5 days and counting...

And it happened again. We lived in this house 4 years ago. We lived in the same city 8 years ago. But I do not remember all the phone calls and junk mail and even personal stops by our house in such numbers. We got 12 phone calls in 24 hours two days ago. Crazy. So then they took a day off and it has started again. Only a handful have left a message, but I guess I'll just be happy to have them be done in 5 more days.

I am happy with the fact that gas prices are declining so much. Nothing like an election to reduce gas prices! It was 3 weeks ago that I told Russ that I guessed it would be at $2.25. Well, our area one has it already at $2.17. So maybe we'll go below $2.00! Cool!

As far as next Tuesday, we have our family shots planned. Trevor gets a chicken pox vaccine, Gwen gets round 2 of her flu shot and I get a flu shot. If we are all in good enough spirits after that I'll be taking the kids to the polls. Hopefully that will go well.

Pure innocence is gone

What a sad day it is and will be this holiday season. I know they can't stay this young forever, and that more good things are to come, but I didn't realize it was going to go this quick. I remember last year at about this time, I was having to shield Trevor from a lot of the "scary" Halloween stuff. He was starting to get nightmares and I figured I should keep him away from the stuff that would make his imagination possibly give him more nightmares. This year, it is obvious he is growing out of a lot of his fears. Especially if it is something he can get used to. He got used to the Disney concert, as well as the hayride at the pumpkin patch, he was afraid at first, but got over it. He has been asking a lot of questions about ghosts, being scared at Halloween and such. We had dinner at a restaurant and we had no idea they were decorating for Halloween. They had a motion detecting scary guy and as soon as Trevor saw it he was startled. I blocked his view from him at that point on, but he kept wanting to see it. It's like he knows it is cool to be scared or something.

He likes seeing the disney movies that are showing that have a little bit of scaring in the movie. He laughs at it and jumps around because he knows what is going to happen and can get a little scared by it. Thankfully no nightmares yet. I just don't think there are going to be many more times of having to keep him from somewhere or something because it is too scary for him.

We went to a family Halloween party on Friday night. I assumed we wouldn't be there for very long because I didn't think Gwen would last very long. They both did very well. We got our family portrait taken... and Russ scared a few kids. Even without his mask on. There were a few kids in some kind of Star Wars garb. Even a dad that admitted he made his son be I think Bobba Fett? Or else it was a Storm Trooper. His son had no idea who he was. But his dad was very proud.
Trevor got to see a few of his school friends. We made frosted cookies. Sunday we went to a costume brunch. Trevor got his arm painted. He got some sword balloons for his costume. Also that day, we got the Toys R Us Holiday catalogue. While I have yet to hear at a Target store, "Mom, can I have that toy?" the catalogue that came out was quickly told to me that he wanted everything in the book. Oh dear. Hopefully he will be able to show some signs of level of importance, and another hopefully: he will not say that something like a Powerwheels car is the most important thing that he wants.
So for the rest of the week, we will be carving pumpkins, and going trick or treating. Trevor is very anxious to get candy. Hopefully we will be doing something similar to last year. Updates to come!

It all starts today

The Halloween Festivities start today! We have T's preschool costume party this morning, and then another school family party this evening. Then a brunch on Sunday. Hopefully lots of pictures and a video coming soon!!!!

It went decently

So yesterday wasn't half as bad as last Tuesday. I think the idea that it was a full moon really had something to do with it. We also did run an errand that helped get the kids out of the house. Maybe they are just feeling really early cabin fever. If that's the case I'm really in trouble. It's supposed to be CCCCOOOOLLLLDDDD on Sunday.

I did get a lot of vacuuming done, and Trevor did get frustrated with me for a while. As a result, he made a "no mommys" sign so that I would stay away from him. He has been doing a lot of art projects lately. By that it just means he likes to use his markers to draw things. Oh, and cut up the papers with his scissors. But before yesterday the signs he had been making were simply a circle me Bert sign (which comes about because our TV announcer for the Twins games does a bit every game where he circles fans. Most of which have a sign that they hold up saying "circle me Bert". The other sign that Trevor had been making was a "no babies" sign for Gwen.

