This was Yesterday

I showed the pictures of a couple of weeks ago and now look what we have!




And of course the kiddos out in the snow. Telling me that they were going to help me shovel.....yeah right! So we have been cooped up in the house.



So I am making chili in the crock pot today. This is a first for me. I took some crushed tomatoes, a chili starter can with beans, ground beef and lots of seasonings oh and some chili tomato sauce. It seems a little runny but we will see how it goes. I am going to make some corn muffins to go with it.

Well when I put it on literally 10 minutes later Brooklyn walks through the kitchen and says "Mommy what is that stinky smell?" I about fell over! First of all she has a stuffy nose, second I guess I know who is not eating tonight!

So the girls and I got some scrappin done last night with the exception of some embellishments that I wanted to cut with my Silhouette. I have like 10 layouts that need stuff on it and my darn machine is not downloading the driver right! Ughhhh! So stay tuned for some more layouts from me.......hopefully.

Let It Snow............

More snow. It is not like it didn't snow enough this winter already! I mean it looks nice and all but I am really getting sick of having to shovel the driveway. Especially since it conveniently snows 5-10 inches at a time on the weekends that Randy works for 24+ hours! That means that I am out there shoveling with the kids. What a pain....pain in the neck, back, legs.............
But the girls have a lot of fun playing it so that is one thing that I cannot complain about.
Here are a couple of pictures from the last snow fall.
It is kinda pretty isn't it?

Chaos Is Done!

Or is it?

Christmas was great! Here is our weekend in review:
Saturday was Rileys 2nd birthday so we stayed at a hotel with Gwen and Chiquita and the boys and Mom and Dad. We went swimming and played games. The next day Ashlynn went to Savannahs house to spend the night. Her birthday was the 24th and they went to Libby Lu. I had never heard of it before but let me tell you it sounded pretty cool! She came home with her hair done in a Rockstar style and all kinds of hair and makeup accessories! From the sounds of it they had a great time! I cannot wait for Paula to send me the pictures!
Christmas Eve was spent at Grandma Rhondas. We had ham and potatoes and lots and lots and did I mention LOTS of cookies! The girls got fun things like a Playdoh center, Webkinz, digital camera and Shrek the Third! All in all it was a great night.
Christmas Day we had at our house. Grandma and Grandpa Zabel have been with us all weekend so Gwen and Chiquita and the boys came over. Dad and Randy went and got Missy and we opened presents. The girls scored again! Ratatouille, Barbie Globe, More Webkinz, Lots of arts and crafts, and my all time favorite game Hullabaloo! If you don't have it you have got to get it! It teaches shapes and colors and makes it so much fun! I didn't even have to read the directions to them I put the batteries in and they figured it out on their own. Definately an A+!!
But one of the best gifts was what Grandma and Grandpa and Gwen and Chiquita got Taylor and Ashlynn......Tickets to go see High School Musical On Ice!! So February 8th Gwen and I are taking them to go see it! I think that I was more excited then they were! Maybe they just didn't get it since it was a piece of paper. What is the big deal about a piece of paper! Ha ha!
I got my Heat Embossing Tool with some glitter for it, some Rockstar Paper, Alpha Stamps Shop Vac, and a space heater. Randys mom and I got him a Garmin GPS system. He loves it and for once I am able to say that he will not take his present back to the store! We ate all kinds of appetizers, played Disney Scene It and Cranium Wow.
I would say that this was a really great Christmas!
Now I have to find room for all of these new toys!

Starbucks Fantasy

I'm dreaming of a Starbucks Latte.....all the way to Ashlynn's school. (The the tune of I' Dreaming of a White Christmas)

Yesterday we did some of our Christmas shopping for the rest of the family. We stopped at Starbucks and got Latte and Mocha. Well this morning I got in the car to take Ashlynn to school and the cups were still in the cup holders and all I could think of was wouldn't it be cool to have a machine hooked up to the car that when it starts it pours be a Grande Vanilla Latte. That way when I get the car warmed up and the kids in it there would be a nice warm beverage for me. ahhhhh bliss.
Now if someone is willing to hook one of those up to my car feel free to drop on by but for now I guess I will just be Dreaming of a Starbucks Latte.

Weekend Activities

Well the weekend is here and really we do not have many activities at all. Gwen is coming over with the boys just for a little bit on Saturday. I think that the girls and I are going to try and make it to Missy's house. But man would you believe it, my Brake light on the van every once in a while flashes on. I think that when I make a turn the fluid goes below the warning level and causes the light to come on. I am sure that I have to bring it in next week. So I am a little leery of driving it that far.
But great news! Randy got a really nice bonus check! Right in time for a car repair....go figure! This is definately a huge help with the holidays here. Now I am feeling a little bit better about Christmas spending.
But you know when you get a windfall there is usually a downfall coming soon. Well it came right away. I have been going through the underwriting process for health insurance for my self for the last 3 months. And today I got the approval and the bill in the mail. Weeeeellll. My insurance agent called to say that he could prorate it to Dec 14th so that I was not paying the back months since I had no medical bills. Great, right? Well the bad news is that my rate increased 40%!! All because of my weight and height check. I was 4 pounds over the cutoff. 17 pounds over the cutoff for 15% increase and anything below that was the original quote.

