Happy Birthday, Baby!

Rob turned 28 today, and to honor the birthday of my favorite person in the world - we've had a week of celebrating. I'd love to post some of the awesome pictures from last night, but alas - computer drama stops me from doing so. I'll see what I can pull off in the near future, but for now - know that it's Rob's birthday today, and that I LOVE him more than anything. I decided to do one of those, "age progression photos" to show you all what Rob will look like in forty years.

Drama, Drama, Drama

We are experiencing some odd issues with our FABULOUS computer. When I go to plug in my camera, it says that it doesn't recognize the USB, so I can't upload any pictures. Rob and I were originally planing on getting a NEW COMPUTER with my Grandpa's Christmas present, but ended up putting it into our savings instead. I'm SERIOUSLY regretting that choice, because I DON'T need a new car right now (which is what we're saving for) and I DO want a new computer.

I have always struggled with impulse buying. Let me rephrase that, I have always loved impulse buying, and despite my father's relentless "importance of money/savings" talks, I still turned out like this. I remember sitting on the couch when I was no more than sixteen years old with my mom and my dad. For some reason I owed my dad $80 - and when you're sixteen, only get $30/week for allowance, don't pay for rent, food, gas or insurance, $80 seems like a lot. (Doing the math now, I realize I could have had him paid off in less than three weeks.) Back to the story - I remember my dad very seriously talking to me about how he had tried to teach me not to borrow money I couldn't afford to pay back. I looked at him (with the same lowered eyebrows he was giving me) and said, "Well, you also taught us not to loan out money you could't afford to lose." That was the first time I had seen my father speechless. My dad gave me a good, "touche'" and the debt was off. I remember laughing so hard that I fell off the couch.

So, morals of the story - my computer is broken and my father is a sucker. Either way, I still don't have a new computer, but somewhow my dad's teachings have made me better? I mean, made me better.

Jude's REAL Earth-Day

After many birthday-rehersals, Jude was finally able to celebrate a real birthday. Lucky for him, he gets to share parties with his rock star uncle, Derek. Jude turned one, and Derek turned thirty one years older than that. (No need to get fancy with the numbers if you ask me). My mom flew out to join in the festivities, and enjoy some quality grandkid time. Happy, Happy Birthday Jude and Derek!!

We made our first family snowman on Saturday - and like ALL snowmen, Madelyn named him Santa. So, I present to you - Santa Snowman.

Semi-Annual Hair Chop

My Idol

As a teenage girl I had many an excuse to get out of school. I continually poked my eye so it would look like pink eye, I pinched my cheeks to look like I had a fever, I over-scratched to get hives..the list goes on and on. My brother, Greg, had to use more creative methods. He would crumble up Chips Ahoy and drop them in the toilet to resemble vomit. For many years I have considered Greg and I the world's-best-avoiders-of-school, but today we have been replaced. This child is a genius:

MONTERREY, Mexico (AFP) - A 10-year-old Mexican boy glued his hand to his bed to avoid going back to school after the Christmas break, authorities said Monday.

"I thought if I was glued to the bed, they couldn't make me go to school," the boy, Diego, told AFP. "I didn't want to go, the holidays were so much fun."

"I remembered my mom had bought a very strong glue," he said of the industrial strength shoe glue he used to stick his hand to the bed's metal headboard, where he stayed stuck for two hours.

His mother Sandra Palacios was unable to free him and called paramedics and police to help. Diego watched cartoons while they worked to unglue him, eventually using a spray to dissolve the chemical adhesive.

"I don't know why this happened. He is a very good boy," said his mother.

Diego eventually made it school a few hours late.

I Love Me, I Love Me Not...

I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with myself. It usually changes with "activities" that can be categorized as "it seemed like a good idea at the time.." Yesterday while folding laundry, I got sucked into a TV show called, "A Haunting" on the Discovery Channel. And seeing how everything on TV is real - I was once again sure that my houseWAS haunted.

Here's why I hate myself: I decided that it was probably a good idea to get out my camera and take pictures of my house to see if ghosts showed up in them. Here's what I find -

Yep, that's right - absolutely nothing. So, this morning, while downloading pictures from my camera, I see yesterday's pictures, and fall in love with myself all over again. Because, come on - who REALLY does that? I think I'll laugh at myself all day for that little gem.

Baby Steps

Jude started walking about a little over a month ago, but up until this point would drop to the floor as soon as the camera was out. So here's the proof - this kid is on the move.

A Christmas Story

It was one heck of a holiday around the Wilson home. We were able to bask in the abundance of gifts, family and food. Santa was generous, and brought us some pretty exciting gifts. Rob received some Wii games, a golf towel, a new swiss army knife, a super hot dress coat, and many a best-buy gift card. Maddie and Jude (although Santa brought them individual presents) shared a unicorn, cars, a microphone/piano, a Sesame Street Pop up thingy,a singing tool bench, a sled, and some clothes. By shared, I mean anything that said "To:Jude" had to also be "To: Maddie." Of all the kid's gifts, Maddie seems to love the Sesame Street toy the most...go figure. Rob got me some boots that I've been eyeing, Moody Blues and America guitar books, and perfume. Santa also brought the family a portable DVD player and a 4 gig memory card for the camera! I'm still trying to figure out what I want to buy with my mom's present, but with my Dad's - I bought one of these - I can't WAIT to use it!

