Grandma & Gekko's - A Closer Look

A few things happened at my parents that were too much to put in yesterday's blog. So here is a blog- all on it's own- of those things. It's a tutorial, so hang on!

This chair has been through every kid - starting with Kaelyn. It's a right of passage, you could say.

Marley has to feel it out...lounge a little.


See how far she can push it. Did I mention that it was a rocking chair?

This song that my dad is singing in the background is what he sings to all the grand kids when they're babies because they all dance to it. It's another right if passage I guess. Unfortunately, it's all fun and games until...



Moving on...Gekko also has another talent. He imitates Donald Duck. Kids normally get a kick out of this one too. Logan especially. I got it on tape, so Logan could hear it whenever he wanted. I guess calling my dad would be simpler.



On the way home, everyone was tired...especially Marley. Every time she would start to whine, Kevin would do this. It's so cute to hear and really cuts back on the road rage.


So there you have it. A peek into my world when we travel to my parents. It's only an hour away, but always well worth the trip...and video!

By the way, check out my new gadget by "Kitchen Quote of the Day"

Namaste

Weekend Wonders

I can't decide on what to blog about tonight, so I'm just going to wing it.

We had a busy weekend. Saturday we went to my parent's house. We haven't seen them in a month, so it was a nice visit. We're going back this weekend for Marley's birthday and Labor Day, but still... We just hung out and played. Kaelyn, Rory, and I skipped out at naptime to go to Michael's for some last minute school supplies for Kaelyn. I had a giftcard from my birthday that my sister, Dita, gave me that I got to use. I got something for everyone. That night was me and Kaelyn's date night. We played bullsh** with Kevin. It's a card game. In Girlscout's it's called "Liar." Anyway, you each have a pile of cards and you start with the Ace of hearts face down and go around the table adding 2's then 3's and so on. Pretty soon, people start lying about what they're putting in the pile. It's up to the other players to call "BS!" or "Liar!" when they don't think someone has put down the card they said they did. If the person did lie, they have to pick up the whole pile. If they didn't, the person that called them a liar has to pick up the pile. Got it? So who's the best BSer you might ask? Well, it's ME of course! I won three hands. Kevin won two, and Kaelyn won one. That makes me feel good that she's not a good BSer yet. Give her time though, and I'm sure she'll surprise us all. :) It was a good day. Here's some pics from my parents...

Sunday, we went to church and to Nana and Papa's for dinner. It was too cold for the pool, so we brought Rory and Logan's bikes down to ride around the complex. It was a lot of fun. Kevin was running around pushing Logan on his bike and the handlebars broke. I think Logan might need a new bike for his birthday next year. Rory's ready for no training wheels, but we didn't have a helmet or pads for her (Gasp!), so we didn't take them off yet. She's ready though. She's a little speed racer. All in all it was a great weekend. Just what I needed before we start getting crazy with school again. Here's some stuff for your viewing pleasure.

"I can ride my bike with no handlebars...no handlebars...no handlebars..."
It's a song.

Our kids sing this song frequently. It's funny. It's actually called "Handlebars" by Flobots. Listen to the song sometime.

Catch ya manana.

Not Blogging

I'm not blogging tonight because I'm having problems the size of a fourteen year old. Feel my pain.

Auf Wiedersehen

Logan Ramblings

This post is coming to you at 830a in the morning. So far, my kids have gotten the spices out of the basket I was keeping them in until I put them away. Granted it's been three days, but still, they knew they weren't allowed to play with them. (I was feeding Marley) They took what they could and snuck them into their closet. They took their nesting cups and decided to try the cinnamon first. They were really quiet, so I asked what they were doing. Rory said, "nothing" and then screamed, "LOGAN! SHUT THE DOORS!" I went into their room and saw the closet doors closing. There was Logan with cinnamon covering his mouth and Rory washing the nesting cup he had drank it from out. They each got a timeout and had to separately, one by one, bring all the stuff back. Now, they are to be stuck to me like glue. Some people call this tomato staking. I think they would call it torture.

I decided to take them downstairs to play since I had some laundry to do. I was folding clothes on the couch and Logan's dump truck was sitting on the couch, so I had no where to put the folded laundry piles. I grabbed the truck and lifted it over my body to put on the floor. My hand wouldn't go all the way to the floor, it was a little distance from it, so I dropped the truck. Here's what happened after.

