American Cancer Society: Sponsor of Birthdays

In August 1970, my Grandpa Andrew passed away from Prostate Cancer.

I was born three weeks later.

He didn't make it to my birth day.

Thanks to the American Cancer Society more people are living to see their grandchildren's birthdays.

This post is sponsored by American Cancer Society

Elfcapades: A Very Lego Christmas

It's that time of year again!

ELFCAPADES!

This year's theme is a Very Lego Christmas.  I should have warned all of you to buy stock in LEGO.  It's like we have a disease that makes us crave them.  And I can't believe that I've been afflicted too.  I dream about LEGO Christmas Villages.

Poe and Vincent arrived crash landed on Thursday December 1st.  We were anxiously awaiting their arrival!

Barbie was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

On the second day of Elfcapades, Vincent and Poe tried to make Hot Chocolate.  Good thing they didn't know that the fabulous Hot Chocolate Balls that I found on pinterest where in the freezer!

Mommy's K Cups are off limits!

They also told us that we should go buy a Christmas tree.

the tree is bigger than it appears.....

The next day....the elves brought us a brand new Wii game.  It's something about Mickey Mouse painting.

Everyone except for Mallory was excited to see that the elves brought brand new Christmas Jammies! 

The next day....was a sad, sad day.  The Weiss Children were very, very naughty.  There was an incident involving every single wash cloth in our apartment.  There has only been one other time that the elves had to return to the North Pole and the perp was the same.

The kids wrote Santa letters of apology and the elves took them home with them.

Lucky for them....Santa is forgiving and let them come back after a day.

TA DA

The elves didn't waste any time finding more shenanigans.  They took the kids' underwear out of their drawers and attached them to the tree!

I really love how excited the kids are about Christmas this year!  We love our Elfcapades!

Do you have a post about Christmas in your house?  Link up with Liz at Sugarplum Creations!

Come What May

Over the weekend iKeith lost his wedding ring.

He's really upset and we've looked everywhere for it.  We even looked at Robert's house because we spent some time there on Saturday.

We can't find it anywhere.  

I told Keith not to worry, I'm sure it will turn up.  For some reason, I strongly felt like it wasn't really lost.

Last night, as I was falling asleep.....I prayed.  I prayed for a gal name Lo, that I'd just seen on the news who accidentally walked into the propeller of an airplane in Plano Texas. As I always do....I ended by thanking God for all of the blessings in my life.

This morning when I woke up, reached for my iPhone and hit the home button to check the time like I do every morning.  It was 5:43am.

I laid my head back down and a few moments later, I started to hear music.

I thought iKeith's alarm must be going off for some crazy reason and I recognized the song.  Come What May....which is OUR song and the inscription on the inside of Keith's ring.

Then I realized that it was coming from MY phone.

I picked it up and noticed it said the Taylor Swift playlist was playing.  But Come What May was the song playing and it is NOT in that playlist.

I also haven't listened to music on my phone in weeks.

I got goosebumps up my spine!  Was Jesus sending me a sign? 

There is really NO OTHER explanation for it.

Caption This!

How I Survived My First School Field Trip

I'm so excited to tell you about how I survived my first school field trip!

Part of my story is a cautionary tale.  What I want to tell you and anyone that googles *can I bring coffee on a school field trip*  is that you should bring the coffee.  No one will take it away from you and I think you are actually encouraged to caffeinate yourself.  Lord knows those Kindergarten teachers had to be drinking something to get through this day!

I also earned myself some major brownie points because I went online and printed out a map of the exhibit which I told the teacher about and she made copies of for all of the other chaperones.  My tip for you is to write your name somewhere on your map so that everyone knows where it came from.  HELL...just print out enough maps for your child's class and hand them out.

The good news is that not only did I get the best looking group of kids to be responsible for on Friday, I also got the most well behaved and quiet group!

This allowed me to look down my nose at the other chaperones whose kids were wrestling, screaming and punching each other in the face.  I frequently told my kids how f**king awesome they were and that when we got back to school I was going to tell their parents to buy them a pony.

More good news....I only lost one kid and it was mine so technically... I didn't lose anyone.  Here's what happened.  We were having a good old time pretending to be astronauts with some weightless rocks and then over the loudspeaker someone announces a special show that will be starting in ONE MINUTE.  I asked my kids if they wanted to go and they said yes and MY KID took off into a crowd of 120 other kids that heard the same announcement.

I found him....obviously.

We had lunch and I decided that whoever put the giant soda machine full of bottled water in the lunch room should be shot.  I would have paid $50 for a soda at that point.

