Been a bit busy lately...

We have had 7 visitors off and on for the last week and a half so I have been somewhat distant from the computer lately. Our friend, Adam, came down last week for the weekend and stayed with us and then another friend of his in town. We had some of our Michigan friends, Tim and Shea and their four kids staying with us as well. Needless to say, we have had a very busy household! And I had the kids' birthday party on Saturday as well. Whew! I can't believe JJ is three and Maddie one already!

Happy Easter Everyone!

Four

Four jobs I have had in my life:
1. Landscaper
2. Computer Fixer
3. Customer Service at Amazon.com
4. Abercrombie & Fitch retail

Four movies I would watch over and over (or have watched over and over)
1. Office Space
2. Napolean Dynamite
3. Pretty Woman
4. Grease

Four TV shows that I watch:
1. Grey's Anatomy
2. The Office
3. Brother's and Sister's
4. The Unit

Places I've been
1. London
2. Paris
3. Fargo, ND
4. Montgomery, AL

Four people who email [or call] me regularly:
1. Mom
2. Dana
3. Shea
4.

Four of my favorite foods:
1. Ruby Red Grapefruit
2. Strawberries
3. Steamed Broccoli
4. Chocolate Milk

Four places I would like to be right now:
1. In Michigan with friends and family
2. In bed sleeping
3. At the beach
4. Getting a massage

Four things I am looking forward to this year:
1. Visitors(they start arriving this weekend!)
2. Getting back to the gym(or at least in shape doing something at home)
3. John getting home from his deployment he hasn't even left for yet!
4. The summer time---It's almost here!

Other Goings Ons :)

Maddie, our little climber with a neighbor friend not far behind her!
I took the kids to an Easter egg hunt on Saturday. Needless to say it was a bit on the cold side.

Weird sleeping places?

JJ always seems to find weird places to sleep....

Early Birthday Present

JJ and Maddie got an early birthday present this weekend! It took John all weekend to put it together but it is well worth it. JJ doesn't stop asking to go outside and play!

Exploration Place

We have been going to the children's museum quite often here since I bought a year pass a couple of months ago. The kids love it! Just thought I would share some pictures since it has been a few days since I gave you an update. Maddie is walking almost all the time now. JJ is struggling with taking a nap or not taking a nap. Other than that we have been enjoying our beautiful weather this week.

Maddie's got the hang of walkin'

Maddie started walking over the weekend. Watch out JJ!

Going Green

Thanks SE for mentioning your reusable grocery bags. I meant to ask where you got them, but then I went to the Commissary yesterday and they have them on sale there! I figure I'll just buy a few at a time. Their only .70 each. I feel so much better using these because I have this huge stock of plastic bags under the sink and hate to throw them away.

These green bags are actually pretty handy!

Projects as of Late

I had made JJ letters for his room when we lived in SA, so I decided to finally make Maddie some letters for her room. JJ's are quite boring, just blue.

And I finally found something to do with all the t-shirts I made John purge from his drawers last year. Too bad I made him get rid of them! I made him scrounge for more when I found this new project to make a crocheted rag rug. This took me 10 t-shirts!!! It's about 28 inches in diameter.

Soccer

Here is JJ playing soccer last Friday. It is his favorite sport! We had GREAT weather this weekend so we got to play lots of soccer.

Yum!

I recieved my Taste of Home magazine in the mail this past week and found a few recipes that sparked my interest. The first one I made on Friday night. It was called Mushroom Asparagus Quiche submitted by Sharon Fujita. It was one of the best dinners we have had in a long time. Not to mention it was meatless and I have a hard time with meatless dinners!

Here is the recipe:

1 Tube Crescent Rolls (I used the low fat ones)

2 tsp prepared mustard

1.5 lbs fresh asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1.5 in pieces

1 med onion, chopped

1/2 c sliced fresh mushrooms

1/4 c butter ( I used just a couple Tablespoons)

2 eggs

2 c shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

1/4 c minced fresh parsley (I omitted this as i didn't have it)

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp garlic powder (I always add extra garlic!)

1/4 tsp each dried basil, oregano, and rubbed sage

Separate crescent dough into eight triangles; place in an ungreased 9-in pic plate with points toward the center. Press onto the bottom and up the sides to form a crust; seal perforations. Spread with mustard and set dish aside.

In a large skillet, saute asparagus, mushrooms and onions in butter until aspargus in crisp-tender. In a large bowl, combine the remaining ingrediants; stir in asparagus mixture. Pour into crust.

Bake at 375 for 25-30 min or until a knife inserted near the edge comes clean. Let stand 5 min before cutting. Yields 6-8 servings (but who are we feeding here? try 4-5 :)

Climbing and Underwear

Maddie has started to climb things: the stairs, the step stools, the potty chair, and now the little rocking chair! And JJ has been wearing his underwear hear and there, but not just on his head!

