Theme Thursday: Happiness or Joy

With a third birthday celebration last week, we had smiles left and right.  But this photo was my favorite:

Elena and her best friend Maggie

The runner-up:

We promised her big girl "princess" underw.ear when she turned three.  I let her wear them until she peed on my blanket.  She hasn't seen them since.  But it was a happy half-hour for her!


I'll do a proper birthday post soon.  But in the meantime - check out all the happiness and joy over at Cari's!   (Especially Cari's photo.  Which is bursting with more color than the toxic frosting on those oh-crap-we-need-a-cake cupcakes!!!)

Well - it's Wine-Thirty HERE!

I had a rough day.  I was up for a bit with Roman so I woke up late and had to scramble to get all the kids ready for the gym.  We dropped Jason off at work and I knew I would be at least 5 minutes late for class.  Okay by me - I HATE the bear crawl warm-up!!!

On our way, we heard a commercial that had the word "Doctor" in it.  Elena yells from the back, "They said 'Doctor'!!!!"

Me from the front, "Oh hot DOG!!  We have a doctor appointment in 15 minutes!!!!!"

I turned the car around, said a huge thank you for the divine reminder.  We went on to our doctor's appointment where she told me that while eating her coke and honey bun for breakfast she came down with a severe case of vertigo and can't walk.

*blink blink*

Okay??  But we like her.  Because she doesn't call me a dirty hippie.

Anyway, when you start the day backtracking, things just never seem to get back on track, right??

Roman spilled my coffee in the grass outside
I missed all my favorite classes at the gym and found out later I couldn't have the car to go to spin at 6 (but I had already eaten the croissant...)
Dinner was cheese and crackers and an apple - LAME!!
I read too many online fights today between hippie moms/conventional moms and food purists/food realists.

So, now I have a glass of wine and I'm catching up on all my favorite blogs.

If, like me, you are one of the 10 people who haven't seen the Goats Yelling Like Humans Compilation, grab  a fermented beverage, and hit play. The kids have been begging for this all day.  And I obliged each time :)

I thought I was all "hip".  Actually not really.  I'm drinking wine out of a mason jar.  Clearly, I don't give two *_____*'s about being hip.  But I do like laughing.  So when I told my husband about the goat video, he said, "Yeah, it's all over.  They were talking about the Justin Bieber and the Goats on the radio this morning."

I thought "Bieber" was "Timberlake" (you know - from N'Sync!), and jumped on Youtube.  I didn't see Justin Timberlake, but I did find PURE GOLD!!

These are only about 20-30 seconds.  Play them:



Okay - so my day wasn't all bad :)


Irrationality. Driving husbands insane since...

So there is a commercial that plays on blasted repeat on hulu.com.  It's a Walgreens commercial and it annoys me.  Not as much as the Hot Mess Jack in the Box commercial.  That one infuriates me.  And the two of them play during every.single.commercial break.  

The Walgreens commercial annoys me for a couple reasons.



First - the narrators voice.  He is just too happy.  He sounds like a volkwagen-minivan-driving-hippie.  
Second - The "dad's" legs are so bow-legged, I barely notice the kids.  Is this the new "look".  Was he a model and his legs were his ticket to fame?  Why do they zoom so closely to his legs??

But mostly I am just annoyed that this commercial has been overplayed.  And apparently, I'm not alone!  Look at how many people are so emotionally invested in their commercials that they took the time out to VOTE!  (I'm one to talk....)

First Timers (30 Seconds)

walgreenswalgreens·167 videos
930
1,076,001
Like      Dislike 38
      

Anyway, for the last year, I have been adamant that I am so scared for the next pregnancy to come "too soon".  I might die.  I have made this known to Jason, Oh, let's say maybe 5 million times????

I can't stress enough how not ready for another I am.

Then why, after seeing this commercial 3,000 times, did I yell this after seeing this part of it for the 3,001th time: "Okay, I know this sounds insane, but I just got an uncontrollable urge to have a baby.  Not a pregnancy though!  Just a tiny little baby laying in between us in the bed.  Right now though.  I want one."


Jason announced, "You have completely lost your mind" and went to sleep.  

Prayers for the Kilner Family

Please pray for the Kilner family - their little boy John Paul lost his battle with SMA (Spinal Muscular Atrophy) yesterday in his mothers arms and surrounded by his family.  He was the youngest of 5 children.  And if you need a little inspiration this lent, read his parents' account of life over the last 15 months.  They are an true inspiration in our current Culture of Death and have been so heroic this last year.   (The Kilners are related to my sister-in-law and I also went to high school with Elena and her sisters.)


Blessed Pope John Paul 
Pray for us.

