I mean really...REALLY??

The Big Day!

2012-02-02T04:32:00.000-05:00

Today is the day!

We are up bright and early to

head to the hospital and have

little Brady this morning.

Yesterday was supossed to be a fun

Mommy, Monkey day

which promptly got ruined

with a few trips to the hospital

for bloodwork...yes I said a few

and No, that's not normal.

Or I should say that's not

normal for a non-military hospital

but apparently forgetting to do some

of your blood work and then calling you

to drive back and hour each way

without apologizing is just

another day at the military hospital lab...

whatever.

That little trip was then promptly followed by

Monkey spiking a fever of 103 at 2:45

which lead to a trip to the

pediatrician,

then to the pharmacy and then an evening of

cuddles and meds for her ruptured

ear drum and strep throat.

Now I feel guilty about leaving her

this morning although I know her aunt will take

amazing care of her.

I guess it's my first lesson on sharing the love

between two children but

it's a tough one for the first day!

Have a great weekend,

I will share some pictures when

we get home and settled!

Winner Winner Spinach Dinner!

2012-01-26T19:41:00.022-05:00

I'm not one to post a lot of recipes

but this one was AWESOME!

I modified something I saw on

Pillsbury.com to match what I had

in the house and ended up with this divine

yumminess packed with protein and vitamins

that even Monkey wanted seconds of!

I have been watching my calories a bit

to make sure I pack on too many 'baby' pounds

in these last few weeks and was so happy

to know I could eat something that tasted

this naughty but was only

361 calories per serving!

1 pkg whole wheat penne pasta (cooked and drained)

1 pkg frozen spinach (thawed and drained)

1 can white beans (drained and rinsed)

1 cup of cottage cheese

1/4 cup grated Parmesan

1 jar alfredo sauce (or you can make your own if you prefer)

kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste.

preheat oven to 350 degrees

After you cook your pasta,

drain it and mix together with the rest of the ingredients,

dump into a 13x9 pan,

cover with some shredded mozzarella and

bake for about 30 minutes until

cheese on top is golden and melted.

Now a normal person would let this cool for a few minutes

before serving but if you are a crazy melted cheese addict

like me you will be tempted to scoop some of that perfect

yumminess right off the top and eat it right away

while attempting to convince your tongue that it is not

if fact seared off completely

(see bottom left corner of the picture for proof...)

then, enjoy this cheesy, spinachy yumminess to your hearts content!

The best part? It's a tie between

Getting My 4 year old to ask for more spinach and

8 servings at only 361 calories each!

Four year old Faith

2012-01-26T08:32:00.000-05:00

Monkey called me into her

room before school this morning

to tell me that her doll

Cinderbell was very sick.

I said, "oh no! Is she going to be ok?"

and Monkey calmly answered

"yes, because all her friends are around her praying."

and she showed me this:

I mean REALLY?!?!?!

I am torn between being so happy

that she has already found such

a faith in the power of prayer at age 4

but equally saddened that she has knowledge

of sickness and scenerios like this one.

It's one life lesson she has learned far too well in

her few short years.

You will all be happy to know that after several hours of

prayer vigil sat be her closest friends and family

that Cinderbell made a miraculous recovery yesterday

afternoon and is now enjoying a tea party with her sister

as I type this blog!

cheap art

2012-01-23T11:55:00.000-05:00

I recently saw an ad for a local

kids boutique offering

sessions with a silhouette artist.

That's a really cute idea

I thought to myself,

until that same self saw it was $40 a pop.

Umm, not that great an idea.

So I got out the camera, took a sideways

picture of monkey,

downloaded it to my paint program

and then free handed the black outline,

filled in the face black and the background white

put it in a cute new frame

we picked up last week and

Voila...

free adorable silhouette of my sweet

little Monkey.

(although if I were to do it again

I would have drawn the swoop

chest that you often see on these,

I think the straight edge to the bottom looks

a little harsh.

What do you think?

Lady Lumps

2012-01-22T14:04:00.000-05:00

So yesterday I found a

brand new form of creepy.

I know the average guy might

take an extra look look

at a cute girl at the gym.

Maybe an extra glance or two

at the jiggling jugs on

the next machine over

or a wobble of his head back and

forth with the beat of the

butt cheeks pounding away on the treadmill

in front of him.

