Just Another Week in February

I'm doing an 'all in one' entry. I'm just not feeling the patience for organization! We are currently in mid-February. The winter actually hasn't been too bad. We keep having these spurts of warmish weather in between the cold days that seem to keep us going. And every time we hit our limit and the winter blues, one of those warm clusters comes around at just the right time.

Weekends have been annoying. I'm sure I've complained about them before, but it's tough. In the winter, your activity options outside of the house are limited to shopping. Booorrrriiinnnggg. Unfortunately, this leads to lots of 'disagreements' between Michael and I about what to do with the kids, and by the time we figure it out, it's lunch time. Can't wait for the warm days where we can go for walks, hit a play ground or take the dog and kids to a field to run without the chance of frost bite.

So, updates. Skyler has come out of whatever stage he happened to be in the past month. I remember it was extremely frustrating and challenging and made me want to lose my mind. But what I don't remember is exactly what he was doing that made me feel that way. How does that happen?? Is it a coping mechanism? It must be. And I'm grateful for it. He's back to being the easy, docile, sweet, fun, loving, boy whose laugh is infectious and enthusiasm for everything makes us smile.

Now, Sadie? I guess it's her turn to go through a 'phase'. All I have to say is that I am very proud of myself and the restraint that I have somehow been given through divine intervention. Hmm, not even sure that statement makes sense, but it sounds right! She has decided that she can do whatever she wants, no matter what harm it may do to the person she happens to have chosen at that moment. Poor Skyler has endured things being thrown at him, hit, pushed, yelled at, etc. Yes, you can feel bad for him...but the adults have also experienced our little stinker in the same manner. When she's done with a toy? She'll chuck it...not toss it, but throw it as hard as she can, and if your face is in the way? Oh well. She decides what she wants and demands it at the top of her lungs over and over. Throws in a little foot stomping and couch hitting. And when I lose it myself and raise my voice at her, she'll pout and tell me that I'm not 'speaking very nicely but using a loud voice'. Wow. The other day in dance class? A little terror. She was screaming at me that she didn't like the class (while the teacher was having them do ballet and all of the other little girls were tap tap tapping their toes in a line), when the teacher asked her to do something, she said no, you get the picture. If she was my first child, I would have been mortified. Instead, I just let her run around the room shimmying her hips to the music and twirling around until she fell because I just didn't have the energy to fight with her to stay on the darn green dot. Can't wait for next week and I can't wait for this phase to pass.

What I'm thankful for? That my childrens' phases don't seem to coincide:)

My cure for the cold Saturday? Art projects! Although I'm running out of ideas. But they seem to make both children very happy for about 20 minutes. But, that's 20 minutes of no fighting, smiles, and all around happiness:)

Here they are finger painting. It was Sadie's first official finger painting experience and it didn't take her long to get into it.

He's a pro and he loved it...mixed colors together and was a mess. Perfect!

Skyler and I saw this project in a magazine a while ago. You use q-tips or toothpicks and glue them together into designs using glitter glue. Beautiful snowflakes that I hung up between the kitchen and morning room. They make us smile:)

Skyler's recent baking was making chocolate covered pretzels using the chocolate we had from Valentine's day. Sadie joined in...it looks messy but they are very very yummy.

Trying to scout out some room in the fridge to chill the pretzels.

This past weekend was a 3 day weekend...the first two days we were stuck at home. Sunday night, I declared Monday a field trip day! I didn't care that it was 30 degrees. We were going and we were going to have fun. We chose to visit the military ship museums where they have restored a ship from the civil war and a submarine from the 40's. Awesome trip. We all enjoyed it, and NOT ONE CHILD WHINED THE WHOLE TIME! Monumental.

Here they are getting started! Skyler finds it difficult not to make a silly face for pictures:)

The family in front of the USS constellation.

They are saluting.

Running on deck!

I forced him to stand in front of the cannon. He was convinced that it would spontaneously shoot a cannon ball out while he was standing there.

Sadie insisted on her picture too.

I was personally fascinated with the sleeping area for the enlisted way back then.

