Thursday, July 31, 2008

Today is THE day

The day Carole and Rachel move to Florida. I can't believe it's finally here, and I just don't know what to say about it. I'm terribly sad, but excited and happy for them as well. I had Rachel over here for a few rather FULL DAY playdates right before we left for vacation, and they went so well. The girls get along so well and have so much fun together. I started taking a string of pictures of them and got this one and I just don't think there could be a better picture of the two of them!
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I came up with this project idea to be Emily's gift to Rachel, and the only thing I wish I'd done differently was leave a portion of the matting blank so Emily could have written a little something and signed her name.
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I used my Cricut maching to cut out the letters, flowers, and butterflies and then glued it all down and framed it. Emily immediately requested one of her own, and I'm not sure why I didn't think of doing one for each girl... LOL!

I also bought the girls matching stationary so they can be writing each other letters. Emily informed me that she doesn't need a penpal friend because she has a few penpals already. She wants Rachel to be a REAL friend. I explained to her that Rachel will still be her REAL friend, who just also gets to be a penpal friend as well. But I know what she means. It just won't be the same.

Excuse me now while I go shower and try to pull myself together to go spend the day saying goodbye to my dear friend...

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

I love this baby

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She's my baby, without actually HAVING a baby (I get to have her for a few hours and then she goes home). She's cuddly and sweet, she smiles the most amazing little smile, and WOW is this baby STRONG! She's just barely 6 months old and look at her:
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My kids were all still slithering along on the floor commando crawl-style at 6 months old. Sitting was an ability that lasted only a few seconds, and ONLY if they'd been propped up. Grace, on the other hand, GETS HERSELF UP INTO A SIT, and stays that way for a good long time.
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She's an amazing little baby, and since her mommy is rather busy with work, and with wedding plans, and taking care of a young child, I'll do the bragging on her baby for her... LOL

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Flipz and Leah

Hey all I'm a friend of Miss Leah Mae, my name is Kaci and I reside over at Ellyphant. Now I'm not going to be as good as Kristina, cause lets face it, if you didn't cry when you read her post you have a heart of STONE!! STONEEEEEE you hear me! HAHA! Okay but I have a few fond memories of Leah too, one being these chocolaty pretzely goodness that are on so YUM-O. Leah told me about these heaven in a bag treats and OH MY GOODNESS...mmmmmm!!! Every time we go to the store and I see these I have to have control and strength cause my hips don't need em! I think of Leah and ask myself, WWLD (what would Leah do)? Cause I know WWKD...eat them little pieces of heaven.

Anyways Leah and I have known each other for several years now, we actually met after the birth of Jared and Elly. Jared is actually 11 days older then my Elly. We mainly email back and forth but on occasion when I'm about to fall asleep at the wheel (I commute to work) I call up my buddy Leah and she always keeps me awake! She's such a great friend. I've recently moved from the west coast to the mid west and Leah was there for me through my journey. Many times I would call her and cry and cry, she was always my constant shoulder. Never did she interrupt and tell me her sorrow/joys of her day but let me cry. She is such a fierce, loyal and loving friend.

I remember when Leah told me about her trip to the ER when she was pregnant with Connor and the fear she had that she may lose him. I remember crying with her then and told her she's too good of a Momma to think like that and we had to have faith....and we had to name this baby (Connor was not the given name yet). So I gave him the name of BRUCE. A good, strong name!! Cause BRUCE can do anything...BRUCE can fight this placenta abruption and conquer it! When he was born a few months later, I cried that day, only because they didn't pick my name...as if! Just kidding. I cried that he had made it and Leah had not given up hope! He made it and was healthy and PERFECT! Now that BRUCE...oops I mean Connor is two he sure acts like a BRUCE...wouldn't you agreee? He's a nutter...but a dang sweet nutter.

Okay this is getting lengthy and I'm sure you have all drank your cups of coffee. I'll leave you with this...now you need to sing it in your head:
L is for how Long Leah's hair is
E is for how she can cook a mean Egg!
A is for her Awesome cool shirts!
H is for her cold Heart for not naming Connor BRUCE!

I'm not bitter...really.

