Happy Holidays

We have finally (mostly) recovered from a whirlwind of a Christmas week. We had good visits with family, fantastic presents, fun games, great food, and a lot of great memories. Matt's sister Caroline was in town for a week, so we managed to pack in four visits with her and Matt's parents during the week. It was great for us and even better for the kids, who adore their Aunt Caroline and don't get to see her all that often since she lives in Kentucky. We spent Christmas Even with my in-laws and Christmas Day with my parents. The kids were exhausted by the end of it all, and yet they still were wishing for more presents to open! I'm starting to think that it's too much to do a big birthday fuss for John in mid-December and then Christmas a few days later. It's overwhelming for him and for us!

Anyway, the holidays were full of fun and family and very good food. We enjoyed our visits with everyone and at the end had a couple of weekend days at home to ourselves to relax and recover. Now we're trying to figure out what our New Year's Eve will entail. Right now our plans include the kids and I going to a kids' show at Jammin'Java (a local coffee place/small show venue) with a few friends of mine from college and their kids. Then we're heading back to another family's house to hang out, play, and eat until the kids decide the evening is over! ;-) Should be a lot of fun and although it will be low-key, I am looking forward to a fun afternoon and evening. And a very Happy New Year!

Hope you have all had a happy holiday season and have a wonderful start to your 2009!

Also, thanks to all who helped me get to 300 hits on this blog already!! Yeahhh!! And I promise to get back on track with more regular posts again in the new year! (It's one of my more important resolutions this year!) ;-)

Whispers

Each year since I was in my early teens, my mother has made an advent calendar. Until a few years ago, it was for me. Now she makes four of them - one for each of her grandchildren. This is a slightly different advent calendar though. She gets 24 small presents, wraps each one and ties it to a ribbon. Then each morning of advent, the recipient gets to come downstairs and open the bottom present on the ribbon. It's a lot of fun and even though the gifts are fairly small items, it's exciting to find out each day what awaits you.

This year is the first time that Kara has had her own calendar. And the kids have been very good about opening them together so far. The other day though, Kara had gotten up early and was watching some tv before John came down. Once he gets up, he's ready to do the calendar and has had a hard time waiting for Kara to be ready. So this particular day, he asked Kara if she was ready to open her advent present and she said no. He asked several more times, with no change in her response. Then he changed his tactic. He went over to her and softly whispered in her ear about the benefits of opening her present sooner rather than later. It was so cute. And a moment later, she was jumping down off the couch ready to go find out what the daily treasure was. It was so sweet and definitely a little funny. He's figuring out that often he can convince her to go along with something he wants to do if he just acts sweet towards her. They're getting more mischievous as a pair!

I can hardly wait to see what the little whispers might result in during the new year!

The Holidays are Upon Us

Last night we managed to get everyone dressed and out the door to go to a holiday concert that my mother-in-law sang in. Her chorale was singing with a band and doing a variety of holiday songs. It was a very nice concert and the kids seemed to enjoy it. Well, John actually managed to sit through almost half of it before getting the wiggles. And Kara sat for about 5 minutes before the concert even started and then was on the move the rest of the time. Fortunately, it was held at Fairfax High School, so there was plenty of room to wander the halls around the auditorium during the concert with all the other 2 year olds who were just not going to sit through the show! Matt and I took shifts and the kids made a fair number of new friends.

As I was taking Kara down to go for a walk I was reminded of a very eventful trip we took 3 years ago to Austin, TX to see my sister-in-law's doctoral graduation ceremony, when John was just 2 years old. The trip getting to Austin involved flying into Chicago on a very snowy, stormy night. We were on the first plane for 9 hours, then had a terrifying cab ride for another hour, ate dinner at midnight, slept on the airport floor, and made the rest of the trip to Austin the following morning. WITH A 2 YEAR OLD. All in all, it took us 24 hours to get there. The next day was the actual graduation ceremony. I'm not sure why we thought that John would sit through the event. Of course, he didn't. Not for one minute. I spent the entire ceremony out in the hallway, again with the other kids and their parents. It was okay, but I was a little bummed to have come all that way to have missed the whole thing. But, I digress....

So we did the holiday concert, saw another Santa, and got dressed up in nice clothes for a fun evening out. We drove home through some neighborhoods nearby to see holiday lights. It was a good evening. John and I baked cookies yesterday and Kara helped frost and decorate them. It was actually the first time I had ever made frosting, so it was an experience all the way around! We've been enjoying getting more and more holiday cards in the mail each day. And the kids are certainly enjoying their advent calendars this year. It's been a good season so far and I'm looking forward to all the holiday joy the coming week is going to bring for us.

Relax - for a moment anyway

As I type this, I'm listening to Matt and the kids play with John's new Hot Wheels set in the basement. Kara's asking "Rea-ry Daddy?" (translate - Ready Daddy?). And the set is nice because to work the whole thing together you need to push buttons in two different places, which gives Kara a way to participate without making John miserable! It's a good time happening down there. We're also waiting (some of us more patiently than others) for some Christmas sugar cookies to cool so that we can decorate them. It's been a nice calm day for us, which has been very pleasant. We managed to get a bit of grocery shopping in. I did some of the gift wrapping last night, so I'm feeling a bit better about that task. The next couple of days are going to be busier again, filled with errands and visits with family, which we all love, but does sometimes leave me wondering when the other tasks of the household will get done. The day outside has been gray and dreary, but it has been that way most of the week. I'm really ready for it to either snow or clear up so we can see the sun again.

The kids seem to be enjoying the holidays so far. We've been making various holiday/birthday crafts, singing songs, watching holiday specials, and ready lots of good holiday books. Yesterday at the library we actually found a copy of The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, which we read all together before naptime today. I love finally being able to enjoy the season and all that it entails. We're getting multiple holiday cards in the mail each day now and I love seeing how all the kids are growing and changing.

Okay, the kids aren't waiting too patiently anymore for decorating cookies. So off I must head to do that before total anarchy takes over my household!

Holidays are Coming - Happy or Not!

Well, this week has been terribly busy for me. After the big birthday festivities last weekend, we hosted Kara's playgroup on Tuesday morning, followed by me having to work in John's class in the afternoon. Then yesterday, Matt stayed home with the kids and worked in the class so I could go out and finish the Christmas shopping. It amazed me at how much I was able to accomplish in a few short hours without the short people tagging along! I went to two different malls, a toy store, a shipping store, the Container Store, and had lunch in three and a half hours. I was totally wiped out at the end of it all, but it was done, so I felt like I'd actually gotten it accomplished. And it's still a week until Christmas! So this morning, with both kids up before dawn (which is just not the norm around here, and thus leads to super-tired and cranky kids), I decided to take things easy today. John was thrilled to help me put labels and stamps on the Christmas cards while Kara worked on her own sticker page. Afterwards we bundled up and walked up to the mailbox to send off our cards. Kara got to drop the cards in the box, much to John's dismay. Then we walked around the neighborhood a bit, delivered a few more cards ourselves and then headed home to warm up. It was surprisingly cold out this morning! By this point, I was exhausted, but the kids had finally woken up and were playing well together and running around while I was making lunch before getting John off to school. I was ready to drop him off about an hour early today, but held on until the normal drop-off time. ;-) Then I finally had a few moments to myself once I had Kara in bed for her nap. I briefly thought about spending the time wrapping presents or doing something productive, but quickly decided watching the last episode of Desperate Housewives, which I had missed, would be much more relaxing! After having some time to chill out, I headed for the laundry room and then the kitchen to make dinner. So now I'm about to head out to pick up John from school and figure out what on earth we're going to do to get through the afternoon. I'm seeing some art projects happening today!

Now that I've gotten so much accomplished, I'm starting to be able to relax and remember what the holidays are really all about. I'm finally looking forward to spending time with all our family and watching the magic of Christmas unfold. I wish everyone the luxury of time to stop and enjoy the holidays.

Thankful Monday?

Well, I know it's Monday, but I wanted to do a Thankful post anyway...Here goes!

I thankful for...
1. the fact that it's now 10:30 and I am still in my pjs. The kids are dressed, but I'm not!
2. my big 5 year old son.
3. and his cute little sister, who did very well yesterday with John getting presents and not getting any herself.
4. the holidays ahead and all the time we are going to get with our family and friends.
5. that we all stayed healthy (mostly) through John's birthday. Matt's getting a head cold now, which hopefully will run it's course so we can all be healthy again by Christmas!
6. having so many grandparents that my kids know and love.
7. having a day of peace before hosting a playgroup and working at the preschool tomorrow.
8. the joy and love of the holiday season.
9. the Thomas birthday cake we got for John yesterday - he absolutely LOVED it!!
10. and having a (mostly) clean house and just having to do some tidying up before playgroup tomorrow.

