Bunny Rolls...well actually Bear Rolls

So here is a picture of the kiddies chilling on the floor. Totally of their own doing too! I turned around and there they were. How sweet is that! Yes, they are very close in size.

The other day I dug into my new cookbook. Blue Ribbon Baking with Marjorie. If you watch the tonight show you should know who I am talking about. Oh I love her! She is just the cutest little thing and she reminds me so much of my Grandma! Anyway Mike got me her new cookbook for christmas so I have been slowly sampling some of her recipes. This time we tried Bunny Rolls. Ours turned out more like Bear Rolls but what the heck!

I mixed them all up and Ashley got to decorate with raisins. Great task for her. She loved it and was so proud of her work!

Ben sat on the floor below us trying to bite my calves. So not fun. I am trying to break him of this but he thinks it is so funny. Oh boy.

The finished rolls turned out pretty cute too! And there were gone within 2 days cause the kiddies and I loved them so much. After the first day they were missing all the arms and legs because Ashley kept sneaking them. Silly.

Our new computer

Mike just finished up the building process of our new computer! Yay. Now we each have one so there is no more fighting over the puter! This one is really neat. I especially like the clear side so you can see all the part inside. It was his first time building a computer so he did lots of research before jumping in but now I am jealous cause his is so much neater than mine :D Oh well he likes to play games and he needs a newer one to do that. All I do is homework.....well almost.

Well, isn't it neat to see inside?

Ugliest Slipper contest!!!

I love slippers in the winter time. I do I do! I have had 2 pairs of slip on (backless) slippers that have worked fine up until this winter. I think I have gotten a case of the clumsys and have just about broken my neck about 5 times slipping in and out of them. This last time I hurt my knee and wrist and decided "I'm done with these!"

So I have been on the market for some slippers.

My slipper criteria:

• MUST have a back!!
• rubber non-slip bottom
• no ballet style
• under $20.00
  

I really thought this would be a simple find! I'm not too picky about how they look as long as they don't make me break my neck and they keep my feet cozy. I've looked and looked and looked and never did I think it would be this difficult! I searched online and found some really fuzzy ones but they were 50 bucks, ouch!

So we made a trip down to Wally World (aka: walmart) and found a slipper that fit all the criteria. They have a back, rubber non-slip bottoms and best of all they were on clearance. The only problem is they are UGLY!!!! They look like little sleeping bags on my feet. I mean they seriously look like they are made out of sleeping bag remnants! I showed them to Mike and his response was...."oh come on, you've got to be kidding me..." Nope, I bought em! $3.00 and 2 hours later my feet are nice and toasty! Now I know you are wanting a picture of these god awful slippers, but first I am asking everyone else to post a pair of their slippers too! I have decided that most slippers are really ugly anyway so come on lets see those ugly tootsie warmers!!!!

nothing much

Life has been pretty uneventful here lately. We've been staying home quite a bit because it's just too darn cold out there. This winter is really getting old to me. It just doesn't give me any encouragement to get out and do stuff. Ugggh, okay enough complaining!

I am half way done with my classes. I am really enjoying my management course but the same does not hold true to my statistics for social sciences class. Yuck!! Between those two classes, most of my free time is sucked dry. But I am halfway done! Only 4 weeks to go!

Ben is really cruising now. He has also gotten much better at sitting back down once he has been standing. That one took a while but now he's gotten it down. He is jabbering like crazy now. I often here him repeating me and actually making sounds that are very similar to those I just made. It is so exciting to see them learn.

Ashley is doing good but is having many more temper tantrums. It seems like all day long I am calming her down and redirecting her "energy". I am sure some of it has to do with being kept up in the house so I am planning to take them downtown to run some errands and maybe catch a few minutes at the play area at the mall. Let em run out their frustrations!

Oh and Mike stirred up a little "dust" at work because he didn't think things were running as they should and managed to get himself switched over to AME on mids, nice. (of course the two events were "unrelated". He starts on Tuesday...

ENT referral

Oh boy. So I've had a sore throat the last few days which I contributed to spending too much time on the phone with my dear friend E the past week :D But it was hanging around and starting to drive me nuts last night so I made myself an appointment at the clinic. The doc stuck the light thing in there and the told me I needed to go see the Ears, nose, and throat specialist downtown. He also said that I will most likely be undergoing a tonsillectomy. Whoohoo.

