Strange Dog

I swear my dog is real child inside. She demands to be included in story time for the kids. It is absolutely hilarious. She will come from anywhere in the house to lay on the floor and listen to the story. Last night she was in my bedroom with the door closed and heard me start reading the story and she started barking like crazy. I let her out of the room thinking she needed to pee or something and she came right into Ashley's room and curled up on the floor... What a stinker :)

Sickies

We are sick. I can't quite tell if it is a cold or the flu but it is nasty. Ashley started with it and came down with a bad cough and puked once. Its been 9 days for her and she is still coughing but doing much better and is acting like her normal self. Next up was Mike and I. We are both still feeling quite nasty and now Benny is getting it too. He's got the congestion and the cough so far but no fever or pukes as of now...knock on wood :). But the good news is he loves taking medicine so if he does get the fever at least I can treat it unlike his darling sister :)

Well I hope everyone else is trying to stay healthy cause this bug is no fun!!!

Ashley-ism

So we just had lunch and Ashley just brought her plate and asked me to save her sandwich for her until after her nap...Okay, can do...then she informed me that I needed to put a "RUBBER NAPKIN" on it before i put it in the fridge....hahahah

Rubber Napkin= Saran Wrap Just a quick giggle :)

Birthday Time!!!

So it is birthday time in our house! Well in reality it was last week but of course life happens! Ashley's birthday was last Monday and Bens was on Thursday. We had been planning to celebrate on the Saturday prior but I got sick.

It all started with a few quick bouts of dizziness that resolved themselves within a few minutes. Just enough to make me slowdown. This occurred for about 2 days. Then on Thursday the 8th I was hit very hard with horrible motion sickness, the dizzies, pukey, and all the fun stuff. I was running into walls and falling down and it was really freaking me out. Once I realized that Mike had to go to work, meaning no help watching the kids... I really flipped out and called the dr. Of course they could not fit me in on base but they referred me to the Urgent Care downtown. So off we went. The ride was horrible but thankfully once we were there they were able to determine the cause, Labryinthitus (inflammation or infection of the inner ear or labryinth).

They put me on bedrest for 3 days and thankfully mike was able to get out of work on Thursday night. He had friday off because he had weekend duty so that was nice as well. Saturday he was called in for 11 hours. I barely survived that day of taking care of the kids. I think they both knew I was under the weather and were both trying to take advantage of the fact that I couldn't move quickly nor could I do much at all. Sunday was pretty much the same story. Mike got called in at 3am and was there for 11 hours again...:(

Thus, with all the commotion, and my lack of sanity :) We postponed the birthday celebrations until this weekend.

Of course, this morning Ashley woke up with the pukes...but thankfully it only occurred once and she was just pretty sluggish the rest of the day. We did go on with the celebrations since it was just us here anyway.

Here is Ashley passed out on the couch while I frosted the cake and wrapped presents.

Here is what she woke up to...How fun, she didn't even know I had baked a cake. She was quite excited, but pretty bummed that she had to wait for Ben to wake up too!

The only thing she asked for was an airplane....hmmmm.

We looked at so many different ones but they were either way too old for her or were not designed to be played with...So we ended up getting her the little people plane. Its' a little young for her but they do have the barn, house, car, school bus, and lots of characters so it fits right in. She also got a really cool frog backpack, a dora the explorer book with magna doodle, and an elefun game.


Benny got a tool box full of tools so he can be "benny the builder". He loved it. I think the hammer is his favorite and next up would be the pliers. He also got a helicopter that makes noise and tractor that drives around. The tractor is awesome. Its a winner with both kids!

On Monday (her actual birthday) Ashley got a cool birthday hat from school. She was so excited and the sweetheart she is, shared it with her brother on his special day! What a doll!

Ashley's First Day of School!!!

Ashley started Head Start today. She was so excited to go to school but was quite disappointed that I was her bus :(

This morning it was -29 outside when we left to bring her to school but she didn't mind at all! Benny came along for the big day too.



The funniest (aka saddest/and proudest for me) was when I entered the classroom and she walked right up to the teacher and said "Hi"...."how are you today?" and then turned around and said "bye mommy"....that was it...she was ready for me to leave. No hugs or whining for me to stay, what an independent little girl!

Our Christmas Pictures

So here is the professional pictures that we got from Sears. I love it!!! Plus for only 4.99 for the package, it couldn't be beat!!!

Santa Claus, HO HO HO

Here is Benny reading his Christmas Card from his Grandma C.

Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas Everyone!!! We had a good Christmas. This was the first year that both kids were really excited and interested in what Santa brought so it was so much fun to see their faces...We did have to take a break in the middle to get a snack and play with some toys because they were getting a bit overwhelmed.



This year we didn't do too many individual gifts. Since Ashley and Ben are so close in age most of the toys for one work for the other. Benny loves his Radio Flyer Big Wheel. So much so that he didn't want to share it at all. But it was quite humorous to see him "flintstone" it around the house.



The kids both loooved the V-Motion gaming system. They both played for a bit and were excited at the selection of games that Santa and Grandma and Grandpa sent.



