Water-huis

My Life as a Novel

2012-01-09T17:39:00.003-05:00

This chapter would be titled, "Mom! Caroline just did a huge poop!"

Subtitles to choose from could be:

Life with a 4-month-old
Wow. I guess I need to get a larger size diaper.
Complete wardrobe changes
I guess I will be washing diapers today

In other news, I'm feeling very productive today. It helps that Caroline took 2 3-hour naps today. That kid is a champ. Here's a partial list of things I did today (most of them in the morning):

homeschooled Luke
washed all the dishes from the weekend
2 loads of laundry (including the diapers mentioned before)
used up 8 brown bananas in some bread
went to Costco
cleaned the bathroom

I'm also feeling another post coming on about New Year's Resolutions. We'll see if it gets written today or not.

Earworms*

2012-01-02T21:28:00.005-05:00

Lately all the kids seem to have songs in their heads. I often hear Luke humming that catchy little chorus from the J. Geils Band's "Centerfold." I'm not even really sure where he heard it, but once you do it's hard to get that "naa naa na na na na" out of your head.

Erin, on the other hand, puts words (ANY words) to Darth Vader's theme, "The Imperial March." Or she'll just go around the house humming/singing "dun dun dun dah da DUN dah da DUN."

Caroline's brand is more cute and less song-like. I wish I had a clip of her's too but imagine a very happy baby saying "oooooh" over and over again with a few "bbbbbbb"s and "guh"s thrown in. She's definitely the most "chatty" of any of our babies.

*Dictionary.com says an earworm is "an irritatingly catchy tune." Basically a song that gets stuck in your head, just like how you're humming like a Sith Lord now.

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T15:27:00.006-05:00

Couldn't decide which picture was cuter - Caroline without the pipe or Erin smiling . You decide - and have a great day!

A few quick pics of the past week

2011-12-31T22:35:00.004-05:00

Not sure I'm going to make it to midnight to ring in the new year - my eyelids are feeling heavy. Here's a quick photo recap of the last week.

Luke & Erin opening stockings on Christmas morning before church:

Caroline in her Christmas jammies (they say "My 1st Christmas):

Erin playing with one of her new horses (she got several):

Luke figuring out one of his new Lego sets - I love the hand on his chin:

Shortly after the previous picture, Luke changed into his new police officer costume, which he wore for the rest of the day. The padded chest cracks me up:

Erin playing peek-a-boo with Caroline:

Good mornings

2011-12-29T21:33:00.004-05:00

I'm not a morning person. Given the choice I would rather sleep in until I absolutely have to get up. I like my snooze button. However, a 3-month-old does not have a snooze button.

This past week it's actually been really nice, though. Erin is off from school so we've been letting the big kids stay up a little later at night. They've been sleeping in until at least 9 every morning. Caroline gets up at 7 and is back down by 8:30 for her first nap so I've had about 2 hours to myself each morning since she doesn't really talk that much.

Luke & Erin have been getting along and playing quite well together this week, which I am very grateful for and, frankly, a little surprised at. I was expecting the week to be more difficult. I guess having some new things from Christmas to play with helps. It's been especially nice and homey each morning- while Caroline naps, they play together (usually with Legos) and I work on sewing projects, something I don't usually have time for.

Today I took them to Brookside Gardens after Caroline's first nap this morning. A friend had suggested that they might like the model train display there. They did. Thanks, Bobbie!

The trains were mostly set up in the middle of the room, but there were a few around the edges as well.

A typical picture of these 3: Luke being goofy and not wanting to smile, Erin with a cute/cheesy grin, Caroline being . . . well, a baby.

The little dioramas were pretty cute and old-fashioned. There was a table with some papers that the kids could pick up - a sort of scavenger hunt for things around the display to look for. I appreciated that because it made the kids look a little closer at the set-up instead of just walking around following the trains as they moved.

Luke liked this trolley because it went into a little tunnel under all the other trains.

Fun, and free! Maybe next year we'll go at night so we can take the Garden of Lights Winter Walk. I'm not sure Caroline would have cooperated with it this year since she's decided to be cranky now every night from about 5 to 8. Next December she should be alert enough to appreciate a whole park full of Christmas lights.

From the funny pages

2011-12-27T20:18:00.002-05:00

After that last post I feel something a bit more light-hearted is necessary, so here's Alec's current favorite joke:

A man went into another house to do some work on it (much like Alec does for other folks). There was a big, scary looking dog there along with a parrot. The man treaded lightly so as not to disturb the dog, but while he worked the parrot kept saying, "Is that all you can do? Is that all you can do?" After a while the man got fed up and asked the bird, "Is that all you can say?" to which the bird replied, "Sic 'em."

***********

After a few "off" days, Caroline is finally doing better. I think it was a combination of a couple days of irregular naps and the fact that I got too lax in watching what I was eating and she had a little relapse of her reflux. I was really careful yesterday and today and she had some super naps. Tonight was the first night since Friday that she went down to bed without crying first for about a half hour. I know - that doesn't sound so bad but she's really spoiled us with her great sleep habits. I do think she is working on a new skill because all of a sudden she's stopped sleeping through the night. Last night she was up 3 times again, but back down easily after a quick snack. I'm thinking she'll probably start rolling over soon. Then we'll really have fun at bedtime. Never having swaddled a baby before, I'm curious what will happen once she begins to roll. Will I still be able to swaddle her or will I have to get rid of the blanket then?

She has also begun a new trick - sucking on her tongue until her lips pull in. It's pretty funny to watch but I don't have any pictures of it yet. I'll try tomorrow.

**********

Luke and Erin have been doing really well so far this week. I told them they have to have quiet rest time every day with no exceptions. Since everyone is home together all week alone time is important. They fussed with me about it, but they've been quiet in their rooms (well, one in their room and one in my room) each day for at least an hour and Erin even took a nap today. We'll see how late she falls asleep tonight, but right now it's 8:30 and they're still playing nicely.

**********
A little newsy, but I'm sure Mom will appreciate it. That's why I'm trying to do this more often anyway (since I'm so bad at using the telephone).

Welcome to Our World

2011-12-26T23:52:00.002-05:00

Ever since I became a mother, Christmas has had a different meaning for me. Looking at my tiny babies and seeing how helpless they were made the humility of Jesus' incarnation a bit more intense and precious. That he would voluntarily leave heaven to become someone who cried when he was hungry or needed his diaper changed is a bit overwhelming to think about sometimes, especially when I think about the fact that he did it for ME.

Becoming a mother has also made me empathize with Mary a bit more, too. That she would look on that fragile finger, tender brow and feel the tiny heart beating, knowing that her son was different, was GOD, and that she was responsible for his upbringing and care. Wow. I thought I felt a lot of pressure with my 3.

Yesterday was Christmas. I've felt really overwhelmed lately. Homeschooling, a baby, a 4-year-old who constantly toes the line then crosses it defiantly. This year I felt that I hadn't done a good job of building meaningful traditions for my children. I remembered things my own family did and wondered what my kids would remember about Christmases when they are older.

Tears are falling, hearts are breaking
How we need to hear from God
You've been promised, we've been waiting
Welcome Holy Child
Welcome Holy Child

I cried a bit. And then I realized that the memories I was recalling were from my high school and college years. I don't even remember Christmas when I was very young except for a few feelings and one memory of a present I found and pretended I didn't know about. 5-year-old feigned surprise. I'm sure my parents saw right through it.

After talking to my pastor's wife on Christmas morning and my brother later that evening, it occurred to me that a) my kids had a pretty memorable day and spent all of December (and November!) anticipating it and b) the traditions I treasure most with my family were done when my mom didn't have babies and toddlers but children who could help her get things done. Luke & Erin weren't disappointed that I didn't decorate more or make a more complicated meal (we had homemade pizza, eaten in shifts because Caroline cried all afternoon and evening). They're 6 & 4 - we made ShrinkyDink ornaments for the dining room light and put on the red chair slipcovers on Christmas Eve so the house would look festive in the morning. Maybe next year we'll add another new thing and eventually they'll add up to our own traditions. This year was simple. Jesus' birth day was pretty simple, too.

Hope that you don't mind our manger
How I wish we would have known
But long-awaited Holy Stranger
Make Yourself at home
Please make Yourself at home

Bring Your peace into our violence
Bid our hungry souls be filled
Word now breaking Heaven's silence
Welcome to our world
Welcome to our world

I hope that my children understand more about "long-awaiting" than just another sticker on the calendar to mark off another day passed, or another magnet up on the fridge advent scene, or another chocolate behind a paper door. I hope that Jesus isn't a Holy Stranger to them, but someone who is at home with us. I hope they feel a hunger in their souls and understand how Jesus fills it. I hope they understand how much Jesus gave up to be with us on Earth and for us to be with him in Heaven. I hope they see the connection between Christmas and Easter and how the one doesn't really make much sense without the other. Because isn't Christmas about hope, REAL hope?

Fragile finger sent to heal us
Tender brow prepared for thorn
Tiny heart whose blood will save us
Unto us is born
Unto us is born

So wrap our injured flesh around You
Breathe our air and walk our sod
Rob our sin and make us holy
Perfect Son of God
Perfect Son of God
Welcome to our world

Genius? Or something else?

2011-12-23T08:33:00.002-05:00

For some odd reason, Erin was only able to write her name backwards yesterday. Completely backwards. Mirror writing like daVinci used to use in his notebooks.

When I pointed it out to her, she couldn't do it the correct way unless she saw it first. I wonder what that says about her.

Flubber!

2011-12-22T16:07:00.006-05:00

*update - click here for the recipe at Carin's website

A HUGE thank you to my friend, Carin, who has inspired me in several ways over the past few days (more on that later). Today's fun idea from her was a big hit. We made Flubber! Best $3 (for borax and glue) I've spent in a long time.

A few things I overheard the last hour while they have been playing with it:

"This is the best toy ever!" (this from the boy who has told me no less than 5 times every day for the last month what he wants for Christmas)
"I'm pretending I'm a chemist."
"I'm having so much fun!!"
"pbbbblbbbppbbb" (that would be a farting sound made by blowing raspberries on the Flubber - really quite funny, but incredibly annoying after the first few times and hence banned for now)

I should also add to Carin's notes that if you have children like mine, you need to explicitly tell them NOT to put it in their hair. I just spent the last few minutes trying to get it out of Luke's hair. It wasn't too hard. I also had to get a spot off the rug where Erin dropped a piece of it - also not too hard, but you should try not to get it there in the first place.

T-ball and the return of Old Mr. Jim

2011-03-19T17:21:00.005-04:00

Luke started T-ball this week. They have practices every Thursday night and Saturday afternoon. He was frustrated after the first practice because they didn't do any batting, but I explained to him that the coach had to rush over from his work and couldn't stop to get his equipment. Also that there is more to baseball than batting. I think he understood and today he got to bat so all was well again.

Here are a few pictures. I'm not positive, but it seems to me that the ages range from about 4 to maybe 8 or 9. The 4-year-olds don't really have a clue. Luke has a red glove in this picture.

Here they're playing "fox and rabbit," a game to help them learn how tag out a runner. Luke is the fox.

And here he's the rabbit.

Today they played catch with a partner for the first time. It was pretty funny because only 1 or 2 can really throw yet and none of them can catch. They were supposed to say something to help them remember how to throw properly, but I don't think many of them remembered what to say, much less how to throw. I guess we can work on it in the back yard during school breaks. In the next picture Luke is bending down to catch.

And in this one he is just releasing the ball. Funny enough, he throws right handed. However, I noticed that they had him batting left. Maybe he can switch hit. I guess he's opposite of my dad - writes left and plays sports right.

I forgot to take pictures of the big lumber piles in the backyard. They were delivered from The Home Depot earlier this week (Monday? Tuesday?) and Alec had to move everything from the curb outside the fence a few over into the backyard, a tedious job that took most of one day. The first picture is a whole pile of 2x8s? 10s? Not sure exactly - big, long boards.

This pile is plywood. I know what that is.

Yesterday Old Mr. Jim came back to help finish up the brick laying stuff. Remember him? He got up on the scaffold again to help with the last course.

Alec also finished knocking out the bricks for the doorway between the 2 stalls. There used to be a window there.

Now he's bolting the first boards to the brick. I think he'll be finished with that tonight.

Here are some pictures I took from Erin's bedroom window so you could see a bird's eye view.

One more step back

2011-03-18T10:40:00.003-04:00

When Alec was removing the old garage roof, he noticed that the cinder blocks were very old and not put together properly. Properly meaning that they were held together by mortar (which by this time is very old and crumbly) but not filled or reinforced. When he built the new portion he put re-bar every few feet and filled the blocks with cement. No such stuff on the old part. Anchoring the new roof to a block would be only that - one block and a perhaps wobbly block at that.

