It is way too nice of a day to sit in the office over my lunch hour today, so I grabbed a notebook & pen and came to the park! Sure, I will have to type this up later but it is very much worth it. After having icky weather, this 75 degree day is just what the doctor ordered!!! My Vitamin D deficiency is getting fed, finally! So as I sit here soaking up the rays I get to thinking about the beautiful weather and what summer will bring for us this year. If you know me at all, you would know that I love to have fun stuff on my calendar, and I like to plan. I like to have things to look forward to, I need that forward momentum. Summer weekends are like gold and they seem to be filling up quite quickly. I love it! We have 3 cabin trips planned, 1 camping trip, 1 wedding, and a possible mini road trip lined up. Here’s my official 2013 Summer Bucket List!! What are your big {and small} plans for this summer??
This is what 104-105 degree temps look like. My poor baby had a rough day yesterday – feeling super sick with high temps and no appetite. I have been sick for over a week myself, and my Parents have also been sick with some icky cold. With Minnesota weathers being themselves – cold and snowy to 70 degree days, back to cold and snowy again… and now back to a beautiful 65 degree day… I think its taken its toll on us!!! I am feeling better today, though, and B’s nasty fever has gone down although still hanging on. Luckily, Daddy P has remained healthy and we hope that it stays that way!!! We are not the only sick family out there, either – people are sick at my office, at Daddy P’s office… we just need constant warmth, we need SUMMER!!!!
So since I’ve been sick I haven’t been working out. And I have also been indulging in comfort foods. Blah. So I’ve managed to gain a couple of lbs and I am feeling totes crappy about it. AND we have a family weekend at Wi Dells coming up at the end of May. Joy. Yes, that means swimsuits. GAH. Not cool. Anyway…. I’m thinking of wearing a Moo Moo … sooooooooo, yeah… anyway… any of my wonderful bloggie friends juice? I have been debating whether or not to try this new “trend” or not… seems like a great idea … but I also have a tendency to jump into trendy things and not continue them past a week. I’m not buying a juicer and never using it past the first weekend. Money doesn’t grow on trees, people. So…any juicers??? Any tips??? Any awesome recipes??? Can I use my blender? I will be searching for answers to my questions after I post this. Yes, I do know how to use Google.
I am working on a Summer Bucket List – so that post will be coming soon. That is, if Summer ever decides to stay here in Minnesota. Damn Mother Nature and her mood swings.
Hope everyone had a great weekend and is healthier than our household!!!!
My AWESOME Husband took my Dad vehicle shopping a couple of weeks ago since he’s such an AWESOME negotiator and just AWESOME in general.
Anyway, while he was out, B & I decided to make some cookies. So I looked online to find a good one {that we could make without having to make a trip to the grocery store!!} and this is the one that we found:
CHOCOLATE CHIP OATMEAL COOKIES
Ingredients:
1 C butter, softened
1-1/4 C packed brown sugar
1/2 C white sugar
2 eggs
2 Tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1-3/4 C all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2-1/2 C rolled oats
2 C semisweet chocolate chips
1 C chopped walnuts
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Beat together margarine and sugars until creamy. Add eggs, milk, and vanilla; beat well. Add combined flour, baking soda, and salt; mix well. Stir in oats, chocolate chips, and nuts; mix well.
Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 9-10 minutes. Cool for 1 minute on cookie sheet; remove to wire rack.
We substituted applesauce for a 1/2 C of the butter!! And they turned out wonderfully. I also feel like they are MUCH healthier and have had 2 of them for a quick ‘breakfast’ at work.
I have to say that B was the BEST helper!!!
{super duper cute apron and hat compliments of Gaga Mary!}
And these cookies also got rave reviews from their test subjects – Papa Bob, Gaga Mary & Daddy P!
I wanted to give a shout out to an awesome blog – a long lost friend from school… please take a moment and check out her awesome, lively blog. Her pictures and videos rock. Literally. She just ooooooooozes creativity and it inspires me to ooze some myself. So click below and ooze yourself.
OK… so Minnesota is known for its ridiculous weather… especially during the winter. BUT…guess what?? It’s not supposed to be winter anymore – it’s supposed to be spring!!!
We’ve gotten over a foot of snow since yesterday – and I am NOT a happy camper!!!!
