I guess we're getting a new mailbox...

Yesterday I was watching TV with my little man

when he heard the garbage truck come and 

ran to the window to watch it.  

He turns to me and says, 

"MOM!! Our mailbox is gone!"

(the bent over white post used to hold our and 

our neighbor's mailboxes)

I wish the tree wasn't in the way, but since I was trying 

to "be sneaky" and didn't want them to see me 

snapping photos...

I had to take them from the small laundry room window.

What you can't see, however,

is what's UNDER the garbage truck.  

Our 4 mailboxes, 

a light post that was in our neighbor's front yard, 

and a small tree (roots and all).

Not to mention what was BEHIND the truck

(our other neighbor's sheriff's car), which

did NOT get hit (barely).

Apparently, the guys were trying to turn around

and the gas pedal got "stuck" and made their

truck spin around before stopping.

 Finally the tow truck arrived, and hopefully

we'll have a new mailbox soon!

In other news...

I had a great time last weekend with my sisters 

(even with two of them being sick).

Here are some fun pics!

 

We stopped by to see my bro at work.

 They look hard at work, but really he was mostly just

showing us his "hilarious" youtube videos of cats.

Mom and 4 out of 5 of the girls.

 Still in total denial that my oldest sister is moving 

out of the state in like a week...

And this last one is just for fun :)

Gotta love roadies!!

The Secret to Happiness

It's Valentine's Day, and rather than goosh on and on about how lucky I am to be married to the most amazing man and have the two most beautiful children in the world...I thought I'd share my secret to happiness.  Also a bit of a guilty pleasure, and definitely the way I keep my girlish figure.  

Say hello to my candy cupboard:

Hellooooo!!!

Also, I'd like to introduce you to my newest craze, the Lindt Lindor Truffles.

And following right along would be an ice cold

 

This is truly my secret to happiness!  

Happy Love Day!

I'm a WINNER!!

I'm so excited!!!  Yesterday while I was hard at work (looking at people's blogs) I came across a blog that was having a contest.  I started following Wonderwoman a couple months ago...I can't remember how I came across her blog, but when I saw it, I was so impressed by her craftiness. 

So yesterday it was her Birthday, and she decided to give away one of her homemade pin-cushions.  I decided to enter just for kicks (I never win anything, anyway).  Then today I got an unexpected email from her telling me that I had won!!  That's so fun! 

Here is a picture of the beautiful pin-cushion I won:

It's almost too pretty to be used as a pin-cushion!  And thanks to her 3 year old daughter who was apparently the one who decided the winner :) 

Check out her blog wonderwoman creations to see what I won and more of her amazing homemade crafts!

LOVED IT!!

Wicked.  Was.  Awesome.  At least the part I saw...

For Christmas I got tickets to go see Wicked on New Year's Eve.  I was SO excited because this is a play that I've been wanting to see for a really long time.  So we got a babysitter and headed out with plenty of time to get to Chicago for our 2 p.m. play. 

The GPS was on stand-by, but the hubby said we wouldn't need it until we got to Chicago because it's pretty easy to get to.  After about 45 minutes we both realized that we were NOT on the highway we were supposed to be on, so we needed to fire up the GPS to get us back on track!  The GPS lady told us what to do, unfortunately, we ended up on a 45 minute detour through South Chicago.  South Chicago is NOT a place you want to be if you're me. 

Turns out, there were about 4 million stop lights or stop signs on our way through the "south side" and by the time we had reached the "right" highway, it was already 2 p.m. and we weren't at the Cadillac Theatre.  But, we made it there at 2:15, and my thoughtful husband told me to jump out of the car as we passed and he would go park and meet me inside.  So, I missed the beginning, and then another 5 minutes when I had to go potty (since I didn't have time to go before the play started) and they wouldn't let me back in until "the people start clapping." (said the lady guarding the door, who was actually really nice.)

All things considered, it was every bit as amazing as I thought it would be.  Big thanks to my hubby for taking me and being a good sport, even though it was probably the last thing he would want to do.  We had a great time!

Midwestern Marquee's

I keep telling my hubby that I'm going to take pictures of all the weird marquee's on the churches in the Midwest and write a book.  But I'm not.

But I am constantly surprised by the different little quotes that the churches around the Midwest use on their marquee's.  Sometimes they're just silly or church-y.  But a lot of the time they're shocking.  This summer one of the churches in my area had a saying that went something like "stoners welcome here."  Am I the only one that would be surprised to see that advertised at a church?!  Anyway, I finally pulled over the other day and took a picture of one of the signs and I wanted to share it.  I'll keep adding more as I see them.

I liked this one because I saw it soon after I had gotten home from 

driving 3 hours in a brutal winter storm. 

(This is also the same church that had the "stoners" sign in the summer.)

Screwey

I have to document something that I did to my little man the other day.  It still makes me laugh just thinking about it.

I was getting ready to put his PJ's on and he was being crazy, as usually happens right before bed.  He rolls on the floor and is laying there when I notice that there is a small screw under him.  So I ask him, "What's this?  Where did this come from?"  He looks at it and shrugs his shoulder like he doesn't have a clue.  So I decided to take the opportunity to really freak him out. 

So in my best "worried Mom" voice I say, "OH NO!!  Your screw fell out!"  He looks up at me and begins to get a questioning look on his face.  I continue..."Oh, this is bad!  Your screw fell out, and if we don't put it back real soon, you're going to fall apart!"  Just then hubby walks by so I call him in and explain the bad news to him.  By this time, the little man is starting to panic.  He gets up immediately and comes right next to me and lays on his belly on the floor.  Then with a look of complete fear he lifts his head up and says to me, "hurry Mom!!  Put it back!"  He's seriously freaking out, afraid that at any minute he will literally fall apart.

Poor little guy...I finally smiled and told him that I was just teasing him.  He got a cute little grin and with a sigh he even chuckled a little.  Even he thought it was funny.

Chocolate Gooey Butter Cookies

So these are the yummy cookies I made last night. 

Aren't I just so domestic?!

I got the recipe from Paula Deen.  I made one batch 

and slightly under-cooked them (I am a sucker for a dough-ey cookie). 

Those were my favorites, even though they turned out a little flat.

The cookies in the picture were cooked the full time and

came out nice and plump.  

These cookies are super soft and were even better this morning for breakfast!

The recipe couldn't be easier...enjoy!!

Chocolate Gooey Butter Cookies

1 (8 oz.) block of cream cheese, softened (don't worry, you can't taste the cream cheese)

1 stick butter or margarine, softened

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

1 (18 oz) box of moist chocolate cake mix

Powdered sugar for dusting

Mix cream cheese and butter with an electric mixer.  Add the egg, then vanilla and mix well.  Add cake mix and mix until all ingredients are combined.  Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours (makes it easier to shape).  Roll into tablespoon sized balls and roll each ball in powdered sugar.  Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet at 350 for 12 minutes.

Helpful tip:  I found it was MUCH easier to get a spoon full of dough and drop it into the powdered sugar.  Then as you roll it in the sugar, form it into a ball.  Otherwise your hands will become a chocolatey mess.