Another huge hit was the train table given by Mike's dad. Its really quite a bit bigger than I was expecting so I will have to do some rearranging to find it a home. But it still astounds me that will over 150 town pieces they still managed to pick a fight over a 3 inch section of track...haha



The one and only thing Ashley asked for was a teddy bear, and Grandma and Grandpa M. happily obliged. She loves it...



We also went over to visit our neighbors, the Hollands, for dinner. So yummy....let me tell you I have never once tasted stuffing like what she made...I will have to get the recipe. It was awesome!!! Ben was eating it by the handful. It was nice to have a chance to hang out with another couple! But it did make me realize how incredibly "hands-on" and into everything my children are! Wow!

Merry Christmas Everyone

Christmas Shopping

So yesterday we went downtown and one of the stops we made was the dollar store. Mike took Ben and I took Ashley around the store so they could pick something out for each other and mom or dad.

I didn't want to spend a lot but I also wanted them to get to do some shopping without us picking it for them or prodding to change their minds. So here are their selections:

Ashley picked out a flashlight for Mike. "Because daddy's is broken, he needs a new one."


Benny picked out a little basket for Ashley.


Benny picked out a weird pitcher for me. I think it will be great for pancakes or waffles...but it reminds me of a hospital puke bucket or water pitcher.

Ashley picked out a rubber squishy piggy bank for benny and grabbed one for herself too.


And the final pick was a a flower flyswatter from Ashley to Ben..


It was really fun and they seemed to enjoy getting the chance to pick something all by themselves.

Whole Wheat Sugar Cookies

So, I have started buying whole wheat flour now. I haven't baked with it before but I thought it was a great way to make our diet a bit more healthy. So my first trial was some sugar cookies. The dough was quite sticky and thus I had a hard time cutting them into shapes even after chilling them. So instead I rolled them into balls and smooshed them.

The kids had fun decorating them with icing and let me tell you...they were beautiful! But it was a fun activity for them to do and honestly the clean up wasn't too bad!! Plus if they are going to eat cookies, they might as well get some good grains out of it.

Christmas Pictures...

So today we took an impromptu trip downtown. I threw together a quick bag of dress clothes, hair brush, and snacks...just in case sears had an opening at the photo studio. I have had 2 appointments scheduled already and had to cancel them because of a blizzard and 10 inches of snow. So no appointment today just thought I would try when we got to the mall. Surprisingly we walked in and they lady was sitting in a chair, no customers to be seen. So she fit us right in! Whoohoo. My goal was to keep it under 20 bucks...a big challenge when they always try to sell you everything under the moon and sometimes more.

I had a few coupons and managed to walk out the door with my pocket only $10.61 lighter..Holy Moly!!! We had to pick one pose only and got a 10x13, (2) 8x10, (2) 5x7, 16 wallets, and 16 minis and included in that grand total was 5 bucks to extend our super saver card for another year. Not bad! I will of course post some when I get them back..

Oh and another thing...the pictures are due back on Christmas Eve...wow, that is fast!

Cheer up!

So I've noticed that my last few posts have been rather dreary. I'm not quite sure why since overall I'm not feeling like that. But I do think that my blog is a way for me to vent my frustrations without pissing off those around me. So today I gathered my happy pictures to make up for apparent ill moods :)



Here is Ashely chilling out in front of the tree playing with her Dora legos. I swear for a fairly cheap toy they have kept the attention of both of my kids.

Dancing of course!

Now Benny is surely a boy....No matter how many times i wipe his face clean it seems to dirty itself in 2 seconds flat. I can't seem to snap a picture of him with a clean face...how frustrating. I feel like I am chasing him around all day with a washcloth (he of course thinks its a game).


Oh and when you add teething to the mix...you get nice drool shots!




Buckets and buckets of snow! We have gotten at least another 6 inches since this picture was taken if not more...Holy moly!

Hello Again!

So this past week has been a bit crazy.

On Saturday evening with a storm approaching we drove downtown to do a bit of shopping. Oh and we had to hit up Taco Bell... Mike and I had been craving Taco Bell for a while so it was a treat. We love Mexican food and we really haven't found any restaurants here that live up to what we had back in WA. We've tried all of them here and found two that were good but they both managed to get shut down quite quickly...one for sanitary reasons (ewwww) and the other for illegal hiring practices... We've had bad experiences at Paradiso numerous times and were totally turned off by the gravy they serve on burritos at Mexican village. So that is one thing we are really looking forward to when we move back to WA.

Anyway we did some shopping and made a quick visit to Santa. We didn't have our camera and they didn't take anything but cash so we didn't get pictures but we plan to go back this weekend to snatch a few pictures. The kids were both facinated by Santa.....No tears what so ever. Ashley even made the funniest comment when Santa invited her to sit on his lap. At first she was a bit hesitant but by his 2nd offer she decided he was suitable. Once she got up on his lap she procliamed quite loudly..."look, he didn't hurt me at all". Everyone got a chuckle out of that one. Mike then took the kids so I could try some pants on and she informed him that "Santa isn't real...well some are real...but some are not". I thought that was a perfect explanation for a 3 year old to grasp.

