Happy Birthday

Today is my buddy Libby's birthday. She turns 8 years old today. She is a very special gal I hope that she has a very special birthday...especially since she only gets one every 4 years! You can help make her birthday extra special..go buy one of her fabulous products, either here or here. I have had my eye on her "The Original" skirt for quite some time. Anything catch your fancy?

Live it up today Libby! Happy Birthday!

update straight from Libby Dibby herself: For 48 hours, come shopping at www.libertyworth.com and get 15% off everything on the site! Enter BDAY in the voucher line on the checkout page and enjoy.

Numbers

Today I heard LittleZabba counting:

1,2,3,6,7,8,9,10 wedy uh not, here i tum.

Wuv

Today LittleZabba said that she loved me. This was the first time that she said this on her own, totally un-prompted. The conversation went something like this (we were listening to a CD by our friend Becki):

LZ: I wuv Becki. I wuv you Mommy. I wuv Melmo and Cookie Foster too. I like my sister, she is funny. I wuv my (BZ's name), I wuv my Daddy too.

Does it still count, even though Elmo & Cookie Monster were included too?

What's Your Cupcake?

I always knew I was stylish. It is nice that Betty Crocker agrees with me!

Enter to win Betty Crocker's Cupcake Cash Giveaway and learn your cupcake personality.

The Shark

Do you dislike mopping? I do. Well that isn't totally true. I like mopping, until I notice how dirty the water is, then I want to quit. If I really wanted to be a super house cleaner I would change the water in the bucket as soon as the water got murky.

Enter The Shark. Thanks to my Mother I have found the answer to my mopping woes. All the joy of mopping without using a bucket of murky water. With two little ones in the house I had to clean the floors while they were in bed since it is impossible to keep them from running on the wet floor. Now I can clean the floors anytime. The water/steam is so hot that it dries in just a few minutes. It really does get the floor clean. I can use it on our hard wood floors too.

If you want one the cheapest place to get it is Linens & Things, using their 20% off coupon. (if you don't have one just print this one. just click on it to make it larger for printing.)

I have used the steam mop so many times in the last two days I have a blister. I think I am slightly obsessed.

Ditch Day

February 24, 1994

On this day my high school buddy and I ditched the last 2 periods of school. We went out to lunch and just didn't go back. (I'm not sure my Mother knows about this...sorry Mom!) And what did we doduring this rebellious act? Shop? Pick up boys? Drink stolen beer behind the bleachers? We went back to my house and washed my parents car. How lame. Even more lame...we took a picture of it.

I Couldn't Help It

I saw these super cute dessert plates and had to get them. I love all things cupcake!

The Adventures of the Horse

For your viewing pleasure Zabba Productions is proud to present:

The Adventures of the Horse
Written & Directed by DaddyZabba and BigZabba

Quote of the Day

Just before starting a movie...

me: want a snack?
dz: sure, what should we have?
me: i don't know, what are you going to make?
dz: i don't know.
me: why is it my job to make the snacks?
dz: you're the woman.
[pause]
me: so really, what are we having?

Another Neato Giveaway

NeatoStuff is having another cool giveaway. This gift set from the Gifted Grasshopper is very fun! BigZabba has one and she loves it. Enter to win! Tell your friends!

Got 10 Minutes?

My sister called me tonight..."Got 10 minutes to mix up a dessert?", she asked. She whipped this up and knew that I would love it too. So, not long later we were munching on this piece of yumminess.

Enjoy.

First mix the following ingredients together and spread into a very well greased 8x8 pan:
1 cup flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 Tbs. cocoa
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup milk
2 Tbs. melted butter
1 tsp. vanilla

Then, mix the following together and sprinkle evenly over the batter:
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 Tbs. cocoa

Last pour 1 cup of boiling water (or 1 cup strong hot coffee if you want a mocha flavor) over the whole thing.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Serve warm with whipped cream. Yummy!

"We've Got Tonight"

For some reason I have had high school on the brain. I was looking through my old photo albums and found all my prom photos. My first formal dance went terribly, but all the rest were actually fun. It's been a while so I don't remember much, but I do remember after one of the dances a group of us went to the movie theater. The theater was closed but one of the guys with us was the manager of the theater so he let us in. We got popcorn and watched a movie. The reel broke, so we had to move to another theater. I wonder how he explained the broken reel?

Anyway, prom is a funny ritual. Pay a lot of money for tickets (for what really, they don't even serve dinner?!), get dressed up, wear your "dyed to match" shoes, wear a flower, mom & dad take photos, get all nervous, try to act grown up. Prom is kinda silly, but if I could live it again I think I would....with DaddyZabba as my date of course.

