Always late

Something else you may not know about me. I am ALWAYS late. It doesn't matter how hard I try to be on time. It doesn't matter if I leave my house an hour early to get somewhere that should only take 10 minutes. I am always late.

(Yes, I realize I promised ya'll a loverly long post about my obsessive behavior...it'll wait)

Yesterday was Honeydew's due date. And I was late. I forgot. I didn't think about it until 8:30pm past night.

I'm sorry Honeydew. You deserve better than that. We miss you. We really do. I'm sorry that your short life was overshadowed by your big brother. I hope that the two of you are having fun together in heaven.

I'm sorry I forgot. Don't let that make you believe I have forgotten about you. I haven't, we never will. You are in our thoughts all the time. I just forgot that I had a whole day set aside to mourn you more.

Your mommies love you.

Mingo Monday

It is that time. Yes. Time to get to know me just a little bit better. Yes, you know that I love flamingos. Yes, you know that I am very very odd.

But did you know that I can't say no to a good craft project?

(In reality I can't say no to anything, but that is a whole nother story)

So....once upon a time (or...maybe it is a daily activity of mine, you'll just have to guess which), I was skimming along eBay. I was bored (or...maybe I was at work with nothing better to do) so I put FLAMINGO into the search box. And browsed a little bit. (or...maybe I started with the least expensive and looked straight through to the most?).

Anywho. I came upon an auction for a half a yard of flamingotastic fabric. It had to be mine. For only 99cents and free shipping!! Who could pass such an item up? (shh...I heard you say anyone but me....hush).

And it came in the mail and I showed it to Jenn who jumped for joy at my flamingotastic purchase (or...maybe she rolled her eyes and threatened to take away my PayPal account).

And then that loverly piece of fabric collected dust in my closet for about 2 years.

Until.........I was watching a craft show (something I never ever do, I mean who can turn off Food Network long enough to watch a craft show???) and they took themselves a half a yard of fabric and hot glued it to a lamp shade!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh my. Wanna take a guess how long it took me to get Jenn into the car to drive to one of them there big box stores to find a cheap lamp???? (yes, much longer than I would have liked) and then off to one of them there crafty stores to get some tackilicious trim???? (again, much longer than I would have liked)

And I became a woman obsessed. First I made this absolutely tackfabulous lamp....




(Jenn chooses to view it kinda like the mom in A Christmas Story views the Leg Lamp.)

And then I made more. I made them for the bedroom...one for the living room. Some people got lamps as gifts for their birthdays that year. No...only the above pictured one came in the absolutely fabulous flamingorific fabric, sorry.

So...tomorrow we shall learn about my obsessiveness. As in, I realize I like something and it becomes my whole entire life...until I am bored of it.

Have a Happy Mingo Monday!!!

Time to make the cookies.....

Well, we have been putting off Christmas stuff day after day. We'll bake cookies tomorrow. Or tomorrow. Lets do that tomorrow.

Well, it was Christmas Eve Eve last night, so we ran out of tomorrows. We always make YumYums. Jenn lovesloves them. They are made with 1 cup chocolate chips and 2/3 cup peanut butter melted together, stir in 3 cups of Wheaties and drop by the spoonful onto a cookie sheet. Chill. Lick pan and spoon clean. Eat all YumYums in one sitting. Realize that you have to give some away, quadruple the recipe and start again.

Chris has been begging for peanut butter cookies. So we made those too...here they are baking...



Okay, back to YumYums.

Mmmmm peanut butter and chocolate chips melting away in my favorite pot:


Jenn stirring the mix cheerfully (or eating half of it, whichever):


Mixing in the Wheaties:


Trays of YumYums cooling on the patio:

My cookies may not win awards....

But our Christmas Decorations sure do!!!!!

We got a letter in the mail today from our apartment complex telling us that we won the annual Christmas Decoration contest!!!!! Yeah!!!! We Rock!!!

