Mam you can't smoke that in here.....Oh yes I can!

So I have been smoking since I was 15 years old.....I'm now 31.  The two times I quit were both when I was pregnant and nursing.  But after that first sip of beer I knew I needed to puff.  Recently I ordered the E-Cig and I have to say....I love it!  You can smoke it anywhere.  When it came in the mail it had 2 non-menthol cartridges with it....yuk...so I went to the local smoke shop and asked if they carried the refills for it.  They did. I bought a 4 pack of menthol light cartridges for $19.99.  Now each cartridge is equivalent to 2 packs of cigarettes.  I pay almost $6.00 for a pack of smokes now!  Plus, did you know there are over 4000 toxins they add into cigarettes besides the tobacco.  Not cool.  These cartridges are just nicotine and flavor.  All you are inhaling is water vapor.  And when you want to try and cut down, you can buy non-nicotine cartridges too.  My mom has been a heavy smoker since she was in her teens, when she came for a visit I let her try my new ciggy and she LOVED it so much we ordered her one too.  The TV show The Doctors promotes these new cigarettes saying there is no way this kind of smoking will cause cancer.  I think these ought to be covered under health insurance even though there not as expansive as real cigarettes are, so many people could benefit from a product like this.

A Must Have Book for any Home Owner

I have to tell you all about this book my mother ordered for me, it's AWESOME!  It's called Who Knew? 10,001 Easy Solutions to Everyday Problems bu Bruce Lubin and Jeanne Bossolina-Lubin.  She saw it on an infomercial and was telling me about it.  There are 5 books in the set, but we just ordered the first one from bookholders.com for like $6 bucks shipping included!  There are tons of simple solutions to everyday problems  using the things your already have around the house.  You wouldn't believe all the uses for Vinegar, Duct Tape, Olive Oil and Spices!  Plus it has a great index so you can quickly look up your problem and find your solution without going through the whole book to find it!  This book would make a great gift for anyone!  I love it and I'm not even half way through it yet.  As I go throughout the book and try out some of them I will post about whether or not they worked.  I am actually looking around my house as we speak trying to find my first problem!  If anyone else has this book and has tried anything out in it so far let us know, we would love your feed back!

Avery's Story

I would like everyone to take a couple minutes and click on this link:
 http://averycan.blogspot.com/


 This little girl has a disease called SMA, Spinal Muscular Atrophy.  SMA is a group of diseases which affect the motor neurons of the spinal cord and brain stem. This disease kills more babies than any other genetic disease.  I never heard of this disease before and after reading Avery's story it is something I think everyone should be aware of.  Please check out Avery's blog so we can help her bring awareness to everyone out there.

Recipe of the week

Slow Cooker Parmesan Honey Pork Roast

Ok so I cannot take credit for this one,  I found this dynamite recipe on a blog called Six Sisters Stuff.  I will post the link at the end.  I usually make my pork roast with the recipe I have listed on my blog, but I wanted to try something new.  This recipe is now one of my favorites!

1 (2-3 pound) boneless pork roast

2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup honey

3 Tbsp soy sauce

2 Tbsp dried basil

2 Tbsp minced garlic

2 Tbsp olive oil

1/2 tsp salt

2 Tbsp cornstarch

1/4 cup cold water

 

Now since I wasn't paying attention and following the recipe exactly....I mixed all the ingredients together and just poured them all over my roast.  Then I read that your supposed to add the cornstarch and water later.  I did not do this.  I put my roast in my crock pot, dumped everything else in, after mixing it in a bowl of coarse, and turned it on low.  I let it cook for 8 hours and when it was done......it just melted in your mouth!  Even my picky kids liked it!  I will definitely be checking out this blog again for more delicious recipes.  Thanks Six Sisters!

http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/2011/12/slow-cooker-parmesan-honey-pork-roast.html

Is that for Boys or Girls?

     I don't believe in gender specifics for children, I think it's absolutely STUPID to say that a boy can't play with a baby doll or a girl can't play with a race car.  So....one day Ang was giving me a pedicure, yes that's right...I'm totally spoiled, and the kids were so interested in what she was doing.  They thought the foot bath with all the bubbles and suds, and the good smelling soaps and lotions were just the coolest thing ever....until the saw they nail polish.  "Mama, Mama PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE can you paint our nails too?"  Instantly the box of polish was dumped on the floor and they were rooting through the colors fighting over them.  "Of coarse I will paint your nails, I told them but you have to take turns and sit still while the polish dries."
     They waited their turns and enjoyed every minute of their pedicures.  They giggled when I buffed the bottoms of their feet and when they soaked them in the soapy bubbles.  Logan picked out a different color for each toe, and Wyatt went with blue.  "Blue like my eyes" he told me.
     The next weekend they were going to visit their Dad and I told them that I had to take off their polish.  When Logan asked me why I said,"Well honey, not everyone thinks it's ok for boys to wear nail polish, it's ok for you to wear it at home but not to Dad's."  I didn't want to down his Dad to him but I had to be honest with him.
     Of coarse he went to his Dad's and told him and his grandparents that I let him wear nail polish and that he thinks it's cool....and of coarse, they totally disagreed.  So when Logan came home he told me,"You know what mom, I know nail polish is for girls, but I don't care, I like when you paint my toes and I don't care who likes it."
     I don't do it all the time, but every once in a while they'll ask and we have a big ole pedi party!  I make sure they don't wear it to school, can you imagine that phone call, lol.
     Recently Wyatt has been asking me, when he sees a commercial on T.V. for a toy, "Mama is that for a boy or a girl?"  My answer is ALWAYS the same...."It's for ANYONE who wants to play with it."  I reply.

