October 29, 2007

say cheese

screaming mamas

I did something last night that I haven't done since I was in college. I went to a haunted house with two friends, JS and LT (thanks ladies, it was a blast). Nightmare at Beaver Lake is an annual event and it's a little different then your typical haunted house. You are led through trails around the park, in the dark, and your final stop is the haunted house itself. It was a real scream and lots of fun. I was either screaming my head off or laughing my head off. We three women, who have birthed babies mind you and seen far scarier things raising toddlers alone, seemed to be easy targets. Around every corner someone dressed in costume and make up scared the crap out of us. Chased us around. And if it wasn't one of the actors it was people behind us getting an easy laugh. That is until I slapped the young man's arm behind us and told him to stop it. (Sorry little man but it was tense moment and you deserve it!)



We also went to EE's Pirate Halloween Party yesterday. The kids dressed up in their costumes as Batman, Little Red Riding Hood and a China doll for the festivities. As always the party was very creative and very crazy with tons of kids running around.


October 26, 2007

fun with water

Baby Love has discovered the thrill of playing in water. Any water. Doesn't matter if it's in the swimming pool, the tub, the toilet (her favorite by the way) or the dog dish. I recently found her soaking wet after she found the newly filled dog dish this week. The movie is a little loud at first because of a toy her big siblings were pushing around, but it's cute. Enjoy!

vacancy

It's been a very slow, reluctant goodbye. But I finally did the dirty deed this morning. Poor Swimmy had in bad shape for a few weeks now and we couldn't get him back to his old self no matter how much we tried. I cleaned out the bowl and the girls and I are going to go help Wonder boy pick out "Swimmy version 2.0" this afternoon.

six year old philosophy

“Hey Mom!”

“Yeah?”

“God is dead”

“What? Where did you talk about that? And who told you that?”

“Just at school.”

“Who at school told you that?”

“Oh Bob” (made up to protect the innocent) “He said that God was dead. Like a ghost. But like a friendly ghost.” “Is God real?”

“Well, some people very much believe God is real.”

“I don’t believe God is real because he’s a ghost and ghosts don’t exist.”

"Well, honey, ummmm, that's a very logical way to think about it."


I debated about posting this conversation I recently had with Wonder Boy. I understand how some people (some people I'm even related to) would cringe in their skin at the very lack of education I have provided my children on the subject of religions in general. However, I revel in the pure logic my son possesses. No one can deny that his thought pattern on the subject was nothing less than, well . . . . logical. After all we, as a society, generally teach our children that ghosts just don't exist therefore we need not be afraid of something that isn't real. So when Bob explained (no doubt how it was explained to him) just what or who God is, Wonder Boy really pondered the the idea of it. I can't say I'm not proud, because I am. In that very moment, I realized something. I had achieved a little, small piece of a goal I had set out to do. The very thing I had hoped for when having children. I am raising free thinkers! Wonder Boy took that information and instead of blindly saying to himself "okay, whatever, if that's what you say it is, then that is what it must be". Instead he took it in, he chewed it up, he dissected it and swallowed a conclusion that was right for him. Amen to that!

October 22, 2007

the good, the bad, the ugly

The Good: I got a new camera! Yay!! It's the newer version of my little Canon PowerShot ELPH and I love it. It's got all the same working mechanics plus some cool extras, so I haven't had to relearn anything. Bonus!

The Bad: My house is a complete mess and I'm hosting this little party here Thursday night. I just can't get control of the clutter and chaos. Slowly I get something under control, only to turn around and find something else that's been piling up or destroyed by the kids. Ugh!

The Ugly: I was sooooooo happy to go glass blowing again and I was dying to see how my pumpkin turned out. Unfortunately, mine turned out like this:

Uh huh - yep, the ugly! Very, very ugly. But again, it's not everyday one goes glass blowing.

Thank you EP for a fun time this afternoon! You're the best and your "blue eyed devils" are just supreme! :)


October 20, 2007

generation gap

Scene: Friday night movie night with the family.

Movie: Firehouse Dog

Wonder Boy: (hearing music playing in the background of the movie) "Hey Mom! I know that music!"

Me: "Yeah?!?"

Wonder Boy: "Yeah! Mom!!! That's the music on my blog!"

Wonder Boy: (getting more excited) "Mom!! MOM!!! That's the music from our blogs!!"

Me: "Yes, that's a good song."

J (aka husband): "Now that's a sentence I never said in my childhood!"

End Scene.

October 18, 2007

glass works

I went glass blowing tonight for the second time. It is so much fun!! It's one of those unique, rare experiences you feel like you have to brag about because, well . . . . let's face it, average people like me don't go off blowing glass everyday.

