29 August 2007

Aren't these cool....

I'm off on Thursdays. So tomorrow is my day off. Good plans so far.

- Carter to well checkup, probably turning into sick checkup since he's had diahreaa for 3 days.
- Lunch with my mom and the kids
- Visit my grandma to get more old pictures and stories.

As mentioned in an earlier post one of the many projects I'm working on right now is a scrapbook for my grandparents for christmas. I'm collecting more info and pictures and then I plan to plug away at ancestry.com for a month to get as much cool info as possible. I'm planning to probably do a Kodak Gallery album. I did one of these last Christmas for both my parents and my inlaws and it was a hit. It's faster than doing a scrapbook completely by hand, and I think will be better in this case cause I don't think my grandparents would be too hip on all the embellishments anyway.

But check out these old photos. I just think these are cool. I guess this is what is cool when you get old cause I remember my mom trying to get me interested in this stuff long ago and I had no interest whatsoever.

My grandma


My grandpa



Their wedding photo


**********

Lots of organizing today. Bouncy seat is out. Swing is out. Carter is already too old for these. Breast pump out. Oversized boppy out. Walker toys in. It's a constant rotation of toys and clothes.

Both suitcases unloaded and put away. Kitchen island is emerging. All good stuff.

Still need to pull all the pics off the camera since the card is full. This has been on the to-do list for weeks.

**********

Today Tassie Ate:


No words necessary

28 August 2007

Invention Request

So really. when is someone going to invent the laundry machine that washes AND dries my clothes?

F6-1, beep beep beep. F9-6, beep beep beep.

My day started out discovering that Sonar had peed upstairs on the carpet in the middle of the night. I knew right away what kind of day it was going to be. A software platform at work crashed so I got to answer all of those phone calls. While fixing dinner the oven started beeping and then F6-9 appeared on the display along with an 800 number.

I hit "Clear." Then F6-1 and F9-1 and then I lost track. More beeping. How do I make the beeping stop. So I called the 888 number. I think Kevin thought I was crazy. After providing some personal information including Model number and Serial number - giving us props for locating that information in two seconds, maybe I'm not quite as disorganized as I thought -

Maytag: "Why are you calling today?"
Me: "My oven has error messages and told me to call you."

How weird is that? It's not under warranty. Flip the power. No luck. Schedule a service appointment. Great. Can't wait.

This reminds me I need to call Merry Maids and find out when they are going to fix the damn sink they broke over two months ago.

Ah the joys of home ownership.

And let's just say that I'm glad the day is almost over.

Little thing that made me smile:
In the car on the way home from day care Anna said "I turned into a magic big sister." I'm not sure what this means but emphasis was placed on magic.

And because Carter is super fussy because he's cutting teeth - I think - Anna said "One of my teeth is falling out."

Today Tassie Ate:
1 Hello Kitty plastic pencil holder
1 travel size bottle of lotion
1 of Anna's dress up high heel shoes including the fake pearls
1 piece of scrapbooking paper Anna had been stamping
1 black pen (ink left on rug)
1 picture
Various yellow scraps of scrapbook paper

27 August 2007

Disorganized

But I am all caught up on Tivo-ed Big Brother, so it's clear that my priorities are in check.

When I feel disorganized at the house then I feel disorganized all over. I started tackling this by organizing my desk at work today. My cubemate and I pulled an Office Space move on Friday by removing one of the cube panels between our desks so that we could see each other. We "talked" to each other all day long but really I was talking to a grey wall. For two years I've talked to a wall. Since we can't have a window to the outside world it's sort of like the next best thing. But don't worry, I'm not bringing any dead fish to work.

When I feel disorganized or like I can't remember more than two things (most days) I become a list-maker. I start these in my head until they make it to my little notebook I've started carrying in my purse. This notebook is also filled with things Anna says that I think are cute and know I won't remember later.

