From Jeff at Oh Dark Thirty

From those who have no clue what the title means... I have agreed to post letters that come to me from Jeff while he is at Bootcamp. He has a blog called Oh Dark Thirty (and there is a HUGE comment party going on over there). I was going to post them on his site, but can't find the username and password he gave me. (something about lack of sleep stops me from being able to find things). So I'm posting it here this time.

From Jeff:

Tell Harv & TNT the back room is theirs; the key is behind the beer in the lower left mini-fridge in the living room.

Lemme tell you what’s up. We’re currently stuck in limbo in the “reception battalion” doing processing. You know, getting medical stuff done, uniforms issued and paperwork done. I’ve had my head shaved and been given my birth control goggles. I’ve sat still in the same room for 8 hours awaiting my security clearance paperwork (I had to get a waiver for something). The first few days, in fact, we didn’t even see sunlight, wandering around the processing unit as we were. It’s pretty disorienting.

Processing sucks. Some of us are of the opinion that sitting around on our asses is worse than basic will be. I don’t know… Rumors abound. It’s a funny dynamic. Best thing so far? Sining cadence. Worst thing? Today drill 8am. Gilmore smoked us (well sorta). We have these study manuals we’re suppose to read, but everyone was talking so he came in pissed off and yelled, “You like making noise and doing all kinds of whoopty-sh.t?” Then we had to hold the book straight over our heads with elbows locked for 15 minutes yelling, “ woo woo woo, yeah yeah yeah.” It sucked.

Anyway, hope things in the blogsphere are going well… no address to write me yet, but I should ship downrange Thursday, so look for another letter in a week or so. Keep the party jumping… let me put on my Ohio Players compilation… hasta la vista. Jeff “Yes, Grilled Sausage!” (Drill Sergeant).

Recipes, recipes and more recipes

The Carnival of Recipes is up and ready for your use. Thanks to CalTech Girl of Not Exactly Rocket Science. Fruit Pizza, Pepper Vodka Chicken and some other interesting recipes. Go on over and check it out!

Karnival of Kidz Entry

In order to understand the picture below, I need to give you a little background on me. Most co-workers, friends and relatives have seen me in a dress only when I got married. The lucky few that went to customer site with me got to see me in a dress more than once but I can guarantee it didn’t happen very often. My husband has been lucky enough to see me in a dress more often (You got to surprise the man of your life occasionally!). I basically am a jeans kind of gal.

What does that have to do with that cute picture of me? I was this way from the very beginning. My mom was trying to get a dress on me so we could all go out to dinner. I took off and ran to my dad for protection. I didn’t want no stink’n dress on me!

What about you? What kind of clothes did you wear as a child versus now?

Don’t forget to get your entry out before Sunday Midnight! And HERE IS HOW.

Water Fun

Thanks to Bou, my children have a bunch of different things to use to play in the water. Here is a picture of Tater having fun with the sprinkler like toy. Since he chased Tot with it, I decided NOT to put the Fire Hose adapter on the end of the hose. I am debating on the water cannon toy. Click on pictures to enlarge them.

Giant Battle Monster - See if you can defeat ME!

Hat Tip to CalTechGirl at Not Exactly Rocket Science. This was too good to pass up!

happydog is a Giant Ape that looks like a Man in a Rubber Suit, and has Huge, Sharp Claws and a single Horn on its Forehead. Strength: 9 Agility: 4 Intelligence: 4 To see if your Giant Battle Monster can defeat happydog, enter your name and choose an attack: fights happydog using Strength Agility Intelligence

Tot Eating Oatmeal

Or a better title is 'how to slow down the morning'.

A spoon in each hand!

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What a BIG spoonful!

Stuffed Zucchini

Here is my entry this week for the Carnival of Recipes. It will be held by the lovely Caltech Girl at Not Exactly Rocket Science.

Ingredients:
Onions
Tomatoes (peeled and seeded)
Meat (ham or shrimp)
Italian seasonings
Zucchinis
Bread crumbs
Softened butter

Directions:
Sautee onions, meat, tomatoes and Italian seasoning together in a pan. Salt and pepper to taste. After well blended and cooked, let cool.

Cut zucchinis in half and hollow out. Throw the zucchini pieces taken out into the above mixture and blend.

Mix butter and breadcrumbs together. Put the mixture in hollowed out zucchinis and cover with buttered bread crumbs.

Cook at 350 for 20 minutes. Check and verify it is crusty on top and zucchinis are still tender. (you can use a toothpick to check). Cook longer if necessary.

Exercise Those Fingers

Time to post those pictures of you or your children for the Karnival of Kidz and you still need to hurry and get those recipes submitted for the Carnival of Recipes. Move It, Move IT!!!

You have 2 ways to submit these entries!

Go to THIS LINK and make life easy for yourself.

Or if you don’t have a blog or don’t feel like posting it, go to the appropriate email address with the information.

For Karnival of Kidz, send an email to karnival(dot)kidz(at)gmail(dot)com.

For Carnival of Recipes send an email to carnival(dot)recipes(at)gmail(dot)com.

Get those fingers a typ’n. I need more recipes. I need more stories and pictures. I don’t want to do housework, so help me out here!

More Humor for Dreaded Wednesday

Since Grau at Frizzen Sparks posted the humor I sent him (and what I used for my first humor for dreaded wednesday), I dug out this oldie but goodie. Enjoy!

Perspective is everything.