I get it, they are men.

HOWEVER

I have never felt quite as

uncomfortable as I did yesterday

when a (much) older man

jumped up on the elliptical

next to me, turned right toward me

and then proceeded to stare at my bouncing belly

for no less than 10 minutes STRAIGHT....

I mean nothing could make him look away,

it was horrendous.

Who knew the giant ball

protruding from my abdomen was actually

a new form of lovely lady lump

and such an inspiration to old men

hoping to get in shape....

gross.

Needless to say I was happy to

finish my workout and escape

Mr. Creepy.

Share a Shoe!

2012-01-19T15:22:00.000-05:00

I abhor buying shoes

for my little Monkey.

She has wide feet so the cheap-os I used to

pick up at Wal-mart and Target just don't fit her

very well and we have found that they don't hold up

very well to the wear and tear that preschool and a

very crazy four year create.

I REFUSE to pay for stride rite shoes,

I can barely find any that are even cute

but teh price tag makes me want to puke anyway.

I mean seriously why would I spend more on my

kids shoes than I pay for my own...

not going to happen!

and then I found these....

TOMS

have you heard of them?

They are soft and comfy,

fit her wide feet comfortably

AND for every pair you buy,

thay donate a pair to a child in need.

So for just a bit more than

the target shoes that don't last or fit

we get

An adorable pair of shoes for her

PLUS an adorable pair of shoes

For a child in need...

That is worth the extra few bucks to me!

And Monkey LOVES them!

Yay for Toms!!!!

Tick Tock, I have an awesome brand new clock!

2012-01-18T14:53:00.000-05:00

So My Man had a mini breakdown this weekend and

decided we should redecorate the living room.

One thing lead to another and we

decided it was all or nothing and

we could not afford all with the baby

coming in two weeks so after hours of

window shopping furniture and accessories stores for

ideas and inspiration we ended up putting everything

back where it started Saturday morning.

The one huge plus though,

was that we found this amazing wall clock...

It's huge and awesome and totally

worth the hours of shopping we did

for no real reason.....

What's your nemisis?

2012-01-09T08:24:00.000-05:00

So my sweet Monkey

can snap and zip her pants,

sing every verse of 50 different Christmas songs

count to 10 in 4 languages

(including Japanese)

turn on my iPhone

write her name in upper and lower case letters

and even read a simple book by herself.

So can someone tell me what is so freaking

difficult about pulling on a pair of socks?!?!?

I have been really trying to encourage her to do it

herself for weeks now and she just can't do it,

darn socks!!!

I guess everyone has their limits

and tight fitting toe warmers are Monkey's....

Happy New Year

2012-01-02T12:03:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year!!!!
This blog is going to be a little
quiet for a bit as
we prepare for our newest addition
but I hope you all had
a wonderful holiday season
and are starting this new year
with a positive outlook
and hopes for wonderful things to come.
I know we are!

Lots of Changes

2011-12-27T10:52:00.000-05:00

Sorry I have been slacking again,
we have been busy getting
the nursery ready for the little Monster,
took a trip to DC to see my little sister
and have just been enjoying some quality family time.

I hope this finds everyone well and happy
after the holidays!
My little family had a wonderful Christmas
and now I just want to take down the tree and
clear the clutter to prepare
for the new year and all
the new and exciting things
it will bring to us!

Last year I made a list of my resolutions
and saved them on the computer
so I could not conveniently
'forget' what I had come up with.
I opened up the list last week
and was surprised to find that
I have really made great progress
on all of them but twp,
and I guess I will cut myself some slack
on them because it's hard
to lose a few pounds and improve
your half marathon time when you spend
8 out of 12 months of the year pregnant...
just sayin'.

This year my list is a little different though
and as I focus on our growing family
and trying to maintain a good balance
between my work and the loves in my life
and after receiving spam after spam comment
here on my blog I am sad to say that
this little site will be taking a hiatus for awhile.

I will leave the page up and hope
to get back to my silly blogs
at some point in the spring
when I am sure I will have loads of
funniness to share with you
as Monkey meets Monster Baby,
we prep to sell or rent the house
and figure out a military move in the summer....

