A fly on the wall

I thought it would be fun to share some of the funny things the kids have been saying. They are growing so fast.
This weekend I was playing with Jonas and realized there are still things, at 6, he isn't saying right. We have actually noticed this before but yesterday I had to wonder if I wrote out thirteen, fourteen, fifteen would he be able to read and recognize them as 13 14 and 15 or would he ask what those words mean. When he is speaking he says fifting, sixting, seventing. All of his teens end in ting.
He really likes the -ing endings as he really emphasizes the "g" sound on all of them. We don't take Ady swimming, we take her swimminG. We were rhyming the other day and he was telling me that sniff and fifth rhymed. He was saying fiff not fifth. His mispronouncing is one of the few things keeping him little. I am cherishing them. Not correcting...well...there is the matter of him saying "ain't" but that is entirely different from fourting!

Adylynn is always full of questionable material. Most recently she got on this kick of "the peanut house"(interchangeable with place and restaurant as well) She wanted "Daddy to take us to the peanut house" I was very stumped. After some discussion I figured out she was talking about Texas Roadhouse. They have peanuts in buckets at your table and she wanted to go there to eat. Thursday, Daddy finally took her to the peanut place where she indulged her taste buds and belly in handfuls and handfuls of peanuts. She also enjoyed throwing the shells on the floor. What I can't figure out is how she can remember ever being there. I can remember being there 4 times in the last 3 years and none of them included Ady. Her grandma would never take her there. So where the idea even came from stumps me.

Finally I bring you the little one. After being allowed(ahemSTEVENahem) to watch Transformers, Justice League Unlimited, and Kung Fu Panda (ok so I had a little to do with the last 2 but Transformers was totally Steve) Jaden has taken to kicking stuff. Not so much stuff, he really only kicks air but if you ask him something like "Jaden what are you going to do if that bug comes back" He will say "I kickakickakicka the bug like this" picture little leg kicking the air. It is so funny.
The other one he has been doing for awhile is "I no likea" At supper he will says "I no likea corn" or when he is mad at me "I no likea mommy"
He is spoiled rotten. Last week we took him to Aunt Shel's for a play date with Bryan. On our way home, the big kids and I were talking about how we would enjoy the break from the wee "double boy", Ady's name for him, and Jonas said something about him being mean or bad I explained he is just 2. That is what 2 year olds do. But I have to admit that I am worried that Steve and I are spoiling him.

So if you were a fly on the the wall in our house these are things you would hear. Heck given the amount of screaming you could be a fly outside of the house!

Poor sad puppy

Doesn't she look so pathetic? We have been worried about her for a few weeks. She is shedding like a husky! She has accidents in the house, almost nightly. I took her to the vet once already and they decided it was a UTI but the antibiotics didn't work. Steve and I think it might be the dog food. We switched, less than a year ago, from Science Diet to Beneful. At first she wasn't having any problems. We were giving her the Healthy Harvest variety. She went in for her well puppy check and the vet said to switch her to weight management because she is bordering overweight. After that everything went downhill. She started having accidents in the house. She was acting aggressive. She even mouthed Steve one night when he rubbed her hind quarters. Totally not our dog! Now the past 2 weeks she has been leaving a trail of dog hair where ever she roams. I am sick of dog hair. It isn't like her to shed huge chunks of hair. We decided to switch back to Science Diet but use the weight control one. I haven't heard anything about Beneful being unhealthy but we can trace the change in her back to it. Hopefully the new dog food will return her to normal. OR, at least, restore her pretty shiny coat. Poor puppy.

Need an ego boost? Go to the eye doctor with 3 kids

The older kids went to the eye doctor today. First visit for both. We only took them because of the new law in IL stating that every child entering kindergarten needs to have an eye exam by a optometrist. I figured since Adylynn had to go it wouldn't hurt for Jonas to get checked too. After the appointment I was planning on going to the library so I took Jaden with us. All 3 kids were beyond excellent.

The exams went really well. Both kids did exactly what they were asked. It seems both Jonas and Adylynn have a slight farsightedness. Nothing to be worried about, most likely it will correct itself.