The end of our journey was to go to the planetarium and see a Sesame Street movie about the moon and stars. But first we had to sit in a line for 20 minutes that I dubbed #OccupyKindergartenHell.  MY kids were good.  Other people's kids....were horrible!  One of the chaperones kept asking me to watch her kids while she went to the bathroom.  What was I supposed to say?  

I kept having to tell these kids to sit up, be quiet, stop wrestling and WE AREN'T AT YOUR HOUSE STOP ACTING LIKE IDIOTS!  I asked Alex if I was allowed to put them on the naughty chair and he said he didn't think I was.

It all went really well and we had a great time!  AND I totally needed that bandaid!  On the bus ride home....one of my kids said that her arm was bleeding!  MRS WEISS TO THE RESCUE!  I had a shit load of bandaids in my bag.

I rocked this field trip!

I've also decided that anyone that has a problem with my son's teacher should have to teach the class for a day and THEN come talk to me.

My Transformation into Mrs. Weiss

iKeith took two days off from work so that he could be the stay at home parent while I work....at my son's school.

Today,  I stuffed folders and helped with a math lesson.  If you saw my Five Things list earlier, then you know that I don't know nothing about math.  Luckily, the lesson was about estimation.

I can guess at just about anything which is why I also don't know nothing about preventing pregnancy.

Tomorrow....I'm chaperoning my son's Kindergarten class while we go on a field trip.

That means tonight I'm doing the following:

• Packing a totally disposable sack lunch per the directions sent to me from the teacher.
• Committing the itinerary to memory. 
• Emailing the parents of the 3 other kids besides my own that I'm in charge of to color coordinate outfits.
• Printing maps of the exhibit so that I know where the bathrooms are.
• Putting the Denver Police phone number into my phone in case I lose someone.
• Trying to figure out how I'm going to survive for 5 hours without coffee.
• Packing tissues into my bag in case someone cries.
• Packing anti-bacterial wipes in my bag in case someone touches something gross.
• Planning my best outfit that is field trip appropriate and yet warm enough for 30 degree temperatures.
• Getting used to people calling me Mrs. Weiss.

Pray for me.....

Five Things

I'm linking up with Mama Kat today because I love lists of things and one of her prompts this week told me to make a list. I can't resist a list.

2.) Five Things.  List 5 things we don’t know about you, 5 things you’re knowledgeable about, 5 things you know nothing about, 5 things you believe. (inspired by LouLou’s Views)

5 Things that you don't know about me.

• I wasn't very good in school.
• I used to be a very picky eater.
• I wanted to be a hair stylist when I grew up.
• I wanted to name my first born Paige.
• I love 80's music.

5 Things I'm Knowledgable About:

• Auto parts
• Squirrels
• Hand Quilting
• Chris Gorham
• The Young and The Restless

5 Things I know Nothing About:

• How to prevent pregnancy
• Math
• Birthing no babies
• Depression
• What Keith does for a living

5 Thinks I Believe

• Every thing happens for a reason
• I'm right where I'm supposed to be
• The Hokey Pokey is what it's really all about
• Jesus Loves Me
• I'm a great Mom 

All She Wants for Christmas

I'm mostly ready for Christmas. Are you?

My gifts are wrapped and out of town packages are ready to go to the post office. My decorations are in the apartment waiting for December 1st to be put up and my Christmas cards are ordered.

Tip from Christmas Connie:


Keep an inventory of what is in each of your totes of decorations so that it is easy to find your elves each year. You don't want a child accidentally opening a tote and discovering your little secret.

I feel SO peaceful and I've put that dreadful nasty elf situation behind me!

If you missed it last week....I had an altercation with Head Elf Cheryl.  You can read all about it here.

It was so funny on Saturday....iKeith and I were racing through the mall to the LEGO store when Cheryl was walking with Santa to the photo booth North Pole and she recognized me and a look of terror crossed her face!  I greeted Santa enthusiastically and then when they passed me I flipped Cheryl the bird.

Remember this little girl?

Well....she asked Santa for a pink robot that makes cookies, cleans her room, makes her bed and gives her dollars.

I told her that she already had one of those.  It's called a Mommy!

What She Wore: Super Model Edition

I have some new outfits to show you......but I'm too busy breaking in my NEW BOOTS to post them.

Instead....I bring you, The Super Model.

My daughter has had an eye for fashion since she was old enough to pull all of her clothes out of her drawers!  She's got that skinny model body, long legs and sass!  

I spied this lovely coat in Children's Place over the weekend and I knew she had to have it.  Especially since it was marked down to $19.99.

