Light Em Up!

All set for the shuttle launch tonight, weather looks great and my work is finally done for the flight. It seemed really painful this time around; probably because I’m trying to get used to the work thingy with two kids. Yeah…completely different with two versus the one; I’m sure you are like…well…yeah you idiot but understanding it and living it…completely different.

The last couple of weeks have been rather trying on the kid front, between the boy’s stitches, my being sick, an abrupt change in schools for the boy and the monkey getting sick, I’m hanging on to that bottom rung. Well…I was last week. I am doing better this week as it has turned out to be a nominal week (notice I didn’t say normal) and I didn’t have any ‘emergencies’ to tend to.

I finished up Viv’s challenge. Can I get a…hey yo! I finished 5th in the competition and I can’t thank her enough for organizing this motivational gem. The last couple of weeks were tough emotionally so I didn’t do as well as I could have, no excuses though, I’m happy with my result. By the next time I’m hoping to be deep…deep in an exercise routine.

Ahhh…an exercise routine, that is the one thing that I have not figured out how to happen as of yet. I get up at 5ish…ok 5:30 and get home at 6 after picking up the kids. Once home I feed the baby and get him to bed while the hubby tends to the boy and gets him to bed. I finish up around 8 only then do I eat dinner, talk with the hubby a bit and get ready for bed by 10. SOMEWHERE in there I absolutely have to get in exercise. I know it will happen, it may be at 9 pm but I just need to make a commitment to myself and DO IT! I totally miss getting my run on and reading all the blogs I stalk…I mean follow… is getting me more and more ancy to start.

One last nugget of info that I have to share…Non Fat PUMPKIN CHAI LATTE! That right there is a Venti bit of heaven in a cup. Jodie mentioned they had Pumpkin Latte’s at Starbucks so I thought I would cruise on over and try one in my Chai Latte.

First of all when I ordered the guy kept asking if I wanted to add a shot of expresso…uh…no. Coffee sucks. I was concerned what I was going to end up with, especially when I drove around to the window and I saw three faces staring at me in awe. I just look up at them like…what…am I dressed? Check. Then the worst thought ever…I’m a Starbuck’s nerd!! As in…a loser because I don’t go there enough to know how to order…great…more anxiety society is projecting on peeps.

The guy that took my order speaks and asks me where did I get the notion that I could put pumpkin flavoring in a chai latte? I freeze up…and quickly say…I’ve never had it…my friend told me about it…so I ordered it. (like I did something wrong…what the heck was wrong with me?)

He then told me that he was intrigued by my order and he would have to check that out and the two other minions shook their head in unison…yeah…man. Looky there…I’m cool again. Finally.

One more thing...mama went to the Flamingo party last weekend. Let's just say I sang karaoke for the first time...EVER...in my life...with a side of liquid nerves. Good times my friends...good times.

Have a great weekend everyone and enjoy the COLD weather…light em up! (Fireplaces people…fireplaces).

My 4th annual Mom’s Day and another productive weekend

Sunday was great. I had all my boys with me and although everyday is mother’s day at my house, aren’t you jealous, it was nice to receive the hugs and kisses and be told I’m appreciated.

Sunday morning the boy ended up in our bed due to the storm that came through, truthfully when it storms like that I love when the boy is in bed with us, I feel safe and secure. The other good thing is Sunday’s are my day to get up with the boy so the hubby can have some time for himself in the morning. Thankfully ‘getting up’ means turning over and flipping the TV on for some cartoons while mom get’s another hour of shut eye. This Sunday, the boy’s internal alarm clock went off and at 7a he asked me to turn on the TV. Since he was in our room he had no idea the sun was up and I told him it was still early and he rolled over and went back to sleep for another hour. I love me some sleep.

Around 8 I turned on the cartoons and while I was dozing I felt the boy lean over and give me a kiss on the cheek and whisper “I love you mom”. I just wanted to take that moment, bottle it and stick it in my pocket with all the other memories I want to hold to and remember forever. It was the sweetest gesture and being mom’s day made it that much more symbolic.

