January 2009

January 03

Happy New Year

So I amazingly made it until midnight on New Years Eve.  We watched the last Harry Potter and then counted down.  It was nice.  Jerry had Thursday off so we went out for breakfast and then hung out at the house.  Yesterday I realized that I needed to do two things:

1) get organized for Elijah's party and

2) make a costume for him to wear to a birthday party we had today.

So I decided to make a piñata with pull tabs for Elijah's party.  I had never heard of these until we went to a Halloween party.  It was cool.  The kids take turns pulling streamers until someone pulls one that opens the trap door.  It's nice for kids that don't really have the strength to whack the crap out of a traditional piñata and eliminated the possibility of getting whacked in the head with a crazy toddler swinging a stick!  So I blew up a picture of Curious George in a fire helmet and painted a cardboard box.  Today I pasted the picture onto the box and painted George.  I also cut the trap door.  It needs some more work, but I'm pretty happy with how it's turning out.

Now, the costume.  Elijah has a little friend who had a princess/prince birthday.  I gotta say that a princess outfit is WAY easier to come by.  I guess I could have spent a lot of money on a costume, but I didn't want to do that.  We talked about dressing him as a Prince of Egypt.  I guess if I had worked on it before yesterday then that could have worked out, but ya know... I found a site that had some ideas and I took those and ran with it... this is what I ended up with:

I am pleased with how it turned out.  Elijah really liked it and I think he had fun at the party.  I was an amazing party to say the least.  They played games and won prizes, had lunch, had cake, and got a very nice parting present.  I think that Elijah's was the only homemade outfit, but he was one of three boys and one of the boys is super little.  The little girls were all cute in their princess outfits.

Tomorrow, instead of taking my movie day, I'm going to go party supply shopping.  I looked at the room we will be using at the fire station today.  I think it will be fun.  Once everyone gets there, we'll get a little presentation from a fire fighter, then we'll do a little craft, read Curious George Goes to the Fire Station, eat cake and pull the strings on the piñata... that's a lot to fit into 2 hours...  I am making most of the stuff to go into the goodie bags.  My folks are getting here Thursday afternoon, so I think I'll do most of the goodie bag stuff then.  I'm super excited about the whole thing!

Okay... I guess that's it!  Happy New Year!  Here's hoping that 2009 will be GRAND!

January 04

Starring Grace...

Look what she did tonight:

GRACE CRAWLING!!!

January 07

Cause it's just annoying me...

What is this, "Boys will be boys" shit!  I get really annoyed when people use this as an excuse.  "Oh, my son is climbing up the slide backwards even though there are children waiting to come down... but boys will be boys."  "Oh, my son drove really fast into a tree but I bought him a new car...but boys will be boys."  "Oh, my son beat the crap out of his girl friend, but that's okay, because boys will be boys."  WTF?!?!  When does this cycle that boys somehow get special treatment because they have a penis end?  It really aggravates me.  Especially when moms justify this.  How are you allowing your child to think he is better than a girl?  Better than his mom?  WTF?!?!?  Seriously?

Honestly, this hasn't happened to me personally, but I have read about parents getting mad at someone for requesting their sons act responsibly and it hurts me to hear them getting defensive of their children.  Then turn around and wonder what to do about their kid the preschool bully.  PLEASE!  Do they not see the cycle they are perpetuating?  Sigh.  I have had to deal with the gender issue.  Elijah likes to pick flowers and put them in his hair (which is now almost constantly in a pony tail... and I know he is a pretty child...) which leads people to think that he is a girl.  And when I tell them his name is Elijah, they come up with things, like, "Oh the flower threw me off, but I see the airplane in his hand now, that even things out."  Seriously?  I was asked in the grocery store the other day if I was sure Grace was a girl.  I had her in a blue and green sleep and play, "That's a girl?  Are you sure?"  SERIOUSLY?  Um, yeah... last time I changed her diaper... but ya know... What is wrong with people?

There is a whole other blog entry that is stewing in my head about gender roles and how we as a society tend to deal with them.  Trucks=boys Dolls=girls kinda thing.  And while I don't believe in that, I don't push dolls on Elijah, yet he plays with them.  I don't push trucks on Grace, but she tries to steal Elijah's when he's not looking (though I think she just likes things that roll...she thinks they're funny.)  Anyway... another entry...

Okay... I'm done with my soapbox...for now... ;)

January 11

The Boy Child's Third B-day

I must say that the party was quite successful!   My mom and I got to the fire station a little after 9 and I gotta say that if we had gotten there any later, the morning would have started in a much different way.  Apparently, there was a communication breakdown between the station coordinator and the chief/firefighters.  They were on their way to a training across the street and didn't know we were coming.  Not too much of a big deal, except I had planned for time for a tour of the station (and we would've been locked out as well.)  But ANYWAY, not a big deal.  We got in and set up.  The chief got us hats and offered to come back over and do show us a fire engine or two and gave us his cell number.  He was REALLY nice!  So after setting up, my friend, Jenn, showed up with the cake.  Last year she did the train cake and that was amazing... but this one was even more so!!  She made a fire engine cake!  It was INCREDIBLE!!!  She did an amazing job!