What's on Leo's Mind - And Roman's First Year

A couple of months ago, Leo started harassing me on the regular.  But not for the typical things a little boy might want his parents to get for him.  Nope.  

This little guy is hellbent on...


another baby!!

But not just any baby.  He has been begging, for months, for a baby girl.


His rationale is quite simple.  We have 2 boys and only 1 girl.  Clearly we need one more baby girl to even things out.  The unevenness bothers him enough for me to a) get him his official OCD club members card and b) get really nervous that if we have a boy, he might go postal.  (We first noticed his OCD when my mom used to put his fork on the "wrong" side of his plate and then sit back and giggle as he threw a conniption-fit.)

(Our friend Rachel and baby Gianna)

I have heard of kids begging for siblings.  I always thought it was for older kids.  Or girls only.  But Leo started completely on his own and without any prompting from us.  Believe me, I have not been talking about having another child at any point to anyone in the last year.  So we are gently setting Leo up for major disappointment.  

-------

Me: "Leo, we can't control which kind of baby we get.  What if God gives us a girl?

Leo: "Noooo.  Only a girl.  A baby girl.  Then we're all done."

------

Leo: "Mom???  When is God going to give us another baby girl in your belly?"

Me: "Leo.  I told you there isn't a baby in my belly.  And if there were, I can't control if it is a boy or a girl"

Leo: "When you go to the doctor, just tell them to give you a girl this time!"

-------

Leo: "I miss her."

Me: "Who?"

Leo: "The baby girl."

------

At the end of the day, whenever we are blessed with another addition to the family, it will all work out just fine.  If there is anything I have learned - having more children is hard for me and hard for Jason.  But for the kids, more babies makes their little worlds perfect. And watching them interact will always be one of my favorite activities.  


There is nothing this big brother won't do for his siblings






Thinking into the future of having even more children made me nostalgic for the absolutely insane first year of Roman's life!  His birth, a trip to Texas, getting a new job, selling our house, moving to Texas, renting a duplex with paper-thin walls, and then buying and settling into our new Texas home made for one wild and chaotic year.  But looking back on the photos, it looks like we did have some fun.  My memory is still bruised with the craziness of it all and it feels like each and every bad moment is super-glued to my brain.  So completing Roman's First Year video was a necessary band-aid on my mommy ego that seems to only remember the chaos, yelling, and tears.

So if you are a family-member (or are one of the few who actually watch videos on blogs!!) - ENJOY!!

First Birthday Party Weekend

Someone had a birthday!!!!


The kids were so excited to give Roman his silly monster that we did it right after he woke up.



Actually that was the second thing. There was something we did RIGHT after he woke up...


Happy Birthday Kid.  And done.

Just kidding.

I put up a post on Freecyle asking for a push car and scored two toys that Roman has been playing with non-stop.  


We had a fantastic party weekend with family.  Thank God they all came to my house because I was completely out of commission with allergies yesterday.  Spent the entire day toting around tissues and feeling my way through the house through squinty eyelids.

And the party came together perfectly..

once we brought out the BALLOONS!!!

I had no idea my husband had been hiding his balloon tying skills from me for all these years.


We had swords,


helmets,



and even huge narwhals!!!




The birthday kids got spoiled big time




And Roman got this awesome and thoughtful gift from his godparents!!! 
Pictures of  St. Roman and St. Felix

And of course - Cake!!!

Roman still has a severe egg allergy and I am also trying to avoid grains with him for a couple more months, so I made these grain-free Chocolate Cookie Cups and just make a couple without egg for him.  I topped them with a variation of the strawberry cream on that recipe and this Chocolate Frosting recipe.

2 cans of Thai Kitchen full fat coconut milk
2 tbsp honey
2-4 tbsp pure maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups strawberries

Cook the strawberries, honey and maple syrup.  Add vanilla extract and blend with immersion blender.  Open the cans of coconut milk and put in your fridge overnight.  In the morning, scrape the hard coconut milk into a bowl.  Add the strawberry syrup a little at a time to keep the consistency thick until the flavor is good.  (Use the rest of the syrup in oatmeal or on pancakes!!)

Why did I bother posting that recipe??  Because you need to make it.  Weekly.  For real.

Verdict?? 


DELICIOUS!!!



My favorite photos of the day are from when my niece Ramona munched on her mini muffin.  She had some frosting dripping down her face and tried her very best to lick it


But she missed ;)


Oh - and I didn't serve those to the adults.  We had the "real dessert:"

Crockpot Hot Fudge Sundae

And the ice cream maker turned into a sprinkle dispenser only.  After we realized our bowl should be frozen 12 hours ahead of time.  

Still a success!!


And now excuse me while I try to neti-pot my allergies into submission.
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