tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-60173211651998082412024-03-13T01:14:13.816-06:00Fort Collins MamaAttached Parenting from Toddler to Tween * Breastfeeding * Babywearing * Co-sleeping * Living in Fort Collins *
Attached parenting can be adventurous, challenging, tiring, wonderful, enlightening, maddening and amazing all at the same time, but I wouldn't change a thing!
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger78125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6017321165199808241.post-31871513001822667512013-08-13T08:13:00.002-06:002013-08-13T08:13:56.013-06:00Summer's EndOk so I never did have time to bake the blueberry muffins for the camping trip. It was a non-issue. We had a blast! Ezrah brought his friend Anthony. Check out our pics! <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On the way up to Poudre Canyon! Yes, Jack is there, he is hiding.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Indigo and Madi roastin marshmallows!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ezrah and Jack roastin marshmallows!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You can see a good glimpse of our campsite and there's Dan, stoking the fire</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here's the new tent we got this year! Check out the hanging peace lights! </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ezrah's helping out with dinner preparations! Oh we ate gourmet meals! It's so fun to really good awesome meals out in the wilderness.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Indigo and Madi looking cute</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mama Leigh making pancakes on a chilly rainy morning!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The kids eating pancakes in the rain! The rain let up shortly</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Madi Belle posing for a picture! </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is the beautiful Poudre River. Our campsite was about 20 steps from here. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwGOoa5yS1SrPUmeVXJdLeHSeCt7O3CM8HGSwRznIeLEMWtXP-8fSSs0rH3oUq93QOzgLVvgFhBjkHBCht-9zaJQAvNqXFuo9KUvPubmW3bua6-9mwFCMk5FRU2W1oeOcvt-0ViDC15-Bv/s1600/DSCN0633.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwGOoa5yS1SrPUmeVXJdLeHSeCt7O3CM8HGSwRznIeLEMWtXP-8fSSs0rH3oUq93QOzgLVvgFhBjkHBCht-9zaJQAvNqXFuo9KUvPubmW3bua6-9mwFCMk5FRU2W1oeOcvt-0ViDC15-Bv/s1600/DSCN0633.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We heard the river all night and it was beautiful. I love Colorado! The best part about living in Fort Collins is that the Poudre Canyon is only about 1 hour from where we live. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7Yf_UdF5hBp0MUhpcZNBghztkGEE8nuel9k9pevWe0hobPo0xT9DVxudBWPH_4Nq9RxYsXPi7s53606zsn2qp1c7Fb9QamivE0zXDe-EdMX21feU7XjMC6-xjJ44Ydw7CIJwXdsN06HtI/s1600/DSCN0639.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7Yf_UdF5hBp0MUhpcZNBghztkGEE8nuel9k9pevWe0hobPo0xT9DVxudBWPH_4Nq9RxYsXPi7s53606zsn2qp1c7Fb9QamivE0zXDe-EdMX21feU7XjMC6-xjJ44Ydw7CIJwXdsN06HtI/s1600/DSCN0639.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My Madelyn posing again! She's wearing my headband and I must say she looks so cute in it! </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is before we left and Indigo and Indigo is waving goodbye to the Poudre River.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beautiful Madi Belle</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlndDnVDdNXTih-IH24pIEzWQtyuAyDFbJ6XDY0TmouVHeL9fXQ4ZcO37mMdHZMP_w3iy7_a2DuTwoZNgOQKb-FrsWI6wuTIelx_3oqutHoDlA9anFhy9eTb4XGLpCQb2uJadXtDGPLm1n/s1600/DSCN0642.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlndDnVDdNXTih-IH24pIEzWQtyuAyDFbJ6XDY0TmouVHeL9fXQ4ZcO37mMdHZMP_w3iy7_a2DuTwoZNgOQKb-FrsWI6wuTIelx_3oqutHoDlA9anFhy9eTb4XGLpCQb2uJadXtDGPLm1n/s1600/DSCN0642.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I can't tell which is more beautiful? Madelyn or the River?</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJEXbJn2LtDcAe3Zo64xjBuK8h3Zz77KARNu45osA3e_CpiUkUnX6i8UX2FxoWvIrziz0g5JPmJpqL_ybo2ofnnHomhDKcBWrzDtRrEV5T-jwuwmezHa9bsSMhJ4p5Et3vNG5X7kPgewP_/s1600/DSCN0644.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJEXbJn2LtDcAe3Zo64xjBuK8h3Zz77KARNu45osA3e_CpiUkUnX6i8UX2FxoWvIrziz0g5JPmJpqL_ybo2ofnnHomhDKcBWrzDtRrEV5T-jwuwmezHa9bsSMhJ4p5Et3vNG5X7kPgewP_/s1600/DSCN0644.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jack loooves the Poudre River and jumped off one of the big rocks so many times! <br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">So there you have it! Our last camping trip this summer. It's now time to go get our school supplies, school clothes, haircuts (maybe), move to our new house in a few weeks. Plan Madelyn's birthday party, sign Jack up for football, sign Madi back up for ballet classes, rent Ezrah a new trombone for band, and potty train Indigo. Back to the grind as we say! It's not really a grind though. I love taking care of my big family. I love shopping, so school supplies and school clothes aren't a chore. Potty training Indigo isn't a big deal because after years of experience I realized that it's silly to start potty training until they are ready. And then when they are ready (which she finally is), it's a breeze. She hasn't wet her undies once in a week and it's the first time she's ever worn them! I am looking forward to them starting school. It's so nice and quiet in the day when they're gone. It's easier to keep the house clean and did I mention how quiet it is? I can actually get together with my friends for coffee in the day. Oh and I don't have to try to keep them busy when they constantly say, "Mom, I'm bored" every few minutes. Soon they'll be complaining about too much homework. </span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6017321165199808241.post-90963446858811482842013-08-10T07:23:00.000-06:002013-08-10T07:23:01.073-06:00Last Camping Trip of the SummerIn about 3 hours, well in reality 4 hours, the family is off to our last camping trip in the Poudre Canyon. I have an awful sprained ankle. But I'm Mommy, so I will prevail! Two nights ago, I managed to step into a whole in our backyard and fall while I was calling Dan. In the next to minutes, Princess had my phone in her hand because it flew out of my hand and the phone was in the kiddie pool. So no phone yesterday as it was in a bowl of rice drying out. <br />
The next 3 hours will consist of me making blueberry muffins, packing food, marinating chicken breasts and packing everyone else's stuff. I left this stuff until this morning because I was so darn tired last night. Sure, i'll wake up early enough and do it all. But here I am in the garage, drinking coffee and still tired. Someone once told me that to be a mom is to be tired. This pessimistic view is starting to ring true.<br />
It's just a one-nighter but God-forbid I forget anything important. At east we don't have to look t houses. Even the one house that we are moving into, I STILL haven't even seen yet. Oh well, it is what it is. <br />
Time to bake the muffins! Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6017321165199808241.post-89992025177227265302013-08-05T17:53:00.000-06:002013-08-10T07:23:41.483-06:00Renting House Sight UnseenSo we finally have a house and it's over! Which one did we end up with? Well, it was a crazy weekend with the house stuff was super stressing. So on Saturday, we still didn't know if for sure if the Columbia house was ours to rent. I still didn't know if I even wanted that house because I have not been inside to see it! Dan didn't care and feels that we know it has the square footage and is in such a great location, that we cold make it work. I kind of feel that way too, but it's still hard to commit to a house you haven't even seen! Especially when you are about to sign a lease on a beautiful 5-bedroom house. <br />
Yes, we had an appointment to sign the lease on the Village lane house at 3pm that day. I had to leave early in the morning to pick up Jack from the airport. He was returning from a 2-week trip in Florida with my parents. So I was a bit out of touch most of the day. Not knowing what house to dream of. I knew I needed to stall the lease signing of the Village house. This was risky being the competition for housing in Fort Collins is so high and we couldn't seem to find anything, so I did not want to lose the Village house if the Columbia house didn't come through. I had to somehow stall the lease signing. <br />
I texted the owner Saturday morning and told her Dan had to work and that we had to do the lease signing on Sunday, the next day. That was a lie, but I wasn't going to tell her that there was another house in the mix. God forgive me for the lie. Dan said we had to look out for #1. #1 being our 4 kids. <br />
Dan was never crazy about the Village house because of the location, but I liked it. The Columbia house, is in Mission Hills and it next to impossible to find a rental there. We had given up searching for a house here. The Columbia house is big enough and the location is prime for the kids' school and Dan's work. We got a call Saturday afternoon at the exact time we were to be signing the lease on the other house and were told that we could rent out Columbia if we wanted it! Dan really really really wants this one. So, I chose a house that I have not seen to live in for at least the next few years. Columbia St, here we come!<br />
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I felt like my karma wasn't perfect in all this.<br />
The reason we got this house is because the college kids that live there are being evicted. The owners on Village Lane were so nice and they didn't show the house for a whole week because they thought we were moving in. The kids at Columbia being evicted wasn't our fault and the neighbors had been complaining for years, but still. They were not evicted until Saturday and I can't help but think that the fact that our friend, Nate, the landlord for Columbia, knew we needed a house to rent and loved that area, sort of put the eviction into motion. He says that's not the case and that they are short on rent every month and the neighbors are very serious about wanting them evicted. I just don't want people to evicted from their home. I shouldn't feel bad about the owners on Village lane, but when I told her for sure Saturday evening that we weren't going to move in, she was really disappointed and even said, "that sucks for us." Like I said, competition for rentals is high and they shouldn't have any trouble renting that beautiful house. Another house we went for in that same area had 15 applications. I just think she knew we wouldn't really taken good care of that house. We would have. <br />