This was not a complete shock to me as I have had throat issues off~n~on for a few years. I seem to be super susceptible to strep and I have pitted tonsils that seem to egg it all on. So this should be interesting!

More

So here the video I got of Ben signing "more". He does it all the time when I prompt him but he hasn't really done it on his own without prompting yet. There you go Kerri!
And here is another video for grandma. Sweet little girl. Enjoy

he he he

head

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Ugggh, toys, toys and more toys!

After an influx of toys over the holiday and birthday season the Roberts household was overrun with disorder. Too many toys without suitable homes were causing a cranky mommy! First I ran out and bought a bunch of shoe box size rubbermaids to contain the sets (little people, mr. potato head, blocks ect). That worked but then I had an overflow of rubbermaids with still no home. Browsing the target ad online I found these storage cubes and thought, hmm this could work. Eureka! I remember seeing these in S.E.'s house in the play area, they're cheap, flexible, and easy to assemble. So I went out and bought 4 sets! I set up 1 1/2 in the living room to control the toy clutter there and then another 2 1/4 sets in Ashley's room.

Now all the toys have homes! Mommy is so much happier and sane. The kids love them too. And one of the coolest things is the big trucks don't roll off like they did off the shelf because of the grate pattern. And all the rubbermaids fit right in the cubbies as well. Ahh the simple solutions!

Random Stuff

I've been slacking on taking pictures lately. But I managed to snap a few. So Ben is pulling up on everything now and is starting to take a few cruising steps. He's really excited about it but still needs to figure out how to sit back down.



My fashionista for ya. She was all ready to go to the water park. Too bad she decided she was going on her own and she didn't consult the mamma.

cutest card

We had our hostess club last night and I love the card so much I had to share. It's so easy too!

Birthday Pictures!

Yummo cupcakes!



Ashley ready to blow out the candles! She called her cupcakes, "pancakes" all day.



Ben and his first cupcake!



He loved them. About 10 minutes later he was bouncing off the walls, well really the floor, but it was hilarious!



A new vacuum, and a real one that works! I have to admit this is probably a funny gift for a 3 year old but she loves it when I vacuum so I thought she would love it too. Plus she is always under my feet, grabbing the handle, cord or whatever and driving me nuts so hopefully having one of her own will let her chip in too!



So concentrated on picking up the dirt!



Ben got a big ole box of colored blocks. They are pretty neat cause they real wood and fun shapes. Both kids have enjoyed them so far.



My little Mariner!



Look he's standing. He's starting to do it a little more often. He's also at the very beginning stages of cruising. But he's starting to realize he can get places on two legs!

My Latest Stuff! thanks Bev

My Latest Stuff

Chocolate- Dove Dark Chocolate
Fav Music- hmm, don't really have a favorite right now
Book- Management: skills and application & Statistics for the social sciences
Drink- Diet Dr. Pepper!!!
Nemeses- sleep
Soap-Dove
Goal-stay up on my reading for school and keep the house cleaner
Habit broken-flylady
Gadget-new hair clippers! Mike got mad again at the barber on base and so now I am "in training" I did his hair last night and I think it looks fine, i even did the blending.....

It's birthday time!!!!!

So today is Ashley's 3rd birthday! Happy birthday big girl! And Tuesday is Ben's 1st birthday! Our little guy is almost 1, woweeee

We are doing a small joint birthday for both kids today at home. I really didn't want to have 2 birthday cakes in the house within one week! So I made chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting and Ashley will get to decorate them with the sprinkles and such.

Then this evening we have tickets for the monster truck show downtown at the Alerus Center! It should be fun. Ashley is pretty excited but I hope Ben does okay with all the noise! Plus, it starts at their bedtime...so that should be interesting! Normally they are pretty flexible with bedtime if we have to bump it around so that's good. I will post pictures later

Oh yeah another thing too:

So poor Ben is really in a difficult stage. He has the whole separation anxiety thing going strong as well as the no sleeping thing. Uggh, no fun. He sits up in bed and won't lay himself back down so instead he sits up and screams! I am so exhausted! He's still in our room in the crib so I can't ignore it cause he's in my ears.

