mute buttons and cracked heads

Why don't preschoolers come with a mute button? That way they can babble and scream and chatter all they want and I don't have to hear it. Alex is getting on my last nerve today. Not really sure why, maybe because I'm tired I have a head cold and a sinus headache that comes and goes. Being asked the same thing 5 times even if I answered the first time it driving me nuts. Most days I can ignore it but today it's just pushing buttons.I sent both boys up for naps early. We're going to Longwood gardens for dinner as well as to see the Christmas displays. We're going with some of the playgroup families. But I invited my Aunt along. So she and her family are joining us as well. I think they decided to do it because it's on the way to Chambersberg where my uncle's family is and they spend Christmas with them ever year. Last year we went to Longwood but during the day so we didn't get to see everything lit up. I'm looking forward to it.

I've decided I'm not going to be surprised if I end up taking one of the boys to the emergency room one day for a cracked head. Within an hour of each other last weekend they both landed on their heads. Quin was first. We keep the door to the basement closed now because he can scoot across the floor pretty fast. Well I went to use the bathroom glanced at the door it looked closed. Ken was in the front room. I guess the door wasn't latched and the cat had been downstairs. He pushed the door open. Quin likes to walk up the stairs now he does this with the help of an adult because he still can't walk by himself. I guess he decided he was going to go downstairs and try it himself. I hear "mommy look what Quinton's doing" which is a familiar refrain in this house and usually means he's into Alex's toys. Then I hear a loud cry. Ken got there first. Luckily he must have rolled down and the stairs are carpeted. He only had a slight knot on the back of his head.Like I said not an hour later Alex took a header of the back of the couch. He was jumping on it and launched himself over the back. Thank god he's been in gymnastics class the entire fall, he knew how to curl himself up as he landed. He actually only hurt his foot when it hit the train table on the way down. I just know now that an emergency room visit is in our future.

I'm amazed both kids are leaving the tree alone, well mostly, sometimes Alex likes to rearrange the ornaments. The only thing he insists on is that I light it when we come down in the morning.

Randomness

Just stuff that has occured to me lately.

Like the other day Ken was driving us all somewhere and this car cut us off and this little voice pipes up from the back "People just donno how to drive." I guess I say that alot in the car. I suppose it could be worse, at least he's not repeating any swear words.

I really really really wish Quin would just learn to walk on his own. This walking around holding onto adult fingers kills the back. That being said his new nickname is Mr. Scoochbutt. He gets around pretty darn fast, just scooching along on his butt. Always send Alex into a panic when he gets close to the train table. (even if he's ten feet way)

How is it that my 14 month old eats twice as much as my almost 4 year old. Actually we've noticed our boys do a lot of things opposite. Alex was babbling away at 10 months and has never stopped he actually had a good sized vocabulary by 18 months. He was crawling and cruising at 7-8 months and walking without help by his first birthday. He's been go go go always. Quin has just now really started babbling he refuses to even try crawling and as you've seen above he'd rather walk with the help of mom or dad. But then he eats really well, will try any food as long as it's from mommy's plate, he's a better sleeper in that he doesn't wake alot at night. Unless of course it's a night Ken and I would like some private time. How he knows, I'll never know because we never actually say anything. But on those nights he wakes up several times in the evening. Talk about mood killer, good thing we have a pretty good sense of humor.

The one that usually doesn't let me get a full night is Alex at least once a week he's up 3-4am for whatever reason, (stuffy nose, bloody nose, coughing, wet his bed, lost his blanket) and then he's up for the day between 6 and 7. Luckily after a trip to the potty he'll play "quietly" until his clock says 7:00. Of course the fact that he boys do things oposite gives me hope that I can start potty training Quin at 18 months and have him fully trained sometime after he's two. Alex refuses to get it. We've tried just about everything and it's just not happening.

We've been trying for a third child since July. Now I do want a third because I think then our family will be complete. That being said everytime my period shows up a little cheer goes up in my head. So even though I want another I guess I'm not quiet ready yet. We'll just wait and see what happens.

I've set it up we're going to have a cake done by Charm City cakes for our joint 40th birthday celebration in May. We picked may because at this point if I do get pregnant I'll be due in late summer/ early fall. A big party woul be no fun at all at that point, so we've moved it closer to my birthday instead of Ken's. Unfortunately Ken saw the price quote on the cake. I left the paperwork out on my desk. I was just going to cover the cost myself and not let him have sticker shock. Seeing as Duff has gotten so big now with the show on Food Network and all his prices have gone way up since he did our wedding cake almost 5 years ago. It'll be fun besides you only turn 40 once.

that's all I can remember right now, I'm positive there was more but I'm a little sleep deprived and I have a toddler pulling on my leg.

catching up again

So I’m falling back into bad habits and not posting/updating. The thing is I have stuff to say but I go through and read about everyone else first and suddenly it’s hours later and I should get to bed because I know Alex will be up at 6am even though he’s gotten good about staying in his room and playing “quietly” until 7:00.

For about three years now my mom has been holding her Thanksgiving dinner a week/week and a half early. She got tired of being the second or third stop for my sister and step brothers. This way everyone comes and eats and visits, then sits and watches football with Bill. Well Alex of course starts coming down with something the Monday before we’re to leave. I thought it was a cold so I kept him home from school Tuesday hoping a day of rest would make him travel ready by Thursday. All day Tuesday his fever would spike and come down. So first thing Wednesday morning I got him a doctor’s appointment. The fact that he couldn’t talk at all was another sign. Luckily it was tonsillitis not strep. The Doctor told us he should be fine to travel once he had a couple doses of antibiotics in him but to base going on the trip by how he felt. He was looking
Much better by Thursday morning even if he still couldn’t talk above a whisper.

We missed our playgroup giving thanks party. I had food made and everything. It was also when the cookie exchange was being held. I ended up dropping everything off after we left the doctor’s office. I was able to go back once Ken got home from work get my share of the cookies and even some leftovers of the food. Actually half the playgroup was still there. I had a glass of wine too before heading home. It was much needed after spending the day with cranky sick boy.

So we went up to Erie. The drive wasn’t too bad a bit of snow as we got to the northern part of PA. We got there had dinner settled down the kids or tried to. Quin was having none of it. He’s gotten to the age where he knows he’s not at home and doesn’t like it.
By the end of the trip he was sleeping a relatively normal amount at night. But that first night was hell; the only way to get him settled was to bring him into bed with us which of course means I didn’t sleep. I hate being such a light sleeper; every little move noise wakes me.

Friday we hung out. Saturday morning I had my massage, and felt like happy jelly the rest of the day. Everyone started arriving around 1pm. Ken took them into the living room took portraits (at my mom and Bill’s Request) Dinner was around 3:30pm. It was weird everyone started leaving around 6pm. So we had a whole evening to just chill as well. My mom made me a chocolate raspberry martini for our second round of dessert at about 9pm. We got on the road by 10am Sunday and were back home by 5pm. I have never seen Quin so happy in my life.

Monday I had to work, Tuesday was catching up on laundry. Wednesday I had to cook the stuff we were taking to Su’s for Thanksgiving with Ken’s family. This was a much more relaxing day than usual because neither of Ken’s brothers was there. They cause Su so much stress with their clueless ness.

Friday Ken had a wedding and Saturday we attempted a family portrait. (Again we tried when Ken had everything set up at mom’s) Quin will not sit for a formal portrait. Ken has decided we aren’t attempting this again until he’s 5. The photographer, Judy, knew Ken from when they were both taking classes at HCC. After a few minutes she understood why we didn’t attempt this at home by ourselves. What I wouldn’t give to have someone like Krystal close by for things like this. I can get good pictures of the boys together, but then I’m letting them play and just firing away. If things start going downhill I play peek-a-boo from behind the camera. We were able to get a couple okay shots there is one where the three of us looked good so I just photoshoped a new head in for Quin from on shot a few frames earlier. I think I may still just try and get something cute of the boys to make the Christmas cards and include a copy of the family one when we send them out.

Oh yeah I almost forgot the Tuesday before we went to my mom’s we went in and ordered out cabinets. The kitchen project is on. I’m getting excited and just realizing it’s only like six weeks before we start work. Ken’s buddy Ted came by Sunday to look things over so he can give us a quote for the work we need done. He’ll be tearing out the old cabinets, knocking out the soffets, and taking the old tile backsplash down. Then he’ll install the new cabinets and prep the walls for the new back splash I have yet to design. I’m going to attempt to put that in myself but Ted did say he’d give me instructions. He said it was pretty easy and if I change my mind give him a call and he’ll give a quote to come out and do it too. In the midst of walking through the plans and such we discovered that knocking out the tiny wall that is currently next to the fridge will actually cause a whole lot of extra work. We would have to move three electrical outlets and tear out some of the hard wood floor and relay it. Major head ache because it was custom made for this house 15-20 years ago. We decided not to knock out that wall. Luckily after contacting Lowe’s they said as long as the angle cabinets haven’t been installed, we can exchange them with a possible 15% restocking fee. We might not even have to worry about that since they haven’t even been delivered yet. We’re leaving the fridge where it is, placing the 24” pantry next to it and having 36” base and wall cabinets installed between the pantry and where the door to the garage is. I think this gives us more storage space so I’m not real upset about the change. Ted said he’ll start the work the second week in January.

