Tree decoration night

Tree decoration time!!! Not sure if LED lights hate my camera,or I am just a horrible photographer, but our pictures did not turn out well. Boo.

This night was supposed to go smoothly because I had it all planned out. I guess that means it was destined to go wrong. I wanted to string the lights this afternoon so that it would be one less thing to do this evening, but we were a strand short. I started making dinner this morning, using the crockpot so I should have been on top of things, but the lights and dinner both combined at go hour to about do me in. We had to pick Pete up later than usual, we had to go to Wal-Mart to pick up those lights, and then we were going to go home and kick off tree decoration night. Luke was immediately tired and hungry the moment we had to pick up Pete. Pete had a huge headache-massive. We get home, stick Luke in his highchair, put water on to boil( for the noodles- we had cincinnati chili), and then decide to finish stringing the lights. Pete is sitting on the couch with an icepack to his head(watching the Simpsons) while I finish up the lights when the tree begins to fall. It just fell. I grabbed it, and well you know, it was eventful. Luke was in his highchair, I was holding the tree up, Pete and Jack got out tools to help get the tree in and out of the stand, and the water was boiling/the noodles were overcooking the whole time. This is not how I envisioned the evening. They finally get the tree in the stand but it is a bit crooked. I call timeout on the tree because I do want to finish dinner with it still being edible, and Luke really needs to go to bed. It actually didn't turn out too bad, and I stuck some cookie dough in the oven while we ate. Pete decided I was in need of my Chianti, so a big glass was poured. Pete was probably in need of his Old Style, but he had to go study, so it wasn't in the cards for him. After dinner it was time for me to get the cookies on a plate and hot chocolate with marshmallows going for Jack. Earlier in the day the idea of music flitted through my brain, and I meant to do something about it, but I never really got around to it. We have tons of Christmas cds, but the thing is we have no way to play them. We don't have a small portable cd player and neither of our computers have disc drives that work. We do have iTunes but not loaded with our Christmas music. Pete started downloading Mannheim Steamroller to put on his iPod, but you see this wasn't part of the plan. I finish stringing the lights only to find out I did it wrong. The plug part was absent at the end, it was hidden in the tree, the socket part was ready, but that doesn't really work when all you have is another socket-- they don't fit, do they? I had to take all the lights off and start all over. Jack was putting ornaments on the tree, and was actually very excited and totally pumped because this was the first time he was actually able to really help. He didn't even seem overly upset when I kept knocking them off with all my light issues. Finally, we get the lights on the tree, the music is going, the hot chocolate and cookies are out, and we are doing it-yay! The thing is, and they really don't tell you this, but Jack kept breaking our ornaments. It's ok we have plenty, so we just tell him he has to move on to the nonbreakable ornaments. He is fine with this, but many of the nonbreakable ones are heavy and keep falling off the tree when he puts them on because he puts them on the very tip of the branches. I offer to help and suggest a place to put one with penguins, this seems innocent enough but apparently isn't, he gets upset and starts to cry. I say to him," I thought you wanted to help because you like Christmas." He looks at me and says, " I thought YOU liked Christmas!" Then runs into his room and closes the door. He came out a bit later and was ready to go again. He and Pete started doing something called Ornament Ornament to Mannheim Steamroller- it was some type of punch dance move with the ornaments. Most of the time I am on the outside looking in on their games. In the end though it all ended up ok-- great even. The tree is up and looks great, Jack got to help and loves the lights, plus now he has a new Christmas dance move to show off at family gatherings.

Baby Luke is 9 mos and Jack's pictures

Luke is 9 months! Crazy. We went to the doctor today and he is doing what all the other babies his age are doing. He makes ma, ba, da noises. He grasps and eats soft foods. He has teeth. He is now waving when you say hi to him-- which is pretty cute, and tries to imitate noise and facial expressions-- also cute. His baby stats are in the 10th percentile range except his head-- 95%. Pete is so proud. Luke likes to play with whatever Jack has, and of course Jack loves this. He easily differentiates mama and papa when very upset, then he has no problem throwing a mama my way. He thinks Tigran is the best thing ever, and Tigran is glad to be getting tons of scraps again. As soon as Luke goes in the high chair Tigran sits underneath--waiting. This has meant a reduction in dog food.


