Ugh

I think it's my turn to battle what ever is going around. I woke up with a sore through that went up into my ears. Hopefully it's something easily solved by hot tea. I don't think yesterday's weather helped much. For the past week it's been in the 70's & 80's. Yesterday it was raining all day long & cold! I went outside & I swear I saw a snow flake. The mountains around us got snow. I checked weather.com & t said the temp for the area was 35 degrees but felt like 24 degrees. Yep, it sure did. That's a 40 degree difference from the day before. What a shock to ones body. It's back to being sunny today. I just saw the gardener go down the side walk. Crazy guy is wearing a short sleeve shirt. I"m sure it will warm up later but I saw his breathe!! Our back yard is covered in frost & our "lake" area (part of the yard that puddles up when it rains) is frozen over. According to weather.com it's 41 degrees. It'll get into the 60's today & through the weekend; dipping down into the 30's at night. Gotta love the desert weather!

Tootie & I enjoyed a steak & mashed potatoes dinner last night. It was pretty good. Princess dined on crackers & carrots mixed with rice cereal. She's like her big brother... LOVES food! No problem letting you know she's hungry & gets super excited when she sees it. The Pilot got to call last night!!! YAY! It was good to hear from him (finally). They have a phone they can call from for free. You just can't make super long phone calls. Which isn't a problem for us. Neither one of us are huge phone talkers. It was just nice to hear his voice. I guess they have a list of phone numbers to connect to (switches) over here then from there they call who ever they are wanting to talk to. I guess he's been trying the list but it's been it's a matter of getting someone to pick up the call & connect it.

So today the kids & I are going to venture out. Our gas bill has been outrageous. It's been just under triple our normal bill. We have a carbon monoxide detector (yes it's working). It hasn't gone off so I doubt there is a leak. I think it's just been so cold here that the heat kicks in. I have it set for 64 at night & 68 during the day. I don't think that's high. We get drafts by the doors & windows. I need to go get curtains to hang back up. Linens n things has some insulated curtains. Hopefully that helps. I want to get those for the sliding glass door. Maybe I can find some matching shorter ones for the window next to it. No clue what to do for the kitchen. I don't really feel a draft in there. I might try some window insulator for that. Test it out there & if it's not too much of a PITA to put up I may it try it on other windows. Target has some super cute ones I want for the dining room. They are black & white. I hope they go because our furniture is dark brown. Does it really matter what color furniture is? Our other colors are a light khaki, blue & green accents. I have green ones up now, but need 2 more of the same & can't find them (they are a few years old).

Any one know if the musical "Wicked" will be put on DVD like "Rent" was? I want to see it & I think Tootie would enjoy it, too. He LOVES the commercials for it. He sings & dances to it. He caught onto the tunes pretty quickly & accurately. I need to video tape him the next time the commercial comes on. He's too young to take to the theatre. I would take him in a heart beat if they would allow him. He wouldn't be THAT crying kid there. He's be THAT kid that sings, dances & claps. I'll have to check the website. Maybe the Easter Bunny will bring him the CD.

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!!

I got this in an e-mail today. I'm still laughing. I had to share. It's called "3 things to fear..."
Chelsea Clinton recently discussed current events with a U.S. soldier.

She asked if, as an American fighting man, anything scared him .


He told her there were only three things he feared:


1) Osama





2) Obama





3) & Yo Mama!

What to title this post

Some of the titles that describe today are...

It must have only been a 24 hour bug.
A potty training milestone.
The many hoops CA wants me to jump through just to get my teaching license.
Meatloaf cupcakes (so maybe this one belongs in the other blog, but there is nothing special about it).
We have a new addition to the family.
Early Valentine's surprise.
It's in the 70's & sunny here. (Rubbing that one in especially for my family & friends on the East coast.)

Tootie woke up feeling better today. He was back to his normal busy self. Tootie surprised me this morning. When he got up he used the potty!! I felt his diaper & it was dry. He stayed dry all night. I've been trying to convince him for the past week that when he wakes up he needs to go to the bathroom. YAY! We ended up going to the Valentine's party. I was going to make & bring red velvet cupcakes. Since he was sick yesterday I didn't get to run out to the store & there just wasn't enough time to do it this morning. We went to the store on the way & just grabbed some tasty V-day cookies. The party was nice. Robbie got to play with some of the other children in the MOMS group. I had a surprise for him afterwards. Which brings me to...

The new addition in the family. There is a yahoo group called Freecycle. You can post things that you want to get rid of (for free) & things you are in need of. Last night I came across a posting for a Beta fish. The lady's kids were basically abusing it & she had to lock the poor fish up in her bathroom. After the party I drove to this lady's house to pick the fish up. I asked her how often he needed to be fed. She replied twice a day but that she's been doing it when she remembered because she kept it in the bathroom. Poor fish was in nasty water & kept in a sand bucket. So on the way home I stopped at a pet store. I had the lady give him some fresh water & I got him a new tank & some supplies. He perked up with the new water. I think he's enjoying his new home.

