Trouble

Growing up, my brother and I pretty much did our own things. We had our sibling fights, but what I remember most from when I was little was me playing school or with my dolls, and Mike playing in the sandbox. Neither of us were willing to play each other's games, and that was okay. And Ray's brother is 8 years younger than him, a pretty big gap for kids to try and be playmates.

But Ray and I knew we wanted two kids close together so they could be playmates, you know, keep each other occupied while I sit back and sip coffee and read the paper.

When Audrey was born, Ashley couldn't wait for her to react to her. And once Audrey started smiling or laughing in reaction to something Ashley did, Ashley loved that.

Then Audrey started walking and doing stuff her sister didn't necessarily like. And Ashley messes with Audrey as well. She will bump into her in the hallway or pull on her foot or just touch her even when I say don't.

So now the sibling fighting begins.

Last week, Ashley was quietly playing with her figurines in the playroom. And Audrey marched right up to the table and knocked over all her figurines in one sweep of her arm. And she smiled the entire time she did it. Ashley fell apart crying, and Audrey laughed.

Ashley is constantly taking things from her sister. Her stuffed animals, books, whatever Audrey has in her hands, all of a sudden Ashley wants it or says she was playing with it. And it drives me nuts. Right now we are making Ashley trade Audrey if Audrey has something Ashley wants, and so far it's working.

And Audrey really doesn't like to be touched. I picked her up from school one day before Christmas, and her teachers said she was kind of crabby all day. So I am putting Audrey in her seat and I tell Ashley that Audrey is grumpy and not to mess with her. And what does Ashley do? Immediately reaches over and tries to tickle her. Audrey starts crying and Ashley gets mad.

Maybe in high school they will share clothes? Be best friends? Or am I just dreaming? I need to hear from all of you who grew up with sisters...

Don't forget to check out our Thursday giveaway on Lookit...

Food Post

Lucky for Ray, I got TWO aprons for Christmas (one Vera Bradley one and one funny one) as well as a potato masher and a potato ricer. Let the cooking commence. And hopefully soon I will start including some pics of what I make and sharing the recipes.

But first let me share with you a few recipes I have tried off of The Pioneer Woman Cooks site...I love looking at her pictures and drooling over the food. And most of it is some pretty basic stuff.

Holiday Bacon Appetizers - I tried these at my Dad's house during Christmas for the family gathering. All were eaten, but I will say this...I thought the parmesan/romano cheese taste was too much. Someone suggested using brown sugar in the comments, and I don't know about that either.

Mashed Potatoes - I made these on Christmas Day for our dinner. Yum, yum and more yum. I obviously used less potatoes and estimated the other ingredients, and it turned out great. Yum. I love mashed potatoes, I almost ate the leftovers for breakfast. One side note - you do not need to add all that extra butter on top and cook in the oven...we tend to go less with butter and such.

Chicken Spaghetti - I made this a few weeks ago, and split the amount in half and froze half of it. Unfortunately, Ray is not a fan of 1) casseroles or 2) Cream of anything soup. I, on the other hand, LOVE casseroles and could eat them every.single.day. Plus they are easy to make ahead of time. So this recipe? Yummy, although I was pretty much the only one to eat it. I made the frozen half the night of my Christmas concert for my Mom and I, and it was just as good as the original one. So if you have a husband who eats casseroles, this is a definite keeper.

French Breakfast Puffs - Holy Hell, these were TO DIE FOR. Seriously. I made these when my Mom and Stepdad were here for Christmas. I will say this though, be careful rolling the puffs in the butter before dipping them in the sugar/cinnamon mixture. I seriously drenched one, and Ray said he could feel his arteries clogging. Next time, I am going to spray them with the artificial butter spray and see how that works. I will let you know.

*Edited to Add* I was chatting with my good Weight Watchers buddy Dorrie (and no, she does not have a blog), and I decided to enter in this recipe into the recipe builder on the Weight Watchers site and see how many points it is. GOOD GOD. I had NO IDEA 2/3 cup of Crisco is 35 Freaking POINTS...without the last step of drowning in butter and more sugar, each one comes out to 7 points each, which honestly isn't all that bad....I guess.

Another recipe I thought I would let you know about is this Parmesan-Dijon Chicken recipe. I also made this on Christmas day, and Ashley asked for seconds...and thirds. A definite keeper....

And as I said, I promise pictures and full recipes to print out sometime in the New Year...maybe that can be a New Year's Resolution...you know, to add to the finish master's degree, raise children, catch up on scrapbooking, make curtains, workout more....

A New Year....New Randomness

Just a reminder, on Thursday everyone should be wearing Nike shoes just like these that Audrey got for Christmas from Ray's parents...Hokie colors!

And if you were lucky enough to be entered into the world of Webkinz this Christmas, let's hope the website gets a little faster. Trying to explain to Ashley every time we got on the computer why it was so damn slow was so damn annoying.
And thankfully, my family room no longer looks like this. And really unfortunately, the rug is gone as well. Too many stains from humans and dogs (our lovely Tootles tootled one too many times on the rug) to keep this rug anymore. I like the all hardwood look, it's just the rug buffered the very loud children I have.
And my new kitchen table...I am in love.
So there, a few random pictures from the past week. I am not happy to go back to work tomorrow, but I am happy to be getting back to a schedule. Ashley has been begging to go back to school, and tonight she was so cooked from over a week of no naps, that she was in bed at 6:30pm, a new record for her.

