School Projects

Jaelyn brought home instructions for her first big school project yesterday. She has to construct a replica of the outside of our house. We can use anything we want to make it: modeling clay, shoe boxes, popsicle sticks, legos. Thinking about how we'll do it reminded me of the Kennedy Space Center my mom helped me make when I was in 4th grade. It was so cool. We even made the shuttle frame out of tooth picks. For ours, I'm thinking we'll use shoe boxes and then maybe paper mache to cover and smooth everything out. We can use popsicle sticks to build our fence and deck and dye sand green to glue on as our grass. That sounds like fun, yes? I seem to remember my mom making some sort of concoction like icing, but that dried hard to use on the ground and the sides of the building. I'll have to call and ask. We need to get moving on it though because it's due in 1 month.

When Will My Life NOT Revolve Around Poop?

And yes, I'm serious! I'd always thought you got your kids potty trained and then you didn't have to worry about it anymore. We've struggled with Jaelyn and poop for as long as I can remember. Part of the problem is constipation, but I think a lot of the problem is that she just doesn't want to put in the time to sit on the potty. We've hit a bad point again where the benafiber, apple juice, prune juice and apples aren't working. Not only is she dealing with slight constipation, but since she doesn't want to go potty, she's also having pee issues - not big accidents, just damp, stinky underwear. I've talked to her doctor about it in the past and I've made another appt for Good Friday. I'm hoping she can give us something stronger than benafiber that'll help make everything easier on her and me.

Making Me Smile

On Hannah's Prayer, I start a topic called What Makes You Smile every month or so. It's a chance for us to share the fun things about our kids. Here's my answers one day this week:

Dan has been making me so happy by alternating nights reading to the kids. He's been working long hours, some nights not home until the kids are getting ready for bed. Even on those nights, though, he's offering to give me a break and sits down to read the latest chapter to the kids.

Allie just disappeared up the stairs. She came down in her ballet leotard with a tiara on her head and tinker bell slippers on her head. A princess ballerina! She loves to dress up and dance. Lots of times when she responds to me, she says "yes, your highness" only she pronounces highness "hind-ness" like she's calling me a butt. It always makes me laugh and she doesn't understand why.

Caden pretended to fall asleep while I was reading to him before nap. He let me carry him upstairs, put him on the potty and tuck him into bed without a peep and then he didn't yell when I closed his door like he normally would have when the game ended. Instead, he went to sleep.

I haven't seen much of Jaelyn today since she's at school, but she did make me happy this morning by getting dressed without a fuss and by eating all of her breakfast without me constantly redirecting her back to her plate.

More Exercise News

Cardio Press was designed by the devil. I'm sure of it. I took the class on Friday and it nearly killed me. It was an interval class with 4 minutes of cardio followed by 4 minutes of weight training followed by 4 more minutes of cardio etc, etc and continuing for 60 minutes. By the end, I could hardly move I was so tired all over. I must say though, that I'm going back!!! My new goal is to make it through that class doing everything the instructor does. I fudged a lot by skipping reps and not using the step during cardio. Oh, and so you don't think I'm a total weakling, I was not the only one about to die at the end of the class!

Saturday, I tried Zumba taught by my neighbor. I've heard she's the best Zumba teacher around and now I know why she's skinnier than a twig. She shook things I didn't know were possible to shake. Oh my! It was loads of fun, but none of the dance classes I've taken in my entire life prepared me for Angie's Zumba!