So the past few days he has been mixing cement, climbing ladders & scaffolding, and pouring cement down into the blocks. The blocks are so old that their openings are much smaller than new blocks and he had to improvise a funnel - cut the tip off an old caution cone and turned it upside down. It works.

He's been pretty sore and tired at night lately.

At least the weather has been nice.

Meanwhile, Erin finds more places to "rest" with her multitudes of blankets and animals.

And Luke has been playing with a new Lego set that Aunt Pat sent for his birthday along with Erin's present. I think he has built, torn apart, and rebuilt the set about 5 times in the past 2 days.

Erin's nap spots

2011-03-15T16:13:00.007-04:00

Lately Erin has been taking self-imposed naps during quiet rest time in the afternoon. I don't usually mind, but I try not to let her sleep too long or bedtime is a disaster. We're still trying to get used to the time change right now though, and this morning's wake up for school was difficult. Plus I've been trying to take the kids on a walk each afternoon to help my glucose numbers stay down and to enjoy the springtime a little more. She was pretty tired this afternoon and I could tell she was asleep again. I can always tell when she is asleep because it gets really quiet and she doesn't ask for a tape to be flipped (yeah, I'm still trying to find the old favorites on CD so I can use the "repeat" mode and not have to get up every 15 minutes).

Before I show you how I found her today let me preface it by saying that Erin LOVES blankets and always wants them to be spread out perfectly. It's annoying when she wakes up in the middle of the night and can't do it herself. She can't fall back to sleep if they're not just so and calls me to come help - a little bit of OCD, maybe? However, during the day time she can do it by herself just fine. With EVERY SINGLE BLANKET IN HER ROOM. Really.

She also loves little cubby holes and small spaces.

Thus said, here's where she was today:

She took out all the dolls and stuffed animals from a basket that we keep them in and then spread that ABC quilt in the bottom. Next she took her bed pillow and the pillow from the rocking chair along with her "snuggle blankie" and the burp cloth I use on the side of the chair to keep the night light from shining in her eyes at night.

PLUS, this (sorry it's turned but Blogger won't let me upload it properly):

See the 2 other mounds of blankets behind her? Those have dolls, pillows and stuffed animals under them. Very considerate, my Erin.

Here's another way I found her a few weeks ago. She and Luke had been playing with those little yellow tubes non-stop for a few days and she apparently thought it would be a good thing to take a nap in. Behind her on the bed was a whole slew of toys (including the oatmeal box drum and doll you can see).

That's her rest time box and a pillow covered up with her afghan. Not so neat about the rest of the room, but when it comes to spreading blankets she's a pro.

And I didn't take a picture of another one last week, although I wish I did. I sent Luke into her room to wake her since he is very gentle and uses a soft voice (it's pretty cute). He came back out and said, "I can't find her, Mom!" She had climbed into a VERY small doll bed (similar to a doll-sized pack & play) and completely covered her head with blankets. Because the bed was so small, she was forced to sit with her feet hanging out and put her head on her knees. She was so folded and covered up that we walked right past her at first!

No more roof

2011-03-15T11:32:00.006-04:00

Here are some more pictures of the garage de-roofing that happened this weekend.

First, Alec cut the roof with his circular saw. I think he was cutting next to all the 2x4s, but I was trying not to watch so I'm not sure.

Every now and then I saw him kick out a piece so he had something to hold onto.

Here's the shed, packed to the gills now. Which was what it was built for in the first place.

And here's the inside of the POD. See the Model A headlight? It's at the left corner of that window, under that board leaning up against the car.

Here's the garage with almost all of the roof gone. Only the front needs to come down but the siding is asbestos so Alec has to be careful ripping it off.

That's the roof. Or what used to be the roof.

And a aerial view.

Last night I had to go out to the big freezer for something. It was weird to open the door, walk into a building, and still feel like I was outside.

Developments

2011-03-11T17:50:00.013-05:00

Very quickly, here's a recap and a bunch of pictures of some recent developments around here.

#1) Luke's robe

I finally finished Luke's new robe. The old one was way too small and he wears it all the time. He picked out a pattern and fabric he liked then waited patiently for each to go on sale at the fabric store - took a while! I made it for him last week finally - hadn't really felt well enough to cut and sew fabric for a couple months.

He's pretty proud of it and loves how long it is. I like how long it is too since it means I won't have to make another for him for several years!

Erin felt the need to join in. See brother's "I'll humor her but only for a minute" look.

#2) Baby growth

I find it amazing how much a baby can grow and develop in just one short month. Here's the first sonogram we had on February 4:

Doesn't look like much, does it? Here's the latest from March 8:

I realize these things can be hard to see but basically the first picture is the baby's side view, the second is his/her legs (they are crossed), and the third is an arm & hand/fist (kind of looks like a wave). Since I will be 35 at delivery and am high risk because of the diabetes they did measurements and blood tests for physical deformities. Results came back yesterday: risk for Down's is 1 in over 800, risk for trisomy 18 is 1 in 10,000, heart looks fine, size is a little bigger than normal but not enough to change the due date. Sounds good to me.

#3) Garage

Alec ordered a "PODS" to be delivered on Thursday. He has it for 3 weeks and has pretty much emptied out the garage into it and the shed by now. The next step is to tear off the old roof and then put a new one on over the old and new parts of the garage together. Progress.

It was pretty nifty to watch how these things are delivered. They come on a big truck and the storage container itself has a kind of wheeled frame around it. They call it a POD-zilla. The little wheels are lowered to the ground and then the truck slowly pulls forward:

After the truck is cleared of the container, the container is lowered slowly to the ground.

Then the POD-zilla is raised enough to clear the top of the container and driven back to the truck:

Neat, huh? Alec got the biggest container he could so he could put the Model A in it. That was a feat of strength in itself. It was pouring rain to start with. He had to put a small ramp over the edge of the container. Then I got in to steer, which was impossible because it was packed to the gills with stuff. He pushed and pushed and pushed (because it isn't running) and it finally went over the edge. Then it had to go up onto a board for some extra stabilization since it's so heavy. I'll put up some more pictures later so you can see how full the container is now.

#4) Quilting

I have a whole bunch of projects that have been sitting around for a while. Maybe it's early nesting, but I've been trying to finish them up lately. The first had a deadline - a birthday quilt for the "Wrapped in Hope" project my friend Carin runs for kids who have an incarcerated parent. I chose a little girl with the same birthday as Erin so I wouldn't forget. And of course I forgot until about a month ago. Providentially I had an almost finished quilt that pretty much fit the description for this little girl. The list of interests and colors said "green, pink, dress-up, make-up, jewelry" - there isn't any jewelry or dress-up but do you think this would fit the color scheme?

Here's a shot of the back. Erin wanted to be in the picture, too since I was using her bed.

The next quilt to finish is one for Mom's cousin Linda - a zig-zag made out of mostly scraps. I initially made it to be lap sized but it needs to be 60x80 so I'm adding a whole bunch of borders out of all the leftover pieces. I think it looks pretty cool.

I'm also working on a Christmas stocking for the baby since it will already be 3 months old at Christmas. With the other kids I had almost the whole year to work on it after they were born, but now I have to work ahead. It's fun quick work at night while I put my feet up.

And of course there are always various baby blankets I'm working on for the approximately 57 other people at church who are also expecting. Well, that's a little exaggeration but it seems there's a new announcement every other week.

#5) Erin

My baby girl turned 4 yesterday! We've kind of been celebrating a little bit all week. On Tuesday we had some friends over for supper. It was Shrove Tuesday so we had the traditional pancakes. After supper we sang Happy Birthday and had cake. Not exactly the most nutritious meal, I guess, but exceptions can be made for special occasions, right?

On Thursday Luke and I made brownies and brought them to Erin's school to share with her classmates. The birthday person always gets to wear a little crown and be the leader that day. They light a little candle and sing too.

And yesterday morning we opened presents. Quite a haul.

Two were for Luke since Aunt Kelly sent his presents now - the best present ever for him. A spy gadget set & "night vision" goggles. He's been playing with them non-stop and even wore them to Target yesterday (where he promptly felt goofy & embarrassed for wearing them in public). He's been having fun setting up the motion detector in hidden places and then hearing it when we walk past.

Erin got some new furniture for her doll house and a whole bunch of new clothes. Good thing since she doesn't need more toys but she will definitely be too big for a lot of her clothes this spring and summer.

Well, that was longer than I anticipated but it's been a long time coming I guess. Probably next up will be pictures of the garage and maybe a new bunk bed in Luke's room. Time to get the 4-year-old out of the crib, don't you think?

Pre-Hawaii Christmas Pictures

2011-01-06T23:03:00.004-05:00

I am typing this on a brand new Mac! More on that story another day.

Quick before I go to bed now, here are some pictures of the kids opening presents a couple days before we left. We decided (well, I did because it affected me most) that it would be good for the kids to have something new to occupy them with while I was trying to pack and get the house ready for us to leave for 2 weeks.

Guess who started this?

Alec & I got the kids "Pillow Pets" this year. We meant for them to come before our Florida trip so they could have them in the car, but of course they were back ordered and I didn't order them in time. They loved them anyway. Luke has a dolphin that he named Nemo (Rescue Heroes reference).

Erin got a panda. She's not very good at naming things yet so it doesn't have one.

Luke was ECSTATIC to get a whole box full of just Lego people from his grandparents, aunts & uncle. He also loved the big box of plain Legos.

Erin got a dollhouse this year from the relatives. I figured she would like another container to put stuff in and it's too big to carry around the house! It also folds closed which is a must in her small bedroom. She likes to set all the furniture up - or just line it all up on the floor.

Aunt Pat sent a box that got here before we left, too. More Legos for Luke - an oil tanker truck that he put together very quickly. I let him take it to Hawaii and was very glad I did. He and his cousin, Lexi, spent literally hours playing with Legos.

Aunt Pat found out Erin was getting the dollhouse and sent another room of furniture for it.

Another "I Spy" game. This one is called "Eagle Eye" and you have to find a picture on your card before the other players. Pretty fun and more challenging than the other ones we have.

Erin got a little play pen for her dolls, which was great because she also got an American Girl-type doll from Auntie Mary (it's the same size but made by another company). Now she has a stroller and bed when she plays with the dolls and stuffed animals.

That's it for now. There are about 90 pictures from Hawaii. I'll go through them another time and post some of the good ones.

SICK of sickness

2010-11-03T21:38:00.008-04:00

To begin with, here's a picture of Erin at about 6 pm tonight:

Yes, she is sleeping on the kitchen step-stool. Here are a few reasons why:

She had croup again on Sunday night.
Since Monday she has been coughing non-stop - literally.
She was up approximately 5 times last night. I say approximately because I lost count. I'm tired, too.
We spent 2 1/2 hours today either in the doctor's office or waiting for medication.
Fifteen minutes of that time was spent on a nebulizer doing a breathing treatment. I cried a little thinking that this could be the beginning of a lifetime of respiratory problems. A good friend of mine died from asthma, I've been with my sister during some bad attacks, and I've always dreaded the possibility of having a child with it.
She really can only sleep mostly sitting up. There's too much junk down there to sleep any amount of time lying down.
Luke's ears have been cleared (unrelated, I know, but I had to throw something good in there).

The verdict (2 1/2 hours and a LOT of $$ later): she has pneumonia and is on 2 antibiotics and an inhaler every 4 hours. Whee.

I would be satisfied if Jesus came back tonight. I'm not being flippant. It is one of a mother's worst nightmares to listen to their child struggle for each breath and not be able to do anything about it. I can't wait for those promised glorified bodies.

Well. Need a good laugh now? Look whose job it was to empty the clothes dryer.

Oh, there she is!

Not be outdone or left out . . .

Leaf vacuuming service commenced yesterday so we cleaned up the backyard blanket of yellow poplar leaves. It made quite a pile. Kids didn't care in the least that they were pretty wet.

Tulip poplars have LARGE leaves.

And, lastly. Erin always wants me to draw her face. I'm not a very good artist but my pitiful renderings seem to satisfy her. Not Luke, though. He wanted to "improve" it.

Giant ears and horns! MUCH better.

If you want to see some good pictures of our visit with Emily a week ago, I just uploaded a bunch to my Facebook page.

Done, for now

2010-10-16T12:19:00.003-04:00

Here's the last batch of garage pictures for now. I don't know what Alec's time table for putting the roof on is - may be a while before we see that happen.

This first group is of Alec chipping out bricks from the existing garage to tooth in the new part. Very dusty, loud work.

Here are a few of the kids indoors after their bath that night. We have been eating late to let Alec get more done outside. Erin wanted to use Luke's pattern blocks. It was the first time she used them and she understood right away how to make the pictures.

