{poor gerard}

Ugh. Nothing like a sick 3-year old! Yesterday morning Gerard woke up and said his tummy hurt. We didn't really believe him, so we schlepped him around running errands and on the way home he fell asleep in the car. He hasn't napped in the afternoon in MONTHS, so we were thinking that he might really be sick. When we got home, we let him watch a movie and just relax. Not long after that, he started throwing up. I'm not sure exactly where he learned to throw up in the toilet, but he knows to try to get to the bathroom. It was so sad. :( He threw up a few more times and then we put him to bed. He woke up twice with a fever and tried to throw up again. Poor kid!

He woke up this morning a little cranky, but definitely feeling better. I think the worst part of the day was not being allowed to eat regular food (we kept him to toast and applesauce) and not being allowed to play outside with Maddie. Every time he heard a voice playing outside he'd want to go out. Oh well. Tomorrow, maybe....

That about sums up our weekend. Oh, except that I finally washed all the linens for Morgan's room and made up her crib. Her room is almost finished now. We just have to hang pictures. And I ordered the nightlight and switchplate that matches her bedding. Aren't these cute:


I hope everyone else had a healthier weekend! I'll write more tomorrow....

{shall we play a game?}

...spoken in my best "War Games" voice...

Debbie sent me this game, which has kept me awake way too late the last few nights. Maybe you can figure out some of these (we've gotten all but A, I, N and W). Click on the picture to take you to the actual site:

Please e-mail me or leave a comment if you get A, I, N or W. They're killing me!!!

The weather is finally cooperating here, if you don't count the crazy thunderstorms we had all last night. I was beginning to think I should have built that arc, but by noon or so today the sun was out and it was in the mid-50's. Beautiful. Of course, that meant we stayed at preschool with some of the other kids and played outside from 2:30 when school lets out until about 5:00. I'm pooped, and so is Gerard.

Oh, and here are a few random pictures I thought I'd share. The first two are how a 3-year old eats a bagel. Too cute to resist. The last one is a picture of big Gerard's latest project -- a new basketball net....

Have a good night!

{yummy dinner}

Mmmm, mmmm, tasty! I tried a new recipe tonight and it was delicious! Here's the recipe, from Cooking Light:

Peppered Chicken-and-Shrimp Jambalaya

1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 pound skinned, boned chicken breasts, diced
6 ounces turkey kielbasa, halved lengthwise and sliced (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 1/2 cups finely chopped onion
1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
1/2 cup diced green bell pepper
1/2 cup diced yellow bell pepper
1 1/2 cups uncooked long-grain rice
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 cup water
2 (16-ounce) cans fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
2 (14.5-ounce) cans diced tomatoes, undrained
1/2 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add chicken, kielbasa, onion, and bell peppers; sauté 5 minutes or until vegetables are tender, stirring frequently. Add rice; sauté 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add thyme, black pepper, and red pepper; sauté 1 minute. Add water, broth, and tomatoes; bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer 15 minutes. Add shrimp and hot sauce; cover and cook 5 minutes or until shrimp are done. Remove from heat; stir in parsley.

Yield: 6 servings (serving size: 2 cups)

NUTRITION PER SERVING
CALORIES 374(16% from fat); FAT 6.6g (sat 2g,mono 2.8g,poly 1.3g); PROTEIN 26g; CHOLESTEROL 65mg; CALCIUM 95mg; SODIUM 919mg; FIBER 3g; IRON 7.9mg; CARBOHYDRATE 51.3g

Elizabeth Taliaferro
Cooking Light, JANUARY 1999

It really was very good -- a little spicy -- and was enough to feed an army. Next time I'll definitely halve the recipe (and still have enough for leftovers)!

* * * * * * *

Other than that, I once again have very little to report. Sorry. I do have two new layouts to share, though. Enjoy!

background paper by Maya
orange paper (recolored), swirls, staples and alpha by Shabby Princess
font is 2Peas Falling Leaves

white background paper by Michelle Coleman
inked edge overlay by Michelle Coleman
ledger paper by Kellie Mize
staples by Jenna's Belly Button kit
fonts are Boulder and Times New Roman

{the weekend is over}

Nothing new to report here, but I thought I'd show you the valence I made for Morgan's room. Nothing fancy, but I think I like it.

And one new layout, from our trip to the butterfly garden (once again, names and faces have been covered up or blurred to protect the innocent).

background papers, recolored, by Shabby Princess (no longer available)
butterfly stamp, recolored, by Shabby Princess (no longer available)
gel dots, recolored, by Shabby Princess (no longer available)
photo corner, recolored, by Heather Ann
eyelet by Anita Stergiou
font is Times New Roman

I hope everyone had a nice weekend. Have a great week, too!

