Christmas 08

Here's a quick review of our Christmas.

Christmas Eve
We traveled to New Hampshire to spend Christmas with our friends (and Ryan's Godparents) Vince and Kristin. We ate a lovely seafood stew for dinner with some really yummy herb bread. There was dessert, but I was so full I never tasted it. Ryan insisted on opening gifts. Kristin decided it would be good to let him open one. It was a sippy cup. Ryan said he didn't want it and was completely uninterested in opening gifts after that.

Christmas Day
Breakfast, church and present opening filled the morning. We played in the snow and with the kids in the basement until it was time to cook dinner. Dinner was yummy and we were all so sleepy we went to bed early. Ryan LOVED opening every one's gifts, including his gifts. Little did he know there were more to come. Ryan didn't want to leave his Uncle Vince. He thinks Vince is the most awesome person, which is great. We know we can leave him with them and he'll always be happy and fine.

Boxing Day
My friend and former high school maths teacher, Tom Barkley, came to visit. We had a nice time catching up. When he left Ryan was so excited to open the rest of the gifts under the tree. He opened every one's gifts again and didn't want to go to bed. He's particularly in love with his new road that Nana and Papa got him, his travel auto repair shop and his tool box. Tim got a new buddy (so he can leave Ryan's beloved Paws alone). He was picked out by Ryan at Build-a-Bear. He's black and his name is Duke. Tim thinks he's great. Ryan holds him sometimes for Tim. It's really cute.

And now for the ear update...
I saw the ENT today... he says the swelling in my ear will go away in one week if I just take some ibuprofen. I am not convinced, but will try it anyway. He says the pain I feel is from swelling from the last infection. He was nice and all, but I'm just not convinced. The pain is intense and ibuprofen doesn't do anything for it. Sigh.

And I tried to add photos, but blogger wasn't interested in letting me do that. They are on Facebook for those of you who have that. The rest of you will have to wait. Sorry!

Ready

I am so ready to see that ENT tomorrow. The pain in my ear is insane. It's like giving birth in my ear... not fun. I hate that I've been living off of pain killers since Tuesday... I've been sleeping a lot, but that doesn't seem to help. The pain is still there when I wake up. It's only dulled a little by the painkillers from the doc, but it's better than feeling like someone is stabbing me in my ear. Sigh.

I promise to post more happy Christmas stuff after this ear is feeling better. Promise.

A Christmas Good, Bad and Ugly post

The good: It didn't snow like this today. Yay!

The bad: The coconut fudge didn't quite come out right. It still tastes good, but I think it's a keep at home dessert.

The ugly: I went to my second home again today (that's the doctor's office). My ear is not better. It's still all swollen and has "goop" all stuck to the eardrum. I get to see an Ear, Nose and Throat doc on Monday. It's frustrating... it's like having a fairly new car that you take care of and it just keeps breaking down and costing you money. Grr! For now I take some super pain meds and some steroids. Just what I always wanted for Christmas.

The First Noel

We missed church this morning. Thanks to another snowstorm and yet another earache we stayed home. There were pretty much whiteout conditions all day (more about that tomorrow) so we were playing it safe by staying home. I was really sad to miss this Sunday. I like the Sunday before Christmas. I like the Christmas Eve service too.

Adam was probably breathing a sigh of relief. After all, he had no tears to wipe up with his scarf this morning during the singing of certain Christmas carols.

Since Adam and I have been married we’ve spent all six Christmas holidays with his family. I have longed to be with my family and spend a Christmas showing him our Bahamian traditions. I’d love to take him to Junkanoo, to see the Police Band play, to a Christmas Cantata and to the Live Manger scene at church. Unfortunately, it is extremely difficult, yea, impossible, to get time off at this time of the year when you work for a certain company. We’ve never been able to spend that Christmas in the Bahamas.

The first year of our marriage we went to church on Christmas Eve just like we always do now. I love Christmas carols. I could sing them with the best of the best. I can sing the harmony and all the special do da’s that go with them. We started to sing Joy to the World at the end of the service and I cried my little eyes out. Of course, Adam wanted to know what was wrong. He understood missing my family and was very gentle and comforting about the whole situation.

I figured that each year being away from my family at Christmastime would get easier. Each year we’d build on our own traditions and our Christmas holidays in our family would become special and the norm.

But I think each year gets harder. I long to be with my family more. I keep wishing that I had just that one more Christmas with my parents (they wont’ be around forever). Now that we have children, I want the boys to see what Christmas is like in the Bahamas. I don’t want Junaknoo, the police band and other items to just be stories that I tell them.

This Christmas Eve will be a bit different. Ryan’s Godparents have asked us to spend Christmas with them. Instead of being at church we will be on the road (provided the forecast is correct). On Christmas morning we will be in church. I will be prepared. Not only will I have Adam’s scarf to wipe my tears into, I will also have a package of tissues, used especially for the carol The First Noel.

Why The First Noel? Well, the year we were married I started working on a family history book. It was about my dad’s family and what their life was like for them growing up. My Aunt Gloria wrote to me about memories she had of her father (my Pa Ernest, whom I never met) while growing up. In it she wrote, “He also enjoyed a drink occasionally, and I remember once during a midnight Christmas Eve carol service at the Anglican church he staggered in and sat down. He wasn't the only man who had had one drink too many, and the man behind him leaned forward during a lull in the singing of The First Noel and said to him in a voice all the church could hear, ‘You hear that ol' Ern, no hell, no hell.’"

I can easily make it through the first verse and maybe the first “Noel, noel” before choking up. I know it’s a silly thing to choke up on, but it’s a memory, one connected to my family who I miss dearly during the Christmas season.

There are other Christmas carols that make me tear up, all for different reasons. They are all associated with different stories that remind me of my childhood. Like I can hear my brother singing “While Shepherds washed their socks at night…” Once we were singing O Holy Night and I was wearing socks with many holes in them. Silent Night is the first song I learned all the signs to in sign language. Once in Royal David’s City is a super favorite of mine. While working at the Christian Book Shop, we sang Christmas carols before devotions and we could really mess some up like Angles from the Realms of Glory.

Christmas carols are a big part of my Christmas. I love to sing these songs that tell of the birth of Christ.

While I anticipate celebrating that First Noel with my children, husband and dear friends, I will be missing my family. I’ll be missing those good old times with friends and co-workers too.

Maybe next year we’ll spend Christmas together. And without tears I’ll be able to sing that final verse of this beautiful carol (which I think sums up why we celebrate Christmas).

“Then let us all with one accord, sing praises to our Heavenly Lord
Who hath made Heaven and earth of naught and with his blood mankind has bough.

“Noel, noel, noel, noel. Born is the King of Israel!”

Polar Express

It snowed yesterday, but thankfully, that didn't stop us from going on the Polar Express. It took us over an hour to get to Portland in the snow on Wednesday morning. It's a drive that normally takes a half hour. The roads weren't so nice in town, but the Turnpike was okay. First, Ryan had a final check of his fingers at a doctor in Portland. He'll have some scaring, but is fine. Yay! We then spent the afternoon at my brother-in-law's house just to prevent a million trips to Portland on the snowy roads.

At 3:30, we left Tim with his uncle and cousin and made our way into town for our trip on the train. Ryan was VERY excited.

Here's the train. We waited in a heated tent until it was time to board. The trip took us through a wintery wonderland. Seeing the ocean was really nice too because the tracks run along the coast. We had cookies and hot chocolate, too.... just like in the movie.

It was SOOOO cold when we first got on the train. My feet, though clad in winter boots were frozen. Ryan refused to put his gloves on and was using his buddy Paws as a hand warmer. He had to borrow my hat because his was "too cold." Once the train got going it did get a little more warm, but I think I would have liked a blanket. I felt really bad for the little babies on the train. They had on snow suits and still looked cold.

