From before Christmas......

While I remember...........
We did go look at lights in our jammies (except for killjoy Tom this year) before Christmas with thermoses of hot chocolate. We won a coupon to see lights in the parkway free from Leanna's school craft night so that's where we went. We looked through the Christmas barn afterwards. I wouldn't go every year, but every few or so.........maybe. We have to find a good route to look at lights every year.

We never found the time to decorate the cut out cookies this year. And that's the best part! Il love decorating them, being creative about it.. The night we made the cookies was the Saturday before Christmas and I also still had to decorate the tree and look at lights with the kids(which we did that night) and finish a few homemade presents and finish wrapping presents. I just didn't have enough time to do everything this year.
Christmas morning I accidentally unplugged the computer (not realizing he had the tree lights pluged into the same outlet as the computer) and when the computer restarted, well it wouldn't restart. Tom was able to restart it in safe mode only, and we managed to save all our pictures and documents on dvd disks, thank God!! Then he had to reformat the computer when he had a chance. So we didn't have a computer and I couldn't unload the pictures from our camera. So that's where I've been. I'll post more when I get a chance. Plus I've been just trying to find a way out from under the Christmas mess. So, you know, happy holidays to anyone who reads this blog!

Interesting

My sister wrote about finding a person who believes in her and that she can accomplish great things. It reminded me of a similar person I used to know. He was a professsor, and I decided to "google him" to see what came up. (Not much aside from mentions of him as a great professor and one blog where a former student lists about 5 quotes from him. He's older so there aren't many online references). So out of curiosity I decided to look up a few other teachers. I think it's can be fascinating to do these searches because you run into all sorts of things that aren't what you were looking for, but are interesting nonetheless.
This article has a breif quote from one of my former professors, but the man it's written about sounds very intersting. He left the English Dept. before I got there, but he sounds like his class would have been fascinating. "Raconteur, renaissance man, the working man's intellectual. He is a storyteller void of pretense, gleefully following his synapses wherever they take him. Keeping up is half the fun."
I love the recipie book extras, and the brief info on the tomato. (I think I have a few cat-lover readers-can any of you explain the Pizza Pieno recipie quote to me?)
Ok, the baby's sleeping now, so my blog posting ends. Too much to do!

Penguins

"A Mexican newspaper reports that bored Royal Air Force pilots stationed on the Falkland Islands have devised what they consider a marvelous new game. Noting that the local penguins are fascinated by airplanes, the pilots search out a beach where the birds are gathered and fly slowly along it at the water's edge. Perhaps ten thousand penguins turn their heads in unison watching the planes go by, and when the pilots turn around and fly back, the birds turn their heads in the opposite direction, like spectators at a slow-motion tennis match. Then, the paper reports, "The pilots fly out to sea and directly to the penguin colony and overfly it. Heads go up, up, up, and ten thousand penguins fall over gently onto their backs." -- Audobon Society Magazine

Craft links

I may have to do this with the kids next year:

http://www.scrapbookscrapbook.com/free-printable-christmas-nativity.html

Christmas scrapbook stuff: http://www.scrapbookscrapbook.com/christmas.html

Free printables: http://alenkasprintables.com/free_printables.shtml

The Crafts

We didn't have time to do even half of the crafts they had there-waiting for everyone to finish took long and we had to go to tables where there was enough room for all of us. Plus we made photo frames for the Santa pictures with popsicle sticks and we had to wait for them to dry before they could be picked up.

So we made candy cane reindeer, Christmas stockings, the photo frames, and Leanna colored an Elf. I grabbed some paper to make gingerbread men strings and a wreath and took those home.

At the end they asked all students left there to come on stage for a picture. Here is ours. Leanna is the electric one in the front, we were about to leave when they announced this.

Winter Craft Night

The school has a partnership with a local church and they hold many functions there like last night's Winter Craft Night. They had a pot luck dinner but I don't think many people brought stuff. Tom thought he'd be finishing a job for the beginning of the week, but they didn't have enough work for him so he ended up being home and able to attend. I don't think he was so thrilled with that, but I was!! It helped with controlling our kids while there and was good for them to spend time with their father. I don't know if he'd admit it, but I think he had fun making stuff too.

Santa Claus made an appearance. Timothy was kind of in awe. In fact at one point when Tom

said he would take Timothy over to see Santa (he wouldn't go at first, too scary) Timothy ran away-who has time to wait!- and up onto the stage as another family was getting their picture taken with Santa! Tom had to run up and get him, while apologizing to the photographer and family! We'll pick up the pictures the school took with Santa after school today. Justin was too afraid to sit with Santa, but he wanted to go over and tell Santa that he wants a bulldozer for Christmas. Leanna said she was going to tell Santa she wanted a Dream Catcher, but apparently when she got up there she asked for a Hannah Montanna guitar.

Leanna asked me if that was the real Santa. She sounded a bit skeptical so I told her that I thought it might have been one of Santa's brothers, but I wasn't sure because I didn't get a good look at him.

The best part of cookie-making

Always one of my favorite parts of making cookies, anyway.

A few cookie pictures

We made 3 batches of Christmas cookies last weekend-sugar, gingerbread, and snickerdoodles. But we ran out of time to bake the sugar cookies because they had to chill for three hours and we had Claire's birthday party that night also. The snickerdoodles (pictured) were good, but no one cared for the gingerbread. I used a recipe from the Joy OF Cooking and didn't like it. Anyone have a recipe they've used and know is good?

Doctor's again

Both Justin and Jacob were due for checkups in November, but they were so booked up that it had to be put off for a month. We got Laura's old roommate as one of our nurses again. This visit took two hours, although this time they had the excuse of having a student do a check also. She was the nicest bubbliest student doctor I've come accross yet. Jacob liked her too.
Justin was completely uncooperative this time. He cried and clung to me. He did not want to be touched at all! By the time they were ready for shots (near the end) he was finally starting to get used to the situation and actually got very silly.

Justin: 39 inches tall, 31.5 pounds
Jacob: 26.5 inches tall, 18.3 pounds

(for comparison, that's about Timothy's weight at a year old!)

Also....

What will they think of next? (I think baby wipes are much cheaper and work just fine, but if you have money to burn......)

MomSpit is a line of no-rinse cleansers for those times when brushing hands on the seat of your pants won't do. The cleanser contains no actual spit (because that would be gross) but users are assured that there's love in every drop.

Looks like an Evil Anne Geddes

I couldn't resist posting this one. Looks like baby in a blender to me! I'm kind of a simple girl though, I think it's easiest to wash the baby lying down. I was given several of those little baby holder things, for when the baby can sit up, that I gave away. I thought that it would make it more difficult to wash the baby that way. Babies have all kinds of little folds to clean. And it can give a false sense of security-babies can still slide down into the water. Great if it helps someone else, just not for me.

A new style of infant bathtub from the Netherlands is generating a fair bit of buzz on the internet. The idea is to mimic the position the baby was in when inside the womb. It also provides better water coverage -- everything below the neck is underwater -- so the baby is less likely to get cold. The manufacturers even claim it will help with colic and learning to stand.

Adorable

He's five months old now

Jacob, on the floor at

Claire's party

Belated Birthday Wishes

Sorry, I meant to post a Happy Birthday on Friday, but I

was busy and forgot.

Happy Nineteenth!

Happy Holidays, from Justin

He truly is full of the holiday spirits. From to singing Santa Claus is coming to town, tohis excitement at holiday displays, to his "decorating" our house. Or himself.

It's more fun sideways

She did this to herself

After drawing with permanant marker on her face, Leanna didn't want to be

photographed. Boy was she born in the wrong family for that!

It took me and her Aunt to hold her down to get a picture.

Double Duty

The baby's carseat also functions as a rocking seat for the other kids.

I see Tom's face here.

Lice Myths

Since Korinna was telling Tom that we need to put all the kids' toys in plastic bags for two weeks, I thought I'd share some facts about lice. I've had a few other people share a bit of paranoia also, so maybe it will help to read it yourself. People are so afraid of getting them that myths abound!

