Socks Without Partners

After weeks of searching for a pair of socks every morning, I finally tackled the kids sock drawers today. And after adding in the socks from four loads of kid laundry, I have 26 socks left.

26 socks. No matches. Red, green, purple, blue, pink, black, tan, polka dotted, frilly, with characters & of course, plain white. Every size from 6-12 months through 4/5 years (which is so kindly printed on the bottom with grippy plastic).

Did the washing machine claim some? Are they under the couch or behind the crib? How could we lose 26 socks?

26 socks without partners. So sad. I feel bad tossing them, so I will give them another month to find their mates before I give up. Maybe now that they are all together they will have more luck.

Things That Make You Go Hmmmm...

Having two little kids does make life interesting. There are things that make you laugh, things that make you crazy, and things that make you go "hmmmm".

1- Peanut Butter & Jelly & Provolone Sandwiches. The Tumbleweed's latest lunch creation after I made her PB & J and she had wanted cheese. She added the cheese right in and was totally satisfied. She even made it again the next day.

2- Weird things in the clothes hamper. Mixed in among the dirty clothes in the Tumbleweed's hamper I often find toys, hair bands, crowns & magic wands, My Little Ponies, clean clothes... but lately a few strange things have found their way in - a sippy cup, a box of raisins, crayons and several hot wheels cars. All of these courtesy of the Dandilion who probably didn't realize he couldn't get them back out after he dropped them in.

3- Two pairs of socks at the same time. OK, so this was fashionable in the 80's, but how does a three-year-old know that? More than once in the past few months the Tumbleweed has come out of her room with two pairs of socks on.

4- Toddlers wearing big shoes. The Dandilion loves to wear shoes. Mostly other people's shoes. Any shoe without a foot is fair game. Somedays he wears daddy's running shoes, sometimes my slippers, but most days he goes straight for the Tumbleweed's closet and comes out with the first two he can find. (Which usually leads to a shoe hunt when it is time to leave the house).

That's all I could think of right now... I am sure there are more :)

8:43

Why is it that no matter what time I start to leave to take the Tumbleweed to school, I always turn on the car to find out that it is 8:43.

Seriously. I started out aiming for 8:30, figuring that if we are in the car at 8:35 it would give us plenty of time. When that didn't work, I started aiming for 8:20. No luck, still backing out at 8:43. Would 8:15 work? Nope - I just had two kids in the car sooner and found myself running back in more times for forgotten mittens, books, drinks, lunch, etc and still left at 8:43.

One day I aimed for 8:00, and we got to school a half hour early.

I think I need to set all of my clocks back 10 mintues. That way when the clock says 8:43 we will still get to school on time.

The Dark Ages

Grrr. My computer isn't working AGAIN. While we diagnose & repair it, I am stuck sharing The Eagle's computer. In the cold basement. Brrr.

It is funny to think back to the days when I didn't have my own computer, kept my files on a disk and took pictures with film. Not so these days. Without my computer I don't have access to my pictures (particularly difficult for a busy scrapbooker) or my calendars & contact info for the activities & classes we have each week. You don't realize how dependant on these things you are until you don't have them.

I have also had to plan my computer time differently. Since I have to go down to the basement, I am out of earshot of the kids. This means it isn't wise to be gone for more than a couple of minutes. And without fail, as soon as I make it down all of the stairs I hear "Mommmmmmmyyyyyyyy" and have to run back upstairs. So, that leaves the evening as the best time to use the computer, but that is when the Eagle uses it.

Maybe now I will finally read "Never Check E-mail in the Morning" and substantially reduce the amount of time I waste on my computer every day.

"Mommy's Working"

A few months back I decided to get a little more serious about scrapbooking.

Now, those of you who know me would say "you weren't serious before?" Well yes, I took it seriously, but it was a hobby. I bought supplies, made "to do" lists, took lots of pictures, kept ticket stubs and from time to time would sit down and make a scrapbook page or two. I didn't really have many expectations and certainly didn't write goals for myself.

So in October, I decided to approach scrapbooking differently. I printed out a calendar, planned out my projects, and assigned due dates. Now self-imposed due dates are great, but I needed some outside forces with deadlines to help motivate me as well. The first thing I did was plan to make some birthday gifts - that would provide a deadline of the recipient's birthday. But I needed something else, so I decided to look at some of the scrapbooking magazines for contests. Instead I found "Calls for Submissions"

These calls had specific assignments with deadlines. Perfect! I could pick a few of these that would help me get pages done for my family and then do them before the deadline and submit them to see if they might be published. Wouldn't being published be a great bonus for doing more scrapbook pages?!? I put a schedule together and got to work.

Just about a week after I submitted my first layout, Creating Keepsakes e-mailed back asking me to send in my layout! How's that for increased motivation? Now since then, I have submitted numerous layouts and none have been picked up. But that's OK, because I still have more layouts done in the past few months than I had in the Dandilion's first year.

Anyway, I started to do a little more research about freelance scrapbooking and found out about "Design Teams". This is a group of designers selected to make projects for stores, manufacturers or websites. I found a few with reasonable deadlines, made a few more layouts and submitted them.

In mid-November I got a phone call - I had been selected to participate on design team for a scrapbook store in E. Bridgewater for 2009. Now this isn't a "paying" position, but I do get the latest supplies to make project samples from and a discount at the store. That is more than I had before!

Being on a design team has been a great challenge for me too. Being given supplies, and needing to "create something" is tougher than it looks. Usually I select my supplies based on the photos & theme. Now I am doing the reverse - starting with the supplies and picking a theme & photos. Very interesting.

And the best part is that now, when I sit down at my scrapbook table I can truly say, "Mommy's Working". Even if it is while the kids are sleeping.

No Nap Strikes Again

The Tumbleweed fell asleep on the family room floor at 5pm. But she was "not tired!" Tomorrow should be fun --- she'll probably be up super early and be very grumpy at school & gymnastics. Goody.

Less Ice = More Ice?

The temperature is finally above freezing. Yay, the snow is melting! What a perfect time to make ice cream? Well, that's what the Eagle & the Tumbleweed are doing right now. Mmm... homemade Oreo Cookie Ice Cream.

The warm weather has inspired a little "spring cleaning" around here. We are tackling the piles in the basement that have built up of the past few months. So far I have uncovered a few missing items (specifically some mittens), discovered that the Tumbleweed brings home way too many art projects from school, put away the Halloween costumes, and organized the shoes, coats & purses/backpacks.

Maybe tonight I will finally take down the Christmas tree & put out a few Valentine's decorations... Why am I always two holidays behind?!?

We're Out?

How could we let ourselves run out of pull-ups? With the new "no-nap" plan we have been going through them at half the pace (the Tumbleweed only wears them to sleep), yet we completely lost track and didn't even notice using the last one last night.

So tonight she is sleeping in underwear with a waterproof mat on the bed... should be interesting...

The Experiment Results: More laundry & a shopping trip for more pull-ups

19 months

The Dandilion had his "18 month check-up" today. He was 23.5 lbs and 32 inches which means he is on the small side of average. It was a fairly uneventful check-up because he didn't get any vaccinations. We have to go back for those because he had a bit of a cough this morning and the nurse practitioner thought it would be better to wait.

