How do HazMat teams do it?

So this has been a really gross weekend. Yesterday was a 2 header game day for Sydney, and a ball game and swim practice day for Emily. It ended with a bag when Sydney managed to run into another child on the playground during the 5 minutes Karl was helping me load Josh & the stroller into the car. Oh did I mention Emily ran into the wall swimming the backstroke at swim practice?

So Sydney ended up with a large bruise on her temple, but otherwise was quite perky. Then around 5pm, 4 hours later, she started to throw up all over the edge of the couch. We got her to the bathroom for the rest and called a friend who works as an ER doc. Possible concussion, watch for more symptoms. She fell asleep on the coach, then woke up around 7, and threw up 30 minutes later. So she went to the ER with Karl and got a CTScan. They came home around midnight, threw up some more and went to bed.

Josh who had fallen asleep at 5:30 for his second nap of the day woke up again at 4am. I was up there dreaming he was some sort of weird alien rock and I could not put him back in bed until the rock changed form. It finally changed form around 4:45. Fortunately for me, he was happy to go back to sleep.

Since it is Conference Weekend, we all stayed home to watch conference on TV. I am so glad we did! Neither girl really dove into the traditional waffle breakfast, but I didn't really think much of it. They didn't really eat a lot of lunch either. After lunch, Emily began to complain her tummy hurt. She began vomiting in spectacular fashion at 5. Same spot on the couch too, but she never made it to the bathroom for rounds 2 and 3. Never knew a kid could contain so much fluid.

So after we got her wiped down, and moved the couch out of the major pool, we tossed her in the tub with a bucket. Then we got gloves and started to clean. I love leather furniture. But seriously , no need to test the wipe-ability so much in one weekend. Plus I love my floor scrubber. But using vinegar as a natural disinfectant is a little smelly. Only the positive side, at least I didn't scrub downstairs yesterday as planned only to do it again today :) And thankfully that time, Josh was actually asleep in bed, so he didn't get in the middle of things.

So after Emily started throwing up, we began to wonder in Sydney really did have a bad concussion, or just a stomach bug and a bruise. Especially when we remembered Josh threw up on Thursday several times.

Oh well. I really don't think I could ever clean anything really gross, since this was pretty much pegging my gross-o-meter to the limit! I'm sure it's all in my head, but my tummy hurts.

Figgy Pudding

Just a note, in case anyone comes across 4 cups of fresh figs and decides to make fig cobbler, peel them first. Do not follow instructions for a recipe that do not include peeling and definitely do not serve it to company without tasting it first. Thankfully they were polite. I thought it looked pretty until I cut in and saw glob o' fig lying there. It was not a giant fig newton as I had hoped. It was just the wrong side of gross. Oh well. Maybe a fig & fruit medly, or just some fig jam instead. I think I like the concept of figs better than the reality. It is a texture thing again.

School Days are here again!

Yippee! It's finally over. That incredibly long summer has finally ended!!! Yeah!!!!! I am so happy it is September 9th. And fortunately for me, the kids are too! Even though I missed Orientation Day due to a trip out of town, we were ok. They both got on the bus, and as far as I know, no one cried in the hallway looking for class. At least, if they did, they didn't tell me, and that is as good as it never happening in my book.

Sydney is in kindergarten and loving it, and Emily is in second grade. She also seems happy with her teacher. I hate not having met them, so I know I will just have to go in sometime soon as put a name with a face.

I am really getting involved this fall. I joined PTA again, and this time I agreed to actually do something. Yikes. I am headed up the hospitality committee. We do thank you gifts and parties. It will probably be fun. We have something every month it seems but one. What a good choice. Unless we move at Christmas time, in which case, he he. I am outta here!

Then I signed the girls up for sports. I didn't think swimming was going to happen, so we went for Softball instead, then swimming became an option, well I really wanted that, Em really wanted ball, so we are doing both. Tueday through Thursday are intense, with a repeat of insanity on Saturdays. This continues until the end of October. Oh dear! I am going to have to start using my time at home better especially on the 2 Practice day or we will not make it these next 2 months! Hello Crockpot Thursday. Emily has swimming, softball, and wait, there's more, and therapy. She is skipping 7 weeks of Thursday swimming for therapy. And then there are practice and game conflicts to sort out for 3 Saturdays.

On the other hand, Josh seemed to enjoy watching t-ball practice today for Sydney. She did not want to join since she was afraid to get dirty. I have a hard time believing that since she is out in the backyard working with mud any chance she gets, and that mud is quite messy. I think she just doesn't like not knowing how to do things. She was "forced" to go to practice today and ended up loving it. She was hunting for flowers, kicking dirt and occasionally hitting the tee and ball. She even ran from base to base when she was supposed to run, and in a straight line.

I need to find a chiropractor. Yesterday I got some sort of stomach icky-ness and today I hurt my hip/back. I think it was a low grade bug since I felt like I was getting a mild fever, and I wanted to curl into a ball and do nothing. I could not celebrate my first day of school properly. And it was pouring rain. Today was beautiful so we took the pictures today. I was grateful to see them on the bus yesterday, and the camera was in the car, and I was not about to brave the rain to get it especially not with Josh in my arms. I feel less icky today, but sore instead.

Did I mention Karl is gone all week? I am happy for him since he is spending time with our extending family and going to 2 weddings, but talk about timing! Oh well. It is my bedtime now, so off I go!

I didn't mention my trip to Ithaca, so really quickly...We (kids and I) went to upstate New York to see family & friends. took the girls tubing on the lake at my aunt & uncles. had a blast there! Went to a wedding, took all 3 kids by myself, will never do that again. Girls were great, baby was less so. Saw family, had tons of fun! Driving was a little rough, but took the scenic route through PA so saw lots of pretty stuff on the way.

Awkward time at the doctors

I was at the doctor's office with Emily, Sydney, and Josh two weeks ago and was really shocked and disappointed to see three young boys attacking the lovely wooden train table and ripping the pieces out of the table. Those pieces were screwed into each other and the table top so thy had tonwork hard to destroy it. What got me was that their mother was sitting in the lobby while they did this and never said anything. I didn't either though. I probably should have. When Sydney, Josh, and I came out to wait for Emily, I spent some time trying to fix the table again in full view of their mom. She said nothing to me though. She also didn't try to help fix what her children had done.

We came to the office today for another visit. The table is gone. I inquired about it and was told they got rid of it because of missing and broken pieces. Such a shame. There were older boys playing while we waited, three boys maybe 10-12. Both my baby and my 5 year old had fun with it too. But because of a few people, the fun of so many others is spoiled. Next time I see kids destroying things, I will speak up and the consequences of offending the mother are simply not worth it.

Miley Cyrus letter

I am posting this letter I just wrote in the hopes that someone will stumble across this blog, and maybe send a letter of their own. I like Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus. I don't like some of her current wardrobe choices, and I hope this letter might reach someone in her office and change their mind about how they proceed with her public image.

