My Life

BABIES!!!!

2009-07-24T10:14:00.000-07:00

So being the absent blogger as of late, I never told you that Scooter, one of my guinea pigs was pregnant. Let's not mention that I thought she was a he....

So about a month ago, when holding her I noticed how plump she was getting, did a bit of research and deduced that she was preggers. Then this morning I awoke to her and her four beautiful babies. Wow! I'm sad I missed it, but these babies are so cute I wanna breed her and fuzzy again...yeah, maybe not! Not sure what I'll do with all these babies that I have now.

Here is Scooter, the Mommy:

Here is Fuzzy, the Daddy:

Here are the cuties:

this little critter is the only one that is all black and white

Light Hearted Look at Motherhood

2009-07-01T09:40:00.000-07:00

Ok. This woman seriously cracks me up!!! Enjoy the video clip, I know I did. Enjoy your Wednesday. We're headed off to play at park and then I need to clean up my kitchen. After making these for breakfast using the jam we made yesterday, my kitchen needs some SERIOUS attention. And the muffins TOTALLY ROCK!!! Go make some jam and then make the muffins. The only bad part is you'll want to eat like six muffins and then you'll feel bad. (not that i did that...)

My Poetry

2009-06-25T20:59:00.000-07:00

Hi there! I've been taking a writing class (aimed at the emergent k-2 writer ) this week and have enjoyed it very much! I thought I'd share a piece of poetry that I had to write for the class. I'll share it in class tomorrow.

Here it is, don't be too rough on me. OK?!

Beautiful Blue
Blue is the sky and the crashing ocean waves.
Blue is the taste of a sweet ripe blueberry.
Blue is the innocence I see when I look into Olivia’s eyes or the feeling you get when you fail but try.
Blue is the smile I get when I hear, “la la la la la la la la la la la” tune of the Smurfs.
Blue is the minty freshness that comes from a stick of wintermint gum.
Blue is the unending clear sky on a calm day.
Blue is complex.

Haiku Friday

2009-05-22T04:23:00.001-07:00

Oh so so tired.
awake at three in the morn.
whimpering child.

cannot fall asleep
despite complete exhaustion
is this part of age?!

Yeah, so what the hell is this all about?! This is NOT the first time this has happened or I'd probably just take it all in stride. Whenever, and I'm saying 99% of the time I wake up after 3am I cannot fall back asleep. Then just about 5:00 (close to alarm time) I am ready to sleep. This is too much for me. I am a girl that needs her sleep.

Shorty is fine, she was just doing some whimpering in her sleep and Mr. Tall got up to check on her, but I cannot help but we awakened by this activity. So now I find myself on the couch. I was reading. Then I turned off the light and laid down on the couch. No. Sleep. Came. So what is a girl to do but blog it?

So today I am headed to an elementary school in Portland that has been teaching k/1 blended classrooms for many years. I am going to learn as much as I can and to ask good questions. Because yes my friends, Janelle is teaching a k/1 blend next year. As if moving to first grade wasn't a big enough change for this year she is doing it again. Two years of big changes. I love education and cannot image working a boring job where everyday is the same. And I cannot yet completely visualize what next year will be like...so....lots of thinking to do, questions to ask and organizing in my head.

I'm sure that will help me sleep, right?!

Happy Friday to you. For more haiku click here.

Thank You!

2009-05-13T12:46:00.001-07:00

Wow! Wow! Wowee wow wow is about all I have to say. I was excited when I won this giveaway, but then it appeared on my door yesterday. And...it was better than I even imagined!

Num num num. I hope I can have enough restraint to not eat it all a couple days!!

Thanks Lotus for the fantastic giveaway!

Pretty In Plaid

2009-05-09T08:53:00.000-07:00

So one of my favorite authors, Jen Lancaster is going to be in Portland on May 18th at Powell's and I'm OH SO EXCITED! It's like she and I are soul sisters. I swear to god we could be evil twins. Anyhow...If you've not met her, watch this video clip. She's funny and snarky and sometimes a little mean. She cracks me up and I've LOVED all her books. I asked Mr. Tall for her newest, Pretty in Plaid for mother's day. We'll see. If I don't get it, you can bet I'll be at Border's picking it up for myself.

And that is all I have for now. I'm off to "be productive".

Weekly Winners

2009-04-26T08:10:00.000-07:00

It's been far too long since I've participated in Sarcastic Mom's Weekly Winners, so here goes!

April 19-25, 2009

silly girls

my new "do"

I'm sooooo loving spring!!!

Princess Kitty's new bed

a trip to the dr's office

nice weather day...68 degrees at 10pm....whoa!

time with family

my "arm warmer"

my wine glass holder...hoping i don't do any damage!

for more weekly winners check out Lotus's place here.

Kids Say the Funniest Things

2009-04-15T19:18:00.000-07:00

Ok, Shorty McShort cracked me up during her bath tonight. We were washing her hair and she said, "are you going to put the air conditioner in now?". BAHAHAHAHHAHA! It totally cracked me up.

Ok and with that, this video cracks me up too!!!

Happy Easter and a Fruit Side

2009-04-12T13:52:00.000-07:00

Hello and Happy Easter!! Don't chap my hide too much, I know I said I'd be around more often, but yeah, I get that I'm NOT. You really don't need to mention it. So...on to Easter. We have already had a very nice brunch at Grammy's house and will soon be headed to good friend's house for early dinner/late lunch. Here are a few pics for your viewing enjoyment.

April 5-12, 2000

Easter Morning....Suprised McShort LOVES to pose these days.

Bunny McShort and Papa collecting eggs.

My lurvely fruit side for Easter dinner at our friend's house.

Egg Hunting McShort and her friend Allie

Shorty McShort and her lovely Auntie Jessica

Egg Dying Partners in Crime
My Purty Tulips

For more weekly winners, click here.

There REALLY is a Correcting Fairy

2009-04-01T19:03:00.001-07:00

And here he is. Nice, huh?! Yeah, I have THE BEST HUBS IN THE WORLD. After ~~a little~~ much whining and complaining on the part of the princess (that would be me), Mr. Tall corrected ALL of my papers.

Yippee!!!

AND...he made coffee for me too....

Clearly, There is NO Paper Correcting Fairy

2009-03-29T20:37:00.000-07:00

Ok, so being a teacher, I sometimes bring home papers to correct. I know, SHOCKING to all you non teachers, who believe that teachers lead slack lives of having every weekend off, working 7-3, summers and holidays off, yadda yadda.

Well, it's not true (as many of you know!). So....here is what I have to say.......WHERE THE F*@( was the paper correcting fairy this week? Seriously. I left my pile of papers on the coffee table for 4 days. I sent positive thoughts to said fairy. Left the house last night to attend my friend Sally's "Wii Challenge", said a prayer to the correcting fairy only to arrive home to an UNCORRECTED pile 'o' papers and utter defeat by Sally, the now Wii Champion. DAMN!

Today...went and did some coupon shopping (and scored some great deals). Said prayer to so-called fairy. Nuttin. Went to lunch at mil's house for Sunday Cafe. Nuttin. Damn it all....I've decided there is NO correcting fairy.

Guess I shouldn't have procrastinated all week long, huh? Maybe I'll say one more prayer and hope for the best in the morning. I'm tired. I have to get up early to go to work.....gee....I wonder if the laundry fairy visited today while I was gone.....if not, I may not have anything to wear to work....

With that note....i'm off to bed to do some reading. I wish I could say that I'm going to correct the pile of adding/subtracting papers, but NOPE, not gonna do it. Maybe tomorrow...

Happy Blogaversary To Me!!!

2009-03-27T09:58:00.000-07:00

Ok, so it's my first blog birthday. Happy blog birthday to me!! Here is my first post. It made me giggle and I'd forgotten that Shorty McShort had surgery over spring break last year.

This has been an interesting journey, my first year of blogging. I have been a bit neglectful of my blog as of late, but I am resolving to change that.

So, leave me a comment. Tell me how much you just love my blog :) (shameless, I know)

And, in honor of one year, I shall write a haiku for Haiku Friday (it's been a while since I've done this)

one year of blogging
am i any better off?
maybe a little

held some giveaways
participated in memes
held a survey too

blogged for one whole month
not sure how i pulled that off
November 08

complained a little
and a little bit more too
oh yeah and some more

overall it has
been a lot of fun to do
will keep on going

Please leave me a comment. I am curious how many people read me daily. I'll make it so even you, Katie can comment. Oh, and it might be fun if you tell me about your favorite post or why you read my blog. Ummmm, thanks ;)

For more 'ku fridays, click here.

More Birhday Thanks

2009-03-26T00:00:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I have more birthday thanks to spread.

These are two friends from my book club. Kristin and Shari. Shari brought this mug to book club on Monday night and had everyone sign it. Way too thoughtful! Thanks girly! I LOVE my new mug!

Card from my Mom and she also tucked in a gift card for JC Penny's. I can't wait to go shop!!!

Card from my friend Jen. LOVE IT!

This is the card from Mr. Tall...the card that Mike ruined with beer. :(

This is from my twinny....the one that also sent a 35 balloon bouquet...she also tucked a Starbuck's gift card inside. She spoils me so!!!

This is a card from good friend Sharon. What a sweetie!! She never forgets a birthday or anniversary. She's the best!

The flowers from Mr. Tall. Very thoughtful!

The last ice cream cupcake. I ate it. I had every right to. We got a mixed pack of 6. OMG...soooooo yummy!!!!

I'm sad that my birthday fun is about over. We'll be celebrating it at Sunday Cafe, which will be a wonderful time. I also want to get my nose pierced to celebrate joining "Club 35". We'll see.

So...thanks everyone for making me feel so special!

Snarky Rant

2009-03-25T15:21:00.001-07:00

Ok, so last week I got home and checked the mail to discover a free sample. OK, if you know me, you know I LOVE free samples and good deals. So the best part about this sample is that I got two of them. Guess the mailing system screwed up and sent me two. I don't care, it's double goodies. So the sample is from Tampax and inside of the outer box are these two boxes:
Ok, here is my snark....the red box says, "Mother Nature's Monthly Gift". WTF? Give me a freaking break. I get NO monthly gift from mother nature. I get a visitor that is nothing but a pain in the ass. So....to Tampax, thanks for the goodies (there was a free coupon for a box of pads inside and good coupons) but seriously? You MUST change this box. This is ABSOLUTELY no gift that women around the world get each month. The only time it's a gift is when you've been having unprotected sex and are hoping you're not pregnant.

End. Of. Story.

Birthday Dinner Goodness

2009-03-21T20:25:00.001-07:00

Ok, so here is a shot of my chocolate chip banana pancakes and coffee. All compliments of my dear hubs. Thanks baby!

