happy new year!

What a nice evening. The boys, Dave and I went to the neighbors' house for a very nice party. I got to sit and relax, talk to some neighbors. The boys got to snack on junk food. I had some corn chips and guacamole. Mmm. Then Dave and I came home to put the boys to bed. I get to stay home and listen for the wee ones while Dave goes back to the party. As he should. They are his friends first. He knew them before he knew me. I would feel a little weird going over there and making him stay home. Anyway, it leaves me time to blog and just enjoy some peace and quiet. A rare commodity around here.

I think this was what I was looking for and just did not know it. I think tomorrow we will celebrate the new year by making pancakes. The boys love to make pancakes. I wish I could say we make them from scratch, but I am gluten, dairy and soy free (not easy!) so I have found it easiest to buy this YUMMY brand of pancakes called Namaste. They are so good! No one knows that they are fake. Or should I say free of so many things... The ingredient list is very small and I am sure I could come up with my own recipe for them with a little trial and error. I may do that some day. It would be a fun experiment for me to do with the boys. They eat the leftover pancakes frozen, so I do not think it would be a problem if they did not turn out quite right. Throw some mini-chocolate chips in them in the shape of a face and the boys are happy!

Hope you all have the kind of celebration you are looking for. May you all have a blessed 2009!

something is wrong.

It's truly unbelievable. I never thought this day would exist. Ever. Are you ready for this?

I do not like chocolate anymore. I used to eat it all the time. Several times a day I would sneak a bite of chocolate.

How did this happen you ask? This is what I know. I was really sick and could not eat for several days. After that I decided I should see how long I could go without chocolate because it is really not supposed to be a part of my diet. So, I decided a few weeks later to just have one piece. And I did not like it. I spit it out!

I know. It's just not right. It's similar to not liking apple pie or pumpkin pie. Has the world ended? Not as far as I can tell... So far not liking chocolate has only affected me in one way. No more chocolate anything, thereby reducing my caffeine intake to zilch and my sugar intake also. Both good things. I guess I should be happy I do not like it anymore.

sharing grandparents.

It has to be said that it is no fun sharing the folks. We used to have my parents all to ourselves since my brother did not have any kids yet. We were able to see them the majority of the visit and my brother would visit with them here or we would go see him for a day. It was so great to have them here playing with the kids and visiting with us.

Now my brother has a daughter. We have to share and we do not like it. It takes away our time and not only that, but we do not necessarily get prime babysitting time. Whichever of us asks first gets it. For example, New Year's Eve. It did not occur to me that I would have to ask my parents to be here and go to the neighbor's party with us. They have gone every year with us that they have visited. Usually my dad comes home early, so if I really wanted I could ask him to listen for crying kids while I stay at the neighbors.

This year my brother and his wife have asked my parents to babysit for their daughter (my beautiful niece) for New Year's Eve. This automatically puts me out of any possibility of staying out past 8:30. I should get home earlier if I want the night to be a little easier. I guess it is best as I should go to bed and get a good night sleep.

I'm not bitter. I knew one day I would have to share. And I am thrilled to have a niece to love and squeeze and spoil. I just liked having my folks to myself. In the end though, I would not trade my brother or his family for anything. I feel blessed to have them in my life. Even if I do have to share the grandparents.

skimpy taco bell.

My parents went to a Taco Bell in Laramie, Wyoming. It was January 27th, 2008. I just uploaded the pics and saw the picture of the skimpy taco my dad was served. Amazing. I think there are maybe 5 pieces of cheese in it and about a tablespoon of meat. We won't debate the quality of the meat at this time. This is the skimpiest taco I have EVER seen. My dad complained and they gave him 3 new ones, but he says they were not that much better. He often complains about the food in restaurants looking nothing like the pictures they display. I think Taco Bell would go out of business if they displayed the picture of the taco they served Dad. Maybe people trying to lose weight would go there and then eat 10 figuring the tacos are so wimpy they could have more. Maybe that is a marketing idea for Taco Bell. Cater to those wanting to lose weight by showing them the skimpy taco. I think they should call it a skinny taco for better sales.

happy holidays.

2008 is almost over. Incredible.

Zane was insistent that he get to see Santa this year. So off we went to the mall on the 23rd. Everything was coated with ice. We risked our necks to take our kids to see Santa at the mall. Are we crazy? I think so.

Fortunately, nothing bad happened. The worst part was we had to make an appointment with Santa and come back 3 hours later. In that time we managed to go to the library and return some dvd's we borrowed, pick up our holiday local free-range turkey from the butcher, and go home to have lunch.

The best part was that Grandma and Grandpa went with us!

Happy Holidays everyone! Hope it's great!

child labor

Zane has an interest in washing dishes now, which is great and I highly encourage him. Stone wants to vacuum. I also encourage him. Here is a picture of my not yet 2 year old vacuuming and my 4 year old washing dished. I love it! Don't be jealous. They are not always this well behaved.

price tags.