Sooooo, loads of changes coming up for us in 2012.
I wish you and yours a very Happy New Year
and will miss our little community as
I readjust my focus for a bit.
Thanks for reading and supporting me
for the last few years!
Patty

The Good Samaritan

2011-12-12T13:26:00.000-05:00

I started the day with
Lots to do this morning
and no time to spare
so as soon as I dropped off Monkey
for school I headed to the store
list in hand and hoping
to be quick.

My cart had a broken wheel
they were sold out of Blueberry yogurt
(I mean really?!?!
I had no idea it was as hot an item
this season as the Leap Pad!)
and then I dropped a case of soda.

Technically I should say that
the bottom of the box completely
busted off and 24 gleaming
cans of Pepsi went rolling in every direction
while I stood there like
and idiot watching them and
holding an empty broken cardboard box.

Great, now I have to pick them up!
Let's face it,
the belly is getting rather large
these days and coupled
with a lower back injury
I have not even been putting
on my own shoes lately
so in my head I just know this
is going to turn out to be a
moment fully worthy of youtube
watching me try and wrangle the
shiny cans.

and then....it happened.....
A super amazingly nice woman
was rushing toward me
snatching cans up as she approached.
She took the empty box
put it on the floor and had almost every can
picked up for me before I knew what happened
and then she went and got
another case of soda for me
and placed it in my cart!
Can you believe it?!?!?
I mean I do nice things like that for
other people but it is so rare
that someone does it for me
I was speechless!!

So thank you nice stranger
and I promise to pay it forward.
What good deeds have you
done this holiday season?

Stocking Stuffer Streamers

2011-12-07T08:00:00.001-05:00

So I am

super proud of myself

that I am ahead of the game this

year and pretty much DONE

with my Christmas shopping!

And the best part???

I did not buy ANYTHING

from the mall this year!

I made most of my gifts and

in an effort to keep

to budget super low this

year I had to get a little creative.

Here is my easy idea for a stocking

stuffer streamers just in case

you have a dancing Monkey

princess at home also!

Pick a few ribbons

you like and cut enough

12 ribbons

18 inches long each

(I cut 2 36" long strips of each

ribbon and then split them in half

so I ended up with 4 of each pattern)

I found some cheap

ribbon in a sale bin at AC Moore

a few months ago and decided to

stock up so this ribbon cost me

less than $3 total for all three and I

still have plenty left to play with

but you can use any ribbon you

want.

Then cut 2 pieces of elastic

long enough to fit your

child as a bracelet or make

good hoops

to hold onto.

I made mine about 8" long.

Grab 6 of the cut ribbons

hold them together and then

pin in between the ends of

your cut elastic.

Sew that baby shut

(I used a overlock/zigzag stitch

just to make sure none of those

slippery little

ribbons could escape)

Finish off the ribbon ends by

burning quickly with a lighter

or a few drops of fray check

just to keep them from coming apart

and then....

VOILA!

Two fun and pretty

ribbon streamers for

my sweet little Monkey

to twirl and swirl

around with

to her hearts delight!

I think she is going to be so excited

and I will be glad not to have to

~~yell at her~~

remind her nicely

to stop swinging

those mardi gras beaded necklaces around-

these will hurt a lot less if

you get 'accidently'

smacked with one during

an extra exuberant dance!

Hands Off!!

2011-12-06T08:49:00.000-05:00

There is really only
one time in a woman's life
when she doesn't lash out
if someone tells her
she is starting to get big.
A few short months when
for some reason
other woman find
it acceptable to say
"How much weight have
you gained?"
A tiny window where you boast
about 'only' gaining
18 pounds in 31 weeks.
Ahhh pregnancy!!!

Although I am not sure
the freedom to have an
extra cookie or
two is totally worth
the random strangers who
feel it is ok to reach
out and touch my belly.
Umm, no thank you-
some personal space and
decency here please?!?!

Although I do admit that this issue is much
better on the east coast than
when I was pregnant in Monterey
with Monkey-
there it seemed the little old ladies swarmed me
just to get a touch...yuck!

Why do they do that?
Why do they think it's ok?
Would you just walk up to a
non pregnant lady and touch her,
I don't think so!!!
What weird aura do pregnant
woman give off that signals
to others that it's ok to approach,
ask a ton of inappropriate questions
(I mean some woman asked me
when I conceived... that is
a seriously personal question isn't it?!?
I told her I didn't know since my husband
was such a hot lay we never stopped
and it was hard to pin down an exact date...
I hope she learned her lesson and
never asks another poor woman that!)
and then completely obliterate the
first basic rule of kindergarten
"keep your hands to yourself!"

