Halloween Flashback!

Ready to go Trick-Or-Treating!

2007: Two witches and a Bronco's Cheerleader!


2008: Super Girls

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween Everyone! It's finally here! Not that I've been anxiously awaiting it or anything. It's more like I thought I may have missed it since the Christmas stuff is already out and I didn't get around to putting up Halloween decorations this year so I'm a little holiday confused right now.

I am hoping to get the song that has been stuck in my head all week out for good after today. It's not even a real song or anything. Moose A. Moose on Noggin sings a little diddy about candy corn. "I don't like candy corn, no I don't like candy corn" and that's all I can remember but it plays over and over and over again in my head. I have even found myself humming it - at work, at home, grocery shopping, at Little Gym. Sad. But it does make me think of my Mom since she LOVES candy corn! So that part is not so bad. But I'm over the song already.

Anyway, moving on...

We woke up to a gray, rainy Halloween morning. Actually, I woke up to Quinn standing beside my bed telling me that it was a rainy morning and that I should get up. Why - I wondered to myself. Then I remembered the Halloween bags of goodies I set out for the girls the night before to find when we went down for breakfast. That made me smile and so I got up and started the day.

The girls enjoyed finding their bag of goodies: a book, a little plush thing that I stuffed full of candy and a flashlight - cat for Quinn, pumpkin for Sydney. They mostly enjoyed the fact that they got to eat one of the treats before breakfast! I enjoyed that part too - even though I've been doing it all week!

We got dressed in our costumes and headed to the park for 'Trunk-Or-Treat'. It was fun to see the kids dressed up - even if it was raining! They didn't seem to mind a bit when they found out there were treats involved! One of the trunks had one of those bowls with the hand sticking up and when you grab the candy, the hand 'grabs' you. Quinn got to experience that and it didn't seem to really faze her at the time. But for the entire ride home and pretty much the rest of the day, all she could talk about was that stupid hand! "That hand didn't want me to take a treat", "That hand said NO Quinn, you can't have my treat", "That hand just wanted to keep the treats", "That hand was in the bowl with the treats", "That hand was green", "What color is your hand?", "What color is my hand", "Can my hand stay in the bowl with the treats?", "I just wanted to take a treat but that hand didn't want me to", "That hand........" I finally quit listening after awhile as she started to repeat herself. Stupid hand! Hmmmmmm, I wonder where she gets her obsessiveness from? (playing in background: I don't like candy corn, no I don't like candy corn.....)

My Super Girls were super hard to get out of their costumes so we could eat lunch -"NNNNOOOOOOOOOOO! I'm Super Girl! I need to wear my costume! I can't be Super Girl without my costume!" is what I got from Quinn. From Sydney I got "NNNNOOOOOOOO! NO NO NO NO! NNNNOOOOOOOOO! soupaoeiurlsejroiufoaieuroioiuouoieurwoeirlakjfosguaosjrawo!" which I loosely translated to mean "No, I would rather not remove my costume at this time Mother but thank you so much for asking!" - or something like that.

Our costumes this year were inspired by Quinn. She has a 'Super Girl' shirt (just a red shirt with the 'S' emblem in blue on it) that she got over a year ago. The thing doesn't fit her but she insists on wearing it all the time! In fact she goes back and forth between Super Girl shirt and Bronco shirt. But the Bronco shirt has to be her orange Bronco shirt (again, she got it over a year ago) because her nice new Bronco shirt/jersey that actually fits her is pink. And, according to her, Bronco shirts are NOT pink (yes, her Daddy is SO proud)! So, if anyone is wondering what gift she will get the most use out of this year, think Bronco shirt (5T) that is orange and/or blue and preferably one with the logo on it! Okay, back to our costumes. So the shirt coupled with the fact that I came home from work one night to find K.C., Quinn and Sydney with blankets around them like capes, running through the house yelling "We are Superheros! We're here to save the day! We are SU-PER HEROOOOOOOS!" and I don't know what all! So in my quest for costumes I happened upon an adult size Super Girl costume. I thought Quinn would be SO proud to have her Mommy be Super Girl so I HAD to get it! And then I found toddler size Super Girl outfits. That was a no brainer! We would be the Valentine Super Girls! So the next trick was finding a Super Hero costume for K.C. At first the only thing I could find with a cape was Super Beer Man costume. Not really appropriate for handing out candy but if we were going to an adult party, perfect. Then I found it. It was like a light was shining on it, pointing the way for me. It was Batman! Well, killjoy, I mean K.C., was less than impressed with it. He thought the costume was cool and all but there was no way in heck he was wearing it. I tried to convince him. Told him to imagine how cool it would be for kids to come trick-or-treat at our house and find Batman there, passing out candy. He agreed, it would be cool. I thought I had persuaded him to wear it. Turns out he was just agreeing that it would be cool - but there was still no way in heck he was wearing the costume. So, I took it back:( And now, to quote Quinn, "Daddy is just going to be Daddy for Halloween." Party pooper!

The rain cleared up in the afternoon so we had a nice evening for trick-or-treating. I got all made up (yes my friends, I'm wearing blue and gold eyeshadow and have my hair teased up as high as I could get it:) Rock on brothers and sisters, rock on!) and was getting the girls made up when we started getting trick-or-treaters. First it was Jack & Cindy as we missed them at the trunk-or-treat at the park. Next was some neighbors so we had them come in so we could all check out each others costumes. Then we headed out to do some trick-or-treating of our own. Quinn seemed to remember what to do from last year. She was really into it and not afraid at all. Sydney followed along and sometimes seemed confused that we weren't going in the houses. She wasn't shy at some places as she grabbed a handful of candy instead of just one. We only saw one other Super Girl out and about so I think we got some unique costumes this time - at least for our neighborhood! After we got home there was a Super Man that was probably a little older than Sydney that came to the door. It was too darn cute and I curse myself for not thinking about grabbing the camera! The boy was so amazed that there were two little Super Girls and one big one - like he found where the super heros lived or something! Quinn lost interest after she put the candy in his bag. He and Sydney just stood there staring at each other for the longest time. It was so funny.

