A Week of Winter Woes and Influenza... and a little bit of talk about a giveaway.

How was your Holiday weekend?

(If you're wondering I'm referring to the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday... I'm just really slow at this)

It's always nice to have those long weekends, especially if they follow a week that you were so eager to have end for whatever the reason... My reason, none other than looking forward to having time to catch up on house work that piled up when I was sick.  

Yeah, that didn't happen.

Sam came down with something that hit full force Saturday night.  

By full force I mean woke up in a hallucination panic as a result of a 104 point something fever that had shown no signs prior to putting him to bed that night.  He remained miserable with a very stubbornly high fever for several days following.  

My weekend off turned into a weekend full of fulfilling my nursing duties as a mother.  Administering medications every three hours around the clock, and of course left with clean up duty from those cough so hard you puke moments.  Yes, momentS... several of them.  All the while feeling helpless because I just couldn't make him feel better and I just couldn't get that darn fever under control.

We hit the doctors come Monday after he had no signs of improvement.  They swabbed him for influenza and though we have yet to receive test results back I'm willing to bet he was positive.  Of course the doctors these days can't really tell you exactly what is going on, it's more of a guessing game.   This time around our guessing game consisted of multiple antibiotics and upwards of $60 in hard earned cash.  At the very least one thing was made certain....

Sam had "an unknown object" lodged deep into his left ear that would require removal from an ENT (specialist) on a later date.  

Great... JUST GREAT! 

On the up side... I did fit in a little bit of fun time too.  

Saturday morning I ventured out with Brenna, as Bill and Sam took off for the motorcycle store (pre-illness mind you), for a little girl bonding and shopping.  We pick up my lil' sis Skylar on our way too.  It was a good day, though I failed to find what I was looking for.  In case you're wondering that would be pants that fit my chicken legs, flat butt, and wide hips without leaving me walking around with a very obvious camel toe.  What's the deal with pants these days?  Don't those designers know that we all don't maintain that high school figure for our entire life?  I mean I have reached the point in life that comfort hold priority over vanity.  I'm just not willing to walk around with my pants snug in all the wrong places, just so some unknown persons can get a nice look at what's meant to be hiding beneath the clothes.

PANTS WEREN'T MEANT TO BE MUNCHED!

Seriously though... am I the only one with this problem?  I sure hope not otherwise I may be forced to seek professional help.

Anyway, though I failed miserably in the shopping department, it was an over all good day because it was time spent with some awesome littles.  

Sunday offered up some more good weekend times as well with time spent with my Mom and siblings in celebration of her Birthday.  She is the most amazing 33 year old I know.  HA!  No joke though, she is an amazing woman and I think she deserves to be celebrated everyday, not just her birthday.  I'm blessed with a beautiful mother and I'm grateful for the sacrifices she has made for  my personal happiness.  I know from experience that as a mother nothing means more than knowing that your children love you and appreciate you.  So Mom, I want you to know just that.  I want you feel that wonderful feeling a mother feels when her child tells her she is loved and appreciated.  You know that feeling when you heart feels like it might burst out of your chest, your cheeks warm, and those happy tears start welling in your eyes...

I love you Mom. 

I appreciate you Mom.

I am grateful you chose to give me life...

And I'm so grateful for you.

Happy 33rd Birthday.

xoxo

(You have that feeling yet?  K. Good.)

Sam and Bill unfortunately missed out on this celebration because of Sam's being sick.  

That was pretty much the extent of my long holiday weekend...

Pretty exciting huh?

Tuesday Bill took the day off to stay home with Sam and play Mommy nurse as best he could with Sam while I went to work.  I had to take Wednesday duty with Sam (yet another doctors appointment to attend to) so we both had to take a day.  We all know how hard it is to go back to school and work after a long weekend.  Preschoolers are no exception.  They were antsy as was I.  It wasn't a terribly rough day, but it was obvious that not a single person who walked through our classroom door was happy to be there.  Those days are just always rough even if there isn't any stand out moments to blame the roughness on.  

Wednesday Sam and I were off to the doctors again...

