Even though this is not my first rodeo with a lab puppy..  In fact, this is my THIRD rodeo with a lab puppy.  There is something intoxicating about stinky puppy breath that fools you into thinking this is what life with a new lab puppy is going to be like...


All sweetness...

Cuddling while watching TV...

Oliver would love having a sibling to spend time with...

Lots of sweet sleepy puppy naps...

Here is a better example of what life with a Lab Puppy is REALLY like.....

"Lucy!  Let go of my camera strap!"



"Lucy!  What did you do to the laundry sorter!?"

"Lucy!  No!! GET OFF MY LEG!"

Razor Sharp Puppy Teeth..

"ATTACK!"

"Lucy!  NO DIGGING!"

"Lucy!  Get off of Oliver you BULLY!"

"Lucy NO!  Well, I guess we didn't need the hearth protector anymore..."

"Lucy!  Get out of the washing machine!"

"Lucy!  You bed hog!  Thats my spot!!"

"Lucy!  No!  Off the broom!  I'm trying to sweep!!!"

I seriously wonder what we were thinking sometimes.....

Note To Self

If you aren't going to be dressed by the time the bus comes to pick up the kids, you need to start wearing better jammies and at least a sports bra..

That way when your puppy escapes when the kids run out the door, and you have to go chasing her up the driveway and out into the street - your boobs aren't flying around in your old maternity nightgown your still sporting (11 years later).

(In front of all the kids on the school bus, the bus driver (who works with your dad), and all your neighbors who you are holding up from heading on to work...)

It was an awesome way to start my day.

I'll introduce you to said puppy soon.  She's a trip.

Only where I'm from...

I got a good giggle at the gym last night.  Only in my little town would you see a guy at the gym working out in a white under type shirt, blue jeans, and work boots.

(I realize the pic isn't great, I was trying to be discrete and still keep his face out of the pic.)

Baby Bjorn Carrier Make Over

So a good friend of mine was having her second baby a while back...  She had lent her sister her black BabyBjorn carrier, and when she got it back it was looking a little well washed and with bleach splotches on the straps..  (Bad sister!)
Instead of going and dropping another almost $70 on a new one, I borrowed hers for a couple of days and fancied it up a little bit..
I didn't get very many before pics, but I thought I'd share what pics I do have..

It turned out way cool and only cost about $10 in fabric to do it..

You may or may not know this about me - but I am a computer technician by day. 
Last week my coworker got a call that a memory card was not reading..  He snapped this picture for us...

In case you can't identify the problem, floppy disk drives can not read memory cards. 

A PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT

MY PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT FOR THE DAY:

BURN OUT SHIRTS ARE MEANT TO BE WORN OVER ANOTHER SHIRT.

Burn out T-shirts are very popular and can be super cute.  If you don't know what a burn out shirt is, here is one.

Let me repeat myself.  BURN OUT SHIRTS ARE MEANT TO BE WORN OVER ANOTHER SHIRT.  Be it another t-shirt, a tank top, or a camisole. 

If I were faster on the draw with my IPhone, I would have had a picture to post with this - but lets just say that fat rolls are totally visible through burn out shirts, as are your tattered/frayed stretched out bras.
It is not cute, flattering, or remotely sexy. 

Save your dignity, and spare the rest of us and slip a tank or camisole on under your burn out T-shirt please.

Happy New Year!

I'm raising a toast to all of you for a very Happy and Healthy 2012!

My resolutions this year are:
1.  Back on Weight Watchers as of 1/2/2011 - ( I need the 1st to load up on Oliebollen (A Dutch New Years tradition - translation "Oil Balls".  Think fried apple fritters. May I just say YUM!))
2.  More one on one time with the hubby.  Dates, lunches, what ever - time together with out the kiddos.
3.  Get my house organized again.  2011 was a very busy year for us, and my whole home went to pot when football season started.  My goal is to finish getting organized and formulating an attack plan for football season, so we aren't eating crap on the run and letting the house go again.
4.  Occasionally doing something for myself. 