So now we are moving into a beat-up college house (boy's college house) in an amazing area of Fort Collins. And the real kicker is of course that I have NOT even been inside of this house! And I have seen countless homes the past 3 weeks and I actually end up renting one we haven't even been in. I only have pictures and it does not look pretty. I can barely see the rooms amongst the pool table and red Solo cups on the counters and tables and the mish mosh couches. I'm not a snob or anything, but I can literally see the dirt on the cottage cheese ceiling in the family room. <br />
It can be cleaned, fixed, new carpet and floors. You can't fix location. I'm getting excited! Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6017321165199808241.post-87236142918723849732013-08-02T16:47:00.000-06:002013-08-02T16:47:47.734-06:00After spending insane amounts of my time, we once again are closing in on a house. Only a variable just got thrown in the mix and we are about to sign a lease tomorrow for 5-bedroom that is totally beautiful and all remodeled inside. It's not in the neighborhood we wanted that was close to O'Dea, but at least it's no-Pro. (North of Prospect).<br />
About 10 days ago, we were sure that it was going to between 2 homes. One was on West Lake St. This one was a 3BR, on a cul-de-sac with a kick-butt 5-piece master bath with a ginormous jetted tub and great shady backyard. The other was on Eagle Dr. It was a 4BR, big family room, dining room with a buffet (which would be the arts & crafts cabinet) and a hot tub! Turns out we didn't get the W. Lake house because their were 15 applicants and let's face it, we have 4 kids and a dog and don't make too much. If I had to choose, between us and a family with 2 kids and no dog and who makes 90k a year, I'd vote against us. The Eagle Dr house was a TOTAL debacle. Would you believe that I actually applied, paid the 30$ application fee, dreamt about it, thought we got it, talked to the property manager lots of times and the whole time, it was a different house? Seriously, it was another house on the same block that was also 4BR, but I thought it was the hot tub one. It's too early to laugh about it. I am a spaz.<br />
So I finally found a beautiful home in central West Fort Collins. It was previously trashed by the last tenants. I hate to say it because just don't like the stereotype that all college kids trash houses, but they were college kids. This led the owners to do a complete remodel and it is beautiful. It's even 5 bedrooms! The basement doesn't even feel like a basement and has all new floor. You all know how I feel about carpet -not a fan. It is refreshing after the musty, dark, paneling, cottage cheese stained ceilings, tiny windows. I think this is a good house for us and will be an easy move for the kids.<br />
The drawback is that it's not in the neighborhood we want and will still have to drive all the kids to school unless they want to transfer to Bauder. There is a twist...<br />
A home on Columbia St in Mission Hills, which was the very first house we had heard of possibly available, is <em>possibly</em> available. This is the neighborhood near O'Dea Core Knowledge, AND on the "nicer" side of Stover St. The neighborhood that was our absolute #1 choice until we gave up on the area because we couldn't find anything. This area is amazng -I can walk to Whole Foods, my favorite thrift store, kids can walk to school, Ezrah (if he transfers to Lesher) can walk too. And it's very near Old Town and is really in the heart of our town. <br />
It's a little run down and the tenants there are being evicted because they are disturbing the neighbors and partying. So God knows what condition the house is in. It is a 4 bedroom. Now this is the kind of neighborhood where I would rent a house sight-unseen and take it as it is. I can clean and paint and fix it up. As long as the carpets don't smel like beer and piss, I think it'll be alright. <br />
But we are set to sign our lease tomorrow on Village Ln. In this Fort Collins rental market, I cannot stall this. So I will need to know asap #1, IF the guys are getting evicted, IF the house is livable for us, and IF Nate will rent it to us. Oh and the Columbia house is $200 cheaper than Village Ln. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6017321165199808241.post-52989238642446204152013-07-21T15:22:00.002-06:002013-07-21T15:22:19.394-06:00House HuntingJust when you think, geez I have nothing good to write in my blog....WHAM! A zillion things happen and I realize that having nothing to write in your blog, is a actually a good thing. So the biggest thing is that last Friday, Dan called the owners of the home we rent to talk about buying the house. Well that conversation did a complete 360 and we have to move out. <br />
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They are moving back to Fort Collins. They said we had all the time we need, but it turns out that they are already in town and staying with a mutual friend. So, we are on the Craigslist hunt and let me tell you, it is not really fun. Especially when your minimum requirements are a 4-bedroom because I just had to say one day to Dan, "come on honey, just 1 more". Not only do we need a 4-bedroom, but I'm pretty picky about our location. I'm trying to turn having to move into a positive and move to where I really want to live in Fort Collins. I'm hoping in Old Town, but the homes available re too small and the 4-bedrooms are rare and for like thousands a month. I'll be happy to live near to the kids school and that's not too far from Old Town, so that's where we are customizing the search. We can't seem to find anything. I wish we could sell the house we do own and just buy a new one. Hey, that's not a bad idea! So simple. I'm going to text Dan right now...Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6017321165199808241.post-67913078322494960932013-07-08T17:41:00.004-06:002013-07-08T17:41:46.860-06:00<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And Yet, another reason to breastfeed! Studies now show that it prevents ADHD! Check out this info here:</span> <span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
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<a href="http://www.playattention.com/breastfeeding-ritalin/"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Calibri;">http://www.playattention.com/breastfeeding-ritalin/</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">
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</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6017321165199808241.post-73889822915995387182013-07-08T11:04:00.002-06:002013-07-08T11:05:12.136-06:00I'm Back!Oh it's good to back! Between my home day care and a computer crash, it's been a little tough to keep up. There's so much to tell. So much to tell. My daughter, Indigo, is 2 and 7 months and walking and talking and still nursing. Madelyn is still a princess and going into the 1st grade...again. Jack is on a computer break and going through some major withdrawals, and Ezrah is a young man, pretty annoying at times which is usual for a 12-year-old, but all around a perfect kid. <br />
I have been sewing a lot. I sold headbands at Widespread Red Rocks and I have tons of beautiful mama skirts to sell! I'll be making breastfeeding covers and mei tai baby carriers. I'll have them all on this site for purchase soon! <br />
Our daycare is small, but I still feel like a prisoner in my home. Mt organic veggie garden is blowing up! Being I can't really go out with the daycare kids here, I have lots of time to tend to the garden. <br />
Time to make a kick-ass all organic healthy lunch! See you soon. Love you All!<br />
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<em>Keep on Nursing, Co-Sleeping, and Wearing you Babies!</em></h3>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6017321165199808241.post-3981863549298747062012-12-05T13:43:00.001-07:002012-12-05T13:43:13.409-07:00Stationery card<div class="sflyProductPreviewWidget" style="width:425px; height:494px;"><div class="sflyProductPreviewWidgetTop" style="height:6px; background-image:url(http://cdn.staticsfly.com/img_/share/preview/msc/widget/top.gif);"></div><div class="sflyProductPreviewWidgetCenter" style="height:482px; padding: 0 6px 0 6px; background-image:url(http://cdn.staticsfly.com/img_/share/preview/msc/widget/bg.gif); background-repeat:repeat-y;"><div class="sflyProductPreviewLogo" style="width: 105px; height: 34px; padding: 14px 0 0 14px;"><img src="http://cdn.staticsfly.com/img_/share/preview/msc/widget/logo.gif" style="padding: 0; background: #ffffff; border: none; box-shadow: none;"></div><div class="sflyProductPreviewContainer" style="height:350px; text-align:center; padding: 0;"><a href="http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0QcN2bJq3YsWEH&cid=SFLYOCWIDGET&eid=115"><img src="http://images-community.shutterfly.com/prs/v1/0QcN2bJq3YsQ/0QcN2bJq3YsQcW/p/67b0de21b3127d902548/JPEG/1354739954000/0/" style="padding: 0; background: #ffffff; border: none; box-shadow: none;"></a></div><div class="sflyProductPreviewMessageContainer" style="height:55px; background-color:#f4f4e9; text-align:center; padding: 15px 0 15px 0; line-height: 19px;"><div class="sflyProductPreviewTitle" style="font-family: arial, sans-seris; font-size: 15px; color: #333333; font-weight: bold;"><span>Gifted Memories Christmas Card</span></div><div class="sflyProductPreviewSEOText" style="font-family: arial, sans-seris; font-size: 13px; color: #333333;"><span>Creating <a href="http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-cards" style="color: #6666cc;">Christmas cards</a> has never been this easy.</span></div><div class="sflyProductPreviewViewCollection" style="font-family: arial, sans-seris; font-size: 13px; color: #333333;"><span>View the entire <a href="http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery" style="color: #6666cc;">collection</a> of cards.</span></div><img width="1" height="1" border="0" style="padding: 0; background: #ffffff; border: none; box-shadow: none;" src="https://os.shutterfly.com/b/ss/sflyshareprod/1/H.15/111?pageName=sharekey&c1=msc&c2=blogger" /></div></div><div class="sflyProductPreviewWidgetBottom" style="height:6px; background-image:url(http://cdn.staticsfly.com/img_/share/preview/msc/widget/bottom.gif);"></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6017321165199808241.post-50787172982462492592012-11-08T12:28:00.002-07:002012-11-08T12:28:50.487-07:00Does any mom actually have it all together? Some days I feel like this....<br />
