Timmy on the slide

Timmy came walking out of the playroom like this today! He loves his little tools. He also loves little cars and as of yesterday, pushes them around the floor and makes a bbbrrrmmmm sound. He's also walking full time now and hardly ever crawls anymore!



We went to the library to expend a little pent up energy today in their children's room. Timmy LOVES this slide! He climbs up it himself, gets seated and slides down...that walks to the ladder and starts all over!



This is the first time I've uploaded a video...so we'll see if it works!

Where's the house?

After another foot of snow this morning, our house is beginning to disappear! (These pictures are mainly for my grandparents in warm, sunny FL! See all the fun you're missing!)




That hump in the front of the picture is the girls plastic picnic table! And there's a few other "humps" in the back that are various children's toys!



This is a view from our front door! The piles on the sides are so high because we had to shovel our roof off as the roof was leaking around the chimney! The snow is so deep around the entire house, the girls really can't play in it!

From the back seat...

Olivia talking to Naomi: "We used to have a fish named Dori...but she died...we'll have to pray for Dori!"

Naomi: "Oh...she died...that's sad!"

Win a Chai Wrap Tai

For all of those that have babies or are soon to have babies, Keeper of the Home is giving away a new baby carrier that looks quite versatile! Check out her post here for a chance to win!

Whirlwind!

I thought I'd share this story to give those mothers who've "been there" a good laugh and those who are just starting their families a little glimpse into what life will be like! I was doing a big batch cook this morning with some ground beef I got on sale yesterday and making muffins to freeze at the same time. The girls were playing play dough in the kitchen. Timmy was taking a nap. All was going well....I had two batches of meatloaf muffins in the oven and thought "I'm going to be an involved mother and let the girls help me make the muffins"...it was a simple mix that just required milk to be added to it. I brought their little table into the kitchen so they could sit and help. I also decided to brown up some ground beef on the stove to store in the freezer. So...the girls were sitting there stirring the muffin mix...and it all unraveled. All at the same time, the stove started smoking big time (some grease in the muffin tins spilled over and started to burn), the whole house filled with smoke....the hamburg on the stove started really sizzling...Timmy woke up crying...and Naomi melted down big time because she couldn't lick a spoon! There was play dough all over the floor being squished into the crevices...I'm not sure what I tackled first, but in the end, Timmy ended up in his high chair eating, Naomi ended up screaming in her bed with the door shut, the slider was opened allowing the 30 deg air in and the smoke out, the fan was turned on, and Olivia was asked to pick up play dough!

....And now I sit here typing to calmness with a clean kitchen and a freezer stocked full! (And a very stubborn muffin tin soaking the hamburg out!) All in a days work!

When You Can Hear Giggling, but Can't See them...

I had some errands to run today and Pete was home...he was occupied when he could hear two little voices giggling on the other side of the house. Olivia came running and said "Daddy, Naomi and Timmy are playing in the bathroom!" Pete arrived in the bathroom to discover Timmy and Naomi playing in the toilet...Timmy with the toilet brush in hand and wet toilet paper draped over his head and Naomi with the plunger in her hand! Two little partners in crime! (Disclaimer: We do ALWAYS try to keep the bathroom door shut, but now that Naomi is potty trained, she sometimes leaves the door open after going to the bathroom!)

Olivia's Growing Up

Olivia has really been making progress lately with becoming Mommy's Little Helper. She dresses herself and makes her bed every morning now, she sets the table for dinner after lunch for me, she can fold the towels from the laundry, and help empty the dishwasher and today she put all the groceries away for me today BY HERSELF while I was feeding Timmy! I was so impressed! She cleans up toys really well by herself now too! She is definitely entering the next stage and is my little friend and helper!

Our Lady of Altagracia Tea Party

I've been following the blog Shower of Roses for some time now and have really admired the many activities she does with her children to instill in the them the faith. One of the activities she does is liturgical teas...tea parties that celebrate different seasons in the Catholic Church or Feast Days. I have also been reading Bringing Up Girls by Dr. James Dobson. He dedicated a chapter to training girls to be ladies. One thing his wife did with their daughter was have tea parties. She used this as a time to teach manners and etiquette, as well as hospitality and how to have a conversation.