Logan: "Hey Mommy! Why you throw my truck?"
Me: "I didn't throw your truck, Logan. I was trying to get it off the couch and I couldn't reach the floor so I dropped it a little."
Logan: "Hey Mommy! Why you drop my truck?"
Me: "I didn't mean to drop your truck, Logan. I couldn't reach the floor. It wasn't a far distance to the ground, so I let go. It's fine. You can play with it now."
Logan: "You want me to throw something of yours?"
Me: "Logan, I'm sorry I DROPPED your truck. Now get over it."
Logan: "Fine Mommy. You want me to DROP this shopping cart?" (He throws the shopping cart)

The funny part is that when he was asking me if I wanted him to drop something, he said it in my tone...the mom tone...with the mom eyebrow raise.

1030am-
Logan has thrown our felt stick-ons all over the living room. (I was feeding Marley...are you starting to see a theme?) I told him to clean them all up. I went to the bathroom. He was playing instead of cleaning, so I scream, "Clean 'em up Logan!" He says, "Stop screaming at me." I say...still screaming, "I wouldn't have to scream if you would listen to me without screaming!" Then he poops. I guess that shows me. I follow him to his room to change him, and he has all his little people and animal miniatures spread all over the floor. He lays down on his changing pad, and I proceed to tell him that when I'm done, he's going to clean up every last animal and person on his floor. He says, "Yes, mommy." I say, "And you're going to do it without playing or goofing off." He says, "Yes, mommy." I say, "And you're going to make sure you get every last one of them without taking a break, so there will be no screaming." He says, "Who's screaming?" I say, "I am." He says,"Oh, yes, mommy."

He's just so darn cute that it makes it really hard to be mad at him. It's not just us either. Nana had to turn away from him to laugh yesterday because he was getting in trouble, and he was being so darn cute.

858pm-
We ended up going to the pool today at 1p. Logan skipped his nap, and I put Marley down at Nana and Papa's for her nap. Kevin ended up being able to skip out of work at noon since he worked from 3-5a. It was great being down at the pool with the kids. Kevin and I swam adult swim again. I dove into the pool with my glasses on and didn't even notice until Kevin said something. That was funny. Logan's jumping off the side of the pool again and trying to swim. Then we headed back to Nana and Papa's for dinner. It was a great day, and I'm just sorry Kaelyn had to miss out on all the fun because she decided to go back to school instead of home school. Can you tell I'm bitter? Me neither. Anyway, I have to go now because Kaelyn has to draw a person, and she wants to draw me. Yay. Because this blog is all about Logan, I'll leave you with a picture of him.
A boy and his dinosaurs. Cheerio.

Just Keep Swimming

Last week I let you all know that I jumped into the deep end of the pool for the first time in 15 years. Well today, I jumped off the diving board for the first time in probably 20 years. To top it off, it was also my first time ever swimming the adult swim. My niece, Nicole, watched Logan and Rory in the baby pool area while Kevin and I went in the pool. I jumped into the deep end again to start off. By the end of our time there, I was doing back dives off the side of the pool. It was fun. It's too bad this all happens at the end of summer with the pool closing soon. Hopefully we'll be able to get there a couple more times before it closes.

When I wasn't gallivanting like a woman with no kids, I was trying to teach Rory to dive some more. She got to the point of squatting on the side of the pool for her dive and ended up jumping in every time. After all was said and done, we went to Nana and Papa's for dinner even though Kevin stayed home so we could have dinner here. The plan was for Kevin to work from home, so that he could roast a chicken and we could have it when we got home. Yes, Kevin has to stay home to roast a chicken. I will not ever cook a chicken again unless it has already been prepared. I think Purdue might have seen my chicken episode (the one time I tried it) and decided to make that line of already prepared chickens. When Kevin was cleaning it today, he said, "I can't believe you even did this once." Some day I might tell the story...or my mom will. She was on the phone the whole time...coaching me. I'm still amazed that she got a word in edge wise through her laughing. So Kevin stayed home to make a chicken, and we got invited to dinner and had pizza instead. Marley had a whole slice including the crust by herself. That girl loves pizza. This is a good thing. I might test her love by giving her the college breakfast of champions - cold pizza. It's all good.


Because of some comments I received from a reader, there will be no picture tonight. He will be forced to read this whole thing waiting for a picture or a video and not get either. MUWAHAHAHA! Salut!

