Poor Little Man

Last Saturday we were having a great day.  Dan made us a delicious breakfast and the kids were being good all morning.  Everyone was helping to pick up and clean and we had a quick shopping day ahead of us.  Our goal of the day was to buy the kids their winter coats and snow pants.  I had already breezed through Osh Gosh and Target and didn't really see anything that I wanted.  Osh Gosh was too high priced even at the Outlet Mall and Target's quality didn't seem very good.  If we spend a fortune on these items I better be able to re-sell them or hand them down I figured.  So we decided to head to Kohl's.  Lucky for us (okay, really for me!) Kohl's was having a sale and Kohl's cash.  Dan and Junior found a jacket for him and Katelynn and I found a great set for her.  They were both on sale too.  I also found a few Christmas decorations and Dan found a few items for himself.  Katelynn even brought her purse along and bought herself a book with her own money.  When the kids received their flu shots this year the clinic gave them each a certificate for a free scoop of ice cream.  We hadn't cashed them in yet, so I told them if they were good we were close enough to the ice cream place that we would stop after shopping.  They were both well behaved in the store so off to get ice cream we went.  The ice cream store doubles as a coffee shop as well.  We got in and me and the kids started looking at the different flavors and Dan went over to the coffee side.  Katelynn found a coloring contest and sat down to start coloring her page.  I was standing and ordering the ice cream.  Junior was behind me and was walking towards Katelynn.  The next thing I hear is a stumble and "CRACK".  Junior had tripped on his own little feet and smacked his little nose right into the wrought iron chair that Katelynn was sitting in.  Tears and crying from Junior.  One worried Mama.  The staff at the ice cream store were great and brought me a towel with some ice in it.  I knew right away that his nose was probably broken.  Katelynn then of course was screaming because I said we had to leave and get Junior home to check out his nose.  We took the ice cream and out the door we went.  Junior is really a tough little boy.  He would barely let us get near his nose for the next couple of days and was clearly upset if anything bumped it.  We kept up with Tylenol for the pain and any on-coming head aches.  What a little trooper he is.  A week later he is fine and the nose is back to the size that it should be.  My poor little man. 

Professional Photos - Why is it so Stressful?

Why is it so difficult to find a good place that stays open to take pictures?  I have still have an issue with Portrait Innovations and it seems to start irking me about this time every year now.  They herd them in like cattle to take the pictures and then make you wait 2 to 3 hours to view them on a computer and decide what you want to order.  This is even with an appointment.  I have been taking our pictures this year at Sears Photo Studio and I have like the service they give and when there are issues on-line their customer service is very prompt and treat you nice, always a big plus in my book.  There is still an issue though.  They seem to take one picture of each pose and if it isn't perfect, oh well, on to the next pose or outfit.  They also charge a lot for their "enhancement" photos that only take them minutes to create.  At my last sitting I wanted a head shot of Katelynn in an 8 x 10 photo and the photo was a little off centered so I asked them to fix it. The manager helping me stated that it would be an enhancement to the photo and they should charge accordingly, but she would do it without charging.  I kept my mouth shut, but wanted to state the fact that it was the photographer that took the shot and it wasn't centered.  So, I have yet to decide which is better, option 1 where the photographer takes 100 pictures for you to weed through and you get a couple of good shots or Option 2 where they take a few specific poses and you still get a couple of good shots?  I also have noticed that all the photographers that we have used in the last couple of years have not positioned us for the photo.  They may tell us where to sit and who should sit where, but as far as, chin up, look a little left, fix the hair that is out of place.  What happened to that or is that now only if you pay a really large fee for that photographer that may make us go broke when we want to buy all the prints?
We will be gearing up soon to go and take our Christmas pictures.  We do have a plan as a family that we follow now.  We take two vehicles and when the picture taking is done Dan and the kids head for home and I stay and take my time going through and picking out which is the best for the Christmas card.  Wish us luck for 2010 photos!