My Health Assessment

I met with a personal trainer this morning at the gym to give me some guidance on how to meet my goals. I know, this is so exciting to all of you, but if I write about it here, I have to commit to it! Basically, I'm not trying to lose weight. I want to build muscle, develop more flexibility and flatten and tone my abdominal muscles. Not too much, ya think? She took some measurements and made me stand on a scale (I didn't like their scale. It was 4 pounds heavier than mine which my mom says weighs 3-5 pounds over her doctor's scale. Hmmm...). She had this cool machine that you hold with your arms straight out. It sends some sort of pulse through your body and gives you a body fat percentage based on how fast it takes the pulse to go through you. Kind of cool. 20% of me is fat, which is average now that's I've gotten home and googled it. The plan is to go to the cardio classes and add in some weight training (free weights). I still love the Zumba class. The Butts and Gutts class is a killer, but I've survived two. I'm trying out a class called Cardio Press tomorrow which is supposed to be an awesome cardio workout plus techniques used in Ultra-press with is a barbell workout class. All in all, I'm really happy with this gym. Dan has decided to go to the Y and is meeting with their trainer on Sunday to come up with a fitness plan for him.

20/25 and No Strabismus

Caden's opthomology appointment was today. Even though it was during naptime and he was obviously tired, he was still a big boy and did exactly what they said. He was checked out by the nurse and the doctor before and after they dilated his eyes. And the final diagnosis is that there is no strabismus. They didn't see any drifting. His vision is 20/25 which is very age appropriate for a 3 year old.

Visitors from Home

Thursday morning, I got Jaelyn off to school and rushed the rest of us to the gym for Allie's dance class and my first "Butts and Gutts" class. Caden went into the playroom like a champ and didn't even bother saying bye to me as he busily found toys to play with. Allie went off to ballet and tap class and I went off to pure torture. I haven't been made to do things that made my muscles burn that badly since Skip the Whip was my colorguard instructor in high school. He might have been a lot of bad things, but he sure knew how to get us (well some of us) in shape. Anyway, an hour later, abs, butt and legs feeling like jelly, I got Allie and Caden, zoomed through a McDonald's drive through and headed for Baltimore and the airport!

We had almost perfect timing and just had to wait a few minutes before we saw Baba and Grandpa standing there waving at us! Yea! We had a really fun visit with them. We didn't do too much as far as out and about, but we played some Uno and Sequence. We managed some shopping outting for toy sprees which left all the kids happy and Baba with a well used mastercard :p (or was it a visa??). I also managed to avoid cooking quite a bit. Take out is always so much easier. Dan and I got 2 nights out. One with friends for a dinner and a movie and one night on our own for shopping, dinner and a movie. We even threw Allie a faux fifth birthday party. I'll post about that later. All in all, it was a nice relaxing visit. We are already counting the days down until my parents come back in May to spend 3 weeks camping near us.

One More Sleep

Yea! We've been counting down the days for weeks and we are finally down to 1 night night sleep and my parents will be here for a visit. The kids are so excited and so am I!!!

Allie is Wowing Me

In the last month or so, I've seen so much growth in Allie's abilities. She's gone from scribbling on coloring pages to actually coloring in the pictures. She knows all of her letters and sounds and loves to name a bunch of letters and ask me what word they spell. I overheard her counting to 39 the other day. She stopped when she saw me so I don't know how high she can go. I'm just really happy to see that little brain working.

Finally, A Dry Morning

I potty trained Caden in August. Within two days of starting, he was night trained. We never had problems with accidents...and THEN it started getting cold. Nothing else changed so that's the only thing I can "blame." Caden started out having 1 accident every few nights. Then it was every night and then 4-5 times a night. We don't have that many sets of sheets. Out of desperation and exhaustion, I bought a pack of pull-ups and started putting them on Caden at night. He's been wearing them for 2-3 months now and hasn't had a dry night...UNTIL last night. He came into my room this morning after he went potty to get help with his pants and I was so thrilled to discover a dry pull-up! I'm so excited that there might be a light at the end of the pull-up tunnel for him.

