Happy New Year!!

EDITED TO CLARIFY Content!!!


I can't believe this year is just about done with. We have had ourselves a busy week, and while most of it was pretty good, we had a huge disappointment. The disappointment being that hubby didn't get to come home at the end of the week as planned.

Christmas was with the my In-Laws (Which was wonderful because they were a big help). It was nice to have family here with us, since hubby is deployed this year. On the other hand, I had never cooked dinner for them before (don't ask me how I have managed that, we've been married 6 yrs!) so I was a nervous wreck. Not to mention I am a crazed perfectionist when it comes to entertaining. I go overboard, do way too much, and drive myself nuts! I bought a Honey Baked Ham from well, you know where. And I had been under the impression that I was buying the Mini Ham. We had got one at Easter time, so I assumed it was a year round thing.


When I went to pick up my ham, it ended up being $49.95! And since I had to stand in line to pick up the silly ham, there was no way we were doing that again. So home we went with our over-priced ham. To go with the ham (insert heavenly music here) I had bought rolls, then planned for Sour Cream and Cheddar Mashed potatoes, THIS corn pudding, which was delicious, and then of course Double Layer Pumpkin pie and a Jello Poke Cake in Strawberry in the shape of a star.

My mashed potatoes are kind of a wing it process. I don't have a recipe. I boil potatoes, thats simple enough. But in a mix of water and chicken broth. Then I get crazy and mash them WITH the skins on. I just like them that way. Then I throw in a stick of butter (look at me, I'm Paula Deen!) a container of Sour Cream and an entire package of shredded cheddar cheese. SO GOOD. Apparently the leaving on of the skins is a NORTHERN thing. Because my MIL asked me what the brown things were in the potatoes. I almost laughed out loud. I know not everyone does it that way, I guess when hubby asked the first time I did it, I should have known!

The corn pudding was easy, I followed the recipe except I only felt like putting in 4 eggs instead of 5. I know, I should write a cook book or something.

The chilluns had a great Christmas morning, got WAY too much stuff if you ask me though. I had tried to keep gifts to a minimum for our part. But when you have family all over the US who can't make it for Christmas, they get a LOT! Which also squashed my Santa plan. We for one are not planning on encouraging Santa. We want it to be a fun thing, but well known as make believe. But I know everyone has their own ideas And I will kind of let it slide for now. We will re-enforce as the years go by. Because in our house, Santa is not responsible for the gifts, or the day. Jesus is, its His birthday.

On a sadder note, hubby is still on deployment. He was supposed to be back for two weeks a couple of days ago. They are not here and may not be here at all until April. Which is horrid, and depressing, and infuriates me. And I hate having to tell my boys everyday when they ask what day is Daddy coming home. And I have to keep trying to explain. I could go on and on, but I am trying to work on not complaining so much.

Our New Year will bring him home at some point though. Hopefully and prayerfully as planned in April.

I am not much for resolutions, but I have decided we are going to work on cutting way back on the amount of sugar we eat in this house. As well as eating more organically.

And this year will see us MOVE out of the Armpit! I am so happy about that, and its whats getting me through all this. I hope you all have a Happy New Years Eve! I am spending mine with my little ones. Well, I am down to one little one, Train Junkie is the only one who is going to make it to Midnight. But we are going to toast eachother and then its off to bed!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Happy Birthday Train Junkie!!!

Dear Train Junkie,

I can't believe you are 4 yrs old today! I have watched you grow and change so much this past year. It doesn't seem too long ago, you were a little guy, our first born. We brought you home, we lived in Oregon then, and Daddy and I thought, ok now what? You were so precious and we loved how much joy you brought to us!






As you grew, you learned to crawl, and then walk. At 10 mos old! We knew you were so smart! Then you learned to CLIMB, and we knew you were too smart for your own good!





This year has been a big year for you, you finally got your little sister that you had asked for, and then you started Pre-School! Every day you learn something new. I love that you love trains so much and can tell me EVERYTHING I could ever possibly want to know about them. I love that you used to sleep with about 6 diecast metal trains every night.





Train Junkie, you were a gift from God and I can't wait to see what this next year holds for you! I feel so privileged to be your mommy. And while your emotions tend to run high, your excitement and joy for life are what make you so special. You have such a sweet spirit. Before you were born, I would pray over you. You are learning to be gentle and kind. When I watch you with The Princess, I am amazed at your patience with her. I love hearing you call her "Precious Little Girl" or when you tell me she is your favorite baby!
And while for now, you and Little Guy fight and pick at each other, I know you truly love him and as you and he grow up together, Little Guy will always be your best friend.





Mommy and Daddy love you so much! I hope you have a WONDERFUL Birthday!

One More Thing

We will be MOVING out of the Armpit come July, and I am just so excited about it for a number of reasons. While we may not be buying a house right off the bat, we are visiting my parents instead of house hunting, so we are going to take our first year there to get acquainted with the area and find the BEST house for us. And when we move, we are wanting to get a puppy! Train Junkie will be almost 5 and Little Guy will be 3 and a half, and Princess will be just about a year.
Here is where we would like to get a puppy from!!

www.scottspuppypalace.com

They have some adorable little puppies and since I want one I can put in a bag, this seems the best place for us! Yeah, I know, am I really going to carry a dog in a bag? Probably not, but we do want a little one. My boys have specifically asked for a small dog, preferrably a dachsund.