A father passing by his son's bedroom was astonishedto see the bed was nicely made and everything was picked up. Then he saw an envelope propped up prominently on the center of the bed. It was addressed, "Dad". With the worst premonition, he opened the envelope and read the letter with trembling hands:

Dear Dad,

It is with great regret and sorrow that I'm writing you. I had to elope with my new girlfriend because I wanted to avoid a scene with mom and you. I've been finding real passion with Joan and she is so nice... even with all her piercing, tattoos, and her tight motorcycle clothes. But it's not only the passion dad, she's pregnant and Joan said that we will be very happy. Even though you don't care for her as she is so much older than I, she already owns a trailer in the woods and has a stack of firewood for the whole winter.

She wants to have many more children with me and that's now one of my dreams too. Joan taught me that marijuana doesn't really hurt anyone and we'll be growing it for us and trading it with her friends for all the cocaine and ecstasy we want! In the meantime, we'll pray that science will find a cure for AIDS so Joan can get better; she sure deserves it!! Don't worry Dad, I'm 15 years old now and I know how to take care of myself. Someday I'm sure we'll be back to visit so you can get to know your grandchildren.

Your son,
John

P.S. Dad, none of the above is true. I'm over at the neighbor's house. I just wanted to remind you that there are worse things in life than my report card that's in my desk center drawer. I love you! Call when it is safe for me to come home

Humor for Dreaded Wednesday

Click on THIS LINK to be taken to a very addictive game.

How To Impress A Woman

* Wine her,
* Dine her,
* Call her,
* Hug her,
* Support her,
* Hold her,
* Surprise her,
* Compliment her,
* Smile at her,
* Listen to her,
* Laugh with her,
* Cry with her,
* Romance her,
* Encourage her,
* Believe in her,
* Pray with her,
* Pray for her,
* Cuddle with her,
* Shop with her,
* Give her jewelry,
* Buy her flowers,
* Hold her hand,
* Write love letters to her,
* Go to the end of the Earth and back again for her.

How to impress a man

* Show up naked . Bring chicken wings ... Don't block the TV

I got answers!

Two answered! I tagged 3 people with Ogre's meme and Sally of Whimsy Capricious gave this POST. It was hilarious. Go check it out.

Tammi from Road Warrior Survival actually found time to answer it as well. Go check our her POST. Definitely done Tammi style! And while you are there, wish her luck on her new adventure. She found a new job, a new house in a new state. We are gonna miss you here in Florida!

Girls?

It’s happening already. Tater is getting attention from girls. First it started with me hearing from a little girl in his class, AE, that she was Tater’s girlfriend. Brazen hussy. Just walked up to me and announced this to me.

I asked Tater last week on our way to school if he had a girlfriend and he said yes. Huh? Ok, what’s her name? A. You mean AE? Nope, A. Hmmm. And out of the blue, Tater announces that he is going to hug A in school. Really? “Yep, she kissed me last time, so I’m going to hug her”, says Tater. Oh my.

It gets better. Hubby is talking to Tater this weekend and asks about school. Tater then tells him this story: A and Tater are playing on the playground in the ‘house’. A tells Tater to take a nap. He didn’t want to, so A pushes him down and tells him to Lay Down.

Now all sorts of things come to mind when you hear a story like this… but all I can think is that the girls are certainly aggressive when they want something at this age. ;-)

The FIRST Karnival of Kidz

UPDATE 11:50AM - Forgot Prochein Amy's!!!! Read below!

Thank you for sending in your posts and pictures! For our First Karnival, I'm am excited and happy with the turn out. Here is our wonderful showing of kidz (In alphabetical order Z to A by site ->

Something from the 70s to get you started. Yep, Sally from Whimsy Capricious decided to post a picture of herself from the 70s. And then a picture of her little girl. Enjoy!

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Want to read a story that is absolutely spellbinding? You have to go check out THIS POST from the Tinker at the Secret Life of Shoes.

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Check out this cute kid jumping for fun. Thanks for showing us some action shots Amy of ProcheinAmy!

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And you wondered why it had to start Z to A? Ha! This way my entry is near the top! Certainly you have to have a picture of ME to start this off! Go check out THIS LINK and get a couple of smiles. Next week, I have a couple of stories to tell you. One about me and one about my kids.

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Mellow-Drama has her two girls playing in the water in the yard. Brings back lots of memories. And for about 2 minutes I wondered what it would be like to have 2 beautiful girls like hers. Then I decided I didn’t want to teach them how to put on makeup and wear hi-heels… I’m better off with boys. If her girls were a little younger… my boys might have a chance!

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Jennifer at Jennifer’s World sent these cute pictures to me. She has even more pictures and stories at her site.

Here is her boy… I wonder if he is already getting calls from the girls???

And what blue eyes her little girl has:

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I have seen THIS LOOK on my children… but not usually being quite so ‘geeky’. But what else would you expect from an Iowa Geek child? She is certainly getting ahead of her classmates!

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Grandpappy Harvey from Bad Example sent in his own picture. Don’t you just want to smooch him?

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Sledding? I thought it was getting to be summer time but I bet you can see why OddyBobo from Bobo Blogger sent in a great picture of her son sledding.

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Bou from Boudicca’s Voice sent in THIS STORY about her boys and a trip to Sea World. Definitely worth the read.

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Army Wife from Army Wife Toddler Mom has Halloween on the mind already. These very expressive and cute kids make that thought very understandable.

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And next week, this Karnival of Kidz will be hosted by the lovely and talented Sally from Whimsy Capricious. Spread the word! Have some fun! And be sure to send your entries in by Midnight May 1st to Karnival.kidz -at- gmail.com so she has lots of stories and pictures to post. And any other suckers volunteers are welcome to help host, just send an email to me (onehappydog -at- excite.com). And if I forgot anyone, please send me an email and I will add you a.s.a.p.!

