Look what I just planted!

OK, so they don't look like that yet...


















In fact, they look like THIS:

Pretty huh? :)



When you walk out into our back yard, there's not much going on to speak of, until now. I've been wanting to put something along the far fence since we moved in, and now I've finally started doing it!

We've never gotten any grass to grow, so I'm hoping at least some hostas or other shrubs will grow. We inherited two types of lilacs and one rose of sharon that do well every year. (You can see the lilac bush in the middle and the Rose of Sharon on the left - it usually blooms a little later in the summer.

(If you look closely, you'll also see a 55-gallon water barrel, one of the 4 we're storing water in! Yes...I'll be covering them soon so they "blend in" a little more.)

So I've edged the "garden", planed the hosta plants, which were donated by a neighbor who was getting rid of hers, so I divided it into 3 and they are LOVING their new home! And to the right of the lilac are the roses! Stay tuned for their "after" picture! (I actually ordered them online from David Austin Roses recommended by Martha Stewart - this is the first time I've tried them, so we'll see how they do!)

PS - this the view from the back door - you can't tell we have kids, can you? *sigh* one of these days we'll also have a decent lawn too!

Kiss your...what?

Overheard in the back yard...

Ryan: Mommy...kiss my bum!

Mom: Kiss your what?

Ryan: My bum...I have a boo boo on my bum.

.....

Ummm...no kid, that's one boo boo I won't kiss!

Priceless!

Gas up and back: $40.00

Babysitter for the kids: $60.00

Lunch afterwards (Panera): $17.70

6 Hours (3 of that driving) with my FABULOUS Husband driving to, from, and spending time inside of the Boston Temple together: PRICELESS!

Yes, it's a sacrifice of both time and money, but SO worth it!

Check this out...Martha Stewart Cookies Book!

Remember that Granola Recipe I posted the other day? Well...the same gal who came up with the recipe is giving away a copy of the new Martha Stewart Cookies book! All you have to do is spread the word and leave a comment, and you'll be put into a drawing for it! She's lucky enough to have books sent to her to review...and when she's done, she'll give them away. Woo Hoo!

So go check it out...Spatula's, Corkscrews, and Suitcases

Family Search!

So have you seen the NEW Family Search.org website yet? I know that they are rolling it out geographically by Temple District, so you may not have access to it. WE DO! HAHA! Jealous? (By the way, if you set up an account and you live in a Temple District that it isn't available yet, you can't get into it - just the old version.)

OK, I won't rub it in too much - but I have to say it's awesome! No more going to the Family History Library with a diskette to get your names "temple ready" - it's all done ONLINE! Woo Hoo!

Ric and I are headed to the temple tomorrow with our file folder full of printouts so we can get the slips we need for the temple work. (Are you reading this Dad? As soon as the baptisms are done... you'll have more names to do! And anyone else who wants to help with Ric's ancestors for that matter)

Anyway, just thought I'd mention that it's pretty cool! :) Gotta love the Internet - Al Gore was good for *something* - hehe

Sunday Shades

Look at these two! All decked out, strapped in, and shades on - ready to head to Church!


No, that isn't a growth on Megan's head, it's a cute bow that her Auntie Andrea sent to her - she's stylin' now!





Look closely....Ryan tends to put his sunglasses on upside down! hehe

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

So I made some great peanut butter bars covered with melted Dove Chocolate last night. They were too hot to eat last night so Ryan woke up asking for them this morning. (By the way, it's not a fancy recipe, just two packages of Betty Crocker Peanut Butter Cookies pressed into a pan and then covered with the chocolate. Did you know that Dove Chocolate now has an AT HOME division? It's a home party thing, and the chocolate is to die for! If you live in RI and are interested, I can hook you up with my chocolate pusher, I mean "Chocolatier!" hehe)

Now that you have the background...here's what was overheard at breakfast this morning...

Ryan: (in his whiny, begging voice) I want a brownie, I want a brownie, I want a brownie.

Dad: No brownies until after Church, it's not time for brownies.

Ryan: I want a brownie, I want a brownie, I want a brownie. (and on and on and on)

Mom: (to Dad) He's just not giving up this morning!

Dad: (to Mom under his breath) Yeah...we'll all be having brownies soon enough!

(Stay strong Dad...stay strong!)

From Blue's Clues to Blue Man

I've been lucky enough to see Blue Man Group 5 times. Twice when I was living in NYC, twice in Boston, and once in Las Vegas on our honeymoon. I LOVE them! If you haven't seen them, it can't even be described - you have to see it yourself.

