A Wasted Moment

I definitely just spilled water all down my front.

Why isn't anyone ever around when these things happen? Even Skylar is sleeping.

What a waste.

Privado

Despite the outwardly expressed hatred of private blogs by some of you, my blog is going private.

I know it's annoying and that some of you will stop checking my blog. I'm going to miss you and your...mad reading skillz. I'll be adding readers to the list by email address, so if you think I may not have your email please send it my way in an email that says "I want to stalk you" or something along those lines.

Email me at aprivateblog@gmail.com if you'd like to be added :)

Just so you know, Blogger works with Google accounts. If you have a Gmail address and if you're logged into your email at all times like I am, you'll never have to actually log in to look at the blog! It will automatically log you in and redirect you to the blog. Easy as store-bought pie.

Don't hate me.

Updated

This is just ridiculous. I've ignored my blog for half a month!

Sorry about that.

During that half-month of complete blog silence there really hasn't been a ton of excitement to blog about. But there was Christmas! And that was exciting!

Skylar got the cutest little chair from Grandma C & Grandpa T. I haven't taken a picture and I'm currently in lazy mode, so here's a link to the chair (which somehow manages to be even cuter in real life).

She also got tons of new food from Grammy & Papa G to go with her kitchen set! You should feel the cheese--it's a little too realistic.

Man, this kid has a lot of toys all of a sudden.

Mike is shining with pride over his new Griffindor scarf (yes, that's what I said) and I am way too busy downloading free apps to my iPod Touch to be able to keep this blog up to date.

One more quick and semi-crucial post to come.

Lemon Trouble

I have a bunch of ripe lemons on my lemon tree! Now I need help figuring out what to do with them.

What you got, suckas? I need ideas!

Winter Fat Solution

Trying to gain that winter fat to keep you warm, but just can't seem to pack on the pounds? Try this!

Sweet Chex Mix

4 ½ cups corn chex

4 ½ cups rice chex

3 ½ cups golden grahams

½ cup Craisins (original recipe called for coconut, but Mike is anti-coconut)

¾ cup slivered almonds

Sauce:

1 cup sugar

1 cup light karo syrup

½ cup + 1 Tbsp butter

1 tsp vanilla

Mix in saucepan. Stir constantly over heat. Boil 2 minutes. Pour over cereal mixture. Mix well. Spread on waxed paper to cool.

Justified

This completely justifies my previously unjustified fear of the ocean.

http://in.reuters.com/news/video?videoId=14219723&videoChannel=74

What the What??

(You'll need to click to enlarge the image--do it)

One of these things is not like the others. One of these things just doesn't belong.

Just Sayin...

Skylar wants Finding Nemo for Christmas.

I Love You, Amazon.com

If Amazon.com were a man, Mike would have major competition to worry about.

Big Guns

We are now the proud owners of a $7 hot glue gun. That's right. We went for the expensive model because the $5 gun just wasn't good enough for our high class expectations.

This most recent purchase was inspired by our child, who tore the bow off a fake Christmas present decoration. But let's be honest: it was time we got around to it. She just gave us a little shove in the right direction.

Though I'm sure you don't believe me, I now own a bottle of Mod Podge and a glue gun. I'm practically a new woman! A crafty one.

This baby runs on 40 watts and has two temperature settings. It also has a detachable cord for those hard-to-reach projects.

As it happens, we spent almost as much on glue sticks as we did on the gun. This glue better rock my project world...

Lame

Dear Myriah,

I'm sorry you had to email me about being a lame blogger. I'm sorry I haven't posted anything new for 2 weeks. This post is dedicated to you.

Too bad it's a lame post.

Kylie :)

Sicky Sick Sick

Saturday I woke up sick.

Sunday morning it was worse, but later in the day I started to feel better! Woohoo! Lamely, I woke up this morning feeling even worse.

My throat hurts so I thought I'd eat some oatmeal for breakfast, but when it decided to blow up all over the microwave I gave up on that plan. NyQuil is doing nothing to help me sleep, either. Rude!

I can deal with all that, plus headaches and earaches and stuffy nose, etc. What I can't deal with is the fact that I can't taste anything. WHAT?! Of all the weeks to get sick!!

This is really going to bother me if it doesn't go away before Thursday. If I can't taste that food someone is going to have to take a big slap for the team.

Cute Pics for the Grandmas

Here you go, Grandmas! (Grandpas too, I guess, but you aren't the ones who asked for it.)

Yesterday was crazy windy and rainy. It was also very cold, so Skylar was all bundled up. She actually wore the hat for most of the day (which never happens) so I had to take pictures!

