November 18, 2008

I took some pictures of our Bella bear this morning. She’s growing, but still enough of a peanut that Chloe can sometimes win at tug-a-war with her. They’re actually matched up perfectly with strength which makes it pretty funny to watch them.

Wachya got there momma?

Wanna play?

Mmmmm, clothes taste good!

Hey, that's mine!

Did ya hear me? That's mine!

Seriously, it's my toy.

Success!!

We’ve had some cold nights here this week and this little girl is just like her momma! It was about 68 in the house before I turned the heat on and she thought it was sooooo cold. She loves when we do fires and roast marshmallows. She doesn’t like to eat them, just roast them.
Mark took one look at her and said “it’s gonna be a long winter”.

November 15, 2008

Our bunco group met last night, but only 7 of us could make it so we sat around chatting and eating. It was really fun and as much as we enjoy playing bunco it was nice to just sit and talk.
I have a Tastefully simple party today so I have some beer bread in the oven right now and I'm about to put this yummy vanilla/rum frosting on top of the almond cake! Yeah, it's way too early for these smells, but the party is 45 minutes away and I need to be there by 10am.
As fun as these things are, I'm finding myself looking at them as just "things" I need to get through before we leave. The more off my mind the better I can think, so I'm looking forward to tomorrow.
I just bought the girls the new Tinkerbell movie for the drive. I'm hoping even if it's a stupid movie it will entertain them for an hour and a half. The drive there will be much better than the drive home. Not just because of where we're heading and/or leaving, but because we're going to break up the drive there with a surprise stop at Disney. The girls don't know that there should be two less links on the chain than there are and I'm so excited to tell them! We may not tell them until we leave, but Madison will no doubt question why I'm dropping Bella off at my moms on Thursday instead of Saturday.
It's so fun to be a kid!

November 14, 2008

Yesterday was much better. The morning started off rough because Madison didn't want to finish her homework though. Mark was home in the morning so while I drove Madison to school we had a little heart to heart.
I spent the day getting ready for a Tastefully Simple party I have Saturday and Chloe played like an angel. I can't tell you how easy my days are with her.
After school Madison wasn't allowed to play until she finished her homework. She resisted a bit, but my foot was down and since I wasn't laughing, she knew. Her homework got done and the girls started playing. They were so good all evening! Mark was working the night shift so them being good was really appreciated. They played so well together all the way until their hugs goodnight. I went to bed without a headache, I cleaned up, I even had enough energy to watch a movie in bed while I waited for Mark to get home.
Madison will turn her homework in today and I'm interested to see what her grade will be. She gets homework once a week and I really don't think it's that easy. Most of what they do in class is cutting/pasting, matching, circling answer kind of stuff, but the homework is completely different.
She had a "book report" to do where we read her a book, then she needed to decide what happened in the beginning, middle and end. She had to draw a picture of those three events and write below her picture what it was.
They're given a week to do these assignments and it's a good thing. We have to piecemeal it with Madison because she really loathes homework-yes already. We quickly learned that the mornings are the best times to work on her homework because she's a hyper mess after school. Last weeks homework was the first assignment she enjoyed. They were studying the moon, sun and the suns rotation so each night she had to draw what the moon looked like. At the end of the week she had to compare them and write the difference.
They also have tests once a week on whatever they're working on. This week is two dimensional shapes.
I think one of her hurdles in school will be her perfectionism. The class had a worksheet yesterday that showed pictures of objects and they had to color the shape that matched it. All they had to do was color it, any color, any way. She didn't want to simply color the shape purple or red, no she wanted to color the shape exactly like the original picture. So the packet of seeds (where the shape was a rectangle) she felt the need to make that rectangle look exactly like the original picture. I leaned in to her and whispered in her ear that she didn't have to color it like that (in case she misunderstood the directions) and she said "I know, but I want to".
The eight pictures took her forever and she missed some playground time, but she got it done.
It's supposed to rain all day here, but I have food to make for the party tomorrow so that's fine with me. Bella might not be so happy though, she's not a fan of wet grass, or rain in the eye.
I'll try to update with some pictures of her soon. She's gotten bigger, but still a little peanut.
Happy Friday.

