Car clock

One of DH's Christmas gifts was a car clock. It is black with a white racing stripe on it. The hours are different cars and at the strike of the hour, the clock makes the revving engine sound of the car it is pointing to. So last night at 10 till 8pm DH says "Ok in ten minutes we are going to hear an Olds 442.". I just burst out laughing. He said it with such enthusiasm. :) I told him that had to be the Christmas quote of the year. Then today he said It was Dodge Dart-o-clock.

What a car geek. I love him. HA HA HA!!

Block 5 and 6

Ok. I am now officially caught up in the Quilt-a-long. I have blocks 5 and 6 completed. I can't wait to see the next one and work on it.

SO here is a quicky post to put the pictures up.

Merry Christmas 2007!!

We have had a great Christmas so far. We went to my moms house this weekend. The kids got lots of loot. We had 5-6 inches of snow. My brother works for the MO highway department and had to work 12 hours on Sat. and Sunday both. Here is Dominic after opening his Lightening McQueen car. His response was "GET IT OUT! GET IT OUT!"

Block 4

The quilt a long is going good. I really enjoy making all these different blocks I have never made before. Here is block #4.

Quilt-a-long

So I am joining some ladies on the net in a Quilt-a-long. We will be making 12 blocks for a nice quilt. This week is week 6 but I am playing catch up. I have done three blocks so far. Here are the blocks (in order) 1, 2 and 3. I love this! I have never done triangles before and they weren't really hard. I think it is nice because they were big sized. To give you a size reference these blocks measure 12.5" square. Here is the blog where we are quilting in case anyone else wants to join in. :) http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.com/

Wintertime fun!

I need to catch up on some picture posting. Here is the kids with their dad sledding in the snow. We were projected to get 7-9 inches. Luckly, we only received 2-3 inches. This was on Saturday that this happened. The kids had a good time playing outside, but it didn't last long as it was about 22 degrees. BRRR!!

Petunia - my new friend.

We have a new friend in our house. Petunia- the sourdough starter. We whipped Petunia up last night and she has been bubbly and alive every since. Tomorrow it should be ready to start using and I am going to make some amazing looking Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls. If they turn out good I will post a picture and the link to the recipe. I also got a recipe for Sourdough Rye bread and Sourdough dinner rolls. With Christmas dinners coming up I believe it will come in handy. DH loves anything sourdough.

I went to a new salon for color and hair cut this weekend. My sister went too. It is called Chop Tops and they are in Merriam. It was great! When we got there they asked if we wanted something to drink. They offered beer, (PBR, Miller High Life, Schlitz)....um..no thanks. But we did have a glass of White Zin. I just think its hilarious. Then we got 50% off our color service with the hair cut included. I got some blonde highlights and a few funky blue pieces. I love it. It is very fun! DH said I should get the whole head blue next time. Don't think so. You can check out their MySpace page here http://www.myspace.com/choptops.

My little buddy.

I was just thinking today how much I enjoy and love my son. He is such a snuggly guy. When he was a baby if he cried in the car you could let him hold your hand and he was be happy. Then for the first 2 years of his life he nursed to sleep every night except a few when I ventured out to Moms Night Out. When I started phasing out the nursing at night he went to snuggling. His version of snuggling is sticking his hand down my shirt. HA HA! A real ladies man, this guy. He still wants to "snuggle" at night, but I have got him to just put his hand on my chest and not copping a feel. He and his sister mostly sleep with us. Occasionally we can get them to sleep in there own beds. Really it is musical beds at our house. Some nights my husband ends up in the kids room, some times he and Gioia are in the kids room, sometimes we are all in one bed. It is always anyones guess where we all will land. Lately he is the biggest chatterbox and he calls me Mama. I love it. Today he was singing "I wanna be sedated" at the pizza place. Bam bam bam bam, ba bam bam bam bam....

Ice.

Like my title. My friend Jen always has these witty titles and posts about profound things. I sadly do not. Back in high school I fancied myself something of a writer. I would always have my nose stuck in a book and would write stories. Most of my stories were characters based on all my friends. I would cleverly change everyones name and then just make up stories about them. I still think that is pretty good for a 11-12 year old and my friends always got a kick out of it. I think that in recent years my brain has turned to motherly mush. Maybe learning a foreign language will help kick start it again. I do know that i have been reading lots of books again and that makes me feel good.

So the title above is ICE. Yea, we got ice. It is not as bad as they told us it might be. It was still bad enough that 1000's of people in KC and surrounding areas are without power today. My dad for example has limbs falling on his roof from the Maple in the backyard. He tried to go out with the chainsaw and cut them up but more kept falling. He said Screw that, and went inside for a cup of joe.

This week: We have been doing an Advent calendar here at home. Gioia really likes it. She likes to open the little doors each day and count down to Christmas time. DH stayed home today due to the ice. He was able to make it to the movie store and get the newest Harry Potter. I can't wait to see it. I have read the books. Gioia has learned all the words to Santa Claus is coming to town and singings in every day. Yesterday when we were at Costco she saw a man with a big white beard and a red sweatshirt (and jeans). She asked him if he was Santa. He said yes. Then he asked her if she was being nice. She said, yes I am on your list, on the nice list. He asked if she made a list. SHe was confused. She then asked him in awe, IS THAT YOUR LIST? pointing to his hand. He said, Oh well, this is my grocery list. My wife gave me this list. Needless to say, she thought it was really cool that Santa was at Costco shopping. The man told me that he plays Santa all the time (with his real beard). It was pretty cool.

Kids say the funniest things....

So a friends blog reminded me that I needed to write down some of the funny things my kids say and do. SO here goes. Hope it gives you a laugh.

Gioia singing : "You better not shout, you better not cry, you better not Krout...." Santa Claus is coming to town. Krout? I think that should be POUT! LOL!!

Gioia always says that when she is X age she can do stuff. The other days she said when she was 31 should could have her own gum and she wouldn't have to ask anybody for it. :) Yesterday she said when she is 10 she is going to have a gun and shot a deer.

Last night DH was holding her on his lap, she was standing. Then he put her over his shoulder and was being silly. Well her tummy was pressed on his shoulder and she let a big fart right next to his head. He was grossed out, but my sister and I about died laughing.

Dominic, he loves to sing but never has all the words so he mumbles or skips them, it is really cute.

Naked....they love to be naked. They pull their underpants off and run around singing "NA NA NA DO DO. NA NA NA DO DO!" Don't know what it means but it is funny. Dh says it is fine as long as it stops before they are teenagers. HA HA!!

I will try to think of more things that have happened this week and post.

Holiday Dance Recital

Last year we didn't do the dance recitals because it was Gioia's first year in dance, and I wasn't sure she would do it. I thought she might freak out or cry. So we skipped it. Oh and also because it was 130 dollars. Yikes!! This year however, I had time to plan for the money and I thought she would be big enough to do the recital. Early in the year the teachers also started a group they call "Lucky Stars". The Lucky Stars have 3 additional shows that they do on top of the 1 regular recital. I thought that would be good for her to do and practice for the BIG show they do at the end of the year. It has been great. The first Lucky Stars show was at a nursing home. It was really nice. They did a Halloween show and we handed out treats to the residents.

