Our Royal Family

Our Royal Family

My Boy

My Boy
Age 14

The Countessa

The Countessa
Age 14

The Duchess

The Duchess
Age 13

The Princess

The Princess
Age 11

The Pooch

The Pooch
age 6

Miss Pooch

Miss Pooch
age 2

Thursday, December 31, 2009

So long 2009



Good riddance is more like it! 

2009, you have been an absolutely miserable year.  I will never look back on you with fond memories, or kindness.  I hope to never look back on you again!!! 

I will tuck you into the back of my mind with the other years of misery in my life....1973, 1999, 2002, 2007....now you 2009.

I waited, and hoped, and waited, and hoped with all my might that you would at some point be kind.  Instead you heaped more pain and misery into my life. 

Now as your days draw to a close I say so long, good riddnce, adios, Hope to never see you again!!!

But more importantly I say HELLO 2010!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  What took you so long!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A picture is worth a thousand words


I stumbled upon this fun activity here and decided to join in.


My kids collected ALL the leaves from around our court and piled them on our lawn.  They wanted a "mountain of leaves" to run and jump through.  My neighbors were thrilled to have their leaves cleaned up, hubby not so much!! LOL!!
Cheaper Than Therapy

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Scrumpdiddlyumptious Desserts



I am a master baker wannabe and because of my wannabe status I have a tendancy to collect dessert recipies from magazines, blogs, cookbooks and many other sources.  Over the last couple of years my stash of recipes has grown to astounding porportions. 

As I stated in my New Years Resolution post I want to start baking from scratch more often, so to help achieve that goal I have started another blog to chronicle my baking endeavors.  I hope you join me on my journey of baking fun, enjoyment and I'm sure a few disasters along the way.

Friend Makin' Monday


What are your New Years Resolutions?

Over the years I've made many resolutions, some I've kept, some I didn't, as I'm sure is true for us all.  This year I'm making my list again and I'm sure I'll keep some and loose others, but it's the setting of a goal that makes New Years Resolutions worth making.

Here is my list:
1. Bake from scratch more often............I tend to use box mixes ALOT.
2. Get my garage organized and made a more useful living space.  Not just a home for junk!!!
3. Get another dog...a smaller one about 20lbs maxs.
4. Improve my photography skills
5. Scrapbook atleast 2xweek.  I have not done this in over a YEAR!!!!!!  It is my favorite hobby but due to life crisies over the last year scrapbooking was set aside.  2010 I'm bringing it back into my life!!!!!
6. Start a weekly family game night.  My kids are at the age now where they LOVE to play games like Monopoly, Life, Sorry ect.
7. Make a random act of kindness once a day, to a family member or a stranger.
8. Stick to my already set up daily organization system; daily to do's ect.
9. Excersise at leat 30 minutes a day; go for a walk, use Wii Fit, go for a bike ride
10. Laugh and smile EVERYDAY, even if the day sucks!!!!!  Find SOMETHING to laugh or smile about!!!!

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Puppy Update.


He's baaaaaack!!!!! My wild crazy puppy is back to his wild crazy self! He went to the vet yesterday and had all staples and stitches removed and was given a clean bill of health.
The last four weeks have been tough for him, our kids and for my husband and I. We have had to keep him heavily sedated and we've had to keep the kids interaction with him minimal, otherwise he would get too excited. Yesterday, I kid you not, he ran around the house at full speed for nearly 20 minutes before completely pooping out and falling asleep in the middle of the living room floor. It will take some time to build up his endurance again, but we are so very thankful to have him healthy again!!!

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Binders, Binders, Binders.......Love me some Binders!!!!

I have a confession.............I'm a binder junkie. I use binders to organize just about everything. It helps to keep my life clutter free and it helps the kids and hubby too!