Karnival of Kidz

Or how about Karnival of Munckins Brats Monsters Children Offspring brood bambinos small-fry seed spawn young'uns Kidz? There are Carnival of Cats, Dogs, Recipes and so much more. So let's have a little fun and put out pictures and stories of kids! Your kids, yourself as a kid, or your spouse as a kid! I would prefer the pictures to be a kid (or kids) under the age of 5 and posted at your own site. But it's yourself or your children, so feel free to put out what you are comfortable with on the picture side. Also, those cute/stupid/insane stories of what the kids have done lately (or what you did as a child). Send the post link to Karnival.Kidz –at- gmail.com before Midnight Sunday. If you don't have your own blog and would still like to participate, send the picture or story to Karnival.Kidz –at- gmail.com before Midnight Sunday.

side note: Thank you Bou, Sally and Harvey. And a BIG THANK you to Alex for making our banner.

Carnival of Recipes is UP

And I'm late getting the notice out to you. Go visit Be at Bebere and see all the scrumptious RECIPES. Carrot cake, Death by chocolate, cat litter cake, strawberry and cream cake... wait wait, back up... cat litter cake??? Really, go check out the link above and you will see a recipe for cat litter cake.

ENJOY!

I’m Not Playing With Play-Doh

Is what Tot keeps telling me. Along with "The cap and container are much more interesting." Click pictures to enlarge them.

= = = =

Mom moves the container to see if he will bother with the play-doh. And here is the answer:

Yaa... have them play with Play-doh to strengthen their fingers and hands. First you have to get it in their hands! I'm going to have my 'hands full' with this boy.

Doggie Shoes

Our puppy has some problems with his feet. Causing us to put ‘doggie shoes’ on him to keep him from licking his paws. He still looks cute, even with shoes on his feet!

Ogre's Meme

Ok, as much as I complain about not having time to do Meme’s… I still got tagged. And I’m going to tag 3 more people. You know the drill, if I tag you then you have to answer at your place and tag three more, make sure you trackback to Ogre cause the Ogre's trying to keep track of his creation . . .

Here are my answers:

If I could be a gardener... I would take my kids to work with me and let them pull one leaf off of every plant. Being a gardener, I would be able to restore these plants to health.

If I could be a construction worker… I would take my kids to work with me for half the day and let them play with the machines. After they leave, I would hoot, holler, and whistle at all the good looking men that walk by.

If I could be a musician... I would let me kids play along with me no matter how it sounded.

If I could be a farmer... I would drive around on a John Deere 6003 Series Tractor and play in the fields all day.

If I could be a mother… I would hire someone to do the laundry and clean the house so I could play with my kids all day. Oh wait. I am a mother… must be dreaming again about how nice it would be to NOT do housework.

So here's how it works. Immediately following there is a list of 20 different occupations. You must select at least 5 of them (feel free to select more). You may add more if you like to your list before you pass it on (after you select 5 of the items as it was passed to you). Each one begins with "If I could be..." Of the 5 you selected, you are to finish each phrase with what you would do as a member of that profession.

If I could be a scientist...
If I could be a farmer...
If I could be a musician...
If I could be a doctor...
If I could be a painter...
If I could be a gardener...
If I could be a missionary...
If I could be a chef...
If I could be an architect...
If I could be a linguist...
If I could be a psychologist...
If I could be a librarian...
If I could be an athlete...
If I could be a lawyer...
If I could be an innkeeper...
If I could be a professor...
If I could be a writer...
If I could be a construction worker…
If I could be a llama-rider...
If I could be the oddybobo's maid. . .

And I tag: Sally of Whimsy Capricious, Alex of Alex in Wonderland/MuNu and... I think I'll surprise Tammi of Road Warrior Survival

More Humor for Dreaded Wednesday

DOUBLE PANED WINDOWS

Last year I replaced all the windows in my house with those expensive double-pane energy efficient kind.

But this week, I got a call from the contractor complaining that his work had been completed a whole year and I had yet to pay for them.

Boy, oh boy, did we go around! Just because I'm blonde doesn't mean that I am automatically stupid.

So, I proceeded to tell him just what his fast-talking sales guy had told me last year... that in one year the windows would pay for themselves.

There was silence on the other end of the line, so I just hung up,and he hasn't called back.

Guess he felt really stupid, huh???

Humor for Dreaded Wednesdays

Cowboy Boots

Anyone who has ever dressed a child will love this one!

Did you hear about the Texas teacher who was helping one of her kindergarten students put on his cowboy boots? He asked for help & she could see why.

Even with her pulling and him pushing, the little boots still didn't want to go on. Finally, when the second boot was on, she had worked up a sweat.

She almost cried when the little boy said, "Teacher, they're on the wrong feet." She looked and sure enough, they were. It wasn't any easier pulling the boots off than it was putting them on. She managed to keep her cool as together they worked to get the boots back on, this time on the right feet.

He then announced, "These aren't my boots."

She bit her tongue rather than get right in his face and scream, "Why didn't you say so?" like she wanted to. And, once again she struggled to help him pull the ill-fitting boots off his little feet.

No sooner they got the boots off and he said, "They're my brother's boots. My Mom made me wear 'em."

Now she didn't know if she should laugh or cry. But, she mustered up the grace and courage she had left to wrestle the boots on his feet again.

Helping him into his coat, she asked, "Now, where are your mittens?"

He said, "I stuffed 'em in the toes of my boots."

