I'm a Cheater

Yep.  I cheated.

Just recently, in a weak I-hate-winter-therefore-I-hate-my-hair moment, I cheated on my hairdresser.  (Is that even what they like to be called?  Just typing that makes me feel like I am 85 years old and heading to the salon each week for a "wash-n-set.")  I felt guilty sitting in the new salon, dressed in a freshly laundered black cape, answering questions about my hairstyle (or more like recent lack there of), all the while staring at a stranger.  Not at all "my" Amanda.

Am I the only one who feels like I am being unfaithful when I try a new stylist?  Like I should be sporting some kind of scarlet letter just for walking into a different hair salon?

That moment reminded me of another time I cheated.  (Yep... Once a cheater, always a cheater.)  Several years ago I was going to a lady who was very sweet and very affordable.  Karla gave me cheap haircuts when I quit my job to stay home with Dimples.  I was the only non-blue haired lady in the salon on any given day. (Except that really isn't true, since I have colored my hair FOREVER.  I am pretty sure I'm sportin' my own blue hair under my streaks of highlights.)  After several years with Karla, I mustered up all the nerve I could and made an appointment with a new stylist at a new salon.  We had adjusted to our frugal lifestyle and the purse strings weren't nearly as tight.  I thought maybe my hair should reflect that.  (Yep, I can be a bit shallow.)

I had butterflies in my stomach as the young, hip, and oh-so-expensive gal walked me back to her shiny new chair.  Instead of dumping water down the back of my shirt, she carefully massaged my scalp while shampooing my hair with something that smelled like heaven.  She presented me with a Diet Coke and a fashion magazine.  She was trendy.  She made me feel young and suggested a new style to fit my personality.

Yep. I was smitten.  Karla would never have to know.  Never.

Just as I was feeling like a new woman and telling myself that Karla was long gone, I looked up at the new girl's certification.  She was Karla's daughter!

I! KID! YOU! NOT!  I had cheated on Karla with her daughter!  What were the odds?!

Anyway, I am still feeling guilty about my latest failure to be faithful.  This time the new lady is cheaper.  Currently, cheaper is good as we tighten up our budget in order to get Nurse Boy through school.

Hopefully, Amanda will never find out.

But with my luck, I just went to her sister...

What Day is it?!

Remember last week?  The week I didn't blog and told you to be watching for a giveaway?  The week that it snowed (AGAIN!) and the kids stayed home from school (AGAIN!)?  The week that flew by and I didn't accomplish anything on my To-Do list?  The week that Nurse Boy started back to school and we were slammed with surprise bills (YIKES!)? 

Well, let's just pretend that week never even happened, shall we?

I already feel better. 

So, now that we all agree that last week never happened, let me share some pictures of an exciting event that happened last weekend (or the weekend before last, but WHATEVER)...

We took the kids to...

The Great Wolf Lodge!!!!

(Thanks to a Christmas present from Grandma & Grandpa Nurse Boy.) 

Great Wolf is a local hotel with an indoor water park.  I believe all of my kids would agree that it is a little slice of heaven during a dreary, cold, snowy winter. 

We spent the first day getting wet...

 and we spent the evening in our pajamas for story time, hot chocolate, movies, family time and rest.

 Bright and early the next morning, the kids couldn't wait to swim some more...

Our toes and fingers looked like prunes, but no one cared...

 Yes...

Fun... 

 Was Had...

By... 

ALL!!!!



Dusting Off the Friday Fare!

Yep.  I am going to start posting some of our favorite recipes once again.  I enjoy writing them down for my kids.  Hopefully it will bring back memories when they read these posts.  Hopefully they will be positive memories, not the kind of memories that has them seated all alone at the kitchen table with a plateful of cold broccoli.  Or, in my case, memories of their brother still sitting at the kitchen table with a cold plate of anything green long into the wee hours of the night. Ha!

This has been a bit of a crazy week.  We started off the week with 7 inches of snow and 2 snow days for the kids.  This week I have seen my fair share of sleds and wet socks, gloves, and undies.  Yes, undies.  I love how boys view an open area of white snow as uncharted territory to be explored.  As in every. single. square. inch.  Oh, and making the perfect snowball is an art form. If they only viewed laundry as an art form.  As in washing, folding, and putting it away.

Needless to say, the washing machine and I were ready for them to go back to school.

Since it has been bitterly cold, I have turned on my oven for a little baking fun.  Here is a recipe that is a new favorite around here:

Apple Spice Snack Cake

Ingredients:

1 box Spice Cake Mix

1 package sugar free instant vanilla pudding

1 1/2 cup natural applesauce

4 eggs

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 or 3 tart apples, peeled and chopped (add after the batter is mixed)

Throw everything in one bowl and mix well.  Gently stir in the apples last.

Place the batter in a greased 13x9 pan.  Bake for 35-40 minutes at 350 degrees.

