Debbie's Wedding/Goofy Kids!!

I look at the picture above and think very swanky rat packish future. Looks like they are out enjoying an adult beverage!!


OK, so I originally put these pics on my facebook page, and in the one above, I think it was Crystal that said "do not let these two go off to college together"!!! Yeah, that could be dangerous!~

Crystal and Anne above and Crystal and Nicole below....


Anne and Debbie's dad made all the cookies, terrible picture of Mason I know, but it kind of shows the cookies which were beautiful!!!!!!


Deb-O and Anne!!

Kids were constantly on the move.....


Handsome husbands....Scott, Ron, and Andy!
So my friend Debbie got married in December. It was a gorgeous wedding, everything was beautiful and I swear I've never seen such a calm bride!! :) My kids even had a good time, but probably due to the fact that Colin, Nathan, Brennan, and Aidan were there too. These boys have been friends since their very early days, (the youngest 3 basically since birth), and even though they don't see each other all the time, when they get together it's like no time has passed. It was actually really cool to see the boys enjoying each others company so well. And heaven help me, Matthew participated in the garter belt toss!! He had no idea what he was joining in but Colin explained to him that "It's this ding-dong thing that they throw and you try and catch it". Too funny!! Thank goodness Matthew didn't catch the garter, the mother in me might just have a stroke!! ;)

April 1st

No, I didn't have any special jokes, pranks, or craziness planned for today. I'm not that much of a practical joker and am normally not clever enough to come up with something really original. But in honor of the day, I figured I had to do a little something for the kids. So after school, I sent the boys upstairs to play while I made them a "snack". When the time had come, I called them down to come have their "chicken nuggets" with "mustard sauce". Yum, Yum! ;)

Ok, so the chicken nuggets are actually pieces of Sara Lee pound cake (from the freezer) that are cut up and dipped in a sauce of powdered sugar, Karo's syrup, water, and vanilla. Then they are rolled in peanuts and left to set up. The mustard sauce is just vanilla pudding with a little yellow food coloring. My kids like real chicken nuggets but weren't overly impressed with the idea of them as a snack. (hee, hee) And neither one of them have ever really gone for real mustard sauce, they prefer ranch dressing for a dip. But eventually with a little taste of these special chicken nuggets, they were convinced otherwise! :)

Guinness is Good

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Yes, I know the blog has been a bit neglected but sometimes that just can't be helped. But in all the business of our lives, today is a day to celebrate and enjoy. To celebrate what you may ask? Why Guinness of course! Just kidding, kind of.... It is good for you though. The Irish say so, then it must be true. And believe me, the slogan of Guinness is good is all over Ireland! Anyway, of course tonight we will be drinking plenty of Guinness, along with eating some traditional (American traditional anyway) corned beef and cabbage, and for dessert....Chocolate Guinness Cake. Of Course.

I am now off to go eat. Don't you wish? ;)

And this is how the evening goes...

Overheard just a little while ago:

Geusseppe: Meeerowwww....MeeYow!!!! **paw reaching out to Andy's arm**

Andy: No 'seppe, Daddy is drinking tonight, not petting.

It's obviously been a long day.

Someone Is Looking For Attention!

And no....we do not have a dog. The neighbor's dog, Lucky, came over to visit today...

Old Man Winter Has Arrived

Although, clearly, Old Man Winter has lost his marbles and didn't realize winter wasn't supposed to start until today!!! Somewhere, there must have been a little miscommunication because we have had just nasty weather for the last week. (And quite frankly, while I'm crabbin', he kinda forgot to let up last June. It was freezing on the last day of school!!) Anyway, the weather outside may be a bit frightful and downright frigid, but there is always a little entertainment to be had.

These two pics are of my back deck this morning....just a few drifts you see.

This is looking NE off my front porch. I'm amazed my ornaments in the foreground survived the wind from the night before. I was sure I was going to find at least one broken one this morning! My kids are rather wimpy and strange and weren't really interested in going out in the snow much. The first 2 days they wanted to go out but now they are more interested in finding entertainment inside the house. So first was a little "Rad Daddles" time:

So do you like Matthew's drum set? And how about Mason's microphone as he is the 'singer'?! After all that work, lunch was in order:
Followed by Andy's realization that he just simply needed more beer. I also think it was an excuse to go check up on Grandma Dee and her cookie selection while he went over there to see if she needed anything. So off he trekked to the store and I managed a shot of him when he came home with his success: ;)

I was almost embarrassed by his beer selection, I think I would have chose differently but, whatever. He did end up giving two of his beers away to some lady with a grocery cart that wouldn't quite following him while he was trying to walk home. Apparently, she kept trying to get his attention to point out the fact that he had some beer. Gotta love SE Portland! ;)

I spent the afternoon baking....