Back to School

So tomorrow is Kaelyn's first day back at school...her sophomore year...or grade 10 for you Canadians out there. She's nervous. I can tell because I am her mother. It has nothing to do with the fact that she has been out here in 10 different hair styles when she's supposed to be picking out an outfit for tomorrow. Picking out an outfit is her new nightly chore because the child is the loudest drawer opener and closer I have ever met. I don't know why it even matters so much, since she wakes the whole house up with her alarm that she doesn't turn of for 10 minutes anyway. To be 14 again...I got up when I was told and was as cheerful as Martha Stewart. Maybe that isn't the best example...How about Carol Brady? Still not feeling it? Me neither. Because I wasn't...cheerful, and I didn't get up until my mom ripped the blankets off me after she turned on the light and screamed a bunch of times. And even then, I would sit up and look at her only to have her leave the room and lay back down again. It's funny now...to me. I'm sure my mom still harbors some deep resentment toward me in her pinky toe or something.

Kaelyn and I went to get her hair done (compliments of Grandma) for her sports picture day. I don't know why it was necessary to get her hair cut and highlighted to take a picture after wearing it in a ponytail and getting it soaked with sweat, but I never played sports in high school, so it'll always be a mystery. Here are some pics of the process.

Here's after.

Can you tell the difference? I wasn't sure it would turn out in the pictures. It's more like...Sun-now you see it- No sun-now you don't- type things. So if you have time today, say a little prayer for Kaelyn. They've added on to the school and she's worried about getting lost. I told her to not take any elevators...no matter what anyone told her because...there are no elevators and that's normally a cruel joke to freshman, but with a rearranged school, I think everyone is fair game. That was a long sentence. I'm not even sure it is all one sentence.

I'm going to end this now, but I wanted to give you all a treat for being such good listeners to my ramblings. Gotham City watch out! There's a new bat in town. ZONK!
On a side note, I love the old Batman cartoons. My favorite English term is Onomatopoeia. This is when a word is spelled and read how it sounds...like ZONK! or BANG! or BOOM! or KAPOW! Batman cartoons and comics demonstrated this term often and perfectly. You knew exactly what every hit sounded like. It's a term that we got praised for knowing in 7th grade English. I got that praise because when Maria went through it with the same teacher, she came home that day and taught me that word and what it meant, so that I would know it when the time came. I probably remember it because it was one of the three times when my sister and I talked without fighting. Just Kidding. Anyway, to pass along the tradition, I taught it to Kaelyn even though I was her 7th grade English teacher and not Mrs. Gerardi. She gets praised everytime she remembers it now. And that, my friends, is a very long side note. Adieu!

Rory's Fine Motor Skills

Rory's coming along quite nicely with this whole growing up thing even though she wants to be a kid when she grows up. We had a major breakthrough on Friday. She learned how to tie her shoelaces. I taught her how to tie her shoelaces. I home school the kids, so you think it would be a common occurrence to see the kids doing something I taught them. But I don't get to go to school with Kaelyn to see her answer questions correctly because I taught her the answers. I just see the "A" on the report card. So to have something so tangible as a VIDEO, it's an overwhelming proud feeling. Just watch...



Doesn't that just make you smile? Nana and Papa showed up Saturday afternoon with new sneakers for Miss Rory that had shoelaces. She ties them good, but she needs to learn to get them tight, so the shoes don't fall off. It's so exciting to see her learning more from me than just swearing and cursing. By the way..check out this website. It's crazy and all about how to tie shoes. 10-4

Original Post

Here's what I was going to blog yesterday. Let me know if it was worth the wait.
This is Marley eating her pink and purple caterpillars. I'm not sure where these caterpillars came from, but they're squishy and make great teething buddies. Here's a closer look at their usefulness.
This is the nitty- gritty folks. Trust me when I say I was thinking about you guys when I was trying to get this on camera. That's why I took a video. I wanted you to see the caterpillar use in real live action. I ended up getting so much more. Action!




It's almost too much to take. Calling for daddy in the literal sense with the phone. How cute?! You are witnessing true genius, and Marley's not bad either. HA!

On another note, those of you following the Kaelyn volleyball drama will be glad to know that she served overhand today landing 10 of them...this means that they made it over the net and in bounds. Don't worry...I didn't know either. This is huge because Kaelyn is an outstanding underhand server. People tell her where they want the ball to go, and that's right where she puts it...everytime...spot on. Now that she's made it over the net, hopefully she can hone it into the same spot on-ness. I love made up words. Anyway, Aloha.