I hope you're all having a happy and healthy holiday season and are taking some time to enjoy the season in amidst the craziness!! Have a cup o' cheer!!

Crispy Cinnamon Garbanzo Beans

Yummy recipe! I made it this weekend for one of John's birthday activities and it was a big hit. Even Kara was gobbling them up! So, since it was SOOOO super easy to make, I thought it was definitely worth sharing!

Crispy Cinnamon Garbanzo Beans
makes 3 cups

1 cup dried garbanzo beans
2 T. vegetable oil
2 T. raw (or regular granulated) sugar
1/2 t. ground cinnamon
1 t. salt

1. Soak the beans overnight in cool water. Drain and pat them dry with paper towels.
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
3. In a bowl, toss the beans with the vegetable oil and sugar.
4. Spread them in a single layer on an ungreased baking sheet. Roast them in the oven until crunchy and no longer soft in the centers, about 45 minutes. Stir them a few times to prevent burning.
5. Immediately toss the beans in a bowl with the cinnamon and salt. Cool and serve, or store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.

Well, John is officially 5!

I can hardly believe it, but my little boy is finally 5 years old. As I looked in on him last night, he lay there sleeping soundly looking like such a big kid in his bed. Even 2 years ago when we got the twin bed, he looked so small in such a big bed. Now he's gotten so much bigger and is becoming my little man. It's hard to remember the days when he was just an infant. I am so proud of him and who he is becoming. He's sweet, smart, independent, and confident - all qualities I wished for him as a newborn. Of course there are times when he frustrates the heck out of me, but more and more I'm enjoying spending time with him. Often the best times are reading books or playing games together. Or just watching him enjoy being a big brother to Kara. I'm so happy that we had a great birthday weekend together and will get to celebrate again tomorrow at school. Happy Birthday to my big boy (and to all the other December birthday kids that we know)!!

Pre-Birthday Week

So this week has been a little nuts around here. As I'm trying to get caught back up from our week of illnesses last week, I've realized that I've done very little Christmas shopping. Add to that John's birthday is on Sunday and you've got one overwhelmed mom! Fortunately, I've done the birthday shopping and yesterday the kids and I conquered the party store for supplies for the (very) small birthday party we're having on Sunday. Today we did the craft store to get a craft project for the party and managed to get a Christmas present for one of my nieces while we were there (ka-ching!). It's been a very busy week. I've been very thankful to have my afternoons during preschool and naptime to get a few things done and have a few minutes to myself. My brain feels like it's going too fast and I definitely need some time each day to make myself slow down a bit and remember to enjoy the season. This is my favorite time of year and I've been struggling to enjoy it so far this year. I'm hoping that after Sunday things will slow down and we'll be able to relax a bit. I just finished doing a bunch of shopping via Crate and Barrel's website (with free shipping, even to multiple locations - yeah!!), so that takes care of a lot of my list. I feel very relieved! Now I have a few more minutes before waking Kara to go get John after school. Then I'm intending to do some vacuuming, but maybe we'll do a holiday craft project or watch a holiday show that we've taped instead. I need to have a little fun today!!

Piggy Tails

Okay, so the main reason for this post is to get up a picture of adorable Kara with her pigtails in. She let me do it for one whole weekend (even asked for me to put her hair up) and then hasn't really let me do it since then. I'm hoping maybe over the holidays I can get it up once or twice while she's distracted, but we'll see. It's just too cute!!

So, it's been awhile!

Okay, so I've been very lax in my blog posting since before Thanksgiving. But I have a good reason! Our family was inundated with sickie bugs for most of the last two weeks. Yuck! We started out the holiday with John, Kara, and I having head colds. Then Kara developed a nasty stomach bug late on Thanksgiving night. She was down and out for most of the weekend, which was too bad for our visit with all the extended family. The rest of us thought we were free and clear, but then we quickly realized we were wrong! On the Wednesday after the holiday, once my cold was finally starting to clear, I came down with the stomach bug. That night Matt succumbed and John was affected the following day. John was the only one who did not actually get sick, but he spent most of the day complaining of an upset tummy, stayed home from swimming and school and took a nap (which he only does when he's sick). So, after several more days of illness, we seem to finally have beaten back the bugs and be on the mend. Needless to say, it's been a long couple of weeks!

Fortunately, we did have a good holiday overall. With Kara being the exception, the rest of us really enjoyed the time we had with both sets of grandparents, my aunt, my uncle, and my brother, sister-in-law and their two girls. John had a great time playing with the cousins, while Kara mostly slept the days away. We cut down Christmas trees and decorated my parents' house, ate tons of yummy food, and watched some good football games. It was a busy, but good weekend.

This last week was a bit brutal for us, but with us getting sick in a sort of staggered fashion, we were able to get through it. That, and with the help of some good friends! We've been sick a few times this fall already, but this was definitely the worst. It made me appreciate the fact that we rarely get stomach bugs around here. Usually it's just colds, which are yucky, but not so bad when compared with this.

So, for now, I'm on to getting prepared for John's 5th birthday (which is a week from today - yikes!) and then on to Christmas. We tried to go see Santa today at the mall. Not quite sure what we were thinking - trying to see Santa on the weekend? Duh! Not likely! So I'm heading back tomorrow morning - going early and getting a good spot in line. The people we were in line with today waited at least 2 hours! No thank you! We waved to Santa and the kids were just fine with it.

Then later this week we'll be getting ready for a very small gathering for John's birthday on Sunday. We purchased a Thomas cake (at the preschool's silent auction), so John's delighted about that and wants the decorations to also be Thomas themed. So, off to the party store for us for supplies. And I want to get over to the arts & crafts store also for a few crafts to do in the coming weeks with the kids. Maybe somewhere in there we'll get to make a few cookies and treats too.

I really wish I had a few more hours in the day, a couple more hands, and maybe even a few clones of me to do all the chores that I can't seem to get to. Oh, and some extra cash to buy all these gifts and decorations with would be nice too!

Turkey Day - version 1 and 2

So this year we are going to have a crazy Thanksgiving! I'm betting this might be my last post before the big day hits and so I'm going to give the run down of our week ahead.

Thursday - We head over to my in-laws for the day. It will just be the four of us and the two of them, so should be a fun, but relatively low-key day. Since Matt and I don't eat the turkey, my mother-in-law has chosen a turkey-free meal - baked fish, oyster stew, salads, and other yummy feast items. I'm sure it will be delicious, but somewhat non-traditional. We will all have fun and eat to our hearts content, no doubt. Then at the end of the day, we will drive out to my parents' house to spend the rest of the weekend.

Friday - We'll wake up to a house full of family. My parents and aunt (from Maine) will already be there. Later in the morning, my brother, his wife, and their two girls (from Atlanta) will arrive, leading to all kinds of crazy cousin fun. And then at some point that day, my uncle and his wife (from California) will arrive. They will only be spending the day with us, but it will be a house full for Friday! This will likely also be the day that we spend going to cut down Christmas trees, decorating the house, and exchanging "First Day" presents. (First Day is a funny family tradition we have of exchanging small gifts that are Christmas related - such as holiday decorations, earrings, wrapping paper, etc.) Again, it will be fun, but definitely crazy!

Saturday - My uncle and his wife will be gone, and my aunt will head home this afternoon as well. But that still leaves the cousin cluster to play and create havoc! This is always a good time for the kids, who don't see each other nearly enough and really enjoy each other despite a significant age range. This night, my mom is planning to do a traditional turkey Thanksgiving dinner for the remaining group. John is happy that he'll still get to eat some turkey and Kara's excited for "tur-eeee."

Sunday - My brother's family will head back to Atlanta and at some point, we will head home to Reston. I'm not sure at what point that day any of us will have the energy to pack or drive home, but it will happen so that we can get our Christmas tree into the house and back into some water that day! ;-)

This year Matt has decided to take Monday off work, and I'm thankful for that. Typically our Thanksgiving weekend isn't quite this crazy, but it is always busy and we come home exhausted. It's always a big challenge to get ready mentally to head into Monday, so I'm happy that this year we can have one more day to ourselves to re-group.