This time to the ENT to have that unknown object removed from his ear.  Upon arrival it was made known that that unknown object wasn't just secluded to one ear... rather there were now unknown objects to talk about.  One in each ear.  Both deep inside, sitting on his ear drums.  This was NOT a fun experience.  It hurt. He cried.  I had to be strong and sit back as the doctor hurt my baby. Again, NOT FUN!  The ordeal was over quickly and we walked out that door in very minimal time, but not after forking out another $60+ in co-pays and prescriptions along with a scheduled hearing test and follow up visit for next week.  Ugh.  

Thursday brought with it freezing rain.  It was very unwelcome and much unappreciated.  I'm so over winter.  In case you missed it, refer back to my last post HERE. At this point, I just think it is all a very cruel joke.  Ice skating is meant for a rink... NOT the streets, parking lots, and sidewalks thank you very much.  Thursday at work didn't prove to be any easier than Tuesday.  I think this is a result of the unforgiving weather we have had here.  Everyone is anxious and board with having to be indoors ALL the time.  The lack of Vitamin D isn't helping things either.  I'm almost certain that every person living in this state is not far from being admitted to psych wards.  We are all going absolutely crazy.  Wonder if we can get  discounts on straight jackets if we order in bulk?  It's a thought. 

Before I go on another long rant about how miserable I am with our Alaskan like weather I'll stop here.  

Thursday also brought with it report cards...

I'm proud.

VERY PROUD.  

Both kids are excelling in school and I am so very pleased.  Sam has begun to read.  Though I'm proud this does make me a little sad to see my baby pick up a book and read it.  Brenna just flies through her work without much effort.  I'm have still yet to see the day that one of my children are faced with a bit of an academic struggle, and  I'm okay with that.  I'd be completely content if I never have to witness that struggle.  I personally had a love/hate relationship with school and Bill just flat out hated it so I am happy to see that my kids love it.  They love to learn and enjoy every moment doing so.

It's Friday.  Thank GOD for Friday.  I went and got coffee alone today.  Had a conversation with a friend that I haven't had much time to chat with. Then went and helped with reading in Sam's class.  Yes, I love teaching so much that I volunteer my time on my day's off.  Nice thing about volunteering my time is that I get to leave when I decide.  Today's volunteer work was short and sweet.  An hour is all, but Sam was happy.  That's what mattered.  We even managed to reach temperatures above freezing today.  Though that 35 degrees didn't last long... I was VERY grateful for that heat wave.  I almost busted out the flip flops!

Right.......

This weekend we have BIG plans.  Because the kids did so well on their report cards they are being rewarded for their hard efforts at school.  Sam and Bill are headed off to the Monster Trucks tomorrow night and Brenna and I are going to go get our creativity on at ColorMeMine.  I am SO excited for the day I have planned for Brenna and I.  A friend of mine did this with her girls and I have been wanting to experience this with Brenna ever since I saw how much fun they had.  I was just waiting for the right time.  No better time than now!  An added benefit of doing this with her tomorrow is that they are hosting a pajama night so now Brenna and I get to go out and buy some matching jammies to wear.  FUN!  

(It also helps that if we come in jammies we get in for a VERY discounted rate... BONUS!)

What will your weekend bring?  Sure hope it's good...

Before I go I must say this...

My sister is having a giveaway over at her blog.  If you love blogging and reading blogs as much as I do this is a giveaway that I'm sure you'll want to get in on.  AND this giveaway will give you something to do while we all continue to hide away from the nasty winter that lingers outside... What better past time than reading? 

She is giving away a book over at her blog this week.  

This book is about blogging... not HOW TO blog, but rather funny stories from the blogging world.  Learn more about these books HERE. Then head on over to my sister's blog HERE to enter to win! 

Happy Weekend everyone!

Bullying, Farting, and Young Love...

Today the school held an assembly about Bullying,

Today I have now heard my children call one another a bully countless times... Imagine that.

Isn't that usually how it is?  Teach a child some useful information and they turn it around and use the information in the very way it was NOT intended to be used?

Well, that's how it is with my kids....

They are now bullying one another by use of the word Bully. 

Today Sam accidentally kicked Brenna and didn't say sorry.  According to Brenna, he is now a Bully.

Today Brenna took Sam's spot next to me on my bed.

