Saturday Traditions

It used to be Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fud and the road runner...

And then it went into sleeping until noon and just making it to the cafeteria before they closed while in college...

All sleeping in went away once the girls were born and we were back to Saturday morning cartoons...although this time around, Mommy couldn't find the good ole shows, so we used video until Mommy could whip herself into some 'semblence of coherent energy...

We've now "graduated", and I use that term loosely, to life in Hickville...where we all jump out of bed on Saturday mornings and after a hearty breakfast of waffles and about a quart of syrup each, we head outside in our pjs to pick ourselves some veggies and see what the deer left for us...

I must interject that when I say "jump" out of bed...I am referring to the children and my dear Italian Stallion who all happen to be morning people (sans Peanut who is more like me, but she sucks it up on Saturdays)...anyway, when I say "jump"...for me it is more like roll over...wait 5 minutes...blink a few times...roll over again...stretch...put a pillow over my head and pray for the daylight to go away for just another half hour...grumble a little bit more...drag myself to the bathroom to brush my teeth so that I don't disgust all of my family members..and hobble downstairs where I am greeted by syrup covered faces, a messy kitchen and jabs about how "mommy ALWAYS sleeps in"...but, before I go into a rant of how I get picked on by Italian Stallion due to my morning rituals...I will just leave it at the fact that I do at least GET OUT OF BED and that my friends, is a point in my book!

And so...back to Saturday morning traditions...here is our garden...this is what we do...hope you enjoy!

Once this has all been completed...and I've done the hard job of taking pictures and washing off the vegetables, mediating vegetable tattle tales, stomping bugs, and smashing slugs while my hubby has that slave labor job of weeding all alone for 1-2 hours.  ((side note: please know sweetheart that this is all in jest and I appreciate the fact that you weed in the hot sun and that you get time to think and have time to yourself before the craziness of weekend lifes settles in...but, it IS my blog and I will continue to tease...as long as you continue to tease about my less than stellar morning abilities!))

I then get the opportunity to make some stuff with our "loot"...this weekend was potato salad, pesto and Italian Stallion's homemade wine...it was a wonderful afternoon too!

Looking forward to a great week!

Hyped up on caffeine

It's late at night that I am writing this...I feel as though my braincells are playing a super fast game of racquetball in my head...I had a bit too much pop and coffee this evening...(It is midnight...of the nighttime before you all will read this)

I will come crashing down at any moment, I am fully aware of this fact.

Not sure why I do this to myself...but, I had such a great evening out all by myself and it just seemed reasonable to get myself a soda...and then whilst sitting in the waiting room of the Honda service area, they had free coffee just begging to be drunk as we folk awaited our vehicle's oil change...

And sooo...there you have it...the overload of caffeine...coupled with my sugar high coming off of my 3 year old's birthday cake!!

Woohoo!!  You all will now have the chance to do the same...Here is that lovely recipe, in case you wanted to know...I will tell you that there is a Weight Watchers version...if you google rainbow cake, you'll find it...I basically did the same she did, except I made my REALLY fattening...cuz we Italians (except that I'm not really Italian) don't skimp on anything!

Rainbow Cake:

First, start off with 2 white cake mixes...and follow the directions on the box:

except double it b/c you're doing 2 boxes remember...not just one...

keep following the directions...look at me...I'm mixing one handed!!

then comes the fun part...set out 6 bowls...let's remember our rainbow colors:  ROY G BIV

except skip the "I" because I don't really know what indigo looks like anyway...

Measure approximately 1 1/4 cups and add that amount to each bowl...if you have some left over, you can divide that evenly or just throw it out...either way, you're going to have a huge cake!

Let the mixing begin...

Once you've got them all mixed and ready....

We now begin the pouring process...

Get your two pans REALLY greased up...these babies can stick...so grease 'em good...

Start with the first color and add approx. 1 cup of Red into the center of the pan...you may have to rotate the pan as you pour to get that circle shape...or maybe that was just me being fancy...who knows...

Then continue with 1 cup of the orange...pour it right into the center the red....it'll start to spread out...that's a GOOD thing...then, add your 1 cup of yellow...now STOP

Go to your other pan and add 1 cup of the purple...followed by a cup of blue and then a cup of green...all starting out in the center...pouring one on top of the other...it'll look like this:

Now go back and keep adding the colors into the center...in order, for each pan...use the remaining colors...they should be about equal so you can just pour it straight from the bowl. Cuz, you want the cakes to be equal...in case you didn't understand why I did it this way...I was so lost on these directions the first time...but then again, I can be a little flighty at times...let us continue...

Follow the directions on the box for baking it...but  be careful b/c you have TWICE the cake batter...just keep checking it and don't rush...it'll take longer than what the box says, watch it and you'll be fine...

In the meantime, you can clean up the mess:

until they come out looking sorta like this:

Let them cool...seriously...LET THEM COOL...And, if you didn't grease it enough (as I did, you may have some frosting challenges ahead of you...so give yourself plenty of time)

In the end though...it's worth it!