Well, now I'm tired out just thinking about the weekend ahead! I hope everyone reading this has a great and happy Thanksgiving and I'll be sure to post next week about how it all went! Gobble Gobble Gobble!

Thanks again and again

Okay, so I think I forgot to do a thankful post last week. Oops! I was thankful, I promise! So, I'll catch up by doing one today instead.

Today I'm thankful for:
1. Great in-laws (who babysat for us on Friday night then had us over all day yesterday for football watching).
2. My sweet hubby who let me stay in bed until almost 9:00 this morning - ahhhhhhh.
3. My yoga classes
4. The kids who despite being up very late the last two nights and no nap for Kara yesterday have been quite well-behaved so far today.
5. A sunny day.
6. The Thanksgiving holiday ahead and all the family we will be visiting with - all the grandparents, my aunt, my uncle and his wife, my brother, sister-in-law and their daughters. Much fun ahead!
7. Having gotten the grocery shopping done this morning so we can relax a bit this afternoon before getting ready for a crazy week ahead!
8. The gift certificate we bought on Friday night at the preschool's silent auction for a character cake for John's birthday - he's so excited to have a Thomas the Tank Engine birthday cake! And I'm thankful to have it taken care of! Yeah!

Okay, now I'm going to go relax some more with my tea before Kara wakes up from her nap. ;-)

Popcorn

When I was a kid, my mom (who LOVES popcorn) would sometimes make popcorn and let me have that as my lunch or make a big bowl as an afternoon snack. She definitely instilled in me a love for popcorn. It was always a special thing, but it happened way more frequently than other treats in our house. As a result, I do, on occasion eat popcorn for dinner or as a meal, usually when Matt is out of the house and after the kids are in bed. I have yet to serve them popcorn as a meal, but I have made it as a snack. Right now the kids are eating a big bowl of it and are quite content. It is truly a family favorite for us. It's a cold day outside today and we were home after picking John up from school without anything particular to do this afternoon. When they started asking for a snack and it was early enough to make popcorn without ruining their dinner, I thought why not? Yummm. They both jumped at the chance to help turn the crank on the popper (yes, I actually do cook it on the stove, not in the microwave) and are happily now eating their yummy snack. The only sound is the crunching of their bites and an occasional "nummy" from Kara. How great that my kids have taken on my love of this delicious, and not entirely unhealthy snack (it does actually have lots of fiber, which is great for Kara particularly). I love it.

Great Weekend

Despite my pending head cold that I'm failing in the fight against, we've had a pretty good weekend. The kids are wiped out, as are Matt and I. Yesterday we went up to Baltimore for the afternoon/evening. We ate an early lunch and then headed out with the Port Discovery Children's Museum as our destination. Much to our surprise, we had no traffic and it took only an hour to get there. Once we arrived, we used some VIP passes that Matt had been given on a recent work trip to pay for part of our admission. And then, we entered into what I can only describe as an enormous playhouse for the kids. We spent the next 3+ hours wandering in and out of different play areas, climbing, sliding, exploring, touching, creating, and more. John and Matt even took a little class to learn how to make chewing gum! How cool is that? By 4:30 we were all totally exhausted. We stumbled out of the museum and took a walk down to the Inner Harbor pavilion area and found a Pizzeria Uno, after John insisted he wanted pepperoni pizza. We had to wait a few minutes for a table, which was a bit of a challenge with kids who were very tired and very hungry by that point. But we all survived. Then, of course, once Kara chose the dinosaur chicken nuggets to eat for dinner, John immediately switched his tune and ordered the same. No pepperoni pizza. Ah well, Matt and I enjoyed our dinner and all was well. We left Baltimore at about 7:00pm, thinking the kids would crash out on the way home, but everyone stayed awake the whole ride home. It was a great day that we all thoroughly enjoyed. There is so much to do in Baltimore that it gave us great confidence to do adventures like that again.

Today was a much slower day for us all around. The kids slept until after 8:00 and we took the whole day pretty easy. Every day can't be filled with such adventures! ;-)

Tis the Season

So we have had an extremely yucky week here for weather. It's been rainy and dreary all week long and the kids and I are totally victims of cabin fever. I've done my best not to resort to using the television too much, but there's only so much I can do before I must submit to the demands so that I can get some housework done without listening to them whine or fight. We've watched a little bit of Sesame Street, a few Scooby Doo episodes, and a little bit of Playhouse Disney. But, for the second time this week, today John requested "The Polar Express." We own the movie (one of the very few that we actually own), and he absolutely loves it. This is the first year he's actually called it by its true name, previously he referred to it as the "Magic Train." Anyway, his love of all things train definitely includes this movie. And I'm okay with that, because it totally is a fabulous movie. Who doesn't love Tom Hanks in all his many roles? Anyway, after a long week (including 2 swim lessons, Little Bits for Kara, babysitting, working at the preschool 2 days, and other errands/housework), I have succumbed to the tv. I feel a bit guilty, but it is Friday and we're all pretty tired. I would rather have them happily watching a great movie together than hear them fighting and bickering and having to play referee. I don't have the energy left to do that today. So, our exhaustion and the rain overcomes my guilt. Maybe next week it will stop raining and we can get back outside. For now, Merry Christmas everyone (at least to all those who truly believe)!

Thanks again

Today I'm thankful for:
1. Pigtails (see previous post)
2. Fingerpaint fun (after school, rainy day activity today)
3. An awesome preschool teacher (I worked in the class today and had a lot of fun, even on a rainy day)
4. That Kara did okay at a friend's house today while I was at class
5. John's progress in swimming and with getting his face wet in the bathtub
6. Being able to watch the last leaves fall from the trees and knowing how much we were able to enjoy the fall season this year
7. A warm house and cozy bed
8. The time to watch the Va Tech Hokies play a football game tonight
9. My sweet kids and hubby
10. And even for a rainy day to help make me slow down and appreciate the fun we can have indoors too.

I don't know if I'll make these "thankful" posts a regular thing, as I know several other bloggers do, but I do enjoy taking the time to think about the many things I am thankful for, especially during this time of year.

Pigtails

Oh my goodness!! Pigtails are about the cutest thing on the planet! After talking with our playgroup moms last week about putting their girls' hair into pigtails, I finally today had the opportunity to give it a try on Kara. I'd been waiting until her mood was just right and today was it. I gave the kids a pre-dinner bath, so while her hair was wet and she was in a good mood, I gave it a try. It was surprisingly easy and she looks absolutely adorable! As many of you know she's got some kooky curly hair to start with, so her pigtails just turned into a string of curls on either side of her head. We're so used to seeing her with her hair down, it looks a little funny to us, but I just can't get over how cute it is. And it keeps her hair out of her face. She's had them in for almost an hour and a half now and hasn't even tried to pull them out yet! I see me trying this again VERY soon. Like maybe tomorrow. :-)

Pics will come soon

By the way, in case you were wondering, my recent posts have not included pictures. And I will begin posting with pictures again soon, I promise. Right now we're still in the process of switching everything over to the laptop and I'm doing most of my posts from the laptop, but the pictures are still on the old pc. So, I apologize for all the text without any good photos to go with it, but that will change soon, I hope! Thanks for your patience!

Playing Games

While I type this, the kids and Matt are playing a whole variety of board games. John is mostly directing the situation, with Kara following along with his directions and Matt is alternating participation with a little football watching. It's a very cute scene on a quiet weekend for us. John came down with a seemingly random fever yesterday and Matt isn't feeling well either. Only Kara and I are healthy (so far). We had a nice early dinner and the kids have had a lot of fun pulling games out of our big game cabinet and playing each one before putting it away and selecting a new one. John's definitely in charge - picking out games that will be easy for Kara to play, doing the set up, and helping her take turns and play the game. Kara has actually won several times and they've both been having a lot of fun. It's very special family time.

Before the kids were born, Matt and I spent many nights together playing games of our own, card games and board games. It was a lot of fun and we really enjoyed it. So now the kids are starting to reach the age where we can do it all together. I look forward to many evenings ahead when we can play games together as a family. Very special stuff.

Friday Morning

So this morning we're all up nice and early. Yea...or not. We've been enjoying some relatively slow and relaxed mornings this week as the weather has been dreary and wet and we've been light on morning plans. This morning we're heading out in a bit to get John a haircut before our family portraits tomorrow and then to the grocery store to pick up some milk (we're bone dry - major problem around here).

