Regrets and Confessions

I sucked you all in with the juicy title, huh?

This Saturday I went grocery shopping.  And now I regret purchasing this giant box of goldfish crackers. 

You see, my kids LOVE goldfish.  To Andrew these little fish are last year's string cheese, if you know what I mean.  This box does not fit in my weird cabinets.  So it has been on the counter.  See there I go again showing off my counters...see black AND white tiles.  So fancy!

Anyways, every time Little Buddy sees the box he starts demanding goldfish.  He has been employing the following tactics to get what he wants:

1. Pointing
2. Grunting
3. Screaming
4. Hanging on my legs
5. And my personal favorite....whining

As with the string cheese, I typically give in after saying "no" a dozen times.

And then I have happy campers. And lots of goldfish lying around my house, which get stepped on and tracked around the first floor.

In this photo Andrew is thinking "Mom is a chump." and Grace is plotting her next move. 

And now I will be sharing an embarassing secret of mine.  Sometimes when I find a dropped goldfish/cheerio/m&m (score!) (that I know is not like super old and has not been sucked on by someone other than my child), I pick it up and pop it in my mouth. 

EWWWW! 

Gross. I know. 

My logic is that then I don't have to physically take it to the garbage (where I would find a full garbage can that I would have to empty) AND it won't get stepped on and spread about.  I am trying to be efficient.  And those of you know who know me well understand that, if I am anything, I am efficient.  Plus I have full confidence that my floors are pretty clean.  So clean you can eat off of them!

Maybe this will be the start of a little segment we could call "Confessions from a Real Mom," or something equally intriguing.  I am open to suggestions.

Finally, I will leave you with this funny picture of Gracie...taken after I said "Hey Gracie, can I get a picture of just Andrew?"

By the way, on an unrelated subject, does anyone know how to remove crayon from the screen of a flatscreen tv?

We are a little excited up here in Packer Country

This was a very special Super Bowl Sunday, because our beloved Green Bay Packers were in the big game.  Watching them this past month has been a great way to pass this typically mundane month of winter.  So, by all means, Go Pack Go!

This Sunday we stopped at Grandma Jane and Bop's to visit Uncle Bill and he looks great!   Then were were off to JuJu and PopPop's to enjoy the big game with Maggie and Baby William. 

 But before we could go inside and start stuffing our faces, we had to check out the giant snow drifts outside their house.

This picture is a little deceiving, as the snow was actually WAY above Grace's head.  It was probably up to my mom's shoulders.

Anyways, the Super Bowl is all about football right?  But actually isn't it equally about food?  Well, I had fun with the food this year.  Here are some snapshots of what we were snacking on....

Spinach dip with green and yellow peppers.

Green and Gold (not yellow, Grace will correct you if you say yellow) G Cookies.

Sort of nasty looking green and gold tortilla chips and salsa.  The salsa was actually really good.

Andrew thoroughly enjoys being able to help himself to food.  He is overwhelmed with the choices and freedom.  He always goes for the chips.  Smart boy.  I think he is going to be very happy in Mexico.

It was a special treat to get to enjoy the game with the cutest little cheesehead.  Baby William!

Someone was not a fan of William's hat.

Or William having JuJu all to himself. 

Andrew was fine with JuJu showing attention to another little boy, just as long as he was close enough to monitor the situation.  JuJu couldn't be alone with Baby William.

Here he is explaining the deal, "Listen Baby William.  You need to be held all the time, and I totally get that.  You are a baby.  I've been there too.  So you can sit with my JuJu.  But just don't get too comfortable, because she is my Grandma.  Got it?" 

 "And if you follow those rules I think we will be great friends."

When children visit my parents house they are guaranteed an educational experience.  For instance, this week William learned how to use a slot machine.  What will it be next time?  Bartending 101? Billiards for Beginners?

By the way, check out the Vince Lombardi artwork in the background.  It wouldn't be a Wisconsin basement without a picture of Vince and a framed Packer stock certificate.

  Grace loves Baby William.

We headed home at the start of the 3rd quarter.  Here is Andrew giving a touchdown sign right before we headed out.

And since this post would not be complete without a picture of my charming husband....here you go...

A few months ago I threw out his old cheesehead.  It weighed about 5lbs.  And it was moldy.  I like moldy cheese, but not moldy cheeseheads.  Confusing I know.  He told me not to throw it away.  But I did anyways. 

Oh well.  He is happy we won.

What have the Malones been doing? 3

We were bored, really bored one day.  So, naturally, we got out the empty boxes to play with.  Grace asked that I mail them to Disney World.  Ah so fun to play pretend!  Well this little scenario stopped being fun for Grace when I pretended to call UPS and schedule a pick up.  I told them I had 2 boxes.  One may be a little stinky.  The other may be a little whiny. 

So we moved on.... to Valentines cards. 

Blurry picture I know - but she looks so sweet.

