Adventures in Toddlerhood

Only 317 shopping days 'til Christmas...

nobody@vox.com(mmk) — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 11:00:28 -0800

The kids found these in the toy box the other day...Emory came running around the corner with antlers on her head, much to my surprise. She definitely knows how to get laughs.

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Always in the last place you look...

nobody@vox.com(mmk) — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 13:05:00 -0800

Getting the kids ready to go outside isn't typically too big a task, but somehow Aidan managed to lose his socks once and then one shoe and one sock in the process this afternoon. We searched high and low for the missing sock and shoe. It was nowhere to be found. This seems to be a running theme with me lately! Finally, I decided to look in the (undecorated) Christmas tree. Sure enough, I found a sock. I called Aidan to the living room. "Were you throwing your socks and shoes into the Christmas tree?"

"No"

"Am I going to find your shoe in there?"

"No."

Without too much effort, I spied a little patch of brown.

I asked him if he thought that was good behavior, throwing his shoes and socks into the tree. He said "no." I let him know that he was right, and I walked back to the family room...laughing to myself. (Serves us right for having an undecorated Christmas tree sitting in our living room for a MONTH!!...are you reading this JNK??)

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A Few More...

nobody@vox.com(mmk) — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 17:42:31 -0800

Christmas 2007 5 copy

Sunglasses copy

CREDITS:
Christmas 2007 5:
Background, Tag, Holly: "Christmas Red" by Meryl Bartho at DigitalScrapbookPlace.com
Alpha and starburst paper: "Be Merry" by RetroDiva (Tracy Collins) at digitalscrapbookingfreebies.com
Strip: "Crisp" by Lynn Grieveson at designerdigitals.com
Template: Racketty Scrappety Template 26 square: http://rackettyscrappety.blogspot.com/

Sunglasses:
All components: Chocoberry Creme by Melanie Ann Designs at digitalfreebies.com
Template: Racketty Scrappety Template 24 square http://rackettyscrappety.blogspot.com/

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Some scrapbooking pages...

nobody@vox.com(mmk) — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 17:40:26 -0800

Christmas 2007 2 copy

Christmas 2007 3 copy

Christmas 2007 4 copy

CREDITS:
all papers and elements: "Be Merry" by RetroDiva (Tracy Collins) at digitalscrapbookingfreebies.com

with the exception of:
striped paper on Christmas 2007 4: "Christmas Red" by Meryl Bartho at digitalscrapbookplace.com

Templates:
Template: Racketty Scrappety Template 28 square http://rackettyscrappety.blogspot.com/
Simply Sarah layered template #s 39 and 40

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A rose by any other name...

nobody@vox.com(mmk) — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 20:00:58 -0800

For some reason, while my Aunt Janet was visiting, Emory insisted on calling her Uncle Jim. Is this because I showed her a picture of my dad and his brothers, Jim and Kevin, the day before Aunt Janet arrived...I doubt it, but who really knows?? She could say "Aunt Janet" whenever we asked her to, but if she was calling Aunt Janet herself...out came "Uncle Jim." We did lots of modeling, and if you asked "Where's Aunt Janet?," she looked right at her. The funniest thing was when we were gradually gathering a group of people under my parents' gigantic kitchen table. (Don't ask...long story...) Aidan, Alanna and Emory would call someone from the family to come find them (because we were hiding under the table.) Emory would run out to call someone from the kitchen at the top of her lungs and she'd crawl back under the table (giving away our position). When she wanted Aunt Janet...she ran with her hands cupped around her mouth and shouted "UNCLE JIM!!!" Everyone just cracked up!

Aunt Janet took it all in stride... the way she saw it was that at least Emory was talking to her and playing with her, which is far more than what occurred at the beach.

I hope my Uncle Jim reads this. :)

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Christmas Festivities

nobody@vox.com(mmk) — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 17:02:18 -0800

It has been a a busy couple of days, but we had lots of fun. Alanna, Aidan and Emory handled all the activities pretty darn well, though we definitely have signs of overtired children today!

We went to lunch at my parents' house on Monday, and the kids did really well...even with the crowd. Alanna wasn't too keen on the idea of a lot of people being there, but when Jason asked if she'd rather stay home, she shrugged and said "It doesn't matter; I just love Nana." And so we went, and they had lots of fun and were not too happy when it was time to go home. They were so excited to find out (after their nap) that we were going to a restaurant for dinner. Aidan gets so pumped about going out to eat, he practically falls to his knees with glee and giggles.