Anyway, Ric has a Blue Man t-shirt that he picked up in Vegas - it's Ryan's favorite. A few weeks ago we pulled out the Blue Man DVD that we have (from their traveling show they did a few years ago.) and played it for Ryan. Guess what? Megan is a HUGE fan too! She sits through the entire show and just bounces around!

It's hysterical how she gets into it...this is just a sample. Enjoy!

PS- She's definitely got Rock Concert Movement #1 mastered! If you've seen Blue Man, you know what I mean!

Sleep-over!

Yes, we know that Ryan is WAY to young to have sleep overs - but this one can't be helped! :)

Ryan's little friend, Michael, is staying with us tonight while his mom and dad are at the hospital. HOPEFULLY bringing Michael's new little sister Vanessa into the world! (Sooner than later for Debbie's sake!)

It's been a crazy week for her, and us too! Michael's dad, Harry, is in the Navy and is a communications officer on a submarine. Up until Monday night, he was STILL on that sub! Debbie had gone in to the hospital Saturday night with contractions, etc., but the hospital sent her home. They don't have any family around except for the Ward, so we were all ready to step up and help, but were SO happy to hear that they FINALLY let Harry come home in time! (Whew! I dodged being there with her at the hospital! I'm sure that I would have been able to help, but Harry is much better at being the birthing coach since this is his 4th time and I've been on the other side! hehe)

So now, Michael is staying with us tonight. I'm sure when it's all over, we'll be GRATEFUL that we don't have twins! hehe Michael is really attached to his mom, especially since his dad can be away from home for months at a time. So he's having a rough time. (As long as we don't open the front door, he won't remember that she's gone!) Here's hoping our family prayer does the trick, and we all get some sleep tonight! :) Wish us luck!

(By the way, the picture I took of the two of them is overexposed because I had to use the flash. It was the first time I tried using the red-eye correction in my software. I'm thinking that even though the boys look a little "pasty", it turned out OK!)

Use that Food Storage (Oatmeal!)

I'm one that actually likes hot oatmeal for breakfast. BUT, not every day. Since we're storing so much oatmeal, I'm thinking that I can only have so many bowls of it and make so many oatmeal cookies! (OK, maybe there's no such thing as oatmeal cookies!)

I happened to find a fabulous blog that had listed a fabulous Honey Raisin Granola recipe that looked SO yummy I HAD to try it!

The result? SIX pounds of YUMMY Honey Raisin Granola, a house that smells just as yummy, and a silly "Wiggles" song that I can't get out of my head! (Crunchy, Munchy, Honey Cakes... HA! Now YOU'VE got it in your head! hehe)

Just because I wanted to see if it's worth the price of the ingredients, and my time, I added it all up. Guess what? IT IS! :) The total cost per pound of granola turned out to be about $3 - MUCH cheaper than buying a box of it! (Though I do remember begging my mom to by CWPost - remember that? YUM!)

Here's a link to the blog where I found it. Funny thing is, it's written by a gal who lives not more than 3 miles from me! In fact, she lives on a sailboat in Apponaug Cove! Too Cool! I've actually made another recipe from her blog, which was to die for! (Reeses Peanut Butter Cup Brownies) How did I find it? She's the mom of another Stampin' Up! Demo who lives in Vermont, and I love her work, so I check out her website quite often.

A couple of things I modified for my recipe. First, I didn't add coconut. That's only because I don't like it! (With every bite that Ric takes, he says "Needs coconut" - but that doesn't stop him from taking more bites!) Also, I couldn't find the "Date Sugar" so I emailed Donna and asked her about it. She said that I could probably find it at a health food store (Whole Foods), but I could substitute raw sugar or even regular sugar. I used brown sugar. It's Sunday, so I wasn't going to go to the store. It turned out perfect anyway! The other thing - I think that the next time I make it, instead of cooking it for a full hour, I'll reduce the time a little...and that's only because my oven seemed to over cook it a little. So instead of turning it over in the oven every 15 minutes, I'll do it for 15, 15, 10, and 10.

So yummy - and a GREAT way to use that oatmeal in your food storage! (By the way, 11 cups of Oatmeal is almost ALL of a regular size oatmeal can - just dump it all in!)

Cutie!

WOW! Look at that blonde hair! And his eyes are as blue as his denim overalls!

This was taken at about 10 month old - the same age as Megan right now! Would you believe it took me THIS LONG to get the film developed? And even then, it was a free promo at Walgreens! (Just give them your email address and they'll develop for free! Well, I did, and they put it into their system incorrectly. Nope...not gonna say a word! Sorry, the promo was only this past Wednesday!)

