I'm so slick, I amaze myself.

Adrian's birthday is next week, and we're having a party on Saturday. I ordered a bounce house and cotton candy machine. So as the party nears, Joel was asking questions, since I was the one who scheduled everything. He said that I should make sure everything is in order with the park and the bounce house.
Ok, so I get ready to call the bounce house company first, then the park. I can't remember if I wrote anything down, but no big deal, I did everything online. The park has a list of approved vendors list, this is where I found them. The list is 20 pages long. So I start looking and think that I didn't go any farther than the b's. So I starting looking at all of their web sites. Cause I remembered what their web site looked like. - I couldn't find it. I'm looking and looking- nothing. Joel just laughed at me. I told him, it's okay, I'll find it. I'm pretty sure I know which one it is. When I couldn't find a web site that looked familiar, I started calling them, telling them that I booked a bounce house and machine for Saturday, but I have NO idea who I booked it with, could you please check to see if it's with you. The answer was always no. I was starting to panic a bit. Like I was going to ruin Adrian's party, and I was thinking, at least he's too young to remember. I tried calling the credit card company to see if it was on there, but no. They wouldn't charge it unless I cancelled.
So to bring this long winded story to a close, I ended up getting my phone bill and looking for it there. Needless to say I found it. And man, was I way off. It started with an R. How I ended up all the way down at the r's on the list, I have NO IDEA. But apparently I did. When I spoke to the woman, she was very calm and quiet. She said yes we have it, and so soft spoken. I was so excited I wanted to scream.
So everything is a go. I'll post some pictures after the party. And you can bet I'll take 1 of the stupid bounce house and cotton candy machine.

My Little Pony

Adrian has the tops from his bottle and sippy cup in his hands. He loves these. Anyway, he was was holding them when he was crawling around, so he sounded like a horse.

Yes Man...

Holy Crap! ...I'm Fat!

I'm fully aware of my weight and how my body looks. I'm in it every day. I notice how my clothes fit, and when they're not fitting the way they used too. I look at myself in the mirror and see the extra belly I have, and the muffin top that wasn't always there. I mean, come on, we all can feel when our legs go numb because our underwear are cutting off the circulation. (I'm not that bad, yet. But you get my point.)
So I went to give a massage today. She's a client that I've had for awhile. Since before Joel and I got married. Anyway, it's been a few months since we've seen each other. When I walked in she gave me a hug and asked me if we were expecting another baby. I laughed and told her, "No, I'm just fat."
I had forgotten about it until I got home tonight. I guess it bothered me more than I thought, because I did some crunches. I know that won't do much unless I keep doing them. I want to try to do them everyday.
Keep your fingers crossed for me. -I can do this.

Easter Sunday

Marsel at the pool.
Adrian and I in the pool. It was a bit nippy for me.

Marsel and Adrian playing together. (BTW, my mom thought Adrian's hat looked silly on him. Like he looked like a girl. I thought he looked cute.)

Marsel hunting for eggs. - I see you.

Such a ham.

Adrian after Daddy fed him. He looks like a clown.

Every Easter we go to the beach for Sunrise Services. They do this at sunrise, hence "Sunrise Services. Duh. This was the first year for Adrian. He was fine. Just chilled. Even with having to get up earlier, he was fine. After wards we went back home to take a nap. The whole house was out. Even Krypto and Oreo. After napping we headed over to my mom's. Had lunch, hid eggs, found eggs. This year he was slow. He was more interested in being a ham and performing for us. Usually he finds them so fast, and we'll end up doing it 2 or 3 times. We told him took too long, so once was it. Then we went to the pool. Adrian and I didn't stay in too long. If it's not like bath water, I don't like it. Marsel so didn't have a problem. Plus there was some other boys there, so he was in heaven. I think ice cubes could be floating and Marsel would still want to get in.

It was a very nice Easter. It was great to be off of work and even better to be with family.

