Boys Will Be Boys

I only had one younger brother growing up. That was basically my experience with young boys, and for whatever reason I just don't remember him getting hurt all that much when we were young. My boys on the other hand seem to attract accidents like it's nobody's business. It could be inherited from their mother who may or may not be accident-prone herself, but for the sake of today's title we will say it is a "boy" thing. In the Bettelli house today alone we had three major events that were traumatic to say the least. Number 1 -Ethan looked like the Joker for the majority of the day. 

Tim (being the wonderful man that he is) basically takes on morning duty with the kids every. single. day.

He gets up when they get up.  Feeds them.  Even dresses them most days.

This allows me a good 45 minutes to an hour of extra bed time.

I love my bed.

Anyways, as he leaves each morning for work he comes into our room and kisses me to make sure I know the kids will now be unattended until I get my (I don't want to say lazy, but) lazy behind out of bed.

I usually wait approximately 3 to 5 minutes to come out and face the music (or the children in this case).

Well, this morning in that interim time my youngest decided to find a permanent red marker and draw a joker like line on his face.

That puppy did not want to come off, and I know George's preschool teachers were just astounded at my awesome mother skills when Ethan gave them a big, toothy, joker grin at drop-off.

Moving on . . .

Number 2-

I have no picture for this one, but it involves Ethan (again, big surprise).

When we got home from drop-off at the preschool he managed to trip over his own feet and bust his lip wide open.

It bled for a good 10 minutes, but he only cried for about thirty seconds.

I guess he figured the joker needs to be tough.

And, Number 3 -

George is the victim in this one.

And there he is with his frozen corn on the wound.

While getting out of the bathtub tonight he slipped and fell into the metal tracks that hold the shower doors.

He has a large (huge, enormous, gigantic - pick one) bruise and knot on his leg.

He busted his leg, chin, chest and foot all in one swoop.

So . . . question is . . .

Are my kids typical boys?

Or is this my genetic clutz-like traits being carried on in another generation?

You be the judge.

Currently . . .

Got this idea from Ashely at The Vanilla Tulip.  Such a fun idea! Current Guilty Pleasure:  Oreos . . . and lots of them. 

 Current Nail Color:  Orchid by Love and Beauty (Forever 21's $2.80 brand.  Just my style) 

Current Drink:  Water, water, and more water.  It helps to have a pretty cup. 

Current Food:  Well, besides the oreos I have been eating a lot of deviled eggs.  Weird but yummy. 

Current Favorite Show:  I hate to say it because it is more of a love/hate relationship, but Barney is a current favorite because of the focused attention it gets from my kids.  I can actually go out in the garage to start a load of laundry and come back in to find them in the exact same spot.  That is a miracle, and I guess I have to give credit where credit is due. 

Current Read:  Still reading 11/22/63 by Stephen King.  I really do like it, but time to read is so, so, so scarce.  I can't get it done. 

Current Wish List:  A new air conditioning unit . . . like yesterday. Current Needs:  I want to say the air conditioning unit again, but that would be repetitive.  We also "need" Tim to get a new job with good health insurance.  It is so frustrating to worry about healthcare costs almost constantly, and we don't even have any major health problems. Current Weather:  70 degrees, but it is only 10:30 am.  It will hit 80 today.  Yay (insert sarcasm).  I am not ready for hot yet. 

  Current Triumphs:  This weekend I went through all the boys' clothes and organized sizes and clothes I wanted to get rid of.  I have been putting it off for forever, so I was extremely pleased to have it finished and put away. 

Current Bane of my Existence:  Like every mother . . . laundry.  Laundry is so annoying.  It isn't even the washing, but the putting away is just such a pain. 

Current Blessing:  My house.  It isn't a big or extravagant house, but I am just so blessed to be in it.  It is such a great layout for the boys to play, and after living in a smaller townhouse when George was a toddler, it is so nice to have an actual house at this point. Current Excitement:  A girls' trip with my mom, aunt, and BFF to a conference in Miami mid-March.  So excited to spend time with them and get some encouragment. 

Current Mood:  A little stressed about a presentation I have to give tonight in my School Law class. 

Current Website:  Pinterest . . . how I love thee. Wow . . . that took quite a bit more thought than I imagined.But I did enjoy it! 

Lobster for V-Day

I am aware that Valentine's Day was almost a week ago, but I never paid tribute to my husband and the wonderful meal he prepared for me.  

And salad . . . but that was in a bowl not pictured.

I am actually not a huge lobster fan.

Everyone thinks I am crazy, but I have never once ordered lobster at a restaurant.

However, when I married Tim he introduced me to his specially prepared lobster.

It is absolutely delicious and always cooked perfectly.

In honor of him and his specialty, I decided to have him give my faithful readers his tips on making the perfect lobster.

