Happy Valentine's Day

Pictures from this morning. Trent has his first Valentine's party at school today. We spent (what seemed like) all day yesterday signing Valentines. He had 24 to do and by the time we were about 7 in, he was getting frustrated. We had to take little breaks in between sets. Last night he stamped his teacher a card and we bought her a heart shaped box of Hershey's hugs. He couldn't wait to give her his card and the chocolate. He was so excited.

He loves to dress up in nice clothes, too. He wanted to wear the new outfit he got for his birthday. Isn't he just a handsome little dude?

Oh, and of course, Baby Kat had her special heart skirt on. You could tell she felt pretty.

Little Poser

I couldn't believe it when Baby Kat posed for me so I could take her pictures. I was trying out my new diffuser for the flash when I took these:



Here she is giving kisses to the camera. Don't you just love her one curl. LOL! She has a curl only on one side of her head.

Ashley, I and the kids went to the gem show over the weekend. We were there on Wednesday, too, but ran out of time and money quite quickly. I thought about bringing my camera to take pictures and then chickened out. Too many oddballs down there. I didn't want to have to watch the kids and worry about my camera.

I just love the strings of polished stones and beads of all colors. Each of the kids picked out a strand and we'll make necklaces out of them. Of course, Trent wanted pink. Goofy kid.

I didn't see any dinosaur skeletons this time. I didn't see the fossilized dinosaur poop, either. What is that stuff called? I can't remember. I was going to get some and send it to all my online friend's kids.

3 Scrappy Boys upload

February's kit was mostly products from We R Memory Keepers. This company is quickly becoming one of my favorites!

I love this picture of Baby Kat. I was trying to take Christmas photos and there was a gigantic ad with dogs on it. She couldn't stay away from it.
This is just a very simple two page spread for our vacation album I've been working on since last June. **sigh** I used the BG tool for the corners of the main photo.
I really like this layout. Unfortunately, it got the absolute worst response at 2Peas I've ever had.
and this is Gigi. She's turned into such a tub-o-lard since we first got her. Look how skinny she looks sitting on the couch.

That's it for me today.

Trent is sick. I've been cleaning vomit off the carpet this am. It's time for our naps. Later for now.

Some pics from this am

We were the first one's at the playground today. Baby Kat ran ahead of me and went straight to the swings. I liked the way her little feet made footprints in the sand.



Trent's favorite is the very tall slide. It makes me nervous because it's so high. It makes me even more nervous that Baby Kat climbs up that ladder with no problem. :?

Upload Day

Hello! It's upload day at A Peek Into Yesterday. The theme today was red,white & pink or just Valentine's Day.

Here's what I came up with:

Rusty Pickle. This is my sister's dog. Her name is Wrigley, but we call her "Wrigey-Pooh". She and Baby Kat love each other. Awwww....

Marah Johnson. Love this line. I sent it to CK. They never call me though. :P

A little Bo-Bunny. Obviously, I've been watching my Disney movies. ;) (Little Mermaid for those of you not up on Disney)
and of course, if I'm going to have a Queen of Hearts, I must have a King of Hearts. The inspiration for this layout came from the back of a movie we watched. I think it was called, "You, Me and Everyone Else we Know", or something like that. I've been getting so many pieces of inspiration from movie covers. You never know where it will hit ya.
.

Check out all the other layouts here

Too much talk radio?

I despise guns.

My children are not allowed to play with toys guns. No way!

Today, Trenton had taken his Mega-blocks and was pretending to shoot with them like they were guns. I asked him to knock it off. He knows he's not supposed to do that. In fact, the blocks were still in the same shapes they were last week when he was making robots with them. As I'm sitting here writing this, I'm still trying to figure out where he saw guns on TV.

Before I knew it, he was asking Baby Kat which gun she wanted. There were four robots, I mean guns, lined up.

I said, "NO way! You guys are not playing with guns or anything that resembles a gun. Why don't you play robots instead."

"Why?" he asked.

"Guns are bad. They can hurt you and other people. I don't want you to pretend like you're hurting people."

A couple minutes later he was pretending to shoot fire in my face with his gun.

I went to grab it out of his hand when he pulled it out of my reach.

"Mommy!" he said very sternly. He had a concerned look on his face. "Do you know what kind of gun this is?"

Through my gritted teeth, I said, "What kind of gun is it, Trent?" I was thinking he better say it shot out kisses or flowers or even butterflies.

"It's a United Tates Uhmerica Gun. It's a good gun, Mommy. It's a good gun."

I looked at him in surprise. What did he just say? I ran it through my head again and shook it off.

"There are no good guns Trent." I ripped it out of his hands and put it and the other three guns up on a high shelf. He wasn't going to get to play with them until tomorrow.

I guess we've been listening to way too much political talk radio in the car. "United Tates Uhmerica"? That has to be where it was from. I still don't know where the gun part came from.

Heart hurts

Trent didn't go to school yesterday because I was afraid he was sick. Both kids had a fever on Sunday and I felt it better he just stay home and rest today.

He never wants to go to school when you ask him.

"How do you feel today, Trent?"

"Sick."

Yeah, he was fine. He had come bounding down the steps very early this morning, "GOOD MORNING!" he screamed.

