Too Sweet

Corynn loves to have tea parties and she's always bringing us some kind of funky imaginary drink to try complete with a plate of make believe goodies to snack on.

But the cute part comes when the tea party is over. A few nights ago I heard the bathroom water running- so I went to investigate.

This is what I saw...





She was washing her tea set... because we all know what a mess imaginary tea and treats can be! Too funny! She was all serious too.

me: Why are you washing that?

Corynn: Uh- didn't I just serve you tea and cake? (completely sarcastic)

me: yes- but I thought it was make believe...

Corynn: Look at these marks (smudges) - those aren't make believe, mom! (she was starting to get a little upset with me for not understanding)

me: ok- well can I get the camera and take some pix?

Corynn: Only if you promise to help me dry!

She's so such a hoot! She's always been a little cleaning machine- you should see her with the dust buster!

it finally caught me....

The horrible yucky cold that has been spreading across Lincoln- has finally caught up with me. I was able to hold it at bay for three weeks- just dealing with occassional stuffiness and tiredness. But this morning, I woke up with a sinus migraine, scratchy throat and drippy nose!

DANG IT- anyway! I was so close!

I'll still keep up with my fluids, vitamins and early bedtime- hopefully it will take pity on me and pass quickly.

Meanwhile its time to get my friends out- LYSOL and CLOROX.....its disinfectin' time!! yee-haw...can you sense the enthusiasm complete with exhausted eyeroll for dramatic effect.

Crazy stinkin' van

My van is great for alot of things- but also drives me crazy! Its latest tantrum was last Friday morning. I loaded up the kids for school, went to turn on the ignition - when all of a sudden it just started honking! I thought I had inadvertently hit the panic button on my key chain- so I pushed it again to shut it off- it didn't work. I tried putting the key in and starting it- it didn't work! I tried putting it in gear and backing down the driveway- it didn't work! Then I ran inside and grabbed my spare set of keys thinking the other set's batteries were dead- nope it didn't work!

After all this- I pulled the van the rest of way in the garage, had the kids get out and shut the garage door to try and mute the horn from the neighbors. I quickly call John at work.

After having a good laugh- he tells me to disconnect the battery. Uh- huh!? How the heck do you do that? After receiving some instructions I go into the very loud echoing garage, pop the hood and try to locate the black cord. With the horn blaring, my ears ringing, a headache ensuing and lack of light- I couldn't find the right cord. I was seriously going crazy! It would definitely work as some type of torture- I swear!

So I shut the hood and ran back in the house. I was just about to call a friend of ours who is a mechanic- when it finally just stopped!

UGHHHHHHHHH! crazinesssssssssss!

Monday MUNCHIES!!!!!!

My grandma makes this...super yummy! She serves it on croissants or open-faced on rye bread!

Chicken Salad

Prep: 30 minutes
Chill: 2 hours

Ingredients

• 3 lb. skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cooked and diced
• 1 cup diced celery
• 4 baby dill pickles sliced
• 1/4-1/2 cup sliced white or red onion
  
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1 8-oz. carton dairy sour cream
• Salt and ground black pepper

Directions

1. In a very large bowl stir together the chicken, celery, mayonnaise, sour cream, and salt, and pepper to taste until combined. Cover and chill 2 to 24 hours. Makes 8 cups salad (12 to 16 servings).

Dog park

It was fairly nice yesterday- relatively speaking. So we all took Emma to the dog park. We were only there for 45 minutes- but it was enough to tire out Emma and the girls...


It was muddy and a little chilly- but fun!

Tag...I'm it

I was tagged by Christy

10 random things about me:

1. I'm not a patient person
2. I love old black and white movies
3. I feel like I'm always right
4. I get annoyed easily
5. I married my bestfriend
6. I'm a certified CPR/First Aid instructor for the American Red Cross
7. I have a heart murmur in my right ventricle
8. I help people whenever I can
9. I'm a strong believer in karma- what goes around comes around, the golden rule and all that
10. I think we can learn something from every bad experience

I'm tagging Megan- she's a friend from highschool and I'd love to hear more about her and family

Shannon- she's my VT companion and I'd love to hear her random thoughts

and Kori- she's about ready to have baby #6 and homeschools!!!...wonder woman in my eyes!

Skate Night

Last night was skate night for the girls' school. Here are a some pix:



The girls and two of their friends from school/church.







Kynna's friend Jordon helped her. The girls aren't that great of skaters-it was so sweet of their friends to help them.









It was Corynn's second time skating. Here's how it went...

Hold the wall for dear life....











Still holding for dear life...and still having fun!











Its a good thing she was holding on so tight!


Although, I think catching herself on the railing was her favorite part!








Corynn actually only made it around the rink 5 times. The night started out like this...


by the end of "SKATE NIGHT" we were dealing with this...

Funny part: When I took this picture she said it was embarrassing to have me take a picture of her crying.

I told her it was embarrassing just for the fact that she was crying.

She then said in whining tone " Why do you allllwaaaaays have to be riiiighhhhhht?" And promptly quit crying as if on cue.