After we got home and K.C. and I picked out what we wanted, er, uh, I mean after we sorted through it and pulled all of the 'suspicious' looking candy, we let the girls pick one treat to eat before getting ready for bed. Quinn picked fruit leather (kind of like a fruit roll but it's all natural) - probably because it was the biggest thing in the basket:) and Sydney picked a sucker - always goes for the suckers - probably because they last longer. I tell you what, I'm raising some smart sweet-tooths around here!

All in all we had a great Halloween this year. Quinn is already talking about dressing up and going trick-or-treating next year. Silly kid! Hope you all had a good Halloween and got lots of sweet treats - even if you had to go buy them for yourself!

Here's a smilebox with lots of pictures and video from the day and evening. Enjoy!:

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Spook ya next year!

I ventured to the dark side today...

...and it was a little satisfying!

Yes folks, I fear I am becoming what was once foreign and strange to me. Something that just never made sense to me before. Something that was so creepy and scary and abnormal that I swore I would never become one of those people. But, I think I may have made my first step into that world today. It was all so innocent - the girls were with me for crying out loud! I didn't realize what I was doing at the time. But, worse than that, I realized what I did soon after and (gulp) didn't do anything to correct it! And you know what? It felt GOOD. Liberating almost. I'm sickened by it and thrilled to bone all at the same time.

Good lord I'm at the edge right now, about to step off into that world. And I'm not sure I want to stop myself! What is happening to me? The pull is soooo strong I fear I can't resist it much longer. I don't think I want to resist it. Oh why me? Why, why, why? Don't I have enough things to worry about right now? Is this really necessary for me? Oh won't someone help me? Help me to stop the madness before it starts! Or maybe help me through the initiation into becoming one of those people. What am I saying? I can't think clearly....my knees are weak....is it hot in here?...I'm.....So.....Scared....

I know my life is about to change. Some of you are going to look at me differently. Please don't judge me. There are so many out there that have done what I've done. It can't really be all that bad if so many people are doing it, right?

Okay, I'm just going to put it out there. Ready? I know some of you can handle this but I'm not so sure about others. Those that have serious medical conditions and expecting mothers should use caution if they decide to continue reading from this point forward. Okay. Deep breath. Here I go:

I BOUGHT CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS - IN OCTOBER!!! I know how horrible that sounds to some of you. It almost hurts to see it in print. But I feel like a big weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I knew something like this was going to happen! I've been having these thoughts lately. Thoughts of Christmas. Thoughts of getting presents early this year. First they were just thoughts of "oh, the girls would like this" whenever I'd see something at work. And then I started to worry if whatever toy it was would still be there in a couple of months. It is Costco after all - if you don't buy it when you see it, you probably lost your chance! So then the thoughts started to come. Buy it for Christmas. Sure they'll still love it as much in two months as they would now. Who cares if it's just going to sit in a closet for two months? At least you'll have it! That's one less thing you'll have to do in the next two months. Not to mention everyone around me buying things up so they don't have to do it in two months. And so they have whatever it is that is not going to be there in two months. They made it look so easy. Like there was no stigma at all attached to it. Like everyone in the world was doing it. They were professionals!

At any rate, I just bought two boxes of ornaments, a wreath holder and a jingle bell wreath. That's all. I feel so ashamed but glad I don't have to do it in two months. It wasn't hectic, trying to pick it out. There was a huge selection so I didn't have to settle for whatever was left. I could take my time, take my pick even. It was pure heaven. I'm now thinking about picking up a gift a week for the next few weeks. Just one. I'll take it slow. I don't want to rush into this until I'm sure it's the direction that I want to go.

And thus concludes my journey to the dark side. But you sometimes have to go through the darkness to reach the light (good lord they've got me! aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh).

The things that come out of her mouth - and butt!

We had a busy and hectic day yesterday. Busy because I'm trying to get my freakin house cleaned up once and for all and hectic because I had a lot to do with not enough time to do it, two 'want to help' girls I was tripping over and PMS on attack!

After Quinn's class we had K.C. meet us over at Fred Meyer because I decided we were going to get bar stools. We have a fabulous island area and while I was cleaning yesterday I was getting more and more mad that 1. anyone in their right mind would put carpet down in a dinning room and 2. my kids make a game out of dropping the messiest things they can on the carpet. So, the thought struck me to get bar stools and eat at the island where there is linoleum (another issue I have - why the heck do they make it textured?! I know it's suppose to look like stone or whatever but trying to get dirt and gunk out of those cracks and crevices just drives me nuts!). Since our table broke and we had been using a folding table, this idea was perfect. And it also helped that I wanted to move the furniture around a little in the living room to open up the spaces downstairs. So, the piano is now in the dinning room and this is also where the downstairs toys are housed. The folding table is folded up and put back in the closet with the folding chairs. And all is right in my world again - at least in the downstairs portion of my house.

All of that just to tell you what Quinn said! We were eating our first dinner in the kitchen and Quinn made several comments about how she loved eating in the kitchen. True to form, she eventually tooted, then laughed and said "hee hee, my toots bounced!"

