Makes Sense

Geting A ready for the day today.

Me: A stop singing and jumping on the bed while I try to put your shirt on!
A: No jumping but I still singing
Me: fine, but softer please
A: sings louder
Me: SHHHHHHH!
A: Don't shhhh me! It is not night-night time. It is awake time. I don't need to shhhhh.

Don't Wake the Baby

I am sitting here trying not to think about the fact that I really have to pee. Yes, I did just write that on my blog. You might be asking why don't I just go pee? Well it is because I have 15 minutes till I have to get A up from her nap and go get B from school. If I go pee now she will hear me and want to get out of bed. I figure holding it for 15 minutes beats having her wake up early, right? Nothing is worse than waking a sleeping 2 year old.

So I figured I would spend the next 15 minutes reading blogs. Let me say I was a little disappointed to find that some of my regulars have not been updated in a few days. That means no new reading material for me. It also means my list of blogs will not take me 15 minutes to get through. Those of you which I am talking about know who you are so I will not list blog address. I am mearly letting you know that thanks to I might pee in my pants :)

I know I am not one to correct others on blog etiquette. I know in the past I have gone days if not a week without updating my posts. I now understand just how important a new post might be. For an addict like myself it is a must. I pledge from here on out I will try to update daily, well maybe every other day is more like it.

Never Thought About It

I was getting A dressed this morning and pulled out a cute button down short sleeved shirt for her to wear. Well being that is about 20 degrees I figured a long sleeved shirt underneath was in order. So I went right to the long sleeved white onesies that I bought for this exact reason.

I put it on her and as I was snapping it up I realized "this won't work with the potty thing" We are now at the point where A sometimes goes all by herself. So I figured snaps over undies was not the best idea for success.

Lucky for me I did have one long sleeved t-shirt to put on her. I have come to find out that this whole potty has some perks, but then again might not be all it's cracked up to be. Who would have thought?

You Be Aunt Vic

This is the new game that A loves to play with me. Aunt Victoria has been bugging me for weeks to blog about it too. I thought A was over this game until today. I was making dinner and she came into the kitchen wanting to play.

The game goes as such. I am Aunt Vic and A is my puppy. Why I have to be Aunt Vic I have no idea but I always do. I have tried to get out of this role, but no luck. Then A, as puppy, plays fetch, drinks water, "runs" around my feet and more. It is a cute activity and would be fun if I didn't have to play my sister :)

There you go Victoria. I blogged it and everyone now knows my daughter loves you so much that I have to pretend to be you.

On My Own

My husband left for the next 5 days this morning. He is off to golf with one of his brothers in South Carolina. I hope he has a good time for he has been working hard lately and could use a little vacation.

I too can use a little break. As much as I like having him around I like it sometimes when he is gone too. I no longer need to pick up and cook real meals. I always feel like I need the house to look like I really did something during the day. Now I don't have to till Sunday :) I will miss the extra pair of hands and the break on the weekend, but I am looking forward to hanging with the girls and slacking. The whole bed to myself is a definite perk too. I will miss my double D's hot chocolate Saturday morning, but I am sure I will survive.

Funny moment...

Driving in car today listening to kids music.
A: I'd like row row boat song
Me: no problem
A: that is not safe
Me: What is not safe?
A: bouncing up and down in a boat. (this was the verse of the song)
Me: oh really?
A: It is dangerous (A's favorite word) You could fall out. I'm not saying that part.

Uncle Buck - Melanoma Head

This weekend I was able to watch one of my all time favorite movies. Uncle Buck. I'm not sure why this is my favorite, but I find it so funny. I have seen it so many times, yet I never find myself quoting it.

There are many movies from the late 80's that I can watch once in a while, but this one I will watch almost every time it is on. I'm sure the fact that it is filmed in my town helps too.

I really love the idea of crazy UB taking care of the kids. He has a great way of making each day fun and full of wonder. The way UB scares the pants off his teenage niece and her boyfriend is great too. I swear I can see myself doing the same thing.

