The redhead in the corner.

Product Review two thumbs up :)

2009-01-19T11:38:00.003-05:00

I recently had the opportunity to try out an amazing product called Country Bob's All purpose sauce. The company was kind enough to email me and ask if I would try it out and post a review with my honest opinion of their sauce. I want to add, that we used ONE WHOLE BOTTLE at our meal. I guess that might be overkill but this stuff is so good, Im totally sold and will be back for more..and more..and more.

Along with my two bottles, I was sent a recipe booklet so I tried out one of the meals - meatloaf. I made 6 small loafs and used a bit more sauce than it was actually called for in the mix and then added more sauce on top. It was delicous, moist and there was no leftovers. I also served tater tots and fries since it looked like a great dipping sauce. It sure was! Not too spicy, just the right amount. Not too sweet but definitely more sweetness than the average A1 or supermarket sauce.

Overall, I think everyone should at least check out www.countrybobs.com and see for yourself. The prices are amazing and if my three kids liked this stuff, It gets my two thumbs up FOR SURE!!!

ipod '09 list

2009-01-10T06:20:00.004-05:00

I have a long post coming up - what's been going on, where I've been and stuff like that. Right now Im just posting my music for the new year because we all know how important that is, right? :) I always enjoy reading about what everyone else likes and what music they are playing. It enables me to find great songs and I hope that someone can find something off my list that they love as much as I do!!

Playlist - "favorites" (which changes monthly!)

Closer - Kings of Leon

Jealous Enemies - Dark Captain, Light Captain

Flightless Bird, American Mouth - Iron and Wine

Paupa New Guinea - Future Sound of London -- an oldie from one of my favorite ever soundtracks COOL WORLD

When it Rains - Paramore

Poker Face - Lady Gaga

Sledgehammer - Dave Matthews band cover of the great Peter Gabriel @ mile high stadium

Kids - MGMT

Spaceman - the Killers

Death and all his Friends - Coldplay

Pony (It's OK) - Erin McCarley

Siren(Live in Detroit) - Tori Amos

That being said, right now there are three cds that I cannot put down. Kings of Leon, The Killers and Coldplay. ALl three are AMAZING. RUN out and get them! DO IT! You won't be sorry. Unless of course you don't like that kind of music, he he.

Be back later..

Quick update

2008-12-19T10:19:00.001-05:00

To everyone who has been emailing me, Im so sorry I've not updated!! My husband was hit by a drunk driver on the way into work the night of the 16th and my car was completely destroyed. He was lucky, he's doing fine but it really shook me up pretty badly and I haven't had time to respond to everyone (or update this) I'll be back asap!! Merry Christmas and hug your loved ones!!

December Daily - 3 and 4th days

2008-12-05T13:33:00.003-05:00

December Daily - 2nd

2008-12-03T05:14:00.008-05:00

Including part of the completed album from day one and day two..click to view larger :)

The cover, first two pages. I have yet to print and add one more photo of Xander and his wish list (the pic from yesterday)

And photos from December 2nd.

Christmas cards round one..

Noah enjoying a piece of nestle tollhouse pie after a long day at school. These pies by the way, are so sinful yet so easy to make. I made two, one for us and one for Luciano's for always being so helpful to us :) Ours is gone already. And by the way, i DO NOT bake and I can make these.

And tonight we rented A Christmas Story for our "family movie night" Yes it's on the 24th for 24 hours but who wants to wait until then?!

December Daily - 1st

2008-12-02T04:42:00.003-05:00

Since Im participating in Ali Edwards "december daily" I thought I'd blog a bit about each day as I plan on scrapping it.

Yesterday highlights (and lowlights) were Xander writing his first letter to santa. Geez I hope he comes through and brings him the Lego Agents "jail thing" he wants soooo bad.

We had to go to Walmart (ugh)for our bi-monthly grocery trip. I dread this. Really, because we have two full carts and sometimes more. It was a nightmare. I'll leave it at that. But we only spent 310.00 - that was a good week!

