New York - In A Nutshell

As much as I'd love to tell you EVERY detail of my trip to New York City . . . I know it's probably not the greatest thing to sit and read about someone else's trip. I'm sure unless you've experienced it first hand . . . it could be rather boring.

BUT I don't care . . . I want to share, share, share!!! So, buckle your seat belts folks as I take you on my trip to NYC!!

It was fabulous!!!! I had the greatest time - and you know how sometimes you can go on vacations where it's just a day too long and you wish you could go home . . . well it wasn't like that at all . . . it was the perfect amount of time and we jam packed those four days baby so hold on tight cause here we go!!!

It was the perfect flight in to NYC - smooth, gorgeous views . . .

We stayed at The Algonquin Hotel . . . the oldest hotel in NYC. The room was small, but what it lacked in space it completely made up in character. What a cool place. The hallways and staircases reminded me of an old apartment complex . . . it was just overflowing with charm and nostalgia. It also had a resident cat that roamed the front lobby of the hotel and every day when Brian and I would come and go I would look for this cat. She'd be on the luggage rack or on the counter of the check-in desk . . . just fluffy and cute . . . almost always sleeping amidst the bustle and activity. Cool . . .

We walked all over Manhattan . . . I don't know how many miles we logged, but damn my poor feet felt like they were molded into my shoes. We walked through China Town, Little Italy, Greenwich Village, Soho, Tribeca . . . not to mention all around Times Square, Central Park and Battery Park. There was just so much to see and I felt more in awe as we rounded each corner and crossed each block.

We took a ferry to Liberty Island to check out the Statue of Liberty. I just have to tell you that I am so proud of my husband for buying us advanced tickets online!!! When we arrived at Battery Park to catch the ferry people were not only standing in line to buy their tickets, but once they bought them they had to wait 1 1/2 hours just to board the ferry! Because we had advance tickets we were able to skip the long lines . . . it was awesome.

So we make our way to Liberty Island and there she was . . . Lady Liberty in all her glory. Unfortunately it was the foggiest day EVER so my pictures are kind of crappy, but man was she beautiful.

We got to go up to the observation deck and take a closer look at her - after climbing 163 little steps of course . . . yeah - it was as bad as it sounds! But the view at the top was soooo worth my burning legs and out-of-breath lungs . . . I felt like if I reached up high enough I could touch her . . . it was a great feeling and what a sight to behold . . .

There really are no words that can describe how completely cool it was to see her. On our last night in New York we took a cruise on a boat with glass walls. The boat went right up to the Statue of Liberty and we got to get a close look at her in the night with her torch ablaze and her crown of lights - it took my breath away. Her details were so clear . . . as we really didn't see them in the fog . . . the wrinkles of her gown . . . the outline of her face . . . it's a moment I'll never forget.

On our last full day in New York we went to the Brooklyn Bridge. It was probably my second favorite thing we did. What an awesome view! From the bridge you could see the Statue of Liberty in the distance, the Manhattan and Brooklyn skylines and you got a great view of the Manhattan Bridge. Other than being EXTREMELY windy . . . it was the warmest day we had - it was nearly 60 degrees . . . it was great!

I'll close with some of my favorite shots of the wonderful buildings and architecture. I just loved walking through the different neighborhoods seeing the different styles of buildings. I had such a great time!

So - there you have it! Probably WAY more than you ever wanted to know. So we've been home for almost a week and things are back to "normal" . . . one maxed our credit card later . . . and I still wouldn't have changed a thing!

Home Sweet Home

Man, is it good to be home. Today has been a whirlwind of trying to get back in the swing of things . . . back to work . . . back to being a parent . . . back to life as I know it.


I'm not even sure where to begin! Christmas . . . oh yeah it was Christmas wasn't it?!? Geesh, it seems like eons ago . . . Christmas was great! Brian's family came over on Christmas Eve and the house was filled with laughter, screaming kids, good food and some good drinks as well. Kadin was looking forward to cousin MacKenziee coming over all day and when she arrived he definitely wasn't disappointed. Those kids ran themselves ragged - and Kadin finally ended the evening with a full blown temper tantrum because he was completely out of steam . . . poor kid . . . poor parents . . .


We woke up on Christmas morning to Kadin yelling into Bella's room something about how she had to get up right now because he thought Santa had come last night. They both ran into the living room and found their presents from Santa . . . I heard Kadin yell . . .


