The Children's Museum

Miss Peanut Butter and I went to the Madison Children's Museum today.
She enjoyed dressing up like a construction worker.

She also had to rock the backwards hardhat as she operated the crane.

She drove on over to the nearest campsite since she was feeling a bit hungry.

She heaped herself up a plate of camp food after she
doled out coffee off the fender of the jeep.

She "ate" up and decided that wasn't enough to fill her up so...

It was over to the malt shop to see what was cooking there.

Taking the caps on and off seemed to be a big hit.

After all the fun it was time to head back to camp for a nap.

All in all we had a pretty darn fun morning. The had a lot more there, but these are the things she really enjoyed. I learned that she is really into pretend play if the stuff is there. That is something big girls do, not my lil Peanut Butter. I almost want to take her camping since she had the most fun there. Maybe next summer since camping season is definitely over here.

On another note, Nicole, I am almost done with the bases of the trick or treat pails and will try and post some photos so you can pick which 2 you want for your munchkins and I will do them up. And I know I have been promising some layout photos, but the ones I took today were crap, so I'll probably end up scanning and stitching. Since J isn't expected home until 2 am this evening and I am off tomorrow, I am going to be a night owl and scrap a bit and find out who blew up the bus on Veronica Mars, even though I've watched it a few times.

C is for Cookie

I made my fat butt get out there and attempt to run again today. Why, you might be asking? My name is Robyn and I am a cookieaholic. I love cookies, I cannot eat enough cookies. I like the Natural Bakery cookies. I like the icebox cookies from the grocery store bakery, I like their chocolate chip ones too. I love the Back to Nature fudge mint ones which are exactly like the girl scout thin mints which are also deelish, but I try to avoid for the "bad stuff" those contain, like cookies are good for you. I will even eat Annie's chocolate chip bunny grahams or the Earth's Best letter of the day cookies in a pinch. I discovered a new one this week and can I say Yummo. Late July's vanilla bean. I can only imagine their dark chocolate ones are divine. And no, I didn't pay that much for them they were on sale at Whole Foods for $3 a box. I am a cookie aficionado, I will usually try any one once. The only ones that don't trip my trigger are ones with raisins, though the natural bakery oatmeal raisin ones are actually pretty darn good and they are loaded with raisins. I have even tried Laura's Wholesome Junk Food and they are pretty good, but now I really taste the dates in them and it has pretty much wrecked it. I will even admit that I have skipped meals in order to eat or because I ate too many cookies. How sad is that. I need help people. Ok, I just need a little will power.

And just a disclaimer I don't buy the cookies, I linked here just because they are organic, I buy these because they usually don't contain bleached enriched flour and high fructose corn syrup, I don't care what sweetsurprise.com is trying to tell me, I personally think it is scary stuff. But that is a whole other post.

The Farm

Today we ventured out in the cool fall air to the pumpkin farm.

Miss Peanut Butter had a blast feeding the goats.
This big Billy came over after we ran out of food.

The Boy and PB raced on the wheelers.
PB had a little help from Daddy.

PB and I went down the tunnel side. Wheee.

The Boy and PB hung out on the hay bales.

They chatted in the tepee.

Peanut Butter gave me her impression of an owl. Hoo Hoo.

A ride on the train through the corn fields.

The Boy and PB in a little hug. She has been missing him since school started.

Looks like she found a winner.

6 Years

Today is our anniversary.

Photostory Friday: Sweet Corn

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Miss Peanut Butter loves sweet corn, unfortunately the corn season is coming to a close. I was surprised at first how well she mastered eating off the cob. She dives right in and cleans the cob right off. I also enjoy sweet corn. I however like mine with butter and enough salt to raise your blood pressure, well maybe not that much, but I do like it with a bit of salt. As goes sweet corn so goes summer and welcome fall.

