profits go to St. Judes! Please tell your friends - it's for a good cause. Whether it's lunch or dinner, we can all eat at Chili's to help out can't we?

Cards that even YOU can make...

I met up with some friends today to make some cards and a card holder. Ok, I'll just say, we had a great time and did some really neat things with paper and yes, even bleach and sandpaper that even you can do! Here are a few pics and short descriptions:

Cardholder/Organizer - made with 8 sheets of 12x12 dbl sided card stock paper.. OMG - SUPER EASY! (Oh, and a big thanks to Trish for letting me use her binding machine!)

Animal print cards - made with card stock, stamped and heat embossed animal prints, bleach and a brush - SUPER EASY and WAY COOL!

This one's my fave... the white part of the tiger is the bleached part (the paper was blue). The blue eyes are 'Stickles'.

Embossed flower card - Made by heat embossing a flower print on shimmer paper and then coloring it in by spraying it with water and dabbing in ink with a brush - SUPER EASY!

And finally, Embossed card made by embossing on two sided Core'dinations paper and then fine sanding the embossed side to allow color on back side to show through! Again - SUPER EASY - I'd even let the kids do this one!

Are you smarter than a ....

Are you smarter than a 2nd grader? Well, I thought I was! Until now of course. Yes, that's right.. now that Jennah is in the Quest Academy program, I'm feeling kind of stupid! Her homework consists of getting on the computer and doing math work, making family trees using one of five ways to show it to the class (ie. technology, art, writing, etc) and let us not forget doing family interviews for writing. Oh, did I mention she has 73 ways to practice spelling words! Crazy huh! 73 ways! What happened to writing your spelling words 50 times until you got them correct! I didn't even have a computer in my classroom until high school and at the age of 7, I don't think I even knew the word technology never mind doing power point presentations! What a difference time makes. Anyway, I'm looking to the future and thinking I'm going to help Kaylee more with her homework which mostly involves the decision of what color crayon to use for the picture she's going to color. I'll let Mike help Jennah with the 73 ways of spelling and the technology! LOL

Labor Day weekend

Had a wonderful holiday weekend and hope everyone reading this did as well. We took it easy and really didn't do much at all. I did go out shopping with Jennah as she needed a few more things as far as school clothes go and I also took the kids to the park yesterday. Other than that, it was a nice relaxing weekend for all of us. Have a great week everyone!

A KAYLEE FUNNY!!

Here it is.. the first posting of a Kaylee funny! Mike and I went together to pick her up from school yesterday. On the way home, she was in her car seat and was telling me to "shake the car." I did that by turning the wheel back and forth real quick. No worries, we weren't on a busy street and we were going pretty slow. She giggled so loud and kept telling me "shake the car more mommy." She then said "make it hop up and down." Obviously, I can't do that with a car nor do I want to but as we were heading home, we went over some bumpy railroad tracks and she said "make it hop again." Well, I couldn't make it happen again as we were past any bumps in the road so I said to her "We're all done hopping and shaking Kaylee." She got real quiet for a moment and then we heard this:

Kaylee: "Mom?"
Me: "Yes Kaylee"
Kaylee: "Can I drive?" (sooo cute)
Me: "Noooo silly girl, you can't drive, you're too little to drive."
Kaylee: "Can I drive now?"
Me: giggling "Not yet."
Kaylee: "Mom... you're fired."

LOL She's soooo cute and loves to tell everyone they're fired. She even told the feeding therapist she was fired last week after she tried to get Kaylee to try something new. So funny!

Another week goes by..

Another week flies by and what do I have to show for it on my blog? Nothing! LOL It just seems that with my brother's family here, I'm not on the computer much. I do have a Jennah Story though - It started out being a compliment from her and then all went south as the conversation went on:

Jennah: "Mom, you're the prettiest thing on two legs that I know."
Me: "Well thanks Jennah."
Jennah: "Well, that is, besides me and Missy, Kaylee and Tigger (our cat) and anyone else that you might know."

Hmmmm, I thought it was too nice to be true! I should have known by the use of the word "thing" in her first statement!

Jennah's Hospital visit...