Miley Cyrus
c/o The Disney Channel
3800 Alameda Ave
Burbank, CA 915058
USA

Dear Miley Cyrus (and your Publicity/Marketing Department)

I wanted to take a moment to write to you. I doubt that this will reach you directly, but I hope my letter has an impact on someone there. I am the mother of 2 girls, ages 7 and 5. Unlike many of your fans, we don’t have the Disney Channel. We don’t watch your show, so my daughters learned about you through the Disney Radio and the through marketing campaign you have going on in stores across the nation. If there is Hannah Montana Product in a store, they will find it and usually ask for it. To give you an example, my eldest has sensory issues and is in therapy for them but will happily wear the itchy nightgown simply because you are on it. Your vitamins however are delicious.

I enjoy listening to your music and did not object at all when my 5 year old used her allowance to buy her first cd. It will not come as a shock that it was your Hannah Montana 3 cd. They also saw your movie on a Daddy Daughter Date. My husband loved it too. We plan to set up a reward chart so they can earn a copy of the movie.

Currently we are big fans, but I am concerned about the future. My girls are 5 and 7. They are still little girls. I want them to be able to see you on TV and know that I don’t have to worry to much about our standards, especially in dress, clashing with yours. I was disappointed in the outfit I saw you wear at the Teen Music Choice Awards. I only saw 2 minutes of the show, when you sang Party in the USA. I was so glad that they were in bed and not watching with me. I do not want to try to explain why we can all see your bra on TV. I object to your shorts length as well, but that is something I struggle with daily and will struggle with for many years to come. On another note, the pole might have been there for your safety, it really put the wrong spin on the song for me.

I respect the fact that you are growing up and want to break free of your current image and little kid fan base, but have some care how you do it. I would hate to see you do what other teen rock stars have done before you. Please remember that your marketing and publicity crew has made you the hero and icon for some very young children, and the mothers of those children want them to stay that way as long as they can. We heard about your concert tour, and my girls would love to go. Last week, I was considering finding a way to work it into the budget. Now, I am not eager to try and save up for tickets because I don’t want to worry about your wardrobe choices at the concert.

I wish you all the best.
Sincerely,

Heather Pilz

Little League

Today we signed the girls up for tee-ball and softball. We Officially joined Little League. Yikes. But I am actually excited for the girls. We were at a friend's house Saturday and she was catching up a storm and slamming the ball across the yard. Sydney on the other hand spent her time in the hammock and picking flowers. But since Em was doing it, she wanted in too.

Microwave s'mores

I just made the yummiest microwave s'more for a snack. Here is what I did.

I got 1 Graham cracker, 1 marshmallow, and 2 tsps of dark chocolate chips. I placed the chips on the bottom cracker on a plate and zapped it for 15 seconds. Then I put the marshmallow on top and ran it for another 10 seconds. Remove and add the top cracker and you have a perfectly melted but not too hot treat. I think it ended up being 135 calories.

Use your own eyes!

So the girls were watching a few minutes of PBS kids while I made lunch. At various points they were prompted to point something out to the apparently clueless characters. This started to bother Sydney because whenever she was asked to help she said in a huffy voice "use your own eyes! You don't need me!" So funny!

Fiction versus non fiction

I just spent 15 minutes trying to explain the movie industry to Emily. The sad part is that she still does not understand the concept. I don't know how else to try and get the actor not real person concept across. Is this normal or is it part of having Aspbergers?

Zucchini

Almost everyone knows I hate Zucs and I would do almost anything to chuck them in the compost bin as a child. There were probably some perfectly fine zucs I deemed compostable. I do love zucchini bread and chocolate zucchini cake, but that is maybe not the healthiest option.

but....I ate some on Tuesday. Willingly too I might add. I made some wonderful zucchini pancakes. Not liking zucchini is a textural thing for me (Sorry Emily, you get it from me) and so shredded zucchini is totally different from yucky, slimy, squishy seedy chunks or slices. (sorry did my true feelings come out again?) They were totally a hit with the family too. Emily was the one protesting the most about eating them as she knows I don't like them, but she and Karl were both eyeing the last pancake at the end of dinner. She won.

Emily's Moves

I took this the other day with my iPhone. This is classic Emily.

She was "about to" make her bed

Sydney cracks me up. She makes the funniest faces and has a quick wit. On Saturday as we were driving to a party we passed a train construction site. Emily wanted to know how long it would take to finish. I pulled a line from a recent favorite movie of theirs and said in "6 to 9 months" ala Madagascar 2. Emily fell right into the script. "69 months??? That will take forever.". Then we went through explaining how many months it would be (6,7,8 or 9). Sydney got it though and played along using parts of the movie to play off Emily and us.

The downside is she also hams it up when you want a family picture. This was from the 4th of July. I just wanted a picture of all 3 kids. In every single picture she had some facial commentary she had to make. Josh thought it was great.





Tonight she told us as she was about to go to bed, that she was "about to make her bed". It was quite late and beds are suppossed to get made right away when the kids get up. Here is the "about to made" bed. It has been in this state for about a week.

So very proud

Emily actually swam the length of the pool all by herself without stopping and breathing appropriately the whole time. I was so proud. They are both in swimming lessons right now, and when I watch the lessons, I wonder sometimes if anything is sinking in. When she is swimming in the outdoor pool in "open" water she has a tendency to careen wildly all over the pool.She also stops often to get her breath or just touch the bottom. l was thrilled to see her going straight without stopping for a change. She made it down the pool using a kickboard which she gave to me on the return trip. She did crawl on the solo trip.

Updates from the Lighter side

Good news, the line of shame from yesterday is hidden because today is Monday!! That was last week's line of shame:)

But as proof of my improvement, I opened the door to the fridge today before lunch and did not (as per my usual habit) wolf down a brownie prior to lunch. I simply turned my head and gathered my healthy lunch ingredients. Tonight, I did not wolf down a brownie when I wanted to scream in frustration at my kids. Instead, I walked away. I did eat one later when I was calmer, but I enjoyed it all up, and did not go for a second one, also a usual move.

Can it be I have found the source of all my weight woes? My own giant mouth!!! If I just get a handle on that, my problems are solved!

Things that should not need explaining

I would never have thought to say "don't lick the water drops of the kale on display at the grocery store because you are thirsty".

If you get the urge to pee before your swimming lesson take the suit off in the bathroom first. If you don't ( and she didn't) at least shower first before getting back in the pool. There is just no way to get a suit in in 2 seconds which makes moms suspicious.

And a useful tip for getting rid of pesky door to door salesman...
Wait until you are getting annoyed from saying no politely, then have your daughter run up to you at the door and inform you that "there is a problem with the toilet and it won't flush." Guaranteed to get of almost anyone.

The shame of it all

I started tracking what I eat with an application on my iPhone called Loseit! It is really neat. I told it what I want to lose total and how much I want to lose each week an it gave me a calorie budget. I have only been doing it for three days, but so far I have stayed under the line. It was never by much but it was there.