Thoughts for Thursday: Bipolar Parenting

I'm beginning to think I am a bipolar parent. I am a decent mother on my days off. I have patience, a desire to get out there and do things together, and I let loose a bit from being on a schedule. On the days I work and especially the evenings that J is not home, I am a bear. I feel a pressure to get things done, yet not want to do them. I have little to no patience. I feel it is a tug of war over time. I have been noticing Miss Peant Butter's and my dynamic changes over these days. My days off she is fairly happy go lucky, wants me, but isn't needy and is generally pretty well behaved. On the days I work, she is needy, naughty, and full of tantrums. It tests my very being, which is where I lose all patience. It is as if we feed off of each other's misery. I guess noticing it is the first step in finding a way to work out something different. I have even been kicking around going to third shift, but I think my marriage would suffer then. I get that there are pros and cons of being a working mom, but I would hope turning into a toxic mom most of the week isn't one of them. Even SAH moms have to have a give and take I would think. How do you find a balance?

Get Your Irish Up

J is a HUGE Notre Dame Football fan, yes, even when they suck. We actually got tickets to a game last year. Wouldn't you know it, we see them lose to Navy for the first time in like forever. J asked if I'd consider going again, I said yes, of course I'd go. So he then bids on tickets from ebay under my account and is then surprised when he wins and wonders if he really has to pay for them?!? I said why in the world did you even bid on these before we discussed if we could go? We don't have anyone to watch PB the day of this game, so it looks like The Boy will get to get his Irish up. The worse thing is as soon as I mentioned The Boy going if we couldn't find anyone, it was like I had been thrown under the bus and forgotten, like we weren't going to even attempt to find someone. Maybe I can get to a stinkin' Badger game then; too bad those tickets are going for way more than I can afford. Bollocks!!

Pants Who Needs Pants

This seems to be Peanut Butter's mantra these days. She will not keep her shorts or diaper on. I have even tried the cotton training underwear and those don't even stay on very long. I know she is bothered by the diaper rash that has been plaguing her, but dang girl, put something on. I realize this is the time to be pushing the potty training, and I'm trying, but so is she:) They haven't mentioned anything at daycare yet, thankfully.
This is PB's after bath ritual, a little eye-key. She still believes it is better to eat it with her hands, even though she can do fairly well with her spoon. In fact I'm sure we will be off to the tub shortly.
J is away tonight and tomorrow night for training through work. Can I tell you how excited I am to drop Miss PB off at daycare tomorrow and Friday? Yeah, that excited.

Round 2

Miss Peanut Butter fought the nap again today. We sat looking at movies on Amazon as she was nodding off in my lap. I laid her down on the chair and she woke up about 45 min later. I sat her up and she cried while I put a load of laundry in. When I returned here she was. I just hope I can get her to go to bed tonight.

I worked a little slowly this weekend scrapbook wise, the titles are killing me, so I may have to post photos later in the week. I'm hoping to get a bit more done tonight after PB goes to bed.

Sassy Pants

Miss Peanut Butter had issues today. Around 11:30 she went into full on tantrum mode screaming "MAMA!" over and over for at least 30 min. I kept asking her what she wanted and she would scream louder, then she was screaming to "EAT!" and I gave her something to eat and that wasn't good enough, finally J started tickling her and poof it was over. Then around 1 it was the same thing I couldn't take it any more and told her she was going for a nap, but some how turning Cinderella on made the sassy pants happy and all was well with PB. I went upstairs to scrapbook as J watched football. J calls me to comedown stairs to see what PB is doing. I always wonderd how kids fell asleep in the oddest places or postitions and today this photo is how she fell asleep on the chair watching Cinderella. After getting my photos I took her up to her crib for the rest of her nap.
We went to the Dells last night to meet my Mom for dinner. I was amazed for an odd weekend in September how busy the town was. We ate at this nice Italian place. Peanut Butter was good for the first 20 minutes or so, but then she was sick of being confined to a booth. The food was pretty good, the dessert was delicious I had a mocha hazelnut mousse cake and it was huge. I almost made myself sick eating it. I'm sure it was calorie friendly too. We got PB in the car and at that point we actually got to talk a little.
I felt guilty about all the goodness I ate last night and didn't really eat properly today, mostly grazed until dinner. We decided to get sandwiches from Jimmy John's and I said I'll walk and get them. J looked at me like I was off my rocker. I figured it wasn't much more than 2 miles there and back. He said call me when you need picked up, nice huh. I ran about half of it. I think it was a little more than 2 miles, since I was pretty worn out by the time I got home. But I can't seem to stop eating tonight, I just keep wanting to get just a little something more from the kitchen, so much for the walk.

