Halloween Fun!

It's finally here! It's Fall Festival and Halloween party week! I can't tell you how excited I am to show off my kids and their costumes this year!

Mister J is old enough now that I let him decide how he wants to dress up, and he chose to be a mailman this year. Thankfully, he's not picked out anything too complicated yet. When he does, I'll be calling Grandma RL to pull out all the stops and work her costume magic, as she did every year when I was a kid.

The most exciting part about this costume (for me) was getting a real nametag from one of the ladies at a local post office. I guess that's one of the benefits to taking the kids along absolutely everywhere - the people we see on a regular basis get to know us and do nice things for us! The ladies at the post office, in particular, recognize us when we stop in, and ask about the kids if I'm there alone. Perhaps that's why Mister J is so interested in all things postal right now.

Miss M will probably start choosing her costumes for herself next year, so I have enjoyed this last opportunity to make the selections this year. She has two costumes again - it seems to be a tradition for her to have more than one.... For the festivals and parties this year, she is wearing this cute little (non-scary) witch costume that I picked up at our church's clothing exchange earlier this fall. We have been asked about the tights SO many times, so I'll let you in on the secret - they came with the dress and hat (and so did the turtleneck she's wearing underneath).

When we trick or treat on Friday, she will wear the clown costume that everyone in my family wears for Halloween when they are two. I wore it, my cousins wore it, even the neighbors' grandkids wore it when I was growing up. Mister J wore it, and now it's Miss M's turn. Yes, it's another piece of my Mama's Magic - which happens to be over 30 years old!

Y'all already know how I feel about trick or treating this year, but I think we are going to try it out anyway. Miss M did well at the 'trunk or treat' at Fall Festival - although scouting out which trunks to avoid is much easier than being picky about which doorbell you ring. However, I'm going to pack our own candy, and if I see candy that's off limits I'll just ask folks to give Miss M a piece of the candy we'll be bringing along. I'll let you know how it goes!

Overheard...

... today, as I was ferrying a hundred different things (apple slices, soup, crackers, drinks, flatware) to the table for lunch:

Mister J (frustrated): Mom, I don't have my drink yet!

Mommy (with as much patience as possible): I know, sweetheart, I'm working as quickly as I can. I only have two hands.

Mister J (incredulously): Only two? Not six?!?

Big J (from the other room): snorts of muffled laughter

Yes, Big J is raising his own mirror images. ::wink::

Mirror, Mirror ...

If ever there was an example of how children reflect what they see their parents say and do, this is it!

We were sitting at the dinner table this evening, when Big J was trying to entice Miss M to eat some chicken, and told her she had to take a bite before she got her second cup of milk. Of course, she dilly-dallied. Big J held up her cup and pretended to drink from it - he "sipped" and "mmm-mmm"ed over the milk before setting the cup down. Miss M eventually finished her one and only bite of chicken, and got her cup of milk. Here's what happened next:




Needless to say, no one could keep a straight face - and hiding our silent giggles was impossible - so we all enjoyed a good laugh (you'll hear the two J's in the background). Hope you did, too!

Day off?

Here are the results from Columbus Day poll:

2 of 7 (28%) had Columbus Day off
5 of 7 (71%) had to work on Columbus Day

Where did I fall in that poll? Working, of course - mommies don't (usually) get holidays!

Fright Night

You might have already guessed that with Miss M's food allergies, Halloween is particularly nerve-wracking for me. There's a great post from a mom of a food-allergic child over at Rocks In My Dryer, and I wanted to share it as a reminder to my readers of what we live with on a daily basis.

If you haven't already bought your Halloween candy, Jane Anne makes some suggestions about "safe" candy for food-allergic children. Non-food items (stickers, Play-Doh, etc.) are also good options.

I am sure that Halloween will become less 'scary' as the years go by and Miss M is old enough to understand her allergies (and why some candy is off limits). Until then, though, it's scary enough for me without the witches, ghosts, and goblins.

Other Goings-On

Mister J's 5th birthday is sneaking up on me. I know - I can't believe it either - the little man is turning five. The major elements of the party are planned, but I still have to work out the details - writing the guest list, making the invites (yes, making them), etc. I love this kind of thing - just love it. Can't wait to break out my scrapbooking tools and get to work on the invites. I already have an idea of what I'd like to do - of course something I've never done before - so I hope it'll work and I don't have to make up a Plan B. As always, my Mom is working her magic on the birthday cake. I'm not going to spill the beans - you just have to wait.

I finally got to use the Laptop Lunch System when Mister J stayed for lunch bunch at preschool last week. I was so excited to try it out "for real." Yes, I'm weird that way. Wanna see what his lunch looked like? Good, because you knew I took pictures, didn't you?


He had ham and cheese pinwheels, grapes, cucumbers (cut into star shapes), carrots, hummus (in the purple container), pasta salad (in the yellow container), vanilla wafers, and a tiny box of Nerds candy as a special treat. And, a little note from mom. His drink was 2/3 water, 1/3 apple juice. I bet you can guess what got eaten first.... I was actually really proud of how well he ate, even though he did eat the candy first.

When Miss M saw me packing Mister J's lunch that morning, she wanted me to pack hers, too. So, even though she was eating at home with me that day, and even though she had hers for brunch, here's what she had:
Ham and cheese pinwheels, Craisins, grapes, cucumber stars and carrots (underneath), hummus, and Ritz crackers. Since she'd refused breakfast, she ate nearly everything you see here. I have to tell you, these boxes are magic! I think I could put broccoli in them, and the kids would eat it. Seriously.

I just got back from a (solo!) trip to visit my Dad last weekend. It was a quick trip, but I was so glad I was able to go spend some time with him and with my little sis, who also joined us. Y'all, go and visit his blog and be amazed by his positive outlook on "living and working with" the big C - I sure am. He started a new treatment regimen this week - so keep praying that all goes well, that the side effects are minimal, and that he continues to receive great care.

Finally, an update on my latest addictions. I've already told you how much I enjoy geocaching. So much that I made a quick stop for a cache on my way to see Dad last weekend, and also had a long awaited girls-only caching "playdate" yesterday. I was so frustrated at one we missed yesterday that I went back to the greenway today to try and find it, with Miss M along for the walk. The caches are located along a nice, paved trail that was easy work for the jogging stroller. Miss M enjoyed the wildlife and other folks on the trail while I figured out how to work my GPS received properly - something that escaped me yesterday during the hunt. I found the location today, and while the cache was not easily retrievable with a 2-year-old in tow, I know I'll be back to find it. And I'll definitely return to the greenway for non-caching walks - the kids will both enjoy it, it's far enough away from the road that they can run freely, and it's so nice to know several good areas for walking so I don't get bored, either.

You caught on - I said "addictions" - plural. My newest interest is the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer. Apparently, it's all the rage with the appropriately-aged Facebook crowd - but it's spreading to adults, too. I finished the first book, Twilight, in 2.5 days. I have to wait until Sunday to borrow the rest of them -- pure agony! But I know my family is glad to have me back until then. The oddest thing about my interest in the series is that it's about vampires. I know - totally not something you would imagine me reading. Me, either. But, it's the love story part that gets me. Personally, I think it started a tad slow, but I was so eager to find out the answers to a few questions that I kept reading, and got totally sucked in (pun totally intended).