The holiday show was this weekend. It was good. Gioia's group is the youngest 3-5 year olds. Well the Lucky Stars (same age group) go on stage to dance to Santa Claus is Coming. One little girl started crying and ran off stage to her mom. The rest of the girls stood stock still and no one dance, no one except Gioia and maybe 2 other girls. 2 more girls looked at the wings and cried the whole time. It was pretty funny actually. Then when her class did their number together all the girls danced and it was wonderful.

Here are some pictures from that day.

Merry Christmas too me!!

My Christmas present came today and my lovely husband was nice enough to let me open it early. Well really here is the deal, I needed a new sewing machine. I am making some gifts for Christmas and I couldn't even finish them with my old machine. SOOO... Here it is. I love it!!!!



I also got to finish the placemats for my Stepmom that I was making. I think they turned out great on my new machine! YEAH!!! They are patchwork style on the front and snowmen on the back.

YESSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We just found out that the land we want to buy, we got it!!! We have to finalize financing and all the legal stuff, but we want it and they want to sell it to us! WOOO HOOO!!! I am so excited I can hardly stand it. It will be hard to sleep tonight! We will close on it the end of February. So we have a while to save up for our down payment and to get all the paperwork done.

On another note about life changes. Dominic is weaning from breastfeeding this week. Today is day 3 and it is going really well. He still asks to nurse but I just tell him its all gone and we can have chocolate milk in a cup. Who can resist chocolate milk? Ha ha!!

Success Finally!

I did it! I am so excited! I finished my first quilt. With no help from my ancient, crappy sewing machine.

I swear my seam ripper and my sewing machine are in it together. Sewing machine is playing wingman for the seam ripper. I imagine the water cooler conversation going like this:
Seam ripper: Man, i am depressed. I don't think Jaime likes me anymore.
Sewing machine: What? No dude why would you think that?
Seam ripper: She just never spends time with me. I think she doesn't love me.
Sewing machine: Must be nice. She has been wearing me out about every day. I need a break, I am not as young as I used to be. HEy.... I think I can hook you up?
Seam ripper: Really? Oh buddy i would owe you one. I mean that would be great. I haven't had any action in weeks. Its starting to get to me.
Sewing machine: Not a problem my friend. I can bind up and skip stitches and break needles like nobody's business. Watch the master work.

So on it goes and I curse and get pissed. My sewing products all the while mocking me. Still I prevailed and this is the result. I am pretty happy with it.

Tree Decor

Here are a couple sweet pictures of my little man decorating the Christmas Tree.

Thanksgiving 2007

How do you like my witty title? LOL! Just kidding. Ok. Since I am a total blog slacker this week i will recap.

Last sunday and Monday we went to my moms. It went much better than expected. Nothing of consequence happened and that is how we like it! :) Mom was feeling better and able to enjoy the beautiful 70 degree November weather we had. It was lovely. The kids played outside, we rode the 4-wheeler and cooked some meals. My brothers came and acted silly for us. Colt made my mom laugh so hard her incision hurt. That crazy dude. Imagine an over 6 foot tall college football player PRANCING around the dining room in his boxers and you will get a vivid picture of the wackyness that followed.

Tuesday we cleaned house and again enjoyed the nice weather outside.

Wednesday my Mother-in-law and Massimos brother Anthony arrived at our house. They stayed until Saturday. We had a great time visiting with them. Gioia slept with Grandma each night and I am not sure if she or grandma enjoyed that more. It was sweet.

Thursday we had Thanksgiving dinner here. The menu was Turkey (cooked on the smoker), green bean casserole, baked sweet potatoes, cheesy potatoes, salad, deviled eggs and Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake for dessert. All homemade thank you! My dad and stepmom joined us as well. We all ate too much but it was wonderful.

Friday, Black Friday! I decided to go try to get a few things that were on sale. I made my list and had it all planned out. I got up at 6am, grabbed an iced coffee and headed off. First i went to Walmart here in town. I try not to shop there on principle for numerous reasons. However, I made the exception because they had something i had been looking for quite a while. I only got 3 things, was out of there in no hassle and moved on. Target was next and I got a couple good deals. They had Christmas Story DVD for $5.00 but were sold out. Instead I paid a little more and got a 3 pack of Elf, National Lampoons Christmas Vacation, and Christmas Story. So we enjoyed some great movie watching this weekend. Deck the Harrs with boughs of Horry! Ha ha! Then I made the mistake of going to Toys R Us. Oh boy. Parents are insane? Why do they spend this kind of money and time? The line circled the store twice. No joke. All I wanted was a 5 dollar item so I said Adios and left. Even worse was Joann's Fabric store. Dear lord. Who knew crafty people were also insane? When I got there I took a number for the fabric line. It was B 4. I wanted to look at and get a good deal on sewing machines. I figured by the time I was done with the sewing machine purchase I would get my number called. 30 minutes or more later, there were still all the A numbers 1-100 in front of me. NO thanks. No deal is worth hanging out in line for 2 hours. I can't say i wasn't warned. My friend told me she went one year and it was just like that. All in all, I got a few things I wanted. We went back to Target later in the day with my MIL and she got a couple things for the kids for Christmas.

Today, Saturday i got to go to lunch with my good friend Jackie from college. I was in her wedding and don't think I have seen her since. So it has been years! It was great and felt like old times again talking with her. They are going to be transferring (military) next summer and are really hoping to get sent back here to Kansas. That would be wonderful!

Oh and today we also got our Christmas tree put up. It looks good. Even better was that we sorted and got rid of toys. Now all the pieces are back together and we can find things again. All broken or not loved toys went away. More are coming in from Christmas I am sure.

Looking for a place to call home.

Today we went and looked at land again. I think we might have found a winner. I LOVE the land we looked at. I would totally pay full asking price for it, but we are of course hoping to get it for less. I guess one issue is that land around there has been selling for less, so it may help us to get it for less. On the other hand, we need it to appraise to the price we buy it at, so if we pay more it has to be worth it to the bank. Everyone say a good thought for us. We really loved it and want it to work out. I am optimistic about it and think we can work a deal. We met the sellers and talked to them and they are nice folks. The dude is a definite hippie, so we can relate. I think he would find it very interesting that we want to build earth sheltered homes on the property. In case some folks don't understand, we are buying with another family and splitting the land. So the "we" I refer to is our friends, not the turd in my pocket. LOL!!

Tomorrow the kids and I are going to my moms to visit her. She had surgery a week and half ago and is still recovering. Gioia has been worried and wants to go see Grandma. We will be staying all night and coming back home on Monday afternoon. I have to admit I am pretty nervous about it. Last time we were there my parents and I had a few words and disagreement. I think it will all be fine, but I have this nervous, need to walk on eggshells thing around my dad, (again for the 100th time). Sigh* it sucks. I am just going to be proactive and have planned things for the kids to do, to keep them busy to try to avoid any issues, namely them getting on my dads nerves. Also DH isn't going with along, so it will just be me. Wish me lots of luck!!