Rory Stole My Camera

I had a blog all ready to go. I loaded the pictures and video from my camera and found the following. Rory had stolen my camera. I just saw the videos she took. I'm going to share them with you and spoil you some more. Just a head's up...please do not watch these with a full stomach. She doesn't have the steadiest of hands if you know what I mean. Rolling...



I don't know what the whole tongue thing is but get used to it. It's a common theme in all the videos.








I can't believe she runs into him on this one. There are actually two more videos, but they're just more of the same thing. They're taking a while to upload and it's late. Sorry. No sleep means cranky mom, which leads to cranky kids, and then cranky husband. That trumps happy blogees. Enjoy!

A Little Bit of This and a little Bit of That

First and foremost, I would like to announce that Kaelyn made the volleyball team. Good thing too since she's completely banged up and bruised from it. She pulled her groin muscle yesterday and had to go back today for more tryouts. I think she's excited. We're so proud of her. Anyway, on to the blog. I got some videos for you tonight. I'm not in the writing mood, so I'm just going to roll and explain. Capice? By the way, that so doesn't sound how it is spelled. Moving on...



As you can see, Kevin has come up with yet another way to throw the kids in the air. This one involves gymnastics though. Marley was already asleep, so count your blessings... or mine.




We tried numerous times to get Marley walking because she was walking everywhere today. Sometimes the fastest way to mommy is crawling and who wouldn't want to go to their mommies as fast as possible?




Try to ignore the fighting in the background between Rory and Kevin. I mainly wanted you to see how Marley is sitting. Anyone who knows my husband or Logan knows that this is their preferred method of sitting...on their heels...without falling over. Rory can do it too but prefers sitting other ways at rest. Kevin and Logan and now I guess Marley prefer this. It's so cute! She also prayed today. We were saying blessing before dinner and she held her hands together and then threw her hands in the air at the "Hey!" She's learning so much!

Don't get too spoiled with this blog of three videos. Tomorrow it's back to pictures! 'Til then!

Siblings

Rory and Logan have reached a point in their relationship where they fight more than usual. It is most apparent in the car these days. I have to tell them to not touch or talk to one another. That's how bad it is sometimes. I'm sure my mother is loving this karmic moment. Anyway, the other day we were playing in their room. I had the radio playing and they were kissing and dancing. I got some video...of course.


If you listen closely, Rory says, "He just kissed me and now he won't dance with me." Poor girl is learning that lesson early. Ha! Even better is that in the background, the song that's playing is Love is a Battlefield. I hope these two stay as close as they are now even though they're fighting a lot more. Peace!

Well, I normally look forward to Monday blogs because I have a lot of material from the weekend. That is not the case this Sunday night. We didn't do much this weekend. It was a welcome break from all the running we've been doing. It's only going to get worse because volleyball has started back up for Kaelyn. She's in the tryout process now. She went Saturday and has to go back Monday and Tuesday. Tuesday will be when she finds out if she made the team or not. If she does, she practices EVERY WEEK DAY and sometimes Saturday. I hate figuring out dinner when it's volleyball season.

We all made it to church on Sunday which is a rare feat for us. Normally just Kaelyn and I go, but since Marley is on a nap schedule, we've all been able to go. I like it and hope it continues. This afternoon we went to the pool and to Nana and Papa's for dinner afterward. I spent most of the time with Logan trying to get him to jump in to me. He's doing good so far and hopefully will be back to where he was before the drowning incident. (I have not posted about the drowning incident because I can't yet, and that's all I have to say about that.) Rory tracked me down and asked if I could spend some time with her in the deep end. I jumped into the deep end for the first time in a long time today...I'd have to say it's been at least 15 years. That's full on jumping...not holding onto the side and jumping in and coming right back up, but free fall jumping. Anyway, it took me forever to do it. I was actually scared. I couldn't believe it considering how often I did it when I was younger. It was as if I couldn't tap into that inner child. Ok, this is getting too philosophical now. Anyway, I did it. After that, I started teaching Rory how to dive. She's doing so good in the water now. I can't believe how much she's progressed in so short of time.

When she's not swimming, Rory can be found getting into mischief. For instance, I was feeding Marley the other day. When I came back upstairs, Rory was holding my camera. I again told her that she couldn't use my camera without permission and put it up. That night, I found this.




This was the tea party day after Logan's nap. I guess she was trying to help him get a snack and such. I thought it was really cute. Speaking of cute, remember that video of Rory "performing" to Logan's birthday card? If so, you might like this.