So because of where the return will be Ken suggested we rearrange the family room. It would have been very awkward to get in and out the way it was. I started thinking about it and got a bug up my ass and decided I wanted it done now before we got our tree and started decorating for Christmas. I moved a lot of stuff out on Friday while Ken was doing the wedding. We moved the furniture around Sunday morning. Its funny moving the TV to the wall we did makes it look so much bigger. The couch now faces the fireplace as well as the TV. Alex mostly likes it, well except now it’s even easier for Quin to get to his train table. He goes into a panic as soon as he’s with in a yard of it.

That’s it for now we’ll see how well I keep up the rest of the holiday season.

A month of Thankfulness

November is always a reminder to say thanks for many things. I'm trying to follow along with the blog promts over at DSP. Since I get here once a week if I'm lucky I've got a few days to catch up on.

11/1 What Family members are you thankful for and why?

First up would be my husband. For all his quirks and annoyances I love him. He balances me. I've had to learn patience and to step back on certain decisions instead of jumping in and just taking care of things. He can't make a quick decision at all, well most of the time. And if it's something that doesn't really impact the family I just make a few points or suggestions and step back. Ten years ago that would have been very hard. But it's made me better able to deal with the insanity that is a three year old.

Next are my boys. I love them to death and no matter how much they drive me crazy I would never change the fact that they are here. I feel like I have to be a better person for them. And it makes me try harder to be a better person, to count to ten and step away instead of getting frustrated and losing my temper.

Last would be my mom. She always encouraged me to be me. She was my strongest supporter and now she's me inspiration. The strength and courage it has taken these last few years to deal with breast cancer. She speaks her mind a lot more and she's learned to let go a lot of baggage from her life. Because somethings are just so much more important.

11/2 What Kitchen things re you thankful for?

My oven one of may favorite things to do is bake. Cookies are top on the list.

My hand mixer w/ a whisk blade. This thing makes it so much easier to make light and fluffy frostings and chocolate cheese pie. My husband is ever grateful for me introducing him to chocolate cheese pie.

the tea pot once the weather gets cooler our nightly ritual is to relax and have a hot cup of tea befor bed.

11/5 Give three or more reasons why you're thankful for Autumn

The crisp scent in the air

I love fall light for photographs it has such a warm tone.

and this goes back to when I was a kid, school starts again

11/6 What jobs do other people hold are you thankful for?

Emergency workers, their help in a crisis can be the difference between life and death

Garbage collectors, it's a dirty job but necessary for keeping our cities and towns healthy

Farmers with out them I wouldn't have food on my plate, they work a long day with out much thanks

11/7 Think of all the new things on the market since our parents were young and what they had to work with. What cleaning supplies are you thankful for?

swiffer
furniture wipes
stain and spot removers

heh caught up just in time for the weekend

Family

I got this from a friend of mine and figured it was a good reminder. I know I need one everyonce in a while.

F A M I L Y
I ran into a stranger as he passed by,
"Oh excuse me please" was my reply.

He said, "Please excuse me too;
I wasn't watching for you."

We were very polite, this stranger and I.
We went on our way and we said goodbye.

But at home a different story is told,
How we treat our loved ones, young and old.

Later that day, cooking the evening meal,
My son stood beside me very still.

When I turned, I nearly knocked him down.
"Move out of the way," I said with a frown.

He walked away, his little heart broken.
I didn't realize how harshly I'd spoken.
While I lay awake in bed,
God's still small voice came to me and said,

"While dealing with a stranger,
common courtesy you use,
but the family you love, you seem to abuse.

Go and look on the kitchen floor,
You'll find some flowers there by the door.

Those are the flowers he brought for you.
He picked them himself: pink, yellow and blue.

He stood very quietly not to spoil the surprise,
you never saw the tears that filled his little eyes."

By this time, I felt very small,
And now my tears began to fall.

I quietly went and knelt by his bed;
"Wake up, little one, wake up," I said.

"Are these the flowers you picked for me?"
He smiled, "I found 'em, out by the tree.

I picked 'em because they're pretty like you.
I knew you'd like 'em, especially the blue."

I said, "Son, I'm very sorry for the way I acted today;
I shouldn't have yelled at you that way."
He said, "Oh, Mom, that's okay.
I love you anyway."

I said, "Son, I love you too,
and I do like the flowers, especially the blue."

FAMILY
Are you aware that if we died tomorrow, the company
that we are working for could easily replace us in
a matter of days.
But the family we left behind will feel the loss
for the rest of their lives.
And come to think of it, we pour ourselves more
into work than into our own family,
an unwise investment indeed,
don't you think?
So what is behind the story?

Do you know what the word FAMILY means?
FAMILY = (F)ATHER (A)ND (M)OTHER (I) (L)OVE (Y)OU

So this week started with a bang literally. I get a call Monday morning at 7:00 AM. "Hi Honey, I totaled your car." Ken is fine and I'm really not mad, slightly annoyed and I may be mad once our insurance premium goes up, because he's had three speeding tickets this year as well. The whole reason he had my car is because it's had a huge dent in the driver side door for over a year now. My sister backed her minivan into it when I was up visiting the summer before last. So last spring when Ken found out about all the travel he'd be doing this year we decided it was best he take my car and park it in airport parking becuase another dent or scratch was not going to make a difference in how much we'd get as a trade in from it. Where as the Odyssey is only a year old and we want to keep it running a good long while.

He was heading into the toll booths at the Ft McHenry Tunnel and the guy in front of him stopped short. It was a Ford truck so while the entire front end of my car crumpled the truck only had a tiny scratch. Insurance covers a rental for ten days. And Ken has been car shopping, we're going with another GM car mostly because we have points on our GM car just sitting there and we figure we can get a really good deal on an '07 at this point. He's trying to decide between a Pontiac G6 and the Malibu Maxx. He likes the Maxx because of the hatchback which is good for him getting camera equipment in and out of the car and he like the G6 because it has a V-6 and really smooth ride. We can get the better deal on the Maxx right now, so he's leaning towards that but being a Libra that could change tomorrow. It will go back and forth like this until crunch time, the end of next week.

They say that around one a child's appetite decreases but damn Quin can still put away some food. The other night he had a couple pieces of Alex's chicken. A fifth of my pork chop, some green beans and an entire small sweet potato, it was about an inch and a half in diameter and between 4 and 5 inches long. Alex never ate a lot to begin with so it did worry me a bit when he was basically down to one meal a day between the ages of 12 months and 30 months. He's better now but Quin still out eats him. He's definately going to be the big little brother.

Quin is also at that hard age where he's goiong down to one nap. So I've been trying to push his morning nap back but I can only do that so much. Three days a week I have to pick Alex up at preschool at 1pm. So putting him down later than 11am isn't an option at the moment. And he's just too cranky for words to let him go until after we get back from getting Alex. I'm seriously going to think about letting Alex stay all day at school those three days come spring.

We've had two and a half days of rain. I'm sure we've made a small dent in the drought conditions at this point. Looks like we can expect more tomorrow. So I need to figure out what to do with two kids for the day if I don't want to be trapped in the house with them by myself all day. At least today was Ken's normal friday off, so we could trade through out the day. Hmmm maybe that's why I woke with a migraine this morning. I know if you're trying to get pregnant you're not supposed to use advil but extra strength tylenol does nothing for my migraine but I figure it's early enough in this cycle it won't matter. It's better than being in pain all day.

okay that all that's new for right now.

photos and photos

I'm starting off today with a couple of my favorite recent pictures of the boys
this first one just shows the difference in they're personalities so well

the second one I like because of Quin's smile

Quin has the most soulful puppy dog eyes, I know it's kind of sad I'm comparing my son to a dog but that's what they remind me of sometimes.