Maybe you can impress your sweetie next Valentine's Day with this deliciousness.

Step 1:  Use a large knife to crack the middle of the shell in half and expose the meat.

Step 2:  Sprinkle Emerril's Essence on the meat.

Step 3:  Place small squares of butter in two or three places on the lobster meat.

Step 4:  Broil lobster on a foil lined pan until the meat turns light brown.  Usually it takes between 10 - 15 minutes.

That is it.

Can you believe how easy it is?

And totally delicious.

The meat is always cooked perfectly with no undercooked chewiness (that grosses me out).

You will thank me (well, maybe him) when you make this.

Insta-Friday 2-24-12, The Rat Edition

Insta-Friday, Friends.  This is probably my favorite post of the week. I love going through my phone pictures to see all the moments that were captured.  

Ethan's newest position on the couch.

I guess he wants to be a gymnast.

My mom and sis at a "Quilter's Luncheon" on Saturday.

My mom is the quilter.  Gina and I go for the food.

Flow Rider.

Lovin' his life at the hockey game.

While Papou looks up hockey rules on his iphone in the background.

Sushi and The Vow date with my main squeeze.

I love sleeping pictures.

Especially of this wild man.

It reminds me that he can be still.

Dead rat on our driveway.

Does it get anymore disgusting than that?

I guess it could have been in the house.

I probably would have died.

This is my view sitting on the couch every morning.

It doesn't get any better than that.

Embracing with my Mama

Embracing my camera today with Emily from The Anderson Crew.  She put together a little link-up to help mom's get in front of the camera, so their kids will have evidence of them as they get older. I think it is a great idea. Last week I posted a picture of my dad and me. It is only fair that I pay my mom the same respect.  

This picture was taken on our annual family vacation to North Carolina.

It is funny because as I looked through pictures to find one with my mother, there weren't very many to choose from.

She is a mom that doesn't embrace the camera too much, so now I am on a mission to change that.

She was (and still is) a wonderful mother to her children.

I am so blessed to have someone I can call at any moment to ask about a recipe or a parenting problem.

I put her way up there in the mother department, but she is an even better grandmother.

My kids absolutely adore their Nouna, and why shouldn't they?

She showers them with more love than any human being could possibly get.

We love you so much Mom/Nouna!

What a blessing God has given us with you.

Now get in front of that camera, woman.

We want evidence of you in the years to come.

Daddy Writes

Last Saturday I got to spend the whole day with my son George. Although I see him every day, it is few and far between that we get to spend the whole day together.

George was invited to a school friend’s birthday party at Surf Style. Surf Style is a big Surf Shop we have on Clearwater Beach.

Inside Surf Style is the Flowrider. The Flowrider is sort of an indoor surfing simulator. Kids can ride small surfboards or boogie boards and feel what it would be like surfing. This was the first time George had ever done this. The Flowrider is not easy. When people wipeout, they wipeout hard and it doesn’t look pretty. George was a little scared, but since his friends were doing it, he was determined to conquer his fear.

As you can see, he is a natural. The employee who was working there, even got him to put his hands in the water to create a spray.

And then George got brave, he decided to get up on his knees.

After the Flowrider, the party moved to the beach where George played football (preschool style: random throwing with more than one football) with his friends.

After the party, George and I went home, but George didn’t take a nap…oh no, he was too excited because his day with Dad was not over.

At around 4:45 we headed out the door to pick up Papou (Louise's dad) for a Tampa Bay Lightning game. This was George and my first hockey game. I don’t know much about hockey, but that didn’t matter. George watched the entire game, without complaining or falling asleep.

After the game we stopped at McDonald’s for sundaes and then headed home.

By the time we got home, George was exhausted

I carried him in and he went to sleep.

It was a full day, and it was a fun day with my son, George.

18 months

This little boy 

will be 18 months old in three days.

How did that happen?

He went from this:

To this:

in what seems like minutes.

It probably would have been smart for me to wait to write this post until I took him to his 18 month well check up at the pediatrician.

But if I am being honest I totally skipped making a 15 month appointment and who knows when I will get to the 18 month one.

His height and weight aren't really what is important to me right now anyway.

I want to remember his personality.

His manerisms.

What makes Ethan, Ethan.

Well, this woudn't be a post about Ethan without his blankie.

It is his favorite thing in the whole world, and I am so thankful that he found another one to love.

He carries that thing around with hiim all day long and loves to cuddle it while he drinks his cup of milk both morning and night.

He always hands it to me before I get him out of the crib to make sure he will have access to it at all times.

Some of the words he can say (and by say I mean in correct context . . . side note:  I get really annoyed when parents say their kids can "say" words when all they do is repeat sounds with no connection to anything.  That is not cognitive skill in my humble opinion.)

