Anticipation

Anticipation, it's making me wait..

The excitement is building up over here over the craft days.  I was informed that in 1 day, we will start doing our crafts.  (Sure hope someone has a plan and fills me in on it) 

I made a salad for lunch today and thought it looked so good (to eat) that I had to take a picture.

RT thought I was crazy for taking these pictures, but it was such a tasty salad!

(or maybe I was just real hungry)

It probably tasted better than it looked

 

Spinach, Tuna, carrots, radish, sunflower seeds, goat cheese, black olives, olive muffalata

I realized I forgot to add garbanzos (next time) 

Well, off to prepare for our crafts!  Hope to see you tomorrow through the glitter fog!

Fall Fun

Spent a morning raking some leaves around our house.  We have all evergreens except two baby trees. (one is in the yard that is fenced in)  The wind blows the leaves from our neighbors trees onto our lawn.  (isn't that nice?)  It gives the kids the chance to jump into a pile of leaves.  (we had to borrow some of our neighbors leaves for these pictures, they assured us that they did not want them back)

                                   No leaves were hurt in the leaf jumping process.

All this leaf fun lead to our Christmas picture

Don't they look sweet?  All that sweetness ended with Newton not cooperating,

 

which led to a leaf fight

Man down!

And, of course, the "I wasn't throwing leaves!"

We raked these up and decided to make an infomercial.  Take a look:

Motivating.  Makes you want to get out there and move those buns, doesn't it?  Alex is a great actor.  Hoping to have a few more for you in the future.  :)

We took a little trip

Nice pants :)

to the Field Museum in Chicago

We got a little up close and personal with the animals

Got a little close to Sue

And a little close to the edge.....

The kids enjoy going into Chicago.  Too bad it was a foggy, rainy day. :( 

There you have it!

Up, Up, Up

Thought I would pause a moment and explain my posting delays with a little UPdate.

I am trying to figure out how to UPload a video onto my next post.  I did not have a problem with the last video.  Hopefully I will figure this out soon.

UP and coming.  Bella and I have decided to have "24 days of crafts" the first 24 days of December.  We will do a craft a day for 24 days and will keep you posted on what we do.  Who knows, crafts and Bella, it might be millions of crafts a day.  So, you will see lots of glitter and glue flying around.  We will try to clean up behind us (maybe).

And, finally, we will try to attack that large bag of flour in the cabinet.  We will have to crank out lots of cookies in the next few weeks.  Lots of cookies for Santa to eat.  Yumm!

Stay tuned!

Family Game Night

I think my favorite time is Family Game night.

After dinner, the kids get to pick out a game we can all play together.  Lots of games come out of the cabinet.  Sorry, Monopoly, Sponge Bob Life.

There is always the night that Twister comes out.  RT and I can still play this game (without needing a  Paramedic on site).  Stretching, reaching, holding.  There's a lot of holding the pose when Bella is the spinner.  She pauses for a LONG time, waiting for someone to fall.  It's a good stretch and exercise for your body, but it can become pure torture.

Rummikub is another favorite of ours.  Challenges the mind a little.  When we play as a family, at some point during the game, the kids get loopy.  Instead of play, there's giggling and lots of goofiness.  That's when we reevaluate your game choice for the evening.  We (eventually) make it through the game (and vow to never play that game again).

The evening usually ends with some wrestling and a ticklefest.

Good times.

First Aid/CPR Class

I took this CPR/First Aid class for Daisy's.  Thought I should probably have a refresher course since the last time I took it (in high school).  I wasn't exactly thrilled that it was a 6 hour class on a Saturday, but, hey, its something good to know, just in case.

There were 10 of us women taking the class.  The instructor was a girl scout leader for many years (her daughter is 25 now).  She gave us some good ideas and tips for our troops (and for us leaders).  Very informative and had some interesting stories.

We breezed through the CPR part of the class.  There was a lot of, "oh, this is going to be on the test."  Thats the stuff that she went over.  Then, "you don't need to know this, it isn't on the test."  So, we didn't learn it (whatever "it" was).  We finished the instruction part and we were taking our test around 12:30pm.  One woman got to leave after that because she already had the First Aid class.  We ate lunch at our tables and then began the First Aid section of the class a little after 1:00pm.

During the First Aid part, there was ALOT of "you don't need to know this" and a few "you need to know this for the test."  You could tell that she was determined to end the class early.  At 1:50, she gave us the last bit of information then gave us our test.  She said, "Great, we'll be out of here by 2!"