So I had my day off from the kids yesterday, Ken told me the night before he was dreading this day alone with the boys. But damn, it I've earned this at least twice a month since March he's been gone for a good portion of the week. That means no break for me, I'm on 24-7. When he's home at least, I can leave the house for a few hours childless. So we figured out something he could do with the kids on a rainy day. They went to the B&O museum.
When I got home last night the boys had just been settled into bed, so I snuck in and gave kisses. Ken said Alex had the time of his life. You could see the happy energy radiating from him. We're planning another trip there because ken didn't realize there were more exhibits in the other buildings not just in the main one. He said Alex had to name all the trains after Thomas and Friends characters. :roflol:
And Quin pulled one of my childhood tricks last night while Ken was making dinner. He got a hold of the box of wipes we keep next to my desk for diaper changes. Not only did he get it open he started pulling out the wipes. Ken said he had emptied a practically new package half way. The wipes were everywhere filled the whole center section of the family room. Quin was sitting in the biggest pile of them, so of course his pants were wet. I could have been worse he could have done what I actually did as a toddler. I got a hold of a box of tissues and started shredding them, the mess was all over the living room.
Yesterday was lovely and a little weird. I left around 7:30 am got to NY about three hours later. Though it took me another half hour to get to the Javitz center and then find parking. The Photo Expo is always overwhelming and I haven't been to one in about 4 years. My priority this year was to get info from the different album companies primarily for print and bind services on the coffee table style albums. I stayed away from the camera/lens vendors because that'll just make me want something we can't afford right now. Though nikon has a new super wide lens 18mm/3.5-55mm5.6 for about $120. it gets decent reviews especially as been light and versitile enough for when you need to be on the move.

I started winding down around 1 and went to get my car. It started pouring rain as I came out of the lincoln tunnel. So i got to Dianne's around 1:30. Ari is adorable, I just love his smile. He was showing off climbing on one of his toys so he could reach the lights. I even got a kiss as he left with his grandmother for the afternoon. Nilsa fell asleep soon after I started holding her. She's a noisy sleeper reminded me a bit of Alex. Always moving in her sleep too. Of course the fact that I was stroking her little foot periodically didn't help I'm sure. I really need to read the manual for my flash, I want to be able to control the light out put more. Even boucing the light was blowing out some of the pictures I took. I didn't do too badly on the hand held available light shots, though the ones that went down to a really slow shutter speed have camera movement in them.

I left around 4:30 and stopped to get something to eat outside of Trenton. I think that's what helped me miss the worst of the traffic. Though there was a back up around the Christiana Mall exit in DE.
I think I'm coming down with something. Around noon I was feeling a bit feverish and now it hurts to swallow, things must be a bit swollen because my ear hurts too. Wonderful, trying to decide which will help more the echinacea or the chamomile tea will help more.

oh Alex has found a way to help me fold clothes. He climbs into the dryer and fetches the clothes at the back them hands them to me to fold.:roflol:

So I found these photos last spring when I was visiting my dad. My grandmother is the girl at the very front of the group photo. I think from that you can figure out who she is in the others. Anyway I see these and I keep wondering what happened to that girl that she became the cold, controlling woman I knew. One who cut herself off from all her family except her most immediate family and did what ever she could to keep her parents, husband, and sons from spending time with them as well.

Growing up I saw italian families on tv and until I was a teen I thought that was exaggeration. Everyone getting together on weekends, aunts and uncles chatting, kids running around lots of food and talking, always talking. becuase my italian family was nothing like that. The only family I ever saw were my great grandparents, the sweetest most loving people I've known, my grandparents and my uncles. Except for occasionally my grandfather would sneak us out while my grandmother was at work and take us over to his brother's house. When ever we were there it was like the families I saw on tv.

Something happened in the early fifties. Not sure what, my dad only remembers them moving from Genesee street. He doesn't have a whole lot of emotional depth, my dad, so it didn't really bother him that he was moving away from his cousins and friends, in some cases both. My uncle Tony might know he's only a year or two younger than my dad but things are kind of strained between the brothers, so I'm not real sure he'd talk to me about it if I asked. Something happend that she basically stopped wanting to be Italian. It's kind of surprising since they were in Utica, NY. If anything being Italian even a woman, would have been a benefit in getting promotions at work.

So the puzzle just sits there in my head. I have no names of people to contact to find more of my family's past, most of those who were living when it happened are dead. There were also pictures of her as a very young child in portraits with my great grandparents you can see the how much she was loved even in those stiff photos. It just makes me wonder even more how she became what she was. Like I never knew how much she loved baseball until she was in an assited living apartment because the alzhiemers was starting to get bad. She still recognized us at that point but she always drifted back. She kept talking about what a wonderful time she had visiting Cooperstown and the baseball hall of fame. We never saw that side of her as kids. Just the woman who was sweeping up the crumbs under the table even as we ate. Or she would clean up the toys we'd been playing with before dinner even though my mom had told us we could leave them and go back and play after dinner was over. The woman who had screaming matches with her parents in their apartment upstairs, I assume because they went and visited relatives and friends on the other side of town. Because right after my great grandfather would leave the house and either work in his garden or go for a walk.

Even after his funeral, she didn't join her mother, aunts and cousins at the wake being held at her uncle's house. No she took her family home then took her sons stawberry picking, only her sons, not their wives, not her grandchildren. My mom always felt that family was important, she'd missed her own sister's wedding to be at the funeral. Even after my parents divorced, she brought us up to visit our grandparents, because my father couldn't be bothered. I know that day was very confusing for her becuase no matter how much she fought and argued with her brothers and sisters, they'd always work things out, eventually. Ah well, maybe I should look more carefully at the boxes of stuff my father has of hers, maybe I can find out more that way.

Onto other things, can I say how nice it is to be in a real bra again. Nursing bras aren't the best for support. I've been really lucky both of my kids self weaned. Alex at 9 1/2 months and Quin just as I was considering weaning him. About a week before his birthday he stopped nursing on the right side, then the last time he nursed from the left was the day of his birthday party. It's kind of nice to have my body to myself again. Who knows how long it'll last since we've been trying since late June. I'm wondering if even though my cycle came back, that BFing was still working as birth control. So we're going to keep trying until my birthday that is. I just don't want to deal with pregnancy after 40. I mean it's different if I get pregnant before than and deliever after 40, ahh I don't know guess it's just a silly rule I have in my head. If it happens it happens, if it doesn't I have two sweet boys.

So our kitchen plans have gone through some revisions. Mostly because Ken wanted a 36" range. Then we talked and threw ideas around and decided on a 36"

Jenn-Air cooktop and a 30" oven.

The cook top will be about where our range is now but the oven will move over to the return we're putting in. We got our Quote for the Kraftmaid cabinets we wanted. It was about 1500 more than I guessed, so not far off.

I can't remember if we pick this style

Or this

The quartz countertops Lowe's offers were going to be about 3 grand. I remember when Ken's sister renoated her kitchen she actually went to a place in PA and picked her slab directly because it got her a better price. I'm going to ask where she got her's but I've been researching. Most of the local warehouses do have a whole lot of choice, then I came across this site and it looks like they do work all along the mid atlantic. Marble.com The choices and colors they have is amazing, we'll know for sure in January if it'll be a better price. Mostly because we're going to wait until the cabinets are being installed before going for an estimate. They usually install within a week. Guess we'll be making a trip to South Plainfield NJ. They have three locations but that is actually the closest one to us.

He's one

Its hard to believe he's one now. He seems so much younger at one than Alex did. I guess it's because I've been through it once, and maybe I baby him more. But we took like a 190 shots on saturday for the family party. I don't think there will be nearly as many for the playgroup party tomorrow. So I'll share some.







As long as he was with Aunt Su, Alex allowed Quin to play with some of his toys.



Enjoying a cracker with YeaYea





then his Aunt got him started on a cheese curl habit





at least he eats Zucchini like it's candy

He's already got girls fawning over him

New pages

Quin & Cassy (and Karen)
Quin made a new friend at my sister’s. He has always liked animals.He’ll be my boy that brings home all the strays. Cassy’s initial greeting
was one of enthusiasm. That kind of changed once Quin decided he didn’t mind her kisses and wanted to pet her. Then she started barking and
backing away. The more he laughed and tried to reach her, the more she backed away. This is in contrast to Alex, who hates being licked by dogs.
He’s the one backing away, which of corse makes the dogs want to lick him all the more.

CranberryDelight Kit-Kim Liddiard


Bright Boy
Journaling:
He's my Bright Boy. Even his middle
name given to him by his grandfather
means bright. It suits him well. You
can see it in his eyes, his smile and
his personality. Even in his habit of
being up bright and early every
morning.

Bright and Early Kit-Linda Rechtin
Tri Me QC-Tina Chambers
Glitter Alpha-Elizabeth Weaver


Homecoming
I found this picture of my mom and her date last spring. She went to a catholic girls school and they held many formals in combination with two other schools in the area. I just thought she looked so pretty in her dress.