Oh well, only 8 more weeks
and then I will be trying to keep
the same strangers from touching my baby!

Help Needed

2011-11-27T15:45:00.001-05:00

I went to wal-mart today
in search of some super
cheap fabric to use as
a table cover for
a craft sale I am
doing next week.

I search thru the unorganized
racks of fabric and
finally find one that
will work for super cheap
yippee

and then I walk to the counter
to get it cut and find this sign:

If you need assistance
please find an available
associate in the
electronics department

Ummm, seriously?!?
Of course I need assistance,
I need the fabric cut and scanned
so I can pay for it
but electronics?!?
The idea that one of the workers
used to dealing with video games
and wires is going
to be happy about me asking
him to measure 4 yds of fabric
is hilarious to me
but the idea that there
would be someone available to leave the busiest
dept of the entire store
for something as mundane as
an annoying woman who
needs help in the fabric department
is just downright ridiculous!

I put down the fabric and
walked away.
I guess an unwanted trip to Jo-ann's
is on the to do list for tomorrow.
of fabric

Monkey's first Sewing Project

2011-11-23T08:00:00.003-05:00

I bought a quilting foot last year with all the best

intentions for zillions of different projects.

So far I have only used it to pretty up the

inside of a few laptop and e-reader covers.

Monkey's teachers told me

she should practice cutting

and she has been lurking in my

office watching me

sew and begging to help

for quite awhile so this week

I decided we could kill a few

birds with one project.

I let her pick out some fabrics she liked

and we cut tons of squares

and laid out a small throw quilt

to put together so she could

give it to her baby brother.

She cut all the squares

and I just went back to trim the edges

and then we played with the

pattern until she was happy...

or I should say until

I told her to stop changing

her mind because

man can four year old's be indecisive!

She was so happy I let

her sew the lines

(of course she got bored after

only a few so I finished up

but if you ask her

she did it all be herself)

For the back we cut a scrap of felt and

she signed it with a fabric marker

so there will be no doubt

she at least did

one nice thing for her little brother

in his lifetime.

We pinned the front, batting and back

together and starting sewing around the blocks

and a few minutes later...

Huzzah!!!

It doesn't look completely jacked up!

Now for the binding

and my nemesis,

bound mitered corners...

I spent a little extra time

trying to finesse them

and thankfully ended up with some decent corners

The end result:

One happy little quilt for

baby brother

that Monkey is super proud of.

Was it risky to do my first quilt

with a 4 year old?

Of course but at least if

it came out crappy I had someone to blame!

Now that we have had a small success I

am looking forward to trying some

more ambitious projects

and patterns.

How are you spending the extra family

time this week?

Turkey Craft

2011-11-21T07:33:00.000-05:00

One of my go to blogs for all things food is

Our Best Bites and every once

in awhile they have a great

craft post also.

I always think I should try it but

never manage to find the time.

I saw an adorable post

for a cute Thanksgiving Turkey craft

the other day and thought it

would be perfect for name place cards

for our Thanksgiving table this year.

It was fun and super duper easy,

only took 10 minutes to make 4!

Their instructions are great,

I made a few modifications to use

what I had on hand.

Here is what I did:

I found some old silk flowers I had

tucked away for some 'unknown' future

project

Then I popped that center sucker

right out and separated the layers

(2 old flowers

were in fact harmed

in the making of

this project)

Then I layered the colors together

alternating the yellow

and orange to make the turkey plumes.

Fell free to use any color

you like

I just happened to have these Thanksgivingy

ones on hand.

Once I stacked the layers

I did some quick stitches on either side

to keep them together.

(If you are not a sewing fool

than feel free to use hot glue but wait until after you

cut them apart.)

Then cut each flower in half between your stitches

(If you have not sewed them

this is where to use the glue...

Once cut dab some hot glue

or Elmer's

at the center point to hold

these babies together.)

Voila!!

Pretty turkey plumes!

Now grab some orange and brown felt

and cut out some cute little turkey bodies

and tiny orange triangles

for beaks

(the tutorial I saw also used googly

eyes which I think would be amazing but

this was a strict items I had on hand project

for me and sadly I found no

googly eyes in the craft box today)

Now grab the hot glue gun

(or Elmer's if you must)

and put the pieces together.

