Busy Getting summer-y

Summertime is a comin', and we are excited! We've been so busy...

All the yardage needed pruning; both lilacs, the white magolia, the neighbors tree to the east of us (it had one really big branch overhanging our smaller tree, so our tree only "grew" out instead of up), the pine tree to our north, a rogue cottonwood tree had to be removed from WITHIN the magnolia bush, and our large tree out front got a facelift. THANK YOU AWESOME HELPERS!!!!! And it wasn't too spendy to have it all hauled away! THANK YOU MIDWEST WALLS & LANDSCAPE!!!

We dug out the flower beds by the walkway. I still need to replace the dirt there and move the day lillies (there are 31 plants in a 2ft X 3ft box!! Boy do those spread!!!) I hoping to use the space for an herb garden. It would smell great and would fill-in quickly. Plus with the economy the way it is, it never hurts to grow your own (hi dad!!!) On that same note...

We're having garden this year! We have a 10 X 10 square in the southeast corner. I plan on planting carrots, onions and jalapeno peppers plus a blackberry bush in the corner. I just finished planting 5 tomato seedlings in 5-gallon buckets and 2 hills of cucumbers in half-wooden barrels that were here when we moved in!! Lucky us! This weekend we're hoping to erect a ti pi out of cheap (but very study) babmboo stakes and jute twine. Then we can grow pole-beans up it and Lil Pooper will have a fun/shady place to play!

We've placed a sandbox for her too. SHE LOVES TO BE DIRTY!!! Crazy girl! 1 sandbox + 5 trips from the car to the backyard with a 45 lb bag of sand + 1 impatient toddler = lots of fun!!! And lots of ssnd in the yard...

We also scored a super sweet deal buy trading a new little tykes slide for an awesome (and more expensive) 3 sided play "fort". It has a platform complete with pirate wheel, slide and underneath hiding spots. Did you know climbing makes babies extra sleepy.. woOt!! Plus it makes for entertaining action between the puppy and our cat!

Lets see... We also tilled up the median out buy our mailbox. I'm going to sow a whole bed of cosmos out there. It's too hot and dry for grass and I'm tired of looking at the weeds. We're planting orange, purple and multi-pink varieties. They'll be gorgeous, and hardy (and cheap! only $3 for 3 seed packets!)

And that's just for starters ;)

Kitty Wake up....

Hello world!!

Wow, I'm not sure what we've been up to lately but it's been a while since I've let the world know about our goings on. Let's see....

Lil Z has ramped up her temper tantrums. It actually looks quite funny to watch her yell like a howler monkey while disolving into this very VERY red puddle of angry toddler goo at my feet. All because I gave her a cup of water, instead of juice. Oh my!

Good news is she has transitioned into a "toddler" bed. She seems to enjoy having a larger domain to rule over/jump on/chase the cats around/hide from mommy trying to change her diaper behind ;) She seems to be right on target for a toddler...

Bummer news, a piece of our brand new couch is broken! UGGGGG!!! I paid for it, WAITED 7 weeks for it to get here, have lived with it for 5 weeks and then 2 nights ago... CRAAACK! I say "*@%$!!!!". Now, I get to tell the wonderful people from the store that they get to come back out here and either repair or replace it, and it better not take another 7 weeks dern it! (but seriously, we absolutely LOVE the new furniture!)

And last but not least... Peter Cotton-tail is coming on Sunday! Yabba dabba do! I LOVE Easter. Bunnies and chicks and pastel colors and spring and gifts and egg hunts and family and chocolate and chocolate and chocolate! YES! It's gonna be a good weekend :)

"U @ 50"

A video that was submitted in a contest by a 20 year old. The contest was Titled "u @ 50". This video won second place. When they showed it , everyone in the room was awe-struck and broke into spontaneous applause. So simple and yet so brilliant. It should have taken first place. Take a minute to watch it.

Ignorance is bliss for some... agonizing for others

You know what really drives me crazy? People who have crazy strong opinions about things with no knowledge base to support them. Drives me BANANAS!!! Now please don't misunderstand. I think that knowing a wide range of people having a wide range of opinions is crucial to developing a sense of oneself. And we can't expect everyone to have the same feelings about everything all the time! That's insane :) It's totally okay to have different points of view.... I just want you to know why you're coming from where you're coming from.