Not that you probably care but I feel like I did a lot today, aside from work

  • Remembered to take dry cleaning to the office for pickup (hm, doesn't solve problem of what to wear to meeting tomorrow)
  • At daycare, remembered items to pick up to donate to gift baskets to be raffled at a pancake breakfast
  • Trip to Wal-fart to get milk (we had none), diet mountain dew (phone request from Kevin), and gift basket items
  • Turned into trip to Wal-fart to get all of the above and then some
  • Stood in line forever to get conditioner at the hair salon at Wal-fart waiting for lady to figure out how to give me the appropriate sale discount while I said at least 100 times "Anna please stop touching that." "Anna put that back." and repeatedly answered the question "Mommy what's this?" like "It's hairspray" "It's gel" "It smoothing serum" "I don't know what that is for" She kept putting the TIGI Bed Head gel item which had a skinny-tube-like-top into her ear "Stop putting that in your ear." OMG can I pay yet? Meanwhile during all of this Carter sat in the cart and chewed on the top of the milk container, I'm sure it's clean
  • Realize it's too late to fix dinner, head to Wendy's
  • Oops forgot to give Anna fruit snacks for the ride home, stop in Wendy's parking lot to retrieve fruit snacks from the trunk to avoid crying meltdown
  • Wendy's, home, eat, feed Carter, kids to bed, organize gift basket items into kids backpacks, check Carter's report card and fill backpack with requested items, watch BB, work on some meeting notes, blog, go to bed

I think in life there are list-makers and non-list-makers. My husband is a non-list-maker. I think most working moms are probably list-makers. I'm not sure about the stay at home moms.

Today Tassie Ate:
1 book about baby dinosaurs

26 August 2007

Playing time is 45 to 90 minutes

Sorry for the hiatus. We took a weekend trip to see my inlaws. It's one of the few places in the world that still only has dial-up and I would have slit my wrists if I even tried so I just suffered through internet withdrawal for a few days.

My brother-in-law and his fiance were also in town to visit, which made it really nice. The four of us played a game of Settlers of Catan which is a German board game. I ALMOST won. I just needed one more point. My future sister-in-law won instead, which was just as good because it meant the boys lost.

I notice the description says playing time is 45 to 90 minutes. This does not factor in beer, mixed drinks and several bottles of wine. I think we played for 3 hours or more. Baaaaaaaaahhh.

It was a quick trip, driving down Friday night and leaving this morning to get back in time to go to the Royals game.

I'm exhausted and for the first time since Thursday I don't have to share a bedroom with two kids and two dogs, in addition to my husband.

Today Tassie Ate:
dog food

At first we thought she met a porcupine on the farm this morning but after Kevin plucked two sharp items from her nose we decided she had just found the cactus. She didn't even seem to notice she had two spiky things sticking out of her nose. What? There's something on my nose? Really? Where?

22 August 2007

Candy Land

This is an update to comments from an earlier post.

Actually, we own two versions of Candy Land.

We have traditional Candy Land.

AND we have Dora the Explorer Candy Land.

Actually what's funnier is that later that night Anna was playing with the game and putting the little figurines on the board and she pulls out Diego (for those of you without kids Diego is Dora's friend and he actually also has his own spinoff show on Nickelodeon now) and Anna says "Tassie ate Diego's legs."

Diego has no legs. I had totally forgotten about this.

Ummmm. Helllloooo.

I had a four hour meeting today. So when that was done I drove from the other side of the earth to the our daycare. It was raining. So this meant I was in the car for one hour and 10 minutes. I think I was mostly driving 25 miles an hour on the interstate. Thank God I have a chatty friend who is willing to entertain me while I drive.

I get bored in the car. I get restless. And what is with these people who don't know driving etiquette? If I let you over then YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO WAVE AT ME in your rearview mirror. Insert Dane Cook... Ummm. Hellllooooo.

On the bright side, I got to see a huge rainbow near the end of my commute. Little things.

This morning Anna was in her highchair eating cheerios with berries watching higgleytown heroes while I was checking my email and waiting for coffee to brew (she was up super early and this after I ended up sleeping part of the night in her bed after she had a nightmare) when Tassie barked.

Anna said "Shhhhh. Tassie no barking, you're gonna wake Carter up." In her loudest soft voice.

She sounds exactly like me. It's scary.

************

Today Tassie Ate:
1 baby doll's bottle

Not sure who the culprit of this mess is that I discovered this morning:



These used to be red envelopes.

But it's not as bad as this mess. This happened long before I started the blog:

21 August 2007

I need a money tree

So I'm picking up the kids tonight and notice a sign by the tuition drop box. They are raising their rates for the first time. $10 per week per child. At first this didn't sound too bad. Then I realized this is another $80/month. This is $80 more a month that we already don't have.

Half of the money I make goes to cover daycare costs. I look at it this way because if I didn't work we wouldn't have this expense. I'm already taking my lunch every day, I've cut out my beloved Starbucks and I haven't been to a mall in months. Plus my car needs new brake pads and then new tires before winter.

Money sucks. Honestly, I hate it right now.

In happier news...