As the kids came in we had a table set up with goodie bags that had crayons (among other things) in it and a Curious George mask out for them to color and play with.  We also had some snack out for them to munch on.  Our play group doesn't do presents, but we gave Elijah a Curious George Doll and the book Curious George and the Firefighters.  So he got to open that and I read the book to the kids.  (Dad said that was the best part....hehehehe!)  After story time, we had cake.  I gotta say I almost cried when I cut it.  I mean it was just that pretty...but it's cake and it was meant to be eaten.  It was very very yummy!  After they finished the cake, I brought over the pull tab piñata I made.  I was impressed with it.  I found a bunch of fun little toys in to fill it with.  I think the kids liked that.  One of the prizes in the piñata was Curious George balloons, so some of the parents blew a bunch up and the kids played balloon while I put in a call to the fire chief.  He had some of the firefighters come over and show us the one of the engines.  The kids got to climb all over it and play.  It was really cool.  They also ran the lights for us.

Overall, it was an incredible party.  Elijah had a great time, and that was the most important thing!  Grace did great with very little nap and horrid sleep the night before.  Elijah was hyped up and didn't take a nap that afternoon, but he did rest in his room.  After nap we went out to the condo my folks are staying in for the week out at the beach.  It's about a half hour drive out there, but it's not too bad.

My folks brought a ton of stuff down with them.  I found an easel at the Goodwill in Black Mountain while we were up there, but it didn't fit in our car, so they brought that.  They brought the bike they found for Elijah as well.  They brought Christmas presents from Laura (really cool stacking trucks for Elijah and Grace and a very nice necklace pendant for me!)

I will start a new album with the pics...

Three Years Ago Today...

I was still in the hospital getting to know my little man.  Who knew that in three years he would be such an amazing little man!Happy Birthday little guy!

my kiddo at birth: 8 pounds 6 ounces

one year old!

two years old

three years old!!

January 13

So there is news...

I hadn't really realized I hadn't blogged about this yet, until Megan commented on my Facebook Status.   I sometimes get so involved in Facebook and I forget that not everyone is on there...or is my friend on there.... ANYWAY...

The week before Christmas Jerry was asked in for an interview for a company here in Wilmington.  The next week he went in for a lunch interview and was offered a job.  He negotiated a higher salary and handed in his resignation the following day.  Last Wednesday he was promptly (yet amicably) fired.  He started his new job this Monday.  The great thing about the firing is that since he handed in his two week notice, they had to pay him through those two weeks.  So he's pretty much getting a week with two paychecks... sweet!  It's too bad that his former company didn't realize his importance until after he left.  He and another worker left for this new company the same week!  The new company is a direct competitor to his old company.  Apparently, last Friday after Jerry and his coworker left, the company promptly gave everyone a raise (some more than others!)  Still, if he hadn't left and they had given the raises, he 1)still wouldn't be making as much as he is now and 2)they would expect him to work even more than he was and no overtime pay.  Here he gets overtime pay, stock options, and there is actually a HR department.... what a concept!

Anyway, we are REALLY excited about it!!  He started Monday and thus far is enjoying it.  I personally am not thrilled to be staying here, but I am thrilled that Jerry is in a better situation.  I was really getting worried about the amount of stress he was under.  Also, this is an international company, so there is the possibility of travel overseas.  They also tend to promote from within, so he's not going to be stuck in the same situation with no hope of actually going anywhere.

So that's it!  Wahoo!

January 18

The folks have gone, but it's Jerry's birthday!!

So my parents left on Saturday morning.  (boooooooooo!)

But before they left, I was able to clean the WHOLE garage!!  It was a huge relief to be able to do this.  We've been trying to since we moved in!  And it's done and it's looks soooo good!  Our biggest issue is the recycling.  For some reason we just take forever to take it to the place.  And every time we do it, I'm always amazed at how little time it really takes.  So I moved our recycling to beside the garage door into the house.  My reasoning is if it's right there (instead of across the garage) then maybe we'll take it more often...we'll see.  I should have taken a before and after pic.  Someone came and picked up the front loader too, so that made a huge dent.

We also had a picnic at a local park and played outside before it became bone chilling cold.  Elijah has mastered his bike and I bought him a bell and fashioned a basket on the front.  I think I'm in for a faster walk in the mornings and afternoons.  He can go a lot faster than he could on his tricycle.  But he's (so far) good about listening and pulling off the road when a car comes by.  Grace has taken off with the crawling and is in to everything.  She is very stealth.  Half the time you don't even realized she's moved, until you look for her in the last place you saw her and realize she's gone!  It's pretty cool and I think that she's quite proud of herself!