I was still sleeping.

10 minutes later and I was making breakfast for both kids and explaining, as I do every day, why we were going to watch the news before cartoons.

Later I was pleasantly surprised when he went upstairs to get dressed after the first time I asked him to. Baby Kat followed him upstairs and when I went upstairs to see why it was taking him so long, I found him in her room. He was helping her pick out clothes. He had chosen a pair of jeans and together they both picked out a spooky Halloween shirt. It really wasn't spooky, it was just Halloween. But, when you're 5 and/or 2, I guess everything from Halloween is spooky.

He put his socks on. He put his shoes on. I was amazed. I usually have to remind him 5-6 times to put on each sock. Somehow, he finds himself distracted in between socks. It could be a piece of dust on the floor that attracts his attention from this simple duty. I found both kids on the steps, Trent with his shoes and socks on, but with another sock in his hand. What was he doing now? Oh my gosh! He was helping Baby Kat put her sock on. Her little painted toes were sticking up towards his hand that held the sock.

"Nie help me!" She was so excited. Not as much as I was.

"Thank you, Trent!", I said. "You are such a great big brother for helping your sister get dressed."

There are days like this that I almost get teary eyed. He can be so helpful, kind, and thoughtful to his sister. He'll get dressed, he'll make his bed, he'll pick up his toys, he'll flush the toilet. He'll do all these things the first time I ask him. I sometimes think I really must be doing something right.

I didn't even have to tell him to go stand by the door as I set the alarm. He did it without me even having to remind him. He even had his homework in his hands.

As we were pulling out of the driveway, I ask Trent how he was feeling.

"Not good." Was all he could say. He was suddenly a little grumpy.

"Well, why?" I asked. "Are you sick? Does your tummy hurt? Does something else hurt?"

"Yes. My heart hurts." He said matter of factly.

"Your heart hurts? Why does that hurt?"

"It happens." He paused and then said, "I don't like Baby Kat."

Ok, well we're back to normal.

Princess

Trenton wanted me to take his picture today. He insisted on holding Baby Kat's pink doll blanket while I took his photo.

I asked him to put it down for just a few pictures. He said, "But Mommy, I wanna be a princess!"

Here's the result
<<<<<-----

A couple hours later and after I had downloaded the pictures, I asked him about this picture. I asked, "What are you doing here Trent?"

"Mommy, I wanted to be a princess!"

I don't think I'll do a LO on this. Several years from now, he'd probably want to kill me.

:P

Hi Baby!

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TV Terrorits

For Christmas, I bought my Father a TV B Gone. Due to his odd sense of humor, I knew it would be something he would abuse, I mean, enjoy.

My Uncle (his brother) was in town visiting just for the day. My Mother was having lunch to celebrate his visit. Once we arrived, we heard all about their adventures at Best Buy with his new toy. Neither my Father or Uncle could keep from giggling as they explained the adventures they had there:

People standing in front of large screen televisions, their eyes kind of glazed over, when all of a sudden the TV would go out. They'd look around like, "HEY! Who did that?" but then after a few seconds, they'd just move onto the next TV. As soon as they were zombies again, the TV would turn off once more.

We were planning on going to Best Buy after lunch. They wanted to go again. The kids were to stay with Grandma. This was serious business.

As soon as we entered Best Buy, my Father turned off the GIGANTIC television set that's at the front door. There were probably 8 people standing around it. All of them dispersed as soon as it turned off.

We turned off some more TV's but we were feeling a little nervous about the whole thing as my Dad and Uncle had just been there a couple hours before.

So, we left. Circuit City was just up the road. We stopped there. I became bored with my father's antics and decided to take the matter in my own hands. He handed over the remote.

My Father and Uncle were talking to an older couple who were looking at a TV. My father was explaining something about it when I pressed the button. The TV went off. As I was walking away, the older lady grabbed the remote control and tried to turn it back on. I walked around the corner, turned off some TV's, people groaned. The staff was running around trying to figure out what was going on. I walked past an employee with a remote in one hand and the other hand held the telephone up to his ear. He was pointing the remote to the TV and telling someone on the phone, "I don't understand what's going on..."

Soon, I became bored and decided to get a little riskier.

Oh, there's my Father and Uncle again, still with that older couple, and this time with a salesperson. They're looking at a different TV. I walk over and just as the salesperson is explaining something about the TV, I turn it off.

He turns it on.

I turn it off.

He turns it on.

I turn it off.

My father makes a comment about how the TV doesn't work very well.

The salesperson starts talking about the TV next to the one that won't stay on.

"This one has...." He says.

The TV goes off.

He turns it on.

I turn it off.

The couple decide they don't want either one of those TV's (since they won't stay on) and they go back to the first one they were looking at when they met my Father and Uncle. The salesmen goes with them and starts selling them on that TV.

I turn it off.

He turns it on.

I turn it off.

He turns it on. He asks, looking at my Father and Uncle, "Why is it that everytime you walk by a TV, it turns off?"

I ask, "You guys about ready to go?"

We left.

On the way home, we stopped at Sears and turned off all their TV's, too.

Yeah, it was good day.