According to Sam, she is now a Bully.

Today both kids recited some VERY important information they learned in this assembly...

"Don't stand by, Be an Alibi!"

(Really this is suppose to be "Don't stand by, Be an Ally!")

I thought that to be quite the funny interpretation of what they thought they learned.  

Not sure my kids gained a whole lot from this bullying assembly... Wonder how many more times I can count them calling one another a Bully before bed.

Any guesses?

Well, +1 happened JUST NOW!

Anyway, I had to share this little bit of information shared with me by Sam's little girlfriends mom...

Aubrielle turned five today.

You can read about that HERE

(Have I ever told ya'll how much I LOVE her little family? In case I haven't... I LOVE THAT SMITH FAMILY!)

Sam worked very hard on this card for her...

Not sure how well you can see it, but the card reads "Happy Birthday to... My Aubrielle."  It's what he asked for me to help him write, then I left him to decorate the card by himself.  I came back to find a picture of him and her, which he was quick to point out that his legs are longer than hers because he IS a little bit taller than her..."RIGHT MOM?" (apparently his manhood rides upon being a little bit taller than her). They are walking hand in hand, surrounded by a ton of hearts and flowers.  He wrote I love you 3 different times on the card.  I guess one time just isn't enough...

He very shyly gave this card to Aubrielle this morning, to which she so graciously accepted the card with a hug and a smile.  Apparently she sat with this card in her lab, admiring it through the first part of class today, and apparently those 3 I love you's did the trick...

She told her mom, "Sam really does love me Mom!" 

Cute right?

Well, it gets better.  Shelley (Aubrie's mom) came to tell me about how Aubrielle's party plans were coming.  Sweet Aubrie has been SO concerned with making sure that Sam has fun at her party so she has made all her birthday party choices based upon whether it can be for both boys and girls.  They are having a late night movie party and will be watching Little Rascals (because Sam will like it too). Party favors even include mustaches and WHOOPEE cushions because "Sam will LOVE that, Boys like farting!"

Now if you knew Aubrielle, you would totally understand just how much this shows her love for our little Sam.  She is a TOTAL girly girl and farting is just not something to be expected of a princess like her.  Yet here she is incorporating farting into her party just for her Sam.  Sounds to me like our Sam has found himself a keeper.  Already offering compromise to ensure the happiness of the one she loves... and he does the same for her.  

Young Love, It's the BEST! 

Speaking of farting... How is a teacher suppose hold her composure in class when a student rips a big one at circle time?  THAT happened yesterday and let me tell you... Holding a straight face was much more difficult than I had anticipated. 

Happy 7th Birthday to my Lou

WHAT?!?!?!

That can't be right...

7???

Yup, it's true...

My first born, my princess, my mini-me, my little raven, my baby girl, my Brenna Lou is 7 years old today.

Now I could make that so often used statement of "this makes me REALLY old," BUT when I said this to Brenna last night while tucking her into bed her response was...

"No you're not mom.  You are young, and you are BEAUTIFUL... But Dad, he's really old!"

So rather than making this post about just how OLD my baby girl turning seven makes me feel I am going to make it about just how WISE my 7 year old is.

Above statement proves that she is wise beyond her seven years... 

Her Dad is REALLY old.
I'm still rockin' my 20's

(for another seven months that is...)

Okay, okay... now lets get serious here.

Brenna seriously blows me away daily.  I really catch myself thinking "How did I get so lucky to be blessed with such amazing kids?" on a regular basis.  I have never met a seven year old with the maturity level of Brenna's.  She is such an old soul in a young little body.  We were told a time or twenty by Bill's Grandpa Tomlin that he believed a little piece of Maurine (Bill's Grandma Tomlin) was sent back to this earth in Brenna.  The more time goes by and the more of Brenna's little personality comes shining through I too have begun to believe that Bill's Grandpa could have been right.  Brenna has a very subtle way about her.  She is very observant and cautious.  She is very good at reading people and knows very quickly who she does and does not want to invest her time and energy into building relationships with.  Now I didn't get to spend much time with Bill's Grandma Tomlin, but there are things I see in Brenna that remind me so much of the woman I was able to get to know.  Brenna has this way of carrying herself.  She is very modest, poised, proper.... Elegant.  Watching Brenna walk and dance really can be mesmerizing.  She carries herself so well it almost seems as though she is floating.  

