Women drivers! (that's what my dad always used to say!)

Yesterday was the Pittsburgh - New Jersey game (hockey), and Lucas had been planning on taking the boys over to his friend's (Jim's) house to watch the game & let the boys play PS2 w/ Jim's son. Well, at lunch yesterday I was (jokingly) giving Lucas a hard time about leaving me alone all the time while he's out running around, blah blah blah. Well, the next thing I know, it's 4:30, and the doorbell is ringing...It's Jim, coming over to personally invite me to his house (apparently Lucas told him I was whining - LOL). Since the man made a special trip out of his way, I thought it would be rude of me to not go - plus, I'm always up for hockey & getting to know new people! So, I decided to drive separately, so I could take the kids out of the guys' hair if they started to get grumpy. And that's how it all started...

Jim & his son live on a dirt road - one of the many fine features of this great state! His house sits away from the road up on a hill - which I'm sure is gorgeous in the daylight, but I wouldn't know because it was getting pretty dark by the time we showed up at 7:00. Well, because his driveway is so long, only about 1 car length in front of his garage is actually paved. The rest is a gravel-ish path (which was more like a snow-covered ice path last night thanks to our never-ending winter). Lucas parked right behind Jim's truck in the driveway...I was following, luckily a bit of a distance behind. As he puts the truck in park, it starts sliding back at me. So I put my van in reverse and started backing up...but apparently I should have been watching BEHIND me while backing, instead of watching the truck sliding at me!!! THIS IS KEY to not ending up in the snowy yard! WISH I WOULD HAVE KNOWN THAT LAST NIGHT!!! (pause now to laugh at me...I know I am!)

Ah, just imagine my husband's joy when he gets out of his truck, after finding a place where it would actually stay where he parked it, only to find that I am now parked in the yard! I could tell he was thrilled :) So, he came over and pushed me out...not the end of the story...

Somehow, wherever he pushed me to, I ended up stuck there as well. So, he had to push me out again! The best part of the whole thing, for me anyhow, was that every time I would give the van gas and would be going nowhere, Meagan was in the van cheering me on saying, 'Go Go Go.' So I couldn't help but laugh, which made Lucas think I had just lost my mind (but I tend to laugh when I'm nervous anyhow).

Needless to say, I made Lucas back the van out of the driveway when I left. I wasn't taking any chances!

Story of a Politician (and a politician's mother)

Aah, Sebastian. What can I say - the boy is a politician at heart! The child will 'win' on a technicality (or try his very best to get off on a technicality, if he can't win). He answers one question with another question. He dances around subjects and avoids answering the real question at hand. He's a presidential candidate in training!

3 nights ago, the boys were playing in the basement, and Isaac asked (with Sebastian standing all of 3 feet away) if the two of them could climb on the boxes we have stored under the stairs - they wanted to pretend the boxes were their spaceship. I told Isaac (and indirectly Sebastian, since he was standing right there looking at me) No, that the boxes could fall over and it wasn't safe. After I had given my answer, Sebastian says, "Well Mom, we won't let the boxes fall." "I'm sure you would be careful," I say, "but you can't always control those things. My answer is no."

Well, the next night, (or maybe last night, I can't remember) at dinner, Lucas says to me, "Guess who I caught climbing on the boxes in the basement?" That would be Sebastian. Doing the only motherly thing I could think of, I turned to Sebastian and made mistake #1 - I asked him a question that allowed for an open-ended response. "Sebastian, didn't I just tell you the other night that you couldn't climb on those boxes?" And he actually says to me, "No Mom, actually, you told Isaac that." (I suppress a laugh) I glanced at Lucas (who was also trying not to laugh), and then looked back at Sebastian and said (mistake #2 - engaging in a debate with a 5-yr-old), "You were standing right there. You heard me say No. I said it to both of you collectively, and I even specifically told you that my answer was no at one point." He sat quietly for a minute, and I could see the wheels turning. Then he says, "But Mom, tonight I was climbing on different boxes, not the same ones I was climbing on the other night. I didn't know you meant all of them."

At that point, I snapped to the realization that I had to put an end to this, and did so. But I couldn't help but wonder if the poor poor mother of smooth-talking politicians (Bill Clinton comes to mind), went through the same thing when their children were younger. For my own sanity and peace of mind, I hope so.

Yum yum yum

The last of the 3 trick-or-treat goodies pages! I finished Sebastian's last night. In doing this page, I also did a challenge that I found at Designer Digitals (Jumpstart Challenge #8) to use synonyms for your title word. It was kind of fun really - a cute alternative to 'here's you eating your Halloween candy.' LOL! Now, I just have to do layouts of the action shots of all the kids trick-or-treating around the neighborhood (at Grandma & Grandpa's & here!). I may actually successfully scrap an entire holiday (not something I'm very good at, to tell the truth - holidays are not fun for me to scrap??).

Credits

You Today

It just wouldn't have been fair for me to interview Isaac and not Sebastian...so here's interview #2.

