My Three Sons

Fancy meeting you here.

2011-08-19T14:37:00.000-04:00

I am back. It's been awhile (4 months to be exact) and a lot has happened.

- Jack is potty trained

- Braeden has graduated Preschool (and starts kindergarden on the 7th)

- Logan has started talking

- I've gotten my drivers license

- I have bangs

- I am 25 now

- aannd I am pregnant

no. just kidding.

actually this is the longest I've gone in SIX YEARS that i've gone without becoming pregnant

#thank god for my IUD

A lot of people have been asking about my blog and why I haven't updated it, I don't really have an answer, I just kinda got lost for a bit. Didn't really have the urge to blog or do anything really. Maybe I was just stuck in a rut. But, I am back and feeling pretty good.

My father took Braeden and Jackie upstate to his house last sunday and I just have Logan here, which has been a very nice break for me and a chance for me to "refresh" myself.

While they've been gone, I've cleaned out their room, completely, got rid of 3 huge bags of toys and 3 huge bags of garbage, organized and rearranged it.

I've also cleaned up our backyard of all old toys and was able to clean up my room too.

Feels sooo good to have things REALLY clean and organized. I can't wait for the boys to see their room, it's been a disaster for awhile now, I think they are going to be very shocked to see it so clean.

the best part? They really can't mess it up too much because I got rid of SO MUCH and there is a place for everything now.

Logan has been a little angel and doesn't seem to miss his brothers too much, he very much enjoys having things all to himself!

The boys are having a blast, fishing, camping, going to carnivals, but I miss them sooo much.

They come home tomorrow, can't wait.

I got my Drivers License, and I have driven a couple times

by myself

with the kids

and I lived ... as did they.

Unfortunately I don't have a car right now, long story.

But it is what it is and I HAVE MY DRIVERS LICENSE, that's all that matters! WEEE!

Braeden is started KINDERGARDEN on the 7th!

AHHH. Freaks me out! I can't believe it. 930-330 everyday, Seems so loong!

But he's so excited & I think he'll do so great.

I do have some other big news but I am not ready to share it, soon, just not yet. It's not ready quite yet. But good things ahead, hopefully.

I've had people asking me to do another Vlog , but I am not sure about it. If people really want me to, I will, but I think I might be better off writing.

Well, I am going to TRY and keep up with my blog now, with recipes and everything.

I also have a tumblr (just started it, not really sure about it yet) but Here it is.

Till next time

That's more like it!

2011-04-20T14:34:00.000-04:00

Well after a week and half of hard working out and eating 1200 calories everyday ...I am proud to announce I have lost 9 pounds, 2 inches of my waist, 2 inches of my hips and 3 inches of my legs!! Awesome! It's like a gave birth to Braeden again (since he was 9 lbs at birth) lol

Before:

Now:

Good improvement eh? I think I still got a ways to go, but i am pretty proud that I've accomplished this. I am also aware that now my stomach is a bit tighter, my stretch marks are more apparent, which sucks, but whatever. Can't do much about them! As long as I can get a relatively flat stomach, that's all I care about.

Unfortunately, I must announce that MISSON: ORLANDO is no longer going on, since we are no longer going to Orlando. BUT i will continue to work out because I don't want to be embarrassed when I take my kids to the beach .... which I will be doing a lot since I will be DRIVING this summer!!

I am doing very well in my driving lessons, did 3-point turns and parallel parking with ease! On Sunday, I drove around all day [with brendan in the passenger seat] and even drove the kids home at the end of the day!! I think I did pretty well! I am very excited to get my license! I am taking my 5 hour course on Saturday and then scheduling my road test right after!! I can't wait to be able to take my babies wherever they want to go!!

Alright well, just wanted to do a quick update, I must go shower while the little ones are sleeping since Logan so lovingly threw yogurt in my hair. Yum.

My 1st Vlog!

2011-04-08T13:23:00.000-04:00

Must admit, I felt a little strange Vlogging ... but I've gotten a lot of messages from people asking me to do a video blog .. so here it is .. it's kinda long? IDK how long or short Vlogs are supposed to be ... but ... here it is! Let me know if I should do more or just stick to writing it out lol

Wake up call!

2011-03-28T12:44:00.000-04:00

Wow. Okay. So, I recently hosted a party for my sister...and she just recently posted pictures from it, and there is one picture that gave me a huge wake up call.

Wow. I had no idea I looked that big. That's crazy. It really was a wake up call that I NEED to lose weight before it gets worse! I have set a goal ... since me and brendan are going away from my 25th birthday ... I want to feel good about myself and how I look ... soo I am starting a diet plan and working out everyday! I have also started an account with MyFitnessPal.com, which is a great website and I totally recommend it. I am really serious this time ... I really was not aware of how bad I looked. This has to change. I will admit the past week or so have been EXTREMELY stressful and I've kinda been like "oh f*ck it" kinda eating, which is not helping. I think you know its pretty bad when you don't even want to put jeans on anymore because they make you look 5 months pregnant...

I am still measuring the same so I am not going to take pics this week, but I will next week. I don't have a scale either but I am sure I am not under 150 .. could def be over though :/ I'll def invest in a scale soon

Well here I go, naptime is in a half hour...yoga, shower, laundry all before the kids wake up! Iam ready to for into jeans again :)

Have we met?

2011-03-25T15:33:00.000-04:00

Woo. It's been a while. I apologize. I don't know what's up but I've just had no urge to blog .. well I did ... but I was too lazy to do so. A lot has been going on in the mystical Pavich world.

Braeden got approved for his services! Which is awesome, awesome news! He's getting behavioral services, he's not autistic, doesn't have any speech or OT issues, it's just his behaviors, which is what we all suspected. Braeden's teachers were concerned that since he didn't have anything really serious that they would limit his services to only 2 hours .. which means he would only attend school for 2 hours, but thankfully the committee agreed that changing Braeden to 2 hours from his current 4 hours would not benefit him at all. He will also get bussing, which is awesome news also, they come right to the house pick him up and drop him off! The only "bad" thing about his services is that he will have to change classes. His current teacher has the maximum amount of IEP kids in her class so he need to be moved to another class, down the hall. But, he's already been meeting with that teacher and classmates and he seems to like them! I am very happy, I think that this will all really help him out and maybe next year he won't even need services!

I have also started DRIVING LESSONS [gasp]. I've done 2 lessons so far and it's been going good! I am not as nervous or scared as I thought I would be! I drove on REAL roads, like busy roads, changed lanes, did rolling turns, all the junk and I did really good!! My instructor, Tony, is so so nice, he is actually the teacher for the driving instructors and usually does not deal with students, BUT he was the guy I talked to when I made my first appointment and I told him how I have 3 kids and don't drive and blah blah ... well come the day of my lessons the original driving instructor got sick and couldn't make it, so Tony came - he told me that he knew if the lessons got cancelled that I would never get my license ... which is pretty true lol I just signed up for 6 more lessons and for them to take me to my road test!! Super excited. I can not wait to take the kiddies out and not be stuck in the house all the time!! :)

I turn 25 a month from monday! 25! Brendan and I are TRYING to plan a trip to Universal Studios for the weekend of my birthday [ no kiddies ] - although it has come to my attention that is expensive as shit to go to anything related to Disney World. Hopefully we can find a deal that works for us soon ... cause we both REALLY need to get away and since I am not into the whole partying, clubs, drinking crap . ..going to Universal Studios and seeing the Wizarding World of Harry Potter is a great way to spend my 25th birthday.. yea I might be a dork, but I am okay with that.

My irish boys!

Alright, well I've updated! Since I don't want to quit ... I will continue my 30 day challenge from here on.... think I can do it? hahah

Day 17: A picture of something that has made a huge impact of your life lately

Driving Lessons

So, I used to be TERRIFIED of driving, or even the thought of driving! BUT, after my last lesson, I drove .. for a hour .. in real traffic and I was fine, everything was fine! It really made a huge impact on me and made me realize, I can do it, I can get my license and be more independent, I don't have to be so scared! I am very excited to get my license! :)

My not so much 30 day challenge

2011-03-11T00:14:00.002-05:00

I suck. I know. I've been super lazy -- like laying on the couch after doing school work and being like "yea I should probably do my 30 day challenge" ... and then I decide that that's not a good idea, because then I would have to move.

But, I am here now. So yeah!

Day 12 - A picture of something you love

Taking pictures.

I love taking pictures. Love it, I feel that having pictures is so important. Yes, you have memories, but pictures make your memories stronger and even help you remember memories! I have EASILY over 3,000 pictures on my computer, easily. I just want my children to see themselves as babies, see their parents when they were younger and all our memories. I love, love, love taking pictures!

Day 13 - A picture of your favorite band or artist

Ray LaMontagne

I love this mans music, I could listen him all day long. His voice is just so relaxing and beautiful to me. When I am cleaning or cooking, I put on my Ray LaMontagne pandora playlist and it just makes thing sooo much more relaxing for me. If you have not heard him, please, listen to him, he's amazing.

Day 14 - A picture of someone you could never imagine your life without.

My boys

I know, it's supposed to be one person, but I couldn't do just one. I can not imagine my life without my three little boys, they are the reason I wake up in the morning, they are my entire world! I love my little boys so much and would never ever even WANT to imagine my life without them. They bring so much joy to my life, it's amazing.

Day 15 - A picture of something you want to do before you die.

Travel Europe

I want to travel so bad, SO bad. I see so many people on FB that are traveling all over the freaking world, and I am sooo jealous. Obviously this is something that is not possible for me right now, but hopefully once all the kids are grown and in college [and we'll only be in our 40's!] Brendan and I can do a bunch of traveling! That would be amazing!

----------------------------------------
Okay, all caught up, I think lol

Well, tonight I ordered a bunch of new clothes from LoveCulture.com .... I have a huge problem spending money on myself, so it literally took me all day to actually make the order, but I did it. The main reason I did it was because I feel that once I have nice clothes that I want to fit into and look nice in, I'll be more motivated to loosing my baby belly. Right now I just have a bunch of sweats and old t-shirts and some dresses that I never wear, so I feel that if I had some clothes that i want to be in and I feel good in, it's going to MAKE me loose the baby belly. I do feel super guilty for doing it, but I know I need it and it's okay to spend a little money if we have some extra. Come monday, I am going to start my weekday workouts again. Maybe I can still lose a good amount of weight by my birthday?

I also scheduled my first driving lesson! Yepp! I did it. I called them up, told them my story, how I have 3 kids and bla bla bla, dude was super nice and said they would work with me and my schedule and get me on the road by my birthday!! I am super excited and super super scared!! I have SUCH anxiety about driving, it's crazy. I just hope the driving instructor is really nice and helps me calm down. I can not wait till I can take the kiddies out whenever I want!

Big things happening! lol

This week I order from Peapod and it is amazing. I highly recommend it to anyone who can't drive, or even just moms that don't want to drag 3 kids to the grocery store! It's super easy and really not more expensive then just going grocery shopping. It has an awesome feature that you can just type in your grocery list and it will automatically search for everything on that list, so easy!! It also saves your previous orders so that you just order them again or add or take away things! The delivery charge was only $6 and I got over $200 in groceries. The delivery was great, they bring the packages into your kitchen and everything! I seriously recommend it!

I also ordered Logan's First Year Photobook from MyPublisher! They are having a great promotion right now where you get classic photobook for $35 with unlimited pages!! So Logan's Photobook that was $89 turned into $35 [before tax and delivery, than it turned into $48] But how amazing is that?! MyPublisher is the best photobook company, in my opinion. Their quality is amazing, I have over 6 books from them already! I am sooo excited to get his book, I love looking through their first year books, it goes by so fast!! :( You can see his book here Click for Photobook

I am going to try my best to keep up with the 30 day challenge now ... I hope I can not be lazy lol Till next time :)

30 Day Challenge: Day 9, 10 & 11

2011-03-05T09:14:00.001-05:00

This is why I can't take BC pills -- because I forget to do things, all the time lol Thank goodness for IUD's huh!? Anyhow, I have three days to catch up on now!!

Day 9

A picture of the person who has gotten you through the most

My Husband

Brendan and I have been together for about 9 years now, since I was 15 and he has certainly been through the most things with me and gotten me through a lot of things over the years, and will continue to the rest of our lives :)

Day 10

A picture of the person you do the most ****** up things with

DeAnna wins this one again

There is something about when me and Dea get together, that we both turn absolutely retarded and do really stupid shit. While I don't think we've ever done anything "f*****" up, we def do some stupid, hilarious shit all the time.

Day 11

A picture of something you hate

NOTHING pisses me off more than a selfish, bad mother/parent! I can not for the life of me understand it, I can not understand Jenelle or any bad mom in general. How can you be so selfish once you have this beautiful little person in your life?? This is YOUR child and YOUR responsibility! All those horrible stories in the news about mothers neglecting, beating, even killing their children?! I can not wrap my head around it, I don't know how your brain can even get to that point. I could seriously go on a looooooooong rant about bad parents but I don't want to get all worked up lol

Alright, all caught up now, phew! Well I got some good news [yeah!] Braedens evaluation meeting got moved up from the 23rd to the 16th! So we will know sooner if he gets services or not and know if we have to pay for April and so on. I am very happy they moved it up, although I wish they would move it up even more...but I'll take what I can get!

Nothing too new around here, been consumed by Algebra and my Web Design class - Kids have been restless - especially since we've been able to go outside a couple times last week, now they REALLY are getting cabin fever. It's been in the 20's the past couple days, so crazy!! I will be so excited when I see it says 50, I am going to go running outside in shorts and T-shirt! hahah Def the craziest winter in a looong time.

