High Rise

While visiting my sister, I discovered that Rhodes, who makes the YUMMIEST rolls, also makes frozen loaves of bread. I decided to give it a try. It's so easy...set it out and as it thaws it does it's rising thing. Well, I let mine rise a bit too much. I almost had to take out the top rack in the oven. :)

It was so good...a bit huge, but still very good.

Our Christmas

Brian, Ben, and I had an absolute blast being at my parents for Christmas. I was able to spend some time with friends, which was so nice. It's crazy how we're all married with kids or prego. Ben was so cute Christmas morning! Do you see how excited he got just opening his stocking? He's holding a tube of tooth paste...yeah, he was pretty excited.

Ben loved his new trike...
(I couldn't crop it down, sorry for the pic quality.)


And his new basketball goal...


Every toy he opened he wanted to play with it before opening another present. He was so excited over everything. Our families were so generous and really enjoyed spoiling him...and Brian and I. :)

Computer Problems

Our computer is on it's last leg. It has a virus...it's five years old so I don't mind getting a new one, I just don't want to lose all our pictures. Hopefully Brian can get an external hard drive tomorrow. I'll post pictures as soon as we figure all of this out! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Little Update

Ben had started waking up in the middle of the night and coming to our room crying. While we were out of town, our friends told us that getting their daughter in a bigger bed (not a toddler bed) really helped out with her sleep. We tried it and I think it's working. The kid goes horizontal on the queen sized bed. I think we're going to try to find a full for his room. Speaking of his room, Brian calls it the room we never use b/c Ben doesn't sleep in there anymore. At least it stays semi-clean, right?

Only a week until Christmas!! I'm so excited!

Santa the Social Worker

December is one of the busiest times for case workers at CPS. We send out our kids' wish lists in November and around the middle of December, the gifts start rolling in. Delivering these gifts takes a small army. Our tiny 10x10 offices are PACKED. I will admit...I want to open them all just to see what my kids received, but so far I've been able to restrain myself. :) People's generosity truly stuns me. These are kids that aren't used to extravagant gifts. Their histories cause them not to have very high expectations. Offices, churches, and individuals "adopt" our kiddos and purchase the gifts on the wish lists. I've had sponsors call me so excited to be "Santa." I really encourage you guys to do the same for a child this year and every year. I have seen the difference it can make in a child's Christmas.

Frozen Veggies

I've already mentioned that it snowed the last two days. Of course, it was back up in the 60s today and the snow is gone. I went out to get dinner last night and came back to find Brian in the backyard building a snowman like a crazy man. The finished product was a four-foot high snowman with bar-b-cue tools for arms. Of course I didn't have any coal or carrots on hand (Brian actually asked if I had them) but I did have a bag of frozen veggies. Our frosty had a broccoli nose and two eyes made out of...cauliflower. :) It really was a good looking snowman.



Ben wasn't too sure about the snow. I think it was too cold for him.



After warming up, Ben entertained us with some DANCING! He's got some moves, although he mainly just jerks and jumps a lot. :)

Bubbles and Snow

Ben was home sick yesterday and we decided to keep him home one more day b/c he ran a fever again last night. I always feel a little guilty when I have to stay home from work for two consecutive days. Silly, right?

Over the weekend, Ben had his first bubble bath that he wasn't afraid of the bubbles. My mother surprised him with bubble bath once at her house and he FREAKED! Anywho...he loves it now.


When we woke up this morning, we realized it had snowed. We live about an hour and a half from the Gulf, so snow isn't that common. Of course it was rapidly melting snow, but still snow, right? Kind of random I thought. (It was also very very windy.)

Happy Wednesday!!

Ay-Chihuahua!

I have always heard that chihuahuas are horrible with kids. Even in the books we got after we got our two chihuahua's there was a child figure with an X over it. :) I'll admit that Ben and Maggie do not always get along. But our little Annie is addicted to love. She just wants to be petted, rubbed, held all the time. Annie is starting to understand that little Ben is a source of attention, not just ear/tail pulling. I walked into the living room and found this:

Ben told me he was petting her. When he would stop, she'd paw at him until he started again. He was so excited. I don't know if I've introduced our puppies yet. This is Maggie, about 3 pounds ago, which is quite a bit for a chihuahua.


Ever since Ben started on table food, leading to food on the floor, she's puffed up.