Dread Pirate Black-Coat

Caden, the Dread Pirate Black-Coat (a name he chose himself), has taken up residence at our house. He is usually spotted carrying a sword and a spyglass. He has a patch over one eye and a hook for a hand. Black-Coat is an expert swordsman and will fight anyone who challenges him. At least Black-Coat is usually kind to his Mommy affectionately named Pirate-Mommy. He only locks Pirate-Mommy in his dungeon occasionally instead preferring her to work in his galley. Beware because Black-Coat is always on the look out for treasure to steal. :)

A Big Heart in a Tiny Package

Jaelyn can be stubborn and maddening at times. She gets angry easily and takes forever to calm down, but underneath all of that is a very sweet little girl who likes to do things for others. She's always helping me around the house Granted, she does earn money, but I don't expect her help. She normally offers it. My parents are coming to visit tomorrow and on Monday, Jaelyn asked me to take her to the dollar store so she could buy Baba a present. We bundled up against the rain and went after school on Tuesday. Jaelyn searched through the nicknacks looking for the perfect "breakable" present. She specified she wanted to buy something breakable which I thought was funny. Thankfully, she did listen to my advice and put back the funny looking dog and the crazy ceramic "rubber" duck in favor of a kitty cat picture frame to put a picture of her and Baba.

Jaelyn was also extra sweet to Allie today. A month or so ago, Jaelyn bought herself a tube of chapstick from the box top store at school. Last night, Jaelyn wouldn't let Allie use her chapstick and it caused a little uproar that Dan solved by getting my chapstick for Allie. Today was box top store again and Jaelyn came home with a key chain for her back pack and a tube of chapstick for Allie. Isn't that sweet? I just wish she'd show that sweet, thoughtful side more often!

"Chinese Takeout" Lemon Chicken

I'm not a big cook, but lately, I've gotten more adventurous and I've been trying new recipes. Here's one of our new favorites.

Chinese Takeout Lemon Chicken

1 tbsp oil
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips
1 pkg (6 oz) snow peas, trimmed (about 2 cups)
1 small red pepper, cut into strips
1 pkg (4 serving size) Jell-o gelatin (Dan likes his lemon chicken really lemony so I've been using 2 packages)
1 tbsp cornstarch
1/2 cup chicken broth
2 tbsp zesty Italian dressing
2 cloves garlic, minced

Heat oil in a large skillet on medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook 4 minutes or until cooked through, stirring occasionally. Add snow peas and peppers (I added onions last night too); cook and stir 2 minutes.

Mix dry gelatin mix and cornstarch in a small bowl. Add broth, dressing and garlic; stir until gelatin is dissolved. Add to a skillet. Reduce heat to medium; cook 3 minutes or until sauce is thickened, stirring frequently.

Serve over hot cooked rice.

It's quick, easy and yummy!!!

Zumba

I joined a gym last week. I went for the first time yesterday and had the best time. I took a Zumba class which is basically a Latin dance aerobics. It was a lot of fun and I was able to catch onto 'most' of the moves. It was an hour class and 30 minutes into it, I wasn't sure if I was going to make it. It's been a long time since I exercised like that (college maybe???). I did make it and I was really proud of myself. My neighbor teaches the evening Zumba classes and has told me now I have to come to hers with a big devious smile on her face. She scares me!!! I didn't hurt too much yesterday, but I woke up sore all over. Sore in places I didn't know I had, but it's a good sore. It means I'm working all my muscles. Today, my choices for classes are Step Fusion, Fab Arms with Pilates or Total Body Dance. I think I'm going to do the dance class today. One of Allie's dance teachers teaches it and I really like her. I eventually want to try out all of their classes to figure out what I like and don't like. I have 2-3 classes every morning to choose from. Allie and Caden both went to the child care yesterday and really enjoyed it. I actually had to drag Caden out. Why didn't I do this sooner???

Bird Feeders

Allie made a bird feeder at school on Monday. She was so excited to bring it home and kept begging me to let her hang it up. We only have 1 tiny tree in our yard so we didn't have many choices of where to hang it. She picked the perfect branch and we hung her home made concoction up (a pine cone with bird seed glued to it with icing??? something white - not peanut butter.) After she got it hung in the perfect place, Allie started yelling at the birds. "Birds, it's time to eat breakfast. Birds, I hung your breakfast up. Birds, come and eat your breakfast before it gets cold." It was 5 pm by the way. I guess you can tell how I get the kids to come to the table at breakfast!

