the letter 'H'

I have been trying to get Hayden to write the letter ‘H’ for some time now. He loves the letter ‘O’ and will “write it” without fail (well, it is a circle and the easiest letter to write so it’s not a shocker that he can and will write the letter ‘O’ at the drop of a dime).

Anywho… the letter ‘H’ has been elusive. And in a way it still is. He didn’t exactly write it – yet – but he did create it.He used the palm branch we got from church this past Sunday (which was Palm Sunday) and made the letter ‘H’. I wasn’t even in the room and had come in to see what he was up to and he looked at me and said, “Look. I made the letter ‘H’.” I was so proud.Maybe it isn’t really a big deal, but it seemed like it. He then went on to make more – hence the beat up looking palm frond.Hopefully soon he will write the letter for real – with a writing utensil on paper – but for now I am happy that he at least seems to get the concept.

orange mango. yummy!

There is an awesome new yogurt place in town: Orange Mango.

There are approximately 16 different yogurt choices – with offerings such as pomegranate, peanut butter, and green tea. It is self-serve. You pick a cup and you pick what yogurt you want. Each yogurt dispenser holds two flavors that could potentially be “swirled” – or you can just get each one separately.

After getting your yogurt, there are then tons of different toppings you could put on them – anything from pieces of cake, to fresh raspberries, to sprinkles, to chocolate syrup (there are seriously at least 30 different topping choices).

I went for the first time this past Friday and I think I might become addicted.

Randy, Hayden, and I had a yummy time. We will definitely be going back – frequently.

Here I am with my blueberry and cheesecake yogurt:
Here is Randy with his mango/strawberry “swirled” yogurt topped with fresh raspberries and granola:Here are several pictures of Hayden with his strawberry yogurt topped with sprinkles:

monday minute.

I have never participated in Ian’s ‘Monday Minute’ – until now.

The rules are simple. Copy his questions. Answer them. Link back to Ian’s blog.

Will do. Here goes…

1. Why did you start blogging? I started blogging as an outlet and because I thought it would be a “fun thing to do” (I wrote what I quoted in my first blog post - April 25th, 2008).
2. Name one other blogger and list their URL that deserves special attention for whatever reason you choose. I am going to pick Marianne and her blog Diary of a Fickle White Woman. She seems like a pretty cool chick and has a small “Following” at the moment – plus, she told me that I was much prettier than Marisa Tomei (this is in reference to my blog post about how Marisa Tomei is on my husband’s "to do" list).
3. Name one of your heroes in life. Someone that you know or knew personally. Hmmmm. I’m not sure if heroes really exist - they are more like fictional characters. Real people have flaws, and to me heroes are flawless. I would rather deal with real people – with all their imperfections and quirks.
4. Whose feet smell worse, yours or mine? Probably your feet. My feet smell pretty good!
5. Which TV show's setting would you most like to live in? The home that has recently caught my attention as to a house I would like to live in, is Jay and Gloria’s modern home in the new ABC sitcom ‘Modern Family’. Their home looks awesome!I also liked the home the lead character of the Fox show ‘Shark’ lived in:In terms of town settings, I like the fictional town featured in the show ‘Ghost Whisperer’. The town looks cozy and quaint.So I would like to live near the town of “Grandview” in my ultra-modern home. Sounds like a plan to me!

Thanks Ian, for the 'Monday Minute'! Now everyone... go check out Ian's Blog - The Daily Dose of Reality! He is one funny guy - and my only male follower!

getting to know you...

I have never participated in this blog hop; however, I found Keely’s blog - MannLand5 – this past week and really like it. And when my blog friend Ian surreptitiously told me that he would be guest blogging on this week’s ‘Getting to Know YOU’, I knew that I would HAVE to participate.

So I am playing the game: copying the questions, answering them, posting them, and linking back to Keely’s blog.