On Friday we went to the serpentarium.   It was neat, but a little creepy.  There were a lot of snakes in there and I gotta say that they were just in these glass cages with hinges and one dinky little lock.   There were some big honking snakes there as well as a man eating crocodile.   There was a cobra that was all riled up behind the glass and trying to strike at us as we went by... eek!   I'll post some pics in a bit.  Friday evening we met Kristie&co. at Brixx Pizza to celebrate Jerry's birthday and his new job.  We had invited some other friends, but due to weddings and the sickies, were unable to come.  I gotta say, we had to wait for a LONG time to get a seat, so I think it worked out for the best.  We'll have to go another time with all the friends and plan to get there at like 4 to be able to eat by 7!  Anyway, the food and company made up for it!  Today is Jerry's actual birthday and he went into put in a little overtime this morning.  So Elijah, Grace, and I went out and got balloons and a cake for him.

We have a busy rest of the month ahead of us, including birthday parties, an inauguration viewing, preschool, wednesday friendsday, and play group.  In February Elijah will start a soccer class.  He's really taken an interest in soccer, so we signed him up.  It's a parent participation class, so Jerry will take his lunch early to watch Grace and I'll go with Elijah.  If he likes it, we'll continue with other classes and eventually a team.  It's wild to see him grow up and really like and dislike things.  I will try to keep on top of things and post as often as I can!

January 20

Snow on Inauguration Day!!!

It very rarely snows here.  And when it does it very rarely lasts more than 10 minutes.  Today it started snowing around 10 and it's still flurry-ing now.  Since it is also inauguration day, I had the TV on all day.  But I totally didn't think to take pictures of Elijah and Grace with the TV watching our new president get sworn in.  Sigh...  Ah well.  Elijah and I talked about how great it was that we have a new president and that it was historic.  Here's our conversation this morning:

Me: Elijah who is that?

Elijah: Obak Mama

Me: Barack Obama?  Who is he?

Elijah: yes.  Obak Mama is the presidennn.

Me: Oh okay.  He's the new president?

Elijah: yes. Mommy, it's 'nowing?  Go p'ay?

So, out we went. Into the snow and this is what I did get pictures of:

It was a good day!

January 26

The days are lost on me...

I don't know why I even try to keep track on my days anymore.  I went through most of today thinking it was Friday... sigh...

Anyway, after the snow on Tuesday our week went by fairly quick.

Wednesday the kids and I drove our to an acquaintance's to pick up a climber/slide and delivered it to kate&co.  That was an adventure in and of itself, but the kind where you had to be there and know the people involved, so I won't bore you.

Thursday we went to the park for playgroup.  Not many showed up.  It was still chilly and the snow/ice was melting, but in the sun it was nice and the boy child needed to be outside.  Kristie&co met us there too and we ended up going to the mall and purchasing the last two Mario Kart games for the Wii!!

Friday we met Kate&co at the park for more play time.  I got to exert my badass-ness toward some jerk-y high schoolers.  They were trying to break the kid's equipment and were cussing and scaring the kids.  I went over and yelled at them and then hunted down their teachers (across the park relaxing under a picnic shelter!) and (nicely) told them to get their kids off the playground equipment that was meant for 5 year olds.  I couldn't believe they let the kids out there unsupervised.  Jerry said I should have asked what school they were from and called the principal...hindsight and all.  My adrenaline was pumping after all that.  I was REALLY mad.  Elijah wasn't even playing on the equipment, but there were lots of little kids and they were getting trampled.  I can't believe that more parents didn't stand up to them.  I mean what are they going to do?  Call you a name?  Whatever.  Anyway, we were all okay and the high schoolers were made to leave the playground area.

Saturday, Jerry had to work.  So I packed up the kiddos and went across town to the model train expo.  Elijah loved it.  He stared at one exhibit for two hours straight!  Insane!!  We left and met Jerry for lunch.

Sunday, Jerry worked again.  The biggest thing to happen was Elijah learned to pee standing up!  Not sure this is a good thing, but so far he has really good aim.

We are relaxing today.  I booked us a mini vacation in Myrtle Beach for mid February.  This place has got a huge indoor water park.  I'm sure the weather won't be great, but I'm just excited to get away.  We have something going on every weekend (except Valentine's) so I'm sure we'll be ready for a break.  I also confirmed with my folks our Outer Banks vacation.  We are going in early May.  Again, probably not the warmest weather, but I think it will be nice enough for the kiddos to enough the sand dunes and the light houses.  We are also going to see about going to see the wild horses in Corolla.

November 2008

November 02

Just wanted to say....

check out Jerry's blog.  He's (finally) updated it and (I feel) it's worth reading!   Sorry... the link should be right now... sigh...

 

November 03

My six month old!

Holy Monkey!  Grace turned 6 months on Saturday.  I can't believe that these 6 months have flown by.  So the ladybug and I went to her 6 month well child check this morning and here are her stats:

Height: 25.75 inches (50%)

Weight: 17.4 pounds (75-90%)

Head: 17.5 inches (50%)

She's all good, except for her eczema, which is super bad.  So we got an prescription for that and some advice on other ways to treat it.  Poor thing her skin is all torn up and blotchy.  She got 3 shots and was a brave little girl.  She just woke up from her nap and has been fairly happy all day with only one dose of Tylenol.