I start taking my test, and the questions are not what we talked about during class.  Luckily, I have a little common sense (keyword, "little") and got through these questions.  I turn in my test and start talking to the woman next to me about some of the questions.  She said she doesn't  remember a question about bee stings. (that should have been my first clue) 

The instructor hands me my test and suggests I look over the answers so I will know what to do if I'm ever in any of the situations.  I glance at the first question and realize that I got it right.  I mention it to her.  She said she must have made a mistake.  The next question was correct.  Another mistake.  The third question, she looks it over and realizes that I got a different test than the rest of the class.  She told me that I passed the class. 

I should be getting my certification card in the mail.  I hope I'm never in a situation where I will have to use it.  I don't think anyone should rely on my expertise in this area.  If I approach someone needing help, I'm going to have to say,  "I see that you are (choking, in need of help/first aid), I should probably mention that  I had the cliff notes version of the CPR/First Aid class, do you still want me to help you?"  

Chuck E Cheese

Took Bella to a birthday party at Chuck E Cheese.  She was quite excited.  It's quite a loud, lively place.  Lots of lights, noises, beeps, kids. 

Bella loves trying all of the games.  She loves riding the horse and the merry go round.  Figured out the little bike and was able to make it go up in the air.  She even discovered Skeet Ball.

I should mention at this time, that standing behind Bella while playing Skeet ball is not safe at all.  Somehow the balls were bouncing back almost hitting me in the head.  (maybe this was done on purpose?)  Definitely a hard hat area with little kids.  She started to get the hang of it, turns out she loves the game now.  I still have to watch out for flying balls when she plays, tho.

Chuck E. made his appearance.  Bella wasn't afraid of him this time. (this is her second time, something she was telling everyone, by the way)  They did the whole pizza, cake, birthday dance with Chuck E.(loud) and then we were back on the floor for a few more games of skeet ball.  Did I mention that it's loud there?  We then had presents and the party was over. (thank God!)  We tallied up tickets and, thanks to her brothers' previous visits, she was able to pick out several little goodies  before we left (very difficult decisions to make, so many prizes to choose from, so many colors, decisions, decisions)

We finally made it out the door (after they checked to make sure that I had the correct kid).   Outside, I breathed in the fresh air and praised God we made it out of there alive.

Update

Thought I would give a little update on a few things.

First of all, the flour situation.  We still have PLENTY!  No shortages here.

Last week I made a birthday cake and tonight I made a banana bread.  I even gave some flour to a neighbor.  I should probably get busy baking.  There was a request out there for cookies.  I'll have to make some this week.

I was also complaining about rawhides.  You will be happy to know that we now have some.

I have a person on the inside.  Ok, its a relative who belongs to the other warehouse club.  I went along so I could pick up a few things.  (no, I didn't pick up milk) (or the other hundred things my children are complaining about)  Just the important things (like rawhides) for the favorite child.   By the way, had to wake up Newton for this picture.  He has that look of, what are you doing now?

And, lastly, it is fashion week here.  Tonight we had a shoe fashion show.  Bella showcased her shoe collection.  She is now realizing she needs winter boots.  Probably should add that to the "To Do" list since it is supposed to snow tomorrow.

Mattress Shopping

So, we had some free time this afternoon.  Bella was at a party, Nick working out, Alex at a friends house.  RT and I decided to go mattress shopping.  Remember my back problem?  Well, RT has been complaining about his back the last couple of days.  We really think its the mattress.  I would show you a picture of it, but, I don't think that would show the pain that it inflicts on its innocent victims.

First store, we start testing the mattresses.  The problem with this is, anything is better than what we currently own.  We could sleep on a slab of concrete and think its wonderful.  The first bed we try out, we both almost fell asleep.  It was nice to have the bed actually support your body while laying down.  Very relaxing.  We tried a couple more, but came back to the first one.  It looked short for a king size mattress.  We told the guy we would have to measure our bed to make sure it's the same size.  During this conversation, I am laying on the bed.  Nice and comfortable.  I tried talking RT into leaving me there while he goes home and measures.  No use two of us going home to measure, right?  And, in the meantime, I can get a short nap. 

That went over well.  :) 

We stopped at another store and the salesman said to try his beds out, and to  ignore everything from the last store.  His beds were comfortable (and a lot more expensive).  We weren't sure if he was telling us the truth, or was it just the salesman in him.  Totally confused, we ended up coming home. 

