Jan. 15, 2007

Happy Monday everyone. We had a relaxed weekend. On Saturday we took the boys to the museum to see Blue Planet on IMAX. We also looked at their space odyssey exhibit (again for Alex) and the dinosaurs). Then Adam puked all over his bed Saturday night (and super daddy came to the rescue) so we ditched our swimming plans on Sunday. But it turns out Adam had just found an old cup of milk in his bed and he is fine.

7:00 Drop off. And for the record, Jeremy did wake me up at 6:30 but I forgot to get up. So I was in my jammies.

7:15 Breakfast - apricot mush and waffles.

8:30 Nap. And I finally showered.

9:30 Wake up. I was very excited to try out the new tutu I made this weekend. What do you think? It was no-sew, just tying length of tulle to an elastic waist, but it still took all of Talledaga Nights (not recommended) to finish it.











10:00 Changed a poopy - Ariel seems very constipated :(

11:00 Quick snack/lunch. Ariel had green mush and cheerios.

11:30 Finally ready for our adventure of the day - the Stockshow. Now, I've lived in Colorado for 32 years, and have never been to the Stockshow. I thought it might be fun to check out. I also managed to rope Grandpa into coming (and he's 62 and has never been either).

12:15 Get to Stockshow. Grandpa is shocked at the $10 parking. Quote - "What is this, California?"

12:30 While waiting in line, a man gives us free admission tickets, saving us $24. I think that more than makes up for the $10 parking.

1:00 We wander aimlessly around the giant complex grounds trying to find the Super Dogs venue.

1:30 After going through 3 building and asking at least that many people for directions, we found the Super Dogs, only to learn that the show was sold out. Much despair all around, especially for Alex.

1:45 After much more wandering, we find the petting zoo. Alex refuses, saying that the animals stink too much. Adam was game though:

Adam's version of the petting zoo was quietly giving each animal a gentle pat on the rump. Ariel was in the sling (she was in the sling all day while Grandpa pushed Adam in the stroller) and she liked looking at the animals.



This mama-goat being sat on by a baby goat reminded me of my life:



Grandpa and Ariel:



Anyway, the Stockshow was very boring. Though we did see the cleanest cows EVER, that was worth something. Next year we will have to buy our Super Dog tickets in advanced, or maybe even see the rodeo (yes dad, I know you will not be joining us for a rodeo).

3:00 Dropped Grandpa off at home, and since everyone was awake we came in for a snack. Ariel had a piece of toast, yogurt and some oj flavored water.

3:55 Left for home.

4:20 Got home just as Becky was arriving to pick Ariel up.

Jan. 12, 2007

Just so you know, it's cold as heck here. The high today is under 10 degrees. Not fun. But, the foot of snow that was predicted is so far only a couple of inches. Enough that Jeremy had to shovel, but not so much to prevent our trash from not being picked up again. We hope.

7:15 Drop off. Breakfast - blueberry mush and waffles

7:45 Nap

8:30 Jeremy discovered that it was so cold that his car wouldn't start. So he had to take mine, and he took Alex to preschool.

9:00 Ariel woke up.

9:30 Snack - veggie booty.

10:00 Nap

12:00 Wake up, lunch. Sweet potato mush and mac & cheese.

It is a boring day today. I'm not sure I needed to go anywhere today than my usual picking up Alex and getting fish for dinner. But the simple fact that I can't makes me really want to leave the house. And it's not like we can walk anywhere, the ground is coated in ice and remember, it's 9 deg.

I have gotten boring house stuff done like washing the towels, the bathroom rugs, mopping the kitchen and bathroom floor, taking down most of the holiday decorations and making challah.

So, here are some pictures.

Adam meowing on top of the cat's scratching post:



Adam really wanted me to take a picture of him running:



Ariel showing her mastery of The Step:



Ariel laughing at Adam running:



Ariel playing with a toy:



Ariel saying "hi" to the baby in the mirror:



1:00 Normally I, or someone, would have to pick up Alex from school. But Jeremy had a meeting and I, as you remember, have no car, so Alex stayed at school for enrichment. Enrichment is an extra two hours of school that they try to make more exciting sounding than "after school care" so they have different themes every day. Friday is Hebrew day, we'll see if Alex comes home fluent.

2:15 Back down for a nap

2:30 Still bored. Adam is behind the futon playing with a Leap Frog toy that I recently put new batteries in. So here's a black and white conversion for your viewing pleasure:

3:30 Jeremy and Alex got home. Then Jeremy went back to work.



