Day before Thanksgiving

Wow, since I thought I'd invite some people (family) over for Thanksgiving I bought a 18lb turkey. Now nobody else can make it and I can't really save the turkey because it takes up my freezer (actually it's defrosting now so I have my freezer back) so it looks like we'll be eating turkey for years to come. If you have good leftover recipes (preferably those that can be frozen) pass them on.

Bachelor news: I watched the Bachelor maybe a handful of times since it started.... I saw a couple of the first ones with this new Bachelor, Brad, and thought he seemed pretty "real". I saw in the news last night that he turned both girls down at the finale! That would have been worth watching as I'm never impressed with the women. Thanks for keeping it real Brad.

Leapster Blues

Yesterday was a whole lot of running around. I decided to get Mia this Leapster L-Max for Christmas. K-mart had BOGO games yesterday only so as soon as I dropped the kid's off at school off I went. They didn't have the games I wanted but I figured I'd buy what they had at comparable price and I could go back later to exchange. Meijer had the Leapster L-Max advertised as $59.99 which was much cheaper than the $69.99 at Amazon (price has already gone up). I went to both Meijer stores in Holland. GONE! Now it looks like I'll be getting up at 4am on Black Friday to try to get one at Kohls which is only $69.99 but I have the 15% off coupon. I have scoured the Black Friday ads with no other leads and I'm not going to pay more for it now. What kills me about these great advertised deals..... when they say stuff like, "at least 7 per store". That tells me one person probably went in and bought all 7 and the rest of us suckas that can't shop at the drop of a hat unless we lock our kids in the trunk of the car (just kidding, never happens) don't have a chance. At any rate, I guess I'll keep my eye out for awhile and hope it goes on sale before Christmas. I have no idea what to get Mason. Isn't Christmas shopping supposed to be fun? I just want it to be over. Maybe it just seems worse since I have the birthday presents to think of too.

Bee Movie- B minus

We went and saw the Bee Movie yesterday. I didn't think it was all that great. The kids seemed a little bored too. Mason's favorite thing? That he ate popcorn the ENTIRE time. I thought for sure he was going to make himself sick as I'm pretty sure that he ate more than the rest of us combined.

Mia woke up this morning... she's in a great mood, she's dressed and ready to go. I'm not sure how to handle this as I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop. Of course, Mason is not awake yet so maybe her mood is to offset his. Time to wake him up. Wish me luck.

Mia gave her Locks for Love

Today was to be our "girls day". Mia got to wear eye shadow and lip gloss and then we went to get her hair cut. She seemed to really enjoy all the attention she got in the hair salon. When I originally said we were having a girl's day I was thinking of getting a manicure, taking her for "tea" or something similar, maybe some shopping...... What it turned into was just wearing make-up, getting a toy and going out for dinner. I guess I have to wait a few years before we get what I consider to be a "girls day". She seems happy though and genuinely excited to be giving her hair to some other little girl so I'm glad for that.

Here she is right after the Big Cut.

And at home after a little more styling.

House Divided, Mia Divided

As the big game approaches.....we're confusing our child.
I seem to be losing the battle though. When given the choice she says, "Go Bucks". Traitor. I tried to be equal opportunity and even made the OSU outfit for her. I guess I just need to stop showing a reaction. I think she chooses whatever is the opposite of my pick. That seems to be true when I try to get her dressed in the morning as well.

Note: the dog that is not allowed upstairs is upstairs. I caved and let him up.

Whoo?

Sunday morning Mike told me that when he got up to let the dog out he saw a big owl sitting on the lightpost by the road in our subdivision. He looked it up on the Internet and said it was a Barred Owl. Later that morning I was standing at the sink getting breakfast ready and I could swear I saw a blur go by the window. So I looked out and sure enough there was the owl sitting on a branch (the only branch in our yard) looking right at me. I called the kids over and it was very cool that we all got to see him. I told Mike to go outside to get a picture but as soon as he opened the door, he flew away. He was the white color type..... so beautiful.

The "cat video"

My SIL e-mailed me this clip and the kid's LOVE it. Mason says, "Can we watch it again and again and again and again and again." There's was probably a few more "and again"s in there but you get the picture.

Let's just hope they don't start hitting me with stuff to wake me up. Of course, they're still sleeping (in my bed no less) right now. Last night Mike and I both had headaches so we tried Advil PM. I took it because I usually have insomnia anyway and thought the nighttime aid would help me. It did. The kids are up running around screaming in their room and I can barely function. I kept sending Mike in there. He says, "I took the same stuff you did." True but for some reason I can't seem to will myself out of the bed. Now that I actually slept, I could get up earlier. Let's hope it makes for a more productive day.

Aunt Betty Rocks!

Just had to share the kid's Halloween pins they got from my Aunt Betty.
The kids were super excited. When we went to "the World" last year we won pin lanyards for all four of us. On the "Year of a million dreams" lanyards were two pins to start and a card with instructions on pin trading. The kids will have new pins to wear on their lanyards when we go back (they are too cute, picture doesn't do them justice).

