Wordless Wednesday

County Fair 2011

Could they look any happier?  Maybe?  Sheesh!

Ancient Deliciousness!

First things first:  I am beyond sorry for my extended absence.  June is a mega busy month.  I know that doesn't explain why I haven't been here in MAY, but if you were me (or you know me personally), it TOTALLY makes sense! 

I have wanted to get on here and post a spit load of things.  In fact, I have a folder with pics just screaming at me to write about them.  Yes, pics.  My most recent attempt at encouraging myself to blog more often and quite possibly... *gasp* ... regularly!    Ok, maybe not that often.  That requires organization.  Something I long for, but lack on a large scale.

In the attempt to catch up with my own rambling thoughts, I present you with one of the many pics in that folder:  Ancient Deliciousness!

In a cup. :0)

This has got to be THE best Greek  yogurt of all freakin' time!!!  I kid you not!  I love this stuff!  (and no, they aren't paying me.  But if they want to, I will gladly take a month, year or even a life times supply in payment!!!)  I will admit, I was leery of trying Greek Yogurt.  And at first, it seemed a bit bitter.  Still not sure if that was because it was new to me or if it was a bit old.  *shudder*  My first time out, I tried Vanilla.  It s'ok.  Then Honey.  It's a bit strong, but good.  But then I tried the Strawberry Cream and the equally delicious Blueberry Cream.  Oh. My. Greek. Gods!!!  This stuff is FANTASTIC!!  Don't get me wrong, I like regular yogurt, but NEVER has regular yogurt made we sneak back into my own damn kitchen like a kid attempting to swipe ice cream when no one was looking and left me feeling almost guilty for eating more than one!

Yes.  That good.

It is soooooo creamy and oh so yummy.   Even PLAIN!  And that says a lot people.   I hate plain yogurt.

So, if you happen to come across ZOI Greek Yogurt in your grocer's refrigerated section, I say you grab one... or two... hell, grab 10!  They are that. Damn. Good!   And if you find I'm am full off bull and you hate them, I will happily take them all off your hands.  And eat them.   All.  

Consider it a potentially guilt ridden service I am willing to provide you. 

Because I care.  '0)

She Faught the Bed and the Bed Won

But she put up one heck of a fight!


My youngest is going to turn 1 in one month exactly.  To celebrate turning 11 months old, she practiced her semi-mobile independance and maimed herself, possibly earning her first ever "tuff gal black eye" badge.   She had pulled herself up and was cruising the length of her sibilings bed when her legs gave out and she wacked her eye on the bed frame.

My poor baby.

I sent this picture to her Dad at work.  He has a beef with the bed and will be demanding a re-match with it later (on her behalf of course).  I hear rumor a power tool might be involved.  

PS I have just been informed that there is no such thing as a "tuff gal black eye" badge.  Then what was that I earned in the Girlie Scouts with the balck eye on it? 

Oh Soft And Cuddly!

Monchhichi!!!  You remember the thumb suckin' monkey doll from the 80's?  I try to forget.  Wanted one.  Never got one.   Was reminded today about the fuzzy thumb sucker and it brought up all sorts of scars in the process.  

Almost daily, (or less because I suck at doing anything "regularly") I check one of my favorite blogs: The Bloggess.  Occasionally, she posts links to other blogs that have bought space for their awesome ads.  Normally, I click on the ad, glance around and leave.  Today, the ad sent me to a blog that not only grabbed my attention, but made me stay and read entries for over an hour!  So, now I have yet another site I feel compelled to check out on a regular basis, keeping me on the computer that much longer.  But its ok.  Worth it. The blog is called Flourish in Progress and it's written a young lady (wow. do I feel OLD now) named Elizabeth.  Her blog (in short) is the "chronicle of (her) 30th Birthday Project"  of cutting back on her "needless spending."  While that's great and admirable and all, I'm just following her blog because she's FUNNY.

Ok, I can literally hear you screaming, what the HELL does this have to do with scars and Monchhichis!!!
Be patient.  I'm gettin' there.

So, I was pokin' around her blog, trying to get the basics with out being there all day, when one of the titles of her previous blog entries catches my eye: I Failed. Shit.  I had to read it.  It was here I came face to face with the elusive toy of my childhood.  The Monchhichi.  Basically, her blog entry was about how she "failed" in her project one day because she stumbled upon one, HAD to buy it and felt sightly guilty for her needless purchase. 

