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.

Fall festival at Good Shepherd

One of the schools on our list for next year for the girls is Good Shepherd school. http://www.gses.org/Home.shtml
It is a very small private school in our neighborhood. I took a tour a few weeks ago and loved it. So it will be our private school fall back if non of the public school work out - but thats for another post.

Today was Good Shepherds fall festival so we took the girls. We had a blast. Lots of stuff to play on and yummy food to eat. The girls got their faces painted - so cute. Face painting will forever be the best part of being a kid. I remember it when I was growing up and always loved it.

It was a bitter 50 degrees today and felt cooler with the wind. A nice fall day for a festival. Maybe tomorrow we'll search for pumpkins.

A rainy Friday and a lunch date for Kate

It was an ugly rainy around here. Its good for the seed be put down in the yard, but bad for getting the kids energy out.

The girls had school today, all went great. They always come home loving the day they had. It was D week in Hannah's class so she came home today talking all about things that start with the letter D. I'm signed up to go in the class room during H week and do a little craft or story with the kids. I need to figure out what I'm going to do, its only 4 weeks away.

Kate had her friend Addison over for lunch today. It was cute to see them playing and eating together. Kate and Addison have been in class together for 2 years. And Addison doesn't live to far from us so its great to get them together. They really enjoying playing and get along great.

We have no big plans for the weekend. No yard work, no house work, no big plans. Its kinda nice. Just some hanging out with the family and maybe go get a pumpkin or two.

Oh what a day

The girls and I had a full fun day. We started the day off with having our Christmas pictures done. The girls did awesome. The photographer said they where the easiest kids she had ever worked with - make a mom smile. The pictures turned out really cute.

Here is a sneak peak:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2008506&l=7650b&id=1122309468 After we did picture we went to the gym, home for lunch, off to school to drop off Hannah, back home to play with Kate, back to school to pick up Hannah and then over to Sherry's for a play date. Whew what a day. Glad its done and I can eat some dinner and watch some stupid TV. I need to shut my brain down for the night - I hope Greg doesn't want to do finances or anything because this chick is done.

81 degrees in Oct - gotta love it

What an absolutely beautiful day we had today. The high was 81 degrees and sunny sunny sunny. The girls got one more day in their sun dresses before we had to pack them away. Gotta love Virginia, you just never know what your gonna get in Oct.

Here are some fun pictures of the girls in their sun dresses, I wanted to capture them while I could since I didn't know if they would be in them again this year.

A visit to an organic farm and a chipper Kate

A friend of mine set up a tour of an organic farm today. Unfortunately Kate was in school this morning so she didn't get to come with us but Hannah and I ventured out into the country and had a blast. If I had thought about it more it would have been a great experience for Kate also, but I didn't think about it in time. When I book things I look at my calendar and see which kid I'll have or if I'll have both or none and I just go with it. If one kid is in school than I do something with the other one. Its actually really nice to have that one on one time.

Anyway, my friend booked this great tour of Brookview farms http://www.brookviewfarm.com/Home.html Brookview is an organic farm about 20miles from our house. It was an awesome adventure and even better than I had thought it would be. I just figured we'd go to a farm see a few things and head home. But it was so much better than that. We got to feed apples to the cows, see the very large pigs they just bought from the state fair and take a hayride out to the free range chicken coups. I know I know your saying free range chickens shouldn't be in coups, but these coups where to keep them safe. They're was five or so coups in this huge field (over 300 chickens) and every day they go out and move the coups about 30 feet or so. So every day the chickens have fresh grass and bugs to feast on and all their droppings fertilize the ground, it was very cool to see. And Hannah got to collect some eggs from the coups or "chicken condos" as they call them. I took a bunch of pictures for you to see, you can also see what a gorgeous day we had. http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2008405&l=5e594&id=1122309468

So after all of our farm fun it was time for Hannah to go to school and for me to pick up Kate. Mondays are so funny because I just trade kids with the school. Kate and I had a fun afternoon of going to lunch with friends and just hanging out. She was so sweet today, just a ton of fun. From the moment she woke up this morning I could tell it was going to be a good day. She had a smile on her face and was chipper, we don't always get that with Kate. So I took full advantage of the chipperness today and hung out with her and played.

