She can Cook!

I have been so busy/tired lately that I cannot even see straight!  I am pathetic- if I am not in bed by 9:00 I am exhausted the next day.  Last night, however, after getting the Bug-A-Boo to bed, I crawled into my comfy covers and had a great night's sleep- thank goodness!  I feel so much better and more productive today. 

Last night was a great night in our kitchen.  I cooked crab cakes, using a delicious recipe that I got from  Andrea's cooking blog.  Now, you have to realize that any time 

a.) I cook and 

b.) it turns out to be edible, is a small victory for me.  

My husband is a great cook, and usually handles those duties in our kitchen.  Sometimes I try to help him out, especially now that we are in the middle of the basketball season and he gets home late from practice.  What I serve usually ends up being made with either a can of cream of mushroom soup or is made in the crock pot, and does not usually contain the type of flavor that you would remember as being wonderful.  

So when something I cook turns out to be good (i.e. we both want seconds) I am a very Proud, Happy Camper.  

I'm telling ya, if you want to make something easy peezy and delicious- copy that crab cake recipe down!  I even used canned crab and they were still good!   Seriously, I was in such a good mood after dinner that I got a second burst of energy and did all the dishes and a load of laundry :)

And this brings me to the next story of how stinkin cute my husband is.  While I was doing the dishes, he was hanging on the couch with Ali Monster.  (We have an open layout to our kitchen/dining room/living room, so I could see and hear what they were doing).    KK was playing with this little red phone rattle that Ali has.  He was saying "ring, ring" then putting it up to Ali's ear and saying "hello, this is Ali" and then putting it up to his ear and saying "hello, this is dad".  It was so cute to hear him call himself dad :)  .  Ali was looking at him with those eyes full of love,  and he just melted my heart.  In all the times I want to pull my hair out and strangle that man,  he can do something so sweet and really turn my crank.  I'm so thankful for him- he's a great partner, good husband, and a fabulous dad.  

Seriously, what more could I ask for?

Weekend Recap

KK and I had a night sans-baby this weekend! We dropped Missy Pants at Grandma's and met up with some of our dearest group of friends.  We all met at  over at one  of our friend's homes, where a stretch limo (!) was waiting to take us to Spokane, WA.  We ate at a well-known restaurant called Clinkerdagger, and although I was not too excited about my meal, we did share some great bottles of wine to get our night  started off right!  After dinner, we headed to a local venue and watched the comedian, Ron White, perform. He was hilarious, we had such a good time!  Afterward we went to a fancy bar in downtown Spokane and drank... you guessed it... more wine!  After sharing a delightful dessert and some great gossip, we all piled back into the limo and headed home.  It was so nice to be home at a decent hour, and to get to sleep in on Sunday morning!  

We had a great time and so enjoyed our date.. and Missy Pants had so much fun at Gramma's, so all-in-all it was a fantastic time! 

With all of our focus on being mom and dad, I forget how much I love my husband and just how much fun we have together.  He really is my perfect mate, I was reminded of that in our time together this weekend.  We need to make it a priority to spend some adult time together at least once a month... it's amazing how much more we appreciate each other after having fun- we get back to us again- and that's important!

So to all you new moms out there... make your husband a priority!  Plan a date night ASAP!!

He, and you, will thank me for it!

Snow Days!

Our little fam- damily has enjoyed the past two days off together:  after the tremendously horrible day of snow we had on Monday, our delightful administration decided to cancel school Tuesday and Wednesday-because now the snow is melting due to the pineapple express winds hitting us from Hawaii. So we went from record-breaking snow to being in a flood warning until 3:00 Friday.... and I digress... 

 Having the mid-week off  was a fun little break!  I enjoyed the extra days home with my little Bug-A-Boo.. and I think she enjoyed having momma and daddy to pal around with too! 

The big girl tried her first bites of squash today!!!  It was hilarious! She would flair her nostrils and make the "yucky face" but then open her mouth for more!  She is such a little oinker that she didn't even make a mess.  It's so fun to introduce her to new things... I can't wait for three days to pass so I can try some peas!  She's such a big girl and growing so unbelievably fast- she just fascinates me how alert and aware of her surroundings she is.  I know every parent says this but I really think she is an intuitive little thing. Very smart and interested in what is going on around her- it's amazing to watch her reach for the dogs when they walk by or look inside a cup I'm drinking to see what's in there.And she is making the best noises! She is totally aware of her little (I mean BIG) voice, and is not afraid to use it! 

She is just so cool- every day is something new.. it makes living life sooo much more blessed, and much more interesting! 

Blog Award!

Woot! Woot! I'm so excited to receive a blog award from one of my bloggy "sistas" , KDLOST.  

Thank you so much for bestowing this award on me- receiving a blog award gives me the validation that what I am doing on here isn't just mindless and somewhat idiotic (thoughts I sometimes feel about my writing) but that people do enjoy reading what I have to share... and that I sometimes even make sense! 

