Monday, October 29, 2012

Trunk of Treating

Note: Snap picture before you get to 3.

For some reason this year, I can't wait until Halloween is over. It seems like its lasting forever, even though its been the same for the past two years (costume 'parade' and trick or treating at  preschool then trick or treating later in the evening).
Maybe the abrupt weather change has me not really in the mood for Halloween festivities over the span of 4 days. Yep, its the weather.

Anyway, this past Saturday we took our boys to Trunk of Treating at their 'preschool.' I had never heard of this until we moved to Texas a couple of years ago but its a safe and fun alternative to trick or treating. Instead of going door to door, we went from car trunk to car trunk playing simple games and getting 2 pieces of candy.



We need to teach them how to pick better candy before Tuesday.....like Snickers, Twix, Whoppers and M&M's. They kept picking Sweet Tarts, and foil wrapped chocolate.
Don't worry, this time I stepped in and pointed their little hands in the right direction. (bleh)
When we got home, we let them eat 2 pieces. My youngest scarfed it down (of course) and my oldest surprisingly did too.
Darn it. I at least wanted to keep him brainwashed desiring fruit and fruit snacks forever.

My oldest decided to drop his weight while I was trying to balance on a pumpkin.


My youngest just couldn't put the candy down.

You know how hard it is to get toddlers to look at the camera if you're not holding it.


What did you do this past weekend? Are you ready for Halloween to be over like me or are you excited to go trick or treating and guide your kids to pick out the good candy?





Thursday, October 25, 2012

10 Things I Say To My Kids That You Probably Don't Say To Yours

1)"Hey no more vegetables for you, me and daddy want some."

Not sure how common that one is.
My oldest (2.5 year old) is a pretty good eater most days and sometimes he asks to eat the veggies off
of our plates too. Meanwhile, we're forcing my youngest (1.5 year old) to eat his veggies.

2)"Have you lost your mind?!?"

I say this maybe every other day when I'm in pure shock of what I see happening. Usually when my boys are standing on their kiddie table throwing toys clear across the room while I'm trying to eat lunch or empty the dishwasher.

I also say this when my youngest gets ahold of lotion bottles....that his brother gave to him <----interestingly enough, his face is always spotless.



3)"We don't eat our boogers! We wipe them on our shirt!"

After my 2.5 year old's second week of school, he would say to us, "Look, a booger." Then he would pop it in his mouth and cheese. He was reminded that mommy and daddy don't walk around eating boogers.
Hey, its not like he's going to run and find a kleenex and it was all I could think of at the time so now I roll with it to be consistent.

4)"He's not allowed to have cake or cookies."

Anytime we go to picnics or parties, I tell whoever is offering cake that my youngest "can't have any because he doesn't eat meat or vegetables."
I usually get a weird look and a response like, "not even a little bit?"
Me: "No."
I've given in once and my youngest devoured said dessert, yet still won't [willingly] eat meat or vegetables. Just last night he 'ate' the tiny amount of salmon, rice and asparagus put in front of him and hoarded the food in his mouth. Full-jawed with food juice seeping out of his lips. (Yuck.)
He didn't swallow his food until we put a spoonful of sherbert in his mouth.
And before you think "of course he wouldn't eat salmon," he won't eat hot dogs, grilled/baked/fried chicken, Chic Fil-A chicken, tacos, chili, burgers, quesadillas.....NOTHING! I can't burn him out on pb&j's and grilled cheeses because that's what he eats for lunch!
If he had his way, he'd live on peanut butter, bananas, yogurt and graham crackers.

5)"If you boo boo in your underwear again, you're cleaning it up, not me."

I tried this [old school] tactic on my oldest in efforts to strongly encourage him to boo boo on the potty. I think I used this method maybe 3-4 times before I abandoned it. My mom said after 1 time of having to clean his own boo boo, my brother was potty-trained.
Well, screw that, I've paid my fare for the "he'll do it when he's ready" train.
This seat is comfortable too.

6) "Eat the cookie." "Eat the candy."

Actually I don't say this, my husband does and it always makes me chuckle. My oldest doesn't have a big sweet tooth. He'll ask for desserts and after 2 or 3 bites, he's "all done."
I like to say he prefers the "sugars of the earth." If I ate like him, I'd have my 6-pack by now.
(His non-fresh fruit desserts are fruit snacks, dried cranberries, yogurt and vanilla ice cream.)

7)"Get your hand out of your butt."

I'm saying this allllll the time. Apparently I need to let them go 'cowboy' more often so their privates can see freedom every now and then.
I just hate accidents on the carpet. I don't mind their beds, but when they leave the bed, underwear and diapers it is.

