Spring is in the air

Just a reminder to anyone lucky enough to have a Rita's water ice close by...

Tomorrow is the first day of spring but more importantly it's free Rita's water ice day! Of course it's supposed to be the coldest day of the week, but the deMontaigne's will be there, freezing our butts off, getting our free water ice. And the fun thing is, we don't really like Rita's that much. We much prefer the italian water ice we can get year round at the pizza place down the street (and it's a closer walk). But free is free and we can't pass that up!

That's Ella getting all excited at the thought of free water ice. She's been bugging me to go to Rita's for weeks now. One day of warm weather and all of sudden she wants to get her swimming pool out and go to Rita's. The picture is right before going to church on Sunday all dressed up in the outfit that Matt picked out for her. I thought it was so cute I had to find an excuse to post it!

OK, now I need some input. It's almost Spring - so that gets me thinking about Spring cleaning! In theory I think it's a good idea. I imagine my house sparkling clean, smelling fresh with all the windows open and the stale air of winter being swept away by a spring breeze. The open window part is the most realistic thing. Sparkling clean, not so much. I have a hard enough time keeping up with regular straightening and laundry and cooking to think about deep cleaning. But it's something I've always wanted to do - and to do within a short period of time, not over a month or so.
So my questions are:

Do you spring clean?

When? How? What does is consist of? How long to do give yourself to do spring cleaning (a long day, a week?)? If you don't have time to really do a deep spring cleaning, what are some of the essential things you do do?

My problem probably lies in organizing and straightening - those two things seem to be my downfall and take up most of my time. I feel like most of my time is spent cleaning up the tornado left by my kids from mealtime and playtime. Now I have been getting Ella to help put her dishes away and help clean up toys, but it still doesn't change the fact that after I get everything put away I don't have time or energy to clean other than dusting or vacuuming (and not as often as I'd like either).

So share some secrets, tips, favorite cleaning product... whatever!

I'm thinking of asking some of my organizationally-gifted friends to maybe spend a day helping me go through some problem areas in the house. If I'm brave I'll post some before and after pictures. If you are one of those people blessed with organizational skills, please feel free to offer your services!!! In return I'm happy to cook you dinner, babysit your kids - whatever it takes!

Just some recent pictures of the kids!

Ella enjoying herself at a cooking birthday party. Happy 2nd Birthday Mackenzie!

Catherine enjoying herself outside on one of our nicer end of winter days.
Catherine holding her ears as Matt uses his band saw to cut something.

We've had some nice weather and are definitely ready for spring. On Wednesday it was 75 degrees and sunny out! It seems like a distant memory because we are currently in the midst of a ice/snow storm. Pretty yucky and messy out. Of course the deMontaigne's ventured out to Target this morning - we knew it was bad out because we were able to get a spot right up front .

It's been a long week. We all got sick at the end of last week and into the weekend. The yucky stomach flu kind. As I've noted before I hate this type of illness - it actually makes me feel very overwhelmed and depressed/anxious. I'm very glad it's passed, I just wish that I was able to deal with it better - its' part of life, but it's one part that I can't handle! Aside from all the seriously bad things that can happen like cancer and death and stuff. Not to make light of that - more to make fun of myself for freaking out about things that aren't a big deal in the big picture.

Well the kids are in bed and I think Matt and I are going to watch a movie - Casino Royale. Sorry for the rather dull post. Hopefully I'll come up with something more scintillating in the next few days!

I'm in my hometown of Clearfield for a few days, spending time with the kids visiting my parents. It's always a treat for them to visit Nama and Pap-Pap's house - filled with all of the toys I grew up playing with since my mom doesn't throw anything away. Currently she is bidding on Ebay for a vintage Fisher Price doll house family (from the 70's) so her set will be complete.

While we were here Ella got to go sled ridding for the first time down the little hill in my parent's back yard. She really loved and went up and down the hill for about a half hour straight. Catherine went to but didn't seem to enjoy it as much - she did look cute all bundled up though.

My mom got down a couple bins of old dress up clothes and costumes and Ella tried on everything! She rarely stands still long enough to get a good picture but I tried- I'll have to post some when I put them on my computer.

A few weeks ago Ella discovered a few of our old Disney movies - The Lion King (man the animation looks so old) and Toy Story and Toy Story 2. It's actually been fun watching these movies over and over and over again. It's a nice change from her previous favorite Madagascar, from which she was beginning to quote lines, such as "You're on the Jersey side of this cesspool." Seriously. After watching Toy Story 2 I heard her on one of her toy phones saying "hi big scary man, why'd you take Woody". So I do know that she's following the story even though some of the jokes are over her head. With the Lion King we have to fast forward 50% of it - Scar's Hitler inspired speech and the hyena's marching like Nazi's, Muffasa's death, the ending battle between Simba and Scar - actually makes for pretty short movie that way. But I swear when Simba climbs the mountain/rock to take his place as the rightful king I get tears in my eyes. I know it's sappy - but they just don't make 'em that way anymore.

I just saw that "they" are hoping to release Toy Story 3 in 2009. Wonder if they'll still have the original "cast"? Can't imagine anyone else doing the voice of Woody and Buzz.

We're heading back home tomorrow. I'm looking forward to seeing Matt and the result of his latest home improvement project - new windows! He put new windows in all our bedrooms (we had our main floor done a few years ago - he watched and learned and saved the money doing it himself this time around)! I am so excited at the thought of being able to open and close my windows on a whim. If you have old, practically painted shut, windows - you can relate to my excitement. We're also hoping it will cut down on the amount of stink bugs that get in our house. Matt is hopeful and I am skeptical because those things are persistent. I don't know if they are just in our area, but everyone with older house that aren't as air tight seem to get them.

Well if I try and type much more I'll probably end up not finishing this so I'll end here.....

Don't forget Daylight Savings Time this weekend!

When you know you're a dork....

There are times when it's just confirmed. This was one of them.

I have been taking Master's level classes in Biblical Counseling for hmmm...about 4 years now. It's kind of funny because people in my current class assumed that I was pretty far along in the program - which is far from the truth - it's been two years since my last class. But I'm at the point where I felt ready to get back into it and this class - Essential Qualities of a Biblical Counselor - is only 8 weeks long and involves self evaluation and writing rather than a book list so I figured I could handle that.

Anyway - the last hour of the class is spent in counseling. We are paired up with a person and we switch from week to week on who is the counselor and who is the counselee. Last week was my first time as the counselee and we were talking a bit about how I have become more of a worrier (sp?) and more anxious since I've been a mom. The conversation went like this....

Her: Do you know where it was said "All that I have feared has come to pass"?

Me (seriously): Oh yeah, wasn't that in the Lord of the Rings?

Her: No, it was Job.

Me (still serious): Well I'm pretty sure it was in the Lord of the Rings too!

Yeah, that pretty much clinched it.

Home again, home again

I got home Monday night from my longest trip away from the kids. I took the bus (man, that was an experience in itself, luckily I quickly connected with a 20 year old heading to visit her boyfriend in Penn State and had a traveling buddy the rest of the trip. She made my day when she was shocked that I was turning 30 - she thought I was her age!) to State College, met up with friends and journeyed on to Ohio the next morning. Funny thing was talking to Matt at one point and realized he knew nothing about my travel plans - only that I was leaving Thursday and going to Ohio - no clue that I was staying in State College and not getting there until Friday afternoon. If it were him traveling I would know every detail of his trip - him...not so much. We had a wonderful time - I think we seriously talked for three days straight. And of course enjoyed a relaxing day at the spa - in robes and slippers from 9-3! It's hard to believe it was a week ago - I'd been thinking about it for so long and now it's a week past already. It was such a great time to be away from all the responsibilities of everyday life and spend time with friends sharing our lives together. It was wonderful to come home though - Catherine didn't know what to think - took a few minutes before she came to see me. But Ella just sat in my lap and hugged and every so often would just touch my face and say momma. Very sweet...

We had a nice snow/ice storm Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. Everyone else stayed home from work on Wednesday but Matt only works a mile away so he had no excuse not to. Only time that's worked out to be a disadvantage!

