Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Mols, Mols, Let Down Your Big Fear

My little Molly is brave.  Every day she reminds me she isn't scared of anything, namely, sharks, T-Rexs, quicksand, or the big bad wolf.  But she isn't afraid of more um, probable things either.  Being in front of a crowd?  No, I've seen her hop on stage to perform at church (embarrassing, but I certainly wasn't going up after her!).  She has never had stranger anxiety- in fact I wish she would discriminate just a bit more.  Dogs don't scare her and being alone in the dark is a big adventure.  As you may remember from this post, creepy baby dolls don't phase her.

So I didn't think twice before taking her to Tangled even though it was rated PGShe was SO excited (and hello! A new Disney princess?  So was I!).  She bounced through the previews in delight (did you know they're making a movie of Justin Bieber's life?  I looked over and she was pumping her fist in excitement- apparently his fame has now penetrated the preschool crowd)  The entire movie was going great.  I wouldn't hesitate to use the word enthralled here.  She was absolutely enthralled.  At the climatic moment at the end I briefly thought, "this could be scary for a 3 year old".  I look over at Mols.  She is shaking in fear.  Tears are pouring down her face.  I frantically pull her onto my lap, "I want to go home now" she cries "I want to go home NOW!"  My heart broke for her!

We did tough out the last (less than) two minutes left and she seems to have no memory of the "part at the end".  She is in love with Rapunzel and more vain than ever about her hair, showing great favor to other blondes.  (I swear I don't know where she gets this.  Do I have any redhead readers?  Holllllaaaa!)

So I guess the moral of my story is: even seemingly unshakable three year olds can be shook.  Have you guys taken your kiddos to see Tangled yet?  How did they react?  It really was a darling movie.

Speaking of scary, has Burger King finally abandoned their masked king commercials?  I sincerely hope so- I vote for more Whopper Jr's escapades and other funny ads like this one:

Tuesday Hop

Follow Me Back Tuesday is hosted by Survey Junkie, Little Yaya's, & Boobies,BabiesAndABlog..
Link up!  There are so many great blogs participating! 

Monday, November 29, 2010

A Post Thanksgiving Ode

Holiday season is in full swiiiing!  No more messing around, game faces on!  Bring it Santa!  Do I have some Jewish readers?  Hannukah starts Thursday?!  I don't know how you are doing it!  I am going to need every second between now and Dec. 24 to make this Christmas happen!

But I don't want to get ahead of myself.  First let me rehash Thanksgiving for you.  I think it can best be expressed poetically:

We were off to my in-laws at ten
With 15+ loaves of bread in hand
They don't trust me to bake
So I was in charge of bread to take.

The only young kids were M and A
But teenage cousins were nice enough to play.
Dinner was yummy
Now I have a huge tummy.

Here's the dessert list- try not to salivate:
Beside the pumpkin pies there was a plate
of pumpkin bars and apple pie,
a Snickers cake so rich I thought I'd die,
apple carmel pie and chocolate pie too
an apple streusel pie and a whole slew
of candy bars and chocolate covered nuts
by the time were were done we had doubled our butts.
Then out came the brownies to wash it all down
And then it was back up for a second round.

Needless to say I was hurtin' real bad
The only comfort I found was in the Target ads.
If I never blog about a commercial again,
It's because nothing can top this perfect ten.
The series is funny, the actress just right,
Her over the topness sheds hilarious light
on our own sanity this time of year
so let's relax and enjoy some holiday beer cheer!


This one is my favorite hands down!  I love the "rum tummy tum" part!

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

WWW Wednesday: Holiday Edition!

Whine:  Did you think just because it is Thanksgiving Eve I wouldn't whine?  Wrong!  But it is a pretty minor whine today.  I can't get "Sex Bomb" out of my head.  It's like I have a little Tom Jones wriggling around in my brain.  I blame David Hasselhoff's DWTS return last night.  Here, you're welcome to share in my misery if you like:


Wish:  For my Christmas decorations to magically organize themselves.  I wish this every year.  That I could be someone who bounces into her basement and grabs from a neat stack of bins, the ones labeled (in beautiful calligraphy?) "Christmas decorations- upstairs", "Christmas decorations- outside", "Christmas tree ornaments"... you get the picture.  Instead I dig through torn boxes from the 80s to find 2 ornaments amidst Easter baskets and old CDs, stockings stuffed in plastic Meijer bags and crammed in the tree stand, etc.  It's pretty ugly down there.  Eh, maybe next year.

