Not Me Monday Blizzard Edition

I did not dress, undress and redress my children 8+ times over the last two days in snow clothes.

I did not let my husband make the hot chocolate when the kiddos came in from being out in the snow. This was not the trade off since I had to peel the wet layers of clothes off of them.

I did not feel bad that I had not baked anything until I read FB and all of the posts about being snowed in and baking cookies etc. I did not then fall to the peer pressure and bake sugar cookies with the kiddos that turned out blah and bake a banana bread that burned on the bottom.

I did not tell my 7 year old to see if she could just hold it when she came to the back door after being in the snow for 5 minutes saying she had to pee. I had not forgotten to ask her and her 5 year old brother before I dressed them in their snow clothes if they had to go to the bathroom.

I did not take a chunk of ice off K's jeans and put it down the back of Rick's pants. He did not squeal like a little girl.

I did not let the kiddos have queso and chips for lunch for two days in a row.

I did not wish a dozen times over the last few days that I actually liked the snow so I could go out in it with my kiddos. I did not also wish that my husband was not sick so he could go out in it with them since he actually likes the snow.

I did not thank God a million times that we have a warm house to be in during the blizzard even though I was stuck inside of it with my husband, three kiddos and my parents =)

What didn't you do??

Check out MckMama's blog for more NMM fun!

Not Me Monday Cookie Edition

I did not make sugar cookie dough the other day just so I could get some of it raw. I have not still not made any cookies with it yet.

I did not add powdered sugar to a recipe that only called for the cookies to be dusted with it when done baking. It did not ruin the look of the cookies, which I did not try to fix by squishing them into ball while they were still hot. This did not result in them looking like won tons instead of snowballs. I did not still take them to the cookies exchange at church.

I did not take two of the cookies from the exchange that I thought were the same kind as the cookies I ruined to only find out that they were not the cookies I ruined.

I have not made any other Christmas cookies yet this year.

Join in the NMM fun at the end of her post today!

A Boy and His Blankie

If you have been around our family for any amount of time you are familiar with Noah and his blanket. He started carrying Blankie (or Blankie Boy) when we moved to MD in 2006. He and Blankie became inseparable on that four day trek. By time we arrived in MD, Blankie was black from being dragged across gas station and hotel parking lots. But, after a good wash he bounced back and has been Noah's faithful companion ever since then.

Since turning 5, he has been leaving Blankie behind a bit more. He normally has him in his book bag while he is at school. Noah doesn't take him out, but he normally has Blankie with him. As soon as he gets home, out comes Blankie and he is with Noah until bedtime, next to him during homework time and through dinner. So, you can imagine, he sometimes gets dirty and a little bit smelly. But, Noah has become accustomed to the smell and the image of his beloved Blankie. As you can imagine Blankie is also a little worse for wear. He is threadbare and torn and rubbed away with love on Noah's special corner.

But, that doesn't make Noah love him any less. If fact, he loves him even more fiercely and does not like me to wash Blanket. Ever. I have to sneak and steal him if Noah is home. But, the other day he left Blankie home while he was at school, which he has done three times in the last two weeks. So, I took advantage of the opportunity and washed Blankie Boy.

My plan was to make sure he was washed and dried before Noah got home and in the same place that he was when Noah left him. But, I got sidetracked and forgot to get him out of the dryer before Noah got home. When he came in he immediately asked for Blankie and I told him that I had to get him out of the dryer. Wailing and gnashing of teeth ensued and he followed me down to the laundry room crying the whole time about the unfairness and injustice of it all.

"I told you NOT to wash him. Don't EVER wash him! EVER!"

"But, I have to wash him sometimes, Noah. He gets dirty and a little smelly and he needs to be washed."

"I like him dirty and smelly!"

"Well, I talked to Blankie while you were at school and I asked him if he wanted to be washed and he said yes. He doesn't like to be dirty and smelly"

"Well, he is MY Blankie and I ask him the questions around here!"

I held my laughter in until he stomped up the stairs, dragging Blankie behind him.