Another big event...I made my first turkey for Christmas dinner at Ross and Tammy's. And, for a first attempt, I think I did pretty well. I made sure to document it - if only for insurance purposes.



A special shout out goes to all of those family members and friends that helped to make our Christmas so special. But OBIVOUSLY - it's better to give than to receive, so I give you all the gift of my blog, and I've also donated a large sum of money to the "Human Fund" in all of your names - no need to thank me, it's just my generous nature. Merry Christmas.

Santa...sort of

Madelyn has racked up a fairly impressive count of Santa visits this month. By age two she's become an old pro. The only thing that's missing is the yada-yada of sitting on Santa's lap, the typical freaked-out-child picture, and the actual "what do you want for Christmas" part. Yep - she's seen him ten to twelve times this year, but only from a distance. Rather than standing in a long line of screaming kids, we decided to let Maddie give Santa a big holler and wave from behind the gate. Best of all - she's been THRILLED about it. There were a few close encounters, and Maddie was not a big fan, so this way - we all win. Here are a few pictures of our most recent encouter, which involved a pretty rockin train ride for the kids. I'll probably post Christmas day, so I can show off our awesome day - but until then - may your days be merry and bright! Merry Christmas!!

Christmas Party

Here are some of the top picks from Rob's company party last night. As always, great times were had. Seeing as how no one at our table won anything - I will present my own awards.


Derrick and Ashlee, get the hottest cousin couple award (left)
Matt and Kathy, the cutest expecting couple award (right)


Brandon and Zach (left) Brandon gets the "most ditched by his date" award while Zach gets the "best job using someone from Xango to get a free dinner from the company he just quit" award.
Nate and Stef (right) get the "cutest butter loving couple" award.
I think Rob and I get the "most failed couple photos" award. Thanks, honey, and Zach.


Here's a picture of the party. It really is HUGE. Last night they gave away a car, four HD flatscreens, two laptops, an IMac, and lots and lots of cash.

And last, but obviously not least, is the traditional (three years running) picture of Ashlee, Stefanie and yours truly.

Ode to Derek and Jessica

Rob and I went away this weekend for, YES, the first time since Madelyn was born. I know it sounds crazy that it's been so long - but I've always been fairly nervous about leaving my kids with someone else. Not necessarily for my kids' sake, but mostly for the people that I leave them with. Oh my...I fear NO MORE! What an amazing getaway! Thanks Derek and Jessica for being SO great to my kids...Madelyn is still asking if she can go back. Here's a quick video of Derek and Jessica's kids (the first kids I fell in love with) playing the Wii. No - they're not synchronized swimming.

I also need to give a special thanks to our Green Bay friends for the AMAZING gift. Rob and I loved the bed and breakfast so much that we're hoping to make it an annual tradition.

American am I in Honor of Having Been Born

Every once in a while I find something so off that I decide to blog about it. Perhaps it is the dry comedian that lives within, or perhaps it is the lack of other blogging ideas. Either way, I made a small purchase for Madelyn the other night at the grocery store. I was checking out, and it was next to the candy in the things-you-don't-really-need section. Being the queen of impulse buys - I grabbed a pack of "Fun Punching Balloons."

I pulled them out of thier packages, and began reading the instructions on how to inflate. (I know what some of you are thinking...but yes, there WAS more to it than just blowing up the balloon.) Here are the directions - word for word:
1. Inflate the balloon by hold as the picture
2. Hidden the end by roll or tie it and insert into the balloon
3. Overturn the balloon and use the rubber stripe to play as your lifestyle
Thank you Babel Fish Translation for making it so easy to translate words. Now factories in Malaysia can save money on interpreters.

Another Hidden Talent

For some reason I am overflowing with holiday cheer. The house is decorated, (with the exception of the outdoor lights that we'll do tonight) the air smells like sweet pine from last night's Christmas tree purchase, I recieved and wrapped two of my friend's gifts today - with several more arriving tomorrow - and to add to that, Madelyn and I made our first gingerbread house this afternoon. It was an adorable little kit from Target, that I was at first a bit weary of. It looked like a lot of hard work from a very talented gingerbread architect. But, who knew - it really wasn't that hard! To the prefessionals it may seem a bit entry-level-ish, but to the untrained eye, I think it's a pretty good match. See if you can tell wich one is the "demo" and which one is ours.

The Loo

As you can see, people are lined up to use Maddie's potty. Some so eager that they decided to sit on laps and/or jump in head first while the potty was in use. If only my daughter shared in their ambition.