I called my mom and got some tips on how to change my leftover rotisserie chicken into chicken soup deliciousness. We always have too much leftover since the kids rarely eat the chicken (what is wrong with them??). So very glad to have an awesome option for the leftovers!

To recreate:

• Chicken broth
• Seasoning: 1/4 tsp sage, 1 tsp thyme, 1 tbsp parsley
• Veggies (whatever you choose; I use carrots, celery and corn)
• Egg noodles
• Leftover rotisserie chicken, shredded or cut up

Warm broth, mix in seasonings, and on low heat cook veggies till soft. The carrots and celery cooked for just over two hours (stirring a few times and making sure it didn’t boil much) before I added in the noodles and corn. I kept the temp low because I needed to stretch out the time till finished and cooked the noodles for about 10 minutes before adding in the chicken and turning the heat to low till we were ready to eat. Delish!

The hubby was sick on NYE and felt better on NYD. Then Tues the girl got SLAMMED with something nasty that made her hurl 17 times before we got her in to the doctor and they gave her Zofran. She seemed to be doing better when on Friday the boy got sick and barfed 5 times before we got the Zofran down him. Thank goodness the doctor thought to give us some extra in case he got sick too.

We hoped the worst was over, and I guess maybe is was … But both kids woke up in the wee hours of Saturday vomiting. First the girl then three hours later the boy. More Zofran and they did okay the rest of the day.

This morning the girl woke up and you guessed it, more vomit at the 5am wake up call. This time she was not happy about the Zofran and barfed it up, but thankfully hasn’t since. Trying to really limit her milk intake I case that is what continues to upset her tummy.

I won’t even go into what’s in that child’s diapers. Not pretty either, but significantly easier to manage than the vomit.

I’m ready for this to be over. Hoping maybe I can get out a few of my family christmas presents finally today. Guess I better stop writing about this and get to it.

I was wrong.

We were walking into Bass Pro this summer and the hubby got suckered into a two night stay at one of their resorts. The only one we thought might even be a possibility was the one in Vegas, easier to get to than the others. Totally surprised there was no resort in Colorado. Said I would only go to Vegas if I could see Celine. He agreed and we signed up.

Mainly, I was looking forward to a nice getaway with my hubby, and seeing Celine was just icing on the cake. I also enjoyed seeing Mission Impossible since we rarely get to go see movies. Shopping at the Cesar’s mall was nice too, there didn’t seem to be as much smoke in there and Andy got to go to a Coach Men’s store and pick out his Christmas present (I had already picked out mine in MN at the Mall of America).

Celine was incredible. The show was worth every penny and I am so glad we went. Definitely a once in a lifetime experience.
I also loved spending the time with my hubby and not having to worry about the kids for a few days. They had a blast with Nana & Papa!

But everything else about the trip sucked. I almost vomited in Paris and wasn’t even able to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower since there was a private party, and that was the whole reason we went in. No matter what, you can’t get a breath of fresh air in the casinos, and when you leave them your clothes and hair still smell disgusting. Why can’t they glass in smoking areas like they do in the airport? I’m fine if you want to smoke yourself to death, but why do I have to suffer as well?? I’m no gambler either, so there’s little appeal for me.

Thankfully, we just had to sit through a 3hr timesharish presentation and we were able to stay for free. Since we didn’t have to pay for that, we were able to have more fun eating at some neat restaurants (Margaritaville makes a killer margarita!) … and wandering around finding some fun souvenirs.

Pretty sure I won’t be going back to Vegas again unless that changes, or there is another show worth seeing.

We have packed far too much into the past week, especially Friday thru Monday and I have also stayed up far too late most of these nights and I am now just plain wiped. Hardly pulled together enough gumption to get the car seats back into the car, the luggage up from the garage and the kids to Ulta so I could get more shampoo (could not pass up the HUGE liter bottle for $11.50!). Thankfully they had all the liters right up front so that errand was super easy. The kids are napping/resting now and then before we meet daddie for dinner we will have to stop for a few things at Target. And of course there is the packing.

Bummed I’m so exhausted and we are on our way to Vegas tomorrow. Boo. Hopefully I will get my butt in bed earlier and somehow get the packing done that I need to finish so I can have a bit more energy in time to squander it all on more fun and late nights.

I want to chill and relax with my hubby while we are gone, but I will more than likely come home even more exhausted since we will probably be out and on the go most of the short trip.

Still, I am very excited about seeing Celine and having my hubby all to myself for two days!

So …
BRING IT ON!

I surprised even myself with how much fun I had in the snow with the boy. We got a TON of the freezing, fluffy stuff. Living by one of the BEST sledding hills around, we finally bought a sled last year. The one time we tried using it, we got stuck in the snow and did not really slide down the hill at all. No. Fun.

