Cookies

I have been attempting to make cookies for about 7 years. I am not trying to make exceptional, out of this world, blow your mind cookies, I am merely trying to make edible cookies that taste like cookies. My previous cookies have been burned, raw, 1 giant cookie because they have all run together, hard as a rock, and to mushy to pick up without them crumbly in your hand. But this weekend I may have figured it out. I borrowed moms convection oven and made 10 cookies at a time. Never leaving the machine so I had no choice but to actually witness them becoming the perfect shade of brown. None were overcooked nor undercooked and the greatest compliment of all, Larry said, "They taste like my mom's cookie!"

American Sign Language

The kids have started watching an ASL TV show teaching them to sign. It is amazing how fast children pick up new skills. After watching the first show Stephie, Josh and Andrew can sign trees, leaves, summer, winter, cold, outside, warm, grass, and favorite. With each show they learn another 10-20 new words. I have started sign a bit to Logan. Larry just laughs about it but I wonder if he will sign back?

More ramblings

The zoo did come to school for Andrew and he came home to tell me that he touched a millipede. What? This is a boy who refused to touch the bottom feeding sharks at the zoo, wanted to feed the giraffes until the last minute when he saw the tongue reach out to take the food, and hardly brushed past the elephant taking a bath while the other kids damn near hugged it, and yet he touched the disgusting, creepy, big ol' nasty bug.

Nick is at his friend Davids house alone, it is a big leap for me to let him go but Larry took him there and checked the place out and felt really good about leaving him there. He sure is growing up. I remember back in kindergarten I was scared that he would not be able to make friends but he has.

I went upstairs and put Logan to sleep in his crib, it only took 17 minutes this time for him to cry and fall asleep. When I came down I found Josh playing with matches. How cliche!! Luckily he has no clue what they do and was holding them in his hand. I fear that if he knew how to produce fire he would have went around the house lighting stuff on fire just to see what would happen.

Rambling

I can't believe that the year is almost done. I clearly remember this time last year as we were preparing to tell Larry's side of the family that we were pregnant and thinking how I am going to be pregnant forever, June can't come fast enough! Oh it did and now we are trying to decide what to get Logan for Christmas.

Larry went to Walmart the day after Thanksgiving this year (I don't know why) he has never volunteered to go before but he DID NOT get up early to go. Nope he woke up at a leisurely pace and headed out around 9 o'clock, you guessed it there were no "deals" left so he returned back home with very few presents. There wasn't much to get anyways, with trying to avoid items made in China we are breaking our necks trying to find safe gifts this year.

Logan slept for 5 hours in his bed last night. I (very cliche) woke up at 3:17am and realized that I haven't heard him yet and jumped out of bed to make sure he was okay. I felt very much like a new mother as I sheepishly crept back into bed. Maybe this is a sign that he will soon be sleeping through the night --crosses fingers-- but more than likely it is just a hiccup in his gran scheme to deprive me of sleep.

Andrew's preschool class has a zoo coming to school on Wednesday. Yes a zoo! When I was kid we had to load ourselves onto a loud, hot, stuffy school bus and drive to an overcrowded zoo, crammed with every other school that has decided to take a field trip to the zoo that day, to get our share of animal watching but not here. Here we are importing the animals from a neighboring town for the kids.

Nicholas has started listening to his MP3 player on the bus to drown out the "cuss" words that other students are saying. He tells us that he wants to change buses because the kids on this bus talk about things he doesn't want to hear but there isn't another bus that comes by here. Hopefully if he just keeps his headphones on he can enjoy his bus rides.

Nick is still practicing the violin (sorta) and is trying to learn Jingle Bells for the Christmas recital, last night is the first time I could actually tell what song he was playing.

Josh is just Josh. A wild, mischievous, crazy, sweetheart who can have me pulling out my own hair and pulling him into an embrace at the same time.

Milk=Bully

For lunch today I made Josh and Stephi a mini grilled cheese sandwich on some cocktail rye bread and served with tomato soup. As I am poring the milk into the soup I overhear them discussing today's lunch.
Stephi- "Josh why is your mom pouring milk in my soup?"
Josh- "That's what moms do!"
Stephi- "My mom makes soup with flour and sugar"
Josh- "That's not very healthy"
Stephi- "Yes it is it makes me healthy"
Josh- "But it doesn't give you big strong bones so you can be a bully"
Stephi- "Aunt Nini can I be a bully?
Me- "No don't be a bully we have to be nice to everyone"
Josh (whispering) " I can still be a bully because she always puts milk my soup"

Another One?

So I love infomercials. Nick also enjoys them with his mommy. We together want to purchase just about everything ever shown to us through an infomercial but I do have will power and don't. Years ago I bought many things through this venue but over the years (and having no money) I just want the amazing products (cheap plastic thing that you would walk right past in a store) and don't actually purchase them. In the past I have bought 6 Week Body Makeover (never used it), Billy Blanks Tae-Bo (too much work), a number of get rich quick crap (I'm still broke), and OxiClean (garbage) just to name a few. This morning I watch an infomercial for Turbo Jam and I am in, I am ready to call in the next 13 minutes and get the extra DVD with my purchase. I have the money and the big butt so I need this DVD, but alas the rational side of me (don't you hate that part) talks me out of it. Commands me to put down the phone and directs me to the computer to review it first (its rational and sneaky) So after looking it up online and reading many different reviews from numerous sites I think to myself "this could work" and I log on to EBay and bid on my very own set. So did the infomercial work? Yes I bought it but I bought it smart, I researched and found that many people enjoyed it and I paid half the cost of a new set including shipping. Now if only I could stand behind all of my decisions and declare that I researched this and bought it smart we would probably have more money in the bank and less useless crap lying around the house.

My Boys

Make a slide show, scrapbook or ecard

I need sleep!!!

Logan needs to feel better and I need some sleep. He has not let me put him down AT ALL in the last 3 days and at night I have to keep rocking him back to sleep. Thank goodness last night he slept from 11:00 pm til 1:30am so I got a block of sleep. Yesterday I could hardly keep my eyes open. I am so far behind in laundry that I had to send Nick to school in the same clothes as yesterday. Some how I need to get Thanksgiving Dinner together, oh boy it is going to be a long day.

Urgent Care

I had to take Logan to the Urgent care center this afternoon. He had been running a fever for over 24 hours and I called his Dr but he didn't have any openings nor did any of his colleagues. Yes the entire office was filled to capacity so we headed off to drive to the next town and see one of the Urgent Care docs. I hate going there. I feel really out of place, if you were to think of an urgent care center what comes to mind? A gated entrance with a large circle drive surrounding a man made pond with fountains flowing? no that is not what I had in mind but alas there it is. Right smack in the middle of an uppity neighborhood and I arrive with my big, baggy gray pants and Larry's shirt looking like a bum.
They needed to weigh Logan but they didn't have a baby scale so they weighed me holding Logan (while I prayed that Logan was suddenly 60 pounds) and then weighed me without Logan (he is not 60 pounds) to get his weight of 19 pounds. Wow he isn't even 5 months yet and he has approaching the weight requirement to face forward in the car. He has definitely reached the "I can't lug him around in the car seat anymore because I have bruised both shins" weight, but he still has 7 months before he will enjoy a car ride.
So I told the Dr that I thought Logan had an earache and lo and behold he does, a teeny tiny ear infection in his right ear and a GREAT big infection in his throat. Dr said he was amazed that he was still eating because it was probably very sore. Pain stop my piglet from eating? I think not. Now he is on turbo boosting antibiotics to clear this up. (Doc didn't want him to develop a resistance to the pink stuff)