We are in the midst of a celebrity!

Carly is on the front page, above the fold, of the newspaper. They had a nutrition fair at her school. The kids were doing the hokey-pokey when the picture was taken. We couldn't even get down the hall this morning without several teachers and students telling us they saw Carly in the paper. Dee ran out and got a couple of copies to save for posterity. She is in the back row the second from the right. Carly is thrilled with her new found fame! Watch out Hollywood!

I can't use this!?!

Carly has started putting things on the grocery list. If she uses the last sandwich bag, she will put it on the list. If we are getting low on her favorite cereal, it will appear on the list. Earlier this week, she came downstairs and put toothpaste on the list. I saw it and told her if she was completely out of toothpaste she could use mine. She went into my bathroom, picked up the toothpaste, turned around, looked at me with a disgusted look and said, "I can't use THIS, it's low-fat!"

It's amazing the things my kids will do to avoid brushing their teeth!

Breakfast Cookies

My children LOVE the Quaker Chocolate Chip Breakfast Cookies. I have been looking for a recipe so I could make them at home. They go through a box in a couple of days. I found this recipe and tried it out this morning. Carly and I love them, Leighton says that they would be better without the carrots. Those of you who know Leighton, know that she is EXTREMELY picky about her food.

I thought I would share:

4 oz. reduced fat cream cheese
1/4 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 c. unsweetened applesauce
8 oz. carrots, grated (2 cups)
1 3/4 c. flour
3 c. rolled oats
1 c. chocolate chips
1 c, chopped walnuts or additional chocolate chips
3/4 c. dried cranberries or raisins (optional)

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Grease cookie sheets.
Combine cream cheese, butter, sugars. Beat until light and fluffy
Add eggs, vanilla, salt and soda. Mix well.
Add applesauce and carrots. Mix well.
Add flour, oatmeal, chocolate chips, nuts and dried fruit, mixing after each.
Make into small balls, press down lightly with back of spoon.
Bake 12-14 minutes or until just beginning to brown
Store in covered container.
Makes 100 cookies.
One cookie provides:
45 calories, 1.5 g fat, 1g protein, 7g carbs, 0g cholesterol, and .5g fiber.

I made my cookies bigger, replaced nuts with chocolate chips and did not use dried fruit. After these are gone, I am going to try a batch substituting zucchini for the carrots. I think that if Leighton didn't see the carrots she would not know they were there, maybe the zucchini will be more camouflaged. I will let you know if it passes the test.

I am a horrible mother!

Yesterday it was about 75 degrees. We were invited by Lisa and Avery to go on a picnic. The girls were soooo excited. We got up, got ready, made the lunch, packed water and met at a park #1. We then proceeded to park #2 where there were empty parking spots and the playground didn't look like 'ants on a sugar cube.' (to quote Lisa)

We had a great time playing, eating and jumping (the track team had left their high jump mat out.) After we had been there a couple of hours, Lisa looked at me and said, "Did you put sunscreen on the girls?" To which I replied, "No, I didn't even think about it. But, the girls usually don't burn, they have Dee's coloring. Even if they do burn, it is tan the next morning."

Well, we play a little more and then head home. We get home, I take Jensyn out of her carseat and ...............

Poor Burnt Baby!
Sorry for the messy face.

Her little arms are the worst.

I feel awful. I thought I had her in her stroller with the canopy up most of the time. I am usually diligent about sunscreen. But, as I wrote above, my girls rarely burn, so if I forget now and again, I don't usually worry about it too much, unless we are at the beach or in the pool.

The only thing making me not feel like a total jerk, is the fact that the burn doesn't seem to bother Jensyn at all.

So, all of you moms out there feeling like you don't measure up to the the ideal-this should make you feel better- at least you didn't cause your baby to have a horrible sunburn.

Application to Date my Daughter

One of my girlfriends sent this to me. I thought I would pass it on to those of you with daughters. (We have already sent ours to the printer.)

APPLICATION TO DATE MY DAUGHTER

NOTE: This application will be incomplete and rejected unless accompanied by a complete financial statement, job history, lineage, and current medical report from your doctor.

NAME_____________________________________
DATE OF BIRTH_____________
HEIGHT___________ WEIGHT____________
IQ__________ GPA_____________
SOCIAL SECURITY #_________________
DRIVERS LICENSE #________________
BOY SCOUT RANK AND BADGES_________________
HOME ADDRESS_______________________
CITY/STATE___________ ZIP______
Do you have parents? ___Yes ___No
Is one male and the other female? ___Yes ___No If No, explain: __________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
Number of years they have been married ___If less than your age, explain __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________

ACCESSORIES SECTION:
A. Do you own or have access to a van? __Yes __No
B. A truck with oversized tires? __Yes __No
C. A waterbed? __Yes __No
D. A pickup with a mattress in the back? __Yes __No
E. A tattoo? __Yes __No
F. Do you have an earring, nose ring, pierced tongue, pierced cheek or a belly button ring? __Yes __No
(IF YOU ANSWERED 'YES' TO ANY OF THE ABOVE, DISCONTINUE APPLICATION AND LEAVE THE PREMISES IMMEDIATELY. I SUGGEST RUNNING.)

