Frosty and snow!!!

January means snow if you live where we do!  We spent our New Years weekend building the biggest Frosty ever!  We guesstimate it to be about 9 feet tall!  :o)  

9' Frosty

The pole in the back was used to get his mid section to where it is.  We took a piece of plywood and shimmied it up.  Quite a process considering I am not that strong.  The kids were so funny.  #1 kept saying... "I can't wait to see him come to wife wike in the movie."  I had to think fast... think of a reason why this wouldn't happen.  Yes!  That's it... I explained to her that this was not Christmas snow.  Frosty will only come to life if it is Christmas snow.  This will work for now, until next years questions begin.  But, there is time!


We made him in the morning, and unfortunately, he didn't last the day.  As the temperatures climbed, Frosty began to get smaller and smaller... until he fell flat on his face.  He was a beautiful Frosty, so I will not show you his current state.  He deserves more than that!


Here is a picture of him getting his nose though.  Such a handsome guy...

Resolutions

A friend of mine said they wouldn't be making any resolutions this year because they never end up sticking past the first few weeks.  While I see the point in that statement, I figure there has to be a way to be somewhat successful.  So, instead of saying "get in shape" or "lose 10 pounds", I will try to set up smaller goals.  Here is what I would like for the year 2011:

Blog once a week.  As I sit here and think about that, it seems like I should be able to do more than that, but the proof is in the pudding.  Don't look at my blog history please!!  :o)

Eat less red meat (once a week at the most)!  Every time I eat it, it drags me down!  I have less energy and it makes me feel like my thoughts aren't as clear.  Could be psychological, but red meat is not good for the heart, so it can't hurt to cut back!

Make healthier choices for food: Soups are a fantastic option for lunches, and this has to be one of my favorites... for boxes soups anyways. 

  

Date night!  Go out on a date once a month with my husband.  Another requirement would be to get ready like I did before we had kids.  It's pretty evident that I've let myself go since having kids, so to blow dry my hair and apply make up would be a requirement!  

Save $$!!  More specifically, try to save up 1/12th of our monthly expenses each month, so that by the end of the year, we will have one month of expenses in the bank! 

That is all I have for now.  There isn't anything regarding the kids because I already do a lot with them.  They aren't lacking, that's for sure!!!  :o)

Ahhh... fresh air

I love the fall!  What I also love is taking long walks in the fall.  This is something that DH and I do as much as possible, and this past weekend was no exception!  About a mile down the road, there is a newer development.  There is an significant acre requirement for each lot of land, which means the houses are a good distance from each other.  Before we bought the house we live in now, we thought about buying one in this development, but they were much too large for our needs.  

Laundry room/changing station

I LOVE MY LAUNDRY ROOM!

It is located on the main level of our house with the living rooms, kitchen and bathroom.  The reason this room is so exciting for me is because not only is this the place I wash, dry and fold our clothes, but it is the room where I change diapers during the day.  I am fully aware of how silly this sounds, so first... here is what it looks like: 

My laundry room/changing station

Don't be jealous!  :o)  

Seriously, this set up helps me a lot.  There is nothing fancy about how I do the laundry, but the fact that it's also my changing station is great!  

 
We live in a two story house, and since our changing table is in the baby's room upstairs, I often found myself changing diapers on the floor downstairs.  If you have ever changed a diaper in your life, you know how annoying this can be.  Lay the baby on the ground, put something under the tush to protect the ground from accidents, then whip out the diaper and wipes... OOPS!  WIPES!  Run and get the wipes.  Now clean the tush.  Oh no, you see a little rash on the bum!  Run and get the diaper rash cream.  WHERE IS IT???  Meanwhile, your little one is now running around your living room peeing all over the rug.  You get my point.  Anyhow, it made changing diapers a real chore.  Granted, it's never fun, but at least my system makes it a little bit more enjoyable... for me anyways!

As you can see, I have everything I need within arms reach, which is a lot when you are cloth diapering.  I love it!  Plus, when it's diaper wash day, the diapers are already in the laundry room!  Mine are in a covered bin in front of the dryer on the left.  You can't see it, but I assure you it is there!  Bonus!  :o)

Wedding talk

This weekend is going to be a lot of fun!  #1 and I are in my cousin's wedding on Sunday (the bride is #1's Godmother), so we have been doing quite a bit of talking about the wedding.  In fact, #1 is so excited about her Godmother's wedding that she has already played around with materials to make a wedding dress for when she gets married.  

A few weeks ago, we hosted a baby shower at our house, so there were a lot of decorations being put up.  I purchased a blue table cloth for one of the tables, but it was too long, so I cut off a portion and threw the extra in a bag of trash that had wrappers from party decorations, plastic spoon/fork/knife boxes, napkins, etc. in it.  While I was hanging up things on our baby clothes line, I spotted #1 playing with the material from the table cloth.  She has such a creative imagination.  She started wrapping it around her body as if she were mummifying herself.  See below:

#1's wedding dress!