Did you vote republican or democrat?.... Great! Now can you tell me why?

Do you spank your kids? Interesting.... how does it work for you?

Is breastfeeding yucky? You think so... okay! What makes you feel that way?

And the answer to any one of these questions better not start out with "Well my friend/sis/mother's uncle said that...". I just want everyone to use their own mind to form sound, solid views. Don't just spread a bunch of misinformation (i.e. gossip!!!) around. Make sure you have your facts straight first. And that in itself can be hard. With the dot-com world out there, Joe Nobody is free to say whatever he wants without a shred of evidence to back it up. I mean, did you know that 78% of statistics are made up on the spot?!? (I'll leave some space in here so you can think about that one ............... ............... ............... ...............) Blogging is NOT news (major bummer for me! LOL!). Private "foundation" type sites with skewed views can be unreliable, you might only be getting half the story. Studies funded by a company with vested interests in the outcome may be sketchy at best. Make sure your source is legit.

Anywho, now that I've said my two cents, who are YOU gonna tell?!??! :)

They lowered the minimum age to work in Lincoln

As you can see quite clearly here, the woman standing next to the "Employee's Only" sign cannot possibly be 16 months, let alone 16 years old! Wait... Do I know her? HAHAHAHAHAHAH

Fun-Fact Fridays

Did you know that the average 1-year-old (23lb) american girl can hapily squeeze themselves into the cabinets underneath the bathroom sink?!?! One study estimates the percentage to be as high as 98%!! ;-)

We're still here :)

It's been a long and tear filled week, all thanks to teeth!

1. I think I need a root canal....ugh. I bit into a Gardeto and wHoA!!!.... Has the room always been spinning like this?!?! THE PAIN!!!

2. Lil Pooper gets so mad when she puts something in her mouth (usually a small piece of meat that we didn't give her because we knew it would be too tough, but she ninja grabbed it off my plate anyway) and then can't chew it up because she only has 7 teeth! She screams, spits it out into her hand, pops it back in, screams, spits it back out, pops it back in... you get the picture, until she eventually hands me this extremely gross, slimy, squishy piece of food and says... "Bite?" wanting ME to EAT it! EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!

3. So, only having 7 teeth, you think she'd be ecstatic when she was getting more... right? Of course not! We all know teething hurts. 4 molars have erupted all this week. Her gums are swollen, blistered, and kinda look like that piece of meat from #2... She has been so sore, poor baby :(

So, I know, not many fun things going on this week, but just wanted to keep you "posted".....hahahah. Pun totally intended!

P.S. Have y'all checked out Twitter yet? Look for me as MandiAdams!!

Vive le resistance!

LOL, my my the Lil Pooper is truly Lil-Miss-Independent. Lets see, how are things looking these days....

She walks everywhere at ALL times. She is never tired and always refuses to sit in a cart or be carried. Usually this is demonstrated by screeching that could raise the dead and this new ability to turn her bones "off" so she is nothing more than 23lbs of goo to be held. She also NEVER lets her hands be held by adults.... apparently we have cooties or something. She also is never going the same place/direction while walking as the rest of us. Oh! Excuse me m'am, I didn't mean for her to dash out in front of you causing your cart to veer of course and barrel into a store display. Cool... cans roll!!! Look out world!!! We have a walker!!!

She also uses a fork to eat at all times. Don't even think about approaching getting any food into her mouth without a fork gripped firmly in one hand. It doesn't matter if it's crackers or PB&J, no fork, no eating. Literally.... I think she'd rather starve then allow us to help her consume a single bite. She WILL do it by herself, or she WILL let you know about it.

And last but not least, "Do you need help?" seems to start some horrible battle within her. Does she give us the toy/untensil/misc object and risk us taking it away forever and ever and placing it at the ends of the earth where she will certainly never get it back? (which we never do...offer help and then take it away) Does she continue to struggle with opening it/turning it on/putting it away getting more and more frustrated eventually turning her bones "off" in dismay? Or does she trust us for 1 minute second to open it/turn it on/put it away? Oh my... decisions decisions.

