Just for fun.

I went to the cadet chapel with my mom a couple of weeks ago and someone there made me think of this skit. (You'll have to pause my music at the bottom of the page).



Happy monday!

Happy Thursday.

This morning Skylar said "take a picture of me picking my nose mommy".

A strange request, but okay. If you really want it in your senior yearbook someday.....

She got really sick last week, and even after a week on antibiotics she isn't back to normal. Everyday, twice a day, I have to give her The Medicine. Her 15 minute fits have been reduced to just a minute or two of panic and hysteria thanks to an M&M chaser.

She still runs and hides from me when I load up that syringe, as though it's going to change anything. She makes herself easy to find with screams of "It's toooo yuuuuuckkkkky!!!"

Although she fully endorsed the nose picking picture, she didn't want me taking pictures of her having a tantrum. I kept asking her to look at the camera and she yelled "Mommy, stop saying my name!" I told her that since I gave her that name, I was allowed to say it if I wanted to. She came back with "No you didn't give me my name. Jesus did! He made the whole world!"

Why yes He did make the whole world. I'm glad you've been listening. Now take your medicine.

If you like spicy....

...then you need to run to your local Target and pick up a bag of these.
They aren't too spicy, they just have a nice kick. My experience with the Archer Farms brand has been pretty hit or miss, but this one is a winner.

Especially with a side of this.....

If only I could have a mojito to go with them.

This is how we roll.

This is why people with children inevitably end up driving a spacious minivan. So that they can discipline, feed, and groom their children in relative privacy. And so they can become a porta-potty on wheels.

There is only one potty that Skylar likes to use, and so it goes with us everywhere. (And yes, I pour the pee out when I hope nobody's looking. We have become our own third world country). She goes in parking lots with the world watching (I attempt to hide her), and she is not ashamed. Afterall, she's seen her friends pee in their potties in their cars. It's what the two-something crowd is doing these days. This picture was taken at Costco. My apologies to the world.

And speaking of Costco, this past week I've been reunited with some of my great retail loves.

First a friend called to see if we were up for making a trip to Hobby Lobby with her and her two kids. She had previously told me there was one an hour away. I had no idea it was so close. Um...hello? YES, we are ALWAYS up for a trip to Hobby Lobby. So into the minivan we all piled, the children were sedated with the dvd player, and an hour later, there I was.......at the gates of heaven otherwise known as Hobby Lobby. Oh how I've missed it. I wondered the aisles weeping for joy. Okay not quite. But almost. I could have stayed for hours.

Then Skylar and I headed to West Point for a few days to visit my parents and while there we took a trip to Costco. Glory, glory, hallelujah. I have missed Stuffmart and the endless aisle of bulk items I never knew I needed. 500 rolls of toilet paper? 10 pounds of frozen ravioli? Tummy toning underwear in 12 packs? Why yes, please.

And lets not forget the snack bar and samples. I mean really, isn't that half the reason why we all go?

Papa hooked Skylar up with some frozen yogurt and we all helped her eat it (hence the mustache in the first picture).......

And finally, on the way back home we stopped in Syracuse to go to Chipotle. (Can you hear the angels singing? I know I can.) They recently opened one, and now a second one is about to open. There are no pictures to document the occasion.....the camera was the last thing on my mind. It was just me and the burrito bowl. And Skylar. She was there somewhere too, it's all a blur now. A yummy, yummy blur.
So really who needs warm weather and sunshine when there is retail therapy to be had?

Happy Valentine's Day!

These are for Micah, from his little Valentine.

His uncooperative little Valentine.....

I had to put her on a table to keep her from running away.

She says "daddy is my favoritest daddy in my whole world".....

And tells me everyday that she misses you.

She's already making big plans for you when you get home, plans that include going to a hotel. She says your going to do lots of swimming with "big splashes" and "throwing her higher" in the air. So get ready. Because I'm pretty sure your little sidekick isn't going to let you out of her sight again.

We love you!

Our day in pictures.

I have been a lazy, lazy blogger.

