Disney on Ice

Jansen and I went on a little date this morning to Disney on Ice. Princess Julia was also in attendance and they had a wonderful time. We watched some videos on the internet last night of other Disney on Ice performances so Jansen would know what to expect. It mostly just made him wary of "the people in black underwear," also known as The Incredibles.

Jansen and Julia proved to us yet again that it is a near impossible task to simply look at the camera.

I LOVE:

smoked almonds (but so pricey)

sandwich baggies (all sizes, they are so wonderful and containing)

seeing mail in my inbox (no pressure)

elderly people in department stores (reminds me of the good ol' days)

the frosting on store-made cakes (I would rather eat...I dont know...anything else)

friends that bring me fast food (with an Oreo shake)

the Muppets mahna mahna video on YouTube (Natalie may love it more than me)

I HATE:

cutting my grapefruit into segments (luckily Nate's a pro)

putting coats on my kids (sounds horrible doesn't it)

prunes (but I still feed them to my kids and they love them)

brushing Natalie's teeth (it's like taming a wild animal)

losing basketball games (and then that night I dream that I launched a girl in the nose)

eating breakfast...because I never have an appetite in the morning (but I do it anyway)

Just Another Post

Natalie: She's just a few days shy of 18 months and I love her to pieces. She's starting to put two words together (most of them start with "mine") like "mine milk." As the days slowly warm up she is just ITCHING to get outside and doesn't seem to mind a bit when it's chilly...she just wants out! She thinks she can live on milk alone...but also adores fruit, especially strawberries, oranges, grapefruit, and mangoes.

This was a couple weeks ago but I never posted about it and it was such a fun, easy activity. At playgroup I helped the kids make these finger puppets (you just get some old gloves and cut them at the base of each of the fingers). To be honest, I used a glue gun so they did a lot of sitting and waiting while I glued and stuck stuff on but it was still fun.

Restaurant.com Deal

I have no idea how long this deal will be going on but right now on Restaurant.com you can get 80% off their gift certificates with the promo code DINE. If you have never been on their site, you can get $25 gift certificates for $10 and then if you apply this promo you ultimately get $25 gift certificates for $2. It's for real...I got some today...but they don't have the widest or best selection. Make sure you read the restrictions and stuff...sometimes there is a minimum purchase at a restaurant or something but it's usually not anything you wouldn't spend anyway! I got like $70 worth of gift certificates for $5.

Time Well Spent

Sometimes I stress myself out a little bit because my mind is going 100 mph trying to think of what I could be doing at that moment that would be the best use of my time. Luckily, there is at least one thing that I KNOW is an excellent use of my time, even if it doesn't seem like it: playing and spending time with Jansen and Natalie. Today I was having one those stressful moments because Natalie was still sleeping so I was racking my brain, trying to decide what would be the very best use of my time till she woke up. Fold laundry? Plan next week's meals? Blog? Finish the dishes? Read? I decided to make cookies with Jansen. It was definitely the best decision and left me with no doubts of whether I was spending my time wisely or not. I only have them at home with me for a little while and then they'll be off to school and although it about drives me batty to drive racecars with Jansen, I know I need to do it more often and I know it will be time well spent.

All Better

Around 10:00 last night Jansen woke up crying. He was really upset, impossible to console, and kept curling up in a ball and uncurling and just in a lot of pain. He went back and forth between telling us his head hurt and that his tummy hurt. He wanted "it" to stop hurting so badly and would ask me to hold him and then would want to be back in his bed and then cried to be held again and back and forth. There was no vomiting or diarrhea or fever which was almost more concerning because if those things were going on we would assume he had a stomach bug...we thought it might be gas but what if it was something more serious? His writhing and crying went on for about an hour and we decided to call our pediatrician. He recommended we take him to the ER (I didn't want to do this...I didn't want to be one of those people who bring their child in for non-serious problems...but on the other hand, it's my child! I definitely wanted to help ease the pain and find out what was wrong.) A friend came over to sit at the house with Natalie while we went to the ER. Jansen really calmed down on our way there and was acting pretty much normal so we turned around and came home. He went back to sleep and slept through the night. We found out this morning what the problem was...ruptured ear drum. I guess he is still too young to describe where his pain is (since we thought it was his tummy) but we're so glad it wasn't something more serious. He's happy as can be today and thankfully we avoided a visit to the ER ($$$) to be told he had an ear infection.