Sewing and baking

These are my favorite things to do these days, but my sewing machine is ancient and it pisses me off almost every day. I am asking Santa for a new one. :) I am working on 3 quilts. One I have the front finished, just need to quilt the backing on. I am going to ask my Grandma to help me. Then I have a second on that is from the Mile-a-minute pattern. It will take longer to do since I am using scrap material and making it for a full size bed. The third one will be for Dominic and it is coming along ok. I need to get some more material for it. I will post pictures when I get some finished products.

I am also making placemats for my step mom for christmas. Some other gifts for people that read this blog. *So I can't post the pictures now.*

Tomorrow is a homemade bread day at a friends house. Everyone is making bread, bringing the recipe and sharing it with lunch. I am going to make Foccacia Bread. I think I might also run to the store and get the stuff to make Spinach Artichoke Dip. I think that would go nicely together.

I hope to have some new pictures to post in the next few days.

Hello out there! I am sorry to have dropped off the planet for a week at a time these days. The nights are getting a little better, however the little man doesn't want to sleep in his bed. Neither does his sister. *Sigh*... most nights we all end up in the same bed. That part doesn't bother me as much as DH always seems to have to move to another bed for feet in his face or being crowded clear out.

We went to St. Louis Monday and Tuesday this week with DH's work. Yesterday we drove over and just hung out at the hotel in the afternoon, had dinner then went to the mall. Today we went to the Zoo. It was almost 70 and beautiful. We saw the elephants eating and drinking water right by us. Got to watch them feed the sea lions. We rode the train and many other fun things. The kids did well although I ended up carrying Dominic alot. I used to be able to have him in the sling, but he wants to get down and walk so much it makes it hard to take him in and out. I want a Sit-N-Stand stroller. Like this. It even says that you can snap in an infant carrier to the front for whenever we have another little one. So it would be great for now and years to come.

Mama said there'd be days like this....

Ok. Actually nights. GRRRR!!! Dominic is driving me crazy. We were doing well on the not nursing during the night. Then he was sick last week and I gave in. The boy wasn't eating any solids. Now he is well again, I am putting my foot down. I just want to sleep at night. Not be an all night buffet. He is 2 years old. SLEEP DUDE! Then almost worse is the fact that I let him start "snuggling" which really means stick his hand in my shirt and hold my breast. Well it never works that way anymore, he pinches and twiddles and rubs around. STOP!!! AHH!!! It is annoying. SOOOO.... I said, we can nurse to sleep, but no nursing or snuggling at night time. Oh course it makes him sad, but I think we will all sleep better once he realizes it is a done deal. I mean a couple weeks ago he slept 8-4am before crying in Gioias bed with her and then the next night 8-1am and then 1-4am type stretches. Since then however, it has been waking up and being pissed off when I don't nurse/snuggle him. It is hard. :( So everyone be thinking of us this week as we struggle to enforce the new bedtime rules.

My mom had surgery this week. It was a planned surgery for some issues she was having. She is home and doing pretty well. My sister and brothers will be home this weekend deer hunting and helping her out. Her girlfriends came with many meals and some gifts. She has to be off work for 6 weeks so I think we will try to go up next week or so maybe if it works out.

Dominics face is finally healed up again after his fall on the sidewalk. So I want to try to get a few pictures of the kids and possibly the whole family this weekend. It is supposed to be 65-70 this weekend, so it will be a good chance to do outdoor pics.

Zicam! Oh my....

My mom emailed me over the weekend about a friend of hers that used nasal spray Zicam and lost her sense of smell and taste. She said after googling Zicam it turns out this is pretty common, in fact they have brought lawsuits and payed 340 people this last year.

Here is a really well done news video about it. http://zicam.vanosteen.com/video.asp

It also aggravates me that they market this under Homeopathic medicine and are therefore hiding behind the shield of "you can't prove it, because we haven't had any trials done on it". The FDA doesn't regulate herbs and homeopathies. I am glad they don't, but there are groups and systems in place to follow for safe homeopathies. Obviously this company didn't care about that. They are just trying to make a buck. Real homeopathic remedies are specific to the individual and for specific symptoms and problems. On the whole these remedies are not blank remedies, like Zicam was claiming to be for the common cold.

Halloween

We survived trick or treating. Massimo ended up carrying both the kids on the last block home, but we had a good time. Dominic didn't want to give up his pumpkin full of candy and screamed when i took it from him at home. Gioia eventually fell asleep on Aunt Mel's lap around 8:45pm.

Gioia had a party at her dance class Wed. morning. We have pictures and video of that but I haven't got it developed yet. The video is priceless.

Tomorrow we will do our annual candy trade in. We let the kids pick out several pieces of candy to keep, then the rest we "trade in" for a toy at Target. Of course, I actually just leave the candy for the cashier and pay her money for the toy, but the kids don't know that and they like getting a toy to keep.

Italian Cooking Day.

Today I hosted Italian Cooking Day at my house. 3 other moms and their kids came. It was fun! I made Chickpea soup with Noodles, an Italian recipe and then we all made Ravioli and homemade breadsticks. The kids shaped the breadsticks and helped stuff the raviolis. I think everyone had a good time. We didn't have as much pasta dough as I wanted. I hoped everyone could make a couple batches. I didn't realize the dough called for 4 eggs in each batch. We made 2 and 1/2 batches and everyone had enough for one meal I believe. I made mine after everyone left on the last 1/2 batch of dough.

Tonight we are eating for dinner, the raviolis and a pizza with Sausage and Roasted red peppers on it. MMMM!

Speaking of all this food. Last night DH grilled pork baby back ribs. OH MAN! They were to die for. It was awesome. We also had salad and Ranch Potatoes in the oven (potatoes, dry ranch mix, and olive oil = shake and bake for about 30-40 minutes). Then after the cooking was done, the fire in the grill was campfire-esque, so we roasted a couple of 'mallows over the flame. Perfect!

Also perfect is that I look out the window and see my son is in the sandpile, FULL OF WATER! AAHHH! Nasty muddy sandy mess. Guess I better log off and clean him up.... in a bit. :)

First I have one more thing to say. I - HATE - FLIES!! Maybe my total hatred of flies comes from my early years on the farm. We had pigs and I remember battling the flies ever time I came near the hog house. Or the time my sister got her long hair caught in those sticky fly strips that hand from the ceiling ( of course it was covered in dead flies) BARF!!! Anyway fast forward to NOW and the flies are invading my house. The kids have destroyed the screen on the patio door again. So now anytime someone goes out the door, 50 flies rush in. I am not exaggerating when I say that last night I went on a fly killing spree and the floor was covered with them. I had to sweep just to avoid stepping on the carcasses. Then I had to do that same thing again this morning, and AGAIN just now.

Homeschool party

So it always cracks me up at peoples misconception of homeschoolers as sitting at home all day. NEVER happens. When we get to be home its like "Oh how relaxing!" Ha ha. Whether it is dance lessons, or our homeschool group getting together, or a field trip somewhere homeschool kids are always learning through their environment. Its how its supposed to be. I learned more working at my grandmas store when I was a teenager than several years of high school combined. I mean, that work actually translated into life experience that meant something. I really hope my teenagers (when we get there) will have lots of opportunity for internships and life skill events.