I made some fabulous blue cheese crackers too but I forgot to take a picture of them. They are rather dangerous because I could see getting into those by far more often than the cookies!

Oh and I should mention the cats, or mainly Geusseppe. There has been evil lurking in his mind. There is evil lurking in my mind too. I haven't shown Matthew these pictures and I might just print out a copy for him and leave it in his room. Because I'm sure he doesn't want Geusseppe messing with his Webkinz! ;)

I've Been Grumpy....

I have been grumpy and my grumpiness doesn't seem to be letting up anytime soon. In the meantime, I found something interest. The Cyborg Name Decoder!!

http://cyborg.namedecoder

So maybe I am just ready for battle, yearly assassination, and masterful yelling!!! I am sure my hubby would agree!

Recent Purchases

Yeah....the economy may be bad. But I have still found a few things to entertain me!

What can I say....it's a great combination and one I haven't had in ages! ;)

So I had seen this lovely British logo on another blog and I really kind of liked the look. So just the other day I was at New Season's and saw it in coaster form. And I couldn't resist....

And now for my favorite purchase...but just a warning, if there are children or anyone else who may be offended by a bit of crass language, you might want to turn away now.

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Yes...my newest stamp! I couldn't resist...there is some little paper/card shop on NW 23rd whose name completely escapes me at the moment that had this. Originally, I was out with my girlfriends and we were headed over to Papa Hayden (of course!) and this particular shop happened to be open until 8 pm. I found the stamp there and immediately had to have it. I don't have immediate plans on what exactly I am going to stamp this on yet....but I am tempted to label some of Andy's things with it! ;) Now if only they had an F-bomb I would make some real special cards!! ;)

Fire on the Mountain!

On Sunday night, Andy and I got to go out since the kids had an unexpected night with grandma and grandpa! So Andy decided that we should go to Fire on the Mountain since he had a gift certificate from his brother for that particular eatery. Oh my. Can I just say YUM!! I had no clue what this place served but it was all about wings!! Oh man they put to shame any kind of buffalo wings one has ever had at a chain restaurant...hot and spicy and lots of them. I actually ended up getting a chicken sandwich that was made with the spicy peanut sauce (which I could only eat about half since it was huge and I had a few of Andy's wings!). Andy had a big ol' plate of wings with 3 different sauces (spicy peanut, Jamaican jerk, and a third that was beyond too hot for me and at the moment I can't remember which one it was). So amazingly good! The restaurant is set up like Laughing Planet so if you eat there, the idea is the same....you order at the counter and then find a table (good luck!). We went to the Burnside location and it's not real big and got crowded fast but it was so worth it. Oh, and for dessert....fried Twinkies!! ;)

Look.......

Pink Pasta!!!! OK, well I guess 'pasta' implies Italian when I actually purchased these 'noodles' at Uwajimaya the other day. I couldn't resist buying the noodles and I honestly have no idea what I am going to use them for yet. But I will come up with something.... ;) (feel free to suggest!!)

6 things about me

So I have been tagged by Amber for a little meme of six random things about myself. Actually, quite awhile back I was also tagged by Sarah for the same thing but I never got around to finishing the post. So I figure it is time to actually complete it! ;)
1) As much as I enjoy scrapbooking, I have yet to even devote a page to writing about myself! Partly because I seem to be perpetually behind in all the things I want to complete and partly because I do enough self-examination in my head. When I want to scrapbook, I want it to be fun and not always does analyzing myself seem like much fun. Way more fun to analyze my children (and hubby!).