Here goes:

1. Why did you start blogging? I started blogging as an outlet and because I thought it would be a “fun thing to do” (I wrote what I quoted in my first blog post - April 25th, 2008).
2. Who's the one blog friend that you would want to meet most in "real life"? “The Girl” from ‘The Girl Next Door Grows Up’
3. Why are you always concerned with losing that "extra 10 pounds" when chances are your husband/boyfriend/friends tell you that you look just fine the way you are? Right now I am actually happy with my weight – although I REALLY wish I was more tone and my skin was more taut – I have Hayden and genetics to thank for that!
4. What's the one thing you wish guys could understand about you? The only guy I want to understand me is my husband – and I think he understand me pretty well!
5. Tattoos. How many do you have and how many are visible when you wear your "everyday" clothes? I have 2. They are right beside each other on my back. And no one ever sees them. I often forget that they exist.
6. What was the best year of your life and why? Probably the year that Hayden was born and the year I got married because without those two people, I would be lost. It sounds so dramatic, but it’s true. My family makes me who I am.
7. Name three things you would do if you were a man for one day. Try peeing standing up… Investigate the whole penis thing (I mean… what is it really all about?)… maybe kiss a girl? That would be different…
8. What's your alcoholic drink of choice that usually raises a few eyebrows? I don’t drink, but the one thing I do consume having to do with liquor that makes people think I am a true odd-ball is jello shots. Since I hate the taste of liquor, my method of consuming it, on the rare occasions that I do, is through jello shots.

Well, that’s it for my first ‘Getting to Know YOU’. Thanks Keely and Ian! This was fun!!!

snow work.

It snowed last Saturday/Sunday. We got a lot of snow. The following day, the temperature got up to 60 degrees. The day after that it was up to 67 degrees. Hayden wanted to play outside in it.

This is the result:
I know the pictures aren't the best (they are a little dark) - they were taken with my iPhone (because my camera is broken).

Hayden is wearing a shirt, a pair of underwear, and his fireman boots that were part of his Halloween costume.

The pictures were taken in our front yard. How cool are we?

feel good friday...!

It's Friday and time for The Girl Next Door Grows Up's meme - Feel Good Friday. Today I have chosen to write about something that happened this week that made me happy.

Here goes:

Yesterday, Hayden and I foolishly ventured out to Wal-Mart. Why foolishly you may ask…

Answer: Because as we left, it was VERY cloudy, lightly raining, and the forecast called for more rain. I figured it wouldn’t get worse - and it was only drizzling. I assumed we wouldn’t get caught in the rain. I was wrong.

So we go to Wal-Mart, do our shopping, and as we near the automatic doors to exit the building I realize that it is POURING. We are not talking about a little rain. Oh no. This is a full-out, drenching rain.

Great. So now I am pushing the cart as I run through/in the rain to my car. I get to the car and notice a “cart worker” nearby. He quickly approaches us and asks if he can help put my groceries in my car. I said, “yes.” So as I unfastened Hayden from the cart and placed him in his car seat, this kind, young man put my groceries in my car (and then took my cart back to the cart corral for me).

He did not have to do that. It was not his job to unload my groceries for me (in the rain). But he did. And that really made me smile. I truly appreciated his simple gesture of goodwill.

So thank you Wal-Mart “cart worker,” you made my “Feel Good Friday.”

My thanks again to 'The Girl' and her meme. Feeling good on Friday is a great way to end the week!

randy's 'to do' list.

I was watching 'The View' the other day. Randy - my husband - was home for lunch and was therefore “watching” it too (for him it was more like background noise). That was until he noticed who the next guest was – Marisa Tomei.

At that point, my dear, sweet, loving husband turned to me and said, “Now Marisa Tomei. She is on my ‘to do’ list.” And then he looked at me again and added, “Oh wait. She is on the list of ladies that can do me.”

Hilarious. I immediately cracked up. My husband is really too amusing for words sometimes.

At this point in my post, I need to say that Randy did NOT want this conversation to become a blog post. He was mortified that I would even consider it. His mom and aunt read my blog – as do my parents and my grandmothers.

But this material is priceless. How can I pass it up?

Answer: I can’t. Hence the existence of this post.

And Randy was just being facetious. He was in no way serious. He jokes about these kinds of things quite a lot – and it makes me laugh. Which is one of the qualities I love about him.

So good luck with Marisa Tomei Randy. I am sure you are on her ‘to do’ list as well.

sad camera.

My camera is broken. My Nikon D3000 that I got for Christmas is a mess.

According to the people at my local camera store, it seems to be a “software problem.” Apparently the flash power is not adjusting. Needless to say, in ‘auto mode’ the pictures come out CRAZY bright. Entirely too bright. We communicated with Nikon online via their technical support and tried a few things, but nothing worked so we ended up mailing it in to them yesterday.

