I Am The Cookie Master

Yesterday we got our Girl Scout cookies, all 10 boxes. TM wanted to get a case of Thin Mints, but we did NOT need a case of cookies in our house. Too much temptation. In the end our order was 2 boxes short of a case, but in addition to the thin mints we got a couple other flavors. I informed TM that, "I am the cookie master!" This was a necessary precaution to avoid eating all 10 boxes in one week. Some people in our household, who shall remain nameless, have a very bad habit of eating food straight out of the package and losing track of the calories they consume. We'll see how long we can make the cookies last.

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5710 "VOTE"

Guess who I voted for last night. I think Randy nailed it right on the head when he said the teens are hot this year. I've said it once, and I'll say it again, I think David A has a real chance of being the next American Idol.

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Love Triangle in Kindergarten?

A few weeks back, the week of Valentine's Day to be exact, I found out that a little girl in TJ's kindergarten class has a huge crush on him! I was relieved when I found out that's all it was because TJ was giving me the impression that he was having problems with a couple kids in his class hitting him and saying mean things to him. The problem surfaced because he refused to participate with the class Valentine's Day exchange.

Today I had a run in with the little girl's mom. I asked her if her daughter had been talking about TJ. She was very apologetic on her daughter's behalf. During this conversation I found out a little more than I wanted to know. There's a love triangle going on in kindergarten! TJ's friend likes a girl who likes TJ. There's more than one girl with a crush on my little boy…aaaaagggggh! Is this problem going to get progressively worse as he gets older? The good news is that I'm hearing good things about TJ's character. "He's such a nice little boy." Every mom wants to hear that about their son, but until he's old enough to appreciate the attention of the opposite sex, it could be his drawback.

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We Finally Own a Wii!

Was it fate, or just dumb luck? I don't know, but TJ and I were in the right place at the right time. Well, let's back it up about 15 minutes. We just had our oil changed at Jiffy Lube and the employee and I somehow got to talking about the Wiis. He bought one for himself in November, and we've been searching for them since January. He was giving me some tips on how to get my hands on one. Then TJ and I mosey along to Wal Mart to get a few items, as planned. Whenever I'm there I swing by the electronics to see the empty shelf space where the Wiis are usually stocked (for about 20 minutes). Imagine my surprise when I spied 6 boxes sitting on the shelf! I walk over to the cashier and ask them if those boxes are empty or if they're the real deal. They had literally just restocked the shelf. I wasn't going to pass up on that opportunity, so I nabbed one. I don't know who was more excited, me or TJ. So far it's been worth the wait. I hope the novelty doesn't wear off too soon. I'll bet anything that now that we have ours I'll see the Wiis all over the place. Oh well, at least I'm out of THAT rat race now. What's next on the list?

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Saturday Photo Hunt : "Wooden"

Here's TJ and his wooden castle bank that we put together at one of the Home Depot Kids Workshops. I ended up doing most of the work and only had half a clue what I was doing. I think they need to have "Moms Workshops". Not only that, but you would think that a workshop being held in a hardware store would mean having functional tools to work with. We all had to share 2 or 3 screwdrivers that weren't even the right size! What do you expect for free?

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Make It Stop!

I was in Chuck E. Cheese's with the boys for about 10 minutes when the urge to scream, "Make it stop!" took over! The games were dinging and blinging, the music was playing on the loud speakers, and the chatter of customers was ringing in my ears. Now I know what an over stimulated baby or child feels like. It's not as if it was extra chaotic for a pizza parlor, it was just the extra noise buzzing in the background that was getting on my every nerve! I didn't care if the boys still had tokens left; one hour was ALL I could take! Suffice it to say that I will NOT be doing this again anytime soon. The boys think Daddy will take them. Good luck with that one.

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My Baby Wants a Baby

I think TK was watching a baby doll commercial when he informed me, not for the first time, that he wants a baby. He says he knows what to do. He knows how to take care of a baby. Then in the same breath he asked where the baby was going to sleep if we don't have a crib. I gently told him that we weren't going to have any more babies because he's my baby. He said he doesn't want to be the baby, he wants his own baby. If only it were that easy.

