I used to Jazzercise.

I used to Jazzercise. The funniest thing about that, is I am totally uncoordinated,  I didn’t do too hot, I only went for 8 weeks and then I was done.  I couldn’t keep up, I must have been the comic relief, besides the awkwardness from the ladies in the thong leotards.  I always hid in the back. I didn’t want anyone following my lead.  Cue the sweatbands, cheesy 80’s music and all the women jazzercising in unison. Then there was me, the 24 year old with her 24 year old best friend and my boss. Who was a nightmare in her own hellish Montessori way. Never Jazzercise with your boss, I didn’t do it on purpose. How was I supposed to know that she would be there? I was afraid of making a mistake, of course I couldn’t hide from her. She saw me and started talking me up.  Shooting my old best friend judgmental looks of why she didn’t enroll her kids in her Montessori school.  That was added stress of the monstrous Mrs. V breathing down my neck. Judging my Jazzercise form, which I had none.  I think the instructor was tempted to tell me about a preschool class that I could join to catch up.  I have never been a dancer.  Maybe when I was little, and I was dancing in my basement to music.  I never danced at school dances unless they were slow dances. 

I don’t even dance at bars or clubs. I did on my 20^th birthday though at some club somewhere in North Carolina. I figured I would never see these people again so whatever.  That was more like rub up on random people and hope you didn’t get lice or worse.  It was at a club with drinking but you had to have a special wristband to get alcohol, and since I didn’t have my first sip of booze until the day I turned 21, I wasn’t interested in that. If you believe that, I have a bridge to sell you. I was responsible though.  I know it isn’t really a self esteem thing it is just not what I am in to.  So, any chances of me going and winning a dance off ala Grease or Saved by the Bell, are gone.  I am one heck of a slow dancer though.  I won’t even step on your toes. I remember dancing with my Grandma Rose in her kitchen we would do the box step.

I always dance with Noah, we dance in the pool while I sing to him holding him in my arms. We also dance like crazy people around the house. I am really silly. It is so cute because Noah will say, May I have this dance to me.  Of course I have to say yes. He is so adorable.

Cooking with Noah and Cracking Eggs

I have been teaching Noah how to cook, and he is fascinated with cracking eggs.  I made Angel Food cake the other day and I had to use 12 egg whites.  I am a pro at separating the egg whites, but I have to concentrate, and with a very helpful five year old saying I want to help and sneaking over and grabbing the eggs out of the carton it is a little nerve racking. Thankfully I only had to crack 14 eggs because I managed to lose two of them.  Noah is pretty good about listening and didn’t help me crack any eggs. I remember the first time; I had him crack an egg. I had him sit at the table and he smashed the egg and it ended up all over his face, clothes, the table and the floor. It was a mess for me to clean up after I put him in the tub and scrubbed him clean.  My mom always teases me about how when I cook something always goes wrong. It is never anything major and the food is always delicious, I guess I get distracted a lot. I too have gone to crack an egg only to not pay attention and drop the egg on the floor.  It is a complete mess.  I am then required to mop the floor, which is probably one of my most not favorite house cleaning jobs.  

I often wonder how clean my floor really is getting. I know that the dirt or substance is removed but what about all the germs? Am I getting them up too? Raw eggs contain risk of salmonella, I can be a messy cook, and sometimes I drop things like raw meat on the floor. I pick it up and mop but am I really getting all the bacteria?  I think I need to find a new steam cleaning mop just to make sure that I am not making my family at risk to get sick. I would love to get a Ladybug Steam Cleaner, for my floors so I feel better about my kitchen messes and not spending all that extra time scrubbing the floor and worrying about germs.

Noah's Drawing of Me

Noah decided to draw a picture of me. I am amazed at what a great artist Noah is. I think it looks like me. At first I thought it was an abstract picture of me, as a worm but then I realized that I am raising my hand. Noah had sent me to jail the day before for putting his beloved stuffed animal in the freezer.  He also took me to court. My then four year  now five year old plays court.  He knows that if you go to jail you have to go to court.  Not because his mom has gone to jail or court but just from watching Judge Shows, since he was in my tummy. We watched court shows when he was a day old in the hospital.  When Noah took me to court, the “victim” of my crime was the judge.  How is that for a not so fair trial?  I was sworn in and I raised my right hand. I was able to escape a life sentence by saying I am sorry.

                                                Defendant being sworn in to court at trial.