Mexican Coke & Persimmons

Those are just two of the things I never heard of before working at Costco. Well, I guess I probably had heard of both but to my knowledge had never seen a persimmons before let alone tasted one. I kept seeing them come through my line so finally asked a member/customer (they are called members because you have to pay to shop there) what it was. He told me and told me how to eat it (like an apple) and promised that they were sweet and good. I decided to buy some and, of course, we were out. I saw them come through the line again this weekend so bought some. They are a little sweet and are crunchy like an apple. Don't know as I would seek one out though - maybe mine aren't ripe or over ripe or something. I'll have to look up more info on line. The girls will eat a little of it, K.C. doesn't like it so that leaves me to eat the rest of them! I paid around $6 for eight of them.

As for the Mexican Coke, I've seen it in the grocery stores but had no idea it was different from Classic Coke - or would that be American Coke? Either way, I just didn't pay attention. I just figured some people liked to drink coke out of a glass bottle and that is why it was more expensive. I guess the Mexican Coke is made with pure cane sugar as opposed to the high fructose corn syrup that Classic/American Coke is made from. Everyone told me how much better the Mexican Coke was and how I had to try it. So, I bought some. I can't really taste a big difference. Which is good considering I paid $20 for 24 - 12oz glass bottles! K.C. said he could taste a difference but not enough to want to buy it again. The girls have yet to try it but I'm sure they'll love it!

So, as always, I like to share my new finds with you. I love trying out new things (as long as it's vegetarian of course - no Donkey tongues or monkey testicles for this girl) so working at Costco is a good way to see what's out there! Next up is some kind of traditional Christmas cake (it looks like bread) from Milan. I'm told by a member that it is kind of like fruit cake but oh so much better (I happen to like fruit cake)! It seems odd to me because it really does look like bread! Can't wait to dig into it!

Big Sister + Pull-Up = ABUSE!

I never thought a pull-up could be used to abuse anyone but looking at Sydney's face makes me think that she may be scarred for life because of Quinn's weird obsession with putting underwear/pull-ups on her head (that has to come from the paternal side - right?!).

Poor child. If I wasn't laughing so hard I'd try to help her out.

We've Been Booed!

It happened again this year. We were Booed! I had never heard of this tradition until we moved here. I don't know who starts it but someone buys little treats for two neighbors, puts them on their door step anonymously and includes a sign to hang on their door so they don't get booed again and instructions to boo two more neighbors. It's fun and for the past two years we've gotten good treats. Now I just have to find two neighbors to boo! Oh, and get the stuff to boo them with!

This year we got some candy, pumpkin cups, tattoos, play dough and these silly glasses.

Family Fun Day!

It's not often that we are able to go do things as a family with my work schedule. So, K.C. took yesterday off and we crammed a ton of things into the day.

First up was dressing the girls in the dresses I bought them and then taking them to our favorite park to take pictures. I don't know what it is about these dresses but as soon as I saw them I knew that I had to take them to the park and put them in this great old tree trunk and take pictures. It's just too bad that it was cold outside! Sydney was freezing but both of them were good sports. I got great video of them feeding the ducks and 'dancing' in the meadow like the little fairies they are. Look for that footage on the Year In Review DVD. I had a hard time picking just two pictures to post but opted for ones that I envisioned when I first saw the dresses hanging on the rack:

This is probably my favorite of the day but when I zoom in to view it closer, the girls are all blurry so that really sucks!


Poor Sydney was so cold she couldn't move! Look at that view behind them though! That is Lake Wilderness.


After a stop at home for lunch and a shower (for me) we headed to a local farm to pick a couple of pumpkins. This was the very first trip for all of us to a pumpkin patch! It was a lot of fun and we highly recommend this great family farm - http://www.thomassonfamilyfarm.com/.

We took a hayride, 'milked' a wooden cow, drove a tractor, rode some wooden horses, slid down a hill, went through a small corn maze, played with bubbles, raced rubber ducks, played in a corn box, rode some John Deer tricycles around a track, slide down a haystack, pet a miniature horse & donkey, cows, pigs, goats, rabbits and kittens and, finally, picked out two perfect pumpkins for our perfect little pumpkins! As I mentioned in an earlier post, I took so many pictures and so much video before the pumpkin picking that my battery died so I don't have any pictures/video of the actual picking of the pumpkins. That's okay, that part wasn't as fun as the other stuff anyway!

Here are a few pictures from the farm:

At the top of the corn box - after walking through it and climbing up on the hay, we slid down into it. We all got corn in places where corn really shouldn't go! I love Quinn's little leg kick in this picture.


Quinn & Sydney 'driving' the tractor.


Milking the cow.

And our self portrait on the hay ride.

It was a fun day and we all slept really well after being out and about in the fresh fall air! We didn't get around to putting up Halloween decorations this year. I know, there's still time and if I really wanted to I could. But, I'm not real excited about putting them up for a week and then taking them right back down so we'll just wait until next year!

Flashback....Pumpkin Patch

I started working on our Year in Review DVD and was amazed at how much the girls have changed in just a year! So, I thought it might be fun during this holiday season to show pictures from last year along with current pictures.

(On the subject of the Year in Review DVD, I plan to give one to everyone who got one last year. If you didn't get one and would like one, let me know. If you did get one but don't want one this year, let me know.)

The first set is the Pumpkin Patch. Last year we just bought the pumpkins at the store and then posed with them in our front yard. This year we actually headed out to a pumpkin patch (more on that in the next post) and picked the pumpkins (up off the ground). It was so much fun. Sadly, my camera battery died right before we picked the pumpkins so I don't have the girls posing with their pumpkins - yet. The funny thing is that they are wearing the same jackets in both pictures!

Pumpkin Patch 2007 (Our front yard)


Pumpkin Patch 2008 (Thomasson Family Farm)

I Survived 5!

I really don't know WTF I was thinking but ended up having five - yes 5! - toddlers, all female and all between the ages of 1 and 3, all by myself today for three hours straight.

