about stuff

*I'm warning you now..this post has no real point..just another one of my random ramblings about stuff*
Funny thing I just noticed....Just put Jake to bed a second ago. I swear, he really is more like me every day. Little things I notice here and there. I have this kind of funny thing where I can not stand if the sheets and blankets are messed up on the bed when I get in. Pete could sleep with half the comforter falling on the floor and the top sheet balled up in the middle of the bed. Me? No. Can't stand it. The sheet and blanket have to be all strait and neat when I get in. No mother, I don't make the bed when I get up in the morning. You'd think I would...but who has time for that? So anyways, back to Jake...last night his comforter had fallen off the bed so when I got him up this morning I just threw it on top of the bed and we got dressed and left the house as always. (I'm a great house keeper as you can plainly see) Tonight I'm tucking him in and he says "make sure you fix my blanket first mommy" he gets in and I cover him up and tuck him in all nice...He says "oh! it's so nice and strait!" and lets out a little happy giggle. He was so happy about it! I just chuckled to myself and smiled. He truly is my kid. 100%. No doubt about it.
Little miss Megan had her 12 month check up today. That girl is 33 inches tall! Think about that for a second and let it sink in...she's 12 months old and 3 inches short of 3 feet. Yeah, she's totally off the charts in height.I'm growing a giant. She's so funny, she holds anything she can find up to her ear and "talks" like it's a phone. For instance tonight I see her toddling around with one of my flip-flops up to her head and she's babbling "ma-ma, ba ba ba! Hi!" So funny!
Haven't talked about my job in a while...If you've been following along, most of you know I took a new job earlier this year after working for another company for the last 6 years. Well I'm going to go ahead and write it out loud....It quite possibly was one of the worst decisions. hmm. yeah. Aside the fact that I'm completely bored every day, fight to stay awake at my desk and probably within the near future will need medication to stabilize my mental health, I'm working for a company that very well might be going under. Some of you know I'm in the mortgage industry and well....if you watch any news or own a home or are trying to sell a home, you can probably guess that the real estate market is pretty much in the crapper right now. And so is the mortgage industry. And, I just happen to work for the one company that is ALL over the financial news these days. Yeah, the one where the CEO of the company looks like he sleeps in a tanning bed? Yeah, that one. I don't really have anything else to say about it, but I do wonder if my days are numbered there. I mean how long can they afford to pay me to do nothing? Not really sure what I plan to do, if anything, about it. Just ridding it out for now, but lord have mercy, it's dread full.
Our office likes to take up charitable collections for certain things all the time. Not that I'm against charity, NOT AT ALL....but sometimes we really struggle just to make it to the next paycheck. I feel so pressured to donate stuff to these things. This month being back to school and all, we set up to donate backpacks and school supplies to a local elementary school in Concord. Michelle and I went and delivered them yesterday. Wow, this school could not have been in more need for this stuff. Most of the students there are very low income Hispanics or Asian and a lot of them barely even speak English. There were parents in the office that didn't speak English at all. We walk into the office and it's sweltering in there. It was 100* in Concord yesterday and there was no air conditioning...NO AIR CONDITIONING!...and there was about 20 kids sitting in the office at 2:30 because their parents "forgot" that it was an early day. For some reason here in CA the kids get out early one day a week. And their parents FORGOT they were there! How sad is that? There were 4 ladies working as office staff...besides the fact that there was no air in there...they had desks in places that weren't supposed to have desks...one of them stuck out into a doorway. The "staff room" was about as big as my bathroom with a refrigerator that had to have been about 40 years old. It was just sad. Why is education not held to a higher standard in this state? I've been out of the education scene for about 6 years now and I guess I just forgot what crap these kids and teachers have to deal with. I saw signs posted in the same school district on one of the major streets in town saying 350 teachers left the district because of benefits. 350!! And do you think they were replaced with quality staff? I doubt it. They were probably replaced with "teachers" that are still in school and haven't even finished the credential program. It's sad. It's becoming more of a real issue to me now that I have kids going into a public school system here next year. I could go on and on I suppose but I better quit here.
Pete is gone to Idaho for the week so you know what that means....chips and salsa for dinner, staying up way too late etc...
Guess I better get my butt upstairs.
See ya :)