On the horizon - Halloween! A trip to see the in-laws/grands! And Dream Dinners tomorrow morning (my freezer is getting empty)!

Pumpkin Patch

It's that time of year again, and true to our better-late-than-never style, we finally picked out some pumpkins last weekend!

We went to our favorite pumpkin "patch" (which will soon become our favorite Christmas tree "farm") and started our hunt. Thankfully, we had some seasonal weather this year - I think we wore shorts last time. That's part of the beauty of the South, but it makes for some ... odd .. pictures for the scrapbook!

Mister J quickly started searching for just the right one, but let me have my pick of the pumpkins this year. A great big one with a stem that curved just so.









This particular "patch" always has great decorations - perfect photo spots for people like me! A couple of old wagons, a big, round hay bale, and lots of HUGE pumpkins. Mister J has fun climbing into the wagons all by himself this year!

In his own words:

"I climbed up on the big stuff and got my sister a pumpkin. I got Mommy a pumpkin."

We picked out a small pumpkin for Miss M, and Mister J will be bringing one home from preschool soon. I'm interested to see what kids of "pumpkin activities" he did in class. Perhaps that one is already decorated. Which would be nice, so I don't have to carve my great big one, and then it can last through Thanksgiving, too. I've got to be practical, after all - those pumpkins weren't free!

So, I suppose you are wondering how Miss M enjoyed her trip to the pumpkin patch. Well, take a look...

You might recall that she's not napping anymore. Well, I suppose I can't say never. We made a late afternoon pumpkin run, and sitting still for a ride in the mommy-van put Miss M right to sleep. She didn't wake up until the hunt was over and we were loading up for the trip home.

Though she missed the pumpkin patch, she's satisfied with our selections. She wants to carry the little one everywhere. And she tries to pick up the big one - which I haven't even picked up. I left that to Big J. Who also though it was funny that Miss M was drooling on my shoulder while we searched for our pumpkins. What he didn't realize was that I was wearing his vest to keep dry -- I mean warm.

I am Mommy, Hear Me Snore (or... The Paci Chronicles, Part 3)

Miss M has finally stopped asking for her paci, except yesterday when my mom and I went to the grocery store with Miss M in tow. Riding in the cart (oh, the magic that grandmas can do!) down the cereal aisle, out of the blue, she says, "I need my paci." And of course, as only a grandma can do, my magic mama distracted her with something much more fascinating, and the idea of a paci once again vaporized into thin air.

I, however, long for the days of the paci.

I long for the days when naptime was between 1:30-2:00, and naps lasted for 2 or 3 hours. I long for the days when, once tucked in, little feet were not heard to pitter-patter around (and toys were not heard to crash) upstairs while I tried to get work done without interruption.

Ever since the paci was evicted from our home, Naptime packed his bags and left as well, with a grumpy scowl back in my direction on the way out the door.

It would not be honest of me to say that life is "crazier" than before. It's still just as hectic, but without the nice mid-day break. A four-and-a-half-year-old can, most days, find a quiet activity for an hour or so while Mom works and little sister naps. A two-year-old cannot. A four-and-a-half and two-year-old, together, are even less likely to be able to - somewhere in the negative, those chances.

So, while Miss M adjusts to life without the paci, Mom adjusts to a non-stop busy kind of day (as if there were really any other kind). And earlier bedtimes for us all.

Woggle Goggles

Just have to show you a snap of the 'official' Imagination Movers outdoor playtime uniform. This is Mister J's impression of Mover Scott, who wears "wobble goggles" to help him see through things (talk about imagination!). And, since it's a bit of a tongue twister, Miss M calls them "woggle goggles" - which is just too funny.


Mister J and Miss M argued constantly over this pair of goggles until we found our second pair. I bought them from the dollar store, so I hope they make it until next season when I can buy more (or at least until the "special" wears off). And the rain boots, well Mister J wears them everywhere right now. Everywhere. He's about to outgrow them, so we may have to invest in another pair.

Poll Results - #1

Why do you check in? To:
See how big the kids have gotten - 1 vote (16%)
See what crazy thing the kids are up to now - 3 votes (50%)
Read a heartwarming story about the kids - 1 vote (16%)
Read some of your nutty, yet helpful, advice - 0 votes
Figure out how not to raise my kid - 0 votes
See if anyone has voted in my poll - 1 vote (16%)

Thanks for voting - and for not insulting my parenting style by selection option 5 ;)

You know playtime is over when...

Big J and I had a nice, quiet, adults-only dinner this evening while we listened to the news and the sound of the kids playing outside (the rain finally stopped - hooray!). We let Mister J and Miss M continue playing even after we finished our dinner, knowing that they would tell us when they were hungry. They didn't get to stay outside quite that long, though. Big J took a peek outside and quickly determined that, hungry or not, it was time for the kids to come inside. Here's what he saw:



This is obviously a little girl who is A) very proud of her latest skill, B) very talkative, and C) lacking in modesty. We are proud of her, too. Well, except for the 'lacking in modesty' part, but we know that it will come soon enough. At least this was in the backyard and not anywhere public. As you can see, we have a good sense of humor about it all, but will eventually have to get around to setting limits on where it's okay to undress (like, oh, inside).

In case you need a translation of the toddler-speak, Miss M was telling us that her shirt was on the steps, she took it off, and it went bye-bye. Got to love that toddler logic - keeps life interesting!

Recipe Adventure - No. 1

I borrowed a recipe and a 6-quart crock pot yesterday and made the most delicious soup I've ever made. It has earned a place in my recipe box - written on a recipe card. Trust me, that's a big deal. I wish I could remember where I found it - besides on a blog. When I do figure that detail out, I'll post the link to give credit where credit is due. In the meantime, anonymous blogosphere friend, thank you for sharing your recipe for...

Crock Pot Taco Soup!

You'll need:
4 chicken breasts
2 cans each corn, pinto beans, black beans
1 can Ro-Tel
1 large can diced tomatoes
1 package dry ranch dressing mix
1 package dry taco seasoning mix
1 cup chicken broth

Toppings:
shredded Monterey Jack cheese
tortilla chips
sour cream

You need at least a 6 quart crock pot for this recipe. You can use frozen chicken breasts, too - run them under hot water for a minute and put then in the crock pot frozen. Then dump the other ingredients (except toppings) on top of the chicken. This really means dump - don't drain anything. Cook all day long on low or 4-6 hours on high. Before serving, remove chicken, shred with forks, and return to crock pot. Top each bowl with cheese, sour cream, and chips.

Additional notes from my experience....
Don't try to make it in a 4 quart pot. It won't fit. Hence, the borrowed crock pot.
I used fresh chicken, but you better believe I'll try it with frozen sometime (as if it wasn't already easy!).
I was hesitant to just dump the black beans since most recipes call for you to rinse and drain them. I wondered if I could drain/rinse/add a little extra chicken broth. However, I have my own personal rule about not changing a recipe until after trying once as written, so I dumped them in.
I used low sodium taco seasoning, and have decided I'm going to look for recipes to make my own taco seasoning and dry ranch mix (to see if I can make them preservative-free).
The only ingredient I questioned at all was the dry ranch mix - but don't leave it out!

