Weekend Fun

I'm down to one child again today. Caity is off on a play adventure.

Izzie is down for a nap and I, well I am tackling housework.

My to do list this weekend:

• Clean living room
• Clean kitchen
• load dishwasher
• Laundry (about 4 loads)
• Sweep and Mop all rooms
• Put away folded laundry
• Clean litter box

I also have two more reviews and a contest to write up later today.

What are you doing this weekend?

Prima Princessa -- A review

Mary Kate contacted me to review the Prima Princessa DVD.

I of course accepted heartidly, knowing that if Princesses were involved in any way shape or form, Miss Caity would be all over it.

The day the DVD came in the mail, Caity had gone to her great grandmothers for 3 days, so I set aside the movie eagerly awaiting her return.

DVD Information

Availability: Available in specialty stores nationwide and on Amazon.com.

Release Date: January 2008.
Cost: Retails for $19.99.

Producers: Mary Kate Mellow and Stephanie Troeller are both stay-at-home moms who despite no prior movie-making experience teamed up to produce this show. They were both inspired by their children's love of dance. They both live in Montclair, NJ.

Web site: www.PrimaPrincessa.com (features clip of show, coloring book pages)

Blog: www.TutuZone.com (join in on the journey of 2 movie-making moms)

Description: “Prima Princessa Presents Swan Lake” is a hip new ballet DVD for kids featuring the Paris Opera Ballet and Students from School of American Ballet at Lincoln Center, Official Academy of New York City Ballet. Our 40 minute DVD is a cool, fun, beautiful show with a brain. Prima Princessa, an animated fairy ballerina, magically transports a group of little girls to see the Paris Opera Ballet performs select segments of Swan Lake. In between acts, the children return home to learn simple ballet steps which are playfully shown mixed into colorful montages of toys, animals, children and young dancers from the School of American Ballet. This children’s ballet DVD makes a great gift for young kids.

“To purchase ‘Prima Princessa Presents Swan Lake’” click here.
http://www.amazon.com/Prima-Princessa-Presents-Swan-Lake/dp/B000YRFLOY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1210694225&sr=1-1

“For more information please visit www.PrimaPrincessa.com.”
http://www.PrimaPrincessa.com


And now for our thoughts.

Caity loved this movie. She asked to watch it again and again the first day she saw it. Her favorite parts were the sections where she got to practice ballet moves herself. She was twirling and twirling all afternoon and asking for her very own Tutu (now thinking christmas!) as well.

I found Prima Princessa to be a wonderful show for children, it tells the story of Swan Lake simply and pauses between sections to teach children ballet dance moves. All done with the fun of an animated princess!

I would recommend this movie to any one with a little girl out there.

End of the Week News

We paid less than $3 a gallon for gas yesterday. That was enough to make me giddy. Sad isn't it.


The girls bedroom is spotless for once. Of course that's because they were both gone half the week and I was able to get in there without helping hands.

Izzie learned a new word this week. Yes, she now says Mine in addition to this and that.

Caity doesn't feel that she is like her daddy because "He's a goofy boy mommy"

PSF - The proper way to eat a cupcake

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

The proper Way to eat a cupcake -- demonstrated by Izzie



Examine the cake you are given.



Taste the icing.



If the icing tastes okay, you can take a bite.





Make sure you get excess icing all over your face


Now use your hands and really dig in



Enough of being girly and polite, just shovel it in. I find it works better.



Rub some extra on your belly. You want a bath after this, right?!




And when you are done, stand up and let the adults know



BE 100% sure to get icing everywhere. It makes the mommy happy.

Trust me.


For more PHoto Story Fridays, click Here

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen things the girls want for Christmas

1. More trains and track
2. new computer game
3. books
4. A 4 wheeler "a real one, mom" -- hahaha Um no.
5. Spiderman sheets -- Yes she's a tomboy
6. Movies, Sleeping beauty to name one
7. Hungry Hungry Hippos game
8. A doll -- Izzie
   
9. Crayons, markers, other art stuff
10. a puppy --- Not happening.
    
11. a backpack
    
12. a sleeping bag
13. Board Games
    

Plus you know 5 million other things they see advertised or at the store!