Don't hate me because I'm beautiful

Earlier in the summer Mia had admired various girls she saw wearing eye shadow. She was enthralled by the look. I had told her then she had to be older then her cousin Lauren (who's 15) before she can wear eye shadow. Lauren was visiting when I told her and I pointed out how Lauren didn't wear it even though she's 15. Skip to yesterday. It was a parent visitation day at Mia & Mason's school and Sarah (a girl Mia talks about FREQUENTLY) came and sat to work at the desk next to Mason. Mia was standing on the other side of me and we noticed that Sarah was doing double digit addition. Mia says, "Is Sarah older than Lauren?" I think she's asking this because of the difficulty of the math and I answer, "no". Mia: "Then why does she get to have painted eyes?" I look at Sarah and then notice that she is indeed wearing eye shadow. I say, "Well, maybe they have different rules in Sarah's house." Wow, I was blindsided by that one and not sure what to say. Why am I having to worry about make-up at 4-years old?

Today after lunch Mia and Mason went into Mia's room to play and it was quiet for a while. Never a good sign. So I open the door and Mason is playing nicely (as nice as boys play) on the floor and here is Mia......
I didn't fly off the handle and to be honest I don't remember what I said but she went into the bathroom about 15 minutes later and washed it off. By herself! What Mike and I can't figure out is how did she do it? Did she use a mirror or just free-hand it. Pretty good actually for 4. So when we have our girls' day I will probably let her wear some eye shadow for a "special occasion". I told Mia when she cuts her hair for "Locks of Love" we will do a special girls' day.

Smackdown at the Manger

I bought a Playmobil nativity set at Target a few weeks ago for the kids to have their own set to play with at Christmas. Mason was with me and he carried the box the whole time in the store with the deal that he could open it when he got home but I had to pay for it first. We had more errands to run and went to pick up Mia from school (that was the day Mason was too sick to go to school but he seemed fine during the day). My plan was that he would have forgotten about the nativity set and I would hide it until closer to Christmas time. I had successfully gotten into the house and hidden it without him noticing but he started crying to me for his new toy. I did make the deal with him in the store that he could have it when he came home so I begrudgingly gave it to him (only the big pieces: people and animals). He has been playing with the pieces everyday but it's not quite the nativity story I know. Watching him play with it is like watching WWF and Mary is getting the smackdown from one of the Wise Men. It's so interesting to watch your kids play and watch how they have the dolls interact with each other. There's always a "bad guy" and I hear stuff like, "I love you, I'm going to marry you" and "I'm going to kill you". The storyline of their play always seems to be based around a movie such as: The Little Mermaid or Sleeping Beauty. Hence, the "I'm going to kill you" and bad guys/witches.

Mason also likes to make sure he plays with the Ariel Barbie and that she is topless. Out of all the Barbies to choose from he always has to have Ariel. Since he also likes Daphne from Scoobie Doo.... I'm thinking he has a thing for red heads, must be the Irish in him.

As good as it gets

How do kids know to not cooperate when you get one chance to take a picture?

It was Halloween night and I just wanted a "decent" (well, I'll be honest...a really cute one) picture of Jasmine and her tiger, Raja. I tried multiple times and either they take turns not looking, looking but not smiling or looking but having fingers in the mouth, nose, etc.

Jasmine had to pack on a few pounds since she is now in Michigan and it is darn cold on Halloween. Raja decided after a few houses that he wanted to be carried the whole time so he got to go trick-or-treating in a pink stroller. Truly very scary. What else was scary? Raja's manners! He would walk right up to the bowl, stick his hand in, grab a piece of candy and run back to the stroller. So I'd say, "Where's the Thank You?".... nothing...."How about a Happy Halloween?"..... nothing....."I better hear something."..... then barely audible and not looking at the person....a whisper "Thank You". Jasmine, on the other hand, had to be dragged away as she had to have a conversation with everyone (especially if they had pets). Gotta love Halloween.

A day of nothing...well, there was football

Woke up late and thought I was going to miss church but when I was cleaning up breakfast realized, we still had an hour. So off to church to save our souls until next week:)

Then we watched the Lions play the Broncos. We usually don't watch Sunday football but this was a different Lions team today. Then the big game between the Patriots and the Colts. It was hard to pick a side to root for: Tom Brady did play for Michigan but Peyton Manning is just so damn likable. The Colts coach is also from Jackson, Michigan so I rooted for the Colts. Peyton did not disappoint either but they did lose in the end. I did enjoy another one of his "Priceless Commercials" too. He is really pretty funny and like I said... really likable.

Ninja Kicks

Oh, I soooo wish I had my video camera going today. My mom and sister came to visit this afternoon and at one point we all went down and jumped on the trampoline. Mia was showing off her "tricks"....what she calls: bunny hops, ninja kicks, butt bounces and twisters. I never thought I'd see my mom (she's in her sixties) jumping on the trampoline trying to do ninja kicks. So many times she'd start to loose her balance and head for the side. I thought she was going to fall off. Of course, this is the woman who took my rollerblades (from my garage sale) because she wants to try rollerblading. Does she not realize gravity is not as friendly to older bodies?

