Our newest additions....

Today was a half day at Jessi's school. In Bangor she never had half-days...here they have them every month!! I remember always loving the half-day...almost more than the full day off. Anyhoo... ;) The kids spent much of the afternoon exploring outside...as they often do...and Jessi found a few Monarch caterpillars. And ...as things often do around here...they became our latest science experiment. The kids ran next door to their great aunt Nancy's house to get a large jar (and large amounts of candy ...as they often do there...lol) Fortunately for me...little Miss Jessi is an EXPERT on Monarch raising as she has raised them in her school classes a few times. So now we wait for them go into the chrysalis stage...and then we wait again for them to emerge as monarch butterflies..and then we let them go. Here are the stages if you are interested...I had no idea the turning into a chrylasis stage only took a few minutes!

Blowdrying my hair...thinking about favoritism...

I had just gotten out of the shower and the phone was ringing. I asked Sean to go downstairs and get it and bring it up to me. He sighs LOUDLY and says, "Why are you always all up in my grill!???" ROFL

So I laugh to myself and think...'that's one for the blog'....but then I think, 'But I just blogged a funny story about him...have I blogged about Jessi lately?' Then I start thinking about the grand scheme of things...like....

-scrapbooking ---I try REALLY hard to make sure to do 'even' amounts of pages about them, but Jessi scrapbooks her own stuff now, so it's a little redundant for us BOTH to do a LO about HER sleepover. She also has 4 FULL scrapbooks of JUST her before he was born.

-pictures--- I take way more pictures of Sean than I do Jessi. Hello!? He is freakin adorable...and he's with me ALL DAY every day! Jessi is at school all week...and on the weekends she either has friends over...or she is at their house. Sean is also still at that age where he does tons of cute funny stuff. When Jessi was his age I took just as many of her (well...not really since I was still using film then...but I had just as many printed up.)

-time spent--- Sean is with me all day every day. We do all kinds of stuff like go for walks in the woods...playground....library...shopping... And again...it's the same stuff I did when Jessi when she was little...but I just feel bad that I do so much more with him

Those are the biggies...and they all can be easily explained away. But I worry that she sees it like I love him more and think he is cuter...more fun...etc. She is a full-blown tween...she is moody...talks on the phone to her friends so much that I had to get vonage so she would stop wasting my cell phone minutes...if I said yes every time she wanted to go to a friends house or have one here I would never see her again since even when they are here they are locked in her room blasting radio and making the entire house smell like nailpolish remover and hairspray. Sean's entire world is still all about his mommy and daddy.

Anyway....I guess I just need someone out there to tell me that Jessi isn't going to climb up into a belltower when she is 24 because once her brother was born he got "all" the attention. Anyone? Anyone? 

Sean's question of the day...

As I sat here fighting with Blogger to upload my pictures, Sean goes to the kitchen to get himself a hard boiled egg to snack on. He then came to me and jokingly said "I found a chicken egg in the fridge! It's a chicken egg. From a REAL chicken." I said..."Yeah...I know...all the eggs we get are from chickens" he got this DIGUSTED look on his face..."from REAL CHICKENS!? They REALLY ARE!? We put them in the nest and the chicken lays on them and then we take them out of the nest??" I said..."The chickens lay the eggs...the eggs come out of their butts (ok...how would YOU have explained it....lol)" He yells..."EWWWWW THAT'S GROSS!!!!" and heads outside with his egg...at the door he pauses, looks at me quizzically and says....

"When the eggs come out of the chicken's butts...Does it make a sound?"

And I thought HE drove ME up a tree....

Sean found a new hideout :) There are 3 apple trees (not yummy apples :( ...little yucky ones) on our land that the kids called as their own when we bought the land. Today Sean discovered that under his tree there is a GREAT place to hide and play. (Looks obvious in the picture, but from the front of the tree it looks like all the branches just go to the ground...plus the tall grass hides the area too) He is such a outdoors guy...I love that we live in a place where he can play and explore safely all day long to his hearts content. In Bangor he was such a handful because he was always all cooped up.