I decided the picture Noah drew of me was actually a court sketch artist’s drawing of me being sworn in.

Castaway Cay and The Crab Race

                                             This picture was taken from our private verandah.



When we were on the Disney Dream, Noah and I did so many activities. One of the days we went to Castaway Cay, Disney’s private island. Cay is pronounced key; because that is the way it is spelled in the Bahamas. Castaway Cay was not only beautiful but a lot of fun. Before we left I decided to look at the excursions. I found a glass bottom boat ride that I thought Noah and I would love. It was going to be on his birthday after all. I excitedly called my mom to see what she would think. I wasn’t 100% sure that Noah would like it. We both agreed that he would. I went to order tickets and my heart sank they only had one ticket for each ride. Obviously, we couldn’t take turns going. I decided to check later to see if there was any openings. I didn’t realize that I couldn’t check merely a couple days before we set sail. I decided to maybe check when we were on board, hoping while not getting my hopes up. We went to the Port Adventures desk and they had lots of tickets for the Glass Bottom Boat ride. Just a tip if you are doing a Port Adventure, do it later in the day because we almost missed ours. I planned on going back to the ship and getting our tickets and my digital camera before. Well, we didn’t make it back to the ship before. More about that in a little bit.

Noah’s favorite thing of the whole cruise was The Crab Race. One of the Bingo people told Noah about it and he wanted to race a crab. So, we promptly went to the gazebo and talked to the crew to find out information. I wanted to know how much the crab race cost, what it was, etc. I was very excited when I found out it was free. There were all kinds of free activities on the cruise, but there were some with an expense. We were crab #1 and Noah named our crab Pet Crab. Since you probably don’t know what a crab race is, I will explain it to you. There are two big circles on pavement and all the hermit crabs are let go and the first one to the outer circle wins. It is pretty goofy, but so much fun. They have four races. The first race Pet Crab came in second. In the second race, Pet crab was the winner. After the four races, they take the winners and have The International Crab Race Championship. You might have seen it on ESPN and ESPN 2. Well, Pet Crab was all ready to win; he took off his little crabby robe and was ready to crawl. Pet Crab is the Champion of The International Crab Race Championship. Noah was so proud, he told everyone about winning. We even won a few prizes, as if the title wasn’t enough. I took some pictures so we could commemorate the occasion.

Next we went to The Family Beach. Noah and I could have played in the water all day. It was beautiful. It was shallow, but not too shallow to where I couldn’t enjoy myself too. We had a lot of fun being able to splash about. It’s hard to explain. I would just occasionally float a long. Noah was wearing a float vest so I felt better about letting him roam a little. We had an underwater camera that we took in the ocean with us. I can’t wait to see those pictures. We ended up staying in the water too long, to where we had to scarf down our lunch to make it to the glass bottom boat. I was able to get a receipt for the tickets that were locked in the safe in our room. The Glass Bottom boat wasn’t exactly what I pictured but it was still really cool. The water was really choppy so I had to sit down most of the time, but I could still see. We saw lots of fish. We even fed the fish oatmeal. I had never seen so many tropical fish. When we got off the glass bottom boat, I decided it was time to go back to the ship. We were both covered in sand so we had to rinse off in the outside showers. We made it back to the room and got something to drink and just relaxed while I took a shower to remove all the extra sand. Castaway Cay was awesome. I can’t wait to go back someday.

We Went to The Walmart Great Ice Cream Social

We had the opportunity to take a part in The Walmart Great Ice Cream Social yesterday. We were really excited to be able to sample the Lil Drums Drumsticks from Nestlé. They had two kinds of treats, Cookie Dough and Chocolate Brownie. I am a huge cookie dough fan so I went with Cookie Dough, I brought my mom with us and she tried the Chocolate Brownie. Noah had trouble deciding which one he wanted. So I told him to pick yellow or purple, however he would have preferred both, but we didn’t want to be little piggies. The man giving out the samples was really nice too. After a few minutes of deciding, he chose cookie dough or yellow as he called it. I had to wait a couple minutes to eat mine, I had to take some pictures of Noah enjoying his treat. It was pure torture. As soon as I tasted the cookie dough Lil’ Drum, I was so happy. It has chunks of cookie dough on the top and I walked around Walmart saying yum and oh yum. I know what I am buying when we go to Walmart again.