I really thought that the parents would come to pick them up and find me in a corner eating my own hair and drinking from a bottle of wine. That didn't happen - whew!

Sydney and Annika napped the whole time so I really only had to deal with three 2 & 3 year olds! And they all got along great and played well with each other so I didn't really have to do anything at all other than supervise and mediate toy time!

Even though it went well, there is no way in hell I'd do it again! At least not this week...

Princesses Don't Wear Pants

It's not even lunch time yet and I've already got a whole list of Quinnisms! Got a few on video this time too!

Ready for 'em? They are pretty good:

Mom, I'm a stinker! Tickle me Mommy. Tickle me like a stinker!

Mommy, do you want to join my parade? (I reply no, not right now) But you have to! We need a Mommy in our parade! We need YOU Mommy! (I joined the parade!)

Let's go save Sydney! Sydney the Paxton Harper Valentine!

Sydney No Swiping!

Me: What are you eating?
Quinn: BOOGIES!

And the ones I got on video:

Princesses don't wear pants!

Poo poos are NOT princesses!

Tinkles are not princesses either!

You're going to be a princess when you grow up!

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Friday is the new Monday

Or so it is in my little world! Which makes Monday the new Friday! And let me tell you what - today was definitely a Friday -really it's Monday though. See what I mean?!

Friday nights start my work week. I usually work 4-1/2 or so hours on Friday nights then work 8 hours each day on Saturdays and Sundays and then 4-1/2 or so hours Monday nights. I get two days off but not back to back so work 4-1/2 or so hours Wednesday nights too.

Tonight my brain was fried! I even took a power nap before going to work but it didn't help. I clocked in a whole 1/2 hour before I was scheduled to start! So instead of having me clock out and waiting, they had me stay clocked in and then had me clock out before I hit 5 hours. So, in the end, I ended up working about 20 minutes longer than I was scheduled to work! CRAP! Oh well, extra money I guess. Let's see, now what fun things will I buy with that extra 75 cents! A clue? Nope, didn't make enough for that:)

It could have been worse. K.C. said that Sydney threw up all over herself on their way home! She's had a little cold but this is the second time in the last week that she's thrown up. Maybe it's the snot gagging her? Strange.

At least we made it to Stroller Strides today! AND we made it to the play date afterwards! We are starting to settle back into our routine again.

Oh yes, and we have finally made the plunge into DVR land! Although it's only hooked up half-assed. Long story that doesn't need to be told right now. The point is that now when I drag myself home from work but am still too wound up to sleep, I can watch all of my shows that I missed! AND I can skip through all of the commercials:) When I remember to that is!

E.T. goes Puddle Stompin'

It rained a little this morning while we were at stroller strides so after class the girls thought it best to test out their rain gear in the small puddles.

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What's My Name?

According to Quinn it's Mommy Harper Valentine!

Rain, Rain by Quinn & Sydney

Rain, Rain, Don't Go Away!
Come back again cuz we're ready to play!








Got the boots a few weeks ago. Saw that the raincoats were in so had to grab a couple of those today! Now we just need some good rain to come and leave lots of puddles and it's fun, fun, fun in the great outdoors! I don't think we'll have to wait long:)

No Pee Pees in the Pull Up!

That's the big and exciting news for the day:)

Just after I got to bed last night (around midnight) I heard Quinn calling for Daddy (still getting use to that). I had just carried her to her bed from ours so figured she was just a little dazed and I'd just have to lead her back to her bed and be done with it. Nope, she had to go potty! So I take her to the potty - no pee pees in her pull up! I tell her I'm proud of her, she does her business and we both head back to bed.

We get up and around this morning and it wasn't until we were getting dressed to go to lunch that I realized that 1. she still had her pull up on and 2. it was dry as a bone! She went all night without having an accident in her pull up!

Could it be that she's potty trained now? I hope I don't jinx it but I think I'm going to take the Costco size pull up box back! But, I won't be getting my money back. I'll be exchanging it for a smaller size for Sydney! Round two, here we go! BRING-IT-ON!

Quinnisms

They are just too funny (to me anyway) not to post!

Our friends Natalie and Annika came over today while their mother went to an appointment. They are both about 6 months younger than Quinn & Sydney are so they all either get along really well, or they don't:) Today was a good day!

Don't know what happened here but heard Quinn saying this:
"Natalie, you're a big girl and big girls don't say no to Quinn's sisters named Sydney!" (and yes, she said sisters, not sister)

To Natalie again:
"Natalie, you should take your binky out to talk. You're not a baby!"

And to me:
"Mommy, is Natalie's name called Natalie Harper Valentine?"

You Are My Sunshine...

This is what happens when I leave the TV off for the day:

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I think we'll be doing that more often!

Quinn's 3-year Check Up

Quinn had her 3 year check up today and all is well! She continues to be off the chart in height and weight (41 inches tall, 44 pounds) and her doctor assures me that she is just a big girl, not over-weight or obese or anything, so I'm happy about that!

She was very brave and was so cute at this appointment. I wish I would have remembered to bring my camera (I'm slipping - actually, I've been downloading pictures all morning so left it on the desk). I did get a picture on my cell phone but don't have picture mail so have no idea how to get it off of there! She got to wear a gown at this appointment and thought that was really cool! Here are some comments she made during her visit:

To Sydney after we got into the exam room:
"Sydney, this is mmmyyyyyy check up not yyyooouuurrrr check up!"

After laying down to get measured:
"Wow! That's where my feet were and that's where my head was. I'm sure a big girl!"

After the nurse took her blood pressure:
"Wow! That was cool!"

