The other day Miss A decided to pass the time with a little reading. Her book of choice-- an English to Spanish Dictionary or I guess since she was reading it upside down, a Spanish to English Dictionary.
Friday, December 10, 2010
A little light reading
The other day Miss A decided to pass the time with a little reading. Her book of choice-- an English to Spanish Dictionary or I guess since she was reading it upside down, a Spanish to English Dictionary.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Years in review
In anticipation of making a blog book, today I've spent the day reading every post I've made over the last 33ish past months. It was really fun to read stuff I had completely forgotten. I mean I didn't realize how much A and E have in common. I've been meaning to post about how I nearly wreck my car every time I look in the rearview mirror and see A dancing and lip-syncing to her favorite songs but I'd completely forgotten about how E used to do the same thing. The two of them are so different but then there are things like how they have the same exact shriek and mannerisms when they are really really excited or how they are both so independent that they'd rather drown attempting to swim than have me help them in deep water. I can't believe how fast the past few years have flown by. I'm so glad for whoever came up with this whole blogging thing. It's tricked me into essentially journaling and has helped me capture things I would have long forgotten. Thanks to those few people who actually read this because, for some weird reason, I don't know if I'd write if I didn't have at least someone who cared what we are up to. Thanks to my crazy family for giving me something worth documenting. Love you all!
Capturing the moment
E right now--
He is still as energetic as ever. I doubt he'll ever grow out of it. He is also super animated. He is a living caricature.
I still think his eyes light when he smiles.
One of his favorite things to do is recount things that have happened. He'll recount entire conversations complete with actions. About an hour ago he came in and described how he rode the "elevator ride" and how his legs kept flying out. His eyes got big as he explained how he went up and down.
Along those same lines, he can quote entire movies.
More and more it is obvious that he really does have a tender heart. Just last week he found a grub of some sort in the backyard. He brought it in and said "oh, Mommy, look. A baby caterpillar. How cute. Awww". I told him he should take it back outside so that it's mommy and daddy could find it. He went out for about two minutes and came back in saying with his bottom lip sort of sticking out, "His mommy and daddy can't find him. E Melton take care of him". He took him back outside and built it a little house and then gave him a little leaf blanket so he could take a nap. 
One of my other favorite things is his crazy imagination. Today he came in dressed as my knight in shining armor and called me princess all day. He went off and slew a couple dragons for me. It's nice to be called a princess, especially at moments when you are still in your pajamas and haven't showered for the day. 
Misses right now-
One of my other favorite things is his crazy imagination. Today he came in dressed as my knight in shining armor and called me princess all day. He went off and slew a couple dragons for me. It's nice to be called a princess, especially at moments when you are still in your pajamas and haven't showered for the day. 
Misses right now-
She is super girly. She loves pretty things and loves dressing nice.
That little girl came out being independent and acts at least double her age.
She can bust a move with the best of them. I love it when she shakes her little hips but love it even more when she starts mixing up the moves in a sort of Elaine from Seinfeld approach to dancing.
I love that she can follow directions-- of course only when she chooses to.
I love her little voice. It still makes me smile to hear her little "peas", "ank you", "hi" and "bye" with her tiny little wave.
Miss A cracks me up when we go shopping because she insists on carrying the bags using her little elbow as a hook. It looks ridiculous since the bags are usually about her same size.
The little one is extremely coordinated and adventurous. She'll climb anything she thinks is worth it. Fortunately, she hasn't decided to climb out of bed yet.She loves being a little mommy to her dolls and always cuddles with and gives little kisses to her stuffed animal.
She gives the best little kisses and the biggest hugs.
Just like her brother, she is very energetic and very animated as well. Her expressions say a lot. The little girl is almost always singing. Every now and then I can actually tell what she is trying to sing, but for the most part, it's just a song from her heart.
She can bust a move with the best of them. I love it when she shakes her little hips but love it even more when she starts mixing up the moves in a sort of Elaine from Seinfeld approach to dancing.
I love that she can follow directions-- of course only when she chooses to.
I love her little voice. It still makes me smile to hear her little "peas", "ank you", "hi" and "bye" with her tiny little wave.