Friends

This weekend we got together with my dear friend Susan and her sweet family. She and I have known each other for at least 10 years (has it really been that long!?). We were in the same teaching program in college, did our student teaching together, and ended up working at the same elementary school with classrooms right next door to each other. It had been 2+ years since we had seen each other. She had never met LittleZabba and I had never met her youngest. It didn't take long for the kids to warm up to each other. It was great to get together and enjoy an evening of food, fun, and the kids even enjoyed a little hide and seek. The evening ended all too quickly. I hope we can squeeze in a few more visits before they head home.

May I Take your Order?

What was your first job? My first job was working at McDonalds. I was so excited to have a real job. My first week there I was a cook. That was a joke. I really was not fast enough, plus I did not look so good in the hair net. The managers quickly learned that I was best suited for the cash registers. Eventually they let me work the drive thru. I liked that job, but it can be quite stressful. And in case you didn't know, the drive thru workers can hear everything you say while you are in the drive thru line. It was entertaining to hear the conversations that went on when they thought you couldn't hear them. It was a good first job. It was humbling to have to wear that awful uniform. After one year it was time to move on.
This was me on my last day, May 2, 1994.

Fine Motor Skills

Oh to have this much time and talent. I would love to have one of these art pieces, but knowing me I would put it in a sunny spot and then I would have a waxy puddle of art.

A New Trend

If you need a new dress and you can't sew, buy some balloons and get started. Just be careful not to pop any....that would be a significant "wardrobe malfunction". (he he he)

Neato Giveaway

NeatoStuff is having a neato give-away. It is a cool baby t-shirt from Revo Baby. Enter to win! Spread the word ya'll...Who doesn't like free stuff!?

inspiration

My friend has been doing alot on her site with inspiration boards. So I thought I would try my hand at a running board. I am not a designer, and DaddyZabba is gone for the afternoon, so I had to do it all by myself. (had he been here it would look alot better, but oh well)

Enjoy.

Yet Another Reason

Today Apple gave me another reason to love them. My Nike+ chip stopped working so I took it to the Apple store to buy another one. While I was there I decided to ask about it, since it was odd that it stopped working and maybe they had a trick for getting to going again. After a few minutes of troubleshooting they decided to just swap it out and give me a new one.

Now that is customer service!

Cable Guy

For many months DaddyZabba has been trying to decide..dish vs. cable. He finally decided to make the switch to cable. Installation day came. I had to be home from 1-4pm and of course, at 3:45pm he came. He wanted to see the two rooms that needed set up. Our front room has a regular TV which the girls watch their shows on, and in the back room DZ has it set up like a theater; projector, surround sound. The cable guy was very confused by the screen on the wall. He kept trying to figure out how he was going to get the cables hooked into the screen and the cable box. He kept saying he didn't have cables long enough. He didn't really realize that the screen is just a screen, it isn't the TV. Anyway, he called his manager and then told me that he would have to send a technician out (what is he then?) since he is new to the cable business. OK.

One week later cable guy number 2, the technician, comes and in 45 minute has it all set up. Unfortunately, DaddyZabba was not thrilled with cable. The box was difficult to use and there were ads everywhere, plus the DVR portion was broken, so we could record shows but they wouldn't play. With that we said goodbye to cable.

One week later cable guy #3 came to pick up said cable boxes. He then proceeded to ask me many questions about our dish service, how do we like it, how many channels do we get..etc. He then tells me that he has only been in the cable business one year and doesn't know much about it. He doesn't have cable at his place, well unless you count the cable he is stealing from his building. When he buys a place he thinks he is going to get dish service, since he hears it is better than cable.

Maybe the cable company should consider having a training session.

Lost Nickname

What's Yours?

Project Night Night

This week I learned about a great organization based in San Francisco called Project Night Night. They are dedicated to improving the lives of homeless children. They do this by giving out "Night Night Bags" that are filled with items to help a child get a good night's sleep. Each Night Night Package contains a new blanket, a book, and a stuffed animal and other nighttime items such as a toothbrush/toothpaste, pajamas, socks and/or note. I think this is a wonderful project. I am proud to have AllyZabba be apart of it. If you would like to get involved with Project Night Night here is some more information to help you get started.

Comparison

While my cousin and my sister are having great success potty training their boys, who are about the same age as LittleZabba, today she has peed on floor 3 times, in the high chair once, and only dribbled in the potty. She is quick to say that she is a big girl and that she goes pee-pee on the potty, but really she just goes pee-pee on the floor. Maybe tomorrow will be a better day.

MaMe Spa

This weekend I found a spa in Redondo Beach, called MaMe Spa. It is wonderful! The best thing is that they offer childcare services (for kids ages 3mo. and up) while the Moms get pampered. Isn't that a fantastic idea!! The child care room is very fun, and there are screens throughout the spa so you can see what your children are doing without having to go in. They even have a schedule of things they do with the kids, reading from 10-11am...etc. The prices are pretty reasonable, for a spa. For example, a one hour pedicure is $40, 1 hour manicure is $35. The location is great, the workers are super friendly and I am pretty sure that I am going back! Maybe I'll run into you there.

Surf's Up

Congratulations! Good work DaddyZabba!