We had a great weekend.  We went trick-or-treating on Friday and went to a party on Saturday and went for a visit to Jerry's folks yesterday.  Jerry took off today and tomorrow.  Today for Grace's appointment and tomorrow we were supposed to go to preschool day at the fair, but since it's going to rain they changed it to Thursday.  That sucks!  I just don't think that I can manage both kiddos by myself.  Mostly, because I don't think that Elijah will ride the rides without me.  Oh well, I suppose there is always next year.

I'll post pics later.  Right now, I'm being requested to play in the floor!

November 04

YES WE CAN!!!!!!

Holy crap!   I'm so excited!  History has been made and hopefully our country will turn around!  AMAZING!

November 05

The Day After (edited 7:03 11/5)

Can't Believe that my mother e-mailed me at 1:06 this morning!  I think that's the latest I have ever seen her stay up (that I can remember!)  It's awesome!  This morning I got a call from her and Rachel.  It is a great day!

I know that my republican friends are not as excited, and I am sorry.  But I was thinking.  Many have a problem with this whole insurance thing.  Do I feel that insurance is a right?  Well, I think it's a privilege.  Like your driver's license is a privilege.  Like privacy is a privilege.  I think that it's a thin line.  I think that many take for granted that they have health insurance provided by their work.  But what if you loose your job and have a pre-existing condition?  What if your child comes down with leukemia?  What if you're a smoker and your insurance company decides that you are thigh risk and they stop covering you?  I wonder then if there would be the same complaints.  So I hope that my skeptical friends will find the peace of mind they need.  I'm very happy with the outcome!  I am glad that there is actually an educated person stepping into the mess that is Washington right now.  Jerry has several blog entries in process, and I am sure they will be worth reading regardless of your point of view.  I know I read everything from all sides.

I will say that the dark cloud of today for me is California's vote to ban gay marriage and Arkansas's vote to not allow "unmarried" (I'm reading gay couples) to adopt or foster children.  It simply breaks my heart.  It is not my business who marries whom, and I don't think it should be up to the government to decide.  I think that if anything it should be left up to the church, but in reality, even that perturbs me.  And I won't go on about the fostering/adoption thing except to say that there are soooo many unwanted children in the US, that if people are going to be all PRO LIFE IS THE ONLY WAY TO GO... then they better freaking start adopting and fostering kids.  If there is a loving family or person that wants to help children why the HELL should they not be allowed to do so.  It pisses me off a bit.  The only glimmer in this is that it could be soooo much worse is Palin had ever made it into the controlling chair (Lord, please help us in 2012) but that is merely a glimmer in this sad saga.

On to happier things.  We went to Kate's house for a play date.  I had to stop to pick up some bread to go with the apple/pear butter.  As I got Grace out of the car, I realized that she had had a blow out...sigh... So I put her down on the already soiled sling and changed her in the car, only to find that there were no wipes... sigh...thank goodness for extra diapers.  Poor thing.  She had to have a whole clothes change and wipe down...with only a diaper...  While, on normal days, this would have put me in a foul mood and I would have cussed (in my head of course) the missing wipes, my whole mood through the whole thing was actually okay.  I mean I was annoyed, but I just am on this cloud.

Our state is still purple.  Even though Obama leads in the actual count by 11000 votes, they are calling it 50/50.  But I so don't care.  Dole is out of office (thank God!!)  and hopefully there is hope for our state to make some changes as well.  Okay, I must be off to add some pics real quick and get outside to play with the kiddos before it's dark (STUPID DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME!!!! sigh...)  Have a most joyous day!

November 07

The Fair among other things

Yesterday Jerry took the day off and we all wen to the fair.  It is a challenge for us to leave the house before 9:30 on any given day, but, amazingly, we were out the door by 8:45!  The fair here has a preschool day.  It's for kids 5 and under and their teachers or parents.  It was supposed to be on Tuesday, but since the weather was crummy they rescheduled for Thursday.  That worked out in our favor.  It seems that many of the area preschools decided to not reschedule, so there weren't that many kids there.  The fair only had the small rides open and the animal tent was open.  I was a little worried that Elijah wouldn't ride the rides without me, but after a couple, he was excited to do it on his own.  We rode almost every ride twice.  A drink and snack were included in admission, so we didn't have to worry about anything.  We put Elijah in a diaper because port-a-potties that haven't been cleaned in a while were not appealing to me.  But his diaper was dry when we got home.  I guess my little guy is growing up.  On the way out, Chic-Fil-A was passing out coupons for a free kids meal, so lunch was a big hit too!  I'll add an album with fair pics in a few.