For Easter Brunch...

We had brunch at my Mom's on Easter Sunday. So good. You rock Mama! So the one and only thing that I made was Baked French Toast. It's pretty yummy. It's a Paula Deen recipe. And if you know Paula Deen, you know nothing she makes is healty. But it's so good! If you're interested, the recipe is at the bottom of this post.

It has to soak over night.
With the praline topping.

When it's done. I forgot to take a picture before we dug in.

Paula's picture.

Ingredients
1 loaf French bread (13 to 16 ounces)
8 large eggs
2 cups half-and-half
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Dash salt
Praline Topping, recipe follows
Maple syrup
Directions
Slice French bread into 20 slices, 1-inch each. (Use any extra bread for garlic toast or bread crumbs). Arrange slices in a generously buttered 9 by 13-inch flat baking dish in 2 rows, overlapping the slices. In a large bowl, combine the eggs, half-and-half, milk, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt and beat with a rotary beater or whisk until blended but not too bubbly. Pour mixture over the bread slices, making sure all are covered evenly with the milk-egg mixture. Spoon some of the mixture in between the slices. Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.
The next day, preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Spread Praline Topping evenly over the bread and bake for 40 minutes, until puffed and lightly golden. Serve with maple syrup.
Praline Topping:
1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup chopped pecans
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and blend well. Makes enough for Baked French Toast Casserole.

Cook Time
40 min
Level
Easy
Yield
6 to 8 servings

Not Such a Surprise

I really wanted to surprise Joel tonight. It should have come as no surprise to me, that it didn't fly. I had planned this about 2 months ago. I asked Kate if she would babysit the boys. I had planned for us to go out to dinner and the have a massage. I asked around to find the right therapist for him. So before we go out, I told Joel what was planned. He said he didn't want the massage. So I had to cancel it. And we went to have dinner.
Joel is the hardest person to try and surprise. Like 5 or 6 years ago I tried to throw a surprise party for him. We made it to 4 hours away from the party before he found out about it. Then 2 years ago, I tried so hard to surprise him for our 2nd anniversary with a trip to Las Vegas. I'm not sure how long he knew, but he let it slip a week before that he knew where we were going. I said then that I would never try and surprise him again. But stupid me, I tried again and failed. I guess it's one of those things were you keep trying until you get it right.
I'll get you Joel. It may take me time, but I'll do it. Mark my words. Love you.

The Silent Treatment

I hate it! I hate when people do this to me. My mom and Joel are great at it. And it just tears me up. It hurts so much when someone I love so much, doesn't want to and won't talk to me. I understand that people deal with things differently, and that's why they do this. So they don't say things they don't mean. Or just to cool off. (No, nothing is going on with my mom or Joel.) But it hurts! I'm a talker. I need to get things out there. I feel better after talking. I feel like I can breath. But when some one does this to me, I feel like I can't catch my breath. I feel like I'm being shut out. I can't say enough how this hurts. I feel like how can we fix whatevers wrong, if we can't talk it through.
Talk to me. Please.

The Misadventures of The Iguana Hunter and The Sniffer

Tired now.

Oreo checking out his yard.

The "Iguana Hunter".

And "The Sniffer".

Kate came over this afternoon. We decided we were going to order lunch. While Kate was on the phone ordering, I let Krypto and Oreo outside. (A little back round, we live on a canal and there are quite a few iguanas. They like to come out and sun themselves. Sometimes they will even lay out on the top of the fence.) So, anyway, I let them out. They went racing out the screen door. This is normal. They're always on a secret mission. I was bent over picking some paper up off the porch. I didn't think much of it. Then I heard Oreo hit the fence. Again, not out of the ordinary. Ducks will sit on the fence. When Oreo jumps up, they take off flying. I didn't bother to look up until I realized that Oreo caught whatever he was after. Still thinking it was a duck, I took off running and yelling the whole way. All I can say is thank goodness it was the afternoon and not the morning, cause I was bellowing.

