before 7 am

Hysterical laughing from B
"Wow, an explosion of blood!!!" uttered by N
a clingy koala baby B
and gibberish "a hana mu nee, hi MAMA!" from J

what on earth am I in for today???

cheap fun in the summertime

We had a great time yesterday at the Foam factory. One of the kids favorite places that we don't go to nearly as often as they want to.
We got in early and grabbed a bag for each of the kids, and started to load up on the foam balls. There are literally thousands of these balls. N had a blast shooting the "bombs" at people and even more so sneaking up and throwing them at me - and hit me squarely in the face several times (note: N throws hard!!!) B enjoyed playing with all the other kids (make that girls) and collecting just pink balls, while J loved the vacuums something he has been fascinated with at home (and giving me a headache with). Sucking the balls up to watch them come out at another end, and the slide. Even baby B had a blast trying to eat the balls. And the bonus? The fans from all the vacuums keep it super cool.

We go here about once a year, and always have a great time. My tips? grab a bag and tell the kids to hang on to it (they don't have enough bags and it is first come, first served), try to get there early in the day when it is less crowded, and if you have a baby crawling around, either Sling em, or Bjorn them so you can join in the fun! And a warning: be prepared to be pelted with balls, and it is loud from all the vacuums, next year I might bring ear plugs, (geesh I must be getting old).

We stayed about 2 1/2 hours, but the pass is good all day, so we could have come back if we wanted to (and probably would have after nap time if it wasn't such a long ass drive). It is a great place to take the little ones whenever you want some good clean and cool fun. On Wednesdays it is only $2 each, and you can stay as long as you want. They open at 11am and stay open till 10 pm.

is this a compliment?

Aba informed me tonight as I was busy making faces with my new red hair (it was not supposed to be red, but you know how things happen in our house) the usual cast of characters, Cousin It, Helga, Yosemite Sam, Pippi Longstockings... and that is where the compliment (or was he mocking me?) came in.

He said our House is run by Pippi. ???? Isn't Pippi the scatterbrained, unconventional dirty little girl with a monkey? The one who can lift a horse with one hand and wears red and white striped thigh highs? What does that mean? Am I scatterbrained? Is our house unkempt? Are my household skills unconventional?

He was laughing when he said it, but still... I am starting to think this wasn't a compliment after all.

Wordless Wednesday

to young to fish in the river, means big crocodile tears.

Wordless Wednesday Participants

1. estes clouds 2. Crazy Working Mom 3. Leslie! 4. And Miles To Go... 5. Shana 6. Our Seven Qtpies

7. Cheaper By the Half Dozen 8. Lori 9. Some kind of Wondermom 10. MorningSong 11. SeaBird 12. mama k

13. rayne 14. Summer 15. Amy Grant

Check out the new Wordless Wednesday HQ!!
View More Wordless Wednesday Participants

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totally 2

always full of smiles and laughter.

Day Trip: Estes Park

I know the only thing anyone is interested in is the food. So lets just jump to that.

Breakfast/Brunch: The Egg and I
very tasty! We arrived around 10 and had a
fifteen minute wait (it was packed and we were told it would be at least 30 minutes). The kids were given menus to color and toy dinosaurs to play with. The kids meal were priced right ( I expected it to be higher for a mountain tourist town) about $4 for a milk, half a waffle, a scrambled egg, and a slice of orange plus bacon (yeah I know, Bacon). They all loved it and ate every bite. I got the Denver omelet with ranch potatoes, English muffin and a pot of tea. A selection of tea bags arrived (although I did have to ask for cream). The omelet was fabulous! Hot and cheesy and filling. The potatoes however were not so good; a bit cold, and while some were super crispy and hard others were mushy and soft. I didn't eat the English muffin, and took it and the potatoes to the river for Aba who also said they were cold. All in all I would eat there again. $28 and change after tip