Macaulay Culkin does a great job in the role too. I love the part of his questions. It is just so real. He did always play a good little kid.

This is one of my favorite clips. UB went to the school to meet with the assistant principal about his niece Maizy. I like the fact that he holds nothing back and really stands up for his niece. Plus I just about pee my pants every time. Enjoy the classic!

Not Ready For This Yet

This is what I found when I went up to the girl's room the other day. B had taken it upon herself to hang up her first poster. High School Musical is now proudly displayed on her bedroom door.

I am not sure that I am ready of the years of posters to continue. Isn't the age of 5 1/2 too young for this? I should be glad I guess, that it is not a Barbie poster or something like that. I don't mind this one. It came in the Valentines that she gave out at school. She was so excited! I just really don't think I like the idea of heart throbs, and the like, at such an early age.

Or maybe it is just the thought of tape being used on the painted walls and door that bugs me.

Best Friends

Today was the day B has been waiting for all week. Her best school friend was coming over to play. There has been a whole lot of planning going on all week for this play date. B has spent many minutes thinking about what they can play and do while BFF is over.

The morning started out rough and early (5:45). B did not like the idea that even on a day off of school she had to eat breakfast in the kitchen. She also did not like being told that there would be some major pickin' up before BFF came over. I tried to ease the pain by making pink chocolate chip pancakes. It seemed to do the trick.

B had to attend A's ballet lesson and wait till after BFF was finished with her conference at school before the play date happened. We decided that a stop at the bakery to pick out "special" cookies was in order. (Yes, I do feed my child through her pain)

At 10:45 it was play date time!!! The girls were great. I had to keep little A busy so she would not bother them while they played. This as some of you know is no easy task. I did manage to keep her busy with glue and foam shapes. We also did a lot of stamping. It was nice and A even said it was fun. I guess tv doesn't win every time.

I knew the girls were having such a good time I almost called mom to ask her if BFF could stay longer. I figured, however that for the first play date I better end it before it gets ugly. I mean 2 hours is good enough, right?

They had a great time and BFF is a sweet girl. I am glad they are best friends. I only hope B continues to pick the good ones to hang with as she gets older.

The Thrill Of Saving Money

I have been on the hunt for a clothes tree for the girl's bedroom. I have tried hooks, but they don't work well. We are now into gymnastics and ballet so I have many leotards to use weekly. They were getting out of control all over the chair. I figured a clothes tree would help. It would also provide a place to hang robes and B's uniform. So I looked and found one at Land of Nod that I liked. I did not like the price of $45 however.

I figured I would try the outlet. I called and since they did not have any there at this time they put me on a list to call if one came in. A few weeks later I was called. I ran over the next day.

I was in heaven! I not only found a good clothes tree but so much more! Now remember that all items here are damaged or what not. Some of the prices are really good, others not so much.

I walked out of there with these main items. The clothes tree, 5 shelf bookcase, chalkboard, and the activity table(minus the paper roll thing)

If I went to the store and bought these items they would not be scratched, have a bent corner, have a touch of chipped paint, or a piece of bottom molding missing. None of these were big issues to me. My kids will scratch the table, I was able to unbend the corner of the chalkboard, the chipped paint you can't see when the clothes are on the tree, and the missing molding I can replace on the bottom of the bookcase.

What was a big deal to me was the $570 savings I made!!! Yup! If I had paid full price for non damaged goods I would have paid over $700. I did not spend that much at all. My 2 best items of the day were the table for $20 and the bookcase for $50. They both retail for almost $300 each.

Not every time do I find such great deals, but this time I lucked out and had to share. I guess I will have to remember to call first and hope for the best.

The new furniture did require me to redo the playroom and part of the girl's bedroom. The girls are so happy now with their "school" area in the playroom. I too am happy now with crap off B's dresser due to her new bookcase.

