Thanksgiving (Post 2)

Thanksgiving has come and gone, it's a bittersweet goodbye.  I love it because I love turkey and pie and seeing the family but I hate it because now it means I'm just going to be eating my heart out until the spring and I'm going to get soooooo fat.

In my last post, I said I was going to be making 3 pumpkin pies and my brother would be making the 2 apple pies. Well, we decided to go spend Wednesday night at my parents house so we could just bake the pies there and get sleep.  I guess, since I was coming out, my brother decided he wasn't going to bake?  I was up until 2 am baking Pumpkin pies and then had to be up at 8 am to start the apple pies.  I am so tired of pie baking!  I had to roll out 7 pie crusts!  But, on a good note, they were a HUGE hit.  I was sure we'd be bringing a whole pie home but, no, they were all completely devoured.  My dad was so upset because he only got a slice of pumpkin pie and didn't get a piece of apple pie so now I have to make an entire pie just for him.  And we had a ton of pumpkin mix leftover so I gave enough for my grandma to make 2 pies and we still have enough here to make at least two more pies ourselves.  I wonder if I can freeze it?

All the food was delicious today, I have to give credit to my entire family for all getting together to make such a big, awesome meal =)

And here are a couple of pictures that we took today before my camera died, I seem to have misplaced all of my four battery chargers!

                                      Here's our little family!  Cheeks, Doc, and Xavi are the boys.

I really wanted to get a little "family" picture.  We'll have to get a professional one done eventually, probably when Leo is a year old!

This is my little sister, Deanna, with Leo.  We may not look exactly alike but we must look somewhat alike because Leo kept thinking Deanna was me and kept reaching for her...that is, until she held him and he realized that she was not me!

Leo with his Great-Uncle Phil and Great-Grandpa Held.  I have to cherish the pictures of Leo and my grandparents!

And these were the kitties before we left.  They were snoozing on Leo's changing table/pack n play (aka our cloth diaper stash area, as you can see from the background)..but they were cuddling and obviously Simba has his little arm around Sole.  Too adorable.

I was hoping to get more pictures but my camera died =(  Tomorrow I'm going on a cleaning spree to find my chargers.  Otherwise, that's what I'll be asking for for Christmas!

I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving and enjoyed it as much as I did!

Thanksgiving

This year, I was given the job of baking pies for Thanksgiving.  I was supposed to make 3 pumpkin pies (from scratch) and 2 apples pies (also from scratch).  I have no problem baking all these pies, I mean, I like to bake. 

However, my parents called me this morning and told me that I don't have to bake any pies (since I've been sick) and that they will buy all the pies.  I am appalled.  I mean, not to toot my own horn or anything but my pies, especially my apple pies, are amazing.  I have won and kept many boyfriends because of my pies (maybe lost a few due to my cooking but that's another story).  I mean, Anthony asks (sometimes begs) me to make apple pies almost every week.  I don't only because an apple pie every week would make Anthony one fat papa!!

After a lot of bickering of the phone, I finally agreed that my brother could make the apple pies and I would make the pumpkin pies.  I did make them swear they would use my recipe though since no other apple pie has stacked up to mine.  I am sad though, that I will not get to make the cute little flower cut out design on top like I always do with little heart crust cutouts on top =(

I will post pictures of my pumpkin pies tomorrow though!!

A boy and his dog.

 I  just had to share this picture.  It melts my heart.

Bad luck?

Why is it when you have something really important to do, the worst things happen?  Every night before a big test, Leo is up all night screaming.  Tomorrow, I have a huge Calc test.  It's really important since I haven't done too hot on the past two (partly in thanks to his screaming plus me not understanding the material).  I thought it'd be different tonight since the baby is actually sleeping.  However, now I'm sick.  So now I'm trying to study and do homework while running to the restroom every 15 minutes.  Terrible.

Other examples of my bad luck:
My car was broken into earlier this year and the radio was stolen.  More importantly, they broke a few windows (not just one?! The point?!?) and stole our Ipods.  But to top it off, remember that horrible snowstorm in Chicago you must have all heard about...it was DURING that.  Must have been a really determined thief.  Do you have any idea how much snow was in my car the next morning?

My bike was stolen...from our locked basement.

And I stub my freakin toe EVERY day!  Every day!!!

Okay, so I get that my luck isn't really the worst ever..but it still sucks.  Just had to have a little pity party and you're all invited!

Three Posts in one day, Wow!

Obviously, instead of doing homework or taking a nap, I've been on the computer in between classes.  That's what I should be doing while the baby is taking a very long nap (it's been two hours already, that's amazing!)