Woo-hoo!  My Christmas decorations are up!!  Don't you judge me, Christmas decorations-shouldn't-be-up-until-after-Thanksgiving disciples.  I am pumped!  And here's a nice segue into my Thankful thought for the day.  I'm so thankful for nativity scenes.  I just love them.  I may or may not have cried when I unpacked mine today.  Speaking of which, I may be doing something wrong with Mols.  She seems to be wanting to pray to Santa these days when I tuck her in.  I think we finally reached the agreement she could pray for Santa, but not to Santa.  Eek.  We'll have to work a bit more on that reason for the season thing.

A holiday gift idea?  How about a new cooler for your husband?  How about a new cooler for your husband stocked with his favorite beers?  Something tells me your 2011 will be especially fabulous after that rockin' gift! 

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

X Marks la Spot

Aujourd'hui I am thankful for Franglais because I think it's absolutely hi-lar-i-ous!  Throwing a French word in the middle of an English sentence?  Kills me every time.  Or just saying French words in a WAY over the top accent.  I wish this were a vlog so I could demonstrate.  You should be thanking your lucky stars this is not a vlog and you are spared my ridiculous faux French accent.  Incidentally, this is a stupid habit I formed in college, along with writing phonetic messages to my roommates on the dry erase board (I tried to insert a funny example here, but I don't know how to type schwas or the little dots or lines over letters... do you?  Parce que je voudrais beacoup to know how that works!

I'm also thankful for X brand food!  We hosted a mini Thanksgiving here tonight, serving the traditional Thanksgiving tacos.  Food is pricey, right?  And we have nothing to show for it but saddlebags (me) and greasy little fingers (M and A) so I hate to spend money on it.  But buying Meijer brand stuff makes opening the ole pocketbook a bit easier.  I do draw the line at diapers and peanut butter though (for those of you who shop at Meijers: I'll vouch for almost all their branded items except these).

What obscure things are you guys thankful for today?

Today's commercial doesn't really feature an item as much as a store, but I trust you'll find at least one great gift if you swing by Pier 1.  Later, if I can find the actual Pier 1 commercial I wanted I'll be posting that too.  In the meantime, be on the lookout for it- it's tres cute!

Monday, November 22, 2010

A Week of Thanks

It's Thanksgiving Week!  I think that calls for a theme week, no?  Let's go with the obvious: things I'm thankful for.  And in the spirit of the shopping insanity about to ensue I'll feature commercials that will hopefully give you some gift ideas.  (So this is a kinda sorta helpful blog.  I did this last year too.  See this post).

Now, obviously I'm thankful for the usual suspects- family, health, food... that all goes without saying.  But I'm also thankful for the luxury that is The Learning Channel.  Last night there was a Sister Wives special on.  It was especially disgusting.  TLC provides every kind of wedding show you could ever want (I used to plan my college courses around The Wedding Story.  Classic.)  The Baby Story of course, is the sweetest torture for those dying for a baby.  I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant is a different kind of torture for teen girls who think there's no way they could get knocked up.  They'll think twice the next time they have the flu or gain a couple pounds.  And of course, the I'm Pregnant and.... shows.  Last night I watched I'm Pregnant and It Could Kill Me (she had cervical cancer and waited until baby came along to start treatment). 
Not to even mention The Duggars, the Little Couple, Little People Big World, and their numerous and enrapturing specials on never-heard-of-before-diseases.

I love this stuff.  Sure, there may be something deeply, severely wrong with me but I just love it.  This Monday I am thankful for The Learning (about bizarre pregnancies and gross polygamists) Channel.

