On Friday morning I was shocked to suddenly hear all three boys count from 1 to 10. I'd never heard them get past 5 before! I've tried several times this week to get them to count for me on camera and this is as close as I get...
As you'll see, Chase leaves out 4 and 5 and I'm not sure, but I think he says "seven" again instead of ten. I swear he can do it the right way though! Oh, and just for fun I asked him if he could do his A,B,C's... instead I got O,B,C's!
Oh and the delightful "no, no, no" you hear? We get that pretty much anytime we ask Chase to do something that wasn't his idea to begin with. Independent little thing....
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
1,2,3's and O,B,C's - Video Clip of the Week
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
It Doesn't Take Much
It doesn't take much to excite the boys. You should see them running around and talking about the field trip we're going on later this morning with our Parents As Teachers group. I'm sure there will be some cute pictures to share later this week from that!
It doesn't take much to mess up our newly cleaned carpets. I learned this week all it takes is a chocolate chip or two falling out of a cookie and a blueberry falling out of a pancake. I think Nick and I have officially given up on the carpet in the "dining room". It's a losing battle. Someday soon we'll just rip that carpet up and put something a little more practical down.
It doesn't take much for the boys to make a large mess with their desert.
I looked at my sticky boys and at my chocolate covered table and wondered how on earth they managed that. Then I caught Chase in the act...
Monday, September 28, 2009
Blog for a Cure Blog Party
Three questions:
Do you want to gain new followers for your blog?
Do you want to help eradicate cancer?
Can you spare $1.00?
If so, then read on.
On Monday, Sept 28- Friday, Oct 2, 2009, Who Knew? Reviews will be hosting the first Annual Blog For A Cure, which is a new way to use social media to raise funds for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, while making new connections and broadening our social media network.
Blood cancers are an aggressive and stealthy enemy. They can and will strike people of all ages, health status, ethnicity, and sex unless we rally together and support the research that is needed to treat and prevent them. I have organized this campaign in honor of a dear family member and fellow young mom who has recently been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin Lymphoma and is now fighting for her life. I am sure that each and every one of us can say we know someone who has been affected by these devastating, indiscriminate diseases. Together, we can use our most accessible resource, the internet, to help fight the battle.
It’s pretty simple:
- Head over to Who Knew? Reviews, and click on the button to donate $1.00 to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. If you can donate more, please do so, but the minimum to participate is $1.00.This will earn you one entry into each giveaway that you comment on. If you would like more entries for a particular item, each extra dollar will earn an additional entry.
- Then, sign in to Mr. Linky which will be active on the blog at midnight, Sept. 25th. Cruise the list of other participants, visiting a minimum of 5 blogs.
- Click “follow” when you get to those blogs. For each new blog follower that you get, return the “follow”. Feel free to visit and follow each and every other participant that signs in to Mr. Linky- think how many new followers you will receive!
- Feel free to check back all week long to meet new bloggers, and gain new followers!
- Today, post something about the Blog For A Cure Blog Party on your own blog, including the link: www.whoknewreviews.blogspot.com. Feel free to copy and paste this text, and encourage all of your blog readers to do the same.
- If you do not care to gain followers for your blog, you can still will prizes by donating a dollar, and commenting on the prize posts that you want to win.
- If you do not want to donate, you can still help by blogging, tweeting, and posting on Facebook about this event, to help us spread the word and raise as much money as possible. Just imagine what a difference we could all make, if we all just donated ONE dollar. Just think about it.
And of course, there will be prizes!
Every hour throughout the day on September 28th, I will post a new giveaway on Who Knew? Reviews. Winners will receive prizes from Kolcraft, StephieMc Designs, La Plates, Orglamix mineral makeup, Krizzy Designs, and Boojiboo as well as a few other prizes TBA. There will also be a prize for the person who refers the most participants. When you get to the main link-up post, leave a comment on the with the name of the blogger who told you about the blog party. The blogger who refers the most participants will receive a special, personalized gift from Stephie Mc Designs.
Grab the button below to start spreading the word about this event! Let’s do something- together- to make a difference.
Weekend O' Fun
What a busy, tiring but fun weekend we had here! Here's the quick version of all the fun....
Thursday night I went to the Royals/Red Sox game with my sister! Not only were our tickets a bargain ($43 for a pair and a parking pass and the tix were normally $43 each - thank you Craigslist!) but the Sox won! Woohoo!
Friday morning we took the boys for their flu shots and Tyler's weight check - you can read about that here.
