Zoo!

It's Z day! Woo-hoo! I made it!

*Happy dance*

And I kind of quit today, with being a "proper" mom, so we had cookies for breakfast. I have another child that sounds like he has the plague- fever and severe coughing. Off to the doctor we go, again...

I made some tasty cookies.

I gave them OJ with it...so it was healthy-ish.

Moving on with the point of this post.

Today is Z!

We went to the zoo a few weeks ago, so I saved this post, knowing it would come in handy for this very moment. Totally worth the million dollar price tag we had to pay to enter this zoo...

 

Cheerful children.

Would it kill you to smile Evan? Would it? Really?

 

Picking out dinner.

Just kidding...like they know what's really in fish sticks.

 

I love these birds.

And I adore their really weird legs.

 

The brats with Grandma.

This picture was much harder to capture.

My kids don't ever stop moving.

 

Look! A giant shark tank!

And it's open at the top!

What happens if someone falls* in?

That would be entertaining to see from below...

(*Falls= maybe not so accidentally shoved in. My kids were driving me crazy.)

(Morgan is obsessed with sharks right now. She keeps biting my butt and saying "SHARK ATTACK!)

 

Aww...then they go and do something adorable.

Evan was showing Morgan all the fish.

Actually, I think he was showing her the fish from Nemo. 

 

Morgan really, really loves fish.

She might have been a little hungry at this point...

 

Isn't his little face adorable? 

I want a taxidermy version of this.

Wearing a top hat and a monocle.

 

Morgan got a little close to the wrong side of the ham.

Or bacon.

Or a good pork roast.

Sorry, when I see pigs, I think,

"Oh, how cute! Dinner with legs."

 

She kept saying, "Daddy?" to this digital man.

Digital man was not amused.

 

Declan was only happy pushing the stroller.

And he did it at a full sprint.

The second my Mom would slow down or try to take the stroller away,

he would have a complete meltdown.

So, I made that stroller heavy by storing my bags in it.

Morgan would have been heavier, but she was terrified to ride in it after he tried to dump her out near the alligators.

A HUGE THANK YOU TO ALL THE ATOZ'ers FOR VISITING, COMMENTING AND EVEN DECIDING TO STICK AROUND! YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME AND IT WAS A BLAST TO SEE SO MANY WONDERFUL BLOGS AND MEET A BUNCH OF NEW PEOPLE! Kind of intimidating, because there are so many great blogs out there, but still a lot of fun.


I know. I was getting all shouty there...but I'm just so excited. =)

Yesterday

I had another post for today, but scratched it.

Yesterday, was an exciting Sunday in our house.

Declan was into EVERYTHING and kept us on our toes for the entire morning.

We even took some photos so you could relive those wonderful moments with us today.

 

This looks like fun, right?

Totally.

Your probably wondering what I am doing.

 

Declan decided to "help" us with washing dishes.

He removed the cap from the soap and poured it all over the dishwasher.

Declan must have thought the floor needed cleaning too,

because the soap was dumped all over the floor as well.

 

It was a slight disaster.

How did he manage all this without us knowing?

I was in the shower. Which means, I was safe from accusation.

My husband wrongly assumed Declan would remain on the couch, safely watching TV, and went to shave in our other bathroom.

The bathroom that's a half a mile away on the other side of the house.

Far, far, away from what was going on in the kitchen.

 

Declan managed to pour most of it on the door of the dishwasher.

Jalon put the door up before we left for church and when we came back, it had all pooled in the bottom of the dishwasher.

I scraped it up with a spatula and put it in a measuring cup.

 

Those medicine syringes that you get for every kids prescription come in handy for the most random tasks.

 

I saved probably a 1/4 of what was poured out, but it still made me feel better.

 

You know what REALLY made me mad?

 

I can lose a little dishwasher soap and even lose some time cleaning it all up.

 

But what I really hate to lose is clothing.

 

Especially brand spanking new clothing.

 

Because dishwasher soap has bleach, Declans BRAND NEW outfit also has bleach.

BRAND NEW= tags ripped off 5 minutes before actual destruction.

 

And while I was cleaning all that soap out and completely distracted,  Declan decided to rip out all the unused butt wipes and start washing my windows.

 

 

 

X-Ray time!

