30 Blog Challenge, Day 26!

A funny (true) story.

I have put this one off for a while. To be honest, unless a post is of a serious nature, I usually try to be pretty funny. While that might not always work out like I want, at least I am trying. So today’s post feels very open ended. I guess I will mention something I thought was funny this morning.

We have a book for the girls. Actually we have quite a few books for them, but we only brought a handful with us on our move. One of those books in called “My Little Word Book” and it has lots of pictures of things they might see and the word that goes along with it. Truck, Sun, Ball, Man, etc. As you might be able to imagine, with two nearly one year olds (yikes! is their birthday really less than 10 days away!?!) things like books -even those made for kids- can get destroyed fairly easily. Such is the case with this book. In fact yesterday Russell had mentioned maybe we only let the girls “read” books with adult supervision. I argued that while they might be rough on them, the girls absolutely LOVE looking at their books and really study them, so we decided to let them be. Well… as it turns out the girls might not be the only ones to blame for the destruction of their books. Today I caught our cat Leila chewing on said book. And wait for it… here is the part that made me use it for the funny story. The part she was chewing on was the picture of the cat.

30 Day Blog Challenge, Day 25!

A Favorite Photo.

Correct me if I am wrong, but I thought we already did this one back on day 7. And of course, I added a few pictures then because I am indecisive.

Well, since I have a second opportunity to choose a favorite photo, I am going to pick a couple of my favorites from when the girls were first born.

Kylie has always been bursting with personality.

And my sweet Alyssa has always been a tiny little princess.

30 Day Blog Challenge, Day 24!

A Travel Story.

On our recent move to California, my dad, Russell, the girls and I stopped at a place called Peggy Sue’s 50′s Diner. It is a diner in the middle of nowhere (actually a town called Yermo) between Las Vegas and LA. Let me also mention, Russell has ALWAYS made fun of this place every time we made the drive. Not only does he not like the whole 50′s scene, but Peggy Sue’s has an obnoxious amount of signs for miles and miles. Well, it turns out that anytime my family (usually my dad, step-mom and grandmother) drive out to see us they LOVE to stop at Peggy Sue’s. So since my dad came out to help us move and all, when he wanted to stop there on the way back Russell had to oblige. To make things even better we took pictures of Russell with every life size statue they had. Here they are for your viewing pleasure.

Is he pointing at her butt???

I can attest, that is how Russell normally dances.

I said every statue, didn’t I?

And here is one of me with Betty Boop.

We all had such a good time. The atmosphere is so fun, the people are very friendly (although my dad’s favorite waitress was not there that day) and the food was delicious. I had the very yummy “Mickey Mouse Club Sandwich”. I think we will have many more Peggy Sue’s visits in our future.

30 Day Blog Challenge, Day 23!

A Favorite Video.

This is just one of many times I wish I had digital copies of old videos I have made. We can go way back in time to when my brother and I created a show called “Air Time”. I actually can’t remember the show at all, except that the intro involved us pointing the camera at the TV creating weird bars of colors all over the place. We filmed this of course, with a camera that had to be plugged into the VCR, which then had to be carried around where ever you wanted to film. There were, however, some amazing commercial breaks during Air Time. I could describe them, but only seeing them would do them justice.

From my high school days with my best friend Robin, I would also post “A Day in the Life of Professor Cone”. And the lesser known, but still awesome sequel, “Professor Cone Falls in Love”. (Professor Cone being a traffic cone we stole. Who also made an appearance here) The first video included a dirty traffic cone checking into a hotel, taking a shower, saluting a flag and hot tubing with tourists. In the sequel the cone is in a car accident, which leads him to find his true love “Nurse Cone-ita”.

The “You Give Love a Bad Name” music video would have to be included as well. The set, costumes, hair extensions and hospital room scene are complimented by an extremely talented cast, many of whom also appeared in the “Behind the Music: Bon Jovi” video we also made.

