A Backwards Robe? A Blanket? Nooo... It's a

Do you love infomercials? I have a sickening affection for them. My favorite part is when the actor {always in black and white} is having a terrible time changing the channel/ chopping tomatoes/cleaning spills - what would seem to be an easy every day task. But NOW, with the help of THIS NEW PRODUCT, your life can be so much EASIER {and in color, of course}.

I don't think I've ever actually bought one of these items from an 800 # {Call NOW!!} on TV, but I've had a few "As seen on TV" items in my day. By far, my most favorite is my most recent purchase: The Snuggie. I'm sure you've seen the commercials for this blanket with sleeves and possibly the parody of it {I won't link to it because it's has a bit of profanity, but if you can handle that, then you would get a kick out of it on YouTube}.

I heard about a collegiate version of the Snuggie from my friend Brenda on Facebook and immediately went down to the Hancock's Fabrics to pick one up for myself.

Because one can never have too much college paraphernalia in the football season.

While I decided not to "Take It Everywhere" just yet, I can tell you for sure is that I love it.

It's perfect for lounging on the sofa reading the latest Southern Living.

Or changing the channels with the remote control without letting your arms into the cold, brisk air

But what to do if the phone rings? Well you answer it with ease, of course, within the warmth of your Snuggie.

And if a dog needs to jump in your lap? Well, they are right at home in the soft fleece of the Snuggie.

There are just too many options here. You can't go wrong with the Snuggie. {Special thanks to my hubs here for taking these goofy staged pictures and laughing at with me.}

So, yes, it's basically a robe put on backwards and marketed to make you purchase it as a wonder-blanket. And I bought one and love it. Because I'm a sucker.

But I'm a warm sucker who has typed this whole post within the comfort of my Snuggie on the sofa. You know you're jealous.

So, what's your favorite infomercial?
Do you have a Snuggie?
What is your favorite Billy Mays product? And you can't all say the Shamwow.

Name this post! I'm out of "clever" tonight.

Have y'all ever done the Sips n Strokes or painting classes? We have one in Huntsville with a girl who is really great. Here is her website if you live around here. This is the second painting that I've done with her and I've been happy with the class both times!

I've painted at a different place in town, too, for a birthday party for a friend and that was great! I think they are all fun. Here is the bottom line:

A bunch of women yakking + wine + feeling like you are creative = good times.

Tonight we painted a cross that I have been excited about for a long time, but have never been able to do it before tonight.

Here is the set up: several round tables, lots of easels and canvases and everybody trying to follow instructions, but really asking, "What did she just say?". Here is my cross about half way through. And the group of friends that I was painting with. We all just kind of ended up there without much planning and it was an entertaining group- as in we laughed the whole time. We posed in front of the "model" piece of art because ours were all- lets just say- a little different from that one. Oh, and those shirts are smocks, in case you are questioning my fashionista layering technique. Here is my finished project! I'm kinda thrilled with it! I just don't know where on earth it will go. I'll post another picture once I hang it up somewhere.

And with the wonderful piece of handmade art, I also walked away with some life lessons:

• The grass is always greener. (If you are using green this can be literally true, but in my case it was figurative.) I would walk around and think, "Oh, that is great" or "Why didn't I do that" or "I'm going to knock her over and take that home", but when I came back to mine, I still seemed to like it. It wasn't that bad. I think the theme for the song "Love the one your with" would fit here properly.
• There is such a thing as TOO much of a good thing. For example, gold paint, can in fact, be too much. Not in my case, but I bore witness to some examples tonight.
• Everything is relative. Everybody had a completely different painting and we were all working with the same paints, instructions, canvas, etc. It was wild. Reminded me of this verse. Everybody has different viewpoints and interprets the same image differently, like everyone has different talents and uses them differently.

Good night. I hope you get those "Doo doo duh doo, doo doo duh Doot"s out of your head before too long.

You're welcome.

For all my Fever Blister Sisters- A CURE!