We had a busy weekend (as most of you know, our 'weekend' is Sunday and Monday). Sunday I went to a crop and after that I met Nicole at Walmart. While there we discovered that she can now shop for Sophie in the regualr girls department and not just the baby/toddler dept....it was like the heavens opened up and shined a light down onto all the cute little girly clothes....lol. We spent probably an hour ooohing and ahhhing over clothes by Mary Kate and Ashley and Stuff by Hilary Duff ;)

Yesterday after Jessi headed off to school Rick, Sean and I went over to the in-laws new house to paint.....and paint....and paint (even the ceiling...yuck). I thought I would be more sore today ...but I'm not. I guess the working out is doing 'something'....if not making me lose weight :-/ We also bought our plane tickets for Disney as the fares were super low....exciting!! Even MORE exciting...my mom is pretty sure she is going to pop down to play 'Disney' with us for a few days. Maybe I can drag her over to Pleasure Island this time and get her wasted .....lol!!

Yummo is RIGHT!!

The lasagna was a HUGE hit!! There is not an empty belly in the house...and Jessi even has a friend over!! That recipe is a TOTAL KEEPER!! Allrecipes.com RAWKS!!!!!

Bringin' Sexy back

I present to you.............my "JT Sammich"....

ROFL...feeling a little silly this morning :) :) Last night in the car we were jammin out to SexyBack and Jessi says to her friend, "My mom has a TOTAL crush on Justin Timberlake"...hee hee... I said, "UMMMM....NOOOOOO, I don't!! You can't have a crush on someone that is ALREADY YOUR BOYFRIEND...DUH!!" Pretty sure Jessi's friend feels sorry for Jessi having to have a psychotic mother....ROFL!

Of course...Sean had to go and ruin it this morning as he watched me edit this picture he says, "Is that Uncle Tim? Why is Uncle Tim at that place?" I said, "That is NOT Uncle Tim!" He looks at me VERY suspiciously and sayd..."Well he really LOOKS like Uncle Tim...are you SURE that's not Uncle Tim?"

Ewww. Thanks a lot, Sean.

Allez cuisine!

Tis the season for cooking!! Nicole mentioned the other day feeling that she needed to add some new recipes to her repertoire...and got me thinking I needed to do the same!! I have already re-incorporated our cold weather favs back into the rotation...American Chop Suey...Homemade Chicken Stew w/homemade noodles...homemade beef stew with little dough balls...meatloaf (I make a KICK ASS meatloaf if I do say so myself!!)....YUMMY!!! I even made my own chicken stock from scratch today with the leftover chicken from last nights oven BBQ chicken to freeze for next time I make the chicken stew. I totally {heart} cooking!! Rick's mom makes an AMAZING lasagna...which I have never made cuz well...yuck :p...BUT he has been BEGGING me to make him a lasagna and in an attempt to con me into doing so he challenged me to find a REALLY great recipe that tops his moms (yes...he is a naughty son). I said 'no...I am not making you a stupid lasagna, ask your mother'...as I searched allrecipes.com for the best rated one ;) I am going to make it on Saturday and pop it in the fridge for him to bake on Sunday when I am at a crop. Here is the one I am going with. It sounds pretty yummy and DEFINATELY like something Rick will totally love. Also on my grocery list is the ingredients to make this. It's a BIG departure from our usual fare...but I am going to give it a shot...the reviews are great!

Here's my meatloaf recipe (ok...I confess it's actually my MOM's great recipe....lol) that even people who hate meatloaf love! It also doubles as a great meatball recipe. I make it in the kitchen-aid with the dough hook so that I don't have to touch it. I was making it when my brother was over the other day and he laughed when I put it in the kitchenaid as he recalled how mom used to make US mix it with our hands because SHE didn't want to touch it...AND managed to even make us think we were SO LUCKY that she was letting us do it...lol!!