Miss A cracks me up when we go shopping because she insists on carrying the bags using her little elbow as a hook. It looks ridiculous since the bags are usually about her same size.
The little one is extremely coordinated and adventurous. She'll climb anything she thinks is worth it. Fortunately, she hasn't decided to climb out of bed yet.She loves being a little mommy to her dolls and always cuddles with and gives little kisses to her stuffed animal.
She gives the best little kisses and the biggest hugs.
Just like her brother, she is very energetic and very animated as well. Her expressions say a lot. The little girl is almost always singing. Every now and then I can actually tell what she is trying to sing, but for the most part, it's just a song from her heart.
Giving thanks 2010
For Thanksgiving this year we headed down to visit Br's family in Houston. I couldn't believe it had been over a year since we'd made it down there. The kids LOVED spending time with JoJo and Auntie Beth. 
After having the feast JoJo cooked up for us we headed out to the "country" to visit the extended family.
The kids loved running around. Both kids loved the cows, although the cows didn't like them much. They stared at all of us and actually ran for their lives when E came running towards them.
I think what E enjoyed most while we were in town was putting up Christmas decorations for JoJo. For weeks now he's been saying "Mommy, E Melton doesn't have a Christmas tree". Hopefully this gets it out of his system for a while since we aren't really on the ball around here about getting decorations up this year. 
Misses really enjoyed playing the piano and insisted that she had to press the foot pedals while she played the keys. 
Actually, I take it all back. What I think the kids liked most was just spending time with the family. I guess you don't really have to be doing anything when you are around loved ones. Thank you for having us ladies!
After having the feast JoJo cooked up for us we headed out to the "country" to visit the extended family.
The kids loved running around. Both kids loved the cows, although the cows didn't like them much. They stared at all of us and actually ran for their lives when E came running towards them.
I think what E enjoyed most while we were in town was putting up Christmas decorations for JoJo. For weeks now he's been saying "Mommy, E Melton doesn't have a Christmas tree". Hopefully this gets it out of his system for a while since we aren't really on the ball around here about getting decorations up this year. 
Misses really enjoyed playing the piano and insisted that she had to press the foot pedals while she played the keys. 
Actually, I take it all back. What I think the kids liked most was just spending time with the family. I guess you don't really have to be doing anything when you are around loved ones. Thank you for having us ladies! Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Just in case you wanted to see it
The Let's Make a Deal episode we went to finally aired last week. Just by chance I checked the schedule the night before it aired after giving up over a month ago on figuring out when it was going to be on. Here is the link to the show. We are just in the audience and only appear a couple times since we are sitting on the far right (for sure when he picks a guy for the second game I think, and for sure at the end when they are doing quickie deals).
E wanted to watch the show. He was able to pick us out of the audience. Every time they would play a game E would say, "Mommy didn't win yet". Your right E, mommy didn't win. Maybe I should make a video of him saying that and send it to the producers to make them feel bad for not picking me. It guess I still got like 10 full seconds of fame.
E wanted to watch the show. He was able to pick us out of the audience. Every time they would play a game E would say, "Mommy didn't win yet". Your right E, mommy didn't win. Maybe I should make a video of him saying that and send it to the producers to make them feel bad for not picking me. It guess I still got like 10 full seconds of fame.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Our first bit of holiday cheer
I swear I haven't given up on posting with pictures. I'll break the camera out again some day.
So my son almost made me cry in the middle of Target last night-- and not for the reasons he typically evokes strong emotion from me while we are shopping. As a group at church we've filled Christmas stockings for the Salvation Army for a couple years now. Since E is never at a loss to point out all the things he'd like for Christmas, this year I wanted him to make most of the decisions about what to put in the one we were filling for a little girl. We had a nice little talk about what we were going to do and why we were going to do it then headed out on our quest to fill the stocking.
First we picked up a few little essentials at Dollar Tree. He was cracking me up as he's walk from thing to thing saying "His would lub this!" (no he doesn't have the pronouns down) and "Oh sooo cute" and "get that one cuz it's sparkly and hers would like it".
