SnapGift WOW!

A really good friend of mine has started a new company withher husband. SHe offered me a 25$ gift certificate to try it out see how I Like it and then even give a review of it on my little blog here. I think I was suppose to do it last month but totally forgot until I saw her post today about her company.  So wooops...

I went out to the site today and placed an order for buffalo wild wings gift card for my husband.  He loves buffalo wings so that was a no brainer.. although I was impressed with all the little stores that had gift certificates availiable. I think it gives them an edge up on all the big chain stores. If I still lived in Kansas City I would of def purchased a gift certificate from "Ruchi" my fav little indian resturant!!

fast forward-

WOW- I saved this post wanting to actually receive the card before I reviewed the whole site and waalaaa.. I already have the gift card! I have to say I wish I had the ability to make ideas come to fruition the way they do! This is an awesome idea. You can also have the gift cards send via email so they can print it off and use it that very same day or heck minute you purchase it... I now wish I would of done that so I could receive and print of the coupon and use it.... but helloooooo... BUFFALO WINGS haha

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waalaaa christmas letter 2009

Greetings and Salutations,


I hope you are all doing something fun for the holidays. We have moved once again to a new house in Holton, KS. The other house we had moved to was just…well had served its purpose. It got us to Holton. Karl was driving 3-4 hours a day in the early portion of 2008 and well 2009 has been much more relaxing. Now that we are in a nice house with real walls we are truly happier. Although Kya does say she misses her “old house” with the flower wall paper. It is funny how Kya loved the wallpaper in the master bedroom of the “old house” the wall paper that gave me a migraine just looking at it! How anyone could look at that wall paper in a book of wall paper and say, wow that is just beautiful let’s put that up in the place we SLEEP! I did however take a piece of the remnant that was in the house, and I am going to put it in a little frame for her. Nice for her, a migraine mouse infested ant trap reminder for us.

Karl and I are well. Karl loves his job, and loves being very close to home. Since we moved two blocks up and two blocks over we are exactly the same distance away from his office as we were before..oohhhhh about a minute drive in a car. (SCORE) Karl and I entered in the city chili contest. His chili was called “King Kong” chili and mine was called “Mean Monkey Chili”. The names came from two books we read to Kya and Kena. We WON! Well we won “Best Newcomer of the Year” but hey it is a prize. Karl’s chili was so hot it even made the guy who won the Jalapeno eating contest take pause. Mine was sweeter and hot……….yeah I know LIKE ME! Oh I just crack myself up….

Kya is still as spunky as ever! She love to make up songs and dances and run around the house performing. I am still not quite sure if she has her father’s sense of rhythm or mine, I guess only time will tell! She is in a cute little dance class here in town. They are supposed to have a little recital at the end of the school year. I will totally be the mom with the camera, tripod, camcorder, and all the memory recording accoutrements in tow! (Well just my camera but you get my enthusiasm) She is also in a little gymnastics class, which is really code for run around the gym and learns to roll. She has been going to the same gym since she was 20 months old and she just loves it. However I have a feeling dance will win out eventually, plus I can’t really see myself letting her on those high beam things. Kya’s big milestone this year was starting preschool. I was nervous but she was so brave. As I was leaving a little girl started to cry, so Kya walked up to her and said, “Don’t cry my mommy will be back soon.” I then turned around and promptly burst out in tears. I was so proud of her, and in that moment I knew we had prepared her well.

Kena is of course her sisters little shadow. Except mainly to see exactly what Kya is doing and then take what Kya is doing. She seems to have a very acute sense of what she wants and when she wants it. There is a huge understanding of equality and she demands it! The best is watching them chase each other and giggle. Kena also loves to curl up with her sister at night reaching out blindly for her hand and then settling in warm and content. She is as much a cuddle bug as she is a force to be reckoned with. She loves stuffed animals, lollipops (currently candy canes as well), and carrying around a purse. She will also be starting gymnastics class in a few months; I will be so excited to have to stop holding her wriggly body at bay while she watches her sister.

We miss and love you all! Remember to love and hug this year….

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christmas letter 2009...

hmmmmm.... I have such writers block this year. but I better try.  ok here I go to try. Wish me luck!

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who invited THEM???