If you look back at Rory doing this, he's copying her movements...mostly. And again, he's in his Superman costume. He actually wore his Batman one Friday. We even went to bring my friend, who just had a baby, a meal in it. It was great. And now, good night Gotham City... or...Metropolis... or..Whatever.

Tea Party Time

Today we had the tea party with the Scott family. There was much preparation to this, so I'm glad to report that everything went splendidly. Nana got Rory her very own tea set and it was used for the first time today. There are four servings, so that meant that Logan had to be the odd MAN out...because he's not a girl. Rory, Jocelyn, Juliana, and Joelle had the cups, and I gave Logan a mug and spoon to use instead. I knew he would be upset, but I didn't think it would be that big a deal. I was wrong. These pictures were the only ones I got of the tea party, and it's right after Logan's been told there aren't enough cups for him. WARNING!!! THIS WILL BREAK YOUR HEART.

On another note, Logan is sitting next to Joelle. She is also three years old. I am trying to arrange an arranged marriage. Does anyone know how to go about doing that? Because...
This is James. He's Marley's age. So I have to do this twice over...this arranged marriage bit. Any help would be more than welcome. Moving on...

Logan was eventually given the creamer cup that had a spoon. He was happy then because his wasn't like everyone else's cups. The menu for this tea party was grilled cheese in heart shapes, club crackers with turkey and melted cheese sandwiches, sunchips, grapes, apple slices, cake balls, and monkey munch.

Cake balls are just that. I showed them to Kaelyn on a website a while back and she tried them for the tea party. Here's the recipe. They turned out really good, and they're really tasty. The monkey munch is something we've been making for a while. The kids love it, and I like it because it's not THAT bad for them. Here's that recipe. All in all, everyone had a blast. Rory said she loved it, and it really seemed like she did. I think even Kaelyn had fun. She helped out A LOT today, and I'm so grateful. Here's a gander at the cake balls. She even put sprinkles on top like Rory wanted.
She ran out of chocolate and just had to leave some plain. The girls liked these too. Kaelyn also picked and wrote the quote for the day.


I have something else for you too...a video. Kaelyn was playing with Marley, and Marley was cracking up. I'm not talking a little giggle. We're talking full on belly laughter from this child. It was intoxicating. Have a look.




I love my life.

Misc.

I have two blogs in one. Aren't you special? First up is Logan, also known as Super Elephant Man.
Kevin wanted Five Guys for dinner AGAIN Tuesday night. Logan wanted to go with him to get it, and he was dressed like this. If you've ever been to Five Guys, you know that they have free peanuts that you can eat while you're waiting. Well, while they waited, Super Elephant Man ate peanuts. It must have been such a sight to see. Kevin said that people looked and smiled, but no one said anything. One more...
I know. Both pictures are a lot a like, but they were both so compelling that I couldn't decide which to use. Besides, I wouldn't complain about two pictures being alike. I could go back to the no pic no post method.

Secondly, something happened to me today that never happens to me. I WON SOMETHING! Rory is having a tea party tomorrow (yes, I will blog it), so we had to go to Safeway to get some things for it. We were checking out and the register started beeping a lot and the cashier said, "Oh, I have another winner." I had no idea what she was talking about. She waited for the receipt to print and told me I had won a FREE loaf of french bread.
Isn't it pretty. I screamed, "Oh my gosh! Are you kidding me?! I never win anything!" You would've thought I had just won a million dollars with the way my voice shrilled and the mile wide smile on my face. I went to customer service to get my free french bread. The lady was not smiling and went to get my french bread. When she walked back I told her how exciting this was. At least she smiled. The closest I ever got to winning anything was when I was about ten or eleven. The radio station said they were taking calls from people to sing for their request, and the best singer would hear their song. Maria and I decided to call in and sing My Prerogative by Bobby Brown. I chickened out at the last minute and told Maria I didn't want to do it. She still called in and started singing. I joined her half way through, and she (we) ended up winning. I'm not even sure that counts since I only sang the second half and didn't dial the phone. The radio station played the phone call on the air and said, "There is talent in Washington D.C. tonight!" and then played the song. It was really exciting. Here's a pic of the french bread loaf I WON.
And another...
Ok, so I'm mental. Have you ever won anything? It's exciting. I hope it happens to me again many more times. After I got my bread, I heard the register ring again and an announcement that a free 2 liter bottle of Coke was won. So far, they had given away two Cokes and a bread. It would've been boring to get a Coke. I would've been just like everyone else. With my bread, I'm going to make flat bread pizzas for lunch. My mom thought of that. Isn't she clever? Anyway, I don't feel your excitement about my bread, so I'm going to sign off now. What a great day! I'm sorry if it seems like this is too much over a loaf of bread, but I live in the country...sort of. Things like this just don't happen here very often....except for three times in a row in the same store. Never mind.

