Why I Don't Travel Alone with the Boys Very Often

Jack and Will are spending the weekend with my parents! Woo Hoo! The boys were definitely doing the happy dance today...in fact, Jack was literally jumping down the hallway to class this morning with excitement. And, oh the cheers, when I picked the boys up from school and we headed to meet Gramma halfway.

I think I have failed to mention Will's obsession with cars, trucks, and buses. Well, suffice it to say, the love runs deep. DEEP, y'all. And it serves as great entertainment while we drive around town for Will to look out the window and notice all of the various transportation vehicles. Not so much on the interstate. For an hour and a half, I listened to "FIRETRUCK! FIRETRUCK! TRUCK, MOMMY! TRUCK!" Nonstop. NONSTOP! Do you know how many 18 wheelers there are on the interstate?!?! Way too many! Just about every other vehicle. I know because Will pointed out every single one AT THE TOP OF HIS LUNGS! And don't even think that you can ignore his observations. Oh, no ma'am! He will scream "FIRETRUCK! FIRETRUCK! TRUCK, MOMMY! TRUCK!" until you respond with some appropriate truck conversation that goes beyond "Oh yes, that is a truck!" No, that doesn't cut it. He will continue to scream "FIRETRUCK! FIRETRUCK! TRUCK, MOMMY! TRUCK!" until you provide a more detailed dialog about the truck. Each and every one of them, every single time. I kept waiting for Will to need to take a breath so the "FIRETRUCK! FIRETRUCK! TRUCK, MOMMY! TRUCK!" would stop, but apparently a 2 year old only needs to take a breath once every 27 minutes. I counted. It makes for a very, very loooong 1 1/2 hours.

And in between all the delightful truck conversation, Jack was providing his own form of food for thought, such as "Can we go to Washington DC so I can go to the White House and meet our new president Barack Obama?", "I am so glad that I am a mammal 'cause I get to be live born! Being a reptile and being born out of an egg would be soooo boring!", and "Who is my stepmother?".

Have I mentioned I am not a very good traveler?

So we met Mom/Gramma at our usual McDonald's and let the boys play on the playground. I wished Mom good luck for the ride home, trying to relay Will's enthusiasm for trucks. She just smiled the "my grandchild is the most adorable thing, what could he do that would ever be annoying" smile that only Grammas have, and off they went.

And it wasn't 5 minutes later, before my cell phone rings with Mom laughing hysterically about how Will has been screaming "FIRETRUCK! FIRETRUCK! TRUCK, GAMMAMMA! TRUCK!" nonstop since they left McDonald's. And I just smiled the "I get to listen to my music in peace and quiet all the way home" smile that only free-for-the-weekend Mammas have!

Free Food! Free Food!

Y'all know Little Miss Penny Pincher here is all about the FREE!!

Quiznos’ is giving away one million free subs. All you need to do is fill out a short form with your name, email, and birthday and they will send you an email link to your printable coupon for a free small signature sub or small every day value sub.

You can print one coupon for each adult in your household. Each adult has to have their own email address.

You can get your free coupon here.

Happy Eating!

I Just Think I Have Lots of Gray Now

Brent got a new car this past summer. And it is nice....sporty, fast, all the bells and whistles, and did I mention FAST! He has it professionally cleaned about every other week and in between he washes it himself. It still smells brand new. The car is Brent's baby. I am allowed to drive it for quick errands, but only if I promise to park it far, far away from all the other cars and then hike the 5 miles to my destination. It is a special priviledge for Jack to get to ride in the car and one that he relishes; however, Jack must be in freshly laundered clothes and clean shoes! Absolutely no food or drink allowed in the car. Will, on the other hand, has never seen the inside of the car, nor is he allowed within a 3 feet radius of said car. Until this weekend...

We took my car into the dealership on Saturday to have the brakes changed, which meant we cruised around in Daddy's car all day. Oh, was Will excited! He knew it was a special time and was dancing with joy in the driveway to ride in Daddy's car. While riding, I would turn around to see him looking out the window with a big smile on his face. Brent asked if they would like to "go fast" and of course they did! Oh, the giggling, the laughing, the cheering. And for the rest of the weekend, Will would yell "GO FAST DADDY! GO FAST!" (over and over and over again). And when Brent would oblige, Will and Jack would just laugh and cheer and clap their hands.

