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Friday, January 30, 2009

BOY by Mason

The drawing development of children has been documented and studied for many years in Primary Education classes throughout the world.

The first stage of drawing is called the Scribbling Stage which occurs around age 2 and is described as :First disordered scribbles are simply records of enjoyable kinesthetic activity, not attempts at portraying the visual world. After six months of scribbling, marks are more orderly as children become more engrossed. Soon they begin to name scribbles, an important milestone in development.

The second stage which occurs from 3 to 4 is the Preschematic Stage and is described as: First conscious creation of form occurs around age three and provides a tangible record of the child's thinking process. The first representational attempt is a person, usually with circle for head and two vertical lines for legs. Later other forms develop, clearly recognizable and often quite complex. Children continually search for new concepts so symbols constantly change.

Well.....the reason I am posting this is because tonight as I was fixing dinner, the boys were sitting at the table drawing and Mason says "Mommy, Daddy look! I draw a boy!" and drew this figure!

Tim and I were FLOORED! He's NEVER drawn a figure like this before it's been merely scribbles! And now a recognizable figure - and he did it all on his own! Jack didn't start drawing people until just recently (I blogged about it here).

Just thought I'd share and BRAG a bit on my baby. He's getting so big! XOXO

Snow Buddies

Now if I could only get them to shovel the driveway, I'd be set!

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Small Victories

Mason tinkled on the potty last night!!! It was the second time he's done it at home (in less than a week)!!! They have the cute little kid-sized potties at school and he says he goes there all the time but has NEVER gone at home. He won't sit on the potty seat and insists on standing (much to my dismay) so he stands on a step stool and leans over and hanging on to the lid (yeah, a little unconventional stance but hey, I'm not knocking it!). So he stood there and stood there and I could see him pushing b/c his tummy was going in and out, in and out and then all of a sudden the little stream started, then stopped, then started, then stopped until he was done. I had to stop myself from laughing because it was so cute and funny at the same time.

HE DID IT! HE WAS SO PROUD OF HIMSELF! Tim and I hooped and hollered again for him and he did a little dance in the bathroom and ran to tell Jack saying "TWO TIMES I tinkled Jack!!! (holding his fingers up showing the number 2)

It's the small victories of raising children that are so great! We're on our way to potty training Mason and being diaper free but not for awhile - he's pretty hard headed - but this is a start!

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Indulge Yourself

What would you do if you had ONE day to ANYthing and EVERYthing in the world, how would you indulge yourself?

That’s the question that Suzanne from Product Reviews By A Quad Mom Named Suz! & Steece's Pieces is asking as a part of a FREE giveaway that she's holding after being selected as a product tester for M&Ms new Premium Chocolates through Blogher.


Well, I'm a chocolate lover so I figured I'd "indulge myself" by sitting back and thinking about it. What would I do..........well here goes.......

I'd start my morning off by hopping on an airplane and flying to......somewhere warm and tropical.....my favorite vacation spot......Negril, Jamaica. To some, not that indulgent, but to me, a very memorable vacation destination and one I'd return to in a heartbeat. I'd take a flight DIRECTLY to the resort so that I didn't have to do the drive from the airport - I want to maximize my time that I have!

I'd be met at the entrance of the resort by employees with a tropical drink and ready to wisk me away to the spa for a "Day of Beauty" - everything that they offer, I'd get! A facial, a massage, pedicure, manicure, hair cut, hair "do", you name it. I'd be a princess for a day! I'd have a suite at the resort so that I could relax and sit under a beautiful palm frond umbrella and look out onto the beautiful aqua blue ocean wiggling my toes in the sand and feeling the warm breeze on my face.

I'd spend my day just "relaxing and enjoying myself" (something that's hard to come by). Later in the day, I'd have Tim flown down to meet me and we'd enjoy a nice dinner at the resorts restaurant and eat until we couldnt' eat any more. We'd spend good quality time with each other that evening and fly back home to "life and reality" to start the next day as we do every day - waking up to our two wonderful children. A life that I would not want any other way!

So......that's it. My "dream for a day" - being pampered and relaxing and just having time for Me, Myself and I. And.....I'd throw in a little time for Tim too!


Thanks Suzanne for letting me indulge myself on a cold and snowy day here in St. Louis! It's been fun!

Monday, January 26, 2009

Adventures In Babysitting

So last week I get an email from Hank asking if I'd watch Sophie Saturday night so that he and Tricia could go to a friends BDay party. I said SURE! Tim and I decided that we'd take the boys out too, take all three kids to dinner and then let them play for a bit. Tim would take the boys home when it was bedtime and I'd stay with Sophie until Hank & Tricia got home. Sounds reasonable and realistic....doesn't it??? I thought so.