Lil Pooper, you certainly make my life interesting! :)

Fun-Fact Fridays

This is crazy! Absolutely unbelieveable!!

Happy Valentine's Day :)-

I don't care if Valentines Day is some super-overcommercialized-made-up-by-Halmark-as-a-marketing-ploy-day-that-makes-all-the-"single"-people-supposedly-feel-bad-for-themselves.

I think having an entire day dedicated to slowing down so that we can stop and say "I love you" to ALL those people who matter most to us (yes the "significant other", but also close friends and dear family) is a wonderful thing. Especially in todays world where those 3 small words simply don't seem to hold the same special meaning they once did. Or we're just "too busy" to say them...lol.

So for the past few years Hubby and I have always taken some extra time figuring out how best to express such love for one and other. Here's what we came up with this year :)

I decided that I would dedicate this weekend to preparing several of B's favorite dishes. What's that old phrase...the surest way to a man's heart is through his stomach? Well folks, I've got it covered this weekend. Here's what the menu looks like:

Friday evening
Pan seared NY Strip steaks, perfect baked potatoes and steamed broccoli paired with White wine and anglefood cake with strawberries for dessert.

Saturday Morning
Homemade buttermilk pancakes, My Special Hashbrown potatoes, sausage links, and scrambled eggs (the way B likes them, not me...lol)

Saturday Dinner
Chili con Carne cooked slowly all day in the crockpot served with white wine and cinnamon rolls. Hand dipped chocolate covered strawberries, and chocolate covered cashews/almonds with Champagne for dessert :) Mmmmm... bubbly

Sunday Breakfast
French toast smothered in powdered sugar and drunken apples.

Sunday Dinner
Slow cooked center-cut roasted pork tenderlion with carmelized sweet potatoes, country green beans (made with ham and slivered almonds), and a butterscotch pudding pie for dessert.

I really thought about all this food and am proud to say that I bought all the necessary ingredients (minus the bubbly) without going over our grocery budget! It's truly amazing what you can buy with no-so-much....I love it! Not to mention we'll definately have enough leftovers for B to take for lunch this week, and some to freeze. It's like a 3 for 1 special!

Now, B did great this year too! When I woke up this morning and wandered into the livingroom with our darling daughter he says to me "You don't get out much by yourself." To which I'm thinking "WHAT?!?! What a way to start our special day....what ARE you talking about crazy man?!?!?". Thank goodness I just kept my mouth shut and listened. He followed up with, "so I think you deserve a nice, relaxing afternoon at the (drumroll please....) SPA. And then I was thinking that it wouldn't be as much fun to go alone, so you should invite a friend, and I'll watch the kiddos."

Holy Batman!!!! I couldn't BE more excited!!!!! I'm going to go get a massage, spa pedicure and facial, all with Sis (she's who I'm taking) while the Lil Pooper hangs out with dad! This is awesome! It really is a very classic gift idea, but truly couldn't be more appropriate for this year. I love my Hubby!

Happy Valentine's Day to all my friends (especially if you're reading this...lol), my loving family, and my cutie-patootie Lil Pooper!

Fun Facts Fridays

You've all seen this symbol, but I bet you have no idea what the 3 colors stand for: Meanings of famous signs. C'mon, take the silly quiz :) I got 9 out of 10! How about you?

Are you from up North?

Ten Commandments Minnesota Style 1. Der's only one God, ya know. 2. Don't make that fish on your mantle an idol. 3. Cussing ain't Minnesota nice. 4. Go to church even when you're up nort. 5. Honor your folks. 6. Don't kill. Catch and release. 7. There is only one Lena for every Ole. No cheatin'. 8. If it ain't your lutefisk, don't take it. 9. Don't be braggin' about how much snow ya shoveled. 10. Keep your mind off your neighbor's hotdish.

Parenting, the lesson that never ends :)

Thinking of Having Kids? Try these 10 steps to see if you have what it takes :)

Lesson 1
1. Go to the grocery store.
2. Arrange to have your salary paid directly to the stores office.
3. Go home.