Done! Cute Turkey!!!

You can use these however you want.

Put them on the table as decoration,

glue them to blocks and place

randomly around the house so

your husband who abhors

cutesy decoration

has a near aneurysm

as he finds them,

glue them to old cut toilet paper

rolls

and make napkin holders

or...

I grabbed some empty thread spools

and pipe cleaners and made them into

place cards for the table.

Just use that trusty hot glue

to attach the turkey to the thread spool

and then tape the name card to a pipe cleaner.

Stick that silly pipe cleaner

into the hole on the spool,

tape the name to the top and

cute Thanksgiving table here they come!

Hope you all are having a good start to the holiday week,

I have two other quick craft blogs for the week planned as

my father in law is in town to

wear out the MOnkey-

hurray for me!!!

So, happy Crafting-

Here is the original "recipe" I modified for this:

Flower Turkeys
Supplies
silk flowers
scissors
felt in brown and orange
thread or glue
optional: googly eyes
optional: empty thread spool and pipe cleaner or
napkin rings, clips, clothes pins, magnets, etc.
Instructions:
Remove flowers from stems. Separate center of flower from back and separate all petals. Stack varying petals together, stacking smaller on top of larger. Hold stack together and cut pile in half across the middle. Sew or glue layers together. Cut turkey shapes out of brown felt and glue onto front of petal piles. Glue on small orange triangle for beak.
If desired add eyes and attach to an empty thread spool stick a pipe cleaner with a nametag and voila...easy fun Thanksgiving nametag!
This would also be super cute attached to a napkin ring, clip, clothespin, or magnet to back.

Need help with your Christmas Letter?

2011-11-20T08:00:00.002-05:00

I am lucky enough to
have a very successful writer as a friend
and lucky for all of you
she is willing to share her
fantabulousness with everyone
for the holiday season!

Tiffany Silverberg,
writer, linguist, word magician extraordinaire
has written an e-book
on how to write the perfect
holiday letter and is offering it to
all of us regular folks for only $4!!!
What a steal!

If you think you don't need it
think about some of those
letters you get every year
that are crazy,
you don't want that to happen to you do you?!?!
I certainly don't!

Here is what Tiffany has to say about the book:

I know... the weather just started getting cold, but the holidays are creeping up! One of the biggest stresses I hear about is the family newsletter. Each year, it's a struggle to get it done and get it out on time.

That's why I wrote this ebook - I truly walk the reader step by step through the process - telling you what to do and what to write. Using a simple outline, this process works for every family. And it can all be done in one quiet evening.

So grab some coffee or cocoa, click the link
or the button on the right side
of the screen
to get your copy and
start following along-
your letter will be done before the Turkey
has time to cook!

It will be worth it in the end....

2011-11-18T11:17:00.000-05:00

I can not see my feet
I am out of breath at the top of the stairs
I have enough gas to cross the
Atlantic without additional fuel
and all I want to eat is chocolate.

I need help getting up from chairs
and putting on my shoes.
I need more naps than my 4 year old.

My pants don't fit
or stay up
and my belly is
popping out from under
even my maternity tops.

My garage is full of
baby furniture
that there is not even a place
for in our home right now
and every time I
sit in my office I wonder
how I am going to make
this all work in a few short months.

But with every pain and ache
there is joy and
happiness in the knowledge that
God has given us
a second chance at
raising a new little person.

I can't wait to meet him
hug him
watch Monkey with him
and start this whole parent thing
all over again!

For years and years
My Man and I thought
we would never have a
child and now to be blessed with
a second is worth
all of the yuck that comes with actually
being pregnant
That is what I am thankful
for today as I think about
Thanksgiving approaching,
how about you?

Hairy Conversation

2011-11-16T11:38:00.000-05:00

Monkey and I

had a long conversation this morning

about the importance

(or lack thereof)

of hair.

Thank you Disney for not

having a short haired heroine

since Snow White

my poor kid is

convinced that long hair makes

you beautiful and hers is

most assuredly NOT long!

Anyhow, as I named

all sorts of

characters and people

who care about way more

important things than

what their hair looks like

she started chiming in

with examples of her own.

