Post Christmas

Christmas was nice this year. The boys were very excited. Grandma came over Christmas Eve and made homemade tamales a little tradition we do every year. On Christmas day Andrew woke up Grandma and asked if he missed Santa and she said no. So we all got up and the kids were very excited to see all the presents.

Santa brought the kids their very own excavator and they were so excited that they wanted to go play outside at 7 am.

Grandma Herme bought the kids clothes and when I say clothes I mean lots of clothes. Andrew got 2 huge bags of Jackets, sweaters, pants, vests, and shirts.  Adam got his own bag full of clothes too. That's how grandma rolls -- she shops throughout the year and tucks everything away, but then forgets about it. Then when Christmas comes she nearly has a heart attack because of all the clothes she bought.  We love grandma!

Holiday Baking

I decided to do some baking this holiday season. I found a fantastic recipe for Oreo Cookie Fudge. This came out so good that I had to make another batch last night. I know, I'm on a diet, but I did pretty good and only ate a few pieces.

Here is a the recipe

I also made chocolate fantasy fudge that came out fabulous. You can find that recipe on the back of a  jet puffed marshmallow cream jar.

Happy Baking

Suck it up Santa

On Saturday we ventured out in the cold, wet rain to visit Santa at The Grove. I've been wanting to take the kids there to see the Christmas tree, the lights and it snows every evening. However, thanks to the rain we only got to see a cranky ol' Santa.  Raul's brother went as well, so we had all the kids sit on Santa's lap. Of course my little guy cried his eyes out when I handed him over to Santa, but it will make for a classic Holiday Christmas Photo.

Santa looked very annoyed as all the kids settled next to him and then I handed him a screaming 2 yr old.  After the kids took their picture, they were given a little treat. My husband didn't realize Andrew already received one from Santa until he snapped at Raul "he already got one."   Lighten up Santa, it's Christmas!

Happy Monday 

School Days

On Tuesday I went to Andrew's Winter Program at his school.  Each grade sung a Christmas song and a Hanukkah song. I watched the 5th graders singing and imagined Andrew and what he would look like when he was a 5th grader! I can't think that far ahead; I can't picture him being such a big boy.  After all the big kids, the little pre-k's finally got on stage. I could see Andrew looking for me in the audience. I hid because I knew if he saw me that he would run off stage.  His teacher told me that during rehearsals on Wednesday Andrew pulled his pants down on stage. I was praying he wouldn't do that during the show, and he didn't. But I secretly thought how funny that might of been. I tried to get some pictures of Andrew but the lighting was horrible. He's on the top row, 2nd from the left side.

I'm still stuck on the fact that Andrew is growing up. He's going to be 5 in April and starting Kindergarten in the fall.  I watch him and I can't believe he can spell his first and last name to me and he can write his first name .. not perfectly of course but he's learning. I was watching him do his homework the other night tracing his letters - loves it!

Christmas Tree is up!

We finally got our tree on Sunday! I love the way the tree looks this year. I usually go for an all silver tree, but this year since Andrew is so into rainbow colors I decided to go with that and I loves it.

Andrew requested rainbow candy canes. Hopefully Santa will bring some new pj's.

School Pictures

Ah, school pictures. You always hope those pictures come out good. I prayed Adam would not cry as he hates getting his picture taken. I couldn't even get his 2 year pictures done because he was crying.  Of course the day of his pictures he wouldn't sit still and cried. The teachers and photographer did their best to entertain him but it didn't help.  Andrew took an awesome picture but for some reason there is dirt on his nose. Ah well, these pictures will make for great memories.

(Arrghhh...can't upload my cute photo of the boys. I guess that's what I get for scanning at work -- photo to come soon)



Andrew's New Pet

Oh that Grandma Herme. When Andrew was over her house they went for a walk and saw some roosters. Ever since then Andrew has been fascinated by this ... animal.   Last weekend raul brought home a bag of things from Herme. There were Christmas mugs, a tablecloth, and then there was a ceramic rooster dish set. At first I thought "awesome" she bought me a new dish set. Um, no. She bought Andrew the dish set it. I thought that was cute and thoughtful.

Then, last night grandma cameover to decorate the kids bedrooms for Christmas, very cute. Do you see what's on the corner of Andrew's bed? Yup, a rooster. His very own metal, sharp -- rooster.
Of course he loved it.