After breakfast Artist McShort made me another birthday picture. This is a turtle with long hair. It's a girl turtle...duh!

So then I headed to the Portland Expo Center to help my fabulous friend Liane with her booth at a stamping craft show. Upon arrival she presented me with a flashing "birthday princess" button and a pink fluffy tiara. Thanks friend. And evidently the pictures of me in it are ALL on Liane's camera. Oops....

After the show we headed to BJ's for dinner with our hubbies.

Both Mike and Mr. Tall had a seven glass sampler....cool, huh? Yeah yeah I know there are only 6, but he'd already drank one by the time I took a pic....

Here is my yummy drink and Liane with her porter in the background. Cute, huh?

Awwww, aren't they sweet? They just had their 20th anniversary. Happy anniversary!

Liane's dinner.

This is Liane's husband, Mike. He's a great big cheeseball. Can you tell? This is his dinner. He also tipped his empty sampler glasses upside down like they were some kind of shot glass...yeah...he ruined my birthday card :(
Mr. Tall's dinner. And did I mention he brought me flowers?

My dinner. Possibly the BEST DINNAH EVAH! Seriously people...it was killer! And, I have half of it for tomorrow.

My birthday pazookie! Mmmmmm.....I couldn't wait to eat it before taking a picture.

And then I stopped at Target and got some serious bargains. SERIOUS. Came home to some more birthday cards too. What a nice birthday.

Happy Birthday To ME!!! (and my twin)

2009-03-21T06:31:00.000-07:00

So today is my birthday. Happy birthday to me! I've already celebrated with my hubs and shorty person (last night) over pizza and ice cream cupcakes. I've received goodies in the mail too. I thought I'd share them with my ~~readers~~ reader.Although I am NOT the queen....my fiend Sue gets to have that title...I'd rather be a princess anyway...

Speaking of Sue...she's so sweet...here is what she sent to me:
And then there are the cards that I've received in the mail:

This is the front of the card that Artist McShort made me...she said I thought there would be balloons for your birthday (and she was right).

Here is the inside, a picture of me. She said she drew this because I'm so beautiful and I have long hair because I'm a girl.
And the 35-balloon salute from my twin...oh that is the cat. Whenever I get on the floor to take a picture she gets in the way. Silly cat.

Here are the balloons. Thankfully my good friend Jen had an empty car so she could bring 'em home for me. My car was full of shorty mc short and the guinea pigs. And then there is this......
my early birthday present from hubs, which I LOVE LOVE LOVE and am glad he didn't make me wait for today to have it :) Love ya!!!

And I wish I could say I'm going to the spa today for pampering, but I'm not. I'm headed to a stamping craft show to work my good friend Liane's booth. If she knows what is good for her, she'll show up with a mocha for me and not work me too hard today.

I also need to send out birthday wishes to my womb mate. Yes, as many of you know I have a twin. Not an identical arch enemy, but a lesser evil fraternal version twin. She is a silly girl who lives all the way out in Savanna, Georgia. I am sending her something on Monday to where she works. No 35 balloon salute, but something sweet, nonetheless. I don't think she actually reads my blog, but I'm not gonna chance her finding out what I'm sending by telling what it is. So, happy birthday to me and my twinny!!!

this is a pic of us a couple years ago with shorty mc short

And now I must run, Mr. Tall Man is up and offering to make me breakfast. He's already put the coffee on. See why I married him?!

Weekly Winners/Project 365 Update

2009-03-15T11:55:00.000-07:00

Yeah, yeah, I know...it's been a really long time...
shush and just enjoy my hard work from today....I'm almost caught up with my 365 project. Just need to print 3 pics and then I'm finished with last week. (I need to get a new ink cartridge for my photo printer....ugh they don't last very long)

February 1st-March 6th, 2009
(in order by week)

Click here for more weekly winners.

Happy Early Birthday To Me

2009-03-01T15:16:00.000-08:00

So. Guess who got a new iPod touch.....yup. Me! Yes I am spoiled!!!! My birthday is only 20 days away. So there.

Haiku I hate the governor of Oregon Friday

2009-02-19T20:25:00.001-08:00

Dumb Kulongoski
whatever are you thinking?!
teachers work for free?

what is he thinking?!
i already work for free....
paid for 8 hours

work for 10 or more
daily....plus i take some home
work on weekend too.

serious face slap
no one works for free....except....
VOLUNTEERS. I'm done.

Ok people. I am seriously upset by this. Then to read some of the ignorant comments that were made. Comments like, "yeah...teachers SHOULD work for free. they get paid for a year but only work part of it."

Let me tell you people. I WORK HARD. VERY VERY HARD. I'm exhausted when I finally get to go home. I am offended that people are still touting that "teaching is easy". I'm under constant scrutiny as well. All I do is open to the public's opinion. I fight daily for what is best for kids and work my tail off.

In what other profession do people spend money out of their own pockets? I seriously have thousands of dollars invested in my library. A library that students use daily. I buy school supplies so students that don't have them can have what the others have. I spend my summer break scouting super school supply sales. I spend my gas to get to them. And my time.

I'm mad and want to say more, but I need to go do some planning for tomorrow. I want my students to fully enjoy the 100th Day of School. Oh I'm just so annoyed right now. I love my job and just get sick of defending the fact that I have a right to get paid and not feel guilty about the vacation time I have.

p.s. go hug a teacher today or send a gift. NOT A MUG! hint: teachers LOVE gift cards and this teacher LOVES COFFEE!

p.p.s. for more haiku friday click here

Un.Be.Lieve.A.Ble!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-02-19T20:23:00.001-08:00

Kulongoski to teachers:work for free to keep schools open

Are you serious Governor?! I'm so mad I can't even form another sentence.

Share the Love/Pay it Forward

2009-02-14T08:20:00.001-08:00

Ok, so I am getting bloggy love from both Lea and Jen. They say I need to pay the love forward. So....here you go....first SIX comments get something from me (at some point in the next few weeks)....probably something not very big. So, comment away and make sure your e-mail is included!!!

Oh and Happy Valentine's Day.

Oh what a cutie!!!

2009-02-12T20:24:00.000-08:00

Ok, this video totally cracked me up!!!!!! You need to watch this. What an imagination this kiddo has...reminds me of a couple of my first graders!!!

I'm Alive

2009-02-09T18:21:00.001-08:00

Sorry I've been gone for so long.....life has been busy. Challenging. I can't make any promises that you'll see me around very often, but know that I'm ok and am currently enjoying a delicious blood orange martini and getting ready to enjoy pork chops with mushroom sauce and green beans. Shorty is with Grammy, Tall Man is still at work and I'm enjoying solitude. If only I had a big soaking tub. I'd so be there!

Weekly Winners/Project 365 Update

2009-02-08T06:26:00.000-08:00

Jan. 25-Feb. 8, 2009

I missed last week....oops! So here is last week's project 365 and half of this weeks....I guess i forgot to take a pic of the second page....duh....

Jan. 25-31, 2009
left side of layout

Jan. 25-31, 2009

right side of layout

Feb 1-7, 2009
left side of layout

Shorty McShort after a long day at OMSI

Girls' Night

For more winners click here.

Weekly Winners/Project 365 Update

2009-01-25T10:07:00.000-08:00

and.....

Week 3
January 18-24, 2009

Here are a couple that didn't make it into the 365 book.....

My newly done nails....solar with glitter. I luv 'em!

Photographer McShort...she clicked the pic of my nails with the webcam on my laptop. Then she wanted one of herself as well :)

For more Weekly Winners click here.

A New President

2009-01-21T01:39:00.001-08:00

Well it's almost 2am and I just finished typing sub plans for ~~tomorrow~~ today. Shorty McCough Cough is sick and not improving. This is the first night she's not sleeping well. So, I've called for a sub, written plans and called the secretary at school. God bless the sub who will go into my room today....and the tornado of a mess that it is. Such is life, right?

Anyhow. In case you missed President Obama being sworn in, or just wanna see it again, here you go.
We watched it at school today and I got a little verklempt...my eyes began to water. What a moment. I told the first graders that this was a special day in history and they'd remember it as the day they were in first grade with Me. Those lucky kids.

So have a good day. I'll be doling out cough medicine, kleenex and hot tea.

Weekly Winners/Project 365 Update

2009-01-18T10:24:00.000-08:00

January 11-17, 2009

Week 2
Left hand side of layout. I think if you click on the pic it'll get big so you can see the photos and read the journaling.

Week 2
Right hand side of layout.
I'd have to say that the highlight of this week was hearing Ellin Keene speak at the Rethinking Literacy Conference. Along with that included a night at the Monarch Hotel all by myself. It was quite dreamy.
I am enjoying the Project 365.

Here is one more pic from the week:

Super Savings at Walgreens...Spent 20.56 and saved 56.39. Go ME! I have been reading this blog and this blog for coupon/sale pairing tips.

Click on over to Sarcastic Mom's Blog to see more Weekly Winners!!

Haiku Friday

2009-01-16T05:00:00.000-08:00

been away so long
so busy, so sorry
but here i am now

only three more days
of the current president
bring on a change. hope.

i am "off" tonight
staying in a hotel room
wow, it is dreamy

will hear ellin keene
she is so inspiring
so knowledgeable

So yeah...I've not been around lately...let me tell you my life has been rocky. between the rollercoaster of emotions shorty mcscreaming, "you're the stupidest mom on earth" and the never ending energy of my first graders, I've not had the energy to post.

Today though, I'm headed to a conference. I'm very excited. I enjoy hearing Ellin Keene's amazing words on literacy and thinking. If you've never heard of her, look her up. She's written Mosaic of Thought and To Understand. The latter is simply amazing, at least in my opinion. I though Mosaic was amazing too when I first read it. It has changed a lot about how I think about how kids learn to read and what is really important.

So there you have it. Have a wonderful Friday! I know I will!!!

Project 365 Update for Weeks 1 and 2

2009-01-10T12:52:00.000-08:00

Jan. 4-10, 2009

I am doing project 365 and think i'll just put pics of the week in here for my weekly winners. You can click on the pics to enlarge them.

Week 1
I put a pic of New Year's Eve and did it as a two page spread.

The rest of week 1. I love the January transparency overlay.

Week 2, and what a week it was....I'm so tired!!!

The rest of week 2

I hope you like my update. My goal is to put up pics of the week on Saturday or Sunday...maybe even Monday :) Don't wanna commit myself to anything....

click here for more weekly winners

Weekly Winners

2009-01-04T07:30:00.000-08:00

December 28-January 3, 2009

Bowling Birthday Party

Watch it go....

