I have to have a Moshi Monster!

The other day I found myself having a very serious conversation with my children about the importance of carefully choosing your username and passwords. It is important. They require some consideration and I have to be aware of their choices as well so that I can monitor what they are doing online. But it seems like such a funny conversation since I don't really have anything to compare it to in my childhood.

Let me first say that they know that they are not allowed to create any account online without our permission. As far as I know they haven't broken this rule. (I am pretty sure Lilly won't anytime soon as her internet privileges are sacred to her - God forbid she not get to watch a YouTube video of Justin Bieber!) The problem is that I've given them permission on a couple of occasions when I was busy doing something else and wasn't paying enough attention and they've set up their own accounts. Later, when we were talking about their accounts I asked them about their usernames and passwords. To put it simply, they have no clue.

To them they are just looking for something that they will remember. They don't understand that there could potentially be crazy, effed up people creeping around a website designed for little kids to "own" a monster. They are kids. They see the best in people.They are still innocent and don't fully understand some of the crazy stuff that happens in this world. And so they use some conglomeration of their names. To which this parent responds, "AHHHHHH!"

And so we talked. We discussed (in elementary school age language) the importance of having a somewhat oddball username and password. We discussed not EVER giving your password to anybody, even your best friend. We tried to figure out how to cancel their accounts so that they could start fresh with more secure screen names.

When I was a kid we talked about people calling the house when my Mom and Dad weren't home. We talked about what to do if someone knocks on the door when no one else is home. The Internet didn't come to my house until I was about 15. And it was dial up. And it was limited. It was nowhere near the crazy place it is today.

I still teach my kids those lessons my folks taught me. They know how to answer the phone and not state that we aren't here. They know that they are not to open the door for anyone. And now they know that they have to come up with some concoction of initials, their favorite pets names and their Webkinz pets birthdays to come up with a username and password.

Gosh, sometimes this parenting thing is hard! You just can't think of it all ahead of time and plan it all out. There's so much thinking and making decisions on the fly.

Have any of you had problems with this?

Score!

Like many women I love to shop. I also like to find GREAT bargains. I'm not one to ever pay full price for anything. I have been known to walk out of Macy's with a mini-wardrobe that I gleefully only used my $50 birthday gift card to purchase. I swear some of my friends go shopping with me for my bargain karma.

Today I stopped at Kohl's to get a pair of tights. I was one of the lucky ones who got a 30% off coupon in the last ad so I knew I wouldn't be able to get a better deal anywhere else. Turns out they were having their "Gold Star Clearance" event and everything on clearance was an additional 25% off! Woohoo! I really restrained myself though and even as I poked through every clearance rack in the store I kept telling myself, "You don't need that. You don't need that. Even if it is only $5.60!"

Here's the loot I walked away with:

I got my tights, and I also got a flower for my hair, a cute black ruffly cardi, a pair of panties for Lil and the Converse sneakers Lil has been eyeing since before school. My total bill? $12.94!!! Everything I bought (minus the tights) was on clearance so it was an additional 25% off, then they took my additional 30% coupon off, then I had $10 Kohl's cash from a shopping trip earlier this week. I saved $109.87 according to the receipt.

A good bargain is a thing of beauty. And it often makes the things I virtually got for free some of my favorites!

Kitchen Renno, part deaux

Though we are still not finished (no thanks to Home Depot and their flooring that is out of stock), the kitchen renno is coming along nicely.

I am so proud of Brandon for working so hard on this day in and day out. I know it's easy to get sucked into the couch after having lunch and wasting the rest of the day away. I appreciate you Babe, even if I don't always show it.

Here is an updated photo after the cabinet hinges came and the doors were hung.

It is so much brighter and cheery in the kitchen now. Although I was a little skeptical about the hinges, they look great. (The hinges on these doors are pretty specific and didn't come in black so we had to order oil brushed bronze.)

There are still some pieces of the cabinets that need some touch up and then Brandon will get the knobs and pulls installed. We went with a cup pull for the drawers.

And an extra large knob for the doors - to help keep finger prints off the white cabinets.

The past few days Brandon has been working on the new tile backsplash. We chose a gray tile and we both liked them cut larger with the subway tile look. Fortunately we agree on a lot, and it's really turning out great.

Laying the first tiles

Had some trouble with some of the cuts around the outlets but got it all up

Completed tile with grout. Just waiting for it to harden before do the final sponge-off.

It's looks really good. Not the full remodel we would've like to have been able to afford, but still updates the place a TON! There's still plenty of work to be done. In addition to the cabinet painting, new tile, new wall paint, hinges/pulls/knobs, and (eventually) new floors, it's forced us to pull everything out of the cabinets. I'm getting rid of stuff we never use, reorganizing where to place some things and developing a strategy for kitchen organization. We need to re-do the shelves in our pantry because it's a weird shape so hopefully we can accomplish that as well.

