Trick-Or-Treat! (Round 1)

I took the kids to our Downtown Trick-Or-Treat time today... It was just after lunch, the weather was 70 and sunny, and the kids loved getting candy. It was just perfect!

It was so fun that Grant allowed Reagan to hold his hand and several times I heard Reagan say "I have to pick one for my brother, too." What could make a mom happier?
Taking a break -- this was a bad idea. Grant ate his first sucker and for the rest of the trip, he was either screeching or eating. Mostly it was eating -- the front of his costume is now matted down with sticky drool and soggy paper shreds.
Did Mom really say we could eat one of these candies?!
I was worried that Reagan would be too shy to say "Trick-Or-Treat" or that Grant would be too bored. I couldn't have been more wrong. The lure of candy seems to give Reagan a boldness with strangers that I didn't know existed. And Grant - wow - it took one sucker for him to figure out that people were willing to give him food.

He was able to quickly locate the candy dish in each store and several times he threw his half-gone, drooly, sucker in their candy bucket in an attempt to trade for a new one.

By the end he was tired -- after each store gave him a new candy, he would sit down on the floor and sign to me "help please" hoping I would unwrap it for him. After several screeching protests where I carried him out of the store, Trick-Or-Treat was over -- much to Reagan's dismay.

So, four suckers later we were done and back in the car...
The plan is to try 'Round 2' tonight at some houses in town. This will be mosly for Reagan's sake and also for Daddy who missed out on the fun today. :)

(And who am I kidding? It is also for preganant Mommy whose 1-year-old can't eat Peanut M&M's and whose 3-year-old doesn't like Butterfingers... ;-)

Back to Normal?

After the train wreck called "yesterday", things seem to be back on track today...

Of course its 70 degrees, sunny, and absolutely perfect outside! Reagan found a caterpillar, carried it around the yard for an hour, and then lost the caterpillar (probably saving its life in the process). This is a picture of her (taking a break from) looking for it in the grass where she dropped it.

Grant was happy - he got his daily dose of sand to eat -- plus he ate an extra handful or two and several of plain dirt to make up for his lost days inside last week. When Grant does this now, I think of Cousin Sarah saying that her brother used to eat worse things than this... It gives me hope for Grant. :)

In the 'playhouse' -- both kids and sidewalk chalk -- this was Heather's idea... :)

Some Days Are Like This...

And, oh my goodness - when I say "day" I mean all day.

I (usually) think that I have the smartest, cutest, sweetest kids. Yesterday, I did -- but today, something went terribly wrong...

"Daddy, where are you?!"

Recycling

Joel would love to have a big, flat screen TV. I wouldn't mind one, but it is not on my list of priorities. To compromise, we started a fund several months ago where we are saving our extra money and putting it towards a new TV.

This is a conversation Joel and I had last week as we were cleaning out the garage:

Joel: "Wow - we have a lot of pop cans! Does that money have to go back towards gorceries or can it go to the TV?"
Sally: "That depends."
Joel: "On what?"
Sally: "On whether or not you are asking me to take the kids and the pop cans back to the redemption center by myself."
Joel: "Why?"

Sally: "Because, if I have to take both kids and the cans by myself, I get to keep the money."
Joel: "If I take the cans back on Saturday with the kids, do I get to keep the money?"
Sally: "That depends."
Joel: "Depends on what?"
Sally: "It depends on how long you guys are gone."

Perspective

I hate doing dishes. Maybe its that I don't like getting slimy stuff on my hands, or maybe its the smells, or maybe its because my mom never liked doing dishes... It doesn't matter why - I just hate doing them.

I used to hate lots of things. I hated having my eyes dialated. I hated having my time wasted in a waiting room. I hated driving in our city's traffic with all the annoying stop lights.

What I've learned though, is that it's all a matter of perspective. I cheerfully did the dishes tonight because my alternative was less appealing than the dishes (a teething one-year-old who cries until you read him the same book over and over). I've noticed these subtle changes in perspective have been 4 years in the making. This new dishes thing is just the latest example.

I noticed the change when I was pregnant with Grant. When it was Reagan, I moaned over every stomach cramp, complained through all my finger sticks, and whined over my swollen ankle (yes - just one) -- all before I even got to the 8 month mark. The second time around, I knew how bad it was going to get, and I determined to keep my chin up until I absolutely could not. I made it quite a lot farther the second time :)

I noticed the change this fall when I went in for my annual dialated eye exam. I wouldn't go so far as to say I loved it, but I certainly didn't hate it! You see, I was alone, I brought my book, the lights were dimmed, and it was quiet. Who cares that it gave me a headache and that I couldn't see straight for 4 hours after it?!

I love driving, now -- the kids are belted in -- they can't escape no matter how much they complain. And that's to say nothing of driving alone in the car -- oh wow! I used to love to crank the radio when I was in the car alone -- now I crave the silence.

It is all matter of perspective...