Still watching....
My Bowling McShort was the winnah!!!Engrossed in art.

Last minute prep to go back to work on Monday....being the queen procrastinator that I am.

Woke up to more snow.....blah!

Deep in concentration.

1 Martini, 2 Martini, 3 Martini.....FLOOR!

Good Friends

Our 2009 Family (self) Portrait

For more Weekly Winners click here.

Witty Song for 2008

2009-01-03T17:36:00.001-08:00

My Mom sent this video to me. It's only three and a half minutes long. Check it out. It's funny. I appreciate this guy's creativity and wit.

Operation Budget Update

2009-01-03T08:09:00.000-08:00

Despite the fact that I awoke to yet MORE snow yesterday, I persevered and continued to work on the budget. Mr. Tall went to the bank and picked up cash, I put together cash envelopes. We've always said we'd try to do this, but have never really tried it. Well now we're trying it for real. All our envies have been loaded and pledges to not use the debit/credit cards have been made. Wish us luck as it is only the third day of January.

I went shopping yesterday at Albertsons, but not until I'd scoured the ad and made my list. Oh and I also made sure to clip my $10 off a $50 purchase coupon. So, I spent $51 and saved $58. Go me! Then I hit Walgreens and got 4 bottles of Dawn dish detergent and 2 Garnier Fructis deep conditioner for $4.25. Go me again. I got that tip from Erika and Christina over at Saving 4 My Family. If you're in the Portland, OR area check their site out. I'm going to visit The Portland Fruit Company next week when I'm back at work (since it's not too far from my school).

I've not touched my school work yet though (oh man, I think it's gonna be a Sunday night thing at this point). I have been taking a picture each day though for Project 365. I cannot wait for my kit to arrive!!! Last night I even started to journal it so I wouldn't forget while I wait for the kit to arrive.

Today I have a nail appointment, maybe I'll post pics later. I need to stop at Safeway and pick up some cough drops for Mr. Tall. I'll also pick up some of their "door buster" deals as well. Have a wonderful Saturday. I know I am trying to enjoy each second of vacation that is left.

My Last Day of Vacation and Check out My New Widget

2009-01-02T08:16:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I am mourning that today is the end of my winter vacation. Waaaaaaahhhhh! Can you hear me crying? The saddest part is that I've not even touched all the stuff I brought home to work on. Yikes...I'm guessing I'll get on it some time around Sunday night.

I've really enjoyed this break. A. Lot. Like sleeping until 7:30. I know it sounds early, but my usual wake time is 5:20. I'm dreading trying to drag my tired bottom outta bed so early. Oh my. Maybe I should go to bed early tonight.

Oh and did you see the fortune cookie widget I put up? Yeah. Click on it. You get your fortune. I think it's fun. (and if you're reading via a reader, know that my music is down...at least for a bit) Yes, Sue & Lea, I can see you dancing the happy dance. Be warned that the music could come back at any time.

Ok, I'm off to enjoy the last official day of vacation. We'll see what today brings.

Project 365 (or better known as my goal for 2009)

2009-01-01T00:00:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year's People.
I used to make resolutions, but not anymore. I never follow them anyhow. So....I will make a goal...

A few of my CTMH friends and I are going to try this Project 365, inspired by Becky Higgins and Creating Keepsakes Magazine. The concept is that you are going to take a picture every day in 2009 and put it in an album and do a little journaling about the picture. Don't freak out thinking that you have 365 MORE pictures to scrapbook, you're not going to do that. Click here to see a sample layout.

Here's a link to Becky Higgin's Blog, a post where she explains the concept of Project 365. Here she explains the concept a bit more. Creating Keepsakes has a kit you can buy. Originally I was not going to purchase the kit, but use stuff I had. I'm thinking I'm gonna purchase this kit. It's under $40 so I can "justify it" I think. (plus it'll still be cheaper than me purchasing an album and page protectors, i'm just saying)

AND...I got myself this little gifty to make this project even easier! Yup, it's a photo printer. I soooooo spoil myself, don't I? And onto the next goal for the year....get back to living on a budget. Yes. We need to do this. Who knows how long Mr. Tall will have a job.
So, if all goes well. I'll post updates here on my Project 365 and what we'll call, "Operation: Budget 2009".

Christmas Ramblings

2008-12-30T15:57:00.000-08:00

So Christmas is always a fun time, but busy. And I forget every year how tired I am afterwards. Maybe I'll write a note to myself to remind myself how busy it is and how tired I get and tape it to the Christmas boxes. We'll see. I DO love the holidays though. A lot.

So our Christmas tradition means that on Christmas Eve we attend the candle lighting ceremony at church. This is something I've done for a really, really, really long time. This year....not so much. Service was cancelled due to snow. Made me kind of sad. Ok, a lot sad! After service we go to our good friends' house to have cookies and take the annual picture of the kids on the couch. No picture this year....again, makes me sad.

So this year, in trying to make the best of Christmas Eve, I made a ham dinner. Yeah me. We need to finish the left overs or freeze them. We read a Christmas story and then The Night Before Christmas. Then time Shorty fed the reindeer some carrots and left cookies for Santa and headed to bed anxiously awaiting Santa's arrival. See my Weekly Winners to see pictures of both of those activities.

Christmas morning she awoke early clearly stating that she'd heard Santa say "ho, ho, ho" when she was in bed. Both her dad and I added that we'd heard his bells. What fun Christmas was this year. So we all went downstairs to open stocking gifts from Santa and then we headed over to Grammy's house for our Christmas with her.

My husband's family's tradition has always been cinnamon toast and eggnog and stockings on Christmas morning. And we've stuck with that. We head over and open gifts then eat cinnamon toast and some people drink eggnog. I just stick with my trusty cup o joe.

Everyone was spoiled this year at Grammy's house. Read here or here or here about all the goodies she gave us. She is such a thoughtful person. I'm lucky she's my mother in law!

After all the fun at Grammy's we headed home. There we opened gifts. Grampa came over around noon and played with Shorty. I took a much needed shower and nap. Then I got up to get some stuff ready for dinner (all I did was roast yams). My mother in law brought the rest. Man, she's an amazing cook and so generous. She brought dinner and we all feasted and visited. It was a nice night. After everyone went home we crashed.

I love the holidays! Now I want time to play with some of my new toys.

Weekly Winners (a day late)

2008-12-28T21:38:00.000-08:00

December 21-27, 2008

The day before Christmas and I REALLY wanna open a present....yup, we caved....

Mmmmmm.....cookies....with food coloring colored marker pictures on them....

Angelic Impression

Snow Baby

Snow Angel Makin McShort

It has to dry how long?

Run, run, fast as you can.....

gingerbread house decorating McShort

No, I'm not eating sprinkles...

Gingerbread House Perfection. Can I eat it now?

McShort & McMama

Feeding SantaFeeding Santa's Reindeer
Enjoying the Loot from Santa

Can you see the slush and ice? Christmas morning "sleigh ride" to Gramma's house.

Isn't it purty? I love how they don't plow here....

A friendly game of hot hands with Papa

Chupacobra McShort

Dance dance fever McShort

And we had a VERY white christmas. How nostalgic it was.

For more weekly winners, click here.

Haiku Friday

2008-12-26T19:03:00.000-08:00

Christmas is over.
three hundred sixty-four days
till we do it 'gain

my cards still not sent
do i save them for next year?
or just send them late

Maleese Falleydod (how Shorty says Feliz Navidad)

2008-12-25T19:23:00.001-08:00

So we hope you all had a VERY Merry Christmas!!! Don't you just love how I don't know all of the words? I know, I'm lame. Anyhow...here is your (late) Christmas Greeting from Shorty and I. Hope you had a blessed holiday!!!

NO MORE SNOW!!!!

2008-12-22T08:22:00.000-08:00

Ok, so if I haven't said it yet....I'M SO SICK OF ICE AND SNOW! I'm not going out today if I can help it. Yeah, that means I'm NOT going out to give blood (I'll just have to reschedule) and I'm NOT going to get a pedicure (waaaaaaaahhhhhhh). Pfffft.....

There, I said it. Now weather gods, please hear me and make a change! I promise not to complain on the next hot day. You know, like the heat wave we had this summer? Yeah, when I tried to pop popcorn in my car? Yeah. No. More. Complaining. Serious.

So now that we're done with all that...we got more snow yesterday and then today it was snowing when I woke up and looked like it had snowed a lot through the night. Everything has a covering of ice and snow this morning. It's still 22 degrees and I'm sick of it. Here are some pictures I took yesterday.

more ~~peaceful~~ fucking snow falling

see the ice?

ice covered wisteria

icicles

crunching through the ice covered snow

ice covered blueberry bushes

ice covered hedges

No more ice. No more snow. Please.

Doing Some More Scrappin....

2008-12-21T12:43:00.000-08:00

So since we're stuck in the house I've been doing some scrapbooking...trying to get caught up!!

This one is from when Shorty was a bit over a year old and had surgery. She had to have her eye probed. I don't like the bronze on the page, but it was too late when I decided I didn't like it. It's done though.

This is us at the Zoo Lights a couple years ago.
Christmas 2 years ago when my mom was here visiting.

Well, time to make some lunch and maybe then do some more scrapping!

Weekly Winners

2008-12-21T08:03:00.000-08:00

December 7-13, 2008

I love this shot, but don't know what to title it....

Snowman Kisses

Snowball Fight

Making a Snowman

Teamwork

We're so proud!

Aren't they cute?

Santa's Little Helper

Our Tree

Santa McShort

For more weekly winners click here.

Snow Play

2008-12-20T10:07:00.000-08:00

So we have yet another cold snowy day. I don't really mind though. It's a good reason to be lazy and stay home. I think we'll put together a tray of goodies for our neighbors today and deliver them. We might need to do some more baking before we can do that though.

Yesterday we made a snowman complete with a carrot nose. I'm thinking there is enough new snow that we can make another one today. The news makes it sound like we're going to continue with this bad weather for a bit. They're predicting freezing rain too. We'll see. I'm hoping that doesn't happen though. That just makes me feel trapped.

My goal today is to do some scrapbooking too. We'll see though...Shorty doesn't like to be "ignored" and that is what happens when I scrap. I've tried having her in my scrap room with me, but she continually is asking questions and getting into stuff. Makes me crazy and I can't think. So we'll see. I actually finished 5 pages yesterday. Granted, 4 of them were already started, but now they're finished. Oh, and did I mention that they were from Christmas 2006? Yeah...I'm a bit behind....blah.

Haiku Friday

2008-12-19T12:38:00.001-08:00

no school today,
Monday, Wednesday, late Tuesday
snow, snow, GO AWAY!

