Happy Birthday MOM/Grandma!

So, I told you my mom was a rock star.... why you ask? Well, actually she is a self-proclaimed rock star, BECAUSE she has just realized that this year I have come to respect her infinite motherly wisdom! :) Actually, it is true. Somehow, my mom finally seems to know a thing or two about life, motherhood, womanhood, family, marriage, friendship, faith, health, etc. It is so amazing.... she went for years (especially my teen years) where she knew absolutely nothing! Poor thing! So basically she is rocking the advice these days... and I'm listening!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Congratulations on your Rockstardom! You are too fabulous for words, too twisted for color TV, and the most beautiful person I have ever known. I am so glad that you are my

Rock Star Mom!

Mom and me a million years ago.

Soup and straw

A friend of mine has her kids drink up the "juice" in their soup with a straw! Why didn't I think of that? I was always straining Fischer's soup to make it "juice-less" - now he drinks up and eats up! He thinks it is so fun!

Lovin' these links.

Lately, while I haven't been feeling quite right, I've been enjoying these sites:

• Color Me Katie - for her joy and creativity
• Improv Everywhere - for making me wish I lived in New York and could join!

Enjoy!

TGIF

Maddie and her X-Man

Do not read.

Posting every day leads to a post like this one.... ummm... I don't know what to say. I want to tell you about a few things, but the posts in my mind take a little more thought than I'm willing to give right now and photos that are not on this computer. So, instead, I'll waste your time by posting absolutely nothing... from my bed, before I go to sleep.

Have a great night!

Happy Birthday Grandpa/Dad

I'd just like to wish a super happy sixtieth birthday to my dad today. Thanks for being my rock and the most amazing grandpa ever! Pretty hot for 60 eh?

Get in Shape Girl

So, in an attempt to stay sane AND get in shape, I'm getting my groove on. Apparently an hour of exercise every day can possibly be just as effective as medication and/or counseling. As if I actually needed another reason to get my butt in gear... feeling like a crazy lady has given me that last little shove.
Running and a variety of The Biggest Loser workout videos from the library... and I'm well on my way to a new healthier and happier me. I will give my Bod a shout out for losing about 50 lbs after Maddie was born. Way to go Bod! My Bod deserves a little kudos after being so stubborn and refusing to lose weight after Fischer was born! Remember how I even ran another marathon between the two kids? NO weight lost!... or at least not any worth bragging about.

Ummm, wait a minute, did she just say she lost 50 pounds and still needs to get in shape? Ummm, YES - thanks for pointing that out! Jerk.

This is it, there is no reason to wait. I'm not having more kids, I don't need to gain more weight... I can only go up from here right? Or rather, go down from here. I'm outing myself as a chubby mama, now you know. BUT... oh just wait, soon I'll be outing myself as a card carrying member of the "HOT MAMA" club! In fact, on that day, I shall take a picture of myself in a white unitard and post it proudly... nothing to hide! See, now you are rooting for me... just because you want to see me in white spandex. Thank you for your support, and I forgive you for making that sarcastic comment about my 50 pounds.

GoD and DoG by WJ Francisco

Thanks for the link, Ray.

It is not all or nothing....

I need to remember that. So often I put a plan into place, then when I make a mistake, I throw the whole plan out the window. I do it every time I'm trying to form a new habit, like daily exercise, not eating sugar, daily laundry, etc. So here I am trying to blog everyday for a month... and I missed yesterday!

I am going to go against all that I am and keep blogging every day for the month. It is a lesson in forgiveness for myself.

Here are a few of my random thoughts for today:

• I found out today that fireman do NOT wear jammies at the firestation. Yes, I had to ask.



• Maddie is only noisy in church if everyone else is quiet.



• I can now run fabulously without any pain in my pelvis.



• Kaia cannot run anymore, it makes her too limpy.



• My mom has become a rockstar.



• Fischer and BFF must wear boots and snow pants if there is even the slightest chance of encountering snow.



• Maddison looks so stinkin' cute in babylegs... I just want to eat her up.



• Fischer just told me to write : "February 27th we should go to Hawaii, for my present and my birthday party."


• That's his birthday, I think he is right! That would be a great present! Ummm, I'd like to go there for my birthday too! Hmmm... someday.


• We're on round two of the fall cold... only a few days of wellness in between. How does this happen when I am so careful to keep our hands washed and sanitized? Maybe because my son licked the doors at JCPenney's.

A month of Halloween

October was such an eventful month, despite how I was feeling. We had a great time celebrating fall and HALLOWEEN!
Fischer and Maddie went to a scarecrow festival with friends and Fischer played played played: bounce houses, giant slides, tunnels, haunted houses, games, treats, pizza, petting zoo and pony rides! Maddie slept through most of it.

They also went to an apple orchard to see how cider was made and a very fun farm with more games, animals, rides, jumping, and slides! Maddie slept through a lot of that too.

Fischer and BFF had a fabulous time at a pumpkin patch, with a maze, a spooky pirate ship, creepy decor and a tractor. Maddie slept through most of that too!

Fischer got into the spirit of Halloween with haunted tattoos (I can't believe I forgot to take a pic of all his tats!), glow in the dark fingernails, and festive toes.

Fischer and BFF put on their costumes to go to a Halloween birthday party with all of their friends. They were so excited! Fischer had been dying to wear his "knight in shining armor" costume next to "Princess Aurora". I don't know how many times he told me that he would be able to save BFF from dragons "cuz why she is a princess and I am a knight in shining armor in real life!" They were so cute together, even if they didn't hold still for pictures.

Maddie and X-man went too. They mostly just wiggled around on a blanket till their legs got tangled together.

