Cupcake Day

OK, it's been over a month since I've posted anything...I've been BUSY. So instead of updating you on all the ins and outs of our exciting lives, I'm gonna tell you about the cupcakes I made the other day. I originally wanted to make them for Valentine's Day but made chocolate covered strawberries instead and Dave brought home a huge box of Belgian chocolates so believe it or not, I was all chocolated-out for a few days! (Just a few days). So on Tuesday (my one night off) I decided it was Cupcake Day. I'd been dying to make these cupcakes from Pioneer Woman...with the warm fudgey frosting. I followed her instructions to a T. But mine, uh, didn't turn out just like hers. Why is that? Why does that happen? It's one of life's mysteries. We'll all be tossing and turning tonight wondering why, why, WHY?!? So I'm posting a picture of my cupcakes and a picture of hers. I'll let you guess whose is whose.




I'm sure you can tell which tray of cupcakes is mine...only by the clue that the second tray is missing a cupcake...

Peter likes Parrots

Peter is really "into" parrots at the moment. He really wants one for a pet. Unfortunately, he needs to save at least $600 for one, so it may be awhile. We are not allowed to have pets in our rented house but I told him that as soon as he's saved up to $600, we'll start looking for our own house to buy.

Anyway, he just brought home a few books about parrots from the town library. He's reading them diligently. He just came to me a few minutes go...very upset. He told me he was not feeling well. I asked why and he said it was because of one of his library books. I asked which one. Then, as his voice broke and his chin quivered he said, "The one called Gone Forever: The Lost Parrots of America". Oh.

He then burst into tears and quiet sobbing as he lamented over the parrots of America that are now extinct. I asked to see the book and read a quick passage on one of the first pages. It has a lovely picture of the Carolina Parakeet. The passage reads:

One parrot that lived in North America was called the Carolina Parakeet. Parakeets are a species of small parrots with slender tails. The Carolina Parakeet, sadly, is now extinct. It is gone forever. [I think here when you read the word "forever", it is supposed to have a weird echoing afterwards: forEVER ...ever....ever].

Oh man, he has such a tender heart. What's gonna happen when some stupid girl in middle school gives him the brush-off?!

Creepy weird

So I was on my friend, Jessica's, blog today and decided to leave a comment, as usual. My comments are always so full of wisdom and usefulness that I just can't keep them to myself. (Jess, hope you don't mind me borrowing your blog for a minute here). So you know how some bloggers use the word verification feature to make sure there are no spam comments left on their site. It's rare but I have seen it happen so I don't blame anyone for utilizing this feature. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, click here, and you will see it on the right side. You leave your comment in the comment box and then to verify that you're a real person and not a spamming computer internet site, you have to correctly type in the skewed letters that you see in the box. People can see those letters, computers can't.

Anyhoo, for the first time EVER, I noticed a little handicap symbol underneath the word verification. Then I realized you can click on it. I sat here wrestling with the idea of clicking the handicap icon. I really wanted to click on it. Why is it there? What does it do? I stewed over this for a good 30 seconds. I was thinking it might be wrong to click on it. Like parking in a handicap spot at the library or using the handicap stall in the public restroom. You just don't do that. (OK, maybe I do that sometimes. I like those handrails to help me up off the seat). But here's the kicker: would there be a fine if I clicked it and someone finds out that I'm NOT handicapped? Like parking in a handicap spot? I do, afterall, have asthma. Does that count?

I know you're all dying to know if I clicked on it or not. You're on the edge of your seats. You're holding your breath...Well, I'll tell ya. I did click on it. And I just DARE you to do it. Let me tell you. It was creepy weird stuff. Make sure your speakers are on. And make sure you have some kind of handicap before you click!

Out with the old!

