Disney Dining

I can't believe it's already that time! Today I made our Disney dining reservations. I really wanted to get us reservations at Cinderella's Royal Table in the castle for breakfast after having Shelby all done up at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique. But there was no availability. I'm going to need to come up with a back up plan. Shelby is insisting to get all princess'd up at the BBB, but last time it was a nightmare. After spending gobs of money, she whined and complained that her dress was itchy, her shoes hurts, etc etc etc. She wanted everything taken off immediately. Then she fell asleep on our way to dinner and so we missed our princess dinner. I was thinking that maybe if we did it early in the morning we would have better results.

I did manage to make 4 breakfast reservations. Chef Mickey's, The Crystal Palace, Tusker House, and Hollywood and Vine. I may add on 1900 Park Fare if Shelby insists on having dinner with the princesses.

Mardi Gras

Shelby had a homework project to create a mardi gras float from a shoe box. Here are some snap shots of the float that her and Lonnie made together. Lonnie took apart a little people bus and used the lights and music for her mardi gras float. It turned out pretty cute but Shelby thought it was scary. LOL

Twilight

My posts have been sporadic because I've been sooooooo busy. I've been busy neglecting my family, chores, laundry, errands, and whatever else that needs to be done. Thanks to Sarah, Julie and Courtney I have now become addicted to the Twilight series. I fought for so long not to get wrapped up into the fad but I took their challenge in reading at least the first book, and became hooked within the first chapter. I didn't really "read" it. I downloaded the audio books to my ipod.



The Twilight book is definitely better than the movie, but the movie is REALLY good too. http://www.twilightthemovie.com/

I am NOT a reader. I can't stand to read. I don't have the time or patience. I don't enjoy it, well, unless it's juicy hollywood gossip. ;-) But this series definitely has me totally hooked.

Shelby's 5 y/o check up

We took Shelby in for her 5 y/o check up last Monday. Note to self, do NOT go to the pediatrician's office on a Monday unless you are desperate to see the doctor. We waited almost 2 hours before we were seen. Tucker was an absolute crab. Lonnie came with us b/c Tucker was suppose to be getting his booster flu shot. We waited out in the hallway instead of going in the reception area with the tons of sick kids spreading their cooties all over the toys. By the time we got into the room, Tucker had a huge meltdown. It just wasn't worth him staying in the room to get the booster flu shot. So Lonnie took him to the car and Shelby and I waited another 1/2 hour before we saw the pediatrician. Shelby's check up went fine. We discussed her pigeon toe which the doctor said it was a "lazy leg" and she'd grow out of it. She weighed in at 60 pounds and was 44.5" tall. (She's 99% for weight and 90% for height.) I expected her to be at least 2 inches taller since that's what she measures at home, but not according to the nurse. No shots which pleased Shelby.

Here's Shelby staring through the window at all the toys and kids playing inside.

It was Tucker's nap time.

Here are a few shots of Shelby making silly faces to pass the time while we waited.

Here's Tucker hiding under the counter in the room. He was very cranky and in no mood to be there.

The Cat Drawing

Shelby makes us about 5 drawings a day for us to save and put up at work. This is one of her most recent pieces of work. Can you tell what it is and what's on top of it?

Random Snap Shots

Here are some random snap shots I have of Shelby and Tucker. I always have my camera handy. :-)

Here's Tucker saving his binky for later.

Here's Shelby dressed up as a movie star.

Here's Shelby dressed up as a princess.

Here's Tucker staring intently at the yard guys. He loves when they come on Saturdays. LOL

Here's Tucker napping with his cars.

PB&J sandwiches

I got into a habit of buying the uncrustable pb&j sandwiches at the store b/c it made making lunches everyday so much easier for school since Shelby always wants pb&j. Uncrustables are premade frozen sandwiches that thaw out by lunch time. I finally realized I needed to make my own and it would be a heck of a lot cheaper. So now every 2-3 weeks I make pb&j sandwiches and freeze them. I just pull one out at night when I'm making lunches. They taste great! One rule in making these (in case anyone is going to do this) is to put peanut butter on both sides and then jelly goes in between.

