Cake and then a dog

I said turn it to two. He went to 11.



It turned out well though.



Everything had to be edible. We used fruit roll ups, Tootsie rolls and Little Debbie Cakes.



On a totally different note...

The snow in the backyard is a little deep. During the summer, he only comes up a little over half way up the fence.

Wallpaper

kmkat wants to see my computer's wallpaper.

Here it is.



This is probably in the top three of my favorite photos. The main reason being that my husband never smiles in photos. (Most of the photos of him also include closed eyes.)

Love you Pumpkin!

Winter Games

Camping in the winter. It is an experience...



One thing you can't really do is picnic.



These are photos of the resort we are members of. You can store your camper there year round. Some people even come there during the winter to camp. Crazy people!





We went over there to go to the University of Okoboji Winter Games. I didn't know what there were more of - Drunks or Snowmobiles.

A lot of the activities take place on the lake. That's right. This is ON THE LAKE.



The lake may be frozen solid (16 1/2 inches. A little less than usual.), but there is still quite a bit of snow. As this lucky person found out the hard way.



Here are my boys. The little one was a little hesitant about going out onto the lake.



Here is me. I would like to say I have on a puffy coat, but I guess I'm the one who is puffy. I'm gonna work on that.



And here is the crack I saw that made me say, "Okay! We're done here. Let's move on, shall we?"

Gravy

You Are Chicken Fried Steak

You are bold and fearless. You tend to think big, and that includes eating big. If you're going to go out to eat, then you're going to order something amazing. No salads for you! You live in the now. You figure the future is uncertain, so you might as well just make the best of today. You don't believe in moderation or holding back. You just go for it, consequences be damned.

What Kind of Diner Food Are You?

Blogthings: Cheaper Than a Therapist

You Are Beer

You are very relaxed and casual. You're happy to have a drink with friends, and you're not too picky about what that drink is. You are definitely not a snob, and it drives you crazy when people get too fancy about what ever you're drinking. You drink to let loose and have fun. You are the furthest thing in the world from uptight. If someone hands you a drink, you'll drink it. You'll toast often and to anything!

Are You Beer or Wine?

The First Rule of Blogthings Is: You Don't Talk About Blogthings

Product Review

See this?




Without going and digging into coat pockets, I can still easily assemble this many lip balms. One beside my chair. Two beside the bed. And three in my car key bowl.

You may wonder why I need all of these when I'm surrounded by feet upon feet of snow.

It's a dry snow.

Very little humidity. Ergo, my lips are dry.

But why so many?

Nothing works well.

Oh sure, they may be pretty tasty. Especially the margarita and peppermint flavored ones.

But they don't really help much.

That's why, when the fine folks at Mom Central wanted to know if I would be interested in trying Neosporin Lip Health, I said a big, "Heck yeah!" (Right after I said, "Neosporin has lip goo?")

They do!



I recieived a small jar of Overnight Renewal Thereapy and a tube of Daily Hydration Therapy.

I started off with the Overnight - Repair and nourish as you sleep and restore visibly healthier lips in three nights.

Bring it on, sister.

Night one - As I slathered it on, I could feel the roughness of my lips underneath my fingers.

Night two - As I slathered it on, I could tell that my lips were A LOT smoother than the night before.

Night three - I felt like I usually feel when I take antibiotics - I feel better. I really don't need this anymore. But I put it on anyway.

Verdict? I liked it. It worked for me. I really like the creaminess of the product. When I woke up, I could tell that it was still there and hadn't vanished in the night. I'm keeping this stuff around!

I didn't want to use the Daily while I was using the Overnight so I could see if the Overnight was doing what it said it would. Since I was happy with the Overnight results, I went ahead and started using the Daily. So far, I have liked the results from it as well.

Not only is it hydration therapy, it also is SPF 20. That comes in real handy here with all of the shiny, shiny snow!

I will add that neither product is "flavored". I kinda miss that. Maybe Neopsorin could look into that, m'kay?

Head on over to Neolips and there is a link you can click for a coupon. Tell them I sent you.

__________


"I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Neosporin and received a sample of the Lip Health Overnight Renewal Therapy and the Lip Health Daily Hydration Therapy to facilitate my review and a $20 thank-you gift certificate."

Remember the Ten

RIP Kendall. Love and miss you.

Weeeeeeeeeeee

Did I do that?

Shopko has all of their Christmas stuff for 80% off! Woo and then Hoo!

We were needing some new ornaments for the tree and the other night we got some really nice ones for pennies on the dollar.

I was also wanting to get some place settings for the winter months. (All the cool kids have different dishes for the winter, don't ya know.) But my husband said no. :(

Today, I sweet-talked him into agreeing with me!!! Yea me!

Do you know how loud the noise is when you pick up a box of a 16 piece place setting and the box falls apart?

I do.

And not a thing I could do about it.

I think most of the pieces survived, but a few bowls and at least one coffee cup didn't make it.

Luckily, I was in the store and a worker was right there when it happened so she saw the whole thing. While she swept up, The Commander grabbed two other boxes, put them in the cart and we high-tailed it out of that area.

