Unhealthy biscuits, Roulette, and letting strangers into your house...

What a day!!! WHAT a day!!! Honestly it's been one of those days that you just don't expect! :D I got up at 6 with Jack this morning, it was my turn! Rex had slept in Jack's bed all night as Jack had slept in ours, so Rex was out like a light. Jack and I crept downstairs and I made us some breakfast, did a little work, read the news etc. Jack watched a movie, drew some pictures, I read him a book... it was very peaceful and calm. I looked out the window at the dense fog and thought what a lovely day it would be to sit by the fire, maybe watch a movie and work a little on knitting my first dishcloth!! Hah.

At 8 am Jessie got up... she came downstairs wearing a lovely dress and boots! She looked wonderful! She and Jack kept relatively quiet and I lay on the floor under a blanket and "pretended" to go to sleep. I was frankly amazed at how easily I fell asleep despite the fact the kids kept waking me up to show me the drawings they had made and the cat kept climbing on my head. By the time 9:30 rolled around I figured hubby would be upset to sleep MUCH longer (!) so we made him some instant Honey Butter Biscuits!!



It's SOOOO far removed from stuff I usually make, I'm usually all about organic and making from scratch, but there is something about those sorts of biscuits that I really like so when I saw the packet at the store, well I figured my junk food deprived family would probably devour them without harm!! I put on a pot of coffee, Jessie drew Rex a picture and together with Jack carrying the biscuits, we hauled the lot up to Daddy and woke him with "Happy Unfather's Day! "

Once all the excitement had died down and I headed off to get showered and dressed Rex and the kids began a game of roulette!!! Garry had sent it to us in the mail and we thought it made a fantastic math lesson!! There's counting, odds and evens and of course, probability! The children thought it was a hoot! Even the dog was intrigued!!


































An hour or two later, when I was teaching the kiddoes how to knit ( finger knitting for Jack, casting on for Jessie ) the doorbell rang. It's not often we get unexpected visitors so the dogs went ballistic (which is NEVER embarrassing ) and I opened the door to find a young boy on the door step asking for money for the heart foundation. I asked him where he lived, where he went to school, all the usually stuff you ask a child on your doorstep and then I invited him in whilst I wrote him a ( very small : ( ) check. Jack took an immediate shine to the boy and accosted him right away asking him to "Come look" and trying to get him into the basement! The boy left with my check and headed over to the neighbors. The kids, who were watching him, alerted me to the fact he was on his way back over to our house! I'd forgotten to sign a form. I told him how Jack had burst into tears when he left and how he'd wanted him to play Wii with him! The boy, Devon, shrugged and said cheerfully "I can if you like!" LOL!! So off they went!! Jack and the stranger, into the basement to play!!!
They played Wii for quite a while, then Jessie and Devon played Blokus, they played some more Wii, watched a movie and then Devon said he should probably go home now...! Jack had a wonderful time! He really needs older boys to hang out with... they are so much more tolerant of him!

Whilst Jack and Devon were playing downstairs Jessie and I played around with an online game called Crayon Physics It's SUCH fun!! You have to draw lines to get a ball to hit a star. Sounds easy..!! ;D Jessie showed a real talent for it and seemed to have a lot of fun playing with it!




ANYHOO!!! Rex had gone out for a while and when he came home he'd brought a movie for the kids, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. I sat at the computer and worked and they watched that with Daddy. They DO love their movies. ;P I made them some soup for dinner and once the movie was over it was time for bed. Jack was SO.TIRED. he couldn't keep his eyes open so I carried him up to the bathroom and got him ready for bed. Once he was all clean and pj'd we went into his bedroom and he sat on my lap on the floor. He looked at me, all big blue eyes and said "I yuff you." Awww. After a while I started to tickle him. He has a really ticklish neck and we call it his "Collapsing button" if you press it, he falls down!! Poor kid!! I kept tickling his neck, then his knees, neck, knees, he was in stitches!! He laughs so hard and I LOVE his laugh! It's so infectious!! He finally calmed down enough to get into bed and as he snuggled down under the covers, he sighed " Ah....! I yuff yaffin' !! AAAAAAND tickle!!" What a cutie!!

It was Jessie's night for a shower and she used a timer this time as she tends to be in there for ever...! The timer went off and I went in to help her stop it.
She stood there, looking very serious, and said "I know how to cure Cancer" "Really?" I said.
"Yes. You just take a cancer cell, put it in some blood, and then inject it." "Inject it with what?" I asked.
"A needle."
Ah.
" Were you trying to Do anything with the needle, or just make the cancer mad?" I asked.
She heaved a heavy sigh and solemnly said "I guess I DON'T have the cure for cancer!!"

Pity. That would have been a neat science project. Sort of. !

So there ya go. No fire, no peaceful sitting and barely any knitting! I can see some in my future, and also some coffee.... with Kahlua. And some chocolate. Lots and lots of chocolate.

Hooray for the weekend!

A quiet and simple day today! I slept in this morning ( Whooo hooo! ) thanks to my lovely hubby and Wallace and Gromit!! I didn't get out of bed until 8:45. When I did get up it was due to yelling and fighting going on downstairs! Jack had been good for a couple of hours but for some reason did NOT want Jessie to feed the dogs so he shut her in the coat closet. Naturally she objected which resulted in Jack YELLING his head off. I came down and started the day by putting Jack in the corner until he felt he had calmed down and was ready to apologise. Hmmm. Took a while !! ;D Whilst he was in the corner I made him some toast and the MOMENT after he had finished it he seemed to flip and switch and was all nice and contrite. Bless him. I think his blood sugar really needs to be watched... it's so easy for him to get hungry and then just freak out!! Anyway, once he'd come out the corner and apologized he got to help me empty the dishwasher ( as he'd been mean to Jessie... "If you're mean, you clean" and then we did some spelling words "If you yell, you spell." He really enjoys doing both things and we get to spend some time together being nice and friendly. He didn't want to STOP spelling and he's really making great strides in spelling and reading now.

Daddy suggested we go out for lunch so we all got ready and went to The Two Twins Cafe for some delicious food. Whilst we were waiting Jack was in SUCH a lovely mood. We sat down next to a lady and Jack put his arm around my neck and hugged me, then he reached over to the lady, touched her gently on her shoulder and whispered "I love you" !! She was very touched! ;D As people got called to their tables we scooched closer to the maitre d' and we came upon another nice lady. Jack kindly invited her to sit with us! Unbeknownst to Jack the said Lady's date arrived and wondered at Jack sitting so close to her! When Jack and the date were introduced Jack stuck out his hand and said "Hey, Man!" !! LOL!!!! Funny kiddoe.

We had a really filling meal but it was delicious. Jessie shared her french fries with me and Jack helped Daddy eat his grilled cheese sandwich! At one point Jessie left the table to go to the bathroom and as I watched her walk away I was struck by how tall she is, how grown up she is, how beautiful she is. She doesn't get anywhere near the attention Jack does and I'm sure she feels left out by that, but boy, we sure do love the heck out of her. She is an enormous help to us and we are madly proud of the wonderful, smart and feisty young lady she is becoming. A young lady with the biggest heart and the warmest hugs any mother could ask for.

We spent the rest of the afternoon driving up to Omaha and back. We'd planned to attend an event but once there it didn't seem to be all that thrilling so we drove back home again!! Truth be told Rex just wanted to show me the enormous snow drifts that had caused the interstate to be closed last week. I was impressed!! ;D




You can see here where the plows had to cut THROUGH the drift... it's a WALL of snow! The black line you see is not the road, it's dirt etc from the FIRST snow...!! The snow had been that deep all the way across the lanes! I would NOT have wanted to be the plow driver at that point! Yowzah!






We drove home in the thickest fog


The picture below is as you drive into town... you can JUST make out the gas station on the left!!





As we arrived home we were greeted by two very chipper pooches, one of whom had left me a puddle of pee on my bedroom floor and an even MORE special surprise on Jessie's floor. *** hangs head and sighs *** If it's not the kids it's the blooming dogs. Tsk!! Anyhoo. After a dinner of baked potatoes, baked beans and cheese and a viewing (over and over again) of Wallace and Gromit in "A Matter of Loaf and Death" I took a weary Jack and an equally weary Jessie up to bed. I read Jack a book called The Story of Trains and it was WONDERFUL! I had only intended to read the first chapter but it was so interesting and contained such wonderful information we ended up reading the entire thing! I brought it downstairs so I could read it again to Jack tomorrow and when we get our timeline back up we'll make cards to show the evolution of the railways! If you have a child who enjoys trains I seriously suggest you look for this book at your library or better yet, buy yourself a copy!! ;D

Well I'm off to scrounge around for some yummy chocs I got from my Mummy in the mail yesterday!! I LOVE my Mummy!! ;D

How Now, Brown Cow?! :D

In the interest of sticking to my goal of one blog / examiner post a night I'm quickly posting a blog post now before I fall asleep in my chair! ;D

Good news! Jack was amazingly good today!! ;D Last year, or, heavens, it may have even been the year before that (!!) I bought the entire collection of "Draw Write Now" books. If you haven't seen them, you should! They are wonderful for little kiddoes to help them draw and write. Jack LOVES them and today he and I drew a cow!



We wrote the word "cow"



and later, with his magnet letters, we made the word cow!



(Please let it be known I was instructed to "make a crazy face" here!)




Jack also helped me feed the birds



and we spotted a woodpecker and a nuthatch who was chattering at us to hurry up and refil the suet as she was HUNGRY!!!

We took a trip to the pet supply store in the afternoon. Petsmart is one of the kiddies favorite stores and Jack looked ( and looked ) at the fish tanks. Jessie loves to look at the kitties or go and chat to the groomers and watch the dogs get haircuts, but all the cats were sleeping today and there was only one little dog getting a trim!

After the pet store, Super Target!! We got a little frazzled there as I was getting calls about work which were stressing me out, I had my coat on and was overheating and Jack did not want to leave the toy aisle... ( really??? You don't say!!) We negotiated a truce after I dragged him out the store and threatened to leave him in the car whilst we checked out!! He was very good after that and helped me pack the cart and load everything into the car! He was such a helpful sport. The rhymes really seem to be working. He does respond better to consequences!!

Jessie had a nice day I think! ;D She decided to give up the computer and daytime TV watching until the end of the month and so spent her day working on math problems, spelling lists, listening to music and reading books. She had rather too much enthusiasm in Super Target driving me nuts by skipping and leaping around, but, as she told her Dad... "How can anyone NOT skip in Super Target!! " On a good day I totally know what she means! ;D

Anyway, it's very late and I'm sooo tired! Sorry for the short and sweet post.. maybe more tomorrow.... who knows?!?! Until then, I think I need some hot chocolate....!! mmmmmmmmm!!!

Winter is OVER!! Winter is OVER !! :D

LOL!!!

Yesterday I was sitting working at my computer... again.... and I happened to glance at our weather station thingy. I had to glance more than twice before it registered what the outside temp was claiming to be...!!! 48 degrees. 48 degrees ABOVE freezing!!! Lately it's been 20 degrees BELOW freezing so I was AMAZED at what I was seeing!!! I hustled the kiddoes to the window CONVINCED I would see a squirrel sitting on the temperature gauge, but no.... it really was warm AND THE SNOW WAS MELTING!!! The kids and I put on our boots, coats and gloves, grabbed up the exhilarated dogs and we headed OUTDOORS for FUN!!!!




It was like emerging from a cocoon!





The sun felt so good on our faces, the sky was so BLUE!!




The snow glistened and glimmered, birds sang louder, trees seemed taller...!!




We looked around us as if we'd been kept underground for years....! It was so magical!!






We had a leisurely walk and it honestly felt odd to not be scurrying, muscles clenched against the cold, shoulders hunched against the wind... We STROLLED along the footpath. The melting snow had become perfect snowball snow, so naturally we had to have something of a snowball battle!














The children found an enormous pile of snow that the city had made with their huge plows! This pile became a fort, a mountain, a slide... a kiddie paradise!




Another drift formed a snowy bathtub!!




After about 30 minutes of snow play we slowly and happily headed back home,




reflecting and reminiscing about our fun walk! One WONDERFUL thing about Nebraska is smack in the middle of winter you can get fabulous days of warm sunshine and BLUE blue skies, just to lift your spirits so we can make it through until spring.


*** HAPPY SIGH!!!***


I can't WAIT for SPRING!!!!!!

Raising Jack!

I'm not a big proponent of "Time Out" as I feel an arbitrary amount of time with a child sitting in a corner doesn't do much to help the child figure out what's wrong or work out why he needs to change his behavior. However, we DO have a corner where Jack goes to sit when he's insane!! He usually gets to sit there until he feels he has calmed down and is ready to be part of the household again and I had never put a time on it. Today I started adding the element of time. I still don't think it's a great plan, but I think it worked non the less!! I have said, countless times, that raising Jack is very hard work. Jessie was ( and is ) a cakewalk compared to Jackster and Jack is getting BIGGER and STRONGER and ANGRIER. I have been calm, I have spoken quietly with him, I've expressed my disappointment, sent him to his room to calm down, I've yelled, begged, cried, screamed..... nothin'. That boy is stubborn and determined and I have not yet found that switch to help him behave himself in a reasonable manner.... although...I do feel like we turned a corner today. I feel like we turn so MANY corners that we are going around in circles, nevertheless we have to keep trying, what are the choices otherwise!!! ;D

We've been studying Time lately so if he had to go in the corner for beating up his sister then I told him he had to sit there for 5 minutes. It's right by the kitchen and he can have a book to read if he wants... anyway, he took off and tried to steal some brownies from the kitchen..so I said I would add an extra 5 minutes to his time if he didn't hustle back to his spot... he started yelling at me, so I threatened 10 minutes.... he figured out that would be bad and went back to his spot. See? He's learning time management!! :}

Jessie and I came up with some rhymes to help Jack remember how to behave... it's all very well me telling him he needs to "be good" if I don't actually tell him what "good" is. Our rhymes remind him of what not to do at this point but I'll try and work on some that reinforce a positive message!! From the book "Kids are worth it" I think, comes "If you hit, you sit." If Jack beats on anyone he gets to sit in the corner, in the bathroom, on the couch... wherever.. but he needs to sit and stay there until he is ready to calm down and apologise for hitting. We have "If you yell, you spell!!" sounds crazy, but if he yells at me or Jessie, and BOY does he yell sometimes, then he has to go with me and we work on some spelling words with him until he has relaxed and calmed down ( hah! Sneaking in some school work!! ) actually he really enjoys "building words" so it does help him cool out. There is "If you are mean, you clean" ! Mean children get to help me with chores. Again this isn't really meant to be a "punishment", I simply find work for him to do ( which, as I've said before, he really rather enjoys! ) and it calms him down and refocuses him. Maybe he'll sort laundry, dust the house or help me with the dishwasher... The last one so far is "You thrown, you get low" ... he throws anything he has to lay on the floor for a while until the urge has passed!! We'll see if any of these things work for any length of time, so far the novelty alone has got us through the day! Hopefully just having these things in his mind may make him eventually think twice before being a crazy person. I've always tried to treat him as I would like to be treated and to be reasonable and understanding etc, but man, this kid cries out for structure and consequences. It goes against my grain but we're working on it.... every day's an adventure!!!!

Now.... where's that chocolate bar..??

Bathtime, Bedtime and TV guilty pleasures!

Tonight was Jack's bathnight. He and Jessie alternate nights and it was his turn tonight. I LOVE when Jack has a bath. It seems no matter what I do with him, his face is always sticky and his fingernails are black but on bathnights I put him to bed squeaky clean and soapy scented. There's something about a squeaky clean kid at bed time that just warms my heart! Jack is tremendous about going to bed... once he's upstairs he's quick and easy to get ready. We DO have problems getting him to keep the bathwater in the tub and have once had water dripping on us in the kitchen below, but for the most part he's a treat. Zipped up in his footy pajamas and tucked under the fabulous quilt his Garry made him for Christmas and the little man is out like a light. The only thing that warms my heart more than a squeaky clean kid is a SLEEPING squeaky clean kid!! Usually the children sleep like rocks all through the night, but tonight Jack decided he was thirsty and we heard his padded feet heading down the stairs as we watched TV. He had a little drink and then sat with his Daddy on the couch, both had their feet up, both covered in blankets, both yawning.... My men!! Anyway, seeing Jack on the couch when he should really be in bed reminded me so much of being a child and coming downstairs in the middle of the night ( or what SEEMED like the middle of the night to me!! ) Everything seems different. The quality of the light seems different. The pace seems different. Everything is peaceful and calm, nothing but the flickering light from the television and a lamp in the corner. I remember that feeling so well. I felt so warm and safe and special. It's such a comfort I think to know your parents have the helm whilst you sleep. I always remember that sensation whenever the kids come down at night. Of course it helps that it's a rarity, but I want them to feel the same sense of peace as I did. Anyway, before long Jack decided he was ready to go back to his own bed and two minutes later he was fast asleep leaving me to my computer and streaming Netflix episodes of Jon and Kate Plus Ei8ht! Now THAT woman has her hands full... and you hardly EVER see her eating chocolate! ;D

Examiner article for today!

Amid all the chaos I DID get an article written for the Examiner today. If you are on Facebook you may have already seen it, but if not check it out here. Have a look at the slideshow too... there are some sweet pics of the kids! I'm not sure if I've mentioned the Examiner articles but I get paid something like 3c everytime someone reads it... I'm not going to get rich but it's fun to do and hey, at least I can say I get paid to write !!! LOL!!!

I am trying to write a blog post OR an Examiner article everyday this year.... we'll see how it goes but I'm enjoying it so far! ;D

Let me know how you liked the article, I love reading people's comments and knowing that SOMEONE is reading them! :D

LOL!!!

Maniacal Monday

Wow. Today was um...challenging...!! My friend's children managed to lobby their poor mother into letting them stay here another night, which is MORE than fine by me, they are great kids, they make my kids happy... what's not to love. Jack ADORES them and was so thrilled to wake up and find them here this morning. He wanted sooo badly to play with them today but the poor kid... his communication skills, whilst MUCH improved, are still way behind his peer group's. I don't notice UNTIL he gets around children of his own age and it's a bit of a shock to be honest. Anyway, Jack wanted to play with the kids but couldn't really find a way to communicate his needs. The children were all pretty wild today and there was a LOT of charging around and squealing which makes it even harder for Jack to be heard and understood. Too much excitement tends to lead him to throwing things and lashing out at Jessie. So many times today I had to go to where the children were playing and remove Jack from the scene. So many times Jack assured me he was "a nice boy now" and I, thinking we'd got to the root of the problem, sent him back into the mix. The bigger kids really were doing their best to include him but were unable or unwilling to figure out what Jack wanted and after only a short time mayhem would ensue again. I had hoped to get a ton of work done whilst the kids played together but this time it was not to be. I DID manage to find several things throughout the course of the day that would help Jack cool out. One of which was to have him help me do chores. I asked him to help me sort the laundry into piles until he felt calm enough to go and play with the others. It worked. He LOVES to sort laundry and I could tell that being of use and helping out was really making him feel better. Another thing that worked was to have him sit in a chair or to stand still and to show me how calm he could be whilst I counted ( slowly ) to twenty. I asked him to try and focus on his breathing and I could see the poor little guy trying really hard to take nice deep breaths. By far the biggest thing that worked for us today though, was time, love, attention and empathy. I really felt for him, despite how angry and mean he was being. I knew that he was really hurting inside and wanted desperately to play along and be part of the gang. I held him on my lap and talked to him. I cuddled him and loved him. Most importantly I looked at him with love in my eyes. He had seen anger, confusion, frustration, disappointment, bitterness and concern in my eyes today, but he hadn't seen love. I made sure to soften my expression, smile tenderly upon him and let him see just how much I love him, no matter what. THAT really seemed to work. Suddenly he seemed like a happier, calmer boy. I held his hand and we went up to see the older kids. Jack said he was sorry for being wild and he agreed to sit nicely with them. An hour or so later, after Daddy had come home, Jack came up to me, hugged me and patted my back and said "I love you, Mummy"

And I love you, Jack. So much more than you know.

Sunday so soon?

Well today we had a little parenting test....I'm not sure who won or if I passed but still, we had a moment. Jessie and Jack had been invited to a birthday party. Jack was (somewhat surprisingly) excited to attend and had been singing the Happy Birthday song for a few days. I had told him that he'd need to be good if he were to go to the party. I'm sure there are some hard core AP'ers who would tsk tsk at me for using blackmail or coercion to get my way, but there ya go, life's like that sometimes! Anyway, today Jack was NOT good. He was WILD. There's no other way to describe it. He was angry and throwing things, yelling and being monstrous. I really didn't think it would be a good idea for anyone concerned if Jack were to go to the party... but I really wanted him to go because HE wanted to go. Nevertheless, I told Jack that if he couldn't calm down and be nice then he and I would stay home and Jessie would go to the party with Daddy. Jack weighed his options and decided that staying home sounded fine to him. **sigh**. So stay home we did. It really was for the best, Jack was just wound tight today. Lots of cuddles, food and being helpful seemed to make him feel a bit better. He enjoys being of use and feeling important. Jessie had a marvelous time at the party ( as I knew she would ) and Jack and I got to have some bonding time together.
No harm,no foul! ;D

Saturday... another "nice" day! ;D

Not much happened around here again today! ;D I DID get the validation I needed regarding Jack and snack time! Turns out he REALLY benefits from eating around 8, then again at 11, 1, 4 and 6. It makes an enormous difference to his personality if he gets regular meals and snacks. The kid is build like a brick house and he's solid as rock, but he is a carb hound and I have read that children with Down's may lack the hormone that tells them they are full, so I want to try and watch he doesn't get enormously large! Anyway, I forgot to get him snacks today as I was working on getting the house straightened around... and BOY did we notice a difference! Phew !! ;D

As a follow up to yesterday's post... Mum is fine now, though still bruised and tender poor woman. :( She slid down the stairs due to wearing slippers with no grip, and she seriously banged her coccyx which she had fractured in the '80's and it had never been right since. Thank you so much to everyone who asked about her!

Also the Hunt the Timer game... we get a timer and set it for 10 seconds. Someone hides the timer and pushes start when they have found a great spot, they then have 10 seconds to flee the scene before the timer goes off. The other players hear the timer beeping and have one minute to find it before it quits beeping! It's surprisingly fun, cheap and easy entertainment! ;D

The house is getting back to "normal" now, I believe I have all the decorations put away. The laundry is almost all handled ... just one or two loads to do and one to put away..! Getting there!

For tonight I am going to make a nice, hot cup of tea, put on my PJ's and sit under a blanket on the couch. It's ccccccold out there folks! ;D

'Night night~ ;D

A good day.

Well we had a nice day today! You know it's been a nice day when you look back on it and nothing much stands out in your mind!!! I mean it's been a GREAT day if you look back and had lots of exciting things to do, or friends over, or you did something spectacular and it's a terrible day if you look back and all you can think of is yelling and crying, wet pants, dog poop and cat barf! Today was a nice day. The kiddies and I were once again home all day thanks to ridiculously low temperatures and an innate desire to not go anywhere for any reason! :D Jessie DID venture to the mailbox TWICE bless her, but other than that we were in for the duration! We started to take down the Christmas decorations, I did some work on the computer, we played several rousing games of Hunt The Timer, the kiddoes watched PBS, I chatted on the phone to Lisa and my Mum ( who fell down the stairs today, bless her... :( She really hurt herself... ) I had a long nap.. honestly I'm sure other things were done but I truly can't recall any of them!! Jack had a bath tonight and as I was tucking him up in his bed he snuggled into his pillow and said "good day, Mommy...." He's right. It really was.

Christmas stops here…. Or does it? :D

Today was the day we were supposed to be taking down all the decorations, putting away the little houses, throwing out the gingerbread houses and generally erasing all evidence that Christmas was ever here… Happily we didn't get around to it and Christmas gets to stay for at least one more day. I LOVE Christmas. I love our beautiful trees,



I love making Gingerbread houses,







I love the decorations all around the house but mostly I love the spirit. I love the happiness, the excitement, the joy and kindness you feel from strangers on the street, shoppers in the stores, neighbor greeting neighbor…. I love the magic of Christmas Eve… the letter to Santa, the cookies and sherry, Hot Buttered Rum, log fires and mince pies, fudge wreaths, Holiday Open Houses, Christmas cookies, finding the perfect gift. I love Christmas lights, touring neighborhoods in the car with the kids in their pj's, the Christmas parade,





picking out the tree,




Christmas cake, singing Christmas songs, the Christmas dinner table with candles, the best silver, fancy glasses and all that food.





I love the children's excitement, the wonder and thrill at seeing their bulging stockings on Christmas morning








and the excitement of our own as we search for those things that would make our children's eyes light up. I love Christmas memories, Christmas past. I love it all. You can imagine then, it's with a heavy heart I begin to pack away our decorations and with a sense that each year Christmas seems to come faster and go quicker than the year before. I remember the Christmas before I had Jessie. I packed away my decorations thinking that next Christmas we could have a baby to share it with us…and so we did. I remember packing away the decorations the year before we had Jack and thinking the same thing… wondering who else might be a part of our family next Christmas.

So.. tomorrow for sure it's goodbye to Christmas 2009 and welcome to 2010. Who knows what will happen this year and what I will be thinking as I unpack my decorations once again. ..327 days to go !!!

Snow joke!

I know everyone is sick and tired of hearing about The Snow, but here at the Baker house we just love the stuff!! Today we were treated to a "Feather" snow storm, you know what I mean, where the snow flakes are HUGE and look like feathers slowly falling from the sky! That's the good stuff, the sort of snow that accumulates quickly and often is wonderful for snowballs and snowmen..! In Nebraska it's usually too cold to get good snow. Really! It's true! The BEST temperature for a good snow with beautiful flakes and enough moisture for a good snowman is between 30 and 32 degrees. In Nebraska it's usually waaaay below that and too dry. We get snow that resembles polystyrene pellets, the stuff they make bean bags out of! Sure, it's white and yes, you can sweep it off the steps with a broom, but, meh, I like a good, heavy, WET snow personally!! ;D

Anyway, I'm rambling. The snow was beautiful. It lent a calming hush to the day which was sadly lacking this morning. We sat in the window and watched the snowflakes tumble down and I was filled with a mad urge to go out and play in it… which of course we did!! Bundled up in our snow suits the children and I ran and played, caught snowflakes on our tongues and just listened to the hiss of the snow falling to the ground.







Of course it wasn't ALL peace and quiet…… You may be able to spot the glint in Jack's eyes…… Yeah…. He thought it was necessary to pelt his POOR MOTHER with snowballs…..




Rotten child!! ;D

Jessie decided she would like to play Arctic Wolves so she dug herself a snow cave …..






Good to know she'd be able to keep warm if she for some reason got locked out in the yard…! ;D ( PS, please note the fence in the background. That's a four foot fence people…..!! )

So anyway, that was our day, or at least a big chunk of it! We also had hot tea and cookies, watched a movie on the couch, did a jigsaw puzzle and even got some work done. Jack is learning to tell the time and Jessie learned all sorts of things about various cultures and their celebrations. What a perfect day. No joke.

:D

Cold turkey.....

Nope, not the leftover kind, the "going without something" kind. I've been wondering if I could go cold turkey and quit the internet...! I know if I am traveling or even just away from home for the day I don't miss the computer at all, but as soon as I get home I check the phone for messages then I turn on the computer to check for messages there too. Facebook is my biggest time drain.... I LOVE keeping up with everybody, checking out the photos, playing the games ( well, just the one game, but a LOT ) but really, is it life? Is it LIVING? Do I want "She played a mean game of Bejeweled Blitz but sadly never learned the guitar" on my tombstone?? ( Metaphorical tombstone, I plan on being cremated and made in to diamonds...! 'D ) No. No I don't. I'm going to give it a try. I'll have to do some preparation first. I'll have to have an end date in mind I think... the thought of cold turkey makes me nauseous ( no, literally this time!I really ought to throw that stuff OUT !!! ;D ) but I bet I can do it!!! Give me a few days and I'll see what I can do!!! Really! Really really!

A little heartwarming on a cold winter's night.

Today we had the pleasure of looking after my friend's two children for the afternoon. Will and Charlotte are lovely kids with friendly personalities and sweet and generous natures. They came around lunchtime and left after dinner and that's about all I saw of them!! ;D The children all played together ALL DAY LONG! Even Jack managed to spend the day with them and NOT drive them crazy by climbing all over them or beating up Jessie! Jack has a hard time expressing his desire to play and most older children want to play with Jessie and don't want much to do with Jack at all. He gets frustrated by this and since his verbal skills aren't good enough why he goes with the physical instead. People get the point really fast when he knocks them to the floor and sits on them!! To be fair he only really does that to Jessie, but it sure shocks the heck out of her friends! And when I say that they get the point, they don't. Not really. They think "Wow. That kid is mean, and weird...! Best stay the heck out of his way...!! " and it's not a rare thing for me to find the children all running, screaming away from Jack as he runs after them growling and being a "monster" at least happy to be in the game whilst not realising what his actual part is. It breaks my heart.

We do have some friends who have children who play nicely with Jack. Alicia's kiddoes are wonderful with him and JackSTER and JackFELLA get along swimmingly the more they get together. Of course, with them living in Minnesota, it's not as often as we'd like. *sigh*. Truthfully all of the children who come here are kind and considerate to Jack for the most part and the onus falls on ME to make sure Jack learns how to play with others. It's a learned skill, not something that always comes naturally. As he is out of sync behaviour wise with his peers sometimes it's frustrating for us all. Jack wants to play with the big kids but he is closer, mentally, to the smaller ones.

Eh, he'll get there. I shouldn't worry too much about it all I'm sure. I'm just saying it warms my heart to see him playing WITH other children and to see others playing with him.

That's all. Just a little heartwarming.

Realizations

I had an epiphany this morning, which seemed appropriate though a couple of days early!! Anyway, I lay in bed, listening to the kids squabbling, again, and cursing them under my breath. WHY can they not just get along in the morning??? WHY do they not just get up, get dressed, quietly skip down to breakfast and sort themselves out whilst keeping quiet so their long suffering parents can sleep in on the weekends?? WHY?? WHY??? Why? ( and this is where the epiphany comes in ) Because they are children. Because it is NOT Jessie's JOB to get Jack up and dressed and ready for the day. It is NOT Jessie's job to take care of him, to worry about him, to make sure he eats so he is not CRAZY in the morning. It. Is. MY. Job. Raising Jack is really hard work. Really Really. Sometimes it's easier than others, but it's still hard work. He can be stubborn, he's immensely strong and he will fight like the dickens with Jessie. Because Jack IS such hard work I have tended to avoid dealing with him whenever possible. I hadn't done it intentionally, but I grew aware this morning that I have been pushing more and more responsibility away from myself and onto Jessie. The poor girl. She is such a sweetheart towards him. Sure, she gets fed up with him but he will sit on her, throw things at her, yell at her, slap at her and she rarely loses her temper with him. The other day a show he was watching ended and a new one began. He was angry the show had finished so he threw the remote at Jessie's head. *sigh* Anyway, the epiphany. I realised I wasn't PARENTING him. It is MY job to get him up and dressed, fed and loved. No one else's. I got straight up out of bed, took his little hand and helped him get up and through the bathroom routine. I took both children downstairs and made them breakfast for a change. I spoke kindly to them and told them that I would be making efforts this year to be the Mummy. They really responded to it and the funny thing is, it felt right. It felt good and it felt right.

Stepping up to rather than side stepping my responsibilities. Look at me, I'm growing!

Lazy Day..!

Jack about drove me nuts today! I did find myself screaming... just screaming...as I was totally frustrated by his absolute refusal to do anything I asked. I don't think it was totally unreasonable for me to ask him to pick up the playing cards he had flung off the table and onto the floor? I explained that the dog would chew them and ruin them etc etc etc... to no avail. He just absolutely refused. "No." GAH!! I was at my wits end. To be fair my cycle was driving me insane also, I was pretty sure I was losing body organs and felt rather drained and weak. Not a good time to refuse me!! :D Poor kid. Luckily for us all Daddy came home and saved the day. He did the right thing and HELPED Jack pick up the cards ( doh!! ) and then they sorted the recycling for me whilst I hid out upstairs under the pretense of doing laundry when in fact I was playing with the cats!! (shh!!)

We spent the rest of the day in relative harmony. The kids have discovered the joy of Netflix on demand so they watched a movie whilst Rex and I SAT at the dining table, drank tea AND TALKED!!!! It's amazing!! We haven't just sat and chatted together for ... man, I don't know how long!! We also did a couple of little jobs here and there, discussed plans for the house and how to insulate the walls, we stuck up my quote on the wall that Mum got me for Christmas ( The fondest memories are made when gathered around the table ) pics to come when my computer comes home ... Monday now...! : } After dinner we broke open the Wii Fit Plus and the kids and I played several new games! My ARMS are exhausted from being a flying chicken....! I'm going to be SO sore tomorrow! ;D

The kids have been asleep now for a few hours and Rex and I are working on a jigsaw puzzle we got for Christmas... this one is a map of the world where the pieces are the actual shapes of the countries!!! I'm liking it!! ;D

Anyway, there you have it ... another day in Bakerville...!! More later folks! ;D G'night! :D

Happy New Year! ;D

Happy New Year to everyone! I'm already enjoying 2010... LOL!! I've resolved to do more writing, more exercising, more loving and more living this year **excuse me whilst I redirect BOTH of my cats from my keyboard** ahem!! ;D

So in order not to fail myself on my first day of the year, here is a blogpost!!! LOL! :D Christmas was wonderful at our house this year! My Mum was able to come and join us thanks to the generosity of a long time family friend. I'm so glad she could come... it's just not Christmas without her somehow! ;D We did plenty of Christmassy things, ate far too much Christmassy food ( think fudge, cake, cookies, candy, fudge, some candy, cake...... !! Oh and roast potatoes.... hmmmmm!!) had our portraits taken again ( I'll add some pics once I get my computer back from the shop, I'm using Jessie's at the moment...) did a little shopping, got snowed in, played games, did jigsaw puzzles, built snowmen, laughed a lot..... you know, the usual! :D New Year's Eve was fun, Mum had to leave on the 29th so she wasn't here for our little party but we had some friends come over, played more games, ate more food... you get the idea, right!?! :D So here we are, a whole new year, new plans, a new slate, the blank page stretched out ahead of us and us with a new box of crayons!! Let's see what this year brings!!! I hope it brings nothing but joy for all of us!! Chin chin! ;D

Life's a parade!

Just a reminder for everyone in the Lincoln area that the Star City Parade is on Saturday!!!!! WHOOO!! I love the parade though it is always soooo COLD!! Almost without fail!! ;D

Anyway, if you are planning on going I may see you there!! Have a great time!!! :D

DECEMBER 1ST!! :D Yippppeeee!!!

I have to say, I do love the Christmas season!! ***Happy sigh*** !!

The kids are in the room singing to Christmas music on the radio...!! Too sweet!! I'm all up~and~at'em since my friend Lisa and I are having a contest to earn points and ultimately to win free dessert!! We get bonus points if we get up, showered and dressed before 8 am.... ! It's a good motivator to get out of bed in the cold winter mornings!!

I hung our Advent Cups out last night and I LOVE them! They are so pretty! :D The children were thrilled to come downstairs and hunt for the first one and happily shared out the jelly beans!! Today's "event" is to go to Super Target (dun duh duh duuuuuuh!!) and get "Zappers" so the children can "zap" the toys and gifts they like and make an online list for friends and family. Part of me worries that they will be greedy and just blindly ZAP everything but whenever we have done this in the past, they always impress me with how considered they are and everything they pick is something they really like. Also I'm always surprised how they don't even think about it once the list is made... the best fun for them is simply the zapping! They hardly even think that they might actually get something afterwards!! ;D

Well I suppose I should get to work... lots of invoicing to do today, ugh... and it's bill paying day, just remembered.. : ( Boo. Ah well.... I'll get them done!! Also library van day....!!! Glad I got up early!! ;D

Only make this if you have company coming or will be giving some to friends!!!

Oh man!! I made this at Thanksgiving and I've made it before a few times, but honestly, if you don't have someone else to share them with… well, I'm just warning you, you will eat them all. You won't be able to help yourself!!!

 

PS….. Here I would usually add a photo….. but we ate them all…..!!! ( the bars, not the photos! Silly!!)

 

Merry Berry Cheese Bars from Eagle Family Foods, Inc.

 

2 cups unsifted lour

1 ½ cups oats

¾ cup + 1 tbsp firmly packed brown sugar

1 cup butter, softened

1 ( 8oz) package cream cheese, softened

 

1 (14 oz) can Condensed Milk

¼ cup Lemon Juice

1 (16oz) can whole berry cranberry sauce

2 tbsp corn starch

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. With mixer beat flour, oats, ¾ cup sugar and butter until crumbly. Set aside 1 ½ cups mixture, press remaining mixture on bottom of greased 13 x 9 inch baking pan. Bake 15 mins or until lightly browned.

With mixer beat cheese until fluffy. Gradually beat in condensed milk until smooth, stir in Lemon juice. Spread over baked crust. Combine cranberry sauce, corn starch and remaining 1 tbsp sugar. Spoon over cheese layer. Top with remaining crumb mixture.

Bake 45 mins or until golden. Cool and cut into bars. Refrigerate leftovers. The recipe suggests you cut these into large bars and serve with ice cream (!! Are you KIDDING me?!? ) but they are sooo rich that I cut them into 2" squares and we devour them unadulterated!

Christmas is coming… apparently!! ;D

Thanksgiving's over…. You know what comes next !! ; D

 

EVERY YEAR I am blindsided by Christmas !!! EVERY SINGLE YEAR !! Each year I VOW that this time I'll be on top of it, gifts bought, cake made, cards HOMEMADE, written and mailed by November's end. Um…. Have you noticed today's date?!? Yah. Have I done ANYTHING from my list yet??? Nope !!! LOL!! I guess I'll have to get cracking in the next ONE DAY I have before November ends. I don't know about where you live, but here in the Central time zone, the hours run three times faster in December!!

 

Anyway, griping over!

 

The children and I did have a super time recently building Babylon from a piece of Styrofoam and Lego pieces!! I wrote about it for the Online Examiner and included tons of pics….. Please feel free to check it out! I'm actually quite pleased with this article and we really enjoyed the project! It came up from nothing since Jack had this really neat piece of Styrofoam that reminded me of Aztec homes… I looked up images of Aztec homes and then realized that actually Babylonia was more like it!! I read more about Babylon to the kids and we remembered reading about the Hanging Gardens of Babylon…. And so it went on!! Bunny trails they call it!! ;D Anyway, if you read the article you'll see what I mean! ;D

 

So today is bright and sunny ( oh yeahy!!!! ) and 48 degrees outside!! I will no doubt be cajoled into a walk with the dogs and kiddoes before too long and I'm going to make the most of it whilst we still can! I keep threatening the kids with … you should play NOW…. It's going to get COLDER soon!! ;D But hey, it's the end of November and yesterday the temps were in the 70's….. WHAT is going on?!!?!? Here in Nebraska they have a saying.. "If you don't like the weather, wait 15 minutes… it will change!!!" I have honestly seen days that have been 80 degrees one day and SNOW on the ground the next !!! CrrrrrAAAAAzy!! ;D

 

Well folks, I suppose I should get back to the chores… right?? The kitchen is a disaster, the living / dining / bath/ basement / bed rooms are ALL disasters…..and Mum is flying in two weeks today!!!! ;D Aie aie aie!!!

Hold on tight folks, it's a slippery slope from here!! ;D

 

 

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!!!

I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving!! I spent the entire day prior and the entire day OF Thanksgiving in the kitchen, but luckily a) I like my little kitchen and b) I had Miss Jessie to help me! She made the cranberry sauce, helped make pumpkin muffins for breakfast, set the table for dinner and basically was a super big help today! She kept telling me " I LOVE Thanksgiving!!" Awwww!!! Jack was hilarious! Rex was taking a short video at the dinner table and Jack waved at the camera and said "Hello!! I'm eating yummy food!!" LOL!!! He'll eat ANYTHING but it's a great day when anyone compliments my cooking!!! So anyway, a lovely day was had by all, our Thankful Tree is full of leaves and our bellies are full of "Yummy Food!" ( The fridge is ALSO full of yummy food so I guess I won't have to worry about dinner for the next week or two..!! LOL!!!





We are thankful for so many things, big and small.... Jessie said "I'm glad we have a good home and a fair amount of money" !!! She cracks me up!!!





Jessie made this adorable owl to sit in our tree this year.... I LOVE it!!!!



Watch out folks..... we know it's full steam ahead to Christmas now!!! ;D Whoooo wooooooooo!! ;D