"Santa ate one of the cookies and bit the head off the gingerbread man!!"

Brian and I just laughed as we sat in bed listening to their excitement. It was great . . . as we rolled out of bed I realized that it felt rather cold in our house . . . a quick check of the thermostat and we found it was a balmy 59 degrees. YIKES!! Come to find out that one of the kids must have flipped the switch to our furnace and shut it off . . . I guess it's a good thing our house is well insulated!


Just as the house was warming up we all got dressed and piled in the car headed to my parents house. We spent the day there relaxing, playing and just enjoying the company of family. It was absolutely perfect. What a great Christmas!!


I'll close this post with our favorite Christmas gifts this year . . .


Bella's favorite gift was a dress up trunk that Grandma and Grandpa H got for her . . . after she opened that trunk she was done. She refused to open any other gifts and trust me at Grandma and Grandpa H's house - there was PLENTY more to open. She tried on every dress in that trunk . . . oh - and there were jewels too!!! She was in princess heaven . . .





I'm not sure what Kadin's favorite gift is . . . for the first time he has actually played with all of the things he's gotten. If I'd have to gauge his favorite by sheer level of excitement I would have to say that it would probably be the V-Motion video game we got him . . . which is basically a little kid version of Wii.


For myself - hands down it's my Sony camcorder . . . thanks Mom & Dad! I'm still not sure how to use it . . . but I can't wait to learn.

I hope you all had a great Christmas!


Oh - and I know you are probably wondering how the trip to New York went . . . I'm hoping to get some pictures up tomorrow . . .

Twas The Eve Before Christmas Eve . . .

And we were busy as ever . . .

Trying to make all the preparations, but oh - we were clever.

The gifts were all wrapped and placed under the tree . . .

To unwrap and surprise members of our family.

The kitchen was alive with snacks being made . . .

Into the wee hours - we would not be dismayed!

The kids were excited, they knew what was to come . . .

Yummy treats the next day maybe candy canes or gum!

Chocolate dipped pretzels, sugar cookies and more . . .

We would bake and would bake until our bodies hit the floor.

The dusting rags flew and the broom it did sweep . . .

We were beginning to wonder if we'd ever get to sleep!

But these moments we cherish as our children grow too fast . . .

We look back and we pray that they forever will last.

Santa Claus will be coming, yes this part is true . . .

May the miracle of Christmas still live inside you!

Merry Christmas!

What Day Is It?

Woah . . . it is becoming apparent that I am lacking time this month . . . time to relax, time to blog, time to get done all that I need/want to. I'm not even sure what day it is - fortunately we have so many Christmas countdown calendars scattered around this house that I can confidently tell you that there are four more days until Christmas . . . which freaks me out more than just a little.

So what have I been up to? So glad you asked . . . ok you probably didn't ask that but I'm going to tell you anyway. Yesterday I attempted to finish my Christmas shopping . . . unsuccessfully I might add. Why are some people just so hard to buy for???? Uggghhh! So, I slid around in the snow trudging from store to store only to wind up 4 days from Christmas and still not done with my shopping. You'd think after many years of doing this to myself I would learn . . . obviously not. I guess there's always next year!

Today the kids and I made cut-out cookies. The last several years my mom and grandma have joined us for this fun project, but because it was like -40 wind chills today . . . the kids and I braved the cookies alone. I swear I don't remember cut-outs last year taking four hours! I am completely pooped after rolling, cutting, frosting, decorating, cleaning and cleaning and cleaning . . . I think this is the first time I've sat down all day. I think Bella ate more sprinkles than she put on the cookies and I hope the family doesn't mind some Kadin saliva smeared all over his cookies . . . I just laughed as I watched him sprinkle, like his fingers, sprinkle, like his fingers. His fingers were so caked with spit and sprinkles . . . o'well . . . maybe I'll only put out the ones I frosted myself. Hee . . . hee . . . hee.

So tomorrow I am back to work for two days and the only thing keeping me sane is that Brian is home so he can hopefully finish all the things I can't seem to.

OH - and did I even mention that in five days I will be boarding a plane for New York City??? Yeah -I figured I didn't . . . probably because I have been all-consumed with Christmas.

I will leave you with a funny Bella story completely unrelated to Christmas, but sure to put a smile on your face and a queasy feeling in your stomach . . . ahem . . .