(I probably sound crazy... forgive me)

I saw Bill's Grandma Tomlin much in this same light.  Had I not known better I would have sworn that Bill's Grandma Tomlin would have been some kind of royalty because she really did have that same elegance that Brenna exudes.  

This elegance doesn't just apply to Brenna's outward appearance, but is also present in her inward person.  

She has been faced with a bit more tests this past year in her social life (having started school and all).  Situations that in many cases would result in a child her age having melt downs, a lack of self worth, really struggling to find their place.  Brenna, however, is not affected in the same way you would assume a child her age would be.  In fact she allows very little to change who she is, how she feels about herself, or how she feels about others.  Brenna holds strong to forming her own opinions about most everything in life based upon her own experiences and/or findings.  Just because Bob doesn't like Fred, and Fred is her best friend, doesn't mean Brenna won't be Bob's friend as it would in many cases with children of this age.  Brenna is very much the opposite.  She has stumbled upon a few situations in fact where this same type of mind set has been present.  I must say that I am VERY proud with the way my little girl dealt with these situations.  Like I said... she is a wise little one and I am certain it was gifted from someone above. 

In the last year Brenna has transformed so much.  She went from being seen still as my baby to this young lady.  Though she will forever remain my baby girl, most all of her baby like features have vanished and she is so NOT little.  One day (sooner than later I'm sure) she will tower over me.  She is smart!  She is currently well above average in all areas academically and continues to just breeze by with what seems to require very little effort on her part.  She just gets it... ALL OF IT!  One of my FAVORITE parts of the changes and growth that Brenna has made this past year is that she is more interested in talking to me about serious stuff.  She confides in me about boys, friends, things that make her happy and sad, school... all those things that mom's love to talk to their kids about.  One of my most recent favorite topic choices between she and I has to be one we had about how it's okay be different and unique.  Along with how important it is to be accepting of differences in others as well.  This conversation was sparked by the recent charity event the kids and I attended for children with Down Syndrome.  I should have known better than to assume that my kids would be a bit thrown off or caught off guard by the children they would encounter at this event.  My kids really are some of the most accepting children I know.  The questions they had really had nothing to do with why these kids were different or why they had physical differences.  The most my kids wanted to know about these kids was why we were helping them because they saw them as equals to them.  They looked past these differences and saw kids, just like them.  Kids that liked the same things they did and kids that really were fun to be around.  This event struck a soft spot with me to begin with.  I loved every moment spent at this event, but what really tugged on my heart strings was what I witnessed with my own kids.  Many kids would be frightened by such differences in people, but mine weren't even phased by different.  I am so proud knowing that different doesn't phase them. 

I see a very bright and successful year to come for my little girl.  I know that she will continue to surprise me and make me proud.  I know that seven really isn't that old, but I feel that this little girl and I have really begun to develop a mother/daughter relationship that far exceeds anything I ever imagined.  She really is a brilliant child, with a heart larger than life.  I look forward to continuing to watch her transform into what I am sure will be nothing short of pure perfection.  

I would have never believed that ones heart could hold the capacity of love that mine holds for my children.  In the 7 years that I have been a mom, I have gained a great knowledge and appreciation for the term "A mother's love runs deep."  Every ounce of me lives for these children of mine. 

Happy Birthday, my Little Lou.

Mommy loves you more than most...

A Pre-Birthday Celebration

My birthday falls on Mother's Day this year.

This means I either get really spoiled or really jipped.

Julie/Mom decided to take me out to lunch and a pedicure accompanied by my fabulous, amazing, fun, beautiful sisters. 

I'm going with 

SPOILED

This year!

We all met up at Cafe Rio in Sandy for an early lunch.  The food was good, but the company was even better!  We sat, chatted, and just enjoyed one another.  

Sister Steph has a picture of us sisters, I'm waiting for that so I can steal a copy. (hint hint)

After lunch we headed over to the Walmart to get our DELUXE pedicures...

AND THEY WERE AWESOME!