Today I went over the line and not just a toe over either. I dove right line and kept right on going. There it was on the log a clear line of shame. This is probably why I usually stop my food journals in the past. I hate admitting what I have really done. I am going to try and learn from this and press on. I will just have to look at that awful red line and keep plugging stuff in my log. But just to be sure I am going to go look up the average caloric values of a few things just in case it was wrong ....hah it was wrong. I tweaked it and feel a little better but I should mention I am unpleasantly full right now.

Zip ties, spit, and duct tape

For the past two years we have had a small 2 drawer cabinet thingy in a box in our bathroom. At first I really thought we would put it in right away so we could use it as drawer space since we had a big empty box cabinet. We even took it out of the box and tried it out, but it was made for kitchens and did not fit over the lip in our bathroom cabinet, so we put it away in the box and it has sat there since then. Mostly it was used as a magazine and book holder. Really classy huh! Tonight we installed it. Shock, gasp, wheeze!

Of course it still did not fit so Karl came to the rescue. It was worse than I thought when we looked at it 2 years ago. With the tracks mounted flush on the cabinet floor, the bottom drawer would not open and the door would not close properly. With nothing more than 2 spare strips of wood and twisty ties he was able to figure out a slightly more feasible solution. Since the back of the drawer hit the sink, he simply trimmed that part with a hack saw. Since that is just coated metal wire it was easy to do. Then when I questioned him about the two pieces that are suppossed to be joined with bolts, but were now sitting side by side to let the drawer in, I suggested welding ( he doesn't own any equipment).

We went to Plan B, twisty ties. They held it together for the fitting stage. I had to admit his pack rat tendcies were handy then. But seriously who else saves those things? When he mentioned something stronger would needed to hold it permanently and I said " what like zip ties" he got excited. Apparently submarines use them a lot for all sort of fun things and they really are strong. His exact words were "A quarter of the sub is held together with those things. "

So zip ties it was. We only found 4. We have more but can't seem to locate them. The board split so it is still using twists. This is why you pre-drill folks. When we find the rest, we will "upgrade" it. So my drawer unit may not be pretty but it is in! Yahoo! The pack rats win this round! If Karl did not collect his random bits of stuff, it would have been hard to get it all together.

Now I just have to sort through the stuff that I kept in their before and make it easier to use. I started with my makeup bin and was shocked to see makeup I bought in college. That is some old makeup! It went right into the trash.

Minwax is my enemy

Staining a desk is tricky business. Before Karl left for Florida and his reunion, he was wondering why we went with the make it yourself option. he was even questioning our sanity. At the time, I thought silly Karl, This is better. While I still think it is "better" I am defintely annoyed with my project. Which brings me back to my title of the post. Why is Miniwax my enemy you ask? I have been working on the desk all weekend. It is completed and in place and looking very desk-like. It isn't however useful yet. All my office stuff is scattered about the corner of the room and josh's room. Poor baby.

If you decide to stain something, you will probably go to Lowes or Homers, and you will probably pick up a can of MinWax. It is available in a variety of lovely shades. If you buy a can of stain, you will probably want to apply it and finish your project right away. That is your big mistake. Be sure to totally disregard the drying time on the can (4 to 6 hours) hah! 4 to 6 hours my left toenail! What a load of hooey! Of course, you will be sure to wipe off the excess stain after you brush it on. If however you forget that little step like I did you will brush on the very thin coat, in all but a few spots that you just didn't realize were to thick, and you will wait for it to dry. and wait. And Wait. 24 hours after the first application I realized the sticky spots were not getting any less sticky. So, trusty Google helped me out. Wipe after applying. ooops! I forgot the on the first go round. They will just never dry. too bad. Now what. Google to the resuce.

I have 2 choice, strip it down with mineral sprits or apply another coat of stain and wipe off the excess. I went with that option 2. the second coat loosens the first and you can wipe the excess then. But since they don't really tell you at what point you should wipe, I went with after I finished the desk. My rag stuck to the desk. Yuck. Fuzz on my lovely desk. So, then after 4 hours I wiped again with mineral spirits hoping it would be dry in another two so I could sneak in a coat before bed. Denied! I have 2 coats of stain on the desk right now and after yesterdays wipe down it finally seems to be sticky spot free. Yeah!

I am going to go upstairs and apply a coat of polyurethane to the desk to make it more durable. I have to do two of those. I am hoping that the time on that can is accurate. (Again with the 4-6 hours drying time. where do they get these numbers? Sure in an air conditioned perfect ly dry workshop it might work. In a normal home, in the summer, not so much) But then there is the 24 hour curing time before use. UGH! So best case, it is late Tuesday before my computer and any other desk things are seated in their proper place.

More Cleaning, Sorting, and Decluttering

We are still working to declutter the house as we work with my friend on her Staging course.  She has come 4 times so far, and worked with me about 6 hours each time. We have donated & gotten rid of lots of stuff.  We started on the office, and that is still in progress, but is stalled until the desk is in the office. We also worked on the dining room and Living room and kitchen. We need to tackle Josh's room, my room, the closet, and finish the office.  We are not doing the girl's room at this time.  She does not want to make them cry when she suggest parting with some toys!  I don't blame her.  I did that 2 months ago, and it was pretty bad.

This weekend our homework was to make a new L shaped desk for the office.  We are part of the way there.  It sounded so simple in theory, but as usual, the reality is much slower.  Or it is if we are the construction crew.  We have all the parts now, and the 2 long pieces are glued together.  And lying in the living room.  We had thought about a making laminate desk, or using some premade countertop or some countertop from ikea.  But in the end, we went with Birch plywood and regular plywood that we are gluing together to be one thick board and adding trim on the ends. It will be attached to the wall with cleats, and supported by our existing file cabinets.  We are going to stain it a dark mahogany. We are also going to paint out lovely red file cabinets another color.  Probably Chocolate brown. I hope it looks good! 

It took Karl awhile to get on board with the idea, but I think he is pretty excited now.  Karl and I are trading sides of the room. I get more space, but I sew, scrapbook, and use a computer so I "need" more space. I did offer to share my sewing machine though.  In reality I had three desk in here already, so I am just giving up the one, and moving all my desk space to one wall.  My drafting table is too cool to part with, so it is moving to the home of the sewing machine. I will still scrapbook there. 

We had started clearing the room yesterday so we would have room to build the desk in here and the loose stuff went into Josh's room.  Today when Emily was getting ready for bed, she looked in here and said, "Wow, That is a really clean office guys!"  The floor was clean, the desk surfaces were clean.  It looks pretty good in here right now.  Josh's room is a little cluttered, but hey, we can fix that soon!  

I am also going to try to recover my office chairs since Emily decorated them with Sharpie other unknown things when she was 2, and they have never looked the same since. I will also make a pleated skirt for the desk.  That will keep it looking very tidy, and allow some smaller storage areas underneath the desks.  (ie. Karl's collection of computer towers, my project basket, trash cans and such).