Dude, where’s my car??? {after sitting in the parking lot at my office all day!}
I know living in Minnesota… we ‘ask’ for this disgusting weather, we should be used to it. And during the actual predominantly winter months…fine. But April? F no!!!!!
During our interesting “Sprinter” here in Minnesota… I did experience something I had never experienced before. A “Thundersnow”. It was lightning and thundering while it was snowing!!! That was a first for me!
The forecast doesn’t look all that great either. But having just checked it, it looks like there may actually be a light at the end of the tunnel… next Wednesday I spy a SUNSHINE and the number 5 – as in 52 degrees. Um, hello heatwave!!!!
On the flip side of this ridiculous “sprinter”…. Bennett loves to play in the snow. He LOVES to shovel it!!!! And Daddy’s gotten extra use out of the snow blower. Lucky him.
Hopefully this most recent little snowstorm is the last big one for this year… I’m not sure how much more of this white I can take!!! I want to start seeing green!!!! {grass and cash, thank you!}
Hope everyone is staying warm and if you’re in those warmer climates – soak up some extra Vitamin D and send it my way. Thank you!!!
Happy Friday Peeps!!!
PS. A big thank you to Lisa over at Expandng.com – for my signature. Isn’t it so cute? She’s one talented Momma!!!
I haven’t posted for a while. Sure, I’ve got excuses – I was sick, I was tired, I was busy, blah blah blah. In reality, I just didn’t want to post because I felt like nothing was a good enough post. I’m sick of reading every other person’s blogs and thinking man… they really know how to post and write a good blog. every. single. day. I have come to realize that that is just not me. I’m not going to be able to post a good, solid post on the daily. And you know what? It’s Okay. And my posts usually aren’t all that solid and full of truths, life lessons, etc. And that’s also totally okay.
I used to blog about nothing, really. I didn’t have a main topic, a main focus – I just would write about whatever. Then I had Bennett. And then I had a wonderful topic to blog about and it was all about Mr. B. Since then, I have sort of lost my way in the blog world. I want to go back to enjoying writing on my blog instead of feeling like I have to have something on here every. single. day. I can hardly keep up with my stupid laundry… so don’t expect me to keep up with this blog.
So… you won’t be hearing from me every day. And guess what? My posts won’t be all that noteworthy either. But I can guarantee they will be real, they will be random, and they will be honest. Could you ask for anything more??? I mean, really???
Anyway, if you are still reading my blog, HAPPY MONDAY!!!! j/k i HATE Mondays. Did y’all have a good weekend??? I am bummed it’s over. Again. They always go by too quickly. I want 4 day work weeks!!!! I can dream….
I haven’t written about what B has been up to lately. He is my joy. He is everything that is good in the world and I wouldn’t trade anything for coming home to that cute little face!!!
I have noted before, he is fully potty trained now. He does have the occasional accident during the night but that is rare. {thank you waterproof mattress pads!!!} He wears big boy underwear 24/7 and is a champ at even holding it while we are out and about. He dislikes the automatic flushers but I have become quite crafty when it comes to those {ie. spit on the toilet paper and stick it over the sensor }. He can run like the wind and has absolutely no fear. In true boy fashion, he loves to jump off things, on things, and over things. It seems like he always is trying to get to the highest point at all times… climbing on top of the couches, on tables, on counters, etc. He had put something on top of the refrigerator somehow the other day. I don’t want to know how he did that.
I love to have conversations with him. He shows so much expression when he talks… and it’s just so much fun to see. He is getting to be quite independent and is definitely not a baby anymore. He’s already ‘planning’ his 4th birthday party. LOL Yeah… it’s in December. At least he’s not a procrastinator like Mommy.
We went bowling this past weekend for the first time ever. He did great and wanted to continue to bowl … every single turn and not give anyone else a turn. He eventually got the hang of the turns but then he spilled water on his pants and didn’t want to bowl with wet pants..even after they dried. Silly kid. But all in all, I think he’ll enjoy bowling in the future. It was a success, I’d say!
It’s getting harder to get hugs and cuddles from B and I know they will get even less as the years go by. I try to get them as often as I can – even if he’s not so willing. He’s growing up so quickly… I can’t believe he’s going to be 4. I just can’t.
