I'm not ready

I realized today that I'm not ready for everyone to go back to school this week! This shocked me when I realized it. You see I always dread everyone being out of school and our routine changing. I always wonder what I'm going to do to keep everyone occupied.

Today I'm sitting here sad that the children are all going back to school this week. There are still several things I would like to do with them. I really enjoyed our slower paced week. I guess that means when Christmas break rolls around I'll be excited when school gets out now.

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In other news Rehm has a new bike. It is blue and fabulous. And before you ask, he also has a new bike lock.


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Today Charlotte and I went to the grocery store just the two of us. As we were leaving the house the following conversation took place:

Charlotte: Why isn't the Penguin blown up?

Me: Because it blows up at night when the other lights turn on

Charlotte: The lights need to stay on all night on Christmas

Me: Why?

Charlotte: So Santa can find our house.

Me: We won't leave the lights on all night. We turn them off when we go to bed. Don't worry though Santa knows where all the good boys and girls live whether there are lights on or not.

Charlotte: How does he know?

Me: He just does.

Charlotte: I know how he knows! God tells him!

I really liked the way she brought God into the Santa tradition and how she knows the God knows everything.

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Charlotte made her first ever purchase with her allowance today. She spent forever on the toy isle at the grocery store and finally picked a My Little Pony Ponyville Pony. She counted out her money and she handed it to the cashier. I had to remind her to get her change. Then she dropped it. And finally I had to explain why she needed her receipt and what it was. She literally skipped out of the store so proud of herself. She has been getting allowance since mid September and this is her first purchase - well besides my time to do her chores she forgets...

Spa Day with a Sick Girl

Charlotte has been running a fever on and off yesterday and today. This means she couldn't go to the Christmas parade with the rest of her siblings. She was very sad about this. We decided we would have some special Mommy and Charlotte time. I suggested renting a movie and picking up lunch. She decided she wanted to play in her make up and paint her nails instead and requested sausage and pepperoni pizza for lunch. So I have a very sparkly girl who is now enjoying pizza while watching the Disney channel.

Poor girl she always seems to be the one who is sick and has to miss special gatherings and outings. Today though she doesn't seem to really mind having Mommy all to herself.

I wonder what she'll want to do next. Maybe she'll let me curl her hair with the curling iron...
Jenn

My Little Pilgrims

The girls came down stairs in these this morning. Eliza's was my my great grandmother's, Ruby's was mine and Charlotte's was Aunt Sherri's. Don't you want to celebrate Thanksgiving with these darling Pilgrims?






Happy Thanksgiving!

Yummy Fondue

I got the bright idea that having fondue night as a family would be great fun. Last night was the night! We made a traditional cheese fondue (recipe to follow) and had lots of yummy dippers. After purchasing all the ingredients and prepping and making everything the Melting Pot doesn't seem so expensive anymore.

All four of the children were super excited and all wanted to help make everything. They especially enjoyed tasting all of the ingredients. When I told them that wine was one of the ingredients in the fondue, Rehm piped up with, "Mom, we can't have wine. We aren't old enough!" I explained that it was fine for him to eat foods that had wine or beer in them and that we were not breaking any laws.

When it was time to light the Sterno I got a little concerned about how this really was going to work and who would get burned or catch something on fire. I am happy to report nothing and no one was harmed in the making or consuming of the fondue. Everyone enjoyed the dinner though Rehm did not like the fondue nearly as much as the cheeses that went in to it.





Here is our recipe:
2 tbsp butter
2 cloves garlic minced
1 1/4 cup dry white wine
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 lb. Gruyere shredded
1/2 lb. Jarlsberg Swiss shredded
2 tbsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Toss cheeses with cornstarch to coat the cheese. Melt butter and add garlic and saute. Add wine and lemon juice and bring to boil. Reduce heat to a simmer. Add the cheese a handful at a time and stir until melted. Continue until all cheese is incorporated. Make sure you keep the heat low enough that the mixture does not boil. Once mixture is smooth stir in the mustard, salt and pepper. Transfer to fondue pot. Serve with various dippers. We used cubed toasted sour dough, broccoli, tart apple slices, pretzel rods, and summer sausage.