I am getting some refund checks from my school so I think I am going to use some of the check to get driving lessons and my license, I NEED to get it for summer. I can not deprive my boys of going to the beach and playing in the park during the summer. I need to do it for myself too, I have to feel more independent and be able to do things when I need and want to do them!

Another good thing in this area is that my father-in-law is giving Brendan his work truck! So when I DO get my license we won't have to buy another car!! Although, I think we may try to trade in the PT Cruiser for a Mini Van since Logan is going to be going into a big boy car seat soon and while we COULD fit them ... I think it would really really suck and probably not be safe. So yay for big changes coming!! I am hoping I can use my excitement of being able to go wherever/whenever I want with the kiddies to override my fears of driving!

Gah is it really only 9am!? I've been up for 3 hours already!!! lol Oh well, so is the life of a mother. I am going to go cuddle with my bubbies.

Sweet boys!

Till next time :)

30 Day Challenge: Day 8

2011-03-02T22:23:00.002-05:00

Day 8: A picture that makes you laugh

Okay so I have a lot of pictures . . . and a lot that are funny because I have goofy kids .. so i decided to go onto my facebook and go through ALL my albums and see what really made me laugh. This is the one that won:

I am sorry but that's hilarious. Sooo showing this to every girlfriend lol

I actually really enjoyed going through all my albums from now to before Logan when the boys look like babies! I am not feeling very well tonight, so that was a great pick me up, you forget how little they were, even if it was just last year! :)

30 Day Challenge: Day 7

2011-03-01T13:38:00.001-05:00

A picture of your most treasured item

My external hard drive

May sound silly but, if there was a fire, I would grab my kids and my external hard drive. It has my whole life [and my kids whole lives] on it. It has pictures from as far back as middle school, all my documents, all my videos, pictures of the kids, montages, everything. It was probably the best gift I have ever gotten. A couple years ago my laptop crashed and I thought I lost everything, all of Braedens baby pictures and videos [I didn't have Jack or Logan yet], Luckily it was all recovered. Soon after my brother bought me this external hard drive for my birthday and I've backed it up every week ever since.

Day 5 & 6 - and some yummy recipes!

2011-02-28T23:19:00.003-05:00

First off, I've reached over 3,000 views!! That's amazing to me! Thanks to all my readers!

Now I realize that I am slightly failing at this 30 day challenge lol I was going to post last night after I did my assignment but me and Brendan decided to go watch Big Love in our newly beyond comfortable bed.

Day 5: A Picture of your favorite memory

Our first house.

Yepp, living in North Carolina is my favorite memory [BESIDES THE BIRTH OF MY CHILDREN, OBVIOUSLY]. It was the first time Brendan and I were on our own, completely independent and it was our very first home. We also had some really great neighbors that welcomed us and really helped us out in the end when things got very tough for us. I just remember how peaceful it was, the weather was always beautiful and I could have my back door open, let the kids go outside and play. Although it didn't end very well, it was just a really great experience and an awesome first home.

Day 6: A Picture of a person you'd like to trade places with

Paris Hilton

Alright, don't judge me! Honestly, she was the first person that popped into my head! I just imagine it being great to have all the money in the world, being able to go shopping for whatever, whenever you want, being able to go on as many vacations as you want and always look flawless [because you have the money to do so.] Basically, I would just like to have limitless money and nice blonde hair .. almost there lol

Alright, now that all that is out of the way. We have solved Braedens school dilemma...for now. We ended up paying for the month of March. It wasn't cheap but it's worth it for him to be happy and to not regress. I am just kind of hoping he get this IEP [I know that sounds horrible] but I just want him to really stay at this school and get the help he needs. I am hoping that after a year of services he wont even need them anymore, which I really think will happen.

It was POURING this morning, I haven't seen rain like that since North Carolina! It was nice to hear it on the sky light in the kitchen though. It stopped raining in the afternoon and warmed up quite a bit! I think it was almost 50 degrees! I decided at naptime to go outside and finally bring in all the christmas decorations [we couldn't get them before since they were buried under 1000 ft of snow]. Braeden came home soon after and I decided to take Braeden and Jackie to play for a bit [Logan was still napping] Almost all the snow in the backyard is gone so they were able to run around the whole yard, playing tag and hide and seek, it was really great to get outside again.

Logan woke up when we were already outside, so I just ran in a got him out of his crib, put a jacket and shoes over his fleece pajamas haha He was so happy to run around in the yard, it was adorable. I can not wait until summer, when we can spend all day outside and not have to worry about jackets or anything!

In other news, I had my brother and sister in law over for dinner the other night and it was a really nice visit, we hardly ever see them and the kids love their Uncle Mike. and I made crockpot pot roast and cheddar bay "red lobster" biscuits.I know it's been awhile since I've shared some recipes so here we go. [I realize that I have posted a pot roast recipe before, but this one is revised and has much more flavor...not just a copy of a Campbell's recipe]

Crockpot Pot Roast

(Not the best picture, sorry)

3 lb Bottom Rump Roast or Eye Round Roast [i've used both]
1 cup of Flour
2 cans of Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 package of Dry Onion Mix
1 cup of Beef Broth
1 tablespoon of Worcestershire Sauce
2 cup water
6 red potatoes, cut in fourths
3 carrots diced

Season roast with garlic powder, onion powder and salt. Lightly cover roast with flour. Sear all sides in a pan with oil or butter. Cut up potatoes and carrots, place in crockpot, make a small "hole" and place roast. Combine soup, onion mix, beef broth, worcestershire sauce, and water. Pour mixture over roast. Stir a bit to be sure it's covering everything in the crockpot. Cook on high for 4 hours, then low for 2 hours. This also makes it's own gravy, you can thicken the gravy with a bit of flour if you want. Voila, dinners done! :)

Now I know I've posted Cheddar Bay "Reb Lobster" biscuits before, but when I made them recently I tried something a little different [since I did not have any bisquick] and they came out even better!!

Cheddar Bay Biscuits [Revised]

[no picture, keep forgetting to take one!]

2 cups of flour
1 tablespoon of baking powder
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of onion powder
2 teaspoons of garlic powder
1 teaspoon of parsley flakes
1 cup of cheese [I usually use mexican blend]
2/3 cups of milk
1/3 cup of vegetable oil

Mix and set aside for brushing:

3 tablesppons of melted butter
1/2 teaspoon of parsley flakes
1 tablespoon of garlic powder

Preheat oven to 475. Stir all except milk and vegetable oil, combine milk and oil in a different bowl, mix together and add to flour mixture. Stir with a fork until it forms a sticky dough. Place heaping tablespoons of dough onto parchment paper lined baking pan. Bake 10 - 12 minutes, until slightly golden on top.

I am going to try and post more recipes soon and more often! But, right now I am going to go veg on the couch till Brendan comes home. I'll post tomorrow! Till then :)

30 Day Challenge: Day 4

2011-02-26T22:20:00.001-05:00

A picture of your night

Yepp, this is what I am doing tonight. We got a new bed set and i am EXHAUSTED. I will post more tomorrow. Till then :)

Been a long week [& 30 day challenge, Day 3]

2011-02-26T08:16:00.004-05:00

A picture of the cast from your favorite show

Dexter

Oh how I love Dexter. Mostly because I love watching Michael C Hall, yum. The show is also really well written and I could watch every season over and over again. Can not wait for the new season!

Yeaa, so I am a couple hours late on posting my Day 3 ... oops, but it's been a very, very long week. Braeden's had off all week for winter recess . . . it's been pretty crazy and loud here ... to say the least. While I love having Braeden home ... all three kids, all day long, stuck inside, would drive anyone crazy. Of course this week Jackie decided to feel his oats too, He started so many fights, and now when he gets mad or in trouble he hits things [and me].. after scolding him all week and putting him in time out .. I started to ignore it by thursday and he stopped doing it. Amazing how children feed off of you. I dearly missed my couple hours of quiet naptime, since Braeden doesn't nap anymore and is in school during Jackie and Logans naptime. I am very excited for Monday!

I also almost broke my pinkie toe doing laundry, only me. How you ask? I am not even sure actually but basically, I heard the washer banging because it was off balance so I ran downstairs because I didn't want it to break, as soon as I opened the garage door I SOMEHOW smashed my foot into these metal shelves that Brendan has in the garage [that were totally to the side and I really have no idea how I even touched them]. As soon as I smashed my foot and felt an overwhelming pain, I quickly reached over, opened the washer and fell to the floor crying. I then looked at my foot which was bloody and instantly bruised. I had scrapped the skin off my pinkie toe and the toe next to it and I really thought I might have broken my toe, it was that painful. Luckily, it was just really badly bruised [the whole right side of my foot still is] but it was a real challenge to keep the kids from stepping on my feet while trying to sit on my lap or during a "wrestling match".

Along with all this, Brendan has worked easily well over 80 hours this week. I didn't even see him for 2 days and then pretty much the rest of the week he came home at like 3am and then was back out the door by 10am or earlier. Crazy. I don't know how he survived this week, hopefully he gets Sunday off and can relax all day and recharge, and the kids can spend some quality time with him. They were soo lost when he was not there in the morning, they could not understand why he was not laying next to me in bed.

One GREAT thing about this week is that is rained like CRAZY yesterday, melting almost ALL the snow! I am sooo happy to see grass again. Our front yard is pretty much all melted but the backyard is still covered a bit in some areas. I can not wait for it all to melt so I can take the kids outside!! Logan LOVES to be outside, anytime I open the back door he comes running into the kitchen and tries to make it onto the deck before I close the door haha This is going to be a great spring/summer with this beautiful backyard we have now. I am sooo excited.

I also had a girls night last night, we ordered sushi and watched a movie. I wanted to make mudslides but was not provided the proper ingredients...or blender. haha I told Brendan he should go out last night too and he did, but not before being a smart ass and leaving his car parked behind Mallory's car [on purpose]. So before they left we moved his car somewhere in the neighborhood and left it there ... should be fun to watch him find it. Good times.

Well I certainly hope that next week is easier ... although being that next week is the beginning of March and Braeden's free UPK ends and our rent is due ... I have a feeling that it's going to be stressful .. and expensive haha. I will just keep sending positive vibes out into the universe and hopefully everything will work out. ::: positive vibes ::: ::: positive vibes ::: ::: positive vibes ::: ::: positive vibes ::: Till next time :)

30 Day Challenge: Day 2

2011-02-24T18:58:00.001-05:00

A picture of you and the person you have been closest with the longest.

Me and DeAnna, Junior Prom

This picture sums up me and DeAnna perfectly, we're like night and day, but somehow we work and she's been my true friend for the longest. She has been though everything with me since middle school. She is the first friend I told when I became pregnant with Braeden and she has stuck with me through every single thing I have done in my life. She's also pretty much the only person who I can just look at and she knows exactly what I am thinking [and visa versa], and it's always hilarious. I love you pirate hooker <3 pork & cheese.

30 Day Challenge: Day 1

2011-02-23T18:06:00.001-05:00

A picture of yourself with 10 facts.

This is me, taken this morning.

Facts:

I have never had chicken pox
In middle school I had a pixie hair cut, wore a tiara and boa to school, everyday. I don't know why.
I seriously considered legally changing my name to Juliana Ericksen, glad I didn't.
I love paranormal things and scary movies, I fully believe in ghosts and have seen them. I am not crazy.
I HATE feet
Yet, about 90% of the time I am barefoot, hate shoes.
I used to be really good at drawing cartoons.
I am allergic to cats and bunnies.
I am very shy, unless i've know you for awhile.
I miss my Chihuahua, Joey, who I gave up when I gave birth to Braeden.

Been Awhile

2011-02-22T22:17:00.002-05:00

Things have been a little crazy around here so I haven't really had to time, or urge to blog lately. I also haven't been working out. Boo. I worked out for about 7 days....and haven't since.

As I said in my last blog entry, Braeden has been going through some evaluations to see if he needs an IEP for some behavioral problems. They are finally all over, but not without tons of drama, of course. Little background information, we used to live in Huntington, so Braeden went to a Huntington Preschool. . . Well we moved to Commack ... and did not change his school or tell the district because it's a really great school for Braeden and we do not want him to leave it. Well, we needed to do some in home evaluations, so I had to give them our address, and of course one of the evaluators freaked out and started ranting about how I HAD to tell the district and bla bla bla. So I did, and I had to go immediately register him in Commack or the evaluations would be cancelled. Well now that he's registered in Commack, Huntington [of course] will not pay for him [he's in free preschool - paid for by the district] after February. Now if he gets an IEP he can still go to his preschool, no matter where he lives, since the majority of the school is for special needs children. BUT the district will not meet to discuss if he gets an IEP till the END of March and then even if he gets an IEP, the services do not start till APRIL. So we're kind of up in the air about what we're going to do for his school. The Commack's UPK is all filled up too . . . so the only real options are to pay for him to go to school [which is NOT cheap] or keep him home till the services start and basically do homeschooling. Both not good options. Braedens school has helped his behaviors SO much, he's literally like a different kid and I fear that if he is not in school [which he also LOVES to go to] that he will seriously regress. Drama Drama Drama. If only districts would think in what is best for the child and not what is "by the book". Hopefully it all works out and he can continue to go to school. I am really hoping he gets an IEP, I think it will help him so much, if the little things that the teacher has done helped him out so much, I can only imagine what getting actual services will do for him!

I've also been pretty consumed in school. Algebra is not my friend. Literally takes me two hours to do any of algebra work. I am just not good with numbers at all. The web design class is very cool though, right now it's just about html terms and stuff like that, but I think it's going to be a really good class for me.

