Renee's Recipe Round-Up - Kid Concoctions!

Happy Wednesday! Sorry I didn't get this up sooner, I was busy steam cleaning carpets in the house. If either cat craps, ralphs or butt surfs on my carpets again I'm going to plug them at both ends!

The theme for the Round-Up today isn't really an ingredient this time, its: Kid Concoctions. Anything for kids, could be something edible like a kid snack, or something not edible like bubble solution, paint, play-doh or whatever. Please join me and link up with your kid concoction recipes.



If you would like to participate in Renee's Recipe Round-Up just follow these few simple rules:
1. Blog about a recipe that fits this weeks theme (Kid Concoctions).
2. In your blog post, please include my Renee's Ramblings button and link back to me (you can grab my button over on the side, just highlight the code, hit control & C to copy, then paste into your blog post. Easy.
3. Come back here and add your URL to the linky below.
Now that we got that all said, lets rock & roll with some awesome recipes of Kid Concoctions!

My first recipe is GOOP. We made this the first time last year, and the girls loved it. We just made it again today to keep the girls busy outside while I cleaned the carpets. Its simple to make, just takes a few ingredients, but be prepared for a mess. I find its best for the girls to do this one outside, and I have a bucket ready to wash hands right away.

GOOP:
Put 1 cup of water in a large bowl. Add some food coloring if you wish. Then slowly add 2 cups of corn starch. Stir with a spoon, but you may end up using your hands toward the end. Then play in it! You can hit it and it gets hard, then goes soft again. You can grab a handful, make a ball with it in your hand, then open your hand and it will turn to liquid again!






Mock Kiddie burgers & fries:
vanilla wafers
mint patties
frosting colored (green for lettuce, yellow for mustard, red for ketchup)
green fruit roll ups (if you want pickles, cut them into little rounds)
sesame seeds
honey

The mint is the meat, and the wafers the bun (obviously), use the frosting condiments as the glue to hold it all together. To make the lettuce and stuff I used cake decorating tips. When they are all put together with the meat and lettuce etc...brush the top with slightly watered down honey, then sprinkle sesame seeds on top. To make it look like a basket meal, I used coffee filters to hold it and used shoe string potato snacks for "fries".

Bloobies, Blaby, and Gimme back my booty!

Today has been MUCH MUCH better. Thank goodness. Kels got home this morning. I had heard Bree wake up so I was getting out of bed, at the same time my cell phone was ringing and there was a knocking on the door. The knocking and call were Kelsey, trying to get me to let her in (I wasn't expecting her home that early), as I opened the door, I stepped in cat crap with my bare feet. GROSS. I thought that was a sign it was going to be a crappy day but thankfully it wasn't.

Bree was so glad to see Kelsey home. She spent a good few hours sitting with her and talking to her, and of course watching the Annoying Orange on Kelsey's phone. Kelsey gave Bree a bunch of kisses, she missed Bree too.

We made some Rocket Pops today. Ours are purple & blue, because that is the jello I had. Ours will not look that way either, because for some reason in several of them our cool whip floated to the top. Oh well, I'm sure they'll taste yummy and really that is all that matters.

This afternoon Jilly has decided she wanted to know what it was like to be pregnant. So, she blew up some balloons, and gave herself a blaby and bloobies. (Balloon baby & boobies). She is sooooo weird. I think she gets that from her dad ;) Because we know I'm totally normal. He-he.


Excuse her messy hair, she hadn't visited the brush & mirror yet today at that time.

Yesterday I made some pancakes. Bree requested strawberry ones. So, I made some that looked like strawberries (sorta), and I also made some to look like watermelon, and some with chunks of real strawberries in them. She doesn't like boring regular pancakes I always gotta make them cool in some way or another. Here is what the strawberry & watermelon looked like:


Here is a video from when we were at Cindy & Dan's swimming the other day. When Bree was climbing out of the pool Kelsey nibbled on her booty. Bree got mad and demanded her booty back! She stuck her hand in Kelsey's mouth to retrieve it, then planted it back on her booty. She did this a few times, I got it on video once.

Gimme that back! from Renee Kofoid on Vimeo.

QOTD: What was the worst part of being pregnant for you?

Toodles!

Blah.

It's been a stressful long day. Started off with a C R A N K Y Bree, which has continued allllllll darn day! I think when they cut her hair, they cut off her good girl abilities with it, and just left the cranky stuff. I sure hope tomorrow is better.

Speaking of Bree....a little heads up, if I have your phone number in my cell phone and you get a call from a little girl saying "YO!", please tell her to get off her mom's cell phone. Thanks. She keeps stealing my phone and trying to call people. The first time today she did it I was drying my hair. She came to me and said, "Mom I just called someone on your phone and said YO!" I checked my phone to discover she wasn't successful in her call, thankfully. Later tonight I was in the kitchen and I heard my cell phone dialing noise, I went to see what was going on and I catch Bree on the phone saying "YO!" she saw me coming and quickly hung up. Thankfully once again she did not succeed in making a real phone call, but its just a matter of time...beware.

The day continued to get worse and worse. It's been a day of mixed emotions, tears, forgiveness and love. I'm anxious for today to be over. I'm hoping and praying for a better day tomorrow.