At the end of our trip we got to sing Christmas carols. Ryan tried his best at Jingle Bells and Frosty the Snowman. He did pretty good. He tries to sing more now, but is usually a few words behind because he's repeating what he's already heard. We had our photo taken with Santa and purchased a train as a souvenir. I was glad to get into the truck and put the heat on just my feet.

I was exhausted at the end of the day. I suppose shoveling snow in the driveway, driving white knuckled to Portland and spending the day with three kids is a lot, but it was worth it because Ryan had fun and is still saying "Went on a train and it went fast, fast, fast." (which. by the way, it didn't go so fast, but he can think that it was fast.)

Ice Storm

We were lucky only to lose power for a few hours in the early morning of this weekend's ice storm. We've been warm and comfortable. I think it stinks that so many people have not been these things. Some people are still without electricity.

While the ice caused lots of damage, I think it was pretty. It was like one of those scenes from a postcard or something. Really wintery.

I missed work. They had no electricity. I was acutally a bit sad. It was going to be my first full eight hour shift since I had Timothy. I was really looking forward to it. To earning that extra money. Adam's Wal-Mart opened at 10 after turning customers away earlier in the morning.

We enjoyed the day together as a family. We watched some movies, played a few games... Adam did ABO certification stuff and I got to do some Bahamian Word Finds (Thanks Dad!).

We were crazy enough to actually venture out on Friday night. Ryan was out of milk and we thought we'd pick that up and do our grocery shopping. How silly of us. Everyone and their mother was out at Wal-Mart and the gas stations. Restaurants were PACKED. It was worse than the height of Tourists Season here in Maine (that's summer for all of you people who are "from away" like me).

It should have been no surprise to us what WM was like. Thinking back on it, we were really lucky to be able to purchase the milk we wanted. There's something about winter storms and Mainers buying milk. Next to water, snow shovels and ice scrapers it is one of the hot items during a storm. It's kind of weird. Maybe there are lots of people out there with kids like Ryan who are addicted to milk. I suppose it can be kept cold outdoors.

Anyway, here are a few of my photos. I don't think they do the beautiful scenery justice.

Winter is fun

I like winter. I like the first snowfall. I like hot chocolate. I like soup. I like the things that go with winter like jackets and scarves. I like cookies and anything chocolate, especially hot chocolate. I like snowballs and snowball fights. I like snowmen.

But I hate driving in the snow. While I think I've gotten better at it over the years, I still don't enjoy it.

This morning I had an appointment at my second home... the doctor's office. It was a Post Partum Depression follow up. We'll do meds through the winter and then attempt to get off of them. I'm ready to be done with them now that I am feeling much better. It was also a visit for my poor ear which is killing me again. My ear infection is back... sigh.

Anyway, it was snowing when we were leaving. Ryan thinks this is awesome. Mom does not think it is awesome. Tim just hates the car seat and would rather be playing on the floor or in the exer-saucer. It wasn't too bad on the way there because it had just started snowing.

But then I had to go pick up another prescription, which may cause me an allergic reaction since it's made from penicillin, but will get rid of whatever has been bothering my ear for three months now (off and on, not continuous). So I debate weather to go to WM or to pick it up at the local Rite Aide. I decide to go to WM... I need a few things to finish this craft Ryan and I are working on anyway.

By the time they fill the prescription it's really snowing and I'm white knuckled driving home. The roads are slippery and people are fish-tailing like no other. We make it home in one piece and Ryan asks if we can go to the library. "Uh, not today kiddo. Maybe tomorrow."

We eat a warm, yummy lunch and put Tim down for a nap. We bundle up and go to play outside in the snow. We had lots of fun building a snowman and having a snowball fight.

And now for some hot chocolate.

Meeting Mr. & Mrs. Claus

Ryan was much better at meeting Santa than he was at meeting the Easter Bunny. He was even smiling before the photo was taken. Ryan told Santa he wants a big fire truck and a fire hat (we already have four of them...the trucks that is). The photo was taken for free at Kittery Trading Post. Yay for free, instant photos!

November ends with snow

It started snowing on my way to work today. It always makes for not so fun driving. There was one car off the road on my way in to town.

By the time work had ended I'd sold tons of ice melt and a few hundred snow shovels. Nothing like a dusting to make Mainers panic. I seriously wonder if everyone breaks their shovels each year. Seriously, should they have to buy one each year?

Anyway, the temperature rose a few degrees before I left work. We had sleet and then rain making those horrible slushy roads I really hate driving on. But I made it home just fine and now I'm warm and watching Timothy play on our bed when he really should be sleeping.

This will be my last post for maybe a week. NaBloPoMo is now over and I need a break! I'll go back to my once a week posting.

Now for some sleep!

Educational toys

We're considering getting Ryan some good old educational toys for Christmas. We've looked at a few things, discussed about a hundred ideas and haven't comitted to anything just yet.

Ryan has been begging for anthing that has wheels and resembles a truck. He wanted a truck when we were in Wal-Mart shopping the other day (I seriously almost live at this place). I told him Santa was coming soon and that he could help me write a note to him telling him what he wants. So a commercial came on for the Screaming Banshee and he looks at me and says, "Tell Santa want that." I say okay and kinda forget about it.

Then last night as we are on our way to bed he says, "Tell Santa want big fire truck and fire hat."

Let's just say Santa isn't so rich this year and Santa may end up getting him some sort of truck that he wants, but he has SO MANY trucks, cars and things with wheels that can be used as cars or trucks. So Adam and I came up with this idea of an educational toy. It's gone from one of those laptops that do ABCs and 123s to good old books.

Do you guys have educational toys your kids can't stop playing with? If so, let me know. I am in need of some good ideas here.

My Black Friday

I think the people who get up at 1 a.m. to stand in line at WM, or any other store for that matter, on Black Friday are silly. It was just 25 degrees are I drove to work this morning. I was bundled in my winter coat (which doesn't fit... those darn 20 lbs!), a fleece, hat and gloves, the WM uniform buried somewhere underneath.

As I pull up I see the cars in the parking lot. It's not full like in years past, but there are a number of cars anyway. Then I see the people lined up waiting to get inside. Some are dressed appropriately for standing outside for four hours, others were just silly standing there in thin sweatshirts. Some people had blankets.

It was, of course, already busy inside when I got to work. There were no customers yet, but there was lots still to do to get ready for open. I wanted coffee, but feared my break would come later than I would want and I'd have to pee so bad and not be able to get a break that I'd wet my pants. No coffee for sleepy me.

About a half hour after I arrive, we're all lined up looking at the doors, ready to watch the crazy pepole run inside. And the doors open and they start running, all making a beeline for the Electronics department. We cheered the first few people in and watched them run to their destination.

My first customer spent $700 like it was nothing. The little old man being served behind me blew through $2,500. Both purchases were on flat screen tvs. My smallest purchase of the day was $5.25 by a woman who purchased a box of matchbox cars for her grandson. We didn't have the other item she was looking for. Sold out. But she came at 7. When the store opens at 5 with a line don't excpet the hot item to still be around two hours later.

I watched lots of deals run by. Kids clothing sets on sale for just $4. My kids currently aren't in need of winter clothing, but I still can recognize a good deal when I see one. Winter coats for $8 for kids. Winter coats for adults for $8 just about sold out by the time I left. The remaining ones were lime green and size XL.

People were still spending, but many admit to not spending as much as in previous years. It's a hard hit for retail stores, but in many ways it's good. We don't NEED half of the junk we have and there are many worthy causes that could use a helping hand right now. In Maine, as I am sure it is in other parts of the U.S., food pantires are in dire need of donations. This state ranks fifth in the nation for as a hungry state. The Press Herald had this article a few days ago.