Anyway...had to share this little cutie with you. (Though at almost 2 1/2 he wasn't all that cute today! And it came to pass......and it came to pass.....)

Overheard Outside on Thursday...

...while the weather was so nice we didn't have to wear jackets!

Ryan: I have a problem.

Mom: You have a problem? What is it?

Ryan: I have a problem on my head.

Mom: What's on your head?

Ryan: Dirt.

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

Ryan: What's this mommy? (pointing to the seeds and such that have fallen off the maple tree in the back yard.)

Mom: Seeds. They fell down from the tree (pointing up at the tree above us.)

Ryan: They need glue.

You HAVE to read this...

...I know that I couldn't have said it all this well.

Just for the record.

Now that I've read it, she's now on my daily "must read" list!

Let the Record Show...

....that Dad and Mom are NOT above drugging our children!

We had the strangest night last night! All I can say is THANK GOODNESS for Benadryl! Ryan was awake, crying for Ric or myself from about 1:30 am until 4:00 am - for no particular reason either!

Both of us went in and calmed him down a few times. Ric gave him something to drink. I made sure he was tucked in with his favorite Red Sox blanket. Ric even brought him to bed with us for a little while. Nothing helped.

So....because he was getting to be out of control (getting to be? HA!) Ric put him into the crib, which to him is now a punishment since he's graduated to his big boy bed. Of course, that meant a full-blown tantrum. With ALL of us awake at this point, we were desperate.

Desperate times call for BENADRYL!

Woo Hoo! After taking Excedrine for my OWN headache, I gave Ryan a teaspoon of "special pink medicine." Tucked him in again, made sure he had more than one "B", and crossed my fingers since this was the first time we'd given it to him.

TA DA! We had to WAKE him up this morning - and only because I was worried that his nap schedule would be completely OFF! (Believe me...if that wasn't an issue, I would have let him sleep!)

Ric and I are completely exhausted, but we'll survive! (Time to t look into the Twilight Turtle that my friend Rachael uses for her munchkin!)

My favorite weekend in the springtime!

Here it is, "Masters Weekend" and it's my favorite time in the spring. It used to mean a lot more when I was single and "free" from all of my obligations, but it will always remain special to me. I miss spending time with my closest friend Dave and watching the coverage of the greatest tournament on TV; I'll have to teach Ryan over the years to appreciate it too. Not only is it the first official major outing for pro-golf, but it has always been the official start of golf season for me in RI. I'll be cheering for just about anyone except Tiger Woods, but I'd love to see Mike Weir from Draper Utah (and BYU grad) win his second green jacket. Time for Marni to resume her golf-widow status for another year. :-)

Ric

Beware the Lizard!

Yes, I know, I'm posting a ton of things today. Sorry for playing catch up all at once!

Ryan has developed a few new fears. One is that he wants to sleep with the light on at night. No big deal, the little lamp we have isn't all the bright, so he's still able to sleep most of the night.

Another fear is this Lizard! I think I picked this toy/fabric lizard up when I was traveling with my credit union system installation job. I must have been in the Southwest - where else would I pick up such a funky lizard?

It usually hangs on on my computer speakers, until Ryan found it and asked to see it. He won't touch it though! If we even put it close to him he jumps away like it might bite him!

First of all, it's hysterical. I'm trying not to laugh and give him a complex that he'll need years of therapy for, but, admit it, it really is funny! It's stuffed like a bean bag and has beads for eyes! It's not more than 6 or 7 inches long either. It sure would be fun to just tease him, but I know it would probably do him more harm than it would entertain me, so we just try to encourage him to at least touch it and eventually play with it.

Maybe someday we'll have a breakthrough! :)

ps - he's also been talking a lot about monsters lately, so he's probably trying to figure out what is real and what isn't.

A New Favorite Game

Peek A Boo - through the gate! At least they are out of my way when I'm in the kitchen!

(Megan just squeals when Ryan plays with her.)

Not to be outdone...our Rock Star!

I wonder if he'll start his own band and call it the "binkies" or something like that? :)

We've been trying to get him on video with a guitar, it's hysterical with the head bobs and dancing around. But as soon as we pull out the camera, it's all over...he stops!

Soon though...we'll catch him!

Our Little Super Star!

I was looking for it, but couldn't find the picture I have of ME when I was a baby wearing my dad's sunglasses. I wanted to post it up here with THESE pictures of Megan.



