Someone hand me a Mr. Clean magic eraser...STAT.

Found this on our wall going down the stairway today.

Thank you Mr. Owen.

All I can say is that I do buy tissues and Boogie Wipes for my kids. When I remember. Probably need to work a little more on teaching them how to use these products instead of their fingers.

Saturday dinner playdate

Erica, Greg and Blake happened to be free tonight, so they came over to hang out and have an early dinner with us. It was so nice to catch up and see the kids play together. Ben made sliders and Erica and Greg brought homemade blackberry frozen yogurt and cookies which were the perfect ending to the meal. (For the record, my contribution was a roasted green bean/mushroom side, but it didn't come out all that great. Another validation that I am absolutely terrible at cooking and should just retire and leave all future meal planning to Ben.) Other than my crummy veggie, it was a fun evening and the kiddos went right to bed after our guests left.


We had tried to get a picture of the three little ones on the stairs, but Owen was too enamored with the Matchbox car set they gave him, so he wouldn't sit for a picture. The girls posed for us though. Blake has such an adorable smile, doesn't she? :)

Frying Pan Farm on a chilly morning

Owen and Vivian were walking ahead of us, and when her mitten came off while he was trying to hold her hand, he tried his hardest to help her put it back on.

Me love.

Fresh air

We're all pretty much over our colds, so since we haven't been out much and the weather was nice enough today - we headed out to the backyard for some fresh air. Lawn mowing and basketball were a welcome change from laying on the couch watching DVD's.

Don't try to hard-boil and egg in the microwave

Okay, so hindsight is 20/20. But when you're in a hurry to feed a hungry toddler a snack, you don't usually think things through all the way. I'm sharing so that if you're reading this, you don't make the same mistake I did.

(You're probably a lot smarter than me about cooking in general, and most likely you wouldn't do this. Let alone give a toddler a hard-boiled egg as a snack. I mean, who does that? They are more of a breakfast food. In this case, I hope you at least get a good chuckle out of reading this post.)

In my own defense, I was trying to get her to try new foods. Plus, we were running low on good toddler-esque, healthy snacks. So I figured, while she munches away at the last of the Cheerios on her tray, I'll stick an egg in some water in a microwave-safe container (see, I thought part of it through, right?) and in 10 minutes I'd have a hard-boiled egg.

WRONG.

Five minutes into the 10 minutes I had set it for, it sounded like a gun went off in my kitchen. (And I know what guns sound like now when you shoot them. Check my Facebook profile if you didn't see me shooting guns in FL a few weeks ago.) My 15-year old GE Profile microwave oven shot open and out spewed the egg that it had exploded. Everywhere.



To make it even more fun, the house then smelled like burnt eggs. Yum.

I thought maybe it had died from all the excitement, and that maybe I'd get a new microwave/oven combo out of the deal. But alas, I was wrong again. The light bulb blew during the explosion, but my handy husband will likely be able to fix it.

When I told Ben about the incident during the kids' bathtime, he asked: "So is that why the kitchen was all clean when I got home?"

You learn something new everyday, don't ya? I guess I should stick to microwaving Ivory soap instead of eggs. Much cleaner.

Kiwi Crate #2

Last week our second Kiwi Crate arrived in the mail! I saved it for today so that Owen and I would have a fun little project to do together while Vivian napped.

It was all about underwater fun. We made an aquarium and colored the fishies and creatures that live in the ocean with these cool plastic pastel pencils that were sent in the crate, and then Owen got to "fish" for them.



We're saving part 2 of this crate for later this week when rain is in the forecast. Aren't I such a good little planner?

Go away colds!

Last night no one really slept all that well. Ben and I watched a few old LOST episodes after the kids went to sleep, and so it was after 10pm when we got to bed, only to be awoken around 12am by Vivian. Baby Tylenol for her and she was back to sleep, and so were we. Or so we thought.

Owen woke up crying at 1am. I went in and tried to calm him down. Took him to the potty, gave him some Children's Tylenol, and tucked him back in.

Less than a minute after crawling back into bed, we heard him on the monitor crying again. Ben's turn.

He ended up just staying in there with him (now that he's in a single bed there is a little room for mom or dad - you didn't think Ben would fit into the toddler bed, now did you?).

I went back to sleep. Ben and Owen weren't so lucky.

Ben came back into our room at 4:30am. Tag - I was it.