Lesson 2
Before you finally go ahead and have children, find a couple who already are parents and berate them about their:
1. Methods of discipline.
2. Lack of patience.
3. Appallingly low tolerance levels.
4. Allowing their children to run wild.
5. Suggest ways in which they might improve their child's breastfeeding, sleep habits, toilet training, table manners, and overall behaviour.
Enjoy itbecause it will be the last time in your life you will have all theanswers.

Lesson 3
A really good way to discover how the nights might feel:
1. Get home from work and immediately begin walking around the livingroom from 5PM to 10PM carrying a wet bag weighing approximately 8-12pounds, with a radio turned to static (or some other obnoxious sound)playing loudly. (Eat cold food with one hand for dinner)
2. At 10PM, put the bag gently down, set the alarm for midnight, and goto sleep.
3. Get up at 12 and walk around the living room again, with the bag,until 1AM.
4. Set the alarm for 3AM.
5. As you can't get back to sleep, get up at 2AM and make a drink andwatch an infomercial.
6. Go to bed at 2:45AM.
7. Get up at 3AM when the alarm goes off.
8. Sing songs quietly in the dark until 4AM.
9. Get up. Make breakfast. Get ready for work and go to work (work hardand beproductive) Repeat steps 1-9 each night. Keep this up for 3-5 years. Look cheerfuland together.

Lesson 4
Can you stand the mess children make? To find out:
1. Smear peanut butter onto the sofa and jam onto the curtains.
2. Hide a piece of raw chicken behind the stereo and leave it there allsummer.
3. Stick your fingers in the flower bed.
4. Then rub them on the clean walls.
5. Spill milk on your new pillows. Cover the stains with crayons.
How does that look?

Lesson 5 Dressing small children is not as easy as it seems.
1. Buy an octopus and a small bag made out of loose mesh.
2. Attempt to put the octopus into the bag so that none of the arms hangout.
Time allowed for this - all morning.

Lesson 6
Forget the BMW and buy a mini-van. And don't think that you can leave it out in the driveway spotless and shining. Family cars don't look like that.
1. Buy a chocolate ice cream cone and put it in the glove compartment. Leave it there.
2. Get a dime. Stick it in the CD player.
3. Take a family size package of chocolate cookies. Mash them into the back seat. Sprinkle cheerios all over the floor, then smash them with your foot.
4. Run a garden rake along both sides of the car.

Lesson 7
Go to the local grocery store. Take with you the closest thing you canfind to a pre-school child. (A full-grown goat is an excellent choice). If you intend to have more than one child, then definitely take morethan one goat. Buy yourweek's groceries without letting the goats out of your sight. Pay foreverything the goat eats or destroys.

Lesson 8
1. Hollow out a melon (ideally a canteloupe or muskmelon).
2. Make a small hole in the side.
3. Suspend it from the ceiling and swing it from side to side.
4. Now get a bowl of soggy Cheerios and attempt to spoon them into the swaying melon by pretending to be an airplane.
5. Continue until half the Cheerios are gone.
6. Tip part of the remaining half into your lap. The rest, just throw up in the air.
You are now ready to feed a nine- month-old baby.

Lesson 9
Learn the names of every character from Sesame Street , Barney, Disney, the Teletubbies, and Pokemon. Watch nothing else on TV but PBS, theDisney channel or Noggin for at least five years. (I know, you'rethinking 'What's'Noggin'?)Exactly the point.

Lesson 10
Make a recording of Fran Drescher saying 'mommy' repeatedly. (Important:no more than a four second delay between each 'mommy'; occasional crescendo to the level of a supersonic jet is required). Play this tape in your car everywhere you go for the next four years. You are now ready to take a long trip with a toddler.

Way Too Cool

We were walking in sunshine....

It has been just beautiful here! Sun out, no wind, warm air...totally awesome! This was taken on the day that Lil Pooper finally wore some shoes :) Look carefully...they're there!