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But more often, it is more like this....<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6017321165199808241.post-48620394723729889342012-11-03T07:19:00.003-06:002012-11-03T11:49:44.619-06:00My Sweet Tiny Tot, the Fish Killer<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Who ever said being a stay-home-mom and housewife was boring? Our sweet baby Indigo has taken the title from Ezrah, who we named "the Destroyer".<br />
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I mean, just look at her? This was Indigo at the Tiny Tot parade in downtown Fort Collins this past Wednesday. Would you ever think this cute, sweet little ladybug could be named the destroyer? If only fish could talk...<br />
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Most often, her favorite pastime is climbing up on the kitchen table and throwing everything that is on the table, onto the floor. So we've has several broken dishes and bowls lately. Just what we need; a bigger shortage of cereal bowls in this house. <br />
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And she has learned how to open the fridge all by herself now. You can just imagine the damage she does with this new found skill.<br />
If only the kitchen floor could talk...<br />
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Unfortunately, no one can get into the fridge now. </div>
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Oh the fish, Katati (pronounced Ka-tah-tee), our sweet little goldfish who never hurt anyone. Well I was holding little Indigo on my hip and we were walking down the hall on our way to change her diaper, something we do about 10 times a day every day since she was born. So we are walking past the table furniture thing that holds the fish bowl and other pretty knick knacks. </div>
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She grabs the top of the fish bowl and in a matter of seconds, I mean there was no stopping it:<span style="font-size: x-large;"> SMASH! </span></div>
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The beautiful wood floor, freshly mopped and everything, covered in fish water, rainbow pebbles and broken glass. The mess covered the entire front living room floor. So I screamed like a crazy person for Ezrah and Jack to hurry and come and get Indigo before she got hurt on broken glass. God forbid I interrupt a game of Minecraft, but they heard the crash and knew it had to be serious. </div>
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Where's Katati! Our goldfish! Our fishie was a goner, what with glass everywhere and obviously no water. I looked and looked all over the floor, amongst the broken glass and millions of rainbow pebbles for our fishie. And there he was! Flipping and flopping next to a huge piece of broken glass.</div>
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I think fish are slimy and gross. I grabbed a cup from the kitchen with water in it and tried to get the fish into the cup by laying the cup down on its side and hopefully scooping the fish with it, so I didn't have to touch it. Of course the way I was doing it was costing poor Katati more and more precious oxygen. He was flipping and flopping all over like crazy. </div>
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Finally I just swept the fish really fast with my hand into the sideways cup, only touching the slimy flopper for a split second. And the genius that I am poured the water out in the cup on the floor because I had laid the cup down to sweep the fish in. So he's in the cup, but he's still flopping because there's no water in it. I ran to the sink and put the cup with Katati in it under the faucet and turned on the water. Whew...he's okay. The temperature of the water was God knows what, but Katati was okay. </div>
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So now, the floor. How on Earth do I clean this up? However I did it I had to do it fast because there was glass everywhere and water traveling under the couch. I had Ezrah and Jack quarantine Indigo in a bedroom. Towels! Madelyn really wanted to help, so I told her to grab towels and put on shoes. So she comes down the hall with a pile of towels in her arms so high I can't even see her face. She has on her dress-up Cinderella shoes that Grandma Angie got her in Disney world. It was a really cute image. </div>
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Somehow after an hour or so, I got it cleaned up. I texted Dan and told him all this and realized that I completely forgot about changing Indigo's diaper, which was what I was doing in the first place. So Dan says, "Well if you try to kill fish and break fish bowls you just have to sit in a poopie diaper for an hour." This made me laugh, even though it wasn't a poopie diaper. So check out our new fish bowl! I'm sure Katati prefers this Christmas mixing bowl to Jack's chocolate milk cup with an inch full of fresh tap water and I'm sure it's definitely more comfortable than gasping for water around the floor amongst broken glass. </div>
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What an evening. Somehow I managed to kick out an awesome dinner too! Let's hope today is less eventful. </div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6017321165199808241.post-54432525830492152632012-10-28T09:08:00.000-06:002012-11-03T09:12:35.103-06:00Can't Stop Baking Cakes! So after all these October birthdays, Dan asks me, how could you be making ANOTHER cake? I think I kind of have my technique down by the end of the month. So check the awesome awesome cake I made for our church's fall festival at <a href="http://www.fccov.org/" target="_blank">ECC</a>. It was the first cake to be taken from the cake walk! <br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6017321165199808241.post-30235765674363849912012-10-20T09:57:00.000-06:002012-11-03T09:13:24.733-06:00Minecraft Cake Baking Lies<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I am sorry to any of my faithful readers that I have not blogged in so long. Yes, to all 3 of you...you have my apologies. It is October and 3 out of my 4 kids have birthdays. <br />
As practicing attachment parenting to older kids, a topic that I so try to explore and define. I believe that just because we cannot breastfeed, wear them in a sling, or co-sleep, with our big kids does not mean we cannot be attached parents! <br />
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I think this month, I came closer to the definition of APing older kids while celebrating their birthdays. Of course lots of hugs, kissing them goodnight, helping with homework and stuff like that is all part of it. However this month, a month of celebrations, I showed my kids that I respect what they are interested in and helped them to celebrate, not just their birth, but celebrate who they are! On October 5, my Indigo turned 2. We had her party at <a href="http://www.coolbeansplayhouse.com/" target="_blank">Cool Beans</a>, which is a really cool place to have a party for a toddler. As far as attachment parenting, she is still my baby and still very easy to practice APing as she is still nursing like all day and we cosleep. But in spirit of my point here in respecting and celebrating who our kids are as a way of keeping the attachment parenting frame of mind, I accomplished with her dress! <br />
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We already know that she is not the frilly princess girl that Madelyn is. I didn't dress her in a taffeta flowery pink dress for her party like Madi always wore. No, I respected who she was and she wore a simple deep purple velour Hanna dress from Once Upon a Child with funky leggings from <a href="http://www.clothespony.com/" target="_blank">Clothes Pony</a> that her Godmother Susie got for her. <br />
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On October 18, my second son, Jack turned 10. Do I wish he was not completely obsessed with the xBox game, Minecraft? Yes I would like his main interests to be something a little more productive, but I love Jack for who he is. He absolutely loooves this game called <a href="https://minecraft.net/" target="_blank">Minecraft</a>, a video game where you build worlds and is chracterized by the entire game being made up of blocks and huge pixels. I would have loved to bake him a cake with sports or footballs on it, no one really wants to have their son be obsessed with a video game, but it is about JACK, not me. He wanted so much for his party to be Minecraft inspired. His party was a <a href="http://www.laserfuncenter.com/" target="_blank">Loveland Laser Tag Fun Center</a> and if you've ever had a party at a commercial location, you would know that you must bring a cake that is commercially prepared. I totally broke the rules to be sure my son had the Minecraft cake he wanted. I was going to pass my homemade Minecraft cake as professional! <br />
I bought a cake box from <a href="http://locations.michaels.com/CO/FT.-COLLINS/9976/index.html" target="_blank">Michael's</a> and a cake bottom board from <a href="http://www.larimerco.com/4business/42167Fort_Collins_super_markets.htm" target="_blank">King Soopers</a>. I didn't think covering a cut box with tin foil would pass as professional, nor would a plate from home. My plan was to print out a fake Whole Foods or King Soopers logo and barcode onto a label on my home printer and stick it on the box. I had a bit of luck because when I purchased the cake board from King Sooper, she printed out a barcode label with the KS logo and didn't stick it on anything. So there it was! A real King Sooper label ready to stick on my cake box! It said 28 cents on it, as that was the price of the cardboard cake board, but hopefully the staff at the laser tag place wouldn't be looking that close! <br />
Here's my son's Minecraft themed cake encorporating the spirit of the giant pixel game! I don't think King Sooper could have or would have made a cake like this...<br />