4:00 Pick up. Here's Becky:



And again:



And tonight, trying to be artsy with our Shabbat dinner:

Jan. 10, 2007

7:00 Drop off. Becky asked if my being dressed and wearing make up was part of a New Year's resolution. The answer is no. My resolution is to be more organized. I'm trying the Greg G. method to organization, every night I write a to-do list of what I need to do the next day. I write what load of laundry I'm going to do and what I'm going to cook for dinner. And for good measure I also write that I'm going to get up and shower. So far it's working, even though Jeremy woke me up at 6:48 instead of 6:30.

7:10 Breakfast - apricot mush and hot cereal.

7:45 Nap

9:00 Talked to Crissy on the phone.

9:50 Wake up, change a poopy.

10:10 Left for library story time.

10:15 Storytime - it was much nicer this week, not crowded at all. Ariel didn't pay attention, but she liked climbing up and down the sofa. And Crissy, we saw Sherry at the library and she asked about you. She's asked Samuel if he wants to call Marcus, but Samuel is waiting for Marcus to call him first, so I thought I'd pass that along.

11:15 After storytime I returned some kid videos I had rented from Blockbuster for blizzard #2. Apparently that was a long time ago because yesterday I got an automated call from Blockbuster letting me know that I've kept the videos long enough that I must really like them and if I choose to keep them longer then they will be happy to bill me for them. So much for the end of late fees.

11:30 Home - lunch. Ariel had green mush, string cheese and cheerios.

11:45 My Creative Memories friend Margaret came over to give me an album I ordered. FYI, I'm not a consultant anymore, I have to order like the rest of the masses. But I heartly recommend Margaret, she's very sweet AND she's outside of city limits so her sales tax is half of mine.

I'm so glad Ariel wore her new boots today. Becky said she freaked out every other time she tried to put them on Ariel. I told this to Jeremy, and he said, "I can see why, it looks like she stepped in some poodle." I'm still cracking up over that, lol. And did I mention that they were my Hanukah present to her, along with the tights? My, but I have good taste.








12:35 Left to pick up Alex from preschool. Adam and Ariel fell asleep in the car.

1:00 Pick up Alex.

1:30 Got home. Both babies were still asleep. Adam transfered to the couch but Ariel did not.

2:00 Snack - homemade chocolate chip pumpkin bread that I made last night for preschool snack. See, my new found organizational skills are already paying off. Usually I remember snack just as Jeremy is leaving and he has to go pick up string cheese and pretzels on the way to school. Ariel gave the bread two thumbs up

3:00 Adam woke up. It's good he napped, he got up at 5:45 this morning.

And I kid you not, today we got an invitation to a birthday party on MARCH 6th. March! I'm still trying to organize Alex's party. I think we'll have his preschool class over and then a separate family party. All space-themed, of course. I took this picture for his invitations.



4:00 Changed another poopy.

4:30 Pick up.

Jan. 9, 2007

So you may have been wondering where I've been. Ariel did not come today because Becky could not go into work because the highway was shut down due to 100 mph gusts of wind. Note to nature - wind is NOT better than snow.

Anyway, I hope you had a better weekend that I did. First, the boys were supposed to go to Grammie's house, but we couldn't do that because of snow storm #3. So I got my parents to watch the boys Saturday so we could go skiing. Jeremy and I drove up there, only to find out it was closed due to wind. AND we had gotten free lift tickets through Jeremy's work. So then I tried to be productive and went to Target to buy a toy organizer for Adam's room. On the way home, I got on the highway, only to end up backing up the on-ramp because the highway was shut down due to a 25 car pile up. Sunday, my photo-shoot person canceled. So we decided to go swimming and we got to the pool and they had a wait list because a life guard didn't show up. So we had to wait a while while the kids got to see the pool through the very large glass windows and see all the other kids having fun. Swimming went well, for a while anyway. Then Adam threw a fit because we wouldn't let him go down the big slide into the 5ft deep pool by himself. Then I took a free beginning ballet class in the afternoon, which was fun but I can't do a regular class due to scheduling.

7:00 Drop off - Breakfast - apples and blueberries and waffles.

7:45 Changed a poopy.

8:00 Left for stroller class in time to get gas on the way.

8:30 Super fun stroller class. Both the boys were acting up. Blah.

10:45 Got home and ate clearance Target chocolate until I felt better. Ariel took a nap.

11:00 Shower.

12:00 Ariel woke up. Lunch - sweet potatoes, string cheese and pita bread.

