Charcoal vs. Gas - The Big Debate

This weekend, Bob, the boys and I had dinner at our friends Dawn and Josh's house. Josh made these awesome burgers, Bubba Burgers. Then the debate started regarding which is better, charcoal or gas grills. The wives, of course, chose gas because it is quicker. Josh said, no - charcoal, the taste is better. And so the debate went, back and forth. Josh told the boys, when they married and their wife told them to buy a gas grill, they should say "yes dear, but I am also buying a charcoal grill". They are seven, so I still have time to enlighten them about the dangers of saying no to the wife!!! Then of course, Bob pulls up and Josh says "Dude, gas or charcoal?" Without missing a beat, my husband says "Charcoal, way better." ...and so the debate continues.

Either way, those burgers ROCKED!!!

Lets take a poll - Charcoal or Gas - You decide.

Jake's Graduation

This is Jake. This is Jake pointing at his mom and his Punkin (which Jake has called me since he was a baby) because we are blubbering like two idiots at his 8th grade graduation.

Jake is my sister's son. I was with my sister the minute she found out she was pregnant with Jake, when she decided that being a single mom would be ok, when she found out that no, you are not having a girl, no matter what the other 3 ultrasound techs told you, you are having a boy. I was there the minute they brought Jake from the delivery room to the NICU. I fed Jake his first bottle since his mom was so sick with pre-eclampsia that she didn't see him for the first two days of his life. Jake is as close to being my kid as you can be without actually giving birth to him.

My sister is an amazing mom. She has raised him as a single parent for his whole life. When I got pregnant with the twins, I asked God for healthy babies and to make me as good a mother as my mom and my sister. Hopefully, it is genetic.

Jake is a great kid. Funny, smart, my two think Jake walks on water. Jake is a really kind boy. He doesn't judge by color or by popularity, he is friends with both the popular kids and the not so popular kids. He makes my sister nuts, resulting in the phone calls telling me she is going to kill the boy, but he always manages to straighten out and act right.

Since the boys were born, I have asked God to make them as good kids as Jake.

So yes, Jake, we're blubbering. We're crying tears of pride for the man you are becoming.

Too Hot To Cook Thursday

In one of my yahoo groups, SJ Mom Bloggers, created by my friend Meghan, who is the blogging Queen (you should really check out her blog, www.meghansmindlessmuttering.blogspot.com - it is so stinking funny) today is Too Hot To Cook Thursday where we all post the recipes we make when it is too hot to cook and since this is New Jersey, humidity capital of the world, this could be practically any day of the week.

Here is what we do at my house.



Easy Pasta Salad

1 lb box of Rotini
cucumber
carrots
red onion
Italian dressing

Cook the pasta and let it stand until cold (I run it under cold water)

Chop cucumber, shred carrots, cut onion and throw them in a big bowl

Mix with your favorite italian dressing.

Chill in Fridge.

We will eat this all week long, so nice and cold. You can put anything you like in it.

The many faces of Justin

I don't even know what to say about this boy. This is him all the time. Happy, goofy, weird, what ever you want to call it, it's him.

Frightening, isn't he!!

WE'RE DONE SCHOOL!!!!!!!!!

The boys are done school. Thank God, because when it comes to getting up in the morning, they did not inherit their waking up skills from me. When they were babies, I would dread bed time because it was always a fight, now I dread waking them up for school. When I open my eyes, I am awake and functional. My mom was the same way and so is my sister. I don't even use an alarm clock because I wake up at the same time every day. But my sons - NOOOOOOOOO. I start out with "come on babies, it is time to get up" and end with "I DON'T CARE IF YOU ONLY HAVE YOUR UNDERWEAR ON, IF YOUR BUS COMES, THAT IS WHAT YOU'RE WEARING TO SCHOOL!!" So thank God that is over for the next two and a half months.

Can I just tell you how I apparently gave birth to two smartypants. Justin got 38 excellents on his report card. Robbie got 31. Robbie got the second highest math score in his class - 96. I am 42 years old and can barely do 1st grade math. There were a couple of times I didn't understand their homework. They love school, like to read, Justin has better penmanship than my husband. I'm so proud of them. On to 2nd grade!!!!

Father's day was kind of dull. Bob had to work. He actually volunteered to work his own shift plus another shift because one of the girls he works with Grandfather died and yesterday was the Memorial Service. So being the nice man that my husband is, he volunteered to work her shift so she could go. No one else offered to even cover a couple of hours for her. God loves things like that. I'm sure he will be rewarded. So we went to church, took lunch to Bob and hung out at home. Very non exciting. Both of Bob's daughters called, so did our niece who lived with us when she was in high school and considers Bob her surrogate dad (bob's brother, heidi's dad died in a car accident in 1993 and we took her in and she lived with us for a while.) He was really missing his own dad who died a couple of years ago, so it was kind of bittersweet. The boys made adorable cards for him.

Ok, do 13 year olds have some kind of brain chip missing. My nephew spent the weekend with us. Saturday night I told him to get all of his stuff together because we need to leave for church by 9:30 a.m. and everytime one of my nieces or nephews stays with us, we end up with clothes.
BJ did you pack everything - yes. You got everything - yes. You're sure - yes. Did you put your toothbrush in - no. GRRRRR!!! So last night I'm cleaning up and what do I find???? A tee shirt, a pair of shorts, a bathing suit and a pair of jeans!!!!!!!!!

I'm so looking forward to the boys becoming teenagers.

Why do I do this every year???