Anyway this week we had our homeschool halloween party. It was grand. We played games, painted pumpkins, face painted and ate some cookies, snacks.




In my not so humble opinion, here are the next two most pretty girls after Gioia! HA HA! We went to Iowa this weekend to visit our family. It was good. I took a few really good pictures of my nieces. I thought I would share for my family that hasn't seen these girls in a while. They are 6 (almost 7) and 11! I can't believe it. I feel old.

It doesn't get much more white trash than this....

Celebrities never fail to amaze me as to how they got that way in the first place. Case in point. One of everyones favorite rockers proves that no amount of money can make you any less skanky.

Kid Rock arrested outside waffle house

10/22/2007 7:00 AM, AP


Kid Rock was arrested early Sunday after a brawl at a restaurant and spent about 12 hours in jail before being released, police said.

The musician stopped at the Waffle House restaurant shortly after 5 a.m. after his performance at The Tabernacle in Atlanta, authorities said.

"He and five members of his entourage were involved in a fight with a male customer inside the Waffle House," said Mekka Parish, a spokeswoman for the DeKalb County Police Department.

Brawlin' at Waffle House. Gotta love it.

Mama brags.

We were at the Chinese restaurant after church Sunday and we got fortune cookies. Gioia wanted to read hers by herself, but she can't read yet. So I told her that she could read the lucky numbers. I helped her figure out 39, and 13 then the next number was 26. I said, what number is 2, 6,? She said "8". After I picked my jaw up off the floor I said, Yes, 2 + 6 makes 8. But when they write it like this>>> It is Twenty six. She said Oh ok. Twenty six. WOW! We have been working on simple addition, but I wasn't sure it was clicking yet or if she was just counting.

We got Handwriting without Tears workbook. I explained that it was a "real" schoolbook and when we did the pages I would like her to work hard and be serious. She took that to heart and LOVES IT! She did 10 pages or so the first day. She is up to 27 pages total this week. It has about 90 pages total in the book. She does it when she wants and for how long she wants.

Dominic is into animals and knows the names of tons of them. He can also pronounce the Italian words really well. I am working on teaching him his colors. We need to work on our numbers to 10 as well.

Hayride.

Last night we went on a fun hayride and campfire with our friends. There ended up being 40 people. 10 were kids under 3, the rest was 4 and up. It was really fun. We roasted marshmallows, had apple cider and the kids ran around and played. It was nice. It rained all day yesterday, but cleared off and was a nice evening.

Here are a couple pictures. Oh and for all of you wondering what is up with Dominics nose?...well he fell at Deanna Rose last Monday. He fell on a rubber track where they drive pedal cars. So it gave him this awful rug-burned scrap. On the way home last night he pulled that huge scab off. It looked so painful. This morning however, it looks loads better.

New things I have made.

I am really starting to get the hang of this sewing stuff. It is really fun and since I moved my sewing machine to the living room, I can get a lot more things done. Of course it makes my living room look more cluttery, but whatever. I live here and I want to be able to do things in the living room. So I couldn't post before what I made because those people read this blog. But since they have received their gifts. I will post now!

First is turkey placemats I made for my mom for her birthday. Second is the quilted style placemats I made for my cousin and his wife for a wedding gift.

So far so good.

Well yesterday I was A LOT better about what we ate. Breakfast : Oatmeal Lunch: Bean burritos with cheese on whole wheal tortillas. Snack: Veggie chips (baked), apples and carrots Dinner: Cooked Chicken on Salad ( raw carrots, raw broccoli, raw cauliflower, peas, ham, lettuce). Homemade Clam Chowder. We ate mostly the salad, and everyone had one bowl of the soup. It actually is only about half dairy and half water, so not that bad. I resisted my urge to go get ice cream after dinner. :)

Tonight we are having some friends over for dinner. We are making Smoked Chicken Legs, salad, Spicy Beans, and strawberry shortcake. Should be fun. I have to go run the vacuum and maybe get the yard mowed today.

Re-doubling my efforts

So I have been thinking about food and health lately. It was interesting that a friend posted this very same stuff on her blog this week. My issue is stemming from the fact that I seem to have these little sores..canker sores maybe on my tongue that keep coming back and they really hurt. DH also just had an ulcer that he went to the Naturopath and got help with healing it up. We have really been slacking lately with our conscious food choices. Easy things to fix, like not eating a proper variety of veggies, or not eating enough salad and raw things. We decided that for our Anniversary (Sept. 30th) we were going to buy a juicer. After DH gets paid this friday we are going to do just that. Hopefully we can make those combo veggie/fruit juice drinks and stop buying store juice.

So far so good today. Oatmeal for breakfast and water to drink. Need to sort out lunch and dinner. Salad is on the menu somewhere in there. I also need to buy some new Probiotics to help our guts get back to where they need to be.

I once told my husband wouldn't it be great if we were so healthy that eating fast food made us sick! He was like, well yeah, that is kind of warped thinking but I see your point.

In other news, the electric car project is coming along quite nicely. He has ordered the engine, controller and all that stuff. It will be here in a couple weeks. We are so excited. The man he ordered the engine from also makes these cars for people to buy. They cost 11,000 but TOTALLY worth the expense. You use zero gas for one thing. The engine is supposed to last 50 years. The batteries like 5 years. Anyway, here is the website, if you want to check it out. This man said Discovery channel has contacted him about doing a show on his electric cars. So if you were thinking about a Prius, just do this instead!! http://www.ev-blue.com/
I was re-reading the above and just to make clear, we are just ordering parts and my DH is building the car himself, so it will only cost us about 8000. Then we get tax credits for about 1/2 that and we will sell his current work car. So all said and done I think we will only be out about 3000. That is cheaper than what we have into his work car currently. GOOD DEAL!!

Word of the day.

So Garth Brooks-mania has hit Kansas City. He was supposed to do one show to honor Walmart/Sams Club for selling his new album coming out. Well people freaked out and went nuts, so he added a total of 9 shows. He is not going back on tour, just these nine shows, which I heard sold out in 2 hours. Garth is cool. I used to listen to his music in college, but I am not freaking or even caring to go to a show. It really cracks me up when non-country people, or people that don't typically listen to this kind of thing, join in on the madness.

SO here is your word of the day: Latigo Can you tell me what it is.....WITHOUT looking it up on the internet? if so post in the comment section. Here is the word in Garth Action:

"It's boots and chaps
It's cowboy hats
It's spurs and latigo
It's the ropes and the reins
And the joy and the pain
And they call the thing rodeo"

My DH is also calling into question some of our friends "hippie-ness". You know who you are....reading this right now, going to a WALMART sponsored concert. That is right, hang your head in shame. You can turn in your crunchy card on the way to your Garth Brooks concert.

Another wedding

We have had a really fun weekend so far. My cousin Jason got married to his Fiance Sarah. Gioia was the flower girl again, this time it was planned that way. Ha ha!! The rehearsal was Friday night. We had smoked brisket and chicken afterwards, that Jason cooked. It was excellent! Really good. When Gioia was rehearsing she was concerned because there were no flower petals in her basket. She insisted she needed something to throw so we filled the basket with dried leaves. It was pretty cute. The ringer bearer was only 2, so they held hands to walk down the aisle.