If you know somebody without a GPS you would be doing them a great disservice to NOT buy them one.  I would be homebound without mine.  Plus, they have great commercials as you may remember from previous posts.  No doubt they'll show up on Ad Bits again.

Meet Me Monday

I'm trying a new blog hop today just for the fun of it!  Stop by Inspiring You 2 Save if you want to link up!

Friday, November 19, 2010

End of Week Nutshell

Here are some of the highlights and lowlights of the last couple days:

Finished A's leg warmers! :)
Not happy with finished leg warmers. :(
Finally figured out Hello Kitty scarf pattern that once flew across my living room! (see this post)
Took kids to the heaven on earth that is Jumping Jax (an indoor bouncy house gallery)!  Forgot camera and was mad.
Exhausted from jumping, girlies (and me!) slept in today!
Discovered camera was in purse the whole jumpin' time.  Kicked self.
Finally went shopping so I wouldn't have to serve bowls of mayonnaise for dinner tonight.
Shopping bag broke and spaghetti sauce splattered all over garage floor, my shoes, and leg.  Left mess there for Jim to clean up.
Opened my new sundried tomato and basil Wheat Thins only to find they were already open.  Was mad.
Made apple cinnamon turnovers with Molly.  Yum.  Was happy.  Am still happy.

And that's where things stand with  me right now friends.  This afternoon the girls and I are hitting the stores armed with a Christmas shopping list for easy to buy for family members and pets.  Of course I'll also be armed with pretzels, granola bars and other bribes to keep my munchkins quiet happy.  Fingers crossed Molly won't be too disappointed when we don't find the giant scooter that she's convinced will make the best Christmas present ever for her daddy.

This is my favorite commercial out there right now- hope it fires you up for your shopping as well!

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

WWW Wednesday

Whine:  Aughhhhh!  As mothers we are supposed to be the world's best multi-taskers, right?  Normally I feel like I can multitask with the best of them- I can scrub toilets and chit-chat on the phone (one of my riskier maneuvers), I can drive with  my knees while signing the words to Molly's Bible songs and making faces at A to keep  her awake (again, risky, I know); right now I'm eating pretzels, drinking Diet Coke, blogging, and pretending to be a brontosaurus.  So you would THINK I'd be able to watch DWTS without screwing up my knitting!  The worst part is I was at the very end of leg warmer #1 and I didn't realize my screw up until I was completely finished.  It's not terribly noticeable, but I know it's there and will know it's there every time A wears them. :(  Boo.

Wish:  I wish I could get my hiney out of bed earlier.  Every single day I set my alarm for an hour before the girlies get up.  10% of the time I actually get up.  The other 90% I hit dismiss, snuggle down deeper into my warm, cozy, most comfy bed in the world and zonk out until a munchkin cries for me.  My bible study homework this week touched on the fruits of the spirit and the last one in particular.  You guessed it.  Self-control.  Oops.  But really, if God wanted me up earlier he wouldn't have brought such a fabulously comfortable bed into my life, right?

Woo-hoo!  Let's just list a slew of woo-hoos shall we?  With exclamation points at the end of each one?  Kyle Massey is in the DWTS finals!  Jim got not one, but 2 beautiful bucks!  I accomplished MORE Christmas shopping yesterday!  I cleaned out my closet to make room for new clothes I get at Christmas  make some donations to Goodwill!  It rained a beautiful, silent rain today and my dog didn't make a peep!  I learned to send a text to multiple recipients on my new phone (there are so many instances in which I want to tell both my brother and my sister what dweebs they are)!  Woo freakin' hoo Friends! 

What are your dubs this week? 

I love this guy- he looks like his life is one giant woo-hoo!

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Quickstep On By

In the last few weeks I've fallen hook, line, and swinger for Dancing With The Stars.  I think I've made a huge mistake the last 11 years in NOT watching this glorious dance-off!  Too bad for you guys, of course because now you have to hear about it every week.  But I find it's really satisfying the hole The Biggest Loser left in my reality show viewing lineup.  Does it leave me hungry for salsa?  Yes.  But it's still worth it.