And then after we picked Hannah up we went and got hair cuts. We have a photo shoot on Wednesday for Christmas pictures, I can't wait. G. Joyce got them these cute little dresses and I just bought them some black patten leather shoes (their first pair). I hope we have a fun day and Kate wakes up as chipper on Wednesday as she did today. Cross your fingers.

Yard work, a play date with Allie and grocery shopping

From the title you can probably guess what we did today. Greg finished the aerating seeding today so we should have new grass sprouting soon. Or as Hannah said today it looks like 100 Jack Russells went poop in the yard (with all the aerating plugs laying around). Kinda a funny visual. But nothing like waiting until the last minute to get all the yard stuff done, thank goodness the weather has been nice for our new grasslings.

While dad was working hard in the yard the girls had a fun play date with Allie. Allie will be 6 at the end of the month, I have no idea where the time went. I remember the day Matt and Elizabeth brought Allie home, she was such a tiny peanut. The years are flying by way to quick. So now we have a 3, 5 and 6 year old between us. This makes for allot of screaming and screeching, but also allot of fun. The girls always have so much fun playing and it really helps the sister dynamic when another kid is around. It also kept them busy and out of mom and dads hair for alittle while so we could get stuff done.

And on the coupon front: First thing this morning Hannah and I went down to CVS to pick up the Sunday paper for all the coupons. She rode her new bike and I walk with her, we had a great time and she had fun riding all the way down to CVS. It was her first big bike ride.

I then spent the next 2 hours clipping coupons and reading all the grocery store adds. I put my menu together and my shopping list and off I went. I also did something alittle different this time, I decided to do a menu and shopping list for 2 weeks. To see how it would be. We usually do the grocery shopping every weekend and it just takes up so much time. So I got organized and laid out a plan for 2 weeks. I did pretty good, and better than that I only spent 200.00 for 2 weeks. That is a savings of over 100.00 (we usually spend about 150.00 - 200.00 every week). So I couldn't be happier with my work. Its nice to see a quick payoff for hard work.

And tomorrow is Monday, can it get any better???!!! :)

My new hobby - penny pinching

I'm venturing into the world of coupon cutting. I've dabbled in it a few times but now is the time to get serious. With the financial world the way it is right now we should all be saving where we can. So I thought I would start somewhere that I can make a big difference every month. I'm going to make it a challenge for myself, that way it will feel more like a game than work. I'm curious at how much we can actually save, but at this point every penny saved is a win.

If anyone has any great coupon tips please send them my way. I'm actually looking forward to the Sunday paper tomorrow, can't wait to clip some savings.

Happy shopping. Now is the time to get frugal and pinch those pennies, whether you need to or not its a good time to do it.

Tag reading system ROCKS

G.Len and G. Joyce sent the girls this awesome reading system. Its called TAG reading system by Leap frog. It really is as cool as the commercials say it is. The girls have been having a blast with it. And they have even been sharing, which is a very nice change to the grabbing and yelling that has been going on.

And you should see Greg and I trying to figure out how it works. Technology has finally passed us. It reminded me of when I was about 11 and I got a transistor radio for my birthday. I thought I was the coolest thing ever walking down the street listening to Lets get physical by Olivia Newton John (are you signing it know - good). But thats another story for another blog.

So back to the story. I remember the day I brought my radio over to my Grandparents house and my Grandpa wouldn't go near it, he just kept saying that it wasn't big enough for all that sound to come out of it. Well, I now know how he felt. How can this little pen hold so much and how does it know what I'm pointing at. It really is a very cool product. So if you looking for something fun to give the kids for Christmas this has my stamp of approval.

http://www.leapfrog.com/en/shop/tag_library.html

The bagel tree

At breakfast this morning Hannah and Kate were enjoying a sesame bagel and chit chatting about how much they love bagels. I was doing morning stuff so I was just over hearing the conversation that was taking place between them. I'm not really sure who said it, but they started talking about the sesames on the bagels and how they are seeds. Then one of them said "well if we plant the seeds they will grow" to which the other one replied "maybe they will grow into a bagel tree". And before I knew it they where both outside in their pjs planting seeds from their bagels. It was the cutest thing I've seen in a while. Not only were they doing this together, but they were really serious about it.