Where have I been?

Wondering where I have been? 
Well, I can tell you I have NOT been at home cleaning (or doing laundry).  I have NOT spent much time at the grocery store buying real food for our family to eat.   I have NOT been to the car wash.

I have however spent pretty much August through the first 1/2 of November eating, sleeping, breathing football and cheer.
My weekly schedule went something like this: 
Monday: Andra either had cheer practice at 4:45 or tumbling at 5:30 (occasionally both on the same day.)  Lane had football practice from 6-8.

Tuesday:  Andra had cheer practice from 5-6.  Lane had football practice from 6-8.

Wednesday:  The kids go to Awanna at our church from 6- 7:45.  We have a class from 7:30 to 8:30 at the church as well.

Thursday:  Lane had football practice from 6-8.

Friday:  We often have Sunday School activities, dinners with my parents, or open gym for tumbling.

Saturday:  Both kids had games. (Lane's were at 8:30, Andra's were 12:30ish.  So we were there all day.)

Sunday:  Sunday School and Church.

At one point, the wrestling season had overlapped the football season, so we pulled Lane out of Awanna and had him in the wrestling room working out on Wednesday nights.

Keeping in mind that I work at least 3 days a week at my real job (I put the kids on the bus, go straight to work, and then leave work in time to meet the school bus again.) and I've had a lot of blanket business lately (which is great).  So I had to give up things like updating my blog, pictures, etc. 

But it was well worth it...  My kids had a TON of fun doing it and they both learned SO much.

My sons disclaimer...

If you are to have my son over for a sleepover - here is his disclaimer..

1.  Go ahead and give a dose of Motrin before putting him to bed.  His growing pains randomly strike and make him scream like nothing you've ever seen.  Avoid this episode by giving him a dose of Motrin.  Its in a zip lock bag in his backpack.  (I usually do not encourage dosing any child with any un-necessary medications, but I find for the sanity of the supervising parent, this is a necessary dosage of medication.)  Rubbing alcohol or a cheap after shave can be applied to the legs to ease some of the muscle cramps should he have one of his Exorcist moments and you are desperate for the screaming to end.  It won't be the first time he smelled like a gigolo.

2. Cut him off from drinks early in the evening and make him pee before he gets into bed.  If he argues and says "MY NOT FEEL IT!" Tell him to go try anyway.   THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT.  Make sure he empties his bladder.   If he has to pee in the middle of the night, you have a 50/50 chance of it waking him up.  The other 50% chance is that it will trigger him to sleep walk and find some random place in your house to drain his main vain at.   No, I am not joking.

3.  Make sure all doors are locked.  He sleep walks.  (Sometimes with the urge to pee, sometimes not.  If you find him sleep walking, its best to go ahead and help lead him towards the bathroom to try and pee.  Trust me on this one.)

To our friends who have lived through his growing pains episodes with out these warnings, I'm sorry.  I hope you aren't scarred for life.

And to our friends, who had to clean your sons bedroom carpet after Lane used it as a urinal - my deepest apologies.

All future sleepovers involving Lane being away from our home will come with the disclaimer above.  (And we understand if you decide not to have him sleep over after these being given these warnings.  Seriously.)

(And if it makes you feel better, I have spent many mornings reeking of cheap men's aftershave.  And personally had to drag the carpet cleaner up and down our flight of stairs that Lane used as a urinal once before I got him redirected to the bathroom.)

(Irony?  As I was finishing this post.  Lane came sleep walking through!  I'm going to tie bells to that kid!)

My Home Made Laundry Detergent Recipe For People On Well Water

I've tried a couple of different liquid laundry detergent recipes, but they never seem to come out right.   They always gel up well, but never stay gelled.  It ends up looking a lot like egg drop soup.  (The crazy hot, humid weather we have probably has something to do with that as well.)


