Halloween

Here are pictures from Halloween. Jackie was a sorceress.  Her costume came with a matching pointy hat but it kept falling off.  So, instead, we made a headband and a couple matching rings for her fingers (which you can't see) from remnants of the hem we cut off the bottom of her dress.  She looked beautiful.  I love the way Jackie is hugging Kate in this picture.

To the girls' left you can see the trick-or-treat bags Jackie and Grandma made.  The bags were really cute.  Katie's was a miniature of Jackie's and it was the perfect size for her (no complaints from the little one about the 'discrepancy' in size between the two!)

Kate was an angel.  The top picture was from her daycare's Halloween party.  If you look hard, you can see her wings.  She was in heaven wearing the costume and had an all around blast this year.

I need to include a couple more pictures from Halloween this year.  I have a couple funny ones of Kate sampling (and sampling and sampling and sampling) the 'Owl-oween' cupcakes Grandma and Jackie made.

I also need to include a picture of the Halloween Tree Grandma and Jackie painted (complete with spooky ornaments).  I think this tree will become a tradition to put out every year now.  We are really lucky to have such a cool and creative Grandma.  I will post those pictures in the next day or two.

Great fun was had by all this year.

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie...

Boy, what a face!

This picture was taken after the South Bend Civic Theater's adaptation of Laura Numeroff's book (If You Give a Mouse a Cookie).    Kate had such a great time and so wanted to see the mouse after the play (played by a local high school student) so we waited in line.  Just like pictures with Santa, it was all excited anticipation until it was our turn to meet her.  Then it was like Kate couldn't escape over Dave's shoulder fast enough. I hope the expression on Kate's face comes through - it was a bit dark in the halls of the theater.   I think you can double click on the picture to enlarge it. It was hysterical!!

We brought the book with us so Kate could make the connection with the play. The book has been read so many times (SOOOOOO many times) at our house (along with If You Give a Pig a Pancake) and I think that made this play extra fun for both girls.  Mom and Dad, thanks so much for the fun family night.  I know you both would have loved to take the girls yourselves and would have gotten a tickle out of it.  Hope the post knee surgery recovery is still going well, that the PC converts are becoming more agreeable students, and that any and all colds, eye infections, residual jet lag, etc, are going by the wayside.

Also, I can't not include this next picture.  One day Jackie decided to make me lunch using an idea from one of her kids cookbooks:


See? It's a car sandwich. A  half a roll for the body of the car, cucumber and pepperoni for the wheels (held together by toothpicks), a half cucumber for the windshield and a strawberry on top for added flair.

Fun and tasty!

Erin Go Bragh

Tomorrow, loved ones will be headed to Ireland for a week! In their honor, here is a classic Irish song. I came across these lyrics on The Information about Ireland site. I've linked this website to the title of this post if you want to hear the music as well. Have a wonderful, wonderful time. Do try to come back with a Irish brogue. :0)

An Irish Lyllaby

Over in Killarney
Many years ago,
Me Mither sang a song to me
In tones so sweet and low.
Just a simple little ditty,
In her good ould Irish way,
And l'd give the world if she could sing
That song to me this day.

Chorus:
"Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, Too-ra-loo-ra-li,
Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, hush now, don't you cry!
Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, Too-ra-loo-ra-li,
Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, that's an Irish lullaby."

Oft in dreams I wander
To that cot again,
I feel her arms a-huggin' me
As when she held me then.
And I hear her voice a -hummin'
To me as in days of yore,
When she used to rock me fast asleep
Outside the cabin door.

katie's love of garlic by Jackie

So I am making French bread and Katie comes walking in the kitchen.  She says I helpa you.  And me and my mom say okay. So she sits down and we were just about finished Katie just poured this big pile of garlic in the dough.

LOL!!

The End.

By: Jackie

Just hangin'...

The two girls and best friend Emily...

Hodge Podge Mish Mash

So many things I think I should try to remember to put here or I will forget.  So, here they are:

1.  Jackie turning entrepreneurial. 

The other day she found some small posterboard and said, "Oh, this is perfect" without further elaboration, and went off into the living room.  When I went to check on the kids sometime later, I noticed this sign propped up on the edge of the chair: "Foot Massages".  The word "free" was crossed out and replaced with "25 cents".

