Opportunistic Chase

Hmm...look at this unattended pizza...

seems like I could take just a little bite....

Maybe just a little more to even it out a bit...

Oh, uh, hi Uncle Aron...you aren't gonna bust me, are you? I'll share.

This is why it takes me forever and a day to get somewhere in this town

The kids and I love to walk whenever we can--to the library, the post office, ice cream, whatever. However, it takes us FOR-EV-ER to get anywhere because every time we see a parking lot that has these things in it, this is what they want to do.

What's the best part about nice weather?

Walking to your local ice cream shop and getting some ice cream!

Daddy didn't walk with us but he sure seems to be reaping the rewards...

What's on tap for these two? Luke got a chocolate ice cream cone and Ella got a marshmallow sundae (I think she's the only person I've ever known to get this. It's vanilla ice cream with liquid marshmallow topping. She says she likes the contrast of white on white. What a goofball!)

The Hungry Man Dinner

Robin is the narrator. BTW, yes, it is my 2 children and Myles running around like crazy children in the background.

Recently (Easter), Chase decided it was high time that he joined the ranks of those who enjoy a good piece of the pie. Pizza pie that is. He just walked up to an unattended plate and the rest was history.

He's off the charts (like waaaaaaaaay off the charts) tall and average for weight. What a big boy! Seems like just yesterday I was screaming down 71 trying to get his mother to the hospital before she made a mess in my car. Ah, the memories.

Yea, Aron!

Aron's company, MSI Design was recently featured in Columbus Monthly. I couldn't get the article to print on here for some reason. If you would like to read it, give me an e-mail or leave a comment and I'll send it to you.

You know you love my dorky crafts, too

You got a little girl you need to entertain? Good, cause I've got just the craft for you.

Ingredients:

1 pair of flip flops (I purchased mine at Jo-Ann's. They were regular 1.99 and I had a 50% off coupon so they ended up being (duh) 99 cents).

At least one container of loose glitter (you could have more but one is the minimum. I got mine at Meijer's on clearance $1 for a set of 6--a steal!).

Elmer's glue

Hairspray

Newspaper

Spread the newspaper on a table, floor of your garage, wherever you feel like getting your craft groove on. Grab a flip flop and spread a thin layer of glue on the outside of the upper part. Sprinkle on your glitter (letting the newspaper catch the excess). Cover the glue completely with the glitter. Let dry for a day. Spray the glittered shoe with hairspray (Spray it like it's your job. Spray it like your life depends on it. Spray it like you need to empty the entire can on one shoe. That's how much you put on it).

Questions:

Isn't this messy? Yeah, that's what the newspaper's job is...catch the messy glitter.

Will the glitter stay on forever? Extremely unlikely. More than likely it will track itself slowly over your house leaving a trail of fairy dust behind your little Tinkerbell.

Will it make your girl happy to have designed her own shoes? Heck yeah.

I know you guys love my amateur-ish photoshop skillz

What do you mean?

WHAT?! You mean you don't hold hands and skip down the sidewalk with your brother? What kind of unloving freaks are you?

Quick tasty meal

Everyone always wants to know how I manage to cook every night (for the most part) and maintain my sanity. Recipes like this, my friends.

Ingredients:

2 cartons of chicken (or veggie) stock (32 oz each I believe)
1 package of Bertolli tortellini (you choose the flavor)
2-3 handfuls of fresh spinach (however much you want)
some shredded carrots (let's call it 1 cup)
1 diced onion

Saute your carrots and onion in a stock pot or similar soup cooking vessel with a teensy bit of olive oil (like a teaspoon or so). When they're soft, add your 2 cartons of stock and bring to a boil. Add tortellini and cook according to package directions. A couple minutes before serving, throw in your spinach and let it get wilted.

Serve with bread or a veggie wrap of some sort and you've got a meal in like 15 minutes.

Don't worry...it's not all applesauce at our house.

The Easter Bunny brought this to our house this year. It was tasty. ..or so I hear. No one offered me a bite : (

Who wants to be normal? Normal is boring.

