farewell...

the last day of november makes me sad...
december 1st means winter
goodbye fall...we'll miss you
here's to a quick & warm winter

although after winter comes spring...

and spring means #4
so maybe i'll wish for a long & warm winter :)

toy for tots

it's almost december...which means it's time to start shopping for christmas. and i've discovered a really cool toy for kids.

meet the homedic massager

ok, so it's probably not going to make the top 10 list for kid toys, but it is a hit at our house.

and believe it or not, ryan likes this more than our tivo remote :)
his favorite ways to play with it include sticking the vibrating feet into his mouth and throwing it into the sippy cup drawer (while vibrating, of course).

and just like the tivo remote, if we try to take it away he cries like a little baby. so we've gotten a little creative and found places to hide it. and just like the tivo remote, it's always good to remember where you hide it :)

entrepreneur

we just got home for our 11 hour car trip back from minnesota.
tim was unloading the car and i was giving the kids a snack before bed...

olivia: mom, i want to start helping out around the house.

me: what do you mean?

olivia: like, i want to dust and put away dishes and help you keep the house clean.

me: thanks, sweetie!! what made you think of that?

(i figured maybe she was feeling a little guilty about all the junk tim was dragging in from the car and how messy the kitchen was quickly becoming)

olivia: money - i want to make some money.

strangers in our house

the past few weeks, we've noticed a pair of strangers in our house...

they call themselves "team"...

"team" activities include:

• dressing up in costumes (or undressing to just their underwear)
  
• pretending to be dogs
• painting themselves in marker
• playing polly pockets or barbies
• drawing pictures and taping them to walls
• filling purses with all sorts of goodies then pretending to go to the movies

what makes "team" a pair of strangers is that they do all of these activities upstairs without fighting. it's been so nice to tell them "go up stairs and do team" and they run right up there. then we can stay downstairs in nearly kid-free peace & quiet.


the only downside to "team" is that ryan desperately wants to join in. and since he can climb the stairs, he tries to join in all the time. unfortunately, we have never really child-proofed the upstairs, so we do our best to convince him that doing dishes, folding laundry or watching tv downstairs is way more fun than falling off a bunk bed or falling down the stairs.

oops

today we were meeting some friends at mcdonalds for lunch. olivia eats lunch at school, so she just snacked on a few fries until tim picked her up to take her to school. after mcdonalds, we went to a playdate for a little while.

so when we finally got home, there sitting on the counter was olivia's lunch bag. oops, i guess i never put it in her backpack. i felt so bad for her. obviously it was way past school lunch time and i knew her teacher would make sure she got some lunch, but i just felt so bad for her.

here's what olivia had to say to me once she got home...

"mom, it's ok. just try to put my lunch in my back pack next time."

well, i guess i'm not up for the mother of the year award... maybe that will go to someone who buys their kids light up coats. ha ha :)

customer service

a few weeks ago i ordered olivia a fall fleece from llbean. based on it's tracking info, it was supposed to be delivered last tuesday (11/13). after no package, on wednesday i looked up the tracking info. it stated it was delivered on tuesday at 4:15pm. odd...cuz i had no package.

i figured it got delivered to the wrong house since i had noticed a sub-mail carrier earlier in the week. so i waited a few days, figuring that if someone was going to return it that was enough time. friday afternoon i asked our usual mail lady if she knew who delivered our mail on tuesday and explained what happend. she said it was a new guy, tracey, and she'd go talk to him.

last friday afternoon tracey stopped by. he said he totally remembers dropping if off tuesday afternoon right next to the front door.

sooo....all i could assume was that it was stolen. which was odd since we were all home that afternoon.

then i called llbean, here's what they said...
customer service rep: "oh, i'm soooo sorry that happened to you. i'll get a new jacket out right away."

seriously???? is that awesome customer service or what???
llbean is now our new favorite store!
and did i mention free shipping...who doesn't love that?

but the story doesn't end there...

the next day one of the other moms on olivia's fall soccer team stopped by...with our llbean package :)

mmm...so much for tracey's memory!

and yes, i called llbean to cancel the second jacket :)

hello, jello

ryan found a new friend tonight.

and i found a new way to keep him busy during supper time.

note to self: only try this at home...
a full clothing strip down was required post meal.

and guess who learned how to say "cheese" for the camera tonight?

i'd call it a pretty successful single parenting attempt at dinner!
(although i am looking forward to reinforcements soon - so get better tim!)

little alarm clock

ryan is the perfect alarm clock
whether i want one or not

he gets up EVERY morning at 7:15

it doesn't matter what time he goes to bed... 7, 7:30, 8 or 8:30
it doesn't matter how many naps he's had that day...0,1 or 2

it doesn't matter if he's had a big evening snack or no snack at all

EVERY morning it's the same thing

so if you are looking for a good, reliable alarm clock... i'm willing to rent him out
WARNING: his services come with the occasional late night alarm glitch

prayers - updated

garrett's prayer at bedtime tonight...

dear god,
thank you for santa, thank you for me going to see santa at the mall, i want a spiderman scooter, then i want a superman scooter. amen

prayers - kid style

last night at supper...

olivia: dear god, thank you for mommy, thank you for daddy, thank you for ryan and thank you for molly. amen.

garrett: hey! sissy didn't say me!!!

olivia (with a smirk on her face): and thank you for garrett.

garrett: dear god, thank you for mommy, and NOT sissy, thank you for daddy, and NOT sissy, thank you for ryan, and NOT sissy, thank you for molly, and NOT sissy. amen.