bad week

well, this was an "ice-cream w/ cherry on top" week. well, no; not really.

I picked up a bug from work last weekend, I have two prime suspects in mind, and am fairly sure what I had, neither requiring antibiotics, merely time flat on my back in bed since monday...time I really didn't have to be flat on my back in bed.  But there I was in bed feeling like a ton of bricks landed on me.  Meanwhile, we find out on Monday that Bub has grown/developed/advanced enough that he doesn't "Need" summer school.  Yayee for Bub, but boo for me and Joe.

We are freaking out.  what the eff are we going to do for 3 months?  no horse riding all summer.... no school... no little friends to expect to see...  no bus ride...  no packing lunches/breakfasts in the am w/ momma... no ritual of getting the backpack and jumpsuit... more...

so I'm in bed half dead and freaking out.  Joe is struggling to occupy a very intent on being contrary Zber, and a Bub who misses seeing momma doing the momma stuff around the house.  I stayed in my room so they wouldn't get sick from kissing on me.  It seems to have worked. so the house is a disaster.

Living room before I got sick

Kitchen before I got sick

Living room Saturday nite

Living room saturday nite

Kitchen saturday nite

I worked Saturday night, and wasn't tired this morning yet, so I tackled the dishes and made french toast.  Joe helped get the kids dressed for church and we went.  disaster.  we made it 1 hour into the service.

Bub was angry that Grandma didn't bring HER Ipad...his wasn't good enough. (Grandma didn't think we would make it since I worked last nite)  Z didn't want to sit still, and kept screaming "no" at every attempt to do something quiet.  Joe was not feeling well.  I had been up for 21 hrs at that point.  we left.  didn't have the power to keep at it.  neither the packet of starburst Grandma fed Bub nor the sensory soothers I was doing to Bub seemed to be helping, and Z was jealous both of us were focusing on keeping Bub from crying/screaming.  So we left church.  All I can say is, I really tried.

I stayed up until 4 today so Joe could start on mowing the lawn, it's been so rainy (thank God for the rain!!!) that he hasn't been able to get to it, and we have a wilderness on our lot that I am heartily ashamed of.  It was so bad that Joe decided to borrow his parent's tractor mower rather than even attempt it w/ our push mower.  well, a belt broke just as he finished the front lawn, so tomorrow while I sleep, he will be purchasing a new belt and attempting to fix it so he can finish the lawn...but in the meantime we are forcasted for more rain in the next day or two.  So the wilderness continues.

My hope of starting a container garden this week will have to wait until at least Thursday.    meanwhile, maybe I can get the house back up to snuff.  maybe. 

I passed out around 4pm today, and got up around 11pm.  Now I'm just trying to motivate myself to NOT go to the 24 hr Whataburger and stay home and start cooking some stuff so Joe can feed the kiddos some good food for the next two days I work and not feed the kids nuggets and hotdogs.  lol    But I really want a cheeseburger and onion rings.  I really suck.  lol

Nite, here's hoping for a better week.  :)  At least I got the kitchen cleaned up this morning. 


nubs

The things my parents did to us...episode Ghandi

Today, for some reason Joe and I were talking & I brought up the memory that my parents once took us to see the movie "Ghandi" which is a very long movie.  I think I was 5 or 6, so Ross was like 4 or so, and Anya was around 10 or 11.  I'm pretty sure it was a theater in Uptown on Lake or Lindale.  All I really remember was that it was a LOOONG movie, and very boring.  It was the only time in my life that I remember my dad giving us money to get us our of his hair...usually he threatened us w/ "the Belt"  (which I did get once...but that's another story....) to keep us in line, but I suspect he refrained from that threat (which usually ended in terrified screams and tears) because we were in public and he actually wanted to watch the movie and not have to comfort 3 squalling kids and not get "the look" from my mom. 

So I'm describing this to Joe, how me and Ross bought jujubees, and that it was the worst dried up and old candy we had ever had and how we snuck up to the balcony and tried to hit people w/ the jujus, and how Anya was hissing at us that we would get a huge spanking from dad at home if w didn't stop...and it occured to me....WHY did they bring us to a 4+hr long documentary-like movie?

I called them today to find out.  They claim not to remember exactly.  I asked if it was because they didn't/couldn't find a babysitter?  Dad said he wanted us to learn something.  (he was laughing while telling me this)

I remember lots of different babysitters and only a few that we had more than one time.  I am starting to suspect that the three of us were the "Calvin and Hobbs" of the neighborhood when we were little.

