What does your Christmas say about you?

I snagged this from Rebecca!

Your Christmas is Modern

Your wish for the New Year is a better career or financial situation. For you, Christmas is a spiritual holiday. You can't separate it from your beliefs. You are patient when it comes to Christmas. You don't celebrate too early, and you don't like seeing holiday decorations in October. You like Christmas traditions, but you're not uptight about them. You do things your way. You have some preferred ways of celebrating Christmas, but you're open to compromise. You love Christmas. You enjoy almost every aspect and tradition of the holidays. You give a big during the holidays but nowhere near as much as you'd like to.

What Does Your Christmas Say About You?

I know that it has been awhile.

Lots going on in the Rocks house with Christmas coming up. We have had parties, performances and of course, many, many songs to sing. The current favorite among the Rocks children is Rudolf the Red nosed Reindeer.

Admittedly I have spent too much time in recent weeks in other hot spots, but that is gone and I have lots to catch up on!

I have a cookie mystery to solve. I am looking for a particular cookie for A. He is very serious about me finding it. I have a few leads, but I do not have all the ingredients, and I am not brave enough to brave shopping the weekend before Christmas.

I have also been trying to catch up with the shows on my DVR. Embarrassingly enough, I am still watching shows that have election commercials!

So there you have it- a long drawn out post that could be summed up in a few words- I am a mom of 4 and Christmas is next week, I am too busy to post a lot!

Weekend Mystery

There is a mystery at the Rocks house. I have heard that this happens at other houses too, so maybe it isn't a mystery as much as a strange phenomenon.

During the week, I literally have to drag A out of bed. He cries that he is too tired to get up. It takes a good half hour to get him up and dressed.

Every single day, except Saturday.

Saturday, he is up and ready to go at the crack of dawn. He was up a good 15 minutes before I would even attempt to wake him during the week.

Why on Earth does he wake up on the only day that I do not have to wake him?

My Spot

I have a special spot. You know the one, the place in your home where you go to feel cozy, take a nap, talk on the phone, watch TV... you get my drift.

Today- mine is gone.

My spot is in the corner of my sectional, the part with the chaise, obviously.

The leg broke and they came and took it away for repairs. It may not be back till Thursday. Note- do not try to ask dumb witted drivers about how long things take, they only pick up and drop off. The most they know is that they have to put up that snazzy thing on the door frame so they don't mess anything up. That was almost as cool as the show covers that the bug guy wears.

I miss my spot. I have not felt right all day. I feel like I am a guest in my own home.

Retro Jammies

Lookie at what I pulled out for L! These are vintage jammies, long before they were "snug fitting and flame resistant". These jammie jams are as old as me! Lucky for me, we have several pairs, one of which has ORIGINAL Care Bears on them. They are blue, so I may put them on L.

The 70's must have been a fantastic time. Too bad I do not remember.

BTW- I know that this pic is not of the best quality (I am still figuring out a bunch of the features of my new camera).

Friday Facts

I am starting a new trend- Friday Facts. Every Friday I am going to give you some Rocks Facts.

I love music. Not all music. I just feel that there are a few really, really good songs that I like to think were written for me. Even more songs that take me back to a nice memory. Of course there are plenty that make me want to get up and dance.

I really do not like anything heavy- to any extreme. I do not like heavy metal or gansta rap. I do not like country music AT ALL. I like mostly music that you would hear on the radio (except country) It really bothers me when they put a country song on the pop station and call it "cross over". whatever. It is country.

I find that I go in and out on the music that I like. I will get into what I think of as a music funk. These funks last about a month or so. I would say that they are certain genre's that I get in the mood to hear, then I can not get enough.

Sometimes I get into an 80's funk. I also have a moody music funk (think of the music you hear on teen angst shows, or Grey's). I have times where I really get into classic rock.

Last night I recorded Storytellers on VH-1. It was a Kid Rock concert. I never really gave him much thought, but I LOVE his song "All Summer Long"- and it is for the same reason he said he thought that most people liked it. It always reminds of that time in your life that things were simple and you had your first love. But anywho, I have discovered that I like him more than I ever thought that I did. (minus the country sounding stuff!).

I do not know what I did before the days of the I-Pod!

