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Monday, January 31, 2011

Snow fever

I could jump on the bandwagon with everyone else and complain about all the snow we are having! It's no secret that I don't like the winter and wish I lived somewhere warmer. And I'll even admit snow days from school are getting old and driving me a little batty.

But this weekend, we embraced the snow! We created the snow Olympics in our yard! Since our yard is flat, we usually have to drive somewhere to go sledding. But the plow guy made us our own little mountain at the end of the driveway. It was more like ice luge due to the steep incline but fun for the whole family, nonetheless.

Our trampoline has never seen this much snow and I was worried the weight of it would ruin it. So my husband shoveled it and in doing so created a new game. Dylan got his fill of his favorite summer pastime while leaping off it onto a huge pile of snow!!! He was awarded the gold medal for best trampoline trick but daddy took home the gold medal for shoveling!

In the event of snow sculptures, the judges could not come to an agreement. Camryn and I made a sea turtle and even colored it green! But daddy and Dylan carved out an igloo that the kids could fit in!

The warm weather allowed us to stay out and play for a long time. That night we put our snow clothes in the dryer in anticipation of the next day. We woke up early and took Dylan skiing. We spared Camryn the excitement of waiting in the lodge and dropped her at Nana and Pop's house.

Dylan once again amazed us with his skiing progress. He is staying in control and practicing his turns. We were able to enjoy longer runs on the blue square trails and not feel like we were teaching him. He even got a little over confident and tried to go over little jumps and was often found terrain skiing!!! It was great to all be able to ski together and enjoy our favorite winter sport again. On the car ride home Dylan expressed his appreciation: "I've never had special time with BOTH of you before!!!" It made me happy to hear him acknowledge our efforts to spend time with just him but I couldn't help but feel guilty about leaving Camryn behind.

But when we got to my parents house, I realized Camryn had a special day too. My dad had made one of his infamous sledding tracks down his front lawn and Camryn had had a blast zooming down it. She got to bake cookies with Nana and had 100% of their attention! It was a great weekend for everyone!

Now I'm not going to say that I like the Winter but if you live in New England you might as well make the best of it!

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Guest Blog

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to be a guest blogger. Be sure to check out the post at Spruce Kids.

A special thanks to Jacin from Lovely Little Details for pulling this together!!

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Exciting News

My blog got accepted to be featured on TopMommyBlogs.com! It's a great resource for moms to find blogs of all different categories. I'm very excited to be a part of it. So check out the website and if you like my blog, you can vote for me and I'll get more exposure!!


Top Mommy Blogs - Mom Blog Directory

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Potty Words

What is the obsession with potty words??? Seriously, I can't stand it. I mean it's the better of two evils because I would be mortified if they knew any real swear words. But really...is it that much fun to put the word poopy in front of every other word in the English language?

We don't use the F word when referring to passing gas, we say tooting. Any noise that slightly resembles a toot sends the kids into hysterics and is usually followed by them recreating the noise with their mouths. Camryn has recently discovered that doing this gets big laughs from her brother. And she has decided that those laughs are worth a time out.

The owner of Dylan's pre-school once told us to let them say potty words as much as they wanted, ONLY in the bathroom. I tried this technique and it only resulted in them running in and out of the bathroom calling each other poppy heads and pee pee butts!!! And when potty words came into play at bath time, they reminded me that is was ok because we were in the bathroom!

I'm wondering if people still threaten to wash their kids mouths out with soap? Doesn't seem PC anymore, but maybe it is....only in the bathroom!!!

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Snow days are not figure friendly

With all this snow it seems like my son hasn't been in school very much lately. I find it so much harder to keep them occupied indoors. Suddenly all their new Christmas toys seem old. Everyone, including myself, is tired of board games. We have used up all of our hide-n-go-seek hiding spots and our craft supplies have taken a big hit within the last few weeks.

So I turn to baking. The kids love taking turns measuring and dumping the ingredients into the bowl. Licking the spatula and snitching the batter elates them. They even hover near the oven door, switching the light on and off, watching our cookies bake. It takes up a good amount of time and the kids happily partake in the activity.