While we're waiting the kids are fighting about what game to play and whether or not Kara will be able to be included. She's to the age now where she's not quite old enough to play most of our games, but she REALLY wants to be allowed to play. And being Mommy's "teammate" isn't quite cutting it anymore. She got the Goodnight Moon game for her birthday from her great-aunt and that's helped a lot. But it's not always what John's willing to play. So, the battles and frustrations have already started for today.

Thank goodness the weather has improved so we will definitely get outside for some playtime today. It's going to be 72 degrees here today! We have windows and doors open already and we're wearing short sleeved shirts. Is it really November?

Yes, it is November because I'm already starting the deliberations and search for Christmas presents. It's definitely the year that Kara will get a play kitchen, but finding the right one - that's tricky. There's size, space, features, cost, accessories, and more to consider! I never realized how hard it would be to make this decision! And I haven't really thought too much yet about what John's going to want. Oy vay!!

TGIF....Have a great Friday and great weekend!!

Thankful for...

This morning I'm thinking about a few things I'm thankful for...
1. COFFEE!! :-)
2. John and Kara
3. rainy fall days
4. slow mornings in our pjs
5. good friends, new and old
6. my 2 year old who can blow her own nose! wow!

Just thought I'd share a few random thoughts this morning. Life is pretty good.

Yummy

First let me say that I realized in the midst of the election results process last night that I hadn't posted anything to the blog in almost a week! Yikes! I'd gotten myself onto a regular schedule with it and then with Halloween and the election, I'd clearly gotten way off course. So, for that, I do apologize.

So now I want to write about how funny Kara was tonight during dinner. Matt was delayed at work, so it was just me and the kids and I had made a falafel casserole with cucumbers and pita bread on the side. It was mainly something I thought Matt and I would enjoy and I figured if the kids at least tried it I'd be happy. John was skeptical, but not nearly as objectional as usual. He did try it, but didn't eat much. Kara scooped it right up and declared it "Yummy" or more realistically it was "Nummy." She ate and ate and ate it up. MUCH to my surprise! And given the nice high fiber count in that meal, I was thrilled that she enjoyed it so much. Yeah! Mommy did something right in the meal category. Now if I can just do that again tomorrow. Or at least some day in the not too distant future....

Halloween Fun

Well, we are full swing in the Halloween season! Although Kara hasn't worn her costume yet, John's made use of his several times over already. We tried to get to the Halloween event at the Udvar-Hazy Museum last weekend, but that just didn't work out. So, on Sunday we went to another Halloween party at a playground in our neighborhood. It was a lot of fun for the kids - games, prizes, cookies, and even a good storytelling time. John had a blast. Kara's nap made her miss most of the party, but Matt brought her over for the end and she was able to enjoy some fun too. Then we took a brief break for a couple of days...until yesterday when I took the kids to the arts and crafts store and we picked up some reduced price Halloween crafts. We also carved John's pumpkin last night while Kara used some glow-in-the-dark paint to decorate hers. It was a fun evening. We also got a wonderfully stuffed package yesterday from Matt's sister filled with even more Halloween fun for us all. Tomorrow it will finally be Halloween and Matt has taken the day off to spend with us. John's class will have a costume parade, there will be a neighborhood parade after school, and then on to the trick-or-treating. So much going on! We still haven't watched Charlie Brown's Great Pumpkin - maybe we'll get to squeeze that in tonight. Happy Haunting Everyone!

Booking it together

My 2 kids are at the dining table as I write this and they are each working diligently - Kara in her Seasame Street coloring book and John in his writing/counting workbook. He's reading just fine already, but the writing skills are definitely in need of some practice. And I have had trouble getting him motivated to work on the workbook, but this seems to be working...for now. Both kids are content and I get a chance to type a bit on the blog - great for all parties! Now that we have the laptop my blogging can become more flexible and I can do it here at the table with the kids. I love getting them engaged in activities where I can start them off, they can take off with their creative sides for a bit on their own (but I'm always available for assistance), and then I can help finish up and clean up. It gives them a sense of accomplishment in their projects and they can (mostly) do them without the sibling fighting that seems to be growing in intensity around here lately. Any time I can go for 10 minutes or more without listening to anyone scream, cry, yell, or whine, I figure it's a success! ;-)

Rainy Day

It's raining here today. Off and on all day, mostly sprinkles, with a bit of wind. What a dreary day! After having a very low-key morning around the house, Kara is now napping, Matt's at the gym, while John watches some original episodes of Scooby Doo (Thanks to Grandpa Rankin for that - the kids love it!), and I'm doing some playing around on our new laptop. It's pretty cute to watch John get so excited about watching the Scooby Doo shows, which are clearly made in the era when I was a kid. It's funny to see how old the animation looks by today's standards. But at not quite 5 years old, John of course doesn't care about that. He just loves singing the theme song and watching what crazy antics Scooby and the gang find themselves in. Some things truly are classics.

Anyway, later this afternoon we're planning to head over to the Udvar-Hazy Museum (a branch of the National Air & Space Museum) for some Halloween fun. They've got an event they're calling "Air and Scare" which just sounds fabulous. I'll have to write about it again later, but for $10 per car you get in and everything inside is free. Lots of activity stations for the kids, pictures to be taken with the Star Wars characters, flight simulators, face painting, and an IMAX showing of the Jetsons! We're planning to meet up with some of our neighbors over there then all go out for yummy pizza (at Generous George's - YUMMM!!!) afterwards. I'm so looking forward to some good seasonal family fun. I just hope the kids all survive the event!!

By the way, for those that don't know, Kara's going to be a bumble bee and John will be Thomas the Tank Engine (for the 3rd year in a row!). Should be some cute pictures in the making! I'll post some soon!!

My 'Hood

I want to give a big shout out to my neighborhood moms. Lately I have been feeling a little overwhelmed and very hectic on most days. But one of my primary times of relief is the late afternoon outdoor adventures we have almost every day. After we pick John up at preschool at about 3:00, we come home, have a quick snack, and then are back outside to find some friends and play. Sometimes we end up at the playground, sometimes at a neighbor's house, sometimes at just random places along the way and we pretty much always have fun. The kids have so many good friends in the neighborhood who play very well together. And the moms are fantastic too, which is a big help to me. I find myself looking forward to our afternoon visits almost as much as the kids. There's a good group of moms that all get along well and have fun together. I always feel better after I have a good vent session or can remind myself that I'm not the only one who is frustrated with the whining or can't figure out how to handle sibling battles or whatever the issue of the day/week has been. As a stay-at-home mom it's easy to feel very isolated and alone. At the playground, I'm reminded that I'm very much not alone.

Today, for example, I almost didn't go out after school. We were having a quick visit with Matt after he'd been gone for a day on a work trip (to Vegas, no less, ahem...), and it was almost 5:00. I was just starting to think that maybe it'd be easier to just stay indoors today. But then some friends came by and knocked on our door to see if we could play. That just made my day and the kids were thrilled to see their friends. John was so quick to get shoes on and get out the door. We were only out for an hour, but ended up seeing another family of friends too and had a great time. It was good for us all and my mood was much improved afterwards. It helps me gear up mentally to make the push to get through dinner and bedtime if I've had some time with friends late in the day. I only hope that we provide a similar reaction for our friends!

So, thank you to the Deepwood Moms - you're the best!

100!

Well, I got an email today that declared I have had 100 "hits" on my blog since I started the counter in mid-August. That's pretty cool. I started this as a way to relay info on the kids and to share a few pictures. And it is still just that. But I feel pretty good that at least a few people are checking out my site and finding things that are interesting and helpful. I know that a few of my neighbors are using the recipes I've posted. So, I want to say a big "thanks" to those who are checking this out and I hope it's a good read and enjoyable. I'm still hopeful that I will become better at putting up regular posts. We just got a new computer, (the old one was about as fast as a dinosaur) so I'm thinking things will become easier to do more frequent posts. We'll see. Thanks again! I'm enjoying it so far and I hope you all are too!

Recipe - White Chocolate Brownies

This recipe is one of my all-time faves! I started making these when I was in high school and have never had a bad batch. I can only imagine what the calorie count on these must be, but boy are they are delicious!

White Chocolate Brownies
Makes 16

Preheat oven - 350 degrees.

1/2 c. butter
8 oz. white chocolate chips
2 large eggs
Pinch salt
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. vanilla
1 c. flour
8 oz. chocolate chips

Melt butter over low heat. Add white chocolate chips. Don't stir. Beat eggs and salt with electric mixer until frothy. Add sugar gradually and beat until pale yellow and slowly dissolving ribbon forms when beaters are lifted. Add salt, vanilla, flour and butter mixture and mix just until combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Put into well-buttered 8" square pan. Bake about 30 minutes.