And this is Annie:


Introducing our attack cat, Tony. You do not want to get on his bad list, let me tell you!

Sugar Shock

Brian, Ben, and I spent the weekend in San Antonio with some friends. I was a bad picture taker and don't have any good ones of Ben and their little girl Abby, but they had a good time. Brian calls Matt, Mateo. Ben couldn't say it so he just called him potato the entire time. They took us to a great, you guessed it, Mexican restaurant on Saturday night. Naomi was just raving about the bean soup. I was very skeptical but kept it to myself. Let me tell you, the most INCREDIBLE soup ever! During the weekend, I was determined to have my friend, who bakes a lot more than me, help me make some fudge. I had previously used an easy, microwave recipe that did not work. Granted I didn't put butter on the foil so if you wanted to eat any, you'd have to be ok with eating a tad of metal. Anywho...so we found a recipe and made some fudge. And I must say, it was delicious. I still don't think I got the texture right, but at least I have more of an idea. Did you know you use marshmallows in fudge?? I sure didn't.

We also made Oreo Balls. Basically you put an entire bag of Oreos in a blender and mix to a fine powder (not as easy as it looks!). We had some issues with it all getting stuck around the sides so there ended up being small pieces of a wooden spoon in the mixture. :) After you blend the Oreos, you add a package of cream cheese and blend it. You make the mixture into balls and dip them in melted almond bark. Almond bark was also a fun discovery this weekend...I have never had the stuff. Well, I probably have but I just didn't realize it. Put the Oreo Balls in the freezer to store. I swear to you, those are the best desserts you will ever have. Seriously, an easy recipe to try. Below are pictures of our sugar adventures. Presentation wasn't a priority.



I just re-read the blog and realized that it's all about food. :)

Losing my MIND!

I have lost one of Ben's blue shoes again. I'm about to lose it!!!!!!!

No night-night

Ben is going through a phase where he will only go to bed for Brian. Tonight, Brian was out running some errands and I was determined to take my time and get Ben to bed by myself. The kid was actually trying to stall, asking for a banana and ice cream. 45 minutes of stories, crying, reading, crying later Brian came home. Ben was in bed and quiet in less than 3 minutes. It's exhausting! I know friends whose children stay up until like 11 p.m. and fight them the entire way to not go to sleep. I honestly don't know what I'd do.

Work has been absolutely crazy. I drove 550 miles yesterday and worked late the last two nights. I have five court hearings in two different counties tomorrow. I'm quite the whiner, aren't I? :)

In other news, Mom bought Ben the cutest wooden nativity set. He loved it! Thanks, Grammy!

The kid refuses to cooperate when taking pictures. He looks kinda mad in this one.

Practical Jokes

I know I have mentioned before how funny I think my husband is...he's stinkin' hilarious! He's the funniest person I know. He also loves playing jokes on people, mainly me. One time he put a dirty diaper under the seat of my car, to which I poured a glass of ice water on him while he was in the shower. Anywho...he was watching YouTube and showed me a video of this guy putting baby powder in his wife's blowdryer and then filming her getting it all over her. Last night, right before going over to some friends' house for dinner, he told me I really needed to hurry up and blowdry my hair. I went in the bedroom, slightly noticed that he had a camera with him. I shut the bathroom door and turned on my blowdryer. Powder went EVERYWHERE, except on me. Brian was very disappointed that he didn't get it on camera and that it didn't get on me. I admitted it was a good joke, but was not too happy when my blowdryer would not blow warm air any longer. :)

'Tis the season...

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with Brian's family. His parents spoiled our little family while they were here. Brian and I are so blessed to have both come from Christian, semi-normal :) families. My mother-in-law and I ended up dragging Ben to a few stores with us on Friday. Friday night he started running a fever, but was all better by the morning. Brian also bought a Christmas tree this weekend. We decorated it today. I gave Ben a box of shatter-proof (aka plastic) ornaments and he had fun shooting those all over the house. But when we asked him to hang some ornaments, his eyes lit up. He had so much fun. This was the first year that he actually helped us out...so special. Anywho...I promise that I won't tell gross potty training stories the entire time we are going through the process, except for this one. Ben told his, um, poop bye-bye when he flushed the toilet. It was so funny!!!

I do not want to go back to work this week. I've really enjoyed having so much time off this month. I really do love this time of year. Hope you have a great start to you week!

