Did ya hear?!?!

I am A GENIUS! That's right, a genius!

Yesterday I gave Madison a new pair of froggy jammies and asked her to put them away in her dresser... About 45 minutes later she comes down stairs wearing her new jammies and says in the most pip squeaky voice EVER:

"Mommy, I wuv you. Dank you for my jammies. I wuv you! Mommy you a GENIUS!"

Talk about melt my heart! If only it were that easy to become a genius! :)

How are YOU spending YOUR Sunday morning?

I started downstairs 10 steps behind a bouncing little boy at an ungodly hour this morning when I heard....

"Oh No! You in BIIIIIG Twouble!"

That sentence is never good and for a SPLIT second (okay like 10) I contemplated going back to bed and pretending I NEVER came downstairs.... Let Jason be the one to discover what ever the "BIIIG twouble" is.... But no, I man-ed up and decided to take one for the team..... If I only knew then!

I finish my way down stairs. round the corner and that's when I smell it..... I walk into the kitchen and see my wagging Murray (our beloved golden retriever) next to a HUGE pile of barf! BLECH... No biggie, I'll clean it and be done....

I let Murray outside and that's when I saw the REAL damage..... I was REALLY regretting taking one from the team at that moment....

Let me preface this by saying..... My entire downstairs is hard surface flooring.... Its ALL hardwood with a splash of ceramic tile thrown in for good measure.... There is ONE room with carpet.... The family room.... We have a gate up to keep Murray out (too much dog hair and he is a stinky old boy)....

Back to this morning.... As I let Murray out, I glance in the family room and I see not one, but FOUR piles of doggy diarrhea! I so threw up in my mouth on that one! There was NO taking it for the team this time, Jason got his BUTT out of bed and helped....

I cleaned the barf... He got most of the poo up and attempted to carpet clean... The best )or worst I guess) as Jason was using our carpet cleaner, it started spitting poo water out of the vents at him!!! GROSS!!!! Let's just say that went in the trash, Jason went to the shower, and is now going to rent a carpet cleaner....

I cannot even believe this.... Murray NEVER goes potty in the house! NEVER!!!! Since he has been house broke he has been accident free.... He has even howled in the past to wake us up because he had to go... I know he must have been sick, but UGH! GROSS.... The only thing I can think of is its because he is old...

I think someone is getting new family room carpet in the very near future!

Fun Firsts Fridays

If you have had a little boy you will understand the whole train magic. i do not know what it is, but EVERY little boy I have met is OBSESSED with trains, as is Anthony! Trains have been a favorite for a few years now... We live near tracks and his favorite thing (my least favorite) is when we get stopped by the train.... He loves seeing the "coaches, freight cars, and ick'ies...." He is just mesmerized!

We have been anting to get him on a REAL train for quite some time, but as we all know life happens and we just had not made it.... Until, last weekend!

While in NY, Jason took the kids on the LIRR into the city to meet up with me. (I was heading in from NJ) The kids were so very excited and Anthony sat looking out the window in utter amazement for the entire hour and ten minute trip! He LOVED it!!! Madison enjoyed it too, but no where near as much as Anthony!

The whole day was filled with one subway car after another! The excitement did not wear off once! Even the 70 minute train ride back to Long Island was still cool and exciting!

All Aboard!

They were so excited to get ON the train that they did NOT want to waste time taking pictures!!!

Sorry the pics are so dark.... the lighting stunk!

A Brush With Fame

Yesterday was the first day of school in our county, so you know what that means, school buses are back on the road FULL FORCE! Anthony LOVES buses...

Anthony FLEW out opened the front door when he realized that the kids were all waiting at the bus stop.... He sat so quietly on the front porch watching all the activity and occasionally waving at all those big kids....

That's when it happened....

Anthony came running into the house SCREAMING, "Mommy, did you see dat? They waved at me mommy! Oh my GOSH THEY WAVED!! I gotta see dat again!!"

You would have thought they were famous!

Wordless Wednesday: Anthony + Water Slides = A Good Time?!?!?!

Would you believe he rode them OVER and OVER and OVER again! This was once the boy who HATED swimming!!!