At 9:30 a.m., my day was done and I stopped by Dunkin Donuts on the way home to get a coffee. I really, really needed it to make it through the day. Not to mention, it helped to warm me up because it was still cold outside and sleeting.

When I got home Adam and I traded places. He's still at work and I'm now with the kids. I am so ready for bed, but I don't think Ryan is at all. I'm hoping I can trick him into a 7:30 bedtime, but I'm not holding my breath.

Thanksgiving

This is a quick post about Thanksgiving Day here in Maine.

We saw a gaggle of turkeys in the backyard this morning. It was fun watching them eat and then leave (photos on facebook for those who'd like to look).

We at a Thanksgiving dinner here.

We ate a second Thanksgiving dinner at Jenni and Eric's house. The food was so yummy. Yay for deep fried turkey, green bean casserole and super good apple pie. On the way out I fell down their stairs... the last two or so were missed completly by my feet. I am fine.

We celebrated my brother-in-law's birthday (yes I had pie and cake).

I am now going to bed. I work at 5 which means I get up sometime after 3 a.m.

Mid-week update

Three weeks after getting his fingers caught in the treadmill and Ryan is doing great. We had a visit with the specialist today and they say he's healing well. The new skin is a bit dry and we will treat that by massaging vitamin E oil on his fingers for the next two weeks. Our final appointment with the hand specialist is Dec. 17. Yay!

Today was much more productive than yesterday. I managed to sort through the huge mess of toys we've collected and put some in the attic (back where they came from because they were Adam's or his brother's when they were little), in a bag to go to Vin and Kris' house for toys to play with there, and in the toy box here. The place looks so much better now and my mother-in-law will have a place to put the Christmas tree in the coming weeks.

I am not looking forward to Friday when I work at 5 a.m. I'll be home just after the kids are getting their breakfast. Lucky me! Adam will then leave for work and probably won't be home till 8 p.m. At least him having to work Black Friday means extra money in his paycheck. Yay for extra money!

But first comes Thanksgiving where we will spend the holiday with Adam's family and then with some of our friends. The family part will be as it is every year so I am mostly looking forward to the friends part. I am looking forward to something different and new. I liked that when we celebrated Thanksgiving at home we always shared it with someone else. We always had guests. It was fun to have a different person each year. At college the first year we were married we hosted all of our friends for a special dinner. It was great! I hope when we're back to living on our own that we will continue that tradition.

And just a few more days and NaBloPoMo will be over! Yay! I've had fun posting, but have had difficulty finding the time to post each day. Tonight I am lucky that Tim is already sleeping and that Adam is home spending time with Ryan.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving everyone.

One of those days

What a fun day it was! Well, not really. Tim is teething and crabby. He's also learned the art of fighting sleep. He fights it and fights it and then after much walking/rocking he goes to sleep.

Ryan is frustrated I cannot spend every minute with him because I am trying to figure Tim out. He whines, cries and refuses to nap because he wants my attention.

Between one boy crying in pain and the other whining in hopes of getting my attention, I am just plain exhausted. I got nothing done that I needed to get done. Sigh.

Now I'm off to bed.

Polar Express

I am so excited! Our friend, Jan, who has adopted Ryan as her grandson, is giving us two free tickets for a ride on the Polar Express.

I am excited because Ryan will LOVE the train. I just know it. Trains, planes, cars, trucks, boats are all his thing right now. He's excited he will get to meet Santa too.

December 17th or 18th seems to far away, but at least it's something to anticipate.

Imagination

My friend Kathleen posted yesterday about kids and non-toys. After I'd commented about her post I got to thinking about Ryan and his imagination. He really has a good imagination. It's so much fun lately.

The most fun part of him being imaginative is that he tells these great stories. If you ask him a question, like, "Ryan, what did you do today?" The answers can be so funny and so very made up. He'll say things like he went on a plane ride and flew really high in the sky. He'll say he ate pizza or went to the park. None of it's true, but it's funny to think that he can make up these stories. Part of it is his new found use of three and four word sentences. He's just practicing language.

Sometimes he'll look out the window and tell me that Adam is home from work, when there's no car outside at all. He'll tell me he's seen a mouse in the house. That it's hiding under the table.

I love to watch him make up games. We're currently using HUGE puzzle pieces for roads to drive his cars on. We can make tunnels out of paper towel tubes. We make airplanes and trains out of Duplo pieces or play-doh. The options really are endless.

Of course, we don't encourage him to tell us lies, but we do encourage him to use his imagination. To pretend. After all, we can't buy every toy he wants or tells me he needs.

One part of his use of language that is also part of him imaging things is him telling us things are too hot, too cold, too far away or too heavy. He tells us these things to get out of doing them. For example, breakfast is too hot because he doesn't want sausages and eggs, he wants cookies. The milk is too cold because he'd rather some soda. The trash is too far away because he'd rather leave his napkin on the floor or table rather than put it where it needs to go. And the one little bag with felt in it from the craft store is too heavy because not only am I supposed to carry Tim, the bag and the diaper bag, I am also supposed to carry Ryan because it's too cold outside (the too cold outside part is true).

I hope he always has a great imagination and is good at pretend play. It's fun watching him grow and develop his imagination and his use of language.

More random thoughts

I haven't felt much like posting anything this week. I figure I've made a great effort at NaBloPoMo, even if I haven't posted every day.

Ryan's fingers are looking pretty good. They'd be 10 times better than they are now if he would stop picking at them. But, he's two and this is what two-year-old's do. We've bandaged it a few times to keep him from picking at it, but it's supposed to be getting air and being used. He's using it a lot. I'll see what the doctor says this Wednesday when we go for a check-up.

Tim has been cranky. I think his teeth are finally going to pop through. I like my happy baby and want him back.

I haven't figured out what my next craft will be. I've looked at lost of ideas, but I'm just not sure.

I really want to be at home in the Bahamas this week. It's freezing here in Maine. I miss my family. I miss all things Bahamian...even "Bahamian time."

That's all for now...

Feeling crafty

I'm feeling like I need a project to work on. Something easy. Something not too expensive. Something fun.

While at my friend Kris' house we made one of those no sew fleece blankets. It was fun. It was cheap. It was easy.

Recently Ryan and Tim and I made turkey foot and hand fridge decorations. The boys loved it. Ryan did most of the gluing, which he LOVES.

Now I'm in need of my own craft. Something just for me to do. I know that I should just pick out a crochet pattern and get to work, but I thought maybe if I posted here, someone would tell me about something new.

Any ideas?

Movies

Adam and I play this game I have named the movie game. When we're channel surfing and we get to a channel with a movie we try to see who can guess the name correctly first. It's a lot of fun. Sometimes Adam can guess it in three seconds. It's crazy how much he can remember about a movie to be able to guess it in three seconds.

Sometimes I win. I get lucky with a name or a chick flick.

Adam and his roommate, Mark, would play this game in college. I think they were equally good at guessing movies. Both are movie buffs. The three of us went to more movies than I can count during our college years, especially after the Globe Theater opened on the square.

And then Netflix came into our lives. We've seen lots of movies through the mail order program since we moved to Maine and especially since we've had kids. I really can't recall the last movie we've seen together since we've had kids.

I'm really glad Adam likes movies so much. I've seen a lot of movies I probably would have never chosen to watch on my own. We've seen foreign films like Run Lola Run and Pans Labyrinth. I've watched "different" movies like Punch Drunk Love and Stardust. We've seen comedies, romance, drama, old and new.

I've watched movies that I have left me wondering why I watched them like Dude Where's My Car? and Strange Brew. These are just two of the movies that have made me feel like I wasted a few hours of my life and the use of my brain cells.

Our Netflix queue has more than 350 movies on it just waiting for us to watch.