After letting it cook for about 5 1/2 hours on high, I was starving! So, I filled a bowl - and this soup was good even before I added the toppings! But who can argue with adding cheese, tortilla chips, and sour cream? Not me! Mister J gave it a taste, and actually dipped a few chips in before declaring himself "full." Big J tasted it when he got home (late, so he'd already eaten dinner) - he's excited about having it for lunch tomorrow. Did I mention that this makes a LOT of soup? By the way - if you want to make this vegetarian, I bet it would turn out just fine. I can take or leave the actual chicken, but I'd probably still use chicken broth for the flavor.

My poor, sweet, sleeping girl

One of the 'benefits' of this latest bout with fever is that Miss M has actually napped three out of the last four days. Not official "let-me-tuck-you-in-now" naps, but the "asleep-in-her-tracks" kind of naps. As I was finishing up dinner this evening, I heard the familiar sound of sleep. Not silence, but this:



She's so going to be mad at me one day for posting this. But I just had to share my sweet, sleeping Miss M with you. By the way - other than the fever, she's fine. She's not congested, just noisy.

Feed a what? Starve a who?

I'm home with Miss M today. My exciting, had-it-planned-for-over-a-week, Mommies-Only Playdate got rescheduled due to my feverish little girl who couldn't go to preschool today. Oh, and because of the rainy weather. Yesterday's rain wasn't very conducive to geocaching today, especially since my friend and I were planning to walk the Muddy Creek Greenway on our hunt. But, I digress....

I think I have finally figured it out - I know the answer to the old "Feed a ____, Starve a ____" advice! It's feed a fever, starve a cold (as if any of us would actually starve a sick child....). How did I figure it out? Because my feverish child has been ravenous today. Applesauce, crackers, chicken, fries, more crackers, more applesauce, and LOTS of (straw)berry milk. She also asked for yogurt and a bagel, but that happened when we were on the way to preschool pickup and had no food in the mommy-van. Miss M never eats this much. Ever. Not when she's well, and definitely not when she has a cold. I can barely keep up with her today. So I'm convinced I should feed a fever and 'starve' a cold. Oh, and did I mention my budding vegetarian ate chicken today? Granted, she was only doing it so she could have some fries (one of her favorites), but she wasn't refusing. And - she ate steak last night. Not kidding. She actually asked for seconds on the steak. Wow. I'm thinking that aside from the not going to preschool today part, the fever this time is not such a bad thing....

Good News!

If you are a regular reader, you have probably noticed quite a few changes on my blog lately. There's a new layout, a new seasonal background, and a new counter to log the number of visitors. One of the earliest, yet least noticeable, changes in this round was adding some blogs to my Blogs I Read list. One of those was The BIG "C" - which is my dad's blog. It's about "Living and working with cancer. A (sometimes) lighthearted approach to things in life."

If you are a regular reader, you know that my blog is always full of newsy stuff. It's a way to reach out to our family and friends and share news. My dad's diagnosis with lung cancer was some pretty big news, but this is the first time I've blogged about it. Why? Well, there are a hundred reasons why, but mostly fear. Not just fear about what might happen to my dad, but fear that if I put it out there for all to read, it would make it that much more "real." I emailed a few close friends, put Daddy on the prayer list at our church, and said my own prayers whenever I thought about him. I didn't talk about it around the children; in fact, I rarely spoke about it face-to-face with anyone. It was just too hard. And even though he recently got some really good news, I am still tearing up as I type this.

I don't think I was quite ready to share my personal struggles, even with my regular readers, and I'm sorry. Although this is my space to share funny stories and "I wish I'd thought of that!" mom advice, it's also where I share my struggles. This has been one big struggle, and I shouldn't have forgotten that you are all willing to share the burdens, as well as the triumphs, with me.

Daddy - I love you!

Click to Give

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and a link I used to visit quite often has come through my email inbox again (thanks, Mom!). It's the link to The Breast Cancer Site, where your click (that's all - one click!) helps provide free mammograms. Also from this site, you can select from five other click-to-give tabs - The Hunger Site, The Child Health Site, The Literacy Site, The Rainforest Site, and the Animal Rescue Site. In less than 10 seconds online, you can help donate free food, books, healthcare, and more. So, add The Breast Cancer Site to your bookmarks, and make it a habit to click six times before you check your email each day. And, if you have a couple of minutes to give, challenge yourself at freerice.com.

The Paci Chronicles, Part 2

It's been a little over a week now since Big J started Operation No More Paci. It's been going very well. Really, it has. Except that Miss M has refused to nap for 4 days in a row now, and for most days since the beginning of Operation NMP. That has been hard. She might stay up in her room playing for about 45 minutes, then she will go to the top of the stairs and yell, "Mommy, I waked up! I waked up!" As if she ever went to sleep! This is one of the few times we have listened to her with the 'room monitor' function of our phones. We listen to her sing and play - she sounds so sweet and happy. If you look at her room afterwards, though, you will see that she's unloaded the basket of stuffies, dumped the basket with all of the dollhouse people and furniture, and unloaded the bookshelf. Nice.

I am feeling total defeat on the nap issue. Yesterday, I didn't even try to put her down for a nap. I just sent the kids out in the yard to play since the weather was so nice. I am feeling total defeat on the nap issue. The trade-off to not napping, though, is that she fell asleep during our later-than-usual dinner at 7:15. At the table. And even through the change into pjs and a clean pull-up, she barely woke up. She did ask for her blanket, which I went back downstairs to retrieve. She was snoring before I made it back to her room.

This morning, I realized that Operation NMP still has a ways to go. Our sweet little girl came into our room at 5am this morning. I wasn't ready to get up, so I tucked her into the little "bed" I've created for the kids, and she went back to sleep. When she woke up again at 7am, she came over to my bed and whispered to me. Among other things, she asked, "Where's my paci?" Ugh. I whispered back (so as not to wake Big J), "I don't know." That seemed to satisfy, as she didn't insist upon finding one, but I know that she hasn't forgotten about it. I guess that will take a while. I'm glad that her dolls only have bottles....

Reclaiming Some Space

I have reached the point where a change must happen. Actually, I want to see a lot of change around my home. I want to rid the place of all the clutter. I want to catch up on my kids' scrapbooks so I can toss the rest of the "stuff" I'm holding on to so I can remember the dates and times and places that go with all of the photos. I want to be able to park the mommy-van in the garage again. But first, I want to reclaim my space in bed.

Our kids know that if they wake up in the night and need something, they can come to us. If they need a snuggle, they know that they can climb into bed and snuggle until morning. There's plenty of room. In fact, that's why we got the gigantic bed in the first place. When Mister J was little, he slept with us most nights until he was around a year old. Miss M spent several nights with us early on, as well. (No shrieky-shrieky allowed - it's a personal decision, let's leave it at that.)

So why, with the gigantic bed and the open invitation for so long, have I changed my mind? Because the goal is really not about being selfish, it's about getting enough sleep be able to function the next day. You see, the kids are getting older (surprise!), and as they get older, they get bigger (I know, you are shocked!). And since they both seem to like sleep upside down and sideways in the bed, it gets crowded really fast. Plus, Mister J is truly a bed hog. I'm not making that up. Also, I'm kind of a light sleeper. It doesn't take a kick in the face wake me up (yes, that really happened), just one of the kids rolling over. So, with two extra people in the bed, trying to snuggle next to me from about 3am to real, sunshiny morning (around 3-4 hours), and me usually not getting to bed until midnight, I'm averaging around 3.5 hours of good sleep, and then 3.5 hours of crappy sleep. At that rate, after a few days, I should not be allowed to drive. Something had to change. And it did. And Big J was shocked.

