Julie...

...ROCKS!
Thank you SO MUCH for helping me to add our kewl new
EMAIL LINK!

I'm so happy right now,
probably ALMOST as happy as miss Rubes was today
while doing this:


THREE CHEERS FOR TESSIE'S MOM!
Love that little snippet of her calling herself Tessie,
makes me smile just thinking about it.
=)

Toddler Speak Vs. Toddler 'CODE'... (BONUS #11)

*NOTE* Toddler Speak #10 is NOT in any way
related to Toddler Code #10.
Speak is speak & Code is just code...
neither are related other than they were the first ten I could think
of off the top of my head.
Which would then bring us to Mommy Brain,
but that is another post altogether.
*sigh*

TODDLER SPEAK

Care to wager a guess, or two?
(*my favorites)

1. cowapiller
2. pitcha
3. chicken
4. aminals
5. pink
6. haffa
7. pwease
8. vians
9. skech askech
*10. fribbsie

BONUS:
# 11: Amerigerah

Seriously,
I know I'll be just the teeniest bit sad the day she realizes
how to properly say these words...

Toddler speak is SO DAMN CUTE!

Now, on to new things the adults in my life are now
saying (much due to my insistence)
in lieu of their naughty counterparts:

TODDLER CODE

1. spit
2. truck
3. trucker
4. jeepers crow
5. gosh darn
6. oh my gosh/golly
7. silly talk
8. spex
9. spexual
*10. gosh darn trucking trucker

*note that the adult toddler code #10 has only ever had to be used once, thank GOODNESS!

Patriots Perfection...

...IS SO CLOSE EVEN RUBY CAN TASTE IT!
(but first,
let us pause for this impromptu'
"PERFECT" dance!)


hehehehe


Future Patriot's Cheerleader?

Hmmm could be!


So long as they're ok with her moonlighting as a BUNNY during the games!


Amazing what two pairs of socks,
bunny ears,
&
one hell of an imagination can do for a girl!



GO PATS!!!!
MAN IS IT EVER FANF'NTASTIC TO BE FROM BOSTON!
AKA: FAN NATION!
WOOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Adoption Talk + Dinner =

...TOMORROW!
Old family friends of ours are headed over to have a sit down talk about adoption.
Bobby & his wife,
after several failed attempts at IVF,
are now very interested in adoption.
Since I'm the only person they know who has adopted,
it made sense to have them over
&
just talk to them about their options, etc...

Now you KNOW I can't have anyone over WITHOUT feeding them, right?
WELL,
I invited them over for dinner prior to finding out that they were...
(wait for it)
...VEGETARIANS!
WOW,
ok- no problem,
just a new game plan,
cuz I was SO going to make this,
but now?
(not so much)

So,
that having been said,
I've turned my attention to a dinner menu that is sure to please...

Main Course

&

Dessert!

I'm sure I'll take some pics of the finished products but for now,
the links will have to do, k?

It's funny,
I really can only give them insight into my adoption journey to miss Ruby,
which may or may not be helpful depending on how long they're willing to wait to be parents.
With China's wait time frame now bordering 3+ years,
I'm sure they may find that slightly discouraging to say the least.

I will share with them that originally,
my plan was to adopt through M.A.R.E,
(Massachusetts Adoption Resource Exchange)
where you adopt an older child through the foster system.
(and for the record, that plan is certainly NOT gone,
just on a back burner for now...)

If they're willing to adopt an older child,
then perhaps that will be the route for them.
It's just such a personal decision,
that I really can only offer information into my experience
&
hope that that,
paired with a good home cooked meal,
some books to borrow and read,
&
catching up on old times,
that they come away from this with a positive outlook
&
hope for their future forever family.

We'll see.
Keep them in your prayers please,
as I know what a tough time they've been having.
Thanks & I'll keep everyone posted...

I Don't Know...

...about Muzzy?

I know they say that it's an excellent learning tool for language in children,

but after watching it over top to bottom at least twice with miss Ruby,
I just don't know.

It's a little fast paced,
there's not really any good pronunciation help with the words,
no teaching of how to write characters, they're just flashed up on the screen,
and the character 'Corvax' the creepy dude in the black cape type gown?
HE'S SLIGHTLY FRIGHTENING!
Long pointy sharp fingers AND pointy TEETH like knives!
He's creepy & walks with a slow saunter as well as a humped over sinister sort of way.