Santa Lovin' McShort

2008-12-18T19:46:00.000-08:00

So Mr. Tall and I took Shorty to see Santa tonight. Her excitement was palpable. We arrived at the mall around 5:30 and Shorty chanted all through the mall, "where is Santa?". Unfortunately when we arrived at Santa's area he was out feeding his reindeer. I was sure Shorty would break down, but she took it all in stride.

We went upstairs and had a very healthful dinner at Taco Time. Yeah. Love those crisp meat burritos and tots. Mmmmmmm good!!

So after dinner we headed down to see Santa. We waited in line for 15 minutes. It was fun to see all these adults perpetuating the lie that surrounds Santa. Shorty was so excited to see Santa that she even brought him stickers. He politely re gifted them back to her. He said that Santa could do that. I don't think she got it. I wish he would have just put them in his pocket and said thanks. Oh well. He's a darling Santa and so sweet with all the kids.

If I can find the picture of Shorty screaming in Santa's arms a couple years ago I'll post it too. Last year we couldn't even get her to stand by him. Kids are so funny. Tonight we saw a few criers and screamers too.

"Snow" Day

2008-12-15T17:22:00.000-08:00

Today was a snow day for me. Yeah. No snow here in "the 'couve" though. I was able to hit the grocery store and Michael's. Yeah. I finished off three scarves I'd made and did some baking. Did I get my school work stuff done? Not so much. Maybe later. I just got a text message that tomorrow is a two-hour late start day and the weather guys are saying that we'll get more snow Wednesday. What an interesting week.

Here are the chocolate dipped macaroons I made. Delicious, but really sweet!

And here are the caramels I made. Yummy, yummy, yummy! I only cooked them for 11 minutes though. Had I cooked them any longer they would have been toffee I think. Have I ever mentioned how much I love my Pampered Chef stoneware?
All wrapped and ready to go!

Oh and did I mention that my computer is shocking me? Yeah. I'm worried. The one year warranty is over and last time it was shocking me like this it died. Yeah. Fried mother board. Not good. All memory was lost. It really sucked and Best Buy really pissed me off. You can read all about it here or here or here or here.

Ok, it's really shocking me now...I've said way more f-bombs than you can imagine and I'm now getting afraid to touch this stupid machine. Dammit!

My 200th Post!!! (and weekly winners too....)

2008-12-14T14:32:00.000-08:00

So I know I've been MIA for most of December....just too darn busy to blog I guess. So...this is my 200th post. Can you believe it? Me either.

November29-December 13, 2008

Snow!! It's snowing!! But not much...I'm really hoping we have a snow day tomorrow....

Our "new" rig...2003 Dodge Dakota. We like it. We can't drive it cuz it's not insured yet :(
My holiday nails.

Cooking McShorty helping to make cookie jars for Christmas Gifties. We worked on these a couple weeks ago and finished them today.

Just a little taste....

Ballet Recital McShort. Her recital was last weekend.

Shorty McFashion dancer is the one in the striped tights with hearts!

What Enterprise Rental doesn't know won't hurt them, right? We had to get our tree home somehow, and we didn't have a truck as Mr. Tall's was totaled. (we got a new rig yesterday)

For more Weekly Winners click here.

I'm Baaaaaaaaaaaaack!

2008-12-07T19:56:00.000-08:00

So let me just say that last week was one wild and crazy week, full of ups and downs. I had a lovely dinner at The Melting Pot with my gal pal Liane. We love going there and last week they had a fundraiser for St. Jude Children's Hospital. Nice meal, good company, great to get out.

Tuesday I had my author's class, which I really enjoy. But, it's all the way out to Marylhurst University. By the time I finally get home it's almost 9:30 p.m. A long day for me. I get up at 5am.

I was actually able to enjoy Wednesday evening at home with my family, thank goodness because on Thursday I was at work until 8:30 pm for the kids' music concert. What a late night. Sometimes I just wish I lived a bit closer to school. (I live 30-ish minutes away)

By Friday I was wiped out. Seriously wiped out. Oh and I think I forgot to mention that 3 weeks ago (or so) Mr. Tall was rear ended and pushed into a car in front of him. Yeah, the insurance people decided that our 2001 Ranger was totaled. Argh...I hate car shopping. And we couldn't do much shopping until we heard what the insurance company would be giving us for the truck. Thankfully they offered a fair amount, but finding something in that price range in what we want has been challenging. Every time we find what we want and call on it, it's GONE! Blah. So, we've decided to just have a broker do the job for us. If he's good I'll share the love on his information.

Oh and did I mention that we're also dealing with major daycare issues? Yeah...long story short, Shorty is gone from the daycare she used to go to. I really don't want to go into details here, but we've made a report to child protective services. All I can say is parents, talk to your kids. Listen so they feel like they can tell you anything and believe them. Trust what they say. End. of. Story.

We spent most of Saturday ironing out all the icky details of the daycare debacle. Today we got our Christmas tree. (and did a bit of grocery shopping) Yeah, without a truck we had to tie the tree to the top of the rental car. Thank you kind boy scout that helped to tie the tree on in the pouring rain. Yeah, he was a real boy scout. We buy our tree from the boy scouts' lot every year. Nice. What the Enterprise doesn't know won't hurt them. We thankfully arrived home with an unscathed car and a tree still on top.

Next it was decorating time. Shorty was so excited. She promptly unpacked all of the ornaments and spread them on the floor. I would have taken pictures but I couldn't find the camera. I found it after we had the tree decorated. Oh well. The tree is finished, but I'm not feeling like getting up and taking a picture and then uploading it. So stayed tuned.

Weekly Winners and PIF Gifty

2008-11-30T09:01:00.000-08:00

November 23-29, 2008

So it's another lame week for pictures...I have nothing but a picture of the loot I won over at The Q Collective. Check out the post where I won.

Here are the goods!! Wowee!!! Chocolate covered coffee beans (yummy!), thin mint girl scout cookies...even yummier, some Reese's peanut butter cups (already gone), a Christmas ornament, some cool window clings that Shorty has already hung and a little dog creamer. Very cute!!!
Thanks so much!!! I will be holding another PIF Giveaway, but I think I'm going to wait for the new year. This is too crazy of a time to do a giveaway...at least in my opinion :)

Car Shopping Sucks

2008-11-29T17:49:00.000-08:00

So Mr. Tall was rear ended and shoved into another car last week while driving his Ford Ranger. He is fine (so far) but the insurance company has decided that the truck is totaled. The body shop says they cannot fix it in a way that it would be safe to drive either. So now we're waiting to hear from the claims adjuster on what they'll offer us for the truck. Rumor has it they usually offer you next to nothing, instead of "replacement cost" of the vehicle. I'm keeping my fingers crossed and hoping for a fair amount. I've been calling upon the good karma gods out there and trying to cash in good karma I've earned. Wish us luck.

In the mean time, while we wait we decided we should probably start looking for something else. The rental we have is only ours for a week or so more. So....we dropped Shorty off at Grammy's house and headed out to check out the used car lots. We braced ourselves for the smarmy greasy pariah that are car salesmen. The first place we stopped at we witnessed a salesman chasing a woman down trying to make a sale...seriously, does he think this will encourage her to buy the car?

I. Think. Not.

So we didn't find anything we can't live without. Nor did we find any deals that made us want to sit down and sign papers. Part of the issue is we don't know how much we really have work with. We're hoping to cash flow the cost of the new truck. I just don't want to deal with a car loan. I hate debt!!!

So wish us luck. I'll keep you posted. And if you know of a screamer of a deal on a 2001-ish Nissan Frontier or Ford Ranger with a back seat and a great price.....e-mail me.

Haiku Friday

2008-11-28T10:05:00.001-08:00

Home From Black Friday
Crabby, cranky,rude shoppers.
Can't they just be kind?

People get trampled.....
Stop the madness already!!!
They're just sales people!

That's all I have. Seriously. Each year I go out for Black Friday I say I'll never go again. Where is the kindness? Where are your manners? If you ram your cart into me, just say excuse me or oh, I'm sorry. But NO! Black Friday seems like a license to be a jerk. I saw on the news that a Wal-Mart worker got trampled and killed this morning. What is our world coming to?

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-27T00:00:00.000-08:00

Bwahahahaha!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Go think about what you're thankful for.

I'm thankful for my family and friends and a knowing that in this economic crisis we are in I have a secure job. I'm thankful for stability in my life.

And if you want to know the history of Thanksgiving click here or here or here or here or here or here. Yeah, that should keep you busy.

Now go eat turkey.

The Night Before Thanksgiving-EDITED

2008-11-26T18:28:00.000-08:00

So today I'm going to try my hand at some poetry. Please be gentle on me.

'Twas the night before Thanksgiving when all through the nation
women are preparing for the next day's grand occasion.

The salads were made,
the turkeys were stuffed,
two or three desserts, it's more than enough!

Dishes to be washed, no help to be had
those lazy men are just bad.

Then what to forgetful her over-taxed brain did enter?

Ok. I'm done. My head hurts and I have no more. Please, finish the damn thing for me. Leave it in the comments. K? Thanks. Bye.

Ok, duh....why didn't I just google to find a freaking poem?! So here is a great one I found over here:

'Twas the Night before Thanksgiving and all through the house
Mom was at the stove stirring and splattered her blouse.

The kids were in their beds, tucked in with care
while mom was in the kitchen, ready to pull out her hair.

The turkey, still frozen, sat in the sink
And all she could think of was "I need a drink."

The potatoes, cranberry sauce and the punch that was spiked
And the green bean with onion stuff that nobody liked,

All sat ready, in the fridge peacefully
And mom’s next thought was "I could really use some sleep."

But not yet, because though the food was prepared
Now the house had to be cleaned - except for upstairs.

So she scrubbed and she dusted up high and down low,
But she smartly skipped anything that wouldn't show.

Toward midnight it was, and tired was she
After prepping the meal and cleaning - Yippee!

For now it was time to get a little sleep
She was tired enough, no need to count sheep.

Because in a few short hours, the chaos would begin
And she would then know if she really did win.

When she sees the smiles and hears the laughter flow
Then, and only then, will she know

That even though a mom works harder than most
It is worth it when you are known as the host

That makes sure her family and her guests have their fun
And good food to eat when her work is done.

But she better sit down and have a glass of wine
Because she'll do it all again in a short month's time.

Being Thankful

2008-11-25T20:46:00.000-08:00

So yesterday I basically posted crap. And I said I'd be more thoughtful today. So given that my good friend commented on the crap post with, "what are you thankful for?" I shall share what I am thankful for. I thought I had blogged it, but maybe I didn't.