We went to the Museum

Smithsonian Museums had a free Museum day on Sept. 27th, so we loaded up the girls and headed to Mid America Science Museum for a fun day.

The girls enjoyed it so much. And it was pretty fun for us adults too (Lily, Gena, and I)









Izzie and I crawled through the underground caves and she liked it until we hit the rope net crossover, then she and Gena left through the emergency exit, while I finished. Caity refused to enter at all, but watched us on the tv.



We all enjoyed the Caged Lightning -Tesla Coil exhibit. It was very interesting, and funny when they later did the static electricity trick and everyone's hair was standing up!



Another of the girls favorite was the gravity bowl. The both kept going back and running around it.

Wordless Wednesday -- Um....Boo

My first Tackle it Tuesday

Okay, so it was actually monday night. Hey I help the ILs on Tuesday mornings

Ah yes. My oldest went to her great grandmother's for the night. My youngest went home with grandma. Which left me home, alone. Well, alone with DH.

But lets face it, he took the silence in the house, to watch TV uninterrupted.

I instead, decided to tackle the clothing bins.

I went through four bins of clothing and sorted them out into 3 piles.

Pile A: Clothes that will fit Izzie this winter.

Pile B: Clothes that will be too small for Izzie and thus passed down to Miss Emmy.

and

Pile C: Clothes that will fit Caity this Winter.

And then, even though I wanted to curl up in bed and read a book or watch TV or do something else that is not so easily done with the girlies here. I Put those piles away. Some in the closet, some in dressers, and Miss Emmy's in a box for Jar Jar to pick up.

Next tackle, packing up the summer clothes.

One of the most annoying things ever.

Has to be waiting on a phone call to schedule a doctors appointment after test results are read.

We've been waiting forever (okay so a few weeks) for Caity's results. This is the last hurdle before we arrange surgery(ies) and other treatment stuff and it seems to be taking forever.

We just want to get it all done with so we can move on from daily meds, weekly tests and all the other fun stuff.

Mom, You are the best mom ever

So says Caity to me last night.

What did I do that was so deserving of such sentiment last night?

I made her bed.

Yeah. Really special huh.

But it wasn't the sheer act of making her bed. No, it was the fact that I used her brand new Speed Racer sheets (3.50 clearance at walmart). Yes, Speed Racer.

She also got a new Speed Racer fleece blanket. (another 3.50)

She was in tomboy heaven last night.

And to think it took less than $10 to make her so happy.

Isn't childhood great!

PSF: Didn't know I had twins, didya? *wink*

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

In these pictures, that I've posted numerous places, are Izzie and Lexi.








The first response to these photos is always "I didn't know you had twins"

The response always makes me laugh. It seems kinda strange to point out that I've only ever said I had two kids and only have two in my siggy, and they most definitely cannot be twins, being 3 years apart.

It's almost as if, people think I had twins, gave one to someone else to raise but visit often enough to get pics of them both.

So to set the record straight, NO I do not have twins.


Izzie is my daughter, and Lexi is my niece. But they are 6 months apart in age and Lexi's mom is my step-sister so there is no true blood relation there. YET they are still look alikes.

Same hair, same eyes, same size, near identical facial features.

Can you pick out who is who?

For more Photo Story Fridays click Here

Follow along the story

ITs a blog world game. Following along the story.

One day, Trisha was outside going for a walk. She really hated to walk, in fact, she downright despised it. This was because…….

she was tired of the nasty old men who would pervertedly let out cacophonous wolf whistles as she would hike down the road. Trisha hated feeling like a sex object, despite her night job as a lap dancer at the local T&A bar.

Working at the T&A Bar, Trisha makes AWESOME Money from the men AND women that wont ever go home. One day Trisha got fed up with the bar and headed to a nudist beach

Being utterly disgusted by the fat men at the beach, Trisha decided to start a campaign to exile any overweight men, so the beach would no longer be an eyesore. This quest however, ticked off all the wives who thought their hubbys were fat yet fabulous.

