Show Me the Mommy--Archives Edition: European Tour

I know the point of Show Me the Mommy is to get us out in front of the camera more, instead of being the one behind the camera all the time, as opposed to just showing pictures of us. But since I've been digging through all my digital pictures and trying to organize them, and since I didn't actually take any pictures this week, much less get anyone to take a picture of me, I'll post the following pictures instead. These were taken in November 2002, when my brother and I took a two-week trip to Prague, Germany, and Paris. It was pretty funny to travel with my brother (who is 8 years older than me), and I'm not sure he'd ever do that again. But I'm so glad we took advantage of the opportunity while we had it.


Charles Bridge in Prague



In Germany, in front of a pub. Notice the name, "Hahn." Hahn means rooster in German.



Paris!

Seeing these pictures makes me want to travel and see these places again. I am not at all well-traveled so it was a big adventure for me. It was a blast, though. The funny thing about these pictures is that my brother had just purchased a mac-daddy, state of the art digital camera. I think it was 5 megapixels, and it cost him around $800. My how times have changed. Anyway, hopefully, Ed and I will be able to travel to Europe again, together, in the not-too-distant future (meaning next 10 years! LOL). And hopefully, next week, I will have some Show me the Mommy pictures that are more in keeping with the spirit of the task!

A Picture Worth a Thousand Words

Yesterday was the BIG day on Capitol Hill. All the new and returning senators and representatives were sworn into office. Their families joined them and there were lots of cutely dressed kids running around the halls of the Capitol and the office buildings. My very favorite picture from all the festivities appeared in Roll Call (one of the Hill newspapers):


Credit; Tom Williams/Roll Call

This was Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), on his way to the ceremonial swearing-in in the Old Senate Chamber. His two youngest kids (shown here) are 5 and 3. He's 39 (just slightly older than me) and this picture made me laugh out loud. One kid is bouncing off the walls. The other seems to not quite want to cooperate. The slight bit of tension is palpable. Although I'm not a fan of Rubio's politics, this picture has made him so relatable and endearing to me. He's a parent to young kids, just like me. I love that he's the one herding them to the next place (as opposed to his wife or a nanny or staff member of other family member) and that he's seems to be struggling just a little bit. I realize that I'm reading a LOT into this picture. But for some reason, it makes me feel really good. There are quite a few senators who have young kids. (One senator's daughter is in William's pre-k class at school, in fact.) And they're all trying to work it out, just like I am. As much as I get frustrated and even disgusted with politicians, they're human beings, just like me. Good luck to all of the new guys and gals with little ones--I wish you all well!

Wednesday Randomness

• I made the chicken parmesan tonight and it was very good. I ended up just breading the chicken when I got home. It didn't take too long. I dipped cutlets (large chicken breasts that I sliced in half and then pounded out a little) in egg, then Italian bread crumbs mixed with Parmesan cheese, and then sauteed (fried?) them in oil. Meanwhile, I boiled egg noodles and heated up spaghetti sauce. I served my chicken over buttered egg noodles with a spoonful of sauce on top. Ed ate his chicken with sauce, no noodles. William ate chicken, no sauce, no noodles, with broccoli. Seth ate noodles with sauce, and a few bites of chicken and a few bites of broccoli, but then declared he doesn't like chicken. Overall, a win!
• My "Do it Now" mantra seems to be working for me. I'm spending a little bit of time each night going through digital pictures or messing with my iPhone. Last night I made pumpkin chocolate-chip muffins. Two nights ago I read my camera manual and figured out how to manually focus my camera, except that I couldn't actually get anything focused. Guess I need to keep working on that one. Tonight I have a load of laundry going that I should be able to fold soon. Little bits here and there are good. AND I haven't bitten my nails in a week!
• Tonight when I sat on William's bed to read him a story, the bed collapsed. William thought it was hysterical. The rail that hold the slats that holds the box spring gave way. Not sure if we can fix it or if we need to seek a professional. The bed was Ed's dad's when he was young, and then Ed had it all the way through high school. Definitely worth fixing, I think!
• I made an appointment for us to see four houses on Saturday. Our lease is up in April and William starts kindegarten in September. Time to get serious about finding a house! We're still considering renting, but either way, we have to make a plan!
• Ed bought a new laptop yesterday and he Skyped me from the dining room last night. (I was in our bedroom upstairs.) That was fun.
• William will be testing for his orange stripe belt on Saturday in Taekwondo. He has to do three front kicks. I hope they are somewhat liberal in how they judge front kicks! LOL.
• I think I have a plan (tentative) for a summer trip to Florida that will include seeing friends and family, the beach, my girls' weekend, and end up in Charlotte, NC for 4th of July with Ed's sister. I hope it all works out!

 That's enough for now. Time to read and go to sleep.

"How Do YOU Know?"

"How do you know?" has become William's phrase of choice lately. Anytime I tell him anything, he immediately responds, "How do you know?" I have no idea where he heard this and I know he's partially sassing me, but I also know that he expects me to answer. One time I asked him why he keeps asking "How do you know?" He said, "Well Mommy, how am I going to learn if I don't ask questions?" Good point. So now I respond by saying, "I read it in a book." I told him that reading is the best way to learn new things. The thing is, I know that when I tell him things like that, he really takes it to heart. But time will tell whether or not he becomes an avid reader. He LOVES it when I read to him. But will he want to read by himself? Sometimes I wish I could see the future.

(Picture from our last weekend at the pool that never got posted)

In the meantime, the transition back to work and school hasn't been too rough. Seth is doing pretty well wearing underwear and was very proud to show his teachers and his friends his new underwear. Traffic hasn't been horrible, and work has been productive. Of course, it's only Tuesday. But I'll take what I can get.

