Toot away

So today was a typical crazy day in the Felberg family. At times they all three were screaming for me from different rooms at exactly the same time. At other times there were endless conversations about the Barney video in which he was making pizza. Have you heard that Barney song? "Pizza, pizza nothing beats a pizza?" Anyway I can hear it clearly in my head. My children obviously don't know me well enough because they actually think Mommy is going to make a pizza from scratch because Barney gives us the recipe. I think the conversation lasted about an hour. Well maybe only like 10 minutes but it seemed to never end. All about if we want a large pizza we should use 2 cups of flour but we only want a small pizza so we should just use 1 cup of flour. And then we do this and that and well I didn't have the heart to tell them that there was no point to this endless conversation so on it went.

My only comic relief of the day was when I went to change Ty's poopy diaper. I know, a very random place to find humor but there it was anyway. Leave it to Ella. Well here I was expecting to find a massive diaper based on the smell but when I opened it up there was the tiniest little pebble. I say" Ty how could that possibly smell that bad? It is so little." To which Ella quickly responds, "I know Mom! He must have tooted on it a lot and that is why!" Well there you have it. It is not the actually poop that gives off the aroma but how many times you toot on it. Kind of like perfume I guess in a reverse sort of way. Good to know!

My Two New Obsessions

Jonas Brothers and Filipino food! Not necessarily together. Although I did watch Camp Rock and eat lumpia at the same time tonight and by myself no less. Chad came home from work a little surprised. His response, "Are you watching this?" To which I said, "yes" then he asked if I was two? I was about to explain that the Jonas Brothers fan base is a little older than two-mind you probably not as old as 37 but still.
Anyway obviously the Jonas brothers problem started from my children. Those boys have grown on me and I find myself singing their songs and defending them as they get attacked like on the VMA's. I think I am about to buy their CD (do they have more than one?) I have already purchased Camp Rock (for my girls of course:)I asked Haley who her favorite was and told her mine was Joe:) Okay I might need counseling... on to the filipino story

It started a couple of months ago at a school potluck when I realized that my son had sucked on a lumpia for a good 15 minutes while I ate and I started to wonder if I should figure out how to make them. For those of you who know, my cooking ability doesn't go very far. I quickly gave up that idea. Well this past week we had another school potluck and lucky for me I am surrounded by a lot of filipino families so there were many dishes to choose from. Of course I filled my plate with lumpia and also chose what looked like stir fry with clear noodles. I learned it was Pancit. My new love! Haley's teacher sent home all of the recipes from the potluck. So I rushed to the grocery store and went straight to the Asian aisle looking for Behon noodles(had no idea) and oyster sauce. Needed help finding that. At one point I had 3 Albertsons employees searching the aisles for me but I was determined. It didn't turn out! My noodles as Chad would describe reminded him of the sticky hands the kids bring home and throw against the wall, only covered in soy sauce.
I wasn't about to give up though. Haley has a filipino friend that lives up the street. They play together every day. I decided that we would go on an adventure today to a Filipino market. With her of course! I was to insecure to go by ourselves. We discussed it with her mother first who explained what I needed to order. I was on a mission to get Shanghai Lumpia and Pancit. I asked her if it was going to be awkard for me and she said "Well they might not understand you and you might not understand them" That wasn't reassuring but since I had her daughter with me I found the confidence to go. So here we were in the filipino market (very busy place by the way and very inexpensive) They had a market side and then a hot food area which is pretty much the same as a chinese fast food place except for the whole fish and what I think was some sort of goat head. Anyway after a brief scare of them being out of Pancit. I talked the man into making some for me. I think he was frightened by the white lady and her crazy brood with her. We got home with two large portions and only 4 lumpia. I had ordered 12 but ate 7 on the way home. Ty had 1. So I learned a lot. Like I need to order more and don't try to make Filipino food if you aren't Filipino which at this point I wish I was.

In Need of Community

Literally my community! I don't know what my deal is lately but I have been really depressed about my lack of involvement in my own area. Maybe it is that school has started up and I see all of these moms interacting and I pretty much stay to myself.I think that I have told myself that I already have my friends and I don't need anymore. The problem with that is that I have always been the friend that lives the farthest away. This makes it very tricky to do the fun "friend" things like park days, sports, babysitting, etc. They are doing things together everyday. For awhile now I have come to terms with it but just lately it has been bugging me. The question is what do I need to do or actually what do I want to do about it? Because if I think about it I don't really have the time or the energy to join PTA or volunteer. I don't really want to start new friendships-it's hard! I am thinking that if this is the area we are going to stay in then I need to make an effort and put my energy here. Maybe try a church closer to home. Join the PTA! Either that or convince my husband to move to La mesa which isn't going to happen! Maybe it's a passing phase. Maybe I will feel differently next week! We will see!