It has been hard going through books and such to get rid of. I love books.  I have book like Little House on the Prairie that I got when I was around 8. It is an old and cherished friend.  You can't give those away. And then there is my Tintin comic book collection.  I love those! I can't give those up either.  I did decided to share my Calvin & Hobbes Collection with Emily. I retained reading rights, and she promised to take good care of them.  She said she want to keep them and give them to her kids.  I did not think that was a great idea, but let it slide right then. She is a little concerned because Calvin is a naughty little guy, but since Hobbes is a Tiger, what is there not to love?? I might even let her read of a few of my treasured favorites next year.

Since our wall of books is a little intimidating to potential home buyers, I put some books up in the closet on a shelf to lessen then initial impact.  They won't be seen, but they are not in the trash or donated.  Maybe at some point I will be able to part with them, but not now.  I was also crushed to see that a textbook from college is currently worth $.01 on Amazon.  I got it for $50.  The current edition is $95.  Note to Self-sell upon finishing the course.  I thinking about taking a bunch of books to a used book store.  I would get a trade in amount for them only, not cash. 

I think Karl thinks I am nuts for worrying about future buyers so much, but he mentioned tonight that we could move somewhere as soon as 6 months from now. We just don't know. Also, when am I ever going to have someone willing to give up her time to help me sort through my things. It really helps if she holds the things and I evaluate them instead of touching them myself. If I don't hold it it doesn't seem so bad to part with it.

Karl did a little dumpster diving and rescued a few things I had gotten rid of. I think he does not trust me.

Funny rescues-He resuced some sheets of beeswax-he thought they were noskid mats he could use in the garage. he he! It gets pretty hot in there. He would have nicely waxed shelving. I got rid of them again since they were not able to be turned into candles anymore. they were all creased and mangled from 5 years of storage.

Yesterday he rescued (for the second time mind you) an empty scrapbooking tape dispenser. I was shocked. I tried explaining to him, that sometimes a thing is just trash. I could not figure out how an empty tape refill would be useful. (We were taking about when to donate when to chuck) he was going on about how you could still use it by unrolling the paper. Finally I told him, look, there is nothing there, it is an EMPTY tape dispenser. (the paper had torn off the wheel at the end) He said, oh really. What is that white stuff? I explained that it was the wax paper separating the tape layers. Finally he saw the light and chucked it for the last time.

On the other hand he did rescue a crossstich kit I started 4 years ago, and I have to admit, I felt bad later about that one and wished I had donated it instead, so I was grateful to see that again. and he gave the girls a pad of paper that I had chucked. That was good too.

New Bike, New Hairdos, New Projects

So this morning Sydney asked me if I would be willing to braid her hair before church. Since I had the unfortunate chance to get up at 6:30 and stay awake, I had plenty of time to braid. So we checked out the SheDoeshair blog and found a neat pattern for a crisscross braid. So she sat patiently and let me do the most complicated hair style I have ever done. Amazingly enough she kept it in all day. She also ended up sleeping in it too, so we will see how it looks in the morning. Emily also got the same hairstyle but hers came out tonight.

This weekend we also decided to get a new bike for Emily. She has definitely outgrown her other one even though she has not really mastered riding yet. On the upside, she is so in love with her new bike, it may help her get over her fears of riding. It is shiny, purple and Hannah Montana. Yeah for Hannah Montana.



This last week I started working on a organization project with a friend of mine. She is taking a class on Professional Staging. One of her assignments is to declutter a home. Mine definitely qualifies. So we started in on the worst room in the house, the office. We hauled the the stuff out on the right side of the room, sorting it into baskets, we took down my sewing desk and drafting table, and set up an ebay basket, and and trash pile, and a donate pile. The trash pile ended up filing one of our large trash cans. The donate pile was not much smaller. It was hard going through and getting rid of many things. however when I thought about having things for 8-10 years for a project, and I still had not done anything with them at all. I figured it was time to unload. Karl is not excited about the unloading part. I was concerned about our home looking overstuffed to prospective renters. I also want to have the Place for Everything and Everything in it place. Since we are not moving into a 4000sq ft home any time soon, I better figure a way to make my stuff fit in our existing one.

So far we are about a third of the way through the office. I did not get as much done without her help over the weekend. I still have some homework left to finish before she comes tomorrow! The plan is to make an l shaped desk, swap sides of the room for the two of us, and have all my craft supplies in the closet so everything on my desks at least are cleared and put away when I am not working on them. Karl is getting excited about the desk but he was disappointed when I asked him not to put 5 monitors on his part of the desk.

Memorial Day Weekend

We got to spend a day and a half with April this weekend and celebrate her birthday and have fun with the family. The girls were so excited to be there for her birthday. They each made her a card which were very cute. Caleb was happy to see everyone too. We went for walks, went to the pool, and had a picnic on the playground. Josh really enjoyed playing peak-a-boo with Matthew too. He was also such a good sport in the car. And of course, the girls howled when it was time to go home. I love that they get so happy to see family it crushes them when it is time to leave, but it also is just so hard t know what to do with the tears.

We tried to get Josh to practice crawling on the carpet while we were there, and while it worked better than on the floors at home, he wasn't too happy to be on his tummy. I think he tends to gag and have more reflux on his stomach, because while he drools a lot all the time, when he is on his tummy he actually spits up. That is about the only time he does that.

I have been taking pictures of April and Caleb in front of there house almost every time I come to visit, but this time when we tried, we discovered how much harder it is to get a toddler involved in the picture taking process. His only desire was to get rid of me, and run over to Emily & Sydney. He did not want to sit on April's lap and smile. Such a shame. We had such a nice series going. My best shots are going up on Flickr though.

We had to cut the visit a little shorter than initially planned and come home Sunday night. I was just called to be the Activities chairman at church, and I had my first big activity on Monday. I had planned to skip it, but as the weekend approached, I felt really unprepared and decided to be here to make sure it ran smoothly. I am so glad I did because there were so many things i did not think of that needed to happen. Like bringing trash bags. Nope, didn't cross my mind. Luckily it crossed Karl's mind. Also, if you cook hot dogs, bring something to use on the grill. Tablecloths are also really nice to have. I also got too much food, but everyone really seemed to have fun, so I think that overall it was a big success.

Teeth

So, unlike 4 months ago when I thought Josh was teething, (that was an epstein pearl) he is finally teething. I can see and feel them now. Poor little guy. It definitely is bothering him. He is getting both bottom teeth at once.

Funny kids

I looked at Emily crabwalking across the floor with her feet up on eight lbs weights and thought, that is just so odd.
She asked me "Is this the coolest thing?"
I said " gee Emily, it is kind of strange."
"I'm not strange!" she said.
"ok, how about oddly peculiar?" I asked.
She thought a minute and said " yup that's what I am!"
And she kept on crab walking across the floor.