I'm Better Than The Gap

It's totally her right?

How to Win Christmas

Happy Tuesday! My son is on Fall Break this week so we are being lazy and watching lots of movies. Today, I want to talk with you and Impulsive Addict and Shawn about planning for Christmas.

1.  When shopping for presents for your friends and family....always throw something in for yourself.  A pair of gloves here, a sweater there....especially when they're on sale. You work hard to win Christmas and you deserve nice things.


2.  Make lists and check them thrice.

•  gift ideas
•  gift lists
•  menu ideas
•  actual menu 
•  grocery list
•  christmas card list
•  things to do
•  holiday activities

3.  Keep a detailed calendar with school events, family activities and deadlines for getting things done.  


4.  Buy wrapping paper as soon as something catches your eye.  This will be your color theme for the year.  


5. Buy LOTS of tape.  You can never have too much.


6. When shopping for gifts, if all else fails....buy the person on your list Starbucks or Target gift cards.  


7. Download the GLEE Christmas Album.  


8.  Mail your out of town packages early....you will beat the crowd and save your sanity.


9.  Don't over schedule your holiday.  Pick a couple fun things and spread them out through the month of December.  Allow for plenty of downtime....hot chocolate drinking and movie watching.


10.  Buy Hot Chocolate, Marshmallows and Wine in bulk.



If you plan ahead and shop early.....you can relax and enjoy the holiday with your family!

Connie's Christmas List

• Silpat Mats
• A Waffle Maker
• Knee High Boots that fit
• Elementary School Peace
• A Coach Hangbag
• Cheese
• A case of red wine
• A lifetime supply of K-Cups
• Gluten Free Cookies

Are you addicted to Pinterest and need a Pintervention? Check out what I made here.

The Cullens Get A Pet

I just returned from seeing Breaking Dawn.

I had to go see it as soon as humanly possible because *people* are spoiling it on twitter.

Although....now that I think about it....if you have read the books, you are already spoiled.

I HAVEN'T READ THE BOOKS.

EDITED: As of 8pm Sunday night....I am reading Breaking Dawn.

I don't want to read them and I think it makes the movies more enjoyable to NOT read them and to actually be surprised when stuff happens.

Here are a few of my questions from watching the movie:  *possible spoiler alert*

Why isn't Belle smiling when she is walking down the isle to Edward?

Why does Rosalie look like a dude?

Why doesn't Edward sparkle anymore?

Why do the Cullen's, who have so much to hide from the world, live in a glass house?

Why didn't Charlie track Bella down like he promised?

What food did they serve at the Vampire Wedding?


Do I have to become a vampire to get Bella's hair color?


Why did they have to ruin Bloody Marys for me?

Why do I have this uncontrollable urge to buy the soundtrack to this movie? Especially this song.

Can Edward get any sexier? 

Why am I still crying?


Where can I get a Pocket Charlie Doll?

Why did they have to scare me like that? (Bella dying)

Does Jacob get to live in the Cullen's house with them now?  On a doggy bed?



I thought it was really funny that the first song I heard on the way home from the movie was Stayin' Alive by the Bee Gees! HA!


Have you seen the movie?  Did you cry?  Are you going to see it again?

Breaking Boys Hearts

Mallory has been in a tumbling class for 10 weeks and she is loving it!

It has been so much fun to see her progress from a timid little girl who could barely do a tumble, to a confident big girl that can stand in a position on the balance beam.

There is also a little boy in her class that has taken a shine to her from day one.  He always places his red square right next to hers and whispers in her ear.  Mostly....she just sits there and lets him carry on.  Occasionally she will throw him a bone and acknowledge his existence.

Yesterday, I saw him lean over and smell her chest.  She let him and they both laughed.

When we got in the car, I asked her why Jason was smelling her like that and she informed me that he was smelling her because she told him that she smells like cupcakes!

Oh that girl of mine....she's going to be just like me.

Her cupcakes bring all the boys to the yard!

His First Star Wars Shirt

Coming to a theater near you.....

February 10 2012

Star Wars Episode I....The Phantom Menace!

Alex got his first Star Wars shirt the other day.

We were in Target and iKeith decided that Alex needed a new shirt so he was walking around the kids section looking at all of these silly shirts with cartoon characters on them.  I *hate* shirts with characters on them (except for Hello Kitty) and I generally skip them.

iKeith just about peed his pants when he spotted the Star Wars shirt.  He was giddy with excitement and kept going on and on about his FIRST SHIRT.

Whatev.