My son, Evan, has been sick for a little while, with a fever, cough and stomach aches.

He hasn't been eating normal, which is expected with a fever, but he's also had long term issues with stomach pain.

We made an appointment to see a pediatrician to discuss all these problems at once.

The fever had been around for about 5 days. We figured it was just a virus, because he would get better and be fine for a day, then it would hit again and he would stop eating and tell me his stomach was hurting.

The doctor told us it could be several things. So they decided to take 7 vials of blood and do some x-rays.

So. Much. Fun.

Poor kid.

The stomach x-ray showed that he could be constipated. Prescription #1.

One of the blood tests showed that he had a high white blood cell count. That indicated bacterial infection, so they did a chest x-ray and found pneumonia. Prescription #2. And then, because the stomach aches lead to other issues, they are thinking he also has acid reflux. Prescription #3.

THEN, we just received a call about his other blood test. The one for Celiac Disease. It was very high indicating he could have it, so now they have to take a sample of his intestines and stomach lining.

That will be a fun day.

While he was getting his chest x-ray done, he was curious and asked a few questions:

Evan: "Can I see the picture of the x-ray?"
Doctor: "Sure!" She showed him the picture and explained what they were looking at.
Evan: "I like to see my insides!"
Doctor: "Great! Maybe you'll be a doctor one day!"
Jalon: "Or maybe Dexter..."

Yeah. That's my husband. The creepy one.

(Whew, X is done! *Happy dance*)

Watch Gear Jewelry

Starting to dig the bottom of the barrel for some of these posts.

Stick with me a little...these last letters of the alphabet are going to be the tough ones.

I've been making jewelry with watch gears lately.

Why?

I have no idea. But I can't seem to stop.

My husband even bought me an old pocket watch off of Ebay so I could rip it apart.

 

Before picture.

I love the face of this watch.

It's a little torn apart and cracked.

So perfect.

 

The back portion has some etching on it and it's so darn pretty.

I have plans for you *insert evil laugh here*.

 

My work area. I carry it all around in a box and plastic containers.

Not the most organized, but it works.

I purchased a bag of watch gears off of Ebay as well.

SO MUCH TO DO!

 

This is what I have done-ish so far.

I'm just starting with the pocket watch and very excited to see how good it looks when it's all done.

 

Two bracelets that I need to do something with and part of a necklace(?) that I need to finish.

 

See?

Scraping. The. Bottom.

Just wait until tomorrow...I get to bumble through X.

 

 

Versatile

Word of the day:

Versatile.

ver·sa·tile (vûrs-tl, -tl)

adj.

 Having varied uses or serving many functions.

 

We have these little oil candles that get used once a year for our pumpkins on Halloween.

They look like this:

 

 

Turns out they can serve multiple purposes.

 

Like, making desserts:

My fondue stick also comes in handy for these times.

 

 

My husband and I have been making s'mores indoors since the first year we were married.

We went camping for our "Honeymoon" in Yosemite.

Beautiful trip.

Wonderful sights, lots of great hiking and also freezing cold.

Seriously. Freezing. Ass. Cold.

Since it was July, we were slightly unprepared for all that cold.

After thawing out the next morning,

we decided that there was no way we would survive another night and we went home early.

 

BUT, we had all the makings for s'mores.

And the craving for that yummy, gooey, goodness was still strong.

 

So we decided to make "indoor" s'mores.

 

Now, whenever we can't go outside to have a fire (winter, kids, laziness...),

we could still have a good treat.

 

Jalon cleaning up the marshmallow goo I left on the table.

Geez...can't have any fun around here.

 

This is where we differ in our making of the s'mores.

He slowly roasts his marshmallows to a golden brown perfection.

Takes forever.

 

I set mine on fire, let that puppy burn until it crackles, blow it out and done.

It's the 1 minute marshmallow.

That's how it's done.

I like mine crispy on the outside, messy goo in the middle.

Less chances of getting that uncooked ball in the middle that won't mush on a cracker.  

 

He tried.

He did not succeed.



Unwelcome and Uninvited

 

Sleighbells ring, are you listening?

It should be spring, but snow is glistening

A disturbing sight,

We're all disgusted tonight

Shoveling this Winter Wasteland.