I bought new ribbon for the tree this year and I'm really not feeling it. Brian said it looked like a clown's Christmas tree. While we were putting it on, he made circus music and honked his nose.

Wednesday is finally here!

I'm so excited that tomorrow is Thanksgiving! Hardly anyone will be at the office today so I should be able to get tons done. Hopefully there won't be any crises. I started my online Christmas shopping last night. We bought Ben one of those radio flyer trikes...I can't wait for it to get here!!! We were debating on the trike or a power wheel, but decided on the trike. I think Brian is a little disappointed. :) In other news, Ben peed in the potty last night! We made a big ol' deal about it and he got really excited. Kids are so freakin' funny!
Brian has today off and is still sleeping. I'm jealous! Ok, I'm headed to wake the Ben up. Have a great Thanksgiving!!

Work, work, work...

Today I had to travel to San Antonio to see a child on my caseload. She asked if we could go to the "Tower of America's" in downtown.


I'm a sucker sometimes with my kids and if I have the extra time, I'll usually let them talk me into a little something extra. Spontaneous is not really my style...I like having a schedule. Anywho...the park around the tower was absolutely gorgeous...waterfalls everywhere. The little girl, about 10 y/o, loved every bit. She asked if we could eat at the top and I reluctantly agreed, knowing that I was going to have to drop some moo-lah if we went there. Thankfully they had a kids' menu. She was as impressed as a 10 year old could be...even though they didn't serve cream gravy with her chicken strips. The real reason she wanted to eat up there was b/c the tower rotates as you eat. It was so much fun and really beautiful. The best part was knowing that this was special for her as well. So, after I finished my $16 salad, we rode the elevator back down. The kid had the nerve to ask for ice cream...which sounded kind of good. So of course we had some. :) After all of that, I asked her what her favorite part was...she said the ice cream. :)

Breakfast of Champions...or not.

Ben found Brian's stash of powdered donuts. And by "found" I mean that Brian left them out in the living room after a midnight snack. Ben saw them and HAD to have them. So Ben's watching his cartoons and eating daddy's donuts. I'm going to have clean the powered sugar off the couch before Brian gets home! :) Happy Saturday!

No more pity parties!

As I posted previously, the vacation to Vegas began with Ben getting sick and ended with me getting sick. But instead of focusing on the negatives of my quasi-vacation, I'm going to give you the high-lights. It was absolutely wonderful to see my sister and brother-in-law. They took wonderful care of us, even when Ben was being not so nice. Their new house is amazing! We ate at this yummy wood-oven (why is everyone making a big deal about wood ovens all of a sudden) pizza place. Ben and I shared the Hawaiian. It was so good! We got to go shopping at the outlets...my wonderful sister took care of Ben while we shopped so I could have a break. I bought the cutest green jacket...and I bought Ben some winter clothes. I found a really cute train/penguin sweater for him to wear for Christmas. On the way home, Ben slept the entire flight. I'm so thankful he doesn't mind planes. Every flight we had our own row, which is perfect when traveling with a toddler. And he slept the entire drive on the way home. But the thing that got me most excited about our traveling day...I got to take the HOV lane from downtown Houston all the way to Cypress. I'm now in love with the HOV lane. Anywho...Once we got home, I was pretty worthless. Yesterday, I slept from 9:30 a.m. to about 4:30 p.m. and went to bed for the night at 11 p.m. I feel much more rested today, ready to get stuff done. I've already been to Wal-mart and started a soup in the crock-pot. Now I'm headed to unpack...oh, who am I kidding, I'm going to get one more nap in. :) Below is the ONLY picture I took the entire trip. Actually, I think my sister took it! Love you, Em!

Ben's reaction to too much Benadryl.

Vegas, baby...

So I'm on vacation. Ben has been sick since the plane landed in Las Vegas. Cruel joke?? I'm thinking so. And, to make matters worse, I gave him too much Benadryl, which TOTALLY freaked me out. So far, the only things I've bought are medicine and diapers. He is doing better today, but still pretty whiny. We are going shopping tonight...I'm hoping he is good. I'll post pictures later. :)

The monkey is in trouble...