So, for a while I have been feeling overwhelmed.  I really do love being a mother, but with Elijah reducing his nap to next to nothing and being with Grace 24/7 I have not been the best mother I feel I can be.  I feel like there is a lot of pressure to be this perfect mother and have the house clean and the food cooked.  It's not anyone in particular that puts this pressure on me.  It's mostly myself.  But I feel bad when I get upset with Elijah for doing something that is completely a toddler thing to do.  Anyway, it all came to a head a couple weeks ago.  I just feel really overwhelmed.  So after talking to Jerry and my folks, we have decided that when we go up for Thanksgiving, the kids and I will stay for a couple weeks.  Jerry will come back up to pick us up in mid-December.  It's not ideal.  Ideal, would be Jerry staying with us, or my folks moving down here... But having someone to help with the kids for a bit will be great.  I'll also be up there for the Christmas in the Valley Fair, in which my mom and I are sharing a booth.  So that's exciting.  I hope this helps me get things in perspective.  It's been nerve wracking with the prospect of grad school looming.  That whole process is sort of a pain.  I have to take 6 undergrad courses and in order to get into these courses I have to e-mail the department head on a certain day with my GRE scores and my GPAs from WWC and UNCW and the first 20 people who do that get into the on-line classes... it's all very odd.  I need to do some follow up work.  This is one of the many things I hope to get accomplished while I'm in the mountains.

I guess that's really it.  I'll go post the pics of the fair.

November 18

Colder than a polar bears toe nails...

That's one of my favorite lines in a rap...hehehehehe! But it's rather fitting today.  I don't mind the cold, but here it also gets windy and that's what I don't like.  Nevertheless, we ventured outside for a little playtime this morning.  Elijah came down with yet another cold this weekend and so we are staying at home for a bit.  He's feeling better, but I don't want to infect other kids with my kid's cold.

This weekend we were supposed to get the kiddos pics made, but alas, alack... I really didn't want a snotty nosed pic.  So we will go this coming Sunday.  Jerry worked Saturday and will work this coming Saturday as well so he doesn't have to take PTO for Thanksgiving.  A friend of mine lent me the first two books of the Twilight series... seriously bad idea.  I stayed up really late to read them.  I totally got sucked in (no pun intended...well, maybe a little!)  Jerry compared them to a good bag of Doritos...you just can't put them down.  It's not even that the writing is great or even that original, there just addicting.  I'm hoping to get the other two books before we leave for Thanksgiving.  I'm also hoping to see the movie Saturday with some friends.

I feel like I've been lazy about blogging lately.  But I guess it's because I'm sewing and knitting my butt off for the craft fair.  I have made several new designs.  I have some socks coming in to make more baby leg warmers (I hope they get here before we leave!)  I've designed some blankets, new hats, and these little teether/snuggle things.  I'm pretty excited about the fair.  I hope that it goes well.

Okay... I got some really good pics of the kids today and I'm going to post those, then off to make lunch!

November 28

The Mountains for Thanksgiving

So we left for the mountains on Wednesday.  I really don't know what I was thinking deciding that we should leave on the day before a MAJOR holiday.  What was I thinking?  We have to drive through major ACC country and EVERYONE knows that colleges are insane and play ball on the day before MAJOR holidays...sigh... We got stuck in traffic outside of Raleigh and outside of Chapel Hill.  But all in all, it wasn't too bad.  We stopped around 5 to eat and wait out rush hour.  Only to get in the car an Grace freak out.  We pulled over at a rest area and I nursed her to sleep and put her back in the car and continued to drive.  Elijah feel asleep about an hour before we got here.  Overall, it wasn't too bad.  We made it in 7 hours.

Thanksgiving Day, we really just hung out around the house.  I made cookies and a pumpkin mousse trifle for today.  It was good to just have the day to acclimate and rest.

Today the fam arrived.  I think we ended up with 22 people here.  It was nice.  Elijah and Grace were overwhelmed, but handled the day really well.  We ate (too much) really yummy food.  We took a walk in the woods and came back to too many choices for desserts (had to try them all!)  The weather was actually pretty good.  It started off chilly, but warmed up to a balmy 60 degrees.  It is going to get bleeping cold tomorrow and possible snow on Monday, but that's okay.  The kids all played.  Elijah is only 10 months older than the youngest cousin, but they are still too little to really play with the older kids yet.  This will come about within the next couple of years though.  We did some Christmas gifts and then, after everyone left, relaxed.  Elijah passed out quite quickly tonight since he didn't take a nap today.  Grace fell asleep fairly easily as well.  Overall, a good day.

Tomorrow, Jerry and I are going to try to get out to see a movie and dinner (new place in town that does both at the same time).  I have to get my fill of him in since he leaves on Sunday for two weeks!  This is the only thing that I am not liking about this plan...Jerry's absence.  I will miss him desperately.  To the point that it hurts to think about it.  But I really do need some time to relax and have some help during the days.  I am excited about the festival and I hope to make some money.  Double edged sword I guess...

Okay... that's it for now.  I am going to try to blog a little more while I'm here, so hope to be back here soon!

September 2008

September 03

busy days, busy nights....

I feel like we are super busy these days.  But that's okay.  I feel like it makes the week go faster.

SO when we last left our fearless heroes... Erin was fighting the stupid people at the gym....well, I'm still doing that, but I'm much calmer.  Last Friday I went shoe shopping for Elijah.  I went to my usual Shoe Carnival because usually I can find great deals on clearance.  Alas, there was not ONE shoe in his size on sale.  So seeing as we had a little time, we went next door to Marshall's and lo and behold on our way out I found (drum roll please....) Spiderman shoes that light up!!!  Am I the coolest mom or what?  Not that he knows who Spiderman is, but whatever.  Elijah was happy and I was happy and they were on sale!