SO, I am happy with all in the final four, but I think I'm cheering for Kyle Massey.  Which reminds me of an embarrassing thing that happened to me yesterday.  I was chatting with a mom at Molly's soccer practice and the conversation turned to DWTS.  She didn't know who Kyle Massey was.  When a physical description didn't help her, I was forced to rattle off his resume. 

Me: He's a Disney star.  He was on That's So Raven, then had his own show on Disney for a while called Cory in the House that didn't do so great.  It was about him living in the White House because his dad was a chef for the President.  Now he's the voice of Milo on the new animated series, Fish Hooks.
Soccer Mom (in a pleasant, but horrified kind of tone): Ok.  I won't tell anyone you just said that.
Me (dying inside): Thanks.

Now I know and you guys may know I frequent channels 290, 291, and 292 (Disney East Coast, West Coast, and Disney XD), but I imagine it can come as quite a shock to hear a fully grown woman spew out tween trivia the way I can.  Luckily it wasn't Selena Gomez or Hilary Duff on DWTS or else I'd still be spewing all over this "interested in age-appropriate things" soccer mom. 

Embarrassing, right?  Judge me if you must, but not before I hit you with some puns.  First let me just say what fox(trots) those pro dancers are, right?  Mambo mia!  The judges are fun, although sometimes they seem to have chips (and salsa) on their shoulders.  I was sad to see Florence Henderson go, but she seemed to have hit a wall(tz).  Tonight I plan to swing by my living room couch to tune in.  Maybe I'll enjoy a nice rumba and Coke too.  Ahhh... it's good to be ajive.  I'll stop now.  It's time for me to (tan)go anyway.  Cha cha for now!

Monday, November 15, 2010

Color Me Crazy

Reason #bajillion33 why I love Molly: she thinks I'm a straight-up culinary genius for feeding her such exquisite meals as scrambled eggs and applesauce.  "Mommy, you make great meals every night!" she exclaimed (the previous night I had picked up a rotisserie chicken).  God knew what he was doing giving me a girl who has a less than sophisticated palate.  I believe tonight our four star meal will consist of waffles and apples.  What's up now Julia Child?

Reason #bajillion33 why I love Adrienne: she has a temper!  I know this won't always be cute, but when she chucks her bottle clear across the room when I try to wipe her nose I can't help but crack up! (how infuriating for her, right?)  Or when she's mad about taking a nap and shoves my face away when I move in for a kiss?  I actually sort of love it.  She's so laid back and sweet normally, if it weren't for these little tantrums I'd worry people would walk all over her.  But nope- anyone who tries any funny business with this munchkin will suffer the wrath!  Love it!

Of course, now that A is getting older, my girls have morphed from indifferent roommates to partner in crime playmates.  This is what I want, it is.  Sort of.  In related news, tomorrow I'm off to buy a Magic Eraser to work on getting crayon off the door, pen off the stairwell, and eyeliner off the wall (it's surprising difficult to remove!)  If you guys have any tips for kiddie art removal please clue me in!  I've tried the obvious: soap and water, Goo Gone, miscellaneous chemicals...  I've heard good things about Magic Eraser though- you?



Edit: I actually wrote the above yesterday.  Today I bought a Meijer brand "Erasing Sponge" (Magic Erasers were out of stock- good sign!) and I've been scrubbing ever since.  We have a glorious invention on our hands!  I'm completely in love and am going to write Mr. Clean encouraging them to bring to market a Magic Toothbrush so I can get hard water stains out of my grout.  Am I on to something or what?!

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Imma Champ!

I'm champion of the world today!!  Or, champion of Visaville at least.  I put a good size dent in my Christmas shopping today, but was methodical and smart about all my purchases!  I even managed to get myself a couple items without spending a cent.  Thanks to some gift cards from last ChristmasChampion!

In other exciting news, Jim and I are going out tonight for dinner and drinks with a couple friends, almost like we're real people with real social lives!  Wild!