10 Reasons Why

I love my children dearly but I desperately need a small retreat every now and then. Well more "now". Here are 10 reasons that showed me so.


10. I needed a babysitter today and I debated dropping them off at the Yogurt Mill and letting my employee watch them.
9. I started counting the hours to bedtime when I woke up.
8. Ella covered herself head to toe in purple dots with a marker.
7. I was going to call the Guinness Book of World records because I am convinced they set the new record for non-stop talking.
6. The thing I was looking forward to the most yesterday was "Farmer Wants A Wife"
5. As we were shopping in Walmart I lost sight of them for a few minutes but actually enjoyed my free time.
4. Looking forward to my mother-in-law coming for a week.
3. Took a High School Musical trivia quiz with my daughter and scored 100% she only scored 75%
2. I let my five year old have an otter pop at 9am just so I wouldn't have to hear her ask me again.

And the #1 way I can tell I need a break?

1. I had a dentist appointment today and I couldn't wait!!

Never A Dull Moment

Well it's not the "naked employee" but it was just as exciting. I was at work the other afternoon meeting with a sales rep on a new product. We were conversing at the tables in the front when I heard a commotion between my employee and a "woman" that walked in. I guess the "woman" didn't like the way my employee was cleaning the counter so she grabbed the rag out of her hand and told her so. This was just the beginning. She started to explain that she wanted to return the skirt she had purchased the day before. My employee kindly told her that there were no returns which set the "woman" off on a rampage at which point she came over to me. How she knew I was the one to come to I don't know. Anyway "she" was actually a man dressed as a woman so it was disturbing already. She very emphatically told me she wanted to return the skirt. Now my philosophy on wackos is just to get them out of the store as soon as possible with as little drama as I can. I decide at this point that I will just give the "woman" back her $5 (yes the skirt was only $5) but that I would need the skirt back. I told her so but unfortunately after it came out of my mouth I tried to take it back since she was wearing it and quickly preceded to undress right in front of me. Thankfully she was very in to clothes because she had another ensemble on underneath. It was a one piece jean jumpsuit that I am sure Kristy or Becky would look great in since they pull them off so well. She left the skirt on the floor where we discovered the she had peed in it as well as some other gross unmentionables.
Our new friend stayed for quite awhile after this so my plan didn't work. She decided to shop for more clothes, relocate the tip jar to the trash can, fill out an entry form for a free spa treatment, as well as ask if she could have our pen . We will miss her.

Any Requests

I am amazed quite often at how different my eldest daughter's personality is from my own. Yesterday I was reminded again.

On Monday we enjoyed a friends birthday party where they borrowed a Karaoke machine from us and returned it to my store and put it in my office. So yesterday Haley had gone with me to work and as usual was occupying herself in my office. After a few minutes I hear a microphone and someone singing. Yes my precious daughter decided to do an impromptu performance for the customers eating in the store. She dragged the Karaoke machine all the way out to the front, got it plugged in and all revved up and then just started belting out song after song. After a few songs she asked if anyone else would like to try it. Bless this family that was entertained by her because otherwise it could have been bad. Anyway the Grandpa even got up and sang a verse to one of his favorite songs. All in all I don't think many of the customers from yesterday will quite forget their yogurt experience and hopefully it wasn't too overwhelming for them.I pray that she keeps her love for performing and self confidence you need to be able to do it. Goodness knows I don't have it!

The Three Rascals

Crying It Out

As you read this most of you are probably thinking how glad you are that you are over the baby stage. Although some of you probably were well disciplined parents and had your child sleeping through the night at a very young age. Me? I am a coddler (sp?) and a wimp so here I am at 10 months along listening to my son scream in his crib so I can finally teach him that he doesn't need me to do it. Of course he is not the only one crying at the moment since it is 3 am and I have gotten about an hour of sleep. Fun!

My First Movie

hi,i'm HALEY I WAS AN EXTRA IN THIS MOVIE CALLED BEDTIME STORIES. IT WAS FUN BECAUSE I GOT TO RUN AROUND WITH ADAM SANDLER. HE IS REALLY FUNNY AND NICE. I ALSO GOT TO MEET COURTNEY COX'S DAUGHER COCO,SEE ADAM'S DOG AND DAUGHTER.KERI RUSSEL WAS THERE TOO. I TOLD HER SHE WAS PRETTY. MY MOM AND I'S FAVORITE PART WAS THE FOOD. IT WAS INCREDIBLE THERE WAS A LOT SO WE WERE FULL MOST OF THE TIME.BUT I GOT REALLY SICK EATING COOKIES IN A SCENE. THE LAST DAY I BEAT MY MOM IN BATTLESHIP.IT'S FUN
BEING IN A MOVIE. I HOPE EVERYONE WILL GO SEE IT WHEN IT COMES OUT.

