He makes us laugh...

Hambone is our "one liner" kid. Always coming up with something goofy or silly and not ever really meaning to! He always acts so surprised (and embarrassed) when we all break out into laughter after one of his hilarious little quips.

Remember when our Aussie friends came to stay with us for a couple of days? Well, they gained some pretty big fans while they were here...and then last week we received a package from them in the mail...

LOOK at that loot! (Still not so sure about that Vegemite...) Well, they sent along the movie "Red Dog" (which has opened up my world to a whole 'nother host of problems due to "drive regions" in computers and DVD players. Fer dumb.) and my kids (and ME too!!) LOVE it!


Hambone has always been our movie buff and can rattle off movie lines like none other...but the other night, when he was eating a Popsicle for a bedtime snack he proclaimed, "This Popsicle is BLOODY GOOD!!!!!", we died.


All of us.


Just fell over dead from laughter.


This kids cracks us up.


Then I posted it on Facebook and Paul's (the Aussie Mr. that stayed with us) response was the icing on the cake:

Well bugger me, little blighters were listening after all, you do realise that bloody good is the ultimate praise......

And now I want to be Australian.


G'day mates!

Five Question Friday!! 4/27/12

Hoping my big boy wakes up and feels better...I'm not placing any bets on it, however, judging by the look of his throat. Ouch.



Gonna be a good weekend to be sick, cool and rainy with a possibility of the "s" word. (Yes, "snow". Ugh.) Really, March can come back any day.


Enjoying the care package our friends from Australia sent yesterday...including a little tube (tube? Yes. It comes in a tube.) of Vegemite. My brother posted on Facebook that it "tastes like salty turds" to which I responded "salty turds are gross, I prefer mine unsalted". ;) Have yet to try it (the Vegemite, not the turds...salted OR unsalted)...hubs says he's gonna have it on toast tomorrow!


I'm kinda skeered.


Okay, time to get going on  5QF! (Wait, can anyone tell me how to get appropriate spacing with this new interface? I either get singled spaced or quadrillion spaced. I'd like double. Am I asking too much?!)

Welcome to Five Question Friday!! You've come to the right place if you want a fun, easy post or if you've suddenly discovered your muses have mono and refuse to do anything other than sleep and drink Gatorade and drool on their pillows because they can't swallow.

Rules for 5QF: Copy and paste the following questions to your blog post, answer them, then watch for the linky post to appear Friday morning and LINK UP!

Oh, and remember (pay close attention...this is the important one)...HAVE FUN!

Questions for Friday, April 13th: (Special thanks to Kate (@KatieB38) from Kate's Life, Gas Family (@gasfamily) from Gas Family Blog, Pam (@trooppetrie) from Troop Petrie, Sandy (@PardonMyDust) from Pardon My Dust, and Anna (@annacdaisy) from The Single Mommy Chronicles for their question suggestions! I would love to link you in a future 5QF, so come on over to mycommunity or watch for my Thursday afternoon shout out for questions on Twitter and offer up your best question suggestions! Remember to @5crookedhalos me and use hashtag #5QF if you go the Twitter route!)

1. Do you make your kids finish all the food on their plates?

2. Do you give an allowance?

3. Do you actually park your car in the garage?

4. What is one food you will NEVER cook?

5. Do you have anything exciting planned for the summer?


--------------------------------------------------------


1. Do you make your kids finish all the food on their plates?

Nope. I don't. Do I make them try the food on their plate? Yes, but I do not make them finish it...especially if I was the one to serve them up. (My vision of what they need may not be what their body needs to be full.)


Hubby has strong feelings about seconds, however...he feels that if they ask for seconds, they do need to finish what they asked for, but again, I struggle with it because we are the ones that serve them and what if they only wanted one bite and not a whole scoop?


I really feel that if you make your kiddo finish all the food on their plate, that you are setting them for a lifetime of overeating and weight issues. If you force them to eat when their stomachs are full, their little stomachs will get stretched out and need more food fill next time and their bodies will stop hearing the signal that they are full because they are not being allowed to stop eating when their body says to.