I have suffered many, many years from a horrible virus: the fever blister. You can call them cold sores, herpes {above the neck, thank you very much} or whatever you'd like, but they're awful. Be thankful if you don't have them. They make it hard to eat, they burn and tingle and they HURT. Besides all that, they make you {Read: ME} feel like a monster! You can't lick your lips, put on lipstick, smile/ laugh without pain, kiss your kids or even your husband {if you are still into that type of thing :-}. I place the blame for this disease squarely on my mother- who apparently passed them on to me. If you have never had one then you just don't have the virus that gives them to you. Again- please be thankful for this.
I woke up Monday morning about 4 am and felt it coming. That horrible tingle sensation and then I felt the swelling. DANGIT. {First thought- at least it was after our Sunday School Christmas Party. I am so stinking vain sometimes.} I got up and immediately put on some Denavir cream that I had from the last one and surprisingly was able to go back to sleep. I dreamed that they were small and went away quickly.
Unfortunately, the first part of that dream didn't come true. They were HUGE. I mean big swollen globs on my top lip- 2 of them! I looked like the after picture of Botox gone wrong. Ugh. So embarrassing.
I called one of my Fever Blista Sistas, Beth, to commiserate on the way to pre-school. She told me that another of our FBSs had gotten her a prescription for Valtrex. This particular FBS, who shall remain nameless, works in the medical field and is basically our hook up for anything medical that we need in a hurry or out of regular office hours. She has checked my kids for ear infections on Sunday afternoons, she has called in medicine at 7 pm and she calms my fears at all times! You really need a friend like this if you don't have one.
So, nameless Dr. FBS called in the prescription for me and I was on Valtrex (a pill) and Denavir (a cream) by noon. Here is more information about those medicines. {And, yes, I was at the pharmacy thinking, "Please, please, please don't say over the loud speaker,'Mrs. Dunham, your VALTREX is ready", but they didn't! I saved a smidgen of my reputation. At least now people just think I was in a Botox trial. I don't know which is worse.}

48 hours later- this thing is GONE! BUSTED! I am so pumped. I can almost wear lipstick again, but the swollen and gross portion was gone by this morning and most of the redness has disappeared. Usually these things last a week, so this is like an early Christmas miracle!
I have tried EV-RAY-THANG under the sun to get rid of these boogers and this is the best cure out there- for sure.

For all the other herpes-free sistas out there, please take this unsolicited advice:

1. Don't point out to someone else if they happen to have one. I guarantee you they know it's there. {Someone did this to me today. Yes, thanks. Really? Didn't know. Hmm. I should take a look at that.}
2. Act like you don't see it or shocked/ surprised if we mention it. That makes us feel like we're somewhat human, even though we know you're lying. Thank you.
3. We can tell when you're staring at it. I know it's like a train wreck, but focus on our eyes- or hair- or even boobs would be better. Just please don't drill a hole in our funky lip.

So, I hope this helps any other FBSs out there. Good luck and Godspeed Fever Blister!

A Mixed Bag of Updates

I got home a little while ago from my massage. I am a different person from when I left. Let me tell you, the benefits of a massage are more than the sheer pleasure of a stranger rubbing you down; it's like to get to escape to a little island for an hour. An island with neverending trail mix, faux water falls, wonderful relaxing muzak, plush bathrobes and rubber slippers that never quite fit right. Besides the shoes, it was so stinking relaxing. I don't want to say I needed it, because I'm sure that there are many more people that need it worse than I do, but I am very grateful for it. A special whoop whoop goes to my friend Laura who sent me a gift card for my birthday that I used to finance this special splurge tonight! I had a hot stone massage tonight and I would highly recommend it!


If I happen to be on your Christmas list, please let me give you a not-so-subtle hint: I love to be pampered. I would never buy a massage for myself. Thus, if you would like to get me something that I would love and I would never buy for myself, contact Terreme here. Don't feel like you are getting a lesser gift because it's a gift card; this is the gift that keeps on giving. Just think, if there were a dozen kind souls out there who felt moved to have this kind and overworked mother rubbed down monthly, then you could make it happen. Sure, it would cost more than sponsoring a child with Sally Struthers, but you know me. (You don't know where that other money is going. There could be someone who is actually buying a cup of coffee every day and writing those notes back to people in America.) And I would put your picture here. Your generosity would be admired by dozens of people.
This is actually a great idea. I'm going to begin a spa and plastic surgery fund and have a place where you can donate over there on the right. I can make a sappy commercial, too. Oh, you just wait.

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In other news, I got a B+ in my History class! I guess I'm okay with that, but I never got a B before in a history class in college. I also never had a full time job or 2 children when I was in college the first time, so I'm going to make myself be okay with a B+.

