Video games for Aerobic Excersise

Who said video games were bad for kids? Look at the cardio my son gets just by playing this game. If you notice my other son, he is sitting on the couch, sucking his thumb and still can manage the controller. Skillzzzzzz

The Turd

A while ago, I was eating some prunes and noticed that it looked exactly like a turd. Of course, I had to play a prank and reached deep into my head to figure out something nerdy to do. I ended up putting the....well, just watch the video. Yes again, nerdism proves to be true. Listen to Aaron toward the end of the video. As he has lived with me for 10+ years, he know's what is up my sleeve most of the time. smart man.

Lasagna

Tonight, I ate the best lasagna I had ever had at our friends Wes and Heidi's. Of course, the lasagna wasn't as good coming up the second time around. Yes, within hours, my pregnancy got the best of me and I barfed it up. Hey, at least I enjoyed it the first time.
Anyway, they are such a great couple and we are so happy to have them as our friends. I photographed their wedding 4 1/2 years ago and that is actually when I think our friendship bloomed. We knew Wes from being involved in a youth group and would have him and his roommate over for dinner over once in a while for. They moved to Boise a few years ago and I was seriously depressed for about a month. I wish I would have kept better contact with them when they were in Boise, but it was has hard for me at the time with my kids and the stage in our lives we were at. Fortunately, we are still friends and they are back in OHIO. It is fun to have friends from the beginning of "their time" together. They now have a sweet baby that I absolutely adore to death. I am not kidding when I say she is the sweetest and cutest little girl you would ever lay your eyes onto. She was a little under the weather tonight but her little personality still was sparkly. Our boys love going over there. They have an awesome dog named Griswold. He is a big Chocolate lab that thinks he is a lap dog. The boys love chasing him around their home. Wes is also a nut for LEGOS and has about 10 plastic bins full of them. That scores pretty big with Andrew. Our families have grown together and soon will be growing even more together. Heidi and I are both expecting which makes things super fun for me and I am sure for her as well. It is always fun to share puking stories and fat stories with someone who truly understands.
I am feeling thankful tonight for good friends.

Ahhh...pickle chips

Such a weird post, but Andrew's friend brought these over last week and they Rock! I ended up eating the poor kids container of Pringles Extreme Pickle chips. I was nice enough to replace them though. I like to dip them in Ice cream. Just kidding. Try them for yourself. They are way too Yummy!



Hey, I never said all of my posts were going to be of worthy substance!

a little dormant...

To start, I feel like doggy doo doo these days. I don't have the energy to blog or do much of anything. I am totally done having children. I am getting too old for this.

Well, I went to see my dad up in Michigan this week and it was a relaxing time. Aaron had taken 2 says off of work so I can go from Friday until Monday. It gets a little easier going up to Michigan, but in the same way...it gets harder. Easier in the way that I see that my dad is trying his best to make it work. It makes me feel good knowing that every time I go up, he looks better, sounds better, and his outlook is better. As many say, time does heal. I can see it in my dad, I see it in my siblings and I see it in myself.

As for how it gets harder, I don't think I ever cried so much as when I visited my moms final resting place this time. It becomes more real every visit. For months, I felt like I was in a fog and "whistled in the dark' as my dad would say. My mom left the world 8 months ago and it seems like it was just yesterday I was writing her eulogy while sitting at my dad's computer. I have kept busy, not giving myself very much time to reflect and grieve on what really happened to our family this past year.




Since I have been home, I have had several dreams of my mom. I know this is God's way of comforting me for the week. It is always more of an emotional challange after I go up to Michigan. I do know that God loves me and he knows that I have a hard time after I come home. The dreams of my mom were the best dreams anyone could ever imagine. Thanks God. I needed it and you knew it.

paczki Video...

My sister found this awesome video on Paczki. Since I gained 10 pounds eating these things last week, I thought I would share this great 'documentary" about them.

Indiana Jones...

Andrew came home the other day from a little carnival shin dig. He walked in the door and had this on...

I was a little shocked because I never call him this and make every effort to correct people when they joke around with this shortned name. If I wanted to name him Andy, I would have done so.

He never told me why he wrote this on his tag until this morning. He told us that he wanted to me named this because "Andy-ana Jones" name is Andy. I thought this was cute and had to share.

Andrew's Friend

Andrew has this very special friend. I don't remember having such a close knit relationship so young like these little guys do. From the very first day of Kindergarten, they meshed when they realized they had the same interest (batman lunchboxes). From that point, they were like two peas in pod. At the last Parent/Teacher conference, Andrew's teacher had commented on how close they were and how they stick together like glue.

Evan is an only child so when Andrew goes over to their house, Evan's parents treat him like their own. It was funny when I dropped Andrew's sleepover items to their house yesterday. I realized that I forgot to pack his toothbrush. Evan's mom said "oh, don't worry, he has one here".

Andrew loves to go over to their house because Evan and his dad are big fans of Star Wars. He can talk all the Star Wars he wants over there and his questions about Starwars actually get answers.

Evan is a very special kid. You can read about his story here. I am glad that Andrew has picked such a special kid to be friends with. I hope their relationship always stays strong and brother like. Maybe someday, they will be in each other’s weddings. Who knows?

things not to do when you are newly preggo.

1.) fry hamburger
2.) drink orange juice the minute you wake up
3.) toss a trash bag onto your back porch...forget about it....clean up trash all over your yard the next day. blah.
4.) go into the bathroom after your child has taken a massive dump

We are ok.