Sick Day

So it's a very good thing days like this don't come along very often. Or I might think pretty hard about going back to work. Seriously. Both the kids have been fighting off a cold for a couple of days. Mostly just a drippy nose, not a big deal, especially this time of year. Yesterday at the playground I think 85% of the kids had a drippy nose. But this morning John woke up with a nasty dry cough - not good. So we had a quiet morning around the house. I finally got motivated enough the vacuum upstairs, which I had seriously been putting off for WAY longer than I care to admit. But as the morning wore on it became very clear that he was not in shape to go to school today. Bummer. For both of us. His cough has been quiet most of the day, but the nose is running and he's definitely more subdued than usual. We got through lunch, had a short impromptu visit with some neighbors (who are also fighting off the cold, so sharing the germs didn't seem like a big deal), then Kara took one of her shortest naps ever - major bummer. So now she's up and screaming her curly little head off about every little thing. So I caved on John's punishment from yesterday of no tv for 2 days and turned on the end of Fantasia for them to get her to stop screaming and give myself a moment of peace with my coffee while I pray that my headache goes away. Oh, and did I mention that I have a preschool board meeting tonight too?

Today has been very rough. Tomorrow will be better?? I'm not sure who suffers more when the kids are sick - them or me. Today it was definitely me. Please, oh please, let John be able to go to school tomorrow.

We Love Fall

We've been enjoying some perfect Fall weather here lately. It's been in the mid-70's and sunny most days and we've all been spending as much time outside as we can. Over the long weekend, we went on a long family walk/bike ride, went to an Oktoberfest, took the kids to a picnic and walk around a lake, collected leaves for Halloween decorations, played at the playground, and visited with my best friend, her husband, and their new baby. It was just about a perfect family weekend filled with excellent outdoor family activities. Today we started the day off with a birthday party at a very fun local playground. And next weekend we're planning another fun day doing activities with the Loudoun Fall Farm Tour - always a good time. I'm not sure if I can keep all the other balls in the air of our normal everyday life, but dropping one or two in exchange for enjoying all this fun family time is a price I'm willing to pay!

The new seasonal fun that we experienced this weekend was that we were "boo"ed by our neighbors! If you haven't heard of it, it's a new Halloween activity that involves giving 2 of your neighbors small Halloween gifts or decorations, along with a treat or two, and putting a ghost (the "Boo") on their door. The gift includes a poem describing the tradition and asking the receiver to pay the gift forward to 2 more neighbors. It's very fun and John was thrilled to have been "boo"ed. He helped me go to Target to collect new items to give to the families we will "boo" and was excited to put the bags together. I can't wait to see how many doors will have the "boo" ghosts on them by Halloween. Too fun!

I hope you are all enjoying the fall season and all the activities that abound with your families!

Potty Training Already?

So Kara's recently had an increased interest in the training potty we have in the kids' bathroom. All of a sudden she's decided that it's time for her to use it. She's done both #1 and #2 in it, often using it multiple times during the day. It's been a complete surprise to me and I'm not quite sure how to approach it. Of course I'm supportive and offer lots of praise when she completes her task. She's just thrilled with her ability to do it. But I'm skeptical that she's really ready to go much further with the potty training process. I'm not sure she's really able to consistently recognize the need BEFORE she's got to go. And I'm mainly not sure I'm ready to find every public bathroom in every store we go into again. John's finally old enough that he doesn't need to go every 10 minutes. If I go ahead with her now, I suspect that her ability to hold it will be pretty limited. I guess it's mainly the inconvenience that comes with having a toddler who is potty training and I'm just not ready for it. But I do know that it's coming and probably sooner than I'll be ready for it.

Just like how she climbed up the ladder at the playground for the first time this week with no assistance! It feels like she's running ahead of me to do these things and I'm having a hard time keeping up! I guess I'd better get used to that feeling. ;-)

Kara's Officially 2

Well, her birthday was last Friday and it was an adventure of a day. We had a rough morning as a family, lots of whining and fussing while Matt and I tried to get us ready to get out the door to go camping for the weekend. Wasn't too much of a birthday morning. It was all made better by a late lunch at Five Guys where the birthday girl was perfectly happy to eat some very yummy french fries for lunch before a good nap in the car. Then once we got to the campground all was better for all four of us. The kids had a great weekend, the weather was PERFECT, and the food and company was excellent. It was a good trip for us all and Kara was thrilled spending her birthday with us all together.

Yesterday we had a little impromptu gathering at the playground with some neighbors and we brought brownies and juice. It was a great time for all the kids. Lots of running around, climbing, sliding, swinging, and fun was had by all. I'll post pictures of it all soon. The kids were in their element. Everyone was so tired by the time we got home. Excellent, since I had yoga last night and Matt was on his own for bedtime.

The birthday gatherings will continue as we have not had a chance to celebrate with the grandparents yet, so although we did not choose to do a big party for our big 2 year old, it feels like she's getting all the attention she deserves. And she's busy enjoying every minute of it!

Happy Birthday Kara! We love you!

Busy Busy Week

Again, yet another busy busy week for us. Monday - swim class, errands, lunch out, home for nap, then a doctor appointment for me. Tuesday - Trader Joe's, play with neighbors, lunch, working at the preschool, then playground time before dinner and yoga for me. Wednesday - swim class (last day), bath for the kids, quick lunch, working at the school again (and bringing snack), laundry, dinner, grocery store, and John and Matt went to Frying Pan Park for a program. Thursday - library, school, getting ready for a camping trip, new front door installation, and hopefully some play time for the kids.

Whee!!! And then Friday will be Kara's birthday! My goodness, the week has absolutely escaped me. I have gotten a lot of productive things done, but there is a lot more to do, mostly for the camping trip we leave on tomorrow, but also for Kara's birthday. I feel a bit guilty with a definite lack of purposeful planning for her big day, but I also do believe that she will be perfectly happy to enjoy the day with all of us together and going camping, which she definitely enjoys. Maybe next week will be a little less crazy? Probably not....

Facebook

How did Facebook become such a time-suck in my life? For a long time I was almost proud of my lack of recent internet savvy - I didn't have or read a blog, I don't own an iPod, Matt and I together have one cell phone, and I had never checked out Facebook. Now, I have the blog (obviously) and I am connected on Facebook. Granted, I still only have like 20 friends on my page, but a bunch of them are people I haven't heard from since high school. Wierd! I know a few people who got sucked into Facebook and they all told me it could be addictive and would lead to spending a lot of time on it. I don't think I've spent as much as many people do (or I might have more than the 20 friends), but I have spent more time there than at any other website lately. How strange for me? I do think Facebook is an interesting phenomenon, but I hope it never takes over my life. Well, I guess with the kids around, they'll be sure to keep my Facebook habit in check! ;-)

A Little Incentive

John loves to swim. But he hesitates when it comes to putting his face in the water and blowing bubbles. Over the summer, with a swim vest on, he swam all over the pool, even jumped in the water and went under the water many many times. But still when he started swim classes again earlier this month, he would not blow bubbles for the teacher. She came over after class one day and suggested we get him to practice in the bathtub. He promptly informed her that now he likes to take showers instead. ;-) Anyway, I was at a loss, since he clearly enjoys swimming, and can do it with confidence as long as it doesn't involve blowing bubbles. Hmmm. What parenting trick do we all turn to in situations like this? Incentives! Yes, I am not above bribing this child to get him to do something. In the spring, I bribed him to get through a soccer program. This week, I suggested that if he could blow bubbles during swim class each time the teacher asks, he would get 6 M&Ms after class. Only 6 pieces, but he was thrilled with this prospect. So on Monday, and again on Wednesday, he blew those bubbles with no hesitation! And we stopped after class in the hall and shared some M&Ms. He was so proud of himself. And I am proud too.

Tossing Artwork

Well, yesterday John surprised, no, shocked me yet again. As I described earlier, he is a crazy artist. He produces an incredible amount of "artwork." Often, he'll start an art project and then will decide to put it aside to finish later, but then never quite comes back to finish it. Then we end up with lots of piles of partly finished projects. For awhile I had gotten him to put them into a box so at least it was contained. Then I hosted a party and put the box away. Recently I found the box and came really close to tossing the whole thing, since he hadn't ever asked about it. But I couldn't quite bring myself to doing it. Not sure why. I desperately am trying to purge some of the clutter in our house and the box epitomizes clutter. For whatever reason, the box lived on.