Ella has been a royal terror lately - throwing some tantrums that have me convinced she's possessed. Long story short, we decided that it was time to finally take away her pacifier. I am pretty embarrassed to admit that at age three she still uses one. Only at naptime and nighttime. We originally said she would be done at three years old but somehow that got delayed (just by two months though!). These tantrums would result in her wanting to go up to her room and sneak her "nooky" - basically the only way she would calm down. We're hoping the elimination of the pacifier will help us deal with the tantrums. It felt good to make the decision and stick to it. Last night was her first night and she did alright - up a bit early, but that's too be expected. Naptime didn't happen - she got pretty sad and upset when I was attempting to get her ready to nap but we persevered through it and she went to bed no problem tonight. I've been dreading this for awhile now and I am just so happy that we did it. I'm sure we'll struggle a bit over the next week but so far so good!

Other news...

my usual (as usual as it gets with me) TV review -

Friday Night Lights has worked it's way into one of my favorite show - Matt got me hooked even when I was trying so hard not to watch another show. Just so so good - and this past week's epi was great - tackled issues of racisim in a pretty honest way.
The Office - better than last week's episode with too much over the top Michael. The bat story was funny - I like when all the lesser used characters get screen time - even if it's only a line or two. I loved Michael coming to see Pam at her art show - worked so perfectly after he told Ryan that being a manager was about inspiring people. Oh yeah - Kelly getting so excited about Ryan relocating closer to her was hilarious!
Greys Anatomy - I don't even know what to say. Wow -very intense. The question of the week is "Is she or isn't she?" I gotta admit that I loved the scene where Meredith saw Dylan (bomb squad guy) and Denny - two great surprises.

I did forget to let everyone know what a wonderful husband I have. He stayed at home with the kids from Thursday to Monday and didn't complain at all. In fact, he said that they had a good time. He did such a good job of it that I think perhaps I should go back to work and he can be a stay at home dad. Today he got some much deserved guy time away and went with his friend Jon to a Winterfest that was held nearby. There were alot of local breweries there and you were able to sample the different varieties that they offered. He's in bed already - poor boy isn't used to that much beer! :)

That's what's new in our household. I'm so happy it's mid-February - we're getting closer and closer to a Spring thaw! One more big snow storm and I'll be ready.....actually I'm ready with our without the snow....

Old friends....

I just realized that this is my 50th post. Woohoo! I'm still relatively new to this whole blogging world and still a bit fascinated by it. When I graduated from high school no one had cell phones, the internet was completely new. I remember being in college and having the internet and e-mail explained to me. It seemed so hard to comprehend and was such a luxury. Now it is my primary form of communication. I still have letters from friends at other schools and notes of encouragement that friends would put in each other's mailboxes. Now we send e-cards. As much as I like those notes and letters that we are able to pull out and reminisce with, not having to search for a stamp or an address certainly has helped me keep in touch with friends.

And cell phones. How much different would have those long distance relationships that many of us endured have been if we had unlimited nights and weekends?

Ok, not the point of this post at all. I really just wanted to say how interesting this blogging world is and is it something we could have even predicted we'd be doing 10 years ago? I love the way we reconnect with people from various stages of our lives and meet new people who've checked out our blog after seeing us post on another.

The fact that this is my 50th post and my interest in the blogging community were actually not what I intended to write about tonight. What is on my mind is that I am getting away. I am leaving my husband and two kids behind for an extended weekend away with my college friends to celebrate our 30th birthdays. I am NOT 30 yet! I will cling to my 20's until the last possibly moment which is still 5 months from now. Out of the nine of us that stay in touch, seven of us are turning 30 this year, with the other two just a few months behind. I've known all of these girls since I was 18 years old (one even longer - Shannon!) and we got to experience those life changing college years together. They all knew me before I was a wife and a mom and the mature woman that I am today. Pause for laughter....because you all know the mature part isn't true! We've laughed together, cried together, prayed together, studied together, slacked off together, pigged out together, play pranks together, ran together, fought and made up together, danced together, played sports together, cooked together, worshipped together, fallen short together - basically we've lived together. I've seen each one get married and met every baby (we're up to 11 with 3 on the way). It's amazing that we've been out of college for longer than we were in it and we've all stayed connected. Our time together in college was far from perfect. In fact I think all of us would agree that we did alot of dumb things (and I'm not even talking about the Miss Dairy pagent you (meaning not me!) all performed) and have grown greatly in our faith and as women since graduating. We've learned to be more honest, less afraid, more confident in who we are.

We meet as familes once a year over the summer but this is the first time in years that it's just us girls. We're crashing at Heidi's house and are enjoying time to hang out and spending all day Saturday being pampered at a spa. Matt asked me today what I was looking forward to the most - spending the day at the spa, hanging out with friends....or getting away from the kids. I can honestly say that going to the spa is exciting and I am really really looking forward to getting away from the kids (add another really in there), but the highlight is being together with these wonderful women. So to Shannon, Emily (we'll miss you California girl) Kate, Erin, Heidi, Cindy, Kerri, Karen - I love you guys!

PS - It's been a stressful few days as Catherine threw up yesterday and showed signs of the stomach bug. Perfect timing, I know. She's been fine today and we are just praying that it continues that way. I was panicked that Matt would get sick and I would have to stay home to take care of the kids. I would probably spend the weekend crying and depressed with the kids in front of the TV so we're all quite happy that he's still healthy. Keep him and the kids in your prayers - for continued health and a good few days without mom. I don't imagine I'll be posting again until late next week because I have a paper due for my new class (more on that sometime) when I get home and instead of working on it tonight I wrote this!

Megizzle....

Since I haven't been posting any pictures lately - I figured I would bombard you with a bunch. I'm sitting here watching Grey's Anatomy so I might be a bit distracted - oh no George is acting all weird - is he sick or is he regretting his impulsive marriage. Holy crap, they're all down....Ok hope that didn't spoil anything....
So they above picture is a shot of the cake I made the other night as a part of my cake decorating class. I missed a week so I was just concentrating on learning how to do the roses. I was pretty happy with how they turned out. I think I'm a bit ADD because I was supposed to put white dots on it and flowers along the border and I just felt like going home - so I did.

Here is Catherine looking stinkin' adorable. She's growing up so quickly!

Here are the kids all bundled up to go out in below zero (wind chill) weather. Catherine was waving hi to me as I took the picture!

And then Ella - one of the few pictures of her real smile, not her fake pirate smile (have I posted one of those? She is grimacing and has one eye kind of squinty - likes she's going "aaargggg"- that's often the face she makes when you ask her to smile. ).

So enough with the pictures. I did decide on Ella's preschool. A few days ago in fact, just now getting a chance to post. Interestingly enough, most of you advised going for the cheaper and closer one - which is what we ended up doing. I had basically decided on Lower Providence (the one we ended up picking) because of the money and the fact that when Catherine and Ella were both in preschool we could send the girls the same days rather than alternating and having no chill days as a family. But then at Bible study the next day I was told that in all likelihood FCA (the school located at the church where I do Bible study and the one that was a bit nicer) would offer a Pastor discount. Who knew?! So I found out that we could get a 25% discount making the price difference between the two $5/month. It was hard because I thought that God must be leading us towards FCA but as Matt and I continued to process and pray about it, we still felt that Lower Providence was a better choice for our family. In the end I feel like God gave me a gift because I felt like we were making a choice based primarily on money and I just get sick of having everything be about money. Sometimes I just don't want to have to worry about money. So even though it played a small factor (the $ went up a ton when you go 3days/week when they turn four) it wasn't the deciding factor and it made me more confident in the decision we made. So thank you God for Pastor's discounts! :)

Now you know more about picking a preschool than you ever wanted to. Thanks for adding your input.

On to something silly. I saw this posted on myspace and it just made me giggle. So even if you don't actually post it on your blog, I dare you to resist....

MY NINE NAMES

1. YOUR REAL NAME:Megan

2. YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (first 3 letters of real name plus izzle.)Megizzle

3. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (fav color and fav animal)Blue Dog

4. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, and current street Kathleen Second

5. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first

name, last 3 letters of mom's maiden name)Demmegil (seems more LOTR to me)

6. YOUR SUPERHERO NAME: (2nd favorite color, favorite drink).Green Cosmo

7. YOUR IRAQI NAME: (2nd letter of your first name, 3rd letter of your last name, any letter of your middle name, 2nd letter of your moms maiden name, 3rd letter of you dads middle name, 1st letter of a siblings first name, last letter of your moms middle name)Emkiwmn

8. YOUR WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mothers middle name)Jean

9. YOUR GOTH NAME: (black, and the name of one your pets]Black Goldie

Decisions, decisions....

