I'm Older Than My Great-Grandpa

Hmm..that title sounds a little like my three year old's insistence that she is older than me but in this case it's true. Poppy Max would be 28 today. He was born on leap day, Feb. 29, 1896.
I'm thinking a birthday every 4 years is a great way to stay young. I hear a daily glass of wine and some hair color are too...maybe I'll try it.

New School

Do you ever that Super Mom feeling? Every now and then something happens that can potentially be devestating to one of my girls and I am able to think on my feet and prevent disaester. Ok, most of the time it is dumb luck and everything just happens to go my way by accident...but still...

That's what happened here the past few days. The Mote was on school vacation last week. On Sunday night I received an e-mail from the school. They suggested that due to a medical condition of my daughter's that she take one month off from school. After the month we would reevaluate. This is not a contagious condition. She is 3. She is excited to go back to school on Tuesday. It's Sunday night already, what am I going to do on such short notice? And did I mention that they informed me by e-mail? And "hoped that I would find the proposal kind and respectful?" ARE THEY KIDDING ME? Cruel and disgusting, yes, kind and respectful most certainly not.

So, I called a friend and long story short, I got her in to the preschool I originally wanted. She started yesterday and WOW what a difference! I am so impressed with all of the activities and the Mote is so happy there. Her behavior is even better at home! I KNOW this is a blessing and a better fit for her but she is confused and upset about not going back to her "old school" and while that's to be expected I have this strong desire to pull the director's hair while screaming incessantly about how she hurt my kid....

Snow Day Challah

Or "Jen learns to Add Pictures to Her Blog"....take your pick of Titles. I can't decide.

There will be no pictures of actual snow in this entry for a couple of reasons. Number one, I am sick of winter and pretending that it is not snowy outside. Number two, I didn't actually take my kids out to play in the snow. The thought of bundling them both up and getting all cold and wet...I just couldn't. So, when their dad came home he took the big one out to shovel..oops, I mean play :)

So, here is what we did do yesterday. We baked. I loving baking bread. Yesterday's project was challah. We kneaded for a bit by hand and then decided the Kitchen Aid did a better job:



This is a really fun project to do with preschoolers. There are many breaks in the action to do other things while the dough rises. And there are all kinds of math and science lessons involved.

I meant to take a picture of the finished project but I forgot (see why I said I was still learning to take blog pictures, LOL?). So, here is what's left of the finished project:

A Little Bit of Spring

I took the girls to the Connecticut Flower and Garden Show yesterday. It was heavenly! There were so many beautiful flowers to look at.



The theme was "Once Upon a Time" so the Mote was all into it. She also got to plant her own pepper plant and draw with sidewalk chalk on the floor of the convention center.



I got to see green....such a treat in February!! (Can you imagine what would happen if I actually took a vacation, somewhere warm in the winter? Just the thought is overwhelming...LOL). The Who was the good baby that she is and was content in her stroller.

I restrained myself and only bought a few things. I got the Mote a Butterfly Feeder. You put sugar water in the top and it attracts butterflies. My husband is worried it will attract bees but I say it's worth it :)

I also bought these.....

I couldn't help myself....we need some spring on this Winter Storm Day :) It is brightening my whole house!

Now, we are off to bake some Challah bread. We may not get out of our pajamas today but we will be doing something productive :)

The Boppy: I Finally Get It

I am almost 6 months into life with my second child. I have owned a boppy since my first child was an infant, so for almost 4 years now.
Until last week, I never understood the popularity of this strange pillow type thing. I've bottle-fed and I've breast-fed but I couldn't do either effectively with a boppy. I have friends that swear by these things and I couldn't ever get it to work for me.
But, I am happy to report, that I finally get it!! I was nursing the Who this morning while playing Dora Memory with the Mote and I used the boppy. It was easy. The Who is just the right size. I was comfortable.
Yeah, I really do realize this is exciting only to me but I'm all excited that I finally figured out what the fuss is all about :)

How to Enjoy Winter Break Without Spending a Fortune

February vacation can be a long week. The kids are off from school and here in New England the weather is not suitable for playing outside. The museums are crowded, the mall is not worth the effort and the movies are not fun with an infant. So, what’s a family to do?

We try and have one activity outside of our house every day. It gives our days some structure and some excitement. It also makes our toys seem more fun when we get back. So, here is our schedule for this week:

Monday: The Mote had her bloodwork done. She was a brave girl and made many friends at the lab. So, she went out to breakfast with her dad and then we went to the toy store. All in all, a $20 morning and the bloodwork is done!

Tuesday: We visited the local library. They have a wonderful children’s area with a puppet theatre, blocks and a train table and we get books to take a home for later.

Wednesday: We are taking a trip to Stew Leonard’s grocery store. My preschooler loves it there! There are singing and dancing exhibits above the aisles and free samples as you walk along. I get my grocery shopping and my daughter is entertained. Brilliant!

Thursday: We are going to the CT Flower Show. We are all excited about this. Winter has us down and we are anxiously waiting for spring. So, in the meantime we are going to go look at the beautiful flowers and plan our garden. The theme is “Once Upon a Time”, so this should be fun!

