Almost Over

The holidays are just about over, I took down all the decorations yesterday. Christmas was very nice. It was a lot of running around, but it's always nice to see family. Peanut Butter seemed to have a great time. Once she opened on present she wanted to open them all or take a bite in to them. She loves knocking down the stacking blocks I got her and likes to give the little dog a ride in the car. But of course she loved playing with the paper more than anything. The boy was more than happy with the PS3 and was excited about the gun. He can't wait for hunter safety now. It was nice being off for 2 weeks, but I think I appreciate the time I get to spend with PB more when I'm working. She's getting pretty independent though. She is going all day long, doing something or the other. She seems to enjoy climbing and pushing the chairs around more than playing with toys. Her new thing is talking on the phone. She like to steal our phone and pretend she is talking on it. I got her a toy cell phone yesterday; she went to town babbling away.

We don't have any plans for New Years right now. I'd be happy just staying home for once, but I'm sure J will want to do something.

Oh the Weather Outside is Frightfull

So here I am at 5am, I can't sleep. I don't know if my body is saying, "Hey you used to get up at this time everyday for work. I don't care if your on vacation." or if it's the predinisone. So I'll blog a little and go back to bed in an hour or so. The weather is kind of nasty outside a little mix of snow, ice, and wind. I was expecting to 6 inches of snow on the ground, but there might be an inch or 2. My Brother got stuck in Chicago last night. I don't know if he decided to rent a car and drive to my mom's last night or stayed the night hoping to fly in to Madison this morning. I will have to give him a jingle later.

Basketball didn't go so well yesterday. They lost all three games. The did make the 3rd one interesting staying pretty close. The boy played really well that game. He is actually starting to display some aggressiveness. It's hard not to tease him some when he gets talking about how to intimidate people, because he just been pretty passive until recently. He has even inquired if it is okay to kiss his girlfriend, mind you he's in 6th grade. I was a little taken aback, J thought it was funny. And he doesn't remember what his mom said to him about it. I guess he got her a necklace for Christmas and his mom bought that so she must be lightening up on the whole girlfriend issue. I get where she's coming from, I do think it is a little young for all that, but I do remember passing notes and such around that age. J said his first kiss, kiss, was in 6th grade so... I can't for the life of my think of when mine was I know it was older than that, but I guess it wasn't the moment in time that it is for most. He's dying for a cell phone for Christmas; he mom was going to get him a prepaid one. I'm not sure how I feel about it, but they are so handy at times. Our other big taboo purchase was a gun. Yes, J bought him a gun. The boy will finish hunter's safety and will be able to gun hunt next fall. We have a trigger lock and he is pretty responsible in the gun safety. He has both his Mom's dad and brother who hunt and J so it's nothing new he's being exposed to.

I am hoping to be in a more festive mood by the end of the day. Christmas is my favorite holiday, but I just haven't gotten that spirit per se. I am excited to see Peanut Butter open presents. I think I just feel a little overwhelmed with the whole clean the house, you really should get some Christams cookies made, and the end all evil, I hope everyone enjoys their gifts. J always goes all out on Christmas. I tend to feel bad not spending as much as he does, but for some reason he always has more money than I do. We have seperate accounts for those wondering, and I'm horrible with money, which will be another post next week. He's even talking about buying a HD TV. I'm like if that's what you, want it's your money. But back to the mood thing, hopefully after a big breakfast out with the fam, a couple of errands, some football, a touch of cleaning, a cookie or two and some Christams specials, Elf was on last night:) I'll be ready to go tomorrow.

Have a Merry Christmas Everyone!!

4 days and counting.

I know christmas is still 4 days away, but it feels like it will be tomorrow. I think I'm actually done shopping. I made the huge mistake of heading into this toy store yesterday. I was finished shopping for Peanut Butter, but of course I bought her a little wooden pull car with a dog driver, and an ugly doll. They had the coolest doll house with all the furniture. I told J, I can't wait until she's big enough for that. He said what if she doesn't want a doll house. Party pooper. I wish it was still fun to buy for the boy, but alas, it's all playstation for him. The boy has basketball tomorrow, so a whole day at the gym. Hopefully they play well. I haven't done any holiday baking as of yet. I'm hoping Sunday, but I have to clean the house too. I did get a bit of that done today. I realized I have way to many knick knacks and pared down a bit. I hate dusting. And by the looks of a couple items you could tell, I almost thought they were made out of dust. And yep, even with nothing to play with up there, she still wants to be on top of the table.

