Creepy Bunny…

 

 

 

Have I told you guys the story of the Creepy Easter Bunny?  No?  Well, gather around, readers…

About a year ago, I was walking around the mall with my screaming, sleep-refusing baby, in an attempt to have an outing.  We would literally hit the mall at least once a week, and walk the aisles in desperate exhaustion and loneliness. (This was before I had any friends in the area.)

I saw a sign for pictures with the Easter bunny.

A photo op for my first child?  I’m there!  And- joy of joys!- Gymboree was selling bunny hats!!

-

-

The sign said that the Bunny was “eating carrots” and would be back soon.

So I waited.

and waited.

And then, I spotted the Easter Bunny walking down the mall toward me. 

Well, kind of.

-

-

I saw a teenage boy dressed from the neck down in a bunny outfit and carrying the head of the Easter bunny.

The head of the creepiest Easter bunny that I have ever seen.

But, I had been waiting for some time, and my baby was miraculously not crying, so we decided to stick to our guns.

He waved to his friends, made some (I’m assuming) crass joke that made them all laugh, and donned the head of our beloved Easter icon.

Which begs the question, what teenage boy chooses to dress up like the Easter Bunny?

Oh well, we plowed ahead.

-

-

I walked up to him, and plopped my sweet baby on his skinny little creepy-bunny leg.

Smoky, skinny little creepy-bunny leg.

Apparently, he had been smoking carrots.

-

-

As I was leaning over to adjust Joseph, I noticed that my engorged milk-jugs were hanging REALLY far out of my shirt.

Like, REALLY REALLY FAR.

I would say more about how they were hanging out so far that some things were almost showing, but I don’t want to embarrass anyone… and you get the idea. 

-

-

And, suddenly, I got the feeling that someone was staring at them.

-

-

You know, that skin-prickling, spine-tingling feeling?

So, I quickly covered my cleavage with my hand,

and then I looked up to see who the culprit was that was staring down my shirt…

I couldn’t see a thing inside that mask.

That creepy plastic face just smiled at me, as I stood frozen,

awkwardly bent over

with my hand (uselessly) over my cleavage.

We just stood there staring.

And we stood there.

And we stood there.

For several hours minutes seconds.  If he hadn’t been looking at my chest before, he certainly was by now!

-

-

Finally, I slowly stood up and backed away.

We took the picture,

and my little bunny and I went home.

 

We are skipping picture time with the Bunny this year.

Thursday’s Culinary Adventure

 

 

Tonight, on Thursday’s Culinary Adventure:

Wowie!  My culinary wonders never cease!

Well, you can think that now, but wait until you see (read) how EASY they are to make!

What I didn’t tell you, is that these are MICROWAVE potato chips!  Hot dog!  I’m in!

-Take a potato.  I used a plain old russet potato.  But, I bet that a Yukon Gold would be delicious!  So creamy and buttery…no?  Did I lose all of you non-Idahoans?  Sorry.  Just get a potato.

-Slice it as thin as humanly possible.(We used our Bosch!)

   I do have slightly chubby fingers, but these are pretty thin.

Although, if the chips are a little thicker, it could still be good…maybe just not as crisp?  Do what you can.

As an added bonus, this Culinary Adventure doubles as a science experiment for “What happens when a potato is left, sliced, in the fridge overnight open on a plate.”

Someone, not naming names, forgot to put them in a baggie. 

(Hint:  He has a Y chromosome, and he’s potty trained.) 

So, if my potatoes look a little blackish purple to you…they are.

-Toss the sliced potato in a bag with 1 tsp. oil. (I used olive oil.)

-Spray a plate with non-stick spray.

(please note the action photo.)

-Arrange the oil-coated potatoes on the plate on a single layer.

-Microwave them for 5-8 minutes.  Until the edges curl up and they start to turn brown.  Since mine are already brown, you’ll just have to trust me that they are done.

-Sprinkle with salt. 

Huzzah!

The taste testers say:

Brian:

Caitlin:

Summary:  Potato chips!  That is what they taste like.  Salty, crispy, delicious!  And, very cheap, which we always like.  I think that next time you (and I) should experiment with maybe some garlic on top?  Or Rosemary?  Or, you could use sweet potatoes?  Yum!  Good clean family fun.

