Playing ghost with Nana and Bob
Clapping along to Baby Cakes ("Clap clap clap!")
Tackling Bob
Snuggling/ trying to dissuade Miranda from eating markers
Friday, October 30, 2015
Nana Visits- October 2015
Nana and Bob came to visit last weekend. Nana brought little matching owls for the kids, Bob helped us fix the shed window, we ate Grandma's meatballs, and we started the first fire in our fireplace!
James was particularly excited about the fire because he collected sticks for the fire and ripped up newspaper for it. He got to stay up late while Miranda missed the event.
Wednesday, October 28, 2015
Miranda in Mommy N' Me - Fall 2015
We started a few weeks after James started school. There were only three moms and three kids for the first class and I was worried that I signed up for 8 classes of extremely awkward mom-dance while the kids basically ignored us. But the second week, a mom and grandma joined and our group of 5+5 felt about right. Also the second week, the kids got more into it since now they sort of new the place and faces.
One thing that's funny, is that even though class is only 1-hour long there is a snack time towards the end of the class. By week 2, the kids could appreciate that snacktime takes place at the table so they led a coup and sat down for goldfish before it was time. Their collective bargaining strategy worked and they got their snack early.
Then I had to miss the third class because I was on my bronchitis deathbed. When I came back for the fourth class, only the girls showed up, so Olivia, Cora, and Miranda busted out the fairy wings. One of the moms never came back. So we're back to the teacher, 4 other adults, and 4 kids.
They also do artwork at Mommy and me! No, not really, they're under 2 years old. The moms do artwork and maybe the kids kind of smudge it or ruin it or something. Miranda and I worked on these together.
Second week- Bubble time!
Meeee!
It's like a rave in here!
Rushes mommy.
Victory tastes sweet and salty.
Then I had to miss the third class because I was on my bronchitis deathbed. When I came back for the fourth class, only the girls showed up, so Olivia, Cora, and Miranda busted out the fairy wings. One of the moms never came back. So we're back to the teacher, 4 other adults, and 4 kids.
Fairy wings!, October 13
Better view.
Our hats for the dinosaur stomp song, fifth class
I call this one "Bloody Tree"
This one is "Bloody Foot"
Baby-smudged hand-ghost
Tuesday, October 27, 2015
Sibling Rivalry- 4.5 and 1.5 Years Old 2015
9/4
J: Maybe you don't need two babies.
E: No? How many do I need?
J: 1.
E: Just keep one of you?
J: Yeah, you keep me, and not Miranda because she's a bad baby.
E: Oh so I keep you, and we send Miranda away, and we never see her again?
J: Yeah.
E: Aw, but I would miss her so much!
J: Yeah. Bye Miranda!
E laughs
J: I'm not kidding. I'm serious.
9/5
J: I'm sorry, Miranda. I'm sorry about this, but you have to leave.
9/8
Miranda playing with iPad at library. James approaches.
M: Go back!
She speaks!
On drive back from library, Miranda drops her water in the car.
J: You blew it, Miranda! Sorry but you blew it.
9/21:
J: Miranda thinks she's reading a story.
E: I eat the baby. Yum-yum-yum-yum.
J: And she ate the baby!
E: Once upon a time, there was a very tired mama. And the baby kept asking for stuff. So she ate the baby! The end!
J: Once upon a time, there was a very tired mama. So she ate the baby! The end!
E: (Again.) Once upon a time, there was a very tired mama! And the baby kept asking for stuff. So she ate the baby! The end! Chomp, chomp, chomp, chomp. (Pretending to eat Miranda up.)
J: What a beautiful story. I'm going to put it on my bookshelf, and we'll read it tomorrow.
10/11:
J: Miranda made me do it.
10/13:
J: For she's a very bad baby, for she's a very bad baby, for she's a very bad baby, that nobody can deny!
J: Maybe you don't need two babies.
E: No? How many do I need?
J: 1.
E: Just keep one of you?
J: Yeah, you keep me, and not Miranda because she's a bad baby.
E: Oh so I keep you, and we send Miranda away, and we never see her again?
J: Yeah.
E: Aw, but I would miss her so much!
