Give Me 5 Monday #45

Late, yes, but better than not doing it...LOL
Give Me Five Favorite Holiday Foods

1. Butter Tarts! (thanks to 4streegrrl @ i pity the rhino for this reminder)
2. Pies, doesn't matter to me which kind it is, so long as I get some.
3. Cauliflower, Broccoli, Brussel Sprouts, Carrots, and Beans. All a part of my Christmas dinner.
4. Fresh Mandarin Oranges. Too bad they're not available here in Ohio. We eat these things by the boxful, about one every 4 days back home. The canned variety don't cut it.
5. Fresh-in-the-shell Almonds. We always had a big bowlful and a spare bowl to the side for shells. D loved learning how to shell the nuts.

Give Me Five Monday #44 & POST #900

Yep, I blog too much...LOL

Give Me Five of your favorite holiday songs

1. Hark The Herald Angels Sing - Mariah Carey
2. Little Drummer Boy - TSO
3. Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire - Nat King Cole
4. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas - Judy Garland
5. Feliz Navidad - Boney M

These are just the first five that pop into my head, if you refer to an older post, I have a set list of Christmas song versions that I HAVE to have each year that I've given more thought, but I do listen in on a few other versions as well, it's always god to browse.

Give Me Five Monday #43

Hosted by BeccA over @ BeccA's Buzz
This weeks Topic:
Give me five items you purchased on Black Friday or over this past weekend for the upcoming Holiday season.

Yes, I did go out shopping, but I didn't technically start on Friday, it just kind of carried through. As my last post states, I headed out to the evening shopping that carried on into the wee hours of the morn and went from there.
ANYhow, I ended up doing the shopping for me, and for the boys, and left it at that.

1. Thomas Play Tent - Bought this for H, thought it was on sale, when it actually wasn't. Oh well. I know he'll love it, and it just adds to our collection of tents and tunnels that we bought last year and thoroughly enjoy as a family.


2. A Beautiful White Wool Coat. Yes, the coat of my dreams, and I've only worn it once so far. I can't decide whether or not I'll reserve it for special occasions or a daily thing. My newest prize possession, though we'll see how long that'll last with two young boys on my heels.

3. Bakugan Figures. D requested a few since there's a sweeping trend of them at his school...even though he doesn't watch the show or know what side they're on. I figure it can't hurt too much as long as I outline that there is to be no trading...ever.

4. Paper Plates. Not the most environmentally friendly, I know...but at least they're bio-degradeable! I always worry that only having a set or 8 dishes that I'll run out (it's happened before) while having guests over during the holiday season, so I decided to assauge that by backing myself up.

5. Funky Garland from the Dollar Tree that happens to look perfect with our tree this year.

Give Me Five Monday #42

Give Me Five Monday is hosted by BeccA over at BeccA's Buzz, click here if you'd like to play along.

Give Me Five Sub Sandwich Toppings &/or Condiments

1. I usually stick to the same veggies: lettuce, tomatoes, green peppers, and pickles.

2. I'm an EXTRA MAYO & Mustard lover! Everyone can rest assured that I will always be a lotsa lotsa person.

3. Salt and pepper...gotta have it on any and all sandwiches, even if I make them at home.

4. I love cheese...any kind, it doesn't matter. I recently tried Havarti, which I found to be a bit salty, but rather enjoyable if I cut back on #3.

5. My all time fav sandwich topping is Turkey, leftovers from Thanksgiving please.

Did I ever mention I used to work at a Subway? Did I ever mention that I met my husband at Subway? Did I ever mention that I loved the smell of baking bread when I got pregnant with my first son while I was working at said Subway? Hmm...

Give Me Five Monday #41

Give me Five Monday's are brought to you by Becca, over at BeccA's Buzz. Come on over and join us!

Give Me Five staples on your grocery list besides milk, bread and eggs.

1. Hershey's Chocolate Syrup...hafta agree with Becca on this one. Both my boys love them some Chocolate milk, but as my youngest is the only one in the family NOT lactose intolerant, we have to buy the syrup instead of the pre-made.

2. Kraft Cheese, once again I have to agree with Becca. We all love cheese, and though we don't usually stray too far from it, we usually go with Mild Cheddar, our other fav's include Co-Jack, or Mozzeralla. Oh yeah, we usually stick to Kraft cause it's the tastiest, I can actually tell the difference between it and off-brand's cause the off-brands are saltier, and more coarse or stiff.

3. Oscar Mayer Turkey Bologna. My boys LOVE this one as a snack, and I don't feel so bad feeding it to them knowing it's a lot lower in sodium, and only has 1 gram of saturated fat. I'm also happy knowing it comes from the meat of only one animal...

4. Oatmeal. We all love this warm cereal, and we only need brown sugar to make it scrumptious. The minute I run out of it they ask for more.