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Each "pixel" was put on indiviually. If you know the game, you would really appreciate this game. Unless you were my son, Jack. "Cool cake, Mom", he said after about 5 hours of applying pixels and being sure they were the exact same colors as the game. God bless Jack's best friend, Aidan; he thought the cake was the coolest thing ever and really made me feel good. he's such a sweetie! If it weren't for Aidan, I might have resigned to never try so hard again! <br />
However, I did get some more complements on the cake at the party although I could not accept them. You see, the manager of Loveland Laser Tag happened to be a big Minecraft fan. "Where did you get this cake?" Hmmmmm. <br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6017321165199808241.post-77583496914184573512012-02-29T21:14:00.001-07:002012-03-10T13:29:17.951-07:00Disney World Trip, Part 1 - Magic Kingdom Say goodbye to the tossing and turning, the sleepless nights in awaiting my re-cap of our Disney World trip from the eyes of an attached mama! Sorry it took me forever to get to my blog as it's been a week since we've been back, but we had jumped right into our crazy life with school, kids, babies, practices, tournaments and laundry. Oh the laundry after a vacation! You don;t need to hear about that. Because the Disney trip was so adventurous, I will devote a post to each theme park.I guess I never realized what it would be like at Disney World with children. My own children! It wasn't so much, enjoying Disney "through" their eyes. It was more like enjoying it "with" them, because Big Daddy and I were having just as much fun. <br />
<strong>The Journey</strong><br />
Well, to Dan's step-mother's horror, we missed our flight. She works for United airlines and thanks to her connections, we were on a flight just about 2 hours later. We did arrive an hour and half early to DIA, but life happens. It was actually quite an adventure, running and rushing. We tried our best, but babies poop, kids have to pee really really bad, and Mama needed a ciggarette before we left the house. Whatever, everything happens as it should and our destiny is layed out before us. Who am I to question destiny? <br />
The plane ride was not a non-stop to FL anymore, but oh boy, Indy was non-stop breastfeeding on the flight. She had a virus the week before and never got rid of that darn diarrhea. Needless to say, I became very familiar with the changing area on the plane. Glad they had one because I remember flying with Big Boy as a baby and nowhere to change a diaper. <br />
Without me realizing it until the day of our journey, Indy had learned to verbalize her word for breastfeeding. And so, in amazement of herself feeling she can communicate, she has now become obssessed with "na nas". Not only did I become familiar with the baby changing area, but if I'm not mistaken, the stranger next to me became familiar with my breast. <br />
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<strong>Arrive in the Fort (Lauderdale)</strong><br />
We walk off the airplane, just a few hours later than expected to find my Mom greeting us with tears and my Dad a huge happy grin. I can appreciate my mama's emotions as I couldn't imagine not seeing my children for so long. It was our first glimpse of true love on our trip and we haven't even gotten to fairy tale land. <br />
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My Dad had a Suburban waiting for us. This is how destiny works. If we didn't miss our flight, he would've picked up a mini-van that was short a seat. Because he picked up the car reservation later, the car rental place had apologized that he couldn't hold the mini-van, but offered a Suburban instead...for the same price! Now we would all ride the 3 hours in comfort to Disney World the next morning. <br />
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<strong>Our Resort</strong>We stayed upon the Disney grounds at a beautiful place called the "Old Key West Resort" We had a 2-bedroom villa and a full kitchen. It was great that we were able to make food and breakfast before we left for the parks. Do you know that feeling when you're at a hotel with kids and everyone's starving and mamas and dads need coffee and you have to get everyone ready before getting all the morning neccessities? No worries here! Loved this place! There were Mickey ears on the fences and a Mickey ear slide at one of the pools. <br />
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<strong>Magic Kingdom</strong><br />
Without further ado, let's get into it, shall we? Ahhh, Magic Kingdom. Arriving at the gates, I shared in as much excited anticipation as the kids. I think My Dad did as well. <br />
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The second we got onto Main Street USA...none of us knew what to do first. Take a picture with Walt? Sure that sounds good.<br />
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We walk up Main Street and were in awe of Cinderella's castle. I couldn't believe we were looking at it. I hoped Princess felt the same. </div>
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My Mom and I thought a good idea to rent a double stroller and went to pick that up. Us attached mamas prefer wearing our kids, so i did have the Ergo, but we needed a stroller for Madi and when I went on ride as that baby couldn't. We walked straight through Cinderella's castle and were face to face with the most amazing incredible carousel we have ever seen. The horses and carriages were immense, the music was beautiful and oh... it puts the carousel at NewWest Fest to shame. We decided that would be our first ride and the entire family went on. </div>
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I was riding the horsey with Princess beside me. I see my Dad behind me and smiling. Was he taking this in? We were here! We made it! Was he enjoying the moment, entrapured in the fact that this dream came true? I knew it was early and we were all still in shock that we actually AT Disney World all together. But I looked at him and smiled and hoped he was savoring the moment. <br />
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Next stop...Pirates of the Carribean. To Adventureland we go. <br />
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At this point, Indy fell asleep on my back and I stood the Pirates ride out so she could sleep. I enjoyed walking around, enjoying the familararity of the Magic Kingdom in memories of when I was younger. I watched a little Pirates show, got a soft serve vanilla cone and some cotton candy for the kids when they got off the ride. Here's a pic they took inside the ride. Amazing likeness to Johnny, huh?<br />
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Dan emerged from the ride like this<br />
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We decided to head off to Story land to see if we could spot some princesses as Princess was nagging "I want to see princesses" We realized that the characters don't just walk around anymore. Nope, you've got to wait in line to see them to, just like any other ride. Boys were itching for a roller coaster at this point too.<br />
But we decided on "It's a Small World" ride. A classic.<br />
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The kids loved it and Indy, to our surprise enjoyed it so much! I hadn't really thought about the baby really enjoying anything, but she pointed in amazement at almost everything! Here's us waiting in line for Small World.<br />
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I really enjoyed It's a Small World" ride. It seemed so sweet and cute and just a pure message. I loved how it and wondered if it was the inspiration for the World Showcase of Epcot. IMO, World Showcase at Epcot was the entire Small World ride, but with real live people, and on a bigger scale. <br />
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<strong>Strollers and Stroller Parking</strong><br />
So after a few rides, we realized that it was really different to be here with a stroller. It wasn't really the stroller in general, which I will critique in a sec, but just having a stroller makes things a little hard. I guess I never realized what it would be like at Disney World with a stroller. I guess I never realized what it would be like at Disney World with children! My own children! It wasn't so much, enjoying Disney "through" their eyes. It was more like enjoying it "with" them, because Big Daddy and I were having just as much fun. <br />
Anyway back to the logistics of Disney with a stroller. Outside every ride, every restaurant and attraction, there was "stroller parking". What a pain, but I guess you can't really take strollers on the lines or in the restaurants. It's just necessary, but a pain in the butt. I was thankful to have the Ergo because there were so many places I couldn't take the stroller and I did have a squirmy toddler who loves to run and explore without looking behind. So she goes in the Ergo and on my back or Big Daddy's back. I want to mention that this was the very first time, out of all 4 kids, Big Daddy wore one of our babies in public. I was so proud! <br />
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Due to the bulky nature of the double rental stroller, my Mom and I decided to take our own the next day. Even though it's a single, it has more storage space and it's easier to manuver. And if Princess was tired she could sit and baby could be in the Ergo. The funny thing about strollers at Disney is there are "No Stroller Parking Signs" and Stroller Parking Signs". At one point, Big Daddy went to park the stroller and said there was a freakin' stroller valet. They always would move and arrange the strollers when we were on the rides, so when I went to retrieve it, I felt like an old lady coming out of the mall looking for her car.<br />
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And off we were to lunch at Peter Pan's place. Awesome food. Indigo had about 3 tons of mac and cheese and we all liked the food. The boys were DYING at this point to do a real roller coaster. <br />
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And off we were to lunch at Peter Pan's place. Awesome food. Indigo had about 3 tons of mac and cheese and we all liked the food. The boys were DYING at this point to do a real roller coaster. <br />
So we decided to head over to Tommorow Land and check out Space Mountain. On the way, the boys saw a cool driving racing car thing and the boys and girls split up. Madi and I did the Teacups, while the guys did some racing. <br />
On the way, Princess finally decided she needed Minnie ears. With lots of choices, she chose these...<br />