Watching the rain fall outside. (And watching Mommy run outside in the wind and rain to save the grill cover before it could blow over the fence and probably end up in California.)

I told Sky to smile. She was like, "What? Do what now?" So I showed her a big toothy grin and this is what she did back to me. Check out all those teeth! (With 6 more on the way.)

Sky with her little buddy. I just think it's a cute picture. She is always snuggling her gorilla!

"We're not getting any."

I took Sky a month ago for her 1 year check-up. She got 4 shots, one of which was a flu immunization. The doctor told me, "She'll get one shot today. Bring her back in a month for a booster."

So this morning I called to ask when to bring her in for her booster shot.

Receptionist: "We don't have any."

Me: "Okay. Do you know when you'll have them?"

Receptionist: "We're not getting any."

Me: "I'm talking about just a regular booster shot. Not H1N1."

Receptionist: "We won't be getting any in."

Me: "THEN WHY DID YOU GIVE HER THE FIRST SHOT AND TELL ME TO BRING HER BACK IN A MONTH?!"

Receptionist: (suddenly friendlier and reasonable-sounding) "Oh! Well...that first one is 90-95% effective anyway, so she should be fine."

I cannot tell you how pissed I am. That's right: I'm pissed. This is the second winter in a row this pediatrician has simply decided not to give flu shots.

I'm switching to a new pediatrician. Recommendations? (Don't say Pediatric Associates or you'll get a slap!)

What? When did I tell you about that?

I keep having conversations with people where they bring up something I know I didn't talk with them about.

They'll say something like, "Oh, so how is your garden?" or "Are those molars in yet?" or "How many dang cavities does Mike have?"

And I'll say, "What? When did we talk about that?"

Then they'll say, "It's on your blog. Duh."

This blog is confusing my social life. Or maybe just my ability to remember my social life has gone digital.

Cereal for Lunch

I'm pretty sure about 80% of my lunches during the past month have been cereal.

You know what I think about this? I feel fine. Totally fine. Since I'm eating waffles for breakfast, it would be rude for me to completely ignore my cereal. And I do not want to get on Frosted Flakes' bad side...

Anyway, I just realized (just now) that I've been eating only one type of cereal at a time instead of my signature cereal mixes. Who knows how long it's been since I've had Cinnamon Toast Crunch/Kix? Or Frosted Mini Wheats/Cheerios? Or even Fruit Loops/Apple Jacks? Too long.

Clearly it's time to mix things up.

FYI: we bought Banana Nut Cheerios at Costco recently. On a whim. It was a bad whim. Don't do it.

Let's Move to...!

I'm already thinking about moving. I thought it would take at least two years before that would kick in! Why??

We Love Pigtails!

I dedicate this post to Sariah and Jen, because they knew I would post about it.

Sky's hair is long enough for little pigtails! I guess it's been long enough for that little pointy pony dealio for a while now, because this is what happened when I tried it out:

Yeah, that thing is like 3 inches tall!

Anyway, the piggy tails are so cute. How could I not post about it? I finally found the right hair elastics at Walmart (and by I I mean Mike). Just look at this cuteness:

Some nice static action in this one:

Back view:

I'm not sure what this face is all about, but I thought it was hilarious:

Alone with a Book. A Book About Murder...

Mike got home from work at around 12:30am last night (or this morning?). Lame.

Since Mike was gone I decided to read. Naturally, I chose to finish reading a murder mystery. Good idea, Ky--read a murder mystery when you are alone and the heater keeps kicking on and making the house creak and pop. Brilliant.

Despite totally freaking myself out, I'm glad I finished the book! Definitely a good one. It was The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny. The latest of the "Three Pines Mystery" series. I have yet to read the first book of the series, but I'll get to it.

Like I said, this was a murder mystery. You should know by now that I have a semi-eclectic taste in books. For instance, I also recently read Poseidon's Steed: The Story of Seahorses, from Myth to Reality. And that's exactly what it was about. And now I want a seahorse.

I'll probably never read a western, though. Don't hold your breath.

Back to the murder mystery review. In short, the book was great. The main character of this series is Chief Inspector Armand Gamache--he makes me feel like I need more patience in my life. It is set in Quebec so there are plenty of French words chucked around. I thought there was more humor here than in the second novel, A Fatal Grace. I like humor. You should like humor, too. If you don't, I recommend a Big Think.

Louise Penny's mysteries have a very Agatha Christie/traditional mystery feel about them. In fact, A Fatal Grace won the Agatha award for Best Novel.

I give this book 4 stars. Read it.

You Want Molars? Here! Take 'em!

I never asked anyone to give my kid molars. Not once.