Another kind of funny thing....Kynna fell down her first time around the rink and hurt her bum. Poor thing didn't/couldn't sit the rest of night. Needless to say - we gave her some ibprofin before bed.

I didn't skate- because I'm horrible at it. Plus they let you walk around the rink and help your kids- so I thought that was safer. Although- my back is a little stiff today from catching Corynn all night.

Big Plans for the weekend!

We haven't had a free unscheduled Saturday in eight weeks. So I am taking full advantage of this one. I'm sleeping in (which is only about 8:00am at our house), no cleaning of any kind including dishes or laundry- and we are just going to hang out as a family. Play games, watch a movie- stuff like that.


Granted - that means I'll be cleaning Friday night and have a ton of dishes and laundry to do on Sunday... but its so worth it!

Princess Pucca

Here are some pix from this weekend at the Princess Party Corynn attended...

Here's the outfit...Princess Aurora dress (same one she wore for Halloween), vintage crown (a gift last year from her grandparents), and a string of pearls (on loan from Gma Kelly).

She was the prettiest one there, but I'm a little bias!









Princess Pucca at the Tea Party...notice the napkin on her lap...she's such a little lady!











She met a 'real princess' Ms Nebraska. Afterwards she told me she really wants a crown like hers..."sure honey, we'll work on that!"

Monday MUNCHIES!!

I wish I had a picture to show you the oooooowey-goooooowey goodness...comfort food at its best!

Cheesey Potatoes


prep time: 5 minutes
cook time: 1 hour; 30-45 minutes (about and hour and half total)

2lb bag of frozen hashbrowns
1 can cream of potato soup
1 can cream of celery
1 cup milk mixed with soups
1 - 8oz container of sour cream
salt and pepper
shredded cheese


Mix all ingredients. Place in 9x13 greased casserole dish. Sprinkle liberally with additional grated cheddar cheese. Cover with foil. bake at 350 for 1 hour. Remove foil and bake an additional 30 - 45 minutes.

Friday FUNNIES!!!!

I don't really have anything super funny... but I do have a couple of cute stories to share.

We were waiting for the girls to get out of school yesterday. Out of no where Corynn says "I don't want to be a doctor anymore- I'm going to be a teacher! " She seemed super excited by this announcement and practically yelled it. Who could blame her for wanting to be a doctor- she's had to see alot in her tiny lifetime- and they have all been super! She especially likes her dermatologist- she looks like a Barbie doll (i'm not kidding). Corynn calls her Dr. Barbie.

Anyway back to the wanting to be a teacher- I was curious to know what caused this change- so I asked "Why do you want to be a teacher?"

She replied "Because teachers get to tell little kids what to do- and they HAVE to listen!"



Second cute thing:

Today is PJ day at Corynn's school. I went in to tuck her in last night and noticed some pjs sitting out on her bed. I asked her why those were out. She told me those were for pj day. I told her she could just wear the ones she had on. She gave me a look like I was insane or I had just suggested she wear her swimming suit..."Wear these? (this question was dripping with sarcasm and shock) But they will be wrinkly and messy!" Now how messy could they be- she just took a bath and put them on?! Dang kids! They'll do anything to make more laundry!

I looked at her and said "ok whatever" and as I was leaving the room I heard her say " jeez mom, I think you better go to bed- your talking crazy!"

Princesses UNITE

This Saturday at Stuhr Museum in Grand Island - is a princess tea party! Its for kids 12 and under and their parents. They come dressed up as princesses, make crafts, have tea party, mingle with other princess fanatics, learn to curtsy, meet Ms Nebraska and some other cool things.

As soon as I saw it I knew- Corynn had to go! If nothing else... to be with her own kind! PRINCESS POWER!

Now our only problem is deciding which princess outfit she's going to wear (she has 6)....

Valentine Box Contest

The 4th grade at Kynna and Kwynn's school is having a contest for Valentine's Day. Here's what the form read:

Valentine Box Contest

Design and construct an original valentine box. Consider a theme or use unusual materials. Can you think of a clever way for your friends to deliver their valentine's to your box?
There will be four categories of winners:
**the most attractive
**the most humorous
**the most unusual
**the most clever opening

Judging will take place on Feb. 14th
Keep your idea a secret! Surprise your friends!

These pix are a little hard to see- we took them with the computer's camera (I left my camera in John's car).

Kwynn's is LOVE-BOT 3000. The robot is holding his chest open for the valentine's to go in. The head is made out of a small formula can, the body is a shoe box covered in duct tape. The legs are silver plated candle sticks and the arms are rolled aluminum paper.
Just another use for duct tape!






Kynna's is a paper machet valentine head. She used pompoms for the hair, googley eyes and construction paper to decorate the features. And the mouth is cut out to receive the valentines.






Kwynn is serious about winning- Kynna doesn't really care...just as long as no one thinks its stupid. They were both so excited about their creations... that they took them in a day early!

Monday MUNCHIES!!

John's mom makes a dish very similar to this ... and we LOVE it! 2 'yums' up!