I am thinking of getting the cushions to go with the table now. The outlet had 2 orange ones, but not that much cheaper. Perhaps I will make a call tomorrow :)

I Was Tagged

Thanks to my friend Krisitn, I now am tagged. This means I must share 7 weird/strange things about myself. Here we go...

1. I do not like little kids. I like my own and my friend's, but over all little kids are not my thing.

2. Dishes in the sink drive me nuts!

3. When cooking I clean all dishes as I go.

4. I find organizing relaxing.

5. When watching tv I must have a blanket on me no matter the temp.

6. I would rather wash, dry and fold laundry instead of sorting it.

7. I can sing well, but don't do it much in public. (This drives my husband nuts)

The rules are to link the person who sent this to you and leave a comment on their blog so their readers can visit yours. Post the rules on your blog~ Share 7 strange/weird facts about yourself ~ Tag 7 random people at the end of your post, linking their blog ~ Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

http://irishkat.blogspot.com is the one who tagged me.

I am going to tag... Alicia @ http://www.chaoticbuthappy.blogspot.com,
Victoria @coffeeandcollege.blogspot.com/, Jenny @ http://lovingconfusion.blogspot.com/
Marty @ http://www.transplantedchicagoan.blogspot.com/

I know that I did not pick 7, but this is all I could come up with. Guess #8 on my list is that I don't have many friends that blog. Enjoy reading and tagging someone else :)

Art Work

Here are a few of B's most recent drawings. I have to say that I like the big smiles on the faces. I think she is really getting good too.

On this picture she even added sickers to the picture for details. It is fun to watch her drawings evolve. Her details are getting better too. I like the eyelashes on these girls. They sort of look like thick eyebrows, but they are lashes.

This is one of her newest looks. It is the ballerina. I like the bun in the hair with the ribbon. Again makes me feel good as a mom to see such a big smile on the face. It is better than tears and sad faces. Perhaps I am doing something right? The ballerina really doese have 2 legs too. The scanner cut it off, sorry.

I have found that scanning in the art work is a good way to keep it instead of all the paper. Having 2 girls who love to draw means lots of pictures. We can only hang so many on the fridge and give away. However if you would like to order something I will see what I can do :)

Not So Good At Sneaky

I was called to school this morning to pick up B who was not feeling well. Her tummy hurt. No problem, I was there to get my sick one right away. A was comforting B all the way home. Telling her that when we got home she could "relax and feel much better." When we got home B changed into jammies, grabbed her lamb and went right to the couch to watch tv. I took her temp and surprise, it was normal.

Half hour into "sick time" B was hungry and wanted to eat her lunch. I guess the tummy was feeling better :) I gave her a few crackers and told her to eat these first. I was now thinking that maybe she was not all that sick after all. Sure enough her lunch has now been eaten and she and A are involved in full play time.

I did decide to hold off on lunch dessert. B was not happy with this. I went upstairs to change A's accident and get her new undies. When I got back down B had decided that she would just wait till after her nap to eat a dessert. In fact that is a good idea. What?! I gave her a quick look and then began with the 3rd degree.

me: what did you do while I was upstairs?
b: nothing (her lie smile is on her face)
me: really? I think you should tell me the truth.
b: nothing
me: it looks like you maybe ate something
b: ok, i ate a cupcake
me: you ate a whole cupcake while I was upstair for 2 minutes?
b: yup. it was good.

Then as I went into the kitchen to now get A one, I noticed that B has a little to learn on the art of sneaky. 1. the container that the cupcakes are in was out of place. 2. the wrapper was on the top of the garbage not hidden. 3. there was frosting on her face (the way I knew)

I guess I am glad she is not good a sneaky at the age of 5 1/2. I did find it all sort of funny too by the way. She is a good girl, so this was rather out of place for her. The power of a cupcake I tell you!

More Snips of My Conversations

getting into the car...
B: A you are making me soo mad!
A: No I not, I making mommy mad.
Me: Yes you are making me mad, now sit down!
B: Well you are making me mad too.
A(screaming) No I not. I not make you mad too just Mommy.