After the dollar store, we headed to Target to get a few more toys. As I stopped in the clothing to pick up some gloves, E wandered off a little ways to the decor department. He then came back with a purple unicorn pillow pal. So sweetly he said "Hers would Lub this mommy" and showed it to me. For months now he's been consistently asking for a pillow pal and he must have figured that if he wanted one so badly she must want one too. I felt horrible when I had to tell him that it was too big and wouldn't fit in the stocking. He looked bummed, said "oh, cuz her would lub it", then walked back over and put it back. Shockingly he didn't ask for one for himself and then continued on to the toy department to find something smaller that "her will lub".
I was so proud of my little dude. He really does have a heart of gold, you just have to dig around a little sometimes to find it.
So my son almost made me cry in the middle of Target last night-- and not for the reasons he typically evokes strong emotion from me while we are shopping. As a group at church we've filled Christmas stockings for the Salvation Army for a couple years now. Since E is never at a loss to point out all the things he'd like for Christmas, this year I wanted him to make most of the decisions about what to put in the one we were filling for a little girl. We had a nice little talk about what we were going to do and why we were going to do it then headed out on our quest to fill the stocking.
First we picked up a few little essentials at Dollar Tree. He was cracking me up as he's walk from thing to thing saying "His would lub this!" (no he doesn't have the pronouns down) and "Oh sooo cute" and "get that one cuz it's sparkly and hers would like it".
After the dollar store, we headed to Target to get a few more toys. As I stopped in the clothing to pick up some gloves, E wandered off a little ways to the decor department. He then came back with a purple unicorn pillow pal. So sweetly he said "Hers would Lub this mommy" and showed it to me. For months now he's been consistently asking for a pillow pal and he must have figured that if he wanted one so badly she must want one too. I felt horrible when I had to tell him that it was too big and wouldn't fit in the stocking. He looked bummed, said "oh, cuz her would lub it", then walked back over and put it back. Shockingly he didn't ask for one for himself and then continued on to the toy department to find something smaller that "her will lub".
I was so proud of my little dude. He really does have a heart of gold, you just have to dig around a little sometimes to find it.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Nothing like words of correction/encouragement
I write this mostly in hopes that I'll remember.
It was actually only yesterday that I was thinking that I'm often finding myself just making it through the day rather than trying to make the most of it. I'm not saying that I'm miserable every day-- it's more of just letting the time pass until... (Br gets home, until it's time for the kids to go to bed, until our next family vacation, until our next party, until the next big thing).
Don't get me wrong, I have MANY moments of "can't we just be done with this stage" or "I'm really not enjoying this". I actually had one of those moments this morning. Misses got up an hour and a half earlier then usual and we all know how much I LOVE getting up before I want to (this is when I need a sarcasm font). We were okay for a while until she thought it would be fun to see what big brother was doing. He loves being woken up before he's ready about as much as I do. This resulted in a less than enthusiastic mom trying to deal with a grumpy boy. Now comes one of those moments where I hand everyone a sippy cup, turned on Super Why and in a semi-comatose state tried to get the time to pass until playgroup.
Our attempt to get dressed, shoes one, and in the car was a rocky, rocky, rocky road. Although we only live minutes from the mall where we were supposed to meet up with our friends, it took us 50 minutes from the time I said "let's go" to arrive at our destination. Once we were there it only took about 2 minutes before E started asking to go to the toy store that is right next to the play area (I DESPISE YOU TOY STORE). This was rapidly followed by an outright tantrum about not being able to go into the store. The little one only took about 45 more seconds to remember that there is nothing to keep the kids in the play area and started the whole "run out of the play area and into the rest of the mall laughing at the top of my lungs while mom chases me" game. I'd bring her back and she's play for about 90 seconds then head for the hills again. AHHHH! Meanwhile E is alternating tantrums about the toy store and wanting apple candy (yeah I have no idea what that is). After about the millionth (that's just an approximate count) time running after Miss A and after watching him attempt to kick another child during one of his episodes I picked E up, put him in the baby's stroller and then ran after A who had run out again, so we could make a very loud and dramatic exit from the mall less than 30 minutes after arriving. I will admit I had less than Christ-like thoughts in my mind as I drove away.