The Bug

So after so many half sleepless nights, I finally caught The Bug. Ya know, the one everyone else has been getting lately. I started feeling crappy last night and woke up today feeling even worse. John had to fly last night so he didn't get home until after midnight. I had to wake him this morning just to go to the store for some Thereflu, chicken noodle soup, Sprite, and my favorite chocolate milk. OK, that last one doesn't really make your ickies go away, but it tastes good and right now that is all that counts. In fact, I didn't even have to ask for the chocolate milk. He was sweet enough to know that I LOVE it! So now that he is off to work, I am stuck here with two kids and all I want to do is lay on the couch all day. Yuck.

Cody, Codes, C-Dog, Chubbers

Those are just a few of the names we have for Cody. Recently we found out Cody has Right-Sided Heart Failure. Basically the right side of his heart does not pump the blood like it should, causing the fluid to back up in his kidneys(I think) and then they overflow into his abdomen. So he has a bloated belly. We have him on something that is taking away the water retention and are starting him on a special diet food, which I am sure he will just love. The vet had initially suggested we take him to a vet school over 2 hours away, but that is just not doable for us. He isn't uncomfortable, except for the water retention which will hopefully soon be gone. We will just have to keep a closer eye on him as time goes on.
Yesterday, he got shaved and the weather decided to get a little chilly today, a mere 22 with a windchill of 5. So I found a baby turtleneck of JJ's that fits Cody to help keep him warm. Even in our 70 degree house the poor dog was shivering!

Maddie's 10 Month Pictures

NKOTB Anyone??????

If you were raised in the 90's then you should know who I am talking about! They are staging a comeback. *Shriek* I was so in love with Joey! You can read about it here.

Do You Need Your Monitor Cleaned?

Then you need to click on this link

She's Taking Steps!!!!!!

Maddie isn't realizing that she is standing by herself because she is too interested in the Wendy's Frosty on her spoon! I saw her standing by herself last night and thought I would see how she did today. Lo and behold she took some steps! I told my sister she would walk this week just because daddy is out of town.

Peekaboo Maddie

This is for you Mandy!

Here are my slippers I have been wearing for two or so years now. Think it is time for some new ones? I think so. Maybe I should go shopping now since they are on sale...I couldn't keep the kids away long enough to take a pic so you get everyone in the picture somehow or another.

At Least We Haven't Seen a Tornado...Yet

But we did have some inclimate weather last night around 2am. It woke the kids up. Since John is gone they climbed in bed with me. We laid there and listened to the sleet/freezing rain/hail pelt the house. Well, at least I laid there and listened to it for a while. It sounded like the hail was the size of an orange, but instead when I got out of bed this morning I found them to be the size of peas. At least there was no damage to the Tahoe which was sitting in the driveway.

Things to Ponder

Only in America ......do drugstores make the sick walk all the way to the back of the store to get their prescriptions while healthy people can buy cigarettes at the front.
Only in America .......do people order double cheeseburgers, large fries, and a diet coke.
Only in America ......do banks leave both doors open and then chain the pens to the counters. Only in America ......do we leave cars worth thousands of dollars in the driveway and put our useless junk in the garage.
Only in America ......do we buy hot dogs in packages of ten and buns in packages of eight.
Only in America ......do they have drive-up ATM machines with Braille lettering.
EVER WONDER .... Why the sun lightens our hair,but darkens our skin ?
Why women can't put on mascara with their mouth closed?
Why don't you ever see the headline 'Psychic Wins Lottery'?
Why is 'abbreviated' such a long word?
Why is it that doctors call what they do 'practice'?
Why is lemon juice made with artificial flavor, and dishwashing liquid made with real lemons? Why is the man who invests all your money called a broker?
Why is the time of day with the slowest traffic called rush hour?
Why isn't there mouse-flavored cat food?
Why didn't Noah swat those two mosquitoes?
Why do they sterilize the needle for lethal injections?
You know that indestructible black box that is used on airplanes? Why don't they make the whole plane out of that stuff?!
Why don't sheep shrink when it rains?
Why are they called apartments when they are all stuck together?
If flying is so safe, why do they call the airport the terminal?

Happy Birthday John!

I miss you! Sorry you had to work on your birthday. See you on Friday!

Where's Daddy?

Maddie was waiting for daddy to come home yesterday. Really she was just watching out the window about the time he was due home, but still it was cute!

She has been standing up behind her walk behind toy and pushing it around. And she loves to wave at people. JJ went potty on his potty four times on Saturday, but has not been interested since then. We'll get there eventually!

My Latest Card Creation

I have been in a total card making mood lately. I am participating in a swap and have already got my idea ready to go! It is an April Fool's day swap so the cards are going to be "twisted and demented!" Can't wait to reveal my card. But here is one I made yesterday....

