A New Holiday Tradition

You probably don't remember but last December I mentioned being turned on to a New Holiday Tradition called the Elf on the Shelf. You have got to check on this photographer's post about the antics their Elf Twink got into last year. I could not wait until Santa sent Nicholas his own elf.

Nicholas' Elf arrived yesterday. Nicholas wasn't quite sure what to make of the package or the elf.
Even after reading the story, he didn't seem too interested. Despite the apparent lack of interest, Nicholas named him Rudolph (we've been reading a lot of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer lately, and the abominal snow monster has been on his mind) and Nicholas seemed to forget about him.

It wasn't until this morning when Rudolph showed up perched in a vase on our window sill that Nicholas started to show some interest. He than became very intrigued tonight while on the phone with Grandma. While on the phone I was moving Rudolph so that I wouldn't forget before bed. Of course, Nicholas took that inopportune time to come down stairs for an extra hug before bed. Somehow Nicholas got on topic of Rudolph and looked over to his perch on the window sill. But uh oh... he was gone!

We quickly covered up his absence by saying Rudolph must have been on his way back to Santa already and that we'll see him again tomorrow. Apparently Nicholas was still a bit unsure of how the elf worked because after getting into bed he started crying. He said, " I don't want to go." The poor kid thought he was going to the North Pole with Rudolph tonight! Hopefully, after finding Rudolph in his new hiding spot tomorrow all his fears will disappear.

Wondering where Rudolph will appear next? We'll see. Here's a hint.

Now we just have to make sure Rudolph knows we're heading to the Cape this weekend.

Lesson learned

Mom has told me on many occaisions, that girls are more 'dangerous' when they are quiet. Here's my lesson learned.

Aunt Patty and Uncle Bob came over for leftovers on Saturday. Mom, Aunt Patty and I were sitting at the dining room table and chatting. Something catches my eye from the kitchen and I see this.
And then Alexa strolls in...

I can read her mind. She's saying, "yeah, so? You leave me alone and this is what you get."

And just to finish off the story, she did clear the entire roll.

Thanksgiving

What does Thanksgiving mean to me? My favorite meal, lounging on the sofa, and shopping. I couldn't wait until Friday to get my deals. I headed to the Cape on Tues with the kids to get in some shopping at my favorite church thrift stores. As luck would have it, two of them were having 50% off sales. $0.50 for a pair of Baby Gap slim dark wash jeans for Nicholas. Yes, thank you! My favorite find...a Lands End Squall toddler girls coat in excellent used condition for $2! That just might be my deal of the century.

Because of the constant rain there was a lot of lounging on the sofa. Lots of Curious George and Disney/Pixar's Cars when the kids were awake and multiple viewings of the most recent Star Trek movie when the kids were sleeping.

And of course the food. I think we'll be eating turkey leftovers, which are now frozen, for months to come. I'm sure even after the next turkey is cooked at Christmas.

What better way to spend Thanksgiving than sitting on the sofa, watching football with a beer or speckucken in hand.

Looks like the apple didn't fall far from this tree.

Yummy dinner with the fam.

Despite all the good food available they unfortunately were only interested in the cranberry sauce and corn muffins.

Who do you think she looks like?


Sassy.

Alexa enjoying a speckucken. She doesn't bother with the roll, she just digs into the filling with her fork. Smart girl.

Tiny Tots with Alexa

I love our town. I better for the amount they collect in property taxes but we do have some nice perks.

Our community pool has Tiny Tots free swim hours for only $4 a parent. This week I took Alexa there for some splashing around. She was a bit apprehensive being such a large place but she eventually enjoyed trying to drink the pool water and splashing mommy. I hope we can enjoy them a bit more in the coming months.

He's got some moves

Grandma gave Nicholas not one but two fabulously cool firetrucks at one of her last visits. The "best" thing about one of them is the music it plays with lyrics too.