KAELYN!!!

So we were in the kitchen calling Kaelyn. We were all calling for her..like a game. And then Marley said what sounded so much like Kaelyn's name. I just happen to have in my possession a video of Miss Marley saying what sounds like Kaelyn's name. It doesn't happen until the second time around so wait for it. She's so talented. She plays peek-a-boo now too, but she won't let me get it on tape. Now for your viewing pleasure...


Ciao!

Ice Ice Baby

Some of you might not get that title. If not, go ask your children about it...if they're thirty or above. Anyway, Kaelyn went ice skating a few weekends ago, and Rory went with me to drop her off. I would've really liked to have taken Rory skating, but Kaelyn's fragile teenage mind might have exploded, and I didn't want to give the zamboni any more work than necessary.

So this past Saturday, Kevin took the kids (except Marley), Nana, and Samantha to the ice rink. Nana went in case Logan decided he didn't want to skate. Then she and he could watch and laugh at everyone together. I was 99% sure that Logan wouldn't skate, and he did. Of course that goes to show me that just when I think I know these kids, they change. :)

A lot of the pictures didn't turn out because I wasn't there to take them. HA! Just kidding. It was hard for Nana to take them from behind the glass as she was. She doesn't care about this blog as much as I do to go out on the ice and take one for the team and get you some shots. The ones that turned out were nothing to complain about though. Take a look for yourself.

I don't know if you can make it out or not, but that's Logan in front of Kevin.

Kevin said that Rory really got the hang of it, and that Logan didn't do too bad either. By the end, Rory was doing turns. She fell a couple of times and apparently had a knight in shining armor to rescue her. There was a boy that worked there that would come and help Rory up whenever she fell. I wish I could've seen it. I wish I could've seen them. They're both asking for lessons now. I'm looking into them, but they're really expensive. Maybe I could put them up for Christmas gifts? There's an idea! Yes, I know it's August. Yes, I just said Christmas. Yes, I'm already shopping for Christmas presents. After all, "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year." So Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Rory's Trump

Well, Rory's done it again. She's stolen the blog. I had a completely different blog planned, but this couldn't wait. We went to the pool today. Rory's gotten really good at swimming and even going down the slide. She swims to the ladder by herself which is the requirement for going down the slide. The first couple of times, Kevin snuck under the rope and helped her out. Today, she asked to jump off the diving board. Kevin and I both said no. While she can swim, it's not anything but a determined dog paddle. And while she jumps into the 9 feet because she "just wants to swim" I would be lying if I didn't admit that heart palpitations ensue afterward. She is quite the little daredevil.

After all this, you can imagine my surprise when she came and got Logan and I at the little pool and said that daddy said she could go off the diving board, and that I was to come and tape it. We followed her over. I screamed to Kevin and asked if he was sure about this, but he didn't answer me. Maybe he didn't hear me or maybe he didn't want to answer because it was a "NO!" Here's what happened...


Then she decided to get a little daring. If you listen closely in this next one, Nicole is telling her to run and jump off the diving board. Rory went to do it and Kevin told her not to. She tried it, but that thing is slippery and I'm glad she stopped. Let's roll...

PLACE WHERE OTHER VIDEO WAS SUPPOSED TO UPLOAD

If this video ever uploads, it will be a miracle. I had another one that I was going to upload, but I've been waiting on this one for a half hour already. I might have to post the other one tomorrow. Anyway, in this one you can see Rory do a balled-up belly-flop. Then she starts to swim the opposite way to get out of the pool. She did that quite often. We'd have to scream at her to swim the other way. It was funny. I don't think it was that funny for the people waiting on the diving board that couldn't go until she was on the ladder.

I'm so proud of her. I didn't have the guts to go off the diving board until I was much older than her. Where does she get her spunk? I guess Kevin? 10-4 good buddy!

Ok guys...it's 1030p, and this has been uploading for an hour. I have to get to bed. I'm going to download the other video instead and try to do this one tomorrow morning and see if it'll let me. Sorry. I'm still going to leave the comments about the other video because I'm just too darn lazy to erase them and start over. In this video, Rory gets twisted. Notice Rory trying to get her hair smoothed out. She looks like a duck trying to get a fish!