So, Lil Pooper has been walking for about a month now, and I find I can hardly remember when she crawled. Everyone seems really surprised by how one day she just stood up and took off like she'd been doing it forever. She seems to do that with a lot of things. I mean waiting and waiting until she can do them absolutely right, and then BAM! She's doing something new :) Silly baby- er, toddler.

So yesterday we went to a park close to our house. It's pretty cool because the play equipment is made for children ages 2-5 so Lil Pooper can actually climb on it and go down the slides and stuff. She has earned the title "Monkey Child", LOL!

Those boots are made for walking...

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood,... a beautiful day in the neighborhood! Mr. Rogers SO had it right! How can 64 degrees in February not be a good thing?

Lil Pooper and her friend BusyIzzy played, and played, and played at the park today. She even went down the slide all by herself for the first time! She is such and explorer :) And...oh AND! LILPOOPER WORE HER SHOES THE ENTIRE TIME!!

For those of you that don't know about the apparent perils of wearing shoes, you should ask my daughter. She hates, and I mean HATES having anything on her feet. Footed pajama's?! Nope. Socks?! Nada. Shoes?! HA! People tell me, "well you're her mother, just make her do it!" To which I say, "Have you met my baby?" I have learned the hard way that you CANNOT make this child do anything. It is much more productive to encourage her to choose the right thing and simply avoid those things which we don't want. She is fiercely independent, lil miss i-can-do-it-all-by-myself-even-if-i-actually-can't, a true doing-it-my-way kinda girl. So when she got so upset when I tried to put shoes on her (and I mean crying till she coughs and eventually throws up. Screaming until she turns this lovely shade of blue. Trying so hard to pry the "evil foot traps" off her feet that she ends up hurting herself) I finally decided it wasn't worth it anymore. Some day she will wear shoes, I mean have you ever seen a freshman in college trudging through the snow without boots on? Nah, me neither. I figured in time she would work it out.

Well friends, today was that day! I found a great pair of soft soled shoes that she will actually tolerate. She even looked down at them once and said "pitty!!" (adult translation, = pretty!). Ahh, learning to let your child set the pace can be really difficult sometimes, but the pay off is awsome! Who knew that wearing shoes could make a momma so proud :)

KMae is 4! yay!!

So yesterday was KMae's 4th Birthday! WoOt!! I know, "she's growing up so fast...", say it with me...lol. It was fun to see her being so excited. Lil Pooper and I drove to York yesterday morning to take KMae and Sis to lunch for birthday festivities.

Sindenote: Let me tell you, Lil Pooper loves her Cousin! She gets SOOOOOOO giddy whenever she sees KMae. It's like she thinks, "YAY! Someone who totally understands me and is super cool!" :) It's really awesome to see her light up like that. And KMae tolerates her lil cuz pretty well. I mean it's hard to learn to share ALL your toys and watch this tiny peron break all the rules because "she doesn't know any better, she's only a baby." Being the "oldest" is tricky... I should know ;)

We decided to head out to Applebee's since at the end of your meal they sing to you while they bring out chocolate cake and icecream. That kiddo was in heaven! She was the center of the universe for 2 whole minutes and soaked up every last bit of it. Ahh, it must be good to be 4!

Lol...What?!?! I saw this on a news page today, and it certainly got my attention :)

Do you know what it's all about? Find out!

(It's kinda fun if you have a few minutes to spare)

Learning is fun!

Well, I'm doing it. I am- right now, in Kansas City for Postpartum Doula training. So far, it's been really exciting! The trainer, Ann Grauer is wonderful. She has a very fluid teaching style that really makes everyone comfortable. The 10 other women are amazing too. It's always interesting to meet new people and find out what circumstances have brought them to the place in their lives they are right now. The group is pretty diverse. We have the youngest (me, lol) at age 24, all the way up to a woman who is here with her mother who is 59! It's wonderful how many people are trying to learn a skill that will help someone else. Anywho, I'm very excited about the next couple days and can't wait to get back home!

P.S. A gi-normous THANK YOU to those of you who have actively supported me in trying to pursue this avenue.

P.S.S Thanks to Jessica for making sure my cats don't starve :)