Booking through Thursday

While browsing through meme's this afternoon, I came across this one, and since it's Thursday:


Since school is out for the summer (in most places, at least), here’s a school-themed question for the week:

1. Do you have any old school books? Did you keep yours from college? Old textbooks from garage sales? Old workbooks from classes gone by? I have some. Mostly literature books (either text books, or actual novels I read in lit classes), and I have my old French textbooks. I still have some books from a class on Japanese culture that I did in undergrad too. And some miscellaneous literature text books courtesy of a friend who's mom was a teacher.

2. How about your old notes, exams, papers? Do you save them? Or have they long since gone to the great Locker-in-the-sky? Again, mostly lit papers- essays I wrote, and stuff. I've tried to be better about purging notes- the books are harder. I also have a folder of all the old stories and poetry I wrote starting in middle school I think- that's some scary stuff! LOL

Another blog challenge

from Sweet Shoppe Designs.

This one was a quiz to find out what cartoon character you're like. The quiz is here

My score was 37, which makes me:

36-43 points) You are Charlie Brown:
You are tender, you fall in love quickly but you are also very serious about all relationships. You are a family person. You call your Mom every Sunday. You have many friends and may occasionally forget a few birthdays. Don’t let your passion confuse you with reality.

I've been looking around at various meme's and themed blog posts. I have some friends that do the Thursday 13, and I've been thinking about it. Or maybe I'll just do my own themes- something to give me an inspiration to blog on, since my day to day life is so dull. (well, the interesting stuff I can't post about, since it's work related, and the rest of my life is boring :) )

We're going on vacation next week...and then maybe I'll be back blogging...or maybe not, you never know...

A Month since my last post...

I guess my life is pretty boring. Mostly work these days, and when I'm not working or with the kids, I've been obsessively digi scrapping (although, I did get 2 paper pages done today, and am hoping to do another today!).

Speaking of digiscrapping- I have a blog challenge from a site I've just started hanging out at (Sweet Shoppe Designs) that I've been meaning to post on...

If someone gave you several million dollars, what would you do with it?
Number 1: Pay off debt!!!! We really don't have much in the way of credit card debt...but house and car payments...and the biggie, student loan payments!....are just frightening. And then...I'd buy DH a new car- his is about 11 or 12 years old now, and is still running, but becoming more high maintenance. He wants one of the hybrid vehicles...and with the prices of gas these days, maybe that's not a bad idea! Then I think I'd be sensible and invest a lot of it, so I could retire while I'm young enough to enjoy it. (And hey, with all that money, and our debt paid off...I could work part time too!). And, last but not least, I'd take the whole family to stay at Animal Kingdom Lodge at Disney World :) I would LOVE to stay there!

I think our next big Orlando trip is going to be in 2010. I'm so excited about the new Wizarding World plans at Universal Studios!!! Something really exciting to look forward to, after the series ends next month :( (But I'm REALLY excited for the book, anyway- and the movie too :) )

We went to see Shrek 3 last night- the kids did great, especially since it went past their usual bedtime. Rebecca was just laughing hysterically at everything. I wish I'd smuggled in our little video camera, just to capture it (but who knew, eh?). It wasn't as good as the first two...but from reviews, we weren't expecting it to be, so it was a decent enough way to pass the evening. And then today, the girls went to a school friends party at McDonalds. It's kind of sad, they'll all be going to different schools come the fall- who knows whether they will keep in touch, or not?

A Moment of Sheer Terror

We'd just finished dinner, and the girls were playing outside on their swingset (the backyard is just off the kitchen). DH was in the kitchen doing some clean-up (he had his MP3 player on, and the water running) and I was up in the office answering some e-mails (the office is on the same side of the house as the yard, and I can hear some noise from out there). Next thing I know, I hear Isabelle screaming, and I race down the stairs yelling- "Is everything ok out there?". Turns out DH couldn't hear anything, and I was the first to see Isabelle hanging upside down, her foot stuck in one of the rings on the swingset. We raced out there and got her down- no lasting damage done- not sure if she's sprained the ankle or not. When she forgets, she'll start walking/jumping on that ankle- but she couldn't bear weight on it for a while...That was another couple of gray hairs for Mommy!

