something new

I'm going to try something new. I don't do Twitter, although I actually have an account so I can follow the high school games and get an idea of when gg will be home from the game.  I often think about writing something down or posting on fb but then think better of it because I don't necessarily want it on fb. Somehow I think I'm okay with it here. So I'll start posting little snippets..kinda like a quick thought journal that gets to be shared with you if you desire.

33 degrees it's a heat wave! I opened my Windows to air out my house since I sprayed disinfectant spray all over (i was sick earlier in the week and have used the wipes but I swear I still smell sickness but really it's probably just my fear the girls will get it). Anyway, I heard a beautiful bird chirping loudly. I found it perched on a branch outside my window singing it's song. It brought a smile to my face. I am thoroughly looking forward to spring in our home...minus the stupid tornadoes that threaten the perfect enjoyment and happiness of spring.

We Wish You a Merry Christmas

I blame Snapfish for not having enough Christmas cards to send to everyone. Their shipping fees are ridiculous and they only let you order your cards in sets of 20, which I think is a bit stinky. Anyway, in light of the fact that I do not have enough cards to send beyond my immediate family, here is an online Christmas card and a "letter" that was not included in the ones I sent my family (see you are special) :)

Merry Christmas Friends!

We are so excited for the Christmas season this year. Boo is old enough to remember Christmas past enough to anticipate and be thoroughly excited for it to come this year. This  is such a fun age. Sometimes, I forget that she is still little because she acts like she is 5+ but then there are other times I think she is older than she is and expect too much out of her.  She is loving that we have a new house and a basement- and she is sure to tell everyone that comes to our home that it has a basement. 

Little Miss is growing in a blink of an eye. It seems like yesterday that she came to us and I know that the next thing I know she will be one. She thankfully has not learned to crawl or even roll over yet but I suspect it won't be long before so learns to do one or both.  I say  I'm thankful because 1) I don't have to guard the Christmas tree, and 2) once they become mobile my sanity goes out the window. :)  Little Miss is generally a very happy delightful baby that fills my heart with joy.

GG is busy, busy, busy. He is now an assistant athletic director at a high school here and is gone to a lot of sporting events. The only thing about him being gone late at night so much is that he can be late to work in the morning and we actually get to see him before he leaves in the morning. 

And then there is me, trying to figure out how to keep a house clean (amazingly a bigger space takes more time to clean and keep clean).  ps. we bought a house..BIG step for us this year. I love that I don't need quarters for laundry, I don't have to drag groceries up a flight of stairs and I love that we have a fenced in back yard for Boo to play in. I do miss, however, a handyman to call to fix things and neighbors to blame for the noises I hear in the night.  I would say the thing that GG loves most about our home is the water dispenser on the fridge, seriously. He would often say to me, "Hun, we are living the dream!" And I began to realize that every time he would say this he would say it with a glass of water in his hand. :)  I'm glad all that he needs to feel fulfilled in life is a fridge with a water dispenser. 

We feel so very blessed this year and many prayers have been answered. We hope that you have a very Merry Christmas!

The Trick, the treat and the BOO-tiful.

It was nice to have a home to celebrate Halloween in. Plenty of kids in the neighborhood-but I decided I don't need as much candy as I thought I would-but in the beginning I was only giving the kids one a piece-but they would look at me expectantly for more. I decided, I think pretty firmly, that my children will not be trick or treating past age of twelve maybe thirteen. Trick or treating is a kids activity-when you're older, carrying around a pillow case-forget it. You are no longer "cute" you just look greedy. Get a job and buy your own candy. However, I realize they are the ones that could actually "trick" you in order to get a treat. The little kids don't need to give an ultimatum of "trick or treat" we'd willing give them all the candy in our buckets. It's the older kids that have to scare me enough to give them a treat to go away....I guess that is all the more reason I don't want them knocking on my door.

We have way too much candy in our home- I like it but I might be putting on my maternity clothes back on in a few months if I don't stop devouring it.  I heard of this thing called a "switch witch". Where the kids keep a few pieces of candy and then they leave it in a certain spot. Then at night the witch comes and switches it for a toy. Not a fan. What a waste of candy! And what did they do to "earn" a toy? My friend who was talking about it said that they key is NOT to keep the candy for yourself but to dispose of it. As long as they can dispose of it by giving it to someone else then I can be okay with the idea of getting rid of it. But I really don't want to buy a toy for my kids for Halloween. What are birthdays and Christmas for? I might be a little too judgmental...I might change my mind in a year or two. 

Here are our girls- I must say, Boo is one Boo-utiful Snow White. Seriously, cute.

 Little Miss was supposed to be an owl-but apparently she didn't really look like an owl. Maybe the pink threw it off but I did make it out of stuff I already had at home.

Last minute spooky treats for chili dinner with the grandparents. Boo asked if they were ghosts on the water. 

Thankfully Halloween is over and so is October (ordeal of buying a house and cleaning up an apartment is OVER). My only regret is that time has flown by entirely too fast since Little Miss was born. It's like I blinked twice and summer was gone and now fall is half way over. Thanksgiving will be here in a few weeks and then Christmas. My Little Miss will be one before I know it and I will feel like I've been cheated out of time watching her grow up. I do love my girls. They can drive me bonkers but they melt my heart.