To rectify his non sleeping patterns I am moving him into the spare room. At least this way I can let him try to cry it out a little bit more without driving Mike and I insane. He's got to be able to soothe himself and I think having him in our room hasn't let him develop those skills.

So yesterday I set up the playpen in the spare room. I haven't moved the crib yet cause we have to take it apart to fit it through the doorways so it will have to wait until the weekend. But he ended up taking a nap and slept in there the whole night. He did wake up a few times and I had to go in there but I just went in there patted him on the back and then sat down in a chair facing the other direction. He was so much calmer when I was sitting there even though I wasn't looking at him or holding him. Plus I had a few minutes each time to read my school book so that's a plus too. Hopefully I will slowly be able to move out of the room so I don't have to wait until he is asleep. But baby steps are better than none at all!!! Now maybe he'll start sleeping better! Ppppplease! I really need my sleep!

Grandma's new house

Yay, my parents have been in a battle for this house and finally signed papers last night. Now they are back in the Gig! I think they move in by mid February! Yippee!



I will be so excited to go an visit! What a fun house to entertain it.



Click here to go see it:

hair do too

ok, so my little sister got her hair cut yesterday and got sweeping bangs. I was thinking tonight, hmm, might be fun. So I did it! All by myself because yes, I am crazy! They turned out a bit choppier than I would like but oh well, they'll grow back. Thanks for the inspiration Kerri!

I dressed myself!

We got a bag of hand-me-downs for Ashley today and she was so excited she had to try them on. I was busy with dinner so she did it herself! I thought the results were worthy of a photo!



If you can't tell she is wearing: bandana, sweater, velour zip up sweatshirt, pajama dress, jeans, skirt, big girl pants, socks, and last but not least her magic wand!

Ben still scoots!

So Ben is still not standing much. He has begun to pull up to his knees all the time and does it without holding on to anything too. But boy oh boy does he have the scooting thing down. It's so funny to watch!
Oh but the other new thing is separation anxiety. He's always been a momma's boy but oh my gosh this last month its out of control! He freaks out when ever I leave the house. Uggh

Christmas Morning

We had a great Christmas and loved having our visitors here to keep it interesting. Let me tell you I am pretty darn sure that 2 kids is enough for us. But it was really fun to see the kids enjoy the holiday and the time with their cousin.



The big hit this Christmas was the play kitchen that Ashley and Ben got from their Grandma and Grandpa Moscho. They both love it. Ashley has been making everyone dinner and snacks with all her play food. I love watching her pretend play, it's my favorite!



Ben got a whole bunch of cars. Wind up cars, squishy cars, big ones, little ones. The kid likes practically anything with wheels!



So Mike outdid himself with the sewing box he made me. He went to buy one and didn't like any of the ones available. So he decided to create his own. I truly love it. The sides fold out with more compartments underneath.



Mike got this really cool set of blocks that are called Kapla blocks. They are really neat and he has had fun creating pieces of art. I thought this one looked like an owl, but he said it was a Chinese building.

Ear, oh dear!

I woke up yesterday morning and poor Benjamin had a fever of 101 degrees. We gave him some Tylenol and some extra cuddles and he was doing fine. Last night, of course cause things always get worse when you can't see the Dr., it was up to 102.5 and he was cranky and not sleeping well at all. It was strange cause he had no other noticeable symptoms either.

So this morning I called and got him an appointment at the holiday clinic on base and sure enough poor kid has his first ear infection. I feel bad cause I just mentioned the day before that neither of my kids had ever had one. Nice one mom! Anyway the nice Dr. gave us an antibiotic and some pain relieving drops as well as recommending a rotating course of Tylenol and Motrin. So hopefully the little guy will be feeling better by Christmas morning.

Alright, i am heading off to take a nap, a much needed one after last night.

More pictures with Santa

Well of Ben anyways. Ashley still refused to sit with Santa so we have another picture of Ben. Ben and his cousin Taylor were not the happiest about pictures but put up with it so we could get a picture of them. Yippee. Merry Christmas everyone! Oh but Ashley did take a candy cane and told Santa that she wanted Dora shoes for Christmas.