Anyhow, that's why I have not been blogging, but things are starting to calm down and I am getting used to being in school again and hopefully I will be working out again. Honestly, just for working out for 7 days I did see a difference in my body. I just really need to commit to it. I've also decided to do this 30 day challenge blogger thingy, which will hopefully keep me blogging daily. So tomorrow I will be starting Day 1 :)

OOOh I also went back to blonde ... by myself! lol I used Clairol Born Blonde Maxi, it came okay, at first it was VERY orange in certain places, but it has seemed to cool down a bit, and it kind of a strawberry blonde now. I still have to buy another hair dye to put over it to tone it better, but I am giving my hair at least a week. Surprisingly, my hair is really shiny and soft too! I wouldn't recommend it though, I would much rather go to a salon and KNOW it's going to come out perfect. I did it because I knew that we wouldn't have the money for me to go to a salon anytime soon so I just did it, I figured if it looks horrible I could just dye it brown. Being as the Day 1 Challenge is a picture of yourself and 15 facts, I will take a picture of my new blonde hair tomorrow.

Well, since I finished my algebra this morning, I am going to go enjoy my OTH and Teen Mom 2! Till next time! :)

P.S. Who likes the new layout?? I needed something a little springy after all this horrible winter weather!

Day 2 of working out, Success!

2011-02-09T01:07:00.001-05:00

I know it's only day two of working out, but i am extremely proud of myself. I have been pushing myself to workout, I was exhausted on Monday, but did my 30 minutes of yoga ... and today I had a killer headache but still kicked my butt with "30 Day Shred" - woo Jillian Michaels knows how to kick your butt.

My legs are burning and my abs are super sore....but I know that means things are working :)

Tomorrow, I do "Boost Your Metabolism" (Also a Jillian Micheals workout ) which I've done before and it's super hard ... but I am willing to push myself to be happy in my own skin again.

In other news, I just started up school again. Apparently, there was a problem with my financial aid for a bit and I finally got it straightened out. I started Algebra tonight, yikes. I am NOT good at math ... or anything to do with numbers honestly. But, so far, so good. I am sure I'll be biting my tongue in a couple weeks.

I also start Web design classes next week! I was originally signed up to take History but then my advisor called me up and was like

"so, hey how do you feel about history"

and of course I was like "uh.. not really a fan"

and then she proceeded to inform me that history was actually an elective and I did not have to take it!

Awesome news.

Then she told me that I could take Web design and image editing classes as my electives.

Really Awesome news!

So now I am signed up to take two web design classes and one image editing class. Which means that I can still get a degree in Health care AND further my education in web and graphic design. Woo! I get to have my cake and eat it to, such a rare thing in life :)

Boys have been doing good, Logan is growing so so much lately. He's starting to look like a big boy.

Ugh, I can't take it.

Where did my baby go!?

He's also started to give kisses ... granted it's just him putting his open mouth on your mouth, but that counts as a baby kiss! I am happy that he knows what kiss means! Such a sweetie. <3

Jackie is also getting to be a big boy, all of a sudden, he can work the computer.

Yepp. 2 1/2 .. can work the computer. I woke up one morning to Zoodles blasting . . I come out and Jack is playing on the computer... like he's been doing it for years, knows exactly what to do, how to move the mouse, what to press.

Amazing.

Now I have Brae and Jack fighting over computer time!

Braeden is currently going through his evaluations, for those who don't know, we suspect Braeden might have a little bit of a learning / behavioral problem, so we're getting him evaluated to see if we can pin point anything.

The psychologist has already done a classroom evaluation and she will be coming to the house to do an in home evaluation on Friday.

Scary.

I don't know what I am supposed to do when she comes! I am sure it will be no big deal and it'll go quickly but it still makes me nervous to have someone "evaluating" us.

He's regressed a bit too, he was doing really good in school, then around the holidays he started to get a little wild again...once he got back into school he seemed to calm down again but lately, like the past week, he's been getting really out of hand again.

I just hope we can pin point something so we can help him control himself.

I already have the color behavior chart which works sometimes but when he gets really crazy all it does is make him super upset.

In good news though, he is star of the week this week!

We made a super cute poster for school and Thursday I go in to read a book to his class and give out "Dirt & Worm" Cupcakes! Super cute.

On the husband front ... I am pretty sure he has a curse on him.

Yepp.

Why you ask?

Well, let me break it down for you.

First off, he was having a horrible, busy week last week. He was supposed to have off Friday and Saturday because he worked so much, so hard.

Of course, that didn't happen. So he was pissed about that.

Then Friday... while working at a hotel ..His car gets towed ... by the police.

Yes.

Friday night, in NYC .. he gets towed. So now he can't get his car back till Monday morning and is stranded in NYC! Billy goes to pick him up from the city and we suffer the weekend with no car.

Although he still found a way to go to jobs over the weekend.

Work never ends for Brendan.

Then Monday, he gets a ride to the train to go into the city .. to get his car

... about an hour after he leaves .. I sit down at the desk .. look over

Oh, there are Brendan's keys.

Yepp, forgot the keys .. to his car ..which he's getting out of the city. Needless to say, he did not get his car on Monday.

Today he gets on a train to the city... made sure he had his keys.

Paid an ungodly amount in fines ... only to find out that his license is wrongfully suspended from a ticket he paid months ago.

So they wont let him take the car.

Yes, really.

So he calls up my sister, who lives in the city. She agrees to sign out his car and drive it a couple blocks away ... even though she's terrified of driving in the city.

Well, now he has his car back.

It's almost 1 am and the poor guy is still out working.

Crazy. Let's just hope this is the end of his bad luck curse.

Please.

Well I think I am all blogged out, I will update later this week .. perhaps the beginning of next week. We'll see how school goes this week! Till next time :)

Fail.

2011-02-07T10:21:00.001-05:00

Alright, not going to lie.

I only worked out like twice since my last post. Booo.

But I did cut down on eating junk and drinking soda ... until yesterday. Boo again.

But now it's time.

I need to get back into shape, I need to get serious about it.

A good friend of mine and my husband, Billy Rom, (who is a personal trainer) sent me this great advice article that he wrote and I just have to share it because it's great advice for any mommy trying to lose weight.

Tips for Mommy Dieters

1) Nutrition is the most important aspect of ANY diet! It doesn’t have to be hard though, cut the snacks and mindless eating with the kids. Sometimes people eat without even knowing it – they go on auto pilot. So here is a tip: Take a picture of everything you eat. For bigger meals include your hand in the picture to get a portion reference. Doing this, forces you to think about what you are eating; and see if the portion is responsible.

2) You have to make time for exercise. Too many people just think – oh I will exercise, but never have a definite when. Make your exercise something that isn’t negotiable, it is planned. How can you do this when the kids are there? Involve them! Plan a “play time” with mommy that involves movement and fun with the kids. Here is another tip: Use your kids as weights! A small child may way 15 lbs, in playing with a child, lift them, pick them up, sit down and stand up with them. You don’t need a gym to get stronger – the tools are all around you (and in this case grew inside you!).

3) Make smaller goals. You may have a target weight, waist measurement, and diet you plan to follow, but looking at the final picture often seems insurmountable. Take your final goals and then work back and think of the small steps that are needed to take these big steps. This will make them little successes that promote good feelings. Start with cutting things out of your diet one at a time. Don’t drink soda for 3 days – check off a goal. Eat vegetables everyday for a week – check off a goal. These small goals will add up to a big change when they are all checked off.

4) Reward yourself but not with food! Too many people get on a diet and decide “Hey – I am going to do great for a week so that I can have that Chocolate Cake on Friday.” Now; food is becoming a reward system, and it no longer is seen for what it is, the stuff that keeps you alive! Instead of rewarding you with edible gifts – reward yourself with new things. Lose 5 lbs – get a new shirt, Lose 10 lbs – get a new pair of jeans. These goals give you rewards that you can see and use every day. Mentally – rewards that are more readily seen promote more consistent effort – unlike that cake that was gone in 2 minutes.

5) Take pictures and measure – disregard the scale. Due to water retention and menstrual cycles, women have various times where their weight can fluctuate significantly. This can cause you to fall off a diet when you weigh yourself. Additionally, when exercising you may gain muscle (which actually helps you burn more fat!) and see no weight reduction. Meanwhile you may have lost equal amounts of fat and caused a big visual difference. This progress will show up in your measurements first, your pictures second, and your scale last. Use them in that order.

These are a few tiny steps to help you get on your way to your goals. With anything in life effort is needed – nothing comes easy, but it can be simple. Hopefully you can follow these simple steps and get big results.

Bill Rom
www.SuperiorAthletics.blogspot.com

So I think the way to really get me to work out is to show how I look now so I can follow up with pictures and show everyone that I can get back into shape. Also to share my weight [ugh]. Okay ::deep breath:: .... this is what I look like now . . .

ugh, not cute....I look 5 months pregnant. So there it is. Now I have to show everyone that I do not have to look like this, that I can be better. I can be healthy and happy with the way I look.

I will follow up next week, after a full five days of working out. I will work out everyday. I will. I must. This is far too embarrassing.

In other news I have a bunch of recipes and other things to share but I have to get ready to bring brae to school [he's star of the week this week!] so I will post again tomorrow or later today!! Till then :)

Things need to change.

2011-01-31T12:28:00.000-05:00

This was me a few months before I became pregnant with Braeden.

I was 19 . . . 109lbs.

I didn't diet, exercise or anything and I certainly was not anorexic [as I've heard many people say about me]. This was just me, naturally. So it's hard for me to come to terms with how I am now. I have to lose a lot of weight. I am embarrassed with how I look now.

Yes, I have had three [large] children in four years.

Braeden 9lbs 5oz 22 inches

Jack 8lbs 4oz 21 inches

Logan 8lbs 10oz 21 inches

and yes I am much older now and it's expected that my body will have changed, but last night I stepped onto my grandmothers scale and was shocked at what I saw. I weight as much as I did at the end of my pregnancy with Braeden. I am not saying what that is, but it's a big number.

This needs to change. I don't want to be embarrassed with how I look at the age of 24, that's crazy. I know that I am still young enough that I can loose this weight pretty fast. I just need to do it. I am no where near obese or anything, but I am big, for me.

I am setting up a goal for myself, and I really think that I can reach it. I want to get down to 120 by my birthday [April 28th]. I think that is a reasonable weight for myself. I am 5'6" and I believe I have read that anywhere between 118 and 130 is a healthy weight for my height. I would love to be as skinny as I was when I was 19, but I don't think a weight of 109 would be healthy for me at this stage in my life.

So with this goal I have around 12 weeks to get down to 120. I really think I can do it, if I dedicate myself. I am going to try and eat better too. I will cut out all soda, because I know that stuff is horrible for you and I will have to work on my portion control.

I know it's not going to be easy, but I look at shows like Heavy and you see these morbidly obese people and they can loose so much weight, it just shows that I can do it too. I will take pictures of my progression, from start to finish. I will not post these pictures till I see results though.

Day 1 of my goal. I will do an hour of Yoga today. I have this great Yoga video that I did while in North Carolina and I did it everyday for an hour and started to see results pretty fast .... and then I got pregnant with Logan lol. I will be doing some Jillian Michaels workouts too, which I also did in North Carolina. So wish me luck. It's time to feel comfortable in my body again. Till next time :)

Happy Birthday Logan Joseph

2011-01-17T16:41:00.004-05:00

Today at 4:22pm my baby boy will be one year old. In honor of his birthday I will share his birth story . . . it's nothing too graphic, so don't worry lol His birth was actual the easiest of all three of my kids. I woke up on the 17th with really bad cramps and pains and I thought they might be contractions but I wasn't totally sure. After about two hours of not being able to even stand up without being in pain, I knew it was time to go to the hospital. I told me my mom and we got ready to go. We got to the hospital around 10:30am and admitted immediately, the floor was completely empty, there were no mothers giving birth that day. They confirmed that I was having contractions and that I was 4cm. They proceeded to give me an enema, which was the worst thing of my entire life .. and they said it was "standard procedure" yet I had never had it done with my other two kids. There is no pain like having contractions and completely emptying your body at the same time, horrible.

Once that was over with I believe I got an epidural because the pain was getting pretty bad. It was an awful epidural though because I still felt every contraction . . but couldn't feel my legs. As i suffered through contraction after contraction Brendan was busy watching FOOTBALL. Yes. Wanted to kill him. The rest of the labor went pretty smoothly, really not much to write about, I kept feeling my contractions really badly and asked them to up my epidural but it never really made a difference.

By 4:00 I 10cm and ready to push, (I turned off the football) and within 22 minutes he was out and a beautiful 8lb 10oz baby was born at 4:22pm. I remember shaking uncontrollably after having him for about a good hour or so and I think they gave me one last dose of the epidural or something because I remember my legs and butt being completely numb when I went up in my room. I was in no pain though, it was a very simple and easy birth, the way it's supposed to be.

Logan is the same way he was born, simple, easy and wonderful. He is the sweetest little boy I have ever known, don't get me wrong I love Braeden and Jackie and they are little sweethearts but there's something about Logan. He's an old soul or something, he's just so sweet and lovely, I can't get enough of him. He is the perfect edition to our family. I love my baby boy and so happy he's here and a big one year old, we are completely blessed.

As most of you know we had his birthday party yesterday and it went so well. It was so nice to have a birthday party at home for the first time, not having to rent a place or anything, it was so relaxing and easy, I loved it. We blew up 100 ballons and put them on the floor for the kids to play with and they loved it. We all ate baked ziti [made by my mother in law] and ceasar salad along with some pizza for the kids [from Mozzarellas], everyone sat around and chatted and hung out, it was a really nice environment, very chill and fun.

