Cookies Conclusion

This afternoon we were able to finish what we sought out to do yesterday! That would be the knife and bowl of frosting, and a guilty face.



The not-yet-eaten finished product.

Hells Bells

*Update: Allen is home sleeping. They discharged him around 12:30am which I will count as a blessing. The blizzarding weather kept people in their homes that night, which left the ER sparce. A neighbor graciously came to house so I could be with Allen at the hospital. That was very nice. The diagnosis is a severe flu strain and stomach virus. He had a high fever upon entrance to the ER with extreme abdominal pain, nausea and dehydration. They hooked him up to an IV and pumped him full of liquids, morphine, and phenergen. After that, he was pretty happy. The CT scan showed there was no appendicitis, so in the end, it was all good news. Sort of. He still has to get over this nastiness, and Ryder woke up in the middle of the night feverish and with cough. Lovely.

Seriously, there is something terribly wrong about this day, and no matter what I try to do to improve it, something worse occurs. Let's begin.

Tuesdays a girl in my ward watches the kids for a couple hours so I can run errands or shop (ok, the purpose is to get things done...I choose to use it unwisely at the mall) and then I watch her kids on Thursdays. For this reason, I love Tuesdays. Except that the next five Tuesdays are full of doctor and dentist appointments, starting today with Linley's 18-month well baby check-up. So, there goes my free hours. To make matters worse, Allen stayed home from work sick today. That part is bad, but instead of dropping off Ryder at my girlfriend's, I just left him at home with his father. Easy enough. Linley's appointment went great. 78th percentile for weight, 98th percentile for height, 54th percentile for head circumference. Small head= my child. All is well. Got two shots. Didn't even cry for a second. Excellent.

Come home. Feed the kids lunch, and put them down for naps. I need two free hours since mentally this is what Tuesdays are suppose to provide for me. Naturally, Linley sleeps for 40 minutes, and Ryder for none.

Still, I tell myself, just a few more hours, and then I get to take the kids into Jersey City to go to a Valentine's party at Mistie's. I am most excited for this event, as are the children. And remember, Allen is home sick, meaning I have to keep my active, bored children quiet. Ha! My hours could not have gone by slower. Before I put the kids to bed at noon, I noticed it was snowing. Brushed it aside, and persevered. At two I looked outside to see inches of snow on the ground and it was still snowing, hard. Check the weather. Winter advisory in affect. Watch the news. Says it is snowing too hard for plows to keep up, don't drive if you don't have to. Crap. There goes my afternoon's saving grace. So I scrap the party. In an effort to make it up to my obnoxious non-napping and probably non-deserving children, we make sugar cookie dough and put in the fridge with the intention of baking, frosting and decorating later in the afternoon. Then we make homemade hot chocolate, and sip ourselves into chocolate oblivion. Linley had three full sippy cups. I love that girl.

(I left my camera at a friends house, so these are courtesy of my phone...sorry they suck)Next we bundle up and head outside to enjoy the weather that has put the kabosh on my afternoon excitement. The snow was so blissful. Soft and powdery, so much so it was impossible to make a snowball and thus, a snowman. The kids were once again in heaven. And so was I. It felt good to get out of the house.
Since building a snowman was not an option, we brought out the beach toys and built ourselves a snowcastle. It was pretty fabulous

After nearly two hours outside, I get a phone call from my mommy-in-law on my cell telling me I need to take Allen to the ER. Crap, I forgot about the man. The kids and I were in having too much fun. So, we run into the house, unbundle up, and head to the hospital. By this time (4:30) it is seriously blizzarding outside. What is normally a five minute drive took twenty. We waited with Allen in the ER for two hours, then the kids got hungry so I brought them home. Allen just called (8:30) to say he is scheduled for a CT scan at 10:15. My poor man. All of it just sucks.
My day is so far from over. And tomorrow is going to be no different. Piece of crap.