Anyway, I've been learning how to navigate around blogger and I've actually made some very important changes.  I have a background!  It's just brown but it has a little texture.  I was hoping to find something with monkeys but I had this already on the computer and it's plain and alright for now.  I also learned how to make a page.  I mean, okay, my page still looks like crap!  I really need to change the green background and text color and font.  I'll get to that..eventually!  Right now, I'm just so excited that I figured out how to make a page for my buttons so that my blog doesn't look so crowded. 

Obviously, I'm ecstatic or I wouldn't have made an entire post dedicated to a page full of buttons.

Cuddle Time

I just wanted to say that I love cuddle time.  Whether it's with my hubby, Leo, or my pups (or even kitties..when they rarely come to cuddle) it just makes me so happy.  I wish I could have cuddle time all the time!!

Who else just loves to cuddle?

Chicago School Boad Execs Must Be Idiots

Since they took away my favorite radio station here in Chicago and replaced it with an all news radio station, I've been listening to the news A LOT.  There are no good radio stations (unless you consider rap music great music) so I've decided the news is the next best thing.  I didn't hear this today but they mentioned on the radio last week that they may be closing a couple Chicago Public Schools due to the fact that they are falling below standards necessary to stay open.  This makes no sense to me.  Why? you may ask.

If they close a public school, that means that the kids from that school will have to go to the nearest open school.  I've never been to a CPS so I can't say I know exactly what it's like but I do know that they have at least 30 kids per classroom.  I also know that no CPS is doing particularly awesome at scoring well on tests.  Some are pretty average, some are less than average, maybe some are slightly more..but none score extremely high.  So what makes these school officials think that closing one school and sending MORE kids to another school will do?  With more students, the teachers will just have a harder time spending one-on-one time with students.  To me, that's the most important thing.  When I was a kid, there were few enough students per classroom so that the teacher could spend individual time with all of the students who needed help.  This was, kids didn't fall behind on subjects.  My high school was big enough to allow a max of 25 students per classroom with four different levels for each subject (trans, prep, accel, and honors/AP). 

I feel like this is just going to be a downward spiral.  They will close these schools and then more schools will start to fail to meet standards and they will close their doors.  When will it stop?  I get that closing these schools will help them save money but how much money do they think they're going to save...at the cost of children's education?

I'm so glad that my husband and I decided that we are either definitely moving out to a suburb where the public schools are just as good as private (my home town, *crosses fingers*..too bad it's so expensive out there) or fork up the money for private school.  I'm a big advocate for public schools but, when it comes down to my son's education, I'll definitely do what I think is best for him.

Why I chose cloth

In health class in high school, we were forced to do a project where we were having a baby and had to estimate all the costs that a baby would bring.  Aside from insurance and rent, I found that diapers would be the most expensive thing a baby would really need.  I mean, you're spending around 30 bucks per week on just diapers alone.  Of course, I hadn't thought about it much back then because I wasn't really having a baby!

However, it never really occurred to me to use cloth on my baby until after I was pregnant and was actually just messing around on Costco's website.  They had a really great deal on GroVia diapers and I thought maybe I'd be interested in buying that package since it was the first package.  Then I actually looked into cloth diapers and was totally overwhelmed by all the different kinds of diapers and brands and prices.  What really helped me was to read reviews on blogs and join cloth diapering forums to ask questions.

I didn't find the reviews or forums until later in my pregnancy.  I wish I had found them sooner!  I ended up buying a bunch of Gdiapers and Kushies only to find out that I hated them.  Now, reading these reviews from blogging mommies, there are a few brands that I do really want to try!

Now I can't wait for the Falling Into Fluff Event that is being hosted soon by Eco Baby Mama Drama!  I'm so excited to read more reviews on fluff so I can contemplate what to buy and where next!  I hope one day to host my own fluff event..once I get more than one follower!

Keepsakes

Has anyone seen that really cute Chrome commercial?  The one where the dad makes an email to Dear Sophie Lee?

If you haven't seen the commercial or have no idea what I'm talking about, please take a minute to watch it here.
It is SO cute.

I love this idea.  My boyfriend and I were recently watching it and we both wished we had done something like that for Leo when he was born. I mean, I guess we could still start it..three months late.  It wouldn't be that big of a deal.  I mainly love it for the idea that I could send videos to myself.  I was pretty good at doing the baby books before Leo was born.  Since he's been here, I haven't really had time to update them..plus I keep forgetting.  And you can't add video to a baby book!  Although, I do like the fact that a baby book is something he can hold on to.  He can show it to people and keep it forever. 