(Another picture from this fall that never got posted)

I've had a partial menu plan going this week:

Sunday: Roast beef in the crock pot, potatoes (for Ed and me, boys won't touch 'em) broccoli, dinner rolls
Monday: Homemade pizza (homemade crust, jar sauce)
Tuesday: French Dip sandwiches with fruit (William probably won't eat this--will give him cheese & crackers)
Wednesday: Chicken parmesan
Thursday: ? Maybe beef pot pie, which William probably won't eat and Ed won't enjoy very much
Friday: ?
Saturday: ?

It's a start, right? I'll have to prep the chicken tonight for the chicken Parmesan. Wondering if I can go ahead and bread the chicken ahead of time and then put it in the fridge. Will the breadcrumbs end up too soggy? Should I go ahead and cook it and then re-crisp it in the oven when we get home? I'll have to do some investigating. (HeatherV--help me out!) Anyway, just rambling now. Better post this before it ends up in the heap of posts that never get posted. (Am I the only one that has these?) So far so good for 2011!

Ch-Ch Changes

It seems my boys have grown up a lot over the last few months. I think Seth's triple whammy (crib-to-bed, no more pacifier, and potty trained) has thrown me for a loop, but William has been keeping pace. He's so much more independent now, and he's such a deep thinker. Tonight, William went to sleep without the bed rail on his bed. He looks like such a big kid!

It's a small step, but symbolic of greater changes that happen in small steps every single day. It's true for the boys, but it's true for Ed and me, too. It's a reminder that change is not a destination, it's a journey. There are changes I want to make in my life, but they will not happen overnight. I have to remember that it takes small steps. And I have to remember that trying to change habits and failing is better than not trying at all. I'm never going to change if I don't try.

With that in mind, my mantra for 2011 is to DO IT NOW. I have long been a self-proclaimed procrastinator and it's something I usually laugh off. But I've realized it's a real obstacle to achieving any sort of sense of accomplishment. Combine my ability to procrastinate with my penchant for laziness, and you have the perfect storm for inertia. I've been thinking a lot lately about self motivation and how it works for people. And I've realized that I need to start small, and I need to feel success. So I've been making my bed every day. (I've made it every single morning since Thanksgiving!) I've also been paying much more attention to picking up around the house, putting things away promptly, not letting things pile up. I've tackled several organization projects, like cleaning out my closet, cleaning out my desk, sorting through digital pictures on my hard drive, syncing my iPhone. It's helped to have time off to take care of these things. But it helps more to stay on top of them in the first place so that it doesn't require huge chunks of time to deal with them. Easier said than done, of course. But I'm trying. And when I tell myself (literally) to do it now, while I have a moment, while I'm thinking about it, it helps. I don't know why I put things off when it's often actually easier to just do it right then, but some of life's mysteries will never be resolved, I guess.

Anyway, I'm hoping that finding success with these smaller things will help me work on bigger things, like exercising. But I think I'll save that for another post. For now, if I can work on keeping the little things more manageable, then maybe I can find more time to focus on bigger things, like finally reading the photography book I bought last year, or making photo books, or making homemade bread, or reading more, or spending more QT with Ed. And maybe, just maybe, a little bit of success in changing my habits will be the boost that I need to FINALLY STOP BITING MY NAILS!!!! (I think this has been on my New Year's list of resolutions since 1985.)

Not in the Mood for a New Year Post

I'm really struggling with the requesite "2010 in Review" and "reflections" and "Goals for 2011" posts. I'm just not in the mood to sit down and write those posts. I haven't even posted the whole wrap-up for Christmas 2010. Things are great, and Ed and I had an awesome New Year's Eve dinner and the boys have had an awesome break. But I'm just not in the mood to reflect.

I will come back to it, because I do want to do my "best of" post. And I have been thinking about 2011 and goals and what things I want to change. And don't get me wrong--2010 was a really good year. Lots of good things to post about. But for now I'm tired, and since one of my 2011 goals is to get more sleep, I might as well get to work on that one.

Since I don't have much to say, I'll post a picture instead. This was from earlier in December, when I was trying to get a picture of the boys with the Christmas lights. I used the LED lights, which had a very different effect than the regular lights. It was also impossible to get both boys to stay still so the pics wouldn't be blurry. But despite that, I got a few keepers.

I hope everyone's 2011 has gotten off to a fabulous start! (Ours was great, minus two very tired and very cranky boys! Maybe that's why I'm not in the mood to reflect! LOL)

Show Me the Mommy--End of the Year Blow-out!

I have so many posts to write about the end of the year and the 2010 highs and lows and reflections and 2011 goals and dreams and let's not forget Christmas 2010 wrap-up. But I've been spending more time organizing and doing other stuff, so for now, all you get is my final Show Me the Mommy post for 2010. Yesterday, I cashed in on my Mother's Day gift from Ed and the boys--a manicure, pedicure, and hour-long massage. To make the gift even more "peaceful," Ed took the boys to his parents in the afternoon to spend the night, which meant I got a whole afternoon and night at home, by myself. This is the first time I've spent the night at home, by myself, in at least 5 years. I was giddy at the prospect.

But actually, it sucked. I was lonely and at loose ends. I stayed up until 2 a.m. updating my iPhone and reading. So much for my golden opportunity to get 8 uninterrupted hours of sleep! I woke up at 6:30 a.m., then dozed until 7:30, then got out of bed at 8:00. (sigh)

Anyway, despite that, the mani/pedi and massage were awesome! I also returned some thing to Kohls and picked up a few things for the boys and a sweater for myself in exchange. And I FINALLY updated my iPhone and downloaded some new songs, videos, and apps. I also enjoyed a beer (a Shiner Bock Lindsay!) and that inspired my Show Me the Mommy moment:



And yes--I'm keepin' it real! No makeup, after a shower, that's what I look like! Happy Happy New Year to everyone!