I have a big decision looming before me. And it's one I have to make in the next day or two. Back in September when I put Ella on a few waiting lists for preschool I really didn't think we'd hear from all three of them. They all had waiting lists and are all quality programs. And September certainly isn't that early to get on a waiting lists. Some are said to have year plus long waits. I kind of figured that we had the best chance of getting into one that was really close and the best price and the others would be filled up. Of course all three schools would have a spot for Ella. We visited the first (cheapest, closest) earlier in the month and I was happy with what I saw and Ella was comfortable there. I figured our only dilemna would be, MWF or TR. That was enough of a decision for me and I thought about it for a week - while I'm thinking I hear from another school and we find out that Ella has the final spot for the three year old class - should we choose to accept! This one is more expensive, $35 more a month. I decide to take a tour just for the heck of it, in the back of mind thinking that it's not a good idea because I'll probably love it and have a tougher decision to make. What do ya know...I love it. I love the feel of it, the classroom layout, the structure, the curriculum. It's definitely nicer - but I'm not sure if it's worth the extra money. We could manage it for a year, but then when Catherine would start the following year that price difference would be even bigger. Each has its own advantages with scheduling, location, etc....but at this point it boils down to cost.

I guess my question is.....is it worth it and does it matter? Will our choice of a preschool really have that much of an impact on Ella and Catherine? A mom of four told me that when they get to kindergarten the teachers want kids that know how to listen and sit still and are acclimated to being in a classroom and with other kids. The rest doesn't really matter. Anyone agree with that? Ultimately I know there is no wrong decision. I'm sure the kids will do fine at either school (I forgot to add that the third was even more expensive than the 2nd and the furthest away = easy elimination!). Do we go the less expensive route and save money so we can invest in their education when they're older (i.e., all the classes and programs available to school age kids - because you know Ella will want to be a horseback rider! In her dreams..!)? Or are these formative years that important that we stretch ourselves to go to the more expensive school?

Ugh. Any wisdom from those that have been through this would be welcome. As well as from those who haven't and just have an opinion! As I said, I have to make a decision by Thursday at the latest, probably sooner than that. I'm sure you'll all be waiting on pins and needles to hear our pick!

Until then....please fill my comments with lots of advice or just tell me to suck it up and stop being so wishy washy. I promise I won't be offended. At least I won't be too offended. I mean, I probably will talk to you again....eventually!

In all seriousness, thanks for reading.....

She eats!

We had a minor miracle in our home this week. Ella, who is typically a fairly picky eater (mac 'n cheese, chicken nuggets, fruit, yogurt, breakfast food, pizza, grilled cheese - pretty basic, no veggies or "different" types of food) decided that she would partake of the lovely food that mom had prepared. Not once, not twice, but FOUR dinners this week, Ella ate exactly what I had prepared. I'm still a bit in shock over it. Dinner at our house is me making something for Matt and myself and then at the last minute going "oh man, what are the kids gonna eat." It's a mix of us liking to eat food that isn't always kid friendly (I know, I know....they need to get used to it) and me just not having the energy or the time to fight with her at the end of the day. We do occasionally, but many nights Matt or I am heading out the door for something and we just want to eat in peace. I know most of you are sighing and thinking that I really need to buckle down and make her eat what I cook. I just say "she'll come around" - and not really believing it.

But this week she ate pork chop dinner (potatoes, carrots and pork chops cooked in tomato soup and seasonings....I did fib a bit and tell her it was chicken!), Southwestern Chicken Soup - our favorite winter soup that is full of beans, corn, tomatoes, green chilies, and chicken - it's even a bit spicy, she ate Spinach-Tomato Pasta Toss (baby spinach, diced tomatoes with Italian seasoning, italian sausage and mozzarella cheese tossed with penne). I have to pause there and say that I came very close to getting out the camera and taking a picture of my daughter willingly eating green vegetables AND saying "yummy, this is delicious" at the same time. Last night she ate corn flake chicken (not a new thing), but stopped short of eating strawberry spinach salad. That was fine....more for me!

Tonight is taco salad. She's never eaten red meat so who knows how that will go over. I might be able to make a soft taco with everything but the meat....

In honor of Ella's eating I am going to post the recipe for the southwestern soup. This is so easy and so good. We usually end up freezing half of it and it's reheats nicely.

Southwestern Chicken Soup
2 cups chicken broth
2 lbs cooked chicken - cooked and cut into pieces
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
2 cans (16oz) stewed tomatoes
1 can corn
1 can (16oz) tomato juice
1 can chopped green chiles
1 pkg each of taco seasoning and ranch dressing mix

Mix together in large pot and cook on medium until warmed through. Top with monterey jack cheese.

I know the pkg seasoning mixes are high in sodium. There are low sodium taco mixes and you can always make your own. I'm sure there are recipes online. You can make this in the afternoon and let is heat up on low all day long or throw it together at the minute. Also, tostito chips are another good topper!
Enjoy


P.S. - In case you were wondering about Catherine, her dinner usually consists of cucumbers and apple sauce. In other words....she's worse than her sister. Sigh...

Mid month review....

Wow, it's been awhile. Sorry to those of you who happen to check in here and find that nothing is new - for two weeks! - it's been a long couple of weeks. The kids have had colds....which ended up progressing into a sinus infection (Ella) and ear infections (Catherine). Of course this all happens over the four day weekend that Matt is away at a Young Life camp. When he got home Monday night I was feeling a bit nutty and looking forward to a break and having another adult around as well. Unfortunately he collapsed on the couch and has been pretty much out of it since then. Yeah, since Monday. He did go to work a bit but would come home early, exhausted and spacey. So he's been pretty much living in the basement and sleeping a lot. I'll admit I was not very nice to him on Monday night/Tuesday morning. I think that's an understatement. Just a bit. He came home from being away for four days and collapsed on the couch without letting me know something was wrong. I understood it was a long weekend, but Ella had been sleeping with me for three relatively sleepless nights as she coughed so much I feared she would throw up (does this happen to anyone else's kids?). So I wasn't very nice and of course felt bad when I realized he was sick. He did say that he understood my frustrations since he was so out of it he didn't clue me into how he was feeling, leaving me to think he came home and was too tired to help out and give me a bit of relief. Basically a few seconds of communication and we would have avoided hours of frustration. That's something we work on all the time.

I spent alot of time at the computer this week- reading blogs, posting comments on some, but everytime I thought about adding something new I would just go into a daze and zone out. This is why I was never a successful journal keeper. I love writing and putting my thoughts out there but I think I'm a bit ADD and have a hard time staying focused unless I have a really specific topic. I think the best format for me would be to dictate my blog. That's it. I'll just record my thoughts..... and then I will absolutely never get around to typing them up! :)

What else is going on around here....

Well for starters I started this last night but didn't finish before the laptop ran out of juice and I'm just sitting down again. Matt's still sick. He's sick of being sick. Keep him in your prayers!

Another reason I didn't post this last night was that it was Thursday night! Until Veronica Mars comes back, Thursday is the only night that I watch TV - but of course there are three awesome shows on in an hour and a half period. Some highlights....

The Office - loved it! NBC has posted the director's cut on their website and it's definitely worth watching - Phyllis has a moment that made me laugh out loud as well as some other good scenes. I wish this show could be longer. Some of my favorite moments - the look Ryan gives the camera after adding the "accents" to the Mexican lemonade, Jim missing Dwight, Michael going to get Dwight at Staples and the music in the background (Love lifts us up...), Oscar talking to Angela as she walks away when Dwight walks in, and of course Jim's answer to Karen's question....and so many more....feel free to add your favorites....

Scrubs the musical - again, so funny. I was definitely laughing out loud the whole time. I was a bit distracted because Ella was having a hard time going to sleep so I'll have to rewatch it later.

Grey's Anatomy - really good episode, really hard to watch - many tears were shed. T.R. Knight (George) was my favorite in this one....

Ok, so I didn't plan on doing a tv recap....

In real life....

The kids are getting better, less coughing and nose running. Luckily they never get sick of being with me since it's been mom pretty much nonstop for about a week now. I've been trying to get out of the house as much as possible to give Matt time to rest without feeling guilty but I'm running out of options.