So this last batch I tried, I used distilled water and that seemed to be the magic fix.


Supplies you will need:
A large stock pot and a small stock pot
A long spoon (Metal or plastic if you plan on using it for something other than detergent making. I personally use a wooden paint stir stick, meant for 5 gallon buckets.  It cost about 28 cents.)
A 5 gallon bucket with a lid
4 Gallons of Distilled Water (If you are on a well like me.)
1 Bar of your favorite soap
1 Cup of Borax
1 Cup of Washing Soda (NOT baking soda, these are 2 different products.)

**If you are having a hard time locating Washing Soda, check smaller or locally owned grocery stores.  This is where I've had the best luck finding it.  Target carries Borax.

In the large stock pot, start heating 3 of the gallons of distilled water.  It does not need to be boiling, but it does need to be hot when its ready to be mixed up.

Grate the bar of soap.  (I use Coast.  I've tried and liked Fels Naptha.  I did not care for the detergent that Ivory created.)

(If you use Fels Naptha, it looks strikingly like grated cheese!)









In the small stock pot start heating 4 cups of the remaining 1 gallon of distilled water.  As the water starts warming, slowly add the grated soap and stir almost constantly until all of the soap is totally dissolved.  I stir slowly as not to foam it up too much, but soap bubbles are pretty normal.

Once the grated soap is all dissolved, pour the 3 gallons of hot water into the clean bucket. 

Add the 1 Cup of Borax and start stirring.

Then add the 1 Cup of washing soda and keep stirring.

(I stir this step for at least 2 solid minutes.)

Then add the melted soap mixture to the 5 gallon bucket and stir some more.

(I stir this step for no less than 3 minutes.)

Store in a cool place over night to give the mixture time to cool and gel.  (This is where my problem lies, there is NO cool place here!  lol)  It is normal to have some water that doesn't gel with this mixture. 

This is what mine looked like when it was done gelling up:

I use an old laundry detergent bottle to keep small amounts of this on the washer and refill from the 5 gallon bucket as needed. 

If you like, you may add a few drops of essential oil or fragrance oil to scent your detergent.  I add that to my small bottle, instead of the large bucket.

I also shake well before I pour it out.

I use between 1/4 and 3/4 cup of detergent per load depending on the size of the load.

The nice thing about home made laundry detergent is that it is a low sudsing soap, so it has worked really well in my HE machine.

My 2005 Pontiac Montana

I drive the Tighty-Whitey.  A white minivan with a gray band around the bottom.  Its like driving a giant pair of men's underpants upside down everywhere I go.  (As if having a minivan wasn't cool enough!)

But I can not complain too much about her.  Mechanically, she has been a SUPER sound car!
She's 6 years old, but aside from general maintenance (oil changes, battery, tires, breaks) we've had nothing major go wrong with her.
There was a small problem with the passenger front window switch not working.   I could roll it up with the one on the drivers side, but the passenger couldn't roll their own window down.  Matt kept saying he was going to stop at the dealer and pick up a new switch, but magically it "repaired" itself and hasn't been a problem since.
There is also an occasional glitch with the transmission shifting hard.  Matt read somewhere that its some pressure switch (FYI, this is where I may translate man-talk into blond) that he'd have to pull the whole transmission out to change out - but it stopped doing that on its own too.

The first real problem arose recently.  When  I go 60 or over, I have a pretty wicked shimmy.  (It stops at above 75, so I just drive faster..  ;) That fixes everything, right!?)  I apparently need a new front drivers side hub.  With only 3 payments away from being paid off.  GO FIGURE.

Oh well, it doesn't hurt to be married to a mechanic eh?? 

Once I've made that last payment, we're going to setup automatic deposits into our savings account for at least the amount we've been making in car payments..  That way my budget is still used to that money being pulled out, and if we can keep her going with out any major repairs (this hub thing isn't super expensive, it will be $120 for both sides), we'll have a nice chunk set aside for a deposit and TTnL..

