RTT: Disney is clueless, and Mother Nature is a tease

I wasn't going to participate in Random Tuesday Thoughts this week because Keely from The Un Mom has gone on hiatus, but apparently Stacy at Stacy Uncorked is picking up the torch until Keely decides to return.

Stacy Uncorked

Is anyone else upset over the fact that Jennifer Garner has been cast to play Agatha Christie's iconic Miss Marple? Apparently Disney is in the works to "reboot" the character to give her "youthful and more modern spin". Bad idea? I think so. The age of the character matters because it is what makes Miss Marple such a success. Her years of experience in St. Mary Mead and the time that she has spent observing human nature is what makes her so successful at what she does. (That coupled with the folks who underestimate mental abilities and view her as a batty old lady who knows nothing). If they were going to “reboot” the character, then why not just create an entirely new character altogether? Am I the only one who feels this way?

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Owen just called me into Ben's room. He and Ben are sitting in the glider chair together, cuddling. (Awwww). But then he tells me that Ben is picking his nose. No. That Owen used Ben's finger to pick his nose. Gross. Boys will be boys. 

If I Only Had a Girl.... Or Money.

Earlier today, Jenny from Babblings of a Mommy shared with her readers some great items that she picked up this weekend. Although they were all clothing for little girls, and I haven't a single one, I couldn't resist checking out her list. She shared this cute zebra print dress from Gymboree...

 
...which led me straight to the site to see more. Here are some of my favorite baby girl items (click on the images to learn more). A mommy of boys can dream, right?:

Gymboree: Baby Girl by Betty1940 on Polyvore.com

Then she shared a few items from Kohl's. So I wandered over there to check out the selection. These are my faves:

Kohl's: Baby Girl by Betty1940 featuring floral print dresses

And of course, no "window shopping" wishlist can be complete without a visit to Old Navy:

Old Navy: Baby Girl by Betty1940 featuring old navy dresses

I was actually surprised at how many non "girlie-girl" items are available right now, (by my definition of girlie, that is). What do you think? Any favorite items?

Nail Biters

Owen has been a nail biter for a while now, and I haven't really thought anything of it. It seems like a normal habit for a young kid to develop, so I wasn't concerned. Until I walked into the living room yesterday and caught him chewing hie toenails! That's right. He was chewing his toenails.  Ew. Yuck. Blech. Nastiness. And he had chewed the darn things as far down as he could (on his big toes). So of course this had me worried.

Source

I did a little research and here are a few facts that I unearthed about nail biters:

• About 30%-60% of children and teens chew their fingernails (with the occasional toenail biters). 

•  As they get older, boys are more likely to be nail biters than girls.

• Nail biting is the most common "nervous" habit.

Little Benny Boo-Boo Hopping Through the Forest...

For my 100th post, I was going to post "100 Things About Us", but then I figured that it would have been too long of a post and no one would have read the entire thing. So instead, I'm going to split it up into separate posts. Let's hear it for Ben today!

(Previous "100 Things": Owen and Daddio).

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1. Ben was born in Plattsburgh, NY at 3:12 PM (yes, I had to look it up). He weighed 7 lbs. 15 oz. and was 20 inches long. Like Owen, Ben was also born on his due date, however, his was an induced labor, (because I was about 2 hours away from the hospital where I was going to deliver). Compared to Owen, Ben's delivery was a walk in the park. Thank goodness for epidurals!

2. Ben's name was a mutual choice between Daddio and myself. It was a name that had appeared on both of our name lists for Owen, and one of the only ones that we both liked. His middle name, Ryan, is the same as Daddio's.

3. Ben had really dark hair when he was born. His hair is now blond.

Please, Do Not Feed the Animals!

And by the animals, I mean my kids.

Image Source: ClipartHeaven.com

I'm probably going to come off as being one of those moms after this post, but I'll take my chances with that one.

I get so annoyed when people feed my kids something that they shouldn't be eating, or that I wouldn't normally feed them. Now don't get me wrong here, I understand that when they are visiting someone else's house, they are probably going to be eating food that I don't regularly stock. Grandma S. is sure to serve Owen five pieces of sausage, two glasses of orange juice for breakfast, and no milk. Grandma B. will always have fruit snacks and chocolate treats on hand. And it's a good possibility that Owen will have dessert instead of dinner while at his "girlfriend's" house. Which is fine. I understand that while they are out of the house, I have no control over what they eat. However, when I am in the same room, or when I have left specific instructions, then that's a different story. 

Wordless Wednesday: Every. Single. Time.

