Funny

Yesterday, Baby was being silly at naptime. I jokingly showed her my fist, and asked her if she wanted a knuckle sandwich. My dad said that to us kids all the time. She plopped into bed and asked a question.

"Does it have pickles on it?"

Wish I could sleep

So, I'm sitting here at 4 am, wishing I could sleep. My legs and hips are hurting so badly that I can't get comfortable. I should have taken Ibuprofen HOURS ago. And I may be awake b/c I had Diet Coke yesterday. I know. I'm not supposed to even have it b/c of my acid reflux, but it is SO hard to not drink it every once in a great while. But now I'm paying for it.

Whoa. I just yawned - good sign.

I'll sign off here (another yawn!) and try to get some sleep after I get some Ibuprofen. I'd go climb back in bed, but my poor husband is snoring. He was up very late tonight finishing his schoolwork. He's so diligent; has a 4.0 grade average. I hope he gets some rest.

This is so yummy it hurts!

My husband does not like BBQ. I love it. So I found a recipe that satisfies us both. But "satisfies" isn't the word. I would eat this more often, but then it wouldn't be as special.

In the past, I've used country style ribs, but in an effort to reduce our fat intake, I've been using pork chops instead. It actually cuts out the baking step. But the taste is the same. I'm trying to not drool on my keyboard. I made this recipe a couple weeks ago, and froze half the chops. We're having them tonight for supper, and I almost cannot wait.

Marna's Killer Rib Rub

3/4 to 1 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. paprika
1 T. onion powder
2 T. garlic powder
1 T. salt
1 T. black pepper
1 T. oregano
1 tsp. dry mustard
1 tsp. cumin
1/4 tsp. cayenne (more or less to taste)
1/4 c. apple juice & 1/4 c. grape juice

1. Mix all ingredients in a ziplock bag. Place pork in a shallow dish, add part of the spices, and rub generously into pork. (I put a bag over my hand as paprika will stain your hands!)

2. For ribs, I baked them for 2-3 hours at 250 covered with foil in the juice and 1/4 c. water.
Then we put them on the grill just long enough to crisp the surface a bit.

3. For chops, I put them in the fridge for an hour to let them marinate. Then they go onto the grill.

I can usually make two whole batches with this recipe. I double zip lock bag the remaining rub and save it for next time. Last time, I used brown sugar Splenda and it tasted just as good.

My daughter, who is almost a vegetarian by stubbornness, cannot get enough of this. It is just too yummy.

She cracks me up

Our neighbors recently bought a new TV. Today was garbage day, and they put their OLD set out at the road. The trash men were standing in their driveway on the phone. I'm sure they were calling to see what to do with the big set. Finally, they did put into the back of the truck.

Baby asked, "Are they going to crack it up?" She phrases things so cute.

Other Baby-isms -
Swindich - two pieces of bread with meat and cheese
Ovills - green condiment with pimento centers
Newsgit - noise that comes from instruments
Awfulls - breakfast food that she eats like a cookie (with a little butter)

I'll have to make sure to write down any more we come across. :0)

Memorial Day and the day after

Yesterday we made it to the lake before lunch. The kids' aunt and uncle took them for a boat ride. Granddad went with them. Grandma and I stayed back.

We ate a nice picnicky lunch, and I put the kids down for a nap. They thought they were going to both sleep in the little toddler bed in one bedroom. That was a good one. I got them settled into separate beds in separate rooms, and started working on dessert. I think I mixed the pudding too long, and it got a little rubbery. (Don't mix the pudding too long.)

It turned out ok, but I would like to try it again, and see if it's better. It definitely didn't look like the picture. I guess it was ok - everyone ate theirs and the kids and I had a second helping when we got home. It worked out to 10 grams of carbs per serving. I don't think that is bad for a dessert.

While I was fixing dessert, the four adults were in the living room trying to hook the VCR up to the new TV. Grandma was reading the directions and BIL and SIL were trying to follow her convoluted instructions. I told them, "Wait for my husband to get here; it will take him 2 minutes." They finally gave up.

