A little bit crazy...

Mr. CB got me this shirt a while ago. I like to wear it with striped socks.

I wear it when I'm a little mischievous. But since I'm a parent and need to act like I'm an adult around my kids, goofing off has to wait until they're in bed.
My mom says this video of me is embarrassing and she can't believe I'm posting it.
I say it was way fun, and besides, this is how Mr. CB and I relate. No, really, it is. We're dorks. In fact, I knew Mr. CB was the one to marry when he partially closed a ziplock bag leaving a small opening where he could suck all the air out, then finish closing the now vacuum packed leftovers. My heart went pitter pat.
On another note, we had Blue's party yesterday which rocked! I'll post some pictures soon.

Happy Birthday Blue!

 

 

Dear Blue,

At 11:11am Central Time you entered this world 2 years ago. At the exact same time your sister was diagnosed with RSV and wasn't allowed near you without being disinfected and masked for two weeks!

 

But once you were allowed to be together again, you guys have been the best of pals. I love that you're a Mama's boy, never wanting to leave my side. I'm glad you force me to find new ways to parent, since you and Razz have such different dispositions. Thank you for having your Daddy's brown eyes, his nose, and his hitchhikers thumb. My love for him makes it easy to love you.

Have a great 2nd birthday!

I love you,

Mama

It's a long one!

Alright, so now that school has officially started, I have no time to blog. I expected this, so I've been keeping a list of things I'd like to write about, hence this post is a hodge podge of subjects and events. This will probably be the norm until summer when I have more free time. Okay, back to school.
I just recently received a letter telling me I made the Dean's List for the College of Nursing last semester. This isn't really surprising but at the same time I wasn't expecting it. All I have to do is keep my GPA above a 3.6 each semester and I'm in. This could prove difficult given the amount of homework and studying I have to do as well as taking care of two little Crackle Berry babes. So far I've kept up with studying and reading assignments, but this is just the beginning and it's only going to get more hectic. Going to school with kids is not easy!!!!! Being pregnant and being in the same room as moldy petri dishes (like I was with Blue) is not ideal!!! As much as I wish I had finished school before I had my family, having kids really makes me focus on putting in quality work into school because I have other people depending on me. Flunking a class only takes food out of their mouths and clothes off their backs, which is not an option. I don't have time to repeat anything, I'm not getting any younger, and I don't have the patience. Four more semesters to go!
Our house if falling apart. We need to replace the windows. Here, you'll see what I'm talking about.

This is an old problem, but not one that has happened since we've moved in four years ago. My parents replaced the roof, so we thought that it was taken care of. I understand why the window is leaking, but I don't know why the ceiling is leaking too. I'm worried about mold. Luckily I haven't found any, but we'll see what we run into when we insulate the roof this spring. But wait! There's more!

Our lovely awning is breaking from the weight of the snow and ice. Okay, so it's not that lovely or well made of an awning. This too will be replaced this spring. Yay! Mr. CB took off all the icecicles and as much snow as he could. Goodbye Door of Doom! You were breathtaking, but also house breaking, so you had to go.

Besides the screen door being frozen shut, we can use the front entrance again! Not that we will, but it's a nice option.

Since we were outside, we decided to have a little fun. Blue was inside taking a nap, but Razz was frolicking in the snow...

She made it all the way down on the snow skate without falling! Mr. CB wants to take her snowboarding this year. I think she's ready. We also made a mini snowman.

 

The snow wasn't packing really well, so this is as big as we could go. Still, we had fun!

Blue will be 2 this Tuesday! Here is his invite I made up. The bottom picture we cut out around the shapes and attached them to the bottom of the invite with some star brads.

 

I would usually make the cake too, but since I've started school full time, it's just not possible. Luckily, my sister Kay used to work at a bakery in a local grocery store. The head decorator there got to know our kids pretty well and loves to do really intricate stuff for them just because our kids are awesome. We love you too, Vicki! We were there ordering the cake and I gave her an invite to go off of, and she decided to frost a cookie for Razz to practice a bit. Not that she needs to practice.

Blue's cake will rock, I'm sure.