They really loved seeing so many Christmas lights. Emory spent the entire length of each car ride gasping and saying "Daddy...more Christmas lights!" "Mommy!...More Christmas lights!" I am not exaggerating when I say that she said it at least 100 hundred times on the way home from the restaurant. (And that was just one of the drives!)

Christmas morning was very exciting for them. They were patient enough to wait for us to get a few things done in the morning and to talk a little bit about the real reason we celebrate Christmas before jumping into the gifts. They had a blast discovering all their surprises, and Santa picked some real hits! Strangely enough, everyone was very excited about getting "my very own chapstick!!" as a stocking stuffer. Hmmm...nature or nurture? Is it possible to inherit an addiction to lip balm? I thought I was doing better, and I don't even keep it in my pocket all the time anymore. Oh well...there are worse addictions! Emory has the most kissable lips this side of the Mississippi about now. She and Alanna love keeping it in their new little purses.

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They are all enjoying a little cleaning set we got them...particularly the vacuum/dustbuster combo. Alanna has been cleaning the heck out of the floors! Soon, I'll have to upgrade her to the real vacuum! Aidan had a very "Thomas" Christmas, so he's loving his new train tracks and engines and cars. Emory and Alanna each got an engine too, so they can share in the fun. Since Alanna likes singing so much, we found a little CD player with two microphones. She was a little hesitant at first, but once she figured it out, she was singing away...and wouldn't say anything without the microphone. There were several toys that they are really having fun with..and will continue to do so. I don't think I could keep these kids from being spoiled if I tried...there are just too many people working against me on that one!!

Here's a video clip of the kids playing with an obstacle course from Uncle Doug...

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We had a delicious dinner...as usual...Mom sets the bar very high for herself, and she always surpasses her goals. Dinner was fantastic...a perfect end to a special day.

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Frosting Free-for-All

nobody@vox.com(mmk) — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 20:21:10 -0800

This afternoon we headed to the Millers' for a fun-filled afternoon of cookie decorating! Michelle called me earlier in the week and asked if we'd made our cookies for Santa yet. My response (roughly): "Uh...um...did I make cookies before?? I can't remember. I made lots of white trash though!"

(sidenote:google Alton Brown's "White Trash"...it's awesome, but I have to drizzle real chocolate over it...white chocolate doesn't cut it in my book.)

I had no idea what we put out for Santa last year, but I did know we put out carrots for his reindeer. I have great memories of elaborate cookie decorating with Doug and Maureen, so I knew it would be fun. So we crashed in on their cookie decorating festivities this afternoon. It was great, and the kids loved it. We were shocked when Aidan hung in there until the bitter end...frosting every last cookie he could muster. Emory and Alanna lost interest...no, actually, Alanna wanted to go play, and Emory had to be removed from the table for taste-testing every cookie she "frosted" and licking her plastic frosting knife. She probably thought she was in charge of quality assurance...she was just taking one for the team. She was hard at work sneaking bites of every cookie and any bit of frosting she could. But Aidan, he loved it...not so much the spreading frosting part as the "can I taste it" part. I think he thought the red, green, blue and white frosting might all taste different. :) Actually, he was very good and showed quite a bit of self-restraint. They all understood that we would eat the cookies after dinner...not during the decorating process. (Well, everyone but Emory...but hey, she's not even two. Her taste-testing wasn't making the other kiddos too happy though. No fair!)

I was hoping to get some cute pictures, but once we let one 4 year old, three 3 year olds and a 22 month old loose with frosting and knives...and sprinkles..., it became clear that my focus would have to be elsewhere. Oh well!

Here's a video clip of the boys dancing...

We decorated a gingerbread train earlier this week, and I'll post photos when I get a chance. Aidan and Alanna had fun, and Emory wanted all the turns to be her turn. Those of you who know her know that this resulted in a lot of screaming. She really enjoyed dropping her carefully selected candies into the train car, as opposed to actually placing them on the frosting, but that's okay! They had fun! Aidan and Alanna loved picking their little candies and putting them in just the right place. They are very proud of their train!

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Christmas Craziness...it begins

nobody@vox.com(mmk) — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 20:00:37 -0800

Christmas is my favorite time of year. I love having time together with family and all the fun memories we create. This year's festivities have begun with the earlier than usual arrival of Aunt Janet. We had a cheese fondue dinner at our house, courtesy of Mom, to kick things off. Aidan and Alanna now remember who she is, so they talked about how excited they were to see her today. It was wonderful seeing them jump right in and start playing with her the minute she walked in the door. Even Emory was sitting with her reading a book (alone in the playroom, no less) shortly after she arrived.

