We discovered a new activity in our house this weekend. It's great for wearing out the boys (young and old-er) and also cleaning my floors. Of course this was Tom's idea, and the boys loved every minute of it.
(please excuse the disgusting 3yr old with a whole slice of Italian bread shoved in his mouth....he must be raised by wolves!)
This past week was a weird one! We had some crazy weather. No snow....just ice. I've never heard of freezing fog before but we had it yesterday. hahaha! We got about 1/4" to 1/2" of ice that is still coating everything outside. The temperatures haven't gotten above 29 for the past 4 days so it's been chilly and slick to say the least. Before the crazy ice this week we woke up to our power going out at 6:30 am Tuesday morning. It kicked back on after a few seconds but it did that about 8 times before lunch that day. At 10am we lost power for over an hour. Along with our flickering power we lost all service from Comcast for 2 days. No phone, internet or TV..... Bummer! With the temperatures being too cold to play outside and all of our crafts exhausted I decided it was time for a play place outing. We have a Chick-Fil-A with a play place in E-town. This is very exciting to me because Chick-fil-a is yummy. I believe everything should be dipped in their Polynesian sauce! But back to why I really love them..... The workers there are amazingly nice and helpful! They actually have floating workers that just walk around and take your tray when you're done, offer to get you refills on your drinks and even ketchup. This is amazing. See, it was just me and the 2 boys. Now, I've gotten pretty good at the 2 baby juggle. There's many creative ways to get through shopping, eating lunch or a doctors appointment with 2 very mobile boys who want to go, go go!! However, The woman who took our order asked if I wanted help, I said, "That's OK, but thank you". I've never had someone ask me if I wanted help carrying a tray at a restaurant. She didn't listen to me and actually carried our tray to a table for us, got us straws, napkins and ketchup along with a high chair! How NICE!!! I LOVE CHIK-FIL-A!!! Not only do they have Polynesian sauce, and a play place, but the people who work there are helpful, while being NICE and Friendly, and more importantly, accepting of a mom with 2 boys! Thank you Chick-Fil-A!!!! We'll be back!!!
Ty was a big fan of the little man area of the play place.
The loungey way to slide.
It only took Ty one time to learn the lesson of NOT standing at the bottom of the slide...
The weather wasn't supposed to be so great this weekend. Last week we had freezing temperatures (Beth I know you experience what "freezing" really means up there in AK, so ignore me) and then they were calling for 1-3 inches of snow over Saturday and Sunday. We love the snow so we were ready. The boys have coats, boots, hats, mittens, a sled and an innertube..... we were ready to go. Also I thought ahead (this really doesn't happen often) and I decided to stock up on our cookie dough so we could bake and decorate our cookies this weekend. Well, the snow didn't really happen like they predicted. We did get over an inch but the wind is so crazy that it's just blown all over the place and it really only snowed last night. So my plans for a snowy weekend of snowman building and sleigh riding was a bust but we still managed to knock out some cookies. Since I denied Ty the experience of working with colored sugar crystals, due to his glitter glue fiasco, he got to enjoy a lollipop with Tom while Jack and I worked or better termed...made a huge mess. Hahha!
The infamous McMurtrie, I'm getting my picture taken, face.
He's one gross kid!
....Oh how I loathe you!!!
Pre-dinner time is always craziness in this house. Entertaining 2 whack-a-dos while cooking dinner before Tom gets home is a BLAST (sarcasm!!!) Hahahah! Tonight I decided to make Jager Schnitzel because I was feeling special, like I could pull it off. Silly me! So while I was prepping I set out a bag of crayons, markers, stamps (all washable) and paper for the boys and let them have at it, at the dining room table. This is all of 10 feet away from where I was cooking. Jack was working with the stamps and Ty was all over the crayons happily being artsy, then I looked away. See....you can't ever look away....EVER! Especially with TY! That kid has tiny devil horns sprouting I swear! He found the glitter glue sticks that I seemed to have forgotten were in the stinkin' bag. Glitter Glue!!! Really? Oh yes! In a matter of seconds he squirted it all over the floor, rubbed it on the table, on his face and all over his clothes. And being the mother of this whack-a-do, the first thing I did was laugh and get my camera! Then, while barefoot (that's right barefoot, pregnant and in the kitchen), I stepped in a puddle of glitter glue and I immediately stopped laughing!