With that, here’s a vid of B ‘racing’ Auntie S when we hit up the arcade after bowling this past weekend. I can wait until he starts to drive.
Everyone has their own ideas and opinions. And they’re wholly entitled to them.
So… what if you find that you and your friends have entirely different views on things? You’re a democrat, they’re a republican. You are anti-abortion, they are pro-life. You believe same sex marriage should be legalized, they are against it? Do you let that ruin your friendship? After all… friendships are usually based on commonalities.
With Facebook and Twitter, it is so easy to show the world your ideals. Through pictures, statements, and the ease of sharing. I have seen varying views all across Facebook… from people I never knew because honestly, it had never come up in conversation before.
Can people honestly simply agree to disagree??? Is a different view on certain topics enough to end a friendship? If you feel it is, maybe you weren’t a real friend after all. Just sayin’.
I’m addicted to a game. A game that I play on my phone. A game that we also have on the iPad. It’s called Clash of Clans and I can thank my BIL aka The Godfatha for introducing it to me. When I say thank, I probably mean strangle. This game is fun and not too time-consuming. You essentially build your ‘clan’ and then you build an army {over and over} and attack other clans for loot to build up your own clan. Okay, that makes it sound sort of stupid. It’s not stupid, I swear. lol lol
This is my clan and I’m proud of it!
I’m an adult. I promise.
Do you have any favorite games on your phone/iPad? Or am I the only juvenile game addict around these parts??? :-/
I bank at Wells Fargo… and they have this nifty little feature with their cards – you can personalize them with a picture of your choice. Super fun…I totes love it! So when I would pay for things, sometimes the cashier would comment and ask how old B is. {of course he’s on my card!} Thinking back to last year… whenever I said he was 2… they always responded “oh…the threes are worse!” I didn’t think they were correct because I have always heard the term “terrible twos” but had never heard the term “terrible threes”. Well… I was wrong.
Bennett is a good kid. Really, he is. But… he definitely has his days, his moments, his frustrating times – for both him and us {mommy & daddy}. And I think his being good for a majority of the time makes the not-so-good times that much worse.
I have a little bit of a temper and have a bad tendency to yell. I have been working on that a lot lately because I do not want to have a home where yelling is okay. It’s tough. Really tough… but I do believe I am getting better. A big THANKS to Lisa at Expandng.com for sharing this article on yelling. Both Daddy P and myself read this and have since been trying really hard maintain patience and control the level of our voices. Daddy P is better at it than I am. I’m a work in progress, as usual.
Bennett’s main issue is he doesn’t listen. He ignores us and continues doing what he’s been told not to do. He pushes the limits constantly and really tests our patience. He knows exactly what he’s doing, too. Although things have gotten a bit better as our parenting has also gotten a bit better… it’s still a frustration. I’m sure part of our issue lies in the fact that a lot of times, we don’t follow through on our “warnings”. Since we have begun to be better at following through with the punishments, it seems his listening skills have improved. We will continue to “lay the law” and hopefully his listening will vastly improve.
It’s tough to see the kiddo unhappy. I’ve noticed his feelings tend to get hurt more often lately. You tell him “No” and he starts to cry. It’s not a mad cry, it’s a “my feelings are hurt” cry. And whining… oh boy, the whining is sooooooooo frustrating!!!! And then there’s the grunting. B can speak quite clearly and has a pretty wide vocabulary. He should have no issues conveying his thoughts/feelings through words. Yet, he has sort of regressed and will refuse to speak words, but grunts. I don’t understand grunt-speak and that makes it frustrating for all involved. He also will say he is unable to do something, a simple task, that he is very well capable of. We are working on all of these current “issues” but haven’t found any magical trick just yet. If we do, I’ll be sure to share it to help keep the sanity of others out there.
If anyone has anything to help us keep our sanity, please do share!!!
Although this post has been mainly about the negative behavioral traits that B has shown us lately… he is still the biggest joy of our lives. Of course it can’t always be smiles and fun times… but a lot of times it is. A lot.
What are your big {and small} plans for this summer??
So…any juicers??? Any tips??? Any awesome recipes??? Can I use my blender? 
I will be searching for answers to my questions after I post this. Yes, I do know how to use Google. 