This time there were already people out there who had forged a path and we FLEW down the hill. So fast that about half way down when we hit some uncharted snow it slammed into our faces. CRAZY. Neither the boy or I enjoyed that much, but decided to trek back up and go down once more. WILD ride. The second time we went even farther.

Once we finally made it back up we walked around out back and I tried getting a video of his thoughts(check it out here).

What a trip!

Maybe I’ll even get outside with the kids and see how the girl reacts to the cold white stuff.

Once work was finally done for the year it finally started feeling like Christmas.

Today we were able to do our annual stocking extravaganza.

The hubby and I started this tradition eleven years ago when we were newlyweds. We had no money and had totally forgotten about stockings. We went to Target and each got $25. The fun part was avoiding each other and the challenge was finding enough things to stuff a stocking for only $25. We had so much fun we have done it every year.

Over the years we have sometimes spent more, but we still go to Target, and we still do our best to avoid each other. We now incorporate the kids, the boy helps pick out gifts for the girl and whichever parent doesn’t have the boy gets things for him. Eventually, we hope to have the kids pick out gifts for each other on their own like we do for each other, and maybe sometimes we will switch up who gets gifts for who, but not till the kids are several years older and can be trusted on their own in a store.

Tonight was just fun in all the chaos of everyone shopping for last minute gifts.

And just cuz, here are the Christmas pics of the kids.

Tomorrow is Friday of course, but not just any Friday. It’s the last day of work till January!

My job has been stressful, and I am looking forward to no responsibilities for the next two weeks and our trip to Vegas after Christmas and of course Christmas.

Right now I have a headache, and I’m hopeful that that too will disappear after work is done tomorrow

Cheers for the huge perk working in a school.

I had given a bath, read stories, brushed teeth, prayed, sang and tucked the girl in.
Tucked in the boy too.
Was hoping to relax with my Kindle.

She starts fussing and daddie goes in, she’s refusing to go back to bed.
The girl’s brought to me and I try singing again.
But the second I say ‘night night’ and go to tuck in she’s screaming.
And then she gags.
And tosses those cookies right down the middle of the two of us.
Twice.

How we made it to the bathroom without getting any on the carpet I don’t know, but I’m thankful for that at least.
While us girls cleaned up in the shower daddie cleaned up all the vomit on the anthropomorphic floor and got our loathes in the wash.
Thank God for daddie.
He does ok with throw up.

I do poop, he does vomit.

Now the girl and I are snuggling in my bed watching her lullaby DVD.
Her hair still smells like vomit, but she is precious so surprisingly, I don’t care.
She is sipping on 7UP.
I am blogging.
Cherishing the unexpected time snuggling my little princess.

First off, I’ve been super distracted and stressed the past week. Ok, that’s optimistic, the past two weeks. Pretty certain this has impacted my family in a negative way.

While I am so glad to have more time at my school, and can just be in ONE school, I have been struggling to get adjusted to my new schedule and new responsibilities … and of course ended up having a ton of meetings that sucked away my time as well. And now I’m training coworkers to administer assessments. But at least once they are trained that will be a HUGE thing off my plate. Still draining and never ending. Well, I’m hoping that eventually some things will end and I’ll get used to my new work situation, but really, I am stoked about having one more week till Christmas break!!

On to the great things.
Weekends are awesome, can I get an amen?
We were so very busy, but we got a lot done and while I may not have had much time to relax it was nice to be productive.

This morning I had a nice time at church. The handbell choir is my favorite part of Christmastime and they played several Christmas songs this morning with the singing choir. Bummed we had to leave early to get to the football game, but I had been looking forward to the date with my hubby for a few weeks!

There was an incredible excitement and energy at Mile High today. I haven’t experienced anything like it at any game since we’ve had season tickets. Still, most of the game was just plain old booooring. We were waiting for some 4th quarter magic anyway, but seriously, the Broncos waited till the bitter end to bring it. But bring it they did! Looks like all is lost, and then a touchdown and a field goal and all of a sudden everyone is standing and cheering and the game is in overtime?!?! Then in overtime they recover a fumble get the game winning field goal. Bears down.

So exciting to walk out of the stadium with all the excitement and everyone high-fiving you.
What a crazy half hour.

headed to Target to get groceries without the kids and while there I overhear someone say “the Broncos lost” all snarky and I said no they didn’t! The two women were so shocked and did not believe me. I guess one was at the game and left early. Doesn’t she know that like every game won with Tebow at quarterback has been won in the last few minutes and overtime is now almost typical?? It was fun to set the record straight.

Now to finish another fun season of the Amazing Race.