Rock On

What up, Moms! So ya see...we've been practicing, and we've decided...it's time to take our show on the road. We know, we know...it seems a little sudden. But you can't argue with pure talent, Mama.


Take care of us? What do you mean, who will take care of us? We can totally take care of each other.
Who will open doors for us? The fans, baby.



Uhh...dude, she wants in. Whaddya think?

Wellll...we DO need a bass player. And she can jam out pretty sweet.

Okay, Gigi's gonna hit the road with us. And tell baby Collin that as soon as he can stand up, he is IN. We need someone to sing lead.

Okay Moms, so if you could just pick us up a few things...we're going to need some ripped jeans, a couple AC/DC t-shirts, and hair gel. Oh, and some fake tattoos. And grab a couple boxes of Goldfish, that should tide us over until we hit the first Mickey D's.

Hey, stop laughing! We are totally serious here! We mean it! We're packin'!

Like we said, no arguing with pure talent...or pure cuteness :-)

Sleep Study Success!

A few days ago, Devon joked that the title of this post would be something along he lines of "I'd Rather Be Eating Dirt." We both were dreading Seamus' upcoming sleep study, knowing the process all too well from our other LP friends who have gone though it.

I made Devon be the one to take him.
And it's a good thing, because if I walked in to the room and saw this contraption, I would have thought, Oh holy hell, what have we gotten into???

But let me tell you what an awesome kid we have. Before the appointment, we told him that he and Daddy were going to have a special sleepover at the doctor's office. We said that they were going to put sticky things all over his head, and that Daddy was going to take his picture because he was going to look so silly.

And you know what? He let them do it!
He sat there perfectly still while they hooked him up and watched Monsters, Inc. And when it was time to go to sleep...he did! And slept 8 straight hours!


Woo hoo! I don't think I'd be able to sleep 8 straight minutes if I looked like this!

Results in three weeks!

Seamus is not the only one to surprise us this week...some of you may have heard that Grace hit her head on Monday and lost consciousness. At the ER, they told us she would need a CT scan.

But don't worry, they said...no sedation is necessary. We'll just restrain her.

Of course, I'm thinking what any good mother would think...PLEASE SEDATE HER!! I've seen what restrained kids look like, and it's not pretty.

But Grace rocked it...she laid right down on the table, let them strap her entire body in sheets of Velcro, and remained perfectly still staring at a Nemo sticker that I was anxiously bouncing through the air on my finger. The scan came back just fine, and she's told everyone who asks, "I got a boo-boo and dey tooka pit-cher uh ma head."

I don't know how it happened...I thought I still had a few years before my kids became braver than me! Have your kids surprised you in ways like this?

Five years

It's always wonderful to think back to this day, and know that we had no idea what life held in store for us.

All we knew was that we were in love. No matter what came our way, we wanted to experience it together.And now to see the beautiful live we're living together...it's hard to imagine that things could have turned out any other way. Because this...this is my idea of perfection.

Love you, babe!

Fun wedding facts

-We planned the wedding in 4 months

-It was about 5 degrees that day

-I had as much fun the night before my wedding as I did on the actual day

-I woke up on my wedding day hungover (Hence, above!)

-My father and sisters came over for breakfast with Freihofer's donuts, to escape the psychotic wedding-day madness that my mother was enveloped in that morning

-I got my makeup professionally done, cried when I saw how awful it looked, then washed it all off and did it myself at the last minute

-My hair color looked like it belonged on the head of Malibu Barbie

-We wrote our own ceremony and included a Celtic hand-fasting

-Our wedding party consisted of four people: my two sisters and Devon's two brothers

-I had such anxiety about changing my last name, that at the reception were introduced as "Emily and Devon." No last names at all!

-We walked into our reception to "Ain't That a Kick in the Head" by Dean Martin

-Our wedding song was "These Are the Days" by Van Morrison.

-The reception was held at the same place my parents had theirs, 25 years earlier.

-We had 99 guests, consisting of about 90% family members

-We both agree to this day that it was the most fun day we have ever had!

The Devil Made Me Do It

I didn't want to do it.


I really didn't.


When I first heard of the idea, I thought, "Ugh, what is the world coming to?"


But...


I did it.


And let me tell you...


It was so worth it.


Want to try it for yourself?


Here it is.


Fried Cheerios. (click for recipe)


It just sounds wrong, doesn't it?


So wrong, yet sooo right!


But I didn't do it alone, I did have an accomplice...

She'd like to give this warning: Potentially addictive. Particularly in the Apple Cinnamon flavor.

I know I am looking like a total hypocrite right now...what, with all my healthy rice cakes and everything.

No worries, I've got it covered. Meet my new personal trainer:

So I better get going...we've got a lot of work to do!

Cabin Fever

Right around this time of year is when I notice that everyone starts to feel a little cramped. The blustery winter days are starting to take their toll on these two children who are craving green grass and sunshine. We recently had a day where the temp actually rose above negative 27, so we took advantage and headed out for some sledding. As you can see, it was a huge hit...

We had a blast, or at least the kids did...Dev and I had as much fun as you can have while hauling a 30-pound child plus their sled to the top of an icy hill, just to push them back down again!
For the most part we've been spending our days indoors, trying to come up with creative ways to occupy our time. Recently while Devon was suffering from his nearly-terminal flu infection, the kids and I were going stir-crazy from a long weekend inside. Trying to come up with a fun activity that did NOT include Play-Doh (more on my aversion to Play-Doh later), I ended up grabbing a big clear plastic bin and filling it with warm water and some bubble bath.
I dropped in some bath toys and kitchen gadgets, told the kids to strip off their shirts, and announced we were having a "kitchen bath."

What a great time they had! They went fishing for pirates, scooped and swished with a measuring cup and wisk, and blew mountains of bubbles with silly straws. They were having so much fun, I was tempted to toss in the dirty dishes from dinner and let them scrub away. Of course, any excuse to go shirtless is pretty exciting as well. :-)


So I was wondering...what do all of you do to beat the winter blues? Any fun indoor activities to spice up the long cold days?

I, for one, am perfectly happy in the winter. I love the snow and warm winter clothes. The other morning I was reflecting on just how much I love this season while reading about Groundhog Day and snacking on a deliciously soft sugar cookie while at my desk (yes, I was eating a cookie for breakfast...I never said I was perfect.)

Oh, how cute, Punxsatawney Phil saw his shadow and ran back into his hole! Six more weeks of winter...isn't that nice...

Then a realization that made me bolt upright and nearly choke on my cookie...

Six weeks! Only six weeks left for me to hide my extra winter padding under these nice big sweaters?? Six weeks until short sleeves, capris, and...tank tops???

Oh, no. No way. I'm just not ready. I'll need a good 3 months to get back in shape for spring clothes.

Oh god. The pressure! I'm not cut out for warm weather. Where did I put those rice cakes?

So I put the cookie down and pull out a (chocolate, natch) rice cake. I munch away, feeling so good about my snackfood choice.

But wait...I can't throw away that perfectly good cookie. That would be wasteful.

Well, the cookie is a not-so-healthy choice...while the rice cake is a super-healthy choice! So if I eat them both, the rice cake will cancel out the calories of the cookie. Then, really, it will actually mean that I've eaten nothing at all. Wow, I am good at this dieting stuff! I'll even take the stairs to to my meeting on 3rd floor.

But first, I better grab something to eat...because after all, I haven't had a thing all day.