Christmas Joy

We had an awesome Christmas filled with fun new toys, family, and lots and lots of down time. Pretty much perfect! Now I'm getting organized while the boys play in our bedroom, together, with very little interference from me. I cleaned out my closet and put all the giveaway clothes in a big bin, which the boys are climbing all over and riding, pretending it's a spaceship. Now they're messing up the bed (which I've been making every day for about a month now, btw), but it's fine, because they are playing so well together. They don't even have any toys in here. They have laundry baskets and an old Walkman and an old clock radio, a Pledge extendable duster thingy. Glad Santa went through so much trouble to get them toys! LOL.

We were supposed to get a big snowstorm yesterday, but it didn't happen for us. I guess the rest of the east coast got all kinds of snowy fun, but not us. It's windy as all get out, though, so we're staying inside. And since we've had nowhere to go and a few days of staying inside, I figured this was my chance to potty train Seth. He's been in underwear since yesterday (pull-up overnight) and he's doing great. He's had several pee accidents, but several more successes. And no poop accidents! I'm pretty thrilled. I also realized that even though it's kind of a pain during the winter with the bulky pants to pull up and down, it's actually great for pee accidents. The thick pants absorb the pee and it never makes it to the floor! I've only had to clean pee off the the floor once! I'm giddy with the thought that our 2011 budget will be free of the diapers/wipes category! Go Seth!

Now it's Tuesday, and I'm at work. Never made it back to the computer yesterday to upload pictures and finish the post, so this will have to be it. Maybe I'll manage to add some photos tonight. In the meantime, Ed took the boys to Chuck E Cheese and he's taking them to William's Taekwondo class this afternoon.  Hopefully they'll have a good day. I'm at work today and tomorrow and then I have Thursday and Friday off. Looking forward to having more time at home to spend with the boys and get stuff done. I'm saving my Christmas write-up for later in the week. As usual, I didn't get any good pictures, but enough to remember the fun of Christmas morning. We didn't get any pictures of the boys with their cousins, so we'll have to make more effort the next time we see them.

Hope everyone is enjoying the post-Christmas holiday!

Ho Ho Ho!

I promised Santa pictures and here they are:

Hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!!!

It Was Inevitable, Right?

I can't find one of William's presents. It's not in any of my regular hiding places and it's not in the car. Where the heck did I put it? I knew this would happen, especially since I shopped earlier than usual. Ugh. I hope I can find it before Christmas!

In other news, we're counting down the days and getting super excited. Last night I wrapped a ton of gifts and put them under the Christmas tree. Seth noticed them the minute we walked downstairs this morning (at 5:15 a.m., to get some milk). He sat down on the floor and put his hands under his chin and said, "Oooooh. Pwesents!" He just stared at them. When William came downstairs and saw them, I explained that they were presents for our family, and both boys got it. No fussing. No messing with them. Score!

When we got home from work, Willliam asked if they could "play" with the presents and set them up to use with his cars. He promised that he would be really careful and not rip or tear any of them. How could I resist? He and Seth played peacefully while I cooked dinner and it was bliss. William admonished Seth several times to be careful and he told me he was worried that Seth would rip the paper. I told him it was okay--we could always re-wrap them or fix them with tape. I love that William was trying so hard to be careful. And I love watching them play together and hearing them have conversations. They talk about school and ask each other what they did. They build forts together and play cars. They roughhouse. They still fight but it's not nearly as bad as it was four or five months ago. It's awesome!

Also awesome is the fact that the Senate may wrap up the session tomorrow which means I'll get a half-day on Thursday. If that's the case, I can get a desperately-needed haircut. Then all will be right with the world!

Making a List . . . Checking it Twice

Wow--five days 'till Christmas! Time is certainly flying by, but we are managing to enjoy our days. This weekend we drove around and looked at holiday light displays. We made pumpkin chocolate chip muffins (not quite Christmas cookies, but baking, all the same). We bought some last-minute gifts, including gifts for needy children. Ed took William to the movies. I did laundry and cleaned bathrooms. And we played. And the boys played.

Our trip to view light displays was one of those "reality check" situations. William was grumpy and complained about the Christmas music. Seth cried the entire way home while William screamed at him to stop crying. Not the most pleasant hour we ever spent together. But what I realized in the midst of it is that the boys won't remember the crying and grumpiness and the yelling. They will remember the lights, though.

Now that the gifts have been purchased, it's time to start wrapping. We haven't put wrapped gifts under our tree early, however, because it's way too much for the boys. William can not STAND to wait--so I am not torturing him. Plus I don't want to ruin any surprises. I might bring out the gifts for the cousins and in-laws and have the boys "help" me wrap those. We'll see if we can successfully keep those under the tree. And I might bring their gifts from us (Ed and me) out on Thursday or Friday, knowing that we'll be out of the house for much of that time.

In the meantime, I'm sure this week will fly by in a hurry. I'd love to say we've been watching Christmas movies and soaking up lots of holiday music. But William has no interest in such things. He won't even let us watch A Christmas Story--my favorite all-time Christmas movie ever.I ordered a DVD with Charlie Brown and Frosty and Rudolph. Sad to say he hasn't actually seen any of those since we don't watch broadcast TV. I can remember eagerly awaiting those shows on TV--counting down the nights 'till they appeared. Times sure are different! Maybe he'll humor us and watch them all at least once. Although I already know that Rudolph will be a no-go since it's scary. Anyway, Ed's sister will arrive with the boys' cousins on Wednesday, so we'll spend Christmas Eve and Christmas with them. (I get Friday off but I may have to work all day Thursday if the Senate stays in session.) And then we have the next week off. I may or may not go into work. It's nice to have the option!

So for now, just looking forward to Christmas and reflecting on 2010 and thinking ahead to 2011. I'm not normally a goal-oriented person, but there are some changes that I really want to make in my life. And this is certainly as good a time as any to start thinking about how to make those changes happen!