On another Blue note, he is obsessed again. Not with balls this time (although they are still a favorite), but with a certain orange fashion accessory...

(Sorry I forgot to take out the red eye!)

He has to wear it everywhere. To the babysitters, to the store, around the house. It's the last thing off at night and the first thing on in the morning. He even has to wear it outside. In order to keep his bald buzzed head warm, I insist on him wearing his knit hat. We've compromised.

I love you Blue, you make me laugh.

(If you're not up for mushiness, you might want to skip this last little bit. Just warning you there are some PDAs.)

Because it's hard find lots of outfits to match Blue's orange hat, I went by the bookstore to buy a toddler hat from Mr. CB hoping that Blue would see the error of his ways and convert to a nice blue hat that showed some school spirit (The answer was no, in fact when I asked Blue if he wanted to show Grandma his new blue hat he said "No! ORANGE!". At least he knows his colors.). As I approached the returns window where Mr. CB was located, I asked him a very simple question.

Cherry - Excuse me sir, do you have any kisses in stock?

Mr. CB - I think so.

Cherry - Oh, great! How much?

Mr. CB - Well, that's the tricky part. They cost a kiss.

Cherry - Hmm, so in order to get a kiss I have to give a kiss?

Mr. CB - Correct.

Cherry - Okay, sounds reasonable.

*K*I*S*S*I*N*G*

I was almost late for class....

The bookstore has great customer service, don't you think?

The things kids say...

Cherry - "Blue, I'd like a kiss. Will you give me one?"

Blue - "It downstairs, I go get it!"

Yummy Gummies!

About a week and a half ago, Razz and I made homemade gummies! We had friends over tonight and made some more so I thought I'd let you see what we were up to. They were so good and easy, plus it helped me get rid of some of the Jello that has been in my cupboard for ages. I don't like Jello, but I like gummies. Weird, but true. So, I got the recipe from SkipToMyLou, an addicting crafting site. I have used a ton of things there, like the instructions for chef hat I made for Razz and fun templates for cards. Anywho, here's the recipe! You'll need a mold, and a pan or cup measure with a spout as well as water, Jello, and unflavored gelatin. First we whisked 1/3 C water, 1 pkg Jello, and 2 packets unflavored gelatin in a pan and let sit for 10 minutes for the gelatin to absorb a bit of the water. (Mr. CB said that to make it "healthier" we should use juice. A good suggestion, but I keep forgetting. It would probably make them a little more flavorful too!)

Next, turn on the burner to medium and stir until the gelatin is dissolved. We discovered that if you whisk vigorously it creates a foam which gives the gummies a lighter texture.

Once the gelatin is dissolved, let it cool for a minutes so you don't melt your molds! But don't wait too long! Pour slowly (I learned that lesson the hard way!) to fill your molds evenly.

Do you like my molds? Did you notice what they were? That's right! Advent calendar trays! We went to the Christmas clearance section at Walmart and scored these puppies for 60 cents a piece. WoOt! Plus, we saved the chocolate to coat the gummies with. Don't mock it till you try it. Delicious....

...and Disastrous.  Apparently, these gummies don't do well in a warm chocolate bath. Next time I'll just put chocolate chips in the molds and then pour the hot gummies on top. Here is what our finished project looked like (minus the chocolate!).

Yum! They were gone super fast, so I had to make a couple more batches ;). Now all I need are some worm molds...

Yum!

Yesterday was customer appreciation day at DQ! Blue enjoyed his second ever icecream cone...one lick at a time. It melted before he finished it!

Revised: I Very Much Dislike Winter!

