New Years Eve

Apparently the Kiddo’s vacation week (no school) equals a vacation week for me (no posting)… sorry, I should have realized that would happen and warned you (just in case you were checking in daily). Monday we should be back to a more normal posting schedule.

I should introduce you to the Kiddos newest pet. His name is Tear (as in, and I quote, “there are no tears, not even tiny ones”). Tear is a bumblebee pillow pet, and the Kiddo loves him. He lugs him around everywhere.

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And he flattens him out so he can sleep with him every night, bringing him out with him in the morning to keep him company during his pre breakfast resting (on the couch or in my lap)

He saw them in Target a few months back when we went shopping for a mattress pad for his bed. Then, of course, there were the commercials and ads in toy magazines... Suffice to say he’s been asking for one for awhile, and I kept telling him no because the last thing he needed was another stuffed anything on his bed. But then the Man blabbed about it and so his sister and her husband got one for the Kiddo... and I will admit to being okay with it, he really does love the silly thing, and it IS a bit cute.

As for the rest of life. Well there’s not much going on besides the snow storm, (8.5 inches when I stuck a ruler in it to measure yesterday afternoon). The Kiddo and the Dog are going crazy being cooped up inside but I can’t handle less then 17 degrees and am not willing to take them out more then I have too. I'm debating making the Kiddo come with me to the grocery store today just so he gets OUT and gets a little exercise.

Tonight is New Years Eve. I think I’ll plan dinner early and that I will buy a box of crackers and some ez cheese for him for our after dinner party snacks. If I plan it right he can still go to bed by 10 (or earlier!!) but get the feel of a special evening. We’ll see if I can pull it off.

I hope whatever you all have planned to celebrate tonight that it’s a little more exciting, or equally relaxing.

Christmas AAR*

After giving him his shot the kiddo and I snuggled up on the couch Christmas evening taking one last look at all his presents under the tree.

I asked him, “Kiddo what is your favorite present?” He said “um I don’t have one, I like them all” I thought maybe it was just so late he couldn’t remember so I said “well you really liked the tramp, and the dragon, or maybe the noisy drawing table thing..”. He said “I DO like the tramp, it’s so cool… but I also like all of them, I don’t have a favorite because I love them all!!”

I wonder what he’d say if I asked him today (two days later). Anyway, now that it IS two days later I better get off my butt and post a blog with a few videos and pictures…

Santa filled the Kiddos stocking full of goodies, an apple, clementine, animal crackers, candy cane, box of fruit....

He also gave him the Astro Boy movie he asked Santa for along with an Astro Boy action figure. (under the tree was another gift from Santa with the Astro Boy playstation game and another action figure).

He really loves the mini trampoline. I haven’t talked to my folks yet so I don’t know if they like that they bought it for him but I do!! Every time he starts to get antsy I send him to jump, there’s a game on there that is like freeze jump (jump till the voice tell you to freeze, then wait till it tells you to go again) and that’s his favorite. There’s another that counts how many times you jump, I challenge him every time to get at least a hundred, he usually gets about 60 before pausing.

You can tell by the video of him unwrapping Auntie D’s gift how much he loves it. I hope she makes her husband watch the video (since she said it was HIS idea to give it to him) because the Kiddo adores the thing.

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He lugged it around all day on Christmas, to the point of taking it to the inlaws and flying it outside while he played tag with his cousins. I kind of wish I’d taken the video camera for that, it was really funny.

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Note the shirt he’s wearing. Uncle T sent that to us from Korea (along with a few other fun things, toys etc). The Kiddo really likes it, granted it’s about two sizes to big for him but to him that’s part of what makes it cool!! It’ll be awhile before he outgrows it.

Uncle P sent him a Crayola sound studio. You put a paper on the top and color it, and you can set certain sounds to play when you press different parts of the screen.

