mommy's sippy cup

as promised...

Here is our new slide/swing thingy... not bad for $60. It looks like it's never been used... won't look that way for long with Miss Ellie using it... the swing is a little small for her... more for a smaller child, but she doesn't mind. :)

last night sucked

It was storming. No sever weather warnings. Just lots of bright lightening and thunder rumbles. Turned the news off at 10:20 and was going to go upstairs when all the sudden I heard the loudest boom/crackle/fizz/pop I’ve ever heard. I thought my house got hit by lightning. We lost power. I was home alone with Ellie, Greg was working. I *HATE* thunderstorms. So I was having anxiety pour out of my ears. I was scared. Called xcel. They finally came around 2 to turn things back on, and yes, I was still awake! In the mean time my sister came out to stay with me cause she knows what a freak I turn into when we have bad weather. Then the stomach cramps/nausea started and I was up sick in and out of the bathroom until after 1. Have no idea if it was something I ate or if I seriously made myself that upset! We didn’t end up falling asleep until almost 3 and my alarm goes off at 6:10. FUN. Fun Thursday. Fun. What a SUPER night.

Then I swore I was going to call in sick today. On 3 hours of sleep - go to a job I don't really like? Sheesh... why wouldn't I call in? Cause I'm a huge wimp. I felt guilty. Sometimes I hate being so honest, ya know? So went to work. Got doped up on mellow yellow and a nice sugary donut and made it thru my day.

One of my coworkers is like a serial garage saler and she knew I was looking for any fun little tikes toys... well she gave me this sale ad this morning:

Thurs. 8/28, 5pm-7pm; Fri. 8/29, 8am-10am. AGES FIVE & UNDER SALE!!! Trek Double Bike Trailer, Leap Frog Learning Table, Fischer Price Aquarium Cradle Swing, NEW Carseat. LITTLE TIKES: Castle Slide/Swing, Workshop Workbench, Sand & Water Table, Beauty Shop. Scooter, Trikes, Potty Chair, MUCH MORE!

Well thanks to J my coworker Ellie is the proud owner of a brand-new-to-us vanity table with a stool, blow dryer and pretend makeup. A washer/dryer and ironing board. And a swing/slide set. I don't have a pic of the swing/slide, but will get one. For now here are the other 2. I paid $20 each. Not bad. The swing/slide set, that is outside cause it won't fit through the front door, was $60 (grandma and grandpa paid for that one!) Thank you mom and dad! She loves it :) I'll post a pic tomorrow.

I'm beat. I need sleep. Night!

a few odds and ends

Our last day at Garmisch... if only Ellie and I were looking/smiling :)
Greg's numlisious homemade pizza...
Us at Kelsy and Craig's wedding on Saturday...
Our sleeping beauty... seriously... I'm not partial or anything... but I think Greg and I are going to be in B. I. G. trouble in about 12 years... Greg will be greeting every boy with his shot gun! :)

Seriously, it's been 6 days since I've blogged! What's up with that? Hmm.

Had a busy weekend. Wedding on Saturday of a long time family friend Kelsy. It was beautiful. Outside on the golf course. A Chaplin from the Mayo Clinic did the ceremony. He was interesting. It was short and sweet as Kelsy (and I'm not sure about Craig) is agnostic.

Just to clear it up. An agnostic is someone who thinks it's impossible to know the truth about God. An atheist believes they know the truth about God... that there isn't one.

I've always questioned God. I'm not gonna lie. I know this isn't a favorable opinion to have. Especially with my mother. But it is what it is, my opinion. Since I was in high school I would ask my mom HOW do you know there is a God? HOW do you know that what the bible says it true? I'd ask her how she knew there wasn't a bunch of old men rolling around laughing in their graves because they wrote a book (or a story) that many billions of people in the world follow (and believe) in one form or another. How do we know it isn't just a piece of history? A story written by an imaginative storyteller. How do you know? I sometimes think there is something I'm missing. Hmm.

Ok, off that soap box. Don't get me started on politics, illegal immigration, abortion, heath care in our country, etc... I could go on and on. But am to tired right now. If anyone wants to hear my opinion just ask.