Andrew also inherited a rooster place mat and a rooster mat, which is really meant for the kitchen sink but Herme thought it would be cute in the shower, and it kind of is.

Here is a picture of the rooster ensemble.

Adam loved the rooster too and of course now they fight over it and Herme said she'll buy Adam a wooden one. Awesome.

Cute book alert!

I love books that teach lessons and manners. A couple that I already have and the kids love are:

The manners book: This isn't the copy I have, but it's close to it. The book talks about manners at school, in public, at the library and at home. Andrew always reminds to put our napkin on our lap at dinner.

The other one I own is Hands are not for hitting. This is perfect for Adam as he is at the phase of hitting and just about anything.

Here are a few other books that I look forward to getting.



*sigh*

That's a *sigh* for two reasons.

1. I had an awesome time at the cookie exchange party on Saturday. I got to see my old boss and his family. Plus, I got to catch up on things with my co-worker who I haven't seen in a long time because she's out on maternity leave and I got a little break from being wife and mommy.  I boxed up so many cookies I couldn't believe it and we went back for seconds.  Now here's were the first *sigh* comes in ... my friend Kristin has lost 20lbs since July doing the Atkins diet. I started that diet in August and lost 6lbs, but of course gained it back. I just thought to myself, "if I would have stuck to it, I would be down my 20lbs." I know, I can't beat myself up about it. But what I can do is move on and I have. Yesterday was my first official day of the Atkins diet and I feel confident. So confident that I turned down chocolate cream pie yesterday, which didn't look very good, but I would have eaten it anyways. So here's to a new outlook on the diet plan :)

2. Ok, so like I said, I did get a break from family life on Saturday while I was at the cookie party. I thought awesome, Andrew will go with Grandma and Adam will take his nap while i'm gone. I'll get home around 5 ish to cook dinner and it will be a quiet, peaceful night (insert laugh here).  It's 5:30 pm and I call Raul to check on things. He tells me that Andrew had a tantrum with Grandma at Walgreens, so Andrew was ordered to come home and he didn't to Grandma's. Then they all took naps until 5:30, awesome.  Well I don't end up getting home until 7 ish. In my foolish mind i'm thinking oh that wonderful husband of mine probably fed the kids leftovers, has the them bathed and at least has adam in bed (insert another laugh here). I walk in the front door to Raul watching football and the kids running crazy. I ask him if they ate, he said no he was waiting for me to come home, arghhhhh.

Anyways, that's my rant for today, which was actually yesterday's rant.  I could go on and on about that wonderful husband of mine and how helpful he is. Sometimes he is, but last night ... um not so much. Ok, time to stay positive. He is a good guy and does a lot for us ....

Pity party is over.

I found some cute shoes for our office holiday party. While I think i'm old and out of the fashion loop, i'm going to try and pull of these shoes at Friday's party:

I'm thinking of a black dress with these shoes. We'll see how this ensemble works out.

Happy Tuesday!

Yay for Friday!

It's Friday! I'm waiting to get off of work. Such a busy day today, but that made for the day going by faster. Tomorrow i'm heading up to Santa Barbara for a cookie exchange party.  I've been looking around for a fun cookie treat.  I found a great recipe for sandwich cookies:

The recipe seems pretty easy.  Just use pre-cut Pillsbury cookies, put frosting in the middle and sprinkle the edges.  I hope they turn out ok.

Other than the cookie party, i'm hoping to get in some decorating and Christmas Shopping. I found some super cute rain boots at target for the boys. Not that it rains so much here, but they're cute and the boys will like them.

....and I have to make sure Transformers are the shopping list. Ah, boys. 

I can't wait to pick up Andrew from school (and Adam too) because I bought a Christmas CD with Frosty the snowman, and other Christmas classics. He'll be happy.

Happy Friday



Bah-Humbug

I don't know why i'm not feeling Christmas this year. It always comes too soon and I already feel i'm behind on everything. I got a Christmas card in the mail yesterday. I haven't even bought cards or even thought of a photo to use.  Christmas lights are up in our neighborhood and our decorations still sit in the plastic bins in the garage.

I feel bad because Andrew really loves the holidays, decorating, the lights and songs. I told him I would by rainbow christmas lights and I would buy him a frosty the snowman dvd.  I need to get out of this funk, get the bins un-packed and decorations up.