I cleaned out the corner of the bedroom nearest my side of the bed. Then, I took a comforter that isn't currently in use on a bed and folded it into a kid-sized, bed-shaped cushion. I put that into the corner, along with a pillow and a baby quilt. Viola! My kids now have a place to sleep in the middle of the night when they come into our room. And I get a better night's sleep! And Big J doesn't get disturbed as much, either.

When the kids saw me putting the new kid-space together, they asked what I was doing (after all, I was cleaning, and they were perplexed). I told them what the new space was for, and explained that when they came into our room at night, this is where they would be sleeping now. Of course, they both wanted to check it out. They thought it was really cool. But the big test would come around 3am.

The first night, Miss M came into the room. She fussed about being tucked into the kid space. She wiggled and squirmed. In the end, we were up for the day at 6am, and I'm a 7am kind of girl.... When Mister J came in for his first try, he fell right to sleep and even slept late. Miss M's next time, she wiggled and squirmed and I gave in and pulled her into bed so I could sleep. On her next try, she stayed in the kid space and even slept later than her set-in-stone-no-matter-what 7am wakeup.

The best news in all of this? For the most part, the kids are staying in their beds all night. In the 2 weeks since we have implemented this new arrangement, I think the kids have come into our room a total of 5 times. They might not be sleeping all night, but if they wake up, they are soothing themselves back to sleep. And I'm sleeping like a baby.

A Sleeping Baby by Francois Boucher

Patriotism

I was brought to tears today by my sweet little boy.

As we sat in our home office this afternoon, Big J asked Mister J about his day at preschool. In addition to answering the standard questions, he demonstrated one of the things he's learned since preschool started. He recited the Pledge of Allegiance. And, I'm proud to say, it was nearly perfect - he only left out the "with" at the end. Big J and I were both stunned.

Sixteen days of class so far. Thirty-one words. Two proud parents.

The Paci Chronicles, Part 1

Back in March, when we took the kids to the dentist, Dr. Easy-On-The-Eyes told us that Miss M had to lose the paci. He told us that the deadline was when she turned two. I told Big J that he was more than welcome to get to work on Operation No More Paci at any time. Preferably while I was in Cali. In June. The week before Miss M turned two. He laughed at me. We are now 3 months post-deadline, and the kids went to the dentist again last month. And we got busted. By the dentist. Easy on the eyes, not so easy on the tender mommy heart. (BTW, I didn't choose him because he's easy on the eyes, that's just a pleasant bonus.) He was nice about it, but I felt guilty.

We never had to deal with paci issues with Mister J. When he was about eight weeks old, he quit taking the paci. That's another issue entirely. Equally as stressful but for different reasons. Mister J couldn't do anything but eat, sleep, cry, and poop when he gave up the paci. Guess which one of those he used to tell me he needed something? Being a freshly-minted mommy, I was still learning to decode cries. And he wouldn't take the paci. What's a mommy to do? But, I digress....

Recently, we decided to give Operation NMP a try. We started by simply pretending the paci was lost, and leaving Miss M tucked into bed while one of us went to "find" it. (Don't even start on me about the fact we were lying. To our baby. It hurt me more than it hurt her.) Sometimes she would fall asleep, sometimes she'd come looking for one of us to see if we found paci. Then we moved on to the pacis being "old and yuck" - the one we found behind the chest in the master bedroom defintely was! I even persuaded Miss M to toss that one in the trash. Then, Big J got hard core about it, and started telling Miss M that big girls don't use a paci and she had Kitty Cat (and other assorted loveys) to watch over her. It's been three days now, and no paci at nap or bedtime. Just Blanket, 4 loveys, and a minimum of 6 books. I have persevered, and not let her sweet little eyes sway me. Not even her sweet voice telling me, "I need my paci." She's even started asking for them by color. This is particularly noteworthy since she often pretends not to know her colors if I'm the one that's asking (she had me totally snowed for weeks and I worried that she might be colorblind or something!). If it's important enough to ask for by color, surely Mommy can be persuaded to join Miss M in the search for the long-lost, dirty paci - right? Nope.

I can't believe it is working - on her or on me. Knock wood. Now. Yes, you. NOW!

We have heard of all of the "Paci Fairy" and "Give them to the babies that need them" ploys. We just didn't feel that Miss M was developmentally ready to go along with them. But she understands when you can't find it. She understands if it's yucky. And so far, so good. So I'll keep sticking to the plan, thankful all the while that Big J's determination was the encouragement that I needed. 'Cause I'm a sucker when it comes to the kids. And they know it.

PS - Please vote in the poll! Upper left. Just for fun. More my fun than yours, I guess. Consider it practice for November. 39 days and counting!

Wonderful Wednesday

Yes, I'm posting on Friday (well, almost Saturday now) and on purpose using Wednesday in the title. Because Wednesday was truly wonderful!

Preschool got off to a bit of a rough start this year, but in this last week, things are looking up. Every day has been a good day since our conference with the teacher. (Oh, yeah, it was conference-with-the-teacher rough [and that's a post for another day]. But, I think that day was the turning point - he knew he had to shape up if Mom and Dad were talking with Mrs E.) He had a terrific day this past Monday (the first day of class since the conference). Mrs. E was so proud of him, and made sure to praise his good behavior when she brought him to the Mommy-van in the pick up line. There was a little issue with sharing on Tuesday when a classmate tried to take a toy from him, but nothing he'd instigated - another small victory! On Wednesday, the best day of the week, Mrs. E took the time to tell me that there was another sharing issue during class, but that time Mister J held his temper and asked a teacher for help. Woohoo! Of course, we were both so proud of him, and he earned a special treat (a SpongeBob sticker) from Mrs. E for being so grown up in class. I have never seen him so proud of a sticker!

Each night at bedtime, I spend a few minutes with J talking about his day at school. He needs quite a while to process the day's events, so I've learned to ask just the most basic questions when I pick him up. During Mommy and J time (while Miss M naps), we do a craft, practice handwriting, or do homework if there is any. If he volunteers anything, I will try to engage him in a longer conversation, but usually we talk most at bedtime. Something along the lines of, "How was your day, J?" "It was good. I didn't spit. I didn't hit. I didn't push." and then I ask a few more specific questions about Circle Time, the Special Helper of the day, and snack time.

On Wednesday evening, after the usual questions, J looked into my eyes and said something I'll not forget. He said, "I'm so proud of myself." I can't even describe my feelings at that moment - but mostly elation! He knows the good choices, he knows it's sometimes hard to make them, and today he made the good choices! **cheers** Of course, you know what I said back to him (as I started to tear up) -

"Honey, I'm proud of you, too!"

