She Cooks!

Sunday afternoon, we were all in the living room and Daughter #1 says, "I think I'll make dinner tonight."  Someone, we think it was Daugher #2 spouted off with, "What, spaghetti?".  You should know that Daughter #1 is a master at spaghetti, I'm pretty sure she'd make it everyday for two out of three meals if you let her.  I thought it was a brilliant idea, and asked if she needed to make a trip to the store for her plan.  She did, so we got together and braved the Sunday afternoon crowd at HEB.  I asked her before we left what she had in mind, but she wanted to wait until we got in the car to tell me so no one else wouledhear.  Once in the car, she described baked ziti.  That happens to be something all of us enjoy, and still pretty close to her spaghetti comfort zone.  While at the store, she decided on cookies too, but we haven't seen those yet. 

We got home and she went right to work.  I helped a little bit with the draining of the meat and pasta since both made for heavy pots, but she did the majority of the work on her own. 

We all agreed that she did a fabulous job, and I couldn't be more proud of her!  I can't promise, but I'll be surprised if I don't come home to freshly baked cookies today since she didn't get to them last night...yummy! 

The Puppies

Charlie and Molly are closing in on six months, which means we've had them for three already.  There was a good couple of days not too long ago when I was threatening to send them to boarding school!  I'm not sure why, but Charlie loves anything fuzzy.  That means that any fuzzy Kalanchoe he can get his mouth on is history; you can imagine my irritation with him and his attraction to my favorites.  The trainer at puppy training suggested this great spray and I went to town! We haven't had an issue since except the morning I left the chair next to the plant rack and wouldn't you know it, Charlie found the only fuzzy one there!

Charlie is very found of Daughter #2, actually they both are, but we won't tell Daughter #1 that! She can get them to do just about anything.  Charlie is definitely the stubborn one of the two, so she's got her work cut out for her.

Molly is a trip, she comes out of the kennel with a toy in her mouth and out the back door usually with two.  She snorts like a horse, but refuses to come out of the house any other way.  Molly is our fetcher.  She loves to chase and is pretty good about bringing it back to you.  That is of course until Charlie decides he wants the toy and then you can forget about getting it back.  He's much more into tug-a-war as long as he's winning.

This weekend, we picked them up two new beds for their kennel.  The plan was to get another kennel, but we're going to hold off for a while longer before we separate them.  They both loved them!  This was the first night since we've had them that they just chilled in the living room for longer than five minutes. 

Charlie really likes his.  He took about an hour and a half hour nap; again a first out of the kennel! 

Daughter #1 is trying to grow on Charlie.  Molly is hers, and Charlie just likes to scare her.  He doesn't give anyone too much trouble but her...I'm thinking it's because she squeals like a girl!

My big baby!  I did not want a boy dog, but I love my little guy.  He loves to cuddle unlike Molly who just likes to jump and terrorize you with her tongue...gross!!!

How can you not love these faces!  Last week we weighed them...  

Charlie is at 29.5 lbs.

Molly is at 26.5 lbs.

Mandy

Mall Fun with Hats

Us girls had a little fun yesterday trying on hats at the mall.  First there was the ear muffs, bow and sunglasses.

Followed by the badger hat, I think...both girls had to try this one on.

This was followed by the sock monkey hat, which came home with us.

She also wore it through the mall having a "little" fun with the front strings! 

The most fabulous though is this next one...

I adorned this one as well, but hey...only one person can video!

Hopefully this works...make sure to turn the volume up!

Daughter #1 walked out of the Hallmark store on this one, I guess she has her limits! Party pooper!!

When I was downloaded these from my phone, I realized I had his one too.  While they're technically not hats, these cornucopias sure looked cute on the girls heads during a visit to Hobby Lobby!

It excites this mother that her girls are finally appreciating her crazy hat fetish!