I'm hoping they can fix it, because right now it just makes me sad. I don’t know why it makes me sad, but it does.

I have to admit that I actually cried about this because we couldn’t find one of the proof of purchases and I didn’t think we would be able to send it in to get it fixed. That notion actually made me cry (note: we did end up finding the proof of purchase).

With my camera, I document my life. I am able to take pictures of Hayden so I can remember all the moments that I know I will forget: his smile, his laughter, him. Without my camera, I don’t feel as complete.

And I realize it sounds somewhat ridiculous. A camera is by no means a necessity. I don’t need it to survive. But I want it. I love it. In many ways it is a part of me.

So Nikon - please fix my camera. I want it back.

Here are some before and after pictures to better illustrate the issue.

before:

after:

my hand 

hayden in the bathtub

hayden in the bathtub

hayden in the bathtub

Can we say brightness?!? I mean, this is just not going to work. I want my camera back! My wonderful, expensive, fancy camera. Right now it is sad. I am sad. Sad camera = Sad Melissa. This is not good.

So again Nikon - I ask you to fix my camera. I beg you. PLEASE make it well again!

Note: Until it is fixed (and I am really hoping that it can even be fixed), I will be using my old camera. Thank goodness I didn't get rid of it!

go nestle crunch... you cracked me up!

I had seen on someone’s Facebook status some instructions for dialing a certain number that connected you to the ‘Nestle Crunch Hotline’, but that person wasn’t a good friend of mine so I didn’t pay much attention to their status update.

Then on Saturday, The Crazy Baby Mama posted a blog post about the hotline, including the instructions. She advised her readers to check it out. So I did.

It was HILARIOUS!!!

You have to try it.

Call 1.800.295.0051. First you will have to listen to an ad for a new Nestle Crunch bar. Then it will give you some language options… Just stay on the line and listen. There will be a series of prompts that direct you to hilarious sets of voice messages (Pushing 4 and then 7 had me cracking up – these were the prompts The Crazy Baby Mama suggested).

Seriously folks… try it!

Those people at Nestle rock! Gotta love a good laugh!!!

Note: The phone number may be busy (it often is), but keep trying. It's definitely worth it!

spring?

Saturday was the first day of Spring. Oh really? I beg to differ.

Here are some pictures of our lovely “Spring day” taken yesterday.
And yes, we did indeed have a foot of snow. The most we've had all year. So I ask you, where is Spring?!?

mr. flintstone and bed rock.

Has anyone else heard this song? I heard it on the radio the other day and thought it was just about one of the most ridiculous things I have ever heard.

It’s a rap song by Young Money featuring Lloyd.

I suppose it’s pretty amusing and obviously there is something “special” about it because it DEFINITELY got my attention.

So… call me Mr. Flintstone, I can make your bed rock. Ridiculous, yet amusing.

What do you think?

And I have to admit that I am a little embarrassed to even be posting this… but for some reason, I thought some of you might enjoy hearing this bizarre song. I would also like to add that this is not the type of music I listen to… for some reason it was playing on our local “rock” channel. Interesting.

feel good friday... yummy meals.

It's Friday and time for The Girl Next Door Grows Up's meme - Feel Good Friday.Today I am deviating from “The Girl’s” suggested prompts and writing – instead- about my 5 'Feel Good "Meals" of the Week.'

I realize some of the items on my list might not be considered meals to many of you, but they were meals to me and they were DELICIOUS! So here they are (in no particular order).

1. Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich: Now... This may seem lame, but I love myself a good PB&J. And this one was YUMMY! I made it with some "Artisan" bread, extra crunchy peanut butter, and Red Raspberry Preserves. It was scrumptious.
2. Slice of Homemade Pecan Pie with some Vanilla Ice Cream. Divine.
3. Warm Chocolate Brownie with some Bunny Tracks Ice Cream. Again... DIVINE.
4. Bertolli's Chicken Florentine & Farfalle Pasta. So quick and easy... and delicious.
5. 'Choc-o-Nutter' Smoothie from Inta Juice. I had never had one before. It was SO good. Made with chocolate, peanut butter, a little bit of banana, and fat-free frozen yogurt. Definitely a winner!

Well... those are my 5 'Feel Good "Meals" of the Week.' I realize many of you may now think less of me as I have exposed some of my odd eating habits, but they work for me (and they make me feel GOOD). So... have a happy friday everyone and eat some yummy feel good food!