The Weekend

A couple days ago, Sadie and Nate took Reagan to a movie while Tyson stayed at our house with Grant. Even though the two of them don't actually "talk" to each other, and even though they usually screech and grab the same toys, Grant was really happy to have a new face around! :) This is a picture of the two of them playing before they had to go to bed. :)

This weekend, we raked up a big pile of leaves for the kids to play in. The location of this pile was completely Joel's idea... :) However, I can't claim that I'm innocent. (Maybe I've been married to Joel long enough) but before this pile was at the bottom of the slide, it was in front of our park bench in the front yard. I encouraged both kids to jump from it into the pile, and they gladly did. We got lots of fun video :)

Long Days

Joel has been working late every night this week. That makes for very long days for the kids and I when we're all together for Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner. I think the kids get tired of me and I get just plain tired...

Since I knew Joel wasn't coming home until after bedtime last night, I took the kids out for supper at Wendy's. The crowd was sparse at 5pm, but there were a couple of tables with elderly people. (Apparently, they are on the same schedule as my kids.)

Grant frequently stares at people while we are out, and he quickly made "friends" with a couple at the table next to us. They made faces at him through the whole meal and when we were ready to leave, they came over to say their good-byes. To my surprise, the elderly man gave each of the kids a $1 bill. :) He came up to about my shoulder, and I felt bad letting the kids accept his gift, but it seemed rude to turn him down.

The couple offered to take the kids home with them, and after three long days, I thought about letting them... ;-)

Grant's Picture

Why I took this picture:

~ It is the first time I've seen Grant use his sign language "Please". I am hopeful that now we can do away with the "I-want-something-screech".

~ He was dressed so cute. Orange in the fall, a "G" on his shirt for "Grant", and he was so smiley outside today :) I thought it was a great picture moment for him...the real reason I brought the camera outside. :)

~ Reagan's pink buggy + Grant in a picture with it + 16 years = high school yearbook material.

The Pumpkiner

This weekend we took advantage of the gorgeous weather and took the kids to the pumpkin farm down the road. It's maybe a mile from our house, but it's the only exposure to "farm stuff" the kids ever have... :) We can see corn fields out our front door, but the only thing Reagan knows is that "the corn is for Grandpa's squirrels".

On the short drive to the Pumpkin Farm, we were asking Reagan if she remembered last year... (It was misty-rainy, muddy, Grant was 3 months old, and we were the only ones there save one other couple. Our hayrack driver bore an uncanny resemblence to John Candy as Uncle Buck and every time he talked I felt like I should hide my giggles -- especially when he talked about how good the baking pumpkins were for his pies.)
Our family at this time last year:

Anyway, this is how my conversation with Reagan went:
Me: "Remember... we rode on a hay rack and picked out our own pumpkins...?"
Reagan: "And the pumpkiner helped us."
Me: "The what?"
Reagan: "The pumpkiner. He helped us."
Me: "Oh, yeah. The pumpkiner. The pumpkin farmer. Yeah, he did help us, didn't he."

I looked all around, but was disappointed that my pie-making friend, Uncle Buck, The Pumpkiner wasn't there this year.

Here are a couple of pictures.
Grant with the goats:
Reagan with the donkeys: Reagan's first pony ride: Me trying to be artistic (Reagan is holding the back of Grant's shirt -- he can't get away because he is being choked): "I can't see you mom - its too sunny!" "My preciousssss..."

Grant

Grant likes to eat -- everyone knows that. I know that and that's why I feed him lots of food... at least I think I feed him enough...

Yesterday, I caught him in the sandbox intentionally eating a handful of sand. He ate another one after I told him not to -- I think just to be sure of what I was saying "NO!" to. I thought it was gross and figured "boys will be boys".

Today, we were outside and Grant chewed on a piece of sidewalk chalk. I thought he was confused and I told him "no, no", took it out of his mouth, and showed him how to use it to color on the driveway. He gave me a funny look and watched me color while he picked up another piece of chalk to put back in his mouth.

Later it was a dead leaf from the yard, and after that -- the stem of a dead flower. Ugh.

Remember that goofy boy in kindergarten who ate crayons and paste?

I'm his mom.

Fall Fun Pictures

The differences between Reagan and Grant:

Reagan sat in her "leaf nest" for about 20 minutes quietly singing and talking to herself and me...
...while Grant crawled, climbed, and walked all through the flower beds, up the driveway, and around the yard. He wanted nothing to do with the "leaf nest". Bor-ing!

Later on, Grant tripped and did a full body layout on the driveway. He didn't flinch, just got back up and kept walking. Reagan got a tiny sliver of something I can't even see in her wrist and she's still whining about it 5 hours later.

I love these guys :)

Stroller Derby

It is always hard to entertain the kids on rainy days. Yesterday, I took them to Wendy's and the Library and that was an adequate replacement for our usual two hour time outside... What I didn't realize is that the day after the rainy day is also not fun either. Not fun for me -- lots of fun for Grant who loves digging in the mud...

