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10,000 Words

March 2nd, 2008 · a day in the life, bridget, family

I’ve done this once before. Because a picture is worth 1,000 words. . .

What do these pictures say to you?

“Just make yourself at home”

“The New Beehive”
If you’ve seen the “Hair Chair” post, you’ll know why this is extra funny.

“Singing in the tub”

“Heavy Load”

“Mom, I have a baby in my tummy!”
This was shortly after finding out that Emily (a.k.a. Gordon’s mom) just had her baby. If you look closely you can see her dolls foot sticking out of the top of her shirt. Hey, at least her baby is head-down. Ripe for delivery.

“Fruit Loop Necklace”
Bridget showing off her mad stringing skills. She wouldn’t let me help. She made that necklace all by herself.

“Little Chef”
Helping daddy make Enchiladas

“Don’t try this at home”
Don’t even ask. I’ll post the video from this day later.

“Ready for School”

“Messy Masterpiece”
Notice the marker on her chin. Great art causes messes, I guess.

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Cheap Entertainment

March 1st, 2008 · random

It is pretty common to hear comments about how kids like the box the present came in better than the present itself.

This video about sums it up. My dad sent it to me in an e-mail (and then I found it on youtube). The video is great, be prepared to laugh out loud.

Note: I don’t recommend going to the website listed on the video. I assumed that I would be able to find other funny videos there. . . but was disappointed to see a some pretty nasty banner ads. I couldn’t even make it into the content of the site. So, unless you want an eye full, don’t visit the website.

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redbox

February 29th, 2008 · a day in the life, random, techno geeks

It all started February 7, 2008. That was the first night we rented from redbox. We’d heard good things, but hadn’t tried ourselves. You would think, being the technology geeks that we are, that we would have tried before then. Well, at any rate – now we are hooked.

We’ve been averaging one movie every 2-3 days. Here is a list of the movies we’ve rented from redbox so far, and our opinions of each:

The Invisible (PG-13): The preview looked pretty good, but the movie was a bit disappointing.
Next (PG-13): Neither of us are huge Nicholas Cage fans, but we loved this movie. There are so many twists – it keeps you on your feet.
Spiderman 3 (PG-13): Naturally. It wasn’t my favorite of the Spiderman series – but still a must see.
Deck the Halls (PG): Funny. More crude/potty humor than I expected though. Not high on the must see list IMO.
No Reservations (PG): Loved it! It was a chick flick though.
Sydney White (PG-13): Cute movie. Funny spoofs on the fairytale. Worth seeing.
Mr. Bean’s Holiday (G): Also very funny. Mr. Bean is classic. Dave and I both really liked it.
Daddy Day Camp (PG): Kinda cute. A bit cheesy though – humor was childish. Not our favorite, but a good movie to watch with the whole family.
Balls of Fury (PG-13): Comedy/Action sort of film. Some really funny moments. Dave loves Christopher Walken.

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Spinach-Artichoke Dip

February 28th, 2008 · food

I recently tried a really yummy spinach-artichoke dip. It turned out really good – so I thought I’d share.

1/2 onion finely chopped
1 stick butter
1 pkg. frozen spinach, thawed
8 oz. Philly cream cheese
8 oz. sour cream
3/4 c. shredded Parmesan cheese
1 jar marinated artichokes, chopped
red pepper flakes to taste
8 oz. shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1 Roma tomato, diced
1 green onion, chopped.
Sauté onions in butter. Add ingredients while mixing and blend well after each addition.

Add ingredients in this order: Spinach, Cream Cheese, Sour Cream, Parmesan Cheese, Artichoke Hearts, Crushed Red Pepper Flakes. Remove from heat and put in crocks or microwave dish.

Pour mixture onto a plate or platter. Top with Monterey Jack Cheese, tomatoes and green onion. Melt.

Serve hot with chips or bread.

It makes a lot. Probably enough for two platters (depending on the size). You can freeze the dip pretty easily though. Just top with fresh cheese/tomatoes/onions after defrosting and reheating.