J: Yeah. Bye Miranda!
E laughs
J: I'm not kidding. I'm serious.
Fun with hats!
9/5
J: I'm sorry, Miranda. I'm sorry about this, but you have to leave.
Racing! Except not at all because Miranda wouldn't move.
9/8
Miranda playing with iPad at library. James approaches.
M: Go back!
She speaks!
Brushing their teeth together.
On drive back from library, Miranda drops her water in the car.
J: You blew it, Miranda! Sorry but you blew it.
9/21:
J: Miranda thinks she's reading a story.
E: I eat the baby. Yum-yum-yum-yum.
J: And she ate the baby!
E: Once upon a time, there was a very tired mama. And the baby kept asking for stuff. So she ate the baby! The end!
J: Once upon a time, there was a very tired mama. So she ate the baby! The end!
E: (Again.) Once upon a time, there was a very tired mama! And the baby kept asking for stuff. So she ate the baby! The end! Chomp, chomp, chomp, chomp. (Pretending to eat Miranda up.)
J: What a beautiful story. I'm going to put it on my bookshelf, and we'll read it tomorrow.
10/11:
J: Miranda made me do it.
10/13:
J: For she's a very bad baby, for she's a very bad baby, for she's a very bad baby, that nobody can deny!
Sock puppets!
Monday, October 26, 2015
Miranda is 1.5 Years Old 2015
I can't believe Miranda is a year-and-half old! She's such a big bossy girl! This is not sexist. I call James bossy when he's bossy. But Miranda seriously directs the traffic here and James follows her instruction instead of the other way around.
She's 31.75 inches tall, and 25.5 pounds. She's says the following words with some regularity: Dada, James, milk, no, yes, stuck, up (to be picked up), go!, book, ball.... Mama (infrequently). She will repeat a lot more words than that. (I've heard her repeat the words shoes, jump, and many others.)
She doesn't like being left out of anything no matter what. For example, she really wants to play soccer. She thinks it's a bunch of bs that she goes every Saturday to see James play with a bunch of other kids and she can't join in.
She spends a large chunk of everyday pretending to read books. Usually children's book, but she has been known to flip through books stolen from our bookshelves. Or just pull off a bunch of them and put them on the floor.
She puts a blanket on her head and pretends to be a ghost. I watch while trying to prevent her from crashing into the fireplace.
She's trying to jump, or possibly just give me a heart attack. Because she can't get into the air from the floor, she has resorted to jumping off furniture.
She still wants to be held almost constantly. She will snuggle me, kiss me, then suddenly bite my face. When she sees that it hurt me she laughs.
She's 31.75 inches tall, and 25.5 pounds. She's says the following words with some regularity: Dada, James, milk, no, yes, stuck, up (to be picked up), go!, book, ball.... Mama (infrequently). She will repeat a lot more words than that. (I've heard her repeat the words shoes, jump, and many others.)
Miranda and James at the Drive-In
She doesn't like being left out of anything no matter what. For example, she really wants to play soccer. She thinks it's a bunch of bs that she goes every Saturday to see James play with a bunch of other kids and she can't join in.
She loves coloring but she eats the markers. I found that the crayons are safer.
We gave her corn but she said, NO she needed the whole cob.
She spends a large chunk of everyday pretending to read books. Usually children's book, but she has been known to flip through books stolen from our bookshelves. Or just pull off a bunch of them and put them on the floor.
She puts a blanket on her head and pretends to be a ghost. I watch while trying to prevent her from crashing into the fireplace.
She's trying to jump, or possibly just give me a heart attack. Because she can't get into the air from the floor, she has resorted to jumping off furniture.
She can stack blocks! (Not sure when this skill developed, since I only gave her blocks recently.)
Wearing my shoes well.
I'm gonna drive my car yeah... and the wheel turns fast, and the lights go flash.
She still wants to be held almost constantly. She will snuggle me, kiss me, then suddenly bite my face. When she sees that it hurt me she laughs.
Snuggle bunny.
Enjoying the music the elephant plays.
Brother-sister fun.
She makes this face ALL THE TIME.
Miranda has also been in Mommy n' Me Classes since September! Post on that soon.