So wedding Saturday... the lovely couple.

Sunday was a lazy day of watching movies and doing laundry. Greg slept most of the day as he had to work that night. Monday brought the dreaded work day for me. Picked up Ellie, went to wallyworld for a few groceries - $90 is a few right? Then headed home where Greg had prepared taco's... num num. Topped it off with my fav BL lime and it was a great night. Until we noticed Ellie was SUPER hot. Took her temp and it was 102.9. YIKEY'S. We gave her some tylenol and put her to bed. She was up at 4:10, Greg went and got her back to sleep. We were thinking the entire time it was her ears. This morning we got up and Greg said, why don't you look in her mouth. Could it be teeth? Sure thing. That's exactly what it was. 2 big top molars are poking thru. Poor thing. Doped her up on more tylenol and sent her to daycare. Nice mommy I am. Told daycare about our night and off to work I went. I called Theresa around 9 and she said Ellie had a slow start but was playing/eating normal. Whew.

Tonight after work we had our weekly girls night. Picked up Ellie from daycare and went to Tanya and Hunters house. Jess and Nora also came over. We hired a cook to come in and make us a wonderful meal. He made couscous with vegetables and chicken. It was so yummy. Our cooks name was Greg. (hee, hee) Yes, my hubby came to girls night and cooked us all and awesome meal. Eventually Pete joined us too, so he wasn't the only guy around. Oh, and Elvis was there too, Tanya's male cat. :)

Now we're home. Ellie is in bed and I'm on my way there to. Nighty night, sleep tight.

we're home!

Usually we get home from vacation and I'm like, whew I'm glad to be home! This year it wasn't like that. I wanted to stay at the cabin for another month! Maybe that has something to do with my job? Hmmm... I'm thinking so.

We're home, back to work, back to life, laundry, daycare drop-offs, grocery shopping, dishes... wow why don't we go on vacation more often?

Hmmm... pretty boring post huh... not sure I really have anything interesting going on this week. Have been going into work at 7 each morning this week to make up some of my vacation time... that has been seriously exhausting. Waking up my little Ellie bean at 6 a.m. just breaks my heart too. It is way to early for her. This morning we got up and were walking out the door and she said, "stay home?" I had to tell her that, "no, mommy has to go to work." She about made me burst into tears when she said, "Ellie work too mommy." I told her that I couldn't bring her to work... oh I wanna cry right now just thinking about it. You SAHM's are really very lucky you are able to do what you do. Ellie doesn't even go to daycare everyday. She goes 10 days per month... but is home all the other weekdays with Greg, because of his flexible 12 hr shift work schedule. So she only sees me on the weekends and evenings. BREAKS MY HEART. I am working on finding something different with a more flexible schedule but boy am I having a dang hard time doing so. I have applied for so many jobs. I've applied for a health educator position (which I have my degree in), a school office worker, with another social service agency and have heard NOTHING from most of these people. Nothing. Don't people realize that a little courtesy goes a long way... even sending a letter that says thanks but no thanks would appease me. Just something! I just think it is so rude.

Ok, done with that. My sis and I have something else in the works... since the last store situation is not going thru, for reasons outside of our control. We have another option and are pursuing that at this point and we'll see if it takes us anywhere. I'm hopeful that by the end of the year I will be on my way to owning a store with my sister and having the flexibility in a schedule that I am dying for!!

My cat Max is laying on the floor by me sleeping. He must be dreaming because his tail keeps moving, his paw keeps flickering and his belly is quivering... kinda funny.

I really need to go to bed... 5:30 is gonna come real soon. To soon.

vacation part 7 (friday)

This had to be my favorite day here so far... again, our day in pictures and a few words...

Pancakes... we butter ours and sprinkle (or in this case dump) sugar on them and roll em up... so, so good!

We spent the day out on the lake... it was just an awesome day...
say "cheeeeeese"...
helping papa drive...
looking out the back of the boat with daddy...
driving with uncle Scott...
Ellie enjoying herself a little too much... :)
We spent the entire day out on the lake... then we had a dinner reservation at the resort restaurant for their fish fry...

