The post where you think I need cheese with my whine.

The last couple of days have been ... interesting.

I think yesterday was a full moon ... that explains a lot.

Years ago, I worked for the telephone company for a while answering repair calls. 

Aside from the normal daily heavy breathing prison inmates calling to ask what color your panties are ...

the crazy really comes out of people on and just before the full moon.

For starters, the child pictured below has been sick, again.  

I blame the gym.

He gets some sort of weird sickness every freaking time I take him to the gym.

This is some sort of cold funk with a touch of diarrhea thrown in for fun.  Woo Whoo

When Fin gets any type of congestion he doesn't sleep.

He doesn't nap.

Translation: I don't sleep 

Extra translation:  Grouchy momma - party of 1

He also does a fairly constant moany whine which Shawn and I refer to as:

the firetruck.

It hasn't just been Fin though.

Here, I'll just give you a small sampling of most of my last week:

(These things all happened at different times over the course of 3 days)

* I wasn't even painting!!  I was taking a brand new quart of paint downstairs for storage.

Fin:  " I pooped ...."

*ding dong* "Hi Mrs. M ... my school is collecting for the American Heart Association, can you donate?"  - neighborhood kid from 2 doors down

Keira:  "mom ..... Fin punched me in the nose!!!"

Me:  "Watch out Keira your going to spill your ....... milk.  No I'll get the towels."

Fin:  "I pooped ..."

Keira:  "Mom ... Fin got snot on the couch ... gross"

*ding dong* "Hi Mrs. M ... my school is collecting for the American Heart Association, can you donate?"  - neighborhood kid from across the street

Fin:  "I pooped ..."

Keira:  "Mom ... Fin pooped.... mom ... mom???  FIN POOPED."

Me:  "Keira ... how did Kramer (the dog) get spaghetti noodles on his back ... and is that .... cheese?"

Keira:  "Mom!  Fin has a huge snot rocket!!!"

Me:  "Keira!!  Dont EVER wrap anything around Fin's neck"

Me:  "Fin ... sweetie ... you are a 2 year old who weighs 40 lbs ... I can't carry you all day."

*Crash from other room while I'm trying to take a simple pee in peace*

Fin:  "uh oh ... sorwee momma ..."

*ding dong*  "Hi Mrs. M ... my school is collecting for the ..."

Me:  "let me guess ... American Heart Association ..."

- There are a katrillion kids in my neighborhood and they all go to the same school. 

Seriously??!?!?!?

Oh, I could go on and on but you get the idea.

I wouldn't say it's been a bad week.

Just a challenging week. 

I guess that's what parenthood ... life... is all about though.  

So ... I'll just keep swimming knowing that more than likely ...

next week will be a whole lot easier.

Here's to next week! 

All you need is love ... love is all you need

To my sweet loves ....

Thank you for blessing me each day with a love I never knew was possible.

Both of you are my pride and joy.

I am amazed by each of you daily.

Even though you sometimes ... wear. me .out.  

My heart could never be more full.

I love you my babies ... to infinity and beyond.  

To the love of my life:

"You must allow me to tell you 

how ardently I admire and love you." 

(- yes love, that's a Pride & Prejudice reference ... blame it on the lack of a y chromosome.)

From the moment I first bumped into you and our eyes met, I felt it.

I felt like there was a whole new world out there for me.

I never could've imagined how wonderful that world would be.

I love how you love me .... how you love them.

On this day and every day ... know that I am yours.

I love you beyond any words that I could ever put together on a card or a blog. 

I am .... the luckiest.

Today

It's a slow day around here.

Shawn and I stayed up way past midnight to watch "Kill Bill".

My first time seeing it.

Shawn can turn on a movie for 10 minutes and have no problem watching the rest later.

Me ... not so much.

I'm always like, "10 more minutes".  Then it will be, "... let's turn it off at 11:45".

Finally I'm all like, "We can't stop watching it now!  Are you crazy?!?".

Of course there was none of that last night.  

Such a bloody movie but in a cartoony sort of way.

If that's possible.  

I was sort of mesmerized.

Anyhow, now the boys are taking a nap.

I'm playing with my pictures.  Keira is watching "The Wizard of Oz" and telling me she's hungry every 5 minutes.  I think it's a growth spurt .... you know, she isn't tall enough.  

