Five on Friday

Here are some random ramblings for this week:

{One}

It was just a whole week of random things like this.  Gathering things to begin baking and bam!  Powdered sugar falls out of the cabinet and gets everywhere.  SO annoying!  

It's been one of those weeks that just won't let up.  The kids have been more than a handful, Molly is going through a period of development that's challenging for everyone, we discovered a fraudulent charge on our credit card and have to go through the dispute process again, basically a bunch of little things have added up to leave me annoyed and frustrated, buuuut it's Friday!  And that's a good thing.

{Two}

I remember a friend of mine posting on Facebook that they felt like they were the last ones to decorate for Christmas.  That was Thanksgiving weekend.  I know they're not the last ones because we still don't have ours up.  Hey, I can't help it that people insist on forcing the Christmas season to start in the middle of September!  Hopefully we'll have the situation rectified after tonight.  We've been busy bees!

{Three}

I don't care what anyone says about UGG boots being ugly.  They may be ugly, mine probably more than most considering they've been kicking around since 2005 (ermahgerd I can't believe that means they're 8 years old), but I live in Ohio and nothing beats their comfort, warmth, and practicality when it's snowy and slushy and gross out.  I have a pair of riding boots for when I'm trying to pretend like I have a sense of fashion, but sometimes you just gotta call in the big guns.

{Four}

COOKIES!  I had a cookie exchange with friends last night and a great time was had by all!  A fun friend night was much needed by me and I had been looking forward to it all week.  Love getting a variety of cookies!  And also, I love when it's cold enough outside to chill stuff on the back deck.  No shuffling stuff around to find room in the fridge for a giant mixing bowl!  Fall Almostwinter win!

{Five}

There's still plenty of snow on the ground from last week + early this week snow and we're in for another several inches starting this evening.  I really hope we end up getting by without too much accumulation as we've got places to go people to see tomorrow.  Ain't nobody got time for dat!

Friday Randoms

{one}  

Tuesday afternoon, during the mini-marathon that is getting the kids fed, Jack ready for school, and out the door in a timely manner for preschool drop-off I couldn't locate my keys.  ::cue panic::  We needed to leave right. then. and my keys were MIA.  Where were they?  I discovered them just in the nick of time sitting very conveniently on my trunk.  Great place to keep them, right?  ::face palm::  Lucky for me the snow that had fallen on them overnight had melted by lunchtime otherwise there's no way I would have found them.

{two}  

Mark brought me home an early Christmas gift: a new heated blanket!  I can't tell you how exciting this is to me.  Our room gets so. cold. this time of year.  Add to that I'm pretty much frozen from mid-September to mid-April and it's not a good combination.  We've used a dual-controlled heated blanket for a few years and it's awesome, but it seems that the stupid things need replaced every other year (what's with that?  Does this happen to anyone else?).  My side always goes bad.  Mark says from overuse (because he could basically do without the blanket to begin with), I say that's bullcocky because how could I use it improperly?!  So what if I crank it up to the highest level?  It's there for a reason!  Anyway... new blanket.  Happy (warm) me.  Hope this one lasts more than 2 winters.

{three}  

I have The Purge in hand and I'm super psyched to watch it tonight.  Hope it's good!

{four}

I bought this little food mat thing the other day and it's definitely one of my new favorite things!  I picked it up at Tarjay for, I think, $6.  It's made by Gerber and it's awesome!  We had something similar with Jack and it was horrible; it didn't lay flat, didn't stick to the table, basically it was worthless.  The mat I just bought is nice and flexible so not only does it fold easily for storage, but it lays nice and flat on the table.  It also clings to the table to keep it from sliding around and it even has a short lip around the edges, which although not super rigid, does help to keep food on the table.  It's dishwasher safe too!  This definitely helps to simplify feeding Molly on the go.  Love it!