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I don’t think he knew what it all did when he first opened it, he thought it was really cool that it was for art projects (he really loves doing art stuff) and he had a tiny idea that it made sounds but he didn’t’ realize he could make the sounds go WITH the picture.

Anyway it was fun, and hectic, and the Kiddo made out like a bandit. A little birdie told me that there's a gift on it's way from Auntie Ph so the Kiddo gets a little extension on the gifting excitement. There was even something under the tree for the whole family...

I cannot WAIT to use it... I remember when I was younger, on birthday, helping to turn the crank on my moms ice cream maker... I remember sitting on the porch step licking ice cream off the paddle too. I can now share that with the Kiddo, and I'm really happy about it.

I hope you all had a great Christmas, and that the Christmas wind down is going well... only a few more days and we'll be past New Years and done with the major holiday stuff. Next up, Kiddos Birthday!!

Merry Christmas

Christmas Eve was a lot of fun for the Kiddo (and us), we went over to the Mans sisters house around 4 and spent several hours hanging out eating cookies and relaxing. Somewhere in the middle we gave each other gifts and the Kiddo made out like a bandit with his Grandparents (the Mans folks) giving him a Leapfrog Explorer hand held game system, his Aunt and Uncle (the Mans sister and husband) giving him a bumblebee pillow pet, and his cousins giving him a truck and walking transformer toy. I didn’t take pictures (ahem, oops) but will take a few tomorrow so you can see him with those gifts.

We finally got back home around 8:30, just enough time to get the Kiddo unwound before hanging stockings and tucking him into bed at 9. He was really worn out from all the activity and out like a light so by 9:30 we felt comfortable starting the Christmas eve prep.

Stockings were filled…

And presents were quickly wrapped and placed under the tree…

The hard part was on the Man who was tasked with building the mini trampoline. See every year the Kiddos Grannie and Grampie (my parents) send him Christmas money. And every year we put our heads together trying to think of something really great to buy him from them. This year we really didn’t have any ideas until I saw a random target super sale ad. They had a mini indoor trampoline at a great sale price (with free shipping)…

We thought of how often we yell at the kiddo to stop running around… how often he gets so tense he can’t stop shifting… how much he looooves to jump on the couch/bed/chair/etc. And we decided that Grannie and Grampie would probably approve.

At any rate it is now 12:33am Christmas morning and the Man and I are bone tired… But we are patting each other on the back for jobs well done, and thanking ourselves for having the foresight to put the fear of God into the Kiddo should he dare exit his room prior to 8am. And we’re really looking forward to seeing the look on his face when he sees all the wonderful things waiting for him under his Christmas tree.

I hope all of you have had an amazing Christmas morning, and that you have (had) a relaxing Christmas day full of Love and laughter and joy… that you know how much you are missed and how full our hearts are with thoughts of you on this special day.

Merry Christmas

Last Day–Christmas Eve…

I can’t believe that with all the days that the Kiddo has been in school I STILL have to wrap every single one of his presents. Not that there are that many (we tend to do things the way my folks did Christmas, two gifts is good… and then, you know, Santa usually brings two as well). Anyway I still need to wrap (tonight), and then I will take pictures of the stockings hung with care and the tree filled with gifts.. I’ll blog it, and I’ll have an email letter ready to send to my Grandma first thing in the morning. I couldn’t think of what to send her for a gift but I thought a few emails this week filled with festive pictures would be good, so that’s what I’ve done… I hope they bring her a bit of the kiddo’s joy.

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Aaaaanyway yesterday evening we decorated cookies. Gingerbread men got clothing, and sugar cookies gooey’d... Yes, I’m awful, I bought green icing, I made white, and I gave the kid regular size and mini M&M’s, jelly beans, marshmallows, and red and green sprinkles.

I did about half the cookies, there was no way he was going to maintain focus long enough to decorated them all himself. I think he had fun doing them though and he really loved the gingerbread men. I’m counting the whole experience/activity as a win!!

