Safety First

Who said swimming goggles could only be used in the summer, or for that matter, in water. Today, Paige was out on the deck busting up some ice and decided that her eye safety was pretty important.  So on went the goggles...until they started fogging up.  Paige also informed me that she would love to live in an igloo.  She'll be living by herself because that doesn't sound fun for me at all.  

The ice was flying.  Good thing for proper eye protection.

Sledding. It works for us.

A few days ago I went out to play in the snow with the kids (More for supervision so they didn't crack their heads open).  They do this body sledding on the side of our house.  I don't let them use a real sled to prevent the speeds from increasing to much. There is a death drop at the end of this hill and if I can't stop them the trees will.  They wore their little bodies out by going up and down this hill for 45 mins.  The next day the snow was all gone.  It warmed up to 50 degrees.

 

Simple Woman's Daybook

Outside my window...

we have a "bird bully".  There is a red cardinal that seems to be scaring all the other birds away from the birdhouse.  What a meanie.  It must be an Arizona thing.  BTW, good luck on Feb. 1st Arizona fam-damn-ly.  We'll be wearing our Pittsburgh jerseys.

I am thinking...

I shouldn't taunt my family.  What goes around, comes around.  

I am thankful...

that the kids are finally back in school.  I hope we don't have to make up school days during spring break.  Not gonna happen.

From the Kitchen...

there is food within my budget.  The New Year's Resolution is going good in that department.

I am wearing...

my favorite Gap jeans.  I couldn't find them for a few days.  They were in the dryer waiting patiently for me.  See what Ice/Snow days do to me.  Messes with my "mommy mojo".  The kids didn't even have pants to wear today.  Oh well, it's supposed to get up to 40 degrees. Warm enough for naked legs.

I am creating...

excuses for why I'm not exercising today.  It'll be a whole day process.

I am reading...

'Eat This, Not That', by David Zinczenko.  It tells you the calories and fat grams of all of our favorite restaurants.  Needless to say,  I will never, ever be eating out again (until later tonight). Ex:  Chili's Awesome Blossom.  2710 calories, 203 g fat, 6360 mg sodium. And then you die.

I am hoping...

that a friend is doing okay with her glucose screening.  It wouldn't be so bad if they offered it in a Mt. Dew flavor.  It's about the same thing anyways, right.

I am hearing...

Slacker Radio.  It's like XM satellite radio on my iTouch.  

Slacker + iTouch + Bose speaker= Awesome - 2710 calories.

One of my favorite things...

"smell pretty" lotion.  My hands are so dry in the winter.

A few plans for the rest of the week...

celebrating life.  Two birthday parties for the kids.  They are just so excited that they are not on Sunday so they can actually go.

A picture thought I am sharing...

Performing "Psycho Eyes", a family original.

Tis the season...

for school closures.  Weds. we had a 2-hour delay and then Thurs. and Fri. were both cancelled. So now my little ones are celebrating their five day weekend.  And Blake is jealous.  Surprisingly, they aren't driving me nuts.  Yet. We still have two days left. We've been conducting science experiments the past couple of days. We've been putting cups of water outside and predicting how long until they freeze.  The adventure comes when they run outside without shoes on to retrieve the cup.  I tried to prevent this but it was kind of cute to see their "frozen feet dance" when they got back inside. We got a new game, Sorry Slide.  In the directions it says that the youngest person or the person who says "sorry" the most can go first. Lane thought that was a pretty cool rule considering that he is always saying sorry for tackling Paige or throwing the football in the living room by Daddy's TV. This game rule doesn't help with following house rules.  It's kind of a reward for Lane and his silly antics.
(Happy Birthday Greg. Lane asked if he could call you Uncle Martin Luther King. I said he could call you whatever he wanted, you've been called worse before by me :).    

Chocolatey Resolution

Can you tell that Blake is on call today?  I'm playing "catch-up" on the computer and I thought that I'd share this recipe that I tried the other day.  I really want everyone else's "lose weight" resolutions to be going as well as mine.  Here is what it should look like if you cook it right. (I did have help to get it to this point).

1 chocolate cake mix (devil's food)

4 eggs

1/2 c. oil

1/2 c. water

1/2 pt. sour cream

1 large Instant choc. pudding mix

Mix all together and add 12 oz. mini chocolate chips.  Bake at 350 for 50-55 mins in a bundt cake pan.  Cool completely before removing, sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Cabin Fever

Lane having serious, sledding fun.

We had a wonderful New Year.  We went up to our friends cabin (with them there.  We didn't break in.).  And had a blast.  There was enough snow to have a snowball fight, pull a tricep (the moms can bring it), go sledding, drink hot cocoa, try to break the ice on the lake, break the ice and then realize that mom and dad are right... it's not as thick as you thought, and enjoy a new card game of "ucar".  (I spelled that the way you say it.  I'm sure I'm wrong on the spelling, it's a Michigan/Ohio thing.)  When Blake and I were unknowingly cheating we were winning. Following rules gets you nowhere.  Happy New Year, here are some pics to make up for the lack of Christmas pics. 

Blake towing 3 kids.

Happy girl when someone is doing all the work for you.

My camera battery died during this outing so we missed even more photo opts.  Ugh!

Award: RESCINDED

It's been awhile since my last post.  I've been a little embarrassed to admit that after I went through all the trouble of making Christmas cookies and being "mother of the month" that I totally dropped the ball and didn't take any "Christmas morning" pictures.  What kind of mother does that?  Don't answer that.  The camcorder battery lasted for 2 minutes so there is proof that Christmas was celebrated by us this year.  Now I will take you on a little verbal journey.  (I know... it's really not as fun as pictures.  Use your imagination.)  Lane likes football, he got football stuff.  Paige likes crafts, she got craft stuff.  I like to be spoiled, I got spoiled.  Blake likes to feel young, he WILL feel young, eventually.  That sums it up in a tight little ball with a bow.  

My in-laws flew in the day after Christmas.  It's always fun to have nice visitors.  We took a trip up to Pittsburgh to the Museum of Natural History.

Blake and I among the dinosaurs. Feeling prehistoric.

When in Pittsburgh, do as the Pittsburgh-ers do.

Wear a jersey.

Lane wanted to wear his Chargers jersey but we told him he'd get beat up.  While we were there another boy walked by with a Chargers jersey.  Lane asked if he was going to get beat up.  Lane knew that we were teasing him but Paige kept asking if Lane would REALLY get beat up.  She is always worried about his safety.

Heinz chapel

It was nice enough to walk around the Pitt campus that is across the street from the museum. We ended our night with dinner at PF Chang's.  My favorite.  Enough said.

Now that Christmas is behind us and the new year has started we are already off and running. Thank goodness I have my new iTouch to keep me organized.  Maybe I'll be so productive that I'll earn another award.  Cleanest, Most Organized Office Award.  Nah, Blake don't hold your breath.  :)