Cyber Cookie Exchange

Jessica at The Mom Creative is hosting a cyber cookie exchange. Grab a button, post a recipe and link it on her site to be part of the fun. And you just might get picked to receive a dozen of her favorite cookies in the mail!



Here's my favorite recipe.....

SNOWBALL COOKIES

1 lb. butter
1/2 c. sugar
4 tsp. vanilla
3 1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. chopped nuts
3/4 c. confectioners' sugar

Cream butter and sugar in bowl; add vanilla. Stir in flour and nuts, blending well*. Shape teaspoonful dough into balls. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Cool. Roll in confectioners' sugar.

Dough will be thick. You can chill the dough for an hour or so before making into balls and bake.

1st Snow of the Year 12/5/09

When I woke up Saturday and it was raining, I did not think we would get the snow they called for, but it came and stayed all day. The kiddos played in it for a good part of the day and even made a small snowman. There favorite thing to do was make snowballs. Here are some pictures from the day.....









Heading down the hill

Not Me Monday

I did not forget that it was Monday therefore forget to do a NMM post.

But, she didn't forget! And neither did she! Join the NMM fun at MckMama's blog.

Keeping It Real...Getting It Dry

Lately, when Noah is done with his bath he likes to dry himself off with his towel and then let me help him get dressed. I remember a time not too long ago that I would scoop him up out of the tub in the same towel and get to dry him off and help him get dressed. So is the life of a Momma whose youngest is growing from my baby into a boy. Sigh.

So, tonight he is drying himself off and he drops his towel to survey his body to see which parts were still wet and in need of more drying off. He reaches down and gives himself* a good squeeze and declares his boy parts still wet. He then proceeds to shimmy and shake himself and his boy parts, checking one more time and declaring himself dry.

Sigh. He is growing up and now not in need of his Momma to dry him after his bath and not afraid to grab himself in front of her.

Missing Entries

Last night I was looking at some of the photos on Rick's phone that we have taken over the last few days (remember the lost camera after the circus incident? Never recovered it) and I found some pictures from Kari's aquarium trip in October.

That totally reminded me that we used disposable cameras for Noah and Kari's field trips in October and never got them developed. Which means I never blogged about them. When we pick up our photo cards I am going to drop off the disposable cameras and try to get CDs for them so I can post them here and blog about their trips. Because as wonderful as my NMM posts are, I know not all of you come to read those. Some of you actually come to read about the kiddos =)

Rick and I have been sick this week, so I am glad that we got the Christmas tree and other decorations up last weekend. It was neat to see the kiddos looking at the different ornaments and commenting about them. Especially the family ones we try to get every year. It is always fun to watch them take their personal ornament boxes and trim the tree with them first. It was a bit bittersweet to have Devin here decorating this year, but not have her put her ornaments on the tree. She tucked them away for next year when she will use them to decorate her own tree, probably in her dorm room or an apartment she shares with a roommate.

Someone said they are calling for some snow this weekend, (a 30% chance, I think) which would be nice since TX got their first snowfall before us again this year. I hope if we get some it stays around a bit longer than theirs did. I do not enjoy going out in it as much as Rick and the kiddos, but I am all about the hot chocolate and mac 'n cheese afterward.

I can definitely use the snow as an excuse for hot chocolate and mac 'n cheese.

Not Me Monday DSS Office Edition

I did not overhear the following things in the DSS office....

"I told him just to put a bullet in her. Just shot her and be done with it" Man did not say to mother. Mother did not reply to son "Now that is just silly. It is not like we live anywhere where he can just go out in the woods and bury her!"

Mother did not suggest to son that he should get a public defender after she was horrified to find out that he might be put in jail on his birthday, "Don't they know it is your birthday?? That is just wrong, I tell ya!" To which he did not reply, "S#!t, I don't need no public defender! I can represent myself better than one of them public defenders! They're stupid." (I bet he forgot they weren't the ones getting ready to spend their birthday in jail)

Man on the phone did not say, "Well, I am not trying to go there around those types of people! What? You think I want to get the wise flu? I ain't gonna get the wise flu!"