Happy Thanksgiving!

This year is a year to be thankful about.  Zber is slowly beginning to verbalize, she now will "Moo" with me, and we are still hearing "up" and "no" and "byebye"  Bub is able to write his entire alphabet and 1-20 all by himself w/o any prompting.  Joe has started designing again, and I have a new job in a pediatric unit.

We are going to Grandma Dorlaine's and Grandpa Ken's for Thanksgiving lunch in a little bit. My contribution is broccoli salad and a dairy-free version of Chocolate trufle pie.  One of the BEST chocolate pies I ever had, thank you to Lindy Loo from "Yeah, that Vegan Shit".  but although we are not vegan (at all) vegan recipes are the best for us to use for deserts for Bub's food allergy to all and any milk products.

so I am off to shower and wake zber from her nap (she has been enormously crabby today).  Love you all, and God Bless us all!

Nubs

This posting is a real facebook conversation I had

 This posting is a real facebook conversation I had w/ one of my friends from childhood who also has a son with autism.  Names are changed to protect our children, families, and people who don't get it...

Please enjoy the music....

POSTING ON Facebook:

Article: Son with autism elopes, reminds parents to remain vigilant

Holly:   Henry is prone to wandering. This article really explains the fear and panic you go through as a parent. The last time Henry wandered off I found him at the neighbors house. Since we were planning to go there later in the day, it was the first place I looked. I just pray that he doesn't wander again.

• • Muppethead:   Bub wandered off from us once when a bunch of family was visiting. I don't like having lots of people over anymore because of it. Way too distracting to have people to entertain and risk losing track of where he is. I never want to go thru that again.
    

    41 minutes ago ·
  • 
    

    Holly:  I feel the same way. I do not have "fun" when we do have people over because I feel that I have to watch Henry the whole time. People probably think I am rude when in mid conversation I bolt because Henry is leaving the room.
    

    38 minutes ago ·
  • 
    

    Muppethead:  I know. and then other family members get upset because you don't want to do big reunions or holiday get-togethers. Every time I bring Bub to one I am a mess!
    

    37 minutes ago ·  
  • 
    

    Holly:  Yup I totally agree. The work and the emotional toll being out at something like that is so hard to explain. The older Henry gets the less I enjoy hosting Thanksgiving with everyone. It is my favorite holiday, but at 7 Henry can let himself right out of the house with ease. When he was 4 I could lock the door and feel pretty secure he wouldn't get out. No longer.
    

    31 minutes ago ·
  • 
    

    Muppethead:  Last Christmas, at grandma's with all the relatives visiting...Bub got so upset he stripped. I was actually happier with that than the time he ran off.
    

    29 minutes ago · ·
  • 
    

    Holly:  At Christmas I try to pick a room that can be just for Henry. I take him to that room first and we sit down and talk about our safe room. I tell him that if things are too loud or hurting him that he can go to this room to calm his body and get away from everything. Then when I see things getting too crazy for him, I suggest the room. "Henry do you need to go to the safe room?" He usually replies with a very thankful "yes" and off we go to the safe room. (sometimes I wish I had my own safe room...tee hee)
    
    
    Muppethead
  • can I take our string of comments and use it as my next blog entry? would you be ok with that
  • 
    

    47 minutes ago

    Holly:
    

    that is a-ok with me. I am just hoping my family actually reads it. more specifically my in laws. did I ever tell you that *deleted*  asked me when Henry would be cured?
  • 
    

    46 minutes ago

    Muppethead

    • REALLY?!? Did you tell him Henry will be cured when *deleted's* brain starts working?
    • I would be super upset...
  • 
    

    45 minutes ago

    HollyI was super upset, but I know *deleted* is just old and doesn't really understand
  • 
    

    44 minutes ago

    Muppethead

    • Back to the reunion- ... watching Bub streak... *I was laughing my ass off on the inside...*
  • 
    

    43 minutes ago

    Holly
    

    but that is exactly what I was thinking, he will be cured when your "foot in mouth" disorder is cured
    that is super funny on the streaking...it is sometimes nice to be able to look back on it and realize that now people will better understand

    • 
      
  • 
    

    44 minutes ago

    Muppethead

    • I'm sorry you have to go thru that.
  • 
    

    43 minutes ago

    Holly

    • good to hear that there is progress
    • I think there is progress with our family too, it goes in spurts
  • 
    

