Throwback Thursday: Joe Paterno

You knew it was coming.  

I couldn't sit back and not acknowledge that a great man is being buried today.  There's not much to write that hasn't already been written. Thanks for the memories. Thanks for great football. Thanks for supporting Special Olympics. Thanks for dedicating your life to the students and an institution that prides itself in tradition, mostly because of you. Rest in peace Mr. Paterno, today you are in our thoughts and prayers.  

New Use for Old Things #10: Burp Cloths

The common cold has crept it's way into my families noses, throats and lungs.  It has also stolen our sleep and ability to laugh without coughing up nastiness.  We all feel like crap.  And I am one of those people that never has tissues around.  Every time my mom comes to visit, she asks where the tissues are and I have to search for them.  We just don't really need them all that much.  Luckily, I have held onto some of my daughters old burp cloths.  I saved a few that have her name embroidered on them and a few other soft ones, I'm not sure why b/c I won't be needing them for anything but wiping kids noses.  My dad always had a 'hankie' in his back pocket and my husband does have some handkerchiefs he has collected over the years, but the soft plush burp cloth is much more soothing!  I don't particularly like the idea blowing my nose in a piece of cloth and putting it back in my pocket, so for myself, I will stick with tissues.  So glad that I held on to these shmatas , not only for my family but for the environment as well!  TTFN!! 

Birthday Recap

Yesterday was my little princess' 2nd Birthday! It was a nice day, low key.  She was running a low grade fever the day before so we layed (grammar??) low for the day.  I was busy in the kitchen preparing these cupcakes, and this yummy recipe for dinner!  It seemed perfect for the snow/ice we received during the night. After rest time we headed to the mall (gag!) to Build-A-Bear and both kiddos picked a furry friend.  I am not sure why this was what we decided to do for the birthday since I am not shy about proclaiming my hatred for stuffed animals.  BUT, they LOVE them, so I push my disgust aside and do what's best for my precious little angels.  All in all it was a nice quiet day, enjoy the photo tour of my baby girl's 2nd b-day....  TTFN!

Part 1 of Easy Chicken Pot Pie

Yum!

Birthday Girl unsure of her fancy get up

'Washing' their newly stuffed friends, notice birthday girl's fancy duds didn't last long

Happy Birthday!

Liar Liar Pants on Fire

So in my New Year's Resolution I wrote "You know what else is super annoying? I can't find two of the Little People that go in my daughter's Fisher Price airplane.  I know they will turn up when I stop looking for them, this is a lesson I HAVE learned."  Well, I lied.  Every time I have been in the playroom with my kids  I have looked for them.  The little man in the khaki pants has also been missing, Captain Obvious!, and I have been on a tear for him as well.  

This is a problem I have.  When parts of toys are missing, I know about it.  And I stop at nothing to find them.  Well, I use to stop at nothing anyway.  Now, I really have learned that they will turn up when I forget about them for a while.  But when thoughts of them pop in my head, I go on the hunt.  

So, since January 6th, I have tried to put the passengers to the pink Fisher Price Little People Airplane in the back of my mind, but they have lurked, occasionally calling to me to be found :).  So today, my daughter wanted to jump on her trampoline before I left for work.  She used to be a really amazing sleeper, but lately she has been having trouble sleeping through the night and waking up earlier than usual.  But she still goes to be early, so I won't complain.  I appreciate the time with her in the morning, it doesnt happen ofen during the week.  She is just the sweetest thing, with her pacifier (that I KNOW I should be getting rid of any day now) and sniffing her blanket whenever she needs a fix.  Anyway, as I sat down to watch her jump I happened to catch a glance in the bottom shelf of the play kitchen refrigerator.  And lo and behold, there they were!  I was so excited I took a picture.  I also told my son when he got up how happy I was.  I said, "Guess what I found this morning!?, Those Little People I have been looking for!"  He said, "I put them there, I just didn't want to tell you."  Thanks for torturing me for almost three weeks sweetie!  

So, all in all, I am super excited that they are finally able to take their places back in the passenger seats on the airplane and the Zookeeper can get back to his duties.  And, my life lesson about things turning up when least expected is once again reaffirmed :).  

TTFN!!