You know what, though? I kind of think the "+" is a slap in the face. Why not just say "B"? It's kind of like when you ask for an item at a store and the kind employee tells you with a sad/ smirkish face that they just sold the last one. Why tell me if I was that close?

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My husband and I did something together for the first time last night. We've been together for a decade and have never gotten this close in our relationship before. He has seen parts of me that I'll never see (quite literally- with a couple of C-sections and all), but this was a new level of intimacy. We neti potted together! That's right. We went there.
Since Jason and I are both stopped up- his combined with a nasty cold- I went to the Walgreen's on the corner and invested $12+ in a plastic neti pot. If you don't know what this is, then you are missing out. Basically, it's a small tea pot with a spout that is shaped for your nose. You pour warm filtered water (does it count if the filter on our refrigerator has a red light on it- meaning it needs to be changed?) combined with their mysterious saline packet into one side of your nose. Then you watch it come out the other side of your nose. That's right- nasal irrigation. Then you turn around and do it again on the other side.
This video will give you a comical idea of what it's supposed to look like. The man/ woman here is much too docile in his/ her approach, though. Jason and I were choking/ screaming, "Is it coming out?" and "It's getting down my throat!!!". I guess we were first timers and will get better with practice. Apparently people in Asia have been doing this daily for thousands of years. It does make you feel better and cleans you out pretty good, but it's kind of like hocking up a salt lugey through your nose and balancing on a tight rope while you're doing it, so I can see why it isn't so popular over here in the western world. And I'm sure with that description you're rushing out to buy one right now.
OK, that's all I'm leaving you with tonight. Not even a picture of a neti pot. Oh wait! Here's a little candy cane with some warm milk for your holiday indulgence! Good night!

Oh the Places we will go...

So sorry for being out of the blogging loop lately. I had a work trip to Birmingham this week (only for a day), but that has thrown me off of my normal schedule. And we've been busy!

Ollie is in the pre-primary class at his school now which means he is a big boy. The class is with 3-5 year olds and he is the youngest this year. The neat thing is that he will have a turn being in the middle and then being the oldest. I'm more excited about the last 2, but he is learning a lot this year being with the older kiddos. So, a perk to being in the big boy class is that you get to go on FIELD TRIPS!! Isn't that exciting! So, our first field trip (you KNOW I was there) was on Wednesday and was to the Botanical Gardens to see the scarecrows.

Ollie got to pet a turtle:

And the whole class posed by the school's FIRST PLACE winning scarecrow entry (in the school division)- The Cat and the Hat: (Ollie is 3rd from the left there)They learned all about herbs in the herb garden and got to hang out with the guys: (What kind of mommy doesn't bring sunglasses or a hat?? ME and that kid's mom on the end...)And they each picked a leaf and made a class leaf collage. Our leader (and the Director of Education at the gardens) was none other than my former roommate and co-worker Shelly. It's been about a year since I've seen her, so that was a nice surprise! And here are some of Ollie's new friends, M and O. They are both 4, both new to our school and are so stinking cute. And I love their moms- we were all eating together. This picture is funny because M (in the middle) told both of them to come pose for it... and they DID! They were eating lunch and then it became picture time. I wish my child would listen to me like that!!

There were so many cute scarecrows out there, but this was my favorite! I think it was entitled: College- Friday morning.

So, Thursday was busy like normal, but then I HAD to devote 3 hours of my time to TV that night, so nothing else got done. Who can give up a season premier (better yet, two)?? Friday I went to B'ham for the day.

Saturday, we went with Connie and Irv to Lyon Farms in Tennessee. It only took us about 40 minutes to get there and Connie found this place because we thought Tate Farms- our usual fall farm destination- was closed. Apparently there was a typo in their opening date, but we were glad we went to this place! They had a beautiful little setting when you walked in for pictures. Too bad my kids don't care about such things. Ollie looks like he his thinking, "Are you kidding me? How many pictures could you possibly have of us??"