I crawled into Owen's bed and tried to get him to close his eyes until the sun came up. That didn't quite happen. I only lasted 30 minutes before giving up. We went downstairs, I put on Cars 2 and gave him juice. He said he wanted pancakes, but wouldn't eat them once I made them. Then he said his ear hurt and he wanted to watch another movie. The urgent care place didn't open until 8am, and it was only 6:45, so I put in the original Cars and he snuggled up in his beanbag chair. Within 15 minutes he was snoring away.


Vivian woke up at 7:15, so I got her up and fed her quietly while Owen and Ben slept. Owen woke up around 8 and we went over to the urgent care place. Sure enough, he has an ear infection in his right ear and she put him on a 10-day course of the pink stuff.

Source: Uploaded by user via Jennifer on Pinterest

(I found this cool trick on Pinterest for keeping track of taking it).

I think I may have become re-infected too. We all took naps this afternoon which helped. That, and another big batch of homemade chicken noodle soup. Need to get this house healthy again! :)

More bath bubbles

Tonight after coming home from a toddler birthday party, we decided to add even more bubbles to our bath time thanks to the bubbles in our favor box.



Owen to Vivi: "I think I caught one."

Vivian says no

Bubbles

Since the kiddos have been sick all week, we've been doing the Johnson & Johnson's menthol bubble bath to help get all the snot out, and then Vick's baby rub on their chests to help them breathe better at night. We don't usually do bubble baths, so it's been a treat. Anything to make them feel better.

Tonight when I filled up the tub and the bubbles started, I swear Vivi said "bubble"! I heard her say it twice, pointing to the bubbles, and then Ben ran up and heard her once.

I want to keep doing bubble baths for them now since I love hearing her say bubble.

Guess we need to put some Mr. Bubble on the grocery list this week. :)

Another drooler

The little miss is working on a few more teeth...

Sick kiddos

This has been a long week of terrible sleep for both kids. The massive amounts of icky snot in their poor little noses has made it tough for them to breathe, and Owen now has a cough on top of it. :( Naps haven't really existed this week other than a 20-minute one here and there (Owen even woke himself up from what I thought was going to be a great nap yesterday because he sneezed twice) and nighttime sleep has been interrupted at least once a night for each of them. Owen stayed home from preschool yesterday and today. He misses his friends and activities. I missed my downtime. But we had been healthy for awhile, so I knew we were due. I read in one of my baby's health books that when you have a toddler in the house, you should expect them to be sick with a cold-type virus about once every 6 weeks or so during their first couple of toddler years and I've noticed it to be true no matter how much hand washing I patrol or sanitizing gel I apply.

Humidifiers, Vick's vapor rub, lots of juice and baby Tylenol have helped. A little. And I've caved and let them watch more movies (we've seen Cars 2 about 5 times this week) and Baby Signing Time DVD's than usual.

Ben and I had it too, but not as bad as the kids. Hoping by the weekend everyone will be feeling better.

Blogiversary

Yesterday was my 4-yr blogiversary. When I say that the time between the first post and this one has flown by, it seems like such an understatement. The time has gone by so incredibly fast. But thanks to the blog, I can look back whenever I want and remember each and every week. That's priceless to me. (Really. I mean, I'm actually still amazed that blogging platforms are free. Just kinda waiting to see fees crop up any month now, but for the time being, I'll remain very thankful for the freebie. And we all know how much I love getting stuff for free. Pass the coupon, share the love.)

Blogging has become such a big part of my life for me in that, it's not only my online baby book for the kids, but also a place where I come to reveal my parenting mistakes and the lessons I've learned from those mistakes. I think the only way we can grow as parents is to stumble sometimes along the way, but then pick ourselves right back up and keep going.

I have learned so much from other blogs I find online. My Blog List on the right side of my own blog is where I usually start my day, clicking through my friend's links to see if anyone made any updates since the time I went to bed. But I also find blogs of other moms out there in cyberspace and I'm just drawn to their writing.

Take Momastery, for example. I found it via Facebook, from another mom who had shared Glennon's recent "Don't Carpe Diem" post. I read it, quickly, and then bookmarked the page so that I could go back and read it later. I am still reading. Quite frankly, I can't stop reading. One of my favorite posts so far has got to be this one, or this one, or this one. Seriously, I am hooked.

She writes with such honesty, such shear heart and emotion. And she's freaking hilarious. Even got Ben laughing to the point he had tears in his eyes with this post. If you pack your husband's lunch, it's a must read. Trust me. I now consider myself a Monkee and I like to think I might run into her one day. She happens to live in the same town. Small world.

I am so thankful that blogs exist because there is a whole lot of information sharing and good deed doing going on out there.