These pictures really don't do the glitter justice. It was everywhere!
After I stripped him down and hosed off all the glitter the conga line started. Ty held on to the back of Jack and they ran around the house giggling hysterically while I over cooked dinner. :-)
We are all decorated for Christmas. Last weekend we did the outside lights which I'm thankful for because it took Tom and I the whole 2 hours the boys were napping last Sunday afternoon. Plus it was a lot warmer last weekend than this weekend.
Oh yes....that is an inflatable yard decoration! It's an RV with a Santa that pops out of the door! The kids LOVE it! Hahahahah! Don't judge us!
Then this weekend we did the inside decorations which included the tree. Since we're heading to PA for the holidays we went with what is becoming our little unwanted tradition. The fake, bought at the scary German Wal-Mart, Christmas tree. Oh, how I loathe this thing! I really really LOVE real trees. But with going home we put up the fake one, then we don't have to worry about getting rid of it before we travel or not and waiting for it to shed off all of it's needles while we were away. This tree is so lame! It leans and wobbles, has a missing branch and you can see through it. hahahah! For how much I dislike this tree it has been used for 6 of our 7 married Christmases together. I'm sure most of my friends in the military are in the same boat and can relate. Being so far away from family all year round, we usually spend Christmas somewhere other than our own homes. I'll take a huge family holiday over having a real tree any year. Anyway, we are all decorated and the house looks pretty good. The boys did a great job helping with the tree as you can see....
I started following The Pioneer Woman blog a few weeks ago. This blog led me to The Tasty Kitchen blog. I love recipes. I collect them really, not using all of them, but collecting them because one day I'll have the time....one day! See, I secretly wish I knew how to cook with crazy ingredients, had knife skills like an Iron Chef, could create dishes with random stuff I have in my cabinets and everyone would eat every last bite while rubbing their bellies and humming a good ol' "MMmmmm". So I surf through recipe sites and remain jealous of the people who submit these yummy looking creations. But back to this...I'm a total sucker for a quick meal or dessert! I found this cookie recipe on Tasty Kitchen. Jack basically made the whole recipe, he really likes cracking the eggs and is pretty good at it too. Anyway, I used Devil's food cake mix and peanut butter chips. These cookies were a big hit and didn't last long ..... just wanted to share my find! Also...these cookies are really good too!
Well, we've crossed over to the dark side. We are the proud new owners of a mini van. With baby #3 on the way we weren't quite sure how the car seats would all fit in our Subaru. To be honest, I was the one fighting the mini van idea. But it all really does make sense for us and mini vans have come a long way! They're pretty impressive now. Our new ride has "Magic doors" according to Jack. I do love the idea of heading to the car with kids in tow and a cart full of groceries and the "magic doors" just open for us. The amount of space and moving seats will make visits from family much more comfortable when we go places too. Instead of everyone squeezing in between the car seats, they all get their own roomy seat now.
We haven't gotten to try it out too much just yet. The only time we've used it was on the ride home from the dealer last night. Of course it rained here ALL day so we stayed in and didn't get to venture out anywhere, but maybe tomorrow. Don't judge us....it's our swagger wagon! :-)
We had a great Thanksgiving here in New-Tucky. We were expecting to host 3 others from Tom's office but it ended up being just us. Which, to be honest, was perfect. I of course was expecting the extra stomachs with eating the 22 pound turkey that I bought, but my freezer is full now. Hahahah!
We had ourselves a lazy holiday. We ate our spread for dinner so there was no rush on the cooking which was nice! The food was yummy and we quickly fell into our food comas and watched the old school Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. It goes without saying we have A LOT to be thankful for this year, starting with these two ham bones and the next one that's on the way!
This is the before shot...
What?!?!?!
The after shot...