Playing Dead

Some days I'm torn between overwhelming joy in watching my girls and others overtaken by exasperation.  Tonight was a mix of both.  Our youngest usually has me rolling with her "say it like it is" matter of fact personality, but the homework thing frustrates me to no end.  Here's the thing, there are two competent, able bodied adults living in this house, but when it comes to homework other than math, she refuses to ask her daddy for help.  There have been a number of nights that I'm coming in late with our oldest from volleyball practice to find her at the table patiently waiting for me to help with reading homework.  My question is always the same, "Did you ask your dad?", and her response is always the same, "Daddy's not good at reading.".  That's not true, he reads just fine, but because it's not something he enjoys for "fun", he's not good at it.  I've done this before, but tonight it worked better because everyone was in the room.  "What would all of you do if I up and died tomorrow?".  Daughter #2, "I'd ask Daddy for help with my homework."  "Well then, pretend I'm dead and ask your dad."  Remarkably enough, she took the science page across the room and they figured it out.  They even enlisted big sister.  That freed me up to finish up dinner.  After she was done, she came in for a hug and a quick kiss and I told her I was glad I wasn't dead; she told me she was too! 

So, for about ten minutes tonight I played dead.

Pool Happenings...A Giant Sandpile

They're in the backyard now putting up the new pool...wahoo!!  One of the things we had to do was have 7 yards of sand delivered prior to them coming out this morning.  We had the sand delivered yesterday afternoon and I had forgotten how much fun my girls had in the sand.  I thought, who needs the coast when you can have a giant sand dune in your own driveway!

I didn't realize I downloaded this, but it works so hey...here's a video.

Daughter #2 stayed out until 9 and made herself a little dugout!

She was back out this morning before the guys needed the sand for the backyard.  She's concerned that there won't be any left and wants to stow away a bucket!

Dottie had to walk over and check it out too.  She made the mistake of coming across the street and Amy tossed her up on top to see if she liked it.  She layed for a while with the attitude "This is the biggest litter box ever and it's all mine!"...she's the only cat I tolerate in case you're wondering if I jumped off the deep end!  She's a trip though and recently we were appointed "God Parents" for the two dogs and Miss Dottie in case something happens to their people parents. 

More on the pool to follow, they're out they're digging and leveling away!

Thirty Days of Me...Day 6...A Picture

A picture of something that makes me happy is the order of the day. 

These are from last summer while our girls were at my parent's house.  Daughter #2 turned 10 on this day and for her birthday, Daughter #1 took her for the ride of a lifetime!  You can see Daughter #2 is holding on for dear life and Daughter #1 is focused and on a mission...to scare the wits out of her sister most likely!

Mandy

Volleyball Tournament 1 of 2

Yesterday, we had the pleasure of sitting in a gym from 2 p.m. to almost 8 p.m. watching our oldest daughter play in a number of games as part of a club volleyball tournament.  They didn't do so well, in fact they lost all their games.  Bummer, but they are starting to play better as a team.  One thing we parents notice with the teams that we go up against is that you can tell the girls have been together for a while, sometimes it's as if they know what the girl on the other side of the court is going to do before she does it.  That's something that our girls are missing this season, but will come in time.  They have the skill, we just need a little improvement on the teamwork. 

While the big girls were on the court, the little girls made great use of an empty court next to us.  There were three little sisters there with our team and I think they made some new friends for the day.

They got smart and moved for a while after a stray ball headed straight to them at a pretty good speed!

I'm hoping that the girls can have fun today and do much better as a team.  I could care less if we win, but more importantly want them to play to their potential and just have a great time doing what they enjoy doing.  After all, what parent wants to spend 6 hours in a gym looking at their grumpy daughter!

Enjoy your day!
Mandy

Teenage Torture, WWF and a Bloom

As I type this, my head is recovering (or trying to) from the torture my 14 year old just treated me to.  She is very much into hair and makeup now and it seems that I'm her prime candidate to torture.  She tries to get a hold of her little sister, but Daughter #2 is not as agreeable as I am.  I'm pretty sure there are bobby pins penetrating my scalp at this moment, but the hairspray is so thick that I'm not sure I could get them out if I wanted to!  First, she sprayed it down and after griping about "your fine hair" she got the curls the way she wanted them.  At one point I could hear my hair sizzle and threatened to hurt her if she fried my hair, "relax mom!".  Sure..... 