But the day wasn't all frustration for Trevor. Before Gwen's naptime we got to all play in a band. We have a lot of instruments and so we all were in a band playing together. So...it's not all hard times for anyone. On to the next day!

The weekend of last

This past weekend...not a lot went on. More cleaning/organizing the outdoor projects. The driveway is CLEAR! We got rid of the extra supplies for the wall via craigslist. The pallets are being broken down to firewood. Next is the garage. And that isn't horrible, but it will take some time.

Friday night Russ and I had a date night and tried out a new restaurant called Bloomington Chop House. I guess I should have taken the hint that we got right in for a reservation the day before we went. It was pretty empty while we were there. Our service was horrible. Granted, we couldn't see the entire restaurant, but this was supposed to be a steak/seafood place of the upscale variety. The food was decent. The prime rib was better than the crab legs. I'd rather eat them at Red Lobster. So not the best experience overall. But I'm no restaurant critic, so don't take my word for it.

Saturday was errand running for Russ. Then we went to the golf course for dinner. I'll be excited when they get the pizza oven done. It would be nice to have something different there from time to time.

And Sunday was a poker tournament that I decided to play in. I guess they had a pretty low turnout for the event compared to last year. I made it through well over half the entrants and almost to the second break, but no luck in the money again. One of these events, I'll do it. Just have to get the cards at the right time.

So that brings us to this week. I'm hoping today goes by fast...as I hate Tuesdays ;-)

A visit to the pumpkin patch

We were on MEA (Teacher conferences) break Wed afternoon - Friday for school, so on Friday we decided to go out to Bubba's house to go to visit the pumpkin patch. Trevor still remembers from last year, although I think it will be the 3rd year we have gone there. It was pretty busy because all the kids were off from school. But we got there right away in the morning, and it was only going to get more busy.

They did have a bouncing house that they were setting up as well. Trevor was looking forward to that, when he saw it. There was also a hayride. I wasn't sure if we were going to go on it or not. Given that it would be pretty busy and that most hayrides are supposed to be "spooky". So we started with the animals. There was a turkey, sheep, chickens, goats, calfs, and ducks. They had feed machines so we spent some money doing that. Also, we took some pictures with the "put your head through the hole" poses they had. Then, the first hayride was going to start. We made the decision (and Trevor was pretty happy) to jump on board as it was almost ready to leave. I bought the tickets and got on the ride. Both Trevor and Gwen loved the pieces of straw. Our tour guide "Mike" started the ride off with three rules. #1, no throwing straw off of the ride. #2 I cannot remember what it was, but Trevor thinks it was no throwing straw at each other. #3 You have to have fun. The group on the ride were all very young kids with the exception of two pre teen girls. The tour guide was very good about not acting the least bit scared or scary when explaining all the stops. But still, Trevor picked up on the vibe and a few times he was hiding his face while giving me a big hug. He was asking a few times for it to be done. But it was bright, and really there wasn't any gross stuff.

So the ride was done and he wanted to do the jumping house. I went back over to get more tickets, and the ticket taker asked me if I graduated in '96. At that point I really looked the guy in the face and was surprised to see that it was someone I went to Elementary school with. So I said "Hi Troy" and he said he thought he recognized me. I'm bad at studying other people and have probably missed noticing a lot. But anyway, Trevor had his time in the jumping house, and then went on to the stationary tractors to get his picture taken. At that point, he became "tour guide Trevor". He was performing the same way as our tour guide on the hayride. Not only did he do it on these tractors, but also when we came home. He was doing it outside as a fun game.

I'm hoping that conquering some small fears ahead of the time that we go to Disney World will help him want to go on a few more rides than he would if we had gone a few months ago. A lot of his fear isn't something that he can communicate very well, but the things that I can see, we talk about and let him see that they aren't that big of a deal. The one that I'm really puzzled about is the Buzz Lightyear ride. Russ and I think he would love it...and he probably will if we can get him to ride it. But we show him pictures and he says he doesn't want to go on it. And I'm not sure why. He has computer games that he plays with as Buzz, I'm just not sure what else to do other than take him on other rides so he can understand what is going to happen. Hopefully it is just an unknown fear. I guess we'll see.