8) "You're going to be my height by the age of 8!"

I'm 4'11" tall. My husband is 6'1" and his family members are 6'1" or taller. Right now, my 2.5 year old comes to the bottom of my ribs. I'm pretty sure that most moms aren't saying that!
{secretly jealous of you tall chicas}
Not to mention, he says weekly, "Mommy yittle and daddy big." I laugh and say you're right, thanks.
Naturally, I have a big personality and tall friends. In heels most of them are 6' + some.
So glad our party picture days are over so I no longer look like I'm breastfeeding.....hahaha.

9) "Stop poking your finger in my deodorant!"

Seriously, why must I say this at all?!? My youngest is curious in the worst way.

10) "I think you need anger management for toddlers."

My youngest's first response is to hit. Its not a hard hit but that's not the point. When he gets sad or upset with his brother, he will penguin-walk or penguin-run around the house and hit him.
No, not take the toy back or tell mommy or daddy....just straight up hit him. Then the back and forth hitting takes place. Sometimes its funny because they'll hug and say sorry to each other before "I come over there." I always turn my head to laugh.
Luckily, he doesn't do that to other kids, but we're still working on it.





Today I'm linking up with Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop.

Monday, October 22, 2012

30th Birthday Adventure

Last weekend was my husband's 30th birthday. A few years ago, he wasn't overly excited about being so close to the age of 30. Matter of fact, he's the primary reason we had our first (and second) child before 30 though I really didn't care either way ----> my mom had me at 33 {shrug}. Anyway, he's just never been excited to be drifting so far away from the younger ages in which he didn't have to try hard to be healthy and fit.

Well, as opposed to a surprise party, I opted to do something different for him. Especially since he has an 8-hour professional licensing exam at the end of the month and he studies for several hours each week.
We did dinner and live music and Ziplining!
Ziplining was fun, thrilling and sort of exhilirating. Tackling any fear is a great accomplishment......and heights is certainly a common fear!
We hung from a pulley, about 50-60 feet in the air, and glided down 4 different lines. The first line was the easiest line because of the small drop in height and the so few trees. We glided at 10mph.
Even my hubby didn't just jump off of the platform.
He counted to '3.'


I was given a friendly push. {smile}
The last 3 lines had larger drops in height causing us to glide at 20-25mph.
I yelped for the first 3 lines and was a pro by line 4.

My "gift" of ziplining was to help re-route my hubby's perspective on getting older while starting a new tradition.
  • View each birthday as a new time to do something you never thought to do or even considered doing.
  • Make new personal (tackling fears), spiritual and career goals.
  • I actually just suggest to make one goal in each of those categories and take the whole year to master it.
  • Add a new goal in each category around your birthday.
I feel this will help to focus and physically see the internal growth achieved with each new year. One of my favorite sayings is, "If you're not growing, you're dying." Having goals to focus on and achieve will help us to see and enjoy the positive things around us, giving the negative things less power.



This is with Mom's Monday Mingle.

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

You Too Can Get Addicted to Salad!

This is just a quick post. Last week was such a busy week for me, trying to plan my husband's birthday outing and overnight babysitter while doing our regular routines of being on-the-go.
So I just have a quick post while I finish up last week's laundry today. {oops} I know you all understand. By the way, laundry is my LEAST enjoyable chore.

It is sooooooo good!

Earlier in the summer, I somewhat got addicted to the "Steak & Bleu Cheese" salad from Panera Bread Co. Addictions are bad but when the addiction is salad, I'd say that's an 'good addiction.'

Anyway, the salad is so delicious but it is $8.69. That is just too much to spend on a regular/weekly basis when you can make it at home. So, that's just what I did......and the hubby and I can't get enough of it whenever I make it. Literally we could eat it days straight and not get tired of it, but then what would our boys eat?

Ingredients:
Sirloin - thinly sliced by your grocer's butcher
Romaine lettuce
Pecans - broken/crushed by hand
Bleu cheese crumbles
Feta cheese crumbles
Crispy onions or French fried onions
KEN"S Vidalia Sweet Onion salad dressing - just a drizzle

The Panera salad uses a sweet yet creamy vinaigrette and doesn't have pecans. My Vidalia Sweet Onion dressing is the perfect substitute.
The thinly-sliced or deli-sliced sirloin cooks really quickly, so I would say this salad took me 20 minutes to prepare.

What really makes the salad taste delicious are all the different crunches. The crunch of the romaine is light, the crunch from the pecans are slightly chewy and the crunch from the crispy onions are flavorful. The cheese crumbles add an additional kick of flavor but both aren't needed, just one. And the thinly-sliced steak is the perfect choice of meat.
I think we have both actually 'licked' the plate once finished!
 