What kind of music goes along with a Tonka fire truck? Unfortunately, I don't think you'll be able to hear it, especially b/c adjusting your volume levels to hear it is not recommended since you'll be blasted my by own voice. BUT the lyrics are;

"We're Tonka, to the rescue... we're coming through for you..."

Here's a clip of Nicholas dancing at the Flooky and the Beans concert last week.

You can't argue, the boy has got some moves.

School Pictures

Last week was school picture week. Thought I'd share the proofs since we won't be purchasing any. At least these are evidence to Nicholas and Alexa for when they get older as evidence as to why we did not purchase any.

Despite not being the best photos, they are adorable.

We have walking part deux

The video I promised. Just be warned...you might want to turn down the volume on your computer before listening.

Things I learned at Flooky & the Beans and why low rise pants are not mom's best friend

In taking on my quest to do more one-on-one days with the kids I took Nicholas to see the Children's band Flooky & The Beans (http://www.flooky.com/) yesterday. Here is what I learned in our attendance.

Children's bands (or at least Flooky) behave just like adult bands and start at least a 1/2 hour late. I was PISSED. These are children! Of course 1/2 the crowd left before the concert was over. I will be writing an email of complaint.

The music was catchy but the majority of the songs focused on recyling/being green. Yes, of course, it's good but if I hear the phrase "I want to save the world" one more time I might throttle that person.

And plumber's crack is not just for plumbers ladies. For this conert all seating was floor seating. The amount of tushie and underwear visible would have made some thought it was a Victorias Secret lingerie party. When you're forced to sit behind a grandma showing too much skin, you come away thinking all low rise pants need to be banned. I'm sure the dads in attendance would agree.

Despite all this Nicholas did love the concert. A little shy on the dancing and he thought it was a little loud but the remainder of the day he told everyone he got to see a "robot concert". That's worth it.

A little unsure of the band as they came on stage.

He did get into it and did some dancing. Again, I'll try to upload the video stat.

We have walking and other musings

A week and a half ago (Nov 1st) Alexa decided it was time to get moving. She started walking as if a switch was flipped and in such a short time become an 'old pro'. Now I finally get to put her in all her dresses.

Having taken a dozen videos with our flip and not being able to upload them onto my work computer, I've realized its time to make the plunge and get a home computer. And Photoshop. And a new camera.

After reviewing and listening to the audio on some of the videos on the flip, I've become horrified at my own voice. I had do ask Jim, "do I really sound like that?" Not happy with the answer.

Stay tuned. I will upload the videos of Alexa walking as soon as I can get my hands on Jim's computer.

Halloween

I'm trying to remember a Halloween where we had bad weather. I can't think of a single year where Trick or Treating was ruined by rain, snow or fridgid temperatures. There may have been but I can't think of one.

This year was no different. It was beautiful here. Windy but temperatures in the 70s! Nicholas, Alexa and I met Eve and Enzo at our new super super playground. The kids were in heaven and stopped for a snack only briefly.

During Alexa's nap time Nicholas and I got around to carving our pumpkin.

He wasn't a fan of the gooey mess inside.

He let me pull out most of the seeds.

It may not look it but the design was all his. He wanted a "scary pumpkin" and was particular about all the details.

My octopeds. I really wish Alexa woudl keep her hood on.

Just one more house.

Trick-or-Treat. Some for my sister too?

Here are a couple on our front stoop just as is started to rain. Alexa was still not having any part of her hood.

Ghost Parties

That's what Nicholas calls Halloween parties regardless of the presence of ghosts or not. I think it's a result of reading Cliffords First Halloween.

I try to have us attend as many Halloween parties as possible. The food, the photo ops, and getting my money's worth out of the expensive costumes I fall in love with. Somehow I ended up with two octopeds this year.

Alexa was not happy with my choice of costume for her. It was worth the tears.

Nicholas changed his mind frequently but decided to go with a "happy" spider because he does not like "scary" spiders. And yet whenever Nicholas donned his spider costume he feels the need to roar at people and pretend to eat them. Me thinks that'd be a very scary spider.