Happy Changing!

I Swear I Love My Kids

I love my kids. I really do. I never thought that I would be worth a darn as a parent but I think I do ok. And I would do ANYTHING for them, as I'm sure most parents would. But there is something so nice, so satisfying, so surreal......when the house is quiet because the kids are at Murmur's.

I don't have babies anymore. They can shower themselves, they can brush their own teeth, they do chores, they get their own homework done (for the most part). But they still ask a million questions. And they fight. And they just seem to be able to find the one thing in the midst of a blissful evening that can annoy the bajeezus out of you. (Yes, bajeezus is a word.)

So my wonderful mother, this saint that regularly agrees to take my children for weekends (or months) at a time, took them to her house for the holiday weekend. I got home from work tonight and the house was quiet. Brandon and I got to have a discussion without someone slowly scooting in front of our face with their hand raised waiting to say something that was incredibly unimportant and required no urgency. We went to dinner, had the chance to sit in the bar, and the entire bill was only $25. We haven't been asked to play video games. We haven't been asked for something to eat....again. We don't have to look at pouty faces when we say it's time for bed.

I love you Mom. Thank you for giving us a break and saving Brandon's sanity. I love you kids - I'm just really relishing that you're gone right now.

There is no Y in RUNNING!

I am semi-OCD. My husband would tell you that I get obsessed over things - I prefer to call it passionate. There's not much that I do half-ass - it's all or nothing, sometimes to the detriment of other things that I should be doing.

A couple of years ago I got super obsessed with running. I dropped weight in no time flat and I felt GREAT! And yet, here I sit, on my couch, surfing the net. Not to say that I don't love the opportunity to blog and dump my thoughts out in cyberspace - it is a type of therapy in itself - but I really am not kidding when I say I felt GREAT! I had more energy than I knew what to do with, my skin was clearer than ever and I was finally comfortable wearing whatever I wanted.

So why am I not still running?

I really have no good answer.

And then I get inspired. Last year Brandon, myself and our buddy Smitty ran the Gladiator Rock-n-Run. It was supposed to be motivating for us to get in shape for the race. None of us did. But we still ran the race and it was a BLAST! Perusing Pinterest this evening I ran into this:

The Color Run

MUST DO! And this time maybe it will motivate me to get my butt in gear and jump on the treadmill that is one room over. Plus, I'm super excited that it is for all ages so the kids can run it with us.

Yep, sounds like fun!

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day from the pooches!

A-Dress-ing a Comeback

I'm writing this in defense of the dress. I feel like at some point in history the dress was somehow attached to the oppression of women and thus they somewhat lost their popularity. Maybe I'm crazy, but I just don't see a lot of women in dresses anymore. Sure, for formal occasions or a nice dinner out, but what about casual everyday?

Last summer I found myself wearing a dress to work and feeling completely out of place. It was totally appropriate for my workplace, but it was the fact that I was wearing a dress, and not a pair of capris or jeans, that made me feel weird. But I like dresses. In fact, I LOVE dresses. It's like taking a chunk of the decision making out of getting dressed! You only have to pick out one piece. That simplicity I like. In addition to that I love the way they make me feel. Like I'm dressed up a bit, but still completely (physically) comfortable.

Now, it seems the dress is attempting a comeback. I will admit that I am a Gleek. I love the show, I love the songs, but more than anything I love the dresses. And how could you not? They are totally flattering styles (even if you weren't Glee-star-skinny). I'm happy that they regularly dress the characters in these adorable dresses.

So I'm on the hunt for good deals while looking to expand my dress collection. With summer approaching what better time to start? And, of course, I'm sure I'll need new shoes to match....

Menu #3 of 2012

Last weekend was a busy one so I didn't go grocery shopping. Consequently we have been making meals this week from what we have around. We put together everything from one of our classics: Shake-n-Bake Pork Chops/Mac-n-Cheese/Spinach to Brandon's special Stuffed Chicken Breasts with Mashed Sweet Potatoes and green beans. I'm kind of a hoarder when it comes to food. We usually have enough around to make something that is pretty good.

My grocery store trip was planned for Monday, but work has been ultra busy and I haven't had time all week. Not to mention I didn't have a new menu done yet anyway so shopping would've been one of two things: either I buy a bunch of stuff and half of it goes to waste (in our house waste means rabbit food, chicken food or compost) OR I hardly buy anything and we have to run to the local store every day for some piece of a recipe. Tonight on our way home Lilly asked if I was going shopping this weekend. "Yes," I said, "We're going tomorrow in fact." Her reply? "Good, because we have hardly anything and it's getting kind of pathetic."

