Thursday 13 #5

Thirteen Things that i have already bought as gifts for people this year i will not be listing gifts bought for those who might read my blog - too bad!! 1. sweater for mother in law. her b-day is actually 12/23, so i still need to get her a birthday gift too. and i really want to get her something great, because of the whole kitchenaid mixer thing!! 2. set of yummy body butter lotions for neice #1. spent $10 on her, and jerry thinks that's too much, because she really is a very spoiled and snarky girl. but hey, it's christmas. 3. set of lip glosses for neice #2. ditto for above. these girls are 18 and 15, and are very materialistic and snotty. so why spend tons of money on gifts that won't be appreciated? they have their parents to do that. 4. toe socks and earrings for nieces #3 and 4. the younger neice, and "step-niece". young enough to appreciate silly cute girl gifts. 5. cologne for nephew. the step nephew, who is a teen and what on earth do you get for a teenage boy that isn't electronic and costs $100? 6. subscription to smugmug - online photo hosting site for brothers in law. it really is a nice gift, since they have no where to post their pictures, they just print them out at the store. 7. soduku (sokudo?) book for my mom. she never wants anything, so i always have to get her something small anyway. and she does this number puzzle thing on the bus to work everyday in the paper. 8. fruitcake for father in law. don't worry, he really does like fruitcake! i haven't actually bought it yet - i'm going to make one. 9. playmat/activity center thing for sadie. she's going to love it - i just hope i can keep aidan off of it. 10. puzzles for aidan. he's so cute when he does the sign language for puzzle. two "thumbs up" signs bumping together. 11. well, that's about all i can list, because anything else might be discovered by prying eyes! 12. i guess the knife set i bought could technically count for a present for me, since it was on my list. 13. when jerry bought his rifle a few weeks ago, i told him "merry christmas" so as far as i'm concerned, i'm done shopping for him. mostly. i stil need ideas for the kids!! what do you buy 15 and 10 year old boys, who already have everything? Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. chickadee 2. aimee 3. chupie&j's mama

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

doh!!

You Failed 8th Grade Geography

Sorry, you only got 5/10 correct!

Could You Pass 8th Grade Geography?

how much do i suck!?

works for me wednesday #4

i think it's number 4....

anyway, this is my christmas shopping list tip. starting in november or so, i keep a folded piece of paper with the names of everyone who i'm buying a gift for, in my wallet. whenever i think of a good gift idea for someone, i'll take it out and write it next to their name. i'm one of those "ideas-come-to-me-at-odd-times" kind of people, and if i don't write them down, i can never remember what my great idea was!!

so this way, i have a running list of ideas for each person, so when i actually go shopping, it saves me from wandering the store looking for something to grab my attention. then when each person is bought for, they get checked off.

maybe it's simple, but it works for me.

exciting news!

ok, it's not biiig news, but for those of you who read my last thursday 13, you know i wished for a kitchenaid mixer for christmas.

well, we were at my mother in law's house for thanksgiving, and we were talking about present ideas, going through the ads, wondering whether or not we really want to get up at 5 am to go get great deals on various electronic items, etc. i told her i was going to go to kohl's at 5 am to get a stand mixer - it was $100 off!!

she said, don't bother, i already have one that i don't use, and you can have it.

!!!!!!!!!!!!

she bought one at a mervyn's clearance last year, and she didn't like it, b/c it is too heavy to pull out every time she needed to mix something, and she doesn't have room on her counter to leave it out.

so she just gave it to me!! 10 speeds and 4 quarts of mixing bad assed-ness!!

she's a wonderful woman.

i already used it twice, to make beer bread and meatloaf on saturday. when i called her and told her, she said, "poor mixer, it's going to wish i never gave it away, it has to do so much work now!"

anyway, i love it! one christmas wish out of the way. oh, and i bought some new cutting boards and i knife set (1/2 off at jc penney!) this weekend, so that's two more off the list...i guess i neeed to make a new list! ;-)

squeaky wheels in Pearland!

