"Friendship improves happiness and abates misery, by the doubling of our joy and the dividing of our grief."

i got in touch with my best friend from high school this weekend. we've stayed in contact off and on over the few years since we graduated, but in the last two years have had little or no contact. this being said, i doesn't seem like it could have been that long because i'be though about her a lot during that time. she came over to my parents house last night after work and we stayed up till about 2 talking and reminiscing & catching up. it was just like we were teenagers again, staying up late, giggling, and talking--except for the fact that i had two babies asleep in the floor who kept waking up every few minutes to join the fun! it really was great, though. there is just something special about a childhood friend, who you grew up with and saw you through preteenage anxieties, teen crushes & pressures, and then into adulthood as a (hopefully) more mature woman. maybe not all friendships can and ought to endure. but if you're lucky enough to have one that can & has, that is a treasure not to be taken lightly.

look what i found! 

why bother with the milk?! 

i'd like to nominate myself...

yesterday i did the grocery shopping. i usually do the bulk of my shopping at the super walmart. so that's where i found myself yesterday afternoon. i kind of enjoy grocery shopping, even with the two kids it doesn't phase me too much. i think i enjoyed it when i was little, going with mama and riding under the buggy, so that it's a pleasant experience--even now. so we got a month's worth of groceries (we won't go back except for milk or bread or something like that that you can't keep for too long). as you can imagine that's quite a few groceries! but we made it through a temper tantrum in the dairy section, marshmellow goo from ian's mid-store snack, and a few other minor mishaps with two buggies in tow. we managed to unload all the items onto the conveyor belt, reload the bags into the cart, lumber outside with the overstuffed carts, reload all the bags into the car.....and the unload them at home and finally put them away in their proper places. somewhere in this process i thought, "this should be an olympic sport or they should have an award for accomplishing this feat....not once, but month after month after month!" so with that thought in mind, i'd like to nominate myself for the grocery shopper of the month award...and i'd be happy to accept it!

was it a walk?

this morning i got up around 6:30 and went for a walk around our neighborhood. it's something that i've wanted to do and talked about doing for a while, but basically i've just been too lazy! that bed just felt too warm & snuggly in the morning! so i bit the bullet this morning and hopped up and did it. besides the exercie, i thought it would be good to take our puppy out and let him do his business & get some exercise while he was at it. the business part worked out great, the walk he was not quite as into. he was a great sport & hopped along and got all his wiggling out by the time we were about half-way done. then he checked out of the walk & i carried him for the rest of the walk. now, mind you, i'm used to toting a 23 lb. baby around, so the puppy wasn't heavy & he behaved really well. i just have to wonder, though, what all those people going to work and school must have thought watching me trot along carrying my puppy!

big sister/little brother

these picutres capture the fun of being a big sister & the trials of being a little brother. most big sisters get the privilage of bossing their little brothers into doing lots of things they wouldn't ordinarily want to do...putting on makeup, playing barbies, dressing up, just to name a few. and most little brothers just go along with it or are bossed into it. it cracks me up, though, to see the two of them interact. i'm amazed at how much ian wants to do everything elise is doing, just because he sees her doing it & she's cool so it must be a great thing to do. a while back elise was marching through the house holding her sippy cup on her head to keep ian from getting it, but wouldn't you know that ian is marching right behind her with his hands up on his head imitating her to a tee. another time elise, who has a very active, vivid imagination was playing something and she was mushing her face into the back of the couch. and there is ian mushing his face in right beside her. then, a great one from this week, was that while elise was sick i had her on the couch with a "barf bucket". after she threw up, ian kept walking over to the bucket and coughing/spitting into like he'd seen her do. i, of course am the bossy big sister, so it's really been neat to see my kids and i get to see things from the younger one's point of view more than i did before. so do any of you have any stories of looking up to an older sibling or being "terrorized" by an older sibling, or maybe you were the one doing the bossing....i'd love to hear them!

"let's just add a little lipstick..." 

elise is being a good friend...sharing her make-up with her little brother :-) 

the stomach bug

we've been down & out this week with the stomach bug. ian was sick on tuesday, elise on thursday & cory & i on friday & saturday. there are few worse things than a bad stomach bug. it seemed to only be a 24 hour bug, but wow! what a 24 hours! the kids seemed to recover much quicker & not feel nearly so bad from it. on the other hand, cory & i were in rough shape. the poor kids had to pretty much make do on their own--eating popcorn, goldfish, cereal & stuff yesterday. they also got in a good healthy dose of television--blues clues, dora the explorer, little bear, franklin, and who knows what else. the house was totally trashed by nighttime, as you can imagine, when kids rule the roost. we're much better today, just really tired & weak & drained. we're missing church today, partly because we're still not up to par & partly beacause we don't want to share our germs with anyone! this is a time when sharing is NOT a good thing!

look at this face...does he love it or what? 