Meatloaf
2lbs ground beef
1 can tomato soup
2 eggs
Seasoned bread crumbs (maybe a cup? I just slowly add it in til it gets to the right 'firmness' to put in the pan)
Garlic and onion powder
Salt and pepper
beef gravy on it when served (I like the canned franco american....or the heinz in the jar)

I cook mine in a round cake pan...my mom uses a loaf pan. My mom also pours some of the tomato soup on the top and then sprinkles the breadcrumbs over that...but I am not a big fan of tomato ANYTHING...so I just sprinkle the top with breadcrumbs and it makes a super yummy crust!

In-laws house....

The in-laws house is coming along FAST!!! I wish ours had been so quick and easy! Rick was so excited that we would be able to have the holiday meals at OUR house we had the biggest, most convenient place for everyone to meet. But they will definately be done by Thanksgiving....and no WAY they wouldn't be done by Christmas!! Poor Rick... his idyllic dreams of Norman Rockwell holiday meals down the drain. :(

Outakes ;)

 

Just one more buzz

I couldn't resist giving Sean ONE more buzz cut before it gets too cold. They are just too cute on him...well _I_ think they are....I know others disagree ;)

I also tried out the 'catchlight' thing in our little laundry room photo shoot. I caught the catchlights...but I think I should have turned on the light in there cuz the pics are a little dark. I have been all over the photography boards learning new stuff. I love furthering my photography skills....but there is SO much to learn it makes my head hurt sometimes! I am definately not quite ready for that SLR...which is fine because my wallet isn't ready either ;) 

Yipee Ky-YAY!!!

This morning checked Rocky Mtn to see if my order had shipped ...and it said it hadn't been received by the post office yet. So of course I sulked like a 3 year old ;) A couple hours later the mailman knocks on the door and hands me a package from ..........ROCKY MOUNTAIN!!!!
So....I have spent the past half hour studying and arranging every piece of paper...lol...while Sean sat beside me using my hole punch to turn a peice of scrap paper into a colander ;) I think my favorite of all of it is the Sassafrass Sass....close second is a tie between the Gin-x boy buggy stuff and the American Crafts papers. I really thought it would be the Bohemia...and I do love it...butI just loooooove the bright fun colors and patterns of the others!!

Off to touch and smell and organize...and MAYBE even scrap....lol!! 

Why the hell do you blog you freak...so you like it when people WATCH, huh?

There is a lot of "why do you blog" .... "blogging is stupid"... "people who blog are stupid" talk around the message boards...and ironically the blogs...lol... lately. I must admit that Rick thinks the blogging is pretty stupid too...although he did have a good laugh about his "blog." I can see why some would think it's dumb....but why bitch about it?? Who CARES if someone is blogging or what they are blogging about?? If you don't like it... DON'T READ IT!!?? Duh. This is not rocket science here folks.

Why do _I_ blog??

• I started blogging when my favorite scrapbooking site at the time revamped and added blogs...I started mine there because it was a new fun thing to do there.
• I found that I loved being able to go back and read where my head was at on days past...like on December 15th of last year I was fuming because the house building wasn't going well....in April I was having some severe baby fever! I know that a private journal would accomplish the same thing...but I have never been able to keep a private journal as long as I have blogged. I think knowing that people are going to read it...and click on that link just to see what I am up to keeps me going. Gotta keep my fans happy :) ....ROFL!!
• I blog as an extension of my scrapbooking! I have done several LO's based on blog entries. This one is based on my very first blog entry here at blogger. I have also used my blog as a reference a zillion times when scrapping to look for dates or details to use on my pages.
• I LOVE reading blogs! They are even better than soaps because it's REAL life (well...really typed by them anyway...as to whether what people type is true or not......) I have a whole folder in my favorites of 'blogs I stalk'...I have about 20 in there right now! So as much as I enjoy reading them...I think it would be a bit hypocritical of me not to have one of my own.
• I REALLY like blogging because I am lazy :) My family (Hi Mom!) and my friends read my blog...therefore I don't have to tell the same stories over and over again....love that! I like to share what is going on with my life and I enjoy writing.
• And last but not least ...why I switched to THIS blog... I like this format MUCH better. My family was not as inclined to go to the scrapbooking site to read my blog...I can't swear at sb.com... the atmosphere at scrapbook.com is VERY "Leave it to Beaver" I am not that kind of girl ;)

So...that's about it. That's why I blog.