(We missed having Kimmy with us for the pedicures, she had to head home after lunch to a hungry husband and lots of yard work)

Sister Steph, Mom/Julie getting started... Kristin just "soaking" her feet,
Little did she know, the soaking wasn't going to cut it with us!

Warming my feet in the blue water....

Question,

Is the water blue cause they put some kind of special foot stuff in it, or do they make it blue just cause it's pretty?  

I must say, nothing beats a good foot/leg massage...

I don't care who it is.

I don't have any weird phobias about people touching my feet.

I LOVE A FOOT RUB!

Now Kristin on the other hand was not having the whole someone touching her feet thing.  

She was NOT down for a pedicure, or anything that came with it.

Though the little lady at the nail place was hell bent and determined for Kristin to get her deluxe pedi too.

And she did...

AND OF COURSE SHE LIKED IT!

Kristin getting her pedi on...

We all got dipped in wax, rubbed up, and pretty fabulous toes!

Kristin and Sister Steph

I think it is safe to say that this will be a repeat event for us all... 

Including Kristin!

Me and Julie/Mom

THANK YOU
Julie/Mom and my sisters for spoiling me and spending the day with me!

It was so wonderful to have a day with you all.

I love you guys so very much and couldn't have been blessed with a better family.

XOXO

And aren't these some awesomely cute toes? 

How To: Angry Birds Cake Pops

I have had several people ask me how I made the cake pops for Sam's 5th Birthday Party.  I decided to make a little tutorial so you can all attempt them at home.  I first searched the internet for someone else to tell me how to do it, but failed miserably which left me scrambling to get in touch with my creative side.  Sam had demanded cake pops for his birthday for two months prior so I had already purchased a cake pop baking pan from Bed, Bath, and Beyond.

First step is to bake the cake pops and then set them out to cool.

Once they are cooled and baked, the next step is to insert and secure the sucker sticks.  To do this, melt a small amount of melting chocolate (I found mine at Michael's).  Dip the sucker stick into the chocolate and insert into the cake ball.  Place in fridge or freezer for 10-20 minutes allowing the chocolate to cool completely and stay secure in the cake while dipping in the next step.

While the cake pops set in the fridge/freezer I melted a small amount of green chocolate.  I then drizzled the chocolate into small (pig nose size) dots onto wax paper.  Be sure to make enough dots for the amount of pigs you wish to make.  Place those in the fridge to set as well. 

(I did not take a picture of this step, I apologize.)

Once the cake pops are set and the sticks are secure you will melt the remainder of your green chocolate.  Begin carefully dipping your cake into the green chocolate spinning slowly to coat the entire ball of cake.  Slowly remove from chocolate and continue to spin slowly over the bowl helping the excess chocolate drip off.  

For the pigs helmets I just used chocolate sprinkles.  Once the excess chocolate is off, dip the ball a little less than half way into the chocolate sprinkles.  At this point you will need to place the eyes and noses of the pigs as well.  For the noses I removed from the wax paper and placed the flat side out making for a good finish for the pig nose.  The eyes I used white chocolate chips, but pre-cut the tips off of them.  Set pops on wax paper to allow chocolate to begin to harden.  

This is what your pig will look like while the chocolate sets and hardens.

I had a little helper

Once the chocolate is completely hardened I did the finishing touches to the pig.  I just used black icing and dotted the eyes, the nose, and made a little mouth.

And here is the final thieving pig!

For the Birds I used much of the same technique, but obviously skipped the dipping in the sprinkles step and there was no need to place a nose before the chocolate is dry.  And I obviously used red melting chocolate.  

I used the same white chocolate for the eyes, placed right after dipping then set on wax paper to dry.  I used the same black icing after the chocolate had hardened for the eyes and brows.  I also placed some small tail feathers on the back in black also.  

For the beak I just used orange icing.  

The finished Angry Red Bird

The cake pops should be stored in the fridge until ready to serve.  

And here are the finished pops!

Useful Tips:

The amount of cake balls made with one cake mix can be coated with one bag of chocolate that I purchased from Michael's so long as you allow the excess chocolate to drip off as needed. 