We started at the bar and ordered Ellie a kiddie cocktail... this is what they gave a 2 year old! A ginormous glass glass! It was bigger than her head!


Here is my deep fried perch with potato skins. It was so yummy... but I was up sick from 1:20 a.m. to about 2:15 sick as a dog in the bathroom... NOT fun.
Within minutes of dinner being served Ellie's head started bobbing... she was out in minutes... we had a nice quiet dinner while she slept in grandma's arms...
Greg, me, dad, mom, Scott, Katie and sleepy Ellie...
we know how to do it... we spent $86 on dinner and $86 on drinks!! Seeeeeeriously!

Ellie was still sleeping when we left...
and walked back to the cabin with this view... beautiful.
I *LOVE* vacations. I love this resort. I love going there every year. I can't wait until next year. We checked out a larger cabin for next year and booked it for July. It is going to be so much fun... Greg and I will get our own room finally!! No more sharing with Ellie... woot, woot!

vacation part 6 (thursday evening-2 posts in one day, don't forget to check out post 5)

An evening of bean bags and booze... our evening in pictures, a few words and a recipe that is to die for!

Chicken and steak fajitas for dinner...

my chicken fajita with lettuce, cheese, tomato and sour cream... so yummy :)
gotta love them bean bags...

lovin my new drink... beer margaritas! in a pitcher mix 4 beers, 1 cup tequila and 1 frozen can of limeade (12 oz can)... ohhh so good and knocks you on your arse... can't ya tell? :)
oh aren't sisters sweet...
while we played bean bags and drank, Ellie played with her baby and ran around the yard in her pj's...
doesn't Greg look thrilled? or wasted? you choose

the bloody marys were seriously their own appetizer... came with a celery stalk, a beef stick, a hunk of pepper jack cheese, an olive, a pickle, a lemon slice and a lime slice... geesh
G for Greg! (or Garmisch, whatever)
on the way back to the cabin we decided to play on the playground... kt on the swing...
me on the tire swing...
a fun night was had by all!

vacation part 5 (thursday)

We woke up Thursday morning and had plans to go to Wilderness Walk with Greg's mom and sister. I was thinking this was going to be a nice little kids petting type zoo with animals behind cages. I was wrong. You walk into this place and it starts off innocently enough with some fish to feed.

Then we walked thru the gate and into the animal nursery. Ellie hated it from the get-go. She was afraid of everything. Wouldn't touch a thing. The girls working there had pulled out a really fuzzy bunny and a hedgehog for us to touch. There were big fat bunnies and baby sheep eating... just walking at our feet, that we were free to touch. The baby goats were so cute (these 2 anyways... wait until I tell you about the other 2 baby goats). There were kittens for sale (?) and a momma kitty... there were guinea pigs... they were all very cute and most were in cages (which made me kinda sad.)



As we walked out of the nursery to our left was a large fenced in area of deer. They were free to roam the park as they wished... which I didn't realize until they lept the fence and started coming towards us... scared the shit out of me! I mean, these are wild animals... no matter how used to humans they are... they could just snap at any moment and we'd be in trouble... it was kinda scary. They also associated humans with food... you could buy corn/other food and feed them out of your hands. So they assumed that everyone had food... they'd walk right up to you and nudge you in the back or sniff your hands to see if you had anything... yikes! It was quite cool to see them up close... they were very pretty and had beautiful fuzzy antlers.


After seeing the deer we checked out the 2 black bears. They were pacing. Over and over again the same path. SO sad.

Then we went to check out the tiger. We were warned that the tiger didn't like strollers. (seriously?!) The stroller, Ellie and I stayed behind the black curtain...

As we left the tigers 2 beautiful (or so I thought) white geese walked towards us. All the sudden one's beak went up in the air and he/she (?) started honking and walking (fast) towards Greg's feet. The damn thing bit his shoe!

At this point I didn't feel like this was good'ol family fun.