I think i'll feel better when I add some new decorations to the stash. Of course my husband says, "the decorations we have are fine." yeah, but they're 5 yrs old. We need to add new things.  I love the kids' school because the director really goes all out with her decorating. She said Andrew helped her decorate all the trees. 

All right -- snap out of it and get into the holidays, right? Right!

...and it's not Christmas until someone get's dressed up as as santa...

Adam as santa -- thanks to grandma

Yes, I'm a fan ....

I must admit that I am a Twilight fan and have read all the books and I have seen all the movies. So, I have to mention that Eclipse comes out on DVD this Saturday! I loves me some Edward.

.....and a sneak peak to Breaking Dawn has been released...

Can't wait until next year!

Weekend recap & misc.

Thanksgiving was great. I cooked a terrific bird with all the yummy fixings.  The only annoying thing is my family had to leave early to go home and take care of the dog, ugh. I just ask for one day so the family can get together and my mom and dad always have to leave early. Anyways, next year it will be just me, Raul and the kids.

Andrew had another sleep-over with Grandma last week. She packed his suitcase after Thanksgiving dinner and said she would bring him home on Saturday! What a nice treat -- for both of us.  We checked in on Friday and she had taken him to the mall for shopping and he got to go on some rides. So cute...until, Grandma called me Friday night saying he was throwing up, but he had no fever.  I decided at 8 pm to go get him as I didn't want a call at 3 am that he was sick.

When I got to Grandmas, Andrew looked fine and seemed ok. So I left him with grandma and I noticed on my way out that she gave him a juice box at 9 pm! So I knew that the reason he was throwing up was from all the junk grandma was giving him. But, I didn't say anything.  Adam missed Andrew and it was cute when Andrew would call and asked to talk to him.

In Adam news, he is my big boy now. We had some plumbing issues over Thanksgiving so Adam had to take a shower in the other bathroom as the tub was out of order. He was so stinkin' cute because he was singing in the shower while playing with the alphabet letters. 

He also loves drinking from a big boy cup now!

Last,  I cannot get any decent pictures of these kids together. They always come out like this:

There's always some sort of goofiness going on.  My goal is to get a nice family picture soon.

First sleep-over

As I mentioned in my last post, Grandma spent the night on Friday.  I didn't get ironed clothes, but I did get a very clean house, yay!  Also, for the first time ... Andrew left with Grandma to stay the night at her house!  I packed his little suitcase with toys, books and a change of clothes. Also, packed: breathing treatment, bendryl, and lotion.

While this will be so much fun for Andrew, I wondered what would really be going on at grandma's. Andrew had a good time. He didn't cry to come home or anything. In fact, he said not to pick him up that he was going to stay at Grandma's for a long time.  

It was strange having only 1 kid to tow around. We went to the store, came home and made lunch, then Adam took his nap. I went to the mall and Raul laid on the sofa.  Such a different dynamic with just one.  But, we did miss Andrew and his funny antics.

Sunday I called Andrew and told him I was coming to pick him up. Again he said not to come that he was staying there. All cuteness aside, I was preparing myself for a huge meltdown and a screaming 4 yr old having to leave grandma's.  I was surprised when I got there and Andrew told me he was ready to go home.  He didn't cry or anything. Grandma had a fear tears; she enjoyed having him there. Good to know because now we'll be shipping him off at least once a month.

We got home and things were back to normal at Casa Ramirez. Fighting, crying, and time-outs.  oy!

Here's a cute picture of Andrew leaving with Grandma.

Saving the Earth & other news...

Everyone knows I love my Coffee Bean and i'm there everyday and of course today was no exception.
So, I finally broke down and bought a re-usable cup.

LOVES IT!  All  the merchandise was 25% off, so naturally I had to buy it. It holds hot n' cold drinks - awesome.

...and in other news...

It's time to think about the Thanksgiving Menu for next week. Andrew is learning about Thanksgiving in school and is very interested in what I am serving for Thanksgiving. I'll probably take him shopping with me this weekend to buy everything. Grandma is home with Andrew today as he has a croupy cough. I heard the barking seal cough last night, and busted out the breathing treatments pronto, but when he woke up this morning -- he was still coughing. I think Grandma and Andrew are enjoying their time together because when I called to check on them they were outside listening to music and cutting the plants.