Now, how do I find a bagel tree to plant where they put the seeds.....hmmmmm.

The chicken costume saves the day

The girls and I had a busy day today. The teachers had a work day today so school was closed. But that didn't stop us from having some fun.

We started the day off with a MOMS club meeting. We have them every month just to get everyone together, see if anyone has any good ideas for the calendar and today we had a financial planner come talk to the group. So it was fun. We also did our annual Halloween costume exchange. So I brought my bucket of costumes from the past 5 years and loaned out a few for kids to wear this year.

And after the meeting I had planned a picnic lunch and play time at the park. I had prepared for the entire day, snacks, lunch and anything else we might need because we had a busy day and wouldn't be able to get home until later in the day.

So we pull up to the park and the girls run wild for about 5 minutes when Hannah comes over to me and says that Kate peed in her pants. I drop my head because I know that I did not bring a change of clothes with me today, why I don't know, but I will from now on just in case. So, as I walk over to Kate I calculate how much time it will take us to drive home and then get back to the park or even have time for story time at the library which was next on our agenda for the day. So I tell Kate that not only do we have to leave but we have to go home and wont have any time to come back to the park, nor do I think we'll have time to get to the library. At this point Hannah started to cry because she didn't want to leave, and well, I wanted to cry also because I didn't want to leave either. So I collected myself and walked Kate to the car to see what we might have that I can put her in so we could stay and play and eat our lunch. And when I opened the back of the car - there it was - the Halloween costume box I had taken to the meeting. Its perfect I'll put her in the chicken costume that Hannah wore a few years ago. And so I did, and we stayed and played and then yes we went to the library for story time and we did it all in the chicken costume. It turned out to be a great day because of that chicken costume.

Ranting about Social services and their take on healthy snacks

Warning: This is a mom rant about a very boring subject. I wrote this more to get it off my chest than for others to read. I'll post something a little more fun tomorrow.
My girls go to this fabulous preschool here in Richmond called River Road Preschool. The school itself has been in business for 30 years. They run the school out of River Road Baptist Church, which is a very large church here in town. So anyway, we've been over the top happy with River Rd. The teachers are awesome, the support staff is awesome and the director knows her stuff. So in this rant I just want to make sure that everyone involved understands that this rant is toward social services and not our fine school.

So to start the story. Our school is licensed in the State of VA and follows the guidelines set by the state. And part of these nutritional guidelines that our school follows comes from social services. Which I am 100% behind making children aware of healthy eating habits and starting them early. So again my gripe is not about food. Where my gripe is is the inconsistency in the guidelines.

It all started this morning when I was making snacks for the girls. In the school handbook it asks that we send in an item from two different food groups (i.e. fruit and cheese). So I work really hard to find yummy food that the kids will eat and that will travel well to school. Some favorites are cheese and crackers, or apples and cheese, or a cereal bar and a banana. All of which have been acceptable to the school. So back to this morning. I had nothing in the cupboard. So for Kate I packed a banana and 3 small oatmeal crisps (we call them cookies but they are really small and crunchy crisp things). And for Hannah I sent in 4 mini blueberry muffins that we made yesterday. So when I picked Kate up today the teacher said that social services does not consider "cookies" an acceptable snack so she was not able to eat them. My first thought was wouldn't it have just been easier to let her eat them and send me a note home so I would send them in again. And then I started thinking that they aren't horrible for you, its not like I sent in Oreos. So I called the school to get a list of acceptable and unacceptable snacks and they didn't have a list. They just said they go by the social services and the USDA food pyramid. So, at this point I was a bit mad. You mean to tell me that its up to the individual teacher to decide how much sugar is in a product??? So long story long, they will accept Teddy Grahams (which have a heck of allot more sugar than 3 little oatmeal crisp), and they also accept fruit rolls ups as a fruit snack (which my kids have never had because they are full of sugar). Now not to say I don't feed my kids crap, because I do. But I also try hard to feed them healthy food also. And when it comes to snack its even more important to feed them healthy food that they like.

So I guess by biggest gripe is the school is following someone else's list of foods that actually doesn't really exist. They just keep talking about the food pyramid. I know the food pyramid and fruit roll ups are not on it. So leave it to me to stir up the pot.