A quick reminder, the Renee's Recipe Round-Up linky for the Cream of Mushroom recipes is up through Tues. night, so there is still time to add your recipes.

QOTD: How was your Monday?

Toodles!

Haircut, Pool, and Grandma's house! Busy afternoon.

I hope everyone has had an amazing Sunday.

Our Sunday ended up being busy. Bree mentioned the other day she wanted a haircut. I had been thinking about it actually, since she gets so sweaty with her long hair. Plus, when I put her thin hair up, it ends up falling out of clips and rubber bands, and it looks messy, and it bugs me. So, we decided a haircut would be a good idea in deed.

Kelsey was still staying at our friend Cindy's house, and she wanted to go with to see Bree get her first real haircut, so we ended up going to get her. Bree didn't want to sit in the stylist chair herself so I sat with her and she did just fine. She looked pissed at first, but she wasn't. She sat there quietly, not saying a word.








After leaving the hair place I noticed it was a bit uneven, one side was a tad longer, so late when we got home I fixed it. The last picture there in that row is after the cut, that picture doesn't do it justice really. In some of the pictures I'm posting below it looks much nicer.

After the haircut we took a quick run in to Wally World, then it was back to Cindy's house. Kelsey is staying there till later this week. While dropping Kelsey off we visited a bit and the girls went swimming. Bree is liking the pool much better now. Kels & Jilly LOVE the pool, and would like to be in it all day. I didn't get in today, but wished I had, I dipped my feet in and the water temp was just right.








Next we went to Grandma's house. The girls love going there to see Gram and the dogs. Gram got some new toys so the girls had to check them out. Gram even played the game too :) Bree had the most fun with the rocks at Gram's. She said some rocks were science rocks, and some were oval rocks, etc. She's so smart.




Just as we got to Grandma's my cell phone rang, it was Jilly's dad. She talked to him for over 10 minutes and came in the house with a smile on her face. She hasn't had a chance to talk to him much and she was really missing him. The phone call did her good.

After Gram's it was time to head home. Of course on the way Bree decided she had to pee, so we had to make a stop at the nearest gas station (there is only 1, 1/2 way between Gram's & our house). I swear now that she uses the regular potty we see every bathroom at every gas station and every store we pass. I think Bree just has a potty fetish. When we got home we ate dinner, and Bree has been a wild child ever since. Jilly has been chilling out most of the time watching TV, but she has added to Bree's wildness a few times. As for me, I'm tired, and anxiously awaiting for the little ones to go to sleep so I can have some quiet time. I'm sipping a wine highball right now, just because I wanted one... Once the little ones are snoozing I have to take the trash & recycling out because Bill didn't. This time of year I'm not a fan of doing it, to many earwigs out by the trash, ICK!

That's our day, probably boring to most of you, but that is all I have to talk about :)

QOTD: Who takes out the trash at your house?

Toodles!

Show Me Saturday! What's in your purse?

Happy Saturday! I hope everyone is having a fantastic weekend. Are you ready for Show Me Saturday? I hope so! The theme/topic for today is, 'What's in your purse?'


If you would like to participate in Show Me Saturday just follow these few simple rules:
1. Blog about the topic with pics, after all its SHOW ME Saturday.
2. In your blog post, please include my Renee's Ramblings button and link back to me (you can grab my button over on the side, just highlight the code, hit control & C to copy, then paste into your blog post. Easy.
3. Come back here and add your URL to the linky below.

Before I show you what is IN my purse, let me show you my purse :) It is a super awesome purse, specially made for me, by my friend Kami. Kami has an etsy store, if you like what you see please visit her store, she has many other things there.

Isn't it pretty?


It is filled with pockets inside, I think there are 8 of them. I also have a matching key chain.

So, now I should show you all the crap that is IN my purse...


Lets see what we have...
Keys
phone
2 pink dirty coin purses containing pics, library cards, drivers license, etc.
coin purse with $ in it (the one with Bree's picture on it)
Ziploc bag of butt wipes for Bree
Jilly's Epi-Pen
crushed crackers
pad
insurance cards
swine flu vaccination cards
2 check books
straw
ice breakers
socks (not sure why they were in there...)
lip gloss
dri-erase markers
batteries (for my camera)
Kami's business cards
toy ring
some elastic hair bands
candy/suckers
And some much needed Aleve!

I think that's about it. That is a lot of crap. What isn't shown is Bree's sippy cup, which goes in there when we go places, it fits in a pocket inside :)

What is in YOUR purse? Show me! Be sure to come back and link up.

QOTD: Do you set off fireworks on the 4th of July?

Toodles!

5 Question Friday 6-25-10

OK, what the hell, I might as well do 5 Question Friday, I talked myself into it. LOL. Bree fell asleep already so why not, I now have some free time on my hands. I missed last weeks because of the Relay For Life, so I shouldn't skip this week.

OK, here's how it works if you don't know...I get the questions from Mama M. and post them here, then give my answers. I will then link up to her. If you'd like to do this too please do, just go over to Mama M.'s and read the rules etc, and link up properly. Or, if you would rather, feel free to just answer the questions here in my comments area, that is fun too.