As soon as I entered the living room, I was, of course, the first customer and she was the salesperson, and a very persistent one, too. I was trying to get dishes and laundry done and I had not showered but on the kitchen counter behind the pencil holder there was a quarter sitting there for no apparent reason so I went to the living room with my quarter for my foot massage.  Jackie led me to the chair and made me lay on my back with my legs hanging over the armrest and started rubbing my feet.  I have to admit, it was very nice.

Kate saw this and said, "My turn" and climbed on me, laid down with her back on my stomach, with her legs nestled on top of mine, and held her little feet up for Jackie to rub, which of course Jackie did in a fit of giggles.  We took turns.

I think the favorite was when Mom was rubbing one of Jackie's feet and one of Kate's at the same time.

2.  Kate brushing her teeth.

Dave has always been able to brush Kate's teeth with much more ease than me.  With me, it's a dodge-the-toothbrush game for Kate.  Dave, on the other hand, has made it a game with her to brush all the foods off she might have had during the day.  He's been able to coax her mouth open by saying, "Oh, there's milk! let's get the milk off. Oh, wait, there's apples! Let's get the apples off! Wait, chicken! Get that chicken off."

In the beginning, it was just Dave talking and he rattled off things he knew she ate/drank that day.  Lately, however, Kate is very much into the game and adds things Dad might have missed: "Nanas! Bread! Memomade!"

As fascinating as it is to see her ability to recall developing, Kate is often very accurate and I hear Dave say, "Chocolate? Mommy gave you chocolate...again?!"

Now, of course, this game is a stalling tactic for Kate.  Tonight when I was brushing her teeth, I would no sooner get the brush in her mouth when she would pull away and say, "Wait a second..." and name something else.

3.  Orange cow cheese.

Older sisters have great influence over little sisters.  The latest batch of string cheese I bought was apparently a variety pack - some all mozzarella and some colby/mozzarella.  Jackie told Kate the colby/mozzarella cheese is from an orange cow.

Now when I ask if she wants cheese, Kate will shout, "Orange cow!"

4.  We have a small fort in our living room (i.e., Jackie's flat sheet tied to four chairs, couch pillows, etc).  The girls had a great time with the fort, despite the occasional bickering about sharing, teaching Kate now to try to sit on the sheet (caving in the "roof"). 

The girls have so much fun together, but it is amazing how LOUD they can get and how much they can argue/bicker, even with their age difference.  Kate is very independent and, as Jackie says, bossy, and I can see where the "bossiness" would get on an 8-year-old's nerves once in a while.

We have to really watch what we say and how we say things because Kate is such a mini recorder now.  When Jackie is not doing what Kate wants, she'll say, "Jack-A-Lynn" (yes, all three syllables and in that parenting tone).  While Jackie thought it was hysterical the first times Kate said her name like that, she is quickly growing weary of hearing it over and over from a two-and-a-half year old.

5.  Our family is currently loving the "Charlie and Lola" series by Lauren Child.

Jackie discovered the TV show on the Disney Channel and noticed the characters looked a lot like the drawing of "Clarice Bean", a character from the book she was reading at the time: "Clarice Bean: Utterly Me" also by Lauren Child but from a grade school girl's perspective.  Jackie and I were so enjoying the Clarice Bean book that I was really interested to see how "Charlie and Lola" stacked up, and the idea is just as entertaining!  The series is all about an older brother and his little sister.  It is clear Lola and Charlie love each other.  Charlie seems to have the task of watching with/playing with his little sister quite a bit, but he actually seems to not mind this task and spends much of his time thinking of imaginative ways to get his little sister to do things.  Like when Lola discovered someone else had taken her very favorite book out of the library ("Beetles, Bugs and Butterflies"), Charlie eventually convinced her to give another book a try ("Cheetahs and Chimpanzees").  Or when Lola rattles off a list of foods she will 'not ever eat' in "I Will Not Ever Eat a Tomato" (like peas, carrots, mashed potatoes, fish sticks, etc), Charlie gets her to try some foods by imagining they are "green drops" of rain, Jupiter sticks, clouds, mermaid food.