Next week is Superbowl Sunday. We're talking about going to a sports bar and testing it out there.

Trent Talk

Stuff Trent has said from the last few days:

We were in the drive-thru getting sandwiches from a local shop on Wednesday. I was getting the kids a hot dog kid's meal. They didn't have milk, so I decided they could have some Sprite. It's not very often at all my kids get soda. It was a happy surprise for both of them. A few minutes after I handed them their drinks, Trent said,

"Look at me, Mommy! Soda helps me close my eyes!"

I turned around to look at him to see what the heck he was talking about.

He took a drink from the straw. He clinched his eyes closed. Obviously it was from the burn of the bubbles.

"Oh, yeah Trent. Look at that. How helpful."

Trent likes to talk about when he'll be older. He always says,

"Baby Kat's going to grow into a lady. I'm going to be a boy."

Today as we were getting ready for a walk, the kids were getting dressed in their coats and hats. Baby Kat was bundled in her pink winter coat with the fuzzy white hood. Trent said,

"Oh. Baby Kat a Princess, Mommy, and I'm handsome."

"Yes, that's right!"

We walked up the street first to get our mail. On the way up, a dead bird was on the side of the road. Erik pointed it out and we changed our route a bit to avoid it.

As we were walking back, Trent said,

"There's that dead bird."

"Yeah. It didn't move, huh? Do you know what the word 'dead' means?" I asked.

"Yeah, it happens." That was his response.

The phrase, "It happens" is a favorite of his. So much so, that Baby Kat has picked up on it. If you ask her a question she doesn't really have the answer to, or even wants to answer, her response is, "It happens."

I don't know where Trent picked it up from.

It was last week when out of the blue, Trent said to us,

"I want to get that farm, sit in it like a baby!"

Erik and I were shocked. He was talking about a play farm my parents had bought him...3 YEARS AGO! It was a fabric barn that folded and unfolded. He would sit in the middle of it and "ask" me (in his 2 year old way) to connect the sides. He loved sitting in the middle of it. It was a game we played everynight. I kept the barn because it was so cute, but he hasn't played with it for years.

It was just weird that he would remember something from when he was that young. It was shocking, actually.

It was a couple weeks ago when Sherry tagged me. Here are my answers. Sorry I'm so late in doing this.

4 jobs you have had in your life

1) Taco Bell
2) Payroll for many different places
3) Beer and wine bartender
4) Stay at home mom (my favorite)

4Movies You Could Watch Over and Over

1) Moulin Rouge
2) Fargo
3) Very Bad Things
4) almost any Disney movie

4 Places You Have Lived

1) Ottawa, IL
2) Tucson, AZ

4tv Shows You Love To Watch

1) Simpsons
2) Flip this House
3) Survivor
4) News

4 Places You Have Been On Vacation

1) Disneyland
2) San Diego
3) Arizona (when I lived in IL)
4) Illinois (now that I live in AZ)

4 Websites You Visit Daily

1) Down Memory Lane ( www.downmemorylaneco.com )
2) A Peek into Yesterday ( www.apeekintoyesterday.com )
3) 3 Scrappy Boys (www.3scrappyboys.com)
4) My online banking. ;)

4 Of Your Favorite Foods

1) Steak
2) Pizza
3) Cake
4) Ice Cream

Yeah, these are things that I don't eat. :(

4 Places You Would Rather Be Right Now

1) In a quiet neighborhood with no stupid barking dogs.
2) No where else.

4 Bloggers You Are Tagging

I'm not tagging anyone. These questions are now old and all the bloggers I know already have answered them.

What are you doing???

I asked this question to Trent yesterday as he was standing next to my scrapbook table.

"I'm trying to scrapbook. Just like you. I need some ribbons and some buttons right now!"

It made me giggle. This is what he produced:


I left my new velvet Making Memories letters out. oops. I don't know if you can see it, but he handwrote some letters to the right of the "r". He told me it says, "I love you." That's what he was thinking when he saw that picture of himself holding Baby Kat. Awwww...



This morning, Baby Kat wanted her turn. She did this. I like the star on her head, cool idea Ms. Baby Kat. It looks like a crown. She did all the inking and the stamping by herself, too. I don't know if you can tell, but she inked the left side and part of the top of the photo.

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Upload Day

Small uploads this time. I had the month off at Down Memory Lane Co., but I still did a Material challenge. I love those things!! Here's my take with the products:


Don't forget to check out all the others. Everyone did such a great job:

Down Memory Lane Inspiration Alley

It was also upload day at A Peek Into Yesterday.

Oh, it was a fun one this time. We swapped baby photos. I had Jocelyn's baby photos. This is my LO with her pics:


Leanne had my pictures:



Didn't she do such an ultra fabulous job??? I'm so excited to see these. They're gorgeous Leanne, thank you so much.

You can check out the rest of them here:

A Peek Into Yesterday Photo Swap.


Sherry...I know you tagged me...I'll get to it I promise!

Golf Day

We spent a couple hours at Funtasticks this morning. Trent was thrilled to play a little miniature golf. As soon as he got the ball in the hole, he was ready to move on to the next one. Baby Kat became bored after about the third hole. At one point, she was trying to climb over the fence to get a closer view to the go-carts. I admit that after about 20 minutes I was a little bored, too , and was feeling ready to go, but it was fun to see Trent enjoy himself so much.