XOXO~
Kaci

Monday, July 28, 2008

Memories

This is Kristina, from Confusaled. A few days ago, Leah mentioned she was going to be super busy and had lined up a guest blogger or two. I'm one of those guests! If you're a regular visitor to this blog, I'm assuming it's because you know and love Leah (and/or her kids) just like me. So, since we all love Leah, I'm going to be honest with you. I've got a complaint about her blog, and it's a big one. While I LOVE her blog, and I love seeing all the pictures of the kids, I just want to know, where's Leah in all of this?

Like most moms, she is so proud of her kids, and has so many stories to tell about them, that she often forgets to tell us about herself. Oh, every once in awhile she'll throw us a bone and talk about what she's up to, or a picture of her and one of the kids, but that's pretty rare. I thought that since I was stealing her blog for the day, and she gave me free reign over topics, that I would take this chance to share some of my favorite memories of Leah with you...just don't tell her, okay? She's too modest, and would be embarrassed.

Leah and I met, way back in ninth grade in Mr. Parker's English class. I was still a "new girl" even though I had lived in the area since the seventh grade. (Back then, it was a very small town, and most kids had been in school with each other since preschool so a seventh grade arrival was late in the game.) I didn't really know anybody in any of my classes. I had a few friends, but wasn't lucky enough to have classes with them. Anyhow, Leah and I ended up in the same English class, and I think we sat near each other. Her memory is much better than mine, so she may be able to fill in / correct some of my lapses. We started to talk, and had a lot of fun. I know we met at swim team practice about a week or two before school started, but I don't think we really started to talk and goof off until English class. We exchanged phone numbers a week or two into school. I remember that it was around the time of the first home football game of our high school careers. We were SO excited! She was going to call me and we were going to arrange to go to the game together.

I went home and told my mom all about "this really cool girl" in my English class. Mom was glad I was making friends. As soon as I was done telling her about it, Mom reminded me that Murphy, our German Shepard, needed a bath and it was my turn to give him one. Now, Murphy was GIANT. He was part German Shepard and part Great Dane, and he hated baths. Over the years we learned that the best way to get Murphy clean was to give him a shower. I would put on a bathing suit, and then drag the dog into the shower and close the sliding door. He couldn't get out, the bathroom didn't get soaked, and life was much easier.

While I was in the shower, I heard the phone ring and I heard my mom pick it up. She came into the bathroom, and I heard her say, "No, Kristina isn't available right now. She's taking a shower with the dog. Can I have her call you back?" Ack!! She told Leah I was taking a shower with my dog!! Not that I was giving the dog a bath, or simply that I was taking a shower! I was mortified. I started yelling for my mom, asking her to explain WHY I was in the shower with the dog. Though it was normal for our family, I SO didn't want Leah to think I was weird and never call again. Mom either didn't hear me, or didn't feel like explaining, so she hung up the phone and told me to call Leah back when I was done.

I hurried through the rest of the shower, and called Leah as soon as I could. She was a little confused and concerned at first, but after I explained everything, she started laughing and couldn't stop. I was relieved. High school girls can be so mean and so catty - I was afraid I had blown my chance at getting to know Leah. Lucky for me, though, Leah has such a great sense of humor that she got a kick out of the whole thing.

The beginning of a beautiful friendship was cemented in place.

From that point on, Leah and I were great friends. We did all sorts of things together. Swim team, football games, basketball games, watched plays at school, spent an inordinate amount of time on the phone; you name a stereotypical high school activity, and we did it. (Everything except alcohol, drugs or sex, that is! We were good girls.)

Leah spent so much time with my family, it's as if she were another sister. In fact, when I got my learner's permit, Leah was the first person I ever drove that I was not related to. She had come over after school for a few hours, and it was time to take her home. I climbed into the driver's seat, and Leah climbed into the back seat. We waited for my mom. And waited. And waited. Finally, my mom walked out the front door. I didn't see her at first, though, because I was turned around talking to Leah. When Leah started laughing hysterically, I turned around. When I turned around, I was horrified to see my mom wearing knee pads, elbow pads and a bike helmet. She got into the passenger seat, put her feet up on the dashboard, and said, "I've assumed the position: you can go." I was so embarrassed. If it had been anyone other than Leah in the back seat, I think I probably would have cried. But Leah is the type of person who can find the humor in any situation, and with her help, I got over the humiliation pretty quickly.