For more WW: Momspective, Five Minutes For Mom, 7 Clown Circus, Ordinary and Awesome, MomDot, Wordless Wednesday , , Life @ 30, Three Peas in a Pod, & Conversations with Moms

A sea of Anthony(ies)

Where we live there are not very many boys named Anthony.... I do not think I have encountered a single one since he has been born... Well, New York is the land of Anthony. We went to a splash park and playground down the street from Jason's mom's house and every third boy was named Anthony. It was so funny to see Anthony answer his cocky "yeeees" about 502,00 times in the two hours we were there! At least he is an original at home :)

This park area is so awesome and I wish we had something similar by our house.... It is located right on the beach, there are NUMEROUS sports fields, a life guarded beach, a live band all weekend long, bars, beach hut restaurant, a water / splash park, and an AWESOME playground! The facilities ROCK!!! The best part it is all free as long as you are a member of the town! I would have a blast spending summer days there!

Our own little maze maniac!

They raced down this super cool "roller" slide umpteen times! Anthony did not like it when he was the "loss-er" lol :)

our little monkey

I LOVE New York!

The wedding I went to was BEAUTIFUL and tons of fun!! I guzzled some cocktails, ate some yummy food, laughed until my belly hurt, and danced the night away! It was great! Even better, I got to spend some long over due time with my uncle and his partner! I had not spent time with them without my babes; well since they have been born! It was a great night!

Saturday Jason, his fam, and the kids jetted into the city and I met them there! I ended up on a later train so I met them at the Empire State building.... I did NOT go up! THANK GOODNESS!!! I would have had an instant panic attack with the kids up there!!! Just looking at the pictures makes me shake and my palms sweat.....





Once they were safe on the ground we just wandered the city.... We were going to go to Liberty Island and see the Statue of Liberty, but the line for the ferry was MILES long and we were toting two hot and sleepy babies so we nixed it.... Next time!Madison slept through 2 subway rides and the Statue of Liberty!
Anthony passed out in the middle of the train station as we were waiting for our train home.....
While the weather was not the best (majorly overcast) we still had a great time... I love the city and wished I was able to spend more time there! All in all it was a fantastic day and we plan to take the kids up again soon... This time it will be better planned!

Brain Dead

That be me! Is there something you can NEVER remember? The one thing I can NEVER remember is how to hard boil an egg.... EVERY time I go to make them (and I make them quite a bit) I have to look it up on line... I do the same search day in and day out... I can not, for the life of me, understand why I cannot seem to remember how many minutes to boil an egg! So, what do you forget or am I the ONLY brain dead one around here?!?! :)

Where the heck was I?!?!?

The other night I was at the gym with the hubs and so not in the mood to do weights and boring old cardio so I peeped at the schedule and saw that a Body Combat class was about to start so in I went.... I was a wee bit nervous, but the class was small and I hid out in the back :)

As the class began I started to wonder just where I was! Was I at Gold's or did I somehow morph into a dangerous dark alley?!?! It was all street up in there! Seriously, at times the instructor was shouting to hold him down and PUNCH, PUNCH, PUNCH or Hit him in the face or Kick him, stomp him, I CAN"T HEAR YOU!!! STOMP!!!!

I one point I almost busted out laughing because I caught a glimpse of my class mates and I and we all looked like we were kicking some MAJOR booty.... We were all grimy! lol

All in all the class was fun, but dang it was VIOLENT! I am so there next week :)

Fun Firsts Fridays

While at the beach, Anthony was totally digging all the "big boys" surfing and wanted to surf too! He grabbed his boogie board and ran yelling, "Surf's up DUDES" into the ocean.... He kept standing on the board, as true surfers do, but it was sinking to the ground so he ventured a little further out... He stood up and drifted a bit and was GLOWING! (Of course I did not have the camera) He was so excited! He went to do it again and a BIG wave came and knocked him over and under he went! He was SO NOT HAPPY! After that, he only wanted Jason to give him rides.... lol!

Surfs Up!!!!

We're baaaaack.....

We had a mini vacay in Myrtle Beach and had a blast! Aside from the tampon debacle (still finding those pesky things by the way) the trip there was uneventful.... The kids were so excited to arrive that they did not even want to play at the play land in Mc D's like they usually do during our pit stop stretch and gas fill! We had a great fun filled few days.... Since my parents live there, I am sure we will be returning soon!