Ryder Says

Yesterday before we left for dinner at a friend's house, Allen was serenading us on the guitar. Ryder was not content with the selections and asked for some rock and roll. I grabbed the opportunity for a teaching moment and replied, "Ryder we don't listen to rock and roll on Sundays." Before I could get into the crux of my teaching, Ryder replied, "Oh, you're right mom. Dad can only play rock and roll on dark days." Teaching moment lost.

I've Been Tagged....

I've been tagged by Amy and Jess, and here is how this one works.
A. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.
B. Each player answers the question about themselves.
C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 other people and posts there names. And then leaves a message on their blog letting them know they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog to get the directions.

What I was doing 10 years ago...
I was 16, a junior in high school, and still living in California. I was driving the silver bullet (my sexy '89 Dodge Caravan). I spent most of my free time with Amanda, Scott and Derek and I had my first boyfriend . I busted out my journal for this one and have to include the entry. It was written in December of '98 so it is a little vague on the details but still enjoyable (I will maintain the same emphasis as in my journal). "Brian and I started dating in March. Our first date was a group date and I am pretty sure I was suppose to go out with his younger brother but he showed up instead. This made me really excited because he was a really hot SENIOR. A couple weeks later we had our first kiss. I was totally nervous and I am pretty sure I nailed his chin instead of his lips. How EMBARRASSING!!!" How cute is that?? I was such a sweet, shy, scared little 16 year old. If only that had lasted a little longer. By 17 kissing boys was more of a hobby, like shoe shopping- Something I thoroughly enjoyed, and felt the need to get a new pair often. Luckily for me (and my father who feared his daughter may never settle down) it only took a few years before I found my Jimmy Choo among the sea of Steve Madden's and never needed to shop again (okay, so obviously the analogy stops working there, because while I did find Mr. Perfect, I will never stop needing a new pair of shoes.).

5 Things on My To-Do List Today
1. Get the kids Valentine's all ready.
2. Take the kids to their Valentine Party
3. Fold the Laundry
4. Scrub the house down (on Friday's I allow my OCD to take over)
5. Make a yummy dinner

3 Bad Habits I Have
1. I lack patience
2. I am an incessant shopper
3. I talk way too much way too fast

Places I Have Lived
Indiana: Indianapolis
California: 3 homes in Salinas, 1 summer in Granite Bay
Georgia: Conyers
Utah: Provo (DT, Liberty Square, a house down the street from Lib Square, a basement on Center, and Monaco Court), my grandpa's house in Orem.
Texas: an apartment and a rental house in Corpus Christi, our first real house in Dallas
New Jersey: our apartment at Port Liberte in Jersey City, and our shagadelic sixities home in Summit

Things Most People Don't Know About Me
I could really leave this blank
I am a lip gloss and mascara junkie.
I succeeded in not purchasing anything for myself in January.
I am scared to be in a room of all girls. Females freak me out.
Even though I HATE McCain, I think I will have to vote for him because I really need the Bush tax cuts made permanent and I think pulling out of Iraq would be devastating (this is a very depressing admission for me because I really want to vote for Hillary out of spite).
I am a music junkie. I always have some sort of music playing (specific genres for my specific moods). It makes my days happier.

I tag: Maile, Mistie, Naomi, Holly and Kim

My Great Escape

I went to bed depressed. I woke up depressed. I spent the day depressed. McClinton and Suckabee really threw a wrench in the future of the Republican party with all of their crap and back-door deals and sliminess. There is a knot in my tummy that won't go away. The one that says that if Mitt can't pull off what he has already been written off to do, I am at a complete loss for who I think could successfully run this country. I honestly don't have a clue, because I am confident there is no one. I may have an ulcer by November if this does not improve.

Linley is finally all better, so I escaped my depression by spending the afternoon with Maile and her cute kids at the Liberty Science Center. It was just what I needed. The kids were able to run wild and enjoy themselves, and I was able to sit and vent and have adult conversation with my girlfriend. So thanks Maile-it was perfect, and I absolutely love talking politics with you!! And the fact that it was 65 degrees certainly helped lift my spirits as well.







