During Blissdom’s “Girls Night In” event, we previewed Oprah’s new show “Oprah’s Next Chapter”. The premiere episode features Paula Deen.
I have to admit I wasn’t super thrilled mostly because I am not a fan of talk shows or cooking shows. Gasp!
However, I REALLY enjoyed the show. It was funny, heartwarming and entertaining. I would definitely recommend checking it out, especially if you like Oprah, Paul Deen, funny shows, heartwarming shows or entertaining shows…. 
Here is a preview clip.
The show premiers on Sunday, March 4 (9:00-10:00 p.m. ET/PT) on OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network.
I just wanted to share my thoughts in case there are other non cooking show/talk show people out there.. give Oprah’s Next Chapter a shot!
Again special thanks to Angie’s Kettle Corn and DownEast Basics for helping sponsor my trip to Blissdom.
Onesies seem ridiculous on bigger kids UNTIL your kid turns into a stripper…
Then you decide that seeing your little guy strip down anywhere and everywhere is MORE ridiculous.
Linking to Parenting by Dummies and LiveAndLoveOutloud.
Feb 102012
Today has been a Long. Long. Long. Day.
Longer than I expected when I woke up this morning. It’s one thing to prepare for a rough day and work your way through it, it’s quite another when you get hit by a Semi without preparation.
That describes how I felt today, I was hit by a Semi.
However there is always a silver lining, there in fact MUST be a silver lining or at least things to be thankful for. These are mine from today.
I am thankful for my mom who helped me take the boys to Quinn’s appointment today.
I am thankful she kept me focused when I heard upsetting news.
I am thankful Quinn didn’t see me start to cry.
I am thankful he remained oblivious to the gist of his appointment..
I am thankful he was excited to go to school afterwards.
I am thankful that when I chased Elliot into the front yard, ironically warning him of snakes and cactus, that it was ME who actually stepped in the cactus and not him.
I am thankful that Quinn didn’t protest when Peter and I picked him up early from school.
I am thankful that Quinn was a ROCKSTAR while getting three tubes of blood drawn. <—My relief seriously turned the day around for me.
I am thankful for our beautiful Tucson weather that allowed us to enjoy playing in the back yard this evening.
I am thankful that Peter gave Quinn his bath and got both boys ready for bed solo while I did a little shopping. <—Retail therapy is real. Plus we needed soccer socks for tomorrow!
I am thankful that bedtime was relatively easy, albeit a bit later than I would have liked.
I am thankful for the diet coke, chocolate cookies and hot bath that helped me relax tonight
I am thankful for this blog where I can unscramble my thoughts and realize that while today wasn’t the best (it sucked), there were still plenty of things to be thankful for.
And I am thankful it’s time for bed.
What were you thankful for today?
Feb 082012
I knew this picture was a “winner” when I took it, I only wish it was with a real camera and not my cell phone. Still I shouldn’t complain, it captured a cute moment!
Peter suggested a few other captions, funny ones of course….
- Who farted?
- Hey, you got the sports page?
- Potty like a rock star!
- The life of the potty!
I like my sweet caption better than his silly ones but would love to hear your caption ideas!
This is linked to Parenting by Dummies.
Jan 182012
{I wrote this post a couple months ago and forgot to finish it..}
Last week I experienced two extra sweet big brother moments.
The first one was when Elliot and I dropped Quinn off at school. On the days I bring Elliot inside, he gets to go down the slide once before we say good bye to Quinn.
Yesterday morning as soon as we got out to the playground, Quinn grabbed Elliot’s hand and walked him over to the jungle gym. {Surprising me that my headstrong little one let him!}
It was so sweet to see them walk together holding hands.
Then later that same day, Elliot decided to get mad at dinner time and didn’t want to sit in his high chair. He was screaming, wouldn’t eat his food, wouldn’t let daddy feed him, just totally unhappy.
Quinn was sitting down already eating but he told Elliot “Don’t be sad” and got up and went over to help him. Quinn had never fed Elliot before but it went super well. Elliot calmed down and let Quinn feed him. Quinn does a fabulous job at being a big brother {at least most of the time! 
}
And finally….
My big guy wears his heart on his sleeve. He understands when we sort through his toys to give away some that they are for kids “that don’t have any” and tonight he had the sweetest request for my husband. We have had conversations about how some people live outside because they don’t have homes. After he brought up toys, he mentioned the people without homes again and asked Peter “Hey daddy why can’t you build them a house?”. What a sweetheart! I wish we had a good answer for him….
Dec 242011
Seasonal goodies are one of my favorite parts of Christmas. And let’s be clear, by seasonal I mean Peppermint or Candy Cane. {Egg Nog and Pumpkin = Not Awesome}
I thought I might share some of my old and new Christmas time indulgences.
Frosted sugar cookies are a cookie staple on our big annual baking day. And 1/2 of them are topped with crushed candy canes. <—SO that I can consume 1/2 of them. 
You can see a couple hiding up at the top of the tray. It’s best to hide them so that you can snag them before someone else!! 
Another long time favorite of mine is peppermint ice cream. Dreyer’s consistently makes it although I do love it from local ice cream shops as well! <—P.S. Disneyland also offers it at Christmas time!
To be honest I am not he biggest fan of ice cream generally but if I had to pick a favorite flavor it would be a tough call between bubble gum and peppermint.
I just discovered Pillsbury’s new peppermint frosting. I would stock up on it but fear I would gain 10 lbs a week until I exploded….
And if that happened. At least I know my exploded-ness would be mostly yummy peppermint flavored guts
Another newly discovered goodie?
Candy Cane Pop Rocks!
Yup. I Rock, They Rock, We all Rock for Candy Cane Flavor!
And let’s not forget my most recent discovery.
Trader Joe Candy Cane Joe-Joe’s which made my last Peppermint/Candy Cane delight possible!!
Homemade Peppermint Ice Cream Cake!!
What is your favorite holiday treat? Are you a Peppermint/Candy Cane Junkie like me?
Quinn’s preschool made gingerbread houses like these last year. This year he managed to come home with two of them!
The milk cartons make it a lot easier for the kiddos to create their designs. They also use graham crackers instead of actual gingerbread. Again a great idea in my mind. I don’t like ginger bread. 
Then frosting and candy to decorate! Easy Peasy!
Quinn also made his own Menorah. They had a real Menorah as an example for the kids but let the kids go to town on their own design.
Quinn told me about this one night. And he accurately described it. When I picked him up the next day, I easily spotted his orange and black, 2 candle Menorah.
Only my child makes a Menorah inspired by Halloween. I don’t think any of the other ones I saw looked FAB-U-LOUS but Quinn’s definitely stuck out among them.
I loved this easy preschool holiday craft idea too! They just used wood or plastic bases and let the kids paint them. Then glued down nuts to hold the candles. I guess Quinn thought 2 was good enough. 
The boys and I visit with the GREAT Grandparents a few weeks ago and of course Quinn and Elliot had a blast outside with Papa Leon!
The highlight was the very active ant hill. The boys were quite enthralled, it was a unique experience for them…
Don’t get me wrong. We have ants at our house. Lots of them.
However Peter and I don’t usually lead the boys TOWARDS ants… Papas are way cooler than we are.
Elliot already knows he has Papa wrapped around his finger!
Is it the city views or sitting on the wall that has them excited?
Or maybe it was just hanging outside with Papa!
And I am pretty sure Santa was relieved that we stopped by to visit him BEFORE Elliot got a hold of a candy cane.
What do you think?
I knew kids and candy canes can be sticky messes but Elliot really scared impressed me last night.
I can’t imagine he tasted ANY of the yumminess since his hands, face and pants were covered in the red stickiness.
He must have just been rolling it all over himself for war paint instead of eating it. And if the enemy saw that monster coming, I am sure they would have ran the other way.
I almost did!
And by cute presents, I mean presents for me. 
Down East Basics invited me back to their Tucson Mall store to check out their holiday line! Remember I was introduced to them a few months ago and fell in love with their cute styles!
So while Elliot played down stairs in the kids play area, I ran up to the Down East Basics store to check out their cute stuff. And no one panic. My mom was with me, or rather she stayed with Elliot.
It was rather nice to bop into a fun, girly store without a monster in tow! I had a full 10 minutes to scope out the store. The first thing that caught my eye was this super cute shirt!
However today is a rare day in Tucson, quite cold and rainy so a short sleeve shirt held little appeal.
Right next to it was another great option in a similar color… The Get Posy Cardi!
I am a big fan of cardigans with a “cute something” on it, so this was a perfect early Christmas present for me!
By the way a lot of Down East Basics clothing has a “cute something” on it. It makes them quite fun and memorable! Plus their prices are quite reasonable and throw in a sale and you have a fantastic combination.
And speaking of sales, I happen to walk into a FABULOUS sale! 40% off one item (1 per customer) through 12/14. Seriously how lucky is that?!!
Keep up with sales and online coupon codes via their Facebook page!
If you need to pick up something for your best friend, sister, mom, wife… or yourself. Down East Basics is a great choice1!
Disclosure: I was provided a gift card to facilitate my review. As always my opinions are my own!
Dec 022011
Congrats to #4 Courtney Mora-Ludwig you won the Shutterfly cards!
Thanks to everyone who entered!
It has been a short and crazy week for us. We took a quick trip to San Diego last week and just came home on Sunday. And now all of a sudden it’s Thanksgiving, with all the craziness it brings! Black Friday anyone???
I plan on sharing more about our San Diego trip soon (likely over on the other blog) but I can’t help but sharing a few of my favorite pictures with you now!!
Look at that devilishly happy and cute little guy!!
And this is a sweet picture of Quinn!
Here is a good shot of Quinn and I (it’s too bad Elliot wasn’t looking)!
…. and a good one of Peter and Quinn!