Friday: We’re going to a friend’s house in the morning and then having lunch with Daddy. And then, what do you know, it’s the weekend again!

Now, I realize I could do all of this in one day but by spacing it out I give my kids some structure and we enjoy the week without a bad case of cabin fever and without spending a lot of money.

I'm a Big Chicken...

Or a bad mother...take your pick.

My three year old needs to go for a blood test tomorrow and I'm making my husband take her. I do all the vaccinations and doctor office visits but the thought of taking her to the lab for a blood test makes me physically ill. Or maybe it's waiting for the results that is making me ill.

I think I'll go take out some of this anxiety on one of my unsuspecting knitting projects. Better the knitting then my wonderful husband who is taking his little girl for the blood test with no complaining on his part. Right?

Out Maneuvered By a 5 Month Old - Again

I don't know how this baby did it but she seems to have out smarted her parents again. She is such an easy and good tempered baby. We don't expect these antics from her. From her older sister, most definetly. She was an intense and driven baby. But this one? She goes with the flow.

So, how is it that she is back to nursing during the night and sleeping in her carseat? We thought we had kicked both habits. From 3-4 months she rarely ate during the night...maybe once a week. Then we had a good month where she slept in her crib every night without a fuss. Now? She eats 1-2 times a night again and she only sleeps 5 hours in her crib and spends the rest of the time in her carseat.

We have no idea how or when this happened. She slowly wore us down. We're too tired to care on a nightly basis but now that we're on to her...we care...a lot. So, baby who, you may have tricked us but your mom (the lawyer) and your dad (the MBA) have finally figured you out. Now, if we could just figure out how to make you sleep in your crib...

A parade of "Not So Goods"

I am thankful that my family is happy and healthy and I know that I really have nothing to complain about but man, it's been one of those weeks!

Monday: I have a horrible sore throat that makes working and taking care of the kids an insurmontable challenge during the morning. My house looks like it was made without closets or cabinets since there are toys, clothes and dishes literally everywhere.

Tuesday: A blah day. The Mote goes to school in the morning and whines through the afternoon because none of her friends can come over to play.

Wednesday: The day I was waiting for. My mom is going to take the Mote to her sports class and to play for the afternoon. I am going to get some work done! We have an ice storm. At 10 am we lose power. At 2 pm I admit defeat and call the power company. Anticipated time of power recovery: midnight. I pack up the baby and the dog and off we go to my parents. I call the power company at 5 pm. We have power. I repack all of us and home we go to unpack what never needed to be packed in the first place. We order pizza, wait for the house to warm up and then I literally fall asleep sitting up in my living room chair.

Thursday: The baby throws up all morning. She can't keep anything down. The doctor gives me that wonderful 2 hour deadline to get pedialite into her or go to the hospital to prevent dehydration. I spend 2 hours spoon feeding pedialite to the baby who will not take a bottle. At dinner time I go downstairs to find water in the finished basement. I cry.

Today: The girls and I are all in our jammies. I'm cooking, writing and playing "Miss Spider"...any buggie want to play? We're going to see a friend of mine and her kids this afternoon and then my husband will be home for 5 days. YEAH!!!

Agility

My girls are finally tucked in for the night and the Goose and I just sat down to watch the American Kennel Club Agility National Championship.

I've had dogs before the Goose. My last dog, Phred, LOVED to watch animals on TV. Rodeos were his very favorite but a good agility competition was exciting too. He would sit on the floor (my dogs are more couch or bed sitters than floor sitters) and stare at the TV. He would ocassionally bark or go over to the TV, stand on his hind legs and lick the screen.

So, what's the Goose doing? Sleeping on my feet. Agility tires the boy. Why exert yourself when Mom is busy on the computer, the girls are sleeping and Dad is clearly not moving for a while? I can't say I blame him. And I can't say we will ever be competing in an agility competition...hey, we did finally graduate from puppy kindergarten but it was close. I saved his certificate in case it's ever questioned.

I mean really, does this boy look like he's ready for any kind of competition?

Woo Hoo!!

That is a woo hoo for the Superbowl being over. That was really hard for me (and yes, of course, the Superbowl is all about me, LOL). As I said last week, I am a lifelong die hard Giants fan but the Patriots are a really close second and there was that whole perfect season thing going on....

So, I ate my way through the first half and knitted my way through the second half. I have a stomachache and a few more rows done on my sweater and a very very happy husband, father, uncle and sister.

And the Who is two for two...first the Red Sox and now the Giants...life is good.

Nursery School Politics

Have you ever stood in the parking lot of your child's preschool and had the urge to put your fingers in your ears and scream, "I'm not listening!" to the other parents?

I do.

For the record, I am not interested in who has the most playdates, who has the most activities or who has the most kids at her birthday party. I am not interested in gossip about the school.

If you have recipes (or better yet knitting patterns!) to share, if you have cute stories about your kid or if you want to talk about the weather then come on over and chat by my car. But leave the competition out of it. We can get back to that when our kids join sports teams and apply to college. In the meantime, as long as your kid doesn't routinely bite, push or otherwise abuse my kid, we're good.