They have requested that we try this recipe, that I found at Steamy Kitchen next:

Aged Cheddar and Guinness Fondue
1 lb good aged cheddar, grated
2 ½ tbs all-purpose flour
8 oz. Guinness stout + more if needed
6 tablespoons frozen apple juice concentrate, thawed
1 tsp powdered mustard
1 tsp finely minced garlic
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp olive oil

Toss grated cheese with the flour. In your fondue pot over low heat, add 2 teaspoons of olive oil and garlic. Fry until garlic is fragrant, about 30 seconds. Turn heat to medium-high. Add Guinness, apple juice concentrate, Worcestershire sauce and mustard. Bring to boil. Add cheese a little at a time, stirring constantly until fondue is smooth and melted. Thin with more Guinness, if needed throughout the meal. Season with salt and pepper.

And after that they want chocolate fondue. I guess I might have to invest in a fondue pot or two as I think this may become a semi-annual tradition at our house.

It was a very fun night, the kind that family memories are made of, the kind where I feel like I am the kind of mom I strive to be.

Happy Eating,
Jenn

Putting Rehm to work

Grandma was nice enough to take Rehm's Cub Scout popcorn order form to her office for him. Several of her coworkers ordered popcorn. Rehm wrote each person a thank you note when he received the orders. Today he went to work with Grandma to deliver all of the goodies.

He is spending the whole day with her. He took his DS and some books to keep him busy and the office has a TV he can watch. I hope he has behaved himself and not drove anyone too crazy.

I received these pictures of other activities he has done today:

Helping collect recycling


Helping make copies

He informs me that he had three bagels for lunch and played games on the computer as well.

Saying thanks

Reading these show how much a couple of minutes from you can mean.

Click here if the picture below doesn't work.

Sassy

Look at this ensemble my sassy girl put together today. I didn't realize when I took it that she had such a sad look on her face. And what you can't see are the flowers that run up the side of the tights that really complete the sassy look. Thanks Kennedy for the boots, Charlotte loves them even though they hurt her feet. She's five and already sacrificing comfort for style!

Art Museum

Rehm and Charlotte have a new favorite game. They draw pictures and tape them on the wall and make an art museum. Today they were making their museum when they decided that Charlotte should be a statue. So she decorated herself and stood on her pedestal! I think she makes a darling statue though I do not condone coloring oneself with markers...

Today's theme was the ocean. Last time it was opposites. Rehm came up when I was taking her picture and told me it would cost 25 cents to take pictures. I told him he might want to rethink that unless he wanted me to start charging rent for their art museum space :)

Sharing an Apple

Cheese slicing and the Interent

Yippee! I am the proud owner of an adjustable cheese slicer! I found one online at Sur la Table and have been meaning to make a trip over to the Domain to pick one up. I have been hesitant to do so with the girls in tow as I just know it won't be a very toddler friendly store. Anyway today a friend stopped me at church and asked if I had found one yet (she read about my saga). I told her I hadn't and she reached in her purse and pulled out an adjustable cheese slicer identical to the one we had broken! I was so happy! It made my day!

Isn't the internet grand? Without it I would still be hunting for a cheese slicer? And Lori would still have an extra that she hated in her kitchen drawer taking up space. Thank you Lori, you really did make my day!

Funny thing is I carried the slicer around for about an hour and had to explain multiple times why I had a cheese slicer at church!

Jenn

Random Cuteness

This is just a collection of pictures from the last few days that I thought were cute. No theme or anything, just cute.



This is Ruby every time she wants out of her seat. She has to swing her legs around to the side and kick them while saying "I all done now!"

This morning the little girls came down in their pajamas. This is what I found when I looked up from unloading the dishwasher. Is there anything better than small children in footy pajamas? And isn't it adorable to see the sibling love? For no reason just because they like each other and like Elmo

Laziness+Spin=Super Mommy

Tonight I got the Super Mommy award for being a total slacker. I'm tired. I haven't slept enough this week. It is totally my fault! I'm worn down.