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I Got Served

No, it's not what you think. This morning I got served with a portion of Amish Friendship Bread Mix. It's a cup of mix in a Ziploc bag that I'm supposed to start to mush tomorrow, and continue doing that for 4 more days. Then on day 6 I'm supposed to add some ingredients and mush again, and continue mushing on days 7, 8, and 9. Finally, on day 10 I'm to pour the contents into a non-metal bowl and add more ingredients then pour a cup full of the mix into 4 separate Ziploc bags to give to friends so that they can go through the process that has taken me 10 days. With the remaining mix I'm supposed to add more ingredients so that I can finally bake the mix. This sounds like a fun project, but I sure am glad that when I want bread I can just jump in the car and go to the store. Can you imagine having to wait 10 days to eat bread? We've come a long way baby. By the way, if you're in my neighborhood, prepare to make bread.

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Are You Kidding Me, Randy?

Last night I got home in time to watch the American Idol Girls from performance number 3. I watched until the end so that I could cast my votes accordingly. I was appalled when Randy made his little comment at the end about the girls blowing the boys away. Was he kidding? He HAD to be kidding, right? I don't claim to be a music expert by any stretch of the imagination, but my ears know what they like and I'd have to disagree with Randy. I thought the guys' performances were so much better than the girls' as a whole. However, I did vote for my two favorite girls. Would they be offended that I'm referring to them as girls? Okay, maybe I should say women. I liked Ramiele because she was representing the Filipinas. That little girl does have a big voice! I also voted for Syesha. She has the whole "American Idol" package. I could picture her face on a CD cover. So there you have it, my unsolicited two cents. We'll see the final results tonight when Ryan drags it on and keeps us in suspense.

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Hau’oli La Hanau Shelley!

I just wanted to send a shout out to my best friend Shelley back in Hawai'i. Today is her "fill in the blank" birthday. Don't worry girl, age is only a number. You're still young. Of course I have to say that since you're only a few months younger than me. I hope you have an awesome birthday! Kick off your shoes, relax, and have a bottle glass of wine. Well, that's what I'd do if it was MY birthday. Have a good one!

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Did You Vote?

Are you watching American Idol? This is the first season that I watched from the very beginning…the good, the bad, and the glass shattering. Last night as I watched the top 12 men perform I was glad I didn't have to plug my ears and cringe anymore. I think the teenagers kicked butt last night. When it was all done and the lines were open, I voted for my favorites, David and Michael. I think that David could actually win this thing. He has an original voice, charisma, and easily likable. He's such a cutie. Did you vote? Who's your favorite? Round two tonight. I hope I can get home in time to see the performances of the top 12 women.

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WFMW – Hana hou (repeat)

My "works for me" tip for today is something that I recently posted here. In short, I talked about maintaining freshness in my front loading washing machine when it doesn't smell so fresh anymore. Trust me, it works.

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Another Day Off From School?

TJ and TK spent a Friday and Saturday night at Grandma and Grandpa's house, and they came home yesterday afternoon which meant they spent the whole day with me on this President's Day Holiday. It was okay for the most part, but when I started getting frustrated trying to get some much needed software onto my BlackBerry, the boys started to annoy me. I was trying to have a phone conversation with tech support, and the boys chose that moment to get EXTRA loud and obnoxious! It was all downhill from there. "I don't like this food", "I'm not eating this tomorrow", blah blah blah. I've said it once, and I'll say it again, "I ain't running a restaurant. You've got two choices, take it or leave it." Lucky for me, the boys have another day off from school tomorrow, so I get to do this all over again. Yaaay…NOT!

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Saturday PhotoHunt : "Free"

Yesterday we dropped off TJ and TK with their grandparents for the weekend. Since we didn't have the kids (which gives me "free"dom for a couple of days), TM and I stopped at the new Puerto Vallarta restaurant. There was a big crowd waiting to be seated, but since we didn't have the kids with us we just seated ourselves in the bar area. No waiting. We had free chips and salsa to tide us over until our Mexican Pizza and Taco Salad arrived. I would've been satisfied with the chips and salsa because it was excellent! It was all washed down with a glass of Merlot, and I went home happy.

Go here to see more Photo Hunt Pictures.