So I spent Friday night looking through ads, sorting coupons and rummaging through clipped recipes and Pinterest. Here's the menu:

• Ginger Pork & Broccoli (new recipe)
• Greens & Grains Torta (new recipe)
• Beef Stroganoff
• Fish Tacos (carried over from last menu - we just never defrosted the fish)
• Zuppa Tuscana & Garlic Bread
• Lemon Linguine with Spinach & Bacon (new recipe)
• Chicken Fajita Style Quesadillas & Salad (new recipe)
• Salmon - Mom's Special Rice - Spinach
• Cassoulet
• Shrimp Coconut Curry (I haven't been able to find red curry paste)
• Clam Chowder - Cornbread
• Wontons - Edamame beans - Pan fried noodles
• Steak - Baked potato - Broccoli
• Slow Cooker Pulled Chicken Sammies - Jicama Slaw

Happy Dining Everyone!

Kitchen Renno, Part 1

The story of how we found our house, and subsequently the story of the purchase, is a good one. But that is for another time. Right now we are addressing the incredibly poor taste of the previous owners.

When we first moved in there was this ancient oven-wave (that's slang for an all-in-one-unit oven/microwave) that I can only imagine emerged from the 1978 Woolworth's catalog. It was hideous! Besides that, every.....and I mean every cabinet in our house is oak. The bathroom fixtures are oak. The hallway lights were oak mounted. The freaking toilet seats were oak. And not some nice, modern design using oak for its durability and strength, oh no, these are the awful 1980's oak. I hate them. And so does Brandon. Since we've lived here we've changed out the powder room sink unit to a pedestal sink and removed all the oak fixtures. Just last year we FINALLY got rid of the frosted, frilly glass hallway lights that were mounted on oak. Unfortunately, we hadn't quite gotten around to much of the rest.

Here is what our kitchen looks like (at least part of it):

My mom thinks the cabinets are fine. I personally cannot stand them. And so we decided to do a low cost remodel and paint the kitchen. I left this past weekend to go with Tonya on her little girl's birthday party extravaganza. When we were on our way home I got this text:

Bud: How far out are you?
Nik: half hour or so
Bud: Why not longer?
Nik: Because we left? I don't know.
Bud: You should go out to lunch
Nik: I'm tired, I want to come home
Bud: Don't you need to go to the store for a few hours?
Nik: No, I will swing by the store for milk but then I'm coming home

This is what I walked in to:

I'm so proud of my hubby for working on this project. Neither of us like to paint so I know it's no picnic.

Tonight I ordered the drawer pulls, hinges, knobs and the tile for the backsplash. I can't wait until it all comes together!

Somewhat Innocuous Sources of Real Messages

Lilly has been begging to watch The Help for over a month. I read the book last year and couldn't put it down. It was poignantly written and brought both smiles and tears. Any book that can make me laugh out loud I consider a winner. Kudos to you, Kathryn Stockett.

Tonight I finally rented it. It's Black History Month right? Maybe I should've watched it before I let my daughter, but I had heard from multiple trusted sources that it would be ok for her. Turns out it was. The movie was well done and seemingly portrayed life at that time in Jackson, Mississippi as accurately as it could have. She had many questions. She laughed. She cried. Now I want her to read the book.

Now, she has learned a lot from school about the Civil Rights Movement and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. She knew that African Americans in our country had suffered horrific inequities. But somehow I think that a movie like this, a story where she can associate with characters, could potentially leave even more impact than all the school lectures. It's funny how two hours of your life watching a movie could get such important information ingrained your head forever.

She is horrified about the way many of the white women in the film treated their maids. She was indignant that there was a time in our history where these stories actually existed. She told me, "Mommy, I don't believe that it is ever ok to treat people differently. You should not be judged by the color of your skin."

Dr. King, your message has been received. It may not have been in the format you originally imagined, but it has happened nonetheless. You would be proud. And so am I.

Snips and Snails

Having a little boy has been quite the experience. I comment on this today because the gals at work and I were talking about having to live with boys compared to girls. Those of you who only have girls may feel like you're missing out, or maybe after this you will be grateful.

Boys are gross. I sometimes think that maybe it's just my boy, but it's not. Every Mom I talk to that has little boys (with the exception of a few) can relate to my stories of jeans that stand up on their own from caked on dirt, stories of inappropriate nudity, stories of finding a frog in the sink upstairs because "he asked me to keep him." In any case, even being kind of a tomboy when I was a kid, it is hard to relate for his passion for all things dirty, creepy or gross.