Halloween 2010

Click here to view this photo book larger

Congrats to My Girls!

I know that I have not gone back and finished my posts from my 2 week trip home this summer. Here is a picture of my 2 best friends from high school. We had such a great night. It was so relaxing hanging out, eating supper and enjoying a few glasses of wine. We talked and talked and talked. I just wanted to give a shout out to both of them of Congratulations! They both have gotten engaged! I love you girls.

Thank you Cheerios!

For being part of the Cheerios Blogger Circle, Cheerios and General Mills sent us a few items. The kids are loving them. My kids feel the need to eat immediately in the mornings as soon as we get in the car, even though they know they get a full breakfast at daycare and it's only a 10 minute drive. Since Cheerios gave us a few boxes of cereal I have been letting them snack on the way there.

Here is a picture of Junior and his bag of Cheerios!

Katelynn of course is in love with all of the other fun items they sent.

She has never really been one for eating cereal in the mornings (at least at my house!), but ever since she got her cereal mug from Cheerios she has been eating them like a trooper. It makes for some nice, easy, and healthy breakfasts too!

She also thinks her little Cheerio snack container is pretty cool too!

What Happened to Thanksgiving?

The kids and I were on our own this past weekend because Dan headed out deer hunting. I love those weekends when they are planned of just the kids and I. I always pick one day to go shopping (of course!) and a day to hang out at home.

It was time to take down the Halloween decorations and switch gears to Thanksgiving. For some reason I do enjoy stripping items down to put away. It must be that cleaning feeling I get, a little bit of serenity when everything is put away and in its place. I do like that some decorations stay up from one holiday to the next. It feels like I am saving a little bit of money on it. Fall colors and pumpkins still stay and you add a couple of turkeys.

So this weekend we were on the hunt for Thanksgiving decorations and Thanksgiving crafts for the kids. We ended up going to three different stores trying to find them.

Seriously, did every store forget about Thanksgiving?

• Target had one flimsy set up of only cups, plates, and napkins and one decorations for the windows.
• Safeway had all the fixings for cooking a Thanksgiving meal, but no decorations.
• Michael's had two places to find Thanksgiving items in the store, but both were small and not much there and was hard to find after weeding through all of the Christmas items out. I had to ask someone finally if they had any. The worker asked, "Like turkeys and pilgrims?" "They are on an end shelf over there." We were successful here though in finding our crafts and some Turkeys and a sign that says Give Thanks.

I know that stores want to make money and people are out already Christmas shopping, but c'mon people let's not skip over Thanksgiving! I heard Christmas music in two of the stores we were in already. I heard on the radio station people calling in and saying they put up their Christmas trees already. This is the time to be thankful. Let's try and slow down a little bit and not forget this holiday and everything that we are thankful for this year.

Trick or Treat - 2010

Although my family and I were still on the mend from being sick and getting rid of colds we were still excited to head out and do some trick or treating. After the Vikings game the kids were bouncing around the house, or at least Katelynn was, to get on costumes and get ready. Dan had to a lot of the work this year of getting the kids ready, I was just too worn out from the funeral, being sick, and traveling that morning. Junior was not thrilled to be in his Mickey Mouse costumes; he would have much preferred to see someone else be Mickey so he could look at them. I was able to get some pictures this year before we headed out. Dan and I had costumes that I bought for us, but with everything going on we weren't up to it. I will save them for next year. The neighbor girls were outside waiting for us and we all set out. Junior got the hang of trick or treating after the 2nd house. He started running up to the doors and would say knock, knock and then was in pure awe that people would answer the door and put candy into his basket. I wonder now if he thinks when we go to people's houses and knock on the door if he is going to get candy or if he understands that they were dressed up and this was a special occasion day? We all went for a few blocks and then Junior and I headed back to the house so we could hand out candy to the trick or treats. He thought that was fun too and would get excited every time the doorbell rang or someone knocked. Dan and Katelynn came back a little earlier than I thought they would. It seems the three girls were got into a little tiff at each house about who was going to get to knock, but she had plenty of candy. She had fun after that handing out candy to the other kids, although I did have to tell her to limit it to two pieces per kiddo because she was wanting to give out handfuls to each. Everyone had a good time, it wasn't perfect or how I was envisioning, but that is just the way life is sometimes.