To note a few other things he has been doing lately so I won't forget...

-'singing' his version of "ABCs" and "Twinkle Twinkle"
- moving chairs over to the kitchen counter to get his own food, cups, etc
- running & chasing with the Tumbleweed
- responding to the TV
Blue's Clues "Notebook", singing the end song
Mickey Mouse Clubhouse "Oooo Tooodles", "Hot Dog, Hot Dog, Hot diggity dog"
Dora "Backpack"
- wants to "color" any time he sees a writing utensil
- mimicking everything (he even attempted to mimic burping)
- answers questions with enthusiasm "good!" or "yes!"

Little Mommy

So my morning routine these days has me taking a quick shower while the kids eat breakfast, since the only way to safely leave the Dandilion alone is strapped in! This works pretty well and the kids are usually pretty well behaved for those few minutes. I don't know what I will do to fit a shower in when this doesn't work!

The Tumbleweed is usually my "watcher" and comes & lets me know if there are any problems, but after seeing how I deal with the "problems" (usually something that drops on the floor) she has started to take over as "Mommy". Yesterday, I came in to find that she had given the Dandilion four pieces of bread out of the refrigerator because he said "mo toat" (more toast). This morning she was serving grapes (because they had both eaten what I had put out), which she had pulled a chair up to the sink so she could wash them.

The Nap Returns

Since she is nearly 4, and possibly embarking on school in the afternoon this fall, we decided that it was time to eliminate the Tumbleweed's naps. We thought that after a couple of weeks of not taking afternoon naps she would have started sleeping longer at night, but that has not happened. Instead she is continuing to sleep the same amount at night - which means she is getting about 3 hours less sleep every day. This has lead to some unpleasant afternoons.

After four weeks of dealing with the wild mood swings of a child who hasn't slept enough, the Tumbleweed has napped for the last two afternoons. We are not planning to make it permanent, but I think we are going to make a daily decision based on her behavior whether or not there will be naptime on a given day.

I think I like the new plan because I like the quiet time while the kids nap.

Winter Green

We are 3 days into our AeroGarden project (my anniversary gift from the Eagle). Look at the salad greens grow!

Snow Day Recap

OK - So how did the snow day actually play out...

During the early - mid morning the kids did some playing, crafting, chasing, snacks, etc. in the family room while I scrapbooked at the kitchen table. I know, all that scrapbooking space in the family room and I decide to spread into another room! But actually it worked well because the Dandilion didn't try to climb into my lap or reach up to the table and pull the scissors off, yet I could still see what they were doing & they could see me.

Around 11, the Dandilion went down for a nap, and the Tumbleweed made herself a PB & J sandwich for lunch (one of her favorite things to do right now). She got to watch the new Olivia TV show for the first time, and I did some more scrapbooking (I was on a really good roll!)

After lunch, I decided it would be a good time to head outside, so I had the Tumbleweed head down to get her gear on, but she fell on the stairs & bumped her elbow. I didn't see the fall, so there was a while that I was worrying that I might be heading to the ER... but after about 1 hour she was back to normal.

Finally we headed outside - with a small window since the Dandilion would probably wake up soon. By this time we were getting little sleet pellets, which soon turned to freezing rain. The Tumbleweed enjoyed making tracks all over the driveway, making snow chairs in the mounds of snow, and climbing the tall piles of shoveled snow beside the driveway. We were out for about 30 minutes I think - just enough time for me to shovel half the driveway so the Eagle could pull in.

Things got a bit crazy for about a half hour when the Eagle came home, the Dandilion woke up, and the Tumbleweed hit a tearful spell (probably a result of the no-napping, as it was her old naptime). Finally we got things calmed down with a snack & a little TV while I re-grouped.

Next the Dandilion got his chance to try play-doh, which I think he was a bit unimpressed with. I showed him how to make logs (not interested), balls (he threw across the table because ball are for throwing...) and pancakes (he hit the table more than the play-doh). His favorite part was throwing it on the floor & having the Tumbleweed pick it up so he could do it again (Mommy & Daddy wouldn't have played this game nearly as long).

Earlier I had promised the Tumbleweed that we could make cupcakes, so I pulled out a box of cake mix only to discover that we didn't have enough eggs to make it. Seeing a fit in the future, I checked my trusty old Better Homes & Gardens Junior Cookbook for a cake recipe and sure enough, we had the right ingredients to make a (smaller) cake from scratch... so we made cupcakes.

Finally, it was time for dinner - which I did not do in the crock pot as planned. I decided it would be easier to throw together chicken cacciatore... and I didn't really make a dinner plan early enough to "slow cook" it anyway... maybe I will cook slowly tomorrow... hehe..

Anyway, from there it was just a normal night - dinner (with special snow day cupcakes afterward), baths, stories, bed, and finally me time... I am coming along quite nicely on a mini-book project for "book club". It is mostly done now & the glitter is drying :)

Overall, not a bad snow day...

Snow Day Plan

Dilemma of the day - what to do for another day in the house... The Eagle is working, so it is just me & the kids until dinner. Since usually I just take what comes at me on a day like this, and end up miserable, I thought I should try making a plan. Here is a long winded post about my thought processes this morning...

Right now "playing" seems to be going well. The kids are playing in the family room, chasing each other around. That will probably end in tears before I finish this post, but right now it sounds like fun. (Update: I am ready to post and there have been no tears!)

I still debating about going outside for snow play time. The weather is supposed to change over to "wintery mix" after lunch, so we would need to go out before then. And since the Dandilion will eventually take a nap this morning, if I want to include him we'd have to go out soon. But then again, I don't know if I can handle both of them outside in the cold (and getting all of their gear on) by myself. Maybe I'll take the Tumbleweed out during his nap...hmmm...

Since the Tumbleweed is no longer napping in the afternoons, I have 3 more hours to fill with activities for her (and 3 less hours to do what I need to do!). So I think we will do a movie in the early afternoon - maybe I can get some scrapbooking time during the movie :)

Later this afternoon I think we will set up play-doh at the kitchen table, so the Dandilion can sit in his high chair and try it. I am still concerned that he will eat it, but I'm going to give it a shot.

It also seems like a good day to do some cooking & baking. I think I will try another Crock Pot recipe - better get going on that. Then if I don't have to throw together dinner around 4:00, we can bake something as an afternoon activity. The Tumbleweed is really into baking these days and is always asking about it.

Somewhere in there, I am hoping to spend some time making progress on some of my scrapbooking projects. My monthly scrapbooking "book club" meets on Sunday, so I have a deadline to get things done by. I am enjoying having these deadlines, as it definitely helps me get more done but sometimes it makes for late nights when I procrastinate!

OK - sounds like it's going to be a busy day! TTFN

Ice Capades

Well, not quite yet. Today the Tumbleweed went ice skating for the first time. She was really excited to go after seeing ice skating on TV last weekend. She took quite a few spills while she & Daddy worked out the kinks of skating together. In the end he held her by the collar of her vest and she ran along in her skates. He managed to do quite a good job catching her when she couldn't stop or turn fast enough.

We were all quite cold by the time we left --- mental note: dress warmer if you are not skating.