Friday afternoon I entered the boys in the Gap Casting Call! It would help if my blogging friends could vote for them and try to propel them into the fan's choice. You can vote for each picture once a day. Voting ends in mid-November so I'll likely remind you again a few times. You can see and vote for my entries HERE!
Saturday started very early. This was the first time in a loooong time I've gotten up before the sun. Early that morning I loaded the boys up and headed to our church to watch Nick run in the Sacred Steps 5K, a fund raiser for many of ministries in Africa that our church supports. I've run the race twice before but Nick had never had a chance to until this year. He came in 3rd in his age group with a time of 21 minutes even! He was the 15th person to cross the finish line out of the 1,500 or so participants. Go Nick!
After the race, Nick took the boys home while I stayed at the church for an All Day Crop! Because Kodak has been super slow in getting me the prints I ordered close to 2 weeks ago now, I had to scramble to find something to occupy me. I chose to catch up on the book I started for Nick and me back before we had kids! What a fun change of pace. Oh and I officially want a Cricut now. I'd never used one prior to the crop, but two ladies brought theirs and I now love the Cricut!
Sunday (yesterday) afternoon Laura and I loaded up the boys and headed to The Plaza Art Fair! We had a great time wandering around and heard lots of comments. We'd only been out of the car 5 minutes when Laura asked me how I handle all the stares and comments. I told her I just kind of tone them out now unless someone is specifically talking to me (versus just commenting to their friends). It just doesn't phase me. And I know the boys had their picture taken at least twice - once by a guy who asked if he could and once by a woman in a van we walked past.
The best comment I heard there? A woman walked past us and told me "that's the best display I've seen here all day!", meaning she enjoyed seeing my boys more than the art I guess :)
It was unseaonably hot, so after a bathroom stop at McDonald's I bought the boys each their own "orange drink". They loved it and by the time we got home they were wired from all the sugar!
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Leaves!
For those of you wondering what happened to Saturday Savings yesterday.... Friday I decided I just didn't feel like shopping this weekend. We had enough here at home to get us through another week and there weren't any sales I just had to have. Today I'll pick up some milk and fruit at Aldi and call it good! It's nice to be able to take a break once in a while!
Today's Multiples and More Question of the Week is about fall, which I love!
Besides hunting down the cider mill with the best cider (which, in Kansas City is this one), my favorite fall activity has to be playing in the fallen leaves!
I have so many memories from playing in the leaves at my grandparents in Massachusetts. Here's a blast from the past picture for you...
Last fall Nick and I raked up some of our leaves and let the boys play in them. They weren't quite sure what to make of it. I suspect this year will be more fun as they're a little older and active now! Here are a couple of my favorite shots from last year's fun in the leaves:
L-R in both: Jackson, Tyler & Chase
Friday, September 25, 2009
Health Update
This morning we took the boys to the doctor's office for their flu shots and for a weight check for Tyler. Back at the boys' 2 year well check, the doctor was slightly concerned that Tyler wasn't gaining weight at the same rate as his brothers. He's always been smaller than them by a pound or two, but in the last 6 months his weight has all but stalled while his brothers have continued to gain at a steady rate.
In March he weighed 25 pounds 5 ounces.
In late August he weighed 24 pounds 14 ounces.
In early September he weighed 25 pounds 8 ounces.
Today he weighed 26 pounds even.
So basically since March he's only gained 11 ounces. His brothers have each gained 3-5 pounds in that time frame. The doctor said normally there's only a red flag if the child has fallen off the growth curve for height and head circumference, neither of which is true for Tyler. However, because he's an identical triplet and because he eats the same (if not more sometimes) than his brothers and is at the same level of activity as them she is a little concerned.
Bottom line, we're to watch him and if we notice any drastic changes in behavior, weight, etc. we are to call her. Otherwise we're to just bring him back just before Thanksgiving and see if his gaining has picked up.
Speaking of weight though - today Chase hit the big 3-0. Yep. He's 30 pounds. No wonder my back is killing me by the end of the day! Oh yeah, and we had no crying or tears today for the flu shots. Such big boys :)
Intermission
We pause now for a brief intermission....
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Laugh or Cry
When raising children one must often make a conscience decision. Do you laugh or cry at whatever just happened? I've been trying really hard to choose "laugh" lately, even though I want to cry (or get mad at the very least). Here are two recent examples...
Lately Jackson and Tyler have had a hard time making it to the potty on time between the hours of 4pm and 6pm. It's really quite remarkable how many times the two of them can pee on the floor in those 2 hours (we're talking 4-6 accidents between the two of them in a 2 hour span). I don't know why they have such a hard time in the late afternoon/early evening, but they do. As a result dinner has been late several times because of all the, uh, activities here.