When it rains it pours

Last week did not start out to be a good week and ended even worse.

Sunday we were gearing up for the Vikings game. We made lots of goods snacks to eat and the entire family was dressed in their Vikings gear. Throughout the day the kids started to get the sniffles and by bed time neither were feeling very good. I figured that I would be staying home from work on Monday. Sure enough, they coughed all night long and nobody was able to get much sleep. Dan and I were crossings paths in the night and we all played musical beds. Here is how that went: Katelynn in her bed, then in our bed and back to her bed. Dan in our bed, then in Katelynn's bed, on the couch and back to our bed. Junior in his crib then him and I downstairs and then him back to the crib. Me, in my bed, in Katelynn's bed, downstairs with Junior, Katelynn's bed and then back to my own bed. Whew, what a night.

While I was dealing with my sick kids my own mother was dealing with my grandma who was sick and in the hospital. Grandma went from one town to another with almost all of her 8 children following her with each move. All the grandchildren were kept up to date.

All week long for us was coughing and sniffles and not much sleep at night. Then we had the dreaded call that Grandma was going to the hospice hospital and shortly it would be time to say good-bye. This is when things get extremely difficult living far away from family. You can never drive an hour to go and say good-bye or give someone a hug who needs one.

Wednesday the kids went to daycare and Katelynn had pre-school. The daycare called me after they picked her up and she was screaming about her ear hurting. Dan was already home so I called him to go and pick up the kids early and said that I would take Katelynn to urgent care as soon as I got home. I got a call 10 minutes later and he asked me to meet him at urgent care because she was getting a little hysterical about her ear. I actually was thinking sooner rather than later as well and was already on my way. I was starting to not feel very well myself and figured that we all better just get checked out while we were there. 5 minutes before the daycare called me my mom had called me and told me my grandma passed away. I had to have my mommy hat on and went to urgent care and filled out the paperwork for the 2 kids and myself. Dan went with Junior and Katelynn and I in a different room. Katelynn did not have an ear infection and I did not have strep throat, so no good stuff to make us feel better. Junior was given a prescription for a nebulizer and antibiotics in case he got an ear infection. I went to Target with our prescription orders and waited a long hour and half. I did get a chance to finally talk to my mom while I was waiting. It was another long night with the kids and with me not feeling well either a lot of work fell to Dan. I was starting to get very worried that I would be too ill too travel home for my grandma's funeral. I immediately started taking vitamin C and prayed and hoped for the best. I kept the kids home again with me on Thursday and we hung around the house trying to get better. I again cleaned and disinfected my house and toys and did as much as I could muster for the day. I eventually did start feeling about 50% better and decided to go ahead and book a ticket home and flew out Thursday night. Dan was left to deal with the sick kids.

I was so glad that I went home. I was able to say a final good-bye to my grandma and be around my family at a time when everyone needed to be together. We rented condos that slept 17 people each and were together for 2 full days. I was able to go and visit my grandma's house and take a few pictures. I thought about all the times I had been there and the things that never changed on her walls. I saw items there that I had even given her as gifts. What a joy she was too everyone who knew her. I hope that I can be even a quarter of the woman that she was. I hope that my children will forever treasure the blankets that she made them when they were born and know how much she loved us all. I love you Grandma.

I flew back on Sunday in time to grab a nap and take the kiddos out for some trick or treating. It was a very long week.