Leah is also usually up for an adventure. We had many cooking disasters over the years (her children appear to be well fed, so I think she got better at it...too bad I didn't!). Leah recently reminded me about two mishaps in particular. Around Halloween one year, we decided to try to bake pumpkin seeds. You know, like they do with sunflower seeds. It so didn't work. It was charred, yet somehow also undercooked? Another time, for Spanish class, we were making pan de dia de los muertos (Day of the Dead bread). I don't know what we did wrong, but it never rose. It came out of the oven flat and, well, dead. Those two instances prompted Leah to give me a card for my birthday that said, "For your birthday I was going to buy you a set of pots and pans. But then I pictured you using them and fell down laughing." It was a great card...the first time she gave it to me. The following year, she gave me the exact same card on accident! We laughed till we cried when we realized it!

I love everything about Leah. She has a great sense of humor, she is adventurous, she is kind, she is loyal, and she is beautiful both inside and out (if she tries to deny this, she's a liar...and I don't think she wants to be called a liar). She is honest, fair, and a great friend. And, she's an even better mom. I know - I've seen her in action.

After high school, Leah and I sort of drifted apart. I don't know why that is, but it's true. I went away for college, and sort of lost touch with most friends from high school. I missed Leah, and thought of her often, though. I graduated from college, and moved to the other side of the state. When I got engaged, one of my first thoughts was about who I wanted to be my bridesmaids. I was sad that I was no longer in touch with Leah, because she was one of only two friends I had always imagined with me on my wedding day.

Coincidentally, around that same time, Leah was shopping at a small little local store that was sort of like a Hallmark. My baby sister, who missed my friend, too, just happened to work there. On the day Leah happened in, my sister was working. They exchanged contact information, and my sister passed it on to me. I don't remember if I called Leah or if she called me. I do remember, that the day we finally got back in touch was the day she found out she was going to be a mommy for the first time. I was SO thrilled for her! (This may sound corny, but I've always had a special spot in my heart for Emily - it's as if she had something to do with reintroducing Leah and I. In fact, even though she was just starting to walk, she was the flower girl at my wedding. She held her mommy's hand and walked down the aisle. She stole the show! Here are a few pictures of that day. I wish I had more recent pics, too, but since we live so far away from each other, unfortunately I don't.)
Because Emily Grace was just barely walking, we thought that flowers would be too much for her to carry. We decided to do pinwheels instead! We put pinwheels on the rows of chairs, and Em carried one with her. Oh, and another brag on Leah - she MADE Emily's dress, all by herself.



Look at how sweet she is! Those flowers in her hair are too cute! You can see her pinwheel, too.




Leah was going to walk with Mike S. one of my husband's best friends. Mike bent down to talk to Emily, and basically fell in love. The next picture proves it.




Mike's STILL looking at Emily! And look at everyone in the chairs...they're all looking at her too! I wasn't exaggerating when I said she stole the show. (Please don't look at the aisle runner...I hated it but my mom insisted on it. You can also see the pinwheels at the end of the rows.)


Ever since we got connected again, we've kept in touch pretty regularly. We don't use the phone even a fraction of the amount of time we used to, but we e-mail all the time. And, this blog is a great way for me to keep up with what's going on in her life. I'm not as good about updating my blog as she is (how on earth does she find the time to do it EVERY day?), but I try. I did have a brief hiatus, but I'm back now.

I'm honored that Leah allowed me to be a part of her blog. This was a lot of fun! What are some of your favorite memories of Leah? Or, what do you like best about her?

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Babies caring for babies

HOW CUTE IS THIS??????
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(Jess, don't be mad, I was with him the entire time!)

Connor just LOVES Grace. He's even taken to hauling dolls around the house and calling them "Dace" (Grace). When he sees people with infant carseats, he points, gets excited, and yells, "Dace! Dace!" He loves to give her hugs and kisses. He's constantly wanting to be very involved in her care when we babysit her.

Obviously, I couldn't refuse his request!

Saturday, July 26, 2008

Grab a rag to mop up your drool...

Consider yourself warned, this lasagna is heavenly...
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The recipe is from the "Deceptively Delicious" cookbook by Jessica Seinfeld and it gets two thumbs up from Dan and I, and all three kids as well. It was also relatively simple to make, ESPECIALLY considering I've NEVER MADE LASAGNA before (Costco does a good job of that for me, usually). And with sweet potato and cauliflower purees, cottage cheese instead of ricotta cheese, ground turkey instead of beef, it's a relatively healthy meal. It sounds like a LOT of flavors mixed into one meal, but it all comes together very very nicely. Dan talked about it for days afterwards. Emily had three helpings!

