62 posts tagged “kids”
It's over! Whew! Only 1 and 3/4 months to relax until Christmas :D
The ladybug costume is one I made for my oldest for her first halloween. There is a headband with those little boppers on it, but the paint was still drying on them.
It was gloriously warm all day too so I didn't have to worry about bundling them up very much. The ladybug outfit is from a boys size 10 sweater anyway, and my oldest is wearing a grey sweater of mine that is too small.
So far I have managed to avoid the 1/2 off candy aisle at the stores too!
hahaha
I've developed a new fondness for naan. Well it's not completely new. We found a naan bread recipe last year, that calls for garlic of course, and used it to make pizza doughs. We would make up the dough, and roll them into balls that would wind up making a pizza about 8inches or so across, and froze them. When we wanted pizza I just had to remember to take them out in the afternoon and let them thaw. Then roll them out. This way Lee and I could make our own customized pizza, and I can make a simple one for the kids.
We were at friends a while back and we had some hamburgers. She had run out of buns accidentally but found some flatbread style buns she had bought at the store in her freezer. They made the best hamburger buns ever! They are much stronger than regular buns, as they don't fall apart after soaking in the condiments. You don't really need to toast them. And they're quite tasty!
The whole thing tasted new and different.
So now I'm using that naan recipe above to make flat bread once a week or so. Turns out my oldest loves it.
She doesn't like sandwiches really, as she prefers her ingredients to be separate and not touch each other. (She will eat peanut butter and grill cheese - but you can't take peanuts to school anymore). So I usually slice up a half of a wrap and put that, ham slices, and cheese slices into a container for her lunch. She can then roll up little sandwiches on her own.
But she likes the naan bread, so now I can cut them into little wedges and put them in too, then she makes her own little sandwiches. (I actually don't add garlic for her - will have to make 2 batches next week, one for us, one for them)
So this works out great. I can use them for hamburgers, or my own breakfast sandwiches, mini pizzas and kids lunches! Woooo
My youngest has turned a corner. She still argues and says No a lot, but for whatever reason (maybe shes no longer constipated?) she has been in a much better mood the past 2 days.
I took her to preschool and she didn't really argue, took her jacket off and ran in to play with toys yelling "Come on Mommy". I talked to the ladies there a minute, and she was still playing with the toy cars, not even looking for me, so I snuck out.
It's put me in a MUCH better mood today.
I feel energized, proactive, and I might even clean and do laundry today.
I turned on the furnace for the first time this morning. It's getting cold overnight, but still very warm during the day.
I turned it on so I could clean out the system. You know that burnt dusty smell every fall when you first turn it on. All the windows are open and the fans are on, and I'm shivering away in the office.
But at least it'll be ready for when we do want to use it and wont stink up the house.
I'm debating between canning some of the garden veggies, and blending them up with garlic and spices and freezing them in ice cube trays.
I do that with chicken broth. Cause then you can retrieve a single cube (or two) and toss them into recipes or just sit them in a metal bowl and put them in a little hot water in the sink to melt them. It helps them to keep longer too.
I have a baggie of frozen beet mush cubes in the freezer. I toss a couple cubes into spaghetti sauce and soups. Lots of vitamins that way. You can also toss them into mashed potatoes and make them a bright pink!! heh.
Anyway, off to attempt to be domestic today.
No matter what kind of day I am having, there is an LOL cat to describe it perfectly!!!
Which may be why I love them so much. I know it's silly, maybe childish. But the little goofy photos with bad spelling make my day sometimes!
Today it's 'Meh' cat.
The youngest is still in her NO phase. She handled preschool much better today. She still cried when I tried to go but the teachers said that she was fine after a few minutes then did great the rest of the time. She didn't want to leave when I went to get her, and even behaved when we took coffee to Lee's office, and hit the dollar store for ice cube trays.
When we got home... well, nothing was going to make her happy. She wanted to play this game on the Treehouse TV Web site. (Lots of great games for young kids) So i put it on, then she didn't want to play it, but wanted to watch the cartoon that it's based on, which I don't have... and well, it went downhill from there.
She finally passed out on the couch.
I think I know why this one is having issues with preschool. It's because I didn't take her out as much, to a play group or other activities as I did my oldest. Oh well.