Scrapbooking

I have no Photo Story for today since I have been a bad Mama and haven't taken many pictures lately. But I have been working my scrapbooking mojo. I am actually excited about getting down to business tonight and making the trick or treat baskets. I made a stop in a scrapbook store today and all I can say is wow. This store when I first started scrapbooking about 7 years ago wasn't the best. The basically carried Bazzill and random assorments of paper. I found another store on the other side of Madison and began to shop there. I'd stop in this store if I was in a pinch and wasn't driving to the West side. Someone bought out the store and slowly it has built up. I couldn't believe all the goodies they had in there. I wish I had a bigger budget today. So here's to you Scrapbook and Stamping Memories for turning this place around! And Scrapbook Superstore, I still like you too. I am really tempted to buy this new die cutter by Making Memories called the Slice. I never bought a Quickuts when I wanted one, I never bought a Cricut when I wanted one. I'm thinking I really want this. It looks small enough I can put it some where and not need a cart or what have you, like the Cricut. And yes ,it seems to only cut one item at a time unlike the Cricut, but I haven't watched enough demos to say your certain. Maybe I'm just infatuated right now. Hopefully by the end of the weekend I will have some stuff to show off. And by the way the new EVA line from Basic Grey is beautiful.

Dear Dr. Oz

Dr. Oz, I know we have never met in person, but I just want to say thank you for giving me a wake up call about my health. I want to say thank you for showing me fairly easy lifestyle changes that have: a. trimmed me down quite a bit, b. given me a new attitude toward exercise, yes, you can break up that 30 min., and c. just making health an issue to be aware of and explaining things in layman's terms. I bought and read your and your partner's book "You on a Diet" and albeit I skimmed through some parts, it opened my eyes to what I was throwing down as I was eating. I took to heart the 30 min of exercise a day, even if it is "just walking." I have been slacking a bit, but I have the basic tools to get back on track. I love that you will tackle any question thrown at you on Oprah and I got a lot out of your quitting smoking series even though I had already quit. I'm sure you will teach me more in the future which will only make me live better and longer.
Thank You
Robyn

Thoughts for Thursday: Taking Care of Things

I believe at some point in my early life I was taught to take care of things especially if they were not mine. I wish other people followed this mantra. I like to borrow kids dvds from the library. This way if Miss Peanut Butter isn't interested in it, such as Cars, I am not out any cash. I do not know what is up with some of the previous borrowers. Since the dvds are in a locked case until you check out, you never know what in the world that disc is going to look like. I have taken out some that look like a brillo pad has been taken to them. What's up with that? I don't even let PB handle the cases outside the library, for fear that she will eat them or at least pull the art work out and eat that. What sucks about the whole thing is some will play and some will not. Some get stuck and freeze in spots causing a melt down in toddlerland. I usually will not even attempt to play some of them anymore. I know the previous borrowers didn't purchase them per se, most of us do pay taxes, but I don't think that gives any reason to trash the things or allow the child to trash them. Said child should not be loading the discs if they can't without putting a huge gouge like scratch in them. I feel bad should a magazine I take out get a corner bent or something. If PB had some how gotten a hold of one and did damage to it, I would probably go out and buy it to replace it and apologize til the cows came home. This is a reason I do not like to borrow anything from people, other than the library, especially now with Miss Destructo in the house. I fear that something will happen to it. Even when people say, "it's okay, she can play with it," yeah, no she can't. Is this crazy? Have people become so laise faire with items that there isn't a care factor anymore?

The Winner Is

My winner for the Halloween Trick or Treating Pail is Nicole from Fishsticks and Fireflies. I think you have my email to let me know your addy. I will get crackin' on it this weekend.

Is there anyone who would be interested in a free year of Parents magazine?