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Honorable Mention

February 27th, 2008 · a day in the life, random

Remember that nifty little Valentine’s Day Craft contest Sandra and I entered?

We didn’t win.

But we did get an Honorable Mention. (Unfortunately that doesn’t come with $500)
Check it out: http://community.kaboose.com/discussions/post/30132/

At any rate, the craft that did win is pretty interesting too. Its titled “Fragrant Heart Felt Ornaments”.
It basically involves using wool rovings and scented dish soap together with a cookie cutter, a little patience, and some warm water. It looks really interesting, I think I may have to try it one of these days. If you are interested check out the link above.

Oh, and can anyone tell me what ‘wool rovings’ are? (It looks like they are available at fabric/knitting type stores – neither of which I typically frequent)

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Potty Talk, Volume IV

February 26th, 2008 · a day in the life, bridget

Well, Bridget is doing pretty well with all things potty lately.

There are a couple of exceptions, like when she is playing with friends, and doesn’t want to stop playing long enough to go. It seems like we usually have 1 or 2 days a week that are “accident days.” On those days I usually end up having to change her pants a couple of times. I’m not really sure what triggers accident days, but I’d really like to see them go away.

In effort to try and make that happen we have devised a reward system. After 7 accident-free days she gets a new PEZ dispenser. Since she loves PEZ so much, its been a pretty good motivator. So far, she’s on day 4 without accidents. Each night she gets to put a little star on a chart indicating that she hasn’t had any accidents that day. After she fills up the week, she’ll get the coveted PEZ. Next on the docket is a “Linguini” dispenser from the movie Ratatouille. We have it taped up to the chart where she adds her stars.

She still doesn’t quite get the waiting 7 days part. Each night when she’s putting up her star she says:
“I have no accidents. Can have Ratatouille PEZ now?”
And each night I have to try and re-explain the 7 days.

—

She has also awaken dry every morning for more than a week. I’ve started giving her the option of a Pull-Up or underwear at night. She usually chooses the Pull-Up still, but we’ve had a couple of successful underwear nights. She woke up around 4 a.m. the other day to go potty (in underwear), and after she went she asked for a Pull-Up.

At any rate – We’re getting there!

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Jib Jab

February 25th, 2008 · random

This is a pretty funny recap of the year 2007:

I first found their site a few years ago when John Kerry was running against President Bush, but I had forgotten about it until recently.

This is the video I first saw:

You can also put your own face in some of their videos. Like this:

Or, like this:

That’s the most dancing I’ve gotten out of Dave in awhile. 🙂

Putting your face in these videos is actually A LOT of fun. I highly recommend it. Visit Jib Jab to play!

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Cheap Cables

February 24th, 2008 · techno geeks

This post is more about a discovery than anything else.

First, some background: We installed our home theater over the past couple of weeks.  We’ll put together a separate post about the components we installed our observations and considerations, but that can come later.  Part of the project led us to needing to purchase some audio/video cables to throw a signal from the Apple TV/DVD player up to the ceiling mounted projector.  Cables that are high quality and cover a good distance are also really expensive.  I was referred to a website called MonoPrice that seems to have it all, at unbeatable prices.

http://www.monoprice.com

MonoPrice is an organization based out of Rancho Cucamonga, CA.  Their online storefront marks their prices at significantly cheaper than any other retailer that I have seen.  Take for instance a standard USB cable.  Staples sells a 6′ USB 2.0 A/B Cable for $20.98.  MonoPrice?  $1.20.  Wow.

This meant that the 12′ 5-RCA Component Video/Audio Coaxial Cable (RG-59/U) cable only cost me $7.47 at MonoPrice instead of the $35.99 Best Buy version (and that one didn’t even have the composite audio, it was purely composite – 3 channels instead of 5).

I don’t make any commissions for advertising for MonoPrice, so I’ll stop campaigning.  I will say, though, that you ought to give them some business.  They are a good company.