And I saw my future in about 11 and 14 years flash before me. And it was not pretty. Alot of worrying. And alot more gray hair.

JPEG of the Week

Note the adoring look on Will's face as he watches his favorite person in the world. This morning Will woke up crying not for Mommy or Daddy, but for Jackie B! Everyone should have a hero =).

Happy Birthday to Me!

It has been a fun birthday! After I dropped Jack off at school, Will and I headed to the gym for my power class. We were doing our quad track, which is the second track of the one hour class, when the stereo blew out. So for the rest of the class, we didn't have music and worked out to the instructor counting out the beats to us. Very interesting, but a good workout nonetheless. We came home and I put Will down for a nap, which turned out to be a short nap and seriously interrupted my planned computer time. And then one of the highlights of the day: two of my good friends surprised me with flowers, a card, and a tray of chocolate goodies! They are the best =)! Brent got home at 4 this afternoon and we enjoyed some fun family time. Pizza and King Cake for dinner tonight. It was so sweet having my guys sing "Happy Birthday" to me, especially Will who sang with such gusto Happy Birthday to Daddy! And then of course it became a game to sing to Daddy instead of Mommy. All in all a good day!

Breaking Bread with the Nuns

Today, we wrapped up the kindergarten testing with OLA. YAY!! Now we wait until the first Friday in April when the letters will be mailed out. And just for the record: I think it is absolutely ridiculous that it is so competitive to get into private/parochial schools around here, but we will jump through all of the hoops to get in.

We had a good, EASY dinner tonight....Peachy Pork Chops and Green Beans. Did I mention easy?!?! Dinner was done in about 20 minutes. So I thought I would share the recipe for the Peachy Pork Chops (y'all don't need me to tell you how to make green beans...or in tonight's case, how to open up the cans).

Peachy Pork Chops

• 4 (1-inch-thick) pork chops
• seasoned salt
• onion powder
• 1 (16 oz) can sliced peaches, undrained
• 2 Tbs brown sugar
• 2 Tbs butter
• 1/2 tsp dried basil
  
  Place pork on a lightly greased rack of a broiler pan. Sprinkle with salt and onion powder on both sides of the pork chops. Broil 5 1/2 inches from heat (with electric oven door partially opened) 7 minutes on each side.
  Combine peaches and remaining 3 ingredients in a saucepan. Cook, uncovered, over low heat 10 minutes, stirring often. Arrange pork chops on a platter. Pour peach sauce over pork.
  
  **I put the peach sauce in small bowls for the kids to dip their pork. Because being able to dip your food just makes it more fun!

Brent, Jack, and I loved it...Jack had seconds on the pork & sauce. Will picked at dinner, but Will has a take-it-or-leave-it relationship with food, excluding candy or desserts; in which case, he has never met a treat he didn't love.

Will finished dinner early and decide to provide us with a little dinner entertainment. Remember when I told you that we thought Will might become a priest? Well, if the priesthood doesn't work out for him, maybe the sisters will allow him to join their ranks?!?! Because really, under the habit, who can tell if one is male or female?!?!

Sister Mary William

The "Singing" Nun

After dinner, a little WWF action broke out in the bedroom.

My Favorite Guys

A Hint of Spring

The weather this week has been wonderful...highs in the mid 60s. Just the perfect temperature to play outside. Today and Monday, the boys are out of school for a President's/Winter Break weekend. We had a slow start to the morning, which is really nice not having to hit the floor running. When we finally got moving, we headed to the gym, where the boys had fun playing in the nursery while I went to my Power class and then walked on the treadmill. Then we decided to take advantage of this wonderful weather by having lunch at McDonald's.

After lunch, Jack and Will played on the McDonald's playset for about an hour. They were having so much fun playing nicely together. Will is now old enough to tag along behind (and actually keep up with) Jack, so they would climb the stairs to the top of the playset and then slide down the twisty slide. Will thought this was the best kind of fun. I could hear him start to giggle at the top of the slide and he would laugh all the way down. At the bottom, Will would say, " 'mon, Jack! Slide again!" And off they would go.

It was so nice to sit back and watch how much they enjoy each other. And that is my prayer for them...that they are always the best of friends!