Happy Fall Friends!

Checki-ity Check, CHECK!

What a whirlwind month...well last two weeks.

Close on a house. CHECK

Clean house and move in. Check-ity Check!

Boo's Birthday. Check

Lesson for Sunday. Check

Halloween Joy School on Monday. Check.

As soon as the kids left and I got little Miss asleep, I found myself crashing and losing my energy. But I'm not done yet!! I think it's my fault telling myself I only had to get through Monday. That was a lie. I need to get through Halloween.
I still need to:

Clean the apartment.....ugh...

Trunk or treating

Halloween

....and actually the list goes on from there still. Maybe Sunday night I can relax? Although, there are countless things I should clean  or see about fixing/improving in our new house. What do to, what to do?

And can I just say, how embarrassed I am by how much stuff we have accumulated and how much stuff I crammed into that two bedroom apartment without any storage areas? I'n loving our two storage rooms and laundry room....NO MORE quarters for laundry!!

Child Rearing

I alright friends, I need some advice. Boo is great in a million and one ways however, I have a growing list of concerns that I need to figure out how to address:

1.  My daughter is entirely TOO concerned how she looks.  She has become increasingly picky over the clothes, shoes she wears and how her hair is done. I understand there is preferences -and I try to let her pick out what she wears most days with some guidelines-like "it's cold outside where long pants and long sleeves, etc...." She has her own opinion what matches and what does not. I'm fine that she has preference on what she wears. However, I am not okay with her reasons- especially for the way her hair is done. "My friends won't like it" or today she said about wearing socks with her boots instead of bare foot, "my friends will laugh at me."  The other day we were going to the park so I put her hair in a pony tail quickly so it would be out of her face and it was a fast easy hairdo. She cried, not a tantrum cry, all the way to the park. When we got there she hid her face behind my legs, saying "my teacher won't like my hair" (her primary teacher was at the park). She would only went to play when I took her hair out.

I'm not sure what to do with this reasoning. And I don't like that she cares SO much at the age of four.

2. She doesn't care when she makes her friends cry. She's runs off playing and happy as can be. I feel like she is starting to turn into a little bit of a bully. I talked to her a little bit about it on the way home from church. I asked her what she wants ME to do when she's sad and crying- she then brought up that I make her cry when I take away her toys (which is done as a consequence for not cleaning up or like the other day I took away her crayons after she colored all over her dresser). Am I teaching her to be a bully by taking away her toys (I try to explain to her consequences and why I'm taking them away)? Am I teaching her not to care about other's crying by not giving into her crying to get what she wants?

3. She has been trying to police other kids. Today in church during the opening prayer she was telling one of the kids behind us to close HIS eyes.  It's funny that kids don't get the logic yet that OBVIOUSLY she doesn't have her eyes closed if she can see that his eyes are open. Anyway, I feel like she tries to tell other kids what to do often

these are just a few of the concerns I have but I think the most important when it comes to interacting with others. .

I realize that the answer lies with me and my behavior but I think I need some parenting opinions and advice so I can figure out how to remedy these situations.

I'm Feeling GOOD!

Friday afternoon, 3:30ish my dear Hubby calls me while I'm shopping at Bed Bath and Beyond and asks if I want to go on a date with him. He already has a babysitter lined up and he is taking me to MICHAEL BUBLE!!!!! WHAT???! It was the very first show at the new arena.

He bought the tickets as he was speaking to me. We get there and find our seats, guess where they were. THE VERY LAST ROW in the corner (well as much of a corner you can get in an almost round arena)!   As much as I love Mr. Buble I wasn't thrilled about being there to start off with. 1. I don't prefer heights, and 2. I don't prefer big crowds. However, once Mr. Buble came out singing "Fever" I was so glad that we had come. Such a great show!!  And besides it being a great show, it felt so good to get out with just the Hubs, it has seriously been too long.

Feel jealous? I'm sorry, because I'd totally feel jealous too if you told me you went to Michael Buble and I didn't. :) Let alone the the handsome man that I went with. ;) 

falling behind......need some zzzz's

I'm tired. I'm starting to get very very tired. And unfortunately, I am one of those people who need 7-8 hours of sleep to be happy. Little Miss was an AWESOME sleeper. As a newborn to 3months she would only wake up once a night. Now it's every couple of hours. Mix that in with Boo's ordeals at night- whatever they might be- sometimes she's just crying and then lately she has been wetting the bed. She started wearing underwear to bed a couple of weeks ago and she had been doing FANTASTICALLY.  WHAT HAPPENED? What threw off the balance I felt we had?

Little Miss wakes up a lot and wants to eat a lot. I'm tired. Boo cries. My patience is wearing thin, I get snappy. Boo cries more. I get even more tired. Little Miss still wakes up a lot. oh sigh. It's a terrible cycle.

I'm longing for Little Miss's doctor appointment. She is the most awesome doctor with the best advice that seemed to work so perfectly for Boo. I feel like she is my therapist as I wander threw the cloudy path of motherhood. She seems to know spot on what I can do for Boo- I hope she is as perceptive for Little Miss.

I've contemplated leaving one night and sleeping at my parents house and let GG take care of the kids. If it doesn't improve soon, I might just do it.