So i just got an email from a friend of mine alerting me to the fact that our little town of Pearland is succumbing to the growing American disdain for Christianity by re-naming the Christmas Parade the "holiday parade", where there will be a Tree Lighting with "holiday carolers". give me a breaaaaak!!

why do i and all my neighbors have to stop being Christians just because there are some atheists living in our city too? I don't know of any muslims or Jews or Hindus who are upset about Christmas - they understand that we worship one way, they do it in another, and we're all cool. it's those who believe in no God who can't stand for anyone else to have a spiritual life. i could go on and on, but instead, here is the response i wrote to our City Council:


Dear Mr. Mayor and the Pearland City Council,

I received the attached email from a friend, who encouraged us to voice our opinions to you all as well. No doubt you have already received numerous additions to the sentiments below.

I, too, am upset about your decision to “de-Christ” Christmas celebrations here in Pearland. By attempting to avoid offending a small group of people who hate religion, you have succeeded in alienating and offending the vast majority of Pearland residents. Once again, the squeaky wheel has gotten the grease, and politicians have become cowards who do not stand up for their own values or the values of those who voted them into office. While you’re at it, Christmas falls on a Monday this year; why don’t you all show up to work that day, to avoid offending anyone who might not agree with the City of Pearland Offices celebrating the Christian holiday?

Can you honestly tell yourselves that you’ve accomplished a greater good by making this decision? Are you really representing your constituents? Do you honestly believe that anyone will be truly and deeply wounded because the City of Pearland hosted a Christmas Parade? Why not include celebrations of other faiths, if diversity is what you’re after, instead of becoming one more American entity striking out at Christianity at the behest of those who detest our freedom of religion? After all, the Constitution protects our right to worship as we choose and prevents the State from forcing us to worship in a certain way; it does not prohibit displays of faith by any one or any entity.

Have courage. Have faith. Do what you know is the right thing to do to properly celebrate this season.

I pray for God’s guidance for you and all leaders of our country.

Peace be with you,

Carrie *****
Resident, Taxpayer, and Voter


What do you think?

busy day

so we took a trip to the grocery store today - mom and babies. aidan actually behaved rather well. i figured if i don't rush, and let him stop and look at and touch stuff, he won't have a meltdown if i try to pull him away from something he's interested in. and he gets to explore and learn on the way. so it was pretty enjoyable.

i've been cooking for the past 2 hours. i made three complete meals for a coworker. this is just terrible. she is my age, with two kids. her husband was just diagnosed about 2 months ago with brain cancer. they found a malignant tumor in his head, and he has been undergoing chemotherapy for the past few weeks. she has been working 1/2 days for a while, trying not to use up all her fmla time, so she can still care for him.

i seriously don't know how she's holding it all together. she says the doctor gives him 6 months to a year to live. i feel like crying every time i think about that.

how blessed we are! i am so thankful for every moment God gives me with my family.

anyway, please pray for lisa and david and their family.

back from the almost dead!

so finally on friday, i was done with the fever part of being sick. still coughing and hacking, but at least i'm not alternating shivering and sweating. and now this week, i am on blessed vacation!! staying home with the kiddos. i haven't had a vacation from work for any holidays for three years - i've either been saving time off to have a baby, or depleted of time off from having used it to have a baby. but this year, i have 6 total vacation days to split between thanksgiving and christmas. i'm so excited! i get to play at being a stay at home mom this week.

so on to the catching up part. last night, jerry and i cut aidan's hair. you've seen the long hair hippie boy in recent posts (i'd link to the pic, but i haven't figured out how...)

well, just a little background on my boy - he hates to have his hair cut. i mean, screaming, spitting, writing, crying, bloody murder kind of hate. i don't know where he got this insane fear. it doesn't matter if it's a stranger or us, scissors or clippers, he just absolutely freaks the hell out. last time i took him to get a haircut i had to sit in the chair and hold him, and we both ended up covered in spit, snot and hair. i swore i'd never take him again.