So. What am I thankful for?
*I'm thankful for my husband who puts up with my crap on a pretty much daily basis and makes coffee for me often.
*I'm thankful for my Shorty McShort, she teaches me something new almost everyday, even if it's to just slow down and appreciate where she is.
*I'm thankful for my job, even though it can be quite stressful at times. My job is secure, I have freedom in how I teach and I work with an amazing staff. And the fact that there are 20 short people who adore me Monday-Friday from 7:40-2:00. Seriously, who could ask for more?
*I'm thankful for good friends like her and her and her and her.
*I'm thankful that my in-laws are normal, down to earth, fun to spend time with people who love me.
*I'm thankful to have a house that I'm not in jeopardy of losing.
*I'm thankful for my health.

My goal is to stop complaining and be more thankful on a daily basis.

So what are you thankful for?

I Got Nuttin

2008-11-24T21:48:00.000-08:00

So it's day 24 of November and trying to post daily and I've got nuttin to offer you.

How about the fact that Thanksgiving is just a couple days away? Yeah...what are you cooking? I've been assigned acorn squash and dinner rolls.

That's all I have. I promise to be more thoughtful for tomorrow's post.

Weekly Winners

2008-11-23T10:27:00.001-08:00

November 16-22, 2008

I don't have much this week....but thought I'd include what I can do with my fingers, since my husband could not believe it and said I was a freak....do you think it's freaky? Can you do this? I don't think I'm an anomaly.

Here is my hand with my fingers straight. (like my new red-tipped nails? I do, but they're a bit too long....oh well...just hoping I don't scratch a first grader on accident...I may have to head in for a trim....)

I can make my fingers curve up...see? Weird or Not Weird?
And here is down...not weird, just thought I'd throw this in...

Here is Barbie-Loving McShort and I playing with her Barbies. I had headless Barbie at the time who didn't realize she was naked...

See...not much this week....for better Weekly Winners, click here.

It's Saturday

2008-11-22T15:37:00.000-08:00

So it's Saturday again. Bleh. One would think I look forward to Saturday, but not so much. I was woke up this morning by Yeller McShort at 6:30 am. Thank. You. Very. Much. All I wanna do is stuff a sock in your mouth and spank you on the bottom.

9:30 ballet class. Not bad, but not "mommy time" either.

10:30 play date. Nice to catch up and visit with my gal pal while the short people entertained each other.

2:30 "rest" time for Sleepy McShort who never slows down enough to sleep because she's too busy running to the stop of the stairs and yelling, "is rest time over yet"? during which time I'm madly trying to finish up the last bit of stuff for my distance writing course, since I have report cards to deal with next week and the stuff for class is due by the end of the month. Argh.

3:30 I've given up on finishing any work and am here writing about my day. I'm dreaming of getting away and getting a pedicure of my nails done. A glass of wine. That'd be nice. Where is my genie with three wishes when I need him? Heck, I'd even settle for an empty house where I could sip cocoa and read my book (I just started Love in the Time of Cholera). But I don't think that is going to happen. No. It's not. Oh well. I'll have peace and quiet when I'm dead, right?

Haiku Friday-Holiday Edition

2008-11-21T00:00:00.000-08:00

"Elfed" the family
so funny...go check it out
just click here, go NOW

13 Random Thoughts

2008-11-20T06:26:00.000-08:00

Thirteen Random Thoughts

1. i think my daughter may be a bully based on her saying that what she likes about her best friend at daycare is, "she doesn't tell on me when i be mean to her"...the mind of a four year old...

2. my doctor says that walking on my treadmill isn't exercise...wtf?! (now i have a really good reason NOT to get on my treadmill)

3. the fact that my four year old decided that our water man (sierra spring water service), whom i don't know the name of and comes when we're at work, has decided that he shall be called, "Mikey, because that's a boy name...seriously, where do they come up with this?

4. if the wind does not stop whipping shit around in my neighborhood (specifically shingles on my roof) i may need a higher dosage of my meds....

5. how long can i go without feeding the beta fish before it dies...i cannot currently remember the last time i fed it...

6. why when there is food at work do people not throw away a container or put it into the sink if they take the last bit of it?

7. i'm a teacher, so why does my four year old not believe me when i tell her that the b-i-n-g-o song is NOT V-I-N-G-O?! and then have to pull up a freaking bingo card on the internet to prove myself? btw...if you want to make custom bingo cards, click here.

8. my car is a thousand miles over it's oil change...i wonder if my darling husband made an appointment yet....(he had actually made one for veterans' day, but i went to astoria)

9. when am i going to find the time and motivation to finish the work for my distance writing class that is all due Nov. 30th?

10. why is facebook so addictive?

11. how is it that christmas is so stinking close? (see my counter in the side bar for exact number of days, hours and minutes!)

12. what should i read next? Love in the Time of Cholera or Barack Obama's Memoir or Thirteenth Tale

13. why if we're in an economic crisis are we bailing everybody out?

For more Thursday Thirteens click here.

Do You Know Your Stripper Name?

2008-11-19T00:00:00.000-08:00

We all need a stripper name. See what your stripper name
will be, and Share it with me in the comments section. We all need a little
stress-reliever! It only takes a minute. It will entertain janelle. Please indulge me.

A. Follow the instructions to find your new name.
B. Once you have your new name, leave it in the comments section.

1. Use the third letter of your first name to determine
your new first name:
a = Chesty
b = Fantasia
c = Starr
d = Diamond
e = Montana
f = Angel
g = Sugar
h = Pinky
i = Lola
j =Kitty
k = Roxie
l = Dallas
m = Princess
n = Heidi
o = Bambi
p = Bunny
q = Brandy
r = S ugar
s = Candy
t = Raquelle
u = Sapphire
v = Cinnamon
w = Blaze
x = Trixie
y = Isis
z = Jade

2. Use the second letter of your last name to determine the
first half of your new last name:
a = Leather
b = Dream
c = Sunny
d = Deep
e = Heaven
f = Tight
g = Shimmer
h = Velvet
i = Lusty
j = Harley
k = Passion
l = Dazzle
m = Dixie
n = Spank
o = Glitter
p = Razor
q = Meadow
r = Glitzy
s = Sparkle
t = Sweet
u = Silver
v = Tickle
w = Cherry
x = Hard
y = Night
z = Amber

3. Use the third letter of your last name to determine the
second half of your new last name:
a = hooters
b = horn
c = tower
d = fire
e = thighs
f = hips
g = side
h = jugs
i = shock
j = cocker
k = brook
l = tush
m = sizzle
n = storm
o = kiss
p = bomb
q = cream
r = thong
s = heat
t = whip
u = cheeks
v = rock
w = hiney
x = button
y = lick
z = juice

Heidi Glitter Thong is my stripper name. Heidi Leather Side is my stripper name using my maiden name. So what's yours? I'm cracking up here people. Seriously. I'm going to introduce myself to someone today at work at Mrs. Glitter Thong. Bwahahahhahaaha!!!! Happy hump day.

My Last PIF Winnah!

2008-11-18T00:00:00.000-08:00

So Jen over at Mama Mia won my last PIF Giveaway. Here is her post of the goods from me. And here is the post of her own giveaway. Go enter it...you'll be glad you did.

On a different note, it's November 18th and I'm 18 posts for 18 days. Can you freaking believe that? I can't. Seriously. I think in honor of this I shall compose a limerick. Ahem...clearing my throat and cracking my knuckles.

There was once a girl who had a blog.
So much time on her computer, her husband did flog.
She continued to write,
With all of her might
Time time time on her computer she did hog.

How was that? Pretty bad, I know. How about this one...

There was a tired and overworked Mom.
Whom everyone thought was the bomb.
she was funny
she was punny
She resided at yayasmom.blogpot.com.

Not much better. I'm not going to try anymore. Happy Tuesday to you.

Yummy Dinner

2008-11-17T00:00:00.000-08:00

So I made a yummy dinner last night...at least my family and I think so. I was thinking I should make something with pasta due to the fact that we have so much of it around. It must have been on a good sale or something. I can't resist a great price.

So. Dinner. I found this recipe, Baked Ziti with Turkey Meatballs over at Epicurious. I thought it sounded yummy, but didn't want to make my own meatballs, and happened to have a bag of turkey meatballs from Trader Joe's. I think in the future I'll make the meatballs over there because they sound delicious. So here is the modified recipe:

Baked Ziti with Turkey Meatballs

you need:
1 pound ziti penne pasta
1 1/2 cups coarsely grated mozzarella cheese (about 6 ounces)
1 cup freshly grated Romano cheese (about 3 ounces)
about 6 cups pasta sauce (two jars)
a 15-ounce container ricotta cheese (I used low fat)

In a kettle of salted boiling water cook pasta until just al dente, about 8 minutes, and drain well. I used the whole grain penne pasta.

In a small bowl toss together 6 oz. shredded mozzarella and 3 oz. shredded Romano cheeses (I used a blend of romano and parmesan because that was what I had on hand.

Spoon about 1 1/2 cups tomato sauce and half of meatballs into prepared dish (I used my 9x13 stoneware baking dish from Pampered Chef) and spoon half of pasta on top. Spread half remaining sauce and half cheese mixture over pasta. Top with remaining meatballs and drop dollops of ricotta over meatballs. Spread remaining pasta over ricotta and top with remaining sauce and remaining cheese mixture.

Bake in middle of oven 30 to 35 minutes, or until golden, and let stand 10 minutes before serving.

This stuff was a hit with the family. I wanted to serve it with broccoli and garlic toast, but had neither so I made green beans to go with it. Lots of yummy leftovers too!

Happy Monday to you and have a nice week!

Weekly Winners

2008-11-16T13:30:00.000-08:00

November 9-15, 2008

Here is my week in pictures....my very birthday party filled week.....

Birthday Party at Sally's for her daughter.

Amazing cake Sally made.

Another birthday party....this one at the beach for Abby.

Isn't Abby silly?

Shorty at Seaside's Beach...oh how I miss living the beach....

She loves the beach...especially chasing seagulls.
Ahh....Tillamook HeadYes, a THIRD birthday this week...this time it's Quinn.

Barbie homicide?

For more weekly winners click here.

Saturday Lazies

2008-11-15T10:22:00.000-08:00

I need to tell you something....it's 10:30 and I'm still in my jammies. No, it's not that I lack things I need to do. It's that I lack mo-ti-va-tion! So far today I've made an online book at Snapfish (thanks Oprah), had some breakfast, and got the roomba moving and vacuumed the bathroom myself. I know. Sick and sad. I need to get moving. I've got a birthday present to buy before the party this afternoon, a ton of laundry to tackle, reading and writing to do for a couple classes I'm taking, and I'd like to do some baking today as well.