I Have A Problem...

Apparently I am uptight. No, really! The other day the boys and I embarked on a cookie cutting adventure. I had originally made homemade cookie dough, but let it sit in the fridge too long and it got hard. So the Pillsbury Dough Boy gave me a roll to use. I taped wax paper to the table stripped them to their undies (Spiderman and Thomas!) and rolled out a little dough for each of them. I had visions in my head of my boys and I cutting out the fun little Christmas shapes, PERFECTLY. The dough would stay on the paper, the boys would listen all while being busy little elves.
And in case you were wondering, this would be the FIRST time I let the boys help me make cookies. 2 and 3 yr olds don't cut cookies neatly. It didn't take very long to realize that Little Guy was not going to use the cookie cutters as God intended. Oh, I had to cover my eyes while he took the candy cane shaped one and it into the dough IN THE SAME PLACE 10 times!! It took everything I had to not grab everything up and do it myself.





But I pulled it together, we had a GREAT time once I calmed myself down. I let them cut them out however they liked, and they will be delicious! I have plans to let them DECORATE them next! Am I crazy??




On a side note, The Princess is growing in leaps and bounds! This week I started her on cereal, carrots, and sweet potatoes. She loves them! And is already trying to take the spoon from me to feed herself.



Isn't she just a DOLL??

OH! And we are so excited around the Posh house because the countdown has begun! In 17 days, Train Junkie will be 4 yrs old! In 22 days, it will be CHRISTMAS (and my In Laws will be here too) and then in 25 days HUBBY will be home for 2 WEEKS!! We can't wait!!

The Oh So Fashionable Chain Letter

Tell me, who wouldn't be tempted by the promise of $800,000 mailed to you daily within the next 90 days? I would love to receive the cash, even if it was in $1 increments. And I guess I would then be forced to buy a MUCH larger handbag to tote it around in.

Thats right folks, I have been chain lettered, and lo and behold, I am breaking it as we speak. I have gotten this particular one 3 times in the last 4 months. Twice from the same woman. Who apparently has not made her mountain of cash, or she wouldn't be sending the letter so often. On the other hand, maybe it is working so incredibly well for her that she does it once a month.

I am tempted, but I have researched the heck out of it. Apparently this originated from some man named Dick Hollman. He was broke, at his wits end, car in the process of being repo'd when he stumbled unwittingly upon the proverbial cash cow. He started THE LETTER. Sending it to 200 people with 6 names on it (which apparently is what makes this one SO DIFFERENT!) you send a $1 to each of the 6 names, drop the top name off, add your name to the bottom, and sit back and watch the cash flood your mail box. And it looks to be a teensy bit illegal. A scam if you will.

I am trying at this moment to find SOMEONE REAL who will tell me about their experience with it. Just out of curiosity. Because, while it may have worked for one person, there is no guarantee it is going to work for anyone else.

Holiday Spirit Abounds In My House

I LOVE Christmas. Its one of my favorite times of the year, and even living in the armpit of America can't take that away. I love the decorations and the lights. All the yummy Christmas treats add to my joy! Although I prefer to bake and give it away. I have been in and out of blogging lately, getting everything prepared for Thanksgiving gave me plenty of material, but no time!
Then today I came across the 5 Minutes For Mom Christmas giveaway!



It ends today, but you STILL have time to check out the prizes and enter some of them too! There are so many great items, and all useful!


So Thanksgiving, loads of fun. I got to make all my favorites, Turkey, cranberry stuffing, mashed potatoes full of sour cream and cheddar cheese, rolls, and OH the DESSERTS!! Chocolate Cream Pie, Double Layer Pumpkin Pie, Strawberry Pretzel Salad, and a Pumpkin Roll. And Train Junkie had his traditional bowl of Thanksgiving Mac and Cheese. Just like the kind the Indians introduced to the Pilgrims. And I thank them every time he asks for a healthy bowl full or processed cheese and starch.

Little Guy, of course, ate EVERYTHING I put in front of him. Although you would never know it to look at this kid.

All in all, it was a good day, a little sad since hubby is deployed, and we really miss him. But every day I mark off on the calendar puts him a little closer to us. I am so thankful that I have a wonderful family and a loving hubby, sweet kids, and good friends. We are very blessed in spite of a lot of things. And I am especially thankful that even though hubby is deployed, he is someplace OTHER than Iraq...

You Likey The New Look??

I have been trying to add Google Adsense to my blog for sometime now, but could never get it to work. And a friend of mine has been telling me how she makes a couple hundred extra dollars a month with the Firefox dowload button, (yeah thats it over there on the side, go ahead, download it!! You get faster intenet and I get a $1!)so I decided to try and install it. Now as most of my friends already know, I am slow in the bloggy knowledge department. All that coding makes my brain feel like MUSH!
So I emailed my good friend who designed my original look for help. She tried, got the same results I did and that led us to decide to CHANGE my whole look!!
And since I am in PINK overload since having a sweet baby girl, this is what we came up with.
I appreciate my dear friend for coming to my rescue and revamping my look! Thanks!