Now...10-4 or 10:47pm depending on who you ask.

Marley to the Rescue

I don't have a lot of time tonight, and I have a killer headache. So I'm just going to post a video and be done with it. I'm sorry.

A little explanation of the video...Marley's weird. That's what Kevin says...and she loves to dance.

Face Plants

I tried to look this word/s up in the dictionary, but it didn't work. It referenced a wrestling move, but it didn't fit in with what I'm trying to relate to so forget it. We had some tumbles, hits, and bruises today. Unfortunately and fortunately, Rory was left unscathed. How that happened is beyond me. Actually, it's probably because she was the one doling out the punishments.

I don't know what happened to Marley. I was in the kitchen and heard her crying, so I came into the living shouted at Rory and Logan to not touch her and noticed that the laundry basket was moved. For some odd reason, I thought this would be enough for Rory and Logan and they would listen. You would think I would've learned by now. I went back into the kitchen and heard Marley crying again. This time Rory was holding her and Logan was in the basket sitting right next to Rory and Marley. Rory's in a kick lately about blaming everything on Logan. It happens. WARNING! SIDETRACKING AHEAD!

For instance, a magazine came in the mail the other day, and Rory wanted a pen to circle what she wants. We (read: I) don't like Rory doing this because it ruins any chance of you seeing anything in the magazine. I told her she couldn't have a pen. She pouted off to her room and was in there for a while quiet. I called from the living room and told her that she better not have gotten a pen and marked in the magazine. She called back that she didn't. When she came out into the living room (with a smirk on her face) I asked to see the magazine. She went into her room with her head hung and brought it out to me. I looked through it and saw things circled. I asked her why she fibbed and told me that she wasn't marking in the magazine. She told me that Logan, who had been sitting in the living room with me the whole time, had done it. To this, Logan looks over and says nothing. Not a, "I didn't do it, Mommy" or anything. Needless to say, Rory got a timeout and the usual, "If you tell the truth, you get in less trouble" talk. I'll let you know how THAT goes.

Back to our regularly scheduled program.

After that, Kevin went into the living room with them to "play." When I finished eating lunch and came into the living room, Marley had more marks on her face, and Logan's face was red too.

I was trying to circle the red marks in paint and then save the pictures, but I'm not of the patient sort, so I'm just gonna haf to explain where they are. K? Under her eye is a big, red mark and there are two above her eye.

I was trying to get a close up here.

I just thought this was cute even though you can't see the marks too well.


I didn't have to worry 'bout circling Logan's red marks. Did I?

Face plants are mean but luckily, unlasting. All of these red marks are gone tonight. Logan has a scratch under his lip, but I think he'll be ok. Tomorrow on the "bodily injury education blog"...Copper Tunnel Syndrome.

A Wink and A Smile

Did you know that Logan can't wink? I'm his mother, and I didn't know this. I asked him to try and got my camera because I was thinking of you guys...my loyal fans. :P
Wait. Where have I seen that before? Anyone? Anyone? Oh yeah...
Maybe Marley will have to teach Logan a thing or two. This should be very interesting. Stay tuned!

Freeze Dance

There aren't many games that you can play with toddlers that they love as much as freeze dance. There's something about it. I even enjoy it still to this day. The funny thing is that Marley starts dancing whenever she hears ANY music...even a commercial. I think all the kids did this when they were her age. They must get it from my side, except for Logan. He dances like his daddy. So here's a video of my youngest three playing freeze dance. Kaelyn was asleep or I'm sure she would've played too...NOT! :)



Ok, so maybe Marley stops because I'm screaming...not because I'm saying freeze. Still, it's really cute, and yes, I cue the music to her dancing because...she's 11 months...and cute...and 11 months. So long!

My Cooking Blog

If you are anyone who knows me, that line ought to catch your attention. I love cooking and baking; however, cooking and baking do not love me. I can't cook without a precise recipe to follow. It's disastrous. There's even a running joke in my house that no one can be present at Christmas cookie making time because I lose it. I have no idea what they are talking about. If it was so bad, I wouldn't keep doing it. Obviously!

Back to the story. My mom got me the book Too Many Cooks by Emily Franklin. It's written by a mother of four bound and determined to introduce her kids to something other than chicken nuggets. The book is made up of stories and recipes. It's a good book. I really liked it, so I decided to try some of her recipes this weekend.

