100,000

I noticed that my counter indicates I'm closing in on my 100,000th visitor. If you are that person, let me know. There's no "gift" or anything, but I'd like to know just from curiousity.

Wow -- 100,000. The question is: why??

But, regardless why -- thanks.

Not Giving Up My Day Job

It has become painfully evident that I don't need to pursue a career in cake decorating. While the ideas and concepts might be "all that", the technical skills and artistry are just sorely lacking. However, I DID manage to make a gigantic WWE [belated] birthday cake for Josh to have for tomorrow night when his friends come over to watch WWE Royal Rumble 2010.

But, as I reminded Josh, it was a labor of love and that he should be pleased that I attempted it for him. He said he was. Poor guy, what he got was a lopsided cake. Oh well, maybe it will taste good. *smile*







Ellie liked helping. Actually what Ellie did was cleaned the beaters and the bowl, got a sugar high, got messy and yelled, "MAMA MAMA MAMA" while beating me on the leg as I tried to decorate the cake.

Snow Play

It has been literally years since I've seen 6" of snow in Tennessee so this weekend's snow "storm" was a sweet surprise. The last snow we had several weeks ago was just too, too cold for me to get Ellie out in and so she had never had the experience of playing in the snow. This time, I was determined she was going to go out and play.

We all suited up to go out. Poor Ellie looked like the child on A Christmas Story by the time we finished layering her up. She wobbled when she walked. But she wasn't cold.





The first thing she did was sit down right in the middle of it on the front porch.



I don't think she really knew what to make of it. She kept patting it and then trying to get it off her gloves.



Thankful to be alive, Bear went out to play with us and ran and played at ate snow.



Josh thinks these photos of Bear are so funny.





Do I not have the most handsome son?





Josh took a picture of us -- man, we look rough.



I have a picture similar to this of my daddy pulling me on a sled up a hill. Now I realize how hard is really IS to pull a kid around in the snow.



I love this picture of Kevin and Josh.



These are some of my favorites of the neighborhood kids we were sledding with.











Josh took a topple coming down the hill, got ice up his pants and decided he was done.







Ellie's friend Katherine took her up and down the hill repeatedly. She didn't seem afraid of sledding, but I noticed her eyes were closed in all the pictures of her coming down the hill!













Everyone started to tire:






This was the boys' "Chillax Area":



So we decided to call it a morning and head for home. When we got home and took Ellie's clothes off she cried and cried and had to be held to comfort her. I think she was just cold and tired. She's napped for almost two hours this afternoon.

After being home for a little while, I decided to make snow cream. We haven't made that since we've been married so it was a new treat/concept here. Kevin, however, didn't want it because of the "pollution" factor (spoil sport, huh???). He did try it, however.





Ellie LOVED it.





Josh wasn't so sure at first, but ate quite a bit of it and deemed it, "ok".



It was a great snow and a great time.

Scooby Dooby Doo (doo)

Ellie has discovered Scooby Doo. She and Josh were watching it in the car the other day and since then, she goes around looking for the DVD case of Scooby Doo.

Today while we were cleaning up Josh's room, he got a bunch of VHS movies out to get rid of and there were a few Scooby Doo movies in the stack. Ellie pulled them out and promptly told us who they were: "Doo Doo". *snicker*

Since then, we constantly show her pictures of Scooby Doo just to hear her call him "Doo Doo". We laugh every time. Poor girl is going to get a complex over Scooby Doo. It's funny though. I can't wait until she gets older and reads about it.

It Finally Happened

Anyone care to venture a guess about what "IT" is after looking at these pictures?









Stupid dog finally fell in the pool. Kevin looked out the back and saw him, went and grabbed him and lugged him out. THANK GOODNESS Kevin was home. After running his soaking wet self through the house, we finally contained him on a towel in front of a portable heater and got him dry. Tons of towels later we had him mopped up and the floor dry. A quick call to the vet revealed that he is probably ok. He coughed most of the water up and we will watch for signs of an infection for a few days depending on how shocked his system got. We aren't sure how long he was in the pool. We suspect he was trying to lean down and drink and slipped. He was a tail wagging dog the entire time, though, so I suppose he was just happy to be alive. I asked him if his life flashed before his eyes. He didn't answer. Silly dog.

Ellie's First Trip to the Dentist

Today was another "first" for Ellie: her first trip to the dentist. I probably would not have taken her this early except that Josh had an appointment for a cleaning and since we were going to be there, I wanted them to take a peek inside her mouth. Because of her prematurity and her birthmom's likely lack of prenatal care/nutrition, I wanted to make sure she was ok.

The dentist completed Josh first and then Ellie and I went back. She sat up in my lap and only cried a little bit because I had to hold her hands down to keep her from poking the dentist. He did a fairly quick look/check and pronounced her teeth in very good condition. She still has four molars to come in and he said we should expect them soon as they are her two year molars.

She got a new toothbrush AND toothpaste. He indicated she could start using regular toothpaste now too -- a very, very small amount. He says normally at two he starts kids on regular toothpaste and that she is close enough.

TODAY, The Princess is twenty-two months old -- the same age I was when I was adopted. *smile*

Josh, on the other hand, had a small cavity in between one of his teeth. We were able to get an appointment this afternoon and was able to get it fixed today so we didn't have to make another trip back.

Josh has been "cleared" for his first orthodontics appointment. Apparently his teeth are not overcrowded but very "spacious" and need to be pulled back together a little. I think we are going to do this early spring.

A good mom would have taken her camera and taken pictures today. You can infer what you want from the lack of photos. *smile*

Ellie has learned that if she holds two people's hands they will swing her and let her jump. This was a big discovery for her today and she wore both Josh and I out today.