Ok I am going to start bragging. If you don't want to hear about how perfect my kids are, please turn off your computer.
Don't say I didn't warn you...
So first the individual child compliments I got
1. Wow, he is 2. He is so big(that isn't the compliment and in fact I am really getting sick of hearing this) and such a good boy letting mom fill out papers. My babies never let me get this stuff done ~ from old lady in the waiting area to(about) Jaden
2. He is very informative isn't he? ~ the doctor about Jonas. Jonas must have some sort of nervous talk a mile a minute tick. He did this same thing yesterday. He is asked a question "where do you live in Indiana" and instead of answering the name of his town he goes into this huge story about being a child of divorce, the days of the week, what all the instruments remind him of, all the insects, birds, animals we saw on our walk and how we all think he is very smart.
3. She is the best 4 year old I have ever tested. She is probably better than the 5 year olds too ~ the doctor talking about Adylynn. He wouldn't stop talking about how good she was. she's great. She is so mature. So well behaved. Or the best one, "I bet you are just a little angel at home, a big helper for mom"
I have no idea how why or when Ady managed to wrap this guy around her finger but good golly did she ever have him.

Now onto the group compliments
Look at how good these kids are being ~ receptionist
You really are an awesome mom ~ creepy old guy referring to my ability to juggle 3 kids, stairs, papers, a purse, a stroller, and a doll Jaden insisted on bringing but then I was stuck carrying.
You must be doing everything right with them. I have never had a group of kids behave so well~ the doctor
You walked here? How old are they? How far did you walk? You are lucky, my daughter's kids run all over. ~ the librarian when I asked her for a bag for our books.

I feel so good about the kids and myself. I am considering taking them out everyday.

New obsession

I found this cool blog about waste-free lunches via a friend's blog. After reading several posts I started thinking this is a pretty cool idea.
We have been doing several small things this year to make our happy home a little greener. We have stopped using paper plates and paper coffee filters. Not a huge impact on the world, but definitely changing how we look at things.
Just as I am getting into this blog she posts that blogging will be more sporadic over the summer. OH NO! Well at least I can go through archives, and her blog roll. It turns out her blog roll led me to some other waste-free blogs and some great waste-free lunch sites. I have been exploring waste-free lunches and the EPA's pack a waste-free lunch along with the blogs I have found. I think this is something we can do that will have little impact on our finances and a big impact on the family. This is nice. We have looked into several opportunities to be more earth friendly and unfortunately some of them would just have too much of an impact on the family budget and the environment. Living in a small community means we would have drive to larger cities in order to buy better, support our local farmers, and other such avenues. We had to really think about the impact that buying local would have on the environment and our budget.

I might not always pack the most nutritional items in lunchboxes but my goal is to reduce waste, know what is going into my kids' bodies, and save money from school lunches that they wouldn't eat anyway. Just exploring this option has already had a trickle down effect on Steve. He has decided to stop using the plastic utensils they provide at work and start taking his own. I already pack a semi waste-free lunch for him. He takes leftovers for most lunches, in a reusable bowl. He reuses his plastic 20 oz bottles for water. Takes a coffee cup and thermos in the morning, and his breakfast is eaten on real dishes.
Things I will change for Steve's lunches:
-peanut butter crackers, pineapple cups, and other snack items he takes will now be bought in non prepackaged material. Instead I will use containers to send these snacks with him.
-silverware instead of using the provided plastic version
-He does drink 3 cans of soda a day but work has a recycle bin. The Awesome Hubby is an avid recycle-er!
I have all summer to prepare for Adylynn's waste-free lunches. I do plan to practice with picnics and day long outings. Plus I need to find some small reusable containers to send her food in. I haven't decided on cloth napkins as of yet. It will come, eventually, I'm sure.

Any other suggestions I haven't considered or ideas welcome!

Saturday

We had a busy Saturday. I got up bright and early and headed to community wide sales in a town 50 minutes from home. I spent the grand total of $5.50, sales were a complete waste of time, but it was nice to be out laughing and enjoying the weather. At home Steve managed to get all 3 kids up, fed, and dressed by 8:30am, pretty impressive! They had t-ball practice at 11am. When we all made it home Adylynn left and then the fun began. Not because she left, in fact it sort of sucks that she wasn't here. ANYWAY after Jaden and Steve napped we decided to take the boys up to the annual festivities in our town.