Grandma, my SIL and BIL went to the plant nursery while the kids were napping, so I sat and read some magazines in the living room with Granddad who was watching Law and Order on his new flat screen tv. I love L&O - even reruns I've seen a zillion times.

DH came and I was right. It took him two minutes to hook up the DVD player. Grandma says, "I told you - I knew he could do it." Funny. I thought I was the one who said that.

We were eating supper - they were all watching me and asking about how I was measuring and weighing Little Boy's food and figuring his insulin shot. At the table I told my husband what Little Boy could eat; Grandma kept trying to sneak more onto his plate. She gave him a crescent roll (which was ok - I figured it in) but she kept pushing to give him apple butter on it. "He can have a little taste." Apple butter was not figured in b/c it was homemade and didn't have any sugar/carb info on the jar. I guess I gave her a look and then just refused to look at her. SIL must have seen my face, b/c she told Grandma not to give it to him. Maybe I don't have to be as picky as I am, but I am trying my best to keep Little Boy's sugar under control.

Later today I take Little Boy's notebook to the Homeschool review. I have a couple things I need to do before I go. Little Boy is very excited about finishing the book. No more excited than Mommy! He is such a smart little guy.

The rain held off yesterday, but this morning we woke up to steady rain showers, again. My peonies are blooming. I have one plant that opens before any other bush on the hill. I love it. I don't have any pic (b/c it's RAINING), but I will soon. I just love them. Every time I see them I think of my grandparents' house, but every time I smell them, I am there. We would stop there after church on Sunday's. I always wanted to bury my face in them, but I was seriously afraid an ant would go up my nose. I loved the smell of the lilacs, too, but the peonies were always my favorites.

Memorial Day

My thanks and admiration for all the military members who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom, and for any who have served our country to keep us safe. I am especially thinking of my Grandfather, who served in WWII, my great uncle, who was at Pearl Harbor, my great uncle who served in WWII, my great uncle, who fought in the Korean War, my uncle John, who fought in Vietnam, and came home with multiple purple hearts.

Click click click click

click click click click click click click click click click click click click click click click click

wooo-ooo wooo-ooo wooo-ooo wooo-ooo wooo-ooo wooo-ooo

click click click click click click click click click

AAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!

Stop shooting the gun! Stop making siren sounds! Stop shooting the gun!

Little Boy and his repetitive noises can drive me NUTS!

I love that kid.

Sleep interrupted

I didn't take a nap yesterday. I was hoping it would be easier for me to fall asleep last night, but it was midnight before I felt sleepy. My husband was sleeping when I crawled into bed. He got up at 2 am to check Little Boy's blood sugar. He came into the room and woke me up. Did we give Little Boy his nighttime shot? No - we were going to do it when he finished brushing his teeth, and we all forgot. Great. His sugar was high.

So we had to wake him up (he never wakes up all the way) to give him his 24 hour shot. Now to get the shot back to 9:15, we have to step back an hour at a time. So "tonight" we'll have to give him his shot at 1, tomorrow at midnight, and so on, until we're back on schedule. This is the second time we've done this. We need to figure out a way to NOT forget.

It took me quite awhile to get back to sleep. Thankfully, DH went right back to sleep. And before I knew it, he was telling me good-bye. (I make him tell me or I wake up panicked that he overslept and didn't make it out the door on time.)

And I had barely fallen asleep when I hear two little Baby feet hit the floor in the next room. She crawled into my bed until Little Boy opened his door. The two of them went into the living room to play. How long until a fight erupted? Actually, they did well for about 15 minutes. And so I got up. 7 am on a Saturday. Oh well.

There's always naptime.

It was a nice day!

Today was a good day. My husband worked last shift and never went to bed when he got home. Instead, he worked on school work, mowed the lawn, trimmed, cooked hotdogs for lunch, cooked hamburgers for supper, "watched" the kids while I went to the store (they were napping). Today was his day "off" before he starts on day shift tomorrow. His work schedule would absolutely KILL me.

