Sassy's Bows

My BFF is thinking about opening a store on Ebay or Etsy. I am all for it. She is super talented as you can see. 99% of all the bows I have for Lorelei were made by Sassy. I swear she just keeps getting better at making boutique bows. I hope that soon I will be able to put a button that links to her shop!

She just bought a huge lot of various solid colors and polka dot ribbon. I was digging through it today. So many possibilities for awesome bows!

She is thinking about expanding to do corkers, wipe case covers, bow holders, and knit hats with the gerber daisies.

Isn't that little ribbon flower so cute?

Another cute ribbon flower creation.

We've Sprung

Mom came back from TX with sidewalk chalk for Rory. He loves being able to color on the driveway. Fans of the series Heroes might notice the heroes sign I drew. Its everywhere. its everywhere!
Lorelei had some fun making some chicken scratch with a yellow piece. As you can see I had some fun too! Kind of felt like i was back in high school scribbling I love J on the front of my notebooks in bubble letters.
My wisteria has finally bloomed. Only took 3 years to happen! Speaking of spring our doves are back. Every year we get a mating pair that builds a nest in the front yard. I think they must trust us an awful lot to leave them be because last year any time Mom and Dad went out to get dinner they left jack and judy sitting on our welcome mat. A welcome mat that doesn't say welcome but rather Beware of Cat. Kind of funny to see two baby doves sleeping cuddled together on a mat speaking about the evil cats indoors.
Our ducks are back too. They frequent the area and call a lot of places home but we usually see the same male and female wander through our yard several times in the spring. Today they had flown over our fence into the backyard. Bad place to be. Inigo was really looking forward to a play date with them. I coaxed them back over the fence where it is safer.

This is the only time Rory is allowed to push his sister.

Wonder what they are both pointing at?

That would be Daddy riding on Rory's power wheels Harley Davidson.

Not a fan of sports

The pitter patter of little rollers. Well, it is more like a rushing sounds than a patter. Lorelei loves her walker. We renamed it a runner since she seldom walks in it. Reverse is a favorite direction for her. She can whip that thing around 180 degrees in less then 2 seconds I swear! I think she is going to win NASCAR someday. That will kind of suck for J and I since we do not participate in the national pastime of watching sports. We all make exceptions were are kids are concerned though. If we ever have kids on the same teams, you will be able to spot us. We will be the ones that look confused or ready to die from boredom anytime our kids are not looking our way. Rory watched a little bit of baseball over at a friends house the other evening. He was pretty interested in it. So glad we have friends that like sports. Our kids will need you to become well rounded human beings. I understand the concept of sports. I just do not like to participate. My kids are welcome to. I encourage them to. They just won't get any sort of super genes from me that will help them become super athletes. Super wise crackers perhaps.

Not a Culinary Genius

Cooking is not something I do for fun. My best friend makes the most exotic sounding meals to me. She says they are easy but I do not think our culinary skills are on the same level. Like my Mom she watches a lot of cooking shows and loves to find new recipes. I only look when i have exhausted my knowledge of how to cook hamburger meat in 20 minutes or less. Like today. I tried a baked ziti recipe that was very tasty and simple to make. One problem though. The penne pasta didn't get as soft as it should have. I will add more water next time and let it cook that extra five minutes. I prefer to bake. Not very good at that either but it is more fun. Anything that is that bad for your figure is more fun to make. i love to make Paula Deen's Granite Steps Blueberry Coffee Cake. It is great to take to potlucks and such. People love it!

Ingredients

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted

1 12-ounce can buttermilk biscuits

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup quick-cooking rolled oats
1 1/2 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
1/2 cup granulated sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Generously grease a 9-inch square baking dish. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon and mix well with a fork. Separate biscuit dough into 10 biscuits. Cut each biscuit into quarters, and dip each piece in melted butter and coat with brown sugar mixture. Arrange in a single layer in baking dish. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup of the oats. Combine blueberries and granulated sugar in a bowl and toss to coat. Spoon over oats and biscuits and sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup oats. Drizzle melted butter on top. Bake for 20 minutes or until cake is golden brown and center is done. Cool for 20 minutes. Serve warm.