The other day, John came downstairs and was asking about making yet another art project, this time I think the idea was a house made out of paper for his favorite stuffed animal, Puppy. I suggested that maybe a paper house wouldn't be so sturdy, but maybe we could find a box to use instead...THE box, in fact. John didn't think that the box would be such a good idea, but thought that maybe some of the paper scraps inside the box might be helpful. Well, at least some part of it was going to be used. Then, he proceeded to pull each and every scrap out of the box and decided that most of it was stuff he was done with and thew it in the trash! There were a couple of things that he saved, but 95% of the contents went straight into the trash can without any input from me. I was floored. All this time I have been secretly purging artwork and feeling VERY guilty doing it and had even felt too guilty to trash this box of art scraps, and he just came along and did it himself. It was amazing.

Recipe - Swiss Chard Patties

Okay, so I'm going to post this one sooner rather than later. Partly because I have some time today during preschool and nap to do it, and partly because it is nearing the end of swiss chard season and for anyone who might want to try the recipe, it's time to do it! So get cooking and see what your kids might think!

Swiss Chard Patties
2 c. swiss chard (about 5-6 stalks)
1/2 c. bread crumbs
1/4 c. parmesan cheese
a little diced onion
1 egg, slightly beaten
salt and pepper
1/4 c. olive or salad oil

Microwave the swiss chard with a little water for about 3-4 minutes, until limp. Drain and chop the chard. Mix in the other ingredients, except the oil. Make small patties (about 5 or so) and fry in the oil until crisp.

Enjoy!

Cooking is Fun!

Well, at least for me it is. Well, at least most of the time it is. Well, I try to make it fun. With two little ones running around me, cooking does become a race to get food on the table before major meltdowns or fights occur. I've learned that cooking most of dinner during Kara's nap, makes the last pre-dinner moments much more relaxed - for all of us. This way, we can stay outdoors and play longer, often right up until dinner time. John also gets to help me in the kitchen, if he's not at school that day. And he LOVES to help in the kitchen. He practically jumps for joy if you need a lime or lemon squeezed. That keeps him occupied for quite awhile and he will get EVERY last drop of juice out of that citrus for you. (Great skills to have when Mommy and Daddy want margaritas!) He also enjoys other kitchen tasks - measuring, stirring, and placing things in casseroles, to name a few. Now, I do admit to having a hard time getting used to having the short person help in the kitchen. I have pretty much always been a solo chef. It's my kitchen and I am the queen of the room. But that's not quite the way it works these days. I have had to adapt a little to my sidekick, and no doubt will have to adapt further before long when Kara's ready to become a helper too. For now I still can enjoy cooking some good meals that occasionally even the kids will eat.

I am hoping that as my blogging habit gets more frequent I'll even start posting a few recipes here. For example, a recipe for swiss chard patties that my neighborhood moms have heard us talk about like crazy this summer with all the swiss chard we've been getting from our various garden sources and my kids love it! I've got a few other goodies that I'm hoping to share with other moms and folks who might be interested. Good, quick, easy, and kid friendly recipes can be challenging, especially when you add in the vegetarian factor as well. Oh vay! Anyway, look for that in future posts...once I can get myself unhooked from Facebook, my other latest technology craze. ;-)

Preschool Parent

Last week I had the pleasure of working as a Helping Parent in John's preschool classroom. That's one of my favorite things about our preschool, as time consuming as it can feel somedays, it is great fun. John always loves to have me come to school with him, as do all the kids when their parent is there. Each day there is one teacher and three parents in the class with about 17 kids. It sounds a little crazy, and some days it is, but it really flows well, the kids get to do so much, and have a lot of fun in the process. I even learn a few things each time I go. It's a great chance to learn exactly what happens every day in the room, which kids are better friends, which ones are funny, and which ones are shy. It helps when you're not working and you ask your child at pick-up time what they did today. The typical response from John is, "hmmm, I don't remember." But I can ask specific questions to get more information - who had the different jobs in the room, what was the arts & crafts project (which he always does more than once), what toys were out in the block corner, what books were read on the blue rug, and many more. I feel like I can see what his day is like because I've been there with him on other days.

Some days I don't want to go because I have a lot to do at home, and I do enjoy having a break from the kids during the afternoons. But once I'm there, it's so much fun and I always laugh and have a great time. I've been absolutely delighted with our choice to send him to this school. And Kara is already prepared to be a student there as well. She tries to wash her hands when we drop John off and was devastated that she didn't have a nametag on the first day. I explained to her that next year she would be starting school and then would have her own nametag. That didn't help her at all, but it definitely brought a smile to my face knowing that she'll be able to walk right in and feel at home in the school, just the way John and I already do.

My Pretty Little Girl's a Hitter?

Most people who see Kara see this adorable, sweet, sometimes shy little girl with a beautiful row of blonde curls on her head. And she is all of those things. But there is a devious, slightly dark side to her that has begun to emerge. Maybe it's part of being almost two years old, maybe it's being the second child, maybe it's just being a girl, but it's definitely there...and it's a little scary. John's such a boy that his emotions and motives are pretty much at the surface and always have been. Kara has already started being way more manipulative than John is even now. It's interesting to watch their sibling dynamics at work. Particularly so for me, since although I have a half-brother who is 8+ years older and grew up a universe away from me, I pretty much lived most of my young life as an only child. I have very little of my own experience to draw on when it comes to dealing with sibling issues. It's going to make life very interesting, complicated, and confusing for me down the road, no doubt!

But, back to the hitting thing...Kara has definitely been giving John some good hits lately. Sometimes it's her fist, sometimes it's a toy, sometimes it's a shoe. Whatever she has nearby, if she's miffed at him (or even me, occasionally) for anything she'll walk over and give a good hit. I'm always surprised when she does it, but I guess by now I shouldn't be. I remember that John went through a period of giving us head butts when he was about this age, maybe a little younger. It seemed like we were better at getting that problem under control and eliminated than we have been with Kara. Probably because, even I can admit, sometimes John does deserve to be hit by her! He's constantly provoking her, yelling/screeching at her, and swiping things out of her hands. Which then follows with me constantly telling him to stop, leave her alone, move away from her, share with her, and give her that back. Ugh. It's no wonder she wants to take a swing at him now and again.

But most of the time, she's still my sweet little girl.

All's Quiet on the Home Front

Today we started John's second year of preschool. He goes to a wonderful co-op school that's less than a mile from home. We enjoyed it so much last year and he was beside himself with excitement all morning today before we left for drop-off. This year he's in a class that will meet four afternoons a week, 12:30-3 pm. He's got a new teacher, but many of the previous classmates will be returning. Last year I was so nervous about leaving him and what he would do, how he would react and he was absolutely fine, didn't even bat an eye on the first day or any other day thereafter. This year was easier on me and he jumped right into the action at the science table before I was ready to even say goodbye.

Next step - home for Kara's nap. When we headed out from the preschool, Kara was already tired. After a short story, she was curled up happily in her crib ready to go to sleep. It's a nice rainy day, so hopefully the nap will last for longer than the hour that it's been the last couple of days.

While she's sleeping and he's at school, the house seems eerily quiet. It's nice, but odd. I'm trying to make myself be productive for as long as the nap lasts, but I'm tempted to go sit on the couch or lay in bed and read a book, do some sudoku, or maybe just find some show on tv to veg out to for a bit. Maybe some popcorn and good daytime tv are just what I need. Hmmmm....

Just Playing

This morning we are taking things slowly. The kids both slept until 7:30 (very nice!), and it's now 2 hours later and we haven't done much other than eat some breakfast. I'm enjoying this last week before school and swim lessons start up next week and things get a little crazier again. We have a few things that need to get done before Monday, but not too much and it's allowed us to relax and have a slower pace in the mornings than our usual routine. The kids are playing a game together while I'm writing this. I've even managed to have a couple of brief phone calls without too much disruption from the under 5 crowd in my background. The kids seem to be taking advantage of our less hectic time as well. Yesterday John and I made granola bars from a recipe in his Disney cookbook. He was thrilled! And the whole family enjoyed snacking on them after dinner last night. I imagine we'll make those again for our upcoming camping trip later this month, but I digress....