Of course, I have my favorite movies. I can watch Cool Runnings any day. I can also quote a majority of it. I really love this movie. Another movie that I enjoy watching because it makes me laugh is Big Daddy.

Notting Hill is one of my favorite chick flicks. I also love the movie P.S. I love you.

I enjoy watching Nicholas Cage movies. Two of my favorites (of the many he's done) include Gone in 60 Seconds and The Family Man (not to be confused with that cartoon Family Guy).

An actor I am so impressed with I want to believe he is now my favorite is Tom Hanks. He's had a range of different roles and he's really shown what an awesome actor he can be. He doesn't take a cookie cutter role like Adam Sandler, Will Ferrell or Owen Wilson. Tom has done characters from Forest Gump to Vicktor Norvorski in The Terminal. He's done romance, comedy, animation, drama and more. He just amazes me and I can't wait to see what he will do next.

I'd love to hear what your favorite movies are so that, if I haven't seen them, I can go check them out. Who is your favorite actor or actress and why?

If you have time, check out some of these movies, I've really enjoyed watching them and I'm glad I married a movie buff. There's no better way to spend a cold wintery evening than watching a movie and drinking a white hot chocolate!

Missed a post

I missed a post yesterday. It's been busy around here. For starters, we spent the weekend at our friend's hosue in Manchester because it was the release of the new World of Warcraft upgrade. I love seeing friends, but I hate how tired I am after these visits. We often stay up late talking or paying games on the Wii. No matter what time we go to bed, the boys still get up at 6.

Ryan is also going through an "I don't need to nap" stage. These are exhausting. He'll be in his bed for a little or even in ours, but he never really sleeps. He just plays with books or watches a movie. I always end up falling asleep, but he doesn't and keeps waking me up.

Timothy is growing through a growth spurt (he's in 12 month clothes people!). He eats ALL THE TIME.

We also had a closet mishap last week. Our closet is just shelves and rods that you get at Home Depot or Lowes and put together yourself. It's not enclosed. When Adam came home on Tuesday, he tripped on a toy of Ryan's and bumped into the closet. It fell down. Now we share just my closet, but getting that mess cleaned up has been exhausting with two kids who always need me (and with one who hasn't taken a nap).

I put laundry in to wash today and haven't gotten around to folding it. Sigh...

So I've been busy and I missed a post. I'm really not sure how I found the time to write this one.

Times are tough

This post is a bit random, but it's what I've been thinking about the past few days or so...

It's no doubt that the current economic situation is dismal. It stinks to think that people are being laid off because of lack of business. Adam and I often look around on our drives to the grocery store or on a trip up here to Manchester and see what stores are closing. It stinks that so many have lost jobs. We're so grateful to still have ours.

In a recent conversation with my mom I discovered that Atlantis in The Bahamas laid off 800 workers. That's an incredible number of people who will be looking for jobs in a tourist-driven economy. I can only imagine how crime will increase as people try to make ends-meet.

Of course the same thing is happening all around us as factories lay off their employees and keep only a few workers to keep things going for now. Some just close all together.

Here in the U.S. it has been reported by various newspapers that gun sales are on the rise despite a tough economy. This article on WashingtonPost.com speculates that they are on the rise because of a fear that crime will increase as the economy becomes increasingly more difficult.

Having lived in Illinois for five years, I can say with certainty that I am not anti-gun. There are responsible people who use guns to hunt and protect their property. However, the more people who have guns who don't know how to use them scares me. I can only imagine what can happen with that in mind.

In a month when we are reminded to give thanks, I know some don't feel thankful at all. We are truly blessed to have our jobs and still be making it. We can only hope and pray that things get better... and soon.

Homemade baby food

Being a stay-at-home mom has allowed me to find creative ways to save money. One of them is by making my own baby food. It's really easy and so cheap!

When I began the quest to make baby food I first purchased Super Baby Food. It's a good book if you want to know which foods to introduce when, though it does have some information in it that conflicted with what our doc told us (especially about peanut butter and other nuts).

Then I wished I hadn't purchased the book in some ways because I found this website . The difference between the two is minimal. I get great ideas from the website on making the foods and good tips on how to get baby to eat a variety of finger foods and how to make some crafts (which really has nothing to do with food) from the book.

Anyway, I mentioned that making your own baby food saves money. If one of those two packs of baby food cost $1.25 at the local store or WM it can get pretty pricey to buy a weeks worth of food for a little one, especially if they are like my Tim who LOVES to eat. When we went apple picking, the apples were $1 a pound... it made two months worth of applesauce in a variety of types for little Tim. LOTS of money saved there. Pears cost $1.19 per pound, peaches about the same and I can get squash and pumpkin for 50 cents a pound at the local farm or farmer's market.

It does not take a lot of time either once you get a system going. Nap time is a great time to do the cooking. You can bake peaches and steam squash at the same time. You can gave your entire stove going with foods for baby. While baby is sleeping let them cool. When baby gets up the hard part will be pureeing everything in your blender and chopper in hopes that baby does not get scared and scream the entire time.

Storage is easy too. When I first made food for Ryan I used ice cube trays. I froze the food and then popped them out into freezer bags and labeled them. At the age when he needed stage one food I just used one cube at a feeding and would thaw it in the microwave for a few seconds. I'd use two cubes for stage two and so on. Then I found some small Glad containers that were about the stage two or three size that I used to freeze the food. The only issue with those is that I had to remember to take the food out the night before and put it in the fridge to thaw. The microwave melted them and opening them up to pop them out into a dish caused the lids to crack.

I've kept with the container method and do well at remembering to take three foods out the night before to thaw in the fridge.

I don't freeze all foods though. Bananas and avocados are best fresh. You mash and feed on the spot. I often use my mini-chopper for these foods. Bananas turn brown in the freezer and I've tried using lemon juice to help with this, but it hasn't worked for me just yet. I just eat the other half of a banana that Tim won't finish or I give it to Ryan.

I love the wholesome food website because it gives different ways to prepare foods and ideas on how to combine them to make different meals for baby. The only foods we tend to by still are prunes and cereal. We don't use that many prunes so two jars lasts a LONG time. Cereal is good because of the iron factor and it helps fill baby up too. I just sprinkle it in to whatever food I feel they need it in or if I think my puree is too thin. At $1.25 a box, it's not that expensive.

When Ryan was old enough for stage three foods I just started giving him some table food. If I made spaghetti, I would make a bowl for him with penne and meat sauce. I often put the meat sauce in my mini-chopper so there wouldn't be big chunks for him to have to chew. If I made a chicken and rice dish, Ryan got that too in small pieces. Rice and penne are great for the stage three foods. Canned veggies were great too because they were soft enough and it was practice with finger foods. I mainly used the canned green beans, but let him eat peas, corn and broccoli (which I found chopped broccoli was the best) of the frozen variety.

Gravy foods and casserole foods work great for stage three foods. You just have to make the pieces small enough. Pot roast is wonderful. You put some gavy in the container, some chopped up meat, small pieces of potatoes and carrots and you have a meal! You aren't buying them extras because they are eating what you are eating. It's great!

Making myown baby food has been harder since I have two kids, but Ryan lets me prep while awake and then I can puree while he's asleep (the noise does not bother him awake or asleep). Ryan likes to help put the foods into pans and pots, so we work together and it's a fun project. It's just hard on a day when he'd rather play than cook. I do my prep once a month or less even and we save tons of $$$.

I forgot my camera

I tend to take my camera everywhere. I don't want to miss out on special photos of Ryan and Timothy. BUT we're in Manchester and my camera is in Wells. Sigh.

We're here in Manch because the new World of Warcraft (WoW) release came out this morning. The guys were in line last night at 10:30 and were number 11 on the list. They got back here around 12:30 and went to bed around 2. They've done some playing. They've helped with the kids. My friend, Kris, is at work and I've been allowed some alone time to just be.