We did finish her valentines though.

It's so sweet I practically had to take a tums when I was putting it together. 

I saw this idea floating around bloglandia last year.  

I was reminded of it by Melissa at 320 Sycamore.

Super easy.  Just take the picture and then load it up to picnik to add the text & hearts.

If you've never used picnik before then welcome to one of the best (and cheapest - as in free) 

photo editing tools around.  You can thank me later.  

Cut or punch holes in the hand areas and thread the sucker through.  

I used the good ole exacto knife to cut slits because the hole punch seemed too big.  

We went with this image:

However it's a trial and error process and we had a few epic fails:

Happy Saturday!!  

Oh yes I did.

Once upon a time (5 years ago to be exact).  There was a fair maiden who looked like this:

The fair maiden had no concept of body conscious issues. 

To the extent that she had no problem walking around wearing only this:

Fast forward to a time when the maiden and her prince charming produced one of these:

...and then two more years later with the addition of another one:

After five blissful years of love and babies ... the lady returns to the same beach.

However, she looks more like this: 

Notice the absence of the string bikini and the strategic placement of the baby.

Let's take a closer look, shall we? 

What the heck is that?  

I wish you could see the sad state of affairs a little more clearly.  

Oddly enough ... these were the only pictures I could find of me ... in a bathing suit ... recently.

Life is like that, isn't it?  It's like in your mind you are young ... strong ... energetic ... in shape.

However, reality .... well that's a whole other ball game. 

Some people never find the reality of it.  I think that's part of truth behind some (most) of those 

walmart people pictures.

Luckily ... my fine friend ... I have seen the light.  Hallelujah!  

Last summer I spent many hours chasing a toddler around our community swimming pool.

He was in and out of the water ... oh and he's part super hero so he's like lightening quick.  

Hence my running around the pool in only a bathing suit surrounded by my neighbors.  

My neighbors bring their kids to swim lessons and sit on the side lines (fully clothed), probably whispering about people like me

 (wet bathing suit that's riding up one cheek, bent over trying to grab a toddler who is too fast for a pause and girl part placement check ...).

I still have nightmares about it.  

Not this year folks.

Enter my savior .... weight watchers ... online.  

If you haven't tried this as a weight loss tool, I highly recommend it.  

This isn't my first tango with the "WW".  

Lets just say I left him hanging last time around.  

He brought in back up in the form of Lifetime Fitness and their kick-butt child care.  

Seriously ... the child care is reason enough.  

OK so I know I'll never be back to exactly where I was ... long long ago 

(before pushing 2 watermelons out my who-who).  

But ... I can at least give those neighbors something to REALLY whisper about.

Don't cha wish your neighbor was hot like me?

Don't cha? 

...oh and yeah I did ... I posted pictures of me in a bathing suit ... on the blog.

Rebel.

A look back at 2010 ...

I know I'm a little late but what else is new.

The way I see it ... 

I haven't blogged in forever ... 

a recap if 2010 that is 2 weeks late isn't so bad.

So let's take a walk down memory lane ... shall we?

January 2010:

January brought us lots of snow.  

Shawn and I spent the first New Year's eve together since the first year we were married.  

The band was playing ... but at least I was there to kiss him on the stroke of midnight.

My brother married the love of his life.

Keira was the flower girl.  

Unfortunately, during the ceremony she couldn't quite hold her #1.

Yep ... a nice puddle of pee right before the vows.

Now there's a memory for you.

February 2010:

February brought more snow.

Keira and I made our first snowman.

We also got a nice ice dam in the gutter.

Lots of damage ... lots of money ... snow not as fun.

We played inside a lot ... a whole lot.

I spray painted the ugly brass chandelier 

and turned it into on of my favorite things in the house.

Our little Kramer dog turned 14 years old.  

That's 112 in dog years.

March 2010:

The temperature warmed up and we got out more.

Sidewalk chalk was our best friend.

I took Keira to see the Mason theater's "Cinderella".

Fin got his first hair cut.

April 2010:

April took us to the Nature Center to see the daffodils.

We saw the parade downtown on opening day.

Keira and Fin saw the Easter bunny.

They were thrilled.

As always .. the much anticipated egg hunt at the McCoy's farm.