Happy Thankgiving!

I hope everyone has a great day. Eat a lot of yummy food. I know that I will!

Remember to be thankful for all that you have! I think that is the hardest part of the day for a lot of people.

29+1= Fabulous

Say it ain't so.... I am 30 today.

I thought that maybe I would feel old. I don't. Instead I feel optimistic.

My 20's were great. I finished college, drank a beer, got married, and had 4 babies. That is a LOT to accomplish in 10 years. I think with all that wisdom and experience under my belt, I will do even more in my 30's!

Hopefully all in a much thinner version of myself! (weight loss is at the top of my list right now!)


BTW- I have many many lists.......

Salt Ornaments

We made salt ornaments over the weekend! I got the recipe from Family Fun. (my new favorite magazine!)

The recipe is 3 cups of Flour, 1 cup of salt, and 1 cup of water. Put in mixer until a ball forms. I had to add more water to get to a ball.

After all the mixing, the kids each picked a few things to make. They all picked a snowman. A wanted a stop sign, a cloud, and an ice cream cone. G picked a flower, a rainbow, a heart, and a cupcake. K wanted a hot dog, french fries and a burger (this was AFTER we ate dinner- I guess she had food on her mind!). It was really fun making all the shapes! I used a wooden skewer to poke a hole in the top of each one for the ribbon.

The next step after forming the shapes was to bake in the oven at 275 for 2 hours. Since we did this on Friday night, we let them cool over night.

Saturday morning we painted with acrylic paint. After the paint dried, I put on a coat of Mod Podge. You can see in the photo, some of them turned out pretty cute! My personal favorite is the french fries ( i painted that one myself!) I can not wait to get the Christmas stuff out and put the ribbon through and hang them. The kids want to make more so I think that we will do this one again!

I have a few things on my crafty list right now. I have to get Luke's baby scrapbook done. I also made A a photobook at Shutterfly. (I missed out on the free one though!) I want to make the girls a few Christmas bows, and I really like the ragamuffin garland- but not being a sewer, I don't have scraps sitting around, I must get to the craft store to get some! I may try a Christmas one, and if it is OK, then I may try one for the kids rooms.

Why is the weekend so short?

I have a ton of stuff to fit into one little weekend- and it is only Friday night!

This evening, I made salt ornaments with the kids, I will post about that more tomarrow. It was so fun and I can not wait to finish them!

Tomarrow I have a TON of laundry to get done and a TON of cleaning- I am sick of cleaning! I feel like I am always cleaning, and nothing is ever done.

G has a birthday party to go to, there is a PSU game on, and I am going to a vendor night fundraiser at the school tomarrow. I can not wait to go! I love that stuff, but honestly, I hate going to the parties. I have a list running in my head of things I want to buy.

On top of all that, if I can get the house in a respectable condition, I want to get up at least one of my trees.

It finally happened!

L slept through the entire night!

Yes, he is 7 months old and he JUST slept through the night. None of the others took this long, and I swear that I did nothing different with him at all! I was really starting to doubt my parenting abilities, I really thought that I was doing something wrong. I guess I just have to remember that every child is different- even if I havn't gotten more than 4 hours of continous sleep in over 7 months!

Wordless Wednesday

hmm.... On the top, 2 weeks before L was born. On the bottom, yesterday, L in carrier, at 7 months old.

Babies Babies, everywhere!

I know I JUST had a baby 7 months ago, and it was my FOURTH, but I just can not get over the thoughts of this being it for me.

I am completely crazy, I know. But it is a 2 sided coin.

I always thought that 4 was my number. I thought that after I had L that I would feel like my heart was full and my life would feel complete, but it hasn't quite worked out like that.

I knew that it would be hard for me because I am a wacko that truly loves the newborn stage. I love the bitty babies that want for nothing more that to be held and don't need much else. I seem to forget that the don't really have any thoughts about sleeping more that 2 hours, and they only see me as a food machine. Funny how nature does that to you!

I see baby bumps and I miss that being me! Then I look down at the enormous flab that is my belly now and I think to myself, Gee, I could still pass for PG!