Our favorite new activity is finger painting in the tub. A friend in my MOTS group suggested it on Wednesday and we've already done it twice. The kids LOVE it - they paint on themselves, each other, the tub. After we're done painting I run the water and we clean everything -they even find that fun. Then we drain the bright blue-green paint water so they can get clean for real. Something is wrong with our tub drain so it takes forever for the water to drain - all in all this activity takes close to an hour!

Catherine is slowing starting to add some more understandable words. "All done" is her latest. She has this funny laugh-growl thing she does that cracks me up. Lately she really enjoys trying to put diapers on her baby dolls - just like her big sister. It's funny watching them interact. In some ways, Catherine is the ring leader. She often initiaties an activity that Ella will mimick or want to do as well. I think this is just an age thing - Ella would gladly direct all of Catherine's play but Catherine is all into being independent, whereas Ella loves playing with people.

I'm taking a cake decorating class. It's fun and I definitely have more to learn than I thought! After working with the icing so much and smelling it for hours on end, I have no desire to sample my own work.

Ok, I have to stop this randomness. I could go on and on about this and that and no one would ever get to the end. Sorry that I am not that great about updating things regularly or including pictures. I can recommend two blogs to go to if you're looking for some regular postings - especially on the area of motherhood and family stuff - Crafty Pumpkin (but Christina is having twins in a few months so catch her and all her quotes, fun tips and websites while you can!) and A Groove Slightly Transformed (Beth is a mom of four girls who spends alot of time processing life in a very honest way - good stuff to make you think!).

Thanks for checking in!

Missing Christmas....

Ok, so I didn't totally miss Christmas, but that's how it felt at the time when I was sitting on the stairs watching my kids unwrap their gifts from afar. I spent most of the day Christmas Eve and Christmas day in bed fighting the stomach flu. I say fighting, because I hate hate hate the stomach flu so much that I fight it and resist it until the bitter end. I really think I have a phobia to throwing up. Is there an official term for that? I have it. Maybe because I hardly ever do it so just the anticpation of it makes it worse than it is. Who knows...

Anyway - I didn't spend alot of time with the family over the actually day of Christmas. But we drove to my parents house later Christmas afternoon and after a little more rest I started feeling normal. Although it wasn't totally normal because I didn't want to eat alot which is unusual for me. Kind of convenient I guess. That feeling did go away towards the end of the week and I got to enjoy my mom's Christmas cookies and all the other tempting treats.

So I can't share too much about my kids' reaction to their gifts. Ella got a bike with training wheels, Catherine got a sit-n-spin (which she prefers standing on, fun fun...) they both got a little keyboard with a microphone (very funny to watch them "sing" into it- Catherine just does alot of heavy breathing), Ella got a desk from my parents where she can store all her art supplies and do all her art work. At the moment that's one of her favorite gifts.

It was nice having Christmas day at home. We've decided to try and stay home for the actual day of Christmas as much as possible. But we love seeing family so we pack up and head out pretty quickly for a week long Christmas tour. We headed to Clearfield for Christmas with the Koerber family, which was an event since we pretty much just celebrate Christmas and Christmas Eve all over again. After a few days there we head to Ellicott City for Christmas with the deMontaigne's. After about a week straight of presents I've had to keep reminding Ella that Christmas is over - until next year.

Ella really enjoyed playing with her cousins. Her and her cousin Isaac would head downstairs to the playroom at my parents and just play pretty peacefully until Ella decided she wanted Isaac's Thomas the Train all to herself. Yep, that's right. All the toys that she got from my parents and she wanted to play with Isaac's most prized gift. He was very sweet with her and quite generous but by the end of the visit he was starting to get frustrated. Ella understands sharing but she is only quick to apply it when she wants to play with other people's toys. When I would caution her about not giving a toy back to Isaac, she would respond "Mom, I'm just sharing it". Same thing when she would want to use Catherine's new shopping cart. But if Catherine tried to play with Ella's new toys that "kind" spirit of sharing totally disappeared and it became "That's MINE!". Anyway Catherine had fun trying to keep up with Ella and Isaac and got her first kiss from Isaac one night while they watched TV. I might try to post it because the look on her face is so funny.

While at Matt's parents house Ella got to spend an entire day with Hayden and Sophia -without mom and dad! It was nice for me to see that she was so comfortable with us leaving her with Matt's sister because we don't get to see them that often. Poor Catherine got stuck doing some after Christmas shopping with us!

We were gone for a week and we were all anxious to get home and actually enjoy our presents. Now I have to start going through their old toys and deciding what can be put away. I'm not sure which is a more daunting task, that or taking down the Christmas decorations.

My little bout with the flu aside, it was a really nice Christmas. Each year the kids understand more and more about what is going on and it makes it more exciting for me. One of my favorite things was watching home movies from Christmas' past. Waaaayyyyy past - some from when I was 12 years old! We got so many laughs out of it and a few tears as we got to see loved ones who have passed away (and even my old dog Broozer). It's made me realize how important and special it is to record those events - as annoying as it may be at the time (believe me, it was apparent that there were many times we were annoyed with video camera) it is definitely something I treasure having now.

I can't think of a graceful way to end this post other than....on to the New Year !! Hopefully I'll get some thoughts up about that soon!

One of those days

I know the day is far from over. But so far it's been one of those days. Not one of those days... but the good kind! I find myself most often sharing when the kids are frustrating me, driving me to tears, leading me to question being a stay at home mom. I figured a good day deserved as much attention!

Most of our days, one of them - Catherine or Ella - ends up being in a mood about something, having a tantrum, whining, getting hurt, not getting their way - and so on and so on. So while one is happy and playing nicely, the other is not. I find this to be the case most often - not all day long or even most of the day - but when they have meltdowns, it's usually not at the same time. Thank you Lord for that. But then there are the dreaded days when both are upset and crying and whining for an extended period of time at the same time. I had a day like that a few weeks ago and when Matt called to ask a question I just started crying. The kids were both crying and yelling about something and I just wanted to get dressed without someone pulling on my leg. He came home 20 minutes later - I was already going out to get a haircut so it was on the schedule, but he knew I needed a break was able to give me 20-30 minutes to compose myself before I had to go. Honestly - I thank God every day that not only is Matt able to do that, but he does it willingly. I try my best to make sure Catherine and Ella know what a wonderful father they have.

Ok, back on track here....
Today was one of those rare days when both children were happy and content (I think it's hard for a 1 year old who doesn't talk and is always wanting what her sister has to be content for too long) - not just for a little bit but from morning until naptime. To me that is amazing! Throw in a 2 1/2 hour trip to Ikea and I call it a miracle! I wasn't sure if I wanted to take both of them because when we go as a family it usually ends up with Ella running away from us in the Marketplace and then screaming because she wants another treat (sticky bun, ice cream cone - you name it, darn you Ikea for having pictures of everything so there is no mistake that you sell ice cream cones). That leads to revoking her TV time and then she is upset the entire car ride home. But before the meltdown, she loves playing in the ball pit and running around in the children's rooms and playing with the toys. Of course Catherine loves everything her sister loves so Ikea is really a great place for us to go.

Today the three of us walked- no cart, no stroller - all through Ikea, played, visited the bathroom via the baby care room (Ikea is so family friendly despite having tempting pictures of food and toys all over the place) ate lunch and perused the Marketplace all without a tantrum, without me yelling, without any tears and with lots of smiles. The Marketplace is the most dangerous part for us because 1. everyone is worn out by then 2. it's very easy for Ella to run off and get lost 3. it's very easy for me to get lost in the maze of glasses, rugs, candles, you name it..., and 4. the carts are so darn hard to operate -every time we go around a turn I have to practically run to the other side of the cart to avoid knocking over a display of some sort (can I get an AMEN on that - can anyone relate to how frustrating those carts are? I feel like I'm pushing the cart on ice). Today Ella decided, for I swear the 1st time since she could walk, that she wanted to ride in the cart and stayed there peacefully while I searched for and found the very random and specific piece of hardware we need to hang curtains, waited in a long line and finally made our way to the car. Catherine was starting to lose her patience by the end of the trip, but even that wasn't too bad.