Jonas and Steve rode the Tilt-a-whirl. Shoot, I still need to download that video. When I do I will have to share it. The ride starts out fun for both of them but as it progresses and progresses Steve starts looking sickly. After the ride, Jonas played the Win-a-Fish game. He got 8 balls to try with and on ball 5 he had won! Enter "Hermie" the amazingly spastic anorexic goldfish.
I am very happy with Hermie's name. SO much better than what I was expecting Jonas to name him. He said Hermie within 2 minutes of winning him but then on the walk home had talked about "Wiggles" and some other equally non creative names. Very glad he decided to stay with Hermie.

We had to go grocery shopping Saturday night. We ran(literally) through Aldi then went to Walmart. Jonas and I were standing in the pet food section looking for fish food when I noticed the rabbit food. Jonas has a guinea pig at his mom's and I hadn't heard anything about him. When I asked Jonas how Tickles was doing he said "good, but his butt is really big. It's like this(insert his hand reach toward me) big (squeezing my boob)" Yep my 6 year old just molested me in WalMart. It all happened so fast.
I was shocked. Hopefully since I didn't make a huge deal about it he won't do it again. Or feel like he did something wrong. We had a 2 sentence conversation about remembering privates are for private and I left it at that. I think he was just trying to get a good comparison for me. There is also the possibility that he thought I had a guinea pig stuffed up my shirt since I am usually the queen of the UNA BOOB!


Back to Hermie, he is eating, finally! Still acts spastic but, I am beginning to think he might live more than a few days. When I was in high school I had a fish I won and named him "Flush" since I expected him to die. He lived for several months.
Aunt Shel has looked at him now. She thinks he might have a parasite, but it is treatable. Oh and she is also fairly certain that he is actually a she!

Hermie can be a girl name too, right?

wishing I had something to say

yes it has been a week since I posted anything. No we haven't been sitting around doing nothing. In fact, we have barely had time to sit around. I just don't feel like I have anything to say.

All 3 kids have started swim lessons. Jonas already finished his and might even get to go out for the swim team! Ady and Jaden just started. 2 days a week. The 1st day they both screamed, and screamed, and screamed some more. Then came home and told everyone how much fun swimming is. The 2nd day Ady claimed she was sick but we worked through it and by the end of swim lessons she was going under the water by herself, AND no longer thinking she was drowning when the water hit her face! Jaden's 2nd day was better too.

We interrupt this pointless post to bring you LIVE happenings in the Rigney home...
Jaden: Mommy, pee outside?
Me: Pee outside?
Jaden: Yeah
Me: No, we pee on the potty
Jaden: No potty. Pee outside. Pee on porch.
Me: If you pee outside the neighbors will see you
Jaden: see penissssss. Funny.

I haven't let Jaden pee outside but he spent the weekend with both my mom and Aunt Shel...I have to make a few phone calls.

Damn you! All you have to do is blog.

I have nothing to say today. Actually I have a lot to say today but just don't have the time to think about putting it in words. Do you know how hard it is to decide when to use ALL CAPS or extra exclamation points!!!!! or really getting the point across with. extra. periods. OR...ALL. CAPS. AND EXTRA. PERIODS!!!!! I just don't have the energy to do it.
Here are some updates on what is happening here

We no longer get to spend our days loving on Sophie. Tiffany decided she wanted to be at home with her.

After 3 years of being in Clinton I finally have a friend and we do stuff together!

By some sort of miracle said friend, who is Tiffany, was able to join the Y this month so I don't have to go by myself. Most of you know what a hard time I have with stuff like that. She will never know how much Steve loves her for this very point. Or when I said I was going to kiss her hubby the next time I saw him I was actually sort of serious.

I have been working out the last 2 days and it feels great

This week I actually started a conversation with "this one time at a strip club I saw...." It was just with Steve so it wasn't too bad but it is getting filed in my "did I just say that" file.