Image Source

*Toothpaste for Dinner

RTT: John Lithgow, Muffins, and Cops, Oh My!

It's another Random Tuesday! Brought to you by Keely from The Un Mom.

Did anyone happen to catch How I Met Your Mother last night? (If not, then be prepared for a minor spoiler). I was excited to learn that Barney would finally be meeting his dad! And after all of the drama and hype surrounding his father, how utterly disappointing to see that John Lithgow was cast as his father. I have never been a fan of his, especially when he starred on 3rd Rock from the Sun, but I did not mind him as Lord Farquaad in Shrek But casting aside, this storyline provided Barney with several touching scenes as he came to terms with reconnecting with his father. I just about bawled when he confronts his dad with the fact that yes, he is now a "Suburban Dad", but why couldn't he be that for Barney? I think it was also great that the viewers were given a chance to see through some of the cracks in Barney's shell and get a glimpse of the pain he feels. But I still don't like John Lithgow, even though he admittedly did a fantastic job with the role. (Click here for a much better recap than I was able to produce).

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Lesson learned this week, if a recipes states to bake muffins at 400 for 18-22 minutes, DO NOT listen! The last two recipes I've used have both directed this, and both times, the darn things burned on the bottom. From now on, I'm sticking to the usual 375 for 20-25 minutes. I really don't know what else could have been the problem. I have not moved my bottom rack at all, so they should not have been too low. Who knows.

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You Like Me! You Really Like Me!

Or at least Vandy from The Testosterone Three and Me does because she's given me another award! Yay Vandy! Thanks a million! This time it's the Cherry on Top Award:

The rules for accepting this award (because there are always rules) are to list three things that I love about myself, share a picture of me, and nominate five other blogs for this award. I'm not quite sure which of these three is going to be the most difficult for me to complete! But here goes:

1. I love that I am really good with remembering names. This is especially helpful as a substitute teacher. It always freaks out the kids when they discover that I know their names, even if I haven't been their sub in two years. I can also remember every single name of anyone who has ever been a fellow classmate of mine, from Kindergarten through our senior year. Whether the person was in our class for one year, three months, or five years, I can probably tell you his or her name. I'm told that it's a special talent. If only I could get paid to remember names!

2. I love that I am such a perfectionist about certain things. If I am doing something that will reflect on me and my skills, (i.e. scrap booking, editing student writing, blogging, baking etc.), then I have to make sure that it is perfect (or at least nearly perfect), before presenting it to the rest of the world. I think that this is a positive thing because it helps to show me in a more professional light and shows that I care about my work. However, it can also be a negative as it often takes me that much longer just to get something simple finished! (Like this post!)

3. I love that I have the ability to laugh at myself and my goofy quirks. I sing and dance like a fool, especially with my boys. I trip up the stairs. I run into walls. I make silly faces and produce the most random of thoughts. How can I not laugh at myself for any of that?

And now a photo of me, which will be difficult to track down because I'm usually the one behind the camera:

I don't really have demon eyes in person.

It's not of excellent quality, but it's the most recent photo of myself that I have (taken on St. Patrick's Day, to be exact).


And now, five blogs that deserve this award:

1. Amber from Airing My Dirty Laundry, One Sock at a Time (Not only is her blog beautiful, but so is her family).

2. Erin from Things I've Learned Talking to Myself (One of the most open and honest bloggers I have encountered. And that's a beautiful thing).

3. Shannon from Welcome to the Nuthouse! (A fellow Jane Austen fanatic. She also shares a love for handbags and shoes).

4. TB from Year 31 (A woman who is just as obsessed with The MMC as I am, and in my book, that's an automatic win. And if you have to ask what "The MMC" is, then you obviously didn't deserve this award. :-))

5. And last but not least, The Bittersweet Blonde (Although slacking off as of late, she has a knack for finding some beautiful household (etc.) items to share).


Congratulations, ladies! Be sure to the share the love!

Happy St. Daddy's Day

For my 100th post, I was going to post "100 Things About Us", but then I figured that it would have been too long of a post and no one would have read the entire thing. So instead, I'm going to split it up into separate posts.

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As we all know, today is St. Patrick's Day, but it is also Daddio's birthday (who coincidentally, happens to be part Irish). So in honor of that, today's post is All About Daddio, who is currently out of town taking the boys for an overnight at an indoor water park. Never in my wildest dreams would I attempt to take all three boys to something like that by myself! He's a brave man.