On our way to daycare this morning, Ben started talking about a monkey. I asked him where the monkey was and he pointed outside. So I decided to play along. We decided the monkey was blue and named Ben. Then he started saying "monkey twubble," loosely translated as "the monkey is in trouble." Again I played along. It was the cutest thing ever. He would say "c'mon monkey" and "we hep (help) you." He did this for 30 minutes! Monkey in trouble, help the monkey, monkey in trouble, help the monkey, and on and on. At daycare, I told Mrs. Ernestine about the pretend monkey. Ben immediately told her the monkey was in trouble. Man, that monkey has had a rough morning!

Shaggy Boy!

I was looking at some recent pictures of Ben and boy, does he look SHAGGY! I have been trying to get Brian to get him a hair cut for a couple of weeks now. I think I'm going to take matters into my hands this afternoon. I'm a little bit scared b/c the last time I took him by myself, Brian said he looked like "Dumb & Dumber." I've been practicing what to tell the girl...keep the bangs long, trim up the sides, don't mess with the length. Whew! I really don't want him being shaggy for our trip to the big city :) but I also don't want him looking like Dumb & Dumber. What a predicament! We'll just have to see how it goes. In other little stresses news, I cannot find his new blue shoes. I looked everywhere this morning and couldn't find them. I'm hoping my husband knows where they are, but, let's be honest, men aren't always the best at finding things. :) Love ya, B! I'm going to clean and do laundry tonight so all I'll have to do tomorrow night is pack. I'll be on my way to sunny Las Vegas in less than 48 hours! Not the gambling and night-life Vegas, but the "my sister lives in Vegas b/c of her husband's job" kind of Vegas...very tame. When she first moved out there and people would ask where my sister lives, I'd say Vegas, she's a dancer there. Their reactions were priceless...then I would tell them she's an accountant. I don't think my sister likes that story too much. Anywho...happy Thursday!

Walmart Finds

So I went to Walmart today after work. I found the best thing EVER! Ready to eat cheesecake filling by Philidephia Cream Cheese. (Not sure why the underline is on...can't figure out how to turn it off) It is so incredibly delicious...it's like a tub of goodness. I didn't even get a graham cracker crust, b/c let's be honest...we all know that I'm just going to eat it out of the container. :) In other food news, I'm in a corn dog and Ramen phase. Loves me some Ramen and corndogs, but not together. My friend tells me I eat like a five year-old. Ok, just wanted to enlighten you on the cheesecake filling. Have a great Tuesday!

Great weekend

We had a great weekend with Brian's family. I forgot the camera at home but good times were had. Brian's brother was here for the weekend and it's always good to spend time with him. We even got to eat at Schoepf's BBQ in Belton...good ol' Belton. Ben got a new Wonder Pets toy from Uncle John. He calls it "funder fets." We're working on our pronunciation...his version of "truck" could get us in a lot of trouble at daycare. Anywho...I got him a new pair of shoes. He was very excited. Part of me thinks they look like a great-grandfather shoe, but part of me thinks they are just super cute. Also...6 days until I'm officially on VACATION. :)

He's saying "cheeeeese" but he doesn't look when he says it, which defeats the purpose, but it's just so hard to reason with a two year-old.

Digging the velcro!

Wish List

We got a ToysRUs paper in the mail today and Ben just loved it!! Without prompting, he pointed to a CARS riding toy and said "I want that." So cute! This Christmas is going to be a lot of fun I think b/c he's more aware of what's going on. I love the holidays...I hope to start my Christmas shopping this weekend with my mother-in-law. :) We'll see if we can sneak away. I bought something off of Etsy for the first time...handmade (or is it homemade) soap. I'm so excited about this. It's kind of sad how excited I am. Anywho...we're headed to Temple on Saturday for the night. Looking forward to seeing Brian's family. I'm so glad it's almost Friday.

I came across this quote today that I just love...
Before you were conceived, I wanted you. Before you were born, I loved you. Before you were here an hour, I would die for you. This is the miracle of love.
Maureen Hawkins

Realizations...

I have a two year-old who has begun biting his fingernails, thanks mostly to the "nail biting" gene both Brian and I passed on to him.

Ben's vocabulary is growing so much. He says "I don't know" and "C'mon mommy/daddy."

Ben says the best prayers ever..."Thank you for daddy, ben, mommy, bear, ...." He includes everyone from daycare, grandparents, etc. So sweet.

I have cooked spaghetti for the last three Sundays. I didn't plan it that way, just happened.

My fridge was kinda gross (Brian had that realization, actually).