For some reason Ella decided she wanted to watch her Thomas the Train DVD - she hasn't watched that in months. Of course when we got home I couldn't find it anywhere. For someone like Ella, little things like that tend to be her undoing. But in keeping with our day of happiness she agreed to watch Diego without fussing. And then they both napped, giving me the chance to accomplish all the important things I had to do today - like write this post!

So that's it. Just had to share that there are days that I love being a mom and often times I don't slow down enough to realize it. Thanks for listening...

edited to say....sorry for the all the typos and errors - I know it must have been painful to read! I tried to fix some that stood out but I'm sure there are plenty more....

Christmas Fun

Welcome to the 2006 Holiday Edition of Getting to Know Your Friends!

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot Chocolate - you know I'm not sure I've ever had egg nog. I'm sure I have but I really don't remember when - I am just pretty sure I don't like it.
2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? I haven't had much luck with the Santa thing with Ella thus far- she's a bit scared of him so we don't talk alot about Santa. She's getting a bike and we won't wrap that so I guess that will be from Santa. If she's not into Santa I won't force it - I guess this year will be telling.

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? White on the tree and house

4. Do you hang mistletoe? Don't have any

5. When do you put your decorations up? the sooner the better, but it's usually a process that begins after Thanksgiving.

6. Favorite dish? Our Christmas dinner was never real traditional for some reason. Every year my mom does something different so I don't have a favorite. But we always have the same thing for Christmas morning brunch - and my favorite is this yummy homemade cranberry coffee cake.

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child. I really can't pinpoint one moment. I remember waiting at the top of the steps every year with my brothers until we were allowed to come downstairs. It was such an exciting moment to come around the corner and see the stacks of gifts and have the tree all lit up and the Christmas music playing (same song every year, my fam was big on tradition!). That overall experience is a favorite memory.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? Don't remember. I think I played along for awhile because I like the idea of him more than I actually believed.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Currently - no. But growing up I exchanged gifts with my brothers. Even now when my family celebrates Christmas together the siblings and spouses exchange gifts the night before our "family Christmas".

10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? white lights, gold and deep red balls along with tons of ornaments I had growing up and then the wedding and baby ornaments we've collected over the years. I still have my baby's first Christmas ornaments!

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? I love the idea of it - it seems so fun to be snowbound. But practically speaking it's not very fun trying to get kids into the car without standing in piles of snow. Also, the Philly area is not really good with snow removal and driving in it. So I've become a nervous snow driver. All through high school and college I never thought twice about driving in snow storm. Of course I lived in central PA and went to school in Western PA. People didn't freak out about snow as much as they do here.

12. Can you ice skate? yes, but hardly ever get a chance to. If I could pick one snow sport it would be snowboarding - haven't been able to do that since I had Ella.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? I got a hope chest when I was a senior in college. Right before (weeks, not minutes) I got engaged. Pretty cool.

14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you? family and food, getting to give the gifts I bought people and getting Christmas cards and updates from friends and family.

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? I love my mom's Christmas cookies.

16. What tops your tree? Angel (from Target, nothing sentimental)

17. What is your favorite Christmas Song? O Holy Night, It Came Upon a Midnight Clear, Come Thou Long Expected Jesus

18. Candy Canes! Yuck or Yum? I guess yum - not super passionate either way.

I thought this was a fun holiday version of the email that gets sent around so often. It's always fun to share Christmas memories and traditions.....so (since this is the way I happened upon this one) ...if you're a blogger, consider yourself TAGGED and you're obligated (not really, it's just fun to do - I want to read your answers.) to copy this to your blog for your readers to play along!

To Run or not to Run

Which month of the year do think would be the worst time to start a new exercise regime? I'm betting you all answered emphatically and without having to give it alot of thought - December! I'm not sure why I decided to get back on the ball with exercising - I never really stopped, I just wasn't making it a priority - running once or twice a week. So of course I feel inspired to start working out five days a week two weeks ago. That is in the midst of all the baking and cooking and shopping and parties that make up the month of December. Not only is it a month with lots of temptations that make you feel like exercise is pointless, but there just is not alot of time. I've made it through two weeks and often I find myself excercising at 8:30 or 9:00 at night after the kids are asleep. I really don't want to. Take tonight for instance. We had a long weekend. My parents were in town for a few days and there was lots of shopping and running around. Saturday was Ella's little birthday party (I did squeak out some time to run in the afternoon) and then tonight we hosted a group from church at our home. I haven't been sleeping well lately (and Ella has randomly decided to come visit us in bed at night - anyone with experience with this - kind of frustrating) so I was tired this afternoon. I had a hard time staying awake during a very good sermon at church today. I just wanted to lay on the couch all afternoon and watch football in a daze. Of course that doesn't happen - Ella decides not to nap, I realize that the giant frozen lasagna I am planning on serving needs two hours to cook - and it's less than two hours until people will be arriving, and I remember that we never fully cleaned up from Ella's part the night before. So I got about a half hour of relaxing and alot of busyness. Fast forward to 8:15. The kids are in bed, the kitchen is clean - at this point all I have to do is run. Because if I don't run tonight I will have to exercise five days in a row and I like to take a break in the middle of the week. So I got on the computer and checked my email and fantasy football leagues. I played a game of free cell. A half hour later I trudged downstairs and watched a bit of the Sunday night football game with Matt until I finally got myself on the treadmill.

I'm not writing this to make myself look like this great and dedicated exerciser. I'm not. I have to exercise because I like to eat. Also I spend so much time complaining about how I look that I figure I need to do something about it. In January I am going to do something about the eating habits. I like the way I feel when I work out. I like the feeling after a good work out and the way my muscles feel. But I don't particularly enjoy the act of excercising. I really have to convince myself to run - and sometimes two minutes into I want to quit. On Tuesday nights I do a "bootcamp" video with a bunch of friends and even though I enjoy it I anticipate how I'll feel in the middle of a million squats and fun stuff like that I don't want to do it. Even when I was playing sports in high school and college and was in pretty good shape I really hated the conditioning runs. So what I wonder - does it ever get easier? I've always wondered if I exercised regularly long enough - would I become one of those people who loves to exercise and enjoys it so much that they can't imagine their day without a good 5 mile jog. Or when they are stressed they just to unwind with a run. I read about people like that in novels and I even know some. But not me. When I'm stressed I want to lay on the couch. Sure I feel good about running but if someone came up with way to bypass exercise to get that feeling I would be all for it.

For everyone who checks in with blog I would love some feedback. Are you a current excerciser who loves it or one who grins and bears it? If you love it, have you always or did it grow on you (basically are some of us always going to hate working out or is their hope?)? Also for those of you lapsed exercisers - why and for how long - do you ever plan to start again? And, for those of you who never work out and don't plan it - are you just super disciplined eaters? I have more luck doing the exercise thing than I do that the diet thing. My failed attempts at that are a whole other post. For now I would to hear from you!

Ella turns three!

Some pictures of the birthday girl - more below.....



The birthday girl at Chuck-E-Cheese


Catherine hanging with Barney



Matt was having alot of fun jet skiing. I think we need to come back on his birthday!


Ella had fun attempting to play air hockey with Kelly and Mackenzie

So today is Ella' birthday. She turned three. For the longest time I couldn't believe she was actually going to be three, but we've been anticipating this for so long that I'm pretty used to the idea. How do I describe Ella? It really depends on the day and her mood. That in itself should tell you something! She is highly emotional - whether happy, sad or mad - there is no mistaking how she feels. She is also very sociable. She loves to play and have people to play with. She's at an age where she'll go to someone's house and go off and play and I won't hear from her unless there's a problem. Ella also loves to interact with adults - she knows all my friend's names and loves the attention that she gets from them. She is full of love - she hugs me and tells me she loves me. Catherine also gets lots of hugs and kisses from Ella. In fact, Ella is very free with the hugs. I love the feeling of her little arms wrapped around my neck - not wanting to let go. She loves to cook. Helping me make breakfast is a must for her - whether cracking the eggs, pouring the milk, she is quick to inform me "I don't need you." In fact that is something we hear pretty frequently in regards to all areas of Ella's life. She loves to do everything on her own - except of course when I'm trying to get something done. She loves imaginary play and I often hear her talking to herself and her babies (anything from an actual baby doll or stuffed animal to her Little People). She loves to sing - if she is in a good mood she spends alot of time in the car singing. It's highly entertaining because it's usually to the tune of one of her favorite songs (Away in the Manger) but with her own lyrics -which are based on recent events in her life. I'm sure you can imagine! She loves to dance, she loves to draw, she loves to read. She loves her tv shows - so much so that we have to limit it greatly. I think the current favorite is Diego. She's taken to using some of the Spanish phrases she hears on the show in her every day conversation - in the correct context of course! She loves her special blankie and doggie. She loves macaroni and cheese, chicken nuggets and pancakes.