*Birthday Girl*

Seriously, just yesterday I finally realized just how cool it is to have a girl. Not that I haven't enjoyed Megan this whole time, but oh my gosh....After dressing her up yesterday and doing her hair...Well, I just can't stop gushing over her and how cute she is! And how fun it is to dress her up. Tomorrow she turns one. I can hardly believe it. The year has FLOWN by so fast. But at the same time, I can hardly remember her as a newborn. It seems like just yesterday, but because it's all been so fast, it's like...where did my baby go? She started walking last week...and this week she's saying stuff. She screams when she wants more food...so we tell her "say 'more please'" so she says "mo-mo". Today we were at the Dr.'s office and she dropped the sticker they gave her. I said "uh-oh!" she repeated and said "oh-oh, oh-oh!" It was cute, but it's crazy how once they hit 12 months it's like their brain development just takes off. Crazy. Crazy good and crazy bad all at the same time.
Here are some more pics from the weekend and the cake-eating:




This last one just cracks me up. She's like, "what is this stuff all over me?
Ok, now I'm going to talk about Jake. Well, Jake and me really. Do you ever feel like you're holding your kid back? Like you're holding them back from experiencing things, or being who they want to be? Ok example: Me? For some reason I've got social issues. I'm really shy. At first anyways. I've always been shy, but it just takes me a few minutes to warm up. Sometimes I make plans and then I end up "flaking" because I just feel like hanging out in my jammies all day. Or I want to do something, but I don't call because I feel like I'm intruding or something. Or sometimes, if for some reason I feel like I can completely control the environment or situation, then I can be completely outgoing. (there really is a point to all this...i think) Anyways, so we're at my best friends house on Saturday. Her little girl is turning 4. (Jake and Emily are only 10 days apart!) Kari and I have known each other since we were 3, but we haven't lived near each other since we were 7, nor did we ever go to the same school except for one year...she was in first grade and me in 2nd. So we've never really had the same group of friends. She and I have remained friends all these years, but we don't really have any mutual friends together. SOOO me, Jake and Megan are at this party, but we don't really know anyone there or any of the kids. So me, being my shy self, just kind of meander through the back yard...Keeping close tabs on Megan as she crawls around, and there's Jake....He's practically glued to me. He followed me everywhere. I said, "why don't you go play with the other kids?" Jake: oh, they said I couldn't play. So not true. All he wanted to do was go inside and watch Sponge Bob. (he doesn't get to watch that at home cuz we don't have cable) Then it was time to play games. Jake really wanted to play, I could tell he did. But I could also tell that he was nervous about the whole thing...and I could sense that he thought everyone was looking at him...and he didn't like it. But he LOVED playing the games. The thing that got me was this is SOOOOO EXACTLY what I would have done..and basically DID do and DO now. I kept looking at him and saying to myself "oh. my. gosh. He is ME." He is SO me. Did I do this? Did I make him anti-social? Have I showed him to hold back? I feel like I need to be a better example to him. I already know he's WAY more outgoing than I EVER was. I need to encourage THAT behavior. It's so hard being a parent sometimes. You just want your kids to have the best life and be good people. Jake is good people, that I know for sure. He's very well behaved and a really nice kid. I can see it when we're around other kids. Chrissy was talking about it on her blog...She has good kids too.
The good thing about the whole party was after the games, Jake really opened up. He found a buddy and they played tag and ran around together and I could see he was really having fun. Whew, that made me happy. I opened up a little too. I just dug in and helped Kari with the party. Took pictures for her, helped serve up cake and ice cream...that sort of thing. I had fun too :)
Ok,this has been a long one! See ya :)
P.S. Mom, or anyone else that's interested, there are more pictures here.

Dude, where is everyone?