Her trial starts next month . . .

Can We Eat It?

Bad enough he is eating the strawberries on the plants, now he wants me to pick the Pineapples. Luckily, they have sharp points and he has to wait until Mom does it.

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“Just 10 more pictures Mom. 10 more. “, says Tater. Yaa, like I’m going to follow him around and just take pictures of him here and there. Ok, Ok, you got me. I did do it. I’m only posting the first one. Enjoy!

Pictures of Tater and Tot’s Mom

Here is my first Entry into the Karnival of Kidz!

A picture of me in my Dad’s Uniform!

Anyone else get pictures like this when they were growing up? I love this.

This first Entry into the Karnival of Kidz is MEEEEEEE! Thought it would be fun and different. Next week, you’ll get some cute pictures of Tater and Tot.

Ribbon Cake

This is about my mom, Mamaw to the boys. Just a little background, my mom is an excellent cook and baker. Most everyone loved to come to my house to eat (friends and family). You never knew if you were going to get something ‘International’ or ‘Southern’. From Eggrolls to fried Chicken Gizzards. And the desserts? Wow.

Once, Mamaw decided to bake me a cake when I was a teenager. And being an inventive woman when the cake split – instead of throwing it away or trying to put icing on pieces, she tied a ribbon around it. REALLY! I didn’t think most of my friends would believe it… so here is a picture for proof. This brings back sooo many good memories.

Now the question is… will I be as inventive and fun as a mom when my kids hit their teenage years? I certainly hope so since I have a good background to pull from to make it work.

Carnival of Recipes No. 35

They're here! It's time! Get out the ol' copy/paste and be ready to store away some recipes. Thanks to Countertop Chronicles for hosting this week's Carnival of Recipes.

Just One Bite

It always bothers me when Tater says something and I have no clue what he is talking about. Being the always analytic Mother that I am, I ask “Just one bite of what?” He responds with “Strawberry”. Hmmmm. About 10 minutes ago I showed him the strawberries on his plant. In fact, I was going to go get the camera and take a picture of those 3 strawberries that were just about ready for picking. Betcha know where this is going don’t ya? There is a twist…

He took ‘just one bite’ while the strawberry was still on the plant. Sigh. Now I have to pick half eaten strawberries. Wash them. And let him finish eating them. At least he is enjoying his strawberry plant. And he has found a way to keep his brother from getting any of them. Need to plant two next year!

It’s Coming

Yep, got a surprise for you on Monday. It’s going to be loads of fun. Can you guess?

Is It Snowing In Florida?

I have been brushing our pony almost every day. I am hoping he doesn't go bald with all the hair that has been coming out! Just joking. It's like this every year. I think he was meant to be a Northern Pony.

And yes, that is our wonderful Puppy Dog hunting for lizards in the background.

Class Pictures

Side Note: I won't have time to post tomorrow, so I'm posting these tonight. Yes, my children have been a royal pain tonight and that is why I'm up so late. Part of being a 'Mother'. GRIN

Yep, even though he only attends ‘school’ twice a week for 3 hours each of those two days… they took school pictures. And being the ‘Mother’ that I am, I bought one. I cropped out everyone else and here is Tator! What surprised me was all 12 kids were sitting almost exactly like him. I may wipe out the faces and post it. Nothing like seeing 12 two-year-olds sitting at the same time.

Fun reads

Here are some posts I got a kick out of or just enjoyed reading recently. Also, I'm pretty brain dead and figured you could get better writing to read from somewhere else.

I hate it when this happens from Sissy.

Go kids, show PETA what you are made of from Graumagnus.

Anything on this site is worth perusing from Basil.

When you want your kid’s teacher to explain something from Bou.

White trash penthouse from Bobo.

Chess and children from Anita

Which picture is better from Jody

Oddities from Physics Geek

A Stupid Quiz from CalTechGirl

General twisted look at life and airports from Jim

Interesting write-up on Gas Prices from Virgil

General Tso’s Chicken

Extremely easy and very tasty!

Ingredients:
1 ½ Tbsp oil
½ lb Chicken Thigh meat (or breast)
½ lb Broccoli Floreets
3 Tbsp Ceneral Tso’s Sauce & Glaze (from Iron Chef)
Cooked Rice

Directions:
Steam broccoli. Heat oil in skillet and stir fry chicken (cut to bite-size pieces). Add sauce and stir until evenly coated (approx 30 seconds). Add broccoli and stir until evenly coated. Serve with cooked rice.

More Humor for Dreaded Wednesday

A friend just wanted to keep me up to date on what's happening on the cutting edge of IP...

So they sent me this LINK TO RFC4041.

And some humor:

A little boy got on the bus, sat next to a man reading a book, and noticed he had his collar on backwards.

The little boy asked why he wore his collar that way. The man, who was a priest, said, I am a Father."

The little boy replied, "My Daddy doesn't wear his collar like that."

The priest looked up from his book and answered "I am the Father of many."

The boy said, "My Dad has 4 boys, 4 girls and two grandchildren and he doesn't wear his collar that way."

The priest, getting impatient, said, "I am the Father of hundreds" and went back to reading his book.

The little boy sat quietly thinking for a while, then leaned over and said, "Maybe you should wear your pants backwards instead of your collar."

Humor for Dreaded Wednesdays

WOMEN AND MEN Women are like apples on trees. The best ones are at the top of the tree. Most men don't want to reach for the good ones because they are afraid of falling and getting hurt. Instead, they just take the rotten apples from the ground that aren't as good, but easy....... The apples at the top think something is wrong with them, when in reality, they're amazing. They just have to wait for the right man to come along, the one who's brave enough to climb all the way to the top of the tree. Share this with other women who are good apples, even those who have already been picked! Now Men...Men are like a fine wine. They begin as grapes, and it's up to women to stomp the crap out of them until they turn into something acceptable to have dinner with.

