Where Are All the Candles?!

We had a birthday cake for Jesus yesterday. I like doing this because it's a good concrete way for the kids to relate to why we have Christmas and bring the focus back to Jesus on Christmas day. And I don't know about other people's kids, but with my kids it usually brings up good questions, too. When I asked Lily if she wanted to help me make a cake for Jesus' birthday she asked if Jesus would come to eat it. Which was a good time to talk about Jesus wanting Lily to enjoy the cake for Him and talk about Jesus wanting good things for us. Later I let each child pick a color candle to put on the cake. Lily chose pink and Ryan chose blue. So I put 2 pink candles, 2 blue candles and 2 yellow candles to be neutral territory in the middle. So Ryan asked why there were only 6 candles because Jesus isn't six. I made the off-handed comment that I didn't have 2,000 candles (a rough general estimate, I know). Ryan said He's not 2,000 either, just like he would say "Nuh-uh!" when I say it's 12:30 instead of saying it's 12:28. My dad, who was standing near by, agreed that Ryan was right. Then Ryan said something very profound, but I'm not sure he knew how profound. He said, "Jesus is infinity!" Again, my dad agreed and a little dialog about Jesus and God being one went on. I plan on delving more into this with him, but what a great conversation starter, right?! I LOVE Christmas!

Waiting

I feel like there is so much to do yet I'm stuck waiting. I need to go to the store to get some food for Christmas. Yet, here I am sitting on the couch waiting to take Ryan to the bus stop because he has a 2 hour delay. I am not looking forward to going to the store 2 days before Christmas, but luckily I don't have too much to buy. I've got all the non-perishable stuff already. I also need to finish cleaning the basement and the rest of the house. Well, I don't have an excuse to not be doing that except that I'm worried if I get involved in doing something I'll forget about the bus. I probably should be cleaning...maybe I'll go do that. hahaha! I think I'll write more about Christmas prep instead.

I really like having brunch at our house Christmas morning. It's a nice mid-day thing and it gives us the chance to see both of our families on Christmas Day. This year has been a challenge with the snow. I feel like I spent my whole weekend dressing and undressing kids, making hot cocoa, cleaning up the wet clothes, hanging up the wet stuff, washing the dirty stuff and cleaning puddles left behind by the whole ordeal. I also had a project I was working on for a good part of the last 3 days. Then there is the fact that Ryan hasn't had school, so things are all out of whack. The messes are bigger the refereeing is constant and there is not a lot of uninterrupted time to do things that need to be done for Christmas morning...if you get my drift. Luckily one of our friends called yesterday to see if Ryan could play and since that made Lily sad we arranged for her to visit her Grandma and her dog "cousins."  That seemed to make everyone happy, especially me. I got a few hours of alone time and finished most of what I need to do with no one else around for Christmas morning. I still need to finish emptying the basement, but the kids don't know that is for any special reason. That is until Ryan reads this over my shoulder;-) I'd better get going!

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas

Snow is coming! This is good news and bad news. It means that EVERYONE and his brother is out today either finishing the Christmas shopping they were planning to do this weekend or getting "I'm going to be snowed in for a week" supplies. I had to get Lily snow boots. If it snowed every year here I would have gotten them in the fall, but I've been burned by that plan before. When you are on a budget snow boots and snow pants don't make the cut unless there is going to be snow. Most of the time I just have the kids wear their sneakers, but all Lily's shoes have an open top. I guess she likes the Mary Jane look. This is all fine and dandy most of the time, but not in the snow. We got the very last pair of boots in her size. They were completely out of boy snow boots and had a very limited amount of girl boots left. It was a good thing we got there when we did! While we were there I decided to pick up some marshmallows for hot chocolate. The lines weren't so bad and people were generally pleasant. It was crowded and the parking lot was kinda crazy, but we made it out unscathed.
I also needed a few things from the grocery store, but my very thoughtful and wonderful mother called to ask if she could pick anything up for me because she was going to the store. I know how much she hates shopping and crowded stores, so this was a true gift. I am so grateful! Thanks, Mom! I have a friend who posted on Facebook from the line at the grocery store 3 times over more than an hour. I would have had a really hard time keeping Lily (and myself) in good spirits for that long in a line that didn't end with a trip on a flying elephant.
Lily also completed her potty chart last night, so we went to Chuck E. Cheese today, as promised. Getting there was a slow process. It's probably 2 minutes from our house on a normal day, but today it took me at least 20. I sat in the left hand turn lane through 4 cycles because traffic getting into the shopping center was so thick. There is a grocery store, a department store and lots of other smaller shops in the shopping center where our Chuck E Cheese is, so you can see why it was so crazy. Once we were there we had fun. Lily wanted my parents to come celebrate with her, so they did. They even played a game or two. They are such good sports.
Now that today's craziness is behind us, I'm looking forward to tomorrow. There is something magical about Christmas time snow. It really gets you in the mood to celebrate. I'm looking forward to watching the kids sled down the hill, build snowmen and try to catch snowflakes on their tongues. After they finally realize how cold they are and come inside we'll drink hot chocolate then cuddle under cozy blankets together. Well, that's my plan anyway. Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Ease of Access

I put a basket full of clean, folded clothes in Ryan's room yesterday. Usually I will just leave stacks on his bed for him to put away. This morning I asked him if he had seen the basket. With a big grin he said, "Yes!" I figured he was just really excited because the Lego Star Wars shirt he was wearing was in the basket. He loves that shirt. We went about our morning and after Ryan was done getting ready I asked him to put his clothes away. To which he replied, "Why? They are easy to get to now." He was totally serious (and only a little bit fussy.) I guess he thought it was a new system for laundry in our house. That's probably why he was so excited when I asked if he saw the basket in his room. LOL

Blessings in Disguise

There are many blessings you get and give when buying form Angel Food Ministries. Most are evident, you save money, you save time, you get good food and most importantly by buying from them you make it possible for Angel Food to have the bulk buying power to offer people who need a little assistance the chance to buy quality food at discounted prices. All that is great, but this week I discovered a blessing in disguise. One of the things we received in our box was a package of pork chops. I don't like pork chops. I'm kind of a picky eater. [Those who really know me well are snickering under their breath, "kind of?! HA!"] Aaaaaanyway, I also don't like to waste anything, especially food and money. So I went on a search for a recipe to make pork chops that I could stand eating. I found three that I thought I might be able to force down. I showed them to Jay and he picked two he thought looked good. I ended up making Caramel Apple Pork Chops. [for those taking notes I took some suggestions from the comments and quadrupled the sauce and baked at 350* for 40 minutes] It was DELICIOUS! It made me actually want to go out and buy pork chops on my own to make it again. The strangest part is I don't like cooked apples(or any warm fruit for that matter). I thought I would just take them off and eat the chops with the sauce; but I tried a piece with the apples, partly to ease my guilt of making the kids try it, and I liked it. For scientific purposes I then tried the warm apple alone- I still don't like warm fruit. Weird, huh? So if you are looking for a good pork chop recipe or just a good new dish to try I highly recommend Caramel Apple Pork Chops.
I had a similar experience when we did a CSA(community supported agriculture) program where we didn't get to pick our food. [Orange Glazed Asparagus]These programs have forced me to get out of my food routines and try new things that I've ended up liking a lot. I think we all have our own food routines. Even people who like to try new things have often have their routines- pick one new fruit every time I go to the grocery store, try one new recipe a month, etc. We are creatures of habit. I think it's good to get out of your comfort zone every once in a while and try new things. You never know what you might discover.