2) Andy and I are coming up on our 10-year wedding anniversary. Amazingly, we met in a bar! And I had sworn I would never date anybody I met in a bar. The funny part of it was, I actually was aware of who he was. He grew up about 2 blocks away from me and we went to the same gradeschool, middle school, and highschool but never had a single class together. This would be due to Gresham's year-round school system at that time and it just worked out that way. He knows the neighborhoods like I do from our childhood, and it's fun (still!) being able to reminisce with my partner. He knows exactly what I am talking about when I mention playing in the 'field' as kids or as teenagers learning to drive at the 'dogs' (the parking lot for the dog tracks in Gresham which is now a Fred Meyer and Lowes).

3) I enjoy cooking. I enjoy reading about food and I enjoy food blogs too! Sometimes the most relaxing bedtime reading is a really inspiring cookbook or food magazine. I am not a particularly innovative cook on my own but I do enjoy trying new things and I tend to like most foods. Although, super spicy foods I find rather difficult to deal with. I don't want to cry while I eat dinner! But sometimes a good "food adventure" can include some serious spice! :)

4) I am surprised sometimes how much I enjoy being a mom. Don't get me wrong, I have plenty of not so good days were I am sure the kids are going to drive me to drink 24/7. But I thought by now, I would have been interested in maybe getting a career going or at least working more than one day a week. However, I enjoy being with my kids (sometimes!), I enjoy volunteering at their schools, I enjoy being involved in their lives. Why mess with a good thing when there will be plenty of time later for career stuff? (Besides the fact that I am amazingly blessed that I can stay home and be with my kids and not have to work all the time)

5) I do not like bugs. I hate spiders! I know that some of them are beneficial (but seriously, do we really need fleas? or lice??!!) and I can deal with them outside (barely) but if they enter my house at all, they must die. Occasionally, if a ladybug gets in, I can scoop her up and put her outside. Otherwise it's smoosh for anything that isn't on 2 legs (or 4 furry ones...poor cats, they do get accidentally stepped on once in awhile!). With my disdain for bugs, it's amazing I enjoy camping but I do! (A post on camping coming soon.)

6) I have been enjoying the t.v. lately!! I will never be one of those people who never watches t.v. but I am also not one to watch many of whatever is hot show of the moment. And a lot of reality t.v. on the major networks drives me up a wall! The things that entertain me are the things that as a teenager, my brother and I relentlessly made fun of my dad for watching. Things like The History Channel or The Discovery Channel. My favorite program though, is American Experience on OPB. I have the DVR set to record it and always have a few on hand to watch. In fact, I just got done watching the ones on F.D.R. and Eleanor Roosevelt. I had just watched before that, the first half of the one on Harry Truman and somehow I missed the second part! argghhh!! oh well, I am sure they will repeat it again. Did you know that you can actually go on PBS's website and vote on issues of the day and see if you would have sided with either say Truman or Thomas Dewey during the election year of 1948? Go here if you want to check it out! But I understand if you could care less, I just happen to find it fascinating! ;)

So I really don't have 6 particular people to tag for this (many have already been named by Amber anyway!) but I will list the rules and feel free to participate! (But Diane, you should really do this!) :)

Link to the person who tagged you.
Post the rules on your blog.
Write six random things about yourself.
Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.
Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.
Let your tagger know when your entry is up.

Lucky!!!

Look who came to visit! :) Lucky is the neighbors dog. He is a total sweetheart and I believe he is 6 years old now but really acts like a 2 year old dog. Full of energy and obviously some mischief too! So about a week and a half ago (yes, when the weather was actually nice!) Lucky decided there were more entertaining things on the other side of the fence. Actually what I really think he is interested in is something behind the fence he can't see through.....

But the neighbors weren't home that night and we were out in the backyard doing some weeding and Lucky felt he needed some company. So, he joined us.


The kids had fun with him....Andy was a little unimpressed when he peed right were Andy was weeding! Later on, when the neighbors came home, they were highly unimpressed at Lucky's antics. They immediately put up some wood to block his path while we went inside to get the boys ready for bed. About 45 minutes later, as Andy was reading bedtime stories, I had run downstairs for something and noticed that whatever the neighbors had done to keep Lucky contained, had not worked. He was at my back door again, probably looking for the cats! (he had seen them there earlier!) I had to laugh and then told him to go back home. The next day, the neighbors did some more work on keeping him contained and we haven't seen him in our backyard since. We actually don't mind, but the owners are worried that if he figures too much out (like jumping the fence!) then he will get into the front yard as well and then there will be trouble. I don't blame them but it was fun while it lasted! ;)