She told me she was Superman Pajama Girl.

Luke with the ever-present Legos.

Here's Mr. Jim finishing up on the top row of bricks on Wednesday.

And what it looks like now. There is the last row of block on the top . . .

and you can see the bottom of the window finished in this one.

Thursday it rained all day - pretty good timing, I think.

Garage Update - and Luke on a Bike

2010-10-09T22:36:00.010-04:00

So a lot has happened in the past 3 days. Here is a picture of what was actually at the end of the last day the last time I posted (make sense?). Seven courses of block up in the back and scaffold ready for the next day.

The next day:

Did I mention that guy up on the scaffold is 83?

Here's my front garden bed. Alec trimmed the lowest branches off the trees. Would have been nice a day earlier so I wouldn't have had those branches slapping me in the face for an hour while I worked there.

Beginning to expand. I try to reclaim a little bit of yard each year for more flowers, but I am resigning myself to admit that I am a seasonal gardener. If the weather was like this all year round, I would have beautiful gardens. As it is, I have perennials and bulbs. And weeds.

On Friday, Mr. Jim took his son with him. He is also a mason and didn't have work that day. He is also quite a fast worker.

On Friday we went on an impromptu playdate to a friend's house. Luke played with a little bike there the whole time and after about 15 minutes on it, was riding like an old pro. We took the training wheels off his own little hand-me-down bike as soon as we got home and he was happily occupied for the rest of the afternoon.

I like this next little video because it shows how he starts to get himself going - hasn't quite learned how yet at this point:

Erin runs through the next one. It's really her bike - pink princesses - and she's a tad bit peeved that she can't ride it yet. I told her she has to learn how to steer on the tricycle first. I'd forgotten how pitiful 3-year-olds are at that important skill. She frequently tips herself when over-correcting her direction.

Erin played too - mostly ran around. We took a walk to the playground down the street and Luke discovered that the basketball court there is better than anything else to ride on. It isn't regular concrete - I think maybe it's asphalt - and is VERY smooth. He practiced going in circles.

It was quite warm and when we got home they wanted to lay down in the shade. Luke asked to take off his shirt and of course Erin wanted to, too!

By the end of Friday, the walls were up as high as they need to be. There are spaces for 3 windows - 2 in the back mostly to just let in more light. Next week is the tricky part since Alec has to chip out bricks on the existing front so the new bricks can be toothed in and the metal piece put in for over the garage door.

And totally unrelated, but today I finished another crocheted baby blanket. This one is special. I have a friend in CBS who has been trying for years to have a baby. They went through numerous IVF cycles and even had 2 miscarriages about 2 years ago. They moved away and last spring I learned that she was pregnant - with no IVF this time! Pretty clearly God's timing and power. As soon as I heard, I got out some scrap yarn and started crocheting. Every time I got it out I prayed that the baby would be healthy and everything would work out this time. Last week they had a little girl and tonight I finished the last round in pink. I'll send it out on Monday.

GARAGE ADDITION!!

2010-10-06T22:18:00.002-04:00

Remember this? This week, after a year and a half, Alec finally took the next step. A mason friend of his had offered long ago to help and this week had the leftovers of a load of sand he wanted to bring over. He ended up staying 2 days. Well, he went home to sleep, but there is now 2 days' worth of work out on that concrete pad.

The first day:

Luke and Erin "helped" dig around the base.

That's our friend in the orange sweatshirt, Mr. Jim. Or Mr. Harkleroad, which I started making the kids call him when I learned HE IS 83! A very interesting man. He told me today that he has 9 kids ranging in age from 60 to 32. My parents are 59. I'm 34. Weird.

He came back again today when the kids and I were at CBS. We returned home to find a bit more finished.

Including some "real" brick in the front which was already taller than Luke.

It's been nice out and the kids want to be out anyway so I took the opportunity to prep my front flower bed for some tulip bulbs. I'm going to outwit those squirrels this year. I'm armed with oyster shell. They don't like to get their nails dirty.

No, that is not our car. Our neighbor has the exact same one.

The block is much higher now but Alec forgot to take a picture before the sun went down. I'll post another update later.

Anthophyta and Angiosperms

2010-09-16T11:31:00.002-04:00

The science curriculum I am using for Luke can be used for a variety of grade school aged kids so there is some vocabulary that is pretty advanced. I like it! He has already learned about binomial nomenclature, taxonomy and vascular/non-vascular plants. Today we learned about the phylum "anthophyta" (flowering plants that produce seeds) and the word "angiosperm" (literally seed container). Then we talked about non-vascular plants and found some moss in the front yard to draw in his notebook.

An added bonus was finding a millipede for his bug box.

Yesterday Erin was doing some letter practice on Starfall. I thought it was funny that she concentrates the same way Luke does!

School - and sand

2010-09-09T10:05:00.006-04:00

Home school has been going pretty well, except for this week. It's hard to keep a schedule when one kid is sick. Erin is back at school today and Luke is working on his science notebook so I am using the time to post a quick update.

Here are a few pictures of last Friday. I have a CD of preschool "school" papers that a friend recommended to me. I'm not entirely thrilled with it, but there are some things that I can print out for Erin to work on while I do some things with Luke. We're working on getting her to recognize letters - she knows the alphabet song but she can't tell you all the letters when she sees them. So far she has learned about 10-12 using the "Fridge Phonics" and foamy bathtub letters. She gets stuck on R, D, and B so I printed out those papers and she happily colored them while loudly saying their sounds.

Here's Luke working on some dot to dots. We figured out that he can orally count quite high but can't recognize written numerals any higher than 12. It's hard to read the teens - they don't follow the rules for other written numbers - and dot to dots are a fun way to practice. Notice the pencil sharpener, his current favorite tool.

The other night Erin wanted to "write" on Luke's practice white board. She colored while I did the dishes and then we laughed when she said, "Mommy, my face is all covered with chocolate!" I'd never seen her draw a face before and this was a funny twist that is so Erin.

After that, Luke and Erin sat on the couch while Luke "taught" her some things from his library book. Guess what he was teaching her about?

Star Wars characters, of course! It's funny to hear Erin try to say "C3PO."

And finally, yesterday. Lately Erin has been a total grouchy, screaming bear. I think most of it is because she's 3 and 3-year-olds are generally terrible, especially in the last half of the year (in my experience). However, that excuse made for her doesn't escape the fact that she has been really difficult to live with, to put it mildly. She often screams/cries for 30-45 minutes for no apparent reason. My latest solution is to ignore it since nothing else really helps, but that's hard on Luke. He has been mostly good about it - we leave her in her room with the door closed and go downstairs to do something else. Yesterday when she finally decided to quit and act human again we had a snack and then they went out to play while I got supper started. Wow. You wouldn't know it was the same person. They played so nicely in the sandbox for about an hour. When I knew that Alec was on his way home I went out to get them and this is what I found:

Cute, right? Now look closer:

Now look past the tongue sticking out:

And that's just her face! They were both covered with sand. I told them we were going to take the world's fastest bath - you should have seen the gross, dirty water when we were done. I don't care, though. I'd rather have dirty kids than screaming, fighting kids. And it was nice to have them bathed before supper.

Alright, that's it for today. Here's what Luke produced while I was typing - a cover for his botany notebook. In case you can't read, those are Sweet Gum Seedpods, Buttercups, Tulips, Pine Tree, Flower, Crocuses, and Ivy with Squirrels (apparently it's just their eyeballs peeping up).

Now he's having "recess" - watching Dinosaur Train on PBS. I've got a load of laundry done already and bread in the oven. We've done science, reading, and handwriting. I'd say it's been a productive day already, even if nothing else gets finished!

Concentrated Luke

2010-08-25T21:41:00.005-04:00

At the beginning of the summer I bought a couple of coloring books for Luke from the Dover Publishing Company. I wanted him to work on neatness - he typically hurries and is quite sloppy. He picked one with airplanes and I picked one with geometric patterns.

He hasn't colored any pictures in the airplane book yet - I think it's a little too complicated and he wants it to be just right (he's a perfectionist who is afraid to try things if he thinks he won't do it right the first time). I didn't push him to do any pages in it since it will require a bit more small motor skill first. However, he LOVES the book I picked (score one for Mom). It is all geometric patterns that mostly use squares and triangles. He's made some really colorful pictures and improved quite a bit with staying in the lines. When we first got the books I emphasized that these were special coloring books and he had to do his best work in them. I showed him how to outline a box first and then how much easier it is to fill the rest in without going out of the lines. He resisted my technique at first (of COURSE he knew how to be neat!) but after he tried it he proudly showed me how much neater he could be. Hmm. I guess I do know a few things after all. Score 2 for Mom!

He's pretty funny to watch when he is really working hard. He often has his tongue hanging out. I wanted to get a few pictures of him without him being self-conscious about me taking them. It was harder than I anticipated to get a good one of the tongue, especially after he saw me and started talking to me.

Here's a little of it.

Finally used the zoom and got a good one.

He was being goofy here, but I thought it was cute.

He uses colored pencils in this book since he's discovered that it is easier to be neat with a nice point. We bought a little battery operated pencil sharpener and he learned how to sharpen his own pencils - and then use them gently without breaking the nice new point!

If the tongue isn't hanging out, this is the other thing he does.

And as long as we're talking art here, here's the latest baby blanket I finished. Pink for new baby Josephine, new daughter of my friend from grade school. It took a lot longer to make than I thought it would when it started, but I was satisfied with the result.

Back to School

2010-08-24T16:18:00.003-04:00

I love back to school time. The routine of a normal schedule helps me function so much better.

This morning was the first day of Erin's 3-year-old preschool at the same school Luke went to last year. She'll go 2 mornings a week and we'll use that time to do kindergarten at home with Luke.

Here's Erin just before we left the house. Typical goofy pose.

She did really well at the drop off time. We got there just on time and didn't have to wait around getting nervous. Mrs. Baker was there with her name tag and a hug for Luke. It was especially nice that Erin already knew her teachers and was excited to see them again.

We went inside and hung up backpacks and jackets (yes, we truly needed a jacket this morning which helped it feel more like school time). Before we even got to the hooks, Erin spied her name on a carpet square - "Mommy! Erin!" She proudly went over after hanging up her things and sat down like a big girl.

Luke and I gave her hugs and kisses so we could slip out when things got started. Mrs. Baker got out her bean bag to do a tossing game for the kids to tell her their names and get a little acquainted. She asked the kids, "Does anyone know what this is?" Erin says, "That's an O!" Sure enough, there was a capital O on one side of the bag! That's my girl!

Remember how she cried last year when we dropped off Luke on his first day? Well, Luke didn't cry and he really didn't ask about her during the morning, but when we got home after picking her up I noticed something interesting. He excitedly brought her upstairs to show her how we had cleaned her room and found some things she had squirreled away and couldn't find, how we had changed her sheets and put on new ones she hadn't seen before, and he made me sit in a different spot at lunch so he could sit next to her.

And they've been playing nicely pretty much all afternoon!

Update

2010-08-08T22:43:00.011-04:00

So it's been awhile. So long, in fact, that when I returned to my blog today I noticed that the background picture was no longer available. Hence the face lift.

Since summer is already 2/3 over, I thought I'd just put up a few pictures of some highlights.

Luke got a TON of hand-me-downs from some friends that moved. In it were 2 "Incredibles" pajama sets. Guess what they were watching here?

Alec bought me some really pretty flowers for our 10th anniversary.

We had some fun catching fireflies.

Erin didn't really get the hang of it at first. I think the twilight was throwing her off.

A friend gave us the little bike that her grand-daughter outgrew. Erin doesn't understand how coaster brakes work so she's been demoted to the tricycle for now.

Luke enjoys the bike, though. I think he's about ready for the training wheels to come off.

We were treated to a mating dance by some pileated woodpeckers in our front yard sweetgum.

Someone still refuses to nap (and we prevent her from it most days so she goes to bed at night) but sometimes gets a little worn out from superhero work.

I finished 2 quilts, which I then gave away.

We celebrated the 4th of July at a friend's house and were amazed by how many small children would fit into a tiny plastic pool.

We made mustaches. Luke dressed up appropriately.

Erin "copied" his outfit. You can see her thought process, right?

And her precious little grin underneath?

Messes

2010-05-29T16:52:00.002-04:00

How well Luke and Erin play together is directly proportional to the size of the mess they leave in their wake. Observe:

living room couch

stash in the corner

top of the steps

Erin's room

and the favorite place, Mom and Dad's bed

I don't care. They didn't fight at all, which is quite rare. And a blessed relief.