Adam was sad he didn't get to hang with Grandma today. He cried when I dropped him off at school and was asking for Grandma. I'm sure the waterworks stopped soon after I left. Plus, Grandma is spending the night tonight, yay.  This means a clean house for me and ironed clothes for the kids.

Happy Friday

Fab Find

I've been on the hunt for a fabulous tall, black boot. My hunt ended yesterday as my new boots arrived from Piperlime.com

My co-worker and fellow blogger, Heather, who is a fashionista in her own right, gave her stamp of approval.



Now, I just need to find the right outfit for my brand new purchase. Not sure I can pull off the leggings look, but we'll see. I'm off to the mall at lunch time. yippeee.

Snow Angels

Last Friday night Raul and I sat on the sofa watching tv. Andrew ran in and told Adam "let's go play!"  Adam responded, "otay."  I thought to myself, "ah, they're finally playing together. So cute." 

A little while later I thought they were being a little quiet, and that always means something is going on. After my thought I heard two little giggles coming from down the hall.

I took an extra large sip from wine, took a deep breath, and followed the mischievous laughter.  I opened Adam's bedroom door and found this...

Two little monkeys having too much fun.  Andrew said that they were making angels in the powder. Very cute, I know.

I walked out of the room, sipped some more wine and told Raul about the kids. He was a little uptight about the mess, but I grabbed my camera and snapped some pictures. I thought, how could I get upset at this. At least they didn't use a sharpie on the walls. I did tell them that even though this was fun, were not doing this again as it was a bear to clean up.

Much needed days off

This weekend went by in a blur. Very busy with the little munchkins. The weekend was full of the "the 3 T's" - tantrums, time-outs, and tears.  Raul has been gone since last Monday so I have been super, solo mommy.  Boy, these kids really know how to push every single button in your body to make you almost loose your mind. The weekend ended with Andrew deciding to put his toothbrush in the sink with the water stopped up and give the drain a little scrub -- oy!

Weekend recap: Saturday took the kids to the zoo with a friend and her kid. All was good until we were leaving and Andrew wanted to go on the tram which we were not going on. I was the parent dragging her screaming kid out of the zoo.  Naps were missed since the kids fell asleep in the car and we go home to grouchy monsters. Sunday we went to my parents house which was fun up until we pulled up to what we thought was a pumpkin patch but was a haunted house open at 6 pm. Let the meltdown begin, Andrew screaming about pumpkin patches.

Sunday I took the kids trick or treating at the mall.  I thought it was a good idea until we walked in and I was fighting lines for a piece of candy the size of my toe nail. We didn't make it half way through the mall because Andrew decided to have a meltdown over a helicopter. Again, i'm the mom dragging the screaming child out of the mall.  So we went home, made dinner and then went out trick or treating in the neighborhood.

I'm glad I took these two days off of work to regroup and relax at home.

Raul comes home tonight. I'm so glad. The boys & I miss him.

Ghosts in the house

I have a couple of ghosts in the house. One is blonde hair and blue eyes and the other has dark hair and brown eyes.  Yeah, those ghosts are Andrew and Adam.  They think they are so funny by turning off the lights and acting like ghosts.  Oh, but when it's time to go to bed, it's not so funny anymore.

Adam keeps telling me there's shadow's in his room. I try to just laugh it off and tell him, "there's no shadows".  He falls asleep just fine.

My other funny ghost, Andrew -- not so easy.  He was doing so well going to bed, not getting up or calling me for a million things..last night was not a good night.  He fell asleep but then woke up wanting lotion, a phone, and then he was scared.  I supplied the first two requests, but the last didn't go over so well. 

I turned on his lamp hoping that would ease the fears but nope he kept calling me. Out of frustration, and lack of sleep, I let him come into by bed (something I never do) but I wanted him to get some sleep. I did remind him that there would be consequences in the morning for not staying in his bed.

Morning comes and Andrew wakes up and looked pretty guilty. After breakfast and getting dressed he tried to get some computer time, but I reminded because he didn't stay in his bed...no computer time.  A tantrum ensued but was diffused pretty quickly.

I hoping for a ghost-free night tonight.