Grade: A-

Look what happened, Daddy.

 

 

Our poor little baby got his first bloody lip!

Doesn’t he look like a sad clown?

Well, this clown is very brave- he only cried for about 2 minutes.

He was MOSTLY sad because I made him come inside to clean up.

But we went right back out, so he was happy again.

Good thing he only has two teeth in the bottom to ram that upper lip, yes?

Even blankie took a hit.

We thought that you should know…

Now get back to work!

Love, Caitlin and Joseph

PS.  Leftovers tonight…

Tamed (Kind of.)

 

I have broken Joseph’s spirit.

Wait, no, I really haven’t,

(let’s just say that the past few days have held many tantrums, Joseph hitting me repeatedly about the face, and the Google search “Christmas cactus poisonous?”),

but I have tamed the wild, early morning beast in him… just a little.

I had tried everything to get him to go back to sleep:

-A bottle in case he was hungry.

-Rocking and snuggling in case he was scared/lonely.

-Back patting.

-Shushing.

-Turning up the heat.

-Turning down the heat.

-I even told him that he could not have a little brother or sister to play with until he started sleeping past 6:00 consistently.

He remained unmoved.

So, I got (a little) tough.

Here’s how it goes down:

He cries (at 3:50-4:15 am…or earlier).

I curse.

He cries again.

I mutter something about the “joy of motherhood” being a sham.

I go into his room, let him hug me whilst not getting him out of the crib.

I quickly check to make sure that he hasn’t peed through his clothes, then “help him” lay down and rub his back for a few minutes.

I leave and run back to my warm bed.

He cries.

I cry.

I bring him a small drink in a sippy cup, and repeat the back rubbing session.

This goes on- with me going back in every few minutes- until he gives in and goes back to sleep for a little while.

Then, when he wakes up at a more appropriate time (6:00 is all I’m asking!), I turn on lights, start some coffee, and greet him with a cheerful-ish smile.

The good news is that I only had to do this for a couple of nights, and it seems like he may be catching on.

That is to say, that he is sleeping until at least 5:15, with an occasional 6:00 miracle.

But, mostly 5:15.

Close,

So close.

And yet, so far.

(Only children are nice…)

Won’t you be my neighbor?

 

 

Did I tell you that my neighbor (of the Trugreen conspiracy) and her boyfriend moved out last month?

That’s right, no more cigarettes blowing into our yard, trash cans left on the sidewalk all week…sigh… I will miss them.

For some reason, she felt compelled to come to our house to say goodbye.

She gave me a big hug and said that she would miss me sooooo much,  (Seriously, I spoke to this lady maybe twice.),

that I was suuuuuch a gooood neighbor, (luckily, she doesn’t know about the spying that was taking place),

and that I should come visit her at their new place.

…

So, clearly, she was drunk.

At one point, a few months ago, Brian found out (don’t ask me how), that she had been in a car accident a few years ago that put her into a coma for several months. 

She had to relearn how to talk, walk, etc. 

Which, supposedly, explained her slurred speech.

I felt really bad for ridiculing her….

…

But, then I remembered that car accidents don’t give you beer breath.

So, we were back on.

In the ridiculing department, that is.

Goodbye, fair neighbor.

…And, for the record, although the house is still owned by the SAME LANDLORD…

the Trugreen truck has not been back once!

Oregon Visit

 

I am finally feeling like I have moment (with motivation) to post a few things!

This weekend was full of organization and house-clearing.  Bags to Goodwill, bags in the trash, sigh… The house is feeling blissfully empty.  Well, not empty, but emptier.  Time to fill er back up!! (Just kidding, Brian…)

We had such a wonderful visit to Oregon!  I am missing everyone already!  There was one scary incident involving Joseph and chocking, but I will blog about that later.

For some reason, I didn’t take very many pictures at all.  Here is what I do have.

The only pictures that I was able to take at the Boise airport.

 

If you read my earlier post, you will know why…

My new niece, Rayley.

and my new nephew, Josiah!