Stuff, that is, not people! Dave and I have been working our fingers to the bone getting rid of STUFF. We've been pulling boxes out of the attic and going through them. So far, we've removed at least 20 boxes and kept only enough to fill 4 boxes. We still have a ways to go but our attic is looking wonderfully empty! We still also need to go through stuff throughout the house but we can get to that in time. For now, when we have people over, I'm gonna say, "Oh please don't pay attention to my messy house...would you like to go up and see my clean attic?" I'm sure that'll be a big hit. Our garbage men are in for a rude surprise when they come to pick up all this trash next Tuesday! I'll try to remember to take a picture of the huge pile!

Dave's Holiday

Dave's company shuts down between Christmas and New Year's (Jan. 5th, actually) each year so he gets paid vacation without having to use vacation days...yea!!!! Anyway, this is how he's been spending his vacation time so far this year...working hard at home.

Merry Christhmuth!

Merry Christhmuth everybody! In honor of Peter losing his two front teeth shortly before the holidays................................ummm, yeah, I don't know how to finish that sentence. It's Christmas morning and I'm running on only a few hours of sleep here, people! Here's a picture...
I'm going to take a nap! A Christhmuth nap.

Gingerbread mayhem

We made this gingerbread house over the weekend. This year I bought a GIANT gingerbread house kit. It actually says GIANT on the box. Usually we make a "regular" size gingerbread house, which is minuscule compared to this monstrosity. Anyway, since all three kids work together to decorate it (ie, load it up with as much candy as possible), I thought it might be easier if the house was bigger. The only dilemma now is that it is HUGE and we have no place to display it. Did I mention that it is HUGE?! Anyway, the kids had fun and did a great job on it, with a little help from us.
Did anyone notice my tablecloth? I know it doesn't look super cool in this picture but it is actually very pretty. I'd been wanting a Christmas tablecloth for awhile and finally broke down and bought one this year. It has beautiful poinsettia detailing around the edges.
Anyway, we've been using it for a couple of weeks now and I started to throw it in the washing machine yesterday. I read the washing instructions, just in case, and noticed that it said, "Do Not Launder" "Spot Clean Only". WHAT?! I bought a tablecloth that can't be washed? Oi...it never occurred to me that there would be such a thing as a tablecloth that couldn't be laundered.

I guess I'll spot clean it and then after Christmas maybe I can have it dry cleaned...This new tablecloth is getting
expensive!

Update...

If you haven't read my post below "This is not gonna work" then please update yourself before continuing.

UPDATE: Dave took the kids sledding while I sit home and sip cocoa with gingersnaps! YEA! OK, not really on the cocoa and gingersnaps...I made some chocolate candies so that's what I'm snacking on. And I think I'm supposed to be preparing something for dinner tonight. I might get busy on that. Any minute now. Soon. Maybe.

Also, I have all my Christmas cards (the ones I'm not emailing) signed, sealed, stamped, and...sitting on my kitchen table. I couldn't put them in the mailbox because it was full of snow for some reason. Hmmm...wonder how that could've happened?
Earlier this week, Caleb sang in a Holiday concert at school. I couldn't go because I had to work and no one told me about this until 2 hours before...and also because I don't really love Caleb at all. (At least that what he said). He was joking. I think.

ANYWAY, I begged him to wear nicer, dressed up clothes. Nothing too fancy, just maybe a shirt with a collar, with some buttons, anything. He vehemently refused. He said the concert was about Frosty the Snowman and Frosty wanted the children to be "fun and fancy-free" and it would be a contradiction for him to change his clothes to fancy ones. I told him all the other kids would be dressed up. The girls would have dresses on and the boys would look nice. He acted like I had no idea what I was talking about and assured me that what he was wearing was just fine.

At least from afar, you can't see the holes in his t-shirt. But you can definitely see from this picture that "one of these is not like the other". If you don't believe me, click on it and see it up close. He's the only one wearing a t-shirt. A bright orange t-shirt with lots of holes. Appropriately, his shirt says, "WARNING: I'M NOT LISTENING". To be honest, I didn't make a big deal out of it. I've learned by now to choose my battles carefully. And besides, I wasn't there; I was at work!