so yesterday i bought a kid clipper that is supposed to be quiet. we played with it first, and daddy pretended to cut his hair with it, and we buzzed it on our hands and his hands to try to make it non-threatening. no go. he was already squirmy and saying nononononono no no no! so we had to just go ahead and hold him. at least it wasn't in public again though. so look at all the beautiful hair we took of his head!!


and the final result? a very short, but cute cut, but with a few longish pieces that i'll have to try to get with a pair of scissors while he's taking his nap....


on to more fun with the crazy son. he played outside for over an hour today. sadie and i sat out on the porch and watched and played with the dogs for a while, then went inside. i just left the backdoor open while he was outside, so he could come in and out. that's one thing i love about houston - it's so beautiful ouside, we can open windows and doors, and turn off the a/c for most of the month of november, and probably half of december some years. but i digress. we have a big metal tub in the back, full of water for the dogs. it's easier than filling up their small bowls every day, and it's a foot or so deep, so it stays cooler in the hot hot summer. i dumped it out while we were outside today, because adian had thrown a jar of bubbles into it, and i didn't want any messy doggy indigestion issues. so when it was nice and full of clean, cold water, i went back inside. came out a few minutes later to find aidan stripped down and sitting in the tub. i laughed so hard at my silly little hick boy. so i let him splash around a little while, then hauled his chilly butt out of there.

anyway, it's lunch time for me and the munchkins. see you later!

thursday 13

Thirteen Things on my Christmas List

i'm not expecting to recieve all of these things, but it never hurts to ask!

1. a stand mixer. wow they are expensive. like $250!! but they are cool, and i could get a pasta maker attachment!! i can dream...

2. a new knife set. i used to sell cutco knives in college, so nothing else will ever be good enough. of course, they are crazy expensive too, so i'll probably get some henckles or chicago cutlery. but i need some, all of mine are dull.

3. books to read on the bus to work. anything will do, but i'm partial to fluffy romance books these days!! maybe even a crossword puzzle book.

4. earrings. i haven't worn earrings in years, but now that my hair is short, many people (especially the stylish ones) at work are telling me i need to wear earrings now since you can see my ears. and i do like how they make me look a little more put together. i just don't have enough.

5. a new comforter/bed set. with shams, bedskirt, etc. a pretty one, all cotton, with 200+ thread count sheets. this is a real possibility.

6. new everyday plate set. the stuff we are using now is a mixture of jerry's and mine from before we got married. when we moved into this house 2 years ago, half of each set got broken. so we've been using whatever, just mixed and matched. i'd like one full matching set.

7. no more shower gel/lotion sets please. it's the most impersonal gift you can give a woman these days. that or maybe candles. put some thought into it, please.

8. an ipod or other mp3 player. everyone in the family has one, except for me. i haven't seen the need for one, until jerry left his in my car, and i really liked being able to choose music i listen too, instead of being subject to the radio. confession: my car is a 1996 honda odyssey, so it only has a tape player. and i, of course, have no tapes.

9. a swing set for the kids. i know, it's not a gift for me, but if i want it on my wish list i can have it. they would love it, and would love not having to wait until we go to the park to swing.

10. perfume. i'd like some estee lauder beautiful. or coco chanel.

11. a new tv and dvd player in our bedroom. we have an old tv, but it keeps turning off by itself. i think it's about dead. we also lost the remote, and neither one of us is about to hop out of bed to change the channel. so this tv rarely gets used. and i would be nice to watch some tube in bed, especially when the males in the house want to watch wrestling or criss angel or disney channel, and i want to watch a ball game. how backward is that!?

12. a big toy chest for the babies' room. for me. to get all these toys out of the living room. or at least some of them.

13. peace on earth. no, not really. i'd settle for some new cutting boards and a mini loaf pan.

so what are you wishing for this year??