Two afternoons at the lake makes mommy a very sunburned, tired, sweaty, CRANKY mommy. We spent the afternoons this weekend at the beautiful Lake Lenape. Because apparently now New Jersey is situated in the bowels of hell. As I sit here and write this, it is 7:42 pm and it is 93 degrees outside with the heat index making it feel like it is 102 degrees. So the boys and I went to the lake yesterday and today. I do this every year, I put sun block on, 50 SPF sunblock, not the Hawaiian Tropics Deep Dark tanning oil that I used in my youth. I burnt the crap out of my skin, but I smelled like a yummy pina colada. OOOOHHHH, a pina colada. Nice and cold and refreshing. Oh sorry, I lost my train of thought for a second. Back to the searing sunburn on my face. I don't know how, even with sunblock on, I get a sunburn the first weekend I go to the beach. Let me tell you, whiney, fighting kids + a sunburn makes for a very CRANKY mommy. I'm sweating, the boys are fighting, my husband is apparently in some kind of pissy mood, because he hung up on me today. (which by the way does not bother me because I just think of it as one less person who I have to listen to). Oh and the sweating under the boobs, I could really do without that too. Happy Stinking Weekend!!!

Even this picture is annoying me. It looks like one of those hideous celebrity DWI photos. Yep, me and Nick Nolte, we're hot!!!

Red Dye - BAD!!!!

Justin is feeling much better today. He got to stay home from school and he got to go with Daddy to his doctor's appointment. The old ladies at my husband's doctor's office just LOVE the boys, you know how old lady love is, they like to squeeze your cheeks and give you kisses. He was so proud because one old lady gave him a whole box of tissues. Hell, if I new he would get so happy over tissues, I could have saved a fortune at Christmas. Anyway, when they picked me up from work (only one car, lots of juggling of schedules) he was a little hyper. I thought he swindled the old ladies out of candy but Bob said no. WELL, let me tell you, as the day progressed he turned into a wild man. Couldn't sit still, yelling for no reason, throwing things, etc. When Justin was about 6 months old he had a cold and we gave him baby cold medicine. Noooooooo!!! We were up for two days and the pediatrician said "oh yes, it has the opposite effect on some kids." They should write that somewhere on the bottle in REALLY BIG LETTERS. Anyway, I googled his pink medicine and apparently the red dye in the medicine can make some kids hyper. GGRREEAATT - two days down EIGHT TO GO!!! This picture is one of the many faces I saw today.

There is a cloud over our house.

There must be a cloud over our house today. First, last night, Speedy, our turtle DIED. I can only hope my children wail as loudly for me when I "go into the light", as they did for that stinking turtle. Mind you, no one ever really paid attention to him unless I said "has anyone fed Speedy lately?" Unless you count when Justin would put him in the bathroom sink, put water in it and make a whirlpool for him. "He really likes it mommy!!!" Poor Speedy probably got so dizzy he just gave up. He was really tiny. I found him outside the door to my office about three years ago. So I tried to use the excuse that maybe turtles don't live very long. Of course, Robbie popped out with "No, in school we learned that turtles can live hundreds of years." Not when you spin them around like they're on a ride at Great Adventure they don't. So we are mourning our dear departed today. He has a lovely check book box casket and there will be a lovely service when Robbie gets home from school.

I had to pick up Justin at school today. Apparently, my kid is a world class yacker with an extremely sensitive gag reflex. We're so proud. He hasn't been feeling good for a couple of days, he's getting a cold, but his throat is swollen and red so off to the Dr. went. Pharyngitis. No Strep. Also no school tomorrow. Ice pops, jello, etc. He thinks he is in sick boy heaven. He also almost yacked on the Dr. when she put the giant Q-tip in his throad to take the strep test. It's going to be a long night!!!

My first attempt at CVSing

Ok, I know it has been a while, things have been a little crazy here, but thank God, life seems to be calming down a little. I think we may have one more extremely tight month and then it will get better. I'm still working part time for the attorney and Bob is driving a taxi. Really, better him than me, I couldn't deal with the public all day.

I am in major Cheapo Mode. I have been in CM since they cut Bob's WC benefits without a word. "Doctor says you've reached maximum medical improvement - Sorry." $1600.00 we were waiting for never coming. So after I panicked, I got down to business.

1. We shut off our cable, internet and phone through Comcast - WAY TOO EXPENSIVE.

2. We now have Verizon telephone and dial up internet. Slower, but at least it is on.

3. People PC for my internet provider - $5.97 per month - again, slow but at least we have it.

(Robbie wouldn't agree with me, he hates the dial up, but then he is seven with no job so, too bad sporty)

4. I have dropped my electric bill by about $100. Hanging laundry, unplugging everything I can when it is not in use. Computers (my boss gave me a second computer when he bought a new one for the office which the boys use to play computer games) are on power strips so the whole strip can be turned off when it is not in use. Unplug coffee pot, microwave, phone chargers when not in use.

5. I work from 9-12 and Bob works from 1pm to 1am. We only have one vehicle. He takes the truck to work on most days and the boys and I just entertain our selves at home.

6. Paid for season tags for the lake with saved change ($18.00) Now we are saving for a small pool for the back yard.

7. Pack lunch for the boys for school every day. (8 days left!!!!!)

8. The boys have been great about not being able to do all the things we used to do.

9. Filling out surveys and requesting samples online. (See Meghan, I swear we are long lost twins)

and finally

I went to CVS today. This was my first time CVSing. It is awesome once you get the hang of it. Here's what I got:
2 8 pack Bounty Paper Towels
2 9 Roll Charmin TP
2 Dawn dish soap
2 colgate toothpaste
2 crest toothpaste
1 Adidas Deoderant
1 DVD for the boys (we cut the cable - too expensive)
1 Dentyne gum
2 twizzler king size
Total paid: 24.59
$4.99 in extra care bucks to us next time.

The picture is of the boys at Lake Lenape in Mays Landing. Nice free entertainment.