Thursday Thirteen: What I DIDN'T Do During Christmas Vacation

Noah went back to school on Monday and had to write in his journal about what he did on Christmas vacation. I came home from dropping him off that same morning and took one look around the house. What I saw was a huge list of the things I DIDN'T do over Christmas vacation that all needed doing in the three hours that Aaron was at preschool the first morning back.

Here are some things that I did not get done:

1. Putting Receipts into the checkbook (no overdraws though, thankfully)














2. Mailing Christmas cards addressed but never sent (did anyone notice?)














3. Recycle the newspapers














4. Aaron's preschool homework (I found while piling up the newspapers above)














5. Christmas portrait of the boys (This is last year's still on the wall)



















6. Taking books back to the library














7. Clearing snow from the driveway (actually it's all ice now)














8. Unpacking after our trip to Chicago last weekend














9. Returning lights that I bought after Christmas that didn't work (now it's too late)



















10. Teaching Noah some new songs on the piano (we're all getting sick of Old McDonald)














11. Taking down the rest of the Christmas decorations (I think we'll just leave them up)














12. Paint the living room and hallway (my goal for Spring Break at the moment)














13. Laundry (Actually I did it, but it piled up so much faster while everyone was home all day every day, or maybe it's just that I didn't keep up with it as much)














So you must all think that I failed miserably as a housewife this holiday.

You know why it was all worth it?



















Happy Thursday

Happy Blogiversary to Me!!!!!!!!

Yup...it's a year ago today that I entered the world as a blogger. I had been following Deb's blog for quite some time and she kept telling me to start my own. I KNEW I couldn't handle a blog of my own, but I finally gave in. What a year it's been. Here was my first blog entry 1 year ago today:

Sunday, January 6, 2008

My first post

So I finally have a blog. I didn't know I needed a blog. I still don't know if I need a blog. My friend, Deb, has assured me that I have enough silly events to fill a land mine and it would be worth it to share them with others.
Now, I'm not sure that sharing events like going out shopping last Friday in my slippers because I forgot to put on shoes is the most important topic in the world, but I guess it's good for a laugh.
I think of blogging as a way to remember events for myself. What do I hope to achieve from blogging? Ummm...

1. I would like to find reassurance that the rambunctious and sometimes frustrating activities of two young boys are not only normal, but also endearing
2. I'd like to hear about other moms' (and dads') ideas of how to handle certain...challenges that show their face during child rearing
3. I'd like to chronicle the special moments that make us who we were, who we are, and who we hope to become.
4. Most of all, I'd love to connect with family and friends and meet many wonderful new people out there waiting to be discovered.

A quick note: I am a terrible typer and I do not always check all of my spelling. Please be kind, oh blog-mates, and know that if I would slow down, I can actually spell.

So here's to wonderful future of blogging. May we all become better people for having shared a piece of ourselves with others.

I took some flack for using the word "typer" instead of typist. In general, this blog has been a very good thing for me, and I have met some incredibly supportive people that I have come to know as friends. Thank you to Deb at Mom of 3 Girls who got me into this, to Shannon at Gabi's World for giving me a new look, and to all of you at the right sidebar who have bestowed upon me some bloggy love.

Here's to another great year of blogging!

Tackle It Tuesday: Messes in the Bedroom

I tackled two problems tin the bedroom last week.

The problem with Christmas is that kids get STUFF.

In past years, the STUFF the kids got for Christmas was pretty big, and it sent me to Target in search of bins to keep the STUFF in.i.e. legos, game pieces, Little People pieces, etc.






This year, the STUFF was littler, so I couldn't justify buying a whole bunch more bins. Instead, my thought was, "Let's just sort out the stuff we don't use and reuse those bins.

So without warning the boys on New Year's Day, I went to work. The first thing I did was tell Aaron to pick up his books.

This was his idea of "picking up"


Believe it or not, this is actually an improvement on before he went into the room.









At least he tried, so I shooed him on his way, feeling good that I at least made him help. I re-picked up and ended up with this:














How long it will stay this way remains to be seen.