Almost a month

Since I last posted. Falling back into bad habits again...

Work has been busy but is finally slowing down. I actually got to take a couple days off, once when I went to a scrapbooking retreat (first time I've paper scrapped in a long time!), and then Friday, for Isabelle's preschool graduation. It was very sweet- her whole class got to wear gowns, and the ones who are going on to kindergarden in the fall got to wear caps. They had a program with songs and prayers, and a reception afterwards, with cakes that the kids decorated themselves!

After the graduation, we stopped at a carnival that the school where Isabelle is probably going to kindergarden this fall was having. It was fun...DH put his foot in his mouth when he said "Of course you can do the fishing game" without paying attention to the fact that it was real goldfish that they were giving away. So Isabelle won one, which she named gold. Unfortunately, we just got rid of the old fish tank I used to have...so I had to go out to Walmart to buy one, and some fish food (the cashier said "Everyone is buying fish stuff tonight" LOL). Things were going fine until around noon the next day, when Isabelle came to us, and said "I think Gold is dead"...and sure enough...So now, we've got a tank and no fish...I think we'll have to end up going out and getting another...

Yesterday, we had a sitter over, and went out to see Spiderman 3- I thought it was pretty good (although, the main reason we decided to see it in the theater instead of waiting for it to come out on DVD was to see the previews for Harry Potter, and Pirates 3 on the big screen- LOL).

Today, we went out to brunch, and then shopping- for a combination Mother's Day, Father's Day and anniversary (8 years in June) gift, we're getting a big screen TV! Yippee. (We were going to hold off...but we got a playstation a while ago...and got a wireless controller, so we can sit on the couch...and now it's hard to see the writing on the screen! So we got obsessed again! LOL There are some decent sales this weekend though, and we'll have it for the season finally of Lost! Yay!

Other big news- Isabelle can ride her bike without training wheels, all by herself! She learned how this weekend! Way to go Isabelle! My baby is growing up :(

Appliance graveyard?

It's been a while since I've posted!

I think we've got some sort of evil spirit in this house that doesn't like electrical appliances...Did I mention that we had to replace our washer and dryer recently? I think so...well, about a week ago, the control panel on our dish washer started flaking out...we can now do only quick rinse, or baked on cookware. So today, we went out and bought a new dishwasher- should be here by the end of the week. And shortly after we got home, our microwave started making funny sounds and sparking...we were almost sure we were going to have to go back to the store to buy ANOTHER appliance...I think their may have been a tiny sliver of metal or something in it...after we washed it out thoroughly, it was fine. (Good thing...it's old, as is our DVD player which is starting to be a little flaky...and our computer, which is not old, is starting to run REALY slow! Ugh...when it rains, it pours).

News of note...the weekend before last, we took the girls to the movies- it was Rebecca's first ever movie in a theater. We went to see Meet the Robinson's. I liked it a lot...Rebecca liked the popcorn :) She's eager to go back to the movies (for more popcorn LOL). I think we'll go again when Shrek 3 is out...all of us should like that!

Last weekend...I had to work- DH took the girls to the IL's for the weekend, so it was fairly quiet here. I've recently started beading again (as if I don't have enough hobbies!), and I made 3 necklaces! Isabelle loves them, and makes a point of showing them to all of her friends at school when I wear one.

And this weekend- we learned how to make chocolate martinis! Yum! Godiva Chocolate Liqueur- pricey, but oh so good! We joked about having more today...for breakfast, and lunch... (don't worry, we didn't! LOL)

What a week....