5. Raisins. Of course, a huge fav of kids everywhere. Both my boys will eat these till the cows come home or until they've had too many. If you're a mom you'll understand the too many part. We like to spice it up every once and a while by buying Yogurt Raisins as well.

Give Me Five Monday #40

Give Me Five techniques you use to aid in writing for your blog or for your journal...whatever helps cure that writer's block.

1. I think about what new antics my kids have come up with. My children are always reliable for ridiculous things to blog about, or the new way they made me laugh, or proud. It's a main reason why I blog, to keep my family (on opposite sides of the country) up - to - date on what's happening within my family, without holding information. Though I'm guaranteed to miss some info, I can rest assured knowing that I've got most of it covered.

2. I listen to music, hence the music quotations in between paragraphs in some of my posts. It doesn't have to be a specific type of music, I can find a meaningful lyrics in almost ANY song I listen to, that what's so inspirational about it. Though I'm sure each song is supposed to have a context, what makes this particular method fun is that I have the ability to remove that context and use it as my own.

3. Consider my feelings for the day, and what may have inspired them. I actually treat my blog in many ways, and that's what makes it so personal to me. Not only do I blog meme's, and music lyrics, but I also give genuine feeling to my words. I think about certain situations that may be informational (readable and interesting) and I write about how it made me feel. Everyone can relate to feelings, or maybe have their eyes opened to a new way to describe it. I really enjoy it when I can bang the nail on the head from a description of a certain feeling accurately, and in a new light. It makes me feel amazing, even if no one reads it.

4. I remind myself to complete daily tasks. I know, it's shameful, but another way I use my blog is to remind myself that I had planned to do something, but didn't actually see it as overly-worthy of writing it down on my calendar on my desk. So, I usually add in little tasks that are running through my head when I began blogging and through-out the day I re-read my blog to see if I want to make any revisions, catch the reminder, and gett off my butt to do it.

5. Random thoughts, and updates. I am a wellspring of unnatural random thoughts, and quirks. Did you ever wish human beings came with their own cartoon soundtrack? *boink boink* (dontcha just love hearing me blink in expectancy?) When all else fails I enter in some random thought that floated through my head for the day, either random in general, or from a train of thought from reading the news of the day. I pick something and just go with it, and it eventually leads me to what I wanted to start out with in the first place but just didn't know it.

6. When all else fails, I go do a quiz at Quizopolis.com, I do a survey, and go from there...after I post my answers, of course.

And there you have it, my personal cure to writers block, though admittedly, I don't get it very often. Did you enjoy this blip into how my thought proccess works, hopefully it's not as whack as I think it is.

Give Me Five Monday

Give Me Five recent movies you've rented.

What is everyone renting/watching lately? And if you haven't seen a movie lately, what are some you'd like to see soon?

1. Spanglish. Adam Sandler & Tea Leoni & the beautiful Paz Vega.
My husband came home from the store one day with one of my
favorite movies in hand. This is one of those that I could truly watch over and over again and not tire of it. :o)

2. The Happening. Mark Wahlburg. Oh my, what a terrific movie. Intense, and jaw dropping...totally a Shyamalan movie through and through. It was terrific.

3. Harold & Kumar Escape Guantanamo Bay. Yeah, it's kinda tough to admit I've watched this...LOL

4. Monster House. My son bought this movie not too long after it came out, and since it's the season, he's been watching it non-stop. I like Chowder, he's funny.

5. Little Children. Kate Winslet. A movie that was kind of strange, but very moving. I was giggling madly at some parts, and horrified at others. Great watch when you want to kill some time.

Give Me Five Monday

Give Me Five fave fall time foods with or with out recipes.

1. I love cranberries & brussel sprouts this time of year. Canadian Thanksgiving was last weekend, after all.

2. Turkey soup. Especially if it's made with leftovers.

3. I love hot tea, of any sort, and this is when I start drinking it by the boxful, because I don't drink coffee anymore. I had to stop that when I realized how strung out Hunter was before it dawned on me that it the caffine goes through breastmilk.

4. Fresh home made apple sauce. I don't make it often, but when I do it's usually this time of year because I actually really enjoy it warm.

5. Soup. I know I already put a soup up here, but I so often start craving them this time of year it's difficult to know which one I've got on what day. I generally make mine from scratch, and usually use a base of onion, carrot, celery, peas, and whatever noodle/potato & meat is handy, sometimes I'll use chicken, sometime's I'll use ground beef...but during the colder months ground beef is my preference, I see chicken as being a warm month thing. I'll add whatever spices and other veggies I have about, but those are my main staple ingredients.

Give Me Five Monday

Give Me Five things you should/will be intentional about this week.

1. I'm going to read more with my older son.
2. I'm going to drink more water.
3. I'm going to get more fresh air.
4. I'm going to be early for my scheduled affairs.
5. I'm going to go grocery shopping.

In an attempt to make my blog a little more entertaining, I'm going to begin Give Me 5 Monday's, to go along with my Friday Fill-Ins. I hope you all enjoy!