I don't have a before shot of the wire shelves before the weeding, but I will say that it involved taking two bags of toys and a stuffed animal that Deb's daughter Becca has always loved to their house. I knew they would play with them and it made much more room on the shelves.















The best tackle however, was quite a feat and one I am proud of.

An ongoing problem in any home with children is the stuffed animal overload. I am not talking about the problem of what to do to get rid of them, I am talking about the first problem of weeding them out. Any time the moment for weeding begins, EVERY "buddy" (what our boys call stuffed animals) is officially their favorite.

We have tried everything for these buddies....
A. The ceiling corner net- doesn't work because the kids want to play with them
B. The net stacker that hangs down from the ceiling-doesn't work because the hole
openings aren't big enough for the buddies
C. A big pop-up basket- see below...



















So I brought the boys into the room to show the problem. We have so many buddies, that there wasn't even any room left in the hamper, so they were spilling out all over. I told them that the task was to end up with less buddies than it takes to fill this hamper.

This is what I told them:

"You may each pick out your five FAVORITES and I will start sorting after that. At first they panicked thinking I was going to get rid of things they wanted, but then Noah got into it BIG TIME. He was actually having fun looking at every single one and making a choice. And some of the choices surprised me.



















He not only sorted them out into what should be kept and what shouldn't, he wanted to keep going into the other rooms where there were buddies and sort those out as well.

Do you want to see the finished buddy basket?



















And the boys have played with the remaining buddies every day since. I think they were happy to have the "bad" ones weeded out.

(Of course, Monday afternoon, Noah came home with a new buddy, a stuffed animal; Clifford that his teacher had given him as a Christmas present. They just keep multiplying!)

I overrode one of Noah's decisions however....

I did not weed out Karina Gayle, my Cabbage Patch Doll from when I was 9.... no matter how hard Noah tried.

Did anyone else tackle the toy dilemma this week?

Let me know.

Weekend Top Five 1/5/08

After two weeks of vacation, thinking about heading back into the rat race got to me so I decided to make an impromptu trip to Chicago to visit my brother's family. Steve had to work so the boys and I headed out Friday morning. The portable DVD player was missing a cord (which has since been found on top of the fridge...strange that my 5'4" self didn't see it) but the new leapsters and games made a previously rough trip very smooth both ways. I was amazed at how well behaved the boys were the entire trip. I was so proud of them both.

My top five has a few of the more memorable moments from our quick little jut away.

5. Facebook Worries

After becoming the victim of hackers through facebook, a large amount of my weekend was spent worrying about passed information and changing all of our passwords everywhere. I am praying that they didn't get my email accounts and do the same to all of the people in my address book. I feel so victimized.


4. Cousin Fun

Other than lunch out and a quick trip to an indoor playground, the bulk of our little trip was cousin play time and good talks with Jenny and Matt. The kids played so well and five kids really didn't feel as overwhelming as it has in the past. Here are a couple of my favorite shots...

Aaron and Cousin Kira













Noah and Cousin Odin














3. Mamma Mia with my Brother

What an adventure it was! I rented Mamma Mia on Thursday for the weekend. Steve and I watched it Thursday night and then I took it with me to watch it with Jenny (my SIL). My brother settled in to watch it with us, laptop in lap.

I don't know which was more amusing; watching the movie, or watching my brother watch the movie. Every time a particular goofy part came on, there he sat, furiously typing away. (If you have friended my brother, you have got to check out his running commentary. It is quite amusing) He knew all of the songs because of a crazy 80's techno group that had recorded the songs years ago, and I suspect that he enjoyed it more than he let on.

2. Choo Choo Johnny's

A fun little diner restaurant we went to for lunch before we left. It is a long counter set up like a Big U and there are several trains throughout the restaurant. There is a big one behind glass to watch, one traveling long the edge of the ceiling, and the most fun, a train that comes around and delivers your meal. There are also several games (chuck e cheese type) for the kids to play while they were waiting.
Our group sat down at the long counter













and watched the train deliver lunch to every other group sitting nearby












until our finally came













and they even got spoiled with ice cream for dessert.


