1. Do you know how to play a musical instrument?


2. What is your pet peeve while driving?


3. Would you rather have a housekeeper or unlimited spa services?


4. Is there a song that you hear that will take you back to the moment, like a junior high or high school dance?


5. What song best represents your life right now?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1. I can play a coronet, and a flute...although not very well anymore. I played both in band in school. I started with the coronet, then wanted something more girlie and small so I went to the flute.

2. I have many. Here are a few: Those that insist on pulling out in front of you when you are going 60ish, when there are no cars for miles behind me, had they just waited...then they insist on poking along...grrr. Those that don't use turn signals or turn lanes. Those that text, apply make up, read newspapers and other stupid things while driving. Those that don't put their children in proper car seats....so many I could go on and on, but I'll stop here.

3. Unlimited spa services no question about it. I have kids I can force to do housework if need be...I'd love me some spa stuff. Right now I could use a good massage, I have a sore back today.

4. I didn't go to many dances in school. But there are a few songs that take me back to my high school days of fun & friends. Madonna's Crazy For You. REO's I Can't Fight This Feeling Anymore. Brian Adam's Summer of 69.

5. Ummm I don't listen to music much now. I'd probably say....Do your boobs hang low do they wobble to and fro, can you tie them in a knot can you tie them in a bow, can you throw them over your shoulder like a continental soldier do your boobs hang low. That's a song right?

There ya go. I hope you enjoyed this installment of 5 Question Friday. I hope to see your answers either here in the comments or on your blog linked up to Mama M.'s. Happy Friday!

Tomorrow's Show Me Saturday topic/theme will be: What is in your purse! Get those pictures & posts ready to link up :)

Toodles!

Backseat Driver

It used to be just Bill was my annoying backseat driver...

Things have changed.

I also have Kelsey now, who after taking drivers ed (still not licensed because she hasn't gotten her hours in) she seems to think she is a know it all about driving.

A new backseat driver has been added to the mix. She's little, and likes to talk, A LOT. Little Miss Bree now tells me how to drive! "MOM, that light is red, you need to stop." "MOM, that light is green so GO!" "MOM, that's a yellow light, you better slow down." "MOM, there is a stop sign, STOP!" "MOM, there is a big truck, you don't like big trucks, get away from it." She has started doing this recently and its getting quite annoying, but its cute at the same time. I'm proud that she has learned this stuff, she amazes me a lot of the time with what she knows.



It's Friday. I'm kinda in a blah mood for some reason. I'm debating on if I wanna do 5 Question Friday or not... I suppose I could, got nothing else to do right now (other then laundry, and dishes, blah) while Bree watches The Wonder Pets... I'll think about it for a few...

Today's QOTD: Do you have any fun plans for this weekend?

Toodles!

Yay. A Day With NO Rain!

I almost didn't believe it when I saw it.

I woke up to the sun shining brightly.

I almost forgot what it looked like, although we've gotten sneak peeks of it here and there this June...but mostly we've had rain.

Lots and lots of rain.

Thunderstorms too.

Tornado watches & warnings as well.

Just last night actually there were tornado warnings. Not for me, but for many areas around me. Kelsey was staying at our friends Dan & Cindy's house. I'm not sure if they had warnings there, but they had a hell of a storm, and their power went out for several hours. The same with where Zach was. He called me worried, he was home alone, no power, no internet on his phone, he didn't know if he had warnings or not. He said the wind knocked down things in his area, and his power had been out for a while, it was still out late evening when I called to check on him.

After the evening of storms, things got pretty cool looking outside. Starting around 8:15 p.m. things started to look very YELLOW. Soon it turned to a peachy color, and then reddish. It was so cool to look out the window and see colors. I sat here at my desk (because I'm lazy) and took some pictures of the window to give you a visual of the colors I am talking about. Take a look:


Pretty darn cool eh? By 9ish, it was back to being dark & ugly out, but the colors were very nice while they lasted.

Today there was nothing but SUNSHINE. It was a sight to sore eyes. All the rain and storms lately kinda makes one feel depressed.

This afternoon the girls & I went out in the back yard to play. Bree loved being out there kicking her ball around and hand feeding Moo some dog food. She kept saying, "Her likes me" lol well yeah you have food of course she likes you! Jilly spent some time playing with the dog too. She takes her toy and runs around with it making the dog chase her for it...then when Moo bites her in the butt she thinks twice about doing it.

Overall we had a kinda boring day, not much to talk about here really. How was your day? Did you see sunshine like we did? I hope so!

QOTD: Does bad weather depress you?

Toodles!

Renee's Recipe Round-Up - Cream of Mushroom Soup

Happy Wednesday! It's time for Renee's Recipe Round-Up. The theme for today is CREAM OF MUSHROOM SOUP. This means, IF you have a recipe containing CREAM OF MUSHROOM SOUP you can post the recipe here this week. If it does NOT have CREAM OF MUSHROOM SOUP in it, please do NOT post it. GOT IT? :)

Whats the theme again?

CREAM OF MUSHROOM SOUP!!