Most of all, I refuse to make issues out of food. Eating disorders are too prevalent in our society, and I don't ever want to put any emphasis on food (too much, too little) I want my kids to eat what they feel they need to to be satisfied.


If I happen to think that maybe they are just hopeful for snacks instead of supper, then I will make sure to tell them that if they can't eat x amounts of bites (typically their age), then they won't be able to have any snacks. Usually that's enough to get them to eat!


2. Do you give an allowance?


We don't. Is that bad?


We reward our children plenty, but we also feel that being a part of a family, you are expected to help out.


Also, we're a little unorganized in that department. We've tried chore chips and all sorts of little gimmicks, but nothing's ever stuck.


Hmmm...now I'm thinking we should try a little allowance. To teach them the value of money and how to save vs. spend. Hmmmmm...*deep in thought*
3. Do you actually park your car in the garage?


*deep thought over*


Sometimes?


Remember my terror? And my shoulder?


Yeah, garage door is still broken. And I'm too lazy, anxious, scared, worried to open the garage door by hand because my shoulder is JUST starting to feel good enough that I can look over my left shoulder (made lane changes hard for awhile!). 


So, I take the easy way out and park outside the closed garage door...which is totally fine now that the temps are above sub-Arctic levels and I don't have to worry about snow.


Oh. Wait. Saturday...that's right. Maybe we can get the opener fixed by then!! (Well, really we-and by we I mean he-needs to finish the cement board in the bathroom so that we can get this bathroom remodel going again!)

4. What is one food you will NEVER cook?


Do mushrooms count?


I mean, you cook mushrooms, right? Like, my mom...she cooks mushrooms in wine and stuff that makes me think maybe they would be okay, but I know...OH OH OH do I know about those dang mushrooms.


They resist when you bite...AND THAT IS NOT OKAY!


Also...I will never cook shrimp. *see above biting back*


Or scallops. *see above*


Oysters. *see above*


Squid. *see above and add in refusal to eat suction cups*


Wait. ONE food. Sorry. Got a little carried away...
5. Do you have anything exciting planned for the summer?


Currently, no. We've talked about planning something, but haven't really made the effort to really talk about it.


Although, if we don't plan it now, we'll never do it...we've learned our lesson.


Any recommendations? I'd like to see as much of America as we can...keeping in mind we'll be traveling in a mini van with 7 people, hauling a pop up camper and a whole bunch of crap for 7 people.


We are going to be going to a cabin with my parents...then there's the 4th of July, which is always fun...and then Valleyfair...and our family reunion. So, I guess, regardless, we DO have exciting things planned!


-------------------------------------------


Have a super duper weekend! I'm gonna try to get my house in order...wish me luck!

Thursday Night 5QF Sneak Peek!!

So, here I am, still trying to figure out this new "interface". It appears as though a double space turns into a triple space, so I'm going to try single spacing this in hopes of a double space.



Um. What? O.o

How's your week been? Busy here. And germy. Not to be confused with Jeremy. (Dudes, it's Jer-ah-mee, not jer-mee.) The Pal has mono. Bad. It's kicking his butt. And his room? Ugh. *gag* It smells like "festering rotten sore throat breath". GAH-ROH-DEE! I'm wondering when this horrific feeling state ends and turns into just plain old feeling really bad.


Poor kid.


Okay, it's late...onto the sneak peek!

Welcome to Five Question Friday!! You've come to the right place if you want a fun, easy post or if you've suddenly discovered your muses have mono and refuse to do anything other than sleep and drink Gatorade and drool on their pillows because they can't swallow.

Rules for 5QF: Copy and paste the following questions to your blog post, answer them, then watch for the linky post to appear Friday morning and LINK UP!

Oh, and remember (pay close attention...this is the important one)...HAVE FUN!

