Apr 13, 2006

7:10 Drop off. For the first time in a very long time, Ariel was asleep. Yay!

7:15 I updated yesterday's blog with Seder pictures, make sure you check them out.

8:30 Adam found one of Ariel's pampers and is currently wearing a size 1 bert diaper. I asked what he wanted for breakfast, and he said, "Dinner. Beans." So I popped open a can of garbonzos. He only took a few bites, but I tried.

9:00 Ariel finally woke up, 3 oz bottle.

9:45 Left for the fabulous adventure of the day - the Aquarium with Grandma and Grannie Shirley.

10:15 Got to Grandma's house, picked up the ladies.

10:40 Got to the Aquarium. Jeremy would be proud, I found the free parking lot, and it wasn't any farther than the pay one. I also brought my good camera, hee hee.

Here's our group:


I love the otters. This one was jumping out of the water:


Uh... fish and birds and stuff:


The tunnel tank:


A cool looking fish:


Grandma, Grannie and Adam look at the big tank:


11:30 Ariel, who had been asleep in the car but woke up when we got to the aquarium, finally needed her bottle. I fed her as I tried to get the kids through the rest of the aquarium as quick as possible so they could have a snack.

Ariel after her bottle:


Adam would tell you, "BIG tur-tle!"


Jelly fish:


The shark tank:


By this point, an elementry school field trip had caught up to us and it was the worst noise I've ever heard. Hundreds if high pitches squealing voices in a small confined space. I wanted my chocolate martini back.

12:30 Left the Aquarium. I changed Ariel's diaper before I put her in the car (see, I learned a lesson yesterday). Since I hadn't forgotten my purse or keys, of course I had no Ariel diapers. She fits much better in a size 4 now.

12:50 Got to Grandma's house. We came in for a bit, and Ariel popped (last diaper of any size, no one had better poop again!). After she pooped, it was apparent she needed a nap, so I put her down.

1:15 Ariel asleep on Grandma's bed.

1:30 I got Adam asleep on Grannie's bed.

2:00 Wake up, bottle.

2:30 Hang out with Grannie time:


3:00 Adam woke up, and Ariel was getting cranky like she should still be asleep, so we left. Ariel did not sleep in the car, but she was quiet. Much more quiet than Alex, who was whining about his shirt sticking to his back.

3:30 Got home. Crissy had left a frantic message, she didn't know where I was. I said she could come over and play.

4:00 Crissy and Gavin arrive, luckily for Ariel who was still in her carseat wearing spit-up wet clothes. Crissy played with her and changed her and loved on her while I updated the blog.

Apr 12, 2006

7:00 Drop off

7:17 I started to put Ariel down for a nap. She really fought it again. She's really working on developing a cry that makes it sound like something is really really wrong and she's very pitiful, but I think she's just tired.

7:30 Finally asleep. Good for Adam, I don't think he could have waited a minutet longer for his pancakes.

8:15 Ariel woke up. I think Adam woke her up with his screaming, because I put his milk in a sippy cup and not a regular cup.

8:30 3 oz bottle

9:00 So here's my latest Ariel project. It's not too much, is it?



9:20 We walked to Starbucks. Adam started shouting coffee! before we even got into Safeway. And Dorothy the barista already knows my prefered summer drink, a java chip frappachino. Maybe I'll throw her off next time and order a mint chip one, I would hate to be predictable.

10:00 Got to the library for story time. Crissy and Gavin met us there too (and Crissy knew of my Starbucks plans and skipped, isn't she good?)

I was worried that Alex and Gavin might be trouble at storytime, but they were both great, listening to the substitute library lady the whole time.



10:45 Crissy was so excited Ariel was awake and she could play with here, then she fed her a 3 oz bottle.



11:15 We walked back home. On the way, we talked to a lady we had met a Starbucks last week. Alex wanted to know the name for the grape hycinthias she had growing in her yard.

12:00 Got home. Ariel was still sleeping and I tried to put Adam down for a nap, but it didn't take.

12:20 Gave up on Adam, Ariel awoke anyway.

12:45 Ariel back asleep in the bjorn.

12:50 Adam's weird clothes saga contiues. Since last week, he has refused to wear PJs, except when we were in Breckenridge and he wouldn't take his lizard jammies off. He's been picking out his own clothes for night and day (and was thisclose to wearing business casual last night), but he wants to change any chance he can get.