Random Wednesday Thought

I've been trying to loose this post-baby weight for ... um... 2 yrs..4yrs??  It's my own fault though. I love my vanilla ice blendeds, but i've finally weaned myself off of them or at least just have one a week.  I'm down 6 lbs from cutting out carbs, but still have a ways to go.

Andrew keeps looking at our wedding photo and asking "is that you mommy? are you in a castle?"  I think to myself, yeah that's mommy BK - before kids ~ skinny and glowing. I'll never be that skinny again, but I will try to get close to that goal.

Today is my Friday :)

I'm taking tomorrow off of work so I can go with the kids and their school to the Pierce College Pumpkin Patch. We went last Sunday and it was a lot of fun.

(the boys with their friend, Jake)

We'll only be there for a couple of hours, so I may take the kids back to school so mom can run some errands. I know, I know, I should take them home afterwards, but I want to get my coffee and run to the grocery store for some alone time before the weekend. Saturday is full of more errands and it's Raul's last day home before he travels. Sunday i'm hosting my Halloween Party and having a few munchkins over. Needless to say, it will be a busy a weekend. So I deserve a little 'me' time before the madness begins and the kids do like playing at the their school.

Halloweenie Party

My friend and I are going to have a small Halloween party for the kids. She has two boys as well and is pregnant with a girl, oy! So i've decided on a 11:30 am start time with lunch, play time, and decorating cupcakes and cookies. I'm providing lunch and my friend will bring the gear to bake and decorate cookies.

I dusted off my Halloween recipe books and sifted through some cute ideas. I'm trying to find a ghoulish recipe to make for lunch.
These are my ideas so far:

Hot Dog Mummies

Pizza Mummies

More ideas to come...

Restaurant Madness

We took the kids to Bobs Big Boy on Friday to celebrate Andrew getting another green face in school. I thought it would be fun, thought...I should have known better. I invited my neighbors, Scott and Susan, and they brought they're 18 month old along.

We get seated and are all settle in and then here comes the guy dressed as Bob, oy! Adam freaks out and starts crying a cry i've never heard before. We had to keep telling Bob to go the other way. If Adam saw him anywhere he would begin crying and he kept saying "no bob no bob please."  Poor guy.  Then Andrew kept asking where Bobby was. I told him he's eating dinner :)

The next hour was spent telling all 3 kids, "sit down. no climbing, the food is coming." Susan was having a hard time keeping little one from staring at the people behind us. Between the two of us we had two bags of toys that we kept swapping. That held over for a little bit. I told her we never took Adam out to dinner when he was younger; his first time out to eat was with them a couple of months ago when he was 22 months and we didn't even want to go out then. We just learned from going out to eat with Andrew that it's so hard! It's not that we don't enjoy being with the kids, but we can't even enjoy our meal. The meal comes and you literally have to inhale your dinner. Then you're just wiped out from keeping the little ones settled.

But, the most important thing was that Andrew got the hamburger he wanted.  I tried to convince him to go through the Wendy's drive thru but he insisted on going to a restaurant and I didn't want to deny him his special treat. 

Anybody else have any crazy restaurant stories?

A little Friday post...

The other day I was helping Andrew buckle his belt and I heard a noise. Andrew turned around with a smirk and said "sorry mommy I tooted! " His funny comment just reminded me on how fun it is to have two little boys

Lately, Adam has been fascinated with the potty. He is actually showing signs that it is time to potty train. He walks up to the potty, pulls up his shirt and acts likes he's going to the bathroom. His word is for going to the bathroom is "peep" "mommy I have to go "peep."  So I guess it's time to dust off the training potty and go buy some pull-ups. Hopefully Adam will be potty trained, and no more diapers!

We have a busy weekend. Tomorrow meeting some friends at the Harvest Festival at Pierce college. Then on Sunday my mom friends and I are on our own with the kids, so we're heading to the Calabasas Pumpkin Festival.

Yay for Friday!!

Munchkins, husbands, breakdowns -- oh my!

Wednesday night at Casa de Ramirez was actually ... calm. Picked the kids up from school, and I must note that Andrew has received a green happy face for almost 3 weeks now.  A green face means that he has been a great listener and he's following directions well; we don't want red faces :(

My new bedtime routine has been implemented and worked well for me Monday and Tuesday night. What happened Wednesday night?  You tell me! He's tall, has dark hair, wears glasses, and his name starts with R. Yeah that would be my husband, that's what happened. I told him the new routine, what to do, how to do it and... most importantly...don't let Andrew sleep with the lamp on.

