Notes on Play-do

1. Leaving your two year old alone to play playdo, while you load the diswasher, will cause the hot pink playdo and the white playdo to become beautiful marbled swirly playdo.

2. Vacuum the carpet after playing with playdo, definitely not before.

3. Most definitely the mommy will be the one doing all the playdo work. The two year old just likes the end result. For example- making shapes with the cookie cutters and pushing the playdo through the factory tool to make spaghetti noodles.

4. Toothpicks work great at poking out the tiny pieces left in the factory tool. Water does not.

5. Definitely enjoy a mocha latte while playing with playdo. It helps. The recipe is below!

Homemade mocha latte
-pour hershey syrup in bottom of mug
-add 1/2 cup of your freshly brewed morning coffee
-add 1/2 cup of hot milk
-top with whipped cream
(I used caramel syrup as we ran out of chocolate the other day) YUMMMMM!

Naptime events...

It is now naptime...thought I could get some tax stuff done, but here I am procrastinating. This part of owning a business is really NO FUN. So procrastination begins! I am perusing blogs, checking out the latest at 2peas including posting some of my own(finally) and editing pictures from the weekend.
My studio girls dancing at a basketball game halftime show on Saturday!

Maya teaching her daddy "dance class" hee hee hee


Ok- must.....get.....back.....to......taxes.

My Hall of Famer...

I am so proud of my dad. It's funny because he is a very quiet man. So quiet that Ben was quite scared of him for a couple of years (well he is 6'4, dark hair, strong and athletic). Anyway- because he is such a quiet man, I always felt like I didn't know him all the way. It's been through life changing events that have helped me get to know him. My grandpa's death back in college, my wedding, when Maya was born, and this Hall of Fame banquet. My dad played baseball in college and then went on to play AA and AAA ball for the Yankees and Rangers organizations. He was inducted to his college's Hall of Fame Friday night. Anyway- the guy had to give a speech and he doesn't really like to say too much. I just know he was dreading it. You know what he did? He introduced his family and stated why and just how proud he was of each of us. He introduced fellow players and coaches from college and gave them ovations. He talked about how he got to meet the 9 other inductees(including Chester Taylor from the Minnesota Vikings) and how exciting it was. He choked up talking about his college coach and what an amazing man he is. He went on about the athletic director of the college(a fellow inductee) about how much he gives to the university. I was blown away by my dad's humility, integrity, poise, love for athletics and teammates and love for his family. I am so blessed to have him as my dad.

The fam- My sister Christine, dad, mom, my brother Bryan and myself.

I think I inherited my mom's height genes! hee hee hee! And no- my sister is not 6 foot, but she is about 5'8 and has 3 inch heels on!

What we did this weekend...

Friday I went in search of that LBD and guess what? I found one! It just so happend to be 60% off too! My dad's big recognition gala is this coming Friday. Stories and pictures to follow! We watched a great movie in the evening. The illusionist. Started off a bit slow, but carried into this big wonderful movie! Rent it!
Saturday- a morning stamp camp where we made gorgeous little Valentine cards and an afternoon with new baby Mitchell. Maya was beside herself as she adores little babies and often times thinks of herself as a little mama- taking care of her "babies", aka- baby dolls.

Sunday- a day of shopping for accessories for the LBD. Finding them, but not too sure about them. Grilled cheese and tomato soup for a scrumptious simple dinner. After that- catching up on work as Monday comes all too fast. Great game though! Go Colts!
I leave you with new pictures of my nephew Mitchell. I noticed that the last date I took pictures was 1/10 before this weekend. Gotta keep that camera closer by.

Ok computer geniuses...

What is the difference between a file size of K or k?
How do I save a picture to be 500k?
Is K equal to KB?
What is MB?
I just really want to save a picture at 500k...that's the small k....
Help!

Auntie again!

I am the auntie again to a beautiful baby boy. His name is Mitchell Roderick. (that makes 10 total neices and nephews so far in case you were wondering!)

Weighing in at 8lbs and 14oz and 21 inches- Mama and baby are doing just fine!

Here is a pic of big sister with him!

10 on Tuesday...

1. It is finally snowing and cold! Can I say it's a beautiful day!!!
2. I will be an auntie again by the end of the day!
3. Potty Training is still going great!
4. My new favorite ice cream flavor is ruggles Caramel Praline pecan.
5. Great Golden Globes last night. Does anyone else think Marc Anthony is scary? Drew Barrymore looked stunning!! Gotta start watching Ugly Betty. Do I really, though? They won all sorts of stuff, but I just can't get myself interested. However.....
6. American Idol begins tonight!!!!!!!
7. My sister and I are going shopping on Friday for that LBD. Oh dear...
8. Turned in layouts for all sorts of pub calls this month. We'll see...
9. Maybe it'll snow so hard in the next 15 minutes, I won't have to go into work!
10. A girl can dream. I just want hot cocoa on the couch in my jammies watching movies!