But I left my camera in Wells. I missed getting photos of Vince chasing Ryan till he was soooo sleepy it wasn't funny. I missed getting photos of Timothy in his "future alliance" (it's a WoW thing) t-shirt... the very same shirt Ryan wore.

I'm sure there will be other photos I miss... I will have to get Vince to do some photo taking. We're here for three days and the camera is not.

C'est la vie!

Favorite kids book

Ryan has a few favorite books. I enjoy reading to him, especially before bed when he often interacts and says the words that come next. I thought I'd use this post to share his top four favs.

1. If you give a mouse a cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff is his super favorite. He can pretty much tell you the entire story and knows about all the details on each of the illustrations. A fun read. If you give a mouse a cookie lots can happen! I like many of the other "If you" books too.

2. Llama Llama Red Pajama by Anna Dewdney is cute and has lots of rhymes. I love reading it because of the sing-song sound it has. It's about a baby llama who hollers for his llama mama after she has put him to bed and sets to do her night routine. A great good night book because it's all about going to bed and being scared to be in bed alone.

3. King Bidgood's in the Bathtub by Audrey Wood is awesome. It's about a paige who cannot figure out how to get the king out of the bathtub and solicits the help of the queen, a knight, a duke and a few more. There are awesome illustrations and the ending is funny.

4. Dino Pets by Lynn Plourde and Gideon Kendall was given to use my memere Jan. Ryan can read and re-read this bookso that it becomes old. I like that there are different dinos and that the illustrations are fun. Ryan understands that the fast dino needs good shoes in order to run and that the scary dino can make people run away. It's not sing-song-y in any way, but it's just a fun story that shows differences in dinosaurs.

Of course, these are in no particular order, but they are the books we read EVERY night... sometimes I sneak in some Sandra Boynton or Brown Bear, but these are the ones we read most often. If you check them out at the library or purchase them for your kids, you'll have to tell me what you think.

I'd also love to hear what the favorites are in your house... I like finding books reccomended by others.

Today is Veterans Day

Today as I sat in the waiting room of our doctor's office a guy sitting next to us says to his wife, "Hey what's the vice president doing putting a wreath on a grave for? Is it some big-wig's funeral?"

I'd also been watching Dick Cheney place the wreath at Arlington Memorial this morning at 11 a.m. and was a bit shocked that this guy didn't know that today was Veterans Day. I suppose in a way I shouldn't be too surprised. The little people my age know about history is pathetic. Most people go through high school and college just because they have to. They learn very little because school is more of a social thing for them.

Anyway, the wife turns to the guy and says, "I don't know, they must be really important because there's a lot of military people there. (Speaking to me now) "Excuse me, but do you know whose funeral this is that we're watching?"

"Um, well, it's actually not a funeral." I say. "Today is actually Veterans Day and they're remembering the fallen heroes of our nation."

Her reply: "Oh yeah, that's not one of the holidays I get off work, ha ha ha."

I don't think I smiled back at the wife. I was fuming, but trying not to let it show. I really pray none of my friends or family are unaware of today's significance.

If you want to do some light reading on Veterans Day you can check out these websites.

This one gives a brief history.

I like this one because it's what I remember, as a Bahamian, being taught in school. I also remember getting poppies to wear.

I hope we never forget the significance of this day!

Minestrone soup

I often crave Olive Garden's Minestrone soup. The unlimited soup and salad lunch is one of my favorites. This is a very yummy soup that I thought I'd share. I have very much enjoyed cooking and eating this. If you try it, please let me know how it was for you.

Minestrone
1 cup sliced carrot
1 cup sliced celery
1 cup chopped onion
1 teaspoon of the minced garlic that comes in the jar or 1 clove of it crushed
2 Tablespoons of butter
28 oz can petite diced tomatoes
1 teaspoon salt, dried oregano, basil and pepper
3 14.5 oz cans of beef broth
1 16 oz can navy beans (I used great northern beans because I cannot find the navy ones)
1 15 oz can kidney beans
1 large zucchini cut in half lenghtwise and sliced
1 cup cooked elbow macaroni
1/4 cup parsley
Freshley grated Parmesan cheese

Saute first four ingredients in the butter on medium until crisp-tender. Add tomatoes and seasonings and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer 15 mins. Add beef broth, beans, zucchini, parsley and macaroni (it works better if the macaroni is cooked first or it takes up all the juice). Cook until heated through.Sprinkle each serving with Parmesan cheese. Serve with garlic bread and salad.

Good, Bad, Ugly

I like these posts because they are short and easy to write.

The good: Ryan scored a fire truck and a school bus at a local fair this weekend for $1. It was almost over when we went and they just really wanted to get rid of the stuff.

The bad: I have to go to work soon. I like work, but this week I just wish I could stay at home. I was sick on Friday and today I am still emotionally drained from the whole burn incident on Thursday. Sigh.

The ugly: I brought Ryan back to urgent care today so they could have a look at his wounds. They looked kinda off to me and it's hard to bandage him alone. A new doc today said things were more swollen than he'd like to see. He gave us new antiboitic cream and a new way of dressing the burns in hopes that they start to heal a bit better. We go back in 48 hours for another re-check.

Tips to make shopping good for everyone

It's no secret that I work as a part-time cashier at WM. I really enjoy my job most days. However, I come across a few people who could use a few tips on how to be nice to their cashier. Yes I know that there are some cashiers who need to find new jobs. Customer service is not their strength, but there are good ways and bad ways of dealing with those people.

So here are my top 13 tips on how to treat your cashier.

1. When your cashier greets you, please respond. It's just rude to not say anything. This means you should not be talking on your cell phone. If it's not an emergency, save it until you are out of the store. Besides, the other customers aren't interested in what you did last night nor are they interested in what you are going to have for dinner tonight.
2. Don't get mad at me when you're in a rush (i.e. are going to be late for an appointment or work) and the guy in front of you needs a price check or needs a new bottle of bleach because the last one exploded. It's not my fault that you didn't give yourself enough time to get to work AND shop before going there.
3. Don't yell, curse or talk down to your cashier. I'll work slower and I will tell you don't need to use such language in order to make me speed up, give you a sale price when it isn't clearly marked or give you $1 off on a coupon that isn't valid.
4. If I ask to see your credit card or ID it's because that's my job. In addition, there are laws I have to follow. If you aren't 40, don't get upset when I say I need to see your id for cigarettes or alcohol. That's the law. When I ask to see your credit card, it's for your own good. People do steal them still. Don't give me a hard time, just pass them on over.
5. If you don't have your ID or are using some one else's check or credit card, the sale is NOT going to happen. I don't care if you promise me your mama told you to use her card or that your ID is lost. I plan on keeping my job and WILL follow the rules.
6. If you'd like to use cloth bags, it's a great idea to let me know BEFORE I start putting stuff in the plastic ones. Even if the cloth bags are at the bottom of your cart, I can still put the stuff to the side, pack your bags later and not waste the plastic bags.
7. If you only have $20 to spend, don't act shocked when it comes to $20.75. No I don't carry an excessive amount of change in my pocked to give you. Please add things up as you go and remember, unless you live in New Hampshire, there is sales tax.
8. Have your money ready. I don't mind accepting change, but don't decide to dig around for it and keep the other people in line behind you waiting. If there's no line, there's no issue and you can take your time.
9. Keep conversations friendly and generic. I'm not your shrink and cannot solve your problems. I do however, enjoy chatting with you, but I don't want to hear your life story nor do I want to hear about how certain body parts are oozing.
10. Don't make too many demands. We'll be glad to double bag things if you ask nicely. We'll be glad to wrap up glass items and not pack your bleach with the milk. But requesting large bags for a pair of gloves is ridiculous.
11. Price checks do take time. Remember there is a person out there searching for the item you have that doesn't have a UPC. I cannot just type in the price based on your memory. Like I said, I want to keep my job and have to follow the rules. If there person is really slow, I'll tell them you have been waiting a long time and that they need to hurry up.
12. Sure the customer is always right, except when they aren't. If the item was in the wrong place and is not on sale, take that up with my supervisor. In the same way if your coupon is expired, that means you cannot use it. Don't even try. There's nothing I can do about it. Sorry.
13. Please know I try my best to be friendly and serve you as quickly as possible. If I do a great job and you enjoyed your service, let my supervisor know or just come back to my line again and again (I do like regulars). If I was rude to you, don't yell at me, just go and tell my supervisor, they have great ways of dealing with bad cashiers (like coaching them, firing them or moving them to a job that doesn't require customer service).