Yield: 6-8 servings
Prep time: 10-15 minutes
Inactive prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: about 20 minutes
Ease of preparation: moderately easy

You can get a step by step tutorial with pictures from Chelsea Morning's Blog. This is where I first found it. It is such a decadent dessert. I hope you bake it!

It's my party so I can blog if I want to.

It's my party! We didn't really have a party. We did have a cake though. Granted I bought, baked, iced, and decorated it myself but since I get to eat it I am not complaining. We do plan to go out to dinner soon once Mom gets back. We are going to the new Japanese steakhouse. I am 25 today. I felt funny about it for half a second since it signals the end of my early twenties before I smacked some sense into myself. I do not believe in feeling bad about growing older. The alternative is death so I want every birthday I can get! I plan to dance a merry jig on my 80th birthday. Age is relative, so bring on the candles!

Radio Rant

My computer speakers died. The sub woofer (? is that right?) that sits on the floor fried. I smelled electrical smoke and heard some crackling as I checked my email the other day. My investigations led me to the sub woofer. I pulled the plug which burned my finger cause it was smoking hot! Now I am without my computer play list. I am forced to listen to the radio. *cringe
The radio is fine for short trips in the car but not all. day. long.We all know that they play the same set of songs over and over with a few oldies thrown in to put you off the scent. Not to mention I am not a fan of all the music that is played. I am pretty eclectic and love a wide variety of music. In my home I prefer to listen to sets that I know I will dig all the music. every song. If I put my play list on shuffle the first five songs are:

I Caught Myself by Paramore
Undo Me by Jennifer Knapp
Hysteria by Muse
Better in Time by Leona Lewis
Turn the Page by Metallica

I have Garth Brooks, Dwight Yoakam, The Cranberries, Apocalyptica, My Chemical ROmance, Sarah MacLachlan, Sean Paul, The Veronicas, Stabbing Westward, Queen, Collective Soul, Mudvayne, Lily Allen, Jason Mraz, Adema, Duran Duran, Theory of a Deadman, Seether, Todd Agnew, Faith Hill, and oh so many more. My play list grows all the time.
Country, Pop, Classical, Rock, R&B, Christian, Techno, Alternative, I like a little of it all. I will admit my heart belongs to rock n' roll. If I had to spend the rest of my life only listening to one genre it would be rock. I love to his shuffle and just spend the day jamming as I go about my daily business.
Save me from hearing the same crap over and over. Yesterday I heard three different Kanye West songs in the same hour. NEXT ARTIST PLEASE! My brain is beginning to hurt due to the repetition. And what is with all the chatter? I have XM for a reason. No commercials. In my mind that means no talking. I do not care if Lindsay Lohan was seen at some club or what Jennifer Garner went to the Doctor for. They have websites for that if you just have to know. Radio = Music. Play some! Thankfully J is got us a new setup. Just in time too. If I have to hear T.I. ft Justin Timberlake one more time I might be Dead and Gone!

Return of the Mothership

Mom returns from TX this weekend! She finished having all new flooring, two new water heaters, fresh paint, and a new dishwasher installed on her TX house that we are trying to sell. All those improvements are hopefully going to get us a buyer soon! Sadly she will miss my birthday by just a few days. At (almost) 25 this is not s huge deal but it is nice to have the one responsible for giving you life around on the anniversary of that occasion. Mom is going to feed my addiction to reading my letting me pick out some E-books for my Sony E Reader she got me last year. I really do have too many books. I don't think this is a problem but others disagree. If I only had a few books I would hyperventilate. What if I run out of reading material and I am forced to read the shampoo bottle? Mom is my enabler, bless her.
I picked out my present from J and informed him of the charge to his credit card. It is a super cute wristlet I found on Etsy. I posted a pic of it above. This is his preferred method of shopping for me. Two Christmas' ago I left it up to him and wound up with bupkis. Lesson learned. For a man who will not shop for holidays he does a great job with little surprises the rest of the year. Last week I was gifted with a Nintendo DS that he had been given in pieces. Wonder Geek can do anything so this was a piece of cake. I told him he did a great job and should consider doing his own holiday shopping. He is just insecure in his ability to pick out gifts. I got a whole raised eyebrow out of him so I am going to guess that was a no.

