Happy Birthday Mike!

Birthdays have been crazy lately...so many to celebrate! It's Big Mike's day today, so Happy Birthday!

We celebrated (kid free - yes!) last night and had a great time.

(If anyone is keeping score, that's TWICE this month that we've been out without the kids. This is a record for us!)

We're at my parents house and today I'll be campaigning for the removal of their Christmas lights. If anyone is out and about, stop on by and take off a strand!

Aunt Stephie's Day! Hooray!

It's Stephanie's birthday today.

Unfortunately, blogger is having issues and I cannot upload pictures right now. (I had a cute one planned.)

So, Happy Birthday! Hope you have a great day and we'll see you this weekend to celebrate!

Game Night

Our yesterday was a busy one and didn't end until about 8:00 last night as we carried a screaming and non-compliant Vaughnie out of Vance's school.

It was Game Night last night at Vance's school, where they set up lots of different games in the classrooms. In the last room we visited, they created virtual Candy Land by taping colored pieces of paper on the floor. The kids had a great time jumping from color to color, but it took a long time to play because there were younger kids in the mix that didn't know their colors. Vance almost made it to the end, but the card chosen for him sent him back to the beginning of the course and he was over it at that point. Normally, we wouldn't let him quit but it had been a long night and Vaughn was on the edge already.

Another busy day today. Parents as Teachers lady is making another visit. Not really looking forward to that. And, Hair! It's finally Hair Day! My hair appointment is tonight!

Taco Soup. Ole!

Growing up, I didn't eat much Mexican food. For the past 12 years I've been making up for lost time.

This is probably more Mexican/American, but it's good nonetheless. I think of it as a "kitchen sink" soup. You really can add whatever you want. More pintos, no kidneys. More black, no pintos. More chilies, more tomatoes, no Rotel. Some add black olives, but I don't do olives of any kind. It all works. The basics are in the picture above. I also add a little less than one big bottle of low sodium V8 juice. I rinse my beans too. I don't know why Ranch Dressing mix is involved, but that's just the way it is. Restrain yourselves and do not add salt until everything is combined. You'll be amazed how much salt is in the seasoning and residual liquid of the beans.

Serve with cheese, sour cream, cilantro, or nothing at all. Freezes well. Hurry and make it before it gets too Springy out and no one is in the mood for soup.

I want to not want soup. Don't you?

It's cool. I'm a Mom.

I scheduled a play date for Vance even when I knew it would mean not being able to get to the grocery store until the next day. We're out of a lot of stuff, but we can hold off for one more day. He hasn't seen his buddy in awhile, I knew he would enjoy some play time.

I didn't get to, well, the majority of the things I would have liked to because Vaughn didn't feel like playing by herself at all today. And we're potty training and she told me every 20 minutes that she had to go and won't sit in the bathroom by herself.

I missed breakfast today.

I made smoothies today for the boys, because they asked, even when I was eyeing the last banana for myself.

After Vance's buddy left I made Vance and Vaughn lunch because they were starving. (Insert cries from Vaughn and over dramatic acting from Vance.)

Vaughn was clearly ready for a nap, so I took her upstairs. Came back down, got Vance finished up with lunch, then finally started to make my lunch. Except we're out of what I normally eat because I didn't get to the grocery store today. Bread and hummus it is then. Get both out, sit down, and can tell that Vance is eyeing me. Ask him if he'd like to share and he proceeds to eat the majority of my lunch.

But it's cool. Vance just told me that he loved me and that he was going to pick me some beautiful flowers when it's summertime and nice and warm outside.

That's all it takes. I'm a Mom and this is my everyday.

Ry Bray Day!

It's been eight years and yet I can still remember the sound of her first cries. She made a dramatic entrance into the world and is still following suit. Thanks for always keeping us entertained!

Happy Birthday Ryan! We love you!

Happy Daddy Day

Vance woke up early today and announced, "Happy Daddy Day!" to me.

Happy Daddy Day is right, buckaroo!