I do remember my oldest going through a phase where nothing was how she wanted. She refused to eat dinner for weeks and I finally have to give her something afraid she will get sick from not eating (usually fruit to make sure she got vitamins). Most of the time, spending 3 days in her room was enough to get her on track again. She still has bouts of craziness.
For instance, if she gets some sort of special treat, not necessarily food, but some fun event that maybe she never did before, then she refuses to listen to me for days. If I decide that the kids have been good, and decide to get some fast food for lunch (which we dont do often), then she thinks she can have ANY food she wants any time she wants, and I don't get to refuse her.
Which usually makes me regret doing anything nice for her some days, because she turns into Super-Brat afterwards.
Once I got her a couple timbits in the morning, then we went grocery shopping, and she couldn't understand why she couldn't have EVERY junk item she saw. Usually she asks, then when I say 'No', she is fine and moves on. But because she got her timbit, then anything goes.
"This is why Mommy drinks."
Such is the life of a parent however.
The oldest is MUCH better. She is loving grade 1, and listens much more now.
1 Down, 1 To go.
:)
Vent day is over.
Having one child in school for 6 hours has been rather surreal. When she was in kindergarden we walked her up to school, came home, I got 2 hours to do stuff, before heading back out to pick her up... Now I have several hours of time.
My youngest is going through the terrible 3's. There is no such thing as terrible 2s. Both ours were much better behaved through the 2s than the 3s. Then when they hit 4s they try to reason their way out of things more, but usually easier to handle.
She was ok the first few days that her sister was at school. I tried to take her out for short grocery shopping trips but even that didn't seem to entertain her. I also think she wasn't feeling well so she laid on the couch a lot, and her temperature was up a little. Now she is saying NO to everything and freaking out every morning over nothing, to the point I swear she's gonna burst a blood vessel in her brain.
This morning, we got 50 feet from the house and she wouldn't stop blubbering so I told my oldest to go ahead and walk to school by herself. That was hard for me to do. However, the back way involves no street crossing and is very fast. Just down a half block, through an empty lot, and in the back gate of the school yard. She looked uncertain at first, but then seemed rather excited that I would let her do that.
The school really is VERY close to us. And I thought next year I would let her walk, but I just didn't feel like dragging, then carrying a simpering mess with me the whole way.
Tomorrow the youngest starts preschool, which she seemed to enjoy at the open house, where we got to visit with the teachers. I am hoping that after a few times at preschool she will settle and be more excited to go out in the mornings. I think she might be bored with me at home, even though I am trying to give her some activities to do. Painting, etc. Might have to take her to a park if I have the car (There is a nice one downtown) more often.
Sigh...
I need to spike my coffee today I think. ;)
Well, today is the first day of school up here in the frozen northern wasteland called Canada. My oldest is starting grade 1 today (half day today). Which means I get 6 hours of time almost to myself for the first time in 5.5 years! Woooooo.
Don't get me wrong. I love my kids. I don't really want to be one of those parents on my facebook page who is constantly going on about every moment they get away from their children. I'm excited for my daughter, because I know she enjoys school (so far). And I get a little more uninterrupted time for work related stuff! Working from home is not easy with small children.
The other one will be starting preschool this fall, mon-wed-fri mornings for 2 hours. This week is just an open house / orientation meet and greet, and next week she has her gradual entry, then the week after that she starts her preschool officially. So that will then become 3 days a week with 2 whole hours to MYSELF!!! What will I do? Probably work... preferably nap! lol
Garden is going gangbusters out there. Tomatoes are ripening daily. And the deer like the taste of squash flowers... buggers. I dont think I am going to get a single pumpkin this year. I had like a half dozen flowers going ... before the deer ATE THEM ALL.
You can see the size of the zucchini I just pulled out of our garden. We've always managed to get nice ones. Other plants like pumpkin or potatoes are hit and miss every year, but these always do well. The hard part is finding enough recipes to use it in. I bake a lot of zucchini bread in the early fall.
And here is just what I have in the way of tomatoes in the fridge. There are still tons out in the garden. And this is even after I used a bunch in last night's dinner! Time to make soup today I think.