My email box is empty, there's little to no updates in my Google reader, and there's nothing going on in scrapworld it seems. I guess these really are the lazy days of summer. I have felt like doing nothing lately. Last week was crazy so I just feel like I needed to chill this week.
One HUGE thing to talk about this week is this:

This is Megan taking her very first steps on her own last Saturday! I set her on the grass out front (which I know, desparately needed to me mowed!)and she just decided to go for it! She stood up all by herself and took about 2 steps and then fell back down. She didn't give up, she just kept trying. It was so cute! She's of course still mostly crawling, but tonight she just walked across the room to me. So exciting! She'll be ready to run by the time we go on vacation next month!
I just finished a new miniBook this week too. It was my first attempt at a "clear" one. You can see it here
I don't have much else to report...Back to chillin for now.
See ya :)

Sinfully Delicious

Just look at it! Oh it's so good. And I don't even like chocolate that much. I know, I'm strange. This is a piece of the cake I made the other night. Thought I'd post the recipe just in case you were interested. Grab a glass of milk, or whatever sweet diluting beverage you prefer! The recipe comes from our church cookbook, but I think it's pretty common..I've seen it online a few times. In fact, while making this I referred to another version of it just so I could be sure my cookbook was right. It's LOADED with sugar. So, if your diabetic or watching your carbs, I don't recommend you even look at this cake!
It's very, very easy to make so don't let the whole "from scratch" thing scare you. Easy Peasy! If I can do it, certainly anyone else could.
Cake:
2 cups sugar (yes, 2 whole cups!)
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp. salt
2 eggs
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 tsp. Vanilla
1 cup (2 sticks) of butter
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
Mix the sugar, flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl. In a small bowl, beat the eggs, buttermilk and vanilla. Set aside. In a small saucepan, bring butter, water and cocoa to a boil. Beat cocoa mixture into the flower mixture until well blended. Beat in egg/buttermilk mixture. Poor into a 9x13 inch greased pan and bake at 350* for 30 minutes.
Mine took a bit longer than 30 minutes. Just do the toothpick trick to make sure it's done in the middle. You can also make this as a sheet cake in a cookie sheet/jelly roll pan, and reduce the cooking time to about 20 minutes.

The last 5 minutes of cooking time, start making the sinful frosting:
Frosting:
1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick)
2 Tbsp cocoa
3 Tbsp milk
2 to 2 and half cups of powdered sugar (plan on using about a hole 16oz box) *yikes*
1/2 tsp. vanilla
In a small saucepan, stirring constantly, bring butter, cocoa and milk to a boil. Add vanilla and then beat in the powdered sugar until smooth. If it's too stiff, add a little milk. You can also mix in some chopped nuts, but me personally...I don't think nuts and chocolate should me mixed. I know, I'm strange.
Now, take that frosting and poor it over the hot cake! YUMMM. This cake is best eaten warm, right out of the oven. But if you make it in advance, you could certainly zap it in the microwave for (seriously) only 5 or 6 seconds.
Delicious! Let me know if you try it. Back to normal posts tomorrow!

uhhh, yeah....I've got another mess to clean up. As you can see. Yesterday's recipe: Dunkin Hines baby! All you need is a Pampered Chef Easy Accent Decorator, and you can make anything look delicious! Today's recipe is from SCRATCH and it is OH SO DE-Licious and FATening! I will post it tomorrow maybe or over the weekend.
Pictures: yep, all the recent uploads, including today, yesterday and the banner were taken with the new Canon. The banner was taken strait out of the box. Gotta love it.
Ok, clean up time! see ya :)

I have a huge mess to clean up now. See ya :)