Whatever You Want, I'm Going to do the Opposite

Here is an example of a typical conversation between Lily and me these days.

Lily: Can I turn off the stereo?
Me: Sure.
Lily: Well, I don't want to.
Me::shrugging:: Then don't.
Lily: Maybe I do want to.
Me: Silent...it's better than perpetuating the inevitable back and forth or picking a fight about something I don't care about at all.
Lily, turns the stereo off. Then turns it right back on.

Oy!

Between this contrary attitude of Lily's and Ryan's continuous fussing I'm about to pull my hair out.

Thanksgiving

Today I am giving thanks for a light week as far as obligations go. Of course we have Thanksgiving dinner, but that's it. I think I need a break from all the running around every once in a while to recharge. Unfortunately weekends don't usually do the trick because we usually have weekend obligations, too. It's nice to just relax. I'm also thankful that we sold our old washer and dryer. That money is going to go a long way towards our (secret) Christmas project. The storage space gained from getting those out of the basement is also going to go a long way towards helping with that project. Please do not ask about the secret project in front of the kids...it is a secret from them.

I'm very thankful to have 3 parts of our family to spend holidays with; My mom's side and my dad's side of my family and Jay's family. I didn't used to feel like I needed to qualify this, but these days I do. My mom and dad are married, but their parents, brothers and sisters all get together for holidays making two places for each holiday.We've tried to simplify this part by just saying we'd go wherever my parents go, but sometimes they go both places. Sometimes we do two places in one day, but three is pushing it. Plus holidays like Thanksgiving are all about one meal, dinner, and you can't have dinner at 2 houses in one day. Sometimes I wish holidays were 3 days long so I didn't have to choose where to go for each holiday. Of course we try to be fair, but one person's idea of fair is not always another person's idea of fair. Holidays are so complicated, but we need to remember the blessing in having so many people that love us.

I'm thankful for a home, heat in the winter and a/c in the summer, clean water and clothes (even if they are not my favorite and are not so new). I'm thankful for food on the table and full tummies at least 3 times a day. I'm thankful for Jay's job that supports us so well that I am able to stay home with our kids (which is really important to me). I'm thankful for my parents living so close and my mom's eagerness to watch the kids for me and for my brother and his wife being stationed close enough that we can visit them for a day.

I'm thankful for the variety of plants and animals we enjoy on earth and how they all do their part to make everything work. It's so simple, yet so complicated how everything has it's place in the big picture. I sure hope we humans with all our intelligence and accomplishment manage to not mess up that delicate balance too much.

I'm thankful for great kids who have their struggles, but are still the best kids I know (I might be a wee bit biased). I'm thankful for the ability to give my kids Christmas gifts, but I pray for the wisdom to teach them that's not what Christmas is really about. I'm thankful for a husband who is a God-honoring man and is always trying to be the best person he can be.

I'm thankful that our schools are always trying to get better. I'm thankful that Ryan has a teacher who seems to really get him, but pushes him beyond his comfort zone just enough. I'm thankful that it's now okay to end a sentence with a preposition; I always thought that was a stupid rule. I am sad that Pluto is no longer a planet and that all the maps I learned in school are obsolete. Though I'm really thankful that we, in our country, still have our freedom, but with enough order to maintain a relatively safe society. I'm thankful for all the men and women who make that possible, military, police, firemen and all the people that work in those places with initials, FBI, CDC, FDA, etc. The government may be flawed in many ways, but there are lots of people working to make our lives safe in many different ways. I'm grateful for that. I'm thankful I live in the USA.

I have so many blessings I couldn't begin to count. I'm thankful to be reminded of that during the holiday season.

At Least He Makes Me Laugh

Ryan has been watching football with Jay every week this year. He loves it and he is really into the Ravens. It's been cool to watch them bond over football. It has also been Ryan's first real exposure to commercials. [On a side note: I can't believe some of the commercials and previews they show in the middle of the afternoon! Thank God for DVRs so we can pause and skip some of those.] Aaaaanyway, it's funny to watch his reaction to some of the commercials. When he finds something really funny he laughs so hard. For some reason he and Jay find the "money you could be saving" Gieco commercial hilarious.
So the other day Ryan says to Jay, go look over there. He points and says, "Da, duh, duh, duh," his best impression of the Gieco song. This is what he was pointing to...

I'm not sure what amused me more, the joke, Jay's reaction, or Ryan's reaction to Jay's reaction. It was all quite funny.

The Never Ending Fuss

I feel like I've been living in the world of the never ending fuss. I swear almost every word that has come out of Ryan's mouth in the past 2 weeks has been a whine, a complaint or a plain old fuss about something. I've had it up to my eyeball with fussing. I thought he had turned acorner this morning when he woke up cheerfully before I even went to get him. He even leaned over to me this morning and whispered, "I'm trying to be extra nice to Lily and not tease her." He cheerfully let her have her way when she was being a little stubborn. Usually that's the time he digs in his heels. I was so happy.
Too bad I had to run errands after he got home. It may have been the worst shopping trip we ever had. There was fussing, chasing, blatant disobedience, rolling on the floor, climbing on the foam pads, etc, etc. I want my Ryan back!!!

You Be Bruno, Okay?

I wonder if anyone else's children play that way. We're watching Dancing with the Stars. Lily has worn two three different princess dresses and danced a different routine to every song. She's convinced Ryan to join her for some of them. He likes to try to imitate the moves of the dancers. It's so stinkin' cute. I got to be the judges. Ryan told me to say what I really think, "even if it's 1,2,1." Too funny. I wish he would let me sign him up for ballroom dancing lessons, but alas, he has no interest. Maybe when the hormones hit ;-) Wait...Did I just have a moment of looking forward to male hormones hitting my house?! I take that back!