And here is one little holiday "display" in our entryway, still in progress. I have three more boxes of goodies to put out.

random musings

2008-10-29T14:54:00.004-04:00

It's snowing today. Um hello?! It's OCTOBER.

I love the new Studio Calico kit for November. I only grabbed one add on and extra papers but it was really hard to resist more. I cannot wait to get it and play. Of course my expertise is totally mediocre compared to the talent on that site and I pale in comparison - hence why you'll never see my layouts posted on here!!! :D

phone ringing...gotta go

Fall in NY

2008-09-30T05:16:00.003-04:00

My favorite season, it's so lovely here...

one of my favorites...

2008-09-25T15:15:00.000-04:00

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)
i fear
no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

ee cummings

randomness

2008-09-24T16:50:00.003-04:00

Today has not been a good day. this illness that has gone through my entire family. But at least my husband and I went to lunch, hit the farmer's market. I picked up some cherry tomatoes and salt potatoes, and Xander got a baby pumpkin. (and a hot dog at the hot dog stand there, lol)

I just feel ick. Im sick of feeling ick. That sounds like a dr seuss book eh? Tired, really tired physically, unable to concentrate. I think the fact that the middle boy is being LOUD at the moment making some animalistic sounds to the littlest. Boys. Love em to death but they aren't the quietest creatures.

My hubby is making dinner but I honestly feel like going to bed and sleeping the ick off. Tomorrow we head to nana's house for xan's birthday. Five flippin' years old. Oh my.

Getting back into the groove of things

2008-09-17T06:20:00.004-04:00

It's taken me awhile to update. We arrived back home after an amazing trip and the kids started school 2 days later. It seems like a whirlwind lately, the days running into each other and here we are halfway thru Sept. already. We have Noah's school's open house tomorrow night and so far he's having a great year. *crosses fingers it continues* He once again got elected to the Student Council and loves his teacher.

We had a massive power outage due to Ike. I say massive and I mean for around these parts. There was no school. We went without electricity for almost a day. I had an orthodontist appt that morning so the kids all went and Im going in next time for my finishing archwire, they call it. YES! it's been two years in January so Im ready for them to be off.

I'll finish with some of my favorite photos of the trip.

In a few days...

2008-08-18T07:38:00.006-04:00

We'll be on here flying from Rochester-Atlanta-Orlando

to go here...

And stay here for 8 nights

Be back on sept. 1st!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

last weekend

2008-08-11T18:12:00.005-04:00

this past weekend we had my husband's father and his wife up to visit. They hadn't been up since I got my new dining room table, my bailey console table from pottery barn (I love that thing!!) and our basement "finished" -- carpeted, walls, ceiling, etc. So, things seemed a bit newer around here. Which is always nice. They all went out golfing and over to the lake which is 5-10 minutes from here. My husband got some nice pictures of the kids and that night we had a weenie roast. I never realized how much laughter that word can generate. My 12 yr old daughter was cracking up whenever anyone said "weenie" which in turn made everyone else erupt into laughter. She's not at all like that, she's a straight-laced, sort of aloof kind of kid. To see her like that was really great. :)

And here's some of my other favorites from yet another summer weekend gone...already.

This girl loves webkinz

2008-08-03T06:15:00.007-04:00

She's almost 13 and she loves these silly things. So does the littlest. The middle does not. he cannot be bothered with such trite and girly things. :)

In other boring news..I have what my ortho figures, 5 mos left in my braces. I still need to get implants asap but my lovely dentist is in training to put them in so I may wait until he's done with that because I really like him, trust him, etc. Which will be in march. Until then, we have an extra 6 grand sitting in our fsa account which will promptly disappear on Dec. 31st unless we find some use for it...anyone need any medical procedure? I told Justy to get lasik surgery with it. I am totally wigged out by the thought of it so nope for me.

Music and rain

2008-07-31T14:21:00.004-04:00

So much rain. Unbelieveable how rainy it's been all summer. The humidity in the air is just so icky.

