Nine pieces for tonight.

How much yeast is in a "packet," I wonder? See, I use enough yeast that I buy it in little brown-glass bottles, but I'm going to have to figure this out before tomorrow. I'm making Refrigerator Rolls, and the recipe calls for 2 packets. ETA: 2-1/4 tsp. = 1 packet. Thank you, Google.

I made the prettiest cookies today. Well, I actually made the sugar cookies yesterday, but I iced them this afternoon. My cutter was a bit larger than I realized it to be, so I didn't get as many cookies as I'd imagined (and I made two batches of dough to start with). I'm toying with the idea of making another batch early tomorrow, but we'll see. I already do have a lovely dessert planned for Wednesday anyway.

Also, my neighbor and friend asked if I'd be willing to make either a cake or cupcakes for her baby shower this weekend. I'm waiting on one gift in the mail, but I have the others ready and have the perfect wrapping papers to match. I'd already RSVP'ed and was very excited for her shower... to now be asked to craft some goodies is just, well, icing on the cake! (Forgive the intended pun, as it is rather late.)

I received a cute package in the mail yesterday from sdaisyk. She sent me a handful of Coke caps, but she included TONS of little goodies, too. Everything is so sweet and thoughtful - thank you, Sarah!

The boys were out of school this past Thursday and Friday for a break, and it has thrown me all off schedule. It just seemed like yesterday should really have been Monday, you know? As we were passing the base theatre last night, I saw the marquee and read, The Toothfairy, getting all excited. On our way back, I told the boys to try and read for the showtime, but right as we passed it, I realized that it the showing was for Saturday night... and it *was* Saturday night. (The base theatre only shows each movie once.) Gah. In my head, it had felt like Friday all day. Bummer, too, as that's one I had really wanted to see in the theatres.

Speaking of theatres, Philip took the boys last weekend to see Percy Jackson & The Olympians, and they all really enjoyed it. A.J. had received the first two books of the series for Christmas, so when he mentioned wanting to see the movie, I told him he needed to read his book first. He then read it in two days, and then he read the second book in three days. We'll have to look for the other books for him to finish, and now Jack wants to read them, too. I wanted to read the book before seeing the film, and I hadn't gotten a chance, so I told Philip to take them instead. I'll catch it on DVD later. :-)

And then Diary of a Wimpy Kid comes out this coming Friday, and both boys have been stoked about that one for a few months. They both love the book series, and I'm sure the movie will be fun. I can get behind that heartily, especially as I'm hoping it will direct their interest completely away from Alice in Wonderland. Jack wants to see it, but I think it just looks... off? I love most of J. Depp's movies, but I have no desire to see this one (though I've previewed the soundtrack, and it is lovely). In this case, Jack's just going to have to "keep wanting," and that's as close as he'll get. *wink*

The boys used their monies a few weeks ago to reserve copies of the two new Pokemon games at GameStop, and they've been reminding us for the past several days that today was the pick-up date. I thought that was odd; don't games usually come out on Tuesdays, like music and movies? At any rate, we got an automated reminder call yesterday even, and I took them to the BX GameStop today to pay for the rest and pick-up their games. One bought the silver, and one bought the gold (that's as far as this Mom goes into the "geek-speak," heh!), and they both received little boxes with commemorative figurines, too. It was hard for them to buckle up seatbelts a few minutes later, due to how over-the-moon they were feeling. Ha!

It's been hours, and I am still SO stuffed from dinner. I made Pineapple Veggie Chicken (a favorite of ours for years), but I tossed in tons of extra amounts of veggies. I only put in half as much chicken as usual, so we gorged ourselves on mushrooms, snow peas, red and green peppers, and onions. Afterward, the boys made tonight's dessert: Tutti-Frutti Smoothies, and those were full of strawberries, bananas, and orange juice. Jack drained his large glass in seconds, I swear. I feel like I'm going to float away on fruits and veggies in my dreams!

Hiya, world!

*yawn*

This morning's early post is brought to you by Jack's bloody nose. Twenty minutes before the alarm was set to ring, a human body with a face made of bloodied toilet paper stood next to my bed, gently shaking my arm.

"Mom, my nose started bleeding, and it woke me up. It's on my bed, too."

Up and at 'em, folks. I got him downstairs to the loveseat (he can lay with his head perfectly back, yet not strain the heck out of his neck), and the kitchen timer set for five minutes. I gave him a fresh tissue, and he was good to go when the timer beeped. Then he scrubbed the blood (less than quarter-sized) on his sheet with a couple antibacterial wipes and blotted it with a paper towel to dry while I fed the kitties and cleaned their litter. You can't even see now where there was blood (other than it being wet).