So she decided that this was not the place for her. She headed back to her hometown, and on the way she saw a house that was completely decked out in Halloween decor. “It’s only July, for crying out loud!” she thought. This person needs to be taught a lesson. So Trisha decided to….Toliet Paper the guys house to add decorations!! Then the next night, she forked his yard! (She really loves watching his reactions in the morning!!)

He isn’t quite sure what to do with the forks. Well he knows is it’s going to be such a pain to mow the lawn.Trisha is so happy with herself for playing these little pranks that she brags to all her friends about it. She even puts it on her website!

This man/neighbor finds out and comes running over to her house and passes chris in the garage killing black widows. He asks Chris about the angels and the other christmas decor and Chris starts to panic. Not knowing what to say Chris runs inside and grabs Trisha. Trisha says to the man………….

I really didn’t want to be a snitch but I do know who is responsible for it. It was Kim’s crazy neighbor, she thinks the world is ending and the only way to save it is………..

By wearing Tweety socks, like Insane Mama’s Grandmother!! While wearing these sock, she believes she is invisible. That is the reason she had decorated his lawn, wearing Tweety socks.The neighbor/guy asks “What is she going to do next?”Trisha answered, “I don’t know, but let’s follow her to find out.” So they followed the crazy neighbor all the while hiding behind tree trunks and automobiles so they wouldn’t be seen. They followed the woman to the big blue house on the corner. They couldn’t believe their eyes when the woman . . .

began to undress and run around to each house sprinkling “fairy dust” glitter on each doorstep while “singing” Christmas carols at the top of her lungs. A few neighbors peeked out their windows to see what all the racket and noise was about! Trisha began to laugh so loud, the crazy neighbor, Emma, ran to find out where the laughter was coming from! She spotted Trisha and Edwardo-Pierre (name of guy/neighbor) running off and began to charge towards them when….

the woman took off her canary yellow robe, revealing a Tweety nightgown, and began to dance like a ballerina in the yard. She had her arms gracefully placed over her head and continued to pirouette all across the yard. Trisha, Crazy 4 Halloween Neighbor Guy (C4HNG), and Chris lurked behind a mini van as they watched the crazy show! Slowly, more and more neighbors joined the insanity by...

Tap Dancing in the street. Trisha and Chris, upon seeing the extreme craziness of the neighborhood, ran for cover. C4HNG, stood still watching the ensuing wackiness. Trisha and Chris....

Read More of this story at: MomDot

Contributing Bloggers to this Story: MomDot, Womb at the Inn(sane) , Nothing But Purple, Momma’s Gone Over the Wall ,Sweet ‘n’ Sassy Girls , The Waggoner’s Wonderful World of Writing , My Quest For Sanity, A Little Bit Nutty, 3 Garnets & 2 Sapphires, The Blog that Has No Name (yasmine), Our Life In Words, Nunc Scio quit Sit Amor

I'm giddy with excitement

March cannot come soon enough.

Oh Jess, I'm so so so excited for this.

You have waited so so so long. And been through so much.

It's heartwarming to see that as we approach your due date, that you are not sad, you are not weeping, you are not lost.

Why is it you are not lost, I know in large part of it has to do with Andrew (Which I love, btw and I hope he gets used to the name change soon)

You have opened your heart and your home to that precious little boy and I can't think of anyone who deserves to be called his mom more.

As we enter a new year, and approach the anniversary of Caleb's birth, I know that you will have an extra heavy heart. But I know that with the adoption going through on March 4th, you will handle it with grace, as you always have.

WE are here for you always. In everything. And we will be there as you welcome Andrew to the family.




ETA: Update to this post.

She's Catching on quickly

Caity, that is.


Have I mentioned lately, how much I love this girl! Because I do.

So our very first trip to Children's back in August did not go over very well with Caity. Hey, not that I blame the girl, in my experience, catheters suck in general. So being cathed on top of everything else, so not my idea of a good time.

After the torture test was over, the nurse took Caity to the "Treasure box" to pick out a prize (or three). She left the hospital with some stickers and sidewalk chalk.

Then we went for her MRI a few weeks later, and when the nurse told her that the MRI dept. did not have a toy box; She insisted to the nurse at Children's that they did have a toy box and she would leave there with a toy. Then she took her hand and led her off.