Throwback Thursday: Narcissistic Facebook Notes

I'm not entirely sure why I was even thinking about those Notes people used to do on Facebook, for example, The ABC's of Me.  So I looked back on my FB account and found a buttload of these things I wrote about myself.  I can't help but laugh, because occasionally my husband will ask what I am writing for and/or about because 'only like 5 people read your blog'  Well, actually since I started this blog, I have a whopping 11, 855 pageviews and my highest for Teacher Appreciation Week at 734 pageviews.  I am no blogging expert but I think close to 12,000 pageviews is pretty damn good.
Back to the Notes, I actually enjoy writing these things because I think they are fun, not because I am obsessed with myself.  And to answer my husband's question about why I blog, it's kind of like therapy.  I write a lot of things that I never even publish because it just feels good to get it out.  So there............

Anyway back to Throwback, check out this old 'Note' on Facebook:

April 21, 2009 (Did I really take the time to write 65 things about myself, jeez!)

1. First thing you wash in the shower? my armpits

2. What color is your favorite hoodie?  red.....red hooded sweatshirt!

3. Would you kiss the last person you kissed again?  many more times

4. Do you plan outfits?  yes

5. How are you feeling RIGHT now?  testy

6. Whats the closest thing to you that's red?  oden's sweatshirt

7. Tell me about the last dream you remember having?  i honestly don't remember the last one

8. Did you meet anybody new today?  No

9. What are you craving right now?  its hard to crave something after consuming an oatmeal creme pie :)

10. Do you floss?  Yes

11. What comes to mind when I say cabbage? that polish dish with meat, i cant remember the name

12. Are you emotional? um, yeah

13. Have you ever counted to 1,000?  probably

14. Do you bite into your ice cream or just lick it?  bite

15. Do you like your hair?  most of the time

16. Do you like yourself?  sometimes

17. Would you go out to eat with George W. Bush?  yes

18. What are you listening to right now?  oden and jeff make funny noises at each other

19. Were your parents strict?  i would say they were conservative

20. Would you go sky diving?  yes

21. Do you like cottage cheese?  Yes

22. Have you ever met a celebrity?  Yes

23. Do you rent movies often?  Yes

24. Is there anything sparkly in the room you're in?  glittery yellow stars

25. How many countries have you visited?  1 (i think)

26. Have you made a prank phone call?  yes, really stupid ones like 'this is the electric co. calling, your refrigerator is running.............'

27. Ever been on a train?  Yes

28. Brown or white eggs?  brown eggs scare me

29.Do you have a cell-phone?  Yes

30. Do you use chap stick?  all the time

31. Do you own a gun?  i do not

32. Can you use chop sticks?  if picking up one grain of rice is considered 'using' then yes

33. Who are you going to be with tonight?  my family

34. Are you too forgiving?  i don't believe so

35. Ever been in love?  Yes

36. What is your best friend(s) doing tomorrow?  taking car of children

37. Ever have cream puffs?  yes

38. Last time you cried?  a while ago

39. What was the last question you asked?  are you going to do that again?

40. Favorite time of the year?  summer

41. Do you have any tattoos? No

42. Are you sarcastic?  me? no

43. Have you ever seen?  The Butterfly Effect?  yes, loved it

44. Ever walked into a wall?  one time too many, even swam into one and broke a tooth

45. Favorite color?  prob. pink

46. Have you ever slapped someone?  Yes

47. Is your hair curly?  No

48. What was the last CD you bought?  I don't buy cd's, but i bought the album rockabye baby bob marley on itunes

49. Do looks matter?  not really

50. Could you ever forgive a cheater?  no

51. Is your phone bill sky high?  No

52. Do you like your life right now?  Yes...

53. Do you sleep with the TV on?  Yes

54. Can you handle the truth?  depends

55. Do you have good vision?  yes

56. Do you hate or dislike more than 3 people?  definitely

57. How often do you talk on the phone?  depends on the day

58. The last person you held hands with?  oden

59. What are you wearing?  v-neck and jeans, standard

60.What is your favorite animal?  big cats

61. Where was your default picture taken?  what is a default picture?

62. Can you hula hoop?  Not for my life

63. Do you have a job?  Yes

64. What was the most recent thing you bought?  groceries

65. Have you ever crawled through a window?  yes

Photo Challenge

I am always up for a challenge, but I definitely can't commit to a whole month's worth.  I stumbled upon this and thought some of them looked fun. So today I share my first Photo Challenge Entry of 2012.  Childhood.  This was easy.  My sister and I spend hours upon hours playing with Fisher Price Little People.  A few years ago, I bid on this set on Ebay and now the kids in my class adore playing with it!  I especially love the camper, there is just something about unfolding it and seeing the little kitchen inside and the yellow canvas roof that brings me right back to childhood!  TTFN!