I just forgot a few details, so I revised this post for my memory's sake. Read on!
This post is neither cheery nor humerous(it did, however, turn out to be touching and heartwarming), so if you're in the mood for a laugh, go here and do not continue reading. You have been forwarned!
Saturday we spent the day at home, glorious home! Having been stuck several times in the past couple of weeks away from home I was very happy to relax in our own house. Mr. CB miraculously did not have work, so we got some stuff done around the house then decided to drive into the other big town (i.e. not the one we work/educate in, but the one we go to Church in) to return some Christmas items. We should have never left our comfy, cozy, teeny, tiny crackle berry bush!
The roads weren't all that horrible, and by the time they started getting scary we were over halfway there. Mr. CB is an awesome winter driver and he felt confident we could make it there and back. So we continued on our merry scary way. It took us 1 1/2 hours to get there, in opposed to the 45 min it normally takes. That should have been a clue to start making some plans, but we didn't. We had dinner instead. We had left around 6 and by this time it was 7:30. Blue didn't eat very much, which is normal, but neither did Razz, which is abnormal. She was also looking a little pale. I just chalked it up to the fact that she had just woken up from her snooze on the loooong car ride. We finish dinner and get to the store. They gave us peanuts for the returns, but we had other stuff we needed to buy so we started shopping. There was nothing there. Everything was the wrong color, size, style, etc. Zilch. At this point it was past 9 and I wanted to start heading home soon, plus we had another store we were going to hit. Then Razz started screaming these blood curdling screams that her stomach hurt. Then she puked, and puked, and puked some more. Poor Razz, poor really nice Columbia jacket, poor boots, poor had, poor pants, socks, gloves, cart, aisle, my boots, and pants. Mr. CB hightailed it out of there to go look for some clothes for Razz since he can't stand the stuff. I and a worker slowly started cleaning up. It took us until 10, but we spent our peanuts plus on jammies, long johns, and slippers for the girl and got her all squared away. The other store we wanted to go to was now closed so we went to Walmart for some Gatorade and a cheap jacket for Razz before heading home. By the time we were out of there it was after 11. We started on the road home and once we were out of the city, visibility was almost nothing due to blowing snow. Mr. CB kept going very slowly, but he kept having this sinking feeling until he became almost frightened. He knew then the Spirit was telling him not to drive us home so he turned us around. Even though we had lots of friends we could have stayed with, we found a hotel that gave us a good discount. I just didn't want to bother anyone, or get them sick. We were lucky enough to find a parking spot in this little nook that was protected from the wind. Since we didn't have our engine heater with us, I was hoping that the car would start again in the morning. At the hotel we realized that we didn't have enough diapers with us so I sent Mr. CB back to the store and I tucked the kids in. He came back close to 1 in the morning, and even though it was late, we were so worked up from the night we couldn't sleep. When we finally did go to sleep, it wasn't long before Razz was crying for me because she was going to be sick again. I took care of her and spent the rest of the night adjusting the heater due to waking up too hot or too cold. It was a long night. In the morning we decided to skip Church and just go home. We didn't have any nice clothes, and the last thing I wanted to share were Razz's germs. Luckily, Darby started up first try! His little nook did the trick, keeping him warm enough over night. On our way out, Mr. CB checked the roads and they were impassable. To church we went, late, sick, disheveled, and unprepared to worship, but as always welcomed with open arms and warm hearts. Many members heard our story, offered us comfort and compassion, and then soundly scolded us for not bothering them! The most touching thing to me was that a sweet Sister we visit pulled me aside and offered to pay us for the hotel room. She is a single mom, and often is short on funds. She said she had a little extra that month and wanted to write us a check! As my tears started to fall, I refused the money but accepted her hug. As her arms surrounded me, I felt the Saviors love poor into my heart. Even though this weekend was harrowing, we were always under His protection. His Spirit guided us, and His flock comforted us. I didn't get much out of the actual words spoken during Church last Sunday, instead it was the actions of His followers that spoke to my heart. After church we were welcomed into another members small apartment, feed, and entertained until the roads had been cleared. Razz started to perk back up, and I was humbled by the unselfish giving of our friends. On the drive home we realized just how bad the roads had been the night before. Because our snow here is so dry and powdery, it acts like sand, forming dunes and scattering when the wind blows. Because the winds were so strong last night, huge drifts had accumulated on the road that were easily 4 ft tall. The evidence of these mountains of snow loomed over us, cut in half by the plows. There would have been no way we would have gotten home. If Mr. CB had pushed on, we would have spent the night stuck, cold, and possibly hurt with little Blue and sick Razz. But we were given the opportunity to listen to His voice through the sweet whisperings hollering of the Spirit. How blessed we truly are.