Foto Friday

Bittyman's Preschool Photos:






Darn you, photogenic kid. Don't complain next week when you're eating cereal for dinner. I just blew half of the grocery budget on your pictures!

Ninja Bittyman

Today parents were invited to watch the final Tae Kwon Do class. (I wish I had a better filming angle but I was wrestling Ittyboy who wanted in on the action!)

And yes, Bitty is already signed up for the next session. Be very afraid. The kid has a mean knee to the head!

Things That Make You Go "Hmmm"

The most recent Google searches that landed on this blog:

here's a quarter, call someone who cares
bitty man
mensa for toddlers
chuck e cheese germ pit
preach the gospel always
baby by c-section myspace layouts
mazda protege has a 10 gallon tank
can't wait to be called mommy glitters for myspace
blood diva layout
what's so good about sidekick cell phones?
myspace labor and delivery nurse graphics
preach the gospel and if necessary
peeing on a car
shoot your mom game

The last one is from an IP address in Jamaica. Mothers in the Caribbean be warned!

FYI For You Caffeine Addicts

Starbucks Closes Between 5:30pm and 9:00pm Tuesday to Perfect the Art of Expresso.

Dunkin' Donuts Invites Coffee Lovers to Enjoy Lattes for Less: 99-Cent Espresso Beverages on Tuesday.

Brilliant move by Dunkin' Donuts. (I prefer their coffee over Starbucks hands down anyway - Heck, I actually prefer making my own sugar-based coffee drink at 7-11 or the affordable vanilla iced coffee at McDonalds's over the slightly burnt tasting, bank-breaking green logo experience.)

Too bad I gave up all coffee away from home for Lent. A 99-cent Dunkin' Donuts Latte sounds heavenly!

21st Century Child

"Bitty, how many times do I have to remind you to push the button to close the sliding door when you get out of the minivan?"

"But Mom, my brain's already full... I gotta delete some stuff first."

What Kind of Coffee Am I?

You Are an Espresso

At your best, you are: straight shooting, ambitious, and energetic At your worst, you are: anxious and high strung You drink coffee when: anytime you're not sleeping Your caffeine addiction level: high

What Kind of Coffee Are You?

The description of my personality and caffeine addiction is eerily accurate. But my coffee of choice these days is Dunkin' Donuts Original Blend made in my SmartBrew Plus Programmable Coffee Maker with Fat Free French Vanilla Creamer and a touch of Hershey's Syrup Lite.

(Yeah, I know, would I like some coffee with my sugar? The coffee purists are shuddering in horror reading this post.)

Thank You. Thank You Very Much.

Yippee! Nothing like a Blog Award to brighten a dreary rainy day. ( Tracy actually bestowed this upon me last week but I'm just now blogging about it.)

Upon acceptance of this award I need to post a link to Ukok's Place and pass it on to five other people.

I'm going to change things up and award this to five people who currently don't blog but I believe should 'cause I know they have great things to say:

• grandmai
• Rachel
• Jana
• FP
• Joni

Maybe by receiving this award they'll be inspired to start blogging. But if not, they all still make the world a better place. Thanks for being a part of my world!

Happy 10 Months, Ittyboy!

At 10 Months, Itty:

• Crawls, pulls himself to standing and cruises the furniture
• Climbs (and falls from) stairs
• Says 'Dada', 'Mama' and 'Bye'
• Waves and blows kisses
• Pulls over (and breaks) floor lamps
• Has yet to cut a tooth
  
• Eats just about anything put in front of him (but his favorite foods are black olives, sausages and bananas)
  

Although Itty is no longer a twin separated by 4 years from Bittyman, it's fascinating what quirks are obviously genetic:

Ittyboy's 'Scary Face'

Flashback - Bittyman's 'Scary Face'

Lent Laughter

Scarfed down a Big Mac last Friday? Slept through daily Mass? Jumped into message board drama when you were giving up the internet? Missed your Holy Hour? Heck, Lent snuck up on you and you haven't even figured out what you're doing to increase your prayer, sacrifice and almsgiving?*

As the songs go, be not afraid... we've only just begun.

Take a moment to enjoy these light-hearted looks at Lent from around the Catholic blogosphere:

The Curt Jester: L-Mart 2008

Alive and Young: Angelic Conversation

Kansas City Catholic - Lenten Fare 2008

Now that you do not look gloomy, go and blow Lent no more!

* Real 'I already blew Lent' confessions from a few of my Catholic friends... and me! And for the person still blindsided by the change of liturgical seasons, here's 25 Great Things You Can Do For Lent from Busted Halo.

Menu Plan Monday

You know the rules. I plan four meals and insert them as the spirit moves me. Wednesday nights I have choir and Thursday nights Dan teaches piano - those are leftover (or pizza) nights.

This week's meals:

Spinach Pasta Casserole, Salad
Chicken Parmesan, Green Beans, Garlic Bread
Soup & Basil-Tomato Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
Meatless Friday: Black Bean Quesadillas, Cheese Nachos

And next weekend, since the forecast is for sunshine and highs in the 70's, we'll be firing up the grill! Bring on the burgers and brats!

Thanks to Laura at I'm an Organizing Junkie for hosting.

Foto Friday

With apologies to our family and friends who are in a deep freeze, pictures from today's trip to the park where we enjoyed sunshine and a high of 67F.

*Diva Mom ducking to avoid the snow and ice balls being thrown her way from Virginia, New York, Wisconsin, Colorado, Alaska...*

Fat Tuesday Funny

Jesus and Satan were having an on-going argument about who was better on the computer. They had been going at it for days, and frankly God was tired of hearing all the bickering.

Finally fed up, God said, "THAT'S IT! I have had enough. I am going to set up a test that will run for two hours, and from those results, I will judge who does the better job."

So Satan and Jesus sat down at the keyboards and typed away.

They e-mailed.
They e-mailed with attachments.
They faxed.
They downloaded.
They created spreadsheets.
They typed reports.
They merged contacts into labels.
They created charts, graphs and webpages.
They did every computer task known to man.

Jesus worked with heavenly efficiency and Satan was faster than hell.

Then, ten minutes before their time was up, lightning suddenly flashed across the sky, thunder rolled, rain poured and, of course, the power went off.

Satan stared at his blank screen and screamed every curse word known in the underworld.

Jesus just sighed.

Finally the electricity came back on, and each of them restarted their computers.

Satan started searching frantically, screaming, "It's gone! It's all GONE! I lost everything when the power went out!"

Meanwhile, Jesus quietly started printing out all of his files from the past two hours of work.

Satan observed this and became irate.

"Wait!" he screamed. "That's not fair! He cheated! How come he has all his work and I don't have any?"

God just shrugged and said,

JESUS SAVES

Tagged by Suzzcq!

Here are the rules:

1. You have to post the rules before you give your answers.

2. You must list one fact about yourself beginning with each letter of your middle name. (If you don't have a middle name, use your maiden name).

3. After you are tagged, you need to update your blog with your middle name and your answers.

4. At the end of your blog post, you need to tag one person for each letter of your middle name. (Be sure to leave them a comment telling them they've been tagged and that they need to read your blog for details.)

This is pretty easy for me since my middle name has a mere three letters:

A - Aunt to 19 nieces and nephews.
N - Native of the Washington DC area.
N - Nocturnal.

(Good thing I have a middle name. My maiden name is 12 letters long!)

The three people I tag are Sharon, Tracy and Kristen.

Superbowl XLII

My favorite commercials:

Budweiser Clydesdales Superbowl Ad: Hank the Clydesdale

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Diet Pepsi Max Super Bowl Ad: Ginseng & Caffeine; Wake Up People

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ETrade.com

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Way to go, Giants! I fully expected this Superbowl to be a blowout snooze fest. But Eli and company pulled off one of the greatest big game upsets of all time. Against the cheating, and as of tonight, choking Patriots.

New England's coach Bill Belichick stormed off the field before the game was over and gave a less than gracious loser press conference afterwards. Classy guy, that one. But as further spygate accusations unfold Belichick should be worried that he might not see another playing field to storm off of again.

You Like Me, You Really Like Me! *

Tracy has bestowed upon me the Excellent Blog Award! Thanks, Tracy!

* FYI, this is a misquote of Sally Field's 1985 acceptance speech. What she actually said was, "I haven't had an orthodox career, and I've wanted more than anything to have your respect. The first time I didn't feel it, but this time I feel it, and I can't deny the fact that you like me, right now, you like me!" (What did we do before Wikipedia?)

Foto Friday

Ittyboy pulled himself to standing for the first time, just before this photo was taken. Of course I still haven't captured this milestone on camera. Care to take bets on when he'll start walking? (Or for that matter, when he'll get his first tooth?)


Bittyman started Tae Kwon Do classes this week. He won an award for having memorized the first six stances - the first student in his class to do so! (And yes, the 'face' is necessary, according to Bitty. Be very afraid.)