Dessert week in the Wilcox house

MMMMMM blackberry cobbler. Made this on Sunday just to be nice to Pete and I got "this is really good". Which is saying a lot. He usually doesn't complement food too often. I'm calling this week "dessert week" because dang if I'm not making 3 desserts this week....maybe even more. I made the blackberry cobbler on Sunday. (you can find the recipe here...this is a totally awesome blog by the way...oh and her regular blog is pretty cool too..) Anyways, tomorrow night I'm making cupcakes for Jake to take to Grandma's Wednesday...it's his birthday :) THEN Wednesday night I'm making a chocolate cake to take to work for someone elses birthday. Dessert week for sure. Saturday I'm thinking of making homemade ice cream...it's what we always did for birthdays when I was little and I'd like to make it a tradition for my kids too...since both their b-days are in August.
I hope I don't gain all my weight back before I go to Hawaii!...This is why I'm eating Lien Cuisine for lunch all week.
This is very interesting and kind of really sad. I saw it on someone elses blog. I've heard of this website before, but I guess I didn't really think it was real?? I don't know I never gave it much thought, but this video kinda makes you step back and think a bout the world.
That's all I got. I will be practicing with the new camera this week....which I have another story about but will have to wait...I need to get to bed.

Hey there Gorgeous...

Look at her...isn't she beautiful? Her battery is being charged right now. I can't wait to play with her! Ok, I'll stop refering to it as "her".
Thanks so much for the bit of advice...I really took all of it into consideration. I really don't think I could have gone wrong with either one..the Canon or the Nikon. I chose the Canon because it just felt right when I held it...and man that shutter speed blew me away! Oh, yeah and I got a really good deal. I told the guy at Best Buy that Fry's had this same camera for 649 including a 2G memory card and he believed me....when I went back and looked at the add..it really didn't included the memory card. oopsie. His bad for not checking. I so wish I can get to know this camera and get to know it's full potential.
Thanks Mom!!! You have no idea how awesome this is!! :)

little bit of randomness

Thought I'd better post while I have the chance...Pete is still up at the ranch and won't be home for another 1/2 hour or so...Kids are sleeping soundly so I'm taking advantage.
I'm totally rested up from the time off work and camping trip. Seriously it was just SO needed. I actually had some work to do today. It felt good to have something to do! I actually only cruised SIS maybe like 3 or 4 times. That's totally sayin' something! Cuz dudes, if I'm not careful, they're like totally going to kick me off that site too.
Sunday I got home from camping, uploaded all my pics to Costco and picked them up Monday afternoon. I am SO loving Costco right now. One hour photo, totally awesome quality. Only, I swear I picked matte finish and they gave me glossy. I really don't like glossy, but oh well. Every time I get pics back I think I have to scrap them like RIGHT NOW. The only thing is....is that without some thoughtful preparation...the pages turn out kind of so-so. So I haven't posted any to any galleries or anything. I'm just kinda holding on to them for now to see if they maybe grow on me or something. I'm totally feeling the need to refurbish my stash. I have to admit, I'm one that totally gets inspired by NEW stuff. I LOVE having new stuff. I'm also really content to use what I got, too....because I'm totally cheap. If I think I can "make-do" with something else, I will. Maybe it's all the CHA stuff that is plastered on all the scrap sites...total overload with all the coolest new stuff. Makes me want it. Seriously, scrapbook companies hardly need to pay for marketing. They can practically get it for free. It's like: "Paper? Someone said paper?...oooohhhh paaaaperrr....Must have new paaappperr." Ok, I'm getting weird. But I know you girls know what I'm talking about. It's a serious addiction. Where is the 12 step program? I need rub-ons....and chipboard...
Ok, wow...that was a tangent!
Cameras! So yeah, mom graciously donated to the "Corey needs camera fund" and I get to get a DSLR! Whooo Hooo! Problem: I still don't know which one to get! I totally thought I knew. I was all stoked up for the Nikon D40...which is Nikon's newest DSLR/comparable to the D50 (which is what Melissa has) It's really reasonably priced, has AWESOME reviews on EVERY site I've looked at. I even went to Flicker camera finder, and guess what, the thing takes freakin radical pics. Ok so why the debate then, right? Well, Monday I head over to Best Buy (seriously, why they call themselves Best Buy, I will never know. They are freaking expensive!!) Anyways, I felt I really needed to HOLD the camera....and of course they had the Canon Rebel sitting there too. So I feel I really need to hold BOTH of the cameras. Uhhh. They are really both awesome. First-the Canon....LIGHTNING fast shutter speed. I mean it almost was scary how fast that thing shoots. AWESOME. Nikon-still pretty fast, but NOTICEABLY slower. How much does this matter? I don't know. The LCD screen on the Nikon was very noticeably larger than the Canon, and the menu seemed slightly more user friendly. Also, ALL the reviews of the Canon are awesome too. So I'm just torn. I don't want to spend all this money and find out I bought the wrong camera. But it kind of seems like I can't go wrong with either of these. I'm not a professional, nor do I ever expect to be. This is my first SLR and honestly, I'm not really going to know what to do with it! I'm really looking forward to learning a LOT more about photography. So with all that said...I'm going to pose this question one more time just to get a consensus....Canon? Or Nikon? Which would you rather have. I know Chrissy and Melissa both have either and both are happy so any opinions, pros or cons would be greatly appreciated!
Ok, off to bed!

