Saying Cheese & Holiday Prep

 This afternoon Nat, Ben, and myself worked on a little prep for our Thanksgiving feast tomorrow by making a pumpkin pie!  Our celebration is going to be low-key and fantastic this year: just the four of us!  We have plans to participate in a 5K as a family tomorrow morning, followed by some football watching, playing, and cooking.  And maybe even jammies all day....ok, so that's just my idea, but why not?  And then...hate me if you must....but I plan on doing some shopping with all the lunatics out there.  Even though my shopping is mostly done, I like the excitement and craziness of the whole thing.  It's almost like a sporting event.

Anyway, it's been awhile since I attempted pretty pictures of my two pretty babies, so while our pie was baking, I pulled out my camera...

And then Ben got bored, and pulled out a box of Fruit Loops from the pantry.  He got the box open, pulled out the bag, unrolled the bag, and had himself a little snack.

It was all going great until Natalie caught on and tried to take some for herself.

hey, there's a good one of them both!

pretty lady

with plenty of attitude

Kicking off Christmas (and Thanksgiving)

Friday night, with rain threatening, we bundled up and headed "into town" for the holiday parade.  It was cold!  But the parade was so nice.  It was all in the dark, which was kind of fun because all the trucks and floats were decorated with lights.  And of course Natalie was delighted at all the candy the parade participants were throwing out.  Ben wasn't so into it.  Lately the only thing he's into is me holding him.

After the parade, we headed to the Legion, where they had a craft fair set up.  Santa and Mrs. Claus were also there.  We opted to just see them from afar and meet Santa in person at the zoo again.  Before leaving, we boarded a wagon pulled by two Clydesdales.  Natalie loved it.  We got to take a horse and buggy ride around town.  The cold was worth it; it was a fun night.

waiting in the back of the car for the parade to start

Radio Silence

We have been doing nothing in particular, but have been so busy all at the same time.  Actually, my excuse is that my computer has been out on loan at night for a few weeks because of a project I've been working on.  But now it's back, and I guess gone are my excuses for not blogging.

Nat started back in gymnastics since the weather turned cooler.  She is just as enthusiastic as ever, and the summer months off have really made a difference in her ability to follow directions and listen to the instructor.  And they finally wised up and got two instructors to handle eight 2-4 year olds.  That was a chaotic class with only one instructor!  (Have I already written about this?   It's all sounding vaguely familiar as I type it, but I have no real memory anymore and don't feel like going back to look....)

bedtime snack

We continue to battle sleep demons around here.  My newest effort is to employ a bedtime snack.  Ben is an awful eater most days, very picky.  And I feel like he doesn't ever eat enough to feel full.  I think when he wakes up at night he realizes he's hungry and can't go back to sleep.  I also think that's partly to blame for his crankiness lately.  That, and his lack of good sleep.  I mean how much can a kid take, really?!  So instead of "treats" for good eaters, we have a healthy bedtime snack.  So far results are mixed.

It's been cold lately, but not too cold to be out.  We've been having more of an issue with it being too windy to go out!  And Ben is like the Christmas Story kid in his giant coat ("I can't put my arms down!"  Can you hear the whiny voice?), and pretends to be unable to walk or stand.  oy.

three silly cousins not cooperating for a picture

I like to run a fairly tight ship around here.  Don't get me wrong, I like to do fun things too, but I have a real problem with OCD/dirt/clutter.  So most days I do not allow this to go on.  But, as mentioned above, I had been working on a project and was so close to it being finished (and had a deadline!), so last week, I had to give in and just let the kids do their thing.  And this is what happened.  In like 7 minutes.  I could not believe it.  Every toy out and scattered, cushions off chairs, clothes off, food in the living room.  It was total chaos.  I was stressing, but we got it all cleaned up with a quick contest to see who could pick up the most toys the fastest.

We've also been busy Christmas shopping!  I've had two helpers, and it must be the key because we are done (DONE!!) with our shopping.  Except for two names Eric and I will draw in a family name draw, and then Eric and I shop for the kids together.  But otherwise, totally finished and not even Thanksgiving yet.  Pretty impressed with myself.  Determined to make December full of fun kids' Christmas activities.  And, we plan to kick off the holidays with a tree lighting and holiday festival tonight...if the rain holds off!

A few snowflakes

Rare is it when the forecast calls for snow, and we actually get it.  Around here, anyway.  But Monday night, it was predicted that we would have about an inch of snow, and when we woke up Tuesday morning, that's exactly what we found!  Snow, and much, much colder weather.

Three little peanuts were mighty excited about all that white stuff!

Ben got his first chance to play in the snow (he was far too little last winter)

And curious as he was, he did not like how cold it was on his hands.

But he continued to take his glove off and poke around at the piles on the deck.

Natalie is an old pro at snow play

Ben was much happier to sit and watch...

and managed to keep his gloves on once I covered them with mine.

We had a busy day today, but before getting dressed and out the door, Natalie demanded a photo shoot with her "friends."  She sleeps with "Purple Minnie," "Red Minnie," and Daisy every night, and most days at least one them gets to come downstairs to play, and often one of them gets to come on out of the house errands with us.  She refers to the three of them collectively as her "friends."  