While I'm undergoing some Snookie hair makeover, Daughter #2 is in the next room soaking her foot hollering for me to come check something out.  She is my newest Words with Friends (WWF) partner and she scored 30 points on a word against me.  That's her largest point value for one word, so she was a little excited!  I'm still going to beat the pants off of her (in the game), but she'll get me back someday.  At 10, she can already outplay her 14 year old sister on this game so I'm sure it won't be long until the game is a little more evenly matched.

Just one more day of work for me this week...yeah!!  I put in for two vacation days to spend some time with the girls during Spring Break and am also hoping to get my back porch back in order as well as some planting done in the front yard.  Regardless of what we get done, I'm looking forward to two extra days off more than words can express!

I wish I would've gotten a picture of this orchid I saw at lunch today, it was the most incredible shade of blue!  I really wanted it, but at $49.99, it was a bit out of my price range.  I tried to find something online that compared to show you, but came up with zip, zilch, nada!  Maybe I'll stop back tomorrow and get a picture of it while I drool over it again.  In the meantime, you can see my little orchid. 

The lighting was horrible, but here's an up close look at one of the blooms. 

This is my first attempt at orchids, so we shall see.  I'm not sure how well I'll do when the blooms are done and it's just the leaves, but I'm getting a little more patient when it comes to these things.  

Hope you're all enjoying the week!

Snow Day

Yes, it snowed in San Antonio!  We've been unusually cold all week, it's been below freezing since Tuesday.  So, when it actually snowed Thursday morning, it stuck!  The girls were super excited, Daughter #1 got to see snow when she went to Ohio last January with Bob, but Daughter #2's never seen it.  Amy was worse than them, so I wasn't surprised when I looked out and saw her in the back yard, I wasn't surprised!  They collected all the snow off the trampoline and Amy "shoveled" it off the driveway to make the cutest snowman in Texas!

I kept telling Amy it was a good thing the girls had her...I was only good for taking pictures and putting the face together!  She brought over olives for the eyes, a carrot for the nose and an apple slice made a great "pouty" mouth! 

Friends from down the street came over for a friendly snowball fight.

Goldie and the boys loved the snow too.  They weren't about to let nothing go by without them being involved.

It didn't last long, but my girls loved every minute of it!

Cactus Monday

I forgot today was still Monday, but here is my offering for this week's Cactus Monday hosted by Terri at Terri's Painted Daisies.

Crassula 'Springtime'

She really thinks it's springtime in the greenhouse I guess, this is the first time this one has bloomed for me.  I didn't realize how much she's grown until looking at this picture either.  These blooms are taking their sweet time too, I've been watching them for weeks.  Maybe not too much longer!

Hawthorias and Hoya Kerri 'Sweetheart' Hoya

While I was finishing up dinner tonight, Daughter #1 went outside and the next thing I knew she was at the window begging for a picture!  It just happened that two of my favorite Hawthorias and the 'Sweetheart' Hoya that I'm starting for a friend were in the picture too.  Perfect for Cactus Monday!

Starting Over

I posted a while back about needing to get back into some kind a routine and I have still not taken the time to get in that routine.  I found a blog today called Home Sanctuary and wouldn't you know it, she's an organizational genius (my words, not hers)!  She has this group called Company Girls that do Small Things together.  It sounded interesting to me, and the three posts I read about getting a schedule that works for you was music to this girl's ears.  I tried the Flylady routine once and it stressed me out.  I know that it's great to go to bed with a clean kitchen sink (her main sticking point), but oddly enough some days I prefer to wash the dishes from the night before while I'm making dinner for the current day.  Weird and maybe lazy, but it works for me.  She's failed the Flylady routine herself and I found that rather cool in a bonding sort of way.  What really grabbed me though, was Rachel has sample plans for both Stay at Home Moms AND Work Outside the Home Moms.  This is wonderful because most of what I've ever seen is aimed towards Stay at Home Moms and it's not anywhere close to workable for the others.