Crazy times ten

The Kiddo has been nuts this week. I expected a little excess excitement, but the total lack of focus, and the tense energy he’s throwing out are about ten times worse then I could have imagined. I can’t even get him to sit and focus through a single writing of the alphabet (let alone our usual daily TWO writings). I gave up on it by Tuesday, we haven’t done any writing practice since then. And I break up his reading time into little five minute chunks of random reading (ie hey kiddo read this card to me type stuff).

In class on Tuesday the Kiddo made a Christmas Tree. I really LOVE how Mrs S had them make them, sooo easy and cute. I’m thinking about hitting the store for some ice cream cones so he can make a few trees to go on the cookie plates we’re giving the inlaws this year. I think he’d have fun with it, and I know his cousins would like them.

Wednesday was his last day of school this week. They had “pajama day” and he got to wear his flannels to school. It cracked me up seeing him in jammies, tennis shoes, coat and back pack. He loved it.

We’re down to the wire today.. tomorrow is Christmas Eve. I’m not sure if I’m ready!! I’ve got a lot of wrapping still to do.

On the plus side the fudge is made (yum), the moose tracks ice cream bread is made (yum), the oatmeal and m&m cookies are made (yum)… all that’s left is to have the Kiddo ice the sugar cookies and gingerbread men and put together the cookie plates.

I hope your holiday prep is going as smoothly (if not more so) then mine!

Holiday Cookies

I know I've mentioned in some of my previous posts that The Kiddo is really excited about Christmas this year. Over the past few years he sort of knew it was coming but he didn't really seem to remember what had happened the last year so wasn't anticipating what was going to happen. This year he's five, very nearly six, and he remembers last year so he's really wound up.

He has only three days of school this week, and Wednesday is a short day for him. I think that's when we're going to start our Christmas cookie baking. Usually I make about four different kinds of cookies, BUT because he's going to be helping this year I think I'll stick to actually making only two... We're going to make oatmeal cookies with red and green m&m's. We're also going to make snickers fudge. Then I'm going to buy (yeah I know, awful lazy me) some ginger bread boys from the bakery next door and let him ice them any way he wants. I'm tossing around the idea of snicker doodles too but I'm not sure how hard the fudge is going to be (I don't have a candy thermometer so at the very least it'll be a little tricky). If the fudge and everything else goes smoothly enough I might take my butt back to the store and buy the ingredients for Oreo cookie balls, I think they sound really yummy and they are fun looking (plus the recipe makes them sound extremely easy to make)













Anyway that's my plan for the next few days. Try not to let The Kiddo's bouncing off the walls drive me so nuts that I permanently lock him in his room. And hopefully get some cookies made.

December: Note to self...

Dear self... if you want stamps within the next two to three days get off your butt, go to the post office, and buy them!!! It is NOT worth "saving yourself the hour wait" to order them online. Why? Because even though the postal service web site says they will ship your stamps priority, they wont actually SHIP them for several days, which means you'll GET them an entire week after you ordered them. Which, just in case you weren't paying attention, is not the two to three days you wanted them by.

So, in summery... if you choose to be lazy, your Christmas cards* will NOT go out an entire week and a half before Christmas and you will be one very unhappy person. AND every time you check the mail and see no stamps you'll get crankier... which doesn't help if you're already fighting the Grinch.

* The good news is that I had a few stamps laying around so was able to mail all the "distant" people their cards last Wednesday. Both my Grandma's will get their cards any day now.. it's just everybody else that will have to deal with typical me lateness.

Dessert

Yesterday the Kiddo pretty much inhaled his dinner. I don’t normally see him eat that fast and wondered out loud to the Man a couple times about whether maybe he was growing again. After he finished eating dinner he cleared his plate and glass off the table, and stated loudly that he should now get a treat because he ate so well. I told him that was an okay idea, thinking maybe he’d hit the fridge for a candy cane kiss but instead he decided he would like some rainbow sherbet.

He ran to his room and got his step stool, stretched and strained to reach deep enough into the freezer to grab the sherbet container.