I have been having some cramping lately and my doctor wanted me to come in for a "see if everything is OK" ultrasound. I have been laying low the past week. For those of you who know me, that was very hard. Here is a picture of the lil' Monster. Isn't it cute? It is very, very little but amazingly enough, I was able to see the heart beating. Andrew is taking the picture to school tomorrow to show his friends our little bean. We are still praying that everything continues to be ok. I found out fairly early this time around and we aren't out of the woods yet.

(Trying to get the picture uploaded...but something is wrong. Will post when I figure it out. For now, you can stare at the oh so beautiful picture of me and the "instruments").

Hormones or Sentiment??

Today I cried over a Doughnut. I guess it isn't an ordinary doughnut, it is a Paczki. My mom would correct me on that little fact. Today is Fat Tuesday and basically it is the day to eat all of the bad things you want before Lent begins. Paczki Day (yes, it is actually a day for the Polish) is a yummy day that my mom loved.

Yesterday, I opened this box of Paczki and started to cry. I sat on the ground and Aaron came in the kitchen and he saw that I was crying. I said "my mom loved Paczki Day" and I bursted into tears. It was kind of funny because I am a little hormonal anyway. He smiled a little because to him, it was just a doughnut. To me, it was a reminder of my mom. He then understood, still with a little smile on his face. Today, I had an uninterrupted moment to cry while I ate the Lemon filled Paczki. I know that it is particially my pregnancy hormones, but also a lot of sentimental emotion. I remember my mom always searching to find the very same Paczki that she use to by in Hamtramck. She would specially order them from different bakeries where she lived. She wanted to make sure she had her Paczki for that special day. When she would finally get them, she would take notice of the ways it wasn't a real Paczki. I also remember the time that I attempted to make Paczki at home for my mom. I carefully followed the directions from my Polish Cookbook. They seemed to be a little hard, but I figured that "maybe that is the way they make them in Hamtramck". I sent them in a box to my mom and she received them on Fat Tuesday. I will never forget her telling me so nicely as she was laughing "they are hard as Rocks". I guess that was a pretty good indication that I didn’t' make them like they did in Hamtramck.

SHE KNEW HER PACZKI!

I hope my mom is getting all of the "real" Paczki she wants right now. I can only imagine what Heaven is like with all of her Polish relatives....doing the polka with a "real" Paczki in each hand.

World's best Cake

Ok, I am feeling soooo pregnant! I cannot stop thinking about this cake that I make. I thought I would share the recipe. It requires Guiness Beer. One would think that beer in cake would be gross, but I am here to tell you that when mixed with the cocoa, it is Awesome. It is our favorite cake in the entire world. Do not eat this cake if you are counting calories...you will feel like a failure!

Chocolate Stout Cake
I made changes and cut the recipe in half and use

two 9-inch cake pans.

Cake
2 cups stout (such as Guinness)
2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter (Forgive me Father, I am about to sin)
1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-process)
4 cups all purpose flour
4 cups sugar
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
4 large eggs
1 1/3 cups sour cream
Preheat oven to 350°. Butter three 8-inch round cake pans with 2-inch-high sides.
Line with parchment paper. Butter paper. Bring 2 cups stout and 2 cups
butter to simmer in heavy large saucepan over medium heat.
Add cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth. Cool slightly.
Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt in large bowl to blend.
Using electric mixer, beat eggs and sour cream in another large bowl to blend.
Add stout-chocolate mixture to egg mixture and beat just to combine.
Add flour mixture and beat briefly on slow speed. Using rubber spatula, fold batter until completely combined.
Divide batter equally among prepared pans. Bake cakes until
tester inserted into center of cakes comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Transfer cakes to rack;
cool 10 minutes. Turn cakes out onto rack and cool completely.

VANILLA CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

12 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
Using electric mixer, beat 12 ounces cream cheese,
1/2 cup butter and vanilla extract in large bowl until smooth.
Add powdered sugar 1 cup at a time,
beating until smooth after each addition.
Makes about 3 1/4 cups.

Place 1 cake layer on plate. Spread 2/3 cup icing over.
Top with second cake layer. Spread 2/3 cup icing over.
Top with third cake layer. Spread remaining icing over top and sides of cake.

I like to serve this with raspberry puree
Makes 12 servings.

Green Bowling

We have conquered a full 2 1/2 weeks of recycling in our home. We aren't totally gung ho about every little thing, however, when I saw a yogurt container in the regular trash today, I was a bit disappointed and rescued the little thing from the landfill. It is working out. The containers in the kitchen are an eye sore, but I guess in the big scope of things...they are good eye sores.

For the past few days, Owen has come up with a clever game using all of the larger containers from the recycling bin. He came up with the game "Green Bowling". He even used the label as headgear. Check out the pictures and giggle.

The Strength of a Polish Woman

Ahh, I love being Polish!

An elderly Polish man lay dying in his bed. While suffering the agonies of impending death, he suddenly smelled the aroma of his favorite pierogi with fried onions wafting up the stairs. He gathered his remaining strength, and lifted himself from the bed. Gripping the railing with both hands, he crawled downstairs. Downstairs, he leaned against the door frame, gazing into the kitchen, where if not for death's agony, he would have thought himself already in heaven, for there, spread out upon waxed paper on the kitchen table were hundreds of his favorite pierogi. Was it heaven? Or was it one final act of love from his wife of sixty years, seeing to it that he left this world a happy man? He threw himself towards the table, landing on his knees in a crumpled posture. His parched lips parted, the wondrous taste of the pierogi was already in his mouth. With a trembling hand he reached up to the edge of the table, when suddenly he was smacked with a wooden spoon by his wife.

"Back off!" she said. "Those are for the funeral. "