10 Things I learned while in Myrtle Beach

• Give my kids a shovel and pail and all is quiet... until they want each others shovel and pail :)
  



• They will both make friends with every child within eye sight
  



• Anthony is the busiest, bounciest, boy I know! (I guess I already knew this, but it was confirmed by others) Random people asked me if Anthony walked anywhere..... He was the beach side entertainment for many.... He earned, rightfully so I might add, the nickname Dash....
  



• Madison is a water bug!!! We could NOT get her out of the pool!
  



• Anthony is not scarred for life as I once thought... yay!!! HE had fun in the pool, but was cautious; which is a good thing!
  



• Turtles eat dog food.... Who knew?!? We loved feeding them!! The baby turtles were too cute...
  



• An average golf cart can hold: 4 adults, 2 children, 4 beach chairs, 6 beach towels, a dump truck, a bag of sand toys, a mini cooler, 3 bottles of sunscreen, 3 boogie boards and still move!
  



• You can visit a go cart place and NEVER ride a go cart! (We went to one of my old favorite go cart places: NASCAR... Jason and I had so much fun there over the years.... Sadly it is now a DUMP! We did not ride a single Go Cart!!! There were 10 bumper boats and by the time it was our turn only 2 were working!!! Everything was messed up! Its a shame because it USED to be so fun!!)
  



• Fire ant bites SUCK! I have hundreds of bites all over my feet! I accidentally stepped in a fire ant hill.... I could not get them off fast enough....
  



• Vacations are too short!

*click on pic to enlarge*

"Where my hiney at, mommy?"

This is what I hear as we are traveling 80 + down the interstate on the way to the beach last night.... "On, your bottom Madison" I answer distractedly as I am reading a book.... After I finish the page I was on, I turn back and glance at my bug a boo and I don't even know what to say....

She has opened a box of tampons and pads and has them every where! Tampon applicators litter the whole back seat, pads are taped to the car seat, the windows, her body, and there she sits with two tampons in each hand spinning them by their strings!

What do you say to that??!!

Beach or Bust Baby!

Our bags are packed, GPS is plugged in, and snacks are bountiful! We are ready! After Anthony's camp, we are hitting the road and heading to Myrtle Beach! The kids are PUMPED!!!! Personally, I am looking forward to parking my butt in a beach chair with a great book, while my children play, like the angels they are, in the sand.... Are my expectations too high? Possibly, BUT it will be a great time no matter what!

Pass, Shoot, Score!

Anthony had his first sport experience tonight and he did AWESOME!!! I was not sure if he would be able to play, but he JUST made the cutoff! The kids have to be 4 prior to the first game on September 12th.... Anthony turns 4 on the 9th!

Tonight they did their "evaluations".... He had to run a 10 and 20 yard dash, dribble the ball 20 yards and back, dribble through cones. and a pass and shoot exercise.... For having ZERO experience he did great!!! He was able to do it all.... He messed up a little on the cone exercise but still did well!! The best part was seeing his beaming smile! All night we heard, "I a soccer big boy now" and "Can I play a game with soccer now? Pwease!!!"

I am so excited for the "season" to start.... I so hope I get picked for team mom :)!

happy dance!

Yesterday I did a little, okay BIG, happy dance all the way from the mailbox to the kitchen... I had received a package and it was a special one at that! Yesterday, I was the winner of 5, yes 5, sinfully trashy books! Thanks Supah Mommy D!!!! They have come at a great since I am leaving for the beach tomorrow!!!

The Adventures of a Wanna be Supah Mommy is a crazy, crack me up, lol blog! You all should hop over and check it out! She is super funny and ALWAYS has some fantastic giveaways going on! So pop over!! Thanks again Debbie!!!

Wordless Wednesday... almost!

This picture NEEDS an explanation.... Madison likes to give us, as we like to call it, "the EYE". If we tell her something she is just not digging or if we tell her no, she gives us the look, stares us down for about 45 seconds, and then smiles and giggles. If she does not get a laugh, smile, or even the slightest of grins, she busts "the EYE" back out for round two.... I won't even lie, it makes me laugh every time! Total loss for team mom on this one!