Web md is linked in the subject line. That's a pretty generic source. This link wont let me copy/paste, so I'm including it separately. It specifically mentions the bag thing. (They die after 24-48 hours off a human head, so it's just ridiculous). FICTION: Nits in the hair mean a person has lice. FACT: Fewer than one in five children with nits go on to get lice infestations. Because of this myth, half of children sent home for head lice don't really have them. "Many health experts believe that 'no-nits' policies should be abandoned," the BMJ notes.
FICTION: Treat children if they have nits. FACT: Treatment should begin only when adult lice are found.
FICTION: If your kid gets head lice, you have to clean all sheets, clothing, earphones, and furniture with insecticide. FACT: There's no evidence this helps. Head lice soon die after leaving a person's head.
FICTION: Lice spread easily by sharing hats, pillows, or chairs. FACT: Lice on hats and furniture are sick, dead, elderly, or are just cast-off lice skins. They can't cause an infection. Lice are spread from person to person only by relatively prolonged head-to-head contact. But it's still a good idea for children to avoid sharing combs, brushes, and hats.
FICTION: Lice like long hair. FACT: Short hair makes it easier for lice to move off and on the scalp. Don't cut a lice-infested kids hair or tie it back. Girls are more likely than boys to get head lice. But it's because they have more close contact during play, not because their hair is longer.
Head Lice Facts:
Head lice are parasites. They lay five or six eggs every day at the base of scalp hair shafts.
Head lice are most often found behind the ears and at the back of the neck.
Head lice never leave the head unless forced to do so. Head lice detached from the scalp soon die.
Facts:
Head lice feed on blood every three to six hours. This feeding can cause itching, but most of the time there are no symptoms.
A person has an infestation of head lice only if adult lice are present.
Nits are head lice eggs. Most of the nits you see aren't living things. The eggshells left over from hatched head lice can be easily seen as white casings and can be confused with dandruff. Unhatched viable nits are "glued" to the hair by the adult louse and are camouflaged to match a person's hair color. Having nits in the hair does not necessarily mean a person has head lice. Only live lice cause infestations.
The problem may not be head lice at all. Often we think there are lice when there aren’t really any there. We all start to itch as soon as head lice are mentioned.
There are other causes for itching of the scalp. Using head louse lotion can make these worse.
Using lotion over and over again can cause dermatitis, which itself makes the head itch.
When living, moving lice are found, they can almost always be cleared by using the right lotion. This will only work if enough of it is used, if it is put on in the right way, and if any other family members who have lice are treated properly at the same time.
A day or two after using the lotion, you sometimes find little lice still there. These have hatched out of the eggs since you put the lotion on, and will be killed if you put the lotion on again after seven days.
When you have got rid of the lice, you might still itch for two or three weeks. This doesn’t mean you still have lice. Check the head carefully. Remember, you don’t have head lice if you can’t find a moving living louse.
When you have got rid of all the lice, the nits (empty egg cases stuck on the hairs) will still be there. This doesn’t mean you still have lice, and you shouldn’t treat again no matter how many nits there are if you can’t find a living louse.
People who think their children keep on getting head lice may have made the mistakes listed above, and may keep on "treating" lice which have long since been cleared, or were never even there in the first place.
If children do really keep on having living lice, this is most likely to be due to not doing the treatment properly and not treating all those close contacts who have also been found to have lice. Remember, if infection really does keep on happening, it is almost always from a member of the family, or a close friend. It is rarely from other children in the classroom except from a "best friend".

Fascinating

Even wonder what keeps a pregnant woman from toppling over from the additional 30+ lbs she's carrying front and center?
Harvard anthropology researcher Katherine Whitcome found two physical differences in male and female backs that until had gone unnoticed until now: One lower lumbar vertebra is wedged-shaped in women and more square in men; and a key hip joint is 14 percent larger in women than men when body size is taken into account. This engineering is seen only in female humans and our immediate ancestors who walked on two feet, but not in chimps and apes.
The researchers did engineering tests that show how those slight changes allow women to carry the additional and growing load without toppling over -- and typically without disabling back pain.
"When you think about it, women make it look so very damn easy," Whitcome said. "They are experiencing a pretty impressive challenge. Evolution has tinkered ... to the point where they can deal with the challenge. A little bit of tinkering can have a profound effect."
Of course, this does not mean that pregnancy is not hard on a woman's back and gestating females should still be granted full back and foot rub privileges.

Worship at the house of Starbucks

For hump day (Wednesday being the hump in the middle of the week to get over. Lets make that clear)

Our java who art in Starbucks, hallowed be thy name. Thy caffeine come, thy work be done at home and in the office. Give us this day our daily caffeine. Forgive us our late nights as we forgive those who kept us up late. Lead us not into half caff and deliver us from caffeine free. For thine is the java, the jolt and the caffeine rush forever. Amen.