I saw so many people walking around with Lil’ Drums and everyone had smiles on their faces. I could tell that everyone really enjoyed it. It was fun. I think they should have them every time I go to Walmart. It was so incredibly hot yesterday. I felt like I was in a sauna every time I went outside. It was so nice to have a delicious ice cream treat to enjoy while we shopped. We didn’t buy much yesterday, just a couple things. We didn’t end up purchasing any ice cream this time because we going to be very busy the next week. I love looking at all the different types of ice cream and ice cream treats. Every time I see a carton of ice cream I think of the trip my cousins and I took to the Edy’s Factory, my cousin’s ex-wife worked there as an ice cream taster, she had a more professional title but I forgot what exactly it was. It was really cool to see how they test the products and to make sure everything is distributed properly they cut the carton long ways to take a look inside. I felt really cool because I was able to try some ice cream just off the line. If I were to create an ice cream flavor it would probably be some kind of peppermint since peppermint is my current favorite flavor. There used to be Starburst Ice Cream and it was the best ice cream. I wish they would bring it back. I miss it. It was an orange and cherry sherbet with soft chunks of starburst. It was the absolute best.

The highlight of our shopping trip to Walmart was definitely The Walmart Great Ice Cream Social. Sometimes as a mom, shopping can be stressful, especially when you have someone asking for everything he sees. This was really a great trip and I am so glad I was able to participate. Let me know if you were able to attend and what your opinions of the Lil Drums and The Walmart Ice Cream Social are. If you missed it, I am hoping they do it again next year!

This shop/project has been compensated as part of a campaign for Nestlé. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Shopping With Noah for Outdoor Furniture

Noah and I went shopping today; while we were out we were looking at cheap outdoor furniture for him. It was really cute it was a Noah sized table with two chairs and even an umbrella. I loved it and we found it at the grocery store at all places. He sat in it for about five minutes and then I realized that he doesn’t really have anywhere to sit outside. I mean sure he could sit in a big chair but I think he would like to have something more his size. I have looked at the kids sized items that you can put outside and I think as much as we spend outside that he needs something to call his own. I think that it would be cool to have his little chair next to mine as we watch the cars go by.

When I was little my grandparents and I would sit on their front porch and watch the cars and trucks go by. We would play a game trying to figure out which color car would come by next. We rarely kept score it was just something fun for us to do. I have great memories of watching the cars going by with my grandpa. We loved being outside but sometimes you just want to relax. I wonder if Noah would just like to sit down and feel the wind through his hair and watch the ducks on the pond. We have new baby ducks! We also bought seeds to start a garden. I am not too sure how well it will work out but I am hoping it will. I would love to get some garden furniture like a bench or a swing. I love being able to swing and talk on the phone outside on nice nights.

We had our family over a couple weeks ago, although the weather was too cold and rainy to be outside it would have been really nice to sit on the patio and chat. As I have mentioned before, we have a huge patio. We have a big family so we would have to get some more furniture for the patio to accommodate them all. We had a great time and there were ten of us, which is only a small part of my family. So, to hold a get together with everyone we would definitely have to get some more seats. I remember the family visits at my grandparent’s house, they would have every chair in the house including folding chairs and there still was a few that had to stand. I am the youngest grandchild so I always seemed to have a seat.

It seemed like old times, we talked about all kinds of things. My aunt found records of my Grandpa Jim and his parents from the 20’s or 30’s. My uncle is going to clean them up and make us all copies. I can’t wait to hear them, we no longer have my little toy record player. I really enjoy spending time with all of them. I wish we weren’t all so spread out. I am hoping this summer we can spend more time with them and of course have a lot of time outside playing and relaxing.

What are your favorite things to play outside?

Wilton Cake Pops on a Stick Transportation Pops!

I had the opportunity to take part in a contest with Wilton. Wilton is the premier brand of cake decorating and baking products. The contest was to create your own original cake pops. I bet you are wondering what a cake pop is? It is cake on a stick dipped in delicious candy melts. I really want to show you all how to make cake pops. I decided that I would use my adorable little boy as my inspiration for deciding what to make. Noah loves everything having to do with transportation, that’s what I would do. I would make a few of his favorites in to a delicious treat. Since he truly loves them all, picking which ones to do was somewhat difficult. So, I went to the source and asked Noah, he wanted rocket ships, submarines and cranes. He also mentioned blimps but, unfortunately the blimps were too warm and it was like the Hindenburg disaster.



