From the kids

For the daddy who lets us fix things

For the daddy who helps us learn

For the daddy who takes an active part in our interests

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

Happy Anniversary

I guess I forgot to publish this yesterday. Weird. I must have gotten distracted. Oh well.


Today marks 2 years since we got married on that FREEZING Saturday in May. The Awesome Hubby is gone. Training all week in Chicago. I am spending this anniversary running the kids to swim classes, and school while Steve is having to sit through a class that so far has been boring for him. It sucks but I am handling it well.
In sticking with tradition of anniversary meanings, this year is cotton, I got Steve a shirt.
I am still awaiting my gift BUT it isn't cotton. I will be showing off my new pink Flip Video as soon as I get it.

I found this quote looking for something mushy this morning. Screw the mushy crap...this is us!

I love being married. It's so great to find that one special person you want to annoy for the rest of your life. ~Rita Rudner

I love and miss you bunches! Happy Anniversary!

The kids(and Awesome Hubby) surprised me with this

iPod shuffle


and yes I have Billy Joel on it.

To my kids on Mother's Day

If I sat down to write a letter to the kids this mother's day...

What a truly incredible year the 3 of you had. We had so many twists and turns this year.


Jonas has had many milestones this year. Some we were prepared for and others were more of a "wing it" thing. Many have been very private personal things that I would never dream of blogging. However there have been a few rights of passage that we have shared. We find ourselves talking about big kid rules now. Do you get more computer time? What about outside time? Bike riding? More privacy? And personal belongings...they are your things shouldn't you have some control over what happens to them? Last year I would have never guessed all the things that were ahead for you. The little things seem to be past us now. What happens to you from here on will help shape your view of the people around you, your community, and the world. When I talk to your mom we share our love for you. She is truly a wonderful mother to you. We are all very blessed to have such a warm, compassionate, fun-loving child. Thank you for making everyday a little brighter, even if I can only see you through cyberspace.

Adylynn, oh my, what to say...4 is hard. It is real hard! However you have shown us what a special gift we have with you. You are the perfect blending of every family member. I can spend the afternoon with you and feel close to my entire family. You remind me of Aunt Sissy on days you take care of Jaden like your life depended on it. You show me Num Num when you stomp your feet and tell me how it is. Stubborn! You have the green thumb of Aunt Shel's. Your marigolds for Mother's Day grew more than any other preschooler's this year. Sitting on the couch to watch a movie flashes me back to watching movies with Papa Chocolate. He would get all settled in and I would keep wallowing(his word for snuggling) him until a good kick to the face would ruin all my fun. I was told to sit down and sit still or go play! Sound familiar? Mostly I see me in you. I see all the great things that make me me but I also see the not so great things about me. You make me want to be better. I don't want to watch you struggle with the same things I did as a kid. If there are things I can change now, tweak, to save you from wasting a minute of your childhood on unimportant things I jump at the chance. You are swimming this year. That is a good example of trying to protect you. Not only will you be able to save your life if you fall off a boat BUT you can actually get on to that boat in the first place. We live 7 miles from a beach there will be a million different ways to put those swim lessons to use:) I said before that 4 is hard. It is, I have made no secret of that on this blog, but this will also be the year that your daddy and I discovered what a remarkable little girl you are. It was once said "you have no weaknesses" We couldn't agree more. If only we could figure out to how parent that. If you break it down take it to the nitty gritty, that statement also says "you are going to take us for one hell of a ride" and "Good luck mom and dad, she is going to be fighting you for the rest of your lives" Daddy and I are both honored to be on the ride with you...maybe you can ride in Jonas' car seat you have "never ridden in Jonas' car seat before" Thank you for being...YOU!


Jaden, you get more and more awesome to me everyday. You have the honor of being the baby. Take your title and use it for good. You have discovered puzzles this year. Being the little man you are, you didn't go for the piddly 9-12 piece etched background tray puzzles. Nope, you are all about the 63 piece big boy puzzle(never mind that it has princesses on it-it is a puzzle and you will conquer it) You have also thrown a curve ball at Daddy and I. We thought we were prepared for anything you had for us but your sudden fear of ghosts has shocked us both. There is no monster or ghost living in your closet, Bubby. Oh, and the day you were in the basement and got freaked out so bad it scared the crap out of you(LITERALLY) I am sorry we laughed. There is also no ghost living in our basement. Your sister did speak with a man in the toy room once but I am pretty sure that was just her imagination. So no more fears. You have much more important things to do with your time. You can't get all the "beating your siblings" time if you are fretting about a ghost getting you. I wish you were able to explain this fear to us. Where did it come from and why? I also wish you weren't so damn cute when you yell "I'M TALKIN TO DADDY" at me. I am pretty sure that one is going to come back to bite us. Since we are on the subject could you maybe be a little less cute when you don't listen? Daddy has a hard time controlling his smile. Everyday you have another trick to amazes us with. Thank you for making me smile everyday!


