August Rush- watch it!

OK, so I am like a year or so late but I just watched this movie and I think you should too. Even my husband says, "it is a really good movie." While it isn't a holiday movie, it is filled with hope and love, good stuff for the holidays. Rent it, you'll be glad you did. It might just motivate me to dust off my own cello and play a little.

I'm thankful

Happy Thanksgiving!Gobble 'til you wobble!

fuzzy lip

Who is this man and what did he do with my husband? Do not mistake him for that guy on "Swingtown" it is really Paul, my hubby.We have all been watching the progress of Paul's mustache for a few weeks now. He got involved in a bet at school with some of his teachers and it is finally over. They were all going to grow mustaches to see who could have the best one, whatever that means. Thankfully, the bet only lasted until Thanksgiving break. He did not win, I guess the winner was able to grow the full handlebar 'stache. I am glad he had fun bonding with the guys. Just a note, my mom and some of the other ladies at his school that are about the same age thought he looked so dreamy. I think they were all reliving their 70's disco days, thinking back to the days of dudes in platform shoes and gold chains...

OB update

37 weeks check-up
No way am I going to share my current weight, even if I knew what it was, which I don't since I stopped looking about three months ago. The nurse asked me all kinds of questions to add to my hospital chart making it seem really real, this is going to happen soon. I finally got "checked", you know, to see if I was dilated and strangely I was kind of excited. Maybe it's because they have changed my due date about 5 times and I really feel like I have no idea when this baby is going to make its grand debut... either way, my doctor said I wasn't even "a little bit" dilated. Shocking since I feel like he/she is coming like any day, wishful thinking I guess. I suppose my peewee is just chillin' in there, enjoying the warm, cozy space. I'll keep you updated... the one funny thing that happened is this: the nurse says, "please give us a urine sample." As all women know a trip to the OB/GYN isn't complete without the cup experience. I know this, I promise, I've done it like a million times, or at least it seems like it. So I write my name on the cup, get ready to "go" and I sit down and forget to collect the sample. Yep, I just sat there and held it while I pottied. I stand up, holding the cup, still, not even paying attention until I had to wash my hands. Then I realized I forgot and had to go out and humbly tell the nurse what I did. I asked her if that happens a lot, it's got to right?! She said, "no, not really." Gee thanks for not really trying to make me feel better. I'm going to chock that one up as my biggest pregnancy brain fart.

OSU vs. Michigan today at noon

This one is for my hubby... O-H-I-O! Go Bucks!!!
Hang on Sloopy.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oPiBSktp6M

P.S. I am still a Wildcat who bleeds Blue! Go Cats! ;)

my naughty and nice boys

The boys in my house are either naughty or nice on any given occasion, not really in-between.

My Max has been rather naughty lately. You see, he is spoiled, he thinks he should live on a beach somewhere (well, I do too, as a matter of fact) and he does not like to go potty in the cold so he just resists and goes in the house when I am not looking, usually in my closet or by my desk. I have been screaming at him constantly and cleaning my carpet a lot! This happens every winter. Our vet even says, he is spoiled. My poor husband has taken over my dog walking duty for now, since I pretty much waddle everywhere and I have to pee every 10 minutes that I am standing. Yeah, he looks cute, but he is super annoying.

My Parker, caught being nice. Actually, we have been bonding a lot lately. We have made cookies, crafts, played lots of board games. And I found out the boy loves to dust and clean with a spray bottle. Woo hoo! At least one of my kids will take after me.

UK love

Look at my girl, Ashley Judd... beautiful, fierce, and cheering for our alma mater... UK! Yep, that's right, we're both UK grads, I love being able to say that. I can just hear her saying, "Go Cats!" or "Get that rebound!" or "Hey, he traveled!" or some other cool basketball thing. Love UK! Love basketball! Love her! I had to share this picture, I saw it and I said to myself, "you go on girl." The only good thing about it getting colder is being able to sit on the couch and cheer for my Wildcats.

scrappy card

A birthday card I just made...I've had Christmas on the brain so much lately that when I made this card, I was sort of impressed with myself. It was actually refreshing to use some orange and green instead of red and green. I just had to share a photo. The best part of this project, it is totally made from scraps I had on my desk. I was in the process of cleaning out some baskets on my desk (again- Christmas... I wanted everything in tip top order for all that wrapping and creating!) when I noticed I had this pile of stuff that kind of looked good together. So I slapped some of it together, stamped some words, and voila! I just love having a card on hand for those times when I realize I have to send one like yesterday in order to get it to the person on time.