Is P-Diddy still hip and cool?  Or tiiiiiight as the kids say (or used to say?)  In any event, here is a commercial featuring the rad Mr. Combs.  Cirock and roll baby!


Objection!  The explosive fist pound IS smooth!  It IS! 

Friday, November 12, 2010

Jules' Laws... Repeat

Here's a Friday Flashback friends.  It won't look familiar to you because it was originally written before anyone actually read my blog.  So happy you're here now!

Jules' Laws
My brother has long held the position that taking saunas should be a men-only experience (no, he's straight). Unfortunately for him I love me a sweatin' good time (Richard Simmons, eat your heart out!) In fact, it was in the sauna that my dad reminded me of the "Man Law" commercials by Miller Lite. How could I forget such awesomity! Such funnariness! Such brilliantary use of celebrities! Not to mention Miller makes good points. See below for my favorites.

Yeah, we don't know where those fingers have been.


Boys, I'd like to introduce you to the fist-pound.


I'd clink bottoms with you any day Mr. Reynolds.  Burt if you're nasty.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

WWW Wednesday

Update: Last week I introduced the theory that perhaps WWW Wednesdays were somehow magical because after I whined about something, the problem solved itself!  If you remember, I tested my theory last week by mentioning a private jet and less painfully dry skin.  I'm sorry to report, I remain jetless and dry.  Those are pretty big ticket items though, so I'm giving the bloggy powers that be some more time.

Whine: I need more hours. Particularly around this time of year.  I know I'm not the only one.  Can I get a "holla"?!  Today I started my Naughty and Nice lists, (I was hoping to save a few bucks this year, but everybody has been pretty stinkin' nice) itemizing gift ideas for each person.  It quickly became clear I should have started this list in March because there are several handmade gifts I want to make.  I calculated my time between now and Christmas and if I cut back about 3 hours/night on sleep, forgo eating, and hire a full-time nanny to watch the kids and give Jim some attention I'm still coming up short.  What's that?  Cut out Internet surfing?  Surely you jest!

Wish: My girls stay friends with the very friends they have now.  And make new ones of course, but I just love their sweet little friendships right now.  Plus, Molly is three.  Which is the age I was when I made two of my very dearest friends in the world.  I love making new friends, but there is a lot to be said for a friend who watched you through every embarrassing hair style, fashion disaster, and heartbreak; a friend who pushes you on the swings and later stands in your wedding, with whom you share precious Halloween candy and later, maternity clothes.  You know, the friend who loves your parents and siblings as her own and then is great friends with your husband and adores your kids as her own.  I hope you all have these buddies and I wish wish wish my girls to have them too. 
Note: now I'm crying for the second time today.  The first was when I was reading Knuffle Bunny Free to Molly.  Have mercy!  There should be a sob disclaimer on page one of that story!

Woo-hoo!  Today I made this dip that I'm obsessssed with!  I'll put the recipe up on "Bits I Make".  That's right- I woo-hoo on a regular basis about food and today it's a doozie.  I got the recipe from Deceptively Delicious (but I leave out the pureed carrots because I'd hate to be too healthy, right?) and I am going to eat it with lime tortilla chips for every meal until it's gone.  Love it.  But if you're looking for a more substantial woo-hoo, my sister is coming to visit tomorrow and staying until Sunday!  I don't get enough of that girl, so I'm super pumped.  And she doesn't usually hack into my Facebook account or hide creepy dolls in my pantry (see here) so that's cool too.  Woo-hoo within the woo-hoo: she's babysitting Saturday night so J and I can hit the town like the cool hipsters we are! (heehee)

Remind me to never have a whiny Wednesday with this guy (whose use of the word "jackwagon" made my whole year- I'll be repeating often.  Consider yourself warned.)

This Is Nuts!

I know it's WWW Wednesday and I promise to get to that later, but this couldn't wait!  Huge news!  Mr. Peanut speaks!  Check it out:



Incidentally my favorite Planters commercial does not even feature Mr. Peanut, but this hottie boomalottie instead:

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Cow Belle!