My New Year's Resolution.......

It's been a hectic couple of weeks here in the Barr household!  I was going to write about what we did over the break, but do you really care??
Having time off from work was wonderful but we were so busy traveling and packing and unpacking, that I feel like I hardly got to enjoy it.  Next year I am definitely going to be making some changes about how we handle the holidays.
Piggybacking on that, I typically do not make New Year's Resolutions, b/c I hate obligations and when I obligate myself to something, ehem exercise, I end up hating and resenting it.  For example, I used to MAKE myself do the Stair Master for 60 minutes (conveniently when reruns of 90210 were on t.v.) a day in high school and I now loathe any form of exercise that is more effort than walking. But this year there is something that I need to change.  I call it the Daily Once Over.  Here's how it goes and you'll see why I need to change it.
Basically my Type A personality, scratch that, I am going to change that. I am a perfectionist, like it or not.  So my perfectionism has me stuck in this horrendous habit of coming home and looking for things that have been moved out of place, broken, or otherwise ruined during the day.  This includes checking the couch and carpet for muddy paw prints, fixing couch cushions, and seeing how many outfits my kids have worn in one day and strewn on the floor, among many other annoying things.  I know I need to stop, but I think it fulfills my need for control that I don't have, not being there all day.  Sick.....but as I have stated in the past, knowing is half the battle......right?
Let me give you a few examples of things that have occurred that have exasperated my Daily Once Over compulsion.  Before the winter holiday, I came home found our Rottweiler ornament (which we got last year after Lux died) was neatly tucked into the tree with one leg (as if I wouldn't notice!).  WTF!?  Three legs were missing, and no one cared to mention this to me.  I was on the verge of tears and my son and I comb the area rug and find her three missing legs.  Luckily some Superglue fixed Luxy's legs right back on, but I was really upset about that one.  This week I had a pack of LipSmackers (we have discussed my love for LipSmacker before) in my room.  NOW, I know I accidentally left them, on the floor, BUT they were in a bag and still in the package Marley Molly decided this would be a fun snack and ate them all, packaging and all.  Again, I found the remnants thrown away, but no one told me.  Is it me or is that super annoying??  You know what else is super annoying? I can't find two of the Little People that go in my daughter's Fisher Price airplane.  I know they will turn up when I stop looking for them, this is a lesson I HAVE learned.

In turn, I find it necessary to come home and do a once over of the home to make sure everything is in working order before settling down and enjoying my children.  This has to stop.  I need to enjoy my children and then deal with household things.  Does anyone else struggle with this??  Why do I even care what my house looks like?  I have two small children and a puppy and no one is even visiting me.

I would like to say that I adore our nanny.  I know I am making it sound like chaos ensues when I am not around, but I think it's actually much calmer when I am not there.  She takes wonderful care of our children and they love her, and so do I.  We are lucky to have someone come to our house.  My issue is that sometimes I don't express my expectations,  so how can she know what I expect?  I need to work on this.......This is nothing new btw.  Been working on this for years.  How can someone know what I expect, when I don't express it?  Then I get all pissed off because they aren't doing what I want, but I never said anything!  That's not a NY's Resolution, that a life change and it's taking me a lifetime to work on it.

So that is my New Year's Resolution.  Stop doing the Daily Once Over.  Come home, play with the kids, feed them hot dogs or chicken nuggets or whatever is easiest, because let's face it, no matter how many great, 'easy' recipes I pin on pinterest, it's not going to happen (and that doesn't make me a bad mom), bathe them, and kiss them good night.  Then leave the mess till the next day.........Ahhhhhhhhhhhh...................
TTFN!