Looks Like Rough Week, And I Think I'd Rather Watch From Under the Covers...

Ack.....  Woke up to snot and cough covered 2 year olds. Not a good sign, even after a pot of coffee. My two oldest have been struggling in school, one just because he doesn't "do" instructions or check answers, the other because sometimes that ADHD is the bear that wins. So this week is book report finish line week, I hope to make it with at least half the marbles I enter it with. I worry because of what my little cherub said to me yesterday while planning out the "sandwich report" (each layer of sandwich has a different report part, plot on the lettuce, characters on the cheese, etc) he says, "I can't do the bottom of the sandwich, it asks for a picture. My book didn't have any pictures." And as I slowly turned to Billy who was making lunch, trying not to giggle, Billy blurts out, "the picture is from YOUR MIND, they don't want you to trace one from the book!!!!" I'm glad he said it, makes me feel better when he's the bad cop. :) So we'll see what happens today when he gets home. I also need to paint the bedroom ceiling where the water seeped down from the upstairs bathroom and try not to catch the baby cooties and end up sick myself.

Tomorrow the temps of the 70-80's we have been blessed with will vanish and it's supposed to be a very cold week for Texas. We're supposed to wake up to 19 degrees and that means the shorties and I are staying put. BRRRR..... So, we're off to a long week, hope it's better than expected and I hope to lose maybe 1 more pound before the Super Bowl Food Extravaganza hits the Ryann home. :) I may even squeeze in a work out, you never know! If I get frustrated enough with kids' homework and lack of motivation, I may need to yell at Jillian Michaels after the kids go to sleep. :)

Weight Watchers Makes A Grown Man Turn Into A Pregnant Woman When it Comes To Food...

Billy had to get a new Blackberry (his had some tech glitch) on Friday. He comes home, we have dinner and he is tinkering with the new phone.  Earlier he had taken a picture of his dinner, a nice omelet stuffed with veggies and cheese. Low and behold, my husband had made that omelet picture his wallpaper on the phone. I kid you not. All weekend he keeps showing me "that beautiful pic".... I'm not sure he's eating all his points.... :)

Supposed to hit 80 today, hoping for a nice long family walk... Have a great Sunday!

That Whole Refusing To Read Directions Thing Has Got To Be Genetic....

So one of my 10 year old boys is struggling in math. Not the best subject for me to help with, but really if I can't figure out 5th grade math, I should be ashamed and mocked in public....  Anyway, I had him bring me his lowest graded assignment and as we went through all the missed problems, I realize that he got a lot of them wrong because he DIDN'T READ THE DIRECTIONS!!!  Really?!?! That afflicts young boys? I just figure that was a guy thing when they start driving, heading out on road trips and scoffing at their silly wives for even suggesting that maps might be a good idea. :)  My 10 year old has proven to me that they must be born that way.  But until they can use it in the car or when they are building bikes at 2 a.m. on Christmas Eve, they just do it to self destruct in math... Awesome....

Have an awesome weekend, I plan on watching "Once Upon a Potty" at least 1800 times with the shorties. :)

Time For Me To Put On My Big Girl Pants... And Do I Count Activity Points for Watching a Workout?

This morning Billy and I packed up our sweet shorties and toured a nearby Mothers Day Out Program for the shorties. It was wonderful.... Small class size, great facilities, incredibly nice staff. But MY BABIES?!?!?!?  I know, I know, these are babies 4 and 5, I have done this before, everybody is still alive and as far as I know, mentally stable and happy.  But they're just so LITTLE... (umm, in age, they're freaking HUGE for 2 year olds. Over 3 feet tall and at least 37 pounds of joy) Honestly, Emi will be fine. She was all over the room exploring, even if shyly looking at the other kids.  But my Simonster was not leaving his Daddy's side and when his beloved twin did, he started calling... "EMI... EMI...", like she was going into the deep, dark forest never to be seen from again... Even though she was 3 feet away from him.... He is lost without her, he looks for her reaction to new things before he has one.  So in reality, this is a good thing for him. But my monster has a short fuse. Are they going to know what he wants? And yes, I know it won't matter. He needs to go into the world and figure it all out, no matter how many times he fails. (how over dramatic am I?) And these are my last babies, that of course kills me. All my babies are growing up.

Sigh... I'm going to fill out the registration forms. My caterpillar eyebrows will thank me when I have alone time to get them done. My kids will have a happier, more relaxed mommy.  I will have actual daylight work out time. For that my thighs will thank me. See, I just needed to list the pros and cons. 