But what to get?  I don't like driving a mini-van and having the "mommy mobile" label..  But I often have those 3 rows of seats full of kids, plus I need something big enough to haul not only my kids around, but our 100+ pound vehicularly ill-mannered lab as well.  (I can't think of the last time I took him to the vet and didn't have the kids with me).  Plus I HATE grocery shopping, so I try to just do one giant trip a month, so I need to be able to fold that 3rd row down and make lots of room for groceries...
But I don't want the added fuel cost and insurance cost with an SUV.

GM got rid of the Pontiac line (and kept Buick?  Not one of their better decisions, in my opinion.).  I looked at the Chevy Traverse, but after having 2 Pontiac's - the interior seemed really cheap and dull to me.  (I had this same dilemma when I bought the Tighty Whitey, it was a toss up between it and a Chevy Venture - and even though the Chevy had a lot more options going for it, I chose the Pontiac because it just had a much nicer interior option..I mean, I don't stand outside checking the color of my car out as often as I am inside looking at the interior.)
I didn't have time to go look at the GMC Acadia (the GMC version of the Traverse), but all I can do is hope that they have a nicer interior package like the Pontiac's had.  I've never been drawn to the Buick line (don't you have to have to be a certain age to be able to buy one of those anyway!?  ;)  )

So for now I guess the Acadia is on the top of my list..  Hopefully I'll get to check them out before too long so I know if I need to start looking at other options...

Though I worry, can I teach the kids to be mindful of opening the car door and NOT opening it into the car next to me??

Aside from the obvious driving you to and from places, mommy mobiles are:

A place to eat ice cream in on the ride home from the mountains:

A place to nap on long car trips home:

A seat at the drive in:

A place to do lotion art:

For bringing friends to meet their new baby brothers:



For using as a rain gague when its flooding out...

You know, looking at all the places that van has taken us, moves, trips, birthday parties, shopping adventures, etc..  It kind of makes me sad to think about getting rid of it.  BUT ONLY FOR A SECOND OR TWO.

I've lived through my worst nightmare..

If you know me at all, you know that I have a totally irrational fear of snakes.  There I said it, its irrational.  But that doesn't mean I can convince myself to react any differently.

I once ran out of my office (and my shoes), down the stairs, outside, and to the next building before I was caught by a coworker, because someone had played a trick on me and put a dead baby snake on my desk.  That coworker walked around carrying the snake in his shirt pocket, with its head poking out all day in triumph.
(I then came into work the next morning with my desk covered in fake snakes.. 12 years later and some of those snakes are still lingering around the office somewhere..)

I refuse to go into herpeteriums at the zoo.

A snake jumped (yes, they can jump) in front of the lawn mower I was riding on last year and I stopped mowing.  Matt asked why I couldn't just mow over it and kill it, I did have 3 giant spinning blades that would probably take care of it, but I just drove the mower to the front door, got off the mower, and told Matt where I left off.  I was done.

I DON'T DO SNAKES.
I'm ready to move back to Alaska, I'd rather come face to face with a moose or bear than be near a snake.

(Just talking about this, I've pulled my feet up under me as I type.  I'm getting the heebeegeebees and don't want my feet on the floor.)

So Saturday morning we were getting ready for a long day of kiddo activities.  Andra came in my bathroom where I was getting ready and says quite bluntly "You NEED to come with me." 
(Andra is a little bit of a drama queen, and likes to drag me around for dramatic effect when tattling on her brother, but this time her attitude was very different.  This wasn't "I'm ratting Lane out for something.."  her tone said "DANGER!" and her skin color said "I MAY PUKE!" )
So instead of telling her to use her words and just TELL me what she was tattling on so I could keep getting dressed, I followed her. 
Down the hall into the kitchen, she stopped about 1/2 way into the kitchen and pointed towards the laundry room, refusing to go any further.
I (being the giant fradey-cat chicken I am) slowed and tip toed over towards the laundry room thinking there was a giant spider or tarantula in there...