Questions for Friday, April 13th: (Special thanks to Kate (@KatieB38) from Kate's Life, Gas Family (@gasfamily) from Gas Family Blog, Pam (@trooppetrie) from Troop Petrie, Sandy (@PardonMyDust) from Pardon My Dust, and Anna (@annacdaisy) from The Single Mommy Chronicles for their question suggestions! I would love to link you in a future 5QF, so come on over to mycommunity or watch for my Thursday afternoon shout out for questions on Twitter and offer up your best question suggestions! Remember to @5crookedhalos me and use hashtag #5QF if you go the Twitter route!)


1. Do you make your kids finish all the food on their plates?


2. Do you give an allowance?


3. Do you actually park your car in the garage?


4. What is one food you will NEVER cook?


5. Do you have anything exciting planned for the summer?


---------------------------------------


Nighty night! See you in the morning!

Sober Translation

So, the night of the wedding reception.


Holy Bloody Marys, batman, was that a good time!


After the reception, we closed down the local bar in town, as is typical of wedding receptions in our small town. We had "secured" the Pal as our sober driver and he patiently waited outside the movie theater for us to stumble our way out of there. (In hindsight, good example, much? Gosh.)


Our party was rather...large. Two vehicles large. Scratch that, more than two vehicles large. And while we were driving a bunch of "borrachos" (look it up) to my parent's home, it suddenly struck me how ridiculously packed into our minivan we were and how hilarious the conversations in the van were.


And so, I handled it like any good blogger would...I took it to Twitter. Only, things weren't quite coming across as I had intended.


Read on (to get the full "story" start at the bottom of the first set and read up, then move on to the second):

Time for a sober translation.


First of all, we were in a van. Not a can. I've never actually been in a can, unless you count a porta potty as a can, then yes, I have, and I'd never want to be in one with "do" many people it was illegal. Oy. (Can you imagine?!)


That dang 's' and 'd' are too close on the keyboard.


Secondly, we were driving some of my baby brother's friends home. We are 10 years apart, many of them haven't seen Pal since he was a wee little babe and now suddenly that wee little babe was their sober ride home.


They were a little weirded out by the whole thing. While I just thought it was too hilarious and was trying not to wet my pants.


Next up, my dad was, indeed, sitting (don't ask about the extra 'g', I can't explain it) in a car seat.


There really was a kid in the trunk. In a suit and tie. I remember him opening the trunk door and crawling in the back at the bar and I didn't think anything of it. Kind of along the lines of, "Oh, he's getting in the trunk. WHAT A GREAT IDEA!"


Several minutes later, I realized what I tweeted and suddenly, in my fuzzy mind, became aware that I just implied to the entire world that one of my children was in the trunk. So, I felt the need to clarify that the kid was over 21. Apparently it was very important to me to re-clarify that the kid was in the trunk, not the car.


Important details, my friends.


Then, morning came. And with it the opportunity to blame someone else for forcing vodka down my throat.


Also, it seems as though my fingers still weren't operating properly..."who the gel"?


And now you know the rest of the story!

Stepping Out of My Box

I've got a secret for you.


Are you ready? It's kind of personal.


*Big deep breath*


Here goes...


I hate change. Ugh. There. I said it.


I hate it. I love the comfort and security that comes with the familiar. I hate feeling unsure of things or not knowing how to do this or that or having to relearn how to do simple tasks.


Case in point: The new Blogger interface. (And now all of you "non-bloggers" have just gone, "Uh...wha?" and I've totally lost you, right mom?) I was all fine and dandy with the "old Blogger" and how things looked worked and...wait. No I wasn't. Suddenly my scheduled posts stopped posting and photos take forEVER to upload and the comment formats stink, but whatev.


I was familiar with it. Which means I LOVED it.


So, when I logged on yesterday morning and saw this new, weird, "fancy" looking screen staring back at me I was caught of guard. Then I got nervous. Which means I started to sweat. And then I had to change my shirt.


All because of Blogger. So I switched back to the old Blogger. And all was right in my world again.


But then last night? Well, last night I decided to put my big girl panties on and FOR PETE'S SAKE JUST TRY THE NEW THING ALREADY!! So, here I am. Trying it.


Giving it the ol' college effort.


I'll give it a good week of posting.


I'll probably be going through a lot of shirts.


And PS...what is a "jump break"?