We then went onto the HUGE cake, we sung happy birthday to the little man . . . he was looking around like "what...is .. going on??" lol We then cut him a huge piece to devour ... yet he just took little bites out of it and poked it lol We then moved onto the montage, which was so nice to watch on an actual TV instead of a projection screen where you can't really see it or here it. Everyone seemed to love it and I was so super proud of it. After that we all kind of just chilled and enjoyed Logan and watching the other kids play and we opened presents.

It was a really nice time and I am so glad he had such a nice birthday party. I am so blessed that I have so many people in my life that love my children so much.

Today we're not doing much, I am having my grandmother and mother over for dinner and some [more] cake, since we have SO much left over. I am making a huge pot of chicken and dumplings in the crockpot, I figure that will be soft enough for Logan to enjoy. I am hoping that Brendan can come home at a decent hour so he can spend some time with the birthday boy too.

Alright well enough chit chat, time for pictures and the online premiere of A Year in The Life of Logan :)

The dining room and decorated

Baby Mickey Mouse Decor <3

One year of three brothers collage

12 Months of Logan Collage

Logan's one year pictures collage [my favorite decoration]

All the balloons for the kiddies

Logan's 1st year balloon [that he loved]

The birthday boy!!

Confused as to why all these bouncing things are around

Figured out that they are fun to play with

My little man

Enjoying some yummy food

He thought this was hilarious to do lol

Singing Happy Birthday

Blowing out the candles

Going in!

Num Num Num

Must be good!

Making a mess, what he does best ;)

Goofer

Balloon was bigger than him!

A Year in The Life Of Logan - Free videos are just a click away

Blogging is better than cleaning.

2011-01-14T16:35:00.002-05:00

I really should be cleaning my house since Logans party is on Sunday ... but I would much rather blog and eat pizza. I have however done three loads of laundry . . . that should count for something right? Been a while since I've blogged but, I've been consumed with finishing up Logans one year montage and I finally finished it up last night. I changed the entire opening last night too haha typical. I really love it though, I watched it on the "big screen" this morning and it looks fabulous. So excited to premiere at his party then post it on here for all my mommy friends who couldn't be at the party. I think his party will be lovely, not too many people coming, keeping it small. My mother in law is making a tray of baked ziti and I'll make a salad. There of course will be a huge cake too, and I figure I'll show the montage once cake is served. That way people wont notice that it's 30 minutes long!

I've also been cleaning massive amounts of snot out of my children's noses [and mouths] blegh. These are things they don't tell you when you have your kids, you will wipe their snot with your own hand or sleeve to prevent it from going into their mouths ... forget running to get a napkin or tissue because yes, they will just let that gooey loveliness slowly stream into their mouths and never even think anything of it. Disgusting. Logan and Jackie have been sick for the past week, coughing, sneezing, stuffy, cranky, not sleeping well. Thankfully, they are feeling better now and back to their wonderful selves. Just in time for the party too. Phew.

I did however get a break from being mommy for a couple hours last Sunday! It was glorious, felt like I was in Disney World. I left the kids with Brendan to go to the Deer Park Outlets with my girls, we ate at Millers Ale House, then braved the FREEZING cold to go a store or two and then headed over to the movie theater to see Black Swan. I was told that it was a trippy movie, but I did not expect what happened in the movie, I really enjoyed it and I totally love Natalie Portman. It is so nice to get those breaks from being mommy, as I am sure all you mommies reading this know. I don't think people that don't have kids . . and even dads . . I don't think they understand how being a mommy is 24/7 job, there is no end, no break, you are always in mom mode. So, once you get to go out, and get out of your mom area, it is so refreshing and relaxing. I think it also may be a bit worse for me since I do not drive. But, it was a really nice time out with my girls and I hope that I can do more "girls nights" outside of my house!

We got hit with MORE snow on Tuesday night / Wednesday morning . . . and when I mean more snow, I mean a shit load more snow!

My god, I have never seen this much snow in a looooong time! It is literally up to Brendans knees . . Brendan is 6'1". Yea, crazy amounts of snow. I have yet to let the kids go out and play in it, I feel it would only end in disaster . . . I am sure Braeden would love it but it's just far too much snow for me to deal with.

I've started to work out . . . well I am trying to. I did Yoga on monday and I have a whole work-out schedule set up, but the week before your sons 1st birthday is not the week to start working out, it's just been too busy trying to clean everything and get everything ready for the party. Once I reach my goal I will post my progression pictures, and only when I've reached my goal. I am so embarrassed at how I look now. I was looking at old pictures, from before my babies and I was so super skinny that I can not even believe how I look now. Horrible. I really want to get back to my "old" body and I know I can do it because I am not THAT far away from it, I just have to dedicate myself to it. I should probably start to eat better . . I usually don't eat breakfast and if I have anything in the morning it's coffee and there are some days where I wont eat till dinner, and it's not on purpose, it just happens. Time for a change, my friends. I can do it. I can do it. I can do it.

Now time for some [probably unhealthy] recipes! Enjoy :)

This is a recipe I kind of just made up in my head. It tasted okay, there was something missing, it did not taste perfect but it was still pretty yummy. Whenever I get a chance to cook it again and improve it, I will post it again. Also, feel free to try it out and improve it and let me know if you figured out what's missing!

Tilapia with Pineapple Salsa

4 Tilapia Fillets
1 C. Soy Sauce
2 Tbsp. Lemon Pepper
1 Can of Pineapple Chunks
1 Avocado
1 Red Pepper
1 tsp. Lemon juice
1 tsp. Pineapple Juice [from the pineapple chunks]

Preheat over to 425. Pour soy sauce over fillets, add lemon pepper. Place on baking pan and cook for 20 minutes. While the tilapia is cooking, chop up pineapple chunks into small cubes, chop up a whole avocado and red pepper, place all together in a bowel. Drizzle lemon and pineapple juice over "salsa". Place onto to Tilapia, serve with rice.

Sausage & Peppers in Pasty Puff

4 Sausage links [we do 2 hot, 2 sweet]
1 Green Bell Pepper
1 Red Bell Pepper
1 Yellow Bell Pepper
1 Orange Bell Pepper
2 Tbsp. Olive Oil
1 Onion
1 box of Pepperidge Farms Pastry Puff Shells

Preheat oven to 400. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add sausage and cook until brown on both sides, about 10 minutes. Remove from the pan and drain. Keep pan over medium heat, add the peppers and onions and tiny bit of olive oil. Cook for about 5 minutes. Place pastry puffs on baking sheet and cook for 25 minutes. While peppers, onions and pastry puffs are cooking, cut sausage links down the middle and cut into 1 inch cubes. Add sausage back into pan and stir to combine. Cook until sauce has thickened, about 20 minutes. Pastry Puffs should be done by now. Follow directions on box, add sausage and peppers inside them. Serve immediately.

So delicious, I tried this randomly cause I had a whole bunch of pastry puffs in the freezer. These are great appetizers or just for dinner, surprisingly two of these little guys are very filling! You can also put the sausage and peppers in a roll or just eat it by itself, still delicious.

Snow Covered Brownie Cookies

1 Pkg. Brownie Mix [ I used Ghiradelli Triple Chocolate]
2 Eggs
1/4 C. Oil
6 oz Pkg. Chocolate Chips [if your brownies don't already have chocolate chips in them]
Confectioners Sugar

Preheat over to 350. Grease cookies sheets. In large bowl combined brownie mix, eggs and oil. Stir until well mixed. Add chocolate chips. Dust counter with confectioners sugar and drop rounded teaspoons of cookie mix, coat well with confectioners sugar. [ it helps if you coat your hand with confectioners sugar to reduce the stickiness of the cookie mix] Place each on cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake for about 10 minutes. Cookies will be soft so let them cool for a bit before removing them from cookie sheet. Sprinkle extra confectioners sugar on top while still hot if desired.

This was also a random, very yummy recipe I made up. I was out of flour so I could not make chocolate chip cookies and then Brendan suggested I use brownie mix to make cookies. Great idea, these were so delicious, almost like Chocolate Crinkle Cookies but a lot less work!

Till next time :)

These are the things I will always remember

2011-01-08T00:07:00.004-05:00

That pretty much sums up the day, it snowed .. a lot and it was beautiful. I don't think I've ever seen such big flakes. It was almost surreal being outside in them. Today was a really great day.

Brendan stayed home from work.

We did some painting

We all ate the worlds largest cookie.

Took the kids outside [briefly]

and I took some awesome pictures, that I love.

I love the snow because that means my husband gets to stay home. Till next time :)

"And in my day we used joysticks!"

2011-01-06T23:20:00.002-05:00

I noticed a lot of people, mostly mothers posted Things Babies Born in 2011 Will Never Know today on Facebook ... I actually just had this conversation with Brendan when we got the Kinect, our children will never NOT know this technology. We'll tell them that we used joysticks and big bulky controllers and they'll laugh and call us dinosaurs. I am sure they will even phase out the controller in the next 10 years and every game will be played through technology like Kinect. My two year old knows how to use a touch screen phone [as seen above] and he'll never know any different, Braeden can sit down on the computer and zip around and find exactly what he wants, no problem. It's amazing to think about what the future of technology holds us, our children, and our grandchildren.

I am glad that they have come up with interactive technology like Kinect though, it really is a work out to play the games .. or at least the ones that I've played so far. All of them require you to move, jump, dance around in order to win the game, great way to get kids exercising. You can say all you want that your kids "won't be like that" but with all this technology around, there is no way that your child will not, one day be sucked into it and want to stay in their room instead of going out to play. Of course it's still important to get them away from the technology and get them outside playing, but ultimately if they're going to be doing it, they might as well be getting some form of a workout. Perhaps the obese epidemic will decline at least a bit? Who knows.

Well, now that I've gotten that out of my head. Today, my horoscope inspired me. Yes. "Responsibilities become problems. Get your house in order. Squatters have to go now." Those squatters were my dishes. They've been squatting in my sink for two days and it what time for them to go! As soon as I read that I knew what had to be done. I cleaned the entire kitchen, dining room, living room and bathroom. Not going to lie, felt good. I've been slacking a bit on my house work ... I don't know why ... I think having things kind of thrown out of order by having Christmas here just really threw me for a loop. I feel now that things are back in order and I can get back to my daily cleaning routine. Maybe it's just me but I really get upset when my house is not clean and then I am like, well I am not happy, so I am not cleaning now ... and it's a cycle. Bad. So thank you Facebook Horoscope. You inspired me to get my shit together.

I shall go eat my third brownie now. . . Don't judge me. I did Yoga today . . . so it doesn't count. Right? Damn. Till next time :)

Baby Bye Bye Bye

2011-01-05T20:30:00.001-05:00

Today was the day our house said goodbye to Christmas and honestly I was so relieved! Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas, the tree, the decorations, but after awhile ... after all those damn pine needles fall all over the place, it all looses it's shine. I started doing before Braeden went to school and the kids kept saying "Mommy, why are you doing that! It's Christmas!", so I decided to opt out of being called The Grinch and decided to do it when Brae was at school and Jackie was taking a nap.

Good plan.

I put on some trashy afternoon TV and happily took down every ornament, wrapped them in paper toweling and put them ever so gently into The Christmas Box. Once that was all done, I unscrewed the poor tree and dragged it out the door, to the curb. It was a lot lighter than I expected. I was all done and just cleaning up the mess from dragging the tree across the house and out the door when Jackie woke up. He didn't even notice that huge thing standing in the corner of the living was gone.

Even though I am very pleased that the droopy tree and fake garland is all packed away, I have to admit that my house is pretty bare now. We really have to get on painting and decorating, make it feel a bit more like home in here. What colors though? Hmm.

Tonight was a pretty peaceful night, the kids played with their tinker toys [Logan too] and I worked on finishing up Logan's 1 year montage. I made hot dogs and "crabby patties" for dinner and the kids ate every bit of it. Then bathtime and now they're in bed ... talking to each other. Hey, as long as their not getting out of bed and causing trouble, they can talk till they fall asleep, doesn't bother me!

Well, I figured I would do as promised and update more frequently. Now it's time for a shower then playing cards and watching a movie with the hubs. Good night if you ask me. Till next time :)

Well Hello, 2011

2011-01-05T00:53:00.001-05:00

My goodness, it has been a long time huh? Sorry about the long hiatus, things got very busy with having Christmas at my house!

First off, Happy New Year!! 2010 was a bitter sweet year for us, We had to leave our home in NC, but had a beautiful baby boy soon after, then we struggled for a bit and now we're in our own beautiful home and it's 2011 and I feel that it is going to be a good year!

As you can see, I've changed the layout, it's January which means it is Logan's birth month so the blog layout will be dedicated to him. When it's May and June the blog layout will be dedicated to Braeden and Jackie! I forgot how fun it was to design a website, I was a bit rusty on it but once I got all the right codes it was a snap to put it all together.

I guess we'll start with Christmas. Christmas was a very big event, my house and myself are still recovering from it! I guess I underestimated how crazy hosting Christmas can be! I am very thankful for my sister and her boyfriend for coming early and taking me around to get everything done, Christmas would not have happened without their help! Me and my sister got all my Christmas shopping done the day before Christmas Eve. . .while her boyfriend watched all three kids, which was amazing of him to do! We tried to head out during nap time, but my smart ass kids knew that mommy wasn't home so nap time was not mandatory. Sneaky kids, poor Will. But, I had to say that Will handled all three kids very well, even though every-time he called we could tell the kids were climbing all over him. Since we knew that there was a huge likelihood of Will ending up tied up and roasted by the kids, we tried our best to get our shopping done fast. We first hit up CVS to get some cheap little toys for the boys ... turns out CVS toys are more expensive than you would think! I got them a whole bunch of art supplies [crayons, markers, paints, paint brushes, drawing pads], an awesome roaring, moving dinosaur [that the kids love] and some other stuff. We then headed over to Kmart, where we got the rest of the kids gifts along with all my secret Santa gifts, thank god for Kmart because they have EVERYTHING. We then headed over to a Toys R Us Express [which is scary place] to get Brae's "Santa" gift, a Cho-Cho-Train [apparently it is not easy to find a non-Thomas-The-Train train set] We ended up finding a really cute one and then headed over to Payless Shoes to get Jackie's Spiderman Shoes; which he asked Santa for since Braeden got Spiderman shoes. Love how he already wants to be like his brother. We then headed over to Family Dollar to get stocking stuffers, then picked up pizza and headed home. I think we did it pretty fast and it was very nice to shop without three little ones in tow, I could not imagine doing all that shopping with them, pretty sure we would have stopped after CVS. My mother came over later that night and we wrapped all the presents and planned out the menu and grocery shopping for the next day.

On Christmas Eve we spent the day with my mother-in-law, we went out to brunch and then went back to her house where she spoiled the kids with amazing gifts! She always goes all out for Christmas and it's always Disney stuff, which I love [and they love]! She even got Brendan and I a bunch of stuff for the home, including new pots and pans and a beautiful clock! While we were having Christmas with my mother-in-law, my family was back at my house getting it all ready, and doing all the grocery shopping, which I am so grateful for and I feel so bad that I was not there to help them out. They did an amazing job making my house all Christmas-y, my sister brought over all her Christmas decorations and my Grandma brought over a bunch of painting and miscellaneous stuff to make our house feel a little more welcoming, since our walls are still pretty bare. My mother also brought over all her Christmas plates and serving dishes. Once we got home I put the kids immediately into a bath and set up our traditional Christmas PJ's and ornaments on their beds. Braeden got a Charlie Brown ornament [he love Charlie Brown Christmas], Jackie got a Scooby-Doo ornament and Logan got a Baby's 1st Christmas ornament with a picture of him in it. Super cute.

Once they hung their ornaments and set out Santa's cookies and milk I put them into bed, they were so excited for Santa coming, it was adorable. I am surprised that Jackie [who is 2 1/2] fully understands Santa and Christmas, but I guess that's because he has an older brother. I then dyed my hair brown [I had to get rid of the horrible faded red color] while wrapping the rest of the gifts, set them all up under the tree and then we all headed to bed.

Christmas morning was great, the kids woke up at about 7am and were very excited to see their presents... actually I think Braeden was more excited to see if Santa ate his cookies then seeing the presents! I think they had a very nice Christmas, got new Buzz and Woody dolls from my father along with some tinker toys that they absolutely love to pay with!

Braeden loved his train and Jackie was so excited about his shoes, but I think Jackie's favorite gift was a huge plush Bolt doll, he is still carrying it around everywhere. We also bought the boys a Kinect for the Xbox, along with Kinectimals, Sonic and the Adventure game that came with it. It was Logans 1st Christmas and I think Logan enjoyed it, even though he had no idea what was going on. He loved the little toys and glowing bear that we bought him. I think next year's Christmas morning is going to really fun, all the kids will be fully aware of Christmas, it should be very exciting.

Once Christmas morning was over, it was time to get started, everyone was due to come over at three, so we had to make sure everything was done, on time. I honestly can not remember how it all came together, all I know is that it got stressful for a bit, the ham got into the oven when it was supposed to, the potatoes cooked when they were supposed, Will made a delicious dessert and Erin and I set up the living room with all the hor devours beautifully.

It was not easy keeping the kids from eating all of them before the company came though, especially Logan, he was ready to eat, and no one was stopping him! Once everything was cooking and on track, I got myself and the kids dressed, thankfully, Anne gave the kids adorable dress shirts that were perfect for Christmas.

Once everyone started to arrive, things calmed down a bit and all we really had to worry about was serving drink and make sure the ham was warm enough. Everyone loved the house and kept saying how wonderful and beautiful it was. I was extremely proud to show it off, I just feel that Brendan and I have finally done something right, we finally got our own place and it's gorgeous. I am very proud of this house. Which I am sure I've already said in previous posts. Thank goodness for our outside deck . . . we just kept putting all the drinks out there to keep them cold and we also put all the dirty dishes outside on the bench around the deck, very useful when trying to keep the kitchen from looking like a train wreck! Everyone sat down to a lovely dinner, the kids sat a their small table and ate wonderfully. After dinner it was time to open gifts, the kids got some great clothes and toys and we got a beautiful framed family portrait from my Aunt.

Brendan gave me a beautiful diamond bracelet and a pin with the children's birthstones on it, so beautiful and sweet of him. We usually do not exchange gifts for Christmas, or at least we haven't since the kids have been born, so it was very sweet of him to get me such beautiful jewelry. I'll just have to get him something extra special for his birthday :)

After gifts was dessert and then everyone just hung out and talked, all in all, after all the stress, I think it turned out pretty nice. That is until I saw how many dirty dishes there were! We knew it was supposed to snow pretty good the next day so we had to bring in all the dishes from the porch and holy crap I've never seen so many dirty dishes before .... and for some reason I volunteered to wash them all! Well, actually I would much rather wash dishes then cut up the rest of that ham, yuck. Erin put on her Ke$ha playlist [let me just say that I hate Ke$ha, she's freakin nasty but her songs are pretty damn catchy] and I washed all my mothers and grandmothers dishes and silverware, Erin and Will cleaned up the house and Brendan put away food and cut up the ham. Took us about three hours, but we got everything all cleaned up from Christmas before we went to bed! Which was awesome, I strongly dislike waking up to a huge mess in the kitchen.

The next day, we got that snow storm and we all got snowed in together, Brendan, Erin, Will, My mom, Three kids, and Myself, Wowza. It was a pretty serious storm too, the wind was blowing like crazy and it came down so fast! Braeden loves the snow and kept asking to go out in it but it was far too cold and too crazy to go out in, so we had to wait till the next day. We just hung out, played the Kinect with the kids, the kids played with all their new toys, I cleaned a bit, nothing too exciting.

By the way, if you have an Xbox 360, I highly recommend that Kinect, it is amazing. The Kinectimals game is so freaking cute and the kids love it. They are the owner of the animal and they make it perform tricks by doing things with their body and it's really an adorable game. Highly recommended for children...and adults. Those damn animals are so cute! The adventure game it comes with is pretty kick ass too, adults and kids can play it...together. Awesome. The dance game is also pretty awesome, I have not played it and probably wont [because I have no rhythm] but Brendan and Billy played it for like three hours the other night [freaks] and it's a great game. Sonic is actually a bit hard, but once you get used it, it's pretty fun.

The next day, Braeden got his wish and we went outside to play in the snow. I love playing in the snow with the kids, but I hate, no loath getting them ready for the snow. It takes probably about an hour, hour and a half to get all three of them all bundled up, shirt, pants, socks, snow pants, snow boots, snow jacket, gloves, scarf and hat. By the end I am so frustrated I don't even want to take them outside! But their so worked up it's great to just throw them in the snow and have them burn off that energy. It was Logans first time in the snow and he really did not mind it at all, he kinda just sat there, looking around. Braeden is like a puppy and runs around the whole yard, doesn't mind snow at all.

Jack on the other hand . . . he likes snow but he has to be in the mood for it. That day, he was NOT in the mood, he would just sit in the snow, and cry, I would get him to start playing a bit, but then he'd like fall over and it was just done. Jack and Logan went in after like 15 minutes [after all that work!] but Brendan, Brae and myself stayed out for a bit longer and had a bunch of fun.

Now that Christmas is over, I realized that I had to start getting Logan's birthday party planned and get the invitations out. I took his One Year Cupcake Smash Pictures right before Christmas [thank god because I would have never gotten them done]. I am so proud of how they came out, I am not a photographer and I would never claim to be, but I think these pictures came out really beautiful and almost as good as a professional. He was so good when I took them too. I just sat him on the table, gave him the cupcake and just shot away, took like 20 minutes. I don't think it has ever been that easy to do a "photoshoot" with any of my kids. Anyhow, I made his invitations last week and sent them out on Sunday, I think they came out super cute. I got them printed up through shutterfly and picked them up at Target, they look amazing!

I am also almost done with Logan's One Year Video Montage, which I am also super proud of. I think it's come out so nice, I love all the music from it and I just feel it really captures Logan. It's about 27 minutes long I believe, which is kinda long, but hey, I think the guests at the party will enjoy it while they eat cake. I think I forget how much I enjoy designing things and being creative on the computer. I think I am pretty good at it and it's fun for me. Everyone tells me I should make money from it, but I have no idea how to go about that. I could make invitations and 1 year montages for money . . . I don't know anyone who would want those services though. Hmm. We'll see I guess.

New years kind of snuck up on us, I think just because the house was still upside down from Christmas and we were all so tired and busy that we kind of forgot about it? We didn't do much, just got Chinese, played Kinect with the kids, and then watched the ball drop. The kids were so excited about the ball dropping, and then we got an impromptu firework show right outside our living room window! The kids went nuts! We also called everyone and as soon as they picked up, I made the boys say "Happy New Year" in their adorable little voices. It was nice, simple, but nice. Since it's the new year I decided to start the 365 project [4 days late shhh]. So you can follow that Here. Should be interesting. I wonder if I can remember to keep up with it?

Braeden just went back to school on Monday, that was a long break. It's hard adjusting to having all three kids, all day long, when Braeden has been in school everyday for so long. I kept them busy with all the arts and crafts we bought, playdoh, crayons, markers, paint, they love it and we have the space to do it now. We also watched a lot of TV, yea I said it, I let my kids watch a lot of TV. Call CPS, I am melting my children's brains! It keeps them quiet and for the most part, from fighting. I think we are both glad he's back in school, I think he was getting cabin fever being home all day. Even if we did go in the snow a bunch.

Alright, this is the longest blog ever. Kudos to you if you're actually still reading this. I promise to update this more often, with shorter entries! I am going to leave you with a yummy recipe that I made last night that even Braeden ate! [Braeden is a super picky eater . . . I also told him it was chicken] Leave some love, let me know what you think of the new layout! :)

Parmesan Breaded Tilapia

6 Tilapia Fillets
1/2 C Italian Breadcrumbs
1/2 C Parmesan Cheese
3 Tbsp. Lemon Juice
1 Tsp. Garlic Powder
Cooking Spray

Preheat oven 425. Make sure Tilapia is thawed. Combine breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese and garlic powder. On a different plate, pour lemon juice. Place tilapia in lemon juice, dredge in breadcrumb mixture. Place in 13x9 baking dish that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Drizzle a little bit of remaining lemon juice over fillets. Cook for 20-30 minutes until the tilapia flakes with a fork. I also put on the broiler for a couple minutes to make them a little crispier.

Till next time :)

Apple Puff Pancakes.

2010-12-19T15:29:00.001-05:00

Sorry it has been so long since I've update, things have just been pretty busy, ya know, planning a whole Christmas party ... for my whole family... no big deal. I also don't have too much to write about, even though things have been busy, there's nothing really blog worthy.

We did have our first snow though! The kids were so excited to wake up to snow! I told them that it snowed and they both gasped and darted to the back door...tried to open it too. Even though it was freezing out, I agreed to take them out once they were done with breakfast. Since they're at the age where I can't lie to them anymore (dammit), I had to stick to my word. I put Logan down for his nap and got them all bundled up, there wasn't too much snow so I didn't have to worry about getting them fully snowed-armored up, ya know A Christmas Story style (Can't wait for THAT!) Braeden has always loved snow but Jackie ... Jackie HATED it last year, but this time they both seemed to fully enjoy it. After about a half hour we came inside and had some hot chocolate...which the boys think they like but they never seem to fully drink it. I think they just like it because it has the world "chocolate" in it. I also discovered how beautiful our pond is when it's frozen. I told the boys to never ever go near the pond even when it's frozen and Braeden says "Yes, we never go near the pond because if we fall in we turn blue and get icicles all over us" ... watching cartoons much? Love listening to the things that he comes up with, it's so cute.

Logan's first time in the snow should be very interesting too, I can see him liking it...I actually see him just face planting in the snow and eating it...the entire time.

So Christmas is next week! Yikes. That's a scary sentence; we haven't even begun Christmas shopping either! I think we're going to go on Monday or Tuesday night, it's hard working around Brendan's crazy work schedule. We've also decided that the boys will not be getting mounds of toys this year. We told everyone in the family to get them things they need, like snow pants and jackets [which my mother already did, early Christmas present!] and if they wanted to, get them only one toy. Their toy chest is just overfilled with toys and that's after I got rid of over half of their toys too! Spoiled little boys (or overly loved, however you want to look at it.) Of course we're not going to just let them unwrap socks on Christmas morning, we're getting Jackie a pair of spider-man shoes and Braeden some kind of train set. Then we're going to go to CVS or Family Dollar and get a bunch of really cheap toys that they'll love. I just don't see the point of spending $200 on toys that they really don't care about, they're still young enough that we can do this and they don't know the wiser, they still love the toys just as much. I also know that my mother in law got them a whole bunch of toys, probably Disney, she loves to spoil them at Christmas and always gets them the nicest Disney stuff! So at the end of the day, I know the boys will have a great Christmas without a huge price tag :)

Had a girls night on Friday, we all thought "Oh hey let's get together and watch Dinner for Schmucks, it will be hilarious, it's Steve Carell and Paul Rudd" right? No, it was so awkward and uncomfortable to watch, it was just too weird. There were some funny parts, but mostly it was just strange and way too long. Do not recommend. Other than that it was a good night, got some Wendy's and just talked for a little while. Mr. Logan refused to go to bed for a bit, I think he just wanted to flirt with the girls. He's so damn cute it's hard to be mad that he's awake though, you want to be like "just go to sleep" then you look at his sweet, always smiling face and you just can't help but want to hug him.