Journaling:

• How old are you: five
• Favorite food: cake
• Least favorite food: rice
• Favorite color: orange
• Favorite #: 100
• Favorite letter: R - 'cause I like the shape it is in capital and lower case.
• What are you good at: riding my bike
• Best friend: Caden (he went back & forth between Caden & Rearden, but finally settled on Caden)
• Favorite movie: Jurassic Park 2
• Favorite dinosaur: T-Rex
• Why: He's the king of dinosaurs
• Favorite thing about school: Having snack
• Least favorite thing: Getting cold at recess
• Favorite vacation place: The rainbow slide park
• Where do you like to visit: Caden and Avery's house
• What do you like to do for fun: inside - playing games (pirate game), outside - riding bike
• Anything else I should know about you?: I like to run around to make myself healthy. That's why I play crazy. Like when me and Isaac run around and hide from Meagan. That's a good game 'cause it has running in it, and running is exercise. 'Cause it makes my heart beat. 'Cause if our hearts are beating that's good.
• (Sebastian. Interviewed 2/19/07)

Credits

Oldie but Goodie

Tonight for our family movie night, Sebastian chose Shrek...an 'oldie' but goodie. No, it's not the oldest movie, I know, but it was Sebastian's first true love. It brought back memories of him at 18 months standing mesmerized in front of the TV dancing to the Du Lac song. Sometimes it's easy to forget about those funny little things that you're sure, at the time, you will always remember. Watching him watch that movie tonight, I couldn't help but think about how many home movies we took of him watching that movie - sounds funny, I know, but he was soooo darn cute! And then, watching Meagan, she was picking up where her brother left off. She was fascinated. She wouldn't take her eyes off the screen, not even to take a drink. Although I have every line of that movie memorized, it was fun to take time to sit and watch it all together - and remember the 'good ol' days.'

For a while during the movie, Sebastian sat snuggled up on my lap, and he gave me little kisses like he always used to do. I just closed my eyes and soaked it up - those moments are fewer & farther between the older he gets. It was a great way to end what, admittedly, was not my favorite day (just not enough sleep for me, and a little on the edgy side). Kind of put things back in perspective for me. (I'm expecting tomorrow to be a better day for me...keeping my fingers crossed!)

And finally, a potty update...Meagan has been asking to go potty these last few days! Once, totally by accident, she actually peed into the big potty. And we COULD have had another accidental success tonight - if only she weren't so stubborn & bull-headed!!! (Can't imagine where she gets that, really!) She was on her way up the stool to sit on the potty when she all of a sudden decided (while completely without diaper) that she would rather brush her teeth. When I told her 'Let's go potty first' she got back down and stomped her feet in defiance, just in time to pee all over the floor. Grrrr! That attitude got the best of her (and me) tonight. Again, maybe tomorrow will be a better day. I'll let you know how it goes! (Wish me luck!)

Speech Therapy

The speech therapist came today to evaluate Isaac. After talking with him for a while, and asking him to say lots of different words (she showed him pictures and asked him what they were of), she said that he is actually right on target for a 4-yr-old. She said that the sounds he is dropping are sounds that develop more around 5-8 years old - like 's' in the middle of words, or 'st, sp' at the beginning of words. She said his vocabulary & language skills are great, and once he stops sucking his thumb, most of the 'laziness' he shows in forming 's, l, t, th' will go away. So for right now, she is not going to recommend him for therapy because he is right where he should be. So, I guess he's like his father was when he was Isaac's age - he just talks too darn fast & no one can understand what he's saying! If I can just get him to slow down and actually pronounce the sounds (that I witnessed today he is perfectly capable of making) we'll all be able to follow along with Isaac's stories!!!

Free Gift

Go check out my other blog...I'm offering a free gift if you're interested.

We're off to Motor Development this morning. I'll be back later for my usual post of the day!

Warning!!

Blogging should come with a warning label! It has started to have an impact on my every-day life. Besides the fact that any time anyone does or says something funny, Lucas & I both think "put that on the blog," (dorky, I know) it has now gone a step farther. This afternoon while I was making dinner, I sat down at the computer to look at other people's blogs...I stopped by Kelli's & got sucked into a movie clip she had posted. The next thing I knew, dinner was burning on the stove...OOPS! Salvageable, but still burnt!

Other than that, not lots to report today. It's been a pretty lazy day for the kids - Isaac woke up really late; Meagan took a 3 1/2 hour nap while Isaac watched a movie (in total contradiction to yesterday's post, I know). I got caught up on some stuff I needed to do. And then I burnt dinner. It's pretty nice and sunny (although quite windy) so I'm hoping to maybe get outside for a while after dinner this evening...we'll see how that goes - the boys have earned their 10 dots, so tonight is a PlayStation night for them...trying to convince them to go play outside should be interesting!

Oh, one other little thing worth mentioning - mostly because it's a funny thing about Isaac right now that I don't want to forget later in life. Isaac is totally into socks right now. But not just any socks - really cool ones, like camo socks or dinosaur socks. Every day when he gets dressed, he has this big process of deciding which of his cool socks (that almost NEVER match the rest of his outfit) he's going to wear. Today he is wearing blue sweats, a gray and blue polar bear sweatshirt, and green camo socks - very stylin'! BUT, my problem is, that he has been looking for his dinosaur socks for the past few days. Apparently he doesn't remember that we threw them away because he had worn holes in them. So, if anyone knows where I might find a supply of dino or camo footwear, please pass along the information. I've got some socks to replace!

(And Aunt Jenny, I thought of you while I was writing this. I know you'll be happy to have someone else who shares your appreciation for fine footwear! - Love ya!)