But sadly, I do not have digital copies of any of these fabulous videos. So I am forced to post something mediocre that I am sure everyone in the world has already seen, but it does make me laugh every time.

Click here to watch.

30 Day Blog Challenge, Day 22!

A Favorite Joke.

I must be super boring, because I do not have a favorite joke. Actually, I don’t know who does have favorite jokes… maybe comedians, but that is probably about it. Since I have no answer for today’s topic I am going to do something similar.

A Favorite Prank.

I actually love pranks, as long as they are not on me : ) I have been known to put saran wrap over a toilet seat or two in my time. But my favorite prank I ever pulled was with my partner in crime and best friend, Robin. We went to our favorite english teacher’s house one night, and tied his front door to his porch railing. Thus, keeping the door (which should open inward) from being able to open. We left just enough slack in the rope to allow the door to be opened enough to see a traffic cone dressed as a pirate, holding the remainder of the rope. We did not leave enough slack that scissors  or a knife could be used to cut the rope. We were nice enough to do this during summer vacation, so he wouldn’t have to deal with it when he tried to leave for work. We, however, did not account for the fact that his wife had to be at work. Anyways, a certain teacher had to climb out his bedroom window to untie his front door, and a certain wife said if we ever did anything to their house again she would call the police.

Next time I’ll tell you about the stuff we started doing to his car.

30 Day Blog Challenge, Day 21!

A Favorite Recipe.

Today I am going to share our family’s new favorite (hopefully not secret!) recipe for Mac & Cheese, given to me by my fabulous Aunt Lynn. This is a woman after my own heart, a very cheesy mac & cheese!

3 cups elbow macaroni (barilla)

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 cup flour

3 1/3 cups whole milk

1 1/2 lb Extra sharp cheddar

Cook macaroni (aldente).

Combine butter, onion, salt and pepper and cook over low heat, until mixture is smooth & bubbly; remove from heat. Stir in flour and milk. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil 1 min; remove from heat. Stir in 1 lb of cheese until melted.

Place macaroni in un-greased 9×13 pan. Stir in sauce mixture, top with remaining cheese. Cook uncovered 30 min @375.

I need a husband that won’t drive me crazy- 1/20

I was RIGHT!

In a marriage there are times you have to say “I was right” and it feels terrible, and there are times when you get to say “I was right” and it is hilarious. I was lucky enough to get two of those times on our honeymoon. Once, involving Russell, my parents’ video camera, flip flops, a rainy day, and a muddy hill. I was telling Russell to be very careful walking down this hill with the camera on loan from my parents. He told me he was being careful and kept taping- watching the screen instead of where he was going. Anyways, he slipped and since he was filming at the time it was actually caught on videotape. Amazing. The second time on our honeymoon I got to feel this joy was while we were kayaking in the cove outside our Hawaiian beach house. I was telling him to be careful not to get stuck up on the reef, and literally he was in the middle of telling me how impossible it was to get stuck- that he got stuck. These two moments bring so much joy to my heart. Like they were foreshadowing our whole marriage.

Anyways, while we were packing to move to Santa Rosa, I said I wanted to bring the small stereo from the girls’ room. It is old and has been giving us a little trouble not wanting to start all the time, but it works mostly and was easy. Despite my concerns that it would use batteries vs. a power cord, Russell persuaded me to let him bring a portable walkman (yes, we still have a walkman) and some speakers. It saved space, he said. It would start easily, he said. While I admit it does do those to things, it also brings along a whole bunch of wires that just lay on the floor speaking to the girl’s. “Come play with me” they say. AND since it does not have a power cord it eats its way through AA batteries like crazy. We have been here slightly less than 2 weeks. I have already had to change the batteries 4 times. We still have many more weeks left here, and not an unlimited supply of batteries.

So… Russell- I told you so.  

30 Day Blog Challenge, Days 14-20!

O.k. so basically I suck at this challenge. Maybe during the holidays and moving was not the smartest time to try to do it. Anyways, I decided to do a major catch-up. So here you go!