Cranky Pants

Peanut Butter has a serious case of cranky pants today. (they are so cute I had to share.) I think it is all Santa's fault. I really wanted to get a photo with Santa, I figured today would be a lot slower than on Saturday and it was. I figured we'd have a little time to get to know santa and we did. But she was not having any part of it. She clung on to me for dear life, even after blowing him kisses. So I didn't force her and we left. I need to pick up a couple things before we left and she didn't want any part of that screamed her lungs out in Pennys. I assumed she was hungry it was lunch time so we went over to Panera bread and cranky pants continued. she wouldn't eat and she had to drink the milk out of the straw, which she really hasn't figured out yet. They she wanted to drink my drink. She managed to eat most of her sandwich in between screams. It was packed in there to I felt bad for the people next to me. I'm probably making more out of it than it was cuz the one dude next to me didn't leave and he wasn't eating anything he was studying math. She was in too much a mood for me to attempt Target so we ventured home. She probably slept about 20 min in the car and as soon as I shut the engine off, Poof she is awake. She will not take a nap once we get in the house, but proceeds to whine and scream for the next 3 hrs. I bundled her up and walked down to the post office and after that she's been a pretty happy camper. I'm sure it will be early to bed tonite too, with her screaming around midnight to come co-sleep. At least J got to enjoy the fun this afternoon:)

Favorite Decoration

So f or Lesle's blog, here's my post of my favorite decoration, a set of 3 reindeer. I like the way the light shimmers off of them. I tried my best to capture a better picture, but I think I have all my settings all wonky on my camera. I wish I could remember where I bought these reindeer from, because I'd like to get more. I think it was a Home something party. If you know and have seen that these are still available let me know.

Mission Impossible

The mission should you choose it is to find a way that will keep Peanut Butter off of the table. She will not stay off of the chairs and I conceded this to her, fine, sit at the table like a big girl. But ultimately she is up on the table top. There isn't anything left up there anymore so I don't know what is appealing. But all day long it is a battle, I didn't think my vacation was going to consist of this. The only good thing is as I was waiting in the Dr.s' office I read that children between 1-2 who are defiant are generally kids who have good parents that set limits. But the bad news from the Dr is apparently I have shingles, which is why my skin has felt so chapped. I didn't get the rash or blisters, just extremely sensitive skin. I got some meds, so hopefully this will clear up by the weekend.

the little things

We went shopping today. Got a few more presents knocked off. I wanted to get Peanut Butters photo with Santa, I was so hoping she wouldn't cry. But J handed her over and boom the tears. I tried to calm her down a bit and they are like take her off. I just about had her ready and they were like your done. They handed her a coloring book and said come look at the photos. I could barely wait. So they show me the fantastic shots of her screaming and I'm like No, I'm not buying anything. And they were in shock that I didn't want any. I understand you have a crap load of kids to get through, but the 5 min you could have spent with me could have made you 25 bucks. It is just the little things.
Twice this week I feel like I've been ripped off by charities. Toys for Tots was outside Walgreen's and asked if I could help out, as little as 10 dollars. I said sure here's a 10." Well, we need 10.55." I said that's all the cash I have on me." Could you dig through your purse for change?" I'm like can't you just take the donation. And she looks at me all disappointed, so I say let me check my car. I find a dollar in there and hand it to her and she says pick a toy and put it in the barrel. So I do and get no change back. Fine its for charity. Today I'm in Barnes and Noble and as I'm checking out, "would you like to buy a book for dane county foster kids, we have books as low as 3.99." I say sure give me a 3.99 one. I pay I look at my slip later because I wasn't sure if they gave me the one dr suess book for free and no they didn't, and my 3.99 book for charity was 5.99. Yes it's only 2 bucks, but it could be 2 bucks for another charity. I'm ready to give up on the whole thing. It is the little things.

elves

The boy and Peanut Butter as elves.

a christmas video

Just a little video for you.

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Its a give away.

The Letter C

Bear with me I haven’t posted in a few days and actually had some things on my mind.

C Is for cookies. I gave Peanut Butter some Oreos, well Newman Os, yesterday I don’t know how much of the cookie she actually got in her mouth. The dog had a field day. Why Newman O’s you ask? Because they aren’t make with bleached enriched flour and corn syrup. I hope I haven’t created a monster, since now she has started begging for them. I’m glad I don’t buy them very often.

C Is for corn syrup. I have an obsession with corn syrup; I don’t want it in my food, especially when it doesn’t need to be there. I understand caramel is made from corn syrup and most candies, that’s fine, I choose not to eat those things very often, but why does it need to be in bread, spaghetti sauce, ketchup, yogurt, baby formula, crackers….. I could go on forever. Knowing that I’m eating something with it in it almost makes me sick. People ask how I lost weight and I say give up the corn syrup and dextrose, its other name. I make a very conscious effort to not buy anything with it in it. It is very hard sometimes, which is probably why I spend so much freaking money on groceries. You almost have to buy organic or specialty foods to avoid it.

C Is for Christmas. It is coming way to fast, and I am way to money crunched. I can’t believe all the coupons and deals this year. The stores are doing almost anything to get you in there. I am done shopping for PB, unless I spy a cute outfit. They boy is done except for is game system, but J is buying that. I just have a few more things to get and let the wrapping begin. I may have to bake some cookies. I have a bit more to decorate and I can get my Rubbermaid tubs out of the way.

C Is for cleaning. I desperately need to give my house a good cleaning. I’m glad I start vacation this afternoon, so I can get started. We have so much clutter it is crazy. I seem to go through it every other day and poof we have piles again. Piles of paper, piles of clothes, piles of dog hair, piles of dishes….

