Nature Hike (In Our Backyard)

On Friday, the weather was really nice, so I took the kids outside in the woods. We pretended we were explorers searching for treasures.

As you can see, neither kid has their "woods legs" yet. Isabella is much more cautious, by nature, so as soon as she would start slipping, she would sit down. Nicholas was running down the hills, and would do a full slip-on-a-banana-peel fall, roll over, get up, and start running again.

This is Taylor and Shea's fort that they made with friends the first summer that we moved in. (4 1/2 years ago) Still intact and quite impressive. It's a little tight inside, but I am sure Nicholas and Isabella will be able to continue building it sometime in the future to enlarge it and make it usable.

Here they are very impressed that they are capable of shaking a tree so hard that the entire thing moves. It was about an inch in diameter.

This is my favorite tree in our entire back yard. I know it's just a stump, but it was once a really huge tree. The tree was cut down a really really long time ago because the remains of the stump are very brittle and soft. I'd like to imagine that this tree was cut down maybe 100 years ago. And if the tree was that big 100 years ago, how long before that was it planted? Our development is new as of about 10 years ago, so why was this big tree cut down? I would love to find out the history of who lived on this land way back when.

This is in the side of our yard, and I am not even sure if this is our property or not, but the kids love to throw rocks and sticks in this creek and see how big of a splash they can make.

This was Isabella's first attempt at photography. Not too bad. She managed to get my entire body centered perfectly in the next picture. These don't look too different than the pictures I take. Is she that good, or do I take photos like a 3 year old?

After so many pictures, they were no longer willing to smile. They tried to give me their scariest faces.

And the winner is.......

New Favorite Purchase

Nick has been bugging me for weeks to buy flannel sheets for our bed. Our regular cotton sheets are just too harsh on his delicate skin apparently....So anyway....I found these great holiday sheets at Target over the weekend for $15 on any size! And they are really, really soft.

Of course, where ever I am, Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum are never far behind. The moment I had the bed made, it became playground central. Why is it so fun to jump on parent's beds? Even Taylor and Shea take running dives from the doorway of our bedroom onto our bed. No matter how much we yell at them, for some crazy reason, it's always worth the tongue lashing.

Holloween Festivites

Halloween started for us on Wednesday at Isabella's preschool, where they had their party. I was one of the "helpers" and had so much fun. They had a parade for the parents to show off their costumes. Then the kids got to play their games and decorate Halloween cookies with frosting and LOTS of sprinkles. 3 year-olds are really, really, really cute!

Saturday we went to my Brother-in-law and sister-in-law's house to trick or treat. We also were there to celebrate Heidi's birthday. Aside from my husband, Heidi hates to celebrate her birthday more than anyone I know. So, she will do anything she can to get out of a party. This year, she cleverly decided that since we would all be at her house anyway for trick or treating, then we could celebrate her birthday as an after thought.

Isabella as Sleeping Beauty

Nicholas as a pumpkin (This also happened to be Taylor's costume when she was 2. At the time, I was felling rambunctious enough to sew the girls costumes. I went to the fabric store and picked the easiest pattern I could find. For the average sewer, it probably would have taken an afternoon to make this simple costume. I think I worked on it for about a week, with SEVERAL errors, where I had to rip apart seams and re-do them. But when it was done, it looked really good, and I was really, really proud of myself.) So why is Nicholas wearing it? Because I waited until the last minute to buy costumes. The upside: 50% off all costumes at The Disney Store. The downside: No boys costumes under a size 8. Low and behold - Nicholas is a 13 year old pumpkin. But was very, very happy.

Anthony: Scary Skeleton

Joseph: Scary I-don't-know-what

Taylor did not trick or treat this year. She decided to walk with the little kids, and pass out candy at Joe and Heidi's house instead. Boo-hoo, my little baby - all grown up and not trick or treating anymore.

Shea and her friend Lauren met up with us later. They decided on their costumes all by themselves. Lauren was "Attacked by an artist". Yes, I know. I had the same puzzled look on my face that you do on yours. And Shea was an old lady, but also the artist whom attacked Lauren. Again, I know - puzzlement. They both looked really cute through.

The happy birthday girl and her boys.

The happy birthday girl and her hubby.

Joe sporting the new do. He LOVED his new hair, and continuously flipped his hair out of his face ALL NIGHT!

I'm only 39 and 1/2!!!!!

I am falling apart......

Last week at my physical, I happened to casually mention to my doctor that for the last few months I have been experiencing heart palpitations during insignificant times, 3 or 4 times a month. She suggested that I see a cardiologist, who almost guaranteed me that I was in no danger, but to rule any possibility out, I have to wear a mini EKG and hit the record button when I have an episode. This little gadget with 4 wires attached to stickers stuck to my skin will be accompanying me for 30 days, all day long.

Saturday, while running around like a mad woman getting ready for the Homecoming dance, I started getting a tooth ache. Of course I ignored it because I had too much drama to deal with. Sunday the ache turned into a throb. Monday I was ready to die, and by Tuesday I wanted to chop my own head off just to end the pain. Somehow I developed an infection in my tooth and the gum surrounding it. Today I had the tooth pulled, which was a lovely experience that I do not wish to have again anytime soon.