We went to O'Charleys (so we could feed the kids for free). we got there after 6pm which meant a wait but we found four seats at the bar and entertained the kids until it was our turn to sit down. Jack was tired and said his tummy hurt but he tends to do that sometimes so we just brushed it off (BAD IDEA!). We ordered dinner for the kids and they brought it really fast. Just mac & chz -nothing out of the ordinary, I knew that Sophie would eat it. Sophie dug in like Mac & Chz was going out of style, but neither of the boys would touch their dinner and Jack kept saying his tummy hurt.

Tim and I ordered dinner and we waited and waited and waited. The kids started getting restless and then Mason said his tummy hurt too (Uh oh). I took Jack to the bathroom and told Tim to ask for our dinner to go b/c it was apparent that we weren't going to be able to eat dinner at all with the boys acting the way they were. Sophie this whole time, by the way, was chowing on Mac & Chz and being a complete angel (thank god!).

I got back to the table with Jack and we sat down. He said he wanted some water and then started crying that his tummy really hurt (he didn't do anything in the bathroom) and then proceeded to throw up ALL OVER ME at our table! I was horrified! In a restaurant.... with other people trying to eat their dinner.... my child just threw up! OMG! I looked at Tim and told him to go get the car and that he'd have to take the boys home and I'd be home as soon as I could but had no clue what time that would be. I think Tim started to have an anxiety attack b/c I could see panic in his eyes but what was I supposed to do? So with both of the boys crying for ME - Tim drove off and left me standing in the parking lot in front of my car with Sophie.

Oh - BTW the restaurant comped our ENTIRE Dinner b/c they felt bad for us and the sweet Manager helped me get our food together and met me at the door as we left (I think she really just wanted us to leave so she didn't lose any other customers)

I got back to Hank & Tricia's house and called Tim - they were almost home and Jack had thrown up again in the car on the way home. But....smart Mommy had given him a bag to us if he needed it. Amazingly enough he did a good job and just missed it a bit.

With Sophie playing wonderfully and quietly I called Hank and told him that Jack was sick and asked if they could be home by 10pm so that I could get home to help Tim and Hank said that was fine. I know that I probably scared the you know what out of them when I called their cell phone. I know that sinking feeling that you get when "the babysitter" calls you! Sorry guys!

Not 10 minutes later, Tim called me back and said that Mason had thrown up too! This one on the sofa! So I called back and told Hank that they needed to come home b/c I needed to be at home helping Tim.

I felt terrible for making them come home but what do you do when you have TWO children throwing up simultaneously? We've never dealt with it before. I was so excited to have some "pink" time with Sophie and see what trouble we could get into (just kidding)! I did manage to teach her to say Mason, which comes out "Ma" and Jack, which comes out "Ja".

Thankfully - I think it's over. Jack threw up 3 times and Mason only once. I cleaned up Jack's car seat yesterday morning (oh that was a joy! Thanks to VICKS under my nose for getting me through it) and they seem to be doing okay today too.

Now Tim and I are just hoping that WE don't get it. I told Hank & Tricia that I owed them a "rain check".

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Floor!

We have a floor in the new kitchen! Came home yesterday to find Tim on hand and knee installing the tile! It looks so great (these pictures don't do it justice). Hoepfully Tim said he'll get started installing the cabinets this weekend - the light at the end of the tunnel is a tad bit brighter!!!





The tile is a composite tile and not ceramic or slate. It has grout lines already on it so all you do is use an adhesive to put it down and voila - it looks like you did the labor to lay a ceramic or slate floor!!! Pretty cool huh?

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Monday, January 19, 2009

Low Key Weekend

Nothing fancy to blog about but I thought I'd share a few pics from Sophie's awesome birthday bash on Saturday afternoon. Hank and Tricia threw their daughter a GREAT Birthday party with their friends, family and lots of KIDS. Make-your-own pizzas and Hello Kitty Birthday Cake were a hit. Everyone had a great time. I even managed to end up IN FRONT of the camera for a change (wow!).




Thursday, January 15, 2009

Happy Birthday Sophie!


Tim, Jack, Mason and I want to wish Sophie a VERY Happy Birthday!

We love you, Sophie!

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Disney On Ice

Saturday I had a bit of a flash back to going to see the ice capades with my Mom and Dad when I was a little girl... Disney on Ice was in town and I decided that I'd take the boys instead of trying to corral them in the house all morning. Tim was busy working on the kitchen floor trying to get it ready to lay the tile so we headed out for the 11:30am show. It was great! Our "date" didn't start out too red-hot but once the boys realized what they were seeing - it all turned around and they truly enjoyed themselves.

CARS, The Little Mermaid, The Lion King and Tinkerbell were the features of the Worlds Of Fantasy show. I was corrected on a number of occasions for "chair dancing" by my youngest and told that I could sing but "No Dance Mommy!". So here are a few clips of our day - please excuse my voice in the background - I think I was JUST AS EXCITED about some of the characters as the boys were!