Neither of the kids quite got the idea that they had to get off the green before the next person could take a turn. We were chasing them off like rabbits. Trent had to keep a very close eye on the ball at all times and was even heard saying, "Get in that hole!"

Everyone was tired afterwards. Baby Kat refused to walk and I had to carry her out. Yeah, she looks all cute and happy in these pictures, but believe me, she's a little stinker.

After naps, we went out to dinner. I wanted to make sure it was an early dinner so we left around 4:00. It's really not much fun dining with small children, so the less people there to offend the better.

In addition to all the great gifts I received, Erik also bought me a subscription to the Oprah magazine. What he doesn't realize is that I've never read an article. I just simply love the magazine for it's fantastic ad/design inspiration. heehee. Oprah, Pottery Barn and Urban Outfitters are some of my favorite sources for design inspiration.

See you tomorrow!

I can't believe it's been so long since I've blogged. I've been so busy.

Ashley had her 19th birthday last week. I can't believe I have a 19 year old!

<<<<---------That's Ashley!!

My birthday is tomorrow. We have a big day of miniature golf and pizza planned. Trent has never miniature golfed and I bet he'll love it!


My mother bought me the coolest kitchen tool. I needed a lemon zester and she bought me a Microplane. I absolutely love it. It works so perfectly.

Erik is making me a decaf latte right now.

Katrina just asked me for jelly in a baggie. **sigh** Maybe if she had eaten dinner, she wouldn't be so hungry.


See, this is why I haven't blogged anything in awhile...my life is too hectic and boring lately.

The 15th is upload day. See you again, then.

Upload Day @ 3SB

New layouts for Three Scrappy Boys.

I'm really getting into paint and glaze. It almost seems like I'm using paint on every layout nowadays.

Thanks for looking. :D

Hello 5

Here's my take on the "Ali" layout. I didn't realize until I was done that I used the same exact background as she did. Duh. Instead of cards, I used pieces of clothing tags that I saved throughout the year. I can't throw anything away.

Most of the little extra embellies are 7gypsies. I just love their new stuff.

Oh yeah...

...and it's UPLOAD DAY at Peek. Duh... It was Scrapper's Choice. I chose Heidi Grace Designs-Pocket Scraps Loving You and Christina Cole.

5 Years

Yesterday when Trent woke up, I told him it was his birthday today. Over the last several days, we had been talking about this day coming up.

"How old are you going to be?" One of us would ask.

"Five pounds!" he'd reply.

"Five years. Trent, you'll be a whole FIVE YEARS OLD!"

"WOW!"

Even though we had been talking about this day, he was still very excited about it now that it was here.

Later in the morning, he asked me, "Am I five now?"


"Yes you are!"

"How about now? I am five now?"

"Honey, you'll be five all day and from now on until next year."

"REALLY? Right now?"

"Yes!"

"I get to open presents?"

"Your party is tomorrow and you can open your presents then."

He seemed a little disappointed. Who could blame him? A little later when we were outside his 5 year old picture, Baby Kat came out with book she wanted me to read. I told her I wasn't going to be reading her a book as we were taking pictures. So, she sat with Trent and posed for a few.

Later when we went inside, wrapping paper was discovered all over the floor. Ooops, Baby Kat opened one of Trent's birthday presents. All this talk about presents got her eager to start tearing into them. Oh, well.

Look at Baby Kat's face. She ALWAYS has something on it. I can wipe it off, but dirt just comes right back on it. I guess that's just part of being 2.

It never gets any easier...

Today I filled the mini van with unplayed toys and outgrown clothes. I had been storing quite a few of these items in the garage, thinking I would have a garage sale. I changed my mind. I realized I didn't like the idea of people digging through my kid's baby clothes and toys all to make a couple of bucks.

I even took the play kitchen. I hate that thing. It's so cheap and the doors don't even close. I have been complaining about it since we put it together. My parents bought the kids a new kitchen this year for Christmas. A much better kitchen. A kitchen where there are drawers and the doors close.

I also took some Little People stuff. The newer versions, not the vintage ones. I did take one vintage barn because somehow we ended up with two of them. I kept the one that still had the door that "moo's" when you open it.

As I was packing up the car, I noticed that one of the bags contained Katrina's 1st Christmas outfit. She had received three "1st Christmas outfits" when she was born and I decided to only keep one. I almost pulled it out of the bag, but I kept it there.

"I have to move this stuff out of here."

" It won't be enjoyed by another family if I stuff it in a box."

"Someone else can use this. I know it."

I kept convincing myself of these things.

I took a picture of the full van because I couldn't believe it when I saw it. It was packed. I was slightly embarrassed by the amount of "stuff" in there and the fact that toys still littered nearly every room of the house.

When Katrina and I made it to the Goodwill, I was doing pretty well until I saw Trent's "Bob the Builder" t-shirt that he wore nearly everyday a couple of summers ago. I could remember when we found it at Walmart and he was so excited! It was now neatly folded in one of the brown paper bags among jean overalls and shorts. I fought off the tears.