Lunch: okay it was Ice Cream. I had been wanting to go to the Danish Cone Factory since last summer, I had read many rave reviews about it then, and was quite shocked to see a sign in the window that said business for sale. Once inside though I noticed something, that really turned me off. The ice cream was not homemade in fact it is one of the grocery store brands Blue Bunny. I am not saying anything is wrong with Blue Bunny, in fact we have some in our freezer right now, but I am not paying $3.50 for a scoop of it when I can buy a half gallon for the same price! So we walked out and down about a block to Laura's which boasts homemade ice cream, fudge and candies on their awning. The kids each got a scoop of Fresh - home made today Mint chip on a sugar cone, while I got the cookie dough. The scoops were huge, (I even asked if it was a single, it looked like double scoops) for $2.50 each. And oh so yummy melt in your mouth! Plus the service was great. After handing N the first cone he promptly knocked the ice cream to the floor with the first lick, and the lady gave him a new one for free. I would recommend smooshing the ice cream on the cones harder with a spoon yourself after this, and did for the rest of the cones. Also get some water before you leave as it is super rich ice cream.

Dinner: Bob & Tony's Pizza (sorry no website)
after finally convincing Aba to stop fishing and get something to eat we went into town for pizza. When the kids and I had walked by earlier in the day the place was packed and the heavenly pizza smell was wafting down the street and hooked us in. Seating is plentiful, altho9ugh it is a bit odd, they request you find a seat, look at a menu and then come back to order. We got the 15 inch #1 with white sauce (basically a pepperoni, sausage and mushroom pizza with olive oil Parmesan and spices in lew of tomato sauce), hot wings and fountain drinks - no beer served here (or at the other pizza place in town - Aba had me check) The wait wasn't long and for less than $40 we had stuffed stomachs and a to go box. the kids each downed 2 lemonades while Aba and I both finished off 3 sodas (I am going with we were dehydrated because I have no other excuse for it) The pizza was soooo good and filling. Aba and I both ate more than we should, and we still had 2 slices to bring home and 6 wings. I didn't eat the wings and Aba is asleep so I can't give you a review on those, but the pizza alone is worth stopping in.

Bling Baby!

Look who got her first Bling Bling!

Isn't itweird, how bling has worked it's way into our everyday language? So much so that out of touch mommies like me even use it? Remember when it was lookin' fly? or all decked out? Wonder what will be next...

Anyhow she did great. No screaming or tears, and smiles before we even left the store.

Anyone want to buy a G rated blog?

My blog is worth $260,252.94.
How much is your blog worth?

who knew?

A Do over day

Everything got done at least twice today. Make breakfast, spill breakfast, make breakfast again. Call Mom, drop the phone and loose the call, call mom again. Pick up toys in the living room, make beds, find toys in the living room and pick up living room again.

See a pattern here? And it just kept going all day long!!! I vacuumed the living room twice after potting soil ended up all over it. Which prompted a move for the plants upstairs to my bath where the kids are not supposed to go, Gave the kids a bath, washed their hair and had them clean for shabbat, cleaned all the bathrooms and got back to cooking up dinner, hoping the day of do-overs was finally over.

Everything seemed fine, Aba came home and BOOM!

I got to do it all over again! Sand in the living room, vacuum again. Kids covered in Wet sand with sand in their hair; wash kids and clean 2 bathrooms again. Finished? Nope not yet! I walk into my room and round the way to the bathroom and …yep potting soil. All. Over. The. Floor.

AArgh!!

It would be funny (if it wasn’t me).

Who wants Ice cream? winner announcement!!

Today feels like an ice cream day. And we all know homemade ice cream is the best right? So I have decided to have a contest I am giving away a fabulous Ice Cream and Sorbet Cookbook!
The drawing will be held on June 20th. To enter leave a comment with your favorite flavor of Ice cream, and place a link to this contest on your blog (non bloggers may enter as well, just leave a comment and email me).

The winner is Sue over at Double decker Buses

Thank you everyone for playing.

