here me roar....

I picked up Halloween costumes for the kids this past weekend. Look, a whole month before the holiday is even here! I am so proud of myself for getting it together - on that end, anyway.

This year Daria decided she wants to be a witch. She already had the hat, so we had to find some sort of dress. We always shop local thrift stores for our Halloween threads because the selection is much better - not to mention the prices.

Happily, our first stop on Sunday, we found a black witch dress with spider-web sleeves, broom, and black gloves for Daria. She will look really cool, and I promise pictures will be coming in the next few weeks.

And, Bauer left the store with a costume too. We just could not pass this up because it was so freakin' cute and only $5.

He was not too sure about the hood.
OMG, I could keep him in this all day. Cuteness is exploding at house.

so far...

We are not even into a month of school, and Daria has been invited to 2 birthday parties. I am not sure she will attend either one right now because one is on a Thursday evening, and the other one is a sleep over. The sleep over is pretty much out of the question because I do not even know the kid, let alone her parents. The party on the Thursday evening just will not work because it is a school night. Why a school night??? We do not have time after homework, dinner, and baths to attend a party.
I really loathe letting Daria down, but I do know she will be invited to many more parties that are on a weekend or a non-school night.

can't stop raving

I just love combining two great recipes to make one kick-ass treat.
The other day I opened up this awesome coffee cake cookbook (again), and found peanut butter banana muffins AND chocolate streusel. Now, the muffin recipe does not recommend or mention the chocolate streusel, but it should. Bananas, peanut butter, and chocolate makes for one good time.

I.Love.Chocolate.Streusel!

R.I.P.

I woke up this morning to Daria yelling, "Daisy is DEAD, Mommy! Daisy is DEAD!"
That is what I heard as I was peeing this morning.
I rushed out to the kitchen table, and sure enough - one dead fish.
Poor Daisy lasted only 5 days in our home (see previous post for Daisy's homecoming).
I really thought one of the cats were going to kill her before she died from random circumstances.
I have no idea what we did wrong with poor Daisy.
I cleaned her bowl everyday, fed her, and not to mention all the attention Daria gave her.
Really, she was giving her more love than her lil' brother received.
I just think in a house with 3 cats one tiny goldfish really does not stand much of a chance on many levels.

I will admit I am so happy I do not have to clean that bowl anymore because, seriously, do I really need something else to clean?!?!

daisy

Daria brought a new pet home from school today. They were giving them out in class. She was suppose to ask us yesterday, but instead she told us they were getting goldfish today. I asked her why and from who, but she was not clear on that information. I just brushed off her ramblings about this fish as something that MAY happen in the future because wouldn't her teacher send a note home or something.

Nope.

As she walked out of class today, she was carrying a ziploc filled with water and a tiny goldfish named Daisy.

No note, announcement, nothing.

Now, we have a fish on our kitchen table living in a glass canister (without lid). And I must get to Target tomorrow to buy fish food. How long can a goldfish live without eating??? Hopefully, she will make it to tomorrow afternoon:)

Meet Daisy....

she is quiet, friendly, and cute. So far, the cats have not discovered her, but that is just a matter of time. For those of you who know the lay out of our home, you know that there is not really a good location for a fish bowl at this point in time. Three cats plus a 15-month old bubba does not equal a safe location for the bowl.

It could get interesting.

just a quick note

I am really missing my food processor.
I need to get off my booty and go buy a new one.
I found this one, but I keep putting off calling the local store at the mall to see if it is in stock.
At this rate, I could have ordered it online, and it would have been here already.
Goal of the week: find a good deal on a food processor and BUY it!

something I am looking forward to...

did someone say cake????

I checked out this wonderful cookbook from the library, and let me say.......it ROCKS!

Just look at these photos...

This is the super simple and overly delicious whipped cream pound cake. Instead of butter, you whip up whipping cream and fold it into the batter at the end. It is my new favorite pound cake. It is lovely with a dusting of powdered sugar, but I bet a chocolate glaze would work wonders.