But for now...it was a successful pumpkin patch trip. Upcoming are the costume parties! Here we comeeeee!!!

Update...the day did not get better

Unfortunately, the day did not get better today. I was hoping that by blogging about it I would be able to prevent the downward spiral. Guess not. I had forgotten that it was a full moon today. Maybe that's the reason.

During Trevor's "quiet time" today, I found (actually smelled) what he was doing in our bathroom. It was quite funny, except for the rather large and difficult to clean up mess in our bathroom. And by taking these pictures, I have ammo for future teenage blackmail. I am SO glad to be done with today!!!

It was a busy and good weekend

The back retaining wall is DONE! Looking back, I guess the kids were just in good moods. Or the weather was nice enough so that they enjoyed being outside. We went up to the park on Saturday where Gwen got to swing on the swings and try to walk around on the pebbles. A new surface for her to try to walk on. Trevor met some friends there (not that he had known beforehand) and while I was very happy to watch him not have the urge to be a bully to any of the kids there, he did call out that he wanted to be God in a game that the kids were playing. The game was jungle where you had to crawl all over the jungle-gym and try not to fall off of it. If you did, you were in the water and had to swim or ride on the crocodiles. Trevor quickly said that he was God and Jesus and Jesus walked on water. Thankfully the moms in the area laughed it off and said that their kids would get a nice dose of CCD for the day. And really, if that is the worst thing that Trevor does at the playground, I will be a very happy mom.

He is loving all of his religious experiences. Through both preschool and Sunday School. He came home from preschool on Monday saying that he got to "be Adam". Their current Bible story is about Adam and Eve in the garden. He loves to talk all about it if you ask him.

But I digress...that was not part of the weekend. So the wall was finished on Saturday. Sunday, Trevor had Sunday School, and Gwen went into the nursery for the second time. I think the only problem with it, is that it ends up being right at the time where she likes to have a snack. And when she doesn't have a small snack she gets cranky. So when I come back to get her after an hour, she cries out for me. But I am assured that she has a fun time while in the nursery. I was even told she was talking away as if they understood exactly what she was saying. That girl is a talker already!

After church, the next activity was to take Trevor to the show "Playhouse Disney Live". There aren't any activities that Trevor and I do alone. I did go to his field trip for preschool, but I don't really think it is the same. Or maybe I'm not reading it right. Anyway, we've been talking about this show for a while. He was nervous going into the show. And we were like two minutes late getting to our seats as we were getting popcorn and the line wasn't moving. But when he sat in his seat, you could see he liked what was going on. Hands still in ears and everything. After about 15 minutes, his hands were off his ears and he was singing along to the songs he knew.

Playhouse Disney consists of the shows he sees in the morning on the Disney channel. He was probably on the old side of the age range, but it really was good timing with everything else coming up. He still really enjoys the shows, and is excited to go to Disney World in February. Back to the concert....the only downside was that it was a LOT shorter than I thought it would be. Probably best given the age group they were playing to. So from the show we went to dinner for my mom's birthday. Trevor, not having had a nap except for in the car on the way to the show was a bit short on calmness. But we did the best we could. Overall we have pretty good kids. The meal was yummy and the company was great.

But it was a busy weekend. I think it will continue to be busy weekends with the holidays coming up. A lot to prepare for! Oh, and with this weekend, I also found a lot of Halloween decorations that I've never used. So they were washed and used and Trevor loves that. Too bad we don't do as much decorating for Thanksgiving. Just Christmas...but that doesn't start until after Trevor's birthday. And yet Trevor is already asking about those movies and books. So much planning to do!!!

I hate Tuesdays

You would think that Tuesday would be a good day. It is one of only two days of the week we don't have anything planned. Trevor knows I designate it "clean the basement" day. He and Gwen get to play with the toys in the basement while I organize papers and such. But it isn't such a big deal that I put it off another week if we have something else we need to do.

I figured we haven't been to the "jump jump" place (aka Edinborough park) in a while. However, I was not going to bring Trevor if he was not having a good listening day. And he couldn't even make it until 9 o'clock. I should have just went back to bed. It has gotten significantly cooler than the past few days, but I knew we needed to get out of the house. So we went on a walk. It is just so hard to get through the morning. Lots of fighting, screaming, crying...thankfully today none of it was from me. Then I put in the order for the darn photos. That was a big GULP. Just not a very good thing to have to do today.

And I know I need to look at it from the bright side, but I hate Tuesdays. And with that, I realize that my last two posts have been gripes. But my intentions are that I will post about the happiness that took place this weekend in the next post. That way, the gripes will be out of the way first.

Professional photography

Ug. I am not a good judge of professional photography. I do not think it is worth the EXCESSIVE amount of money you pay to get a few pictures of your kid. I do think it is worth while to do Senior Pictures done this way. However, with Trevor, it was a necessary evil when he turned 1. We tried the JCPenney portraits, and he wouldn't stand still. And I think I had a horrible photographer that did nothing to try to distract him. So, we found a place and at least I got a few pictures. But overall, even those just didn't look like him. He wasn't in a setting that meant anything. The props he played with didn't have any significant meaning. Plus, I think I have always just liked the "typical" portrait pose. Even my wedding photographs, most of them that I like the best are the posed shots. NOT the candids.

And I realize this is just my style. But now that I had Trevor's done, I feel like I have to have it equal, and do Gwen's photographs the same way. And of course, the place that I had Trevor's done either closed or relocated. I probably should have researched more, or compared prices or something. But I was all about easy. I got a postcard in the mail a while back and decided to use that place.

The drive was about a half hour. Kind of obscure location, but it turns out that that was because it was at someone's house. Then I started talking to the "receptionist". Turns out they had wrong information on me. Spelled my name wrong, and thought I wanted all outdoor photographs. Actually, all of Trevor's pictures were indoors, so I wasn't thinking outdoor much at all.

Then, the photographer happened to be a guy. I probably should have asked about that first. Gwen isn't all that comfortable with most guys. Thankfully, he stayed out of her face for most of the time, but when she first saw him she ran to my leg and pulled. So while the guy rearranged the "studio" for the indoor shots, he talked my ear off. About absolutely random stuff. Again, I know it is just my personality, but I HATE when people do that. He talked about the Twin Cities Marathon, how computer illiterate he is (another wonderful star for him), bugs, toxicly spraying and killing them....it just made me want to get out of there fast. Then I was surprised at how few pictures he took of each setting.

Anyway, fast forward to today. I was supposed to have the pictures online by this morning, but I had to call to say that they weren't there. A different person that I had not met, helped put them online for me to view. While at the session, I knew she had some good shots based on her smile. But really, it gets lost with all the extra stuff around her. Or maybe I'm not remembering correctly. Or maybe they weren't as smiley as I thought because she had an ear infection at the time. Or maybe the actual pictures were taken a second after she actually smiled.

Whatever the reason, whenever I actually pay for the pictures, I'm going to just have to scream silently. Or maybe I'll have to go back to the card club and win the money to pay for the pictures. ;-) Anyway, thank you for listening to my rant. Oh, and in case I need further clarification, I have seen other people's photographs done by professional photographers. THOSE are always beautiful. I just don't like them with my kids for some reason. Oh well. Last time I will have to use one for another 13 years or so....unless we have baby J3 ;-)

A doctor visit

Yesterday was Gwen's 1 year appointment. It was pretty uneventful, as usual. We did get permission to face her forward. Although the safety commission has strongly urged parents to have their infants rear facing as long as possible. She is already showing signs of wanting to face forward. I don't think it would be as hard to face her rear for longer if she didn't have an older sibling that was already front facing. Or if she was the third child and there was someone to look at in the back. Regardless, I'm sure she will be forward facing soon.

For those of you that don't know, the guidelines for forward facing children are that they have to be a year AND 20 lbs. I don't know exactly what the limits are for 20 lbs at 1 year, but both of my kids have exceeded that, I think even at 9 months. So when I was talking to a few other mom friends, they were mentioning that they turned their kids to forward face when they were 21 lbs, meaning it was past a year.