Unplugged

Nicole was telling me on the phone today about a family she saw on the Today show that had agreed to try living for 7 days without certain modern technologies. I think they were going without their washer & dryer, computer, television, microwave, and iron. Well, the iron would be no problem, and I could even do without the microwave, but no washer and dryer!!! No computer!!! Those 2 would get me for sure! But what about the TV? I know my kids depend on the TV for much of their entertainment in the morning. So, I told the kids during breakfast that we were going to leave the TV off all morning. I got a little resistance at first, but they all quickly made their way upstairs and started playing together, and I actually had time to get some stuff done. But the greatest part was that they all WILLINGLY pitched in with chores - they put away toys, they cleaned up their room, they put away their folded laundry, and after lunch, Isaac even vacuumed the living room! And not one single solitary time did any one of them so much as whine about having to do 'work.' They were enjoying it. And because their room was clean, we had space to build up Dinosaur Mountain in the middle of the floor for them to play with (a toy that hasn't seen the light of day for a few months now!). I'd say our experiment was a success! I think I'll try it again tomorrow - maybe we'll successfully get these kids UNPLUGGED!

First Time for Everything!

Finally Finally! I can officially say that I have built a snowman! For the first time in my life! I can remember various attempts when I was younger, but the snow must not have been good packing snow, because my attempts always fell apart! But yesterday after dinner, we all bundled up & headed out back - snowman kit in hand (a bucket of buttons, a carrot, a pipe, a hat & a scarf), and we started building. Everyone helped at least a little. Meagan spent most of her time climbing snow mountains in the yard (at one point she stuck her foot in a really deep pile of snow, and lost her boot, so she was wandering the yard with one boot and one sock...oops!). As the sun faded & the sky was getting dark, we put the finishing touches on Frosty. It looks like his stay with us is going to be short-lived, since he's already losing buttons & his pipe hit the ground today. But it was fun while it lasted!

Dig In

Hooray! More fun news for my scrapbooking! Another one of my layouts has been requested for publication. This time, by a great company called Blue Media - they have a book concept called 'BluePrints' where they give you a basic layout sketch & then publish several examples of how that sketch was used to make layouts. Here's the layout of mine that was requested:

Journaling: 'One of my favorite things in the whole world to do is to plant flowers and care for them as they grow. This year, since we needed to landscape around our new deck, I had the opportunity to do just that. But I didn't work alone. Meagan showed up for the job with her shovel in hand and a willingness to dig in and get dirty. She was careful to watch and mimic every move I made. She helped me remove the grass, smooth out the dirt, and cover the roots of the new plants. It seems she shares my love for playing in the dirt!'

Credits

(It's so fun to see what God is doing in this area of my life, now that I've finally let go of it & gotten my priorites in order! He's so cool!)

Stuck in the Snow!

I meant to post these pics the other day, but somehow, they got forgotten... Thursday when Sebastian got off the bus, he decided to cut through the side yard instead of heading for the sidewalk - which is only natural, because what 5-yr-old can resist mounds and mounds of snow? I had been watching him out the front window, and he seemed to be making progress toward the house (slow progress, but progress nonetheless). So I went in the kitchen to work on dinner - I figured he'd be in in a minute or so. Then I heard Lucas pulling into the garage (hmm, he's home early). But it was a good thing for Sebastian that he did come home early, because somehow, Sebastian managed to get himself STUCK in the snow! Lucas had to go out and literally DRAG him out of the drift he was in...but not before he took a few pictures just for laughs!

We've got some Catching Up to do!

What a weekend! I know I missed yesterday...please forgive me! We had house guests, and we were just too busy doing other things! Sherri came Friday and stayed until this morning...6 kids in the house - four boys! Wowzers! We joked all weekend that we know why we stopped at 3! There's just not enough room (or food) for that many kids! But we had a great time visiting, and the boys LOVED having friends sleep over.

Saturday, just to get the kids out for a change of scenery, we decided to take them to Chuck E Cheese...but we really hadn't considered (until we got there) that it was, in fact, SATURDAY! Packed is an understatement! We spent 3 1/2 hours trying to keep track of everyone. The games were running out of tickets, so there were several times that no tickets came out. And some of the games were broken down all together. But the kids didn't seem to mind. They had a blast! I will say it's the first time I've been in the same room as my best friend for that long and said less than 20 words to her...I hardly even saw her after we left the table and headed for the games (unless it was to hand off kids so one of us could take a bathroom break LOL)! Ah, well, we made up for it after the kids went to bed...we had plenty of good girl-talk time!!! Maybe a little too much, because we were both extremely tired this morning!

So, my news for the day is that I got 2 emails - 1 the other day and 1 this morning - inviting me to be on 2 different design teams for digital scrapbooking.

The first one is a manufacturing team. The lady I took the online course from has just released a new line of products (Crazy Cat Studios) that she wants to promote partly through design team work. I really really like her as a person (as much as you can when you meet someone electronically, that is!), and the concept & look of her new stuff is pretty cool! I'm excited about that.

The second is a scrapbook-focused web site - Scrap Galaxy. They have decided to branch out & have a site to focus on digital - and they've asked me to be a part of their creative team to help promote the site. I sent in my layouts quite a while ago. I figured, since I hadn't heard anything about it, that they hadn't selected me...so that was that. So, I was pretty surprised to see the email from them in the inbox today! Nice surprise! Thanks, Jane, for helping me pick which layouts to send in!

Alright - I'm done rambling on for the day - I'm gonna go take some quiet time to myself while the kids are snoozing. Have a great day!

New Outlook on Life

Today I had the pleasure of viewing some of life's major issues through the eyes of 4 & 5-yr-old's.

First topic: Death
On the way home from Motor Development, Monique (a friend of ours - 4 yrs old) chimes in with a completely out-of-the-blue comment that started an interesting discussion, of sorts.