What In The World?

Been very busy yesterday and this morning. Here is a little picture to keep you with a smile. Don’t know how to caption it.

Any Answers For This One?

Parents please help me out. Or if you did this as a child… what did your parents do? When I ask Tater to do something lately, he will respond with “No Momma” as.he.is.doing.what.I.asked! I can’t bring myself to punish him as he is doing what I told him to do. The problem is that I really really don’t like him telling me “No” in the process. Any suggestions?

For those who would like an example - I tell Tater to lay down in bed. While he is getting into bed AND laying down he will tell me no.

Anniversary Trip

I won’t be telling ALL the stories, but I will be sharing some fun pictures and a few stories. Like how we got ‘wet by the big whale’ at Sea World. We did have a raincoat. But Tot decided at the last minute he didn’t like having it over his head and pulled it down. Needless to say, all four of us got our hair and face rather wet. The second time I pulled it up, he did NOT pull it down.

I must say I’m proud of my boys. They spent plenty of time in the stroller. It was extremely crowded and I didn’t want to let them out of my sight (or away from my hand). And generally they took it well. I think the heat made them want to sit more.

Ahhh yes, the dolphins. The dolphin show at Sea World is still not being performed. You can go see the dolphins underwater in the area they are located. We took Tater to see them while Tot was sleeping in the stroller. Tater loved how they traveled together and would come by the window to see us. I was waiting for him to say something about how one of the dolphins had his pe-nis out. I was happy that Tater never said anything – particularly since that dolphin and a female decided to mate right in front of us. Sigh. I can just see it in a few years. Tater says “What are they doing Mom?” Mom says “They are mating.” Tater says “What’s that mean?” Mom says “It means the mommy and daddy are making a baby”. Then Tater goes to school and tells the class “I saw mommy and daddy making a baby”. I think I’m going to be in big trouble soon.

Manatees

Tater loved the manatees. He talked about seeing them from the time we walked in the park. I wasn’t able to get a picture of him with the manatees, but I did get one of him near the statue.

First Roller Coaster Ride

Tater took his first roller coaster ride. Talk about excited! His Father that is. I tried to get some pictures but only 1 turned out. Tot was busy trying to pull my arm, run from me and a lot of other distracting items. Even that one is really of just Dad waving at me.

“It’s a Small World” was up and running. Luckily we only had to go on it twice. Trust me, every time we walked by, Tater wanted to go on it. And this is a picture of what Tot that about this:

I have some fun putting out these pictures. It has Tot and I on the Dumbo ride, the kids brushing their teeth (Tot simply likes to chew on it, Tater likes the excuse to play in the water) and more. Here is the Gallery of Images from Disney/SeaWorld.

Winnie the Pooh

For all those Winnie the Pooh lovers (Bou and Caltechgirl), here is a picture for you (click pictures to enlarge them):

For the rest of us:

We had dinner at the Crystal Palace in Disney World. Tater loved it. Take a look at these pictures:

It was funny. Tigger picked up Tater’s milk and acted like he was drinking it. Every time a character came by after that Tater would hand his milk to his Dad. In fact, Tater got so excited by all the food, characters and kids, he decided to throw-up on Mom. Yep. He started crying, I went over to hold him, picked him up, and blhhhhhhh – all over me. He had not been sick for 2 days… sigh. Off to the bathroom. Clean up the best we can. Time to head back to the Hotel. It was only 5:30pm, but we really had no choice.

And then… it started to rain! Thunder, lightening, rain! We were not in a hurry. It was not raining hard, more like a sprinkle. But suddenly a lot of people decided to leave at the same time. The line for the bus was extremely long. And all I could think about was how I smelled like vomit and the bus was going to be crowded.

I was correct in my prediction. The line was long, the bus was crowded and it made the smell a whole lot worse. I must say, the people on the bus were extremely nice. A gentleman got up out of his seat so Tater, Tot and I could sit down. I’m not so sure his wife was happy after she got a whiff of me. Grin. Over all, dinner was great. Tater loved it. It was worth it just for that.

I Love ImageShack

Ok, not really. But I do have an appreciation for their customer service. Some background: I bought ‘credits’ from them to be able to upload zip’d files. Yesterday I tried to upload a zip’d file with 13 pictures in it. It looked like it worked and my credits disappeared… but no pictures. Huh? I have done this before, and it is not hard. I went and read the FAQ and Common Questions. Nope, no answer. I then sent a note to Customer Service with a ton of information. What I expected was my 13 credits back and hopefully my pictures. What I got was this:

We will be adding 100 credits for you inconvenience.

-Jack

Now that is customer service. They couldn’t get me my pictures, they apologized and they ‘reimbursed’ me above and beyond what was necessary. Gotta love it.

Side Note: Stole the blockquote from Ogre. Thanks Ogre!

Carnival of Recipes No. 34

Yipeee! More yummy recipes to read and drowl over. Check out the Carnival of Recipes at Aussie Wife.

A great Article about our fight in Iraq

As I am trying to surf the blog (between children issues), I found this ARTICLE over at Tammi's place. Take the time to read it. It says more in fewer words than most things I have read.

April is the Month For Love

I have been so lucky to find my Husband. I'm not the only one. Harvey and his Beloved wife got married a day after us. They are celebrating their wonderful day and I want to wish them the best. Go on... stop by Grandpappy Harvey's and see a picture of his Lovely Wife. Leave a comment and have some fun. They are great people.