November 13, 2008

Mark ended up calling in sick last night. He's really been sick with this cold/congestion crap and he decided to take a day to rest. The girls were in rare form last night and while they provided for some laughs, they also helped with some tears.
I was tired, but oddly enough not cranky.
After Madison and I got home the bickering between the two of them started. It came and went all night and bathtime was the deal breaker.
I had given Madison her bath, she got her pj's on and Chloe was sitting there going to the bathroom when Madison just had to tell her a secret. Chloe wasn't in the mood and kept telling her to go away. Well, whining at her to go away. I told Madison to leave her alone just as Chloe head butted Madison when she leaned in again to try to tell her the secret. Mind you, Chloe is still sitting on the toilet trying to pee. Madison cried, then started to get mad at Chloe. I was sitting on the edge of the bath as the water was running. Given the totality of the afternoon and evening and I guess kind of even having a glimpse into the future I started to giggle. Not at Madison, not at Chloe, but at all of it.
Madison tried not to smile herself as she said "stop laughing mom! it's not funny." I told her they were funny and she just needed to leave Chloe alone. Again, I know I had an uncontrollable smile on my face and I also know Madison doesn't take me seriously when I smile.
I put my face in my hands and just shook my head as I started giggling. Madison then said "I'm going to push you in if you don't stop laughing." But, she didn't give me a chance to stop laughing.
My five year old pushed me in the tub.
There I am, wearing my sexy sweat pants and a t-shirt sitting in water as the tub continues to fill up. I started laughing so hard. I have no idea why besides that I was in shock she did it. Mark came in and his mouth just gaped open. Chloe was still on the toilet, but asking if I was ok. Madison was in shock too, but again, I couldn't control the laughter and I started crying too. Not unhappy tears though. It was the weirdest thing ever.
I was shocked she did it. Only a little mad. And I thought it was one of the funniest positions a mom could have gotten herself into.
Mark got me dry clothes. Chloe got in the tub. Madison went on helping put laundry away and I changed.
All was well and the bickering stopped.
Mark can't wait to go to work today.

November 12, 2008

Girl Scouts went great last night. I think we're getting into a groove now. The girls seemed to love just playing and chatting with each other at the Playdoh table. We've had them so busy and rushed to get things done within the hour that they go nuts after the meeting playing and running around with each other. So, the playdoh idea was perfect for them to just be kids. We're not having a meeting again this month because of Thanksgiving and the next meeting will be our Christmas party with them so that should be a fun meeting too.
Madison and her friend Alysse got into trouble last night. Not much, but they started acting like sisters and they needed to be separated. Then I had a brief, albeit very firm, chat with them while I was getting them into the car. They spend a lot of time together because they're neighbors and her mom and I are good friends so they're comfortable with each other. On top of that, yesterday was a school holiday and Alysse had a lot of pent up energy from being at her after school care place all day. Somewhere along the evening they started pushing and shoving and didn't seem to care when I simply said stop. They were separated twice during the meeting, but apologized to each other later and seemed to be fine.
I'm volunteering at Madison's school today and I'll be working on the assessments. It's very fulfilling being there and helping, but also extremely exhausting. And unfortunately Mark will be waiting at the door dressed for work when I get home because he has to work the night shift.
It's going to be a long day.