Those are the things that Ella loves - there are a lot of them. But there are many things she doesn't like. Most of the food I make, for instance. Not getting her own way is a biggie. Ella doesn't take anything lightly and little insignificant frustrations or issues become monumental with her. Not being able to have pancakes for breakfast for the third day in a row has the potential to really put a damper in our day. As does attempting to brush her hair. Or not having the right socks on. Or me not being able to wrap her up in a blanket the exact way that she wants. You catch my drift....I'm hoping it's just a stage that she'll grow out of. But from what I hear the three's are rougher than the two's. If so, I don't know if I'll make it! Overall she is a sweet, tenderhearted little girl who is also stubborn and strong willed. I think she gets the sweetness and tenderhearted qualities from me...I'm not sure about the stubborness and strong will.....? Just kidding! :)

For her birthday we took her to Chuck-E-Cheese - it was her first time and she had alot of fun. Of course getting there was tough. I prepared her that there would be a big mouse there (remember her fear of "characters"?). Not sure why I thought that would help things. After that was very much against going there so we told her we would go to another pizza place with games. I know, I know, not good to lie. The whole way there she would randomly say "I don't want to see the big mouse" and I would reassure her that we wouldn't. So we pulled up into the parking lot and she gasped "mom, this is Chuckecheesus!! (that's the way she would say it, almost sounded like ChuckeJesus)" How did she know? I think the giant mouse on the sign out front must have gave it away - I was suprised she put it together that quickly! We made it in without incident when I explained the the mouse was just like Mickey Mouse and that really made everything alright. So we spent a few fun hours playing and eating and of course not wanting to come home at the end. We're having a little party for her on Saturday - alot of her friends that she likes to play with can't come (that's what I get for not planning too far in advance and doing it the second weekend in Dec.). I feel a bit sad for her since this the first year that's she's been anticipating a party (or I probably would have just had a small family party). But I think presents and cake will make everything okay!

Thanks for taking the time to read my long tribute to Ella. For those that know her, know that she is a special little girl. I can't believe it's been three years!

Christmas Baking....

That's right, I've started my Christmas baking already. My mom always makes a variety of cookies at Christmas and gives them to neighbors, friends, etc...It's something I want to do and try to do - on a much smaller scale. But if I'm going to I need to get a good head start on the craziness of the holidays. So yesterday I made the dough for two different cookies and today I made my first batch of Christmas cookies. Of course my house, isn't clean, but a girl can only do so much!

These cookies are so good I had to share the recipe with them. I don't think the picture does them justice, but they consist of a yummy chocolate dough wrapped around an oh-so-irresistible Rollo lightly dipped in a chopped pecan sugar mixture (hence the white flaky things on top).

Caramel filled Chocolate Cookies

2 1/2 cups flour
3/4 c. unsweetended cocoa
1 tsp. baking soda
1 cup sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 c. butter, softened
2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1 cup chopped pecans
48 Rolo caramels (how can you resist cookies with Rolos in them?)

1 T sugar
Combine flour, cocoa, and baking soda -mix well. In large beat sugar, brown sugar, and butter until fluffy. Add vanilla and eggs; beat well. Add flour mixture; blend well. Stir in 1/2 cup pecans (I don't add them because Matt and I don't like nuts in cookies). Allow dough to chill. For each cookie, with floured hands, (oops forgot that part) shape about 1 Tbsp of dough around caramel candy, covering completely.

In a small combine remaining 1/2 cup pecans and 1 T sugar. Press one side of each cookie into the pecan mixture and place, nut side up, 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes, until set and slightly cracked.Cool 2 minutes, remove from cookie sheets and cool completely.

I first made them many years ago after a coworker of mine brought them into work. They were so good, and knowing that Matt loves anything caramel, I had to make them. But there was something in the directions that I added in bold that wasn't on the original recipe - Allow dough to chill. I didn't do this and basically spent an hour trying to make a dozen cookies - I had to scrape the dough off my hands it wouldn't stick to the caramel(I also used Kraft caramels and not Rolos, big mistake). It was so frustrating that I ended up throwing away half the dough. Gasp! So chilling the dough is an important part. Ok, sorry I have to make everything into a story. Again, I'll leave you with one final thing. Ella decided not to nap and therefore was helping me with the cookies. Her job was unwrapping the rolos and the she had to keep reaching to the back of the counter....

Is that not the cutest butt ever! Definite blackmail picture.

Back again

Oh man, it's been awhile since I've added a new post here. It's like when you have a friend that you want to call and catch up with and as time passes you have more and more to catch up on so you can't just make a quick call, but you need to find time to really talk and you keep putting it off until you find that perfect time. That how I feel when I blog. I'm catching up with friends and sharing my life so when I disappear for a few weeks it's hard to get started again because there's so much to say. We've had a busy few weeks. Lots of stuff that if I had the time or energy (the energy is key, because technically I had time) to share about while it was happening I would have been posting alot. Nothing life changing, just some funny kids stories that I've now forgotten, a really good conference that Matt and I attended (I just might post about that because I'm still processing it), some great episodes of my favorite tv shows (The Office and Grey's Anatomy were both great this week!) and questions about controlling the tantrums of a two year old.

I figured I just needed to put something out there- to break the ice, make the call. I'm recovering from a long weekend - we drove to Baltimore and back Saturday night. Matt and I went down for a surprise birthday party for his dad. It didn't start until 7pm so after driving in the dark for two hours I was tired when I got there. I was barely functioning on the drive home but forced myself to stay awake for Matt's sake (I know, you're thinking - how nice, but really I don't want to fall asleep and then have us wreck and die because he fell asleep too).

Matt isn't one for conversation in the car, he gets in a zone and drives. That's something we've worked through over the years because I like to talk. But he knows when we're driving late at night if he wants me to stay awak we have to talk. So last night we passed the time by talking about our Christmas wish lists as well as the kids. It's always a fun thing to do this time of year because both of our families ask for lists. I've had fun making a list for Ella. Half of it are things she tells me she wants (a broom, a guitar, a babydoll, a motorized car) and half of it are things I've decided she wants (Play Wonder kitchen and store from Target, a desk to draw and color at, dress up stuff). I remember getting excited as a kid to get the JC Penney or ToysRus Christmas catalogs to look through all the toys - I feel the same way now. I probably won't buy them that much but it's fun to try and find the best deal.

What do your kids want for Christmas? What are they getting? What do you want? Do you and your husband exchange Chistmas gifts? Matt and I say we don't (we just bought new windows for our entire upstairs, that's a Christmas gift in my mind) but he'll still buy me something so I'll get him something. We both love to give gifts and pick out things for people that we love. At this point we both buy for everyone in both of our families. It's always tight on the purse strings, but we don't buy birthday or anniversay gifts so this is the one time of year that I get to pick out clothing for my brothers (just kidding Mike, I wouldn't dare buy you clothes when you get them from my husband for free) or something fun for my sister in laws. How does your family do the gift thing? Name exchange, buy for the kids only, buy for everyone, only for your immediate family? I'd love to hear from you...

One last thing to leave you with. Tonight Ella was watching the Little Einsteins. They were on a mission to the pyramids in Egypt and they had to find the Great Sphinx. One of the characters asked us out in TV land if we could say "the Great Sphinx" - Ella of course tried her hardest and repeated "the Great Stinks" That was definitely my laugh for the night!

Halloween fun (con.)

Here are some pictures I tried to post withthe previous post. Sometimes Blogger just hates me. I always seem to have trouble with pictures and finding a format that I like. Half the time they don't show up after saying they've been uploaded. Much frustration. Anyway - above is Indian Princess Ella with lollipop. The one with all three of us isn't very good but it's the best we got. I wanted it to be Matt with them but Catherine won't sit still with him as long as I'm around - we tried it and she was just a black and red blur. All and all it was a nice Halloween. The weather was great - no need for creative bundling up - our neighborhood is small and we get a chance to talk to people we rarely see all year. Our night came to a sad end when Ella, while visiting friends a few minutes away, actually saw someone in a scary mask and was frightened to the point of trembling and begging to go home. I was surprised we made it that long!