The hubby came in a little while later and announced he would be making his famous French toast. My mouth is watering now thinking about it. It has to be the best French toast ever made and I’ve tried a lot. If he was going to make a signature dish for Gordon Ramsey this would be a good second to the chicken marsala. YUMOlishes.
After breakfast the presents were opened and the boys did AMAZING…as always. The monkey got a couple of outfits that had MONKEYS on them. They are SOOO cute. I received a subscription to Oxygen magazine. I’ve never heard of the mag before but it looks great. Not like Fitness Mag, which I love, a bit more hard core. This is perfect because I’m making plans to go hardcore after this pregnancy. I’ve made a commitment to myself to really push myself to see what my body is capable of doing. I’ve never done that…ever. I ran and finished a ½ marathon and I never thought I would remotely do that. So…I’m going for it. That leads to the cookbook the hubby got me from Hungrygirl.com. I didn’t know it existed until then and I flipped through the book. WHA…real like non gourmet recipes one can actually make without going to a specialty herb and veggie store!!

I’ve made my menu for next week and I’m going to the store tomorrow to prepare everything on Sunday. I figured what the heck…no need to wait until after the pregnancy to start eating ‘right’ again. I’ve kinda took the last 8 months off from that enjoying what my heart desired. Well…I no longer desire the junk I’ve been eating. I think that is contributing to the tiredness that I’m feeling more than just the pregnancy.

The rest of the day was pretty low key. I did make it to Babies R Us to purchase my bedding that I finally convinced myself I did indeed HAVE TO HAVE. I had it on my registry and noticed it wasn’t available online anymore and I was panicking all the way to the store thinking that it was discontinued. I do believe they are discontinuing it but I got it and it is PERFECT.



I let the boy pick out a bear for the Monkey. There is history behind this event. I picked out the boy’s bear and unbeknownst to me at the time that bear is his security bear, the one he can’t sleep without. So I wanted to give meaning to the Monkey’s bear. Hopefully it will be just as much a part of him as the boy’s bear has been for him.

Also, I ordered this diaper bag from L.L. Bean. I was VERY proud of myself for deliberating about the purchase for so long, about four months. I finally decided it was the right move when I pulled out the diaper bags we used for the boy. One was WAY too big and the other was more suitable for toddler use meaning containing ‘extras’ for those just in case times. So I pulled the trigger.

Saturday was a most productive day EVER; we started out at Taekwondo and did stuff around the house. After more than two years we put the finishing touches on our bedroom, hung some stuff we didn’t really know where to put until that day. The hubby hung some shelves in his office and during the boy’s nap the hubby and I began our art project for the boy’s room, ten months after we were going to actually start it. We finished it on Sunday but oh my gosh…it is so awesome. Here is the pic...



Jose, our lawn guy installed three more French drains in our lake…backyard. We’ve had issues ever since we moved in. We finally decided it would be nice to actually USE the backyard instead of watching the ducks wade through it after a significant rainstorm. They also tidied up all of our plants and made ready for the additional plants coming on Monday. I finally got my azaleas. Perhaps now we can get the boy a swing set for his birthday.

That evening we attended a graduation party at our neighbor’s house. They rented a moon jumper and it was a hit, although VERY warm. We stayed until about 9 and we were ready to leave. It’s funny, she had a lot of family and other friends over but it is not the same as our flamingo parties, even when the flamingo gang is there. We flock together and just talk, which isn’t a bad thing either. I was bummed I had to miss out on the jello shots though.

Friday the hubby took off work to work on his ‘to do’ list. The Monkey got his name and pictures of us as kids hung in his room. I am working on finishing up the curtains and hopefully we will get a book shelf this weekend and with one more ‘art’ project we should be good to go. I’m not stressing about it but I need to finish up my office before my mom in law…tick…tick…tick. Only four weekends left!

American Chocolate Gangsta

This weekend was a good weekend. Busy, as I am sure they will be from here on out but productive. The hubby and I tag teamed projects and it really worked well. When we are on…we are on.