Just don't see how this is for kids...
perhaps I need more time with Muzzy to feel the love.

Right now?
So not feelin' it.

Anyone out there either buy these for their kids or know someone who has?
All I can say is THANK GAWD I didn't pay the outrageous amount of money for it as my brilliant friend Jen helped me score one through an inter-library loan & it's mine for a week & more if I chose to renew it... THANKS JEN!

If I'd have paid the price they ask for this & had received it sight unseen,
I'd be slightly pissy that THAT'S what my money purchased.
Thank goodness for LIBRARIES!

Sorry Muzzy,
although you're fuzzy
&
my daughter's favorite color,
I still need more time...

Numb...

...I simply can't believe it.
It feels like YESTERDAY that I remember posting THIS.
His words on love touched me in such a way
that they reached a little corner of my heart that not many people know exists.
Thank you Heath... you took the words right out of my soul.

If any of you have yet to see Brokeback Mountain,
please,
in honor of LOVE in every form
watch it.


Heath, may you rest in eternal peace my friend,
you left us much too soon...

*sadness*

Loud & Crazy Family Parties...

...can still have,

their quiet moments.

SO in love with this girl, it's SILLY!

Vick's, Chick Drugs & The Color GREEN!

This little number packs a PUNCH but MAN does it clear the sinuses!
After our visit to the doctor today,
we learned that since the Vick's was successful last night on her chest,
that perhaps this was the better alternative than to slather it on her & around her nostrils.
I couldn't agree more... and truth be told, I am SO breathing easier as I sit here & type this!
Already set it up on my nightstand & have it running so that when it's time for bed,
the room is ready & waiting!

Also, completely unrelated but I have to share...

I don't know WHEN this happened, but OH IT DID!
My whole life, I've never once had to worry about 'female' issues every month.
It came, it went, with little to no fanfare, end of story.
(almost ended that sentence with PERIOD, but figured that was too cheezy, evenfor ME!)
hehehe
*wink*

SO, that having been said... as of late,
(late meaning within the last few months or so)
Now when I am feeling like a woman each month,
It's more like a woman who's just been mugged by a thug brandishing a sledgehammer,
who chose to hit my lower back with the accuracy of a sharpshooter & then left for dead!
Good times, right?

NOT!
But,
it is what it is,
and I have discovered something that I am now
IN
LOVE
WITH
&
need to have in this house at
ALL
TIMES!

Allow me to introduce you to my new little friend...

WOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOO
THEY SHOULD CALL THIS SHIT PAIN BE GONE,
CUZ THAT'S WHAT IT DOES!

PAIN?
BE GONE!

*grin*
Now not only am I flying high off Vick's Vapor FUMES,
but I'm officially an advocate for CHICK DRUGS!
ROCK ON!

Now if I could just manage to gently wake my sleeping girl up...
(fell asleep on the ride home from Target)
Dinner is ready & I know she's going to be ravenous when she finally does wake up.
But not only is dinner ready but I also don't want her sleeping so much that she then refuses to go to sleep for me tonight. She gave up her naps more than six months ago, completely.
So, now, when she falls asleep like this, I KNOW she isn't feeling good.
Perhaps the aroma of the pasta & broccoli is lost
due to the overwhelming fact that my house is beyond overcome with the scent of VICK'S!

hehehe

Oh, and one last little tidbit...
Miss Ruby scored herself a pair of THESE while at her beloved Target...


...to say that she is excited would be an understatement.
I so love that her favorite color is GREEN!
*smile*

Bedtime Snorter...

...brought to you by:
A hot bath,
Vicks VapoRub
&
a
SERIOUS
case of the
GIGGLES!

*grin*

Good Times...

...are almost always SILLY times!

A Near Perfect Day...

...I say near perfect, because my girl is suffering through a HORRIBLE cold,
other than that, today was?
PERFECT!

Don't get me wrong, I could spend every day, every waking minute with my girl.
However, I'm pretty sure that spending all those moments inside the four walls of our playroom,
just aren't as exciting for her as they are for me.
Yes, I'm a homebody, always have been,
but that doesn't mean that my girl should have to be OR wants to be, right?

So today I asked Ruby if she'd like to go to our local 'Children's Museum'.
It's little, it's simple, but it's local (next town over)
and best of all, because they're affiliated with the YMCA,
it's FREE!
Gotta love employee perks!

Ruby had a BLAST!
Here are a few captured moments from today:
(they were taken with my cell phone, so apologies if they're grainy...)

