No More Missions Please!

This CD has become A's all time favorite. I am glad it is a CD that contains classical music, and musical words. I am the one who bought the CD. I grabbed it for a travel present on the way to Florida. I figured since she was in to the Einsteins she would like it. Plus I thought since it was not all "kid" songs I would like it too. I do like it however, I am not fond of the fact that we must listen to it every single time we get into the car!

I should make myself clear. I did exaggerate a little. I have been able to, on rare occasions, get a turn picking the music. Or even B has had a chance to play Laurie Berkner instead. I am tempted to remove the CD from the car and bring it in the house so A can listen to it then, but I get sick just thinking what would happen when pissy pants gets into the car, demands the CD, and finds out it is not there. No, crazy idea! Keep CD in car and we all live. So for now I try to tune it out, or focus on A singing along. She has gotten really good at her bee impersonation due to the CD.

I just wonder what the next love in music will be? Tom has gotten both girls to request rock and roll. This has been a huge help. He also quizzes them on different types of music. It is rather funny to hear them figure out classic rock from pop. I however only listen to "pop" and I do refer to it as rock and roll so I get what I want and so do the girls. In fact I will listen to just about anything now as long as it is not this CD.

Baby It's Cold Outside

Tom has wanted this photo for a while now. He loves the idea of proof that is below 0 degrees here. Lucky for him it has been this cold here more than once. These photos were taken on the same day, just at different times. In fact I didn't even know B took one. She was not in a cooperating mood the morning we decided to do these. Notice too that A is wearing B's hat. Since B was not going out, A figured she would just wear it. She so loves wearing her sister's things.

There have been a few days of warmth, but back to cold for a few more. Nothing like teasing us with sun and 40 degree days. Oh well, not much else is expected in our neck of the woods. We had warm enough days to melt the snowmen and the ice in the ice rink. Only to bring it all back. If only Frosty was real I would not have to make another.

Fluffy and the Milk

So I'm sure you can tell where this story will be headed. Hopefully you all remember that Fluffy is A's imaginary puppy. Also remember that Fluffy is very tiny. Fluffy is held in A's hands. You know sort of like Clifford when he was a puppy. Anyway Tom was not home for dinner last night due to the late arrival of a contract. That meant I was responsible for the 2 monsters. No nap was taken by A again. In fact she spent the entire nap time jumping in her crib and singing. Not so tired I guess. So dinner was not going to be a good time.

I was on my last warning for A before she had to sit on the naughty step when I noticed that she was standing on the bench next to me pretending to pour milk from her glass into her hand. I asked what she was doing. She replied, "Fluffy wants some milk. She is thirsty." Ok fine I will play along. I turned to talk to B when all of a sudden I heard the sound of a liquid hitting a solid. I found that A was now really pouring milk into her hand for Fluffy. The only problem was that there was not a real Fluffy to drink it. So it ended up all over the bench, cushion, floor and A. I was so not happy! A's saving grace was that she quickly began chanting in her cute voice "I so sorry mommy, I so sorry!" So we cleaned up and tried to finish eating. Not an easy task I might add.

For an imaginary puppy she sure is starting to make a mess.

One Finished, One To Go

Here is a shot of B's tutu all finished. The top photo is the front, bottom is the back. We decided that it looked best with the bow in the back. I'm not sure that I love it, but I think it will work. Perhaps I will make it a tad bit shorter. then again I'm sure it will look different with tights and a cute top instead of over jeans.

Now I just have to do A's. I was thinking that I might get it done in time to take Valentine's Day photos, but then I noticed that is only about 20 days away. So I'm not so sure if I can get my act together. The tutu doesn't take long, but I do need A awake for some of it. That would be the conflict. A awake does not make for a good time to work on a project. We will see. Perhaps I can "make it work" as Tim would say.

I'm A Winner

I am so excited. The other day I posted about a skin cream I found and lip balm. Well it was also a give away on the blog. I usually don't enter these things but I figured "why not?" Well I won!!! Out of all the comments that were sent they picked mine. I don't know if they read them all and mine was the best or if was just a name out of a hat thing. Who cares! So I actually don't have to spend the money and order any cream for they are sending me some for free :) I will let you all know how it works. What a nice pick me up.