This is the only picture we snapped of Quinn with his cousin Tommy Joe! Look at those cutie pie cousins!!
And this is Annalee, one of my best friends who was Cah-RAZY and allowed us to stay with her. Oh and she braved LEGOLAND with us too! What an AWESOME chica!
All of these pictures would be great candidates for Christmas cards!
I love this design because I can include lots of awesome pictures!
Besides using the pictures for Holiday cards, I could also use them to make Photo Blankets! Wouldn’t that be fun!
And speaking of fun… I have a giveaway!!
Shutterfly (25 cards) Giveaway
One Chica Ramblings reader win a code good for 25 free cards from Shutterfly.
Please leave a comment on this post for each entry. There are 3 ways to enter. US Residents only.
- Share with us one of the card designs you like from Shutterfly.
- Like Chica Ramblings on Facebook. And come back and let me know you did.
- Share this giveaway on facebook or twitter. And come back and let me know you did.
Giveaway ends December 2nd at 7pm! I will use random.org to select a winner.
Disclosure: Shutterfly provided the code for the giveaway. No compensation is being received. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
This is so appropriate for us! We are headed to San Diego today.. I think we can kill some time with Disney’s “THE MUPPETS” Road Trip Game!
Are we there yet? How ‘bout now? Now? How about now?
Those questions can only mean one thing: road trip! (With children.) And Kermit knows road trips! In the upcoming film Disney’s “The Muppets,” Kermit joins Walter (Walter), Gary (Jason Segel), Mary (Amy Adams) and—eventually—the whole Muppet gang in the car for a trip of their own, as they endeavor to save Muppet Studios from evil oilman Tex Richman. So don’t despair. The Muppets can help keep kids busy and happy with…
DISNEY’S “THE MUPPETS” ROAD TRIP GAME
See if you can spot:
- 5 Kermit green cars
- 1 Person who looks like a relative of Gonzo’s
- 3 People who look like they just stepped off the Electric Mayhem Band bus
- 4 of Miss Piggy’s biggest fans. How can you tell? Easy, they could be
a) Singing to themselves
b) Fixing their hair in the mirror
c) Blowing kisses to you through the window
d) Blowing kisses to themselves in the mirror
- 2 Bumper stickers that are so funny, Fozzie Bear would add them to his act
- 4 People wearing suits they stole from Statler and Waldorf
- 3 Cars that are so patriotic, Sam the Eagle just might be driving them
Bonus:
- Sing the chorus of “Mahna Mahna” or “Rainbow Connection” at a red light or while driving through a tunnel
- Find a license plate from Smalltown, USA (or at least one that is red, white and blue)
- Find the letters of Disney’s “The Muppets” in license plates
ABOUT THE MOVIE
On vacation in Los Angeles, Walter, the world’s biggest Muppet fan, his brother Gary (Jason Segel) and Gary’s girlfriend Mary (Amy Adams) from Smalltown, USA, discover the nefarious plan of oilman Tex Richman (Chris Cooper) to raze the Muppet Theater and drill for the oil recently discovered beneath the Muppets’ former stomping grounds. To stage a telethon and raise the $10 million needed to save the theater, Walter, Mary and Gary help Kermit reunite the Muppets, who have all gone their separate ways: Fozzie now performs with a Reno casino tribute band called the Moopets, Miss Piggy is a plus-size fashion editor at Vogue Paris, Animal is in a Santa Barbara clinic for anger management, and Gonzo is a high-powered plumbing magnate. With secret, signature, celebrity cameos, Disney’s “The Muppets” hits the big screen Nov. 23, 2011.
Disclosure: No disclosure is necessary. I am on the marketing list for Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures and was provided with photographs and video to share with my readers. All opinions are completely my own.
Who else is planning on seeing the Muppets next weekend? I am looking forward to taking Quinn!
We are headed to San Diego this weekend to visit LEGOLAND and the San Diego Zoo. We are huge Disneyland fans but we decided we needed to share some love with San Diego. Quinn is *SO* excited about going to LEGOLAND. He is also quite enthralled with the idea of double decker buses at the zoo!
Anyway, I am hoping we get a couple of good family pictures while we are there! I really like this picture because Quinn is still so little in this one, in fact it reminded me a lot of Elliot right now! Plus Elliot is in the picture, how can you miss my big belly! 
Oh and check out how Peter and I are both ROCKIN’ the camo!! How cool are we!
Do you see this craziness in our cup cabinet?
This is our only cabinet for cups, glasses, drinking vessels of any kind!
And you can’t see it in the picture but there are only 3 shelves.
That means the kid’s darn cups have taken over 2/3 of our space. UGHHH!
This situation is like a Tupperware cabinet (at least my nightmare-ish Tupperware cabinet). It only gets worse with time. You can try and organize and match lids but it doesn’t matter. The crap cups just multiply and topple over and fall out of the cabinet. It almost makes me want to scream.
I had enough!! I decided to pull everything out. Everything that was currently clean that is, because dishes are never-ending over here but that is another story entirely.
As you can see the variety of cups is rather ridiculous. And I decided that variety was part of the problem. Different kinds of cups don’t stack well together.
Plus it’s hard to find the right lid, spout, straw, random part, etc to fit each cup….
This is a perfect example. What the heck is this piece for???
So the first step is to get rid of some cups. Variety is NOT the spice of life when it comes to cabinet organization!!
And as a result, we ended up with a BIG bag of cups to donate!
Woo Hoo! I love dropping off bags to donate!
And if I get rid of some cups, I need to replace some..
It sounds counter-intuitive to buy more after donating so many but having multiples of the same style cup really works!
And the results??
1000 Times Better!
It’s not perfect but their cups now fit *neatly* onto ONE shelf.
I ended keeping more sippy cup styles than I REALLY wanted to, but I *JUST* couldn’t get rid of anymore….
So I will just be happy with my progress and move on to the next project.. maybe the darn Tupperware cabinet….
I am guest posting over at Mom Endeavors today! Sara has an awesome Thanksgiving themed series running and invited me to contribute!
Go check out my super easy Thanksgiving bath toy craft and all the other super fabulous posts featured during the Cornucopia of Creativity Series. <—I am seriously in good company!!
Nov 072011
Cars are definitely a favorite toy around this house. Quinn has always loved them and they are the first thing Elliot grabs each morning to play with!
Cars are cheap and it seems like we have picked up a ton of unique ones over the years including character and holiday themed ones. In fact I snagged these awesome Halloween ones at Target (70% off) just last week! They make cheap stocking stuffers!
Holiday themed ones seem to be available for Christmas, Halloween, Easter and even Valentines day… but I have never seen any for Thanksgiving. In fact I don’t see much Thanksgiving merchandise in general, so I guess it makes sense that I don’t see any Thanksgiving themed toys.
So I had a crazy idea to make some! This project could be just about free depending upon your supplies or pretty darn cheap if you are starting from scratch.
I started with 4 cars. ($1 each or $0 if pilfered from your kid’s room!)
Then I found super cute Thanksgiving stickers ($2 at Hallmark).
Finding the stickers was the hardest part of the project. Like I mentioned above, Thanksgiving merchandise is extremely limited and I only found a few different sticker options out there and almost all were too large (to fit on the cars) or were 3-D scrap booking ones that also would not work. It was a bonus they were Snoopy Thanksgiving stickers!
Mod Podge and a brush were all I needed to finish the project! ( ~$6) if you don’t have them already.
Even though I found “smaller” stickers, I still had to cut and crop them to get them to fit on the cars. And I would recommend sticking with vans! I think my vans turned out much better because of the larger surface area to decorate!
After I placed the stickers, I did 4-5 thin coats of mod podge letting it dry about 10 minutes between each coat.
After they were totally dry, the boys had a blast playing with their special Thanksgiving cars.
Custom Thanksgiving Cars on the cheap! (or free if you steal your kid’s cars and their stickers)! 
I am quite happy with the results! What do you think?
Nov 012011
We started doing Halloween parties over at my brother’s house a few years back and last year we started a new tradition with group themed costumes. It was Toy Story last year….
We had a full Star Wars Halloween this year!
Quinn was the starting point as a Jedi. He was just getting into Star Wars last year, so it seemed like an easy choice. And it didn’t hurt that the BIG guys in the family are also Star Wars fans!
Peter and I were a convincing Hans Solo and Princess Leia. 
And Elliot did great as Chewbacca! <—Better than I expected!
Darth Maul and Yoda: Uncle David and Aunt Nessa
Storm Trooper and Darth Vader: Aunt Lynn and Uncle Stevie
Jawa and the Emperor: Grandma Donna and Papa Dave
Quinn had lots of fun with all of the Star Wars characters. His favorite thing though was light saber battles with Darth Vader!
Grandma and Papa did a great job scaring up some fun!
Me and my boys!
The Leia buns were quite popular….
I loved the Star Wars Jack O Lanterns!
Happy Star Wars Halloween!
Do you do a themed Halloween?
I have to admit we really enjoy it and we already have our theme picked out for next year!!
I linked this fun Halloween post to Parenting By Dummies, All Things Belle, and 5 Minutes For Mom
We visited the Marana Pumpkin Patch and Farm Festival last week but we didn’t actually buy any pumpkins out there. Why?
Not sure really. I wasn’t sure about the prices and the boys were totally busy with all the fun activities out there. Quinn didn’t even mention the pumpkins until we were leaving.
So we took the boys to a much smaller “Pumpkin Patch” at Bashas last week to pick out a couple of pumpkins. Quinn was pretty excited by this adventure too. The pile of pumpkins paired with a scarecrow did the trick for him. He thought it was pretty darn cool to pick out his pumpkins and then help daddy decorate them with our Vampire Elmo and Cookie Monster pieces.