I have to say it was the fastest wedding I EVER been to. It literally lasted 10-15 minutes. They just walked in, did the vows and walked back out. Everyone looked really lovely though. It was outside and real nice weather. The party was just great. Sarah and Jason met singing Karaoke at a bar. So of course they had Karaoke at the wedding. They had a margarita machine, beer, food, DJ. It was really fun. I have never been to a place were everyone that got up to sing was really good. However, Sarah's family is very talented. Ever single person that sang was great. Including myself of course. LOL! They also handed out Koozies that said "Sarah and Jason got married and all I got was this damn Koozie. October 6th, 2007." I love it.

There was only one moment of aggravation and that was when some guy at the reception got pissy at Massimo. Dominic got all excited and was rough housing with a little girl about 5 years old. He pushed her twice and Massimo got up to go stop him. The guy says "that your boy?" Massimo said Yeah. I am handling it. The guy said "Not fast enough." Massimo said something back and gave the guy a pissed off stare. I mean, seriously people, no one was crying or hurt, just chill out.

I do have pictures but they are on my 35mm camera and I actually have to get them developed. Remember those cameras of old that use film? Crazy!

OH MY!

Last night my sister volunteered to watch the kids for a couple hours while DH and I went out to eat. GREAT! Then yesterday Gioia started running a fever. She had it all day and was sleeping most of the day. My sister assured us she could handle it so we went ahead and went out for dinner. I said, If she throws up or anything call me and we will come home. So dinner went fine, then we went to Costco for groceries. About the time we were getting ready to check out, she called and Gioia puked. Ok... we are paying and heading home. 10 minutes later she calls again and says Don't go in the downstairs bathroom, we are heading for a bath. Dominic pooped/diarrhea everywhere! OH MY! Poor sister. Well, it turns out Dominic just had a messy poop, probably from the WHOLE pear he ate at lunch time. He was fine. My sister gave Gioia a homepathic I had and she didn't barf anymore and is feeling pretty good today.

My DH laughed and said that this is good for my sis. This is her new line of work. She is going to Nursing school right now. HA HA!! Anyway, it was all under control when we got back and everyone slept pretty good.

Another thursday

It is our busy day of the week. We have our friends son today. Go to speech, pack a lunch and go to the park. I have 225 lbs of flour belonging to others that I have to swap with them. Then homeschool preschool this afternoon. I have reading and we are just going to have to put together a collection of things from here at home.

Tonight DH and I get to go on a date. My sister offered to watch the kids for us to go out. So we are going to take her up on that offer. FUN!

I am working on getting a couple sewing projects done by this weekend. I also am going to attempt to have a garage sale. I have tons of girl things that need to go to a new home.

Have to go because little man is throwing a fit.

Subsitute Flower Girl

We went to my cousin Travis's wedding this weekend. We were not supposed to be in the wedding. Just attending it. Well 5 minutes or so before it was to start, the bridesmaids came out and got me, my sister and Gioia (who was asleep). They needed Gioia to be the flower girl. Apparently the "real" flower girl had the flu. She was sick the night before and they had her in the pictures earlier in the day. However, she was still sick and refusing to do it. She is 2, the poor thing. So Gioia put on the size 2T dress (BARELY! LOL! ) we fixed her hair really quick. Told her what to do and she did it!
Several people didn't know till after the wedding that she wasn't the real flower girl. She walked down in her barefeet too because the shoes didn't fit. I think she was beautiful and did a fabulous job! The second picture below is Gioia and her Grandma (my mom).

7 years!

Today is my husband and I's 7 year anniversary. For some reason it really seems like the number 7 is a really long time! I love it. I have had a great time married to this man. He is wonderful and an excellent father. I wouldn't change a thing about him! :) Here are a couple pictures of us as young pups.

I went tuesday and got my hair colored and styled again. I LOVE IT! That is one expense in life that is so worth it. When I feel like I look good, I have such better days. I am more happy. :)

We have been crazy busy this week. Yesterday was dance class. Today we have Ashton, take him to speech, then after lunch we got to our preschool coop. We have named it The Learning Garden. The kids really love it. Then my mom is stopping by tonight to hang out with us and spend the night.

This weekend we have a wedding to go to. Not much exciting things going on.

Tiziano Ferro

MMMM! He is delicious! Just found him yesterday and I have watched the video 3-4 times and I ordered his CD. Thanks to the wonderful world of internet, I found the lyrics to the songs and it is FUN!! It helps to learn to speak a language when you can sing songs and stuff. So here is a video of yummy Tiziano. This song is called "E Raffaella e' mia." It means Raffaella is mine. In the song he is obsessed with this Pop diva Raffaella, (who is a real person)and he wins this tv show for her to come to his house.
The words of the chorus go "E Rafaella canta a casa mia. E Rafaella balla a casa mia." etc.etc.. Means= R. sings at my house, R. dances at my house. etc. Words are very similar to spanish right? Some of you are probably thinking this. :) Anyway, watch and enjoy this great video even if you don't know all the words.

Haven't been in the blogging spirit.

Not sure why. Just feels like I blog boring stuff sometimes. :) This week we are pet-sitting for a friend. They took their family on a Make a Wish trip for their daughter. In return, they are going to pet-sit for us when we go to Italy. YEAh! Works for both families.

Thursday we had our first session of the Preschool Coop. We named it The Learning Garden. The kids had a great time. Gioia said, "I like this kind of school." We had several centers with things going on they could do. I was in charge of reading. I picked books about Farmers or farm themed stuff. The kids really enjoyed them. Then I also brought coloring pages with farm animals on it. A few kids colored but most were too busy to sit down and do that.

Tonight we were going to try to go camping but DH stayed home from work cause he had an upset stomach. So I don't know if we are going to try to go or not.

We have plans to go to Worlds of Fun on Sunday just hubby and I. It will be really fun. I can't wait.

Something different for dinner

Ok. I am turning into a true Italian cook. I hardly ever measure and I always think. I should write this recipe down, but rarely do. HA HA! So I will try to guess close as I can on measurements.

Pasta with Crab, Mushroom and White Sauce.

1 lb of your favorite pasta.
8 oz Portabella mushrooms, chopped
1 lb crab meat
4 cloves garlic, chopped
olive oil
1 pint heavy whipping cream
1/2 to 1 cup milk
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup smoked gouda, shredded
1/2 cup goat cheese, shredded
salt and pepper

Start water to boil and cook pasta while making the sauce. Saute mushrooms, crabmeat and garlic in olive oil. Just enough oil to keep it from sticking in the pan. Salt and pepper this mix. Remove from heat when mushrooms are cooked and set aside. In same pan, add cream and sour cream. Bring to a boil. Add the cheese. You can add more cheese to your liking if you wish. Then add the milk a little at a time till you get a good sauce/gravy like thickness. Salt and Pepper to taste.

Serve pasta with sauce over it and a heaping scoop of the meat/mushroom mixture on top. ENJOY!!

You will have more mushroom mixture than white sauce most likely. Leftover pasta can be served with the mushroom mixture and grated Parmesan cheese and is wonderful.

Hold you!