It took me several trips to unload the car. The people working at the drop off site were a little surprised to see this much stuff. After the 4th trip, the lady said, "Thank You!". She didn't realize I wasn't done. I kept coming around from the van with more and more bags and boxes. Several other people donating items came and left while I was still unloading the van. Every time I came around with more stuff, the workers would kind of giggle. One of them even asked me what I did for a living.

When I was done, I got back in the van and I was bawling before I left the parking lot. I hate taking stuff to the Goodwill. I have such an attachment to "items". Every time I go to the drop off site, I leave crying. Every time.

I look in the rearview mirror and I see my children's old favorites sitting in the dust and the dirt. The first Christmas outfit, the favorite t-shirt, the stuffed animal Great Grandma gave them are all left behind in boxes and bags.

The items remind me of when they were younger and makes me question myself:

Did I appreciate them enough?

Did I still remember the feel of their tiny hand in my full adult size hand?

Can I remember the smell of their baby breath?

Why didn't I scrapbook the fact that Trent LOVED that Bob the Builder shirt?

I can clearly remember being 18 years old and having a two week old baby. It was the middle of the night or very early morning. I had gotten up to feed Ashley and it was just the two of us. I had just finished feeding her and I held her close and rocked her. I remember saying to myself, "Remember this moment. It will never happen again." And I do. I remember how tiny she was, her smell, her tiny hand in mine, the quiet off the house and her steady breathing.

I just have to keep reminding myself that I'm not dropping off memories, just items that trigger a memory. My memories are mine to keep for as long as I can. I remind myself of these facts every time I leave the Goodwill drop off site. It still doesn't make it any easier.

I have a feeling that Trent's baby swing will be in my garage until I can use it with his children, or even longer.

Breakfast with Santa

This morning, Trent's preschool had "Breakfast with Santa". For the last couple days, we practiced what they were going to ask Santa. We got up early this morning, showered and I dressed the kids in their Christmas gear. Everyone was excited and knew exactly what they were going to ask Santa for.

By the time we got there, walked into the room and saw Santa, things had changed.

"Trent! Go sit on Santa's lap and tell him what you want!"

"Ho ho ho", said Santa

"NO! Baby Kat goes first." I could tell there was some panic in his voice.

Ok, so I picked up Baby Kat. She started crying right away. She knew she was going on that guy's lap. She completely forgot to tell him what she wanted, which by the way was a new baby.

I love the look on Santa's face. He was probably talked into be Santa at the very last minute. He looks a little frustrated. Baby Kat was only his third "customer" and there was a HUGE line behind her.

I really tried to convince Trent to sit on Santa's lap. He wanted nothing to do with that. So, I reminded him of last year when he just held Santa's hand and told him what he wanted. Layout of last year's Santa visit

"Oh, ok", he said. I could tell he suddenly remembered and that it was ok.

I walked him up to Santa and he grabbed Santa's hand.

"Well, what would you like for Christmas this year?" Santa asked.

"I want a SPIDERMAN!" Trent spoke like they were old buddies.

They talked a few seconds more and then it was over.

It must have really worn Trent out because he drank about three full glasses of apple juice without even breathing.

Well, so the Spiderman is a new thing. I thought it was Darth Vadar. I'll have to go out tomorrow and see what is left on the shelves.

Upload Day

Today is upload day for both Down Memory Lane Co and A Peek Into Yesterday.

I picked out one of my favorites from each location to display here. The Christmas one is a picture of me, my sister and my Grandma from 1974.

We are playing Secret Santa at Peek. Today is Day 2. Yesterday I received beautiful clips from the new Studio K line. Today I received 4 sheets of the new matching paper. I think the only person that knew I didn't have ANY of the new Studio K, but ADORED it was Linda. I know Linda's not my SS, but I think she's been helping out my SS. Heeheeeheee, this Secret Santa stuff is just so much fun.

Today I received my super cool Making Memories Tag Maker from Down Memory Lane Co. I ripped that baby out of the box. I can't wait to play with it.

There are nice people, there are mean people

I asked for help today at a popular scrapbooking website about a problem I was having. There is a person visiting my blog that has bad intentions. I made a mistake posting what I did and I'm paying the price for it dearly! I've tried deleting the pictures and the post, but due to a "cached file", my pictures and text still show.

All but one of the comments from the Peas I received were helpful and empathic but one:

I'm as disgusted by this person's behavior as everyone else, but I'm also a little shocked that nobody has said anything about the kind of story (with photos!) you were sharing with the entire world.

This is from one mother to me, another mother. Is this a helpful statement? Was this purposely said to make me feel worse than I already felt? It worked. Thanks for your help, Jessica. You have made me feel like the most absolute worse mother in the world. I openly admitted how upset and sick I was about the mistake I had made. I guess your comment was just to rub salt in my wounds.

Godnjesus

We had to take the van today for what we thought was just going to be an oil change and alignment. We dropped it off about 10:00 this morning and picked it up at 5:00. It had a few other problems. ha

So, it was dark by the time we got back to our neighborhood. The kids were in the backseat oooing and ahhhing over the Christmas lights and decorations. By the time we pulled into our driveway, Trent exclaimed, "I have an idea!!"

