Cool whip cookies

Dominic loves to cook and bake. My 4, soon to be 5 year old could spend every second he has in the kitchen cooking. He is our only child who has ever shown any interest in helping me. Dominic loves food. I mean, he really loves food. There are very few things he will refuse to eat. In fact, corn might be the only thing I can think of that he doesn't like. My sister ruined his whole life a year ago on Thanksgiving by putting that "nasty stuffs" on his plate and thinking he was going to eat it. While searching through Pinterest, I came across a recipe for Cool Whip Cookies on this blog. Those seem easy enough for Dominic to make and we have all the ingredients in the house. So, he got to baking this morning and here is how his cookies turned out.

I totally forgot to get a picture of him actually making the cookies. I was too busy standing over him and forcing myself to give up control, so this is the only picture I have of the cookies. We let them cool and decided to give them a try. I have to admit, I was very skeptical that these would turn out. How can something so easy even come close to tasting good? So few ingredients, not enough of anything to make them taste good, right? WRONG! These things were pretty darn good! I used Cherry Chip cake mix and I used 2 cups of cool whip instead of the 1 the recipe calls for. I also had to double the cook time to 16 minutes.

Wow, it has been almost a year since I last posted on my blog. It is my resolution to post at least once a week. I would love to do it once a day, but you know, even my kids aren't always funny. Looking back at this, I have to wonder who these kids are that I posted pictures of. They look nothing like my kids. Hmmmm, have I forgotten what they once looked like? I must have. Time to update some pictures. Hailee:

Hanna:

Joey:

Dominic:

The compromise

For years, for as long as I can remember, I've had to buy Joey adjustable waist jeans and pants that come in SLIM. The boy has always been seriously skinny. Gotta admit, he only eats peanut butter and fruit, 24/7. He has been this way since about the age of 18 months. Funny because I craved peanut butter and jelly sandwiches when I was pregnant. I am not a fan of peanut butter typically, but every day during my pregnancy, I had a 1/2 of a pb&j sandwich for breakfast at work. For snack, I would dip pretzel rods or carrots into a jar of peanut butter I kept in my desk. I am not shocked he loves peanut butter.

Recently, I've noticed he is finally gaining some much needed weight. We can no longer see his ribs or the bones in his back. He's looking healthy. The other morning, as he was getting dressed for school, he was struggling to get his jeans on. Now believe me, he hasn't gained "that much" weight. It was just funny to see him twist to get jeans on that have always fit him. Never thought I'd see the day. He was starting to whine about his jeans being uncomfortable. I kept telling him they are fine, just get dressed. Finally, he starts to cry and when I asked what the deal is, he looked at me with sad, tear-filled eyes and said "Mom, these jeans are compromising my manhood!!!" Trying not to die laughing, I walked into his room to find the only pair of jeans he has that are not slim. He puts them on, gives a little shake and says "Ahhh, comfort for my manhood!"

Shouldn't have caught me so off guard, it's typical Joey! And here is a little funny I found that sums Joey up perfectly. Enjoy!

A Sunday Riddle

What do you get when you mix a Don't Spill The Beans game, and a Nerf Blaster with Joey and Dominic?

Can you see where this is going? LOL!!!! Only my boys would decide to stuff the blaster with the beans and try hard to shoot them out. It has been an interesting day, that's for sure. I have to laugh, I know who was the master mind behind this, however, no one will admit it. They both stand there smiling and laughing. Thankfully it didn't shoot or jam the gun. The boys were heart broken over this. They had it planned perfectly. What they didn't plan was Nic sticking his face right up to the gun as Joey tried AGAIN to shoot it. The Nerf bullet that was in another chamber fired and left a perfect welt right next to his nose. Thankfully it wasn't his eye or this post would be taking a whole different turn.

Most days I am thankful for the laughter that these kids bring into our lives, however after something like this, I am thankful I can lock them in their room...from my side of the door!

Here comes Santa Clause...

And there goes Dominic, right up my butt!

I thought it would be fun to surprise Nic with a trip to the mall since I needed to finish up some shopping and he could see Santa. I knew, with his odd ball people fear, that he wouldn't be too thrilled to see the Big Man, but it would be fun for me. I won't lie, I love to watch screaming kids sit on Santa's lap. Those pictures are great!

I couldn't get Nic anywhere close to Santa. He saw a train ride right next to Santa and he wouldn't even ride that because it was too close to Santa. So, as he has himself smashed up against a store window, hands covering his eyes, Santa gets up out of his chair. I picked Dominic up and walked over to Santa. Santa started rubbing his back and talking to him about Mater from Cars. You would think this would make the boy loosen up right? WRONG! He couldn't get up my butt since I was holding him, so he decided to climb down my shirt. Santa wouldn't take the hint and just kept trying to talk to Nic.