Little Black Rain Cloud

So, the past week has been one of those laugh about it later type weeks. So for the future amusement of myself, and the current amusement of anyone reading here goes.

Monday-I decide to got to the local consignment store to get some things for Josh. It is slightly out of the way, but hey, it will be fun. They are closed and only Open Tues through Friday. No biggie. I go home to get other things done, and decide to go Tuesday with my friend.

Tuesday, Josh has a short nap, so we went to the Gym, I go have lunch with a friend, and he lost it in the mall. He was screeching during lunch, and managed to dump a full glass of cold ice water into my lap with one of those lightening fast bay movements. At least he did not get my lunch in my lap. He has done that before! So I cut it short, and headed home. A short nap later, he was up and cranky. I headed out to the consignment shop again (did I mention it is not totally convenient to get there?) They were closed. Reason: an unscheduled trip to get a friend at the airport they won't be back until the next day. grrr.

So We went home and went to Chuck-E-Cheese for a school fundraiser that night. I ducked out with my friend (leaving Karl with all the girls) to go to the mall and pick up my conditioner since it was on sale, I had a coupon, and I get double rewards points on Tuesdays. Of course I did not remember where in the mall it was and went the opposite direction. When we got to the store, there was a sign up. They had just gone on break. Had I gone the other way, it would still have been open. I was so frustrated. I felt like a little jinks was parked on my shoulder!

Josh fell asleep in the car on the way back to get Karl and the girls. But once they finally got to the car, he was up again. Something about his sister singing as loudly as she could woke him up. What got me was that it surprised her he could not sleep through that! So I ran back into the mall again and got my conditioner on the way home. But what a pain!

I did make it to the consignment shop later, maybe Wednesday. They had some wonderful clothes for Josh. They no longer sell toys because of the law that was passed recently about lead in toys. It is a shame since most of my kid toys came from consignment shops. But maybe it will keep me from picking up toys and having too much junk at home this time?

I did find a wonderful yard sale that was (gasp) selling used toys and got a few things to help Josh work on crawling and sitting. He still hates tummy time and is not that close to crawling, but he just loves to sit and to stand & jump.

Oh and the big blue ball I was planning to use to help work on his core blew away from my shed in a storm. It could not be helped since the roof blew away too. Oh well.

There were a few other frustrating things that happened, but I started this post a month ago, then had to stop writing it. So it must not have been that bad after all!

Spring Break

Two week ago was Spring break for the kids. We started out the week with Easter Sunday. we had dyed some eggs the day before, but those never go in the hunt! I am always afraid of the spoilage factor and the girls get up way too early for my taste.

They had a wonderful time hunting their eggs and scooping them up. I loved to see them help on another hunt, and play hot & cold for some of the harder to find eggs. Josh was just a spectators this year :) After church I grabbed josh from Karl, Like always, loaded up the kids in the van, and drove home like always. Karl has meetings in the morning and drives himself. I got home and noticed the car in the driveway and wondered how Karl could possibly have gotten home before me. Then it hit me. We drove together this Sunday since he had no meetings. Woops! Luckily he realized there was a problem (25 minutes late) and there were still friends in the building who live nearby so he got a ride home.

We tried getting a shot of all the kids dressed up looking adorable but Sydney was having a temper tantrum moment, so she was unable to come out & join the other 2. This is Josh's first tie, and I thought it was wonderful. Emily really likes her new dress and has worn it again. Of course it can't actually touch anything on her skin, but hey, it is progress in my book.

On Monday I went to visit April & Gary for 2 days. We hit the pool and had a great time with family. Then we came home for a OT (Occupational Therapy) Evaluation for Emily. They think she needs some sensory therapy to help her get over her skin issues. I totally agree! I got a brush and I am responsible for brushing her 3 times a day to help desensitize her skin.

She also might have a mild case (is that even the right word?) of Aspberger's Syndrome which is on the high end of Autism spectrum. She had that test right before Spring Break. We are headed to the doctor today to get the results of the test. I would like someone to help me understand how her brain works and how to get her to handle the little ups and downs in life that throw her for such awful curve balls.

Lost but not Found

Yesterday while eating French Toast, Emily lost her extremely loose front tooth. It has been wiggly since September, but hanging on by a thread since February. I had tried to convince her to let me give it a good tug, but there was no interest there. Yesterday morning, she took a big bite, and the tooth came out, but not before she swallowed her bite no knowing what had happened. She was crushed to lose the tooth.

Literal Humor

We were having a late & lazy breakfast this morning. Karl had Josh in his lap in the recliner, and so I delivered his plate of Monkey bread. Sydney's little ear perked up and she was so excited about eating breakfast. I told her "There is a plate in the kitchen with your name on it". She ran into the kitchen and picked up the plate and called out" Mom, this doesn't have my name on it." So I got to explain the word figure of speech to her. But she got her monkey bread and was a happy camper.

Right now she is working with Emily on a 54 piece 3d tiger puzzle. Amazingly enough there has been almost no fighting. Josh is snoozing and Karl is off renting an aerator.

We are going to attempt to make the lawn look a little nicer this year. Right now as a corner lot, we have the worst lawn at our intersection. And we are sitting next to a major line of shame as our neighbors have a beautiful lawn. He is not thrilled I called to find out the actual price to rent the thing. He pushed it off this morning by saying "Do you know how much that will cost??" So I called & found out! He he. He suggested that I take a shot at the machine. I'm going to use the roto-tiller though so I don't feel too bad about signing him up for yard work.

Green Eggs are Gross

I don't recommend trying to make them. The Oatmeal didn't bother me, but the eggs did. I took the whites & yolks & separated them, colored the whites then added them together & cooked them. It looked weird. In the book they are white whites and green yolks. This was just wrong. But the kids though it was cool. Karl not so much!

On another note, Josh finally figured out how to roll over! Yeah! I was getting worried since he wasn't trying to do it, but he has got it down now! Yeah Josh!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

I made oatmeal for breakfast, but in honor of of today, I made it green! Emily saw it in the pot, recoiled and said what is that?? She was totally grossed out! Sydney at it happily, but Emily was a hard sell. Finally I convinced her to try it and she scarfed it down. I though it was a great idea. When she was getting ready to go, she asked why I made it and I said I had been thinking about green eggs and ham instead of oatmeal. She declared that was gross, but then asked for it for dinner! Of course I have no idea for to actually make green eggs.

Josh is 6 months old and Emily is 7!

What a weekend. Emily had her birthday party on Friday. She had a great day. She has basically been counting down from her last birthday. She had hoped for an Alvin and the Chipmunks themed party, but we ended up with Hello Kitty instead. Since is was actually Friday the 13th this year we had a PJ, Pizza, Popcorn Movie Party. I thought most kids would not be able to make it, but almost everyone could come so it was a little wild here! All the kids seemed to get bored with the movie half way through, but we finished it anyway with minor interruptions to eat pizza, and frost cookies. Then we had cake & opened presents. Josh was done about that point, so Karl took over and helped Emily not completely get the greedy gimmies! After the presents were opened, we had 30 more minutes before parents showed up so we got out the Disney Dance Dance Revolution and that was a huge hit! Emily & I practiced last weekend over and over until we actually got her to able to play a whole song straight through. She was so proud of being able to complete a song and then did it 4 more times by herself. Emily really enjoyed her presents and had a hard time going to bed at 9 after all her friends had left. We tried to get her to properly thank her guests and say goodnight, but it was hit & miss! With one boy, she barely even thanked him before she rushed back into the DDR fray!
Pictures will be coming soon!