    42 minutes ago

    Muppethead

    • yes. A lot. oddly..I think Henry has helped MY parents better understand what life w/ Bub is like. They tell me about you and Henry a lot. :)
  • 
    

    41 minutes ago

    Holly

    • that is good
    • did they witness the meltdown at Sunday School Rally day on Sunday?
  • 
    

    38 minutes ago

    Muppethead

    • It would only have been Dad. Mom's in CA
      
      
      
  • We go on like this for another hour or so. It's nice to have friends that get it.  that I don't have to go into great and detailed background with...that I can say "elopement" and they say.."Yes!  That happened to us too!  It was the most horrible thing that ever happened to me!!!"  
    Although, I am not happy that this has happened to my friend...I'm just happy I can talk to her and not get the "yeah...here's another crazy B...run away" look.
    Gnite folks.  :) 

"That's it...no more Christmas cards for you"

I got home from church and wrote a really bitter hurting blog about a passive-aggressive coward I sorta encountered (they were passive-aggressive...so it wasn't a REAL encounter...just a sorta encounter). Then I saved it into my edit posts and didn't publish it because I felt that in doing so I would be a passive-aggressive coward.  I don't want to be that.  I would like to hope that if I have to say something to someone, I would say it to their face and not hide behind my blog hoping they get it.  I would also hope that I am a big enough person that I could let this go without needing to take a trip to my friendly family doctor to see about getting a Rx to a friendly anti-anxiety pill....but the anxiety and anger and pissiness increases 10fold each week I have a sorta encounter with this person.  I haven't made it a real encounter yet because I don't quite trust myself not to say something mean, cruel, ugly and hateful.  So I do what I always do when I feel this way.  I shut the eff up.and I nod and smile.  and my friends ask me why I'm not getting that friendly Rx for an anti-anxiety pill.

after a while I talked to my Dad.  Now my Dad is the OPPOSITE of passive-aggressive. He "brags" about scaring the crap out of a coworker that called him a "damn Russian" back in the 60s   (although he denies it mostly...he's more proud about being Ukrainian than he lets on...)  and fortunately/unfortunately I take after my Dad, especially in temperament and personality. getting his take helped, although I had to explain to my Dad the equivalent  to him of my complaint would be like people who stop sending him Christmas cards one year and never send them again.  He laughed at that.  That I can make my Dad laugh while I'm all pissy and mad did help me cheer a bit.  but then, Dad and I do best when we sally at each other in mock arguments.  lol.  Mom hates that.  we're shouting and yelling at each other and we mean "I love you" and understand it back from the other.  She gets it, but she doesn't like it.  I don't do that with Mom, just Dad.  Don't even do it with Joe.  When me and Dad start, Joe goes and hides in the corner with Mom and drinks tea with her while she plies him with cookies.  Joe's awesome.  So's Mom.

At least I got to spend some time with my mother in law at church this morning.  That was the only good thing I got out of it this week.  :(

so tired

This won't be long, and I prolly won't link it.  Just woke up, called my Mom for an update on the MNcrisis.  things are stable for now.  Mom has a bunch of her Hmong Ministry friends over helping so she can rest a little for the first time since this all started.  Those women are incredible.  I love that cultural mind-set and miss being near it.

Anywho, I work tonight, I'm really tired even tho I got a good 7 or 8 hours sleep.  But before I can go to work, I have to pay some bills.  blah.  Why can't bills just magically disappear or at least take care of themselves.

Nubs.

Babka!

One of the Ukrainian traditions I strongly hold to is having Babka for Easter.

Sadly, I do not live near an Orthodox Church of any variety (there are 2 small ones in Tyler, but w/ my car the way it is, I'm not leaving town except for work)...and so I have nowhere to go to have it blessed on Easter Morning.

Which is weird that I even want to do that, since we only did that a few times when I was a kid, my parents choosing a Lutheran Church for us to worship in as a family (Dad-Eastern Catholic + Mom-Orthodox = LCMS Lutheran.  ????)   But for some reason, I was thinking it would be nice to make Babka myself and get it blessed.  I am such a nerdling.