(I didn't really call him buckaroo. It just rolled right out up there)

Yes, as I'm typing Justin is waiting to clear Customs. He always has issues with Customs. They confiscated all of his highlighters on one trip. They questioned why one person would need so many. (I find this terribly hilarious and am laughing right now.)

If no flights are delayed Happy Hour will so be on.

And it's just in time. I haven't talked face-to-face with another adult in quite some time. Vaughn's jabbering is starting to make perfect sense to me.

Vance Wordle

Thanks to wordle.net

Head is still spinning about this one. Found the link yesterday and I'm having a hard time computing all the possibilities for the kids' rooms.

Does anyone have access to a zip drive for a Mac?

I'm wanting to get info off of an old disc, but I don't have a zip drive.

Or, is there another way to do this, computer people?

Vestigating Animal Tracks!

This is my first attempt at doing a collage in Photoshop. I don't know why it's so small. But, I still consider this a win.

(Vance is currently working on a collage of his own and there's 80 little pieces of paper that he's cut out and is gluing right now to a piece of paper. I should mention that he's placed 60 of the 80 pieces of paper on my laptop. Glue is everywhere and he just dumped a bag full of beads onto the counter. Typing is a bit of a struggle.)

Yesterday morning we noticed animal tracks in the snow. Vance said we should "vestigate" when he got home from school. So, we did. And here's what we found.

Vance won't accept my cat theory. He's convinced it's a much more exciting, nocturnal animal. (It's clearly a cat. I don't like cats. Yuck.) We also found some bird prints, as well as some mystery prints. Bottom, right picture. Slash lines. Any ideas?

Seems like it was a busy day for animals yesterday. My sister has her own animal issues, head on over to give that a guess.

Pizza night!

To Lent or Not to Lent?

I haven't decided about Lent yet. I'm running out of time.

I should give up Chipotle's burritos. We've been frequenting that place a little too often lately. The last time we were there (Friday) a technified version of our wedding song was playing over the speakers. The second to last time we were there (Sunday) it was Amy Winehouse, which always makes me think of Wisconsin. I love the random music there. (Sade, By Your Side, in case you were wondering.)

Lent always reminds me of the movie Chocolat. Chocolate and Johnny Depp, what's not to love? If you haven't seen it, let me know and I'll bring my copy over and watch it with you.

I don't know if I want to give anything up. Maybe I'll limit myself. Maybe I'll switch it up and instead of giving something up, I'll try to do something more often, like exercising. I've been good and have run the past two days, but it might help to have something like this pushing me to do it.

Lots to think about, but it's almost Johnny Weir time. Will have to sleep on it.

Fat Tuesday

In high school, my best friend was catholic and therefore was made by her parents to give up something for Lent. I'm not religious, but I gave up something too, just to make it easier for her.

You can never lose with the Buddy System.

(I have to tell you though, that in her household Sundays were free days, so it made it a little easier.)

I kept up with this tradition for a while even when we went our separate ways for college and life in general. My pregnancies were always over Lent and I figured I was giving up enough during that time, so it's been awhile since I've practiced.

I'm running out of time here. I think you know where I'm going with this. I think I'm Back On this year. (Maybe it's because in the past month I've eaten double my body weight in Dove chocolates and if I don't do something quick I won't be able to button my jeans.)

So, I have one day to decide if and what I'll be giving up. Anyone else want to play? I need a Buddy!

Turn the Lights Off! - Update

Power Monitor Update: See original post here

In the first month using it, we saved $20.00 on our electric bill. Coincidence? Guess we'll see next month!

This is the best night of my Life!

Aunt Stephanie and Uncle Jeff have earned the title of Best Aunt and Uncle of the Year (a title that I encourage the other aunts and uncles to fight for...). They hosted a Valentine's Day sleepover for Ryan, Jack, Vance, and Vaughn last night.

Vance and Vaughn came down with colds during the week and I was fearful that they wouldn't be able to attend, but a Valentine's Day Miracle occurred and they were healthy enough to go.

