Last day of 2008

What a year. As far as parenting its been good and bad. Both of the girls hit some tough patches this year but I think we survived without to many emotional scars. 2008 has gone by really fast, it seems like just yesterday we were getting ready to celebrate Kate's 3rd birthday and finish up school and looking forward to a fun summer in the sun and now its Dec. 31st already. The school year is going great for both girls and I think we're all ready to get back to school next week, its been a long 2 weeks off. But dad is home for the next 4 days so we'll have some fun family time.

I've already started taking down all the Christmas decorations, its always so sad. I just love having all the lights and fun stuff around, but the time has come to put it all away again. I did score a 7 1/2 foot tree on the 75% off rack at Target for next year, I can't wait. We've had our little 6 foot tree for the last few years but its getting so full of ornaments (many that the girls have made us) that we need something a little bigger. So look forward to next year when I can put it up.

I wish everyone a very happy and healthy new year. Hugs and love to all.

Christmas morning

Christmas morning could not have come early enough. The girls were so excited that they snuck down stairs as soon as they got up (around 645am). We're not sure who got who up but they both went down stairs to see what Santa brought them, what a fun Christmas memory for them. At 7am we opened our door and they were in the hallway waiting for us with the biggest smiles on their faces. Here is a video of the girls going downstairs (for the second time) to see what Santa brought.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jriSea85Y-k

It was a fun morning of opening presents, eating great food and hanging out with the family. (see Christmas eve post for more pictures).

Christmas eve at the Lyons house

What a fun Christmas eve we had. It started with the arrival of Uncle Jord and Grandpa Dana, the girls were so excited. Then shortly after that Grandpa Ken, Grandma Janet and Aunt Nan arrived and the girls were so wound up. We hung out and played all day and watched Santa on the NORAD website to see where he was in the world. Aunt Nan helped the girls write a note to Santa and leave the cookies and milk out for him. We then went outside so Kate could leave the reindeer food/glitter so the reindeer would know where her house was and Hannah left a bowl full of reindeer food so they would have something to eat, it was fun. And then it was time for the girls to go to bed. But before they did that they got to open their Christmas eve gift from mom, a new nightgown for each of them, they loved them and put the on quickly and then off to bed. They only came out of their rooms once because they were so excited for Santa to come.

Greg and Grandpa Ken put the doll house together while the rest of us finished wrapping gifts - it was a fun Christmas eve. I had no trouble going to sleep, I was tired and knew that Thursday was going to be a big day.

Here are pictures of Christmas Eve and Christmas day:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2012744&l=a323f&id=1122309468

Put the kids to work

Having to keep two kids busy while trying to get the house ready for guests is almost impossible. And my girls are better than most, they will play for a while by themselves so I can get a few things done here and there, but having to stop every 20min or so to get them refocused is hard. So today I put them to work. My to-do list was long and they needed something to do so I handed them the dusting wand and told them to go to work. I was very impressed on how well they dusting everything from their eye level down, so one more thing off my to-do list. Next was window washing, now I really didn't know how they would take to this since I hate it so, but they thought it was fun and washed the playroom windows, the windows on either side of the front door and on the back door - it rocked. I'm going to have to remember this one for the future. So now my to-do list is getting smaller. The last thing to do are the floor, this is Kate's favorite. I have a small cordless vacuum that she loves. So she pulled that out and ran it all over the house. So 3 things down and if I just put a few on Greg's list then I'm done....TA DA!

Now bring on the family!

The big count down

The girls are getting giddy about Christmas. Every day they want to know how many more days until Christmas???? And when is the family getting here???? Its been really fun to see them get so excited. We already have so many packages under the tree and the girls have been so good about not touching or asking to open them, I can't say the same for me. I can't wait for Christmas morning to open gifts. And apparently Santa's eleves have already come and filled my stocking - hmmmm I wonder what they could have gotten me. Kate keeps saying "mommy don't look in your stocking because nothing is in there, oh and don't look under my bed because daddy did not put stuff their either." She is trying so hard to be a seek keeper (secret keeper) and not a break seeker (secret breaker). I just can't wait until they come down stairs and see all the fun things Santa (aka Grandparents) have gotten them. What fun Christmas morning will be.

Being needed as a mom

I know my kids need me, but every once in a while I really feel it. Kate wasen't feeling so great today. She has a sinus infection and was up most of the night because she couldn't breath. So needless to say we didn't get much sleep last night so we were all running a bit slow today. We had a slow morning and then dropped Hannah off at school and on the way home Kate said to me "mommy I'm really tired, will you lay down with me and make me feel better?", that was just about the sweetest thing that kid has ever said. She wanted me to make her feel better, she does need me. As much as she fights me she really does need me - ahhhhh. It just really made me feel needed and that in the end I'm doing all the right things.