Poor guy, though. He gets these random nosebleeds like Philip does. A.J. doesn't get nosebleeds, and I've never had one in my entire life - even after blunt trauma and the like. They both get them more in the winter, and Philip's are usually in the morning. He often has them start in bed, too. Jack's are usually some other time of day, once he's already fully awake. I feel bad for them. :-(

Lightening up.

I've been jazzing myself up lately with all the fresh scents of spring. I've got tons of wallflowers from Bath & Body Works® going all over the house, and as they run out this week, I've been refilling them with spring scents instead of warm, homey ones. My fave right now is the 'Island Margarita' scent - so airy!

I've also been switching lotions and body creams up. My skin is so dry, and I've almost finished an entire large tube of 'Winter Candy Apple' already, in addition to my all-time favorites of 'Moonlight Path' and 'Mandarin Orange.' Now, though, I can't get enough of 'Wild Honeysuckle,' and it's so invigorating. I love putting it on my legs after shaving because then every time I go to the potty, I get a quick "re-burst" of scent when I shuck my jeans!

I've been burning up my last 3-wicks in the fall scents, too. I'm ready to get out my 'Strawberry Fields' one from Partylite® that I've had saved a year now. My votives and tealights only last two days around here anyway, so those are easy to switch out. I'm dying to get to the retired 'Blueberry Swirl' scent that my Zippy gifted me with last fall - that was both of our favorite scent back in the days it was available.

Even if there's still some snow on the ground (though there is a LOT of grass showing), if definitely feels like spring here in my house!

Boys' pictures.

We took the boys to get new pictures taken last Tuesday night. It had been over 2.5 years since their last sitting (not including the lifestyle portraits that marshmelococoa took almost two years ago, too), so it was definitely time to get updated ones in our frames.

There was a snafu with the online gallery, so I only finally was able to see the pictures this morning. I ordered in the studio, but I had been wanting to share them. Yay!


Jack - 8.5 years, A.J. - 11.5 years

Of course, the real images will be correctly centered and most of them are cropped in as well. They won't be tiny and blurry, either. I can't wait to pick them up next week!

( More. )

M2J for download.

I write the best entries in my head after I lay down to sleep. They're clever and witty, long and detailed. If there were awards for blogging, they'd be on the bestsellers list!

Sadly, I never remember them the next day. The handiest thing I can dream up would be a mind-to-journal application. Who's with me? :-)

The Luck o' the Irish to you!

Goodness me, these were SO fun to make! My shamrock cutter was a little bigger than I'd realized, so I only got 48 cookies out of the two doughs, but I had almost one cup of icing left over. I'm sure there's a technical term out there, but I call this "tie-dye" technique. Easy-peasy, and gorgeous results!

( Several more pics, plus a how-to. )

Confessions of a mom.

So, Hannah Montana. I can't lie, I actually enjoy the show with the boys. I can sit and watch re-runs with no problems, and I like most of the characters on the show just fine (Rico is a dastardly exception). I think Jackson is hilarious, and I can see Jason Earles doing well later in life, much like Shia LeBeouf has done (and I *loved* Even Stevens back in the day, too!). I thought the full-length movie was good, and I love a few songs from it, too. In other words, I have enjoyed the series on the whole.

But still, I had read several months ago about Miley Cyrus filming her last show, and the boys and I had talked for weeks now about this season/series finale. I mean, knowing it was the end of an age, I could almost find myself getting a little emotional at the previews of Miley saying goodbye...

But I felt duped last night. We set the DVR to make sure we wouldn't miss the last two episodes (though Part 1 was a repeat from last week's, it was just a refresher), and then we settled in to watch. And the epidode was the usual fare: stupidly funny (talking horse?), Jackson antics, Miley's indecisions... but finally, a choice was made, and a slow montage played at the end, highlighting moments from the past six years.

...

And in the next commercial break, 'Hannah' and Disney Channel announced - "coming this summer" - a new show, Hannah Montana Forever. WHAT?!

So I don't know why we bothered "saying goodbye," because it looks like the show isn't yet over. Hmph!

---

On the flip side, showing afterward was an older, original Disney flick - The Lizzie McGuire Movie. Now there's a show I really liked, too. A.J. was a toddler, and I was barely twenty, and... let's face it, I still love teen-themed things. *grin* I always wanted Lizzie and Gordo to become an item, and I thought Miranda had such flair. I don't think Hilary Duff is the greatest actress, but one of her other movies - Cadet Kelly - was an instant fave of mine, featuring rifle-twirling (also starring Christy Carlson Romano, of Even Stevens fame, too). In fact, years later when it released to DVD, Heather surprised me with a copy of it, and I've watched it a 'fangirl' number of times. Hee!

But Lizzie didn't trick me at the end of her show, so the score stands like this: Lizzie - 1, Hannah - 0.

(Why yes, I do now also enjoy Wizards of Waverly Place. Seriously, I'm as big a sucker for Disney's shows as my boys are!)