Learning to read

While out on a diaper retrieval mission yesterday, we went past a place called Grammy's Washbasket. Leanna said excitedly, "Hey! That says Grammy!" I confirmed, and she looked up quizically, "Does that mean only grammies can go there?"

This is what I'm hoping for......

This is what I want for my kids. It's from a post on the blog I took half my blog's name from:
Excerpt:
"There is something about a shared bond of growing up in the same house with the same parents that can take 3 people who are so very different and make them so similar. Good friends. The best of friends. I remember my Mom once telling me that the day would come that not only would I have fun and enjoy the company of my brother and sister, but I would seek it out and crave it. I was pretty sure she had lost her mind. No way would the 3 of us ever have anything in common enough to enjoy time spent together. Chalk another one up to Mom being right. Again. As usual.................
I drove home in a funk. Thinking about how life can throw things at you and knock you so far off course you cannot remember which way you were going let alone your destination. You can have friends help you. Have a spouse to lend a hand. Even kids to remind you why you need to get up in the morning. But the people who have known you all of your life, those who share your history that bonds you from cradle to grave, they can help you find your way back on course. They can be your true north to lead you back home."

My Christmas List

WIC-forgot to post this.....

I just saw on babycenter news that the WIC (Women Infants and Children) Program is getting it's first major update since 1974! That's before I was born!! I'd say it was about time. Fruits, vegetables and whole grains will be added, while less support will be provided for milk, eggs and juice.

While I remember.....

Last night, halfway through his bath, Timothy asked to get out of the tub to go to the bathroom. I'm not sure if he would have realized he had to go if I hadn't mentioned it before he got in the tub. (I asked him if he had to go and said he wouldn't want to go in the tub! And he agreed.) Either way, it's still good. I'm not one of those active toilet trainers, I don't bother every day. Just when I remember or when I notice obvious signs. I figure they'll get it when they're ready anyway. But it's nice to see progress!

From Overheard in NY

I needed a laugh so I've been catching up on the Overheard in NY site. I like the pictures this one puts in my head:

The Perils of Early Childhood Exposure to Super Mario Bros.
Drunk NYU girl: So, what I'd really like to do is help the innocent... [Drunk friend laughs.] With, like, fireballs!--Bowery & 4thOverheard by: davis
Alsome Thumbs up Thumbs down Wtf? Wtf?; Wtf?
Posted 2007-11-23 Email Quote Link Del.icio.us Facebook

Products for Moms & Dads

Mainly for Moms, this links to a lactivist unique gift guide. A lot of it is expensive-I think. She lists those SIGG water bottles that I have looked at at Wegmans. They just look neat, but apparently they're also long lasting, fairly light, and have NO leaching. I may just have to get one next time I have some extra cash. They have kid and adult sizes. Kikkerland Bobbler Opener - which Claire you would have got for Christmas if she wasn't out of them! I think it would have been a great gift for your future apartment. Read the description of them on the lactivist's blog though.

Products

If you can afford it, it's always great to support independant craftspeople!
From a comment on the lactivist:

If you like wooden toys and dolls, walk, don't run to etsy.com which is a marketplace for independent craftspeople. The cutest dolls in the world are made by Fourpeasinapod and Stumppondtoys makes great old fashioned wooden toys with no toxic finishes. I have already bought from both sellers for Christmas. Reasonable prices too.

Is hotness inherrited?

Apparently in the insect world sexually attractive males father sexually attractive sons. They're not certain if this applies to humans as well. (If there's a link between the two, I'm glad it's related to the father, not the Mom!)

Holiday Mood and decorations

This is a weird holiday season, for me anyway. I'm trying to get into it for the kids' sake, but it is very hard to make your self feel something you aren't feeling. We did decorate the front window. I'm trying to get the downstairs clean enough to put out the indoor decorations. We made snowflakes to hang around the house. They're easy enough to do that even Timothy can use kid scissors to make his own. And Leanna picked out a girl and boy toy to donate to the bin at the bank. Justin would have picked out the boy toy this year but he was sleeping. Next year Timothy will be big enough to pick out a third toy too. It's just dollar store toys, but hopefully I'm still imparting the idea that we have a duty to help others, especially(but not limited to) around the holidays. That's really important to me. I'm not sure why, I guess because it'd be nice to have help myself, so I figure people worse off than us could use it even more. It gives a strong motivation to help others. I really think it goes beyond just the physical needs or paying bills-sometimes somebody helping you out is a mental boost more than anything. And that's necessary too.
I'll be making Christmas cookies with the kids and my sister/s? this weekend so that might help with the holiday feeling. It does help when I see the kids getting excited about something Christmas related. And hopefully Tom will have a weekend day off soon so we can go look at Christmas lights in our jammies with thermoses of hot chocolate! I was really disapointed that we didn't get to do that last year. Ahhh, maybe the mood will come as the holiday draws nearer.