Thanks Jen for the Santa recommendation. He was great!

Happy Holidays!

So I had a great birthday on the 15th and was able to really take it easy and relax. It was very needed! I have been so stressed with school and our visitors coming for xmas and of course the xmas gifts we decided to make for our parents. It was all a lot of work and a lot of stress that came along with it. But now we are settling down now again. ...Only to get started again with Christmas, Yippee.

Mike's older sister and her 1 yr old daughter Taylor arrived last night after a full day of flying from Shreveport, LA with 4 hours of delays. Yippee, for holiday travels! They were both so wiped out when they finally got here we had dinner, visited for a few, and they were off to bed.

Mike and his sister are out to a movie today. I think they are seeing....ahh, I forgot... something to do with old men. I'm sure I'll remember later. As you know I hate movie theaters so I willingly stayed home with all three kiddos, who are all sleeping, kudos to me!

I am signed up for my next set of classes which are "principles of management" and "statistics for social sciences". Sounds like fun huh! I am hoping they aren't too bad but who am I kidding online classes always consist of lots of work! I was tossing around the idea of picking up a third class but I wanted to do an in class one but I don't think they are offering any on base that will work for me. darn it~

Ahhha, No Country for Old Men...that's the movie they went to see. I knew I would remember if I had a few minutes.

Jenny will be staying here until after christmas so we have some fun activities planned while she is here including sledding and the waterpark. I love the water park!

Anyways, I hope you are all enjoying your day!

Visiting with Santa

The kids got to see Santa at Mike's squadrons Christmas party. Ashley talked about it the entire night before and was ready with her coat for almost an hour before we were leaving. But as soon as we got there she wanted nothing to do with him. She wouldn't even take her coat off. So we didn't get any pictures of her with Santa. As you can see Ben wasn't the biggest fan of Santa but at least we got a few pictures.

uggh, finals are done

Wow, I am so relieved to have this round of finals done. I finished them up this morning and only have a couple quick assignments left to do. Now I have only 8 classes left to finish up my bachelors. Yippee. That makes it worth it! I am making progress, although even though it often it doesn't feel like it.

So our plans for the holiday include having Mike's older sister fly in to visit and stay for 10 days so that should be fun. His dad was planning on coming but isn't going to be able to make it. I totally have to catch up on housework and getting the scrapbooking/stamping/radio repair shop/sewing room turned into a guest room with room for 2. Yikes that should be a task. I've also got some Christmas gift projects that we have to finish up so we can get them in the mail this week.

I am still overwhelmed with everything I have to do. Oh well, I think I need to make a list so I can see my progress!

Sledding Trip...Brrrrrr

So we took a drive to Turtle River State Park to go sledding. I went once with my sister and her hubby when they were visiting but Mike hadn't gone yet so off we went.

It was absolutely beautiful but also so darn cold. I think it was 10 degrees but it was quite windy so when we got home and checked the wind chill it was actually -14. Yikes, it sure was cold.

We made a few quick stops around the park after sledding, so yes my hair is quite a mess in this photo, but ah heck.

Here is Boca up to her belly in our snow.

Mike and Ashley heading up the hill, boy is that a big hill!!!

Whooosh, here they go. Ashley loved it when she didn't end up with a face full of snow.

Ben got pulled around in his sled and liked it as long as he was moving. I think when it was moving it was interesting and when it stopped it was darn cold!

I think we only managed to sledd for about 35 minutes because of the weather. BRRRRR. As I write this it is -15 degrees and with the wind chill it's -33 and it's only supposed to get worse.... The Weather channel says -39 for a windchill low over night. Why oh why do we live here???? I feel ya Bev!

Chatting it up

So Ben's newest thing is chatting on the phone. He does it with anything, the remote, the real phone, the toy phones, even the travel wipes container. So I tried to capture it here for you. Enjoy.

Winter Wonderland

Alright, here are a few pictures for all of those who are jealous of our winter weather. I do hate the really cold weather but to me if it's gonna be cold it might as well be snowy and pretty.



Boca loves the snow. She was running circles around the back yard.



Here is our house all decked out for the season.



It was -12 outside when I took this picture. You can actually see my breath.

mom is santa

My uncle sent me this video and I thought I would share.