Felt Flowers for my Darling

A few weeks ago I won a drawing and received the most fabulous hair accessory for Miss Lorelei. Of course I get the cutest bow and L decides she wants to rip all head ware out! Just figures. I want to thank Marta over at the Haus of Girls for making such a wonderful work of art. I encourage everyone to go to her Etsy Store. These felt flowers clips are going to be all the rage soon and won't you be sad if you are left out.I have been looking for one of those cutesy flowers to go on her knit hat. This is WAY better than the ones I found! L has a big head, bless her heart. The hat is for a big girl so she will get some actual use out of it. Probably next year too!
I had to put the hat on her head with one hand, then snap the picture before she figured out what happened. I clipped the flower on her ponytail the other day. She has enough hair for a ponytail but they are not so pretty right now she we rarely do them. She instantly went after the bow. J says my eyes bugged out of my head. I dashed over and took the bow out to check if she had damaged it. I must have resembled Gollum from the Lord of the Rings movies with my precious!I swear this picture was snapped like 4 secconds after the one above. She is quick. I was trying to get a second pic with it on. No luck there.

Tough Questions

After i got a very nice comment about our dear Linus from Wendy I hopped over to her blog to check it out. I found a very thought provoking post titled Tough Questions. Thank you Wendy for giving me permission to copy and paste so I could answer the tough questions myself!

Would you do crystal meth if it were legalized?
I remember my Health Teacher in high school stressing the less than pleasant side effects so I think I would still have to pass.

Abortion, for or against?
Against.

Would the country fall if there was a woman president?
I think the problem would come from other nations not recognizing a woman as our top political power.

Do you believe in the death penalty?
Yes. Lethal injection only. I think all other forms are cruel and unusual punishment. They worked when we had no better way to put a criminal to death but now they need to be retired.

Do you wish marijuana would be legalized already?
Nah. I do not smoke any kind of anything.

Do you believe in God?
100%

Do you think same sex marriage should be legalized?
This answer will not be popular. I do not think that the state or government can tell you if you are married or not. I believe it is a spiritual institution between the couple and God. That said the bible tells us that God does not recognize any other union than between a man and a woman. The Government can give rights or not all day long but it is God that really matters. In my opinion legalizing same sex marriage would be pointless and a waste of time.

Do you think it's wrong so many Hispanics are moving to the USA?
No. I do think you need to enter legally or not at all. Do not be a drain on resources when you get here. For that matter the people who are already here need to not be a drain on the resources! Get a job! Support the economy!

A 12 year old girl has a baby...should she keep it?
12 is a baby herself. She is not capable of raising another human being.

Should the alcohol drinking age be lowered to 18?
No. At 18 the maturity level is better but not where it needs to be for responsible drinking. The extra 3 years will hopefully change that.

Should the war in Iraq be called off?
I don't know. I can see what the news reports and such but what do the top military guys know that we do not? Is it tactically a good idea to pull out? I don't have enough information to answer that.

Assisted suicide is legal...do you agree?
No. If you are gung ho to end your life then you do not need to pull someone else into it. I think that suicide is wrong.

Do you believe in spanking your children?
Beating them, no. But I do believe a spanking is deserved for those times when it is imperative you learn the lesson the first time. Like say we do not run in the street because car might hit us. There is a difference between delivering discipline and abusing a child.

Would you burn the American flag for a million dollars?
No. Too much respect for what it stands for. No amount of money is worth my own honor.

A mother is declared innocent after murdering her 5 children in a temporary insanity case...what do you think?
Then send her to a psych prison.

Mud Puppies

I love the rain. I love thunderstorms. In the past few years that love has been tested.

1. Rory's fear of rain and thunder. We have recently been making progress with that. He knows the rain is needed to give the birds a bath and the flowers a drink. The thunder is the clouds laughing. Clouds are so big that when they laugh it sounds big and scary. What are the clouds laughing at? The lighting told a joke.

2. Our neighborhood has very old power lines. Big storms tend to knock the power out sometimes for days. Thankfully the power company has been working on replacing them. Good thing since storm season is about to hit for another year.