Monique: "I don't have a doggy anymore because my dog puked and died. Now he's in heaven and he can't come back."
Sebastian: "Well, Monique, don't be sad, because when you die and go to heaven, you will see your doggy again........(long pause)......but, you'll have to wait because you have to be really really old to die."
Isaac: "Yeah. Like Grandpa with the speeder. But you can go to heaven to see your dog in outer space. That's what heaven is. Huh Mom?"
Mommy: "Actually, buddy, heaven is not a place you can get to in a rocket ship. It's not a place you can go and visit. But when we are done here on earth, our spirits will go to heaven and stay forever."
Sebastian: "And then we'll see all the dead people we know, huh Mom?"
Mommy: "Yup."

New Topic: Marriage and Babies
I'm sure you've seen the zoo-pals forks & spoons for kids. We have a drawer full of them! While I was making lunch, the boys picked out their spoons & forks. Isaac bumped his together, which caused Sebastian to immediately spout off:
Sebastian: "EEEEWWW they KISSED!"
Isaac: "Yeah, maybe they're going to get married and have babies"
(Mind you this is a monkey & a giraffe)
Sebastian: "Yeah, 'cause when you get married you have to kiss. That's how you get married."
Isaac: "Yeah, and it's how they have babies."
Mommy (couldn't help myself): "So, when you kiss, are you automatically married?"
Sebastian: "No, but if you want to get married and have babies, you have to kiss first. It's the rules."
(I nod in understanding, and move on with lunch...meanwhile...)
Sebastian: "But, Isaac, they can't have babies. A monkey and a giraffe can't have a baby together."
Isaac (getting up to get a shark knife from the drawer): "Yes they can. It will be a shark!"

I love these conversations! They're always good for a laugh. Good for keeping perspective on what's really important. Have a great day! (here are a few pictures from motor development this morning - just for your viewing pleasure!)

It's Party Time!

Today we had the greatest adventure! The 3 of us went to Sebastian's school for his class Valentine's Day party! It was Sebastian's turn to take treats, so he took heart-cake Little Debbies. His teacher also let them each bring a board game to share. His choice - Candy Land. When we got there, the class had just started playing games. Sebastian was playing Connect Four with one of his buddies. It didn't take Isaac and Meagan long to find the 'kitchen' area (that had been converted to a post office - they're taking a field trip to our P.O. at the end of this month!). Until snack time, Isaac & Meagan were perfectly happy to play with the kitchen food & the mail in the mail box!

I was a little worried about snack time, because I was not expecting that Isaac & Meagan would be included in it...but someone had 2 extra cookies, and shared. They were ecstatic - snack at a real school table! The only thing left to do after snacks was to open up Valentine cards. We (well, I) decided not to stay for that...too many things for my 2 to get into...and it was already 2:15 - way past nap time. But I think Isaac & Meagan loved every minute of being with 'the big kids' in a real classroom at a real school!

Getting Started with Digital Scrapbooking

Okay, I mentioned in a previous post that I had emailed Tracy Watson regarding some of her online courses. She responded this evening saying that a new course has just gone live at Sony's site. Here's a link: Getting Started With Digi Scrapbooking It has been updated to fit the latest version of PSE (which is version 5.0). If you're interested in trying it on for size, I would recommend getting the download of the PSE trial and use your 30 days to go through this online course and practice as much as you can. That will give you an idea of whether or not it's something you want to invest a little more time and $ into. Best of luck! Let me know what you think of it. Love ya!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Okay, we're taking full advantage of the computer to send out Valentine wishes to everyone. I let the kids make projects today, and (no shocker) they decided to make 'cards' for Grandma's & Grandpas. Well, since they are up against 4 & 5-yr-old attention spans (and since Sebastian spent quite a bit of time writing his name & his classmates' names on 21 cards for school), by the end of 1 project, they were ready to call it quits...So, we agreed to dedicate their cards to ALL of the Grandpa's and Grandma's and put it on the computer for all of you to see. I guess that works out better anyway since they're on 8x10 papers full of popsicle sticks (LOL). So, here are your Valentine wishes from the kids...Meagan's just ended up being a blank piece of pink construction paper. She 'painted' it with water (minus the watercolors) for a while, and that was that! And, Grandpa's please forgive Sebastian...his hand was cramping after all the school cards, and his mind had apparently gone to mush because he wasn't writing any of the right letters. So, after he (barely) finished 'Grandma' he called it quits. He specifically asked me to tell you all that his card is also for his Grandpa's. We love you all! Hope you find someone to hug & kiss today! Happy Valentine's Day!

At your service

Hey Deidra (and anyone else who might be interested)! Just wanted to respond to your comment you left about digital scrapbooking. There are lots of ways to get into it, but I can only tell you what I did and what worked for me.

There are a few things to consider:

1. Software - There are TONS of different programs that work for digi scrapping. I chose to use Adobe Photoshop Elements (which is slightly less powerful than photoshop, but also much more affordable). I found a free 30 day downloadable trial of the program at Adobe's web site. Just make sure first that your computer is powerful enough, or you will have a very frustrating experience.


2. Learning - There are a lot of ways to learn how to get started. There are a bunch of tutorials available on line, but each tutorial basically focuses on one particular function of a program, rather than the bigger picture of what's going on. I was lucky enough to find an online course for beginning digital scrapping. It was taught by a very talented teacher & scrapper named Tracy Watson, and it was hosted by AOL's digital lifestyle learning service. Right now I only see an advanced course on their site, but I emailed Tracy to see if she has any courses available anywhere else currently. I'll let you know.