I'm not sure about copyright infringements so I won't post the recipe, but I do HIGHLY recommend getting your hands on this book and testing it out for yourself!

Friday, July 25, 2008

MEN!

Dan says this would be a really cute shirt except that I put the white one underneath it:
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Thursday, July 24, 2008

Giving some recognition

Ask and you shall receive! (FIL said he wanted recognition on my blog, and no one can say I'm not accomodating!)
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Wednesday, July 23, 2008

I'm leavin' on a jet plane...

We're going to be suuuuuuuuuuuper busy over the next week, but FEAR NOT, I have blog posts all set up and ready, with one or two guest bloggers included just to keep things interesting. My computer goes in for repairs, so I will be unable to check comments (but LEAVE ME SOME ANYWAY, I can read them when I get the computer back), and will be unable to update my weight loss ticker, so just assume I'm doing really well with that this week, okay? LOL

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

BOYS, BOYS, BOYS...

Here's me shaking my head in total bafflement (with a touch of amusement)...

Our city hosts summer concerts in the park every Tuesday night, and we were in attendance last week (with plans to go tonight as well!). The kids tend to just kind of run around in this one back area, playing tag, tossing balls back and forth, visiting, dancing, etc. I was doing a head count, making sure we still had all three kids accounted for, and I found Jared off along the fence:
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I immediately started laughing and nudged my friend Jessica saying I think I might have a Peeping Tom in the making. I walked over and asked him what he was doing, and as it turns out, he was pouting, because I'd told him he couldn't eat the apple he'd found on the ground (which was a good month away from being ripe in the first place...). He was also upset that Emily had friends from school to play with, and he didn't. AND, he was upset that no one else would be Strong Boy with him (Strong Boy is what he calls himself when he's not wearing a shirt. Easy costume, eh?).

Connor, my drum-loving little boy, was FURIOUS we wouldn't let him up on stage to have a turn on the drums the Army band had set up (and were playing). He ran for the stage at every opportunity, and SCREAMED and SHRIEKED when we'd catch him and haul him away again. "MUM! MUM! MUUUUUUUMMMMMMMMMM!" (he calls drums "mums"). Ohhh, how he was MAD. Can you tell?
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I think we should have put in a request that he get a turn. How much of a show-stealer would he have been??!!??

Monday, July 21, 2008

He takes his cookies seriously

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Do you have any idea how badly I wanted to eat a cookie with him? I was good and only tore off a bite's worth and restrained myself for joining in. LOL!

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Quote of the Week

"Fear less, hope more;
Whine less, breathe more;
Talk less, say more;
Hate less, love more;
And all good things are yours."

~Swedish Proverb~

Saturday, July 19, 2008

Handy Gadget

I was standing in line at Hallmark the other day to purchase the snowmen ornaments my mother wanted for her birthday, and right next to the register was a stash of odds and ends things. Pens, magnets, eyeglass holders, necklaces, etc. I glanced by the bulk of it without a second thought, but this item caught my eye:
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This handy dandy little gadget keeps my charging cell phone and the respective cords UP OFF THE COUNTER TOP, which makes wiping down the counters and having a clean and organized looking kitchen that much easier. The $5.99 ($6.99? Now I can't remember!) price tag seemed reasonable enough to me, and I quickly picked out the pink one, and added it to my pile of things to purchase.

What do you think?

Friday, July 18, 2008

It worked!

Wouldn't you know, my fried egg in the shape of a fish proved to be a good luck charm afterall. My parents went out fishing the next day and caught their first fish of the year. WOO HOO!
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I'd better print and frame that fishy egg picture for the boat. ha!

Thursday, July 17, 2008

oooooooooh yeah, baby!

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And that was before I walked around making sure the house was locked up, checked on teh kids, hunted down my pajamas

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Here fishy fishy fishy!

Maybe this picture will be just the thing to turn the tides on my parents' recent fishing attempts and they will start catching some fish (they'd better, I'm in the mood for some smoked salmon! ha!).

I swear to you, all I did was crack the egg and get it into the hot pan (sprinkled with a little bit of pepper at Jared's request). I turned away to pour some milk for the kids, and when I looked back, I was shocked to find a fish frying in my pan!
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Monday, July 14, 2008

Can you feel the love tonight?

