Yes, I'm still here

It's been, um, gently pointed out that I've been MIA too long. And I have. I admit. And since the world's worst blogger called ME the world's worst blogger...I thought I'd better pop my head in to give an update. (Wendy - you are no longer the world's worst blogger...you've been rockin' it lately girl!)

In a nutshell... the list below details some things that are happening around me, to me, or to my family or friends. Some are good, some are bad, some are downright horrible. And yes, some are mentioned more than once, meaning...a real time consumer.

~father-in-law's cancer
~depression - not mine, but someone close to me...but praise the Lord - it's over! Strongest woman I know!
~baseball!
~dirty house
~skiing
~Easter
~Trip to Abilene for Joe's Distinguished Young Alumni Award ceremony!
~baseball!
~Aunt's death
~house guests
~baseball!
~injury - fell and really hurt myself
~other family health issues - not mine people...I'm fine...aside from being clumsy!
~work
~PROMOTION for TV Joe!! Yay to my little rockstar husband!
~baseball!
~kids
~cooking
~dirty house
~baseball!
~trying to burn some stress at the gym

WHEW!

I'm still blissfully happy, mainly because anger and all around pootiness just takes too much energy. Our little family of 4 is fine...the world is just spinning quickly around us. We are blessed beyond what we deserve...roof over head and food on the table, great new promotion for TV Joe (I guess we should call him Corporate Joe now?). There's just a lot going on in my little brain. I'm so ready for summer. I am having to alter my work schedule to take care of the kids, and I'm happy to have a little time to work from home.

So, here's what I plan to tell you about in the coming days as I catch up.

~Skiing
~Easter
~Bergenisms
~Trip to Abilene where Joe won Distinguished Young Alumni at our university
~Baseball
~Spring Fun
~Upcoming Vacation to San Antonio/Family Reunion to Camp Wood (you haven't lived until you've been dunked in the Nueces River)
~More Baseball - Preston made the summer league - we'll play 'til end of June

I promise not to stay away so long again. Thanks for the little nudge sweet friend. I do need to record these precious times happening around me.

I'm not smart enough to link a you tube and a picture

I wanted this picture to go together with the video below, but well...let's just be glad I remembered the simple things like my phone number today, okay?? I'm getting ready for Spring Break and have a little pre-trip anxiety as we are about to haul our kids to Crested Butte...including sweet, wild and crazy Biggie B...where we are meeting 3 other families...with 4 more kids...that's 6 kids...in one house...yeah. Yee Haw

Anyway, this picture is from Bergen's first playdate with his little girlfriend Eva. Eva's momma is my lifesaver, my sounding board, my gym buddy, my drinkin' buddy...the best friend a girl could ever want. She offered to take Bergen so I could take a conference call and not worry about him screaming in the background. They were thanking God for Chick fil A...which we really should do everyday, dontcha think? The world could be going to you know what in a hand basket, but we still have the happiness of the Chicken Mini and the beautiful taste balance of the fried chicken breast and pickles!! Wash it all down with the lemonade.

They also ran to the grocery store, where they were bribed with suckers and got to ride in the car. Are these two the most adorable children in the world??? Eva looks like she's got Bergen's number. Hilarious!!

This about sums up our love for the combo #1

Ridiculously Good Treats

So I have lots of blogs that I read every morning. Some people I know quite well, some that I've met a few times, and some that I've never met, but found here in cyberspace.

The Cruson Crew is a blog by a friend of a friend. We've met several times, she's sweet as the candy I'm about to tell you about. I read her blog because she's really, really funny and most days I need good laugh.

A few days ago, she posted the following recipe. It sounded so good...so good that I had to try it. Before we get started, let me just add that she puts a little pecan on top, but Biggie B is allergic to nuts and Preston would rather go hungry than eat a nut, so we don't put them in anything.

Rolo-Marshmallow-Pretzel Bites (I made up this name...I'm sure it's actually called something much more cleaver)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

Gather the following:

Rolos

Butter Snap Pretzels

Marshmallows

Line up the pretzels on a baking sheet.

Put a Rolo on top of each pretzel. Put a marshmallow on top of each Rolo.

Place in the oven for about 3 minutes.

Once you pull them out, you can take a pecan and smush them down, or if you are not using nuts, take a knife lightly sprayed with Pam and smush them down a bit.

If you can wait until they cool down, you are a stronger woman than me. These little jewels are the perfect mix of salty/sweet/chewy.

Try not to eat them all at once. Yeah, good luck.

Happy Thursday!

Elmo's Tree-Hugging Liberal Propaganda

One of the perks of being married to a bigtime TV executive is free tickets to shows that no one else wants. Last night we took both kids to see Elmo live at Nokia Theater. It was a nice little story about finding a place to plant a flower and how we should love our earth. I am joking about the "tree hugging liberal propaganda". It wasn't bad...that's just my attempt at being funny.

TV Joe scored us the suite at Nokia, stocked with a 6-pack of Dr. Pepper, a 6-pack of beer and 2 bags of popcorn. We met some of his clients who we just so happen to really like and took in the Elmo show.

Preston is 7 and is WAY too cool to see Elmo. He was really embarrassed to go, so I told him to take his DS and play games in the suite if he got too "bored". He forgets he was a huge Elmo fan back in the day. He even had an Elmo hat that we scored at his first Elmo concert.

Halfway through the first act, he was talking to TV Joe and our client and said,

"I don't really like Elmo, I'm just here to see if it has changed any since 2002".

So funny.

A few shout outs

To the slowest driver in Colleyville that just so happens to leave her neighborhood at the exact moment we drive by every morning - you have German engineering in that little Mercedes. The Germans should take your car away in the night for driving so slowly. It's the long, skinny peddle on the right. And I hope our kids never meet in the hallway because my son now knows you as "the slowest driver in Colleyville".

To the Schlotzsky's down the road. I'm not sure why I torture myself by going to your drive-thru. You are painfully slower than the slowest driver in Colleyville. And when I say unsweet tea, I mean unsweet tea. This isn't Georgia...sweet tea is not a default. But if you are going to give me sweet tea, could you at least slip a straw into the bag so I can actually drink it?

To the lady at Weight Watchers who doesn't like the taste of water. Really? Suck it up. Your kidney doesn't like the taste of splenda.

To the lady at the park Wednesday - I'm so glad your daughter has taught her 18 month old twins to clean up. I have news for you - all 18 month olds like to help mom. And despite your condescending tone when I said "wait til they turn 7" - mark my words. Those precious toddlers will start handing you and your mother of the year daughter their trash, sucker sticks, gum and anything else they don't want to hold on to.


Well that feels good now, doesn't it. I have more...but my lunch hour is up.

That Biggie B

As I've stated in the past, we are big "Extreme Makeover Home Edition" fans. Last night was especially sad and rewarding. I was crying within 5 minutes.

I took Biggie B for his bath about 7:30pm, let him play around, then we made our way back to the living room in time for the "big reveal". They "moved that bus" and showed the world the new house (which was kinda castle-like...very cool). Biggie B (age 2.5) looks up at the TV and says (and I'm quoting here)

"Wha a bootiful house. I want that house. It so pretty!"

I just stared at him. This child never ceases to amaze me.