Bath/bed time is my least favorite time of day, especially after doing it solo all week. So tonight to get the children through bath time quickly I told them if they all hurried and were good listeners we would all put on our pajamas and climb in my bed and watch a show! They were thrilled.

I accomplished bath time with minimal stress and fight. I didn't read a single story. I cuddled with my four wonderful kids. I got to relax in my comfy bed for a half an hour. And all I had to do was endure a half an hour of Wheel of Fortune! And, my kids thought it was the most fun ever!

Gotta love it when being a slacker actually pays off!
Jenn

Asking for Help

I am trying to let go of my need to "do it all." Or at least my need to appear that I can "do it all." This week Michael has been in California. Normally, when he travels I about kill myself to do all the things he normally does around here as well as the things I do. This time I asked for help!

It is really hard to ask for help. I feel very guilty doing it. It means I have to admit that I can't "do it all." It also means I have to depend on others. That feels like I'm inconveniencing them. And above all else, the last thing I want to do is cause someone else more work.

Michael usually takes Rehm to school. Dragging the three girls out of the house by 7:20 for me to get him there is pure torture. So this week I asked a neighbor who has a child in his class and walks her child to school everyday if Rehm could walk with them. All I had to do is get him to the bottom of our street by 7:20! Which I can do from my front door! This has made a huge difference in my week. And while I know it didn't add any extra work for my neighbor, as they walk by my street on the way to school anyway, I still feel guilty that she did this for me.

Rehm had a scout meeting Monday evening. It was at 7:00, that is when the twins go to bed. I knew it would last until at least 8:00 possibly longer. I knew I couldn't take three tired girls and make them be still for this meeting. I knew Rehm couldn't miss this meeting because it was the Pie Throwing meeting! (Anyone who sold at least $250 in popcorn got to throw a pie in the Cub Master's face.) So what did I do? I asked for help. I dropped him off and his den leader was nice enough to bring him home. I felt guilty! Even though it was all of 5 minutes out of his way to bring him home. I didn't "do it all."

And normally I work at church on Wednesday evenings. I took this week off. It isn't fair to the children who are all normally in bed by 7:30 to ask them to be up until 9:00 and still expect them to go to school the next day and be pleasant. I felt guilty letting my co-workers do my job for me. It is my responsibility. And I felt guilty that my wonderful in-laws had to bring my kids home from church that evening. But everyone was in bed at their normal time. Surprise, they were pleasant children the next morning, not whiney, crazy, overtired children!

Because I've asked for help this week, I'm not crazy today. I'm tired because I've stayed up too late the last three nights. But I'm not overwhelmed. I'm not stressed beyond measure . I'm thrilled that Michael will be home and can share some of the child rearing responsibilities but it really has been a pleasant week. But now I have all this guilt that I didn't "do it all." That I didn't do everything myself to take care of my children.

Why is it so hard to ask for help and admit we really can't "do it all?" Why do I feel like I failed, if even a tiny bit, when I have to admit that I need help, that I'm not perfect, that I can't "do it all?"

I'm so grateful to everyone who made this week so much more doable for me! I could have done it without you, but I would have been crazy, mean Mommy by the end of the week instead of some-what sane Mommy. My children and I thank you for your help!
Jenn

Overheard from the Backseat

We seem to only have three books in the van at the moment. When there are three girls in the van that is a problem. Whoever picks first, the other two decide that is the book they must have! It is so annoying. I need to remember to put a few more books in there so they all get a choice.

Anyway, on the way home from school today, Ruby had the book Ocean. So of course that is the book Eliza Claire wanted. It didn't matter that she had the Blue's Clues book that was her favorite on the way to school. Now only the Ocean book would do. She was whining repeatedly about the book and honestly I was tuning her out for the most part. Then I heard this:

Eliza Claire (using a very whiney voice): Ruby, I want that book!

Ruby: I read it.

EC: I want it!

Ruby: In five minutes!

EC: OK

So then magically Eliza Claire is perfectly fine and completely quits whining. I'm actually shocked that this pacified her. Of course I'm cracking up because I know Ruby had no idea what "five minutes" really means. I know that she has no intentions of giving the book to Eliza Claire. I know she is just parroting what she has heard me tell her.