So, we started talking, and our conversation went a little like this... 

Me:  What are you doing honey?

#1:  I'm making my wedding dress.

Me:  It's beautiful honey.  So, you're getting married?

#1:  Yes.  I'm in love!

Me:  Really?  Who are you in love with?

#2:  The one that gave me the ring!

Me:  When are you going to get married? 

#2:  In a few whiles.

Me:  Oh sweetie, that's great!  So you have to tell me all about it.  Who gave you the ring? 

#1:  Don't know!  

After this mini-conversation, I laughed so hard my belly hurt.  She is such a dramatic little thing too, so picture each answer being said with attitude in her voice, hand on her hip, and picture her tiny hip jutted out as far as her little body will allow. Such a cute image!

Life is so simple when you are little.  It's funny to think that is her perception on marriage right now.  She just took bits and pieces of what I said in conversation to my cousin, to DH, to my mother... she took all of those words, studied them, then applied them to her little life.  

To this day, I still don't know who she will be marrying in a few whiles, but I hope I'm still cool enough to be invited! 

Dedication

Getting on here to submit an entry has proven to be extremely difficult, especially considering our new schedule since school started!  But, I am determined to keep this going for my kids! It's for the kids!!!


One of our favorite things about fall is apple picking!  

Picking apples while on Daddy's shoulders last year!

It's a favorite past time of every New Englander!!!  With daddy's help, #1 loves to pick the apples her little sister can't reach!  This picture was taken last year at our favorite orchard.  It has pick your own apples, raspberries, blueberries and pumpkins!  We have gone there every year since moving to this area three years ago.  Unfortunately, because of the wacky weather this spring (the May frost killed over 90% of it's apple crop), we won't be going there for apples this year.  We will still go there to pick other fruits of their harvest.  Pumpkins and raspberries are on the list!  Perhaps a sunflower or two for my kitchen!  

#1 is supposed to go on an apple picking field trip next week to another local orchard.  We'll see if it still happens.  If apples aren't available there, we may have to travel south where I used to go as a kid!  Going a season without applesauce made from the apples my little ones picked with their very own little hands is unacceptable!

Monkey cake fiasco!

I'm coming up for air... finally!  A lot has happened since my last entry.  This past weekend, we went on our annual Labor Day camping trip with my extended family.  We left right after #1 got out of preschool.  Friday was miserable.  It was hot and humid, which we all know is a perfect combination for toddlers and babies!  But, once we got everything set up at the campground, it wasn't so bad.  It started to cool off that night and the rest of the weekend was perfect!  

We started this tradition last year and plan on making it an annual thing.  My parents, two brothers, uncles and aunt all come up with their families and we sit, camp, eat, play wiffel ball, etc.  It is so much fun.


This year, we decided to have a birthday party for #2 who is turning two very soon.  I made her a monkey cake.  It was very simple to make, but with little fingers around the house, I should have expected what happened.  Here is the story... 

I baked the cakes on Thursday.  There was enough batter to make two small round cakes.  My plan was to stack them on top of each other for a double layer cake because there was going to be a lot of people there to help us celebrate.  The day I picked to bake the cakes was supposed to be a hot and muggy one, so I decided to get up super early (we're talking 5:30am) to make it.  It was fairly cool in the morning, so I opened windows to let as much heat out as possible.  Once they were done, I put them on the stove top to cool.  This was mistake #1.  

#1's Damage

Once I scolded #1 for putting her fingers in the cake, I went into the pantry, closed the door and chuckled to myself.  How could I not find that funny?  Now, the question was whether or not to just use the damaged goods, or just use it and not tell anyone (like anyone would care!!).  The first option was the most appealing... who wouldn't want to down an entire layer of chocolate cake?  But, considering how many people were going to be looking for cake, I opted for the latter.  A double layer cake it was going to be!  I assembled the layers and frosted it, then had #1 assist with decorating it.  Baking and decorating with the kids is always fun.  #1 likes it because I let her sample the frosting and/or decorations once we are done.  #2 is just getting into it now, but I'm sure she likes the sampling too!  The hardest part is waiting for the proper time to eat our final product.  Waiting is very hard when you are only 2 and 3 years old.

Monkey Cake Final Product

We decided to celebrate #2 and one of my uncle's birthday on Saturday night (their birthday is on the same day).  The cake was taken out and put on the picnic table at our campsite.  Here comes mistake #2!!!  I left the table for literally 60 seconds to get a candle at my uncle's site and when I came back, this is what I found... 

#2 having a taste of her birthday cake

... little fingers tapping into the cake!  This time, it was #2!  Again - how could I not laugh at this?  It was too funny, so I had to snap a picture!  We had to move quickly.  The little people wanted cake!!!  So, we sang happy birthday and cut the cake for everyone to enjoy!  What a fun day!  
We can't wait until next year!  The monkey cake was such a hit that we may have to repeat it next year!