Art & Crafting

2010-05-07T10:49:00.003-04:00

Last month I realized that Erin has never used watercolors, so we hauled them out. I was surprised at how meticulous and careful she was - usually she is rough and speedy. She made lots of tiny little lines on about 3 pages and then she was done.

Here's her first ever watercolor painting:

Luke wanted to make a seascape and put fish stickers all over it.

His kind of coloring is generally the type Erin usually does.

Then Luke made a dragon. I was impressed. He's not usually so creative - he really spent a lot of time on this.

After watercolors, Erin moved on to Color Wonder markers.

And as long as we're showing creative accomplishments, here's my latest finished project. A crocheted baby blanket for one of the many expecting friends.

Luke asked if I would make one for him, too, because the yarn was so soft.

Easter

2010-05-04T21:36:00.002-04:00

Another batch of semi-old pictures. The first 2 are of Luke and Erin after their bath in their new clothes from Grandma.

And here we are making "Resurrection Rolls" the day before Easter.

It's a marshmallow rolled in cinnamon & sugar then wrapped in a crescent roll. There's a little story that goes with it - each step represents something else about Jesus dying for us and coming back to life again.

At the last minute I discovered that the can in the fridge that I thought was crescent rolls was actually biscuits. We used them instead. Next year I will not make the substitution because it didn't do what it was supposed to do, which is melt the marshmallow so it ends up hollow & empty (like the tomb on Easter). They still tasted good, though!

And here is our family Easter picture this year. Not bad for a do-it-yourselfer.

May

2010-05-03T23:23:00.003-04:00

This Saturday was "Berwyn Heights Day," our town's annual shindig. I'm not really into these things, but the kids like the parade and the free train ride (a smelly diesel-engine thing that goes up and down our street). I did not take them near all the junk food and games this year - maybe when they have their own money to blow...

Anyway, Erin wore a new outfit from Aunt Beth so we had to take a picture. It's my current favorite picture of her. The key to such a nice smile? Two seconds before I told her not to smile!

And of course Luke wanted in. And Erin's tongue wanted out. Doesn't he look like such a teenager in this picture? The hands in the pockets and the half-interested look.

But then he figured out that Erin was goofing around so he had to join in.

Sometimes I can get them to hug, too. It's rare, so enjoy it.

That afternoon Alec filled the pool for the first time. It was REALLY hot out and the kids enjoyed playing in the water (and dumping it out and on each other). And here Luke doesn't look like a teenager but a nerd.

Mom, that's the new suit you gave Erin. It's the best one she's had yet - fits just right and covers her buns (we've been having wedgie problems lately - she calls them "slivers").

"Mom, take a picture of me throwing this really hard!"

Snack time.

Happy Birthday

2010-04-24T17:15:00.006-04:00

Since Erin has been 3 for a month and a half now - and I think I wrote all the thank yous - I'll put up some pictures of her big day.

Aunt Emily sent matching shirts for Luke & Erin with the Cat in the Hat since she was directing "Suessical the Musical" - but in typical Luke fashion he decided to have a grump attack and refused to be in the picture at breakfast time. So here's Erin by herself in her first picture as a 3-year-old.

He consented to a picture that afternoon before Erin opened her presents, though.

And here's the required goofy picture.

Erin got some new Dora undies from Grandma. Always good to have extras of those.

And lots of play food to use with the dishes she got at Christmas.

Some cute new spring clothes from Aunt Emily.

She very nicely allowed Luke to help her open up the doctor's kit - sorry no picture of that but that was the last present and then they were off to play.

That night some friends from church came over for supper. Erin had requested a pink cake with pink stars (no idea why the stars, but she was adamant). I had white frosting and didn't want to add any more food coloring than necessary, but she didn't mind.

That's her "everyone is looking at me" face.

Here's the next day. They had several afternoons of playing nicely with the new food. Restaurant, store, tea time, etc.

And Aunt Beth sent another cute outfit and some markers and coloring books. Here's a picture of Erin using the markers. They are Color Wonder so she didn't need the smock, but she had just been painting - I'll post pictures of that later.

Thanks for all the fun presents!

Spring Break

2010-04-22T13:53:00.002-04:00

During Luke's spring break we went with a friend and her 3 kids down to the Air & Space Museum. Luke had been wanting to see the rockets so we took the Metro down one VERY windy morning and to a look.

Here are all 5 taking a break from walking to the museum from the Metro station. They are the same ages as Luke and Erin plus or minus a few weeks (my friend had twins when I had Erin).

The museum has a really great hands-on room for kids and they have a little demonstration/talk every morning that we were there at the right time for. The kids got to make paper airplanes and have a little contest after they learned about different aspects of flight.

Here's Luke in front of the rockets. He was a little disappointed because the stairs were blocked off. Usually you can go down in the pit and look up at the top but for some reason there were locked gates in front of the stairs.

It was a fun visit, but I am really looking forward to when my kids are old enough to go to museums and really look and appreciate all parts, not just the kid's section!

When a 3-year-old stops napping

2010-04-21T07:15:00.002-04:00

The afternoons can get pretty ugly. Erin napped consistently for 2-3 hours in the afternoon -until she threw away her pacifier. Now it's spotty at best and she can get very cranky. Here's what ends up happening some days:

Pretty cute, huh? However, after a long nap on Monday followed by 2 hours of naughtiness after bedtime, I have decided that quiet rest time (without sleep) in the afternoon followed by some heavy activity outside is the best ticket for a better bedtime. Yesterday we had rest time for about 45 minutes (she is still learning how to do that and I hope to increase the time up to 60-90 minutes) then went outside to work in the front garden for a few hours. She did not get out of bed after bedtime even once!

Here are some random pictures of the sweater that I finally finished for Erin. Thankfully we've had some chilly weather and she could wear it yet this year - plus it's pretty big and will still fit her next year. It took so long because the neckline ended up not being stretchy enough and she couldn't get it over her head. I had to learn a new technique for binding off. Good thing too, because I have yarn to make a matching blue one for Luke, Mr. Giant Head, and now I know what I'll have to do when I get to the neck on his.

Not sure why she had to tilt and do a funny smile in each picture.

One last thing before I get the kids up. If you haven't heard Rush of Fools yet, go check them out. I think I may actually buy some new music.

Picnics

2010-04-19T13:21:00.005-04:00

Here are a few pictures from our picnic lunches outside lately. The first set is from early March, the second set from mid-March. We've had more since then but I don't take pictures anymore.

I like the next 2 pictures because you can kind of see how Erin was walking with her arms swinging around. She can be very be-boppity sometimes.

Luke tries to be patient with Erin, but she really doesn't get how to play catching games yet and he got pretty frustrated with her just standing there with her hand up. I don't think he remembers that he "played" the same way 2 years ago!

This day was pretty hot so we made a shade tent under the clothes lines. Kind of difficult since they aren't parallel to each other.

How a 3-year-old girl with an older brother plays superheroes

2010-04-17T17:23:00.002-04:00

With a bucket hat, rubber rain boots, too-small mittens and cape, of course!

THWPT! (Isn't that what the Spiderman cartoons always said?)

Reading - and other entertainments

2010-04-16T21:35:00.004-04:00

Luke has always had a love for books. Even when he was very small he would sit for long periods of time looking at them by himself or sitting on my lap while I read to him. He had (and still has) quite an impressive attention span for such a little guy.

Erin. Attention span. See how I didn't use the 2 in the same sentence? She is all go, go, go. However, I made a point to cultivate in her a love for books and a willingness to sit still while she is read to. It's not like Luke, but then again they're not the same person, are they?

I think what has helped her the most is her intense desire to be like and do whatever her big brother is doing. When he sits to read, so does she. I often find them sitting together looking at books (when they're not fighting, but come on - they're 3 and 5).

I took these pictures back in February but I hadn't shared them yet. We've since put away the fleece, but we still get about 50 books from the library every week.

Now, the other thing that Erin does that is just like her big brother is wear underpants. All the time. Hooray! She also likes to go without clothes like he often does (gets his high body temp from his daddy). I took these pictures last month. Alec was at a deacon's meeting and I went into the office for a few minutes to check email. I came out and they were semi-streaking. There was about 3 feet of snow on the ground outside, but did they care?

She tries to be just like him, but she's still the baby and gets away with having her blankie and pipe on the couch. By the way, the pipe has been gone for about a month now. Another hooray!

By the way, someone named Mary commented on my last post and I'd like to answer her question but I have no idea who she is. Wanna step into the light?

Today - in a few pictures

2010-04-15T21:47:00.002-04:00

I realize that I have been delinquent in posting anything new here. I thought a couple pictures might be a good change.

The kids played nicely for most of the day today - a treat as they are so hot and cold with each other right now. They played outside almost all afternoon, then had to have baths around 4 because they were both covered in sidewalk chalk and had sand in their hair. After baths they played with play dough for at least an hour - and I am not exaggerating. It was very nice and I got the dishes all washed and laundry folded.

After their baths, I French braided Erin's hair for the first time. She was occupied and the hair was wet so I thought I would give it a try. Her hair is so fine that it doesn't stay braided if I try it when it is dry, but it held OK this time - except for the regular little wisps that always come loose around her face (and lately have been crusted to her cheeks because of her cold - the sleeve is a handy tissue, you know).

I think the reason they sat and played for so long is that they were listening to a book on CD. I am definitely getting another at the library tomorrow! Keeps 'em quiet in the car, too.

It's clothesline season again! And yes, I do hang out the undies and socks, although I draw the line at bath towels. Too scratchy.

Making a Home

2010-02-25T15:24:00.009-05:00

I have a friend who makes New Year's Resolutions each year and is fanatical about completing them. Last year's resolution was to do 25 crafty things that she could post on her design blog, Design Fix. What happened was that she completed the 25 projects but ended up giving her family sloppy seconds sometimes, which was not a side-effect she was proud of. This year's resolution, although I think it may be more difficult than last year's in some respects because it involves forming new habits, is really a neat one and one that will benefit her AND her family.

She is taking the parts of Proverbs 31 and breaking them down into goals for her own household. For example, January's goal was taken from verse 14 : She is like the ships of the merchant; she brings food from afar. In her own words, "this month will be devoted to using food wisely to provide for our family... exploring the world of coupon clipping, organizing the pantry, meal planning, etc." And February's goal, from verse 27 (She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.), " is all about cleaning, organization, and looking well to the ways of my household."

Well, I told her I had a few ideas if she was interested and I didn't want to fill up her comments section. I think there might be other people that could benefit as well, so I'll write down some things that have helped me in the past few years.

First for the food parts:

Always plan your menus ahead of time.

I use a free calendar that our church gives out in December and plan menus for a whole month in advance
when you plan what to cook, you can buy what you need and have it on hand
I don't always stick to the schedule (some days I don't feel like what I had written down) but I cross it off when I've made it so I don't repeat it soon
plan for leftovers - once a week have "smorgasbord" night and clean out the fridge
plan to make double batches and freeze one for another night
by using the calendar, I can flip back to other months and be reminded of menus I might want to use again (I make notes on the day if it was a new recipe - lets me know if I should use it again or throw away the recipe)

Resources:

Menus4Moms - has free menus and other more complicated ones that you can subscribe to - I just use it to find new, easy recipes - the menus are very beef-heavy and generally have too much dairy for us
Saving Dinner - another website for menu planning and cooking help

Always keep a grocery list.

my list is separate from my menu, but Rachel has a neat one that she already uses
check your local grocery store flier to see what kinds of things you regularly use are on sale that you can stock up on
go through your coupons to pull out the ones you can use with what you have on your list, especially if they are also on sale

Resources:
The Grocery Game - helps you understand how to use coupons and your store's regular cycle of sales - I subscribed for about a year but I understand how it works enough now that I don't need to - also, many of the things it regularly listed were things we don't use or eat so it wasn't worth it for me

Keep a list of what is in your freezer (or pantry)

I got this idea from Better Homes & Gardens, but I can't find a link on their website - the gist of it was to organize the shelves of your freezer to group common items together for easy location - it would work well for a pantry, too
make an inventory of your freezer/pantry and then keep a list on a dry erase board so you can update it when you add/subtract items
I am blessed with a big freezer, but it is in our garage & I often forget what is in it - I keep this list on the side of the fridge, which is right by the back door to the garage

Resources:

Peel & Stick Dry Erase Squares - exactly what it sounds like - 4 squares in a pack bought from Dorm Buys which is worth browsing for other organizational ideas
Organize your pantry by zones - an article from Better Homes & Gardens which I might use if I had a pantry
Erasable Food Labels - made by Label Once - they are nice because the label stays on the container - you use a Sharpie but the special eraser takes it off before you wash it so you can use it again

Use your crock-pot

plan to use it on a day when you know you will be really busy and not likely to want to cook supper
get the ingredients ready the night before and keep it in the fridge until morning
cook a whole chicken (79 cents a pound on sale!) with some lemon pepper seasoning (or Italian seasoning or rosemary or another herb you feel like trying) - take the skin off first so you can also remove most of the fat or it will just cook in the fat all day - yuck!

