****Scrapbook pages were last uploaded April 2, 2007
| « | October 2006 | » | ||||
 |
||||||
| S | M | T | W | T | F | S |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
| 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 |
| 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 |
| 29 | 30 | 31 | ||||
Okay, I like commercials. There are some good ones out there, but I just found the video on YouTube of my favorite commercial of all time!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTRg4ovd2-c
Gosh, I'm turning into Martha Stewart around here.** Here's some more yummy food I made. Rob's step-mom's sister had these at the wedding shower she hosted a couple weeks ago and I loved them.
Sausage stars
1 package wonton wrappers (found in the produce section)
1 pound browned sausage
3 cups shredded co-jack cheese
1 cup Ranch dressing
Preheat oven to 350. Shape wonton wrappers in mini-muffin pans, making sure the edges are open so you can fill them later. Heat for 5 minutes. Mix sausage, cheese and dresssing. Spoon into wontons. Heat additional 5 minutes or until wontons are light brown.
*wontons can be cooked the night before, filled and refrigerated, so prep time is short the next morning.
**only without the pristine house, fame, and money, and you know, talent for design and stuff. Okay, maybe I'm more like a cheap slob, but at least I'm eating well lately
I did some more scrapbook pages -->
Ok, fine. If you're too lazy to find the link yourself:
http://ktjrdn.photosite.com/scrapbook2006/I_hope_you_dance.html
http://ktjrdn.photosite.com/scrapbook2006/Jump.html
Shew, that was depressing. Let's move on, shall we?
We decided that we once again need to clean out our cabinets. Anything that hasn't been used in a while needs used up. So we made some um, well, it doesn't have a name, so let's just call it cheesy veggies, pasta and chicken, because it's descriptive. It's even better than I remembered it. I just had soe leftovers for lunch. Yum. Here's how you make it:
Brown some cubed chicken pieces. (Do you call it browning when it's chicken?)
Cook some rotini noodles
Steam some frozen broccoli and cauliflower
Melt some Velveeta (maybe a third of a box?) with some milk and a can of Campbell's broccoli cheese soup.
Mix the soup with the pasta. Add the chicken and veggies. Warm it up until it tastes good.
Rob eats his over honey cornbread. I eat mine over Golden Wheat Pilsbury biscuits. Yummy.
We had to schedule our new truck for it's 15,000 maintenance. Not a big deal, but since it's 4WD, it's gong to cost a couple hundred. When we dropped it off this morning, Rob explained what they were going to do and why it would be that expensive.
I've been kind of down lately. Money is VERY tight. We've almost got our refrigerator paid off. We got it on 6 months no interest, but only if it's paid off in that time. 6 months is almost up, but that extra $200 a month is relaly hurting us. Stupid old refrigerator picked a crappy time to die. Cause we needed a new car too. The old Regal just didn't have room for Anya's non-pumpkin rear-facing car seat. The other car has no air-conditioning. It just wasn't working out. We could have bought a cheaper vehicle, but comeday we might have more kids, so we don't want to have a vehicle that isn't prepared for that. Which means our car payment doubled. We spent a lot of money this summer on various things for the house and most of our progress on our debt when bye-bye. All our credit card debt is at 0% interest, so all the money we pay every month is strictly paying down the total, but it's just not happening fast enough. At this rate, it'll be 30 years before we make enough money to move to a bigger house. (sigh)
So when he told me it would be a couple hundred I got a little depressed and said "Goddammit. Why can't we ever get ahead? We keep having all these little necesary expenses and we never have any money" He proceeded to make me cry. He says there is no point in talking about it when there's nothing we can do about it. We decided to take the truck in, so why waste his time bitching about it. We made a decision (to spend the money) so I should quit unloading all of this carp on him. Don't I know he's already worrying about it? Why should he have to listen to me bitch and whine about it when there's nothing he can do? If I want to have a constructive discussino that's okay, but he doesn't want to listen to me whine.
I hate men! Sometimes, I just need to talk. To vent some of my frustration. Normally I know better than to try to do it with him, but I was feeling particularly crappy this morning. I don't want him to solve my problems, although that would be nice. I just want him to listen and acknowledge that it's bothering me. Maybe even tell me it's okay and that we'll get through it together. And not to add to my frustration by telling me he doesn't want to listen to me. I know that already. That's part of my frustration! ArrrrrgggggggggGGGGG!!!!!!!!