A few minutes pass and what do I hear? "Eliza, here you go!" And Ruby hands Eliza Claire the book completely unprompted! Then Eliza Claire says, "Tank you, Ruby!" and Ruby replies "You welcome!" Wow! I was completely wrong. I guess she understands "five minutes" much better than I thought! Who knew two year olds could be so agreeable and polite. At least occasionally...

Thanksgiving Feast

This morning Rehm informs me that today is their school's Thanksgiving Feast and wanted to know who was coming to eat lunch with him. I saw this on the lunch menu at the beginning of the month but had completely forgotten when it was. Normally Michael or the grandparents join him for the feast. This year that isn't possible. So he expects me to be there. Actually, he expects to tell me about it last minute, have me change my entire morning schedule and be there. If he had told me about this even last night or some other time earlier in the week, I probably would have made plans to be there.

I'm not going. I'm trying to talk myself out of feeling guilty about it. I have lunch with him at least once a month. He and I have agreed to that being the plan. Typically the special days (Thanksgiving Feast, Grandparents Day, School Picnic) are the days that other family members have lunch with him. I think so far this year I'm the only one who has gone to have lunch with him. Special days are not part of my agreement. I'm not dropping the ball by not going. He won't be the only one who doesn't have a family member there. It really will be OK. See, I'm still trying to talk myself into not feeling guilt and I'm still losing the battle. But I'm still not going to lunch!

I'm such a bad mommy some days...
Jenn

PS what do you think he will say when he finds out I'm going to Charlotte's Thanksgiving Feast on Friday? See the middle child doesn't always get shafted.

Denial

One of the many attempts at a Christmas card picture from 2007

This morning we were stopped at a traffic light and Charlotte asked what the big red and white tent was on the side of the road. I told her that it was where they would sell Christmas trees later in the month. I was thinking they were starting their set up awfully early when I realized that Thanksgiving is next week. And that means Christmas is barely a month away! Oh my! How did that happen? Halloween just happened, it can't possibly be time to think about decorating for Christmas. I still don't even have a shopping list created for the kids' gifts much less any shopping done!

[Insert small panic attack here!]

Ok, I'm blaming it on the blasted Texas weather. It doesn't feel like the holiday season so it must not be. It feels like the back to school season. It won't feel like the holidays until late January or early February!

But the funny thing is we've been listening to Christmas music in the car for a couple of weeks now! Only one CD (Go Fish, Snow). I've decided that if it is christian Christmas music I don't mind listening to it year round, because Christmas should excite me year round. If it is the secular stuff then I really don't want to hear it until after Thanksgiving. Who needs Santa all year? Not me! Jesus, yeah I need him every day, Santa not so much.

So I guess this was my wake up call to get with the program and get ready for the holidays! Ack! Now where do I start?

Jenn

PS. Now is a great time to buy Go Fish music from their site. They have a deal where you pay $15 for the first CD and can order as many more of their CDs as you like for $5 each. They always have free shipping and no tax. I usually receive my orders in three to four days - yes I order enough from them to know all of this. And no, I don't get any kind of kick back for getting you to buy their music. I just really think they have great kids music.

Little Piggies

My kids are pigs! Especially the big two. Every time I have to climb back in the third row of the van I'm appalled at what I find. There are toys and books and blankets and various food wrappers and cups all thrown on the floor or the seat. Getting walked on and sat on and just piling up. Never do they think to clean up this mess. It doesn't matter how often I ask them to bring trash and other things out of the van with them, their area is a pig sty!

Why do children not notice mess? Why do they not think to pick up after themselves? If we didn't make them clean up, bathe, brush their hair, put on clean clothes, would they ever look around and say, "wow, what a mess, I should clean up?" I don't think so . Apparently neatness is not a nature component but a nurture one.

To help solve the problem in the van, I bought them a trash can that goes between their two seats. Now they have absolutely no excuse for not cleaning up after themselves! I've informed them both that the next time I find trash back there they will be losing privileges. They think the trash can is the coolest thing ever! They love it. They are finding things they can throw away just for the thrill of using their trash can! I'm afraid the thrill will wear off way to soon for my liking.