Well, I think that is enough for now. I'll write another post about Rachel's February goal - cleaning and organizing. My favorite! Really. Especially the organizing part.

"Big Girl Bed" Update

2010-02-17T16:26:00.004-05:00

So last night was Erin's first night in her "big girl bed" (modified crib). Since she is so active I was pretty skeptical about how it would go. I took my crocheting basket upstairs in preparation for staying there for a while enforcing the rules. She was very excited at bedtime and climbed up by herself. I tucked her pink blanket under the mattress, hoping that it would help her to feel where the edge of the bed was and not fall out. Then I told her the rules.

"Erin, you must stay in your bed. You may not get out until Mama comes to get you in the morning. And no playing in your bed; go to sleep now."

To my great surprise, there was no problem. Not even a peep. For a few weeks now I have had to go upstairs several times after the lights are out to tell her to stop messing around and go to sleep. When I peeked in on her when I went to bed she was a little bit uncovered but that was it.

We did put the gate in her doorway after we closed the door. We didn't want her falling down the steps if she got up and was half awake.

Around 3 I heard her crying, which is not too unusual. She was standing by the door when I went to her, but I couldn't understand what she was saying. She was pretty cold and asked to have her diaper changed, so I did and then rocked her for a few minutes with her snuggle blankie. As I was tucking her in again she said quietly to me, "No messing around." I think she got it. I had to wake her up in the morning to get ready to go to CBS and her blankets were exactly as I had put them at 3!

We also needed to make a rule about where to put blankie & pipe since they are supposed to stay in the bed. She puts them under her pillow - we'll see how long until she comes downstairs with them!

Now we are working on going potty right after she gets up. She has a potty chair in her room since we don't have a bathroom upstairs and she went right away this morning. She tried after her nap but since she had already wet her diaper she didn't go. I think I will make a potty chart for going after she wakes up and see if that helps.

Next big change on the agenda: getting rid of the pipe. I think 3 is plenty old enough; Luke gave his up when he was 3. Maybe after she's used to the new bed we can make a plan to get rid of it.

Playing Games

2010-02-16T23:33:00.006-05:00

Lately Luke has been interested in playing games on the computer. So far he is content with PBS Kids, which is fine with me. He uncovers dinosaur bones with Caillou and spells words with Super Why. Usually he plays while Erin is napping, but if she gets up she wants to do it too, although she doesn't understand how to use the mouse yet.

The other day I took some pictures because it was funny to see how each of them "plays" a little differently.

When Luke is on the computer, he has to have company. He lines all of his Rescue Heroes up so they can watch, too.

Appreciate how neatly they are arranged. And not just in a straight line but a pleasing arc!

Now here's how Erin plays. See how she is in the driver's seat now and Luke is riding shotgun (apparently we are British here, but you get the idea)? And notice who is actually doing the driving?

And yes, that is Erin's Roger Houston there next to her. I gave her one so she could play Rescue Heroes with Luke without touching "his" toys.

I love how concentrated she is with her head in her hand.

I'm feeling a little sad tonight about her growing up. We took the side rail off her crib tonight. The room looks strange without the tent over the crib and with the mattress right there for her to climb up on. I thought we would have a harder time at bedtime, but I guess she understood my instructions about staying in bed. We'll see if she stays in bed in the morning until I come get her like I asked her to. We put the gate up outside her room just in case - don't want her wandering the house or falling down the steps in the middle of the night. It is almost exactly 5 years ago that Alec & his dad put up the crib for Luke and I'm a little bit sad to see it slowly coming apart. I did tell myself earlier tonight that I was not going to dwell on it, though. I need to enjoy my kids at whatever age they're at and not wish for something that can't be anymore or I will miss something right now.

Things I don't want to forget

2010-02-15T16:23:00.003-05:00

Not much time now, but I wanted to put down some things the kids have said recently before I forget.

**********

Luke: Daddy, how come your hair has holes?

**********

Some background on this one first. At night Erin says the "Now I Lay Me" prayer, but she always tries to say her mealtime prayer first. The other night Alec & I didn't prompt her, just to see what she would do. After a few minutes of trying to remember the first word she said, "I can't find it."

**********
And now, since I already forgot the third thing of course, some pictures of Erin at nap time the other day. Meisje is sometimes in her crib and makes a "warm spot," much to Erin's delight. A few days ago the cat wouldn't get out even after Erin had been tucked in so I ran to get the camera.

Snowpocalypsageddon

2010-02-08T16:26:00.009-05:00

That's what one friend on Facebook labeled his pictures of this weekend's snow. Catchy. And appropriate.

So, in case you haven't heard, it snowed here this weekend. A lot. About 32 inches to be exact. And we're supposed to get 10-20 more tomorrow. And we had about 5 the week before. Luke was off Monday & Wednesday last week, they had an early dismissal on Friday, and now I doubt if he'll be back at all this week.

People are slowly digging out. I got out this morning to go to the store and most roads were passable. The main roads had one lane plowed plus the turn lane. Our street is probably the worst. A tree came down right across the street and, instead of moving the tree, the plows went around it and never came back. It is a packed-down mess whereas most of the rest of the streets in town have dry patches already.

The store was pretty empty this morning. Most people went out on Friday for their TP and milk plus all their Super Bowl party stuff. I didn't even try (I was stocked up anyway!), but this morning I went because I don't think we'll be able to again for another while.

Lots of places have power outages but we were fortunate. We have a lot of tree branches down though, including a huge one from our magnolia that is resting on the roof of the family room. Also lots of holly branches that snapped off from the weight of all the snow.

In case you can't picture 32 inches of snow, here are some pictures.

Stacked firewood - what Alec does to get ready

The magnolia at the site of the break - it's on the house side.

Pulled down the wrought iron fence around the porch.

Picture taken from out my bedroom window.

View from the side living room window

Alec's truck - it looked like it was attached to the bush next to it.

Rhododendrons couldn't take the weight either - they'll probably bounce back.

Backyard

Our trees were full of robins during the actual storm. Alec had just scared them off when I took this picture but there were probably 30 more just on this tree alone.

There's a playhouse, castle, and tricycle down somewhere under all that.

View from front door today - holly branch came down.

Preschool Parade

2010-01-27T20:28:00.006-05:00

Apparently part of preschool is the Christmas program. Not having been to preschool myself, and being new to this school, I wasn't sure what to expect. Neither was Luke. He was excited that Mom & Erin got to come to school with him, but he was surprised that he would have to wear an old-fashioned choir boy outfit with a big red bow. So was I. A friend who was helping the kids get ready told me that he fussed about putting it on - said he thought he would be embarrassed. I'm glad he wore it because he would really have been embarrassed if he were the only one not wearing one.

Here he is coming into the room. They walked around the room once ringing their bells. I think they were supposed to be singing, too, but the tape player made up for their lack. Four-year-olds can really only do one thing at a time. Ringing a bell and walking was pushing it without adding in the singing.

Getting up on the stage. He is right smack in the middle in this picture.

I was also surprised by how many entire families were there. Alec didn't come and I think he was maybe the only dad that wasn't there. Oops.

Clapping to "Go Tell it on the Mountain." I was surprised by how much they packed into this little half hour. Songs, rhymes, verses - all kinds of things they had been learning. Next time he tells me he doesn't want to go to school anymore because he doesn't learn anything there (yes, he has used that excuse on me several times) I'll have to refer him back to this program.

Well, we got that out of the way. Next year we'll start homeschool, but he'll still be able to say someday that he was in a school Christmas program. Goody.

Five Years

2010-01-26T22:34:00.010-05:00

Five years ago today I did this:

Four years ago, a free Safeway cake:

Three years ago, a fire truck cake:

Two years ago, cupcakes at a Lightning McQueen birthday party:

Last year, a Batman cake (and jammies!):

This year, a sea-themed cake (because there was no way I was making Gil Gripper, the underwater diving Rescue Hero!):

According to Luke, it was the best cake EVER. And he loved the Rescue Heroes he got, even if Gil Gripper wasn't one of them.

The towel is there because they had been soaking in vinegar-water all day, trying to get the nasty cigarette smoke smell out of them. That e-bay seller will be getting a sub-par review from me for not telling me they were from a smoking household!! Thanks to a few of you for the tips on using vinegar. The smell of the toys now is a faint smoke/vinegar mix, which I'm hoping will wear off soon (Luke either didn't notice or he didn't care).

I thought it was fun to see how his interests changed and were reflected in his cake choices each year.

December snowfall #1

2010-01-25T15:06:00.003-05:00

Here are some pictures of the first snowfall of the season - December 5.

We used the next picture on our Christmas cards this year.

She was trying to catch snowflakes on her tongue, not shouting at Luke (which would have been a valid guess).

The next one was the Christmas card picture of Luke.

They had to have a snowball fight! This snowfall was perfect packing snow, too.

Hello there!

2010-01-24T18:53:00.003-05:00

If anyone is still reading this blog, the next posts are for you. I don't make any apologies; life gets busy and priorities change. However, this blog was created initially for the family far away and I wanted to put some newer pictures up. My head is full of crud right now and I'm not feeling wordy, but I have a few posts in my brain that I'll put up later.

These pictures are from the last CBS class of December. Erin's class was part of the kids' presentation to the mom's. They sang "The First Noel" and recited a few of their verses. The kids were VERY antsy - most of them were 3-4 years old and their teachers had made them practice 2 times already that morning (?!?!) - but they wore costumes and looked cute. Here Erin is the right-most sheep.

The sheep with her finger in her mouth (haven't found a way to break that habit - bitter nail polish didn't faze her).

Worshiping the "baby Jesus" - a doll, not the real thing.

Saying their verses.

Happy Holidays. Bite Me.

2009-12-02T15:03:00.004-05:00

I know, I know. It's not the nicest title, but you'll get it in a minute. It has several levels of meaning.

Yesterday was the first foray into the world of Christmas cookie baking this year. I had an easy recipe that souped up a cookie mix I had lurking in the cupboard. We mixed it up, I got out the cookie press, we squeezed out some cookies and the kids each put sprinkles on a tray of chocolate stars.

Here's Erin wondering why her sprinkles won't come out.
I didn't open it until I could help her with it. She's 2 - I'm not stupid.

Here's Luke carefully putting sprinkles on each cookie
(he had just spilled some all over the floor and was now being extra careful).

We put the cookies in the oven and then I allowed them to watch a few of their favorite clips on YouTube while we waited. We had just heard "White Christmas" in the car and they wanted to watch the clips of "Sisters" from the movie - they especially like the part when the guys dance to the record.

Next follows a succession of mistakes on my part. First mistake - let them sit next to each other in the same chair.

I was in the kitchen taking out a pan from the oven (second mistake - leave them alone in the same room for 2 seconds) and started to hear Erin winding up - she wanted to watch "the boys" again & I told her to wait a minute (third mistake - it only takes a second for her to get into trouble). Again, SHE'S 2 (and maybe I AM stupid) - she doesn't know the meaning of the word "wait." So she leaned over and clamped her little mouth onto Luke's shoulder and held on. All of a sudden I heard screaming and when I ran into the room she was still clamped on. I had to pry the little stinker off!! Through his shirt she had broken skin and left a perfect little imprint of her teeth. Get it now? Bite me? ARGH!!

After about 20 minutes of screaming and crying (from both kids) they finally settled down, apologized and sat down to sample our wares. Get it? Bite me?

Look closely through the fuzz of the unfocused picture - see the red-rimmed eyes?

It's pretty much how things go these days. I am a-weary of it. That's why I'm feeling especially sarcastic. So bite me.

We don't think inside the box here

2009-11-18T16:24:00.004-05:00

We just sleep in one!

This past weekend we finally got a new couch. I'd been looking for one that would fit the smaller space we have in our living room. An average sized couch would be too big so I was looking for something that would be more loveseat sized. We finally settled on one at IKEA. This one.

Since it was an "assembly required" item, it came in some big boxes. And of course the kids couldn't resist playing in them. Luke took the 2 end pieces and created a little hidey-hole.

A really little hidey-hole.

After we took those pictures, Alec showed him how to unfold the ends to make it bigger. When we did that to both ends it became big enough to lie down in - and take a nap. On Monday, Luke took a nap in the box and I took a nap on the new couch.

Today I got tired of the boxes in the office taking up room and causing a hazard for anyone walking through to the family room. We hauled them up to Luke's room, where he took another nap in them.

