Age Appropriate Foods for Dinner

May I offer some very useful information I learned today?  

It is not a good idea to feed couscous to a four year old girl whose nickname is Messy Bessy, and a one year old boy, just learning to feed himself.  It does not have a happy ending for Mom.  Sorry, no pictures...I couldn't believe the mess, and just stood there stunned for about five minutes.  By the time I came to, the one year old was begging to be saved from his mess in his highchair and Messy Bessy was asking for more - which I promptly answered "NO!".   I had to send them both to their room so I could get my bearings and decide where to begin the cleanup.  I did have to laugh though; as I watched the one year old walk down the hallway, there was a trail of couscous falling out of his pant leg.   Aaah, dinnertime....remember, it's one of my favorite times of the day!

Gracie's preschool went to the local pumpkin patch last week.  Jacob and I cheauffeured and tagged along.  It was fun watching her run around the ENTIRE pumpkin patch to find the perfect pumpkin!  She finally found one and Jacob got booted out of the stroller for the pumpkin to have the seat of honor!   We went on a hay ride, toured the corn maze, and all in all, had a great morning!  

The Mean Reds

Do you ever have days when you're afraid of the world and what it has in store for you?   I'm not just talking about having a little trepidation, I'm talking anxiety, fear, looking-over-your-shoulder type of days.  Yesterday was like that for me.  In one of my favorite movies, Breakfast At Tiffany's, Holly Golightly explains it as having "the mean reds.  You're scared, but you don't know what you're scared of."  Maybe the cause was everyone talking about the gloom-and-doom with the economy and loosing jobs, or fear I am going to make another huge mistake at work (see previous blog) as we are preparing an expensive estimate for a customer.  I couldn't really put my finger on what was causing my anxiety yesterday, but hopefully a good night's sleep was the cure.  

Girls do crazy things!

Gracie and I had fun together the other day by putting makeup on each other.  I think she needs to consider a different career.  Admittedly these aren't the best pictures of me, but sometimes you have to take one for the team.  Jacob narrowly escaped being subjected to our craziness - he just wouldn't hold still!

Fall Festival

Today was a great day!  Last night Gracie had two little friends spend the night - which was a blast.  We decorated little pumpkins with glitter, and ate pizza and ice cream.  We woke up early this morning to get ready for the Fall Festival Parade in Exeter.  Gracie was so excited because she was riding on a float for her dance company in the parade.  She was so stinkin' cute!  Even though it was really cold in the morning we all had fun.  These are pictures of her on the float.  The two little girls to the right are Ariel and Alli - her slumber party friends.

   

Happy Birthday Jacob!

My Little Pudge turns one-year old today! How fast time has flown! It's a bittersweat day - Since Jacob is the last child we are having, I'm sad he is no longer a "baby", but, a part of me is glad he is becoming a little more independent. He started walking last Tuesday, and looks like a baby chimpanzee. I love his hugs he offers so generously, and how he walks to you with arms outstretched ready for love. Everyday he does something new that makes me laugh! He is such a good boy, and ALWAYS has a smile for you. He loves his sister and is constantly offering her hugs and "kisses". He doesn't really say any words yet, except "mama", but he does have his own language of grunts.

He is my love. I am so grateful God has blessed us with Jacob and lets us take care of His baby. Precious Little Pudge.

Yesterday I had a pretty crummy day.  I, along with help of co-workers, made a costly mistake at work,  which will probably cost about $2,300 to rectify...OUCH!  There was also drama with family members, an infection in my boob from nursing (too much information, yes, but I'm trying to "paint a picture" for you), and to top it all off, grouchy kids!  By the grace of God and lots of prayer, I made it through the day.  Well, this morning I was listening to the news on the radio as Gracie, Jake, and I were driving to preschool, and had to say a prayer of thanks that I didn't have this lady's "bad day"!  Here's the quick story:

A mother of two elementary school children, brought a dead bat to school for "show and tell".  She let the students in her children's kindergarden and fifth grade classes touch the bat and examine it a little bit.   It turns out they discovered the bat had rabies!!  So now, every child that came in contact with the bat had to get a series of rabies vaccination shots.  They were estimating this would cost $150,000!  The school's insurance was only going to cover $70,000!  Oops!   I bet this mother had a headache by the end of her bad day.  So did I, but at least mine didn't involve angry parents (well, maybe one, because my Dad is my boss), and an $80,000 mistake.

Thankfully, today was a much better day, even though I didn't realize I had my pants on backwards until lunch time.  

Boring Monday

Not much to write about today.  It's Monday, need I say more?  Our alarm didn't go off this morning, so once again, it's "see how fast we can rush out the door!"  After taking Gracie to preschool, Jacob and I went to work, which was almost uneventful.  I made tostadas for dinner, which the kids and I thought were pretty delicious, but of  course, my "other half" came home and found something to dislike...pet peeve...I'm sure you'll hear more about that later.  Okay, maybe now....

So, I come home from a full day at work, unloaded kids and all the crap that goes along with that (usually three trips from the truck to the house), checked the mail, sorted out the bills, and started dinner.  Now, making dinner is not my most favorite part of the day - I hate cooking.  I have a crabby Jacob whining at my feet while I'm at the stove, Gracie yelling at me from the other room to do something for her, and ten things needing to get done at the same time.  What point am I trying to make here?.....Making dinner is not an easy OR fun task.  So, when the husband comes home and finds something to complain about, AND refuses to eat it, it's like a serious party foul!  At least PRETEND you're grateful and eat the dumb dinner with a smile on your face!  Oh, and don't forget to thank me for it, darn it.

Yes....I do feel better now, just had to get that off my chest.  I'd be more irritated at him, but he shaves his head for me.  That, and because he made killer hamburgers last night. 

So much for Monday.  It's crazy how fast the days seem to go by.  I'm grateful for every one of them, dinner and all!

A Good Start to Sunday

Last night I woke up at 1:00 am and couldn't fall back to sleep (which happens quite frequently), so I got out of bed and watched Sleepless in Seattle in the living room. At about 2:00 am I heard little footsteps in the hallway and Gracie popped around the corner with wide eyes and a smile.  She crawled up in the chair with me and we watched the rest of Sleepless in Seattle together.  She said she would be ready to go back to bed "after the words come up", referring to the credits.  We crawled in my bed, me between Mike and Gracie.  It was so nice to snuggle her.  Usually Jacob is in this coveted place.  I realized how much I miss my little girl.  Before Jacob was born, Grace was my world!  I'm sorry to admit, but she gets the brunt of my impatience now, something I'm constantly praying for help with.  It was nice to let Gracie sleep in bliss in our bed once again.

On another note, Mike offered to let me do something for myself this morning before we have company over this afternoon.  Now, I know I don't have any place to complain about mistreatment and being overworked, but with Mike gone six and sometimes seven evenings during the week, I will admit I get a little overwhelmed come the weekend.   It seems the weight of the world is on my shoulders most of the week, with work, cleaning house, paying bills, making dinner, giving baths, the fight to get kids in bed, and countless other worries. So, I am looking forward to having some solitary time at my favorite Starbucks, enjoying a Hazelnut Mocha and playing Scrabble on my cell phone!  I will be able to sit there without interruption and miss my family!  The only thing that would make it better is if my best friend was able to veg with me!

Chaper 1

I have decided to join the blogging world!  I avidly read many of my friends blogs, and very much enjoy reading about what is going on in their busy lives, so I thought I should do the same.  I don't enjoy talking on the phone, and seem to be too busy to hang out much, so blogs are a great way to stay up to date with each other's worlds!  And since my BFF moved to Fresno, it will be a convenient way to "keep in touch"!