Harvest Dance Kit- Linda Rechin
Notable Women WA-Tina Chambers
Sketch-Meryl Bartho


Perserverance
journaling:
Quin is determined to walk.
He tries several times a day,
always with help. He's not
very steady on his feet yet.
He may just do it by his
first birthday, just like his
older brother.

Trunk Show Kit-Rene Bross
Perseverance WA-FAPresidents set-Tina Chambers
3Blackslides QC-Lauren Bavin

scattergories

A little fun for this morning, I got this a couple days ago from my friend Betsy.

SCATTERGORIES...it's harder than it looks! Copy and paste into a new email. When you are done, send it on, including to the person who sent it to you. Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following... they have to be real places, names, things...nothing made up! Try to use different answers if the person in front of you had the same 1st initial. You CAN'T use your name for the boy/girl name question.


What is your name? Cheryl

4 letter word: Camp

City: Charleston

Boy Name: Cameron

Girl Name: Cynthia

Alcoholic drink: Congnac

Occupation: Contractor

Something you wear: Chinos

Celebrity: Charlie Sheen

Food: Chicken Parmesan

Something found in a bathroom: Cat box

Reason for Being Late: car broke down

Cartoon Character: Cartman

Something You Shout: Come On!!!

Lots of new babies this past week. My cousin and his wife had another little girl. Then my friend Jean had a baby boy. Ken's niece also had her little boy, though he's six weeks early, so is in intensive care until his lungs mature. He's doing well. I'm amazed at Karen's strength. She had an emergency C-section but because they didn't have the facilities at the hospital she delivered at for premies, the baby was transfered to another hospital. Karen checked herself out after 24 hour because she wasn't going to be stuck in one hospital while her baby was in another. I don't blame her but wow, I hope if it came down to it I would have the same strength. The final baby was my friend Kelly's little boy. All this is really kicking my baby fever in to gear. Of course one of the ladies over at OUL has been doing an Oracle for any one who has questions. I was told I'll have a girl in July 2008. Which would mean I'll get pregnant in the next cycle or two. It would also mean I have to change my plans for a big 40th birthday bash for Ken and I in July next year. We talked about it, if I am due around that time we'll plan the party for Labor day weekend, probably Sunday.

Off to Cumberland tomorrow for a day out with Thomas. Alex is so excited to do this again. Ken took him last fall to the one in Stausburg PA. Quin is determind to be walking by his birthday. He just does not want to sit, he wants to walk but only by holding on to mommy's or daddy's fingers. Anytime you make him sit he starts crying. I told him he needed to start cruising the furniture. He didn't like that suggestion. spent this week cleaning the upstairs, just have the tubs and tpilets to do and I'm finished. Next week I'll be working on the downstairs, so the house will be clean by the party Saturday. Just praying the weather holds because we're planning a BBQ.

Insanity of Three year olds

I'm trying to figure out if it's just Alex's personality or the insanity being three brings. Now to set this up at least once a week I through a few pillsbury biscuits in the oven. I split once between the boys and have the other two myself with some coffee. Alex insists on having some "coppy" too. So I put about an ounce in and add milk. He usually dips pieces of biscuit into the coffee. Occasionally one falls in and he fishes it out with a spoon. Today that happened and he just looses it. I of course look at him like he's crazy and say "use your spoon to get it out." "NOOooooOOOOoooo, not spoon" "well you either have to use your fingers or your spoon, it's up to you." So he uses the spoon to fish the piece out with his spoon. Then the next panic happens. "It's Brownnnnnnnnnn" He's been dipping the biscuits in the coffee for six months and is just now noticing they turn brown when he does this? INSANE

What they come up with

It's funny sometimes what kids come up with. We noticed with the last few trip Ken has had for work, if he pulls out the big US wall map and shows Alex where we live and where he's going that Alex does better. This week he's on a much longer trip to Montana. He usually takes my car because with the dent in the door it doesn't matter if it gets a few more bumps and scratches in the airport parking lot. That means I have the minivan (this will change if we have a third, I'll have to break down and drive the minivan fulltime :sigh: )I picked up Alex at school today and he asked if we were going in the green car. I said no the brown car. "Oh yeah daddy drove the green car to see Hannah Montana." Bwaahhaaaahahaha!! Actually he mentioned it last night too that daddy was with Hannah Montana. I told Ken this he had a chuckle too.

So the other night at work one of the college kids (coworker) asked if I could sit down and talk with anyone living or dead who would it be. This is his first assignment for an english class. The first name that popped into my head was Jane Austen. First off reading her novels got me hooked on regency romances. But I'd want to meet her because she was very much an observer of how people interact socially. She wasn't afraid to show how ridiculous some of the rules were. I also feel she made her heroines strong, they didn't always play by society's rules espeically when they were wrong and hurtful. She wasn't afraid to show that women could be intelligent, sometimes smarted and with more common sense than the men they had to put up with, having no property rights of their own. It was an interesting topic to think on.

Two Things

Two names you go by:
1. Mommy
2. Honey


Two things you are wearing right now:
1. Brown bermuda shorts

2. Blue T-shirt


Two of your favorite things to do:
1. play with my kids

2. digital scrapbooking

Two things you want very badly at the moment:
1. Another cup of coffee

2. Enough time in the day to do all I want and get some sleep


Two favorite pets you have had/have:
1. Sunshine

2. Bailey
Two people who will fill this out
1. Karen

2. Betsy


Two things you did last night:
1. Went to Work

2. created a new page
Two things you ate today:
1. biscuits

2. yogurt


Two people you last talked to:
1. Quin

2. Ken


Two things you're doing tomorrow:
1. Taking Alex to school

2. completing an album order


Two longest car rides:
1. OH to CA

2. MD to GA


Two favorite holidays:


1. Chinese New Year

2. Christmas


Two favorite beverages
1. Coffee

2. Kaluha on the rocks

Well this has been a mostly quiet week. We got the the dentist and the xrays showed no damage to Alex's perminent teeth. He did say that I need to watch for discoloration in the teeth, he doubted that would happen but on the off chance it did they'd need to do a root canal so that the perminent teeth wouldn't be damaged. the swelling and sensitvity in the gums will be gone in a couple weeks.

Quin is determined to walk and he wants to do it on his own even though he doesn't even hve the balance to stand on his own for more than 30 seconds. Can't start the easy way crawling then pullin gup then cruising, no has to go from sitting up to walking. He will pull himself up if he can use a person.

Just sent Ken to the emergency room. While we were gone he continued working on clearing out the brush on the upper part of the hill in our back yard. He wants to lay stone "steps" to make it easier to go up. Well he came in contact with poison something, probably poison ivy but possible poison oak. He was treating the blisters but they seem to be spreading and they are popping on thier own and oozing pus. Checking on webMD it said that once they get to that point medical treatment is needed. The whole back of his right knee is covered, a patch on his left thigh and his right arm are just as bad.

On the kitchen fron we finally heard from BGE. We need to contact a contractor to install the gas lines in the house itself then notify BGE and they get us connected once it's ready. I think Ken was going to call the people who put in our new HVAC system. Not sure when he'll do that though, he'll be out of town all week. It's funny I have gone a whole week without him but usually it's because I'm visiting someone else. His travel the last year has been tues-thurs, this week it's mon-fri.

So this whole poison ivy thing has probably shot this months chance of baby making. I think I'm ovulating today. Which makes me want to just not try for a couple cycles because I'd rather not be hugely pregnant during the summer again. That and being due in July/Aug would spoil my birthday bash plans.

Quin is a boy after my own heart. I made ravioli with pesto for dinner last night because Ken had a wedding and it was quick and simple. Gave some to Quin and he just gobbled it all down. If only Alex would eat so well. Heh the only way to get egg in him is to make french toast, or I should say italian toast because I throw oregano, basil and parmesan cheese in to the egg before soaking the bread in it.

Starting to get together stuff for Quin's birthday party. Can't believe he'll be a year soon. I'm actually going to end up having two parties one for family before his birthday and one for playgroup after. I have no idea what to tell people to get him. except maybe clothes and books. We don't need any more toys in this house. All Alex's 12-18 month stuff especially pj's (they are fleece) are for winter. So I need stuff for fall weather, well except for jackets and coats. Long and short sleeve t-shirts, maybe a sweater or sweatshirt, cotton sleepers and socks. We need socks he's been bare foot all summer and I had to toss the ones Alex had. Suppose I need to look for shoes for him too.

I do like this for winter


it's not as heavy as a regular snowsuit, so it'll work well for going to and from the car in the winter. It'll fit nicely with the carseat.

I think that's it for now.

Vote for my picture

I keep forgetting to post this here. I have a photo at picture.com that's in the rate my photo contest. So if you get a chance go check it out.

Rate my photo, Click here

playing in simpsons land

playing with the avatar creator at the simpson's movie site. Cracking myself up.




Why is it children injure themselves on travel and/or holidays? Saturday evening Alex was playing with his cousins, slipped on one of his cars and fell. He landed on his face knocking his two front teeth back. Luckily they don't appear to be loose, there is a lot of swelling in the gums in that area. I left a message with our dentist's office to get an appointment asap. I just want to make sure there will be no trouble when the perminent teeth come in. I figure they'll call first thing tomorrow. Let's hope they can get us in that afternoon. If not I guess we'll miss the trip to the zoo on Wednesday.

Catching up

catching up on a weeks worth of prompts


Blog Prompt 8/24: One food you would never give up is...

Ice cream is the one thing I could never give up. It's a habit for everyone on my mom's side of the family and we keep passing it on down.

Blog Prompt 8/27: What are your 10 favorite words.

monkey
munchkin
cumbersome
honey
photoshop
digiscrap
silly
red
snapdragon
pesto

guess this is kind of a mixed bag of words isn't it. Some I like the sound of, some I like what they represent and some I just say all the time.

Blog Prompt 8/28: Describe the most serious illness you have ever had.

I would have to say when I got strep throat about 15 years ago. It was the worst thing in the world not to even be able to swallow water. I was running a fever, couldn't even sleep because i hurt so bad. That being said I can say I've been very lucky and never had anything worse.

Blog Prompt 8/29: Today is More Herbs, Less Salt Day. What herb(s) do you like in your food?

ithas to be garlic because if I'm going to replace salt with anything that would be it.Now I do have some other favorites, basil, oregano, cilantro, coriander and paprika.

Blog Prompt: Just call me nosy Rosy! I had to defrost my freezer this month in hopes of repairing it, which we did. It amazed me to find stuff in there that I had forgotten about! Name 5 things in your freezer right now.

This I will have to remember off the top of my head, since I'm not home to actually look. We have peas, meatballs, butterfinger ice cream (well we did when I left it could be gone at this point if Ken finished it)pillsbury biscuits, and pork chops. There is more stuff I'm sure bat that's what I can remember.

Can I say I love my mom. For the last year when ever I visit she get's me an appointment with her massage therapist and watches my kids for an hour. I'd do this at home but Ken as been gone to often the evenings I have free he's usually out of town. very frustrating. I'm hoping that will change once ths program he's working on finishes.

A little bit frustrating

This weekend has had it's good points but had some very frustrating ones. Friday morning I watched my friend Jean's little boy. He and Alex are good buddies. The only problem is together the get up to mischief that would normally not occur to either one of them on their own. They have now been given the nicknames of Butch and Sundance, and if they're with their third partner in crime (another little boy from the playgroup) they're the three bandits. So the boys went down stairs to play with the HO scale track Ken had set up on the floor for Alex. I'm on my laptop keeping an ear out for the baby who's taking a nap. It seemed kind of quiet downstairs, and that should have given me a hint that they were up to something. It wasn't until I heard the toilet flush that I went down to check. What I found was cat litter everywhere, all over the laundry room floor, all over my clean folded laundry, all over the carpet at the foot of the stairs then tracked over to where the track was, as well as on several of the toys they'd been playing with.

I washed them up then sent them upstairs so I wouldn't strangle them and cleaned up. I think having to rewash all the laundry was the most annoying part. The thing is they both know better than to touch the cat litter because Jean has cats too. Alex always asks what the cat box is I say "the cat's potty" "he poops and pees in the potty?" "yes" So he knows what it is and not to touch it. Luckily they avoided all the clumps in the litter and it looked like they used the scoop to get it out of the box. Still, they knew better. Ken came home right after I cleaned up the worst of it he laughed when I told him, but soon got a little pissed too as he helped me finish cleaning up. I told Jean what had happened when she came to pick up her son. At that point I was able to laugh. Her comment was "I guess it'll come as no surprise if we get a call from jail one day"

We are now on track to getting our kitchen remodeled. YAHOOOOOOOOOOO!!! We've been wanting to do this since we moved in almost three years ago. We even got an estimate on refacing which was like $35,000. We were both stunned because we thought it ws supposed to be cheaper than remodeling. Then we talked to a few people, including Ken's friend Ted who does home remodeling. He said for top of the line and replaceing all your appliances (which we wouldn't be doing) it would be about $20-25,000. For what we want he estimated $12-15,000. We had a basic plan for the changes almost from he start. Last spring I got the idea for having a huge combined bithday party for Ken and I during the summer of 2008 for our fortieth birthdays. Mine is in the spring his is in the fall, so one between the two seemed a good idea. But I wanted the kitchen done before that happened. He talked to Ted, who said he'd do the work for us but it would have to be during his slow time if we wanted a break on what he charges, which would mean Jan-Feb. That being the case we went into Lowe's to flesh out the design and get a cost estimate on cabinets and counter tops.
We were a walk in, so she worked with us until her appointment came in and will send us the final numbers this week. She told us since our project was January to order the cabinets early in Dec. We'll be able to get a pretty good deal because at that point it's so slow they'll make deals to get the sales. Very cool.

Now the frustrationin all this is we want to get a gas range. Both Ken and I grew up cooking on gas ranges. It's possible to get a gas line in this neighborhood, even though we have electric heat/ac. Our neighbor works for BGE and said it would be $800-1000 to get a line installed. So we've called (well Ken has) several times in the last year and a half and BGE keeps saying they'll call back and send us a letter telling us what we need to do on our end. Never happened, we've still got a few months to get through to them but it would be easier for them to do while the weather is still good.

Now my final frustration is Ken's travel schedule. He's been talking, trying to set up a schedule to go to the various Air Force bases to do the installations for the project he's been working on since March. The PM (project manager) is a civilian working for the Air Force. He sent a possible schedule in March, along with the project info they needed. He sent additional info as he went along. He's been in touch with a few of the bases, even visited a couple. The impression he got from them was any schedule he gave them would be fine, they just want it done. But he has to go through channels which means the PM. Ken's impression of this guy is that they gave him this position because he'll be retiring soon, and this is something he can't screw up too much. Boy were they wrong. He's been sitting on the schedule and the info. In July he had Ken resend everything because he couldn't find any of it. This really burned Ken up, as he'd all ready sent everything as he got it. So he flooded the guy's e-mail with reports. PM is now getting it from both sides the AF wants this done before '07 is out and has been trying to get a schedule since spring.
He's becoming very resentful. Now if this guy had done his job back in March everything would be done except for one or two more installs. Now Ken may have to work through the holidays to get all this done and get and extention on his use or loose time. It also means the trips he takes are the entire week, meaning he's gone from Monday morning to Friday evening. This screws my work schedule because then the only days I can work are Saturday and Sunday and he's got weddings two Saturdays each in September and October. In September we also have my MIL's birthday party one of those and Quin's first birthday party on another.

Ken not being used to a weekly work schedule, because his is bi-weekly, assumed that for the Monday's I miss at work I can make them up the Friday before. Doesn't work that way if I want to switch days I have to do it with in the same pay period. So now I'm losing two days of work because we have no one to watch the boys. The two people I'd ask are both about to have babies. Jean is due mid-Sept but because of GD she'll probably be induced the end of this week. And my neighbor is due first week in Oct so she can go any time now too. can I say ARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So I leave Wednesday to go visit my mom for about 5 days, I'll take my laptop so should be able to post.

8/16/07

Let's start with today's prompt and work backwards once again.

Blog Prompt: Aug 16 is the 30th anniversary of Elvis Presley’s death. Do you know who Elvis is? If so, what was your favorite movie? Are you a big fan of his? Why or why not?

Yes I know who he is, I actualy remember the day he died. We (my sister and I)were at the baby sitter's house. And I remember Shirly being so sad that day. I'm not sure which of her daughters told us Kim or Val, both were in high school so to a nine year old they were cool. I know the radio was on all day on which ever channel was playing Elvis music. Of his movies I'v only seen a few and it'll be a hard choice between Blue Hawaii and Viva Las Vegas. I wouldn't say I'm a big fan but I enjoy a lot of his music. I guess how I feel about him can me expressed by quote a remember a friend making when I was in college. "If I ever have a boy I'm gonna name him Elvis." "After Presley?" "No, Costello"

Blog Prompt: Aug 15 is National Relaxation Day. Tell what things you see, hear or do that relaxes you.

I like relaxing in a shady spot on a cool afternoon. A good book is always a plus. I cup of hot tea is a nice way to wind down before bed. And when my kids drive me up a wall a nice glass of merlot or pinot noir is good after they are in bed.

Blog Prompt: Describe a 'sound' from your childhood. What was it? When did you hear it? What does it bring to mind?

The sound of gravel under tires. The road in front of our house was made of tar and gravel. If you could hear the gravel crunching under the tired it mean the road had been recently covered. I can't remember if they did it once or twice a year. I know during the hottest part of summer the road was almost smooth and you could actually walk barefoot on it and not get your feet cut, burned but not cut. I remember hating it after they lay down new gravel because it made riding a bike a bit harder and if you wiped out pretty painful.

Blog Prompt: August 13 is Alfred Hitchcock’s birthday. In honor of his birthday, name the movie(s) that scare you the most.

When I was a kid the Nightmare on Elm Street and Halloween movies. Actually when I was really young that movie that Kiss made in about a haunted amusement park really freaked me out, had nightmares for a week. I'm not real fond of horror films unless they're kind of making fun of the genre. I have to say I found the movie Seven quite disturbing and the Hannibal Lechter movies did have me on the edge of my seat.

8/9/07

Blog Prompt: I'm in the mood for some "current events" today and would love to hear what the weather is like in your part of the world. Also, how much did you pay for gas the last time you filled up your car?

Hmmm weather here in Maryland is actually pretty typical for August, upper 90's and 70% or more humidity. I know becuase I complain about it almost every year. Though I notice it's worse when you have kids and have to find stuff to keep them occupied because it's too hot and humid to let them play outside for very long.

Now I was actually pleasantly surprised Tuesday afternoon when I filled up that it was $2.82 for mid-grade. Kinda sad that I think 2.82 is a good price. But compaired to 3.10 about a month a go it is. Oh how I miss the days of under 2.00 a gallon not even going to think about the days of under a dollar a gallon.

Blog Prompt 8/8/07: What is your favorite day of the week?
I have to say my favorite day of the Thursday. Mostly because for the longest time it has been the night I usually watch TV for my favorite shows. It's also playgroup day so the boys get to play with their friends. It's the night of the Freebs chat with Tina Chambers at DSP. When my husband isn't traveling it is the one day I don't have to make him lunch, he goes out with the guys to the chinese buffet. And the weeks he is traveling it is the day he comes home.

Blog Prompt 8/7/07: Look at your hands. Why are you grateful for them?
I'm grateful for my hands for all they help me create, whether on the computer or through crafts and cooking. They allow me to make things for my family and friends to enjoy. I can hold my children's hands and faces. I can relax stroking my cat's head. I can tickle my boys all these things would be much harder to do with out them.

Blog Prompt: Aug. 6 is Lucille Ball’s birthday. I thought she was a great comedienne so in honor of her birthday, I thought we could tell a joke.

Since it is also Monday, I think many of us need a joke to make us smile today! Sorry all I have today is a silly knock knock joke I taught my three year old.

Knock knock
Who's there?
Alex
Alex who?
Alex the questions here.

The weirdest thing happened over the weekend, we were watching Handy Manny on Playhouse Disney. In this episode he was fixing a treehouse for two boys at their Abuela's house. The younger boy Alex was being left out of his older brother's game/club because he was only 6 and it was for 10 year olds. Now this is the first time I ever hear the older brother's name even though this episode has been on a couple times. The older brother was named Quinn. It kind of threw me for a few minutes. The two brothers had the same nicknames as my boys though the relationship is reversed. Alex is the older, and Quin the younger.

Can I say how much I'm looking forward to September. Mostly because I'll have a couple hours to myself again in the morning. Alex will be in school and Quin will be napping. Amazing how used to little things like that you can get. So it's really dawning on me that Quin will be a year old soon. I worked on the invitation for his birthday party. The weddig Ken was supposed to have the last weekend in September got postponed so we're planning the family party for then. The playgroup party will be the following Wednesday. I keep wondering if I should be worried Quin still hasn't tried crawling or pulling himself up. He likes standing and will grab old of my fingers to pull up but he hasn't done it on his own. He hasn't even pulled himself in to a sitting position on his own.

I feel like it's my fault. He gets a little lost in the chaos. It seems like as soon as I start working on anything, like getting a meal together Alex has a crisis, though I make him wait until I can get to him, it still pushes Quin's needs to the back burner. I'm hoping once Alex is in preschool again, spending time alone with him will help.

guess it won't be every day

I tried but I guess I won't get to these every day. I'm thinking once a week may be a good start.

Today's prompt and move backwards
Tell how the internet has made an impact on your life.

Well the biggest impact was the people I've met. I have some good friends whom I never would have know if it wasn't for the internet my husband included. I met him on ICQ about 7 1/2 years ago. And because we lived close enough and both had a strong interest in photography we decided to meet up, three years later we were married. I've met people through so many different groups. Right after college I was part of the Mercedes Lackey fan club, and wrote fan fiction and went to dragon con down in Atlanta a couple times. The writing of fan fiction led me back to RPGs. Starting with MUDs like Dragonquest, then I moved into e-mail versions of AD&D and Shadowrun, these were more like round robin stories, with the DM creating the plot and each character writing their lines/actions. Once I started planning my wedding I started to visit different forums gear towards that eventually to the baby side of a couple of those boards. I still visit two on a regular basis, Our Little Universe and Lets Just Talk. Keeping journals on these forums also contributes in part to my digital scrapbooking. But the people I've met because of these places are the most important.

Now the internet has made other things much easier for me. I keep track of my finances better because I can download everything into Quicken. I can shop whenever I want and I can also research my purchases and then decide if I'll buy online or in an actual store. Because to be honest I dislike actually going shopping at the best of times. With two small children it makes is even more of a hassle. Even when I was younger most times I knew what I wanted and went to those particular places, then left. No wandering the mall for hours for me.

I think the internet allows me to keep in touch with my extended family better. I can write out what's going on post pictures in my galleries, show my new pages. Even though I talk to her every week I think my mom likes being able to visit my blog, she gets to read about things I forget to mention or that are kind of trivial but nice to know day to day things.

Tuesday's prompt


Take a photo you've been meaning to scrap and write your journaling for it here



I still haven't gotten to this one. I guess I've been waiting for the right kit to go along with it. I think this is a big example of what being three is all about. They're the ones keeping the band aid companies in the profits. At one point Alex was wear five band aids. Granted he did actually have booboos, though most of them did not warrant wearing a bandage. After a while I think they became a fashion statement for him. His favorites were the backyardigans and spiderman. It got to the point where, if he bumped against something he'd be calling out "mommy, MOMMMMYYY need BAnd AID, got ouchies, especially for hangnails and such. We got lucky while visiting my dad in July, they didn't really have any band aids so he had to make due with the ones he had left and by the end of the week those were gone too. Last weekend was the first time since then, that he asked for one.

This was from Monday so I'll answer as if it was still Monday

How many different 'hats' will you wear today? Will you be mom, grandma, employee, employer..etc. How do you balance all of it?

The biggest hat I wore was being mommy, but within that you could say I was storyteller, playmate, photographer, cook, housekeeper and chauffer. I was an album designer since we got in a couple orders. And finance manager because I went over all our accounts for the month. If it was friday or sunday you could add bookseller to that list as well.

Check out my Slide Show!

Blog prompts

I keep meanign to do this maybe it'll keep me posting on a regular basis. Anyway over at DSP they have a blog prompt challenge. We'll start with todays, and move back from there maybe I'll make it a habit.

What was the last movie that made you really laugh? Or do you have one you've seen over and over and still makes you laugh?

The last movie to really make me laugh was Dodgeball with Vince Vaughn and Ben Stller. We watched it 3 times in a row on DVD and them Ken went and bought it for me for my birthday. Though off the to of my head I can't think of one that over time still cracks me up. No wait that's wrong, Monty Python's Holy Grail still makes me crack up and going with that a Fish Called Wanda, must be John Cleese.

Thursday Prompt Make up a great excuse why you can't work today.
My excuse yesterday was I took the kids to the farm fair and we were all exhausted when we got home around 2:30 so nothing else got done.

Wednesday Prompt Stand in a favorite spot in your house, garden, wherever and describe it for us in detail.

We're out on the deck under our blue canopy. I love sitting in our cast iron chairs at the table because they rock. The tables set and canopy are set up right where the deck bends to wrap around the house. The grills are off to the right (yes grills one gas, one charcoal)almost directly in line with the french doors to the family room so Ken can bring dinner in quickly if we decide not to eat outside. In the spring my two azalea bushes bloom the flowers peeping through the rails of the deck, white to the right red to the left. Between the red azalea and the oak tree my husband has our canoe set up on saw horses. I hung the butterfly house my sister gave me this year in the oak tree just above the steps to the patio.

It'll be only a year or two more before we have to replace at least part of the wood on the deck. I love to be barefoot in the summer but the risk of splinters any more makes that hard. The only place that is safe is the 8 foot square area by the doors covered by one of those green outdoor rugs. Which reminds me I really need to hose down and scrub the kids toys that have been sitting out all spring/summer. They're getting pretty dirty. And I'm sure one of these days we'll get around to landscaping the back. Maybe leveling things a bit and putting in a retaining wall so that there is room for a play area for the kids. Maybe stairs cut into the hill so it's easier to use the flat clearing at the top for something other than weeds and overgrowth.

well that's all I have time for now the munchkin is awake.

Potty & Potter

wow twice in one day

So friday afternoon I was chatting with my neighbor, she has two little girls and is 7 months pregnant with her third, a boy. We were talking about potty training because I know she had issues with her older daughter who is now 5. The younger one was potty trained except for nights soon after her second birthday, this past spring. The older one took until several months after her 4th birthday, and even now still has accidents. My neighbor says is her way of manifesting her jealousy. She intends on sending a couple sets of clothes with her to school when she starts kindergarten in the fall. Mostly because the baby will arrive a month into the school year. She said that the big backslide occured because three things happened almost at the same time. 1) The younger daughter arrived 2) they moved and 3) her husband started to travel for work and was gone a few days every couple weeks. She said she dealt with it by just letting it go and letting her daughter win because she was just making herself crazy trying to get it to happen.

So I talked with Ken that evening before leaving for work. And we figured out that Alex's backslide started about when Ken started traveling for work on a pretty regular basis. Last spring we had gotten to the point where he'd sit on the potty no problem, he'd tell me he went/was going right away. That was the first thing that stopped, then he started refusing to even sit on the potty.
So we decided to back off until November when Ken won't be traveling again until March/April. Monday Alex started a two week day camp at school. And what do I see on the page that we get the end of each day. He used the potty all day. 7 hours at school not one accident but at home I still have to check him every couple hours. This definately reinforces the idea that this is a kind of passive/agressive reaction to Ken being gone so much. This and his fear of the dark becoming more pronounced in the last few months.

Friday was of course the release of HP7. I went into work at 7:00 pm. And was put incharge of the trivia hunt at the party. At about 10:30 I was sent out to relieve the people handing out bracelets for people wanting to pick up their copy after midnight. At eleven I was brought in to give me a register and take a very brief break, enough time to chug a bottle of water and use the bathroom. At 11:30 we were trying to clear the store enough to allow people to line up. Then the fire marshal and the police arrived and told us to clear the store completely have people line up outside and then bring them in. This took until about 12:15, with much bitching and complaining by people at the front of the line. (Why they cared I don't know, we were bringing people in by ticket number they recieved with their bracelets, so they'd still be one of the first 50 in line) Things moved very quickly from there and we were completely done by 2:45. Clean up took until 4am. We didn't really do much anything lying around was either stacked on the info desk or a library cart and the shelves straightened so that nothing was actually lying on it's side. We found out shortly before we left we weren't the only store that had to clear the entire store before opening the boxes.

I have my copy sitting here waitng for me to finish reading 6 again. I'm about half way through. That's about it the baby is awake so I must get him. I might get back on when he goes down for his second nap before we go get Alex.

Personality DNA

I got this from one of the journals I visit on LTJ

Benevolent Inventor

You are an Inventor

Your imagination, self-reliance, openness to new things, and appreciation for utility combine to make you an INVENTOR.

You have the confidence to make your visions into reality, and you are willing to consider many alternatives to get that done.

The full spectrum of possibilities in the world intrigues you—you're not limited by pre-conceived notions of how things should be.

Problem-solving is a specialty of yours, owing to your persistence, curiosity, and understanding of how things work.

Your vision allows you to identify what's missing from a given situation, and your creativity allows you to fill in the gaps.

Your awareness of how things function gives you the ability to come up with new uses for common objects.

It is more interesting for you to pursue excitement than it is to get caught up in a routine.

Although understanding details is not difficult for you, you specialize in seeing the bigger picture and don't get caught up in specifics.

You tend to more proactive than reactive—you don't just wait for things to come to you.


If you want to be different:

Try applying your creativity to more artistic arenas, and letting your imagination take less practical forms.


how you relate to others
You are Benevolent

You are a great person to interact with—understanding, giving, and trusting—in a word, BENEVOLENT

You don't mind being in social situations, as you feel comfortable enough with people to be yourself.

Your caring nature goes beyond a basic concern: you take the time to understand the nuances of people's situations before passing any sort of judgment.

You're a good listener, and even better at offering advice.

You're concerned with others at both an individual and societal level—you sympathize with the plights of troubled groups, and you can care about people you've never met.

Considering many different perspectives is something at which you excel, and you appreciate that quality in others.

Other people's feelings are important to you, and you're good at mediating disputes.

Because of your understanding and patience, you tend to bring out the best in people.


If you want to be different:

You spend a lot of time taking care of others, but don't forget to take care of yourself!

Sometimes you can get overcommitted, and when you sacrifice spending time with those close to you, it can make them feel unimportant.


You know what cracked me up, not sure why, but I held my pointer over the different squares in the tile. It tells what the different personality qualities are and the long green one over the little orange bar says slightly functional. I just find that funny.

Over a month

Good lord it's been a month since I posted in here. Part of it is me and part of it is my children. I think once Alex goes back to school in September I'll be able to stop in more often, like during Quin's naps. And by me I mean that I seem to have a wave of creativity that runs about 3 years. When I'm at either end, feeling no creativity or super creative I don't post. It's when I'm in the middle I seem to post. Right now I'm on the high end, I've done more work in the last 6 months than I have done in the previous two years. Just to warn you if I start posting on a regular basis it means I'm on the down swing.

The last week of June I spent getting all my stuff together for the display on the art wall at B&N. I put it up on July 1st then left the next day to go to TN to see my Dad for a week. We get back I have my niece and nephew with us. My mom comes in the next day, they were here until last Thursday. So it basically felt like I haven't been home for two weeks. I spent the weekend getting the house ready because Tuesday I hosted a baby shower for one of my friends from the playgroup.

Lets see what's up with the kids. Quin sits up on his own, has been very cranky because he cut two more teeth. Rolls over, likes to stand but has shown no interest in crawling or pulling himself up. He's eating table food on a regular basis, it must be cut in small pieces but he gums it pretty well.

Alex has given up naps, I was hoping he'd at least keep taking a short one until he was four. I know the three hour ones wouldn't last much longer, but to go from that to none has been killer. I tray making him take some quiet time in the afternoon where he just has to stay in his room and either play quietly or read his books but he won't stay put and I can hear him wandering around getting into stuff in my room. The thing that really gets me, is he now realizes he can leave his room when he wakes in the morning (at 6am). He doesn't come to our room first no, he hears Quin moving around and thinks he's awake so goes in there and actually wakes him up, then he comes to my room saying "Quinton's crying mommy?" Luckily I can usually nurse Quin and put him back to bed for another hour or two. I've tried moving his bedtime up but he still seems to fall asleep around 7:30-8:00 so I gave up trying unless he is unbearably cranky in the late afternoon.

He has me at my wits end with potty training. He refuses to use the potty. He knows how to pull his pants up and down by himself, and he's used it at school but here with me he won't, even when his friends are over and they use it. He is definately physically ready, but I can't figure out what he's afraid of. Sometimes it seems like he doesn't think he can, so he won't even try. I don't know what to do anymore. Today we went through 4 pairs of underwear. And almost every time he went it was right after I suggested he just sit on the potty. Didn't tell him he had to go in it, just sit on it. We're coming up on a year now.

Well because of his resistance and some additional reading I've done, I've started the initial stages of potty training with Quin. I set him on the potty for maybe five minutes a couple times a day usually shortly after he eats. I don't expect him to actually go just kind of get him used to the process. Alex doesn't like Quin on the potty because it's his potty, but he won't use it himself. Ken was thinking about talking with a professional so we could figure out a way around this resistance. I keep thinking I waited too long with Alex going by what was recommended, and waiting for him to show signs of interest, which he's never shown. We seem to have back slid to the point where he doesn't even tell me after the fact that he's gone, he used to at least tell me a couple months ago. bleh

observations

Can I say how good it feels to have my hair really short again, especially in this 90+ weather. I still can't believe Ken told me I should let it get longer, he's not the one who has to put up with it.

Ken was aking me questions the other day. Like was I as tempermental as Alex when I was a kid. I said no, I was petty laid back though things did have to be in a certain order but when I was upset I would just blow up and then it was over andI'd be a happy kid. I still do that, go along not let things get to me then I just explode and I'm all calm again. Quin is a lot like that. Then he decided Alex got it from his grandfather. The main difference is my FIL has the imperialness of the Dragon backing him up while Alex has the nervous energy of the Monkey. They both just lose it at the drop of a hat.