Couple to each other, "What you gonna do? Hit me with your cane? I will f*@#ng hit you with something." (Man with cane mumbles something) "Well, you can curse at your children and your woman but you ain't gonna curse at me you s%$t!" "Leave my woman out of this!" (As this loud exchange is going on those of us in the room did not start to giggle....okay, so we did not start laughing to which she says...) "Well, I ain't sure what they're laughing at, we gots freedom to speech, freedom to speak whatever we want!" (To which the gentleman afraid of catching the "wise" flu did not reply) "And we gots the freedom to laugh at you!"

The couple then did not gather their things and huff toward the door passing the man afraid of the wise flu and the woman did not say, "Trash!" to which he did not replay, "Trash? She did not just call me trash, did she?" To which the man did not say, "Yes, she did and we....we are...going outside!".

The room did not erupt with laughter again at this or the woman who said, "Oh, okay, man with a cane threatens that he is going outside! Keep on walking!"

Catch more NMM posts over at MckMama's blog! And visit my friend, GG over at her blog, too.

Not Me Monday After A HellaWeek Edition

I did not drink Diet Coke directly from the 2 liter bottle in front of my husband because that would drive him insane.

I did not agree to the 14 year old staying home from school for no other reason than tiredness. I was not tempted to make up some out of the world excuse for his absentee note because "Please excuse C from school as he was tired" sounded kind of lame.

I did not start to sweat and have a mini panic attack while reading someone else's NMM post when she wrote about getting stuck in traffic in a tunnel.

I did not Twitter that I was in the Top 5 McLinky posts on MckMama's NMM Monday post because I was giddy about making the Top 5 last week.

I did not cry more in the last week than I have in the last 7 years.

I did not comment "I am more comfortable dancing with a pole in the room" when some young men from church and Rick were discussing why I was not dancing more at the Leadership Banquet.

I did not almost consider not posting NMM posts anymore because of one person's opinion of NMM posts. I did not want to tell the opinionated person to just stop reading my blog if they didn't care for my NMM posts. I did not refrain from saying what I really wanted to say because aforementioned person is family and I did not want to deal with any backlash from stating my opinion.

Check out MckMama's post and link your NMM entry to hers so you can share the NMM Love!

Stay Tuned

I am sure you all wait with baited breath for my next riveting blog entry, so I wanted you to know I have a few entries up my sleeve. One of which involves a declaration of freedoms and a man with the fear of getting the "wise flu".

And I have report card information to share as well.

But, alas, it is naptime now and my bed beckons me.

Spread the Cheer!!

One of the blogs I read is hosting a giveaway....The Chris Tomlin Christmas Stocking GIVEAWAY!!!

Go and check it out right now!

Not Me Monday 2 For 1 Edition

So, I missed NMM last week, because I was unplugged from blogging, Facebook and Twitter for a week. But, never fear, I posted things today from last week and this past week, so you really didn't miss much.

And she's back from Boston with her miracle baby, the NMM originator herself. Check out her blog and my other lovely friends to see what they didn't do last week, too.

11/09/09

I did not stay up until 3 AM on Saturday while at the Ladies Lock In and have to take a nap and go to bed early on Saturday and take a nap on Sunday to try and recover.

I did not eat buffalo chicken dip for breakfast and lunch several days in a row.

I did not tell my husband I was praying for the 14 year old's team to lose their playoff game on Saturday so there would be no more practices for him to attend. They did not then win their game 27-0.

I did not eat cantaloupe on Saturday morning while at breakfast with the LHC ladies because I wanted to prove to a friend that my fruit cup could counteract the Grand Slamwich calories I was partaking of even though I HATE cantaloupe.

I did not tell another friend that I could take above mentioned friend when she asked if I was still going to order the Slamwich even though the above mentioned friend had advised against it.

11/16/09

I did not stay in bed on Tuesday until the kiddos came home at 3:30 PM from school.

I did not blast my husband after he did not clean up from dinner on Sunday night after he had cleaned the house the day before with the kiddos while I was at a Ladies' activity.