Just in time for Halloween and Thanksgiving, we made pumpkins instead of the inaugural decorative glass balls we made the first experience. I'm always amazed at just how NOT fragile the whole process is. The weight of the pipe, the constant turning and caressing of the goo, the blowing of different speeds, the cave man like tools, the "glory hole", the heat, the urgency and all the other sexual innuendos that glass blowing involves. Aside from actually having sex (hi mom) it is truly one of the coolest things I've ever done. It is an amazing art form and I have found a new appreciation for such art. Seriously!

October 15, 2007

weekend rundown

We had a really great weekend with the best fall weather!!! Saturday, Miss O and I went to our local fab nursery, Molbaks, and watch The Little Red Riding Hood play. It was cute and funny and Miss O loved every minute of it. It was fun hanging out with just her. She's a great kid! We did some shopping and some holiday browsing afterwards. We decided her Halloween costume this year will be Little Red and seeing the play made her excited about it. Here she is in her red cape before the play started. Fun time!















Yesterday we decided to not let the gorgeous weather pass us by and we headed out to the pumpkin patch for our annual family visit. It was fun riding the tractor ride out to the patch and wondering around the field taking pictures and trying to pick out pumpkins not too heavy that we couldn't carry them. As we got in the car, we discovered my camera stopped working after four years. Good thing it decided to break after we took 500 pictures of pumpkins!! Now we are shopping for a new camera because I can't go too long without having one to take a bazillion pictures with.
























We finished our weekend off with some fall cleaning around the house, decorating the porch with pumpkins and eating apple pie bought at the farm for desert. What could be better?!?!?!

October 13, 2007

more bloggity blog love

Here's another adorable cupcake blog. It fills me with inspiration for lots of fun birthday and holiday party themes. Love it!!

Cupcakes Take The Cake

This next blog I found via GoodyBlog and I fell in love with it at first site. Matthew Mead is like the male version of Martha Stewart but it's way easier to put his ideas into action. He has fun holiday downloads and great recipes.

MatthewMeadStyle.Com

Check them out!

October 11, 2007

another day, another pumpkin patch















Today was our second trip to a pumpkin patch this week. This time we went with Miss O's preschool class. The weather held out and it was a nice outing for a trip to the farm with a bunch of three and four years go. We took a short tractor ride to the small patch, each picked a pumpkin, headed back to this very cool, old barn for the hay maze upstairs, then out to see the stinky piglets and the chickens.




















This is Miss O's best friend at school. She attended this preschool last year and there was only three girls total in her class. This year, the girls out number the boys big time. It's fabulous! When we went to the meet and greet at the beginning of the year I spotted Kalin across the way quickly when I scanned the room full of new classmates because she is very tall just like Miss O. The two of them are very similar in body style and I think it's safe to say they bonded pretty quickly.
















Here they are. See if you can spot Miss O . . .

October 9, 2007

down on the farm

Today Baby Love and I were down on the farm for our preschool field trip. We had lots of fun learning about how plants grow, how worms dig, how animals help and how fast little kids can get as dirty as possible. The weather is unusually warm. I stepped out of the house with my rain boots, my heavy coat and Baby Love all bundle up ready to brave the cold only to get roasted out. I hear the rain in coming in big time and we are due for a storm tonight though.

*Baby Love is wearing her big brother's hand-me-down rain boots and raincoat, both a little too big. She spent most of her time falling down or losing her boots. Ahhhh, good times!






When Baby Love saw the goat eating the grass, she lowered her body down to the ground on all fours and started sort of licking the grass. I thought for a minute "oh my gawd, what in the world are you doing???" Then I quickly realized she was mimicking the goat eating grass. So funny!



When we got home for the farm, I was greeted with another mystery mama gift. She left a little mid-day pick me up and I quickly gobbled it up not sharing with the kids. It hit the spot and was just what I needed. Thanks mystery mama where ever you are!!

October 8, 2007

eating good


















One good thing about the kids being sick is we skip Wonder Boy's martial art class and stay home. Which means I can start a movie down stairs for the sick kids and turn on Oprah upstairs. Today I was happy to see Oprah wasn't talking about how to buy the perfect pair of jeans for your body type where no pair of jeans they reveal cost under a 100 bucks. Or the sob story on a famous person who made gobs of money. Or yet another look in how bad off Africa is. It was actually about something that's useful to a regular, down to earth mom that won't spend over 30 dollars on a pair of jeans. She had Jessica Seinfeld (married to Jerry Seinfeld) on with her new book Deceptively Delicious which is all about how to hide vegetables in your children's' food. Everything is low fat and according to Oprah, delicious. Gotta love it! I already have it in my Amazon shopping cart.