For Shelly...

I did my challenge. Here is 5!

Went to Target for two things....

and came home with 20!
List:
New undies for Maya
laundry detergent

What I got:
New undies for Maya
laundry detergent
fabric softener
Clorox anywhere spray
Method spray
A cool video chair for our teen dressing room
goldfish snacks
Swiffer pads(dry and wet)
sports bra
and a twix bar(must satisfy that chocolate fix)
Crazy! Good thing I had two gift cards. Target gets me in trouble.

I leave you with some pics because I have heard that blogging without pics is incredibly boring. (tee hee hee)

Caught her "reading" out loud to herself last night. I absolutely love this especially when it's one of her favorite library books and she actually does know some of the story on each page.

I was washing the bathroom rugs, so Ben had put a towel down for Maya to step on after he got her out of the bath. The result- a set of adorable toddler footprints. I found these later on in the evening after she had went to bed. Little people making their mark. Love it!

Catching up...

1. I am proud to say that my 2 1/2 year old is now potty trained. Now watch- I say that and everything will backfire. I probably just jinxed myself. Anyway- 2 days, no accidents, and she recognizes the feeling and has told us that she has to go. YAY for MAYA!!!

2. My dad is an inductee to the Varsity T (University of Toledo)Hall of Fame for his accomplishments in AA and AAA baseball. We have a banquet dinner later on this month. Must get a LBD. (little black dress) tee hee hee

3. Ben's band has a gig this weekend at a cool, very well known Christian Coffee House in the area. Excited to go hang out and listen. Ok- of course for the coffee too!

4. Our dance team girls are getting ready for a halftime show at a local college basketball game. We are busy getting ready for this.

5. I made this for dinner last night and I must admit- It was quite fabulous. It's one of my very favorite Pampered Chef recipes! Not to mention- breakfast for dinner is a great way to go every now and then!

6. I don't have to do 10 because it's Wednesday. Here's the recipe!

Monte Christo Casserole

Ingredients:
1 cup milk
6 eggs
2 packages (12.5 oz each) plain frozen french toast(thawed)
1 cup deli baked ham
1 cup deli baked turkey
1 cup shredded swiss cheese
1/4 cup snipped fresh parsley
powdered sugar(there it is again)
2 cups sliced strawberries
1/2 cup strawberry ice cream topping.

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375. Cook milk in microwave until hot. Whisk eggs in a small bowl. Mix with hot milk until blended. Set aside. Cut french toast into 3/4 inch cubes. Place in large mixing bowl. Pour egg mixture over cubes and mix gently set aside.
Dice ham and turkey. Grate cheese and snip parsley. Combine all of these into a bowl and mix well. Spoon half the french toast mixture evenly over bottom of a rectangular baker. Top with meat and cheese mixture. Spoon remaining french toast mixture over top.
Bake 30-35 minutes or until light golden brown and set in the center. Let stand for about 10 minutes. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.
Slice strawberries and combine them with ice cream topping. You can either top each piece of the casserole with this or use it as dipping sauce on the side. Can I say heavenly!

Things I cheat- dried parsley, frozen strawberries, Aunt Jemima french toast boxes, Kraft(already shredded) swiss cheese.

Enjoy and let me know when you make it!

Manic Monday

Trying not to just post for 10 on Tuesdays.
Today made me tired.
Maya is cracking me up lately calling people honey.
I know I know this is short and sweet, but I just wanted to let you know I was still here.

10 on Tuesday...

1. Happy New Year!
2. We went out to dinner New Year's Eve while Maya was partying with her grandparents and cousins. She actually got home later than us and found us cleaning house. Pretty boring now aren't we....
3. I had this huge goal of getting mounds of scrapping done over my break and ended up doing one page. Well- and Ben's garage album, but I had been working on that since August. ho hum....

4. The January kit on Jenni Bowlin.com is yummy!
5. Why do I have mounds of laundry to do when it feels like I just did it 3 days ago?
6. We are doing a little potty training boot camp over here and Maya has only had one accident a day the last two days. She picked out her own new big girl panties today. A sweet pack of pink and yellow Elmo and Thomas the Train for boys. Why don't they make Thomas the train for girls. Of course I bought them for her, whatever works, right?
7. Today is my last day of break. I wish it could last forever.
8. Maya loves to stamp next to me when I am scrapping. I think I may have to purchase a little stamp set just for her.
9. Trying to look in cookbooks for something interesting and new for dinners this week. Do you ever get the feeling you are eating the same things just on like a two week rotation?
10. Please pray for close friends of ours that have miscarried this past weekend. Life is so precious.