The Infamous Thomas Cake

Andrew is obsessed with the Thomas cake at Kings Supers (the grocery store). So of course I payed up for the original one for his birthday. He hasn't been to the store with me since he started preschool, his last birthday.

Everyday he tells me that he wants daddy to bring home a Thomas cake. He prays for one EVERY day. So Flay took pity on him and bought the stuff so I could make one for him. Lucky me. So here is the sad little Thomas cake I made for him. It needed at least three layers, but I don't think cakes from cake mixes stack that well. Has this helped? No, quite the opposite. He is more obsessed then ever. Any suggestions?

A Type-A Moment

So tonight after everyone was in bed I decided to make strawberry jam...a double batch....to go with my double batch of raspberry jam I did last week. So at 10 pm you could have seen me cutting fruit, stirring, mashing and measuring out like 10 pounds of sugar. "What on earth would inspire a person to do this in the middle of the night?" you ask.

For those of you who don't know, I am a recovering Type-A personality. You would never know it today, but anyone who knew me growing up, during college and while working before kids would say I was out-of-control high strung. I have found that I am a happier person when I don't worry endlessly about things that don't affect me or over which I have no control. I have worked hard to let go of the need to compete, over-achieve and generally do too much.

However, every now and again I have a relapse, and tonight was one of those nights. What kind of sick person does that and then can't go to bed until they have confessed their slipup on their blog. I really have a problem. I think to atone for it I will let my kids stay in their PJs all day tommorrow and not do any dishes.

A Challenge

One word.
My friend called me out to try this and I couldn't pass it up. It's not as easy as you might think. Now copy or forward, change the answers to suit you and pass it on.
1. Where is your cell phone? ..........charging
2. Your significant other?................basement
3. Your hair............................ done
4. Your mother? ........brave
5. Your father?...........................generous
6. Your favorite thing?...................dessert
7. Your dream last night?...................sexy
8. Your favorite drink? ................... diet cherry limeade
9. Your dream/goal?........................... healthy
10. The room you're in?......................family room
11. Your ex?............................pompous
12. Your fear?...........................widowed
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years?................ here
14. Where were you last night?............. pool
15. What you're not?.......................motivated
16. Muffins?..............................pass
17. One of your wish list items?..............vacation
18. Where you grew up?........................Virginia
19. The last thing you did?.......................tuck kids
20. What are you wearing?......................jeans
21. Your TV?............................off
22. Your pets?............................never
23. Your computer? ...................laptop
24. Your life?.............................fun
25. Your mood?............................content
26. Missing someone?...................mom
27. Your car/truck?..................... mommymobile
28. Something you're not wearing?...............ponytail
29. Favorite Store?..........................Godiva
30. Your summer?................................exciting
31. Like someone?....................nope
32. Your favorite color?......................black
33. Last time you laughed?....................... today
34. Last time you cried?...................... unknown
35. Who will re-post this?............everyone

A Field Trip to the Zoo

Andrew had a field trip to the zoo with his preschool. Rachael and her kids met us there and we had a fun day looking at the animals. Andrew and Zoe ran the whole way through the zoo and we spent most of our day yelling at them to wait. Please note that Ashley has "her" YMCA soccer medal on. She has worn it for over a week now, and won't take it off. She has gone everywhere with it on and gets quite the laughs as it comes down almost to her knees.
This is Andrew trying to get the nerve up to feed the giraffes. He finally threw the cracker at them and said, "Catch" really loudly. There was a family standing there with teenagers who thought it was pretty funny.
He got a little braver when it came time to fee the baby giraffe, but still wussed out in the end. Ashley wanted nothing to do with them.
This is my favorite picture of Andy and Zoe. They would run from bench to bench and sit down instead of looking at the elephants. At the end of the day Andrew of course wanted to go see the elephants. Figures.
Ashley did get the nerve up to pet a baby wallaby and some goats. She loved looking at the animals, but was a little more apprehensive about actually touching them. What you can't see here is that she is only using one finger. We had a fun morning and the kids were exhausted by the time we got in the car.

My Cute Little Nakey

Ashley LOVES to be naked, but I almost never let her because she pulls down her diaper so that both butt cheeks are out and then scratches them to bits. Pulling it back up is useless, its back down in 5 seconds. When a take her clothes off she rubs her tummy and says "Nake, Nake". She then usually runs away so I can't get her clothes back on. She likes to hide behind a chair or the curtains. This is right after I caught her and had her laying in my lap. What a armful of love she is. I love this stage where their bodies are totally out of proportion. Big head, HUGE stomach, little bitty buns, short stumpy legs. So cute you just want to squeeze her.