Another Mishmash

I should not have posted about Miss Peanut Butter adjusting to time outs and such. Today she thought a time out was funnier than all get out. I'd sit her in the chair and she's laugh. I'd walk away she's cry get down and be naughty again. Back to the chair laughs, cries, naughty. I finally put her in the stroller so I could walk off some of my frustration.
Have I mentioned we are all about the baths now too. Every night, "bath, bath, bath?" Ever since I bought this Finding Nemo bath set. She also likes to do the toddler form of the cannonball into the tub if you catch her sneaking out of the tub/bathroom.
Tomorrow is Friday and I am more than happy to have my weekend here. Way too much drama going down in the big house, must be the full moon. I think we might take a little jaunt to the apple orchard on Thursday.
I found out Aladdin is in that sneaky Disney vault too, but at least I can get this one used for less than 10 bucks.

This and That

Yep, another one of my sweetness. I told you to prepare yourself to be bombarded.

I have been kicking around a Carolina vacation. I don't know whether it will be North or South yet. J and I had a good time in North Carolina when we went 7 years ago, and there are some things we missed and some we would like to see again. I am looking for a beachy part for at least a couple days so the Outer Banks or Myrtle Beach I would think would be fun. We'd have to go in the nicer part of the off season in order to afford it, so I'm trying to decide whether February or October of next year would be better. Friends of ours are going to Myrtle Beach in October and got a great deal and having been there before said it was a good time of the year. I think I just have too many ants in my pants to wait that long, but maybe it is a good idea and we won't have to crunch for money to go.

I'm thinking I might have to bring Peanut Butter in to get her tooth checked out. It seems to be changing color, but it really depends what light you look in. I will have to give the Dentist a holla and see what they recomend.

I have 2 more days of my seven day stretch and it cannot go fast enough. I have my Thurs, Sat, Sun, Mon off and I'm trying to decide if I should take Friday too and make it a 5 day weekend. It is very temping right now.

Miss PB seems to be adjusting a little better as far as tanrums and lashing out. She still does a little bit, but I've been working on time outs and options which seems to be helping. The 1-2-3 went down the drain especially when she kept counting 1-2-3 herself at random times. I figured I was using it too much to be effective.

Mrs Grockle:) is doing a write a thank you letter to someone. I'm hoping to get mine done here soon.

Seriously

I love this photo. I love just about every photo on my CD.
Thank You Kelly!!!

Photostory Friday: A Mission

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

A Mission

Miss Peanut Butter never saunters anywhere. She walks with purpose, like she is on a mission. She puts her head down and those little legs get moving and the feet are kicking up dirt. It is go, go, go until she reaches her destination; in this case the swings. We took advantage of a beautiful day on Wednesday and went to the park. The swings are her thing.

My Blogiversary

I knew it was coming up, but I didn't realize it was today until I checked last night after I blew past my 300th post.I should probably do some kind of give away like all the cool kids are doing these days. I'm having a hard time coming up with something though. My initial thought was since most of my readers are Moms was to give away a Halloween bucket made by moi for one of your little tykes. If this is cool with you just say so by next Wednesday, 9/17/08, on this post and I'll put you in a drawing.

Onward to today's junk.

By popular demand, well ok, I just want to show Miss Peanut Butter off, another photo from her shoot. I should have my cd by tomorrow so prepare to be bombarded.

I think I want to lodge a complaint with Disney and this whole asinine vault thing. How the heck was I supposed to know that my Peanut Butter was going to fall in love with the "kitty" from Beauty and the Beast. I can only renew this DVD for so long from the library and have already paid 2 dollars in fines on it. I would purchase it for myself, if it wasn't locked up in the d@mn vault. I could pay around 25 dollars or so for a used one, but I know if it was for sale it would be 19.95 and I feel that extra 5 is crazy to pay for a used copy because it is in that stinking vault. I fell into their scam and bought Bambi and Little Mermaid before they locked those puppies away, but I missed the boat on this one. I have nothing against buying used either, since I have been using the "other sellers" on amazon with success. I have a feeling I will pay the vault premium on Beauty and the Beast and chalk one up to Disney who isn't getting the profit of of it.