 

 

Gone away is the bluebird,

No spring, is what he heard

It's depressing to say

The snow's here to stay

Drowning in this Winter Wasteland

 

If I have to build one more snowman

I will make him do something dirty

 

He'll say: Are you nuts lady?

I'll say: Yes man.

Winter is beginning

to bring me down.

 

Later on, we'll conspire

melt all the snow with a bonfire.

To face unafraid

a devious plot I've made

Destroying this Winter Wasteland.

 

Our house is filled with disease and sickness

My kids catch it all and it sucks.

Going to the doctor appointments and hospitals

Costs us all the big bucks.

 

When it snows, I start cringing

Because in April, it's no longer thrilling.

We miss all the fun, outside in the warm sun

In this Minnesota Winter Wasteland.

 

Merry Christmas...in April.

These are pictures from the snow we had on Monday.

It's supposed to be in the 60's or 70's this weekend.

It better be...or else.

Traveler

No, I'm not talking about time-travel or time lords...even though that would probably be a much better post.

Today is about traveling.

My husband and I took a trip a few weekends ago for our anniversary to the "big city" (Minneapolis).

It started out fine. Then, it just got plain weird and not so much fun.

We had a beautiful room:

A beautiful room that charged you for everything.

There was a seal on the fridge.

If it was broken, we paid $150.

We left that crap alone.

The closet was full of sealed robes and fuzzy socks.

If opened, we were charged $80 for each.

The pillows on the bed were for sale as well.

It was like sleeping in a store.

Lots of pretty windows to let in the light.

Our giant bathroom.

There was a TV in the bathtub area.

If you sat on the toilet, you could watch TV.

Which I did.

This here, this is luxury.

Froggie is all moved in.

He made himself at home quickly.

My husband was pissed when he saw him.

He's not a fan of Froggie.

Froggie has a tendency to sneak over and startle my husband in the middle of the night.

Which is why I keep him.

The bathroom after I moved in.

I have a lot of stuff...

Remember all the windows?

Not a great view during the day.

And at night, the view was interesting.

If you're a stalker.

 

I can see you!

Working late?

Sounds terrible.

Now do something entertaining while I have the camera out.

 

Friday/Friday night went perfectly.

We had an ok (super expensive) dinner and slept nicely.

 

Then we started off Saturday with the hunt for caffeine.

Except, nothing was open.

500 miles of Skyway in Minneapolis, all closed on the weekend.

(That may be slightly dramatic, but we're talking about caffeine).

 

After hunting for an hour, we stumbled across a Starbucks.

I had purchased a cinnamon roll, but was making a huge mess in public trying to eat it, so I decided to wait until we were back in our room to chow down.

But I forgot to eat it.

By the time we got back it was time for our appointment at the Spa in the hotel.

 

I'm not a massage person.

Never had one, never wanted one.

But I decided to give it a try.

Never again.

Ouch.

See?

My skin hates me.

I was rubbed raw on my neck and it hurt like a sunburn.

No more massages please.

 

But I did get my feet and nails done.

They are ready for spring.

 

After our 5 hour spa day, I was so hungry, I was sick.

I forgot breakfast, we didn't get lunch and it was too early for dinner.

I felt like crap that whole night.

 

It was horrible to feel that way when you just want to enjoy the trip.

We both felt run down and so tired.

We decided it would be best to get to bed early.

 

Unfortunately, the city doesn't sleep.

 

It started with a phone call to our room, at 11:50 p.m.

We didn't make it in time to see who it was.

Jalon, freaked out, half asleep saying, "Who's that? What's that noise?"

I was like, "The phone. It's on your side. And you're 5 minutes too late dude."

 

Maybe 5 minutes after the phone call, Jalon's already asleep, and I hear a knock at our door.

Thinking some drastic emergency has occurred, I run to the door to answer it.

 

There's a random dude just standing there looking at me.

We had a 3 minute staring contest until I asked, "Can I help you?"

He said, "Um...I think I have the wrong room?"

Gee...what gave you that idea?

I shut the door and went back to bed.

 

Another 2 minutes passed and we heard knocking at our door.

 I guess we we're having a party and just didn't know it yet.

Jalon took that one and told him to go away.

 

After another 2 or so minutes, a knock came again.

A guy was standing there and asked Jalon for someone named "Dan".