I mentioned before how all of the sudden Andrew was scared of the dark and needed to sleep with the light on. Well, we got him a lamp but I didn't want it on all night.  So Monday & Tuesday I was able to talk to Andrew and let him know we only use the lamp for reading our books then it gets turned off. He was okay with that and got his treat in the morning; no problems.

Back to the husband. I get back from my work out and asked him how Andrew was. His response, "he was good, but he's sleeping with the lamp on because I didn't want him to cry." arghhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Why do husbands undermine you? I told Raul that he just got played by a 4 year old.  Last night I had to intervene with Andrew and Raul during bath time because Andrew was having a meltdown about wanting his trains. Of course Raul the macho dad that he is had to stand there in his "i'm the boss stance" and let Andrew scream. I'm all about letting him tantrum until he calms down, except for when Andrew can clearly tell you whats wrong.

Andrew pointed me to the trains he wanted and crisis adverted. I sneered at Raul and told him to pick his battles. His response "I didn't know where the trains were." typical husband response. oy!

Tonight munchkin #1 will be in bed without his lamp on. Munchkin #2 will be in bed before 7:30 pm.

Re-energized, Re-couped, and Re-vived!

This weekend my anxiety level was at a all time high. I've been anticipating Raul leaving at the end of the month for two weeks and then he throws in he's working 9-6 next week which means he'll be home close to 8 pm  --- argh. I kinda broke down thinking, "how am I going to take care of these little men without loosing my mind?"  After the waterworks I told myself to suck it up. I can do this. What's my problem. I'm in control of these munchkins; they're not in control of me.

I sat down and re-evaluated my game plan with the kids.  Usually when I get home I cook dinner right away, we eat at 6:30 pm, and then it's bath time. As I write this, I kind of sound like my mom. She was always, and still is, stuck in her routine.  That was it...I need to break my routine and just know that dinner doesn't have to be at 6:30 pm every night. It's okay to play with the kids when we get home. Finally, I tried a new strategy last night, I bathed the kids separately. We usually give them a bath together, but that always turns into fighting, splashing, toys being thrown, someone getting a time out and mom and dad loosing their minds. I mean bath time is supposed to be relaxing, right?

Last night I gave Adam his bath first; got him washed, changed, and put him in the crib with some toys while I got Andrew in the bath. While Andrew was in the bath I actually had time to put Adam to bed. Hmmmm, all this by 7:30 pm, awesome. I had a good feeling about when Raul was gone that I can do this without feeling stressed or over-whelmed with the bedtime routine.

I'm also venturing out of my comfort zone; I'm scheduling more play dates and taking the kids places more on my own. I do go out with them but I need to take them out on more play dates and to fun places. I'm always nervous as Andrew is not the easiest kid. I've had many days of dragging him back to the car kicking and screaming. If I have to discipline in public, so be it. I have a few play dates scheduled with other moms that I'm excited about.

Now that I have my game plan with the kids, it's time for me. I'm back on the wagon with my diet. I want to loose 20lbs. I can do this. Raul promised a $500 shopping spree so this is my motivation!!

My scare-d Cats

This weekend was full of the usual: tantrums, tears, and time-outs. You can always expect nothing less at Casa de Ramirez.

Andrew decided last Friday that he was afraid of the dark. I guess that Handy Manny episode about the ghost is the culprit. I had finally gotten to a point where Andrew was not getting out of bed 10 times before he fell asleep. I would tell him he would get a special treat (cereral or muffins) if he stayed in bed all night and was quiet. Alright let's call it what it is, bribery. But it works! He has been going to bed the last month with no problems, until Friday.

So, Friday night I told him if he slept all night he would get a special treat in the morning. His response, "I don't want a special treat, I'll eat waffles!" Darn smart kid.  So, he ended up sleeping with his bedroom light on which was a disaster as he didn't fall asleep until 11 pm. I knew this was a bad idea. Saturday night, same thing...scared of the dark and again the bedroom light is on. I told Raul to get Adam's lamp at least that won't be so bright.