My New Things!

My friend, A, sent these to me yesterday! I love them!!!! Thanks, A!

Summer Dress

Here's the Front...
Here's the back...Just haven't figured out how to get my machine to make a button hole!

Picture Time...

Lexi

Do You Want To Teach Them?

The weather here has been phenominal! I took JJ to the park yesterday and did the parent thing and stood by and watched him go down the slide a gazillion times. But, hey, the sun was shining and it was 60 degrees. I wasn't complaining. I was standing near two boys around 7 or 8 years old who were whispering to themselves kind of loudly. I repeatedly heard "do you want to teach them?" I could tell they were talking about the two girls slightly older than the boys playing nearby. And then one went over and asked them are you Christians? The girls said what? And the boy repeated himself. Their response was no. The boys were so cute in a shy, there is a girl nearby kind of way. They were trying to get up the courage to teach them about God. I just thought that it was so amazing that these two little boys were trying to teach others they didn't know about the love of Jesus on the playground!

My New Niece Has Arrived!!

Dana had her second baby girl this morning! Alexis Leigh weighed in at 7lbs 8oz and is 20.5in long! There aren't any pictures I can post yet, but I hear she looks just like Mia.

Oh, I almost forgot to share this with you

I made these MOST delicious cinnamon rolls for breakfast over the holidays and they were TO DIE for!!!! Thanks, Bev for reminding me of these with your yummy looking picture!

3 Packages active dry yeast(1/4 ounce each)

2.5 Cups water

1 Package white cake mix

4.5 Cups all-purpose flour

1/2 Cup butter, softened

1/2 Cup brown sugar

2 Teaspoons cinnamon

raisins

your choice of nuts

In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water.

Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine the yeast mixture with the cake mix and 3 cups of the flour; stir to combine.

Add the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring well after each addition.

When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes.

Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil.

Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 30 minutes.

Deflate the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface.

Roll the dough into a 10x16" rectangle.

Spread the softened butter over the rectangle; sprinkle on brown sugar and cinnamon (and raisins/nuts if desired).

Starting from one of the long sides, roll up the rectangle and cut into 1" wide rolls.

Bake 375 for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

I used cream cheese frosting on top when they were cooled and they were the best!

Thanks to recipezaar for this delicous recipe. I changed it up a bit, but I thank the original author for this one!

Baby Blanket

I just finished yet another project I made for Maddie.

Terrible Two's?!?!?!?!?!?!

I think JJ is just now hitting the terrible two stage. Every which way I turn he is either hitting, kicking, shoving, or laying on his sister or the dog. Mostly it is just Maddie he picks on but Cody does get in the way sometimes. And he plain just does not listen to anything I say anymore! I feel so mean putting him in time out, but it is the one thing that clicks in that inquisitive little brain!

On top of it all we have had colds so we have been hibernating for a week or so and I think he is just plain sick of being in the house! I got us out this morning for bible study and the nursery lady said he was a peach! Things have gotten better around here this week. Maddie's sleeping has improved tremendously from 1.5-2 hours(the last week or two) at a time to 3-4 hours. I have felt liking a walking zombie for two weeks now! My mom calls it chronic fatigue syndrome.

On a good note, JJ started a new Kindermusik class yesterday and absolutely loves it!!! Maddie is cruising on everything and has attempted to let go and stand by herself several times. I have been starting to sign to her a few different things and she imitates the "all done" sign when she is in the high chair. I can't believe how much she understands. Was I just completely out of it when JJ was this age? Or is it because this is baby number two and I am ahead of the game having done it once already? Regardless, it seems so much easier this time figuring out her sleep, eat, play schedule. Does this mean we are having another one? Nope! This baby machine is done!

The Latest Tag

Thanks Bev! If you have a blog, guess what your it!

Chocolate- Chip Cookies
Music-Nothing much at the moment
Book- Goodnight Nobody by Jennifer Weiner
Drink- Chocolate milk, today
Nemeses- Sleep
Soap-Dial's new Kitchen scent foaming pump
Goal-Get my bible study reading done in time for class
Habit broken-?????
Gadget-New Chopper to add to my kitchen gadgets

New Year New 'Do

You asked for 'em. You got 'em! These were taken later in the day so it has calmed down a bit, but I like to put product in it and make it crazy in the back!

I have been thinking about changing my hair for a while now. I either needed to grow it out or cut it. So I had it cut. Share your thoughts!

Learning to Sew

While John's mom was here she taught me a few things I didn't know about my sewing machine. Well, really I learned more than just how to straight stitch! We went to the antique shop downtown and found some adorable dress patterns from the 40's and 50's and came up with this dress!

Somewhere in Kansas

Feeding the Fish

JJ likes to feed the fish in his new game with Maddie's little Fruit Puff snacks. It tooks us a few days to figure out what he was actually doing!