Tomorrow we will decorate Christmas cookies with our dearest friends, the Millers. We won't even tell Aidan and Alanna about it until we are ready to go, otherwise there will be obsession about cookies and frosting all day! Monday we have lunch at my parents' house with other cherished family friends, followed by dinner at Mamma Mia's. Then on Christmas, we will have breakfast with Jason's parents. We will have dinner at my parents' home, and we will see what the rest of the week holds. Jason isn't sure how many days he will be able to take off next week.

On a funny note...I was in charge of dessert for our get together tonight. I decided I wanted to make brownies with peppermint frosting. Because of the obsession with sweets around here, I thought I would make them while the kids slept, so no one would see them. Then, I decided it would be cute to do little mini brownie cupcakes, pipe some frosting on them, and then let people sprinkle crushed candycanes over them if they wanted to. So I went to get my mini muffin pan...which I'd loaned to my mother-in-law a few weeks ago because I am rarely inspired to make cupcakes if it isn't someone's birthday. No problem, I'll make standard size cupcakes. Unfortunately, a box of Ghirardelli Chocolate Syrup cupcakes (yes, boxed...I don't do much from scratch...sorry to all you dedicated bakers out there!) only makes about 8 cupcakes, and we were expecting 10 people. Jason was sweet enough to offer not to have dessert, but I decided it would be best to make a second batch. Besides, I had no intention of passing up dessert! So he dashed off to the grocery store for another box of brownie mix. Meanwhile, I got ready crush my candycanes...with my rolling pin...which I'd also loaned to my mother-in-law a few weeks ago. Why did I get inspired to do this? I started though, so I had to finish! I was already craving the brownies...it had to be done! So I found a large can of pineapple and whacked away at my candycanes, and really, that probably worked better than the rolling pin would have anyway!

My little task that probably should have taken mere minutes wound up taking a lot longer than I expected, but it was worth it. The brownie cupcakes were rich...but so yummy...and worth the effort. Sadly, Jason made an unnecessary trip to the store...Maureen and Doug weren't able to come, so we would've been okay with just the first batch. But hey, now I've got 8 extra brownie cupcakes waiting for me to share (or not....) Oh, and the kids loved them!

I love that you can get inspired to do something, and if you aren't exactly sure how you want to do it....you can just look it up on the internet. I wasn't sure how much peppermint extract to put in my frosting, so I googled it. I wasn't sure my 6 year old bottle of peppermint extract was really all that good anymore...so I googled the shelf life of extracts. So much information, right at your fingertips! You can do anything!

Now if someone could just tell me how to use Photoshop CS2 to do digital scrapbooking, I'd be in business!

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Christmas already???

nobody@vox.com(mmk) — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 21:03:45 -0800

On Friday night, a nearby shopping center kicked off Christmas...can you believe it? It just seemed wrong to be listening to Christmas carols and awaiting Santa on November 9, for goodness' sake! On the other hand, it looked like something the kids would enjoy, so I took Aidan and Alanna out for some festivities. They were giving out gigantic cookies to the kids, as well as antlers...we adults just got coffee or cider...all courtesy of Caribou Coffee. Need I say that Aidan was in heaven? He and Alanna waited patiently until they finished their dinner to partake in the gloriousness of the huge, M&M cookie. By the time he finally finished his dinner, he said "My hands are FREEZING!," which is the first time I've heard him use the word "freezing," so they really must've been ice cold. When I offered to put on his mittens for a few minutes before he ate the cookie, he emphatically shook his head and said "NO!" He spent the next 30 minutes cherishing every bite...icy hands and all. He wouldn't even put it down to wave at Santa. They really watched and took everything in, but they didn't want to join in much of the activities (rides on Peppermint the (very smelly) Pony, photo ops with a "Reindeer," and wearing antlers took a little while, but Alanna came around. She even wanted to wear them to the mall today. Anyhow, they enjoyed seeing Santa and waving at him, and I think they were happy not to get too close. Alanna claims she wants to sit on his lap this year, but we'll see what she says when the time actually comes. We'll wait to sit on his lap when Emory and Jason can join us. All in all, it was an evening well spent.

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