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Classroom Volunteer

Well, I survived another day of volunteering (and I use the term loosely) in TJ's and TK's classes. First TK tagged along with me to his brother's class where the Kindergarteners were sorting out "Conversational Hearts" by color so that they could make a graph. Simple enough, unless there are 6 kids that you need to help verify the counting. It's not easy dealing with so many different personalities.

While the kids were out to recess I had the opportunity to find out a little bit more about a little girl that has a major crush on TJ. I can't say I blame the girl, TJ is good looking and a very personable little boy, but in his eyes the girl is just a pest. She's also not very shy about her feelings. If that's the worst thing he has to deal with, then he's doing pretty well.

Next stop was the preschool class. To celebrate Valentine's Day, each child brought a cup of their favorite cereal or cereal topping. Miss D let each child dump their cereal in a "Friendship Bowl" which pretty much turned into a mountain. It was awesome. There was lots of Fruit Loops, Cheerios, and Cap 'n Crunch (without berries) Then there was yogurt covered raisins, blueberries, raisins, and my personal favorite, Plain M&Ms. The cereal got mixed up and that was their snack for the day. They could have it with or without milk.

The kids distributed their valentines into their friends' cubbies, twenty to be exact, and they went home with loads of goodies. Needless to say, TK will be bouncing off the walls for a little while.

And that was my day in a nutshell.

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Dishwashing Soap in the Laundry?

Does your front loading washing machine smell mildewy? We've had ours for about a year and it's smell got progressively worse. My husband decided to play the part of Tim Allen and see if he could figure out the problem? He turned what could have been a 10 minute consultation into a one hour repair for Luigi the repairman. Yes, his real name is Luigi. Luckily our warranty covered everything and we didn't have to pay a cent. So after Luigi took our machine apart in order to get the rubber thingy back in place, he told me the best kept secret to keeping front load washing machines smelling fresh. My homework assignment was to go to the Dollar Store and get a box of powder dishwasher detergent (It MUST be powder) and use half a cup in the soap dispenser with a normal cycle set on hot water. Do this once a month and that will take care of the icky stuff that builds up in the washer after awhile. I must admit that I was a little skeptical at first, but it was worth a try. I did it yesterday and was a little disappointed to find that the rubber still smelled a little, but after I did a load of laundry, the smell was completely gone! I'm still amazed. No more pinching my nose when I do laundry.

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Happy Valentine's Day!

My Leapster Valentine from TJ. "Happy Valentine's Day Mommy"! That's a quote from my 6 year old as soon as he woke up this morning. I thought that was soooo cute! Letting the boys hang their own calendars on their bedroom doors was one of the best things we did. They have such a better grasp of the concept of time. Every morning when they wake up they circle the current date. TJ is even starting to write special things to remember, like when Cartoon Networks premier showing of the Pokemon Diamond and Pearl movie airs (can't forget that).

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I'm a BlackBerry Chick Now!

Happy Valentine's Day to me. It's finally happened. After a long awaited year, I finally got the BlackBerry Pearl that I've been patiently coveting. My husband and boys got me the Red BlackBerry Pearl for Valentine's Day. Now the countdown to the number of days it takes me to figure it out has started. Geez, who knew learning how to operate a phone would be so complicated? I'm making slow progress, and having fun in the process.

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I'm The Mom of a Genius

Today J brought home his very first report card of his school career, and I've come to the conclusion that I just may be the mom of a genius. Well, maybe that's my very very biased opinion, but it's my blog and I can say what I want. Okay, so he's only in Kindergarten, but still...His teacher says that he "Demonstrates strength in all areas", and that he's "able to extend his writing beyond the one word typical of most young students". I'm so proud of him. The one area he DOES need help with is "staying focused during lessons and work time". I think his talkative nature is working against him there.