(we won a gift card to our favorite local grocery store...and you know how much we love grocery shopping!!)

Mingo Monday

The real thing. Yes...I've met the real thing many a time--see here--me, flamingos, together!



Today's pictures are brought to you by Shamu...or Sea World. It is Jenn's favorite park to go to when we are in Florida. I like the mingos. I do not like feeding the dolphins. They creep me the heck out. (The creepiness was made worse the Jenn got some weird disease from touching the dolphins...only Jenn could do that you know!) I do like the stingrays. They are fun (weird) to feed!!

Did you know that they take the flamingos out for walks? I didn't either until we happened upon a bunch of chicks taking a stroll with some of the workers!! They were so cute and curious!!!!!



More pictures...just because I can!




(I've got Florida on my mind...February 7th won't get here fast enough)

I'm honored.

And floored.

I talk in real life about Mrs. Spit all the time. I tell Jenn and my friends how I so often feel that Mrs. Spit must be imaginary, because how can any one person feel so much like I do?

But she isn't. She is even more wonderful than any imaginary friend can be.

She nominated Jenn and I for an award...and we shall graciously accept it. Only because I am a lady and know that turning down such an award would be rude. To be honest, it made me blush and cry. Jenn was even touched to the point of considering a tear, which is huge for Jenn, trust me. Surely there is someone more deserving than us.



Please click here to see the nominations.

Running behind...an excuse/apology

There are currently 89 unread blog posts on my blogroll to read. I'm sorry.

Will catch up soon.

Leaving lots of comments in my wake.

xxoo

Christmas

If you remember back to the Day after Wednesday, there was much debate in our house about what to do about Christmas. I was totally for ignoring the holiday. Only putting enough effort in to give our families and friends gifts, but not enough to make our home show that there was a holiday approaching. I didn't win the debate.

And I'm glad I didn't. We took things one step at a time. We started with the outdoor decorations. It has been tradition that Jenn and I would go to Kmart after Day after Wednesday dinner and pick out a new yard animal. We had our hearts set on an elephant. The Kmart one was wayyyy over priced. S thankfully pointed out that Michael's had one one sale. And we got her. Please take this video tour of our yard Christmas display:



(why yes, I did fall off the curb at the end there, have I never mentioned that I am a klutz before?)

It was a tossup what to name the elephant. Did we name her Hannah knowing that I call them hannahunts? But we decided Eloise the Elephant was a more accepted sentiment.

Our first Christmas tree was my favorite Christmas tree ever. We were beyond broke. I went out and bought a string of 50 white lights and stapled them to a spot on our wall in the shape of a tree. It was so cute :)

Since then we have used fake trees. I hate fake trees. When my family started using fake trees I even went so far as to hide some of the branches under my bed thinking my mom would just give up and go buy a real tree. It didn't work.

Jenn and I decided that we would save a little money and use fake trees...until there was a child in the house. We didn't want our children to know of fake trees. We wanted the fun tradition of going out and cutting them down. Drinking hot chocolate and eating chocolate chip cookies. Last year on my favorite holiday-December 26th...Christmas sale shopping day-we bought a tree stand. I was pregnant, safely in the 2nd trimester, there would be a baby next Christmas and we needed a real tree stand.

But with no baby...what should we do? We still wanted to do the real tree. But we kept putting it off. We just weren't ready. Taking it a step at a time was good for us.

One day on the way home from the hospital I saw a tree lit up in someone's front window and started bawling. I want a tree, I cried to Jenn. Okay, we will get one. But I want a blue tree. Okay, you want a blue spruce...you got it.

No. I want blue lights and blue ornaments and a blue skirt. A Blue tree. Jenn thought it was a brilliant idea. I went shopping the next night for all the things we would need. I bought balls of different shades of blue and some glittery, and different sizes...I bought blue lights...I bought it all.