Last night before going to bed Brendan mentioned he wanted to do a big breakfast with the boys, he found a great recipe for Apple Puff Pancakes, at first I was like what the hell is that shit? After googling it more and finding a recipe with pictures and clearer instructions I agreed to make it. Well, kudos to my husband because it was freakin delicious and I completely recommend making it if you have a bunch of people to cook for...or you just want a delicious breakfast. I tweaked the recipe a bit though

(My version) Apple Puff Pancakes:

3 eggs
1 1/2 milk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 C. flour
3 tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. cinnamon
4 tbsp. butter
5 apples peeled, cored and sliced
1/2 c. brown sugar

Heat oven to 375. Place 13x9 pan with butter in the preheated over until all butter in melted, place the sliced apples over the butter and cook for 10 minutes. While the apples are cooking, mix together the eggs, milk and vanilla using an electric mixer till it's foamy. Add flour, sugar, salt, and cinnamon, mix until blended. When apples are done, sprinkle 1/2 cup of brown sugar, 1/2 cup of cinnamon on top of the apples, pour the "pancake" mixture onto the apples. Bake for 40 minutes, until golden brown. You can add some confectioners sugar and maple syrup if you wish, but it's delicious even plain.

Today Brendan is (finally) putting on the lights on the house! I can not wait, it's going to be beautiful! I will be cooking the traditional Sunday sausage and peppers, yummm. Love Sundays, very relaxing... especially when it's all clean. Oh, yea, that reminds me ... learned a valuable lesson, don't slack on daily cleaning. This may only apply to me because I can't stand having my house messy, but yesterday morning I was like "Eh, I don't think I'll do my daily cleaning routine today, don't feel like it" I stuck with it for the most part, cleaned some of the kitchen. After dinner though, I could not take it anymore and I HAD to clean the house! Bad idea. I did the dishes, cleaned the kitchen, washed the kitchen floor, cleaned up the living room and swept the dinning room and living room....cleaning the house at 8:00 at night is not fun and not a good idea, I would much rather do it during the day. I will never abandon my daily cleaning routine, unless I am super sick.

Alright, Since I do no have any schoolwork to do, I think I'll actually sit down and read a magazine! This is a big deal for me; I have two months worth of Cosmo magazines that I have not even opened yet. Yes. Super exciting. So till next time :)

P.S. Logan is 11 months old ... this makes me very sad.

(How did I do Mallory, better? lol)

No wonder an evil child-eating witch lives in a gingerbread house...

2010-12-13T18:11:00.001-05:00

Cause that shit is evil. I bought one thinking "Oh, this will be such a nice christmas activity for me and the boys." well wasn't that nice for me think, when in fact it was the worst idea...ever. Braeden stayed home from school the other day because he wasn't feeling very well so I though "Hey, this would be a great time to do the gingerbread house" When in fact, there is no good time to do a gingerbread house, because they are pure evil. Not knowing this, I put the boys down for a nap (bribing them with making the gingerbread house when they wake up) and decided that I'll get the base of the house put together and leave the decorating for the boys. I open the box and the peaks of the "peaked walls" are broken off..both walls. Oh, but the box assures me "Don't worry if anything breaks while putting the house together just use the frosting to glue it back together." So, I take the box's advice and start mixing that wonderful pasty frosting, I "glue" the peaks back onto the walls ....which did not work and looked very sad....but I was still hopeful...I begin glueing the walls together, this wasn't too bad, went pretty well...then came time for the roof. That shit is ridiculous, you expect me to put these two huge, heavy boards on top of these tiny walls that are being held together by... frosting? But I was still hopeful, after about 20 minutes I got them on and looking like a roof, so okay, I did it, great. I let it dry for about an hour...

The kids wake up, full of excitement, eager to decorate. Now, the decorating was going great and I was actually really surpised how great it was looking! We frosted the roof, did the crisscross design, put the candies on it, I made the "icicles" coming of the edges of the roof, it was great. Then we started on the walls, everything was going great...till the windows.
We were putting the little dotted candies around the windows when the roof started to break in half! Just freaking crumble!! Really!? I tried glueing it back together but that shit was not going back together, the other side started to slide off and break in half too...then the walls start to fall apart!! The kids start freaking out and crying, I am trying my best stay calm and not smash this shit into a billion pieces. I am using that horrible frosting paste to fix everything but the gingerbread house is basically giving me a middle finger. Once I counted to 20 and realized that this was the gingerbread house from satan, I just told the kids, "Okay! Time to eat!" I then took pleasure in breaking every single piece of that satan house into tiny bits. Wasted 5 hours of my life. F that shit.

At least the kid enjoyed eating the shit out of it.

Other than being traumatized by a stupid cookie house, It's been a great couple of days! On Saturday we finally went and got our Christmas tree! It was a bit of a challenge at Home Depot but after a bit and having to unwrap a few frozen trees, we found a really great tree! We also bought the boys their christmas stockings and a huge wreath for above our front door, which looks beautiful. Once we got home, Brendan set up the tree and headed to work and my sister came and took Braeden to my mothers church christmas play while I put the other boys down for naps, because we were seeing Santa when they got home! Once everyone was all rested up and they got home, I dressed them in their red matching glory and we headed out the mall! We ate first, always good to keep the kids tummies full, less chance of whining to occur.

Then it was time, Santa time! We were walking past santa to get on the rather long line, as soon as we passed Santa Jackies goes "Santa! Hi Santa!" and Santa waved to him, good start, good sign that things are going to be okay once we get up to him. We waiting for about a half hour I think, the kids were pretty good, I kept letting Logan walk around and the older boys were busy playing with Erin and Will. Once we started getting to the front of line, i started panicking a bit, wondering if the kids were going to freak out and scream and cry....but once we got up there, Jack ran straight up to Santa and gave him a huge hug screaming "Santa! Oh Santa!", probably the cutest thing I have ever seen. All the boys were so excited to see Santa, not one of them had a melt down! I was so shocked. They all sat on his lap and talked, smiled and took a great picture! Afterwards they kept talking to him, they just loved Santa! But...apparently...while I was approving their picture Santa started to talk to my sister and apparently told her that... he had a heart attack the previous day but was at the mall despite that ... because he loves children. Wow. Really Santa, you should probably be at home resting.... mall Santas are dedicated though. We then let them go play in the indoor play area for a bit then headed home. It was a really nice day with the boys and my sister and Will.

Sunday was Eddie's (Braeden's best friend) birthday party and Plaster Funcraft! It was really cute, the boys got to pick out any character they wanted to paint, Braeden
We then went into that back room where there was a little disco party going on, strobe lights and all, it was cute, all the kids were going nuts dancing and Logan enjoyed walking around staring at everyone, it was adorable. The party host wanted to make me rip my eyes out, my god, her voice was so high pitched and so loud, it was just ... no...just don't do that, I understand this is kids party, but kids have ears too. Other than her though, it was a great party, pizza was delish, how can pizza not be delish though...well, unless you don't live in New York, then your pizza sucks..sad but true. The cake was awesome and then they did a bunch of little activities with the kids. Really cute party and I'll probably do it for one of Logans party once he's old enough, since he's a winter birthday too.

We then got home and had a relaxing Sunday, Brendan watched football, I cooked some yummy meatloaf (which I told the kids was steak and they ate it all up) and then we decorated the tree with the kids! It was a little nerve racking but the kids loved it and did pretty good, they of course don't understand to not crowd the ornaments or anything like that, but I would secretly relocate those ornaments and they didn't even notice.
I am glad they are both so excited for Christmas this year, even though Jackie is only 2 1/2 I feel that he understands it more because of his older brother. I can't wait till their like 6 and 8, then Christmas will really be exciting...probably more expensive but it'll be so fun to really have them fully understand and enjoy everything! I can not wait for Brendan to decorate the outside of the house, this is our first time in our own house for christmas so we're both pretty excited about making it a beautiful christmas. We have the wreath up and candy canes lining the driveway but he still has to put up icicles and wrap the trees in lights, it's going to be beautiful. I really must start christmas shopping though...ugh christmas shopping...see, If i had a lot of money, i would love christmas shopping, but the stress of not having a lot of money and wanting to buy really great things for people kinda makes it tedious. Hopefully, I can get it all done next week...last minute christmas shopping makes it even worse. We're not going to buy the boys too much stuff, we know they're getting stuff from the rest of the family so we're going to get them one big present and like 2-3 little presents each. They're still young enough so that we can give them just a few little things and they still think it's the greatest thing ever. Next year will be vastly different I think though...but I think our finances will be vastly different too.

6:00 time to start cooking some dinner for my gremlins, so till next time :)

Ohhh yeaaahhhh

2010-12-09T18:57:00.003-05:00

Wooo! Just reached 1,000 views. Nice! That is all.

It's Christmas Time!

2010-12-09T11:29:00.002-05:00

Well It's Christmas season and I got some pretty awesome news, I am hosting Christmas this year for my WHOLE family!!! Wowza! I pretty excited for this challenge, pretty confident I can do it too! I am also pretty excited for everyone to see our house, I wish it were painted and a tad more finished but it's still a great house :) There should be about 18 people attending and I've already thought up my menu, now this is just a rough draft but so far I think it's going to be amazing and I can do it easily.

- Honey Glazed Ham
- Caesar Salad in a pastry shell
- Mashed Potatoes
- Glazed Carrots
- Green Bean Casserole
- Stuffing
- Eggnog
- Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

Then of course some cheese and crackers, celery/carrots and dip platter and shrimp for hor d'oeuvres. My husband thinks I should also make some candied yams, but I feel thats just way too much potatoes going on. What do you think? Anything I should add? What are the staples of your christmas dinner? I love cooking and I am so pumped about this, I think it's going to great. I will of course blog all the recipes and pictures of my amazing Christmas cooking! So look out for that!

We've gotten most of our lights and we're getting a tree this weekend, which I am also super pumped about, this is our first christmas in our very own place! We have been on a non-stop Christmas movie binge, the kids love all the old classic Christmas movies and are currently glued to the TV watching Polar Express, which is a great movie and the animation is absolutely amazing. I love this season.

The boys also got video messages from Santa the other day, thanks to Portablenorthpole.tv. There were so excited to see their pictures and hear Santa say their names! Jackie must have watched his about 50x. Braeden's Message and Jackie's Message. I suggest everyone who has a child old enough to understand the message to do it, it's a great thing for the kids!

My next mission? (besides throwing an awesome Christmas) Christmas cards and Logan's 1 year invitations! I always use Shutterfly for my cards, they're quality is so much better than ordering from like CVS or something, which by the way, I once ordered from CVS and the picture was almost negative, horrible. Anyhow Shutterfly has some adorable Christmas cards that I am totally in love with and I am so excited about their promotion for 50 Free Christmas Cards for Bloggers! I just entered and would be so excited if I actually got it!! I am thinking I'll use the family portrait as the card or if I can get all three boys to sit on Santa's lap, I'll use that. I feel there is a good possibility that all three will....Brae and Jack seem to LOVE Santa and get excited just seeing him on TV....and I think Logan will .. He's pretty calm and friendly. Plus I learned a great tip from the very first Santa I put Braeden on, Back the baby into Santa so he does not realize he's actually sitting with him. Awesome advice Mr. Santa. Smith haven Santa is where it's at.

I am super excited about taking Logan's 1 year pictures, I have some pretty awesome ideas that I think are going to come out amazing. I am going to try and take them by next week. Of course, it will be a cake smash shoot, but I have a great location to do it also! I am also trying to figure out a theme for his party... I was thinking either a baby dinosaur or baby giraffe theme...I am not doing a stupid boy sports theme because I have his whole life to do that! I can only do a baby theme once, when he doesn't care or realize it! Which do you think? I love the giraffe, SO cute!! Although I am super excited about Logan's 1 year birthday party and doing his pictures....that means he's going to be a ONE YEAR OLD! What!? Wasn't he just born?

I don't know why I forgot to put this in my previous blogs but Braeden had to go to the dentist last week, to fix an infected cavity and he did so so good! I am so proud of him! I really thought he would freak out and scream and not sit still. But from what I hear from my husband, he was so good, let the dentist do what he needed to do, never fussed or screamed! I am so so proud! I really think it's because of "The Tooth Book" by Dr. Seuss, we've read that 10000x and at the end it says to never bite your dentist, think that stuck with him! Look at what a big boy he is! Super proud! We gotta take Jackie in too, I don't want him to get cavities like Braeden, now that we have a dental plan with this place there's no reason to not bring Jackie in. I think he'll do good too. I should also take them both to the eye doctor, they have never been to one and I wear glasses along with many other people in my family, so it's a good probability that they might need glasses too.

Tuesday night I had Mallory and DeAnna over [Willi was unfortunately sick] to watch Easy A and Glee...and eat massive amounts of pizza. Yum. The movie was a really cute movie, pretty funny too, fully enjoyed it, the pizza was awesome and as usual the time with my girls was great. Girls nights .. even if they are low key and in my house ... are essential for me not going crazy. Willi and I have been doing Tuesday night girls night for awhile now, so we can watch One Tree Hill, Glee and 16 and Pregnant together, quality television that is fully enjoyed by us.