This is the perfect snack cake.  It isn't too sweet and is delicious served warm or cold.  It is the perfect homemade after school  treat when I'm feeling a little June Cleaver like... minus the pearls... and the never ending patience.  I guess I would have a lot more patience if all of our problems were solved in 30 minutes flat.  Ha!  If only...

Have a wonderful weekend!  Come back next week... I have a giveaway!!

Because No One Should Ever Have a Bad Hair Day

Take a LOOK...

Someone's...

got...

a...

NEW...

'do!

What a gift!

Mr. Nurse Boy here.  (Yeah, it's been a while.)

We have done our best to keep our kids as innocent as possible.  Dimples learned about the birds and the bees reading the Bible for goodness sakes.  We are at a loss as to how to address his Christmas gift for Mrs. Nurse boy this year: 

So, do you think he thought this was funny because he is calling his mom a bad girl?  Why do you think Dimples thinks Santa would be more jolly knowing about these bad girls?  Is it so he can avoid hair pulling, scratching, and being talked about behind his back by avoiding these bad girls?  Or is it so he can avoid their homes, skip the trip down their chimney, and leave the underside of their tree barren (which is quite the opposite of what the cup is implying)?  

Is it wrong that we think this is so funny and a little bit alarming at the same time?

The worst part is Dimples was with his maternal grandma and grandpa when he purchased this gift.  Do you think they actually read it?  Do you think they were so uncomfortable they just avoided it, or do you think they thought it would be hilarious to let him give his mother this gift?  I can't wait to talk to Dimples about this in the years to come!

Something tells me he will turn 5 shades of red.

In the meantime, he keeps asking his mom why she isn't drinking out of her new cup...

New Year, New Look, New Goals...

Same Old Me.

So, it is 2011.  How did that happen?  The years seem to fly by, yet the days sometimes have a way of dragging on and on.  Still, I find myself trying to dodge the "r" word... you know the one... resolutions.  Yes, it is that time of year when I dust off the treadmill and rid the cabinets of junk food.  (My kids always complain that I make them eat healthy, pack healthy lunches, and monitor what they put in their mouths.  They just don't know about my hiding places. ;0)  I love pushing myself to be a better person, but I hate failing.  Regardless, I have made a few resolutions.

My first resolution (and the only one I will bore you with) is to get my bloggy grove back.  This blog is, first and foremost, a gift to my children.  I plan to publish this for them.  (I'm hoping it will make up for the fact that Sweet Pea doesn't have a baby book.  Yep.  I am one of THOSE moms.)  Secondly, I have LOVED  "meeting" all of you.  I honestly have bloggy friendships that I value and treasure. 

So, after taking a month off, I plan to continue blogging whether you like it or not.  :0)

Now, to get you caught up...

December was filled with a whole lot of family fun.  Here is a picture of the kids on our annual trip to see Christmas lights.  (Have NO idea why Dimples was making that face.)  They never know which night it will be, until we tell them to put on warm jammies BEFORE dinner.  Then we pack everyone in the car, hit a drive thru, and drive around until bedtime.  It is one of my favorite traditions.

We have also enjoyed spending a lot of time with this guy!  He has 5 full weeks off from school and we are trying to enjoy every moment with him before the next semester makes him a stranger to us.

We spent Christmas Eve the same way Mary and Joseph did... minus the labor pains, so maybe not EXACTLY the same way.  We went to my parents' church and sat right next to a cow, a donkey, and a lamb.  (Yes, we got to see the cow poop.  C'mon, I know you were wondering.  And, yes, it may have been the highlight of the evening for the boys.  Pray for me, people.)

The kids LOVED it and I thought we were going to go home with a pet donkey.  (I won't lie, it was kind of cute... smelly, but cute.)

We came home and celebrated with my family.  We always end the night with a birthday cake for Jesus.  Here they are blowing out the candles.

Christmas morning was filled with noise... and not just the moans from the parents who were up past 2 am putting together a kitchen set for Sweet Pea that is fit for a princess.  (Seriously, it is wrong to be jealous of your daughter's play kitchen?  I mean, why does SHE get granite?!)  Bruiser can play a mean Paper Jams Guitar.  He is a natural rocker... and, I'm not sure that is a good thing!

Dimples even got a piano playing t-shirt.  Yep, there is NO escaping the noise!

 Sweet Pea also got this adorable dollhouse with wooden dolls and magnetic outfits. (It doesn't make noise or require batteries... I LOVE it!)

I'm afraid all of the boys spent a lot of their break doing this.  I hardly recognize their handsome faces now that we are back to our regular routine... which means game play is only on the "Wii"kends. 

And, check out Nurse Boy's new toy!!!!!  (This is pretty much my view of him most nights. :0)  Santa really came through for him!  I think my parents may have felt sorry for him when they heard about us getting up at 3:30 am on Black Friday only to come home tired and empty handed.  (That was the first and LAST time we will get excited about a deal on Black Friday.  Lesson learned.  The hard way.)

Happy New Year!  Hope you all had a blessed Christmas!