The girls and I (and Greg too) are getting really excited about Christmas that is in 1 week. I can't wait. Greg's family is coming down from NJ, Jord and Laura will be back from Croatia and Dana is flying out from CA - we're going to have a big family Christmas, heaven help me :)

Croup for Kate

The sickness never ends in the Lyons house. Kate woke up with Croup in the middle of the night. Barking like a seal and feeling lousy. I sat with her in the bathroom for 20min with the steam shower on and then woke Greg up to take her outside for 15min in the cold. I know I know it sounds like I'm a horrible wife but I had taken a Tylenol PM and I couldn't keep my eyes open so I thought it actually might be safer if he took her outside otherwise you might find Kate and I curled up in the hamick in the morning. So Greg took her outside and hung with her and then put her back to bed. She sounded much better in the morning but I still needed to take her to the dr. to get some prednisone so off we went to the drs office for the 3rd time in as many weeks. We got the RX and she is feeling much better.

Hannah is just about done with her second round of antibiotics for her ear infection. She is feeling better and sleeping better which helps her mood. She was beginning to be a crank pot during the day and it was tugging my last nerve. But all is better now and we're all looking forward to a fun Christmas with most of the family.

Oh my silly Kate

I just had to share a quick thing that Kate did yesterday. We were all sitting at the dinner table eating. Kate was being silly, like she always is, well when she's not yelling, and she suddenly held up her hand and looked at it and with this really funny look on her face she said "WHAT" and just stared at ther hand. Greg and I kinda looked at eachother, it was like she was seeing her hand for the first time. Like hey, how long has this been here??? It was just very silly and so Kate.

Lets talk Turkey

I just had to share this picture that Hannah drew today. Its a turkey laying eggs.

Hannah's ear infection and more time with Santa

We've had another busy week. Hannah had Tues and Thursday off of school for parent teacher conference days. I had my conference on Tuesday and the teacher said that Hannah was a teachers dream. She follows directions, asks questions, gets along with all the other kids and is always smiling - made me a happy and proud mom.

Yesterday Hannah was not acting quite herself. She was acting, well, like her sister. A bit crazy and out of control. So I called the doctor and made an appointment for Thursday morn. And sure enough her ear infection hasn't gone away so we have to do a heavier dose of meds. But the pink eye is gone so thats a plus, and a bigger plus is that no one else in the family got it - whew I was glad about that.

Kate has been busy busy busy this week dancing and singing up a storm. That kid loves to perform. She keeps all of us in stitches, such a little comedian. And she is constantly saying "he's the deal, you do X and I'll do Y, that's the deal okay" not really sure where she got that line but she tries to use it all the time.

Today we went to the retirement community again for the MOMS club Christmas party and to visit with Santa (pictures). Both the girls had a great time. Santa even gave them little gifts (that mom wrapped and brought with) they where so excited to get their very own lapstick (translation is chapstick). For some reason Kate calls it lapstick and its stuck.

Fun day at the Bass store with Grandpa Len

Grandpa Len is in town this weekend and the girls are having a blast with him. And I bet he is sleeping well at night with all this crazy energy around him.

Yesterday we went to Loews and bought some outdoor decorations and the girls had so much fun riding on the flat bed wagon while Grandpa pushed them around - it was fun to watch.

Today we decided to take Grandpa to the new Bass store http://www.basspro.com/homepage.html
Its the new hang out for families and kids so I thought we should check it out. It was a bit crazy because of all the holiday shoppers and they had a Santa village that made it a bit extra crazy. But we stuck together and no one got lost, although Grandpa wondered off a few times, but we found him safe and sound. We walked all over the store and took pictures on the big boats and 4 wheelers. We then ate in the restaurant that is attached to the Bass Pro shop. We all ate alligator and calamari and loved it, Kate kept calling it chicken. We then headed home and collapsed from a crazy afternoon. Greg and the girls watched Christmas shows and Len and I took cat naps - it was a nice day had by all.

A busy Friday

Hannah stayed home from school today, although she is much better and could have gone to school I thought another day at home could only help, but we really didn't stay home, we ran around town all day. Kate had school this morning and I opted to send her all day because I just couldn't face having both of them run errands with me today. So Hannah hung out with me and Lise while Kate played at school all day. She had a blast and didn't seem to phased by it, and it worked out great for me. Win win.

Lise, Hannah and I ran all around town. We stopped in a few Thrift stores and then went and checked out the final sale at Linens-n-things and then our last stop was Target. Hannah was a trooper and hung with us all day and never complained. Although she had the life when we walked around Linen-n-things. She was in the shopping cart, laying on a pillow that Lise was buying and watching cartoons on my phone, I wanted to curl up with her she looked so cozy.