Quin is such an earthy personality. He loves food and animals and just hanging out outside. He absolutely loved the tofu dish at the chinese resturant we took my FIL to Saturday. It is so different how he reacts to animals compaired to Alex.

Alex would rather go to animals on his own terms. He's very cautious about dogs and hates it when they jump on him or lick him. And cats he loves to chase and scare. Quin on the other hand start giggling when a dog licks his face or hand. And wants to pet any furry creature that comes in range. The cat loves to just lay next to him and hang out. Guess who is going to be the kid to bring home all the strays.

random thought for the day: I wish Xena (Lucy Lawless)had the same birthday as me not Celine Dion. I couldn't stand her music before I found out we shared a birthday, so knowing this some how makes me dislike her music even more. Xena on the other hand is cool. She's what I wanted to be when I grew up. Heh the sad thing is I was an adult when the show came out.

Observations

Alex is so funny sometimes. Last night he got mad at us because we wouldn't let him have his way. I gave him a choice about a half hour before dinner, he didn't answer, so I decided for him. It wasn't what he wanted and I wasn't making anything else at that point. Anyway he's crying and sobbing and putting on his little drama show and sobs "I want Grandma, I want Grandma." I just had to laugh because he thinks grandma is such a great lady and she is, but she's a tough lady too and I know she wouldn't put up with his flip flopping either. His cousins know the rules at grandma's house are probably a bit stricter than at home and they've learned they can't always get away with stuff there that they can at home. I'm sure Alex will realize this eventually too.

Quin has figured out how to blow rasberries, so he does that all the time now. Well when he's not chewing on something. I hope his love of trying new things in terms of food lasts and I don't end up with another ultra picky eater. It's kinda fun having to share some of my dinner or lunch with him. He likes baked turkey, and he really liked the inside of the burritos I made the other day. He liked the pasta sauce we had yesterday, couldn't give him the actual pasta, penne just doesn't cook down super soft easily. Let's see oh yeah he like the fried catfish we made Monday. I'm still giving him the pureed fruits and veggies. He's funny though even when he's not realy sure of a taste, hell make a face as he eats it but his mouth is wide open for the next bite. Likes yogurt a lot, need to find a store close by that has tofu, the store I usually go to doesn't.

I have one more week of my photoshop class. I have to put together the last two frames for my display on the art wall at B&N. I also need to print out credits for some of the graphics I used in what's going to be displayed. That has to go up July 1. We drive to TN to my dad's lake house the next day for a week. My sister and her kids will be there. We may be bringing the kids back with us and the following weekend my mom would come down and pick them up.

Geez I don't know what with me lately, I guess I feel like i don't have much to say. Well some days things happen and I think I should write it down but by the time I get to the computer the moment has passed.

anyway to day was a rough morning. I had all of three hours sleep last night. I've had a sore throat since Friday. The last couple days it's been putting pressure on my right ear making it ache. Not real condusive to sleeping. So Alex woke at 5:30 crying because his blanket was dirty. I go in and it looks like at sometime in the night he had another nose bleed. It must have stopped as quickly as it started because he never woke. The little bit of blood on his blanket and pillow case was dry. I dabbed it off his blanket with a cold damp cloth and told him I'd wash it in the morning. As soon as I got him settled Quin woke. So I fed him and put him back down. An hour later Alex is up at his normal morning hour. The last couple days Ken has been taking him downstairs before he leaves for work to let me sleep a bit more. Today that didn't work.

Do you know how hard it is to explain to a three year old that some of his favorite trains have to be taken away because they could make him sick?
[URL="http://rc2corp.com/company/recalls_Wood_0607.asp"]RC2 recall[/URL]
I told him they had to go away for a while to be fixed. It'll be 6-8 weeks before the replacements arrive. So I get the tears dried and he understands enough that for now they are gone but he'll get them back just like new. It's a little after 7 at this point and Quin wakes up. Doesn't want to feed because he's more interested in what's on TV. I turn it off and he's still looking around because he can hear Alex on the other side of the room playing. I snatch a 45 minute nap on the couch around 7:30.

Get everyone fed and around 9:30 take Quin up for his morning nap. He's cranky and running a low grade fever. I gave him some Tylenol before I took him upstairs. He normally sleeps for two hours in the morning. Not today, I'm bringing him back downstair 45 minutes later. Then Alex want me to entertain him with the hand puppets. This lack of sleep and all the whiney crankiness from both boys is making me even crankier.

Finally noon arrives and I take Alex up for his nap. A half hour later I get Quin settled into another nap. At 1:30 Alex calls down that he is done. He hasn't slept at all I could hear him singing the entire time. So I go up and explain that he can't come downstairs yet because Quin is sleeping. I even told him. "I love you dearly but you are not a quiet boy, the baby isn't feeling well and needs sleep. So I need you to stay up here until the clock says 3, you can read, you can sing, you can play, but you have to stay in your room." He's still up there singing though the silence between songs is getting longer. I'm betting he falls a sleep at quarter of three.

Lord, the boy can get himself hysterical. I heard him all the way out on the deck. Wednesday I planned on putting him to bed early because it was a no nap day. So around 5:45 I started the bedtime warnings. Well by 6:15 he was crashed out on the couch. I took his stuff up then I carried him up. He was in that semi-sleep state when I laid him down. I asked him if he wanted to get in his PJs and he shook his head and curled up under his blanket, thumb in mouth. I thought yay me. Husband out of town both kids asleep, nice cool evening after the hot day. I grab a book and a glass of wine and go hang out on the deck.
A half hour later I hear crying. At first I thought it was the baby then I come in the house and the monitor it's coming from is Alex's. I bring everything in and go upstairs. He's standing in the middle of his bed tears streaming down his face screaming at the top of his lungs. He's usually incoherent or at the very least nonsensical, when he's like this. First thing I do is get him in a hug and calm him down. Ask if he wants to get in his PJs now and brush his teeth. He nods between the slowly dying sobs. We take care of all that and he lays back down, I go to ask if he wants a story and he's out again already.
Now this was the second day he'd done this. He got hysterical the day before when I wouldn't let him get up from his nap after he'd been up there 45 minutes playing. His delay tactics were so silly, he asked for stuff he knew I'd say no to but it was like he had to try because you never know.

Has anyone out there seen Max & Ruby on Nick Jr? Well Max gets this sly mischeiveous look on his face when ever Ruby tells him he can't do something or he has to play somewhere else. You know he's going to do the opposite. How is it possible that someone who can just barely roll over, topples over after sitting for a minute and can't crawl can have this look already?


He's found his feet, he takes the spoon from me when I feed him and he growls when he's chewing on a toy. The last one tells me he was definately born in the year of the Dog. He had the neighbor kid who mows our lawn cracking up because he rolls his wrists and growls and it looks like he's pretending he's on a motorcycle.

Last week we watched Butterfly Effect. It's not what I thought it was. At least not what I remember the trailers being about when it was in the theaters a couple/few years back. It was actually a pretty good movie. Very psychologically mind bending. Ken and I were talking about it for a good hour afterwards.

Now much going on right now. I should actually be working on my photoshop assignment, we have another lesson released tomorrow. The guy came and fixed our AC. Good thing it hadn't been unbearably hot the few days it was out. It was fixed just in time, the next day it was in the 90's.

I now know who keeps the band aid companies in profits. Three year olds, Alex wants band aids for the smallest scratch or bruise lately. And he'd go through an entire box of band aids in three days if I let him. I literally have to limit him to two band aids a day.

Why is it the nights I actually go to bed early both my kids contrive to make sure I still don't get any sleep? Last night first it was Quin, though at least once he let out a huge burp all was well and he went back to sleep. Alex then woke up at 4:30 in the morning, Ken got up to check on him since I took care of Quin earlier. Well Alex had another bloody nose and was of course hysterical. It took the two of us to get him calm enough for Ken to put into practice what his parents used to do for him when he got them. Basically tilt the head back, cold compresses on the forhead, and direct pressure if needed. Last time Alex had a nose bleed he was already awake and didn't even really know what was happening because I came in just as it started. He didn't have a chance to loose it.

Quin is going to be my eater. He loves tasing anything from my plate he can get. Well anything I can break up into small enough chunks for him to work on. So roast turkey, catfish, potatoes, biscuits, pork chop. And he seemsto like any type of sauce we have on our food. He loved chewing on my fingers the day Ken made BBQ ribs. Speaking of which I thought it was the top two teeth he was cutting this time. Nope, he's getting in two more bottom teeth.