May 2010:

I got more serious about photography.

Still a work in progress.

Keira made me a towel for Mother's day.

I will cherish it forever.

My baby girl turned 4 and I turned 37.

Shawn and I got away to New Orleans.

We had the best fried chicken of our entire lives.

Worth mentioning definitely.

June 2010:

We went down to Florida to see my family in June. 

The whole clan went down to Disney World ... the kid's first time.

We returned to devastating news.

Sasha was diagnosed with liver, lung, and brain cancer.

With a get away in order ...

we headed out West to see Aunt Doris.

An extra few days were spent exploring Santa Fe.

July 2010:

The 4th is one of our family's favorite holidays.

Breakfast with the Carey's, parade in Clarksville, and fireworks with the McCoys.

It got pretty hot so sprinkler time was in order.

Keira introduced Fin to markers. 

I'd like to personally thank Crayola for their washable feature.

We also found out that we were pregnant with McCoy #3.

August 2010:

In August we relished the last month of summer at the pool with our friends.

We headed back down to Florida to celebrate Grandpa's big #60.

Many zoo trips, park trips, and even a great day at Sharon Woods.

September 2010:

Once the weather starts to cool all you want to do is head to the festivals.

The corn festival is a must each year.

Keira started her last year of preschool as a "moonbeam".

Sadly we discovered that I had experienced a "missed miscarriage".

I was no longer pregnant and needed a procedure to make things right.

We took the last week for a much needed vacation in Hawaii.

Sasha came along too!

October 2010:

The first week was a continuation of our Hawaiian vacay.

Shawn turned 42 in Maui.

Keira's class searched for the perfect pumpkin.

We trick or treated with family at "beggar's night" in Wilmington ..

and ventured out for more candy with friends on Halloween.

November 2010:

We got outside as much as we could before the cold.

Keira performed as a peppermint girl in the Nutcracker.

We had a great time at Heuston Woods for an overnight Thanksgiving.

Seeing a bald eagle out our lodge window on Thanksgiving morning was like a gift.

Being together was the greatest gift.

December 2010:

On the 1st our personal elf "Rosie" came back.

The perfect Christmas tree was found and snow was frequent.

Fin celebrated his 2nd birthday - Ka-chow!

Christmas was a blessing.  We soaked in every minute.

So here we are.  Another year has gone by.  

Our lows were very low ... but our highs were just as high. 

Sasha is kicking cancer's butt.  

No doubt this remarkable woman will continue the battle 

with her amazing grace and style in 2011.

As for the possible 3rd McCoy.  We're on the fence.  You never know.

Our kids are amazing.  Each day is remarkable.  Each day is a gift.

We have family ... we have love ... we have each other.

Bring it on 2011.

Randomness for Daddy ...

When toys aren't involved ... these two are generally really great friends.

That makes me HAPPY.

We picked more cherry tomatoes today.  

I finally separated the basil and tomato plants.

The basil  plant is HUGE.

Smells so good on the porch.

I'll get some mozzarella and we will be in saladville USA when you get home.

Oh my good lord. 

 Did you know that Crayola makes colored play sand?

I thought Keira might pee her pants when she saw the pink.

Fin said "bring it".  

Oh, and yes ... he did try to eat it.  

It is actually pretty cool.

Pink on one side, blue on the other.

Somewhere in the middle they meet and form purple.

No complaints from these two.

Love you ... miss you ... counting the days.

Mountains of Monkey Munch ...

We made monkey munch ...

dog chow ...

whatever the heck you call it ..

today.

I've only had it once before but I read about it recently.

Who knew it was so easy to make.

Some chex cereal, chocolate chips, peanut butter, margarine, 

powdered sugar and vanilla.

That's it.

Of course in my anxiousness to get it all together 

(keep Keira from eating the chocolate chips) ...

I forgot the vanilla. 

No mas ... 

nobody seemed to notice.

I mean come on ...

Chocolate and peanut butter fused into a crunch medium 

AND covered in powdered sugar.  

You know you want some.

Just grab the recipe off the side of the Rice Chex box...

and then you too ...

can have a little face like this staring back at you.

Notice that ever so slight trace of powdered sugar on the upper lip.

Mmmmmmm ... monkey munch.