And as always, thank you for shopping your friendly WM store. =-)

ugh

This post will be short because I have a terrible headache.

Ryan is doing well considering yesterday's drama. He cried the most when we had to change his bandage today. It really takes two people and since I'll be the only one home with the kids tomorrow I am taking him back to urgent care since they said they would help with bandaging for free.

Ryan cried a little tonight at bedtime and asked that we kiss his boo-boo. We gave him some motroin for the pain and he's fast asleep again.

Now to take some meds for my headache and get some rest.

In which we visit urgent care

Warning: This post contains some graphic descriptions. If you don't like blood and gore, you may wish to skip the third paragraph and opt to read the shorter fourth one in parenthesise.

It all started with my goal to lose 20 pounds by Christmas. While pregnant with Timothy I gained a whopping 50 pounds. That's a lot more than I gained with Ryan. Of course, after the first six weeks post-partum I'd lost 20 pounds. I am currently at 43 pounds lost, which is really awesome. I, however, still wish to be back to a certain number, which happens to be about 20 pounds lighter than I am now.

In addition cutting out my dear friend chocolate from my diet, I have also been walking. When the weather was warmer, we were walking outside. Now that it's cooler, I have begun using the treadmill. Ryan had been really good about just coming in and looking, never touching. I also tried to walk when he was sleeping, but today I wanted to walk and shower just once.

My back was to the door when Ryan came in and talked about me walking. Then he let out this awful scream, which made me leap from the treadmill (and because I had the safety magnet clipped to me, that means the treadmill turned off the minute the magnet came out) causing it to turn off. Ryan's little hand with wedged under the back part of the belt I I pried it out to find that pretty much all of the skin (almost down to the bone) was off of his middle and ring fingers. ER here we come.

(Ryan got a really big boo-boo on his middle and ring fingers from the treadmill. I determined that this boo-boo needed emergency medical care.).

I ran to the phone and dialed Adam right away. If the truck had been here this week I would have just gotten in it and headed straight for the ER, but alas that was not my luck at all. With Adam on the way, I started getting both me and the kids ready. When they were all bundled up, the diaper bag was packed and the boo-boo ice pack was on Ryan's awful looking fingers, we locked the door and walked to the end of the driveway.

That was the longest 15 minutes of my life.

When we got to the end of Sarah Lane, I realized that the urgent care facility was a heck of a lot closer than the ER, so we quickly proceeded there.

Ryan was screaming when we got there and the silly triage nurse says, "oh he has blisters, he'll be fine." Okay, thanks lady, but you obviously didn't get a good look. The next nurse was a man. I think men make better nurses, at least in my experience with nurses and my kids thus far in my mommy experience (except for the nurses on the maternity ward). Anyway, Don the nurse was great with Ryan and we managed to get a weight and all the other pertinent information rather quickly. He said Ryan's fingers were burned and possibly broken, but the doc would be in to see us. Doc was also a male and rather young, but he was also great with Ryan. He also confirmed the burn and break theory and sent us for x-rays down the hall.

The x-ray tech was a nice old lady who was also very nice to both Ryan and myself. With four x-rays to take of his little hand, she knew the task at hand would be difficult, but was so patient. I just kept praying, "please don't let it be broken," again and again. With much difficulty, we got those four x-rays and made our way back to the room where daddy had put little Timothy to sleep.

Don the nurse had also given Ryan Advil while we waited for the doc the first time and had now come in to give Ryan Tylenol with Codeine. I might also mention that, at this point, Ryan had been screaming at the top of his little lungs for an hour and 40 minutes. Not long after the Tylenol, Ryan fell asleep. Doc came in and told us there were no broken bones (thank the Lord) and that his burns would heal just fine.

Nurse Don came back to show us how to bandage them and to go over discharge info. Ryan woke up during the bandaging part and has been awake ever since. He's in bed trying to nap right now, but he's having a hard time getting comfortable.

I feel awful that Ryan's hand got hurt so badly. At the same time I know that these things happen. I just really hope this is our last visit to any emergency care place for the rest of 2008.

Ryan and his boo-boo.

The parents visit

My parents were visiting us last week. I was so looking forward to their visit and am really sad that it came to an end so quickly.

We did lots together. We started the week off with taking the boys out for Christmas photos. I took the photos and I think the cards (which cost only 30 cents each) look really good. Also on day one we went swimming in the hotel's heated indoor pool. Ryan had a blast. There was a part of the pool that was just perfect for him. He swam around with Papa and also played with his boat.

Adam had two days off with us. That first day we left the kids with the guys and went for a mani and pedi. It's nice to be pampered now and then. We had lunch and then headed out to go candle-pin bowling. We had an awesome time. I love going bowling and wish we did it more often. The guys then took about an hour and enjoyed more time in the pool and hot tub.

We did some shopping, as is the tradition when my parents come to town. It wasn't crazy shopping like sometimes, but it was shopping nonetheless.

A funny thing happened while my parents were here. From the minute Ryan saw Nana he wanted her to buy him a truck. Nana has become the toy lady and Papa is the pool man. Anyway, every time we went out Ryan asked for a truck. He did get there little matchbox cars one day at Wal-Mart. But on that day we were shopping he wanted Nana to buy a BIG truck. We had to tell him we didn't have a truck, but a better surprise. He had tons of fun at Chuck E. Cheese were we spent our afternoon playing with him. But he kept asking my mum for a truck. She promised him money for a toy of his choice when he is fully potty trained. He hasn't forgotten either. He told Memere about this just yesterday.

All too quickly it was Friday and both Adam and I worked while the parents took care of the boys. I rushed back from work to take Ryan trick-or-treating, which was so much fun this year. He really gets it.

And then it was Saturday and they were packing to leave. On a last shopping experience, mum and I went to a craft fair where I scored some awesome Christmas gifts. Then they left for the airport.

Seriously, the time goes by too quickly. I'm already wondering when we'll get to visit next. I think this time was even more awesome because Ryan is really understands who Nana and Papa are and that they are okay to hang out with. I think those first few times, because we don't see them very often, Ryan wasn't so sure about who they are and how he should be around them. Of course, Tim just loves the attention. While Ryan talks to Nana on the phone each week, I sure wish they lived closer or that we could visit more often so that my kids could really have a nice relationship with them.

Who knows, maybe money will fall from the sky and I can go to the Bahamas whenever I want. Okay, that's unlikely.

However, this week, every time we went out Ryan expected a new truck. One of our trips to the mall he kept insisting that Nana buy a truck. We told him we had a surprise for him, but that it wasn't a truck. He was thrilled when he discovered the surprise was going to Chuck E. Cheese.

Why I love me!

So I was thinking about something to blog about today. I really didn't want to post about the election. I voted and whatever happens, happens. I am sick of political commercials and am just ready for tomorrow.

So, I came across this website. I was reading the assignment for this week and thought it was really cool. I think too many times I focus on what I need to fix about myself and not about what is already great about me. So I am going to make my own love list. Here goes....