Here is what you do to participate:

If you would like to participate in Renee's Recipe Round-Up just follow these few simple rules:
1. Blog about a recipe that fits this weeks theme (CREAM OF MUSHROOM SOUP).
2. In your blog post, please include my Renee's Ramblings button and link back to me (you can grab my button over on the side, just highlight the code, hit control & C to copy, then paste into your blog post. Easy.
3. Come back here and add your URL to the linky below.

Now that we got that all said, lets rock & roll with some awesome recipes containing CREAM OF MUSHROOM SOUP!

I have a few recipes containing CREAM OF MUSHROOM SOUP. I hope you enjoy them.

Lazyman's Stew:

2 lbs chuck stew meat

1 pkg. Lipton Onion Soup Mix (or a Generic brand)

1 can (I use 2 actually because I like more gravy) CREAM OF MUSHROOM SOUP (no water)

1 8 oz can sliced mushrooms with juice

Mix all together in a casserole dish. COVER, and back for 3 hours with no peeking at 325 degrees. Serve over rice or noodles.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tator Tot Casserole:

1 bag of tator tots

2 cans of CREAM OF MUSHROOM SOUP

cheddar cheese (Shredded)

Mix the tator tots and the soup. Put into a 9x13 pan sprayed with non stick cooking spray. Sprinkle with cheese and bake until done, usually 30-45 min. I bake it at about 350-400 degrees.

Enjoy!

Remember to link up below, but ONLY if your recipe contains this weeks theme of CREAM OF MUSHROOM SOUP. Please follow the rules. Thank you for understanding, and for participating.

Toodles!

Heads up for tomorrows Renee's Recipe Round-Up

Just a quick post to say the theme for tomorrows Recipe Round-Up will be:

CREAM OF MUSHROOM SOUP!

So, if you have a recipe containing CREAM OF MUSHROOM SOUP, please blog it tomorrow, follow the rules and link up!

Do NOT link up if you don't have CREAM OF MUSHROOM SOUP in your recipe. Save your recipe for the appropriate theme. Thank you!

Toodles

You know it's...fill in the blank.

You know it's____________when_______________________. How would YOU fill in the blanks? I have a few of my own...

*You know it's time to get new undies when there is a hole big enough to be a third leg hole.

*You know it's time to get new undies when there is a hole under the waist band that makes a great handle to pull them up!

*You know it's time to get new undies when the purple has faded to lavender.

*You know it's time to get new undies when they are so worn you can no longer read the brand name on the waist band.

As a fat chick, I find it hard to find good fitting undies, so I've clung to the ones I like ... but its seriously time to start thinking about getting some new ones.

*You know it's going to be a long day when the first thing you think of when waking is, how soon until bedtime?

*You know it's going to be a long summer when 10 minutes after school is out the last day the kids are already fighting and bored, and its continued since...oy.

*You know it's going to be a crappy day when your daughters leakproof sippy cup leaks a big puddle of milk all over your couch.

*You know it's going to be an Excedrin day when the minute you put the dog out she starts to bark, and does so allllllll dayyyyyy longggggg.

*You know it's going to be a depressing day when you look at the hour by hour weather forecast and you see rain nearly constantly until Thursday.

*You know you are going to feel ugly when you have a zit so big its mistaken for a volcano and an eruption warning is issued.

*You know it's going to be a gross day when your first fart of the day doesn't come alone, it brought a date...hello shart.

*You know it's wonderful to be a mom when the first thing your 2 yr old says when she sees you in the morning is, "I LOVE YOU MOMMY" accompanied by a big hug and kiss.

QOTD: Who does the mowing at your home, you? Your spouse? Kids?

Toodles! I'm off to go mow...bah.

Happy Father's Day!

I wanted to take a few minutes to wish all the men in my life a Happy Father's Day! My Dad of course, Bill my hubby, Kelsey & Jilly's Dad, my brothers, and to my friends that are dads. Hugs go out to my friend Dan who is getting through his first Father's Day since his son's passing in April.

Let me take a few minutes to tell you about my dad. His name is Richard (Dick), he & mom have been married for a gazillion years (I'm sure he'd say it feels like that many!). My dad is an extremely hard worker, even now. Dad is very funny, and has a strange sense of humor, sometimes I wonder if I get some of that from him. Some of the craziest things Dad did were back when he was younger and a drinker (thankfully he is no longer a drinker). I remember as a pre-teen, dad going to the mall with us. He LOVED to embarrass me. He would pretend to be from the Beverly Hillbillies, he'd call me Elly May, very loudly so everyone could hear. He'd say something like "I ain't never seen me a store this big, how about you Elly May?" Or, he'd be gross and do a loud fart. Oy.

Even as my dad has aged, he still is goofy. He loves to tell the kids stories, and they believe them. One time he told Kelsey he wanted to be a cowgirl when he grew up, she believed him! He's also had the kids thinking he was an astronaut, and that he was in the Olympics. As nutty as he is, I still love him.

Here are a few pics of my dad from when he/we were younger. I had scanned a bunch together years ago, so I apologize for the clump of pics.

The picture on the bottom we all looked rather glum, it was the day of my Grandfather's funeral, we were just leaving to go to it. Mom wanted a picture of us while we were dressed up, no one felt like smiling.