Did I ask you? No, I didn't. See what I mean? I would have asked you before anyone else!

Despite this, Skylar is getting her bottom molars in. I don't care how many doctors you can cite who claim teething doesn't affect a child. I have proof. And you can babysit her until she gets these teeth in. (Then you can hunt down those cited doctors and sock 'em in the face. Aim for the molar region as a poetic and symbolic gesture.)

That said, I'm going to drink my Diet Coke. Thanks, Mom, for teaching me the ways of the caffeine-induced calm.

Dentist: Accomplished

Mike and I finally got around to going to the dentist. I will not admit how long it's been since the last time we went.

This would be more impressive to you if you knew, though. Way more impressive. But I'm not going to tell you.

Turns out, I have just 1 (one) cavity! Really, you should be impressed by this. You have no idea.

The dentist told me three times that I have great teeth. The hygienist and dental assistant told me that as well. Then they took pictures of my teeth and I was like, "I don't want to see those." I've never seen pictures of my teeth and had no desire to see any. But they showed me anyway. They're not bad, if I say so myself.

Mike claims to have "weak teeth" and he blames them on his mom (sorry, Gabrielle). He is the reason we thought Christmas would be canceled. Luckily, Mike's teeth don't need nearly as much work as we'd anticipated. Christmas will come after all!

On a crappy note, we both need our wisdom teeth removed. Mine are morons. They're coming in all sideways and spazzy. I don't know what Mike's look like, but apparently it's more necessary for his to be removed than mine so I don't wanna know.

Looks like we'll have to take turns getting our wisdom teeth removed so Skylar won't be completely ignored for 3 days.

"I Was Wearing Your Pants"

We all know I wear the pants in this relationship. Mike doesn't dispute this.

Friday, Mike came home from work in his Halloween outfit. He'd thrown it together that morning and I think it was pretty dang creative. He was "Canadian special forces." Basically he wore a bunch of random gear (climbing gear, clamp things, ski pants, wetsuit, C-4 made from styrofoam, baseball cap). He probably looked just like a Canadian special forces dude.

Somehow I didn't get a picture. I suck, I know.

Anyway, when he got home I told him our neighbor needed his help, so he went to change his clothes. He came out of the bedroom and said, "Feels so much better to be in jeans!"

He shoved his cell phone in his pocket and started to walk out the front door. Then he came back in and said something like, "Umm...I gotta get something," and went into our bedroom. I was getting some food for Sky and not paying much attention to Mike.

Turns out, when Mike went to change into jeans he put my jeans on. He claims they were folded on the bed next to his.

Mike: "They're the same color! And they were right next to mine!" (Kylie's thoughts: And the same size? Frick.)
Kylie: "How could you not tell when you put them on?"
Mike: "They were the right length..." (If that confuses you, you should know that this particular pair of jeans is hemmed to be worn with heels.)
Kylie: "So when did you realize you had my jeans on?!"
Mike: "Well...the pockets are so small. I tried to put my phone in my pocket and it wasn't working."
Kylie: "Oh, Mike..."

So what should we gather from this experience?

Apparently Mike thought that by wearing my pants, he would therefore wear the pants in this relationship.

How'd that work out, Mikey?

Happy Halloween!

(Attention: Plenty of pictures here for all you grandparents who got mad at us for not visiting this weekend. Sheesh!)

First, a picture of Whitney, Morgan and me from Halloween, 1988 (possibly '89). Thanks, Whit!


Skylar got to go trick-or-treating for the first time tonight. We took her to a few houses in the neighborhood and she came home with a bunch of candy in her bag. She thought it was the coolest thing ever.

I mean, look at it from her perspective. Usually we tell her she can't touch things, take things, grab things, etc. But tonight everyone was saying, "Take as many candies as you want! Well, aren't you a cute little fairy? Here, eat this--it's chocolate! And take this $50. I'm feeling generous." (That last bit may or may not be an exaggeration.)

In case you didn't catch that little part about her costume, Sky was a fairy. Check it:

Thanks Jen, for loaning us this cute little fairy dress! I had grand plans of creating a quail suit for Skylar, but couldn't find the right parts. Then we almost reverted to last year's witch outfit:

Which, by the way, still fits.

But with Jen's dress and Sky's birthday wings from Leisa--ta da! A fairy!

(I know you were going to ask about the "yellow things" in her hands. She is holding cups. She loves cups. I feel fine about it.)

We've had a slow night here with only about 10 trick-or-treaters. Looks like we'll have leftover candy. Darn it...

Happy Halloween!

Sorry. I Forgot.

Yesterday I had something really funny I wanted to post. It was going to make you pee your pants, it was that funny.