Ady and Steve started running together this week. It is really special time to her. She was telling her Grandma "only I get to run with Daddy. Jaden is too little"

I have a corner table sitting in my dining room waiting to be put together. This is very exciting for us for a number of good reasons -being able to all sit at the table together comfortably -having more space in the dining room - both bench seats have storage space so the kids won't have to give up all of their crafts. However the best part of a new dining room table is that I can finally be rid of the stupid ass plank chairs! I ABHOR those chairs! I spent far too many hours cleaning and scraping those damn planks clean.

With the addition of the dining room table I can officially say My house is a home. MY HOME! There is still lots of work to be done but I finally feel like the property inside our home is special to only us.

Okay so I had more to say than I thought...but really I need to get ready to go workout. We have less than 2 hours to get breakfast, dressed, and make the 2 minute drive to the Y. Adylynn has yet to grace us with her morning attitude. Jaden is already attached to his "puzzlebooks" too.

woo hoo yipee yeehaw yay whoopee hoorah hooray

WE HAVE A CAR!

Thanks to my mom, my wonderful, fabulous, terrific, mom! She found us the car and got the ball rolling! Heck she not only got it rolling she took it and ran with it and made it happen! YAY!

It has been a long couple years with only one car. A VERY LOOOOOONG time! And now it is done! I am able to stop leeching off of Aunt Shel every time we need a ride somewhere. Gone are the days where she insists I take the van for a couple of days while she is gone. "Just in case you need it" she would say. NO MORE! I say. YIPEE! WOO HOO! I love Aunt Shel oh so much. AND WE ALL APPRECIATE HOW MUCH SHE HELPS AND LOVES US! BUT....YAY....NO MORE! No more feeling like a leech. No more fearing that I can never give her enough love and appreciation and thank yous! She would continually tell us it was no problem or no big deal and there were even times when she made it seem like the most logical thing to take her van, but, no more! Now I can say to her "let's take my car" MY CAR! MY CAR!

The car is going to give me a lot of freedom! A LOT! Not only will I be free from the worry, guilt, and never ending begging and thanking of everyone who has helped us the past couple years but I will now be able to meet friends for play dates and go visit my grandparents and go use that new Y membership to the fullest! A CAR! GO GO GO! WOO HOO!


Tomorrow is my first official errand. I think it is an appropriate errand too. I am taking Aunt Shel to the airport IN MY CAR! YAY! AND, even though, I will be using her van this week, it is for something that she needs me to do. AND since I always try my best to help her (even in the thick of it) I am happy to have her van...but once she is home, and the moving is done, I will be happy to be in MY CAR! YAY!

DYE TIME!

I am giving you the finished eggs and mess first! We had fun. Aunt Shel came over to color with us and (re)taught us how to tye-dye eggs.

Jaden and Daddy stuck to solid colors.

Jonas made some pretty solid colored eggs, but he prefers tye-dying. It is really easy to do. Just wrap a coffee filter around an egg and then dip a spoon into the color you want, let it drop off the spoon onto the egg. You can unwrap and reposition the egg until you get the look you want.

Adylynn like to tye-dye too. She, officially, ate the first Easter egg this morning.

There was a family picture here but something happened in transfer. Not that anyone wants to see me but it was a semi-ok picture so I figured I would share it. DARN!
I'm not sure how crazy this post is going to look. My blogger seems screwy and I don't have time to screw with it.

The birds and the bees

Jonas and Adylynn were talking about when they are my age they would be parents and I would be a great grandma. I quickly corrected them because I AM NOT THAT OLD! I AM NOT EVEN 30!
Plus, there is the whole matter of them being confused for the rest of their lives on how grandparents and great grandparents work. BUT more importantly I AM NOT THAT OLD. Sure, I am the 2nd oldest of my friends but my oldest friend has several years on me. Plus if I didn't mention I am not that old! You are following, right? Erin is not old. Okay. Glad we have that settle. Now for the funny stuff.

During the conversation Adylynn tells Jonas

"you can't have a kid right now because your wife is private and closed up"

I have no idea what she meant but since everyone in her class is OBSESSED with marriage I wouldn't be surprised if she got it from school.