So - Bella's potty training has been going fabulously! She is pretty much trained and could even possibly go all night with no accidents, but we still diaper her when she sleeps. So, the other day we had breakfast for dinner . . . eggs, bacon, toast, pancakes . . . the works. She tells us that she has to go potty as we're eating. So Brian takes her to the bathroom and when they are finished he comes back with this horrified look on his face . . .

Bella was doing her business in the bathroom. She likes to look into the toilet and watch the pee fall in . . . while she was looking - she noticed that she had a little something stuck to her vagina . . . she looked at it . . . continued to look trying to figure out what it was . . . takes her hand, plucks this little thing and pops it into her mouth. She turns to Brian . . . "Egg!"

I just want to know how a piece of egg even ended up there in the first place!!! I guess we'll never know . . .

Crabby Lady

Yup . . . that's me. I know I should be reveling in the joys of the Christmas season . . . but I'm not . . . at least not today. Today I'm just plain crabby . . . so in the season of crabbiness, I'm going to list all the things that have made me crabby today or just crabby in general . . .

• I woke up this morning not feeling the greatest - I think I might be catching the kids' colds
• I'm not done with my Christmas shopping
• It's too cold
• My co-worker is ALWAYS sick. In the six months I've worked there she's had bronchitis, a lung infection, a sty in her eye, the stomach flu, several colds, and today I had to watch her walk around complaining about a queasy stomach.
• My boss (there's just nothing more to say there . . . )
• Bella went potty on the toilet in our master bath and when I went to flush it - I realized the pipe was frozen
• There's also a mysterious ice patch in the corner of our bedroom on the wall . . .
• Then I found another icy patch in the corner of Kadin's bedroom wall . . .
• Our builder . . . I called him tonight after discovering the above three items . . . he acted like he didn't know about these problems even though we've been after him since LAST WINTER to come and fix them.
• Courtesy calls . . . even though we don't have extra money right now . . . who can say no to children's cancer research???
• My children . . . they constantly bicker and copy each other . . . tonight I wanted to sell them.
• Potlucks . . . how is it fair that some people sign up to bring BBQ's and then others sign up for Cheetos???
• Why are salaried employees expected to work so many more hours? I would rather take a pay cut . . .
• My kids always take off their socks and then leave them all over the house. I know - it's just socks . . . but tonight it really bugged me.
• Kadin can NEVER sit still when I brush his teeth. I truly think it's physically impossible for him to sit still ever . . .
• People who re-gift things with dates. I got a candle from my Secret Santa at work that said "1999 Home Interiors & Gifts" on it. WTF - did she seriously keep this candle for 9 years - just to give it away to someone as a gift??? I burned it the other day . . . it smelled like it was 9 years old . . .
• I ate way too much chocolate today and I haven't worked out for a week
• When I put big things in my washing machine - it won't spin. So things like comforters and rugs come out soaking wet. Brian washed a rug on Saturday morning - we had to hang it over the tub because it was dripping . . .

Ho, ho . . . . oh forget it . . . . bah humbug!

Parent Outreach

Kadin's school has these events they call "parent outreach" events. These are days when they ask the parents to come to school and spend some time with your child doing something fun . . .

Since Brian is in school - he basically will never attend a field trip or parent outreach activity . . . that responsibility lays solely on me. Now don't get me wrong - I enjoy spending time with my son at his school . . . looking at his art projects and usually making one too. HOWEVER it never fails that during these things Kadin will embarrass me somehow in front of all the other children and their parents.

At Kadin's first field trip to the apple orchard he had a fit in the middle of the trees because he wanted to pick more apples and they were only allowed to pick one per child . . . . embarrassing.

So - since then I've tried to lay down ground rules in the car before we get inside. No screaming, no whining and we must follow the same rules we do in school. I always get the nodding of the head and the "yeah I understand mom" as we quickly exit the car and make our way inside.

This activity was decorating sugar cookies and making a craft. When we walked in, the sugar cookies were already on the table . . . and it was all I could do to keep Kadin's little mits off of them as we waited for everyone to arrive. So they finally passed out the frosting and we began our decorating . . . . four cookies for each child . . . Kadin had me frost them and he decorated them with sprinkles galore. He actually did a really great job . . . he took his time and added just the right amount of sprinkles on each cookie.