Hop-a-thon

The Tumbleweed's preschool class spent this week learning about disabilities and ended the week with a "Hop-a-thon" to benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

She made phone calls to our family for pledges earlier in the week. She particularly enjoyed dialing the phone ("Mommy, you spell the numbers and I'll push the buttons"). We liked hearing the various pronunciations of Muscular Dystrophy ("Mulular Dirosee").

At the Hop-A-Thon she did 315 hops in 2 minutes (all while holding hands with another little girl!) - racking up quite a bill for the family members who pledge by the hop!

It was a great learning experience for the kids - and lots of fun too!

Disciplinary Trouble

My friend Ali's post reminded me to record some of the discipline challenges we have these days...

1- Counting to Three

Mommy: "Honey if you don't do X I am going to count"
Tumbleweed: "No, I don't want you to Count!"
Mommy: "One"
Tumbleweed: "Don't Count!"(shouting)
Dandilion: "Two"
Tumbleweed: "Only Mommy can count!" (crying/yelling)
Mommy: "Two"
Dandilion: "Three"
The Tumbleweed complies before Mommy says three.

Hard not to laugh at this when it happens but it seems to work for now.

2- Time Out

We started timeouts with the Tumbleweed when she was around 18 months, and she caught on amazingly quickly. Within a few days she new we were serious and sat in time out and said sorry when it was time to get out. Before long she responded to the warning and didn't repeat the action to avoid the time out.

That is not the case today. She has turned into the screaming kid from Super Nanny while in time out, flipping the chair, throwing things and refusing to apologize. Hopefully this is just a "Terrible Threes" phase and will turn around soon because I don't like the nasty attitude that shows up from time to time.

The Dandilion is now 18 months, so I have started to implement timeouts with him too. He does not get it. He has successfully sat in timeout a few times, but definitely doesn't know why because he will get right back up and do the punishable action again. He certainly doesn't respond to the threat of a timeout. Heck, he doesn't listen if we say "no" or "stop" - he's too busy trying to get away with something!

Do they have obedience classes for kids?

Adventures in Cooking - Part 2

Cooking for Kids...

Today I decided we would have a "kid meal" for dinner and the Tumbleweed helped me make it. We used one of her Christmas gifts, the "Cooking for Kids" cookbook. We picked the recipe in the morning and made our list, then went shopping for the ingredients. When it came time to cook our "Pizza Snack Cups" she helped with several of the steps. When we all sat down she was vary proud to announce to Daddy that she had made dinner - and she ate it too (we have been off & on with dinners over the past few months so any dinner that isn't a struggle is good!)

I have been trying to remember to include the Tumbleweed in my daily activities by giving her some "harder" tasks to keep her interested. Lately she has seemed so disinterested in helping out, and finally I realized that she was probably just bored with her "jobs". (I'm bored with most of mine too, but I don't think I can stop changing diapers...LOL). So anyway, she did quite well with some new responsibilities at the grocery store, including holding the list and checking things off. She is also getting pretty good in the kitchen at knowing where to find things and what things get hot. It is quite pleasant when she is into helping out :)

Potty Training Lesson #1

We spent a lot of time sorting and organizing this weekend and in the processes unearthed some things that had been stored. One such item was the Little Potty - which provided a cute little moment.

We were both in the kitchen and the kids had gone down the hall and seemed quiet... too quiet, I had to go investigate. When I peeked into the Dandilion's room I saw the Tumbleweed giving the Dandilion a tour of the little potty..."here is the flusher, here is the toilet paper, and you sit here" It was so cute. The Dandilion was half listening and half exploring how the levers & seats worked. It provided a good half hour of entertainment until the Tumbleweed got mad that the Dandilion wouldn't sit on the potty - he just wanted to step in it. Now he is obsessed with the little potty every time he sees it --- "Pah-tee, pah-teee, pah-teeeeeee"



It will be a while before I actually start potty training him.


Here is a side-by-side comparison of both kids putting their foot in the potty:

The Tumbleweed gets a new potty - July 2006

The Dandilion tries out the potty - January 2009

Adventures In Cooking

OK, so one of my goals for 2009 is to be more creative with dinner. Lately I have been feeling very uninspired when it comes to dinnertime because we are always making the same meals. It is time to put the shelf of cookbooks to use!

Today, we started by pulling out the Slow Cooker Bible & flipping through some pages to see what we could make with things we already had, using the slow cooker that hasn't been used in the 2.5 years since we moved here.

The final decision: Hearty Chili Mac. It was delicious --- although Daniela decided she didn't want to eat it. I think she would have liked it if she had tried it.

We also found several other yummy recipes that we are going to try in the coming weeks - after I shop for the right ingredients!

Not getting enough done

Why is it when you have lots of things to do, and free time to do it in, you get less done than if you had very little time to do the same things? That's where I am at today. I have a list a mile long, and almost nothing crossed off...grrr. I could make a lot of excuses, but I think the reason is plain & simple --- there is not urgent reason to do it, so it is hard to get motivated.

One of my goals this new year is to not procrastinate projects until the last minute, so I am trying to work on breaking this habit. I have basically cleared this weekend for all of these projects, so for tonight & tomorrow I am going to try to be more specific and give myself some "homework" & deadlines. I need a specific direction in order to focus my energy, rather than aimlessly working on 12 things at the same time and completing non of them!

As the saying goes... "If you want something done, give it to a busy person"... I need to be busy, to have a mission, to have a direction, to have a deadline. (Just ask everyone who went to Disney with me...LOL)

Back to Reality

Well, we returned from Florida to a driveway full of snow to shovel. Life is cruel. Anyway, we had a great time at Disney World. I have lots of stories to record, but I haven't quite decided what format I will be doing that in yet. I think I am going to start by downloading 600 pictures and decide where to go from there.

First Haircut

The Dandilion had his first haircut while we were at the Magic Kingdom. It was very cute, with everyone blowing bubbles and taking pictures. At the end they gave him special First Haircut Mickey Ears.

Bibbity Bobbity Boo

The Tumbleweed had an awesome first full day at Disney World:

7:00AM - Ran 5K through Animal Kingdom & got a medal
11:00AM - Won her heat of the 100m dash & got a medal
2:30 PM - Got a princess makeover at the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique
5:00PM - Met Jasmine & Aladdin
5:40PM - Dinner with Cinderella & Friends
7:00PM - Met the Princesses at the Magic Kingdom
8:00PM - Met Ariel
8:15PM - Saw the fireworks "go at the SAME TIME!"

No more bottles

After forgetting to take the Dandilion's bottles on the first leg of our Christmas journey, I can now say that the Dandilion is all done with bottles.

Since I can't be sure which of the old bottles are BPA-free and which aren't, I am throwing all old bottles away. Sure does clean out space to be free of them! I also packed up many of the other "little baby" things: The boppy, spit up cloths, swaddling blankets, pacifiers. My little guy is getting so big!

New Storage System?

Yes - I am reorganizing several areas of the house as I do every year at this time. With the Christmas still up, my annual organizing and packing for vacation the house looks like a bomb went off. Grrr. It is going to take me a month to dig out of this mess! Where is it going to go? I honestly don't know!