3. Getting STUFF - In the course, I did learn how to make my own paper and ribbon and so on, but it all was pretty basic, and will take much practice before I'm willing to use much of it on my pages. So that left me with the issue of finding a stash of paper and supplies to use. I found a LOT of great websites that have free downloads of paper kits, embellishments, etc. Here are a few that got me started:

http://www.shabbyprincess.com/

http://www.designerdigitals.com/

you can also sign up for a daily newsletter from http://www.scrapgirls.com/. In it, there are 2 freebies to download every day. Just some places to get started.

Just for fun, want to see my first few digital pages? They're VERY basic, but there's a quick learning curve. Lots to learn, but if you're comfortable with computers, it should come fairly easily. Here are first ever digital pages...LOL!

Goodies

I finished another trick-or-treat layout last night. I was able to scrap a little since there was no Prison Break to watch. Two down, one to go. Maybe I'll work on Sebastian's tonight.

Credits

This morning was story hour at the library for Isaac. It was his first one since before Christmas (since we had to miss last week due to illness). They had their Valentine's Day party today - soooo cute! He made me a valentine card, and they got to decorate cupcakes to bring home (which they put in a bag -????? - so the icing was a smashed & smeared, but he ate it anyway!). We left the library later than usual, so we barely got home in time for Sebastian's bus. But, we made it! I thought I'd sit down & do a blog posting just for the sake of unwinding from the rushing around of the morning. Next it's on to spaghetti for lunch....and then nap time! Isaac is literally asking for nap time today, so I'm hoping he'll actually sleep for a change. We'll see. He has pretty much outgrown naps, but every now and then he crashes. Maybe I'll have some more exciting stuff to update you on later. If not, have a great day, and I'll see you tomorrow!

Up in Smoke

Man oh man did I get lucky! This weekend was the first drag race of the NHRA season. Lucas found a fantasy drag racing deal that we're all doing together as a family just for the fun of it. Well, I picked my drivers a few weeks ago - basically I just picked 2 people I thought might have a decent chance of winning and a third person that was a long-shot and that I didn't think anyone else would pick. Well, my 'long-shot' ended up winning, which landed me with the most points for the week (by a margin of 5 or 6 points). Heee heee heee! Here's the funny thing, though... when Lucas asked me last night who I had picked for drivers, I couldn't even remember. I remembered considering a few different people, but I had no idea that I had actually picked the winning driver. So, of course, Lucas had to call me from work this morning once the points were up to give me crap. I tell you, it's hard being in any form of competition with that man! But it's oh so fun to win against him! Even if it is only for one week! (Better luck next week, Babe!)

In honor of Multi-photo scrapbooking...

Just about missed it - my layout was posted on Tenika's blog the other day (http://scrapbooklayouts.blogspot.com/). I had been watching for it, and then one day I forgot to check it... so, that, of course, was the day she posted my layout! LOL. It's still up for now. I think it may disappear into the archives after a few more posts, but you can check it out if you want. It was posted on Feb. 9th. There are some great layouts posted with it, so it's worth a peek if you're interested. So, in keeping with the theme of her blog, I thought I would post a few more of my layouts with 3 or more pictures on it. I was looking through one of my on-line galleries and realized there are quite a few more than I even realized. Just wanted to share. (I'm gonna keep it brief tonight - drag racing is coming on soon!) Hope you enjoy!

Rain forest Room (9 pictures)

Journaling: 'The magic of watching the 4 of you explore an environment that was completely new to you...The wonder in the way you observe and discover everything around you...the bananas on the trees, the fish in the pond, the overhanging branches of a low-growing tree. It makes me happy to my core to see you enjoy each other and the world around you so completely. -Rain forest Room, Meijer Garden'

Just One Gift (4 pictures)

Journaling: 'Just one gift. That's what I always used to say to my mom every Christmas Eve. Since I alternated Christmas's between my Mom & Dad's houses, I didn't have many real traditions for the holiday. But this was one I could always count on. In fact, sometimes if I didn't ask, Mom would ask me...she never was very patient!! Well, the tradition lives on. Before bed this Christmas Eve, you got to open one gift...not a show-stopping gift, not the grand final, but something to satisfy that craving for Christmas, if only just a little. Well, this year we got you a box of books...I Spy, Eric Carle, manners, Bear Snores on, and lots lots more. I was a little nervous you would be disappointed...no one asked for books for Christmas. But you couldn't have been more excited!! I'm thrilled that this one gift made you as happy as it used to make me. Love, Mom'

Read to Me Bubba (3 pictures) - can you remember when they were that little?

Journaling: 'I walked into the play room today to find Sebastian reading 'Itsy Bitsy Spider' to Isaac.

Day 1 (6 pictures)

Journaling: 'Parkview Elementary; Teacher - Mrs. Long; Lunch - hot dog; snack - Popsicle'

Smile (3 pictures)

Journaling: 'Smile...Apparently a word that can be interpreted many different ways. Let's see, there's the Allosaurus smile, the scary tiger smile, and the I'm trying to pretend not to smile smile. If only the photographer could be lucky enough to catch that genuine Isaac smile...the one that spreads from your lips to your eyes and all the way from your head to your toes. That smile is PRICELESS.'

Ketchup by the spoon-full

Just a quick post tonight. I got to do a little scrapping this afternoon during nap time & finished this layout. I'm not entirely sure that I like it really, but it's done, nonetheless. Other than that, not lots to report for the day. This morning I made breakfast pizza, which turned out pretty tasty for my first attempt. Then, Meagan helped me at the grocery. And, of course, tonight was our movie & pizza night - Pirates of the Caribbean #1 (Isaac's choice - somehow we escaped Star Wars???). Hope you all had a great day.