When it was time to start the craft I was thinking heck - this is going great. Ummm yeah - that was my first mistake I guess. Our craft was to make a paper chain where we had to glue these little strips of paper together and make a chain. I honestly don't know where I went wrong, but this happens to me often. See, being Kadin's mother I see myself in these situations where I know I'm in trouble. He started getting frustrated with the paper and glue . . . then the whining started . . . I kept control long enough to finish the craft and get us out of there!

Looking back I should have left right then, but no . . . I made the costly error of asking my son if he needed to go potty before we left. He said yes, so I told him to show me where the bathrooms were. We headed down the hall to find the bathrooms . . . he then asks me to go in there with him. I told him that Mommy couldn't go in the boys' bathroom so then he headed toward the girls' and says "well, let's go in the girls' then."

I loudly said "NO!" as he was about to head in the doorway. He turns around with this stunned look on his face and I tried to explain to him that he definitely cannot go in the girls' bathroom and that he needed to go in there by himself like he does every day when he's at school. He got this sad look on his face and then proceeded to tell me that he doesn't need to go to the bathroom anymore. So I'm thinking that instead of starting an argument right here in the hall - we'd just leave and I'd take my chances.

I turn to leave and I notice that Kadin is not following me. He has stopped several steps away from the boys' bathroom and is staring at me. So I look at him and ask him if he's decided to go use the bathroom . . . to which he says yes. He begins to walk BACKWARD to the bathroom and ends up walking directly into the hard wall . . . . SMACK . . . . head against hard tile wall.

SCREAMING . . . . . . . SCREAMING . . . . . . SCREAMING . . . . .

Teachers are now emerging from their classrooms to see what has happened to this poor child that is now wailing and flailing in the hallway. Other children are watching in horror at this spectacle . . . and I have no clue what to do. I was horrified . . . if there would have been a trap door I could escape through I would have done it.

There are no words to describe how angry I was with Kadin. Again . . . he had succeeded in embarrassing me in front of all these people . . . truly I never want to take him to another one of these things again.

AND - I feel badly for feeling that way. What kind of mother doesn't want to take her son to school functions??? Why do I let these things embarrass me? I know some mothers would say - "oh, just let people stare - who cares what other people think" . . . and it's not that I necessarily care what other people think, but I just really hate his behavior! The constant whining . . . the contant frustration with everything . . . it just gets so hard to deal with on a daily basis.

So - here's to hoping that there is not another parent activity for awhile . . . or at least until I muster up enough confidence!

Tonight At Dinner . . .

Kadin yelled . . . .


"Who ever has a wiener - raise your hand!!"

I looked around to see Kadin's hand up in the air and so was Bella's . . .

Hmmm . . . .

Well . . . she was eating a hot dog . . .

Kids & Santa

That's the name of the awesome event we attended on Sunday sponsored by the YMCA and the Boys & Girls Club. All you had to do was bring in some non-perishable food for Operation Boot Strap or a toy for Toys-for-Tots and you could get in FREE! What a great way to increase donations for some very worthy causes and provide families with something festive to do on a Sunday afternoon. Brilliant . . .

Here's the kiddos having a great time . . .

I am crazy in love with Kadin's face in this photo!! Here little Bella is sitting on Santa's lap just chatting away about who knows what and then comes my boy - who barely wants to get near Santa, much less sit on his lap - are you kidding me??? He did sit long enough to ask Santa for Pixos and a new marble tower. Oh, and the most important question of all - "What are your favorite kind of cookies?"

Just in case you're interested . . . . . . . . it's frosted sugar cookies with sugar sprinkles.

"Lick Me"

Most of you that know Brian, know that he loves to joke around. One of the things I love most about him is his sense of humor . . . and if you all could have a window into our daily lives you would probably see our family acting goofy and juvenile at some point in our day. It's what makes life with two small children fun . . .

My mother had our kids today so Brian and I decided to start our Christmas shopping. Keep in mind that Brian LOVES to shop - and it's me that usually can't stand the crowds, the lines, the browsing (I absolutely HATE browsing!!!), but today I was ready to tackle those stores head on.

So we end up at Wal-mart . . . no big surprise and we have a cart full of goodies and we go to check out. I'm sure you've all seen this commercial where Wal-mart advertises that they have more checkout lanes open to "make your shopping easier." Yeah - so as we make our way to the front of the store we notice that there really aren't that many lanes open and that Wal-mart obviously practices false advertising.