I love hearing the 2 of them talk about life.
Life is so simple in their eyes.

St Patty's Day--the pinch edition

St Patrick's Day didn't go unnoticed in our house, just unpublished.

Our day consisted of Jonas pinching anyone and everyone no matter the green. We only saw 3 people yesterday but he still managed to get in 6 pinches! Sometime in the afternoon he started complaining that we didn't celebrate St. Patrick's Day. We should be wearing head to toe green and only playing with green things etc etc... If only we were all 6 years old. Jonas was obviously disappointed in the celebrations. I am all for green beer, kiss me cause I'm Irish partying but I thought the kids were a little young for that sort of celebration.
Adylynn was in the spirit of the holiday. ALL. DAY. Every single thing we did, no matter if we have done it every other day for as long as she can remember, she would proudly announce "It's St Patty's Day" We watch "It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown" Adylynn said "Jonas we are watching this cause it's St Patty's day" Since it wasn't the green beer making her festive it must be the 1/1000th of Irish blood in her.
I had planned to have a fun supper(without corned beef and cabbage*ahem mom ahem) but after Jonas' obvious disappointment I decided to make supper, with help from the kids, over the top.
The Menu:
Green "Buttered" Noodles(Deceptively Delicious recipe I just added the green)
Broccoli
Salad(green peppers, iceberg lettuce, spinach)
Green Grapes
Biscuits with Green Butter
Jonas LOVED it! Adylynn kept saying things like "we have green butter because it is St. Patty's Day" Steve was not impressed. Jaden is repaying me today with green poop. So we didn't have the Leprechaun box, or "magic" throughout the day but we had a good time just the same. Plus I hope that I am teaching the kids that where magic/pretending is fun isn't it more fun to help with the festivities rather than just letting them happen.

Wanted:your opinions

Dear Readers,

I am interested in your feelings on giving gifts to children for Easter. Do you do it? Do you give gifts for other holidays that aren't Christmas? Why do you do it? Does you spouse give you grief over it? Do you just purchase gifts for your children without telling them? If you get grief from someone else how do you handle that? Do you drop it or do you get your way?

SHARE! Please!

Breakfast for Supper

Adylynn and Daddy working on potatoes and scrambled eggs.
She can crack eggs better than most adults I know.

Jaden helping mom make the pancake batter

Letter pancakes

They never look perfect but the kids still love 'em

there's nothing to see here

move on! Go read something else today. I am feeling down. Wounded is the best way to put it. Wounded with a little bit of grumpy, lousy, rejected, depressed, and tired all rolled into one. I have a good reason for feeling this way but explaining it would take more time than I have.

need some good reads?

Be inspired

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Baby love


Time to scoot. I bribed a 4 year old into missing school(no ride today) with popcorn, movies, ice cream, board games, and paint~my day is full!

interesting

first paragraph of a parents center article:

Men who do dishes do better in the bedroom
If only men knew what they were missing: Men who do more housework have better sex lives and happier marriages, according to a study by John Gottman, a psychologist who for more than three decades has been researching why relationships succeed or fail. Further research by Gottman suggests that harmony over housework may also yield happier children. His findings reveal that men who do housework frequently have kids who do better socially and academically.

curse of the female

Every 2 weeks there is a heated conversation over the menu/shopping list for the coming 2 weeks. I sit down to my Saturday morning egg white omelet a la Steve, coffee in one hand and the shopping list in the other. After adding all the essentials I then open the meals up for discussion.
Sometime after asking Steve what he would like to eat and him replying "I don't know" the conversation heats up.

Why do I always have to be the one to plan the meals?
I would like to fix the family things that they want.
Suggestions would be nice.
I am beginning to accept that like many other roles in life, the shopping list and meal planning is gender specific to the female.
I never gave much thought to this before last weekend...