Oh, funny side note...well, not really funny but anyway.... we were waiting for the doctor to come into our room and Gwen was walking all over the room. I think she had grabbed a toy from her bag and was putting it on her head. She had put it on her forehead over her eyes so she couldn't see very well, and then proceeded to almost run right into the door. It made a very loud sound, so at that time, the doctor walked in saying, "Does anyone need a doctor?" But as per usual, Gwen had a very quick recovery. Plus she was probably pretty doped up from the ibuprofen I gave her for her shots. But it made a pretty red mark on her forehead for the visit.

After the behavior checklist, I was told she is in the 15-16 month level for development. All of a sudden, this week has been full of learning new words. Balloons, animal noises, dollies, spoon, shoes, socks, car, more, water, hat....she loves to repeat.

And I have to tell you about a funny phrase I heard this weekend, care of Russ. He had been outside working on the wall most of the weekend. But had bought some soda for his workers. After dinner, he had opened the freezer and found an exploded can of Coke. The phrase that got me: "For a second I was wondering how the cat puked in the freezer". That would be one I never thought I would hear.

And the busy week continues

Well, the big party is done. Trevor's field trip is done. The retaining wall is not done :-P but it is getting closer.... We still have a few things left to take care of this week and then we'll have about 3 weeks until Halloween. Costumes for all 4 of us are in the works. But that's another story.

Trevor and I went on his fall walk for preschool on Friday. It was a perfect day. A little chilly but felt really good in the bright sun. Trevor had a great time looking for acorns, different leaves, and all sorts of "treasures". I'll have to include another post for just pictures....

We went home to continue the birthday preparations. We made the cake, and then Trevor went out to a park for a bit. I finished the organization and wrapping presents while Russ was busy with some family trying to get the wall area ready for the weekend.

We had a good turn out for the party. Pizza, cake and ice cream were on the menu. Trevor helped with all the things that Gwen didn't know about. Blowing out the candle, opening gifts, and even playing with most of them. Ha Ha. We finally have some girly toys in the house! A few dollies (even a Cabbage Patch infant....oh how I remember the wonderful smell of those dolls!), dollhouse activities, princess toys, books....she made a good haul. She wasn't very interested in the cake, like Trevor was at her age. But I already know that she isn't the same kind of eater that he was.

Time to get ready for the week!

Yay, we made it through a year

Trevor woke me up this morning saying, "Mom! Mom! It's Gwen's Birthday today! You have to get up so we can make her CAKE!" Such a nice thing to hear from her other child. I'm hoping her party goes as well as this wake up did.

It is a huge sigh of relief here that we made it through this year. It is a hard and trying year that first year or a baby's life. It has been exciting to see her grow up, and happy for me to have my body back (as opposed to carrying or feeding a child with it).

I don't have much time to post now, but wanted to include a few pictures to remember the year by:

Here is her first day as well as her first haircut ;-) Happy Birthday Gwen!

My thoughts always get jumbled

I did get most of what I thought out there, but there were a few things that I missed.

Mostly....I wasn't trying to make any other parent feel guilty about how they parent. I see nothing wrong with leaving the kids in the car while you drop one of them off for example ;-) I was amazed at the attitudes of parents now and what is acceptable and what some people determine is abuse. The people that were calling in or standing up and explaining that they were not for ANY time in the car, were quickly asked by Dr. Phil, so you NEVER leave you kids in the car? They quickly answered that they never did. Meanwhile most of the other people laughed when they heard the mom say this. It just isn't realistic.

And when the mom that left the child to let him find his way home was on, they were quick to show the level 2 sex offenders in the route that the child took back home. But my question is, has that really changed? Now we have a way of tracking things like that. But has it really increased the amount of predators or are we just more aware of them? So that point is not valid in my opinion.

Since I'm talking about parenting, I will say that the hardest thing for me so far is to change something I've thought was the best only to find a better way of doing things. I've been getting a lot of information on sibling rivalry. It really is hard to sit back and let the kids resolve their own conflicts. But I also know that if Trevor would have had this time to work on having to deal with another person playing with toys, he might have had an easier time at school. As it is, he is learning how to resolve things there.

So that's what I'm working on for now. Tomorrow is a big day! I'll update on the weekend with pictures and other things.