We then met Angela and went to the Bargain Box to find clothes for the kiddos.  I found some pants and a couple of shirts for Elijah... Grace is taken care of for the most part.  I also found a good amount of things for Christmas presents for Elijah.  But the biggest hit is a little tent house that I found for 5 bucks!!  I actually can't believe that I haven't taken pics of it yet...  Oh well, eventually.

That evening Grace and I went for some of the best ice cream I have ever put in my mouth with some friends.  It was a nice day.

The weekend was hot and I feel like we didn't accomplish all that much.  But that's okay.  Our washer is still not fixed but they say the part is going to be in on the 12th... sigh... We can still wash clothes, but the final spin doesn't work, so they are soaking wet.  I am too paranoid to do the diapers, so we have to take them to the laundry mat.

I don't think that I have blogged about this, but I am planning on going to grad school starting next year.  Well, the undergrad classes I need start next year.  I will take a year of undergrad and then three years for grad school.  I will be doing the whole thing online and I'm going for speech pathology.  My goal is to be done by the time Grace starts kindergarten.  So it's a five year plan.  This is something I thought about a long time ago, but never pursued.  It came up on a board I belong to and I started looking into it.  I know that it will be very challenging  having two kids at home and attending school, but I feel confident I can handle it.  I have superb time management skills!  Also Jerry will be in school (more than likely) so we will be able to both watch the kids and do what needs to be done.  I'm a little stressed about it, but I think in the long run this will be a huge benefit to us both financially and career wise.

This week is an exciting week.  Yesterday was preschool day.  We met and talked about musical instruments and made drums.  It was lots of fun!  Today we met Kristie at the park and played and walked down to the river where we saw and ALLIGATOR!!!!!  Big excitement... Glad that we were on the boardwalk and the alligator was in the river!

Tomorrow Grace has her four month check and shots and Jerry...sigh...is getting a vasectomy.  This is bitter sweet, but a good thing.  I don't want to go through labor again (not that I'm complaining) and I feel it's the right thing to do for the environment and for my sanity.  If we want more in the future, I am more than happy to adopt!  This also means Jerry will be home on Friday, so it feels like a short week!

Okay, that's all for now!  I hope that you enjoy the new pics!  I added some today... the baby legs that Grace is wearing is my newest design.  There are some glitches that I want to work out before I start to sell them, but I think for making up something off the top of my head they came out very cute... and I'm in the process of making a matching hat... hehehehehe!  Oh yeah, please help me convince Mother Nature to keep Hanna away from here.  I really don't want to be trapped inside all weekend with two kids and a recovering husband with no power... Thanks!

September 04

Grace's four month well baby check

So we went to the doctor's this morning.  Grace is weighing in at 15.4 pounds (90%) and is 25 inches long (75%) and her head is in the 50% (can never remember that number.)  She is very healthy and is growing as she should.  The doctor was a little concerned with her eczema and he said that she may have to go to a dermatologist this winter, but we would discuss that at her 6 month check up.  She also is having some yeast-y issues in her elbows, under her neck, and under her arms, so she got a script for that.  She was a very good baby and handled her shots (all four of them!) very well.  She got some baby Tylenol in her and she's as happy as a clam.  So yea!!!  We got back in two months and then not again until 1 year!  I can't believe how fast time is flying here!

September 07

And this is all that needs to be said about the RNC... well for now...

WARNING: may not be appropriate for young viewers.  I get all my news from the Daily Show...seems to be the only reliable news source lately!

I was going to post the actual video, but the traffic on the video is so heavy that it can't upload... so here's the link.  Check it out!

Remember I am a liberal...

September 14

A Week of Stuff

It seems like I'm only having time to blog every once and a while lately.  I can't imagine what would be keeping me so busy! HA!

This week was okay.  The weather was really humid and hot.

We went to the park with some friends on Monday and got eaten by the biggest mosquitoes I've seen since I was in Alaska.  I started out with the non-deet stuff and moved to the real stuff and still got eaten.  The only one that was spared was Grace and that's only because I had her baby legs to show off and I put them on her.  We ended up at Kristie's house to eat lunch and chill out.

Tuesday was preschool day and we talked about the great outdoors.  Along with that came marshmallows because that's what you eat when camping!!!  Elijah really liked them.  He's so funny when I give him a candy treat.  He takes forever to eat it!  We left school just in time to get caught in a huge downpour!

Wednesday we ended up at Kristie's again and she had all kinds of craft projects and stuff to do with us for Patriot's Day.  She is from NY and 9/11 has had a great impact on her life.  Not to say that it hasn't had a impact on everyone's life, but sometimes I feel like I was simply a bystander.  After two days of watching the news, we turned to DVDs of FRIENDS to help try to get the horrible-ness out of our everyday life.  There is only so much one can take.  But she was there in NY in the Bronx and I think that being that close to everything sticks with you a lot longer.  ANYWAY, we did crafts and hung out.  And when we left we got caught in the worst rainstorm I have ever been in.  I couldn't see anything.  I was so worried about the roads flooding that I continued on home instead of pulling over.  It turned out fine (obviously) but it took us FOREVER to get home.  Katie gave us a Johnny Jump Up Thingy to use because Grace's favorite thing is thing is to jump on us.  Some might say that these things are bad for kids that aren't sitting yet, but Grace is oh so close to sitting on her own (can do so for about 1-2 minutes before falling over) and oh my goodness she gets SOOOO freakin' excited when we put her in it, so THANKS KATIE!!!