As you can see from my red pops, the tops ended up flat because of how I placed them on the wax paper to cool. The ones dipped in sprinkles did not have this issue, so if you want to make a clean, smooth overall cake pop, consider using foam purchased at any craft store to insert sticks while the chocolate sets.  

I hope this helps others while attempting to make your own Angry Birds cake pops.  I know I would have found something like this useful when I started, but I am happy with how they turned out.  I would like to attempt to make the other colored birds at some point... Maybe when my son turns 6?

Gives me a year to recoup from this year!

Let's Celebrate... SAM IS 5!

Sam I am is 5.

This year he chose an Angry Birds birthday party theme.

Believe it or not, even wit how popular this android game has become, there aren't a whole lot of options out there where it comes to birthday parties.  Initially this was frustrating, but I pulled my head together and began brain storming. 

I started out with the decor ideas... I had initially planned to decorate balloons like angry birds, but lets face it, that's a whole heck of a lot of work to do in a day.  So I just stuck with simple balloons and table coverings.  I made a little sign as well.  

The birthday boy waiting for friends to arrive

Now every birthday kid needs a birthday hat.  Girls it's easy, crown/tiara and they are happy being princess for a day regardless of the theme.  I ran across this little red fisherman's hat at the dollar store... I thought I would try to do something fun with it and this is what I came up with.

Not that's a cute kid!

Sam and his big sis.  

Pretty simple decor.  I needed to make sure that the decor was easy because I devoted SO much time to those Angry Birds Cake pops.

I didn't originally plan to make a cake, but I ran out of sucker sticks for the cake pops so I had to find something to do with all these extra cake balls.  

The unplanned birthday cake.

These cake pops took me two days to make, and quite frankly I am very proud of them. I searched the internet for some tutorials on how to make these or even some inspiration and really couldn't find anything so I had to just wing it.  I personally feel they turned out great.  I will post a step by step how to on how I did these in another post so be watching for that soon! 

I may have went a little overboard....

The thieving pigs...

And the red Angry bird.

I am still not 100% sold on using these little bowls to display/set them out.  I also need to find a better way to let the chocolate dry on the ones that aren't being dipped in sprinkles... The tops end up looking kind of lame.  

The kids played outside for a little bit while we waited for friends to arrive and of course his Aubrielle was the first to show up.  He was excited to see her.  

Sam and his girly friend Aubrielle

We played, well popped, the balloons in the front room for a little bit.

Then moved onto pin the nose on the thieving pig.  I knew I needed to come up with something to entertain the kids.  My first thoughts were to create some sort of fair games... Well this wasn't exactly MY idea, Shelley over at The House Of Smith's so kindly helped with this suggestion. And it was a great one, only time wasn't permitting me to create some fun games like those you see at the fair... you know the ones where you throw a ball at the milk jugs or a bean bag through a clowns mouth.  Anyway, I came up with pin the nose on the thieving pig, which took me all of about 15 minutes to draw and an extra 5 to decorate with a crown and golden egg.  I think it was a hit with the kids, and when they were all done we went in order by who got the closest and all of the kids picked prizes.    

Sam goes first!

See his nose?

After the game we all sat down and watched Sam open his presents.  He really got a lot of GREAT things and is very fortunate to already have some great friends.  

Thanks Jacob!

Thanks Jaycee and Amaya!

Thanks Weston!

Thanks Connor!

Thanks Aubrielle!  In the words of Sam "I've always wanted one of these!"  Good pick Aubs!

Thanks Aunt Jaime and Cousins...

Aunt Jaime's card even played the chicken dance, so of course we HAD to do it!

Me and Sam gettin' our chicken dance on while everyone else just watched and laughed.

Thanks Grammy, Andy, Uncle Alex, and Uncle Bronson!

And of course Thanks Mommy, Daddy, and Sissy!

Time to make a wish and blow out his candles...

I really hope that Sam enjoyed his party as much as I enjoyed making it happen.  It was so much fun to be creative and make this party a success.  

On a little side note...

Aubrielle was VERY excited about this little umbrella.

She chose this as her prize in our game and was dancing around, spinning it.  She said, "I just love this, I've never had a kite this color before!" 

Ha!  Kids are so much fun!

Sam and his favorite girl in the world (aside from his Mama of course!)