After she put on her gown:
"Wow! I get to wear a paper dress! Sydney, this is mmmyyyy paper dress, not yyyooouuurrr paper dress."

To the nurse when asked if the toy she brought was her friend:
"No, that's not my friend. It's a monkey - it's just a toy. Mom, can you put my monkey in your purse? That's Sydney. She's my sister friend. Aren't you silly girl?!"

To Sydney after the nurse left but before the doctor came in:
"Sydney, this is mmmyyyy check up, not yyyoooouuurrrr check up."

To the doctor when asked what her favorite vegetable was:
"I llllooooovvvveeee carrots!"

To the doctor when asked if she had any questions:
"I just tell Sydney that this is mmmyyyy check up, not hhheeerrr check up. She's just a silly girl! Aren't you sister girl?!"

After the doctor leaves and we are waiting for the nurse to come back to give the Hep A shot:
"I'm naked (she had her underwear, socks and gown on)! Look at me (running with her gown opened) - I'm a super hero! I'm a naked super hero! I'm going to get a shot. It's just going to hurt a little bit. I'm not going to cry. Sydney, I'm a super hero!"

When the nurse comes in to give the shot:
"I just tell Sydney that this is mmmmyyyy check up - it's not hhheeerrr check up."

Upon receiving the shot:
"OOOOOUUUUUCCCCCHHHHH!" Oh, I get a blue sticker (band-aid)! That's my favorite one to color with!"

Upon receiving a sucker after her shot:
"Thank you - I really love the red ones! Can Sydney have one too?"

And in the car on the ride home:
"That nurse hurt me! Maybe you should make me pancakes for dinner!"

"Daddy Plunged My Tinkles!"

That was my greeting tonight from Quinn when I came home from work:) I tell you what! Put that at the top of my list of Things I never thought I would hear someone say to me.

Daddy has been doing a lot around here! He's been holding out on me for the last 13+ years. Turns out he does know how to do dishes, laundry, vacuum, pick up stuff and put stuff away! And now, he does kiddie birthday parties! While I was at work yesterday they headed to Mina's birthday party at Little Gym. Looks like they had fun...

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They are headed to Dylan's next weekend so he's just jumped right on in!

Another funny Quinn saying? Here it is:

"My glasses, my glasses! I can't see without my glasses!"

I about peed my pants! Here's the set up: She was wearing a pair of sunglasses. Sydney, being Sydney, took them away - ripped them right off her face in fact. Does Quinn get mad? Nope. She squints up her little face and out comes this little old lady voice. Oh my gosh! I wish I had the video going!

Where does she come up with this stuff?!

Three years old, Three years wiser!

Sometime around 1:30 in the morning I hear Quinn calling me. Since becoming a mom I've perfected the art of walking in my sleep and actually completing tasks without fully waking up. I usually wake up at some point during the task and wonder how I made it that far into the task without using my brain, at least not consciously anyway. I make it to her room and she informs me that she peed through her pull up so I need to change her pants, sheets, blanket and pajamas (so glad SHE's able to think at this ungodly hour! Bonus for me - I don't have to fully wake up at all since she knows what needs to be done!).

I get her stripped down and bundled back up, get her sheets changed and new blanket out and get her back into bed. She calmly tells me that her Princess blanket (the one she has used to cover up with since she was a baby and really can't live without (a gift from Uncle Darron, thank-you-very-much) is too small for her to cover up with now and that she'll be needing a new one. It's amazing how one simple sentence can wake you up just like that!

Suddenly, everything clicked. THAT's the reason she wants to sleep in our room - our blankets are bigger! Well, at least one of the reasons anyway. The other is the fan. I put an extra fan in her room and that's all it took for her to not "be afraid to go to sleep". It's those simple things I have a hard time figuring out!

No matter how often she does it, it still amazes me how she can pretty much state the obvious - but I just never saw it until she pointed it out. Guess that's what happens when you turn three - you're three years wiser!

Potty Training (again)!

Well, we've kind of officially started potty training Sydney. I ended up buying some pull-ups for her and for two days in a row now she has peed on the potty in the morning! We were out and about yesterday so didn't really go any further with it. This morning I am trying to put her on the potty every 15 minutes or so. Hopefully K.C. can work on it with her over the weekend while I'm working.

She seems too young but she is showing all of the signs for being ready so we're going for it! She tells us when she has pee or poop in her diaper, she loves to sit on the potty and knows the whole routine of having to pull down her pants, lift up the toilet seat, etc. She's seen her sister go through this so that helps A LOT! We are even doing it without treats right now! She gets a fun song sung to her when she goes plus the whole big "hooray" and "Yea Sydney" and that's all the treat she needs at this point!

Wish us luck!

Our Little Beast

Nope, I'm not making it up! That's what Sydney's age group is called at Little Gym! Why, it's like they knew my daughter before they even met her!

Sydney had her first official class as a Beast tonight! She has so much fun and is really, really good on the beam and bars. I think she may be a little gymnast! She mostly just loves to RUN! She runs from one end to the other and back again and stops only long enough to climb on something that looks dangerous. This class is parent participation so I get to 'encourage' her to work on whatever the skill is for the week. This week is backwards week so she worked on walking backwards on the beam, on the mats, running backwards and doing backward rolls. She was very enthusiastic to try all of it but especially liked the beam. Even the one that was up high off the ground!

K.C. and Quinn stayed home so that Evan could come over to play while his mom was at a meeting. I forgot to take my camera inside so took a picture of Sydney afterwards. One of the other parents asked if I wanted a picture of the two of us together so she took one of us. It was nice to spend the evening with just Sydney. Afterwards we headed to Fred Meyer to get a few things and I found our Halloween costumes! I can hardly wait to put them on and take pictures!