Sydney has been asking me to cut her hair for the last few weeks. Finally this week I caved. She cries almost every time brush her hair and never lets me do anything fun with it. What is the fun of a girl with long lovely hair if she doesn't let her mommy play with it! So unfair! So I took her on Thursday and she got about 4 inches taken off. It is a cute little bob. She likes it better. We didn't get it as short as she wanted it, but that seems to be ok now. It isn't as tangly anymore although it still gets in her food.

I did get to put rollers in Emily's hair last Sunday that she slept in. It made her hair absolutely adorable & bouncy. She loved it. We tried again on Thursday, but it was not as effective without the slightly damp post bath hair. We also awakened the inner phone diva in Emily. She got to talk to my Mom on the phone. Normally Emily gets a little useless on the phone. She doesn't put her ear up to the phone and prefers the speaker phone. She did use speaker phone this time, but actually held it to her ear and talked for a good 25 minutes to mom. Karl and I were amazed. We think she actually had her longest conversation. Either that or it was the longest monologue on record. Thanks Mom for your patience!!!

Question about food bill

Does anyone know anything about the Food Safety and Modernization Bill? HR 875? I got an email about it and trying to find something in plain English that explains this. I can't tell if it will affect organic farming, backyard gardening, or what. It seems like there are lots of post against it on blogs. If anyone has any insight, I'd appreciate an education.

It's a Snow Day!

We actually got something other than rain this weekend. In a shocking twist of fate we got a snow day this year and we actually had snow on the snow day! It wasn't much, but the girls had a blast and licked snow off the ground, the bush, the car, and out of the air. Gross, but lots of fun if you are say 6 or 4. They threw snow at one another, and looked at their footprints and even thought about making snow angels.

As Karl and I were driving around town looking at the pretty snowfall and the lovely frosted trees and roofs. It made us nostalgic for Connecticut. But we decided we were not quite nostalgic enough to go back to the frosty temperatures for so much of the time. We were thinking maybe Northern Virginia instead!

Weekly Excitement

Going in no particular order...

I got a haircut and love it.
It has rained for 48 hours and the yard is squishy.
We started composting-so far no master system is in place, and that is also squishy.Thank goodness for the garden and the rain!
Size 2 diapers are no longer a good fit for Josh. We know this because they leaked and were also very squishy and gross.
Sydney learned to wiggle her eyebrows to add interest to her speech. It is incredibly funny.
We discovered a new pacifier that Josh likes. It is the Soothie kind.
Karl signed up for his first masters class yesterday! yeah!!!
Gremlins came into the house and made a mess of my nice tidy craft desk.

Living with Felines

I have somewhat unusual cats. They prefer to not eat out of plastic. They like cold filtered water, and appreciate the finer dining options. When pressed or generally unimpressed with their options they are willing to get takeout however. About two weeks ago we bought a different kind of kibble. (Strike 1) They were not thrilled. We also served a different variety of their normal wet cat food. (Strike 2) They got take out.

I was in the kitchen when a heard an odd thump on the door and heard scurrying sliding cat feet. I looked away from the stove and saw a little grey bird fluttering around on the floor and getting picked up by Abby. I ran over, scolded her and tried to catch the bird. The bird was thrilled to be out of the cats mouth, but was not as eager to be in my hands. It flew down the hall before I could convince it that it really wanted to go back to the kitchen and out the now open glass door.

I went out a bought their regular kibble that afternoon. No more takeout orders have been placed since then.

However, the other night while nursing Josh, Carrie hopped up onto my lap. Karl commented on the kitty snuggle time and wondered where Abby was. I jokingly suggested checking the closed closet. He opened the door and called her name, and sure enough she had gotten locked inside the closet. This happens to her at least once a week. Does she not care or is it that she falls asleep inside the nice dark closet and only worries about it when she wakes up. Who knows!

Solid Food and Puffed Apple Pancake

We are feeding Josh some solid food now because he just seems hungry! He also like watching us eat now, and so far he likes everything he has tried. (Apple, Brown rice cereal, potato, & sweet potatoes) For just starting to eat semi solid food (basically soft mush at this point) he is grasping the concept really well. He really enjoyed his rice cereal and apple mush tonight.He was even opening his mouth for the spoon and sort of lunging for it. It was cute, but messy. And I didn't have the camera handy. The high chair is not out of the attic yet, but hopefully that can happen tomorrow! So far he has eaten while sitting in our laps, and in the baby bjorn. I am hoping that by eating solid food, he will go back to sleeping trough the night. It has not happened again since the one recorded posting. He has been waking up once or twice, even 4 times in the last 2 weeks. Yuck.

I cleared off my craft table about 3 weeks ago so I could work at it and just did Josh's first scrapbook page. It was lots of fun to get back into it. As Karl was looking through my book last night, he commented on the jump from December 07 to September 08, but what can you do. So I missed a year. I was working on 07 in 08, so now I will work & catch up on last year.

We are thinking about trying to teach the kids Spanish. If anyone has any good suggestions let us know! Sydney's preschool teacher suggested it for her, and we think it is a great idea. Sydney is a little sponge and just soaks up new material. If she hears a song only once or twice, she can sing it back later in the day and get the gist of the song. It amazes me.

Emily is a puzzle. At some times she is an incredible helper, with Josh, with odd jobs, etc, and at other times, she is overwhelmed by simple things like her socks. Lately her special seamless socks have been too itchy for her to wear. I don't know where else to get soft socks since I am buying the softest ones I have ever found. Pants that were perfect just a few weeks ago are also no longer ok for her either. Argh. She holds everything together at school, but when she gets home the littlest things upset her and she just dissolves into tears. It is rough. She is also starting to have lots of loose teeth. Right now she is missing one and looks like 4 more are getting ready to fall out.

Karl and I are trying to figure out what to do with the next few years. Wish us luck! San Diego has job offers, and perfect weather, but it is really far away from the majority of family members. We saw a house for was really lovely up for foreclosure, and Karl was thinking if we end up staying here is Suffolk, he wants to unload our house and live in a different one. We never planned to live her for very long and now we know a few more things about house layouts that we like & that we dislike. Someday I would love to design and build a house that is just for us, and has all the charm of a really old house, but all the features of a new one. That day is pretty far away though.