There just isn't anything to say these days. We've been busy with activities and friends, but life hasn't been at all blog-worthy. (Not that you usually read this blog for life-changing news).

The snow just keeps getting deeper. I just keep getting bigger. The days are ticking by. Micah's been gone for 4 months, but we still have twice that long to go. It's just winter......BLAH.

So since there is absolutely nothing interesting to say, I'm just going to post random pictures from our day.

Sabot spends his mornings locked up on one side of the house to keep him from waking up Skylar. He stands there and licks the glass and it makes me a little crazy.

Snow progress report: the fence is almost obscured. Another foot expected tonight. The dogs have nowhere to go the bathroom........

I'm thinking this sign isn't helping our neighbor sell her house.....

This is the aftermath of jello jigglers. I left Skylar and her little friend unattended with cookie cutters and a pan of jello while one of our cars was getting towed (it's been dead in the garage for a few weeks now). They had a great time....

Christmas cards make me happy. I ran out of space to hang them all. Thanks for sending them everyone, sorry you didn't get one from me:)

I had a 3 am visitor last night. Not the pug (he's a regular), the child. She told me she was really scared and asked me to pray with her. Then she suggested we "help each other fall asleep". Needless to say, her tactic worked. She stayed.....

Tonight's random dinner craving? Potatoes and broccoli. Don't worry, Skylar's dinner was definitely more balanced.

And here is my dinner companion. Really appetizing, isn't it?

She asks to drink her pomegranate juice out of a shot glass every night at dinner. Don't judge me.

And that my friends, is just another day in paradise.

From the inside looking out.

I took a few winter pictures from inside the house looking out through the windows. Lazy? Yes. But I can't fit in my snow pants anymore. And going outside when the actual temperature is -17 (but feels like -40) just isn't fun. We had to do that for a doctor's appointment and it makes your lungs hurt just to breath. (Turns out Skylar's parka wasn't overkill after all! Ha!)

But the good news is today it's above zero! Barely.

And the sun is actually shining! Woo-hoo! Occasionally we hear the crash of icicles. Can these things kill you if they fall on your head?

Frost on the windows......Thank goodness I let the experts talk me into a 4 foot fence, I wanted it to be 3 feet so it would look "friendly" in the land of no fences. Apparently we are having an unusually "mild" winter with far less snow than usual. This sucker might be completely covered next year. I'm pretty sure Sabot could get right over this if he were motivated (or smart enough to figure it out).....

All I can think when I look at this picture is....was I supposed to cut back those cone flower bushes on either side of the walk? Are they going to bloom this year, or did I mess them up forever? Is it too late to do it now? I trimmed back everything else, but these were the last to bloom. (Help gardeners!)

Meanwhile, we are entertaining ourselves inside and resisting the urge to watch NickJr all day. Target had an awesome after Christmas toy sale, and this giant indoor/outdoor tee-pee was 75% off, so I got it for $15. Now instead of a Christmas tree, we have an 8 foot tee-pee in the living room that can comfortably sleep a family of four. (Okay, so maybe not comfortably.....)

My job is to sit inside the tee-pee while Skylar shuttles books back and forth from the playroom for us to read. I can handle that.

And that is the latest from Narnia.

In case you needed another reason to love Nutella.

Who doesn't love Nutella? I'm thinking only the people who haven't tried it yet. We definitely do. When given a choice of a treat, Skylar will almost always choose a spoonful of Nutella over her other options.

There are lots of delicious recipes out there using Nutella.

Ever since I saw this recipe on Giada's show a few years ago, I've wanted to buy an ice cream maker just to try it. But that didn't seem like a good enough reason to buy a new appliance.

I made a basket of chocolate filled crescent rolls for bible study this morning......
Just put a dollop of Nutella on a packaged crescent roll, roll it up, bake it and you have yourself a faux chocolate croissant.......

They are best eaten straight from the oven while the chocolate is all melty and warm.

Warning: do not make these alone, they are addicting. Be sure you have plenty of people around you to disperse them to.