So skipping the blessing, I'm making the Babka, This is the first time I have actually made it myself, as Mom usually sends me some every year.  As I was making it, I realized all the years I "helped" Mom make it, all I ever did was fight Ross about who got to "punch" it down after each rising (there are 3 risings). Called Mom and we laughed about that.  :)  Had to describe how I was kneading the dough to her to make sure I was doing it right, cuz it's not like kneading bread...you have to grab a blob and pull, over and over for 10+ min or it won't bake right.  so here I am on the phone describing how the dough is pulling off the sides of the bowl and stretching, and Mom's saying "yeah, yeah, yeah" the way she does, and I am wishing Dad would just get off his butt about changing their DIAL-UP internet to anything that is faster so I could just send Mom a quick picture or stream her a video to make sure I'm doing this right!!!!!  Oh Dad and his refusal to pay for anything that can be gotten for free, even if the free sucks, it's free...right?  (help me, this is in my genes too)

There is a recipe in here for sheep brains.....

So here is my Babka recipe adapted from the "Traditional Ukrainian Cookery" by Savella Stechishin
It has multiple steps that have to be done separately b4 you can mix it all together.  very process driven.

Step 1:
1 C. soy milk
1/3 cup "flour"
Boil/scald the soy milk and mix into the flour slowly w/ a wisk. 
   I don't own a wisk as Bub decided it would be fun to dismantle it, I used a fork

beat thoroughly until smooth and free of lumps
     not having a wisk, my batter was lumpy, the book suggests putting it thru a sieve if necessary...it was necessary.  I felt like I was making spaetzle!!!!

Babka "spaetzle"

Cool to lukewarm

While I was boiling the soymilk I started step 2:
1/2 c. lukewarm water
2 tsp sugar
3 packages dry granular yeast  (I have a huge amount of jarred yeast, so I used 3 Tablespoons) 
Dissolve sugar into lukewarm water (MUST BE LUKEWARM!!) add yeast cover w/ tea towel and let rest until bubbly

While boiling and waiting I started step 3:
10-12 egg yolks (I used 11)
2 whole eggs


Separate the eggs, save the whites for a different recipe
I put my whites into a ice cube tray and froze them for other stuff

*Side story time...*
As I began to separate the eggs, I remembered the post I read yesterday from Rue Rice about making Cascarones with her kids...what the heck!  we're going to be coloring eggs tomorrow, lets do that too since I'm going to have 12+ empty egg shells...  So I spent a lot of time carefully tapping small holes on the tops of the eggs so I could save the shells.  I am TRULY a super-nerd.
*Side story time over*

by now the yeast should be bubbly, so back to step 2:
Mix soymilk/flour mixture w/ yeast mixture.  fold well. let it rise again until tall and bubbly in a warm quiet place
I use my microwave so I don't have to worry about any munchkins sticking their hands into it.  ;)

Bubbly yeast-flour-soymilk brew

Back to step 3:
1 tsp Salt
1 cup sugar
1 cup melted Parve Margarine "butter"
2 tsp vanilla
grated rind of 1 lemon
I forgot to buy a lemon, so I used orange zest instead

Beat the yolks and eggs with the salt.  Slowly add the sugar, vanilla and zest.  Melt the "butter" and let it cool before adding

while I was waiting for the "butter" to cool, I started step 4:
Sift 5-6 cups "flour"

Well...there it is.

Just finished a pharm quiz on anticoagulants...yayee.
So busy just now, it's driving me crazy.

Bub's getting over some wierd tummy virus that gave him diarrhea w/o a fever. I think Joe's next and me too if I'm not careful. I just keep eating my vitamins and plow on.

I have a HESI for foundations on Thurs (HESI is a hugely hard and crabby standardized test that we HAVE to get a 850 or higher on....bleah....) Next week I have pharm exam #6, Pharm lab practical, and Pharm HESI. BLEAH!!!

But! after that there is only finals and clinicals before Christmas break...so I need to hang on until then cuz the end is nigh.

Anyhow.
Loves to you all!
N.

PS- Mom & Dad, incase I don't get a chance to call this wk (studying vs sleeping) I got the apples and they are yummy! I was so glad you ran into Mike & Bobbi too! I hope you gave them a big hug for me!!!!!! NUBS!

the bird that starts with the letter "X"

hey Mom,
I found the bird that starts with the letter "x", it's a xenops.

I put in a link for more info on them, it's kinda cute & I will prolly send you a copy. (click on the title of today's blog to go there)

well, today Dorlaine was braver than I am, she took Bub AND Cousin "K" to the movies!!!!
(she let me stay home & study, which I am REALLY greatful for!!!)