Babes in the Burgh

     So ever since Ang and I became a couple I have been telling her how great Pittsburgh is.  She has been there quite a few times, but we had yet to spend the day downtown.  Dahntaan' as us Pittsburgians refer to it, is a beautiful place to site see.  Lots of beautiful architectural buildings scrape the skies.  Artworks are on display from various artists throughout the entire city.  There are paintings on the sides of buildings, museums, libraries, great food, and lots of shopping.
     We were bound for the Strip District.  Our journey began in Dormont, where we parked for free and jumped on the Trolley.

    Ang waiting for her first Trolley Ride...

      Us on the T...

A quick note:  it's always a good idea to find free parking if you can, that way you don't have to worry about running back to feed your meter.  So since Ang had never been on the T, I decided this was a great place to start our day!  17 stops later, which is only about a 12 minute ride we reached Wood St. downtown.  We got off the trolley and waited to catch a bus to the Strip.

Waiting for the bus on Wood St.

We get to The Strip and get off on 17th St. we decided to hit Primanti Brothers!  Now if you've never eaten at Primantis......you don't know what your missing.  It is the BEST place to have lunch EVER!!!!

UGH I'm so excited!!!

What should we get?  Now Ang has never had a Primanti Brothers sandwich before, and being the non-adventurous eater that she is, I must admit, I was a bit worried...

Hey man we're thirsty over here!

Babes with Beers in the Burgh!

So we order our food...

And here it is!  Ang ordered a Cheeseburger, no tomatoes or slaw of coarse... and I got my usual...

Pastrami and Cheese Baby!

I think she likes it!

I'm a pro, you gotta open wide and jam it in!

The verdict.......we'll be back!

So after stuffing our faces to the point where I thought Ang was gonna have to roll me out the door, we decided we were ready to hit the streets!  Shopping in the Strip is cool, it's kind of like being on the boardwalk minus the beach and the seagulls, but there are pigeons, lol.  The shops are really cool, lots of hand made clothes and pottery, jewelry, and toys.  Steelers shops on every corner.  Ang bought me a shirt for 6 bucks!  

After our shopping spree, we decided to just walk.  We ended up walking all the to Market Square.  Sight seeing and taking pictures.  We sat in the square for a while and headed down to The Point.  I wanted her to see the fountain, but unfortunately it was under construction, so I guess that means we'll just have to go back for another visit.

By the end of the day we were beat!  We jumped back on the T and headed back to the car.

If you are planning on hanging out in the Burgh, here are some websites to check out to help you plan your trip.

http://www.duquesneincline.org/

http://www.neighborsinthestrip.com/

http://pittsburgh.about.com/od/state_parks/p/point.htm

http://www.carnegiemuseums.org/

http://www.phlf.org/phlf-tours-events/self-guided-tours/

http://www.primantibros.com/

http://www.portauthority.org/paac/default.aspx

The last website is for the bus schedules.

YINZ COME BACK NOW YA HEAR!

to see all of our photos, check us out on Facebook at "Two Mountain Mamas"

Outta the Mouths of Babes

     My oldest son Logan, he's 6, went to a birthday party on Saturday.  Afterwards he was spending the night at his friends house.  When his friends mother came to pick them up, an adult at the party asked if he'd like to take home some cake.  Logan replied, "Yes I will!  My mom will like some, there are 4 people in my family, my brother and my two moms."    She messaged me on FB to tell me the story, she said you could've heard a pin drop in that room, but then everyone recovered and started talking again.  I busted out laughing as I read this and called Ang in immediately to read the message to her.  Sweet Logan, he is so proud of his family he tells everyone about his two moms.  He has yet to feel the sting of hurtful words where Ang and I are concerned.  I have spoken to him about it, trying to prepare him for what is bound to be, but at his young age he totally just blew it off like OK, whatever mom.. I am very proud of my little man.  I hope I can control the mama bear in me when someone hurts his heart with unkind words about the family he is so proud to be a part of.