Other recent discoveries...it's not easy or fun to play Chutes and Ladders with an 18 month old.

Conversations

Jansen: "Mom, is the Pilot (our car) made of gray Play-dough?"
Me: "No, I don't think it is."
Jansen: "Is it?"
Me: "It's not, honey."
Jansen: "Is it made of gray Play-dough Mom?"
Me: "Nope."
Jansen: "What I want to hear is yes.'"
Me: "Yes, Jansen, the car is made of gray Play-dough."

We have conversations like this all the time lately. Especially about what season it is right now. I am forever torn between answering the child with the truthful, logical answers or just telling him what he wants to hear and hoping it doesn't screw up his whole schema of the world.

His new favorite phrase, "Well in that case..." It's hilarious.

I LOVE:

smoked almonds (but so pricey)

sandwich baggies (all sizes, they are so wonderful and containing)

seeing mail in my inbox (no pressure)

elderly people in department stores (reminds me of the good ol' days)

the frosting on store-made cakes (I would rather eat...I dont know...anything else)

friends that bring me fast food (with an Oreo shake)

the Muppets mahna mahna video on YouTube (Natalie may love it more than me)

I HATE:

cutting my grapefruit into segments (luckily Nate's a pro)

putting coats on my kids (sounds horrible doesn't it)

prunes (but I still feed them to my kids and they love them)

brushing Natalie's teeth (it's like taming a wild animal)

losing basketball games (and then that night I dream that I launched a girl in the nose)

eating breakfast...because I never have an appetite in the morning (but I do it anyway)

Dog Days of Winter

The first picture is a little dark, but the kids are pretending to be dogs and are eating from their dog dishes. They like to be fed sunflower seeds...I used to LOVE to pretend that I was a unicorn (usually while I was in the bathtub) and I would eat sunflower seeds from a little bowl. Pretending to be animals is definitely the cool thing around here these days. I asked Jansen the other day if he liked Primary and if his teacher was nice. He said, "Yeah! And she doesn't even bite your hand!"

It's fun to see Natalie play pretend with Jansen. She learns so much from watching him. Jansen had no idea how to pretend to be a dog when he was her age.

On Valentine's Day

Yeah, they're hearts if you can't tell. Martha Stewart would be horrified by how my pancakes turned out. Luckily she doesn't read my blog, or she never comments anyway.

Now here is something truly awesome. We got these couches for free from a friend of a friend and Nate picked them up yesterday. No more Wal-Mart couch covers and couches purchased at Savers and Volunteers of America! There's a large ottoman as well that we have up in our room.

Big Trouble in Little China

Her new favorite thing...dump all the wet wipes into the toilet. When I saw this one I said, "Natalie!!!" She just looked at me and kept saying over and over, "That. that. THAT. That!"

Still loves to wreak havoc at meal time

Thank goodness they grow out of it

Humidifier Hair

I've been turning the humidifier on while Natalie naps and she has been waking up with hair that has a small resemblance to Krusty the Clown.

A Visit to the Biologically Diverse

Nate had to go in to the hospital on Saturday so I decided the kids and I would just lay low and I would try to get a lot of cleaning done. Yeah right. 1. It is Natalie's sole purpose in life to thwart my cleaning, organizing, and relaxation efforts. 2. I truly think I have some sort of adult ADD and I cannot stay at my home with the kids for very long. It is best for all 3 of us if we get out of the house. Our destination on Saturday: The Ohio State University's Museum of Biological Diversity. It was their annual free day. I knew it would be a big undertaking (think taxidermied owls and fragile butterfly exhibits) but we actually had a wonderful time and the kids were very well behaved. There were so many things that could hold their interest for at least a minute or so that Natalie didn't try to run around or be too crazy. I try to do this kind of thing with Jansen and Natalie because I want them to have lots and lots of fun memories. I just love memories.