Sunday we went out and find our tree. Again taking this a step at a time we didn't go out and cut it down ourselves or drink hot chocolate or eat cookies. We found a lot and found the most perfect tree. In the sun the bottoms of the needles shown blue. It was the perfect height, and perfect width and just plain perfect.

Now...we have no experience with real trees. Neither of us ever really paid attention when our dads put up the real tree. Had no idea what to do. This created much laughter.

The tree kept falling over. Instead of helping Jenn I laughed until I cried and then took pictures.


We finally got it all figured out and began decorating it.



And if I do say so myself...we have the most beautiful Christmas tree ever.

Blue's Christmas tree:

Mingo Monday

Friday night we arrived home after Macing 2008 (hopefully this does not imply that there will be a Macing 2009 or any other year) and what to my wondering eyes would appear?? A package, that must have been left by some reindeer!!

I raced into the house as fast as could be to open it. I like packages.

I opened it up and found the most beautiful things. A tackalicious pink Christmas tree (although I don't see the tacky in it, I just think it is perfect!!!), a Santa and flamingo ornament, and the cutest ever little flamingo print.

They made me melt. The beautiful gifts were sent to my by B and K. These two wonderful women have become Jenn's and mine's rocks. They are always just a phone call or text away...always ready to listen, or kick my butt in a game of MarioKart or chase me around in circles and laugh at me in Animal Crossing. I'm telling you the Wii wi-fi connection is wonderful for connecting us to our friends, who we have never met (hopefully soon???!!!???).

Thank you both so much. Thank you K for calling to check my tackyometer to see if there was anything to tacky for me. Thank you for picking out these wonderful presents. You didn't need to do that. I am just as thankful for you. Thank you B for making sure they got in the mail. You liar. (she called for our address to "send a Christmas card")

Do I have any pictures of these wonderful gifts? Um, have you not ever read my blog?? Here they come!

All three:


The awesome flamingo print:


The perfect flamingo ornament:


Thank you so much. I don't have the words.

It appears that Lyz and I married a set of eternal frat brothers.

So...remember the pumpkin guts drinking dare? It is something quite common between Jenn and Chris. They (usually Chris) think of something stupid and dare the other (usually Jenn) to do it.

One night in the hospital room they noticed the smelling salts taped to the bathroom door. Chris wondered aloud what they really smelled like. I said I didn't think it was bad, but they had been used on me for their actual purpose.

Chris was up out of his chair trying to figure out how to pop it open faster than lightening. And just as swift had Jenn agreeing to sniff it for him. He sniffed it too, also forcing it upon Lyz. I got a free pass as I have been there done that before.

Did you know there is a natural next step to take after you have sniffed upon the foul odor smelling salts?

No?

Me either. But apparently the idea of shoving foul smelling substances up your nose will lead right into the idea of spraying each other with mace.

Yes, mace.

While Chris was in the police academy he had to get sprayed with pepper spray, it was one of the tests he had to pass. So, like me getting my free smelling salts pass, Chris did too.

That leaves Jenn. Chris's birthday was yesterday. For one of his birthday presents Jenn allowed him to spray her in the face, with mace.

We all lined up outside to watch the process and had Joni call Jenn's name...and then he got her. But that wasn't enough. She didn't react. We were all bored. Very anticlimactic. So...he sprayed her again.

BULLS EYE!

This time it worked. There was a string of foul words (that I mostly cut out of the video, fear not, I think I only missed one). There was much spitting and drooling and blowing of the nose. Two puffy red eyes. One Jenn standing in the shower with a tee shirt on, with no hot water, only the cold, spraying herself in the face. One Heidi standing right outside the shower fully dress, and drenched. And much, much laughter.

Some pictures:

She spent half the time outside, post macing, begging for a towel to wipe her face, and the other half begging for more cold water spray. (It isn't Windex, it was just an empty bottle filled with cold water)


Chris laughing while Dennis videotapes the scene.

Sitting in the shower trying to get some relief.

The aftermath.

Videos--be reminded the that first one has one swear in it...