{butterfly pictures}

Youzers! I had a lot of pictures to go through! I'm sorry, but I've covered up Luke's face because I didn't want to post his picture on the web. You can still get the idea. The boys both had lots of fun, and Gerard slept like a ROCK last night.

at the fountain:

making a wish:

check out the beautiful flowers: looking for butterflies:
standing still hoping butterflies will land on them:
"hey check out that one!"
all hot and sweaty:
in the children's garden: building butterflies:
aren't these butterflies the cutest?
more in the children's garden:

And here are some of the butterfly pictures I took (I did my best to ID them correctly; feel free to correct me if you see any mistakes!):

{too tired to type}

We had a lot of fun at the butterfly garden, but I'm too tired to write much and too tired to look through all the pictures. I'll try to post tomorrow. G'night all!

{spring has sprung...}

...and we have the dirt to prove it!

The weather has been beautiful here the last few days (except for a few drops of rain yesterday) and Gerard has been having so much fun finally playing outside. Today they played outside at the end of preschool, and then several of us stayed later and let the kids play while we chatted. Darci and I stayed until 5:00 while Gerard and Luke got covered in mud. Boys will be boys! Needless to say, as soon as we got home we stripped him down and threw him into the bath. His white shirt is a lost cause, unfortunately, and is soaking in bleach as I type this (after being washed twice already).

I hope the nice weather continues, although our mean meteorologists claim it will snow again this weekend. Argh!!!!

And for all you 70's children, Debbie sent me this very funny e-mail that I thought I'd share here:

IF YOU WERE A LITTLE GIRL IN THE 70'S......

You had that Fisher Price Doctor's Kit with a stethoscope that actually worked.

You owned a bicycle with a banana seat and a plastic basket with flowers on it.

You learned to skate with actual skates (not roller blades) that had metal wheels.

You thought Gopher from Love Boat was cute (admit it!)

You had nightmares after watching Fantasy Island.

You had either a "bowl cut" or "pixie", not to mention the "Dorothy Hamill". People sometimes thought you were a boy.

You had rubber boots for rainy days and Moon boots for snowy days.

YEAH! You owned a "Slip-n-Slide", on which you injured yourself on a sprinkler head more than once.

You owned "Klick-Klacks" and smacked yourself in the face more than once!

Your Holly Hobbie sleeping bag was your most prized possession.

You wore a poncho, gauchos, and knickers.

You begged Santa for the electronic game, Simon.

You had the Donnie and Marie dolls with those pink and purple satiny shredded outfits, or the sunshine family

You spent hours in your backyard on your metal swing set with the trapeze. The swing set tipped over at least once.

You had homemade ribbon barrettes in every imaginable color. (Oh yeah!)

You had a pair of Doctor Scholl's sandals (the ones with hard sole & the buckle). You also had a pair of salt-water sandals.

You wanted to be Laura Ingalls Wilder really bad; you wore that Little House on the Prairie-inspired plaid, ruffle shirt with the high neck in at least one school picture; and you despised Nellie Oleson!

You wanted your first kiss to be at a roller rink!

PONG! ("video tennis" ) was the most remarkable futuristic game you've ever heard of !

Your hairstyle was described as having "wings" or "feathers" and you kept it "pretty" with the comb you kept in your back pocket. When you walked, the "wings" flapped up and down, looked like you were gonna "take off"

You know who Strawberry Shortcake is, as well as her friends, Blueberry Muffin and Huckleberry Pie.

You carried a Muppets lunch box to school and it was metal, not plastic.
With the thermos inside some were glass inside and broke the first time you dropped them.

You and your girlfriends would fight over which of the Dukes of Hazzard was your boyfriend.

YOU had Star Wars action figures, too!

It was a big event in your household each year when the "Wizard of Oz" would come on TV. Your mom would break out the popcorn and sleeping bags!

You often asked your Magic-8 ball the question: "Who will I marry. Shaun Cassidy, Leif Garrett, or David Cassidy?"

You completely wore out your Grease, Saturday Night Fever, and Fame soundtrack record album.

You tried to do lots of arts and crafts, like yarn and Popsicle-stick God's eyes, decoupage, or those weird potholders made on a plastic loom.

You made Shrinky-Dinks and put iron-on kittens on your t-shirts!

You used to tape record songs off the radio by holding your portable tape player up to the speaker.

You had subscriptions to Dynamite and Tiger Beat.

You learned everything you needed to know about girl issues from Judy Blume books. (Are you there God, It's me, Margaret.)

You thought Olivia Newton John's song "Physical" was about aerobics. (?? its not??)

You wore friendship pins on your tennis shoes, or shoelaces with heart or rainbow designs.

You wanted to be a Solid Gold dancer.

You drowned yourself in Love's Baby Soft - which was the first "real" perfume you ever owned.

You glopped your lips in Strawberry Roll-on lip-gloss till it almost dripped off.



Well, that about wraps things up here. Hopefully I'll have some butterfly pics to share tomorrow! G'night!