On a side note...I have both kids asleep for naps, folded the laundry (mostly), did the dishes, worked out, have dinner defrosting, went to 6 different stores and spent quality time with Andrew.....I so deserve an award!

A Trip to Garden of the Gods

We went to Garden of the Gods for a little hike. Andrew had a great time running and climbing.
Ashley wasn't quite as sure about the whole. She cried most of the time as she had to be carried and wanted to walk like a big kid.
I was honestly surprised at how into it Andrew was. He got a little nervous going down some steep parts, but scrambled up the rocks really well.

The Soccer Finale

We played the last soccer game today.
Andrew loved the running around and kicking part. Didn's so much get the whole scoring thing.
We had a little team party and all the kids got medals.
Ashley liked soccer too, and will be sad that it is over.

We did it!

I have been incredibly pleased with Andrew's preschool program. It is why we moved to the neighborhood we did. We are in an awesome school district and are lucky enough to have the speech preschool right in our neighborhood.

He has made significant progress in speech this year, and while no one else understands him, I get almost everything he says. The best is when he says the prayer at dinner and asks God for a Thomas cake and then tells him all about his day.

Well, I have been lobbying for Andrew to attend the preschool next year 4 days a week. When I brought it up to his teacher she was immediately on board and the speech therapist agreed too. Well after some heavy campaigning on the part of his teacher, the school district allowed him to go the extra days. I am SOOOOO excited.

Miss Katie is great with him, and is both kind and stern. The perfect combination for him. I am so happy.

Crazy Baby

I got out of the shower, and here is how I found Ashley. Snuggled up next to the laundry that needed to be folded.

I took her into Old Navy and she found this stupid dog. She loves dogs and sat there and snuggled it and barked at it for like 10 minutes. I finally had to pull her away.
She is a spunky little baby. It kills me cause Andrew was so easy. But she drives me crazy and yet I love her. She is talking a lot now and repeats random thing I say. Not good.

An Inspirational Thought and an Amazing Blog

So I was in a really bad mood. Lots of unimportant and trivial things had conspired to leave me annoyed, irritated and all around in a bad mood. I read the blog of a friend from high school and it changed all that. She is an amazing woman with something real to say. She and her husband have struggled with infertility and have adopted a baby and hope to adopt another one in September. She is a strong advocate of adoption and speaks with power about it. If you are having a down day, read her blog. It it amazing.

http://www.therhouse.blogspot.com/

Here is a quote from Michael Wilcox, a faculty member of the institute program.

brother wilcox gave a glimpse into what he was feeling as his granddaughters were sealed to their parents. sitting in the witness chair, the Spirit whispered to him,"do you understand the power of the temple? can you see the power of the priesthood? birth can give a child parents for time, only the temple can give a child for eternity."

The Dishwasher Battle

Ok, so seriously, this is what I have to deal with every time I open the dishwasher. She actually has developed some sort of radar, and comes running the instant I open the dishwasher. She can hear me drop a fork into the silverware holder while in the other room watching TV.

And forget trying to run the water.

She hears the water come on and she comes running. She will actually wait if its on, knowing that eventually I will have to open the door to the dishwasher. What a strange little child. She is driving me nuts with this current fetish.

And yes, I know she looks like a boy with her hair down and short, but what can i do. I refuse for her to have baby mullet and she doesn't like pigtails and hid the rubberbands in retaliation. Can your child be in the terrible 2s at 17 months?

Ashley's Death Wish

So my child has a death wish. She is obsessed with the dishes. (I will post on that later). Her favorite thing is to play with the knives. She licks them and sorts them, yes, even the steak knives. What kills me is that there are always tons of spoons and forks, but she could care less about those. My child has a serious death wish.

No More Snow....It's May

So after the great weather yesterday, here's what we had today. That's right, more snow. It's just wrong to have to wear a sweater and a jacket the day after you get a sunburn on your arms. Hopefully this is the last time I have to dress Ashley as the great pink abomination. It's a bit much when you put it all together.

Yesterday.....

I took the kids outside to kill some time and enjoy the nice weather. We drew chalk people, Ashley tried to eat the chalk, they both threw the chalk and they chased each other.

Ashley and Andy playing nicely.
The view our neighbors had:)