After some down time at home allowing everyone's mood to even out a little, I decided to look over the lesson I'd be teaching this Sunday. I decided to skip to the lesson about gratitude and appreciation. I was reading through everything with the perspective of the 12-15-year-old girls I'd be teaching not realizing that I needed to be applying what I was reading to my own life. That was of course until the words on the page sort of jumped up and game me the slap in the face I needed. I couldn't deny the following words in an address by President Thomas S. Monson (the man I consider a modern-day Prophet of the Lord) called Finding Joy in the Journey were directed at me--
"If you are still in the process of raising children, be aware that the tiny fingerprints that show up on almost every newly cleaned surface, the toys scattered about the house, the piles and piles of laundry to be tackled will disappear all too soon and that you will—to your surprise—miss them profoundly."
There couldn't be more perfect words to read on a day like today.
He also said
"This is our one and only chance at mortal life—here and now. The longer we live, the greater is our realization that it is brief. Opportunities come, and then they are gone. I believe that among the greatest lessons we are to learn in this short sojourn upon the earth are lessons that help us distinguish between what is important and what is not. I plead with you not to let those most important things pass you by as you plan for that illusive and nonexistent future when you will have time to do all that you want to do. Instead, find joy in the journey—now."
"Stresses in our lives come regardless of our circumstances. We must deal with them the best we can. But we should not let them get in the way of what is most important—and what is most important almost always involves the people around us. Often we assume that they must know how much we love them. But we should never assume; we should let them know. Wrote William Shakespeare, “They do not love that do not show their love." We will never regret the kind words spoken or the affection shown. Rather, our regrets will come if such things are omitted from our relationships with those who mean the most to us."
"The ancient Roman philosopher Horace admonished, “Whatever hour God has blessed you with, take it with grateful hand, nor postpone your joys from year to year, so that in whatever place you have been, you may say that you have lived happily.”
and
"Despite the changes which come into our lives and with gratitude in our hearts, may we fill our days—as much as we can—with those things which matter most. May we cherish those we hold dear and express our love to them in word and in deed."
Like I said, I'm writing this so that I remember. No I don't want to remember my horrible reactions to life, I just want to remember the words I read from a divinely inspired source about how I should really be viewing this (and all) time(s) in my life. It was a good reminder that I should be trying to make the most of each day that I'm given, especially those with my kids.
Despite the less than exciting times in life, when I actually think about it, I wouldn't change the choices that lead me to where I am today.
It was actually only yesterday that I was thinking that I'm often finding myself just making it through the day rather than trying to make the most of it. I'm not saying that I'm miserable every day-- it's more of just letting the time pass until... (Br gets home, until it's time for the kids to go to bed, until our next family vacation, until our next party, until the next big thing).
Don't get me wrong, I have MANY moments of "can't we just be done with this stage" or "I'm really not enjoying this". I actually had one of those moments this morning. Misses got up an hour and a half earlier then usual and we all know how much I LOVE getting up before I want to (this is when I need a sarcasm font). We were okay for a while until she thought it would be fun to see what big brother was doing. He loves being woken up before he's ready about as much as I do. This resulted in a less than enthusiastic mom trying to deal with a grumpy boy. Now comes one of those moments where I hand everyone a sippy cup, turned on Super Why and in a semi-comatose state tried to get the time to pass until playgroup.
Our attempt to get dressed, shoes one, and in the car was a rocky, rocky, rocky road. Although we only live minutes from the mall where we were supposed to meet up with our friends, it took us 50 minutes from the time I said "let's go" to arrive at our destination. Once we were there it only took about 2 minutes before E started asking to go to the toy store that is right next to the play area (I DESPISE YOU TOY STORE). This was rapidly followed by an outright tantrum about not being able to go into the store. The little one only took about 45 more seconds to remember that there is nothing to keep the kids in the play area and started the whole "run out of the play area and into the rest of the mall laughing at the top of my lungs while mom chases me" game. I'd bring her back and she's play for about 90 seconds then head for the hills again. AHHHH! Meanwhile E is alternating tantrums about the toy store and wanting apple candy (yeah I have no idea what that is). After about the millionth (that's just an approximate count) time running after Miss A and after watching him attempt to kick another child during one of his episodes I picked E up, put him in the baby's stroller and then ran after A who had run out again, so we could make a very loud and dramatic exit from the mall less than 30 minutes after arriving. I will admit I had less than Christ-like thoughts in my mind as I drove away.