Day 14- an old photo.

This one is hard since I don’t have any of my old photo albums here at the apartment, so I only have what is already on my computer. This one of my brother and I is always good for a laugh though.

Day 15- My Celebrity Crush.

Mr. Tom Hanks. O.k. I know he isn’t your typical crush kinda guy- but I love him. He is handsome, funny and sweet. While they were filming Angles and Demons in Rome, the set impeded a bride from getting to her wedding, so Tom stopped filming and personally escorted her through the set. Now that would have made my wedding day the best day of my life!

Day 16- A Favorite Food.

This one is also tough as I have many favorites. Chinese, Italian, Breakfast for Dinner. MMMmmm. But I am going to have to go with a nice plate of Chow Mein. That sounds good just about any time.

Day 17- A Photo of my Family.

I am lucky enough to have quite a few families. I have two sets of parents, my mom Cathy and her husband Steve, my dad Mike and his wife Joanne, there’s my brother Pat and his fiance Angie, my in-laws- Russ, Cheryl, Chris and Brad (and his fiance Jessica), and my husband Russell and our two daughters- Alyssa and Kylie. Since I have no pictures that include all of those people, so here is a special one. This is the first picture taken of our family of four.

Day 18- A Baby Photo.

This says A baby photo, so I tempted to put one of my girls, but I think they mean a photo of ME as a baby, so…

Aren’t I cute?!

Day 19- A Fun Memory.

I was recently thinking about the night before Russell and I got married. We just got to spend our 5 year anniversary in the same town we got married in. To celebrate we went out for a beer and the same place we went to the night before our wedding. Peter B’s. It was a very fun night (before we had kids!) that I think deserves a couple of pictures. Enjoy.

Day 20- A Hobby of Mine.

Finally! An easy one! My new hobby is totally sewing. I love it and I am obsessed making stuff for everyone I can. My girls have more pants than they can probably use, my cousin who is pregnant has a bag full of stuff waiting for her. Every baby shower I have gone to has gotten something. I am loving it! Check out one of my recent projects! Click Here.

30 Day Blog Challenge, Day 13!

Something I want to buy.

Wow, this list could go on and on too. With bigger things like the complete series of the West Wing (been on our list for years) and  an in home darkroom (maybe someday). It could be as simple as  a bowl of Golden Spoon frozen yogurt, or my long time love Jamba Juice. But today I am going to focus on one thing that I might actually get to buy soon.

Pants.

Jeans specifically. Since the birth of my children, I have found all of my clothes to fit differently than they did before. My old tops are still too tight in the chest (only 3+ more weeks of nursing!!!) and my pants are all a little saggy on the ol’ bottom. I guess carrying around those babies for so long works out my legs a bit. Anyways, too big is better than too small in my book, especially after twins. So hopefully someday soon I’ll load up the girls in the stroller, grab my Christmas money, and head on into some stores to find the perfect pair of jeans.

That should be easy enough, right?

I’m up bright and it’s not even early

We’ve all heard the expression “Up Bright and Early”. Well, I tried to make a play on words last night, in regards to our girls’ ever earlier wake up time. It has been 7am, but over the last week has moved on up to 5:45am. But, as an overtired parent of twins who is still trying to get settled in a new place after moving, the words did not come out like I meant. What I had intended to say was that I would be up early, when it is not even bright. What I actually said was that I would be up bright when it wasn’t even early. Which, by the way, sounds WAY better than what actually happened.

Anyways, the move was successful, and Russell has officially started school. The girls are adjusting alright, but as I mentioned have been having some sleep issues I would like to resolve. Also, Kylie is a little attached to her Mama and cries intensely if she can not touch, and especially see me. But we are here and are doing it, so I am just going to try to keep my head down and power through.

Having our internet back is a wonderful break for me. I was starting to feel alone and isolated in a new place with no outside contact. A week was a very long time. But I am back now, and am looking forward to catching up on all the blogs I read, and the ones I owe to all my readers.

I have missed you all!