I'm sure you were at the edge of your seats waiting for the pics....

If you click on the pictures you can see them larger and read the journaling better. On a completely unrelated to sports note. I will never be a digital scrapper. I just don't get it. Every time I start a digital layout...I get INCREDIBLY bored and want to just be DONE ALREADY...so I half-ass it (as illustrated above...l0l) just to finish and be done with it. I never feel that way when I am paper scrapping.

 

Officially fall!

The kids start thier fall activities today! I lucked out somewhat because both kids have their practices and games at the same time on fields that are adjacent to each other...so I can just go back and forth and watch them both :) I can't WAIT to take pics and do scrapbook pages of my little football player and cheerleader ....what do you want to bet I will forget my camera today?..lol!

This past week I did lots of fall cleaning! Worked a ton in the yard putting away all the summer toys...cleaning up the porch....cleaning up all the doogie doo doo ;) Sean was a big helper with the yard cleaning! We also cleaned Sean's room BIGTIME....I even was inspired ;) to go through all his zillion toys and weed them out. Ended up with 1 big trashbag of broken, yucky toys...and another of toys to go to goodwill. He is happy as a pig in shit!! (ROFL...sorry it just came out) He is in his room constantly now and has a renewed love for all his 'good' toys. It's so much easier for him to play with them now that he has ONE box of toys, and ONE basket that holds all the parts to his train set. Jessi is past the age of toy weeding. When we moved she got rid of all her toys and only has stuffed animals now. So the only 'weeding' we do for her is the seasonal weeding of the clothes.

Rick is working tomorrow...so I can't go to crop in Bangor like I had planned on doing :( ...guess I'll be scrappin at home!! I cleaned my scraproom yesterday so it's ready an waitin'!!

Wow....that was boring...guess 'tis the season for boring blogs ;)

Pics later...if I don't forget my camera!

Happy Happy Joy Joy!!!!!!

Just got this e-mail....

Res# 86686735
2/4 - 2/12/07
Disney's Port Orleans Riverside, Standard View Room
Magic Your Way Package, 7-Day tickets with Park Hopping Option
Total: $2332.12

Deposit: $200.00 Paid on 9/5/06
Final Due: $2132.12 on 12/21/06

You will receive written confirmation along with information about your resort in about two weeks. Please let me know if you have any questions when you receive it.

I am looking forward to helping you plan a magical Disney vacation. If you have any questions on anything at Disney World, don’t hesitate to ask.

Have a Disney Day!
Stephanie DelVecchio
Small World Vacations, Inc ….where the magic begins!
Authorized Disney Vacation PlannersDedicated to Your Dreams and Your Dollars
Phone: 781-598-9211
Toll free: 866-264-2539
Fax: 775-263-9283


Sooooo happppppppppy :) We were going to stay at the cheapo All Star resorts...but Liz found this great travel agent who got us a great deal...so we upgraded for just a little more. We couldn't get into the Coronado Resort like we wanted as it was sold out....but Rick and I have stayed at Port Orleans Riverside before and LOVED it there too!! The kids are so excited and spend tons of time looking at guide books and on the computer at disney.com and youtube.com looking at rides. Here is a scrapbook page I did about Sean's excitement...it's going to be a 2 page spread about Jessi also....but I am waiting on pics!

McDonald's Musings....

I wonder if sociologists have ever just sat in the Playplace and done studies? I could sit in there all day and just watch the insanity that goes on in that place. (OK...I couldn't REALLY....I get bored there fast unless I bring a magazine ;) ) We played at the Brewer playground the day before yesterday for around an hour. I like to take him there because I can usually bank on there being lots of kids his age there....and the social interaction is the whole reason we go there! Not that day. It was a ghost town. So I was lucky enough to be his playground playmate of the day ...hee hee ;) We...slid...we climbed...we played tag...we monkey barred (actually...I held his legs while HE monkey barred)...and we swang. After about an hour of still no kids showing up...and Sean starting in with the "I'm REALLY ReALLY HOT, MOM....I'm GONNA DIE of bein' hot...REALLY I AM! LOOK AT MY SWEAT" So we left. I suggest going to get a drink...He asks to go the the playplace... I figure...why not..we have nothing else to do... so we go.