Cute, huh?
And he really is sleeping in this picture - not faking.

Playing together

2009-11-09T11:40:00.003-05:00

Right now, Luke and Erin play together well about 50% of the time. The other 50% they are fighting. I'm trying to stay a "glass half full" person right now because both kids are at really challenging stages discipline-wise, so I took some pictures the other day when they were playing nicely to remind myself that they don't always fight.

Luke was very proud of himself for building this track by himself. He usually needs me to help him figure out how to make the 2 ends meet.

Surprisingly, he did not fuss when Erin wanted to play, too.

He showed her how to move the trains on the track and how to keep them from falling off.

Just trying to stay positive here. I keep telling myself, "this won't last forever."

Christmas Preview

2009-11-08T15:38:00.003-05:00

For all you Bosschers coming out to visit in 45 days or so (who's counting?) here is a little preview:

We had breakfast in our jammies yesterday -- and subsequently discovered that Erin no longer fits into the one-piece footies since she is much taller than she was last year. Guess we'll have to find some new jammies so they can match on Christmas morning again. I'll have to go shopping - bummer.

We then went upstairs and did a little rearranging. We put the workbench in Erin's room and the table back in Luke's room. He said he wanted to do his homework there. Fine with me - will give him something to do during rest time, which he balks against so much these days.

Here's some insight on Erin: see how she forgoes the chair? She also got rid of the book 2 minutes later and colored on the table. The attention span of a gnat, that one. At least she wasn't ranting at me, which is her latest preoccupation. I'd rather not talk about that.

Fun with boxes

2009-10-27T17:23:00.006-04:00

Luke and Erin are explorers today, thanks to Huggies. We cut apart a Pull-Up box and made telescopes and binoculars.

Luke searching for an elephant.

"Ooh! A big giraffe!"

Every explorer needs a break for some trail mix.

"Sit down, Erin, so we can drive our jeep."
Incidentally, apparently the telescope can become an exhaust pipe for a jet pack when it is put into a backpack and worn. Very versatile.

"Me too want to drive too!" (still working on grammar with her)

Hope Squared

2009-09-30T15:27:00.002-04:00

See the new little thingy over there on the right? Click on it.

Welcome back. Neat, huh? My friend Carin is the one who started Margaret's Hope Chest - read the website for more information about how it was started and why. Quite inspirational - both for the hope aspect and the crafty one.

The reason I'm posting about it is because I want to help spread the word about her latest adventure, Hope Squared, the point of which is to make a quilt for every homeless child in the Grand Rapids Public School system by Christmas. Since they will need over 200 quilts, every bit can help. I plan on making one to use up some of my stash. Mom? Got anything you can send?

For complete instructions, go to the post where she explains it. It's pretty easy and if you don't quilt, spread the word to the people you know who do.

When there's not enough time to duck

2009-09-19T16:03:00.005-04:00

Last night Alec got out his Frisbees for Luke and Erin (and himself) to play with. Our backyard isn't really that big and not 2 minutes after they started playing, Alec threw one and it bee-lined right to Luke's face. He put his hand up, then down and it hit him squarely in the left eye/nose bridge. He cried for a while and we iced it right away, but it swelled up a little and turned red. Today it is a nice, dark red on the nose and all around the eye. I'm guessing tomorrow it will be turning purple.

Here's a picture of what may turn out to be his first black eye. It's not really that dark in the picture, but it's pretty noticeable in real life (if you click on the picture you can see a little better - it's red around the eye on the right). I'll take another picture if it gets darker.

And here's a recent picture of Erin, just for fun.

Another Madsen giveaway!

2009-08-27T23:39:00.002-04:00

And not just one, but one every week!

It's still a romantic thought to me, that I could bike everywhere with my kids, but probably not one that would really happen around here. Everything is so spread out and hilly. It's less than 3 miles to the pool, but the traffic is horrible and nothing around here is really biker-friendly.

Still, though . . . one can wish, right? And can't you picture Luke and Erin in that powder blue bucket?

Kukui

2009-08-26T10:32:00.001-04:00

I've put off writing this post mostly because I don't know what to say. However, some of you were wondering what happened with Kukui so I thought I would write a little and share some pictures.

To put it bluntly, Kukui had a bathroom problem. In the past year he had begun peeing around the house and we had to throw out several things that he ruined, some not so cheap. When we returned from Michigan in June he had soaked our living room couch several times as well as a few other places/things in the house. We decided to have him put to sleep, a difficult decision and one that many people would disagree with. I won't go into all the reasons why we decided this, but know that it was not easy.

Anyway, here are some pictures. We got Kukui in July of 2001 when he was about 6 months old. We didn't have a digital camera yet then so I don't have any pictures on the computer of when he was really little. This first one is when we were redoing the upstairs bedroom before Luke was born. Meisje was about a month old.

Meisje's first snow.

April 2005

July 2005

July 2006 - Luke's new rocking chair

Apparently Kukui liked the new rocking chair too!

I took this picture in about November 2006. We were working on re-doing our bedroom and I went looking for Luke. I found that he had climbed into his crib with a bunch of books and was using Kukui as a pillow.

A little morbid, but this is where Kukui is now. After the vet put him to sleep, Alec took him home in the box that he came home in originally. He and Luke dug a hole in the backyard and we buried him there behind the bench. Luke did surprisingly well and understood (for the most part) what had happened and why. He still says he missed Kukui every now and then, but I think he has adjusted OK. I think Alec has had a harder time; Kukui was really his friend (maybe even his first kid!). He doesn't talk much about it, but I know he misses him.

School Days, School Days, Good old Golden Rule Days

2009-08-24T21:35:00.004-04:00

Or something like that.

Today was Luke's first day of pre-school. He was not too excited when I woke him up at 7 this morning, especially since he had a hard time falling asleep last night and he is NOT a morning person. He told me he didn't want to go to school and he wanted more sleep. However, after getting dressed and waking up Erin and getting her dressed, he was ready. In the car on the way he said more than once that he was "SO excited!"

Here are the requisite "First Day of School" pictures. Goofy, as usual. And very excited.

Erin had to wear her "packpack" too - it's really a leash, which ended up being a good idea.

When we got to school, we were about 10 minutes early. All the preschoolers line up by their door until it's time to go in. Mrs. Baker (she's the one in the purple shirt) was there with a sheet of nametags and Luke was pretty subdued and nervous. At this point I was hoping we weren't going to have a problem and was feeling kind of misty myself. Then the 3 boys he knows in his class started trickling in and he warmed up enough to talk and smile a bit so I started feeling better, too.

Once inside, the kids hung up their backpacks and then found their names on the floor. They started playing a little name game and, wouldn't you know it, Erin plopped herself down between 2 kids she knew. When the teacher skipped over her, she began to say her own name while glaring at the teacher, "Ewin, Ewin, EWIN!" I figured it was a good time to leave then.

She pitched the hugest fit. I had to practically sling her over my shoulder to get her out of there since she was fighting me and doing the whole limp baby thing. I got a few looks in the parking lot, but mostly they were sympathetic.

Since Monday is our usual grocery store day I figured it would be good to stick with the routine and keep her busy. She pretty much cried the whole way to the store, pointing out Luke's empty seat and asking where he was. She was calmed down by the time we got there, but the store we shop at has 2-seater carts and she kept saying to me while pointing at the empty seat next to her, "Lukie sit here!"

She did OK overall. Once we got home I got out some new Play-Doh jars I'd been saving and she played with that while I put groceries away. By the time we were done it was time to go pick up Luke again.

When we picked him up, the teacher commented on Luke being left-handed, said he had a good morning and that he was very observant and smart. I smiled and nodded. What do you say? "Oh, I know. I taught him everything he knows. He has good genes." It does make one feel good, though.

Oh, and he had a good time. In the hall walking out, not more than 10 feet from the classroom door, he said, "I like school!" Hooray!

Erin's oddities

2009-07-16T14:28:00.003-04:00

I thought I would write a little about the funny things Erin has been up to and saying lately before I forget them. She's talking a lot more now and picks up funny things she hears. Her favorite phrases right now include:

"because" - when asked why she did something
"come ON" - used at surprisingly appropriate times when she is frustrated or impatient
"chupchup" - her favorite condiment
"me too do it" - when she says me too she means she wants to do something, not necessarily that she wants to copy Luke - she says it at the beginning of every sentence of something she wants to do

She LOVES Luke's bed. I know she would love to have her own twin or toddler bed, but I also know that she would never stay in it long enough to fall asleep - so she still gets zipped into her crib tent every night and nap time. Also, she has - HAS - to be covered with her blankie. If we forget she tells us to "spread it." She is also quite good at making it very smooth over herself.

She likes to play the piano and, like Auntie Em, is regularly found singing little made up sing-songs. Or Twinkle, Twinkle.

Her choice of music? "Only One Woof" by James Herriott. Lovely little tune.

She loves bath time. I usually get Luke out first because he can go up and get dressed by himself. She likes to stay and play in the draining water. Lately she has been lying down when it gets shallow enough - this night her hair got a little too close to the drain. Reminded me of Alice with legs like toothpicks going "glug glug glug" down the drain.

She still loves the pool too, although after last night's injury she may be a little more careful. She jumped off the side of the training pool to Alec and when she got to the bottom kicked her legs a little too soon and scraped all the skin off the tops of 4 toes on the way up. She cried a little this morning when she first started walking - I think they were stiff, but at least they are starting to scab over a little. Now we have to hear about her "boo boo" all the time. At least until the next one.

Resident Fish

2009-07-15T13:37:00.004-04:00

We have been enjoying a summer membership at a pool near us. Since Luke wanted to take lessons, I calculated the cost and decided it was a worthwhile investment. I've been keeping track of when we go just to make sure we get our money's worth out of it, but since we still have 7 weeks left of the membership and we're already halfway to the cost of it, I think we're doing OK. It has an indoor pool with a "training pool" where they have lessons for kids Luke's age - it ranges from 2-3 feet with the majority at 2.5 feet. There is also an outdoor pool with an attached "training" pool that is a little deeper and has a mushroom/umbrella fountain thingy, and also a hot tub (or "hydrotherapy pool" as they call it) inside.

The hot tub came in handy last week when Alec hurt his back and was in a lot of pain for a few days. He came with us in the afternoon once and went back a few times at night after the kids were in bed.

Erin is a real daredevil and I really have to keep my eye on her. The pool for the kids outside has a gradual slope and she has already learned the importance of walking, not running. The first few feet of it are slippery tiles and she has landed on her bottom several times, which she of course thinks is funny but I don't need a teen-aged lifeguard blowing his whistle at me because I can' t get my kid to walk at the pool. When she jumps off the side of the pool I let her head go under a little and she doesn't mind at all, unlike Luke who hates it.

Luke started his lessons yesterday. He has a half hour 4 times a week for 2 weeks. So far he has enjoyed it. There are only 5 kids in his class and the teacher does a good job of giving them individual attention.

He really liked these floats - called them weights because they look like barbells.

The little guy with goggles is his best friend, Mateo, who is in the same class.

The teacher had all of the kids jump in to her in the deeper pool by themselves at least once (not Luke's favorite thing to do). I watched him go first, very tentatively - practically sitting down first.

Stupid chair was in the way, but this is him in the air on the way down.

After she boosted them out she gave them the option of doing it again or going to get their towel since it was the end of the class. I didn't see any of them go again, but it may have been that they were all shivering by then and ready to go.

Funderwear!

2009-07-14T07:38:00.003-04:00

I'm not sure how this got started - probably Erin just pulled these out of the laundry basket while I was folding clothes. She likes to be like Luke so she pulled on his Wall-E underwear.

Not to be outdone, he stripped down to his camos and joined the fun! Monkey see, Monkey do.

Distractions

2009-06-16T23:56:00.003-04:00

I know it has been nearly a month now since I've posted but a lot has happened and I haven't really felt much like writing. I'll get around to it eventually. I have some pictures from our trip to Michigan and Mike's wedding to share and also some stories about Kukui, when I feel like sharing them. Just be patient.

In the meantime, here are 2 recent pictures. The first is of Luke sleeping on Sunday afternoon - he never wants to nap but I guess he needed one (the band-aid is because he fell at a birthday party and scraped his chin up). The second is of Erin's legs - summer bruises and scrapes on a very clumsy little girl.

Please click!

2009-05-26T10:37:00.001-04:00

Saw this on another friend's blog.

Pretty neat, huh? Maybe I can win one. Then I wouldn't need a Burley.