Well hopefully my next blog will include Christmas lights and Christmas tree pictures along with some new recipes! I am making Chicken Francese tonight, so look out for that yummy recipe! As you can hear I've also added a music player, currently obsessed with this song, probably because it reminds me of a naked Jake Gyllenhaal....and it's a really good song. Enjoy. Till next time :)

Bathtime and Playdates

2010-12-06T17:10:00.002-05:00

Bathtime. Something so simple and everyday, you don't really think about it. But I was watching my three boys take a bath together and I thought "I've only got a couple more years of this" soon Braeden will be old enough to take a shower by himself and then Jackie and then Logan and then no more silly bathtimes. Children grow up too fast. It is a good thing that I've taken numerous [embarrassing] bathtime pictures to look back on....and show their girlfriends. I really enjoy watching Logan take a bath without his baby seat anymore, of course I never leave the side of the bath tub since he's such a baby still, but he really holds his own. He'll just sit in there and look around, moving his tiny finger through the water, trying to grab a toy, observing his brothers...recently he has gotten bolder and will walk around the side or crawl to get a toy, which makes me nervous a bit, but the water is always low enough and my hand is usually right behind him...he's such a big boy for 10 months old though. I hope the next baby I have ...in 5 years .. is a smaller baby, one that stays a baby for a long time . . . especially since it will more than likely be my last baby. That freaks me out to think about for some reason. Thinking about not having anymore babies, ever, freaks me out. Hence, why I will never get my tubes tied, seems way too final and permanent.

Anyhow, this week and weekend have been rather eventful. During the day on Friday we had our first play-date in the new house! We had a great play-date with Kristin and her two little boys Christopher and Tyler, who are around the same age as Jackie and Logan. Jack was so happy to have someone in the house to play with and I think Logan liked it too, I think he liked seeing someone who was almost the same size as him. Jack kept calling Christopher, Kristin for some reason and we could not get him to stop haha I guess they sound so similar he could not decipher between them. Unfortunately, Braeden had to go to school so he missed out on the play-date, but hopefully we'll have them over again soon and there can be FIVE little boys running around my house! My husband and Billy brought home some crumb pizza from Hummel and Hummel along with some other yummy cookies and I got my first takes of crumb pizza! I had no idea it existed and apparently I am the only one on Long Island, oops? I really enjoyed our first play-date in the new house, so nice to have the space to do so :) When they left Jackie and Logan took a late nap and I cleaned up.

Later that night, I had my grandmother over for dinner, which I love to do. She loves the boys so much and they go so excited to see her, I am so glad that my boys will know their great grandma, I feel that that is a rare thing. I made Italian Pork Chops, home-made mashed potatoes and mixed veggies and she always brings some kind of dessert for the boys too, cookies or cake, it's always a nice dinner. Once Logan was finished putting potatoes in his hair, Braeden had proudly finished his whole plate and Jack had dunked his last piece of pork chop into the mashed potatoes it was bath and bedtime. Then we watched What Would You Do and 20/20, love watching those shows, always so interesting. I am very into real life shows and documentary type things. I try and have her over for dinner at least once a week, she loves seeing the boys and I love having the company.

Italian Pork Chops:

4-6 pork chops
1 egg lightly beaten
3 tbsp. milk
1 1/2 c. Italian seasoned bread crumbs
1/2 c. grated parmesan cheese
1 c. flour
Oil

Preheat over to 325 degrees. In a small bowl mix together eggs and milk. In another small bowl mix together breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese, place flour in another small bowl.

Start to heat olive oil in oven-proof skillet(s) over medium heat. Place each pork chop into the flour, press flour into pork chops, next place each pork chop in the egg mixture and then the breadcrumb mixture, make sure they are coated evenly. Place coated pork chops into the skillet(s) and brown on each side, usually about 5 minutes.

Place the skillet(s) with pork chop still in them into the oven (make sure your skillet is oven-proof, most are up to about 350 degrees) Cook for 20 minutes.

Take pork chops out of the oven and place on paper toweling or brown paper bag to get rid of any excess oils.

Saturday was pretty peaceful, besides Jackie being a little sick, he had a fever in the morning but seemed to go away by the late afternoon. Brendan only had one job so he stayed home most of the day and we just relaxed. Then once Brendan left the boys went crazy! They started fighting and just going nuts, mostly because Jackie did not nap and when he doesn't nap, by like 5:00 he's really cranky, so he kept picking fights with Braeden and causing trouble. By 6:00 he was dead asleep on the couch...I let him sleep for an hour, while I made dinner then woke up him for dinner and then a quick bath and bed. Brendan came home soon after and we had dinner together and played Yahtzee while watching DVR episodes of Conan. We went to bed at like 1:00am I think, I passed out cause I was exhausted but Brendan woke up to go to the bathroom at like 3:00am, and the bathroom is right across the hall from Logans room, So my husband is sitting in the bathroom and notices that Logans light is going on and off in his room. He comes bursting into our room and is like "Babe! Get up, look at this!" and he brings me into Logans room and his dimmer is going from its brightest setting and dimming down to the lowest and turning off and cycling over and over again. It was so strange. The remote would not stop it or turn it off either. Of course we were rather freaked out, we ended up unscrewing the light bulbs and leaving his and our door open so we could hear if anything happened during the rest of the night. We called our landlord in the morning to tell him what happened and if he knew what was going on. Long story short, a couple weeks ago, the landlord had replaced the old remote in Logans room with a new one and told me to save the old one. So I put it into our junk drawer and forgot about it. Well turns out the thing has some serious range, it was being pressed by something in the junk drawer (that is all the way in the kitchen) and making Logan's light cycle ... that is a GOOD distance, I can't believe that the remote works from inside a drawer and almost all the way across the house! I am thankful that is all it was though and it was nothing freaky or anything that needed to be fixed electrically.

Sunday I escaped the drool factory and got to the Tanger outlets with Willi and Mallory, much needed break, even if it was for only a couple hours. I didn't shop just browsed around and watched them buy christmas gifts, it was torture haha I wanted to buy so many things but since we just paid our rent, utilities and went food shopping I knew I had to wait on the splurging. It was still nice just to be out and not breaking up fights and changing diapers, it was freezing though! I also learned that there is an ice rink around the Christmas tree in the center of the outlet! I really want to bring the boys back to ice skate....and shop...shop a lot lol I then came home and the boys were still alive [phew] and cleaned up then it was time for football sunday to start! Bunch of guys and Tina came over, was very nice to have a girl here for once! Brendan make sausage and peppers [so yummy] and I made my first homemade chocolate chip cookies which came out pretty good! The boys love having company here, Braeden loves to be silly and show off and Jack makes everyone read to him and everyone always gushes over Logan, sweet boy. I ended the night doing school assignments, got them done pretty fast though, thankfully.

Today nothing really happened, I did some major cleaning since the place was trashed after last night. So the whole day has been spent cleaning and doing laundry, woo. lol

So I get about 60 hits an hour once I post a new blog ...but I have no comments and 6 followers, where is the love people?! I am feeling very unappreciated lol Ya'll need to show some love for my rambling and unhealthy recipes!! I'd also like to point out that it takes me about three hours to write a blog, yes, three hours, I have to stop about every five minutes to do something for the kids and then I get side tracked by playing with them or doing something else.

Brendan just got him so I guess I should go and make something for dinner, I'll update again soon, Till then :)

P.S. Who likes the new layout design?

Happy Windsday!

2010-12-01T23:04:00.003-05:00

I haven't seen this much rain and wind since I lived in North Carolina! We even lost power for a bit and our downstairs neighbors glass door blew open and shattered everywhere!! Craziness. But, I do have to say that the sound of rain on the skylight is extremely relaxing.

Anyhow, starting this blog has made me realize that I cook a lot more than I thought...because I have about three recipes to share with you. I'd also like to let everyone know that this is not an "eat healthy" blog, my recipes are not healthy ...and you should know that I am slightly addicted to cheese and breadcrumbs. So enjoy reading my unhealthy recipes haha

This morning I turned on my Pandora Christmas music playlist [with the relaxing sound of rain from the skylight] and made some yummy homemade pancakes! I haven't made them since we lived in North Carolina...and I have to say, they kick bisquick's butt. I got the recipe a while back... I believe it was from a blog too...I wish I could remember it so I could give credit but I have no idea.

Homemade Pancakes

1 1/2 c. Flour
3 1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
1 tbsp. Sugar
1 tsp. Salt
1 1/4 c. Milk
1 Egg
3 tbsp. butter (melted)
1/2 c. Mini Chocolate Chips (optional)

In a large bowl, mix together all dry ingredients, flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and chocolate chips (or blueberries, bananas, whatever you feel like.)

Make a hole in the middle, pour in milk, butter and egg.

Mix well, until smooth.

Pour 1/4 c. for each pancake onto a heated (350 degrees) lightly buttered griddle.

There ya go. Homemade pancakes! Yumm

After breakfast we had someone from a christmas lighting company come by and estimate how much it would be for them to put up christmas lights for us ... I knew it was going to be very expensive, which it was, so we're not going to take their services but at least they did all the measuring for us. I am sure we can go to Costco get all the lights and decorations we need and it won't even cost us a fraction of what they were charging.

After breakfast and a christmas movie, it was off to school for Braeden [before the weather got SUPER crazy.] So, I was sitting peacefully in the house, Jackie was watching Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer, Logan was sleeping and then I hear a quick, loud knock on my back sliding door....keep in mind there is storm happening outside...so I was like what the...I slowly go into the kitchen and then this huge man wearing all black ran across my deck! It was my freakin husband!!! The jerk apparently did not have to work today because of the weather and instead of calling me to tell me this, he decided he'd just sneak back home and give me a heart attack. He's going to get it, I am going to get him back!

The rest of the day was spent watching the storm and sitting with no electricity. Logan was fascinated watching the trees blow, he would sit at the back sliding door and stare at the rain and trees.

Then it was dinner time, the storm was over and I was not in the mood for cooking (gasp) So we decided to take the kids to McDonalds, our local McDonalds has a nice little indoor playground that the kids love. Brae and Jack ran around like crazy, I climbed through the tubes twice with Logan, which he loved. I would be crawling behind him and laugh in his ear and he would go hysterical and start crawling faster. He is so cute and so advanced for his age! To get into the tubes, you have to climb up three stairs and then into a big "bubble" tube and he did it all by himself!! All in all it was a nice day.....until bed time. All the bedrooms lights are controlled by remote, which are supposed to stay on the wall. Well, Jackie thought it would be fun to play with the remote and then hide it. So, everything was going well, getting them into bed, kiss goodnight. Go over to the wall . . . no remote. I ask Jackie but he's two so he replies "mickey". . . So i search the WHOLE house, every room, under every dresser, bed, table, everything. I empty out their HUGE toy chest, I look through their closet. I can not find this thing. I spent about a half hour looking for it. I look in the VCR attached to their TV . . . and there it is. Nice. At least now they are quiet and sleeping. Aaah nothing but the sound of the bathroom fan.

Last night was suppose to be a girls night, my girls were supposed to come over watch Glee and the movie Easy A, unfortunatly some were sick and others were too tired, so it was just Me, Willi, Starbucks and fried chicken. Yes. Fried chicken. We enjoyed our guilty pleasure, One Tree Hill, an amazing episode of Glee and 16 & Pregnant...we decided to save the movie for another time when all the girls could get together. It was a good night, I love getting together with my only close real-life mommy friend :) Oh, did I mention the fried chicken? It's super easy to make and delicious.

Baked "Fried" Chicken

1 lb. Chicken wings
Italian Breadcrumbs
Spice Classic's Chicken Seasoning Salt
Oil

Preheat over to 375. In a large ziplock bag, mix 1 part breadcrumbs and 2 parts chicken seasoning. Lighting brush oil onto chicken wings. Place chicken into ziplock and shake.

Place in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Bake for 45 minutes or until cooked throughly.

Shake and bake Ricky Bobby

Alllright, Now that I've sat and detoxed from the day by writing a blog, I must go do some schoolwork. Blah. I'll write again soon and include my recipe for Italian Pork Chops, Till then :)

Teenage Boys

2010-11-28T23:49:00.002-05:00

I was making the boys eggs this morning for breakfast, they were sitting at the table drinking some orange juice and then I hear them fighting over my old cell phone that I had given to Braeden..."No Jackie! Give me the phone!" "No Braeden, I want the phone!"...suddenly...I start realizing....holy crap....these boys are going to be teenagers one day. I immediately start having a panic attack, I don't know why, but the thought of my little boys becoming these big teenagers, fighting over a real phone or who gets to sit shotgun scared and greatly upset me. Soon those tiny finger and tiny feet are going to be big man feet...they wont really "need" mommy anymore, they'll be into girls and playing football...have facial hair?! Oy. I am sure most mothers of boys..especially mother with two or more boys come to this scary realization...just not sure if they actually have a panic attack about it. I've come to realize that you really have to take in everything when they are young, Braeden is already four and he seems like such a big man....even Jackie...I forget that he's two all the time! Children grow up too fast, way too fast.

Coming to this realization I decided that instead of spending all morning cleaning the house, I would have a "picnic" outside with the boys ... in 40 degree weather ... didn't matter to them though, they loved it and I loved just taking them in, how they talk to each other, how they hold their sandwiches, just the littlest things that we take for granted. I think everyone is so caught up in everything these days, most of the time, we don't stop and truly look at our children. Today I did and I am so proud of them, they are great little boys.

To prove my point even further, Braeden has started talking about his "girlfriend" Fatima. Yes. Like I said before, I had given Braeden my old cell phone, that no longer works, as a toy. He brought it into the living room the other day and I jokingly said to him "Who are you going to call, your girlfriend??" of course he laughed and said "yes!" so I asked him who is girlfriend was and he said, very seriously "Fatima!" haha I didn't even know there was a Fatima in his class, but apparently she has long brown hair and green eyes. Oh boy, he's four and is picking out the pretty girls in the class already, I am in trouble! lol I can not picture my boys old enough to have girlfriend, that is such a scary concept, I can't even go there, I 'll have another panic attack.