So, on a whim Friday, after seeing this post, I decided to have a tea party in honor of Our Lady of Altagracia, who I had never heard of before reading the post. The girls absolutely LOVED it! We had Candy Cane tea and cinnamon rolls. I showed them the picture of Our Lady of Altagracia and gave them a quick summary of her story. We talked about the Dominican Republic, where the image of Our Lady of Altagracia is, and we prayed two of the short prayers mentioned on Shower of Roses. The girls were under strict instructions not to touch one single item of the tea set, except their tea cups and only when I was sitting there with them. They did remarkably well (though there were many reminders to "sit still...don't touch that...")! We discussed some manners and etiquette during our tea party and nothing got broken! (Believe me, I was holding my breath!)

I hope to make an afternoon tea party part of our weekly activities. It probably won't be quite so fancy or have my special tea set each time. I am hoping though to sit down at least once a week and have a special time to have a snack together and either converse or maybe read a story to the girls. I'd love to start reading some more story books (like The Little Blue House by Colleen Drippe) instead of just picture books, but we'll see if they are ready for that!

Cutie Pies!

These pictures are just too cute not to share! Olivia was playing her little Leap Frog game when Timmy toddled over. She insisted on having him put on her lap so she could do it with him. Naomi rounded the corner and joined in. They sat playing it for a few minutes like this!

Angel Training

I turned on Catholic Songs for Children today for the kids to listen to. Olivia decided she would stand on the table in front of the picture of the Sacred Heart and "learn how to be an angel". She practiced all kinds of apparent angel moves (I guess angels like to move in all sorts of contortions!) Last night she stood there and did a dance "to make Jesus happy"! Of course Naomi stood by observing and proceeded to copy everything her big sister did!

Speaking of being an angel, though she's not quite and "angel" yet, she has taken great strides lately. She is such a helper now and becoming much more independent. In the last few days, she has decided to dress herself and make her bed without prompting. She folded all the towels for me today and put away her own clothes from the clean laundry. She set the table and cleaned up the living room and playroom (one of her favorite ways to make me smile!) She's becoming my little buddy and when she's good (which fortunately is much more frequently!), she's such a joy!

Update from the sick house!

Just as everyone seemed to be on the mend, I got slammed (and I do mean slammed!) with a nasty case of mastitis this weekend! It landed me in bed ALL day Sunday and would've Monday too if I didn't have to go to the doctor or take care of children! I'm finally feeling better (thanks to sleep, tylenol, and antibiotics!) Thank you SO much to my wonderful husband who picked up all the pieces and to Dianne for rescuing me Monday with Homemade Chicken Noodle soup, folded laundry, clean dishes, and fed children! I don't ever care to have that nasty infection again! Thanks to everyone who emailed/called with good wishes!

Remember the cheap toilet paper?

...well, it came in a big box and it was a HUGE hit! That box was a house, a train, a package to mail children to relatives homes, a shopping cart... it kept them busy for hours!

Random Pictures

Pete gives each of the girls a piggy back ride every night into their bedroom and then "flies them into bed"...some nights they chose to be airplanes and other nights they want to be cars!





Timmy loves to play on the keyboard in our bedroom. He's so cute- he bounces his little bottom up and down as he plays it!

*HOT* Amazon $20 gift card for $10

Living Social (like Groupon) is offering a $20 gift card code for $10 today! This is a nationwide deal, so you can purchase it from any location. They've already sold over 125,000 and it's only 7am, so if you want the deal, I suggest you do it soon as I don't know if it will sell out soon! Use this link to get there!

$25 off $50 at drugstore.com (= cheap toilet paper?!)

See, I told you I couldn't help but post deals on here too ;-)

Anyway, if you copy and paste the following link:

drugstore.com/user/promo.asp?code=3777709A&aid=338841

you can get $25 off $50 at drugstore.com I used this to buy toilet paper! I just spent (far too much) time calculating it all out by the cost per square foot, and found the Scott 1000 toilet paper to be the cheapest. With deal, I figured out it ended up being $0.00714 per square foot. I'm thinking that's a good price for toilet paper. I know we need it, so it's cheaper than buying it full price at the store.

If you spend over $50 (which you will for the $25 off $50) you get free shipping. If you decide to buy the Scott 1000, you need to buy 3 and then something else that costs over $3 to bring you up to $50.