Beef and Red Wine Gravy

Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 10 to 12 hours (low) or 5 to 6 hours (high)

Ingredients

• 1-1/2 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 2 medium onions, cut up
• 2 beef bouillon cubes or 1 envelope (1/2 of 2-ounce package) onion soup mix
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• Salt
• Ground black pepper
• 1-1/2 cups dry red wine
• Hot cooked noodles (optional)

Directions

1. In a 3-1/2- or 4-quart slow cooker, combine beef stew meat and onions. Add bouillon cubes or dry onion soup mix. Sprinkle cornstarch, salt, and pepper over beef and onions. Pour red wine over beef mixture in cooker.

2. Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 10 to 12 hours or on high-heat setting for 5 to 6 hours.

3. If desired, serve over hot cooked noodles. Makes 6 servings.

Friday FUNNIES!!!!

We played in the snow yesterday after school. yes- WE- that's including me.
We tried to build a snowman, but the girls were distracted every two minutes with snowball fights- that was until I chased each one of them down and buried them in snow.

Here are a few pix:




The funny thing is.... see that blob of snow the girls (Kwynn, McKynna and their cousin Lexi) are working on...that's our snow man! I think it was doomed from the beginning. We couldn't get the snow to stick when we rolled it. It just kept falling and cracking.

The even funnier part was when our neighbor (a very sweet older gentleman) came out to get his mail. He stared at us as we worked on our snowman and kept staring all the way to the mail boxes. Then on his way back across the street he asks "So what are you building over there?"

McKynna replies " A snowman!"

neighbor: "Oh?! huh...well good luck with that!"

I was laughing so hard...and the girls had no clue why. But hey- at least we had fun and burnt off some energy!

Symphathy please!

Today Corynn has her kindergarten check up. Can you say - yipppeee! (insert eyeroll here) No seriously - this is one of the worst parts of being a parent. You think its bad when they're babies- but they don't really know what's going on and a bottle usually calms them right down. Now that she's older - it tends to traumatize... both her and I.

I still have nightmares about the twins' check up. It took four nurses and John to get Kwynn's done. She's screaming bloody murder- meanwhile McKynna is hiding under a chair, gripping the legs of it for dear life. When it was her turn- we had to drag her kicking, screaming and still holding on to the chair. We had to pry her loose and hold her down as well. And Corynn was just a baby- but she was crying because of all the chaos and noise. This all took place in a little 8x8 examination room....talk about a crappy experience.

And today is Corynn's turn. yeah

Everyday Normal!

I decided to color my hair this weekend. So I went into our bathroom, mixed everything and applied it to my hair. While it was drying I decided to check emails and unload the dishwasher. So I'm walking around the house with my plastic hat on.

Kwynn sees me and doesn't say anything. Corynn sees me and doesn't say anything. John sees me and doesn't say anything. McKynna sees me and asks "So what color is going to be this time?"

My smart mouth shoots off "Purple!"

McKynna: "oh, well you probably should have dyed it blonde and put the purple on. It would have been brighter. "

UHHHH- purple haircolor and it didn't even phase her! And she's getting to know way tooo much about coloring hair! I'll have to remember that when she's a teen!

Anyway- I got a little busy and left the color on longer than I wanted. When I finally saw the clock - I ran back to our bathroom and quickly rinsed it out. I was seriously thinking my hair was going to be white. And some of it is darn close! Its a good thing I just highlighted- or it could have been really scary!

The girls were disappointed when they saw me come out of the bathroom. They were all three sitting on my bed waiting to see how mom's hair looked. It was wet and it still looked dark.

As I'm blowdrying- the highlights start to show up. John looked at me, said "Why can't you just have normal hair?" My response- normal hair... what's normal hair? Sounds boring!

Monday MUNCHIES!!!!!!

Super Easy Fajitas


1-1.5lb flank steak
1 bag of frozen pepper stir fry mix
1 pkg of fajita seasoning
1/2 cup of water

small softshells
shredded lettuce
quacamole
sour cream
salsa/taco sauce


Soak the flank steak, seasoning and water in a ziploc bag for at least 1-2 hours before grilling. Grill to preferred doneness and slice the steak at a 45 degree angle to the grain the of the meat. The thinner the strips the better!

Warm frozen vegetables on stove top in a a saute pan.

then create your fajita!

YUM YUM!

We usually slice and the meat and make it on the stove- but this is sooooo much better! The meat stays tender and is easier to chew!

Friday FUNNIES!!!!

Corynn decided today was a sick day. Truth be told- she is getting a cold and I don't think she slept all that well last night. I heard her rolling around and coughing. So I let her stay home.

We had to take Emma to the vet for her boosters and decided to stop by John' s work. John asked her how she was feeling.

John: So, Corynn you look like your feeling better- Are you?

Corynn: Well, yes. But I can't help it if I feel better at home in bed.


Later, on the way home- she said "Room service really helps too!" What's room service you ask... that's when I bring her juice/water or a snack to her in her room while she's laying down watching Disney movies. Oh the life of a four year old!!!