In other news, I did get them all to take naps today at the same time, I guess the picnic and running around outside wore them out (plus I used "Santa's watching you, you better take a nap!".) I spent this time cleaning and folding laundry, while watching Charlie St. Cloud (don't judge me!) It was a cute movie....I mostly enjoyed it because Zac Efron is extremely handsome. Speaking of enjoying a movie because the lead actor is incredibly good looking....I saw Love & Other Drugs with my friend Mallory last night....holy mother of cheesus. There was so much naked Jake Gyllenhaal. So much. It was glorious. Other than the 5000 nude scenes it was a really good movie and I highly recommend it.

Another thing I highly recommend. Herbal Essences Tousle Me Softly. Awesome. Maybe I am a little late on this, but this stuff is amazing. If you have slightly wavy hair, like myself, all you do is get out of the shower, towel dry your hair and spray this on your hair "scrunch" it up and tada! Nice, not sticky, not stiff, not frizzy wavy hair. Perfect or the busy (or lazy..like myself) mom or anyone really and it is cheeeap. I freaking love this stuff. Before I was a mom, I was super girly, I loved makeup and doing my hair in a million different styles...and then I had kids and I lost all my time and energy and my hair and makeup kind of went to the side. Of course, I still love makeup and doing my hair but it is definitely not an everyday thing. With this stuff, my hair can look nice and not be in a bun everyday!

I also bought new makeup the other day, isn't it the best feeling in the world to buy new makeup...or is that just me? I looove buying new makeup. There are a few staples that I must have in my makeup bag...at all times. I must have some concealer...like most moms, I resemble a raccoon without it. I am not really specific on the kind of concealer I buy, I mostly go on sales...This time around I bought Maybelline Super Stay Makeup, I really like it. Works very well and I don't have to reapply and it doesn't go into the creases under my eyes, big plus. I also need to have CoverGirl's CG Smoothers Tinted Moisturizer, I love this stuff. I am obviously a very pale person, but just a light swipe of this and I have natural, human color skin. Awesome. Lastly, bronzer. I love bronzer, also helps me look human and not like Casper. I love Physician Formula bronzers but they are pretty expensive, so this time around I bought N.Y.C Sun 2 Sun Bronzing Powder, one side is shimmery, other side is bronzer, I approve. For my lips, I love Lip Smackers in Pink Lemonade, yum...I've used this since I was probably 15. I am not a big fan of lipstick so more than likely that is what I put on my lips.

::Yawn:: That's all for tonight, I am going to go veg on some random TV...since the hubs is playing poker with his friends in our dining room. I'll be back soon, Till then :)

Hello Saturday Morning

2010-11-27T14:08:00.004-05:00

How cute are they? I did it, I made turkey cupcakes, I was extremely nervous about decorating them. Not going to lie, it was a bit hard, but they came out super cute and the kids loooved them. I made so many that I still have about 10 left over ... begging me to eat them. Evil turkeys.

Thanksgiving morning was really nice, I made the boys pancakes and then we watched the parade in bed with daddy. They would get so excited about the character floats that they knew, they would dance anytime music came on, and when the Buzz Lightyear float came by they started screaming! It was very peaceful and a great way to start the day.

Half way through the parade I decided I should probably get up and start decorating the cupcakes, so everybody moved from the bedroom to the living room. When Santa came on at the end of the parade Braeden went nuts, started screaming "MOMMY IT'S SANTA IT'S SANTA! MOM! MOM! IT'S SANTA!" so cute. Now that they have seen Santa I feel like the treat of me calling santa when they're bad, has become much more real for them. haha Then Jackie and Logan took naps, I cleaned and took a shower and got all pretty for thanksgiving.

When everyone woke up, we headed out to my aunts house, which is always very nice, wonderful dinner and company and the boys gobbled [pun intended] up all their food, even Logan, that little baby loves to eat our food. Logan also seemed to love my cousin Reid, he would come over to him and just lay on his stomach, falling asleep, it was so cute, I've never seen him do that with anyone but myself. The older boys of course loved seeing their Aunt Erin and Uncle Will, they just love them to pieces. My aunt, who is also a professional photographer, took some great pictures of our family of five...I think the first pictures of us all together! I can't wait to see them, she even said she would blow one up for me for our new home! My sister got some great shots too that I love! All together it really was a great thanksgiving. Our little family has so much to be thankful for, our health, our new home, food in our cabinets, heat in our house, so many little things that I think we all take for granted, until you don't have it.

We didn't leave my aunts house till a bit late and I was exhausted, as were the kids, I...being the bird brain that I am... completely forgot about going midnight shopping with my friend... I think the more kids you have, the more brain cells you lose. But I think paying for her popcorn and candy at the movie theater to see Burlesque should make up for it, right Willi? lol

It's a good thing I didn't go midnight shopping though because I woke up and realize the house was trashed, probably the messiest I've ever seen this house. So I spent all day cleaning, sweeping, washing floors and doing laundry...but I am not going to lie, I kind of enjoy cleaning this house. I don't know, I guess I am just so thankful for having this house that I feel "honored" to clean it haha I know that sounds silly, but I am just still so in shock that this great home is ours.

It was a great evening though because Brendan came home very early yesterday, which is very rare with his job. I made some yummy spaghetti [actually shells] and meatballs last night and we all sat down and had our first full family dinner in the new house. It was very nice, despite Braeden protesting against eating spaghetti, Logan and Jackie practically inhaled it. Logan ate four meatballs and a bunch of shells! This kid is a serious eater! By the way, I make the best and easiest meatballs ever, I can't remember where I go the recipe, but off the top of my head:

Parmesan Meatballs

lb. ground beef
1/3 c. Italian breadcrumbs
1/4 c. milk
1 c. grated parmesan cheese
1/2 c. mexican blend cheese
salt
pepper
onion powder

Preheat over to 350. Mix together breadcrumbs and milk, let sit for five minutes to set. Add beef, both cheeses, a shake of salt, pepper and onion powder. Mix all ingredients together well. Shape meat mixture into balls, place on ungreased cookie sheet or broiler pan [gets rid of the grease.] Cook for 20 minutes, add to warm sauce.

After a messy dinner it was bath and bed time, Logan took a bath with no bath seat and did great. Brendan and I spent the rest of the night playing Hand and Foot [card game] and watching Gamer, messed up movie, but pretty good.

Today I got to sleep in till 10am and we've all been just hanging out all day....considering ordering some pizza for lunch, really don't feel like cooking right now. Tonight I am going to Love & Other Drugs, can not wait, love to stare and Jake Gyllenhaal and I love Ann Hathaway as an actress...and movie theater popcorn, yes. Num. Well, that pizza...and cleaning is calling my name, I shall try to write more tomorrow and keep this blog up to date. Till then :)

Pot Roast and Chocolate Turkeys

2010-11-25T10:01:00.003-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving! While the kids watch Curious George and the Turkey Cupcakes are baking I decided I should say Hi. Yesterday was a big day for my housewife self, Not only did I make my first pot roast, I also cooked for my in-laws for the first time and it came out GREAT. I think you would have to TRY to mess up a crockpot recipe though, they're pretty foolproof, but I was still terrified that it wasn't seasoned right or not cooked all the way through....even though it had the little plastic button had popped out (indicating that it was indeed fully cooked through) I was still convinced that it was faulty and the pot roast was still rare inside.

Incase anyone is interested in the recipe, you can find it here Slow Cooker Savory Pot Roast, you will find that I use Campbell's Kitchen A LOT, their recipes are so easy and always delicious!

I also made "red lobster" biscuits, which I love to make!! SO yummy!

Cheddar Bay Biscuits

2 c. Bisquick
2/3 c. milk
1 c "mexican" mix cheese
1/2 c parmesan cheese
1/4 c butter
garlic powder
onion powder
parsley flakes

Preheat oven to 450. Mix together Bisquick, cheese, parmesan cheese, garlic powder, onion powder and parsley flakes (I don't measure these just put a few shakes in, not too much, just to give a little flavor.) Add milk and mix together till it forms a soft dough. Drop spoonfuls onto a lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake for about 10 minutes, until golden brown. Melt butter in microwave, add a couple shakes of garlic powder, onion powder, parmesan cheese and parsley flakes. Brush over warm biscuits, place back in oven for two minutes (just to "set" the butter so it's not dripping with butter, yuck.) This makes around 10 big biscuits.

We all had a great dinner, the kids even sat down and ate, while screaming for Uncle Ray to play with them, but none the less, they ate the pot roast. Everything was really nice. We ended the night with ice cream and sprinkles, of course. It was a very nice tiny "thanksgiving" meal with my in-laws. Next year, I'll make a turkey for them! THAT will be an adventure!

Today I am making Turkey Cupcakes for Thanksgiving at my aunts house! I've already got them baked and cooling, next is the scary part, the decorating, I think it will be rather easy and super cute! The kids are so excited about them! They have already contributed by taking all the cupcake liners and smashing them on the floor, so nice of them, the last bath of cupcakes now will be oddly shaped turkeys. I will of course post pictures of my finished product tomorrow.

They're also pretty excited about watching the parade, I told them Buzz Lightyear is in the parade (they have a Buzz Lightyear balloon...right?) and Santa, which Jackie seems especially excited about! We had plans to actually go to the parade with my mother in law, but with Logan being sick, I just did not feel it was a good idea.

The past two days poor Logan has been so sick. It started out with coughing and a runny nose, then turned into a 100.3 fever, then 100.8, then 101.8. Poor baby would just lay on my chest moaning, I felt so bad for him. The 1st day of him being sick ALL he did was lay on my chest or sleep in his crib, he hardly ate anything, it was so sad. Today he seems so much better, which I am very thankful for.

I am going to go cuddle on the couch with the boys and watch the parade! Everyone have a fun and happy thanksgiving!! Till then :)

Peacefulness

2010-11-22T14:43:00.005-05:00

Yes, the peacefulness of nap-time, the house is clean, Jack and Logan are sleeping and Braeden is at school. What better time to write my first blog? I used to write small blogs here and there when Myspace was still "the thing" but since Facebook, I really haven't done any blogging at all. So what do I write about? I suppose I should just write about what has been going on, daily thoughts, struggles, funny moments, little things.

Yesterday was Sunday, Football day, many of you know that my husband lives for football and that Sunday is the only day my hard working husband has off so naturally, I love Sundays. The past couple Sundays however have been quite chaotic with the move and what not, but yesterday it started to feel a little bit more like our regular Sundays. Brendan let me sleep in a bit...till 9:30...but I forgive him for waking me up since he went and got the Sunday bagel and donuts (a tradition on my side of the family that I would like to pass on to my children.) and of course my 711 coffee (that I may be slightly addicted to.) We had a nice breakfast together, rearranged our living room to accommodate the new furniture given to us by my mother in law. Unfortunately, then Brendan had to go to his fathers and then to his mothers to pick up more furniture.

By then it was pretty much nap time and I actually got Braeden to nap too (gasp) and naturally, the house was a mess so me and Logan cleaned the house..and by Logan I mean he followed me around chewing on my leg. I also tried watching Eat Pray Love, but sadly, like I had been warned by many people, the movie wasn't very good and I lost interest in it pretty quickly...I am however still interested in reading the book.....if I could ever sit down with a book without getting pounced on or the pages being ripped out.

Brendan finally got home around 6:00...or around there...Billy joined soon after and I made Tater Tot Casserole, so freakin' delicious. How do you make this delicious Tater Tot Casserole you ask? Well, I've made it many different ways: With BBQ sauce, with taco seasoning, with the traditional cream of chicken soup...but last night I used Cream of chicken soup and a McCormick Brown Gravy packet, sounds gross doesn't it? But it was amazing...not healthy...by any means...but amazing.

Tater Tot Casserole (last nights version):

lb. of ground beef
1 can of Cream of Chicken Soup
1 packet of McCormick Brown Gravy
3 cups of Tater Tots
1 cup of Cheddar cheese
1 cup of Mozzarella cheese
2 cups of frozen mixed vegetables
Water

Preheat over to 350. Brown ground beef. Drain. Place the beef back into the saucepan and add the cream of chicken soup and brown gravy, fill the empty can of cream of chicken with water and add to the mixture. Stir. Cook on high until bubbly. Put the beef mixture into a 12x8 shallow baking dish, add frozen vegetables. Add the cheddar and mozzarella cheese, and top with tater tots. Cook for about 30 minutes, until the tots are a golden brown. If you like the extra crispy (like most people do) turn on the broil setting and leave in for no longer that 5 minutes (since I have burned many things while underestimating the power of broil.)

Of course Brendan and Billy loved it, but the best was when Logan dominated a (very mashed) portion of it. Yea, at 10 months old, with 3 teeth, this kid LOVES to eat our food, I can hardly feed him baby food anymore because he wants to do it himself...at 10 months old! The older boys enjoyed chicken nuggets ... I was in no mood to enforce the "you eat what I make" rule last night.

Then we had a very nice night playing with the kids, reading them book, watching football, Jackie smacked Billy in the face with a water gun (awesome), and we ate huge bowls of Blue Bunny Double Strawberry Ice cream (which is the BEST strawberry ice cream, ever, no lie)... it was a great family night.

Then it came time for bath and betime which then led to ... my two school assignments. Lucky for me they were very easy and I was done with the pretty quick ... except Braeden .. who is the master at staying up past his bedtime .. kept coming out and thinking of every excuse ... but once I got him into bed, I was able to finish my assignments and then me and the hubs headed to bed.

As for today, nothing has really happened, it has been pretty peaceful. So, I think that's it for my first blog entry. I am sure I'll have more to say tomorrow. Till then :)