Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Artistic After All?

Long time blog readers have heard me lament many times over the fact that I'm not artistic, not even a little. And doing art projects with the kids doesn't count cause that's a whole other ballgame. I mean grown up art like knitting, painting, sewing...all would only result in me hurting myself in some way

But maybe I just hadn't found the right medium? Like hair!





What do you think...should I be a hairdresser in my next life?

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Fall Wardrobe

This morning I got into the kids closet and we did a little fashion show at which we determined that basically none of Tessa's fall/winter clothes from last year fit. All the pants and sleeves are too short.

I had already hit a few good deals at Kohls and got her three long sleeve cotton dresses but we needed a few more basics. I had also gotten carried away and bought her some 4T pants which are way too big, but tucked them into storage for later.

So we headed out to Target and did some damage.

I've said it before and I'll say it some more....I love Target for kid's clothes. And Old Navy. My two favorite places and both of them always have good deals (hello Old Navy bi-annual baby sale!). Who can resist those $4 Circo brand jeans and $12 denim jackets?

I know there are lots of cute matching outfits out there in the world but our family wardrobe all revolves around mix and match....cute tops and jeans. That goes for all four of us. Easy and classic.

My other tried and true tip for dressing girls for fall is a white or cream sweater and some knit tights or leggings. That way she can wear all of those short sleeve sun dresses well into cold weather. You can see Tessa's sweater in the left hand corner and I couldn't resist the teal corduroy skirt that went with it.

Where's all of Charley's loot? Well since he refuses to grow, you will find him wearing all the same 18 mo size clothes he wore last winter. But we couldn't resist the monster outfit and some new shoes.


Both kids also got some new long sleeve pjs. We are SET for cold weather....until I see Old Navy's irresistible Christmas outfits, but that's still a ways off.

Popcorn!

When we went to see Toy Story 3 back in June, Tessa was fascinated with her 'kids pack' of popcorn and candy.


And wouldn't you know that our famous Aunt Jessie was creative enough to craft her up one to use at home. Just wanted to show Jess that we're still using it...this was yesterday during the Friday afternoon matinee.

Real Learning


I have to brag on this...she wrote her name freehand! Okay, no not really. You can't see in the picture but it's a tracing page. But still some GREAT tracing. She can spell her name if you ask her (but often leaves out the E), knows her last name and street, can count to 30.

I just love that she's starting to do some real preschool stuff instead of just coloring, etc. They send her home with a tracing page or something similar every time. My genius baby!

Is He Trying to Tell Me Something?

Of all the ABCs in the puzzle, what's the only one that Hayden (my arch nemesis) decides to destroy?

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Not So Sleepy Mama

I know ALOT of crafty Mamas. Enough that I regularly feel sorry for myself and lack of artistic touch. This, however, may be the craftiest new mom I've seen.

http://milasdaydreams.blogspot.com/

And also clearly not as lazy as me. If my babies are napping, I probably am too...or at least sitting to watch tv or surf the net. Never thought of gathering my brightest colored clothes to create a baby dreamscape, hmmm.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Monday, August 23, 2010

More Birthdays!

In addition to Jeremy's birthday, both Mom and Mark's were this weekend as well. Birthday bonanza! And we have one more party tomorrow at the park for some friends. So far I have made it through cake free if I can stay strong.

Mark turned 7 and is now the proud owner of some fine weaponry (an archery set and shotgun) I sat with him and received a gun lesson for a good 15 minutes. He is very knowledgeable and serious, and taught me lots of things that I seriously didn't know (like the difference between shells and slugs). He was also pretty pleased with the Lego set we got him too.




Jeremy got drafted to be the lifeguard of the baby pool, which I surprisingly didn't hear any grumbling about. I guess it's kinda nice to soak your tush on a hot day.




Somehow I missed having a picture of the birthday girl (Mom)....hmmm, I know she was there.

Happy Day Daddy!

Another year, another birthday for Jeremy. Nothing too exciting happened today. He got himself some new noise canceling headphones, and we bought him a hat, a Mexican Coke and some chocolate.

Tessa wanted to make him a rainbow cake, so we did!


She totally did the rainbow herself when I wasn't looking.