And moments later, hes was seen running around the house buck nekkid. I can only hope he remembers where the potty is, he did pee in it before bath last night.

1:16 I just realized that Ariel's diaper hadn't been changed, and she is leaking pee all over the bjorn and my shirt. But she's still sleeping, so I don't want to wake her. Sigh.

1:30 It was worse than I suspected, Ariel had pooped too. Double sigh.

But on the bright side, it looks like Ariel has a couple years use out of her new hat:



1:35 4 oz bottle

1:55 Ariel hung out in the exersaucer so I could shower. After the walk and being peed on, I was not feeling Seder-fresh.

2:30 Left to take Ariel to Becky's work.

3:00 Drop-off

3:45 Arrive at Grandma and Grandpa's house for the Passover Seder.

Grannie Shirley was so happy to see the boys:


Becky and Ariel (and Jeremy) arrived around 5:30


Alex checks out the Seder plate:


Grandma reads a blessing:


Adam:


Miss Ariel's new party hat:


Me and da boyz:


Alex:


Ariel's Daddy, The Carl:


Grandpa:


What Jeremy does at my parent's house:


Mmmmm, fingers!


Cousins:


Auntie Dee Dee:


Laura and the new boyfriend (who I just learned of) David:


7:45 On the way home, Jeremy dropped me off at the mall and I had a Mom's night out. I learned that there is nothing chocolate about a white chocolate martini, but it's still fun to drink.

11:30 Finally got home. Wow, what a night.

Apr 10, 2006

Good Morning, everyone. I hope you had a good weekend. Ours was pretty good. The boys and I went up to Breckenridge with Grammie. On Saturday I went snowboarding all by myself. It was perfect spring skiing conditions and I went until my legs gave out.

7:10 Drop off

7:30 Nap in bed

8:00 Since Ariel was still sleeping, I did a bit of cleaning. Adam helped with dusting, Alex had a "very important job" wiping wall spots with the magic eraser.

9:15 Tested out my camera set up again, I'm determined to get a good picture today. Here's the best of just the boys:



9:55 Crissy and Gavin got here, and Princess Ariel woke up.

Before she had to eat, we did a quick shoot. If Crissy wasn't here, I'd upload all the bad ones, they are pretty funny. Here's the best I got this time, not as good as Thursday.



10:15 Crissy fed Ariel a 3 oz bottle

10:45 Another try:





Becky, I think I'm leaning towards the last one, but I'll try a few more times today. I know Ariel's not at her best, but it's too darn hard to get all 3 looking good at the same time.

Alex and Gavin were playing very sweetly today. At one point, they were driving their toy car to the "library" (Alex's room) back to the dining room, where Alex would "read" Gavin the story they picked out. Yay, a game that doesn't involve yelling or shooting!

11:40 Crissy and I concocted a fabulous plan, though I'll give most of the credit to here. First, we all piled into my newly cleaned minivan and went to Taco Bell. Ah, sweet sweet Taco Bell.



Gavin and Alex enjoyed lunch and smooching bugs on the window all at the same time.



Crissy made a grocery list, for phase 2 of our fabulous plan:



Ariel was not impressed with The Bell, she slept through the whole spicey experience.

12:50 And Phase 2: Walmart



And a 4 oz bottle for Ariel too:



We went to the one by the mall, and I must say it was the least scary Walmart I've ever been to. I had to buy diapers and wipes and other staples like that, so I got a good deal. But Crissy was doing her whole shopping trip and I think that it may have been the longest trip to Walmart in the history of the world.

1:45 We got in line to check out.

1:50 Still in line. Thank goodness everyone was still behaving ok.

2:10 Finally got checked out.

2:40 Quick trip to the post off to mail in our obscene tax return. Crissy stayed in the car with the 4 kids, it made everything much easier.

2:45 Got home, had to unload 4 kids and a bunch of groceries.

3:00 3 oz bottle

3:30 Asleep in bjorn

Oh, and Becky, Crissy told me you left your purse at her house on Friday. How did you forget to mention that? How funny, a day after I wrote about all my purse losses. Ha ha, must be genetic (though I'm willing to be mom has never lost her purse).