Anyway... I emptied out some of my scrapbooking cabinets to organize them, and I guess the Tumbleweed noticed so she emptied a toy cabinet onto the floor (I don't think she got the concept that I was going to put everything back shortly). A little while later, I hear "Mommy", "Daddy", "Come find me" . Yup, she was in the cabinet. It didn't take long for the Dandilion to get into the action either...

Welcome to Ponyville

Can you tell the Tumbleweed is into My Little Ponies? For Christmas she got several of the "Ponyville" houses and has had a ball "delivering Ponymail" to each of them. Grandpa even made her a new shelf to help organize them.

January Clean Sweep

My annual purge is just getting going. I started with my scrapbook space, since it had gotten out of hand with Christmas projects and when I brought home my Christmas presents there was no where to put them. Besides, why not start with the "fun stuff".

My couple of hours of work has already paid off with some great finds... The pictures of the Tumbleweed on Santa's lap from 2005 (I have searched several times for these and thought they were lost in the move) and a bracelet & necklace my Aunt got the Tumbleweed in Summer 2007 (I wondered where they went!).

Back to my mess --- you have to make a more of a mess to get organized, right? Well, that's how I do it. The house is a disaster right now! I wish I had a "clean up crew" like they do on the orgnaizing TV shows :)

A Look Back at 2008

Every year for about 4 years on New Year's Day I have written out my New Year's To Do List/Goals/Resolutions. It takes about 5 notebook pages (most of it is the to do list for the year) and a few hours to do. A lot carries over from the previous year. When I am done I keep in it in a binder labeled "Lists". I don't frequently look back at at after about February, but I pull it out at the end of the year and see what kind of progress I have made...

A couple of big ones on the 2008 list that I accomplished were...

~teach the Tumbleweed to use the potty
~teach the Dandilion to sleep (although we still need to teach him to sleep in places other than his own room)
~create a blog to record thoughts on life
~get several old projects completed (not really caught up, but getting closer!)
~create a more peaceful bedroom (we donated lots of extra clothes & turned our bed diagonally over the summer!)

A couple that will go back on the list in 2009...

~organize papers, mail, filing, etc better
~use internet banking more
~cook fancier meals more often/plan meals before going to the store
~make time to exercise on a regular basis

I guess I better get to making that list, but I do know that step one of the "January Clean Sweep" is to shed the excess paper (no, not scrapbooking paper!). To get that going I will be starting to read "When Organizing Isn't Enough, Shed Stuff, Change Your Life" by Julie Morgenstern. When I finish with the papers, I will move on to read "Does This Clutter Make My Butt Look Fat?" by Peter Walsh (TLC's Clean Sweep). Both have been on my bookshelf since July...hmmm... I guess make time to read more will also be on the resolutions list.

It's a bird, It's a plane, It's Trash Man!

Here is the Dandilion sporting his new cape (made by Grandma) and demonstrating his strength by lifting an empty diaper can.

I know the picture isn't perfect, but it captures the moment.

Fit

OK - I have a new addiction... hopefully a helpful one though... I stayed up late into the night last night trying all of the games on our new Wii Fit. Since I know how I am with video/computer games (must beat the best score - even if it is my own and I just set it a minute ago!), I thought the Wii might be the perfect way to get me obsessed with exercise in the New Year. We'll see how it goes, but I look forward to deflating my "puffy" Mii character.

Holiday Summary

Well, that pretty much concludes the "December Daily" journaling. Now to turn it into something useful! :)

Politeness

The Dandilion has really been working on his "Ps & Qs"

Please - "Peeees"
Thank You - "Dahk Yoo"
You're Welcome - "Yah Wehka"
Bless You - "Beh Yoo" (yes, he says it when you sneeze!)

Most of the time he uses them in the right context, with the following exceptions

1- When he wants something and doesn't know what it is called, he just yells "Pees...Pees...Peeeeees"
2- When someone else says "You're Welcome" to him, he repeats it.

Catch-up Time!

Well, the holiday craziness is mostly over, so I can finally catch up on some stuff! There is lots of organizing to be done for sure, and lots of pictures to upload, and lots of laundry to do, and lots of projects to start/finish, and I still have to finish my "Christmas" cards... and I have a few resolutions to make too!

Home Again!

We finally made it back home to our Christmas mess... wrapping paper, packaging, toys, suitcases, laundry, Oh My!

I guess everything really caught up to me, because I fell asleep on the couch before the kids went to bed. I don't think I ate dinner either.

"Ah Dah Mahn"

The Dandilion has a new phrase... "I'm the Man" as best as we can tell. He says with lots of confidence and assertion - and a huge smile on his face. I think we all went back & forth with him, with us saying "Whose the man?"/"You're the man" and him "Ah Dah Mahn" for about 10 minutes while we were getting dinner ready. So funny!

Bills vs. Pats

Well we tried to give the Bills a boost by going to Western NY, decking the kids out in all of their Bills gear and gathering more Bills fans to watch the game. My sister's boyfriend & his family joined us for the game bringing the "fan count" to 10:1, but no such luck...

In Mommy's shirt...

Ups & Downs

A trip home (hmm, I guess home is where I live now, so I mean a trip to where I grew up) usually means multiple visits with family. Today we had brunch with my dad's family. The kids behaved well, although I didn't get a good picture of them in their cute matching outfits :( Maybe my mom did.

With the highs come the lows, because after dinner our "one night" stomach bug got the other kid... poor Grandma & Grandpa were up with her most of the night as she was sleeping on the floor in their room.

More Shopping?!?

Yup- after breakfast we headed out to the stores! The girls headed to JoAnn Etc for a little bargain hunting with our gift cards, then to the mall for lunch and ornament bargains at Hallmark. The guys hung out during the Dandilion's nap and then wet to lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings - they brought me home some too :)

Christmas #3

After two Christmas mornings, the long drive yesterday afternoon, and the late night with the extended family, and the Dandilion not sleeping well in new surroundings - we were all pretty tired by this morning. Once again, we were up somewhere around 7:00 to "come down" to open presents. Grandma and Grandpa had made lots of special things for all of us... here are a few samples...

"Super Man"


"Alison" (as in Alison Wonderland) - with a matching one for the doll

Christmas #2

The Tumbleweed came in to get us around 6:45, but since the Dandilion wasn't up we told her we would have to wait... and wait she did, because when he did wake up around 7:00 we had a serious mess. Clearly he had gotten sick at some point in the night, but he didn't seem too bothered by it, so we did the laundry and disinfected the crib and then we were able to go see if Santa came... boy, he sure did.


I think this was the "Roller Coaster Christmas" - the kids both got roller coasters - and there were lots of ups & downs!

Christmas #1

Christmas Eve was our first "celebration", the Tumbleweed put it. We got up around 7:00 all headed down for madness & mayhem. The Tumbleweed was truly into it and loved ripping open packages, and since the Dandilion didn't really "get" opening yet, she opened all of his too.

We had a nice dinner (yesterday's ravioli with homemade sauce) and relaxed for the afternoon before we headed home. The kids weren't as sleepy as we had hoped and were awake when we got home. It delayed some of the prepping we needed to do for Santa's arrival, but it did make it possible for the Tumbleweed to set out cookies and chocolate milk (with a pink bendy straw) for Santa and for both kids to enjoy the bedtime stories together.