I'm going to try it.  Today I won't get a lot done since I've spent the morning cuddling with my little one watching DVR'd NCIS: Los Angeles and we've got to get cleaned up for volleyball games this afternoon.  I am going to at least get the list she suggested together and tomorrow I'll work on the schedule while I'm sitting at volleyball practice.   Since I LOVE lists and charts, I should do good with this setup.  I'll have to be sure to set time for my plants too.  This morning I went out to turn the heater off in the greenhouse during a commercial and ended up back out there with my camera and scissors.  I have blooms starting on an unnamed Sedum to be share and needed to trim back the dead stems on the Vick's Plant.  While I was out there, I went ahead and pulled the cover off of the succulent tub and pulled a few of the baby 'Mother of Millions' out to bring in the house.  I'm worried they're going to die and that would not make me happy.  I think I need daily time for the plants!! 

The last two weeks have been spent trying to figure out why our oldest was experiencing severe stomach pains.  Finally after missing ten days of school right after the Christmas break, we got an answer and she's back to her normal self!  Hallelujah!!!!!  It's hard to get into any kind of a schedule when your normal routine's been run a muck, so now we should be able to make some progress.  I suppose I don't have an excuse not to get back on the treadmill now, do I?  Darn!

Now to those blooms...

Happy Saturday!!

Easily Entertained

One of the gifts we got the girls this year was the Just Dance 2 game for the Wii.  I've watched both of them jump around, sadly the little one has about as much talent has her mother, but the big one on the other hand has a bit of rhythm.  Anyways, it was while watching the big one tonight that I felt energized to try it out myself.  Who cares that I'm wearing blue pajamas with pink cats and shoes all over them; they added to the loonish look of me trying to dance! I think I made it through 5 songs, each time saying I was done.  The Bollywood belly dance one was especially fun; I think I ranked near perfect on that one!!  The girls laughed and I stepped on the dog causing her to flee the room rather quickly.   That was on song four though, I missed her on all the others...that should count for something.  It was a workout, and I was rather proud of myself when I was done.  Next time I'm going to try the Proud Mary song as I've heard it's a sweat inducer; hopefully I'll have the sense to turn the heater off first. 

I can't believe that it's past my bedtime and I haven't cracked opened a book yet.  Not a good way to start a new year!  I wish I could say that I'd made great progress cleaning out today, but no...I did watch several episodes of Pitbulls and Parolees with the little one though.  She's obsessed with anything animal control or cops, and fortunately for us there was a marathon on today! 

I'm rethinking my goal of reading through the Bible again this year.  As I've thought back on it today, while I'm almost done, I really just read.  I think I'll set aside that goal and instead focus on quality reading and maybe some different Bible studies.  Maybe I'll make the read-through goal and every other yearer.  I don't exactly know, but I'm sure I'll figure it out. 

Happy New Year!
Mandy

The Day After

Yesterday was a treat!  Normally, it's just the four of us for holidays and Christmas is always a little boring in my opinion.  Once the presents are opened, there's a lull the rest of the day.  Our neighbor friends spent the day with us this year, from the opening of presents all the way through almost 8 p.m.!  That was definitely a change from our normal routine and we had a blast!  After presents, we convinced the guys to play Pictionary with us on the Wii (bullied them is more like it, but they had fun) and that is definitely a keeper!! Daughter #2 got the Wii UDraw Tablet and Pictionary for Christmas, and we all had fun playing it.  I haven't played Pictionary since we've been married, but this one will definitely get some us and it's a cinch to get out and put away unlike the traditional game.  The girls also got the guys involved in some Monster Buck hunting again on the Wii...for two guys that didn't want to play games, they sure didn't act like it! 

When the guys took over the tv again, Amy brought out the sugar cookie dough she had pre-made and the girls enjoyed cutting out and decorating sugar cookies.  Momma's enjoyed eating them! 

As in past years, the day after Christmas brings thoughts of cleaning out and getting reorganized.  I really enjoyed my days off last week and am not looking forward to going back to work tomorrow.  The one great thing is that it's just a four day work week!! 

Thought I'd share one of my favorite gifts from my mother.  She's had it for a while, and I've known I've been getting it for a while.  It's nothing big, but definitely brings out the inner-child in me!

My husband thinks (knows) I'm a certifiable nut now for sure, as do my neighbors!  I wore this thing off and on, more on, all day!  Thanks, Mother!!!