3. My floors. J and I removed the carpet in our house and replaced them with wood laminate. See how pretty it is?


Our backyard had an above ground pool in the center when the previous owners lived here. We have tried to get grass to grow every summer but it has never lasted very long. When it rains we have a nice pretty lake in the backyard.


Even in the rain, a puppy has to pee.
Our first mud puppy, Inigo. He likes to fun through puddles. He even painted on my sliding glass window. Such a thoughtful canine. That tennis ball is # 1152. He goes through them like tissue.



















Our second mud puppy, Linus. It is not his fault he has huge paws. They just soak up mud and water to be deposited on other surfaces. He has the sweetest face doesn't he?


















This is my pretty floor after I let the dogs back in the house. So thankful I do not have carpet. It still pains me to see the floor I cleaned less than 24hrs ago in such a state.
The rain has let up. Today was very nice and sunny. My floor is clean and shiny. All is well with my soul. Too bad the weekend forecast calls for more rain. A vicious cycle.

Jeep brought to you by Star Trek

I think Rory gets his random funny comments from his father's genetics. Rory is not a joker like me. He might grow into it someday but I think he is going to be like J. He is in every other way. J cannot tell a joke to save his life. His retelling of a funny story is down right painful. Every now and then though he pops out these little comedic gems that knock me for a loop. Last night I was trying to install a new game on the laptop in the living room. J was in the recliner next to mine playing Far Cry on the PS3. I happened to look up at the same time J attempted to run his jeep into the base of a mountain.

Me: "That is not going to work. Mountain are like walls, only meaner."

J: "Yea I know. The jeep wasn't built my Star Trek."

Me: (confused) "What do you mean?"

J: "It doesn't boldly go where no jeep has gone before."

Rory has started the mine phase. It is exhausting. Lorelei has started to be more independent and take care of herself. Now when Rory hollers "Mine!" at her or "Go away Lawlie!" or my favorite "Leave my Rory lone!" she reacts in a fashion we are not used to. Usually in her walker when these incidents happen she gives a war cry and torpedo's towards him. Her goal is to flatten him into a speed bump. The coming years should prove interesting. I am sensing a lot of time out, grounding, and spankings in their future.
I have been telling him that she was going to catch up and retaliate for the last 365 days of her existence. He did not believe me that she was keeping score. She is my daughter after all. I know how her mind works. When he least expects it, she will bring the pain.
So that is my midget war at home. How is your family doing?

Potty later

Rory and I were talking about the potty yesterday. I am determined to get him potty trained. He has zero interest in it. The conversation went something like this...

Me: See your elmo seat on the big potty? Don't you want to be a big boy like Daddy and go to the bathroom on your elmo seat instead of that baby diaper?

Rory: Daddy uses the big potty.

Me: Yes he does. Don't you want to use the big potty and be Mommy's big boy?

Rory: Later Mommy, later.

What do you say to that?

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

The time is 9:02 AM on April 9th, 2009. At this one year ago I was on my way to the OB praying to hear "Your dilated enough to be admitted for delivery!"
Alas it was not so. However stripping my membranes (sounds gross huh?) did start a domino effect that produced a beautiful baby girl we call Lorelei by 10:07 PM that night. I will skip the details of delivery cause let's face it, besides other mom's no one is interested.

The proof that our hard work had, er...paid off

Lorelei Ann born 10:07 PM 7Ilbs, 7ozs & 21 inches long

First time she saw herself in a mirror. She was delighted to see such a friendly face smiling back at her.

Hugging her stuffed cow during nap time. 0-3 mos.

Showing off her new girly hair accessories. 3-6 mos.

Cutie Pie! 6-9 mos.

Loving her Daddy. 9-12 mos

It has been a wonderful year filled with new adventures and at time less than happy moments. Seems to have flown by. Rory's first year did not sneak up on me as fast as this. I wouldn't trade a single minute of it. The good, the bad, or the colicky!

April 8th, 2009
Opening her Easter bucket with Mommy.

Servolution

Our troops do so much for our country. Agree with the war effort or do not but that fact remains. After long separations with their spouses it can be easy to forget to take the time to just be a couple again. With the gift baskets we made they get to have at least one date night.