Halloween

Ryan decided to be Anakin without any trouble in the end and he was happy. He was really happy to run into his friend Luke at Trunk or Treat and be able to have a light saber battle. There were also some great adult Star Wars costumes.
Lily wore her Sleeping Beauty outfit (minus the crown) in the morning. We took it off to eat lunch and after that she wanted to be Cinderella, but the only dress up shoes she has that are good to walk in are Sleeping Beauty ones. She wanted to carry Ryan's Cars "pumpkin" from last year. She was quite a mix.
My costume was more subtle, I was a tourist. I wore a Paris shirt and my camera. I wanted to wear a touristy hat, but I didn't have one that I thought worked.
The best part about Halloween this year? It didn't cost me one cent. I had a huge bag of mini-tootsie pops that I had bought as rewards for my kids. Realizing we wouldn't get through the whole bag in a reasonable amount of time I decided to use that to give out to trick or treaters. I also pulled out the candy my kids don't like from the loot they had gotten earlier in the day. I hate throwing all that candy away, but if no one in your house eats it what else can you do? I thought giving it to kids who might appreciate it was a good solution. It wasn't bad candy, just stuff like Laffy Taffy, Whoppers, Blow Pops and Tootsie Rolls and I checked it before I gave it out, too. I did feel a little bit bad about "re-gifting" candy, so when I did I gave out handfuls instead of one piece.
Now my only problems are that I didn't really take "costume shots" of the kids and what to do with all the candy they got from 3 rounds of Trick or Treating. They sure had fun, but there is so. much. candy! I think I'll help them with the chocolate bars;-)

The Great Costume Debate

Ryan wants to be a skeleton for Halloween. Every year we go to Trunk or Treat at our church. They have a rule about no scary or gory costumes. To me a skeleton is scary. Jay doesn't think so. So he asked the lady at the information counter on Sunday. She is dressing as a witch. Seriously?! She thinks witches aren't scary? I'll give you that Glenda the good witch of the North is not scary, but I'm thinking that's not what she is talking about. What do you think? Skeleton-scary or not?

In an attempt to get Ryan to change his mind (and also use a costume we already have) I suggested Anakin Skywalker. He then decided to be Count Dooku. At least if he went as Dooku some people would just assume he was a Jedi. I could probably live with Dooku, but where do I get that costume?! I can't even find a Luke Skywalker costume for kids. For adults, yes, kids not a one. Plenty of Anakin, even some with creepy masks, but he doesn't want to be Anakin. Needless to say I'm not ready for Halloween tomorrow.

Christmas lists

**Edit- Of course this list really only matters to family and is only to be helpful. You may use or not use the list, whatever you choose.**
 As usual, I will be shopping from this list as well as other family members, so if you want me to cross something off let me know.

family:
Wii fit
The following things all go together. We want to turn half of the basement into a tumbling, bouncing, fun place to hang out and be active(especially during the winter months). The plan is to clear it all out, paint it and make it a totally "free to be kids" area. This is the stuff we really want so we can make it happen:
-real gymnastics mats  (I've priced them lots of places and our gymnastics place has the going rate and you don't have to pay shipping!-  Tumbl Trak 8x4x1 3/8 is the size I've looked at and compared)
-folding practice beam
-wedge/incline mat
-small, well built trampoline (like this one)

Jen:
-LumiQuest Soft bounce flash device
-White balance card (for photography)
-It's a Wonderful Life on DVD
-Singin' in the Rain on DVD
-Mpix.com gift card- I have a project I really want to do with pictures, but I can't bring myself to spend the money
-motion activated soap dispenser
-"Self Portrait" Mickey poster
-Candle holder
-Half circle entry table 
-"Cambridge" coat rack 
-Vera Bradley bag or maybe this one there is also this one and ooooh, look at this one
-Stenstorp Kitchen Island

Jay:
pull up bar (I think he said P90X or some such thing- It's an exercise program. Come to think of it he might like the videos, too. I'll have to ask.)

Zach:
comic books
Qwirkle
Blokus

Ryan:
-anything Star Wars
-he wants to learn piano, so all you piano people probably know what he needs better than I do
-Play Mobile sets- he has 0 and he always loves playing with other kids' sets and oohs and ahhhs at them in the store
-Legos (specifically Star Wars sets)
-drawing supplies, construction paper, tape- he likes to make things using this stuff all the time
-Cars Suitcase
-Calvin and Hobbes books
-Square up
-Equate Jr.
-Colorku
-Let's Play School
-Zoob car kit
-Zoob kits
-Guess Who

Lily:
-anything princess
-dress ups
-Minnie Mouse shoes size 9/10
-durable crib or cradle for baby dolls
-doll house
-durable MP3 player or CD player
-Little People sets (specifically the airplane)
-a talking Mickey Mouse- The only one of these I've ever seen was "Pal Mickey" from Disney World, but apparently they stopped making those.
-Princess suitcase
-she really wants this dress and I'm not getting it for her
-My Disney Girl Doll She really liked these when we went to Disney...she especially liked the Minnie outfit
-Build it big
-Little Tykes Shopping cart
-My Little Pony- books and ponies

Bustin' Outta Here

Today was Ryan's first day with a temperature under 100* and let's just say mommy needed to get out of the house. I had to get creative so we wouldn't spread any germs, so we went out to this place I know where they have the most beautiful trees this time of year. No one really hangs out there, so I wasn't worried about the kids getting close to anyone. We just hung out in a place that isn't our house for a while and I took some pictures(of course). Ryan collected some leaves; one of each color, red, yellow, orange and green. On the way home the kids asked if we could go to Grandma's house. So we went there and made some leaf rubbings and hung out for the rest of the afternoon.

At the end of the day I am wondering if they have some sort of vitamin deficiency though. This morning Lily asked for frozen peas with her pancakes. Then Ryan wanted some, too. They've had them before when I'm making peas for dinner or whatever, but it's usually when they see the bag out. Weird.

**You can see the pictures here **

Sick Days

So, Ryan is home for the third day in a row and there is no hope for tomorrow because he still has a fever. The school has a 24 hour fever rule and they are really reminding us to go by it. I've heard H1N1 has a tricky way of making people think they are better and then start feeling sick again. So I can understand why they are emphasizing that rule right now. It also means I can sleep in:-)
I probably shouldn't complain because as far as sickness goes this hasn't been too bad. But the kids have been together for long enough that they are starting to bicker and fuss at each other way too much. I've instituted a quiet time in the afternoon. They don't like it, but, it's worth the few minutes of fussing and crying about having quiet time to have an hour of quiet in the afternoon. I miss quiet. I miss being able to leave my house. Luckily my mom is awesome and lives 5 minutes away. She got me groceries so we could survive this stuck-ness. She also brought over her Boggle game because Ryan wanted to play. He told me he didn't want to do anything physical and asked if we have Boggle. So Grandma came to the rescue. She even stayed and played a few rounds with him. One time when she was dropping stuff off Lily asked if she could go home with Grandma. So she did and Grandma and Grandpa played with her until dinner time. Have I mentioned how awesome it is to have my parents living close? It rocks!
I think I might be getting spoiled;-)

Weekend Pictures

Check out my blog about this weekend Here.

Love Our New Screen Saver- maybe too much!