Tradition

The Tumbleweed was able to help Papa make the ravioli for Christmas dinner. The process has truly simplified in the past 5 years and was much less time consuming (and easier for a kid to help). Dozens of cheese & meat raviolis were prepped and ready to go for Christmas Eve.

Holiday Party

Despite the one hour snow delay, the Tumbleweed's class had their Holiday Party. It was pretty laid back, so we were actually able to see how the kids play together and which "centers" they enjoy in the classroom.


After the party, I had to head home to wait for the UPS man to bring the final holiday package. Fortunately he came around 3:00, so we were able to get to the inlaws before dinner :)

Santa Sighting!

Santa was in Millbury tonight! He was scouting the route on the top of a fire truck. We were a bit confused at first, hearing sirens and all. When we realized it Santa was right in front of our house! We got up from our dinner to look out the window.

About 10 mintues later we heard the sirens again! Santa had turned around and come back down the street - this time we carried the kids outside to wave.

Just goes to show you - you never know when he is watching!

(I got a lousy picture, but I'll share anyway)

Snow Day

The Tumbleweed says to me just before dinner, "Mommy, we didn't go anywhere today." Pretty unusual for us, but the snow has us changing plans every few hours. I think we have about 12 inches right now, and 5"-8" coming in tomorrow.

The Tumbleweed had fun playing in the snow - making snow angels and then "snow fairies", catching snowflakes in her mouth, and playing on the slide.

Still Decorating

I finally got my Department 56 North Pole Village display up on the mantle. I really love how perfect it looks on our mantle (of course I did think of that when we designed the mantle).

It had taken me so long to get to it this year I had been debating about putting it up at all (and I am still deciding if I am putting up the family room tree). At this point, I don't think anyone else will see it but us, since all of out parties & playgroups have already passed. Although last year I left it up until February...

White Christmas

It looks like we are going to have a White Christmas! We are snowed in watching the white stuff fall. I think there is about 6-8 inches right now, which isn't too bad when you are home doing Christmas-y things.

This morning I ran around like crazy trying to get everything done before the storm rolled in... which was supposed to be around lunchtime. They canceled the afterschool program at the Tumbleweed's school, which I had specifically signed up for today so I could get all of my errands done. So we left early and did a few before school, and then I did the "secret stuff" after I dropped her off. We came home at noon and settled in for the night.

I still have lots of projects to do, so I hope my head cold doesn't hold me back too much.

"Now can you say E-le-ven?"

The Dandilion loves to count. He points at things (randomly) and says his numbers. He usually counts to five and then goes back to two and repeats, but a few times he has continued on... "Va, Too, Fee, Fo, Fi, Sih, Seweh, Eht, Non, Teh". At first I thought it was a fluke, but he did it while video chatting with my mom, so I have a witness (other than the people who live here).

Apparently 10 isn't high enough for the Tumbleweed because every time he gets to ten she says "Now can you say E-le-ven?"

My computer is back!

Woo-hoo! I don't have to read e-mail in the cold basement anymore! My computer is fixed and back on my desk, which I completely cleaned off yesterday. I can't remember the last time I did that, but it is nice to have room on my desk to open a book next to my computer!

Now, to catch up on downloading pictures, e-mail, blogging, and other stuff I couldn't do without my computer!

In our own beds...

All of us enjoyed a good night's sleep in our own beds last night. After 3 nights of the kids waking throughout the night while we were displaced, we were thrilled that the kids slept really well last night. Both kids slept so soundly I had to check on them periodically.

Everything is getting back to normal after the ice storm. We still have to clean out more of the refrigerator and toss some of the things that got wet in the basement flood, but otherwise we are getting back to life as we know it - on the go all the time, hosting playgroups, and preparing for Christmas...

Holiday Concert

The Tumbleweed had her first holiday concert this morning... very cute.

She was so excited about it, but deep down I was hoping it was canceled. With all of the weather problems, that was possible - and it would have made life a bit easier. But that was not the case, so we had to drive two hours to get there, since we spent last night at the inlaws due to the power outage. On the way we stopped at Target to get some festive clothes, since all of hers were in the dirty laundry at home.

Once we were at the nursing home, she happily danced around the room to get out some of her energy. Then the teachers rounded them up, painted whiskers on their faces and stuck little red dots on their nose, assembled them in rows, handed out jingle bells, and got them to sing. They did great.

5 Years

Happy 5th Anniverary to us!

I had planned to post a nice wedding photo here... but no computer = no pictures. (Note to self - add picture later and pretend like power outage & computer failure did not happen)

Yeah - it wasn't quite the anniversary we had planned... if you had asked me a week ago what we were doing I would have answered, "We are taking the kids to my in-laws and spending two nights in a nice quiet hotel by ourselves"... if you had asked me three days ago I would have said, "My mother-in-law is coming over to watch the kids for a night while we get away for a good night's sleep"...

What did we really do? Well, we spent last night at my inlaws with the kids, as the house has no electricity (heat,water,etc). The two of us took a trip back to the house to check on things... still no power, but the water in the basement had receeded a bit. We turned off all of the water so the pipes wouldn't freeze and grabbed a few forgotten items and headed back for another night at the inlaws. We did manage to have our traditional anniversary Hawaiian Pizza for dinner.

When we started having Hawaiian pizza for our anniversary it seemed like a nice tradition to start... In Cambridge (1st & 2nd anniversaries) we had numerous places that made Hawaiian pizzas, so it was an easy way to celebrate a weeknight anniversary (Then we would go out on a convenient night). When we moved here (3rd anniversary), we had to find someplace that had Hawaiian pizzas on the menu - not an easy task, but we managed. Last year (our 4th) we had a blizzard roll in at 1pm. I knew it was coming, so I got all of the ingredients to make a Hawaiian pizza at home since I knew we weren't going out to pick one up. So I guess it was no surprise that for our 5th we were displaced by an ice storm the day before and again had to search for someplce to get a Hawaiian Pizza. I am not sure what to expect for our 6th!

Snap, Crackle, Pop

That's what it sounds like at our house today. The snapping, crackling and popping sounds are coming from the trees covered in ice from last night's ice storm. We are hopeful that no more trees will come down with tonight's winds, that the pipes won't freeze with the cold temperatures, and the power will come back on soon so the sump pump can pump the water out of the basement.


I hope to get back to my "December Daily" posts and be able to post pictures again soon... but we'll see. My computer was supposed to go in to be fixed this morning but with the ice storm we didn't take it in :( Until it is fixed - the pictures will remain on my camera.

Anyway, this storm brought back some childhood memories of the Ice Storm of 1991...

~No power (and heat) for a week ... also no school
~Playing games at the neighbor's house because they had a wood burning stove and we only had electric baseboard heat
~Moving our mattresses onto the floor of my parent's bedroom to share light & heat
~The cool photos my mom took of everything covered in ice

MOMS Night Out

Tonight I was able to get out for a holiday party without the kids! It was nice to have civilized conversation with some wonderful ladies. It is amazing how much you can talk about when you aren't constantly getting interrupted!