I milked a cow today!  Those of you gazing out your front window at your very own dairy cows probably aren't impressed, but it was a big deal for a city girl like me.  Not as big a deal of course, as the time I helped deliver a calf (read about that experience here), but I was pretty pumped (much like the cow's udder!)  I don't want to brag, but I got milk out on the first try.  And I think the cow liked me.  That is, she didn't kick me in the head.

Here's Mols meeting a baby cow a while back:


If you don't have a friend with a dairy farm I highly recommend you get one- farms are just fascinating and... farmy.  Many times when we visit my friends' farm I put my girls in overalls because I just feel like I should.  Thanks to them, A's first animal noise was a cow, closely followed by a barn cat (which sounds strikingly similar to a non-barn cat!).  Visits to the farm also make me feel all rugged (for me that is).  Case in point, we took our kiddos for a walk down the road (yes, it was dirt) and Molly had to go potty.  Usually her spontaneous bladder is not a problem- we simply pull into a gas station or Taco Bell.  Today when she announced she had to go I think my exact words were, "Molly!  You've got to be kidding me!"  There was no where to go.  Except for the acres and acres of nature.  My friend pointed out she could just go right where we were, so she did.  Clumsily, yes, but she didn't saturate her clothes, which was all I really cared about.  And bonus!  I had tissues in my pocket!  Resourceful me! 

I'll spare you guys all my farmy puns.  Ha!  Did you fall for that?  It's a bunch of bull.  You've got to know I could never steer clear of cow puns!  Besides, I herd most people appreciate a good cow joke.  Ok!  I'll stop before you hoof on out of here without watching this fly commercial.  (Get it?  Fly?  Because cows attract flies?  No?  Alright, fair enough).  Seriously though, I'm in love with this commercial wholeheartedly.  Not just calfheartedly.

Monday, November 8, 2010

Count Me In

Fellow Bloggers, do you obsess over your Number?  You know... your Followers?  I do.  For instance, right now I have one hundred fifteen (doesn't that look better than 115?)  But I know of a few people*
who read my blog on at least a kinda-sorta regular basis, but aren't Followers- seven I can think of off hand.  However, (and this is an embarrassing but true fact about me) five of my actual Followers are family members that I took the liberty of setting up myself.

I know, pathetic.

I've lost a total of three Followers- two on one day (right after I posted this post about Jim... maybe baby giraffes offend some people??  I had no way of knowing that!)  These losses saddened me for days as though I'd lost my most favorite pair of shoes.  (If any of you are thinking of leaving I hope I'm doing a good job of guilting you into sticking around.  I have no problem with a pity Follow).

Am I crazy?  Do you other Bloggers fret as I do over your Number?  Or have I completely laid my insecurities out there in the nude for the entire blogosphere (or at least 115 members of the blogosphere) to poke fun at?  Prod away, I'm embracing my vulnerabilities today!  Plus, I'm confident I can sway you to stay with this hi-lar-ious commercial that has become a favorite here at Ad Bits.  It was emailed to me today by an unofficial Follower and real life friend whom I adore, with the note that she and her kiddos love it.  That could go without saying because hello!  Who wouldn't love this ad?  Even I, with my weird rodent phobia love this commercial and may or may not be headed to Rhapsody as soon as this post is finished to download the soundtrack onto my MP3 player.  That's for me to know.


*I adore my unofficial Followers!  You guys give me faith that maybe there are others reading my blog too!  Maybe my number is more like 1,115!!! 

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Shower Me With Fun

What an insanely busy few days!  Biz.  Ee.  But fun!  My whole family was in town for my sister-in-law to be's shower (which we DID have power for, God love you for your electrical wishes).  The shower was a success as far as I know.  The bride had a hefty stash to haul home so that's a good sign, right?  She also got to meet a lot of our family and she still seems to want to marry into our insanity so that's good news too.  Here is my brother, his fiance, and their little dog:


I spent today catching up with my kids.  While I've been prepping for the shower the last few days my dear girls have been shooed into the playroom, coaxed into bed early, given fake jobs to keep them out of my way occupied ("why don't you count you count tiles for me?  Done?  Okaaaay... now, count the eyelets on all these shoes.  That has to be done before any successful bridal shower.")  The end result is that I miss playing with my babies!  For all my talk about craving adult conversation, I was happy to be Molly's pet unicorn this afternoon.