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!
leave me a comment, and i'll put your link here!
my 2 cents


mama duck


chupie&j's mama


butterflykisses


aimee


kelli




Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

uuggh.

sorry no works for me wednesday today.

i am sick sick sick.

fever and coughing up gross stuff.

thank god for cha cha, our nanny. she took the babies out and over to her house for the day, so i can sleep in peace. i've been ny-quilled up all day, and getting some much needed rest.

tomorrow will be better. it has to be.

halloween pics and other stuff

sadie the fairy princess!


aidan the elephant!

finally got these downloaded....

aidan really didn't like wearing the costume - he loved looking at it though, and saying "fuh fuh!" (his word for elephant...)

he had a lot of fun giving out candy at the door... more so than going out gathering it. and sadie just smiled and laughed all night. she really enjoys seeing people, so the constant stream of new faces really excited her. so much that she spit up all over her pretty dress. but, it's nothing a little hand washing won't take care of.

so this weekend we went, kind of on a whim, to the renaissance festival. jerry, noah, me, and the babies. aidan was very excited to see a real "fuh fuh", and we even got to ride it! the ride lasted all of about 45 seconds, and cost $4. i do love ren fest, but it is really a money trap. kind of makes me glad we didn't get there until 2 pm. sadie did really well, too. again, i think the steady stream of interesting people and faces just captivated her. she is so smiley. and apparently, she really is beautiful - i'm not just biased!! people were constantly stopping and telling us how pretty she is. lord help us when she gets to be a teenager. jerry's going to have her dressing like a quaker to discourage the boys...

on the way home from the festival, we stopped by my sister's house to see their new place. such a pretty house! and i'm glad i got to see it finally, since they've been back in town for months. anyone who is not familiar with houston doesn't realize that even though two people may say they live in houston (my sister and i, for example) we really live over an hour apart. when people who aren't from here ask where you live, it's kind of pointless to say "pearland" or "pasadena" or "cypress" because no one knows where the suburbs are. you just say houston, and are done with it. it's just funny, because there are some states that you can't even drive one direction for an hour without leaving the state itself.

anyway, apparently, my sister and her husband read my blog sometimes, so that's cool. two more readers than i thought i had. hi guys!

so i should quit writing, and get to work. my boss is out today, which is going to make it really hard to actually accmplish anything....did i tell you i'm a slacker?

happy monday.......

Thursday 13

Thirteen Things I'm Stressing About

these are things i stress about - some that probably shouldn't bother me, and others that are probably fairly common.....

1. money. don't have enough, and the money we do have, are we spending it wisely and in the right place.

2. time. as above, there's never enough, and i wonder sometimes if i spend it where it needs to get spent.

3. my weight. part of me says i know i'll never be a size 6 (or probably 8) again, so why even try. the other part of me says that with a little actual effort, anything is possible!! i don't know which part is right.

4. my teeth. i haven't been to the dentist in ages. ok, for about 6 years. actually, i went about 2 years ago, but the dr. said they couldn't clean my teeth b/c it had been too long since my last cleaning and i needed "deep rooot scaling" which of course wasn't covered by insurance and would cost about $800. refer to thing #1 on this list....needless to say i didn't get it done. so now i worry about cavities.

5. my son's speech problem. i know all kids develop at different speeds, but i worry that i am not doing enough, or doing the right things to help him speak. he has words, just not a whole lot of them, and he mispronounces them or shortens them. the speech pathologist just recommended weekly therapy for him starting asap. he's only 2 1/2, so i don't want to put too much pressure, but i just want him to be able to tell me what he needs, likes, doesn't like, wants, etc!!

6. the holidays. i don't have enough vacation time to take off a week each for thanksgiving and christmas, but our nanny wants to be off for the holidays. i've never had to tell her no since she's been working for us, but i'm afraid i might have to make her choose a holiday, and i really don't want to.

7. the holidays, again. both our parents live in town, and we go through the whole rigmarole about where we're going to have dinner, open presents, and go to mass. honestly, we would rather spend the holidays just with our kids, and not the grandparents, but we don't want to hurt their feelings, either, you know!? i just hate all the driving back and forth, when i really just want to be at home enjoying the day with my kids and hubby.

