The Green Eyed Momma

Thank you for all of your kind words and prayers for my Mother in Law, Linda Fortner. Surgery was delayed to due the storms, and started many hours after it was scheduled. It has been a very long day and night, but we just received word that surgery went well and Mom is in recovery. We are still waiting for details, but hope to know more in the morning. Just knowing that you took the time to think of her as you read my last post, speaks volumes! Thank you all so much for caring!

Tomorrow is a Leap Day, the rare event that only happens every 4 years at the end of February. I have read some amazing blogs, that have asked, "What will you do with your extra day?" It is a great question, and one that I normally would have let the boys throw on crazy costumes, eaten half of a cheese cake in celebration, or served dinner in a formal dress just because it was a special day! An extra day... I mean the ideas are endless!! Our family, this Leap Day is asking for prayers instead; as my mother in law, Linda will have surgery. Linda has Crohn's Disease, and has lived with it for 33 years. She has dealt with more long term pain, than I could ever imagine. (My mother in law, spent last summer in the hospital, after a minor procedure lead to a massive infection.) Although she is strong willed and has never allowed her body to get the best of her; there are times that the body just doesn't respond well to surgery and exposure. She...

  When we arrived at our local Red Lobster, for Lobster Fest, Mikey couldn't wait to look in the lobster tank. Ryan was a little apprehensive, and thought he would be much happier with Daddy. Where as if Mikey could have climbed on to a chair he would have fished one of the lobsters out himself! He had a whole plan; he was going to catch one, take it to the chef, tell him to boil it, and then he was going to season it with Old Bay Seasoning. Where this kid comes up with this stuff, I will never know!?!  We were quickly seated, and placed our order. Ryan wanted chicken strips, and french fries. Mikey is a little more adventurous, and went with popcorn shrimp! Mike and I enjoyed the Lobster Fest, and lobster pizza as an appetizer. The cheddar bay biscuits, are to die for and the poor waitress just couldn't bring them to the table fast enough! As we were leaving the manager stopped us, and said that the boys had grown, since he had last seen them. What? He remembered us? Month...

We told the boys we won tickets, and they were beyond thrilled that we would be going to see Monster Jam as a family. The television advertisements had helped in this build up of anticipation, as we had been seeing them for weeks! The days leading up to the big event were filled with questions of how many more "sleeps" until the big day?  Two very excited little guys are ready to head out the door! Mikey and Ryan The first truck up was "State of Destruction," and he was show casing the wheelie competition! We put ear plugs in the boys ears, but due to the size of the venue, most of the show was spent like this. "Monster Mutt," was my favorite and he did a great job in the free style part of the show! Ryan loved that the truck was designed to look like a dog! Ryan and Mikey loved the race, part of the competition. It might have had something to do with one of their favorite trucks, "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle!" Mikey wanted to once again...

The blog address, appearance, and title will all be changing in the coming days! In an effort to expand and improve, I have stream lined everything to "Green Eyed Momma." I will not forget my roots, or where the blog started! I want to retain the family aspect, but write more content and expand to a larger audience. I ask for your patience, and under standing through the changes. You can now follow me at: web: http://www.greeneyedmomma.com/ twitter: @green_eyedmomma email: jenny@greeneyedmomma.com Cross your fingers for me, and hang on for the ride! Thank you all for your support!

I have a confession! I enter, sign up, and try my darnedest to win prizes... any prize for that matter! Raffles, contests, and drawings are my weakness. Your kid is selling raffle tickets to go on a class trip, come see me, as I am a huge sucker! Your church is having a random drawing for a quilt, to add to the building fund...oh, yeah...come see me! Enter to win tickets to a local concert, sporting event, or back stage passes...yup, I totally enter or call, as many times as possible! Not one single prize has ever ended up in my hands! But...we won, this time! I say "we," in that it is a family 4 pack of tickets to see Monster Jam! I entered a drawing to a local magazine and was contacted by email that the tickets had been mailed out! I had to have Mike read the email to make sure that it was legitimate, and that my name had actually been drawn! What is REALLY awesome about this is that Mikey, has been dying to go for the last two years. Between Mike's work schedule ...

We hope your family is enjoying lots of sweets, and a huge filling meal on the Eve of Ash Wednesday and Lent! Happy Fat Tuesday, from our family to yours!

The boys made me laugh today. Yes, a very simple act, but it made my day! Mikey and Ryan received several goodies for Valentines Day, but two items stood out. Two mylar balloons and a new "Tom and Jerry" movie; are the two items that my two little monsters some how managed to combine into creative play. The morning started off with a viewing of the new movie, and I couldn't help but smile when I heard their giggles. I would hear Mikey say "Silly cat," or Ryan say something about "Run mouse," but I didn't give these comments much thought. The day progressed, we had lunch and I didn't give it a second thought. Later in the afternoon, I hear peels of laughter coming from their room. When I peek in, I see that Mikey is on top of his loft bed, with a mylar balloon tied to a monster truck. He then sails the truck over the side of the bed, and watches the monster truck crash to the floor, with the balloon still attached. I asked Mikey and Ryan w...