Show Me the Mommy--Definitely Not a Contest Winner Edition

I snapped this shot as I was getting ready for bed last night:

This one's not winning me any contests! LOL. But it's a little piece of reality. I had hoped to get a few pictures in the snow that fell on the DC area yesterday. But that wasn't to be. It didn't start snowing until after I had gotten to work, and I never managed to get outside while it was coming down. Busy day and all.

When we got home, the boys were dying to go outside and play. There were only about two inches on the ground, but that's certainly enough to play in! Despite the darkness and it being dinnertime and all, who could resist? I bundled them up in their snow gear and got the snow shovels and they had a ball. I was about to force them to come inside at 7:00 p.m., but Ed got home and said they could stay outside with him while he shoveled our parking spots. (He's a perfectionist!) They ended up staying outside for more than an hour. It threw the whole dinner/bedtime routine off by a lot, but no big deal.

On top of everything, I managed to clean the powder room and finish up Christmas cards after the boys went to sleep. Go me! Pretty much an awesome night. Wish I had gotten a better picture, but you can't have everything!

Must . . . Update . . . Blog

Much to say but this will have to be random style:

• We are all doing well--just busy and tired. Well I'm tired anyway. Seth's 2-year-old molars are pushing through and he's waking up once or twice a night, sometimes more. We're also seeing how William does without pull-ups overnight. He had no accidents for 4 or 5 nights in a row, and then 3 nights in a row of accidents which woke him up (and subsequently me up) at 4 a.m. I'll give it a little more time before I go back and buy pull-ups. Those things are expensive!
• Both Seth and William had mild colds which they selflessly shared with me. Thanks goodness for MucinexD. We're all over the worst of it, and William's was the mildest of all, so yay for that!
• We had a busy but fun weekend. I took both boys to William's Taekwondo class on Saturday morning and then to McD's afterwards for pancakes. That was the second Saturday in a row with pancakes, and I think it might become a regular thing.
• After that we made gingerbread houses. It was a pretty quick activity, but both boys enjoyed it. Seth spent most of the time trying to spread icing on his house. I asked him repeatedly if he wanted to put the candy on the house, and he said, "No Mommy. I makin' my house boo-tee-ful." William wanted to eat all the candy, but showed some surprising self restraint.

Getting down to business.



Now that's concentration!



Well, maybe self restraint wasn't quite the word I was looking for!



• On Sunday we went to a friend's open house party. It was mostly baby boomer adults--no other kids--but William and Seth managed to have a blast. They ran around like they owned the house. (They'd only been there once before, a year ago.) Although they were rambunctious, they were well behaved and the grown-ups really enjoyed having them around. We left before they broke anything or suffered any meltdowns, so the party was a huge success!
• After the party we headed to the mall to see Santa. William loves seeing Santa and has always eagerly approached him to sit on his lap. I fully expected Seth, however, to hang back and wave like he did on our North Pole Express ride. Imagine my shock when he ran right up to Santa (after standing in line for more than 30 minutes) and happily climbed into his lap. Score awesome Santa picture! (Which I will post sometime in the near future.) The funniest part of the adventure was later that night when Seth was getting ready for bed. We were recounting the Santa visit and I told him how proud I was that he told Santa what he wanted for Christmas (blocks) and smiled for his picture. Seth scrunched up his forehead and said, "But Mommy, Santa didn't give me my blocks!" Poor kid hasn't quite figured out what the heck "Christmas" is. Too funny.
• Amidst all the busy-ness of the season, meal planning has flown out the window. I just can't get it together. Definitely a meal planning slump. Hopefully I will rally soon.
• We've been doing our advent calendar every day, but I haven't done anything creative yet. So far, it's just been candy. The boys have been pretty happy with that, though! Although so far, the only candy that Seth actually likes is Tootsie Rolls. One day I put their vitamins in the calendar. They were actually pretty psyched!
• I know I had some more thoughts to write about, but it's getting late and I need to go to bed. I had planned to bring some work home with me tonight, but I left my folder on my desk at work. Our IT people are crazy control freaks, and I think we're the only workplace in the world where I need special permission to access my work computer from home and I'm only supposed to do it when I absolutely have to. It's beyond ridiculous. Instead, I have to try to remember to save documents on a jump drive or email them to myself or actually bring papers home with me. I hope we can get that policy changed soon. Somehow, the entire executive branch and all of corporate America have figured out how to securely allow people to work from home. It's not rocket science!
• Okay, off my soapbox. Things are good. The holidays are living up to expectations. It helps that I'm not trying to do too much. We haven't made cookies yet, but I've realized that the cookie-making stresses me out. (I should say, making my mom's iced sugar cookies stresses me out.) The boys enjoy it, but it's short-lived, and not really worth my effort. I might make some gingerbread men this weekend, but then again, maybe not.
• Now I'm really going to sleep.
• Oh yeah--I almost forgot. Holy Cold! I don't think it got out of the 20s today. Yikes. I'm not a big fan of being cold. Being hot might be uncomfortable, but being cold HURTS.
• Now I'm going to bed.

Show Me the Mommy--Recovery Edition

Last night was the annual holiday party for our daycare, of which I was in charge. I can't say that everything went smoothly, but it went, and it's over. I found out sometime in the morning that the goody bags (which the control freak in me reluctantly delegated) were made up mostly of choking hazards.(I told her twice to avoid choking hazards!) I was going to head over to the center to see what we could salvage, but the director told me they were going to have a fire drill. Meanwhile, I was supposed to meet a volunteer at the center at noon to take supplies over to the office building where we were having the party. And to top it all off, Seth's teacher informed me that Seth was running a fever and needed to be picked up. The fire drill finally happened at 11:45, we were only half an hour late for getting the supplies to the building. But in my haste, I forgot a ton of stuff. Somehow, we managed to get all the choking hazards out of the bags, and then to supplement some of them, we added 3 crayons and some post-it notes. LMAO--those parents are going to be thinking WTF? But such is life. I kept reminding myself that it really doesn't matter. Ed picked Seth up and took him home. I got a friend to bring William from the daycare center to the office building for the party. And William stayed late with me to help clean up.