This past Monday night I decided I wasn't going to let these potty time escapades get the best of me or my dinner preparation. My plan of attack? Start dinner at 3:30pm in hopes it was done sometime between 5:30 and 6. Good thing I did too because it took me nearly 2 hours to get dinner into the oven! In those two hours we had 10 trips to the potty, 3 puddles on the floor and I got to rescue a sippy cup from a toilet. All I could do was laugh. And be glad I started dinner when I did!
The next night Tyler did something that had Nick and me rolling with laughter...
Yeah. That would be a large piece of poo you see there on the floor.
What will you choose to do today when your kid does something crazy/obnoxious/frustrating? Laugh or cry? I'm choosing laugh again; it seems to make the days better.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Uh Oh Tyler - Video Clip of the Week
Last Friday Nick and I took the boys to Target. They received quite a bit of cash for their birthday and not many toys to play with. Considering they've out grown most of the toys they were given at their last birthday and even some Christmas, we decided we'd turn them loose in the toy aisle and see what they wanted to buy.
The final product? A Cars tent and tunnel combo. When we finally set it up for them after dinner Friday night, the boys were pretty excited to crawl through the tunnel, into the tent and then back out again. They even dragged their kitties and puppets in with them.
Sunday afternoon Tyler discovered a new fun way to play with the tunnel. He was the only one up from nap time and he was being quite entertaining to Nick, Laura and myself!
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
The Fun We Have
I like to think we're a family that knows how to have fun. Whether it's building large forts out of bed sheets, taking trips to a nearby park, coloring on the walls in coloring books or any number of other things, we have fun. My boys have proven recently that they're perfectly capable of having fun without their toys. Don't get me wrong, they love their toys and have fun with those too but sometimes emptying Mommy's pantry is far more entertaining....
We're also lucky to live in an area that has a really fun and free thing for families to do! We love taking the boys to the Deanna Rose Farmstead. Watching them get excited about the cows, goats, sheep and ducks is just too much fun! Oh yeah.... and the swings. They get mighty excited about the swings!
L-R: Jackson, Chase & Tyler
Monday, September 21, 2009
Colors
It was a colorful weekend here at our house!
Friday night after I gave the boys haircuts it was into the tub for them. We decided to take a break from the usual bubbles and do something a little different....
They were slightly concerned at the site of the red water, but seemed to enjoy it!
Yesterday morning I gave them some blueberry/banana smoothie with their breakfast!
Tyler
Jackson
Chase
Then they finished the weekend by reading the Sunday Paper together.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Saturday Savings
This week I obviously was not paying attention while taking my picture... not only did I leave a couple of large items off the table altogether but I also managed to not get everything on the table in the shot. That's what I get for rushing I guess. Everything you see below plus a lot more cost $73.73.
Aldi: (Not Pictured Above)
Bread - 2 loaves
2% Milk - 3 gallons
Skim Milk - 1 gallon
Red Grapes - 2 pounds
Corn Tortillas
Saltines
Brown Sugar
Bananas - 3 pounds
Hy-Vee:
Bakery Italian Bread
Dannon Yogurt - 10 cups
Deli Ham - 1 pound
Sara Lee Cheesecake
Wanchai Ferry Frozen Entree
Red Baron Pizzas - 2 not pictured
Alexia Bagged Snacks
Pringles - 4 cans
Campbell's Tomato Soup - 4 cans
Tones Mini Spice Packages - 3
Hy-Vee Vanilla and Chocolate Ice Cream - 1 gallon
Bananas
Potatoes - 10 pound bag
Ball Park Premium Franks - 4 packages
Price Chopper:
Nature Valley Chewy Granola Bars - 1 box
Nature Valley Crunchy Granola Bars - 1 box
Chex Mix Bars - 1 box
Westpac Frozen Veggies - 4 bags
Ground Round - 4.35 pounds
Wholly Guacamole - 1 box
The Deals: Aldi had a great deal on grapes - .88 a pound! Hy-Vee has a coupon online right now for a free pound of bananas, which is why I bought a second small bunch there (versus just sticking with the bananas from Aldi). Speaking of Hy-Vee, I also snagged a 10 pound bag of potatoes for $1.77 (64% off), Pringles for .75 each (50% off), Ball Park Franks for $1.47 each (66% off), Red Baron Pizzas for $2.39 each (58% off) and the Sara Lee Cheesecake was $1.49 (71% off).