The storylines are so creative, but the illustrations are what make the shows so interesting and fun.  I think the fact they have English accents makes it all the more enjoyable for Jackie.  (The author lives in London)

Today, Jackie drew pictures of the Charlie and Lola cast and tried to sell them to me for a dollar each.  The pictures were so right on, actually.  She eventually just made me my own money from green notecards, and I ended up "buying" all five that she drew.

My next goal is to figure out my scanner and post the pictures here.  She is a really talented artist.

6.  Bread bread bread.

So Jackie has been wanting to make bread lately, specifically french bread, specifically "Megan's french bread" which I believe is Josee's french bread.  Anyway, I said well I don't have the recipe on hand for Megan's french bread but let's look up our own.  So we found a recipe on the web and Jackie and I made it this afternoon.  She is very much a written recipe person (like her mom).  After talking with Dad this morning (Monday) about diets and fiber, I substituted one cup whole wheat flour and added 2 tablespoons or so of wheat germ to the mix.  This was not called for in the recipe and Jackie only relaxed about the addition of wheat germ and wheat flour when I mentioned that Megan and Grandma and Grandpa use the stuff all the time.

Sigh.

One addition she did not mind, though, was that we made one of the loaves a garlic bread by adding fresh minced garlic and some garlic powder to the dough before rolling it up.  She liked the idea of it but then thought better of trying to taste it until she actually did and declared it was good.

7. No pictures today. Pictures make long posts much more fun. Will try again next time.

Potty and Gardening fun...

This is what happens when you ask Kate if she would like to sit on the potty.
















I know, not super sanitary. However, I took a picture and made a big deal of froggy sitting on the potty which led to.......

THIS!











Whatever works, right! :)

(I added that cute, appropriately-placed planet sticker from the Microsoft Paint program)

Anyway, back to gardening. Yesterday, Jackie and I worked in the yard. In the front yard, the irises were drooping so we tried to prop them up with some stakes. The irises are so tall and the flowers are so big the stalks end up essentially leaning over to the ground.

We watered the butterfly garden. The black-eyed susans and cone flowers are doing well. We watered the tomato and cucumber starts. I fear we may have lost one tomato start, but we watered the area anyway just in case. We also planted four sunflower seeds. I am trying to grow thyme and sweet basil in my hanging baskets. The thyme package said 'Guaranteed to Grow'. We'll see! If the thyme grows, I plan on making delicious chicken pancakes.

Jackie wants to plant carrots. I'm not sure where we could plant them. I'm thinking maybe we could move the hostas along side the garage to the front of the house, and then add soil to make a raised bed. If we do that, I have some radish seeds to plant, too.

Finally, we hung a bird feeder from the peach tree by our fence. We'll see what kind of birds (critters) we get.

I hope everyone has a great day.

Gone Fishin'

Today, Dave and I really wanted to spend some good old outdoors time with the girls.  Dave especially wanted to take Jackie fishing.  He had given her a fishing pole for her birthday and she's been itching to use it since. 

We piled in the car and drove to Potato Creek State Park.  Dave took Jackie to a bank just off the paddle boat/canoe rental shore.  Wouldn't you know it, she caught a 'huge' bluegill on her first fishing trip.  Dave said she reeled it in and everything.  When I asked her how it was to reel in a fish she shrugged and said, "Hard."  She was so proud of herself.  Apparently, it was the biggest catch of the day on their outing.  After they looked at the fish, Dave let it go.  I'm not sure what Jackie was expecting, but she was not expecting the fruits of her labor to be let go so quickly and said, "Hey! What'd you do that for?"

Dave caught three fish - a small bass and maybe some bluegill...?  Jackie used red worms as bait.  This morning, she and Dave went to the bait shop and she was jumping out of her skin with excitement.  When they came back with the bait, though, she was less exuberant.  Dave had not only gotten red worms (which Jackie had no problems with) but also wax worms.  Her face kind of went sour when she told me about the wax worms.

While Dave and Jackie were fishing, Kate and I rented a bike with a toddler seat and scoped out the bike trails.  I had taken Katie on the bike trails before when she was younger, and she did really well.  When I put her in the seat this time, though, she just kind of groaned and said, "I don't like it...bike."  Then, when I put her helmet on: "I don't like it...hat." 