So today, I'm home with William and Seth. Seth is fine. He just has a minor cold, so nothing to worry about. He's pretty testy today, but if that's the worst of it, I can't complain. Since we're home, I got out my camera and the tri-pod and re-taught myself how to use the timer. Here's what we got.

First, not sure when the timer would go off, telling the boys to come get in the picture!

Then I got Seth to cooperate, but not William:

My next goal in Show Me the Mommy is to get Ed to take a picture, and maybe get a family picture of all 4 of us using the timer. I'm just crazy that way!

The North Pole Express, Told in Very Bad Pictures

On Saturday night, William, Seth, Ed, and I took the North Pole Express to the, well, North Pole. The train was pulled by a real steam engine which was pretty awesome. There wasn't any snow, and the elves were all busy at the factories building toys. But the boys had a great time regardless. William decided that we hadn't really gone to the North Pole, so I told him it was just an outpost of the North Pole. Then he wanted to know what an outpost is.

But I digress. At the North Pole, or outpost, or whatever you want to call it, we saw Santa and got hot chocolate and cookies. William sat on Santa's lap, but Seth just stood back and waved. On the train ride back to Maryland, William fell fast asleep and Seth sang Jingle Bells 3,254 times. Santa gave them train whistles and cheap hand-made coloring books, and before we boarded the train, we bought William a little train souvenir that he loves. All in all, the boys had a great time and I think it lived up to William's expectations. (I don't think Seth actually had any expectations.)

As for Ed and me, we thought it was, meh. The steam engine was definitely the coolest part. The coach cars were pretty dingy, though, and a little smelly, and the decorations were cheesy. It was a pretty amateur production. The train ride itself occurred at night, in the dark, so you couldn't actually see anything outside the windows, save for a house or two that was decorated with holiday lights. The boys were excited, though, and that's what counts most of all. But I don't think it's something we'll do again. There's a shorter train ride here in town where Santa walks along the train and greets all the kids. I think that experience would be just as awesome. So live and learn!

As for the pictures, I brought the point and shoot since I thought I would get better night-time pictures. Um, yeah, the camera sucks. (Probably more likely that I suck at taking pictures, but whatever. We'll go with the camera.) Most pictures were blurry. The auto mode kept switching to some weird nighttime setting and I wouldn't realize it until after I took the picture. This was in the waiting room of the train station. It would have been great:

This one would have been great, too. They're both actually smiling:



Instead, I got this one, after making them stand there over and over:

Here are the boys waiting to board the train:

Here's William once we boarded:

Then we got to the North Pole, so I thought the photography might go a little better. Not so much.

And then there was the visit with Santa Claus--a nice, blurry shot.



The only decent shot I got the whole night was this one on the ride home:

After all of this, maybe Santa will get the hint that what I really need for Christmas is a photography class!

Show Me the Mommy--Family Style

I haven't gotten any pictures of myself in the last two weeks, but I did realize that I never posted this family portrait that we took over a year ago, when William was 3 and 1/2 and Seth was 19 months. I love this picture! (Taken by Picture People at the mall, of all places.)

 

Our next scheduled family pictures will happen Memorial Day weekend. I bought a Groupon for a local professional photographer--$65 for a one-hour session and it includes 5 edited prints and the digital rights. And then I can purchase more, of course. I thought it was a great deal and I was hoping that we could schedule the shooting for the fall, but the Groupon was crazy popular and May was my best shot for outdoor pics. So we'll just have to wait! 

A Little This, A Little That

I'm done shopping for the boys, including stockings! Woo-hoo. Of course, this means I must resist the urge to buy extra stuff over the next 23 days. I never shop early because I'm always finding new things I want to buy! The one thing I would still like to do, though, is let the boys pick out a gift for each other.

I also bought our holiday cards and finished the calendar, so I can cross that off my list. Slowly but surely, I've been getting supplies for the daycare center's holiday party next week. Crossing that one off my list will be a HUGE sigh of relief!

I even managed to get some candy and a few small hot wheels to put in our advent calendars for the boys. I thought I'd try to fill some of the days with activities, like "Sing Jingle Bells as loud as we can," "Dance to Christmas music," "Give a family group hug." We'll see if I can pull those off.

Other goals for the holiday season include a ride on the Polar Express (this Saturday!), making gingerbread houses (using milk cartons and graham crackers), making ornaments, finding an Angel Tree or making a Toys for Tots donation, and watching Christmas classics (even though William has rebuffed all our efforts to watch A Christmas Story and the orginial Grinch Who Stole Christmas). I'm trying not to overdo it, but I want to start creating some traditions and fun expectations for the kids. We'll see how it goes!

In the meantime, enjoy this video of Seth, our little performer. (I turned their little art table into a fort with a blanket, which they've been enjoying for several days now.)

"Money" Free Thanksgiving and Menu Plan Monday -- November 29, 2010

We had a very nice long holiday weekend. My mom came up for the weekend and Seth and William loved spending time with her. She spoiled us rotten while she was here! She took us out to dinner, bought groceries and new shoes for the boys, and then cleaned up after us. We are definitely looking forward to her next visit already!