Just as I thought to myself

how useful this little talk had been

she says

"And YOU don't care about your hair

at all, right mommy?

That's why it is always so tangley looking."

Yup, true.

Thanks kid,

I love you too.

Post Office Woes

2011-11-15T08:56:00.000-05:00

It seems a reoccurring theme her
that I have trouble at the post office.
I have started shipping most
of my work orders from home
but unfortunately I had to visit
the post office yesterday
to drop off an international package
and the line was insane.

Monkey was fresh out of school
and totally charged up
singing and dancing
and touching everything.
I was trying to keep her
from annoying the crowd around us
in line while I tried to
fill out the customs form
while slowly moving forward.

I got to the expediter lady
(I mean really?!?! now the post office
is like a fast food joint?)
and she told me I had the wrong form,
took mine gave me a different one and another
sheet to fill out.
Not wanting to cause trouble I stood there and
filled out the new forms and
then patiently waited my turn.

When I finally made my way to the front desk
the woman there tells me that I have
the wrong form and the second one is useless
for international mail.
Seriously?!?!
She then hands me the ORIGINAL form I had filled
out that the other lady disappeared with
and tells me to step
out of line to do it.

After I did I told her that
the woman in line had approved
all my paperwork and she said
"Well, she doesn't work the front line
so I guess she doesn't know the rules"

Does that seen stupid to anyone else?
Why do you have someone who doesn't
know what you need
telling you what you need?!?!
I think the post office needs to stop
raising stamp prices and making insane cuts
to postal delivery workers and do some
serious lean six sigma on their standard operations!
CRAZY!!!!

Age is just a number right?!?

2011-11-09T07:45:00.000-05:00

Ok, for the first time in months I seem

to be caught up in my office and I

promise to share some of that free time with the blog.

Today let's discuss birthday's.

Mine to be specific.

It was this weekend and

it was a sort of big one.

Not a huge one mind you but big

and I have been telling myself and everyone that I was

perfectly fine and even a bit

excited to be turning 35

and I really feel like I meant it.

Until Monkey decided that gave her permission

to tell EVERYONE she meets

that I am 35 now.

When I tell her it's

rude to talk about ladies ages

her answer is simply

"You're not a lady you are

my mommy."

After the upteenth time of

attempting to have this conversation

I gave up when she

matter of factly said

"Everyone asks me how old I am

and you make me answer so

how come you don't have to tell them?"

And tell them she did....

her teachers,

the entire nursing staff gathered to gossip

in a hospital hallway last week,

a random couple in an elevator,

her new dentist,

the ladies who run the play area at the gym,

and my favorite....

the walmart cashier

(perhaps the one I found the strangest however

I took comfort in the fact that I probably have 10

years on her and at least I know how to add

what the difference between a pumpkin

and a spaghetti squash is

-seriously I think the quote was:

"this pumpkin sure don't look like a pumpkin..."

and I have all my teeth)

I find myself turning red every time she does it

and then quickly checking for their

reaction, sadly only a few of them

have seemed surprised by the number!

I guess the random gray hairs,

the gigantor bags under my eyes and those

adorable smile craters I have collected

sort of give away every single year

I am the proud owner of.

C'est La Vive!

All of Virginia Beach seems to

know my age now and it didn't kill me.

So even though my little daughter

spilling the beans around town

fills me with chagrin and

has more than once made me

curse this baby belly from

preventing me from introducing myself

to a nice big fantabulous

glass of wine at the end of the day,

I really am ok with it.

I have 35 years worth of stories.

35 year of friendships,

mistakes I have learned from,

experiences to share

and treasure,

35 years of memories to savor

or turn red at the thought of.

And now I look across the breakfast

table at my sweet Monkey and this baby

kicking me like crazy inside

and have nothing

but hope that the next 35 years will be half

as awesome as the first!

Bring on the wrinkles and the gray hair

because I'm not scared!!!

Not helping!!!!

2011-11-07T15:48:00.000-05:00

No surprise here,
but I am starting to feel a bit gigantic.

My non maternity PJ's
are not so comfy anymore
and I have not seen my own feet in weeks.

I am at the point with this baby belly
that Monkey has to help me put on my shoes
and getting up from the
recliner at night takes help from an army.