For more WW: Momspective, Five Minutes For Mom, 7 Clown Circus, Ordinary and Awesome, MomDot, Wordless Wednesday , , Life @ 30, Three Peas in a Pod, & Conversations with Moms

Cry Baby!

That's me today! I have been an emotional wreck today!!! I have not been this weepy since I have been off the pill! What is the deal? I have to share all the times I got all sappy today.... Seriously you will lol and roll your eyes (that or think I am totally LOONY!)

• Jason was mean this morning and while I was angry it still made me cry!

• As I left Anthony at camp this morning he was looking at books and just looked so grown up sitting there! Totally melted my heart and made the tear ducts flicker!

• In Kohl's a little boy was crying and then I cried. I just wanted to get Anthony so that both of my babes were with me..... (cuckoo!!)

• Madison snuggled on the couch with me this afternoon and as I breathed in her little girlness the tears wanted to fall!!!

• As I peeked in on my slumbering babes tonight a lump started to form... and I seriously just boohooed in the shower....

Here's to hoping I don't sob as I try on clothes tomorrow!!! IF I am gonna cry, that will do it! Here's to a much less emotional Tuesday!! The mall workers do not want to see or hear this boohooing mother of two!!!

Not a good idea....

I have PMS. I am a wee bit crabby, a tad touchy, and a whole lot of CRAMPY so I say its NOT a good idea to:

1. Walk in the door and the first words you say to me are "Why did you park so close to the grass?
2. Then proceed to tell me that the wheel of MY truck got wet because I parked too close to the grass thus sprinklers and now its all spotty...
3. Then walk outside to clean said wheel while I run around TRYING to get a child and myself presentable for camp....

Yeah, let's just say NOT A GOOD IDEA!!!!!!!!!

Time always just slips away.....

I have poor time management. Case in point: I should NOT be online (blogging, face booking, emailing, or farming) I SHOULD be doing some of the MOUNDS of laundry that have piled up or cleaning this place I call home....

I just need a day that I am home. That I stay home and am PRODUCTIVE! I just keep looking around and I do not even know where to begin! I hate that!!!!

We have been so busy having fun all summer that I have let all other aspects of my life fall through t he cracks.... Its taken a while, but its catching up to me now! :) Friday we leave for the beach, as soon as we get home from the beach I am heading to NJ for a wedding and Jason and the kids are NY bound.... After the wedding I am meeting up with my hubs and babes in NYC for a fun day in the city, when we get home summer will almost be over! How did that happen?

I am sad to see summer dwindling to a close, but I will welcome the schedule that the fall puts back into my life! I work MUCH better when I have a set schedule!

Fun Firsts Fridays

I cannot even believe this BUT this was my kids' FIRST trip to a zoo.... A real zoo! We have been to the small rescue zoos, but never a true zoo! Isn't that terrible? Especially considering two fabulous zoos are here and one of them is FREE! It just seems like something ALWAYS comes up and we never end up going....

Well, after 3 years, we finally went and had a BLAST!!! The animals were so active and we had quite an adventure! We had so much fun, that I hope to go again soon!!!

Our Wild Adventure

Polar Bear, Polar Bear What Do You Hear?

Two Billy Goats ROUGH!

This Cheetah walked RIGHT past us!

Up Close & Personal with an Alligator!

This monkey climbed a HUGE fence dropped to the ground and took a GINORMOUS leap. As he jumped, he slammed his body into the glass with all his might.... RIGHT where we were standing!!! Madison about DIED!

Our Little Cowgirl!

STOP... Tractor Time!

Weeeeeee!

Taking a spin at life as a turtle!

Plan Toys Activity Bus

Have you heard of ebeanstalk? It is an AWESOME toy website! They have a group of child experts that help select great learning toys and toys for kids of all ages, from baby toys, toys for 1 year olds, toys for 2 year olds, etc. I was fortunate enough to get selected to try out one of their toys! (I was so pumped!!!)

They sent us the Activity Bus from Plan Toys! Plan Toys rock! They make green developmental toys for kids of all ages! How cool is that?

The package came at a perfect time! The kids were getting a wee bit CRAZY and I was TRYING to make dinner, so I whipped out the bus and the kids went to town! Let's just say, I was able to make dinner in peace! There was no fighting, crying, or WHINING! The kids were totally engaged by the bus!