Friday was a good day too. We slept in (thanks to the turkey coma the night before the boys slept til almost 8:30). Now, I admire those of you who can brave the "goat rodeo" that is Black Friday.....I just can't do it! (for all my fellow military spouses you can get the uncensored meaning of goat rodeo from your hubbies since that was Tom's description) The craziness and chaos gives me a near anxiety attack. So we had no shopping plans, just plans to move the bedrooms around, decorate for Christmas and hangout. Along with sleeping in, our day started out with another surprise. When Jack crawled out of bed and woke us up he peaked out of our window and announced that there was snow out there. It rained here for what seemed like 48 straight hours before and during Thanksgiving and they were calling for a wintery mix Thursday night. We just assumed we'd get more rain and our yard would continue to turn into a clay swamp. But Jack was right....we had snow! We bundled up the boys and headed out to play in the 1/2 inch we got. Ty wasn't too sure what to do. He was like a deer in head lights, he just stood in the same spot where I set him down and didn't move unless someone was holding his hand leading him around the yard. Hahahah! Jack on the other hand, ran all over the place making footprints as he screamed at us that he was making footprints. He really is Captain Obvious! :-) The dogs loved it too. Sadie's always been a snow lover and this was Lola's first experience in the snow. She enjoyed it WAY more than Ty. So we had a great Thanksgiving, and a great. non-goat rodeo, Black Friday. :-)
The pretty snow before all the footprints.
Poor Lola was Jack's target in the snowball war
Happy pups
Trying to get a picture of both of them looking is impossible....I think Ty saw a "SQUIRREL"
Our frozen cutie
When having a fancy lunch of PB & J one must come to the table with ALL of their manners! Pinkies out when drinking from the sippy cup, make sure to dab the corner of your mouth with a napkin and absolutely NO elbows on the table! We chew with our mouths closed, never scream and definitely never play with our food. We should lead by example. Apparently that example was not set at our table with our fancy PB & J lunch with a side of apple slices. A mother can only hope that when the boys start venturing out of the nest and going to their friend's houses for dinner that these "manners" will be out grown and no where to be found! :-) One can only HOPE!
On Monday it rained/poured all day. I had some errands that I had to run in the morning (bummer) so while we were out we picked up a kit for a gingerbread house. We needed something new to do since we were stuck inside. (Even though it was raining and we were home all afternoon I didn't have the energy to make my own gingerbread, there is a reason they make the kits, right??? hahahah) Building the gingerbread house went as smoothly as it could having a 3yr old and 1 yr old helper. :-) Jack and Ty focused on eating all the decorations as I icing-glued it all together. Ty managed to sneak his first gumball, surprisingly he chewed it with much success and was very sad when I finger swept it out of his mouth. Jack found his new favorite candy...Skittles, and we had a great time eating the heads off of the reindeer. :-)
He kept tasting every line of icing. Hahahah!
Blondie didn't need the extra sugar!!
I caught them licking the icing off the table when I was cleaning up.
Yesterday while I was making dinner, I threw in a Baby Einstein video to keep Ty occupied. Baby Neptune is the only thing that will hold his attention for more than 2 minutes. The problem is...our new house has an open kitchen so there's no way to barricade myself in while cooking and keep little grabby hands away from a hot stove. So while I cook I also play zone defense. Tom got home a few minutes later and saw the boys watching TV like this. Jack didn't have Ty pinned down, and there was no wrestling going on, it's just kind of how they landed in their comfy spots. I love these moments!!!
We had visitors this weekend. Tom's mom and her friend, Jean Marie, drove down to KY for a long weekend. We had a great time! Tom and I had a date night....love those! We all went to the Patton Museum at Ft. Knox, roamed amongst some old tanks, then hung out at Church Hill Downs on Saturday. I love Church Hill Downs. The horses are amazing and it's so easy to take the kids along. We didn't win big on any races but we did win a speeding ticket on the way home. All in all it was a great weekend and we had a blast! The boys LOVED having Boobie here and Jean Marie spoiled them with extra attention. We can't wait for whoever visits us next.
Can't be at the house and NOT get on the trampoline, Jack's very persuasive!
Checkin' out what's under the hood.
The boys loved seeing what Dad used to drive, it was better than a playground.
Ty at the races and Jack hiding from the camera.
Jack scoping out the ponies. He wanted to bet #5 every race. I actually listened to him once and won $5 bucks.
This is Jack not so entertained between races....He was happier riding the escalators inside. Hahaha!
The only single moment Ty sat still the whole 4 hours we were there. (And that's my hair flying behind him....he is not sporting a mullet to fit in here in "New-Tuckey". ) Hahhahha!