I bought a few little things for the house and some Christmas decorations, but not much. It feels so good to be done with Christmas shopping so early this year. We really cut back allot and it feels good to not stress. I'll have to remember this for next year.

Two good quotes from the girls - and a sick Hannah

Both of the girls have had great quotes in the past day.

Kate's was yesterday morning when she was hanging out with her dad. She was laying on her tummy with her hands on her chin when she said "you know dad, sometimes I'm a LOUD WOMEN". Greg said he laughed for several minutes just from the way she said it.

Hannah's was today. We went to Target to pick up some RX (more on that at the bottom). I told each girl they could pick something out of the $1 spot. Hannah picked out a little Hello Kitty pen. When we got to the car she was opening up the pen and noticed that the little kitty hanging off the top has a mirror on the other side and with that she said "mom this pen has a mirror so when I'm writing I can see how beautiful my hair is." It was classic.

Yesterday Hannah's eye was looking a little funny. It was very red with some yucky green stuff coming out of it - not a pretty site. I called the dr. this am and got right in. She has a great case of pink eye and also an ear infection - poor little thing. She was so big and barely complained. So now we're stuck at home for 24 hours until she can get a few drops of meds in her. But its already looking better.

A little late, but worth the wait

The Grandy family was here over the weekend and we had a great time. We started the weekend off with seeing santa (see earlier post). They where only suppose to stay 1 night and leave on Saturday but we just couldn't seperate yet, oh and Hannah cried when she heard that they where leaving on Saturday morning, she really got upset - such a sensitive little thing. So they decided to stay until Sunday morning. Greg and Adam decided to take the kids for the day so Steph and I could have some girl time, it was awesome. While the guys took the kids to belle island (see link below for pictures) Steph and I did the last of our Christmas shopping and then decided to go to Color me mine and make something for the kids. Color me mine is one of those great places that you can paint pottery and then they glaze it and do all the others thing to it and then you just pick it up. I decided to make two small bowls for the girls (see link below for pictures). And Steph make a really cute tray for Jack (kinda like the valet his dad has), he will be a big guy just like his dad. It was a fun time and so great to see the Grandy's - Thanks Grandy's for making the trip.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2011219&l=c26e9&id=1122309468

Off to see Santa

Today was the day we went to see Santa. The girls were so excited. They rehearsed what they wanted to tell him and when it was their turn to go up to Santa they had the cutest looks on their faces. They sat on his lap and told him what they wanted. Kate said she wants a flower plant and water (not sure where that came from - she is so funny) and Hannah wants an American girl doll and a diamond castle. The flower plant and water are easy, but Santa is not prepared for Hannah this year. In the past it has been so easy to redirect their focus and hint to them what they wanted based on what I purchased. And now Hannah has her heart set on an American girl doll and for the first time she has really put the connection together that she asks Santa and it will arrive on Christmas morning. I guess I better get ordering :) And as for the diamond castle she is going to have to settle for the very large doll house that Grandma and Grandpa Lyons bought them - I think she'll be fine when she sees it.

Here is the great picture that was captured today. I was very impressed with both of them. I also have a short video of them asking Santa for gifts. I missed the first part of Kate's but I got the end and I got Hannah. So cute.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyN8faFBF98

Happy Thanksgiving to all

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving in the Lyons house. Greg and I made the big decision today that the girls are old enough to watch Star wars, and they loved it. We've only made it about half way through since they can only sit for a short time, but it was so fun to do. We had such a wonderful quiet day ending with a large meal with just the 4 of us sitting at the table talking about what we where thankful for. Hannah said she was thankful for her mommy, daddy and then added Kate on at the end. And Kate said she was thankful for everyone coming over to her house, we're still not sure who she thought was coming but she was thankful they where coming. We think she was talking about Christmas since we'vev been talking allot about all the family that is traveling to see us at Christmas. So she is already thankful for all of them :)

Overall it was a great day and now I'm stuffed and tired.

A trip to the mall to let off some steam

The girls were both off school today so we decided to head to the mall and let off some steam. Regency mall has a great indoor play area that the kids can run around and have fun while mom sits and watches - its awesome. Today the girls decided that they wanted to jump off the equipment over and over, it was very fun to watch. Until just recently Hannah has had a hard time with her landings. I think her legs just hadn't gotten strong enough yet because every time she would jump off something she would end up smacking her knees into her face, it was never pretty. But today she was able to jump off a 3 foot high thing over and over with no trouble. I caught a few great action shots. Kate decided that the lower toy was much better for her to jump from, but she still got some air and had fun.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. We wish everyone a very happy turkey day. We're celebrating the festivities at home with just the four of us. I'm really looking forward to having a nice quiet day and enjoy some great family time. I think we might watch the first Star wars, maybe start a new family tradition.