Kitchen Decorations

I am slowly plugging along at getting all of my holiday decorations out. Tonight I got the kitchen decorations out. This year I put out the baking ornament display in the window, the reindeer ornaments on the chandelier, the holiday towels on the oven handle, and a few holiday scented candles around the room - my current favorite scents are "Holiday Sparkle" by Colonial Candle and "Christmas Eve" by Yankee Candle.

"I counted to 100!"

The Tumbleweed was SO excited tonight and came running in from the kitchen to show me how she could count to 100. A few little mix-ups here and there, and almost stopping at 96 to go potty, but she did it.

She had wanted to learn how to count to 60 earlier in the week after asking "Mommy, how long is a minute?" and getting the answer "as long as it takes to count to 60". We had worked on it a couple of times and she was starting to really get the hang of it this afternoon. So tonight as she was showing Daddy how she could count to 60, he told her how to go all the way to 100. Boy did she think that was neat!

She followed that with "Mommy, how many is a zillion?"

Holiday Party

This morning we had our first holiday party of the season - the Annual MOMS Club Holiday Party. We all had a great morning celebrating with our friends! It is fun to look back at the past year's parties to see how much the kids have grown...

Pouty Snowman - 2006

Two kids - 2007

My little artist & my little climber- 2008
(too busy to be photographed together!)

Puzzling

One of the few times I actually make the time to do a puzzle is at Christmas time. I have always loved puzzles, and now the Tumbleweed does too. All of my holiday puzzles are 500-1000 pieces, so the two of us are working on one together. Fortunately, I have a roll-away puzzle mat from my grandmother that makes it possible to tuck the puzzle away during the daytime because this is going to take us a while!

Giant Chocolate Chip Cookies

aka Peanut Blossoms. The Tumbleweed was thrilled to see the first Christmas cookies of the season sitting on the counter, exclaiming "Can I have a Giant Chocolate Chip Cookie?". She got a small sampling before I swept them off to my first cookie swap of the season.

Escape Artist

The Dandilion almost executed the perfect plot to sneak down to "Santa's Storage" this afternoon.

The Tumbleweed had just come in from helping put up the outdoor lights, but I was still outside talking to the Eagle. I had let her up the stairs and left the gate open knowing that the gate was still up in the family room keeping the Dandilion in. I closed the front door to keep the heat in while I stepped outside to discuss dinner. A few short minutes later, I see through the door that the Dandilion on the landing.

I panic. How did he get to the landing? Did he fall? I run in and catch him, just as he is turning to go down the rest of the stairs to the basement on his belly. Phew. He has been learning about stairs over the past few months, but I am not close to trusting him on them. It seems as though he knows more than I thought.

So, now that the Tumbleweed can "un-babyproof" the house by herself, I have to double check everything. It's always something, isn't it?

Lighting up the Night

The Tumbleweed and the Eagle set out to decorate the house this afternoon. After a lengthy trip to Home Depot they returned with numerous strands of multicolored LED icicle lights and three lighted trees to brighten up the neighborhood.

Holiday Cards

Today I made 12 cards for my scrapbooking Book Club card swap. It didn't take long, but I don't think I will be planning to make all of my cards any time soon.


Actually, I am terrible at sending out holiday cards. I think the last time I sent out a card & Christmas letter to all of my friends was 2002. Since 2005 when I've ordered holiday portraits, I've ordered enough to send to everyone... and most of them are still sitting in the envelope. I have enough boxes of holiday cards to send at least 3 to everyone I know. I even have a few boxes of New Years' cards from the year I thought I would send cards out "just a little bit late". My apologies to everyone who should have received cards from us in the past. I hope to get my act together this year.

I am still searching for a method to get my cards out. Most of the time I get hung up on the addressing, rather searching for addresses. Yes, my organizational skills are not what they used to be. I used to have an address book sitting next to my computer, on my clean desk, where I would record new addresses as they came in e-mails or on envelopes. Not so much now. These days, I go searching for a pile of last years Christmas cards and hope I saved the envelopes... or I just wait until someone sends me a card and copy the return address. Not really an efficient way to operate for sure.

So here are my 2008 Christmas Card Goals:

1- Make list of people to send cards to - 12/8
2- Search for addresses & make a master list - 12/9-12/10
3- Address envelopes - 12/11-12/12
4- Sign & put photos in cards - 12/14
5- Send cards to people who I have addresses for - 12/15
6- Send additional cards as people mail us cards (and remember to write down address on master list) - until 12/22
7- Computerize master list - by 1/31/09!

Better get started.

Claytime

Today we went to the local pottery painting studio to make some holiday keepsakes. The kids had lots of fun painting - but it was a little nerve-wracking having such fragile things all around us! I know this trip will be even more fun as they get older.

Toys for Tots

Today the kids took some toys for the Toys for Tots bin at GLC. The Tumbleweed was at school, but the Dandilion helped me put them all in the boxes ... and then several of the kids in the class took them out. They're too little to understand.

Presents under the Tree

I finally had a chance to sort through some of the bags and boxes of Christmas presents hidden (not so well) in the basement. It seems like there is more for the Tumbleweed than the Dandilion. I don't think he'll notice, but I think that I will save some things for the Tumbleweed's birthday anyway.

I still haven't quite decided which things are from "Santa" and which are from us, so I didn't want to wrap too much, but I really wanted to put a few presents under the newly decorated tree. I wrapped 6 things for each kid.

Advent Calendar

The Tumbleweed is finally old enough to do an advent calendar this year. She knows all of the numbers on the calendar, but gets stuck a little on the difference between 12 and 21. Other than numbers she is learning patience - as waiting all day to open the little door for the day is quite difficult, as is not being able to open all of the doors at once!

Fun

or should I say phone...

The Dandilion was playing in the family room this evening and climbed on the couch to get one of the portable phones. He didn't seem to be pushing buttons, so I let him keep it for a bit and this is what transpired...

Mommy: "Who is on the phone, buddy?"
Dandilion (proudly): "Gmmpa" (new word)

He walks around behind the couch with the phone to his ear and I can hear him saying "heo" (Hello) a few times, followed by:

Dandilion: "Gmma" ... "Gmma"...."Heo" (another new word)

Then he brings the phone to me and says "Gmma?"
Mommy: "Sorry buddy, Grandma and Grandpa aren't on the phone right now."

So cute! I am glad he is finally feeling better. I love the new word stage :)

More Toddler Talk

A few more funny words from the Dandilion...

"Dink" = Drink
"Mik" = Milk
"Cut" = Coat
"Shut" - Shirt
"Fun" = Phone
"Tare" - Stairs
"Mohkee" = Monkey
"Geor" = Curious George
"Wow wow wow" = Wow Wow Wubbsy (TV show)
"Mingkee" = Minnie & Mickey



And --- he'll answer a question...

Question: "How are you?" -- the Dandilion: "Goo" (Good)

Christmas Books

When I dug out the decorations I found the very heavy box with the kids' holiday books. Boy we have managed to accumulate a lot of books in 4 years! Both kids enjoyed the book with the attached piano for a while, but then the Dandilion saw the Dora book and that was all he wanted.

Ornament Hooks

Every year I have the same problem --- I get the tree mostly decorated but get stuck because I have new ornaments (and even a few old ones) that have no hooks. And I can't find the hooks in my 15 boxes (?!?) of Christmas decorations. Last year I had to buy hooks, so they had to be somewhere!