Grace is working on writing her letters.  To practice, she tells me what to write and I write it out on paper. Then she traces those sentences.   This is kind of a slow process, so don't be offended if you don't get a card in the mail. 

Andrew also got in on the fun and completed this cute painting.  He also painted the chair, my arm and his forehead.

Finally, I thought these pictures of Andrew were really cute.  He loves watching his dad and he insisted on eating his breakfast in front of the window while Kevin worked outside.  He kept pointing and saying "Da!".    Obviously, this was taken before the huge blizzard hit earlier this week.

And here is Mr. Cool napping. 

What have the Malones been doing? 2

Last Sunday, I had a craving for the absolute best muffins from our local bakery.  So I sent Kevin and Grace out for them. 

While they were gone, Andrew decided he wanted to be wearing his shoes.  He gets his shoes, undoes the velcro, sits down on the ground, looks at me and says "shoes".  Who could resist a cute request like that?  Since he had on footie jammies, we needed to take them off.  He was so proud to be walking around almost naked with just shoes on his feet, that he didn't even seem to be bothered by the 65 degree temps inside.

  Kevin thinks he looks like eurotrash when he wears these shoes.  I think he looks cute.  Especially since he loves the hard soles and usually does a little dance to the tapping on the floor. 

They came back with these delicious muffins. 

By the way, it is not my intention to make you jealous of my awesome wavey patterned ceramic tile countertops.  I know they are fancy with the wide, black (and not to mention very practical and easy to clean) grout lines, but I am not trying to show off or anything. 

 

We all loved the muffins, even Andrew.

And we also had breakdowns.  Not sure what Andrew is crying about.  He has been having tantrums lately.  Maybe he is mad that his dad called him eurotrash.

Grace is crying about:

1. Her hair looks "crazy".

2. She doesn't look fancy enough.

3. She doesn't want to do whatever I just asked her to do.

4. I told her to wait for pink sparkly lip gloss.

5. I told her to wait for blush and eyeshadow.

6. I told her to wait to watch Curious George.

7. I told her to wait for me to find her silver shoes.

8. I told her to wait for a bit to do her water color painting.

I could go on but I will stop. 

Snow Day...again

This is what our backyard looked like this morning.  That is a table and a slide out there peaking out of the snow.

My wonderful husband did all the snow removal for us.  The poor guy had to wade through the snow to the garage and spend two hours shoveling and snowblowing.  All while his wife and children sat inside, ate banana bread and drank coffee/sippy cups of milk. 

Sometimes we watched from the doors and windows and took pictures. As we stood there and watched, we felt sort of guilty that we weren't out there helping. And really thankful that we were inside and had such a strong and capable man to remove our snow for us. Then we got cold and went back to our coffee drinking and playing. Its freezing by those old drafty windows!

As a special treat, I set up the tent in the living room.  I am such a fun, cool and flexible mom! Yeah me!

Later in the day, Kevin took Grace out to hang out in the snow.  She had fun taking the snow off the big piles and putting it back into the driveway.  Thanks Gracie!

And finally, this snowfall reminds me of the storms we got in 2008 (I think December) right after we moved in....

2008

2011

2008 (Both of Grace on the snowbank outside of our backdoor)

2011

What have the Malones been doing?

I am beginning a multi-part series on all that we have been up to in the last few weeks.  Hold on to your hats. Its going to be a wild ride.

Actually, we are pretty boring.  I have been sick and busy with work, our bathroom remodel, and finishing the living room "redo".  So I have not had much time to update this thing lately. 

I can hear you all thinking, "Bridget was sick, oh no! What was wrong?" 

Well, only because you asked...

The whole family had this nasty cold that lasted for about 10 days.  Just when I was feeling better, I started having a pain in my head, neck and chest.  It hurt to breathe.  It hurt to talk.  It hurt to yell at my kids.  Last Thursday, I couldn't get out of bed. 

So I went to the doctor and, after a chest x-ray, they think it could have been muscular or some random virus.  I think it was a combination of the two.  Before I came down with this ailment, I had gone to the gym pretty consistently for a week or so (lots of weightlifting, yoga and core).  I am thinking I pulled something.  Oh well, I am all better now.  Phew.

And in case you are wondering, here are the reasons I go to the gym:

1. Achieve my totally attainable goal of having abs like The Situation.

2. Be able to show off my big guns in a tank top this summer.

3. Get break from my kids.

4. My back doesn't hurt when I keep my back and ab muscles strong.

And I am serious about all of them.  I am not trying to be funny.

So anyways, here is what we've been up too.  Part 1.

Go Pack Go!  Cheering on the Green and Gold. 

By making green and gold cupcakes.

Taste testing the green frosting.

Being proud of our cupcakes.

Eating cupcakes.

Eating other green and gold food.  Wouldn't it be awesome if we could find away to make everything in Packer colors?

Humiliating Monty.

And bonding with family while we cheer on the Pack.