But I have no self-control. I make sure to limit the kids to 2 cookies each, to prevent tummy aches, poor eating habits, childhood obesity, etc. But find there is no limit to the amount which I consume. I grab one every time I walk by them. I grab one when I'm bored or frustrated. I grab one until I am so disgusted with how many cookies I've consumed, I promise myself never to bake them again.

Until the next snow day that is....

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Sugar Baby!

Our turkey tacos were cooking away when our gas ran out in my new stove. Luckily, my husband was prepared with a spare tank. So with him on the phone giving me instructions, I laced up my snow boots and trudged outside. While I'm knee deep in snow, under the deck trying to connect gas lines in the pitch black, Dylan yells out to me: "Alert, alert...Camryn got into the jar of fluff!" I was too busy to care if she had a little pre-dinner dessert, so I assured him I would be in in a minute to take care of it.

I was not expecting to find the Marshmellow man chasing my son around the living room. She did not just get into the jar, she became the jar.



This girl has a serious sweet tooth. Dylan didn't even taste sugar until his first birthday, but this one thinks it's a food group.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Family Snow Day!

For the first time ever, my husband had a snow day from work! Having the whole family snowed in together just made the day that much better!

We watched the snow fall as we stayed cozy in our jammies. We went from one activity to the next without much fuss from anyone. We played Wii, designed bead necklaces, created Playdoh cakes and built a volcano!

When the snow finally slowed down we had around 2 feet!

We couldn't pass up a chance to play in that much snow. It might be the only time the kids see this much snow in their lifetime. So we bundled them up and out we went. It was so deep, it was hard to do much of anything other then jump and fall into it!

Exhausted from trudging through the snow that was up to their knees, the kids retreated to the plowed driveway where they could manuever better.


Callie enjoyed chasing the kids through the depths of snow but had to do her best lion pounce to stay on top of it

When we came inside to warm up, we made homemade pumpkin raviolis, coconut chicken and cream cheese brownies for dinner. The kids were in bed at their regular bedtime and I got to snuggle on the couch with my hubby and watch a movie.

Snow days usually leave me feeling lonely and resentful of my husband's job. I'm always jealous of my sister and girlfriends whose husbands get to stay home from work on snow days. I'm left to entertain the stir-crazy kids all by myself!

But today was a day for the books, because we got to share it as a family!!! And it doesn't get any better than that!


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Monday, January 10, 2011

Potty Training

I don't even know if I can call it training. Camryn seriously decided to do it all on her own!!

She has been interested in the potty for awhile and started giving me a hard time about wearing diapers. But Dylan was a nightmare to potty train. I started when he was 3 and he still had occasional accidents for about a year!!! It was the most frustrating aspect of parenting I have encountered. So I was in no hurry to go through it all over again.

But Camryn's interest peaked and I felt like a lazy mom by not embracing it. So it was my New Year's resolution to get rid of the diapers and just go for it. It's only been a week and she is incredible!! She goes when she needs to, without the extreme urgency Dylan had from waiting until the last second. I've yet to see her perform the intricately choreographed potty dance that her brother invented. And she has even master pooping!!!

She averages only one accident a day. And when she has one it actually upsets her. Unlike Dylan, who would happily play in his wet clothes and deny that he had an accident even though the evidence was clear!

What a different experience it has been! So thanks to Camryn for helping me earn my potty training badge!

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

New Year

WOW!! I thought Christmas vacation flew by when I was in school. But it really flies by when you're the parent.

Our holiday was fabulous! The kids tore through enough wrapping paper to wrap the Titanic!! They reveled in each present and were oozing with gratitude toward the gift givers! A few (who am I kidding,) a TON of new toys sure makes a difference. We were so occupied with all their new stuff, there was never a lull our day. Their behavior towards each other was remarkable! They shared their new toys, escaped to imaginary worlds and honestly enjoyed each others company.

The snow made the vacation extra special. The snowboogies that Santa brought were a big hit! Despite the bone chilling wind, we spent 2 days sledding! My husband and I were even racing on the track we made.

It was so nice sleeping in, staying in pajamas and not having anywhere to be. I was sad to see Dylan go back to school yesterday! I don't get a lot of time with him during the week and his behavior over this vacation proved to me how much he is growing up. Camryn found her toys to be less exciting without her brother to play with them. Luckily, he was anxious to show all his friends his new magic tricks.

So it's back to our normal routine. But I'm already counting down the days until February break!