{five}  

War on Thanksgiving.  I complain about it every year.  It's really not the holiday season until I make my annual grumbles about the situation.  It drives me insane to see stores putting out Christmas items immediately following Halloween (or earlier!  I can't even...). One holiday at a time and being that Thanksgiving is my favorite of holidays I hate that it gets lost in the push for early Christmas.  Anyway, I typically don't even give a thought to holiday gifts until after Thanksgiving (to be honest, I don't love general gift-giving.  I just don't think I'm very good at it.  I stress.), but this year I'm kind of proud to say that I've bought a few gifts in the last week or so.  It seems that because Thanksgiving happens to fall so late this year (and retailers seem to compete more every year for consumers' business) I've seen some great deals pop up so I've taken advantage of them.  I have two people checked off my list plus a gift for Mark!  I'm never, ever going to be the kind of person who starts shopping over the summer (I know plenty of people who do, and I get it to a certain extent, I guess), but look at procrastinator-me being all proactive and on top of things.  ::pats self on back::


Happy Friday!

Friday Randoms: Busy Week Recap

Busy, busy week this week!  We've had some gorgeous {Summer} weather to kick off the start of Spring {???} so we've been out and about enjoying it!

It always surprises me once the sun comes back how much better I feel!  It definitely effects my mood.  After a little fresh air and sunshine I feel happier and more motivated for sure!  Gotta love that vitamin D!  Even though we had the mildest Winter I can ever remember it was still cold and gray and I was definitely craving some sun.  I just love having the windows open and seeing things turn green again.

Last weekend I hit the store on Saturday rather than my usual Sunday and there's definitely something to be said for Saturday shopping!  I felt like I had my whole weekend in front of me rather than spending my whole Sunday grocery shopping and doing laundry.  I may try that again this weekend!

With the "extra" time I had on Sunday I packed up the too small clothes from Jack's drawers to make way for the new stuff he got for his birthday!  And then I spent all afternoon working on dinner just to have it derailed by a tornado warning :-/

Yep, that would be me reading with my booklight during the power outage.  At least my hobbies don't require power.  The book is Ken Follett's Fall of Giants and it's excellent!

Monday we went to a play date at a friend's house and were able to get out after dinner for a family walk.  We've had some gorgeous {albeit unseasonably warm} weather this week and we've been trying to enjoy it as much as possible!

Tuesday we went to the zoo for the first time this year!  Jack was... unimpressed.  I thought he'd be more into it, but all he wanted to do was ride in the stroller.  That's not necessarily a bad thing, but whenever we stopped to see something he didn't want to look he just wanted to GO!  Our converstations went like this:

Jack!  Do you see the elephant?!  See him?!  He's eating straw!

No!  Goooo!  GOOO!

What about the lions?  Do you see the lions?!  You like lions!  RAWR!!! 

NOOO!  Go! 

:-/

Oh well, maybe next time.  He did enjoy the aquarium.  He was talking about all the "tish".

Tuesday night I enjoyed dinner with friends while Mark and Jack had a boy's night in.

Wednesday we rested!  And tended to things at home that had been ignored while we were go-go-go at the start of the week.  We were also able to get in another post-dinner walk as a family.

Also, Jack got to try some fresh pineapple and really liked it!  I brought home a pineapple from the store over the weekend and Jack immediately started talking about the "Pi-bapple", which was rather surprising as we've never really talked about pineapples to my knowledge.  He must have seen it on Sesame Street or possibly in a book or something.  Anyway, it was definitely nothing discussed extensively, but he talked about it every time he saw it!  It was finally time to eat it on Wednesday evening and Jack was really excited about it.  I was hopeful that that excitement would translate to liking the taste as I've given him pineapple before and he didn't care for it.  I let him watch me cut it up and then gave him a piece and although his face didn't seem too sure at first, when I asked him how it was he said, "good" and then immediately asked for more!  He definitely liked it because he ended up eating quite a bit.  I hope I can get him to try more things by getting him excited about it like the "Pi-bapple".

Thursday evening I hit up the first consignment sale of the year.  Jack got lots of great clothes for his birthday so thankfully we're pretty well set, but he needs a few more things and I'm always looking ahead to what he'll need in the next size up.  I'm pretty happy that we've entered toddler sizes which he should wear for longer, which makes it far easier to plan what he'll need since the same size should span multiple seasons.