Earlier this evening, Jennah had a high fever and was crying and complaining about a very sharp pain in her side. We decided to take her to the emergency room to have her looked at. I got her there at 8:20 and we returned home at midnight. They took x-rays, did a urinary test, drew blood and gave her an IV because she was dehydrated. Turns out, she has a kidney infection. She had the same thing a few years ago only it was a lot worse and had started to spread. This time, we caught it before it got worse. She said her side still hurts but hopefully, that will go away in a few days. She's going to take an antibiotic that should help along with some Tylenol for her fever and the side pain. Hopefully she'll feel better tomorrow so she can enjoy some of her weekend! Yes, I took a picture of her while we were at the hospital - bad mommy!

where's my blog?

I was reminded today that I haven't blogged in a while. Ok, so here's my excuse this time... Just because I'm a stay at home mom, doesn't mean I stay at home sitting in front of the computer all day! Let's see now, it's the first week of school, I've had to drop off and pick up the kids, had a Dr. appt to go to, took Mike for x-rays, took Kaylee to feeding therapy, took the car into the dealership, went to the bank, did some grocery shopping, not to mention laundry and other housework, paid bills, visited with relatives, and the list goes on. Oh and did I mention that my brother and his family are living with us until the paperwork goes through on the new home they bought! So now there's three extra people in the house and really, by the time we sit and chat after dinner, kids homework, baths and bedtime stories, I'm pooped! LOL Really, though, I wouldn't change a thing. It's just been a crazy week here! Until next time....

1st day of school

Today is the first day of school! The kids were so excited but the parents are even more excited! LOL. We dropped Kaylee off first. Guess what? I forgot to take a picture of her ;( She really got the short end of the stick this year as we didn't walk her to her class. She's in the same class and has the same teacher as last year. Because Jennah started a totally different school and the drop off times were so close, we decided that it would be better to drop Kaylee off and then take Jennah in to her new school since she hadn't gone there before and didn't know her way around. Anyway, Kaylee was happy with just being dropped off (her teacher meets the students outside the school and they all go in together). Jennah was happy that we were taking her in. I didn't get a chance to take pics of her in her classroom but I did catch a couple of pics outside! Now, we'll see how mom does today with no girls to keep me busy! Here are a few pics... enjoy

Homework...

As you read (previous post), we visited Jennah's new school for open house the other day. Upon leaving her classroom, which we've now discovered isn't her classroom at all, she was given a back to school project to complete during the first week of school. She is to take a brown paper bag or a shoebox and decorate it with pictures that depict her interests. She is then to place three items inside that she would like to share with the class. I gave her a shoebox - yeah, can't believe I had one but lucky for her, she just got some new shoes for bowling and since we haven't used the shoes yet, they were still in the box! I also gave her some of my magazines that I had not tossed out yet so she could go through and cut out some pictures. For those of you who know Jennah, you'll find the following funny... Here is a short list of the types of pictures she cut out: A bowl of soup - we all know this kid can put down some soup. Take her to Sweet Tomatoes and she'd pull up a chair to the soup bar if she could. Pictures of dogs - she really misses our dog Ebony who we sadly had to put down almost two years ago. Clothes and jewelry - She is the fashion queen of the family. A plant - huh? I don't get this one but okay, I'm not going to say anything. Pictures of some art work - Jennah is very artistic and loves to draw. She did find a picture of an eye mask used for sleeping which she has and loves but she changed her mind about using it because it had an advertisement for some sleep medication on it! Thank goodness she changed her mind - I could go to jail for that one as there was a time when she was little that she told a teacher "My mommy gives me sleeping pills at night to make me go to bed." Not true, not true at all I don't know why she said it - I swear! And finally, a picture of Elvis - Yes, that's right, she loves to imitate Elvis. She'll run around the house with her pj's unbuttoned halfway, do "the moves" and say "Uhh Huh, Thank You, Thank You Very Much". Now for the three thing she'll put in the box, well, that'll be another post as she hasn't decided yet. My guess is it'll be a spoon, a bowl and a can of soup!

