The Zimmer Zoo

Saturday Snapshot: Window Dressing

Posted on August 29, 2009 by Nancy

I found some window markers yesterday. Love Crayola!!

Cheryl over at Twinfatuation hosts this one too. Go over and have a look at what others are doing on this beautiful Saturday.

Filed under: SS, twins | Tagged: art, Crayola, drawing, window markers | 4 Comments »

Fx4: a Goofball, a Dragonfly, and a King

Posted on August 28, 2009 by Nancy

Candid Carrie sponsors this one – head over to her blog and find LOTS of links for bloggers who’ve joined in! (You can join in too!)

Today’s Friday’s Foto Finish Fiesta (Fx4) is brought to you by a goofball, a big-a$$ dragonfly (and the super-fast kid who caught it), and a silly king.

I took the following picture with my phone before Marjorie realized what I was doing:

Marjorie: August, 2009

Once she realized, this is what I was able to get:

Burke has been a dragonfly catching fiend. He’s been getting “bored” catching them in his net and has started to grab them with his bare hands. He’s “SuperFast” 🙂

I think his record for number of dragonflies caught in one day is 10.

Burke and his Dragonfly

The biggest dragonfly I've ever seen!

While at Burger King the other day, Logan had a blast with his crown:

Filed under: FFFF, kids | Tagged: Burger King, crown, dragonfly, goofball | 4 Comments »

Children’s Shows – What the Heck??

Posted on August 27, 2009 by Nancy

I watch a lot of TV with my kids. I like TV, they like TV…what can I say. We DO limit it, but they still probably get more than they should.

THAT said, I have so many questions about these shows!! I’m sure some have been discussed before, but the following is what goes through my head while watching these shows.

Disclaimer: There is a lot of “What the…?” in this post. This doesn’t necessarily mean that I don’t ENJOY most of these shows with my kids. With the exception of just two – I actually like all of the shows I’ve mentioned. I’ll let you take a guess at which two.

Max and Ruby
Where the heck are their parents? Grandma drops by now and again, but even SHE isn’t asking where the parents are.

Handy Manny
OMG, how incompetent are his tools?? Why does he keep them around? Are they the only talking tools he can find? (And I giggle a little each time I remember that it’s Fez from That 70’s Show doing Manny’s voice. 🙂 )

Backyardigans
What the heck is Uniqua anyway? Seriously – we have a moose, a penguin, a hippo, and a kangaroo…and then some alien thing? Why not a … bear, or *anything* identifiable.

Also, I read somewhere that they have *3* different actors for each character. One who does the speaking, one who does the singing, and one who dances so they can model after him/her. REALLY?? In all of … wherever they are … they couldn’t find actors who could sing AND speak? Perhaps I could see not being able to dance, but…really?

Dora
WHAT IS WITH ALL THE YELLING?

Mickey Mouse Club House
Okay, so it’s not just the club house version, it’s been for as long as Mickey Mouse has been around, but what’s up with Pluto not talking? All the other characters are animals too and THEY can talk.

Tigger and Pooh
Darby?? What, Christoper Robin wasn’t smart enough to form the Super Sleuths?

Caillou
Holy whine. I really just want to smack that kid.

Dragon Tales
There seems to be a lot of time passing and parents don’t wonder or check on their kids. I suppose I could go with the “hours have passed in Dragon Land but only a few minutes at home” theory…but as a Mom, I know that if it were dead quiet in the playroom, I’d be going in to check on things!

Also, if you had a special Dragon Land, why would you ever come back?? 😉

Animation in General (no, it’s not a show)
Is there some unwritten rule somewhere that mandates only 4 fingers? It’s a little freaky.

Filed under: me, venting | Tagged: backyardigans, Caillou, children's shows, Darby, Dora the Explorer, Dragon Tales, Handy Manny, Max and Ruby, Mickey Mouse Club House, Tigger and Pooh | 7 Comments »

Way Back When-esday

Posted on August 26, 2009 by Nancy

Cheryl over at Twinfatuation hosts this one. Go on over to see who else is playing – and join in too!

This was taken exactly 4 years ago today – August 26, 2005. The twins were just over 7 months old.

Burke in Maggie's Lap

Filed under: twins, WBW | Tagged: sitting on laps | 6 Comments »

Is It Just Me?

Posted on August 25, 2009 by Nancy

When I was younger and had bad dreams, I used to try to envision a jukebox full of all of my good dreams and memories.

In my mind I’d run the jukebox arm across the records (yes, they were records at that point!) looking for that perfect dream to “play” instead of the bad one I’d woken up to. They’d all pop up one at a time and show me a snippet of something I might be interested in. When I found the right one, I’d just relax into it.

I honestly don’t remember if someone put this image into my mind to help me out at night…it’s hard for me to imagine that I came up with it by myself!

So, how the heck do I pass that along to my kids? Do they even have jukeboxes anymore??

Filed under: iijm, me | Tagged: bad dreams, dreams, jukebox, memories | 3 Comments »

Makes My Monday: Finding an Awesome Crock Pot Recipe

Posted on August 24, 2009 by Nancy

While stumbling through the internet the other day, I came across a recipe for “To Die For Pot Roast Sandwiches” Made in the crock pot. Now, you all know that I love, love, love my crock pot. And pot roast? Ya – bring it on.

So I tried this one … just like the recipe says and OMG, no joke – it’s totally to die for.

This time around, I added a few things. Here’s my recipe.

Crock Pot Pot Roast

1 beef roast – any kind (3-5 pounds)
A handful of baby red potatoes, quartered
A handful (or two) of baby carrots
1/2 a bag of frozen white pearl onions
1 package dried brown gravy mix
1 package dried Italian salad dressing mix
1 package dried ranch dressing mix
1 cup water

Place beef roast in slow cooker.
Place the veggies around the sides of the beef.
Mix the dried mixes together in a bowl and sprinkle over the roast.
Pour the water around the roast.
Cook on low for seven to nine hours.

As with most pot roasts, this one was even better on day two…(not that there was much left of it…)

Oh, and that plastic you see? Crock Pot liners. Easy clean up and helps make the lid fit better (no more crock pot spitting!) Just another thing to Make my Monday 🙂

Cheryl over at Twinfatuation hosts this one. Head on over to see what else makes people’s Mondays (there are always some really good ones!)

Filed under: food, MMM | Tagged: carrots, crock pot, crock pot liners, onions, pot roast, potatoes | 8 Comments »