Today I'll share my most important binder:our Household Notebook:

This binder sits at the end of my kitchen counter 24/7. It contains all of the following sections & information:

Planning: This section is divided into subcatagories of Daily, Weekly, Monthly & Personal Developement.
In the Daily catagory I have a printed form with the following information: My days general plan broken down by hour. A list of tasks I would like to accomplish on that day. My top 3 most important tasks to complete that day. My dinner plan for that day. My baking plan for that day (I like to have a fresh baked treat ready for the kids to have during homework time each day.) A list of "To-Do's" focusing on a particular project I may be working on...this could be reorganizing a closet, doing some scrapbooking or working in my yard. On this form I also keep track of my water intake for the day...I'm not very good about drinking enough water so this helps me.
In the Weekly catagory I have a printed weekly calendar. Here I list out everything that is taking place that week, including times, such as kids events, hubby being out-of-town, appointments ect. I also include my cleaning routine here and my project goals for the week.
In the Monthly catagory I have a month at a glance calendar. This helps in my weekly planning so I know what the month has in store for each family member. Hubby also uses this section to block out times he will not be home or will be working late.
In the Personal Developement section I keep track of my personal food intake, my excercise routine, my personal goals ect.

The next section is Household Inventory. This section is also broken down into subcatagorize: Dry Goods, Can Goods, Baking, freezer, Cleaning Supplies, and Paper Goods. I do a weekly check of items so I know what we have, what has been used and what we need. This is a GREAT tool when making my grocery list.

The next section is titles Projects. Here I have individual printed sheets for each project I am currently working on and projects to be worked on. On this form I list what the project is, my goals, any shopping needs to complete the project. I also break down the project into managable To Do items so I don't feel overwhelmed with the "big picture" of the project.

The next section is Cleaning. Here I have cleaning checklist for EACH room of my house. Here I'm able to keep track of Daily-Weekly-Monthly-Yearly task for each area of the house.

The next section is School. Here I put any "need to keep" correspondences from the kids schools; calendars, class schedules, class contavct list ect.

The last section is Misc. Here I put anything that needs to be kept, but doesn't fit into any of the other sections.

Every Sunday evening after the kids have gone to bed I sit down with this binder and first look at my monthly calendar. From there I transfer information to my weekly calendar and from there to my daily. I write out my daily routines for the ENTIRE week. Based on the events for that given week I plan out what projects I will try to tackle. If I have a busy week I may skip a project all together, but if we have a light week I may choose a larger task that takes more of my time. I also check my cleaning schedule and add anything that needs to be added to my daily routines.

Once a month I go over my cleaning checklist and write down on my monthly calendar any less frequent cleaning and household maintence tasks like changing the heater filter.

I also use this time to do any meal planning. I use to try to plan an entire month in advance, but that became unrealistic for me. Now I focus one week at a time and write a shopping list for that week. I do my grocery shopping every Monday and my large wholesale shopping once a month. I will be posting more about this later.

So as I said before I'm a binder junkie and have many more binders to share, so stay tuned.....

Monday, December 14, 2009

Friend Makin Monday--Holiday Home Tour

This weeks Friend making Monday topic is Holiday Home Tour. A time to show off your Holiday decor, DIY projects ect.

Welcome to my home...........

Our Christmas Tree

Our stockings hung by the chimney with care....

The mantel.....

Stocking hangers....

Part of my Nutcracker collection...

More Nutcrackers....

A few more.....

And another....

Our doggies stockings, one for our current dog and another in remembrance of a dog that passed away.....and a few more nutcrackers...

A couple Santas...

An end table in the living room.....

Another end table in the living room....

Our Advent calendar....


And lastly our holiday card holder.

Sorry I currently don;t have any outdoor pictures, those decorations are underway....

Saturday, December 12, 2009

1 Mom + 1 Birthday Girl + 2 sisters + 13 friends + a Candy Scavenger Hunt + pouring down rain= CRAZINESS!!!!

Today was The Countessas 8th birthday party with all her friends.


For months she has been asking to have her party at Powells Sweet Shoppe where they have candy scavenger hunts.


For those unfamiliar with Powells it is an old fashion candy shop with that old time feel and candies of yesteryear. The have Charlie and The Chocolate Factory playing on a large screen at the back of the store. A very fun place!


Well, today her wish came true. We had a total of 16 girls attending the party and all had great fun searching for the candy thoughout the store. At the end of the hunt each girl had a loot bag with 31 pieces of candy!!


After the hunt we headed back to our home for pizza and cupcakes.

Now, it's time for me to prepare for My Boys Flag-Football Birthday party with 12 of his friends tomorrow!!!

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

The Fridge--Tuesday Task--on Wednesday! LOL!!