My Better Homes and Gardens magazine came the other day. I was flipping through the pages and saw a yummy recipe. With a little tweaking, it will make a great dessert for our carb-conscious menu. Here's my revised version:

Strawberry Cream Freeze
1 pkg. (8 oz.) Philly cream cheese
1 c. cold milk
1 pkg. sugar free vanilla pudding
1 1/2 c. thawed cool whip
mini vanilla wafers
1 c. sliced fresh strawberries

Beat cream cheese in a large bowl with mixer until creamy. Gradually beat in milk. Add dry pudding mix, beat 2 min. Stir in cool whip.

Place 2 broken-up mini vanilla wafers into each cup. Divide the sliced strawberries equally between the cups. Spoon the filling into the cups. Freeze for 4 hours and remove liners.

I'll have to figure out the carb count. It sounds so yummy.

Beautiful Day

It's just one of those completely beautiful days outside. Blue sky, fresh green trees and grass, sunshine and big shadows under the trees.

Too bad we have to do schoolwork.

We'll get done and get out there.

Today is going to be a better day. It has to be.

The Rest of the Story

Little by little, I learned everything that took place outside. And it is so horrible and disgusting that I will not share it all. Let's just say that Little Boy helped make the puddle, and apparently, Baby didn't make into the house before pooping.

So both of my children are grounded to the house unless a parent is outside with them.

Lucky me.

I have to get it together

My house is a disaster. If someone came to the front door, I'd be mortified.

I desperately need a shower. For me it's a necessity, not a luxury. I don't enjoy it - it's just another thing on the list of things that I HAVE to do.

My daughter is completely trying my patience. She changes her clothes all day long. She has emptied her little drawers, and started pulling things out of the closet. I'm too tired to fight it.

She has completely regressed in her potty training. She wets her pullups without remorse. Today when I dressed her, I gave her a stern warning about wetting her pullup. She did use the toilet this morning, and I tried to make a big deal about it. Maybe she was feeling like it wasn't exciting anymore. ? She came out a little while later wearing undies and a different shirt. I decided to let her try wearing the undies. I gave her another stern warning about not getting her clothes wet; if she needed to pee, she needed to come in and use the toilet.

I got their lunches ready and I went outside to call my kids in to eat. She was standing on the porch of the playhouse. Without undies or shorts - just her sweet little cheeks free in the breeze. As I got closer, I saw Little Boy with a roll of paper towels. He was soaking up a very large puddle. I told him to stop, and thankfully, one of my children is in a listening mood today.

She started hopping up and down, "I'm pooping! I'm pooping!" I put her undies back on her, and made her walk to the house. She was upset b/c she didn't have her shoes on, but one look at my face and she took off. She did make it to the house without making a mess; I cleaned her up and put on a clean pullup. I sat her in her chair and told her to eat. Not long after, Little Boy says, "She's throwing her meat at me!" I got her cleaned up, let her sit on the toilet, and took her to her room.

Oh my word. The window shade was all the way at the top, and her drawers were hanging open with clothes hanging out. Toys, blankets, pillows, clothes, shoes - everywhere. It will take me half a day to clean that bomb-blasted room.

Only a mommy could fully understand why it's a good thing my kids still take naps. My head hurts, I'm tired, I'd LOOOOOVE to take a nap, I should clean my unlivable living room, but I need to go out to the outhouse playhouse and clean up someone's pee.

Funny Boy

My kids have finished lunch. I told them they could go outside to play for half an hour, but Baby needs to put her pants back on. (She'd prefer to run about in just her pullup, but I'm mean.)

I told Little Boy to look in the kitchen; that is where she took them off before lunch.

I told him, "They are light blue pants."

He said, "So they are not heavy blue pants."

I think we need to work on some color descriptions or something. My head is feeling rather thick today - maybe it's me.

Another Baby-ism

Last night my children were a bit wild. Daddy and I were sitting on the couch; I was on the computer, Daddy was watching Glenn Beck.