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And so, with excitement and anticipation, we headed to Space Mountain. And guess who was braver than we all thought...Princess, who exactly made the height cut-off of 44 inches, wanted to go on Space Mountain. It is widely known in our family that I rode on Space Mountain when I was 3 years old and had peed in my pants. My Mom was a little scared for her to go andf so was I. We thought, well, it's a rite of passage I guess and she really wanted to go on. My Mom hung out with baby Indy and the rest of us were off into the dark, futuristic buidling of the infamous indoor roller coaster, Space Mountain. </div>
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STILL UPDATING THIS POST......<br />
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</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6017321165199808241.post-26878817288968021252012-01-18T13:00:00.002-07:002012-01-19T12:34:45.296-07:00The Mother Trail<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I so long for the baby to nap and see my older ones off to school so that I can have a rest from the neverending journey of mamahood. Maybe I'll get a nice warm shower or mop the floors? Maybe I can watch a sitcom about other pretty showered moms (who are actually dressed) with clean homes and children you never see. I need a break from the diaper changes and housework; a clearing on the trail, to just take a moment and to see the beauty of what I have. <br />
I imagine that being a parent is like climbing a mountain. You start out on a lovely open trail that is relatively flat. You are just so ready and excited to get going. You lead, your children happily follow. It is easy to look down and admire the wildflowers and pick some pinecones. You tell the kids, 'We have to get moving now, come on, let's go." You continue on, enjoying the view, but the trail begins to get tougher as iit winds on. You have to stop to catch your breath. Your legs burn a bit as the trail becomes uphill. The trees become more dense and it's harder to see the view. You wonder how you'll make it any further. Just then, you come to a clearing. You feel the warmth of the sun and a field of long grass. You take a break, pick a few wildflowers, and watch the children run through the open field. You relax for a bit and enjoy the view.<br />
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But you cannot stop for long; the uphill trail is waiting and the kids are ready to go. You are so tired, but have no choice but to go on. The kids will not wait and they run ahead without you. You push yourself a little harder and try your best to keep up and enjoy the hike.<br />
Soon, you notice the trail has thinned and you suddenly realize you are completely lost. Which way to go? The kids say, "This way Mom!" but you just aren't sure that's the right way. You consult the map, the book of Love and Logic, but it doesn't have the answers. You try desperately to find a sign, leading you to the right way. You look upward. No wait, you look inward and follow your gut. It leads you back on the right trail. No longer lost, but tired and you want to stop for a break. The kids just want to keep going, so you keep up with a smile.<br />
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You see another clearing ahead and look forward to feeling the warm sun. You reach the field, but the sun is behind a cloud. You are still happy to rest. But the baby wants to nurse. It's not as sunny and warm as you expected, but you really do enjoy this view. <br />
Back on the trail. It's so steep! You are leading the way with true enjoyment. According to the map, no more clearings ahead, but you find a nice unexpected bench to take your rest. The kids are running ahead, but notice you opening a bottle of water. They run back to you! Delighted they came back, you give the kids your bottled water to share, which happened to be the last one. You are truly more than happy to give it to them. You are just happy to be together. You enjoy watching the kids gulp down the water. Hiking is hard work! <br />
Off you go again up what feels like a 90 degree angled trail. You try hard to show your kids that you are enjoying the journey as much as they are. Can they see that you are struggling? Can't they see how tired you are? Just then, your child offers you the last few sips of that bottled water. You remember how sweet they are, how thoughtful they are, how wonderful it is that you are turning out thoughtful, kind-hearted people. Both the water and the enlightenment give you the strength to make it through, just as you knew you could, and you create your own places to stop every now and then to enjoy the view. <br />
I am still on my way to the summit. I'm sure the view will be the most beautiful thing I've ever seen and felt. I'll let you know when I get there!<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6017321165199808241.post-65479049904596949872012-01-06T10:05:00.000-07:002012-01-06T10:05:38.707-07:00Eating Cascade and Ice CreamSo yesterday's photo journal of Princess didn't come out how I hoped as it was a near insane day. I'm talking everything from having to call poison control, vomit, broken eye glasses, and a naked 5-year-old. <br />
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Big Boy had a sleepover with his buddy last night and poor Jackie always wants to hang. Big Daddy was working last night so i had to be the ref and it was just crazy. Big Boy doesn't want his little bro to bother him and princess is just all over this poor boy who does not have a little sister or little brother, so he probably thinks our house is totally weird. Exactly what Big Boy tries to avoid. I think when Princess was returning the blanket she stole from them and had it wrapped around her naked body was the highlight. "here's you blanket, boys" as she ripped it from her wearing only NOTHING underneath! Then Jackie was chasing Big Boy and his buddy around the house. jackie was crying because he wanted to hang with the big boys. Jackie, why would they want to hang with you if you are chasing them? Poor Jackie. <br />
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Oh and then I was cleaning up after dinner, loading the dishwasher, I turn around and baby Indy puked all over the floor with a Cascade Action Pac in her hand with a nice bite in it. Oh my God. What's the number to poison control? How do I not have that posted on the fridge? I gave her a drink of water which is what it said on the package. It also said "Do Not Induce vomiting". Shit! She just vomited! <br />
I think of that movie "Heathers" when she drank the bleach...and dies! I can't believe I was thinking about the movie "Heathers" at a time like this. I dialed frantically and talked with the nicest lady who assured me she would be fine. She said it happens all the time (that's scary) and she told me there was a 99% chance that she would go through the rest of the night totally fine. And she did.<br />
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During the whole thing, it was actually dessert time for the other kids; ice cream. Indy was screaming that she wanted some. It was good that she was being her spunky self, both I and the lady at poison control thought. The lady at PC told me that the Cascade was irritating, so I thought I would give her some ice cream in case her throat hurt. Not that I normally give my 15-month-old ice cream, but this was an emergency. I felt so guilty that I let her eat ice cream right out of the tub while she was sitting on top of the table. I just hope that Indy didn't learn the lesson of "Eat Cascade Action Pac...get ice cream." <br />
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Oh and being I mentioned Big Boy's broken eye glasses, I don't really know the story behind this. In the midst of the Cascade ingestion nightmare, I discovered the glasses in the hallway floor...in two pieces. <br />
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I almost forgot about the marinara sauce! How could I forget that! I was cleaning up the playroom so Big Boy and his buddy could settle in and watch a movie. They made mozzarella sticks and the bowl of marinara dipping was on top of the Lego cabinet. I picked up the empty plate, a few empty soda cans (Hansens- no caffiene), and the bowl of sauce and the sauce, the RED sauce i might add, went flying across the room, on all the blankets I just nicely layed out, the carpet and on Big Boy's friend's butt. Fun stuff. More laundry and cleaning. I could blame the boys for not cleaning up, but this was really my fault. <br />
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Oh Jeez, what a night. What will today bring? I'm scared! Who says you can't have adventure and excitement without leaving your house?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6017321165199808241.post-51414199497309587702012-01-05T08:29:00.001-07:002012-01-05T14:36:31.042-07:00A 24-Hour Chronical of a PrincessHere's what I'm dealing with here...<br />
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So, Princess, who loves to dress-up was in 7 different outfits yesterday. I guess I never even realized just exactly how many times Princess changes her clothes until yesterday when I thought it would be fun to count. <br />
So today I thought I would chronical a 24-hour photo journal of each outfit she wears today and I will be updating it all day, so keep on checking back! I am not telling her i am doing this as to keep her natural flow. I'm just snapping photos of her everytime she gets dressed. <br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>8am: Pajamas</strong></span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">8:15: Dressed for the day. Or so you thought!</span></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">9:02am: Another fancy dress</span></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">9:30am: Snow White appears for a late breakfast </span></strong></div>
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<strong><em>Note: 3 changes and it's only 9:30 in the morning!</em></strong></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>2:30pm: Dressed exactly like her Moxi Girl</strong></span></div>
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Note: Her Moxi Girl is an equestrian and <em>I even had to make the 1st place ribbon to match her doll.</em><br />