October 7, 2007

crib for sale

Well, it finally happened. We are done with the crib stage (knock on wood!). I've successfully put Baby Love to bed in her newly hand-me-down toddler bed two nights in a row this weekend. It wasn't a move that was necessarily necessary. She wasn't climbing out of her crib or anything. Heck, she only started walking a month ago. And the ease of putting her in the crib and walking of of the room knowing she'll stay there no matter what was like magic goodness to me. It was just time I guess.

Miss O had been sleeping in the toddler bed until recently when she finally got her big girl twin sized bed. She started sleeping in the toddler bed at 18 months and because of limited space, the small bed was just what we had available. Then J painted my old childhood bed and we set it up for her. Since then, we have had a toddler bed in the middle of the kitchen. So really the push for Baby Love to switch was just because we needed to get the little bed out of our kitchen.

J took the crib apart on Saturday and the transition has been good. Two nights in a row, I have laid her down, started her music, and left the room. She's stayed in bed with very little squawking and actually feel asleep quickly both nights. Yahoo!! Maybe switching beds at earlier ages is better than postponing it. She is still of the mentality that she can't leave the bed unless someone comes to take her out even though it's only 5 inches off the ground.

So now the crib has been broke down for the very last time in our home. As it sits leaning against the wall in the hallway, with it's mattress resting on it's frame, I reflect. We actually bought the crib from J's brother and sister-in-law before we were even pregnant with Wonder Boy. It's slept four children soundly and safely. It's heard many cries and had many peaceful nights. It's been set up in four different bedrooms and reposition too many times to count. It's moved from California to Washington in the back of a pick up truck. And it's ready to find a new home. Another family. Another bedroom. And a new baby to put to sleep soundly and safely. Sweet dreams . . . . .

timeline

Age one: I finally get my first tooth.

Age two: I put a rubber band up my nose. Just as my mom has it almost out, I sniff it up again.

Age three: I'm a late talker but once I finally talk, one can't shut me up.

Age four: I love to sing at the top of my lungs with the handle of my jump rope as my microphone and the fireplace mantle is my stage. I also dress my cat, Tom, up in baby clothes and push him around in my doll stroller. He lets me.

Age five: I pee in my pants during kindergarten at math time because Ms. George wouldn't look in my direction no matter how many times I hopped, wiggled, tapped her arm or changed her shoulder sides begging for permission to use the bathroom.


Age six: My parents divorce. We move into an apartment with stairs. I had always wanted stairs. My mom smuggles in a puppy against the lease and we name him Maynard.

Age seven: I spend many days and nights with my best friend, Sandra Adams, and her family of 6. Her father is the grounds keeper for a Jewish camp and we play around the many cabins, explore the vast property, and swim/boat in the small lake. Childhood bliss!


Age eight: I have a pet rabbit I name Genius. I reach my arms into her cage every morning and wrap them around her as she snuggles up under my chin for warmth before catching the bus. My mom and I rescue a baby duckling from the feed store and nurse him back to health. We name him Lucky and give him to my Grandma Donna to live.

Age nine: We move into a camper trailer behind my aunt's house and I change schools mid fifth grade year.


Age ten: I break my arm so high up that it was useless to put a cast on. I wear a sling. The kids at school don't believe my arm is broken and I'm forced to hit a bratty schoolmate in the head with a tether ball because she won't stop punching me in my shoulder.

October 6, 2007

new headers

I have been playing around with my crafty side - too bad I'm not more technical or artsy. But it's fun! Check it out:

Wonder Boy's

Waking Up With You

Plus, my new header which is similar to Wonder Boy's, I'm sure I'll play around with it somemore.

October 5, 2007

parenting tip #1

Keep a pair of finger nail clippers in your car. After your babe falls asleep in his/her car seat, and after you've stopped the car of course, clip his/her finger nails while he/she sleeps before pulling him/her out of his/her seat. No more wiggly, flailing arms and no more accidental getting actual finger in the clippers while you struggle to trim the little razors from those tiny fingers. Works like a charm!

October 4, 2007

happy fall

I really do love this fall weather - it's my favorite time of year. I love the golden glow from the sun, the changing colors of the leaves, the clean smell of the air and the crisp temperatures. I love the sound of the rain on my windows as I sit in my nice, cozy house wrapped up in a blanket. The anticipation of Halloween - my favorite holiday this time of year. Happy October! Happy Fall! Happy Halloween!! Love it, love it!!

little sweets


I'm in the process of making baby announcements for one of my friends. I love the color and the scallop punch.