The Horror of the Snuggie

Oh it feels good to laugh. I found this utterly and completely hilarious.

Ramblings

You gotta love heater vents. I am sitting on one right now and it is positively warming. I actually did take the kids out for a walk today because it was like 45 degrees...yes, that is a welcome temperature right now...but now I am needing to warm up so that's why I've planted myself on the vent.

Anyone seen the movie Fireproof? We got it from Redbox last night...had never heard of it till we got there...and it was PG so of course we had to snatch it up. Slim pickings these days when you are trying to find movies that aren't too filthy. It was interesting. A Baptist church made it and it was actually a good use of our time and filled with great messages. If you are big into movies then you will probably laugh at it, but we enjoyed it. It was a wonderful reminder about the sacredness and importance of marriage and the loyalty we must have to our partner.

Jansen continues to make me laugh. Today I was pretending to be his veterinarian (he LOVES being my dog these days) and he called me his "missionarian." He combined missionary and veterinarian as he tried to fish the right word out of his head. The other night he also prayed that Jesus would help us "not be afraid of our families." Hmmm. I swear we do not mistreat him.

If I were rich here are some things I would promptly spend more money on than I am right now:
-smoothies and smoothie ingredients
-makeup
-little gifts and surprises for others
-mangoes, blackberries, dried fruit
-music downloads
-jeans
-car washes

I am a little curious about something. I used to hate salad. But I wanted to like it. So I forced myself to eat it for years and now I do like it. I think that is also beginning to happen with tomatoes. Here's what I am curious about: what food that I can't stand am I going to learn to like in the next 10 years? I guess that's largely up to me, but it still makes me wonder. I hope it's not jalapenos.

Toothless Joe Jansen

His new grin:

It looks so much better today...here it is:

Sitting with daddy

Keepin' it real

Do You Know What This Is?

If your answer is: Jansen's other front baby tooth, you are correct. He does not have either of his front teeth now. He knocked it out at preschool today...I think he was probably running or goofing around as he was waiting upstairs for me to pick him up and he fell and hit his mouth on the coffee table. He is pretty upset and ornery (totally understandable). I think we may need to take him into the pediatric dentist again because a couple of his other teeth look a little banged up and are a little loose. For now he is recovering on the couch watching his absolute favorite movies "I Love Toy Trains."

One of My Favorites

I love this sauce! We have it over ravioli, tortellini, just plain noodles, etc. Very easy, very yummy.

INGREDIENTS
1 (16 ounce) package cheese tortellini
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes with garlic and onion
1 cup chopped fresh spinach
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese


DIRECTIONS
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the tortellini, and cook until tender, about 10 minutes.
While you get the tortellini going, combine the tomatoes, spinach, salt, pepper, basil and garlic in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook and stir until the mixture begins to bubble.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, milk and cream. Stir this mixture into the saucepan along with the Parmesan cheese. Heat through, then reduce heat to low, and simmer until thick, about 2 minutes. Drain the tortellini, but do not rinse, then pour them into the saucepan with the sauce. Stir to coat, and serve.

A Little Excitement to Our Sunday

I hesitate to use the word "excitement" for this post because this was really quite sad and could have been really bad, but it did shake up our afternoon.

I was looking out our bedroom window and saw our neighbor's truck on fire. Their were flames probably 6 or 7 feet high and I stared at it trying to figure out what was going (I know, duh, a fire) and then yelled to Nate that there was a fire and to call 911. We ran outside as he called 911 and the flames were just engulfing the hood of the truck. Another neighbor had seen the smoke and had also called the fire dept. We needed to tell the family about it and get them out of their house (the car was parked really close to their home and we were worried the house was going to catch fire) but the neighbor who had first seen the fire told everybody to stay away in case the car exploded or something. He eventually ran around to the back of their house and knocked on their windows and told them what was going on.

I didn't want to make light of the situation and go snap pictures while this family watched their truck burn, but I did take a couple pictures from our bedroom window. The fire department eventually arrived and put the fire out before the house was damaged. And now...I am going to go replace the batteries in one our smoke detectors!