Severe Sinusitis, a Little Laryngitis and 2 Healthy Children

And the question was – What was the worse part of the Disney/Sea World trip? We got sick on Wednesday. My Husband has severe sinusitis and may even have to have surgery. I have laryngitis and very little sleep. The kids are feeling GREAT. By the end of the day yesterday, I was surprised I did not walked out of the house and leave everyone. Ahhh, I forgot, Mom’s aren’t allowed to get sick. So I must not have anything.

The trip to Disney/Sea World was fun for the kids. I have some pictures I am going to try and get posted tomorrow. I will be working on the write-ups today. Being healthy normal kids we had some interesting experiences.

Here is one of the stories that I thought was funny. Our room has 2 beds. We got bed rails and a crib. Usually Hubby sleeps with Tater. The bedrails are on the side that Daddy is not and at the end of the bed. Both of them move a lot in their sleep but don’t seem to bother one another with all the wiggling. Also, I’m the designated person to get Tot if he wakes up. Daddy is SICK. Which means he gets the bed to himself and I have both children. Neither of which want to go to sleep. I give up. I hold Tot in my arms while sitting beside Tater. I turned out all the lights and figured we would just sit quietly. Yaaa. You would think I would know better by now. All of the sudden Tot covers his eyes, uncovers them and makes some sort of noise. Huh? Then I realized, he was playing Peek-a-boo. It was soooo cute. I played too. As did Tater. During this, Tot actually said Peek-a-boo very clearly!!! Did I mention I saw the clock during this and saw it was 8:30pm!!!! Yikes. Tot is usually asleep by 8:15pm at the latest. Tater around 8:30pm. As much as I wanted to keep playing I realized this was a ‘delay tactic’ and it had to be stopped. I just wish I had a tape recorder so you could hear Tater and Tot saying Peek-a-boo to each other.

We have whale stories, stingray, Winnie the Pooh and so much more. There is nothing like taking a couple of young kids to Sea/Disney World.

BTW, an ENORMOUS THANK YOU to Sally for taking care of my blog while I was gone. And to everyone that was kind enough to leave comments… I’ll be commenting later today. Just wanted to let everyone know we are back and the kids are doing fine.

Five Years Today!

According to my sources, traditional 5th wedding anniversary presents have a theme of Wood.

A contemporary or modern 5th anniversary present has a theme of Silverware.

The flowers associated with the 5th anniversary are Daisies.

The Gemstone associated with this Wedding Anniversary is Turquoise.

Happy Anniversary, VW, and Hub!

Sensing a theme, yet?

Well, it's a day before the Anniversary, and time to look at more presents!

I'm told that the Pepe thing goes back to when VW and her husband were dating. He bought her a stuffed animal set, and it all went crazy from there!

How cute, and romantic is that? Not to mention, original.

Silverware, glassware and, garden tools?

Look what I found in the "Wedding Shower" file!

More from said file tomorrow.

More Humour For Dreaded Wednesday

My wife, who is blonde, came running up to me in the driveway, the other day, just jumping for joy! I didn't know why she was jumping for joy but I thought, what the heck and I starting jumping up and down along with her. When she said, "Honey, I have some really great news for you!" I said"Great. Tell me what you're so happy about She stopped jumping and was breathing heavily from all the jumping up and down, when she told me that she was pregnant! I was ecstatic! We had been trying for a while, so I grabbed her and kissed her on the lips and told her, "That's great! I couldn't be happier!" Then, she said "Oh, honey. There's more. "I asked, "What do you mean 'more'?" she said, "Well, we are not having just one baby. We are going to have TWINS!" Amazed at how she could know so soon after getting pregnant, I Asked her how she knew. She said,

"Well, that was the easy part. I went to Wal-Mart and bought the
twin-pack home pregnancy test kit and both tests came out positive!"

Humour For Dreaded Wednesday

Cardiologist Eulogy Elaborate funeral plans for the Cardiologist? A heart-rendering tale.

A cardiologist died and was given an elaborate funeral. A huge heart covered in flowers stood behind the casket during the service.

Following the eulogy, the heart opened, and the casket rolled inside. The heart then closed, sealing the doctor in the beautiful heart forever.

At that point, one of the mourners burst into laughter.

When all eyes stared at him, he said, "I'm sorry, I was just thinking of my own funeral… I'm a gynecologist."

The minister fainted.

You Gotta Laugh

Just a quick post... Thank you Sally... it has been a long week and we still plan on going tomororw. And for the rest of you... my son has decided he prefers underwear to diapers. Ok... a few accidents have happened over the last couple of days.. but you don't vomit in your underwear...

On the other hand, you may have this occur:

Luckily, after this Tater has agreed to wear a diaper for today. Phew.

Thanks for being so nice to Sally, she is in your hands until Sunday. No more posting for me after this one - as you can see, I'm just a little busy.

Have fun!

From the "Adorable" file...

Not one...

But two, gorgeous pictures of the artist formerly known as #2 Son!

Here's Tot just begging to be captioned:

Have fun!

Lasagna

The sauce makes enough for 2 batches of lasagna. I usually freeze the ‘leftover’ sauce for another day. Here is a picture of the lasagna just as I finished making it and before cooking it. Notice the pot of sauce beside it.