Ok, enough boo hooing. I have an awesome low point meal in the crock pot, I watched Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred DVD, (I'm a dork, but I always watch the new work outs before doing them, I am a total klutz.)
and I found a great place for my shorties. Have a great day y'all!

And Now We Have A Super Bowl Party Menu! (Weight Watchers points suspended that day)

Well, it looks like this will be a pizza free Super Bowl.  Oh well, I was really looking forward to trying a deep dish gluten free pizza. Bright side, it might have been a disaster and that is never fun when you suspend point counting for the day!  So now we have the Packers vs. the Steelers and our menu will probably look something like this: (unless you know better and let me know what quintessential Green Bay or Pittsburgh food item is missing)

A glorious cheese tray (Kevin and I are quite the cheese fans, so we'll sit close to this one!)
The Primanti sandwich from Pittsburgh (this involves slaw and fries ON THE SANDWICH), hello, this may be worth the extra workouts that will surely follow....
The Brat of course, for those of us unwilling to try the sandwich... I mean, I am partying with picky 10 year olds...
And the dessert of the Klondike Bars, from Pittsburgh! And they are gluten free, so really very little work to make all of this workable for me.

I have already ordered my sandwich rolls from  http://thelittleaussiebakery.com/ here in town. I cannot tell you how amazing their food is, all gluten free. They also ship all over the U.S. now too!

So that is our work in progress menu as of now, I'm sure Billy will tweek it here and there.  Today I have one big kid home, still recovering from one of his worst bouts of illness in a really long time. Let me know if I have left off some huge menu item that my Super Bowl menu must include!!!

This is The House Of Ick.....

I know that you are supposed to blog daily, at least in the beginning, but from Friday on, my house has required a hazmat suit to enter.  First it was just the shorties and Olivia with some cough, snot covered grossness that really just required Tylenol and tissues.  Actually, this past school semester, my kids have really been healthy, no flu, stomach bug, strep, nothing.  Saturday, Kevin had a basketball game, so I kept three snot kids home and Billy took the older boys.  When Kevin got home, he said he wasn't feeling well, an hour later there was projectile vomit everywhere, he was gray-green and crying.  It was awful.  Two hours later, he continued it.... in the KITCHEN....  That was a first for us.  And talk about a clean up session.  Let's move on....  So he was sick off and on all night, but today seems ok, not sure if it's viral or food poisoning.  So blogging is in the back seat for now, Sundays are full of getting ready for the week and Olivia has a big test tomorrow.  So I feel better for posting something, albeit unpleasant to read.  Hopefully this coming week will be eventful, but healthy.

And as far as our Super Bowl menu stands, we have brats leading deep dish, and it's looking like it may be over... Next is thin crust and cheesecake  versus this french fry sandwich thing we found online...

Mitochondrial DNA and Generational Stages, You Know, Pillow Talk??

I have been married to Billy for over 13 years now, together for 6 before that.  He is really my other half, I think we balance each other as well as we possibly could.  I talk too much, he is really quiet unless the topic is necessary.  I laugh out loud. And often.  When I say "wasn't that funny?!"  He always responds with, "yeah, I'm laughing inside."  (who does that?!)  But our conversations at night always reaffirm this ying and yang thing we have...

Me: So why are some guys so hairy?

Billy: (long pause) Well, you know that everyone is in a different generational phase, right?

Me: Maybe it's for warmth...

Billy: See, every one is different.  I'm in a different generation than you are....

Me: (cutting in) Oh Lord, this isn't going to turn into some physics conversation about black holes or the "Singularity", is it?  SNORE... (umm, Google it if you need to, I couldn't really explain it here)

Billy:  The Singularity?!?! No, this is nothing like that.  Please, I was thinking about Mitochondrial DNA."

Me:  Of course you were...  I was afraid we were going to have to start talking about that.  That's worse than that movie you made me watch about the black hole...

Billy: "Dark Matter".... I still say that scene with the Asian kid selling make up to Meryl Streep should have been award winning.  It's as good as "I drink your milkshake".

Me:  Whatever... Nobody saw your stupid Dark Matter movie and the scene was not anything like "I drink your milkshake." Cannot compare...

Billy:  You didn't even see the milkshake scene, you fell asleep.

Me:  I saw it, they replayed it on tv a lot during award season.


See, that's the ying and the yang......