I left a comment.  I had too.  I felt her pain.  I would have bought it too.  Well... here's what I posted:

"Do NOT feel bad about your "set back." It's a Monchhichi for shit sake! It was a NECESSITY!! I would have done the same thing. Seriously. I wanted one as a kid too. Didn't get one. Got a generic grey (much bigger) thumb suckin' wanna-be. I loved it and pretended (sadly) that it was a Monchhichi, but it wasn't the same. That Chhichi scar is a deep one. You NEEDED to buy her. And lick her. ;0)


When I was 4, I had this fantastic Fisher Price castle complete with furniture, little people kings and queens and knights, horses and a cute little pink dragon. I loved that thing. My parents did the unthinkable and "donated" it to my preschool (with out asking me) thinking I had outgrown it or something. *eyeroll* I was bitter over it for years (when I would remember it was gone.) Eventually, I got over it... or so i thought. Last year, my Mom and I were at a children's consignment sale and there, among a bunch of Littlest Pet Shop Habitats, Bratz Doll Houses & newer Fisher Price Little People play structures... my castle. Complete with cute little pink dragon (and everything else.) My therapy cost (my Mom) $80!

It lives in my kids room. I play with it all the time."

Ok, not all the time.  Just when the kids are in school.  That's why we send them to school, right?  To play with their toys?   

That reminds me.  My daughter is turning 9 soon.  Maybe I should get her a Monchhichi for her birthday. ;0)

Happy Earth Day!!

Hello everyone.  As you know, today is (or rather Friday, the day I typed this was) Earth Day. Now, whether or not you did something to celebrate, I don't care.  Far be it for me to jump all over you for not doing something to honor Mother Earth, when I pretty much sat on my keester and fiddle-farted with my laptop for most of the day.   HOWEVER, my kids did plenty!  
They helped their grandma plant our garden for the season.  This year they planted:
* corn
* green beans
* replace one of your artichoke plants because it was trampled on
* tomatoes (in a very generic topsy turvy)
* carrots and lettuce (both using some sort of bio-degradable strip with the seeds built in so they are evenly spaced and yet some how still all cramped too close together)
*  redirected our black berry bush (re-using part of our previously delapitated gazeebo)
* added a few more "wild flower mystery seeds" to where the California Poppys took over and choked out the rest of our previously beautiful & diverse array of flowers. (sounds a bit political to me)
* and planned out where to later add our pumpkin plants closer to mid-summer. (if not, you get pumpkins in August and well... they don't keep 'til Halloween.  We've tried.)

I don't know about you, but the whole adventure makes me tired just thinking about it.   But I'll be out there to enjoy it once the weather gets warmer and it's time to eat it all harvest.   ;0)

Pictures from previous years:

Small Pumpkins. Great for scarecrow butt cheeks. ;0)

Our smallest tomato year ever, but still not bad since we didn't plant any that year. 

Rogue tomato plants!  Gotta love them.

Ivy and what WAS our wild flowers... ignore the weeds.

Maybe THATs what choked them out.  Hrmm....  Nah!

This is what happens when you don't pick your artichokes in time.

Pretty isn't it?  Scotish Thistle anyone? ;0)

Haven away from home. ;0)

Ya, warning... with the pretty sunflowers comes bees.

But they're so pretty!!!

And eventually... yummy. ;0)

Happy Earth Day!!!!!

Wordless Wednesday and a few words

I took this picture a couple months back.  Yes, I saw this sad thing on the road.  Yes, that is packaging tape.  Yes that is packaging tape you see holding the gas cap on.  And yes, the tail end was a lot worse.

And people wonder why I have such high anxieties when it comes to driving.

MESA: Where Nerds Are Grown With Love!

A few months back, my daughter joined MESA at school.  MESA stands for Mathematics Engineering Science Achievement.  Great program that helps under priviledged children (sadly, that includes our children off and on) learn the fun points of geekery in the hopes that they grow up to become the next Bill Gates and take over the world!!   Or, atleast someone who designs things that won't break.  Which is good too.  

Saturday was her first MESA Day competition.  She competed in Tetrahedral Kites and Kapla Blocks which she had to stack in a tower and balance an apple on the top. She never got to the apple part. Because the tallest/most stable towers win, she was not satisfied with her attempts and knocked them all down.






All the kids took a math test to start off with. Top 3 scores in each grade won a medal. Her school won a lot of medals! In the math test alone, their 3rd grade group sweeped! They also won medals in the kites, kapla blocks, water bottle rockets, popstick bridges, pop up books, macaroni cars, and a few others I can't recall.

Cait was not one of the winners, but she had fun. It was pretty awesome! :0)