Just a few things....

So I totally shot myself in the foot saying I was going to blog everyday. Who am I kidding?!?!? I am bending the rules and allowing myself to play catch-up.

Day 3

Day 4

Clara walked right over this and didn't even notice. She left flour foot prints, it wasn't until I told her to be careful that she looked down. Both the kids thought it was pretty funny. I thought it was until I had to clean it up. It's amazing how flour travels.

Day 5

Tippy wasn't feeling too creative on day 5. He overslept and ran downstairs to get in position before the kids discovered him.

Day 6

And I quote...

Thomas and I were having a conversation in the car tonight about how much we loved to read. He then said...

"I'm so glad reading was invented. It is way better than TV."

Day 3

It was cold today. Cold and cloudy and rainy - my favorite kind of day. I knew right away I wanted to make chili and corn bread for dinner. I pulled out my favorite recipe and started it at noon so it could simmer all day.

2 lbs ground beef

1 onion

1 cup celery

1 cup red bell pepper

15 oz can diced tomatoes

15 oz can tomato sauce

30 oz chili beans

30 oz kidney beans

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 Tablespoon chili powder

2 tsp cumin

1 tsp mustard powder

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp salt

Ground beef, add vegetables, dump everything else in. I usually let it simmer uncovered on low for 5-6 hours. It is not necessary to let it simmer this long, but I think it adds to the flavor.

After our chili and cornbread we made gingerbread men for Family Night.

We found Tippy in the Christmas Tree this morning eating Hershey's kisses. He stayed there the rest of the day watching us. Nobody had a meltdown today because he was looking at them. Things are starting to look up.

Tippy - Day 2

I don't know about you, but sometimes I think things are going to be A LOT better than they really turn out to be. Like The Elf on The Shelf. I was so excited to start this tradition. I thought I had Thomas excited but last night he crawled into bed with me at 1:30am terrified. He was having bad dreams about ....Tippy the Elf.

Steve was in California so it was up to me to go downstairs an inspect everything and a good hour to get him to fall back asleep. I decided we would try one more day to see if the kids warm up to him.

When the kids woke up they found Tippy had eaten the powdered donuts Thomas left on the couch.

In other news, Remember the cute outfit I bought for Clara's birthday? She wore it to church today. I thought I could take a couple pictures before we left, but she didn't want to cooperate. Just like I thought.

I did use the sock curl Tutorial that has been pinned on Pintrest several times to curl Clara's hair. This is the first time her hair has ever taken a curl.

As for the elf...I think they may warm up to him.

Tippy - Day 1

We have a guest in our home for the next 2 weeks. Tippy is our adopted elf from the North Pole. Thomas is very excited, Clara not so much.

As legend goes, you can not touch the elf or it looses it's magic. Clara touched the elf. Thomas tattled. Nothing new there. I told her that everything would be fine and that we just couldn't do it again.

About an hour later I went downstairs to find her crying. She told me that Tippy was looking at her and she didn't like it. She has asked me several times to give him to the neighbors next door - our Jewish neighbors. Someone on Facebook told me to just put a Yamaka on it. I am hoping that when she wakes up tomorrow and sees the shenanigans Tippy got into during the night she will change her tune and learn to love him.

I am planning on blogging each day of Tippy's stay. Here's hoping for a Christmas miracle!

Lunch Mail

When Thomas started school this year I decided that I was going to pack a note in his lunch box every day. So far I have done pretty well sticking with it. The other morning I was packing his lunch and I noticed how puffy the pocket on the outside of his lunch bag was.

As soon as I felt it I knew what it was. I opened the pouch to find a ton of Lunch Notes folded up and saved.

It made me happy to know he enjoys getting them. I love him.

four

My baby turned 4. Where has the time gone??? I had all these plans for a photo shoot. I bought an adorable outfit, had visions of an outdoor tea party and then it got cold. REALLY cold and I bagged it. I also remembered who my daughter is and realized that she probably wouldn't really cooperate anyway, so the above picture will have to do for her Birthday Photo. If you know our Clara Jane, you know this photo says is all.

Clara is a dream. I love her so much. She is funny, feisty and so entertaining. Currently she is obsessed with princesses, cats, ponies, and unicorns. She loves to do her own hair and pick out her own clothes.

We had her first friend birthday party. She invited the little girls in her primary class for a princess tea party. We painted nails, painted faces and played a game. It was perfect.

She was a little afraid of the candles so she wouldn't get any closer than this to blow them out.

After a little bit, her friend finally stepped in to help her out.

What I'm Thankful For

1. My Family

2. Finding this picture on PhotoBooth

No Shave November

Steve participated in No Shave November this year with the other guys from his clinic.

I think he should have won. They were supposed to end the contest the day before Thanksgiving but the other guys in the clinic decided to extend it. Lucky for me Steve was just as fed up with it as I was and shaved it off on Wednesday night.

It's about time!!!

One of the things Steve and I have talked about is how messed up our childrens' teeth are going to be. The orthodontist we eventually pick is going to love us! Thomas hasn't had any loose teeth until recently. I thought it was kind of strange that most of his other friends have all lost many teeth and he hadn't lost any. A couple of weeks ago he told me that his tooth was loose. I was thrilled. I told him to "work on it" and to wiggle it whenever he thought about it. Weeks passed and the tooth wasn't making any progress. Him and I were at lunch a couple of weeks ago and I happened to catch a glimpse of his mouth. His permanent tooth was already grown in, right behind his baby tooth. His baby tooth was still loose, but I could tell it was going to take some effort to pull it out because nothing was pushing it up and out. I thought for sure we were going to end up at the dentist to have his baby teeth pulled ( I had to have almost all my baby teeth pulled because they wouldn't come out on their own).

Monday night we were at Costco and the tooth worked itself out! Now we just have to work on all the rest.

October 30, 2011

We spent 2 days at the beach. The first day we were there the weather was perfect. There wasn't any wind and the water wasn't too cold. Thomas spent about 3 hours learning how to boogie board. I watched him wipe-out countless times, but each time he would climb back on and try it again.

Clara didn't want too much to do with the water. She was happy hanging out and playing in the sand.

The second day at the beach was more of what you would expect for fall weather. It was cold and the wind was blowing sand everywhere. Thomas was the only one who wanted to be in the water. We lasted about and hour before we packed up and headed back to the house.

Snail hunting at Sunset

One of our favorite things to do while we are at my Aunt's house is to sit on the front porch during the sunset. There is nothing quite like it.

see...

I also introduced the kids to snail hunting. I used to do it at my Grandma's house all the time when I was their age. They were kind of creeped out by them at first, but as soon as I showed Clara a baby snail she was smitten.

October 28, 2011 - Legoland

This year we continued with the Tradition of heading down to Encinitas, California to stay in my Aunt's beach house.

Our first stop on Friday was Legoland. Thomas has finally hit the lego obsession ago. Everything he does revolves around legos. We didn't tell the kids we were going. We just woke them up on Friday and said we were going to go have some family time. We drove into the parking lot waiting for one of them to catch on. When they finally did, both of them were thrilled.

Legoland is right up our alley. The kids are not fans of Disneyland and all the hype that goes with it. They LOVED this place! It was very calm, not a lot of people and the rides we went on were perfect for them. To be honest, they would have been happy just walking around looking at all the models.

Thomas was picked to be the special helper in the little skit they had.

Probably because he was the only one willing to sit on the front row and risk getting wet.

It was a great day and we can't wait to go back.