Then....later that same day, I was looking at movie trailers on Apple TV and I saw that Star Wars is coming back to the big screen in 3D.  Then I got a little bit excited.

I know that I must have seen a couple of these movies when I was a kid but I remember ZERO about them.  

Now I'm excited to experience them with my son!

And I think maybe I need my first Star Wars t-shirt.

Are you a Star Wars fan?  Will you go see the movie in 3D?

 

Happy Veteran's Day

Happy Veteran's Day Dad!

Thank you for your service in the Army.

Thank you for fighting an unpopular war.


And thank you for coming home alive so that you could marry Mom and have me!

We love you!

Linking up with Becca from R We There Yet Mom for a special Veteran's Day link party.

What I Wore: West Point Edition

I've been documenting my outfits for the last couple weeks because I'm so proud of myself!

You see...I spent 5 years in workout gear and a pony tail.  And I wasn't working out.  I had nowhere to go and no reason to dress for the day.  Well....occasionally, I'd go somewhere and I'd wear some jeans and a sweater but those days were few and far between.

I have dressed (no work out clothes), done my make up and hair every day since August 18th.  What is so special about August 18th?  It's the first day of Kindergarten!

I finally have somewhere to go every day.  Most days....it's just to pick up my son.  But some days, it's school or PTA meetings, tumbling class and play dates.

The best part of all of this is that I'm having so much fun planning my outfits and accessories and I feel so much better about myself.

Here are my outfits from this week.  I document them on my fan page if you want to see more.

Thursday, November 3

Weather: Sunny, 36 degrees

Black V-Neck Shirt from Old Navy

Green Cashmere Scarf, bought on Ebay 7 years ago

My favorite jeans from White House Black Market

Green watch from Charming Charlie

NOT SHOWN: Brown snow boots from JC Penney

 Monday, November 7

Weather: 39 degrees, sunny but COLD

Plans: School meeting (DRAMA), play date and lunch with friends

White V-Neck from Old Navy

Grey Cardigan from Old Navy

My favorite jeans WHBM

Mary Jane Flats from Naturalizer

Turquoise necklace from Charming Charlie

Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 from Chateau Ste Michelle

Nail Color: Essie Berry Naughty

Tuesday, November 8

Weather: 39 degrees, Sunny...FREEZING COLD

(new) White V-neck T-Shirt from Zappo

Grey Velvet Jeans (with bedazzled butt) WHBM

Keith's West Point Jacket 

Necklace from JC Penney Jr Dept

Red Shoes from Jelly Pop

Coffee from Donut Shop

I was so excited when I found my husband's West Point jacket in his side of the closet! It's in great shape for being 30 years old.  Please don't tell him I told you that.

Linking up with The Pleated Poppy for What I Wore Wednesday

LEGO Winter Village

Hello friends and Impulsive Addict and Shawn! Today...I want to talk to you about something very dear to my heart.

LEGOS* for Mommy!

Over the weekend, we went to a LEGO store.  I'm usually not the least bit interested in this and just count the minutes until we can leave.  But this time.....I saw something I like.  A Christmas Village!

This village started in 2009 and the building from that year will be discontinued soon.  If you want this collection GET IT NOW!

Winter Toy Shop
Released: 2009
Pieces: 815
$59.99 at LEGO.com

Winter Village Bakery
Released: 2010
Pieces: 687
$54.99 at LEGO.com

Winter Village Post Office
Released: 2011
Pieces: 822
$69.99 at LEGO.com


* I have permission from my DANISH friend to call them LEGOS.  Did you know that LEGOS came from Denmark?  Well...they did.  And my friend Helle says I can call them LEGOS.

Because, really....who is ever playing with ONE lego?

Happy Place....Organized LEGO

A few days ago....I told you that I'm a hoarder.

But I'm an organized hoarder. 

Does that make any sense?

I just spent 4 hours sorting my son's LEGO (I was just informed that there is no plural of LEGO, like FISH or DEER) by color and size. NOTE TO SELF: Stop using the words fishes and deers.

My husband fully supported my project and I'm pretty sure he may have recorded our conversation about it for evidence when the men in the white jackets come for me.

Fine. Call me crazy but organizing things makes me very happy.  I feel a sense of peace when things are in order and color coordinated.

Look how cool this LEGO Project Workstation is.   I could color coordinate until my heart is content!

Maybe I need this Box4Blox.  It organizes them for you....by size.  But it's $40.

 If I was made out of money....I'd get this.  It's $50 and actually....a little bit creepy.

Do you have an organizing problem like me?  Join my fan club support group!