teeny basket love

Merry Christmas to myself! I have talked about my love of Longaberger baskets often and that will probably never diminish. I just received my "tree trimming" basket in the mail. Isn't it the cutest thing ever?! After squealing with delight (seeing "Longaberger" on the return address label will do it every time) I ran inside and tore open the box. I don't think you can really see how big the box is compared to the contents... (minus the packing paper)
Look how cute! It is teeny, meant to hang on a tree. Ignore my hand, it looks like a giant man-hand right here, boy I need a manicure!Here is the basket all done up with its accessories. It is called the "Little Shopper." Don't you just love it!? I haven't bought too many baskets in the past few years (living on one income will do that to you) but I do try to get this one each year. They do look so adorable on my Christmas tree. I just love the whole experience of a new Longaberger, the smell of the stain on the basket, checking for the weaver's signature, putting in a liner and finding a proper place for display, just gets my heart racing. I'm such a geek.Here are some of my other tree trimmers. I love their petiteness. Not exactly practical but hey since I don't splurge on shoes anymore a girl's got to have a vice.

holiday wrapping

I gathered all my holiday wrapping supplies last week and the good news is I don't have to buy anything but more tape. I have a lot of paper and bags so I am set. Now all I have to do is get busy and use them all up making pretty gifts for everyone. I keep them in this big plastic tote so I can carry it all around. Sometimes I wrap on the floor (although giant belly might keep me from doing this method this year), sometimes I work at my desk, or my bed and usually Christmas Eve, I am working at my kitchen island. I try to do a little each day so I don't have one massive night of wrapping, that just makes me grumpy. Go ahead and check to see what you need for your holiday packages, I have seen lots of specials and sales already (Hallmark is giving a free roll of paper when you purchase one!) you'll be relieved you did.

pregnancy update

This one if for a couple of my gal pals who live far away and have been asking me about this pregnancy ticker thing at the top of my blog... for some reason, it does not show my true pregnancy status. I am actually 35 weeks along, about two behind the ticker. I have tried to fix it but I am so not a computer whiz that I can't figure it out. Anyway, I am due on Dec. 16th, maybe, my docs aren't sure. I hope to be ready around the 10th-20th. Sometime in there. I do not know if peewee is a boy or a girl and I have no inclination either way. I feel it could be one or the other on any given day. That's the fun of being surprised I guess! This pregnancy is very different from my other two so I can't even compare that way! I think it is because I was totally not in shape at the beginning, which has made everything that much harder along the way. I bought diapers today (size 1, not newborn, since my kids are always big) and I think that is the last thing I "needed" before he/she decides to make his/her big debut. We do not have names picked out, well I do, but my husband does not agree! Zoe wants a sister, Parker wants a brother (but mostly he doesn't want a baby, "I'm da baby, momma" he tells me) so either way, one of them is pissed forever. I have Braxton Hicks contractions all the time, I am an emotional wreck, giant spider veins have taken over my legs, I can't see my feet, I can't bend over without grunting, I have boobs the size of watermelons, but other than that, all is well. We're getting ready, my body says it is done, but my mind, not so much. I am just a teeny bit terrified of having another newborn but I can say I am anxious to hold him/her. I do love that protective feeling of having them in my tummy for as long as I can, just to make sure all is well. So until the big day, everyone keep your fingers crossed for me that my water doesn't break in the middle of the grocery store while Parker and Zoe are running through the aisles (my reoccurring nightmare).

recycling

A little organizing/going green/cleaning/ idea...

I put this little box right next to my desk where I scrapbook and do just about everything else a while ago. It is perfect for those envelopes from bills or mail and large scrapbooking scraps. I only put paper in it and on trash day it is super easy to grab and empty into the larger recycling bin. It always amazes me that I have it full each week, makes me feel so good that stuff is not going into the landfill.

teacher gifts

A simple gift idea...

I just finished teacher gifts for this year. I am so excited that they are done. I think they will like them. I usually give a small gift at Christmas (a token of appreciation) and a larger one (usually a gift card) at the end of the year. This year I had a flash to give them some pampering. I got most of the supplies when they were on sale at my supermarket (love that one stop shopping) for buy one get one free. Here are the things I used... a bottle of red nail polish (Merry Christmas!), a small hand sanitizer, hand lotion, emery boards, and some red and green wrapped chocolates.

Here is the final product. Sorry about the blurry picture. I love the cellophane bags with a ribbon and tag. I use these a lot. With the scraps from the tags, I made these cute Christmas tree tags. I am going to save them later for another gift probably. Sorry another blurry picture, I think maybe Santa should bring me some sunlight!