Handwriting Practice

My son showed interest in writing his name about two years ago. Perhaps because the letters of his name are on the wall in his room, perhaps because in preschool the teachers write each student's name on all of their drawings and craft projects. In our house, when the kids show an interest, the parent pursues it - whatever it is. We have watched a Starbucks go up step by step - from the lot being filled and graded to paving the parking lot. We have discussed how GPS works, why people die, observed the effects of watering (or not watering) potted plants, and much, much more. So, when our son showed interest in writing, we started with the basics - his name. How difficult could that be?
Fast forward a few years to preschool - the 4-year-old class, to be exact. It's the year they start preparing children for "real" school - for kindergarten! And, it's the year they will be re-training my son to write using D'Nealian Manuscript, which looks like this. Not only that, I am retraining myself so that I can reinforce what he is learning. (I was taught the Zaner-Bloser or "standard block" style as I was growing up.)
It never occurred to me that there was more than to handwriting style than print or cursive. Lesson learned. Had I known, I would have researched the handwriting style used by our local school district before teaching my son to write his name. Also, I would have started out using an initial uppercase letter followed by lowercase letters. Not surprisingly, my son is resisting the move to mixed-case writing - and that's not to mention the move from ZB to D'Nealian. Plus, he thinks the lower case k looks like and upper case R, the lower case i looks like a lower case j (because of the little "tail"), etc. We have a lot of work to do! Thank goodness it's something the preschool teachers encounter all the time, so we have their help and encouragement through the process!

First Purchase

Big J and I attended Financial Peace University at our church in the spring, and have been working to apply Dave's principles to our spending habits. Last week, we implemented Dave's program for kids, Financial Peace Jr., for Mister J's chores. He earned $3.50 in commission last week, and is set to earn about twice that amount for this week's chores. Based on the Spend/Save/Give percentages we set up for Mister J, he had $1.75 of spending money from last week's payday. This is the story of his first real purchase (and yes, I saved the receipt!).

Today, I invited Mister J to join me for a Costco run while Miss M was napping. As we were getting ready to go, he mentioned that he wanted to get a smoothie. I let him know that he would have to use his spending money, so we looked at the amount in his Spend envelope. We discussed how much a smoothie would cost and that he wouldn't have enough left for the games on Sunday (there's a gameroom in the restaurant where we usually share a meal with friends). He would have to make a choice. He chose the smoothie, so with money in his pocket we were off for a quick shopping trip.

As we were walking into the store, Mister J decided he wanted to walk with me while I shopped rather than ride in the cart with his smoothie, so he would buy the smoothie after we paid for our purchases. I have to admit, I was impressed by how much he'd thought this through. So, after we shopped and paid, we got in the line at the food court. When he got to the window, he ordered, paid, and giggled with excitement when his smoothie was ready. He was so proud! I have to admit, I was proud of him, too - he even said, "Thank you!" to the man that helped him today.

On they way home, we talked about putting his change back into his Spend envelope, and how it would not be enough for games on Sunday. He reminded me that he still had some money in his treasure box at home (the savings place prior to the envelope system), so he would have enough money to play games on Sunday, too! I'd forgotten that he had some money from our previous chore system, which turned out to be over $6.00! Later in the evening, we sat down together and split the money into the Spend/Save/Give envelopes, and Mister J picked out $1.00 from the Spend envelope for games. I'll have to check tomorrow to see if they take up a collection in Kids' Worship, otherwise I still need to find a place for Mister J to send his Give money. As for the Save envelope, he's saving up for another set of Kid K'Nex - and he's moving along towards that goal quite nicely!

I'm so proud of my little man, and I was thrilled to see how proud he was of his purchase! By the way, he drank every last drop! If you are wondering how much work it takes to earn enough spending money for a smoothie, Mister J's chores are worth 25 cents or 50 cents. He also has fines for specific misbehaviors that are 10 cents or 25 cents. Spending money is only 50% of what he earns, so he has to make at least $3.10 to pay for a smoothie. I'll be excited to see what he decides to do when his savings (40%) starts to add up and he gets close to reaching his goal. Will he spend it on the "goal" item? Will he decide he wants something else? Will he decide he wants something even bigger and just keep saving? Tune in for details - in about another month!

Ear Infections are No Fun At All

Ouch. Owwwww. Someone please hit me in the head with a baseball bat. Knock me out so I can wake up on the other side of this pain.

That was me, at 12:10am. All the way until about 2am, when I finally fell asleep. My ear felt like someone had plunged an icepick deep inside. Graphic, I know - but honest. And it all came on starting Sunday morning. By 2pm, I was in bed - for the rest of the day. I was taking something every four hours, on the dot, for the pain. And at midnight - the worst pain I can remember in over 10 years. Including recovery from 2 c-sections. Not kidding. Today is Monday, and thanks to some antibiotics I'm already feeling some better.

Thankfully, I could call and make an appointment with my doctor, be seen mid-morning, have my suspicions (ear and sinus infections) confirmed, and be dosing up by noon. Thankfully, I'm not an infant without even a small vocabulary - with no means other than crying to let my adults know that something is wrong. Something. Is. WRONG.......

I now understand why kids can be so cranky when in pain. Why they stay up half the night whining. I spent half the night pressing in on my forehead to keep it from exploding. 36 hours before that, I just had a little bit of a scratchy throat. This thing came on fast. Around 1:30am, I was considering driving myself to urgent care, and debating in the midst of my phantom-icepick-induced-pain if anyone there would care if I was in my pajamas. Now, just after 8pm, I am hoping that my kids have managed to avoid the monster bug that started it all.

Years from now, when my kids look back on my cyber-musings, I want them to know that now, finally, unfortunately, I understand the pain of ear infections.

Coolest Party Idea

Took the boy to a really cool party on Saturday. If you live in the Southeast, you know that Saturday wasn't cool - but the party idea was. So cool, in fact, that I may use it myself come Mister J's fifth.

We were invited to a fire truck birthday party. And I don't just mean plastic fire hats and fire truck decorations. I mean there was a fire truck at the party. It's a public service where we live - who knew? Obviously, my neighbor, who was awesome enough to tell me how she worked it out. I learned that you can even have your party at the fire station if your groups is small enough and the kids are old enough to sit still for the video (or if gas prices go so high that the local FD has to cut costs, which means public services like this go first. Thanks, guys, for caring about how you spend my tax dollars!).

Here's Mister J checking out the driver's seat! He also checked out every other seat, too. Six in all. There's a laptop-type computer at the front passenger's seat. It's for getting info on calls, directions, and also for playing solitaire (the fireman told me so!). Even with all of the great techno-gadgets on this firetruck (which was about 2 years old), there was still something that reminded me of my first car. Something that Mister J had never encountered before. Manual (crank) windows. You remember those, don't you? Don't you???

Mister J had a lot of fun checking out the firetruck and watching the fireman put on all of his gear (in the heat! Bless him! He didn't model it for too long.). He remembered much more about firetrucks and fire gear from previous "Community Helpers" days at preschool than I thought he would. And, he even took a short break from the excitement to sit still (and smile!) for another cute photo without complaining!

(I know you must be wondering about Miss M. She was invited, too, but this party infringed upon naptime, and we had another party immediately after this one. So, she stayed home with Daddy while Mommy and Mister J went to the park to party with the neighbor's youngest.)

Fiber - it really works!

The theme of the week seems to be poop. Just ask my friend H over at Beyond the Belly.