I'm tired of living with pigs.
Jenn

Follow Me

At the girl's school, several of the teachers of the younger classes sing a little song when they are walking the class somewhere. The teacher walks backwards so she can see the class and make sure no one gets distracted and sings:

Follow Me,
Follow Me,
Jesus said, "Follow Me."

My girls love to play the Follow Me game where they take turns being the teacher, walking backwards and singing; but, most of the time their songs go more like this:

Follow Liza,
Follow Liza,
Follow Liza!

And then someone else has a turn until they all want a turn and get mad at each other and just start screaming. Or until whoever is walking backwards falls down, runs into something or otherwise injures themselves. It is a very cute game, most of the time. I need to get a picture and video at some point.

Why am I writing about this? Well I added a new gadget to Mayhem Mania and I want you all to try it out. On the right side of the page is a link that says, "Follow this blog." If you click on the link then your picture will show up and you will be counted as a follower. This also allows you to find updates when I post them from your dashboard in blogger. What I like about it is it lets me know who is reading, even if you aren't the type to leave a comment. And honestly I really like knowing someone is actually reading. I'm sure I would keep writing anyway but...Oh, if you needed one more reason, it looks pretty lame that I only have one follower. So please,

Follow me,
Follow me,
Won't you please, follow me?

Haha!
Jenn

Fun Saturday

I intended to stay home this morning and get some much needed organizing and cleaning done. Instead I went with Michael, the kids, and Grandma to see the dinosaurs at the Zilker Botanical Gardens. We had a great time and it was the perfect place to the first sitting for possible Christmas cards.

The twins kept saying they were going to see the alligators. Even after seeing the dinosaurs they are still calling them alligators. It doesn't matter how many times we remind them they are dinosaurs, the next time the mention the outing they are talking about alligators, again!

There were too many great pictures to chose from so here are the best (except for the ones with Christmas card potential).




After a yummy trip to Shady Grove for lunch, we came home for a nap. Except no one napped. Even though everyone was up late last night and was going to be up late again tonight. Naps did not happen. A few loads of laundry got taken care of, pictures got uploaded, baths were taken, girls' hair was styled. Then it we were off for all of our evening activities.

Charlotte's braid crown for the party

We dropped Charlotte off at her princess birthday party, ran by Michael's work to pick up a few things, went to dinner, dropped the other three at Grandma's and then Michael and I went to a friend's fortieth birthday party. It was really nice to visit with friends for a couple of hours but all too quickly it was time to retrace our steps. We picked Charlotte up from her party and then collected the rest from Grandma's. By the time everyone was in bed it was 10pm! I can only imagine the wonderful behavior we will see tomorrow from the kids. I think I should send notes of apology with them to Sunday School...

What a fun day!
Jenn

PS. I had a funny thing happen at Zilker. A lady came up to me and said, "Hi Jennifer!" I knew she looked familiar but could not immediately place her. She her name was Teri and she worked with Helene! That did it! Then she said, "I saw Rehm running up the path and recognized him from your blog." This is the first time we have been recognized from our little corner of the web. It was kind of neat.

My Love/Hate Relationship with Texas

I grew up in a state that has four distinct seasons. That is what I'm used to. It doesn't matter that I've lived in this state for 13(!) years I still expect to see all four seasons. But Texas only has two seasons, "hotter than all get out" and "not so hot." In my world mid-November means cool weather. You need long sleeves, maybe a sweatshirt, very possibly a coat.

Well today it was approximately 80 degrees and I was too warm with jeans and a short sleeve t-shirt on. It doesn't feel like Thanksgiving is two weeks away it! It feels like I should be planning a trip to the beach!

As I write this a cold front is moving in and it is pleasantly cool outside. Tomorrow jackets will probably be needed - at least for the morning hours! But by Turkey Day we may be running around in shorts! Argh!

But, on the flip side, I don't have to invest in heavy duty cold weather gear times four! So far there have only been a handful of days that we have needed jackets. Which is great because finding and getting on four jackets adds at least 10 minutes to every outing. And then you have to keep up with them and find somewhere for them in the van. And remember to hang them up. I can't begin to imagine how crazy I would be if I had to get heavy coats, gloves, scarves and hats on four children and keep them all from loosing said gear. Ugh, it makes me nauseous just to think about it.