ESSAY SECTION:
In 50 words or less, what does 'LATE' mean to you? _______________________________________________ _______________________________________________
In 50 words or less, what does 'DON'T TOUCH MY DAUGHTER' mean to you? _______________________________________________ _______________________________________________
In 50 words or less, what does 'ABSTINENCE' mean to you? _______________________________________________ _______________________________________________

REFERENCES SECTION:
Church you attend _______________________________________
How often you attend _____________________________________
When would be the best time to interview your:

father? _____________
mother? _____________

pastor? _____________

SHORT-ANSWER SECTION:
Answer by filling in the blank. Please answer freely all answers are confidential.
A: If I were shot, the last place I would want shot would be:___________
B: If I were beaten, the last bone I would want broken is my:__________
C: A woman's place is in the:_________________________________
D: The one thing I hope this application does not ask me about is:_______
E. What do you want to do IF you grow up? ______________________
F. When I meet a girl, the thing I always notice about her first is:_______

I SWEAR THAT ALL INFORMATION SUPPLIED ABOVE IS TRUE AND CORRECT TO THE BEST OF MY KNOWLEDGE UNDER PENALTY OF DEATH, DISMEMBERMENT, NATIVE AMERICAN ANT TORTURE, CRUCIFIXION, ELECTROCUTION, AND RED HOT POKERS. _____________________________________________
Applicant's Signature (that means sign your name, moron!)
_____________________________________________
Mother's Signature
_____________________________________________
Father's Signature
_____________________________________________
Pastor/Priest/Rabbi/State Representative/Congressman

Thank you for your interest, and it had better be genuine and non-sexual. Please allow four to six years for processing. You will be contacted in writing if you are approved. Please do not try to call or write (since you probably can't, and it would cause you injury). If your application is rejected, you will be notified by two gentleman wearing white ties carrying violin cases.

They cancelled school for this!?!?

Let me start by saying that I am not speaking as the PTO President, but as a parent. (Just in case it gets to school administration.)


We had a snow day yesterday. I completely understand, we got three inches of snow and as I have posted before, that shuts down the Old North State. We had a two hour delay scheduled for this morning. Also, understandable, because of the threat of black ice. At 7:30 this morning, I was watching the news and they announced our county had cancelled school. I figured it was a mistake. Then it came across the crawl. I jumped online and sure enough, they said that road conditions were worse than expected and school had been cancelled.

Check out the roads!

As you can see, we don't live on a well traveled road.

(There are only four houses in our neighborhood and one is empty.)

I am not sure where the danger lies in a

COMPLETELY DRY ROAD!!!

By the way, we ventured out on said treacherous roads. They ALL looked exactly like this.

It's all Dee's fault.

I can't seem to get anything done lately. I can't blame a new baby or even three kids. My children play well together and alone. Carly is in school all day, Leighton will play Polly Pockets upstairs for hours and Jensyn is happy rolling around the floor.

I think I have finally figured it out. It is Dee's fault, kinda.

I always spent the weekends doing nothing. Dee cooked and the girls trashed the house. I let the dishes and laundry pile up and most weekends never got dressed. (At least not in anything I wanted anyone to see me wearing.) Come Monday, Carly was off to school and Dee was off to work. I cleaned the house, did the laundry, and planned my week. Now, come Monday, Carly is off to school and Dee is NOT off to work. This leaves me thinking it is still the weekend and I don't have to do anything.

Don't get me wrong, Dee still cooks and has taken to cleaning the dishes and washing the laundry. ( not folding or putting away) That should leave me plenty of time to get the rest done. I even have a babysitter (as long as he is not on a job interview) that is always here. I have no excuses.

Except, in my mind it is the weekend and.....

I don't do anything on the weekends.

Nut-Cracks!!

I bought Dee a workbench last Christmas (2007). We are just now getting around to putting it together. Dee was moving the car out of the garage, so we had room to work. Leighton wanted to ride in the front seat during the move. I had grabbed a few peanuts on our way out of Five Guys and left the shells in the armrest of the passenger seat. Leighton noticed the shells and disgustedly asked "Nut-cracks!?!" Dee got out of the car laughing hysterically. Sometimes I wonder what amused us before we had kids.