They also sell a host of other things on the site (vitamins, meds, household items, diapers, perfume, etc.) I just happened to need toilet paper!

Blizzard of 2011!

We probably got about 15-18" during yesterday's storm! The girls were dying to go out in the snow, so I bundled them up and sent them out. They got out as far as the front walkway and couldn't go any farther since the snow was too deep! That lasted about 5 minutes and they were back inside happily sipping hot cocoa!

Later in the day, Pete went out to snowblow. Timmy had a fever and a cold and was very crabby. I was trying to get supper ready. I decided to put him in his highchair in front of the door so he could see Pete snowblow! He was captivated by it and replaced his cries with happy squeals until Pete went out of view...then the cries resumed!

An update on the sicknesses....Timmy had a fever all day yesterday into the night but woke up free of it this morning. Naomi started with a fever last night before bed...after Motrin and a good night sleep, hers seems to be gone now. Olivia has been fever free, but coughed all night long! So now Timmy, Olivia and I all have colds...Naomi and Pete seem to be holding out!

In funny news...Pete was taking the Christmas tree down the other day and letting the girls help him put the branches in the box. When they were finished, Pete thanked Olivia for her help. She replied "It was no problem at all Daddy!"

Tuesday I was in the midst of taking down all the Christmas decorations. The kids were begging me to let them help. The entire time I was biting my nails and asking them to please be careful...don't drop anything...don't let that break! About 5 minutes before the preschool teacher was due to arrive, I decided to put the glass snow globe in the box...you guessed it! It slipped out of MY hands and smashed against the counter. Unfortunately, this was not a small globe, but rather a large globe about the size of a cantaloupe. I didn't realize just how much water it held until I was mopping up all the water off the floor. The water was actually pooling on the tile! Of course, the teacher arrived as I was cleaning it all up, but she was fine about allowing me to finish cleaning! Lesson learned: put snow globes back in their respective boxes over the sink! At least I don't have to worry about it breaking in storage though!

Mother's Prayer

"Dear Lord,

So far today I've done all right. I haven't gossiped, I haven't lost my temper, I haven't been greedy, grumpy, nasty, selfish, or very indulgent. I'm very grateful for that. But in a few minutes Lord, I'm going to get out of bed, and from then on, I'm going to need a lot more help. Amen"

The Toddler's Busy Book Trish Kuffner Chaper 1

Free Admission to National Parks

This weekend coming up (Jan 15-17) you can get free admission to the National Parks in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. day. There are several parks throughout the country. There is also free admission other times during the year. Click here to find a park and a date!

Tim Tim is Walking!

I do believe I can officially say Timmy is walking! He took one stretch of 9 steps, and then another of many more than that today. After that long stretch, he couldn't hold himself back from walking more! A couple times he would start to lose his balance, then pause and pull himself upright again without touching the floor!

We were trying to get him to walk to us tonight and were only successful when Olivia came over and called him to her. He walked right to her and gave her a big smile and a hug! I wish I'd had my camera!

On a bright note, Olivia has recovered from her stomach bug, as has Timmy. Naomi still hasn't gotten (yet!), nor have Pete or I. I'm holding my breath that we can hold out! Olivia sounds like she's coming down with yet another cold. One of my 2011 goals is to figure out what I need to do to get our immune systems bolstered up so we can stop catching colds! I think this is her 7th or 8th cold this season! Ugh!

I'm working on posting some Christmas pictures, but they are uploading SO slow!

Christimas 2010!

Christmas with Nana and Bumpa:

Christmas Day:

Christmas at Gram and Gramps:

Unfortunately, I forgot my camera Christmas Eve so I didn't get any pictures at Grandma and Grandpa's house :-(

A New Blog for A New Year!

I've decided to start a new blog to share bits and pieces of our life with family. I can never remember who I've told what to. I can't promise that I will update it regularly, though I will try. One of my New Year's Goals is to spend less time online, not more time. I do hope to start scheduling my day better though so I can better use my "computer time" constructively.

The other purpose for this blog is to keep a record of the kids life...for my own enjoyment, as well as for their memories when they grow older.

I imagine I will have to share a deal or two when I come across them. It just seems to be ingrained in me and I can't help it!

Please feel free to leave lots of comments :-)