Apparently moving to a house with more carpet has pointed out I have animals who really really need to be kept up on their flea medication! 

This week poor Kena was having little red bumps all over her body. No one else in the house had them so I was starting to think she had some type of skin reaction to my detergent, or allergies to something.  I was even going to take her into the doctor to have him take a look at them.  For a second I thought hmmm i wonder if those are flea bites...

Then this morning as Kena stumbled out of the toy room with a random toy in her fist for my inspection I saw it! Little fucker sucking right on my babies neck like a vampire from hell!  And not the hot little man vampire that has all the woman on planet earth's panties in a wad. oohh nooo... this little sucker has six legs and is a parasite of the worst kind! They come in your house and live in your carpet, on your clothes and eat can live for days on end until you walk by and they get another boost of life saving blood. 

Not every child or woman is affected by them. Some people get bit by fleas and they have no visible skin reaction.  Some just get small little red dots, others get itchy welts that can become infected and leave horrible scars if not taken care of. 

They are nasty little fuckers and I will not tolerate them in my home, and for the love of god NOT on my baby girl!

When I was little my baby sister was the one who was eaten alive by the fleas our cat had drug into the house. The fleas tore her apart, we had to get rid of the cat because back int he 80's flea collars were really the only defense.  Even if you don't see them ON your cat, your cat may be a good groomer. They will however be all over the house.  This is why I no longer allow animals in my bed.  They bring to bed fleas and dander and all types of things I may not be allergic to but my children have way more sensitive skin than I do.   They are not allowed in my bedroom at all.

So today when my baby came out of the playroom with a bloodsucker attached to her neck, I vacuumed the entire house and put the vacuum OUTSIDE (you must do this or they just get loose inside the house again), I gave all of my animals a new dose of frontline after I bathed them, then I drove to the vet and bought a fast action pill that will kill all fleas instantly...kind of like double dosing to get ahead! Then I washed all linens and dog beds.  I bought a spray for the carpet and sprayed down the whole house after they girls went to bed so it would be dry when they woke up, it was also safe for humans and children etc... I will be vacuuming the whole house everyday and washing out the vacuum outside after each vacuuming and storing the vacuum in the garage.  I marked all the bites on Kena so I can make sure there are no new ones.  Since she is the one in the house who is affected by the "case of the fleas" she is the one I must monitor.  The rest of us have no reaction....  poor baby...

I have seen what flea bites can do to a child's skin... and it is sad.  Well sad if you don't do anything to remedy the situation.  But I will say this, my kid comes first.

If the situation isn't fixed... we will take the animals to the vet to be dipped and go away for the weekend to bomb the whole house... ok maybe I am a freak about this, but seriously bug bites are not a thing to take lightly. 


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Thanksgiving...again

I do love thanksgiving. It is my favorite holiday, as it is many of yours. We all love the gathering of loved ones over a wonderful meal.
and
But what is the reality of the holiday?

Almost always you get up early, stuff yourself into a stuffy outfit, dress the kids in likewise uncomfortable clothes you don't want them to "mess up". Drive to someone else's house who has been designated to "make the dinner". You ask what you can bring.... and you always end up making it last minute or way before hand so it is either not done yet or cold and needs to be re-heated thus taking away the right out of the oven goodness.

Then you are squeezed in between half a dozen people to eat half warm, half hot, and the rest cold food with little to NO room for your elbows to get the food efficiently to your mouth, there by guaranteeing you will spill something on your shirt or pants. Everyone wolf's down their food to get away from the table and then it is over. OVER... it is OVER... and then the clean up begins, sometimes the clean up begins before some people are even done with dinner. Not to mention the weird tradition of eating thanksgiving dinner at 2 or 3 pm! I mean WHAT???? It is called DINNER not "semi lunch not quite dinner yet" dinner.

Then there is always the possibility the dinner being provided doesn't meet your expectations. The yams weren't made right, the potatoes were too lumpy, the turkey to dry, or the gravy watery. Thus rendering the whole thanksgiving dinner a bust for you. Leaving you dreaming of the thanksgiving that could of been, the one you should of just made at home. Not to mention you won't have LEFTOVERS! We all know leftovers the next day are one of the most valued leftovers in the WORLD, ever... all year your husband and children will turn up their noses at the dreaded leftover dinner. Throw a turkey and cranberry sauce in the mix and BAM leftovers ROCK the Casbah!