I did not not wash my clothes with the 14 year old's because his football gear was in that particular load and it smelled awful!

I did not tell the 5 year old that I would throw his McDonald's toy out the window if he didn't stop whining about wanting to switch it. I was not the one who told him the night before that we would switch it.

I did not flip the plate I was holding with pie on it out of my hand immediately after a young man next to me flipped his cup out of his hand and spilled apple cider on himself.

I did not get ready to ask the 14 year old to take something back to the cleaning supply closet at church because I was too lazy to do it myself. I did not then let my friend, V take it back for me instead.

And finally, I did not tell my husband that he drives me crazy when he tries to help me while I am on the computer and then ask him to leave the room to then call him back into the room to help me do something on the computer.

ETA: I can NOT believe that I am in the top five McLinky posts at MckMama's blog!!!

Not Me Monday Croup/Halloween Edition

Not sure if MckMama will be posting this week with sweet Stellan still in the hospital, nor am I sure if my LHC friends with be posting, but I am. It was a week and a half!

I did not drive the 14 year old to school without my license and without wearing a bra.

I did not pick up the 5 and 7 year old from school in my PJ bottoms, tank top and a cardigan.

I did not laugh hysterically when my mom tripped and spilled meatball sauce into the 18 year old girl's shoes.

I did not continue to eat and overeat to myself sick, so I would be able to poop. It did not not work.

I did not drop off the 5 year old's prescription, then go get Mickey D's for lunch and then head back to the pharmacy and sit in the parking lot until his meds were ready.

I did not let the 5 year old nap all three days he was home sick from school, knowing that it would mess up his schedule and kick his butt once he went back to school on Monday.

I did not let the 5 year old attend a party and go trick or treating on Saturday and then not go to church on Sunday because he was sick. I also did not let him attend movie night at church Sunday night.

I did not cry when I opened a card from a friend this week that had a grocery store gift card in it.

I did not enjoy being able to stay home and hand out candy on Halloween while Rick walked the 5 and 7 year old around the neighborhood.

I did not slice off a piece of the dog's ear I was carving for the 5 year old in his pumpkin. Rick did not fix it with a toothpick or two.

I did not make the 5 year old make a caramel apple at the Fall festival at church because I wanted the apple.

Halloween 2009

Halloween festivities started early this year. On October 23, the kiddos went to the HES Fall Festival with Amberly and Jonathan. They had a lot of fun playing different games and getting prizes. The only thing they didn't like was the haunted house. Kari never wanted to go from the beginning and Noah backed out when he saw the bloody hand. Vicki was a trooper, waiting in line with Noah, Amberly and Jonathan, for them all to change their minds. Here are a few pictures.....

Playing Games





Decorating treat bags





Boo-tiful Butterflies


Mario meet Franken-baby


Kari, her teacher, Mrs. Page and her daughter, Sophie


As we were leaving, Noah found a toad on the sidewalk.....


Next, the school hosted a costume parade and classroom parties on October 30. Noah was sick, but his teacher sent home a gift bag and Kari brought him some extra treats. Unfortunately, there are no pictures since I was home with Noah.

Then at 1 PM on Halloween, LHC hosted a Harvest Party. The kiddos got to carve pumpkins, make caramel apples, eat yummy treats and make crafts, including peanut butter and bird seed pine cone bird feeders, scarecrow cups and construction paper strip pumpkins. Here are a few pictures from the party.....













Listening to a story





After dinner and putting some finishing touches on the pumpkins, Rick took Kari and Noah trick or treating. When they had gone a few blocks and dumped their candy bags twice, they were ready to come home. Here are some after shots....





The pumpkins.....



This post linked over at 5 Minutes for Mom....

No School Until Monday

Noah stayed home from school yesterday since he had a bit of a fever. It was above 100, but he had no other symptoms. Since Kari had the same thing a few weeks ago, I assumed he was getting a virus, too.