Chubby Cheeks

I got this snowsuit when Timothy was a baby, for $7.00 because it was near the end of the winter season. Not bad for having two babies use it.

He has the most adorable chubby cheeks! It's the abominable snowbaby! When I take Leanna to school all the mothers come over and talk to Jacob and ooh and aah when he's awake.

Justin and Jacob

It is really adorable to see these two together, Justin can almost always make Jacob laugh.

Picture of Timothy's Rash

You can't see all of it here, because of the lighting and the flash, but this shows some of Timothy's rash from last night. His arms, chest, and face were pretty bad. It was all over his legs, with smaller patches on his belly and chest.

I'm not really sure if he's ever had cinnamin before, possibly in a recipie, but not direct. I'm guessing he won't go after it anymore, but after that I guess I'll have to keep the Cinnamon locked up!

Rash

Last night while I was making Tom a late night supper(He's been home between 9-10:30 the past few weeks) and Timothy got into the Cinnamon. He often sits quietly playing wherever he is, so I didn't automatically know he was into something. And I was very tired because it was one of those days that was longer than most(if you know what I mean). He was playing in it like it was sand. I told Tom about it as I brought him his supper and went to take my shower. I figured I'd clean it up later when I'd mustered a little more energy. But before I could even get dressed Tom was knocking on the door with Timothy. He was worrying because Timothy was saying he hurt. It turned out most of the hurt was from a poopy diaper. I stuck him in the tub and washed all the Cinnamon off and his body was covered in red rashes. Face, arms, legs, torso-all had red splotches. They were a little hot to the touch. I haven't had a chance to research it, does anyone know if this is some sort of allergic reaction or if this is normal when your body becomes covered in Cinnamon? LOL, as my Mom said, "well maybe that's what happens from Cinnamon? Who's ever covered themselves in Cinnamon before to know?"
He's fine today, I'm happy to report, but that was a little wierd.

Email answer from Santa

Merry Christmas Leanna,
It's Seasons Greetings here at the North Pole. Everyone is very busy getting ready for the big day. All the elves are working especially hard making toys and getting the Sleigh ready for the flight. Rudolph and the rest of the reindeer have been exercising and testing their skills in the reindeer games. Mrs. Claus is mending my big red suit after I lost a button climbing down a chimney last year. And I've been busy making my list, and of course... checking it twice. I see you've been very good this year Leanna and want Big big big pack of Barbies, racecar with remote control, Big big big pack of toy ducks, along with a surprise or two I'm sure. Be sure to get to bed early Christmas Eve... the sooner you do, the sooner I can drop by! Don't forget to check The North Pole Times to see how things are going up here at the North Pole as we get ready for Christmas! We'll have an update EVERYDAY!
Merry Christmas Leanna,
PS: If you plan to leave a snack, I really love leftovers and of course cookies and milk. And be sure to set aside something for the reindeer. They get pretty hungry doing all that flying!

Funny

Toddler with English accent and baby brother
I love how the baby giggles afterwards. I bet my younger sister (Laura) would have done that too!

I knew there was a reason to get married!

Bug Update

Since several people have asked:

The kids seem to be bug-free. They may still have some eggs left in their hair yet, I'm still checking them just not as often. Tom didn't catch them. I think I still have a couple bugs left, and probably eggs too. I don't have anyone to check my hair and I can't see to check. So I just comb through with the fine-tooth comb. But I'm not itching all that much. I'm sure it'll be completely over with soon. And I'm happy to report we did it without putting any pesticide shampoo in our hair! Just regular washing and thorough checking! (Probably luck too)

I can so relate to this

I've been on both sides of this one, I'm pretty sure.
Short video