Brett says the cutest things....

Last night Brett and Brandon were wrestling. Brett of course is probably the most aggressive boy in the family, so he was really into it.
Brandon said in his "wrestling voice" .....Boy, you want me to get on top of you!
And proceeds to dog pile Brett.

Brett in his "wrestling voice" said ....Oh yeah....you want me to sloppy joe you!

I'm sitting at the computer listening to it all and had to chuckle at what Brett thought Brandon was saying to him. Michael said it was a blogging moment : )

Gingerbread Train

My best friends mom (yes, her mom....how sweet was that?) sent the kids a Gingerbread Train for Christmas. They have been waiting for over a week to work on it. Well the day has finally come. It's cold and wet outside, all the presents are done and all neighbor and office gifts have been distributed. So, now it's time for some fun! (Brandon was out with friends today, so he may be a little unhappy with us....but in this house, you snooze, you lose : )

THANK YOU LEAH for sending this thoughtful and wonderful gift to the kids. They loved it!

We caught her!

Kaila decided to go outside last night to test out her electric scooter. She put on her Dad's OSU jacket (one she swore she'd never be caught wearing) and off she went. Well of course her dad saw the jacket and was like "WHERE'S THE CAMERA??!!"

Michael wasn't letting go until we got the picture! Doesn't she look like she should be going to OSU right now? She is getting so tall!

ME? SUPERWOMAN....

.....probably not.

Because a superwoman wouldn't get stressed out over all the things she has to do!
I had a small breakdown last night. I had a mental "mind" breakdown. Those are the kind you talk to yourself in your head....sort of a vent session with my head. (Okay...so now maybe I'm mental?) I was trying to give the rest of the family a break, so I kept it to myself.
Now they can all just read about it :)

Christmas is done almost 100% by me. I say almost because the money comes from my dear husband, but the grunt work of finding, deciding, wrapping and shipping comes from me. If you asked him, he would probably say he did the grunt work to begin with to get the money---it's an arguement that neither one of us would win!

Last night I baked 8 Dozen of my famous chocolate chip cookies (they are so good) for my dear daughter who tells me when she gets home she needs them, I made 6 batches of caramel popcorn, got all kids teacher gifs wrapped and I completed our NCL, Inc. Keller Chapter newsletter (I swear it's a 20 hour process to complete!). I felt like SUPERWOMAN!

Today I slept in : ) Superwoman was tired!
I'm getting read to take Brett to a doctor's appointment, then I'm home to put on my Superwoman cape to finish wrapping up neighbor gifts (those were done last week!), stopping off at the grocery store, making 30 jars of homemade salsa for gifts for Michael's employees, clean the downstairs tornado mess OMGoodness...it's really bad, and in between all this I have to start moving files from my old computer to a zip drive --it's getting wiped out tomorrow : (

I am happy to say that I have about 90% of the Christmas gifts done for the family. I just need to wrap them, and prepare some for shipping. Tomorrow my mom is coming out to finish her shopping, my shopping and shipping......I can't wait for it to be all over!!!
Merry Christmas??

New Turkey Recipe

Thanks Tracee for a great laugh!

Here is a turkey recipe that also includes the use of popcorn as a stuffing -- imagine that. When I found this recipe, I thought it was perfect for people like me, who just are not sure how to tell when poultry is thoroughly cooked, but not dried out. Give this a try.

• 8 - 15 lb. turkey
• 1 cup melted butter 1 cup stuffing (Pepperidge Farm is Good.)
• 1 cup uncooked popcorn (ORVILLE REDENBACHER'S LOW FAT)
• Salt/pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Brush turkey well with melted butter salt, and pepper.
Fill cavity with stuffing and popcorn.
Place in baking pan with the neck end toward the back of the oven.
Listen for the popping sounds.

When the turkey's butt blows the oven door open and the bird flies across the room, it's done! And, you thought I didn't cook...

Why do I Blog?

That's a great question. Actually I only started this because my neighbor started one. She was so excited about having one and we were like "why?"
Then she came up with the best answer!
She said that she doesn't do scrapbooking, so by having a blog it's like telling your story. Something you can print out and keep.....it's like scrapbooking but less work and less money. AMEN to that. I just thought it was a brillant idea, so off I went to create one.

Plus my family and friends can keep up with what we are up to since I'm horrible at updating them all on a regular basis. So thank you to my neighbor Heather!

I hate people who steal!

So Kaila and I were in the front office trying to sort through that pit!
A car pulls up, a maroon vehicle like a Ford Explorer or Tahoe. It had a Fossil Ridge sticker on the back (I saw that as I was screaming at them.)

Anyways, we saw them pull in front of the mail box and the boy in the passenger seat was looking at our home. We thought maybe it was some boy who knew Kaila. Next thing I know he hops out of the car and STEALS Brandon's rip stick from the yard! (You'd think this might actually make me happy because do you realize how many times Mike and I have told him that someone is going to steal it if he keeps leaving it out??)

