I'm Floored.

The past two days have been spent stacking piling and pushing funiture aside so that our new wood floors can be installed. Two kids, two dogs, two big people, trying to navigate around construction and still 'live' there has been interesting. I will say my biggest fear with this particular project was how in the world they would match our existing wood floors to the new wood floors....this is where I was really holding my breathe. TWWWWALLLLA! A perfect match! Today when we get home the downstairs should be complete so that we can start the clean up, move stuff back into place project. Tomorrow the team will be laying wood upstairs in the hallway and then Monday new carpets on the stairs and then DONE! It's a messy job, but it will be worth it. Some funny things we have noticed: the carpet muffled sound in our house....it's even louder now! This comes in handy when I am singing at the top of my lungs and the echo sounds so cool, but not so lucky when two kids are talking over each other.... anther thing, the dogs pissing playground has now been tossed, REALLY hope they can pick up on potty training with the smell gone and a re-focused mom and dad training them. Speaking of dogs, everything was in such array last night, at one point we couldn't 'find' Zippy....we looked and looked and looked. I thought maybe he was outside or had been swallowed up by the stuff we had piled high in every corner of the house. Nope----I found him sitting inside the car in the garage with the doors shut....no one remembers him outside and by the way this is the 2nd time in a week I have found him in the car like this.....crazy dog.

I am excited to decorate this year with my new wood floors!

A shot of courage

After looking into the flu shots this year, I decided it would be best if we all skipped the mist and did the shot. First of all the shot is not a live virus, and I just feel like it's a better choice. To each their own! Nevertheless, much 'shot' talk has been taking place in our house. Tatum was pretty mad about not getting that nose misty stuff, so we'll see how she reacts today when it's game time. Dalton had almost talked himself into everything being okay today. We showed up at his preschool and though he was not his usual happy self, he wasn't crying. We got checked in and walked into the room where the nurses were giving the shots. Two kids in there....screaming.....crap. He looks up at me, tears filling his eyes and he says:

"I USUALLY GO WITH THE FLOW.....BUT THIS IS CRAZY!!!!"

Luckily, I am wizard in the department of distraction. I say, "DALTON, tell them about your halloween costume..I bet NO ONE here would believe how SCARY it is!"

D: "Well....sniff sniff....it...sniff is pretty scary...it's actually freaky" (side note...actually is one of his favorite words to date).

Smart assistant nurse brings bag of candy over while shot nurse gets ready to aim.

Aim. Fire. Done.

Me: GREATTT JOB!

Dalton: "I WOULDN'T say that DIDN't hurt mommy."

Alas, Dalton loves him some chocolate and the mini twix seemed to comfort the wounds so to speak.

I am much more worried about my drama diva getting her shot today. I am sure I will have more to write about that later.

The Pumpkin Theif

I love fall.....I really love when the air feels crisp and you can sit out and enjoy the fire pit and watch two stinky little people eat smores---! This past weekend we had fun with the Skeleton Scurry, a little run/kid vendor booths/pizza event....Tatum dressed as Lo the Warrior Princess and Dalton went as the 'Unknown Phantom.' The weekend seemed to be going smoothly, until I noticed that the GIANT Green pumpkin gourd Tatum and I had so lovingly picked out the weekend before along with several other unique harvest decorations was jammed like a stake through the heart on a neighbors mailbox...I was sad....then I was MAD....I get it, you are 14 and that is just SO funny, but really it's not and I wanted to grab the little turds and beat them. Of course it was a good learning experience for the kids (eh hem, after I got done saying "I'M GONNA KILL THEM")....we talked about how it's NOT nice to do that to someone else's property, and it's like stealing, etc. They both were VERY sincere about it.....(I know I know.....I am sure they will smash a few pumpkins at some point) but still, it was important to talk to them about why that isn't cool.

In other weekend news....not like anyone DOESN'T know this, but MU upset #1 OU for probably one of the best football games I have ever seen in my LIFE! What a fun game to watch! And now here is where I KNOW I am old...after the game, I thought "WOW,I am SO glad I am not there, I bet that place is insane." And I went to bed.....


A busy week ahead!

Let's try this again...

The frustration of posting a really cool blog only to somehow completely wipe it out is, well, FRUSTRATING!!!! I don't have time to re-cap much, but to say that my brother got married last weekend, and my two sweet babies were quite gorgeous in their duds....they were waited patiently and had so much fun, but as we all were, they were quite ready to go home when it was over. I also got a nice case of pneumonia right in the middle of everything and even though it's a week later, I am still not 100%.....working on it. Here are a couple pics of the kids.

Oh nuts.

I know I am weird. I just don't dig hot hot weather. I am great with summer in the beginning, but by mid-July I have checked out of the 100 degree weather. Fall is my favorite time of the year, granted with global warming it certainly seems that we almost go from HOT summer to COLD winter without seeing much of Mr. Fall.....but those few weeks he is here are oh so wonderful. Pumpkins, Halloween, long boots, and sweathers OH MY!!!! Puts this girl in a great mood. I love to wake up, walk outside and take a deep breathe of crisp fall air. Not too mention blasting up that fire pit outside! So, the weather seems to be heading in that direction and so many other things are happening at the Rice house......it's almost too much to even mention! Everyone is doing well for the most part...

I usually include some 'kid' stories, b/c quite frankly they are so funny and I feel like if I don't write about them, I will forget! The latest OBSESSION in our house primarily with Dalton is his Halloween costume. He is going as the 'lost phantom' or something freakishly dark and disturbing this year....Tatum is going as 'lo' Perseus' love in Clash of the Titans... this was the conversation in the car this weekend:

Dalton: Mommy..Daddy...hey guys??!! Why can't kids trick or treat by themselves? Alone and stuff?

Us: Because you are too little and someone could take you....so you don't do anything like that without mom and dad around...or an adult that you know.

Tatum: I would scream and run away if someone tried to take me!

Dalton: I would Kon Fu them (Kung Fu) and hi-----yaaaaa them!

Tatum: I would kick them in the nuts.

Us: Looking at each other in dismay and trying not to laugh and realizing they both had NO idea what that means b/c they weren't laughing at all.

I sat there and thought, do I tell her not to say that again when she doens't know what it means? I am sure she heard it at school,,,and my next thought was..nope, when push comes to shove, a good kick in the nuts to a 'bad guy' isn't so bad after all!!!

Going Organic

I think we all know that eating organic would be the ideal--fruits, veggies, meats, everything void of pesticides and crazy antibiotics. Lately, I have tried to make even better choices for our family meals and snacks. Like making buffalo burgers (much healthier and so delicious), pad thai with gluten free tofu, organic sprays instead of tons of olive oil, etc. Unfortunately going organic also means a hit to the pocket book. For example, the buffalo meat from Mama Jean's was appr. 3 times the price of it's ugly step sister ground beef! I also made this fantastic sandwich the other night! Focaccia bread thinly sliced down the middle, light brushed with olive oil and put on the grill, then 3 whole red peppers lightly dusted and grilled whole, egg plant, goat cheese and a garlic spread lead to a tasty finish! I am loving to cook (when I can) and try out new recipes. It is cool to make food FRESH...and I like that Tatum can't wait to have sushi with miso soup tonight(because she loves the kale and tofu in it!) What are some of your favorite dishes?