My summer plan

Okay since summer is a week old today at our house, of course I have already had to rethink how to tackle it twice. My first attempt of everyone sleeping in and lounging around the house lasted a whole 3 days before it got out of control, so Monday morning I started a daily chart to try and real in the kids. Everyday we leave the house, and go 3 places; 2 errands (necessary items) and one thing for fun (after said errands) that I can use as a bargaining chip for misbehavior. – which I already had to do on Monday, our trip to the pool was cancelled.

So far the chart thing seems to be working, I wrote down what dinner will be, our three outings, and the chores the kids are expected to do (the same ones they have always been expected to do, but somehow now they seem to need them written down now in order to do them!

Yesterdays plan for the day was to head over to Target get B and I some shorts, and get myself a new swimsuit. Then to Ballet class, before heading over to Miss C’s where I was going to weed the patio (you know those pesky weeds that grow between the bricks) and till up a little garden area so she could plant some flowers, but did I get that done? nope But I did clean a wheelbarrow full of rocks off of the side walk, reclaim a planting bed from encroaching grass, fix the dog door platform, heavily trim 2 trees, and adjust the sprinklers. Next week I will be going back to do it again and hopefully this time I will actually do what I need to do, it was sooo hot yesterday I was trying to work in the shade.

But back to target I was able to get a swimsuit with out much worry ( I always seem to lose half of my two piece suits, and get stuck wearing this extremely unflattering red once piece, it always happens, I even had to wear it on my honeymoon because I somehow forgot to pack half of my 2 piece suit it never fails). But the shorts were problem. Apparently Target thinks summer is over and is clearance the $3.99 basic little girls shorts. I have gone every week for the past 2 months and they are always out of size 4. All I wanted was a pair of plain little girls jean shorts for B to be rough and tumble in, and every week they store has been out of size 4’s. If that wasn’t bad enough all of the adult shorts were either low-rise, skintight, or had a 1 inch inseam. Hello!?!?! Not all of us have twig thighs, Not all of us want to show the world our butts every time we bend over and some of us have some extra tummy loving and can’t wear low rise, or .extra low rise with any kind of self dignity flair.. So needless to say I am still short less, at least till next week, when I will try again!

remember these?

Jellies!!!

Just picked these up yesterday at Target, in the dollar bins, aren't they great? (you can get them in clear and the see through pink in sizes 6 - 8 at mine)

Wordless Wednesday

Teaching the art of Catch and release.

We have a crawler!

Baby B is growing up so fast! Last week she started crawling a slow and awkward crawl, but crawling none the less. She is not even 8 month old yet. She now wakes from her afternoon nap in the bed and crawls to the edge then cries (we will have to find a new place for her to nap), she crawls around everywhere, slowly but surely. She gets into the fridge drawers, the snack cabinet, the pots and pans under the stove, and that is just in the kitchen! She taught me over the laundry detergent (which I promptly moved off the laundry room floor) and now I am constantly scanning the floor for little things that I know she will out in her mouth.

I can't believe she is growing so fast, and seems to want to be on the go exploring and seeing what she can get into and make mommy crazy. Hold on world here she comes!

What a fathers day!

We started off the day with a 2 1/2 hour drive to some "gold medal" waters. 11 mile to be exact. Fishing as a family is not my idea of fun, but you know what it wasn't about me yesterday now was it. It was about Aba. And he loves fly fishing. So while I am sitting at the edge of the river with Baby B in a back pack and yelling calmly keeping J and B out of the water, then in the shallow areas (only as deep as the knees) N and Aba are having a great time fishing. N managed to only hook himself once! He was so proud, and proudly exclaimed that to Aba at the end of the day. What he forgot to mention is that he hooked himself once, B once, J once, and me once, along with countless trees and bushes that he had me untangle for him.