This is my favorite commercial right now.  Travelers is becoming quite a contender in the advertising arena.  I think the soundtrack totally makes this one. 

Friday, November 5, 2010

My Day At School

I don't normally blog on Thursdays.  But even if I wanted to yesterday, all the Diet Cokes in the world could not have given me the energy to move my fingers about a keyboard.  Why?  Because November 4th was my day to be the parent volunteer in Molly's class.

I overcame my first hurdle with flying colors: Molly didn't even protest me going in with her!  She didn't excitedly drag me in by the hand and begin showing me her cubby, art area, and new friends of course, but I would never have expected that.  It was more like, "You're coming in?  Ok, I'll probably run into you at some point then."  Which was fine with me as I was expecting a full-fledged, "Preschool is just for children!" tantrum.

My first job was to help the kids locate their name tags and pin them on their shirts.  I did it!  Piece of cake!  I'd be a great teacher! 

The kids have ten minutes of free time before they congregate on the big circle.  I was a huge hit!  "Teacher!  Teacher!  [who me?! yes! me!] will you do this puzzle with me?  Will you play cheetahs with me? [??] I made you a pizza, I made you a cake!"  They vied for my attention and I began a speech to Jim in my head, "I think I want to get a degree in education.  I've missed my calling and it's a 3 year old voice saying, 'you shoulda been a preschool teacher!'"

Next is circle time, where M introduced me (unnecessary since I was already BFFs with these kiddos!); we sang songs, read a book, etc.  Kids wanted to sit on my lap and I felt like the Homecoming Queen of the Tuesday/Thursday morning preschool class.

I assisted my mini buddies with animal bingo (everyone wins!) and then it was time for snack (apparently parent volunteers just help serve- we don't actually partake in snack) and more free time.  My eye caught the clock.  Hm.  Earlier than I would have guessed.

The rest of the day is an exhausted blur.  I was starving.  I had the kind of headache that slams your brain against your skull every time you take a step.  The kids were not as cute getting a second wind and I could not keep up anymore.  I planted myself at the art table and repeated, "I like all the colors you used" and "You worked so hard on that" to whomever sat down beside me.

Finally, mercifully, it was recess and then!  "Thank you Molly's mommy!"  We were outta there.  Molly has asphalt burn down the side of her face from me dragging her, manically racing to my car.  When we got home I noticed another mom had snuck a note in her backpack about chipping in for the teachers' Christmas gifts.  Timely.  They will be getting a hefty gift from this non-teacher!

Chuck Norris.  Hah!  He's got NOTHING on the preschool teachers of the world.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Bonus Woo-hoo!

I have another woo-hoo!  I had the great honor of being a guest blogger (my first time!) at Hanging Off The Wire.  Hayley does a great job over there and is having a rockin' Bloggy Birthday Bash!  I highly recommend stopping by and joining in the fun!  Here's the link to my guest post: Let's Get Metaphysical.

WWW Wednesday

Whine: I've noticed the last few Wednesdays whenever I put something into my whine blurb, the issue magically goes away!  WWW Wednesdays are miraculous!  A couple examples:  I whined about my phone... I have a new phone that I love!  I whined about not reading any good books... please note the new recommendation in my sidebar!  Molly refused to wear the same outfit as Adrienne... as you can see from yesterday's picture, the identical sundresses I bought in next summer's sizes will NOT go to waste!  So I'm going to do a little experiment today and whine that I don't have a private jet and uh... my skin is crazy dry right now.  Let's see if these issues work themselves out in the coming week!