RT is dreading going to sleep tonight.  I think all that laying down on good mattresses has put my back in alignment and I feel pretty good.  Beats going to a chiropractor!

It has been crazy times.

Alex got in a fight with a pretzel jar.  Salt all over the dining room table, chairs and floor.  I didn't see what happened, so I can't tell you how it started.  All I can say is that it wasn't pretty.

Nick has been making it to the bus on time.  RT decided to drive him one day to the bus stop and the bus came and drove right through the stop.  Nick had to get out and run down the street to catch it.

Alex has been making a shelter in the bushes on the side of our house.  He hangs out there with his friends.  It's right outside our office, so if we are working, we can hear them.  It has been a hangout for him and his friends, almost like a club house.  His friends come over with sticks or branches that they want to add to this shelter.  I'm glad we have these big overgrown trees.  Can't wait to see what they do in the winter with the snow.

Oh, yea, our house has been infiltrated by some sort of militia.

                                                            (by the way, nice white socks)

I should probably start locking the doors.

Little Miss Daisy

Our first Daisy meeting was a success. 

After meeting several times, just to plan this first meeting, I was afraid this day would never come.

We had activities and games for the girls.  We told the girls some of the things we might do during the year.

We planned the meeting with: activity,  talk, activity, talk... 

We know that they don't have a long attention span at 5-6yrs, so we kept the meeting moving.  Making it fun and interesting for them.

We are near the end of our meeting and one girl says, (real loud), "I'm bored!"  We (the troop leaders) look at each other, and finish up the meeting.

Even though we thought we were doing great and the girls all seemed to enjoy it, the only thing that stands out from this meeting is "I'm bored."

Our second meeting was a lot better.

The girls made decorations.  We had a ceremony where the girls recited their Girl Scout promise and earned their center patch.    We gave them a small little bunch of Daisy's, too.

           Bella is enjoying being a Daisy.  That's all that matters.

Fairies

Some days I wish little fairies would come and do some of the chores around the house.

Wouldn't it be nice to have the dishes washed and put away, the house clean with all the toys picked up and put away and dinner made?

I know it's just a dream, but it's fun imagining these little tasks being done by someone else.  Imagine the extra time you would have and how you would spend that time.

With my luck, the fairies would leave a little note:

"We were having so much fun with all of the toys that were laying around the house that when we noticed the time, we realized we were late and had to leave.  Sorry for the mess."

Heeeeerreeees Johnny!

I took a mandatory Daisy class at one of their camp grounds.  One of the leaders has to take it (we all 3 took it at different times)

The class was at night.  You arrive and there's still a bit of daylight outside.  You pull in and park (in grass/gravel) and there are a couple of buildings across the gravel.  I go inside, expecting a meeting room and instead am greeted by a campy type building.  (well, it is a camp site)  We had a table and chairs and a bathroom (with running water).  It did not have that home-y feeling.

There were probably 8 of us ladies at this meeting.  The class was pretty general.  A lot of it was common sense.  As time went on, it was getting darker and darker, and I'm thinking there are only 8 of us ladies here, no security.  It's campy and a little creepy.  Perfect setting for a Stephen King novel.  I was waiting for Jack Nicholson to pop up through the window and say, "Here's Johnny!"

It didn't seem like anyone else was concerned.  Maybe I watch too many movies?

The class let out a little early (if you call 9pm early).  I ran out to my car and peeled out of the parking lot - never looked back.

Its a Tradition

My children know that every year on the morning of their birthday, I have a specially decorated cupcake that I bring up to their room.  I light the candle and sing "Happy Birthday" to them.  (I'm not known for my singing ability)  The kids (and I) like the special few minutes that we have together.  Its cute to see how the others peer in the room, wanting to be a part of the special moment.  Knowing that they have to wait until their birthday, they try to share in their siblings special time.  They are, of course, greeted with, "GET OUT OF HERE!  IT'S NOT YOUR BIRTHDAY!" (they have such love for each other)

Today is Bella's Birthday. 

My little baby is 6 today.   Here she is with her morning birthday cupcake.  Oh, forgot to mention that the birthday person gets to eat the cupcake for breakfast.  Yummm!  (and they don't have to share)   I don't think anyone has shared.  Again, there's that family love.  :)

Bella helped decorate her cake

Time does go quickly.  If you blink, you might miss something.  And with kids, you don't want to miss anything.  Best to savor life one bite at a time.