Jalon just shut the door.

 

By this point, our lights were on and we were awake.

Jalon sat up and waited for another knock to come.

I decided to get creative.

I hung this on our door.

Actually, I hung it on our "Shhhh, do not disturb sign" because it needed some help.

I used a bobby pin to keep it on because I'm inventive in times of no tape.

(It was gone the next morning. I can only assume someone needed a bobby pin badly.)

 

I'm pretty sure it worked, since we didn't hear another peep the whole night.

Except for the screaming outside, millions of sirens and car noises.

 

We are not city people.

Not at all.

 

Seriously?

That word sums up my weekend perfectly.

We had a sick kid. He's better now, I think, but this weekend kind of sucked.

Here. I'm going to share. Lots of S words in here. I like S.

1.

It was beautiful on Friday.

Warmish (for Minnesota in April) and the snow was melting.

We had just received about 3 inches of snow the night before, so it's nice to see it go quickly.

I had to make a run to Target for stuff because that's what I do when I'm bored.

I was getting warm in the car and decided to roll down my window.

Because I rolled mine down, Declan wanted his down.

So, I rolled it down a little for him, just so he would be quiet.

What I failed to notice, was the 3 inches of snow melting on the top of my car, had started to move.

I turned a corner, maybe a little too quickly, and heard screams from my backseat.

Not bad screams.

Shocked screams, maybe, but then lots of laughter.

I looked back there and saw this:

Oops.

That's awkward.

This is one moment I'm glad my husband wasn't in the car with me.

On the bright side, Declan is happy.

Does this count as cleaning the inside of my car?

 

2.

Evan has a cough and I gave him some kids Mucinex to calm him down.

I had the bottle on the bathroom sink and when he went to brush his teeth, he noticed the little green guy on it.

He came up to me after and asked, "Mommy, I know what's inside me now!"

Me: "What are you talking about?"

Evan: "I saw the bottle of medicine and I know what's inside, making me sick."

Me: "Hold on, I need to grab a pen....are you talking about the green guy on the bottle?"

Evan: "Those little green guys are having a party inside my belly. They are green germs."

Me: "I think the medicine will get rid of them."

Evan: "I didn't take the medicine. It tasted gross. I like them dancing in my belly."

Me: "Great...just great."

Evan, after getting up and shaking, "They like when I do this."

Me: "I think those guys are the bad guys..."

Evan: "Not mine. Mine are good ones. I'm keeping them."

Me: "Ok...I give up. You're still going to school."

 

3.

Because that wasn't enough fun, my kids decided to create their own entertainment.

My twins wanted to play "jump-jump", which is a trampoline in our basement.

I put them down there while I did the dishes upstairs.

It's fairly safe down there, but I'm a food/supplies hoarder and keep it all on shelves.

They've never messed with it, but there's a first for everything.

I can hear everything that goes on downstairs.

But when you start to hear nothing, you know there's trouble afoot.

My twins created their own game.

It's called, "Trampoline, slip-in-slide of doom".

I call it, "A huge mess that sucks to clean up".

 

A bottle of lotion squeezed out and rubbed in.

They even put some cars through it.

 

Want to know how to clean it up?

(Because, you may need this someday...)

Step 1: Wipe up lotion with approximately 60 paper towels.

(Cringe at the waste of both products.

Spend 5 minutes rubbing lotion into exposed skin so you don't feel too bad.

Think about scraping some back into bottle,

but get over that after you realize you are too tired to care.)

 

Step 2: Realize that it's going to take more than just paper towels to get that off.

Consider just leaving it and seeing what happens when they jump on it again.

But then you decide to try some cleaning wipes.

Step 3: Wow. That did nothing.

Once again, you think about leaving and just seeing if time will make it go away.

Realize that's just the "tired" talking and try again.

Grab your 409, spray and wait.

Ooooh bubbles. This is totally going to work.

Wrong.

So wrong.

It "looks" better, but still feels super slippery.

Have you ever rubbed a bathtub down with baby oil then tried to stand in it?

No?

Try it sometime. That's our trampoline right now.

A new, high-risk, but highly entertaining factor in the regular jumping game.

You may not be able to see it, but it's there, sitting quietly...

waiting for your dumb butt to forget.