The boys made handmade cards for Daddy, similar to their shirts. Mikey worked really hard on writing "Daddy," a few mistakes, but he tried so hard!  Our two little Heart Breakers, up early and very excited! Loving the bed head!  Mikey and Ryan scored lots of goodies: cookies, chocolate pretzels, suckers, airheads, air shooter guns, and new movies! Daddy surprised us with fruit, balloons, and teddy bears!  I can not rave enough about chocolate covered fruit from Edible Arrangements! My favorite? Chocolate covered pineapple with coconut, in my opinion is just shy of heaven! Although very messy, the boys LOVE fruit. Both were covered in chocolate, and it wasn't even 9am! (Breakfast of champions!) Happy Valentine's Day!

Ryan will be 3 next month, and I am amazed at how much he has grown.With change, comes mile stones, and it was time to try potty training again. I know everything I have read says that he will show us when he is ready. So, we are crossing our fingers and learning patience with a capital P. It has been one week, we have had one great day, and many days of almost making it to the potty...but we are not giving up! He seems to do great when naked, but if he wears clothes...he seems to forget! This kid would be naked all the time, if it was socially accepted! He laughs every time his construction potty chair makes noise! It makes a construction equipment beeping and backing up sound, when the sensor is tripped. Sadly he loves to put other things into the potty, like cars and other toys, just to make the sounds happen. This kid is so gross, but he is clueless about why he is gross! So we have been working with him, and telling him all about yucky germs! Ryan loves "ear...

   I had the joy of spend an hour on the phone teaching my Grandma Coleman (Gigi to the boys) how to read this blog. I cant tell you how fun it was to teach her the things that I take for granted. I am always learning, and there are MANY things about social media that are new to me, so I can understand being overwhelmed. She said several times, she had been on the blog, but didn't know how to maneuver around. She would always just look at the top post and sign off, not being a frequent follower she missed many things that were in the "older post or archive" section of the blog. It was so fun to hear her reaction to seeing the boys pictures; you could hear the joy in her voice as see would see a new photo. Gigi, has always been very special to me, We moved out of state last year, so spending this time with her was awesome. I know that there will be a day when she wont be a phone call away, so I truly treasure these moments together. Gratitude is the word that ca...

We had a craft FAIL, for some reason our Valentine's shirts did not turn out as we hoped. When I saw the idea on Pinterest, and it seemed like a great idea and easy enough for the boys. An added bonus, was that I had all of the supplies on hand, so we gave it a try.  We gathered the super simple supply list: sandpaper, crayons, shirts, card board, scissors, pen, and foam letters  I traced the foam letters, so that we would have the words "Heart Breaker." The tutorial said to remember the image would be reversed...I did my R backwards and it had to be corrected. I then cut everything out, and made a very simple heart shape.  I set up a place for the kids to color the heart. The texture of the sandpaper, was a strange surface to color.  I colored the letters black, while the kids went to town coloring on their sandpaper hearts.  I setup the colored hearts,  used parchment paper, and used the iron to melt the crayon image. No...

OMG ! I am so excited! I have been selected as a World Book Night Giver and Volunteer! I am one of the lucky people who get to hand out FREE books, on April 23, 2012. Volunteers across America will share their love of reading, by handing out 20 FREE books! The boys and I will take part in this random act of kindness! Have you applied yet? They have extend the application deadline until February 6 th ! Welcome to World Book Night We need book-loving volunteers to fan out across America on April 23, 2012! Just take 20 free copies of a book to a location in your community, and you just might change some one's life. Please sign up by Feb. 6 EST at midnight. The goal is to give books to new readers, to encourage reading, to share your passion for a great book. The entire publishing, bookstore, library, author, printing, and paper community is behind this effort with donated services and time. The first World Book Night was held in the UK last year, and it was such a big success that it...

There is a new show on the Nick Jr. channel, and Mikey has been SO excited to watch it due to the previews! The show is called Mike the Night, once he heard there would be a show with his name...he has been counting the days to the big premiere! The show is adorable! The main character, wants nothing more than to be a knight, to make his dad proud! He has a horse that is swayed back and knobby kneed, but Mike is determined to make him a noble steed. Mike has an older sister who is in training to be a wizard, so she keeps changing his sword and bow and arrow, to keep him safe. Mike also has a few friends, who happen to be dragons! One is a fire breather, and the other is a water squirter! The show has a lesson or moral in each episode, and it is just awesome! The first two mini stories, within the first episode held the attention of both of my boys for the full 30 minutes! Can not say enough good things about this show!!! The Nick Jr. website had free coloring sheets and printables...

We have a battle going on in our home! Ryan can NOT sleep without his pacifier. He loves his "Fy-fy, and he is very attached to it. As he is going to be 3 years old in March, the time has come to say goodbye, to his "best friend." At Christmas we told him we were going to wrap it up, and give it to Santa to take to the North Pole, to give to a baby elf. We went so far as to put it in a box, wrap it in special holiday paper, and put a tag on it. He was all smiles and with the program, until it came time for bed. Total melt down, and lots of tears. Now way was he sending that pacifier to the North Pole. He was heart broken and devastated. He begged us to unwrap it, so we caved. I just couldn't handle him crying the night before Christmas, I felt horrible! So, this Sunday morning, he crawled out of bed and had breakfast. (Normal morning...except he did not put his pacifier away.) He always wakes up, and puts it away in the top drawer of the dresser. I found the thing mu...