Wish me luck. One thing I have done is manage to blog each day this month....so far...15 days and counting, 15 more to go.

Happy Saturday to you!

Haiku Friday

2008-11-14T00:00:00.000-08:00

decisions, standards,
algebra...i'm off to math
committee today

Don't hate me because I get to have a day away from my noisy short people, whom I have grown to like a lot...maybe you could say "love". Don't hate me because I get paid to help make decisions on a committe, for which I have to plan my day to be gone. Don't hate me because I'm so stinking witty and can write udderly ridiculous posts.

This is going no where and my head hurts. Happy Haiku Friday to you. Click here for more 'kus.

Milking Cows

2008-11-13T00:00:00.000-08:00

Who knew milking cows was so high tech? Seriously people...Mr. Tall was watching the show How Things Work, or something called something like that. Anyhow...it showed how horizontal blinds are made (snooze) and then came the dairy part which was fascinating.

So there is this completely hi-tech dairy. It described how basically a happy cow equals better milk. So the cows were not on any milking schedule, but got to choose when to go be milked. This is where it gets really good. The cow makes her way to the milking pen where her identity is detected by the collar she wears and a laser guided teat cleaner washes her teats. Next a laser guided suction cupped teat holder begins to connect to each (sparklingly clean) teat, adjusting for the right fit. After that the milking begins. The machine detects if there are any impurities in the milk. If so, the milk is dumped. The machine also detects when to stop milking so as to not go too long and hurt the cow.

Mr. Tall and I were dying on the couch. Way too funny. Who knew the cows had it so good? Something else I didn't know, but should have just realized is that the cows only have milk for ten months after having a calf. The sad part is that they keep the poor cows pregnant, let them give birth, allow the calf to suckle for a week or so and then take the mother's milk for the next ten months. The cycle continues.

So what do you think? I don't really want to drink milk anymore. It just seems mean.

Here is some info from Engadget:
Swedish company DeLaval specializes in "cow comfort" products including the Voluntary Milking System. You see, a cozy independent cow is a happy cow and that makes for an increase in milk yield, dig? The VMS is powered by embedded Linux 2.4.18 running on an AMD Geode GX1 200MHz processor — a single system can milk a herd of 60 cows three times a day. This gives farmers more time to kick back, relax and presumably drunk-milk their friends and pets. When the cow feels the need, she enters the stall where a laser and photo-sensor guided robotic arm searches for, cleans, and then milks each of the four teats. Milk flow, quantity and time is monitored and compared to historical data as early indicators of illness or injury. Be sure to check out the vids for plenty of hot lactating bovine action.

'Nuff Said

2008-11-12T00:00:00.000-08:00

I found this on Avitable's blog. I found his blog via Redneck Mommy. Her blog never ceases to make me laugh.

At any rate, I LOVE this tee shirt and think it pretty much sums up how many of us feel.

I'm exhausted, will post soon about Shorty & I trekking to Astoria and hitting the rainy beach. Just a teaser to get you to come back.

Happy Veterans' Day

2008-11-11T00:00:00.000-08:00

Thank you to all the wonderful men and women who have served in the armed forces. You keep our country safe. Enjoy the day meant to honor you.

Sugar + Short People = CHAOS

2008-11-10T00:00:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I think the title of my post today about sums it up. Sugar and short people is a ~~bad~~ horrible idea. Let me tell you about Sunday's birthday party. So my good friend Sally's daughter, Nicole was having her fourth birthday party and Little Miss Shorty McShort was invited. Pizza and cake at noon. Fantastic, it'll be fun Shorty loves a good party...especially one that involves cake.

So we get there and things are fairly mellow. Kids are playing and more kids arrive. All is harmonious. Sally is cooking pizza with her handy sidekick Todd. It's lovely. I'm sipping my Dt. Coke and enjoying a blissful moment. We eat a little lunch and the kids play some more.

Cue the cake. (Isn't it lurvley? Sally crafted it herself. Can you believe her cake decorating skills?) Seriously...I was impressed people. Watch out Martha, Sally is making cakes these days.

is this not the cutest cake?!

So...we sing, yadda yadda, kids enjoy cake, some enjoy a second piece of cake (oh god sally...how could you?!). Kids get cleaned up and continue to play some more...time lapses a good 20 minutes and all hell breaks loose. Kids are screaming, crying and fighting over toys. Sally's youngest, whom I will now refer to as "chompers" is trying to bite kids...truly, all hell has broken loose. Oh, and Shorty kicked a little girl...not sure what that was all about.

After about twenty minutes of this the party starts to break up (thank god!). We finally leave and Shorty opens her gifty bag in the car. She starts blowing her blow toy (after I asked her to be quiet due to my pounding head). I ask her to stop and warn her if she does it again I'll throw it away. Can you guess what she did like ten seconds later? Yup...blew the damn toy. I took it. She bawled. The. Whole. Way. Home. We live 15 minutes from Sally's.

It had to be the sugar....or maybe it was just the tipping point of them getting along and Shorty's nice manners. I don't know, but all I know is I wish I had a xanax (not that I've had one, but certain friends have told me how relaxing these babies can be), because I was pretty wound up and my head was pounding by the time we left. Went home and sent Shorty to her room for some "quiet time".

I sat down and relaxed and felt much better after rehashing it with Mr. Tall Man. Then I ran some errands and did some Target-Therapy. I bought a new crock pot...mine has a crack and one just like it was on sale for 20 bucks. Can't beat a deal like that. The Cadillac version was also on sale for 40 bucks. Shockingly, I made a good decision. I also bought Jen's gifty for my PIF giveaway. If she hates it she can return it, since I was with-it enough to request a gift receipt. Yahoo me!

So, today I'm off to staff development and then to Astoria to visit some good friends and enjoy yet another birthday party. Please God, let this one be quieter.

Weekly Winners

2008-11-09T08:18:00.001-08:00

November 2-8, 2008

Sweet girls I work with and our monthly cocktails...just happened to fall on the same day as the election...another reason to celebrate! The girl on the right is noneother than my gal pal Jen, also the winner of my PIF giveaway.

Okay, could these girls be any cuter?

Mom! Take my picture!!!

Welcome home iRobot, I love you already. (you work hard while I sit on my butt and read...do you have a cousin that can do what you do with the laundry and dishes?)

That's it...not much this week. Click here to see more weekly winners.

We Have A Winnah!!!

2008-11-08T14:17:00.000-08:00

Congrats Jen over at Mama Mia! (the reason I got into blogging, come to think of it) you are the winnah of my PIF giveaway. Consider yourself soon to be gifted upon. Thank you to the 9 people that entered :) You're all fabulous. If only I was a lawyer or doctor I could gift upon you all. Or if I won the lottery....even a measley $30 bucks would be enough for a little some-thing something, ya know? (cheap shot, huh Jen?) tee hee hee hee (sorry peeps for the inside joke...jen won a scratch ticket or two and was the only person who won anything....my ticket was big fat nothing!)

Seriously though. Yahoo for Jen. She's assured me that she's going to blog all about her grand winnings and pay it forward. When she does I'll totally link it here so you can all go enter her giveaway! Now go enjoy the rest of your Saturday. I'm going to read or go play with my new iRoomba.

Haiku Friday

2008-11-07T05:40:00.000-08:00

history was made
november 2008
barack obama

hope of change to come
a nation needing to heal
i'm proud to live here

Delicious Dinner

2008-11-06T00:00:00.000-08:00

So this weekend I finally made this pumpkin casserole. I've had the recipe saved in my google reader for some time. I found it over at Closet Cooking. I like this guy's blog. Go check it out.
Pumpkin Casserole

Pumpkin Casserole
Ingredients:
4 cups pumpkin puree
4 tablespoons maple syrup
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup pecans (chopped)
1/4 cup flour
3 tablespoons butter (softened)

Directions:
1. Mix the pumpkin puree, maple syrup, milk, egg, vanilla and salt and mash.
2. Mix the brown sugar, pecans, flour and butter.
3. Pour the pumpkin mixture into a baking dish (or dishes) and top with the pecan mixture.
4. Bake in a preheated 350F until golden brown on top, about 30 minutes.

I also made a chicken in my crockpot to go with it. I found this recipe over at A Year of CrockPotting.

--1 whole chicken, skinned (mine was around 4 pounds)
--3 tsp kosher salt
--1 tsp paprika
--1 tsp Italian seasoning
--1 tsp seasoning salt
--1/2 tsp black pepper
--4 whole garlic cloves peeled
--1/2 yellow onion, cut into thirds

The Directions.

I used my white (I think it's 5 or 6 quarts) crockpot (smartpot).

I skinned the chicken because the crockpot lady did (and I thought we didn't really need the added fat). Get rid of the neck and other stuff from the cavity and rinse. I used my Pampered Chef kitchen shears and it made the job go fairly quickly. I gave up on skinning the wings though....completely lost cause!

In a bowl, combine all of dried spices. Rub the spice mixture all over the bird, inside and out. Put the bird breast-side down into the crockpot (sadly enough I had to call my mother in law to make sure I had the right side pegged as the breast...just in case you don't know, it's wings up, rounded side down).

I shoved the peeled garlic cloves onion inside the bird.

Do not add water.

Cover and cook on high for 4-5 hours, or on low for 8. I opted for the high setting. The meat is done when it is fully cooked and has reached desired tenderness. The longer you cook it, the more tender the meat.

Ok, both of these dishes were EXCELLENT!!! A complete hit with the whole family. Score!!! We'll definitely make this dish again. Now I'm off to use the chicken carcass to make broth.

Congrats Mr. President Obama

2008-11-05T00:00:00.000-08:00

Wow. History has been made. Our first African American President. Is that why I voted for him? Absolutely not. Both McCain and Obama are good men. They both stand for different things. I was saddened to hear my Shorty come home touting, "Obama wants to steal our money", so saith Miss Day Care Lady. So be her opinion, I just wish she wouldn't shove it on my kid. I gave her a polite line to take back, being that both men are good men.

I voted for Obama because I believe he does hold the most hope for true change. Our country is in a world of hurt right now. Let's just say it...we're in a recession. It's not pretty right now, but it's going to get even uglier I fear.

I believe that our country needs a ton of healing in many different ways. I believe that President Obama can get us there. Hope. That is what he gives me. I saw Jesse Jackson in tears when they announced that Obama had been declared the new president. What a long way our country has come.

I don't really have any more words. Congrats Obama. Don't let us down.

Happy Election Day!

2008-11-04T00:00:00.000-08:00

I voted, did you?