Saturday night the weather got pretty nasty and lasted all day through Sunday. It was so darn cold. We didn't get a whole lot of snow...but what we did blew around like crazy. We could see the grass in the backyard but in the front we had 3 1/2 feet of snow all around the cars. That was quite fun to shovel..:)

Oh I had my birthday on Monday. We didn't do much cause Mike had to work but I was able to relax quite a bit and we devoured a triple chocolate cake, yummo!

This Saturday we are taking the kiddos to Sears to get pictures taken. I had scheduled them for Monday on my birthday but the windchill was -45 so I canceled. So I will get to post some new pictures soon.

Christmas Bulb Countdown...:)

So I finally put the Christmas Tree up. Mike and I had decided not to do it because we thought our tree was ruined from the basement flooding. But I decided today to pull it up and see if it was truly that bad...Thankfully only the outside of the box was affected. So I put it all up with help from the kids. Trust me it was quite fun.

I'm not quite sure what inspired me to put the bulbs on it with a 1 and 3 year old running around but I did. Within minutes I had to move the bottom half of the ornaments to the top of the tree to keep fingers off. Then I went to the bathroom...I should have known better. Moms are not allowed to leave the tree unattended for even a quick trip to the bathroom :). I came back to find a kids chair pushed up next to the tree and Ben sitting on the floor with a shattered ornament that he was inspecting. Sweet. He managed a small cut on his hand and a scrape on his foot but overall no other injuries... Thank goodness since they were both in bare feet.

So I have now started the bulb count down...1 down...more to come

Seriously???

So today was one of those days....Nothing too serious just all those little things that happen that make a decent day go down the drain....

So here is my list of little things...are you ready?

1. I had an appt. at 9:30 am that no one called to tell me was canceled so I drug the kids out in 5 degree snowy weather....thankfully they were able to squeeze me in between other people since it was their fault.

2. then I drove over to the library, unpacked the kids again and walked up there to drop off my overdue books and get some more only to find out they are closed until 10 am. So I piled the kids back in the van, yay

3. The we tried to scan in 3 checks to our bank account and of course they are all rejected by the bank to be scanned so we have to mail them in....and I hate sending signed checks in the mail...not to mention that we then have to wait like a week for the money when we were planning on having it now

4. I started feeling yucky so I laid down for a nap and woke up with horrible cramps. It was so bad it reminded me of labor...yikes...it brought tears to my eyes..and then.....

5. while I am waiting for the motrin to kick in and the heating pad to warm up ben grabs the floor lamp and tilts it back and then lets it go....and the glass shade slams into the wall and shatters...there goes one wedding present :)

6. then ashley comes out of the bathroom with my glasses on...which are now all bent

7. Then I go to throw out the garbage in the garage and and hug mike bye and come back in and find ashley as proud as can be..."mommy, i cleaned the bathroom" insert groan here :). I walk in and find that she poured 1/3 of my bottle of new shampoo in the sink and made bubbles to clean it up....sweet

8. Then I find ben with my glasses again...bent some more

9. and finally, greys anatomy is a rerun...and I so needed some relaxing in front of the boob tube.


So now, the kids are in bed and I am sitting back with a cup of tea, hoping to relax the day away........

An Early B-day/Christmas Gift!!!

So the other night Mike unveiled my birthday/christmas gift. A new computer...a much needed computer as mine was quite ancient. A little early, yes...but he built it himself and thus needed lots of time and space to get it set up and running well. So he knew he wouldn't be able to do that and still keep it hidden unless he waited to assemble it until after....Who likes to get a gift they can't play with immediately...not me!

So he started putting it together before work on Thursday and Finished last night. Oh my, I am in heaven. It is so much faster than "old man gray" as we nicknamed it. Plus it has a super big monitor and is upgradable so we can add lots to it later.

I'm so excited! Yay

My new niece, Summer Anne Handley

Introducing my neice, Summer Anne Handley. She was born this evening at 5:12pm by c-section. She weighed in at 7lbs 7ozs (same weight as Ashley and their cousin Hailey). She was born by c-section because she wouldn't descend into the pelvis and apparently has quite the conehead to show for it. Congratulations Kerri and Chris!!!!

HeadStart!

I applied for Headstart last summer even though Ashley was only 3. They were full then but today I got a phone saying that they have an opening starting after Christmas break. So January 5th will be Ashley's first day of school. How cool is that. Its the morning class so at least that will get me to get my butt out of bed at a decent hour. She is so excited. It will only be for about 4 months with us moving but during the stressful months coming I am really jazzed to have a break! Whoohooo

Benny singing ABCs

Benny has started to sing the ABCs. He does it better than the video shows but I think he had some stage fright. But for your viewing pleasure :)

Baby Blankets

So here are a few of the baby blankets that I have been working on. I donated a big bag of finished ones to the family support center for the baby bundles and these ones I am sending to my sister and sister in law who are (or have had) babies this month.