Charisa Darling

I'm not so happy that she's passed it on to me and even though I've been Emergen-C'ing everyday I've still got it.

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I'm happy that another big load of stuff left our house yesterday en route for Goodwill.

I'm not so happy that they wouldn't take the car seat bases for the infant car seats. (Anyone use the Graco snug fit and need extra bases? We've got two. And they're gray if that matters.)

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I'm so extremely happy that Justin's plans switched last minute and he doesn't have to travel this week, which means I won't be left alone to deal with the weather that's upon us. (He's been traveling like crazy lately.)

I'm not so happy about the weather that's heading our way. We lived in WI during the last ice storms here, so we've been kind of nonchalant about everything until last night when I caught on to everyone's hysteria. Today I'll be charging all child related devices in case of power outages. I can deal without having food. A bored kid will send me right to the edge.

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Taking care of shop real quick, Vance scored 2 baskets at basketball and 1 goal at his soccer game over the weekend. That's his first soccer goal ever, if you're keeping score.

And now I'm off to pack a lunch. PB & J has been requested and therefore that's what it'll be. I live to serve.

This was the picture that I texted my sister last night.

Last time I had checked Skinnygirl Margaritas were only available on the east coast. We've been wanting to try the real thing, but have had to settle with the homemade version.

My excitement was crushed when I tried them and, well, I don't like them. At all. Even Justin, a margarita lover, agreed they were horrible. Major disappointment.

At least we know now and can move on.

Saw these pictures as I was scrolling through old ones and forgot that I didn't share them.

I made these little ornaments for a few of the wonderful ladies at Vaughn's school and paired each with a gift card to Starbucks.

These little hearts were made to remind my niece and nephew of how much we love them as they traveled to their new, far away home.

I really enjoy making things out of felt. I think I may make some hair clippies for Vaughn today. What to make though? Raise your hand if you're tired of seeing cupcakes and owls! A few months ago I made some sushi roll barrettes, but they didn't quite turn out how I expected. Kind of like a new take on "Food in Your Hair". I need something new, any ideas?

Getting rid of all the clutter around here has been a New Year's resolution for us. We've taken many trips to Goodwill, have had an organization come here to pick up stuff, thrown a lot away, and the Futon Fairy even paid us a visit. There's still a few things left to do in the basement, but for the most part it's done and it feels great. (If anyone wants/needs a broken ping pong table, a bathroom mirror/light fixture that's worth $400, a kids plastic climbing/play structure, and darn, I just remembered there's also 2 large matching rectangular mirrors down there too, let me know. I'll hook you up.)

Now onto the rest of the house. I tackled the kitchen yesterday and the amount of barware and random accessories that we have is alarming.

I was 23 when I got married and still in college. My idea of what life was going to be like was very skewed. Why else would we have registered for cocktail napkins and so many martini glasses?

We have pilsner glasses, beer mugs, martini glasses, a wide array of wine glasses, iced tea glasses, champagne flutes, cocktail napkins, a shiny bar kit with odd looking tools, ice and wine buckets, cocktail shaker, and are those poky things olive picks or appetizer picks? Don't know, but we've got 'em. Individual salt and pepper shakers, I could go on and on, but I think you get the point.

Apparently I thought life was going to be one big bash of a party. Ha!

One day I'd like to have a party where all of this stuff is used. Until that day comes, back into the cabinets with all of it. How about you, what did your wedding registry look like?

Cheers to it being Thursday!

I ordered her Post Pregnancy workout video. Don't let the title fool you. Yes, it's post pregnancy but she still kicks your ass. I don't know if I could do the video full-out even before I had Vance. Vaughn is 2.5 and although I run and walk I haven't done much core, legs, or arm work. So, I still consider myself post pregnancy. Sad, right? Moving on!

It was kind of annoying that she used 3 lb. weights in the video but no where on the front or back of the DVD jacket did it mention this. It's one of those if you have them use them, but if you don't no big deal. Lucky for me I had some in one of the boxes waiting to go to Goodwill, so I dug them out.