I received a Cake Pops kit from Wilton to help me get started in my first cake pop adventure. Since I am left handed and tried to decorate Noah’s cakes before I was very nervous as they didn’t turn out very pretty. I had confidence in myself and along with my trusty and adorable assistant we were ready to hit the kitchen and start creating. First thing we did was use The Cake Pops on A Stick book to make the special recipe for the cake part. Noah really helped a lot; he poured everything in for me and even helped to stir it all up complete with construction vehicle noises. Once it was baked and cooled, we crumbled the cake.



I can honestly say that was Noah’s favorite part. He told me before we started baking that he was going to make me in to a cake pop and tickled me and said crumble crumble crumble. It was very cute. It was fun to crumble the cake up. My Grandma Rose always said that your best tools are your hands, and I agree completely.

After we crumbled it we added some icing and mixed it up with our hands. I had bought my favorite cake mix and frosting on clearance for 42 cents since it was green holiday icing, we looked like swamp things after we were done. I had to remind Noah, many times not to try and eat it all off his hands.





I decided to let it chill for a bit to firm up some, which was a great idea because it was pretty messy before. Once it was firm enough to shape without making a mess. I started making the shapes for the rocket ships, blimps, cranes, and submarines. I put them back in the refrigerator for a couple hours before I dipped the 6 inch sticks in melted Candy Melts to help them stick. Since my cake pops were bigger than the average cake pop I was worried that it would fall off if it didn’t have enough time to chill. I left them in the refrigerator for 24 hours, just to make sure.




I was ready to dip them with my new Chocolate Pro Electric Chocolate Melter. I melted some more red Candy Melts being careful that I wouldn’t waste them, when I was ready for the next color after washing some of the candy melts down the sink, I figured out if I poured the leftovers on parchment paper and let it dry I could reuse it. It peeled off really easily and I also figured out that you have to melt quite a bit to get easy coverage on your Cake Pop. I was able to make it work easily with a spatula on the bottom of the pops so they were completely incased in Candy Melt. It doesn’t take the Candy Melt very long to harden which was a good thing. I dipped the Red Rocket Ships and the Yellow Submarines first. I let Noah pick the colors all of them, since I bought every color of Wilton Candy Melts they had at the craft store.

I have always wanted to try out fondant and I thought no time like the present since I wanted to add specific details. I purchased several packages of colored ready to use fondants. I ended up using yellow fondant on all of the Cake Pops. I had also used some little cutters in different shapes. It was really easy to roll out even for me. My crowning achievement was when I put the yellow candy melts in a disposable icing bag and wrote USA on the rocket ships. It is legible even. I am not sure if Julia Child was guiding my hands like in the movie Ghost or what but it was perfect. I was so afraid that the rocket ships were going to be drizzled in yellow candy melt. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case. I was so proud of myself at that moment.

I decided to make the wings of the rocket ship out of fondant. I used yellow fondant as the periscope of the submarine as well. I had some trouble thinking of what to use for the windows on the submarine. I was going to first use the candy eyes that were included in my pops kit turned backwards, that didn’t work too well so, I thought marshmallows would work. I decided to rip them and shape them for the windows. After attaching them I decided, it looked weird so, I melted some white candy melts and put those in a disposable icing bag and drew the windows on. I thought they really needed the porthole covers around them too. I used some melted chocolate chips in another disposable icing bag. Melted chocolate chips are a different consistency than the Candy Melts so it was harder to manage. Noah reminded me that submarines have propellers so I used some pull and peel licorice that I had purchased for the cranes to make it. By that time I had poured out the yellow Candy Melt to harden so I just kind of dipped the back of the pop in the yellow melts and attached the licorice. Two down two to go I thought to myself. I was doing this and it was working for me.

 

When it was time for the blimps I went to dip them and since they had been sitting out for a hour or more they were no longer cold. I almost started to cry after I watched the Cake Pop fall apart. I was thinking, it’s ok I have two more blimps. I didn’t realize until after that was the reason they fell apart, I dipped the second making sure it was carefully placed on the stick. I went to dip it and it fell apart too once it hit the Candy melts. At this point I yell Darn it. Noah said, “Mommy, that is a bad word.” Thinking after two were ruined I couldn’t have just one blimp I dipped it and covered it in sprinkles and watched it fall off the stick as I put it in a bowl for Noah to enjoy. I put the pre-dipped cranes back in the refrigerator for a few hours so, they would survive. I think next time I will keep them in the refrigerator until the last second before dipping. I highly suggest you do so too. It makes it a lot easier and saves you from the heart break of your beautiful creations plummeting from the stick.