There was a great petting zoo with sheep, ducks, pigs, bunnies and goats. Henry liked hanging out with his Nana.Then it was off to the corn wagon. This is a fun place for the kids and I have taken some of my favorite pictures in these little places. Maybe it's something with the reflection of the corn- I don't know- but I always love these pictures!Then there is a walk through area to see/ pet big animals. There was a horse, a cow, a donkey (Ollie- "Shrek, mommy!") and chickens. But the neatest were the hogs because the farmer threw them whole pumpkins to eat while we were standing there. They went to town on them, too! Ollie said all day, "I saw a pig eat a pumpkin!". Then we went out to the pumpkin patch to pick a pumkin. There was many a family picture that we tried to take all day and sadly, this is probably the best. There were many other things to do there. We ate a great lunch, went down a huge fun slide, rode the cow train (pulled by a lawn mower), Henry swang for a while and the kids got their scarecrow pictures taken:

This was such a nice place. We went for Connie's birthday celebration (her birthday is on Tuesday), but we all had so much fun! I would highly recommend this place if you live around Huntsville. Tate Farms is nice, too, but this wasn't crowded at all, so it made for a nice, calm experience. Oh, and the weather was absolutely perfect- that helped.

Hope you've had a nice week. Glad the blog is up to date! Whew! Check! Off to get ready for youth tonight. Have a great Sunday afternoon. Hope you're napping!

A Day out with Thomas

We went to Nashville on Saturday to spend the day with Thomas the Tank Engine. I'm sure many of you have done this before, but this was our first time. As I've documented, I tried to stay away from Thomas for a LONG time, but when we were potty training Ollie, we gave him one train at the end of a successful day as a reward and we have been all attached to Thomas since then. I say "we" because Jason and I have gotten into it, too. We know all the trains, the songs, the stories, etc. There is a Thomas industry- just waiting to take your money for their small wooden toys. It's like crack for 3 year olds. It's a little addictive for all of us.

So, as a birthday present for Ollie, we went to see Thomas LIVE in Nashville. I knew we would get to ride on Thomas, but I didn't know there were so many other things to do. I kept the bar really low in my mind, so that I wouldn't be disappointed, but it turned out to be much better than I expected! The only downside was that it was 90+ degrees outside and we were on asphalt, so it seemed a little hotter. For some reason we hadn't expected it to be that hot!

They had a big tent with about 9 train tables set up. There are 3 Thomas sets: small wooden trains (we have those), big plastic electic trains and lego trains. Henry was in on the action, too, but neither of them wanted to pose for pictures. They have their priorities, you know.Ollie had an odd reaction to Thomas. He was a little in awe, a little excited, but mainly scared becuase he was so big. He has a great big Thomas face on the front, too, so it's a little frightening, but I imagine he will be more okay with it as he gets older.This is on the train ride that he loved! It lasted about 25 minutes and it went over the Cumberland River. We got to see the Titans stadium and a few other neat things. We got back, had lunch, then saw that they had a petting zoo with a goat, llama, pony and a few other animals. And I knew that Sir Topham Hat would completely scare Ollie. He's not usually afraid of little things, but large dressed up human wanna-bees are not his favorite. So, here are me and Henry. Ollie was to the right screaming. And Henry looks like Sir Topham Hat with his cheeks so red! We kept giving them both fluids all day, but it was still HOT!So, after the mandatory visit to the gift shop (really, you have to go through to get out), and hiking back to the car with 2 strollers, we were all exhausted:


We stopped for gas about 1 minute after we left and this was the scene:All and all, a great experience. I would recommend it, for sure. I think we might try to go to Chattanooga in April- hopefully the weather would be cooler. Let me know if you want to come with us!

Is this Jurassic Park?

We have had an adventurous day today! Both of the kids are home with me for the next 1 1/2- 2 weeks because their pre-schools/ mothers morning out programs are closed for the break between summer and fall. {What, you don't get that break off of work? Well, me either! Why can't we learn and schedule our vacations accordingly?}

So, I've got all kinds of fun activities lined up because mommy becomes a bit boring and I'm determined not to let Owen quote every line from any Thomas video. He knows so many now and just throws them out { e.g. "Slow down and puff with care!"} whenever and I have to explain to people that he's quoting a Thomas movie... and I'm sure they're thinking he's seen it 100 times... but he just quotes anything!

Anyway, today we ventured out with Cate and her daughter Ellie to Harmony Safari Park. You've never heard of it? Apparently no one has! It's a free range zoo that you drive through. It's about a 25 minute drive from downtown, but not too terribly bad to get there. Free range zoo means that the animals just roam around and are not in cages. "Roam around" means that they come up to your car and eat out of your hand. How can this be? Take a look at these pictures:

This is one of many ostriches. They were our least favorite because of their attacking nature and weird googly eyes. Sorry if you're an ostrich lover.