I definitely feel it today. I don't hurt...yet, but it's that "good sore" type of feeling that lets you know you actually did something. Makes me feel like I've been productive.

After all the snow, cancelled school, and being at home, Vaughn has come down with a cold. She had a low fever and missed school yesterday, so I'm really climbing the walls at this point. So. Tired. Of. Being. In. The. House. With. A. Two. Year. Old. And a snotty one at that.

Happy Hump Day! Here's hoping Vaughn can go back to school tomorrow! Mama needs a few hours alone!

It hasn't snowed this much here in, well, I can't even remember when! It definitely reminded us of winters back in Wisconsin. It was pretty seeing the snow come down, but I'm officially over it now. Let's get on to the melting! The only ice I'd like to see is in my drink and after 3 days of no school plus a partially snowed in weekend the liquor is dwindling down around here. And that also goes for the cookies that I made on Thursday. (I falsely promised myself that I would freeze half of them after cooling. That didn't happen.)

Good thing Tracy was just delivered. I may or may have not eaten more cookies than I could count on one hand yesterday.

Here's hoping your (and my) hand stays out of the cookie jar today.

Here's what our past few days have looked like:

Thursday:

Snow Day! No school due to almost a foot of snow. Exciting!

Friday:

Snow Day. No school due to lingering snow. Okay, whatever. Roads are clear, took kids to somewhat questionable Jump House to burn some energy.

Saturday:

Vance's basketball game. 3 baskets for him! Straight from there we left for his indoor soccer game with my parents in tow. Indoor place smells like an indoor soccer place times ten. Vance does well in the game but is tired from hoops. At one point I see him sitting on the field. And he may have done more than a few cartwheels out there too.

Sunday:

More snow. Enough already. Stops by afternoon. Before bedtime I get a head start on making Vance's lunch for Monday.

Monday:

Snow day. You gotta be effing kidding me. There's no snow. A little bit of ice apparently. I read the email from the district 3 times to make sure and cross check it with the news. It's real. No school today. I'm crushed.

Here's looking forward until tomorrow.

Here's the children playing in the snow yesterday. The leprechaun isn't real. He just fills the awkward space in the picture and makes everything look a little more jolly. Yes?

I normally don't put pictures of myself on here. Today I'm stepping outside of my comfort zone. Lucky you, I know.

Why today? Because I need it today, that's why. (Picture me with my head on the keyboard.)

Here's the Mr. and myself in a midst of a good time. Wait. It was better than that. We were in the midst of having a fabulous time. With fabulous people.

Things around here have been a bit nuts and this picture serves as a reminder that they will slow down. (And then get crazy again. Then slow down again. But that's life, right? Right! Ebb, flow, ebb, flow!) And that it won't be winter forever. (Is anyone else cold and missing the sun?)

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What's on the plate for today? Well, for some reason there's a school bus parked outside our house. It's not time for our bus yet but I may go out, knock on the door, and ask the driver if she's taking kids early. Vance is up and ready to go.

I've got some little projects going on around here, so hopefully Vaughn will cooperate and let me tackle those. Usually that's not like her, but I'm being optimistic. I will tell you with assurance that by lunchtime she will have worn at least 3 different princess dresses and will have asked me 18 times "May I have this dance?". She's may be the best twirler that I know.

Buenos dias!

No. No, I cannot. At least with this recipe.

Dice onion, carrot, red pepper and saute until softened. Roughly mash a can of black beans and add mixtures together. Throw in an egg, a cup of breadcrumbs, 1.5 teaspoons of cumin, salt, pepper, and divide to make patties. A little oil in the skillet, cook until browned on both sides.

Mine fell apart. I thought about crumbling them all and making quesadillas, but the kids have eaten so many quesadillas lately it would just be cruel to serve them again. I gave the kids a smorgasbord of leftovers while I did try a burger. On a whole wheat bun I used mayo and slices of avocado. The taste was just okay. My biggest problem was all the different textures. I got half way through and Vaughn wanted a bite. She chewed three times, dry heaved, then threw it up. (She's got quite the gag reflex and for this reason I don't push her to try things if she's not willing.)

At least I tried.