Is there anything worse than price tags that will not come off? Of course there is, but as far as tiny problems of the world, this one ranks pretty high on my list. I just spent 20 minutes getting the sticky off 12 plastic scoops from the price stickers. What a waste of 20 minutes. If I had known I would be wasting 20 minutes of my life doing that, I would never have bought those stinking scoops. But they are so cute and perfect to give along with the bath salts/sugars. Now, my hands smell like googone and the smell was still on the scoops after I gave them a good washing. Ugh. Now I am letting them soak overnight in Dawn dishsoap. Next will be baking soda. Anybody have any sticky remover suggestions that are more natural?

chocolate-mint sugar scrub.

Even with the chocolate-mint half dead and what was green covered in ice, I decided to go for it and make some chocolate-mint sugar scrub. Unfortunately I am pretty new to this body scrub making and did not take into account the rather strong scent of olive oil. And, like I often do, I dove into the process without doing any research. I used the green de-iced parts of the chocolate-mint, olive oil, shea butter and sugar (All organic). The chocolate mint smell was there, but the olive oil was just too fragrant. And, since I had picked pretty much all the green parts of the chocolate mint, I had to scent it up another way. I just happened to have some wonderful organic peppermint oil in my pantry. Mmm. Now it smells wonderful and I just want to dive in. Still need to think about other oils. My babysitter suggested grapeseed. I will definitely be making more in the spring. Yum!

Just when you think you are done...

Was looking over all my holiday packages and thinking maybe I had under purchased for my nephew. Feel like I should go out and buy him a ton of stuff. Mind you, I have spent the allotted amount of money for each person, but when I look at his collection of things, I feel like it's just not enough. The worst part is that I know he already has a ton of toys and does not need more. Don't get me wrong, I also bought him a cool t-shirt made by an art student, some books, coffee filters (for snowflake making, I do not condone 4 year olds drinking coffee), and a nightlight. Only 1 or 2 toys in the whole lot. Am I brainwashed that you must buy buy buy? I'm beginning to think so.

On another note, I did end up making some organic salt baths to give to other people. I had some nice rosemary in my garden, a bottle of organic olive oil, a container of sea salt and some pure organic shea butter (good for inflammation). Whipped it all up in my cuisinart and I now have a wonderful homemade gift to give. I think I will need to find more containers and buy more olive oil so I can make more. I even have other scenting options. Do you think oregano bath salts would be good? My other option if it is not all frozen would be chocolate mint. I will have to check. We had a nice hard freeze and snow today, so it might not be... too bad, I think it is the best idea. I might try my hand at pink grapefuit bath sugars as well. Sounds delicious!

So now my big project is to think of something I can make or recycle to give to my nephew. Any ideas would be great! He does crafts with his grandma, all kinds of things really like gardening, stripping wallpaper, whatever needs done. (Child labor, woohoo!) And, he talks non-stop. If I could make a Kareoke machine or a video camera, that would be the way to go. At think point he will be lucky to get some organice good for you banana chocolate chip cookies (no sugars added). Maybe I could make a planter and throw some herb seeds with it so he can grow his own garden. Or instant cookie mix so he can make cookies with his mom.

I'll let you know what happens. Maybe Zane (my 4 year old) will help me with a solution. I have yet to ask him what he wants to get Ian. He usually comes up with something different like yogurts.

goofy cat.

I'm not a crazy cat lady. I could have been, but I had kids, so now I am just crazy.

Here is our cat Leilu. We got her as a kitten about 10 years ago. She has been one of the best cats I have had my whole life. And she's just goofy. She will lick your nose and she likes to rest on her back, often with her legs wide open. Oh my.

special bond.

Stone has a special bond with my father. He prefers Grandpa to anyone else. It's pretty evident in this photo. Even when he was younger, the only way I could get him away from Grandpa was if Stone wanted to nurse.

One time when my parents were going to watch the boys so Dave and I could go on a date, Grandpa had to go upstairs and would not take Stone with him. This was before we left for our date. Well, let me tell you, Stone held a grudge. He would not go to Grandpa for the rest of the night and was a Grandma's boy all evening. Grandma was thrilled to have this attention, and I think it was nice for Zane and Grandpa to finally have some time for just the 2 of them again.

Thankfully, a good night of sleep and the grudge was gone. He was Grandpa's boy again in the morning.

I hope everyone is lucky enough to have a bond like this with someone.

ready or not?

Here I am blogging. This is something I never suspected would happen. I've come to realize that I need a way other e-mail and my husband's website to keep friends and family updated. Though I am also now updating the website as well.

We'll see how things go. Maybe I will continue with this. Maybe I won't. As a mom of 2, I keep pretty darn busy already.

In the meantime, check out http://marcydrivel.blogspot.com/ and http://cookingrut.blogspot.com/