OK, DH was gone last weekend. And there were some high points, and some low points. We did NOT get off gracefully to school- either Friday or Monday. Less said about that the better...Friday, we did have our pizza party, and watched Dora's World Adventure (got it from Netfllix), and then did an impromptu shopping trip to Walmart to pick up some stuff- woo hoo, what a Friday night! :)
Saturday it was supposed to rain a little (and it did, but not much), and the yard was a swamp, so we went over to a nearby town to go shopping. We went to Best Buy where I got an external hard drive (can you say digi-scrapping obsession? Those kits take up so much space! I was burning them to DVD- but now I can keep them organized better :) We're thinking of upgrading our computer sometime too...and can use that to help us transfer stuff). And the kids bought some candy (at Best Buy? It was by the check out lanes! LOL) This was maybe not a good thing. We went to Joann Fabrics next- I had a pattern I wanted to buy, and wanted to get some fabric for it. The girls were doing ok- but then Rebecca spilled her can of mini M&M's on the floor...and I had to pick them up and throw them away...boy did we have a meltdown. I thought we were going to leave, but we muddled through some how. I let both of the girls choose some fabric for me (I steered them toward the stuff I wanted...and fortunately, they had decent taste :) ). Then we went to Panera for an early lunch- yummy! Things went pretty smoothly there, and we went to the mall for them to play at the indoor play area for a while. Things were going ok- until R. came over and announced she'd had an accident- #2. Ugh. And I'd left the diaper bag with her spare stuff in the car, since she's been doing so well. We went to the family restrooms and cleaned up as best as we could, but then had to go out to the car (which did not go over well!). Finally got out, and got R. changed, then we went over to a friend's house, to see her cute baby, celebrate her birthday belatedly, and let the kids play with her older son. I think everyone had a good time :) We went home and had dinner, and I let the kids crash for a while in front of Dora, then we had an early bedtime.
Sunday- I made waffles! My first time using my waffle-maker (DH usually makes them). I have a yummy recipe for overnight waffles, so I made the batter when we got home on Saturday. We played around the house for a while, then went to a little coffee shop for a snack/early lunch, and then to Lowe's to get some stuff for the yard. The girls had a short nap, and then we went out to work in the yard. I'd been out there earlier- and it was a beautiful day...but our yard is a swamp! We've got so much clay in our soil, it takes for ever for it to drain. I was wearing my crocs, and they were just flooded with muddy water. I had to ask Isabelle to run up and get me a towel to wipe off my feet so I could go back in the house. We had lots of foot baths that week!
Monday- I had to get the girls to dance lesson (Isabelles, but Rebecca came along for the ride). I got them there on time...but kept getting work related phone calls...annoying when you're in a noisy studio trying to entertain a 3 year old.
Tuesday and Wednesday were fairly uneventful. Thursday was hell. It was DH's birthday, and I left in such a hurry, I forgot to wish him happy birthday! :( I left the house at 6:45 to get to work because I was swamped (covering for someone out of town) Got thing wrapped up in time though- it was the girls school Easter program last night. DH was making dinner while I was running around organizing things. I was out in the laundry room (which is off the garage) and was hurrying back inside- I slammed the door really hard...and my little finger (right hand of course) got caught in it. Oh man...agony, I just started crying and couldn't stop, I was afraid it might have been broken (and was definitely cut- got it stopped with pressure and a bandaid). DH wanted to take me in to get an x-ray, but I didn't want to miss the girls program. (Now, I don't think it's broken, but it's still pretty sore- can't really use it yet- thank goodness it wasn't my index finger). Isabelle came up to me and said "Mommy grownups aren't supposed to cry" And we had a talk about how everyone cries sometimes (all while I'm sniffling profusely). And then she gave me a big hug and said "I love your hugs". And I love that kid :) We got to the program and the kids were great- Isabelle insisted on wearing one of her dress-up crowns :) They had a lot of fun- they both enjoy performing.
And then yesterday for date night! DH picked an asian fusion restaurant- he had sushi, and red bean ice cream for dessert. I had some really yummy pan fried cod, served with asparagus, mushrooms, potatoes and shrimp in an herbed butter and creme fraiche sauce. I'm drooling just thinking about it. I had espresso gelato for dessert- very potent! Yum! Then we went to a nearby bar that makes lots of specialty martinis-DH had a vanilla one, and I had a raspberry truffle one. Oh so good! Only one drink though, since we had to drive home, and were both pretty tired. It was awesome to get out by ourselves though!