The doctor reassures me that I
am right on track with weight gain
but my swollen legs,
straining waistbands and
unstoppable desire for anything
chocolate seem to disagree.

My Man knows how I am feeling,
he sees me frustrated at the gym when I am spent
after only 3 miles,
he sees me struggle to get this giant body into bed at night
and frown into the mirror as I
discover all of the 'non-baby'
additions to my body which I will have to run, lift and
sweat off in only a few short months.

"I will help" he adds kindly...
yeah right, how?
Is he going to do Tae-bo and Body pump for me
three times a week?
Is it his bum that will be hanging low and shaking loose?
I don't think so.

And then in one of his more chivalrous moves
he has been bringing me little presents lately...
just in the last two weeks the tally comes to:
a butterfinger,
a caramello bar,
a 12 pack of tiny cupcakes
a box of chocolates
random treats from Starbucks
one divine chocolate peanut butter birthday cake
and a box of godiva caramel chocolate gems

....all of these thing delicious but
not exactly helping me keep the weight off!!!
SERIOUSLY?!?!?!

I guess now I have no choice but to
eat my way through it all,
I mean I would hate to be ungrateful!

Halloween

2011-10-31T12:23:00.000-04:00

So My sweet little Monkey
wants to be a princess tonight
but mean mean mommy is forcing
her to be a bumblebee
so we get at least one more wear out of
the ridiculously expensive
costume from last years dance recital.
Poor kid!

Not only that but she requested
that out pumpkin look like a pirate.
I decided that meant a handlebar moustache
and so I started carving.

Here is what we ended up with:

A little more Burl Ives
snowman narrator from
Christmas claymation specials
than Captain Hook
but it will have to do!

At least we have these to roast up later today!
(assuming of course I don't get that wrong also...)

which would of course be
using every ounce of postive thinking
I ahve got left in me!

Have a safe happy Halloween everybody!

Busy October

2011-10-19T07:49:00.000-04:00

AHA, Perhaps you thought I forgot about you,
I didn't but I do admit to having a bit too much on
the plate lately and not taking
the time for the blog that I used too.

At this point I am not sure what to tell you about.
The super sad loss of my amazing Papa on the 6th.
The insanity of the roadtrip to and from NY
to get to the funeral,
The ever present drinking songs that help us
celebrate life in the face of death
that my southern and non-irish husband always
seemed shocked by.
Or maybe something happier.

Monkey just turned 4!!!!
Can you believe it?
I can't!
My sweet little baby is now not even a toddler anymore
she is a bonafide little Girl
with dolls, dresses, ponies, play make-up,
hairdryers and vanity
to match thanks to some of her amazing
aunt's!

I splurged a bit on an out of the house party for her this year.
My Man and I decided a month ago to do Chuck E Cheese
knowing how sick I had been and not wanting to
pout more stress on us or me or add to the
plate that overfloith!!!
Little did we know we would be out of town until just before the party
so it was the best decision we ever made!
All we had to do was make the cake.
Which of course had to be a princess cake
and even though I let her pick it out she
changed her mind a 1000 times about it leading
me to a near meltdown the night before her party
trying to make it perfect even though I thought
she was going to not like it anyhow.
I was wrong though
she thought it was beautiful
and even though she never even took a bite
everyone else enjoyed it so I guess it was worth the trouble.

Here was the end result:

So party over time to relax right?!?
I wish!
I have enough orders from my shop
(www.littlepatpats.com)
to last me for weeks and more keep coming!
Finding the time and energy is getting harder
as my belly gets bigger and I get slower
but I am so happy to feel like all my work has paid off and
I am a genuine businesswoman these days.

So to sum it all up I have been a bit overloaded
with work, family, Monkey,
never ending laundry and dishes,
dr appointments, cakes, and a little bit of fun
tucked in along the edges.
Hope you are all doing well-
and BTW, did anybody watch the debate last night?
That may be the topic of my next edition ;)

Quick Project

2011-10-05T11:24:00.000-04:00

So A great friend brought over a dress for me to hem

yesterday and I fell in love with it.

The colors were bold and pretty and

it pained me to chop any of it away.

When I finished I went to dump the scraps into my

leftover bin

(my big box of tiny scraps and leftovers

that I hold onto for some unknown project

at some unknown future date) and had

a light bulb moment.