Sunday, while loading my groceries into the car, I pulled my back out lifting a 40 pound bag of salt out of the cart to put into my car.

Picture this: (If you need to close your eyes to get the full effect, feel free) I am walking around with wires hanging off my body, hunched over with one hand on my back, and holding my cheek with the other hand, which by the way, is getting puffier by the minute. I look like a science experiment gone awry.

Just try to throw one more thing my way........

Homecoming 2009

Taylor looked beautiful, I think she had a good time, and I am very thankful that the weekend is behind me for an entire year. In order to protect the innocent, that is all I will say about the weekend.

I'm Having a Bad Day...Or Two

It all started yesterday morning when I went for a physical and the doctor talked me into getting a flu shot and updating my Tetanus booster. I have never had a flu shot before, but not because I am opposed to them. I have just never felt the urge to drive to some walk-in clinic and stand in line behind 20 grumpy old men and women with my screaming kids. But as luck should have it, this year, my physical was scheduled in the fall. The shot was so easy that I didn't even feel the needle go into my arm. Fantastic, I thought. It was piece of cake, and now I don't have to worry about the flu all winter. My house simply cannot run when I am sick, and I was probably gambling by not getting the shot these last few years.

When the kids got home from school, my very rough 13 year old grabbed me by the arms and shook me. The muscles in my arms hurt so bad I couldn't believe it. They never stopped aching for the rest of the night. Every time I rolled over at night I woke up because my arms hurt so bad. That can't be normal, can it? Or maybe that's why my kids are so crabby after they come home from the doctor.

Against my better judgment, I took the entire brood to the mall to find a Homecoming dress for Taylor. After 3 hours of trying on 20 dresses, arguing with Taylor, and chasing after Nicholas, we found a dress. On the way out of Dillards, while arguing about why I will not buy a pair of $90 shoes, I am told that the dress we just purchased at the other store is not the favorite. Well the return policy at that particular store is 14 days, with a receipt, and merchandise credit only. No refunds. Guess what toots, you're wearing that darn dress!

On to Today.....I was running late to get to storytime at the library and we walked out without our stuffed animals that we needed for an activity. So of course, the librarian brought extra animals for all the loser moms who forgot theirs. While singing a song, I notice the librarian looking at Nicholas. I glance over at him and he has the entire face of his BORROWED Beanie Baby Dog in his slobbery mouth! I snatched it away so fast and tried to rub the spit off as best I could.

After story time was over, Isabella wanted to borrow some new books. Like some kind of free-for-all, the two of them started ripping books off the shelf faster than I can review them to see if they were worth borrowing. My usual rules for borrowing books are: Nicholas has to be strapped in the stroller (didn't have it today); I need my book bag (didn't have that either) and I take the books off the shelves. (Their rule is: if tweedle dee does it, than so does tweedle dum).

I grabbed 5 books and stood in line behind 4 other people while wrestling with Nicholas to stay in my arms. On the way to the car, I dropped every book in the wet parking lot.

Shortly after we got home, Nicholas found a container of McDonald's honey mustard sauce, poked his finger through the top and dumped it all over my carpet.

I am not leaving my house for the rest of the day, and I am going to try to keep from getting hog tied and gagged by my own kids.

Fall is Here...Whether I Like it or Not

I have said it before; I love summer. It's my favorite season. I love the heat and the sun. I love swimming and cookouts, and eating outside. I would rather wear tank tops and flip flops than a big, thick sweater and Uggs. And I am very sorry to see another summer end.

But.....I also love fall. It's not my favorite, but I do love it. And what better way to kick start the fall than by going to Patterson's Fruit Farm to pick apples. Last Friday, my nieces, Paige and Chloe had the day off from school for a staff day. Taylor and Shea did not have the day off so they couldn't come. (I tried to keep the outing a secret, but they found out and were a little miffed that they had to spend the day in school.) The little kids and I met Penny and the girls and my parents at Patterson's and picked some apples and then went to the Holden Arboretum for a picnic.

I permitted Nicholas and Isabella to eat one apple each while we were picking, and I made sure that they were small ones.

Even my Dad's youngest and most favorite daughter, Abby came with us. (She's the one in Black)

Penny found a Wooly Bear and it crawled all over Nicholas' arm. He thought it was cool, but was a little leery when it started to get higher up his arm. Isabella kept a far distance.

Wireless Router Working Again....And I have 10 minutes to Myself

Sorry for the delay in posts. Our wireless router decided to reset itself and not work on any computers in our house. My options were to sneak up to Shea's room and sit at the computer while Isabella and Nicholas reeked utter chaos downstairs alone, or ignore my blog for a while. After an hour long chat session with a woman from Linksys, I got the router back up and running. So here I am on the laptop in the kitchen where I can see all the goings on in the house.