This was Vance's first sleepover and he was so excited.

Their house was decorated so cute, Stephanie brought a ton of toys home from work for the kids to play with, they made heart shaped pizzas, pink pancakes and pink cinnamon rolls for breakfast, and brought baskets of Valentine's gifts to take home.

Vance: "This is the best night of my life!"

Justin and I went out for dinner and tried to remember the last Valentine's Day that we went out. I'm thinking maybe college? It's been a long time. We had to remind ourselves to eat slowly and we did. It was a nice break for us and we are very thankful for it. We figured Vaughn was a little to young for a sleepover, so we picked her up after dinner. She had a good time with the older guys and didn't want to leave.

We slept in until 8:00 this morning, which is super later for us. Even on weekends we're up by 6:30. We went and had breakfast with Charity and Mark before picking the kiddos up. Holy cow, Vance is going to be talking about this night for a long time.

Here's a picture that Stephanie took of Vance before going to bed.

Again, a big Word Up to Stephanie and Jeff for doing this. Last Valentine's Day sucked for us and we were due for a good night out. Hope everyone has a great Valentine's Day!

I should also add that Justin sent me flowers - three bouquets of tulips for Valentine's Day. They are beautiful!

valentineosaurus

Turn the Lights Off!

Switching gears a bit today....Let's talk about the Black & Decker Power Monitor.

(I didn't get any time to doodle on more pictures and I can hear Vance stomping around upstairs, so I've got about 3 minutes before I need to go check that out. Here goes.)

The Power Monitor. You hook it up to your electric meter and it remotely tracks your energy consumption. I thought it sounded boring too, at first. I take it all back, because it's really interesting. Turn a light on and the number jumps, turn it off and it goes back down. It really serves as a reminder to turn the things off that we aren't using. And there's a mode that lets you see what a certain appliance, light, etc. costs all by itself to run. It's nuts, Junior, nuts.

Here's the monitor. And I'm not being paid to write about this.

That's enough about that.

I'm happy that flowers are cheap at Trader Joe's. We bought two bouquets the last time we were there and now the lily's are blooming and it's smelling great in here. (Fun fact: the smell of lily's always remind me of my sister's wedding.)

Vance wants to be a Troodon because they're the smartest dinosaur, have a big hook on their toe, and can see in the dark. Vaughn buckled a stegosaurus into her booster seat and pretended to feed it, then rocked it afterwards, thus proving that everyone is still dino crazy around here.

It's Thursday, grocery shopping day, and the sun is shining. Vance and I took the winter wreath down from the front door yesterday in hopes to bring spring sooner. Hope it works!

This is really the reason I wanted Photoshop...just to put captions in the kids' mouths and draw moustaches on them.

I've been playing around a little and it's so frustrating. I remember bits and pieces of how to do things, but there's too many gaps to really see anything all the way through. My "how to" book (A Scott Kelby book, thanks for recommending him Jen!) should be here in a couple of days. Until then you may be getting more doodles on pictures!

Today's blog post is being preempted due to Vance's requests for me to read Alvin and the Chipmunks and sing Row, Row, Row your Boat to him while eating breakfast.

Until I get more time, please enjoy this picture that Vance drew of my parents back in October.

Skip to my lou

Thanks to Little Gym, Vance has been skipping for a long time. I've seen him skip. We've skipped through parking lots together. We're just that jolly.

Him being able to skip was the last thing on my mind until I found out that skipping was part of the developmental screening test for kindergarten.

I asked him to skip and he galloped. I showed him how to skip. "Remember? Step, hop! Step, hop!" He forgot how to skip and even with talking hip through it and even with me and Justin helping him move his legs he couldn't effing skip.

(I know what most of you are thinking. We're putting too much pressure on him, that's why he's not doing this. I'll let you know that all of this was done nonchalantly, no big deal, Hey, everyone let's skip around the room for fun!)