OOPS!

Leighton wanted a tent, so I helped her make one using a blanket and table.

She spent several hours playing in the tent 'sleeping'.

A little while later, I heard pages turning inside the tent. I asked her what she was doing. She replied, "I am reading a magazine." I looked inside and sure enough she was reading a magazine.

I asked her what her magazine was about, thinking it was Family Fun or Better Homes and Gardens. Both of them had come in the mail this week. She said, "It is about ladies and makeup." She lifted it up and ........

I quickly traded her for the Family Fun!

Even more dangerous now that she is reading.

Hansel and Gretel

Well, only Gretel. Instead of bread crumbs Jensyn leaves puke stains. Dee spends nearly every night on his hands and knees cleaning up her trail.

Oh, how I hate builder beige carpet.

This is all in about 10 minutes. YUCK!!

THANK GOODNESS FOR OXYCLEAN!!!

She even gets the carpet when she is swinging in her swing!

I can't wait until she grows out of the GERD.

Just For You Grandma Doll

Or anyone else who wants to see more pictures of the girls. (If you want them bigger, just click on the picture)

Jensyn rolling over to get to me.

Jensyn chewing her favorite toy.

Cute little Jensyn (much cuter without the toy in her face-thanks, Leighton)

Carly's hair and the cat


Leighton's hair

Carly all ready for bed-freshly washed and dried hair.

Leighton ready for bed. Washed and dried.

Jensyn peeking out of her crib.

It's her new trick. She rolls over to the side and pulls the bumper down to see what's going on.

Smiling at Sissy.

Smiling at toys held by Sissy.

Not happy at the flashing camera.

Carly posing for you.

Leighton posing for everyone.

Old picture, but thought you might like to see how they spend most of their day.

(In jammies and on the floor)

New Hairdos

Check out the girls' new dos. Thanks Britain!!!! You Rock!!!!!

Carly from the back. She looks beautiful, she said so!

She does have the best hair and eyebrows in the family.

Back view of Leighton. This is the cutest cut on her. When I put her to bed tonight, she told me that she was going to check her hair every morning to make sure it was still beautiful. She is very excited to show it off to her friends.

Girl Scout Cookies

Oh, how we love our Thin Mints.....

5:00 p.m.



5:01 p.m.
(Yes, I gave Jensyn a TEENY TINY crumb of a thin mint. Most of it is on her face.)



5:03 p.m.

Thank goodness I ordered 5 more boxes. Shhh! Don't tell the girls!

The Endless Pit That is My Baby

Jensyn turned 7 months last Monday. This baby can eat! She finished the following in less than 3 minutes; 2 (yes, two) jars of baby food, and at least 10 corn puffs. She then slowed down to another 20 puffs in 5 minutes.

The only remaining evidence that a meal was consumed. Note the determined gaze as she reaches for more puffs.
Notice the death grip, evidenced by the white fingertips. You can barely see the puff. After above food was consumed, she screamed when NOT presented with more! I tried to post a video of the scream but Blogger is taking WAY TOO LONG to upload video. Sorry!

Knock Knock

I take Carly to horseback riding lessons every Tuesday. Without fail, she wants to tell knock knock jokes. They start out funny and very quickly end up as follows:
Carly : Knock Knock
Me: Who's There?
Carly: (Insert food item of your choice; banana, ice cream cone, pbj)
Me: Above food item Who?
Carly: Above food item smashed into your (insert body part; hair, face, nose, foot).
Carly: Hysterical Laughing
Repeat ad nauseam

After weeks and weeks of listening to this, trying to convince her that it is NOT hilarious, teaching her other knock knock jokes (which she says are BORING), even turning up the radio (she just gets louder) I have resorted to this:

Carly: Knock Knock
Me: Any of the following; Come in, it's open. I'm in the shower, come back later. I just bought from the kids down the street. Nobody is home. And my favorite - complete silence- I tell her I didn't hear the door.
Carly: Not funny mom.
Repeat ad nauseam

It's like Christmas all over again!!!

I took some advice from another mom and took away half of my kids toys.

WWWHHHAAATTTT!!!!!

Let me finish. They then trade the remaining toys for the new ones that you took away. My kids really enjoy these new toys, they act like they have never seen them before. Another great benefit to this method is a CLEAN playroom.

Note the empty spot on the shelf. They traded babies and paraphernalia for ..

a kitchen set.

When they tire of a toy they can just trade Mom for a new one. The only problem is...........

Mom can never find the toys!!