Our TV has this screen saver that rocks. It shows our pictures. All of our pictures that are on the computer. I've seen screen savers that show slide shows before and it's okay, but this one is awesome. It will show about 30 black and white images on the screen in little black or white frames and then it zooms in on one and shows it in full color. Sometimes it tricks you and just when it gets to the one you think it's zooming in on it shifts rapidly to one side or the other and you get a different picture. It's kind of fun. Then it fades back to black and white as it zooms out and reveals lots of other pictures like before. Those pictures shift up, down, sideways, diagonally and then it pauses. It then zooms in on another picture. I love it so much I could just sit and watch it for hours! The pictures look so good up there in high definition, so bright and vibrant. I L-O-V-E it!!! Did I mention that I love it? Well, I do. Sometimes it even gives you an extra treat. When it zooms in on a picture and you're like, "Oh, that was a good day. We had so much fun," it will show you more pictures from the same day. It's awesome. I've probably wasted more electricity and time looking at random photos from the past seven years(the years we have stored on the computer) than I care to count. It's so cool though and it gives me a warm fuzzy feeling looking at pictures from my past. Just another reason to make all those hypothetical memory albums I keep working on in my brain into reality. Maybe I could watch the screen saver while I work on them;-)

Oh, no! Princess Drama

Lily is playing with her princesses. The Barbie sized ones and the mommies and the smaller ones the little girls. The most recent conversation went something like this...

Little Belle comes over exclaiming, "Oh, Mommy! Mommy!"
Big Belle embraced little Belle saying, "Oh Sweet Pea, I'm so glad you are here. I've been waiting for this and now you are here!"
There was quite a bit of hugging and then little Belle leaned to big Belle's ear and said in a very dramatic, low voice, "There is a problem!"
Big Belle replied, "Oh, no! What is the problem?"
Little Belle in a very sad voice said, "Someone in our family...can't dance!"
"Who can't dance?," asked big Belle.
Lily hangs her head and little Belle almost seemed to do the same as she admitted sadly, "Me. I can't dance."
Then big Belle happily replied, "You can't dance, I can't dance, Let's learn!"

All's well that ends well I guess;-)

It's Starting to Feel Like Fall

School started two weeks ago, but this is the first full week. The mornings at the bus stop have been pretty chilly lately. I've started to put summer clothes in transition areas- aka-laundry baskets ready to get put into boxes when I believe it's really not going to be hot anymore. This week my fall schedule really starts in force. I've got a MOPS meeting, the start of my new Bible study and a photography workshop this weekend. I've been teaching Sunday school for a few weeks now and am pretty much continuously planning for an event that I'm helping to plan. The only thing left to add into the mix is Lily's gymnastics which starts next week. Somehow we missed soccer sign ups, so we're thinking Ryan can do indoor this year. The freedom in his schedule also allows for him to try a new sport. He's chosen wrestling. I'm not sure how I feel about this. Something about watching my child rolling all over a mat with another kid who may or may not hurt him badly makes me hate the idea. I think Jay secretly glows with pride that Ryan would choose the sport he competed in most during high school.
This year I'm lucky to still be able to look forward to a vacation. Usually this is the time when I just hunker down and get ready for a long period of work and schedules with little time away. In a few weeks summer will be just a distant memory and Christmas break will seem like a long way off (no matter what you over prepared I-need-to-have-my-shopping-done-by-October people think). I think this fall mini-vacation with Jay's family will be a nice refreshing break.

Pirates

Lily's version of the pirate song...

"Yo ho! Yo ho, the pirate's after me." After we rode the Pirates of the Caribean Lily rode around Disney World on Jay's shoulders happily singing her little diddy. He tried to correct her, but she wasn't having any of that. She was singing it again this afternoon. I love when kids trigger great memories.

Disney

We took the kids to Disney World for the first time last week. It was awesome, HOT, but awesome. I researched quite a bit before we went and learned even more while I was there about what I want to do next time. It was a great trip though. The kids had a blast, I had a blast, even Jay had fun;-) Lily's favorite thing was Cinderella's Golden Carousel. Before we went she talked about it all the time and I guess it lived up to her expectations because we rode it several times. The character breakfasts were a huge hit- even if they were early. None of us liked waking up for them after being up late the night before, but we did and the kids loved meeting the princesses, Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, Daisy, Pluto, Winnie the Pooh, Piglet, Tigger and Eeyore. I loved that it was FREE (well, except for the tip) because we got the dining plan free and I also loved that we didn't have to wait in line to meet our beloved characters. We spent a grand total of about $15 on food the entire trip...given Disney prices for food this was a huge savings. We could have done it completely free, but Jay really wanted a Margarita and we got a refillable mug at one point that ended up not being worth it. Thank God for free dining!



Ryan just made the 44" cut off for the big rides. There were still 2 he couldn't ride, but he got in some good thrill rides and LOVED it. His favorite was Expedition Everest in the Animal Kingdom. His favorite show was the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular in MGM Hollywood Studios; that's my boy! I'm thinking he should see the Indiana Jones movies now. Toy Story Mania was fun. I can see why the fast passes were out by noon. Lily liked getting dressed up in the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique and the boys enjoyed being initiated into Jack Sparrow's crew, but it was so hot their costumes were done by 2:oo. Lily looked like a punk rock princess and Ryan looked like he just stepped out of a coal mine. We went back to the hotel to get refreshed. I took Lily to the pool which she loved; It has fountains and sprayers, it's almost like a mini water park right at the hotel. Jay took the boys to Blizzard beach and they had a blast. We went back to get in some night riding and fudge.

I wrote this post last week and thought I would add to it, but I haven't yet. So, I'm going to post it as is and if I get a chance to write more I will just do another post. There is so much I could write. It was a great trip with so much fun stuff packed in to it.

To give you an idea what I deal with each day...

Lily doesn't want to do what I tell her to. She tilts her head down, gives me a very stern look and says, "I do what I do and I do what I want to do!" hmph!



When I go in the garage to get a broom for the back porch Lily asks to go on a bike ride. I told her not right now. I start to go back into the house and she says, "I'm staying right here if I can't go on a bike ride! I'm not going inside." I start counting and she comes to the door, but not inside. I tell her if I get to three she loses a princess, she steps in the door with her back against it and says,"I'm not going any further in! This is it!"

This morning when it was time to get dressed I pulled an outfit out and told Lily it's time to get dressed. She fussed and threw herself on the floor, so I left the outfit and went downstairs. She came down about 5 minutes later with a different shirt and a pair of shorts. A shirt with purple flowers and a pair of shorts with flowers on a different color purple background. It did not look good, but I chose not to fight that battle. It's what she wore today. She'll probably hate to see pictures of herself in these outfits when she's a teen, but at least I can tell her she picked them out.

Happy Birthday, Ryan!

Breakfast with Lily

Lily: Can I have more eggs, please?
Me: I like you manners, but maybe you should have something else since you've already had two eggs.
Lily: I didn't have two eggs!
Me: It might not have looked like two eggs because I mixed them up and cooked them together, but I did use two eggs. Then they are all together on your plate.
Lily: In my mind it's only one.

The Things They Say...