12:30 Changed a poopy.

Ok, now for some pictures. I had been complaining to Crissy that my house was not big enough for both boys to have toys in there rooms. Crissy though that if I moved the crib, I would have room and by golly she was right. So here is what Adam's room has looked like for the last two years:



And now:



Then:



Now - Ariel's little nursery corner:



And here's Adam's new quilt that he got from Grammie for Christmas:



Now all Adam's room needs is a truck-themed picture above the bed and real curtains instead of an old sheet.

Moving all these toys out of Alex's room made it a lot less cluttered, and now he can actually work on his train table:



And I forgot to say, I did manage to get my hair cut this weekend. It was cuter the day it was done and styled and flipped up. Unfortunately, she used a curling iron when styling, something I have not owned since the 1st Bush administration in the heyday of my high school big hair. And look at me, I've been wearing make-up this year. Crazy.



One of the toys I pulled out of Alex's room was this ball roller. Ariel really liked it, even though she can only reach the second from the bottom ramp:







2:00 Went to go get new tires. I tried last week, but they were out of my funny size. The next day (Friday, day of snow) they had said they got them in, but in fact they hadn't even ordered them. So I got to drive in the snow for nothing on my bald, slippery tires. But today they really had them. While the tires were being installed, we walked over to Safeway and the kids enjoyed some Jamba Juice and free cookies. I skipped Starbucks for a breakfast panini, which turned out to be an error in judgment.

3:30 On the way home, we picked up my contacts, ordered on Dec. 30th to use up the $200 of flex spending that somehow was not used up yet. The boys really liked playing with their legos, just like the ones at home.

4:00 Home.

4:15 Changed another poopy.

4:30 Pick-up.

Jan. 4, 2007

7:05 Drop off. Once again, I had successfully gotten up at or around 6:30

7:10 Breakfast - apricot mush and hot cereal.

7:40 Changed a poopy.

8:15 Left for stroller class.

8:30 Stroller class. I let the boys take their strollers so we had a slow moving day. I meant to take a picture but I was too busy trying to keep all my kids together and stay with the class. I did get this picture right before class started of all the kids. Actually, I think we are missing a couple here.



10:00 After class, a few of us went to Starbucks. I also got two Cinnabons, one for the boys to split and one for Ariel and I. I didn't feel like I earned it through my workout, but it sure was tasty.

11:00 We went to the once a month mall gig. There was a children's concert, but we spent most of it in line for balloon animals. Both boys got airplanes, which popped before we even got home. I also ran into Mandy et al, who I haven't seen in quite a while.

12:00 A very tired Ariel fell asleep in the sling for 10 minutes.

12:45 Finally got home. Ariel did not sleep in the car, so we had lunch. She had mushed peas and string cheese.

1:00 Ariel took a nap. I took a shower.

3:00 Got my camera out. This picture is supposed to by blurry on the face and sharp on the toes, I was being creative.


Adam did not want his toes shot.



Alex only let me on the condition that I take a picture of Miss Abby (aka Filthy Filthy Smelly Beast), which we promptly printed and put in his photo album.



3:15 Ariel woke up. I tried to stage these pictures and while they didn't come out exactly like what I was trying to get, they are pretty cute.





3:30 Cheerios snack.

4:00 Ariel vs. The Stair.

The one stair in our house has been a major source of contention with Ariel. Since one requires crawling abilities of some sort to mount a step, Ariel has been continually thwarted. She gets down in the family room, then screams at me when she can't get up. So today I put a bit of a Hersey Kiss at the top and let her work it out. The video I didn't get is much funnier, there was a lot of screaming involved. This video is the second Kiss, you can see that once she figured it out it was no big deal.



4:30 Pick up.

Jan. 3, 2007

7:15 Drop off. I think Becky was quite surprised to see me dressed, showered AND make-upped. Pretty fancy.

7:20 Breakfast - apricot mush and waffles.

8:00 Changed a poopy.

8:30 Nap

10:00 Woke up Ariel to go to library story time. It was overly crowded today, but Adam sat in the front very intently. Ariel just sat on my lap.

Here's Adam afterwards, looking at books on his own:



And Ariel making a squooshy-smiley face:



11:00 After story time we drove by Crissy's old house (sob) to see how it it was doing.

a) The large trash piles seems to have mostly been picked up:



b) The Goodwill pile on the porch has not, but that might be because a truck could not get up the driveway:



c) And the mailbox was empty so the missing Netflixs must be somewhere else.