A picture with the kids! Rare:)

'Arg maties' I have no idea where she learned about pirates, but she thinks she is one here.

The kiddos in the submarine.

Our Past Week...

Sigh..it's Sunday afternoon. I literally begged Michael to have the afternoon to just lock myself in the computer room BY MYSELF! I was hitting my limit and knew that an explosion was soon to come if I didn't get some 'me' time. The kids have been great and there really isn't anything in particular for me to whine about....it's just that I was on overload from my two children who are both feeling very attached and want to spend every waking minute with me. Which I LOVE...but, there are still dishes that need to be put away, and laundry that needs to be done, dinner that has to be cooked, and I actually need to eat a meal once in a while. I find that I'm skipping them a lot lately to keep up with the house and spend as much time as possible with the kids...and eating when they aren't just doesn't work because they end up eating my entire meal! Michael and I were sitting at the kitchen table while the kids were hanging out in the play room. He asked if he should turn on the light and I said NO! That will definitely attract attention...but he did it anyway and the moment it went on, the demands began..."Mommy, I'm hungry! Can I please..... Will you please get me..... Will you play with me? Will you watch a movie and snuggle on the couch? Will you...................................." After that, I just looked at him and he told me I could have the afternoon to myself. Next time? DON'T TURN THE LIGHT ON!

Anyway, last Sunday was the Super Bowl. The kids were crazy excited because Daddy's team was playing. Skyler seemed like such a big boy when he talked about the game. To get ready, Michael made them shirts, Skyler and I baked a cake...blue this time for the Giants, and St. Gada and wife were coming over for the first half. The kids love Dr. Gada and have seriously placed him on a pedestal for only the coolest people. They had a blast playing with our company, had a picnic in front of the tv in the basement, ate some cake, and went crazy.

Another afternoon of playing with the camera. I love Sadie's outfit here...she picked it out.

Skyler has a very difficult time being serious for the camera...always goofing around. I left the ones of him picking his nose out of this batch:) You're welcome.

He actually let me take a serious one!

This picture is for all of my friends out there who make fun of me for always having an orderly house. Yep, this is to prove that it usually looks like a disaster when no one is around!

Sadie was talking to Nana on the phone. She's growing up so quickly and carries on full conversations.

Sadie and Madison have a game together. She feeds Madison 'frozen yogurt' aka, snow, until her little fingers go numb. They both love this. And I love her outfit here too!

I feel like I need to tell the story before you look at these pictures. I went to the bathroom the other day and Sadie followed me in, as usual. She decided she wanted to go pee pee on her potty too. Who am I to argue with that?! So I stripped off her pants and diaper super fast. Business was finished and she took off...started running around the house. I guess not having a diaper felt liberating. She took her shirt off next and was completely naked running around the house squealing. Then, she put on her dress up fuzzy shoes. I couldn't resist. Had to get pictures. But of course I can't post the full nudity pics...had to crop them...except for one I couldn't help but post.

Her 'picture face'.

Pure naked delight.

Sorry Sadie...I just couldn't help it! Check out the shoes.

You know when you have a big bucket of old crayons that the kids don't like using because they are broken, dull, or no longer have paper? We had a ton and I found an idea on pinterest for Valentine's Day. It was a bit more tedious than I thought it would be, but the end product is super cute.

First step, and the most tedious, remove all paper from the crayons.

Here is what we successfully were able to remove.

Cut them into small pieces...another tedious step.

The fun part! Mix them up in a muffin tin...we chose little heart shapes since we were giving these out for Valentine's Day.

Bake them, cool them, pop them out, and voila, awesome heart shaped crayons!

Nana and Papa sent Skyler a very cool puzzle for V-Day. He loves it...it's just challenging enough to keep him on his toes, but he can still complete it.

Of course, he has to deal with his sister's little hands wanting to 'play' too. This kid always has his patience worked by his little sis. But she loves this puzzle too...colorful, fun.

Well, she is 2, can't expect her to always take this puzzle seriously!

She liked how things changed colors when she looked through them.

I Just Don't Want to Forget This

I just have to get this down...I don't want to forget it. As parents, we always try to find ourselves in our children. Traits. Nature vs nurture. Not sure which traits are which. Some, I can definitely tell are nurture. Such as pushing the color purple on Sadie. I have been dressing in her in purple for so long that she now tells people that it's her favorite color. Definitely my influence. But other traits are definitely nature. Such as Skyler's scientific side...loves math, already knows more than a lot of my second graders knew, loves to solve problems, loves history, learning about the world, and of course his sensitive and emotional side...definitely Michael. Sadie? All me. Loves to read and is already rereading books. I'm not bragging...I know other kids do this, but Skyler has an interest in other things, Sadie is much more artistic and creative in her drawings and creative play. And emotionally. Already, she will announce when she is irritated, frustrated, mad, sad, etc. Very clear. Here is a perfect example of both kids this evening. I have been doing bed time in Skyler's bed the past few nights. We all snuggle up, read, and then sing. It's been fun. But tonight? Sadie decided she wanted to read alone in her chair. Skyler? Wanted another snuggle fest. Well, he cried and cried. He asked Sadie to please have a special night snuggling in his bed. She said, "We read in Skyler's bed and now I want to read in my chair." Well, more and more tears. Finally convinced Skyler to read with Michael. Me: "Sadie, Skyler is sad because he really wanted to read with you." Sadie: "I know, and I said No." How me is that??? Had to laugh because she told it how she was feeling it. Man I love my kids!

Mad Dog

Madison never gets a spot light post. Ever since the kids were born, she has been deprived of attention. It's kind of sad actually. Don't get me wrong. We love her to pieces, she has learned over time how to play with the kids to be included, and when she's not here, we miss her immensely. In fact, her new game is monkey in the middle with the soccer ball. We try to kick it to each other and Madison tries to snag it. She's found her place and seems quite content. So, why did we mess with her routine today? Why did we decide to make it an hour of total Madison? Because she STANK! We knew it was a problem when the kids were running around calling her stinky dog. Our dearest Madison has a problem with bad breath. Some times are worse than other times. But lately? It has been so insanely bad that I actually gagged when she yawned next to me. She sleeps next to me and I have been woken up by her breath this past week. Michael drew the line today. She was going in for a bath despite the fact that she was getting groomed this week. I scrubbed that dog, especially around her face. And the result?? A beautifully smelling dog that looks especially white and fluffy. No more bad breath, she's delicious again. Next time we won't wait so long to do it:)

While Michael was getting everything ready, I did a mini photo shoot with her. She's such a pretty and docile dog...who knew something was up:)

Beautiful Madison

"I know something is up...you are totally not fooling me with this attention."

She's still trying to ignore the running water...

I think she has accepted her fate....

Mission begins...

"Someone PLEASE help me..."

Skyler ran into the bathroom because he had to go potty. He looked over at our poor, wet, dog, and said, "What is THAT?" Um, Skyler? It's your dog!!!!

Mission accomplished...stink is removed leaving a beautifully lavender smelling puppy. She's in recovery in the picture. No harm was done:) She was happy as soon as the towel came off and everyone started smelling her again with some positive feedback. But seriously, she has been walking around us smelling OUR breath. A bit of a complex for Mad Dog.

Our Mini Photo Shoot

There was one morning that we had a delayed opening for Skyler's school and had some time to hang out instead of rushing off to school. It was so nice to take our time before heading out. I begged them to let me take some pictures of them and practice on my own two kids. It took a lot of bribing on my part and it lasted an entire 4 minutes, but it was definitely fun:)

This picture is unrelated and was taken a random night this week, but wanted to just throw it in there. Sadie is currently obsessed with her tangled 'house jammies' that I let her wear after an early bath to hang around the house. "Aren't I SO cute in my tangled jammies?"

Sadie was actually fairly cooperative...I should do this more often!

I love this picture. One of the bribes was that if I take pictures of them, than they can take pictures too.

He was kind of cooperative, but didn't quite stop moving for a second...see his foot blurring in the background?! And those darn flying particles of dust that I just didn't have the patience to take out...

They were kind of over it at this point.

Totally captures who they are in this picture.