Mom - Yes, he calls me "mom" not mommy or mama.  I blame it on his older brother.

Daddy - yes, daddy gets the cute version.  Who knows why?

Bu-bye - See ya

Hi - in greeting

No - as in the opposite of yes, this is a frequent word in his vocabulary

Blankie - Obviously

Nouna - My mom's grandma name

Papou - My dad's grandpa name

Eat - This was an early one as well for obvious reasons

Please (sounds like Peas) - We forced this one to keep him polite:)

Cheese - Whenever a camera comes out

Oh, Cool - I definitely taught him this one.  It is the funniest thing.

Night, Night - Bedtime

Uh-oh - Mess up

Ball - for balls (hard one, I know)

Two - If I say one, he will follow with two and then "ee" which might mean three.  Jury's still out on that one.

That is all I can think of at the moment.

He does understand a lot more words because he can follow basically any command we give him.

He is just so much fun.

I love all the learning he does on a daily basis.

He loves to put on his shoes, his brother's shoes, his daddy's shoes, his mommy's shoes.

He doesn't discriminate. 

Shoes are shoes to him.

He will imitate sounds like snoring if you pretend first.

He pretends to actually read books with voice inflection and everything.

He does karate motions and says, "hi-ya."

He loves to be chased.

He laughs hysterically if you say, "I'm gonna get you."

He loves to be outside.

He will run for any open door at any given time.

He loves to take off his pants.

Pulls them up and down all day long and thinks it is really funny while he does it.

He always wants to use his own utensils while eating.

He can identify his nose (points to it), mouth (sticks out his tongue), hands (waves them), feet (wiggles his toes), belly (sucks in his stomach), and his head (pats his hair)

Barney is his favorite show (unfortunately).

He thinks dancing is a serious activity.

Everytime music comes on he stops whatever he is doing and begins shaking his hips and looking around to make sure everyone is doing the same.

He doesn't like to be held much anymore when we go places.

He wants to walk like his big brother and hold hands with the adults.

Ethan,

We love you so, so, so much.

You are such a joy, and we thank God for you every minute.

We are so blessed by having you!

BBQ Chicken

Here is your recipe/tip for the week. I can't take the credit for this one . . . it was a tip that was passed down from my mother in law. She has filled me in on how to make a lot of Tim's favorites, and barbeque chicken is no exception.  

Most people slap on the bbq sauce and throw these puppies on the grill.

The problem with that method is the charred taste/look that comes from being on the grill long enough to cook the chicken all the way through.

Mary's (that is the MIL) method is to put the chicken in a roasting pan with nothing on it for 45 minutes on 350 degrees.

After 45 minutes take the chicken out and brush on some barbeque sauce.

(We like the Sonny's brand sweet sauce the best.)

Then let the chicken cook for 15 more minutes in the oven.

Once the chicken is cooked through you brush on another layer of bbq sauce and put them on the grill.

It only takes about five to ten minutes for the legs (or whatever part of the chicken you are cooking) to get the grill flavor withour getting charred.

They come out perfect everytime.

You are welcome.

Insta-Friday, 2-17

Insta-Friday again, Friends. I love these posts. I know I will love looking back on our day to day activities in the future. This was a big week.  

Ethan loves to push around his stuffed animals.

It is so cute to watch him pretend.

We made a trip to Ikea last weekend.

Here is our little helper using his very large muscles.

I am obsessed with books about the Kennedy's.

Someone told me this one had something to do with JFK.

I started reading it, and although the JFK aspect is small, I am enjoying the novel as a whole.

This is Hannah Banana (that is not really her middle name, but it just flows, ya know?).

She was born on Monday to my BFF who lives in Charleston.

I wish I could hold her and kiss those cheeks right now.

Stephanie (the BFF) doesn't have any sisters and her husband doesn't either, so I have named myself favorite aunt.

I am sure Hannah won't mind.

I got to be a part of George's Valentine's party at preschool (and so did Ethan, obviously).

This is one of my favorite parts of being a stay-at-home mom.

I love participating in his daily activities.

While we were at George's school Ethan decided to be a big kid and lay down to read a book.

He even got a date on a carriage ride for Valentine's Day while we were there.

Another really good friend of mine had her baby on Wednesday.

This is Rocco Rae, and he is absolutely adorable.

Rikki (his momma) has come to visit me in the hospital with both my boys, and it was nice to return the favor.

I couldn't believe how little he was.

It seems like forever since mine were this small.

One of my friends had to do a little work dinner last night at a restaurant called Ocean Prime.

She needed a friend to accompany her, so I was happy to tag along.

The food was divine and the company even better.

The entire night was fun, but this peanut butter pie took it over the edge.

I have literally never put something so delicious in my mouth.

There you have it.

The Bettelli week in a nutshell.

Have a great weekend!