Then he got a bowl, a spoon, a serving spoon, and set the microwave timer for 15 minutes (so it could thaw). After that it was serve, put away, and eat. My kid is pretty good I gotta say.

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The man and I made him figure out how to do the entire thing by himself. It took him two tries to place the step stool in a spot where he could duck under the freezer door AND reach far enough in to get the sherbet. It also took him a minute to figure out that he could scrape the sherbet off the serving spoon with his eating spoon.

He was pretty proud of himself when he was done :)

Perfect Teeth

Yesterday was the Kiddo's six month dental checkup. As usual he scored 100% with perfect teeth... they said they could tell he makes an effort to keep them clean (yeah he brushes twice a day and flosses by himself after the afternoon one).

They also said the spacing looks great and he will probably not need braces!! I'm not holding my breath with the lower ones (they have space but they are close together, I think when the six year molars come in they'll push things around a bit) but I am hopeful they are right with the top ones.

Hearing that they look that good is a boost to my "mommy" ego... and, because of how good his teeth have been, the Kiddo really enjoys his dentist visits. Added bonus is that while we will continue to do six month check-ups we will only be doing x-rays at the yearly one. Go clean teeth!

hmm smells good (?)

Shopping for Men is difficult. Shopping for The Man is probably harder then most, he never wants anything. So I end up doing a LOT of internet searching trying to think of ideas. During one of these browsing sessions I came across this:At first I thought what a great idea this would be, I mean shoot his favorite is Jack Daniels, why not a cologne that smells like it? And I thought hmm what if it really does smell like it?? I mean it isn't like he can splash on a bit before heading to work, he'd probably get fired.

So I passed the idea on to my sister wondering what she'd think about it as an idea for HER man. She laughed, yeah can't work at a bank smelling like that either.

Which leaves me wondering (a lot) how it really smells, regardless if you have 35 bucks to toss around it seems like a super great gift idea for the man who has everything!!

*the picture links to the page where you can buy it just in case you're curious what else they have there etc.

Christmas Cards

When you buy a box of 24 cards and only send out 19, what do you do with the rest? You save them, then a couple years down the road you have a mish mash of random leftover cards that just about make up the 19 you need to send out that year.

But, alas, this year we are 6 Christmas cards short. WHAT do do… should I go buy another box of cards and save the random for next year?? Nope, plan B is better: put the Kiddo in front of some paper with a pencil and crayons.

First line: The first one is Rudolph. The second is the Kiddo as an elf, he’s got an open (woohoo) mouth.

Second line first card is an elf. Second card is Santa in his sleigh dashing away. Third is the gingerbread man running away so he doesn’t get eaten.

Third line first card is a Christmas Tree and present. Second card is the Kiddo and Santa in his sleigh. Santa is the top head, Kiddo is the one just under him.

The Kiddo is extremely proud of of his home made cards. They wont go out to everybody, just a select few people, so if you get one know it’s a genuine piece of Kiddo art work. If you don’t get one know that it isn’t because you’re not special enough, it’s just that I didn’t have enough to send you one too :)

dvd's and dreams

Me - Good morning kiddo how was your night.

Kiddo - I'm okay, I'm SO glad we have dvd players in our brains.

Me - We have dvd players in our brains?

Kiddo - Well yeah, of course we do, it's how we dream silly!!

Me - OH! duh me I should have known, so did you have good dreams?

Kiddo - Yeah, I dreamed about Santa and the three things I told him about.

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Oh and completely random. I got a phone call just now, the girl on the other end asked to speak to The Kiddo. I said "um he's five" and she busted up laughing embarrassed, apparently there's a package in the front office for him and she's new enough down there she didn't recognize his name (the other girl knows him on sight).