This is actually a new year's resolution for me. Since we are DONE (Yes, Mom I said DONE) having kids, we can get rid of the tons of baby stuff. I have set a goal to have the attic clean and organized by June. We would like to finish it into storage and a bedroom for Jensyn. As you can see from the picture, that is pretty much impossible right now. Hopefully by putting it out there, I will be forced to keep this resolution.

A Trip to the Dentist

We took the girls to the dentist today.

Before we left, Carly said 'I will be brave, I hope!'

Dee decided to come, since he doesn't have much to do after he has done his daily search for a job. He reported to me that sitting in the waiting room of the dentist's office is BORING. Like I wasn't aware. However, I use the time to catch up on my Star, People and other such indulgent rags.

Both girls had a great check-up. Carly will have to have more teeth pulled next time, but no cavities or other issues.

Leighton loves the treasure box and the Princess toothbrush.

Carly and her treasures from the wonderful treasure box. ( I must add this after a comment from my mom: Carly's hair did not look this bad when I took her to the dentist. As we were leaving the mall, she said she was cold. She put her coat over her head and wiggled around underneath it the entire way home. Hence, the absolutely crazy hair. I am actually a little offended she would think that I let my child go out like this. She taught me better!!) And like any other responsible parents, afterwards, we took them for... ice cream.

You know who you are..this is for you

Expectant mothers waiting for a newborn's arrival say they don't care what sex the baby is. They just want to have ten fingers and ten toes.


Mothers lie.


Every mother wants so much more.

She wants a perfectly healthy baby with a round head, rosebud lips, button nose, beautiful eyes and satin skin. She wants a baby so gorgeous that people will pity the Gerber baby for being flat-out ugly.


She wants a baby that will roll over, sit up and take those first steps right on schedule (according to the baby development chart on page 57, column two).


Every mother wants a baby that can see, hear, run, jump and fire neurons by the billions.

She wants a kid that can smack the ball out of the park and do toe points that are the envy of the entire ballet class. Call it greed if you want, but a mother wants what a mother wants.


Some mothers get babies with something more.





Maybe you're one who got a baby with a condition you couldn't pronounce, a spine that didn't fuse, a missing chromosome or a palate that didn't close. The doctor's words took your breath away. It was just like the time at recess in the fourth grade when you didn't see the kick ball coming, and it knocked the wind right out of you.


Some of you left the hospital with a healthy bundle, then, months, even years later, took him in for a routine visit, or scheduled him for a checkup, and crashed head first into a brick wall as you bore the brunt of devastating news.


It didn't seem possible.

That didn't run in your family.

Could this really be happening in your lifetime?


There's no such thing as a perfect body. Everybody will bear something at some time or another. Maybe the affliction will be apparent to curious eyes, or maybe it will be unseen, quietly treated with trips to the doctor, therapy or surgery.


Mothers of children with disabilities live the limitation with them.


Frankly, I don't know how you do it.


Sometimes you mothers scare me. How you lift that kid in and out of the wheelchair twenty time a day. How you monitor tests, track medications, and serve as the gatekeeper to a hundred specialists yammering in your ear.


I wonder how you endure the cliches and the platitudes, the well-intentioned souls explaining how God is at work when you've occasionally questioned if God is on strike. I even wonder how you endure schmaltzy columns like this one-saluting you, painting you as a hero and saint, when you know you're ordinary. You snap, you bark, you bite. You didn't volunteer for this, you didn't jump up and down in the motherhood line yelling, "Choose me, God. Choose me! I've got what it takes."


You're a woman who doesn't have time to step back and put things in perspective, so let me do it for you. From where I sit, you're way ahead of the pack. You've developed the strength of the draft horse while holding onto the delicacy of a daffodil. You have a heart that melts like chocolate in a glove box in July, counter-balanced against the stubbornness of an Ozark mule.


You are the mother, advocate and protector of a child with a disability. You're a neighbor, a friend, a woman I pass at church and my sister-in-law.


You're a wonder.


-Lori Borgman

Show and Tell for Grandma and Grandpa

Wednesday is the 100th day of school. Carly had to bring in 100 of something glued to a piece of paper. She made a rainbow out of cereal.

This is the dreaded Family Culture Cube. Carly got a S+. She was very happy. Dee was happy with his grade, too.

Another view of the cube. (This time without the basket of junk in the background.)

Leighton wanted in on the show and tell for Grandma and Grandpa. This is a picture of her and her snowman.

And another picture of her and her real snowman.

A Valentine's Card For You!

I don't usually laugh at my children's attempts at drawing, coloring or other artistic things. This however, made ALL of us laugh. This is a Valentine's Day card that Carly made for me. After she had drawn the heart (yes, it is supposed to be a heart), she said, 'Oh, Mom its not a Valentine's card its a Bum Card!"