Wednesday afternoon I got a call from the stupid people at the gym.  Not good news and I really don't want to talk about it because it makes my blood pressure go up.  So all I'm going to say is it looks like we may be up a creek without a paddle.  Rest assured, I am contacting the news paper and the local TV stations as these people are opening a new facility right up the road and people need to be aware.  Also am filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau...JERKS!

Thursday we ended up at playgroup at a different park than usual.  It was nice to have a change.  We all thought that it was going to rain, so we wanted somewhere where if it did rain we could get inside.  It was nice.  I brought some of the pear/apple butter that I made to share.  It's really yummy.

Friday we stayed home all day.  It was sorta nice to be home.  Elijah and I cleaned around the house and in the afternoon we made some cookies.  All the while I got irritated with people's irrational response to gas!  I mean seriously, you can't stay home for a freakin' weekend?  Whatever.  We had a quarter tank of gas and that's really all we need.  Sigh... Our local gas station ran out of gas Friday afternoon but they got more in yesterday evening.  Our gas prices (at that store) never went above 3.79.  When I was teaching I remember that some parents went insane when Katrina came through and shut down the refineries and everyone was freaked out about a gas shortage.  These moms came in with gallons and gallons of gas stored in the trunks of their cars and were comparing how much they had hoarded.   It's ridiculous.  Sigh... we got some gas this morning and will fill up later this week.  But seriously people...

SO that brings us to yesterday.  We went to Costco in the morning to get stuff for the Cookout for Change (sponsored by the Obama Campaign) and some other things for around the house.  During nap I made the kids t-shirts that said, "My Mama is an Obama Mama!!!" (I'll post pics in the album!)  They turned out quite well if I do say so myself.  The cookout/potluck itself was, hmmm, interesting?  There were a few local campaigns that showed up and kind of took over the cookout and I was a little annoyed about that, as it wasn't for local campaigns, and also I don't think a lot of the local campaign people brought food.  It was fine, but odd.  Not what I expected at all, but whatever.  My kids looked cute!!

Today, we are relaxing around the house.  There are definitely things that need to get done, but I honestly am beat.  Grace is having some issues with itching at night and wakes herself, and in turn, me up about every hour.  She seems to only be soothed by being held chest to chest or nursed.  Friday night she actually slept 5 hours straight and I woke up feeling rather refreshed, but last night...not so much.  I know this will pass, but I really just want to go back to sleep right now and that's just not an option.  I will try to nap with her this afternoon though.

Okay, I guess that's it.  We are counting down the days until we leave for the mountains (first of October.)  And I am super ready for that!!!

Totally forgot...

thanks to my great friend Angela, we are the proud owners (finally!!) of the Wii Fit and it is totally kicking my butt... in a good way.  it's my new favorite thing!!!!  Thanks angela!!!!!!!

September 17

READ THIS NOW!!!!!!

What Is White Privilege?