I wish I could get him to understand. No, that's not true. I think he does understand. He just thinks it's irrational and a waste of time to talk about things that you're not going to/can't do anything about, so he wants me to accept it and not bother him. I wish I had some friends around here...
I don't usually discuss my occasional issues with my husband here, since so much of our families read this, but I need to bitch to someone, and this is what I've got. Sorry.
I didn't say anything, because I wasn't sure I actually believed it, but Anya can push herself up to sitting by herself now. Thursday, the daycare teahcers told me that she was laying in her crib asleep on her belly, and the next time they looked at her she was sitting up. The next time they looked, she was laying on her back, but they say she sat up and was stable for a while. She has shown no indication of trying to do this before. That was Thursday. I saw her do it myself last night. She was very proud of herself. I'm proud of her too.
The first time is an accident. The second time is luck. The third time it's a new skill. We're almost there.
Last night was my step-SIL's wedding. Ally did NOT want to sit through it, but got through it just fine. Rob slid down the aisle with her and sat off to the side of everything and kept her mostly quiet. He's so good at that. I'm very impatient in that kind of situation. I really like weddings, and wanted her to be quiet, so I could look around. Anya was very tired, and about half-way through started fussing enough that I thought I had to go outside, but the church was big enough that I could walk around the back and keep her quiet and put her to sleep and then just go back to my seat. Right about the time I sat back down, someone started singing, and the speakers were quite loud, so I had to get back up because they woke Anya up. But, it was almost over so it wasn't that bad.
When we got to the reception, there were appetizers set up ("They're what you eat to make you hungry" ~ Cartman to the Ethernopian kid) Ally got to sit and eat crackers, watermelon, grapes, cantelope, honeydew, and more crackers. She was happy. When it was mealtime, she didn't really like any of it, but she had more fruit and a roll or two. Fruit? check. grains? check. Veggies and meat? ehh, not so much.
When she had enough to eat, she got up and went to the dance floor. No one was dancing yet. The wedding party kept going to the bar for a smoke, so things were running behind. But that didn't stop Ally. She twilred and kicked her feet and ran around like she was having the time of her life. She was in this pretty little (formerly) white dress with a big skirt (She told Meghan - the SIL - that they were wearing the same dress. They matched), so when she twirled or ran, the dress just fanned around her legs. She ran over to Rob's grandpa (who walks with a cane. He has diabetes, and his legs aren't so reliable anymore) and pulled on his arm and said "Grandpa, dance with me!" Rob's dad went out to dance with her for a while, and he just stood still and Ally ran in circles around him and crawled through his legs.
She was so un-inhibited. She was so beautiful. She was so happy. At one point I looked up and caught my breath. I told Rob "She's so gorgeous" She was running back to our table, skirt twirling, face shining, smiling so big, so confident and , oh I don't know. I'm not a writer. I can't find the words. All I know is that it made me so happy, I almost teared up. I hope she can retain that joy. The un-selfconsciousness. The ability to enjoy herself so thoroughly.
Rob's sister, Jenn, helped out by helping hold Anya off and on so that Rob and I coud corral Ally or eat or stand in line. All in all, it was a great time. Ally got to bed over an hour late last night, bu tof course, she didn't sleep in much this morning, and is currently wound up upstairs with Rob. She woke up this morning and I took her upstairs, turned the TV on, and she let me sleep another 45 minutes. Yay. Hooray for the TV as a babysitter. uh-oh, here they come downstairs
Remeber how Ally wanted to be a green monster for Halloween? Hahaha... i outsmarted her. I tried. I really did. I don't know how many costume places we loked, but we found nothing that passed her inspection. Nothing that matched her vision of a green monster. The only detials she ever gave us were that green monsters had eyes on top of their heads and said Rar! Not much to go on. Add to that the fact that costume makers expect little girls to want to dress up like princesses and witches and I was SOL.
BUT... She wanted to be a green monster AND a pumpkin. So I went out and bought Anya a pumpkin costume. it's so very cute. It has padding around the belly and it's going to make her so squeezably round and cute. Plus, it has pumpkin slippers with it. Soooo cute. Anyway. It came with the added bonus of Sibling Rivalry. Yay. Ally wants to be a pumpkin.