I definitely recommend the pumpkin pieces for parents of little ones, less dangerous and messy than carving. Plus if you plan ahead you can pick them up after Halloween this year cheap and be ready for next year! (they are reusable but I hope to get a new super hero one for next year, I am sure the boys will think that is super cool!)
Happy Halloween!
Oct 292011
Congrats to V! I will be emailing shortly!
Thanks to everyone that entered. I hope to have another fun giveaway up soon!
We had turkey & ham sandwiches for dinner a few nights ago and our go-to side would normally be chips or cottage cheese..
And we didn’t have any cottage cheese on hand..So we were stuck with chips right??
Wrong!
I did a little thinking about what we had on hand, including the leftover broccoli from the veggie tray my dad gave us and realized that we had the makings of pasta salad!
Except that I have never made pasta salad before.
I know what you are thinking… any idiot can throw together a pasta salad!
And you’re right! This idiot did! Ha.
The results?
Pretty darn good and so easy. Seriously why haven’t I tried making it before?
The one complaint Peter had was that it was heavy on the pasta and light on the veggies.
A legitimate complaint. I have a hard time with veggies. I seriously add way too many or too little. I hesitated adding more because I was SURE Peter would bitch about veggie overload…
Instead I get the opposite response. 
Besides patting myself on my back, I wanted to share the simple details with anyone else that is a cooking/kitchen novice!
I love that I made it with things I typically have on hand!
- Pasta <—Free pasta is a couponer staple!
- Black Olives – Cut in 1/2
- Grape tomatoes – Cut in 1/2
- Yellow Bell Pepper – Diced
- Broccoli – just the tops and diced up small
- Feta Cheese
- Italian Dressing <—easier than doing my own olive oil/vinegar/spice blend, which by the way scares me because I know I will screw that up!
After I cooked the pasta I just tossed everything together. Again I didn’t have enough veggies and I should have made it a couple hours earlier so that it could have chilled in the fridge before dinner, but overall it was a major success.
Have you tried making something new in the kitchen lately? How did it turn out?
So I wrote about the cute but incorrect way Quinn speaks back in June. He has started correcting himself as he hears us repeat the “right” words, although I have to admit I still sometimes just repeat his words back to him.. , I know that soon enough he will cease his little boy speak. Or Quinn Speak as I call it.
Quinn has recently discovered Chunky Peanut Butter. We are big ridiculously HUGE peanut butter fans around here but as a typical preschooler Quinn is quite picky about lumps and bumps in food (P.S. lumps and bumps is a Grandma Patty term, not a Quinn term) 
In fact when I made the super yummy granola bars for the first time, he had a fit when he saw the chunks of almonds in it. My solution was to just blend the almonds into a fine powder, so he doesn’t know they are in there!
So naturally stupidly I assumed that he wouldn’t like crunchy peanut butter.
Then as all THREE of my boys do, Quinn insisted on sneaking a bite of my food one morning, My breakfast happened to be Peanut Butter Toast with CRUNCHY peanut butter.
He was instantly hooked.
Ever since that morning he requests “Bread with the bumps in the peanut butter.” His PB&J are also made from Crunchy PB now.
However, I am not FOOLISH to think that he would now accept almond pieces in the granola bars…
That would make too much sense. And what preschool has ANY sense?
Tell me do you kids like creamy or crunchy peanut butter?
Oct 212011
Winnie the Pooh is being released on DVD and Blu-Ray on October 25, 2011! It is definitely a movie I plan on buying for my own little QUINNIE the pooh! 
Return to the Hundred Acre Wood, for the latest adventure featuring the world’s beloved bear, Winnie The Pooh! Join Pooh, Tigger, Rabbit, Christopher Robin, Owl, Kanga, Piglet, Eeyore, and all of the classic characters you know and love when Walt Disney Pictures releases Winnie The Pooh on DVD and Blu-Ray October 25, 2011
Check out the fun widget below! You can download fun Hundred Acre activities for your kiddos and watch a sneak peak of the movie! Plus you can take the quiz below to see which character you best match… I am TIGGER!
Winnie The Pooh DVD/Blue-Ray Combo Pack Giveaway
One Chica Ramblings reader win a Winnie The Pooh DVD/Blue-Ray Combo Pack
Please leave a comment on this post for each entry. There are 3 ways to enter. US Residents only.
- Let me know which Winnie The Pooh character is your favorite.
- Like Chica Ramblings on Facebook.
- Leave a comment on a DIFFERENT Chica Ramblings post.
Giveaway ends October 28th at 7pm! I will use random.org to select a winner.
Disclosure: Partners Hub is sponsoring this giveaway. No compensation is being received, I just thought it would be a fun giveaway for my readers! All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Oct 202011
Quinn received a brand new big boy bike (with training wheels) from Papa Bob this week for his 4th birthday…
He had been eyeing the “Big Boy” bikes at the store lately so the gift was timely. And of course a Star Wars Helmet was also included…
And as soon as Quinn hopped on his new bike, Elliot claimed the little boy Trike!
Quinn was “Flinstoning” it for a long time on his tricycle before he started pedaling. Even at school I can recall giggling as he “rode” his trike around the path.
I am sure Elliot will have none of that nonsense. He just dives into everything head first like he is a big boy… no hesitation! So he will likely be an earlier rider!
I think a helmet for Elliot aka “Crash” may be necessary VERY soon!
We capped off a VERY busy week with Disney On Ice presents Disney·Pixar’s Toy Story 3!
And it was a blast!!
Quinn was clapping the entire show. <—Or at least when he wasn’t stuffing his face with popcorn! 
Naturally the show focused a lot on Woody and Buzz Lightyear which was great for Quinn! But Jessie and Barbie both had some big scenes as well!
And of course we saw Buzz battle the Evil Emperor Zurg!
And the aliens with “The Claw”!
Quinn was a bit concerned during this Round Up gang scene. He was sure the dynamite would go BANG!
He kept his ears covered in anticipation…
It worked out though without a BANG!
I actually think Disney On Ice did a great job with plenty of excitement but nothing that was too loud or scary.
And of course there was plenty of silliness going on throughout the show. It even spilled over into the audience! Check out the two Sillies I sat with….
There is still time for you to see the TOYS! “Toy Story On Ice” (Quinn’s name for it) runs through tomorrow with 2 more shows at 1:00PM and 5:00PM!
And a special thanks to Grandma Patty and Papa Joe for watching Elliot! He is just too little to sit through the 2 hour show. Maybe next time.
Disclosure: I am a Feld Family Ambassador, and in exchange for my time and efforts in attending shows and reporting my opinion within this blog, as well as keeping you advised of the latest discount offers, Feld Entertainment has provided me with complimentary tickets to Feld shows and opportunities to attend private Feld pre-Show events. Even though I receive these benefits, I always give an opinion that is 100% mine.
Quinn battled it out with The Evil Emperor Zurg last Halloween and is SO excited to see Zurg in person again this weekend!
Despite what the name might indicate, Disney On Ice presents Disney·Pixar’s Toy Story 3 actually includes memorable moments from all three Toy Story movies…
Who else is going??
Reminder:
Disney On Ice presents Disney·Pixar’s Toy Story 3 arrives at the Tucson Convention Center for 7 fabulous showings!
Thu, Oct 13 2011 7:00PM
Fri, Oct 14 2011 7:00PM
Sat, Oct 15 2011 11:00AM, 3:00PM and 7:00PM
Sun, Oct 16 2011 1:00PM and 5:00PM
Use discount code MOM11 at Ticket Master to save $5 off each ticket! The code is valid for all shows but not on Front Row or VIP seating.
Disclosure: I am a Feld Family Ambassador, and in exchange for my time and efforts in attending shows and reporting my opinion within this blog, as well as keeping you advised of the latest discount offers, Feld Entertainment has provided me with complimentary tickets to Feld shows and opportunities to attend private Feld pre-Show events. Even though I receive these benefits, I always give an opinion that is 100% mine.
Oct 092011
I am exhausted just thinking about this week….
I have an Un-Fun Dr. Appointment. Enough said.
The boys have a double Dentist appointment. Elliot’s 1st, Quinn’s second. Yes we are bad parents. Cross your fingers that it doesn’t turn into WW3. Please.
I am doing a HUGE, SCARY coupon presentation. In front of 100 people. Actually 100 women. And to be totally honest. 100 women in law enforcement. With guns. Woo Hoo. And truly the law enforcement part makes it interesting, the 100 people is what scares me.
We have Quinn’s preschool open house.
I am going to learn the secret of the Purple Purse and attend an event at the YWCA to recognize Domestic Violence Awareness month.
Then we have Disney On Ice Toy Story 3 at the TCC!
Oh and my dad is flying in on Saturday for a week’s visit!
And Peter will be doubly busy because a coworker is out of town, so he will be home later every day this week. Bummer.
Never mind the regular stuff I should be doing…..
So how does your week looking? Busy or Relaxing?
What drives you Batty?
For me it’s spotting our frequent fall guest just hanging out in his favorite spot: our front entryway.
See him up there?
Imagine walking up the front entry, getting your keys out, wondering is he there?
Praying, please don’t be there! Debating the whole time am I brave enough to peek over my shoulder as I open the front door? Is he there? Do I really want to know?
Sometimes ignorance is bliss….
Especially when you back is turned to this!!!!
Don’t keep scrolling if are a Scaredy Cat Bat!! 
{Fair Warning}
turn back while you still can
{Fair Warning}
I’m serious…
{Fair Warning}
Last chance, step away from the blog….
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Seriously I totally squirm as I quickly open the front door, afraid he will LEAP on to me at an given moment.
I linked up this October appropriate Wordful Wednesday post to Seven Clown Circus!
So what drives you Batty? 
Oct 012011
Seriously how cute are these two LITTLE guys?
And what are they watching so intently? Maybe a show on the ridiculously huge TV?
NOPE.
Guess Again.
They are watching Toy Story 3 on the IPAD.