Open House Day

Today was "drive around town day" for school meetings and school open houses! We started off this morning going to a meeting for the new school that Jennah will attend. It's called Explorer K-8. She's going to be in the gifted program there. It's a really neat school and so far, we like what we were shown as to what and how they teach. We then ran around to the local department stores to get Jennah some school clothes (see previous post). After finally returning home, I packed up Kaylee's school supplies and headed over to her school. She's going to be in the same ESE Pre-K program as last year. The good thing about that is she'll have the same teacher who knows all about her and her little disabilities. When we walked into Miss Ann's room, Kaylee ran with open arms to her and yelled "Miss Ann, I miss you!" It was so cute. She gave Miss Ann a great big hug and then said "you're my school". All went well there so we finally headed home for the day. Now to cook some dinner and relax until Monday morning when school starts!

I thought I was ready...

I thought I was ready for the new school year. I bought the girls' uniforms as soon as I saw them because I had issues finding the correct sizes last year. I printed off the school supplies list and already shopped. I had everything or so I thought until I received a phone call today. Jennah was tested for the gifted program at the beginning of summer and passed with flying colors. So, with that said, and with the phone call this morning, she'll now be attending the local school for gifted children. That's where all my pre-shopping went downhill. They have a few things on the supplies list that she didn't need for the other school yet a few things that I bought that she'll not need now. She'll also not need the uniforms I bought as they wear regular clothes with a few exceptions - no torn jeans, or explicit shirts. Not to worry though, I don't let her wear those either. Anyway, it just means that I have to go buy her some clothes to wear to school since I planned on her wearing uniforms. I hadn't bought her any new regular clothes and I know her old ones don't fit. Oh well,,, I can handle shopping, I was just going to avoid all the last minute school shoppers this weekend. I guess I'll be one of them now.

The Cube...

Today I had to take the Cube to the dealer to get it detailed. They didn't want to make us wait the night we bought it because we'd had already been at the dealership for a while. I'm glad that we opted to come back a different day to have it done especially since we took it to the beach with us. Not so much for the sand but the bugs on the windshield and the little crumbs in the back seat...hmmmm, how'd they get there? Also, we were promised another tank full of gas (it was full the first time) and I would have needed to fill it up again soon. Anyway, she's all clean now and smells like yummy new car! Now for a name.... :)

We're back...

Wow, I can't believe it's been a whole week since I "Scooped" last! We've been busy so I'll give you a quick rundown of the week along with some photos to share. Mike of course has kept busy with work and the girls and I are making the most of the last few days before school starts. We've been picking up the last of the school supplies and all the necessities to get them going. We took the girls on a mini vacation to the beach this past weekend. We got a late start on Friday and stayed until Sunday evening. It was wonderful. Our hotel was right on the beach and I do mean right on the beach! No parking lots or streets to cross, not even a sand dune to cross... as soon as we walked out the back of the hotel, there was the beach. We chose a pool view room which was very nice and we had a great view of the ocean as well. We also made it out to the Mote Marine Aquarium. The kids really enjoyed that. Did I mention we bought a new car? Yep, we finally cut the cord with the green van and took advantage of the cash for clunkers program. We ended up with a Nissan Cube. It's a cute car and very fun to drive. I didn't realize how much I missed my stick shifting! All in all, we had a very good week and are well rested for this coming one.

Jennah decided to put her own suncreen on!

A view of the beach from our room.

Kaylee patiently waiting for the water to come to her bucket!

A friendly manatee at the Aquarium.

The Nissan Cube.

I love our...

I love our underwater camera! I say "our" because it's actually one that we picked up for Jennah however, I tend to use it more than she does. It's a little cheap one we bought from Wal-Mart before we went on our last cruise. We knew there would be some opportunities while away at sea for her to take some underwater pics while snorkeling and we wanted her to be able to share her adventures with her classmates. Just on a whim, I looked where the regular cameras were rather than just picking up one of those disposable ones. This one was a little less than $40 and it is a digital one with a memory card and even a flash! It even takes videos. The waterproof case is awesome. We just let Jennah take pics with the case on even if it isn't in water that way if she drops it, it's not going to get hurt. Anyway, it takes nice images for as cheap as it was. Here are a few that we've taken with it... enjoy!