Edited: Major problem. The kids just tried to *play* with the LEGO that I sorted and I might have flipped out! I'm now watching them like a hawk to make sure they don't mix the colors.

I'm a Hoarder

A few days ago, I saw a tweet about the price of peanut butter going up.  Some of them 30% and some 40%.  I'm not good at math....but that seemed like a bad deal to me.

We eat TONS of peanut butter in this house.

I made a quick trip to the store the other night and decided to see if they price had gone up and yet and just about crashed my cart when I saw that a big jar of Jif was almost $7.

Today, I went to Target because I was out of children's tylenol (this is on sale, by the way) and my little boy had complained of a sore throat when he got up. (He's currently napping and has a fever. CRAP)

I was thrilled to find the big Jif jars for $4.69!  I bought 7 of them.

Choosey Moms.....Choose Jif!

You may be wondering why this is happening. Remember all of those drought conditions in the southern United States? Peanut harvest was hit hard. I wonder what other crop this is going to effect?

Random List....Before My Head Explodes

I feel like I have a million things going on in my head and if I don't get them out I'll burst!

I also feel like I have a million things to do.  I think I'll make my to-do list here so I can cross stuff off.  Yeah, that will motivate me.

• Read Nothing Daunted (checked this out from the library two weeks ago)
• Read Laughing at Wall Street (free advanced copy)
• Finish cutting out material for my Orange quilt
• Finish planning Holiday Meals
• Finish planning Elfcapades
• Read Martha Stewart Living
• Research The Nutcracker Tickets (nosebleed for $20)
• Make a FAQ page for my blog 
• Mail School Pictures to grandparents 

There.  That feels better already!

Boots

Last week, I won a $250 gift card to Zappo.  I bought two things with it.  A pair of knee high boots and a white v neck t-shirt.  I'm super excited about the boots and have decided to wrap my giant calves in compression wraps to make sure that they are small enough for the boots.  I'm also searching for THE best white v neck t-shirt.  I love them!

What I Wore

Speaking of fashion.  I've become obsessed with how I look since my son started Kindergarten.  I have worn make up and done my hair EVERY SINGLE DAY since August 18.  Even on the weekends, it's a habit now.  I love putting together outfits from my closet and buying jewelry from Charming Charlie to go with it.  My next mission.  A new handbag!  I've also been taking pictures of my outfits to keep track of them and will be posting them on my Facebook page.  If you aren't already....go like my page so you don't miss anything.  Do you have a fan page?  Leave me the link so I can like your page too.

Kim Kardashian

I don't like her....or her family, and her sudden divorce filing after 72 days is pissing me off.  I think that as punishment for being so ridiculous, she should have to stay married to Kris and spend every waking moment with him.  My intuition is telling me that everyone should boycott everything and anything KARDASHIAN. STOP the INSANITY!

Halloween and Friends

We had a GREAT time on Halloween!  And I don't have a picture to show for it.  We went later in the evening after Keith got home from work and it was a mad rush to put on costumes and I took one picture and it turned out crappy.  I'm going to dress them up again this week and take proper pictures.

The really great thing about Halloween is that we went trick or treating with our new friends from school.  Alex is friends with two sweet girls and I've really hit it off with them mother's.  We've become such good friends that we actually had a Girls Night Out Saturday night and went to a bar.  I came home at 1am.

My costume: Sexy PTA President

Christmas

Are you planning yet?  Have you bought any gifts?  Are you going to see The Nutcracker?  There are only 51 days until Christmas!


Pinterest

I'm having so much fun pinning stuff!  I even created a board for the people planning my son's Winter Party for his Kindergarten class.  Are we friends on Pinterest yet?

I may be taking a short blog break (three day weekend?) to get my to-do list done!  If you don't see me...have a great weekend!

Ten Things To Smile About

Here I am with post number three!

10 Things to Smile About with Emmy Mom. It's Emmy's birthday and since I didn't send her a present...I decided to grant her wish of joining her meme today!

1. This breakfast sandwich. Jalapeno Bagel Sandwich from Hi Rise in Denver. It's sausage, egg and jalapeno cream cheese on a bagel!

2. Funny stickers on cars.

3.  School pictures.

4.  Making Scariton's (also known as skeletons)  less scary.

5.  Hello Kitty.

6.  Funny Gift Ideas.

7.  My silly daughter.

8.  My son on his first field trip!

9.  Martha Stewart Magazine.

10.  Donuts.

What made you smile this month?

I'm doing Talk To Us Tuesday over at my food blog.  You're going to love what I've got to show you!