So we went looking for a pumpkin costume and I had a panicky momnet where I didn't think we were gonig to find one in the right size, but the "One size fits up to 24 months" fit her wonderfully. I have serious doubts it would fit anyone under the age of 18 months though. Yippee. I'm going to have 2 almost matching pumpkins for Halloween. i can't wait.
The weather has been so weird here lately. Thursday, it was freakin' cold! Then Saturday, I was pretty nice. Sunday it was kinda warm, and today? Supposed to be 87. WTF!?!?
Anyway, I took Anya and Ally out to get some pictures Thursday, and they were just beautiful. Ally didn't cooperate though. Saturday we all went out again, and didn't even need coats. The pictures are just gorgeous. I'm doing something with them soon, so check back at the scrapbook link over there -->
Anya has found her toes. Most often you can see her sucking her thumb with the toes of one sock either in her mouth too, or in her fist of the thumb she's sucking. The daycare said they found her the other day with both socks soaking wet. She doesn't put her toes in her mouth when she's not wearing socks though. She just holds them.
She's an equal oppurtunity thumb sucker. We went to Meghan's (step-sister-in-law) wedding shower this weekend (left Ally with her dad at home) and Anya was starting to get a little hungry and sleepy. She sucked her thumb and everyone thought it was just the cutest thing. Then she pulled it out and sucked the other one. This is a sign for me. When one thumb just isn't doing the job, and she has to switch back and forth, she is getting tired. The other ladies she thought it was adorable. Everyone asks me if she's teething, since she drools so much. But, no... she just drools. Ally was like that to a lesser extent. We thought she was teething for the longest time, but - no teeth. Anya just is avery oral kid. She even chews on her blankets. The cutest thing is when I see her sleeping with a corner of a wet blanket wadded up in her tiny little fist. She has these little infant soft books. You know, the ones with the crinkly pages? ally never cared a bit for them. Anya loves them. But after she's had one for a while, you don't want to touch it. very wet. yuck
No ear infections yet it seems. I was just looking through the past posts and discovered Ally's first one was about this age. I'm going to keep watching for one though. I don't expect to be lucky enough that Anya got my ears instead of Rob's. The pediatrician WILL refer us to an ENT faster this time.
I can't help myself. Every time I do it I tell myself it will be the last time. That I won't do it ever again. I give myself very good advice, but I very seldom follow it. I am weak. I bought to more cards this weekend - just in case.
I have a collection belated birthday cards sitting in my file cabinet. I love birthday cards. I could spend hours in a good card store. You would think that by having cards on hand, I wouldn't have need of belated ones. I could look at my calendar (of which I have an entire one devoted solely to birthday os various people in my family) and wa-la I have a birthday card in my file I can send them. on time and everything. It doesn't work like that though. Usually I think "hmm blank's birthday is coming up, I should get them a card." And then I promptly forget about it. Until the day before. Then it's too late to send it on time. So I have a constant need of belated birthday cards. So I stock up on them.
But, I have a weird sense of humor. My stock of cards just doesn't fit most of the people that I would need to send them to (One of them has a picture of a dead rat on it - It's funny, believe me). So they sit in the cabinet gathering dust. Besides, I don't ever have stamps anyway. I do all my bill paying on the internet. Who needs snail mail? Except that the cards are just too funny to resist. So now I have a bunch of cards that I can send to a select group of people. But, I'm just too lazy.
Someday, I'll stop buying them. Until then, did I forget any of your birthdays? And don't be surprised if you get a birthday card from me a couple months after your birthday. I didn't forget it, I just had this great card I wanted to send late.
Do you know how difficult it is to find a green monster costume for a (almost) 3 year old? Ally wanted to be a cowgirl for a while. That I could do. Now she's changed her mind. She wants to be a green monster. and a pumpkin. I figure I give her a pumpkin basket to carry her candy in and that will be that part, but the monster? not so easy. The costumes in the store are all cutesy. Am searching the internet now because i can't find one in the stores. Would check e-bay, but work won't let ebay sites past the firewall. Have to try it at home later. Why couldn't she be a normal little girl and want to be a fairy princess or something?
Anya's costume will depend on Ally's/what I find/how lazy or cheap I am. In other words - I haven't decided yet.
It started early this year. God help us all.