Thank goodness there are some kids there for him to play with...cuz I wasn't gettin in those hot, smelly tubes today ...especially with the scary old playplace lady that looks like Ronald McDonald on duty...she rules that playplace with an iron fist!! ;) So Sean and I each sit down with our Happy Meals (I get one too ....saves calories... and Sean gets 2 toys)...Sean sips his drink and goes off to play. I sit and watch him...and the other parents.

I see...

-A mother who talks on her cell phone the entire time they are there and completely ignores everything her kid says to her...COMPLETELY oblivious to the "Mommy...Mom...Mommy...Mommy....MOM....MOM....." every few minutes that the rest of us have NO trouble hearing.

-A couple moms that won't allow their kids to go play until they finish thier lunch. This one seriously drives me bonkers. YES...Let's teach the kids that fat-laden...sugar filled deep fried food is MUCH more important than exercise!! That makes sense. Not to mention I think it's pretty mean to put something REALLY cool in right in front of a kid and then tell them they can't do it. So not only are they eating the crap...they are scarfing it down as fast as they can so they can go play....teaching them mindless eating which also is not a healthy habit.

-Then there is the mom who stands under the playplace the ENTIRE time coaching her kid thru EVERY STEP she takes..."IT'S OK SWEETIE...KEEP GOING...YOU CAN DO IT...GO THRU THE TUNNEL....KEEP GOING..........................." Cut the cord lady. I understand every now and then having to get up for a little coaching...but this lady did this the ENTIRE time they were there!!

-Then there is the parent who's kid is refusing to leave and won't come out of the structure. (hee hee...these ones always make me laugh...probably because I am not the one dealing with it...lol) So for 5 or 10 minutes we all get to listen to, "It's time to go...come on out...we have to go home now...(it always starts out nice and light before going to the darkside)....I mean it...we REALLY need to leave...you need to come out of there NOW...I am going to leave without you...ok bye...I MEAN IT!! YOU NEED TO GET OUT OF THERE NOW! .... IF YOU DON'T COME OUT WE ARE NOT GOING TO COME BACK HERE! (yeah...right)....." I don't really get this one either. I mean...Sean is right up there on the naughty scale...lol...but he has never done this. Jessi never did it...and I have never seen Sean's buddy Sophie do it. I'm PRETTY sure it's a parenting thing. I just tell them 2 more slides and we are going to leave. They slide 2 more times...and go get thier shoes on...and we leave.

That's not even all....but I have gone on and on enough....

In a quandry....

The company I used to work for just called me and begged me to come back. Apparently the laws for being a Behavior Specialist have changed and only those with higher levels of education can work with these kids now (which ...well...it's about time). She said I could work as little or as much as I want to...but to please consider coming back because they REALLY need me. I just don't know what to do. I COULD go back and work just 2 days a week, Mondays when Rick is home anyway...and Wednesdays when the in-laws have the kids. Of course we could use a little extra cash....but here are the 'buts'....

• Once a month or so the in-laws go to Boston for Liz's cancer treatment...they usually don't take the kids that week since they are tired from the trip
• If I am working on Mondays...I am giving up one Rick and my days off together
• I did NOT like that job...especially since the new 'no kids in your car' policy. I hate 'hanging out' with a child at their house. It's really dumb and feels...and sometimes IS...babysitting. At least before we could take them out to the library...playground and other activities. They also always give me the 'worst of the worst' because I am one of the few that can handle them. I'm talkin' kids that should are one step away from being institutionalized because they are so dangerous and the bs1 thing is a last ditch effort before resigning to the residential program.
• We always seem to have car issues of one kind or another...no big deal right now because I have no where I 'need' to go at a certain time.
• I am planning on watching a couple kids in the mornings before school...and possibly after school also...so if a parent called me needing before school AND after school care...I'd have to say no.
• I lose my "Wednesday" I look SO forward to my break from it all one day a week when the kids are at school/in-laws.
• Even tho they say I can work as little as I want to...they always hint and ask if I would like more hours...making me feel guilty and like I am 'in trouble' that I am not working enough

Pros....