We turned around to head out on the trail... walked past the racoons, otter, turkeys, ostriches, peacocks, a variety of other birds, horses (which by the way had this sign posted) Caution - I Bite... (good family fun, remember!) but we kept going... when out of nowhere came these two characters... at first we went, "awww aren't they cute!" But soon enough we realized what little shits they were. They jumped and pooped all over the place. They ran the joint. Seriously. They were everywhere. Ellie was in her stroller and they scared her by jumping up on her in the stroller... they tried eating our bags, etc from the back basket of the stroller... they tore off and chased each other while grotty poop pellets just pored out of their butts. Gross I know. They ran all over the other animals areas, thru the woods and even jumped all over the "people" areas like this... and they found so much pleasure in head butting our legs. Nuts, seriously. I've never seen anything like it. I just keep laughing out loud when I think of these two little terds. For the rest of our time there Ellie played with gramma melly in the sandbox, on the swing and in the play house. Here are some more pics of our morning at Wilderness Walk.
We survived wilderness walk without any bites, scrapes and clean shoes... thank goodness (only kidding... it was an adventure)... and headed to Coop's for lunch... pizza buffet... num! Rather than eat this: My strange (!) daughter decided she wanted to eat this: yes 2 bowls of peas
We then spent a few hours at Greg's mom and grandma's house... had a yummy key lime dessert and visited... then we headed back to the cabin for dinner and a little bean bag throwing... that will be another post... this one has been way to long!!

not about vacation part 1

I'm feeling a bit emotional and raw right now. I just want to thank all my blogger friends. When I turn the computer on and see your comments and emails I just feel good. I have real life friends and bloggy friends and am so happy to have you both! I'm hoping to someday make my bloggy friends real friends too! Thanks guys. And hey, it's delurking time. I see on my site meter who is and when they are checking out my blog... so leave a comment dangit so we can become bloggy friends too... and if you don't think I know you're checking in... your wrong... my site meter is very very nice and detailed... even tells me how long you visited! Sneaky huh?! :)

private entry

FYI - private blog post was done tonight if you have access. If you don't and you'd like to check it out... leave me your email.

vacation part 4 (wednesday)

We woke up today with no plans. The sky looked cloudy and overcast. We weren't sure if we should just hang out at the cabin? Hike at Copper Falls? Or head up to Ashland/Bayfield area. My parents decided (or at least my mom) that she needed to go do laundry (?) so her and my dad left to head to the Hayward laundromat. Not a way I'd want to spend a half day of my vacation... waiting for clothes to wash/dry in a laundromat... but whatever?! (we pack enough for the entire week). I'm thinking that they (she) just wanted a day away from us so that was the approach she took... it didn't make for a pleasant morning (drama sucks). Whatever.

Anyways... Katie, Scott, Greg and I decided to head up to Ashland for lunch and a little shopping. After searching online I found a brewery there that also had a restaurant inside. We thought it would be a nice place to check out. The food was awesome! I had a half a turkey sandwich with lettuce, tomato and peppercorn dill dressing on marble rye bread with a bowl of beer cheese soup. SO, SO good. The dressing was delish. The bread was soft. The tomatos were perfectly ripe. It was heavenly.

Katie, Greg and Scott acting goofy...

Greg still acting goofy... (and yes, his shirt does say: I put ketchup on my ketchup. My husband has to many quirky shirts like this)

Ellie on the other hand wanted nothing to do with any food... except her popcorn basket. She had a glass of chocolate milk and popcorn. Again with the quality nutritious meals she's eating on vacation!! On the way out the store she had to steer the ship!
On our way up to Ashland we come to this beautiful field of sunflowers... on the way home I made Greg pull over so I could take pics. It was BEAUTIFUL! Sunflowers everywhere!
Ok. I am just about peeing my pants I'm laughing so hard! Ellie cracks me up. She keeps dancing with her barbie and we've been on a little mermaid kick... so when we ask her what her barbie's name is she say's it, "ah uh ah"... like she is singing the song from little mermaid. Then a split second later she decides she wants to be naked.

And in...

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she was nakey! (in her words)