After waiting a while I decided the cranes needed to be dipped. I had purchased some thin pretzel sticks to be the arm of the crane. I knew how fast the Candy Melts dried so I figured that I had to dip the cranes and then stick the pretzel in quickly or my cranes wouldn’t have an arm. I thought about dipping them with the pretzel stuck in it already but decided that would probably end badly. I took a spoon and covered the pretzel with Candy Melt. I cut out some yellow little squares and circles for the wheels and windows I attached with water on a little paintbrush. I put them back in the refrigerator to make sure the arms of the cranes were dried. Everyone knows that cranes have strings on them so I thought the pull and peel licorice would be perfect for that. It’s fun to eat too. I just tied it on and it looks really cool.



I received a Cake Pops stand in my Cake Pops kit which is really nice; I plan on saving it for a special occasion. I thought since these Cake Pops capture the essence of my little boy, I wanted the stand to be something that was Noah’s. I decided to build a couple rows with his favorite blocks that have holes in them, which are perfect for holding Cake Pops. Noah’s little eyes lit up with amazement when he saw them all done and placed on our display blocks.



I received the Wilton Cake Pops Kit for my contest entry where I could win a $500 VISA Gift card or 9 other prizes. I did purchase additional products for my Cake Pops and all thoughts and opinions and ideas are in fact my own.

It's Time to Buy New Luggage.

In June, I am planning on visiting my best friend Brandy. She lives in New Hampshire which means I will be boarding a plane to do so. I am really excited to go out there and spend some time with her. I am certain we will have a great time just hanging out and doing some girl things. Brandy is such a positive person and she is very funny. We even plan on getting all dressed up and going out, which is luxury for both of us. I have never been to New Hampshire or Vermont, I am sure we will go out to her dad’s farm while I am there too. I definitely need to buy new luggage sets before I go. The suitcases I have traveled all over the place. They are starting to get a little too worn. The wheels and/or the handles on each suitcase are messed up in some way. I have been pretty creative at rigging them so they work but it would be nice not to have to worry about my suitcases falling or running over my feet or someone else’s.

I also want to get Noah a little suitcase that he can manage even if it is just a small one. I would love to get him one he can pull behind him because he is getting too big for a stroller. We are planning a trip for Noah’s 5th birthday and my 30th birthday too. This is a trip I have been thinking about since I knew the date of my scheduled C-Section and realized our birthdays are so close together. I am so excited about these trips but going to the airport, riding on a plane and sometimes handling an adorable yet curious preschooler can stress this mama out. I am hoping that if Noah has his own little suitcase he can pull along it will make things easier for us all, and that the next time I fly with him that I don’t start crying going through security.

Noah and I Are So Alike.

It is so funny to watch Noah. He reminds me so much of me when I was little. If you were in my family you would know about the infamous Here’s Bozo video. I think I even talked about it on my blog before. I said something like Ladies and Gentleman Here’s Bozo and ran in the room over and over and eventually fell down. Recently, Noah was running around the house saying Ladies and Gentleman, Start your engines or something along those lines. Another thing he does is he talks like I did when I was little. On the same video I am sitting in our plastic swimming pool and I ask my mom to get our beach towels and I said We have towels. Noah says we have *insert whatever he is talking about* and he says it the same way I did when I was well his age.

Today, I had a mess to clean up. I am assuming it was payback for the baby powder from when I was little. I dumped a whole bottle of baby powder on myself, my old best friend and all over the room. It was that dreaded Talc kind and I am sure I inhaled a ton of it and I turned out ok. Well, I thought I would be smart and put the baby powder up where Mr. Noah couldn’t reach it. He found some Wilton powdered royal icing that I totally forgot I had bought, it was in a cupcake kit. I guess I should look on the bright side and he only opened one package and not everything. It was a total mess though. Powdered Royal icing all over the counter, the floor, the stove top, and my son who decided it would be fun to make foot prints with it. He also was rolling his trains and fire trucks in it. He also had a whole package of cupcake wrappers strategically placed on the floor. I thought maybe he was trying to make cupcakes or a treat for his mommy. Well needless to say I was not amused. It was kinda funny but it was a pain to clean up. It took forever to sweep it, mop it etc, while not making icing because that would have been a total pain in the butt.