Sunday, October 25, 2015
KonMari Progress- Forward and Back 2015
I blogged a whole bunch of times about KonMari in the previous months. My motivation kind of took a nose dive when we moved in the middle of my process (at about 4 and half months). For a month I had to focus on packing and unpacking instead of Konmaring. But moving was itself interesting in the middle of the process. When confronted with having to move the object to a new house there was a point in favor of discarding the item rather than the usual default of wanting to keep it. I also handled everything we own twice because I packed and unpacked almost everything.
Some additional things have found their way into the house in the meanwhile, though we try to control that, but the new house had some new needs. Then once I lost the momentum of having a regular time to work on it each week, it's been hard to get back in.
Also, when I saw the huge positive effect Konmari was having in my life and in my way of thinking, I decide to find and apply similar processes to other problems in my life. So I discovered Dave Ramsey, and it's totally changed how I view and handle finances in my life-- for the better. Much better!
Next I decided that the weight I was dragging around wasn't sparking joy (duh) and there had to be a more motivational way of getting rid of it. So I discovered Alternate Day Fasting, which is supposed to make it easier to lose weight, and more importantly, reduce your chance of getting cancer or weight-related illnesses like diabbetes. The diet costs nothing (actually saves you money) and I've lost 17 pounds since the end of June. (I started on 5:2, but now I do 4:3 or 5:2 depending on how well the week is going.) But my focus on these new projects distracted me from Konmari. It's difficult right now to keep myself from moving on to even more projects before having finished this one.
This is a chart of my weight (and averages) since November 2008, and the correlation with some big projects I took on. Almost back to a healthy weight now. (First time since 2007 which isn't even on this chart.)
So now it's been a bit over 7 months since I started, and I still plan on finishing my Konmari "festival" by the end of this year. It will be amazing to know I am surrounded by what I love. But no matter what, Konmari has already changed my life a lot (just like Marie promised) and changed how I approach and surpass challenges.
I found this video by a blogger I already knew and like, Laura of HowToGYST.com, and yes, totally agree with almost everything she says, except the less shopping is a huge plus for me, not a con.
Unpacked new smaller house- Love all the free space with less stuff!
But then, I thought I was in sentimental items, and when we got to the new place I realized I had totally blown the Komono step. This is what Marie Kondo calls the step where you do all the "miscellaneous" items that just aren't clothing, books, papers, or sentimental items. Well, that's the biggest category and I really didn't push myself very hard on it. So a lot of my unpacking time was been trying to deal with all these items that don't necessarily fit into my life now. For example all of our CDs... really torn about whether to keep them when I rarely play music off them. I don't know why I had less trouble discarding clothing and books which I care a lot more about, than I'm having getting rid of CDs, but there it is. Also, the solution to convert our VHS home movies into DVDs will take time and money, etc. So I'm back to dealing with all that.Some additional things have found their way into the house in the meanwhile, though we try to control that, but the new house had some new needs. Then once I lost the momentum of having a regular time to work on it each week, it's been hard to get back in.
Also, when I saw the huge positive effect Konmari was having in my life and in my way of thinking, I decide to find and apply similar processes to other problems in my life. So I discovered Dave Ramsey, and it's totally changed how I view and handle finances in my life-- for the better. Much better!
Next I decided that the weight I was dragging around wasn't sparking joy (duh) and there had to be a more motivational way of getting rid of it. So I discovered Alternate Day Fasting, which is supposed to make it easier to lose weight, and more importantly, reduce your chance of getting cancer or weight-related illnesses like diabbetes. The diet costs nothing (actually saves you money) and I've lost 17 pounds since the end of June. (I started on 5:2, but now I do 4:3 or 5:2 depending on how well the week is going.) But my focus on these new projects distracted me from Konmari. It's difficult right now to keep myself from moving on to even more projects before having finished this one.
This is a chart of my weight (and averages) since November 2008, and the correlation with some big projects I took on. Almost back to a healthy weight now. (First time since 2007 which isn't even on this chart.)