I was putting Lily to bed and just like always I said, "I love you. I'll see you in the morning." As I was walking out Lily said, "Don't forget to tell me in the morning." She meant she wanted me to remember t tall her I love her in the morning. Awww :-)

We were walking through a store where we picked up a rain jacket for Ryan. He had decided he wanted to keep the jacket on after he tried it on, so he put the hanger across his chest and into the arm holes. He said, "Hmm, this would be comfortable if the metal thing weren't so cold." Some ladies passing by giggled at him and he said, "Why does what I say always make people laugh?!" For those that know him well you may be able to picture his face, eyes rolled up and his lips in a tight straight line looking shy trying to hide the smile that's threatening to explode from behind them.

Don't hear that much

As I bent down to pick Lily up from the step above me she said, "You're soooooo tall, Mommy!" I'll treasure that little tid bit since it's not something I hear much at 5'4".

Bed

When I was putting Lily's jammies on tonight I noticed the princesses on her sheets were upside down. I said, "I see Daddy made your bed."
To which she replied, "You can say that again!"

A Ryan Funny

We were walking through the grocery store and Ryan announced dramatically, "Mommy, I have chicken pox!!!" We were coming out of the cold food area, he meant goose bumps.

What is the etiquette?

Does anyone know what the etiquette is when your socially awkward cashier actually stops doing his job to talk to and "play" with your 3 year old who obviously does not want the attention and is visibly uncomfortable? Keeping in mind this is my usual grocery store and I would like to go back.

How do you like my daffodils?

I love daffodils. With Lily's birthday being in March they are even more special to me. I love that they add a bright pop to spring. I also love that they come back every year so I don't have to buy and plant them every year. So this year I decided to add some to my back yard garden seeing as how I'm trying to make it a nice place to spend time and all. So we picked up some bulbs this spring when we were at the hardware store. I planted them right in the front of the garden so they could spread their spring joy and by the time the other flowers bloomed they would be able to yield to them. By the time summer started they still hadn't bloomed. I figured I just planted them too late in the season and they would bloom next year. They kept growing...and growing. There were these beautiful broad leaves. I figured that's what happens when they don't get a chance to bloom. Then Mid-July they bloomed. So how do you like my daffodils?

That's no daffodil you say? Yeah, I figured that out. Just too late to do anything about the nearly 4 foot plant smack dab in the FRONT of my garden. See that little bitty Gerbra Daisy behind it? So sad:-(


I guess I'll be digging them up after the season and moving them to the back of the garden. Next year I think I'll get my Daffodil bulbs somewhere else.

Poor Underutilized Blog

Did you ever ignore your blog for so long you wonder if anyone even looks at it anymore? And if they do are they annoyed with you for not writing?
When I haven't written on my blog in a while really long time I don't really know how to get back to it. When you write daily it's okay to write about plain old every day stuff, but when it's been a month, or two, that doesn't seem to do it. It feels like you need something more substantial to make it worth reading or even writing. Unfortunately(or maybe fortunately) nothing earth shaking is going on with us.
The kids are growing and playing and fighting and teasing and fussing and playing some more. Right now they are having a tea party with all of their baby dolls. Ryan seems to be orchestrating the whole thing. He likes to play "house." Unfortunately for Lily most of his versions of house end up with some explosion or her princesses falling in lava. She doesn't like that part so much.
Not much is going on with me. I'm helping plan some events for church, unpacking from vacation(still), really nervous about this photography workshop I signed up for and wishing one of my friends would sign up, thinking about where my life is headed and what that means for my family...you know the usual stuff.

Play

Yesterday my kids were being goofy. When I told Lily to get he shoes on for gymnastics she came to the door in rain boots and a clown nose. Later she wanted to pick Ryan up at the bus stop as Buzz Lightyear. As soon as Ryan came in he put some of Lily's pink hair stuff on top of his head and the clown nose on his face. Then he tried to juggle 1 ball. They had me laughing anyway.

Today I hear "Roar! I'm going to eat you!" Then I see this ...

Big Bad Wolf coming around the corner.

And from the other corner come Little Red Riding Hood...

Oh, no! He got her!

It's a good thing her dad came and took her out of his stomach...LOL.

Ryan cracks me up. You may notice there are no eye holes in his mask. He can only see because he glued (oh yes, I said glued) his mask so there was a tiny hole at the bridge of his nose where he could peek out.

They are fun kids, especially when they get along.

Never Forget...

Never forget how cute and innocent they are at 3. Yesterday we went to the Orioles' game with Grandmommy and Granddaddy. Lily didn't watch much of the game, but she found ways to amuse herself. At one point she came over the the seat next to me. She situated herself with her back on the seat and her legs up the back. She played for a while tipping her head over the edge and laughing as if it were the funniest thing in the world. Lily has a very contagious laugh, watching her enjoy herself brings a smile to my face almost all the time. She plays some other games with herself, or so I thought. The next thing I know she's looking over at me with a big grin on her face and says, "The people LOVE me!" I guess she was entertaining the people behind us as well;-) It was so funny because she was just innocently trying to say that the people behind us liked her, but it sounded so diva-esque. One might have thought she was a Broadway star the way she made her proclamation with such confidence and feeling;-)

Sweet Lily

Last night we were sitting at the dinner table and out of the blue Lily said, "You want to know somping[something]? I really love Grandma. She's so cute!"

I thought Grandma might like that;-)

Memorial Day

It's nice to see the real reason for Memorial Day recognized.

Thanks to all those who sacrifice so much.

Did you read the sign? All I have to say to that is AMEN!

Princess Lily

Yesterday Lily informed me that when she grows up she wants to be a princess with all the "stuff", as she made a grand motion from her tiara area and along her imaginary fancy dress. She will have a princess crown, princess shoes, a pretty dress and a bwasewet [bracelet].Then she told me how Ryan is going to make her married like daddy makes me married. (hee) She really loves her big brother. You'd think they would fight less. ::sigh::
I asked her what she would do when she is a princess and she said, "When I'm on the stage I will dance." I suppose she thinks that's what princesses do. It must be why she puts on her princess costumes when she dances. She'll say, "I need to do my dance!" Then she will run up and get a princess dress and shoes. She'll turn on a CD and dance, dance, dance. Sometimes she'll get Ryan to dance with her. They are so cute!

Splash

What do you do when there is a short break in the seemingly never ending rain storm?

You bust out the rain boots and camera and hit the streets looking for good puddles to splash.

Sadly, I had to convince Lily to splash. Once she got going she had a good time.