Wish: I wishy wish wish the bridal shower I'm having Saturday goes smoothly!  The last time I had a shower the power went off at my house the day before so I was trying to keep food cold and not give my guests salmonella.  I also had to follow everyone into the bathroom and dump water into the tank to flush for them.  And it was about 100 degrees and really, everybody just wanted to get the heck out of here.  Including me.  So all I wish for is power on Saturday.  Please send your very best bloggy wishes to me- I trust your wish power will keep my home electric.

Woo-hoo!  Elections are over!  Whatever your party, how thrilled are we that the political ads are off  our TVs and radios?!  I could NOT be happier!  I prefer my commercials to be manipulating me into buying an actual product thank you very much.  I've missed the usuals- the fast food ads, the insurance spots, the beer commercials.  Welcome back old friends!
Also (and I'm not sure this is exactly a woo-hoo; it actually freaked me right out), yesterday (Nov. 2nd) I noticed a fully stocked Christmas aisle at Wal-Mart.  Christmas?!  I love Christmas but wow!  Now I'm feeling a little panicky.  As I get more stressed out, this development may move into a whine, but for now I'm jumping on the bandwagon with a Christmasy commercial:

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Matchers Again!

An update: Molly has stopped protesting matching outfits!!!  I know you were on pins and needles about this hot topic, so the news is good.  When I pulled out their matching cupcake jammies she squealed in delight and my heart soared (while my stomach growled and mouth watered at the sight of the cupcakes).  Here they are:
Speaking of Molly squealing in delight, I'm missing a chunk of my tongue today thanks to her enthusiasm.  Saturday night I tucked her in and reminded her the next day was Halloween.  Bad idea.  She threw her hands into the air and brought her knees to her chest.  On the way up they smacked my chin, I saw stars, and now I'm talking like some kind of freaky bad ventriloquist.  Kids can really put a hurtin' on their parents, right?  Adi has taken to yanking my hair in protest whenever I wipe food off her mouth.  Jeesh!  It's a good thing they're cute and still wear matching outfits for me.

Here's an irrelevant question, but I'm wondering what you guys think about this.  M ran up to a house to trick-or-treat the other day and the guy gave her some candy and then took her picture.  Would you be freaked out?  I'm confident he was harmless, but is that weird?  Did any strangers take your children's pictures?

Other things that weird me out?  Doorhandles in public restrooms.  Target speaks to my soul yet again.

Monday, November 1, 2010

Hello Dolly

Good news!  I wasn't mauled by a bear!  The weekend was lovely- relaxing and fun.  Of course, I'm happy to be back to civilization now with a considerably lower risk of wild animal attacks.

Did everyone have a fun Halloween?!  I do not remember Halloween stretching out so long when I was little!  I wish it would have!  It's fine with me though, because the girls got a ton of use out of their costumes. Practically $1 per wear!  (that's quite an exaggeration but typing it makes me feel like a rockstar bargain shopper!)  We have enough candy to tide us over until Halloween 2011 (Lie!  With my help it will be gone before you can say, "I'm a hungry, hungry goblin") so I think it was a successful year.

In other Haloweeny news, I arrived home late Saturday night from my very relaxing weekend, quickly put the girls in bed, tidied up a little and opened my pantry to put something away.  This is what I found:
Why in the world I would ever let my brother alone in my house is a mystery.  Do you remember last time I left him?  See this post.  What a punk!  So I did what any warped Mommy would do... left it in there and instructed Molly to get some crackers out of the pantry.  What did she do when she opened the door?  Giggled.  And kept looking for crackers.  I asked what was so funny and she laughed, "there's a baby doll in here!"  So much for scaring some curl into her hair.  My daughter is already braver at three than I will ever be.

Note: this doll is not ours.  We have friends who brought it over for the express purpose of putting it in Jim's truck to scare him.  The hilarious evil plan worked and after that he put it high, high up in our garage behind a bunch of junk so we'd never accidentally see it.  My point is this: if it were actually our property it would be in the dumpster.  Also, my sick brother went to great lengths to get this thing out and into my pantry.  If you have a brilliant idea how I could get him back, I'm accepting ideas!

This is a very busy week. I have lots going on and I'm hosting a bridal shower at my house Saturday.  I could use a dog like Harvey: