New Things Review #4

Well, it's been over a month, but I thought that I would at least put in a few good words for some new things that I've tried recently. I've also got some not-so-good words too (thanks a lot, Post cereal products...)

First up, the new Reese's Whoppers.
I don't like whoppers. I should clarify, I don't like the chocolate whoppers. I love the strawberry shake whoppers though, so when I saw this little box, I thought that I would give them a whirl. That is, after they went on sale. I mean, c'mon... My opinion of these candies were already 50/50, so I didn't want to pay more for something that was already a gamble. We're talking at least a 50 cents savings here...
The first thing that hits you with these candies is not the peanut butter flavor, which is odd since the little balls are coated in the stuff. I call it stuff, because obviously it's not real peanut butter. In fact, I'm not sure what it is, but at least is tastes pretty good. The peanut butter flavor actually hits you second. First thing you get is the taste of malt, and then the smooth melting peanut buttery substance. Not too shabby for 88 cents at your local wal-mart.

Next up, the Dino-S'mores Pebbles cereal.
Not good. The first handful out of the box wasn't too bad, but then my better judgment caught up with me. They hardly have any flavor to them. That was before I even put them in any milk. Try soaking them down with skim milk, and you're definitely going to wish you were eating something else. Anything else. Including Pizza-Mia pizza from Pizza Hut. Ok, maybe not that, but pretty much anything else.
Eating cereal dry is really the best way to eat these sugary kinds of cereal. I never actually eat them as a meal, but more of a snack. I mean, the malt-o-meal blueberry muffin tops are made out of rice for crying out loud, so they aren't going to fill the stomach of grown person with just 1 to 8 servings. If you ate the whole box, then maybe. But seriously, they are freakin' amazing little pieces of starchy and sugary goodness.
Back to the S'more pebbles, I gave them to Cole to eat for breakfast one morning, and he didn't even like them. They are bland, bland, bland... They don't taste like anything either, in case you needed further clarification on my feelings. The box they came in probably has more flavor.
Fruity Pebbles - Good. Cocoa Pebbles - Good. S'mores Pebbles - Craptastic.

Third, Pomegranate Tootsie Pops -
This is another flavor that the fella's over at Tootsie headquarters are giving a whirl. For the past couple of years, they have been fiddling with the watermelon, strawberry, lime, and blue-raspberry variety with pretty good success. That is, if they judged their success on Adam Pace's taste preferences. I love the strawberry and lime ones the best though. That is, until these little red gems came along.
For only 15 cents, you can pick yourself up a mouth-watering little lollipop at your local maverick, and it'll last you at least 264 licks.
That's the average amount of licks a study at Purdue University found it will take you to get to the center. Thanks Purdue for answering that age-old question posed by those commercials from yesteryear. Now how about you do some research on curing cancer, finding alternative energy sources, or how the Whopper company can get peanut butter to stay on malt balls so securely, but still melt in your mouth so easily. Something serious for a change.

These suckers remind me of the wild berry skittles, if you were to take at least one of each flavor and chew them all at once (or suck them, if that is to your liking...which I would completely recommend. You've gotta ration them, after all) Highly endorsed by yours truly.

Last - A double whammy of new albums from a couple of great pop/rock singers -
Jason Mraz - We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things
This guy has had a few hits over the past couple of years, including "The Remedy" and "Wordplay", but his sophomore album definitely hit a slump. I wasn't even sure he would be around for a third. However, this time he has come back with a full album of great songs. My favorites are "Butterfly" and "Coyotes". This is one of those rare albums, at least in my catalog, that I can listen to from start to finish without skipping a song. The only thing more rare than that is a double album that can accomplish the same feat (see Stadium Arcadium by the Red Hot Chili Peppers)
Gavin DeGraw - Gavin DeGraw
"Chariot" was a great album. Bar-none. That's probably why he released a "stripped" version, which was basically the full album done acoustically. The stripped version wasn't as good, but that's only because I liked the more up-beat feeling the original conveyed. However, his self-titled follow-up album is just as up-beat, and has several tracks that are very great. This comes close to being a "no skipper", but the track "Relative" is just a little annoying. "In Love With A Girl", "Cop Stop", "Medicate the Kids", and "She Holds the Key" are already in my "favorites" playlist.
I definitely recommend these two albums.

While I'm on it, I would not recommend Alan Jackson's latest, "Good Time" (far too twangy, and the songs all sound like filler except the title track) His previous album, "Red on a Rose" was great, no matter what kind of music you like. I can almost hear an audible rolling of eyes at that last comment, but get over the "I don't like 'Country' music" mantra... The stuff coming out of Nashville is more "pop" now than most pop music (Feist, KT Tunstall, anything by Jewel, Nine Inch Nail's "Ghost" albums, and half of their "Slip" album - Ok, NIN isn't pop, but my point is the same... ) - Anyone reading this blog is old enough that they should probably be comfortable admitting they listen to country without worrying if the person they are speaking with will think they are "uncool".
That means you Mike Shepherd. :-)

Fun in the Sun!!

So, a well known fact to most people in our area, but not known to me until recently, is that we have several splash pads around that are absolutely fun and free!! The kids love playing in the water, okay, not so much Cole, but Makenna loves it. The kids love being outside and this is a great way to let them do something different that doesn't cost me anything except the gas to drive them there. Here are a couple of pictures of the kids at one splash pad that Adam and I took them to last week. I have since taken them to another one a couple of times. I love me some free fun!! If anyone ever wants to go, let me know. It's a great way to let the kids wear themselves out for the day.

New Swimming Pool

We bought the kids this cheap little $10 swimming pool last week and let them go "swimming" on Saturday afternoon. They loved it!! Makenna kept splashing the water at Cole and anyone else that was within ten feet of the pool. Cole wouldn't sit down in the water so he was pretty much shivering the whole time, but still having fun. Makenna has been asking to go swimming everyday since she broke her arm and now that the cast is off we have no excuses. It should be a fun, cheap way to spend some time this summer.

Happy Father's Day!!

I wanted to make sure to let Adam know how much we appreciate him and to wish him a Happy Father's Day. He is a great dad to Makenna and Cole and they love him very much. Adam works very hard for our family and I appreciate the opportunity that I have to stay home with our children. He never complains when there is a diaper that needs changing or the kids need to be bathed. He always has plenty of energy to play with them after he has had a long day at work and they always look forward to when he gets home from work. The garage door opens and the squeals begin from both kids because they know that daddy is home. Our kids may not be big enough to let daddy know how much he means to them, but I know that they love their daddy and are always excited to spend time with him. He reads to them, builds towers, gives them piggy back rides, and even eats pretend pancakes with Makenna. He is a great dad and a great husband. We love you Adam!

Love-
Marianne, Makenna and Cole

Makenna's Toddler Class

We have had Makenna enrolled in a toddler class through the school district for the past eight months. It has been a great experience for Makenna and she has loved every Friday that she has been able to go to school. Makenna had great teachers that were very helpful, taught her lots of cute songs, made crafts and read to her. She had her last day today and it was so cute to see her hug her teacher and give her kisses, I could tell that Makenna will miss going to class. Here is a picture of Makenna with Miss Jen. She was a great teacher!

Yes, it's true...

Yes, it is true. I gave in. I cut Makenna's hair. I was getting tired of fighting with it everyday. It was just getting too long and needed to be cut and start growing all new and healthy. So last Tuesday I took her in and cut off five inches. I originally wasn't going to cut that much, but her hair grows so fast, I figured this would be a good length for the summer. I am sure that by Christmas it will be plenty long again. I can still put it up in all the same hairstyles as before, but now when she wears it down she doesn't look like she hasn't had her hair done in weeks. Anyway, here is a picture of her new haircut, don't mind the look on her face, for some reason she thinks when she gets her picture taken she needs to make this weird look to be cute or something.

On a side note, Makenna finally got her cast taken off yesterday. After an additional x-ray, (which I didn't want done) her arm is healed. We just have to be careful for the next few weeks since it would be likely to break again if landed on funny, no Arctic Circle play areas for us, thanks. I am so glad to done with that thing. Showering with a big bag on your arm is not the funnest thing. Plus, it was stinky and dirty, not matter how much I wiped it down with wet wipes, it just would not stay clean. She keeps telling me that her arm feels better and a few days before she had her cast taken off she started telling us that she was sick of her cast. That made two of us!!

Cole-Bear

Nope, the title of this blog is not to show phonetically how to pronounce the last name of the host for "The Colbert Report", but actually the nick-name most often used for our second born. It has seemed to me that lately Makenna has been getting most of the screen time on the blog due to her recent injury, her episode at the petting zoo (I'm glad I wasn't there), and her endeavor into the adventures of going potty on the toilet.

Cole is quite possibly one of the cutest little boys I know. Ok, so I might be a little biased, but there are quite a few little boys out there that I only hope will grow into their ugliness to become ruggedly handsome men. I know that was the case with me. I'll admit that at one time, I had a face that only a mother and Roxanne Elkface could love, (ask me about her some other time... and yes, that was her real last name), but Marianne tells me that I'm not too bad looking now, and I don't think she is a liar. Not about something like that, anyway...

Cole has a great little attitude. He doesn't talk a lot at all, but he also doesn't cry very much. He rarely ever throws temper-tantrums, and he is pretty easy to please. We were able to break him of his pacifier habit pretty easily, and as long as he has his baby blanket to chew on, he's pretty content. Cole is not very interested in speaking, and actually gets pretty upset when we try to get him to talk. He is very good at sign language though, and picks it up pretty easily. We only have to go over a new sign with him a couple of times before he gets it.

Cole is very good about sharing with Makenna, even though the same courtesy isn't as readily returned. Here's a few pictures of him that we've taken in the last couple of weeks that I thought summed him up pretty well.

Cole has found that he can help himself to the cheerios we keep in the lazy susan. I have replaced the child locks three times, because he just busts open the door. Strong little punk...

Either we spend the whole meal feeding him, or he "feeds" himself, and it takes a couple minutes to cleaning up. Plus, this way the dog gets fed too...

Cole's and Makenna's favorite place to play while mom and dad are getting ready in the morning. Cole made sure to bring his blanket with him for a good chewing session...

We have to make sure that Makenna stays in timeout, but Cole will often times just go to timeout on his own when he is upset about something. This was when he was upset that his blanket was being washed. Cute little bugger!

Marianne and I didn't teach him this... At least I know that I didn't, but I assume it is just what kids do when they figure out that their nostrils fit their fingers perfectly... We actually don't encourage this, but we thought we'd at least get a picture before we got after him. And that's when Makenna thought it would be fun to do it too. Thanks, Cole...

Old Mr. Holland said it the best... "beautiful, beautiful, beautiful...Cole." He's our little smile-maker.

Potty time!!

Yes, it is a miracle, Makenna is finally on her way to being potty-trained. Last Monday, she told me she needed her diaper changed in the morning and I said "no more diapers." She has gone on the potty every time since then. She still needs a diaper at night, but other than that, she is doing great during the day. This morning she did wake up dry, so hopefully the night thing will come soon as well. I have tried the potty-training thing a couple of other times and it was a fight the whole way, so I am glad that I have waited until now. It was so easy!! Just give her a sticker on her potty chart and one for her shirt and she is thrilled! I am so proud of Makenna, and I also happy that now I only have one child in diapers. Seriously, two kids in diapers for almost two years is just not fun.