1. Back To School Supper

Noah is pretty upset about school starting again. As soon as we started talking about it, that little boy with all the problems magically came back. I was trying to think of something fun to make our last day special for him. Meanwhile, Steve was nagging me about what to make for dinner.

I remembered something my step mom had bought for us for Christmas dinner that we hadn't used yet...

Chocolate Pancakes!













Oh my gosh...how good these were! It was a special mix from the Market store we had gone to.

I am quite sure that we all had brownies for dinner for how good they were.

We won't have them often, but I think I will get some more of this mix for another special time.

So here we go. Back to real life. I have to make a half dozen calls, try to find a way to pay some bills, make some important decisions, and take Aaron to get his blood drawn for allergy testing.

Nothing like a slam back into reality.

Happy Monday!

Back To School

It's that time again. Back to school after two weeks home. Before school got out, one of my sons had started getting in trouble on almost a daily basis and the other was having hourly screaming fits.

I had hopes that two weeks at home would straighten them up. My hopes are still here. One son has become much more obedient and less mouthy, and the other one has stopped his screaming fits and "na-na-na-boo-boos".

Now that both of them are "fixed", I actually have to send them back to the establishments that create these problems. It is creating much angst in my mind and heart.

As far as Noah is concerned, I know he can behave and he learns so much and has a great teacher that I can only hope he will try harder. But as for preschool for Aaron, if the problems start up again, I have made the decision to pull him for now. It is not a decision I make lightly, but one I think may be in his best interest. I have not shared with you all of the problems with this preschool, but it has not been the best place for him to be and the reasons for sending him there no longer exist. I guess we will see how this week goes.

The boys have spent these two weeks learning how to sleep in for the first time in their lives. Now I have to start getting them up to an alarm WAY too early again, rushing them through breakfast that they don't want to eat, rushing out the door into cold snow that they don't want to feel, stressing about behavior that they are stressing about enough already, and dealing with teachers who look down on me if I happen to forget a backpack once in awhile.

So, because I am SOOOO stressed about tomorrow, I will now take a chance to remember the wonderful memories of Christmas vacation and try to savor them for awhile.

Snow day on the last day of school, starting vacation one day early
Several trips to the children's museum
Family trip to the Public Museum
Noah's first visit to a planetarium
Craft day with friends
Play date with friends from church
Christmas Eve at church with Noah reading while lighting the advent candles
Christmas Day making two little boys VERY happy
Successful bell performance with GR Symphony members
Homemade New Year's Party
Trip to Chicago to play with cousins

Yup, it was a good time for being together. Now only 10 weeks until we leave for Disney World. And if you notice, I have added the tickers for Spring Break and Summer Vacation....but who's counting?

Photo Story Friday: New Year's Eve

We decided to stay at home this year for New Year's Eve and create our own party. We invited Deb and her family to join us.

I spent the entire week trying to figure out a way to create a party in our basement. But when I went down on Monday, I decided it was way too cold and spent the next 48 hours trying to devise a way to put on in the living room. This is what I came up with.

A shower liner with balloons taped inside and strung from every door and window hanging
in the room











Steve had been asking to make homemade pizza for awhile so I thought it would be a good night to try it. Deb and I each got a pizza making kit from Chef Boyardee and they looked great coming out of the oven.



















The kids were excited when they smelled pizza and sat happily at the table waiting for us to dish it up.














Unfortunately, the cheese that came with the kit was icky and Deb's pizza turned out to taste nasty. I had used some left over mozzarella in our fridge for ours. This was the first of many mistakes I made this night. I should have waited to see how theirs turned out before we dug into ours, but I didn't and the girls were not happy to eat the yucky pizza. I still feel bad about it. I really am sorry Deb:(

They did eat anyway though, when I pulled the chocolate cake out and put it on the counter...quite the motivator!

The little ones though (Aaron and Becca) ate every bite of theirs and were very happy with their little meal.














We decided to set the timer for an hour until "midnight" and sent the kids off to play. After about ten minutes, the kids were starting to come hang on parents in the living room. Steve entertained everyone by trying to catch the leis on his head...



















and dressing the cat up for the celebration.














After awhile, we realized that another 45 minutes until we celebrated was going to be too long for some of them so we moved the clock up.