"What's that, Trent?"

Pointing up towards the sky, he says, "Let's put Godnjesus up on the roof!"

At first I didn't think I heard him correctly so I asked him again what he said.

"Godnjesus on the roof". Yes, I had heard this correctly. He said "God and Jesus" like it was just one word.

The vision of an extra-large, molded plastic Jesus figure that lights up, maybe even blinks, fills my mind. Where would they sell those? Walmart?

"I don't think they make those, Trent."

"Oh." I could tell he was disappointed.

It wasn't until later on that I realized Trent had made the correct connection. While everyone else had giant Santas, teddy bears, candy canes, and colored blinking lights, Trent's first idea had to do with the real reason for Christmas. I was pretty impressed with the little dude.

Well, here I am...

...nursing, blogging, watching Disney's Princess Christmas movie and finishing up my 3rd glass of wine. I have accepted the fact that I may drink a glass or two or geez, even three glasses of wine several times a week this month. December is a hard, hard month for me. I must find a moment to relax this time of year and if that means drinking some wine to do it, that's what I'm going to do.

Trent is obsessed with the Princess Christmas DVD. He'd watch it 5 times a day if I'd let him. It was a gift for Katrina on her birthday, but it's Trent that watches it all the time. Don't even think about trying to talk to him during it, either. You can't. He doesn't hear you. I don't think he even blinks during the length of the movie. The first scene is a Disney version of The 12 Days of Christmas. Both he and his sister sing along to it.

Tonight when we started it, he exclaimed,

"HEY! Snow White's not a GIRL!"

"She's not?" I asked. "What is she then?"

"She's a lady", he said very matter of factly.

Ok. I didn't want to ask anymore about this. He seemed pretty sure of himself so I just took his word for it. I actually find Snow White the most irritating of all the Princesses. She has a really high and squeaky voice that just grates on my nerves.

The rest of the DVD is pretty decent. I love old animation and there is some of that on there. There is some questionable material on it, like what's the deal with the Beauty and the Beast scene???? Everyone who's seen the movie knows that the Beast turns into this hot dude (which btw reminds me of another story that I'll have to add on at the end of this) at the end of the movie. This scene has Beauty hangin' with the Beast in his beastly form. Was this a scene cut from the original? Probably not. Watching this scene however, I'm constantly tormenting myself with this question. Why? Why did Disney go back to the BEAST? Where's the hot dude? Why do I think the guy in the cartoon is hot?


NOTE: So, Snow White just came on the DVD and Trent says, "SEE!!! She's a LADY!!!"


Oh, so about the "hot dude":

Trent is watching tv when all of a sudden, I hear, "Hey! He's a HOT DUDE!!"

I look up to see what he's talking about. "He's HOT?" I asked.

"Yeah!"

I notice it's a commercial for the Fantastic Four DVD that's being released. Oh, well then, yes, I guess that guy on fire is a "hot dude".


Oh, and according to Trent as we've moved onto the next scene in the DVD, "COOKIES CAN'T TALK!!"

Have a nice weekend.

Playing Christmas Tree

From Monday:

I’m in the living room and Trent just asked Kat if she wanted to play “Christmas Tree”.

“Yeah”, she said.

I said to Trent, as he was pulling off ornaments, “Please don’t pull the ornaments off the tree. They’re not toys, they’re decorations.”

“Mom”, he says, “we just do that. We’re silly kids.”

Ok, how could I resist?

He takes ornaments off that are too high for BK, lets her look at them and then puts them back.
He asks her if she remembers them from when she was a little baby. She says, "Yeah."

She always says, “Yeah”.

Trent likes to chat and other stories

Last Friday, I was sitting at the stoplight (in the car, duh) opening mail. I like to multi-task. ;) Anyway, I was flipping through the coupons in the Valu-pak envelope when Trent asks,

"Can I have that one?"

For whatever reason, he wanted the coupon from the top of the stack. It was from Flicko's Video. I knew it was something I wouldn't be using, so I handed it to him from the front seat and thought nothing more of it.

He was still walking around with the coupon when we came home. He stood in front of me and read off the telephone number. I was surprised when he did this and had to take the coupon from his hand and double check it. Yup. He had it right. I congratulated him on his good number recognizing skills and went on about my afternoon.

Soon, I hear him say, "I wanna talk to him."

"Who do you want to talk to?"

"This." he said, waving the coupon back and forth.

I said, "Trent, you just can't call people on the phone because you like the coupon. People are working and they're busy. Do you want to talk to Grandma?" I didn't mean to imply that Grandma isn't busy, but I didn't bother correcting that statement.

"No."

And that was the end of it for a while.

What seems like an hour later, I hear, "Where's the phone? Oh, there it is."

As I walk out to the kitchen where he is, I notice he has found himself a little stool to stand on to reach the phone which is sitting on the counter.

I didn't really think he'd do anything with the phone. He's never done anything with it before.

I walk into the other room and I hear, "7....4....2...." etc.

I sit down on the couch to watch Oprah and much to my dismay I hear,

"Hi! Who's this?"

"No, who's this?"

"Hang on, here's my mom."