3:45 So maybe you are disapointed with my triple shot. Maybe you think I could have done better. If so, I DARE you to try and take a decent picture of 3 kids. It's hard enough to get 2 kids looking un-freaky. Last fall, I actually had to cut and paste Adam's head from a different picture to get something worth printing. Here is but a small sampling of the out-takes.









4:00 Alex heard Zach through the window, so we had to wander over and see what they were doing. Zach was up in a tree, complete with a jump rope safety harness. He made some bird nests and he's hoping someone will move in. That Zach is always up to something.

4:15 Alex had a minor meltdown because Zach didn't want to come over and see his daffodils. Out of mommy-forced politeness, Zach and Josh finally did come over for a minute, long enough for Zach to swipe Alex's pliers, which led to another melt down.

4:30 Pick-up

Apr 6, 2006

7:10 Drop off. Ariel looked a bit disgruntled and drowsy, so I left her in the seat and put her in Adam's room and she went to sleep.

8:00 Woke up happy. Stayed in her seat and talked to everyone while I got Alex out the door for preschool.

8:30 Bottle.

8:55 Exosaucer while I made a few adjustments to Ariel's scrapbook.

9:20 Miss Crissy came over for our walk. It was so cute, Adam was to excited to see her and said "Crissy" perfectly for the first time.

9:30 Walk to Starbucks.

10:05 Got to Starbucks. I told them that I didn't get any java chips in my frappachino yesterday, and so the barista gave me one for free. But when I was drinking it, I realized that they ground the chips up more than other Starbucks, so maybe I did have chips yesterday. Hmmmmm. And Crissy, um, sorta had her caramel macchiato. She needed it :)

10:30 Crissy gave Ariel her bottle. Ariel spit up on the floor.

10:45 Walked back home.

11:15 Got home - Crissy had to go pick Gavin up from preschool, Adam was asleep in the stroller.

11:30 Update blog. Gee, I haven't taken any pictures yet today, so I'll have to share one from yesterday evening.

This is Alex's daffodil. He and Super Grammie planted the bulbs last fall, and he's been replanting them all winter. He's so proud of his flower, he's been telling everyone about it. On our walk yesterday, every daffodil he saw he would say, "Look, they have a daffodil just like ours."


My other Alex story - last week we talked about how a lot of people think Ariel is Alex's sister, but she's really his cousin. So now when he's playing, he'll say things like, "Daddy is the daddy penguin, Mommy is the mommy penguin, Adam and I are the baby penguins and Ariel is the cousin penguin." Pretty cute :)

11:45 Ariel woke up, (Adam is still sleeping). I have my camera set up so I can take the triple picture at a moment's notice, so Arel and I did a quick shoot:



12:15 Adam woke up and was cranky, so I decided to run an errand (and get him in the car where he would calm down) before we picked up Alex. We went to Mike's Camera to resolve a picture issue. On Monday, I got prints done there for a photo contest they are sponsering (you can see the pictures here). I can enter two pictures, but I wasn't sure which would look best printed out, so I printed all of them. When I picked them up, the windmill and lake looked the best, so I entered those. But I was really disapointed with the other two, especially the sunflower. So I had the sunflower reprinted at my usual place and they did a great job. So today I was going back to Mike's to have them reprint the Sunflower and Alex. They did, and the prints still looked horrible, so I asked for a refund. And the best part, while we were waiting, someone left their keys at the counter and it wasn't me, it was another woman with two kids. Sure, I had left for this errand without my wallet or phone (they were still in the stroller) and I had left my keys in the grocery cart already this week and this was the second time I forgot my wallet in two days - but it wasn't me this time!

1:00 Got to Alex's preschool and Ariel was starving, so I fed her while we picked him up.

1:30 Got home.

1:50 Ariel looked ready for a nap but was really hard to put down. She was really fighting it.

2:00 Asleep.

3:00 Crissy was going to take Gavin to the park, but the wind suddenly picked up, so she called to ask if she could come here instead. That way the boys could play outside, and we could stay inside and be warm.