Here, one fleece jacket per kid is about all that is needed. Actually, my favorite coat is the 3-in-1 coat from The Children's Place. I usually buy them at the end of the season for the following year and can usually get two years out of one. They are great for Texas because most of the time the fleece coat is enough. When it is colder or raining, the thicker water resistant outer coat is perfect. On the rare occasion it actually gets really cold or there is freezing parcipitation, zip the two together and you still have the perfect coat for the temperature.


Then there are the months of July and August and even September...
Jenn

Bike Update

No bike at school this morning. No bike at school this afternoon. So we called the police and reported it stolen. There is something a little intimating about having an officer around at your door even when it is at your request. And when she called in my driver's license number I felt like I had done something wrong. I'm sure it was just to verify that I was who I said I was but still it was kind of strange. I also didn't understand why she needed my height and weight for the report...

The officer did remind me of an important fact I had forgotten. We should be recording serial numbers for things like electronics and bikes as that is the only way they can search the data base for these items. I knew that but had forgotten it over the years and of course did not have that information for this bike. But I'm sure I'll have it for the next one.

Now we wait and see if it turns up. I don't think it will. So, how long do we wait before buying a new one?

Who knew it was so hard to find a Cheese Slicer?

Our trust cheese slicer broke this week. It was just a cheap one from the grocery store but I really liked it because it was easy to adjust the thickness of the slice. I looked for a new one at the grocery store but they didn't have any adjustable ones.

Today I had several errands I needed to do and the cheese slicer was on the list. I started at Linens N Things as there were a couple of other items I needed I could get there as well. As I was walking around the store, or at least trying to, I realized I wasn't surprised they were going out of business. I despise trying to get around in that store as it is so crowed with stuff it is impossible to navigate the store with a cart! Which makes it impossible to find stuff. Which makes it impossible to buy stuff. I only found one cheese slicer. It wasn't adjustable. Of the other things I was hoping to find there they were all either too expensive or too elusive.

On to the the grocery store where I got the two items I needed with no problems. Well, unless you count both girls screaming for the last 5 minutes we were in the store. No wonder they opened a register just for me! I think they just wanted me to leave. But I couldn't leave without diapers or I would have had much bigger problems than screaming children.

I decided to go to Crate and Barrel for the cheese slicer. My in-laws have a really nice one from there so I thought it was a good place to try. I found cheese planes and cheese knives but no slicers. I was going to ask someone for assistance but after they had helped the person next to me and walked by, smiled at the girls and scurried away before I could stop them I decided they obviously didn't want me with my two children in their store. Everyone that walked in the store was greeted by the ladies behind the counter, we weren't. The people around me that were there without children were asked if they needed help, we weren't. The people leaving without children were told to "have a nice day," we weren't. I was 95% sure they did not have a cheese slicer but 100% sure they did not want my business today.

I was very saddened by this as I love Crate and Barrel. I dont' get to shop there often but it is one of my favorite home store. But today really made me not want to shop there. My girls were not screaming, they were not loud, they were not running around (they were strapped in the stroller). We were all decently groomed - OK so they had marker on their shirts but they are two. So I could see no reason they did not want to help me. Oh well. Note to self, next time shop at Crate and Barrel alone.

Next I tried the Container Store simply because it was next door. No luck! That is four stores and no cheese slicer! And by this point it was too late to go to Sam's to pick up the items I needed there. I guess it isn't a big deal that I couldn't get my block of cheese as I wouldn't have been able to slice it when I got home anyway!

So my morning was a complete a total waste and I still need a cheese slicer and to make a Sam's run.

I need to look at Target, Sir la Table and/or Williams and Sonoma (which one of these isn't like the others?). Any other suggestions?