The IPAD propped up next to the ridiculously huge TV.
Sometimes smaller is better. Just ask my little guys!
Sep 272011
Last week I had a great time attending a blogger mixer at Down East Basics in the Tucson Mall.
Never heard of Down East Basics? I hadn’t before either this is what I found out….
DownEast Basics, a high-style, low-price retailer that specializes in trendy fashions as well as modest clothing…
And they are true to their word. The store was full of trendy boutique style fashions that weren’t skimpy. And as an AWESOMELY hip mom, I can totally appreciate that! Plus nothing was over $60 which I appreciate as a Deal Diva! 
Check out the cute stuff that Becca and Kelly found!!
I loved this dress and this cardigan.
Several of us tried them on… and a few took them home.
Sadly, I wasn’t one of them.
I don’t wear dresses enough. Read Never. I may however go back for the cardigan. It might be my destiny. 
What I did buy….
I loved the dots on the front mixed with the stripes on the back. It comes in brown too. I almost bought both colors…almost.
My 2nd shirt was a fun green one. I LOVED the color!
I couldn’t find this shirt on the Down East Basics website so you are stuck with this *FAB* picture. What can I say, I am bad with cameras… oh wait… It’s not my fault. Peter took it. 
And check out the cool bracelet I bought! It’s a sort of a neutral brown/pinkish color and I am working it almost every day! <—Because I AM that hip!
DOWNEAST WANTS YOU TO LIVE FOR PINK!
From now through October 16, DownEast Basics is running its annual LIVE for Pink donation event – read the inspiring stories of Down East’s special LIVE for Pink photo shoot with everyday women impacted by breast cancer, and more info on the campaign HERE! (They are donating up to $25,000)
Thanks to Down East Basics for hosting the mixer and providing me with a gift card to facilitate my purchase!
Sep 242011
And the Winner is #44, Kara!
Thanks to everyone that entered!
I am so excited to be giving away a family 4 pack of tickets to see Disney On Ice presents Disney•Pixar’s Toy Story 3 in Tucson!
And in case you missed my first post about the show, the discount code MOM11 will save $5 off each ticket at Ticket Master. The code is valid for all shows but not on Front Row or VIP seating.
Disney On Ice presents Disney·Pixar’s Toy Story 3 arrives at the Tucson Convention Center for 7 fabulous showings!
Thu, Oct 13 2011 7:00PM
Fri, Oct 14 2011 7:00PM
Sat, Oct 15 2011 11:00AM, 3:00PM and 7:00PM
Sun, Oct 16 2011 1:00PM and 5:00PM
Now on to the giveaway!!!
Disney On Ice Tickets Giveaway
1 Chica Ramblings reader will receive a family 4-pack of tickets to the opening night show!!
Please leave a comment on this post for each entry. US Residents only.
- Which Toy Story character is your favorite? <—Required entry
Optional Extra Entries:
- Leave a comment on a DIFFERENT Chica Ramblings post!
- Like Chica Ramblings on Facebook.
- Tweet the following: “Enter to win #Tucson Disney On Ice Tickets from @DesertDealsDiva #giveaway http://bit.ly/o3Zqfc” (can be done daily)
You must be 18 to enter! Giveaway ends October 5th at 7pm! I will use random.org to select a winner.
Disclosure: I am a Feld Family Ambassador, and in exchange for my time and efforts in attending shows and reporting my opinion within this blog, as well as keeping you advised of the latest discount offers, Feld Entertainment has provided me with complimentary tickets to Feld shows and opportunities to attend private Feld pre-Show events. Even though I receive these benefits, I always give an opinion that is 100% mine.
Can anyone guess what our family Halloween costume theme will be this year??
I hope everyone easily guessed Star Wars!! 
I am thinking one of those for Mr. Elliot. Unfortunately they all involve headgear and he can be crabby about hats. <—Gasp! A toddler that doesn’t like hats? Un-stinking believable!
So I do need to factor that into it… The Ewok was my original choice… but all three are so cute!
All three costumes are available at Just Kid Costumes, along with a great selection of other Star Wars Costumes and a HUGE selection of kids costumes in general.
Just Kid Costumes also offers a fun app where you can upload your child’s picture and let them virtually try on a costume! And the process takes only a few minutes… I couldn’t believe how easy it was to try! Go check out the Kid’s Dress Up Room!
Plus use the code BLOGGER10 to save 10% of your next purchase! The coupon is good through Sunday, October 16th.
Which one gets your vote for Mr. Elliot? Should he be R2D2, Chewbacca, or the Ewok?
While cleaning out my desk… (which is always a work in progress) I came across a package of HP Iron on Transfers. It was a great discovery because I hadn’t had much luck finding “new to us” Disney shirts for the boys for our Disneyland trip.
I always watch for fun Disney shirts for the boys to wear on our Disneyland trips. Finding them at consignment shops saves us lots of money and makes them a little more unique than the ones everyone JUST bought in the park.
Back to my DIY success. I decided to try my luck with the long forgotten Iron on transfers. My first task was to find cheap plain t-shirts to use. I found 3 Hanes/Fruit of Loom shirts at our 99 Cent Only Shirt. Orange and green for Elliot and a turquoise one in Quinn’s size. Then I found a yellow on at Twice As Nice for $1.99.
Next up finding some great t-shirt designs. I decided a simpler design would be a better chance for success. So I started googling things like “Disney Clip Art” and “Mickey Head Clip Art”.
Then I just used the "print screen” function on my computer to copy the images and paste them into my Paint program. I cropped the image and then inserted my text. I wanted the shirts to be personalized with the boys names and this was a very easy way to do that!
After I created a t-shirt image I liked I saved the file and opened it with my Word program. My transfer sheets were the size of regular sheets of paper. I played with the sizing and then did test prints on regular paper. Then I was able to test out the image size on my shirts.
Once I was happy with my design I printed the images on the special HP transfer paper. I made a HUGE mistake thought. Can anyone guess what I did??
Take a look at the picture above again and see if you can figure it out…..
The picture below is another hint.
I forgot to print the mirror image of the designs! DUH!
So my first set were a loss. But no biggie, I had more transfer paper left! I went back and changed the print settings to print the mirror image. (And don’t forget to change it back once you are done)!!
I trimmed each image, leaving a little edge around it.
Then I carefully centered each image on a shirt and followed the directions to iron on each transfer. The key seems to be time and pressure. Make sure you have enough of each!
The Moment Of Truth!
Was the transfer really going to work??
Yay! It totally did. I carefully peeled of of the paper backing and then did a happy dance around the kitchen! 
What a fun spread of color!! I was so excited with the results!
Project Cost:
4 T-shirts $5 total
Iron On transfers free <—I did price out a package of iron on transfers at Michaels which worked out to about $1 per transfer paper.
Total Cost $1.25 a shirt for me!!
I shared a couple other pictures from Disneyland last week. This was a fun and easy project. Oh and cheap too!
It’s been a few MANY weeks since I posted my BlogHer’11: The Fun, The Food & The Freebies! Part 1…..
I intended on following it up with a Part 2 but life ran away with me. 
But here it is! So let’s get on with it!
I had 2 Fabulous Meals at BlogHer that I wanted to talk about. Neither was an official BlogHer meal but they were during our BlogHer adventure!
The first meal was at Hash House A Go Go (courtesy of the fabulous Dodge folks: Lisa, Andrea and Joe). We were forewarned about the “HUGENESS” of the meals. Some people heeded the warning and split plates. I was a rebel and ordered my own meal.
And I had the best meal out of the group… <—In my humble opinion 
Snickers Pancakes!!!
Stop drooling please.
By the way, it was even yummier than you can imagine! And NO I didn’t eat it all. But I did eat ALL the big snickers chunks!
My 2nd fabulous meal was on the last night of BlogHer after our preview screening of The Help! <—If you haven’t seen it yet, you should!!
We ate at Maryjanes, The Hard Rock Hotels’ hip diner style joint. 
I ordered the Hot Elvis! And if you can’t guess what a Hot Elvis is.. It’s Peanut butter, bananas, and griddled whiteboy bread. Seriously Yummy!
(My picture doesn’t do it justice.)
And here are some of my favorite Swag Goodies from BlogHer!
A Fun Vera Bradley Lunch Sack from the UPS/Collective Bias party. I love that it’s super cute and girly. Sometimes I need a little girly around here!
I love these Vix flip flops from the Cheap Sally party. A bit pricey but they are seriously comfy!!
And aren’t these Dr. Scholl’s Fast Flats great! I totally try to avoid uncomfortable shoes at all costs but these are still a great idea!
I thought I would be the hero coming home with this super cool Waterpik shower sprayer. It WAS perfect for our newly remodeled Master Bath… except that Peter thought to surprise me while I was gone to BlogHer and finish the job! LOL Funny how those things happen! Don’t fret though. we are saving this one for the 2nd bath!
Check out the HUGE(and Yummy) bar of chocolate courtesy of Fresh & Easy. I wish Fresh & Easy would open a location in Tucson.
I also picked up a couple of the new Knorr’s Homestyle Stock. I love how compact they are! Each tub makes 3 1/2 cups of broth.
I also picked up a Mother’sTouch thermometer at the Mom Select Swag Suite. We have already used it a few times and it works great!
Quinn LOVES our new Hexbug and so does Elliot! We definitely need to get more of them! Our one Hexbug is lonely!
And lastly Sprouts was handing out these fabulous little star/pinwheel crayons that are PERFECT for little ones!
And I mentioned in my 1st post that I “met” The Coupon Goddess… Here is my proof!
Photo Credit: Clever Girls Collective
She was the ONE blogger I wanted to meet at BlogHer. Unfortunately she was in terrible accident a month before BlogHer and is still recovering. I knew ahead of time that I wasn’t going to truly meet her but was pleasantly surprised to find her “mini me” version at the Clever Girls Party!
