Halloween

Me and my Dorothy at her school

Complete with Toto in basket :)

Super Doggy!

Elphaba (AKA Wicked Witch of the West)

With her Maleficent pumpkin.  Like the "person" buried next to her?

With her Cinderella pumpkin

A new favorite picture

The best we could get of all the girls.  We couldn't see the witch's face, so this is what she did:

:)  See?

Who knows?!

Silly girls

"The Brawny Man."

Maleficent lit up

Cinderella lit up

Almost...

...Ten years of marriage.  

And look at the straight-up-craziness we produced.  ;)

Update

So, I needed  major surgery and a doctor in Pennsylvania was my only hope.  Tim and I flew there had extra time after my pre op appointment.  Look where he took me!!  I had been trying to get there since 1998.   :)  Anyway, I had the surgery last Thursday and am still recovering.  More pictures to come soon.

Man's BFF

I mean, really?!

My husband and my fur baby.  She apparently did not want to get wet...

Sailing Away...

The tropical storm has flooded our entire street and some homes.  This afternoon Tim had to sail the girls down the street so my mom could take them as we dealt with stuff around here.  Our kitchen flooded yesterday and our garage today.  All is OK for now and we are bracing for more rain.   We cannot drive out and have been trapped.  Please pray for this to pass quickly.

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

Tim and a new friend at the zoo

Craziness!

We are still here.  We have been crazy busy this week.  I will be back in a day or two.  The King of the Crazies had a little outpatient surgery today and it has been a day of taking care of him.  Thank the good Lord my mom has the kids for the day.  They got to spend the day swimming and sunning and eating with her and their Uncle Jason.  It is a lot easier for me to have one charge at a time when someone needs all my attention.  It is hard to deal with a 200 pound, 6'4" man on my own.  He insisted upon going into Walgreens and renting his own movie right after we left from surgery.  (I have a few stories about this too - wow.  I was amused and slightly embarrassed.)  Then we got home and I got ice cream and pain meds down him.  He napped off and on and watched "Tron Legacy."  And then he got up to go into the other room and he nearly passed out - fun times.  Pray he is better soon.  I have never seen someone so pale as he was earlier.  He was hot and sweat was dripping from his forehead.  On a funnier note, he made me video tape him after surgery when he was all hopped up and it was hilarious.  :)  I have to let him come out of it and see it first though - doubt I can share.  I am not allowed to share much about him on here - his rules.  :)

Graduation and Time Flies

It didn't hit me until this evening.


I graduated from high school 15 years ago today.


I couldn't be more shocked.  Not because the time has gone by so quickly but because I know it will go by faster still.  This past school year, with Cinderella in Kindergarten all day, every day the school year just seemed to fly by.  I know that the older my two girls get, the school years will go by faster than the one before it.   I will be 48 in no time.  (That is in 15 more years.)  Not that there is anything wrong with getting older.  ;)  Though apparently, after seeing the below picture, my mom doesn't age!!

Dad, me and Mom

(Now I want to go to my old bedroom and scan in a picture of me with King of the Crazies on this same night.)  I think back to that Thursday evening 15 years ago, when I was 18 and it seemed I had my whole life before me.  I remember the lavender dress I wore under my blue gown and the silver high heels I borrowed from my mom.  I remember the way I felt walking from the fairgrounds back to the school to go out with the graduating class.  I was elated.  I was FINALLY FREE!  I felt fully grown up and like I could do whatever I wanted.  I sometimes miss that young, innocent girl.   I was excited but also filled with a little worry because of the unknown.  I also knew that in a matter of weeks my heart would be broken.


After the graduation ceremony I went out all night with the kids in my graduating class and had fun. The school had sponsored it and I don't remember much of what we did, just that I had fun.  I remember I forgot my shoes so I had to borrow a friend's NINE YEAR OLD SISTER'S shoes to wear for the night.  They were Keds and had "ABC's" all over them.  HAHA  I also remember we got on Greyhound type buses to ride to where we were going.  There was laser tag and video games, good food and a lot laughter.  


I had a fun summer and continued with my job serving ice cream - HAHA- but I was already wanting time to slow down.  This would be the first of many, many times I would beg the hands of time to slow their ticking.  When summer ended I knew I would be moving to the other side of the country and leaving my friends and my soul mate.


It was hard for my mind and heart to grasp how I would marry the guy I KNEW I was going to marry when I lived over 3,000 miles away from him.  I prayed a lot and wished on a lot of stars for good measure just in case some of my prayers weren't heard.  And, of course, we both JUST KNEW we'd end up together one day.


We all know how that story ended but it was a hard road for the both of us.  I would cry myself to sleep at night and wish I would wake up older.  Funny how that works: I wanted time to speed up. In some ways it did seem to speed up.  I kept in touch off and on with my soul mate but more as a  "friend thing."  I had fun, went to school and made new friends.  About three years went by and one day I woke up not knowing it was the day my life would change forever and for the better.   I got a call from The King of the Crazies and life was never the same again.  He was coming to visit me and during that visit he said he would move here to be with me.  I never asked him to.  :)  I never promised him a future if he moved here and he knew that.  He took that leap anyway.  We've been together (again) ever since.  He moved here after seven months of dating long distance and we married about two years later.  