The sale was PACKED and unfortunately they didn't have much in his size, but I did get a few things that were needed.

Everything I purchased is Carter's brand 3T.  I got:

3 pairs lightweight cotton PJs (2 of the pairs are vehicle related - monster trucks and a fire truck, Jack was really excited about these!) -- $3.50 each
1 long-sleeved t-shirt -- $1.50
1 pair cargo pants -- $2

Total: $14

He's currently wearing 2T clothes, but should be able to wear the cotton PJs right away since those tend to fit a little small anyway.  He'll be able to use them in the Fall as well.  He will probably be ready for the long-sleeved T in the Fall and I would *guess* the pants won't fit until next year, but you never know!  That's why I like to have the next size up on hand!  I'll hit a few more of these sales over the coming weeks.  Definitely the best deals around considering everything I got was VERY gently used!

Today I'm cleaning and washing diapers as usual, but I have plans to bleach Jack's diapers as they're in need of some deep cleaning.  This is the first time I've had to do anything special to them in more than 9 months though so I'm still pretty pleased with our current wash routine!  Having to bleach them once or twice a year to deep clean seems totally reasonable to me with toddler diapers.

In between we've read Go, Dog. Go!  a hundred times and played trucks for hours on end. 

Pretty good week if you ask me.

Friday Randoms

{one.}

It's been yet another trying week.  Jack's been in a bad mood for most of the week and that combined with his normal two-year-oldness finds me with nearly nonexistent patience at the close of the week!  To top it off, today he decided we needed to start our day about 2 hours earlier than usual, which leaves us both tired and cranky.  Not good.  In his defense, his 'tude and behavior is most definitely influenced by the fact that he's teething with his (bottom, oy... we still have one more set to go after this!) 2-year molars.  They are *finally* visible.  He will only open his mouth for about 0.02 seconds when he feels like it so from what I've been able to glimpse I'm not sure if they're actually poking through yet, or just visible beneath the gums. Either way, there's an end in sight (at least for this set) and hopefully he'll be sleeping better soon, which will put both of us in better moods! 

{two.}

{via}

I made Chocolate Chip Cookies yesterday (not just Chocolate Chip Cookies, The. Best. Chocolate Chip Cookies EVAR!).  Because it was Thursday.  Of a long week.  And I had been craving sweets all week and after four days of ignoring the craving to no avail, I caved.  It was time.  I limited myself to one cookie after they came out of the oven (because, how can you NOT eat one fresh out of the oven?!) and one cookie for dessert last night.  I've discovered that it's pretty much torture to only eat a single cookie at a time.  It's like, you might as well just skip it all together because if you give a Stephanie a cookie, she's going to want another one!

{three.}

{via}

 I sat down with my single Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Evar! all ready to watch Grey's Anatomy, just to discover that it was a rerun.  Again.  Whomp, whomp.  Am I the only person that is SO over the ridiculousness that is TV nowadays?  All these half-seasons and mid-season finales and random hiatuses (hiati?  Anyway...) and coming back for a week just to be randomly on rerun for the next two weeks drives. me. nuts.!  It seriously makes me want to give up watching TV in favor of waiting for everything to come out on DVD and getting it through Netflix to watch marathon style. 

{four.}

{via}

Also on the subject of television watching, I took a big step this week.  I finally worked up the courage to delete a crap show from my DVR schedule.  That's right.  I've been working up the courage for a few weeks, and finally at Mark's prodding, I did it.  Private Practice?  Gone-zo!  We started watching PP when it originally spun off of Grey's back when Grey's was actually good (remember that?  Barely.).  Mark never liked it (because he doesn't like Addison), but begrudgingly tolerated it.  This season, even I had to admit it's a terrible show.  I realized I didn't look forward to watching it, Mark complained every time I turned it on, it was time.  But for some reason, once I spend time getting into a show and devote so many hours to watching it, it's hard to break up!  But break up I did, and it feels good!  Beware TV shows, I'm scrutinizing you and I'm no longer afraid of the delete button!  I'd also axe Desperate Housewives if it wasn't the last season.  Eeesh. 

