Christmas Crafts

I know it's just about Thanksgiving, but today we got a gingerbread kit at Target and made a train. William is feeling a little under the weather with his cough, so I thought something fun would take his mind off being sick. He was a great helper, if a little impatient to frost the thing himself, and Violet watched patiently from her chair.




It was a little difficult to keep upright at first since the frosting was still warm and the sides wanted to tip over with the weight of the candy, but we managed pretty well. William is a wonderful decorator (and Violet is a good candy-eater; yep, those are her green, candy-stealing hands in the picture). He put the main train car together himself after I frosted it, and he also put on most of the candy (with Daddy's help).

Happy Halloween!

We had a great Halloween! We went to Oma's house, and then to Grandma and Grandpa's house. William had 3 costume changes (a shark, Spider-man, and a dragon), and Violet was a tiger (rrrrwww! As she reminded everyone!). Somehow I fit into my high school cheerleading uniform! Yay! William and Violet went trick-or-treating to Chase and Taylor's house, and William also went trick-or-treating with Daddy to score some candy. It was cold, but lots of fun!!

Kohl Childrens Museum

Yesterday, I took William and Violet to the Kohl Childrens Museum in Glenview, IL (it's about an hour from where we live in Chicago). We stopped at my parents' house first so the kids could get out of the car for a little while, and it was only another 10 minutes from there. We got the yearly membership.

Wow, was it a blast! We probably only did about 10% of what there was to do. First we went into a room with car tracks, a huge car wash, and various car parts (brakes, wheels, etc.) to learn about. Since it was right near the entrance, this area was a little crowded, so we moved on.

Next, we went into an architecture room. There were large foam blocks that William and Violet built up and knocked down. William especially loved these. We sat at a light table that had geometric shapes in different colors; when you put the shapes on top of one another, the colors mixed to form one color (i.e. a red and blue square made a purple one). There was another table to draw using pencils and a ruler. They mostly just liked the blocks in this room.



We went into a special Little Builders exhibit; everything in this area was construction (pvc pipes, hammering nails and screwing screws, moving items with a pulley system, etc.). We liked this exhibit, as well as the Waterworks area, that we went to next.




But the best part of the day was the Dominick's grocery store! What a realistic little shopping area. William grabbed a shopping cart right away and started loading it up with real groceries (minus the food...for example, a Honey Bunches of Oats cereal box minus the cereal). There was a little baby area that I thought Violet would like to go inside, with baby toys and books, but she would have none of it. She climbed away immediately and started putting food in William's shopping cart. When a cart was free for her, I was surprised when she started wheeling it around and putting food in it, just like her big brother! William spent half of the time sitting at the cash register, checking kids out with their groceries. We spent a good 40 minutes in this area, and I know they both had a lot of fun.



What a great place to be able to go to, whenever we want...it definitely made the day go by quickly!

My Trip to Target

Thanks to My Frugal Adventures, my trip to Target today cost me less than $15! I used Target web coupons, coupons I had clipped, and internet manufacturer coupons. Target allows you to stack their store coupons with manufacturer coupons, so many of my items I had used 2 coupons per item. Here's what I got:

-2 bottles Wishbone salad dressing
-2 jars Ragu pasta sauce
-3 boxes Kashi cereal
-2 boxes Kashi breakfast bars
-1 box Pop Tarts
-2 Healthy Choice frozen entrees

...and my Kashi purchases earned me a $5 Target gift card, which I immediately used to buy my daughter 2 pairs of pants (regularly priced at $4 each). Thank you thrifty bloggers!

Ah, Summer

As summer is winding down, I got to thinking about one of our favorite outdoor activities: going for a bike ride. I started taking William on daily bike rides when he was 1-1/2; back then, we went around the block on his little Spider Man car that he pushed along with his feed. Despite the fact that his little legs were really getting a work out, he usually managed to make it the whole way without having to get off (and me carrying the car all the way home!).

This summer, he graduated to his bike with training wheels. Gosh can he zip around on that thing! I follow him along, with Violet in her baby carrier or in the stroller. William is very good at stopping at all the streets and alleys. Sometimes he gets a little ahead of us, but he always waits for us to catch up.

I love going for bike rides; I can't wait until next summer when Violet will be able to ride her bike, too. Then all of us can go cruising around to wherever we'd like!

Violet's First Birthday

Happy First Birthday Violet! Today Violet turned one year old...she had a birthday party with family who love her very much! Violet had lady bug cupcakes (as you can see, she enjoyed them).


Violet got a pair of Robeez shoes...purple with little white flowers on them. She also got a bunch of fall clothes, and toys from mama and daddy (William likes her toys a lot, too).