And really...I wanted this picture to look so much better, but everyone was jumpin' for some cake so I didn't have time to clear off those crumbs and make it look like I'm the best cake cutter in the world!!! 

But, my baby was happy and that was all that mattered...well, that and the fact that everyone loved the cake and it was a big hit and I swear it was just MORE delicious because of all the color!!!

Have a great day!

Trigger Happy

I took 190 pictures yesterday...

one hundred-ninety P.I.C.T.U.R.E.S.

good grief...

Although, can I tell you how thankful I am for digital?  Holy Moly, I'd be shellin' out some big bucks to develop that much film...

Sooo...one nine zero...

Who wants to see 'em???

**crickets chirping**

WHAT?  You don't want to sit through 3 different exposures of the same exact picture over and over and over again?  You don't want to see 5 different angles of Little Munchkin dropping noodles into her mouth?

What is wrong with you?

**silence**

Yes, okay...I can understand...I'm the only insane one in this relationship and I will own up to it...

And seeing as I can sometimes put that insanity aside and try to see things from a "normal" point of view...I put together a number of storyboards to share the day...

A trip to the zoo to start things off...

our sweet neighbor went with us to celebrate...they all enjoyed the Polar Playground...and the ziplines of course!

gettin' cuddly with the polar bears

I can't believe she touched a SNAKE on her third birthday...gross me out...

Now...THIS is MY kind of birthday...let's finish off at Molly Woo's for some oodles of noodles...I swear I had "NOTHING" to do with HER choice of dining for her birthday:)

The waiter surprised us all by giving ALL the girls MASSIVE Sundaes to celebrate with Little Munchkin...we were on a sugar high for the remainder of the day...and just wait until you see the NEXT picture with the CAKE!

YUP...here's the cake...it was a HUGE hit...The Hello Kitty theme is only the "theme" because we couldn't find anything DOGGIE...so we settled for something in the feline category...

Little Munchkin also received her first packages of big girl panties...we're on our way folks!!!

That's my BABY...not sure where the time went...she seems a lot older at 3 than my other 2 did at the same age...she's growing up so fast...I thank God for all of them!!!

Little Munchkin is THREE

How is it that she can be three today?

Wasn't it just yesterday that she made her appearance after I said,

and I quote, "I'm all done pushing...this hurts!"

and my loving Italian Stallion with a smile on his face said, "You can do it honey, this is great!"

And out she came...emphasis on SHE...

For the third time in a row we were CONVINCED we were having a boy...

We both busted out laughing when Dr. J laid her on my tummy and said, "It's another girl!!!"

OH my sweet Little Munchkin...

How we LOVE you...

You are my "mommy's girl"

my cuddler

my "I love you mommy sooooo much" girl

my spunky, adventurous one

the one who likes to hear a secret and tickle everyone like crazy

my lover of drinkable yogurt and apple juice

the one who wants everything for her "birfday"

Peanut follower and Sweetpea hugger

daddy's cuddle buddy on Saturday mornings

Happy Birthday sweet one!!!

I've got talent folks!!!

Introducing.............the AMAZING......the WONDERFUL....the MAGNIFICENT......

MAMARAZZI!!!!

She can do things that NOONE else is able to do in the Italian household....

Be amazed...be dumbfounded...be mesmorized.....

She sees it...there on the floor...

She PICKS IT UP...

and then she...........wait for it....

 PUTS IT IN THE LAUNDRY ROOM...

There you have it folks...TRULY AMAZING!!!

Happy Father's Day

Made this for my Italian Stallion today...
I love you sweetheart!!!

click on the link below
Father's Day

I don't really get soccer...

Have I told you this before?  Soccer reminds me a little bit of skiing...

You know...you go up a hill to come down again...woohoo...yippee...yay, let's go again...

if you can't hear it...that's sarcasm

So here we have soccer...

Let's get a ball and "dribble" it with our feet...because, heck, we don't need no hands...

nope...and let's make it even more fun...let's wear these really spikey shoes and just haul off and kick as hard as we can...and if we happen to kick the goalie in the face as she's racing for the ball...whoops, well that's just part of the game folks...

Or how about...let's try to get the ball to hit all our body parts...let's knock it with our head, because that can't be bad for our brains or anything...nope...or we could body slam it...

I just love the physicality it teaches my little young ladies...

ummm...can you hear it again?

Soccer and me...we tolerate each other...

for now...

for now, it's just a little team sport where my girlies can wear matching hair ribbons and get lots of exercise...

it's a fun thing for daddy to coach and growl with team spirit...

But, I got a glimpse of the "future" of the sport recently as my dear Italian Stallion came up with this brilliant idea to do a sort of "bracket" for the World Cup like they do for Basketball...

Cousins and sisters put  candybars in the pot and each picked teams to win...

My girls really don't know much about the World Cup except that they play soccer...

Peanut still asks when Ohio State is going to play...

"Uh, sweetheart...it's the USA...not just Ohio State"

but, she keeps asking...which secretly makes me happy b/c it means that they aren't really die hard...

I"m still hoping for tennis as their choice sport...I think they'd look cute in little skirts...and there are no spikes coming for their heads...