This is how my fridge has looked for weeks now. Over the Thanksgiving Holiday one of my goals was to get that sucker cleaned out and clean.

I'm happy to say I DID IT!!!

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Tiny Talk Tuesday


Another fun week of Tiny Talk Tueday hosted here.
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In Other Words: a sampling of the funny words & sayings my kids say.

ZaZa= Washcloth
Sand Clops= flip flops
Clap Shoes= any shoe that makes noise on the floor
Mazageen= magazine
woodgy= Wedgy
Ya-Ya= what my twins have called each other since they were toddlers
Bones & Leaves= my kids all time favorite dinner of BBQ ribs and artichokes
"Your my best mommy ever!"= this is said to me numerous times a day by my youngest. Melts my heart each time, but makes me laugh too.
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My Princess was reciting the Pledge of Allegiance while playing with her dolls:

"I predge allegiance
to the flags
of the United States of the Americas
and to the republic
to witches dances
one nations under God
invisible
with liverty and justice for all."
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I was driving in the car with the kids and the topic turnedto boyfriends and high school and my daughter asked
"Mommy was Daddy your boyfriend in High School?'
"Yes." I answered.
And this from my oldest daughter.. "EEEWWWWW!!!!! You married your boyfriend!!! Gross!!!" She is at the age where boys are "yucky".

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Friend Makin Monday

Another fun week of Friend Makin Mondays!
This weeks topic: What is your most embarrassing moments?

The only time that comes to mind happened when I was 15years old. I was late getting to english class and was running. I ran into the class and turned to the aisle my seat was in and my feet flew out from under me and I fell flat on my face! I was so embarrased but could not stop laughing. And yes the class was already in session!

I'm sure I've had other moments in my life, but I can't remember them! I must have blocked them out. LOL!!

Update on the Pooch

My sweet puppy is healing remarkably well, thank goodness!!
We had a vet visit yesterday and his vet was extremely pleased with his progress. She closed his incision a little more with staples but due to the wound being very deep, down to his second layer of muscle, he will need to be seen again on Wednesday to make sure it doesn't begin to swell or ooze. If that happens it means the wound is not healing properly inside and will need to be reopened.
He is still very heavily medicated and is in a daze most of the time. I took him outside to potty today and he started to tip over!! He really doesn't know what's going on.
Please continue to keep him in your thoughts as we head into two more weeks of keeping him heavily sedated to keep him from tearing the incision open.

Thursday, December 3, 2009

We could use your thoughts and prayers.....Please!


My sweet puppy is in bad shape. A week ago he was bit by a Brown Recluse Spider. On Tuesday he under went a two hour surgery to remove the dead and dying tissue from his back leg. Currently he is on two pain killers, two antibiotics and a sedative to keep him calm for the next TWO WEEKS!!!!!!
The vet had to keep his incision partially open so it can drain, but this makes it more dangerous and we have to be VERY careful he doesn't pop the stitches he does have. If that happens he will need another surgery. As it is he may still need the second surgery if his tissue continues to die off.
This photo was taken this morning.

If you are wondering how we know it was a Brown Recluse it is because we found the spider in his dog house.

I am so sad for this sweet boy who is such a love, he won over every staff member at his vet clinic this Tuesday. His vet was very upset and stressed to us how severe his injury is.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Our Holiday Book Tradition......


Four years ago, after my kids repeatadly asking "How long till Christmas?", I came up with a fun activity to "show" them how much longer. I went around the house and collected all of our Christmas themed books and headed to the local book store to gather a few more bringing our total number of holiday books to 30. Then with the kids helping we wrapped each book in wrapping paper, wrapping "The Night Before Christmas" in a completely different paper then the rest. Once all the books were wrapped we put them under our Christmas Tree. Each night one of the kids picks a book from under the tree, leaving "The Night Before Christmas" as the very last book we read on Christmas Eve.

This was such a huge hit that we decided to do it for Halloween as well and we've been doing it each year ever since.

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Tiny Talk Tuesday


Today is my first time joining in on a little weekly activity here. It is to chronical the silly, funny, imaginative things my kids say during the week. How fun!!!
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On Thanksgiving Day my daughter, The Duchess, was sitting next to my brother who she absolutely adores. She looked up at him and said "Hey, wanna go on a date? I'll buy you a hotdog."