Let's face it, folks. It's not always exciting to eat your fruits and veggies when you're 3 and 5 (I know, it's a shock to some of you). I try to invent fun (albeit, unconventional) methods of getting my kids to eat good-for-you foods.

Tonight's adventure was applesauce. They enjoy applesauce quite a bit but it's even tastier when you drink it with a straw!

As an aside

I'm disappointed that no one noticed the double meaning to the last post's title. "Boom Boom Pow" is the title of a Black-Eyed Peas song.

Seriously, Readers, you're losing your edge.

Boom Boom Pow

Somehow I made it 32 years without getting one of these then all the sudden: Perturbed Annie

Accepting Annie

I gots me a black eye courtesy of this guy.

I was tickling him and all the sudden he jerked his head back and whacked me in the eye. I actually saw stars. I don't think I've ever had that before...not even when I took a grounder to the forehead in the ye ol' softball days.

Marry me, Juliet

Congrats to our beloved, Katie-sitter! She's engaged! Her boyfriend...whoops, scratch that, fiance is cute as a button.

I'll stop now cause I'm getting a little misty...our baby's done growed up on us!

Into the woods

A couple weeks ago, we went over to Stevie and Lindy's house. The kids wanted to go for a walk on their property. They have some wooded area as well as a little pond. Stevie even made an appearance in a couple of the pix.

For those who don't know...

This is the proper way to pose for a picture...See the cheesy grin and the two thumbs up? It says "Come... take my picture... for I am ready to be a part of your fun-lovin' blog. I enjoy life and am willing to be adventurous. I like motorcycles and R rated movies about car thievery. I am both fast AND furious. I am Kevin."

This, however, is not. See the double chin and weird smile/snarl/whatever the heck that is? It says "I do not appreciate your attempts at blogging. I will thwart your attempts at putting me in the blog. I am your husband."

Thought you could get me to not put your pic in the blog, huh? Well, I have trumped you, my dear. TRUMPED YOU!

I think I might be nominated for Mother of the Year after this

The present in question.

Ella went to a birthday party last Saturday. It was one of her friends from pre-school, we'll call her Velma. Ella was very excited to be going to this party because she's one of her closest friends at pre-school. I took her to Meijer to pick out a gift a couple weeks ago. I don't really know Velma or her family so this makes picking out a gift pretty hard. So, I had Ella choose a basket and told her to fill it up with a bunch of girly stuff for Velma. You know, like glittery nail polishes, lip gloss, barrettes, etc. She had a BLAST going from aisle to aisle in the store putting things in there. She carried that basket full of goodies around the store like it was a trophy! We got to the check out and the cashier asked her questions about how she designed the basket and after scanning each thing, put everything back in its place (what a great cashier!). After we got home, we wrapped it in clear cellophane and ribbons. She could hardly wait 2 weeks to give it to her. (As a side note, if any of my readers ever need a gift for Ella, she would LOVE to get something like this.)

She went to pre-school after we bought the gift and told her other friend, Daphne, about the gift. Ella said that Daphne's eyes got really big when she told her about the gift and told Ella that her mom would NEVER let her do something like that. Ella said that her mom would. Daphne again said her mom would never even think about letting her do this.

As Ella told me about the exchange, I asked her if I was Velma's friend. She said no. I asked her if she was Velma's friend and she said yes. I told her that she was the best person to pick out Velma's gift because she is her friend and I am not. I then asked her what we've learned from this. Her response?

"MY MOM IS AWESOME!"

What to do....what to do....

I loves me some arts and crafts!
What do I paint on it? Auntie T, help!

What do you do when your Auntie T comes over to play? You craft that's what you do!

I bought a couple pots at my local Meijer's, some dirt, and a couple packets of seeds last week when I was at the store. Add a little paint to decorate the pots and magic happens. Well, at least I hope magic will happen given my prior poor performance in the plant world. I'll keep you posted.

This is what happens when you have an older sister

You get a faux-hawk (am I spelling that right?) made with a water-based shine wax and a kitty clip in your hair.***

Oh, and you love every minute of it...

***I may or may not have been encouraging every second of it. You can't prove anything.