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<em>She was in her Snow White dress for 6 hours -that's kind of a record! She even wore it out to pick up Big Boy at basketball.</em></div>
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6017321165199808241.post-69703031287428501662012-01-01T10:42:00.004-07:002012-01-01T22:28:07.575-07:00Celebrating 2012..oh How We Evolved!Happy New Year! Well I had a pretty exciting night on New Year's eve last night. Compared to back in the day, it probably was not at all exciting, but in 2012 our parenting and technology have evolved. B4K, (aka - before kids, or before 4 kids) I would have been at a Phish concert or a Widespread Panic concert danicing my ass off until the wee hours of the night along with 10,000 other people. But no, not in 2012. In 2012 I was enjoying being with my family and friends in my own home. Making strawberries and cream, jello fizzers for the kids and cappucino for myself to aide in staying up til midnight. It was a fabulous night!<br />
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Yesterday morning Big Daddy had the opportunity to fly to NYC for the Phish show at MSG. He almost went, but decided against it right before he was supposed to leave. Our great friend, Melfi, our son, Jack's Godfather and great longtime friend had an extra ticket. Big Daddy's stepmom works for United and we are able to fly anywhere for about $150 on standby. Stepmom checked the flights and he would've been able to get on a 2pm flight and in first class taboot. He turned it down. Big Daddy must be growing up! <br />
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That would have been the normal NYE I've celebrated the past 5 or so years. Just hanging with the kids and waiting for Big Daddy to come home after a show. However in the year 2012, we have the best of both worlds. The technology of 2012 allowed us to stream the Phish NYE show live and online and watch it on our flatscreen...in our living room! We danced in our living room with about 3 of our friends as opposed to 10,000 and got to dance with our kids. Even baby Indy was catching a groove to Fluffhead. And our kids had to listen to us telling them that if it weren't for that band on the TV, they wouldn't have been born. B4K, Big Daddy and I used to be "Phish heads" and follow the band across the country and that's how we met. It was an amazing time in our lives. On Phish tour, at a gas station in Wisconsin outside the Alpine Valley venue in the summer of 1999, I met and fell in love with Big Daddy. Big Boy was born about a year and half later. <br />
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Megan, one of my besties, also used to tour with Phish and she enjoyed the show on the TV just as much as us! Oh boy, times have changed for us all! She has 2 kids and had to deal with Mommy stuff as well. As she was on her way to our house last night, her 9-year-old threw up in the car. driving 75 mph, her son puked in the back seat and half out the window. A far cry from hanging out in the "lot" getting ready for a Phish show. He was fine when they got to our house and was happy to play with my 9-year-old as they are besties too. When it got late, we set up all the kids in the playroom to watch School of Rock. <br />
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We welcomed 2012 with our best friends and kids all around us. I got to give Big Daddy a really smoochy kiss at midnight which I haven't done (on NYE) for years. After we kissed, he said "that made it all worth it." So I really do believe that for us, being home, being together, watching the Phish show live, was about the best New Year's eve I could've ever imagined.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6017321165199808241.post-27213718870681225092011-12-27T09:40:00.000-07:002011-12-27T21:48:22.655-07:00Christmas Morning Recap<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="344" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/6F3OURm4a6c?fs=1" width="459"></iframe><br />
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Well, it was another magical Christmas Morning! This video here is just a short snippet of the morning. Ezrah opens his awesome custom Plan B skateboard. Plan B is the "cool" one. This present we made from me and Big Daddy because he was catching on from the preparation of that present. Madi wanted a real live bunny so much, but Santa brought her a "Fur Real" bunny that is a soft newborn bunny that sniffs and wiggles when you pet it. Being it's a newborn bunny, it came with a "ba ba", the term for bottle coined by my younger brother when he was a baby. <br />
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So Christmas Eve was wonderful. For apps we had stuffed shrooms and fresh mozz, basil and tomato brushetta. Uncle Dave came with his GF for apps and brought the shrimp cocktail. He made the cocktail sauce himself and went heavy on the horseradish. Yes! <br />
The Safeway was all out of lobster tails, except for these wild brazilian lobster tails that we $45 a tail. So, needless to say, we omitted lobster tail from the menu. But it wasn't missed as we got King Crab (Jack's fave) and it was delightful! I also did my shrimp scampi over linguini which I nailed! I sauted the shrimp in butter, olive oil and garlic, added some bread crumbs and asasio cheese, then fresh lemon juice. Poured over the linguini and wala! Delish! <br />
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Actually now that I'm looking at our photos, I'm totally out of order. Before Christmas eve dinner, we went to our church's candlelight ceremony. At first we were towards the front pew, but Indigo was not sitting still and climbing up on the stage and getting into the instruments. Finally we moved to the back -where we belong with all these crazy kids. Ezrah was happy to lay down across the pews, Jack was able to constantly complain about his hunger, Madi was able to dance in the isle, and Indigo was free to be crazy. Except we didn't get away unnoticed as pastor Bert was walking up from the back of the isle for part of the ceremony, he tripped over Indigo who was exploring. That's right, my baby tripped the Pastor! He didn't fall or anything, but was definately like "whoa". Anyway, here's some pics before we left...</div>
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And on the way to church...</div>
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I was too busy with dinner to take many pictures, but after dinner, the kids got to open their Christmas PJs and open the gifts they gave to eachother. </div>
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Jackie got a robe instead of PJs this year. He's been wearing it all day today!</div>
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Here's Princess opening her present from Ezrah...</div>
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Here's Indigo opening her gift from Ezrah...</div>
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Just look at those teeth! </div>
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Here's the girls all ready for sleep. The one night of the year Princess actually goes to bed willingly! I asked her if she wanted to sleep in her own room tonight so Santa sees she's a big girl. "Nope -with mama!" </div>
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<span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><strong>CHRISTMAS MORNING!!!</strong></span></div>
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<strong> </strong><span style="background-color: white; color: #6aa84f;"><strong><span style="background-color: #ffd966; font-size: large;">Santa Really Came!</span> </strong></span>I woke up before the kids got up to get a photo! Isn't our tree beautiful by the way? </div>
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It was total madness. Oh just look at the joy on Big Boy's face! It makes going way over the budget all worth it! Hey at least we made a budget this year.</div>
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Before Princess woke us up, she took off her PJs and got back into her fancy dress to open presents. That's why we call her Princess!</div>
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Here's indigo playing with the glittery ribbon more than the actual present!</div>
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So cliche!</div>
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Here's Ezrah with his new skateboard! See the video above! Notice the house getting messier and messier...</div>
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Okay, now Indy's playing with it! She's so freakin' cute!!!!</div>
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Here's a photo of just the pure madness of Christmas morning with 4 kids...<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-geg4TMQ-bv4/TvomFgq-jjI/AAAAAAAAAPc/tkiLBsKFZok/s1600/christmas+2011+044.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-geg4TMQ-bv4/TvomFgq-jjI/AAAAAAAAAPc/tkiLBsKFZok/s400/christmas+2011+044.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Santa didn't forget Breezy! </div>
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<strong><span style="color: red; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Just another picture of Pure JOY!</span></strong></div>
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Here's Jack predicting each present before he opens it! "I KNOW this is the Beyblades I wanted"</div>
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Madi loving her new Innotab! Looking forward to taking this one on the plane to Disney World. Which by the way, at this point they did not know about yet. That was opened later in the day...</div>
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Ezrah gets his Pogo stick! </div>
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Dan loves his "Indigo Army" tee shirt I got him. Indigo Army is the name of one of his fantasy teams. </div>
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AHHHH. THE AFTERMATH....LOOKS LIKE A WAR ZONE</div>
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It is 2 days later and I am STILL trying to get this house back together! </div>
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So this was our magical Christmas morning! We spent Christmas day at Big Daddy's parent's house and that was where we unveiled the trip to Disney World with a less than enthusiastic reaction from the kids. Jack, in his monotone voice was like, "oh cool, Mickey Mouse dolls."</div>