Five of ten that where made. Each basket had two movie passes and one give certificate for dinner, and a combination of candles, lotion, massage oil, free Joe's Crab Shack appetizer, nail file, foot salve, bath fizzes, pair of patriotic earrings, makeup brushes in a carry pouch, and a thank you card for all they sacrifice for America.

Parker, Me, and Shelly. This was after we filled the first five one Sunday afternoon over at Shelly's house. She even made brownies for us. Such a sweetie my Shell Bell. Bradford could not be there as she was preparing a last minute trip home for the funeral of her Grandfather.



On the top is actually my good friend Hollin and her youngest of three kiddos. That is going to be his Easter basket once his mommy takes all her goodies out of it! Her hubby will be back from in July. They are planning a big trip to WDW after he returns.

On the bottom is R and her two gorgeous girls. Bradford threw her name into the hat as another woman who could use a little uplifting. She is a very tiny woman but so full of joy! Not only has she been taking care of her two munchkins but she runs a home daycare on the base! She helps out a lot of Servicemen and women everyday. Her husband is still currently deployed. Please keep him in your prayers!



Now we have M on the top. For a while it seemed we were destined to be two ships passing in the night! We played a lot of phone tag. In the end we managed to meet up so I could hand off her basket. Such a pretty young woman. Can you tell she just left a spinning class? I wish I looked that fresh and put together after a work out!

On the bottom is S. Another woman who is a real asset to the USAF. She also does the home daycare thing on base. The state and the base are both very strict with these ladies. It takes an amazing person to meet all the requirements and do such a fantastic job with our children. What a blessing they are!

Both of their husbands are still currently deployed. Please keep them in your prayers!



Mr. and Mrs S.
I was so excited that I caught a husband back from a recent deployment and at home. The fact that he was still in his uniform was just icing on the cake! You know those smiles are not for me. They are there because of how happy they are to be together again! I am so happy that they are going to have a chance to go out on the town soon for dinner and a movie!

This project has been such a blessing in my life. Five other women got baskets. One was delivered to a couple that had been back together for a week after an 18month separation. Each of these ten ladies had a different story that touched me profoundly. I think this is the part where I want to thank all the people and places that made this dream a reality.

Ryan who is the General Manager at Wehrenberg Theaters. He donated over $180 in free movie tickets!
Applebees
17th St. Grill
54th Street Grill
Chevy's Fresh Mex
Joe's Crab Shack
and Smokey Bones

And of course Grace Church, Bradford, Shelly, Parker, and Haseman! If I forgot someone I am so sorry, please do not be offended. I could not have done it with out you!

Maybe they are not so bad after all...

Quick note then on to the real post...
I finally broke down and watched Juno last night. I fast forwarded some. All in all it was a sweet movie about teenage pregnancy and adoption. I was really touched by the letter Juno leaves for adoptive Mom Vanessa (the one Vanessa frames). If you haven't seen it then I am not going to spoil it. If you have didn't that just hit you right in the heart? All I am going to say about that.

tarantulaguy1976's
My vote is not in favor of spiders. That being said I would like to say I have evolved a bit concerning them. My previous stance was total eradication. God created all his creatures for a reason as I have come to better understand. On YouTube I have been watching a guy who owns, breeds, and sells tarantulas. This man and his whole family care deeply for these critters and it shows. They have a huge spider named Zilla. She earned that name folks. Baby girl is one big creepy crawly! Lots of informative videos and tutorials. The thing that stuck out to me was a video that shows a T that has found himself stuck in molt (when they shed to grow). In the wild he would die or get eaten. Lucky for him he has such a nice man looking out for him. It was very delicate surgery but the two were extracted and all was well minus an injury that could not be avoided. Another video of a spider's egg sac being extracted was heartbreaking. The mother fought to give up her babies to be and then was devastated when they were gone. She looked all around her tank for the egg sac. I did not know that they were such good mommies. It had to be done and is part of the process for breeding but her "Daddy" was very upset that he made her so sad.

Do I like spiders in my house? No. Do I want to see anything suffer? Absolutely not! My tastes might run to the furry but with fewer legs as pets but even I can see the beauty in these huge arachnids. So as long as we can remain on opposite sides of the glass (same with snakes, lizards, scorpions, etc.) then I think we have an understanding.
Hats off to Tarantulaguy1976's and his wonderful family for doing a job I never could and doing so well!
Long live Zilla! I plan to keep an eye on her to see how big she gets!