There is an unbalanced amount of Linley pictures in this batch. I realize that. Ryder doesn't hold still. Well, Linley doesn't either, but she likes the camera a lot more that her brother who was completely captivated by everything he saw and touched.

Go Vote

Unless you're not voting for Romney. Then please stay home.

Sort of Snow Day

We got about a half an inch of snow this morning. We have had nearly no snow at all this winter. This makes most of me happy. However, the part of me that insisted that I buy the children snow suits against the hubsters better judgments was really hoping for some snow. So, when we saw the little dusting this morning, we got bundled up and headed out. I was tempted to wait until Linley was down for her nap, since she is ill, but she was so cutely excited, I couldn't leave her out. Now as she is lying comatose in her bed, I am pretty confident I will be winning no mother of the year awards. Sad.

Ryder working on our snowman. Snowperson as he called it. So politically correct my son is.
Making a snow angel...it was snowing in his eyes. I think that is funny.
Ryder and his "snowperson."

Mission use of snowbibs: accomplished (and worth every penny Allen...you should have seen them out there. They were both in heaven!!)

Superbowl Sweetness

I had a dilemma going into the Superbowl. I had to determine who I was going to root for. This would normally be an easy decision for me. I am madly in love with Tom Brady. Have been for years. I tried desperately all nine months of my pregnancy with Ryder to get Allen to concede to naming our firstborn Brady. Allen repeatedly and vehemently denied me. I have not given up hope for my next born son however. I also think that Wes Welker is dang awesome. So, it would seem the Patriots should be an easy decision. However, my heart always goes out to the underdog, and since the underdog was my home team, I had to pick the Giants....which turned out to be a sweet decision. The game was amazing...Go Giants!! Sorry Tommy boy. Perhaps Allen will let me name my next son after you as a consolation prize.
I love the Super Bowl. Mostly because it is a televised sporting event that my husband will actually sit down and watch with me. He even gets excited for it. Normally we have a bunch of people over to enjoy with us, but Linley was nasty sick (as evidenced by her snott-nose in the picture, lovely), so it was just us. And just like every year, I left Allen in charge of buying the food. This is why Allen really likes the Super Bowl. In fact, it can all be boiled down to one word: Twinkies.
There are certain food items that I never keep in the house for various reasons, but mostly because I don't want us to eat them.
Some of them are:
1. Chips of any form or flavor
2. Store bought cookies
3. All things Hostess
4. Pop
5. Cardboard cheese, cheese dip, fake cheese, however you like to call it

Please notice what the sexy hubster brought home after his jaunt to the supermarket.

Ryder enjoyed watching the first half with us. Whenever we got excited at a play, Ryder would happily yell, "Go Cougars." After we explained to him that the Cougars weren't playing this game and we wanted the Giants to win, he replied, "That's okay. I'll just pretend its the Cougars. They are my favorite." That's my boy!!

What You Won't Hear in the News

Things like: Mitt won in Maine. Add 18 delegates to our count please (Maine does things weird and the delegates can actually change their votes at the National Convention, but regardless, the people voted and those delegates are ours).
According to the Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby poll, Romney is 3 points ahead of McCain in California.
Point is, Mitt is again gaining some momentum. Americans are (hopefully) realizing that McClinton is no Republican and will not be doing America any favors by making him President.
So, here is where we Mitt supporters come in. Super Tuesday is in 3 days. We have two days left to make calls. Lets keep his momentum going!!

Call times are
Sunday, 1-8pm EST
Monday, Noon-10pm EST

As you know, to begin, visit MittRomney.com/CallatHome.

Have fun!!

Fat Friday

This morning the kids and I went to a birthday party at a friends house. It was fun. I ate three large cupcakes. I felt fat, but happily so.
I came home and vowed I would not put another morsel of food into my mouth until morning.
Another girlfriend called at 2 saying she would be pulling hot homemade cinnamon rolls out of the oven at 4 and could I help her consume them?
All vows instantly thrown out the window.
I ate four. I feel fat, only now, not so happily so.
Dangit.