After some down time at home allowing everyone's mood to even out a little, I decided to look over the lesson I'd be teaching this Sunday. I decided to skip to the lesson about gratitude and appreciation. I was reading through everything with the perspective of the 12-15-year-old girls I'd be teaching not realizing that I needed to be applying what I was reading to my own life. That was of course until the words on the page sort of jumped up and game me the slap in the face I needed. I couldn't deny the following words in an address by President Thomas S. Monson (the man I consider a modern-day Prophet of the Lord) called Finding Joy in the Journey were directed at me--
"If you are still in the process of raising children, be aware that the tiny fingerprints that show up on almost every newly cleaned surface, the toys scattered about the house, the piles and piles of laundry to be tackled will disappear all too soon and that you will—to your surprise—miss them profoundly."
There couldn't be more perfect words to read on a day like today.
He also said
"This is our one and only chance at mortal life—here and now. The longer we live, the greater is our realization that it is brief. Opportunities come, and then they are gone. I believe that among the greatest lessons we are to learn in this short sojourn upon the earth are lessons that help us distinguish between what is important and what is not. I plead with you not to let those most important things pass you by as you plan for that illusive and nonexistent future when you will have time to do all that you want to do. Instead, find joy in the journey—now."
"Stresses in our lives come regardless of our circumstances. We must deal with them the best we can. But we should not let them get in the way of what is most important—and what is most important almost always involves the people around us. Often we assume that they must know how much we love them. But we should never assume; we should let them know. Wrote William Shakespeare, “They do not love that do not show their love." We will never regret the kind words spoken or the affection shown. Rather, our regrets will come if such things are omitted from our relationships with those who mean the most to us."
"The ancient Roman philosopher Horace admonished, “Whatever hour God has blessed you with, take it with grateful hand, nor postpone your joys from year to year, so that in whatever place you have been, you may say that you have lived happily.”
and
"Despite the changes which come into our lives and with gratitude in our hearts, may we fill our days—as much as we can—with those things which matter most. May we cherish those we hold dear and express our love to them in word and in deed."
Like I said, I'm writing this so that I remember. No I don't want to remember my horrible reactions to life, I just want to remember the words I read from a divinely inspired source about how I should really be viewing this (and all) time(s) in my life. It was a good reminder that I should be trying to make the most of each day that I'm given, especially those with my kids.
Despite the less than exciting times in life, when I actually think about it, I wouldn't change the choices that lead me to where I am today.
Monday, November 8, 2010
I don't have a picture...
...so I'll have to use 1000 words.
MODIFIED 11-18-2010
I'm really just writing this up because I want to remember it. I don't expect anyone to find it as amusing as I do.
For who knows how long we've had a squirrel living in our fireplace. Around 12:30 everyday I'd hear "thunk, thunk, thunk, thunk, clonk, rattle, rattle, rattle, rattle." Coming from the fireplace. I'd been trying to convince Br to get it out since I was too weirded out to just look at the thing let alone try to get it out. Br assured me he didn't want to deal with the thing as much as I didn't.
A couple nights ago we/he rigged up a complex system of tunnels and barriers in hopes that when we opened the fireplace it would run right out the door. We opened the screen and it was nowhere to be found--until of course around 12:30 the next afternoon when I heard the thunk, rattle, rattle again.
We thought about turning the fireplace on and smoking the thing out, but I was afraid it would catch on fire and I didn't really want to know what burning squirrel looks or smells like. Plus E expressed that he wanted his squirrel alive not dead.