I *heart* camping

Hi there! Been gone a long time from here! Now that I can't blog at work, I really have no time. But I'm not going to dwell on that anymore. It is what it is. I made this bed, now I've got to lie in it.

Ok back to stuff.....We went camping this weekend. Camping is probably one of my favorite things to do...besides scrapbooking and going to Disneyland. We didn't go camping last year because by summer, I was just about ready to pop with Megan. We almost didn't even make it this time. We were supposed to leave Thursday night after Pete got home from work. But he had some ranch stuff to take care of and didn't get home till 7:30. There was no way we were going to go up at that point. Anyways, we got up early Friday morning and got to the campground around 11:30 and stayed until Sunday afternoon. I love camping, but you know, I never realized until I got older, how much work it is! The planning, the gathering of stuff, the cooking and the cleaning. I never realized how hard my mom worked every time we went camping when I was growing up. But despite all that, I still had a great time. I still love it and want to go again. It was nice just to get away and relax. We both, but especially Pete, really needed it. It was hard pulling him away from work and the ranch. I know he kept thinking of all the other stuff he could be and should be doing. But I knew if I could just get him up there, he'd enjoy himself. I was totally right. He really kicked back and enjoyed the nothingness of the weekend. It was just what he needed. For reals.

This time we met friends, Mike and Erin, up at Spicer Reservior. It's about 2-2 1/2 hours from here in the Sierra mountains. Spicer is a beautiful lake surrounded by granite rocks and pine trees. Mike and Erin got up there on Thursday and got us a spot. They've got 3 kids. Matt-5, Amanda 3, and Ryan-9 months. The kids had such a great time. I was a little worried because Matt and Jake don't usually get along all that well. But they did great this weekend. They played HARD and were good to eachother. Amanda did pretty good too....she tries real hard to keep up with those boys. She likes to boss Jake around but he will have nothing of it. No little girl is going to tell him what to do! The babies were great. Really, they were. Some people would probably think we're crazy taking little babies into the woods for the weekend...but really it was pretty easy. Erin and I just tagged teamed them when ever we could. I would feed them both and she would be cooking or cleaning up. OR the other way around. It worked out great and the babies really seemed to enjoy each others company. Yep, they got dirty, but so what. Pete brought our solar shower. He bought it years ago and has never used it. What a great thing! It's basically a little tent and you hang a big 10 gallon water bag from it and it has a shower head on it. It's not like the shower at home, but it will get you clean in a pinch. We used it both days to get the boys cleaned up as they were the dirtiest. Oh yeah! I almost forgot...Saturday was my birthday. Yep, I'm the big 3-0 now. Jeeze. Anyways, my dad came up to the campground Saturday afternoon. It was great. I haven't seen him in a really long time. He brought up a cake, a really pretty necklace for me and a big gawdy beach bag for when we go to Hawaii! So nice! They stayed all afternoon and took the kids for walks and just hung out with us all. Good times. :)

One more thing.....Thanks to my mom, I get to get the best birthday present ever! I'm all giggly over it! I finally get to get the camera I've been obsessing about! woo hoo!!!! THANKS MOM! You rock!!

Ok here is a slide show of the weekend. Enjoy!