BlogHer’11 was a blast! And if you plan on going to BlogHer’12 just be prepared for lots of craziness and no rest. It was exhausting but well worth it!
I now I have my sights on Blissdom12, hopefully I can find some sponsors to help get me there!
Sep 192011
The winners are #9 and #14
Congrats to AllieZirkle and Mami2jcn!
I will be emailing your codes for 50 free prints today!
Thanks to everyone for entering! And stay tuned I have another fun giveaway starting up soon!
Sep 132011
We are in Disneyland.
Do I really need to blog anything else? It’s awesome and perfect! 
Well maybe not all perfect.
Check out the 5 things we forgot <— DUH!
1) Stroller blanket/shade cover – I realized this as we left Tucson. We had mickey towels packed so it wasn’t worth turning around for….
2) Elmo Potty Seat- We realized this somewhere after Yuma… Way too late to go back and get. I almost debated buying one at Target when arrived. Luckily Quinn is used to doing without one in public restrooms. So we are making it work.
3) Quinn’s sweatshirts- Seriously what a DUH move. I had all the boys clothes laid out while I packed, mentally checking things off. But I never took his sweatshirts off the back of his door. Clearly a “mental” checklist isn’t adequate. I did bring 1 long-sleeved shirt that we have used for layering the last 2 nights and it’s sufficed. It’s cooler in the evening but not truly cold.
4) No Shorts for Quinn- I didn’t forget these but we could use them. The weather seemed so much cooler in Cali that I packed Quinn all pants. We may need to buy a pair of shorts! $22 later Quinn now owns a pair of official Disneyland shorts.
ready for a big OMG?
5) I LEFT MY PURSE in our 1st hotel room. As in we checked out and I didn’t have possession of it for 24 hours… OMG! Thankfully housekeeping found it and management delivered it when I called in a panic!
But let’s balance out the negativity with
Awesome things…
1) We are again SO in love with our kids suite at the Hojo. The setup and space is just awesome.
2) We rode the Little Mermaid for the first time. The boys really liked it!
3) We spent yesterday with one of my best friends. Aunt Annalee was Quinn’s favorite ride partner!
4) I survived an afternoon in the park without Peter. (Who abandoned us for football on Sunday). The boys are definitely a lot of work for one person… but I guess they are worth it 
5) We saw an engagement proposal during the Fireworks Saturday night. It was so sweet and reminded me of our own engagement at Disneyland…9 years ago!
And I can’t give you a picture of Quinn without one of Elliot… So to keep it even Steven….
Let’s keep the giveaway fun going over here!
I can’t believe that it’s been a month since BlogHer! It was a lot of fun and I was able to connect with several great companies including Snapfish! While checking out their great products I also received 2 cards each good for 50 free prints!
Snapfish 50 free print Giveaway
Two Chica Ramblings readers will each win a code for 50 free prints from snapfish.com
Please leave a comment on this post for each entry. US Residents only.
- Just leave me a fun comment! <—Required entry
Optional Extra Entries:
- Subscribe to Chica Ramblings via RSS or email (see my side bar).
- Leave a comment on a DIFFERENT Chica Ramblings post!
- Like Chica Ramblings on Facebook.
- Follow me on twitter and tweet the following: “I just entered to win 50 FREE Snapfish prints from @DesertDealsDiva http://bit.ly/paYwJc #giveaway ” (can be done daily)
Giveaway ends September 18th at 7pm! I will use random.org to select a winner.
Disclosure: I was given 2 cards with 50 FREE prints from Snapfish. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Sep 092011
Thanks to everyone for entering the Angie’s Kettle Corn Giveaway!
The winning entry is #49!!
Congratulations to Anna G. for winning the 6-pack of Angie’s Kettle Corn!! I will be emailing you tonight!
Thanks to everyone for entering!! And stay tuned I have a Snapfish giveaway coming up VERY soon!
And a special thanks to Angie’s Kettle Corn for sponsoring this giveaway!
Sep 092011
Disney On Ice presents Disney•Pixar’s Toy Story 3 is coming to Tucson in October! We have been anxiously waiting for it to come Tucson ever since the show was announced last year! And in case you didn’t notice, Tucson is getting to see it before Phoenix!! <—HAHA! 
The toys are back in town! Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Jessie and the rest of the gang are hitting the ice in Disney On Ice presents Disney·Pixar’s Toy Story 3. Andy is preparing for college and must decide the fate of his beloved childhood friends including Slinky Dog, Rex, Bullseye, Hamm and everyone’s favorite spuds – Mr. Potato Head and Mrs. Potato Head. As the toys reminisce about their past adventures, audiences will relive memorable moments from Toy Story and Toy Story 2, such as Buzz’s galactic battle with Emperor Zurg, the claw-game at Pizza Planet and a hoe-down on the set of "Woody’s Roundup." Stay tuned for Act Two when the toys embark on their most daring adventure ever.
Use discount code MOM11 at Ticket Master to save $5 off each ticket! The code is valid for all shows but not on Front Row or VIP seating.
Disney On Ice presents Disney·Pixar’s Toy Story 3 arrives at the Tucson Convention Center for 7 fabulous showings!
Thu, Oct 13 2011 7:00PM
Fri, Oct 14 2011 7:00PM
Sat, Oct 15 2011 11:00AM, 3:00PM and 7:00PM
Sun, Oct 16 2011 1:00PM and 5:00PM
Download a fun Disney On Ice presents Disney·Pixar’s Toy Story 3 coloring sheet HERE!
We are so excited, the whole family loves all of the Toy Story movies! In fact we dressed up as the Toy Story gang last year for Halloween!
And stay tuned, I will be giving away a family 4-pack of tickets in the next couple of weeks!
Disclosure: I am a Feld Family Ambassador, and in exchange for my time and efforts in attending shows and reporting my opinion within this blog, as well as keeping you advised of the latest discount offers, Feld Entertainment has provided me with complimentary tickets to Feld shows and opportunities to attend private Feld pre-Show events. Even though I receive these benefits, I always give an opinion that is 100% mine.
Sep 072011
A couple of weeks ago I mentioned my preschool dilemma. I wasn’t sure if I should change Quinn from 3 days a week to 5 days a week… after much debate and thought we decided full time would be best.
So far so good. He still loves preschool.
I guess we are just training him early for “real” school. And he is going to get a lot off training…he has two more years of preschool before kindergarten. <— September baby!
Last Friday we started the day off right with a fun picture to document his first Friday at preschool! His favorite part of Friday? It’s pizza day!
And to celebrate the day, I made a quick sign and dressed him in his favorite Yoda shirt (which of course you can’t see because of the sign). <—Always my luck!
But the best part of the picture was the “Captain’s Hat” he chose for school that day. <– Seriously? I totally giggled when he walk out of his room with it on. And I am now giggling as I write this. Everyone time Quinn wears the hat, I think of the Yacht Rock tributes on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon!
The only bummer about preschool is that he doesn’t nap there. He chooses to only rest which makes for super crabby afternoons but that is another story… And speaking of that… I must run and deal with a Crab Pants Quinn right now!
Guess how much fun it is to make Becca’s world famous (and now published on Dinner Tool) Peanut Butter Granola Bars?
Any guesses?
Not just a little bit of fun.
It’s actually this much fun!
And a bit of work. But only a tiny bit. And only if you’re the mom. <—Not to be confused with You’re The Man!
Almost 4 year olds only beg to help and act silly. <—Note Quinn laughing hysterically.
This was my 2nd attempt at the recipe and I doubled it! It was 3000% better than my 1st result.
Go ahead and laugh at my 1st attempt.
The ones I salvaged were in the container, the rest were just crumbs
Yummy but crumbly.
I am pretty sure the problem was not enough stickiness from the PB/Honey concoction to hold it together. I had a hard time measuring and scooping out both the peanut butter and the honey. In fact the honey was almost impossible because I was using one of those cute little honey bears. And I needed more than 1/2 a cup. Go ahead and laugh again! I had to squeeze the honey bear to hell and back and probably didn’t get quite enough in…
I almost threw in the towel.. and I did throw out the bear afterwards despite having some honey left. <—Good riddance as far as I was concerned!
Despite the pathetic results the 1st time, I was pretty darn excited. I used my Kitchen Aid Mixer (one of the 1st times ever), made something “healthy” and the bars tasted pretty close to Becca’s. And in case you were wondering the recipe version I made included: flax seed, almonds, and granola.
Fast forward to last night. I changed things up a bit…
- I upgraded to the big jar of honey from Costco which worked much better. It was still a sticky mess measuring but I definitely had plenty in the recipe!
- I blended the almonds instead of HAND chopping them. Hand chopping was lame last time and Quinn ended up avoiding the bars with nuts he could see. To appease my picky preschooler, I blended the almonds into an almost fine powder.
- And I made a double batch. I used the same pan as before so my bars were much thicker.
Doubling the batch DID NOT come without consequences though. My mixing bowl got STUCK in my mixer and of course Peter wasn’t available to brute force it out. I seriously couldn’t believe my luck. Only me. 
And did I mention we have seen a few ants in our kitchen lately? That fact was fueling my panic. I couldn’t leave the dirty bowl in the mixer and figure it out later. I am sure the granola bar yumminess would have brought the ants in droves….
Luckily it wasn’t a Karen Only Kitchen Catastrophe and there was a scientific explanation! According to the Kitchen Aid website: it is possible that the force of the planetary action can over tighten the bowl. Oh and there were solutions to fix it too. Including wrapping a hot wet towel around the bottom of the bowl <–And now you know and knowing is half the battle.
Thankfully Becca figured this out for me because I was panicking a bit. I seriously thought I had over tightened it with my brute strength. Go ahead and laugh again (It’s the 3rd time if you are counting)…..
So there’s my story. And here’s my results!!