Kate was in the middle of our order. She said she paused and the lady on the phone asked her twice do want anything else. She told her she'd have to call back. She said she could hear the panic in my voice. I really don't want him killing anything. Unless it's a roach. Hate those things!

So back to the iguana. Before I could get to him, he had already slung it to the ground and picked it back up twice. The iguana was laying on it's back, shocked. I had to grab Oreo twice before I got him inside. Kate comes out, like "What the hell?" She took Oreo and I went back for Krypto. Krypto just standing there sniffing the iguana.

I had to open the gate to help it get out. Usually they swim pretty fast. Not this one. I was afraid his was gonna bite it right in the middle of the canal. But he made it to the other side. Not sure if he'll make it, but I know he won't come back to sun here. And I'm sure he warned the rest of them to stay away from our yard.

Growing up and Moving on.

Adrian will be 11 months old on Sunday.
This morning when I went to take him to school, there was no one in his class room. No teachers, no other kids. I found his teacher, she was in another class room helping out since there was no infants yet. When I went back up to the front desk, the lady in the office was telling me that it will be few kids in there today. They only allow 8 total. Right now there are only 5 enrolled. Adrian, Mia- she wasn't sure where she was. Joseph- who started vaca today. Frabeze- doesn't come Wednesdays and Fridays. And Lizbeth- who was at the doctor's this morning and should be in later. Lizbeth is the closest in age to Adrian. They usually play together on the floor. The wave to each other, and babble back and forth. It's pretty cute. So I was telling this to Joel when I left, that he was the only one in the class right now. I told him that I told the teacher Adrian was tired and he might actually take his nap at school when he's suppose to. Especially since there were no other children. Wouldn't be like he was missing something. Joel said, "Poor thing." That he wasn't going to have any one to play with today. I told him that they would probably open the door between the infant and one year room so he could play with them. Which he does. They tell me all the time whenever they open the door, he's in there in a hurry. I said to Joel he'll be in there in a month. I said I was a little sad about this. He understood what I meant. It's comfortable and small in there. This is just another sign that he's going up. Joel told me that he'll do this another 17 times. I wondered if I would feel this way at the end of every year when it's time for him to move up.
Probably.

I'll Miss You So Much More Than You Know!

Kate, Tracy and Ally
Kate and Adrian
Kate, me and Marsel

Kate at Jaxson's Ice Cream.

Kate and Marsel at Dania Beach.

The "Playmates"

Kate, me and Chrissy

Oreo and Kate.

Kate, her Mom and Adrian.

Tracy, Heidy, Ally, Adrian, me, Chrissy and Kate

Kate, Tracy and Ally

Tracy, Ally and Kate

Kate, Chrissy and me.

Tracy and Kate

Ally,Chrissy, me, Kate, Heidy and Tracy

Kate and Natalie

Kate and Jon

Tracy, me and Kate

Ally and Kate

Tracy, Chrissy, Ally, me, Heidy and Kate.

Kate,

I truely hate to see you leave. It hurts to think about it actually. I understand this move is to better your career, which in turn will better your life. I'm so very happy for and wish you love and good furtune.

Thank you for being in my life and in my family's lives. You make us happy, smile and laugh. Thank you for all the times you've helped in a pinch. Thanks for doing my hair and my eyebrows. And the boys' hair too. Thank you for baby sitting and dog sitting and house sitting. Thanks for the lunch dates and letting me use your washer. And everything else you've done. Which is a lot. I hope you know how I love you.

I hope you and Chrissy will make the time to see each other every now and then. Hug her for me, Chris. Kate, hug Chrissy for me.

(Kate, you'll have to tell Jon this part.) Jon, head nod to you. Take care of my best friend please. At least until she finds her way back here.

I LOVE YOU KATHERINE MARGARET DOUGHERTY.

XOXO- Tut