Sunday, I went to my dads and of course the hoarder that he is has a great lamp I can put in Andrew's room. This is my solution for now, putting a lamp in his room so he's not scared. Because if he really is scared, I want him to feel some peace at night.  However, this lamp is old and not made to be on all night so I will need to wean him off of it.  So, I have to up my bribery (insert sneaky laugh). And what is that new bribe? A playdate this Saturday with a schoolmate at a pumpkin festival. I have to plan this out just right, so I think I will plant the seed on Thursday. Stay tuned...

Now on to my other scare-d cat, Adam While at my mom & dad's house on Sunday, we venture off to feed the horse across the way and the baby horse. Adam is very excited and telling me "this way" to see the horse. We get up to the stable and he seems interested, just looking and smiling. Oh does that end quickly as I move closer and I feel the deathgrip of tiny 2 yr old hands digging into me and then, "no mommy no mommy no horse no horse"  I could not get him to touch the darn thing. I guess a big horse can be scary. Adam was telling me, "this way" and pointing towards my mom's house.

I hope Adam is scared on Halloween!

Happy Monday

Have you ever had one of those moments ....

.... those crazy moments where you're scrambling to get two kids ready, breakfast done, lunches packed, get yourself ready, get the kids to brush their teeth..then something happens and you just .. loose it. Sometimes I feel like supernanny is going to walk through my front door at any moment and give me a crash course on how to raise your kids.  All of the above happened this morning (minus supernanny) after the teeth were brushed Adam decides to touch the toilet, lift the toilet seat, and flush the toilet..oy! Me, trying to stay calm and wash his hands and make sure Andrew is brushing all teeth and not just the front two.  Then little Adam decides to bring in a tub of blocks and dump them on the bathroom floor.... this is where mom cracks...

I let out a high pitched nooooooo .... as Adam dumped the toys.  Great, one more thing to pick up before we leave.

I felt awful. Adam walked away and went into his room.  The guilt filled my chest. How could I yell at that sweet face? Geez, they're just toys. It can be picked up. I ran in and hugged Adam and said I was sorry. Oh, and I also scared Andrew too because he told me "mom, you scared me" The last thing I want to be is a scary mom.... Gotta get the craziness in check.

Birthday Boy

We celebrated Adam's 2nd birthday on September 25th. I can't believe he is a two year old. I love watching him. He jumps, runs, skips, and hops with so much happiness.  He's talking so much and loves being around his big brother Andrew. I didn't realize he's such a scaredy cat. We bought him a cake for his actual birthday on the 24th and this was his response:



The funny thing is that he had this same expression when he was born! He swatted at the cake thinking he was going to knock it off the table, but he just got a hand full of icing.

The next day we had our pirate themed party.  For this birthday I ordered a 5 ft sandwich from our local deli, Cavarettas. I wanted to go the easy route and the sandwich was a hit. I also made potatoe salad, and mini corndogs for the little ones. Oh and I also made home-made ice cream (i'll save that for a later post.)

Adam loved his pirate cake and so did I!



I can't believe I got this cake from Albertson's. They really do a great job with cakes.  Everyone had a great time and i'm glad my little pirate had a good birthday.  Now I have to think about Andrew's birthday.....

September - recap

It's been a month since my last post. For some reason I haven't been inspired to write. Until this morning when I read one of my good friends blog post's; she's always so inspirational. It's tough being a mom of two little ones, running the household, making meals, entertaining the kids - how do we balance it all without going mad?  I know I try to be so patient, but sometimes it's so hard.  I got frustrated with Adam recently because I was trying to rush out the door and get them to school and get to work, and Adams says "sorry mommy". How can I be upset at that cute face?

September was a busy month. Adam turned 2 and we had a pirate themed birthday party for him. The party turned out awesome. I bought a pirate cake from albertson's. They really do a nice job on their cakes. I'm glad we had the party at 4 pm this year as it was almost 100 degrees that day and there's plenty of shade during that hour.  Also, Adam started going to Andrew's preschool. Adam is in the 2 yr old class and he loves it. Of course he cried the first 3 days, but by Friday he was saying, "bye mommy!"  Too cute.  I celebrated 8 years at my job last Thursday. What a milestone. I never thought I would make it past 3 yrs here. It's a good company, and I'm fortunate to have a job.