So, until then, get a load of this silly Beast!

Our little Jazzy Bug

Tonight Quinn donned her new leotard, tap shoes and ballet shoes and participated in her first class as a Jazzy Bug. It was just too cute not to take pictures and video (yes, I was that mom! I couldn't resist - it's what I do)! I didn't think to take video of the gymnastics part. I also tried to zoom in on Quinn as to avoid getting the other kids in the shots - just in case their parents weren't too keen on it. So, some of the pictures are blurry as a result but you get the whole idea.

Parents wait in the lobby part but can see the gymnastics room and tap/ballet room through glass walls. So, in the video, the noise you hear is from the lobby part, although you can kind of hear the tapping too.

Quinn is a very good student! She listened to the teachers, waits her turn and really tries to do it as instructed. In fact during one of the gymnastic exercises they were instructed to swing on a bar, walk across the balance beam, do a forward roll down one of those wedge mats and walk across some bars or something. At some point they changed the forward roll thing (I didn't see it either) as they moved the wedge mat under the balance beam. Quinn did her turn on the bars then walked across the beam and then saw that the wedge mat wasn't were it was. She sees it under the beam so goes over to it and, after thinking about it for a minute or two, does a forward roll UP the wedge mat as opposed to DOWN it, which would have been much easier! Hey, the instructions were to do a forward roll on the wedge and by God, she was going to do a forward roll on the wedge!

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October Birthdays

In keeping with our newly established tradition, we had a fabulous meal of Papa Murphy's pizza - half cheese, half Hawaiian. The cake is a nice spice cake with cream cheese frosting. It's suppose to look like a pumpkin. If you squint a little, tilt your head to the right and wrap your right ankle around your left arm, you may be able to see it. Or hurt yourself. We don't want that! So just trust me - it's a pumpkin!

These are the fine folks we are honoring this month (if I missed you it means I don't have it on the calendar so please let me know!):

Tyler, turning the big 7
Grandpa Jordan -1916~9/14/96
Kristie - 'It was the summer (or fall in this case) of '69'
Charlie, turning the big 0-3
Mackenzie - another 7 year old on the block
Alysha - our favorite neighbor (and BFF's with Mackenzie!) is turning 7
Miss 'Mina', all about the 3 this year
The lovely Amber is closing in on the double digits with her 8th birthday this year
I could never forget about my little curly-haired Kora! I remember the day your mom told me she was pregnant with you - 12 years and 9 months ago!
And Mr. Dylan! How is it that you are younger than Quinn but taught her to pee on the potty backwards? What on earth will you teach her at 3? I shudder to think.

Okay, plug your ears cuz here it comes!

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Birthday Traditions

One of the traditions we've kind of started here is to make a cake each month to honor everyone we know that has a birthday in that month. We've skipped a few months here and there but I'm really trying to get better at it as I think it's really important. I haven't quite figured out why yet - it's just what I feel.

Growing up, we'd always have ALL of the family over to celebrate a birthday. Actually, it was pretty much the same fan fare as any of the major holidays, which made it all the more special when your birthday rolled around and everyone gathered to share a meal, eat a special cake that was made just for you and watch you open up your gifts.

When my sisters and I got older it got even better as we were able to choose what to eat and what kind of cake/pie/cookie we wanted. Then when we got a little more older we were allowed to invite a friend over to celebrate. Then later we got to invite more friends until we got to the point of sleep overs and all of that.

Once we were teenagers and thought we were too cool to hang with the family, we'd stop inviting the friends and usually do something with them separately but always, ALWAYS, shared a meal of our choosing with the family and have a special cake/pie/cookie made just for us.

There was rarely any decorations (I do have fond memories of window clings stuck to a large mirror in our entry way). Rarer yet was balloons or themed plates, napkins, cups or table clothes. And the goody bags? Those were the leftovers stuffed in Cool Whip and butter tubs for everyone to take home. Ah, those were the days where things were nice and simple (my mom probably begs to differ on that statement!).

But, times have changed and we find ourselves scattered across the land so family get-togethers just aren't possible for us. And I have entered the world of themed birthday parties that have more kids than adults in attendance and trying to figure out what to put in goody bags and why can't I just buy pink plates instead of princess plates and why we should invite everyone we've ever talked to so as not to offend anyone or because they invited us to theirs and on and on and on it goes. Whew! Makes my head spin!

So, in order to help me tone it down and remember exactly what the celebration should be all about, I want to take an afternoon each month to bake a cake and decorate it with the girls and really let them help me with it. That gives me a chance to talk/tell them about who we are making it for. And then, after a nice family meal, we can sing Happy Birthday, make a wish, blow out the candles and send out our love to those we are honoring.

If you happen to be in the area...

My friend and stroller strides instructor has been feverishly working on putting together a fabulous festival: 2008 Seattle Food and Wine Experience. If you happen to be in the area on the 25th or 26th of October (free lodging for anyone that travels in from out of town!), PLEASE go to the festival!

For more info go to http://www.seattlefoodandwineexperience.com

Trader Joe's

When we first moved here (and pretty much every waking hour since) all I've heard about is Trader Joe's. So, I got off work a little early yesterday and since there just happens to be one right down the street from work, I decided I'd stop in to see what all the hubbub was about. SO glad I did! I don't really know how to describe it other than it's kind of like a Wild Oats/Whole Foods type of store - but not. It's got the good for you stuff with none of the bad stuff added, lots of vegan and vegetarian foods plus organic meats and most if not all of the food is made by them.

