A mother's work is never done....

Tomorrow at 6:00am Mike and I will load the kids into the car and head for The Happiest Place on Earth!  We are going to Disneyland for my 30th birthday!  I am really excited for Gracie, because she is tall enough to ride ALL the rides!!  I hope she doesn't get freaked out on the first ride and the day is ruined for her.  We have all been looking forward to our little trip and I think we will have a blast!

With that said, today will be a busy day.  I have a list of errands I need to run, and of course, a house to clean!  Let's see.....

1.  Babysit my nephew, Petie, in the morning.

2.  Appointment at DMV at 11:30 to renew my license (Yeah!! New picture!! My current picture             was taken 2 weeks after Gracie was born and it's T-R-A-G-I-C!).

3.  Get the oil changed in the car.

4. Wash and vaccuum the car.

5.  Go by the bank to deposit my paycheck.

6.  Go to the grocery store to buy snacks for the kids to eat in Disneyland.

7.  Put gas in the car.

8.  Pack stuff for the kids.

9.  Clean house.

I am a little worried about the fog tomorrow morning - and when we are coming home late (we're making the trip in one day).  So, pray for our safety!  I'm kind of tempted to spend the night tomorrow by Disneyland and come home late morning.  Wouldn't it be scary to get to Bakersfield and have crazy thick fog until we got home?  We'd be stuck!  I hope I can talk Mike into the idea.  

Christmas Parade!

              

Tonight was the Christmas parade in Exeter.  Gracie rode on a float from her dance class.  She, of course, was he cutest little thing on there!  My Grandparents, sister, niece, nephew, Dad, Brother, husband (of course) were all there to cheer her on!  It was such a cute little parade!  It was a great way to start the weekend!

What a memorable anniversary

The shortest anniversary, anyway.  We had a 30 minute dinner and spent $70 to celebrate 8 years of marriage.   Quite a memory.

Ahhhh, Saturday!

I am looking forward to a great day today!  Mike told me last night he would let me sleep in, and he actually followed through!  He promises me this every weekend, but I end up dragging my butt out of bed when Jacob wakes up at 6:00am!!  Not today!...I took full advantage of my husband and slept in until 9:08!  Ahhhh, it was wonderful!  Good start to the weekend.

Jacob has his first haircut appointment today!  He's been called a girl four times within the last 2 weeks, so I'm excited for him to look like my precious little boy again!  I will post pictures later today!

I also get to go shopping...ALL BY MYSELF!  I think I'm going to go to one of those skanky, teeny-bopper clothing stores and see if I can buy myself a new outfit!  Hopefully they have sizes bigger than zero. 

Wednesday is Mike and I's 8 year wedding anniversary!  So, I am looking forward to going out for an extra-romantic dinner.  We have such busy lives (well, he does anyway), and we go in opposite directions during the week.  Most days we don't see each other until 9:00 at night.  Our anniversary comes at a good time...we can both slow down for a night and realize how blessed we are and how much we love and appreciate each other! 

Something else I'm excited about!!.....I made an appointment with a plastic surgeon for a consultation in December.  My stomach is a little stretched out from two pregnancies...a little more than most, and I'm quite self-conscious about it, so I am excited to see if I can get it taken care of!  It won't be until June of next year, but I have some things I need to work on before I'm ready for surgery.  But it's the first step!!  

It's going to be a good weekend..and I've been looking forward to it all week!

I don't really have anything exciting to blog about today, which is obvious by what I am about to share:  

On Thursdays I don't have to work at my job that gives me a paycheck, instead I work at home, at my job that pays me with hugs and snuggles!  It's a nice break in the workweek and allows me to catch up on laundry...oh!..and spend some quality time with Gracie and Jacob.  

Anyway, on said day, around lunchtime, I was nursing Jacob in the recliner when Gracie suddenly hops off the couch where we were watching Barefoot Contessa (my favorite cooking program) and happily exclaims that she will make her own lunch today!!  It wasn't a question, it was a statement!  "Oh........Okay?" I say, looking at her rather skeptically.  Need I remind my readers that her second given name is Messy Bessy, and as I have just finished cleaning the house,

 I am not that thrilled to have my hard work so quickly undone.  But she informed me in four year old - know it all - fashion, that she will make herself a sandwich, and my job will just be to tell her what order stuff goes on.  I couldn't deny her attempt at independence, so I gave her my blessing....besides, it meant I didn't have to get up!  She did a pretty good job, I thought.  Her menu included a mayonnaise sandwich that had a little bit of turkey, cheese and salami, avacado, and Hot Cheetos.   As always, her eyes are much bigger than her stomach, but don't worry, like a good mom, I made her sit there until she ate it all!  Just kidding...but she did have the leftovers for snack later.  How exciting was that?!?!

Halloween

Halloween was pretty uneventful at the Wallace house, thankfully.  Halloween is not one of my favorite "holidays".  Growing up, I was not allowed to participate in Halloween traditions because my parents were pretty adamant about it being "Satan's Holiday".   So, I'm not sure I can relate to the excitement it holds for Gracie now.  Oh well, it's just another reason to take pictures of my cute kids!

We did dress up as a family.  Mike and I hadn't planned on it, but he decided on the way home from work to surprise Gracie.  He stopped at Target and bought a Darth Vadar costume. Notice how the kids are looking at him, they're not quite sure why Darth has taken Daddy's place in our family picture!

 I had a Little Red Riding Hood costume in the garage I had bought for a Halloween party Mike and I went to a couple of years ago, "pre-kids".     Good thing the material was stretchy!....I think I've gained about 15 pounds since then!  Little Red Riding Hood liked the muffins she was bringing little 'ol Granny...a little too much!

Gracie dressed up as Hannah Montana..notice the wig?  She had worn it a couple of times prior to last night, and when it was time to dress up for "reals" it was way crazy!  It's like Barbie hair...there's NO combing it!

Jacob was our sad little tiger.  He had a hard time...Mike, I mean, Darth Vadar, scared the poo out of him.  Jacob much preferred the pretty lady in the red cape! By the end of the night, he did finally get used to Darth, and wouldn't cry every time he looked at him. Needless to say, Jacob spent the night in our bed, so he wouldn't have any nightmares (wink-wink!).  

We didn't have as many trick-or-treaters as we thought, so we have a lot of candy left over.  We just need to make sure Little Red Riding Hood doesn't sneak any, because I don't think that material will stretch much more!

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!