November 11, 2008

I woke up this morning completely happy that I had nothing to do. Madison didn't have school, Mark was getting ready for work and I just had fun things to consider doing with the girls. I was supposed to call Melissa around 9am to let her know if I wanted to meet her at the park, but after getting in the shower and thinking about the day, I called and told her no thanks. I wanted to get some Christmas shopping done and I wanted to do that with the girls. I know, sounds nuts, but they've gotten so much better at shopping and I dare say it can even be fun sometimes! Since I was hoping to find some cool stuff for their cousins, they were perfect for the task.
I called my mom on my way into town and she was headed out for some shopping herself. We browsed Toys R Us first while we waited for her which gave the girls the chance to show me everything they've ever wanted. That pretty much included everything in the store. The "mommy can we buy this?" inquiry didn't last long though since I just told them everything they wanted they needed to remember to ask Santa for. If they could remember exactly what it is and remember to tell him when we see him, then they might see it under the tree.
They showed me what they thought Sarah and Kiley would like so we were able to get their Christmas purchased and Kiley's birthday done as well. Uncle Mickey's gonna be mad at me!! But Sarah will think we're the coolest ever.
Mom showed up while we were shopping and had the chance to see what the girls like. She bought them these cool thermos cups with their names on them and each a Minnie Mouse pez dispenser so they got something out of the day as well. Then we headed for lunch where Mark stopped by and sat with us while we ate (he already had lunch).
We only got to one more store, but I was able to get something for Dad so I was happy with the day. I headed home, dropped off a Tastefully Simple order on my way so I got paid a bit myself and the girls are napping now.
Sigh. Life is so good.
I'm going to start putting the gifts away and chill for the rest of the afternoon before Madison's girl scout meeting tonight.
I have the easy task tonight, I'll be the fun table and the girls will be playing with Playdoh with me. Can't beat that!

November 10, 2008

My parents had the girls for the weekend and it went by so fast. We went out to dinner Friday, Mark took the truck in on Saturday for a lookover before our long drive to Miami and I pretty much finished getting the girls stuff ready for the cruise, then I laid out in the yard attempting to get rid of some hideous tan lines.
Sunday Mark slept in and then we headed to Georgia to have lunch at moms and pick up the girls.
Ok, packing for the cruise is fun, but a bit overwhelming. My thought a couple weeks ago was to get it down to as few suitcases as possible. Then I thought, ah hell, it feels like forever since we've cruised and the girls have never gone. When all other attempts to convince myself tons of luggage was necessary failed, I just reminded myself that I'd rather look at suitcases for a week than wish I would have brought more stuff!
We're bringing 22 pairs of shoes! Mark got his down to 4, but then each of us ladies are bringing 6 pairs! It sounds like a lot, and I guess it is, but we'll be doing a lot so I've completely justified it. They each need sneakers, black dress, white dress, brown sandals, white sandals, and crocs for the pool time and lounging. The shoes I'm bringing are black dress, brown dress, brown flip flops, black sandals, white sandals and sneakers.
You know our shoes have to match our outfit and we need to look totally cute for all the photo opps!
See, right there, justified.
I didn't realize until this packing fiasco that the girls each own 5 bathing suits. Now, I realize nobody needs that many, but they want to bring all of them regardless. I've talked them down to four each-they're tough negotiators. Well, really they tried them all on and they're cute in all of them, so that's all the negotiating that was needed. I'm bringing four bathing suits myself. No reason really besides I can't narrow it down and I'd rather just wake up each morning and see what color I'm in the mood for.
In typical man fashion Mark has all of his things down to one medium size suitcase. That doesn't include the garment bag for his suits/dress shirts though.
Now, I realize we have 13 days still until we leave, but everything is at least separated, set out in the back room and it's given me the chance to see what else we need before the last week.
The girls tore off the two links last night from the weekend and were both jumping up and down as we counted how many were left. Chloe somehow got to 40, but she was still excited!

Today will be another low key day since everyone went to bed miserable last night. Sniffles and congestion with a touch of nausea for Mark. Time will tell if he's going to work today and if Madison is going to school.
Off for a happy Monday!

November 05, 2008

I got a girlfriends week email from my cousin Bronwyn today and this picture in it made my day.
I just had to share it with everyone.