• extra money...but working 6 hours a week...that's like $80...Is it really worth all of the above crap?
• I get out of the house a couple days a week

Hmm...I really can't think of any more pro's... I think I have my answer to the quandry.

Ok...he can come home now...

OK it was fun for a couple days...but I'm ready for Rick to come home!! There is just nothing to look forward to when he is gone! (OK...that sounded a little dramatic and depressing....but let me explain... ;) ) Usually the routine is the morning spent getting everyone ready for the day. The day til Jessi gets home from school is spent hanging out with Sean doing preschooly things like the park...the library...swimming... and of course cleaning. Then Jessi comes home and it's General Hospital time ;)... homework time... then cooking dinner time so we can eat when Rick gets home. Then we spend time together til 8pm when the downstairs is dubbed a CHILD FREE ZONE!! With Rick gone...the whole timetable is thrown off. There is no reason to rush anything....so.... nothing seems to get done. I didn't even exercise today because I knew he wasn't going to come home and say, "did you work out today?" (ok...well that and becuase we take Sunday and Monday off anyway...but still...lol) I guess he is feeling it too tho...he was supposed to be gone til Friday but he called today and said he is coming home Wednesday :) YAY! He is lucky he is where he is right now tho...Cooper has some SERIOUS gas goin on tonight......holy sewage :-P

When the cat's away....

I am IMing with my bestest friend Nicole right now. I am also in my livingroom watching Brokeback Mountain (or Bareback Mtn as my mother calls it...lol) and drinking yummy watermelon and green apple smirnoff's with her. We are having a slumber party :) We had planned on hanging out and watching a movie...but we the kids were having so much much...as were we...that we decided to make a night of it!! The kids wore each other right out and fell asleep around 8...so once they were all snug as bugs in rugs...out came the beverages :)

Wow...this movie is really gay...

ROFL

I am a single woman

Until Friday ;) Rick is officially gone on his 'week of maniless' (lol...he doesn't call it that...that's all me ;) )at Beech Hill Pond. Yesterday was one of those days where I often found myself wondering if I was his wife, or his mommy. Crack of dawn 5am....take him to work so that I could have my van...then home to work out, get the kids ready for the day and get Jessi off to school. Then I spent a couple hours getting ready...cleaning the house...and doing laundry so Rick would have his 'special fishing shirts'...yeah...he's a freak. Then Sean and I were off to Walmart...the Bangor one of course as I would rather have major dental work than go to the Supercenter in Brewer. Man I hate that place. Anyway.... At Walmart I had to get Rick a new watch...new underwear...shoelaces (since this week he has been using zipties to fasten his boots (back to the freak thing again ;) )...and Tae Bo on DVD so that he wouldn't have to run outside as he was dreading that. The kids also needed new sneakers so Sean tried on about 10 pairs to find ones he liked...then cried for the rest of the Walmart visit because he REALLY WANTED THOSE COWBOY BOOTS!!!!!!! Good times...good times. Then it was on to the library to return our very overdue books and movies...only to discover that I forgot 1 book..1 movie..and my checkbook. ARRRGH! After the library we had to stop at the grocery store so I could get the stuff I needed to make Rick and the guys some yummy treats and a bottle of Seagrams...which they wouldn't let me buy because I had also forgotten my ID at home. Once home in a flurry of activity I baked a cake, made rice crispy treats, and completely trashed my kitchen at the same time. No time to clean up tho...as Jessi had arrived home from school and we had to go back to the library to return our books, pay the fine and get Rick a couple books to read at camp. Off we go again. Jessi manages to finagle a sleepover invite on the way to the library on my cell phone...perfect...I wasn't busy anyway...why not add bringing her to a friends house?....lol! Library books gotten...fine paid...Jessi dropped off...JUST in time to get home to cook dinner!! Wasn't I complaining of boredom the other day?? What the hell was I thinking!?