The baby's here the baby's here!!

**Warning...this post does include lots of newborn baby pictures**

So, sorry for the lack of a mingo monday this week, I was preoccupied!!! Lyz's c-section was scheduled for 1pm on Monday December 8th.

Lyz is one of those uber-patient people that does not want to know the sex of the baby until that magical moment when the Dr. says "Its a _____". But that ruins some of the fun for Lyz, since she is in recovery when Chris goes out to the waiting room and announces to the family that mom and baby are healthy, and that the baby is a_____.

So, Avery, Joni, Dennis, Jenn and I were kind and semi-patient and waited until Lyz came out of recovery and could introduce us to the baby herself. That was really really really hard. See, we saw Chris come down the hallway with a big beautiful smile on his face, and had to cover our ears and yell "LALALALALLAALALA" to remind him. He took other family members into the hall around the corner and told them and showed them the video and pictures. Then they all came back. And they all knew. And Jenn and I did not know. (Joni and Dennis had Avery at the mall keeping her occupied.)

In case you don't know...I HATE SURPRISES. With a passion. No surprise parties. I don't even like gifts and will go to all sorts of lengths to find out what people may have bought for me. It's bad. Very bad.

I shall give you our personal guesses on what the baby was going to come out as. From very early on I had determined that the baby was a boy. Constantly calling the baby him or he. The last time Lyz was in the hospital I was there when they gave her a very longl ultrasound. They went over that area so many times, I was sure I would have seen a penis if there had been one, but never saw one. And I changed to not being sure, but still leaning towards a boy. It just seemed like Lyz and Chris were going to have a boy.

Jenn never stopped doubting that the baby is a boy. Even elbowed me when a family member said he.

So....after waiting several eternities we were escorted back to the room where Lyz was waiting for us, without the baby. We hugged and chatted. Remember how I've told you that Lyz has the highest pain tolerance of anyone I know...she proved it again. This time they gave her a spinal so she didn't feel the c-section thank goodness. But she still looked radiant and showed no sign of pain what-so-ever.

Finally the nurse brought the baby in. Every time a nurse would come in we would all freak a little and remind them NO PRONOUNS!!! Joni, Dennis, Jenn and I turned our backs, and Avery sat on the bed next to Lyz so that Avery could meet and hold her little sibling for the first time.



As the nurse left the room she told Lyz "I'll be back in a few minutes to show you how to use the bulb syringe on her."

And that is how after waiting a million hours we found out that the baby is a girl.

A beautiful 10 pound 2 ounce, 20.5 inch long picture perfect little baby girl. Her name is Delaney Leuck. Delaney is after Chris's father Delmar, and Leuck is for Lyz's grandfather who just recently passed away.

What?? You want pictures?? Oh baby I've got about 8 million of them, coming right up!!

Avery meeting her little sister for the first time:


Mom and Delaney:


Baam and her newest granddaughter: (aka Joni)


I don't have any of Chris and Delaney in this set for some reason, so I'll show off Jenn and Chris celebrating instead:


Jenn and Delaney:



(I couldn't decide which I liked better, so you get them both)

Delaney, Avery and I:


Avery was a wonderful big sister. She made Delaney her very first birthday cake:

(out of playdough of course)

Jenn was given the honorable task of making sure that Avery got enough attention, which is Jenn's favorite task in the world. They had the playdough and a dinosaur coloring book that kept the two of them content.

There was also a little playroom at the end of the hallway and on one of their walks to it Avery looked up and asked Jenn "Am I still your favorite." "Yes, but I'm going to love and play with Delaney too" "Okay, as long as I'm still your favorite.

Avery screamed and yelled and bawled when it was time to go home. She wanted Delaney to come home with her. Awwwwwww.

Thank you for calling, texting, Facebooking or emailing us wishing us well on Monday. It wasn't difficult like I thought it might be. I cried more driving to the hospital than I did holding the baby. It was simply too happy of an occasion to let my own woes hold me down. We did lose it a little at one point, but that was totally expected.