Thanks for the email girlfriend!

November 04, 2008

The weather has been beautiful here lately which means our windows have been open and the house is full of fresh air. It's wonderful.
There is a drawback though and it starts around 4am. I've gotten used to hearing the neighborhood dogs, no biggie now. And since sound can travel so well in the still early morning hours, I've found I can even get used to the roosters, annoying, but I've adjusted. There are some small farms behind our development and I guess livestock don't need to care about the time change.
But last night was the deal breaker.
Someone has purchased a donkey for their farm.
A donkey!
I don't know if it was a political move or if donkeys actually have something to contribute to a farm, but I had to listen to the most obnoxious hee-haw noises for about two hours this morning.
I'm a democrat who thinks donkeys are rediculous.

It did remind me however that today could be history in the making and I'm actually getting the jitters anticipating tonights election results. I don't think it's a done deal for anyone which just adds to my anticipation.

But, regardless of tonight's results...
the donkey on the farm needs to go.

November 02, 2008

A few weekends ago Madison kept asking about the cruise we're going on and when we were leaving. Since it was something like 43 days away we decided to make a chain of paper links that they could use to give them an idea of how long until we leave. They loved the idea and while we don't remember to take one off everyday, Madison is pretty good about reminding me every few days.
We're now down to 21 days until we leave for the cruise Mark's parents are taking us on and the excitement is starting to build. Chloe doesn't quite get it, but Madison absolutely does.

I'm looking forward to 7 days of no laundry, no meals to prepare, no driving miss Madison and tons of fun in the sun. I'm also looking forward to seeing the ship. We absolutely love cruising and our last cruise was in 2005 when I was 6 months pregnant with Chloe. We've cruised the Voyager class, but this will be our first on the Freedom class. We're Royal Caribbean snobs and if you've never cruised with them before I HIGHLY recommend you try it if you have a chance. They have a new ship coming out next year called the Oasis of the Seas and it looks amazing! We'll try to get through the Freedom class before trying that one though because I don't know if we'd ever want to go down in ship size once we've gone up.

This is the girls first cruise and our 5th together.
Freedom here we come!

Here's the link to the ship
Freedom Of The Seas

November 01, 2008

Last night was the best Halloween we’ve had yet as parents. Both kids understood the goal of candy, both kids picked out their own outfits, both of them were thrilled (and seriously hyper) all day in anticipation for the night and the best part was we made it through our whole neighborhood. Now, there are only 26 homes in our development so far and not everyone was home so I’m guessing we went to maybe 15 or so homes, but last year they only made it to 4 houses! It was light when we started but quickly got dark and while I couldn’t get a camera smile out of Madison before we left she sure was full of smiles when we got home.
My parents came over as well as my sister with her two girls. Mark and my dad stayed at the house drinking their beer and handing out the candy in the driveway while we headed out.
The girls were thrilled going through all their loot. They also ate way too much of it for anytime of the day and they loved every minute of it.
I told Madison that I heard this story about a Halloween fairy that buys your candy. She was intrigued so I continued on with my lie. I told her that if she left candy on her nightstand the Halloween fairy comes in while she’s sleeping and will buy it from her. She asked how much she should leave and I said it was up to her and depending on what she left would determine how much money the fairy left her. Well, she’s money driven these days so she picked through all her candy before bed and left more than half of it!!
She got $4.98 for the lot. She was thrilled! And she still has the best candy left for today (she was smart, she saved all the butterfingers, kit kats, etc for herself)
Chloe heard the same story but was not interested at all. Her exact words were “No, I’m keeping ALL my candy for me!” Even after waking up and seeing Madison’s money she just wanted to know if she could eat her candy for breakfast.