Here's to many more years of blogging.

(And hopefully my kids won't disown me when they grow up and read what I wrote when they were babies.)

Swim lesson #2

We started Vivi in swim lessons at the same place Owen is going (Carlile Swimming, but they're changing the name to The Tom Dolan Swim School in February).



Here we are in the changing room before going out to the pool deck. My friend Becky gave us this adorable suit that one of her twins outgrew. I love it because it is part ballet/part swimming, and I loved both growing up. :)

It's a mommy and me class that we go to while Owen is at preschool. It's fun, but she's the only baby in the timeslot right now, so it's been basically a private lesson these last two weeks. So far her favorite parts are floating on her back and walking on the big foam float on top of the water. I'm hoping more babies join soon so she can have some friends in her class.

Sliding

I bought this slide for $7 at a consignment sale a few years ago. We brought it upstairs from the playroom since Vivian had so much fun learning how to slide on her own with Daddy's help. He even taught her to slide down backwards, wasn't that cool of him??? (not so much).

I love how they play together with it. 9 times out of 10 they share and take turns, and we haven't had any major tumbles since it's only 2 feet high. Love Little Tikes products.

Getting into dinner

yum Mom.

Sippy leash

Made this today seeing as I have been getting so annoyed when Vivi launches her sippy cup off her tray lately when she's done with it.


Too bad it doesn't work since I didn't have any no-slip grip to put on the side of the elastic that goes around the sippy.

Guess I'll be dealing with run-away sippy cups for another week or so until I can get myself to the craft store. :(

Undressing and dressing

Owen has a fascination lately with taking off his shirt. It has lead to him then taking off his pants and running around in his underwear.

Tonight he did just that, and then decided to put his pants back on himself. When I turned around to see why he was stumbling, this is what I saw:



A lesson in "how to put your pants on the correct way" was taught before bedtime.

Heading home

Today we had to pack up to fly home. It was sad to say goodbye, but we now get to count down the days until our family beach trip this August.


Don't fret Vivi, only 213 to go! (And I'm pretty sure I'll be the one making that face when Daddy and I are driving 14 hours with two toddlers.)

A Latte Fun

Today we went to A Latte Fun so the kiddos could burn off some energy.

They started off riding the Harley's:



Then Vivian did some grocery shopping. She remembered to use her coupons like Mommy taught her. :)



The obligatory crawl through the tunnel:



Smile after the slide:



Trying on some dress-up outfits:



Hitting the gym for a few minutes of cardio:



And quite a few jumps into the big blue pit of foam blocks. (I have a great picture of Mike throwing Owen into the pit, but it's on Mike's camera, so I'll have to ask him to email it to me or post it on Max's blog.)



The trampoline was another favorite, but since I was too busy jumping on it with the kids, I don't have any pictures of that one on my camera. I think it was safe to say that A Latte Fun really was a lot of fun. LOL.

We stopped at a Mexican place for lunch and were able to keep the kids awake for the drive back to Mike & Lindsey's where all three then proceeded to pass out for two hours due to all the fun of the day. That was when Lindsey and I made our exit to the nearest nail salon for pedicures. Ahhhhhh Mommy bliss. :)

Rub-a-dub-dub

Three babes in the tub. :)

Flamingo Gardens

We took a picnic Subway to Flamingo Gardens in Davie today. The weather was beautiful, and the kids had a great time checking out all the animals.

Max and Vivian rode together for awhile in the wagon. When we were buying our tickets to get in, the lady behind us asked if they were twins. :)



One of the first exhibits we saw when we walked in was the aviary. Vivian was in heaven ~ she was enthralled with the birds, it was hilarious! She kept walking up to them waving her arms up and down saying "ba! ba!". We caught it on camera:



Amazingly, after about 20 minutes in the aviary, no one got hit with bird poop. We had to tear our daughter away from her feathered friends to see the other animals.

Vivi and her new BFFs.

Max didn't quite share Vivi's fascination with birds.

When we put the babies back in the wagon, the seatbelt had broke. Luckily for us, Mike had remembered his Leatherman, and he was able to fix it with his handy tool. :)



So we kept going and found some turtles and big tortoises. They were pretty cool.



There were also snakes, alligators, a bob cat, and a few other animals I'm forgetting now. But lucky for Vivi, she got to see more of her favorite animal before we left...
(notice how Ben couldn't get her to look at the camera for this picture.)