Times, they are a-changing

2009-05-21T15:41:00.006-04:00

Ever since we started getting cable TV and watching the Planet Green network, we've been a lot more conscious about "earth keeping" kinds of things. I guess the popular lingo is that we're trying to become more "green" but that seems too trendy somehow. For me, it's more about taking care of the resources God has given us and being more responsible and purposeful with them. Alec has been thinking about it, too, for a while in regards to energy sources (solar, wind, geothermal) when we put on our addition.

So we've started making a few changes around here lately. One of them includes 2 clotheslines in the backyard. Alec bought a retractable line and mounted it on a tree near the back fence. There is a hook by the bathroom window that was there when we moved in and the line is just long enough to reach. I've been hanging out laundry every day since it finally stopped raining. He got me another line today and also made some poles to help raise the lines up when they get heavy - it's a pain for him to duck under with building supplies and it keeps Erin from pulling off the clothes. I've been getting over having scratchy clothes and enjoying the fresh smelling sheets on the bed.

That green cylinder on the right is a composter we've had for a few years. I've been trying to use it more and got a book to help me figure out the proper "mixture." I wish I had another, though. The batch in this one is almost finished and I don't have a place to put things until I empty it.

I also decided not to buy cleaners that have petroleum based ingredients. After I use up the cleaners I already have I'll probably just make my own. I also bought some really great microfiber cleaning cloths and dust mop cloths. The purple cloths are so great - you can use them dry or wet and they work just as well as a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser - they clean mirrors better than paper towels, too. I only bought the 3-pack of dust mop refills and they fit pretty well on the Swiffer I already had. I think I may get the mop later when mine bites the dust because it is bigger and seems sturdier. The cloths pick up pet hair, dirt, dust - and they shake out almost completely so you don't have to wash them after each use (and I just noticed on the website that they can also be used damp - didn't even think to try that yet!). I think some people will be getting these for Christmas this year!

Another thing we switched was our water bottles. I don't buy bottled water anyway, but now we use aluminum or stainless steel bottles since they don't leach chemicals into drinking water like plastic does. I used to scoff at this stuff, but if there's a better and healthier way to do something, why wouldn't you?

I've also been reading books about nutrition since I am concerned about Erin in particular, but all of us in general. I think how we treat our bodies is related to how we treat the earth, too. I've been reading a book by Dr. William Sears, a nationally known pediatrician and nutrition advocate, and decided to avoid the "terrible 3s" to start with - high-fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils (trans fats), and color additives - and those 3 are in a lot of stuff! It's made shopping trips a little more interesting, but if I buy junk it will get eaten so it's better to just avoid it in the first place. After the kids get used to different kinds of snacks it should (hopefully) get a little easier, but I'm anticipating that the summer may be difficult. Luke is pretty willing to try new stuff if I make it seem fun, but Erin is tough. She will not try something new unless it looks like a fruit or a dip - and even then it's tricky. One day she would not even eat applesauce, which she'd just had the day before! When I asked her to just lick off the spoon so we could put it away (see how tricksy I've had to become?) she finally tasted it, realized it was good, and ate the whole bowl.

Now, I don't think that I was buying such horrible stuff to begin with (although I do have a big sweet tooth and it's apparent my kids both have one too). I'm just convinced after reading research that if my kids aren't learning good habits now (before they're 6 or 7) they're just getting set up for difficulties later, especially with our family history of diabetes. Plus good food just helps them grow better and smarter.

So to help, I started shopping more at an organic market by our house. It's a little more expensive and not everything we've tried has been good (just say no to organic bananas - gross!), but I know that when I shop there I don't have to look for the 3 things I'm avoiding because they're generally not there. I've also found a bunch of stuff to throw in our smoothies.

And we've been having lots of smoothies! I can put enough good stuff in a smoothie every other day and be confident that Erin is getting a balanced diet even if she doesn't eat what I make at supper. To give her some credit, she's been doing really well this week. Alec said I should write it down - 2 suppers in a row with no fussing and Erin cleaned her plate first. Although I think playing outside until 6:30 and eating at 7 may also have something to do with it.

The reason for staying outside so late is the shed, so here are some pictures from today. It's coming along - much bigger than I thought it would be, but at least it is pretty well hidden by the trees.

This new door will go on the garage and that old door will go on the shed.

So that's all for now. Tomorrow maybe I'll share my other new personal resolution, but Erin is awake from her nap now.

The in-law suite is coming along

2009-05-19T22:58:00.008-04:00

Otherwise known as "the shed." It's pretty big.

Here's Luke last Wednesday. He's really enjoying these afternoons "helping" Daddy. He takes the junk drawer hammer and tape measure out with him.

This is a little video (soundless) of him playing on the frame. His balance is getting pretty good! Can't say the same for Erin, but at least she knows how to brush herself off.

This is how far Alec got on Wednesday.

I asked him to take a few pictures of me & the kids in the hammock. I never get to be in any. No surprise - posed pictures with them never turn out. I call this one "my retarded kids."

Seriously. That was about as good as they got. At least in the next one I looked OK. Erin looks like that because her latest thing is to fill her mouth with a drink, hold it in her cheeks chipmunk-style, and then let it dribble out if I don't first tell her not to spit.

Our blueberries getting bluer.

Here's the progress by Friday:

When I came out after getting Erin up from her nap I found Alec resting in the hammock and Luke pounding his little heart out with some scraps of wood and bent nails. He'd pound a nail about 2 times and then pull it out, whack whack, pull, whack whack, pull. Over and over. Great fun!

And here's today's progress. All the walls up.

Erin loves trucks. Wonder who she learned that from?

Oh, yeah. Him.

End of the Year

2009-05-13T14:43:00.007-04:00

Last week was our last week of CBS for this year. It's always interesting because the little children do the opening the last week and share some songs and verses they have learned. This year was Erin's first year in a class and so it was her first time "performing." Thankfully, I remembered my camera. She's hard to see in these pictures because I had to hide from her or she would fuss, but she did OK.

Her teacher used to be a music professor at UMD so she frequently uses her recorder when they sing and march. Erin is to the left of the teacher in the back (the recorder is kind of pointing to her).

Here's a close up. Like the other children in her age group, she didn't really sing. Just stood around while all the ladies oohed and ahhed at how cute (or mischievous) they were.

Luke, on the other hand, did a complete 180 from last year. Last year, he and another boy ran circles around the communion table the whole time. This year he was in front, singing and doing motions while most of the other little boys stood there like duds. Here he's doing the "yes sir!" from I'm in the Lord's Army.

And here he's zooming o'er the enemy.

And bubba-bubba-bubbling over with joy. I was pretty proud of him. At the beginning of the year, he didn't participate during the singing time with 2 combined classes - just stood there while the other kids sang and had fun. His teacher told me at the end of the year that he was one of the best singers and loved singing time, so I guess his attitude changed. Progress.

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We've had some pretty chilly days again. Erin likes to snuggle.

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This picture is from May 3. I took it because Erin is wearing a dress that Mom made over 20 years ago for cousin Erica Beelen. It just fits her now - probably not for much longer since the skirt is so short and the sleeves so tight. I wish I could've gotten a better picture, but she doesn't hold still for more than a second.

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Our irises bloomed this week. I don't think we've ever had this many blooms before - and they were all so dark and full. Lovely.

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Remember this picture, taken last year after I planted some new perennials in the front?

Well, I've been working out there some more lately. Reclaimed some more from the yard for my curving flower bed and planted a few new perennials and also some annuals for color.

Those lamb's ear were tiny last year.

Planted a spirea that is already flowering.

Some Gerbera daisies for color and height.

Impatiens in the front where there is less sunlight.

The lamb's ear with new spikes shooting up.

Anyone know what this clump is? I've been leaving it because it looks like peonies and I'm hoping it will flower one of these years but it never does. If it doesn't do anything this year I'm yanking it.

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Alec bought a blueberry bush. Not sure where it's home will be yet, but if it does well we might get a few more.

It already has berries on it that are starting to darken in color.

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Alec's current project - backyard shed. He's working on it today so I'll add some updated pictures later.

He's also been splitting a lot of wood. He had to move the logs to build the shed so he figured he might as well split it and stack it so he won't have to move it twice.

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My latest new project. A few friends had new babies and I wanted to try something new. Thanks to sister-in-law Kelly for the idea - she does something similar on t-shirts for older kids.

Shameless Plug

2009-05-06T16:09:00.003-04:00

I just wanted to let all the moms out there know about a really great product.

A few years ago I was having a problem with keeping Luke's pants up. A lot of pants now have internal belts - an elastic band with a row of buttonholes, similar to what's in maternity pants. However, plain blue jeans don't have that. And I also like the look of a belt. Unfortunately, regular belts are not helpful for kids who are being potty trained. They can't do the buckle themselves so it's hard to encourage independence in the bathroom.

After my mom and I did a little Google searching, we came across Myself Belts. These are the greatest invention! One end of the belt has a sturdy snap that goes around the first belt loop. The other end has velcro. They are very easy for kids to do by themselves and they come in lots of different designs and colors, including leather for dress pants. Luke has gone through 2 already and is now ready for a larger size.

The average price is $14.95 for an embroidered canvas belt. I think it is money well-spent. I have never had a problem with the construction and they are so colorful and fun.

It's HOT

2009-04-27T21:30:00.006-04:00

Saturday began our current little heat wave. It's been in the 90s every day since then, but I'm not complaining. It cools down at night, there is little humidity, and it's supposed to cool off on Wednesday with a rain. Right now at 10 pm it is still 84 but it's supposed to go down to 64 overnight. Not bad. Just checked the weather report - highs for the next 3 days are 87, 61, & 59. Quite a change, eh?

The thing I will complain about is the pollen. Ugh!! Everything is covered with a yellow film and we are not feeling well. Alec has a constant tickle in his throat, my eyes are itchy and my nose stuffed, Luke has a constant drippy/plugged nose. Thankfully Erin seems unaffected right now - she's the one who's had a runny nose for the past month so now I'm thinking she's allergic to something else maybe. Who knows.

Following are a few pictures of the week's activities.

Erin pulled a washcloth out of the basket of laundry I was folding and now carries it around to wash her tea set dishes.

On Saturday, a friend came over to help Alec with the concrete for the garage addition.

Luke finally got to go in the pool! He's been begging for weeks now.

Unfortunately, 3 yards was not quite enough - Alec will have to fill the back corner later. But the rest of it looks good and now he can move on to the next step.

Kevin brought his little boy, Sam, along since he loves big trucks and construction. He was pretty shy at first since we haven't seen them in a long time but after he got in the pool with Luke he started warming up. They had a very good time going around and around and then watering all the plants in the yard when they tired of the pool. As a result, the water was completely disgusting by the time Erin woke up from her nap.

She didn't seem to care.

Thankfully (and amazingly) she did NOT drink it.

We filled it with clean water on Sunday afternoon. Erin REALLY wanted to step into this little float, but she didn't know how to get the second leg over. It was pretty funny to watch.

A little concerned.

Success - sort of. Finally just got the leg in the pool.

Now couldn't figure out how to get the leg OUT of the pool.

Luke loaded up the car to head out to the beach. And then squeezed himself in there with Erin. It's not really a 2-seater.

Today's afternoon snack: strawberry mice.

Almond sliver ears, black icing nose and eyes, licorice tail. Good ol' Family Fun magazine for the idea.

A New (Out)Look

2009-04-21T06:51:00.006-04:00

So you can see I've changed the blog. I've been blogging for 4 years now and thought it was time for a face lift. "Wai Hale" is just the literal translation of "water house" into Hawaiian (I think). The picture is of Bathtub Beach, Kipu Kai, Kauai - backyard of the family ranch.

I haven't been blogging much lately because things around here have been pretty awful. However, in retrospective, I think that writing about it may have helped a little. I'm not too good at stepping back from a situation and thinking about it objectively. I tend to get bogged down and depressed about it, instead of thinking up a creative solution.

After a particularly bad night last night (2nd peanut butter sandwich supper in a week because Erin falls apart after her nap and I haven't been pro-active enough with meal planning) Alec and I ate something I pulled out of the freezer and talked a bit about what's happening. Then I did my Bible study for the week on 1 John 4. First I read in my commentary:

Once again, John reminds his readers of the old commandment to love one another (3:11) . John recognizes a perfect example in his Master, who had washed the dirty, dusty feet of His disciples and then given Himself into the hands of His opponents to be humiliated and crucified (3:16). One reason for the tremendous impact that Christ's teachings have had on the world is that He never failed to practice what He preached. His glorious example of love motivates us to love one another.

Then I read:

We're not always responsible for our emotions, which can be affected by everything from what we heard on the evening news to what we had for dinner. But we are responsible for our attitudes, which are determined by deliberate choices of our will. Right attitudes result in right actions. If, by an act of our will, we choose to think and act as God commands, He will eventually bring our emotions into conformity and enable us to obediently love not just "with words or tongue but with actions and in truth" (1 John 3:18).