So my only down time is during TV time

I always seem to flip on Dr. Phil and Oprah during the time Trevor us upstairs for a nap. It has been interesting to watch a few of the shows. Not most, but a few. I think it was a week or so ago when Dr. Phil had a woman that was arrested but charges were dropped when there was a police officer (or someone like that) that had been watching her car as she pulled up to a sidewalk in front of a store. Think of a Target, although it wasn't one. So she pulled up to the side of the store (not in a parking space) and walked with her 3 or maybe 2 older daughters to the front of the store where there was a donation pail. I think it was around Christmas time, and it might have even been the salvation army bell ringers. Anyway, she brought the older kids out because they were making a big deal about it. It was sleeting rain/snow and the youngest girl was 18 months and asleep during this time. So the mom walked 30 feet (measured afterward) dropped the money in the pail, and as she was walking back, she was arrested in front of her daughters for abuse via neglect of the youngest child.

The show was about what is abuse and what is not. I was amazed (and really, I guess I shouldn't have been) that there were so many people willing to condemn the thought of leaving any child in a car AT ANY TIME. It was interesting to see how these people were willing to commit that under no circumstances would they leave their child in the car. Such as if they had to drop something off at a neighbor's house. Simply from the driveway to the front door. Or what about if you are returning a cart at a grocery store. Do you ALWAYS carry the child in the cart after you return the cart and last head to the car? I certainly don't. I would even be comfortable leaving Gwen in the car with Trevor if I had to head in to pay for gas at a gas station. However, I have never and probably will never do that. Mostly because of if anyone saw me do it, it would scare me into thinking I could be charged with something. Or on the 1 in a million chance that something were to happen, I wouldn't be within an arm's reach. A gas station is a bit different than a neighbor's driveway though.

Then a few days ago, Dr. Phil again had a "parenting" show. This one was extreme parenting. There was a woman in the news that blogged about the fact that she had intentionally left her son who was either 9 or 10 years old in New York City, where they lived, with maps and change to be able to take a subway, to a bus line, back home on a Sunday afternoon. What was interesting about this show was talking about how she was simply trying to prepare her son for live outside of their house. How to be a responsible child. And of course, you have the other side of the spectrum, parents that are called helicopter parents. They hover completely around their children, spying on them, calling them when they aren't at home....of course the one mom that they had on the show talked about how her oldest daughter called her own mom psycho. And that made her want to change how she did things.

He also had a guest on that had been on the show previously twice before this time, with a mom that had been a hovering mom. Each time she had been on the show, he had told her she needed to change how she parented or she will have a daughter that will rebel as soon as she was able to. She was back, and her daughter was 17. And her daughter was "horrible". Definitely in the rebelling stage. It was interesting to hear both of them talk about what was going on. The daughter had been home schooled as the mom didn't want her to end up as a rebellious teen. Now, she was saying she was going to go to college next year, and the daughter wanted to go away to college, live in a dorm, etc. but the mom said no because she didn't think she could get up any earlier than noon since that was what she was doing. The daughter argued that she should be able to prove it to her. But the mom said she wasn't willing to shell out the money to find out.

Anyway, my point was that I wonder where I am in the spectrum. I feel like I am a little too far in the hovering side of things with Trevor. However, when I go to the ECFE class with the first time parents in that class, I realize a lot of it is being a first time parent. I let Gwen run around in the class while everyone else is making sure their child isn't getting into anything they shouldn't. And the room is designed for infants and toddlers.

But finally, today Oprah had a mom on who last year left their daughter who was 3 in the car the entire day while she was at school as a teacher. The point of the show was basically to stop and think about if you are overdoing it. Overplanning, overtasking, etc. But what surprised me were all the parents talking about how they leave their child in the car while they went to do something. Basically where they weren't able to visibly see the car. Just an interesting difference in shows I guess. And I don't think I'm feeling too overplanned...yet. But I also know I'm not even near when it is going to get bad.... I have lots of ideas for things that both of the kids can do. Hopefully I can get some of the things done between school and dinner so we don't have things that make us out and about more than we are at home.

So....that's what's been running through my mind recently. There sure are a lot of things to think about when you are a parent!