The incident happened at 4:30 pm!! In broad daylight. I only got a part of their licenses plate, but you can guarantee that I look every maroon vehicle that passes me by! Not sure what I'll do if I see one with a Fossil Ridge (FR) sticker on the back window and a 34 and L in the license plate, let alone with a blonde boy in the passenger seat.

I wonder if his parents would think twice when they see him riding a new rip stick? Probably not....

I called the police, they came to the house. She said that since the item was on the sidewalk (it wasn't...it was near the mailbox in that patch of grass) that it's consider public property. Sidewalk is considered public property, not sure about the grassy area by your own mailbox!
Basically she said, if you leave your bike or skateboard on the sidewalk, it's like "Finders Keepers" because it's on public property. She said she got the call and she literally passed 4 maroon explorer type vehicles....I guess they didn't tell her there was an FR sticker on the window and a boy in the passenger seat???? UGH!

I beat my dad playing Pinbuster by Wii : )

This is for my Dad.....

Who won? That would be ME!
Who got a 76? That would be YOU!

Who got a 154? That would be ME!

I'll be more then happy to play again the next time your out : )
Love you Dad!

All Caught Up!!

I'm finally caught up on my blog entries! I know...it's suppose to be daily, but look at all the stuff you just got caught up on??

Our next big event is Thankgiving! Not sure what every is planning this year, but I usually cook a bunch of food and welcome all my family members to come and join us. It's nice having everyone over here because Sean and Brett can run free and I don't have to worry about them. Plus there are so many kids on my street that there is always something to do.

Now if I can just remember to take pictures at Thanksgiving so I can blog about it : )

I spent all day working on my blog that I guess I should go and get some housework done....I know Mike will read this and say YEAH YOU DO!

Pumpkin Carving

Sean and Brett went to the store with Mike and I about a month ago. They wanted to carve pumpkins and toast the seeds. I was so impressed that they remembered the toasting of the seeds from last year. We picked out 4 huge pumpkins!

They sat outside as decorations for the month of October. We didn't carve them until after Halloween and probably would not have done that if it weren't for Brett constantly asking us "When are we going to carve the pumpkins?"

So Mike and I each grab a pumpkin, the kids were all excited, I went online and printed two stencils to use (Spongebob and OSU). Then we started to carve. But guess what?? The kids all went outside to play with their friends!! So there was Mike and I carving pumpkins by ourselves in the kitchen. I think we did a pretty good job. I did Spongebob of course for the boys and Mike.....well do I even have to tell you what he did?

Happy Halloween!

For Halloween which by the way...I really can't stand. (The constant rush of getting everyone dressed for Halloween, getting the candy bags ready, the dreaded question of "Is it time to go trick or treating yet?---this starts very early in the day, trying to feed the kids, then the mess that comes after it's all done!! UGH...can't stand Halloween.)


Now that I'm done whining about that....on to what the kids like.

Kaila had 3 of her friends over and they dressed up as the "Scream Character" (I didn't even get a picture!!). I ran all around getting supplies so they could create a haunted house using our pop up sports tent---again no pictures! They had scary music, the fog machine and the sports tent wrapped in black along with a flashing strobe light. I think the neighborhood kids enjoyed themselves. After trick or treating ended our neighborhood had hot dogs, and a kids movie to watch outside. It was right out front in our culdesac.....it was really nice!


Sean was a Ninja Turtle - and how bad is this...I didn't get a picture of him! I'm not sure how that happened, oh wait...I know....I was too busy running around trying to get everyone/thing ready. He made a cute turtle though.


Brett was a cowboy riding his friendly horse. Or as Brett called him "Horsey". That I did get a picture, but only because he had a Parade of Costumes at his school the day before : ) Brandon wore this same costume when he was 4. Brett looked just as cute in it. You should have seen all the moms pointing and say "OH MY GOODNESS....HOW CUTE IS THAT?" Really.....HOW CUTE IS THAT??? So cute!



Brandon at first did not have a costume. He has always been this way. He would just wear his soccer uniform and be happy with that. But on Thursday the day before Halloween, I was taking the carpool boys to school and they were all discussing their costumes. Brandon gives me this look of like "Hmmm....I don't have a real costume." You see, every year the boys usually just wear their soccer or baseball uniform, but for some reason this year they decided to get a real costume! I told Brandon I'd go and look while he was at school to see what I could find. (Has anyone every gone to a costume store the day before Halloween???)

I couldn't find anything that I thought he loved so I put on my thinking cap and came up with the perfect costume for him ---- he was an IPOD TOUCH. I went to the craft store and found all the items, came home and printed graphics off the computer and started cutting and glueing. HE LOVED IT!!! He had just received an IPOD TOUCH the other day and loves his IPOD TOUCH....so I knew this was the perfect costume for him. He even took his ipod with him and let the music play.

My Favorite Item!

Since I went to the Modeling Event, I was introduced to a leg spray. It's not a TANNING spray, it's an airbrush spray. So if you don't like it, you wash it off. No need to worry about orange streaked legs or that awful smell from tanning lotions.

The product makes your legs look like they have been airbrushed along with giving a nice tan. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this product! It's called "Sally Hansen Airbrush Legs" You can find it at Target or Walmart in the isle where they have finger nail polish and polish remover. So anyone attending a Holiday Party this year and plan on wearing a dress.....run out and buy this product and give it a try.