Fast forward to yesterday right after church. A friend came over to drop some stuff off. He looked into the fireplace and said we should just get it out. He accepted our offer of gloves but at first insisted he didn't need a jacket to cover his arms. Well skip through a little more planning, actually looking at the squirrel and then some rethinking, to two men standing in front of the fireplace with their wives sitting on the other side of the room holding the dog (to use as a backup plan). Despite seeming like he was just going to reach in with his bare hands and grab the thing just a few minutes earlier, our friend now stood there with a winter coat and leather gloves on holding a flashlight "deferring to the man of the house" while he spotlighted the squirrel. Also covered as much as possible, Br reached in with a pair of tongs and his hand and with crazy good skill/luck grabbed the thing on his first attempt. I'm not going to be able to describe what happened next with the justice it deserves but Br immediately ran to the back yard semi screaming, had a failed launch because the squirrel grabbed onto his glove as it tried to bite him, then the squirrel went flying through the air after a little shaking and second launch attempt. The long furry mass went one way, landed and ran off to the trees while Brad quickly turned around and ran towards the house. The rest of us (who were too chicken to face the beast ourselves) stood laughing harder than we have in a long time. There has never been a moment in my life that I wish I'd had a video camera as much as right then.
(Br wanted me to make the following two corrections. It was not a scream. It was a war cry and he was only running back to the house to close the door to make sure it didn't have a chance to get in again).
A big shout out to my studly husband who freed our home from the furry invader! I think we're all glad we no longer have a hairy squatter in our fireplace.
MODIFIED 11-18-2010
I'm really just writing this up because I want to remember it. I don't expect anyone to find it as amusing as I do.
For who knows how long we've had a squirrel living in our fireplace. Around 12:30 everyday I'd hear "thunk, thunk, thunk, thunk, clonk, rattle, rattle, rattle, rattle." Coming from the fireplace. I'd been trying to convince Br to get it out since I was too weirded out to just look at the thing let alone try to get it out. Br assured me he didn't want to deal with the thing as much as I didn't.
A couple nights ago we/he rigged up a complex system of tunnels and barriers in hopes that when we opened the fireplace it would run right out the door. We opened the screen and it was nowhere to be found--until of course around 12:30 the next afternoon when I heard the thunk, rattle, rattle again.
We thought about turning the fireplace on and smoking the thing out, but I was afraid it would catch on fire and I didn't really want to know what burning squirrel looks or smells like. Plus E expressed that he wanted his squirrel alive not dead.
Fast forward to yesterday right after church. A friend came over to drop some stuff off. He looked into the fireplace and said we should just get it out. He accepted our offer of gloves but at first insisted he didn't need a jacket to cover his arms. Well skip through a little more planning, actually looking at the squirrel and then some rethinking, to two men standing in front of the fireplace with their wives sitting on the other side of the room holding the dog (to use as a backup plan). Despite seeming like he was just going to reach in with his bare hands and grab the thing just a few minutes earlier, our friend now stood there with a winter coat and leather gloves on holding a flashlight "deferring to the man of the house" while he spotlighted the squirrel. Also covered as much as possible, Br reached in with a pair of tongs and his hand and with crazy good skill/luck grabbed the thing on his first attempt. I'm not going to be able to describe what happened next with the justice it deserves but Br immediately ran to the back yard semi screaming, had a failed launch because the squirrel grabbed onto his glove as it tried to bite him, then the squirrel went flying through the air after a little shaking and second launch attempt. The long furry mass went one way, landed and ran off to the trees while Brad quickly turned around and ran towards the house. The rest of us (who were too chicken to face the beast ourselves) stood laughing harder than we have in a long time. There has never been a moment in my life that I wish I'd had a video camera as much as right then.
(Br wanted me to make the following two corrections. It was not a scream. It was a war cry and he was only running back to the house to close the door to make sure it didn't have a chance to get in again).
A big shout out to my studly husband who freed our home from the furry invader! I think we're all glad we no longer have a hairy squatter in our fireplace.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
The other 7 days of Halloween
We finished our month long Halloween celebration with a weeks worth of festivities. Our friends came over for a playgroup party. The kids made mummies and ate donuts while the adults had a minute to win it.
Later in the week we made some tasty treats for our friends in E's preschool class then headed over to watch the schools costume parade.
Miss A and I stuck around to help out with the carnival. Miss A danced, stole candy from our prize basket, bowled and couldn't get enough of the duck game. Mr. E really enjoyed the haunted house and getting his face painted (BTW there is nothing wrong with his forehead).
Later in the week we made some tasty treats for our friends in E's preschool class then headed over to watch the schools costume parade. 