It seems there is some fundamental issue with taking a shower as a little boy. I'm pretty sure that if I didn't MAKE my son take a shower he never would. This morning he whined when I told him that he HAD to take a shower. (A week is too long to go!) When I heard the water turn off I opened the shower curtain to give him a towel. There he was, soap covering half of his back, his hair not even wet on two thirds of his head. This was our conversation:

Mommy: You didn't wash your hair?
Logan: I did!
Mommy: Your hair is still dry!
Logan: No it's not.
Mommy: Yes, it is. I'm looking at it and it's dry. You have to do it again.
Logan: But I washed it!
Mommy: You still have soap on your back. You need to get back in.
Logan: I will wipe it off with the towel. The water is cold now?!?!
Mommy: Too bad. You should've done it right the first time!

Besides the shower thing, he does tons of other gross stuff. He announces his bodily functions, he works on burping the alphabet, he cannot seem to ever let go of his junk, he hates to wash his hands after he goes to the bathroom, the list is never ending.

Now, I am proud of his unrelenting desire to become a biologist. And I am not even really that freaked out by creepy crawlies and bugs and frogs but I still am not as comfortable as he is around these things. He can spend hours outside exploring the landscape. He can't wait until spring for when the lizards and frogs come out of hibernation. He is dying to find out how many snakes he'll find this year by the pond. He wants to keep everything he catches AND he wants you to be as excited as he is about holding all of these things. Here he is last summer:

This is after he let the other 2 go

Last weekend, when he and Daddy were out cutting and moving all the downed trees from the snowstorm, Daddy found this:

Logan was dying to put it in one of his habitats - but this guy was too big for that. Daddy convinced him it was probably the best for the salamander to be put back where he was found.

Today it was beautiful out! The sun was shining, it was unseasonably warms and as I walked the new puppy down to get the mail Logan asked to go play with the neighbor boy. I told him he had an hour, that he had to wear his watch, and that he better not be late (we are working on rebuilding trust after some issues last year.) At 4:18 I heard the front door open. Here was our conversation:

Mommy: Log, is that you?
Logan: Yeah, can I take a shower?
Mommy: Are you still outside?
Logan: Yes.
Mommy: Why do you need to take a shower?
Logan: Come see me.

I walked around the corner to the front door to find my little red-headed boy covered in dirt from head to toe. "Mom, we found another piece of a spring that runs by the creek and so we dug a whole bunch of it out and diverted it into the creek and we found an egg that must've been a turtle's egg because Asher has found a turtle egg before and it looked just like it and I had SO much fun but I got dirty but it's really nice outside and I just want to thank you so much for letting me go play and Whew! This was the best day ever!"

If you've ever met Logan you will read that and be able to hear it coming from him. He talks A LOT! He goes a mile a minute, especially when he's excited about something , and punctuation is just taking up time that he could be telling you something else that was, "AWESOME!"

And so he's gross. I have to remind him to take a shower, I have to remind him to wash his hands, I have to remind him to brush his teeth, I have to scold him when we're at the store and he stops and says, "Wait for it....," but he's mine and I love him just the same.

It's true that raising boys is nothing like raising girls. I'm just glad I get the opportunity to do both.

Introducing....

COOPER

Sorry for the indecent exposure....he doesn't much like the click of the camera yet
and this is the best shot I've been able to take!



After much debate, and a million name suggestions, we have decided to go with Cooper. Here's why:

1. It was the only name that ALL of us could agree to

2. Tucker, with my husband's bad hearing, always sounded like a swear word

3. Odin, while adorable and I believe most fitting, would more than likely lead to him being called Odie (which we didn't want) or Otis (which was the name of one of our old dogs).

4. Angus, just didn't roll off the tongue quite as easily and someone (damn you Brian) told us he would get called "Anus".....SO uncool.

He is adjusting so well, we really couldn't be happier. He has only had 1 accident in the house so far and he has already made himself at home in his kennel. Brutus has let him know that he is the boss and he has access to all toys and treats whenever he wants. Gilbert has spent a lot of time just standing over him, I expect to finally show some dominance over someone - even though Cooper, at 4 months, already outsizes him. They have played a lot though. When we first got Cooper home he was still not quite himself from the surgery earlier that day, but later that night was a different story. I wanted to post a video but it doesn't want to upload....oh well.

We were still debating his breed but we've come to the conclusion we're pretty sure they were right. He is definitely a Dane - he's got the bullwhip of a tail and the body type for sure. It was the Mastiff part that we weren't quite sure about. He has a pretty good underbite and his stance could lend to traits of a boxer....and then he started drooling. The drool, combined with the wrinkles, and the underbite were convincing enough. We're just hoping he gets to be giant!

We are pleased as punch to welcome Cooper to our family. I kinda feel bad that there might be a family out there somewhere who is missing their puppies (he had a brother) but, if you are - YOU SHOULD'VE GONE LOOKING FOR HIM! In any case, we are thrilled to have him!