I made a puffed Apple pancake tonight. My mom used to make it when I was a kid. I thought I followed her recipe, but it did not turn out the way I remember it tasting. I'm not sure what I did wrong though. I remembered a higher fluffier puff in hers. Think popover meets apple pie. It was more cooked apple filling meets egg-y cooked dough. No really impressive air in the thing.

So, my other plan this week is (after reading an article saying that good sleep habits aid in weight loss) to turn in around 10:30 every night. We'll see how I do! Good night!

Emily lost a tooth

After only 6 month of wiggling, the front tooth is finally out!.

He did it!!!

Yahoo! Josh slept all the way through the night by himself in his crib! Yeah!!!! And he found his thumb. He is still a fan of the other 8 fingers, but mastered thumbsucking alone. Right now he is sampling my thumb bone. Apparently it is also tasty.

The very late family Newsletter for 2008

Happy Chinese New Year,
This past year has brought lots of changes to our family. Most notably, we had a baby boy in September. I’d like to blame the lateness of this letter on the baby, but it isn’t really all that fair to him. We still live in Suffolk, Virginia, and have really settled in here. We have done some traveling to see family this year. We went to Fairfax, VA, Ithaca, Rochester, and Syracuse, New York; Ayer, Massachusetts, and New Haven, Connecticut. Karl also made it to Hawaii, San Diego, Phoenix, Las Vegas, and Denver on business and to see his nieces get married. Although we are far away from most of the family, it was fun to spend a lot of time this year with our closest family members, Heather’s sister and her family.

Emily & Sydney absolutely love school! Emily finished Kindergarten in June and began 1st grade in September. She loves her teachers, loves reading and art, and is enjoying being 6. She is also a wonderful helper with her baby brother. Sydney is in preschool this year. She is as creative as ever, and as feisty as ever! She is a big hit with her teachers at school & at church. She makes it easy to forget she is only 4. They absolutely adore tigers. They like to dress up like them, to draw them and to collect all kinds of tigers.

Both girls were expecting a baby who was more like their cousin Caleb (who is almost 2) who moved & talked, than like an actual newborn baby, so it is only as Josh gets a little older that they are realizing he really is a baby too, not just a bundle in Mom's lap. They are excited to teach him things, and love making him smile. Josh is a wonderful happy little fellow. We love how his smile lights up his face and it is so great to have in our family at last.

Karl and I are struggling with the challenges of life, but hoping we are meeting them well more days than not! Karl has a heavy work load, and a lot of stress at work. He is also dealing with some recent medical issues, like diabetes, which we hope can be turned around with diet and exercise! Sadly it will mean less candy and raw brownie batter!

The kids and the house keep me busy, but I enjoy getting the one on one time just with Josh. I took some time off from my regular design work this year and focused on more creative pursuits like scrapbooking, stamping, and photography. I still love to read and will fall into a book any chance I get! I have made many good friends here and enjoy the time we have spent in this area.

We don't know where we will be next year, but hope it will go as well as this past year has gone for us. We hope this year has started well for you, and wish you all the best in these uncertain times.

With love,
The Pilz Family

I am proud of me!

I actually got a lot done today. This was the kids first day at school for a full day in 5 days! We had a lack of snow day and 4 half days. It was really amazing when 2pm rolled around to see what I had accomplished. what I am most proud of is that I have a clear craft desk! Yeah! Now I can get back into my scrapbooking and stamping! Yeah haw!

Phrases taken out of context

If you just heard this..."Emily, I can balance my poo on your feet." You might be alarmed, repulsed, or confused. Never fear, this was said in reference to Winnie the Pooh, who was perched on top of Emily's feet. But hey, it made us laugh.

Snow Day

School was cancelled today for snow. Odd thing was the snow (a 1-5" snowfall) never came. Thankfully the YMCA was open and we were able to get there and blow off a little steam. We heard all weekend that we had a Winter Storm warning in affect. We saw a few flurries today but that was it. North Carolina got lucky though:)

Doctor Day

Josh is 17lbs 3oz and 26.5 inches. He is healthy but not actually cutting a tooth. The white spot is an epstein pearl. He is teething though. Yeah me! I tried to get him in his crib tonight, but was not successful as of yet. He is sleeping in my bed right now. Sigh!

Sydney on the other hand is not healthy. She got a double whammy strep & UTI. Poor kiddo! No school for her today or tomorrow. They are not sure what kind of UTI it is, so they are culturing the bacteria over the weekend. Oddly enough she is not complaining about feeling sick, but she is just low energy, and not really hungry. She isn't even that whiney. I have never had one, so I have never had one, so I did not know that it feels like it is burning you when you go to the bathroom. I think she has had more than one of these, but I didn't know it. She has complained about "hot pee" before. Now I know! She isn't even really complaining about it either. But she has a 103.5 fever, so it is definitely not ok in her body.

Just need to rant for a moment

OK, does anyone else know about the lead free Consumer Act going into place on Feb 10th? Toys, clothing, anything market for children under 13 and made here in the US must be tested for lead. This means at the manufacturing level and on the second hand level-By ebay, thrift, & consignment stores! I found out about it by accident on craigslist, and it just shocked me that our government thought this was a great idea. By all means let's make it harder for families to buy inexpensive things for the children.

This is a article from a political talk show, but I think it nicely covers the common sense side of things. I emailed my congressperson, but since it has already been passed, the only thing I think people can do it make enough of a fuss that we can make get it interpreted better, or possibly junked. Bottom line, buy any second hand items before this law takes effect, because those store may go out of business next month.

Glenn Beck Link

But if you feel so inclined, read more and contact your congressperson too!

Primary Quote

This wasn't my child, but I was teaching sharing time today and we were talking about the War in Heaven. When I asked who was fighting, one little boy replied "The French". It was just so funny!

Emily this afternoon for snack was assembling apple slices, coating them with peanut butter and rolling them in goldfish. People eat apples & cheese, and apples and Peanut butter, but this takes that combo to a whole new level.

My Grandma would be so proud!

Today while reading scriptures, Sydney mentioned something about a friend and me, then she stopped and corrected herself and said her friends name and I! We went over this once a few weeks ago at dinner and she remembered and corrected herself! Oh and did I forget to mention she was doing the reading???? The mind reels!

Baby Teeth

I think my baby is working on his first tooth. I see something white in his gums!!! He isn't even 4 months old yet!

Happy New Year!!

So, Thanksgiving, and Christmas went by in a blur! We have been having a great but very busy time these past few weeks. We went to Connecticut and Massachusetts for Thanksgiving to spend time with my side of the family. We spent some a day with my sister on our way North which was wonderful since they could not join the rest of us in CT. We celebrated Turkey day on Friday this year so we could spend Thursday traveling. It was really weird to know the majority of America was dining on turkey while we were at McDonald's. I wanted to go up to the other diners and say "What's your excuse?" The trip home was incredibly slow! It should have been 9 hours of driving time, 12 including stops. It took 17 1/2 total. Yuck! I was not the driver, but what a long time to spend on the car! Josh was as good as he could be, but after 12 hours, when his little bottom hit the car seat again, he just crumpled up and started to wail. I felt so incredibly bad for him. I had a book (the 4th Twilight book) so my trip flew by faster than any one else's did.