Happy Friday!

What Is In Your Cart?

Today I took A to do our monthly Costco run. Yes, I do believe it is the coldest day possible to go out to Costco, but when you have one roll of toilet paper left one must venture out.

A was very good in the store and totally bummed that there were no samples. I too was bummed, for they are my go to bribe/treat/punishment. A actually stated " This is the worst ever!" But when one gets there at 10:00 am there are no samples yet. Lucky for me she settled on a hot dog on our way out. this worked for me since I had a bit of time to kill before heading to B's school for another lunch duty day. As we were siting in the "food court" eating our great cheep hot dog I noticed myself looking in every one's cart as they walked past. I was totally into this!

Cart #1: paper towels, toilet paper, and a cooked chicken. Not that weird until I saw who was pushing the cart. Senior Citizens! Now do they really need that much toilet paper?

Cart #2 organic chocolate milk, organic eggs, and the big box of variety mix sugar cereals. Some how I was lost on the organic food and the crappy sugar filled cereal.

Cart #3 Vacuum cleaner, bleach, and swiffers. Not sure if this is a job for CSI of not.

Well can you see what I mean? Not one cart had the same stuff. It really was fun. It also made me think about what one might think as they looked at my cart. I for one kept looking at it thinking "Holy Crap, I spent a lot of money!" and "Wow! we sure are out of a lot!"

She Sure Is Creative

So I have stated many times before that I'm not sure A is headed for the gifted classes. I might have to take that back. No she is not some super closet savant, but I have really started to see just how creative she is.

She will create all sorts of conversations with any object. Yesterday at the diner she was using the sausage link and a cracker! The sausage was the baby and the cracker was the blanket. We all know about Fluffy too. I have found myself creeping up to her room to listen and watch her playing in her crib with all her animals. It is really funny!

She also loves to be different animals. Often she is a frog hopping away from me. However yesterday as we were emptying the dishwasher she took 2 spoons out and placed them on the sides of her face and started making piggy sounds. She then let me know that she was a pig. (the spoons were her piggy ears) I had to laugh.

So just because she does not know any letters or how to rhyme, she sure has a great imagination.

Good For Our Skin

I found this product on the teensygreen blog. It is a pure lotion for babies called cheeky baby butter. I know my girls suffer from skin problems as do some of yours. So I am thinking of trying it since the Arbonne is not working like it used to. This one does sound good and natural which I like a lot. You can go to the Babybearshop.com and look for yourself. It is not cheep, but either is Arbornne. I do find that the more natural the product the longer it lasts. I am also thinking about getting the lip balm too. The flavors sound yummy and I really like the tin that they come in.

What A Good Daddy

This is a photo of Tom's empty sock drawer. This is not because I (the maid) has not done laundry, but because he decided to give his last pair of clean socks to B. Why did she need his socks? That would be because she wanted to make a sock puppet and needed a sock. Let me also fill you in to the fact that I was not home at the time. If I had been she would have been told to get her own socks. But not Daddy.

B is really beginning to master the Daddy's Girl act. You know what I'm talking about. Getting your Daddy to give you whatever you want no matter what it might cost him. This last pair of clean socks cost Daddy his run in the morning by the way. I am pretty good at this skill too. I have tried to slow it down in my old age however. The girls are right in the learning phase. They are doing very well. I only feel bad that their daddy is not as handy as mine. Good thing this skill works on Grandpas too :)

The only down side to this sock puppet was that I did have to do the laundry today. Well I guess it beats cleaning the bathroom.

When Big Sister is Away...

So this is my first attempt at using my video player on my old camera. As you can see I am not very good yet. Sorry you can not see A's face, but what she says is the best part. B is away at tennis and so all of her Barbies are now fair game. As you can hear A quickly takes to them and claims them for her own. I espically love her laugh at the end. Enjoy and I hope to figure all this out soon.

Not Headed To The Gifted Class

Tom was reading the girls bedtime stories tonight. A's pick was HOP ON POP. One of her favorites. I was glad that I was not reading tonight, for I can't stand the book. I try to skip pages, but now she knows. I have come to find that when we read Go Dog Go she actually "reads" it now. I like the way she "reads" it better. She tends to not read all the words.