No Love For The DMV

That title is an understatement! It all started back in January when my license was up for renewal. Being the disorganized person that I am I didn't realize it until a week after the fact. For those of you who are smart enough to make an appointment know that they are good and backed up a couple of months so I had no choice but to give up my afternoon sitting with the masses waiting for my stupid number to show up on the TV screen that everyone stares at. I like how they make you wait in the "information" line for a good 20 minutes then give you your paperwork and a number that seems like it will take a year to reach. And why does everyone just sit like zombies staring at the screen. Do they realize it goes in order? Or do they think their number is going to magically appear? Did anyone ever see that Seinfeld episode where he talked about how the DMV had the ugliest people in the world? And the most unpleasant as well. Anyway back to the story. So Ty and I waited over an hour for our number then we had to wait again in another line to get my picture. Finally I was done. Three lines later and my afternoon gone. But at least I was done!
Until today. I realized that my temporary license expires tomorrow and I still had not received my new license in the mail. It has been two months so I call and wait and wait and wait until I finally get someone on the phone. He informs me that my picture didn't develop and I needed to go back into the office and retake it. Are you serious? At this point I was very frustrated. Why wasn't I notified sooner? I had at least hope that I wouldn't have to wait again. Surely I would be sent to only the one photo line. So all three kids (still with days like today I can't believe I have that many) head off to the DMV. No Parking! Not a good sign. Finally get in line in the "information" line with my frustration already mounting over the stupid situation. I explain to the very rude lady at the counter what happened and she hands me a new application and my "number" I tell her I already did all of this and isn't there "a move to the front when the DMV makes a mistake" She gave me a not so nice look and almost looked pleased that I would have to be waiting for a really long time. After protesting as much as I could muster since at this point I start to cry I move to wait again with the masses. No chairs available for my large family to sit so we proceed to stand in a huddle, staring at the screen and me with tears rolling down my face. Haley says, "Mommy don't cry your eyes are going to be all red for your picture." Not to mention I had no make-up on. It is going to be a lovely shot for me to remember this day for the next five years. I pray that will be the length of time I get to wait before I have to step foot in another DMV. In the meantime I am going to take some classes on confrontation and building your self confidence. Then I will go back and speak again to the lady at the counter!

Dear God

Yep we got another letter under the pillow. We had Disney on Ice all week at the Sports Arena and the kids got to go see the last show on Sunday. We usually befriend some of the Disney crew through out the week so Haley got to get her picure taken with the "Ariel". This morning I found a letter under her pillow along with the picture.
It said, "Dear God, Can I be like Ariel without a tail. Which means a voice like her, hair and skin like her Please. Love, Haley

So Mom had to write a response from God. I am not sure if that is appropriate or not but I feel like I know exactly what He would say to her so I am just helping get it across to the seven year old!

Ella's Song

So Ella entered a contest to win a limo ride to see the hannah montana movie. I am begging everyone to vote because has this not only taken me all week to accomplish but for my 5 year old it is hard to process her chances so in her mind she has already won. I don't think I have ever won a contest, maybe that is why I am trying so hard for her. Or maybe I just enjoy seeing her so happy. Anyway check out her video and please vote for "Ella's Song" on www.star941sandiego.com. Thanks

Good Times

I was thinking since Tara already did a blog I wouldn't, but Lauren is definitely worthy of more than one post. I also realized that as I was reminiscing I kept thinking of more and more cherished moments to recall. Here are just a few that stuck in my memory...

Our shared obsession over LOST

The Office-"That's what she said"

Watching American Idol together

Trying on clothes at Target (Are the sleeves supposed to be like that?)

Did you have your Filet O Fish today?

Girls night at the Chocolate Factory and her amazing creations with marshmallow and cherries

The "nail in the boob" situation in Vegas (okay maybe not fun for her)

Soccer practice at the park- What happened to our team?

Her wonderful skill with doctoring horrible pictures of her friends

Wiggling cotton candy stick at my husband!

Filling in as the Tooth Fairy

Calls to every single phone number she knows until she locates me.

Her basil chicken and Steve's soy sauce chicken

Serenading me Usher's "Let it Burn"

I will miss you my crazy friend! I will be praying for your adventure and that you will be blessed. I love you!

One of Those Days...