Credits

Better late than never

Okay, I know it's a little late in the day. I'm sure some of you are already wondering if I'm gonna skip out on you again. I have been keeping a mental list of things to share with you today - so here goes. I'll just go in chronological order I guess.

#1 - FULL PIGGIES!
Finally finally, we can abandon the horns that Meagan has been sporting. We've move up to FULL Pigtails!!! No more baby mullet! And Oh My Goodness - she looks so cute - but a little more grown up than I would care to acknowledge. I'm a firm believer in keeping my children young forever, and I solemnly vow that none of them will ever age past 7 (LOL)! So, I can accept full pigtails for now, but I will be a little sad (but only a little) when we reach a full PONY.

#2 - THE REPORT IS IN...
Sebastian got his first report card yesterday. He didn't even mention it to me. I had to find it on my own, all tucked away in a folder in his book bag. (I see he's picking up where his Daddy & Uncle left off!) He is doing really well. And, actually, the only area that he had a 'Needs Help' mark was in gym class - hand dribbling. So the kid's not destined to be a basketball player - I don't think any of us are surprised by that fact! But I told him it's something we can work on in the basement while it's still cold outside. Then when it warms up, we can take their basketballs & hoop out on the driveway & practice all he wants. That made him happy!

#3 - A DOG BONE FOOTBALL HELMET??
Those were Isaac's exact words when we opened up the package (correction - GIANT TAMPON BOX) that came in the mail yesterday. Grandma & Grandpa decided they just HAD to fill Sebastian's request for a football helmet for Daddy, so now they can hit heads together for fun (I still sometimes don't understand the male mind). I can just imagine all kinds of interesting outcomes from that scenario! When Lucas got home last night from work, he came upstairs wearing his work clothes & a green helmet! Wow - apparently Daddy's pretty excited about the helmet too. And, since Isaac doesn't have his own football helmet, he has already made plans to use his baseball helmet as a football helmet whenever the need should arise. Aaaaaah, boys!

#4 - GRAY(cat) POOP-ON (no illustration available - LOL)
Okay, and last but not least - for now anyway - is my Meagan story of the day. I swear some days I believe she was sent to me to teach me patience like no other!

Although this has very little to do with the story, I guess it's worth mentioning that we (Meagan, Lucas & myself) got about 5 hours of sleep collectively last night. She basically cried from 9:30 until 5:30 this morning, with a few 3 to 5 minute pauses thrown in. Needless to say, it was a rough night. And when I'm tired, patience is a real test of my will - I definitely have to do it on purpose because it surely doesn't come naturally to me. That being said....

Fast forward to about 1:00 this afternoon. My dear sweet daughter is back to her normal self, as if nothing ever happened last night. I was cleaning up after lunch, and she and Isaac went to the basement to play. A little time passed, and I realized it had been quiet for the last 3 or 4 minutes - never a good thing when Meagan is involved. I peeked down the stairs to see if I could see them. Oh, but I was NOT prepared for what I saw! My beautiful baby girl, playing with 2 trucks in the litter box - cat poop on her face, in her hands, and all over her clothes. I could only assume, based on the proximity of the smears to her mouth, that she had taste tested it at least once. YUCK YUCK YUCK... Trying not to think about what had really just happened, I scrubbed her hands & face, changed her clothes, and brushed her teeth. Then I called poison control to see if there was any danger or anything I should do. Apparently, this is a pretty common thing, and since Lilly is an indoor cat, no worries. The lady said, 'She may experience some mild food-poisoning-like symptoms. And it's possible that she'll poop out some litter." Exact quote! AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH! What that girl won't think of to get into! But, other than having to suppress a gag reflex, I was pretty pleased with the way I handled it. I guess I passed my patience test for the day.

I never meant to let you down

Sorry I missed yesterday...I caught a little crap about it from a few of you! (All in love, I'm certain!) Nope, no one was sick yesterday. I just wasn't at the computer a lot, I guess. Just spent some quality play time with the kids in the morning - playing WackaMole (always interesting with Meagan involved!). After Sebastian got on the bus, Isaac got his computer time for going to bed good & for not sucking his thumb the previous day. And then during nap time, I just spent some good quality time with God. That's always a refreshing way to spend an afternoon.

I wasn't much in the mood for dinner last night. I called Lucas for some suggestions, but he gave me nothing. So Meagan offered to help. She helped me find something to make. Then she pulled up her chair (by herself), got out the skillets (by herself), and tried to make the sausage (by herself). I didn't have the heart to tell her that she had forgotten to turn on the stove top & that she needed to take the sausage out of the package first. When she had had a few minutes to 'cook,' I gave her the boot & took over. But first I made sure I got some cute cute pictures of her helping.

Last night, I actually got my husband to myself, since the Beaner had work issues & wasn't home to play (BTW [some of your terminology I love sooo much!]Beaner, hope you're feeling better!). So we got caught up on American Idol (we didn't watch it Tuesday - gotta love TiVo). Next week - Hollywood! That's always when it hits the fan! I have picked out a few of the contestants that I really liked, so it will be interesting to see how they do. And can I just add, as a side note, that Lucas has stolen my cat from me! When we laid down on the couch, what does she do, but jump up on his lap & lay down! He's not even nice to her, and she likes him more than she likes me! How's that fair? (Well, he really is a little nice to her, but not like I am... sigh) I guess we'll just have to get a dog!

Thanks, everyone for all of your comments on my Wendy's page. Tina (I'm assuming that was you), no worries - I still have a huge soft spot in my heart for TWIX. And, I've stayed stocked up on Mt. Dew. Don't you worry about me!! It's all taken care of!