I love my super long eyelashes. I love being Bahamian and American. I love that I got to grow up in a different culture and have appreciation for other cultures too because I was immersed in them my entire life. I love being good at fishing. I love it when Uncle Carroll says I'm up to my old tricks again as I reel in yet another fish. I love that I can cook and that 99% of the people I cook for enjoy what I've made. I love that I can crochet it makes me feel connected to my dad's mom. I love that I can take great photos of my kids and enter them in contests in hopes of winning. I love that I am crafty. I love my life and am thrilled to be a stay-at-home mum to my two boys. I'm right where I need and want to be.

And that's my list. I encourage you to try it. I felt good thinking up these things about myself, but it wasn't easy, just like it wasn't easy for the chick at Operation Nice.

Behold the power of bacon

Timothy loves to eat. He's an awesome eater. He loves peaches, pears, prunes, squash, sweet potatoes and apples. I'm sure there's some food I am leaving out. He isn't so fond of bananas, peas or carrots.

Since Timothy was about two months old we've been strapping him into the high chair for dinner. He didn't eat anything then, but he enjoyed being near us during dinner time. He loves to smile at us while in the high chair and always looked with great curiosity at each of us eating and what was on our plates.

These days if Timothy is at the table he expects to be fed. He will smack his lips together or mimic us chewing if we aren't feeding him as fast as he'd like.

While my parents were here last week, we went out to breakfast at Congdon's. Timothy was in the high chair, but particularly crabby. When the food arrived I was eating with one hand and holding Timothy in the other. Timothy was looking at my plate the entire time, often trying to grab something that was on it. We were all laughing at this.

For fun, I held out a piece of bacon from my plate to see what Timothy would do. He quickly grabbed it and began licking it. We took some photos and then the bacon was taken pried from his fingers and a greasy little boy was wiped clean.

Halloween was fun

I had to work on Halloween. I didn't dress up. There were only two people at work who actually dressed up. We had a doctor and Pippi Longstocking. I got out at 6:30 and rushed home to take Ryan trick-or-treating in our neighborhood. He was so excited about getting candy in his pumpkin basket. It was soooooooo cute. His favorite treat of all was a truck my parents gave him (instead of candy). It's so much fun that he can remember doing things and gets excited about doing them again.

Here are a few photos.

Our little cowboy.

Daddy helping Ryan get ready.

Ryan knocking on a neighbor's door.

Ryan showing off his truck that he got as a treat from Nana and Papa.

NaBloPoMo

I am going to attempt NaBloPoMo. My friend Kathleen did it last year and I think it will be fun. I have a few ideas... Posting every day for an entire month will be a huge challenge with two kids, but I think it can be done and I think it will be fun.

Post one is done.

My week

This week has been average and that's okay. I am excited that my parents will arrive tomorrow. When you ask Ryan who is coming on a plane tomorrow he says, "Nana, papa, plane high in the sky. FAST!" He's excited because I told him if we get there a little early we might get to see the plane land.

I tried packing earlier, but the task seems too big right now. Adam promised help later since he's really good at packing and I am not. We're staying at a place in Wells that is like an apartment because there's no room here to have the parents stay. Adam will be working and staying with us just two nights. I'm excited because it's like a mini-vacation.

Ryan is doing well with the potty still. He had a bit of regression this week where he just didn't want to go on the potty. Today, however, he is wearing real underpants and doing really well at keeping Mater and McQueen dry.

Timothy is still my little eater. He is loving most foods. We discovered he hates peas and carrots. He was teething pretty bad this week and was up every hour on the half hour on Wednesday night. I really like the sleeping through the night stage.... and we're back there again.

At work this week we are now required to ask for credit cards for signature comparison AND for ID. To show you how stupid people think we are because we work at WM, I must share these stories. The first is of a lady who had not signed her card. When I said I also needed her ID, she said she didn't have it with her, so I said she would have to pay another way. She tells me she can sign the card in front of me. Um, hello, a thief can do that too.

The second is of an 18 year old and his girlfriend who hand me their card and their ID. So as not to get in trouble I will make up some names. The CC says David E. Jones and the license says Brent D. Jones. And the kid tells me his middle name is David. Yeah, okay and the E on the CC stands for Brent? No, I don't think so. Similarly, a lady tried to use a card that said Lucas on it and refused to show her ID... I wonder why?

For the most part, people who come through my line want to know why, if their card is already signed, that we are asking for ID. When we say that there's a huge scam going on that involves people using other's cards because no one bothers to check signatures anymore (now that world is so electronic) they willingly give their ID and are glad we care.

I really enjoy what I do two days a week at WM. I enjoy the break from the kids, I enjoy that I feel like I am contributing to our finances and I enjoy the people that are regulars and my co-workers (at least 99% of them). I just wish there was some program that allowed kids to see what service jobs like mine are like. I think they'd be nicer to the cashier, nicer to their waitress... and the list goes on. Not that I think any of you reading this would do this, but there's no need to yell or curse or throw a fit at those serving you. If they are rude first (which I have seen) it pays to ask to see their manager.

And so that was my week and I'm looking forward to the next one.

Ten random thoughts

• It's okay for kids to scream in delight...sometimes.
• Too many rules confuses kids... and makes life really boring.
• Yelling at kids gets you nowhere. It's best to speak in a calm voice and explain briefly.
• Making a mess while having fun is good, but it sure stinks to clean stuff up.
• When kids sing it is really cute.
• A walk outside in autumn is really refreshing.
• Playing in a huge pile of leaves is fun for everyone.
• Being with family and friends who love you no matter what is comforting.
• Flannel sheets are warm and cozy.
• Everyone laughing at the same time is melodious.

The potty train

We began potty training Ryan on our vacation. We knew that no matter what age we started potty training that Ryan would be difficult for a day until he got used to the idea. We just know our kid. It's the way he is with everything (with long sleeves and short sleeves, with new foods, with new people..change takes lots of time for Ryan).

So the process began on Saturday morning with the changing from the nighttime diaper to a visit at the potty and a Pull-Up (I have since decided White Cloud disposable underwear are just as good and cheaper and that Pull-Up overnights are also good, but regular Pull-Ups aren't worth the cost). He went pee on the potty right away, but protested when it came time to put on the Pull-Up. We went down stairs and showed him that there were no more diapers for him, just for Tim. (This was part of the plan because we knew if he saw even one of his diapers he'd cry for it all day).

Ryan did well on Saturday. He peed on the potty when asked, but refused while at a birthday party. We didn't force him because we want this to be a positive experience for him. He did ask often for a diaper, but we just kept telling him we didn't have anymore his size and that he was a big boy and got to wear Pull-Ups and that Timothy wasn't big enough to wear them yet.

On day two, we put together the potty road. It's a big poster that has places for Ryan to place stickers each time he goes potty. He gets one colored sticker (red, blue or green) for going pee, two silver ones for going poop and a gold one for telling us he has to go and going to the potty. At different intervals, Ryan gets a potty prize (we've heard parents do this for every pee or poop, but we'd be broke if we did this). His first potty prize was a hot wheels car and airplane set and the second was a Diego book and sweatshirt (he LOVES Diego right now). The last big star he gets to go spend an afternoon at Chuck E. Cheese.

Ryan holding his "Diego Prize" in front of his road of potty training poster.

On our trip to Vince and Kris' house, Ryan did really well, though he wanted Vince to help with the potty stuff and not mom and dad. Vince wasn't so sure about this, but did a great job with Ryan. So far, Ryan has managed lots of colored stickers, one set of silver stickers (if we would have had the chart in Manch he would have two more of the silver ones) and zero gold ones. He hasn't asked for a diaper since that first day.