My grandma makes these beautiful books for all of her grandkids when they turn a certain age.  She includes pictures of every year of your life from start until she gives it to you.  She leaves extra pages so you can add pictures as the years go on.  She also adds old pictures of the family, which is almost my favorite part.  She started doing it for everyone when they turned 16, then she made it 18, then she made it graduation.  She has a hard time doing it now, especially since she's getting older.  Maybe I'm a little selfish but I'm glad I graduated five years ago because that means she was five years younger.  She still hasn't finished my little sister's, who turned 18 in February and graduated this past June.  I think I'll offer to help my grandma put the book together so we can give it to my sister.

I know it's something I'll always cherish, same with the blanket she knit me when I was a baby, the blanket she knit Leo for his shower gift, and the matching hat and scarf set she made for him.  Plus, it's a tradition that I would like to pass down to my kids and my grandchildren, hopefully it will continue on. 

Diamond Candles? What?!

So I read a review/giveaway for Diamond Candles on Momma Told Me.  When I read the title from her email, I said to myself, "Diamond candles? What?!"  I had no idea what a diamond candle would be.  Maybe just a candle with sparkles in it so it "shines"?  Upon reading the post, I found out that there are actual rings inside the candle.  Crazy right?  So I assumed the rings were all just cheap rings you'd find in any gift shop.  Turns out the rings can actually rang in value from $10, $100, $1000 and $5000.  Granted, it's probably very, very rare to find a ring in your candle that's worth 5 grand but, still, it's like an exciting little game!

I remember we went to the Wisconsin Dells once as kids and my sister and I went to this mining store and sifted around the sand to find gems.  My sister didn't find anything but I did find an actual amethyst.  Of course, since my sister's birthday is in February, I had to give her the stone and we made a necklace for her.  It was fun...but that was when I was a kid of course.  I think I'd look a little weird if I went in there now and did it by myself.  To me, this is almost the same except you're GUARANTEED to find something.  Plus, the candle is only 24.95, which really only means 14.95 since you're definitely going to get a ring worth at least 10 bucks.  Great buy to me!  This is going on my Christmas list =)

If you think you're lucky, enter to win a set of five here on Momma Told Me's blog.  If you're really lucky, you'll win the set of 5 and win awesome rings in each one =)

Life with a Pit Bull

There is a lot of negative hype towards Pits these days.  I think it's mainly the media's fault always showing dog attacks by pit bulls on the news.  They never highlight other dog attacks and, half the time, that "pit bull" wasn't even a pit bull.  People just like to place blame on the easiest target.






If anyone has read my blog before, you all know that I own three big dogs:  one of which is a pure Pit and the other is half.  I tell everyone I own a pit.  I'm proud to be his owner since he is such a great dog.

This is what 95% of Americans think living with a Pit bull is like:
I must be afraid to enter my own house because my own dog will attack me and kill me.  I can never have company over because the dog will attack and kill them.  I cannot own any other dogs because he will attack and kill them.  I cannot have children because he will attack and kill them.  I must keep my dog on a short leash and a prong collar because he will attack and kill.  I must make sure he is caged at all times otherwise he will attack and kill. And last of all, I must get rid of him because he is a pit bull.

This is what living with a Pit Bull is REALLY like (I'll be adding pictures once I load them onto the computer!):

We MUST make sure we get into bed first.  Otherwise, it is taken over. 

We also must get into bed at the same time, otherwise one or the other will have no room to sleep.

Our dogs are best friends and try to cuddle with each other all of the time.

Really, beware of the Pit Bull when you come inside, he will attack you...with kisses.

Also, beware of their backsides, they will release some stinky farts.

Beware of having your blanket stolen.  Doc insists on sleeping under the covers most nights.  

He'll let you play dress-up. And he'll look super cute while you do it.

Beware of drool when he shakes his head.  It really flies.

You really have to make sure you watch him at feeding time, or he will eat everything in site.  Every. Thing.

Watch out for your children, he will just smother them with love.

He's a terrible watch-dog.  He'd let anyone walk into the house.


Anyway, what I'm trying to prove is that people really don't even get to know these types of dogs before they put them on some sort of bad list.  My dog is a great dog, one of the best I've ever owned actually.  I don't think it's fair that he's discriminated against simply because of his breed.  That would be like saying, since the percentage of black men in jail is higher than any other race in jail , therefore, all black men are criminals.  Does that make sense to you?  I didn't think so.  If it does, you have serious racial issues.