busygirl

wordless wednesday: making silly noises.

 

and it's not even december yet!! ::so proud::

That's right.  Christmas cards?  CHECK!!

www.seehere.com is having a FABULOUS promotion!  50 photocards WITH envelopes for FREE!  And yes, there is free shipping with that too!  Limited designs, but you can add as many photos as you would like and choose from 4"x8" or 5"x7" sizes.  Just enter this promo code: freebies4mom-1109 at the checkout!

The site is a little slow but I did manage to design and order ours in under 15 minutes last night so it's doable.

the dog whisperer strikes again.

I don't know what she did.  Or how.

But I have some big news.

THE DOG SLEPT THROUGH THE ENTIRE NIGHT LAST NIGHT.  That's right.  SEVEN HOURS of uninterrupted sleep.

I am speechless.

I woke up at 4am (cause my body is now programmed to) and listened for Ricki.  He got up.  Walked over my back (I am used to the fact that he just treats us like another piece of furniture).  Walked up to my head, hit it once, turned around and laid back down.

I WAS SHOCKED.

I have no idea what my mother did to him this weekend, but seriously, I am beyond thrilled.  He didn't wake up again until 6:30am.  6:30am!!!

I. love. sleep.

off on another adventure.

We need a vacation.  STAT.  Or I might scream.  Between being frustrated at work, overwhelmed with wedding planning and cleaning up the house day after day, I have had it.  But with the holidays coming up, a wedding next year, who really has the money to go on a vacation or even take the time off work to go?

Fortunately, we managed to scrape together an affordable mini-vacation for the weekend!  We're off for a weekend of swimming and fun in the 'fake' sun!  That's right, we're headed to Kalahari Resort in Sandusky, Ohio to hit up the water slides with my siblings!  I may not be able to go to the beach, but I sure can enjoy a weekend in a temperature-controlled building - goodbye 34 degrees, hello 85!

Be back Sunday!

try this: korean vermicelli

One of my favorites that I stumbled upon one day and has been a staple in our house ever since!

Ingredients: 

1 lb vermicelli

1 bag your favorite frozen stir-fry veggie mix

1 tbsp of oil

1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp sesame oil

2 tsp crushed garlic

3 tbsp brown sugar

Directions:

Boil water and cook noodles.  Strain and set aside in a dish.  In a skillet, heat 1 tbsp of oil.  Sautee veggies until heated through.  In a small bowl mix soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic and brown sugar.  Pour over veggies and simmer for two minutes on the stove.  Pour veggies/sauce over pasta, mix and enjoy!

Quick, easy and delicious!  For more fabulous pasta recipes, click here!

you capture: whatever you want!

I was wandering around my backyard the other day and stumbled upon this last sign of summer holding on...a tiny little flower struggling to beat the odds of the coming season.

For more you capture click here!

i can has swine flu?

First case of a pet getting the H1N1 virus reported!  EEP!  Luckily the cat is recovering well, but I'm a little concerned that pets can catch it too...

The article says to avoid contact as much as possible with your pet if you have flu-like symptoms, wash your hands often and cover your coughs!

experiment failed.

While most of you were complaining about your children's inability to adjust to the time change last week (seriously, it's programmed into kids until they're about 11), I was wondering (and hoping and praying) if Ricki would be waking up LATER because of it.

But he hasn't.

4am on the dot.  Still.  Regardless of the fact that a week ago, that was 5am.

Adam is convinced that the dog can read time.

And so, we performed the following science project:

Hypothesis: Dog can read the clock when it says 4:00am.

Experiment: Change the clock back TWO hours.  So if he wakes up when it says 4:00am, it will REALLY be 6:00am, yippee!

Result: Dog wakes up when clock says 2:00am.

Conclusion: Dog can't tell time and Nicole is cranky due to loud lecture given to the dog at "2am" by Adam.

Our dog isn't gifted, he's just really good at annoying us.

wordless wednesday: happy halloween from my little devil.

(doesn't he look 'happy?')

what i learned this week.

The dog will go back to sleep.

No, I'm not kidding.  He really will.

This past weekend I left Ricki at my mom's house on Saturday night while I ventured out for some Halloween festivities.  You would've thought I had ABANDONED the little fellow with the way he acted when I returned the following morning.  Hmph, he didn't fool me.  I know that he was in for a night of cuddling, extra treats and numerous belly rubs.  And getting to cuddle up on my mom's pillow all night...

I will say that I felt bad.  And almost went home around midnight because I was guilty about leaving Ricki there all night.  Not because I 'abandoned' him, but because I know what's going to happen at 4am.  The beating will begin.  He'll suddenly become alert.  And realize that you're sound asleep.  And do everything in his power to wake you up.  Paw your pillow.  Paw your hand.  Paw your back.  Paw your HEAD.  He is relentless.  He's not tired and he wants to eat and play NOW.

It's his schedule.  And rather than fight it I normally drag myself out of bed and give him a few nibbles of food so he'll sleep until I have to get up for work.

So I felt pretty guilty as I dragged myself home the next morning.  Because I knew that my mom would be complaining that the dog attacked her at 4am.  That he just kept trying to get her up.  That he was relentless.  That there was no end in sight and so she finally just caved and got him a middle-of-the-night snack.

But there she is.  Standing in the middle of the kitchen, coffee in hand, chatting with my Gramma.  Surprised I asked her if Ricki woke her up at all.

She just looked at me and said, 'yeah, but I just told him NO and he went back to sleep.'

EXCUSE ME?!?! You told him NO and he LISTENED?????  What is the trick, how did this happen?  Six months of this crazy schedule and he doesn't listen to a thing I say until he gets food in his belly!!

So last night, or more like this morning, I tried it.  He woke me up and I said no.  He looked at me like I was an idiot and continued pawing my head until I gave in.

What did I learn this week?  My mom is a dog whisperer.  That's the only explanation.

For more 'what I learned this week' entries, click here!