We had to pause the TV several times to make the wild ones settle down. Baby was getting frustrated. I guess she had had enough.

"I want Daddy to go to work!"

I'm glad Daddy found it humorous.

Baby-ism today

Little Boy was in the bathroom before Baby. When she went in there, apparently it didn't smell very, well, shall we say, fresh.

She said, "Ewww. It smells like boy in there."

Optimistic

Husband is home for 3 days - hopefully I can get some things done today and tomorrow. Friday we go to Morgantown to see the endocrinologist for a check up.

We'll see.

Mother's Day

I had a very nice Mother's Day. I was given nice cards, a white impatiens plant, and a beautiful ring.

Baby must have told me "Happy Mother's Day!" about 100 times today. Little Boy started getting irritated, but I loved it. Each time she said it like it was the first time, and she gave me many smooches. Maybe I'm overly needy, but I don't think I could get ever get enough.

Here are my beautiful children this morning. They are why Mother's Day is special to me.

I think I'm "there"

You know how you can't lose weight until you've reached that point where you just cannot stand it? I think I'm there.

I had Daddy take pictures of Baby and me before we left for the Mother/Daughter program. I now have that picture as the background on my computer screen. I need to print about 50 of them and plaster them all over the house. Maybe I can quit eating so much if I am constantly nauseous.

Taco Salad Dip

Yummy, but not diet-friendly.

Taco Salad Dip

3 pkg. cream cheese
1 16 oz. container cottage cheese
1 packet taco seasoning

Using a blender, mix cream cheese and cottage cheese. Add taco seasoning and mix well.

Spread mix in bottom of 10 x 13 cake pan or a couple smaller pans.

Top with shredded cheese and whatever veggies you like. I used yellow bell pepper, tomato, cucumber, green onions, sliced black olives. Use chips to scoop the dip - I used Scoops and Nacho Doritos.

Sunshine

It looks like we started out with a beautiful day, but I really wouldn't know. I was in bed until 10 am! I was just so tired. I didn't sleep soundly; Baby came to visit me a couple times to snuggle and tickle me. I got up and the house was quiet and empty. I could have rolled over and slept soundly! Oh well. I'm up.

I may go to church to get all the utensils out of the drawers. The church has had mice lately, and I'm grossed out. The ladies' Mother/Daughter Banquet is tomorrow, and I cringe to think someone may use something dirty.

I need to get back out in the den and work. It's still a mess, and I have several boxes that need to be sorted. Guess I should get dressed.

Apparently, my son decided to open the trunk on the car. That means he opened the driver's side door, popped the trunk, got the stroller out for sister, and closed the trunk. I cringe to think about all the times he could have smashed his fingers.

Well, I have lots to do.

I never thought I would say,

"Get your pencil out of your underwear. And your eraser, too."

Where do they get these things?

Ugh

Today I started cleaning and sorting in the den. It's the place where I put/throw everything I don't know what to do with. I have so much left to tackle, but I started!

Scope

Monday I went to the hospital for a scope down my throat into my stomach to see if there was any damage from acid reflux. The prognosis is that I definitely have acid reflux, but there was not damage in my esophagus. Good stuff. The meds they gave me in my IV really made me tired. When I got home, I ate a small lunch and went to bed for about 3 hours.

So I'm supposed to keep taking Prevacid and avoiding caffeine and spicey foods.

Just glad it's over with ok results.

She said, "Please."

Baby is watching TV. Daddy is putting something on the top of the TV.

"GET OUT OF THE WAY!"

So Daddy stood there longer, tormenting the "poor little girl."

I asked her how she should ask someone to move, and she tilted her head to the side, clasped her hands, and said, "Please!"

Please makes everything ok.

My Other Blog

So, I've started another blog where I vent about social, national and political events. It's a way for me to verbalize my opinions. You can read it, or not, and it's ok. :0)

Today's post is regarding Miss California's answer to the question she was given.

There is a link in the upper left hand corner of this blog page.

http://whatburnsmeup-tammy.blogspot.com/