I broke the cardinal rule of shopping and went in hungry but really controlled myself. This is what I bought to try: Quesadilla Calabasita/Cheese (frozen quesadillas basically loaded with black beans and veggies but so much better than what I can make at home!), Garlic Naan (which is an Eastern Indian bread and sooooooo yummy - this is frozen and takes only a couple of minutes to heat up in the oven so it's fast AND good and tastes just like what you get in an Indian restaurant!), tortilla chips to go with the Hot & Smoky Chipotle Salsa (YUMMY! Even the girls like it - with a chaser of milk though since it is spicy) and I think my very best find is the Vegetable Masala Burger. Oh, let me tell you, if I had known that somewhere in the world there existed a veggie burger that didn't have that freaky texture to it AND tasted like I was eating an Indian meal - I would have traveled however long the distance just to get a taste:) This veggie burger has potatoes, carrots, green beans, bell peppers, onions, corn, green peppers and all of those yummy Indian spices like ginger, turmeric and mustard seed. Plus it's vegan for those of you that swing that way. I don't so I added a great big pile of cheese to mine and ate it wrapped up in the Naan. Oh heaven!

I looked to see if there were any in Colorado, Wyoming or Texas. There's not so you are all just going to have to make the trek here to see what I'm talking about!

Being a picky eater and a vegetarian on top of that, I'm always excited when I find a place that caters to my tastes. It's not too expensive either - I think I spent around $13 on those 5 items. Now if they would just come out with their products in bulk. Like I've mentioned before, if I can buy good stuff (meaning stuff that is good AND good for you) that will keep for long periods of time in bulk form and at a great price, well, quit frankly, that is like porn to me:) But it gets even better as there is talk about one opening up in MV in the next year! One close to work and one close to home. How'd a girl like me get so lucky?!

Houston, We Have Poops!

When I got home from work tonight K.C. told me to guess what Sydney did. It's never good whenever I pose that challenge to him so I asked if it involved food or poop. He said poop so I got scared. REAL scared!

Turns out Sydney let him know that she had poop in her pants (she's been doing that lately and 8 times out of 10 she actually does have poops in her pants! We're working on the difference between pee and poop - but you didn't really need to know that now did you!).

So, he goes to change her diaper and sees, as he so eloquently described it to me, a small nugget that she had just pushed out.(sigh) So, he decides to ask her if she has to poop more and he gets a no first and then a yes. So then he asks her if she wants to go sit on the potty. She says yes so off they go and low and behold she pooped in the potty! She's been sitting on the potty all week but this was the first 'deposit' she's made into it!

Now I'm in a panic because we need some more diapers soon but we obviously don't need them for much longer since Sydney is going to be potty trained by next week.....oh, sorry, I nodded off there for a minute! Where was I? Oh yeah, diapers. So do I get the Costco super sized bulk box 'o diapers or do I go for the more expensive grocery store size? Should I get some pull-ups to help with the training during the day and then get diapers for night? Should I forget the diapers and just go for the more expensive pull-ups? Such decisions that I have to make! And trust me, it will keep me up tonight thinking about it before I finally decide to just get the bulk box 'o diapers since she's only gone potty on the toilet ONCE!

Comments and Blogger Etiquette

I really thought that no one other than my mother was reading my blog! I anxiously awaited comments from someone - ANYone, well, maybe not ANYone but you catch my drift. None came. I was so sad and sank into a deep, deep depression. Okay, maybe depression is a little exaggerated. Maybe it was more of a funk. Nope, that was the PMS. Maybe it was......awe who cares! The point is that I thought I had it set up so my peoples could comment but turns out I didn't so I changed it and my peoples can comment now - HALLELUJAH! Let the commenting begin!

Also, I've noticed that some people like using initials instead of names. If you'd rather me refer to you by initials or numbers or colors or whatever instead of your name, just let me know (and I'll try to remember). And if I do something else that isn't good blogger etiquette - sorry in advance!

There, I think I've covered all of my bases. Now, here is a list of all of my friends' and family's names, addresses, phone numbers and social security numbers:

Pipsqueaks and PMS

It's never a good combination! My pipsqueaks not only got on my last nerve today - they jumped, kicked, punched and chewed right on through it! (SIGH)

Today is my ONLY day off. And by off I mean it's the only day of the week that I don't get paid to do anything. The work is still there mind you - I just don't get paid for it. So, I packed all of the errands that I've needed to run since, well, I started working again, into this one day. With pipsqueaks in tow. What the hell was I thinking! I tell you what, I am so high strung right now, it would take a week long massage/pedi/mani/facial/acupuncture/chiropractic/vineyard stash session to chill me out. I'll have to settle for chocolate and stroller strides tomorrow. (Shameless Plug: Thanks to my AdvoCare products, that dial on the scale is not going up with my current diet of chocolate, gummie fruit, and whatever else I can find to shove in my mouth in mass quantities! Give it a try: http://www.advocare.com/08081251.)

I am totally PMS'ing this week so everything is so much more UGH than usual so that doesn't help anything. The day started good - the girls let me sleep in until 8! The only problem with that is I had the whole day planned around getting up around 7 so I started off an hour behind. Guess it didn't start out so well after all! After the usual ritual of checking email and certain web sites, we got ready and headed to the Cheesecake Factory for some lunch (just because it was in the area we needed to be in - well, that's ONE of the reasons anyway). Can we just take a moment for the heaven-sent Portobello Mushroom Burger please? Can you hear it? The angels singing I mean? Oh how I love my delicious little slice of heaven on earth. No, that's not a tear - I just have something in my eye. The thought just brings a smile to my face. Wait - the other half is in the fridge! And I've already told you how good they are the next day - cold even! Will it stay in the fridge until tomorrow? I can say for sure, without a doubt, I'd bet my life on it even - tomorrow begins at the stroke of midnight (or soon after - not sure on the technicality of it but you get the idea) and that is only two and half hours from now. So there's a good chance it will make it that short - I mean long - of time.