Jack has been loving the camera. I always find pictures on it that were mysteriously enough not there earlier. Hmm... So below are a few pictures of Jack posing-- another thing he loves doing now and some that Jack has taken of us.

These are Jack poses and dances. He does these moves when listening to his favorite song-- The Green Manalishi by Judas Priest. No joke this is really his favorite song.





Then he takes pictures of me and Luke. We're just chilling in the kitchen after lunch. Yes, some days I have to decide whether I get dressed or the kids, that is why they are still in jammies and I am not.






Pete after school making crazy faces to Jack. He is a pretty crazy guy, and Jack loves it.

zipple points

Things have gotten a better around here -- yay for that. At the height of all the chaos Jack made the decision to forgo the toilet. We were out in public- accident. Standing in the kitchen looking out the window- accident. At night, in pull-ups, he was going so much he would leak through the pull-up and get everything saturated. This never happened before. One night he woke up late night/early morning (depends on your perspective) and wanted to sleep on the couch- huge stain the next morning. It was then that I was done. I was mad, livid, and just pure tired. THIS HAS GOT TO STOP!!!!! I made the decision that if we were going to have all these accidents anyway then the pull-ups were gone. That is right no more pull-ups at night. Maybe it sounds stupid, Pete was not so sure, but I was so upset, he decided not to get involved. The first night was what you would expect-- no getting up to go when he had to go, just changing clothes in the night, and eventually getting his blanket so wet he needed another because he was cold. I meant business. I was not going to sway or give in. The next night, he got up ( Pete was the one awake) and was made to go to the bathroom, told to go back in his room because he is no longer allowed to sleep on the couch. The child was mad, but he did it. Success-- no pees. We have been doing this for 5 days and 2 days there were no accidents and he got up to pee, even if he was upset about it, and last night there was only one small accident. He gets Zipple points when he is dry all night. This is basically 50¢ on a chart that goes up to $5 at which point he can buy a toy. He loves Zipple Points and he loves coloring in his chart. So boom-- apparently you can parent out of anger.

Last week Jack went into the bathroom and told Pete he was successful. (My kid likes to announce his successes and failures after most trips). A few minutes later he announced he had to go again. Pete was a bit suspicious of this and informed him that he had just gone. Jack said, "No I didn't." Pete replied, " You just told me you did." Jack then looked at Pete and said, " You don't know me. You don't know what I do."
*He apparently likes this phrase now because he uses it all the time.

Jack told Pete that he wanted a hammer head yak for Christmas. Pete told him that they didn't make those so he would have to think of other things. Jack goes, "Dad, the elves will help Santa make it."

We got out the Fisher- Price Barn and House for Luke to play with this weekend-- Jack took command of the house. He pretends it is a mountain where dragons live. Luke is not allowed near it and of course, this means that it is the only Luke wants to play with now. Jack is not pleased at all. Jack has been spotted pushing his brother, using his elbow to steer Luke's head away from the toy, and etc. Please do not feel sorry for Squeezer, he was spotted crawling on top of Jack and actually pushing Jack to the ground.