Saturday morning the hubby took the boy to taekwondo and allowed me a bit of time to work on the Monkey’s room. I took some stuff out of his closet to make room in my closet for when the hubby’s mom comes to stay. I covered stuff we won’t need for a while to be stored in the garage…utilizing our new state of the art storage facility. I proceeded to start the laundry, made breakfast when they returned home, cleaned the kitchen and had the boy help me paint letters for the monkey’s room while the hubby went to the grocery store. During the boy’s nap I started hemming the curtains for the monkey’s room then got ready for the two birthday parties we were scheduled to attend that afternoon and evening. I know detailing every minute of every day makes for boring reading I wanted to document awesome we are at getting stuff done.

Birthday party number one was for one of the boy’s old classmates at his previous pre-school. We didn’t tell the boy we were going because we wanted to surprise him. The hubby and I made a discovery this weekend…the boy doesn’t like surprises. No, I wouldn’t say he doesn’t like them he just doesn’t react the way you would think someone would act when presented with a super duper fun experience with a super duper fun friend you haven’t seen in almost a year. Yeah…you can thank me for that one. Two words…engagement and Russia.

We showed up at the birthday party and the adults were happier to see each other than the kids were. There was a light at the end of the tunnel, it took all of 15 minutes and it was like they were never separated. I did notice the boy didn’t necessarily know how to handle the ‘new friends’ portion of the show. It wasn’t all about him like back in the day. He still managed to have fun and boy howdy does he hate to watch another kid open presents.

Birthday party number two was for our neighbor; her 10 year old son organized a surprise party for her. It wasn’t a flamingo party but all the ‘flamingo’ neighbors were there. It was awesome to have other kids there and the boy just ran around with them the entire time. Oh…there was the cue ball incident but everyone was ok and the ball was returned safely.

Sunday was much more relaxed, as planned. The hubby and I ended up watching ‘Ame.rican Gang.ters’, well, to be honest we watched the first half and slept through the middle and we’ll finish it up at a date to be named later. The hubby’s business partner’s wife’s aunt’s grandmother’s sister’s daughter made a comment that the she and my hubby were the American Chocolate Gangster’s; instead of drugs they sell chocolate. All kidding aside, they are successful for a reason! But seriously there were a lot of similarities. My advice, if one of them comes at you with an empty sugar jar…I suggest handing over the 20% and walking the other way…carefully and slowly with your hands in plain sight.

Flamingo – April 28th, 2007

Tonight is Flamingo night. I believe I have mentioned this awhile back but for those who don’t know I’ll bring you up to speed.

Back in December of 2005 we had just moved into our neighborhood and one of the neighbors had a get together. I had mentioned that I had read an article about a cul de sac that had flamingo parties and wherever the flamingo landed that person would host the next party. Evidently the story stuck because the following day a flamingo was in our yard. Now that you are up to speed…

After a long sabbatical, 5 months, the flamingo reemerged a few weeks ago and boy did we get our party on. Kevin, Pam and Jane hosted a crawfish boil. It was a beautiful night so we spent the evening eating crawfish by the spool (spa/pool). One of our new neighbors, from the north side of the street, joined us. Us south siders don’t really get along with the north side...because they don’t represent. We’re not haters so we let them join in. We did take notice that they left early. It was their first one so we will let it slide.

As the evening progressed the topic of conversation seemed to have centered around the hubby and I. How we met, Russia and Finland...whether or next kid will be a boy or girl. Then…it happened. Kevin sat behind me and put his feet on my shoulders. Oh no you just didn’t…

That was all they needed and it was like vultures on a carcass. Needless to say someone has some very interesting pictures of me upside down in a chair and two of our neighbors, each with a leg in hand, one sucking one of my toes and the other massaging my other foot. GROSS. I am so the anti-foot fetish.

I had my fill around 1a…plus we’re paying premium baby sitting fees. I told the hubby to stick around and that I was going home. I think he stumbled into bed around 3a.

Needless to say he was hurting pretty bad on Sunday. We have the best neighbors ever! Except they need to stay away from my freakin feet!