I think that I truly miss the anticipation. Waiting to test, waiting for the ultrasound, and waiting to deliver and meet the little one. What I seem to forget is the hassle of charting and hitting the right days, the sticks that turn up negative, and the 3 early ultrasounds. Don't get me wrong, I loved getting an early glimpse of the beans, but after the 2 or 3rd time of people being up in your business, it gets old! I also seem to forget the months of contractions that were nothing. I forget all the aches and pains of recovery. All I seem to remember is the moment that the baby is out and they set him on my belly and all the emotions that go along with it.

I thought that I would get a head start on getting over the baby fever. I thought that if I got rid of all the baby stuff, I wouldn't catch it. I have been giving it and selling it, and now I am finding a few things that I am having a hard time parting with, so they sit collecting dust in my closet. I get the sadz every time I pack another size of clothes away, whether it be girls stuff from K or boys stuff from L. I know (or at least I choose to believe) that it all is going to someone who really wants it, and honestly, I couldn't care less if it is used or not. It is the fact that it will probably not be worn by one of MY babies, and that makes me really sad.

All the reasons that I think that i am finished are really truly valid reasons that are still making me think that we are finished, but the fact is that I still have 10 good baby making years, if I decide that maybe i am not finished.

Yes, it is official, I am headed to the loony bin!

I am making a change

With all the talk of "change" this week. I have decided that I want to change my life. I feel like I have just been going through the motions, it is time for me to do something different.

My biggest goal right now is to get myself in shape, this round shape that I am in is not feeling to hot. I have made many positive changes and have managed to get 12 pounds below my pre pregnancy weight (from my LAST pg) but I have been stuck here for months. I gave myself excuses for awhile, I weaned L, Mr Rocks was/is going through a lot of job stress and I have just been plain over emotional. I am an emotional eater. I know this and I need to get over this.

Today I have decided that I am going to make the change.

Mr Rocks has agreed to do the Body for Life 12 week challenge with me. I have really gone over the information and will make some modifications to it. The biggest one will be the diet. I have worked hard to phase out a lot of processed food in our diets, so I will not be doing any of the shakes and things, but Mr Rocks will. I will stick the the 6 "meals" of protein and carb combo's, as well as the exercise. Although the plan recommends only doing the cardio 3 days a week, i already walk 3 days of the week, so i will continue that, and just add in the recommended exercises.

Tomarrow I will take measurements, weigh in and take my before pictures,
So for that part of my life I have a clearly defined goal, and a plan to accomplish it.

For the rest of my issues, I am just trying to remain positive, and focus on remembering that nothing is forever and tomorrow is another day!

Sunday Vents!

I hate daylight savings time.

Why on Earth does it take kids a month to get used to the adjustment? I know, it just happened last night, but since I have been up since 6 AM, I am dreading what is to come!

I also can not wait to get this election OVER! I am sick and tired of the arguments, the commercials, and the phone calls not to mention the 100 peices of mail flooding my mail box daily! Geez- I had at least 10 phone calls between 12-6 yesterday! Trust me I will be out there to vote! I learned long, long ago not to argue with or even attemp to talk politics with people. I have my issues that I feel passionatly about, and there is no way that I will ever change my mind, and I am guessing that most other people will not either. The place I used to work said that the work place is not a place to talk about religion, politics, or sex. Now of course, there are people that you can talk to about these things, but those topics are best avoided during day to day convo's as well.

At least I have these minor aggravations to distract me- I need it.

Spooktacular

Here is the gang on the way to trick or treat! We had a Batman, Sleeping Beauty, a chickie, and a Nittany Lion! Poor little chickie had a hard time quacking along in that costume, so we only walked for about an hour. We still have way too much candy!


The big kids had parades at school which the little kids and niece loved! They saw so many of their favorite characters, like scooby doo, and they got a ton of laughs out of a few sumo wrestlers!


In case you didn't know, Halloween is my favorite "holiday" of the year. I know it isn't a real holiday, and I think that is why I love it. I always love the dress up and the escape from the everyday life! Not to mention the candy is always good. You may wonder why Christmas isn't my fav. To be honest, I love Christmas in it's true meaning. I just hate the hustle and bustle. People in a mad rush to get shopping done, presure to get people just the right gift. Not to mention when you get to the actual day, running from house to house! I need a vacation after Christmas! Don't get me wrong- I really, really love Christmas! But I never once heard someone say they get depressed at Halloween like I hear about Christmas.