I found this over at The Frustrated Teacher...an interesting blog. I saw this cartoon in the newspaper back a while ago and loved it. Regardless of how you voted today, history will be made. Whether it be our first black president (please god, please) or a woman in the white house, today will mark history. This is possible because of the amazing leaders we've had along the way. Just take a minute to think about it.

I Learned Something New...

2008-11-03T00:00:00.000-08:00

So I'm taking this distance course and am reading The Nuts and Bolts of Teaching Writing by Lucy Calkins. I was reading chapter 4 when I came across a term I'd never heard of before. "Ex nihilo" Yeah...have you heard this before? So like all good thinkers and learners I couldn't move on...I had to google it (dear god, what did we do before google?). It's a Latin phrase that means, "out of nothing".

So there you have it. You've learned something new. You're welcome. Have a fantastic Monday.

Oh, and I'm going to try to blog everyday this month...oh my...what have I just said?!

Weekly Winners & PIF Giveaway V 4.0

2008-11-02T07:41:00.000-08:00

October 26-Nov. 1, 2008

Shorty McShort aka Candy Giver on Halloween
click here or here for why she's not trick or treating

Jack-O-Lanterns all lit up

That's all I have for now. I can't make this stop underlining...I have no idea what I did....

If you've not entered my latest PIF giveaway, please do!!! Click here to enter and get the details.

2008-11-01T00:00:00.000-07:00

So I'm relieved to say that yesterday went much smoother than I'd predicted (with Shorty losing her trick or treating privileges and all). We picked her up from daycare and had our usual Friday evening pizza and a movie. We watched Charlie Brown's Halloween. We had Grammy Melynda over too. That was the true hit with Shorty. Oh, and passing out candy each time the doorbell rang. Seriously....the wait between dings killed her. She'd keep asking when is the doorbell going to ring?! (She inherited her dad's patience)

The day was harder on me than I'd expected. I shared what happened yesterday at daycare with a couple friends at work and then just felt terrible and got all teary. I know we did the right thing. I just didn't expect it to be so emotionally difficult. Ya know?

So that was our halloween.

And why did I put a cuss-o-meter on this post? Cuz I saw it on another post and thought it was cool. I wonder if I type some cuss words if it'll increase my cuss level...hmmm.....let's see. I'll put some nasty profanity and then run the cuss-o-meter again. Check back Monday to see. I know, you're waiting with bated breath. Not.

Happy Saturday to you all and if you've not entered my giveaway yet please do so!

2008-10-31T00:00:00.000-07:00

it's halloween day
no treats for shorty mcshort
hit kid with a board

'nuff said...what would you do? my four year old hit a two year old with a 2x4 at daycare yesterday...would you take halloween away? i did. thank goodness the little boy is ok. i'm sure we'll have plenty more tears tonight. i hope this is big enough that she gets the no hitting message.

being a mom is hard.

Thank You!!! And another giveaway!!!

2008-10-28T04:07:00.000-07:00

So I have to send out a great big THANK YOU to Vicky at Secret Mom Thoughts. I won her Pay it Forward giveaway a while back and her oh so sweet package arrived last week. I absolutely love it and we've manage to eat almost all of the candy corn already! I'm loving my Burt's Bees lip balm too. Thanks so much!!! Now I need to have yet another giveaway.

I'm out of creative ideas. So for your entry into my latest PIF Giveaway you need to put into your comment what you want to win in my giveaway (i.e. janelle is out of ideas, just tell her what to go buy for you, keep it under $15...shipping can be a killer).

And now for the goodies from Vicky:

Oh yeah....contest will end November 8th at noon (pacific time). If you win, you agree to blog your win and have your own PIF giveaway as well. If you don't have a blog you agree to do something nice for someone...and document it on my blog (you can e-mail me your story).

Seriously...if you're not going to blog it or let me blog it, don't enter. Keep the spirit of the pay it forward giveaways. It's fun.

From the Mouth of a Babe....

2008-10-27T03:00:00.000-07:00

So Shorty and I were driving home from ballet on Saturday and the subject of babies comes up. Shorty says, "How does the baby get out of the mommy's belly?" I continued to listen and she says, "so does it come up your chest and out your mouth?"

I chuckled a bit and let her know that babies do not come out of the mommy's mouth. She inquired further and I said when she was older she'd learn more about that.

So...should I have just told her they come out the mommy's vagina? She knows the word. I was afraid she'd be shocked or sicked out...does this make me a bad mommy?

Bring on the flogging!

Weekly Winners

2008-10-26T11:15:00.000-07:00

October 19-25, 2008

Miss Ballet McShort at it again...in halloween tights...oh to be 4 again!

Thank you card writing McShort...they're finally finished, just need to get 'em all in the mail!

Shorty made her own thank you cards...Mom colored the one on the left side.

I forgot to post this last week, but Shorty is now the proud owner of an apple tree. It was an add-on birthday present. She loves it, can you tell?

We carved pumpkins today...here is the pumpkin family.

Shorty just loves 'em, can you tell?

Look Dad, my hands are clean!

Just scoopin!

Ick...that's my initial response to the guts and then once I get going I'm ok.

That's it. Go visit some more weekly winners here. And if you didn't read my post yesterday, really...you need to...click here.

Halloween Costumes Gone Wrong

2008-10-25T07:52:00.000-07:00

So my twin, bless her I don't have a blog yet humorous soul sent me an e-mail with pictures of halloween costumes gone wrong. Here we go, with my ~~little~~ snarky comments as well, stated just below the picture.

Ok "Elvis", did you seriously mean to have the camel toe effect with the costume or is that a side effect of all the polyester/spandex? WRONG, JUST TOTALLY WRONG! Leave the camel for the cover of a cigarette box!

Ok Hooter Boys, you get a kudos. Fantastic idea. I'd like to call this "Hooter Reunion...40 years post retirement". Bwahahahahahaha...and how did they make the boobs? They're great!

Ok, seriously...too far. He's gone too far. I so badly wish I were friends with Ree at Confessions of a Pioneer Woman so I could share this with her. I'm thinking she'd find it hilarious, but I don't know....I wouldn't want her to think some sick-o was stalking her, so I'm NOT going to send it to her. But feel free to do it on your own! (and I do kinda get the sick sheep humor. I did grow up in South Dakota after all!!!)

Just one word: SICK! Does he seriously think he's some kind of crime fighter? The only thing he is going to be able to do is scare everyone away. I just don't get it.

I have no words for this one. Seriously. What the F*#K?! Does she understand how positively creepy this is? That she can only be open to complete public scrutiny? OMG!

Friends

2008-10-21T22:13:00.000-07:00

This is my friend Liane. She's a great friend. Too bad she's a Republican. Tee hee hee. And for the record, I count the friend pictured in this post a friend even though I've not met her.

Happy Hump Day to you all. (even though it's still Tuesday, I'm headed to bed, so it's like almost hump day)

'Nuff said.
hugs,

Weekly Winners

2008-10-19T07:15:00.000-07:00

October 12-18, 2008

Sophie & Shorty McShort

Pumpkin Patch Lovin' McShort

A goat in a tree? Yup!

And on a house...Fun in the hay maze.

Pony ride...can we get a pony to have at our house?

That's a big pumpkin!

Birthday girl Ava. What fun to have a party at a pumpkin patch!

Sophie's tongue just cracks me up!

For home....oh the fun of gutting them!

For school...those lucky first graders!

Oh how Shorty loves pumpkins!

I can't even describe how good these were...we ate 'em so fast I didn't get a picture!

More Kitty Torture

I got my nails filled Saturday...went for something different....what do you think?
Black tips with a silver line.

For more weekly winners click here.

New Baby Therapy and A Dancing Matress

2008-10-18T21:33:00.000-07:00

So driving home each day I am the luckiest girl in the world due to the fact that I get to see dancing mattress man. Seriously. How much does this guy get paid to dance and hold the sign for mattress world? And does he enjoy his job? Who knows. I just crack up everyday when I see him and because I was headed to meet a very new young girl I happened to have my camera handy. So, hats off to you dancing mattress man (like in the bud light radio commercials the voice over thing, you know...real American hero....Mr. Mattress Man, a real American hero. not.)And onto the good stuff. Meet Miss Maggie. What a dolly. She entered the world some time around noon on Thursday. She's a wee thing at 5 pounds 12 ounces (or something very close to that), but oh so sweet and cuddly.

I just couldn't get enough of her. After a good fix I had to head home so my dear Mr. Tall Man could go to poker. What a sweet baby she is!!!
Meet her mom and dad. Don't they look like great parents? They are. Isabelle would say so. (that's their other little lady and she's oh so sweet too!) Mom works in the classroom next to me. She teaches kindergarten.
Congrats to you both and welcome to the world Maggie!!! I look forward to watching you grow up (and possibly making your mom crazy and gray haired at some point).

Haiku Friday

2008-10-16T21:04:00.000-07:00

Friday Finally
a very very long week
first graders tire me out

Yeah hi out there. I know I've been fairly scarce. I'm still trying to figure out how to teach first graders. I have a feeling this feeling won't change for some time. Yeah....nice, I know. I'm admitting that I know next to nothing. Ok, not nothing. My friends assure me I'm doing great. (thank you friends) It would just feel so much better to feel like I knew what the hell I was doing. Ya know?

And with that I'm out. Happy Friday to you all. We've got a pumpkin patch party this weekend, I have a nail appointment and Mr. Tall works on Sunday. Fun times. Monday takes me to a district math committee meeting. Wish me luck.

Thank You!!!

2008-10-14T21:34:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Danielle-Lee at A Little Left of Lost. She sent out the nicest PIF runner up package to me. (she sent something to everyone who entered, what a giver, huh?) I need to do another giveaway, but it'll come later. Hopefully I won't be feeling so overwhelmed with life in a couple weeks. LOVE the candle and can't wait to use the coffee card! Thank you. You made my weekend!!!

Weekly Winners

2008-10-12T09:50:00.000-07:00

We've had a busy weekend!! Party central you could say....80's party on Friday for my sister in law, Jess...she really knows how to throw a party. She turned 30 and celebrated it big! Princess party for Shorty McShort and her friends on Saturday and today we'll have family over to celebrate her turning 4 today. I still want to post a letter to her, but will have to do it later. Better late than never, right? So here they are, this week's weekly winners.

October 5-11, 2008

Poor Princess Kitty...can't catch a break, I got this at Target...it's for dogs, but fits her great!!! Now I have a little elf helper for Christmas :) mwahhahahaha

Jess & Melynda, struttin' their 80's stuff!

Mr. Tall & I...(do you see Ms. Pac Man on the TV in the back?)
Shorty asked what happened to my hair...

Princess Love

Princess Mommies

Princess Jess came to visit all the little princesses

cupcake sammy...ever had one?