Me: Hey A, let's go on the potty before we get dressed.
A: No, I am empty
Me: I think we should try
A: No I peed in the bath, I empty.
Me: You peed in the bath?
A: Yes, it was yellow.
Me: Ok, guess you are empty.

Getting ready for be tonight....
Me: A get over here. Notice I do not have my happy face on.
A: I smiling mommy
Me: good, I'm not.
A: I will make you happy...(begins singing)Dragon Tails, Dragon Tails... are you happy now?
Me: I have to say I am smiling, but not happy.

Laughter and tears is truly how I get through the day.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

What a nice day so far. I got a work-out in this morning in which I raised the resistance on the machine. When I got home, B had been showered and A was getting in the bath. Go Husband!! One of the best Valentine's Day gifts ever. :)

After I dried B's hair she presented me with my presents. I got a pretty heart shaped pin that she made. I promised her I would wear it today when I come for lunch duty. I will get a picture to post later.

Yes, I have a busy day of lunch duty, watching the musical , tennis lesson, and somewhere in between running to Land of Nod outlet (my clothes tree is in), McDonalds (lunch for B) and making a heart shapped cake for dessert.

Oh, I did get to shop last night. I had to get out after dinner. I was just a mess. If any of you need snow things for next year I reccommend MACY'S. I stopped last night and got snowpants for both girls and a cute coat for A. Each were $12.99!!! The coat originally $50.00 the snowpants are Columbia so they were $70.00!!! Not sure if all Macy's are this low, but it is worth a look if you can buy ahead. These bargins made my $60.00 jeans at the Gap worth it.

Change of Plans

I have been looking forward to this day all week. Yes, I know that means 3 whole days. B has a full day of school today due to a musical performance. So I get an extra half of a day without her. This gives me extra time to do what I need to do without stopping to pick her up and then go to gymnastics.

So what did I want to do with my extra time? SHOP! What else? I had visions of Macy's and Land of Nod and even the Gap for another over priced pair of jeans. Just being in the mall sounded good.

Remember that A is working on potty training this week. I feel very good about taking her to the mall with undies on too. She has done such a great job so far.

After my shower and getting dressed. I decided it was time to get A some pants and get out of the house. Well that was not the same thought running in A's head. After much pleading and maybe a few tears, I decided that today just was not the day to go. There is nothing worse than trying to shop with a kid that does not want to be there.

I changed out of my cute outfit back into sweats and sorted laundry. Yup, so much for my shopping plans. I am upset, but know this is for the best. I need nothing (well maybe the jeans) but wanted to get my fix. Perhaps once I wash clothes I won't think I need more jeans.

So it looks like a day of house work and stuff like that. I do have lot on my TO DO list, I just didn't think today would be the day to work on it.

I Know This One

Let me just recap. Husband knows/dated tatoo artist on LA Ink and today I find out that I went to high school with Venom from American Gladiators! Beth and I graduated the same year and we were friends too. I had no idea that she was Venom until I got the high school newsletter today via email. As soon as I saw her name listed with American Gladiators I quickly went to NBC and looked her up. I knew that she was a body builder/trainer/more, but I had no idea that she was this hot and skilled! I will state that for the record I did not date her :) Small world I guess. I just thought it was funny and I should share. So now I will have to start watching this show as well as LA Ink.

I Made Bread

I have once again gone back to my health food only faze. This time around however I decided to make my own bread. Now I have never made bread and I do not have a bread maker. I have however thought about getting a bread maker. I decided that I would try making it from scratch first. then if I liked it maybe I would look into getting a bread maker.

So the other day the girls and I tried to make bread. Let me just say that even with a phone call to my dad, I threw the gross looking dough in the trash. I have no idea what happened or what didn't happen. I just figured I was way over my head. Well, I decided to try again.