If I can make them, I guarantee that they are quite easy to make! Next time I think I will add chocolate chips….
I predict that they will be all gone by tomorrow… 48 hours isn’t bad right?
P.S. For all the math geeks and deal hounds out there it cost me just under $7 to make a double batch.. and I think I could do a little bit better!
Our new favorite snack is Angie’s Kettle Corn. It is seriously delicious! Quinn is CONSTANTLY asking for it. Just this morning it was his request for breakfast. I can be pretty laid back about a lot of things but I just couldn’t give in. 
Besides being addictive the next best thing about Angie’s Kettle Corn is the simplicity of the ingredients : popcorn, corn oil, cane sugar and sea salt! That’s it and somehow Angie’s turns into the perfect snack! <— If not the perfect breakfast! 
The boys powered through the samples I brought back from my BlogHer adventure. Luckily it is available to purchase in Arizona at Super Target. I confirmed this last week when I went to replenish our stock! Check the Angie’s website to find where it’s available in your area!
Ok who wants to try some? I have a great giveaway for you!!
Angie’s Kettle Corn Giveaway
One Chica Ramblings reader will win 6-pack of FULL SIZE Angie’s Kettle Corn, two of each variety: original, caramel, and light.
Please leave a comment on this post for each entry. US Residents only.
- Let me know what you like best about Angie’s Kettle Corn! <—Required entry
Optional Extra Entries:
- Subscribe to Chica Ramblings via RSS or email (see my side bar).
- Like Angie’s Kettle Corn on facebook
- Like Chica Ramblings on Facebook.
- Follow me on twitter and tweet the following: “I just entered to win a #GlutenFree @AngiesKettle Corn 6-pack at @DesertDealsDiva #giveaway http://bit.ly/pjrccG” (can be done daily)
Giveaway ends September 9nd at 7pm! I will use random.org to select a winner.
Disclosure: Angie’s Kettle Corn helped sponsor the #MomMob at BlogHer and this giveaway. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Sep 022011
Thank you everyone for entering the $25 Fry’s Food gift card giveaway.
Congrats to Kelly P with comment #29! She says "My favorite thing about Fry’s is always their prices, because paired with coupons they are often the cheapest and I save a ton!”
I will email you tonight to get your mailing address.
And don’t miss my current giveaway for 6 bags of Angie’s Kettle Corn!
Desperate times call for desperate measures. We have been having an excessively long and nasty heat wave in Tucson lately. This is unfortunate for everyone but especially for little kids who just want to play outside. If you keep denying them,they eventually turn into crazed, caged animals.
And so do their parents.
So while the boys had a blast playing with this ridiculously large kiddie pool at Papa’s house earlier this summer…
We ended up dragging the ridiculously large pool inside a few weeks ago. The boys used it without baking alive and we got maybe 5 minutes of peace.
Perhaps a bit of a trashy solution. But a solution nonetheless.
How do you keep your monkeys calm when they are stuck indoors due to the weather?
I linked up to Parenting by Dummies.
Quinn has been in his new big boy bed several months now (Ikea Kura if you are curious) And while it has a great little tent for the top, the bottom half just begged for a curtain. I spent a lot of time thinking about the best way to do it…
And I am quite proud of the way it turned out! <—In case you didn’t know I am not very creative….
My biggest challenge was figuring out a way to attach the curtains. I am not super creative, so it took awhile but I finally found some Velcro at the dollar store. And a light went on!
Velcro was perfect. No crazy hooks/screws/rods…
Then I just needed to find the perfect fabric. My fabric priorities were
- Cheap!
- Minimal (if any) hemming
- Sheer/Light weight <– I didn’t want to create a cave
Once we decided to do a mini update in Quinn’s room that included taking down his whimsical curtains. I realized that they would be perfect. I loved the fabric and wanted to keep it for a project anyway. It turned out I had a project waiting for it!
Project Costs:
Fabric: Recycled from his room = free
Velcro: $6
Quinn made an excellent helper!
First we measured out how long each piece needed to be. Lucky we were dealing with whole squares so no hemming was required. I Love how that worked out!
Then we cut strips of the Velcro to apply to the curtain and the bed frame.
Quinn helped me install each panel on his bed.
I love that we can remove each curtain piece individually to repair if necessary!
I was so happy to come up with a cheap, cute and creative to this project. I give myself an A+ for this!
So are you impressed with my Awesomeness?
How long does it take for you to fully unpack your luggage? Be honest? Are you a crazy, completely unpacked in under 24 hours sort of chica?
Or how about the super slacker because they get caught up in other crap sort of chica?
Anyone want to guess which one I am? <—Peter and mom aren’t allowed to guess. 
I am pretty sure at least one of my suitcases (and at times both) have been sitting next to my bed since mid May.
That makes it over three months.
Three. Months.
We had a Disneyland trip in mid May, then a mountain trip for Memorial Day and another one for the 4th of July. Next was a quick weekend trip to the midwest in late July JUST before BlogHer at the beginning of August. And two weeks after that? Another trip to the mountains. That was 2 weeks ago.
And now at this point our Disneyland trip is under 2 weeks away.
So why bother putting them away now? I was going to start packing soon anyway…
It’s not that bad right?
Besides some people store their suitcases in their bedroom right….
And clearly I have to unpack them between trips, so its not like I am storing clothes in them….
Or Am I?
This is what I found when I opened one of them today….
I wondered where the boys hats had disappeared too and why they were running out of clothes so fast…
Seriously Karen?
Aug 292011
Quinn and I had a fabulous and fun-filled Saturday together, just the two of us. We started with a lunch party at Chick-fil-A El Con courtesy of Becca and her awesomeness.
Quinn had a blast playing with tons of kids at the party. I even managed to convince him to take a break and eat lunch!
Then we headed to Tower Theaters to see a movie. I had free passes from winning their “Where in the Smurf” contest last month. We used the passes to see (what else?) The Smurfs!
Plus we took advantage of their fabulous twitter deal for B1G1 Kids Pack. $4.75 for 2 kids packs was a pretty good deal!
I thought I would get both sodas since I brought Quinn’s water bottle. He totally shot me down though, he wanted ice water in his big boy movie cup. How could I deny that?
If you ever see movies at Tower Theaters, definitely follow them on twitter as they often send out special offers.
Now Quinn is randomly singing the Smurf Song (La la la-la la la, Sing a happy song) and Elliot is trying as well! <—So Cute
And of course they are running around the house as Fireman Cows. <—Also so cute!
So what did you do this weekend? Anything fun?
Woo Hoo. I was super excited to find this Disneyland Backstage Pass Express newsletter in my mailbox yesterday.
Disneyland mailings are always fun to receive. They me of upcoming trips!! <—And we usually have a trip on the horizon!
They have fun information about upcoming events and current promotions in the park!!
Unfortunately I opened it up and realized we planned our trip 1 week too early. Disneyland’s Halloween Time starts the day we leave. 
Seriously our trip is 1 week too early.
So sad.
For a few minutes.
Then it passed.
Because I remembered our trip is only 2 weeks away!
Woo Hoo!!
Now it’s time to get busy on the last minute details of our trip!! I haven’t blogged much about it lately but if you were interested check out our general Disneyland tips and past experiences over HERE!
Do you enjoy going to Disneyland?
When was your last trip to Disney?
Woo Hoo! Let’s do the first giveaway on Chica Ramblings!!
This giveaway is courtesy of Fry’s Food Store who sponsored the #MomMob’s trip to BlogHer! If you are completely clueless about what that means go check out my post at Desert Deals Diva! Plus there is another Fry’s gift card giveaway happening over there too!
Otherwise… let’s get the giveaway started!!!
$25 Fry’s Gift Card Giveaway
Leave a comment on this post for each entry. US Residents only.
- Tell me what you like most about shopping at Fry’s Food Stores! <—Required entry
Optional Extra Entries:
- Subscribe to Chica Ramblings via RSS or email (see my side bar).
- Like Chica Ramblings on Facebook.
Giveaway ends September 2nd at 7pm! I will use random.org to select a winner.
Disclosure: Fry’s Food Stores helped sponsor our trip to BlogHer in the form of gift cards. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Quinn started preschool last August, just shy of his 3rd birthday. I was a little nervous because he would be on the younger end of the spectrum (the school is for 3-5 year olds).
He started part time meaning only 3 days a week for about 3 hours. He did fantastic! 
Then we made the 1st change.
We adjusted his scheduled time slightly in January, so that he could stay for lunch. He did fantastic with this as well! Lunch time with his peers allowed more conversation time and interaction with the other kiddos.
Then we made a 2nd Change
Starting this summer he started staying until after nap/quiet time. Meaning naps at school. And that translated into doubling his preschool time from ~3 hours to ~6 hours. Essentially it was full time, 3 days a week.
I was afraid he wouldn’t like being there all day. I was afraid he would think I was abandoning him. And I think he was a little nervous at pick up time the first few weeks…. <—Like where is mom, when is she showing up?
But he is LONG over any nervousness! He loves preschool even more it seems. Most days he asks to stay longer when I show up at pick up time.
And he often asks to go to school on non-preschool days!
So are we ready for the next preschool change-up?
My dilemma? Do I send him to preschool everyday?
I think he is ready. He is often bored at home. He is constantly asking “What can I do?” or telling me “I’m hungry.” <—Bored snacking, a habit he has learned from me.
He wants to play hide and seek.
All. Day. Seriously.
And as much as I would love to play with him, I have other things I need to do to. 
At school he has so many more choices and also more structure. Does that make sense? Plus there are lots of friends to play with.
So I think he will be happier spending more time at school. But…
I am afraid that I will lose my little boy faster.
He surprises me constantly with what he says and can do and while I’m proud… I miss my baby too! I know I won’t get this little boy time back. <—How many sad faces can I insert into this post?