The girls and I baked a cake - just cause. And a toy room update

The girls and I decided to bake a chocolate cake today. I have my Grandmothers make from scratch chocolate cake that is out of this world. But on this day we just decided to make a box cake. I've found that a box cake is much easier to make when the girls are helping. The cake turned out great and Hannah and Kate both frosted it and put sprinkles all over it. The girls had some after dinner tonight and said it was yummy yummy. I can't wait to have dinner so I can have a piece also - or maybe I'll just have a piece for dinner...hmmmmm.

UPDATE: The playroom has never been so clean. All week the girls worked really hard on playing with one thing and then putting it away before they started playing with something else. And at the end of every day we walked around and put away the miscellaneous stuff. We had a great system going. I would get the loose it bucket and they would walk ahead of me and put things away before I could get to it and put it in the bucket. It is working out great. Now if we can just keep it up :)

Christmas has arrived in the Lyons house

We tackled on of the biggest jobs of the year - getting the Christmas decorations out of the shed. And we did it all in one day. We pulled all the boxes out, decorated the house and put all the boxes away - whew what a day. The girls had so much fun this year decorating the trees and watching the house turn into a winter wonder land. We're all getting very excited for Christmas. They Lyons family is coming down for NJ and Grandpa Dana is going to fly out from CA. And Jord and Laura are arriving home from a 3 month trip on Dec. 23rd, so we'll have a house full and loving every minute of it.

So get those boxes out and join in on the winter fun.

The cop out blog

Not much is going on in the Lyons family, well that's not true - allot is going on but nothing fun to write about. The same old same old. So instead of me going on and on about the same old same old I thought I would cop out and give you a joke - Enjoy.

Thanksgiving Divorce
A man in Jacksonville calls his son in San Diego two days before Thanksgiving and says, 'I hate to ruin your day, but I have to tell you that your mother and I are divorcing. Forty-five years of misery is enough.
'Pop, what are you talking about?' the son screams.
We can't stand the sight of each other any longer,' the father says. 'We're sick of each other, and I'm sick of talking about this, so you call your sister in Denver and tell her.'
Frantic, the son calls his sister, who explodes on the phone. 'Like heck they're getting divorced,' she shouts, 'I'll take care of this.'
She calls Jacksonville immediately, and screams at her father, 'You are NOT getting divorced. Don't do a single thing until I get there. I'm calling my brother back, and we'll both be there tomorrow. Until then, don't do a thing. DO YOU HEAR ME?' and hangs up.
The old man hangs up the phone and turns to his wife. 'Okay.' he says, 'They're coming for Thanksgiving and paying their own way.

We saw snow today

We had some snow showers off and on today. Nothing stuck but it was fun to see the little white flurries wall from the sky. The girls had fun running around trying to catch them on their tonge. Funny how that is always fun.

I spent the afternoon in Hannah's Pre-K class today. What fun we had. I got to hang out and play for 3 hours, it was a treat. Hannah has great teachers and the class is so sweet. A class room full of 5 year olds (20 in all). I am so tired tonight I can hardly stand. But I think Hannah had fun showing off her mom and I know I had a blast seeing her with her friends.

It took me 3 hours to clean the playroom

Seriously, 3 hours. Enough is enough. We are starting a new household policy that the kids can only have 1 thing out at a time to play with and they will have to put it away before they get something else out. I think I'll lock the toy cabinet this week and they'll have to ask me to get something out...maybe that way they will think twice before pulling all the kitchen play food out and then all the barbie stuff. Don't get me wrong, my girls clean up their toys for the most part. We go around the house every day and put everything back into the playroom. But it always gets pushed back into the cabinet in no order and by the end of the week everything is everywhere. So this week its going to be a different story because I am not cleaning for 3 hours again. I told the girls that at the end of each day if their toys are not back where they belong that they are going into the "loose it" bucket and they wont see them for a while. We'll see if this motivates them.

The kids view of the world

Last week I found this inexpensive digital kid camera for the girls. Its a big rubber camera with a very small screen on it but I thought it would be fun for them to play with. It was more of an experiment for me than anything. I wanted to see what they would come up with and it would be fun to see the world in their eyes. So here is what they came up with - its fun to see.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2010086&l=07d87&id=1122309468

All I really need to know I learned in Kindergarten

I remember this from years ago and its so true. I found it on a website and just had to post it:

ALL I REALLY NEED TO KNOW I LEARNED IN KINDERGARTEN

(a guide for Global Leadership)

All I really need to know about how to live and what to do and how to be I learned in kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate school mountain, but there in the sand pile at school.

These are the things I learned:

• Share everything.
• Play fair.
• Don't hit people.
• Put things back where you found them.
• Clean up your own mess.
• Don't take things that aren't yours.
• Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody.
• Wash your hands before you eat.
• Flush.
• Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
• Live a balanced life - learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.
• Take a nap every afternoon.
• When you go out in the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands and stick together.
• Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup: the roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.
• Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup - they all die. So do we.
• And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned - the biggest word of all - LOOK.

Everything you need to know is in there somewhere. The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation. Ecology and politics and equality and sane living.

Take any one of those items and extrapolate it into sophisticated adult terms and apply it to your family life or your work or government or your world and it holds true and clear and firm. Think what a better world it would be if we all - the whole world - had cookies and milk at about 3 o'clock in the afternoon and then lay down with our blankies for a nap. Or if all governments had as a basic policy to always put things back where they found them and to clean up their own mess.

And it is still true, no matter how old you are, when you go out in the world, it is best to hold hands and stick together.

Scanning the girls artwork

The girls have really been enjoying coloring and drawing lately. They both are really getting good. I keep just about everything they make a mark on and I've been trying to figure out what to do with them. I hate to just put them in a box. I've framed a few and have a bunch around the house. But I really wanted to preserve them forever so I decided to start scanning them into the computer. I got about 20 or so done tonight, and have a large box full to go. But at least I have some of the great ones in the computer and safe.

And you might ask, "well what happens if your computer crashes or the house burns down?" Oh don't worry about that. We have a 3 step back up system in place with a final set of burned discs that go in the fire safe box. My biggest fear is for all my photos and data to be destroyed, okay that is my second biggest fear, my first is my family :)

So with great delight I present a few pieces of art from Hannah and Kate.

The Chicken is by Hannah and the other piece of work is called "backpack" by Kate.

Dress shopping, Christmas cards and yard work

The weekend has been quiet and uneventful.

I went wedding dress shopping with a friend who is getting married next summer. It was a ton of fun. Such memories. She found a beautiful dress that is just perfect for her.

I worked on my Christmas cards, never to early to start. I usually have about 115 to send out, so I like to start early so I'm not sitting here in the middle of Dec. trying to get them done.

Greg and the girls did yard work today. Allie was over and Greg put them all to work. The pictures tell it all.

Hope everyone had a great weekend and enjoy your week.

Kate is just fine and a 1 year mark for me

Just wanted to give an update on Kate. It must have been something she ate because she was fine for the rest of the night and all day today. Nothing else happend and she felt great all day.

With all the hub-bub of the election and Kate puke I forgot to mention my 1 year mark. It was 1 year ago Nov. 5 that I had my preventative double mastectomy. Wow has that been a crazy year. Some days it seems like just yesterday and sometimes it seems like so long ago. I've thought about it for so long and had made the decision so many years ago and when it finally came time to do it I was so ready. And it surprised me that I actually got emotional yesterday about the 1 year mark. I just feel so strong not only physically but also for making such a large decision. Go me!

Think Bright Pink - Go Previvors!

A new president and a barf-O-rama

Wow. Is all I can say about the election. What an amazing piece of history to be a part of. It was so fun watching the returns with Greg, for some of you that have known Greg for a while he was not aloud in the house during election nights (he was a little to passionate about the returns). But he has made large strides in his political views and we enjoyed a quiet evening watching America make history. And Hannah's first question this morning was who won??? It was fun to talk to her about the election.

In the 5 years that I've had kids we have not had on vomit episode until today. Today was the day and it was a riot. Kate was complaining this morning that her tummy didn't feel very good. I just gave her a light breakfast and a light lunch and all seemed to be fine. Until we got to chick-fil-a to play with some friends. She just kept saying how much her tummy didn't feel good. We went to the potty and she had a very nice #2 so I just thought that was why her tummy hurt and brushed it off. She went and played and then we left to go pick up Hannah from school. On the way (just about a 10min ride) Kate said she didn't feel good again and that she had to poop. I told her we would be at the school soon and to hold it, well, she burped out of her but and I think a bit more came out than she was prepared for. She just kept saying that she feels wet and wants to go potty. I kept reassuring her that we would be there quickly. We pulled into the carpool lane that was only about 6 cars deep. And then from behind me I hear the horrible sound of water and gagging. I look in the rear view mirror and she is throwing up all over herself, over and over. She looked so paniked and I couldn't do a darn thing. Finally after what seemed like forever she was done and the teacher started walking up to the car with Hannah. The look on my face and Kate's face must have said it all when the teacher saw us because she told me to pull over and she would get some paper towels. It was quite the sceen. I didn't know where to start so I decided to just take the carseat out of the car with Kate still in it. I then peeled her out of the seat and all her clothes, o yes with all the cars driving by picking up their kids. I pulled out my extra clothes and spare carseat and got everything put back together. I just piled up all the vomit clothes and seat in the back of the car and headed home. But not before I gave Kate the small white trash can that we have in the car. We drove home with her holding the trashcan under her chin - just in case. I don't think I even said Hello to Hannah before we got home - I was in such shock.

But all is well tonight. She was fine for the rest of the afternoon. Ate some rice and had a banana for dinner and off to bed she went. He're hoping it was something she ate and she wont get sick again, or anyone else in the house.

Get out and VOTE

Either way it goes it will be a history making win. Kate and I went after we dropped Hannah of today. I was exspecting the lines to be long so I brought all kinds of stuff to keep Kate busy. And when we pulled up to the church I was shocked that there was no line. We parked about 10 feet from the door and walked right in. I was in and out within 5 minutes, whew was I glad. I hope everyone else has a good a luck as we did today. I actually really excited to watcht he returns tonight. And we have some vested interest in the school board turn out so it will be fun to see how that comes out.

It has also been fun to talk to the girls about voting and the president. I showed them who the current president is and the people that are running for president today. Hannah wanted to know everyones name and who I was going to vote for. She was really interested in it, its fun to see her brain working. Kate really didn't get much into it, but she did like the sticker she got at the voting booth and was very excited to tell Hannah that she didn't have on - oh boy that will be a fight later.

School pictures and my new phone

Kate had school pictures today. She said they went great and she gave a great big smile, so keep an eye out for those in a few weeks. I think Hannah has hers tomorrow.

It was just another normal Monday around the Lyons house. 1 kid in the morning and 1 kid in the afternoon. After we picked Hannah up from school we went to a great park and then out to dinner with friends. The River City Dinner http://www.rivercitydiner.com/Bellgrade/ and St. Edwards school had teamed up to do a fundraiser for the school so during certain hours tonight a portion went to the school, so it was a great excuse to go out to eat. Although we don't attend St. Edwards we have friends that do.

I am so addicted to my iphone. I could not put it down today. It has so many features and bells and whistles to play with. I don't think the fun of it will ever wear off. And to have all my info with me is just so awesome.

Time change and a new iphone

This time change always goofs us up. Although we get an extra hour or so we tell ourselves that, it still goofs up our brains and bodies. And its always hard to figure out what to do with the girls. Do I put them down at the old time or the new time??? But they were so tired I just put them to bed no matter what the time. I'll split the difference tomorrow and put them down at 7p. Maybe I'll actually be able to get them to stay up until 7p.

We had a quiet day around here. I was still recovering from Friday night (stupid mom) and Greg was doing most of the parenting duties so we just kinda kept it slow and quiet. Although we did go to the apple store and I got the new iphone, its a late birthday early Christmas present. And I'm so excited. I can't stop playing with it. Here is a picture I took with it today. Greg took the girls on a train ride while I was finishing up in the apple store.

Oh and Greg and my cell phone numbers switched. Mine is now 804-370-1891 (Greg's old number) and Greg's is now (my old number) 804-370-1912. Sorry for the confusion. It the only way we could do the switch with the current contracts we had.

Tricks and treats for all

Happy Halloween!

Today both Hannah and Kate went to school all day 9a-330p (big day). I had my final appointment with Dr. Zemmel to put the final touches on my preventative mastectomy and reconstruction. If you can believe it it will be 1 year on Nov. 5th - that time went by so fast. And today was the day to have the tattooing done to darken the areola and make them look more normal, it hurt just a bit, which was actually a very good sign because it means that my nerves are coming back and I have sensation and thats a good thing. They look great and are just a bit sore from the tattooing, but not to bad.

After the girls big day we had a Halloween party to go to at our neighbors house behind us. The Yartz family has done their party for 4 years now and its so fun to get everyone together and see all the kids. We ate and drank and then went trick or treating. The girls hit about 20 houses and had a blast.

Pictures from our fun night:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2009471&l=44a60&id=1122309468

Hope everyone else had a safe and fun Halloween.

A dress rehearsal

Dressed up to visiting St. Mary's Woods retirement community.

The girls and I belong to this great group called the MOMS club (mothers offering mothers support). We do allot of great things together and todays event was a Halloween party at a local retirement community. The girls dressed up along with 20+ other kids. We make quite an entrance with 20+ kids under the age of 5. But it was a great time and the older folks really enjoyed seeing all the kids dressed up. One of the ladies read a story and then they passed out snacks, which kept the kids quiet for some time. And then we did a little coloring and waved goodbye. Hannah said as we left "that was allot of Grandmas and Grandpas", it was very sweet.

Tomorrow is the big day - HALLOWEEN!

Kate's new hobby and reconnecting with old friends

Kate has found a new hobby and I'm not going to stop her. She love to vacuum. We have one of those swivel sweepers and Kate has found that she loves to go around the house and vacuum. And you can bet that I'll let her do that as much as she wants.

I've become hooked on facebook. I've been having a blast getting back in touch with people from the past and also keeping up with current people in my life. Its been such a great way to communicate and share pictures with others quickly. I just recently reconnected with Christopher, the brother of my high school sweetheart Greg. Christopher and I have been having fun writing back and forth and catching up on 18 years (holy snap 18 years). The Hecht family was always so wonderful to me and its been fun to hear about their lives and what they've been up to.

I wonder who I'll find next.

Damnit and chocolate muffins

As we all know by now Mondays are my favorite days, but not today. Kate was sick and stayed home today so I didn't get my normal 1 kid down time this morning. But that was fine, we just did allot of TV and hung out. Kate over all feels well she just has that cough that wont go away and the boogies started over the weekend so I thought it might be best to keep her home.

But Hannah went off to school this afternoon so it gave Kate and I some more quiet time. And then at 330p on the nose we picked Hannah up from school. It was a dreary rainy day and on our way home we hit some traffic because of a small accident. As we slowed down I heard Hannah from the back seat say "DAMNIT" and then some other words followed that I didn't hear because I was stuck on the word damnit. She said it with such force and I guess she was referring to the traffic, I didn't really ask I just calmly said to her that the word damnit was not a nice word and that she can use darn it instead. And by this time Kate was saying damnit over and over to see if I would say anything to her - awww kids what fun. Hannah said that the boys from school say damnit and I just told her that is up to the teacher and to the other parents but in our house we don't use that word - argh I just hope I don't accidentally say it in the next week. Oh the joys, I wonder what word she'll pick up next.

The girls and I made chocolate chip muffins today. Just something fun to do on a rainy cold day.

Grocery update and Allie's 6th birthday

Two weeks ago I posted about doing a two week grocery shopping for 200.00 (and then 40.00 half way through for fresh stuff), so a total of 240.00 for 2 weeks. We did great. We made and ate every meal, and all of them were good. I was very impressed with us.

So today is Greg's turn to tackle the groceries. I wish him all the luck in the world because it was a hard job. And I set a pretty high standard a few weeks ago so I can't wait to see how he does. He planned out 2 weeks of meals and looked through all the adds to see what was on sale. He is now at the store shopping away.

UPDATE: Greg did it. Under 200.00 for 2 weeks. Great job.

We're heading to Allie's 6th birthday party today. I just can't get over that she is 6. So big. The girls will have a ton of fun at the party this afternoon.

Picture from the party, we had a blast.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2009108&l=308f8&id=1122309468

Sick kids, rainy Saturday and hanging kitchen cabinets

The poor girls have this cough that wont go away. I took them to the doctor yesterday but they just said it was something they had to ride out. They did give Hannah some Robitussin with codeine and that seemed to help her last night. But Kate woke up today with snot and a worse cough. She seems to be in good spirits, which is nice but I just wish the cough would go away.

We had an ugly rainy day around here. It was a cold rainy fall day. We went to the mall to run around a bit, but besides that we just hung around the house.

I hung some new kitchen cabinets that I bought for a steel at the Goodwill. I just happen to be there last week looking around and found two kitchen cabinets that fit perfect and look great. I also bought the girls new chairs. They loved their red stools but they where getting a bit big for them so I've been looking around for new chairs. And what better than 10.00 wooden chairs from the Goodwill, gotta love that.

The spirit of giving

The girls and I had a fun morning and learned about the spirit of giving. Build-A-Bear did a workshop this morning for the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation. The first 100 people in the store got to make a bear for free to give to the foundation. It was a great way to teach the kids about giving. They got to pick out a cute little ghost to stuff and then place the heart inside. They then gave the ghost a big hug and placed it in the box - no tears no fussing. They liked the idea that they got to make something for someone else. And they didn't even ask for one themselves - such big girls.

http://www.buildabear.com/

We then headed to the park to play with some school friends. The girls had the day off school for a teacher work day so we got together with some of the families to play. It was fun to see the friendships the girls have at school, such sweet kids.

And then on the way home I made the decision to call the pediatrician to see if I could get the girls in this afternoon. Both girls have had a cough for weeks. Its been keeping Hannah up at night and nothing we do has made it any better. So I thought I better take them in and of course its nothing and will just have to run its course. The Dr. did give Hannah some Robitussin with codine so hopefully that will give her a good night sleep. Because she needs it, her temperment has been bad the last week and you can tell she is just tired. I'll let you know how it goes.

Amazed at Hannah's art work

Hannah has gotten so creative with her art work and has been loving drawing and using stencils. Its so fun watching the progress. Kate has also been having fun with coloring. I've noticed a huge difference in the two as far as art styles. Kate useing allot of color where Hannah tends to stick to one color. Kate also likes to fill things in with color where Hannah has alway been more light with her coloring. Its fun to see the different styles.