And we got pictures. Lots of pictures. And strangers got pictures. Every time N would get a fish on the stream of cars driving by the river would slow to a crawl and cameras would come flying out! I have no idea who these people were, but I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up on web pages and scrapbooks across the country! ( I don't know if it was the fact that a young boy was fly fishing, or the fact that a young boy and his dad were fly fishing together on fathers day.

Anyways happy belated fathers day to all the dads out there, hope you had "tight lines" too!!

A conversation from last night:

Aba: you would look good with dreads what?
Me: what?
Aba: the bleach gives your hair a dreaded appearance, and it looks good. that is not possible, how...
Me: Ummm okay. – pause-take a deep breath, it will be okay let me see Holy mother of G-d!!!! What the hell?
Me: Oooohhh. great just what I needed to deal with tonite

Yes Aba had unknowingly dreaded my hair while helping.

I then got the joy of ripping brushing them out in the shower.

Unfortunately all did not go as planned (rubbing bleach in the hair, does not create nice even results), so I do not have a finished product to debut today, and will be staying inside until we fix it! (Hopefully sometime soon)

Today is the last day of Kindergarten

and it is a half day! Wish me luck to make it through the summer! Actually to make it till we get to California in July, then I will have plenty of reinforcements called Bampa and Nana, Grandma with the fishies, Grandma with the Doggy, Auntie Lala, Uncle A, and 50 or so aunts uncles and cousins!

Wordless Wednesday

Celebrate nature

for any of you professional or amateur photographs out there who have taken an awesome and inspiring photo of our beautiful nation, please join in this contest offered by Parade magazine. Show the world what you want preserved for future generations to see.
**this is not a sponsored post.**

Woo Woo...

After the Boulder Jewish Festival yesterday we had an impromptu BBQ with some fellow Jews. And what is one thing that is necessary at any BBQ, regardless if you are Jewish or not is alcohol. Well, with Colorado’s blue laws and me not liking to keep surplus alcohol in the house, we were in a bit of a pickle. Looking in the liquor cupboard all I found was soy nuts, pickles, and snack packs – not liquor- some brandy, minuet amounts of old margarita mix, some tequila and grenadine. So, I did what any computer nerd woman would do and googled tequila and grenadine and found something called a Woo Woo. It was super yummy!

As I can never follow directions precisely here is my recipe for a Woo Woo.

To make 1 pitcher (2 quart size-be prepared to make more)
3 cups clear soda (Sierra mist free)
3 cups cranberry juice cocktail (Kirkland)
1/3 cup grenadine syrup (Rose’s)
1/3 cup tequila (Cazadores Reposado 100% de agave)
Ice to fill remaining pitcher room.

I served it in 6 oz. juice cups, which were refilled many times. And received comments from, “it tastes like Kool-aid” to “it is not to sweet, I like it” to “the cranberry juice makes it good for you!!” Overall, I would say it was a hit!

**This is not a sponsored post. I included brand names so you can exactly duplicate the drink if you so choose**

Blog Roll

okay so I had this brilliant idea of posting the blogs I frequent, since I don’t keep a blogroll on my sidebar, and I tend to lurk unless I have something I feel is meaningful to say or a post particularly hits home. Even though I read them all several times a week, I doubt they know I exist.

MoodSwingingMommy - I can relate
PioneerWoman - one of my inspirations to photograph more.
TopMomma - think high school popularity contest
Special K Family - hmmm…
BargainHuntingMoms - who can resist a sale?
Bloggers Choice Awards - please stop voting for Rosie already, and vote for me instead!!!
Inner Musings and Mis-adventures - what can I say?
Free Grabber - free stuff
HomeEc 101 - hints and recipes
Officially a Mom - love the header photo
Ryan’s Calamity - great photos, although I could take a better fly fishing one.
Absolutely Bananas - love this one
Oh the Joys - funny stuff
Stuck in Customs - surreal photos, most look more like oil paintings to me.
Ramblings of a SAHM - found this one on a google search and got hooked
Enter the Circus - just because I do
Surviving Motherhood - funny lady I nominated for the blogger awards
Better Parenting through Coffee - what I have to look forward to.
Get in the Car! - she visits me I visit her, like cyberspace neighbors
Notes from the Trenches - simply put your brain on children
Queen of Shake-shake - She reminds me of a Jewish mama, although I don’t think she is…
5 minutes for mom - lots of contests
Pinks and Blues girls - I don’t know why, I just like it
One tough Momma - I can relate
Life is like a Lunchbox - who doesn’t like a feisty preachers wife?
PostSecret - every Sunday I check these, always something new to think about
Tranquility of Motherhood - visited me first, but now I am a regular visitor to her