Well, that's my quick overview of yesterday. Gotta start getting kids dressed & ready for school, and Sebastian is asking me to do something with him. So, for now, I'll leave you with this - a little bit of creativity coming from the kiddos. Sebastian has been a drawing fool lately. A few days ago he drew the mother of all I Spy pages - filled with every kind of living creature he could think of - sharks, worms, bugs, dragons, and even an ostrich. See what you can find! And yesterday, Isaac worked long and hard building what he described as his 'Meat-Eater Lego Star Wars Spaceships.' Here's a picture for you. Have a great day! Love ya!

Comfort Food

credits

Here's my latest digi-dare layout. The dare was to scrap about my comfort food. I had to give this a bit of thought - there are so many, I could almost fill an entire album...peanut m&m's, Wendy's, taco bell, mashed potatoes & gravy, mac & cheese, mt. dew...the list goes on and on. However, in the end, I settled on Wendy's. Mostly because, of all the foods on my list of possibilities, I can be hungry for Wendy's at any time of the day or night (even if I've just eaten a big giant meal).
Journaling reads: "This is comfort at its finest. yeah, that's right. this is fine dining! maybe not as you may think of it, but for me, it just doesn't get much better than this. there's just something unexplainable about the whole thing...the combination of a fresh bun, warm gooey ketchup & mustard, bacon, salty fries, and oh so delicious Mt. Dew! mmm. I'm making myself hungry. Sure, there are lots of foods that I enjoy, but a trip to Wendy's can make me happy at any time night or day. This is truly my comfort food."

Are kids covered by the Lemon Law?

Because there's something not-quite-right about this little girl we have! Where do I start? Well, how about this for example: To her, closing her eyes for any amount of time exceeding two minutes constitutes a nap. So, she laid quietly in her bed for about 3 minutes today, and then decided she was DONE. Done - time to get up - no more sleeping - let's play - DONE!
And another thing...HOW I ask you, am I supposed to know what the heck she wants when every yes or no question I ask her gets a NO response, regardless of what she means. No is 'No' and yes is 'No.' That presents all kinds of parenting issues. That, coupled with the fact that she is quite easily frustrated, results in more than a few 'outbursts' on her part throughout the day. Like I said, BROKEN!
But, I do have proof that she does have some girlish interests (besides the boots, which I discussed before). The other day she actually played FOOD - which I admit is rather gender-neutral, but I'll take it. And, she DID name her baby doll - Monique (after a friend of Isaac & Sebastian's). So, I guess that's something. Okay, so maybe she's not ALL THE WAY broken, but I think I could get some kind of payoff... if only the Lemon Law applied to children...

Another One Bites the Dust

(what is it with me & song titles lately?)

It started with Isaac & Lucas last week. Then, we moved on to Meagan this past weekend. Well, we just got through yesterday with no puking from her...so apparently that makes it Sebastian's turn. Just as I got out of the shower this morning, he let loose. (Sigh) So, no Story Hour for us today at the library, and no school for Sebastian. The one good thing is, he did actually fall asleep at nap time, so hopefully he'll sleep it off. And, so far, lunch hasn't revisited us...so that's a bonus. Sheesh...maybe I'll open up all of our doors & windows & freeze out all the yucky bugs that seem to be lurking in the corners. How many more days (weeks, months) until spring????

And, by the way, I did actually check the news this morning to see that school was NOT cancelled, but I guess my efforts were all for nothing!

Baby It's Cold Outside

And, apparently, they've cancelled school because of it. I guess I need to start incorporating TV into my morning routine during the winter. Needless to say, I did NOT watch TV today, and, therefore, did NOT know that there was no school. So, we went along with our morning as usual - breakfast, play time, tub, get dressed, and so on and so on. 11:00 rolled around, and I had Sebastian get all bundled up - snow pants, boots, coat, gloves, hat, book bag. 11:10 - the bus should be here any minute. 11:13 - hmm, Buddy, your bus is running pretty late today. 11:15 - you know, I wonder if they cancelled today. 11:20 - confirmation from 2 neighbors that there is, in fact, no school today. Okay, Bud, take your stuff off and go play. I guess you're stuck with us today! I guess it doesn't hurt a kid to stand in full snow gear for 20 minutes every now & then. Right? ???

Children's Zoo

Just wanted to post this layout that I did a few weeks ago. It was based on a sketch by Becky Higgins. Lots of fun pics of the boys on vacation last summer. This was their trip to the Ft. Wayne's children's zoo. Journaling reads: 'Your 6th day of summer vacation was spent by taking a trip to the ft. wayne zoo, build-a-bear, and chuck e cheese with grandma & tina. i heard all about it...the train ride, the merry-go-round, the drive through the safari, the ride on the ponies...and on and on! you pretended to be hatchlings, baby joeys, tigers in the tree house, conductors on the train, and so much more. and after a long day at the zoo, grandma and tina were still courageous enough to brave chuck e cheese and build-a-bear. sebastian, this is when you adopted silly-zoo-zoo bear into your collection. and isaac, you named your bear fuzzy bear. and, although i loved getting the email with all the pictures of your adventures & fun, my heart ached a little because i wasn't there with you. 3 more days to go & i'll see you again.'

I'll update this later for credits...don't feel like typing it all up right now...being kinda lazy, i guess.

One more thing...

I've had the thought a couple of times to do a 'verse of the day' or 'thought of the day' type of blog. I decided to do it, but since the topic is so important to me, and has potential to be pretty expansive on its own, I've dedicated an entire separate blog site (www.wehavethismoment.blogspot.com) for it. I've added a permanent link to it on this blog (to the left below my beautiful picture). Check it out if you're interested.