I tried for about an hour, but Blogger was down.

And now I've forgotten what was so funny. Sorry! You totally missed out. (Blame Blogger.)

Save the Date: Holiday Boutique!

What: Holiday gift boutique and par-tay!

Date: Saturday, November 14th

Time: 3:00-6:00pm

Place: My house!

I'll send out an Evite closer to the event. Everyone is invited, so if you get the invite please forward it on. No pressure to buy anything, so please come and hang out!

We'll have Scentsy products and cool, unique handcrafted jewelry, just in time to stock up on holiday gifts. Hope to see you there!

Hey, Book Club!

Went to my first-ever book club meeting tonight. It was pretty great.

I mean, the book was entirely depressing (although it really gets you thinking), but the company was great! Too bad we have to wait until December for the next meeting.

I proposed a secret book club meeting in November, but it didn't go over as well as I'd hoped. Guess it's time to buckle down and read the three library books I'm supposed to return in two weeks.

So anyway, does anyone have a copy of The Magician's Nephew I could borrow?

Dress Up: The New Naked

Skylar has recently decided she likes to play dress up.

We only have a few dress-up-worthy things around the house, but she doesn't care. These wings are totally her favorite (thanks, Leisa!). She brings them to me to put on her, then she wanders into my room to look at herself in the full-body mirror.

After she smiles at herself for a while and spins in as many circles as she can before falling down, she jaunts along into the family room and plays with toys, reads her books, looks out the back door for Hero, etc.

I'm going to have to start collecting more dress up stuff. These wings are so cute!

Husbands Who Blog

There is a group of husbands out there--a tiny, baby group--who blog.

I mean they blog this type of blog. The family blog. The this-is-what-my-kid-learned-today blog.

I think Mike secretly wants to be one of these husbands, but he has too many interests that keep him busy. He has contributed about 3 posts to this blog, and I have been proud of and impressed by each one.

Husbands who blog are unexpected. A rare breed. It always throws me off. I'll read a blog post, then at the bottom it will say something like, "Posted by Mark" and I'm like, "Mark?! I read this post with Anna's voice in my head!" Then I have to re-read the post in Mark's voice so I get the full effect.

I only have a few friends whose husbands contribute to their blogs. I even have one friend whose husband writes the majority of the posts on their blog. So in their case, I'm always thrown off when I read "Posted by Ashley" at the bottom.

So do any of your husbands post on your blogs? What are your thoughts on this?

(I'm sorry, single friends, for writing a post directed to married people. You can still tell me what you think!)

The Lost Symbol

I just finished reading The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown.

Mike actually finished it before me. That is what happens when he reads it to me at night and I fall asleep 1/2 a page into it. (*Note: I don't recommend this as a read-me-to-sleep book. Funky dreams.)

I do, however, recommend this book as a very interesting and informative read on Freemasonry, noetic science and Washington, D.C. The book contained a lot of great American historical references and has actually embedded in me the desire to visit the nation's capital. It cast America's foundation in a much more interesting light than 7th grade history managed.

It has religious underpinnings, as do the rest of the Robert Langdon series. I thought it was a great book. I'm sure it will be seen as controversial. As were the rest of the Robert Langdon series. This Dan Brown guy sure keeps his themes going, eh?

Robert Langdon did get on my nerves a little in this book, though. I mean, really; why always so skeptical? Where was it ever written that an "intellectual" has to be relentlessly skeptical of everything? To me, that kind of skepticism just translates into closed-mindedness, a false sense of superiority and an unwillingness even to grow in knowledge, which circles back to the closed-mindedness.

In short, and in my opinion, it was a great read. If you are the defensive or easily offended type, I say you should still give it a try. Just read it as entertainment, not gospel or anti-gospel, and I think you'll get just that: entertainment.

And a little bit of mystery...

(Now you want to read it, don't you? I knew that "mystery" bait would hook you. Reel 'em in, Dan Brown!)

Family Pictures!

I've been slacking. I feel fine about it.

Last weekend we had family pictures taken at my parents' house. Everyone was in town for my Mom's birthday, so my dad hired Leisa's friend Whitney to take a bunch of family pictures. It has been a while since we've done this and it was great!

Here are a few of my favorites. There are hundreds of shots, so this is just a peek:

The end!

"Screw 'Em!"

McKay just linked this video to me. It is so great.

This kid seriously rocks.

Sky's 1st Birthday (in Pictures)

Alright. Picture time!

Skylar's birthday started yesterday, when Mike and I decided we couldn't wait for her to get her present. What did she get? A fun inflatable ball pit!