We spent Thanksgiving Day with Ed's family. The boys loved the attention and Ed and I loved the food. (The boys did not eat anything!) As we were gathering everything to leave, we couldn't find Seth's pacifier--AKA his "money." Everyone looked everywhere with no luck. The last pacifier we had was gone. So we sucked it up and headed home. Seth missed it, but it wasn't nearly as terrible as I anticipated. (It never is, is it?) He fell asleep on the way home and then cried for it a little bit as I changed him into pajamas. He woke up that night about every two hours and asked for it, but he settled down pretty quickly each time. On Friday, he only asked for it at nap time, but got over it without too much angst. And then he only mentioned it again once in the car on Saturday. And he didn't even cry when I reminded him that we lost it. It takes a little bit longer to settle him down to sleep, and I ended up rocking him for his naps and bedtime on Friday and Saturday. But yesterday, he went down on his own for both his nap and at bedtime. So we are officially a "money"-free household! Woo-hoo. No more searching for the pacifier. So two down (crib and pacifier), one to go (diapers).

Not much else to report. The rest of our weekend was spent doing a little shopping, a little raking (Seth LOVES to work in the yard!), a little cleaning, a little Christmas decorating, and lots of playing. Ed took William ice skating on Saturday. Mom and I took William to a birthday party on Sunday. William got his haircut. Both boys got new light-up shoes. They built a very involved fort boat with our stand-up snowmen family and one of the holiday decorations bins. Mom and I played a marathon Zingo tournament with William. Fun stuff! I also managed to choke out a menu plan for the week!

Sunday: Lemon mustard chicken, green beans, bread in a can (Pillsbury bread)

Monday: Breakfast for dinner (waffles, bacon, eggs, fruit; for the waffles, I use King Arthur white whole wheat flour, and I usually do not bother to separate the eggs and whip the egg whites. I just mix all the liquids together and add to the dry ingredients. When the waffles have cooled, I put them in freezer ziplocks and put them in the freezer. To serve, I defrost the waffles first and then put them in the toaster oven. My waffle iron makes Belgian waffles, so I don't like them to get too crisp.)

Tuesday: Sloppy Joes, sweet potato fries

Wednesday: Corned beef (crock pot) and potatoes, broccoli, dinner rolls

Thursday: Leftovers

Friday: Pork piccata,veggies (tbd), homemade bread (in the bread machine, hopefully)

Saturday: Dinner on the Polar Express!

Show Me the Mommy--Holiday Card Edition

I'm trying very hard to put together my holiday cards this year, but I'm having two specific issues. First of all, my pictures from this year are terrible. Seth has been CRAZY uncooperative when it comes to pictures, even when I try to bribe him. I have so few pictures of the boys together, and the ones I do have are not that great. Second of all, however, I'm finding it IMPOSSIBLE to decide on which holiday card design I want to use from Shutterfly! They have a gazillion choices, from folded cards, to stationary cards, to photo cards, and a gazillion designs--sophisticated and cutesy and religious and simple and fun and elegant and scrapbooky. You name it, they've got it. Which is a good thing, because if my pictures aren't great, at least the card will be!

For the past 4 years, our holiday cards feature just out kids. But for William's first Christmas, we set up a family shot in front of the Capitol. And we designed the card using Shutterfly. So even though it's dated, here's my Show Me the Mommy picture for this week: 

Now I have to get back to designing this year's card. I'm looking for something simple, not too cutesy, but not too formal, either. Something that says "Happy Holidays," something that isn't too Christmas-y. I love this:

And this one came close:



You'll have to wait and see what I finally settle on. After cards, I'll get to work on the calendar. I love that I can use multiple pictures for each month, and that I can personalize it with all of our family's birthdays, anniversaries, and other important events. Of course, that means it takes twice as long to design, but the final product is always worth it. So if you haven't tried Shutterfly, or if you thought their selection in the past wasn't that great, check them out NOW. They have tons more to offer this year!

****DISCLAIMER****

Shutterfly is offering a promotion for bloggers--50 free cards for a blog post about this year's selection and products. Since I am a long-time customer of Shutterfly and have used them for holiday cards in the past, as well as calendars and for printing digital pictures (quality is awesome, btw), this was a no-brainer! I completely stand by my review!

Giving Thanks

As much as I'm trying to enjoy all the little moments and not cram-pack our schedule and take things "easy," time is flying by at warp speed and I'm feeling the fingers of Holiday Mania starting to take hold. Before I jump into the deep end, however, I want to be sure to count my blessings. But not just count them. I want to revel in them. To completely and fully feel joy and love for all of the amazing gifts in my.

• I have two healthy boys. Two amazing, wonderful, adorable, fantastic, HEALTHY boys.
• I have a husband who makes me laugh and wants to spend time with me and shares in all household responsibilities and manages our money and reads to our kids and makes them laugh and teaches them about responsibility.
• I have a secure job that pays well with regular hours and some flexibility and a great boss and I enjoy what I do. In 2010, this is a gift beyond measure.
• I have family that I can depend on--on both sides, mine and Ed's. Enough said.
• As of December, I have no debt. None. Nada. Zilch. I'm sure this state will be short-lived, but I'm beyond grateful that we can live within our means. And not only live within our means, but that we can also put tons of money into savings--retirement, college accounts, and money towards a new house.
• I have good health, and so does Ed. We are very, very fortunate.
• I have the most amazing friends. These women lift me up and make me laugh and inspire me every single day. Read Maria's blog for just one example of a friend who makes me want to be a better person.

So yeah, I have so much to be thankful for. It might be a cliche, but it's a cliche worth repeating. Tomorrow I hope to revel in gratitude, to put all thoughts of holiday stress out of my mind, to enjoy my kids, to eat myself silly, and to see how many times I can say, "Thank you."

Show Me the Mommy--From the Back Seat

Seth loves to take pictures while we're in the car. This is his view:

In the meantime, life is moving at a pretty quick pace. Lots to do at work, lots to do at home. Dinnertime has been a bit of a mess this week. Bad traffic = getting home late + poor dinner planning + meals that the boys don't like = dinner disasters. But such is life. Maybe I'll get back on track for next week. Life is only getting crazier, though. Just trying to hang on and enjoy the ride!