On Halloween day, we carved pumpkins as a family - Fischer designed them and wanted to make sure that his and Daddy's looked EXACTLY the same as one another. Fischer and I made pumpkin cookies to take to a friend.... he was in charge of the frosting colors.

Then it was time to dress the knight and the ladybug and meet up with our trick or treating buddies.

Our friend Ann was in town, so Danae, Ann and I rounded up all of our kiddos (which takes 2 minivans now) and drove them to all of the grandparents' houses. First stop was Ann's parents' home.

P7 and Q5 were some kind of Star Wars clones (forgive me for not knowing my Star Wars characters), then their was our knight, I3 was Tinkerbell, BFF was Aurora,

Maddison was a ladybug and X-man was a skeleton (his hat says "bad to the bone").

Next stop was Danae's parents' house.

Then we went to GrandmaBetsy's house.

Finally we stopped at my parents' house to play for a few minutes while Maddie and X-man ate some dinner. Afterward, we picked up pizza, and had dinner at Danae's. Andy met us there and then we all bundled up a little and headed out for door to door trick or treating. We met up with their friends T n' T and they all ran around Danae's neighborhood collecting loot. SO fun! What a great Halloween... and I must say that our little knight did a fantastic job protecting his tiny ladybug from dragons!

Carrot Paint

FYI for next year, if you run out of orange face paint.... use a carrot!

Fischy questions

Lately Fischer has been asking a lot of questions about EVERYTHING!

• "Do fireman wear pajamas when they sleep at the firestation?"
• "How do spiders make webs?"
• "Does God have a wand?"
• "Well then how does He make people? Does He have a machine to make the people?"
• "Does God wear pajamas?"
• "How do babies go pee?" .... (later I realized that he thought Maddie maybe hadn't grown all of her parts yet. ;) )
• "How old will Maddie be when I am 69?"
• "When will Maddie be 3 1/2 like me?"..... and about a million other age related questions.
• "When do the space shuttles take off?"
• "Did Uncle Dick invent the telephone?"
• "Does Elvis live with Jesus now?"
• "Does Ursula (from the Little Mermaid) live with Jesus now?"
• ..... and on and on.... he is definitely curious!

Willow Africa and Daisy Fall

After Maddison was born, Aunt Beth came to the hospital to visit. She brought cute clothes for Maddie and a doll for Fischer. She told Fischer that he could feed "his baby" when Mommy feeds Maddie. He could hold "his baby" when Mommy and Daddy hold Maddie, etc. At the moment, Fischer seemed interested but not overly emotional about the doll. I have to admit that I wasn't really sure what to think about the doll either.

All of that has changed over the past few months. Shortly after we came home with Maddison, he named the doll Willow Africa. He began bringing her everywhere and taking VERY good care of her. He rocked her, held her, put her in the swing and the bouncer chair. He fed her (even attempted nursing her using the Boppy pillow and everything!), he slept with her, kissed her good night, sang to her, read her stories, buckled her into the car... AND Andy and I had to do all of those things (except the nursing part) to Willow also. He would change the story periodically about who her parents were, sometimes he was the dad and I was the mom, sometimes Willow came out of his tummy... but now he has settled in on the fact that Andy and I are Willow's parents and he is sometimes her brother and sometimes her cousin. He LOVES her. Now he has also added Daisy Fall to the family. She was a friend's doll that he chewed on when he was a baby, and we kept and replaced with a new one for his friend, Alexis. Now, according to Fischer, I have three babies (Maddie, Daisy, and Willow). They are all treated by him with the utmost respect. I mean, he kind of freaks out if I toss them to the side or once I had my leg on Willow and he burst into tears that I was "squishing her and she couldn't breathe"! GrandmaBetsy even made little pillows and blankets for them.


Not a great pic, but this is Fischer watching Cinderella with Willow (in blue) and Daisy (in yellow).

Here is Fisch and BFF with Daisy, the day BFF broke the news to Fischer that only "mommies" can breast feed. So he brought the Boppy to BFF and instructed her on how to do it. Luckily, BFF thinks that breastfeeding happens on your love handles (of which she has none) and over your clothes! Phew! Might I add, that BFF insisted upon washing her hands before holding Daisy and Willow for the first time. She and Fischer also had many heated discussions on just how to best make Willow stop crying... she was apparently a very fussy baby in the beginning.

So, I don't know if Fischer has transitioned and adapted so well with Maddison because of his dolls, or just because he is so sweet and tender.... but the unexpected gift of a doll, has been quite the blessing to him. Thanks Aunt Beth!

Now he wants car seats for them for Christmas! Now I must say, that even thought he loves these dolls and cares for them, and he loves the movie Cinderella, and he has a true admiration for pretty dresses and shoes... he does seem to have an opinion on what is for girls and what is for boys. He just doesn't seem to think that these dolls are girlie.

Who doesn't love a good double chin?

Maddie Cakes

I've been MIA... obviously.

Well, I'm back... I think. I can't believe almost two months have gone by since my last post. We've been busy... but not that busy. We are enjoying fall and excited for winter... or at least I'm excited for winter. Let it snow!

I'm going to try and attempt to update my blog every day in November. I was able to do it last November... so I'll try again... in order to get me back in blogging mode.

Of course the kids are growing like crazy, I'll post pictures soon.

Andy is back to the grindstone full throttle with teaching and taking a class. He is getting his Gifted and Talented endorsement.

I am doing really well right now :). The month of October sucked big time for me mentally/emotionally, but I'm finally feeling better. Shortly after Maddie turned 2 months old, I started having major anxiety attacks. I've never experienced anything like that and it was so not a good feeling. I think it had something to do with hormones and postpartum what not. A similar thing happened to me with Fisch when he was 2 months, except that time it was a sudden surge of depression.

I'm wacky, I know, but I'm dealing with it and I finally feel "normal" again.