The weekend recap

Better late than never, right? :)

Last weekend was spent in St. Louis with some wonderful ladies just generally having fun. Despite a slighly rocky start (missed my exit on the freeway, and was on meds for thrush- darn antibiotics!) the weekend was great. I don't remember the last time I've willingly stayed up so late (and I've never drank that much in one weekend- what can I say, I'm very tame :) ).

We started off the weekend with a trip to the Budweiser brewery, which was a lot cooler than I expected. It was so pretty, with these amazing chandeliers and stained glass everywhere, even in the stables. They gave away samples too- actual glasses, not little dixie cups. Then we went to the Schlafly tap room, for a delicious lunch, and back to the hotel for some R&R before heading out to dinner at the St. Louis Fish Market and then to the Big Bang Dueling Piano Bar (so fun! Last dueling piano bar that I went to was Pat O'Briens on my honeymoon). The next day, we got up way too early and went to the Arch- hadn't been there since I was a little kid- it was pretty cool. The rest of the day was pretty relaxed- lunch then hanging out at the hotel, eating, drinking and laughing.

After breakfast the next morning, we all headed out. Uneventful drive (I found a drive-through Starbucks- yay!) and the kids were reasonably excited to see me.

Dh and the kids had a good weekend to themselves- he let them have a dinner of popcorn in front of a movie on Friday night! (actually, he's gone this weekend and we're doing dinner and a movie- but I'm serving pizza! :) ) He actually took them swimming all by himself- brave man. And Isabelle lost her second tooth- and I mean lost! She and Rebecca were playing with the little bag it was in and it disappeared! I finally found it yesterday morning, so the tooth-fairy paid a belated visit last night.

I've just been kind of draggy this week. I was still tired Monday, and even a bit on Tuesday. Wednesday I felt back to normal- did some work in the yard because it was a beautiful day- and Thurday and today I'm suffering from pulled muscles. Had a migraine yesterday too, that I worked through- TGIF!!

Soooo tired

Just got back from an awesome weekend in St. Louis with friends. Did I mention it was awesome? Yeah, I'm a bit tired- I'll post more later, but I just had a quote from R. that I HAD to post before it gets forgotten in a sleep deprived haze. "You've been telling me I'm a real person" Huh?!? I said "well, you are a real person" and she laughed and said "No, I'm not!" Hmmm...silly little girl :)

House of Strep, and playing around

I've been playing around with my blog tonight- I made a header! Yay, me! I've started on a couple of digiscrap creative teams, and I used a kit from one of them to create it, because it fitted what I wanted exactly! (credits are in the upper right hand corner).

In other news...we've all been sick :( Well...to correct that, DH and I have been FEELING sick, the girls have been acting fine (but apparently have had sore throats they didn't tell us about until asked point blank). I've been sick since Friday. My throat hurt, but the worst was overall body aches, and fatigue. I've got a huge swollen lymph node in my neck, too. I thought maybe it was strep, but figured it was probably just a cold. DH got the same thing two days later. On Monday, he was tested for strep...and came back positive (my test came back negative). We asked the girls if they had sore throats...they both said yes...and sure enough, they both tested positive for strep. So we're all on antibiotics (I'm fairly sure my test was a false negative- since I have the same symptoms, and was the first one sick). So the girls got to stay home and play outside in our beautiful warm weather today (because they don't feel at all sick, but couldn't go to school. Oh, for more sick days like that... :) )

Conversations

Is a cat better than a sister? Rebecca thinks so... We were reading the book Jessica by Kevin Henkes (we love Kevin Henkes!) this weekend about how Ruthie didn't have a cat or a dog or a sister or a brother, but she had Jessica (her imaginary friend, and then her real friend). I was talking to Rebecca about how she (Rebecca) did have a sister and a cat. And then, just for grins, I asked her which she liked better- the cat or the sister. And she said "the cat". Repeated the question in different order, with real names, changed it to "who's more fun to play with?"- the cat won, everytime. Sisters- gotta love it.