After he got bored of the mud, Grant told me he wanted to go for a walk (by hanging onto the stroller in the garage and screeching until he got my attention). Reagan generously offered to push him. Who am I to deny her? :) They started out harmless enough - doing circles in the driveway.
Then Reagan asked to move Grant to a less cumbersome model. I got out the smaller, lighter, gray stroller and that's when the fun really started. She was running and pushing him as fast as she could and he was smiling and giggling.
I nearly called it quits when she had him up on two wheels, but I bit my tongue and let them go. When she took him up the driveway and then pushed and let go, I had to draw the line.
In case you're wondering, she learned this technique from Daddy. When we come home from walks, he will oftentimes let the stroller coast down the driveway unattended. I think he does it because he was born that way, but also because he knows he will get "the look" from me and that makes him happy for some reason. You just have to know Joel... :)

Holy Coupons, Batman!

I haven't posted in awhile about my coupon savings. I've still been "frugally shopping" I just haven't been telling (a.k.a. bragging) about it... This week was one for the record books so I wanted to post about it :)

Most of this came from Cub Foods, a couple things were from my Walgreens "deal" of the week. I had to make 2 trips to Cub Foods to spare Joel, the kids, and the cashiers from coupon overload.

I spent $55 on all these things in the pictures. (It would have been $210 without all the deals :)








I think its hard to see in the pictures, so I made a list:
~Cub Foods: ($52)
• 10 boxes General Mills Cereal
• 4 large bags Malt-O-Meal Cereal
• 4 boxes Cheese Nips
• 2 Betty Crocker Cookie mixes
• 2 Trix kids yogurt
• 4 boxes Kemps Ice Cream Bars
• 4 boxes Toaster Struedel
• 2 boxes Gushers/Fruit Rolls
• 1 Macaroni Grill boxed dinner kit
• 5 Tubes Cinnamon Rolls
• 1 Tube Cresent Rolls
• 8oz sour cream
• 4 packages chocolate chips
• 4 bags frozen vegetables
• 4 cans cream of chicken soup
• 5 Ronzoni Bistro microwave meals
• 1 2 liter Orange Fanta
• 1 package Cheese Slices
• 1 package Mozzarella Cheese (4cups)
• 4 gallons Motts for Kids 100% juice
• 3 packages of toilet paper (6 rolls each)
• 3 pkgs Kotex sample pack (free from nice lady)
• 7 lbs Grapes, 3 peaches, 4 bananas
• 5 Gallons skim milk
• 1 Half Gallon Whole Milk
• 2 Dawn Ultra Foam Dish soap
• 2 Glade Plug-Ins
• 2 boxes Gallon-size One Zip bags (WalMart)
~Walgreens: ($3)
• 1 Glade Flameless Candle
• 2 Glade Glass Scents
• 2 Tubes Crest Toothpaste
• 1 Bounce Sheets
• 1 SB Action Scrubber Kit
• 1 package Orange Slices (for Joel :)
• 2 packages Halloween Peeps (for Reagan :)

While I was making the second half of my shopping trip today, Joel watched the kids and decided to cut Grant's hair. I got an "emergency call" while I was shopping -- It was Joel asking me to go and buy new clippers. Here's what Grant looked like when I came home...












When I got home with the emergency clippers, Joel was able to finish and now Grant looks like this:

One last picture of Joel and the kids... Reagan is helping Joel backfill the giant (4' deep) hole he dug to fix the entrance of the water-line into our house. (Its been slowly leaking for 3 years.) Grant wanted desperately to be out "helping" Reagan and Dad, but I know better than to turn him loose into a giant pile of dirt first thing in the morning... He was forced to watch all the action from his stool next to the window. :(

Bittersweet

Today was my last day of work and it was sad and hopeful all at the same time.

Today was hopeful. Hopeful that life is maybe going to get a little easier (before it gets A LOT harder). The kids both have colds & sore throats and didn't sleep well last night. When they're not sleeping, no one is sleeping. I think between the two of us, we had to get up 6 or 8 times - I stopped counting when I started getting angry, and that was at about 4:30am. I am exhausted and ready to start doing life at a slower pace -- if that's possible.

But today was sad, too. It was sad because I said "goodbye" to some of the people I've been sharing day-to-day life with for the last 8 years. Its strange the way time is divided, but I think I spent as many "waking" hours with my co-workers as I did with my actual family. I know their habits and they can finish my sentences. It was really hard for me to say that 'relationship-changing' type of goodbye. It was really hard. I cried. (I know you're not surprised.)

And before you try to encourage me by saying "the kids will be better for it". You should look closer at Grant's face...

What you're seeing is actually two black eyes but in the same eye. The bruise under his eye is the one from his crib from my earlier post. The new one on his eyelid is from today. (He went face first down the slide before I could stop him.)

So you see, it's not obvious yet that my kids are better off being at home with me. In over a year at Sadie's house, Grant never got a black eye. In just a week of being home in the afternoons with me, this is what happens...