I thought of something else I wanted to blog about. Part of the reason I started a blog was to record funny things the kids say and do. Well Dominic is talking up a storm and says the funniest things. One is that when he wants someone to hold him he says, "Hold you! I need hold you." He is such a snuggly guy. He likes to "snuggle nursie", which means stick his hand down my shirt. Its a transition from nursing all day. We just snuggle instead sometimes.

Gioia: The other day we were in the car and she says to me. "Give me that horse or you will be in big trouble!" Um... the horse was in the back seat and I was driving. I told her I would reach it for her but she needed to say it nicely to me. The next day she told me "If I didn't do X, she was going to bite me!" I said, NO. We don't bite people and you need to ask me nicely. I guess the lesson here is I need to ask HER nicely for things. That whole modeling good behavior right? I have NEVER said I would bite her. LOL!!

I am good.

I have worked on 3 projects this weekend. Two of them are gifts for people that read this blog, so I can't post pictures yet. The third was Gioia's witch skirt for Halloween. It was easy and looks real cute. I am getting pretty good at this sewing thing.

We went to a Bridal shower on Saturday. It was fun. Gioia had other girls to play with and the Bride got lots of nice gifts. Sunday was just a lazy day. DH mowed the yard and ran the weedeater. My parents stopped by and took us out for dinner. Then they headed off to Arkansas for a little vacation and antique shopping. They brought Dominic his birthday gift (clothes) and Gioia some books.

I have tongue ulcers. :( At least that is what I think it is. Hurts like hell. It is usually better every morning and worse at night after I have talked and eaten all day. I am trying not to talk much today and eat soft stuff that doesn't require much chewing. I am also gonna make a Devil's Smoothie today because my lymph nodes were swollen last night. AGH!

DH and I are going on a date afternoon next weekend to Worlds of Fun. I am soo excited. I haven't been to an amusement park in over 4 years. I have either be pregnant in the summer or had a nursing baby I couldn't leave. FOR 4 YEARS!!! So this year, we are going. :)

Line Dancing.

BRRR!!! We left the windows open last night and when we woke up it was 56 degrees in here. Yozza! We turned the gas fireplace on and we had warm pancakes for breakfast.

Today Gioia and I are going to a Bridal Shower. She is also the flowergirl in the upcoming wedding. We have two weekends in a row of weddings. One on Sept 29th and one on October 6th. Busy time. Both weddings are cousins of mine. DH and I will have our 7th anniversary on Sept. 30th. Not sure what we are going to do yet.

We went last night up to the town square for the Festival. Our town is having their 150th anniversary celebration. They had some square dancing going on. They were teaching the crowd dances as well. They were doing line dancing and Gioia wanted to do it. So she went up on stage with a bunch of other people and learned the line dance. She had fun and didn't want to come off the stage. :) I think she will do well at her dance recital this year. We didn't participate in recital last year. I didn't think she was ready for that. Being as this is her second year in dance I figure she will be more confident and like doing it. We told her when we left the festival that she will be going to two wedding soon. There will be lots of dancing. She was pretty happy about that.

Speaking of her dance class. Our next door neighbor (in her 30's) said Gioia's dance teacher Miss Leigh was her teacher also when she was a kid. Only the instruction was in Leigh's home and Neighbor thought she was mean and refused to go back. Well Leigh must have learned alot about teaching in all those years because she is excellent and the little girls ADORE her. But how "small world" is it that she was our neighbors teacher and now my daughters teacher? HA HA! That is like me, my step-dad and I had the same 1st grade teacher.

Italia!

We are going to Italy. I am soo excited. We are going the first part of March. It is going to be amazing. We are flying into Rome, stay about two days, then take the train up to the north part where Massimo's family lives. Then stay with them for several days. Go to Venice for a day or two and fly out of venice. I can't WAIT! SO now I have the motivation I need to keep getting better at my Italian speaking. Gioia is learning it really well but is a little shy to speak it. I need to get my MIL and SIL involved in speaking it more when we are around. We are going to get involved more with the Italian Study groups that are in our area as well. How awesome of a homeschool adventure is this? Learning a foreign language and actually going to the country to be immersed in it. By the time we have to start keeping homeschool hours (age 7) then we should be doing writing in Italian and learning to read it as well, I imagine.

My sewing machine is on the fritz. The fabric feeder under my pressure foot is not working. GRRR!. So the material is binding up and not working right. Makes it damn hard to sew.

What else is exciting? We are meeting with our friends tonight that we are trying to buy land with. We are going to work on a contract to buy it. Then we will make the offer and see if they laugh or except it. Everyone think positive thoughts for us. Don't know if I am more excited to actually be out on the land with animals and such, or excited that we will have next door neighbors we know and love and homeschool too. Probably both! YIPPEE!! Oh and did I say the Berry Patch is down the street? Yeah, never buying store blueberries again! HA HA!!

NICKLEBACK!!

I forgot to say that my sister and I went to Nickleback Concert last Sunday. It Kicked ASS! We also saw Daughtery and Puddle Of Mudd. Here is some Nickleback for your viewing/listening pleasure.




I LOVE this song,but even more now that I have seen the video, and heard it live.

I hate working on cars.....

My husband went to pick up his newest car project today. So any time in the next month or two I should hear...."I hate working on cars." What kind of car you might say? A Fiero. Yes, Yes, again. Stop rolling your eyes. This is an actual project that I am encouraging him to do. The best part is that it has a deadline, so we know it will get done. I will keep you all updated as to how it is going. It is actually something you will be interested in. The first step is removing the engine, radiator, battery, gas tank and various other things. Now you are like ? WTF, mate? :) just wait and see.

Ok. My space bar is Fu-BAR'd. So I can't really type right now. More later.

HOT DAMN!!! :) :)

WOOO HOOOOOOOO!!!! Can you hear that? My son just pooped on the potty. NO, not just that. He TOLD ME he had to potty and went and pooped on the potty! This is the second time so it is for real baby. I AM SO EXCITED! He just turned 2 on Thursday. My daughter was right around 3 when she potty trained. I am beyond excited. I have been changing diapers for 4 years now (both kids combined) and it is so sweet to be finished with that for a while.

Only you moms will understand the shear joy of another person doing their business on the toilet.

Busy busy busy...

Man, seems like we been super busy lately. We are looking at buying land. We found a great place, now its just jump through hoops to make it work. That is the stressful part. Here are a couple pictures of what we are looking at. It is only 20-25 minutes from DH's work so that is a major bonus. It is on the Missouri side, that is Eh...Ok, not a huge deal either way.


Saturday I got to go to Whole Foods, Overland Park Farmers Market and the Recycling Center all by myself. I was gone two hours and it was very relaxing. I L-O-V-E the Farmers Market. I feel so good buying food there and its fun to walk around and pick your food out. The recycling center is pretty neat too. Basically it is just a whole bunch of dumpsters and you separate your things into the correct bin. It is just cool, because it makes you feel good and its all in one central location. I feel lame that i am just now starting to do my recycling 3 years after i moved back to Kansas.

Happy Birthday little man!