In addition to attending a moms group party, we hosted a little get together at our place. Rememeber this? For our party we tried to do a number of fun Halloween inspired treats. I made the dirt cake again and turned it into a graveyard. I don't mind that graveyard one bit.

Another fun item; Frankentreats. They are rice krispie treats covered in green colored white chocolate. While making these I had another issue with the chocolate burning and not melting. I went threw two bags of chocolate and had to bring up our old countertop microwave from the basement in order to get it right. That was a rough morning.

Luckily our school hasn't gone completely moonbatty so the kids will get to participate in a Halloween parade at school tomorrow. Hopefully Alexa will cooperate a bit more for her teachers than she did for me.

I'll end with a funny Nicholas story. One of his teachers came up to me at pick up giggling. Apparently at circle time they were discussing trick-or-treating. One girl in class mentioned how it will be dark outside when its time to go trick-or-treating. After discussing how it would be dark outside for a minute or two Nicholas spoke right up and said, "When I went to the Ghost party it wasn't dark outside. And I was like, I don't know why." I can see his facial expression when he said this too. His eyebrows down, eyes rolled, and a smirk on his face to accompany his hands up in question. He cracks me up!

We're baaack

Despite awful weather for our entire visit, I'd called our first major road trip a success.

We hit the road after dinner hoping the kids would fall sleep and make the trip go smoother. Outside of a few potty stops for Nicholas the drive was a breeze. Unfortunately, it wasn't once we stopped to sleep at Michael's place. Boss dog, city lights, and traffic noise kept the kids up 3 hours before they finally fell asleep at 1 am.

The remainder of our drive was uneventful except for the fact that the rain began about an hour into our drive. Too bad it did not stop raining until we hit the same spot on our return trip.

Our first order of business was visiting Omom. Fortunately she was awake and we were able to enjoy lunch with her. While her memory is not what it used to be she is still her old self in so many ways. At one point she offered me anything out of her closet. Specifically commenting on how pretty the pink and lavender was. It was a nice visit.

After our visit we quickly checked into the hotel before heading to the Natural History Museum. Nicholas was especially loved the dinosaur exhibit and Insect Zoo. But of course, the kids favorite item in the museum had nothing to do with nature or history but was a plain old tunnel. The two of them, along with many other young companions, crawled back and forth through that tunnel with squeals of glee for what seemed like hours. Well maybe it was only 30 min but it felt like a long time.

The hotel was perfect. New, an indoor pool, steps from the Metro, surrounded by great family friendly restaurants, Whole Foods next door, a decent breakfast buffet and easy highway access. We'll definitely be happy to stay there again.

The next day we tried visiting Omom first thing in the morning. As our luck would have it she was put to bed minutes before we arrived. Apparently meal times are the best times for visiting.

The remainder of our day was spent at the Air and Space Museum breaking for lunch at the Museum of the American Indian. Our favorite part of this visit was recognizing that the book Curious George Gets a Medal was based on a true story about a monkey named Able. Funny how you can go to a place dozens times and see things differently with each visit.

Saturday we were singing "rain, rain, go away". It didn't work and our plans to visit the National Zoo were kaput. We hit the mall instead for what turned out to be a hectic visit to a very crowded playspace. Regardless of the crowds, the kids were thrilled to climb, run, jump, and scream to their hearts content.

Kids are not so good about taking turns.

Alexa was very vocal about wanting everyone else to get out of her way when she wanted to climb on the structures.

Here's we are enjoying our train ride.

Nicholas did not have a single accident. I'd say that was a huge feat since he was not a fan of the public restrooms and ended up preferring to go potty in the trunk of our car. Thank heavens we have a wagon. We couldn't resist capturing this potty break on film. Apparently, there is not much a parent won't do to get their child to go to the bathroom.

So glad we were able to get a picture of us with Omom. Unfortunately all our other pictures got either accidently deleted or rejected from the camera. Hopefully we can try again in the spring.

10 for Tuesday

1. This blog is now one year old. I can't believe I've kept it up for this long. I've planned on converting this into a photo book using Blurb. Just need to find some time.