Anyway, I kind of got off track there, after lunch we headed to the Mall which, in my opinion, is WWWAAAYYY to frickin' big! Only by chance did we park in an area that was within a short walking distance to the restaurant AND the store we needed to go to (Bare Essentials - which is the Bare Minerals makeup for those of you who got the wrong idea there). And, as if by chance, we walked right pass a Lady Footlocker - new, comfy walking shoes was on my 'someday I'll have time to get this' list! So, after we got the makeup and I was being fitted for my new shoes, Quinn decides she needs to go poop. Even though I told her to go at the restaurant! So I had to throw shoes on and grab stuff and run to another store to find a bathroom! We made it so I guess it could have been worse! After that little detour, I got my shoes, inserts and water proofing spray - that sales girl was GOOD and totally took advantage of a frazzled mom! Bitch!

We've been out of diaper genie refills for months now because I refuse, yes REFUSE, to step foot into our local WalMart. Those are issues for another day though. So, Babies-R-Us, here we come! I felt the trip was going well as we found what we needed quickly, remembered to bring in our reusable bags (finally) and there were no lines at the checkout. NO shopping trip goes that well for me! Like clockwork, I got THAT cashier. (sigh) She was in absolutely NO hurry to do anything. She scratched her frikin leg the whole time - and not over her pants either, she rolled 'em up to get her filthy little nails in there good and share a little piece of herself with everyone around her. Gross. Then she felt it necessary to inform me that she works at the Safeway by our house and gave me her schedule so that I could go in when she's working. Oh joy! Yet another store I won't be shopping in!

The girls at this point were doing surprisingly well for not having a nap and being on the go for most of the day. I mean, I was practically dragging them around the stores because I'm always in a hurry! Poor things. They got a chance to sleep on the drive to Winco. I think I've mentioned Winco before in my emails. I kind of have a leery relationship with them. I've only been there twice but that's just because it's a bit of a drive to get there. They are SUPER cheap which is great for those of us on a tight budget. But for those of us that are always suspicious of things that seem too good to be true, I keep trying to figure out why they are so cheap. I know they aren't Union and it's a you-bag-your-own-groceries type place. We've bought meat there before (I didn't eat it of course but K.C. and the girls did and lived so it must have been okay). The cheese wasn't too good of a deal. The canned goods are a fabulous price so I always stock up on beans and such. That's beside the point - which I can't really remember what the point is now other than I had to put the girls into a cart each because they had both fallen asleep and I was running out of time so had to push one cart and pull the other. And, true to form, I ran over my own frickin foot with the cart I was pulling. Who does that? Come to think of it, that really wasn't the point either. What was I talking about? Oh yes, why are they so cheap? Well, honestly, I don't know. Hmmmm, moving on.

After a very short stop at home to unload the groceries and put the freezer/refrigerator stuff away, we were back in the car to go to Kohl's so Quinn could spend the rest of her birthday money and gift card. She got two leotards for her Little Gym class and two shirt/pant outfits. I just about lost my mind in that store! Both girls were tired so they were acting out, I was trying to hurry because, as usual, I scheduled too much stuff for one day and was running out of time before the next 'thing' started. And, like usual, I grabbed something thinking that it was on sale (has anyone else noticed how stores put up a sign and then stock that same rack/shelf/whatever with other items that AREN'T on sale?! Pisses me off!) and it rang up too high so I questioned it and then waited and waited and waited and finally just told to clerk that I needed to go so I'd just pay whatever it rang up as and she took pitty on me and charged me whatever I thought it was suppose to be so I saved money even though I thought I was saving money but wasn't but then did. Don't even try to make sense of that whole run-on sentence. And for goodness sakes, don't even put your sanity to the test by going back to re-read it. Just let it go. I have.

Next stop was some walk-in hair cutting place as I couldn't coordinate with my hairdresser to get in and get my hair cut any time soon. It was to the point that I was ready to grab some scissors/knife/box cutter - whatever sharp object I could find - and cut it myself. That NEVER turns out well so I thought it best I just find someplace and get it done. I knew I may not get what I wanted, but it would definitely be/look better than what I could do myself! It turned out just fine so I'm happy about that. Poor K.C. was meeting us there so he could sit with the girls but there are two places in the same area so he was waiting at the wrong place. THAT conversation didn't go well but I did preface it with "I'm so high strung right now - you don't even know!" There may have been a few expletives in there too - I really don't remember.

I got done with that just in time to hop across the parking lot for Sydney's free trial class at Little Gym. I knew the night was going to end well when K.C. pointed out my favorite Chinese restaurant in MV had a location right next door! So, him and Quinn went over to order us up some dinner while Syd and I did her class. She loved it and, even though she was super tired, she had so much fun running and climbing on the bars and balance beam and mats and other obstacles they had. It was fun to see her play on her own without the influence of her sister. I think it'll be great for both of them to have their very own thing to do without the other one each week.

After I spent the check I'm getting from work tomorrow on their tuition, we headed home and it was HELL-O Spicy Szechaun Eggplant! Yes, we are going to have to take a moment for this as well..............YUM!

Since the highs of my day involved food - that is certainly a good indication of how far into the PMS process I am. Too much information, I know. But really don't care! Crap, one of the pipsqueaks just woke up crying...better go grab those leftovers - I need all the strength I can get for the long night ahead! Oh, and as a final PMS thought - the spell check on this site SUCKS!

No Explanation Necessary

Ummmmm.....

(clears throat) I'm very thankful that this child is only HALF of me:)

(nervous laughter) It's that other half that worries me:)

(laughs hysterically)

All I can say is Welcome to my world!