And if you're asking yourself what is Madison dressed as, please don't say Pocahontas. Three people asked her if that's what she was and she was getting irritated. On one of our last houses the 16 year old boy handing out candy said "hey, are you a jedi?" Oh my lord did that make her night! She wanted to be Obi Wan Kanobi and if she had her way I would have been Princess Leia, Mark would have been Darth Vader and Chloe would have been Yoda. She's in love with Star Wars right now.
Mark's loving it.

October 31, 2008

I made the mistake of telling Chloe it was time for nap. Silly mommy!
She happened to not agree with me and wanted to make the afternoon fun. I finished cleaning up the lunch mess, filled my drink, let the dog out and then said "ok, Chloe, it's really nap time now".
Silence.
"Chloe?"
Nothin'.
I start looking for her. I went to her usual spot which is on the other side of our bed face down in the pillows. Not there. I look in the closet, I look under Madison's bed, I even try playing it up hoping I'll hear her giggle.
"Fee Fi Fo Fum, I smell a Chloe bum"
Nada.
I went back to check her usual spot again and happened to see something that wasn't there before. Then I went to get the camera.

Can you find what doesn't belong in this picture?

I started taking pillows off one at a time.

She’s learned that just hiding on the other side of our bed isn’t so sneaky. It’s hard to stay one step ahead of this girl!

October 25, 2008

Madison got her $11 after school yesterday. She was so cute about it because she honestly thought it was the most amazing thing ever as I put $1 on the table for each subject and grade on her report card. She giggled and just stared at it, then I looked at her face and she had her big smile and said "Wow!"
Although there's not a grade on it, Madison is also doing great learning sign language and compassion. One of her classmates that needs both of those qualities in a friend is becoming very close with Madison. Those pure and natural frindships in kids are so sweet and I'm so proud of everything Madison is learning.

I went to my Bunco group last night and had tons of fun. There was also tons of food, but my small jeans trick worked. I wore my jeans that were a size too small in hopes I wouldn't eat things I shouldn't. I did have a bowl of baked potato soup with cheese, sour cream and bacon...YUM!...but after that I stuck with the fruit bowl. Considering all the other things that were there, including that awesome beer bread, and the fact that I didn't eat a bite of those other things, I think I did great.

It's still raining a bit this morning so I'm not sure our lawn mowing, sprinkler fixing, grilling dinner plans are going to pan out throughout today. I may see if there's a good movie in the theater, and if not, maybe see if Madison's friend down the street can come over.

Chloe just woke up and apparently I left for Bunco with her webkinz in the car. She didn't even say goodmorning, just "can you get my Froggy Greeny for me now" She had to walk me through what that meant since I certainly didn't know she didn't sleep with him last night. She's in love with that little critter.

Hopefully all of today's fires can be put out that easily and it turns out to be a nice rainy day family day.

October 24, 2008

Even though it's been raining for more than 12 hours, I'm so happy it's Friday. I have Bunco tonight and two days off from the already tiring morning routine. Chloe had a fun week going to the zoo, the biggest playground we've ever seen, having lunch with her Aunt Lori and playing with her cousin Kiley. She also got her first webkinz this week. She only wanted it to sleep with like Madison does, but last night she asked if I could help her on the computer so today's rainy day activities will be that and a movie cuddled in bed.
Madison gets her official first 9 week report card today and she's very excited to see how much money we're going to give her. Since we have plenty of time to inflate the payments, we're starting at one dollar for every E, 50 cents for every S+ and 25 cents for S. Nothing for S- or U. I know that's not much money but she has 11 grades and she would love to get $11!! And thanks to the wonderful Edline system I already know what her report card grades are, but I'm waiting for her to see it before telling her how much she's getting. She got an E in every subject and we're so proud of her!!

Well, the dogs barking, the kids are impatiently waiting for breakfast and I need a shower. Off to have fun!