Wednesday mornings are usually busy because Natalie has gymnastics.  Today, 15 minutes before gymnastics, Ben had a scheduled well-check at the pediatrician.  So, Mimi and Pa took Nat to gymnastics while Ben and I headed to the doctor.  Nat continues to be on her best behavior in class, and just loves showing off her skills (which she practices at home).  Ben had a great check up...I was able to commiserate with a nurse who has a baby close in age to Ben who also refuses to sleep through the night (yes, that is STILL going on).  He is way ahead of the curve on language development (he is supposed to be able to say at least 4 words...he says 19, plus animal sounds!).

Weight: 23 lbs 1 oz (75th percentile)

Height: 30.25 in (50th percentile)

words Ben says:

• Mama (or sometimes Mommy)
• Dada
• Nat Nat (Natalie)
• baba (bottle)
• doggy
• uh-oh
• boom
• belly
• potty
• pumpkin
• ball
• cheese (when he smiles, not in reference to the food)
• hello
• bye bye
• a really funny word that cannot be typed that sort of sounds like "hungry" in reference to food he wants

And why I cannot thing of the others is beyond me...I did make a mental list earlier because on the spot, I can never remember!

Super Mom

Some days you've just got it going on as a mom (as opposed to the other days where you high five yourself at the end of the day because everyone is still alive).  Today was one of those days.  Standby for a self brag.  Today, we accomplished the following:

• I made it to the gym for an 800m swim and 5 mi run
• I showered (hey, for other moms out there, you feel me on this one)
• Went to the bank
• Went to Home Depot for a duster and extender, which we used to...
• dust the ceiling fans
• Went to the grocery store
• vacuumed all three floors of the house
• cleaned two full bathrooms
• dusted the kids' rooms and the rest of the third floor
• played outside
• made barbecue for dinner
• did 2 loads of laundry
• played downstairs after dinner (and put all the toys away!)
• two kids fully bathed and tucked neatly into bed
• 2 blog posts
• on my 2nd episode of Breaking Bad

On another day I might not have even brushed my teeth before 10:00, but today I was Super Mom.  

playing catch

a little love

M-I-C-K-E-Y....

Anyone who knows Natalie, knows that she loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.  So, when Disney on Ice came, I bought a ticket for myself and Nat and we made a girls day of it.  Unfortunately, the show fell on the tail end of the virus Natalie had last week, so she was definitely not on her A-game the night of the show, but she still liked it and we had a great time together.

All dressed up and ready to go!

Nat liked watching the boats a few minutes before we went into the show

another use for her Minnie costume!

a quick pose with the Cyclones pig 

popcorn and a drink, let the show begin

If this was the entire show, Natalie would have been happy.

she really liked Nemo, too.

At one point during the show, Mickey came out leading a Marching Band, and had all the kids stand up and march and clap along.  It was adorable, and Nat loved it.

BOO!

What a week this Halloween week has been.  We started off on Sunday by going to the zoo for Hallzooween.  Somehow we missed this last year, but what a fun event.  The kids got to wear costumes, the animals got pumpkins, (of course) we rode the train, had a lovely picnic lunch, and the kids got to visit "treat stations" set up throughout the zoo.  It was a touch on the chilly side, but a few extra layers under their costumes, some blankets in the wagon, and we were all set.

Ben was just a few weeks old last Halloween, so though technically not his first, 

this one was a lot more fun for him.

Mickey and Minnie

(Natalie referred to Ben as Mickey the entire day.  Love it!)

Then, on Tuesday, we had to carve those pumpkins we so carefully selected at the pumpkin farm a few weeks back.  Ben napped through most of it, so Nat and I handled the dirty work ourselves.  She was the creative director, instructing me on what style of face each pumpkin should have.  She did a nice job scooping out the guts, but wasn't so much on the scraping.  

She was very concerned about the pumpkin insides staining her shirt.

Nat & Ben with their pumpkins!

On Wednesday, Natalie woke up a little under the weather.  There wasn't anything specifically wrong with her (no fever, no runny nose, no cough), but she kept saying she was tired.  She was off her game all day, but again, nothing really specific.  Thursday morning was a different story.  She woke up around 5:00, had a fever, then promptly threw up on herself.  She had a fever off and on throughout the day, literally only moved from the couch to use the bathroom and to take a nap.  Finally around 5:00 this morning her fever broke, and she woke up much better today, though still complaining of being tired.  She did spend the morning playing with Ben, only felt warmish once, and felt up to going trick-or-treating tonight. (Our trick or treat got moved from Thursday to Friday on Wednesday because of forecast cold, windy, rainy weather--which we did get.)

trick or treaters ready to hit the pavement

I just love this.

catching a ride to the next block

Ben had the best seat in the house

We had two tuckered out kids by the time we got home.

But the miraculously perked up when they heard they got to pick a treat!

Nat and I have a fun girls' day planned for Sunday, can't wait to share!