Halloween fun

Here are the deMontaigne pumpkins. A bit blurry of a shot because it was hard to hold my camera still to get a night shot with both kids climbing on me!










My chunky monkey Catherine was a lady bug. I was suprised that she didn't complain at all about having the little hat thingy on - maybe that will become her winter hat because I've never had luck getting her to keep anything on her head!

She had a lot of fun grabbing candy out of the bowl and putting it in her pumpkin. The nice thing about this age is that they enjoy the moment while it lasts, but forget about it the next morning. Which means, no candy battles. Not so with Ella. She beat me downstairs the
next morning and was already into a lollipop.
That's why I don't have the greatest shots of Ella. She got into our candy bowl and snagged a lollipop. I had a hard time getting it out of her mouth for pictures. Ella was an Indian Princess. I know, I know - it's not very politically correctI guess we could have called her Pocohontas or a Native American. But then she wouldn't have been able to say she was a princess. Plus, it's only one day - I doubt she'll go around talking about being an Indian Princess (again I don't think it's a big deal, but I did have people correct me and say - you mean, a Native American Princess - perhaps in jest, but who knows). But, of course I'm wrong. Last night we was playing with her friend, a little boy her age who had dressed up as Spiderman for Halloween. They were running around and jumping off the couches (which I allow as long as they aren't jumping on Catherine- I tend to like high energy play) and her friend would yell - "I'm spiderman" - and take a flying leap. Ella of course, not to be outdone would yell "I'm Indian Princess"! I tried to convince her she could be wonder woman or cat woman but she was intent on being Ella the Indian Princess. So she made up a new super hero. Not sure what her super power is. Any thoughts? I don't think we'll make it on "Who wants to be a Superhero" with that one.

Flyin' Away

Ok, I have problems with inappropriate laughter. I tend to laugh at things that would be funny if you watched them in a movie, but aren't funny when they are happening to you or a friend in real life. I've laughed in pretty much every unacceptable situation - not because I'm so overcome with emotion and it just emerges as laughter. No, it's because usually in the middle of some type of nonfunny event something strikes me as funny. Maybe it wouldn't be that funny normally, but when you aren't supposed to laugh, or perhaps it's something that is a bit off color and you don't want people to realize that your mind is in the gutter (happens more often to me than I'd like to admit) - that is when I tend towards uncontrollable laughter. I'm talking tears in the eyes laughter. I would share some of those stories but it would take too long and I think they are usually better told in person.

I brought this up because of a little incident today that had me thinking - "what kind of mom am I to laugh at that?" I didn't think about it for too long because Matt was laughing as well and together we both can't be that bad! Actually just picturing it makes me start laughing again. Just a warning - like I said before, funny stories are usually funnier when told in person and I am not that good of a writer to do it justice - but I'll try. Set the bar low....

As we left church today Ella was clutching her precious bag of pretzels that she got after much begging and pleading from the vending machine (we meet in a YMCA and have to deal with the temptations offered in the vending machines outside our worship room). We were late to church so our car was parked pretty far away and Ella was walking along behind Matt and Catherine and I was about 20 feet behind them. Ella tripped on a speed bump and fell (no I didn't laugh at that - what kind of person do you think I am!?). She started to cry - understandably. The pretzels fell on the ground - not sure if which fall, the pretzels or hers, made her cry more. Matt stopped to help her and I tried to catch up. A big gust of wind (I'm talking big...) swept up and the pretzels and the bag start flying everywhere. This upset Ella more so she got up and started running after them. I was impressed and in that split second I thought "wow, Ella is running fast!". What I didn't realize until a second later was that, no Ella did not develop lightening fast speed, but the wind was so strong and so fast that it was making her practically fly - right into the side of a car about 8 feet in front of her. There it is. I laughed to the point of tears because my daughter ran/flew into a car. It was one of the times I wish I had a video camera somehow permamentally connected to my eyes. Ella was completely fine - upset about the pretzels and wanting the wind to go away, but she wasn't scarred by her parents' laughter.

Anyone else have the tendency to laugh when you shouldn't? Willing to share? Post it on your blog or leave a comment - we all need some laughs on a Monday morning!

The Carvers

Tonight we had some good quality family time. We've had a busy week so I thought it would be nice to have a relaxing evening at home. Dinner, not takeout or leftovers or PB&J, but something I had actually cooked tonight. Of course that was just for Matt and me, the kids just ate chicken nuggets! After dinner we carved pumpkins and baked Halloween cookies. Sounds lovely, doesn't it? What it looked like was this....

Ella was so worked up she couldn't sit still during dinner. She galloped back and forth between the kitchen and the family room all excited about a project that her and Matt had been working on earlier. I was barely able to get her to sit and eat. Catherine was fine, she decided she liked ketchup and spent most of the meal dipping and licking - probably a ratio of 10 dips to one nugget. After Ella shoved a few nuggets in her mouth we went outside to "pick" her pumpkin out of the four lined up on the porch. Of course, she wanted the biggest one. Matt was a little sad because he wanted the biggest one. But he agreed to share it with her. So we got all set up at the kitchen table and after cutting the top off, prepared to scoop. I had the video camera going to catch Ella's first time cleaning out a pumpkin. It was eventful. I think she touched one seed. We were able to get her to put her hand in the pumpkin to find a piece of candy we hid. Then she wanted to use a spoon - she said the pumpkin was yucky and cold. I don't know where she gets that. I am not a wuss around her. I regularly kill the dreaded stink bugs that prowl around her room without flinching (me, not the bugs - I imagine they might flinch a bit when I squash them) and only freak out when one lands on me (who wouldn't?). I clean up the gross messes that inevitably come with having young kids. Matt actually does all of the above and deals with the worst of the worst (no need to mention). But for some reason Ella can't help scoop out a pumpkin - too icky for her.

That pretty much ended her pumpkin experience. The next 1/2 hour or so was Matt trying to carve the pumpkin while I was trying to distract Ella by involving her in cookie making. The cookie making which was peeling the pre-cut cookie dough off the little sheet of dough and plopping it on a baking sheet. I thought something that easy would be doable with Ella - but I didn't count on Catherine hanging on me, trying to poke her head through my knees and waiting until I look down at her and say "hello!!!" (she laughs hysterically at this) - it made the whole balance thing a bit more difficult. So our family night ended up being different than I thought. I'm not sure why I thought cookies and pumpkin carving would be great activities to a 3 year old and one year old.

Oh, and after Matt carved his pumpkin and wasn't happy with the results, I decided to give it a try. It's been years since I've carved a pumpkin and started to regret my design after a bit, but it worked Tonight I'll get a picture of both pumpkins and you can guess who did which one and which one is better!

Update: I didn't get a chance to post this until Sunday and I still don't have a picture - it's been a busy weekend. I worked a catering job yesterday and didn't get home until 2:30am. As I was guzzling diet Coke at 12:30am to stay alert I kept reminding myself, Christmas money, Christmas money! Needless to say, I haven't gotten outside to get pumpkin pictures....

Just pics

I love how most people post pictures that go along with their blogs, but I just can never get it together so I figure I'll try and post new pictures every week - just because I like them - no funny story to go along with them.


This is Ella after getting into my makeup. I told her to repeat after me "I don't need makeup, I don't need makeup"...until you're old like mommy!








On a hayride at Merrymead Farm.














The look on her face just cracks me up.









Catherine got a chance to snuggle on the couch with Ella's doggy - probably one of maybe three times she's ever gotten to touch Ella's favorite stuffed animal. Only lasted about 30 seconds before Ella but a stop to it!

Stay tuned for more pictures next week!

There and Back Again...