And this morning- Isabelle was going through our hair pretty drawer- we still had a baby headband in there. She pulled it out and was asking about it and said "there will never be any babies in this family ever again". And I said- "well, when you and your sister grow up, maybe there will be". She said "but maybe we won't have babies- you never know." I said "You're right, but it would be nice- when you're older- about 28". And she said "Yeah, or maybe I'll be a teenager..." Eeek! Over my dead body! Convent school, here we come! LOL.

Out of town...

We're at the in-laws this weekend- our nephew is having a birthday party (he's turning 9!). So predictably, Rebecca is sick. She got a fever at dinner last night. She's still sleeping, so hopefully she'll wake up feeling better today. I was just remembering our failed camping trip, not quite 2 years ago. After driving to two different campgrounds, we found a campsite. She was a little tired, and sat on my lap while DH and Isabelle set up the tent (that was an adventure!)- by the time it was up, she was burning up with fever. So we promptly broke camp and went back home. This year, we WILL go camping! Anyway- she recovered pretty quickly that time, so here's hoping.

In other news- Isabelle failed the middle ear impedence testing they did at school- in both ears. It's not a hearing test per se, but we've often wondered about her hearing- we've even had it tested, and figured her problems were due to intermittent wax impaction. So, they retest her in 5 weeks and if she doesn't pass then, we have to take her to the doctor. I think I may go ahead and set up an appointment for her, though. In good news though- Isabelle has been picked to say the prayer at "graduation" this year from preschool. Eek- that means we have to start thinking about kindergarden soon!

I remember...

...some of the stuff I was going to post but forgot! Some more reminders about what the kids are doing.

I. is obsessed with rhymes- her new thing is to use her body to block doors/top of the stairway/whatever and refuse to let you pass until you've told her a rhyme. She's got R. imitating her and doing it (but does she really recognize a rhyme when she hears one? Hmmm...) She's also a total pop diva- She makes up her own songs and totally sings them like a young rock star- I wish I could get her on video doing it! R. sometimes makes up songs too...the first one she made up was almost a year ago- the lyrics were "All the animals are crying. All the animals are sleeping". Set to her own tune. These days though, she's big on singing songs she learns at school. The latest is Jesus Loves Me...and she's also pretty obsessed with the VeggieTales theme song. Her other big thing is asking "Mommy, what does X mean?" But she doesn't want to know a definition- she wants to know significance. Like "what do panties mean? What do pullups and diapers mean?" And tonight it was "What do green monsters mean? What do black monsters mean?" Also- big news for her- she's moving up to the 3 year old preschool room in 1-2 weeks! So she and Isabelle will share a part-time preschool teacher (the daycare participates in a preschool program the school district has started to help with kindergarden readiness, and the district sends a teacher out for about an hour or so daily, in each of the preschool rooms.)

I think that's all...and I'm working this weekend- so time for bed!

Cool Picasa actually uploaded properly (although the formatting is a little weird) . This is the 5th and most recent of the layouts I mentioned in the post below. I love this one! The picture was taken last summer- I still have lots of great photos to scrap from that picnic :)

Haven't updated the blog in a while. Things have been busy at work and at home. When I haven't been working, playing with the kids, or sleeping, I've been scrapping! I created 5 layouts in the last week (although, it looks like only 4 are uploading- hmmm). It's the last week of my contest, and I've been doing a bunch of challenges as well. It's really inspired me, and I can't believe how much I've learned in a week.