I need some help. I don't really like Santa. I think most people use him as a cop-out - as a way to threaten their children to elicit good behavior. The original concept is kinda neat. A happy old man that gave toys to those who didn't have any. That concept has been too comercialized. I want my kids to know that they have family that loves them. I don't want their presents to come from some random fat guy. Christmas should be more about gathering your loved ones and spending time with family and such. You know, more like Thanksgiving. Plus, there's the issue of lying to the kids. Santa's not real. Why pretend?
But I also see why you would pretend. There's something magical about it all. The excitement of coming up/down the stairs/around the corner and seeing all the magically appearing presents. They weren't there before bed. And they are just sitting there waiting to be picked up and played with. Already out of their boxes. Already filled with batteries. Just waiting for you! It's something that teaches kids to wonder and to experience fantasy and just to believe in something intangible. I also think that's important. At this age, there's not much capability for intangible lessons. I want my kids to believe that anything is possible. The problem is that it's just not true.
So how do I handle Christmas? Ally's in day care and already knows about Santa. She knows the legend. I don't want her to be the only one that knows the truth. She probably wouldn't believe me anyway. If all the kdis say it's true, who am I to disagree. I don't want to actively lie to her, but I don't know how to handle it. I am very waffle-y. Can't figure it out.
Sorry I've been away...Ally was sick Tuesday night.
Rob and I spent most of the night rearranging Aly's room to try to find space for her to play admidst the toys. She had PB&J for supper. Anya went to bed around 7:00 She woke up around 8 and wouldn't go back to bed. Ally went to bed at 8:45. Rob read her stories and instead of rolling over and going to sleep, she started to whine for me. I was upstairs willing Anya to sleep. Didn't work. For the next hour, Rob and I handed Anya back and forth and tried to get both kids to sleep.
For a little bit, I was close to tears. I was so tired. Anya has been having some trouble sleeping lately. Not bad, but enough to frazzle me. I laid Anya down on the couch on her back and she smiled at me and cooed. It just about made me furious. I just wanted to sleep. I love her so much, but at that moment, I didn't want to. I just wanted to stop loving her so that I didn't have to put up with this shit anymore. And she just stared at me knowing that I was there to keep her from rolling off the couch if she tried. And of course, she did and I did. But oh, I resented it for a while.
Finally Anya was close to sleep, Ally was quiet, and Rob went to bed. I rested on the couch waiting for Anya to be 100% alseep (f*ck that whole drowsy-but-awake theory. Not tonight!) before laying her down. 3 minutes after Anya went to sleep, Ally started crying loud. I put Anya in her crib and went in Ally's room. I turned on her mobile (it has a light) and saw that she was sitting in a pile of puke. ugh! She says "There's something on my toes!" Yeah, honey. that's your supper. Anyway, I threw her in the tub and woke Rob up. He cleaned her sheets while I hosed her down (Ally screaming all the while) with the shower head. Got her settled back down and she fell asleep almost instantly. 10 minutes later I was in bed and heard her cough. Jumped out of bed, but was too late. Once again Rob changed the bed, but this time I just cleaned her off with a towel. This time I was smart and put a blanket on the floor to lay on. Easier to clean up. We went through lots of blankets and a couple pillows.
There were a lot of moments when I just wanted to yell "Shut up already. I know your belly hurts, but it's going to be worse if you stay awake and whine about it" But I didn't. I tried to explain that it was okay and that she was sick, but she'd get better and that she'd feel better after she slept some more. And I started to feel better myself. Not less tired. Of course not. I got almost no sleep. And I was still a little cranky. But she curled up on my shoulder and wrapped her (stinky - ugh) arms around my neck and had utter faith that I was there to help. She whined constantly, but she never had to question that I was there for her.
I got past the anger. These kids aren't infringing on my life. They ARE my life. I never want them to have to wonder whether I will be there to catch them. Or to hug them. Or even to wipe the puke out of their hair and sleep on the floor with their sweaty stinky selves. If that means I have to occasionally miss out on some sleep, I think I can live with it. I will still have bad days, but I hope that I can hold on to that feeling. It may get me through some rough times.
After a 3.5 hour nap the next afternoon (which started when she fell asleep on our stairway landing mid-"Mommy, come get me. I can't walk. You carry me") she was just fine. Seems like it was a 24-hour stomach bug or something. They both slept last night. Anya woke once to eat, and once because she was cold. The battery in our thermostat is dying, and it reset the a/c to 48 degrees. I covered her up and turned it off, and she went right back to sleep. Ally slept all night and woke up quite chipper this morning. Me too.