Aren’t they cute?  Again, picture fail… I don’t have a single picture of me holding them!! (?)

But I did hold them, much to Joseph’s dismay!  He is going to take it hard when it is “big brother time.”

Joseph continues to be drawn to his Grandpas!  Here he is laughing it up with my Daddy.

Dad was eating some M&Ms, and Joseph could smell the chocolate on his breath.

 

He wanted a bite…

He also loved Mom and Dad’s rocking horse.

It took some serious concentration…

but then he was so proud!

He loves his Grandad, Mark, and gave him lots of love.  (sorry that these pictures are blurrier- maybe because I saved them from email?)

“Hi!” –says Joseph, ever so softly, while Mark tries to rest.

He even went on a tractor ride!

 

Maureen treated us to dinner at Ghenghis Khan, our FAVORITE Mongolian Grill place.

Looks like Joseph loves it too!

He made such a huge mess and was SOOO loud during dinner- banging on bowls, throwing spoons, etc.

He also loved his new airplane sucker from his Grandmo.

And then, the Portland airport, where I tried REALLY REALLY hard to not be grossed out as he lay down on the germ ridden ground.

Yuck.

Thanks for everything, Oregon family!!

Fun at PDX

Here is Joseph running around the Portland airport (PDX).

He was a total ham all afternoon, and got lots of smiles, chuckles, and compliments out of the fellow travelers.

He was pretty popular.

He could practically be the airport's mascot.



(Edited to add: Did you hear him point to his shoes and say "socks?" Close enough, right? It's his newest word!)

Where’s My Cake?

 

 

Guess what?

This is my 200th post! 

Wowza!  That’s a lot of creativeness shared with the world….

or a lot of time wasted. 

Depends on how you look at it.

Here’s to 200 more!!

One year ago today

 

 

Sometimes, when I am adding pictures to Picasa, I come across pictures that I uploaded exactly one year ago. 

You know, because I type in the file name as 1-22-08 because I forget that it is ‘09, and then the computer *blurps* an error sound at me, and then I try about 3 more times (3 more *blurps*) before I notice that OOHH, I am in the wrong year!  And then, I realize that that means that there must be a file for 1-22-08, and I check, and here we are.

Or, we could just say that I come across them.

In any case,

In that second one, he was wrestling with Daddy for the first time, and fell asleep on the floor.  Awww…

If only he would fall asleep on the floor now a days…

(We are (I am) experiencing some technical difficulties.  I will check in with tech-support (Brian) and hopefully post some Oregon pictures/video tomorrow.)

Thursday’s Culinary Adventure

 

 

Tonight, on Thursday’s Culinary Adventure:

Starring my niece, Brenna!

That’s right, we actually did this a bit early so that my niece could participate.  Plus, we knew that I would be tired the day after my long trip.  I didn’t have any idea HOW EXTREMELY tired I would actually be, but oh well.

You can use a fondue pot, or a regular saucepan for this recipe.  Since my sister had a fondue pot, we decided to get some use out of it.

Stir in 2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips.

WAIT! Don’t do it!  Don’t put the chocolate chips in first, or else they will burn!!!!

and you will have smoke

and then charred bits of chocolate on your fondue pan.

Theoretically, of course.

FIRST, stir in 1, 14 oz. can of sweetened condensed milk.

then 1/2 c. milk and 1 tsp. vanilla.

THEN you can add your 2 c. of chocolate chips,

and, finally, 1 jar (7oz) marshmallow creme.

Stir.

and stir.

and stir

until it is all melty!

Dip whatever you want to in it (we used pound cake, bananas, apples, and dried apricots)  and enjoy!

Grace and Aidan (my younger niece and nephew)

  join us for the taste testing!

Taste Testers Say:

Brenna:

Grace:

Aidan:

Carrie (my sister):

Mom: (she’s allergic to milk, but is so selfless, that she ate some anyway!)

Caitlin:

Delicious all around!  I really liked the FRUIT dipped in it the best, as the pound cake was really, really sweet!  But, of course, the kiddos liked the pound cake best; so to each their own.  Nothing more to say, this is a winner!

Grade:  A+

(Thanks for your help, Brenna!!)