Thanks for a great date boys! Mommy had a good time!

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Portrait


Surely one that I will cherish FOREVER! Please note that I have ear rings and that I have arms and fingers on my hands (this is new on his people that he is drawing). The blob on the left is my jewelry box ("Where you keep your ear rings Mommy!"). Things like this make being a Mom the best thing in the whole wide world!

Life is Short, Use The GOOD Napkins

This was from an email that my Mom sent me today. It's hilarious and I couldn't help myself in posting it for my loyal readers to share with you and give you a good giggle for today.

My mother taught me to read when I was four years old (her first mistake). One day I was in the bathroom and noticed one of the cabinet doors was ajar. I read the box in the cabinet.

I then asked my mother why she was keeping 'napkins' in the bathroom. Didn't they belong in the kitchen?

Not wanting to burden me with unnecessary facts, she told me that those were for 'special occasions' (her second mistake).

Now fast forward a few months.... It's Christmas Day, and my folks are leaving to pick up my uncle and his wife for dinner.

Mom had assignments for all of us while they were gone. Mine was to set the table.

When they returned, my uncle came in first and immediately burst into laughter. Next came his wife who gasped, then began giggling. Next came my father, who roared with laughter.

Then came Mom, who almost died of embarrassment when she saw each place setting on the table with a 'special occasion' Kotex napkin at each plate, with the fork carefully arranged on top. I had even tucked the little tail in so they didn't hang off the edge!!

My mother asked me why I used these and, of course, my response sent the other adults into further fits of; laughter. 'But, Mom, you said they were for special occasions!!!'

Life is too short for drama and petty things, so kiss slowly, laugh insanely, love truly, and forgive quickly....and for heavens sake, use the good napkins whenever you can!

- Author Unknown

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Happy Birthday, Bear!

Here is Mason's birthday wish for his Bear (sorry it's sideways, I turned it on my PC and for some reason Blogger keeps turning it back). Jack wasn't so cooperative so I'm posting his from last year as well.

Happy Birthday, Bear! We love you!


Sunday, January 4, 2009

Can You Say "YUM"?

My sister is always coming up with super creative ideas for presents for the boys and is VERY GOOD at spoiling them when there is not even a special occasion. This year has been NO different. For Christmas, she totally outdid herself and sent them a Cuisinart Soft Serve Ice Cream Machine! Can you say OMG!!! It's so cool!

We decided that we'd give it a try tonight so as a family we came to an agreement that we'd make Mint Ice Cream after dinner. The boys and I picked up the few ingredients that we needed when we were at the grocery store this morning and then Mason and I mixed it all up and put it in the refrigerator so that we'd be ready to go after dinner. Boy did they have a reason to eat all their dinner tonight.

After Mason had helped clear the table (which he NEVER does), we plugged in the machine, turned it on and poured in the "ice cream mixture" and watched it go to work.



After about 15 minutes (which of course seemed like an eternity to the boys)....voila.....MINT SOFT SERVE ICE CREAM!!


And the coolest part about the machine is that it has three compartments for mix-ins that you can pick as it dispenses YOUR ice cream.....for that added personalization to your eating experience (ha ha ha).


We ALL enjoyed the ice cream and just wanted to send a big shout out to Aunt Diehnee, Uncle Chris, Sarah, Caroline, Peter and Jack for the AWESOME Christmas present!!!


Thursday, January 1, 2009

Forward Progress

Yes, this has been one of the LONGEST remodeling projects on record but when you are at the mercy of your husband (the contractor), that's what happens and you take what you can get! I was lucky enough that he put in time Christmas Day, and two days after to get the kitchen and hallway painted and now he's getting ready to lay the new subfloor so the kitchen floor can go on.

Then the cabinets can come in from the garage, appliances can go in and the granite people can come out to run the templates for the counter tops and we can have a functioning kitchen. So my goal of the "end of the year" completion date has come and gone but I can see light at the end of the tunnel..........I'm just not sure how far away it is.

So here's a little sneek peak at where we are....

Here's the kitchen floor tile and the pattern that it will be laid in


Hardwood floor that will be in the front hall and dining room area - it will be "similar" to this but not exact as this color is NO LONGER AVAILABLE (nice huh?) New paint in the hallway (same color as the family room and kitchen)

Kitchen is painted and now ready for the subfloor to go in
My home the construction zone

Our New Year Wish

We wish you Health...
So you may enjoy each day in comfort.

We wish you the Love of friends and family...
And Peace within your heart.

We wish you the Beauty of nature...
That you may enjoy the work of God.

We wish you Wisdom to choose priorities...
For those things that really matter in life.

We wish you Generousity so you may share...
All good things that come to you.

We wish you Happiness and Joy...
And Blessings for the New Year.

We wish you the best of everything...
That you so well deserve.

Happy New Year!