Wordless Wednesday

Does it get any cuter than a baby mohawk?

Cookie Fun!

Today at the Rocks house me and the girls made cookies. I found the VERY kid friendly recipe in Family Fun this month. There are only 3 ingredients and minimal mess involved- perfect for the kids!

The Ingredients- 1 cup of peanut butter, 1 cup sugar, and 1 egg (one thing for each girl) Plus a plate with some extra sugar on it.

First G put in the Peanut butter

Then AV put in the sugar

K put in the egg

Then we stir it all together

Then we put rolled the dough into balls and rolled in the sugar

and of course- no event in the Rocks house is complete with out a 2 year old melt down! She was upset that I would not let her eat the sugar off the plate.

Here they are ready to go into the oven

Here is the finished product!

We had a really fun time! The girls had a blast making them and they were quite tasty!

Google

Mr Rocks is away tonight and while I was wasting time before my shows come on, I was half watching the news. They were talking about the POS Casey Anthony and how they have proof based on things she has Googled.
Stop the presses! (Must add disclaimer. I do think that there is a special place in hell for people like Casey Anthony, but she has nothing to do with my thoughts right now)

I some how missed out on this wonderful aspect of technology. Of course I know about Google, and the topics I have researched are many and varied. But who knew that what I searched for could be saved and looked at in the future? Color me stoopid.

I would really hate to know what someone would think if they could see the things I have Googled. They would find out about my shopping habits for sure, I always google for a discount code. Then they would be baffled at all the mysterious ailments I need information on. Embarrassingly, they would see how many random words I have googled just to find out what they mean, or find the correct spelling.

If something happens, i hope they at least see this, so I don't come off as a dummy as I may have appeared during my Google research. I am just a curious person!

Wordless Wednesday

This is what happens when Mama Rocks cleans the bathroom and lets K play by herself.

Crust

In all my mothering experience, I have leaned a lot, and that makes me feel smart. But since I have been a mother, I have never felt more clueless.

One particular mystery I would love to solve- why on Earth will kids NOT eat crust? I have cut the crust off with a handy dandy cruster a few times, but since we switched bread, the handy dandy cruster does not work (it is a different shape). It has literally been years, and I am pretty sure that A was the only one to have had a sammich with crust cut off. I make many kinds of sammich for the kids, pb&j, grilled cheese, turkey, salami. No matter what is on it, the poor crusts go in the trash. It isn't even MY kids that do this, Rocking niece AV does it too. For awhile there, I was convinced that my children were weird.

I have asked WHY they don't want to eat them. A told me he doesn't like them. G just shrugged, K told me they are not cute and AV said the she just wasn't hungry.

It isn't just poor sammich crust. Pizza crust is also a victim. Although, I can see the pizza crust a little because it CAN get a little chewy, especially on a reheated piece.

It is hard for me to understand, because i am the weirdo that prefers to eat the crust. I even like the heels of the loaf.

I don't get it, but I hope that crust doesn't feel bad because the little people don't like them!

RIP crust.

In a Rut

I am in a rut, with life in general. I just feel so..... bored. I almost feel like I am living life like the movie Groundhog Day.

I am tired of eating the same 5 dinners over and over. But I have no clue as to what else I want. I could spend all day going through All Recipes and adding recipes to my box, yet I lack the motivation to make anything new.

I am bored with my clothes. There just isn't anything that is appealing to me. I swear that there HAS to be a pair of jeans for me somewhere out there, but I haven't found them yet! All the jeans that I find are too low and give me muffin top. No one wants to see that- trust me. But I am surely not getting mom jeans! I have gotten a few suggestions, and someday I may get the time and money to get to the mall and look for them.

I am tired of cleaning my house. I feel like I am just going in circles, but I guess that is what happens when you have children. They just insist on doing foolish things like play with toys and color. I just wish they knew enough to clean up after their selves.

I would really be upset about this if I didn't realize that everyone feels like this from time to time. I guess I am getting wise in my old age!