October 3, 2007

secret agent mystery mama strikes again

Yesterday was a rough day. It seems like everyone is falling into a routine but now the newness has worn off and we are all tired. Sicknesses are creeping up and knocking us down. I was teaching yesterday, worried about Miss O who I dropped off at her school knowing she wasn't feeling great and with a cough that sounded like a pack of barking baby seals. I told the teachers to call me if she got worse and they never did so I assumed the morning went okay. There was a brief moment in my morning where I was making up silly words with a young student's name in between. He giggled and found joy in my silliness which made me happy.

My supreme friend volunteered to pick up Miss O on Tuesdays and I'm forever grateful to her. Her daughter enjoys the extra time at school without the hustle and bustle of the other kids while we wait. I worried she might be upset with O's cough and loading her up into her car with her brand new baby. I hope everything was okay!

I picked up Wonder Boy at school being greeted by his solemn face. The face that tells me something went wrong. You see Wonder Boy has two speeds. Overly exhausting or solemn and pouty. There's no in between with him and J and I desperately try to help him find that happy medium on a daily basis mostly to no avail. WB told me he had a slip in his back pack that I need to sign and send back to school or he would miss his recess - it was a RED day. Apparently, he and his buddy went to the bathroom at recess and WB flush the toilet repeatedly causing it to overflow. It's only kindergarten and it's only a month into the school year and everybody already knows that little red head boy with glasses who either makes you laugh or makes you run for the nearest mop. Gawd I worry!

Weight Watchers weigh in was last night and I was up 2.2 pounds. I missed last week because of a scheduled kayaking trip with the ladies that was postponed because of rain, so we went out to dinner instead. So in two weeks I gained. I knew I would be up so it wasn't devastating but it was a wake up call that I needed to get back on program. I texted my adoring husband who responded with "that's as much as I fluctuate in a day, don't sweat it!" Thanks honey, I love you! I drove to the store afterwards and bought some of those 0 point soups they have now and ate one for dinner. They're not bad.

And that's when my Mystery Mama struck again. While I was off feeling crappy about the days' events, she was at my house dropping off another gift to my surprise. I wasn't expecting anything because she had already delivered those beautiful lilies. She left a Starbucks card and a delicious smelling candle that makes me hungry smelling it. Yum!

I have to think of her and her kindness as I'm faced with those people. The people that suck! As I was this morning. I won't mention names or even how I know her, but I'm stuck dealing with her on a regular basis and it's annoying. I watched her walk around with her extra wide gait from the protection of my car; like a slow gallop in her high heel boots: wide step, bended knee, bounce up, wide step, bended knee, bounce up, wide step, bended knee, bounce up. I watched her approach other people and throw her head back knowing that she had just said something that only she found so funny as I have been on the receiving end of her humor many-a-times. She always has a snide comment to say and it takes everything I've got not to flip her off New York style with my whole arm and tell her what to do with all her perfectness because nobody gives a damn.

I was sent an email this morning from the mom of another boy in Wonder Boy's class. She wants WB to ride the bus home with her son next week so they can play. I know he would LOVE it and getting to ride the bus would be icing on the cake for that's all he's been wanting to do since he started school. But once again I worry. I don't know this mom and I only met the boy this morning. Without saying yes, I asked where they lived and told her we should chat. I want to ask if they keep guns in the house even though I feel totally weird about it and I need to worn her of Wonder Boy's exuberance. I'll keep you posted . . . . .

October 1, 2007

secret mamas




















There is a lovely lady in my moms' group that organizes a little something called "Mystery Mamas" which is much like Secret Santa's in concept; for a set period of time, women who sign up, deliver little gifts in secret once a week to the one they have been assigned. It's fabulous and I love it!!! Today, almost completely forgetting that I signed up, arrived home to find these beautiful, orange lilies on my doorstep. As soon as I saw them I knew they were from my mystery mama and they instantly brightened my day!!

J and I found a house just across the street from the elementary school Wonder Boy attends. We both really liked it. It's a total flip! Someone bought it a year ago and pretty much gutted it and put a brand new house in. It has four bedrooms which is what we have been looking for. The down side: it's across the street (literally) from the school and the traffic every morning and afternoon is a quite a bear and it's a split level house, not my favorite style of house. But this one was a little different; you don't walk into the front door being greeted by stairs going up and down, instead you walk into a little foyer area and the stairs are off to the side. It has tons and tons of storage, a completely brand new kitchen and four bedrooms which J and I could be totally blinded by because that's what we want most right now. So we are weighing our options. Our house now is not in "sell ready shape" at all and I've kind of grown attached to the house and the location. My dream? We would be able to move into a bigger house and rent this house out. But of course I know that's a crap shoot!