Anyways... As Tom was reading to A he would pause at the end of a rhyming sentence to have A finish the line. Apparently they are not doing enough rhyming on television, for A was not so good at it.

Tom: We are on the wall. It is where we play...
A: soccer

T: I am not tall, I am...
A: little

T: play, play , we play all day. fight, fight we fight all...
A: bed time

I guess I always said there is more support in the school system for the under kids than there is for the over.

Out of Her Mouth

This morning Tom asked the girls what they were doing in the other room.

Daddy: Hey what are you 2 doing in there?

B: Playing with our ponies. Why? What did you think we were doing?

Daddy: I don't know that is why I asked.

B: Did you think I would do something dangerous with my little sister? I'm not stupid. I know not to do something dangerous.

Guess I can sign her up to babysit now right?

Wasting TIme?

I have come to find myself saying,"Nothing on tv? What will I do?!" Why do I watch and continue to flip through channels and my shows recorded till I find something? I tell myself daily that I have 100 different crafty ideas to complete. Yet I still sit on the couch and watch mindless tv for 2 hours or more.

Well not tonight! I decided to wander through my favorite blogs and see what is up. You know since the computer is so different from television. I even found a few more blogs to read due to links. I did this for about 1 hour and then decided that this too is wasting my time. Plus my eyes are starting to hurt. Now don't get me wrong. Some of you bloggers are on my must read daily list. Mostly the ones I looked at tonight were the mommy type blogs not my friend's blogs.

I did find a few cute things on etsy, but nothing I couldn't do myself. Plus finding a new craft project is not really what I need to do right now. Perhaps finding time during my awake hours to finish a craft would be better. This alone time at the end of the day is just not working for me. It is a good time of the day since I don't really need to get a meal on the table or pick up things and the kids are out of the way. My energy level however is just not at a good productive level to be creative. Maybe if I tried it a few times I could get myself to do it. Who am I kidding? I could not!

Well, I guess my blogging for today is done. It is now time for me to get off the computer and go see what is on tv :)

A's New Friend

Let me start at the beginning. When we were in Naples we took the kids to play at a local playground. There were a few dogs around that A seemed to take a liking to. She went off to play and no sooner did I notice her yelling out,"Come Back puppy"! I of course looked around to see which dog was running away. Funny, I did not see any. In fact I saw A running after nothing. She continued calling to her "puppy". Finally she came over to me and said,"I got him." Then all of a sudden she said"Oh no! He is running away again" And off she went to catch him. The next time she came over to me I asked her what her puppy's name was. She replied,"Fluffy". Now this is the first time that she has actually named something other than baby, puppy or kitty. So I was impressed.

Now that she had a name the game changed. For now she kept calling out"Come back here Fluffy!" I figured most people thought my kid was super weird for she was running and calling after an imaginary dog. But what was fun for her was great for me too.

No sooner did we arrive home when I noticed Fluffy was with us. A carries him around in her hands (see photo) and brings him with us often. He almost got left in the car yesterday, but lucky for A I remembered to go get him. He came with us to the mall and kept running away until Aunt Vic put Fluffy in A's hood. It is father funny and a new experience for me. I don't remember B having any imaginary friends or pets. I'm sure she did I just don't remember.

For the most part Fluffy is pretty good. He is big on running away, but since I don't have to pick up any poop I'll take it. How I love the imagination of a 2 year old!

Straight Out Of Her Mouth

I could not stop laughing when B said this after dinner last night. I did ask where she heard it and she replied that she made it up. Wow so creative. I should be proud, but not so sure I am.

We are all in the kitchen cleaning up after dinner when B, standing at the table says," You make me so mad I could just, just, TOOT!"

Lucky for us she did not toot, but she too thought she was super funny. Must have got that funny gene from Tom :)

Another Reason to Have More Than 1

This is a perfect picture showing why we decided to have more than one child. Notice I am no where in the photo. Also the photo looks as if is being taken from behind and at a safe distance away. Oh let me tell you it was.



I am now loving the fact that the girls will play with each other for a while and then on their own only to return to each other. This time at the beach I again was able to sit and enjoy the ocean and the sun while the girls created another sand something. I did not have to get out of my chair due to this wonderful sister bonding.