2. On Friday I decided to step out of my mommy role and do something for me. I took advantage fo the Columbus Day sales and went clothes shopping for myself. A new friend was there to help and guide me through the scary new fall/winter trends and I emerged unscathed and looking awesome in my new duds.

3. It looks like Alexa is done nursing, or at least we're at the beginning of the end. Last night after a very short session she refused to continue with a firm shaking of her head. My little baby is growing up.

4. On Sunday we enjoyed our new neighborhood and hit the conservation trails behind our house for a mini "hike". We had lots of fun overturning rocks, picking up acorns and pinecones, and exploring a couple streams.

And he's off...

All that running tired him out. Good thing we brought the Ergo.

Alexa took advantage of her confinement with a little catnap.

5. Nicholas is officially pottty trained. Yes, he's had a couple accidents but I think we reached the point of no return once Nicholas "watered the trees" on our hike on Sunday.

6. Despite doing so well on the potty Nicholas has developed a funny little potty "habit". It must be revolving around a need for privacy and yet also being unsure of himself because when he wants to go poopy he'll tell me to close the bathroom door, turn off the lights, sit on the stool with my back turned towards him, and not say anything. I wonder how long this phase will last.

7. I'm trying to make a bigger deal out of the holidays. For me and the kids. Unfortunately I did not succeed in my latest effort. I had planned on doing a modified caramel apple lollipop crafty recipe I found in Family Fun with Nicholas. Instead of using caramel the instructions tell you to use butterscotch chips. The instructions to melt the chips clearly state they can be microwaved. Big FAIL. Not sure if it was our microwave or what but the butterscotch chips would not melt. They burned. I even tried melting them in a double boiler and got similar results. I had to resort to covering the apple slices in peanut butter and rolling them in sprinkles. Nicholas didn't seem to mind but I think I'll use chocolate next time. At least I know it will melt.

8. We got a message from the woman who purchased our home about a package for us that was delivered there. Jim stopped by to pick it up and found out the house had a major water leak that they had to deal with. Apparently they had to rip out the ceiling of our old study and replace some of the plumbing. I hate to wish anything bad on someone else but I am incredibly thankful that we did not have to deal with that. Phew!

9. Too many people around me have been raving about the Pumpkin Spice Lattes at Starbucks lately. I may have to give in and try one out of curiosity although I'm afraid it could be a costly mistake.

10. Megan at Perspectives Photography has the photos from the beach photo shoot we took at Good Harbor beach last month. The pictures are great. If you want to take a peek go to http://perspectives-clients.com/shop/index.php?gnum=175 and type in your email (or my hotmail address). The password is: GoodHarbor (not case sensitive) The kids are the second to last set under "blueeyedmom". Happy viewing.

"Best First Day Ever in the History of Potty Training"

That's what Nicholas's teachers told me when I picked him up yesterday after wearing big boy underwear to school for the first time. I ran into them separately and they each said the same thing. They were so impressed at how well he did. One teacher said she was particularly impressed at the fact that he could do it all by himself. Apparently some parents forget to include the getting your pants & underwear down/up in their training. They might say that to all the moms but I'm so proud!

I know it's not a competition but he's the first boy potty trained in his room too. Way to go Nicholas!

Fruits of our labor

We had so much fun apple picking last year, Nicholas could not wait to go again. He's asked frequently and starting jumping for joy when we told him we were going back to Tougas Farm.

It was a wet Sunday morning after a very rainy Saturday yet it was perfect. The dampness and clouds kept the crowds down and there was still a lot of great fruit on the trees. Much better pickings over last year.

Nicholas wanted to make sure to get the ripest fruit from the very tipity top of the trees.

Alexa was thrilled to enjoy the fruits of others labor and keep her pants dry in the stroller.

The "Gang".

Nicholas enjoying one of the 1/2 dozen apples he sampled of the course of the morning.

A little playtime before heading home.

More pics to share here. Check out Enzo making the moves on Alexa.