On an even better note I got to see Michigan come back and win a game I thought they were throwing away. I'm screaming, jumping and dancing around. Mason says, "Mama, why are you doing that?" I say, "Because I'm excited that "Go Blue" is doing good stuff. Say, "Yessss" (I show the crouch with arm motion). Mason: "I don't think so". Mia pipes up, "Yeah, I say "Go Bucks"... Sorry". November 17th will be a warzone in this house.

What about Bob

My husband got on my case again about my blog..... how stupid it is etc. He said he can't even talk to me anymore without worrying it's going to be on my blog. Sooo untrue. I've taken great pains to try to edit what goes on my blog for fear of getting someone else upset. For instance, if I'm mad at my mother... I don't vent it on the blog because I know she will read it. So know that my way to vent and rant has become edited, I can't believe I'm still getting flack. This is what it comes down to. Bob, my BIL, teasing Mike about my blog. Here's what I say, "Men, Get over it!" Stop reading my blog if you don't like it and let me get back to my so-called insignificant life.

Healthy, Healthy, Healthy......Sick

Sunday I woke up sick. You don't it suppose it was from comforting my 2 kids and having them cough in my face for the past 2 weeks? At any rate, life goes on because I'm the mom and I don't get sick days in my line of work. Yesterday, Mike came home early to re-do the dog kennel because we discovered the dog has been eating rocks. (Mike built him a little deck) Here is what I remember. I picked the kids up from school, we went outside, we came in and had a snack, I laid down........I woke up to find no kids. I walk outside and the kids are out on the trampoline with Mike. I inform Mike I'm taking the Nyquil and laying down. At some point everyone is back inside and Mike tells me to go lay down in the Mason's bedroom. (Apparently he doesn't like listening to me hack all night). Mike wakes me up, it's 8:30am and I've been sleeping for over 14 hours. To be honest, I could probably go right back to sleep as I'm still sick. I have to admit the sleep was well, GLORIOUS. I love my kids but I do miss sleep.

Beware of the Tiger

Creative kids at work

We went to Deanna's Playhouse because Ms. Arts is now there and they painted pumpkins. Mia has been begging me to let her paint her pumpkin (she was adamant she didn't want to carve this year) and I kept putting her off because I didn't want to deal with the mess. Thank you Ms. Arts! The kids love playing at the playhouse but I don't go all that often because of the cost and their hours (10-3). Ms. Arts kept the playhouse open until 5pm and told me she'll open the playhouse earlier if I want.... just call her. I just may do that for the Moms group sometime. We've talked about going there more but when they open at 10am and most people had to leave by 11-ish to pick up a child at preschool.... well it just wasn't worth the $5 admission for an hour. Yes, they charge the parents too. I digress. We had a great time. This was after a great time at my friend's house for a playdate. The kids had a full day. They still have a cough now and then but I think they're non-contagious and on their way to being healthy.

I couldn't believe the concentration of the creative minds. I will be definitely be going back and taking advantage of creativeness that is not in my own home.

Oh, and just to note Mason was in the car for about 6 hours today and kept his pants dry. I'm so happy I could cry.

Through wheeze and cough..... he stayed dry

When Mason first got sick I went back to putting Pull-ups on him for fear he just won't be able to control himself. He amazingly still kept the Pull-up dry and told me when he had to go potty. He had been dry for over two weeks so I think he is officially "potty-trained". However, due to being sick there was a lot of whining and stubbornness today. There was also a moment of blatant peeing on the floor (literally 4 feet away from the potty) because he was mad at me. Where or where do my kids get that mule-like stubbornness?

ER on Wednesday night

Took Mason to the doctor yesterday and got sent straight to the ER for a breathing treatment and steroids. On the plus side, Mason did sleep all night. Sure there were some coughing fits and a slight wheeze but I got some sleep. Not a lot of sleep but some. I sure hope today plays out better.

Out of curiosity I googled "Christie Phillips". This is #1 on the list that pops up: http://www.christiephilips.com/. I think it's funny that she's Asian too.

Vacation plans: Mike is contemplating Disneyworld. Now to see if we can pull it off.

The start of Day 7

Yesterday Mason's fever disappeared and I thought we were on the road to recovery. I let my guard down and of course I was ambushed. At around dinnertime the fever came back and it was the worst night yet. So today we will be visiting the doctor to make sure it's just croup and hasn't progressed into pneumonia. It's just horrible when your kid seems like he's struggling to breathe and nothing you do helps. Of course, he seems better during the day but just when the doctor's office closes....that's when the bad stuff happens. So you struggle with, "is it bad enough to go to the ER?". I feel like I'm going to lose my mind as I just can't get a break. Even when Mike is home and tries to help me out.....sick kids just want their mama.

I guess the kids are taking care of my "overbooking" our week as I've had to cancel most everything this week. I did drag Mason to school to get his pictures done and he even smiled. I can't wait to see the pictures back. I'm really impressed with Miss Patti the photographer as Mia has always had really good pictures and she took pictures of Mason, Mason & Mia, and Mia in about 10 minutes with smiles.