{five.}

{via}

I guess I have a lot to say about television programming this week, so one last thing: we finally got Game of Thrones Disk 1 from Netflix -- It's ON!  I have been looking forward to this show for.ev.ah. and I've finally got it!  Movie TV Show Night tonight!  I read A Game of Thrones (as well as A Clash of Kings, actually) and it's fabulous!  Can't wait to see the television adaptation.  I just hope I'm not disappointed!

Friday Randoms

{one.}

It's been another long week.  Jack is definitely teething with his 2 year molars and because of this things have been... trying.  Sleep has been disrupted, naps have been laughable (seriously... the last 3 days I have spent hours getting him down for his nap only to be rewarded with less than an hour of sleep.  This results in cranky baby and cranky momma.), and I'm just ready for the weekend!  Let's all cross our fingers and toes that Little Mister goes down for his nap today.  I could really use a little break!

{two.}

{via}

I tried a macaroon for the first time this week (thanks to hubs swiping an extra one from a selection someone had brought in to his work for Valentine's Day) and I must say, I was unimpressed.  I mean, it was good, but I've seen these everywhere lately!  They're like the new cupcake (cupcakes are much better in my opinion)!  And although it was good, it wasn't what I was expecting, and definitely nothing special.  I'd take a cupcake or cookie over a macaroon any day!  Over-hyped, I say.

{three.}

Our normally quiet neighborhood has become police central.  Last week (two weeks ago?) two police officers were pounding on my door because apparently the renter next door had abandoned his dogs in the backyard and they wanted to know when the last time we had seen him was (Sadface.  I feel bad for the dogs, but I am SO glad they're gone.  They were barky!). 

And then, Last night as I was making dinner, Old Lady from across the street {I can't believe I've only mentioned her once on this blog!} comes over to let us know that she had called the police on a bunch of hoodlum boys who were allegedly prowling around her house.  Within minutes her whole brood was present: the Harlot (the granddaughter), Harlot's boyfriend, Vonda (the daughter), some guy in a white truck who is at her house periodically working on things, who came wielding a baseball bat to interrogate what appeared to be an 8-year-old boy {!!!}, and Old Lady's sister/girlfriend who is always about.  They swarmed in like nobody's business and all arrived long before the local police did.  I know who to go to if I need people on the double!  Sheesh. 

I don't even know what the result of all that mess was, but I'm sure we'll find out.  Old Lady loves to talk, but don't worry, she always starts her gossip with, "I don't like to gossip, but...".  Not that I mind though because she's my source for all neighborhood gossip!

{four.}

I had a 9am hearing this morning and per usual, that's the day Jack decides to wake up early to throw things off :-/  But more importantly I have decided that I really dislike morning hearings.  It always ruins my sleep.  Not because I have to wake up early (I'm usually up by then anyway), but because I worry that I'll oversleep so I keep waking up to check the clock.  So annoying!  I'm a really heavy sleeper and have absolutely been known to sleep through my alarm.  Because Mark leaves for work before I get up there would be no one to make sure that I wasn't sleeping through said alarm and I'd be in big trouble if I slept through the hearing.  So yeah... it kills my sleep and I'm tired ::yawn::

{five.}

We don't have any real plans for this weekend, but I suppose at the top of my list should be working on things for Jack's birthday party because we're 1 week and 1 day out from the event and I have yet to do anything besides secure a location to host it and send invites.  Yikes!

{six.}

Why is making rice (brown rice, especially!) so hard?  I don't get it.  I think the directions that come on the bag are faulty.  Have to be.  Because it's the only thing I can't seem to successfully make despite the best of intentions!  But last night I finally, FINALLY used a method that produced perfect brown rice!  I found the answer {HERE}.  Try it, you'll love it!