So guess who has a new NEW YEARS resolution? Yep you guessed it. I definately do not want to have to be paying an extra $50 a month because of my weight. I need to lose it anyway so why not start now. But man this is going to be tough with the holidays. But $50 a month is totally worth it to lose. That and for my own health and sanity. Hello wake up call!

So get ready to hear me pissing and moaning about exercising and eating right. If I make a mistake make sure you yell at me. Please do. It won't hurt my feelings.

Snow Snow and more Snow

I really like the winter months but enough is enough. Not only is it snowing a lot it is icy snow! Right now it is raining and turning into almost instant ice! Ashlynn is off of school due to ice storm warnings. Randy is at work with a broken back (not literally but it is not good) and I am out in the driveway trying to lift my shovel off of the ground with the wet snow.

So now that we finished as much of the driveway that we could we are having a lazy day of doing NOTHING! Well I am here and the girls are watching non stop movies in their pajamas still and it is noon!

I promise that we will get some of the housework done but for right now this sounds good to me.

Whew! That Bug Got Us Good!

So it has been a while since I have posted and oh do I have the things to post! Our comptuer got a Major bug that left us out of the cyber world for almost 3 weeks! 3 weeks without my computer friends....what is a girl to do!

So let's see..... there was Thanksgiving which we spent at my mother in laws and then headed up to my parents house in Black River. We had a nice time and got to relax and enjoy the country while watching for deer and other wildlife surround us. But before we headed up there Randy and I hit the Black Friday deals! Yes we were up at 3am and out the door within 15 minutes. First stop was Kohls. 4am door buster deals. It was so cold outside and we got into line at about 340am. At 4am the doors opened and we were in and out of there by 415am! Then we headed to Walmart got in line at 450am and doors opened at 5am. In and out by 515am! Then off to Home Depot where I dropped Randy off to meet his boss and I headed over to Kmart. I got there at 540am and was the 5th one in line. There were hardly as many people there and it was nice to not have to make a mad dash for what I wanted. Then I decided to try Target. Well BIG mistake! I walked in and the line inside to checkout was wrapped completely around the inside of the store.
Whew.......We got most of our shopping done and I am oh so glad!

We were supposed to go to the Midnight Magic parade in Mukwonago but it decided to snow. I didn't want to have to bundle up the kids and sit in the snow and freeze our butts off. Randy worked all weekend so we cleaned and did a lot of arts and crafts. Plus the girls wanted to play in the snow so there was a lot of hot cocoa made. Auntie Gwen and Riley spent the night the night before and that was a lot of fun!

Grandma Zabel came down on Tuesday. She came to pick up her Christmas decorations. Even though they will be down here for Christmas she still wanted a few things to decorate up there. Wednesday Gwen brought Taylor and Riley over and Grandma made her awesome Pork Chops in Gravy......YUM!

Thursday we made the gingerbread house. I picked up a kit at Walmart and the girls and I put it together. The darn roof kept sliding off! Finally we got it to stay on. The girls were very good about not eating too much of the candy.

Then there was Friday. Oh dear what have my children done now. Ashlynn and I were doing arts and crafts and Brooklyn and Kaylin were playin in the playroom right next to it. I cannot not see them when they are in there but they always play so good. Well I thought nothing of it until the next morning. Kaylin's hair was a complete rats nest! I had put her hair in 2 piggy tail braids the day before and did not bother to take it out before bed. Well big mistake! Not only was it the snarl from hell ...... half of her hair was missing! So I ask her if she cut her hair and she says no Brookie did. So Brookie says no I didn't. Typical responses from both. Randy and I just figured that Kaylin did it. She is the one that always is doing something that doesn't really surprise us anymore. So I go get Kaylins hair cut. It looks real cute and is shoulder length. But I am sad because I do not see absolutely any curls anymore.
When I get home I go into the basement and pick up all of the hair. And let me tell you it was A LOT! Well while picking it up I notice that there is a chunk of blonde hair. Yes it is definately NOT Kaylins hair. Well I call Brooklyn and sure enough there are a few small chunks of hair missing. Now the real accusitions begin. "Did you cut Kaylins hair?" "No" "Did you cut your hair?" "No" Ok so 5 minutes later Brooklyn comes up to me and is almost crying says "I am sorry for lying to you, I cut Kaylins hair" Finally an answer! She took one of her pigtails and completely cut it off! I guess they wanted to play beauty stylist!

So now that the computer is back up and running I should be able to post more frequently. I look forward to rewarding you all with some good laughs from the kids. Sometimes they are the only thing that keep me sane and make me smile!