This time it seemed to work! I actaully had 2 loaves of bread turn out. The best part is that they don't taste all that bad. I am not sure they are perfect for they taste like they are missing something, but it worked! I figure I will get my dad to taste them and give me some pointers. I do plan to make it again. It really was not that hard or time consuming. Plus, the house smelled great while it was baking.

Potty Day 1

Today it is again below zero. So I decided it would be a good day to try potty training again. We tried a long time ago, but there was a tad bit of refusal. So I let it go. I wanted to get the ball rolling again without making it seem like it was all my idea. I smartly began with "What do you want to wear today A, undies or diaper?" I was surprised and pleased when she responded with "undies". I ran to get the drawer so she could pick the pair.
Needless to say the first pair got wet quickly. She wanted more so I went with it. Lucky for me we have 6 pairs of training pants. I like to start with these since they are thicker than regular panties. By the end of the day we had moved to no more pants just undies and down a few more pairs. I did move to chocolate chip rewards for sitting on the potty. Even B wanted in on the chip action. Dad stated that if B got A to pee on the potty she too could have 2 chips. Sure enough by 6:45 A peed on the potty thanks to big sister. I even raised the reward to a marshmallow instead of 2 chocolate chips. Funny thing is that A's biggest thrill about the whole event was that she "got to wipe with paper." She made a point of telling all this exciting part of the potty. I am looking forward to tomorrow with high hopes. My only problem will be that on Tuesday we have to go back out into the real world and I'm not sure I want to try the undies there just yet.

Out Of My Mouth

Big day here in our house, or should I say car? This morning my car was stuck in the driveway due to all the ice/snow. I had to gun it to make it over the ice pond and snow mountain at the end of our driveway. Doing this caused me to knock over one of my neighbor's garbage cans. I said a bad word out loud. So my young passenger heard it. Yup, the big F@#$! came out of my mouth.

Now I really don't use the word much espically around the girls. My husband on the other hand. Let's just say we both figured it would be due to him that the girls learned this word.

He was very pleased to hear that B learned the word now from me and not him. I did go through the "you may never repeat this word" speach. As well as the "It is just a very bad word to say." lecture. She was very into the meaning of the word and why it is such a bad thing to say. I left the meaning at "I don't really know what it means, it is just a naughty word."

So I pray that the 2 times she said it in the car will be the only time she says it. I did try to get across the amount of trouble she would be in if she ever repeated the word. Lucky for me she seemed pretty ok with that knowledge. For I'm sure if it was A she would not care about the trouble just the attention.

Not so much a new topic, just a new story...

Tonight at dinner we had salad with dressing. A asked if I could "pass the dressing up, so she could dip her mato in it." Dressing up? Oh I get it, dressing...dressing up. I thought it was funny!

Have a good one and watch what you say :)

My New Niece

Here is a picture of my niece, Madison. My sister-in-law gave birth yesterday. My brother seems happy yet I have not talked to him. The only sad part of finally being an aunt is that this niece lives in CA. I'm am not thinking I will be seeing her that often. I guess I can take some comfort in the fact that I am still an aunt to 42 other kids thanks to my husband and his family.

All By Myself

This post started as I thought about going to see a movie alone. My friend Joan brought this topic up. I stated that yes, I would go to a movie alone. But then I began thinking of other things that I would or would not do alone.

Have done alone: eaten in a restaurant, would not do this again I had a horrible time.
shopped alone, have no problem going alone. Almost prefer going alone.
gone to mass, I actually listened instead of focused on kids

Have not done alone: travel. And I mean like far away, not a hour(s)road trip
join a group. I feel like I need to change this one.
go to a party, I would just feel weird alone without friends/husband

Anything I should add to my rather short lists? What things have you done? What would you not do?

Few Comments From Today

me: A would you like to go to art time today?
A: no, I like elmo on puter (puter = computer)

I am watching a blurb on tv about a little boy who lost his legs and is showing his very cool prostetics. B came into the room and states : "Those are some funky legs!"