Once I started pedaling, though, I could hear behind me, "Yay, you did it."  Then silence for about 20 feet or so and then, "All done, Mom?  You done?"  It was a hoot. 

I told her we just started and that we'd have fun.  We rode around for over an hour.  "What's dat, Mom?" she'd ask, pointing to her right.   "Woods, Kate." "Oh, yay...woods."   Silence. "What's dat?"  "More woods."  "What's dat?"  "A bird."  "Oh, hi, birdie!"

Of course, it dawned on me that I would like to know the names of the woods and the names of the birds.  My sister, Megan, would know these things.  I, on the other hand, have taught Kate what a Robin looks like.  Much more than that and I'm out of knowledge...for now. 

All part of the journey.

Today, though, Kate and I were treated to many, many red-winged blackbirds.  Those birds I do know, and they are one of my favorites.  When I was a kid, my very crafty mom made my sister and I some red-winged blackbird hand puppets out of dark brown and white polka dot remnant fabric.  She added yellow and red stripes to the wings.  Every time I see a red-winged blackbird, I think of those polka-dotted puppets and my mom.  It's funny that's the reason why I like red-winged blackbirds.

Anyway, back to the bike ride.  We ended up at what I would call a babbling brook. There was a little bridge there and when we came up to it, Kate said, "Off...off. I wanna see."  So we parked the bike, took off the helmets, and for about 10 minutes Kate watched the water, ran around, and called out to the boys climbing on the logs and rocks in the water, "Cah-full, Cah-full." (Careful)

Back on the bike to return it to the rental cabin, got lost on the trails but eventually got there.  Kate got a red bug juice.  Got a blue one for Jackie.  Walked to the spot where Jackie and Dave were fishing.  

It was really cute once I spotted them on the bank: father and daughter fishing.  As Kate and I walked up, though, Jackie casted off and caught her hook on Dave's stomach/shirt.

It was a good time to start packing up for home. 

All in all, Jackie said she liked fishing.  Dave is secretly, ardently hoping she will like fishing but he's trying very hard not to push and to be patient.  He is imagining family fishing trips and some good daddy/daughter times.  

Jackie is urging me to get my fishing license, which I'm sure I'll get.  I have this notion though that if I am going to fish I need to bait my own hook and learn to take the fish off my own line to thrown them back (see how presumptious I am that I will catch fish?).  Right now, I'm a bit of a weenie when it comes to hooking the red worms and I can't even get myself to look at the wax worms. 

Speaking of which, they are in a container in an insulated lunch bag in our refrigerator.  I hope that's okay.  Dave said they needed to keep cool.  I wonder if he just meant to put them in the basement.  Hmmm, better check with him.  Jackie was kind of bug-eyed when I put them in the fridge - "Um, mom, do you think that's a good idea you know in case they crawl out of the lunch bag..."  Her other fear was that we'd forget they were there and Dad would take his lunch to work only to find out he had brought worms instead.

Well, I don't know how long blogs are, but this post was very long so I'll stop for now.  Kate's potty story will have to wait. 

Soon I will learn how to upload/download/incorporate pictures.  Still leery about posting pictures of my kids on the internet, but this blog apparently is only accessible to those you invite.  We brought the camera to capture the 'first fish', but promptly left the camera in the car and I had the key tied to my shoe.  We have to get much better at planning these kinds of things.

I did, however, take a picture of Kate's frog pillow sitting on her potty seat.  I know that does not seem very sanitary, except I can tell you that nothing has happened while sitting on that seat.

Okay, bye for now.  

This blogging thing is very cathartic.

The beginning...

Well, I never thought I would be a blogger, or that I would even consider a blog, but I find myself wishing for a way to share the everyday happenings of my little brood with loved ones.

This has been a year of ups and downs and major changes for our family.  We are about to start on a new adventure with me staying at home with the girls.  I have gone through the feeling sick to your stomach have I made the right decision phase, the will I ever be successful at work again phase, the we need the money phase, the will I be a good stay at home mom phase, to now...the mild pit in the stomach but knowing this is the best thing for me and my family phase. 

I am really and truly looking forward to this journey of self-renewal and self-discovery. 

I am looking forward to reconnecting with my husband, family, and friends. 

Most importantly, though, I am really looking forward to being more of a part of my girls' lives. 

Thanks for stopping by!