via My Feet Only Walk Forward by Brandon Lacy Campos on 9/16/08

Hey folks:
As much as possible, I try and do only original content on my page. But sometimes, as with Rocki's letter and this blog post, there shit that needs circulating. The following is one of those things.
This is Your Nation on White Privilege
By Tim Wise / September 13, 2008
For those who still can't grasp the concept of white privilege, or who are constantly looking for some easy-to-understand examples of it, perhaps this list will help.
White privilege is when you can get pregnant at seventeen like Bristol Palin and everyone is quick to insist that your life and that of your family is a personal matter, and that no one has a right to judge you or your parents, because "every family has challenges," even as black and Latino families with similar "challenges" are regularly typified as irresponsible, pathological and arbiters of social decay.
White privilege is when you can call yourself a "fuckin' redneck," like Bristol Palin's boyfriend does, and talk about how if anyone messes with you, you'll "kick their fuckin' ass," and talk about how you like to "shoot shit" for fun, and still be viewed as a responsible, all-American boy (and a great son-in-law to be) rather than a thug.
White privilege is when you can attend four different colleges in six years like Sarah Palin did (one of which you basically failed out of, then returned to after making up some coursework at a community college), and no one questions your intelligence or commitment to achievement, whereas a person of color who did this would be viewed as unfit for college, and probably someone who only got in in the first place because of affirmative action.
White privilege is when you can claim that being mayor of a town smaller than most medium-sized colleges, and then Governor of a state with about the same number of people as the lower fifth of the island of Manhattan, makes you ready to potentially be president, and people don't all piss on themselves with laughter, while being a black U.S. Senator, two-term state Senator, and constitutional law scholar, means you're "untested."
White privilege is being able to say that you support the words "under God" in the pledge of allegiance because "if it was good enough for the founding fathers, it's good enough for me," and not be immediately disqualified from holding office--since, after all, the pledge was written in the late 1800s and the "under God" part wasn't added until the 1950s--while believing that reading accused criminals and terrorists their rights (because, ya know, the Constitution, which you used to teach at a prestigious law school requires it), is a dangerous and silly idea only supported by mushy liberals.
White privilege is being able to be a gun enthusiast and not make people immediately scared of you.
White privilege is being able to have a husband who was a member of an extremist political party that wants your state to secede from the Union, and whose motto was "Alaska first," and no one questions your patriotism or that of your family, while if you're black and your spouse merely fails to come to a 9/11 memorial so she can be home with her kids on the first day of school, people immediately think she's being disrespectful.
White privilege is being able to make fun of community organizers and the work they do--like, among other things, fight for the right of women to vote, or for civil rights, or the 8-hour workday, or an end to child labor--and people think you're being pithy and tough, but if you merely question the experience of a small town mayor and 18-month governor with no foreign policy expertise beyond a class she took in college--you're somehow being mean, or even sexist.
White privilege is being able to convince white women who don't even agree with you on any substantive issue to vote for you and your running mate anyway, because all of a sudden your presence on the ticket has inspired confidence in these same white women, and made them give your party a "second look."
White privilege is being able to fire people who didn't support your political campaigns and not be accused of abusing your power or being a typical politician who engages in favoritism, while being black and merely knowing some folks from the old-line political machines in Chicago means you must be corrupt.
White privilege is being able to attend churches over the years whose pastors say that people who voted for John Kerry or merely criticize George W. Bush are going to hell, and that the U.S. is an explicitly Christian nation and the job of Christians is to bring Christian theological principles into government, and who bring in speakers who say the conflict in the Middle East is God's punishment on Jews for rejecting Jesus, and everyone can still think you're just a good church-going Christian, but if you're black and friends with a black pastor who has noted (as have Colin Powell and the U.S. Department of Defense) that terrorist attacks are often the result of U.S. foreign policy and who talks about the history of racism and its effect on black people, you're an extremist who probably hates America.
White privilege is not knowing what the Bush Doctrine is when asked by a reporter, and then people get angry at the reporter for asking you such a "trick question," while being black and merely refusing to give one-word answers to the queries of Bill O'Reilly means you're dodging the question, or trying to seem overly intellectual and nuanced.
White privilege is being able to claim your experience as a POW has anything at all to do with your fitness for president, while being black and experiencing racism is, as Sarah Palin has referred to it a "light" burden.
And finally, white privilege is the only thing that could possibly allow someone to become president when he has voted with George W. Bush 90 percent of the time, even as unemployment is skyrocketing, people are losing their homes, inflation is rising, and the U.S. is increasingly isolated from world opinion, just because white voters aren't sure about that whole "change" thing. Ya know, it's just too vague and ill-defined, unlike, say, four more years of the same, which is very concrete and certain…
White privilege is, in short, the problem.
Tim Wise is the author of White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son, and Affirmative Action: Racial Preference in Black and White. He has contributed essays to seventeen books, and is one of several persons featured in White Men Challenging Racism: Thirty-Five Personal Stories, from Duke University Press. A collection of his essays, Speaking Treason Fluently: Anti-Racist Reflections From an Angry White Male, will be released in fall 2008.

September 18

Check this out!

I'm really worried about this election.  I'm really worried that the women in America are even thinking about voting for a President that is quite old and who has chosen such a woman as Sarah Palin as his running mate.  I'm worried for my children if these two should get into office.  I'm worried about privacy issues that could ensue.  I'm worried that women every where will suddenly be pushed backward instead of forward.  I'm just plain worried.  So I found this article (thanks to a link sent to me by my good friend Laura) and it gave me a little peace that maybe there are Alaskan's that aren't completely 100% behind this woman.  I really don't like to blog about politics.  But this woman has me really really worried!!!!!!!   Any woman should be scared.  Anyone with a daughter should be scared.

September 20

Gotta Love the Dollar Tree for Halloween Costumes...

hehehehehe!!!  Elijah is going to be a dragon-slaying, fairy butterfly warrior in a sheer blue tutu for Halloween.  hehehehehehe...  (not enough hands for the magic wand....)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

September 23

what a weekend! (and a week so far!!) a picture post...

Saturday:

saw Curious George...warped boy child with huge rendition of favorite cartoon and maniacal laughing...

made it up to him by taking him to the park.

finished new babylegs design (made from socks this time) and forced (obviously) girl child to model them... she's still pretty freakin' cute!

Sunday:

in order to do mowing had to put girl child in carrier (don't know what was going through my head here...) and carried her while pushing the reel mower (kinda bad ass....)

girl child got to nap...

while boy child played.

Monday:

watched the train go on the track at Kristie's house

fixed the flannel to the wall for BIG flannel story play

and had some fun wrecking the play room and entertaining each other!!

Tuesday:

GOT TO GO TO THE FIRE STATION!!!!!