My little one has a problem with (**whispering**) constipation. (She'll be so embarrassed one day when she reads this.) A few days ago, I got this great tip about Fiber One yogurt. Since we were at the store today for a few other things, I dropped a couple of 6-packs (of yogurt....) into the cart. Since Miss M had not eaten breakfast this morning, she was starved after our excursion and begged for the yogurt when we got home (this was after she bit the bagels through the bag...). It was snack time anyway, so I sat both of the kids down to try our latest grocery-store find. They loved it - and Miss M asked for another. Being the loving mother that I am, and apparently not considering the consequences, I handed her a second cup of yogurt. Did I mention that it's Fiber One yogurt? Yes, I think I did. Did I read the label, which indicates that it has 20% of the daily value of fiber per serving? Per ADULT serving? Ummm, don't think so. Let's just say that it certainly works (even better than blueberries!), and we thankfully avoided any poop-related messes (unlike my friend H), but from now on, we'll be limiting the Fiber One yogurt to one serving a day.

More Homework

It seems that having homework is the norm for 4-year-old preschool, but I'm not complaining. I know that it is preparation for Mister J (and the 'rents) for when he beings "real" school. Plus, it keeps us very involved in what he's doing in class each day. The call from the teacher telling us he'd been breaking the rules again today (ugh!) kinda helps, too....
Today's homework was preparation for Show and Tell tomorrow. Mister J brought home a paper bag that he'd decorated with the letter of the week (A) and some airplanes. The letters and pictures were stamped on with the color of the week (red), which he is also asked to wear to class tomorrow. Back to the bag - we are to put something in it that begins with the letter A. We got out Mister J's dictionary (the Richard Scarry Dictionary that we have been working our way through this summer) and looked at the A words. Mister J chose acorns. We have no acorns in our yard, so - craft time! We got out Mommy's scrapbook tools and supplies, and made some 2-dimensional paper acorns. While looking in some magazines for ideas, we also came across apples, so we had to make some of those, too. It took an hour, but it was an hour of uninterrupted Mommy and Jonah time (hooray - Miss M took a nap today!). He loves using Mommy's "tools" and I was glad we got some counting and addition practice in, as well. (How many apples and acorns do you have? Sixteen! Eight acorns, four red apples, and four green apples.) That still doesn't solve the rule-breaking issue, but perhaps today's visit to the Director's office made an impression. I guess we will know for sure in the next day or so - stay tuned for updates.

My First Meme

I'm just learning about memes (sounds like "dreams"), myself, so I thought I'd give one a try. I found this one over on The Queen B's blog, and since it's about how blogging has affected me, I thought it was a good one to start with. By the way, you can read what The Queen B had to say by going here.

Here are the rules:

1. Write about 5 specific ways blogging has affected you, either positively or negatively.
2. link back to the person who tagged you
3. link back to this parent post
4. tag a few friends or five, or none at all
5. post these rules— or just have fun breaking them

Here goes:
1) Communication - Blogging has given me a way to share news with our family and friends that don't live nearby.
2) Mommy guilt - Blogging has freed me from some of the guilt I feel that my kids' scrapbooks aren't up-to-date - I can turn some of these posts into scrapbook pages, and the journaling is already done!
3) Time Management - I am spending more time online now that I used to, both posting and reading others' blogs. However, I think it's definitely worth the time (see communication - and know that I'm a big fan of writing notes and letters, which I definitely did not have time for).
4) Learning new ideas - Some of my online time is now spent "blog-surfing" - linking to other folks' blogs from friends' blogs, then linking on to the next one and the next one. That's how I found some really informative ones, though - like Parent Hacks and Lunch Nugget - and other ones that I read more for entertainment value.
5) Creative/Emotional Outlet - OK, so my posts aren't always creative, and maybe not even funny, but this blog is an outlet for me - a way to share what I'm thinking, how I'm feeling, and to "talk" with someone who's older than me. It's a way to share my accomplishments, my kids' milestones, and other things happy and sad.

I'm not tagging anyone - so I'm breaking rule number 5. Why? Well, I only have a few readers, and of those few with blogs, they are busy moms, so I'm not going to add to their Mommy guilt (but I'd be delighted if they gave this meme a try!).

Groovin'

Here's a quick video snippet of my kids watching the intro to a new Disney Channel show called Imagination Movers. Apparently, it's called Imagination Movers for good reason! Mister J and Miss M kept this up for the whole show! I didn't get the best part of her dancing, but you get the idea.



This is definitely going to be an alternative to outdoor activity on days when Mother Nature isn't cooperating with my kids' need to get expend some energy - fun for them, and educational, too. Another plus - it has real people in it - not just animation!

(Hooray for me - my first video post!)

Another First Day of Preschool

This isn't my first time dropping my kids off at preschool. In fact, today was J's fourth "first day" and M's second. Still, with four first days already under my belt, today was a little emotional for me. As excited as I have been for preschool to resume, it's another milestone - a reminder that my kids are that much older, that much bigger, and that much closer to being smarter than me.

I have to brag - my kids did great at drop-off today! M was a little hesitant at first - okay, so she ran away from the classroom while I hung up her backpack. But once she realized she'd dropped her kitty cat and came back for it, one of the teachers was at the door with a big smile, inviting her in. That's all it took - in she went, then found a puzzle to play with, and I was off to check on big brother. J had already walked up to his classroom, and he knew I'd be there shortly to check on him and say goodbye. When I peeked in, he'd already found his seat and was writing his name on his coloring page. He looked a little sad and his shoulders were sagging, but he perked up when he saw me, and after that got to work on coloring the letter A and pictures of "a" things. I guess he was back to normal pretty quickly, as he got in trouble on the first day of class. Just normal boy stuff - and I've been assured by the teacher that it's normal, first-two-weeks-of-school behavior. But I'm still allowed to fret a little bit. It's my job.

OK - now to the good part - more pictures!

Miss M was ready to go - her backpack was filled up, and was heavy, but she insisted upon wearing it. It's just a stage - we are going through it for the second time. Thankfully, it won't be that full every day - we had to take her special snacks to school with us this morning, so they were packed inside. Maggie was very upset on the way home that there wasn't a sippy cup in her bag - they took their own cups to the toddler class last year, so that's what she's used to. However, she's a big girl now and they use real cups in the two-year-old classes!



Mr. J was also anxious to load into the mommy-van and get to school! He was so good while I was snapping a few photos this morning - even doing his best to not squint in the morning sun. I tried the "keep your eyes closed until I say three" trick - he listened on the first try, and it worked! I think what I should really do is find a better spot for pictures. He's usually very squirmy when it comes to pictures, but this morning was a breeze. I guess he's passed the "squirmy" title on to Miss M.




This is my little man doing his homework. Yep, you read that right, homework on the first day. This evening, we worked on his "All About Me" booklet that he'll be sharing in class next week. I learned some new things about Jonah - his favorite color is now green (a change from yellow - but he still wants his bedroom walls to be yellow), his favorite book is Bible verses (then why have we been reading the Richard Scarry Dictionary at bedtime all summer long?!?), and he is afraid of monsters that come in his room (I always thought it was the auto-flush toilets in public restrooms - he hates those). I enjoyed helping him work on the booklet - from tracing his hand for the cover to writing out his answers and letting him copy them into the booklet. I was very impressed by his determination to write in all of the answers himself - even the long ones! I was also very proud of him for drawing the family portrait, when I can tell that he's not as confident about his artistic skills. However, we do know that he can be quite creative when he wants to be (see this post for an example).