At the end of the day we went to Cold Stone where Jeremy got to enjoy a masterful creation of cake batter ice cream with brownies, peanut butter, caramel and waffle cone. After little debate, Tessa chose blueberry ice cream with sprinkles. Charley had vanilla and Mommy had NONE (okay except for a couple of spoon licks)

Hiding Out

Over Thursday and Friday the kids and I got the heck out of here because we were having new windows installed at the house. Two toddlers, no AC and work crews with tools?..no thanks.

I guess I should show a picture of the after windows, if only I had remembered 'before' shots. I will say that it's already amazing the difference it's making for our AC, especially given this HOT and humid summer. Our upstairs is actually less than 82 degrees!, it's 72 even!



We went down to North Vernon and stayed at Mom and Dad's.
We visited and got to once again be honorary 4th graders. This time Tessa even got her own desk, which she took very seriously. She kept raising her hand and spouting out nonsense stories during the kid's math lesson. She also drew and counted jewels. It was very cute.





Later Mom, Andy, Kelly and Bill took the big kids out on the river. Once those of us at the house realized they had been gone an extra long time, we got a call that they had run out of gas and were paddling back. Haha!



I love the resemblance in this picture.

Because Nothing Says Family Bonding...

....like obliterating helpless prairie dogs with automatic weapons in the beautiful countryside of Nebraska.

The hunters hard at play last week. Auntie Jess, Great Uncle Jim, Grampie and Jeremy

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Food Safety 101 with Jeremy

Let me start by saying that I love my husband, really. One of the symbiotic elements of our relationship has always been that he's the guy with all the answers (the smart one) and I'm the one always posing questions (the smart, but in a different way one). He seems to know a little about everything, and a lot about how make things up.

We are also a household that googles and wiki's everything. What I did before the internet, I have no idea. One time just for fun we googled all the references in the song 'we didn't start the fire' just for more historic information on the lyrics we didn't understand. Fun right?

So I guess you would call us knowledgeable, but I definitely wouldn't use the word smart. Smart would imply that we are immune to doing very stupid things.

For instance when you receive a package from your spice retailer, in which is included a free sample of something you've never heard of, it is NOT smart to spread it all over some grilled eggplant and serve it to your family.

If you are my knowledgeable (but not always smart) husband you might do that. Luckily the one person to ingest a large quantity of this....


...was Jeremy, via several pieces of grilled eggplant. Before he could notice something amiss he had eaten two pieces. Shortly thereafter he began to prance around the kitchen, curse, cry and shovel lemon flavored yogurt down his gullet.

What was this mysterious red powder, given to us for free by our spice retailer, that caused my husband such terrible pain? None other than Bhut Jolokia, THE WORLD'S HOTTEST PEPPER POWDER. All over our eggplant...as in mine, Tessa's and yes even Charley's. Luckily nobody else had eaten any or stuck it their eye or nose.

Following some research on Bhut Jolokia I can tell you that it:
--is 400 times hotter than Tabasco sauce
--holds a place in the Guinness book of world records
--used in India on fences to deter elephants
--is being developed into non lethal smoke bombs and pepper sprays for use by India's military


I reminded Jeremy that in the future it is a good idea to know WHAT we are eating before serving it to the family. I'm pretty sure he saw the word India and thought it was a curry powder. Wrong.

Friday, August 13, 2010

My Friday- by Charley

Mommy took me to see Dr. Joe today to make sure I am healthy. I don't know why she keeps taking my picture....doesn't she know that *I * am the photographer?


Look at me, a big guy! Actually I'm not....apparently my teething induced manorexia has made me lose a little weight since my 12 month appt. I have to go back in a couple of months for a weight check. Mommy and I are on opposite eating plans now.


Wait, why is she looking sad. Is something bad going to happen? And does my sister have a little grin on her face? Hey I gave that nurse my best "NO!" and smacked her away, and she still gave me shots.


And then to make it worse my Mommy went through the terrifying car-wash? The scary soap monster was trying to get me through the window!

Shortly after though I got my to have my favorite dinner though, cheese tacos from Taco Bell. Anything to pack on the pounds.



When we got home my sister made me a picture she titled 'water fight'.
She also tried to tell a joke that went something like this....

knock knock
who's there?
TESSA, hahahaha!
Tessa who?
T-E-S-S-A, hahahaha!