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A Day In The Dark

At 9:30PM Wednesday night as the boys and I were listening to one of the "Magic Tree House" audio books, everything went black. It was just as well since it was past their bed time anyway, but when we woke up the next morning we were still in the dark. The boys didn't have school and we didn't have anywhere to be, but they were bored and I needed my coffee fix! So we went out to run some errands and had lunch at McDonald's. It was good because they were able to burn off some energy in the Playland while I caught up on my magazine reading. We returned to a ,still, powerless home at 1:45. I thought, "Great, now what are we going to do?" The last time we had a power outage the boys went crazy bored. I brought out the Megablocks and sat with them while they built "A Tower To Nothing." They were satisfied with that. The power came back on at 3:17. The buzzing of the appliances filled the air again. I was a little (very little) disappointed that the serenity of the peace and quiet was no more. It's funny how we get so accustomed to the every day humming of appliances that they become background noise. You don't really know it's there until it stops. I'm happy that I was able to be still for a little while and spend quality time with the boys, but thank God it didn't last for TOO long.

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WFMW - Online Shopping

Okay, I goofed! I said I was new to this and still learning the ropes. I did my first "WFMW" post on the wrong subject. This weeks theme is "Online Shopping". I don't think I do my online shopping at any out of the ordinary websites...eBay, QVC, Amazon. But one site that's new to me with a cool concept is Zwaggle. I heard about this place through FlyLady and found it very interesting. If I got it right, you register with them and post kids' items that are still usable that you'd like to bless someone else with, and you can purchase things with "Zoints" that you earn. It's basically recycling at it's best. So, that works for me.

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WFMW

This weeks "Works For Me Wednesday" tip comes straight out of the March 2008 issue of Consumer Reports. They give tips on how to "properly" load your dishwasher to achieve "cleaner" dishes. They start by saying to "Keep large items at the sides and back, so that they don't block water and detergent from reaching other dishes". Then they go on to say to "Load dirtier side of dishes toward the center for more exposure to the spray". In other words, don't do what I've been doing my whole dishwasher using career. Don't face all the plates and bowls in one direction. Think of an imaginary line down the center of your basket from front to back and line your dishes up from the center out with the dirty side of the dish facing toward the center. This sounds logical to me. I tried this last night and found that by loading my dishes this way the dishes actually stood up better. Who knew there was a "proper" way of loading your dishwasher? Certainly not me, until now.

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Manic Morning!

Yesterday I wanted a "do over", and I say ditto on that today too! What a morning! It started off okay, with the usual, "Get changed and brush your teeth". Today is one of those regularly scheduled late start days for our school district so the kids didn't have to wake up so early. We were doing good, we didn't have to leave for the bus stop until 10:00...WRONG! We left the house at 10:00 and waited at the bus stop until 10:30, when I finally decided that the bus either came early or was delayed. As soon as we got back home I checked the calendar (should've done that last night) and realized that school started 90 minutes late, NOT 2 hours late like they do for bad weather. So I had to drive J to school. He was only about 10 minutes late, thanks to Mom being unorganized. Then as K and I were walking back to the parking lot we saw 2 more kids arriving late, but they were doing it in style. They got dropped off in a fire truck! How cool is that? Anyway, here's hoping the day gets better. It can't get any worse, knock on wood.

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"My Bad" Banking Boo Boo

I hate it when I do that! I went to the doctor today and used the wrong debit card to make my co-payment...aaahhhhh! Luckily, I discovered it within a few hours and was able to fix it before serious damage was done. It was an honest mistake because the two cards are identical, aside from the numbers. I won't make that mistake again because the culprit got purged from my wallet since I don't use that account anyway.

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Where Did The Weekend Go?

Where does all the time go? This past weekend seems like a blur. The only thing I remember is going to some friends' house for the Super Bowl, which I wasn't too interested in. I'm just not a sports spectator. I just went to socialize and eat. Thanks to Bella for all the "ono" food. She's from the Philippines and is an excellent cook! She made Chicken Curry, Mung (I think that's how it's spelled) Beans, and Fried Fish, not to mention the desserts. I told her she should start a catering business. You couldn't eat better food in a restaurant. Needless to say, I overindulged. We had to head out a little early because the boys had Awana. It probably should have been canceled because attendance was pitiful due to the Super Bowl. Congratulations to the NY Giants, and all you Giants Fans out there.

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Saturday Photo Hunt

Today's theme is "Narrow". This is a photo that I took of a couple of totem polls in Kalama, WA last August when we attended the annual "Kalama Days of Discovery". It's amazing how much Hawaiian History is expanded (I don't know if that's the word I'm looking for) across our nation. That's one of the reasons I don't feel homesick here in Washington.

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