As we walked away, Nic decided he hated me. He stomped his foot when we got out of eye-shot from Santa and told me so. People probably thought I was crazy because I lost it. I was laughing so hard I couldn't stop. When I asked him who was going to leave him presents because Santa won't come to our house now, he said "I don't need any" and stomped his foot again and closed his eyes. That is is sign of being a total brat. You get the closed eyes, head up look. I tried to explain how upset his sisters and brother will be to learn Santa won't come to our house and he informs me "Joey is bad anyway". Ahhhahhahaa!!! Can't really argue that one!

Since I don't have a new picture of Santa and Dominic from this year, here is one from 2009. The last time he would see Santa in person. Enjoy! :D

Just call me Yoda!

Yesterday was a crazy day, but that is typical in our house. Our little guy hasn't been sleeping well from the raging ear infection he has, so I was not looking forward to waking him up for school. Don't get me wrong, he LOVES school and doesn't want to miss a single day. I just knew he was going to wake up pissy from a lack of sleep.

I went in his room and said "Niiiic, time to get up. It's a school day!" Hearing that, he typically springs to his feet and runs to the table for breakfast. Oh, but not yesterday. Nope, not my son. He stayed under his Star Wars blanket, all toasty and warm. I was half tempted to get under the covers with him, I was freezing, and he looked so comfy. I called for him to get up again and the blankets suddenly get kicked onto the floor and he springs to his feet. Success, right? NOPE! He stood in place, arms folded across his chest with the meanest look on his face that I have ever seen. The mean monster speaks to me. "I not Nic, I YODA. You call me YODA today. Destroy the Sith, we must. You got that, Mom?" Ummm, yeah, whatever Yoda. Breakfast is on the table.

We get to school and by this time, he is so excited he can't wait to get out of his car seat. He knows his friends will be there and his day will be wonderful. He loves his teacher, talks about her all the time. We have drop off and the director gets each child out of the car for you and they walk into their rooms from there. He gives me my good-bye kiss and I said "Have a great day, Yoda. I'll see you soon." He stops dead in his tracks and with a look of great disgust, he looks back to me and yells "Mom, I am Dominic now, don't call me Yoda when we are here."

I. Can't. Win.

This picture is from Monday. He was shoving his last piece of chocolate from St. Nick in his mouth. :D That's my boy!

Happy Thanksgiving?!?!?!?!?

On facebook, I've been reading the 30 days of Thanks people have been posting because of our upcoming holiday. I thought this was stupid...mostly because this year has been HORRIBLE and I just want it to be over. This year, my extended family said hello and goodbye to their son in 45 minutes. My friend Ashley passed away in August at the age of 41 because of Inflammatory Breast Cancer and in September, my very dear friend, Debi, passed away just days after her 33rd birthday from liver cancer. Our oldest daughter broke not one but 3 bones, our second daughter was rushed to the ER for staples. There has been more that I just don't feel the need to post. We'll just say this has been a hard and trying year.

Then, as I thought more about this post, I see all that I do have to be thankful for. I have the most awesome husband any woman could ever ask for. I have 4 healthy kids, who mean the world to me. I have a great relationship with my sister. Even though my extended family had to say goodbye to their son, they still experienced a love that no one will ever know. For that, I am thankful. I have had the pleasure of calling Debi and Ashley my friends. I had the pleasure of spending time with each of these ladies and the impact they have had on my life has been immeasurable. I'm thankful that Debi's husband has let us reach out to him and still stay connected, even just in small ways. I am thankful Debi's boys have the love and support they deserve from a great Dad and wonderful grandparents. I know Debi is smiling down on them. I am thankful for some very awesome friends. Without them, I'm not sure where I would be. I have been blessed beyond belief in the friend department.

The best thing I have to be thankful for...our "new" family! Mr. Crafty recently reconnected to his biological family and it seems as though life has now fallen into place, especially for him. This has been a long time coming and I am so very, very thankful the reunion took place this year. It seems like I have known all of them forever, even though I, myself, just met them for the first time this year. Mr. Crafty smiles every day, he sort of has the "pep in his step" you hear people talk about. His life seems to be truly complete. I love seeing how happy he is, and for that, I am expecially thankful. I am thankful they get to see the wonderful man he is, how great of a person he is and how much he adores his family. I am thankful our kids will have the pleasure of calling them family; Grandma, Aunts, cousins.

So yes, while I thought I didn't have much to be thankful for...I discovered I have more blessing to be thankful for than a lot of people could ever wish for.

If you are reading this, you have had some impact in my life and for you, I am also thankful. Enjoy your holidy and know I appreciate you.