Here is a picture of my dad from this week. He is holding my brother Robb's daughter Trinity. Normally Dad doesn't hold babies, he's not a baby fan...but from what my mom says, Robb told dad to hold her to see how heavy she was, and then he walked away so dad was stuck holding her for a few minutes. Hehe, way to go Robb!



Happy Father's Day everyone.

QOTD: What is your favorite memory of your Father?

Toodles!
P.S. This morning when Bree got up (at 10:45! can you believe it?!) I had her sign her card for Bill. She also wanted to color on the envelope for it. She made a circle with some marks on it, she said to me, "This is a meteor, they are in outer space, you can't touch them." Umm holy crap, where did she learn that? My mouth dropped open in surprise!

TIRED! Relay For Life summary in pictures

I'm very tired, so I'll briefly tell about the Relay and then post a million pics :)

Friday looked nice when we left the house, it was sunny, although HOT. By the time we got to Dan & Cindy's and everything was ready to go, a major storm moved in. Winds picked up quickly, rain came pouring down. We ended up waiting that round out at Dan & Cindy's before heading to the Relay location.

When we got to the location, things were not very organized. You'd think they would have been watching the weather forecast for days and would have been prepared for what to do if it rains....Not so. They crammed everyone into a small gym (where wrestling matches take place during the school year), and we were supposed to 'campout' there. We set up or campsite in that little area, a bunch of chairs around a table of food & coolers. No place for an air mattress for Bree to sleep anywhere....

The opening ceremony, and survivor lap was touching. I got teary, and the survivors got a standing ovation, which was much deserved. Later in the night was the Luminaria Ceremony, but I had to miss most of that because Bree wanted to pee every 5 minutes.

We did get to walk the outside track for a bit, until the next storm rolled in...then we had to stay inside. The music was good, Bree loved to dance. She ended up falling asleep listening to it at around 11:30 p.m., but then I tried to diaper her and she woke up...and didn't go back to sleep till after 1:00 a.m.. We ended up leaving the Relay at around midnight and we went to stay the night with Cindy at her house. Dan and most of the others stayed until the end this morning.

I'm super tired today, didn't get much sleep, even at Cindy's because I shared a bed with Bree who takes the whole bed, and kicks. Nothing like a foot in the face at 5:30 a.m.!

I'm going to post a bunch of pics, and they have explainations with them for you. Then I need to get my butt outside, the girls and I are going to sleep in the tent in the back yard...that is the plan anyways, it may change... Enjoy the pics.




















That is all for now...Toodles!

Show Me Saturday! Stormy weather

Happy Saturday everyone! I've pre-wrote this blog so that it would post right away on Saturday, while I am away at the Relay For Life walk. I figured it was better to have it ready because Saturday when we return its going to be a busy day and I'll be to exhausted to blog.

If you would like to participate in Show Me Saturday just follow these few simple rules:
1. Blog about the topic with pics, after all its SHOW ME Saturday.
2. In your blog post, please include my Renee's Ramblings button and link back to me (you can grab my button over on the side, just highlight the code, hit control & C to copy, then paste into your blog post. Easy.
3. Come back here and add your URL to the linky below.

Ready? Good. The topic for today is STORMY WEATHER. Repeat after me, STORMY WEATHER :) So your posts should be about what? Dogs? NO, Naked Men? NO, Stormy weather? YES YES YES! :) OK, I think you got it. I can't wait to read and see pics about your STORMY WEATHER experiences.

June 5, we had a nasty night of storms. I saw the ugly clouds roll in, and happened to grab the camera to snap a few pics before things got to ugly. Soon after, there were tornado watches, then warnings. The kids, Bill and myself spent over an hour in our basement to wait out the warnings. We all kept fairly busy. Jilly watched TV, Bree played with all the toys we had hidden down there, I got on my old dinosaur computer which is slower than molasses in January, and Bill was on his computer playing games. Thankfully all of us here in my town were safe. Others in towns not to far from us, like Streator, which is approximately 40 minutes from us were not spared. Streator got hit pretty good. Scary stuff tornado's...I hate them.

Here is a glimpse of the nasty clouds rolling in that night in our area:




To see some of the damage from the tornado's that night you can visit these links:
NBC Chicago
World News Network
I think that is enough to give you an idea of what it was like here in IL that night. It wasn't pretty. My heart goes out to those that lost everything, or had damage.

Don't forget to link up!

Today's QOTD: Have you ever experienced a tornado?

Toodles!

Heads up for S.M.S.

I know its only Thursday (for only a few minutes more), but I wanted to give you a heads up on Saturdays topic for Show Me Saturday! The topic will be: STORMY WEATHER. Not dogs, not naked men, just STORMY WEATHER. So, you have time to prepare so you can participate, I hope to see you link up with your blog post & pics of STORMY WEATHER! :)

Tomorrow is normally 5 Question Friday. I'm not sure if I'll be doing it or not, depends on how well I manage my time getting stuff ready for the Relay for Life. If I have time I'll do it, if not, I'm not going to stress about it. I'm sure you all understand.

In case I don't get time to blog tomorrow, please wish the girls & I luck! I hope Bree cooperates, and I'd LOVE the weather to as well but that isn't looking good.