a view from the back 

this is definitely NOT floyd's barbershop

some days are just more interesting than others. this one has proved to be one of those days. this morning we were awakened by ian throwing up. (just as an interesting sidenote, he threw up a whole french fry--maybe 1 1/2 inches long--totally intact & undigested from last night's supper!) aren't you glad i added that little tidbit? anyway, ian seems to handle sickness pretty well, so in a few hours he seemed well enough to handle a haircut. he was in desperate need of one, he was getting so shaggy & he would always end up with matted, crusted food in it by days end. so i got out the trusty scissors and began a trim. well, cory walks in and begs to get out the clippers. he's been dying to get his hands on them! i finally relented, but reinforced that i didn't want too much taken off. i was playing with ian, singing to him and whatnot to keep him entertained for cory to buzz. and buzz he did!!! when i finally caught sight of ian's skint head in the mirror i couldn't believe my eyes! my little baby's thick hair was gone! cory was also quite surprised by how much hair was gone, but once you've started you have to stick with it. and after the initial shock (and yes, some sadness) wore off i have to admit that i really like it. i miss it just a little bit, but he looks so handsome with his grown-up cut! after we finished that ordeal (ian hates haircuts, by the way, and spends the entire time grumping and trying to dodge the clippers and grabbing them if they come near enough and shaking the falling hair off..) we put him in the tub to wash off the hair, etc. and don't you know it he poops in the water! what an adventure! t

this is ian today 

this was ian yesterday 

valentine's day

actually it's the day after, but while i was out this morning i was listening to the Dr. Laura show. our radio station is a day behind, so i was listening to her valentine's day show. i missed quite a bit of it, but basically she had a different topic for each hour. the first hour was mushy love stories, missed the second hour totally, and the third hour was (best i could gather) to name the few things that you were going to commit to do to make your marriage happier/better. that's the part i thought was so neat. i heard some really great ones & thought it was a great idea to think about. so here are mine...

1.) once a week i'll cook cory breakfast before he leaves for work. breakfast is his favorite meal of the day, so he would enjoy a hot breakfast.

2.) every day i'm going to conciously let one thing go & keep quiet about it, that would normally get on my nerves & i would make (can you fathom it?) sarcastic comments about.

3.) each day i'm going to go out of my way to say thank you and show my appreciation for something that he does to help me out, instead of just letting it go unnoticed.

jokes?

we were out and about today & on the ride home elise was like, "Mama, do you want to hear some funny jokes?" she would just grin & giggle after each one. she was nice enough to share them with me, so i thought i'd pass them along to you...feel free to use them anytime you want to liven up a crowd! :-)

1.) What if a mouse ate all the leaves?

2.) What if a mouse ate a bunch of rocks?

3.) What if a mouse ate some dirt?

4.) What if a mouse ate a giraffe?

5.) Did you know that Ron Stoppable calls Kim Possible "KP"?

6.) What if Madeline told a funny joke?

There you have it! I think we may just have the next great comic on our hands!

flu shots

the kids & i went to the wake county health department to get flu shots today. that is a whole new category of fun, let me just tell you. first i had to fill out forms for me, elise, & ian. like i had nothing better to do with my hands! between trying to dig around in the diaper bag for our social security cards, trying to prevent ian from scribbling all over the precious forms with the ink pen, & feeding elise chicken nuggets...all while trying to document our info, it was a total disaster! then we have to wait in this itty bitty waiting room stuffed to the gills with "all walks of life" that must be 200 degrees for goodness knows how long. honestly, considering the state of affairs i think the kids were total troopers. the cruel irony of it all is that after their reasonably good behavior they each got stuck in the leg with needle! what a day!

i'm famous....

ok, well, i'm kind of famous. i'm addicted to the site www.allrecipes.com! i love it! it is by far the best recipe site on the web. so a few weeks ago i submitted my recipe for ham croquettes & it was accepted! so i'm way excited! below is the page direct from all recipes.com itself!

Ham Croquettes
Submitted by: BARNETTBUNCH

"A delicious croquette recipe, made with ham, onions, & cheese. It is so good & tastes just like I remember my mom's!" Original recipe yield: 10 servings.


INGREDIENTS:
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup onion, chopped
3 medium green onions, chopped
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 (16 ounce) package sliced honey ham, finely chopped
1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
3 cups dried breadcrumbs, divided
salt and pepper to taste
4 eggs
2 cups oil for frying
1/8 cup water

DIRECTIONS:
Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in onion, green onions, and garlic; cook until tender, about 10 minutes.
Transfer contents of skillet to a large bowl. Stir in ham, Cheddar cheese, and 1 1/2 cups of bread crumbs. Beat 3 eggs; stir into ham mixture. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Using your hands, make golf ball-size balls out of the ham mixture.
Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Spread remaining bread crumbs onto a plate. In a large bowl, beat 1 egg; stir in water. Dip balls into egg mixture, and roll in bread crumbs. Place balls in hot oil being careful not to crowd. Fry until golden brown. Remove to paper towels to soak up grease.

notice that elise is a cautious, safety-concious mother. she even buckles 

she thinks milo is her baby doll. he seems not to mind being treated like one...especially the spoiling!