His fever spiked to 102.7 around 5 PM, but went down after a dose of Tylenol and a cool bath. He hadn't eaten much during the day, but ate dinner. He sounded a bit congested, but still no other symptoms besides the fever.

He woke up this morning, burning up and saying he had to go to the bathroom. As he walked to the bathroom he stopped to cough an awful seal sounding cough, almost like he couldn't catch his breath. When he got to the bathroom, he continued to cough and vomit up a lot of yellow mucus.

An appointment to the doctor confirmed croup and he was tested for the flu - regular and H1N1. Thankfully, the flu tests came back negative. The doctor gave him a prescription for a steroid and a note to return to school on Monday.

I just hope he feels well enough on Saturday to attend the fall party and go trick or treating. I feel bad for him since he will have to miss his costume parade and party tomorrow at school.

I am just very thankful that it is not anything more serious.

Not Me Monday Crazy Week/Weekend Edition

I did not burn my tongue in hot caramel after I told my kiddos to be careful.

I did not repeatedly scrape caramel off the plate the caramel apples were cooling on nor did I scrape the caramel off my DH's apple, eat the caramel and then throw the apple in the trash.

I did not laugh out loud while watching Monsters VS. Aliens with the kiddos. I did not find B.O.B. hilarious.

I did not cry while watching Brothers and Sisters on hulu.com. I did not check Facebook during the Kevin and Scotty parts because I am a bit uncomfortable with men kissing other men.

I have not let the 7 year old wear orange and black Halloween themed ponytail holders with all of her outfits even though they do not match because I have been dying for her to let me put ponytails in her hair for 3+ years!

I did not contemplate, even for a minute, encouraging my DH take a web design job to design and maintain a porn site with live feed of nude girls because he has been out of work for 5 months and we could really use the money.

I did not use the phrase "Satan's a punk!" more times this weekend than my signature phrase "Seriously??"

I did not indulge in a alcoholic beverage on Saturday to feel like a grown up to only have it make me feel like an elderly person who eats dinner at 4 PM and falls asleep before finishing the meal.

I did not eat chicken fried steak for breakfast and lunch on Sunday.

I did not feed the 18 year old girl's breakfast to the dog on Saturday when she slept in instead of eating with the family.

I did not start keeping a journal for my NMM posts so I would not forget to post first thing in the morning, to forget to post until after lunchtime.

Check out MckMama's post since she is the original NMM poster. Also, you can check out his, her and her post even though they have not posted yet today.

Pass me the Paddle

While doing after dinner devotions last night, Rick asked the kiddos if they knew what fellowship was. Noah said, "Yes, it is when you are hanging out with your friends...in a ship". LOL Well, he was half right =)

Not Me Monday Rainy Days Edition

I did not let, much to Rick's chagrin, the 18 year old girl sleep in our bed when she couldn't sleep after watching a scary movie.

I did not contemplate hiding in the bathtub to scare the 18 year old girl after she watched a scary movie.

I did not skip aerobics on Monday due to my monthly visitor and on Thursday due to being tuckered out from lack of sleep (see first "I did not") and taking care of a sick 7 year old.

I did not tell the 7 year old that we'd just check her temperature to see if she needed to stay home from school Thursday to have it top out at 103!?!

I did not ignore the 5 year old when he told me climbed in bed with me, exclaiming, "It's 8 o'clock! Time to wake up!" and "It's 8:30! Time to wake up!" and "It's 9 o'clock! Time to wake up!" etc., so I could get more sleep to have the 7 year old wake us all up at 11 AM declaring, "I'm fever free!!"

I did not enjoy not having to go anywhere for the 4 days that it was cold and rainy.

I did not threaten to send the 5 year old out in the rain several times during the four days we were stuck inside since he waswell and not complying with my 'be quiet and just rest!' request.

What didn't YOU do??

Check out MckMama to find out how NMM got started and see if my friends remembered to post this week!

Rainy Saturday

Kari is finally fever free, but we are staying in today since it is still cold and rainy here.

And since we are tired of Disney and Nick Jr marathons we decided to make some caramel apples....




I only burned my tongue a little bit.