A Jennah story

The girls and I went running around town today to take care of some errands. On the way home, Jennah asks "Mom, what does repossessed mean?" So, to put it in her terms, I told her "Well, it's like when you buy a car, you sign a paper promising to make payments to the bank because cars are real expensive and that way, you can pay small amounts at a time instead of thousands of dollars at once. If you stop paying, the bank takes your car back because you stopped paying for it like you promised. When they take the car back, it's called having your car repossessed." Lame, I know but it was the best I could do while driving in the rain on a short notice question. She just said "Oh, okay." and we were done with it. Well, a while later, she and Kaylee were in their bedroom playing and I hear Kaylee yelling "It's mine!" so I immediately ask Jennah "What's going on?" And this my friends is where it goes bad... Jennah took a toy away from Kaylee. Why we ask? Well, she REPOSSESSED it because apparently, Kaylee didn't want to pay her for it! Or, if you want Jennah's exact quote... "Well, I repossessed it because it's not like Kaylee has a job and is going to pay me for it." Ahhhhhh.

Wine time...

I'm not much of a wine expert or a wine drinker for that matter but today I ran across a bottle of wine that I bought just because I liked the name of it! Crazy huh? Well, once my family blog readers see the label, they'll understand! It's like me in a bottle only I wish it said "Middle Child - Smarty Pants" on it! Needless to say, Mike and I cracked open the bottle and had a glass this evening. Just what I thought - much too dry for me! I'm going to stick to my local Florida Winery - Keel & Curley brand of Strawberry Riesling. Now that, I can drink and enjoy! Cheers!

bowling

I went bowling this afternoon with Jennah, my brother's girlfriend and my nephew. I'll start by saying I haven't bowled in about 12 years! So, needless to say, I was scared that Jennah was going to beat my score! I think I did pretty good though. Ok, maybe not! My first score was an 85.. my nephew beat my score and he wasn't even trying hard! My second and third games were better - ok, somewhat better. I had a 107 and a 105. Anyway, the best part was I had fun. Jennah also did well. She bowled a 51 for her high score! I can just see I'm going to need a bit more practice before I start my league bowling in three weeks! Oh, yes I did - signed myself up for punishment on a ladies only league! Maybe, just maybe someone out there will be worse at bowling than I am!

company today..

Yes, you've heard it before... We love having company come over. Today was no different... or was it? We knew my brother and his family were coming over this weekend so I decided that I'd bake a cake since it was his girlfriend's birthday last Wednesday. It was a great idea, only my timing was way off. Yes, I was baking a cake at 9:00 pm and stayed up until 1:00AM carving and decorating it. I know, crazy huh? Well, I wanted to be sure it was ready when they came over. I'm glad I did it last night as we had some errands to take care of this morning. No problem - Well, one might think. You see, when you're silly enough to bake a cake, cut it into flip flop shapes and decorate it in the wee hours of the morning, one doesn't always want to clean up at that time. So, I made the decision to clean up after we got back from running around this morning. Normally when my brother comes over he usually shows up around 3ish. No, not today... Today's the day he shows up while my sink is full of cake pans and decorating stuff! In fact, we were barely in the door when they came knocking! Anyway, at least it was just him and his family. I got the dishes done while we chatted and had some laughs! We had a great time and everyone loved the cake.

Once again, the week goes by...

Wow, where did my week go? I took the girls to see G-Force this week in 3-D. It sounded like a good idea. You know, cute Guinea Pigs out to save the world, etc. Well, much to my surprise, it was a rated PG movie. Of course, I didn't realise that until after we got home. I had seen tons of previews but they all had the cute parts in it, not the scary parts. Kaylee did get spooked a few times but we had her dolly with us and she used it "to block her eyes" as she said. Of course, once we got out of the theater and returned home, I looked the movie up on the internet and that's when I noticed the PG rating. No wonder people were looking at me with the little 3 yr old in tow! Oh well. At least there were other kids in the theater and she had her popcorn to keep her occupied anyway!