Welcome Delaney. I am very much going to enjoy having you for a niece.

So proud of my Jenn!

Today Jenn graduates from college.

I am so proud of you Jenn. So very proud.

You never gave up!!

You are the best!!

You are my favorite teapot in the collection!!

sooo

I'm making the final batch of cookies...the ones that will get judged tonight at the contest...

and Blue Christmas came on the radio.

and I started crying. (happy tears...cause it means Blue is thinking of me while I make these cookies)

and now I can't remember if I put 3 or 4 cups of flour in.

Welcome to the cookie factory

Hi! My name is Heidi and this is my kitchen:

(please just pretend I am wearing a bra)

We are going to make mystery cookies. Here is the recipe:
Mystery Cookies......

1/2 cup butter, melted
3-1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 can condensed tomato soup
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. nutmeg (or freshly ground, 1 tsp)
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. salt
2 cups raisins
2 cups chopped walnuts
4-1/2 cups flour

Mix melted butter and sugar until combined well.

Mix in the eggs.

Add tomato soup and mix well. Stir in the cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt. Then add the raisins and walnuts. Stir.

Mix in flour in one cup increments.

Let the dough sit for 15 minutes. Drop the dough by teaspoon onto greased cookie sheets.

Bake at 350°F for 10 to 12 minutes until golden brown on top. Let cookies cool on sheet for 1-2 minutes, but not longer or you'll never get them off. Transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

Okay, so the story behind these cookies is that I used to absolutley hate tomato soup. With a passion. Gag. I hated anything tomato, except ketchup and spaghetti sauce. I used to whine that I was allergic to them. (In all honesty I do develop a rash when dealing with raw tomatoes, so it's not that big of a lie.) So....one day we went over to my Grandma's (mom's mom) house and she had just finished making a batch of cookies...did I want to try one?

Here's Grandma:

Anywho...I try the cookies. Are they yummy? She asked. Yeppers they were delicious. HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! You just ate tomato soup! She was a wonderful trickster. Always up for a prank on someone. I remember one April Fools day me and my friend Amy had spent the night before at her house and decided to trick her with playdough pancakes and bacon. My darling Grandma ate a few bites and pretended not to get our joke!

Anywho...back to our cookie trial last night. We had too much fun. We really like baking together, maybe we're odd.

Jenn thought the batter first looked like mashed potatoes, or urine snow.
I have to show off my beautiful flamingo pink mixer...Thanks Mom and Dad

Proof that we put the tomato soup in the dough:

A picture of my assistant:

Jenn even bought me new cookie sheets for the special occasion!

Minne even enjoyed the taste testing:

Ready to go in the oven:

Jenn swiped one before they were even cooled!


I will be honest and say that I think they taste awful. They aren't as awesome as my memory was remembering them. Jenn on the other hand thought they tasted totally awesome. Either way, they made it into the finals. It doesn't matter if I win or lose, it matters that I'm playing the game.

Mingo Monday

I love Build-A-Bear. Why yes, I am 31 years old. We used to go all the time with Annabelle. We even made the horsey one to be buried with Jenn's cousin Jenna when she passed away from cystic fibrosis. I have given each one to my mom (a koala), my dad (a frog) and my brother (a bear).

One day while there I mused that I was sad that they didn't have a flamingo. I had signed up for their email updates (I sign up for everyone's email updates, you never know when they are gonna offer a great coupon deal!!) and one day they sent me the email of my dreams.

Build-A-Bear was bringing out a pink flamingo.

We were there the first day it was offered. I was so excited. The employees got a kick out of me! I had to dress her so I got a scrapbooking outfit. She now sits on my craft table and watches over me while I work. She has gone to every crop (when a bunch of scrapbookers get together and work on their scrapbooks over m&ms and gossip) since I got her...even on an overnight crop in Maryland!


a close up of her outfit: