Saturday, December 31, 2011

Goodbye to 2011--- sending the year out with a pan of brownies!

Oh what a pleasant way to send out the old year.....   
and bring in the new if I can keep my eyes open long enough?  
One more hour... one more hour....

Little Allegra came to spend the night with us!   We decided that she needed to learn to crack open eggs, so we hauled out a box of brownie mix, and let her have a go at it.    She did very very good and cracked them both into the bowl, and didn't drop in a single bit of the shells!  


 She was amazed at the gooey stuff on her fingers, and promptly wiped them on her towel/apron!  LOL


Next was the box of brownie mix.  We needed to do this baking thing fast, because the attention span of a two year old is pretty short.  No baking from scratch for these kiddos.   Opened the box and showed her the picture of what we were making, and let her shake in the powder into the bowl and cover up her eggs!  OH MY! WHAT HAPPENED TO HER EGGS?????   She was a bit upset when she could not see them anymore.



 Now she got to dump in the pre-measured cups of water and oil.  Carefully I helped with the pouring so it all went IN the bowl.   She was still concerned about where her eggs went.....



She carefully mixed round and round with her little red spoon... and soon found her eggs in the bottom!  We squished them all up and mixed them into the batter.   Soon it was ready to pour into the pan to bake, and she got the reward---- licking the spoon!!!




We make quite the team, dontcha think? 
A couple of Regular Betty Crockers!!!



We had originally planned a playdate with the other two cousins for the evening, but they were petereing out as much as this little pumpkin.  By 7pm she was yawning, and during her bath she was trying to lay down and sleep in the tub!   By 8pm after her bath she was fast asleep.   We will do some playdate time in the morning in town with Chelsea and Jameson who is sleeping over there.

Poor Heather and Jesse had planned a night out on the town, but Heather is now suffering from a sinus infection and they are staying home.   She still let Erin take Jameson for the night so she and Jesse could curl up in front of the tv and watch an all night marathon of some zombie shows or something.  LOL

We will bring both grandtots down to Green Bay in the morning before the Packer game starts at noon.   The roads are going to be bad and the winds gusting as high as 50mph, so we will leave early, take backroads and go slow.  "Precious Cargo" on board ya know.

Well, it's 11:30 and my Steveio is konking out there on the couch, and I am about all in here too.


I think in the morning, we will eat chocolate brownies for breakfast to ring in the New Year!




HAPPY NEW YEAR
2012

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Now these are just TOO COOL!

Now these are just TOO COOL!    
Dee from blog 
sent me these tonight.  

And I just HAD to steal them and paste them here in my blog.  I think I will use just about EVERY one of them!!!!

(Steve just made the popcorn in the paper bag one as I am typing this!!! Ya gotta watch it really close so it don't burn, but it came out pretty good)




25 ideas to make life easier

Posted on November 01, 2011 in Bed, Bath & KitchenDecor & FurnitureOrganise & Personalise by Simone
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Clever ideas: hull strawberries with a straw
Why didn’t I think of that?! We guarrantee you’ll be uttering those words more than once at these ingenious little tips, tricks and ideas that solve everyday problems … some you never knew you had! (Above: hull strawberries easily using a straw).
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Clever ideas: use a walnut to heal furniture scratches
Rubbing a walnut over scratches in your furniture will disguise dings and scrapes.
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Clever ideas: WD40 for cleaning crayon off TV screens
Remove crayon masterpieces from your TV or computer screen with WD40 (also works on walls).
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Clever ideas: keep a cut apple from going brown 
stop cut apples browning in your child’s lunch box by securing with a rubber band.
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Clever ideas: store bedlinen sets inside their pillowcases
Overhaul your linen cupboard – store bedlinen sets inside one of their own pillowcases and there will be no more hunting through piles for a match.
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Clever ideas: bowl as iPhone sound amplifier
Pump up the volume by placing your iPhone / iPod in a bowl – the concave shape amplifies the music.
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Cleaver ideas: wet wipe dispenser as plastic bag storage
Re-use a wet-wipes container to store plastic bags.
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Clever ideas: baby powder to remove sand from feet
Add this item to your beach bag. Baby powder gets sand off your skin easily – who knew?!
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Clever ideas: velcro strip on wall to hold soft toys
Attach a velcro strip to the wall to store soft toys.
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Clever ideas: gift wrap storage on cupboard ceiling
Look up! Use wire to make a space to store gift wrap rolls against the ceiling, rather than cluttering up the floor.
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Clever idea: stocking over vacuum to pick up lost items
Gotcha! Find tiny lost items like earrings by putting a stocking over the vacuum hose.
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Clever idea: box lid cupcake holder
Make an instant cupcake carrier by cutting crosses into a box lid.
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Clever idea: how to fold a fitted sheet
For those who can’t stand the scrunching and bunching: how to perfectly fold a fitted sheet.
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Clever idea: magnetic bobbypin storage
Forever losing your bathroom essentials? Use magnetic strips to store bobby pins (and tweezers and clippers) behind a vanity door
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Clever idea: use shower caps to hold shoes when packing
A tip for holiday packing. Store shoes inside shower caps to stop dirty soles rubbing on your clothes. And you can find them in just about every hotel!
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Clever idea: muffin pan craft storage
A muffin pan becomes a craft caddy. Magnets hold the plastic cups down to make them tip-resistant.
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Clever idea: bread tags as cable labels
Bread tags make the perfect-sized cord labels.
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Clever idea: cook cupcakes in ice cream cones
Bake cupcakes directly in ice-cream cones – so much more fun and easier for kids to eat. Definitely doing this!
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Clever idea: microwave your own popcorn in a plain paper bag
Microwave your own popcorn in a plain brown paper bag. Much healthier and cheaper than the packet stuff.
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Clever idea: use a tension rod to hang spray bottles
Brilliant space-saver: install a tension rod to hang your spray bottles. Genius!
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Clever idea: how to make heart-shaped eggs 
 Win friends at breakfast with this heart-shaped egg tutorial. Aww shucks!
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Clever idea: use upside-down muffic pan to make cookie bowls
Turn your muffin pan upside down, bake cookie-dough over the top and voila – you have cookie bowls for fruit or ice-cream. Click here for recipe.
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Clever idea: freeze aloe vera lotion for soothing burns
Freeze Aloe Vera in ice-cube trays for soothing sunburn relief.
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Clever idea: gutter veggie garden
Gutter garden: Create a window-box veggie patch using guttering.
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Clever idea: egg cartons for Christmas ornament storage
Use egg cartons to separate and store your Christmas decorations

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Christmas with the Grandtots

Here is the second part of Christmas Day... I just had to break up the blog posts into two postings because I needed to add a bunch more photos, because they were just so gosh durned CUTE!

As we headed up from Pete's house towards the Northwoods of Wisconsin, I was feeling queasier and sicker and not having a good feeling about my belly (after 2 stomach and esophagus surgeries, it can be quite difficult at times)  I took what pills I could to make it through the rest of the day.   I wasn't worried about spreading anything, as this is just what routinely happens to me from time to time due to the complications from the surgeries, and I wasn't contagious.


Oh what a wonderful evening!   We all gathered at Erin and Mark's house as it's the largest of all of our kids homes and lots of room for the little ones to ram around and have fun. Besides, they have a big screen tv to watch the Packer Game on at 7pm.  LOL

Erin had popped in a ham and set out a buffet of foods to munch on all through the evening.  The little ones were snitching from the buffet table in the dining room, so we had to move back all the sweets and only let the veggies, cheeses, sausages and pickles/olives/relishes in their reach.  Those little stinkers had pieces of carrots and rims from venison summer sausage left laying all over the place.



The guys hauled in all of the gifts to place under the tree.  We told the kids that Santa left these presents at our houses, so we had to bring all these over for them to open.  They were very well behaved and looked and oohed and ahhhed over them, but didn't touch them until it was time to unwrap.




Soon it was time to start distributing presents, and the unwrapping began.  Papers flew left and right, and the wee ones were delighted with each wonderful toy or book or game and even their new penguin jammies!



Each of the three grandtots gave their mommies special presents, a "diamond" (cubic zirconia) necklace!   The mommies were quite pleased to get some BLING from their little sweeties.  How cute!





Toys were everywhere and the wrapping paper was piling up, as new toys were discovered... squeals of joy and excitement were ringing in our ears.   Little Jameson added to the hubbub with his train conductor whistle that came with his engineer costume for Thomas the Tank series.  He is a train NUT.  Little Allegra loved her new dolly set so much she hugged the unopened box!   It has a stroller, crib, high chair, diaper bag, etc all the things to let her learn to be a good mommy to her baby doll.  And to learn how to help care for her little brother due in April.



See the big black garbage bag crammed full of discarded wrapping paper?  LOL  Amazing how much we pay for paper to hide presents that will be ripped off in 2 seconds flat and crumpled up to throw away?  At least it will be recycled.  But who can deny the "Ooohs" and "Ahhhhs" as they discover each item while ripping off the paper? 


Soon it was time for the Big Game to start on tv.  It was the Packers vs Bears and if they won, it would be the cinching up for Home Field Advantage for all of the playoff games.  We cleaned up a bit, and herded the wee ones into the adjoining playroom, so the grownups could watch the game in peace.  I was still not feeling the best, but I was able to take a few more meds and hang on.  


I changed each kiddo into their new penguin jammies (or Waddle Waddle Jammies as Chelsea calls penguins)   They are just toooooo cute, dontcha think?


(the girls both leaned over impulsively and kissed their big cousin) 


We got some wiggles and giggles out as they danced to some music, and we played with some of the new toys.  They had things scattered all over the playroom, and then it was time to start to settle down with a few stories.  I was fading fast and not doing so well, but the game went on and we tried to keep the kiddos in the playroom as much as we could.




I managed to line them up in a row to get a mug shot.... as you can see, Jameson was not happy about being made to sit still for a minute.  LOL   But I promised a 17th reading of his favorite story, so he sat long enough for this shot.  Then all three bounced back up and flung themselves around the room like a bunch of monkeys.



We let them loose at half-time to go out by the big folks, so I could take a little break.  Whew!  HOW did I do this, day after day, with my own kids and four other day care kids all under the age of five????    I know, I was in my 20's then, and had a LOT more energy.  Once halftime was over (the Packers were winning)  I hauled them all back for a few more stories and they started to slow down a bit.... whew....


Heather and Jesse left first with Jameson before the game was over, to drive back to Green Bay.
Then Chelsea was tooo overtired and konking out so Mommy put her up in her own bed.
But little Allegra was going strong till the end of the game at 10:45!   
Packers won 35-10 !!!


I was not feeling well at all, but managed to help clean up a bit and then we headed on home ourselves.  It's only about 4 miles home, but I was soooo glad to get into my jammies as my stomach illness hit me full force.  I gulped down more gastric and pain pills and tried to get comfortable.  I was ill for the next two days, but it was made tolerable by looking back at pics like this and remembering my good time with my wee ones! 



And just think, there will be two MORE wee ones in April to add to the pile.  
I am sure this Granmuddah's arms are big enough to hold them ALL!


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