They went to see "kung-fu panda"
I made snack packs for them as Bub is not able to eat movie theater foods being gfcf and all...
They had gfcf popcorn, jelly-beans, lollies, and some parve kosher taffy I found that stated it was gluten free!!!

they didn't make it thru the whole 90-min movie tho, Dorlaine reported that they both got antsy and sticky within an hour, so they left early...which was ok, b/c Cousin K had already seen it, ("It's a good movie auntie Nina, there isn't any bad parts...it's PG!!! REALLY!") (hehehehe) and bub was sticky... Sticky Bub is never a fun Mr. man....he gets crabby about being sticky after a while....

Also, Bub got his jumbo raisins today....for once he has solid BM, but they are TOO solid. Poor guy, he's freaking out every time he sees the wipey comin for to clean him up. *sigh* Hopefully the "jumbo raisins" will clear him up and he will have normal poop for a while....if not he sees his Dr on the 19th and I will insist that running some tests on his GI track may be a VERY good idea...if his Dr. doesn't agree, I'll get his endocrinist to listen to me....

Ah, the love of medical stuff. I need to get some of my teachers to advise me on how to get my doctors to listen to me & believe I know what I am talking about.....

need to study for another hour or so! Loves to all!

I just want to say that I am tired

BUT,
I did figure out how to type an outline on my MS word while reading the textbook that is on my computer. (no book to PC, PC to book...it's all electronic baby....)

(Mom is prolly thinking ..."Oy! The machina!!!!" *insert bizarre ukie expression like...."may a pickle grow out of your nose," or "you wear the shoe of a dog"*)

I'm glad I opted for a wide screen laptop.

I'm almost used to the smaller keyboard...I'm not having as many typos as I initially did.

NEW MUPPETHEAD RULE

Do not read a chapter without outlining it at the same time....this will save you time, effort, and sanity....in theory anyhow...

NEW MUPPETHEAD RULE OVER

Bub wasn't as off today as he was yesterday...but he was a tired and crabby little guy. Dorlaine suggested that he might be tired b/c he's afraid to sleep after the nightmare he had 2 nights ago...I think she may be right....but warm soy milk, baby einstein number's nursery, and pooh-bear lullaby's player got him asleep around 8:38 (that's when I was able to sneak out of his room).
I tried bring bub up to the alter during the children's message during church today. He wasn't as disruptive as usual...I'm still debating whether or not to participate with the children's message. Bub seems to distract the other kids from what Pastor Coleman is saying....yet, sometimes I think Bub is trying to follow along, but just can't focus long enough to get engaged. I try to help by signing main words to bub, and try to get him to sign along...it's only minimumly helpful...

It's so hard to know what to do to balance what I think (hope) Bub needs spiritually, and the needs of the rest of the congregation....BUT, Bub is a hit when it's time to share the peace, cuz he LOVES to shake hands & give occasional hugs to random people.

I'm going to bed now.

Love you all!!!
Neebs

Saturday 08/30

original title, eh?

Just proud to say the only thing left due on Tuesday that I haven't done is the client history form...I should have that done tomorrow after I call my Dad...cuz he's cool like that.

I finished reading all the Tuesday requirements, it took like 3 or 4 sessions b/c mr. man kept deciding he needed his momma today. He had some pretty BIG sensory issues today. woke up with night terrors last night...since he can't tell me what they were about, I try to guess, but can't.
Hopefully he will sleep well tonite.

Tomorrow I will do the study guides for the chapters I read, then I will start the readings due on Wednesday & review the readings I did last week... *whoosh!*

Reminder...I need Mom to walk me thru the prep work for the eggplant caviar recipe...I tried it & it was all wonky so I tossed it before finishing because it looked disasterous!

let's see if I can find a recent pict of bub for us all....
Nubs!

GFCF noodle casserole recipe

Ha!
GFCF version of my mom's noodle casserole..finally perfected & the non-gfcf members of my family like it too! :)

6-8 servings

1 box supergrain quinoa pasta (bub likes the pagota shaped ones, but you can get shells, macaroni, curls, - just not the spagetti)

1 bag frozen mixed vegetables

1 lbs owens or jimmy dean frozen sausage (regular or sage) -both are GFCF!!!