I honestly can't remember what this was, but this shows you how close they all were. This is Cate petting whatever the animal is. Cate, do you remember? Looks horse-ish, but I know there weren't any horses.And this is Tattoo the zebra. I think he was Owen's favorite. And I was his favorite. We had a big bucket of feed and apparently the animals know this. Is this crazy, or what?Cate said, "Oh look, get the camel over here", so I threw out food and he came running. Then he snuck around to her side! She screamed because of the lovely surprise, but that didn't scare him away. He wouldn't leave and had his WHOLE CAMEL HEAD in the car for a while. This is Cate trying to get him out!

There were turkey, deer, llama, monkeys (in cages), turtles, big ole snakes (appropriately caged), deer with fuzzy antlers (are those just deer? we were calling them reindeer because of the kiddos, but I'm honestly not sure if they are deer or what), bison, buffalo, aligators- the list goes on. And I could post a ton of pictures, but here are the rest of my favorites:

Owen was in awe of the whole experience. I kept hyping up the "zoo" and I know he thought that Barney was going to be there (one of his other favorite videos- I highly recommend), so I hope this met his expectations. He seemed pretty happy! (The cup is full of feed that he never threw out.)

How often do you get to see this?Here's precious little Ellie waving to some animal. Cooper (our babysitter) is in the "way" back with Harris. I'm so glad she came along because she could maintain the whole back 2 rows. She is great!A ram, I think.And a cool buffalo (or bison). Whatever you think it is- I'll go with that.
A llama- which Ellie kept calling "Mama". Some good jokes there.And here's where the title of this post comes from: Baby ostrich eggs waiting to hatch... or is it?Needless to say, we had a really cool time at the safari park. I would recommend it, for sure! Thanks to Cate for telling us about it!

The Free Zoo

Notice the blue skies in the picture above

Go ahead. Call me cheap (it's true!). Huntsville doesn't have a zoo, so we do what we can do for animal education around here!

We met our friends Aaron and Debra at Big Sping Park on Saturday for a picnic lunch. We are so happy that Aaron and Debra and their 2 precious little girls have moved back to Huntsville! Aaron and Jason went to high school together and have been friends since then. And Debra was a Space Camp counselor with me and Jason, so we've known her for a long time, too! I even caught the bouquet at their wedding (a few months before Jason proposed...).

This park is super nice and is downtown surrounded by big buildings. Think Central Park on a Mayberry level. If you've ever been there, though, you know it's beautiful and quaint and we love it! We had family pictures taken there for Owen's first birthday.

The free zoo has ducks and birds {that will eat out of your hand}, HUGE fish {I mean HUGE! We saw some with dorsal fins sticking out of the water- seriously}, birds and geese. They will all fight for your stale bread and crackers and very few have missed a meal. There is a big ol' pond and a great red bridge with picnic tables, sidewalks and big swooping trees. Here's a video of our whole group feeding the fish. Notice the calm weather.

About 10 minutes after this video, the bottom dropped out of the sky. We were back under the trees by then, so it wasn't too bad and we decided to wait it out there. It was such a great picnic and Saturday treat.

We've been to the free zoo a lot and can let you know the good ages for children.

This is Owen at 16 months- not a great age: {"Holy COW! That thing is my height!!"}

Harris at 8 months {and 9 months is good, too}- just happy to be along for the ride:

This is Owen in June {2 3/4 yrs}- now telling all the birds and ducks what to do:

And this is to show you how tame/ acclimated to people, yet still vicious the animals are. {I'm sacrificing my image in this horrible picture here}, but when we went to the free zoo in June, Jason happened to catch the moment that a duck/ goose?? bit Owen's little hand when he was taking too long to feed him! No damage, but it scared both of us. I can't imagine that animals in the wild harass humans like this, but who knows? I'm sure humans don't regularly carry bread to them, either. This is about as "wild" as we get! Look how surprised Owen is; obviously I am, too!So, if you live in or visit Huntsville, I would highly recommend the Big Spring Park downtown for a nice treat. You might get bitten, rained on or attacked by Jaws the catfish, but it's always an adventure!