Schools have already been closed for tomorrow in anticipation of the snow coming in. I suspect we'll have nothing because we are already closed. The forecast is for 3-5" where we are. The kids will have a GREAT time if it snows that much. This time, I promise to take Ellie out in it and get photos. Being a good Southerner, I've ask Kevin to stop to get bread on the way home. We really are out, so it's a legitimate need.

How Hard is it to Find a Birthday Cake???

Joshua's birthday was back in November. We had planned a sleepover/party and then had to cancel it, but sort of still had the kids over. Then we decided to have an "official" basketball party at the church -- until we found out we couldn't use the church. So, somehow, in all the Thanksgiving, anniversary, birthday, Christmas, holiday "stuff", we never managed to properly celebrate Joshua's birthday with a CAKE. And, you know, it's not a birthday until you've had cake, right?

It dawned on me just a few weeks back that we didn't have cake and I mentioned it to Kevin and we both said we had to get cake. Now, Joshua hasn't mentioned it at all, so I'm not sure what that means. Maybe he forgot too. I don't know.

Sunday night, Josh is having a few friends over to watch, WWE: Royal Rumble. We are having pizza, sodas and LOTS of boy junk food and I thought, "What better time to have his birthday cake?" Now, it's not a birthday party, but it was a good time to have the cake.

So today I made a stop at Publix to order a wrestling cake. Uh. No. The only wrestling they had was high school type wrestling -- but pretty plain/bland. Not what I was looking for. So I head over to Sam's to get a cake there. I call Kevin and we develop the "back up plan" in case they don't have a wrestling cake. We'll do basketball. Great plan since a lot of the kids are on Josh's basketball team. Ok, Plan B is ready. Uh. No. Not only do they have nothing wrestling, the only thing they can put on a basketball cake is some "picks" that look like basketballs. Can anyone envision a sheet cake with basketball picks all stuck in it? Can you say, "Cake Wrecks????" Can you see 11 and 12 year old boys with basketball picks watching wrestling? I don't think I have enough insurance.

So I decide I can make MY OWN birthday cake if I go over to Wal*mart (yes, I loathe Wal*mart) and get some WWE figures to put on it. While I'm there hunting for John Cena,

ummm, I mean, wrestling action figures, I see a really cool wrestling ring with action figures of John Cena and Mr. Big Show. Only it's $30. I'm sorry, yes, it's a cool toy and would look great on top of a cake and all, but $30? Um. No. So I settled on getting action figures of John Cena (surprised??) and Randy Orton. Then, I get really creative and get some of those Oreo cookie sticks and call a friend to scrounge up some red yarn. I'm going to make a wrestling ring on my cake and plop my figures right in the ring. I tell my friend Stoney it will either be fantastic or the next blog entry on Cake Wrecks (if you've never been to the site, take a minute to click the link above and you'll have a GREAT time!!). While I'm on the phone with Stoney bemoaning having to pay $11 for a sheet cake pan, guess who I ran into??? My mama!!!! And even better, she HAS a sheet cake pan that I can BORROW. Life is good, isn't it?

So, stay tuned for photo results of the WWE Royal Rumble cake on Sunday night. Let's hope it's fabulous -- or at least not too embarrassing.

Say It's SO!!!!

I heard an interesting clip on the radio news this morning.

In 1997, Gaylord closed the Opryland theme park to open a MALL. Just a few weeks back, my friend Stoney and I were at Opryland Hotel and we were laughing thinking about the meeting at Gaylord where someone stood up and said, "Hey! I've got an idea! Let's close the theme park and open .... get this: A MALL!!!" I'm sure that went over like a lead balloon. The crazy part? It actually happened. The year Josh was born, the park closed and it has been SORELY missed by many in the area since then.

I grew up going to Opryland USA. Many of my friends worked there. I remember my mom loading up the back of the truck and taking all of us for a day of fun at the park. My kids won't get that experience, but, gosh, we have a MALL, so we are just so happy. *sarcasm*

BUT... I digress. Today on the radio I heard that there is talk about bringing the park back since the talk of a new convention center in Nashville (something else, by the way, I don't think we need, but.... another story, another day). The report indicated that a "Gaylord spokesperson does not deny the rumor". There is a story about it here.

I can tell you one family that will be first in line for opening day!

How Old is Too Old????

Regular readers know my penchant for coupon clipping and trying to get the best deal I can. So, when my coupon queen Kelly emailed to tell me that Olay products were both on clearance AND buy on get one half off AND that we had coupons, I was all over it. I headed over to Rite-Aid, coupons in hand, ready to become instantly beautiful.

I now know why Olay "PRESERVES" your face. This is NOT, however an Olay bashing because I LOVE Olay products.

I picked up several items, but one item I got was the Olay facial cloths. I thought that it would be a particular luxury to just wash my face and THROW AWAY the cleaning cloth. Imagine, no laundry associated with washing my face. So, at $7.99, less half off (clearance) and $1.00 off coupon, I thought I could spring $2.50 for a month of cloths.

It was a double bonus when I got home and saw there were coupons attached to the top of the box. I carefully clipped them off and looked to see what I got. My mind was reeling that I had saved so much already and LOOK! I was going to save more.

Yeah.Right.

Stop for a moment and think that sometimes coupons expire while a product is sitting on the shelf. That is to be expected, right? And, honestly, a coupon that expired in, say, 2008, even really wouldn't be SUCH a stretch, would it?

SO.... IMAGINE my SURPRISE when I found that my coupon had expired in ..... 2003. Yes, you read it right -- 2003. Which means that that particular box of cleaning cloths probably had been sitting on a Rite Aid shelf since AT LEAST 2002 -- EIGHT YEARS????

So, needless to say, I didn't open and use them. I plan to return them to the Rite-Aid store where I purchased them and ask them to exchange them for a more "fresh" box. Although, honestly, how will I know???