First on the menu was dinner yesterday Hamburger, Macaroni, and Peas. I know the different coloring really helped you with reading. There was nothing else in this dish besides those three ingredients and salt. She talked it up so much as a "comfort food" that I didn't think it would be anything but great, since I am a comfort food junkie. It didn't go over too well with my clan. Everyone agreed that it must be missing something. We just didn't know what it was. We have a whole pot of it in the fridge waiting to be reheated with pasta sauce. We'll see if THAT ever happens!

Next up was a dish I had to prepare last night for breakfast this morning, Upside-Down French Toast. I had to buy vanilla bean...not as easy as you would think. Then I had to figure out how to split it and scrape it. I managed and followed all the directions to heat all the ingredients, put french bread on top, and pour the milk and vanilla mixture over it to bake this morning. How hard could it be? Here are a couple of embarrassing moments from prep. First, I had cleaned my counters off, so for some reason I thought, "Why do I need a cutting board to cut the bread. I just cleaned the counters." Now, my counter has the slice marks from a fully cut french bread loaf. I take that back. I figured out that I was cutting the counter at the second to the last slice. Instead of just finishing it off, I got out a cutting board that I didn't need to dirty and cut the last two pieces on it. Wonderful! But wait, there's more. I was trying to crack the eggs and nowhere I hit was cracking it, so I got some shell in the milk, vanilla mixture. So I stood there trying to fish out the little piece of shell I got in there. I finally just left it there and hoped one of the kids got it. :) Just kidding sort of.

After I prepared the spice mixture on the stove and poured it into my newly purchased, heavy bottomed, 9X13, baking dish, I put the bread on and poured the milk mixture over the it. I found the little piece of shell still in the bowl, so that was good. Then three pieces of bread popped up to the top of the milk. I was tired by this time, so I said forget it, covered it with plastic and put it in the fridge. Before I closed the door and since it was bothering me so much, I stood there with the plastic pried up with a fork trying to push the three pieces that were floating back down. After about three minutes I gave up.

This morning, all the pieces were floating, so whatever. I baked the dish. The recipe says to flip it over onto a platter. I don't own a platter, so Kevin said to use an aluminum-foiled cookie sheet. The problem was that my baking dish had raised handles and wouldn't fit flat against the cookie sheet to turn over. Kevin and I both had to do it which is why I have no video of it. Sorry. Some spilled on the floor, but overall, it wasn't too bad. It turned out to be kind of custardy. I am NOT a custardy person. We gave it to the kids first. Rory got up and spit hers out in the trash. Logan said he liked it, and then said he didn't. Kevin and I just looked at each other while trying to chew...squish...no...push it against the roof of our mouths. He asked me what I thought, and I said that I was having a texture issue. Just then Logan says, "Hallelujah." That's his new word...anyway, it couldn't have been more perfect timing. Pictures!

Here's what it looked like.


Here's the piece of french bread that is supposed to be on the bottom.

Tonight for dinner, we were supposed to have Apricot, Rosemary, and Sage Roasted Chicken from this book. We didn't. I'm kind of scared, since we're two for two. Now after all that, aren't you glad I don't have a cooking blog?!?! You would have to read these boring stories and not see any picture of any kids. How fun would that be? Because I'm a merciful person, here's a pic of kids!

For those of you interested in the recipes tried, I've posted them below. Bon Appetit!

Hamburger, Macaroni, and Peas

1 box elbow macaroni 1 bag frozen peas
1 lb. ground meat salt

Salt water and cook pasta according to box directions. Drain well. Saute meat in a pan, then drain fat. Add meat and peas to pasta and cover for a few minutes to cook the peas enough so they're done but still have bite. Season with salt. Serve in a bowl with a spoon to your nearest and dearest.

Easy Upside-Down French Toast

1 vanilla bean 3/4 stick of butter
3 cups milk 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp. nutmeg 5 eggs
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon 2 tsp. vanilla
12 pieces of crusty 1/4 tsp. salt
bread- French baguette
works best

Split the vanilla bean, scrape it into the milk, and let the bean bathe. Melt butter, sugar, nutmeg, and cinnamon in a saucepan on low heat. Pour into bottom of heavy-bottomed baking dish (9X13). Place bread on top. Take the vanilla bean pod from the milk and discard. Mix eggs, vanilla, and salt into milk and pour over bread. Refrigerate overnight. Bake at 325 for 40 minutes then 350 for 5-10 minutes more. Turn the baking dish over, inverting onto a tray and serve, or, if you don't have a tray or platter, let people serve themselves from the baking dish.