Toodles

Holy Moly Mother!

Yesterday I mentioned that I hadn't reached my goal yet for the Relay For Life walk. Later in the day, I played with the girls outside, mowed, cooked dinner, finished mowing, showered etc, then I happened to check my email. I found, "You have reached your goal!", I shook my head to clear it, just to be sure I wasn't seeing things that weren't really there. But, it was TRUE! My Dear Mother donated in memory of my 2 Grandma's who both had cancer, and it made me reach my goal! Thanks Mother. I love you.

Mom has been my biggest donor. I also got donations from a mommy group friend Mandy, and my brother Rick. Thanks everyone!

Please say prayers that there are no thunderstorms tomorrow night! Right now they are predicting them starting at 3 in the afternoon until 2 a.m. BAH!

QOTD: Do you like to camp?

Toodles!

I'm having a fat girl issue, need help.

We all know by now that I'm a fat chick, and I love food. I have a problem though, something that only happens in the summer time, and I'm seeking out help from my fellow fat chick friends, maybe you know of a way to resolve this (besides losing weight).

Friday night I will be walking in the Relay for Life. Before I go any further, let me just say I haven't met my $$$ goal yet and if anyone reading this blog would like to support me and donate, I'd really appreciate it! I'd even give you a shout-out on my blog :) If you would like to help, please to to MY PERSONAL Relay page.

So actually, the walk thing is part of my problem. More-so what I'm wearing to the walk. I'm wearing shorts. It's going to be 90 degrees, so shorts is a must. All my shorts create my problem. See, they start out OK, like this:



But...after walking a few steps they become this:



What is a good remedy for this? I don't want to have to be digging my shorts out of my cooter area every 10 feet or so of walking. It drives me crazy, and it doesn't look very appropriate having to dig something from your crotch area constantly. People might get the wrong idea he-he. Suggestions please :)


QOTD: Have you ever done the Relay for Life, or anything similar to it?

Toodles!

Renee's Recipe Round-Up -BEVERAGES!**

Happy Wednesday and happy Renee's Recipe Round-Up day! :)

Today's theme is BEVERAGES.

You know the drill by now I hope, but if you are new to my blog let me give a quick run-down. I give a theme. You blog your favorite recipe with that theme (BEVERAGES). When doing so, snag my Renee's Rambling button over there on the side, and add it to your post (highlight the code, control & C to copy, then paste it to your blog post). Then, come back here, and add your url to the linky below, that way everyone can read your recipe! Fun right? Lets get to it!

I have 2 recipes today, but unfortunately I have no pictures to go with my post. You'll just have to imagine your own visuals.

The first recipe is alcohol free, its a punch recipe. This recipe has been in my family for years, we use it for wedding/baby showers and stuff like that. I LOVE this punch.

Sunshine Punch:
6 oz OJ (the frozen concentrate)
6 oz Lemonade (the frozen concentrate)
1 quart Apple juice
2 quarts Ginger Ale
1 pint orange sherbert

Mix the concentrates with the apple juice & ginger ale, shortly before serving, add scoops of orange sherbert to the punch bowl. Easy and so good!

My next recipe is for an alcohol drink. I make this for Christmas and New Years.

Vodka Slush:
9 Cups water
2 Cups sugar
Bring these to a boil in a large sauce pan. Then simmer for 15 minutes.
Now add:
1 12 oz frozen lemonade (concentrate)
1 12 oz frozen OJ (concentrate)
2 Cups Vodka
1 6 oz frozen limeade (concentrate)
Mix well, let sit to get to room temp., then freeze it. When frozen and ready to serve, scoop/scrape frozen slush out into a glass, then add 7Up or Sprite to it. Enjoy!
Toodles!

**Editing this post to remind everyone that the theme for the recipes this week is BEVERAGES. If you have a BEVERAGE recipe, please link up. If your recipe isn't about a BEVERAGE, please save it for the right themed week. Thanks!

I'm not feeling any love & Reminder

No comments for 3 posts now? Sniff sniff, I'm not feeling loved today.

It's been a long day. I'm heading to bed in a few and praying I get a good nights sleep. I've had a major backache all day, and this evening head-achy & dizzy feeling. Sleep is what I need.

Something to mark on the calender...Kelsey cleaned her room, without being told! She even rearranged it some. Wow right?

Just wanted to do a quick post to remind you to check your recipes, for tomorrows Recipe Round-Up will be BEVERAGES. I have 2 recipes to submit. The post will post tonight at around midnight. If you have some beverage recipes please link up.

Toodles.

Chapstick & Cuddles & *%&#^ that hurt!

Yesterday Miss Bree got ahold of some chapstick while I was folding laundry. I think she spent to much time watching me try to dye streaks in the girls hair the other day, because I think she was trying to make streaks in her own...with the chapstick!


This required a trip to the tub, for a good hair scrubbing. Fun times.

I do have some cute pictures of Jilly & Bree during some quiet cuddle times. They are so cute when they are quiet :)




To bad there are not more moments like that. Most of the time they are screaming at each other. Jilly loves to piss off Bree, which makes Bree very vocal...