Pumpkin Fruit Baskets

This project was really fun. Project # 2 from our expensive magazine. While the kids were doing quiet time and naps I took 4 oranges and cut a sliver off the bottom so they would sit and then cut the tops off and basically gutted out the fillings of orange. After Katelynn was done with quiet time she came and helped out by cutting up the grapes for me. She was so excited to use a butter knife. Once I had her busy I then cut out of the faces on the oranges like they were little Halloween pumpkins. We cut up some of the oranges, grapes, an apple and a pear for the filling. We used silvered almonds for the teeth. I think these are probably the craftiest thing that I have ever done! I have to say I was pretty proud of myself. The kids loved them with their supper and it was healthy too.

Halloween Goodies

A few weeks ago we were at Lowe's and I paid the ridiculous amount of $10.00 for a Halloween cook book. I figured since I paid so much I better find something that me and the kids could attempt to make from it. I had Katelynn look through the book before we went grocery shopping to see what she would like to make. I had to eventually sit down with her and go through it too because the couple that she picked out were beyond my skill level. We decided (or I did) that we could make these Halloween bugs. They seemed easy enough with candy bars, pretzel sticks, a little chocolate frosting and decorations. We had a ton of fun making them, but they sure didn't turn out as pretty as the one's in the magazine picture!

Junior really just thought it was about eating candy bars, which he had never had until that day.

Katelynn as always is ready to go.

He eventually did get the idea!

Our finished projects!

BUGS, BUGS, BUGS

Work Taboo

I was having a bad day yesterday. I went to work and my thoughts were getting the better of me. I believe that I have posted before that we went to Google Apps at work. One of the functions of Google Apps is the Chat feature. I have used the Chat feature at work for both work related items and some personal quick conversations. It's great, usually. So as I was working I decided to send a friend at work a Chat. I just sent a comment that was running through my head, nothing to serious, just a blanket statement "Do you think anyone would notice if I just left and didn't tell anybody". Don't judge! Just take it as a bad day. I did not receive a reply back from my friend so I closed the Chat.

Here is where it gets interesting. I got a voicemail later from my friend and they asked if I had gotten their Chat back later because it was pretty funny. I had closed my Chat so I didn't get it. About an hour or so later I get an email from my boss.

Subject: btw

Context: We would notice if you left :)

I sit up straight in my chair at work and think, What? How strange? So I email back and tell him: Thanks, glad that somebody would notice! I sit there in my chair and think about this and then quickly send an email to my friend. Why did my boss just email me this? My friend was in meetings the entire afternoon, but I know they are attached to their blackberry. They send me a message back stating they were in a meeting that morning and they had their screen projected and their email was signed in. As I sent my Chat it popped up in the middle of the screen for everyone to see. So, the entire room of people in the meeting saw my Chat and my comment including my boss. I saw my boss alter that day and he actually thought it was hilarious. As he followed me back to my office (yeah, I got my own office last week!) laughing at me I told him I was only slightly embarrassed by that and so glad that there were also a couple of big wigs in the room. Just great to make my bad day better. I'm sure; no positive, that my face was bright red the rest of the day.

Lesson of the day: Chat with Google

1 - Even if a persons Chat shows they are available to Chat check their calendar to be sure they are not in a meeting

2 - If you are in a meeting change your status to Unavailable for the sake of your co-workers and friends OR don't pull up your email account presentation!