The big event of the weekend was R's birthday. We got her a new baby doll, some clothes for it, and a new stroller. She loves it! We had gotten her a highchair for it as well, but one of the pieces was broken when we tried to assemble it, and we haven't been able to exchange it yet. The doll is one that cries and says mama. A bit annoying, but just so sweet the way she interacts with it. When it cries, she says "shh, shh" and when it says
"mama" she says "yes, dear". My heart just melts... We had cake on Friday- it was actually a Valentine's cake, but she didn't care- you can see a bit of the red frosting in the scrapbook layout at the top left! :)

We had even more snow over the weekend. DH decided we should take the kids out in a nature walk in the snow. Only problem- the place he drove us to was closed for the season, and he decided to do a 3-point to turn around. In the 12-18 inch bank of snow. Fortunately a good samaritan came along almost immediately and pulled us out. So instead, we drove to the memorial park on the way home- there's a pond, and some swans (amazingly, still out all winter) and the girls just ran around for a while in the deep snow. I managed to get some great snowy pictures- good thing since it's all melting and slush now. But, I'm ready for spring now, so that's ok :)

Our other adventure of this week was the dying of our dryer. It really shouldn't come as a surprise- both it and our washer are really old. My mom had just bought a new one right before we moved into the house (we didn't come with those) and let us take hers. So we knew we'd have to get new ones sooner or later. So tonight, after dinner, we went to Lowe's and bought a new set :) The girls were maniacs though, running around trying to stick their heads in the dryers, and playing hide and seek among the refridgerators. They crashed hard when we finally got home. So, the new stuff will be here in the morning.

I had lots of stuff I meant to write about earlier in the week, but life just sort of got ahead of me, and I never did.
Maybe I'll think of some of it later.

Snow days...

Oh boy, what a couple of days it's been.

Monday started out normal enough, until DH got Rebecca up, and brought her over to me- her cheeks were red, and she felt warm. Uh-oh. So, we quickly came up with a plan- DH would stay home in the AM, and me in the afternoon. All day of course, the buzz was about the snow that was forecast, whether we'd be open or not, whether schools would be or not...And of course, I wondered whether R. would be well enough to go to school.

And the next day....R. actually was feeling better- but the snow had come. DH and I were up early shoveling out the drive. He decided to cancel his work day, so I could go in, if we stayed open. We actually were open for half a day...and then I think most of the town shut down! It was exciting to say the least.

Then this morning, we got up to shovel out...and found one of our neighbors had plowed us out (bless him!). I had to go into work for a little while- and a big utility vehicle was blocking the plowed exit from my street- Grrr...I ended up driving the back way, which was a bit of a mistake...I was slipping and sliding along ok, until I came to a big truck that was idling outside someones house waiting to pick some one up (and it took up all of the passable road of course)...and then I got stuck. Happily they left soon, and with lots of backing and forthing, I got out (that'll teach me to go out without the shovel and kitty litter the radio told me I should be traveling with! I didn't even have my gloves!). Later this morning, I went to ask the girls what they wanted for lunch (Isabelle's vote- heart shaped French toast and bacon) and R. wasn't in with I. watching TV. I found her curled up under the covers in our guest room looking very droopy, and feeling very warm. She didn't eat much all day, and has been so congested! I hope she's better by tomorrow- it's supposed to be her birthday party at daycare (if daycare is even open)

Little things...

I'm working this weekend, and DH took the girls up to MIL's- they just left an hour ago. It's amazing how quiet the house is!

I've been inspired to think about the kids little phrases and mannerisms, though, and record them for posterity...

Isabelle is very inquisative about everything- one of her most heard quote is "Is there such a thing as 'x' in this world?" Always "in this world". She's also on a major pirate kick right now- when she and her best friend Sarah are 20, they are going on a "pirate inventure". Sarah will be the captain, because she thought of it and Isabelle is the "matey". The girls like it if we play pirate with them...DH will "drag" one of them off to "walk the plank" (go in for toothbrush time, or jammies, or something)...Isabelle started with "Give me back my daughter" whenever he takes Rebecca...and she's got Rebecca saying it to, when Isabelle is being carried off (is that ever funny!). Isabelle was also the inventor of the running hug. On many nights, when they say good night to me, and give me a hug, they now take a running start and leap into my arms- usually 2 or 3 a night- and all initiated by Isabelle.