I was reminded of my grandma Rose as I was cleaning it up. We used to make paste for crafts with flour and water all the time. I also remembered doing Paper Maché with my cousin Susie, I think it was Susie. It was a long time ago, if it wasn’t Susie, it was Rory. I can’t count how many crafts we did with my grandma and assorted cousins.

After I cleaned it all up, I sat him down for a talk. He was in trouble. I wanted to know what he was doing exactly. He told me he was making it snow inside. I explained that it doesn’t snow in our house and to not get in to things he knows not to get in to. He doesn’t like to talk about it, because he knew he was in big trouble. He also learned that even mommy got in trouble when she was little. I always follow up time outs and punishments with hugs and kisses and I love yous.

Noah is definitely a character, like I was. I wonder where he comes up with this stuff.
Do you see your children doing the same silly things you did when you were a child? I would love to hear your stories.

Just For You Video

In a previous post I shared with you about Noah and my song. Just For You which is a song sung by Little Critter. We both love this song and we decided to sing it together for you all. It has been a song that I grew up listening to and one that Noah has listened to many times. Not just by me singing it but on one of his CD’s. Now that his CD player has lost the battery cover and he doesn’t have anywhere he can safely have things plugged in his room he hasn’t been able to have his bedtime music. I tried turning it up and putting it outside his door but it wasn’t working too well and it had to be up really loud for him to kinda hear it.

So without further adieu: Noah and Mommy singing Just For You.



Please Note that the video is black on purpose for security reasons.

Drawing with Noah

Noah loves to color and draw. We had been drawing in doodle on Yahoo Messenger. I decided to use paint today since he wanted to draw the night sky and I wasn’t going to sit there and color the whole box myself. So, I found some really cool features on paint. Noah told me what to draw and what to put where. He even helped by pushing the button several times. I really like how our picture turned out so I thought I would share it. I took screenshots of the ones we have drawn in the past and those will probably make appearances on my blog at a later date.
Here is Noah and Mommy’s interpretation of the night sky!

The Wipes Bandit!

I love my son with every fiber of my being but he has turned in to swiper when it comes to wipes. He will take the wipes from the box and mess up their perfect little factory pressed and folded sheets. Then turn them in to crinkled waded up little balls. Occasionally he rips them up. It drives me bananas. I know I can still use the wipes if I catch it close to the attack. I also know I can just re wet them if they dry out. BUT it is such a pain. I tried to tell him not to do it. That didn’t work. It’s not like he doesn't have any toys. Trust me he has a ton of them. I have been putting the box of wipes on the shelf in the closet out of his reach. Sometimes I just forget! I’m human right? I can forget to put the wipes up.

Now that he is in a toddler bed he has free reign of his room. His room is baby proofed. It just irks me. It’s not the container he wants to play with it is the wipes. He likes to clean his trains and trucks with them. I will give him a couple to use sometimes. Hey it could be worse.... He could have done what I did when I was about his age.

I was two or three years old and I was playing with my best friend at the time. We were in her room. I am assuming we snuck away some how. Then, I had an idea. Well it wasn’t really an idea per say but just something that looked fun. There it was in all its glory a big white container of Johnson’s Baby Powder. It was calling out to me saying play with me, smell me, come on it will be fun. How could I resist? How could anyone resist? So I got it down from the changing table assuming that is where it was. I picked it up and started squeezing and shaking it. I am sure I was laughing so hard. We (really I) left not a speck of baby powder in the bottle. The whole room was painted white in baby powder. My best friend and I were completely covered head to toe in it. It was in our hair it was EVERYWHERE! It was snowing baby powder. I have a picture of it somewhere. Our moms took pictures and talked about it for years. I am surprised we didn’t end up with breathing problems after inhaling all the baby powder in the air. This is why the baby powder I have is up high in the linen closet so Noah doesn’t follow in my footsteps.

So I guess I can be thankful that he didn’t do that.

