Haircuts

Today the kids and I met my mom at my sisters to do haircuts and lunch.

Before you start wondering why we do this just let me say that my mom has been a licensed stylist for over 20 years so it is not just a crap kitchen haircut they get but a great cut for free.

The boys now look like boys not girls lol.

After haircuts we went out to lunch at Pannekoeken Huis for lunch.  I hadn't been at one since I was a kid and it tasted just the way I remembered.

The boys' dad met us there because he is off work the rest of this week so he will have them until Sunday.  No it is not a formal thing just he asked and we didn't have plans so I said sure.  We are usually very flexible about each others plans.

So it was just Z and I until D got off of work so we hung out and played in the kitchen cabinets.

Now it is 9pm on New Years Eve and I am a mom of a small child who will be up early so I am going to say screw this I am going to bed.

Happy New Year everyone!  I hope 2015 is a great one for you!

2015 Goals

I sat down today and made a list of all the things I want to accomplish in 2015.  

#1  Quit smoking - I have been smoking for almost 20 years and it is about time I quit this crap.

#2  Take the kids on a "real" vacation.  We have never gone anywhere other than w weekend trip.       Daycare is closed for the July 4th week so I have already requested it off of work so I want to take them on a trip and do things like museums and zoos.

#3  Save $100 a week or $200 a paycheck.  The only way we can afford to take a vacation is if we start saving money now.  With the money I save from not smoking this should be do able.

#4  Have a family night once a week.  Even if it is just hanging out and watching TV together we just need to actually spend time as a family.

#5  Date night once a month.  D and I never go out without children these days.  Sometimes we just need to get away for an hour or so to talk like grown-ups about the kids lol.

#6  Get at least 10 of my 30 or so unfinished knitting projects done.  Some of these things have been sitting for 5 years or more and I just need to rip them out or finish them already.

#7  Get my yarn stash under control.  I have yarn everywhere.  It is in my living room, under my bed, it takes up my whole closet, it is in the basement in boxes that were never unpacked when we moved in here.  I just need to not buy yarn for a while.  Yea right that will never happen but I need to work on it lol.

#8  Get 10 pair of socks done.  Basically it is one pair for birthday and one pair for Christmas for each of us.  I did this one last year and I plan to do it again this year.

#9  Get rid of 1 garbage bag of stuff each month.  No, I don't mean garbage I mean things that are in boxes from the move, stuff that we have grown out of, stuff that is broken, just stuff we don't use or want anymore.

#10 Get my blog to 500 views a month.  I figure I started my blog around 6 months ago and for December so far I am at 200 views so 500 doesn't seem that farfetched.  

So these are my 10 goals for 2015.  Some are easier to accomplish than others but I hope that I am successful at them all.  They are in order by priority to me so if I don't make it to 500 views a month I am not going to give up just try to do better the next month.  

What are your goals for 2015?

Deep Fryer

For Christmas D bought me a deep fryer and we gave it a go for dinner tonight.

Things would be way easier if you didn't have to wash things before you used them.

We tried tater crowns

and mozzarella sticks

We were going to do mini corn dogs too but they didn't have deep frying directions so those went in the oven.

All of the food turned out great.  The boys were shocked that the Crispy Crowns were not soggy like they usually are when you make them in the oven.  

We had never tried doing the deep fryer thing at home before and the kids and I agree that as unhealthy as it is it does make the food taste better.

Z has leftovers for dinner because I don't want her to have so much grease.

She did try an orange for the first time and she did seem to like it.

Ok so she didn't eat much of the orange but she did suck all of the juice out of it lol.

So what should we try in the deep fryer next?

Out with the Old

Today we went to our last Christmas party of the 2014 season.  

This one was at my Dad's house.  Z had fun with her new xylophone.

I got to hang out with all 7 of my siblings and my dad and step mom Julie.

When we got home we played the out with the old game.  Basically you have to get rid of some of the old broken toys in your room to make room for your new toys.

We let them work at it for a while by themselves but they didn't make much progress.

So it became a family job.

Even Z helped.

Ok she wasn't much help but we got it done.

G's side looks great.

K's looks great too.

Now we had some room to open new toys and play with them too.

Z helps play with the new toys too.

How do you deal with all the new toys?

Christmas Party #?

Today we had yet another Christmas party.  Yup I am so tired of Christmas its not even fun anymore.  This one was with D and his parents and siblings.