I just finished updating Justy's ipod and now mine's on there. I figured I'd put a little sampling of my favorite playlist at the moment...on shuffle

Bad Days - Moby
Bartender - DMB
Prelude 12/21 - AFI
Pocketful of Sunshine - Natasha Bedingfield
Psychopomp - The Tea Party
Miss Murder - AFI
Grace Kelly - MIKA
Today - Jeremy Larson (Discovered thru Elsie, just like everyone else but he's so good!!)
Jeau d'eau - Cirque "O"
Viva La Vida - Coldplay
I Kissed a Girl - Katy Perry
Letter Read - Rachael Yamagata
Relax, take it easy - MIKA
A Comet Appears - The Shins
the Promise - When in Rome
Hate Me - Blue October
Close your eyes - The Chemical Brothers

Just a small post

2008-07-29T06:33:00.003-04:00

I thought I'd better check in since I've only been posting links lately. Hum..not much going on here in these parts. Getting ready for Disney in 27 more days. Our magical express vouchers came yesterday and that got me a bit excited.

Trying to get some more pages done in the scrap department. Studio Calico just had their big reveal and it's my fave kit that I receive so I ordered two of the add on's as well this month. Shhh..don't tell. :) I can't wait to get it and play!

More pictures coming soon. I seriously have not taken any. What is WRONG with me?!!

Disney giveaway, check it out!!!

2008-07-28T06:47:00.001-04:00

Amazing quilt giveaway

2008-07-21T07:40:00.000-04:00

Check it out!!

Contest to check out!!!

2008-07-21T06:07:00.001-04:00

New giveaway over at Props and Pans~

2008-07-21T05:47:00.001-04:00

Check it out here - win an eco-kids All Natural art supplies goody bag!

http://www.propsandpans.com/2008/07/17/eco-kids-all-natural-art-supplies-goody-bag-giveaway/

Just a few photos from the 4th

2008-07-15T11:40:00.006-04:00

I know Im a bit behind but we have a LOT going on these days!! Here are a few favorites of mine from the 4th holiday..

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what i've been doing..

2008-07-01T06:59:00.002-04:00

the kids are done with school, but not before Noah got two awards...one really wasn't an award, just a certificate for being a student council rep and the other was the "student of the year" for his class for achedemic excellence, postive attitude and citizenship. Kaylie got the SAME award in third grade. I was thrilled. Obviously!!

Kaylie was in the Stawberry Festival parade, in the middle school marching band. She was in the color guard *squeeeee* Yes that really excited me, lol. She rocked. We did wait for like an hour for the parade to start..and instead of her, here is a rare no-kids included photo of me!!

We had our very good friends come visit over the weekend. I *heart* them.
We did fun stuff that Heidi brought up, like silly string wars..

And when they left, I was so sad :( Even though Im smiling in this picture. I miss them already..sniff..sniff. but it's all good.

And Justin is on vacation this week so we are R-E-L-A-X-I-N-G until Thursday when we head out of town to do family/patriotic/july4th stuff.

2008-06-17T14:04:00.002-04:00

First things first..Im not seeing Dave. There are only a handful of people who know how difficult this is for me but due to unforseen issues, and conflicts with the kids, they take priority. And I needed the money really bad. I had to get a new computer, so yes, here I am with my brand new dell but Im not going to the concert of my life. Sigh..cries..wails..

Xander - taken by Kaylie. I don't know why but I love this one of him. He's so -- freckly.

2008-06-09T07:21:00.002-04:00

All weekend it was very very warm, in the 90's. So we took advantage of that and did some swimming in the pool, went for ice cream and you know, did summery things..

This is gross, I know, his phlem mouth, ick. That poor kid has inherited my allergies and he hasn't quite gotten the "spit it out!" part yet. Probably tmi but still pretty funny in that he IS a typical boy!!

And all was well until he got a little too close to the edge and fell in head first, backwards. He loves swimmng, he loves jumping in but not when it's an accidental thing. He was finished for the day.