I have one more cute story to share - this is how I knew Miss M had a wonderful first day. Last year, she was clingy at drop-off, and would often cry when I would come to pick her up - that, "Hey, you left me here! But I'm just now realizing it, now that you are here to pick me up, so I'm going to cry even though that was three hours ago" cry. Today, she was so busy playing with a shape sorter that she didn't even notice I was at the door. When she finally did see me, she shouted, "Mommy! My mommy! That's my mommy!" And when I picked her up, she wasn't clingy - she told me that she had painted, showed me the picture she colored, and then gave her teacher a goodbye kiss. I was so proud of her - and yes, a little emotional, too.

Creative, isn't he?

Here's a quick snap of Mr. J with some of his favorite toys - Kid K'Nex. While they come with an idea book - his sets can make boats, cars, bugs, and more - my guy got more imaginative this particular day. This creation is called a "booger buster."

According to the demonstration we were given, you have to rock it back and forth. I don't know much more about how it operates - nor do I think I care to. But, Mr J was mighty proud of this particular creation, so it warranted a quick snap and a quick post by a proud, though somewhat puzzled, mama.

Drought

Not talking about the weather, but about my lack of posting. Unfortunately, I haven't really felt very inspired lately. It's not that we haven't done anything blog-worthy - we have had visits with the grands, we have been geocaching a couple of times, and Jonah even ate steak without complaining one night! (I know - pinch me!) However, I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed with lots of "stuff" to do right now - about 3 more busy weeks to go - and my enthusiasm is waning. Not to worry - I expect I'll be back soon. There are dental visits (ugh!), the first day of a new preschool year (bittersweet!), and surely lots more fun things to blog about. There will be more photos, too - I have 4gb of them to clear off of my memory sticks, so I certainly have plenty to share. For now, though, I am taking one thing off of my "to do" list, and getting through the next few weeks before I pick this one back up.

All I want for Christmas is a GPS

Mister J and I tried something new today - geocaching! It's a modern-day treasure hunt game played - literally - all over the world. We joined some church friends for our first attempt, and had lots of fun. The best part about it - almost anyone can do it! Since we don't have a GPS unit, we can't do it on our own yet, but I guess you can figure out what we (well, I...) want for the next gifting occasion. I'm always looking for fun things to do outside since I'm not a naturally outdoorsy girl, and this fits the bill. I really think it'll be a great family activity for us, especially since Mister J is so interested in maps, and can't wait to introduce Big J to geocaching. Miss M isn't quite old enough to understand it yet, but that'll come soon enough. So, one brief expedition and two geocaches later, I think I'm already hooked. Now I just need a GPS.... Special thanks to the G family for letting us join them in the hunt this afternoon!

Dough-NUTS!

I have a cute little story to share from church this morning. It seems there were a few doughnuts left over from this morning's fellowship hour at church, and someone was kind enough to send them up to the nursery, presumably for the staff, but perhaps for snacktime, too. My little man and his baby sister were in the nursery during the 11:00 service, so they were each set to benefit in a tasty way from someone's generosity. As the snack was being served, Mister J told the nursery workers that Miss M could NOT have a doughnut because "she can't have nuts, she has a allergy." Cute, eh? Doughnuts. DoughNUTS. Must have nuts in it, right? He was so insistent, in fact, that Miss M did not get one - she had goldfish while everyone else ate a doughnut (poor thing!). The nursery staff recounted the morning's events when we picked the kids up, just to be sure they weren't about to cause Miss M to have an allergic reaction over a doughnut. Apparently, Mister J was very insistent!

While quite humorous, of course, I am also charmed, once again, by my sweet boy watching out for his little sister. For all the times I wonder if he's really listening to me, let this be a reminder that as long as he's remembering the truly important things, perhaps I can take it a little easier the rest of the time.

Two things!

Well, I still haven't remembered what I forgot, but I do have two little nuggets of wisdom-gained-through-experience for you tonight....

Nugget #1:
Miss M doesn't like to have her hair washed, and I can't (for whatever reason) get her to look up at the ceiling when I rinse her hair. So I tried this trick a while back when we were visiting my Mom, and Miss M thought it was pretty fun. I washed her hair "beauty shop" style! I knelt by the side of the tub, held her "football-style" cradling her head in one hand (over the tub, of course), and used the other to wash her hair. I used a plastic cup to pour the water over her head, and it stayed out of her ears and eyes. I've refined it a bit since then, sitting on the kids' stepstool or side of the tub and letting Miss M lay across my lap - she's quite a bit to long for the football hold, but when you are improvising.... Either way - it's much better than pouring water over the head of a screaming 2-year-old who is flailing about and trying to climb out of the tub because she hates having her hair washed!

Nugget #2:
We've all heard how kids are supposed to use fluoride-free toothpaste until they learn to spit it back out, but how do you teach a kid to spit out that sugary-sweet toddler gel? To a kid, it must be like liquid candy, because I have found my kids sucking it from the tube when I thought they were napping (we now store it out of reach in another room....). Did you ever notice that those baby and toddler gels don't make any bubbles? Besides the sugary taste, those gels also contain simethicone. You remember simethicone - it's the main ingredient in the drops you give babies when they are gassy. Well, the simethicone keeps the toddler gel from making bubbles, so what's there to spit out, really? Quite a while back, I found a children's fluoride-free toothpaste without simethicone made by Tom's of Maine. Once we switched to this toothpaste, I explained to J that he needed to spit the bubbles out - viola! The next time we went shopping for toothpaste, we picked out one containing fluoride. That was about the easiest transition ever - J thought it was cool to have bubbly toothpaste like Mom and Dad! The kids both like the flavor of this toothpaste - also a plus - and for some reason they don't actually try to suck this kind from the tube (yet another plus!). I've tried it a couple of times with Miss M, but she's not quite ready to spit the bubbles. No worries, though, since it's safe for her to swallow. I also like it because I'm using an all-natural product. Best of all - the dentist was glad to find out that J was using a fluoride toothpaste earlier than most kids his age - I must admit I was quite proud of that!

Totally bloggable, but....

I don't think my Mom-nesia will ever end. I came up with a great tip I wanted to share today (I was even thinking of submitting it to parenthacks.com if it wasn't already out there), and before I could get online, I forgot what I wanted to post. Granted, it's been at least six hours since the idea popped into my head. Dinner has been served and cleaned up, children have run amok and been brought back under control, children were later put to bed, ice cream was made and eaten, work was finished (thank goodness for work-from-home, flex hours), emails were read, and more. No wonder I forgot!

I shouldn't really be surprised by forgetting. It happens a lot. I know I haven't surprised any of you. I like to think I can be Martha in the kitchen and the craft room, and I am pretty good with a hammer and a drill, but remembering the day-to-day stuff just isn't working for me right now. There are many times I've thought of something bloggable while driving between points A and B, or I've been trying to go to sleep at night and a post pops into my head fully-formed. Problem is, I can never remember it long enough to actually get it on the blog.

Before I was a mom, I would wear Post-Its around to help me remember things (this was when I worked in an office, and the strange looks I'd get from others would remind me that I was wearing a Post-It). Alternatively, I'd write notes on the back of my hand. Can't have the kids pick up that habit - there are only so many times you can say "Mommy had an accident with a pen" before the kiddos figure you out....

I never imagined I could blog about my lack of topic. If I should happen to remember what I was originally hoping to post, I'll make myself a note - if I can find a Post-It.
(Haha - get it? If I can find a Post-It, then I'll be able to post it - definitely tired mommy humor....)

Shakin' Things Up!