In John Deere Green

Today we went to the good old county fair. It is my favorite thing to do in the summer. I look forward to it for months. It's nothing fancy by any means. There are no rides. Most county fairs have rides. It is just so much fun to go and see everything. Noah loved the tractors. I have never seen so many different tractors. I have seen many in my life but they had really old ones from like World War 2. I know they didn't fight riding tractors. That would be quite a sight if they did. We walked through the commercial tent and the government tents and I talked to and met a bunch of cool people. I ended up with so much free stuff from all the different booths. I am the proud new owner of SIX chip clips and a lifetime supply of pencils. Noah got a bunch of stickers and tattoos. I got him a bunch of coloring booklets too.

Normally we get gobs of pens and sticky notes but not this year. I entered a bunch of giveaways there too. I hope I win something cool. We encountered a jerk at one of the booths but oh well. I still had a great time. I had my elephant ear. There wasn't much cinnamon and sugar on it which was a little disappointing. I got some pink cotton candy too. We went and looked at all the animals. Noah liked the goats and the cows. He didn't care for the roosters very much. I think roosters are kinda freaky when you are face to face with them. One of the roosters crowed at me. It's eyes rolled back in his head. We saw the sheep get sheared and vacuumed. The llamas are always neat to see.  I am so glad that I wear men's sandals because I can just rinse them off after being in the animal areas. I like to do that in case I stepped in something. The really good thing about our county fair is it is low key and homegrown. All the vendors are local people. It's focus is really on the animals and the tractor pull. I feel like a redneck lol. The county fair is something everyone should check out! I always have a great time. I went to the county fair when I was pregnant with Noah. We had to leave though because it was really hot and I was pretty big. The ducks weren't the only thing waddling that year. It was really nice to see all the kids involved with 4-H. They all seemed very polite and nice.

4-H is a great program for kids and adults. I did 4-H one year. I even went to 4-H camp. I did gift wrap and baking. I got blue ribbons in both. I actually still have my 4-H cookbook from when I was 9! I made the same cookies for a family get together at my cousin's house a few weeks ago. I barely remember going to 4-H camp I remember getting hurt in the talent show. I kinda remember the dance and listening to the song Old time Rock N Roll. I liked 4-H though. I can't for the life of me remember what it stands for. Parents you should check it out. They have so much more than just animals. I couldn't see me taking care of a pig or cow. Of course I wouldn't of had the space. I think my neighbors at the time wouldn't like the 4 am mooing. They have cooking,sewing, jewelry making, scrapbooking,even LEGO building to name just a few. I hope everyone is enjoying this weekend.

In my Pantry...

I decided to clean out the pantry today. There was so much stuff in there. It seemed like if one more thing was put in there everything would fall out! I did half of it. There was all kinds of food that I didn't even remember having. I sorted through it all. I threw away all the expired boxes of food. I found some Jell-o that was really old. Jell-o is small so it can get hidden away at the bottom of the basket. I also found 4 yes FOUR boxes of Swiss Miss. They were all open but only missing a couple each. I threw two of the boxes away because they had since expired. I did learn that Swiss Miss has really small expiration dates on them. You have to squint to see it even. It's Summer so I don't see me drinking much Hot Chocolate. I did realize I have a bunch of snacks too. I put them all in a basket. I love sweet stuff and Candy. I had to keep saying to my adorable little helper to stop trying to get in the cookies. Meh I only had to say that a few times. He was very curious about what was in there as was I. I was excited to see that I have 7 tubs of frosting in there as well. I should probably clean out my linen closet and check out if any of my many skincare products have expired as well.

I love cupcakes and cakes and cookies oh and brownies. I really wanna try the Fairytale brownies that everyone is always talking/blogging about. Other than that we have been just hanging out at home. I have been watching Harry Potter all day it seems like. My son seems to be interested in what is going on. I needed a break from Caillou, Thomas, Zooboomafoo, Barney and Blue's Clues. Those are shows that are always on at my house. Yesterday I bought a Panini maker from Macy's for 20 dollars so we are having Cuban Sandwiches for dinner. I love them. I love my kitchen gadgets and goodies.

I love to cook and bake so naturally I would spend lots and lots of time in the kitchen. I have always loved to cook and bake. As soon as I was old enough I was helping my mom and grandma in the kitchen. When I was in Third grade I was making bread from SCRATCH (mixing,kneading the whole shabang) all by my self. I used to make bread on snow days. One Christmas I really wanted an Easy Bake Oven but instead of getting one I got a big box of Jiffy mixes from Santa and was using the real oven. You know what is weird? I love to cook but I have never really had an apron. My grandma always had aprons for me to wear but I never had one. I hope everyone is having a great Saturday.