Hope ya'll had a good weekend too.

2008-06-07T15:27:00.005-04:00

it's so soupy out today. And the boys had soccer. The 4 yr olds just could not tolerate the heat so they ended early. I sat under a shady tree (..breaks out singing laurie berkner "under a shady tree you and me") and watched the big kids while Justy helped the little ones. Kaylie wandered around back and forth, miserable from the heat and not wanting to be there. Noah's team won again, he's totally into it, very aggressive and the kid was just plain worn out after an hour and half of hard running in 90 degree weather.

Here's a page I did that Im just loving. Not the design, not the paper or glitter bird I hand cut, just the journalling and what it means to me. I love them both so so much, I love what they share, i love that they bicker like sisters but then kiss and make up just the same. I love that they've been friends for 8 years and I know they will make it, i know they will last through anything and never let a man come between them, or time, or distance. You can just see it in their eyes when they laugh together. It's so wonderful and pure and Im so grateful we moved up here so they could meet, fate it seems and I feel that way about meeting Tim and even Cristi too. And for that matter, Heidi. Now that is definite fate and I can't explain it any other way. The chances of that random occurance in that place are just one in a gazillion yet it happened and I love her like a sister too. But anyway, rambling on. Here's the layout..

Father's Day contest! Check it out

2008-06-06T05:40:00.001-04:00

New update

2008-06-03T11:50:00.003-04:00

Well the good and the bad..

We had to get my mom's little welsh corgi to sleep on Monday. Very, very sad for all of us. she was 11.5 yrs old. I miss her already. :(

On the upside (very UP side) Im going to be an Aunt in January! For the very first time. Im so very excited for my sister and brother-in-law. I cannot wait to meet little Ananda or Bodhi.

I've been entering a lot of bloggy contests and don't always remember to check back so if I am a winner I'd be SO happy if you could post in my comments. :) Thank you!

Random update

2008-05-02T06:58:00.004-04:00

Since I've only been posting contest links, here's a random update.

We've got dance recital this weekend. Tomorrow in fact. She's in 10 classes. Enough said.

And a new scrap layout or two..

And, Im exhausted. That's all.

Fun contest

2008-05-02T06:57:00.000-04:00

http://cardgrotto.blogspot.com/2008/05/blog-candy-time.html

Check it out, she's got a really great site!!

Check it oooout!

2008-04-29T05:27:00.001-04:00

http://www.melindazook.com" />

New giveaway!

2008-04-25T05:13:00.001-04:00

http://ourblessedarrows.blogspot.com/2008/04/giveaway-day-2.html

Here's a fun contest! For personalized FRUIT ROLL UPS!!!! :) Check it out.

Braces.

2008-04-08T07:23:00.001-04:00

my teeth, omg, Im so sick of elastics. I've worn kangaroo, road runner, parrot and the new ones as of yesterday? Moose. I asked why they are named after animals, lol, I still don't know. I swear Im in more pain today than I was the day after I had my braces put on. Coffee will be my friend today.. So anyway, these are the braces I have http://www.damonbraces.com/ they LIE, lie when they say there is less pain!!! Just thought I'd put that out there. ;) That being said, I love my orthodontist totally. This is where I go - http://www.cfsbraces.com/ Dr John is who I see, he's very interested in my case and I find that, um, flattering I guess? Who knew I was so unique :)

Songs I like - for today anyway :)

2008-04-06T06:55:00.001-04:00

Running up that hill - Placebo
Say - John Mayer
Silver Lining - Rilo Kiley

Contest

2008-04-05T06:36:00.001-04:00

Over at Island Life, they are giving away really cool flip clips. Go check it out!! Post a comment and be entered to win one!!

http://islandlife808.com/giveaways/giveaway-flip-clips/

Clearly, I am lost

2008-04-04T17:19:00.000-04:00

Because I thought I had posted and I did not. Hmm. I suck at this.