Sorry this is going to be one of those whining, complaining posts but you can all blame Kristy for wanting something new to read. By the way I am so glad I decided to like her!
Anyway my day started at 7am this morning being awakened by my beautiful son pawing at my face. I quickly reached for my cell phone to text my husband to come and get him. Just to give you a heads up I usually end up sleeping in the nursery at some point during the night. My wonderful husband comes and gets Ty in the morning so I can sleep for a few more hours. So at 7am I am texting him awake but unfortunately I wasn't quite alert enough and accidentally sent the text to my neighbor who is the next name down in my phone book. So needless to say not a good start and I am sure I will have some explaining to do.
After a few hours sleep I get the three kids ready for church. Quite a task in itself but thankfully with the new road we can get there in no time. So I think I was only 15 minutes late instead of my usual 30 minutes. I drop Ty off then Ella and Haley. I look inside for some friend or relative to sit with. No luck! I decide to go get a bottle of water from the "fried egg" cafe and then resign myself to sit alone all service. On my way back inside I hear a screaming infant in the hall and decide to pop my head around to make sure it isn't my son. It was. Back to "fried egg" cafe.
After church we head off to work where I discover my "strong" employee for the day has gotten someone else to cover her shift. I spend the next hour running around trying to get the store in shape. Meanwhile Ty is screaming, Haley and Ella have Clifford blaring on the TV, the store is full of people and I realize that it feels a lot like the opposite of heaven. From there we are off to Grandma's house to unload kids so I can make my way to help at Jingle Ball.
I arrive with 15 minutes to spare before doors open. I smile at the Girl Scouts inside the doors passing out programs and then frown as I turn around to see six very skimpily clad women walking by dressed as go-go dancers. Little did I realize that for the rest of the evening they would be dancing next to me in a cage. Yes a CAGE! Now just to give you the visual their dresses barely covered their "cheeks" and as my husband pointed out in order to be a dancer you had to be able to fit through the bars. I guess there goes my shot since my "cheeks" definitely would get stuck halfway through. Why would they have girl scouts and go go dancers? Not to mention barely clad Charger girls signing calendars and Bud Light girls with white high heels, teeny tiny white shorts and ski caps on! Lovely! As Kristy kindly pointed out my husband was very lucky he worked there tonight!
I drive back to pick up the kids at 9:30 pm and get a gift bag handed to me. It is a baby gift for Ty from my grandfather who passed away last week. I guess he didn't have a chance to give it to me.
Now I sit here at 11:45 with some sort of stomach bug finishing my night off in fashion! Hopefully as always tomorrow will bring a lot more joy!

What Should I Be When I Grow Up?

Haley and I had quite a fascinating conversation about what she should be when she grows up. After all according to her it is fast approaching because she only has 11 years until she is 18 and she would like to know by the time she goes to college. Her first thought was that she wanted to be a doctor. She quickly changed her mind because she told me she "doesn't want to touch everyone" and "especially if a lady is pregnant I don't want to check her pee pee!" Her next thought was a scientist "but if I mess up it will get all over me". Then came a garbage woman. That was quickly squashed because of course "I don't want to touch all of that trash". Then was the final revelation. A Mailwoman! There are so many positives of this. I asked her what they were and she said, "Well I would get to travel all over the world and if someone mails a letter to Santa I would get to meet him!" Ella even chimed in that if someone mailed a letter to God she could go meet Him too. Haley informed her "No you just put those letters under your pillow. (see Dear, Jesus post). So it looks like as of today she will be working for the postal service. The only down side she could think of was the paper cuts but she thinks she can avoid that if she is careful.

Happy Halloween A Little Late

Gabriella from High School Musical


And our very own policewoman and pinto horse.

The Boots

So this past weekend thanks to some wonderful friends and family,Chad and I were able to go up to Santa Barbara for a wedding. Now for quite a few weeks I was debating whether to go partly because my post pregnancy figure isn't quite where I would like it to be. Anyway I realized looking pregnant or not I wanted to go so I went in search of an outfit that I could try to look good in. Along came "the boots". I had bought a dress that I felt some really high boots would look good with. Should I have bought them at Target? Probably not but not all of us can afford expensive boots. Anyway I felt that I looked pretty good in them and at least from the knee down I felt confident. Well I probably should have walked around in them for awhile because half way through the evening my feet were killing and I could barely stand.