This is what Sky thought of it ("cool!"):

While we were inflating it, she checked the box for more. But there wasn't any more:


And here she is playing in her new ball pit!
Behold, these awesome plastic balls:

She was having so much fun in there, we had to give it a go:

So that was yesterday. After a great night's sleep, this morning was playtime! She's into putting blankets and random other objects on her head:


Sky and Mommy:


I finally got around to getting her dressed. Look at her cute big girl clothes! She ran around the house for a while. This is her chasing me, desperate to get the camera:

Next she played with toys in her little cupboard:

Then it was back to that blanket for some peek-a-boo fun:

And, of course, more playing in the ball pit. She really likes the blue ones, apparently:

Finally, when Daddy got home from work it was time for cake!! Here is Sky's tiny birthday cake, just for her:

And here she is enjoying it! Her initiation into toddlerhood:

Such a fun day for Sky and for us! She had a few friends over to help eat the bigger cake I made and had a good time running around the family room with the boys. Her sugar rush eventually wore off and she is now sleeping like a baby.

Even though she's a big girl now.

Happy birthday, Sky Baby!!

Happy Birthday, Skylar!!!

Skylar is 1 today! What? Seriously?!

Yes. Seriously!

She got her first-ever birthday card from Great Grandma Laney a couple of days ago. I gave it to her and she has been carrying it around all weekend!

Can't believe it, but it's true. I have some pictures to post, but my computer is currently possessed so I'll have to wait for Mike to come home and fix it tonight. (Built-in technicians are the best.) That will work best anyway, since we'll have some fun birthday cake pictures to post tonight as well!

For now, the monthly review:

• Sky now runs. She has left walking in the dust. She says, "walking is for babies."
• Her favorite toys right now are a stuffed gorilla, a wooden spoon, anything that will fit on her head and her new ball pit (birthday present from Mommy and Daddy)!
• She continues to chase the cat around. The cat continues to evade her.
• Her newest thing is to bring us our shoes whenever she wants to go somewhere. If we ignore the shoes, she brings another pair. Then another. She is incredibly persistent.
• Skylar is a dancing queen! She LOVES So You Think You Can Dance. She dances to anything, including hymns at church and commercial jingles.
• She only wants to eat what we are eating. (Completely offended if we try to give her baby food.)
• Recently, she has been very cuddly and snuggly. We are loving it! She has never been a snuggly baby, so it is really fun to have her walk up and give us hugs and kisses and snuggles. So sweet.
• I've been teaching her some basic ASL so she can tell me what she wants without either of us freaking out. She can sign "eat" and "sleep" so far. We're working on "milk," "juice," "thank you" and "more."
• She's still a mama's girl. Sorry, Mike.
• Her only word is still "Hi!" She says "mama" and "dada" but I'm not convinced she's saying it to us. I think she just likes those sounds a lot. She also meows at the cat and says "ooh ooh ee ee" at her gorilla.
• Her favorite thing in the world is when Mike chases her around. She has a fake scared scream and runs to me to save her from the daddy monster. She just cracks up the whole time and we get a good little family workout. We (Mike and I) also get lots of bruises crawling around on the tile.

This is such a fun age. Skylar learns something new every day, it's so cool. She is turning into a big girl! She didn't even ask if that was okay. I guess it is.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SKYLAR!! We love you!

Good Eats, with Kylie!

This weekend I got my cool new Deep Covered Baker. (Thanks, Pampered Chef!)

This little beauty got me all excited and basically turned me into a domestic housewife. Cool, right? That's what I thought.

After making my tiny peach pies on Thursday/Friday, I was on a baking/cooking roll and my new bakeware couldn't have come at a better time. Plus it just got all cold outside so I'm not afraid to heat up the kitchen.

And by cold, I mean it is snowing on the mountain. I can see it from my back door.

So, Saturday we had this for dinner:


It is Mike's new favorite. A lovely cheese tortellini in a homemade garlic alfredo sauce, tossed with ham and spinach and peppered with...you guessed it: pepper. Really. It was scrumptious, Fay! (Try to name that movie before my mom does!)

And tonight we had this:

Penne al fresco paired with Italian garlic bread bites. Penne pasta, grilled chicken and homegrown basil (picked from our garden) tossed together with a fresh grape tomato sauce (YES, TOMATOES!) to create a mouthwatering and colorful array of deliciousness.

And of course, peach pies a la mode for dessert!

What did you eat this weekend?

Tiny Peach Pies

I spent some time yesterday making tiny peach pies. They turned out great and were simply delectable.

That's right. Delectable.

How cute is that little pie? You know you want to eat it. I know you want to eat it. Too bad I already ate it.

If you really want one I'll make one for you. You have no idea how impressed you'll be.