Mandy

Our 14 Year Old Christmas Present

Fourteen years ago today, we welcomed our firstborn daughter into our family.   They brought her to me on Christmas Day in a stocking.  The nursery nurses were so excited because she actually fit in one!  At 5 lb 9 ou and 18 inches long, she was the tiniest one in the nursery.

We brought her home on Christmas Day, and life hasn't been the same since!  From the time she was old enough to put it together, if anyone would ask her when her birthday was, she'd reply "the day before Jesus' birthday".  Some people think it's a bummer to have a birthday so close to Christmas, but she'll tell you just the opposite.  We've always made today special, just for her...no Christmas presents here on Christmas Eve! 

Today, we had breakfast at IHop with our neighbors who have become close friends to celebrate.  It's always her choice, and she really wanted that chocolate pancake with the whip cream happy face on it.  She ate it the same way she has since she was little...dug out the middle, some things just don't change!  She left with some wonderful gifts and a full belly. 

Happy Birthday, Sweetpea!!

Mandy

Outdoor Decorations and Birthday Celebrations

For years, I've been looking for these trees that look like bare limbed trees with white lights for my front yard.  The only problem is that I see them in other people's yards, but never in the stores.  I thought I hit pay dirt this year when they were in the Sears ad, but when I got to the store they were sold out.  I made the decision the next year as soon as the Christmas decorations come out that I would just pay full price...that's obviously the only way I'm going to get them.  Monday night, we took the girls to the mall to shop for each other and I found a similar tree, only with multicolored lights that was 50% off at Sears.  They had two, and at one point both were in my cart, but I was nice and put one back so Daughter #2 could get the presents she'd been eyeing.  I'm so much happier with my little 5' tree that's all colorful!!

I adore the little presents too!  Now, the little tree...well, that one's most likely going to disappear when I pack things up this year.  My husband is a little grinchish when it comes to decorating the outside, hence the lack of decorations.  Daughter #2 found this little tree last year and was determined to put it out with my new one.  She's happy, so I'm happy. 

Daughter #1's birthday is on Friday, my little girl will be 14 years old...not so little anymore!  Having a birthday on Christmas Eve can be a little tricky.  We usually do something right after school lets out for the winter break with her friends and then it's just the four of us for her big day.  This year, I took her and two friends to play Laser Quest and then to her favorite place to eat, Alamo Cafe. Daughter #2 had played before, so it was cute to see her giving the big girls tips on how to play the game.  She beat them all too on the first game! 

 

This was Round 2 and Daughter #2 was serious this time around!  They were playing with 4 boys and needless to say, they got their tushes beat, but they had a great time running around in attack mode! 

Mandy

I'm a Big Girl!

Our girls are both pretty spunky, but I have to say that the little one got an extra dose!  Kids can be mean, and Daughter #2 has always been really tiny, except for between 6 and 9 months when she turned into a Pillsbury Dough Baby overnight!  She grew out of that and went back to being itsy bitsy again not long after that...thank heavens!  One day I picked the girls up from daycare and Daughter #2 was quite irritated.  That's not unusual really, but she was only 3 at the time and I was not expecting the conversation that followed my question of, "What happened, Sweetie?" 

Daughter #2:  "Well, we were outside and the big kids kept calling me a baby.  I kept telling them I wasn't a baby, and they kept saying I was small and was too a baby."

Me:  "Sweetheart, you're not a baby.  You're a big girl."

Daughter #2:  "I know.  I told them that."

What I didn't know until a teacher filled me in was that in all of her little form, she yelled, "I'm not a baby, I'm a big girl.  See, I wear big girl panties"  At that moment, she lifted her dress up and added, "See, I'm not a baby!" and showed whoever was arguing with her that she had on big girl panties!  In her three year old logic, the fact that she wore "big girl" panties meant she couldn't possibly be a baby.  She might be little, but in her head I really think that she thinks she's quite big!  

We got a good laugh about it then and seven years later I still laugh when I think about it.  I can see her little face determined that she was not a baby, and she wasn't taking it from anybody.  Too bad I don't have a picture of that!

I chose the "it happened at daycare" prompt from Mama Kat's Weekly Writing Workshop.  Follow the link to choose your own prompt and join in.

Mandy