I got the most wonderful early Valentine's surprise today. Technically it's the 14th already in Iraq. They are 11 hours ahead of us. Tulips... lots of them & another flower that is purple (I forget the name). I can't wait until my flowers are in full bloom!

For dinner tonight I made meatloaf cupcakes. No special recipe. I just used my cupcake tin to make individual size. We're barely into week 2 & left overs everyday are getting to be a bit much. I froze the extra. There is enough for another dinner & lunch. I also made gravy, mashed potatoes, green beans & biscuits. It was a good dinner.

It's getting late & I am wiped out. I'll have to save the teaching license issue for another thread. I can outline it better there. I basically have to get a license from either Arizona or Virginia first before I can apply for a California license. Um, ok. This is all because my degree is from out of state. I'm hoping to get the VA license because it would be more beneficial to me in the long run. Then I can get my Cali license step 1. After I pass the CSET & CTEL I can get a full license. As soon as I can get my hands on one I will take a $7000 jump on the pay scale. Hopefully VA will cooperate with me & not be a PITA!

Oh, by the way... have I mentioned it's been in the 70's & sunny here??!!

Learning about pay backs

Princess is catching up to her big brother. Before she started moving around he would take her pacifiers and blankets from her. Ok, so he still does it to this day. For some reason a pink and purple pacifier is better than his. I'm trying to break him of his love for that thing, but it's been a process. He is good about only using it if he's tired or having a melt down. Well today we were all on the couch & she kept grabbing for the pacifier & pulling out of his mouth. Then she would pull his blanket away from him. He had 5, he could have spared 1. At first he was annoyed, but then it became a game to him. She'd take one of the items & he would take it back from her. This went on for about 10 minutes. They were both laughing hysterically. He's in big trouble when she figures out how to walk & chase after him!

Poor Tootie. He's succumb to what ever is going around the area. Poor guy. I feel bad for him. He's been pretty healthy up to this point. He's only had 1 ear infection up to this point. Last night he felt a little warm. I thought maybe it was just from his crying fit. He was still warm this morning & all day long. He wasn't himself at all today. No running around outside. No cli9mbing on the counters to dump out my sugar (not that there is any left!) or to cook himself a "bey" (bagel). He spent most of the day in my lap or laying on the couch. He took cat naps here & there. I think he spent maybe 10 minutes outside. We're laying in bed right now with American Idol on. It's one of the few shows he will sit down & pay attention to (that & Thomas the train). He loves music. He's passed out snoring right now. I'm debating whether to take him in to the doctors tomorrow or wait it out another day. I'll see how he is in the morning. We have a Valentine's Day party to go to tomorrow. We may not make that. I was going to make cupcakes, but we didn't go out today to pick up the supplies. If we go I might just pick up some cookies. At this rate, though, I think we may just take it easy & stay in tomorrow. He said a whole slew of words today. Lots of talking (in between the whining).

I'm excited for Big Brother 9 to start tonight!!

I'm a bad "bad mommy" & the cookies won

Tootie out lasted me. Crying it out does not work for him because he can last all night long. He's laying on the couch next to me cuddling up with his blankets. I popped a few cookies in the oven for us to share before bed.

Calgon take me away...

I don't even think Calgon can come to the rescue at this point. Is it a full moon? I mean seriously?!!! No, it's not. Full moon isn't even until the 20th. Hopefully today was just a fluke, even a case of the Monday's. Tootie & Princess were tag teaming. There were very few moments today where both were happy. Either he was crying about something or she was. Tootie saw time out a few times today. He started the morning off by throwing his breakfast around, smashing crackers up & throwing those, too. Off to time out! Well he fell asleep. No big deal. It was during Princess' morning nap. This all meant I can shower in peace today... & before lunch time! Maybe even squeeze in a little nap myself (there goes the wishful thinking again). I got as far as the shower & getting comfortable in bed when Princess woke up. I think we were all tired this morning. Tootie woke up some time around 3am, then Princess at 4:30am. Then she was wide awake at 6:45am. So by 7 we were all back up. I went to bed waaaaaay late last night. I was trying to figure out how to get video off the camera & on to the computer (involved locating software). Before I knew it it was after midnight. Tootie woke up & wanted a "nack" (snack). It was lunch time so I convinced him to wait a little bit. Here comes his cute moment of the day (about the only one he had)... the oven beeps that the timer is up. Before I knew it Tootie comes running in yelling "ready" over & over. I asked him if lunch is ready & he said yes. The boy must have been hungry because he talked! He pulled another stunt while I was trying to calm Princess down. He decided to scale the counters & pour out all my sugar. Here's the "damage" shot & the part of the vacuum that collects everything that is sucked up. All that white stuff is sugar.

Anyways, calgon can't help me tonight. I'm too tired to sit in the tub. I thought about maybe making a couple cookies, but that even sounds like too much work right now. I think I might just go to bed early & make up for lost sleep. Princess is out. She goes to bed easily. Not Tootie, though. He's upstairs pounding on his door crying "mum... mummummum... MUUUUM". I need to stick to my guns & play mean mom. He needs to learn that "mum" doesn't play those games & won't take 7 months of this.