A day well spent

(Just a quick summary of the day)

What a day! Everyone woke up way earlier than usual, which always makes me leery about what the day has in store. About a half hour after we got up, Meagan started getting sick...and who DOESN'T love cleaning up puke? So, that put a damper on our plans to go out for breakfast...Burger King to the rescue! I ran out to get BK & make a stop at Wally World for diapers and about FROZE! Yikes...the wind was blowing like crazy & the snow felt like stones hitting me in the face...so far, off to an interesting start.
Well, when got home, Lucas was watching an episode of Daybreak on the computer...this was a show we started watching on abc when it first came out. Apparently, it was cancelled (which shines quite a light on why it suddenly disappeared off of TiVo's radar), but they are playing the remainder of the episodes on-line. So, we spent the morning getting caught up. I much prefer the couch to the kitchen chairs for watching 3 45-minute episodes in a row, but I was happy to find that we weren't going to just be left hanging wondering forever if this guy was ever going to make it past today and into tomorrow. Now I'm definitely looking forward to this coming Monday when they put the next episode up.
Okay, so after lunch, off to the grocery...Meijer at 1:00 in the afternoon on a Saturday is always interesting. I survived, but it took me 2 1/2 hours at the grocery. EEK. The only real hitch in the shopping adventure was the fact that my cart got totally STUCK in the snow. I wish you could have seen some of the looks I was getting (and how many people had to drive around me). Try as I might, I could not push, pull, or drag the cart through the snow. So, it (really, no kidding) took me nearly 10 minutes to get to my van (which was parked in the second spot, 2 rows from the door). I had to keep making little paths in the snow with my feet for the cart to follow. I'm sure I looked more than a little goofy. Oh well - Get er dun!
So, tonight was our third family pizza & movie night. The movie tonight was Cars - my choice. My first time watching it from start to finish. I really liked it. I have to say I got a little choked up at one point. Am I the only one? By the end of the movie at 8:00, Sebastian was begging to lay down and go to sleep & Meagan had gone up & gotten her pillow from her bed & was just laid out in the middle of the floor (see I knew they all got up too early!). Now, we've parted to our perspective computer corners - Lucas for gaming, me for scrapping & blogging. All in all, it was a great day. There were a few tricky moments thrown in there, but I think I made it through without giving up an ounce of my joy. I'd call that a success - a day well spent! Hope yours was good too.

So Tell Me...

I did this interview with Isaac for the latest digi-dare (see the digi dares link to the left). The dare was to interview someone & do a page about it (including a picture of your interviewee). It was pretty fun actually...entertaining if nothing else. Here's what it says (in no particular order):
How old are you? - four
Where do you like to go on vacation? - Short Grandma's house and Little Grandma's.
What is your favorite dinosaur? - Allosaurus and velociraptor.
Why? - Because I like to fight sharp-teeth dinosaurs with a light saber sword.
Is there anything you are excited about? - I can't wait 'til it's my turn to pick our movie date movie again.
What do you like to do with Mommy? - Play games, like Hungry Hippos, Mouse Trap, Waking up Daddy and all those kind of games.
With Daddy? - play baseball and football and basketball.
Who is your favorite Star Wars character? - Obi Wan and Anakin.
What do you want to be when you get bigger? - A doctor firefighter.
What kind of doctor is that? - A people doctor that is a firefighter.
What's your favorite color? - pink and all the colors, but just not gray.
Favorite stuffed animal? - Milo.
Favorite movie? - Star Wars and Rudolph.
Do you have a favorite #? - 1 and 10 and I also like 9.
What things are you good at? - Puzzles, games, coloring, playing.
Who's your best friend? - Trace and Travis.
What's your favorite thing to pretend? - pretend to be a storm trooper.
Favorite thing to play? - Star Wars video games.
What's your favorite food? - Chicken noodle soup with crackers and cheese.
What's your favorite TV show? - On Noggin I like Backyardigans and Wonder Pets. On PBS Kids I like Caillou and Clifford and Dragon Tales.
Favorite place to go? - Trace and Travis's house.
What do you like to do there? - Eat and Play.

Interview with Isaac - Feb. 2, 2007

Click here to view credits

Mark your calanders

July 21 is the publishing date for the new (and last) Harry Potter book! I get to see the next movie & read the final book all in the same summer! What more could a girl want? Mark your calanders, so you'll remember not to call, visit, or write on those days...I will be busy! (LOL)

All Aboard !!!

It's official! All 3 of our kids have now officially been HOOKED on Thomas & his friends at some point or another in their short little lives. Meagan's fascination started a few weeks ago. I noticed she was paying extra close attention to a Thomas show on TV. Shortly after that, she started giving me the 'choo choo book' to read at bedtime. But yesterday evening I got the full picture of how much she really likes choo choos.
The boys had earned PlayStation time yesterday, so they disappeared to the basement after dinner, not to be seen again until bedtime. That left Meagan & me. I had some laundry to get done, so we headed upstairs. She headed to the boys' room, and went straight for the bucket of little engines, dumping them out all over the floor. "Pay too toos" (play choo choos, for those of you who don't speak 1-yr-old) she said to me. So, we got out the roundhouse, the mountain & the train tracks, and she spent over an hour playing engines (which says more than enough, since she never does anything for more than 5 minutes). At one point, she stopped & held up 2 engines - one blue & one green - and said "Thomas. Percy." I about fell over. When exactly did she decide to learn their names? The child is HOOKED!