Here is a video of Kelsey & Bree. They are watching the Annoying Orange on Youtube. Bree LOVES that dumb orange thing and wants to watch it all the time. I got a kick out of her giggling gand her expressions while watching it, so I took some video of it.

Giggling Bree watching annoying Orange from Renee Kofoid on Vimeo.

Yesterday, I was laying on the floor just relaxing. I asked Bree to walk on my back but she wouldn't, so I was just chillin' out. All was good, until.... All the sudden 60 lbs of force and the knees of a 9 yr old were pounding on my back. Jilly thought it would be funny to pretty much cannonball onto my back. You should have heard the cracking sounds my back made, and it hurt. Normally, I like for her to walk on my back to crack it, but not jump onto it, with knees, when I'm not expecting it. OUCH. I just laid there with tears in my eyes for several minutes. Jilly realized what she did was NOT funny after all and she told me she was sorry...which was nice, but it didn't take the pain away. So now I'm sporting a sore back. It could have been much worse, I'm thankful I can still move around and all.

Thats all for now. Don't forget, tomorrow is Renee's Recipe Round-Up day. I think the theme will be beverages. So start thinking of a recipe you can post :) Thanks! Toodles!

Sleep, I miss you.

The last 2 nights have been crappy in the sleep department. After the first night, I hoped and prayed Bree would nap during the day so I could take one too, but of course she took a late cat nap and I had to cook dinner.

Finally last night, Bree went to sleep at 11:00 p.m., I took the dog out to do her business then went to my own bed. I made the mistake of turning the TV on, when there was a cake decorating show on (Cake Boss)...and its hard to close my eyes because I don't want to miss it. So...at midnight I finally turned off the TV. Oh, but before that, dumb dog had to go out and do more business twice! I get comfy in bed, close my eyes, and dumb dog is whining again. UGH. She must have had tummy issues. I took her out yet again, when she came in I gave her some meds, and hoped she'd be done for the night. She wasn't. Several more trips out she went. Finally at 3 I said screw this, I let her out, and left her out and went back to bed. The weather was decent so it wasn't a problem, and she could go into the garage if need be. At 5 a.m. Bree woke crying. I got her some milk, told her I had to go potty and let the dog in, she thankfully went back to sleep. Once Moo came in,she finally was quiet for the rest of the night/morning. I went back to bed. Then at 7:30 Bree woke crying again. Thinking she'd be up for the morning, I handed her a fresh milk, told her she can come out if she wanted, I just had to go potty. I went potty, then went to make coffee...thinking she'd be out any time. Coffee was done, I went to check on Miss Bree and she is sleeping again. Unfortunatly, I was to awake to fall back to sleep by now, and I had fresh hot coffee with lots of sugar and coconut creamer calling my name. So here I am. Awake, but tired, going for my 2nd cup of coffee.

I'm again hoping and praying for a nap today. Pretty sad when nap time is the first thing you think of when waking up isn't it? I guess I'm getting old....well that, and I have a dog and a daughter that don't like me sleeping.

QOTD: How do you take your coffee? Black? Cream & sugar?

Toodles

Marshmallow Shooters

There are marshmallows all over my house, and outside my house right now. Why? Because I thought it would be fun (it is, for the kids, not for me so much) to make marshmallow shooters for the girls to have marshmallow fights!

I've seen them online various places over the last year or so, and I figured why not give it a try after seeing them last week over on Skip To My Lou. Since Bill was home, I figured he'd know the proper supplies to get, so we took a trip out to Menard's the other day and he got the stuff. Then he put them together, then he came up and shot me in the ass with a marshmallow. Yep, they work! Kels & Jilly are good at them, Bree has a hard time getting enough blow power, so we made her a smaller version until she can. Kels & Jilly decided to jazz theirs up a bit with paint too. They also like to take theirs apart and reconfigure them to their own desired shapes.

Overall its a fun project for them. Not so much fun for me who keeps finding and stepping on marshmallows!





(Kels has blue koolaid in her hair in this pic...see previous post)

If you have kids, I recommend this project. Its easy, and cheap. I just hope you have a dog that can follow the kids around and eat the marshmallows :)

Toodles!

Color me Koolaid?

After watching a video a week or so on FB, of a lady with koolaid dyed hair, it got me thinking... Then the other day, Jilly asked if she could color her hair with the spray crap we got for Halloween...which got me thinking some more.... I hate that spray crap, it gets all over everything. If she wanted some color maybe we should try the koolaid thing, and see how that works. I read some stuff online about doing it, and thought we'd give it a try. Our first set of directions, and the green color she picked, didn't work. So the next day we tried again, with new directions and a different color choice. This time we did Tropical Punch, in other words red (or pinkish depending on how long its left in). Jilly's hair smelled really good :) We got streaks in her hair, and wrapped her head in Saran Wrap. Off she went to play with her latex glove filled with water, that she named Lawrence (weirdo!).

In the mean time, I made dinner. Bree stripped naked, and tried to scotch tape herself, then the cat. We have such a loony bin here.

After dinner, it was Kelsey's turn for koolaid hair dye. She picked blue. We got her streaks in, and off she went. She left hers in over night.