Snow Patrol - Live from Studio X

I went to a performance today by Gary Lightbody and Nathan Connolly of Snow Patrol. My husband, my parents, and I all went, with tickets I'd won thanks to 93.1 XRT. The line was wrapped around the building at the Abbey Pub; my parents were first in line, but in hindsight I'm glad we were farther back, because a car dropped off Gary and Nathan about a foot away from me! I just have to say that the show was amazing! I was right up by the stage. Gary told lots of funny stories despite being clearly and admittedly hung over. They played "Final Straw", "Chasing Cars", "Take Back the City", "Chocolate", "Crack the Shutters", etc. Everyone was screaming their heads off...I am so glad I saw them at such a small venue.

Kmart Double Coupons

So here is my swag from the Kmart double coupon event. Everything I needed to know was thanks to My Frugal Adventures! I have been following several thrifty, money-saving blogs for a couple months now, in order to save on shopping using coupons and great deals.

I know it doesn't look like I got a lot, but I don't use a lot of items that would have been free with the use of the doubled coupons (i.e. store-bought deodorant, household cleaners and deodorizers, etc.). I did have one coupon that expired yesterday (the Kmart store coupon for $5 off a $20 toy purchase), but I just checked with customer service as soon as I got there, and got the 'okay' to use it. I got three My Little Pony toys for Violet for Christmas (retailed at $6.99 each), two Reese's king size (free after 2 coupons), two packs of Trident gum (free after coupon), a Rimmel mascara (free after coupon), and a Cover Girl tinted lip balm ($1 after coupon).

I spent $16.56 for all this, saving me about $30!

Thank goodness for Thursday

Thursday is the best day of the week for me. We go to my grandparents house, about 45-60 minutes away in the suburbs. We leave early (around 8am), and don't leave their house sometimes until 6:30pm.

My grandpa (Opa) runs outside as soon as he sees our car pull up, and grabs DD or DS. We go inside and he pulls out the huge collection of toys they have collected from friends/neighbors, for my kiddos.

My grandma (Oma) usually has lunch already going on the stove, but I always eat breakfast while we're there (saying that DS didn't eat much, but it's really for me). My grandpa takes DD in the stroller, or takes DS for a bike ride.

My kids have the best time; we go for walks, play in the yard, pick fruit from their trees, Oma sets the little inflatable pool up. I spend tons of time eating (because I hardly get a chance any other time), talking to my grandma, reading a small portion of the paper from Sunday (since I never get to otherwise).

I am there taking care of the kids the whole day, but somehow I always feel like Thursday is my day off. :-)

The Love Dare - Day 6

I wasn't quite sure what this day meant exactly:

6 - Patience

Choose today to react to tough circumstances in your marriage in loving ways instead of with irritation. Begin by making a list below of areas where you need to add margin to your schedule. Then list any wrong motivations that you need to release from your life.

Sometimes, especially when things are hectic with the kids, I lose my cool. Or I think about having some free time to myself. But I don't think that's what I really want. I want to be with my children and with my husband, because I love them, and who cares about the other stuff? It's sort of like the laundry that's sitting on our couch, waiting to be folded and put away...yes, it needs to be done, but it's more important to have a fun day with the kids. Laundry can wait.

William's First Movie

Danny and I took William to see his first movie a few weeks ago. We went to see "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaur." We did not see the 3D version (I thought it would be too much for him all at once). Oma and Opa watched Violet for us, and we got some popcorn and brought in some drinks. When we first walked in, the previews were already playing, and William said that it was dark. I was worried he wouldn't want to stay, but as soon as we sat down, his eyes never came unglued from the screen. :-) He sat on Danny's lap for half of the movie, and my lap for the other half. He loved it. I thought it was a great movie...the characters were cute, the dinosaurs were a little bit scary (but not too scary), and the story was entertaining, even for adults. Too bad he's too young to see Harry Potter (now THAT'S a movie I want to see!).

The Love Dare - Days 4 & 5

Day 4 of the dare I unfortunately have to pass on; I can't really contact Danny at work unless it's an emergency. But here it is in case you were wondering:

4 - Thoughtfulness

Contact your spouse sometime during the business of the day. Have no agenda other than asking how he or she is doing and if there is anything you could do for them.

So today, instead, I went on to day 5:

5 - Politeness

Ask your spouse to tell you three things that cause him or her to be uncomfortable or irritated with you. You must do so without attacking them or justifying your behavior. This is from their perspective only.

I asked Danny this; I think he thought there was some kind of catch. He wanted to know how I arrived at the number 3 ("why not 5 or 6?"). He also wanted me to tell him 3 things about him. Because I am supposed to be doing this dare in secret, I had to try to come up with a reason why I was asking ("just because"), and also had to get out of telling him 3 things about him, because I felt like that wouldn't be fair.

So, his 3 things were, in order: 1) When I am vague about things with him 2) When I don't tell him everything that is going on with me or with the kids 3) That I have an account on meetup.com.

The whole purpose of the exercise was not to get defensive, but just to listen to what he said. I am not going to defend myself on here, as I don't think that would be fair to what I was supposed to be doing either. I will say, though, that I got a meetup.com account about a month ago, in order to meet other moms and their kids. I have not met anyone, nor gone to any meet-ups. Because it was one of the 3 things he mentioned, as of 5 minutes ago, I logged on and deleted my account. I feel better having done this, because if it really did bother him that much, it wasn't worth it to me.