Step 1
Lasagna Meat Sauce

Ingredients

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tblsp garlic, chopped
1 cup onions, chopped
1 bay leave
3 29-oz can tomato sauce
1 12-oz can tomato paste
29 oz water
¾ cup sugar
2 tblsp dried basil
¼ tsp dried oregano
2 tsp ground black pepper
½ tsp salt
1 to 2 lb lean ground beef
Can include the following:
Pinch of fennel, rosemary, and tarragon
½ glass of red wine (merlot is good)

Directions:

Combine olive oil, garlic, onions and bay leaf in a sauce pot. Sauté until golden brown (do not burn). Add tomato sauce, tomato paste & water. Add seasoning and cook on low heat for 1 ½ hours (minimum – I cook it most of the day). While sauce is cooking, cook ground beef. Drain off fat, chop it finely, add to sauce. Sauce is better if made the day before.

Go to Next Step.

Step 2:

Cook up lasagna noodles per directions

Step 3:
Lasagne Ricotta Mixture

Ingredients:
15 oz ricotta cheese
3 eggs
½ cup grated Parmesan
1 tbsp dried basil
1 tsp ground black pepper
3 tbsp parsley, freshly chopped

Directions:
Whip all ingredients together.

Step 4:

Ingredients:
Sauce
Ricotta Mixture
Noodles
Mozzarella Cheese (grated)

Spread a thin layer of sauce on bottom of baking disk (13x9 recommended). Place thin layer of lasagna noodles over sauce. Evenly spread 1/3 of Ricotta mixture over noodles. Spread thin layer or Mozzarella cheese over mixture. Add layer of Meat Sauce. Add another layer of noodles. Evenly spread the rest of Ricotta mixture over noodles. Spread thin layer or Mozzarella cheese over mixture. Add layer of Meat Sauce. Add final layer of noodles. Top with Meat Sauce. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and Mozzarella cheese if desired. Bake at 350F for 45 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. (don't forget to freeze that extra sauce for next time)

I've Arrived!

Hello! It's Sally.

Sorry I'm late. I was detained at the airport for being in illegal possession of a haggis. [Glares at Contagion]

Since VW has her hands full, literally, I figured I'd take off for a few days, to explore this great country of yours. She doesn't need to be taking care of a guest right now, plus my accent is spooking the boys!

I've my great grandfather's people who settled in Chicago from Dublin, and two cousins from County Cork who both married dentists in Long Island, but after the duty calls, I'm free!

What are the most beautiful, or exciting places in the United States, in your opinion? I know you're a pretty well-traveled bunch of people, and I'm sure you've had wonderful experiences, from Sea to Shining Sea!

Please be kind enough to drop your suggestions in the comments. Perhaps you'd like to share your memories, or even photographs, at your own blog? If so, please leave a trackback.

Thank You.

Ogre gets Older!

Go wish the old Ogre a Happy Birthday at THIS LINK.

Vacation Time!

I am not sure if anyone noticed the new name on my side bar under ‘Contributors’ or not. There is a new name there, Really! Sally from Whimsy Capricious has gladly offered her services to post for me while I’m on Vacation. Bou usually helps out but has her hands full with 2 sick boys.

Be very nice to Sally while I’m gone Wed thru Fri at SeaWorld and DisneyWorld. We are going to be celebrating our Wedding Anniversary! Of course, this time we will be celebrating with all our little monsters children in tow.

Just a quick update... Tator just tossed his breakfast and apple snack at 10am this morning. I may need Sally to post for an extra day or two while I deal with the "Momma Hold Me" stuff. Nothing like getting semi-digested apple all over your shoulder. Gotta love Motherhood. Or the postings you will be getting Mon/Tues may be a little 'light'. Hopefully this is just that 48 hour stomach bug going around.

My Marine Nephew is Back With His Wife and Child!

He has ARRIVED! I got a note at midnight last night with pictures! They all look so happy together. It is nice that he is no longer in Iraq for now. Just posting this note to wish them a happy reunion!

I Was Held Hostage Until I Answered These!

This is in response to the Meme sent to me via the Miasmatic Review (or on my blogroll - Contagion).

1) Since you have two boys close in age, have you ever tied them together by the left hand, given them small clubs and let them fight over something such as your love and/or a cupcake? (If so will your champion be willing to take on Clone? He needs the practice so he can go for the TDMFA, Toddler Death Match Fighting Association, championship)

Left hand???? Oh man, I thought it was the right hand. And they have to fight over something? Geeze… Just putting them together was enough. Hmmmmm. Clubs? I had not considered that. So far it has just been small garden utensils.

As to taking on your Clone... Bring.it.on! Either of my boys will gladly beat up on someone else. Just be aware that they have a tendency to help each other when it is against someone else. That includes getting the rest of the family involved (see Picture). You just never know about these Northern folk... also getting into the pile to help wrestle:

2) Your handle is VW, what is your infatuation with a German brand of vehicles, does it stem from an incident when you where 16 and on a date? If so details please.

This is Tator… Mom is off looking for a picture, so I thought I would tell the reason why her ‘handle’ is VW. It is because the first car she bought was this little brown pile of shite (or that is what she calls it). It was a VW Bug that J, friend of the family, had painted shite brown. Really. (That is the picture she is looking for right now).

This is Tot… is not! The reason she has the ‘handle’ of VW is because those are her initials. BLHHHHHHHH.

Is Not, Is To, IS NOT, IS TO… RUNNNNN, Mom’s coming back.

Note: Mom could not find the picture of the Brown Bug. In fact, Mom will be tearing into some different closets and boxes because she is missing a whole box of pictures.