This is not gonna work...

OK, so since I'm so behind in blogging, I just keep putting it off 'cuz there's no way I can catch up. I just can't find the time to sit down and tell you all about my trip to Chicago, my trip to the Zumba convention in Orlando, Grandpa Capener's visit here and our jaunt to Six Flags, our friend's visit (Judd) and our excursion to the apple orchard, or just recently, Peter's 7th birthday and my friend Nichole's visit and our gallavanting around NYC the entire weekend...including a fun off-Broadway show. You see, I think it just feels like way too much to write about and so I keep putting it off. So what I'm gonna do is start with what's going on right now and then maybe I can gradually go backwards and fill in the blanks. And I have some great pictures of all that, too!

So...right now...we've just had a big snowstorm. The kids got out of school early yesterday (Friday). I thought it was ridiculous that the schools already decided to close early before the snow even STARTED falling. In fact, they decided almost 12 hours before it even started falling. But they knew a lot more than me, because when it DID start falling (about 2 hours before school let out early) it DUMPED snow. Fast. Everywhere. Luckily Dave had already arranged to take the day off of work because he would've had a heck of a time getting home from NYC. They practically closed the freeway by us it was so bad. Caleb and Peter played outside in the snow for hours on end. I sipped cocoa and ate gingersnaps (my new favorite combination) while Sam (becoming a typical teenager) lounged in his room and slept off and on.

We still have lots of snow today and if possible, it is even colder. Which means the kids are going to bug us ENDLESSLY until we take them sledding. I bought them a snowboard at a garage sale this summer which they've been DYING to try out. I don't mind taking them sledding. It's the sitting there in the freezing cold that I'm not so excited about. There's gotta be a better way. Maybe if I could build a little portable shack to carry around with me...and it's not like I can just leave them there. Inevitably someone gets hurt or gets a snowball in the face and needs their mom for a few minutes. Hmmm, I wonder if I could find a teenager I could PAY to take them sledding...I'll have to give that some thought.

The only other thing going on is that while I was online yesterday morning shopping for Christmas presents to send to family in Texas and Utah (hey, better late than never), I got a call from my credit card company. They wanted to verify "suspicious" charges on my card from the day before. They asked if I'd tried to use it in NYC at a Red Lobster for $114. I'm sure they thought this was VERY suspicious since I'm sure they know I DON'T eat seafood. They had declined the charge. That's how much I DON'T eat seafood; they knew to decline it. hehehe Anyway, I said no, we didn't use our card at Red Lobster yesterday. Then they asked about over $2,000 charged at an American Greetings store and over $1,200 at Duane Reed (like RiteAid), both in NYC. I said, no way, we didn't do any of that. (Although, for a moment I did wonder if Dave had gone loopy and spent a LOT of money on my Christmas present(s)). Anyway, long story short, someone used our card all over NYC this week and had a grand ol' time. Both of our cards are still in our wallets so I'm not sure how you can walk into a store and use a credit card that you don't have, only the numbers? But apparently it's possible. So now our card is canceled and they are re-issuing a new account. And I'm too scared to purchase anything online now so Merry Christmas everybody! You're getting a whole lot of nothin' from us this year! Unless I can buy something local and ship it myself. But that would involve leaving my warm house, cocoa, and gingersnaps to drive on the partially closed icy freeway. But hey, it's the thought that counts, right?!?!
Oh, and here's a picture I just discovered on my camera that I knew nothing about.

It appears to be the wall in my dining room. With a pencil stuck in it. Hmmm, wonder how that could have happened? Then I found an accompanying video which I won't bore you with but it consisted of Caleb saying in the background, "You really shouldn't have thrown that pencil, Peter." And then it goes on to be a lengthy discussion/argument over WHO the pencil belongs to. As if that mattered...oh, and some talk about how mom is gonna flip out when she finds out. Funny, no one remembered to tell me about this...