Source

1. Okay, so that's not really Daddio, as if you actually believed it was. But he has often been told that he bears a striking resemblance to Matt Damon (usually by family members). Here's the real Daddio:

Not So Wordless Wednesday

It's really awful what is happening in Japan right now. I'm not going to mention too much about it because everyone else is already talking about it much better than I probably could, but I did want to share this photo:

Source: AP

It just brought tears to my eyes when I read in this article that this four-month-old baby girl, who was found among the rubble, was reunited with her father who thought that she had been washed away in the waves. It is awful how many people have died as a result of the tsunami, but when I think about all of the helpless babies lost, who really had no help at all, it breaks my heart. At least most adults and older children have a fighting chance at surviving this, basically due to the fact that they can use their bodies to try to escape. But a baby has no chance at all, unless aided by someone else. Just thinking about how many young children were probably lost to the waves hits me pretty hard. I am so glad that this lucky little girl made it through and was reunited with her father. (I have not seen any word about her mother).  

I couldn't imagine what I would do, how I would react, if anything like this were to happen to my family. It's during times like this when we should be truly grateful for the people we have in our lives.

RTT: Idol, Spring, and Imperfect Facebook Grammar

Thank goodness it's Tuesday! I haven't had any inspiration, nor motivation, to sit down and compose an organized and thorough post about anything lately. Time for some randomness! Brought to you by Keely at The Un Mom.

It's quite possible that I'm the last person to be posting Random Tuesday Thoughts today. I was not really prepared ahead of time to be doing this.

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Last week I had a revelation, a reminder as to why I stopped watching American Idol in the first place; the results show. And I think it's grown worse over the last few seasons that I stopped watching. Really. Can they cram any more product placements or pointless scenes into it? How many more Ford music videos are they going to subject us to? Or awkward group performances? They should use that hour to allow the viewers to get to know the contestants better. Afterall, we are the ones voting for them. (And by "we", I don't mean me, because I don't actually vote for anyone). This week, I'm tuning in for the last five minutes to find out who gets cut, and that's it. Or maybe I won't even do that. I might just read about it the next day. We shall see.

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I am so happy that spring is finally just around the corner! I checked our local weekly weather forecast and it's starting to warm up! "Warm up" as in high 40s. And yes, that makes me happy. Although they are calling for some snow showers on Saturday (boo!). I love spring, especially when the flowers and leaves start to bloom/bud. It also means that the boys and I can get back outside for walks. (Yes, I realize that we can go for walks during the winter as well, but that's is so not happening. I am not a winter person). 

All About Owen

For my 100th post, I was going to post "100 Things About Us", but then I figured that it would have been too long of a post and no one would have read the entire thing. So instead, I'm going to split it up into separate posts. Today, it's All About Owen!

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1. Owen was born in Alpine, Texas, at 6:50 AM (CDT). On his due date, because he's good like that. He weighed 7 lbs. 7.5 oz. and was 20 inches long.

2. We did not have Owen's name 100% decided upon until after he was born. "Owen" was not a choice on either of our name lists. About a month or so before he was born, I had a dream that his name was Owen, and it just felt right. His middle name is David; Daddio picked it to honor one of his good friends who passed away a few months before Owen was born. (Both of my nephews also share the middle name; it is my step-dad's name-their grandfather).

3. I had a rough labor with Owen. Although it didn't last very long (labor pains started around midnight, we arrived at the hospital around 2 AM, he was born 5 hours later, 2-3 hours past the doctor's prediction because a spinal block slowed down the labor), I was pushing for a while and the spinal block had already worn off; was not prepared for that at all! They eventually had to try forceps and then the vacuum thing. Thankfully that worked! But it also resulted in a huge bruise on the top of Owen's head. Which then lead to jaundice. We were released from the hospital on a Thursday, the day after he was born, only to be resubmitted on Monday so Owen could receive treatment. All of the nurses said that they were not surprised to see him back, and had in fact expected it. Unfortunately, they had failed to tell us that when we were first discharged!

Poor little guy

I'm an Awesome Blogger!

Special thanks goes out to Vandy over at The Testosterone Three and Me for nominating me for an Awesome Blog Award! Thank you Vandy!

So the rules of accepting this award are that I have to share seven things about myself that you may not know, and then nominate other blogs that I think are awesome (unspecified number). Pretty typical rules, and easy peasy.