Miss A and I stuck around to help out with the carnival. Miss A danced, stole candy from our prize basket, bowled and couldn't get enough of the duck game. Mr. E really enjoyed the haunted house and getting his face painted (BTW there is nothing wrong with his forehead). 
My mom headed up to spend the weekend with us. After a soccer game and some shopping we took advantage of the amazingly beautiful day and hit the golf course. 
After golf we made a quick wardrobe change and met up with some friends for trick-or-treating, sliding, bouncing and posing.
Miss A has trick-or-treating down. She'd get some candy, find a place to sit and eat it, then go get more when she ran out. The most amusing part of the night was when I took a little candy from her basket. She growled at me then horded all the rest of the candy in her hands.
I think we had a successful October 2010. Thanks to everyone who helped us celebrate!Monday, November 1, 2010
Confessions
I have a harder time with the childproof locks in the kitchen cabinets than my baby does.
I buy the whole wheat gold fish rather than the regular ones just because it makes me feel less guilty when that is all my kid eats all day.
I'm pretty convinced that it would be easier to mobilize an army than get my kids out the door.
I'm that lady at the grocery store that you can hear all over the store because I'm either yelling at my son to stay by me or am letting my daughter scream at the top of her lungs because I won't let her eat the produce or throw the rest of my purchases out of the cart. You know the lady who is pushing one of the huge car carts with no kids actually sitting in it because I end up holding one child while attempting to track down the other who is running like a crazy man through the store. Oh and the lady who leaves a trail of coupons up and down the aisle. Yes I am THAT woman. I'm sorry if you hate me but I will let you know that I don't want to be there as much as you wish I would leave.
I love coming home to and waking up to a clean house. Unfortunately that doesn't happen anywhere close to as often as I want.
I usually stay up WAY too late just because the time between when the kids go to bed and when I go to bed is ME time and I just can't get enough of it.
I don't cook dinner all that often. Keep in mind I consider it cooking if I have to turn on an oven or stove.
My greatest recent discoveries are that you can get the large smoothie at the mall for just a little more than the small and they'll put it in multiple little cups. The dude at the Target food court will split my $1 bag of popcorn into two bags. My kids only need one happy meal. The little one eats the nuggets and the big one eats the apples. Oh, and I just discovered that they'll also split one cheeseburger-- the baby eats the meat and the boy eats the "cheese sandwich".
I often wonder what people really think about my kids.
I find myself having to say the weirdest things like "We have to keep our pants on during church", "why are you going outside to pee? The bathroom is closer than the backyard", "We don't show that to our friends", "Sweetheart, we don't really stab our friends", "If it's not food, don't put it in your mouth", "E, please don't smash my pots all over the backyard" and many many many other random things I would never have imagined needing to utter.
I went off sugar again today. Things were so much better for me when I didn't eat it for three months at the beginning of the year. Since I started eating sugar again at Easter I've gained back every pound I lost since I had Miss A. AHHHHHHHH. Sugar is like a drug to me- No lie. Be warned that I'm going to be a little moody for the next little while.
I think that's plenty of information for now.
The Making of the Largest Fondant Edible Scene (Tableau)
This is a video that was made of the cake class I posted about a couple weeks ago.
Check it out.
Monday, October 25, 2010
The Immortal Ball
You know my friend Candice who threw me that awesome 30th birthday party and co-hosted the witches gathering last year for Halloween? Well she still like me enough to throw another big party with me. You know what I like best about hanging out with Candice is that she makes my house look so classy. I wish I would have gotten more pictures (if anyone has some they'd like to send me, pass them over). 
This time we decided to make it a couple's party and decided to try out orchestrating a murder mystery dinner game. Despite the fact that I would not recommend throwing a party of this magnitude right after being out of town for a week, it was TONS of fun. I mean really. If you get bored you should put one together. You'd think it would be tricky to find a game that would accommodate 30ish people, that is clean, that had the vampire and werewolf theme we were shooting for, but a quick google search and the first thing that popped up was perfect. The theme was the annual immortal costume ball. We had the Mage Guild (people with magic), the Vampyr House, The Were Clan, The Fae Court (Fairies), and the Mortal Watchers. 