The purple hugs are Rebecca's...although, I suppose I started that. Rebecca is a great hugger- when she wants to be. Sometimes, she doesn't want to, and I've had to get creative to get my nighttime hug. Once when she was in a particularly anti-hugging phase (but really big on learning colors!), I came up with the idea of her giving various different colored hugs and kisses, and it stuck. Most nights (but not all) we like to come up with a lot of different colored hugs and kisses to give and receive. Rebeccas big phrase right now is "when I get big, can I..." The main things she wants to do are drive the car, and chew gum. LOL. She's also our big music critic. If she doesn't like what someone is singing, or if she wants to sing one of her songs solo, she'll yell "No, don't sing!" and get more and more agitated, until whoever is singing stops. She's done that since she was two probably...she could barely talk, otherwise, but she could get those words out!

The big event...

happened last night. Isabelle started having some bleeding around her tooth, and crying that it hurt, when she brushed. So DH took the bull by the horns, and pulled it out. She cried a bit, mostly because of the blood, but then was SO excited! And it was just in time for us to put it under her pillow for the tooth fairy. And boy, was she excited about that! (Rebecca's comment "I didn't get any money" :( ) And now, Isabelle is busy wiggling the tooth next to it, which is also loose (the two bottom front ones...)

Snow Days, and scrapbook contests...

It's been an interesting couple of days. Got to work on Monday (DH takes the girls to daycare- I leave early) and a woman I work with who uses the same daycare asks "So are you taking the day off or is your husband?" I must have looked pretty blank because she said "To stay with the girls? While the daycare is closed?" Apparently if the wind chill is low enough, the daycare closes, along with the public schools. Seems kind of weird to me, since they don't go outside when it's cold, and none of the kids walk or take a bus...but...whatever. DH found out when he got there and saw the note on the door- we don't listen to the radio or TV in the morning to hear the announcement (but we better start!). So he stayed home with them...

Then yesterday, we got The Big Snow...probably about 5 inches. The girls daycare closed at 1, so it was my turn to get them. The irony is, that I was driving through probably the worst conditions of the day to get them, and had to wake them from naps to bring them home...so they were cranky much of the afternoon. We played in the snow for exactly 10 minutes before R. lost her mittens. I asked what had happened to them...and I. took that as a cue to bury them in the snow. Ugh...so R. was screaming hysterically, because it was cold, her hands were wet from the snow, and when we found them, they were covered with snow inside and out. So we had to go in...and of course, I was on the cordless phone trying to wrap up something from work, while also trying to calm R. and warm her hands up. About halfway through the tantrum, she starts screaming "I want Daddy." Way to make me feel like a bad parent! So then we all cuddled, and watched Signing Time together....I. was bored and started playing tic-tac-toe by herself, but R. was really interested in making the signs- sure, now that she can talk really well. LOL.

My other recent obsession has been the New Kids on the Block Contest for new digi-scrappers. It started this week, and I've been totally obsessed. I think I jinxed myself earlier when I talked about how easy it was to upload photos with Picasa- the last couple of times, I've got an error message...so I'll upload my layout the old-fashioned way... It says "While Isabelle and Rebecca were captivated by the drummers, they captivated us..."

To-do

I read a quote a few days ago that I liked. "Make a list of important things to do today. At the top of your list put 'eat chocolate.' Now you'll get at least one thing done today." Gina Hayes.
Well- the top of my work desk is almost visible, I worked on my craft area a little today...but nothing has been done on my exercise area...instead, I baked brownies.

Isabelle was sick today, so she and Rebecca got to stay in jammies all day today. Just as well...it was really cold today. I only went out once, to the grocery store (bad timing- lots of people stocking up on last minute Superbowl stuff- oh well.).

I also did the "assignment" for the DSLR for newbies class at scrapbookgraphics.com. It was supposed to be a picture of running water taken outside, with different shutter speeds...but I was pretty sure I wasn't going to be able to get any running water outside...and didn't really feel like going outside to find out. It was a pretty neat exercise though- I still haven't uploaded the pics to see them full size.