I have a few lame resolutions for this year....same old, same old get organized, get caught up on to do lists, make new to do lists...that I won't bore you with them. But hopefully this year will see me finish my Master's Degree and change careers. And it will see my oldest child start kindergarten and don't even get me started on that or I start to cry.

And I am already crying since Audrey turns 2 on the 18th...where did my baby go??

Friday Pictures (See! I am finally on the ball again!!)

Aren't you guys impressed, I am finally getting on the ball with Friday pictures again. It helps that I am stuck here at work with hardly anyone here while my kids are at home. Their school is closed until January 2nd, so my Mom and Stepdad are helping out as Ray is busy with work this week too. Who knew realtors would be busy this week...I think he has 3 settlements today (which would include 3 walk thrus and all the stresses that go along with those). And I am at work since my leave balance is dangerously low. It doesn't help that I work for a health system where even on holidays where my office is closed, I still get charged leave. Sucks.

Anyways, Pictures!

I realized I never posted the baptism pictures from October, the crazy month of birthdays and birthdays and vacations and baptisms and joining a church and Halloween. I have a good excuse though. I was taking part in the whole getting my kids baptized thing, so I asked my very, very good friend Wendy to come and take pictures. And she graciously did, it just took a while for me to get the CD of pictures from her. Not her fault or mine (hi Wendy!!), but do please tell her MINIVANS ARE COOL. Seriously, she is struggling with this one. Just get a DAMN Minivan. Don't you know how cool mine is? Especially since it is missing a side mirror, definitely adding character. Just what a minivan needs.

Anyways, the pics.

Ashley went first (I think, sad I can't remember back until October...). At our church, they used a shell and poured water from the shell on their heads. Then Ashley and Audrey were given their shells to keep.

Audrey went next, and did great. Edie's daughter Hayden was baptized at the same time. Here are all the girls...I love this picture...The whole happy family plus one pastor Tom...The whole happy family minus one pastor Tom....

Presents

We have been opening gifts every day since Saturday. Late last night my Mom and Stepdad arrived, and we let Ashley (and heck, we opened ours too) open her gifts as she stayed up waiting for them. Audrey got to open hers this morning. And it's not over. We still have to celebrate with two other sets of friends at some point this weekend.

So what does Ashley say when she wakes up this morning (of which she woke up WAY TOO early for going to bed after 10:00pm, let the force be with my parents today...)?

She asks when does she get to open more gifts....Unfortutanately for her, her birthday isn't until July. But Audrey? Her birthday is next month...

I'm at work, and it SUCKS

Yes, I am at work today. Totally sucks. I am trying to salvage what little leave I get, so that means working this week. I am going to sneak out of here early as Mom and my Stepdad Ed are coming to celebrate Christmas this afternoon.

And yes, I scored a Wii for Ray for Christmas, and can I tell you how much fun that thing is??!! I got him the sports pack, and bowling and tennis are our favorite games. Seriously, my arm is sore this morning from playing tennis, and I accidentally somehow did the splits (don't ask) while playing last night as well, and my legs don't feel quite the same.

It also seems I am falling into Ray's Mom's tradition...she always, always loses a present she has purchased someone this year. This year, it was a present for Ashley. And what did I do? I totally forgot to give Ashley one of her "Santa" gifts. Oh well.

Santa did bring Ashley a Fashion Show play tent thing, complete with a runway with flashing lights (Target ROCKS). Ashley seems to think a fashion show involves some sort of singing and dancing. Her made up songs are hilarious, but what's more funny is Audrey trying to copy her sister. Pictures soon, I promise.

Merry Christmas

When I was in high school, we convinced my Mom and Stepdad (it didn't take much convincing) to open presents early. I think one year we even opened them on the 22nd. I could not wait for Christmas to come and open gifts.

And now that I have kids? I wish Christmas and Christmas Day would last forever....

Merry Christmas! I hope Santa was good to all!

(I must go back to playing tennis on the Wii I got Ray, although I did hurt my back during the last game...)

Back at home...

We are back in NC...tired, a little sickly, and with a TON of stuff (thanks Grandparents and family!).

A few things we learned....

Audrey is not interested in opening presents at all. Ashley would be more than happy to open hers, Audrey's, and your Aunt Mildred's presents if you like. It doesn't matter whose presents she opens, she just wants to open presents.

Audrey has some nasty cough thing. Ashley and I had it first, but it seemed to come and go a lot quicker with us...I forsee a visit to whatever doctor I can find open tomorrow...oh, and I know you guys will be surprised, but it would not be a trip without Audrey throwing up. She coughed so much at one point, we just knew she was going to hurl. We kept it mostly contained on a paper plate. I think Ray and I would win the Olympic sport "Throw-Up Catching".

And with this cough thing came no sleep whatsoever. But as I am too tired to even complain about that, I won't bore you with the non-sleeping details.

But we are back, in our home, ready to celebrate Christmas...are you?