Can you guess which one is me? (Don't let the fact that it's in black and white, and there's a date stamp of August '69 on it fool you! hehe NOT to mention the upholstery on the chair I'm sitting in!)


Everyone says that Megan looks so much like Ryan, who looks so much like Ric. I'm usually saying to myself...hey what about me? I was the one who carried her, wasn't I?





Well...here's the proof, Megan is MY daughter - can't miss that resemblance, can you? :)

General Conference Weekend...a nice break.

This past weekend was General Conference weekend for the LDS church. Twice a year in the Spring and again in the Fall, we get a break from church (sort of) and get to stay at home and listen to our church President his Apostles and other leaders give talks and testify of Jesus Christ, his Heavenly Father and the Holy Ghost. It's a nice change from the weekly routine of going to church in that we get to stay home and listen to these talks via the Internet that we connect to our living-room stereo.
The only time that I need to go to ward building is on Saturday night when we hold a Priesthood session via satellite for two hours which is held for all priesthood holders in the church (such as myself). My first exposure to GC was while I was investigating the LDS church and taking lessons from my missionaries. They invited me to attend the Priesthood session of GC in the Fall of 2004 and I found it to be a very moving experience to see so many men of all ages and backgrounds honoring their privilege to hold the right to act on behalf of Jesus Christ in these latter days.

Beside the obvious break from church, the kids and the rush of getting ready to go and sit with Ryan while he acts-up in church for the first hour, it's a wonderful opportunity to listen to these great messages of our faith, history and the most powerful and moving testimonies offered by some of the finest speakers you will ever hear. I personally find it to be a weekend to recharge my spiritual batteries and re-energize myself to my commitment to the Lord, my calling at church as the Young Men's President and to my fellow saints.

This weekend was a historical moment in GC because it was the first time in decades that a new prophet and president (Thomas S. Monson) was sustained unanimously by the entire assembly of church members. At this same time, another apostle was called to the Quorum of the 12 and sustained as well.










The other great benefit of GC weekend is how much stuff we can get done around the house and yard in between sessions of the broadcast! Too bad we can't do this 4 times a year.

Ric

Time just flies...

My monitor was taken hostage for 2 days in the living room. For General Conference we hook up the "garage" PC (Franken-puter) to the stereo so we can listen without having to sit at Church for 2 hours with 2 little kids! Since my monitor was easier to get to, it "lost" the contest and I was computerless for 2 days! Eeeek! Actually, it wasn't that bad - and even though I have a lot to catch up on, I enjoyed the tech-free break!

Lots of things to update...so here we go, in no particular order:

Osmosis - for 2-year olds
I'm completely amazed at how much Ryan learns just through osmosis. Yes, it really does work! The other day Ryan says to me, "I want juice, actually." "Actually?" Where did he hear that word? And HOW did he learn to use it correctly?

Branding - for 2-year olds
From the time Ryan was little, Dad would take him to the "man store". Meaning either Home Depot or Lowes. Now he can just see a store logo, store colors, or HEAR an ad on the radio and he'll say "Man Store!" Oh...it gets better...

The other day, I was updating our checkbook in Quicken with some purchases. He was sitting on my lap as I picked up a receipt from Dick's Sporting Goods where Dad had picked up some shoes for work. Now, I don't think that Ryan has EVER been to Dick's. Every time we drive by, though, he sees the basketball, soccer ball, and other things on the sign. When Ryan saw JUST the name on the receipt, he pointed and said "Basketball! Soccer Ball!" WOW! This kid doesn't miss a THING!

Crawl Baby, Crawl!
Megan is EVERYWHERE now! You can find us most days rushing around to make sure the gate was closed behind us, just in case Megan zoomed down the hallway after us! She's quick. VERY quick! It's fun to watch her explore everything now. Soon enough she'll be pulling herself ALL the way up instead of just on her knees!

That's it for now...time to hit the showers! Ric and I both thought that General Conference was great! The talks were very powerful and uplifting! Can't wait to read them in the next Ensign!

Save those Pepsi caps for me!

If you drink any of the various Pepsi bottled sodas like me, I need your caps. I've started collecting the caps (usually yellow or orange) for the 10 digit codes on the inside and entering them for Pepsi-stuff.

Normally, I don't bother with these types of contests, but since I drink a lot of Diet Pepsi along with my co-workers, I thought I'd give it a try. One benefit of collecting the points is the free MP3 downloads of music that I can get.

So if your not doing anything with these caps and codes, please send them along to me via email and thanks for helping me along.

Ric