New Patio Furniture

Last year we made a patio in our back yard. It seems like this is an ever evolving project. When we first put a door in our dining room I thought we would eventually build a deck. It seemed so obvious since the door is about 2-3 feet off the ground. The builder put in a temporary stair case and having that made me realize I liked the flow of having the place we sit being even with the ground. So we built a patio. When I say we I mean Jay, the kids and me. It was pretty cool to do it ourselves. The satisfaction of doing it all ourselves was almost worth all the time it took to do it, almost. So we spent all this money and time building this great patio, but our outdoor furniture was in bad shape. Really bad shape as in two of the chairs were completely broken and it all looks bad. So one of the suggestions we gave for Christmas gifts was patio furniture. I didn't really expect that anyone would choose that one, but my parents did. They told us to pick out a set. So I looked at tons of sets online. I found one I liked and showed it to Jay. He liked it too. It was a traditional dining table and 6 chair set. I liked it a lot. Then something gave me pause and I totally changed my mind. I decided I wanted a different feel for our patio. I want it to be relaxed. A place to hang out and not centered around eating. We do eat out there some times, but we spend so much time out there not eating I thought I would like a lower coffee type table that offered a place to set food down, but didn't become the center piece for the whole patio. We went to Home Depot and I fell in love with this set. I think it works very well with the gray patio and it so comfortable. We are going to need to get furniture covers, but I can handle that. Next is the pergola...or canvas gazebo...or some other shade offering device I have yet to discover. This is fun:-)

I'm so excited...

and I just can't hide it! This weekend was awesome! Yesterday was ServeFest and I got to see the culmination of all of God's work I've been doing for weeks. It went really well. It was really cool watching while God filled in the gaps and made everything go smoothly. It is so cool to help God do his work! Then afterwards I got to deliver some flowers to a group at senior housing and met the nicest lady. We had a good chat and she told me about all her plans for their garden. When I got home Jay had the kids at the playground, so I got to unwind in peace and quiet. Jay hung out with the kids longer while I went to the grocery store ALL BY MYSELF. I dreaded going because it was Saturday and I thought it would be insanely crowded, but it wasn't. I guess the combination of the great weather and the afternoon timing of my trip it wasn't crowded at all. It was the most relaxed grocery trip I've had since...well, I don't think I've ever had a more relaxed grocery trip. A totally fantastic day.
Then this morning we got up early and made it to the 9AM service! This is no small feat for our family. The service was awesome! And we had so much more time in our day. Jay mowed the grass, so it will look pretty while we are hanging out this week in our new patio furniture! Woot!!! We just got it today and I LOVE it. We tried it out this evening and I am looking forward to all the time I'll be spending there. I was cleaning up after dinner and I just couldn't help smiling at my beautiful patio with my fantastic new patio furniture. Thanks mom and dad for the awesome Christmas gift!!!
...pictures in the morning...

This weekend totally makes up for the horribleness that was last weekend when I was sick on my birthday and fell in a river the next day with my brand new, got-it-for-my-birthday, camera and damaged it.

Dancing with the Stars- Take Two

Well, I watched the second week of Dancing with the Stars on my own. I thought it was much more tasteful. Maybe they spoke to those contestants. Maybe it's because I missed the interviews with the notorious "stars." Who knows, but thank God for DVRs. Lily and I are watching the recorded show from Monday night right now. I skip all the questionable parts which unfortunately this week includes half the dances. I think the Argentine Tango is a little much for her. I like it, but she is 3. That's cool though. I'm just glad to be able to watch with her:-)

My favorite thing about watching with her today...
We were watching the Lindy Hop and she said, "I wish I could be like that!" She's so my little girl! I see ballroom classes in her future ::squee::

Fact or Fiction?

Jay was reading the kids stories tonight. He likes to tease the kids when he reads by substituting their names into the story. This has caused problems for me when reading books with lily pads, but that's beside the point. Tonight when Jay was reading Harry the Dirty Dog and he said "Oh look there's Lily and Ryan!" pointing to the picture of the children in the book. Ryan got very upset in that way he gets when he is playing with his daddy and he insisted, "They are not us!"
"How do you know?" Jay asked.
"Because that book is fiction and WE ARE NOT FICTION!" replied the oh so precocious Ryan.
I happened to be snapping pictures tonight and this is the moment following that declaration.

Spring, Spring, Beautiful Spring

I love spring. It just makes me happy. I love to sit outside and feel warm(this hasn't really happened yet, but I'm looking forward to it). I love the flowers blooming, the birds singing, the sun shining. It's just a great time of year. Things are coming to life again. Even just seeing neighbors outside and getting to say hi again is a treat. I can't wait to go to the local gardens to try to get some good pictures of the kids. Anyone want to come along?

Princess Joy Ride

I was looking through some old pictures and this one came up. I think this might be part of the reason 3 of her princesses have gotten broken. If I recall Jay saw this and LAUGHED. He said, "That's my girl! Take a picture of that!" And here you have it.

At least she has fun with them.

Dancing with the Stars

I'm watching the first episode of Dancing with the Stars thanks to the DVR. As a side note I just want to say that I love the DVR! I do not have so much love for the new season of Dancing with the Stars. I've always counted on Dancing with the Stars being a family show. Lily and I like to watch together. So I'm sitting here watching with Lily and 2 out of the first 4 contestants are horrible role models, not to mention all the language- Jacka** this and that. I am not happy. One contestant is glorifying her stay in prison and another is glorifying drug use and stupidity. I've stopped watching with Lily. I might watch the rest of the episode myself later to see if it gets any better, but if it doesn't I will be giving up Dancing with the Stars. It will be hard because I've loved it so much in the past and I really enjoy the dancing, but I'm not going to just let what they put on TV dictate what I will watch. You know what they say, "Garbage in, garbage out." I think I will contact ABC and let them know how I feel about this. I hope the other viewers will demand better quality as well.

Currency

I know I've said this many times before, but it's worth repeating. I have found Ryan's "currency", in other words what he values enough to use as a reward or punishment if necessary. His "currency" is currency. I've been finding new and interesting ways to use it to get him to behave the way I want. The latest in my arsenal of mommy weapons is the allowance chart. Ryan has certain responsibilities in our house. He sometimes fusses, complains or refuses to do these things. If he refuses he will get a warning and then punishment, but this is stressful for me and him. So I decided to make a chart. I listed all his responsibilities and made boxes for each day. I assigned a cash value to each one and added that to the second to last column. The last column is left blank and at the end of the week we will add all the checks(bonus math practice!) We started last Thursday and that means all the checks were finished yesterday. Today we will add up the amount he has earned. It's worked out pretty well for chores. We both need to work on a few things. I need to work on reminding him of things and he needs to work on remembering or checking the chart. This chart is going to be good for both of us because it will remind me to pay him at the end of the week and not just sporadically through the week.
I saved the best thing about this chart for last. I decided to add a "bonus" section at the bottom. It includes one off things or things that I want him to do, but are not really chores. One of those is putting away his clothes which he won't have the opportunity to do unless I've done laundry, so I didn't count those kinds of things in the total that Ryan *should* get every week. The best thing about this chart by far is this one little row that says, "no teasing Lily." This one is worth the most on the entire chart because I know it is hard for him and because I REALLY want it to work. One of his favorite things in the world to do is tease his sister. It drives me crazy. Every day there would be fussing, screaming, crying and someone would inevitably get hit(sometimes with an object). This past week has been wonderful. Each time Ryan starts getting close to teasing I remind him of the chart and he stops. Sometimes he will even ask me if something is teasing before he does it or if he did something that made Lily fuss. I've heard him many times say to himself or me, "I don't want to tease Lily." He got a check for every day this past week and it has been a such a different environment in our house. Our house used to be full of negative noise from the time Ryan came home from school until dinner and sometimes until bed time. Now it's not necessarily quiet, but the sounds are of playing, laughing, music and dancing. I can handle that kind of noise, I can even enjoy it most of the time.