At one point during the night I had to make a trip to the car. There were several men from the reception out lingering and as I walked past them one of the men told me "that from where he was standing my boots looked beautiful" So pain or not I was pretty happy. I went back to the reception and was eager to tell my husband that I was hit on in the parking lot. My husband who normally shows no emotion over these rare times gives me a very incredulous look and asks "He really said that?" It was almost like he was going to go beat him up and fight over me!! I responded "yes he really did". Well my excitement over my husband's jealousy was short lived as it became aware to me that Chad thought he said "boobs" and not "boots" . After it became clear that it was just my shoes and not my body the man was after, Chad went back to his meal. Oh well....

Then came the end of the evening. The boots weren't done yet. As I stepped out of the van my heal gave way and my foot went to a complete right angle from my ankle. As I let out a scream and landed on the ground I thought for sure I broke it. My husband would say that I always think that whenever I hurt myself. He assured me it was just sprained and that I would be okay. So after several days it is feeling a little better. Here is a picture of my ankle. I am not sure if you can see it but it looks like I have a huge baseball on the side of my ankle. I would have posted a picture of the boots but I am not quite ready to put them back on yet.

The Joy of Food

I will freely admit that food can raise or lower my emotional state quite often. A simple Diet Coke delivered in the morning by my husband can put me in a good mood all day. Not getting one...well you can guess!



So the point of this post is to share my excitement about my dinner this evening. I know! Much like Tara's disclaimer on her cleaning posts you can feel free to stop reading but if you are like me and enjoy eating a great meal without a lot of work you will want to take notes.



As most of you know I do not have the time or desire to slave away on meals each day . I also much prefer when someone else cooks but since I haven't convinced my husband to pick of this duty yet I am stuck with it. We often opt for drive thru. Not the healthiest or cheapest route so I decided I would make an effort today and cook. Well not really cook but prepare.



It started with some chicken tenderloins from Trader Joes. I was quite proud of myself because with my mom's guidance on the phone I actually dipped them in milk, then egg, then a mix of bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese. A little olive oil in the pan and I was good to go. One step accomplished.



I then checked the freezer and had one of my most favorite things from Trader Joes stocked which is Fettuccine Alfredo. For those of you who enjoy it you should really pick some up. It comes in the bag just like the orange chicken and it cooks in like 5 minutes. All you have to do is pour it in a pan with two tablespoons water and simmer. It even starts with these little nests of noodles and wafers of cheese. I swear I get so much enjoyment by watching those nests break up and it all form into perfect Fettuccine Alfredo. Another easy thing done.



I had notified Chad at the start of preparation that we needed some vegetables for dinner and he could go buy whatever he wanted at the store. Little did I know he was going to come home with the most exciting part of the meal. He bought a bag of Broccoli Wokley!!!! Has anyone tried this yet? Okay so exciting. All you do is poke it with a fork and put it in the microwave for 4 minutes. It steams it perfectly! You are done!



To top the whole exciting easy meal off I also had him grab Homestyle Brownies out of the freezer dessert section. They are already in a pan and you just pop them in the oven. They taste just like you slaved away.



So all in all I kind of made a homemade meal tonight. I know I cheated a lot but can you just feel the joy I have right now? And it was all so yummy like I spent hours on it when I literally had it done in like 10 minutes!

Sorry I wish I had energy to take pictures for you but I did just cook dinner so I need to rest:)

Oktoberfest

It is hard to believe it has been a year since I have been blogging. It was this time last year after Oktoberfest that I did a post on the money vault. I am excited to try to beat my record of last year. Hopefully I won't be as nervous this time and can focus better. I hope you all come see us. We will be there all weekend. It is a rare opportunity to get any treat I offer all in one place since we will have the apple cart there as well. So if you feel like a frozen cheesecake, frozen banana, or a killer apple here is your chance!!! Or you could sign up and see if you can get a turn in the money vault as well.

Feel free to park behind the Yogurt Mill in the covered parking! Come celebrate Fall!!!

The Downside of Digital Cable

I knew the day was going to come. I even started prepping my husband for it a few months ago but he seemed unconcerned.
Last night it arrived! Chad was working in the office. Haley, Ty and I were working late at the store. I guess Ella had to occupy herself before bed and was flipping through the vast number of channels that our digital cable allows. Now for a five year old she doesn't seem to go by any numbers other then 47 for her favorite shows. There must not have been anything on because she was deciding on what channel she wanted by the icons that appealed to her. She kept whining for Chad to help her because she had passed the channel she had wanted and needed help finding it again. So Chad got up to help her. He asked what channel it was. She replied that she didn't know but that it had a little bunny on it! You guessed it! My daughter was trying to watch the playboy channel. Now obviously we don't subscribe to that channel so there isn't anything there other than the number to call if you want to sign up but still it was a scary enough wake up call that I think I will call COX tomorrow and just get Basic!