What did you do with your little ones?
When did they start going to Preschool full time?
Aug 192011
The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry recommends that babies are weaned from a bottle between 12-14 months.
Elliot is 16 months. I noticed that we received paperwork at his 15 month appointment that discussed bottle weaning, so I knew I needed to do it soon. I just kept putting it off, he was so much easier to soothe with a lovely bottle of milk.
However besides just the expert opinion that I wean Elliot, the continued cost of bottle liners also kept it on my mind. <—Just because Chica Ramblings isn’t a “deal” blog, let’s not forget who I am! 
I told myself that I would NOT buy another box of bottle liners. And yet 2 boxes later when I noticed we were getting dangerously low, I was considering it again. Fast forward to BlogHer and all the craziness that it entailed, both prepping for and returning home from and you can guess what happened.
Yup.
We ran out of bottle liners.
At night.
I was gone running errands when it happened, so Peter just improvised and used a sippy cup instead. <— Not a crazy concept but definitely not what Elliot was conditioned for at bedtime.
It sort of worked. And I took that as a sign.
A sign from the frugal gods and pediatric dentists of the world.
And as a result the bottles were tossed and Elliot has been drinking milk solely from his sippy cups for well over a week! <—Not that it was an instant/easy transition but it’s working!
Back to the Bottle Liner Chain Reaction.
Catalyst: Empty Bottle Liner Box!
What I realized all of a sudden last weekend was that I could Take back my sink from bottle duty and also declutter and reorganize quite a bit in the kitchen!
1st Step: Reclaim the right side of my sink, formerly known as the baby only don’t you dare put other crap there side!
2nd Step: Re-Designate the “Baby Bottle” cabinet for linens: Kitchen Towels, Cleaning Rags, Napkins and Bibs.
3rd Step: Reclaim my counter top space! Bottle dryer goes away. Napkins in a bowl (weird I know) will now be Napkins on a shelf!
4th Step: Relocate Kitchen Towels from random drawer to knew cabinet.
5th Step: More cabinet moving…
I was surprised that an empty liner box would result in so much reorganization!
The Results?
A cleaner countertop and sink area + 3 better organized drawer/cabinets! Score 1 for a me!
Has something simple like an empty box ever caused unexpected changes in your house?
Aug 182011
This blog is undergoing a bit of changes.. please excuse the mess. 
Aug 182011
Cute, Right?
I love the print, it hangs easily from my shoulder and I can throw anything in it.
But see there lies the problem. I can (AND DO) throw anything in it.
Seriously?
Yup. Check it out!
Crazy, huh?
I know. I cultivate crazy sometimes. Can you imagine me at the register digging for my wallet.
It happens every day. Every. Day.
Often I also have a sippy cup, little boys hat and jedi/truck in there too. <—Your jealous right?
I should NOT be allowed to carry an unstructured purse. It turns into a black hole. A black hole where my keys, phone and credit card disappear but I can always pull out a random coupon, receipt or scrap of paper. <—Unless of course that coupon is the exact one I need to use. Then it’s long gone too.
So today I decided to clean it out and organize it. The first step was to pull everything out and sort through it….
Again. Crazy.
I am giving myself a fresh start though. I pared it down, filed some receipts (or at least put them in the big pile of crap on my desk) and came up with this….
The essentials.
And yes I am using sandwich baggies to organize. Ghetto, I know.
But Whatever It Takes People!
Let’s see how well this organization works…
Is your purse a black hole?
I linked up to Parenting by Dummies and Shibley Smiles.
There was lots of fun to be had at Blogher besides Flash Mobs.
I want to share more of my fun from BlogHer besides #OperationGlory, so I will start with some fabulous parties!
The Most Fun Party?
The Clever Girls I’m With The Brand Party! It featured the Smurfs and I even scored a fun Papa Smurf and a Smurf Book for Quinn. The book is currently his favorite. He insists on reading it in bed AND then sleeping with! They also had lots of dance competitors using the new Smurf Dance Party game by Ubisoft. We don’t currently have a dance game for our Wii but I think Quinn would love this one.
We also had caricatures done, made flip books and had temporary tattoos. Oh and there was cupcakes and cake pops. <—Cupcakes make everything better!
And I got to sort of met Melanie, the Coupon Goddess. She couldn’t make it to BlogHer because of an awful car accident, but some of her friends took a “mini” version of her. I found her on the Flip book accessory table and someone random walked by and snapped “our” picture. I wanted a picture of my own but “she” had disappeared by the time I came back. Maybe the random picture will show up online somewhere.
I can’t really show you the flip book in action in but I do have the fun 5 second video that they used to make our #MomMob flip book (courtesy of Now Flip This).
The Most Posh Party?
The Cheap Sally Dance Party cohosted by Collective Bias! It was held at the fabulous Stingaree Nightclub, with 3 levels including a swanky rooftop terrace! There was even an appearance by Top Chef Finalist Brian Malarkey. I don’t watch the show but he was quite engaging while addressing the crowd.
This party definitely had the best food, there were lots of choices but I went with grilled fish tacos. No trip to San Diego is complete without grilled fish tacos! There was also sliders, pasta and of course an open bar.
Cabanas on the top deck hosted various brands including Smarties and Udi Gluten Free. I love Smarties and there were plenty available to satisfy your sweet tooth. I rediscovered bubble gum Smarties! Yummy! And at the Udi’s cabana I sampled the BEST snicker doodles ever! <—Is it surprising that the cabanas with the most impact for me were sweets?
My favorite party swag? These super sweet Vix flip flops. They are seriously comfy. Pricey at $38 but honestly they are worth it! When you live in flip flops, you really appreciate quality!
The Most Chill Party?
Stiletto Media’s Kick Off Your Heels! Wow this party was such a nice change from the crazier parties. We had a fun #MomMob picture taken in their fun photo booth. Plus they were giving away $25 iTunes gift cards when you walked in! However the best thing EVER were the chair MASSAGES! Becca, Kara and I all enjoyed one!! I also loved the rooftop location with a fireplace! And they even finished the night right with free shuttle services in fabulous Dodge vehicles!
Besides yummy food, there was chocolate fondue and pink stiletto martinis.
Did you go to BlogHer’11?
What was your favorite party?
Check back in the next few days for Blogher’11 The Fun, The Food & The Freebies! Part 2.
Woo Hoo! I experienced my 1st Flash Mob at Blogher11! I THINK it was super cool to watch live…
I can’t say positively because I was IN IT!! *squeal*
Talk about Scary Fun!
It was one of my favorite parts of BlogHer! And I almost didn’t do it! Luckily Becca twisted my arm…
(Just kidding she just highly encouraged me)
There are quite a few fun videos on You Tube of it (Search Blogher Flash Mob) but I am going to share the “official’” one from Mary of MamaMaryShow. Mary organized the Flash Mob with Teresa of RockOnMommies! By the way Teresa was the gloriously brave one that started the routine solo! She rocked it!!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fimSXfTVMDg&w=448&h=252&hd=1]
Luckily for me I had 2 other peeps for practice and support. Two lovely #MomMob members, Sara and Becca!
By The Way…
- I didn’t even know that the song was by Lady Gaga… it didn’t seem like a Lady Gaga song to me but that just shows you what I know! <—Not A Thing!
- More practice would be better in this situation if only for your own sanity! (Not because anyone could really see any of my *alleged* mistakes)!
- I would totally do another Flash Mob if the opportunity presents itself!
- The cheering and support from the crowd was INCREDIBLE!!
- Being on The Edge of Glory is pretty Awesome!
I can definitely tell you I have a new appreciation for Flash Mobs, Lady Gaga and taking risks!
And I didn’t have Flash Mob on my Bucket List… because I don’t have a Bucket List but maybe it’s time to make one!
Have you ever witnessed or participated in
Flash Mob? I would love to hear about it!!
I snapped the picture just in time to get this ridiculously silly picture of Quinn at his preschool open house! He was really digging the root beer popsicle.
I linked up to Parenting by Dummies and Shibley Smiles.
So I happened to be on a 5-state weekend adventure recently. I boarded a flight in Tucson with my brother on a Friday. We connected with my dad in Dallas and flew on to Tulsa together. On Saturday we drove from Tulsa, to Columbus, KS and then on to Joplin, MO before returning back to Tulsa that night. And we were flying back home less than 48 hours from the start of our adventure. It was quite the whirlwind trip!
These are some thoughts I wanted to share…
1.
Planning to arrive exactly 1 hour before our flight was not the smartest move.
Even without kids. Even when flying from our little, never-busy, Tucson airport. Mostly because I always seem to run a bit late… so planning to arrive 1 hour before will likely NOT get me there 1 hour before. Lets call it maybe 45 minutes…. In fact, the ticket agent joked a little bit about whether my bag would make the flight or not. <—My bag did make it though.. so maybe there isn’t really a lesson learned. 
2.
There is such thing as too much bacon.
Yup that was my plate (and a crappy cell phone picture too)! Actually my plate after I had already ate a few pieces. EEK! I didn’t end up eating it all.. only most of it.
And can you believe that I passed on the bacon the next morning… the thought of it turned my stomach a teeny, tiny bit. <—Or maybe a lot!
3.
My brother is actually a squirming little girl.
After I purposefully accidently left my window open during a quick stop, we had a few bright green friends hitching a ride. Don’t worry they weren’t aliens… just scary grass hoppers. There was quite a bit of squealing and squirming in the back seat of the car….. And I have the proof! Ha! My brother almost climbed into the front seat with us! My dad was also a bit frantic which wasn’t as funny since he was driving. EEK!
My greatest regret is that I didn’t have a video camera to document it. I do have a few pictures though Oh and my brother isn’t grossly disfigured, he is a just a weirdo about pictures on the internet, I am just trying to respect his no pictures on my blog rule.
4.