Okay, so fine, it's still morning, but it's what jumped into my head as I was trying to come up with a title for this post!

These are the things I've gotten from Emily in the last couple of days. She MELTS MY HEART...

First, I found this on the white board by the door leading out to our garage when I got home LATE from a preschool board meeting (and a post-meeting gathering for a drink at a local restaurant):
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Then I found this on my computer the next morning when I sat down to blog:
(It's kind of blurry, the camera wouldn't focus, but it says "I love you love you love you extroymly love", and I assume that one part is "extremely")
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Then she gave me this book just last night:
(page 1: I love the extra O's in LOVE for emphasis! page 2: she loves me to her heart. page 3: then she "sings" a bit of "Oh, Sweet Pea" for me. page 4: she loves me (and OH how I love HER!)
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Sunday, July 13, 2008

A few updates

I have my last PT massage appt tomorrow at 9am (unless the therapist requests more, which he said he might). My back doesn't ache throughout the day like it did in the first 2-3 weeks after the accident, but it still feels tight, and it's the first part of my back to feel tired and sore after doing things like holding Connor (and about a million other things). I had to purchase the carseat and stroller with my own money because they couldn't guarantee the check by the time we leave for PA, so now I have to nag them to reimburse me (the adjuster said they would).

I've been up every day at 6am to do some sort of work-out since Tuesday when I started. I've lost a steady 1/2 pound a day so far for a total of 2.5lbs. I'm working on portion control at meal times, drinking more water throughout the day, and being more mobile in general. I do have to admit I feel much healthier already. I don't feel over-full and "heavy" after meals, I have more energy, I'm sleeping better at night, etc. The kids are really getting into it as well, wanting to do their kid yoga tapes, and trying to follow along with mine when I do them.

I feel like there was something else, but I can't remember now!

Saturday, July 12, 2008

It's amazing he's still alive

Connor is the busiest, most persistant, fearless child of my three children. He constantly out-does himself and is forever putting me into panic mode with his antics. Yesterday, I heard the bathroom sink turn on, but Emily and Jared were both with me, and even with a stool, Connor is still a few inches shy of actually being able to reach the faucet. I run back to investigate and find Connor teetering on top of my new yoga bricks, on top of the stool, playing in the water!
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What doubly blows my mind is that the stool was in the other bathroom prior, and the yoga bricks were at the other end of the house next to the TV. Which means he actually had to see these items seperately and concocted the plan. It wasn't like they were sitting next to each other as a more obvious stacking opportunity. I made Emily stand right behind him to keep him steady while I went for the camera (I have to document these things, you know!), then said, "Connor, are you supposed to be doing that?" See the look he gives me?
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His reply was "Bop it!" ("stop it"). He's such a punk. Apparently I was distracting him from his fun. I'm so mean... Let's just say he didn't take too kindly to being taken down from there either!

Friday, July 11, 2008

Hey, hey, we're the monkies!

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People say we monkey around...
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***edited to include: The shirts came from Walmart in the infant/toddler section for $4.96 each. Em and J are both in 5T and CJ is in a 3T ***

Thursday, July 10, 2008

This is the life!

Emily had her friend Rachel over yesterday for a few hours. We're trying to cram in as much time with her as possible before she and her family move to Florida. The kids all played in the sprinkler, and then I made up the smoothie mix Rachel's mom sent over with Rachel, and the girls lounged in the sun, sipping their drinks.
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They requested another photo a little while later:
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Shortly before Rachel's mom was due to arrive to pick her up, the girls started making some serious plans about their next get-together, and they were just so cute plotting away and giggling. I don't remember what Rachel was in the middle of saying, but they erupted into giggles two seconds later...
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Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Did you ever wonder...

...what a sleeping mouse looks like?
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Emily came screaming down the hall the other day, telling me there was a mouse in the playroom. She was in the diningroom coloring (the two rooms are basically connected) and I was in the shower. I picked up the pace in the shower, but told her to go let our cat, Bella, out of the room we keep her shut up in at night, with the hopes she'd catch the mouse. A few minutes later Emily comes running back telling me she thinks the mouse is asleep. I asked her why she thought that and she said, "It looks like this!" and then did that pose. Cracked me up! Apparently Bella was really fast at catching that mouse!