Fire Marshal Ruby to the rescue!



Have you ever seen a cuter firefighter?!

Look! It's one of those rarely seen, adorable Asian Giraffe's!

They're fast runners & always on the move...



...so lucky to catch THIS one mid run!

Oooh, all this playing has made me hungry!
Good thing I've made some great new friends to help me in the kitchen!
(L2R: Molly, Rubes & Connor. Photos posted with parents permission)

After a busy fun filled day at the Children's Museum,
a toasty 'Bear' nap was in order.
What you can't see from this picture isn't what you can see with the eye, but it's what you would be able to hear if you were in the same room... my wheezing stuffed up breathing from this HORRIBLE cold.
Tomorrow, we have a date with our family doctor at quarter of 2.
Until then...
Shhh...

Tuesday's With Uncle Steve...

...ARE BACK!
For the month of December & the first week in Jan, we had to do 'Uncle Steve' nights on Thursday. COMPLETELY messed with my mojo... SO now we're back on our regularly scheduled night & bringing you a DELICIOUS NEW RECIPE TO WARM YOU DURING THESE COLD WINTER NIGHTS!

Italian Chicken Noodle Soup


Ingredients:
12 cups chicken stock
4-5 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 large Spanish onions chopped
3 cloves garlic chopped
6-8 celery stalks chopped (leaves & all)
1 pkg baby carrots cut into bite size circles
4 large boneless chicken breasts roughly chopped (larger pieces)
2 cans of: diced tomatoes (brand of your choice, mine is pictured)
1 palm full Italian seasoning
1 palm full dried thyme (not ground)
Salt & fresh ground pepper (to taste)
1 palm full Bell's Seasoning (the kind people use on stuffing at Thanksgiving)
1/2 lb of Barilla ditalini pasta
(ONLY the half pound IF you intend to eat the HUGE pot worth...
otherwise, for a smaller pot to be eaten that evening, 2 to 3 hand-fulls of pasta ONLY.)


EVOO in bottom of large soup pot over medium heat.
Add onions & garlic, saute for five minutes or until slightly transparent.


Add salt, pepper & Italian seasoning


now add a palm full of Bell's seasoning,


and a palm full of dried thyme,


& stir.


Now add your celery,


& stir again...


Now toss in your chicken pieces,


& again, stir...


Now add your two cans of diced tomatoes...

*I like two different kinds, one has wine & the other more Italian seasonings...
obviously feel free to pick two that your family enjoys!*


1st can...


...2nd can!


You know what comes next...
STIR!


Now add your chicken stock.


Then last but not least, add your carrots...


...mmm doesn't that look YUMMY!
(oh cuz it SO is!)
hehehe


Turn the heat down to low, for me that's 3 on my stove,
all stoves are different, so you be the judge...


Cover & walk away.
Here is the part where, if I were motivated to do so, I'd clean something.
But I wasn't, so I just played with miss Ruby instead.
*grin*
hehehe


Now, here's the key feature, before you add any pasta, section out an amount that you KNOW you're going to eat that night.
Put that into a separate smaller pot & return that small pot to the low heat.
Remove the BIG pot from the heat & just cover & let come to room temp.
(to put in fridge for another day...)


Oh yeah, I know your mouth is watering...


Now, to that smaller pot, you are going to add your pasta, UNCOOKED.
REMEMBER, ONLY 2-3 HANDFULLS FOR THE SMALLER POT!
(so forgot to mention that the first time around, my bad!)

It'll take 20 minutes on that low heat to cook within the soup.
The reason I don't cook all of it in the huge pot is simple... pasta absorbs liquid.
If I put this whole box into that whole pot, which I could have easily done,
I would have to be sure that the whole pot were about to be enjoyed by several football teams.
Leftover soup is fine but you don't want leftover soup with PASTA in it.
You want leftover soup WITHOUT pasta so that is why we put the large pot aside for another time & only put the pasta in the small pot.
It's a sneaky way to make soup last the longest & taste the FRESHEST!


Once you add your uncooked pasta,
cover pot & stir every so often until it's done.
(about 20 minutes)



Freshly grate some imported parmigiano reggiano cheese,
sprinkle over hot soup
&
MANGIA TUTTI!
hehehe

Ok, all this talk has made me hungry
&
Uncle Steve just arrived!

Bye everyone-
SOUP'S ON!