Well, I did get out one time when A decided to catch up with Daddy and B during their walk. Lucky for me she came over to inform me that she was going to go find Daddy. What? I quickly scanned the beach to see how far away they were. It took me a few minutes to find him and I am big. I figured this would be one of those moments when a stranger would not think I was a good mommy if I let my little 2 year old wander down the beach yelling "Daddy! Wait for me!". So needless to say I forced my ass out of the chair and walked behind her ( she was running) till I got her safely to Daddy. I promptly returned to my chair and sun.



Yup, so glad we had 2.

I'm Waiting!

Here is one of the most common views I had of A while at the beach. She spent lots of time at the water's edge waiting for a wave to come by and fill up something. She would get just close enough for 1 out of every 2 waves to touch her. The wave would put a little water in her bucket or shovel and that would be perfect for her. She would then run to the dry sand and pour out whatever water she had collected. Then right back to her waiting spot for the next wave.

This drove me nuts! I couldn't understand why she wouldn't go a little bit closer, still not be in the water, but get more in her water collecting device. She was not scared of the water or the waves, but still liked this waiting game. I never did make her do it a "better" way for this seemed to work for her. Plus, it allowed me a good amount of time to sit on my chair and catch some rays.

Gots To Brag

Who would have thought that I would actually know someone on YouTube? I came to find out at Christmas dinner that my cousin Kristin and her amazing voice have a few videos on YouTube. She is a trained opera singer and is great.

So... I spent time on You tube and became a member so I could download one of her videos. I then learned how to download from you tube only to find out that the embed code that I need is not available on any of her videos. My next thought was using the address to link it so you won't have to search or anything.

If you are interested in hearing some opera sung well check out
http://youtube.com/watch?v=x6qMcjB4ktg . Another piece that you might know is this duet
http://youtube.com/watch?v=71cxBNvq1Eo. (Kristin is the blond). I like this one once you get into a few minutes of the song.


Kristin will be going to Italy again to sing there for a while. She is only a few years younger than I am. She has such talent. If you were at my wedding you heard her sing a few songs for us. I still watch her sing on our video. I might not be a fan of Opera, mainly because I have no idea what they are saying, but I am a fan of her voice. Plus the thought of having to learn different languages only to sing them amazes me. I am very proud of her and hope that soon she will be on the big stage here in Chicago so I can go hear her in person.

Enjoy!

Good Enough To Eat?

The thought of actually eating the gingerbread house makes my stomach turn. As you can see it does not have the same effect on my children. They have been eating the house since the night they finished decorating it. Let me say too that this is a house in a box, not a home made gingerbread house. I don't even want to think about how long ago this was actually made and how many chemicals it contains to keep it from molding. However, the girls were so happy when they asked for the umpteen time if they could eat it and I replied with a "YES!"



I did not let them eat too much. They each got a few pieces of candy, which A did not like, and a few bites of the house. Then it was off to the trash. It did feel good being the "fun parent" for a change. I like to surprise the girls every now and then.

Christmas Eve A Little Late

Here are a few photos the girls took with Grandpa and Grandma on Christmas Eve. We had it at their house and a good time was had by all. Even Santa stopped by, but due to all his stops he just left the bag of gifts and never came in to say "Merry Christmas." Perhaps next year he will have time to stop in for some egg nog.

Yes, the girls are in matching dresses again. I can't help it they still like to match. I too like it. I found these at the big sale at Hanna Anderson and had to have them. I had the girls wear them for Christmas Eve and Christmas Morning. They wore their dresses from last year to Christmas dinner :)

Attention Germaphobes

This is known as THE HANDLER. It is a new device that allows one to never touch a germ filled doorknob, elevator button, or garbage can again. It is about the size of a key chain. It is simply a retractable hook. Yes, I think it looks weird and I might look like a dork when using it, but it might be worth the $11 it costs. Kristin I know you want one! :)

You can get them around at some drug stores(I have not seen one out there yet) or, better yet, you can order it directly from their web site: handlerusa.com I have to say I do like all the pretty colors. I did not buy one for I'm not sure if I would remember to take it out and use it. It is good to know that they are out there and I might just buy one yet.

Too bad Christmas just past or many of you would have found one in your stocking. Remember to wash your hands!