Ramblings.....

I'm beat and my creative juices are not flowing, so here's just a few random thoughts I've had over the past few weeks.

• I bought $76 dollars worth of M&Ms tonight. Why must people make a comment when you buy a lot of one item? Things like, "oooohhhh, you must really like M&Ms" or "you must not be a dentist" or "you must have a daycare". Really? I just didn't have the energy to explain to them that I'm making 100 cookie jars to raise money for breast cancer awareness. I just smiled and said, "yep."
• I've done the math and the average age of those that have the same color and make of my car is 61. Perhaps it's time for an upgrade or maybe just some spinners.

That's all I've got people. That's all I've got.

Monday Memories.....

This is a memory of all those Christmas Card photos we had to do as a kid. Believe it or not, I remember taking this picture I was 2. I remember my pink Snoopy sweater I was wearing. I remember how annoyed I was that my brother had to have his arms around me. I remember so many years later, my brother and me, in our snowsuits - his blue with gray and mine gray with red leaning against a fence post while my dad took no less than 172 pictures trying to get one that was just right. I laugh at this now as I put my kids through the same torment. Ahhhh, it's fun having the roles reversed isn't it? This one wasn't a Christmas picture, but I just couldn't resist. Every body I show this to is shocked how much Brett and I look alike. I was 3 in this picture. I was Red Riding Hood for the next 2 or 3 years after this too. Not sure if it was because I loved the costume or because my mom (her words not mine) wasn't real creative when it came to costumes back in the day.

Just a reminder to those that don't know, double click on the picture to make it larger.

Bring on Monday.....

I can't believe that I'm about to say this, but I'm looking forward to going back to work tomorrow. The kids have tested my patience today and I'm counting down the moments until I can send them off to bed without feeling too guilty. Seriously.

It 's deer season. That means I'm a single parent for the next two weekends. I decided to brave the odds and bring the two boys out in public. Together. The deal was, we'd go to IKEA so that I could look for a few things and if they were good, we'd go to Underwater Adventures at the Mall of America. The trip through IKEA was fairly uneventful. That is until Brett was sitting in a kid's egg chair and Colton spun the chair around so hard that it flipped over. That was a real treat. But, the boys managed to behave themselves for the hour we cruised through the store which was pretty darn good since these two can't seem to be nice to each other for more than 8 seconds at a time.
Here's the boys checking out the turtles. Brett was so confused. He truly thought we were going to go into the water and not just underneath. He kept asking, "when do we go in the water?" Here's a picture of some creepy looking fish.

There were tons of big stingrays swimming all around us. I love those things.

These little dudes were probably my favorite.

The hit of the day though was touching the star fish. Brett had to be reminded that these were alive and that he need to be gentle. He was caught tossing one across the little open aquarium.

Both the boys zonked out on the ride home which was great. We had a good day on single mom day one.

Friday Feature......

During the month of November, on Fridays I plan to post something (or somethings) that I enjoy.

Today, I'm featuring two blogs that I frequently visit. I'm not sure about blog etiquette. Was I suppose to ask permission of these people first? Oh well, guess I'll find out sooner or later.

The first one is All & Sundry. This gal is hilarious! She has two young boys, is a fabulous writer and just tells it like it is. I've laughed out loud several times reading her posts.

The second is Free Sample Freak. Who doesn't like to get free stuff? I have received free granola bars, cereal, chapstick, energy drink coupons, magazines....all kinds of good stuff.

Thoughts for Thursday.......

This week's thought is about household chores and who does what.

I'm curious to know if you have a spouse or roommate if you each have specific chores that you do. At our house we kind of do.

We've never sat down and wrote a list of who does what because from what I hear, that doesn't add a lot of positive energy to your marriage and besides, I know that my list would be a lot longer than by dear hubby's.

Here's an abbreviated breakdown of who does what at our house - oh and let's not call this a list either. Oh, and let's go ahead and agree not to tell Mike that this exists. Deal? Deal.

I take care of all the bills. Not that Mike hasn't offered to do it. I kind of have a wee bit of a control issue and need to remain in charge of this. This did come back to bite me when I spent two weeks in the hospital and Mike had to take over. He was a bit overwhelmed and didn't realize that people actually pay bills online.

I do the grocery shopping. Mike also has offered to do this, but I prefer that he stays home with the kids so I can have a mental break and compare spiral noodles to penne noodles. Oh and I always love to see my % saved at the bottom of the receipt.

I make 90% of the dinners and Mike does 90% of the dishes. I hate doing dishes. He doesn't really know how to cook (other than grilling, so that is his 10% contribution to making dinner), so this works out great for us.

Mike does most of the outside the house work. You know, mowing, weed whipping, shoveling, that kind of stuff. I like to mow, but apparently, don't do it as good as he does. Whatevs.

I also do the laundry which I don't mind doing. Mike's bright enough to offer to help fold when I drop the basket down in front of him while he is watching baseball. He's such a smart man.

Mike is the picker upper and I'm the duster.

OK, my list that isn't a list is long enough.

Care to share how it works in your household?

Wildcard Wednesday.......

I couldn't come up with a fun, entertaining or educational post so instead, here are some random bullets.

• I am hosting Thanksgiving this year. I love it. Actually, I think I enjoy the planning part the best. I'm so type A. I've got my spreadsheet started. It includes the invite list, the menu, the need to buy list, the what in the world ingredient is that list, and the need to clean list.
• I heart Kemps pomegranate and vanilla swirl frozen yogurt. Delish.
• I am glad that I found Paul Newman's southwestern salad dressing at Super Target yesterday. Now, that's some good stuff.
• Am I embarrassed that my first three bullets are about food? Not so much.
• I found out that my oldest child has been asked to practice respectful listening at school. We've got a plan in place to nip that in the bud. Let's just see if he can remember it.
• I ordered Pioneer Woman's cookbook and it's scheduled to arrive on November 9th.
• Marilyn and I have 61 cookie jars to get crackin' on for our Christmas pre-orders. There's still time to order yours if you are interested - just shoot me an email at leahk2121@yahoo.com
• I need to get my window coverings ordered. Our basement is open for any and all to catch a glimpse of our wild and crazy life.
• This 30 posts in 30 day thing is going to be a lot harder than I ever imagined. It's only day four. Ugh.