It was a very fun family afternoon at the gardens. :)

Lightning McQueen

Owen was so excited to drive cousin Max's Lightning McQueen racecar around their house.



The funny thing was, he spent a lot of the time just sitting in it. His favorite thing to do was to drive it from the front door to the kitchen, and then park it beside the refrigerator and hang out there while we watched him from the family room. He'd sing songs in it all by himself and was so content just chillin' in his race car.

Vivi probably did more driving than he did once she learned how to press the button. HA!

Pizza night at Tony & Dotty's house

Tony and Dotty hosted Pizza Friday tonight! It was so fun to catch up with our friends. Andrea and Troy were there, and so was Susie and Georgia stopped by too. The pizza was delish and we all ate til we were stuffed and hung out until the babies told us with their fussiness that it was time to head home for bedtime.

But before we left we took the customary "kids on the couch" picture. Owen enjoyed it a pinch more than last time. :)


I love how Grant is checking Vivi out.

It's as if he's thinking, "hey baby." Ha!

Sunny Playground

We took a picnic to a local playground today where we met up with our friends Dotty, Wyatt and Grant. Uncle Mike, Aunt Lindsey, and cousin Max came too! The boys had a blast chasing each other around, and Uncle Mike even turned on the sprinkler for a few minutes. Luckily, no one got soaked.




After the playground, we headed over to stay at Mike & Lindsey's for our last few days in Florida. Owen was super excited to have a chance to drive cousin Max's Lightning McQueen car. We're hoping for a nap. We'll see who wins this battle.

Playing in the backyard

This morning we woke up and had breakfast, then got ready for the day. The kids played with their toys for a bit, then the girls went shopping while the boys went to a local park where they could watch the airplanes and helicopters - Owen's favorites!

In the afternoon after naps, the kids played in the backyard while Grandma watered some of her plants and Teddy ran around.


Vivi played some basketball on the patio:

At one point I noticed she had gotten her panties all in a bunch.

Don'tcha just hate it when that happens???

Cupcakes

Grandma made cupcakes this afternoon. Owen devoured a few when he woke up from his nap.

I must ask him several times a week if I can borrow his eyelashes. He always says no.

He must know that the ladies will love them someday.

Sunny FL here we come!

This morning we got up at the crack of dawn to hop on the first flight down to FL. The kids did extremely well the entire trip. We used our Britax Roundabout for Owen (both to wheel him through the airports strapped to the back of a piece of luggage, and to keep him buckled in during the flight) and Vivi was on our laps during the flight. Vivian slept during the middle portion of the flight, which was perfect, and we made it to FL a few minutes early, around 10:40am.


My dad picked us up and we headed over to Grandma & Poppy's house. After lunch we got to open gifts that Santa had left for us and the kids from Christmas, and we gave them our presents.


That evening Mike, Lindsey and Max came over for dinner. It was so great to have the family all together and to see the cousins playing side by side. It was a delayed Christmas celebration, but no one seemed to notice since we were more focused on enjoying each other's company.


I think it is safe to say that the best gift was the guitar tee shirt that we gave Mike. It actually played, but, as Mike pointed out once he started to play around with it, there aren't many songs out there with only 7 chords. Oh well, the novelty of it was worth it. :)

Reading

Just this week Vivian has started to enjoy reading books. Her favorite right now is Little Quack loves Colors, but she also will sit through Where is Baby's Belly Button? and two of the baby Sesame Street board books: Bubbles, Bubbles and At The Zoo.

It's so neat to be able to say to her, "Vivi, go pick a book" and she goes to get one, brings it to you and sits on your lap. Just like Owen used to do when he was her age.


I'm so happy to see that she is finally excited to read with us! After months of closing the book or throwing it aside, I was beginning to wonder if her love of reading was ever going to emerge.

Thankfully, I think she's getting there. She just needed to do it in her own time. :)

New Year's Resolutions

Happy New Year!!! Here are the things I'd like our family to accomplish in 2012 (in no particular order):

• Re-arrange the basement to make a craft corner for my sewing machine and sewing/crafting supplies (need storage furniture)
• Re-paint the family room and remove the mirror above the fireplace
• Paint the kitchen
• Create a good budget plan and stick to it (easier said then done, but this is a must now since I'm staying home)
• Read more with Vivian
• Prepare a will
• Teach Owen to ride a big boy bike (with training wheels of course) this spring
• Take more family pictures

I'm sure there are more things that we'd like to do this year (I may end up going back to add a few), but for now, this is the list.

What are your new year's resolutions? Maybe we could keep each other on track. ;)