This is what his chart looked like this week. He was sick for a couple days this week and I never reminded him to do the trash cans, but other than that he did really well.

I love how kids are so literal sometimes.

I just asked Lily, "Whaccha doin', Peanut?"
She replied, "Standing here."

I'll Belax

Lily had gotten herself into quite a pickle this afternoon. She was wearing one of her princess dress ups with her dress up shoes and playing with a bunch of balloons. She had tangled the balloon strings all around her feet and the buckles for the shoes. Somehow some of her dress had frayed and become entangled with all the other mess of knots, etc. All at once she turns toward the bathroom, announces she has to use the potty and falls down because of her entangled feet. She'd made the announcement in that 3 year old way that tells mommy 'if I don't get to go right now you're going to have a mess to clean up!' I immediately sprung into action trying to get her freed from the mess. I got her feet free from the balloons quickly, but the frayed threads from the dress proved difficult to untangle and impossible to break. I looked at her and said, "I need to get some scissors. I'll be right back!" She laid back, put her arms out in this meditative sort of way, closed her eyes and said, "I'll belax." [decoded meaning= I'll relax] This girl cracks me up! Anyway, I got the scissors and cut the strands and she made it to the potty.

I'm off to belax. It's been a long day.

Mixing It Up

What happens when you mix girl toys with boy toys...

Happy Birthday, Lily!

Lily is 3! Jay says she's not a baby anymore. I haven't thought of her as a baby in a long time, but 3 does seem like a big girl age.

Is it My Birthday?

Lily has asked me every day since Sunday, "Is it my birthday?" Sometimes multiple times. Each time I tell her her birthday is Monday and she says, "Is it Monday?" I would tell her what day it was and count with her all the days until her birthday. Still, the next day we do it all again. It's so hard to teach little ones the concept of time.

You might be old if...

This is a list of things that have happened to me or happen to me on a regular basis that make me feel old.

You might be old if...

You can not fully straighten your legs when you've been kneeling on them for any length of time.

You have to brace yourself on your thigh to get up from the floor because your knees just are not strong enough to do it on their own anymore.

You realize your back experiences severe pain when you put your shoes on the morning after you cleaned the toy closet.

Your legs hurt for days after volunteering in the church nursery because of all the "squats" you did picking up children (even if it was two at a time.)

Your 5 year old, who has never seen a world map before, can beat your score in a map game after playing a few times.

You get the references to old ketchup commercials, "Good things come to those who wait." Thank goodness for plastic bottles and their amazing squeeze action!

The boy band you liked as a kid goes on a reunion tour.

Retro styles look quite a bit like what you dressed in when you were a kid.

You consider tooth whitening products even though you don't drink coffee or tea.

You know gray hairs are thicker and more course than regular hairs because you see them on your head daily.

Your husband tells you your new hair cut "doesn't make you look older. It says, 'I am my age and I can still look hot.'" and he considers it a compliment.

You realize you butt now extends down where the top of your legs used to be.

You realize it's been 10 years since you graduated............COLLEGE.

You see toys you played with as a kid in the American History Museum.

You didn't even know people "speak IM" until you saw it in a movie and even then you had a hard time keeping up with what they were saying.

The AARP has started sending you mailings.

You actually pay people money each month in case you die and think it's a wise investment.

I'm sure there are more, but my memory is not what it used to be...

I just thought of another one. You use sayings like "My memory is not what it used to be."

Lily and Her Princesses

Lily has these 2 inch tall princesses she just loves. She plays with them constantly. She packs them up and takes them places with her when she goes places. It's really sweet. Unfortunately, 3 of them have broken. One a while ago and two recently. I tried to fix the first one with super glue, but it didn't hold. Since she loves them so much and they only cost about $10 for the pack of seven I decided to get her new ones. It was quite a task since stores don't seem to be selling them anymore. I found some on Amazon. I ordered the cheapest one that was supposedly never opened for twice what I had originally paid. I sucked it up because she really does love them. They came today. I would never have bought them if I saw them in person. Lets just say the colors are intense, including on the faces. It didn't seem to matter to Lily as she dropped to the ground right there in the doorway to open them. Of course she had her little princess purse with the current princesses in her had so she took those out as I removed the others from their package. Here she is introducing them to each other.
You can see here that each princess is saying hello to her counterpart from the other set. This set has a new princess the other one didn't, so later all the princesses are turned toward Pocahontas and said hello. She was like a rock star with all eyes on her, "Hello Pocahontas," repeated for each of the other princesses. I love this pretend play stage. It's so fun!

What's Wrong with This Picture?

Last Wednesday I took Lily to the playground for a playdate. The weather was gorgeous and it felt like spring. Today...not so much.

Adjusting to Change

Yesterday Lily sat on my lap and pushed my hair off my face. She said, "I'm making you Mommy again."

When we put the kids to bed they get songs every night. Lately Lily will get songs from Daddy and then when I go in to say goodnight she wants songs from me too. It used to be that I would sing her a few quiet songs always ending with songs about Jesus and/or God. Lately, as she's gotten older, I've been telling her to pick one song and then we say a prayer together. She picks one. I get about 3/4 through the song she picked and she says, "Wait, wait! Forget about Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. I want I've been working on the Railroad." It's kind of amazing how little brains work. Anything to stall bedtime I guess. Don't worry. I don't fall for it. I just keep singing the first song. I don't even stop to set her straight because that, of course, is dragging out bedtime and she wins. It is amusing though.

Four Seasons

Edited ***Oops, I meant to post this on my creative blog. It's over there now.***

Some Lily-isms

Pun-Uter = computer

leed = lid or the top of pretty much anything

Learning in Daily Life

Ryan's eyes are closed, he is in the middle of a prayer, "God, help us to be reliable to each other." His eyes pop open, he looks at me and says, "What does that mean?"

ROFL...I don't know where he heard that word.

Lily's First Significant Hair Cut

Those who know us or have been long time readers know that Lily didn't have much hair as a baby. She had kind of a baby mullet when it started growing in. When she finally had a measurable amount of hair it had the most beautiful curls. I've always loved her sweet curls, but recently they have started to look a little disheveled. I knew it was time to take her to get a real hair cut to try to even out all that short mullet hair from the top. In the picture below you can see the significant difference in the length of the back of her hair and the sides. The very shortest bit of hair is from when Sheri cut her bangs, but the rest of that side hair has never been cut. It was bittersweet taking her to get it cut. I could tell we would be taking off most of the curl, but I knew it would thicken up the look of it.

These two pictures are from today before we left.

These two are after.

She was in no mood to pose either time, so I had to take what I could get picture-wise.