He told me when we got to the car that he was glad it was me because he is usually the one that does stuff like that.

Now I should go back and get some individual pieces that match. I'm sure they'll be pretty cheap!

Riddle me this.

I was sorta agreeing until I got to the part that says I don't like change. Then I totally agreed.

You Are a Pen

You are a very precise and detail oriented person. You don't make many mistakes. You're the type who can risk writing in pen. You like making things permanent. You are decisive and focused. You know what you want, and you go after it. You like to be in control, and you don't really care for change. You like to count on yourself.

Are You a Pen or a Pencil?

Blogthings: Discover the Parts of Your Personality that Have Been Hiding

Showing her school spirit.

When The Boy was little, I would hold a lollipop for him to lick on to keep him occupied while getting a haircut.

This little girl had to lick on a Goldfish Cracker to keep still for her "pet"icure.



We'll see how long they last.

Go Pokes!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve. We had some snow. I helped shovel.



The boys in front of the tree.



No rabbit ears during Christmas. You must make reindeer antlers.



The traditional opening of one present on Christmas Eve.



More snow Christmas Eve night.

Christmas morning. See the Uno Attack Santa brought (behind the Legos)? Totally fun!



Snow. Snow. Snow.

Here is our grill.



The railing on the back deck.



This morning, I decided to take a walk around the block and snap some photos.

Here are some trees in the neighbors' yard.



One of the county roads before the plow.



After the plow.



Neighbors' cars.



A bench at the park.



This merry-go-round won't be going around any time soon.



Poor horsie.



Not much room to swing!



Lonely play structure.




More neighborhood trees.



Our street.



Our house.



Hi!

Brrrrrrr and then some

Did you hear it snowed up here?

(These were all taken through windows. That's why they are sorta blue-ish.)

They plow the roads up into big piles all over town...



Then they load the snow into dump trucks, take it out and dump it beside the river.



Here's the side door of the library. One of the medium-sized drifts in town.



This is one of the roads on the East side of town looking out over a corn field. The wind is still whipping the snow around.



Cooper says, "Ha, ha. Now open the door, woman."



Here is the birdhouse on our back deck. I took this yesterday afternoon.



Here it is again this morning.



I find it is better to just not ask questions...



And remember! If the temperature gets below freezing where you are, make sure you go outside and blow bubbles. It is so cool the way they freeze and pop. I'll see if I can get some photos this year.

Birds of a feather

The Commander went to the store last night to stock up for Snowmageddon '09.

Today, while he was in class, I decided to stop by the store and get a few more things. Just in case.

He called me on his way home and, surprise!, he had stopped at the store as well.

Here's where it gets creepy.

I bought a gallon of milk. He bought a gallon of milk.

I bought two bags of chips. He bought two bags of chips.

I bought spiral mac and cheese (we never buy spiral). He bought spiral mac and cheese.

I bought Pepperoni Pizza Lunchables. He bought Pepperoni Pizza Lunchables.

Weird.

Hickory Farms Product Review

The Commander came into the kitchen the other day and saw a box from Hickory Farms sitting out on the counter. His eyes lit up and he asked if it was a Christmas present. I told him that it wasn't. I had gotten it to review for my blog.

The next time I saw the box, it was open and parts were missing.

This is how it looked before *someone* got ahold of it.



He had opened up one of the summer sausages and the sharp cheddar. And most of it was gone. I managed to snagged a few slices of the summer sausage. It was as tasty as I remember.

But the real surprise was the sharp cheddar. I don't like cheddar cheese much. I REALLY don't like sharp cheddar. THIS STUFF WAS OMG GOOD. I ate a healthy portion of it.

We haven't opened the other sausage or cheeses (Apple Pie Cheddar and Edam) yet, but we will probably have them a little closer to Christmas.

Hickory Farms gift boxes have always been a gift we know will get used. We buy at least one every year (if not more!). And yes, we have since purchased one and it is wrapped and under the tree.

If you are looking for that hard-to-buy-for person (or anyone else, for that matter), keep Hickory Farms in mind.

It's good stuff.

(When I was younger and haven't quite developed the palate for summer sausages, I always laid claim to the strawberry candies. I still get a little thrill when I open up the box and see them!)


__________

I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Hickory Farms and received a Hickory Farms gift basket to facilitate my review.

6:30am is too early, but I did it anyway.

The Boy just came into the kitchen and exclaimed, "I woke up to the sound of bacon cooking!"

Yowl!

You remember that sweet, little kitten we recently got?

She's driving my husband up the crazy wall.

We didn't know how old she was when we got her, but we guessed a couple of months.

Evidently, we were off some.

She's in heat.

Yowl! Yowl! Yowl!

Day and night.

Night and day.

We've had to put her in the utility room at night so we can all get some sleep!

The vet says she could be in heat 8-9 days and that he could spay her after that. We told him we would be calling him at 8 days, 1 minute.

Then he said that if she doesn't come out of heat (WHAT???!!!) he could go ahead and spay her.

I hope she comes out of it soon or I'm going to have to buy The Commander some ear plugs. (Being a Mom, I can tune her out.)