I do a quick count of the items in our cart and realize that we have only a handful of things so I steer our way over the the express lanes thinking it will be faster. We take our place third in line (not too bad) and then I notice that the cashier is having trouble with something. She can't get this item to scan and then another employee comes over - well Brian and I look at each other and make a bee-line for the next line over thinking that we'll be waiting forever in this line since the cashier doesn't seem to know what she is doing.

So - in line number two we take our place second in line (hey, we're moving up!) and then we quickly realize that cashier number two is having difficulty ringing up a coupon. She tries to enter it . . . . . nope, that doesn't work. She takes the item back out of the bag and tries to ring it up again . . . . . . nope that doesn't work either. By this time Brian is losing what little patience he has left and quickly races over to the "Self-Checkout" lanes.

Let me just give you a quick rundown of our experience with the "Self-Checkout" lanes. THEY NEVER WORK RIGHT!!!!! Every single time I have used one of those stupid things a lady has had to come over and enter some special "you are an idiot and obviously don't know what you are doing" code to allow me to take my things . . . . . so when I see Brian making his way over to the self-checkouts I already know we are in trouble.

At this point I just stand back to watch the show . . . Brian begins to scan each item and everything seems to be working great. He scans our credit card and goes to sign on the little screen with the magic pen. So he signs and then it happens . . . the little red light comes on and here comes the lady with the special "you are an idiot and obviously don't know what you are doing" code so we can be on our way.

If you've ever paid using a credit card you know that on your receipt is printed a copy of your signature. Well Brian is chuckling as he takes the receipt and proceeds to show me that on our receipt is not only a copy of his signature but right below his signature is written "LICK ME". Yes - my thirty year old husband wrote the words "LICK ME" with the little magic pen when he signed his name.

We go to leave the store and the alarms go off as we exit the doors. The employee comes over and says . . . .

"Can I see your receipt please?"

Oh . . . . . sure you can . . . . chuckle, chuckle.

My Very Girly Tomboy

Bella and Brian were playing with her Princess figurines on the floor tonight . . .

Daddy holding the Cinderella doll: Let's go to the ball!

Bella holding Aurora: Ok!

Daddy: Oh, I just love the ball!

Bella: Me too . . . I love ball games!

Can you tell she watches baseball and football with Daddy??

Back To The Grind

Oh how I wish every weekend was a holiday weekend! I had THE BEST time sharing laughs with family and seeing people I haven't seen in awhile. It is crazy to see all the cousins and second cousins getting together . . . there sure are a lot of little kids running around during the holidays . . . and a few skirmishes over toys, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. It's amazing when you can walk into a room full of family and truly feel the love. It was almost hanging in the air like a room spray . . . you could see it, feel it and taste it. I wanted to wrap myself in it like a blanket . . . so great. That's what the holidays are all about!!



So after we stuffed ourselves silly with turkey and pies . . . mmm . . . mmm . . . we headed off to the waterpark for a splashing good time. We had never been to the Kalahari Resort before and I have to say that I was quite impressed with that place. So I won't bore you with every detail - we splashed around in the water, played some games, won some cheap toys and had a great time.










I have no idea why Bella insisted on closing her eyes every time she smiled - I'm guessing that is her new way of smiling now. There were several other pictures of her with that crazy closed-eye grin.





Kadin actually went down a rather big water slide all by himself. That was one thing that I really liked about this place - they had a lot of things for smaller kids to do, yet they weren't so small that they were boring. Kadin LOVED these big water slides and he was so proud of himself for going down them alone.

AND just because I am officially in the Christmas spirit - a couple random pictures from our Christmas parade. Keep in mind it was on one of the coldest nights we've had yet - I think with the wind chill it was -2! (I know - I'm not sure why we went either!)

Brian and Kadin were troopers and watched the entire hour long parade. Bella and I had to sneek into ShopKo until Santa Claus arrived . . . poor Bella was like a little popsicle! She reminded me of the little kid from A Christmas Story . . . all bundled up in her snow pants and snow coat (as Kadin calls it).

So . . . my wonderful holiday weekend is over and it's back to the grind of work, school, meetings and everyday life. Throw an attempt at potty training in the mix (oh yes you read correctly!) and this week has already been very interesting . . . and it's only Tuesday!