Seven-Year Weight Chart (11/2008-10/2015)
So now it's been a bit over 7 months since I started, and I still plan on finishing my Konmari "festival" by the end of this year. It will be amazing to know I am surrounded by what I love. But no matter what, Konmari has already changed my life a lot (just like Marie promised) and changed how I approach and surpass challenges.
I found this video by a blogger I already knew and like, Laura of HowToGYST.com, and yes, totally agree with almost everything she says, except the less shopping is a huge plus for me, not a con.
Tuesday, October 20, 2015
Baby Ezra 2015!
Roger and Lina had their second son Ezra this month! I was wondering if lightening would strike twice and they would have another red-headed child, but this time the baby shares their hair color. He's just as adorable as his older brother though. Congratulations! I can't wait to meet the newest addition. Hopefully my kids will learn enough Spanish to have secret talks with Caleb and Ezra. Congratulations, Roger, Lina, and big brother Caleb!
Baby Ezra is perfect.
Brothers meeting
Monday, October 19, 2015
Bronchitis- October 2015
James was sick for the last two weeks of September and all the rest of us thought we were safe, but then October 1, I started getting fevers. October 2, Miranda got a scary rash and fevers. While Miranda was only sick for about 5 days, and pretty much only needed a little Benedryl for the rash, I was slammed hard. I had fevers for over a week, the doctor put me on antibiotics, and I took so many other cold drugs that we have a small pharmacy here now. And this right after having cleaned out our expired medicines in the move. Coughing, coughing, so much coughing. I'm functional as of the last few days but I'm still not totally better.
One day supply of virus stuff.
One day supply of virus stuff.
Sadly, our friends Cory, Robin, Lukas, Sarah. and Lio were going to visit last weekend and we had to cancel so that we wouldn't ruin their lives. Seriously, we've been dealing with this virus for over a month! Even Grandma got sick. Go away virus!
Saturday, October 17, 2015
September Art Gallery 2015
Since James started PreK and Miranda and I started Mommy n' Me, we've been inudated with kiddie art. Now you will be too! Curated for your enjoyment!
James and I had this homework for the first day
He made this hat on the firt day
And he brought this heavily-teacher-assisted-art home
Aw, yay! He's friends with the other boy in class Dillon.
Miranda's "Bloody Apple Tree"
James's kite!
Miranda's "Foot on Foot"
Friday, October 16, 2015
Grandma Visits- September 2015
Back in September, Grandma Kathy came to visit for 5 days during the week. The kids adore her so they were so happy even though it rained a lot while she was here and they couldn't go out much.
James was particularly excited about helping Grandma cook meatballs ("I got to stick my hands in it!") and bake apple crisp.
Unfortunately for Grandma, at the end of the week Miranda and I caught James's virus. At that point, James had already been sick/recovering for two weeks so we thought we were safe. Miranda and I both got feverish and Miranda got a really scary rash. Luckily for us Grandma was here to take us to the pediatrician to get Miranda checked out.
Grandma also wanted to stay for a soccer game and got rained out. So sorry the weather and our health didn't cooperate for your visit Grandma, but as always your visit was much enjoyed by the all of us, and a lot of help to me and Kevin. We love you. See you soon!
Lunch time with Grandma
James using Grandma's light up glasses
Miranda chilling with Grandma
Bedtime stories
James was particularly excited about helping Grandma cook meatballs ("I got to stick my hands in it!") and bake apple crisp.
Pouring the apples
Mixing the sugar and cinnamon
Adding it to the apples
Miranda thinks it needs more cinnamon
Miranda is trying to help.
Good night kisses!
Unfortunately for Grandma, at the end of the week Miranda and I caught James's virus. At that point, James had already been sick/recovering for two weeks so we thought we were safe. Miranda and I both got feverish and Miranda got a really scary rash. Luckily for us Grandma was here to take us to the pediatrician to get Miranda checked out.
Waiting at the doctor
Trying to escape the doctor's office (Kevin met us and intercepted her)
Post-doctor sticker picture
Grandma also wanted to stay for a soccer game and got rained out. So sorry the weather and our health didn't cooperate for your visit Grandma, but as always your visit was much enjoyed by the all of us, and a lot of help to me and Kevin. We love you. See you soon!
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