DH and I watched half of Brick last night- then I fell asleep. No reflection on the movie (although it is a bit hard to follow)...I was just tired. So we're going to watch the rest of it tonight. And we need to reorganize our Netflix queue to figure out what's next.

Frustration...

Frustration is 9:30 at night having just one last little thing to finish to make a scrapbook layout complete- and realizing 2 hours later that it's impossible, and needs to be redone in a different way. Finally finished though, and I'm happy with it. Today we spent the day shopping- mostly for birthday presents, for Rebecca, and for our nephew. Lots of eating too- yummy mocha and cookie for me as a late morning lunch, and a late afternoon salad at Chili's. We decided to get Rebecca a baby doll, a new doll stroller, and a doll high chair- I think she'll love it. I asked her a day or two ago what she wanted for her birthday, and she said "cookies". LOL. Not quite as funny as when I asked her a week ago though...she said chicken! :)

And the text on the layout below says "The preschool teachers asked Isabelle's class what they thought love was, in preparation for Valentines Day. The other kids said "I love Mommy". But not Isabelle. Her response..."Stuff you forgive about your family. And you hug them!""

Things that are exciting...

The Police are getting back together to perform for the Grammys this month! And the entire month of July is going to be one big Potter-rama!! Rebecca is FINALLY starting to get the hang of using the potty!!! (although we are still having a lot of accidents). And, most exciting of all- Isabelle is about to lose her first tooth!!!! Guess it's time to figure out how much the tooth fairy leaves these days...

And another...

I wanted to add this with the first post, but somehow it got deleted.

Scrapbookers (and non-scrapbookers, too ;) )- I need your help. I'm working on a page with Isabelle in her dance costume, and I can't think of a good title. "Dance" is too generic, and besides, I've already used it for another layout :)

OK- I decided to try to add pictures using Picasa. To quote the Staples ad "That was easy" (we actually have a button at work that says that! :) ). So, this is the girls on the one day so far this year that we've actually had some snow- they had a lot of fun- at least for the first half hour before they got cold, and their mittens got all wet. No where in town could we find any waterproof mittens! They probably all sold out in September- sigh...

A bunch of random thoughts...

I just found a link to a funny website Recipes of the Damned. Meat milk-shake anyone? Ick...

The top of my desk at work in not yet in sight- but close. I found my phone book for the first time in a week or more.

We're letting Isabelle play hooky from swim lesson tonight- it wasn't worth the argument (and besides it's really cold and we didn't feel like going out, anyway).

After all the uproar over Rebecca and the panties vs pullups overnight (which we solved by putting her to bed in panties, and DH snuck in and changed her into a pullup when she was sleeping soundly), she managed to stay dry all night, and go potty this morning. You just never know.

I've got things I should be doing (but probably won't), so that's all for now.

Am I crazy?

Probably. :) In addition to this being the busy time at work, and the girls being super challenging right now, I've signed up to do New Kids on the Block- a 3 week challenge for new digiscrappers, at DSP and I'm doing DSLR for newbies at Scrapbook Graphics. (This is in addition to all that cleaning I'm supposed to be doing- when I left work today, I think my desk looked even worse, if that's possible!).

We're in the midst of melt-down city with both girls right now. Is it something in the air? Or a phase they're both going through at the same time? Ugh- whatever it is, I hope it quits soon. Isabelle did NOT want to go to preschool this morning and did NOT want to go to dance class tonight. And now Rebecca does NOT want to wear a pull-up to bed (we started potty-training in earnest this weekend, with panties, and lots of accidents). Although, I guess it's fair- Mommy does NOT want to go to work tomorrow, either...I'm just sucking it up and dealing with it better than they are :)

Cleaning and organizing....

Goal #1 for the week- clean up my desk at work so that an avalanche is not imminent.
Goal #2- continue organizing the basement area where I'm supposed to be working out (but am not presently)
Goal #3- continue organizing my craft area- notice a trend here?

Trying it out...

I have a bad track record with journals. I start out enthusiastically, and then things fall off pretty quickly. But, I'm on a blog visiting kick right now- so why not?