The last month of school went to quickly. I did not feel prepared for Christmas this year. I was working on so many different projects, and none seemed to get done on the time schedule I wanted! But, the big day came and went and everyone had a good time. I am dabbling in jewelery making, sewing, stamps and a bunch of other things as well as my design projects. Our office and bedroom are a mess right now!

In fact, the other day Emily asked why we (Karl and I) got dessert since our room was messy. She said I know it's messy I was in there today! How rude!

i can't believe another year is almost up!

This is the cute little onesie my cousin made for him. It is so cute! Prior to picking up my camera, he was smiling at me.

I really remember last year at this time fairly well! It just amazes me for quickly time shot by this year!

Emily got 2 awards at the end of Quarter Award ceremonies. She got Principal's list for all A's and a Perfect Attendance Award. Sydney also got Student of the month of September/October. I didn't make it to her award ceremony because I was trying to get registered to vote.

Last week was rather awful.Karl was gone, the heater was not working for 2 full days, Sydney fell on her way to the bus and did a face plant and did not go to school, the next day she was sent home for a possible case of pink eye, and had to stay home the following day. I had a killer project, and was not sleeping well since Josh was also not sleeping well due to his cold. Poor baby still has the cold! Emily was a little whiny, but over all not too bad. We also found out Karl really does have diabetes. He meets the with doctor next Monday, but until then we are trying to figure out the best approach. I am trying to put my speedy reading skills to good use and go through a few books for him. It is much easier to get through fiction though!

Updates

So a lot has changed in 2 weeks. Josh is two months old tomorrow! yeah! He is growing so fast. He has had his first cold and had to sleep in his week for part of the night so he didn't choke. Sydney has struggled at night with coughing/asthma, but is doing well at school. Report card & parent teacher conferences are happening today. I have taken family photos for two families here which is exciting. Maybe some day i will include professional photographer to my repertoire.

The big news is the Karl just got told his blood sugar is out of whack and he has type 2 diabetes. This is crazy news and we have not quite figured out what all this will mean for him.

Happy Halloween

Here we are at the Annual Trunk or Treat with Jasmine, a little black cat, and baby Raja, Jasmine's pet tiger. We were suppossed to have another little Jasmine, or a little fairy, but Sydney decided to wear the other costume Grandma Pilz made for her. Note the really cool black wig I made:))

The wig took 2 skeins of yarn, 2 wig caps, 1 mannequin head, some saran wrap, lots of hot glue, 1 burnt finger, and one sewing machine. I should have taken pictures as I went, since I am pretty rpoud of my project. Note to anyone trying to make a yarn wig on a mannequin head, saran wrap is a great idea, but use wax paper if you want to use hot glue. My hot glue melted the saran wrap and stuck to the head. I was glad to have the second cap so I could stick it under the first wig and make it less pricky for princess sensitive skin! Emily looks completely different to me with black hair! She let me put on a little eye makeup so you could see her eye & eyelashes. The hair on the wig goes all the way down to her hips too! Major thanks to Grandma Pilz for making the costume. It was soft enough fabric so she enjoyed wearing it.

Art Show & First smiles

Yesterday we went to Emily's first (hopefully of many) art show. She was chosen along with 3 other students from her school to be part of an Art Show for Suffolk Public Schools. Her assignment was to draw a scarecrow (They were discussing making bodies and the shapes that are in the body. They were also supposed to include their favorite fruits and vegetables from the garden. She included carrots, watermelon, tomatoes, sunflowers, and zinnias. She also made the scarecrow a tiger.

She also is headed to school wearing a hat she made herself. Today is Crazy Hat Day. Carmen Miranda comes to mind! The hat is all fruit.



Josh is getting really big and strong. Yesterday I was holding him and he was awake and happy. We made eye contact, I smiled at him and talked to him, and he smiled back at me. I was so much fun!! He is till colicky at night, and I hope that goes away soon, but it is so wonderful to see him changing right before my eyes!

Sleepwalking

So apparently I have a incorrectly programmed baby. While I have no desire to exchange or return my little guy, I'd like a manual to reprogram him. Something about 3-5am is really exciting for him and he likes to wake up and be up at that time. He alternates between being really fussy and just being up. Two nights ago, he was great and slept through the night. I thought to myself Yeah probelm is solved! Silly me! Yesterday on cue at 3am he was up. I tried nursing him back to sleep. No dice. I changed his diaper & tried again. Still no deal. Then Sydney woke up and was coughing. I woke up Karl to deal with her, and though when he got back, maybe he would take him for a little while. It isn't really fair to ask that since I can nap during the day, so that didn't fly far either.

So I thought why not take him for a walk in the baby bjorn. He likes that, and I am sick of pacing the living room. If I have to be up, why not get some exercise in while I'm at it. So we walked up and down the street and headed out into the rest of the neighborhood, singing all the way. Abby and Carrie (my two cats) came with me. Occasionally they stopped and waited for me to turn around, but I had company. Finally he fell asleep. I came back inside, and saw his little eyes open up. Arrgh. So I went off the try & nurse him to sleep in the rocker. No deal. I tried the swing, I fell asleep Josh didn't. I tired lying down with him in bed, nope. Then the cats brought in a mouse & it woke up Karl. We saved the mouse. Karl had Josh, I got the mouse. Finally it was 4 minutes before Karl's alarm went off, so he took Josh and brought him back 20 minutes later after letting him cry himself to sleep in his arms.

The girls have headed off to school, and my little guy is sleeping in his swing. (He loves the thing during the day, it is just nights that it isn't all that popular) My plan is to take a nap!

So how do I get him to stay awake more during the day so he will sleep at night, or at least wake up, eat, and go back to sleep like he will do cheerfully during the daytime?

Heavenbound

Emily was concerned tonight after we read our scripture story ( the focus was on obedience, and returning to Heavenly Father) because she wanted to know what would happen to our house & all her stuff when we left it to "return to Heavenly Father".

Not wanting to dive into a lengthy explanation that would make her upset because we would end up talking about death, we veered off to another sticky topic, the fact that stuffed animals won't go to Heaven with her. But we fudged by saying that real tigers would not eat meat, and she could play with them. How do you explain "You can't take it with you to a 6 year old."

4 Weeks Tomorrow

So far the past 4 weeks have really flown by. This week was the hardest. My mother-in-law left last Sunday, and Monday was a big shock. Not only was there no fun companion to talk to during the day, I had to do it all myself. Yikes! By the end of the week I thought I was getting things a little more under control, although the house is not as tidy as it was last week, but apparently I was not looking so hot since Sydney's bus driver wanted to know if I was headed back in for a nap Friday morning. I was!

Well, Josh isn't crying right now, and is in fact sleeping. So I am going to pretend that will last for a little while longer and go to bed myself!