This was a couple days before his screening. And then the screening was cancelled due to someone calling in sick. We've been practicing ever since and two nights ago I was convinced he had totally blocked how to skip out of his brain. This was driving me more crazy than it should have. They use these test results in placing the kids in their classes and I want him to do his best.

His screening was rescheduled for today, so last night I asked him to try skipping again. And just like that he could skip. Skipped all around the room. Skip, skip, skip. Justin and I looked at each other and cheered for him. This is how kids slowly take away your sanity.

But, yet again, his screening has been cancelled. Our school district has been closed due to snow. Justin headed out to work only to return a few minutes later and claimed he had to take my car to work. He was sliding everywhere. After leaving in my car he called when he was outside our neighborhood and reported that there were already two accidents on the main road.

Be careful out there today! I'll be stuck inside with the kids, doing everything to hold on to my sanity!

Birthday Banners

I think I'm ready to start making and selling Birthday Banners again. However, I'm a little torn on how I want to go about it. Word of mouth? Etsy?

My issue is shipping. Estimating shipping costs always throw me. And the thing about these is that they have to be shipped in a tube, which are kind of pricey, and seem to cost a little more to ship. The last one I shipped cost about $9.00 and the tube was around $4 or $5 (it's been awhile, I kind of forget). And is it more to ship further away? How do you average that into your price? Would Etsy buyers be less likely to buy because of a high shipping cost?

Tasha, I need your Etsy insight.

My next issue is figuring out colors for the girls sign. I'm pretty happy with the colors for the boy sign. I've done girls signs in many different colors, but can't seem to find a winner.

Hmm...lots to think about. Must go rescue Vaughn and get breakfast started. Have a great Friday!

Last night, Justin informed me that the super bowl was this weekend.

(I don't keep up with these types of things.)

He also informed me of his travel schedule for the next few weeks.

(It sucks.)

I pretended that I didn't hear him and kept on telling him how The Devil Angelina is trying to move in on Johnny.

(If you know acknowledge something, it's not real and doesn't happen, right? Right!)

Moving on!

I really have nothing right now. Vance is still all about dinosaurs. Yesterday was Troodon (tru - o - don) day. Apparently they have good eyesight at night. I took the kids out to play yesterday and Vaughn fell and and hit her head on the bottom stair of our deck. Pretty much the exact place that she hit in on the counter last month. A bump and a scrape.

It's pizza night and Vance is pumped. Hope you all have something to look forward to today.

Vaughn is 21 months today

Vaughnie Bell is getting old. 21 months old today. Here's some stats:

• She's tipping the scale at 32 lbs.
• She's talking up a storm, 50 plus words is just a guess.
• She's also starting to use 2 and 3 words together. "mo cheese pees" "need hug dada"
• She's starting to say thank you "tank oo" without being prompted
• Loves her music class.
• Still very independent.
• Tries to jump, but feet stay on the floor.
• She loves her babies. Loves to feed and rock them. Still doesn't have a favorite baby yet.
• She loves reading books, playing with Vance's Leapster, but doesn't have much patience for puzzles right now.
• Loves her Diego toothbrush and taking baths.
• Loves her Big Bro even more.

A List!

Things worth mentioning: A List!

• Over the weekend I purchased Photoshop and it's apparent that I remember nothing from my graphic designs classes. I have no idea what I'm doing and need to buy a "how to" book.
• In my defense, it's been 9 years since my last graphic design class.
• The new header is SO a work in progress. It's all wrong and not me, but it will do for now.
• Vaughn now calls Vance "big bro", but it comes out, "big bwo" and is the cutest thing. Vance loves it.
• The Lost premier is on tonight...
• But, so is kindergarten registration. I'm hoping Justin can come home a little early so I can go and get in line and not be there for hours.
• See how I'm making light of kindergarten registration? No big deal!
• Parents As Teachers meeting happened last Friday. Was kind of a no brainer like I expected.

Enjoy your day!

It's Char Bray's Day!

On this day, many, many, years ago, my sister was born.

Happy Birthday Charity! Hope you have a great day! Love you!