Love is in the Mail

I may have mentioned that I never did get around to Christmas cards, oh well! We thought that a Valentine's Day card would kind of fill in for this year. I found these pre-made cards a while back and thought that if I stuffed them with a little note and a cute picture all would be forgiven. So I stamped up a storm,
And went through this ridiculous afternoon of taking pictures for this project. That didn't go as well as I had hoped. In my head I saw visions of well behaved children, puppies that sat regardless of where they were placed, perfect lighting. Well that all went to hell in about 5 seconds, so plan B was to just keep taking pictures and hope for the best!
These are a little hard to see in the picture, and they are my favorites so here they are a little closer!
I can't believe that I didn't take a picture of the whole thing put together... oh well. I guess at that point I was happy to have them finished and off my desk.

Taking it in Stride

Things have been a little hectic to say the least. So if you feel neglected, I am soooo sorry! I am anxious for things to slow down, and to warm up damn it, when I got up this morning it was 10, that's right... I said freakin' 10!!!!! Now I know I live in New York and that shouldn't surprise me, however the weather has been so amazingly mild that I wasn't quite ready for the drop!

So after I got Little P on the bus for her super exciting day of snow shoeing and a dinner theatre of High School Musical for lunch, ( so technically that doesn't make it dinner theatre now does it?) I settled down to do some puzzles with the boy. He loves him some puzzles.

I am shocked he did not choose the Spiderman fighting with Venom one, these were a nice change of pace!

He also got The Happy Feet Game for Christmas, so we hauled it out today for a test run. It came with these super cute little eggs with feet, love them!
It was fun, I have to admit. I think that most of the joy for me came from hearing him make up his own songs. He is too funny! He is also learning about being a good sport, this is more difficult than it sounds. He has this insane competitive streak in him. So from the time that he was little we have always coached him to cheer on other players and to tell everyone good job and to take a loss in stride. Well today I saw that this was pretty much all for nothing, as he was nearing the finish line and I was still stuck back at the Zoo, he turned to me and said, " You'd better move it mom, or your gonna be toast, and not the buttery kind! "
He loves , and I mean loves to win, and that is what he did. I guess I should be thankful that he didn't spike the penguin and do his victory dance.

Antibiotics and Coco

My poor Little P is still sick as a dog. As it turns out, she has severe bronchial pneumonia., Sounds like fun right? She has been really patient waiting to get better, and yesterday she had finally had enough. After six solid days of having a fever and feeling sick she was DONE! I don't blame her one bit. But now with three doses of antibiotics in her, maybe we can turn a corner soon, or in the very least stop the constant fever hike. She is getting damn sick of Motrin. She did eat last night for the first time in days, so I will take what ever improvement there is!

So with her being sick and with the constant stream of laundry and wiping down every thing I can find with Clorox, I forgot to tell you... Coco is here! We picked her up at the hospital on Sat. She has adjusted very well and is an absolute princess. I have never seen a dog so happy to hear her name. And the stairs are not posing a problem, which is a relief.

Here she is in all of her three legged glory!
Because of the spay she does have to wear a cone when she sleeps, so she will be space puppy for a few more days. Can you stand it?
And last but certainly not least, I give you Boots the Tattooed Boy! He is so damn proud of this tattoo it's not funny!!! What can I say? Like father, like son.

Poor Little P

Little P has been sick for a few days now, so my time consists of administering medication, disinfecting everything I can find and trying to get her to eat. If you have ever met Little P, convincing her to eat has never been a problem. We have joked from the time that she was very little that she would grow up to either be a food critic or a chef. This girl loves everything about food. But short of some orange slices and a tiny piece of potato this morning, she is not interested in anything that I try to sell to the girl. Not even her favorite combo or meatballs or in this case turkey balls... and pasta. Different pasta, different sauces, this girl loves them all. She is normally a huge fan of Swedish Meatballs, so after a quick little trip to the store, whola.....
Not one bite passed the lips of my sick little sweetie. Poor Little P, let's hope this passes quickly, so she can be back to her kitten chasing, super drawing, non-couch ridin', school lovin' self.

Taste Test Approved

Since my family is big on eggs, any way they can get them, when I saw this dish I knew it was for them. Not to mention the fact that I have been dying to find several uses for these type of dishes, so I could justify owning them. In case you can't tell, it's three eggs baked with a little cream and butter and loaded with herbs and parm cheese on the top... Yummmmm!

I used Boots and Little P as testers this morning to see if they would like it. Apparently it's a keeper. I did try some and it was warm and delicious with lots of flavor and the toast was killer.
Hope you have such a nice start to your day as well...

Independence

Today Boots had his first day of Pre-K classes. It's like a private program that is a stepping stone for the 1/2 day, every day Pre-K in our school district which he will be attending in the fall. He had a blast. He got to be the special helper for the day, so that was extra special for him. I expected very little fuss when I was going to leave him and I got even less. He kissed me good bye and said " Okay, I will see you soon Mom, go do your thing..." I couldn't even argue. No tears, no second thoughts, well at least for him. But what I do in the privacy of my own damn car is my own damn emotional business.

Could he look any happier? Did I mention this is on the way to class?
No Fear... at all. I am so proud!

The Craziness Continues

Hi there! How was your weekend? Ours was busy as always. Jenn and I went to this insane garage sale at the Monroe County fairgrounds early Saturday morning which, incidentally, was right next door to the gun show. Apparently you can haul all of the crap that you acquired at the garage sale over to the Gun Show with no issues, but you cannot first purchase a fire arm and use it to help sway the vendors to the price you want over at the garage sale, I know it seems unfair, but them's the rules.

We didn't find much, but we had a great time catching up, sipping our coffee and listening to people haggle over a dollar item. I have been on a bit of a milk glass hunt as of late, and I found this pitcher...
When we left we stopped at Christmas Tree Shops on the way home. If you have never been you have no idea what you are missing. This place is huge and well organized and contrary to the name, not even remotely filled with Christmas crap! We spent forever walking up and down every isle, entertaining the hell out of each other. We both managed to leave before we were broke. I found this for a dollar
It's so cute, and I try to buy one new decoration per holiday, per year. So what I do buy is worth it.

Christmas cards just didn't happen this year, and my plans to send out New Years cards kind of fell through too. So I have a new plan, it will involve both children and three dogs... And will use these...
On Sunday we had a bit of a puppy party, meet Coco:
She will be coming here to stay very shortly. The woman who is currently fostering her also brought over her Japanese Chin, Yoshi.
The foster is a lovely lady, whom we invited for dinner and play time. I made a Clementine Pie, with a shortbread and coconut crust, I have to say this surprised me, it turned out to be the right combo of crunchy and smooth.
Coco has been over to play a few times and is right at home. So yup. The crazy house is about to get crazier!

Is there anything more manly than bubbles?

A while ago Boots spotted this in the store and since he loves baths and Superman we bought it.
Doesn't he look Supermanly? Bursting out of his chains by pure muscle power...

Wait...What's this? In this testosterone soaked packaging does that say Berry Scented?
Apparently he fights for Truth, Justice and the Berry Way...