Apparently there are some colors that work better than others. Jilly left her dye in for a few hours, and got some results. Kelsey who left hers in all night, has basically NOTHING. She's pretty bummed. I think the fact that Jilly's hair is practically white, the dye took better then Kelsey's who has a dirty blonde, nearly brown hair color.

Here are some pics of Jilly, can't really see it good from the front in these pics, its a faint pinkish color:





Not to bad for about $.60 worth of Koolaid eh? I'm sure if she left it in longer the results would have been more dramatic. She's happy with it, thats all that matters.

QOTD: Have you ever colored your hair with Koolaid?

Toodles!

F.O. Sunday 6-13-10

Today I'm going to join in on my friend Dazee's fun little meme. F.O. Sunday.

F.O. , as per the Dazee Dreamer Dictionary, (adj)........ Food Orgasm



I actually have 2 good ones from this week. I didn't have a camera with me so I had to go borrow pictures online...eeks. Bill & I had a date night on Friday. I've been wanting to go to Ihop to try their pancake stackers which I've seen advertised on TV, they looked so good. Not familiar with these? Let me tell you about them. They are pancakes, with a cheesecake filling and your choice of fruit inbetween the layers, then on top you get more fruit & whipped cream. YUMMY. I had the apple cinnamon ones. I want more! I believe they are only for a limited time, until June 20...I wonder if I can sneak there for one more before they are gone. Probably not :(


Go to your local Ihop and get some NOW!

While you are there, be sure to try my next F.O....well, actually its a D.O. I had the best drink there, Watermelon Lemonade! There is watermelon flavoring on the bottom and lemonade on top, you swish it around and YUMMY goodness happens. Normally I just get a soft drink, but I wanted to try something different...normally I'm not a big fan of lemonade, but their picture looked so good, I gave it a try. They thankfully had free refills, I got 3 of them!



Seriously people, if you have an IHOP near you, go, run, drive, hop, whatever, just go there and enjoy some of these. I don't think you'll regret it.

Have a great Sunday. May your week be filled with F.O.'s...Toodles!

Show Me Saturday! Bedhead

Happy Saturday! Its time for Show Me Saturday, and the theme is BEDHEAD. Just blog about it, showing pictures to go along with the theme, post my button with your posting please...then come back here and link up below. Really easy peasy. Feel free to browse through past Show Me Saturday posts to see what its all about.

Does bedhead mean you've had a good nights sleep or bad? I've always wondered, but I think it means you have had a bad night, because of all the tossing and turning your hair is extra messy. Since most mornings I have horrible bedhead, and most nights I sleep like crap, I figure they go hand and hand. What about you? Do you get more bedhead from a bad nights sleep?

I just happen to have a picture of myself with bedhead. It was a topic in my mommy groups self portrait challenge. So, you get to see that lovely picture :) Are you excited? No...you should be scared, trust me. Ready? Got a barf bag handy?



Wipe the barf from your mouth, and dispose of your bag properly. That was scary right?

I have a picture of Jilly with bedhead from a while back too...she'll probably kill me if she sees I posted this...shhhhh don't tell her...


She is scary too, but in a cuter way.

Show me your bedhead! Link up below.

Toodles!

Thursday's Adventure

Bill's been on vacation this week from both jobs. So yesterday (Thursday) we thought we'd do something as a family, something not to expensive. Haha yeah right, what were we thinking?!

First we packed up some food, and we went on a picnic to the forest preserve, the place Bill & I had our first date. We ate there and Kels & Jilly took a little hike on the trail, while Bill & I took Bree to the playground. There wasn't a whole lot there for her to play on, so she lost interest quickly. So we changed plans a bit and went over to another park, where there was more things she could play on. After a bit of play, we checked out watches and wow, we still had a LOT of time left before the movie we were going to see started. So, we gave our friend Dan (& Cindy) a call to see if we could stop over and see their new puppy. The girls love the new pup, its a shepherd, named Bud E., he is super cute. Bree just loved to run and have him chase her. Jilly liked it too.

Finally it was time to go to the movie. It was Bree's first time at the movies, she did pretty good. We saw the latest Shrek 3D movie. I've never seen a 3D movie before so it was kinda cool. Bree wouldn't wear her glasses so she watched a somewhat blurry movie. She got a little fidgety after a bit, but overall did really well. I couldn't believe the price of a movie for our family. Holy crap, it cost an arm & a leg, and even a boob too! It was that expensive!

After the movie we went over to McD's and had a late dinner and let the girls play at the indoor playplace. Bree LOVED it. It was super hot in there though she was sweating like crazy. She got up in the highest place in there and yelled out to me, "Mommy I just LOVE this place! so cute.

I took pics yesterday (duh, did you think I wouldn't?) so I'm going to share them with you now.
















Did you enjoy the pics? I hope so!

I have a tip for you...do NOT spill coffee on your keyboard. I did that this morning. I must have had a hole in my lip because it dripped out and went on the keyboard. I didn't think it was that bad, I cleaned it up as best I could. But come to find out, later in the day, it got stickier inside...and my enter key got stuck, and messed everything up on my computer and scared the crap outta me. I thought I had a virus or something LOL. So now, as I type, I can't use the normal enter key...which is hard.

Toodles!