Then the party began...

Balloons everywhere!














Crazy dancing!




Y.M.C.A














And even some rockin' and rollin'



















There was a funny moment of Becca trying to "hoard" all of the balloons and the rest of the kids taking them that I hope Deb posts pictures of because it was very funny. I was laughing too hard at the time to take any pictures.

Steve started getting silly with balloons















and then decided to start popping them with his bottom



















Aaron struck his typical loud noise pose



















while Becca sat herself right in front of Steve clapping and cheering for each pop. I didn't get any pictures of her cheering, but it was extremely cute.

After almost all of the balloons were gone (Aaron was upset that he wanted to have some left) we headed to the kitchen for chocolate cake.

And then we settled in for a movie. We had bought Wall E for the boys and hadn't watched it yet so everyone set up sleeping bags in the living room and we turned out the lights. Each person enjoyed it in their own way...

Unfortunately, by the time the movie was over, everyone was very ready for it to be done and I know ALL of the kids were ready for bed.

It was a fun night. I don't know if it was especially memorable, but at least the kids will have something to say when asked what they did for New Year's when school starts up again.


Happy New Year!

Thursday Thirteen: Most Blogged About Stories of 2008

This week holds the new year and also my one year anniversary in the world of blogging. It was so much fun to go back and read through my blog over the last year. There were so many funny stories that I had forgotten and I was able to look at things from 9 months ago and see how far they've come since. Here are some of the most common post topics from my first year.

I'm curious if my readers remember any of these.


13. Potty Training Trials
I hadn't realized how much an adventure the first half of 2008 held while potty training Aaron. It really is so far from the mind now, that it was interesting to go back and read about when it wasn't so great. I had forgotten that I named bowel movements "flowers" for the sake of blogging.














12. My unsuccessful attempt at weight loss.

I was successful for about two months and then fell off. I am going to try again to make myself presentable before Disney, but I will not blog about it this time. It put way too much pressure on me.

11. My Little Hydrangea
Boy, this little guy got a lot of time for awhile. It all started with trying to transplant a plant that I thought was dead to another location, and then it took on a life of its own. For awhile, I thining my hydrangea had more readers than I did.









10. My health

I discovered my lack of ovulation, but never the reason for it. I blogged the struggle over going onto hormones and how much I was fighting it, but I also blogged often about how much better our life was after I was regulated.

9. Vacation to St. Louis
Oh so many wonderful posts about the places we went. I can imagine the Disney ones will be even more so.

















8. Noah's behavior

I spent way too much computer time venting over Noah and school last year. I have made the conscious effort to not do that this school year and it has made us all more relaxed.

7. Injuries
Noah's broken arm that I didn't take him for an x-ray right away for and Aaron's head bash that required staples to close.
















6. Numerous Van Breakdowns

I bought the van under duress, and the struggles that resulted this year were major and frustrating. I subjected my readers to all of them...sorry!

5. Bedroom Switches and Aaron Sleeping Issues
I think which in kids are in which bedrooms changed a total of five times in the one year. I also realized while reading back through, how many different strategies I tried to make survival happen. I can't believe we are on the other side of those battles now.








4. Church Struggles

I probably should have been more discreet in sharing details about the many church events in 2008, but it was a big part of our daily life and continues to be.

3. The Blog Change

Due to censoring because of readers from both church and my in-laws, I felt the need to change blog sites. It was the best decision I made and I have felt much freer to be myself since the change.

2. Cats
Our first cat Minnie, had gotten several posts, but then over the summer when the kitten Pumpkin joined our family, they because almost a weekly post topic while the two were "getting to know" each other.









1. Birthdays and Holidays

Although I won't do big birthday posts for everyone in my family this year like I did last (I used up all my pictures, it was fun to go back through and read them. I did like using the blog to catalog the pictures from each of our family holidays though and I will continue to do that this coming year.

What a fun trip down memory lane. Unfortunately, if you are a new reader, you missed the ones at the old blog. I will open the old blog up for awhile so you can browse if you are interested. the site was Music Mom Of 2. My new site is definitely nicer...I love it.

Happy New Year!!!