I have to comment on PB she was pracically an angel today. We shopped at Wally world with hardly any problems. We went to the park and played, to the grocery store with ease, and the library without a tantrum. We also napped together in the recliner like old times. It was wonderful. I really miss that. The only bad things today were as I was making dinner she comes up to me with her hands cupped and says "stuck." I'm thinking she is going to hand me the mushroom I just gave her, but no it is her hands covered in poo from digging in the back of the diaper. It's on the back of her shirt and pants then it gets on my shirt all while I have 3 pots on the stove going. And the other problem is going to bed, it isn't getting any easier.

The Photo Shoot

This is one of the proofs from Miss Peanut Butters shoot today. I love it. I had them done by Kelly at OhShoot Photography. I cannot wait to get my CD. She was so good with her and Miss PB was being the run around toddler that she is. We did the shoot at Oshkosh's South Park. They have a river and there were tons of geese and ducks and Peanut Butter wanted to chase them. At on point it looked like she was herding geese it was funny. They had a huge play set there that we played on after the shoot. PB was lovin' the wall climbing thing to the slide. I can't get over how much she loves to climb.
I stopped at the Old Navy outlet and got a couple things, namely a halloween costume. I know it is early, but they are on sale and I really like the skunk. I'm glad I didn't order it online since I had her try on the 12-24mos and it still fits. I think the 2-3T would be way too big for her. I was going to have her go as Boo from Monsters Inc, but the costumes are going for over 60 dollars on Ebay. I could do the pink tee shirt thing, but I'm kidding myself thinking I can make a decent Boo monster costume.
I tried stopping in the Child's Place, but it was just mayhem with PB she was running all over and to be honest I'm not that into their clothes. They have some funky stuff. So we hit the road. As tired out as she was tonight she still went down screaming and crying.
As far as the Dr. appointment. He is pretty decent. He did check for a hernia. The reason he thinks it may be related to the c-sect is because I never had this before the c and I have been getting this pain off and on since I had it. I did have a scan a few weeks after the c-sect and they didn't see anything. I finally went back about it since it seems to be lingering longer than it has in the past and April's posts got to me.
I forgot to mark my 300th post, argh. So I will have to come up with something else. I think my year at this is coming up soon.

The Dr

I did get the stomach checked out. It doesn't appear to be anything. He said to take Advil 3 times a day for a week to see if it gets better. He said things might still be out of wack from my c-sect.

randomness

Sorry Viking fans. Rodgers actually didn't look too bad. I also rawked in my fantasy leagues kickin' a$$ and takin' names.

I need a new way to put Miss Peanut Butter to bed. Ever since we took the nuk away, she doesn't go down without a fight. I have tried sitting there until she falls asleep. This worked a couple nights, but now she sits and says "mommy" over and over for an hour. We are doing the cry it out right now and it is killing me. Maybe I just need to get over it. I'd like to move her to a normal bed at some point and right now she would not stay in it. Thankfully, she can't escape the crib yet. That is what those great genes that put her in the 20th percentile for height will get you.

We are getting photos tomorrow. I am excited. My friend had them done by this woman and hers came out really nice. Sorry Jes, I swear I will make it over by you someday. I will post some photos when I get my grubby hands on them. I am hoping that Peanut Butter will cooperate. Keep your fingers crossed.

I have something weird going on in my abdomen. I get a sharp pain when I cough or sneeze. I am hoping it isn't a hernia or something. I should really get it looked at, I will make an appointment tomorrow, maybe...

We added to PB's shoe collection yesterday. My friend, whose daughter is 6 mos older, gave my a bunch of cute ones. She also gave me a bunch of clothes, but we so have different tastes. I usually only pick out about a fourth of what she gives me. I always feel bad about it.

PhotoStory Friday : DQ Blizzards

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

How To Eat a DQ Oreo Blizzard

J decided we needed Dairy Queen the other night. I told him to get Miss Peanut Butter a small oreo one, when he returned I realized that the small wasn't as small as I had hoped it would be. I decided to put some in a bowl for PB; she said, "NO!" and then, "NO, NO, NO!" I asked her if she wanted to eat from the cup and she vigorously nodded yes. I hand her the cup and......

she already has two spoons and goes to town.