I wish.

I ran back to Andra, grabbed her squarely by the shoulders and said "Let Oliver in the back door, take him and your brother to your room and lock the door." 
And I booked it back to our bathroom where Matt was in the shower. 
I barged in and said "The faster you finish this shower, the better.  There is man work to be done.  There is a snake in the laundry room!"

Then I grabbed my camera and came back to stalk it.  I didn't want it to come into the kitchen or hide under the washer or something.  I NEEDED to know where it was.

And because of him:

WE ARE MOVING!

Well that was embarrassing...

Well that was embarrassing...
I've been going on bike rides as often as I can to help with this weight loss adventure I am on..  I was enjoying myself and decided to not be my usual chicken self and went further than I have before.

I turned around at what I thought was a good spot and realized the second I started back that I was going to get to peddle home against the wind, a lot of it uphill..  NOT SMART.
I got passed by a jeep full of teenagers, who laughed at me.  I whispered dirty things under my breath about them and how they'll be old and fat one day too..

In the midst of my huffing and puffing I missed my turn.  I was concentrating hard and not
I looked around at one point and thought "Hmm, this doesn't look familiar.  I must not have been paying attention during this stretch..." and kept huffing and puffing along.

Then I passed some cows...  "Uh, I don't remember passing cows.."
Then I came to a bridge.. "Uh, I really don't remember crossing this bridge!"

I debated turning around, but I was afraid I'd get even more lost, so I just kept going straight, thinking I'd get to an intersection and know just where I was.  I did.  I looked up and saw the "Welcome to Harrah" sign and went "HOLY CRAP!"  I ended up out on a main road, not where I had intended to be AT ALL..

Now I got to publicly humiliate myself huffing and puffing uphill against the wind on a four lane black top.  EXCELLENT!

I get to the next mile section and the storm rolling in gets a little close.  Lightning and thunder start rolling in and it starts sprinkling on me.  And its getting dark to boot.  I kept huffing and puffing and trying to get home as fast as possible, but I knew I still had 2 miles til I got home.

The lightning got a little close for comfort, so I grabbed my phone out of my little bike pouch and called Matt.  Who was already headed in my direction, coming to find me.

I kept riding til I heard our truck rattling up and got to do the walk of shame to pass it off to Matt and get a ride the rest of the way home (I was 1 1/2 miles from home.)   I rode about 7 1/2 miles.

I will pay for this tomorrow.

Decisions, Decisions..

As you may or may not know, I am on Weight Watchers.  I started January 2 and have since lost 22lbs.  Unfortunately due to a small change in medicine, I have gained back about 2 of them (Even with following the plan and being good.)
I do not have the ability to do a lot of exercise at the moment (try not to fall down a flight of stairs.  It messes your back up, bad.) so I am trying really hard to stick with the Weight Watchers Plan and hope I don't gain any more back.

So here were my lunch options...
I could have this can of soup for 10 (out of the 32 I get a day) points.  (Its what I had in the pantry to grab, don't judge me - I need to go grocery shopping.)

Or I could walk over to the cafeteria and for about $3.00 get this salad, ringing in at a whopping 4 points.



Plus the walk down there and back is about 1/2 a mile, so I might have burned a calorie or two on the way over there.

Why?

Why is it that when you had no choice but to have a cable running from your computer to your printer to print (LPT, USB, or even CAT5 for network printers - it didn't matter)  - you had to buy that cable separately.

But now that you can print wirelessly (and setup wirelessly), there is a free USB cable in the box for you to plug your printer in with?

Isn't he studly!?

So this isn't the best quality picture...  I snapped it with my Iphone.  He was annoyed at having to stand still for one moment so I could get it and DIDN'T stand still..
But isn't he just STUDLY?!?