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Those intangible presents don't go over too well at first I guess. However, Madi is the most excited about the trip and she was wondering how many dresses she needs to pack. She's extremely worried that she doesn't own a Cinderella dress. Grateful child; she only has 5 Disney princess dresses in her wardrobe. What a tragedy! (sarcasm) I'll get that video up soon. </div>
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We opened lots of presents from Grandma and Grandpa...</div>
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Socks</div>
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More socks</div>
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Ezrah got an AMAZING remote control helicopter from Uncle Dave</div>
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And my sweet niece loved her Moxie Girl I got her. It was so cute! It had her exact shade of red hair and little freckles just like her! </div>
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Jackie loved his Nerf Gun from Uncle Dave.</div>
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And Indy just had a grand time wreaking havoc on the beautiful breakable things at Grandma's house!</div>
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<br /><strong><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> December 26: the most depressing day ever.</span> </span></strong>It's all over. The house is a disaster. There are fancy hand-wash only plates in the sink still waiting for me, ripped wrapping papaer all over the floor, enormous amounts of packaging everywhere, more chokables on the floor than Indigo can put in her mouth and extremely tired Mama with an extra 5lbs on her.</div>
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Big Daddy almost took an overtime shift, but decided against it. Because you know what? Some things are more important than money. I was not ready to get back to the grind. i needed a recovery day. He did too.</div>
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My sweet Big Daddy told me to forget the house and take a nap. Then he took us all to Red Robin for dinner. He's my knight in shining armor and always knows when I need rescuing. Indigo was being especially crazy at the restaurant and managed to get a hold of my straw and spoon from my chocolate milkshake. (well I gave it to her because she was screaming for it) Yeah, I <em>needed</em> a chocolate milkshake tonight. No more wine, no more egg nog; just a chocolate milkshake.</div>
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Then she found the cold metal cup and went to town. What do I care? Christmas is over. I have nothing left in me to even begin to stop it. I did come prepared with another outfit for her. </div>
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Jack got a Pac-Man Tee from Indigo for christmas and was sportin' it at RR.</div>
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The kids were being crazy and again, drinking root beer floats, screaming, getting up, going under the table. I just let it happen...</div>
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And finally our waitress snapped a photo of us. Dan thought it was super cheesy that I asked her to take our pic, but aren't you glad I did? </div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-large;"><em><strong>Merry Christmas!!!</strong></em></span></div>
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<br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6017321165199808241.post-75226382657842619492011-12-22T06:50:00.000-07:002011-12-22T06:50:02.184-07:00Does "Kiss" begin with a "K"?Princess says to me last night, "Mom, a kiss doesn't begin with "K" it begins with a "C". Not sure how to respond to that one, other than she's watching too much TV and that kiss does actually begin with a "K". <br />
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Ok so now it is getting really really close and the excitement is in the air for Christmas! School is out. The snow is falling. The class Christmas parties were great. I did my "rounds" to each class party. Teacher gifts are given, Christmas cards are mailed, Christmas packages are sent, cookies are made, but eaten, so we'll make more today. Christmas is everywhere. Every thought, every TV sitcom, every movie, every commercial reminds us that it's Christmas time. Not that I need any reminders with 4 kids, but it's nice to share in the excitement. <br />
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I trying to figure out what to get Big Daddy. I just don't know! I want it to be special for him. He's not a "fix-it" guy, so the regular power tool won't work. I was thinking, okay, what he love. He loves to play basketball. I'd love to get him a gym membership so he can play noon basketball, but his schedule won't allow. He loves his "fantasy" sports, but not sure how I could turn that into a present. My budget is $100. Any ideas? <br />
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Uh oh, I hear screaming from the living room between baby and Princess. I better go check it out. The girls woke up ridiculously early today. It's going to be a long day!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6017321165199808241.post-51788608229001393362011-12-19T14:48:00.000-07:002011-12-19T20:47:57.800-07:00Clever Present WrappingAs you all have figured out, I looooove christmas morning. However I am always so exausted that I can barely enjoy it the past few years. This is because I'm wrapping presents until 4am, only to awaken by 6am with kids jumping on my bed. Today I started getting a head start on wrapping Santa presents. I also showed Big Daddy all the great stuff we got, being he works so hard and I get to reap the shopping rewards. he's okay with it though because he understands that shopping is "my thing." <br />
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I have to be very clever with wrapping Santa presents, with my big boys on the cusp on "not" believing. Who knows if they play along with me, I don't even want to know! So presents from Santa get wrapped in foil wrapping and lots of glittery bows that are of course hidden along with the presents. <br />
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The name tags are gold that I got at Walgreens and I have to be careful with those. See, my handwriting is pretty familiar, so I am sure to change it carefully. I also worry about the Sharpie I use. So I got a new one, also hidden away with a color they don't think we have. I also even try to wrap differently. Two years ago, I scored some vintage wrapping paper at a thrift store like is no wrapping paper you'll ever ever see in stores today. I still have some...oooo tricky mama! Got to go get all these back in the shed and locked because it;s almost time to get the kids from school. Gotta run!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6017321165199808241.post-38419273623558035202011-12-18T08:43:00.000-07:002011-12-18T08:43:17.223-07:00A Magical ChristmasIn exactly 6 days, 19 hours, 41 minutes and 23 seconds (yeah, I bought that Hallmark ornament), our living room floor will be covered in torn wrapping paper, boxes, those wire thingies they put to hold toys in their packages, candy wrappers, and happy children and sleepy parents. It will be another magical Christmas. This year is a big one. With our big boy, who is 11, Jackie, who is 9, Princess,, who is 5, and baby Indy at 1 year old, this is going to be a memorable one, maybe the most important Christmas yet! And yup, Santa will deliver (literally and figuratively) everything my children have dreamed for. We are blessed with the magic and the spirit of how special this morning will be. <br />
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I just LOVE Christmas morning. Something is in the air and with 4 young kiddos, I am in all my glory. My children do know what Christmas is all about, not just the presents. They know what we are really celebrating, the birth of Jesus, who showed us how to love. They really do know it. Today, they will also get a glimpse of some Christmas love, as we are delivering to a family in need in our town, loads of Christmas love. In our church, we have "adopted" a family with 3 children and we are giving them lots of goodies, clothes, toys, kitchen stuff, and more to them. Today, we will be ringing their doorbell and surprising them. Not sure if I will just put everything on their doorstep and run or bringing the gifts inside. They speak only Spanish and I would like to convey to them to keep some of the gifts for them to wrap and give to their kids on Christmas morning. And I also would like to say that I hope this lessens the stress of the Holidays just a little. All kids, actually all people, should feel the magic of Christmas morning. <br />
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This morning Big Daddy and Big Boy went all the way to Greeley for a basketball tournament and me and the others are home. I feel guilty for not going, but it was just too early and Big Boy didn't care and was excited for it to be just him and Big Daddy. The kids have just 3 days of school this week and they are getting geared up for class parties and making and wrapping presents for their teachers. I wish that our school district policy would let us bring in homeade goodies, but in this day and age, only store-bought treats are allowed. We will be making some sugar cookies today in the shapes of Christmas trees and stars today and bringing that to our adopted family. <br />
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Christmas Eve will be our traditinal Italian fish dinner. Well it;s not totally traditinal, in that we don't do the "7" fishes, but we do lots of different fish dishes, like lobster tails, shrim scampi and this year, we are giving a try at king crab! My Jackie just looooves king crab. Everything about this year's Christmas will be magical!<br />
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I'll update my menu and recipes later in the week. Off to drink some more coffee and get ready to spread some love to a deserving family and maybe some ice skating in Old Town Square!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6017321165199808241.post-65459732596556527512011-12-10T07:44:00.001-07:002011-12-18T11:32:02.857-07:00Surprise Trip to Disney WorldMy favorite thing in the world is to shop. It really is. It gets my endorphins up and I probably have a bonafide addiction to shopping. And I'm a savvy shopper too, which I learned from my Mom. Indy's learning too! Just look at her going through my coupons before we head out to shop!<br />