My sweatheart of a husband cooked me dinner tonight. Steamed salmon, veggies and homemade biscuits. Yum. It was super tasty considering I ate a leftover hotdog for lunch.

Today Tassie Ate:
Part of an onion
3 balls from the ball pit (I guess this will continue until they are all gone. We started with 70 balls)
Shredded 1 toy catalog
The rules to Candy Land

20 August 2007

Chalk it up

Early to bed tonight.

I love Lancome makeup, it's one brand that has a few products that don't make me break out. But ever since we've been paying for two kids in daycare I am really broke. Any suggestions for sites that offer brand-name makeup at a discount? Besides ebay.

Today Tassie Ate:
1 piece of jumbo sidewalk chalk

She really likes chalk.

19 August 2007

Fam Damily

The rest of my weekend was chalk full of family time. Saturday I met my mom at her cousin's house for her mother's birthday. Not sure what that makes her to me. I should know because I recently became addicted to ancestry.com. If you haven't checked it out I highly recommend it. I've been getting groups of old photos from my grandparents on my mom's side, having them scanned and saved digitally and then sending them back for more. It's a Christmas present six months in the making because I know it will take me that long to get it together. (I can write this because I'm quite sure my grandmother would not find this blog in a million years. They only recently got an answering machine). I plan to put the family tree stuff in there as well so it is documented as accurately as I can get it. Plus, what do you really get grandparents for gifts anyway? By this time they have everything and don't really need more "stuff" that I envision either moving, packing or selling eventually.

Anyways, my mom's cousin did the alterations on my wedding dress 6 years ago and subesquently many pairs of my pants - I happen to be 5'3" which is exactly between a short length and a regular length so I always buy regular and have them altered to fit my high heels. So this is really the only reason I know my mom's cousin. I'm not sure how many people really know their parents' cousins.

This morning I hosted a "cousins" get together. (my cousins, not my mom's)

Long story short, four years ago my grandpa on my dad's side passed away. I remember because I had just found out I was pregnant and my grandpa got to make the announcement to the rest of the family which was cool - now there's a cool gift... but let's be honest we don't need to have too many of those announcements. After he passed there was what I call a "falling out" between the six brothers and sisters including my dad.

So my dad doesn't really talk to most of the other brothers and sisters. This is really incomprehendable to me since I can't even imagine not speaking to my brothers. But the cousins decided that even if our parents weren't speaking we could still speak to each other. We miss the big holiday gatherings at grandpas where you always knew there would be hershey kisses in the golden duck and that we would have to sit at the kiddie table - even in my 20's and after I was married.

So it has been awhile since we have seen each other and my brother is in town from the Air Force so it was a good excuse to all get together. It was fun even if it did have a few short down pours while we were outside. This is my brother and one of my cousin's in my 3 year old's swing set playhouse to stay dry.



Afterwards my brothers and I went to my parent's house to celebrate my youngest brother's 26th birthday.

So I am officially all caught up on family time after this weekend.

Today Tassie Ate:
1 ball from the ball pit
1 piece of jumbo sidewalk chalk
1 small finger puppet from a drug rep
1 small cardboard book

18 August 2007

Grown Ups Only

After reflecting on my previous post I think the only regret I started to feel was not spending enough time with my husband. And what better way to start than to get rid of the kids.

So Friday was grown ups night. Every Friday night we go out to dinner with our best friends and usually we also have the kids. Table for 7 please.

But last night Sam and Candi left their baby with Sam's parents and we left our kids with my parents. All night. Ahhhh. The joy of eating an entire meal while it is still hot and without helping anyone else pee. Three of us got slightly intoxicated and then we all went to see Super Bad. Pretty funny stuff.

There is nothing like sleeping in and waking up on your own time. Which happened to be 9:30 today. Usually I wake up to either 1) Anna patting the bed next to me and whining "I need a snack" or 2) Anna crying or 3) Carter crying or 4) Both Anna and Carter crying. This treat to sleep in was awesome since Anna was up on Thursday night and I ended up falling asleep in her bed for who knows how long. When I woke up freezing (apparently we have the air turned down too far up there) I made it back to my own bed around 3 am.

So tonight I feel caught up on sleep and am loading old CDs into iTunes. How old?

Color Me Bad
Prince 1999
Clueless Soundtrack
Say Anything Soundtrack
Top Gun Soundtrack

Apparently I liked a lot of soundtracks in the 80s.