October 20, 2008

Finders Keepers

After church yesterday I went to get Madison from childrens church and Mark headed over to the nursery for Chloe. I started walking out with Madison and the woman watching the kids told her to wait for her parents. Uhh, I'm right here. The problem was that it wouldn't have mattered, I've never seen the woman before in my life (she was a backup for the regular childrens church lady) So my five year old told her it was ok, I'm her mom. Hmmmm.
We wait out front for Mark and Chloe...and we wait...and we wait. We even walked over to the car thinking they were there waiting for us. After seeing they weren't, we walked back toward the nursery. A friends 10 year old daughter was skating by on her shoes and said "hey, they can't find Chloe" Uhh, come again? "Yeah, we were playing hide and go seek on the playground and she's really good." It wasn't but a second later and I see Mark walking behind her holding Chloe so no time to panic. As he described it, Ms Lou was getting frantic and everyone over there was looking for her...after Mark came asking for her though. The problem there too is the parking lot is right there and there's no fence. Again, I know I can be a worrier, but c'mon! Mark was the one who ended up finding her. She was half hanging down the slide (which faces away from the building) and half laying down on the platform as flat as she could be. Mark asked her what she was doing and she said I'm playing hide and go seek with Ms Lou. So he picked her up and asked her if she was winning.
I have to say, she actually is really good at hide and go seek as long as it's not one of those times she can't take the pressure anymore and she jumps out screaming "here I am!!" She has no fear so she'll be the one to go in the smallest corner, darkest hole and even sit behind our clothes in the closet quiet as a mouse.
She must get it from my grandma. My Aunt and the kids played it with GG over the summer and it took them forever to find her. And when they did she jumped out scaring even my Aunt Linda!

When I was younger my mom left for a weekend once and after I got mad at my dad I went on the other side of my sisters bed to cry. Well I fell asleep, which meant nobody could find me. And contrary to how I am today, back then a freight train couldn't have woke me up. When I woke up 3 hours later my dad is fuming mad and my sister is making sure I know how much trouble I'm in. He called the neighbors, he called my mom, he searched all my forts outside, he looked like Redman from Peter Pan and he was getting ready to call the police.
I felt bad, but I still used it to my advantage. When my mom called next I asked "Now will you come home?!?"

Wow, it's just so darn exilarating to think about the fun times in store for us!

October 07, 2008

Here's what came home with us! Her name is Bella and she's just the sweetest little puppy. Madison is head over heels in love with her and we're so excited to have her. The humane society was at the festival and I walked through all the kittens and three kennels full of of puppies, but when I turned to my right and saw her my heart just melted. I had to bring her home with us!
She had her first appointment today and we got started on everything she needs to be healthy and happy. We're crate training her and she's doing really well. It's only day 3, but I think she's done great for such a small thing. They're guessing she's about 11 weeks old and a shepherd mix and as of today she's 8.9 pounds.

Isn't she cute!?!

October 06, 2008

The girls and I met my parents at a Fall Festival yesterday. The weather was great although we dressed a bit too warm as it got hot later in the day. We've had some fantastic cooler weather here lately and I'm loving it!

Here are some pictures of the girls at the festival....of all the animals in these pictures, can you guess which one went home with us?

Was it a goat?

A guinea pig?

A puppy?

A bunny?

A pony?

Chester the horse?

Peekaboo...I know something you don't know!

October 04, 2008

Madison was very excited to start Girl Scouts last week. There are 13 girls in her Daisy troop and everyone was a bit nervous the first night. It went well though and from what the moms have told us, the girls are excited for the next meeting.
One of the projects the girls worked on was a Good Deed Daisy where they made necklaces that looked like Daisy flowers and when they do a good deed at home their parents need to write it on one of the petals. It's working out pretty well and Madison is not only learning about good deeds, but she's also trying to find things to do around the house to fill up her Daisy.
Chloe was sad she didn't get to go with us, but she had a game night with Daddy so it was ok in the end.

We're planning an end of the year camping excursion for all the girls...in our backyard. That should be a blast!

Here's a picture of her troop!