Six Months

It is hard to believe that it has been 6 months since my baby was born! Even with L being my fourth baby, I am still amazed at how much they grow and change! L has his Dr's appointment soon, and I am looking forward to seeing how much he has grown. He was 8 pounds and 4 oz and 20 inches long when he was born (10 days early!). Mr Rocks is betting that he is 17 pounds, I think he is definitely more. Mr Rocks and I play this game before every check up, and I always win!

The Tooth Fairy Visits the Rocks House

Today A lost his very first tooth! It is the very first one he got in (makes sense- right?). He lost it at school. Luckily there was no blood, and the school secretary put the tooth in a handy dandy tooth holder. I thought that it was pretty cool that she had them, but I guess it is one of those things that must happen a lot! It is hard to see the missing tooth in the pic, it is on the bottom left. The new tooth was already grown in a little behind it. That is actually quite common, I know because I had to call the dentist about it. Hey- I pay good money for insurance, might as well use it!

Tonight the Tooth fairy will visit the Rocks house and leave a dollar for my big guy! He is saving up for something grand (I am just not sure of what that is yet). I swear he was just born a few weeks ago- I can't believe how time flies!

Hump Day

Here I am at day 3 as a blogger and I am not sure what I want to talk about.

I made a cake today. It is a from Sandra Lee. We saw it on Semi homemade and G insisted that I make it for her! Here it is http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/raspberry-ripple-cake-recipe/index.html

Every one said it was good, I couldn't tell you because I am not a fan of raspberry. I may try it with strawberry next time. I also omitted the red dye and you would never know. It isn't worth the hyped up kids for me to have a brighter color.

I really like trying to make new things, but I have a habit of keeping a list in my mind of things that I will change/ improve for next time. My cake looks nothing like the one that is posted!

Next up I have to make a cheesecake. I missed a dear cousins of Mr Rocks birthday and he pointed it out to me that I cheated him, so I will make it for him this weekend. Lucky me, there is a BIG game on Saturday (they all seem to be BIG!) so I will probably make a few things.

Now I think that I have perfected my cheesecake, as long as all things go smoothly. I hope everything goes my way because I sure could go for a good piece of cheesecake!

Further proof that I am lame

I love getting the mail on Tuesday. Why? The ads come. Well I should note that they are *usually* here on Tuesdays, but they sometimes come on Wednesday. What I do is go through the ad and see what is on sale and what I have coupons for and make my list. I also like to complain to Mr Rocks about how the prices have gone up- but he rarely does more that make some sort of half interested comment.

This week I am excited about Giant Eagle. Next week, if you buy 2 boxes of diapers you get 30 cents off a gallon of gas, and they have printed a boatload of $1.50 Catalina's for me. Looks like I need to make some space to stock up!

Now, I need to find how to get a deal on some Diet Coke!

I must admit, Giant Eagle has not been doing it for me lately, and this may win them back over for me.

I messed up big time. I have a cart full at Gymbo to use my Gymbucks. A & G sell gift cards for Gymbo at school. I ordered enough for my order and they should be here tomorrow, but in the mean time, the pants I had sold out! Now I may have to actually GO to the mall. Don't they know that I like to do all my shopping online? I am a big Gymbo fan, but not so much of a fan of actually going into the actual store. They make it too darn easy to do it online.

Hi there!

Here I am, jumping on the blog bandwagon.

I am a mom to 4 wonderful children. I have a son A, he is 6, a daughter G, she is 4, a daughter K, she is 2, and a son L, he is 6 months old. A and G are in school, A is in Kindergarden and G goes to pre k 3 days a week.

I am married to Mr Rocks. He doesn't like to be talked about on the internet because of his public profile (he is a celebrity you know!) In an attempt to be a good wife, I will only refer to him as Mr Rocks.

By now you may be wondering why I rock, or better yet you may think WHO does this lady think she is (she must be full of herself). The truth comes out here. Many, many do think that I do rock, but how I came to be Tanya Rocks is a rather boring story. It started back in the late 80's early 90's, I thought that rocks as an adjective should make a comeback, so I started to use it- a lot! I think that it has caught on. I also believe that if I say it enough, people will start to believe it and the word will spread.

I have a lot to say and talk about, so check back often. I hope that I am able to keep up! And if you find me lame and boring, just leave, I don't want to hear about it.