A Break in the Weather

After days of rain, Monday was nice. Well, it was cold....but the sun was out and that was good enough for us. Big Al had taken the day off, so after N. got out of school - we brought the kids to the park. Much to their delight, the bocce ball court was flooded. Most of the other parents were yanking their children out of the water....telling them that they didn't need to get wet, etc. Not me! I'm a real stickler about some things, but the "puddle battle" is one that I never pick. Keeping my kids out of a puddle is much like trying to keep the white off the rice. It was great to get outside after being stuck indoors for so long. Plus, I had a great time taking pictures!

Baby Jack took his first real turn on a swing. He was thrilled! I love watching him experience new things. It never gets old, you know?

This one of the baby with his Daddy is my favorite shot of the day. It wasn't posed. My big tough husband is and has always been affectionate with the boys, but he's especially taken with this little guy. The feeling is mutual I think.

Recipe for Success

He hates plain rice cereal. Really, really doesn't like it. I tried mixing it with pureed applesauce. Nope, no good.

But! Pureed ripe banana (about a two inch piece), a few good shakes of rice cereal, an equal amount of already-mixed formula all put into my handy little "chopper" and VOILA! "Yummy" says the baby.

Rain rain go away

The weather has been horrible lately. More proof that I could NEVER live in Washington. EVER. Year after year, I survive the rainy season because I know that it will eventually END. The kids don't mind too much. They've had at least two trips to the store where I say "New crayons? SURE. You guys both want to get a new Transformer? YOU BET. A new video? ABSO-freakin'-LUTELY. Throw it in the cart, guys. Just throw it in the cart." Anything to keep them from bouncing off the walls at home.




Being stuck indoors, one of the things I love to do is bake. Cookies, breads, anything yummy and good-smelling is nice. But since I'm watching my diet closely these days, I just don't need the temptation.... much to the dismay of my children. They had to settle for hot chocolate - albeit the good kind, made with cocoa powder, milk, and sugar on the stove top. Topped with whipped cream and a few chocolate sprinkles just for fun, they didn't seem to miss the cookies all that much.





Big Al got called out to go work in the mountains at 2AM on Sunday morning. He got home last night at 11pm. 21 hours of double- time. I can't believe that it's even legal for him to do that! The company figures it's okay since the guys get to spend unlimited amounts of money on dinner (imagine a pack of cute, rain-soaked, blue collared guys walking into a white tablecloth restaurant. PRIME RIB ALL AROUND!) and then to sweeten the deal, their paychecks are heavily padded for the time they put in. I don't know. Big Al doesn't seem to mind. If someone (other than my children) called me at 2am and wanted me to get up and go to work, I'd tell them where to stick it. But that's just me. Thankfully, he saw this coming and scheduled a floating holiday for today. He oughta be able to catch up on some sleep and take a break from the crazy hours he's been working. Prince that he is, he just left to take N. to school and he brought R. with him. What a guy. On top of that, he got up with the baby at 5am because I have a terrible cold and he didn't want to wake me up. Like fine wine, he just keeps getting better and better as the years go by.



My goal for today is to start the process of getting back to scrapbooking. I haven't scrapped since WAY before 5-month-old Jack was born! I wish it were as simple as sitting down and starting on a page. But it isn't. I have to first go into my scrap room (which is now fairly clutter free....so I have that going for me) and see where I left off. Then I have to get on the computer, pull up my pictures, and make a spreadsheet (a great tip from my friend Jodie) of all the layouts I have to do. Then I have transfer all of the pictures that I will be needing to one of my picture printing sites. Probably scrapbookpictures.com. Then I order some. Then I wait. Once they get here - I can start scrapping! I should really resist the urge to scrap chronologically. It stresses me out, and forces me to do pages that I'm not in the mood to do. I'm not super anal about anything really (my family might beg to differ on that)....but for some reason I need some order when it comes to scrapbooking. I hate that about myself!



Another thing on my mind....I want to research sewing machines. I LOVE the look of machine stitching on scrapbook layouts. Besides that, I've paid for so many little appliqued and embroidered shirts, bibs, etc. (Etsy.com. my favorite cyber-place.) for Jack that I could have made myself if I knew how to sew. I swoon over beautiful fabrics all the time...thinking of cool things to make. I'm also sick of paying to have N.'s pants hemmed. I mean come on, I'm going to have to do that for YEARS as Jack is built just like him. Might as well learn how to do it myself. Another thing I'd love to do is make adorable girly things that I could sell on Etsy. It would be a great "girly" outlet for me!



So what do you think....have I made my case for buying a sewing machine? Also, any suggestions on what kind to buy?

Out with the old, and in with the new - the dental version

Check it out! N. has reached that adorable, toothless stage. He's lost a total of 4 teeth now (although the two bottom teeth have already grown back in!) and frankly, it's getting expensive. You know...according to the tooth fairy. Apparently, the teeth that he's lost were his "sweet teeth" because with every tooth he loses....he seems to be a bit less sweet. Grrr.

But that's another post.

And look at the baby! Two adorable little teeth have popped in on the bottom. You guys....seriously. This baby....love love love. I swear I'm going to end up with 10 kids (probably all boys!) because I just can't get enough BABY! Just looking at him makes me want to rush over to where he's sleeping and smell his head.....and nibble on his cheeks.

He's Out of The Will

N: "Mommy? Are you going to have another baby?"

Me: " I don't think so, why?"

N: (peeks under my shirt) "Well, because your tummy is still kind of....big"

This after losing 16.5 pounds since the first of the year. Great!! Just the encouragement I was looking for!!