Ladies' Man

When I unpacked Ryan's backpack today I found a little heart jewel. So I asked him about it. Apparently it came from a little girl in his class from when he was out sick, because she loves him. I asked him, "Why do you say that?" He said because she told him. Did I mention this is neither the little girl who I saw say she loves him, nor the girl he wrote his note about. So I asked him how many girls have told him they love him and together we came up with three(he didn't remember the girl I saw saying it to him, but I know she did since I SAW IT). The one he wrote the note for apparently told him she loves him and his note was to return the sentiment. He hasn't given it to her yet. It's kind of cute. I'm glad he is well liked. He has some really good friends that are boys too. I was a little worried about him in the beginning of the year because he is as young as you can possibly be for his grade and truth be told he's kind of shy (don't tell him that because I don't want him to live it out because he was told that's what he is). I was worried about what that combination could mean, but he always does well with other kids once he gets to know them. I guess he feels really comfortable in his class because the kids seem to like him and the teacher says he cracks her up. It really puts my mind at ease knowing he is going somewhere he enjoys with people he enjoys every weekday.

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!

Look what I just found on Ryan's table.

He's in KINDERGARTEN! I'm not sure what I think/feel about this, but my baby has his first crush! And it's not even the girl who I saw tell him she loves him during group time. Oh, dear.

WHY?!

On a normal weekday morning it's a struggle to wake Ryan up at 7:30. Today, after much prodding, he finally got out of bed at 7:45 and Lily slept until 9:15. (Luckily the bus stop is so close that the baby monitor works.) Most mornings I'd say she's awake before 9, but not before 8.
So why do they wake up at 7AM weekend mornings?! It's so unfair:-(

Lily-isms

Sayings and words that are uniquely Lily at this time in her life.

Chu-chup =Ketchup
Why-un= Lion
Why-un= Ryan She knows the difference, but I can't tell.
What is this name?= What is his/her name?
I'm LeeLee! = Her answer to any question asking about her. For instance, are you a princess?
I'm a big guw. =The only other possible answer to who or what she is...a big girl.
Stop tee-sing me! =Often said to Ryan. ::sigh::
tomowoe =tomorrow
Sweeping beauty, Ayell, Snow White, Be-oo, Cinduwuwu =princesses
I wust one. =I lost one.
I wuv you. =I love you.
I want to play on your 'putew. =I want to play on your computer.
I don't like that! =What she says when she doesn't want something. This is probably my fault for asking "Would you like some (fill in food or drink here)?" So if Lily ever says she doesn't like someone or something she doesn't really mean it. She just means she doesn't want it/them right now.

Ryan is Blue

Lily and I played Candyland yesterday while Ryan was at school. I got out the board and asked, what color Lily wanted to be. She picked red. She always picks red unless there is a purple or pink option, then she really has a choice. I picked blue. She took it off the board and put it back in the box. "You can't be blue. Ryan is blue. You can be yellow."
"Ryan is not here and I want to be blue." I put the blue back on the board.
"Ryan is blue! You can be yellow or green." Lily puts blue back in the box.
"Ryan is at school. He is not playing and I want to be blue."
"Ryan is blue. You can be Yellow or green or red."
"Okay, I'll be red."
::gasp:: "Nooooooooo!"
"Okay, I'll be blue"
"Okay."


(You may think that arguing over color with a 2 year old is silly and that's your right. I, however, would like to teach my children they do not always get their way when they are playing with me so they might remember it when playing with other children. I posted this because it amuses me not to start a debate on parenting style.)

Gifts (edited with pictures)

I've noticed there are some people in life that are really great to give presents to. They always seem to have just the right reaction. Ryan is one of those people. If he doesn't know what it is he might just sit there and stare at it, probably trying to figure out what it is so he can get excited about it. Usually he gets excited before the wrapping paper is even off the gift. As soon as he sees what it is his eyes will get wide and his chin will drop, he'll give a big "What?!" or "Cool!", he might even jump up in the air or giggle his I-can't-contain-my-excitement giggle. It's really so much fun to watch him on Christmas.
This year was no different. There were even some mentions of it being "the best day ever." After all the gifts were opened Christmas morning and we were deciding what we would play with Ryan was asked about what he got. He said, "Good, but I didn't get some of the things I ordered." Ordered?! Oh my goodness!

Some pictures of Christmas morning reactions.

Opening his matchbox race car.Opening his Wall-E robot(he hadn't even seen Wall-E at this point)

The boys got matching Ravens jerseys.


One of the things Ryan ordered that he didn't get in the morning was a "cool dinosaur book" and the other was a "Brio Race car." Brio doesn't make their building sets any more and you can't buy them anywhere, so I passed the word to everyone that an erector set would probably fill in nicely. Once the families came he got the erector set from someone(I feel terrible, but I missed him starting to open that one, so I didn't catch who gave it to him. I think it was Uncle Ben. If you know let me know and I'll fix this). He also got the book pictured below from Uncle Ben. I think that qualifies as a cool dinosaur book! So his order was completed after all;-) We've had a talk since then about being grateful for what we're given and about lists for Santa being "wish lists," but who knows if it will sink in this time.

Winter Va-kay Part 2

So we got to the hotel after our fun trip to Winter Wonderland. And what to our wondering eyes should appear, but a room full of inflatables and games. So, we went in and had some free fun. The kids jumped in the moon bounce, ran the obstacle course and crawled through a giant caterpillar. In the morning we got up and went to our Smorgasbord breakfast. Then we suited up and played in the pool for a couple hours. No wonder we love staying there!

Thanks to my husband's superstellar computer skills I am able to use the desktop computer from my laptop remotely and bring you these pictures.


I didn't get any really good ones, but these get the point across. As Ryan said when he saw the stuff at the hotel, "More fun?! This is the best day we've spent at Dutch Wonderland ever!"

Winter Wonderland

Every year we go to Dutch Wonderland for their Winter Wonderland Christmas Celebration. I love it for many reasons. For one thing all the amusement parks in the area close when it's not summer and it's a good chance to get some fun ride action in for the kids during the winter.

Here Ryan and Lily enjoy the Whip.

Ryan got to ride the Space Shuttle for the first time this trip, but I didn't get to take a picture because I stayed with Lily while she rode the Whip again.

We played with the "ice cubes" for a while. Zach actually managed to build an igloo like structure.

Of course the kids had to ride the Frog Hopper, always a favorite.

Jay and the boys rode the bumper cars.



One might think he knew I was taking this picture, but he didn't.

This is Zach. I know you can't tell except for the signature green clothing and green car, but the only time he faced me was when the bar in the front blocked his face.

This carousel is my favorite. It's so pretty especially at night.

Lily loves the carousel too. We rode it twice. Once at the very end of the evening. It was a beautiful way to finish our night. The had this really cool light show this year. I think it was new because I don't remember it from previous trips. It was amazing though. They had all these Christmas lights in a big field and they had them "dance" to Christmas music. Dance is the best word I could come up with to describe it. It was very cool. I would have taken pictures, but I wouldn't be able to do it justice and we didn't really stop to watch it. We just kind of enjoyed it as we walked around. I'm hoping to get a spring or summer trip to Dutch Wonderland in this year if anyone is interested. It's a relatively short drive.