He hands the phone to me. I try to compose myself.

"Hello?" I asked. I was just hoping that perhaps one of the Grandmas had called, I didn't hear the ring and Trent answered it.

"Hello?" a unfamiliar male voice replies.

"Did my son call you?"

"Yes, this is Flicko's Video."

I just about died! I was so embarrassed. I apologized and apologized. I told him Trent was obsessed with his coupon from the Valu-Pak envelope and that he had been walking around with it for hours.

I didn't believe him when he said he would call. Next time I'll be more careful.

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

In other news, we got the tree up today. It seems so early to me. I'd prefer to have it up around the 15th. It takes up so much room. I guess I'm just a "bah-humbug" when it comes to Christmas. If I didn't have kids, I wouldn't put the darn thing up at all.

I didn't take any pictures because a piece of my tripod is missing. The kids like to play with it and pretend to take pictures. Someone unscrewed a piece and now my camera cannot be locked into the base. I don't even know what the piece looks like that I'm looking for.

It may be easier to just buy a new one. The piece has been missing for months.

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

Zoe seems to be feeling a little better. She gets her anti-biotics every 8 hours. She still stinks though. I still owe her a bath. I guess I'll have to wash her bedding, too.

Darth Vader

While Christmas shopping today, Trent said to me:

"When I grow up, I want to be Darth Vader."

Yucky Smell

The last few days I've noticed that the dogs have been stinking like something really, really bad. It reminded me of the smell Tori had when she had the tumor in her mouth. It's just a bad, rotten & decaying odor. I told my mother today that I would rather change a million poopy diapers than have to smell that odor again.

Anyway, a couple of days ago when I started smelling it, I decided it was Gigi that was the stinky one. I put on my yellow rubber gloves and dumped her in the tub. I scrubbed and scrubbed and rinsed her for twenty minutes until the water ran clear. Katrina sat with me at the side of the tub and helped me rinse her off. A couple times she wanted to jump in with the dog, but I wouldn't let her. The whole family used towels to dry her down. I think she really loved the extra attention. I wanted to dry her completely so she wouldn't smell like wet dog so I drug out the hairdryer. She hated that, but it worked. No smelly, stinky, wet dog smell.

The next day, I could still smell that nasty smell. I checked Gigi's ears and they seemed fine. Maybe the smell had just permeated the carpet or something. I sprayed a bunch of Pet Febreeze all over the dog beds and the carpet around it.

On the third day, today, I could still smell it. Zoe and Erik were in my scrappy room and I heard Erik make a comment about how stinky Zoe was. I walked in there and YUCK! the smell was there. It was Zoe that was stinky. It was decided she would be getting her bath today, and SOON.

As I was putting the dogs outside, Zoe started shaking her head. It was then I thought maybe she had an ear infection and that was causing the smell. If you've ever had a dog with that kind of infection, you know how stinky that can be. Anyway, I was looking at her ears and as she was wiggling away I noticed her neck was wet. Goopy wet.

I said, "Oh my God", when I saw the mess on her neck.

Trent was right there to correct me. "No Mommy. It's 'Oh My GOSH'".

I checked her collars, they weren't tight at all. I could easily slip my fingers in between the collar and her neck. The ZAPPER collar! That had to be what it was. I took that off and set it down. I then took off her other collar. It was soaked with goopy stuff.

I immediately called the vet and made an appointment. My poor, poor baby dog. I felt so bad.

We use the zapper collar for her jumping. She's been and graduated two Petsmart dog training classes, but we couldn't figure out how to keep her from jumping on the sliding glass door window.

During dinner, Baby Kat would constantly be sneaking her table food and Zoe would be putting her feet up on the highchair tray. It was just a constant battle with those two, so we decided Zoe needed to go outside while we ate. She didn't like that! She wanted in and in the worst way, too. She started out by just simply jumping on the glass door. When that didn't work, she would back up and taking running jumps. She was always scolded through the window for that. When we were done eating dinner, we would always make her sit before we opened the door. We wanted to let her know that only calm, still and sitting behavior would allow her inside.

Well, she still wanted in and would then back up to the end of the yard, start running and jump on the sliding glass door and then sit. **sigh** The door and the walls around the door would shake.

I started researching zappers that I could control with a remote control. We picked one out and purchased it. We found out later that we should have let her wear it without batteries for two weeks or so before zapping her for bad behavior. Because we put the collar on her and then started zapping her right away, she figured out that the new collar makes the warning noise and then the actual zap. So, everytime we took the collar off, the bad behavior would start up again.

After we got Gigi, her behavior toned down a bit and we didn't use the collar for a long time. Zoe just needed someone her size to hang with while we ate, I guess.

It was a few weeks ago when I noticed our back fence was breaking. The dang dog was jumping up on that fence "just for fun". I put the collar back on her and the behavior soon stopped. I never took the collar off and now the poor little thing has a horrible infection from it.

The vet took a look at her and said she has a staph infection from the collar. Zoe is on antibiotics that I have to give her every 8 hours.

I threw away that stupid collar.

Naps

Trent was so darn cute today.

Both the kids were starting to act up right around their normal nap times. I told them to go upstairs and get ready for naps. It took a little encouraging, but they both finally did.