My little boy is 2 today. We had a great day. Then had a few friends over for a BBQ and cake and ice cream this evening. I made strawberry Shortcake. It turned out excellent. It was my first time making it. Dominic got a slew of presents mostly car stuff and kids tools. He loves it all. I can't believe he is 2 already. Boy how time flies. His birth was so wonderful. It is really nice to look back on it with such nice memories. I made a video highlighting his last two years.

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I wish kittens were mean...

Seriously. QUIT LAUGHING!!! I wish they were a little bit mean. I wish that when my daughter is being mean to them, or squishing the life out of it, the kitten would turn around and bite her. The big cat will scratch or bite when she has had enough. The kitten doesn't, it cries pitifully. That doesn't stop Gioia though. She laughes or ignores it. We were seriously considering keeping the kitten. Not now. For one, I am sick of refereeing the Kitten vs. Gioia battle. Second, I saw the little shit try to claw my leather furniture. UM NO!!! We want to sell that this spring and get something we like better. Cat scratches are not conducive to that.

Weekend with Daddy.

Well Massimo was gone all week to St. Louis for work. We normally go with him but I declined this time since it is so friggin hot. So he got back Friday. Saturday we went and looked at some property. It was nice but location wasn't as good. It was close to a highway. After that, lunch and we went to Town Center and did some shopping. DH needed some new running shoes, and I needed a new bra. We found both.

Sunday we went to the church at 8am, then we decided to go to the zoo. We packed a lunch and headed out. It was a great day. We saw lots of animals and rode the zoo train. Here are a couple pictures.

Crayon Roll

So once again I have copied some fun things my friend Sarah T. is doing. Her blog if you don't already check it out, always has the cutest things on it. Lately she has posted several tutorials that are online and show pictures of each step. I need these kinds of things. Without pictures I am totally clueless. That is why I have such trouble making things from paper patterns. However, if you give me a picture and the exact measurements, I can make it, it seems.

I have also set my sewing machine up in the living room. This is great! I have even be successful in keeping the kids from bothering it. Seems after the newness of it being there wore off, they aren't very interested in it. I can sew, stop, help them, or whatever and they can play right near me. It is great.

So here it is. The Crayon Roll I made Gioia. I made one for Dominic too, but hers turned out better. I am giving them to the kids as presents next week for Dominics Birthday.

Pool party pictures.

Tuesday night we went to a pool party. It was really fun. We made it potluck and had lots of food. Here are few pictures from that.

Dominic blowing bubbles.
Gioia swimming.
And here is what a hot tub of Soggy Granola looks like! HA HA! My friends will get the joke. Or AKA...how many people can you fit in one hot tub?

I been tagged again.

I was tagged by Alissa. So I will try to make it interesting.

Here are the rules for being tagged:
RULES - Post rules before giving the facts - Players start with eight random facts/habits about themselves - People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules - At the end of the your blog you need to tag six people and list their names - Leave them a comment on their blog, telling them they have been tagged and not to forget to read your blog.

1. I like to sing. I sang at a local talent show a few weeks ago and I got 2nd place. Woo hoo! I won 10 dollars. ha ha!

2. I got run over by a van when I was 3. No permanent damage and no broken bones. I think the only one traumatized was my mom. Poor mom. :)

3. I would love to have a homebirth next time. Gotta keep talking with that husband of mine to convince him. Each person we know that has one gets us closer and closer. Especially all you HBAC (HomeBirth After Cesarean) mommas! You ROCK!!!

4. I love ice cream! I try to eat healthy but we have ice cream several times a week. DH and I love to go out and get ice cream at Culvers, or Dairy Queen. We went to the best place last week. Sylas and Maddys in Olathe. OH it was heaven. I had English Toffee ice cream on a homemade waffle cone. WOW! DH had Pistachio Almond and it was great as well. I can't wait to go back there again.

5. I spend too much time on the internet. Damn you KCAP! LOL! I check my email, chat on my forum, and do tons of other things. If we move to the country I am going to fork out the 50 bucks for Satellite Internet because I can do without TV but don't try to take my Internet.

6. I love to cook. I really enjoyed the cooking club I was in but DH wasn't as impressed with it. I especially love making tasty desserts. I can't wait for winter food time. I am hungry for Clam Chowder and Chicken Pot Pie. MMMM!!!

7. I love good rock music. I am really disappointed lately that my favorite rock station has TONS of swearing on it. I mean, even during the commercial breaks. It is so bad that I can hardly listen to it for fear of the kids repeating it. GGRR!!

8. I like to get a reaction out of people. I love to wear my advocacy shirts for Breastfeeding, my bumper stickers and things like that. I think people will never become comfortable with things like nursing older babies (like 2 year olds) if they don't see people doing it. I don't mind answering questions about stuff like birth, breastfeeding, homeschooling so I guess I am a good person to promote it.

Ok. I am not going to tag anyone, because they have already been all tagged. Enjoy.

I feel so Crafty!

I am so excited! I have made two things this week that worked out. Usually I have grand ideas of making things, clothes for the kids, things for myself and it never works out. I can't figure out the pattern or I make it wrong. Anyway, I made Gioia's skirt the other day. Which I am planning to make her a couple more just tweek the measurements. Today I made a bag. WOO HOO! And it turned out good but GIANT. Its ok though. I am going to use it for a beach bag. We needed a bigger bag to fit our towels and toys in. I have enough material left to make a smaller bag for my sister. She said she would like one for school to throw stuff in. I think I am going to make some for Christmas for some of my female relatives. I have some really nice material I bought that will look great.

Got the pattern for this fromhere.
http://craftywench.typepad.com/knittingwench/2007/07/very-easy-tote-.html

Give me a diaper...

We had a fun day yesterday. Our family from Iowa came down. They came to get their bikes we got for them. DH spent the evening in the heat fixing most of them. The kids were very excited. They have their new garage rebuilt now, so they have a place to keep the bikes. (They had a garage fire last April/May? A total lost of all of it and the contents.) All the kids ages 11, 9, 6, and 4 slept in the bunkbeds and cots in Gioia's room. Dominic slept with us. They totured, i mean played with the kittens and we also went swimming. They left this morning and headed home. We went for lunch at Korma Sutra, Indian food restaurant. It was delicious and they had buffet. The kids liked it ok. The 4 of us ate for 26.50 (including tip). So we were happy about that.

Dominic is trucking along with the potty learning. He did something weird yesterday. He didn't poop. He is usually a really regular guy. Then last night we has whining and pulling at his bottom. So i tried to put him on the potty and he didn't want to. Then he fell asleep and I put a diaper on him. This morning we took off the diaper, peed on the potty and put underwear back on. Later he made a small poop on the floor. I was like OH NO. So i tried the potty and he wouldn't go and he was crying about it. Finally i said, do you want a diaper? He agreed and then he walked over behind the table and pooped in it. Poor little guy! I think we HELD it yesterday. He is doing so great I don't want to traumatize him with the poop issue. For now, if he wants to poop in a diaper, so be it.

Sewing.