**********

Tassie was great on Thursday since she was never left alone. Sonar on the other hand got into the trash and chewed on the empty ice cream container.

Friday:
2 more balls from the ball pit.
1 piece of pink jumbo chalk from Anna's easel. Smeared all over the hard wood floors.

Here's what trouble looks like

15 August 2007

Life in my 30's

Last week I visited my best friend in Hershey PA for a long overdue girls weekend. It was the MOST adorable little city with white picket fences, corn fields and hanging potted flowers on every lamp post. Plus, who wouldn't want to live where it smells like chocolate?

So this is just how girly it was. We watched a DVR'd episode of Oprah about life in your 30's. It profiled many different women in their 30's and life issues they are facing. Some were still dating, one was divorced, one facing infertility, one a mom of eight, and so on. One woman said she sat down and wrote her obituary at 30, to see if she would have any regrets.

My friend (who turns 30 today - happy birthday!) and I found this fascinating. We vowed to do this. There is something about turning 30 that sort of makes you look at life from a different perspective. So I am taking on this challenge... and really not knowing at this point if I will have any regrets.

*******

Cara was cheerful, genuine and especially social. She loved the color pink and will be laid to rest with her favorite pair of high heels. She loved to watch competitive cheerleading on ESPN and live concerts with synchronized back up dancers. She expressed her creativity most recently through scrapbooking photos of her family, with lots of wizbangs.

She taught her daughter that it is possible for a woman to have a fulfilling job she enjoys AND be a great mom. She enjoyed spending time with her daughter by going on walks, to silly G movies and shopping. To her daughter she passes on her love of Target and the importance of spending time with friends.

She was always an entrepreneur, selling home-made newspapers in 4th grade, walking neighborhood dogs in 6th grade and starting a web design business in her 20's. She successfully sold her business to an internet consultancy before having her daughter.

She adored her handsome and devoted husband and very much appreciated his commitment to supporting his family. She unconditionally loved both of her children. The favorite part of her day was picking up her kids from daycare when her daughter would run to her with open arms and her baby boy would break into his biggest grin revealing his dimples.

She always made time for friends and was passionate about their dreams and determined to help them through any struggles. She tried to be a good listener, even if she had a child crying in one ear, another peeing her pants, dinner cooking on the stove and two dogs wrestling in the background over an episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. She very much loved the support of her parents and their ability to be the nearly-perfect grandma and papa.

She is survived by her dear husband and children, brothers, parents, grandparents, many cousins and two crazy dogs. She will be dearly missed and we will think of her each time we hear Lucky by Britney Spears or Since U Been Gone by Kelly Clarkson.

*******

This isn't meant to be depressing but rather insightful. I think I'll ponder it and write my reflections in another post. I'd love to see yours if you've written one, please post a link in the comments below or email it to me.

In other news, we booked our vacation trip this evening. We're going to Key West. Yea! Please begin praying that I don't throw up on the smaller airplane.

And finally. Today Tassie Ate:
1 rubber bottom off of a coaster
Something red and plastic
and she shredded one magazine

14 August 2007

Dinner of Champions

Dinner so far this week

Sunday: Homemade Pizza
Monday: Frozen Pasta
Tuesday: Frozen Pizza
Tomorrow: Probably more frozen pasta

delicious eh?

In other news...

After weeks of trying to find a vehicle that combines the couch-like ride of their Buick with the interior space of her full size van, my mom finally made a purchase. My parents came by to show off my mom's new wheels. She got a Cadillac SRX which is quite spiffy, even though she described it as "small" and said they would still take the Buick if they went out to dinner with friends because it is more comfortable. Whatever, take the new car. It's really nice.

I've thought of a new item to include in my daily posts called "Today Tassie Ate"

Today Tassie ate:
3 Balls out of anna's ball pit (Sorry Ben - xmas gift giver)
1 colored pencil

13 August 2007

We remove stitches at our house

So last Wednesday we had a "big thing" happen. My 3 year old daughter fell at daycare and hit her head and needed about 10 stitches. Today my husband removed them while I held her down as she cried. Poor thing.

Here are the pics before the stitches were removed.





Sorry I don't have any "after" pics yet. I was hungry so we ate dinner instead.

Any recommendations to prevent scarring? So far I've heard neosporin, mederma, sunscreen and a baby diaper cream that I forgot the name of.

12 August 2007

Here goes

This blog has been in the works for awhile. In my head. So here goes the first post. It's all down hill from here right?

Little thing from today:
Anna tells me repeatedly "You're my best friend mom."