Then I read in 1 John:

⁷Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. ⁸Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. ⁹This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. ¹⁰This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. ¹¹Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. ¹²No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

I began to feel very convicted of my own deep selfishness. I have a really bad attitude about many of the things that are happening in our family right now. If I could see another's perspective and love regardless of how I feel about the situation, things might be a little more sane around here.

Also, I have decided to plan more (meals, activities, etc.) and set a fairly strict schedule and see how that improves my very cranky daughter. She is so clingy right now - and at the most inopportune times - and it drives my crazy. Some of it is related to hunger, which throws me because Luke used to be that way about sleep. If he was tired, nothing mattered, only that he took a nap. Erin gets irrational when she is hungry so I think I need to wake her from her nap earlier and give her a snack before supper. I think this may be better for all of us too, since my doctor told me I should stay on a diabetic diet (to be proactive in prevention) and regular snacks are part of that.

Well, it's about time to wake the kids and get ready for CBS. I'll be doing some more thinking here later, but here are a few recent pictures for the folks.

Playing with Auntie Em (very old picture)

Coloring Easter eggs at church

Playing cowboy with friends - poor Bessie

Using goggles in the tub - the new fun thing to do

Listening to "Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle" in Luke's bed - lasted about 5 minutes before they were out giggling and playing

Taking the neighbor kids to "Rita's" in the Model A - last weekend was gorgeous

Erin wearing Mommy's gardening hat

Surprise! Here's more!

2009-03-25T15:18:00.006-04:00

We had a nice visit with Alec's mom, dad, sister-in-law and niece last week. Here is Aunt Kelly reading to Erin, Luke and Lexi.

Tutu bought matching dresses for Lexi and Erin. It was pretty cold but they both had sweaters that went with them and I put on a long sleeve T-shirt under Erin's. Unfortunately, Luke developed croup over Saturday night so I stayed home from church with him (which is why he isn't wearing church clothes).

Erin crawled right up into Tutu's lap with a story.

The cousins. It finally warmed up nicely the day before they left. Luke and Lexi played outside all afternoon and had a great time together.

It was chilly so I made a cake for them to decorate for something to do. Luke had an idea to make a "face" cake so they used candy to make a face.

It wasn't very pretty, but it sure had a lot of hair!

Here's Erin being silly while she ate her cake.

Erin found the sticker drawer. "Teekah, Mama!"

When Erin wakes up from her nap, she is frequently very crabby and clingy, which makes it hard for me to get supper ready. Last night I suggested that she go get her baby and feed her supper while I made ours.

She got a drink, too.
Then Erin wanted some, too. She was putzed with me that I wouldn't let her give the baby a real drink.

More fun with sleeping bags. I figured what the heck, it's still cold out and soon it will be so warm they won't want to.

Luke having fun with a new flashlight. Maybe you can't tell, but the lights were out in the room, on his insistence.

Erin had to have one too, but didn't quite know how to turn on a mag light.

The past month in pictures

2009-03-20T15:01:00.008-04:00

Yeah, I know. Here you go.

Erin's First Bike Ride

Wiggled too much and got some neck skin pinched in the helmet strap - she'll learn.

Missed a cowboy-themed birthday party because of sickness, but still got the goodies.

I had picked this up from a FreeCycler for Luke to bring to the party. Oh well. He still has fun with it. Calls it Bessie - it's a boy.

Still into Superheroes. Erin still copies everything - her favorite saying is "Me too!"

Got these umbrellas, Erin's boots and jacket at Aldi for about $6 each. They love it when it rains now!

Erin found Luke's old dragon costume, which fits her now.

Alec dug the footings for the garage addition. The concrete has been poured now too, but it's been too wet and cold to work on it for now.

Oh, yeah. Erin turned 2!

At the start of the cake eating . . .

. . . and at the end. "Moe peas."

Her actual birthday - her CBS 2-year-old class.

Trying on new birthday gifts. Luke thought he was pretty funny because he put his sweatshirt on backwards.

I guess this is her "strike a pose."

Putting the new baby to bed.
I've been meaning to take a picture of this for a while but keep forgetting. When she goes to bed, Erin has a special way she likes to be tucked in - all the stuffed friends have to be piled on top of her in her arms and then the blankets have to be over everything. You can hardly see her face when it's all done.

Playing with the sleeping bags on the trundle bed.

New birthday toy.

Another new birthday toy. Notice the vacuum attachment (sword) and the bubble wrap.

A lot can happen in 10 days

2009-02-04T13:22:00.007-05:00

... but it's not always fun.

It's been a long week and a half. Most of it has been spent with sick kids or being sick myself. Today we finally got out of the house and are getting back into regular routine. It feels good.

Aside: Luke is sitting next to me while I am typing. We are listening to Josh Groban's first CD. The first song is "Alla Luce Dal Sole" and is in Italian - he has never listened to this music with me before. Here's what he said: "I like this music mom. Is it worship music? Great song!" Funny kid.

Anyway, back up to last Monday, Luke's 4th birthday. I can hardly believe he's 4 already, but just looking at him I can see it. He is getting taller and leaner and losing those "baby" features. We went to the doctor in the morning for his annual check-up. I dropped off Erin first and didn't tell Luke where we were going since he made such a fuss last year. I figured just getting rid of the anticipation anxiety would help a little. He asked why we were there when I pulled into the parking lot, but when I told him he didn't mind. I said that since it was his birthday, the doctor needed to see how much he had grown since he was 3 - he seemed to buy it and it wasn't really a lie. Once we were there, he really made me proud. We had to wait over an hour in the waiting room (I must remember not to schedule appointments for Monday morning in the future) but I had brought along a few new birthday books that he was occupied with for a while.

Once in the exam room, he cooperated nicely with the nurse. It was the first time he had his blood pressure taken & he made a funny face to me but didn't complain about the pressure. He conversed nicely with the doctor and then had to have hearing and sight tests, also new for him. He didn't do so well with the hearing test, but the nurse said most 4-year-olds don't really understand how to raise their hands when they hear the beeps - she could tell he heard them, though, by his eye movements. He weighed 36 1/2 pounds and was 40 inches tall. He also had to have 4 shots, but was thrilled to hear that he doesn't need shots again until he's 12. I didn't tell him he needs another blood test - I'm not excited about that either. Overall, a good visit. And Erin had a blast playing with her little friend, too, so it was a good morning.

That evening we had his friends over for supper. I had called their mom to say that Luke was wearing his new Batman pajamas from Auntie Em (even wore them to the doc that morning) and they came over with their superhero jammies too. Even Erin got into it with Luke's Superman shirt.

Luke helped me put a Batman logo on his cake with sprinkles. He told me it was the best birthday cake ever.

After that, things pretty much fell apart. On Tuesday night Erin came down with the virus that a friend generously shared with us at nursery. She basically had diarrhea and cried for 4 days. On Thursday, seemingly out of the blue, Luke threw up while we were resting and watching Dora - thankfully all over the blanket that was spread over us. He was just not himself after that, dragging around and complaining of a bellyache for about 5 days. He came into the dining room where I was seeing if Erin would try to eat something, laid down on the floor and fell asleep.

Incidentally, Erin wasn't ready to eat yet. That food stayed there and she mostly just played with it. At least she wasn't crying anymore.

Then I got it on Friday. Blech. What an awful, lingering sickness! It wasn't so much that I was in the bathroom all the time that was irritating, because I wasn't. It was that I would start to feel better and eat something, then be sick again 30 minutes later - for 4-5 days. Alec got it on Saturday night so we were all home on Sunday and Monday.

Oh yeah. And during all this we had 2 snow days (Tuesday and Wednesday). At least Luke was still feeling OK then and could play outside for a bit. He's been wanting snow so badly.

Well. That brings you up to speed. Today we are back to a normal routine thankfully. It was snowing this morning when it was time to go to CBS, but I called a friend who said the roads weren't bad. As soon as we got out of the neighborhood the sky cleared up and we had blue sky by the time we were there. I was pretty determined to get out today so I'm glad it wasn't worse.

Now Erin is napping, Luke is finishing lunch and we've got a list of things to do this afternoon. Too much TV in the past week has made for some bad habits that need breaking - at least we just got FIOS and had lots to choose from to watch while we were sick.

Here are some last pictures of Luke and Erin yesterday playing in Erin's room. They were making "beds" in the bookshelves. Luke really wanted to go on the shelf above Erin and make a bunk bed, but it's not really that big and I didn't want Erin to get that idea - she'll be pulling the CD player down on top of herself the minute I turn around if she thinks it's something fun to do.

Pete . . .

. . . and Repeat

How To Keep a 22-month-old in Her Crib

2009-01-21T16:46:00.005-05:00

Also titled, "Did You Know They Make Crib Tents?"

Sorry it's been so long. A lot has happened around here. I think I'll tell one little story and then show a bunch of pictures.

Last Thursday, for some unknown reason, Erin decided she wasn't going to be a good little sleeper anymore. She woke up around 11:30 and refused to go back to sleep without screaming every time I left the room. Ordinarily I would just let her cry herself back to sleep. On this night however, I went back to bed and heard a loud THUD. Darnit if the kid hadn't figured out how to swing her little leg over the crib rail and fall to the wood floor below. Most kids wouldn't try it again after learning how painful a fall is, but my Erin is a stubborn one and not disuaded by a little pain - she tried again.

Thus began 3 nights of at least 2 hours awake, half-sleep while keeping an ear open for the inevitable thud, and eventually Mommy sleeping on the floor in Erin's room.

On Sunday I was so tired that in my sleep-induced stupor I Googled "toddler climbing out of bed." My goodness, what a wealth of opinions! I weeded it down to 2 main camps: those who say it is time to move to a toddler bed and those who recommend a crib tent. Automatically deciding that we are definitely NOT ready for a bed (and the sleeping with her that unquestionably follows when she won't stay in bed by herself), I then searched around for crib tents. Monday we went to Babies R Us and are now $70 poorer but well rested. Money well spent, I say. And cheaper than a midnight ER visit.

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And here are a few pictures to show you what we've been up to when we're not trying to stay warm. It's COLD here, did I mention that?

My wonderful, strange children

I got a new coffee maker. Luke got a new Boxy.
He dressed it up with his shoes and new "Superhero" hat.

I tried to FreeCycle some old 35mm cameras but before they could get picked up they were grabbed as the new fun toy of the week.

It's more fun to read on a pulled-out trundle bed. Sitting on chairs.

We watched the inauguration. Did I say it was cold here?

Luke-isms

2008-12-24T16:03:00.004-05:00

A few funny things Luke has said over the past few days.

After a long, concerned conversation on his toy cell phone:
"That was Lexi. Her husband died."
Lexi is his cousin. She's 6.

Luke "Mom, Jesus died in a race car crash."
Me "Really?"
Luke "Yeah, but it's OK because he died for my sins."

This morning after I told him tomorrow is Christmas:
Luke "And then it will snow?" (poor kid, he wants snow so bad)
Me "No, it's not in the forecast."
Luke "Is it in the fifth-cast?"

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And a couple pictures of them with their new blankets from Tutu. They came during lunch a few days ago and when we opened the boxes they were not wrapped. It's OK - they have enough to unwrap tomorrow I think it will be a little overwhelming. Plus it's been so cold they have been put to good use in the family room already where it is freezing even with the baseboard heater and portable ceramic heater running constantly.

Luke's has Thomas the Tank Engine on it. He was thrilled. He told me he was going to cry. When I asked him why he said he was so happy.

He also told me that the blanket was "just bead-i-ful!"

Erin's has Tinkerbell. Funny enough, she knew who it was. There is a huge billboard down the street advertising the new movie and she points at it every time we go past.

I know someone who likes Peppermint Joe Joes

2008-12-24T09:31:00.002-05:00

Well, who wouldn't?!

Peppermint Joe Joes are cookies from Trader Joe's. They are basically Oreos with crushed peppermints in the creme. Yum.

Don't tell anyone, but I have my own box of Dark Chocolate Covered Peppermint Joe Joes. I eat one when I'm finished washing dishes at night. My present to myself for finishing my most hated job.

What to do when it's 20 out and your 3-year-old wants to wear a tank top

2008-12-24T09:22:00.004-05:00

Let him.

Who cares if it doesn't match the shirt on underneath, at least he's warm and not fighting you about what to wear.

He's been wearing that police helmet around a lot lately. He's a superhero you know and superheroes need a gimmick. Sometimes he wears his sunglasses (goggles) with it and yesterday he also had the Harley Davidson do-rag from Grandpa underneath the helmet. And he usually has his backpack now, too, because that's what Dora the Explorer wears on her adventures.