Here are some pictures from my mother-in-law's birthday that we celebrated on the 12th. Unfortunately, Nicholas and Isabella were both getting over colds, and Nick got his while we were there, and felt terrible towards the end of the evening. My mother-in-law says that her sore throat the next day was not from our family, but I am pretty sure we infected her with our sickness. Happy Birthday - Here's some pneumococcal just for you! Next time we are not taking any chances!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Poison Control - Member's Club

I seem to be becoming a regular customer of the Poison Control Center. In the last year, I have had to make that call 4 times. So far, Isabella and Nicholas are even with 2 and 2. I never once called poison control with Taylor or Shea. What gives with these little ones? It must be because they are Nick's kids. (Just kidding darling).

The first time was last summer when Isabella ate a packet of flower food. That was the day when I called 911 to get poison control's number, and the overzealous dispatcher called every fire truck, sheriff and ambulance to our house. It was a very exciting day at the homestead.

The second time was a few months ago when Nicholas found a tube of hand cream in my diaper bag and figured out how to open the top. By the time I realized how quiet he had become, he had a glob of hand cream coming out of his mouth. I read the tube and it said "Keep out of reach of children". I scooped most of it out of his mouth, but I had no idea how much he had swallowed. The nurse told me that because the hand cream had all natural ingredients, he would be fine.

The third call was about a month ago. Nicholas likes to stand on his tippy-toes and reach his hand above his head into my bathroom drawer to look for treasures. This particular day, he found my face cream and unscrewed the top and was eating the lotion off the pump. I quickly checked the ingredients, and was not so lucky with the "au natural". It had Alpha Hydroxy in it and said if ingested, seek medical attention. Poison control said that it's not so much the ingredients but that the lotion is so thick, that they worry about gagging and choking. I was pretty sure that I had removed most of the lotion from his mouth with my hand, so we seemed to be ok once again! My bathroom counter is a mess of scattered bottles so that he can't reach any more lotion in my drawers!

The most recent call was Monday. Isabella has a cold with a cough. Last winter, she had a bad cough, and the pediatrician's office told me I could give her Triaminic. The bottle had expired, so I bought another one, and gave her a dose before her nap so that she wouldn't be up coughing. Out of curiosity, I read the back of the bottle about an hour after I put her down for a nap, and it said "Do not give to children under 4". I was instructed to wake her up from her nap to make sure that she was able to be aroused. It worked, thank god. The nurse said the American Academy of Pediatrics keeps changing the age for when it is safe to give children cold medicines. So, 6 months ago, it was perfectly fine, because the age was 2 and up. But now it is not safe because it is 4 and up. I thought I had poisoned my own child with cold medicine, and then sent her off to a comatose sleep. But 6 months ago, it was perfectly acceptable to give her cough medicine so that she could sleep soundly. These doctors are going to make me crazy.

The poison control center always asks for my name, my child's name and our zip code. The next time I call I am going to hear a game show bell - Ding, ding, ding! That crazy guy's voice will come on the line and say, "Let's tell her what she's won! A free visit from social services!" Yay for me!!!

Seven Springs

Let me preface this post by pointing out the blurry right side of every photo. SOMEONE put their grubby fingers on the lens and left smudgy fingerprints on it. I didn't realize it until I downloaded the pictures onto the computer! So please disregard the blurriness!

We went to Seven Springs, PA on Sunday and Monday of Labor Day weekend with my parents and sister's family to stay at their condo. On Sunday we stayed at the resort and rode the Alpine Slides a couple times. This was the very first activity that that all six of us have been able to do together. Usually, the event is either to small for the little kids or to little for the big kids. We rode the chair lift up the mountain, which was a little scary with "never-sit-still-Nicholas". I of course, made Nick hold him, because I was too afraid he would slip through my death-like grip. He did fine, because I think even he was a little nervous when he looked 50 feet down and realized the only thing keeping him up there was a measly metal bar. He hung on the Nick just a closely as Nick hung on to him. On the actual slide, you can go as fast or as slow as you like, but leave it to my husband to race to the bottom with our precious 18 month old on his lap. Fortunately Nicholas loved it. My mom had 2 people behind her probably cursing her the whole way because she rode the break all the way down the mountain. I'd like to think I fell somewhere in the middle. No one was squawking at me, but I wasn't breaking any records either.

We ate dinner at the condo, and then we took the big kids to a bonfire and fireworks show that night. Nick and my mom stayed behind with the little kids.

On Monday we drove to a town called Ohiopyle. There was a river where people could kayak or white water raft. They had a long bike trail that ran the length of an old railroad. It was a really cute little town, and the scenery was really pretty.

Poor Taylor was left with the task of keeping Nicholas from falling into the jagged rocky waterfall.

First Day of Preschool

Yesterday was Isabella's first day of school. It was a shortened day for 1 1/2 hours and the parents stayed for the whole day. She loved playing with the toys and met a friend who is just as shy as she is. Monday is her first day alone. She should do okay, but I am a little nervous. Getting Nicholas to leave the room filled with children and every toy imaginable is going to be another story. He will have his mother all to himself for 2 whole hours!

Guess Who's 15 1/2 Today!!

We have 6 short months to turn this kid into a responsible, confident driver.

God help us.