Oh, and before I forget one last Jack story. A few mornings ago I woke up because I heard Squeezy making noise. I go into his room and there is Jack hanging out- this isn't odd so no worries. I then go to reach for Luke when I noticed crumbs all over the bed. I turn to Jack and notice he is eating a cinnamon roll. I say, " Jack did you give Luke a cinnamon roll?" Jack says," No you told me he couldn't have them. I wanted to give him candy, but I couldn't open it. Instead I gave him bread." Ok. Fine. Hmm. Not sure how to proceed. I say, "Did he eat it?" Jack says, "Oh yeah I gave him 5 pieces." *** This fact is verified by the fact we had over half a loaf of bread before morning naps but none after. *** We also believe Tigran helped eat the bread. Skip to this morning. I start waking up because I hear Luke so I go into his room to get him. Again, I am greeted with Jack and the addition of Tigran in Luke's room. I immediately notice that the floor, the baby, and the bed are all covered in crumbs-plus Tigran was licking his lips, but upon seeing me high-tailed it out of there. So here we go again, "Jack did you feed Luke oyster crackers?" Jack replies, " Yeah, I know he really likes bread, but I couldn't find it, so I gave him oyster crackers instead." *** He gave Luke and Tigran an entire plastic container full of oyster crackers a la dumping them all over the mattress.

So..um... yeah

We went to South Bend last weekend to visit family. I thought my blog would be about that trip and all the fun we had with Sean at the airport. Things haven't really worked out that way. During our trip the kids were anything but saints, and the car ride home about did us in. The days following weren't all that great either-- maybe even worse. We have had a busy 2010. I believe that it has finally, at long last, caught up with us and our kids. We are all just done. We need some time at home in one spot- all alone. However, this is only going to last until Thanksgiving week, then let a whole new season of travel happen.

A couple things that have caught my attention this week:

- When we go grocery shopping we have to divide our groceries into groups, and sometimes there are 3 or more groups. We have to check out each group and it takes time. I don't always buy all the things I need because it is just too much dividing. Is it fun? No. When I approach a line I worry about who will be behind me, how long will it take, did they change things (because it seems like they do more often than they should), and will the person checking me out know how to do this? I get stressed out and embarrassed when people with only a few things get behind me. More often than not I have a wild 3-year-old in the cart and a grabby baby strapped to my chest. So instead of being mad, huffing, puffing, rolling your eyes, glaring at me when I give an 'I am sorry' smile, and then loudly changing lines because it is taking too long think about someone other than yourself. I would rather not be spending my time doing this either. Did you not see my baby trying to grab and eat everything? What about my boy who, at this point, is quite bored and is loudly growling at the bag girl while trying to explode her? You don't have to be in my line, I understand being in a hurry, but please don't treat me like I have just ruined your life-- it is a grocery store line. Get over it.

-We bought a book from a used bookstore, and last night I thought I would read it. I didn't get very far because something interesting caught my eye. All the cuss words were marked out or written over with a replacement word. Hmmm. I have not seen this before and wondered why someone would go through all the effort. I mean they got up, found a pen, tried to find words to replace the bad ones, or just used the energy to scribble dark lines over the offensive word. It would have been easier to skip over it or change it in your mind. Also, I feel like they messed up because they marked out the f-bomb and replaced it with damn. This is fine, I suppose, but they marked out pissed and put angered. I just want to know when did piss become worse than damn?

-This is not really a big thing, but I thought it was funny. While in South Bend we had steak one night. We started eating, the conversation was going, and I realized that these newlyweds had amazingly sharp knives. I mean it isn't the thing that you really notice--until you do. I rudely interrupted the conversation, which oddly enough had nothing to do about knives, to comment on just how sharp these knives were. Then flash forward like 15 minutes later when Pete sits down to eat his steak, and lo and behold he interrupts conversation to say the exact same thing. Yes, the old married couple no longer has sharp newlywed knives.

the crap hits the floor

The past two mornings I have been stirred out of slumber by a 3-year-old moaning in my bed. This wouldn't be so bad, but it is a bit disconcerting when you are still 85% asleep and have no idea the person next to you is a kid and not your husband. Our bed is small so when Jack decides to sleep with me good old Pete gets the boot. Back to the moaning child, Jack has some sort of stomach virus going on and it presents itself in what we are calling exploding butt. He wakes up and attempts to hold in the explosion because he fears going to the bathroom will wake Pete, this only makes his stomach hurt, so I have spent the last two mornings trying to convince him it is ok to go to the bathroom. Today this was a sign of what was to come.