Outcome: I'm glad he was honest with me, and I didn't end up having to give up the dare. :-) It is sort of strange, but I felt proud of our relationship that the 3 things that bothered him about me were such small things (I don't mean I am belittling how he felt; I actually mean that these are easy things to fix; for example, he didn't say, "We fight too much," or "We don't spend any time together." :-)

The Love Dare - Day 3

Okay, I will be honest: I had to skip yesterday. I didn't start off the day being very nice. We went to the beach, and I was unnecessarily grouchy and negative. I knew right away my Day 3 wasn't going to work, so I decided to put it off for a day.

3 - Selflessness

Whatever you put your time, energy, and money into will become more important to you. It’s hard to care for something you are not investing in. Along with restraining from negative comments, buy your spouse something that says, “I was thinking of you today.”

Today, the kids and I spent the day at my grandparents' house. I bought a half-baked Lou Malnati's pizza (I don't know if I could live anywhere else besides Chicago, for all the great pizza) while we were out there, to surprise Danny with when we got home. He was very hungry, and very surprised. :-) We also got to watch the newest episode of 'True Blood' after the kids were in bed.

Outcome: Pizza was a success!

The Love Dare - Day 2

2 - Kindness

In addition to saying nothing negative to your spouse again today, do at least one unexpected gesture as an act of kindness.

I successfully refrained from making any negative remarks toward Danny (well, I only saw him for a couple hours today after he got home from work, lol). For my act of kindness, I went down to the kitchen after the kids fell asleep and baked some brownies. Three nights a week, Danny is on the computer playing Warcraft, so he was already in the other room. I took them fresh from the oven and immediately topped them with ice cream and hot fudge. He was really happy about it, as he stopped at the keyboard/microphone for a second. :-)

Outcome: I am really liking this dare, being in a better mood really makes everything that much nicer.

The Love Dare - Day 1

I got the idea to do The Love Dare from Valerie on diaperswappers.com; she sent me her own version. I found out about this by accidentally seeing the movie 'Fireproof'. I didn't particularly like some of the acting (Kirk Cameron was fine, some of the others were a bit iffy), but I did like the story and the whole idea of a love dare and keeping a journal about it. The Love Dare is basically a 40-day (mine is less with Valerie's edited version) journey of different tasks to complete each day, in order to perform acts of love for your spouse.


So here it is, my day 1:

1 - Patience - The first part of this dare is fairly simple. Although love is communicated in a number of ways, our words often reflect the condition of our heart. For the next day, resolve to demonstrate patience and to say nothing negative.

When Danny got home from work today, I felt like I didn't have to try too hard to be pleasant and patient. Before dinner, though, we went on a family walk/bike ride. I figured we would just go around the block, but Danny wanted to go to the park (which is far), and we ended up zig-zagging every which way. Normally I would have mentioned right away that I didn't think it was a good idea going so far, but I kept quiet. He should be able to make the call sometimes too, lol.

To me, this dare also meant not complaining. As well as being patient, I did not complain today, and even if something was difficult, I tried to change my focus to something else to ease my mind.

Outcome: A-okay

Sleeping Beauties

I'm sorry, but I just had to share this picture! These are my kids while they are asleep at night (we co-sleep). William likes to touch my face, and when they are asleep for the night, I will usually sit in a chair in our bedroom, using the computer or reading. Very often, William will touch Violet's face like this in his sleep, or hold her hand. It's very cute.

Everyone that sees this picture seems sort of surprised, "Are they really sleeping?" I know my family is probably wondering why we are co-sleeping, but it's cuteness like this that makes me glad that we do.

Wearing underwear...a little bit sad!

William is 2-1/2 now, and has been wearing underwear for 4 days straight now. I have to say, I am very proud of him and love seeing his successes, but I am a bit sad that his days of wearing diapers are over. Violet is still in diapers, and although I have to wash diapers half as often now, it makes me a little bit sad every time I go in to change her and grab a diaper.

Am I crazy or what?

Backyard Waterpark

Well, William finally decided he liked going in the pool. We set up a little waterpark in our back yard (slides, pool, water balloons). So far this summer and all last summer, he would not set foot in the water. Now he loves it! I am still trying to get Violet to go in the water. Her pinky toe barely touches the water and she starts crying. It's funny because they both love taking a bath. I can't wait to take them to a real pool!

Baby Wearing

This is our best investment besides our cloth diapers! It's a quick, comfy Butterfly Beco "Alice" baby carrier. It's a snap to put on, and it also wears like a backpack (but Violet prefers riding in the front). You can see her satisfied grin in the picture. I use this carrier several times a day (stroller? What stroller?), when we go for walks, shopping, and to William's mom-tot classes (siblings are allowed if they are in a carrier). I purchased it from Jillian (wonderful and so helpful!) at paxbaby.com. This carrier replaced my Mei Tai, and I love it!