I'm spoiled

Look at all these goodies! Yep, they're all mine. Well actually some are for our baby but I'm claiming them. Sunday, after my three days of stomach flu trauma, I went to brunch for what I thought was some mommy time with my playgroup girls. Well, I walked in to see them all sitting there with my mom, my aunts, and my best buddy from college and a mound of gifts. Let me digress for just a second, I had just had "words" with my husband before leaving the house, nothing major, but when you are very pregnant, anything can set you off. So I was already crying when I walked in the door, still mad and all. When I saw everyone and realized what was happening, the floodgates opened again. After I collected myself, I thoroughly enjoyed an afternoon of gifts, food, and best of all, girl time. Wow, I can't remember the last time I felt overwhelmed by joy and love. I wish I could bottle up that feeling and keep it for future reference! Thank you to all those special ladies for treating me like a queen for a day. I am still feeling the high from it. I am blessed to have them all in my life and so thankful for such wonderful, caring friends.

just my luck

What are the odds?

That your child contracts the stomach flu the very same day you have scoured and cleaned all your household bathrooms?

That your other child who never stops moving, throws up, while you are holding him?

busy morning

How can one innocent task lead to a morning of frenzied decluttering?!

I really wanted to just figure out if I had any bottles left and what nipples I needed for them, even though I plan on nursing our new baby, I like to have a few for backup. So with both my kids home sort of sickish, not sick enough to be laying around, sick enough to be bugging me! I spent the whole morning cleaning and reorganizing three cabinets in my kitchen. How does this happen? I swear I didn't mean to do it! Oh well, I have a full box for Goodwill (old mismatched glasses) and I realized I have no nipples for bottles. I then remembered that I quit giving Parker a bottle (when he was about 18 months old) when he chewed the last nipple to pieces. I think these small tasks are what multiply into major overhauls for me, yes now I am seeing all kinds of things that could be purged. It's a sickness I tell you. I can't stop myself!

watching web news and making lists

I couldn't stay awake last night to watch the election returns, darn pregnancy... it was the first time that I can remember not knowing the results before I went to bed. I couldn't sleep and I wanted to get up several times to check the web for info but my exhaustion got the better of me. I have been crying so much this morning watching ABC News segments online. They have most of the highlights available for viewing. What a historic day for Americans. Can you believe our children are going to grow up not knowing that only white men have held our top political offices?! I was excited for either candidate to win, it was going to be so awesome either way. Regardless of what you wanted the outcome to be, you have to admit it is pretty exciting to be living history.

On a lighter note...
I think now is a good time to make a list of all the holiday stuff you want to do. Whether it be baking, visiting friends, caroling, special shopping, or other traditions, you should decide what you want to do and get out that calendar. Put those things on there before you get to booked up to squeeze anything else in. I have already decided on some baking days and I am looking for a day to shop with my best friend from college. These are things I don't want to miss just because we are busy. I am also going to schedule wrapping days and post office days so those things are left to the last minute. While having a new baby kind of limits my plans somewhat, I am still going to try to make a schedule I can stick with hopefully creating a less-stressful holiday season.

go already

Today is your chance to make history people...

Go Vote!

thankful

Yesterday I was vegging on the couch with the kids watching a little bit of Noggin. You know how they have those segments between each show with Moose and Zee? Well they were talking about being thankful and so I said, "what are you guys thankful for?"

Zoe says: I am thankful for my nice teacher.
isn't that so sweet?

Parker says: french fries
hmm, I don't quite know what to say about that

I say: I am thankful for my two awesome kiddos.
which they promptly gave me a big hug, unprovoked

My love for Noggin just went up about 50%.

Trick or treat

Well another perfect photo opportunity...shot... I can never get good trick or treat pictures to save my life (same goes for Christmas). In all the craziness to get ready to go I always miss the cute, posed shots of the kids in their costumes. Urgh! Every year I try to get things ready a little earlier and this year I even ordered pizza for dinner so I wouldn't have to worry about that, still we were crazed and running in and out of the house to get ourselves out in time. Oh well, I guess these are more representative of what our life is really like, as opposed to the smiling, hugging, standing-by-the-pumpkin-posed shots I envision...

show us those muscles Parker

singing and dancing before the big take off

their true colors

our wagon, always the best one decorated in the neighborhood (OK, so I am prejudiced)
I love this one... Zoe posing (she is totally Sharpay-diva!) and Max getting a good sniff of the treats! This is my life.

update: the candy we all seem to be eating first therefore I am assuming is our favorites: Reese Cups, yum!