(Uh, by the way, these aren't our team colors..  This was just a "try on" shirt, so we knew what size of jerseys to order...  We'll of course have good pictures taken in our uniforms when we get them.)
But he did come home with his shoulder pads and helmet.  He walked around in them this afternoon for about an hour.  I figure it can't hurt for him to get used to them.
I did have to make him promise not to tackle anyone NOT wearing a helmet and pads - because thats just not cool.

OMG, I can't wait to have Andra in her cheer uniform and him in his football gear!  OH THE PICTURES! 
(Oh my butt from having to sit in the bleechers every Saturday for 2+ months straight!)

Eh, it will be fun!  :D

I no longer live in the sea of blue Formica!

So when we bought this house, we knew it needed some "fixin up".  Did we realize it needed SO MUCH "fixin up"?  Not as well as we thought.
A few financial road blocks and speed bumps later - and things are finally starting to happen around here..

This was my kitchen in May of 2009 when we bought this house... 
You'll notice my LOVELY plywood cabinets (that were stained, but never sealed so they were etched with dirt that you couldn't wash off) and the ocean of blue Formica.   Oh My Goodness, even the walls had blue Formica on them as a back splash!
OH and that thing in the middle of the island?   That's where the power outlet for the island is...  It was very Space Odyssey 2000.  Isn't that special?

So in the spring of 2010 it was time to make a few changes.  I ripped off the back splash, did some sheet rock repair, texturing, painting, and hardware installation...

Still with the ugly blue Formica, but BETTER, no?

And fast forward to Spring of 2011....
(These are "in progress" pictures.  I haven't kept my kitchen clean enough to take "Finished" pics of it yet..  Once I get all the fabric scraps and school papers out of there, I'll take "FINISHED" pics..  At least til we re-do the floors anyway.  LOL)

Of course we've grouted since then and have all our crap things back on the counters...

I have some pillows for the breakfast nook in the works, and a table runner, and some curtains..  Hopefully those will be done in the next couple of days weeks..

Oh where to begin..

Its been a while since I posted anything, so I thought I'd do a quick update.. 

I'm still doing Weight Watchers, and have lost 21lbs so far. 

I have sold over 70 blankets total.

Andra has been getting straight As in school, was tested recently for the Search program at school, and has signed up to be a 4th grade cheerleader this summer/fall.

Lane is doing great.  His speech level improved from the equivalency of a 2yo to a 4yo this last year (huge gains!) and his Dibbles reading score went from an 8 at the beginning of the school year to a 109 (10 measly points under the benchmark).  Football sign ups are next weekend and he is DYING to play!

Matt is doing really well too.  Still enjoying the new, much lower stress job.  Its spring and he wants to be outside working as much as possible.

Oooh, I'll have pictures to share in the very near future of our beautiful new kitchen counter tops!  I no longer live in the sea of blue Formica!  Its wonderful!

I have TONS of blanket pictures to share too.

A tasty refreshment, and new favorite...

If you know me at all, I'm a Coke gal. 
Not Diet, just good ol' Coca Cola.  You know, the kind in the red can, glass bottle, however you serve it (though fountain is the best, hands down.)  If I can't avoid eating at a restaurant with Pepsi products, I'll get tea or water.  I'm a little particular like that.

(And ironically married to a Dr. Pepper connoisseur, but that's a totally different post another day.)

At my hubby's Christmas dinner, I overheard one of the other guests order an Amaretto and Coke..  I like Amaretto, and I love Coke, so why not try it..  I wasn't going to switch gears in the middle of the party tho, so I stuck with my Long Islands that night.. But tonight, I wanted a little treat.

OMG!!

This is going to be dangerous on Weight Watchers.   :D
(I haven't tracked it yet, but should have plenty of points to cover the 2 I've had this evening (even with the Coke I had at lunch.)  If I don't, I spent a good 2.5 hours or more shoveling snow today - I have activity points that should cover it..  :D)

Weigh in today..

I weighed in today - I have officially lost 6.2 lbs. 

Thats all.  Go back about your business.