As I look back at the past 15 years, there are things I didn't do that I thought I would.  It wasn't all fun but a lot of it was.  I went through a lot even with The King of the Crazies by my side.  But I am happy and I have everything my 18 year old self could have dreamed for my 33 year old self.   How I wish I could go back a la "Back to the Future" and tell myself that it would all be fine, no matter how awful it seemed, it would all work out and I'd be happy. And by the way, you will marry the only one your heart ever wanted and you'll be a mommy to two gorgeous little girls.  :)

Valentine's Day

Happy Hearts Day!  (I have many a childhood photo in rollers.)  :o)

The girls with part of their loot from daddy.  They also got chocolates!!

Cooking Catastrophes: Chicken A La Poop

Because I have been blogging since 2006 I have learned there are some things best not shared. Many times I "ask permission" to post some things. Since this only makes me look bad funny, and I have permission to share dialog between me and my husband, I will continue...

Brace yourselves.

I come from a long line of GREAT cooks. My sister is also an amazing cook and it wasn't until typing this that I realized my little brother can cook too! He's in school to be a chef. I can't believe I had never connected those dots before!! Oh, the humanity!! Anyway, my family can cook. And they cook very well and make very good food. Me? Not so much. Try as I might I still have problems. There was a time I figured I'd learn to cook when I had to (AKA had kids). I have two kids. I can cook but some of it is not edible or "uneatable" as my husband says. I have, on more than one occasion, walked right from the stove top or oven to the trash can and dumped in our dinner. More than I care to admit I probably should have thrown away what I have cooked and served to my husband and kids. I eat it too. (Shudder.)

My husband and I can laugh about it. I know it's not a strong point. A few weeks back he ruffled my feathers about something else and I said I wasn't going to cook for him anymore. His response: "You promise?!"

Anyway, I have made "Cooking Catastrophes" a category and have some stories to share. I am positive I have more catastrophes in me. Today's story is from last week. I made a recipe I found online. What could go wrong? A lot. It was called Creamy Broccoli Chicken and while I will not post the link to it I will post the recipe at the end. We all like chicken, broccoli and most things cooked in the slow cooker. I expected to smell broccoli upon my return home. What I did not expect was to smell the reek BEFORE I even got in the door. It was bad, dude. Really bad.

Sleeping Beauty walked in and said, "Oh no! I think Princess Furry Pants pooped in the house!!"

I was ashamed when I said, "It's your dinner," with a smile.

My mom was with us and we had a good laugh. I told her the King of the Crazies would not go for it. I mean, I didn't even want it and I made it!

My eyes were watering, if I'm being honest. A couple hours later, when the husband got home (he had fair warning dinner reeked) he came in and the look on his face said it all. He then said (I have cleaned it up), "I've got to use the bathroom and breathe some fresh air." Take from what you will the meaning of that sentence. It means what you think it means.

It was that bad.

It tasted good (I have made worse) but not good enough to rave over and not good enough to justify the smell. I added some cheddar cheese soup to it or you could add shredded cheese to the top. That is if you don't mind your home smelling like a poop, but worse. I served the poop chicken over rice.

I will never make it again but here's the recipe:

1 can Cream of Broccoli Soup
boneless chicken breasts (as many as you need) - I buy the frozen ones with 6-7 in a bag - approx. 3 pounds
1 bag frozen broccoli
salt and pepper
1 cup milk

Place chicken in the crockpot. Cover with broccoli and cream of broccoli soup. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cook on LOW 6 to 8 hours or HIGH 3 to 4 hours. (Boneless chicken breasts might be dry if cooked too long.) Add milk about 45 minutes before done, or 30 minutes if cooking on high. Leave your home never to return. Oh, wait. That's just wishful thinking. ;) I promise you will wish you never came home if you make this.

Keep checking back. I have a big announcement to make in a couple days. :oP

Disney World Part 3

Part 2 is here (and there is a link to Part 1 there.)

The girls waiting to ride a ride, looking out across to Tom Sawyer's Island.

Cinderella before riding her first big ride with me - Thunder Mountain 

"Mom!  You didn't get my hands on my hips!"

Before the ride starts

Us during the ride.  HA!

These pictures are from the second parade we saw.  It was dark outside and it was so pretty with the castle lighting our view.  :)

Donald Duck

Minnie Mouse

Baloo (left) and King Louie of the Apes (right) from "The Jungle Book"

Mr. Incredible from "The Incredibles."  His outfit and super-imposed muscles grossed me out!

The Mad Hatter from "Alice in Wonderland" with the castle behind him.

This guy in the purple was in the parade.  He immediately spotted Sleeping Beauty and was taken with her.  When it was time for the dance party in the street he recruited my two girls and taught them a dance.  They both had a blast!  


Here he is with Cinderella (Sleeping Beauty is being blocked by her big sister!)

Learning some moves

Two pictures of the castle and the reflection:

LoVe it!

Me and my girls in front of the castle

Happiest place on earth, indeed!!

The toy soldier from "Babes in Toyland," the big tree behind him and then in the back left, the castle all lit up at night!