3) We all know that dogs don’t speak, so thus you must be taking some kind of hallucinogenic drugs. (Plus you volunteered for this) What kind of drugs are you taking and are you now or have you ever been a hippy? (Answering yes to being a hippy may also explain question number two)

Hmmm. Is Chamomile tea considered a hallucinogenic drug? No? Then it just must be the fact that I haven’t gotten more than 3 hours sleep a night in 2 ½ years. Didn’t know lack of sleep can cause hallucinations? Then you didn’t read THIS ARTICLE from The Harvard Gazette.

Hippy? Moi? I have been called ‘Out of Fashion’, ‘CowGirl’, ‘Redneck’, ‘Quack .ss’ and a few other names… but I don’t ever remember being called a Hippy.

4) You routinely make a post every Wednesday called “Humor for the dreaded Wednesday.” What is so dreaded about Wednesday that you feel the need to ridicule it? Is it because most people don’t pronounce the N? Maybe you just feel that it’s a wasted day and we should only have a 6 day week.

No one told you about Dreaded Wednesdays??? You should be afraid, very afraid. If you go to THIS LINK and then highlight the black below the cartoon, you will find why Wednesdays can be so very very dreadful.

Ohhhhh, you don’t believe that one huh? How about this story – it is ‘dreaded Wednesdays’ because my Husband goes out with guys on Wednesday nights and plays computer games until past the children’s bedtime. Leaving me with two children that I have dealt with all day and then have to deal with all night. As they get older it gets easier, but even to this day… it is still – Dreaded Wednesday.

Nooooooooo, you don’t believe that one either?… Geeze you are hard to convince. Alright, here is the scoop. The real meaning of dread is: To hold in Awe or Reverence. And the real meaning of Wednesday is: it was named after Woden, like Mercury, who was quick and eloquent. So… in reality, I am in Awe of Woden.

5) We know that your blogs main purpose is to keep your family updated with the activities of Tater and Tot. Have you ever thought of starting a blog to showcase your true love, photo journalism? We all know the truth; look at all the pictures you post. Please, no one takes pictures of plants for any other reason!

Just be happy I can’t get my videos on-line! I take horrible pictures and yet I will continue to annoy, bedevil, harass, madden, exasperate, pester, plague, vex, ruffle, noodge you with all my wonderful, awe-inspiring, brilliant, remarkable, phenomenal, surperb, praiseworthy, copasetic, surprising, and sometimes strange pictures. And why start a separate blog for this? It is much easier to use the children as an excuse to put these photos out.

(side note: I found a new on-line Thesaurus, bet you couldn’t tell!)

PS. Go check out Alex's answers to his Meme Questions from Contagion.

The In-Laws are Coming Over!

Since I need to get the lasagna started, laundry done and a few other things, I will just leave you with some humor for today: Bubba and Junior were standing at the base of a flag pole, looking up.

A woman walked by and asked what they were "We are supposed to find the height of the flagpole," said Bubba, "but we don't have a ladder. "The woman took a wrench from her purse, loosened a few bolts, and laid the pole down. Then she took a tape measure from her pocket, took a measurement, announced, "Eighteen feet, six inches," and walked away.Junior shook his head and laughed. "Ain't that just like a blonde!

We ask for the height, and she gives us the length!"

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This has been around forever... and I still love it:

This should rattle your brain and give you something to ponder.

If you've learned to speak fluent English, you must be a genius!?? Pursue at your leisure, English lovers. Here are some reasons why the English language is so hard to learn:

1) The bandage was wound around the wound.
2) The farm was used to produce produce.
3) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.
4) We must polish the Polish furniture.
5) He could lead if he would get the lead out.
6) The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert..
7) Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present.
8) A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.
9) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.
10) I did not object to the object.
11) The insurance was invalid for the invalid.
12) There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.
13) They were too close to the door to close it.
14) The buck does funny things when the does are present.
15) A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.
16) To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.
17) The wind was too strong to wind the sail
18) After a number of injections my jaw got number.
19) Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.
20) I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.
21) How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?

There is no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins weren't invented in England or French fries in France (surprise!). Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren't sweet, are meat. Quicksand works slowly, boxing rings are square, and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig. And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham? If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth beeth?

Love Food?

How about Robert Heinlein? Then you need to go over and check out the "Karn Evil" of Recipes put out by Texas Best Grok. There are some awesome recipes out there. From Root Beer to Chocolate Cake.

I'm Number ONE

Search at www.Google.co.uk for:

Fudge the Dog

And I'm #1, I'm #1

Wow... I have made the #1 hit list for odd searches in the last couple of weeks. What is happening around here?

Strawberries!

Here is an update to how my kids’ plants are doing:

See the big green strawberry? And all those flowers? Lots of strawberries are going to come off this one plant – if the bunnies, squirrels, ants and other bugs don’t get them first.

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Here is Tater watering his plants

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Here is Tot trying to water the plants as well. It might have helped if he had had water in the watering can. ;-) ;-)

= = = =
And Tator comes running over so that I can take his picture too! "See me smile big"

It Could Have Been My Wedding Anniversary

Today is April 1st (or better known as April Fool's day). I had reserved the church for this day. It was going to be my Wedding Day. Until my Husband heard the actual date. The first Saturday in April was ok but it seems he didn't want to be married on April 1st. So I rearranged the date until April 8th. It is now a date I won't forget easily. (Unlike my sons' birthdates - I'm always screwing them up... I recently gave Tot's birth year as 2002 - Bahwahaha NOT LIKELY - as it would have meant that my two children would have been born exactly 2 months apart!)

Enjoy today, play a couple of practical jokes and remember in one week, I will have been married 5 years. Yipeeeee!