A super short Jennah story

Kaylee was being a total BEAR today - all day - no letting up at all. Even at dinner tonight, she was hounding Jennah about something. I can't tell you what. So Jennah in her seriousness looks at me and says "Mom, did you HAVE to have another baby?" Then after a short pause, she says: "You couldn't just keep your belly button shut could you." OMG, I almost fell off my chair laughing! She's so funny.

Kids are so...

...honest, yes, they are so honest most of the time. It mostly occurs in public where you don't want anyone to hear their honest opinion! Today, Jennah and I went out shopping for swim goggles. She's got a swim mask however the strap on it is constantly needing to be tightened, no loosened, no wait, it came off so it needs to be put back on and fixed! It's a pain in the butt to deal with. Just ask anyone that has been here while she's in the pool as they've all had their turn fixing and/or adjusting the stupid thing! Anyway, I finally came unglued yesterday while in the pool with company when, for the thousandth time, I had to adjust and fix it! I looked at Mike and said "That's it, I'm done with the cheap a$$ swim mask! My friend told me she bought her daughter's swim goggles at Target. I looked on-line but they didn't have the same brand listed so I checked Kohls. They had them on-line so we started our shopping trip at that store. Well, they had the Speedo brand but they didn't have the exact style that Jennah's friend had. We bought a pair (just in case) and then decided to head over to the new Target. The Target store is so new, it just opened TODAY! So, you can imagine how many shoppers were there! Needles to say most weren't in the swim gear aisle, they were in the back to school supplies area. Unfortunately, we had to pass by that area which is when Jennah gives her honest opinion - loudly mind you- and here it is: "Why do people wait until a store opens up on their first day to get backpacks and pencils for school?" "Don't they know that school hasn't started yet and they have time to go to an old store where it's less crowded and there's not so many noisy stinkin kids!" ... ahhhh, I love her! LOL

A day in the life...

A day in the life of a fish that is! Today, we had some friends over for some swimming and lunch. Well, we got in the pool at about noon and didn't get out until after 5pm with the exception of eating some hot dogs and burgers that I cooked on the grill. What a wonderful day it was. The weather was perfect. The kids all played well together and the adults had a blast in the pool with them. We even lost track of time and ended up having to go out to get dinner at 8:30pm! I brought out Jennah's little underwater camera and took some pics of the kids jumping in. It takes nice pics for an underwater cam. You just have to get used to the timing especially since kids don't stay put long under water! Here's a pic of Jennah right after she jumped in!

company comes and company goes...

I've decided we should put in a revolving door on our house. We love having people over and there are some weeks that we have people over all the time - like this week! Tuesday, we had my brother's family over for a short while during the day and then Mike's Dad and step mom came over that night. Wednesday, my neighbor came over for a few minutes. Thursday and Friday I had my nephews over, who are still here until tomorrow. My mom, our friend Randy, and my favorite aunt and Uncle were also here for dinner this evening. Tomorrow we'll have my friend and her family over for lunch and some swimming in the pool. Oh, but Sunday... What? No company on Sunday? What will I do? Hey, I know... Anyone want to come over?

Happy Birthday to me...

I woke up this morning to be reminded by Jennah that I'm older now! Yes - today is my birthday! It's been a lovely day so far. I took Jennah to bowling camp this morning where we met up with my favorite Aunt and Uncle. They sat with me and watched Jennah's attempts at bowling! We all went for lunch afterwards. Mmmmm, Steak & Shake! Jennah and I love to go there after bowling. It's like our "girls lunch" thing! Anyway, when we got home, Mike took Jennah out shopping. When they returned, Jennah came running into the house and gave me her sleep mask - ya know, that blue mask she wears over her eyes when she sleeps! I was instructed to put it on and to not peek until they said I could. Well, mind you, I was sitting at the table with Kaylee who saw Jennah and daddy walk in while I was "blindfolded". Leave it to a three year old who started yelling in her most excited voice "Yea! Birthday Cake!" Perhaps the eye mask would have been better off on her instead of me! So, yes, there was birthday cake and a few things from daddy and the girls. One of which is a machine (called a Jukebox) that hooks up to my Cricut cutting machine for scrapbooks. I also received a necklace from Jennah which as Jennah stated "Just so happens to match a dress that I (Jennah) like." No, not a dress of mine, one of hers! So, I'm sure I'll find my new necklace in Jennah's room some day! She is a ham! Anyway, my big day isn't over yet but I wanted to share in case I don't get back on the computer tonight. Thanks to all of you who have wished me a happy birthday!