She returned to her room with you guessed it A toy (actually a few)

In between the MRI and the Urodynamics tests at Children's she had to get a urine analysis at our regular pediatricians office.

The following conversation took place.

Dr. R. "Can you pee in the cup for me?"

Caity: "You want my pee?" pause. "I want a toy." *stare at Dr with a grin*

Dr. R. "A toy."

Caity "From the box. I can show you where it is"

Dr. R. "okay. You pee in the cup and you can get a toy."

And we left with...... A toy.


Didn't take her long to figure that one out did it.

Poor nurses/doctors/lab people never stood a chance.

A few Caity Funnies

She was getting ready to go with Grandma and I told her I loved her and she looks at me and says "I love me too."



We were discussing her appointment with her urologist, another new doctor, this one a man. And she goes. "Boys can be doctors too?"



She called Aunt G, got her voicemail and left the following

"G,

This is Caity. I want to leave a message. I want to talk to you. So you need to call me back. Love you.

Caity"

Ah the joy of sleeping babes

5 Minutes for Mom is hosting another fabulous contest. This time, the winner takes home a spectacular prize. A bedroom set for their little girl or boy. Winner will pick a brand new South Shore Children’s Bedroom Set from Home & Bedroom Furniture. The Lily rose or the Summer Breeze.

Our personal pick would be the Lily Rose bedroom set.



Wouldn't that just look divine in the girls room. And it would make more storage space too.

The rules of the contest are to select ONE picture of your sleeping angel.

It was so hard. SO SO hard, to narrow down the options for this one. I have two beautiful girls and tons tons of pictures of each of them sleeping and lots of them sleeping together

But I think this one is one of my faves ever.

So. Here it is.

Sleeping beneath the Christmas tree.





You can join in the fun here

Wordless Wednesday --- What are you looking at?

We've been so busy

Lots of things going on here lately.

Caity had her last test (we hope!) at Children's and now we are awaiting the consultation appointment to discuss surgery and other treatment components.

Izzie goes Oct. 13th for testing.

Both Jay and I are busy with work. But thankfully things are slowing down and I hope that I'm not MIA anymore for a while!

Momdot and Combi Rock

Combi has teamed up with Momdot to host yet another fabulous stroller contest.


This time they are giving away a limited edition Cosmo DX in Blush

The wonderful ladies over at momdot are giving this stroller to the person who they feel best needs the stroller and as such they are letting each person post a story about why they need the stroller.

Some specs about this stroller:

Cosmo DX Features

* Lightweight and portable lifestyle stroller
* Compatible with the Combi Shuttle Infant Seat
* Breathable air mesh seat cushion for child’s comfort
* Quick and simple tri-fold
* Opens easily with one hand
* Deep recline will accommodate an infant
* Stylish European canopy with designer lining
* Removable cup holder
* Basket with easy access
* Convenient carrying strap for traveling
* 5-Point harness with comfort pads
* Removable, washable padded seat cushion
* Removable guardrail with washable fabric cover
* Front swivel wheels for easy maneuvering
* All-wheel suspension system for a smooth and restful ride
* Integrated infant boot
* Convenient footrest for toddler comfort
* Weight: 12.9 lbs
* Open Dimensions : 40.25” x 19.5” x 32”
* Close Dimensions: 37.5” x 17” x 15”
* Carrying Capacity: 55 lbs


Now for why I need this stroller.

Both of my girls have medical problems. So we spend an awful lot of time in the doctor's office and lately at Children's hospital. This makes it very difficult to keep up with both of my girls. We often go from waiting room to waiting room or department to department and its not easy to get both girls there quickly. This stroller would really help with that.

When Caity has her surgery (or two), I know that a new stroller will come in handy for getting around with both girls. It would be great not to worry about keeping up with both girls when we are dealing with so much else.

So that's my story. Not a big sob story, but just the basics of why I could use this stroller.



Share your story Here

Ike took our power

So I'll be MIA for a bit

Wordless Wednesday --- Girls

Just a few recent pics.

Gustav is visiting

And he brought us LOTS of rain. Pouring rain.


2 days straight so far.


And he's knocking down power lines left and right.

So I am not at work today -- no power there.

Still power at home for the moment.