1/2 onion

2 celery stalks

2 tbsp tomato paste

1 14 oz can diced tomato

1/4 c. ketchup

1 tsp olive oil

salt & pepper to taste

Cook pasta & frozen vegetables and drain, set aside
Dice onion & celery and saute in 1tsp olive oil, add sausage & brown
Add diced tomatos, tomato paste & ketchup
mix thoroughly
add pasta/veggie mix & stir
season to taste

:)
since I originate from staunch lutheran country...how could I NOT have a version of THE standard potluck entree?!?!

Love to all- N

GF/CF chocolate cake! *finally*

Woo Hoo!

Finally found & moderated a chocolate cake recipe my little bub can have! Do you have ANY idea how exciting this is for me?!?!?!
Do you have ANY idea how hard it was to find a recipe that worked just without dairy products, and then to add non-wheat flour to the mix?!?!?!?

I firstly have to give a HUGE credit and thank you to Dorlaine for pointing me in direction for this cake. If she had not shown me the recipe for regular "wacky cake" I would NEVER have tried it, because the ingredient list is, well, wacky. SHE also invented the frosting! I would have never believed you can make a good tasting frosting without actual REAL butter, but she proved me wrong & boy am I happy about that! (FYI, this cake is vegan too.....just in case anyone cares....) (I find that vegan foods are sometimes my friends, even tho I think total veganism is plain silly and a poor nutritional choice, but that's just me....[God gave us incisors....you use those on meat....every animal God made that has incisors eats meat.....just a thought.....])

So here it is.....
GF/CF Wacky Chocolate Cake
2 cups GF/CF all-purpose flour (I like Bob's Red Mill brand)
1.5 Cups sugar
1.5 tsp GF/CF baking SODA (I like walmart or clabber girl brands)
6 Tbsp GF/CF unsweetened coca powder (Hershey's is pretty reliable)

Mix these ingredients in an ungreased 8x8in pan VERY WELL. better yet, sift it all together so you don't get flour clumps b/c if you have flour clumps parts of the batter won't rise correctly when baking.

Stir in
.5 cup oil (I use olive or canola)
1 Tbsp vinegar (white GF- walmart is VERY good with allergen labeling...FYI)
1 tsp GF/CF vanilla (McCormicks is usually reliable)
1 Cup water.

Mix until smooth, it will fizz and bubble on you a bit, so mix slow. I recommend using a glass pan so you can look at the bottom to make sure everything mixes right. I find that non-wheat flours mix differently than "regular" flour, and absorb water and oil at different rates. The brand of GF/CF flour I am using has a few different flours in it, so it isn't just one kind (like rice, or potato, etc...) So make sure EVERYTHING is blended before you put it in the oven.

Bake at 350 F for 35-40 min (again, the water absorption is different, and takes longer to cook fully). Let cake cool in pan then frost in pan. :)

Here's the Dorlaine-invented yummy non-dairy CF frosting! :)
(just eye-ball the amounts for what you need, but this is a good starting point)
.25 cup crisco
.25 cup PB (I like skippy)
2 Tbsp coca powder
1 cup powdered sugar
1-3 tsp soy milk (I like Silk Brand)
.5 tsp vanilla

If it looks lumpy, add more sugar.
If it looks clumpy, add a little more soy milk .
You can adjust the PB/vanilla/coca powder to taste.

Now as a special treat, here's some photos of bub last month.






NUBS!

Christmas village

Grandma got a little "Christmas town" figurine type thing that has fiber optic colors for the "lights" on the houses & a real fountain that works. Bub is so excited when Grandma gets home from work & lets the little man in her room to listen to the Christmas carols & watch the lights & fountain work.

Unfortunately, I am not talented enough to figure out how to adjust the flash timer on my digital camera so you can see it's in a dark room. I promise that the lights were off when I took this shot, but the flash is WAY too good at providing light.

For Melissa

My friend Melissa sent me an email today letting me know that Snow is on the way to the great snow state...in October...again. Then she asked me if I remembered the Oct 31st snowstorm in '91.