She proceeds to eat in a double fisting manner getting
the eye-key in as fast as it can be shoveled.

She manages to eat more eye-key than I had thought she would,
then again, it is ice cream and who doesn't eat more than they should.

She is prouder than all get up that it is all gone.

The next day I get out the left over that I had in the bowl, which thankfully had a lid, and she ran to the garbage wanting to pull the blizzard cups out. Apparently it isn't a blizzard unless it is in the cup. But I made her eat it from the bowl anyway.

Hmm Decisions

Argh, I actually liked McCain's speech.

Thank You for Banking With Us

It was a beautiful afternoon, cool, yet warm enough for shorts. I decided to take advantage of the afternoon to try and get a little bit of a run/walk in. I load up Peanut Butter and we head to the bank to set up a saving account for her. We get to the bank, cash in all the change from her piggy bank and ask to set up an account. We end up having to wait a bit for the next person available to set up an account. They happen to be sharing goldfish crackers today which is more than fine with Miss PB. She proceeds to eat about 10 half filled dixie cups and has maneuvered herself out of the stroller as they finally call for us. I ask her to sit like a big girl in a chair next to me in the tiny office and she does for all of 10 seconds. It then becomes a wrestling match for the next 10 minutes which feels like an eternity since she doesn't fight fair. I'm getting my eyes gouged out, arms pinched, and she is scratching any exposed skin. She takes off out of the office and I chase her, nab her, and give her another cup of the goldfish to try an appease her, to which, I'm sure to the delight of the account manager, PB throws across her desk. I am beyond anger at this point and I take her to the hallway and she then spits the goldfish which she is chewing all over my neck and chest. Did I mention they were the colored goldfish? So I have a smattering of pink/red goldfish stains across my grey t-shirt. I put her in the stroller and give her the you need a time out which she screams in rage about. The account manager is running to the tellers to get the money deposited and returns with a packet and says since, "I see she's not in such a good mood, I'll give you this, give me a call if you have any questions." Now get out and thank you for banking with us. No, not really, but I'm sure that's what she was thinking. We get out the doors and my demon child then becomes happy go lucky again and talks and points and acts like the last 20 minutes didn't happen.

How was your day?

This and That

I couldn't wait until Friday to share this one, but I will the full story on Friday. This is how Miss Peanut Butter thinks DQ blizzards should be eaten.

I went shopping on Sunday will full intentions of blowing my wad of cash from my rummage sale on something good, but no. I was totally lame and practical and bought 2 very badly needed new bras on 40% off. Can I tell you how much I hate spending money on undergarments? A winter jacket that I used a gift card for half since I didn't had one that fit anymore in the good way. I got some household supplies from Target along with 2 pairs of shoes on clearance for little miss. A few scrapbooking items. I didn't find a single thing I liked in Old Navy and that rarely happens and nothing for the girl, that never happens. Though I did like a couple things, but I don't pay full price there. I will wait for a sale. And to top it off I bought groceries. I spent a little more than I had wanted because I kept picking up things saying ooh I have a little extra for that. I am a celebrity too, since I bought some Honest Tea, I love sublime mate. Yummy. I bought 2 other flavors to try too. And like that, the cash was gone.Though I still have a little money in the bank. I wish I would have just blown it at Dick's Sports on the $299 elliptical machine.

I am depressed to hear they have now postponed Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince until next freaking summer. How do you go from Nov 21st 2008 to next July 17th 2009???? I am so let down. I am really excited for this one. The trailer has me so intrigued. Bollocks!

I found Miss PB with a nuk in her mouth at daycare to day. She was napping, but I was a little upset. I guess we should have just taken it from daycare. It was a transiton day where new kids were moving in to this room and a bunch still had their nuks, she had a hard time napping. I was like yeah, well she has a hard time napping for us too, in fact on my four days off, she napped once, the one I was shopping and wasn't home to enjoy it. It has been almost 2 weeks without it. Sigh.

Well, that's all for today. I have to get my hinder to bed. Sorry for no coments today, I'll catch up with you all tomorrow.