I am also using this to help weed my blog garden, and have 5 sites that I will not be visiting anymore, even though I loved sharing in there lives, frankly I don’t want to wait a month or more between posts, or only read sponsored posts (hypocritical? Why yes I am. Don’t worry the PPP experiment will be over soon, and frankly I am getting annoyed with myself even!)

I am such a bad blogger this week!

usually I check out my little blog list in my favorites daily, and I am so behind I hadn't made it over to life is like a lunchbox in a week or so and almost missed Apronpalooza!! But luckily I went through this morning, and there is till time!!! At leadt till midnight tonite to win one of the 20 or so aprons hand made to die for aprons that Nan is giving away!!! I am almost inspired to have my own contest! But what would you want to win???


**Button taken down by request**

another contest worth mentioning is 6 months of free netflix over at 5 minutes for mom.

I was so productive yesterday!!!

I am so proud of myself, I just need to brag for a moment. I finished re-staining the deck and stairs; I cleaned 5 stains (kids are messy what can I say!), off of the carpet; I moved the girls dresser to their new purple room and hung up many of their dresses in the closet; I relocated all the shoes kin the house to their new homes in the kids bedrooms and closets ( amazing how much more room there is when you have 2 rooms instead of one!); changed the sheets on N's bed; cleaned the wood in 2 bathrooms; and folded and hung up tons of laundry including pairing the socks!!!

Okay thanks for letting me gush, I feel so productive, lets see if I can continue it today!!!

what is wrong with some people?!?!?!?

Everyday on the way back from the bus stop I drive by this one house. Everyday they have there sprinklers on and are watering the grass. everyday there is rivers of water flowing over the sidewalk and down into the drain where it is rushing towards the drain. The can see this river of excess 2 blocks before you reach the house!!!

We have water restrictions, have to pay extra when we go over our allotment and such and I heard the other day, it is yet again another drought year (how with all the snow and rain we got I have no idea , but that is not the point here).

We all need to work together to help the environment. I don't care if you have the money to pay for the extra water; we need to share with the fish and the birds. Watering your grass everyday, after the sun is high in the air, and letting the water free flow does not help you at all. SO please lets all remember to water after dark or in the wee hours of the morning, water a maximum of 3 times a week, and water for 5 to 10 minutes. and if it rains, or we see the water free flowing down the sidewalk, turn the water off!!!

Wordless Wednesday

inspired by muse: Baby B's feet take her to naptime.

I love this picture because it shows her little tiny feet and toes. She is wrapped up in the only blanket I have managed to cross stich for any of the kids. A winnie the pooh with a hunny pot. I Started it before N was born, and managed to finish it before Big B's birth. Imagine how much little things like that can take forever.

Some things I am Not Okay with…

High heels on little kids. B wears size 10, yet all of the nice shoes, you know for dress up occasions? Have a 1 inch (or more!!!) heel. One of the 8 year old neighbors wears 3 inch sandals daily!!

Figure enhancing clothes on little kids. We all know that some day they will have curves and boobs, and be thought of in that way, but do they really need to when they are 4? B has a pair ofapple bottoms Grandma with the Doggy sent, and I kid you not, they are gathered over the rear to make her butt look big and round!!! I hate those pants, they stay in the laundry room more than anywhere else.