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And here's her at the mall playground...</div>
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You might thing shopping is kind of selfish, but I like shopping for others. That's my favorite thing in the world. Truly, way down deep in the core of my heart, I love love love giving the people I love in my life the perfect present. Christmas is my favorite holiday. <br />
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This Christmas, my kids aren't going to know what hit them! I just picked up a custom Plan B skateboard for Big Boy. And I have been blessed with some crazy luck too. At Toys R Us, I got the last pogo stick and at the Evil Empire (Walmart) I got the second to last Monster High 3-pack. Not only are my kids getting all this fun stuff, but on Christmas day, <strong>we are surprising them to a trip to Disney World!</strong> <br />
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No we are in no means rich, but somehow, with the help of my parents and Big Daddy's parents, we are making it happen. My parents have recently moved to Florida and they are just dying for us to come visit us. It is my dad's lifelong dream to take my kids to Disney World. And dreams come true. So cheesy, but it's true. I really want my parents to take my kids to Disney too, as it makes me just as happy to see their joy as it does my kid's. <br />
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My parents have been saying, figure out how to get here (FL) and we'll take care of the rest. We cannot pass up this opportunity but how on earth are we going to afford plane tickets from Colorado to Florida for 6 people? Well, Big Daddy's Dad came through. I love Big Daddy's Dad and the other night we were telling him the deal my parents had offered and just like my parents, he wants my children to have the best of everything, including a family trip to Disney World, even though he won't be there to enjoy them enjoying it. He offered us about 75% of the plane fare and we are able to come up the rest. My kids are so blessed with so much love. <br />
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My parents are absolutely floored and cannot believe we are actually coming! My Dad especially is so cute; he's got the whole itinerary set and has reserved an incredible villa on Disney's grounds. It is the most amazing resort I have ever seen and I can't believe we are lucky enough to go! I think my Dad may be more excited than my kids will be! Although I pretty darn excited to have breakfast with the Disney princesses. <br />
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Growing up in NY, we drove down to FL in the last week in August and went to Disney World. I have so many great memories of it. In fact, they are probably my most vivid, happy memories of my childhood. I can't wait to give this gift to my kids. I hope they remember as they grow up too. My boys, 11 and 9 will definately remember forever, Princess,5, will be in awe at everything and be taking in the experience as it happens, but will probably have just vague, but positive memories as she grows. Baby, 14 months, won't remember a thing, but she too, will enjoy it in the present. <br />
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Speaking of presents, you know that commercial where the parents wrap up Mickey dolls and video the whole thing and say to them, "we're leaving on a plane right now and going to Disney World!" We are doing almost the same thing. My parents are sending us Mickey and Minnie dolls and we are going to put the those and the plane tickets in a box and wrap it up. Then say, we are leaving for Disney World in 6 weeks! We will video it too and I will definately have the video up here on my blog. I just can't wait to surprise them! They will open up the Disney surprise on Christmas Day at Big Daddy's Dad's house. <br />
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So after the incredible, magical Christmas morning, just when they thought they couldn't be any happier, they open up a present that will reveal not only our first family vacation, but a vacation to Disney World and to see their favorite grandparents, Grandma Angie and Pop! Oh Gosh, I'm going to burst with happiness, just writing about it. I'll post the video after Christmas.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6017321165199808241.post-953605866847061752011-11-28T08:29:00.001-07:002011-11-28T08:51:08.276-07:00Curious ToddlerMy dog ran away yesterday through a missing board in the fence. maybe she is fed up with being thirsty all the time because my 14-month-old loves to dump her water bowl. At first, she really doesn't dump it. Nah, first she puts her tiny little hands in the water and splashes. Then maybe sucks her wet fingers. I always freak out at that because dog water is well, slimy. Then, she'll grab a toy and stick it in the dog water and do that for a while. When she's bored with that. She lifts, she spills! The floor is wet, the baby is wet and I can't even sit on the couch for 5 seconds without having to tend to my oh so curious little toddler. <br />
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Yup, she's a toddler. She started walking about 3 weeks ago and now we're in the toddler stage! She's so darn cute walking around like an old drunk person trying to keep their balance, tripping over her feet and laughing when she falls down. <br />
It's not just the dog water she loves to play in. It's also...well....EVERYTHING! <br />
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It's almost time to put up the Christmas tree and I have no idea how we are going to quarantine it since I sold my Supergate on Craigslist last week. I remember when my older kids were this age, our Christmas tree would not have any ornaments on the bottom half of the tree. We could try that. But Indy is so curious, I have a premonition that she may just pull down the tree! Not safe, not fun. She'll probably just play in the tree water, not only dehydrating our sweet little black lab, but also the Christmas tree too. Ahhh, toddlerhood. I love it, but it is quite exhausting.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6017321165199808241.post-87380478443495555452011-11-23T21:16:00.001-07:002011-11-26T18:29:01.811-07:00Giving ThanksTis the season to be thankful! Big daddy is working on Thanksgiving day and so we are celebrating our Thanksgiving on Friday. A big part of Thanksgiving for me is watching the Macy's Day parade and thanks to the invention of DVR, I can re-create the whole holiday on Friday without a worry. I even recorded the Today show to watch before the parade starts because it just gives you that whole feeling of the holidays. And I swear, it took all of my will power to not watch the Macy's day parade.<br />
I really don't mind much that Big Daddy is working on the real Thanksgiving because this means that he gets to have all of Christmas off both Eve and Day. <br />
<br /> After our Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow, we are going to see the new Muppet movie, so today was lined up with watching all the old muppet movies in preparation. I love those movies and honestly wish that my kids would appreciate them as much as I do. But I grew up with the Muppets and they are thinking that these movies are totally "dated." I feel so old! <br />
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To me, one of the greatest music lyrics in the whole world happens to be from the original Muppet Movie. <em>"Someday we'll find it, the rainbow connection, the lovers, the dreamers and me...la la la la la la la"</em><br />
So in preparation for Thanksgiving tomorrow I will be making all the traditional dishes. Mashed potatoes, stuffing, green beans, cranberry sauce and of course, turkey. I have a special mashed potato recipe that I only make on Thanksgiving -it's not too much of a secret, but I make regular homemade mashed potatoes and also mix in 2 sweet potatoes in with the Russet potatoes. It comes out so awesome. <br />
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Instead of the typical green bean casserole with canned cream of mushroom, I'm doing steamed garlic whole green beans. It much healthier and kids actually like it better! My friend, Megan makes an amazing fresh cranberry sauce. She will be joining us tomorrow and is going to whip that up for us. I will make real turkey gravy from our turkey drippings, which always comes out really good and is really easy to make.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6017321165199808241.post-10595892194591758632011-11-20T14:46:00.001-07:002011-11-26T18:27:50.749-07:00For the Love of God, Be Quiet!I just don't know why my children cannot listen to the simplest instructions. Mind you, right now, I am crabby and tired so my words might not make any sense. Please don't construe that I don't like having children. But right now, I want some sleep. And that is impossible in this house right now. <br />
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"Please close the door to your room," I said as Indy was (emphasis on WAS) sleeping. She was up almost all night nursing and crying with painful gums because a new top tooth is breaking through. Please for the love of God, break through already! <br />
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The boys were playing Wii and being loud. I didn't ask them to stop playing, just close the door and be a little more quiet. Dan is watching football in the living room. I set Princess up with her paints and she was (again emphasis on WAS) painting quietly in the kitchen. <br />
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Indy took her nap pretty late today becausre we went to church. With the afternoon time, and her playing so hard at the church nursery, I knew she was going to take a long nap. She fell asleep so fast and was gone to the world! Dan encouraged me to lay down with her and I took him up on it thinking he would actually keep the kids quiet. I was wrong.<br />
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I hear a deafening scream from Princess. Big Bro was doing something loud and horsing around with her from their bedroom. The door was obviously open. Indy awake, me awake and here I am, blogging and drinking coffee.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0