This is a combo of 2 recipes in the book: favorite vanilla muffins and Carol's favorite streusel. The muffin recipe calls for sparkling sugar on the top, but I did not want to pay over six dollars for 5 ounces of sparkling sugar. I decided to try one of the many, many streusel toppings, and I did not think I could go wrong with one with 'favorite' in the title. Next time, I will try them with the toasted coconut streusel topping because coconut and vanilla go together like peanut butter and jelly!

and so it begins....

Daria has caught her first cold of the school year.
Hooray for us!!
I thought we were a couple of weeks away from busting out the Vick's.
To date, August has been the ONLY month in 2008 that someone (and by someone, I mean the children) in this house did not have the sniffles.
I am keeping my fingers crossed that she will wake up tomorrow and feel super, so she can go to school.
Playing catch up with homework is not how I want to begin a new week.
And, let's not forget the Bauer factor....
How soon will it be before he is snot nosed???
My guess is by Wednesday or possibly Tuesday night because he has his 15 months check-up tomorrow morning and will show no signs of sickness for the doctor then.
Good thing I bought a 4 jumbo boxes of Kleenex a couple of weeks ago.

hooray!

It was a cry-free night!
I feel like shouting that from the rooftops.
In fact, both kids were still out when I went to get them up.
Very rare event - usually Daria and Bauer are up by the 6 am hour.
Now, if could only get them to both sleep in on the weekends.

where are the zzzz's?

Even though Bauer is just about to turn 15 months, last night I could of sworn he was 3 months old again. There was loud crying, not going back to sleep, and this happened multiple times. I felt we traveled back in time, and it was never going to stop. Sound sleep would never grace our bedroom again.
Honestly, I am a little frightened to go to sleep tonight because I do not want to wake up to that sound. But I am so tired.....so off I go.

time keeps on tickin'

We have been back to school for a over a week now, and I tell ya - I am still not in the swing of things yet. Our school district added a half an hour to the school day, and when I learned this news I was so excited. Now, not so much. The school day ends 30 minutes later, which means homework gets done later, play dates go later in the evening, and all the little things that I must get done before bedtime are just NOT getting done. Or they are getting done after bedtime - which makes me a rushing around mom.
And of course, let's not forget that Bauer's schedule has changed too. We have eliminated the morning nap - well, that makes him crabby most of the morning. We did that because of the new time school is out. Now, he is getting one nap a day, and most week days I have to wake him so we can pick up Daria. And waking him from his nap is not much fun either.
You would think I would have more time to get things done with this new daily schedule, but no. I am rushed in the mornings to get anything done because I want to get Bauer his lunch earlier enough so he can get a decent nap. And when he is napping, I want to get all the other stuff done - dishes, laundry, e-mail, etc. I am hoping tomorrow or maybe Friday I will be able to get dinner done during nap time, but I am not placing any money on that.
So, for tomorrow, I have a list. Daria is having a play date, and I do not have to pick her up until 5:30. That gives me 8 hours to accomplish a few things and feel that maybe I could be a "supermom" one or two days a month.

daily equation

headache + sore neck (that has lasted for too many days) + overly tired (because we have changed Bauer's schedule due to Daria going back to school) = I cannot believe it is only Tuesday!

ahhhh.....

Could he be any cuter???Practicing his referee skills.

Finishing his day with a good book.

second grade

Tomorrow is the first day of school for Daria. The first day of second grade, no less. I cannot believe we are already at 2nd grade - how did we get here?? Damn, it came fast. We went to meet her teacher today and drop off her school supplies. Unfortunately, her pals from 1st grade are in a different class. This class only has a few kids she already knows, and I think she is a little bummed about that. She had such great buddies last school year. Luckily, she will still see those friends at lunch.

On a different topic.....I slept wrong again the other night, and my neck has been sore for 2 days now. It seems to get worse when I sleep, and that is not a good thing. I am going to try a different pillow tonight. Hopefully, it will help me out. Wish me luck.

model 702-4

the blade on the food processor broke today while I was making applesauce.
this is an appliance I use about every other day.
I thought I could just order a new blade online, and that would be that.
but nooooo....the food processor is so old that they do not make blades for that model anymore.
I guess it is time to start shopping for a new one.
know any good deals on food processors??