Mmmmm! I want to make this right now. I hope you try it and enjoy it as much as I do!

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Pants. Too Little, Too Late

Time really flies.
Kids grow so fast.
Matter of fact, the growth of babies, toddlers and kids physically prove just how fast time really passes.

(Pants) Too little, too late.
 
Just 4 to 5 months ago, these pants were too long and too big around the waist. I thought, foolishly I suppose, that now they would fit perfectly.
To my surprise they were a tad tighter and a little higher than I prefer and expected.
Basically, his little brother has a brand new pair of 'old' jeans.
I don't even think these are classified as hand-me-downs, since they were barely worn.


The pants aren't too bad from afar. Cute forced smiles & a lucky snap.
My oldest's pants are too small and short and my youngest's pants are too long.
By now, you probably know that my husband and I had our boys, unintentionally, 1 year (12.5 months) apart.
I made it a point to say unintentionally, because it wasn't something we initially rejoiced about.
It just wasn't in our plan.
And that's when you learn to really believe in the idea that God creates our paths.....
.....though that took me a while as well. That's for another post at another time.

Anyway, after we embraced our new and unexpected plan (basically when he was born because that's when it got real), I thought well at least they were born in the same season. Winter.
But since life likes to make things a little more 'fun,' they don't have the same body type. My oldest has long legs and a shorter torso and my youngest has shorter legs with a longer torso. 
Of course by the time they are ages 4 and 5, their bodies will probably be a little more even but until then my youngest may be in baggy bottoms (shorts and pants). 
The good thing about kids growing so fast is that most of their clothes are in good-to-great condition.
Don't worry, we still buy new clothes for him.....thanks to his different body type. {wink}

Now, I'm not going to lie, I was hoping the weather would stay summer-like a bit longer. That was the whole point of moving to Texas...oh and my husband's job.
If the weather was still hot, I could have kept my boys in shorts and t-shirts for another month.
But the weather changed so quickly that I was unprepared.
Unprepared. That's almost considered foul language.
But sometimes, that's me. I'm sure it doesn't help that I'm not a perpertual shopper.
 
I immediately bought 4 pairs of jeans, 1 pair of cargo pants and 1 pair of jogging pants for my oldest and a nicely fitted pair of jeans for my youngest.
I had already bought shirts that I caught on sale a month ago.

Do you find it hard to buy clothes in the right-estimated size for the upcoming season? Have you ever been unprepared for the new season, especially with up-and-down temperatures?

Monday, October 1, 2012

Potty Training Woes - Yes I Have Boys, How'd You Know?

My 20-month old, second born son will NOT by any means use the potty. He thinks the potty is just a fun thing to say and then sit on. He refuses to actually do any bathroom rituals ON the potty though.

He copies EVERYthing his older brother (by 12.5 months) does. I always reiterate their age difference to emphasize just how trying the two of them can be. They are either arguing over toys or teaming up throwing all of the pillow cushions off of the couch. Both which are annoying and funny.

When I say he copies everything, that inludes what my oldest says, how he says it and all of his mannerisms. So can anybody tell me why he won't copy him when using the potty?!? I guess that would be "too much like right." (That saying always makes me chuckle.)

He's a very head-strong child. I used to somewhat wonder what that meant.
Luckily he's not walking around angrily screaming, "No." Instead he smiles his big, cheeky grin and politely sings "nooooww" while simultaneously shaking his head.
On the inside, I chuckle and on the outside I shake my head in frustration, and finish it up with a long sigh.
Annnnnndddd he still craps [pebbles] in the tub, always making us run new bath water. Not cool.

See--that's the smile. And I love my 2.5yo leaning in with that new face pose, lol. 

Speaking of pottying----> my 2.5 year old has successfully #2'ed on the potty for a week straight (yay!!!)......and then regressed (ohhh). But hey, progress is progress, no matter how small.

Finally after 3-6 months of pee training, I had a thought of "Hmmm....he should be doing this standing up." Duh, you say. I know. Seems like such an obvious thing but I was so focused on training him to sit down so that he's ready for #1 and #2.
Of course he learned to pee while standing with my hubs but I'm always off-duty at those times so I never paid attention, ha ha. Now we are much more consistent, but he's definitely more reluctant to #2.

I'm just chasing my tail over here.

Any tips for potty-training boys or just head-strong tots that you can share? I'd love to hear them! Hope you all had a good weekend, it rained cats and dogs here all weekend.




*I'm mingling with mommy Julie over at The Naptime Review.