I do, only because my boss @ Arby's on Suburban(think her name was Kelly) was SO determined to open that Saturday Morning that she came and picked me up from home (I was a Junior in HS) because Muppet-dad (Grampy) said it was, " *&^%* crazy to drive anywhere in this *(&(*&^!!! snow" and he wasn't going to take me anywhere at 6am.
(I'm not sure how much of the above statement is accurate, and how much my imagination has embellished it...it was over 10 years ago!!!) Love you Dad. *kiss*

But I digress...I don't think I will see snow this year. So I'm putting up this shot from last March. This was that REALLY bad storm that snowed me in & I got an occurance because I did not come in for the last .5hr of my shift when I finally finished digging my car out! (does the bitterness still show?) Anyhow, in the breaks Me & Joe took to warm-up & thaw a bit from being outside, we put together a few non-yellow snowballs for the Bub because it was prolly his last big snow for a LONG time. He had quite a kick out of it. The bad part was he started to try to eat the snow off our shoes when we came inside after that.... *sigh*

anyhow. Love everyone & I hope Mel saw the Oct 4th post. :)

Check out the flares!

Going thru some of the older pictures on my PC & I found these. I don't think I ever got a chance to show them to my mom. This little outfit on the Bub was made for me circa 1975ish (?) & somewhere there is the "famous" LilMuppetHead-barely-standing-holding-two-red-balloons -picture. Now I thought I had a copy of that picture, but I am wrong. Just looked in my photo album & it's not there. Must be in the upstairs hallway in my Parent's house. Phooey! I wanted to post it side-by-side...oh well, use your imagination.

This photo was taken in Feb of 06.
Maybe...Mom will see this post & scan the photo & email it to me so I can post it later....*hint hint* Maybe Muppet-brother has a copy of it?

Daytrip!

On Friday Grandma & Grandpa had the afternoons off & we took a trip to their vacation spot sorta-nearby so Bub could go swimming in the pool. Little man was so excited because the pool had a BIG kiddie pool section that was only 2 ft deep. He had a kiddie life-jacket on &, you guessed, flopped over face first. he was floating face-down& panicing SO hard he didn't realize all he had to do was stand up. after Momma "saved him from imminent danger", he had to hold Momma's hand for about 20 min after that; just to help the confidence build back up. then he had a blast. Once again he was Mr. Flirty-pants & a little 5-6 yr old girl was playing with him & gave him her cup to fill with water & dump out.

Anyhow! This shot is Mr.Man & Grandpa. After the swim, we walked around a bit. They just put in a mini-golf putt-putt course, and Grandma loves the waterfall. we tried SO hard to get a couple shot of the Bub smiling, but he wouldn't co-operate. He just wanted to throw rocks & leaves in instead. Here you see Grandma & Grandpa trying real hard to get that kind of picture.
oh well, he's only 2 after all.

Must dash, "song of the Cebu" is on. Me & bub love dancing to it....Achoo-moomooo, boohoo-moomoo, moomoo, moomoo, Cebu! Hippo chewing his bamboo....

Tricycle

Today we tried to talk with Grammy & Grampy on the phone, but Mr.Man was too busy to talk, so Momma did the talking for him. Grammy was excited to know that the Bub is learning the concept of "tricycle" He understands that his feet on the petals will move him, but the whole handle-bar thing isn't there. It's quite funny to watch the Bub go in little circles or bang into the wall because nothing is happening with the handle-bars to direct him.

- but if you look closely, there is a little bell on there. We have a little game...Momma says, "Can you make the bell go 'BING'?" (does the question mark go before or after the quotation mark at the end of a sentence????) *puff* then the bub RUNS to the trike and bings the bell. then we clap hands & say "yayee!" Then we get a few gratutious bings just for fun...and then the random bings...etc....
Then when we talked with Grampy, Lil bub started acting up because we were well past snack-time...what a travesty. So while taking with Dad, I set Bub up with his current favorite; waffle & 'nilla yogurt with frozen blueberry dessert! Here he is with yogurt & blueberry face as requested by Grampy. Fortunately you are spared the shot of "cram-all-berries-in-my-mouth -like-a-chipmunk-so-no-one-else-will-want-them-then-spit-them-out-to-enjoy-one-at-a-time"
I get to clean that up everytime we have frozen-blueberry-dessert-treat. Love the ones that make it to the floor....

Also exciting was going with Grandma & Momma in Grandma's "truck" to pick up one of my nieces. That was fun. When she got in the car, Mr. Man was so excited he offered her his choco-sippy. She wisely declined as choco-sippy after visiting the mouth of bub is not altogether appetizing. But Boy-oh-boy does mr.man love going for a ride!


Finally, even tho I am a few hours early. MUST MUST MUST say Happy Birthday to my friend Melissa. Hope you get to go bowling! bowl a gutter ball for me! hehehehehehe. And yes you were always right, I am -that- kind of mom. *grin*

Talley-ho!