And what's up with the traffic today? Is it a holiday and no one told me? Traffic was extremely congested even for a Friday. Oh well.
Jenn

Missing

One red bike with silver words. I got a call from the school this afternoon while waiting for Rehm to come home. His bike is missing. Seems that there have been several instances where bikes are missing in the afternoon and back the next morning. I have a very sad boy who keeps telling me "I told you so!" He has been asking for a bike lock for months and we haven't felt it was necessary. Honestly I didn't want to deal with him forgetting a combination or how to unlock it or losing a key. But now it looks like we will be getting a bike lock and possibly asking Santa for a new bike.

Chrirstmas Cards?

That is the $64,000 question of the day. Do I do Christmas cards this year or not? Last year I took the picture, designed the card, purchased 100, bought the stamps and never mailed them. Finally around Easter time I cried "Uncle." So do I attempt it this year?

For two to three years prior to the 2007 Christmas Card Debacle I had given up on Christmas cards and started sending Valentine's Day cards. I thought it was a very original idea and it didn't have to be done during the craziness that is November and December. Maybe I should go back to that. Maybe I should send Happy Summer cards. Maybe I should do nothing.

If I do a card, that requires the cooperation of my dear, sweet, wonderful children. Ha! It requires finding something for them all to wear. It requires finding a good setting for a picture. It requires designing the card. Do I have it in me? I just don't know.

So what do you think, leave your comments here? Should I do them and if so for what occasion?

Luckily the stamps I bought last year were forever stamps. And yes, I still have a couple of books leftover.

The Grocery Store

I was looking back through old posts this week and noticed that I had not posted about grocery shopping in quite some time. I was amazed as our weekly trip to the grocery used to be such a feat that it always resulted in some blog worth story and its own label for categorizing posts. Of course, thinking this jinxed me.

Today I took Ruby and Eliza Claire with me to the grocery store. Only having two kids for the trip meant it should be relatively uneventful. Overall it was. We stopped and had a nice chat with a grandmother who was admiring the girls. We got some of our Thanksgiving shopping out of the way so I wouldn't have to go to three stores to get pie crusts or bread crumbs the week of. Yes, I know I should make my own pie crust, but well the Pillsbury ones in the refrigerated section are just so easy and come out so close to homemade without the fear of it being tough I've just never saw the need to tackle one from scratch.

While comparing the different brands of rinse aid for the dishwasher I hear "yogurt! Yogurt! Yogurt!" I thought, "why are the so excited of the yogurt in the cart?" Then I turned around and found this:


This is what the girls looked like after Mommy told them they weren't supposed to open the yogurt. I mean a few grapes are one thing, but this?


I threw some random bottle of the rinse aid in the cart and decided this was my sign that we should be done with the grocery shopping. But at this point the damage was done and I let them continue with their treat.

I did remember to pay for the yogurt. Though in handing it to the check out guy, we dropped it and splattered some on the check out area, oops. The girl bagging the groceries was nice enough to give me a few paper towels for the girls as we left, I didn't even have to ask! How is that for customer service?

And Charlotte will be thrilled when she gets home to find out that Mommy bought three new curling irons while at the store. "Three?" you ask. Yes, it was $2 more to get three than it was to get one. So now I have a 3/4, 1, and 1 1/2 inch curling iron. Now we will have to see if she will let me near her with one or if she is still too scared I'll burn her...

Jenn

Curls

Charlotte has been after me for a while to make her hair curly. We tried once with the curling iron but the iron is too big around and apparently Mommy got a little too close to her ear and head one time too many and she was done! Who knew curling someone else's hair was so much harder than doing your own. Not that I have curled my own in years!

Saturday night I decided to try to "roll" her hair so she would have curls the next morning. We did have any curlers so I had to improvise. I sectioned her hair into 12 sections. Each section I did corkscrew (two strand) braids and then wrapped into tiny buns and added a bobby pin to hold it over night. The next morning we took them down, combed lightly, sprayed heavily with hair spray and voila! Curls!

After leaving church on Sunday she told her Dad that her hair was "famous!"

We are now the proud owners of a set of sponge curlers. Thanks Grandma! Hopefully soon we will see what we can do with those. She is also asking me to buy a smaller curling iron so we can try that again as well.

I'm sure it won't be long until the other two want in on this curling action. What have I gotten myself into?
Jenn