Setting: School Gymnasium

Attendees: Justin, Vaughn, my parents, and myself.

Weather: Brisk, but sunny.

Mood: Vaughn is squirrelly, otherwise we're all excited.

Here we go.

Second game for Vance. First basket ever made.

Immediately following the ball swishing through the net he ran all the way across the court to where we were sitting and high-fived Justin. It was great seeing him so excited.

Vaughn missed it because she was off mingling with older kids on the empty side of the court next to us. Apparently, she's a social butterfly.

He relived making the shot the whole way home. And is even doing so right now, next to me, as I type this.

First one down!

We had a futon. It was a hand-me-down from my parents. They bought it for my sister after/during college and somehow ended back up at their house. (This info may or may not be correct.) It entered our lives about 8 years ago. We never really needed a futon. We just keep moving it from basement to basement.

"It'd be really nice to finally get rid of that futon" Justin and I both agreed last Sunday. We don't know any college kids, so what to do? "Let's put it out front and see if someone takes it." That's what we did. Embarrassing, a bit silly, but well worth the try.

We carried it up from the basement, taped a Free sign on it, and let fate do its thing.

Curb Alert! It was gone within 40 minutes. I still can't believe it.

Where do futons come from? Doesn't every futon have a story? I'm convinced that we're all sharing the same hand-me-down futon.

This weekend I may try again by setting out 3 old kitchen chairs that are taking up space in the basement too.

Yesterday it snowed.

Vance took one for the team by handing over his snow pants to Vaughn. She doesn't have any and his wardrobe is full of items of the waterproof variety.

We rounded the day out with two movies and popcorn for the kids.

I was getting ready to post something silly last Friday when my mom called to tell me that Betty had passed away. I cannot be with my family today for the out of town services and it's hard to not be able to say goodbye. I'll be there in spirit though. She was loved and will be missed.

(Vance can turn out masterpieces in mere minutes. Think of what he can produce over 3 weeks.)

Christmas put Vance in the giving spirit. He already likes to draw and make things for people, but his factory really kicked it into high speed when presented with over 3 weeks of no school.

That's a lot of free time. Also, Vaughn likes to do whatever Vance does, so the kitchen resembled a mini sweat-shop during the day.

Now that winter break is over and Vance is back in school production has slowed down, which I'm kind of thankful for. We're up to our ears with child manufactured art around here.

Which brings up a good question, what do you do with your kid's art? I don't keep much, but I do snap a picture of the good ones and keep them filed in my computer. That seems to be working for me.

Last night while I was in my closet putting clothes away Vaughn wandered in and saw my shoes in their new organizers. She politely told me to, "go out there for a little bit", meaning for me to leave the closet so she could check out her (my) shoes a little closer.

I'm pretty sure she got this from my side of the family, as the love for shoes runs pretty deep around there. While I like shoes, my mom, sister, and brother definitely have beaten me out of the running of Most Like Imelda Marcos award. Vaughn may be grooming herself to one day compete with them and when she's older and has a shoe organizer of her own let's just hope she didn't buy a cheap one.

On New Year's Eve day we went to the show. A first for our entire family.

I was ready for Vance to go back to school today.

It was after putting him to bed last night that I found out.

I was checking the district's online lunch menu, to see if he would want to buy or bring.

And I saw it.

There's no school today. School starts tomorrow. I triple checked with different resources.

Teardrop.

He's been out for over three weeks now. It's been a nice break. But it's time to go back.

Time to go back.

Tomorrow they both go back to school and I will wander the grocery store and maybe Target at my own pace.

I took the kids to the Butterfly House last week. It's always a nice treat to go somewhere warm and humid when it's so dry and cold out. (I think my skin would appreciate daily trips there.)

I let Vance take control of my camera and he shot all the pictures. He desperately wanted a butterfly to land on his head after seeing it happen to another little girl. He'd hand me the camera, stand still, and stretch his arms out, but nothing.

I guess it gives us a reason to go back!

And here's the kiddos at Justin's parents house! Hard to believe 3 out of 4 were in the same place and smiling! A Christmas miracle!