Not a Post About the Boys

I was planning to write about the boys tonight--how much they've been playing together lately, and how much less I've had to referee; how William is beginning to actually draw things other than round stick people--things like volcanoes and airplanes and walking stick bugs; how we've started making up stories in the car on the way to and from work, which is great and all, but it's pretty taxing and I'm exhausted by the time I get to work, but that's okay because I feel like it's "quality" time together; how Seth has decided that 5:15 a.m. is a perfectly good time to wake up in the morning; how William won a medal in his Tae kwon do "bopper" tournament last weekend and he was so stinkin' proud. (Or course, he had no clue that he tied for last, but we're super proud of him, regardless!); how Seth loves to hear the same story over and over and then likes to "read" the story back to you; how William wrote a bunch of letters on a piece of paper tonight and then proceeded to "read" his instructions on how we should stay away from earthquakes and call 9-1-1 and then call him because he's a scientist; how we're taking the "Polar Express" to the North Pole the first weekend in December to see Santa Claus (i.e., we're riding the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad's North Pole Express train--a steam locomotive that pulls a train full of kids and their families to a station about an hour away, where the kids get out and meet Santa and eat cookies and drink hot chocolate, and then pile back in for the ride home) and the boys are beside themselves with excitement; and how, despite all the business and exhaustion and messiness and things-that-never-get-done, I love those boys so much that it hurts.

But instead, my December issue of Real Simple arrived, so I'm going to go read that now. Maybe I'll write all that stuff about the boys tomorrow!

Show Me the Momma--Animal Style

Last weekend the boys and I spent some time playing games, one of which is a Curious George game where you have to put on masks and run and hide and the zookeeper has to come and find you. I couldn't resist taking a few photos.

These are fitting pictures considering I took the boys to a hands-on zoo in the Virginia suburbs yesterday. They had tons of animals you could feed--sheep, goats, pigs, rabbits, the usual. But they also had a safari-like ride where you take a tractor-pulled wagon ride out into a huge field and all these cool animals come right up to the wagon looking for handouts. There were llamas and ostriches and buffalo and zebras and camels and these huge cow-like animals with ginormous horns. It was very cool. The weather was flat out gorgeous and we spent most of the day outdoors.

We also spent a few minutes talking about veterans and why we should honor them and be thankful for those who serve in our military and for their families (especially the wives!) they leave behind. I told William that army guys and army girls are very special people and they make major sacrifices to protect us. He said he was going to say thank you to our neighbors--most of whom are military. Unfortunately, we didn't see any of them when we were playing outside in the afternoon, but something tells me he won't forget when we finally do cross paths.

To see more mommies, visit LauraC's Show Me the Mommy!

Quick Randomness for Wednesday

• Traffic the last two days has been God-awful. It took us almost an hour to get to work this a.m. When traffic gets bad, Seth always says, "It's taking too long!"
• Speaking of Seth, he has not been sleeping well the last two nights. Last night he was up at 11:30 p.m., 2:30 a.m., then 4:00 a.m. into our bed, then 5:30 a.m. back into his bed. William, meanwhile, woke up at 4:45 a.m. I got him back in his bed, only to have him wake up at ten 'till 6:00 a.m. for the day. God give me strength!
• Work has been really busy, with way too much to do. Meanwhile, I'm in charge of our daycare's annual holiday party, and I also got roped into being in charge of a nutrition committee for the center that is charged with revamping the snacks served to our kids. Can you say stress?
• Yesterday after work, we stopped at Target so the boys could get Pillow Pets. We saw them at the mall over the weekend, but they were knock-offs, and they were more expensive! Target only had a few choices, though. William chose the penguin, but Seth decided to hold out for a frog. William LOVES his Pillow Pet!
• William also loves Care Bears. He watched a few of the movies on Netflix while he was sick, and now he's all into them. Somehow, he got his whole class talking about them, and today is "Bears that Care" day. I guess there are much worse things he could be into!
• No meal plan this week. And I'm paying for it. We had a nice steak dinner on Monday night. But last night was popcorn, a pretzel, and apples at Target. Tonight, I got nothing. Thinking about cheese and crackers, hummus, and fruit. And leftover steak. We'll just wing it. 
• Last week's chicken and dumplings did not go over well. The boys didn't eat it, but Ed and I managed to finish up all the leftovers. 
• Tomorrow is a holiday so I'm trying to come up with something fun to do with the boys, preferably outside since the weather will be nice. Is it terrible that I wish I had arranged for a babysitter so I could go into work and get some stuff done?
• I was going to take Friday off and get the massage and pedicure/manicure that Ed and the boys got me for Mother's Day, but work is too busy. Boo for that.

That's all. Life's moving at its usual breakneck speed. But overall, things are good. Except for traffic. Traffic sucks! Other than that, all is well.

Fall Back

Usually I really hate the time change--especially in the fall when gaining an hour does not mean an extra hour to sleep, but rather, getting up at the butt crack of dawn, instead of just the crack of dawn. This morning was no exception. I woke up around 4:30 a.m., expecting to hear the pitter pat of little feet at any minute. And I was not disappointed. At a few minutes before 5:00 a.m., first one boy woke up, then the other. Both requested chocolate milk. I got the milk, hoping it would buy me some time to get back in my bed. No dice. Seth wanted to me to sit in his chair. William went into our room and got into our bed. I thought maybe Seth would go back to sleep. But he didn't. At 5:30 a.m. we headed downstairs and turned on the TV. William came down about 15 minutes later.

I'm often really cranky when I have to get up that early. But since I fell asleep before 9:00 p.m. last night, it wasn't really that bad. And as the day wore on, and I kept thinking it was an hour later than it really was, I felt really thankful for that extra hour. We took the boys to the mall and ate lunch in a restaurant and let the boys ride the train that does laps around the food court. Then we went to two open houses. And then we had time to stop by my cousin's house and visit. My cousin has two boys who are now 15 and 12. When I moved here to DC 15 years ago, it was to nanny for the 15 year old. Wow--does that make me feel old. Now the 15 year old is old enough to babysit for my kids. And William LOVES the older boys. He loved visiting them and wants them to come to our house now.