Raul's travel season is gearing up with his first trip at the end of October. I still get anxiety with the thought of Raul leaving. Things are easier with the boys, however, it's still tiring when they argue or fight over a toy when there's a million of toys to play with but they both want the same fire truck. Andrew's tantrums are easing up. I've learned some new techniques that I've implemented with the tantrums and it's really working. Andrew seems much more confident and he's getting more easy going.

I am anticipating potty training Adam. He's definitely showing signs such as actually going to the potty and pulling his shirt up and saying he has to go peep peep. Very cute. I also need to get Adam into a toddler bed I noticed last night he was sleeping with his legs curled up against the crib; I guess that's a sign of him getting too big. I'm just procrastinating because thought of sleep training him in a toddler bed makes me cringe. Things are great right now because he just goes right to sleep.

Those are my thoughts for now. I think I'm up to date. Thanks to my little inspirational friend who always makes me think.

My Little Pirate

It's time to start planning my little guy Adam's birthday. He'll be turning the big 2 on September 24th.  I'm planning a pirate themed birthday for him. I love, love planning my kids birthday's. It's the one time I get to use my creative side and I love having theme's.

I didn't think I would do a birthday party every year for the kids, but I thought...they're only young once and pretty soon they're not going to want a birthday party by mom. 

So here I go, time to plan!

I found my pirate ship invitations yesterday at Party City.

They have tons of Pirate themed supplies that I can't wait to buy!

...and most importantly

I dressed Adam in his pirate costume!

I will add this photo to the invites:

arghhhh!

Lunch box notes

As always, I'm on the hunt for cute lunch box things. I found the cutest lunch box notes from Frog Prince Paperie to put in your childs lunch box to let them know how much you care. How sweet is that to have your son or daughter open their lunch box and find a special note from mom. Just print the template, cut them out, and write your special message.

I have my notes printed, cut and ready to go!

I hope Andrew enjoys seeing a note from mommy.

The funny things kids say...

Today when I dropped of Andrew at school he said he needed help with his chonies. I thought, hmmm ok this isn't good. I dropped off his lunch box when we got inside and Andrew asked me to go to the bathroom with him.  We go to the bathroom and of course there's some scruff in his underwear. I asked what happened and he said he tooted.  I told him to be careful when he toots.  He said, "I know I did a toot-poop"  

Gotta love those boys!

My little co-pilots

Saturday we took the kids to the airshow in Camarillo.

The weather was good to us as we checked out all the planes.

The kids enjoyed themselves although Adam preferred staying in the stroller.

I tried to take him out and walk with him, but he wasn't having it.

Andrew loved all the planes and said each one was his favorite.

Always wishing for Happy Faces

Andrew had a tough day at school on Monday.

When I picked him up from school

I found this in his cubby:

A red sad face!

Andrew thought spitting at his friends was a fun idea

and

running around during circle time would be great

Well, Miss Debbie didn't think either of those were good choices,

so Andrew had to color in the red face for not listening.

Because of the red face, Andrew wasn't allowed to take a toy home

I ended up taking away his Popsicle and cartoon privileges for the night

because he kept spitting at home too.

The next day we had a long talk.

I told him spitting was not aloud and

to let's try for a better day.

Well, when I picked him up on Tuesday

Andrew was waiting for me with this:

Yay, a green happy face! He was so proud

And so was I.

I treated him to his favorite yogurt Menchies....

Let's see what today brings

He was crying when I dropped him off at school this morning....

Praying for a green happy face :)

Palm Springs Bound

I'm going on a road trip tomorrow.

Going on a little adventure with my best friend, Jessica.

We're heading out to Palm Springs with the girls

to celebrate Jessica's birthday.

It's a short trip, one night, but we are all

excited to leave behind the stress of daily life;

to lay poolside with some cocktails.

Happy Friday!

Summer

I feel like summer has come and gone.

We haven't had any summer weather this season.

Well, one week of 3 digit heat, but that's it.

I think we've been in the pool twice; not enough!

Where did summer go?

Kids are starting school already.

Target is already promoting back to school sales.

We're half way through August

which means September is right around the corner...

I want summer to last longer..

Handy Adam

I have a new Handy Manny fan in the house.

Adam loves his Manny.

He knows all the tools names and loves his Handy Manny book.

The best part is him singing the theme song :)