I don't get it, must be big kid humor

Thursday, August 12, 2010

New Houseguests

Because having two preschoolers in the house is simply not enough, I am going to be watching my friend's two kids every Tues and Wed. This was our first week and things went great.

My kids love their company, and fun was had by all.

We did art.....we made hats, painted and did letter stamping


During Charley's nap, we watched Toy Story and on the second day Toy Story 2 (which I guess I had never seen because when we watched Toy Story 3 in the theater, I had no idea where cowgirl Jessie came from)


We played dress up. Remember the sheep from Christmas time? It hasn't fallen apart just yet, although it loses some cotton balls here and there.

As compensation for my babysitting Ronda, who is a LA weight loss consultant, is giving me her services. I started this Monday and lost three pounds in the first two days! I like this plan because it's pretty fool proof....meaning I needed something that tells me EXACTLY what to eat or I'll end up having popcorn and wine for dinner.

I like the plan so far and Ronda is a great coach....if there's anyone locally who wants to loose weight, I'll give you her number!

Monday, August 09, 2010

First Day of Preschool '10

Tessa's doing the same church program she did last year, cause it was great. She'll be going two days a week for four hours per day. Here she was this morning, and check out her first day last year at age 2.

Sunday, August 08, 2010

Tune In Tomorrow

Our very own AUNT JESSIE is on the verge of being famous. Like for real famous! In a couple of days I can only assume she'll be unable to reach by phone, having her agent field all her calls and pondering her star on the walk of fame.

If you have HBO you must tune in tomorrow night to see her featured in a documentary about everyday New Yorkers taking salsa dancing lessons! Set yours Tivos!

http://www.hbo.com/documentaries/el-espiritu-de-la-salsa/video/trailer.html?autoplay=true


For those of us nerds with no cable, we need to figure out plan B and download it as soon as it's available.

Yes I'm Pretty Immature..

...at least when it comes to humor. I have to post this cause I can't stop watching (and laughing at it). Stupid? Yes. Hilarious? Most definitely yes. Just Google 'auto tune the news' and you'll laugh for hours...with at least if you are as immature as me.







And for those who haven't seen it, here is the original news interview for reference..

Happy Camper

Tessa had a great time at dance day camp last week. It was every day from 10-4 which was a BIG deal for her and she loved it all. On the last day she had about two hours left and broke into tears saying "I want my Charley"...awwww! Other than she did great.

They did costumes and makeup, danced (obviously), watched dance movies, did art with their feet, played water balloons and games. On the last day she got a goody bag from Miss Allison including her own little lip gloss which she has been obsessed with.



Tessa with her idol, Miss Allison (who was also her dance teacher last year). Tessa is pretty sure she hung the moon.

Tuesday, August 03, 2010

Best Job Ever

I wanted to share this article about stay at home motherhood. I'm sharing it because I myself have been asked....but what do you DO all day? For their own protection I won't name the source of that question.

I'm not saying that to be defensive or snarky, but it does make me laugh. Haha...what do I NOT do? Yes we have lots of activities and there's also lots of cooking and butt wiping but I love the way the responder describes it "constant vigilance, constant touch, constant use of your voice, constant relegation of your needs to the second tier".

Are constant vigilance, discipline, teaching, etc really necessary to stay at home parenthood?? Well I guess not. I guess we could watch tv all day, not learn any manners, eat cereal for dinner and waller in our own filthy laundry. That would work (and actually some days it does)...but I think that works under the assumption that that parent is staying home simply to keep the child alive and avoid day care costs.

Those are not the reasons that I am home. first of all I'm lucky enough to be able to do it. Secondly, I'm here to teach my kids and help form their early lives, to enjoy them while I still can, to be provide a nice home for partner while he performs as leader of our family (yes you read that right).

There's no need to list the things I do all day but the list is long and the hours never-ending. Also the best job ever.



For whatever reason I could not make this bigger. Click on the image to read it.

Dance Camp Art

How cool is this...they painted their feet and made dance art today! I have no idea how the teachers were able to do this without getting paint everywhere. If I tried this I would have to hire Stanley Steamer.

Tessa is really liking dance day camp and coming home very tired each day. Tomorrow is costume day so she is taking her Snow White to show off.