B: A, I am your sister.
A: No you are not.
B: Yes! I am. tell me I'm your sister.
A: You are not my sister!
B: You better prove I am your sister.

We are at the grocery store B sees a display of greeting cards. She pulls one off and rushes over to me. It is a barbie one.
B: Mom, this is the card I'd like for my birthday.
Me: oh really? I guess I will have to remember that.
B: No, just buy it now and save it till May. ( the DUH! was inflected)

More Snow!

What does one do with tons of snow and 45 degree days? Yup! Make snowmen. So A and I did just that. In fact here is one of the finshed crew. After I finished this one I was informed that I now needed to make a "yittle one". So A and I began making a little one just for her.

She is so funny. She picks up the biggest amount of snow that her little mittens allow, and as she is placing it on the ball of snow, she is telling me which body part it is. Ears, cheeks, eyes... you get the idea. The photo I wish I had taken was of her snowman and all his arms. When I finished getting the body together we went to look for sticks. We found 2, put them in the proper arm place and I went to get the snowman kit for the finishing touches. When I came back outside I saw that our snowman now had 6 arms and they were in all different directions. A said he needed them. So for a while he kept all his arms.

When B came home from school she too wanted to make a snowman. By the time she got outside it had begun to rain. That did not stop her. She stayed out there set on making a snowman. She is not able to start the ball and roll it, so she just kept making a pile of snow. By the time she was finished for the day it looked like we had a termite hill in out front lawn. Not so much of a snowman, but good time out in the snow!

Early To Bed, Early To Rise...

Wednesday night Tom and I fell asleep on the couch watching Cars (too lazy to stop it from the girl's viewing) at 8:15. By 8:45 we both decided to go up to bed. So by 5:00am I seemed to be rather awake. Being awake, I began running my TO DO list over in my head. The number one item was grocery shopping. I had made my monthly menu and went through the sale flyer to create my list the day before. Now the only thing I had to do was find time to go to the store. Easy right?

I was thinking of peapod since they deliver, but many of the items were on sale at Jewel. I just hated the thought of going with A. She is good, but we have all read past blogs of our shopping excursions. Plus, I knew this trip would take longer since it was a monthly trip, not a quick re-stock trip. I decided that since I was awake I would head to the store and get it all finished before the girls woke up. This way I could even bring home the needed milk before breakfast. A perfect plan!

Sweat pants and bra later, I was off to Jewel. Now it is 5:30. I figured this was a win win. No kids, no people, all sale items fully stocked, and shelves brimming with food that they had all night to stock. Well, let's just say that my reality was not at all like my vision.

For starters, the store was not fully stocked. In fact many things were not out at all. Most of the produce section was bare. The new sale prices were not up on many products. Because of no labled items I was unable to remember what was on sale. So I had to go get a flyer and use that while I shopped too. These problems added time to my quick trip. So all in all it was nice to wander without kids, but it took much longer than I had planned.

I will think a little more the next time I want to get out of bed to go to the store at 5:30 in the morning! Early to bed, more sleep for me!

Show Off

Just wanted to show off my great Christmas gift from Tom. I found this table, bought it, put it together, and love it! Yes, it was technically from Tom, but I had to do the leg work. Fine by me. I got what I wanted and he DID carry it in from the car for me :)

So the best feature of this table is not all storage, or the folding table on the side, but the fact that when the lid is shut my projects are out of reach. The lid actually does not close down flat on the table. This allows me to keep works in progress out and they don't get squished.

I also had a good time organizing all my card stuff in the pockets and drawers and shelves. I did find however that I now really needed more stuff. So good thing there have been a few good sales around at the local craft stores. I now have things I have never used before and so I have been working a little.

The only down side is that the table is in the "dining room" so when I am working I am all alone. No tv/background noise. I'm not too into that. I am trying to work during nap time instead or when B is home from school and on the computer next to me.

So to all of my friends... look forward to your J originals. And remember I am still working on this whole creative thing.

PS. Joan I know you are soooo jealous :)