Last Saturday morning in our house (Ady and I fighting a cold and my teeth still giving me problems)

Me to Steve: “What would you guys like to eat this weekend?"
Steve: “I don't care"
Me: grumble grumble
Steve: " I don't know it doesn't matter I'm not in the mood for anything"
Me: "FINE! I will ask the kids what they would like"
insert sounds of me stomping off to the living room
Me to Jonas and Ady: "Hey guys, Daddy and I aren't sure what you want to eat this weekend. Any ideas?"
Jonas: "Uh I don't care"
Me: eyes rolling in my head OMG he did not just act like his father!
Adylynn: "How bout hot dogs and apples? We haven't had Hot dogs in a really really long time"
Me: stunned "um yeah hot dogs are ok. THANK YOU ADYLYNN FOR YOUR HELP!" said loudly through clenched teeth for Steve to hear.

*Who knew that gender roles started so early?

1 time isn't enough for me to think this? Well let me share another example of the curse of the female...

Adylynn had a runny nose for 2 days. Her nose was runny non-stop for 2 days. All we had for kleenex was some generic 50-cent box of tissue tree bark. She was to the point of letting it run into her mouth before breaking down to wipe it. Steve FINALLY got a box of Puffs Plus and she says, "I am never using those hard kleenex again!"

HAPPY 6th Birthday

Jonas turned 6 today. We woke him up singing Happy Birthday and then opened presents, deposited money into his savings account and headed off to Chuck E Cheese! We Spent 3 fun filled hours with the mouse, friends and family, and a gazillion other children celebrating their birthdays today. It was a great day!



HAPPY BIRTHDAY JONAS!

I wanted to title this Ode to the 4 slicer but I can't write poems

I love my new 4 slice toaster! It has given me 4 minutes of extra time. I am no longer tied to the toaster waiting for the toast to pop. I no longer have to choose whether to feed Ady her toast or Jaden his waffle first. I can put them both in at the same time and get both breakfasts ready with in seconds of the other. You really don't realize how valuable 4 minutes is until you have it. Since the 4 slice toaster Ady has been dressed before 9 am -without fighting- I have had the baby and all 3 kids fed before 9 am, which has now freed up some breakfast time for me. I had forgotten that toast comes in a full slice warm version not just the cold dry crusts version I had been getting previously.

Thanks Grandma for a wonderful Christmas! A 4 slice toaster is truly a gift that keeps on giving!

give me another week please

Happy New Year All!

The Christmas holiday was LONG and trying at times but we made it through and had a great 6 Christmases! I have bunches of pictures that will get published, before July.
The living room will hopefully be completely done(minus some furniture) this weekend. Hell I might even order the remaining furnishings today.
The kids have so many new toys, I am still opening packages! They have given everything equal playtime at this point but the favorites are clear already. Uncle Nick is again the coolest gift giver Jonas and Ady have ever known! Last year it was the V.Smile(still getting used) This year Transformers for Jonas and Playdoh for Adylynn--hands down the most played with toys for them. Jaden, on the other hand, is harder to say. Last year it was the Mega Blocks(still played with daily) from my mom. This year, if it is from the transportation family he is overjoyed! I would like to say the train table is his favorite but it is too early to tell.

We are busy, and tired this week. Adylynn and Jonas stayed up to ring in the new year with us. After the ball dropped they went to bed in their new tents and sleeping bags. Ady loves to camp out in the toy room. The one kid tent packs they got for Christmas are perfect for indoor camping!
Steve and I opened and drank our last bottle of Malvira Birbet on New Years. We are wine-less until my mom is feeling generous again. The best wine in the world is also the hardest to find. We know where we can buy it, by the case, but I have yet to brave a liquor/wine/spirits store with kids in tow. I am sure people do it all the time but I will just suffer through the long days until mom has more to share. Plus the place to buy it is 45 miles from home. There is a hidden bonus in the hard to find wine--we aren't spending our non life savings on it:)

I hope everyone else had a good holiday season. We sure did. I have lots to post. However, it will be another week before I am posting regularly. If you are wanting something to read go check Steve's blog. He has posted 2 days in a row! Given the new year it could be a resolution of his to post everyday. Enjoy!

slideshow test

this is only a test...in the event that this was an actual slide show I would be excited that it
a) worked
b) I did it by myself
c) the house is clean and I have time to play online with my blog and slide shows