You know it's a good party when it involves an x-ray...

My poor Aunt Jeannie. Girl is FUN! She was the dancing queen in Mexico and lived up to her legacy back here in the states at my brother's wedding reception. She fell while dancing and as my uncle put it, "With the heels she was wearing, it's like she fell an entire story!"

True. Her shoes were adorable...but, unfortunately, dangerous. She was going to go in for an x-ray of her shoulder yesterday, haven't heard anything yet! She was a great sport though...kept right on dancing through the pain!

I'm not sure that I danced that much in a lonngggggggg time. I was out there for pretty much every song...and my calves are reminding me how much I danced. Ouch.

Let me take you on a photographic walk of my Saturday. Put your walkin' shoes on!

We tried to bring a little Mexico to MinneSOOOOta (acutally, T and I were kinda convinced that replicating my "Mexico Hair" required some level of "inebrity"...it worked!) with some mojitos...and wow were they good! (Kinda looks like a salad in a glass, no?)

Here's a work in progress shot of "the hair".

My bestie and her handsome son.

My handsome boy.

Me and my handsome boy.

My handsome husband and our sweet (clingy) babe.

The lovely Miss Belle.


My gorgeous (and PREGNANT!!!!!) sister-in-law.

My sweet girl wanted to give a speech to her new aunt. It only took her 37 hours to get up the courage to say it, but she said something along the lines of "I just want to say that I'm so happy K. is my aunt." And K. got up and hugged her and before I knew it my eyes were clouded with tears. Such a sweet, tender moment between them!

The first dance of the night.

The second dance of the night, the "Mother/Son" dance in which my babe decided to break in and interrupt by running and twirling around my mom and brother. Hmmmm...should I have stopped her? Yikes. I'll blame it on the mojitos for that poor parenting decision.

My gram and my bro cuttin' a rug!

My adorable Dubya came up to me and asked me to dance with him...he was so cotton-pickin' cute! (Unfortunately, Hambone was having too much dragging himself around the ballroom on his butt to be bothered with any photos.)

Of course, Baby Girl couldn't be left out.

I can not be held responsible for behaviors in the following photos. (Don't ask. I ain't got no rhythm, so I dance with my arms, apparently.)

And, unfortunately for her, it looks like Baby Girl was the recipient of my dancing genes. Just go with the arms, baby...

And that, my friends, was one awesome night!

Because...

Because I don't have time to wait for the gazillion and a half photos to upload before I leave the house, I thought I'd share this with you because I also like to laugh at myself whenever I can.

Apparently I grew a silver tooth at the wedding reception this weekend!

But no worries, so did my baby brother.

Reason number 5,987,361 that I hate flash photography. :)

Real Time...

Wow...I sure can't handle partying like a rock star anymore! Last night (my brother and sister-in-law's wedding reception) was a BLAST! Have fun stories and photos to share...but for now?

A "Real Time" report!

Currently in the house...

I have two girls in my bed...one trying to get to sleep and the other watching Pioneer Woman episodes on the iPad.

Hubby is cleaning the kitchen (boy, oh boy do I love that man...).

Two little boys are sleeping soundly...one big boy visiting his girlfriend.

I'm trying to get geared up to write a post, need to dump the photos from last night onto my computer, and thinking that my 3 hour nap today was NOT long enough. I should've just slept all night.

Excited...GIDDY about some news we received today:

MY BROTHER AND HIS BEAUTIFUL WIFE ARE HAVING A BABY!!!!! I can NOT wait. I mean, you know, I CAN wait, 'cuz I know I have to, but man alive am I excited to have a new baby to snuggle.

SQUEE!!!!!!!!!

Okay, that's all...have a wonderful night!

Five Question Friday!! 4/20/12

Busy, fun weekend ahead of us! My brother's wedding reception is Saturday...along with Belle's two dance shows for Spring!

Gonna be fun! Gonna have stories! Gonna have photos!

Brace yourself.

Hammering out details with Gram about our blog project! We're both excited about it...gonna pick out recipes next week and start the feature the following week!

Okay, let's get goin'!