8. work. i know this sounds silly, but i get to work late (8:30 ish) pretty much every day. my boss has never said anything, and i know she doesn't care as long as my work gets done. and i'm not the only one - my supervisor and a few other people do the same. and i work through lunch almost every day, so it don't even take a lunch hour. but i worry that one of these days it will come back to haunt me somehow, like maybe i'll get passed up for a promotion or something.

9. money again. most relationships have a spender and a saver. i'm the saver. jerry is definitely the spender. we just paid off 2 credit cards a few months ago, and swore that we would use only one, only for emergencies. we (or more accurately, HE) already has put a few hundred dollars of emergency hunting equipment on the card. yes, that stresses me out, because i don't want to be a nag, but come on! as my frined pam loves to say to her husband, you can have all the toys you want as soon as we plant that money tree in the back yard!

10. my mother in law. she can be very warm and friendly to me, and usually is. but she also often has this underlying passive-aggressive way of telling me how to raise my kids that is infuriating. it drives me crazy when she talks to my babies instead of me, like this: "ohh, aidan! why doesn't your mommy want to put socks on you? aren't your feet cold? oh, you're going to catch cold, but mommy didn't bring your socks!!" Or this: "sadie, your mommy carries you around too much! she's going to spoil you for anyone else! you need to learn how to sit by yourself!" all of this while i'm right there in the room, as if i can't hear her. grrrr.

11. my mother. where should i start. instead of listing all the ways she stresses me out, i'll go with the most recent. she is constantly asking about our finances, wanting to make sure we have enough money, are saving enough, have proper retirement funds, asking if jerry is trying to get his child support reduced, etc. jerry wants me to just tell her to mind her own business, and i want to also, but how do i do that tactfully!? (especially since she's not offering any help in this area!)

12. this cold that i have. when i took sadie to the doctor last week, the dr. said sadie can't get a flu shot b/c she's less than 6 months, but that everyone else in the house needs to get one so she's protected. which of course we haven't done. and now i'm sick, and i really really hope it's not the flu.

13. my job. i like where i am, but i'm thinking about getting back into the casework aspect of the probation dept where i work. right now, i'm doing human resources, which has been a nice break from the crazy kids and parents i dealt with for 9 years. but it was what i loved doing, and i sometimes feel like i'm just pushing paper here. i know there's a supervisory position coming up that my boss has actually encouraged me to apply for...but i don't know if it's what i really want to do. if i ever want to get out of the county system and work in the private sector, i should stay here and get more experience.....i don't know. i'm waffling.

so i hope i haven't gotten you all thinking and stressing about your own money, time, mothers, and jobs!

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!
leave me a comment, and i'll put your link here!
chupie&j's mama


carmen


amy


susan


aimee


my 2 cents


gail




Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

works for me wednesday

i'm sure you've all seen them, but my works for me today is the baby bjorn. here's a pic of me with aidan sadie in it - well, mostly it's just a pic of me and the kids.... :-)




love love love this thing. enables me to hold two sleepy babies at the same time. daddy would help, but sometimes only mommy will do.... so it stays in the car, and is the only reason i can get anything done if i have to take sadie and aidan anywhere together. i have friends who use it around the house too, so their babies don't scream while they're vacuuming or whatever. i've had another baby carrier too, an eddie bauer one that i ended up selling on ebay, because it just wasn't as nice as this one. the baby bjorn is soft cotton, easily adjustable, and feels really firm, like i know it's not going to pop open and have my baby spilling out. and i got it as a gift from some college buddies aryn, mary, jen and heid. love you guys!

so - consider that free advertising, bjorn people!

that's what works for me!

don't forget to visit shannon at rocks in my dryer, the hostess of works for me wednesday, for more tips!