So yesterday I went to get some fabric to make a skirt for Gioia and a bag for me, possibly one for my sister and if they turn out great, maybe some for Christmas gifts. We get the fabric only 30 bucks. YAHH! I actually make it home with all the things i need. I start sewing Gioia's skirt last night, only to realize I cut every piece wrong. :( I cut them all the wrong directions. ALL the fabric is wasted. :( I was so upset I really thought I was going to cry. Well, I had dreams about it all night. I realized I had some leftover fabric that would match the little bit I had left. SO I worked on it today and I MADE A SKIRT!! It was really easy ( well if you are smart even to cut it right). I got it from here: SKIRT
I will make a few more for her maybe for Christmas. I would make it a few inches less wide around the waist. It is supposed to be gathered to twirl, but I think it is too gathered and would look better a smidge smaller. I would also like to try it a couple inches shorter. My daughter is tall and skinny.


Not to leave the boy out. Here he is in Big Boy Pants. He is still awesome about peeing in the potty and not his pants. Still not pooping on the potty but hey. I have been only using about one diaper a day for this week and I am REALLY happy about that.

Potty learning

I just have to share my excitement. This has been all his idea really. I decided last week to sit him on the potty in the morning with his cereal to see if I could catch his regular morning poop. Well I got pee instead. I was excited. For about 3 mornings in a row he peed first thing after waking.

Well for the last 2 days he has been naked and using the potty. Of course we are having accidents and I will be pleasantly surprised if we don't have them for quite a while yet. He will be 2 on the 30th.

I am so surprised he is doing it this early. But very excited. We haven't had any poops yet, but he will sit down and pee when asked to. So that is really awesome that he has the control to do that.

Right now he has on "big boy blues clues pants". :)

Fairs Fairs everywhere!

We had a week of crazy fair fun! First we had the Johnson County fair. We went on Tuesday for "Family Fun Night". The kids had a good time and we ate some tasty but bad for you Fair food. Sweet Potato fries and corn dog for the kids. It was really hot. Then Wed. we went back up to the fair for the kids to ride the rides. It was great fun. Dominic could only ride the cars and the carousel, he was too short for the other ones. Gioia wanted to ride everything. She rode everything that she could. She and my sister rode the Ferris Wheel. The swings were her favorite thing though. The first turn around on the swings, her face had the biggest grin possible and her eyes were all lit up. I don't think she knew she would fly that high. She LOVED it. Massimo said, that look on her face was worth the 16 dollar armband.

Thursday we left here to go to my moms house. Our hometown fair, which we call the Jameson Picnic, was going on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. So Thursday night we made it down. We ate some delicious Tenderloin sandwiches and then they had a talent show. Gioia sang "He's got the whole world in his hands" and "Immaculate Mary". Both are songs she learned in Bible School. Then I sang "Before he cheats" by Carrie Underwood. Gioia didn't place but I won Second place in the 17 and over group. I don't have pictures of this because I videotaped it instead.

Friday we went back up for more fun and ride the rides. My mom bought the kids armband (unlimited rides) all 3 nights. Grandmas are silly like that. I thought it was hot on Tuesday, LORD ALMIGHTY, it got soooo hot by Friday and Saturday. The heat index (what it feels like) was 109 and 105. It was like been in an oven. Amazing enough they only had one incident of someone getting sick. It was a man in the band Friday night and he was diabetic, so i am not even sure it was heat related.

Saturday, they had the baby show. Dominic was in it. Then Gioia was in the Little Miss show. These are small town baby shows, Dominic had 3 boys in his group. He didn't win. Its ok. Gioia had about 8 in her group. She didn't win either but after it was over the lady had the microphone for them to say their own names. Gioia grabbed the microphone and burst into her songs again (from the talent show) and wouldn't give it back until she was finished. The crowd was laughing. So even though she didn't win the trophy, she stole the show anyway. Saturday night they rode rides, Massimo picked us up at about 9pm and we drove home. It was a long weekend, but really fun.

Petty people

GRRR!! Damn it! I am sick of petty people. My moms group I am on, this young mom posted about a medical issue she had with her pregnancy. People gave her advice, then this new lady posted her experience with it, which was (in my opinion) pretty scary. I emailed the new lady and said, Wow that was pretty scary, do you think you could edit it a little bit so you don't totally freak the pregnant mom out? She didn't agree with me that it was scary, just honest, but she edited. And she ALSO wrote that someone asked her to, and made a stinking deal of out it to the whole board. NICE. DAMN IT! The reason I emailed her privately was to not make a big deal out of it and not involve the whole community in one tiny issue. I even told the lady I was asking her a favor. I did it for the pregnant mom not to get all worried and freaked out.

FORGET IT! Sometimes it just doesn't pay to try to help other people out, because someone will get pissed off and act all petty about it.

Move out to the country, eat a lot of peaches...

So we want to move out to the country (and eat a lot of peaches...heh hee). We are serious about it and plan to try to put our house on the market next spring/summer. In the meantime, we are looking at properties, both land and houses with land. If we find a great vacant land we will probably buy it and plan to build next spring. However, we are hoping to find a house already on some great land. We have looked at a couple houses and like a few areas. We have narrowed our search down. We have to stay within about 30-40 minutes drive of my husbands work.

We looked at a house yesterday in Cleveland Missouri. It was really cool. 12.45 acres, barn (needs new roof), small shed, and "garage" that really is justs a tin building, m-ay-be you could fit one car in it but I doubt it. We would most likely tear it down and build a nice 2 car garage. The house was a 2 bed, 1 bath brick house. It has all hardwoods in it, nice old woodwork in it, and it is great. The interior doesn't need any work. Then it has a second floor that they finished. It would need a little work, but it is basically 1 bedroom, but is the size of almost two rooms. SO it would be perfect for a kids room and playgroup combo. If we bought this house, we would build on to it, probably large Master Bathroom (to make bath #2), extend the kitchen, and another room like a dining room with windows around it to have an excellent view. Then DH had a good idea that instead of a deck we could do a large patio with a wrought iron fence enclosing it, to keep the pets off when you are entertaining or eating. Think about Italy Bistro kind of theme. I think I love it all, but DH is not so sure. So we are waiting and thinking on it. It would be really nice to get a house and land already done, but of course that cost more money too.

We also found a really cute house in Peculiar, MO. We haven't been to see the inside of it yet, but DH was in love with it because it is on a gravel cul-de-sac, 8 acres and the house is already done, 3 bed, 2 bath. The online pictures look great. We drove by it one day to see the location and area. The neighbor dogs were just walking right up to us. There were several neighbors on the street but everyone has several acres in between them. That one was more money, so we would have to sell our house FIRST then buy it. I don't know if it will be on the market this spring. I am sure the sellers hope not. :)

Anyway, it is fun and exciting to be going through this process and it is SOO different this time, because we are in a better financial position and it really opens a lot of doors for us.

My list of things I am going to do when I get my land/house:
#1 - A CLOTHES LINE! WOO HOO! I can hang my diapers and other clothes outside. Fun!
#2 - Get a diesel car/van or something to run biodiesel on. AKA... Grease from the local restaurant. I need a shed to filter and store the grease. (stop laughing it is free and good for the environment)
#3 - Get a couple goats for the kids to pet and love and eat the grass.
#4 - Next spring - HUGE ASS garden. HUGE flower garden and flowers everywhere. :)
#5- Horse or Pony for the kids - maybe a year or 2 down the road.