Oh and Kate could have cared less that she couldn't eat her "cookies" at snack, so I guess I was more traumatized than she was.

Fun weekend had by all

We went from not having any plans to having a full weekend. Funny how that happens.

We did do some yard work, but not allot - maybe next weekend. But our yard was the kid hang out place this weekend, which is always fun. We had kids in and out most of the weekend. Boys digging, girls swinging, dogs barking - it was a glorious time.

We ended the weekend with a picnic in the park with some neighbors. We packed dinner and headed down for some fun play time, good food and great company.

Hope everyone else had a great weekend. And here to anther week of working hard and having fun.

More pictures from our weekend:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2007956&l=777bd&id=1122309468

Fall is here

I love this time of year. The weather is cool but not freezing. The air is crisp and clear. It just makes you want to sit around a bonfire and drink hot chocolate.

I wonder what we'll do this weekend. At this point we have zero plans. Which on one hand it very nice, but on the other it could be a long 2 days of nothing. Sure we have all the fall yard work to do, but that is soooo boring, which is whyit never gets done. Maybe we should just buckle down and get the yard stuff done so we can enjoy the rest of the fall without it looming over our heads. We'll see, Greg and I seem to always give each other excuses why we shouldn't do it this weekend.

The fair is in town, but I've never been much for fairs or the crowds at the fairs. Everyone in Richmond loves the fair and has such fun memories of it. Maybe its because I didn't grow up going to fairs. But I have never understood the fascination with it. And every year all my friends want me to go and every year I say no. Maybe next year they wont ask. I'm sure the girls would have fun seeing all the crazy stuff and the animals, but I much rather go to a pumpkin patch and find the biggest pumpkin we can carry. Maybe thats what we'll do this weekend while all the other people are at the fair.

Oh and I am almost 100% better from my 2 week long cold. I finally broke down and asked for antibiotics and within 24hours I was feeling better. You just always hope it will go away on its own so we don't have to take the antibiotics, but whatever works.

Hope everyone has a wonderful fall weekend. The weather is great around here and I'm sure we'll enjoy it no matter what we end up doing.

An all nighter, no karate for Kate and no finger sucking for Hannah

Last night at about 1130p we had a huge storm come through town. It only lasted about 20min but it was a doosey. The thunder and lighting was right on top of us. And then the hail started and soon after the power went out. For most people this just kinda sucks, for parents that have kids that sleep with sound machines, this really sucks. Hannah was never phased by the sound machine going off, but Kate - WOW thats another story. She is almost crying for us before the final sound leaves the speakers of the machine. I was up and in her room so fast last night because I know how scared she gets. I was hoping that it would just be out for a few minutes and then back on - like always. So I laid with her for about 20min and still no power. Its not past 12m. Greg decides to call the power company who says that the power will not be restored until after 3a. Okay, so what do I do with a kid that wont sleep without her sound machine???? - oh dad!!!! Yep, Greg took it from there and hung out with her until 7a. I think they slept a little, but Greg said every time he would start to doze off she would ask him a random question "dad, do you like spaghetti?"

Today was Kate's second Karate class. Last week didn't go great, I was just hoping it was her getting sick or something but today didn't go any better - actually much worse. Kate has made it very clear today that Karate is not her thing. She would not step foot inside the studio today. Oh, sure I could have forced her kicking and screaming, but instead we just sat in the lobby for the entire class and when it was done we left. Your asking yourself "why did you just leave when she refused to go in", well I felt like I needed her to see that just because she didn't want to do it didn't mean we were just going to leave. So yes, we sat for 30 min. and waited for the class to let out. I was not the happiest mom, but I think she got the picture. You don't just leave because you don't want to do it. Point made, now we'll see if a 3 year old was able to pick up on that point.

Hannah is still working very very hard at not sucking her fingers. As you remember we started with no finger sucking in the car and she did great with that. And the past 2 weeks we've been working with no finger sucking downstairs. Well I think today was the first day that she was able to sit and watch TV and not suck her fingers. She was doing it without even thinking before and today I could see her fingers go towards her mouth and she would stop - I think we're making progress. She say today that she wishes we we're still working on just the car part, that way she could still be sucking her fingers in the house - she's a smart cookie.