A visit with Santa

I really love Cabela’s, it’s an outdoor sporting good store and has so many neat things you could walk around for hours and not see them all. It even has a little food court so when you get hungry you can sit down and eat (elk burger anyone?). Not to mention the really big aquarium (the Kiddo really loves seeing the fish swim), and all the mounted game animals set into displays .

Of course one of the things I like best about them is that every year on the two weekends before Christmas they have Santa come and visit. He is a really great Santa, and they have him sitting back in the game room so that while families stand in line to see him they can look at the animals.

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Yesterday was the first day that Santa was there and the Kiddo and I decided that we better go and see him. The weather was great and everybody was healthy. The trip/visit was great, the picture only okay. But I think it’s the story along with the picture that makes the visit priceless.

We waited in line… and waited… and waited. We were in line for an hour before we saw Santa. Somewhere in the middle, I tucked the Kiddo’s medical alert dog tag into his shirt. I thought he wouldn’t mind and that it might make for a cleaner picture when the time came.

By the time we got up to Santa the Kiddo had pulled it back out again. I asked him if he wanted it tucked or out and he said he likes it best out. The way he looks at it is that it’s his magic button, he doesn’t see it as anything else, and he likes it out where he can play with it.

So as he walked up Santa asked him what was on his tag. The Kiddo picked it up and showed him, and Santa read the front and back. Then he hoisted the Kiddo up into his lap..

He told the Kiddo that he was a great kid, strong and brave. That he knew he’d been a good kid this year and he was proud of him….

and he gave him the biggest snuggliest Santa bear hug*. Then he sat him back and asked him what he wanted for Christmas. The Kiddo was so excited he barely remembered his list of three things.

When they were done talking Santa gave him one more hug and a tickle, TWO candy canes and told him again what a great kid he is. As we walked away the kiddo had a very serious expression on his face, and I had to ask him a few times if he was okay (I expected bouncing giggles).

Turns out he was really overwhelmed at the extra attention Santa had paid him, and knowing that Santa was proud of him for being so big and strong. He asked if we could sit down and he ‘had’ to eat both his candy canes before he felt better. The whole drive home (20 minutes) he talked about how great Santa was, how excited he was that he remembered his three things, how he wished he’d remembered to ask him to get cupcake a present and how he can’t wait for Christmas!!

* the official Santa picture is the snuggly hug one, it’s the one the Cabela’s photographer took, Santa wasn’t ready and neither was Chance (neither of them knew the picture was being taken). The other three are the ones I took, they all turned out a little out of focus which is frustrated. But the Man likes the Cabela’s photo best anyway so it doesn’t really matter. I do too, I love that it’s an unplanned moment… so it’s the one we are sending out in Christmas cards this year.

Family Pictures… another year another photo

Randomly I like hot coco made with milk, it’s thicker... but if I don't have milk, coffee works (yum).

Another random is that Cupcake has finally shifted her sleep schedule to more reflect mine/the Kiddo's. She generally stays quietly in her crate until after 8 nowadays. I am so spoiled.

Speaking of cupcake Have you noticed that I can’t get a picture of her without her eyes reflecting back? Any time she’s looking at the camera it’s game over for a good picture. It drives me insane!

We did family pictures Friday afternoon. It was kind of the last possible moment and bad timing (as usual). The man worked a double the day before (meaning he hadn’t slept since he woke up Thursday morning at 6) so he was barely putting up with me and my “lets try again that one wasn’t good enough”. Can I just say that if you thought getting a kid in place and smiling in time for the 10 second timer click was hard, doing it with a dog and a kid was crazy!

And then came the smile issues. I know he isn’t TRYING to smile like a goober, the problem is he’s thinking about smiling. So I resorted to chucking him in the air a few times and then taking the “real” pictures while reminding him to smile like he did when mommy was throwing him.

It worked pretty well, he thought about me chucking him and giggled and grinned just fine for the other pictures too. I didn't post the one we're going to use as our official picture for the year, but you can check out the slide show of all the rest. There's one in there specially for my mom too *grin*

Family Pictures 2010 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL