We recently had our six month dental cleanings. It has become a sort of competition (probably only to me) to see who gets the best report card from the hygienist when we're finished. Luckily Boo always has his appointments about two weeks ahead of Noelle and me, so I can gauge how much more I should brush and floss so that I get superior comments on how well I'm flossing and brushing. Don't be fooled, I don't always win and I've had way more cavities than he will ever have in his lifetime. Side note: Did you know you should not brush instantly after throwing up? Rinse first and brush after a few minutes. Darn that morning sickness with all three. Luckily we're a cavity free family for the past year! The hygienist told me that my teeth were the best she'd seen all day, maybe even all week. Boo-yah!
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Vanity
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Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Crawling up From the Depths
Its true, I feel like I've been down in the depths of dark places. Not so much in a sad depressed sort of way. These are the depths of being the mother of three kids, reluctantly folding piles of laundry, and picking up the exact same toys day in and day out. Its true, my kids play with all the same things and the rest are just accessory toys to make it look like they're spoiled. Wait, they are spoiled. Our favorites are dress-ups and barbies and the bin of "baby toys" that linger in our family room, but will soon move to the toy accessory closet. Now that Nicholas is walking he spreads toys, shoes and shreds of toilet paper throughout the domicile. Good thing he's a cutie.
So as we climb out of those depths and get back into a routine now that school is back in session I can maybe get back to my neglected blog. Its still hot enough in our neck of the woods that we're hermits hiding out in our air conditioned caves so I should find a minute or two to enlighten you with life lessons courtesy of Noelle.
Yesterday's life lesson - Sleep is good.
Noelle - "Mom have you been using wrinkle cream?"
Me - "No, do I look like I have less wrinkles?"
Noelle - "Yeah"
Me - "Nope. This is what a good night's sleep looks like."
Boo and I are still wondering how she even knows what wrinkle cream is and why she thinks I need it. I must look old to her.
On another funny note, after church on Sunday Noelle was inspecting my wedding dress that hangs in the closet and asked if I would try it on for her. Reluctantly I said yes, not knowing if it would fit my current frame. Needless to say I put it on and couldn't zip it up myself and then got the zipper jammed. Yep, stranded in my wedding dress. I texted Boo and told him I needed assistance, implying "GET HOME!" After unjamming the zipper he zipped it up and we stood there together reminiscing about that great day. Good times. Noelle was entranced.
Three cheers for fitting into my wedding dress thirteen years later! Hip hip hooray! Hip hip hooray! Hip hip hooray!
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Saturday, December 24, 2011
Twelve Days of Christmas - Day 11
Tonight we celebrated the holiday with some of our dear friends with a red and green dinner. As part of the red and green dinner celebration they also make a cake to celebrate Jesus' birthday. I had to threaten taking away dessert from my kids if they didn't eat their dinner. This is about how the conversation went;
Noelle: "If I don't eat my dinner I won't get any Jesus birthday cake?"
Me: "Nope, and you won't get any ice cream either."
Noelle: "You mean Christcream."
And that my friends, is why we're awesome.
In her defense, all of the kids were calling the cake Jesus' birthday cake.
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Twelve Days of Christmas - Day 10
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Twelve Days of Christmas - Day 9
P.S. - If any of my five readers keeps copies of cards they recieve, I need one of my cards from 2004 (Red Sox theme, tri-fold, cute.) I'll send you a prize if you have one for me to put in my Christmas card album.
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Friday, December 23, 2011
Twelve Days of Christmas - Day 8
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Twelve Days of Christmas - Day 7
Ok so I haven't posted in a few days, but that won't stop Christmas from coming and hasn't stopped miracles from happening. So for the seventh day I will share my Christmas miracle.
Oh but the miracle happened the next day when I had to return with the box of stuff I had to mail. Not only was there next to no line, but the postal worker was kind and helpful. That my friends is the Christmas miracle.
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Monday, December 19, 2011
Twelve Days of Christmas - Day 6
A little side story, a week or so ago Boo and I were putting out some gifts that we've been storing in our bedroom since mid November. These are gifts from grandparent visits that we thought would be most safe if kept out of the main thorough fairs of the house. As we were arranging the gifts underneath the tree Noelle came out of her room sleep walking, but staring at us in wonder of what we were doing. It was as if Boo and I were reading each other's minds. One of us burst out "Noelle its Christmas! Look Santa came!" Her face was blank as we could see her mind trying to process. Boo then swept her away for a bathroom break and then back to bed. Awesome cruel.
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Saturday, December 17, 2011
Twelve Days of Christmas - Day 5
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Friday, December 16, 2011
Twelve Days of Christmas - Day 4
Ah the gift exchanging...love it or hate it? I guess the answer depends on the gift and the giftee. There are some years that I am up for the challenge to find the perfect gift or to sacrifice something to afford that perfect gift. However it seems that with my increased brood that my gift giving has been lacking in past years. We have been getting smarter and try to get more utilitarian type gifts even if its not on the giftee's wish list.
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Thursday, December 15, 2011
Twelve Days of Christmas: Day 3
Yesterday Tommy didn't come back from the North Pole. You see Noelle had been super sassy about how her mom doesn't make any good cookies with anything on them and then some other tirade of how we never eat anything good. Truth be told her words stung a lot, but that wasn't actually why Tommy didn't come.
The problem with the Elf on the Shelf is that he has to be moved everyday. It sounds so great in theory but I can't move him until I'm about to put my head to a pillow. Our darned two year old has become a night owl and makes moving Tommy a hard task. So often times he doesn't get moved until the morning when we remember and one of us distracts the kids while the other scrambles to find a new location for Tommy.
So yesterday Tommy didn't comeback because he was actually stuffed in the top of a cupboard as not to be seen sitting in the same place as the day before. I didn't have time to actually move him and I could hear my girls making their way around the corner. I panicked! Needless to say I had a good MO for why he didn't come back due to my stinker child's behavior.
I think its been the most effective to Sis. Her little neighbor friend's elf told Santa she'd been really naughty and so Santa sent her a letter to let her know her elf wouldn't be back until she was nice to her mom. So just tonight Sis kept telling me that Annie wasn't going to get any presents because her elf said she was naughty. Glad to know one of my children has been paying attention.
Here's a link to a great post that gave me a great laugh regarding other's experiences with their elf friends.
http://peopleiwanttopunchinthethroat.blogspot.com/2011/12/over-achieving-elf-on-shelf-mommies.html
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Twelve Days of Christmas - Day 2
We have had the opportunity to help some other families with Christmas this year. We have tried to use these as teaching moments for our kids, especially Noelle. We have been trying to help her understand that there are other kids in our community who probably won't get a lot of presents this Christmas. Its harder than you think to explain to a five year old. I knew it was starting to sink in for her but was still perplexing. She asks very detailed questions about the kids, details we just don't have. I think the excitement finally set in when we wrapped up the gifts.
The other day when UPS brought a doll house that Grandma had shipped to us, Sydney saw the picture on the outside of the box and being all excited asked if it was for her. Of course I lied and said no and then she asked, "Its for other kids?" That has been our tag line while shopping for our unknown recipients, "gifts for other kids."
We have been the recipients of the generosity of others in past years and feel really grateful that we can teach this charity to our children. Hopefully this is something we can continue to do each year as a reminder of all the good that we're blessed with in our lives.
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Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Twelve Days of Christmas, Day 1
We took advantage of an early release school day so there were no crowds which was good, because Sis kept running up to Santa to give him a hug and then would go back to whatever it was she was doing before. Also, Noelle shocked me by writing up a list for Santa. It was something like this:
e z bac (Easy Bake Oven)
Brbe has (Barbie House)
spic kids (Spy Kids)
noe brb (New Barbie)
The best part was that she was helping another girl write the same list. Ha!
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Picture Explanation
A few people have asked me about the black and white pictures that I've posted on the blog and on the wall in my family room. Here's the long and short of the whole thing; back in 2009 I was encouraged to enter Noelle into a picture contest. In order to do that I needed to take some pictures of her because I didn't have anything recent. So in my usual form I used my crazy mad skillz and taped my dark purple sheet to a wall in my bedroom. I think it was the magic of the packing tape used, but I took some pretty fantastic pictures and even though we didn't win any contests it has turned into a great tradition three years running. So each fall when the light comes through the large windows at just the right time we have a photo shoot. Thanks to the glory of digital I can take a ton of pictures and if it doesn't turn out how I want then I delete them and start over. I love they way they've turned out each time, different but wonderful. Here is the link for 2009 and 2010. Enjoy the look back into the past.
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Sunday, November 13, 2011
My Other Children
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Friday, November 11, 2011
Four Months
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Labels: Nicholas
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Love That Dirty Water
We went to see the movie Moneyball on Friday night. If you even like baseball slightly then I think you'd like the movie. There is a part when they are in Fenway Park. It's typical Boston rainy fall weather. Seeing Fenway and the area around the park made my heart ache. I miss Boston, heaps full, especially during this time of the year. There really isn't a better place to be in the fall and everyone there embraces it with open arms. I can honestly say I've never seen more homes decorated for the season and it's holidays than in New England. But then comes winter and really Arizona is a good place to be during those months.
Love you Beantown. Hope to see you soon.
Sent from my iPhone
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Monday, October 10, 2011
Toddler Losses
Last night I was making a mental list of the damage done by Sis in one day. Baggie of cereal dumped out on kitchen floor during fit of rage. Something to do with milk and a bowl. Dancing up the aisle at church ballerina style and then noticing the stairs up to the pulpit. Getting into my sewing stuff, finding the scissors and cutting up a spool of ribbon into small pieces. *Accidentally cutting her church dress in the process. During removal from the chapel, finding toy trains and then using said trains to fend off their owner. A swift bonk on the head worked well. There may have been an incident with popcorn, but I was losing consciousness at this point while nursing a baby. During Canadian Thanksgiving dinner smooshing mash potatoes through her fingers then feeding it to the dog. A black Sharpie marker tattoo all over her legs. More Sharpie on two banana chairs in the theatre room (not our theatre room.) Oh the times i really wanted to crawl beneath the closest chair or table and hide out sheer embarrassment. I offered to clean off the marker with some rubbing alchohol. Hopefully our Canadian friends will invite us back. Luckily she didn't get out of her bed a thousand times because she might have been put in the shed to sleep for the night. (not really but it would be a good home for a hobo like her.) *I say accidentally because it did not look intentional and had it been then I believe there would have been holes all over.
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Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Diamondbacks Game
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