So really, I can't complain about an extra hour in my day. I mean, how many times have I wished that I had just one more hour? And today, I got it. Life is good!

Show Me the Mommy

I'm struggling with the whole picture-of-me thing because Ed simply does not take pictures. It's not his thing. So I have to find other people to take pictures of me and the kids, or I just have to do it myself. This was me yesterday, right before work. In the midst of the morning scramble chaos, I stopped to snap a few photos of myself. As I was taking the pictures, I could hear Seth saying, "Where's Mommy? Where she go?" Never a moment's peace! 

To see more mommies, visit LauraC!

Happy Bithday Dad!

My dad would have turned 78 today. Wow--that's old. That's how old your grandparents are--not your parents. Guess that means I'm getting old. I digress.

My dad died 20 years ago this month. It was a lifetime ago. He died before email and the Internet. Before cell phones and texting and DVDs and Netflix and digital anything. He would have embraced all of it wholeheartedly. My dad telecommuted long before anyone had coined that word. My mom was his secretary and worked for him out of our house. My dad loved knowledge and really, really wanted to be handy. He wasn't, but Lord knows he tried. He helped with all our science projects and loved camping. He also loved sports but wasn't very athletic. He loved books and jazz, too. He loved politics and the news. He valued education and good debate. He was philosophical and made crazy long to-do lists. I'm not sure that very much ever got done. He was intellectual to the core. And he was social--especially in his younger days.

I'm sad that Dad doesn't know me now. He'd LOVE where I live and what I do. I'm sad that Ed and the boys will never know him. I'm sad that I didn't get to know him in my adulthood, and that he didn't get to know me as an adult. But I'm thankful that I had him as my dad for as long as I did. He wasn't perfect--boy, did he have a temper--but I had a wonderful childhood. I was loved and supported and encouraged and provided for and you can't ask for much more than that. For that, I am very, very grateful.

I have very few pictures of him, and of those, I only found two that I scanned. So here they are:

I'll have to work on getting the rest of the pictures scanned. In the meantime, Happy Birthday Daddy. I miss you every day.

The New Bed

I think I mentioned last week that Seth decided he no longer wanted to sleep in his crib. So he slept on the floor in his room until Saturday, when Ed put his bed together.

I think William likes it more than Seth does.

The best part, though, is that Seth actually sleeps in it. It takes a few extra minutes--a few stern warnings to get back in bed, the threat of closing his door if he doesn't stay in bed, and sometimes actually closing the door for a minute or two--but the transition has been mostly painless.

So step one of the trifecta is done. Plans for step two--potty training--are in the works. I'm thinking the long Thanksgiving weekend, but we'll see what happens. Step three of the trifecta is the pacifier, or as Seth calls it, his "money." We're down to one, and I've told Seth that if we lose it, we're done. No more monies. I have a feeling the "money" is going to be the hardest to part with!

GO VOTE!!!

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Halloween Weekend 2010

Lots went on this weekend, so here it is in bullet points:

• William woke up at 1 a.m. on Friday night (Saturday morning) wheezing pretty bad. I nebulized him, but he woke up again at 4:45 a.m. I nebulized him again, but was really worried that he needed to go to the ER. At 7:45 a.m., I was really, really worried, but Ed convinced me to wait until the doctor's office opened at 9 a.m. So we nebulized him again and waited. We got to the doctor right at 9:00 and the doctor said the Albuterol was working. She didn't give him an oral steroid (which I thought for sure she would) but said to start up with the daily Pulmicort treatment again through the winter. Boo for that. William spent the whole day Saturday watching TV and getting nebulized every 3 hours. He was better by the evening, though, thankfully. He also never really ran a fever, so that was a positive sign.
• Ed, meanwhile, went to the Rally to Restore Sanity/Fear. He didn't have any trouble getting there (he drove) and he was able to see/hear everything. He said it was pretty cool, but unfortunately, none of his buddies made it. So he was there all by his lonesome. Not quite as fun as it could have been. But still pretty cool that he was there.
• Although I was home the entire weekend, I didn't get very much done around the house. I did laundry, sorted through a bunch of piles of things, and dusted William's room. I cleaned the boys' bathroom and cleaned 3 of 4 toilets. And I cut up two sugar pumpkins and made a pumpkin pie and plan to make pumpkin chocolate chip muffins tonight. I also made bread pudding using up leftover biscuits.
• Speaking of using stuff up, I threw out a third of a loaf of bread that got moldy, a pork cutlet that never got eaten, some taco meat that never got eaten, and half a grapefruit that was not very good. Overall, though. we did pretty well with food waste last week. 
• Fortunately, William was well enough to go trick-or-treating for Halloween. He was beyond excited. While we were walking around, though, there were several scary-looking costumes that he avoided like the plague. And he avoided scary-looking houses, too. He had a great time, though.
• Seth, meanwhile, got freaked about the whole Halloween thing and refused to put on his costume or go trick-or-treating. Ed's parents came over and brought glow-stick bracelets. Seth remembered them from 4th of July, and he immediately associated them with the fireworks--the fireworks that terrified him on 4th of July. No amount of reassurance would convince him that there would not be fireworks, so he stayed home and handed out candy. He had a great time, too!
• Fortunately, Seth wore his costume for a short time at his class party on Friday, so I do have a picture:

And here's my one picture of William, ready to trick or treat (I couldn't get him to stand still!):

Overall, a good weekend. William is at school today, with the nebulizer. And here's hoping that Seth won't catch the same virus. Or if he does, here's hoping it won't affect him the same way.