The last week or two have been wonderful weather and slower days for us. Finally, the summer slowdown I was waiting for...but a little later than I wanted it to come. That's okay, I'm glad to have school starting soon. John needs the time away from Kara, and also is very much ready to go and work on new art projects, go on new field trips, and meet some new friends. But we have taken advantage during this wonderful, almost fall-like weather we've had lately to do some fun things, such as going to Great Falls Park, Frying Pan Park, the National Zoo, farmers' markets, boating, and some pool time. All along with just hanging out and playing with our neighborhood friends. It's been a great way to bring the summer to a close.

John the Gardener

This summer John has been able to have a garden of his very own. My parents, who are avid gardeners, have a large property with a variety of gardens and plotted out a small section for John to grow whatever vegetables he chose. Mom put together a catalog for him to choose which veggies he would grow, they helped him plant the seeds, and thanks to some wonderful weather, he's had great success with his first garden. He's harvested potatoes, tomatoes, broccoli, spinach (which he grew because he knew Mommy and Daddy like it), red peppers, and swiss chard. When the veggies come home, he's not always wild about eating what he's grown, but he's been pretty good about at least trying it and he's been thrilled about sharing it with everyone.

We're also doing a share of a CSA (community supported agriculture) farm - Potomac Vegetable Farm. We're splitting it with a neighbor, thank goodness! Since the weather has been so favorable for John's garden, it's also been good for the CSA, so we've been flooded with delicious, local produce. How much fun! I've been having a great time cooking with all the yummy veggies and finding new summer recipes to try. The kids even seem to be enjoying it.

It's been a tasty summer for us and I'm so proud of our little family gardener!

Summer's almost over??

After thinking that the summer would never end, it seems as if it is drawing to a close rather quickly. Two weeks from now John will start his second year of preschool and a steady routine will control our daily lives. I think we're all ready for that consistency again. John's been having some behavior troubles lately and we've been dealing with a lot of sibling squabbles. I know I'm looking forward to having some time to myself during the afternoon preschool/nap time. In the meantime, I've been slowly getting us ready for the fall - buying some cold weather clothing, clearing out old toys and clothes, cleaning projects that have been waiting around all summer, and getting a fall activity schedule lined up. Today we got Kara some new brown fall shoes that she insisted on wearing out of Target. I just finished looking online at some programs from Hooked on Phonics to see what level John needs to be working towards next (after a lot of guilt on my part for not pushing him a little more this summer, but oh well, it's summer, right?). It feels like fall is coming up quickly and I'm absolutely looking forward to it and all the fun and challenges it will bring with it. I'm a little concerned about how John's going to adapt to going back to school. His class will have many familiar faces, but also quite a few new ones, which can make him a bit nervous. He never hesitated last year, and it was an entirely new situation, so hopefully this year will be as smooth as that. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for now.

For the last week or two, every day John keeps saying, "I know what we can do today. We can go to the beach!" I would love nothing more than to return to the beach for a 3rd time this summer, but we can't afford it, don't have the time, and I just can't pack/plan for yet another trip this summer. But the more he says it, the better it sounds to me. I guess maybe I'm not really all that ready for summer to be over....

Busy Busy Busy

I keep thinking that summer is for slow days doing fun outings, nothing too strenuous, just having fun with the kids while school is out and there are few truly scheduled activities. What I'm realizing is that, while we are having lots of fun, it's not slow (for me, at least)! August was supposed to be my month to have lazy mornings, a few fun activities, and just bum around. So far it has been our busiest month yet. I'm exhausted! We've been on the go constantly, with only a few of those slower days I thought I'd be able to enjoy. I guess it's better for the kids this way, they seem to be having a blast. But it makes for a long day for me and I'm practically falling into bed each night after almost falling asleep on the couch wondering where the day went and when I'm going to be able to get around to all those household chores that are going undone. Ah well, I guess it's summer for me too, not just the kids. And I'm trying to give myself the permission to relax on a few of those neurotic needs I have to keep things tidy and relatively clean around the house. Making dinners is still one of the hardest parts of the day, simply because I want to keep everyone outside playing until the last possible minute to come in and eat. It's been too beautiful outside to be indoors, but dinner must be made and the magic "dinner fairy" isn't actually going to come and provide dinner for us, so alas, we must run inside and go through a frenzy of food preparation to put a meal on the table, preferably something the kids will eat at least 5 bites of. And then back outside for more playing, walking, or just chilling with some neighbors. It's been a wonderful summer so far and I'm sad to see it drawing to a close already, but I'm also intending to fully enjoy the last few days and weeks of it before we must succumb to daily routines again.

Little Miss Sunshine

Kara is such a doll. She is an adorable and sweet girl. Lately, she has taken to walking over to her brother and giving him hugs and kisses. John used to try to do that to her, being the very loving child that he is (mostly), and she would push him away. She likes to snuggle, but it’s got to be on her terms, not anyone else’s. But now she has taken to giving out a few more hugs and her brother is the main target. John has been loving it. It’s so cute. He pretty much will stop whatever it is he’s doing and give her a hug back, so they sit there for a few minutes exchanging affections and looking so adorable in the process. It’s been wonderful to watch. I haven’t been able to catch a picture of it yet, but I will be sure to post it when I do.

Maybe it will help me forget about the other moments of their interactions when they are both screaming or crying?? Well, maybe not, but I do enjoy the peace when it is a happy moment!

My Little Artistic Scientist

John has recently decided that he wants to work on his "biggest art project ever." For those of you who don't know John, he is an avid artist. He's constantly cutting, taping, painting, gluing, sticking, drawing, and creating art projects. It's amazing to me, since I am not the world's most creative person myself and he definitely pushes me to find new ways to challenge his artistic interests. Needless to say we have "art projects" hanging all over our house and are overwhelmed with the projects that come home in his bag each day from preschool. It is a wonderful thing to watch him be so creative and see everything as being within reach with a little imagination.

Anyway, his current "biggest art project ever" is a weather-changer. Yes, that's right, a weather-changer. I'm not sure I understand it, or that he even truly understands it, but that is what is being created. Fortunately, the project is on-going out in the garage at my parents' house. So far it has involved painting pieces of wood, hammering nails into the wood, securing lots of bows to other parts of the wood and making a variety of signs to advertise that the "biggest art project ever" is being created (so that everyone will know that it is coming). Last week we spent some time at my parents' house while John's cousins (girls ages 7 and 10) were also visiting from Atlanta and at several points the girls were helping him with his artistic/science endeavor (while giving the adults very skeptical looks). The girls were fortunately willing to humor him and even offered a number of suggestions on improvements he could make and he was thrilled to have their assistance in his creative process. It was quite the scene!

I'll keep you posted as he continues his progress on this amazing project. Maybe he'll succeed in changing the weather?? I guess we can all have some hope for him. He certainly believes that it's possible, so why shouldn't I?

Summertime chaos

So it's been over a week now since we returned from the beach and already I'm in need of another vacation, maybe this time without the kids. Last week John had farm camp at Frying Pan Park with his friend, Carter, and loved it. I have been battling a mild, but still annoying, cold and Kara is working on some new teeth (always a fun process). Needless to say, it was a chaotic week for us. Now Matt is gone for a couple of days at a conference in Baltimore, I'm still feeling some mild cold symptoms and I think John might be coming down with the cold. And Kara is just being 22 months old and dealing with all the challenges and frustrations (a.k.a. tantrums) that go along with that age. So much fun...well, lots of it is fun.

We actually went to a very fun summer barbeque last night with the families from Kara's playgroup. The kids and I had a great time, they ate a ton of hot dogs (John ate 3 and Kara had 1 1/2), and they both slept in this morning (thank you kids!). Then this morning it was a birthday party, complete with a real fire truck stopping by, for a neighbor down the street. And this afternoon we will be doing our regular playgroup time with Kara's group, which is always fun for the kids and me.

Later this week, the kids' cousins from Atlanta will be coming up for a visit and we'll be off to spend some time with them. Then on Saturday, I'm hosting a baby shower for my friend, Anne, who is due in late September. So much going on this week. It's hard to keep up with it all! But it's all good, fun summertime activities and the kids are enjoying it all so far. Hopefully our health will stay good so we can continue to enjoy it for the rest of the week. We'll see how it goes! ;-)

Back to Real Life

Well, we're back from our travels and are trying to re-immerse ourselves in daily life at home. It's a challenge after spending a week being completely off-schedules - naps, meals, bedtimes. Everything just kind of flowed and we didn't worry too much about the timing of it all. Of course, that resulted in some over-tired kids occasionally, but it was good overall.