There you have it. More to come later, hopefully.....
For more weekly winners click here.

Princess Party

2008-10-11T09:41:00.001-07:00

So here is what I've been working on.....

cupcakes for the princesses that will arrive in a few hours

dance party floor for the princess ball

princess gift bags complete with diamond ring pops

a little pin the tiara on the princess should be a fun game

crown making 101

It's official, Princess Shorty McShort is one day away from being 4. Dear God help me.

Four years ago today I was at SW Medical Hospital in a bed. I'd had several rounds of the miso thing to "ripen" my cervix. Wasn't working. Then I got a little pitocin. Not much progress. Later this day four years ago I got the gel at bedtime and then my water broke around 3am. About 12 hours later, a TON of pitocin and a c-section later Shorty McShort was born. And my life has never been the same. (wipe eyes now, sap is done, moving on)

And I'm okay with that.

Bring on the princesses! Let's party. Princess McShort planned this party, it's all her ideas (with guidance from mom and dad). She helped with the cupcakes (shed did the sprinkles), colored the stones on the tiaras for the game, helped hang streamers and cut ribbons. I love her excitement!! Bring on the fun!!!

Haiku Friday Look Back

2008-10-09T20:18:00.000-07:00

So I'm thinking Haiku Friday is the perfect time to reminisce and look back at my Shorty McShort's life. So here we go.... (forgive the fact that i'm totally taking pictures of my scrapbook...we've had a couple computer crashes and a theft since her birth....digital of the early days don't exist on my machine!)

so greatly pregnant
you took your precious sweet time
two freaking weeks late

completely worth it
instant love is what we felt
like nothing before

eight pounds nine ounces
twenty and one-half inches
good size they all said

first year flew by fast
pictures taken monthly--oy!
oh so innocent

then you were one year
and the time started warping
almost four years old

you're talking, walking
turning into a young girl
who knows what she wants

very curious
so smart, so independent
growing up so fast

More waxing nostalgic to come and the big 4 birthday is Sunday...Princess Party on Saturday with her princess friends. 80's party tonight at sister-in-law's and family party at my place Sunday...let the fun begin! (and house cleaning!!!)

For more haiku friday click here.

What the Efff is TRON?!

2008-10-07T19:55:00.000-07:00

So as I'm peeing this evening after tucking Shorty in post stories, I hear this rattle rattle, paper sounding noise that seems to go on for evah! I think, what is that? And then I hear the hubs say, I've got my costume...come see. I tell him he'll have to hang on a sec cuz i'm mid stream.

I wash my hands and make way to the bedroom....a full 12 feet at least. Yeah, long walk. I know. And what do I see? Hubs has a large piece of paper over him with some black lines and the word, "TRON". I say, what is tron? He's like, uh, what? And I'm like totally trying to not make fun of his "costume" for his sister's 80's party on Friday.

So back to TRON. He says something that I don't understand and I am trying to get him to understand that I simply don't have the foggiest as to what the fuck he's talking about. (at school I'd tell the children I have no schema for TRON and then we'd work to build our schema together)

So...back to TRON. I know I could google it, but enlighten me ~~readers~~ reader. What the hell is TRON?! And I'd like to mention....hubs was reading over my shoulder trying to bully me into making changes to my post. I just told him to, "post a comment, it's my effing blog".

Nuff said, what the hell is TRON?

And we'll be back to sweet posts tomorrow about how my once baby is a grown up girl.

My Baby Is Turning 4!

2008-10-06T20:31:00.000-07:00

So in less than a week, my "baby" is going to be four years old. Seriously people...where did those four years go? It may sound cliche, but honestly...it was like yesterday when Mr. Tall and I brought her home. Set her car seat on the floor and promptly asked each, "what do we do with her now?"

Obviously we figured out what to do with her. We got through her colicky stage, her "I don't wanna sleep at night stage", teething, transitioning to "real" food, crawling, walking and talking. I have to say that with each stage I've been ready to say goodbye to something that makes me crazy and welcome in the next stage.

Her current thing that drives me up a tree is just the sassy mouth. Honestly, I have absolutely no idea wherever she may have inherited it. (what?! me?! shut up!) But yeah, her latest game is to be a parrot. She'll just start and stop at odd times. I think she gets that it's an instant button for me. And she HATES it when we turn it on her. (if you're not familiar with parrot, it's when you repeat everything the other person says)

What I love about her current stage is her independence and love of learning. She's absolutely excited about all things new. She's finally (willing) able to play by herself for a while too. I love that....a lot! Her independence has been interesting too as of late. An example is the fingernail painting here. Just gotta love her ability to do things "all by herself".

I've been bad about scrapbooking lately and have not even really put many words down about what Shorty has been up to. With my poor memory I need to get on this or I will forget! So this week I'll attempt to get some thoughts down as she eeks closer to four years old.

I dedicate this week to Shorty McShort and will try to get some pics of her true baby stage up. We'll see. It's Monday and I'm already tired.

So I'll leave my ~~readers~~ reader with this question....How do you remember the moments with your children and not forget? How do you celebrate each birthday? Comment away. NOW! Go leave a comment...help me out here.....

Weekly Winners

2008-10-05T07:33:00.000-07:00

September 28-October 4, 2008

Look Mom, I did it all by myself!
(while daddy was in the bathroom)

Does my hair look pretty? I did it all by myself!

Heather with her beautiful twins, Emmett and Magnolia

She's such a natural at this mom thing!!

Dried coffee in my mug....been sitting on my desk for a week or so....looks sick, but smelled really good! (I put it to soak before I left my classroom for the weekend!)

Ballet has started again....lots of ballerinas in this class!

Shorty McShort doing her "elevee"

Have a great week! I hope to post more this week, but we'll see how that all works out! For more weekly winners click here.

Haiku Friday

2008-10-03T05:35:00.000-07:00

october is here
simply unbelievable!
time flies by too fast

the leaves are falling
shorty will have a birthday
then the pumpkin patch

how to make time slow
i feel like i'm missing much
just not enough time

do i do too much?
what to give up? i don't know...
want to do it all!

Pay It Forward Giveaway to Go Visit!

2008-09-30T00:00:00.000-07:00

Remember my last Pay It Forward Giveaway? No? Well then click here. Then click here to enter Lori's giveaway in honor of winning my last giveaway. She has quite a thought provoking post, so go read it and then respond to enter her giveaway. But hurry....it's over on October 3rd at noon (pacific time I'm assuming).

Life continues to be too busy here. So this is all I have!!!

p.s. can you believe tomorrow is October 1st? Me neither!!!!

Another Chance to Get to Know Janelle

2008-09-29T00:00:00.000-07:00

Have You Ever…

1. gone on a blind date? ummm....does it count if you met him on the internet? cuz if so, i did and then i married him a few years later....

2. skipped school? not in k-12, unless you count faking being sick. college? yeah...all the time...

3. been on the opposite side of your country? no. i wanna visit NYC!!!

4. swam in the ocean? not swam, but walked...does that count? i lived in Seaside for 4 years and for a couple of those years i lived 4 blocks from the beach!!

5. had your booze taken away by the cops? no, not that i can recall.

6. lettered in a high school sport? Hah! No.

7. cried yourself to sleep? i’m sure i did this frequently as a baby, but not that i can recall as an adult...maybe i did when my grammy died and then before that when my grandpa died.

8. played a musical instrument? clarinet, in fifth though ninth grade. i tried to learn guitar when i taught in seaside, but reading music isn't a gift i posess.

9. sung karaoke? uh, sadly enough...but i was drunk those few times...i'm not going to even mention the song choices....

10. cheated on an exam? yes...i wrote the formula for photosynthesis on my arm for eight high school biology or life science or something. sorry Mr. Wilson.

11. played spin-the-bottle? um, maybe? i was probably drunk though...gotta love my college days.

12. laughed until some sort of beverage came out of your nose? yes. numerous times. i'm a dork.

13. watched the sun rise with someone you care about? no, but i've watched the sunset...

14. ever been arrested? no.

15. gone ice skating? yes, i grew up in south dakota. when i was in second through fourth grade i lived in mitchell and there was an ice rink not far from my house. it was awesome until i outgrew my skates. even had a warming house!!

16. been skinny dipping? no.

17. been on television? i don't think so, but my memory is pretty bad. if i was it was nothing major.

18. thrown up in front of a date? no.

Your turn. Blog it and tell me where in the comments section! Happy Monday to you all!

Weekly Winners

2008-09-28T10:13:00.001-07:00

September 21-27, 2008

My week started on Sunday with Race for the Cure.

What an amazing event. I've participated several years. I love it!

Sylvia, Kaylynn, Kristin, Shari, Sharon (a survivor) and me.

Such a great cause to gather together for!
Shari & I (thanks Shari for taking the pic!) Being Silly
Our Bushes Before thier Leaf-Cut

And after....wow!!! Thanks Tall Man for calling "the tree man"

Liane's Princess Kassie and her new sign...spoiled! A Shower Gift...cover altoid can brag book....
The Inside...

Finished scrapbook pages 1 & 2, love spending time with Liane!
Finished pages 3 & 4. Wahoo!! Only a million left to go....
For more weekly winners, click here. Life isn't seeming to slow down so I may not be around much this week (either). I know, only a couple posts this week....wish me luck on "catching up".

Haiku Friday

2008-09-26T05:35:00.000-07:00

open house last night
meeting families, much fun!
twelve hour day....yuck!

I'm tired, Thursday was a really long day! I'm so thankful the weekend is here! Open house was nice. Fourteen of twenty families came. Not bad. The ones that didn't come I wanted to meet. Such is life though!

Do you have plans for the weekend? I'm playing with my friend Liane on Saturday. I'm excited!!

Interesting Video

2008-09-24T21:31:00.001-07:00

The Story of Stuff

Seriously, take 20 minutes and go watch this video. It's enlightening to say in the least.

Sorry I've not been around much this week....busy times I say. I've been to the gym twice since Monday, made muffins tonight and have open house Thursday night at school.

So....that is that. It's 9:37 and I need to go to bed!

Weekly Winners

2008-09-21T13:57:00.000-07:00

September 14-20, 2008

Papa Duck painting Shorty McPrincess's toenails...he's so sweet.

Papa is seriously the best Papa....evah! Princess is living the high life!

The pain and suffering of pink eye.

A slow day in traffic, had to take a shot of the truck with all the flattened cardboard.

And.....we have clear eyes!

Shorty McMama's babies all lined up....taking naps.

Roller derby from date night last night.

The ref at roller derby...Mr. Tall kinda wondered about her "undies"...I'm thinking thong.....

For more weekly winners click here.