:D
This fall I am planning on canning as well. Can't let all this go to waste. We've been giving some away but still... the bulk of the tomatoes will probably ripen at once.
I need more coffee....
all for today!
I think I am actually looking forward to when school is back in. Summer is great for relaxing and sleeping in, but I am starting to find that I need some sort of daily routine to keep my mind from.... taking off on me and not telling me where it is going!!!
Also I get daily showers when I have a routine too!! And I am not in my pyjamas half the day.
The weather has cooled off and it rained finally. We had temperatures in the high 30s (Celsius) for so long there, and in British Columbia, that means forest fires. Fortunately our area is unique, probably because of the large lake, so we don't get them close very often. But the areas south and west of us tend to get them often. They are much dryer areas. We wind up with all the smoke coming up the valleys and settling on us however. Some days it's rather stinky outside.
But the weather has helped the 2 largest fires in the province, which have been threatening homes and such, but not as bad as a few years ago, when a fire leveled all sorts of new development in a town south of us. Many people lost their very large, uninsured houses...
Anyhoo,
Kids are enjoying their summer but I think they are looking forward to getting out more too.
One morning, we got up, made coffee, and saw this:
Two horsies! Charlie is the dark brown one on the right. The light blond one on the left is called Roy, short for 'Royal'.
They're both very nice and the girls love to take apples from the few apple trees we have in the yard to them. Now some days I find 2 horsies staring at me through the window.
What else...
The business is going great! The guys are very busy. Lee is able to bring home some money every month. However the office that I still work for, that I hate working for, (I think i mentioned them a few times in my rants), has basically ignored me all summer, so I haven't had much work. I keep pestering, and It's always an excuse. They're waiting on some other project blah blah blah, they will have more work later... blah blah blah.
So I haven't brought much money home the past 2 months, and I'm looking for ways to cut spending. Including unplugging all counter top appliances in the kitchen when I'm not using them. Shutting power bars down at night for all computers. Trying to stick to cereal and apples for breakfast and lunch so I dont spend much on food...
Supposedly they have work for me in PHP, which is what I have been doing for the web page work our business gets, so at least it's something I know. And they're suppose to get to me before the end of August... wheee...
It's a nice dress, cost me over 900$.
I know many people have them packed away and preserved in case their kids might want it someday. But how do I know they will like the style?? I'd rather sell it to someone who really wants a dress, but can't afford to pay some of the prices out there.
I also half considered selling some jewelery. But I do not have much that is very nice, except for my grandmothers pearls (wearing in that photo), and my mom's grandmothers gold ring. I just can't sell those 2 things. They mean too much, even if I do not wear jewelery.
So that's where we're at...
Wow. I desperately wanted spring and summer to arrive, and did it ever.
It's in the mid 30's (Celsius) allll week. Well, for almost 2 weeks now. There was a week of rain in there, and before that it was the same.
Phewie.
Guess I can't complain too much because it means we're either going to the water slides or beach throughout the week.
The garden is doing great, except for my green onions, they were completely overrun with weeds and got choked out. The upside down tomatoes mostly survived, but the survivors are doing really good now. The planted tomatoes are getting pretty bushy. And I have mini zucchini already!
The web pages for work have actually slowed, and given me a bit of a break over the summer. I'm sure it'll pick up again, but it's been nice to have some more time to myself.
That's my update. I hope to post more again.
I know it's been almost a month since my last post, and I was posting rather erratically before that. Don't take it personally! But I thought I should make a quick post to explain.
I go through phases like this often on message boards, or sites like this. I will post a lot, think of lots of witty (sometimes non-witty) things to say, then peter off a little... then pretty much stop all together. Usually after a few more months I get the urge to post again and I come back.
The same thing has happened with every board I have been on. It's also why I have a hard time sticking to a diet plan or an exercise program. Ha ha!
I do miss my LOL cats, and hope to get the urge to come back soon. I am actually up to my earlobes in web sites that I am working on, and have started looking for part time day care for the girls so that I can start going into the office more! This fall the youngest will be in Preschool, and the oldest in Grade1, so I will have more time on my hands for work then. To start they are going to be watched by my husband's cousin's wife. They have a 1 year old boy too and they both love to play with him, so this will be a good start
Talk to you all soon I hope!