The trip went smoothly. The car rides were not too bad, the kids tolerated it all pretty well. There was lots of crazy fun while we were at the beach house

Some of my favorite memories from this year's beach trip:
1. Watching the kids play in the sand and the ocean. This was the BEST!
2. Being able to spend so much time down on the beach this year. Definitely different from the past few years, and very enjoyable for us.
3. Spending time with family and friends.
4. The Beach Fairy, who brings small presents for the kids (mainly John as of yet) each day. Things like a book, some arts and crafts projects, a new Thomas train, and some squirt guns. John was THRILLED with the Beach Fairy each and every day. Even Kara got into the fun too.
5. Watching Kara and John get their fingernails and toenails painted pink! Kara was skeptical at first, but then totally got into it and was asking for more ("mo") polish to be put on! Toooo funny!
6. Doing a fun puzzle and playing games.
7. Eating lots of yummy food - shrimp, scallops, homemade pasta and lots more!
8. Playing air hockey with John
9. Snuggling on the couch with both kids early in the morning (of course they didn't sleep in a bit) before everyone else was up.
10. Watching the full moon rise on the last night we were there. Just beautiful.

It was a great trip, but very exhausting for us all. Now I wish I could go back to relax from the trip!! Ah well, maybe next year??

To the beach

Well, tomorrow we are off on our journey to the beach. First we will drive to Richmond, VA and stay the night with our friend, Kay. Then we will drive the remaining distance on Saturday to Topsail Island, NC. It truly is a serene place. It's very quiet and we do love it. As the kids grow older, it will seem less interesting to them, but for me, it is perfect.

For this trip, I hope for good weather, an easy drive (to and fro), good times, good food, some relaxing and lots of good comraderie with family and friends. This is always a fun trip, and this year will be too, no doubt. I'm sure I'll have plenty to blog about upon our return.

Done with the Easter Bunny already?

As the kids and I were eating dinner tonight, John says to me, "The Easter Bunny isn't real. You're the Easter Bunny." I had a hard time not smiling and admitting to the job, but instead I managed to ask "Why do you think that? Did someone tell you that?" He wouldn't say that anyone told him this mysterious fact, but he said that he thought I went out late and night and bought the candy and gave them to all the kids (so I was not only our Easter Bunny, I've become everyone's Easter Bunny), because the Easter Bunny doesn't have any money, so how could he buy candy at the store! Now, this is all interesting logic and didn't seem to spread to the Santa phenomenon. But he was pretty sure about this Easter Bunny business.

I'm not sure I convinced him, but I didn't blatantly lie either. It's all such a fine line. This was the first time he has questioned us on this fact, so I'm sure it will come up more in the future. But I'm also thinking this came up as a result of playing with some older kids today at the playground. They were all kind of bragging at one point about what big kid things they have done already and at several points they were off playing out of earshot when one of them could have slipped in a little doubt about the Easter Bunny. I guess it's all part of the process of growing up, but I wasn't quite ready to have him start questioning some of the best parts of childhood.

Guess I'd better go so I can start counting money to buy the candy for all the children next Easter! ;-)

The Piles Begin

Today is Monday and we're leaving for our beach vacation on Friday. That means that this is the beginning of our piles of stuff to take with us. All over the house. The kids and I managed to get to Target this morning to procure good snacks for the car (and by good, I don't necessarily mean healthy), some more sunscreen, and new sunglasses for me (thanks, Kara). They both behaved really well and nobody even fussed at me to open any of the food immediately, which has typically been the case with previous experiences. All I've been saying all morning is "we're getting ready for the beach!" and it results in HUGE grins from both kids and lots of happiness. I wonder how long the joy will last this week, can I stretch it out for the next 4 days until we leave. I'm not sure. But we do have lots to do and lots of errands to run in preparation, including the library to get some new books and (best of all) new videos for the car ride. Thank goodness for portable dvd players! A few years ago I'm not sure I was a supporter of the concept, and I still choose not to use one on a daily basis, but for long car rides they are the best! What a sanity saver for the adults. For now John and Kara are young enough that they will be perfectly happy to watch the same video, but I do forsee a need for 2 separate players with headsets later on. Because there is no way we're giving up the joy of the dvd player!!

And now all I can say is "we're getting ready for the beach! Yahooooo!!!!"

4th of July

Happy Fourth of July! We're doing something slightly unusual today, as this is traditionally a day spent with the family together. Matt took John down into DC today, to spend the day and night on Matt's parents' boat, which they have docked at a marina downtown for the weekend. John was so excited to 1) see the fireworks and 2) spend the night on the boat. Neither of these are things he has done before. So, it could be a long night for the adults with him, but it also could be a great experience for all. I'm glad that he's getting to do this and hope that the weather cooperates so they might even get over to the Smithsonian's Folklife Festival today too. I can't wait to hear how it all goes.

Meanwhile, Kara and I are enjoying a quiet day at home together. She's napping now, then we're headed over to a barbeque/party given by some friends, followed by returning home with my best friend, Anne, and enjoying dinner and drinks with maybe some smaller neighborhood fireworks after Kara's bedtime. All in all, a good day for everyone.

I hope you're having a Happy 4th of July, whatever you may be doing!

Painful Portrait

As anyone who has ever taken small children to have portraits done, it is a true pain. With one child it is a challenge, but not insurmountable. I have come to understand that as you increase the number of kids in the picture, the challenge grows expontentially. When John was younger, getting his portrait done was not too bad (after the first miserable attempt when he was 6 months old). Now, add Kara to the mix and I've got a problem. Today we went to get Kara's 18 month pictures done, nevermind that she's now 21 months. She was unsure of the whole thing. The camera, the lights, the stranger, it was almost too much. John had a hard time waiting for his turn to get into the picture. When we finally had enough of her alone, I wanted a couple of shots with both kids. We did get one really good picture of them together, and then it was downhill from there. After two more okay pictures, Kara decided she was absolutely done and climbed off the table, into my arms and would NOT let go. She kept shaking her head and saying "NO." After a minute I realized that any further efforts would be futile and that we should just take what we had and go on rather than push her and end up with a tantrum. The portraits will be really darling, but they never seem to reflect the true experience of getting them taken. At least now I think I can be done with this for awhile...well, she will be 2 before long....

Already behind - yikes!

Okay, so I initially started the blog thinking that I'd be able to keep up with it and already I feel behind! I've gone for 5 days without posting anything. Oooops! On Friday I found a new menu area to add a ton of cool stuff to the blog site, but I haven't had the energy or time to explore it yet. Hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to get that together and will have some cool new stuff for everyone to look at, including some pictures of the kids, a better picture of me, and some links to other blogs that I enjoy. Maybe I'll even add a picture of the hubby, although he might put a ban on that, we'll see. ;-) For now, it's late, and I'm exhausted after cleaning the house all day for a playgroup we hosted in the late afternoon. Now after doing some overdue financial things on the computer, it's definitely time for me to go to bed! Keep checking in this week and you should see some new stuff! And I promise to be better about making time for it. ;-) Good Night All!

What Cute Kids

Just to share some funny kid stuff (finally, it's about the kids!)...

John said during lunch today that when peanut butter touches his teeth it tastes sugary. Huh?? It was hard to tell if he was saying that to be funny or if he really believes it, but he was quite pleased with himself for saying it while eating a peanut butter and banana sandwich at lunch today.

Kara had a great time today eating fresh strawberries and blueberries that we bought at the farmer's market at Frying Pan Park. We got berries, zucchini, tomatoes and a scone. She was only interested in the berries and insisted on eating a ton of them! She kept asking for "mo" (her attempt to say "more") and pointing to the berries. You have to love summer's fruit and getting it fresh like that is the best. These blueberries tasted much better than the ones I bought earlier in the week at the store.

She was also quite happy today while helping me clean the bathrooms while John was at camp. She had a paper towel and would follow behind me wiping things off and then throwing her towels in the trash can. I told her we were the cleaning ladies! Without big brother around she could take his role as helper in the cleaning process. She was quite pleased with herself in her big girl role.

Save, save, save!

Well, my first blogging lesson was learned this morning. SAVE your posts as you go along! I was typing away and was almost done when I managed to hit some combination of keys (I'm still not sure what it was) and whamo! the whole thing was gone! Picture and all! I looked around and tried to figure out if there was any way to retrieve it, but it was gone. Ugga! So from now on I will be regularly saving my work as I'm drafting new posts. I guess it's all part of the learning curve on these things. Definitely not the fun part of this process though! Well, on to try and recreate what I had written the first time....