Pumpkin Patch Pictures

Halloween Shopping Day

I was starting to worry about running out of time this year to do the fun things that we usually do for October fun. I have been such a slacker and we've been a little bit of home bodies this month. Today was the day to head out. Shopping day for the girls and hair cuts for the boys.
Dan decided awhile ago that he would relish in his Daddy duty and thought it best if him and Junior start getting their hair cuts at the barber shop together. I love the idea of that. I think it's great bonding for the boys! (And if you haven't seen my previous post on Junior's first hair cut, whew, I was glad to give that duty to Dan). The boys headed out this morning and Katelynn and I were waiting a little while for the stores to open.
Side note: I have been trying to track some of my spending and saving a little extra money to put towards my car payment each month. I found an awesome website: www.mint.com to track it all and put in a budget. Check it out if you are so inclined!
It was time for Katelynn and I to head out to do some shopping. First on the list, Halloween costume. I also needed to find Katelynn some jeans that actually fit her so I decided we would stop at the Justice, just for girls, store too. Then mommies shopping turn. I had a coupon for $20.00 at Victoria Secret and of course the free panties coupon, ya! A stop at The Loft of course too (hey, it's been a little while and I need some work clothes).
The boys were still not back from their Barber Shop stop so we went through town and saw they were still in there. I couldn't resist and had to stop and say hello and see how things were going. Dan was getting his "high & tight" finished up and Junior was up next. The barber did a good job and Junior only freaked out for a little while. Katelynn and I did leave before he was done; enough intruding on "guy time".
Off to the Halloween store. We found a Strawberry Shortcake costume, but they only had smalls left and it was not going to fit, bummer. Katelynn had been saying for probably 2 weeks now that she wanted to be spider girl because one of her friends was going to be spiderman. Although, I think a couple time she said bat girl and batman? Either way, I found her both of those costumes and she didn't want them. She picked out a Cinderella dress. I found an adult Strawberry Shortcake costume and asked Katelynn if I should get it. You should have seen the look on her face. Her comment to me was, "Mom, that would just not be fair if you got to be Strawberry Shortcake and I didn't, it just really wouldn't be." I found a witches hat for me to wear and we decided Dan is going to be a cop (ha ha) and found a hat, glasses and mustache for him to sport. Junior is going to be Mickey Mouse. This will be the last year that I get to recycle one of Katelynn's old costumes. Check off the first item on our to do list! Off to the stores we went and I found her 2 pairs of pants that fit like a glove and she will wear them every week for the price that I had to pay to find "slim" jeans. My shopping was successful as well. Lunch at home and when Junior woke up from his nap we headed to the Pumpkin Patch. I will use a new post and post some pictures!

Quality Time _ Cheerios Blogger Circle

"How do you use quality time with Katelynn to ensure the best nourishment for her body & mind?"

How do I find the time to have some really good quality time with Katelynn?

Working full-time makes it hard for a lot of moms and families. Some days it really feels that the daycare provider is more of the mom and teaching parent than I am. I definitely have thoughts to myself every once in awhile, "when was the last moments that I felt really qualified as quality time?" When was the last moments I wasn't cleaning, cooking, or doing laundry so my kids have a clean home and healthy food in the few hours I am home each night?" I had that thought this week. I was looking forward today to coming home from a long week at work and doing just that with Katelynn. We had a great supper of spaghetti and meatballs and Katelynn was in such good spirits. She ate like a champ tonight! She is definitely trying to score points on her reward chart in order to go to the Halloween/Birthday party next weekend for one of her preschool friends. We decided to have a little Salon night and she did my hair and make-up: lipstick, eye shadow, and a headband, a tad scary being done up by a 5 year old. We then preceded downstairs where the boys were watching car races and brushed and styled their hair, just in case they wanted a date night. With our beautiful hair and make-up we next needed, oh so lovely nails and we polished each others. Now that we were all gussied up we needed to burn some energy. I turned on a Halloween music CD and we danced and sang and laughed. Once we had exerted all of our energy it was time for a snack before bed. We enjoyed a piece of pumpkin bread that we made together last weekend. It was such a good time and I think we both really enjoyed our night together, I know I did. She went to bed with the biggest smile on her face and lots of love for mommy.

A little good, nourishing food in the tummy and some dancing exercise goes a long way for both of us. She should wake up tomorrow bright eyed and bushy tailed and be ready for the pumpkin patch! I would say we did some excellent nourishment tonight of body, mind and soul!

Cheerios Mom Blogger!

I have been invited to join the Cheerios mom program as a Cheerios mom Blogger. I am so excited! I will have a few different topics to blog about from them and then they may or may not be used in conjunction with their Facebook page. Check them out at: www.facebook.com/Cheerios.