Price Chopper had a few good deals too. I snagged bags of frozen veggies for .68 each (56% off), Ground Round for $1.69 a pound (45% off) and the various granola bars were $1.50 a box (49%-56% off). I also picked up some Wholly Guacamole, which is something I never buy. Usually it's terribly overpriced and we could make it ourselves for far less, however it was on a great sale and I had a good coupon bringing the price down to $2.49 (57% off) which is about the cost of making it ourselves when we find avocado on sale.
There is one comment from last week's post that I want to address. Someone posted (anonymously at that) that I wasn't taking into account all of the gas I spend driving to all of these stores or the time I spend doing all of that shopping.
There are two primary areas in town I shop. Area #1 (where I shop most often) has an Aldi, Price Chopper and Hy-Vee all within a mile of each other, on the very same road. Obviously with a set up like this my gas consumption is minimal! Area #2 I only shop if I have to be on that "side of town" like I did last week as I had a doctor's appointment there. Those stores are a bit more spread out but are all on the same road and if I start at one end (close to my doctor's office) and then work my way back home I hit Aldi, Hy-Vee, Hen House and Price Chopper.
As for my time, because I have very specific lists it only takes me about an hour to shop 3-4 different stores. I know many people who take that long shopping just one store! I spend about another hour a week cutting and sorting my coupons and making my shopping list. Considering I save 50-60% each week (which can mean saving $50-80 a week) I'd say my time is well spent.
Total before Sales, Coupons and Tax: $144.43
Total after Sales and Coupons: $69.67 - 52% off
Friday, September 18, 2009
Funny Things They Do and Say
Honestly, this could easily become a weekly feature on my blog as the boys crack us up on a daily basis. Lately they've been especially funny though. I think a lot of it has to do with the amount of talking they now do. Here's just a small sampling of the funny (or precious) things the boys have done recently....
~~~ Yesterday Chase and Jackson climbed up to the table to try to play with a pen I left sitting out. After I removed the pen they continued to sit there. After a couple of minutes I heard "more kiss!" followed by giggling. I turned around to see them give each other a kiss. Then the cycle repeated.... and repeated and repeated!
~~~ Jackson was sitting on the toilet when he suddenly giggled, turned to look up at me and said "melly toot!" (Smelly Toot). He also likes to routinely accuse me of having "melly toots" even when nothing has happened.
~~~ All three boys the other day spun around in circles in the living room to the point of stumbling around and crashing into furniture. They thought it was hilarious, even after Chase got a bloody lip from crashing into the TV stand.
~~~ Last night Tyler found a small piece of meat still on the table about an hour after dinner. Nick told him not to eat it, so instead he held up to his lips like he was going to eat it. Needless to say, Nick was unable to keep a straight face and stern tone...
~~~ Yesterday things got awfully quiet in the boys' room so I went to investigate... I found Jackson crawling around under his crib. When I came back with the camera Chase and Tyler had joined in the fun.
This wasn't the first time this week though that I've caught all three congregating under some piece of furniture...
~~~ I don't even know what's going on here. I found the picture on my camera though, which means Nick is the one who took it.
~~~ And as I've been writing this post I've sneezed a couple of times and Jackson has followed with an "A Choooo!"
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Me Time
Yesterday was a crazy day, and therefore I never got around to the blog. The day was a good kind of crazy though, as the whole first part was filled with "me time"! I fully believe it is so important for any mom, whether she has 1 child or a house-full, to find some sort of "me time". It could be just letting the dishes sit for an extra couple of house while you do some reading, or having your husband put the kids to bed so that you can escape to a local coffee shop for some peace and quiet for an hour. My personal favorites are the mom's group at church (Building Better Moms) and scrapbooking!
Yesterday morning Building Better Moms started it's '09-'10 year! I'm co-leading this particular group with a friend and it has been so exciting just doing all the planning over the summer, but yesterday was really wonderful. I loved being in a room with 47 other women who are all at the same point I am - living life with early childhood aged kids. I'm so looking forward to the rest of the year and only wish the group met once a week (instead of twice a month)!
My other "me time" is my once a month scrapbooking night at church. For 3 hours once a month it's just me and a bunch of women in a room cropping away! Later this month we have an all day crop (13 hours!) and I'm really looking forward to that. Because of my commitment to "me time" I'm only about 5 months behind in the boys' books - and that's even with doing 1 book for each of them!
As requested by several friends, here are some of the recent pages I've done. (Sorry for the glare on some of them.)
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