Welcome to Five Question Friday!! You've come to the right place if you want a fun, easy post or if you've suddenly discovered your muses are caught in this whirlwind called "life".

Rules for 5QF: Copy and paste the following questions to your blog post, answer them, then watch for the linky post to appear Friday morning and LINK UP! (Feel free to play along on Twitter, also!)

Oh, and remember (pay close attention...this is the important one)...HAVE FUN!

Questions for Friday, April 13th: (Special thanks to Tyler (@TylerH2102) from Just Another Day in OUR Paradise, Amy (@amy_mcmommy) from Mac or Cheesy, Pam (@trooppetrie) from Troop Petrie, Anna (@annacdaisy) from Single Mommy Chronicles, and Erin (@emenchho1) from The Life and Times of E1 for their question suggestions! I would love to link you in a future 5QF, so come on over to mycommunity or watch for my Thursday afternoon shout out for questions on Twitter and offer up your best question suggestions! Remember to @5crookedhalos me and use hashtag #5QF if you go the Twitter route!)

1. Groceries are high right now what is easiest way you have found to cut back?

2. What are the top 3 things on your "bucket list"?

3. Would you rather give up AC or heat?

4. What's your favorite cocktail??

5. What was your first job & how old were you?

---------------------------------------

1. Groceries are high right now what is easiest way you have found to cut back?

Um...don't go to the store? ;)

It stinks...you know? I mean, we try to eat healthier, but the healthy stuff is even more expensive than the junk food!

Our local grocery store has been offering "Penny Pincher" coupons, most of them are decent deals AND you can buy more than one item per coupon!

Unfortunately, I don't pay enough attention to the grocery bill. I really should...I'm gonna have to once we get in full "Dave Ramsey" mode! I do know, that I need to stop buying so much crap...I mean, YOU SHOULD SEE MY SADDLE BAGS!!

Ugh.

2. What are the top 3 things on your "bucket list"?

Is it terrible if I don't have a bucket list?

It is isn't. Okay, let's make one together.

Well...I'd like to win the lottery before I die.

I'd like to have a lake home before I die. (See above bucket list item...)

I'd like to have the body of a supermodel before I die.

There...how's that?

Oh, but wait...I'd like to visit Australia before I die.

And, I'd like to take my kids to Disney before I die.

Oh, yeah...and I really want to travel the country with my hubby when we're retired before I die.

Gosh...this bucket list thing is getting long...

3. Would you rather give up AC or heat?

Duuuuuuudes...I live in MinneSOOOOOta, I would NOT survive without heat. It's not a luxury or a want...it is a bonafide NEED.

Plus...we don't have AC. And yes, I hate that...but at least I don't die from it.

And, as we've just determined, I've gotta lot of things to check off on my bucket list before I die...so, AC is what I'd rather give up!

4. What's your favorite cocktail??

Bloody Marys.

Here's a queston for you...so, if I have ANY other drink (wine, Mike's, anything...) I get a headache within an hour of the drink.

EXCEPT with Bloody Marys. Man alive, I can drink those things til the cows come home! Okay, not really...I'm a horrible drinker. A few drinks and I'm MORE THAN good. More than a few and I'm MORE THAN bad.

But, with Bloody Marys, at least I don't get a headache before I'm even done drinking!

5. What was your first job & how old were you?

Well...my very first job was babysitting...which I did when I was13 ish? But my first "real" job was at our local grocery store and I was just a hair over 16.

I was one of those kids that were SO ready to grow up...got my license as soon as I could, got a job as soon as I could...

In a funny (and by "funny" I mean..."I feel really old"...) my 16 year old has an interview with the very same grocery store that I worked at when I was 16! Crazy how much he's growing up. So good to see, yet so hard at the same time...

Wow. Hug your babies today, 'cuz you'll wake up tomorrow and they'll be interviewing for their first job...I KID YOU NOT. That's how it happens.

------------------------------------------------

Have a fabulous weekend! Stay tuned to Twitter for what I likely to be an entertaining stream with, possibly, some tipsy tweeting going on!