After dinner, I sat down to play with them and I was super impressed! The bus opens up and becomes a classroom! All the pieces were so cute, and DURABLE! I could tell that it was not a toy that would be broken in a matter of hours!! Each piece was wooden and all of the small details added the perfect touch. All three desks lifted up, the bus door opened and stayed open, the books appeared to have real pages , and the little people were just too cute!!!

The kids and I had fun riding our bus and playing school! Madison enjoyed sitting the people in their desks and arranging the classroom and Anthony loved driving to our "final destinations" :) We laughed and played for quite some time before they moved onto other things....

I think this toy had multiple methods for play and learning.... Adults and kids could model appropriate bus and classroom behavior with this toy, first day of school jitters could be alleviated because the unknown could become familiar , and imaginations are free to run wild with all of the stories that can evolve with this toy!

I think this toy is AWESOME and I am going to look into some of Plan Toys other products! I think this Activity Bus set is a great starter piece and I would LOVE to add to it! I think the toys are high quality and would love to have more of them!

Wordless Wednesday

For more WW: Momspective, Five Minutes For Mom, 7 Clown Circus, Ordinary and Awesome, MomDot, Wordless Wednesday , , Life @ 30, Three Peas in a Pod, & Conversations with Moms

Knick knack paddy whack;

give a dog a bone.....


That's EXACTLY what we did except we made them! The kids had so much fun rolling out the dough, eating the dough, pressing the cookie cutter, and ultimately feeding the bones to a much appreciative Murray! It was a great way to spend a rainy morning and EASY PEASY! It kept the kids entertained for quite some time! So much so that Madison would NOT look at the camera one time! Silly girl!!!

The bones were a wee bit softer than the kind you buy at the store, but Murray did not complain!

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Easy Peasy Peanut Butter Dog Bones

-2 Cups Flour
-1 Table Spoon Baking Powder
-1 Cup Peanut Butter
-1 Cup Water
-1 Jar Meat Baby Food (Optional)

Preheat oven to 375. In a bowl, combine flour and baking powder. In another bowl, mix peanut butter and water. Add wet and dry mixture. Turn out dough on a lightly floured surface and knead. Roll out to 1/4-inch thick and cut out shapes. Place on a greased baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes or until lightly brown. Cool on rack then store in an air tight container.

my busy little baker :)

sneaking a bite :)

1 Madison-ism + 3 Anthony-isms = a peek into my world

Madison decides she is in the mood to potty when we were at a car dealership, so I take her. We walk into the restroom, and she instantly cries, "Mommy it’s stinky in here. Nebermind. No danks. It’s stinky mommy. NO DANKS!" She plugs her nose and we leave. As we walk back to Jason and Anthony, Madison informs EVERYONE we pass that the "Potty is too DINKY" all while having her nose still plugged! Silly girl, I will never have her potty trained!!!

****

I pulled into the driveway and was checking a message I had received on my phone so I did not get the kids out right away. Just as I finished reading the message Anthony blurts: "Hurry up MOM! My pee is about to spray all over!!"

****

I hear Anthony shout with glee, "Hey mommy I found daddy's nuts!!" He comes running and hands me two screws Jason had been looking for :)

****

A: Mommy, I am sad.
S: Why are you sad bud?
A: Because I want to put all the letters together to make words....
S: You can do that.
A: No I nots big enough yet.... :(

(Then this morning he hands me two post-its and on it he writes ALL BY HIMSELF: CAT! He was CRAZY proud!!! I was too)

the day has arrived.....

Anthony ALWAYS went to bed with a story, a kiss, and a goodnight. The door was shut and never a sound was made.... Then one day it changed. I can't pinpoint as to when; it just did.... Suddenly, a nightlight had to be used and the door had to be cracked.... These adjustments were made and all was silent again....

Well, the day has arrived... All of a sudden Madison cries for a light on when she is placed in her bed and tonight she begged for her door to be open.... Of course we obliged.... and once the concessions were made she curled up and went nighty night...

Again, all was silent.

My babes are growing, imaginations are in full force, opinions are being heard, and my babies are quickly turning into kids..... If only we had a pause button.