New Alias

Well, I've had my first complaint.  At least I think it's my first one, I tend to tune things out that I don't want to hear.  My dad  I mean someone complained about Crazy's name.  "He'll develop a complex", blah, blah, blah.  I highly doubt that.  But to appease my audience I'll give him a new alias.  I tried to come up with something cute but I failed miserably.  I blame it on lack of sleep.  Hubby was no help either and usually he's pretty witty with things like this.  When I asked my son what he would like to be called he said, "Cake".  Umm, I don't think so.  So for lack of any better ideas Crazy will now be referred to as "Mr. R".

Growing Like a Weed

Boo has been growing like a weed lately.  Or at least she seems to be.  She's three and a half but her size 3T pants are about two inches too short.  It's slightly embarrassing to see her walking around in winter with her pants a good inch or two above her sneakers.  I mean it's not like it's summer and I can just say they're capri pants. The problem we've run into is that 4T pants are to big in the waist for her.   The length is great, but no one's going to notice that when her underwear is almost completely exposed because the pants fall down so easily.  The solution?  Suspenders!  We're not talking your grandpa's suspenders either.  I found a tutorial for little girl's ruffled suspenders here.  I used some Hello Kitty fabric that I picked up in Japan, two fashion fit clips (you know those clips that were popular back in the 80s, early 90s, on the back of vests), snaps, and some interfacing.  Now Boo has a pair of interchangeable suspenders.  The suspenders were fairly easy to make.  I'm planning on making a few more sets to go with more outfits.  Boo loves them and I don't have to worry about her pants constantly falling down.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!  We're not normally a big Valentine's Day family, mostly because Hubby tends to ignore the day, but this year I was excited for Valentine's Day.  Why you ask?  Because about two weeks ago I got a package in the mail from my talented Aunt D and opened it up to find these:

 She made the girls matching Valentine's Day outfits!  I LOVE them!  I'm a huge fan of matching the girls so I was beyond thrilled to get these outfits.  Boo loved her Valentine's Day "costume" as she liked to call it.  She got to wear her's twice, once for her Valentine's Day party at school and then actually on Valentine's  Day.  She was just as excited as me to find out she would match Hiccup.  To finish with the Valentine's Day theme I attempted to fix Boo's hair into a heart.  It was difficult because her hair is so fine and because it's slightly layered but I think it turned out okay.  All that really matters is that she loved having a heart in her hair.

Of course we can't leave out Mr. R.  He asked if he had a Valentine's Day outfit and I told him he could just wear a red shirt.  So a red dragon shirt it was.

He was excited about the big Kiss we got them for a Valentine's Day treat.  It was fun going through the kids' Valentines from school and eating their unwanted candy.  That's a tough job you know!  Hoping you all have a great Valentine's Day!  XOXOXO

Just One of Those Days...

So you know those days when you wake up to find you slept with a half eaten Eggo waffle under your pillow, only to roll over and find that you actually slept with TWO half eaten Eggo waffles in your bed?  Oh, wait?  That's never happened to you?  You're sure?  Huh!  I guess I'm just the lucky one whose kids like to leave them midnight snacks (or breakfast in bed).

Well after the waffle incident I laid in bed thinking two things:  

1.  MUST have a serious discussion with the kids about eating in my room!

2.  It's going to be one of those days...

Last night it had started to snow while the kids and I were out painting the town, kicking up our heels, whatever other cliche you can think of for a good time.  Ok, ok, we were at the bookstore.  It was a big night for us!  By the time I went to bed it had all but melted.  When we woke up this morning it was back.

It certainly wasn't as much as the kids had hoped for but it was enough to get them excited.  This was Boo's first time seeing snow.  The kids begged to go outside and get my newspapers in their pajamas.  Apparently that quick trip outside was all they needed to satisfy their snow needs because they didn't ask to go back outside again.  Instead they decided that today would be the perfect day for a picnic.

A very large picnic.  They even included Hiccup and all of the cats in the invite.  Special snacks were served and lots of laughs were heard.  I guess it turned out to be a pretty great day after all.  See, I told you it'd be one of those days... :)

It's Finally Winter

The kids informed me tonight that it's FINALLY winter because the first snow of the year occurred while we were shopping at the mall.  Actually, Boo said that it was now Christmas time because of the snow.  If only that were true...

Pool Time!

There's nothing like swimming in the middle of winter.  As long as it's in an indoor pool that is!  My friend invited us to go swimming in her brother's apartment pool so we happily accepted the invite and played hooky from Taekwondo class.  Because it was the middle of winter I had to hunt for the kids' swimsuits and hope they still fit.  Luckily Boo's swimsuit last year was a little big so now it fit great.  I didn't have a swimsuit for Hiccup, but I did find a random swim diaper so I put that on her with a onesie.  I had to search every where for my swimsuit, and say a big prayer when I was putting it on that it would fit.  Thankfully it did, I just didn't look like I wanted to in it. *sigh*  It turns out that not only was the pool inside, but it was on the 21st floor of the apartment building!  We had a great view looking out over the city and the water at night.

I was a little worried that the kids would have forgotten everything they learned during their summer swim lessons.  Not a problem though. Once the goggles were in place ( a necessity for my kids) Crazy was jumping into the pool and diving to touch the bottom.  I couldn't believe how great he did.  Boo was a little more nervous about swimming without help.  As long as she could hold on to me she was fine.  She loved jumping from the side of the pool (while holding my hand of course).  This was Hiccup's first time in a pool and I wasn't sure how she'd react.  She loves splashing in the bathtub so I was hoping she'd view the pool as a giant tub.  Success!  Hiccup loved it!  I held her on my hip the whole time and she just watched the kids and splashed.  At one point I stood up in the shallow end to help Boo out of the pool and Hiccup actually started yelling at me.  I dropped back into the water and she was fine.  We had a ton of fun and it was a great way to wear the kids out.  Hiccup was asleep before we even left the parking lot and Crazy was asleep about 5 minutes later.  Boo actually made it all the way home without falling asleep but quickly crashed once she climbed in bed.  Our trip to the pool makes me excited for the summer!  I can't wait to go swimming again!

Happy 100th Day!

Today was the 100th day of school!  Crazy celebrated by making a necklace out of 100 Fruit Loops and eating a special 100th day snack.  The snack was made up of Skittles, mini marshmallows, Teddy Grahams, raisins, gummy bears, and mini pretzels.  The family project that was assigned was to make a poster with 100 of the same item.  We chose foam glitter stars.  I had originally fashioned a "100" out of the stars to show Crazy and he turned down the idea.  He told me he wanted rows of stars instead.  So we arranged the stars into 10 rows of 10.  Luckily we didn't get around to sticking them on the poster because the next day Crazy came home from school and said that he wanted the "100" shape after all.  It seems some of his friends turned in their projects early and they had made a "100".   My idea wasn't good enough but his friend's mommy's was.  Nice...  We had left over stars after we made the 100 so Crazy stuck the rest of them inside the zeros.  I thought it turned out pretty cute.  Now that we've made it to 100 days the rest will just breeze by!

Happy Birthday!

My sweet little boy is no longer a "little" boy anymore.  Today he turns 6 and I just can't think of him as little, and not just because it practically kills me to carry him up the stairs now.  He's changed so much this last year.  I can't wait to see how much he'll grow this year and I don't just mean physically.  Hubby couldn't be here for his birthday and I didn't hear any whining or complaints.  He understood that his dad had to leave on the ship and would be here with him if he could (that makes 3 out of 6 birthdays Hubby's missed).  He can be quite the little charmer when he wants to be.  Several times this year he's made me ridiculously flattering compliments out of the blue.  He bribes with love, "I'll give you infinity hugs and kisses if you'll...."  He's learning about respect, courtesy, discipline, and patience.  Nine times out of ten he'll hold the door open for me as well as for strangers.  When we were at the mall the other day he insisted on being the last person out of the crowded elevator because he was the only boy on it.  He helps me immensely with his baby sister and really comes through and helps with Boo when I need it.  If I'm sick and Hubby is gone, he doesn't complain or question me when I ask for help.  Instead he makes lunches for everyone, keeps his sister quiet, brings me water, and asks me if I need anything.  He definitely has his moments when he's tired and frustrated and he's on the brink of a major meltdown.  But those times occur a lot less than before.  I'm so proud of him and who he's becoming.  Happy, happy birthday to my little man!

Fun on the Beach

 Last night Sarah and EJ from PearlStuds invited us to their place for dinner and some fun on the beach.  We headed over after nap time and the kids had a lot of fun playing on the beach.  Not too far from Sarah's place is a playground on the beach and two big piles of sands.  The playground held Crazy's attention for approximately two minutes before he was off to conquer the sand mountains.  Boo had fun drawing in the sand and then running after her brother.

King of the mountain

Hiccup enjoying her feel of sand

"E" is for EJ

Night fell quickly and it started getting too cool for Hiccup so we headed in for dinner.  The 45 minutes we were out there was plenty of time to wear the kids out though.  On our way home Hiccup was asleep within minutes and the other two were asleep before the 20 minute trip back home was complete.  I don't think there is a better way of spending a Friday night while Hubby is away than with good food and even better friends!

The Man of the House

The other day we were driving back from picking up Boo from school and Crazy surprises me with this conversation:


Crazy:  "Now that Daddy is gone on the ship, I'm in charge of this house."
Me:  "Oh really?" (no sarcasm at all, promise!)
Crazy:  "Mommy, the first thing you need to do is take a nap."
Me:  "I think we'll get along just fine these next few weeks."


As nice as that was that he was thinking of me, it got a little old when he persisted in trying to send me to bed throughout the day.  I think he must of had an ulterior motive like eating a ton of junk food while playing the computer or Wii.  I have also heard him tell both Boo and I that he's in charge and we have to do what he says multiple times since Hubby left.  I think that I'll have to have Hubby explain to him exactly what "Man of the House" means in our family before the next time he leaves.