Tonight was no different - I thought I was nearly done - only a few ornaments left to hang - and the hooks were nowhere to be found. After about a half hour searching through bins in the cold, dark part of the basement - I found them! The ornaments are hung, the garland is added and the bows are tied ... the living room tree is complete (and behind a gate)!

The good thing about artificial trees...

I have lots of memories of Christmas as a little kid regarding the Christmas Tree --- some years we cut one down, others we bought pre-cut, a couple years we even took one from our back yard. Often they had snow on them and had to sit in the garage for several days to melt. Then my dad would bring them in the front door stand it up and cut the strings off. The girls would decorate while listening to The Beach Boys Christmas record and a few others (which we would set up in the record player to play concecutively by dropping the next record when one had finished). Then for the rest of the holiday season my sister and I would take turns watering the tree or vacuuming the needles.

These will not be my kids' memories... first, we don't have a record player and second, we don't put up a real tree. With all of our allergies, the Eagle and I decided a long time ago that investing in an artificial tree made the most sense. We weren't home enough to water it, we were both allergic to things associated with pine trees and one $75 tree would last us longer than getting one for $60 every year (the cost of a tree in New Jersey in 2001). I am glad we decided to do it, because we still have that tree and it still looks good!

I also liked that this morning, when the Tumbleweed learned that it was December, and said "Can we put up our Christmas Tree today?" I could answer "yes". And that is just what we did... I got the top started while she was at school, and she helped with the bottom when she got home. It doesn't have lights or ornaments yet, but I am sure it will soon.

She is so excited about Christmas this year. It is going to be a fun month!

Rotavirus

So it was a good thing that I sent the Eagle out for diapers the night before Thanksgiving --- I had forgotten to pack any to take to my inlaws house and only had about 5 from the diaper bag. Five diapers might have lasted through an average day, but why chance it I thought... That was a good thought as the Dandilion started going diapers and clothes like they were going out of style. On Thanksgiving the Eagle had to go out and get Pedialyte and Diaper Rash cream for the poor little guy who couldn't even handle eating toast. Friday, I talked to a nurse at the doctor's office and she said "it sounds like he has Rotavirus", to which I responded "wasn't he vaccinated for that?" (This is one new vaccination that the Tumbleweed didn't get). Apparently, the vaccination helps it be less severe and for less time and there is nothing they can do for it unless he gets too dehydrated... So with a new stack of diapers and constant laundry, we are on the 5th day of "bananas, rice, applesauce and toast" and no relief is in sight. Poor kid.

Black Friday!

Woo-hoo! Yes, I am one of those crazy people who loves Black Friday. The Eagle and I have been going out shopping on Black Friday since the first year we were dating and he invited me to Thanksgiving (I also dragged him to Plymouth Rock and the Mayflower that weekend, since his parents lived one town over and I had never been -- the whole family thought I was nuts for wanting to go.)

So anyway, this was the 10th year that we scoured the papers on Thanksgiving and made our lists and checked them twice... and planned our route. Some stores we deliberately do together so we can divide and conquer, and other stores we split up so we can be at two different places when they open. Well, this year was different, as the Dandilion was sick a stomach bug and we didn't want to leave my mother in law with the sick kid... so I was left alone to do the shopping.

So off I went at 3:30am... I was at Kohl's for the 4am opening (got what I needed) and then stood in line for the Target 6am opening (I was about the 30th person in the door). At Target got most of the things that I wanted, but didn't bother with the electronics department because I couldn't get my cart even close (this is where I missed the Eagle). I had a 10% my entire purchase coupon so I got several things that weren't on sale as well and cover most of the people on my list.

My only negative issue (which I have never had any of the other years). The Target checkout was packed and since they have double checkouts, everyone was waiting in one line and feeding into both registers. Suddenly a preteen girl darts through and jumps in line at the front register -- and her whole family follows. Grr. So a few minutes later this other lady comes along and tries to do the same thing but can't fit her cart through. She said "Excuse me", and I responded, "Oh Sorry. We're all in one line". And boy she got all huffy! She said back to me "Well Merry *&*%# Christmas to you too! I didn't see you yell at those people" and started to back up. Grr. I didn't dignify her with a response to that but heard her comment to other people in line a few other not so nice names. I wish I had said back to her "You may think I am being rude to you, but I think you are being rude to all of the other people at Target this morning who have waited their turn. Merry Christmas to everyone who you didn't just cut!"

So after that put my Target stuff in my car and brought my cart back into the store and happily handed it to someone who needed one (they were all in use by then). That made me feel a little better and I continued on to three more stores with early morning discounts and headed home by 8:30.

I didn't get as much this year as I usually do, but I didn't need as much of the things that are typically on sale on Black Friday (electronics, small appliances, popular toys). I have lots of my stuff done, but there are a few things left for Cyber Monday...

Turkeys can fly

We had some special visitors on Thanksgiving morning. All five turkeys flew across the pond so the kids could get a closer look.

Holiday Photos

We got our holiday portraits done at Sears again this year. Usually, I am pretty happy with the shots they get, but this year it was a lot harder to get all four of us smiling and looking nice. The individual shots of the kids are good, and they got a nice shot of the Eagle and I (for our 5th anniversary later this month). The family shots, I can live with, but I don't love. Maybe they will grow on me.

After the portraits, the kids went to see Santa, in their nice clothes. The Tumbleweed absolutely LOVED talking to Santa (there was no line) and went on and on telling him about things she wants for Christmas --- the cutest was when she first walked up to Santa, who asked "What do you want for Christmas?", and she said "Well, my brover (gesturing at him) wants a train". The Dandilion was not so keen on the whole Santa experience and screamed from the time he was set down on Santa's lap. Oh well - I think Santa will still get him something :)

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

If you live nearby, be sure to drive down Greenwood Street when it is dark out. The "house with all the lights" is decorated again this year. They were hard at work around 2:00 yesterday when we went past. The front yard was full of lighted statues, and they still had half the garage full of stuff!

On the homefront...

~we have not started decorating yet, but considering that I never even took out the Halloween decorations maybe I should get started! I still have to decide if I am putting up both of our trees this year - or if the family room tree is just going to be another tempting climbing structure for the Dandilion and I should skip it this year. Jury's still out on that one.

~I am preparing for my annual "Black Friday" shopping trip. I have lists going of places to go and things to get... now we just have to see what's on sale!

~I made our Christmas portrait appointment for this Tuesday at Sears and ever since I have been trying to find the remaining pieces to the outfits we are going to wear. This morning I picked up what I thought were the last three things, and then realized that the Dandilion doesn't have shoes to wear (we are wearing black and he only has brown or navy). Oh well.

Drive-thru Cantaloupe?

Why isn't there a place that I can get a drive thru cantaloupe? Why, you ask? Because this morning I needed to get one for the Tumbleweed to take to school and I didn't remember to get it yesterday. So I left the house 5 minutes early (not enough, but all that I could manage) and headed to the grocery store with both kids. It wasn't quite "In and out" but I thought it was close until I went to take the Dandilion out of the cart and put him in the car and realized that he had swiped a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup package while we were in line. So back in we went and handed it to the first store employee I could find.