Today Hannah brought me this picture that she wanted to mail to Uncle and Laura. When I told her that they didn't have a mail box where they were but that I thought we could put the picture into the computer and email it she thought that was a great idea. So thats what we did. It was so fun watching her face as the scanner took a picture of her art and put it into the computer. I can only imagine what was going through her head.

So here is the art work that Hannah made for Uncle and Laura today.

In memory of mom 10/22/04

4 years ago today my mom died. It was a very hard time in my life when she passed. We had just started to form our relationship back after not speaking for 2 years. We were having such a great time keeping busy with my pregnancy with Hannah and she was so excited to become a grandma. And she was a great grandma. Hannah had her for a year and it was a wonderful year for all of us. She took to the Grandmother role quickly and enjoyed every minute of it. And then just before she died we found out I was pregnant with Kate and she was so excited to have another grand baby on the way. I was 8 weeks along with Kate when she passed. So needless to say it was a very hard time for me. I still miss her every day and wish she could be here to see the girls growing and becoming such wonderful little people.

So in memory of mom today I bought 2 raffle tickets at my gym, all sales go to the American Heart Association and the grand prize for the raffle is a 1 year membership - so that would be nice to have. It felt good to write on the heart in memory of my mom. I also took Kate to the cemetery for a pic nic and just enjoy the day. Its cold out but it a very crisp cool fall day. And the view from the cemetery is always a great back drop for a pic nic. Kate had a great time and we chit chatted about Grandma Sue. She is just starting to ask simple questions about why she died and where she is, its fun to talk to her about my mom.

I also took a short video of the cemetery, so you can feel like your there today. Oh and we left a tomato for mom, I think she would be proud that I was able to grow anything. And she would have loved my fried green tomatoes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHP-shrtINc

5 Minute Chocolate Mug Cake

I got one of those passed around emails yesterday and it had this recipe for a 5 minute Chocolate cake. And for some reason I just had to try it. I had everything in the house except for the chocolate chips (optional anyway, although they would have been really yummy). So I whipped up the chocolate cake and put it in a mug and placed it in the microwave. I didn't have any expectation for the taste so it was more of a science experiment. When the bell rang I went to the microwave and removed this funny looking brown cake in a mug. I turned it over on a plate. It reminded me of those fancy cakes you get in restaurants that are individually made - do you think this is how they do it? I then remembered I had some caramel sauce (from yesterdays fun) and drizzled some on top of the hot cake. I let it cool a bit, while I ate my dinner. Then after the dinner plates where cleared I dug into the cake - it was really good. It was rich and moist. It tasted like those pudding cakes that you make. Now it was no where near my Grandmothers Chocolate cake, but in a pinch it was really good. And when I say pinch I mean when PMS hits you and you have to have chocolate cake :)

So enjoy.


5 MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE
4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)
a small splash of vanilla extract
1 large coffee mug

Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly. Pour in the milk and oil and mix well. Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla extract, and mix again. Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts. The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed! Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired. EAT! (This can serve 2 if you want to feel slightly more virtuous). And why is this the most dangerous cake recipe in the world? Because now we are all only 5 minutes away from chocolate cake at any time of the day or night!

Cartwheels & coffee and a bad apple

Hannah and I tried out a new fun spot today. It called Cartwheels and coffee. Its located about 4 miles from our house, so thats really nice. Kate had school this morning so Hannah and I ventured out to see about some fun. We met some friend and had a great time. The coffee shop is half coffee and half play area, perfect combo for moms and kids. And the coffee was yummy (spiced latte,mmmmmm).

Check out the story behind cartwheels and coffee. The people that put the idea together deserve a huge pat on the back.

http://www.cartwheelsandcoffee.com/our_story.html

And then I did the kid switch with school and hung out with Kate for the afternoon. She is feeling a bit under the weather, nothing big just a little punkie. So we kept it low key and just hung out. And just before we picked up Hannah we had to return some caramel apples we bought at Tom Leonard's yesterday. All I wanted was a caramel apple yesterday so we bought a package and when we got home the apples where bad. We found that out just after I took the pictures of the girls eating them yesterday - yuck. But they took them back and I just got some caramel and dipped my own apples in it - yum yum taste like fall to me.

Pumpking picking and caramel apples

Another wonderful fall day. Cold and crisp, a great day go pumpkin picking. For the past 4 years we've been going to The Chesterfield Berry farm to get out pumpkins and do other fun fall things. But unfortunately this year they raised their rates and I just couldn't see paying 40.00 for admission and then paying for the pumpkins. So we decided to just go to our local Tom Leonard's and pick the biggest pumpkin we could find. And we did. I think the pumpkin weighs more than both girls. And for a fun treat we bought caramel apples to eat when we got home. It was a fun day had by all.

Next weekend we'll carve the pumpkin into something spooky.