follow up on the poll, toddler beds, and other things

since i know everyone is dying to know, i followed the mandate from the people, and did laundry last weekend. i managed to get about 2/3 of the way done. all the stuff we needed, at least. except for the babies' clothes, which i threw in last night. poor aidan, i was trying to get him ready to go in a hurry so we could get to the polling place by 7. he had no clean socks, so i put some mismatched one that were too small on him. couldn't find his new thomas the train shoes, so i put his old used-to-be-white nikes on him. thought i had grabbed the blue sweatpants we just bought him, but when i put them on, they were his old too short ones, but i was a bad, rushed mommy, so i just tugged them down on his hips a little, to cover the tops of his mismatched socks. it's dark outside at 6:30 now, no one will see the difference, right!

so jerry comes home to get us, and i'm all set to go, but he takes one look at aidan and says "why do you have those short pants on him? let me go put some jeans on him...carrie, his socks don't even match! he's dressed like a stepchild! where are his new shoes?"

oh well. at least he took care of all the changing, and didn't harass me too much.

and we made it to vote with about 5 minutes to spare.

in other news, in addition to doing laundry, we did put up aidan's toddler bed, and have attempted to persuade him to sleep in it. the bed was mine when i was little - my dad made it and a matching one for my twin sister. she has the other one. so right now, it's just plain white, as we figured the original rainbow on the headboard did not suit our son. when we get it decorated, i'll post a pic.

anyway, the first night, we let aidan stay up late to get him good and tired, so he'd fall asleep easily. he fell asleep watching movies with his brothers, so putting him in bed was fine. he sleeps like a tornado though, so he fell out of the bed twice. i'm downstairs in bed, and i hear this THUMP-waaaaah! so i run upstairs and he's tangled up in his blanket, still half asleep. good thing the bed is very low to the ground. i put him back in bed, and he's snoring again right away. once more this happens, then finally at about 2:00 am, he woke up, got out of bed, came downstairs and stood whining by my side of the bed until i pulled him in with me. tornado time in bed with us, and jerry and i both are subjected to feet in the ribs all night. similar experiences on sunday night. monday night he wasnt' as tired, but i was. i tried to get him to stay in bed by sitting next to it and laying my head on his pillow next to his. bad idea. you guessed it - i fell asleep sitting next to the bed, while aidan hopped in and out of bed and finally went back downstairs to play on the computer with daddy. jerry came upstairs about 45 minutes later, laughing at me. he woke me up, and said, ok honey, aidan won this time. aidan 1, mommy 0. let all go to bed, and we'll try again tomorrow night. needless to say, i had a horrible crick in my back yesterday!!

but last night went really well. let him stay up late again, but this time i put him in bed still awake but very drowsy. sat next to him, sang his little bedtime song, and he fell asleep, and stayed in there all night til 5:30 am! what a big boy!!! a few more nights of that, and maybe we can move sadie to the crib, and finally have our room back!!!

one of these days i'm actually going to download pics from halloween too, so y'all can see my cute cute kiddos. ah, well, i'll try to do it tonight.

better quit blogging at work!

vote vote vote!

just a friendly reminder to go do your civic duty and vote today!!!

if you haven't already, do some research on the candidates, and find out where they stand on issues near and dear to you. voting your conscience instead of voting a straight ticket really is important!

one fond memory i have of my parents when i was young, was that on election day, they would take advantage of the duty to go out that night to vote, and make a date night of it. i can remember them dressing nice and going out to vote and to dinner. it made me look forward to doing that same thing as an adult.

we'll have the babies with us, so it won't really be a date night, but we will still make a special night of it tonight.

polls close at 7 pm! go do it!

what kind of food?

got this from chupie&j's mama's site

i totally agree!

You Are Mexican Food

Spicy yet dependable. You pull punches, but people still love you.