Jack goes to the bathroom-- we have to change clothes. Luke goes to the bathroom--we have to change clothes. Finally things are going pretty well, and we actually have plans to leave the house. Ok, so off we go to the library, and just as we finish checking out our books Luke opens his mouth to spit up everything he had inside. They gave me paper towels, and I cleaned up our mess. Then Jack and I have a date with some Phd student who is observing mother/child interactions in real world settings. We head to the park. We play and play, it starts to rain ice, and Jack's hands get cold, but we made some bank so this is good. Next we are at a friend's house when I hear-- Mooommm...... he never made it to the bathroom. We go to Wal-Mart in borrowed pants and no underwear- he didn't seem to mind. Shortly after we make it home Luke has a distinct odor coming from him; he had a butt explosion and was in need of a clothing change. Pete left his phone at home so there was no way of knowing when he'd be back. Luke's bedtime came and went and still no Pete. Then there is a knocking at the window-dear hubby is home. We decided to use some of my newly hard earned money to buy dinner. Dinner tasted like it had been enhanced with all sorts of unnatural stuff and was in fact not good. Jack gets to take a bath with Pete entertaining him while I just chill in the other room-- I mean there had been a lot of poop today I needed a break. I hear, "It's ok bud. We all poop." I knew then something had happened. I found out that Jack made it as far as out of the tub. Poor kid. Poor Pete.

I figure when you are a mom some days are just 'shitty'.

We like to cram it all in

Things we did this weekend: drive to KY, put the boys in matching glow in the dark pjs, go to a pumpkin patch, read some Charlotte's Web, take naps, go to Just Say Boo to Drugs in order to get candy and support Pappy, get picture taken for local newspaper, go home, sort candy, eat candy, go to bed, carve pumpkins, make caramel apples( in a way that won't cause your house to look like the smoke monster invaded), make a pile of leaves for jumping fun, ride on the lawnmowers, watch some Star Wars, play with the Star Wars figurines and light sabers, drive home and read Harry Potter the whole time, get home, clean up and get ready for Joy School until past midnight, wake up, watch How to Train Your Dragon, have son throw up, wake up husband, get son bath, clean off cushions, and call parents to cancel joy school only to find out no one was coming anyway. Yes-- that is how you play hard and we play hard.

Drove to a pumpkin patch where we got two pumpkins for $4-- they wanted to get rid of them.




Just Say Boo to Drugs where you got to see all the candidates running for office-- even Pappy-- and get loads and loads of candy.



The thing about Halloween costumes and kids is that you can't guarantee that people will know what the costume is by the end of the night. Below I have three pictures to explain what I mean.
First-- this is not even from Halloween, but this is the way the costume should look


Then we get to Halloween and Jack has already decided no wings because they were super hard to figure out


Then we get there and Jack has decided no mask and has removed the longer portion of the tail and now we get this


We had more luck with Luke---mostly because he doesn't know any better.


Then we had an action pack day of leaves, pumpkins, Star Wars and caramel apples. Note for those interested-- making homemade caramel apples is not easy and should not be attempted while unsupervised, however unwrapping already made caramels and using the microwave = super easy.

Before we left for KY I thought it would be a fun little afternoon treat to make homemade caramel dip- but no I was wrong. So very wrong. As soon as I added the half- and half mixture things went wrong. Perhaps it was too hot, perhaps I have to wrong pot and utensils, perhaps I poured too fast, perhaps I cannot channel my inner Julia Child-- there are a million reasons why this did not work and all are probably accurate. Let's just say it ended with my pot being 1 inch charred blackness and 1 inch dark brown crystallized goo and the whole entire house filled with the thickest heaviest smoke I have ever seen with the wonderful aroma of burnt sugar and milk. 40 degree temps or not we still opened all the doors and windows for about an hour. Note to self-- check smoke detector because it did not go off.