I told Crissy about my key/wallet problem and she suggested I look into a purse. Well, I have a purse, and occasionally I use it. And then I loose it. A few years ago, I lost it at the grocery store. I knew that's where it must be, but when I went back to get it, they didn't have it. I had to cancel EVERYTHING. It was a pain. A few checks bounced, we had to change all our auto-billing. And then a few weeks later they called to say they had it, even though I checked with them at least 3 times. And then there was the time I left it on the plane. Or the few tens of times I've left it at restaurants. So I don't think a purse is the solution. What I need is pockets in all my pants, and lately I've been wearing my yoga pants with no pockets. That must be the problem. Maybe Mom can sew pockets in all my pocketless pants.

4:30 Becky got here, Ariel was still sleeping. She fed Ariel a bottle here, since she hadn't eaten since 1:00. Sawry.

Apr 5, 2006

I have put a lot of thought into moving to Arizona. Did you know they don't have daylight savings there? See, the kids are fine with this time change. They were already getting up with the sun. But I'm really struggling. I don't like getting up early. Wah!

7:00 Drop off.

7:25 Tried to put Ariel down for a nap. She didn't like that.

7:35 Bjorn, then asleep.

7:45 I put her down in her carseat and she stayed asleep.

8:08 Sweet Adam woke up. It was so nice and quiet this morning.

8:30 Wake up.



8:45 Bottle. She had two great dry burps in the middle of the bottle, but a huge spit-up(s) at the end.

9:15 We are off to have adventures. And I would guess that there will be Starbucks in there somewhere too.

9:20 Ok, we actually got out of the house. We walked to Starbucks (mocha frappachino - they forgot my java chips!) and Michael's (another picture frame for a project I'll explain later) and the library.

10:15 Storytime at the library. Alex sat the whole time, but Adam wandered a bit. At least he was quiet about it. And I actually picked out an adult book to read. It's from my new favorite genre, "chick lit." I'm so excited to read a book. And I'll have plenty of time, because Mr. Can't Work Netflix Jeremy didn't mail the last 2 disks we had finished days ago, so we have no tv.

11:00 Walked home. Ariel slept most of this adventure.

It's a beautiful day today (and I don't want to hear that it might snow this weekend). Here's the flatirons over scenic highway 36:


My children taking in and appreciating the view while I pushed their sorry butts 4 miles:


Adam is business casual today and I can't wait to tell Jeremy he picked it out all on his own. Sure, most days he brings me 2 shirts or his pajamas, but today he brought a full business casual outfit. Go Adam!

And more signs of spring, my crabapple is budding:


11:30 Got home, Ariel woke up.

11:45 Bottle.

After the bottle, and my kids' lunch, everyone seemed happy so I thought I would try my lastest picture request. Grannie Shirley would like an 8x10 of all three kids. Hopefully I won't have to resort to cropping and pasting heads like I had to do for the picture I sent last fall of Alex and Adam.

It was a short session, and not the last, but here are the best so far:







12:30 Photo shoot over, Ariel back in the bjorn, asleep.

1:00 I told the kids we could go outside, and Alex wanted to go in the front yard. As soon as Adam heard that, he asked about Zach. So I called Holly and they were home, so we went next door.

1:35 Ariel woke up, bottle.

2:00 I put Ariel down on a blanket, and she was happy for a long time. Here are some pictures I got:

Close, but not quite:


Ahhhhhhh!:


Upper mouse hole:


Zach:


Bike!:


Maybe Ariel will fall asleep?:


And Josh:


2:30 It was almost looking like it just might rain, and Ariel was done with the blanket, so she went in the Bjorn, and we went inside for a bit.

2:45 Josh and Zach wanted to read books and my boys were playing, so we went home to have a snack.

3:30 Kids watched Blue's Clues while I surfed the interweb and Ariel slept.

Oh, hey, here's a picture of the mini-scrapbook kit I secretly got from Michael's:











This book was kind of cheaply made, and I decided I could just make one (to give as a gift to Grannie Shirley). So here's what I put together:













4:20 Adam pooped, and was trying to take off his pants, so I had to put sleeping Ariel down so I could change his diaper before there was poop all over the house.

4:30 Becky arrived for this super fun time. Adam had been pulling on his pants and ended up peeing on them, so I took them off. He went in his room and got some more. And another shirt. And another shirt. And a few more. And demanded that he wear them all. At least count he was wearing 5, and couldn't put his arms down. He looks like he's wearing football pads. I could barely get a picture as he went in his room to get another pair of pants, which we found out was an even worse idea.