Mmmm, cake!

My new scrapbook toy!

A very pretty candle holder that

I received last night from Mike's

dad and stepmom! The pic doesn't

do it justice... I love it!

Monday Monday...

Ahhhh, Monday morning and raining already. I could just stay in bed today but I have to take Kaylee to feeding therapy. She doesn't know this yet (shhhh, don't tell her!) but today we're going to try some egg salad. Nothing too fancy, just eggs, some mayo, a little bit of mustard and a hint of salt and pepper. Of course, the first few spoonfuls will be covered in cool whip! I'm seriously thinking we need to put a blindfold on her to get her to eat. That or we need to find a way to make everything look like cake and cookies! I just know someday, these days of trying to get her to eat will be over and she'll do it on her own but until then, we try and try and try over and over again. Yes, it's very frustrating for now but maybe one day.....

Don't think she's eating anything good in this picture, it's just ice cream!

Another week gone by

Wow, another Friday and I'm happy to say we've made it through the week! Both girls are recovering form Scarlet Fever. Kaylee's rash is just about gone and Jennah's is fading fast as well. they're chomping at the bit to get out and play with some friends since they been cooped up for 2 weeks. I managed to get out and have dinner with some high school friends of mine last night. We had a fun time as usual. We went to a German restaurant and although German food is not a favorite of mine, it was very good. Of course you can't go wrong ordering a Reuben sandwich! Anyway, we're off to get some shopping done today. Hopefully, it won't rain on us!

It was the most awful...

Tonight, I made the most awful dinner we've had in a long time. Seriously, it was a cross between Alpo and prison food. I've never eaten either one of those things but from what I hear they're not good! I don't really know what went wrong. I broiled some fish. Sounds easy enough right? Well, I've done it a million times before but this time, it was honest to goodness mush! Then there was the semi Greek salad - tomatoes, onions, Greek olives and Greek dressing. Oh, did I say onions - because all we tasted were the onions. The funny thing is, the onion I bought was the same kind we had in a salad earlier this week and the other one was very mild and sweet. Not this one. There's not enough toothpaste in the northern hemisphere to bring the breath back to normal after eating the onion we had tonight. I'm surprised my eyesight is good enough to type this post up. The canned baked beans were the best part of the dinner but don't applaud yet. I did find a piece of the can label in my scoopful! It was so funny! Oh well, now I'll just sit back and wait for Debbie (aka Paula Deen) to make her comments! LOL

FYI...

Oh yeah, I now have TWO spotted children! Jennah woke up to get a drink of water a few minutes ago and her cheeks looked funny to me so I had her pull up her nightgown to find she's all spotted too! Funny thing is I've been checking her frequently during the day and didn't see anything until now and to my knowledge, she didn't have a fever that I know of. Well, I know, it's not funny but I thought we MIGHT get away without her getting sick - silly me! Guess I'll be calling my favorite pediatrician tomorrow to get an Rx for Jennah!

Florida Life...

If you ever want to see some mad rain, visit Florida in the summer. They don't call us the Lightening Capital of the World for nothing! It has been raining non-stop for about two weeks now! Typically, it just rains for about 20 minutes in the afternoon around four pm. Lately though, it's just been raining all day every day! I'm done! Done with the soggy lawn which cannot get cut because it's soggy. Done with trying to entertain the kids while it's pouring in buckets outside, and just done with the rain all together... listen up Miss Mother Nature, I want some sunshine! LOL We did manage to slip out yesterday to get to the hobby shop so Mike could go in and get some parts for his r/c car. When we got home, there was a big turtle at the end of our driveway - He looks tired of all the rain as well!

Driving into the storm

Yes, those are some nasty clouds.

little turtle friend