I hope I can be the mom you all deserve. I might make you angry. sad. just plain frustrated at times. Please remember I am human and I will make mistakes. Part of making a mistake is admitting it and asking for forgiveness. I hope we are able to recognize when mistakes have been made and move past it with a lesson learned.
Thank you for making Mother's Day a very special day!

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.

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.

Christmas roundup 2007---Jaden

Adylynn Christmas roundup 2007

Christmas roundup 2007---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!

Comment Graphics at pYzam.com

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

MERRY CHRISTMAS

****HOPE YOUR HOLIDAY IS FUN, EXCITING, AND FILLED WITH LOVE!*****


Be back in a week to share our Christmas cheer. Oh and pictures of my birthday sparklies from Steve. I have been so busy I forgot to mention what a great birthday I had. The kids were great and enjoyed the different ways we celebrated this year. With the exception of a video(I HOPE) I don't plan to post again for several days!


*****Merry Christmas!*****

HOLIDAY BAKING WITH STYLE

1. the right footwear can make or break your favorite holiday apron!

2. snotty nose and lunch stained faces are all the rage with the preschool crowd!

3. with the dangers of lead in toys, it is important to test your cooking utensils several times throughout the baking process.

Christmas Photos

THE KEEPERS:

That's it. 2 usable photos. Now rumor has it that Ady and Jaden were terrors however I feel that the saying "a picture is worth a thousand words" might be more true than the rumor. You can be the judge. Which one of our little darlings looks the most difficult for pictures?

THE BAD:

if you still haven't noticed the repeat offender scroll back through the keepers!

None of the boys alone. Those were so horrible that they deleted the ones they took before even letting me view them. I am curious if I will ever have a decent group shot of the 3. My sister has 6 and they all manage to get a good group shot every year. Maybe she should take them, next time. She must have a secret she isn't sharing.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

I was feeling frisky and looked for sexy witches this came up. OH and there is a cool witches email going around but the 2 times I have received it the pictures didn't come through. If you have it I would sure like to post it.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

SAVE ME! THERE ARE SPIDERS IN MY WINDOW!

EEK! Spiders in the window! 3 big huge long legged, big eyed SPIDERS! WE ARE CALLING THE BUG MAN IN THE MORNING! Wait a second. I think I recognize those spiders. Yeah. They look like the work of:
ADYLYNN

JADEN

JONAS

aren't they the cutest spiders ever!
We bought mini pumpkins at the pumpkin patch. Painted them brown or black or both, glued on some googly eyes, and stuck in some pipe cleaners for legs. It was fun, and messy. Here are some pictures of the kids painting the pumpkins

Ok I have now shared every picture of last Saturday with you. It took all week but I am finally done and will be back next week with good long lengthy wordy posts, maybe...

More festivities from the weekend

since Steve had the pumpkin carving taken care of I was free to make potato soup and get to work on the pumpkin seeds. A pretty messy task! I am beginning to dislike this annual tradition.

This year the recipe I used called for butter, salt, and garlic. Roasting seeds in 300degree oven, for 30-40 mins, turning occasionally.

I must say they turned out much better than previous years. They are nice, golden brown and have just the right amount of flavoring on them. Much to Steve's protest I decided not to bake every single seed from each pumpkin. I am very glad I did too. As it is we still have a baggie full. He forgot to take some to his parents. He has only taken them to work once this week(and he didn't share them) I did remember to give some to Lana and Aunt Shel but have since forgotten to eat any myself. We can't seem to manage the 2 cups of seeds I did make, can you imagine if I had made all the seeds.
Oh...the soup was delicious! That is a different story entirely but I am curious of what base/broth you use or thought of when I said potato soup. I am finding there are lots of varieties of potato soup. Most people either LOVE it or HATE it. I assure you mine is perfectly wonderful! AND deserves love.

Jack O Lantern by Ady

Ady scooping out her pumpkin guts. She had fun with the pumpkin but is still alittle young to do as much as Jonas. She told me what kind of a face she wanted, I drew it on and carved it out. The entire time I was carving she colored her orange pumpkin green with a washable marker.

Here is the finished product! Yeah the eyebrows were totally her idea. Wierdo! Hopefully this green and orange jack-o-lantern, in need of a waxing, will stay happy until Halloween.