Modeling Event

Kaila and I participated as "models" for a Christ Haven Women's Event. We have never modeled before so this was all new to us. We went to Belks Department store for clothes fitting, and even went to a model training to learn how to walk like a model! (pictured were two of the ladies who organized the modeling part of this fundraiser...they had the best ideas and were so much fun to work with!)

On the day of the event it was great to arrive at 8:00 am, visit with our friends, get our outfits all layed out and ready to go, had lunch, went to make up, did our hair, got dressed and then we were on by 12:45 pm. Once the show started we literally ran down the hall undressing to get into our next outfit with only a few seconds before we were back on the runway again. Once we stepped out on the stage, all our nerves were gone and I have to say "WE WORKED IT!"

Here are a few pictures. I'm hoping to find a few more from friends who took them.

That black dress I'm wearing I actually bought. (I NEVER wear dresses.) But I had to do a an accessory piece. I walked out just wearing the black dress. Then I'd add the red belt, then the red sweater, a bracelet and topped it off with a fun hat. I walked around and showed everyone, then I started taking items off to only turn right around and add a whole new set of accessories (like a scarf and fun purse and changed my belt, I also added a vest and a new belt and long necklaces....in the end I finished with the black dress, pearls and a big white featherly hat.....it was a bit over the top but I did create 4 different outfits using that one black dress!)

Baking for Charity!

Kaila and I belong to a Mother/Daughter Charity Organization called "National Charity League." I am proud to say I am a founding member of our new Chapter! I'm their Communications VP, which basically means I created their website, publish their newsletter, send weekly emails, and maintain the website. It's like having a full time job at times. Thank goodness Mike is so supportative in my newest venture because at times my house is a wreck and dinner is not made. I'm sure you'll read a ton of blog entries about our latest ventures together.

Belonging to our Chapter means Kaila and I get to volunteer ALOT! It works out great because Kaila is working on getting Green Cord hours (she needs 100 hours by May 2009.)
In September we baked items for the Christ Haven for Children Open House benefit. They held a bake sale and all proceeds went to their organization. I made Cookie Monster Cupcakes and Smore Brownies. I added a fun "sale" tag to the front that seemed to really finish off the final product!

A day at the Zoo!

Mike took the day off and the kids were off from school, the weather was perfect so what better way to spend the day then at the Zoo?? We were up and out the door early in the morning and arrived when the zoo opened their cages. We didn't tell Sean and Brett until we got there. We wanted it to be a surprise. They were so thrilled. Brandon, I think was excited too, big sister, Kaila maybe not so much. She thought she was too old to go to the zoo. But I think she warmed up after a while.

I have no idea why we are holding hands like this in the picture. I just remember Kaila taking the picture and it taking her 7 tries to get the shot!

Even when Mike has a day off, he is still working!

It's KK Turtle and her friends! She is going to kill me when she reads this. But her knick name is "KK Turtle"....why? Because she is so slow at everything. Slow getting ready to go somewhere, slow getting in or out of the car, slow at trying on clothes....so that's her name. She was a good sport when we took this picture. That's what we love about her. The willingness to make fun of herself.

Sean's First day of School!

One looks so happy and the other....well the picture says it all!

Sean was so excited to go to school. He never attended Preschool, so this was all new territory for him. I decided that I would not go on the first day. I was afraid that he would be scared and want his "mama". WHATEVER!!! His daddy took him, stood with him for a few minutes and said he looked like he was right at home. Like he had done this all before so off daddy went to work.

When I picked Sean up from school he hopped in the car with a HUGE smile on his face.....he says to me "I LOVED IT!"
And he sure does. He loves everything about it. He loves making new friends, singing new songs, learning new things, his teacher and best of all recess.

Brett (the sad one next to him....that's another story!) He started preschool this year (first time being away from his big brother and his mama!) He would rather be home with mama.....

Kaila's first Banquet "date"

Kaila's first "date". Well, she prefers not to call it a "date." They were just friends and went as friends. I thought it was cute. He was very nice and polite. I actually liked him. But they were just friends, went to Banquet together and that was the end of that! We spent all day looking for her dress and another day finding shoes and accessories. All the other girls went to get their hair done, but we opted to go natural looking with Kaila and boy was I glad!! People spent $60+ for up-do's and it was so humid that their hair just fell and the curls were all gone. I have to say Kaila looked BEAUTIFUL! (not that she doesn't always....but she looked alot older on this day.)
Mike and I went to "chaperone" the event. We basically stayed behind the curtain and served dinner, cleaned up and then was able to watch a video of the kids through out the year. They all had a great time.

Starting my blog....

I've tried having a blog before, but life gets in the way and I never have time to update them!
But I wanted to give it another try.

Life around the house is often full of funny stories, fun activities and wonderful moments that it's a shame not sharing with others.

I'm going to start adding items as I find them on the camera. Some are really old, but the pictures are worth sharing.

Have fun and enjoy our Meyer Minutes.
Mika