GPS units are not fool proof.
Speaking of my dad and brother, they are not qualified to operate a GPS unit together. Their timing on listening to the instructions was a bit way off. So much so that we did a huge circle with them guessing incorrectly 3 times which way we needed to go… And it wasn’t more because there were only 4 choices total… 4th time’s a charm!
5.
If you think you might forget something, don’t worry you will.
Don’t just make a mental note about it… it might be best to just pull the darn thing out right then. I was asked to deliver a doll to my great aunt…
I noticed it Saturday morning as we got ready to drive to KS, but DID NOT pull it out of the suitcase before breakfast.
As a result, the doll ended up flying back to Tucson with us on Sunday.. and then had to hitch a ride to my Aunt’s house via USPS.
6.
My Dad might be crazy.
If you really need a Waldorf salad in a hotel room, at midnight… it’s possible even without room service…you just need a grocery store and a crazy dad determined to do it!
7.
Some people just can’t read. Or they can’t follow directions. Or maybe they can’t do both.
I love the idea of everyone standing back while waiting for luggage… crowding is just not productive in *most* situation… including this one. Apparently I am in the minority with that thought.
Have you learned anything interesting lately? I would love to hear about it!
Aug 022011
Quinn’s breakfast choices this morning:
“Daddy Flakes” or “Snap, Crackle, Pop”
Quinn’s cute, if incorrect wording is mostly our fault, we not only DON’T correct it but we often encourage it. For example cereal….
Rice Krispies is known as “Snap, Crack, Pop” because it sounds much more!
And Corn Flakes are called “Daddy Flakes” since Peter will eat them. <—I do not. Unless they are coated with sugar.
After Quinn chose “Daddy Flakes” this morning I realized that we often associate things with Mommy or Daddy to make them more appealing….
And it DOES make it more appealing to our almost 4 year old…
So my question to all the OLDER parents of older kids out there…
When does that stop?
When do things associated with the super cool parents become uncool, lame, or weird to the kiddos?
Hoping maybe some older parents can chime in..
Jul 202011
Dirty
Upsetting
Rough
Snotty
Exhausting
And Perfect…
Amanda/Dumb Mom shares about her three dudes and her dude mom life over at Parenting By Dummies. It’s a great window to see what adventures I may have in the future with my 2 little dudes….
Jul 132011
So I shared last week how I almost didn’t buy this awesome Toy Story book because it was PINK. I was afraid Peter would complain too much about pink being a girlie color <— Although I did buy it so I am clearly not too worried about his dislike of pink…
On the other hand, I had no problem buying this pink wagon last summer, during the Target summer clearance. I snagged it for 75% off and I knew it would be great for Quinn to pull around the house!
So value does affect my preferences… if there had been a boy or neutral colored wagon, I certainly would have bought it instead, but there weren’t.
And I wasn’t willing to pass up on the *much needed* plastic wagon at a great price. Even if it was PINK!
What do you think? Is pink an ok color for boys, and in what circumstances?
Jul 102011
If your little one needs an RX you definitely should checked out the great feature that the Target Pharmacy offers….
Their bottles have neat fittings that fit perfect with their syringes. You can tip it over and accurately measure the liquid!
I love this feature. Normally I fight with the bottle and syringe, trying not to make a mess or struggling to get the last dose out…
It’s not a problem with this neat set up!!
Plus if you ask nicely they will give you some extra fittings and syringes to put in your OTC medicine bottles (kids pain reliever, etc.).
Thanks Target! Making mom’s job a bit easier!!
Jul 102011
“You’re mocking me, aren’t you?”
and
“He was attacked by strange globs of blue slime!”
Two of Quinn’s favorite lines from his favorite book.
Buzz and the Bubble Planet
Seriously this silly book is a random Bookmans find that I ALMOST didn’t buy.
Why?
Because it was pink. Seriously I almost didn’t buy the book because it was pink. I could hear Peter complaining in my head.. “but it’s pink and he’s a boy” Luckily I threw caution to the wind… <—I am a bit wild like that
And bought it.
It surprises me actually how much Quinn likes it. He chooses to read it at least 80% of the time and in a house where Star Wars now trumps Toy Story. This book is definitely special.
I think he likes the “You’re Mocking Me” line because of my silly attempt to sound like Buzz as I say it. <—I am not good with voices…but Quinn giggles every time!
And
He loves repeating the “Blue Slime” line… It’s crazy because it’s such a mouthful of words. I think the appeal is Blue Slime. <—It sounds messy…
And of course at this point, he has it memorized. He rarely chooses to “read” it with me though. He prefers to play with his “men” as I read to him.
And to think I almost didn’t buy it.
Every time I hit Bookmans I look for random “old” Toy Story books. You never know what random book you will find!!
The Bubble Planet book is from 2000! <—Crazy old!
Lesson learned? Never judge a book by it’s cover!
What funny book does your kid love? Does anyone else have Buzz and the Bubble Planet?
Jun 202011
Quinn is getting better at calling things their correct names. But we still giggle at some of the stuff he says.
This is the most recent one…
“The new chocolate milk with the cow on it but don’t put medicine in it”
I bought it a few days ago to help him to take some yucko medicine.. unfortunately the medicine tasted so awful that it ruined the chocolate milk and also wasted a dose of medicine since Quinn refused to drink the milk.
Anyway… he then refused to drink any of the chocolate milk until we explained that it really was yummy chocolate milk and that the evil parents we had put medicine in it… We had to convince him by drinking some of it too..
Not very trusting… or perhaps just a Smart Kid!
Here is a sampling of the Quinn Speak Dictionary:
Crackers with crème and cold cookies = Ice Cream Sandwich
Stoodle = Stool <—I think this is because of “Toodles” on Mickey Mouse Club House
Toodle = Tool <—Same as Above…
Scum Scream = Sun Screen
Lotsome = A lot, Lots of them, etc
Play Yoda = Play Star Wars Lego on the Wii
Wee Wee Room/Weaving Room = Living Room
Daddy Juice = Beer
Grills = Girls <—Often said as “the kids and grills”, meaning boys and girls.
Do you giggle at what you kids say…
Or do you always correct them?
Jun 182011
Have you watched the new TLC show about the Gypsy world? It’s called “My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding.”
It. Is. So. Crazy.
This is the bride and friends out for her “bachelorette” shindig.
Seriously. If you haven’t seen it. Just google it for me. Please. Heck you can watch snippets of it on TLC.com…..
Just check it out and come back.
Waiting.
Waiting.
Waiting.
Waiting.
Waiting.
Ok.
We have seen a couple episodes and what is interesting, is that the insanity of the episode story/focus/couple… is always surpassed by side show characters or random shots of other gypsy folks.
Can you believe the insanity. Seriously, TLC needs to be called
Train-wreck
Loving
Crazies
Seriously.
10
7 IV bags is a lot of fluid!
Every nurse seemed surprised to see that number when they walked in. And what goes in, must go out. And there is a definite boy advantage when tied to a hospital bed! <– I am glad I wasn’t the one with pneumonia!
9
NW hospital has limited TV channels but graciously supplements them with some *Awesome* Medical channels like….
- The Baby Channel (Spanish and English)
- The Shaken Baby Channel (Spanish and English)
- Diabetes I (Spanish and English)
- Diabetes II (Spanish and English)
- Patient Information Channel
- Cardiac Channel
- Healthy Living
8
The hospital has wifi. <—It’s the little things…
7
SNL repeats are still pretty darn funny.
Particularly silly #winning jokes. <—Whatever happened to crazy Charlie Sheen?
6
I can power through a pop tart without even realizing it… actually 2 pop tarts. <—Oops
5
$1.45 for a 20 oz bottle of soda is highway robbery.
I get there needs to be a profit margin, but damn don’t bankrupt me with one soda!
4
And while we are on the topic of vending machines. The hospital’s choices are disappointingly limited at 4am.
Although Peter did point out that they were better than his choices
3
The boys are troopers and do fabulous without Peter and I. In fact they returned to fighting over toys the second I walk in the door. <—exhausted and ready to black out from lack of sleep, they didn’t seem to notice.
2
The hospital staff can really make it break it for you!
Two nights in a row, Peter had a lovely nurse, Dee. And look at what his tech brought ME for dinner one night. I was starved and in heaven. <—And we did have a Ms. nasty bearded head nurse that kicked me out for awhile… Damn rules and those rule followers.
1
Chairs can be torturous; responsible for both mental and physical anguish.
The chair in Peter’s hospital room is actually one of these special devices. Mentally I was completely deluded into believing that I might get some sleep. Only to realize that my body was physically tortured by even attempting to sleep in it. <—And I was stupid crazy enough to use it 2 nights in a row.
I love learning things. I am sure I learned more from our experience with pneumonia. However lack of proper sleep has lead to amnesia of sorts.
Thanks Pneumonia.
Really?
Do you really think the worm is looking at you?
And if the worm is looking at you, perhaps he is talking to you too…
Is it possible that the worm is saying:
“I don’t want you to squish me in your fingers and feed me to Billy, the huge lizard monster?”
I don’t speak worm, but I think that is something to consider…
It’s also possible the poor little disgusting worm heard your new friend Jack say
“Just hold his tail and squeeze him a little so it hurts, then he will wiggle”
Or something to that effect.
Perhaps the worm is looking at you with sad eyes hoping you will feel some sympathy for him.
I don’t know.
I do find it amusing that you often say the same thing to me about your little brother. “I don’t want Elliot to look at me.” <—Ha like I could control that even if I wanted to.
They are both smaller than you but other than that I don’t really see any similarities between the worm and Elliot.
But what do moms know anyway?
Nothing.
Nothing about worms anyway.
Jun 112011
Welcome to my random blog. Stuff I want to share and write about but doesn’t really fit over at Desert Deals Diva. I hope you enjoy it.