Snow Day

Just as I expected I received the automated call from the school district telling me schools would be closed for the day. It started snowing last night and we are forecasted to have more snow and rain today. It's nasty outside. Jaelyn was thrilled, but Allie was sad. She was supposed to have a winter picnic today at preschool (I have no idea what that includes other than bringing a real lunch instead of a snack). Monday is just too long to wait. I was planning on taking my first class at the gym I joined yesterday. I'm bummed, Allie's bummed, but at least Jaelyn and Caden are happy.

Unhappy Mini Van Driving Momma

I used to be anti-mini van. There was no way I was ever going to drive one of those things. Then Caden came along and a mini van suited our family. We bought it with me kicking and screaming, but after one day, I was a convert. I crossed over to the dark side (an inside joke with some of my friends) and became a happy mini van driving Momma. Today, I'm not so happy. I would love to have a regular four door car. Wondering why? When it's 20 degrees outside and everything is frozen, regular doors still open. Sliding mini van doors do not! Try getting three kids in, dropping off one at school and getting the other back out through the driver's door. Not fun! The automatic door did finally open, after I warmed the car for 15 minutes and driven it for another 15. The other sliding soor is still frozen shut. Days like this really make me miss Florida weather and my Florida GARAGE!

I Plead No Contest - Mommy Brain

How long do you think it's fair for me to blame things on "mommy brain?" When the girls were first home and Caden was a baby, it was a justifiable defense. Is it now? I still feel like I'm juggling 10 balls in the air at all times.

Allie, Caden and I went grocery shopping today. I parked the van. I helped the kids into their coats, locked the van doors and made them "toe the line" in between the cars. We were getting orange juice out of the dairy section forty five minutes into our shopping trip when I heard a PA announcement. "Would the owner of a Toyota van with Florida plates please come to customer service." Great - my first thought was that someone had hit our car. I did not want to deal with that. We pushed our almost full buggy to the front and approached customer service. One of the baggers was watching, waiting for us. She had this "you poor woman" look on her face mixed with a lot of pity. Praise the Lord, though, that no one hit our car. In my "mommy moment" of trying to get Allie and Caden's coats on and then get them safely to the store, I had forgotten to close the van door. Hey, but at least I locked it :p. It was one of those times that I just had to shake my head, smile and continue on with our day (after we had gone out in the cold, with our coats in the buggy still in the store, to close the van door, of course.) So, what do you think? Can I plead Mommy Brain???

Caden's Annual Check-up

Caden had his 3 year old well child check-up today. Their scales say he weighs 29 lbs and he's 37 inches tall. He's squarely in the 25th percentile for both. At his last check-up he was between the 10th and 15th so he's definitely starting to grow. Maybe it's all those green beans he's been eating lately! Dr. Falcone only had one concern about his left eye. She noticed that it drifted toward the center when he was focusing on something. I've never noticed it and still can't see it. She's not too concerned after examing him further, but since she saw it, she would still feel better having him evaluated by an opthomologist. Caden had to get 1 shot, but he was a big boy again and didn't cry a single tear. We stopped on the way home to buy him an ice cream as a treat for being such a big boy.

Dan's Honey Do List

Dan was a busy boy yesterday, but he made me proud :p. The things on his list...fix the toilet, replace the dining room wall sconces and replace the foyer light fixture - all things I know nothing about. He went to Lowe's twice and Home Depot once to buy, return, and rebuy what he needed. I'm thrilled to tell you the toilet is now working and I love our new lights. Installation of all wasn't easy. The toilet gave Dan a small fit (but I helped him figure out how to take a clip off the new part to make it fit on the old clip instead of taking the entire toilet apart to make the new clip fit). The first light fixture didn't want to come down, but Dan triumphed over it. Removal and installation of the rest were easy and now Dan has a happy wife. Yea Dan!