Back to School

I sent the kids back to school today so they wouldn't miss the Valentine's Day party. Shelby never did get sick. She whined to go home early yesterday so she wouldn't have to nap at school and she knew I was at home. That's fine. I'm just glad she's not sick. (knock on wood) I caught the crud last night but I'm better this afternoon.

I picked the kids up from school and went through their goody bags from the party. I'm so bummed that I dropped the ball this Valentine's Day. I had ordered those super cute treat sacks from Etsy but they were so skinny I could hardly fit anything in them and I didn't want to send red hots to little kids to school. So I created some color labels and put them on the back of boxes of conversation hearts. The brownies turned out super cute, but I wish I did better on the treats. We just all got sick and I wasn't able to put enough into it. Oh well, I'll do better for Easter. ;-)

Valentine Treats

I volunteered to bring sweets for Shelby and Tucker's class Valentine's Day parties. I baked some fudge brownies in a cake pan then cut them out with a heart shaped cookie cutter. Then I iced them with chocolate buttercream and topped them off with some heart sprinkles. These things smelled delicious!

stomach flu

Today sucks. I forsee it getting much worse too. Sunday Tucker had a little stomach bug. Yesterday he was fine so I thought he was over it. At 5:50am I get a phone call from my mom. Her and dad have it now. No problem. I'll take off today and Lonnie will take off tomorrow if he has to. The kids have school today so I can get a lot of chores done and work on the school valentine treats. I fed the kids breakfast and got them all dressed. Right when we were walking out the door, Tucker threw up everywhere. Hmmm. Not good. So I went to tell Lonnie that I was leaving Tucker home and taking Shelby to school and he needed to get up and get ready for work. Guess what? Lonnie has the bug. Lovely. Please Lord do NOT let me and Shelby get this nasty crud. I'm having haunting memories of last year when we all go the stomach flu at the same time.

1:30 update: Shelby's teacher called for me to come get her. :-( I went ahead and took the valentine treats for tomorrow's party when I went to pick her up just in case she doesn't go to school tomorrow. Tucker definitely isn't going. She seems ok. She says her stomach hurts but she's in a normal mood so we'll see. She may have just wanted to skip nap time at school and come home. ;-)

Weekend Update

I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend. We had a pretty good weekend at the Blevins house, excluding some puke and poop from Tucker. I have photos to post but I'll do that later this week hopefully.

Friday I had Luke and Lauren over again to play. Luke and Shelby were being silly and making up names. Shelby called Luke suckerhead....but with and F and not an S. I asked her what she said and she repeated it clearly again, having no clue it was a bad word. So we ended the silly name game and moved on to other things.

We had a few friends over Saturday evening with their kids. I have been challenged to read the book Twilight. I have NO desire to read. NONE. And WHEN?? I have no idea. I can't read on the metro b/c I'll get car sick. Anyway, I will be reading it at some point since I was challenged by a group of girls who have read all 4 books in the series...twice. I won't name them b/c I am embarrassed for them. LOL - j/k....sorta. ;-)

Sunday we went to church. Thankfully our parish is a small understanding group that thinks Tucker is cute b/c I was mortified when he ran up to the alter laughing thinking he was funny. Or when he was bouncing on the pew cushions thinking it was fun too. Or when he screamed and had a meltdown when I made him stop and we left church right after communion. I wish I could blame this behavior on being sick or tired, but it's just Tucker's personality shining through.

Then Sunday afternoon on the way to my parent's house, Tucker threw up everything in his system all over my car. Do you know how disgusting it is to have to unlatch a car seat and pull off the car seat cover with chunks of yuck all over the seatbelts??? Ewwwwwwwww! I was thinking maybe he just ate a bad banana or something, but then he followed it up with a lovely smelling gift in his pants for me an hour later. He never acted sick. He was still in a great mood. So I'm hoping today he's all better and doesn't get sick again.

I made a FANTASTIC dinner last night. I am just so proud of myself. Homemade gourmet is my best friend! I baked the italian creamy chicken and pasta. All I had to do was add the chicken and some milk and cheese. Seriously it's as easy as hamburger helper but this stuff tastes soooooo good. Perfect amount of seasoning. It's not bland at all. (Which by the way I can't stand hamburger helper.) I am so grateful that Sarah turned me on to this stuff. I have made several meals and they have all been great. And get this, Lonnie has even had seconds! That in itself says A LOT!! LOL

so close!