I was downstairs finishing up some laundry before I tucked them in. I could hear them up stairs making noise. I figured they were probably playing in the playroom.

As I walked upstairs, I heard, "Night Nie."

Trent was walking out of Baby Kat's room, looking back at her and replied, "Goodnight Baby Kat."

When I looked in her room, she was in her bed with the covers up over her head.

I asked Trent, "Did you do 'Our Fodders' with your sister?"

"No", he stated. "I read her a book."

I smiled to myself and said, "Really? What book did you read to her?"

"Bob da Builder," he said with absolutely no enthusiasm at all. It was like it was everyday stuff for him or something.

When Baby Kat went upstairs, she still had her boots on. I wondered if she still had them on when she crawled into her bed.

"Did you take her shoes off?" I asked hoping the answer would be a "Yes".

"Yes, and her socks too."

He fights with her and tries to pretend he doesn't like her, but I can tell her really LOVES her.

Of course, after Trent and I did his "Our Fodders", I had to put Baby Kat in her crib. She had already climbed out of bed and was trying to sneak down the stairs. When I put her in the crib, I looked down at the chair in her room and there was the Bob The Builder book. It instantly reminded me of the days when Trent was two, like Baby Kat is now, and I would read him a book before naps. When I was done, I would always put the book down in the chair next to his bed for next day's nap. He had done the same thing today. It made my heart melt.

**Pics are from this past weekend.

More thoughts on nursing (meemee)

While looking through the Sunday newspaper this weekend, I suddenly hear, "Meemee! Meemee!" I lean over to see what's causing all the excitement and I see she's pointing at this:









My two year old nursing daughter thinks this closeup of Homer Simpson is something else. **sigh**

I know, it's been awhile

I know it's been so long since I've updated this. I've just been so busy. Lots of stuff going on right now. I'll update later.

My Baby is TWO!

My baby is two today. I can't believe she is already that old.

Tomorrow we are having a birthday party at the park to celebrate.

"Dora" is the theme of the party. It surprised me that she chose Dora as she is such a huge Disney Princess fan. We have Dora plates, cups, table cover, everything Dora.

Halloween

My ankle is feeling much better and the kids are finally returning back to normal. Thank you everyone for your kind words and well wishes. :D

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. I love the costumes, the candy and the crispness in the air.

The kids have attended two Halloween parties this year. One was at Trent's school, the other was at our Community Center. Katrina won a prize for her costume at the Center. I think it was the May Arts ribbon in her hair that was the clincher. ;)


Trent was determined to be something spooky this year. After what seemed like forever, he was finally chose the spooky alien costume. It was the spookiest costume in his size. The costume he really, really wanted was the headless guy that holds his own head costume. Thank goodness that came only in adult sizes.

Still MIA

Well, this is great. I've now sprained my ankle. I don't even have a good story to go along with it. I was just walking. I didn't slip on anything. I didn't trip over anything. I wasn't rescuing anybody. I was just walking and didn't put my foot down right and I heard a crack. The next thing I know I was writhing in pain on the floor. Several hours later I was out of Urgent Care with my ankle wrapped, a Rx for crutches and pain killers. Great. This will be fun.

I have to say though, that the bruise running along the side of my foot is pretty darn cool. I took pictures. :D

To top it all off, both kids are sick. Well, at least maybe that means they have less energy to run around making me chase them.

Let me just list the cute things Trent has said over the last couple of weeks. I don't want to forget these:

I knew that Baby Kat and Trent were upstairs playing. Suddenly, it got real quiet. I went upstairs to check and they were playing nicely in Baby Kat's new room.

Trent looked up at me when I entered the room and said, "Baby Kat's my friend, huh?"

"Yes, she is." I replied.

"She's a princess girl."

"Yeah, that's right. She sure is."

He then proceeded to open the doors on her armoire and said, "Look at these clothes. We need to go out and buy here more princess clothes."

I laughed.

During "cuddle time", our evening ritual where everyone squishes together in our bed and we watch tv or read books, Baby Kat noticed Erik's nipples.

"Meemee", she said.

I said, "Can you meemee Daddy? No, that's silly."

She looked kind of confused as she poked and examined Daddy's meemee.

Trent seeing all the confusion, explained to Baby Kat, "Mommy has milk. Daddy has water."

heeheehee

MIA

Sorry to everyone who is not getting returned emails or wondering where I have been. I've been sick and now Erik is out of town. Hopefully, I'll be back in the swing of things in a few days.

New Stuff

Finally, Cindy is back in business and sending kits out. I love her new kit for October.
3 Scrappy Boys

Here's my first LO:

These papers are so pretty and fun to work with.


I haven't scrapped in like three days! That's unheard of for me. I've been consumed by
Caesar III. We've had this game for at least 5 years, maybe longer. I just woke up a few days ago with a craving for it. I have been MIA from all message boards during my little obsession. I see that some time this fall,
Caesar IV will be out. I will probably have to take a break from scrapping for awhile!

Peanuts

Something I thought I'd never hear myself say:

"Are those peanuts in your mouth? You need to sit up and swallow those before you do anymore meemee(nursing)."