The kids got lots of fun gifts.  G helped pass them out.

G with his new trucks.

K got what he asked for which was Electronic Battleship.  He moved too fast so I didn't get a pic of him but he was very excited to get it.

Z got an awesome quilt from her godmother.

It is bubbled filled with fiberfill.  Think of cloth bubble wrap that stays inflated.

K was busy doing his own thing so G played Battleship with Grandpa Brownie.  They played old school Battleship because K didn't want to share his new game.

I also want to say thank you to Giada100 and everyone else at the IBA for making me one of this weeks featured bloggers for Social Media Saturday.

Ninjabread Cookies

As a family Christmas gift my mom gave us a ninjabread cookie kit.

We gave them a go this afternoon.

I made the dough and G, D, and Z cut them out.

We plan to decorate them tomorrow so I will show you done pics then.

This afternoon we had a suicide bomber in our house.

When she grew tired of that she became a car bomber.

Yup my daughter got a grenade in her Christmas stocking.  This thing has a tick down timer and a exploding sound.  To her it is the best gift ever lol.

I am so tired of Christmas but I still have 2 more parties this year.

Merry Christmas!!!

Christmas was good at our house.

The kids got a bunch of cool stuff.  Other than G's 2 remote control trucks nothing the boys got was electronic.  Well ok nothing from us was but K got a little computer thing from my brother.

The kids made a big mess opening their gifts.

K got a diabolo, brain teasers, models, and a bunch of clothes.

G got monster truck stuff, a telescope, pants, and 2 remote control trucks.

G got Merida, a cozy coupe, and a bunch of other toys and cloths.

As a family gift we got a pool and a kayak.

Which is still in my hallway lol.

I scored a 4 slice toaster.  I am so excited it is crazy.  I can now make toast for all 3 kids at once if I pull out my old 2 slicer too lol.

Yup you have that mom moment when you realize you got excited because you got a toaster for Christmas lol.

My mom and siblings came over this afternoon to celebrate with us so we made some appetizers to share.

K made meat and cheese rollups.

D and I made bacon wrapped smokies.

I missed getting a done photo aut they were delicious.

I will end this long post with a pic of my sister playing with one of K's brain puzzles.

How was your Christmas?  Did you get any great gifts?

MeasuPro IRT20 Temperature Gun

So I don't forget to do it tomorrow here is my review of a 

MeasuPro IRT20 Temperature Gun Non-Contact Infrared Thermometer with Laser Targeting

This thing is so awesome for using with my job of fixing ice boxes.  It tells me in an instant if the box is running at the right temp.  You can get one yourself for $19.99 on Amazon here.

It is small enough to fit in my pocket or tool tote.

Easy to use buttons to control F and C.

Wide range of temps it works for -50 C - 380 C/ -58 F - 716 F.

All you do is point and pull the trigger and it tells you the temp the item is at on an easy to see screen.

All of this on only 1 9v battery.

If you do anything that you need a good quick temp reading this thing is for you.  I need to get another one because my boyfriend D stole mine.  He repairs commercial kitchen equipment and this thing works great for checking oven temps.


I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Christmas Eve

The boys went to their dads for the afternoon/evening to celebrate Christmas with his family today but before that we did our chores around the house.

When they got home all three kids changed into their Christmas pajamas.  

K at 14 just wanted sleep pants so thats what he got.

G loves monster trucks and skulls.  I couldn't find monster truck pjs so he got skull ones.

Z likes anything so we got her red snowflake ones because that is the pattern she got last year and we thought it would be funny.

The kids are getting ready for bed eager for Santa to come.  I am eager for them to go to bed so I can finish wrapping presents and get them under the tree for tomorrow.

Is your gift wrapping done yet?

Christmas Cookies

We made cookies 2 weeks ago and they had been sitting in tubs on the counter.  That was the problem I guess because most of them were gone lol.  So this evening we made some more.

We also made some muffins in ice cream cones.

G and Z made cookies at daycare today too.

Oh and I won the bet on Z's weight.  She weighed in at 18# 5oz and my guess was 18# 2oz.  Ok I didn't win a prize just bragging rights for the next 3 months lol.

D has to work tomorrow so it will just be the 3 kids and I home for most of the day so after we do some chores we plan to make some more cookies. 

What kind of cookies should we make next?