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

She's out to get me

My EVIL (very dear) friend, Kaci, recently decided to add a work-out/weight-loss forum to our little mommy website, and several of us have jumped on the band wagon to lose some extra pounds, tone/firm up, and live healthier lives. After recently learning that my scale is 8.5lbs nicer than the last three scales I've been on, I decided it was time to make some changes. I went to Walmart and Target yesterday and got some work-out props (yoga mat, bricks, straps, and a big exercise balance ball) and some work-out DVD's to go along with them. At the recommendation of Kaci, I purchased Biggest Loser Cardio Max and Biggest Loser Power Sculpt (too bad they weren't $8.99 in-store!), and OMG am I dying (I did the Cardio Max DVD today). Talk about your major out-of-shape person, because I was sucking wind (I have untreated asthma though, triggered by physical activity), SWEATING, and my legs had turned to rubber by the end. LOL!! I also bought a pedometer to keep track of my steps throughout the day and will try and hit the 10,000 steps/day they recommend. I've been up for an hour and a half, but didn't wear it during the DVD, so in an hour have walked 1366 steps. Not too bad, eh? I'm really hoping this is something I can stick with. I've got 21 pounds I'd like to lose, and today is the first day on the road to a whole new me!

And Kaci's not truly evil. I'm excited to have a friend to help keep me going, and we have two other friends have joined the "fun" as well. If I do well, I will keep you updated on my progress. If I don't do well, then we'll all just pretend this post never happened... ha!

Monday, July 7, 2008

Things I've learned recently...

I learned that letting your child play in the sprinkler for hours on end can result in the much-needed nap for your child, which you'd pretty much given up hope on even attempting:
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I learned that you should never wrap a present in a huge hurry in your bedroom, then dash off and leave the roll of paper, the tape, and the scissors to be put away later, because your toddler CAN (and will!) find them and have his own fun (with 1/3 of a roll of wrapping paper, and several feet of tape):
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I learned that helium balloons do NOT last very long on a hot day (5-6 hours):
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I learned that it really truly was HOT that day (by our standards anyway):
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I learned that it's very very helpful to set the timer when baking cookies:
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And lastly, I learned that Jared is very well-prepared in case of a natural disaster. I was stripping his bed to wash all the bedding and I found three cups of water, two extra blankets, an emergency crank-style lantern thingy, and a pack of fruit snacks (fruit snacks not pictured because Connor snatched them as I was trying to take the picture and it wasn't worth chasing him down):
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Sunday, July 6, 2008

Quote of the Week

For the quote of the week, CLICK HERE and press play.

Friday, July 4, 2008

OH. MY. GOODNESS!

My Auntie was under the impression I would be mad at her for the Christmas gift she got the kids, so she delayed giving it until Monday, at which point she stuck it in my car at the lucheon we had all attended, and took off before we ever saw what it was. The kids and I got home and dug into the box and were THRILLED with what we found! It was tons of new dress-up stuff. By the time I pulled the last thing out of the box, Jared was jumping around in circles yelling, "YAY YAY YAY YAY!" Then he informed me that Auntie is the best Auntie EVER, and that the dress-up stuff is AWESOME. We didn't have time that afternoon to try any of it on because we were heading out to spend time with Dan's uncle and cousins in town from PA, but we played around first thing the next morning!

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I just realized I don't have pictures of Emily in the two girly dress-up costumes! Some of the pictures are repeats of costumes, but it's a different kid pictured (I wanted to make sure I included all three kids in the post). The Ninja Turtle with the full face mask is Emily, as is the dragon, as is the last Spiderman picture. The first Spiderman is Jared, and I think you can see for yourself who is who for the other pictures.

Isn't that a GREAT present? The kids have been having a blast!!!!!

Thursday, July 3, 2008

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Spiderman's a slippery fella

The kids have a Spiderman Slip n' Slide and we finally had warm enough weather to warrant setting it up. Our kids are little sissies (hey! They're mine, so I can say that. And they come by it honestly anyway, as I'm not sure I was ever okay with throwing myself down onto the ground either...LOL), so it didn't really work out all that well unless Dan lifted them up and swooshed them down in one good toss. ha!
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The spiderman hand is supposed to aim towards the slide part and shoot more water onto it, but it mostly just lays flat and half-heartedly sprays water into the air (there's plenty of water that sprays out along the length, so the hand part being malfunctional doesn't affect the slide in any way), and Connor considers it his own personal water founting, regardless of how many times I tried to shoo him away from it
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