So.. snow

So we got snow.

I don't necessarily like snow.

It is cold and wet and you have to bundle up to go in it and stay somewhat frostbite free.. so needless to say, if you have to pee... you better catch it quick.. how uncomfortable.

Well.. that was the first thing G wanted to do.. "MAMA PEE IN SNOW!!".. and I let him. He got a kick out of it. Moving on...

I was not going to get up in all the drama that surrounded Memphians with kids yesterday who were all "OMG IT IS SNOW... LETS GO SLEDDING/PLAYING/GETTINGCOLDANDWET".

I figured, my kids didn't need to get sick.. that was my excuse and I was sticking with it.

Until it hit about 2 and the snow was really starting to disappear and I started feeling guilty.

Then the boys woke from their nap.

Yea.. we ended up outside.

Them bundled in layers and me in my crocs and windbreaker.

I am officially sick today.

They are fine.



Except for in the head because all they would do was eat the snow...

Oops.. forgot to mention

This weekend my parents kept the kiddos again while J and I worked on painting the house. The Realtor came and picked out color schemes and all that on Thursday, so on Friday, we dropped off the kiddos headed to Lowe's.

And since we had to change the color of the trim, we had to change out every outlet and every light switch.... about 33 of each. Nice.. We got the contractors bulk package. lol.

Everyday the boys are away, I call first thing the morning just to see how the night or morning went and see if G put himself on the brink of tragedy. He didn't this weekend thank goodness.

Unfortunately I realized the first day that I didn't prep mom enough.

Mom: "G started something new... since he knows I have a key to the bathroom he now pulls out the drawer to block the door from opening."
Me: "Oops.. I forgot to mention that... we have ended up taking the drawer out... Sorry"

Mom: "Oh, and I caught him in there eating all the toothpaste"
Me: "Ooops... sorry.. forgot to tell you he has gone to great lengths to get to the toothpaste.. sorry"

It's sad when the crazy things your kids do slip your mind to mention because nothing shocks you anymore.

The Good Nite Lite

My review...
3 stars


It has done exactly what it preaches... it is teaching G to stay in his room until the sun comes up... for the most part.

G loves it! He HAS to see the moon going to bed and he gets so worked up about it. He loves it. Good sign #1.

I set the timer just as the directions said and have been following the "up the timer 15 minutes every day until a desired wake up time". I have skewed from that a bit setting it up 15 minutes after a 100% successful night that he doesn't leave his room until the sun is up. We started at 4:30 and we are now at 6:15. Good sign #2.

If he gets out before the 'sun comes up' I make him stay in his room... continually put him back in until the sun comes up. When it does, he gets so excited to see it and he has to show me it and we do the whole "we are so proud of you.. you waited to see the sun come up!!!" It does make him so proud of himself. And we are dealing with every other night issues now instead of every night. Good sign #3.

Now, it runs on batteries and on electricity... I naively assumed that this meant it was interchangeable to your needs... I was wrong. I really wanted this to be like a battery powered clock on the wall... something out of reach. It is not. One ray on the sun is missing already. Bad sign #1.

You know how frustrating it is when the power goes out and your alarm clock resets and so you have to make sure you have batteries in it for a backup.. THIS doesn't work that way. It would be fine if the power went out, but if the unit itself gets turned off, the timers get reset and the sun comes on automatically until the unit is turned back on.... G has turned of the unit and come to be beaming at 4:30 am claiming he saw the sun.. I told him he was crazy and he proved to me that I was. Bad sign #2.

Now the last two things, we have gotten past, for now. He adores this thing so much that we told him if he touched it again, he would break it, so he doesn't need to play with it... he hasn't touched it since... for that we are thankful.

Of course, we now have to take it out of the outlet every day... but we don't reset it... so the timers stay programmed.

So, it gives us more hassle than we thought it would/should... BUT BUT BUT... it is doing what it was designed to do.

Also, the real test is when I go back to sleeping in my room... right now I am on the couch to catch him... because for some reason, the alarm at the top of the door is mysteriously getting turned off at night...
yes it is on the outside of the door and at the top of the door frame.
I blame the cats.

5 stars for doing what it says it will do
1 star for durability
2 stars for ease of use
4 stars for child likability

Life

Life is crazy. So many ups and downs, excitements and disappointments.



Tat is my brother. He has had his shares of ups and downs, and excitements and disappointments... He has also handed them out, but who hasn't, you know.
He has made great strides for himself over the past 10 years... he has taken steps back and there were times where I thought I would never want to speak to him again.. and never thought I would.
Then we start talking again and it is fine.

One thing about Tat that never fails though... his love for his 4 legged babies. He loves them unconditionally and they love him too. He life revolves around his two cats and his dog, just like your life would revolved around your children. Unfortunately, he doesn't have a wife, nor children, both of which he longs for deeply. So, needless to say, his animals are his world.. his family unit.