Kids and Santa

After last year's Santa debacle with Caleb, which you can read about here, I thought I'd throw in this cute video. I love the pics where the kids are actually reaching out to the camera, "Help me! Somebody please HELP ME!!!!" I also love the ones where Santa looks a little freaked out, too. hehehe

I'm trying, I really am

My Dad called today wondering if my arms were broken and that's why I haven't updated my blog in so long. I can't blame him; I am really behind. The problem is I just have SO much to share with you people that I haven't had time to sit and write it all down. But I'm gonna try. I really am. Just not right now. hehe
Today is Peter's 7th birthday and I am SO on top of things and organized that I just yesterday called a couple of his friends and said, "Hi, tomorrow is Peter's birthday. Can you come over for ice-cream?" So...that's the extent of his birthday celebration this year, unfortunately. I'm not sure how last year I was able to throw him a huge homemade party despite the fact that I was recovering from knee surgery at the time...maybe because I wasn't working? Anyway, wish me luck tonight and here's the picture that didn't make it into our Christmas card. I left the red eyes in, too, for dramatic effect. Click on it if you want to get up close and personal.

Alamo Rental commercial

I find this commercial hysterical. It makes me giggle every time! The girl reminds me of so many of my friends. I must like to surround myself with funny, quirky people. Hmmm, kinda like me?!

Way Way Way Behind...

Iknow I am WAY behind on my blog. I'm gonna catch you guys up REAL soon, I promise! But right now I'm on my new Blackberry and I'm curious to see if it's really possible to blog from a Blackberry.Let's try it!

Laundry finds

As parents, we all find interesting things when we remove clothes from the washing machine. I don't mind it too much. It's no big deal, right?

I usually find stuff like this:

















And this:



















I have no idea what that blue circle is. That's what makes doing laundry so EXCITING.



I really like finding this:


















I consider it a tip for all my hard work.

What I DON'T like is finding stuff like this:



















































Uh, yeah. That's Sam's cellphone. The one Santa brought him last year. The one that I use to keep track of him (and Caleb, at times). The one that helps me feel a little more relaxed and less neurotic.
Just in case you were wondering, cellphones are not machine washable. I repeat, NOT machine washable. They are dry clean only. Apparently.

Strangely, I also found this recently:






























And this:























Weird, huh?

OK, so not really. I may have actually purchased these recently and just wanted to show them to you all. I LOVE them! But I must say, it was an accident that I bought two purses, or as they say here in Jersey...pocketbooks. I had no intention of buying a new handbag that day but one of them just reached right out of the aisle and jumped onto my shoulder. They wouldn't let me leave the store without paying so what was I to do?

And the second one? Well, it looked like a fraternal twin of the first one and I couldn't separate them, right? That would just be cruel. Everyone knows fraternal twins shouldn't be separated.

OK, so really, I couldn't decide on which one. I planned to take one back after I got home. I stopped by a friend's house to ask her opinion. She liked them both and was ready to steal the silver one right out from under me! Her 6 yr. old daughter loved them both, too, and suggested I keep them both. I didn't want to hurt a 6 yr. old's feelings, you know? So I "accidentally" removed the tags from both and now they are non-returnable. Oops.

Dave knows about the first one...but not the second one.
Oops. I guess he knows now.

For those of you who may think these bags are a little "bling"...you don't live in Jersey. You don't understand what it's like here. I also wear rhinestones on my hats and shirts. I wear shiny lip gloss and today, no kidding, I swear I used the hair dryer and some hairspray at the same time! I guess I'm turning into a Jersey Girl! Eeeeek!

New trick

I know I'm WAY behind on blogging...there's been a lot going on! To hold you over, here's a video of Caleb's new trick. This was like two weeks ago and it's amazing how the leaves are all changed now. You will also see Peter raking leaves. He thought this was really fun but now that we have LOTS of leaves to rake, he's not really into it. :-(