I folded it up and cut about 20 matching circles

(by hand-no reason to be fussy here)

and then cut a slightly smaller flt circle

to use as the base.

I took turns folding and squishing the circles

and then sewing them around the felt circle

I ended up wit three rings of fabric

circles and then hand sewed one last

(slightly smaller) circle in the middle

to hide my stitches.

I just love how it came out and can't wait to surprise her with it.

I think it would look great as a brooch but

you could totally sew/glue it onto a hair clip

or headband or just clip it on a purse

for a little pizazz.

I don't know if she will like it as much as I do

but I do know I will be making

more of these sassy little suckers!

I mean isn't it just SOOO awesome?

When "real" isn't real...

2011-09-30T07:48:00.000-04:00

Ok,
I have bit my tongue
for awhile, but after the new
one I saw last night I can't
NOT talk about those
crazy febreeze commercials.

I know you have seen them...
"real people" sent
into disgusting rooms
blindfolded and wooed by
the clean homey smell of
Febreeze just to be "surprised"
with nasty dirty places when
they take the blindfolds off.

I mean REALLY?!?!
If I was sitting on a nasty
couch, cuddled up in a flea
infested blanket unbeknownst to me
and then suddenly realized it
I guarantee that I would not just
sit there and look around.
I would have flown off that dirty couch
screaming and then either run out
of the place or launched myself directly
to the commercial producer who lured me
in to rearrange her face a little bit
(ok that's probably an exaggeration but
it would definitely be an instinct!)

The latest one has a woman nearly touch a raw
mangled chicken carcass with her nose...
no thank you.

All I can say is the commercial doesn't lie.
They don't say they are not paid actors,
they simply say they are "real people"
clearly they are real people who
were paid a bunch of money to be in
a febreeze commercial and
given really bad direction about how
the 'average' person would react to
finding themselves
in such disgusting surroundings.
GROSS is all I can say
but for real,
hating the commercials so much
makes me dislike the product.
I used to use Febreeze but now
that I feel like the commercials are fake,
contrived and annoying I can't bring myself
to buy it anymore.

Have you all seem these?
What do you think and has
a company ever lost your business based
solely on a marketing campaign?

What's in a name?

2011-09-22T07:49:00.001-04:00

Only everything.....
No pressure.

Earlier this week My Man
and I found out that
baby on the way
is actually a Fred.

And by that I mean
he has three legs
not that we are actually
going to call him Fred
although after going through
literally thousands of baby names
over the last few months
and barely being able to find
3 or 4 that one of us likes
and the other one does not despise
has been trouble enough that Fred
has actually become tempting if only
to say we have made a decision.

We have plenty of time to be sure but
it's funny that you can live with
someone for 13 years and finish
their sentences, know how they
want their coffee,
when not to talk to them because they
are ready to explode, and
know when they need a hug
or a cold beer.

You can agree about
which house to live in,
what military orders to take,
which couch to pick
how to discipline your crazy monkey,
and what to have for dinner
and yet- you can't agree
on a name for your newest addition.

But it's big.
I mean the kid is going to carry
whatever tag we give him around
for his whole life.
I am going to have to say it
100's of times a day.
I like to test them by
pretending the poor kid's
already in trouble,
you know the whole firm voice-
full name thing, it has to have some power
and then my mind immediately
attempts to come up with
all the mean playground
names we can come up with...

It's a tough job.
I don't want Fred to curse his name
his whole life and resent me for
making the wrong decision
I mean there are no take backs on this one!

So as if that's not hard enough
we have others making it worse.
We called My man's dad the other day
and tossed one of my favorites at him
it went a little something like this:

"So what do you think about the name Finn?"
-------pause------
Dad "you mean like a shark?"
"No, like a great Irish name...."
Dad "Well, you know I will love the kid no matter what you call it"

Not exactly the reaction we were hoping for.

Then yesterday at breakfast
I read the list of possibles to Monkey
and when we got to Matt
(another one that we both actually agreed on)
she started laughing.
What's so funny? I asked.

"Matt is a funny name.
you can't name a baby that!!" she laughed

I asked why not,
"Because I have one of those in my bathroom!!!!
That is such a silly joke Mommy!!!"

Ok, so Finn and Matthew are out....

So back to the drawing board
and the baby name website.
My head is spinning, maybe we
should just call him Abigail.