What Kind of Food Are You?

weekend!

there's so much to do, and i need some help deciding where to start....so take my poll!

what task should i tackle this weekend? put up aidan's toddler bed and paint the babies' room address the 3 foot high pile of dirty laundry find my kitchen countertops underneath all the clutter make and freeze baby food for future use make and freeze grown-up food for future use wash the dogs    Free polls from Pollhost.com

Thursday 13

Thirteen Things I Love about Jerry



So my last post i was complaining about jerry and his lack of baby help. and last night i kind of attacked him for something else, which is uncharacteristic of me, and wasn't really called for. he's really wonderful, and i'm thankful to have him for my husband, so i feel obliged to list these reasons why:

1. he's funny!
2. he's sexy - he doesn't think so all the time, but i do.
3. he's intelligent
4. he kills bugs
5. he loves God, and loves to talk about his faith
6. he is strong, and could beat someone up if they tried to hurt me
7. he can fix most things around the house
8. he gets along with almost anyone, and makes friends easily
9. he feels comfortable in almost any social situation, and makes others around him comfortable too
10. he asks for and respects my opinions
11. he works hard
12. he loves his kids, and is involved in all aspects of parenting (from diapers to discipline)
13. taking care of his family is his number one priority

and a bonus - he asked my mom first before he asked me to marry him!

i know i sometimes feel overwhelmed and feel like he isn't helping me as much as he should. but even then, he does much more than a lot of men, and he makes up for it in a bunch of other ways.

i could go on and on and make everyone sick with his wonderfulness, but i won't.

and that's my thursday thirteen!

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!
leave me a comment, and i'll put your link here!
chupie&j's mama


carmen


amy


clumsyraine



Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

works for me wednesday

the best corn dogs you've ever had!

use popsicle sticks or wooden skewers, and i love to use ballpark franks (because they plump when you cook 'em!)

for the batter:
1 cup bisquick
2 tablespoons corn meal
1 egg
1/3 cup milk
1 tsp paprika
a tablespoon or so of honey - to taste.

this makes enough batter for about 4 dogs - so double it for a whole package.

have a fry-daddy ready, with oil at 350 degrees.

pour the batter into a glass, instead of trying to roll the dogs in a bowl - it's easier to coat them this way.

dip your dogs in the batter, and put them right in the oil for 3-5 minutes, until they're nice and golden.

you can vary the batter a little if you want - the more corn meal you add, the thicker and heavier the coating will be. the bisquick is what makes this batter kind of light and crispy and 10 times better than the corn dogs i remember from the school cafeteria.

enjoy!!!!

time to be carrie and not mommy

so i usually don't complain. or i try not to. but last weekend, i was so looking forward to some me time. jerry had gone hunting the weekend before, and i was home all day with the kiddos by myself. i did enjoy myself, but it just gets, you know, old.

and i suppose i was just a little jealous of his ability to leave for a whole day with no responsibilities and no one clinging to his leg and no laundry to do, and no cooking.

my plan for saturday was this: get up, feed the babies, go for my hair and pedicure appointment at the salon. go shopping for paint and decor for babies' room, get hardware to hang drapes in the living room, go to palais royal clearance sale to find some work clothes that actually fit my post-prego body, go to the grocery store. sounds pretty mundane, but the dreamy part of it is that i get to do it without kids! no searching for a binky, no chasing the 2 year old track star, just on my own time.

well, when i got done with my hair and feet appointment, i made the mistake of calling him. first words out of his mouth: when are you coming home!!?? i paused - didn't hear the baby crying in the background. i asked him if they were awake and giving him problems, and he said, no, she's fine, but i know any minute now she'll start screaming.

what i should have done is just go on about my business and come home when i was good and ready to come home. but i went back to my reality and relieved him of babysitting duties. cleaned the kitchen, threw in a load of laundry, fed the baby, etc etc etc.

how come i don't get a whole day to myself? how come i don't get to spend hundreds of dollars on a present for myself that no one else gets to enjoy, take a whole day away from kids, spouse, etc, and just do something fun with my friends?

answer: because i'm mom. i'm not dad.

i love my husband dearly, but seriously, when i die, i want to come back as a man, and i want to have a wife like me.