In the end, the store took about 12 minutes. Combine that with the 5 minutes early, and the 5 minute traffic buffer that I usually allow for, we were only about 2-3 minutes late to school (and not the last ones either).

But drive thru would have been much easier.

Crayons Everywhere

Apparently our artistic children have been giving the crayons a world tour. Yesterday I found some crayons in some places I didn't expect to.

1- In the Tumbleweed's hamper. Just one lonely yellow crayon was hanging out with the clothes... fortunately I noticed during the sort!

2- A handful of crayons in the washing mashine with the adult dark load. Not sure where they came from, since no kids were present during the load process to try "washing the washable crayons". Fortunately no negative outcome.

3- In my bra. The one I had on all day. Not sure how and when it got there, but it clearly fell out as there is a "blue-green" spot on my bra. Too bad it wasn't money :)

I think the crayons need to sit in time out until they learn boundaries!


Related cute Dandilion word... "Cowa" = I want to color

Phone Calls

Today was a day of phone calls. It isn't often that the kids cooperate and both take naps at the same time, allowing me the ability to make important phone calls without being bothered, tugged at, or having some kind of unsupervised disaster occur. Today the naps aligned, and I made some phone calls I had been putting off for a while. (Remember, I HATE using the phone)

1 - Car Insurance Co. - still trying to sort through the medical bills from the car accident. I think she had forgotten about me. Hopefully everything will get taken care of soon.

2 - AAA - to finalize the details of our Disney Trip. We are are all set with the hotel rooms and park tickets :)

3 - Disney Dining - Checked in on the reservations we made for the trip --- so far just Bibbity Bobbity Boutique, Princess Dinner and Pre-race Character dinner at the Garden Grill for 10 people... more planning needs to be done!

All three calls in one day - amazing!

Christmas Music

Too soon? No way! I love Christmas music, and why should I only listen to it for a month? So, since Santa is already at the mall why not start enjoying it now. Yesterday I put one of my favorite CDs in the car, and today I remembered that there is a radio station that plays Christmas music all day long... "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas..."

Here is the real question, can I start putting my decorations up yet? I know it is early for that, but considering that I didn't have time to put the Halloween decorations out (yup - 3 boxes never opened this year), maybe I need to get started with the Christmas decorations now. I still haven't decided how we are baby proofing the trees though :(

"Ca" & other new words

The Dandilion used the word "cah" to describe a car, instead of "Vroom, vroom". Another funny "new word" is "gooey" which means cookie. "Beh" is also a new one = bed or blanket (when he pulls it up to his tummy).

Also new this weekend, is va, to, fee, fo, fi (1,2,3,4,5). When he is babbling, he says "va, to, fee, fo, fi, to, fee, fo, fi, to, fee, fo, fi....." He has really been babbling up a storm lately, sometimes non-sensical, but sometimes he gets a word or two in there.

I am sure I have already forgotten some of the new words, but someday I will be glad to have any list and I won't care if it is complete.

Silent S

Someday soon, the Tumbleweed will start to pronounce her "s" sounds and we will forget how cute the "Silent S" phase was. Here are examples of some of my favorite examples of the "s" she drops off words with "s" followed by a hard consonant:

"tory"- story
"pecial"- special
"tepping tone" - Stepping Stone
"top" - stop
"trawberry" - strawberry
"hnack" - snack
"tore" - store
"tairs" - stairs
"cool" - school
"tick" - stick
"kunk" - skunk
"kwirl" - squirrel

And my personal favorite.... "crapbook" - scrapbook

There are more but I can't think of them right now... I will add to this later :)

Kid of the Week

The Tumbleweed was chosen as the first "Kid of the Week" at KidsCanScrap.com. She loves to scrap with me, as long as she gets to use the "good paper". She really liked seeing her pages up on the computer - and loved that I let her type the e-mails to submit her projects. I love to see her learning about shapes, colors, and letters while practicing her fine motor skills.

Here is one of her pages:

Independance is Messy

The Dandilion feeds himself yogurt...

Growing Up

The Dandilion is getting so grown up. Two signs of this have surfaced this week:

1- Tucking himself in under blankets... on the couch, in the crib, climbing into the Tumbleweed's bed - he just loves to sit and pull the blanket up. Really cute.

2- Using a fork... yesterday I was putting food on his tray and using a fork to move it from the plate I had cut it on. Well, he wanted that fork! So I let him have it (it was a kid fork) and figured it would end up on the floor momentarily, but that at least for a few minutes he would be happy. Well, he surprised us. He held on the the fork - and used it to pick up every last bite of food - for more than a half hour. He did it again tonight with amazing success.

I guess I have to give him more credit - he is always more capable than I think.

November Scrapbooking Goals

I have finally gotten a chance to look at my schedule for the month of November and make a plan for the things I want to accomplish this month. Last month I was able to be quite productive by giving myself deadlines for projects, so I decided to continue that for this month and I have quite a detailed calendar grid sketched out with topics, plans & deadlines. I am sure someday I will laugh at the effort I put into this, but I look at Mike's exercise training plans and figure that this just my version.

Anyway it boils down to...

Finishing 3 mini books - 1 that is already started
20 new layouts
5 layouts already in progress
12 cards (for swapping)
3 kits (for page swap)
and planning my projects for December's NYOBC.

and... since the kids are napping I better get to work!

Too Big for Baby Proofing

Well, I guess 3 years 7 months and 24 days is how long it takes to figure out how to get past baby proofing. In the past hour, the Tumbleweed has figured out a cabinet lock (proudly showing me how she did it) and the pressure gate across the door (which she attempted to remove secretly, but couldn't put back the way it was).

Ugh.


** update - she figured out how to put the gate back before naptime...

A Second Blog

I am expanding... I have started a second blog for displaying my scrapbooking & other creative projects. I didn't want to complicate this blog with my layouts, so "Scrappin' Mom" will stay as is - my thoughts, ramblings, journalling and milestone records.

If you want to check out my first project post on the new blog --- here's the link: Scrappin' at Naptime

New words

The Dandilion has a couple of two syllable words (other than the repeated syllable kind):

Ba-Duh = bottle
A-puh = Apple

I know, we are supposed to be taking away the bottles (as the doctor reminded me for the second time at his visit a few weeks ago)... it's about 50/50 bottles and cups right now and that is mostly because it is easier to clean the bottles than the sippy cups, darn valves. I guess I should just stop being lazy and switch him... but he's so cute when he says "Ba duh"

Final Count

So with my new Scrapbooking Plan, I have managed to get a ton of pages/projects done this month. In the past 4 weeks I have done:

5 mini books - (4 birthday gift books & Disney 2007 purse album)
19 layouts - (10 layouts were done during crop time at CKC, 9 since then)
1 album - 8x8 holiday journal - Book Club project for this month

and I have several "Works in Progress"

3 mini books - (Peek into my Week is SO close to done)
9 layouts - (between page swap and CKC I have a bunch of layouts that just need pictures!)

There have been several late nights, but I love that the creative juices are flowing. It feels like "work", but in a good way - I have a purpose, objectives and a direction. Now, if I could just figure out how to not make a mess when I scrapbook :)