I have the best husband b/c he cleaned out my fridge.

We have spent over $30 on sippee cups and we can only find three.

Ben is nowhere close to being ready for potty training.

I LOVE Ben's weekend naps, b/c then I get to sleep as well.

I had forgotten how liberating it is to vote.

Texas really does have beautiful fall colors.

Rental cars without cruise control are worthless.

Life is good...Ben is in a really whiney stage and it's driving us nuts. Work is crazy. But over all, life is good. :) Happy Tuesday!

A Halloween Miracle!

The title may be a bit offensive, but whatever. :) The miracle...Ben wore his elephant costume! When we were ready to leave for the party, he put it right on. We practically ran to the car before he changed his mind. I even forgot his diaper bag. He would only wear the top part, not the pants, but who cares. He made the elephant noises...so cute!

The kid had on a fleece elephant costume with a hood, and he wanted his blanket.

He went through those balloon animals rather quickly.


Considering the moon bounce.

Loving the moon bounce. :)

Saying "hi" to daddy.

Hydrating...the kid was so sweaty, but still in his elephant.

********************
Brian's school has a pumpkin carving contest every year. His turned out so great this year...of course he won!

It's cold...in Texas...in October...hmmm

The weather here has been fabulous!! The leaves are even turning various shades of brown. :) This week is dragging by. I'm not really sure why. Lots of little fires to put out, lots of driving. I am counting down the days until Ben and I head to visit my sister. I'm taking...wait for it...an ENTIRE WEEK OFF. Not a half day to sleep in or a Monday just because...an entire week.

Doesn't Ben look precious in his little shirt? A kid at daycare said he looked like an old man. HAHA. Kids are so great. Here's something funny that my Ben did/said...He's in love with Oreos ever since we bribed him with one. So he gets one as a special treat every once in awhile. I thought he was eating the entire cookie...until I started finding the chocolate cookies with the icing scraped off in random places. I've found them in the garage, car seat, door of the car...ok, no more eating in the car. But the funny part was this morning on our way to daycare he started saying "poop, poop." I turn around and see that he has found an Oreo and was in the process of eating it. He had gotten some chewed up cookie (aren't kids great??) on his finger and was telling me it was poop. I reassured him it was not poop, but he was convinced. So then he ate it and again stated that it was poop.

Yes, mom he isn't wearing shoes...we were only out there for a little while.

Ghosts?? Really??

Ben has a little bed time routine...bath, cartoons, books, bed. Brian and I hear Ben start to cry as he watches his cartoons. Usually, I have no issues with Noggin or Wonder Pets. What could possibly go wrong when he's watching a hamster, a turtle, and a duck with a slight speech impediment? Well, tonight was the Halloween special. For 30 minutes, my son has been talking/crying about the "ghosts." It took me a while to even figure out what he was saying. So, my two year-old is now afraid of ghosts...or scary ghost, as he calls them.

The "Farm"

We've been looking forward to a little get-away this weekend for about a month now. Our friends' were offered the use of one of their church member's "farm house." We packed up our two year-olds and headed to a little place called Edge, TX. We really didn't know what to expect. I just hoped and prayed it had electricity and a bathroom. :)

I now have a new definition for "farm house."


Living room...yes, there was cable. AND the new Martha Stewart mag. :) I must've said 'don't touch that' a MILLION times.


Our room...looking at this picture, I realized that Brian didn't put the pillows back like they had it before. Oops!

Sweet Elisa and Ben. She pretty much runs the show...Ben would follow her anywhere, as long as she doesn't ask him to share. We're having sharing issues.

We're in a "rocks are toys" stage.

The kids did great. We are blessed to have great friends and some new sweet memories!

Not into elephants...

My mom bought Ben the CUTEST Halloween costume. It's an elephant. We love it - he hates it. Tonight, I am slightly ashamed to admit that I bribed my son with a cookie to put on his elephant costume. And it worked...sort of. He did not realize when he agreed to our little deal that he had to eat his cookie while wearing the costume. This did not go over very well. He was finally able to wriggle out of it and run for freedom. I think we'll have to dress him up in his sleep to get any pictures of him NOT crying while wearing his costume.

The elephant and the cookie.

Don't judge me... :)

Here are some happy pictures of Ben. He's so much fun! Not much else going on really. :) I guess that can sometimes be a good thing!