Obviously, our entire extended family loves animals.. I have 4 of my own, Tat has 3, Nana and granddaddy have 4, there are too many to count with aunts and uncles... it just goes on and on. They all get Christmas presents people.


About 11 days ago, Shadow, Tat's 5 year old cat and only male bonding partner decided to sneak out of the house. No sign of him since. Tat is devastated. There are nights he has slept out in his truck hoping to get a glimpse of a 30 lb black cat roaming the streets looking for his home. He checked every shelter in the county and city. He put out flyers with "reward". He has walked to every neighbor giving out flyers and asking for leads. He walks the neighborhood everyday. He checks the sewer outlets everyday. We have searched Craiglist, petfinder... all of them.
Unfortunately he can't drive around to look for him because about 5 days ago, his alternator went out on his car.
His prayers were that he would give up anything to have Shadow back.


Then about 3 days ago, Maggie, his beloved and most prized possession, his 11 year old Aussie/Border Collie mix, his first baby girl, the one he attributes "saving his life and making him straighten up" started screeching and whining, and her legs stiffed up and she began shaking uncontrollably. Once she could walk again, she started to walk backwards.... less than 12 hours later, she did it again... the whites of her eyes turn an awkward shady gray color and she just sits as if she wants help.. when there is nothing no one knows what to do.
Tat rushed her to the vet where the doctor immediately took some blood which we are awaiting the results for.

Tat is beyond devastated... he keeps saying "that is not what I meant when I said I would give up anything for Shadow"..

I worry about Tat anyways... whether we are talking or not. I am hurting for him right now and wish there was anything I could do to help/fix/take the burden off of him right now.

Even if you are not a 'dog or cat person' please pray that everything works in the way God has planned.

Random

The boys wanted to show off their skills... total white boy/no dancin' skills... but overall, their skills.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anyone who knows my family well enough knows, our animals/pets are like our children. We hurt when they hurt and we mourn them. And when one decides to run away from home, it hurts us all.
Please pray that Shadow, my brother's little buddy, decides to come back home. He has been missing for 10 days now and my brother is absolutely heartbroken. He has visited shelters, every neighbor around the neighborhood, handed our flyers, offered rewards... he is at a loss.
I am honestly surprise no one has seen a 30 lb black cat running around the neighborhood. I think someone has taken him in and won't give him up. I hope he comes back.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

See.. no one can doubt we spoil our 4 legged babies too.


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
OH, and the boys totally dug my strawberry cream cheese on wheat Ritz crackers...



I plan to address the new night light and sleepign with G in the next couple of days.

Movie Friday

Every Friday we have movie Friday where the boys can watch movies all day long... they don't get to during the week, so we leave the "learning" for Monday thru Thursday and being lazy and watching movies on Friday..
Of course it keeps them occupied, so I get to get some stuff done... Playing with my juicer has taken up most of the morning as I made Strawberry Balsamico and Strawberry cream cheese.
I have never seen so many mason jars in my fridge.


Of course, every now and then D will come look at me with the look, and I have to say "Everyone knows who you are..." and he says "woooooo-deeee". THANK YOU very much Toy Story 2.

J worked from home all day yesterday... he is official now, and it went surprisingly well. The boys really are doing ok with it.
This is what his new lunch break looks like on Fridays...


Enjoy your weekend..
I am going back to being lazy for the day... or making some more stuff.. haven't decided.

Juicy

So I got THIS for Christmas and love.it!
If you know me well enough, you know that my kids get very very limited amounts of sugar. Like, birthday parties only and they have to share a piece limited amount.

'So do you not give them juice'

Before the juicer, nope... they get milk and water only! But now, I will make them a glass of freshly prepared juice with the juicer a few times a week. (ATTENTION GRANDPARENTS: Don't take this as all clear to give them juice... only juice that comes straight out of a juicer is allowed). Put fresh fruit in and get fresh juice with absolutely nothing added out and serve.. period.
And they love it.
One of G's many nights rummaging through the house here lately, I found 2 packs of raspberries, 2 packs of strawberries, and 2 packs of blueberries on the counter and he was trying to figure it out.. when I caught him, he said "Make juice".
Loves it!

Now, the 2nd part of this.. anyone who knows me knows it bugs the poop out of me that the "pulp" left over might go to waste.

So I have been keeping it frozen and in the freezer and dated. I have used all the pulp I have created now!
from Orange juice, all the orange pulp went into 1) frozen orange pops (just froze the pulp into pops) for the boys and 2) orange vinaigrette dressing (add vinegar and a small amount of the fresh juice).
from the grape/blueberry juice, I mixed the pulp with peanut butter and made it into a sandwich for the boys lunch yesterday... they loved it!!
from the apple juice, I made apple/Cinnamon pancakes for breakfast by simply mixing the pulp into the batter.

I am going to make some raspberry juice today and use the pulp for raspberry vinaigrette. J loves vinaigrette dressing.

I am still waiting to make carrot muffins from the carrot pulp.

Thanks momma for this present.. I love it...