C Is for chapped skin. I hate winter. My skin is so dry and chapped it is burning right now. I slathered on the lotion this morning and 30 min later it is just pain. I’ve never had it this bad. I am open to any suggestions. I currently use Aveeno lotion, though the Neutrogena fast absorbing hand cream seems to work pretty well.

C Is for chores. Apparently, I am the only person on the planet who expects chores to be done for in exchange for money. The boy flat out told me no, when I asked him if he was going to shovel. His feet were cold. He’d better not ask me for money.

C Is for crisis. What to do with our dog. He is getting to be a handful. He went after the neighbor boy the other day. He said he was fine. He is constantly whining to go out or to be let by his food. He isn’t listening. He is growling more often. Took him to the vet for shots Monday and she said he’s probably feeling cooped up and such. She said to try and have him run out his aggressions. I thought I could make this work, but I’m thinking I may have to call the humane society pretty soon. It’s been a hard adjustment for him with PB.

C Is for co-sleeping. Nope we haven’t broken that yet, in fact it’s worse. She will lay down and go right to sleep in her crib at 8pm and like clock work between 11:30 and 12:30 she is up screaming bloody murder. We bring her to bed and she crawls over to me and snuggles up. She has even gotten so bold as to pull my arm over to hug her. I’m just too beat to remember to get up and put her back in her crib. And as much as J complains about her sleeping in our bed he doesn’t move her either. I’m considering trying to move her to her big bed, but I’m wondering if 16 months is too soon.

You Are a Bright Christmas Tree

For you, the holidays are all about fun and seasonal favorites. You are into all things Christmas, even if they're a little tacky.

What Christmas Tree Are You?

Kicking and Screaming

45 minutes, I repeat, 45 minutes, that is how long my daughter threw herself on the floor for kicking and screaming yesterday. She actually kicked herself up onto the lower shelf of the coffee table and out the other side. I have no idea why or what made it stop. I was hoping she would make it last long enough for her father to enjoy, but serenity entered her body as the phone rang with her dad saying he was on his way home. She apparently only wants to share the good times with mama.

The boy has another dance tonight. I guess they have dance fever in middle school. I don't remember ever having that many dances, certainly not 2 weeks in a row. He hasn't done a thing to earn any money, so I don't know how he thinks he's going to get in, unless his mom passed him some cash this morning. I have a hard time just giving him money for not doing anything. I remember having lists of things we had to have done during the week, he can't remember to feed the dog or make his bed. He got lucky and it snowed, so I'll have to make him shovel. And shovel he did, I'll give him credit he did a decent job. His mom gave him some money too. He'll be able to buy all the ladies something to drink.

Basketball tournaments start tomorrow, thankfully it is in town this weekend and his first game isn't til noon. I took the day off, so who hoo, I get to sleep in til 8 or when the girl says get up. I have this killer sinus problem, so some sleep will be great. I think we need a humidifier, between home and work it is so unbearably dry, I think it may be the source of my problem.

She Doesn't Stop

The girl just doesn't stop. She is go, go, go all day long, except for a short period called a nap, or recharging. Today it was the chairs. Now that she has figured out how to get up into the seat, she must be in one. If you have the chair slightly away from the table or desk, she has a homing beacon and is alerted and is in that chair and all the naughtiness that awaits in the arms length of where she is sitting. I thought I had all the chairs pushed in as I was sitting at the computer and I look behind me to see where she is at and it's in the chair with daddy's check book in one hand and a pen in the other. It looked like she was going to balance his books. So she screams bloody murder when I take the pen from her, but perks up when I offer a pencil and sheet of paper. So I leave her be. I look back again and there she is standing on the table with a salt shaker in her mouth, looking for some place to run. So of course I say smile and make daddy proud and get a couple photos. J gets home and he never pushes the chair at our desk back in, so she's in it every time he gets up. Then she was in a drawer in the kitchen that of course has all the screws and teeny pieces. Yes, I need to child proof better, but the brains I gave her have just kicked into hyper drive and she's into things she's never given a second glance to. I was not prepared.

O Christmas Tree

We went and got a tree on Saturday, I miss going out and cutting one down, but it's just easier to pick out a cut one until Peanut Butter gets a little older. The weather was crap that day anyway. We took a chance on one that still had its branches up from being bundled. I thought J was crazy to buy one we weren't sure what it was going to look like, but it turned out to be a pretty nice tree. I decorated it last night while J gave PB a bath. She was in awe when she came down and I was shocked she didn't run over to pull any of the ornaments down. Well, right away anyways. The awe must have worn off and she thought well, I like pretty things I just take one or two. Stinker. J said she stayed away from it this morning, but learned how to pretty much shut herself in the refrigerator and how to pull the chair away from the computer desk so she can get up on it. Figures she ended up with my brains. She has become fascinated with the Rudolph figures that play songs. I collect Rudolph stuff and have the Bumble, Rudolph, Cornelius, and Santa. Well I have two Bumbles since I didn't think I had one and bought another. Since she likes them so much I kept that one for her. I'm going crazy listening to the darn things. She stands and points until you play one for her, and the one a gave her it roars right away, which scares her, even after being played a hundred times, which is pretty funny.