1. I am not the greatest of swimmers. I can hold my own for short distances, but don't expect me to swim very far. Or underwater. I never learned how to hold my breath underwater. Yep. That means I'm an adult nose plugger! Keep your judgment to yourself please.
2. I love to dance. I don't mean dance as in out at a bar or dance club grinding up against complete strangers. I mean"choreographed" dancing. When I was younger I had the secret desire to be a dancer, like a backup dancer, or one of the kids from Glee, but without the singing. I can't sing. Something choreographed. I attempted swing dance lessons my first year in college, but only made it to one class. Recently, I have taken a few Zumba classes and am now taking what we call "Progressive Line Dancing" (not country line dancing) and love both. In fact, several people in my class have asked if I have a background in dance, and when I reply, "Not at all!" have said that I'm a natural. It makes me feel good about myself. Especially since most people I know are constantly reminding me of how uncoordinated I am.
3. I have a twin sister. (Most of you are probably already aware of this). She's older. By 19 minutes. And she currently lives in Virginia. And she's expecting, due a day after Ben's birthday (how "twin-like" is that?) I miss her.
4. When we were  younger, (we're talking early elementary school) my twin sister and I were world travelers. Our father was the captain of a cargo ship in the Merchant Marines and sometimes we would travel with him. We've been to Portugal, Holland, and London (possible more). I only remember bits and pieces of London; it was our last trip abroad and happened while we were in second grade.
5. I have always had a fascination with anything related to Henry VIII and his six wives, ever since visiting Madam Tussaud's wax museum in London (one of the things I remember). I think it may have been the idea that he could behead a wife without getting into trouble for it that first intrigued me.
6. I hate seafood, specifically shellfish; I can tolerate some fish if it doesn't taste too fishy. It's not necessarily the taste of shellfish that gets me, it's the texture. The chewy, spongy, slimy texture. Ew. I can't even think about it. Gross. Blech. Gag. 
7. It took me over 30 minutes to come up with the past 6 things you may not know about me. Seriously. Apparently this wasn't as "easy peasy" as I had originally thought.

Now to pass this along. I'm nominating a few awesome blogs that I have recently discovered and try to read every day:

• Mary at How To: Not Be Awkward
• Shannon at Welcome to the Nut House!
• Tonya from You Asked For It
• Ru from And then she was like blah blah blah

You're up, ladies!

Wordless Wednesday: Moments Like These

RTT: 100 Posts Later....

It's another Random Tuesday Thoughts hosted by Keely over at The Un Mom!

 

It's official! This is my 100th post! I wanted to do an extra special post in celebration, but really, who has time for that? Or the motivation. So this will have to suffice. What would have been really nice is if I had acquired 100 followers by my 100th post, but as it stands, I still only have 20. 20 brave souls who are following me publicly, that is. I like to believe that I have 100 anonymous followers out there. :-) But thank you to those of you who are still with me, 100 posts later! (OBG, SMW, and Laura were my first three followers! And an extra thanks to Laura for being my first non-family member follower).

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 Okay, I have to say what I'm sure all ladies around the world are thinking. Thank you Charlie Sheen for enlightening us all on what we have obviously been missing out on for years! I think it's time to update our checklist for the "Perfect Man" and add "tiger blood" and "Adonis DNA" to the list. Who knew that these things even existed? No wonder so many women have been unlucky in love! We've been looking for the wrong thing! (Seriously, how many men do you think are going to start adding "tiger blood" and "Adonis DNA" to their profiles on dating websites? My guess? Thousands).

Tasty Tuesday: Magic in the Middle Cookies

Warning: These cookies may result in a serious addiction. Especially if you love the combination of peanut butter and chocolate. Bake at your own risk.

Magic in the Middle Cookies

Yield: 26 cookies; Prep: 25 minutes; Bake: 10 minutes + cooling

Wordless Wednesday: A Self-Portrait

Random Tuesday Thoughts- My First One!

So I'm participating in my first Random Tuesday Thoughts. It may also be my only Random Tuesday Thoughts, but we'll see.

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I watched the Oscars this weekend, mainly because I felt as though I needed to make up for missing the other award shows. I gotta say, I was not impressed. First of all, I just don't get what the big deal is with James Franco. Where's the appeal? I don't think he's cute or entertaining. I vote to bring back Hugh Jackman! And speaking of which, I've never really been a fan of Anne Hathaway, but that poor girl pretty much carried the hosting responsibilities. I loved her "tribute" to Hugh Jackman! And felt sorry for her when her nervous "geekiness" peeked through. I also think Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law would be great hosts!

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In related news, am I the only one left who still asks, "What the hell is this Twitter thing?" Seriously. I still don't get it. Obviously, I'm not signed up for it or know anything about it. But I'm in no hurry to make the choice to learn more about it. Maybe that's because everyone is doing it and talking about it. I'm sure that if I checked it out, I would get it, but not happening. I also think that it was rather rude of James Franco to be Tweeting while hosting the Oscars.