So thanks again for the award, KD- I feel blessed!  And without further ado I present...

A message from the creator of this award:

"Blogs who receive this award are 'exceedingly charming' say its authors. This blog invests and believes in the PROXIMITY-nearness in space, time and relationships. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers! Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award."

And I would like to take this moment to pass on this accolade to the following beautiful bloggers:

Lindsay because sometimes I think we lead parallel lives

Sara because I love to read  about Miss Miya Mei

Andria because you are a wonderful blogger

Kim because reading about your kids makes my day... and you give good advice!

Babs because you're a great momma

Andrea because I just love ya!

Alexa who is an inspiration

Hot Momma I'm sooooo excited for you!!

It was very hard for me to pick just 8 blogs because there are so many that I love... thanks to you all who have become my friends and confidants- I couldn't do it without ya! I so look forward to hearing about you and from  you... thank you for making the journey with me

Back to School... back to school

So here I am back at work- it was so hard to leave my sweet buggie at daycare today- but I did it! I reeeeeeaaaaaaaaaallllllly miss her- I've already texted to check on how she's doing about 1 million times!   It did, however, make me feel good that my friend Lynne (who watches Ali) was so excited and happy to see her when we dropped her off this morning. 

I'm also mad because we totally should not have had school today.  It is snowing AGAIN! And SUPER HARD- so hard, in fact, that we are currently under a winter storm advisory. All the area schools are closed, but noooooooooooo, not my freaking district. It is so bad that the kids are having to walk in the street to school- the sidewalks are not shoveled because of all the freaking snow- and WAL MART even had to close because of excess snow on the roof! I mean, c'mon: if Wal Mart is closed for freak's sake, then the world should stop turning.  I would give anything to squeak one more day with my baby- but oh well, such is life. 

And... I have to mention that I started the Twilight series on Friday- I have three chapters left of the first book- and I'm obsessed! I absolutely love to read, and this is the first book I have started since Missy Pants was born.  It is soooo goood! I read it every chance I get- so I've been using nap times and after baby's in bed (see...I'm already working on one of my New Year's resolutions!) Seriously people, I know I'm late to get on the Twilight train, but if you haven't started it, you need to! It's soo good I'm going to teach it in my Young Adult Lit class next year! 

And one more thing on a pop culture note- I'm so sad that one of my favorite shows, Lipstick Jungle is probably going to get cancelled! I'm so upset- I LOVE THAT SHOW! I DVR it and look forward to watching it during Ali's afternoon feedings on Mondays after school... it's what gets me through the day sometimes, people! I feel like calling NBC and pleading with the powers that be to please keep it on!!!!!!!!!!!  Boo, that ruins my whole life (not really, but I feel like being dramatic).

I even looked up some ways to help (who knows if this really works?) convince the producers not to cancel it: visit this site- http://boards.nbc.com/nbc/index.php?showtopic=809729 and show your LJ support!

The First Day of 2009

 2008 really pooped us out!

My clan enjoyed an uneventful, snow-filled 1st day of 2009.  Missy Pants was as cute as ever. She cooed and laughed in her exesaucer, and managed to flash a great smile in one of her new bows !

Seriously people, you have to check out the cute stuff Lindsay makes on her website- I'm totally obsessed and am planning to budget money from each paycheck to accessorize Miss Ali! She now of course has got to have a bow on each and every day! Plus, I've found awesome presents to buy for all the new babies in my life :)

I thought long and hard about what my resolutions for 2009 are going to be, and here is what I came up with:

• I am going to try really hard not to be so obsessive about my house.  I seriously clean some part of this house each and every day.  I never relax because I'm always cleaning- I do not take any moments of Ali's nap time to relax, and when I do, I feel really guilty for not using the time more "wisely".  I've gotten so bad that I never feel a sense of accomplishment when I do have the whole place cleaned.  I really need to stop stressing out about it and realize that it isn't what matters- and really, my house is probably over-cleaned... and REALLY - who cares!?
• I also am going to work on softening my heart towards my mother -in-law.  I need to stop being selfish and realize that she isn't doing anything she does to be mean or infringe on our lives in anyway.  She really is a messed up old woman who doesn't have anything else besides us, and I need to embrace that.  
• Another resolution I have is to not feel contempt towards my husband for not helping me as much as I think he should.  When I really stop and assess the situation, I've got it better than most women. My husband does a lot more then what I ask of him- he is an amazing man and I am so lucky, and I need to remember that.  I also need to ask for his help instead of just assume he should know when I need it- after all, he is a guy... and I've learned they're pretty straight forward in their assumptions of the world.

So there ya have it.  And really, if I do improve on all of these things, I will be a happier me! And who doesn't want to be happier !

And with that, I'm off to drink my 3rd glass of wine (woo! woo! I'm such a party animal, I know) and take myself a bubble bath!

2009!

Happy New Year!!!!!!!!   

I don't know if it can get any better than 08' for this family- 09' should be a year

 full of firsts!