I will not be rethinking how I feel about sharks so don't even ask.

Back to Business

I pride myself on being less delusional than the average human being when it comes to my own short comings. I do not see them all but I think the vast majority are documented. My new found need to become a Martha Stewart housekeeper is a huge improvement on my normal domestic skills. Martha would still have a cow at the lack of organization but I do not cringe when someone shows up on my doorstep. The recent bout of illness that swept through my house took no prisoners. I fell of the wagon and had to start over. Didn't have to worry about anyone in my house since we were all viral time bombs nut with the crises averted it is back to business as usual. The house smells like a pine forest now. Reminds me of TX without all the allergies.

Mom, Aunt B, and GG are in TX as we speak trying to fix a few details that are holding up the sale of Mom's house. I am taking advantage of the absence of extra bodies. Besides a good scrubby I plan to ditch, organize, and simplify. I have never been a minimalist but as my children grow so do the amount of stuff they own. Since I am not uber rich I cannot afford a house for each of us so I must streamline all the unused and uneeded junk that piles up so quickly. One thing this recent mass cohabitation with my extended family has taught me is that I could not be a mother of many. Kate Gosselin and that woman with the 18 kids whose name escapes, hats off to you ladies! I do not have your strength.

April fools

April first is known as April Fool's Day. People make it a mission to play joke and pranks of others. Once in Junior High my best friend expressed her undying love for me in a more than platonic way. At the bottom of the letter was P.S. April fools written in teeny tiny script. It was the one and only joke that has ever been played on me for this historic day of jokes. This year the cosmos got in on the action. I kid. It was just a day full of bad coincidences for me.

First the Postal service has raised the price of the stamp. Grrr. I send a lot of paperback books by mail. It is part of the online swap I am a member of. This causes me to use a lot of stamps. The average book uses six stamps to mail. I use 100 stamps just about every 2 weeks. It is still cheaper to use the online swap than to buy the books new but at this rate it won't last long.

After my trip to the USPS I went to walmart. Walking down the Easter aisle I slipped and barely caught myself before I landed bottom first in a lovely puddle of vomit. My first thought was that some one had walked off and left it for some unsuspecting person to step in. As I began to insert my foot in my mouth a flustered mother comes over with a teary eyed toddler in her cart. She had gone to alert a store manager about the problem and had returned to the scene to keep watch over it. Now I just feel like a heel. I made some quick small talk and wished her well.

Got my groceries and left the store to find my car in the parking lot. Two other women were behind me. We had parked across the aisles from one another. I was right next to the cart return. After filling my trunk and putting my cart back I got in the car. Threw it into reverse and my back up sensors began to wail. I couldn't see anything on my cameras so I slowly began to ease back. The woman across the aisle had put her cart behind my car. I had to get out and move it before I was able to drive away. How you could be so blatantly rude is beyond me.

How was your april fools?

No Obama but here are the rest!

My mention of Former Presidents and First Ladies in my family tree yesterday peaked the interest of a few. If you are curious which Presidents/First Ladies I claim as family you can click on here to read an old post about them. It will also tell you a few more famous or interesting people are among my relations. Mom spent a considerable amount of money and most of the year 2007 and 2008 working on our family tree. Once she got to a certain point (like 1546 AD) the website was able to show her who is who among the famous and how they got there by mapping it out person to person. It was pretty neat!

my cousin Obama?

I like so many have a Facebook account. In my email this morning I found a letter stating that Barack Obama says your related. We're Related is an application I have on my account. While I am related to three former Presidents and four former First Ladies, I somehow doubt the current Mr. President and I are going to be attending the same reunions. I tried to follow the link to check it out but the applications is down. Whatcha want to bet that it is some punk kid? Strange age we live in when the President has Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, Etc.

That probably makes me sound like some one not born in the age of computers. I promise I was. I just see the irony of such a silly people meeting website including the man who runs our entire country as a member. Well I have to go. Inigo the pug with zero common sense is trying to play a rousing game of chase with Miss Kitty aka Schizo Kitty. This could end in stitches.