Next, I picked up some pictures (my 2006 album is done!) and dropped off a box of old pots and pans at the Goodwill van.

11:45 Came back home for lunch. Ariel had green mixed veggie mush and a quesadilla.

12:15 Changed another poopy.

12:35 Left to pick up Alex from preschool.

1:15 After pick-up, we stopped at Safeway and got Jamba Juice for the kids (Ariel loved hers, I've corrupted her, muhahahaha!) and Starbucks for me.



1:45 Stopped at the tire store to see if we could get new tires. They did not have the right size, so we had to order some.

2:30 Got home, Ariel fell asleep in the car, transfered to the crib.

3:15 Ariel woke up.

3:30 Snack of Mighty Bites, banana and milk.

3:45 Mail came! That may not sound very exciting, but when you've only gotten mail twice in the last week, it is an event.

4:30 Pick up.

Jan. 2, 2007

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone is doing well. You may have noticed I started slacking a bit with the blogging, but that is a thing of 2006-past. Now I have to make my blogs exciting again for Crissy, who is safely in Maryland (but who will not have internet for a bit yet). And, I guess for Becky, who is still stuck with reading them.

We had a nice vacation. Jeremy and I went to Breckenridge the weekend before Christmas and had a very lovely mini-vacation. There were no lift lines and the snow was decent. I made Jeremy take a video of me snowboarding for Alex. It's not very exciting. I'm the one of the left, see how much better I am that that guy on the right?



And if that wasn't exciting enough, here is Jeremy skiing. I think this video is pretty funny because Jeremy is an excellent skier and this is the bottom of a very flat blue run, which hardly shows off his skills. But Alex doesn't know that, right? And Jeremy would be the black spec on the right:



And here are some more pictures from out vacation (including Gavin's sleepover the night before we left for vacation):

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wendyspictures/sets/72157594455264202/

And here are pictures from the various blizzards we suffered through:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wendyspictures/sets/72157594431816552/

7:00 Drop off. Ariel was happy to see us and didn't miss a beat with the drop off. For breakfast she had apples and blueberries and 5 mini waffles.

7:45 Ariel did not want to take a nap. And since I made it a goal to get to stroller class and on time, I didn't force the issue. And I changed a poopy diaper.

8:15 Left for stroller class. I even made a point to drop our Netflix off at the post office, though I later found out (thanks Crissy) that there is no mail today.

8:30 Stroller class. Nice and hard today. We ran 4 laps, which is probably about 2 miles. Sadly, we couldn't run up the escalators as they were already turned on.

10:00 After class, we stopped by Bath and Body works to check out their sale. I found a few discounted shower gels and a new candle.

10:30 Left the mall. Ariel fell asleep in the car.

11:00 Got home. Ariel napped, the boys watched Little Einsteins (thanks for the lead on that show, Toni!) and I took a shower. I even put make up on.

12:00 Ariel woke up and had lunch. She had sweet potatoes, string cheese and Mighty Bites cereal (thanks again, Toni). The rest of us had bean soup and melted cheddar on Triscuits, my new official lunch.

1:00 Took some pictures.

Here's Ariel in the very silly new hat I knitted:



Alex and Ariel were playing "tug the fishing poles" together. Ariel thought it was pretty fun:



And then I took a picture of myself. I don't think you can tell I'm wearing makeup:



And looking at that picture reminded me that I've never properly complained about my finger. See?



About 2 months ago I slammed it between two car doors. It hurt. Really bad. For at least a week. And this is what is looks like now. See the part near the cuticle where it's not black? That's because the nail is gone and the old blood has washed out in the shower. Nice, huh? And it's quite the conversation starter. Perfect strangers (and family members alike) told me that I should have poked a hole in my nail (with a drill, paper clip or needle) so the blood could drain. Obviously I didn't know that, but I will keep it in mind for future slammed nails. I'm thinking of buying a box of Hello Kitty bandaids and just putting one over my nail every day for the next 6 months, but that would make typing hard.

And here's Alex, who in a rare moment of being caught off guard allowed me to take his picture:



And little Adam "can you see me?"



2:00 Then we did some art.

This is Ariel's first work, mixed media of crayon and pencil:



Adam's bold work, mixed media of marker and crayon:



And Alex, who spends more time mixing paint/markers/crayons than actually drawing. Though he did draw the big dipper in there somewhere:



2:25 Changed a poopy diaper.

2:30 Ariel and I played a game of "you will nap better if you are laying down."

4:15 Wake up

4:30 Pick up.