Also....

Why is it the woman inevitably get stuck with all the preparation and clean up, while the men seem to be honored and escorted to the living room to unbutton their pants and watch the game, as if they actually did something the whole day besides maybe trying to deep-fry a turkey, or burning half the porch down. I mean why is it that men will cook anything in an apparatus that is outside. God forbid it actually resides IN the kitchen.

Even if you buck the norm and stay home, cooking the entire meal to your liking and specifications, something will be missing. You will look around your table and wonder why you didn't invite anyone over to share in the wealth of food and love overflowing at your table. You will miss all those crazy relatives you were avoiding. Ok, well maybe not miss extremely, but you will feel a void of the one thing that actually makes thanksgiving...well.... Thanksgiving! Family. Sure you will have your little family of two, three, four, or five... but isn't having extended family over for dinner the actual point of having a Thanksgiving dinner in the first place?

So... what to do... what to do...

I think this year we are going to do two. One where we go to the assigned family destination to enjoy the craziness that is Thanksgiving dinner, and then one at home on Saturday so I can make the stuff we want to eat and really relax. Not to mention BONUS...bonus... all the leftovers are yours!

edited to add: Thanksgiving IS my all time fav holiday.. I love it, crazy family and all... bring it

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moving, cleaning, and swine flu

Can I just say I am sooo glad October is OVER! It was the worst month ever! Not that November is kicking off in style or anything, a 1900.00 water damage bill from our house in the "other town" did little to help my mood! However I do see the silver lining and know that the shower there is finally fixed and we can look forward to a year of renting it with no worries.... I HOPE!

So we moved to a new house and let me tell you it took FOREVER for us to move by ourselves. I guess when you are moved you just take a look around and say....yup....pack this shit up! When you move yourself you take a look around and say.....wait a minute...do we really want to move that shit?

We have had a lot happen to us in this month. 

1. We moved and it took ALL Month

2. Karl went out of town in the middle of the month, and he was in budget month all month while we were moving and let me tell you we were both stressed the eff out!

3. The most important thing this month that happened was Kena turned 1!  Her theme was lollipops, because she just LOVES lollipops!!!! So for her birthday party I made homemade lollipops and put an edible picture of her face on them. Edible kena pops :) They were adorable, however they did come out a little softer than they should of. I will attribute that to the corn syrup I added to the recipe.

4.  We entered in a chilli cook-off and we WON! Well we won best new comer of the year :) My chilli was called "Mean Monkey Chili" and Karl's was called "King Kong Chili".  We had fun and it was worth the stress.  The name of my chili was based on two books I read to Kya, Mean Soup and Monkey Soup.  Both books are well worth a look up and read.

5.  My sister and my foster mom both came out and visited this month which was awesome!

6. Kya and Kena both caught the swine flu.  It was the worst two weeks of my life. Kya was sick for 9 days with 103-104 fevers non-stop and breathing trouble. We wound up in the ER twice. I didn't really give my self the time to freak out, but when it was over I realized just how scared I was!  Counting your baby 3 year olds breathing at 3am while listening to her chest rattle and wheeze is not an event I want to ever repeat! When Kena got it I rushed her straight to the Dr and I am forever thankful for the Dr and the pharmacist who came in after hours to make sure she got tamiflu that night. I tell you Tamiflu is worth its weight in gold! 

Don't even get me started on the H1N1 flu mist and how you can get sick from it or from just being around those who had it!

As I type this up Karl is still moving boxes around and we are still getting the house organized. Sorry for not commenting on your blogs or posting this month. It has been a little crazy this month and I am just thankful it is over!

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moving again...

So a new cute rental house literally fell into our lap. I am so ready to be out of this house. It served its purpose but I am ready for a house that is ant, mouse, and mold free...( I really think the pipes in this house are clogged with filth and the basement is so damp I think it permeates through the whole thing.  

Karl has been working 16-20 hour days almost straight for the last two weeks. During the week he will come home, eat help me get the girls in their pajamas and then turn around and go straight back to work.  He hasn't even seen the new house yet.  I rented it and called him to tell him we were moving.  So we paid rent in both places.  We have one month to move.  I can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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