There were great costumes, a few murders, plot twists, family drama, blackmail, a weapons scavenger hunt, spells cast, a spontaneous Hidden Council Meeting and lots of Yummy Food. The menu included: butternut squash soup, cheese fondue, pesto skewers, meatballs, smoked salmon, bruschetta, pasta, steak with chimichurri sauce over mashed potatoes, caramel brownies, strawberry tarts, butterscotch pudding with a rosemary pine nut cookie, and a birthday cheese cake for Candice's hubby's 30th. Happy birthday to Jeff!!!! And thank you to him and Br for letting us do this and for their amazing help. You guys are awesome!The evening was so fun. I really appreciated our wonderful guests! Without them it wouldn't have been so fantastic. I just wish we didn't have to limit the guest list. I'm guessing it would be harder to find a game and location that would accommodate 100 people.
31 days of Halloween
I'm not sure that there is a three-year-old boy as enthusiastic about Halloween as Mr. E. His excitement is contagious which is why we are finding ourselves celebrating Halloween all month long again. Following the weekend of large Halloween cake building we headed down to Dallas for a little weekend visit with our friends. My friend K and I have been planning a girl's weekend for about 6 months now and we finally managed to escape "out of town" for a little shopping at Ikea (Mom thanks for joining us for that one), eating cupcakes, crafting ("curse you sparkly bones"), eating out, and staying up WAY too late talking all without children. I had a blast-- Thank you so much K! Also, giant thanks to our sweet husbands for wrangling the kiddos. You guys are studs. We took advantage of inexpensive flights from DFW to MCO and went on a somewhat spontaneous, very quick trip to go to the mouse's Not So Scary Halloween Party and eat at the International Food and Wine Festival. I know-- we have a problem. The kids were super excited about getting all dressed up, particularly E who had been telling me exactly what he wanted his costume to look like this year (he's wore the pirate pants every day of the trip and has put them all at least once every day since).
Oh wait, I almost forgot about the parrot that he demanded be present on his shoulder. 
As a side note, E was doing this weird thing with his lips pretty much the whole night because he though if he relaxed his face his "pirate paint" would fall off. There was nothing I could do to convince him otherwise.Miss A is supposed to be little red ridding hood. The thing is her hood isn't very little so she ended up looking a little goth. Oh well.
This is what the kids looked like when we arrived at the party ...
...although it wasn't long before they were excited about the action.
What made this trip different from all past is that E was finally tall enough to ride a few of the rides with height restrictions. We started off with Big Thunder Mountain and then quickly moved to Splash Mountain. The next day he got to be a test dummy on Test Track and glided through the air on Soarin'. It wasn't until the third day that he finally got to ride "the scary broken elevator, AHHHHHHH with ghosts and falling faster faster, AHHHHHH" known to the rest of us as Tower of Terror. After it was all over I asked him, "Was that scary or fun?" and he of course said "FUN!". Crazy kid. 
A few days after we got home we continued the celebration by going to our church Halloween party (sorry no pictures) and then a week later attempted to go to a community flashlight pumpkin hunt only to find out that by being 11 minutes late we'd missed it entirely. We did however get a few pics. 
Less than a week of celebrating. Stay tuned for how we've made the most of it. Look what I found
I recently dumped all the pictures off of the camera and found a few I never posted. This first one is E's first day of school this year. He'd been begging to go back to school since we left Texas. I finally got my act together and got him signed up for Mother's Day Out a few times a week. He's loving it and even reports that he's got a girlfriend in his class. I'm not going to lie, I love him being in school too.
We also had some fun pictures from a trip to the bowling alley the last time JoJo was in town. Miss A got really really into bowling... 
So much so that we all had to take turns wrangling her so the rest of us could have turns bowling. 
E was super excited at the beginning but it wasn't long before he was more interested in everything else the alley had to offer.
We also had some fun pictures from a trip to the bowling alley the last time JoJo was in town. Miss A got really really into bowling... 
So much so that we all had to take turns wrangling her so the rest of us could have turns bowling. 
E was super excited at the beginning but it wasn't long before he was more interested in everything else the alley had to offer.
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