Oh man I was so close! Shelby wanted a pb&j sandwich so I thought I would puree up some strawberries and sneak it on the sandwich instead of her regular jelly. She went to eat up and thought it was delicious......until she looked at it and saw it was red and not purple. She quickly spit it out and gave the rest to the dog.

Wubbzy

Hold the phone everyone! Tucker has found a show that he loves just as much as Cars. I don't think he loves it more than Cars, but tonight he wanted to watch Wow Wow Wubbzy instead of Cars. Lonnie and Shelby rented it at the movie place last night. He's not going to be thrilled when I have to return it Sunday. He talks about Wubbzy all day long....but not as much as Cars....yet. LOL

Valentine Treats

Next week the kids will be having Valentine's Day parties at school. I was so busy last month with Shelby's birthday that I wasn't sure if I'd be able to come up with a good idea for treats for Shelby and Tucker to pass out to their classmates with their valentines, so I ended up ordering something. I found these on Etsy and thought they were simple and cute.

I have to fill the tube with my own candy so I'll probably use the valentines m&m's that are out. I am determined to come up with my own design for Easter treats though. If I could re-do this blog layout, surely I can figure out something for a treat topper. In case anyone is interested, I ordered these from this lady on Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5375234

I heart Etsy.

Disney and McDonalds

Have I mentioned how much time goes into planning for Disney? A LOT!! Since we will be renting a car from the get-go we will be eating off site for some meals. On the itinerary will be a visit to McDonalds. Not just any old McDonalds. THE largest entertainment McDonalds and Playplace. Did you know that McDonalds has a Bistro? Check it out: http://www.mcfun.com/restaurants/view/7 How sad is it that we are going to Disney World, the most magical place on earth, and on the agenda is to go to McDonalds??? LOL

weekend update

This weekend was pretty low key, thank goodness. The kids were awesome and let me "play" on my computer most of the weekend.

Luke and Lauren came over to play for a few hours so their parents could enjoy a nice dinner out ALONE. The ice cream man drove by and Lonnie and all the kids (except Lauren) ran out for ice cream.

I went to this Homemade Gourmet 4 meals in 4 minutes party on Saturday with Sarah and Lindsey. Sarah has been pretty big into it for a while and turned me on to it. This stuff is sooooooo easy and PERFECT for me since I lack in cooking skills. One of the meals that I bought was a Season and Steam Fajita mix. This was so easy and it actually was good enough that even Shelby ate it!! So I was cheesy and took a photo so I could show y'all just how easy it was.

The seasoning mix comes with a steam bag. I bought some pre-sliced beef and some pre-sliced onions and bell peppers. How sad is it that I have no clue how to cut peppers and onions? I put the uncooked meat and the seasoning in the bag and microwaved it for 3 minutes. Took it out and mushed the bottom and nuked it again for 3 minutes. Then I added the pre-diced onions and peppers and popped it in again for 2 minutes. And whaaa-laaaa!!! THAT'S IT! It was super good and was spicy!

The absolute best part......Shelby ate it!

the new look

I've messed around all weekend with this stupid html BS. I'm done. I've tried for 10 hours to turn this thing into 3 columns and it's just not working. I even lost my blog list and now I have to figure all those out again. So this is how it's going to be for a while.

THE TRICKSTER

Friday night I made fish sticks for dinner for Shelby and Tucker. Shelby didn't want fish sticks but I knew it was something she normally would eat so I told her to smother it in ketchup or applesauce and eat up. She knew ice cream was waiting in the freezer for her. She ate her vegetable and fruit (while whining) and then she "accidentally" dropped her fish on the floor and Archie snagged and ate it before she could get it. She knew there were no more fish sticks left. "Oh mommy, Archie stole my fish stick. I'm so sad. I sure did want that last fish stick. Oh well. Can I have my ice cream now?" She had that sneaky smurk on her face. I asked her if she did it on purpose and she just laughed and said "mommy, I would never do that." I couldn't help but bust out laughing.