While the disposable underwear are more expensive, we go through them more slowly because he wears maybe two in a day versus six or eight diapers in a day. He's learned the steps to going potty fairly well... pull down pants, go potty, put on pants, wash hands, get sticker. We're happy with Ryan's progress so far. We've only had one accident in which he refused to sit on the potty and then peed all over the floor. He cried, but we assured him that everyone has accidents and if he had just sat down a little faster there would never have been an accident.


The potty training continues!

Pumpkin Face

When we went apple picking last month we also purchased a pumpkin. It's been sitting on the table ever since.

While visiting Vince and Kris, Ryan was introduced to their "pumpkin face" aka Jack-o-lantern on their porch and he's wanted to make one ever since.

On Wednesday night we got out the pumpkin carver and scoop and went to work. Below are our photos. We had a great time. Ryan kept saying "pumpkin face has eyes, nose and mouth." He proudly put it on the front stoop this morning.










I might mention that this was my first ever pumpkin carving experience and now understand why the "experts" suggest your first pumpkin carving experience happen with a large gourd. The small ones aren't so easy to work with. I might also mention that we generally don't allow Ryan to sit on top of the table, but we made an exception so he could really see what was going on.

Vacation was great

Our vacation last week was great. I was so looking forward to Adam having a full week with me and the kids and then it was over all too fast.

On Saturday we started potty training. Then we went to a birthday party and had dinner at Alex Pizza with Gillie and Adam. We also went to the park with them and to Dunkin Donuts. It's been a while since we've seen them, which is really just not right since we live in the same state and are about 40 minutes away from each other. It was nice catching up.

On Sunday, we just went to church, worked on potty training and I went to work in the evening.

On Monday, we went to visit Memere Jan who is the mother of our friend Tanya. We had a great time. Enjoyed some lovely coffee cake and, of course, books (she's a children's librarian). Then Adam had a conference call and we played outside with the kids.

Ryan reading with memere Jan

On Tuesday I got my hair cut really cute and then we packed up and made our almost two hour trip to Manchester. This trip was so worth it! I had a blast. On the way there we had to stop in Epping to purchase Ryan's first prize for making it to the first star on his road of potty training. This proved to be more complicated than we thought and we spent an hour at that Wal-Mart. I also had to purchase a few items for the dinner I was making so Kris wouldn't have to do it when she got home from work. We had a lovely dinner, attempted to watch Notting Hill, but ended up just going to sleep.

The hair

On Wednesday we packed a picnic lunch and made the journey to Boston. On the way, Kris and I picked up or pottery. We can't wait to go again.

My santa above and Kris C's plate.

Our trip to Boston was nice because Vince, Kris, Adam and I split the cost of renting a mini-van (they work for Enterprise so this was extreemly cheap and worked out to $15 for both families) so we all got to drive together. We walked through Little Italy to get to the New England Aquarium. We really had a blast (minus the fact that I had a super headache). We saw penguins, jellyfish, a HUGE turtle, seahorses, star fish, electric eels and much more! Ryan loved it, though I think we were all tired at the end. We had gelato and cannoli in Little Italy on the way back and bought a loaf of yummy bread, which we made into garlic cheese bread to eat with our spaghetti that we had for dinner.

Ryan looking at the penguins

A male penguin

The turtle

On Thursday, Kris went to work (sigh), but the guys and I had our wonderful experience with the fire wings (see previous post) and played with the kids at the park. The guys also went to the shooting range while I watched Definitly Maybe and the two boys napped. Vince made us a wonderful bbq dinner and they convinced us to stay one more night (really we had nowhere to go on Friday).

On Friday, we drove back from Manch, Adam got a massage (I'd purchased him the gift certificate for our 6th anniversary) and I went to work.


Alas, vacation is over and we are back to our normal routine.

I have lots of upcoming posts. They include: pumpkin carving, a potty training update and more photos of the boys playing in the leaves.

In which we eat fire and survive

I have so much to post about Adam's vacation, but I wanted to post this first.

While in Manchester we decided to grab some pub food. Pub food is cheap and good. We went to the Wild Rover, which we all love, and got ready to experience some new creation.

We order buffalo wings wherever we go. It's just what we do. We love them and we sample them at every place we eat. Going to the Rover was no different. The last time we were there, we had wonderful Jamaican Jerk wings... alas they were not on the menu so we decided to go with the regular buffalo wings. In true Kris tradition, I ordered "hot" because "mild" doesn't taste anything like buffalo wings to me.

Fire wings

To truely understand, you must know that for breakfast everyone in our party had toast. We were HUNGRY. On top of that, Ryan kept saying "eat now" while we waited for the wings and an order of fries for him.

My very hungry Ryan with an almost empty plate.

The wings came but were missing the blue cheese dip. Ryan wanted a wing, but wanted dip. I was so hungry I couldn't wait for the waitress to come back so I grabbed a wing, took a bit and imediately realized I'd made a BIG mistake. I felt like I had eaten fire. My eyes were watering, my ears felt hot and my mouth was overcome by the spiciness of the wing.


"Guys, I think ordering hot was a bad idea. These things are wicked hot," I say.

Wiping my tears.

Not believing me, Adam decided to lick the sauce from one of the wings. His response: drink lots of soda and look frantically for the waitress so we can get dip.

Adam attempting to get rid of the fire in his mouth using a pickle.

Needless to say, the dip realy didn't help. After two wings, both Adam and I decided there was no way we could finish those buffalo wings and poor Vince took one bite and announced he hated me. Ryan, meanwhile is begging for a wing and we are saying," sorry buddy, these wings wouldn't be good for you."


As we are wiping away our tears, our meal comes and we all quickly eat as much bread, fries and onion rings as we can, not to mention, we needed refills on the drinks. So, we're trying to taste our food and out comes the owner.

"Guys I really need to apologize. The wings you had weren't "hot" they were "Habanero Blast" (just the hottest on the menu). Somehow, the lables got mixed up and you got the wrong sauce on your wings. We'll give you the wings free and get you the ones you originally ordered."


We asked our order be amended to be just "mild."

We ate fire and survived.

The rest of our super hot wings went to the guys behind us, who also downed lots of soda and then decided to order just "hot."

I will probably never forget this experience. I'm still not sure what my nacho crusted chicken tasted like, but we did have a great time. Ryan was the one to eat the mild wings. The rest of us decided not to even try.

Timothy is four months old

Time is going by so quickly. I can't believe that Timothy is already four months old. He LOVES sitting up. While Ryan plays in the basement he often sits in Ryan's Thomas the Train chair and watches. He's usually accompanied by a rattle or other toy that he can hold. Timothy is reaching out, grabbing items and putting them into his mouth these days. His thumb sucking abilites are unbelieveable. Last night, while checking on Ryan I peeked over at Tim in his crib to find him fast asleep with his tumb in his mouth!

Timothy can roll over from back to front and then usually bursts into tears because he hates being on his belly. Ryan seemed to do both at the same time, but Timothy is taking his time in terms of developmental milestones and that's okay with us. We fully understand that he was born almost a month early and may be behind a little because of that.

Here's Timothy with Pooh for his fourth month with Pooh photos. He's a very happy baby and is almost always smiling. He's started eating solids and so far hates most fruits (we'll keep trying) and LOVES veggies. Rice cereal is just okay, but I can't imagine that stuff tasting very good anyway.

Ryan tries to include Timothy in most everything he does lately. That's been cute too watch. Timothy gets a car when Ryan is playing with his huge stash of matchbox cars. When we go out Ryan makes sure Timothy is going with us. If Timothy cries, Ryan will run to get me or Adam to tell us that "Tim crying, tummy hurts, hungry." (Ryan thinks that your tummy hurts when you are hungry).

I'm looking forward to the boys being able to actually play together. I think Ryan is a great big brother and will do a great job of teaching Timothy all he needs to know.