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The joys of being 2

February 23rd, 2008 · a day in the life, bridget, family

Bridget is loving being two. And she’s driving me insane.

I think we average two temper-tantrums a day now. Usually over really, really dumb things – like my not letting her get a drink from the fountain at Home Depot for the 3rd time. Or because she can’t run away from me at the Cheese Factory to get another sample all by herself. Or at home when she doesn’t want to clean up, or nap, or when I won’t give her more candy. The ones at home aren’t usually quite as stressful, since I can just leave her where ever she lands to kick and scream. When we are out at the store I actually have to stand there and watch her.

Some days I want to rip my hair out. Thursday was ugly. Friday, not so bad. Wish us luck today.

Part of being two is having crazy ideas, causing mischief, and getting your way. Sometimes I can give into these weird behaviors. Like when she thinks that grapes would taste really good with Mac and Cheese – so she stirs them together. At least she ate it. Or when she decided to wear socks on her hands to the store – claiming they were gloves.

Or, like yesterday, when she insisted that she needed to take a nap on the floor in her room instead of her bed. To top it off I had to cover her with the tablecloth from her play table, rather than her blanket. She slept that way for over 2 hours.

Or, Tuesday morning, when she climbed onto her dresser to get the nail polish and I found her painting her own nails. (She did get in a little bit of trouble for this). She was actually doing a decent job – and thank goodness she wasn’t “painting” anything else with it.

Of course, I went to get my camera instead of taking it away immediately. What did you expect?!

Oh, and did I mention that if I let her eat nothing but Macaroni and Cheese (and PEZ), she’d love it. She asks for both daily (or multiple times a day).

It reminds me of that Shel Silverstein poem:

One sister for sale!
One sister for sale!
One crying and spying young sister for sale!
I’m really not kidding,
So who’ll start the bidding?
Do I hear a dollar?
A nickel?
A penny?
Oh, isn’t there, isn’t there, isn’t there any
One kid who will buy this old sister for sale,
This crying and spying young sister for sale?

I really don’t want to sell her. Promise. But. . . hmm. . . does anyone know if they have boarding schools for toddlers? 🙂 Kidding.

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A, You’re an antelope

February 22nd, 2008 · a day in the life, bridget

So, I made the mistake of signing this song to Bridget the other day – and now she wants me to sing it to her all the time. She’s been walking around the house saying things like “funny, funny frog” or “yucky, yucky poo.”

I guess it could be worse. But honestly, oops.

I’m sure you’ve all heard the song A, You’re adorable.

A, You’re adorable
B, You’re so beautiful
C, You’re a cutie full of charms
D, You’re darling and
E, You’re exciting

…etc…

But, that’s not the song I was singing. A friend of mine in High School taught me different words to the same tune. Apparently her family learned it this way while living in Germany. The song is pretty funny (but not terribly nice), so be advised that it might get stuck in your head. Just be careful not to go singing it around your toddlers. Alas. Anyway, here are the lyrics:

A, You’re an antelope
B, You’re a buffalo
C, You’re a cantaloupe with arms
D, You’re a dinosaur
E, You’re an Elephant
F, You’re a funny, funny frog
G, You’re a goody-goody
H, You are some homely
I, You’re an icky, icky poo
J, You’re a jelly bean
K, You’re a kidney bean
L, You’re a Lima bean too.

M,N,O,P I can go on and on. . .
Q,R,S,T alphabetically speaking, you disgust me

U, You wear no underwear
V, You’re a vitamin

W,X,Y,Z

I’d like to wander through,
the alphabet with you,
and tell you how you nauseate me.

(I actually found similar lyrics on a girl scout songbook website – here)

Ha ha. Confessions of a crazy mother, I guess. Can you see why I probably shouldn’t have gotten my daughter hooked on that song at such a young age? Hopefully she doesn’t go around telling people they are a “cantaloupe with arms” or saying “You wear no underwear.” I can deal with “funny, funny frog” and even “yucky, yucky poo” (as she says it).

Well, I still think its funny.

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