And my thanks again goes out to 'The Girl' and her meme. It was fun thinking of the yummy foods I ate this week... although it made me VERY hungry!

rockin' lunch.

I am a planner. An over-planner. I admit this. Hayden’s next “school term” doesn’t begin until August 24th, yet I have already purchased his lunchbox.

See… over-planner.

I actually purchased it a few weeks ago (on February 26th). It is awesome!

This upcoming term, I’ll only have to pack a snack so this small lunch bag is going to work perfectly! It is SO cute and cool. I showed it to Hayden (online) before I bought it and he agreed that it is a winner.

Here it is:The brand is Four Peas. They make “kids’ bags that look good.” And I agree. Hayden is going to be a good looking kid with his awesome lunch bag!

Rock on Hayden!!!

Note: Hayden has yet to actually see the lunch box in person (he doesn't even know that I bought it). I'm going to surprise him with it a few days before the new "term" begins - yet another sign that I can be a little goofy sometimes with my traditions and actions.

quick update in regards to the hayden/madelyn relationship

After being gone all last week for our Staycation, Hayden was really missing Madelyn. He was very excited to get back to school so he could see her.

After picking him up yesterday afternoon, I asked him if he had fun and who he played with. (We do this every day. It's part of our routine as we drive home.) Hayden's response: I held Madelyn's hand (as he said this his smile was palpable – the joy and excitement expressed in that simple statement was overwhelming).

Apparently he really does hold her hand and that connection/gesture makes him happy. Which makes me happy.

I am now going to have to ask his teachers about this to get verification that it actually occurs.

I'll let you know what they say.

madelyn.

A conversation between myself and Hayden:

ME: Hayden, do you have a girlfriend?
HAYDEN: Yes.
ME: What is her name?
HAYDEN: Madelyn. I like her a lot. She is my best friend.
ME: Why do you like Madelyn?
HAYDEN: She holds my hand.

Oh my goodness. How sweet is that? And it is all true (well, I’m not sure about the hand-holding part). Hayden loves Madelyn. They go to “school” together two days a week. He sees her for a total of 8 hours per week. And he adores her.

They have been “together” for about 4 months now. Pretty long relationship if you ask me - especially when we are talking about two 3-year-olds.

Hayden likes Maddy (this is what he calls her) a lot - sometimes even more than she likes him apparently.

Occasionally, she rebuffs his affection. Which is understandable given that Hayden prefers to sit by her at all times, likes to put his arm around her shoulders, and constantly seems to dote on her. I suppose all those sentiments could get a little tiresome.

For Christmas, he HAD to get her something special (see prior post). He finally picked a small plush dog: an adorable stuffed animal and a wonderful choice (if you ask me). She brought it to school last week and carried it around all day. I guess she liked it.

Young love really is special.

On a “sad” note, beginning this Fall, Hayden and Madelyn will no longer be in the same class. I haven’t broken the news to him yet. I am hoping the relationship will fizzle by then – if not, he is going to be one bummed, little man. (Although I am sure he will get over it quickly. I mean, he’s 3-years-old. How long can he dwell on the loss of his first relationship? But then again, I never thought this little coupling would last as long as it has.)

staycation 2010.

I have returned from our Staycation. Our staycation was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed spending quality time with my family (well, for the most part I enjoyed myself). As opposed to boring you to death with all the details, I thought I would just show you a few pictures.

Enjoy!

On Sunday night, my Brother-in-Law, Jason, cooked us an AMAZING dinner.

Monday we went to Monte Ne and saw some ruins.

Tuesday we went to a cave. Hayden was NOT a fan and whined the whole time (this did not make mommy happy - he was ridiculously unpleasant).

On our way back to my parents' Lakehouse, we took a picture with this lovely car (Hayden refused to be in the picture).

Wednesday we went to 'Turpentine Creek' (a local wildlife refuge mainly for "big cats").

The rest of our staycation was spent relaxing. We spent some time in the hot tub. (Well, I didn't. It was FREEZING outside, so I just stayed inside where it was warm and cozy.)

Hayden dressed up and played (he really liked this hat).

And we all just lounged around some. I look a bit off in this picture (I am the one in the middle), but it does depict my general "staycation" demeanor.