Every mom knows that kids who play hard take great naps. That's exactly what I had in mind today when we made ice cream! Yes, you read that right - we made ice cream. The twist - and the reason your kids will nap well afterwards - is that instead of using an ice cream churn, we shook it up. It didn't take long - but you will me amazed how much energy it takes to shake your soon-to-be ice cream for 5 minutes!

Here are the kids, hard at work - before they let me take over:













And, here are the kids tasting the final product:













I learned a couple of lessons during the process:

1 - Be prepared to do some (no, a LOT) of the shaking yourself (but you won't earn a nap....)
2 - Dig out the mittens from last winter before you get started.
3 - Homemade beats store bought - especially since this was so easy!

The recipe? Did you want the recipe? Oh, okay.....
(By the way, I got the recipe from FamilyFun.com - I watched the video first, and you can get a printable version of the recipe, too).

For the ice cream, you'll need:
2 Tablespoons sugar
1 cup half-and-half
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 small (quart-sized) zipper bag

For the "shaker" bag, you'll need:
1/2 cup kosher or rock salt (we used kosher)
ice cubes
2 large (gallon-sized) zipper bag

Prep time: less than 5 minutes; Shaking Time: 5 minutes; Yield: 2 servings

Pour the sugar, half-and-half, and vanilla extract into the small bag and zip closed (squeeze out most of the air, but not all of it). Double-bag the large bags, and put the small bag with the ice cream ingredients inside. When you are ready to start shaking, add the ice (I filled it a little more than 1/2 way) and the salt. Close the bags and shake for about 5 minutes, until the ice cream is a little thicker than soft serve.

We did not add any toppings to the ice cream - I'm a big believer in trying it "as-is" the first time. You shouldn't get any complaints - it was fantastic!

I doubled the recipe to make four servings. I did not increase the portions within the small bag - I made two "shakers" and then shook each recipe-worth of ice cream individually (it is possible to do all of the shaking yourself....). By the way, I highly recommend double-bagging, and I also suggest using store-brand bags. I used name-brand bags, which got torn, so in any case you probably won't be able to use them twice.

We will be making this ice cream again, and I will update this post if we come up with any good variations on the original recipe. Hope you will try it - it's great fun, and a great way to cool off on a HOT summer day!

Big Words

Ok, so we haven't exactly taken away the paci yet. Miss M has passed her 2nd birthday, I know the dentist will be unhappy with me when we go again in August, but I just can't do it yet. We have cut it back to naptime and bedtime, and I'll eventually cross that next milestone. In the meantime, Miss M has gone from asking for her "paci" to sometimes calling it her "paci-fower" - which, in Maggie-speak, means "paci-flower." Cute, eh?

Convo with the hubby

Sometimes, I'm just tired. Even with afternoon naps the past two days, I'm still feeling the effects of "vacation" - hence this exchange from last evening. I hope you see the humor in it that I did at the time (and, well, still do!).

Husband: Hey, can you help me take out the trash?

Wife (me): Um, I just put the kids to bed (by myself).

Husband: You helped make the trash.

Wife: Yep. And you helped make the kids....

Needless to say, I didn't get up off the couch.

Enjoy - at our expense ;)

Ewww.....

There are times that I want to just say no - flat out no - to some of my kids' experiments. But, I am always reminded by my husband (or his voice in my head) that as long as the kids aren't hurting themselves, what's the harm? Obviously, he's not the Type A of the family.

As we sat down to dinner this evening, after a looong ride home from the beach, there wasn't much to choose from - soup, sandwiches, watermelon, grapes, milk. We had stopped by Costco on the way home for a few essentials, but otherwise, the cupboards were bare. I offered my son a soybutter and jelly sandwich, some soup and crackers, or a grilled cheese. He decided that none of these was what he wanted. Instead, he asked for a soybutter and cheese sandwich. ICK! As I began to explain to him why it wasn't a good choice, I got "the look" from my husband. So, with as straight a face as I could muster, I made the soybutter and cheese sandwich as requested (cheese on top, cut into dinosaurs) and put it on the table. My son ate the whole thing, even the crust. I wonder if he did that because it was actually good, or just to prove a 4-year-old point of some kind....

Sun Fun 2008

We came to the beach for a wedding on Saturday night- the first one we've attended as a family. The kids thought it was super fun since it was ON the beach! You wouldn't believe the number of bathing-suited onlookers! We made the trip into a week-long vacation, hanging out with lots of Grandma R's family - cousins, aunts, uncles, and 4 dogs!

Among the pictures from the evening of the wedding, Grandpa R snapped a few shots of us - here's a family photo that you might see again sometime!



Plus, Grandpa H and MeMaw rode down on their motorcycles to visit the kids on Sunday (well, us too!) and played with the kids in the sand. Check out Grandpa in his motorcyle gear! They had great weather for the ride, and we had a beautiful day for some fun on the shore!

Of course, no beach trip would be complete without some sandcastle building! Here's MeMaw helping the kiddos out with their first creation of the week -


And here, you see Mommy and Daddy getting in on the action - reliving their childhood, perhaps?



Beach fun isn't all about building - sometimes, it's about digging (or walking on the pier, or flying a kite, or eating a sno-cone, or playing in the water). Check out the "pool" that Mommy and Daddy made for the kiddos! They played in one that some kids had vacated, and really enjoyed it, so we made one for them the next day. I did not realize how much digging was involved....

Thanks to JD for the shovels, and the above photo, plus these two of my cuties:



Thanks to Margaret and Roger for the great "excuse" to vacation at the beach (Best Wishes!!!!), to Aunt L and Uncle D for having us for the week (and feeding us!!! and for the sno-cones!!!). I - not being a "beach person" - am so surprised by how much fun I had, and how much I'm looking forward to our next vacation at the beach!

Busy, busy summer

Wow - I'm in blogging withdrawal! It's been a whole week since my last post, but we have been SO busy! Last weekend, we went down to SC for a family reunion. This week, we have been at church every morning - I've been helping with Extreme Makeover: Nursery Edition and the kids have been hanging out with the youth volunteers. I felt like they deserved some extra-special kid time for being such troupers while I helped out with painting prep and other Makeover-related tasks, so Tuesday afternoon we pulled out the water hose, kiddie pool, and yard sprinkler for loads of backyard fun. Daddy was able to join us for a while after he finished up with work. In the end, we were all soaked - but smiling! As much as I'd love to have a picture to put up with this post, I was having too much fun to run inside for the camera. I'm trying to remember that living in the moment is just as important as capturing it on camera - and sometimes even more so. Now that I know how much fun it can be, we'll be pulling that pool out again - and perhaps next time I'll get a few snapshots to share!

Pretty Colors

(Mermaids, seaweed, and starfish, oh my!)

One more Mommy Milestone down - I painted with the kids! As many of you know, I am summer camp this year, so I've got all kinds of arts and craft supplies for the kids. You might also know how fearful I am of the mess-making potential of paints and markers (my kids can be sneaky and fast). For this art session, we used card stock, tempera paint, and stamps to make some jungle and ocean pictures, and we even mixed the colors to make some new ones! J especially liked seeing the new colors we made.

We have had quite a busy summer so far, so we haven't had art time as much as I'd like, but I anticipate more time once things slow down later on in the month. The kids had a great time with this project, and so did I, so we will certainly break out the paints again soon.

(I didn't get the best smile here, but he really was having a good time)