And on the same note: writing on the bottom. Hello!! Again people do not need to be looking at my 4 year olds butt! You all know what I am talking about the tight fitting legging/track pants that spell out “princess” “sexy” or “Hottie” on the gluteus Maximus.

Please parents, let your little girls be kids before you turn them into sex symbols!!!

HTML for dummies

okay some of these took me forever to learn so just want to make it easier for others
bold = < b > text < /b >
italic = < e m >text < /em >
strike through = < s > text< /s >
Aba's new blog =
< ahref="URL"> Text < /a >
YouTube(in a new window) =
< ahref="URL">text< /a >

(picture as a link) =

< ahref="URL"> < src=" picture "> < /a >
bigger** than surrounding text =

< font="+3">text < /font >
smaller** than surrounding text =

< font="-3">text< /font >
line break = < d i v >
** can not be done using blogger, automatically destroys the coding, have to use their tool

a URL is a web address starting with Http://
Remove all spaces in codes , just like you do in URL's

Please feel free to leave any codes you think would be helpful in the comments. Thank you!

Garage sale anyone?

So yesterday I had an impromptu Garage Sale. Well not really impromptu since I had all of the stuff bagged and sorted months ago. But hadn’t really picked a date, or priced things or gone to get change or anything. It all started after my morning Bus stop run, on the way home I was following signs the whole way directing to “my street”, (my street is only 3 blocks long) and had not 1 but 2 garage sales going on, so I figured what the heck, I will just lug all the stuff out here spread it out and see what happens; Here is an accounting of the day:

5 hours + 2 free craigslist ads + other people’s garage sale signs + 3 kids with runny noses + $4 as change (see I told you I was unprepared!) + 50 books + 100 lbs. of fabric (at least) + 1 Nemo DVD + 5 trash bags of old toys and stuffed animals +30 gift bags + 1 trash bag of trash mixed in with the toys + 1 box of old clothes + 1 box of miscellaneous crud stuff + 5 paper signs taped to the garage door = 60 drive by viewings (how can you truly see with out getting out of the car???), 15 purchases (from the 30 that got out of their cars), 5 offers to buy the Nemo DVD for $0.50, 10 pieces of clothing sold, 1 offer to buy my grandmothers plant stand (NOT for sale!!! Especially not for $5), 30 lbs of fabric sold, 4 people declaring $40 is way too much for a camcorder with all the accessories, 1 book sold, 2 customers kids throwing toys for sale, 8 gift bags sold, 5 neighbor kids refusing to stay out of the street while a gazillion cars come barreling in, 2 trash bags of toys sold, a half a trash bag of toys smuggled back into the toy room, including the stuffed Dog Master Hunter thinks is his girlfriend, and $62.50 American $0.30 Canadian.

Was it worth it? Who knows? Highlight of the day: B was helping tape the signs to the garage but somehow misunderstood whose garage to tape them to and taped hers on the neighbors’ house. Make an offer… Lucky I found it or I am sure they would have said A quarter for the BMW, and $5 if you through in the house!!!

34 days left!!!

I am trying to get all of our ducks in a row for the kids and my annual haul to California. This year I am blessed relieved to have a road trip buddy for each leg of the trip. Auntie LaLa will be joining me and the 4 kiddos from our house to Bampas, and we have a trip planned to a H, not quite to a T. We are making a stop over at Mystic Springs and another in Viva Las Vegas. We are planning to make many pit stops along the way, the Hoover dam, Ethel M’s chocolate factory , and Arches national park for sure.

Grandma with the fishies is accompany us on the way home (lucky her!) and our trip is sorely lacking, not for trying though. We are staying at the landmark Wigwam hotel one night, but are hotel less for the other 2! Cimarron sounds good, but Grandma is not to sure… We have nixed Phoenix, flagstaff, Yuma, and Tucson, as well as Santa Fe… and we are getting close. This is a toughie I need to keep working on some more. One thing we do know is we will be stopping at fridge hinge for sure! Well, if we can find it we will be!