No, we didn't go dragon slaying or on any big adventure like that, but we did make our way to Grove City College (mine and Matt's alma mater) for the first time in probably five years. We made the trip to Clearfield on Friday - it always seems to take forever because we usually take a long break for lunch (never intended to be long, but ends up like that - even at McDonalds or Wendy's). We left early the next morning for GCC, leaving the kids behind with my mom and dad because it was supposed to be cold and we figured they would have more fun staying back. Oh, but we almost didn't go at all. Friday night my mom went to the emergency room with some severe back/side pain that she described as "worse than labor". She went through three completely natural births, two of those being breech, and still claims that labor wasn't that bad. So her pain threshhold is highly respected amongst our family and we didn't doubt that something must be wrong. When she went to the hospital (because it was Friday night and her doctor wasn't around) we weren't sure if she would have to stay or not. If she did, we wouldn't subject my dad to the pure joy of watching both Ella and Catherine alone. We were debating taking one of the kids and leaving the other behind so that Matt and I could still play in our lacrosse and soccer alumni games. Basically we ended by being up very late that night waiting to hear what was going on with my mom before we decided. It ended up that she had a very severe UTI and was able to come with some medicine.

So thankfully she was fine and we were able to go with no problem. It was weird to be one of the oldest people playing in the alumni soccer game because I don't feel old at all. I just felt like the girls on the team just look young. Did I look that young in college? Probably. We hadn't been back to GCC since they have built a new student union center, new classrooms and apartments. In some ways it felt so normal to be there but when we visited the newer areas it felt like a totally different campus - no memories of these places, not what I picture when I remember college. It was neat and the new buildings are beautiful and really add to the campus. I can't go back and show my kids where Matt and I would talk between classes before we started dating. I can't go back and sit in the booth at the Gee and remember all the ice cream I used to eat for under a buck. So even though the changes are an improvement I felt a little sad.

I tried to add these pictures to the previous post but it just wouldn't work. Figured it's been awhile since I've posted any pictures of the girls.
This picture they are partaking in their favorite snack - the cheese stick! I love how they sat next to each other on their own - no prompting from mom or dad.








Here is Catherine, so happy that she could get into the grocery bags, find an apple, get it out of the bag and start chomping. I didn't realize until later that she took a tiny bit out of every apple. That's definitely something she learned from Ella.









My messy eater. Often times her food doubles as hair gel. It works suprisingly well!



We went on a hayride today and enjoyed some fall activities - hopefully I'll post some of those pictures later today, tonight, tomorrow....sometime!

Hodge-Podge

It's been awhile since I put any wise and thoughtful words out into the blog world. And it will be awhile longer. On my mind now are just random thoughts and stories

Microderm abrasion -
My mother in law bought me this cool little home microderm abrasion set. You pop this little spongy thingy on to little plastic thingamabob (looks like a electric razor without any razor) and dip the sponge in this gritty cream stuff (you would think I would know more about the things I'm putting on my face) push the on button and circulate it gently on your face. Good stuff. Last night I used it for the second time. It felt a little different than the time before. Not so soft - in fact it kind of hurt my forehead and afterwards my face was a little red. I tried to pop the sponge off to wash it and it wouldn't come off - I pulled and twisted and it wouldn't budge. Wanna know why? Because I hadn't bothered to attach the sponge at all - I just rubbed a gritty piece of plastic on my face - I can't wait to see how that helps diminish the appearance of fine lines and give my skin a radiant glow!

Doggie doo-doo-
Our dog Goldie runs away all the time. This is a newer development - she used to be very good with boundaries and we never needed a leash. Now she is always on a leash which has become quite a pain for us. It takes her so long to go to the bathroom and she never pees and poops in the same trip. Noooo....she milks as many trips out of it as she can. Today it was raining and Matt took her outside for the second time - about 10 minutes of running back and forth and sniffing and circling - nothing. She wanted to go back outside a few minutes after coming back in. We made her wait to make sure she really had to go. But again, nothing. Keep in mind it's cold and rainy and not fun for any of us to be outside with the dog. An hour and a half later I took the dog outside again. Goldie goes crazy - jumping around, whining, etc - when she needs to go out, so much so that you can't ignore it (plus she's been peeing in the basement, so we really don't ignore her). Yet it's been two hours and she still has not pooped! Again with the running back and forth and sniffing until finally.....success! As Goldie is squatting (sorry TMI) I look up and Matt, Ella and Catherine are all standing on the couch (not Matt, he can see out the window without standing) waving and cheering her on. Has any dog had such a celebrated poo?! I doubt it....

I can't believe I spent so much time writing about my dog.

My kids....
Everyone is healthy again except Catherine's nose is still runny so we follow her around with tissues. She still prefers crawling but stands on her own alot and talks lots of steps. I keep thinking that walking will make her less clingy so I keep praying she gets the hang of it soon. She is the biggest mama's girl ever. Even more so than Ella (perhaps my memory is a bit fuzzy though). Catherine would rather crawl on me, snuggle, give me kisses and be held than play with our toys. Cute, but it does get a bit old. In the last few weeks she started this growly like laugh that Matt and I love. Imagine a "hahaha" but with a growl to it. She has also become a very picky eater, and I don't know how to work with that at this age. I offer her all sorts of things and she isn't interested. Any ideas? We do lots of PB&J, macaroni and cheese, eggs, oatmeal, grilled cheese, any kind of fruit imagineable, avocado. That might be it. She's a jealous little girl - I think it goes along with the whole mama's girl thing. She gets upset when Matt hugs me or snuggles up to me, which he does often just to torment her. If Ella is in my lap (usually because she saw Catherine crawling over to me and ran over and beat her to it...sisterly love at 2 1/2 is something else) Catherine will crawl up onto my lap as well and then try to push Ella away. But she is doing so well when I have to leave her in nurseries for church and Bible study. Such a relief to know she's not screaming while I'm gone.

Ella. I could probably do a separate post on her. What's new with her? Her latest obsession is the movie Madagascar. We watch parts of it twice a day - it is the only thing she ever wants to watch. I really like the movie but I can barely stand to watch it anymore. She gets so excited about it - we have to skip over a few scary scenes - she always laughs when Alex the lion bites Marty the zebra on the butt. Great. The things she says are so funny - becoming very expressive - when I ask if she did something it's "yup, I sure did." Unfortunately that's not often the answer to "did you put your books away" but instead "Did you rub shampoo all over your clothes?". One of her favorite little things is the clean plate dance that Matt will do with her when she eats all her food. No one but Matt can do the clean plate dance. Great bonding time for daddy and daughter. Bedtime prayers are a trip. When I ask who she wants to pray for she thinks that she needs to say her name first. Sometimes she'll go through a list of people and then say "wait I forgot to say Ella first" and then start over. She always prays for Goldie and Pokey (my parent's dog). It goes like this - without fail- "...and Pokey and Goldie...they don't have hands...they have paws....so they can walk." I have no idea where that came from. But she says it every night- now without pausing - just a long run-on thought. Also she had an ear infection a few weeks ago and had to go on antibiotics - you know the bright pink kind! Most kids don't like medicine and parents have to fight to get them to take it. Not my Ella. She loves her pink medicine. She rubs her tummy in delight after she takes it and usually asks for it a couple of times a day. "No, Ella, you cannot have more medicine" Somehow I never anticipated saying that.

I could go on and on and I already have. So that's all for now.

Sick and tired...

...of being sick and tired. I live in a sick house. Matt was sick a week and a half ago - then the kids got it. The typical runny nose, sore throat, stuffy head thing. It hits all of us differently. Both the kids have been tired and taking long naps but then waking early in the morning (the last few days we've gotten back to our 8am wake up call). I've been feeling it since Tuesday. Sinus pressure, swollen glands, stuffed up nose. It hasn't been that bad except I still don't feel better and it's been a good five days. I'm used to one or two rough days and then waking up and feeling much better. I'm hopeful that tomorrow will be the day.

Of course I didn't get around to posting this until Monday - I started it on Sunday. Thankfully today I am feeling better. Not up to running yet, but I'll get there.

Also, an update....last Tuesday I decided to get up at 7am and do some stuff around the house before the kids got up. I actually felt good getting up - I always do better when I decide to get out of bed, rather than being forced to by my kids. But throughout the day I started feeling worse and worse and ended up being sick for a week. Hmmm....any connection???? Perhaps I will hold off on those early mornings for the sake of my health :) Seriously, I enjoyed getting up (It was just once I know) and once I start sleeping well again I think I'll start doing it a couple times a week. We'll see how it goes.

So I haven't been blogging much because I haven't had the energy and now I have to go work on my Bible study for tomorrow so my other thoughts will have to wait.