*Sigh*

I'm just getting on BlogSpot for the first time in, hmmmm... how long has it been? Well, I'll blog again, someday.

Maybe today.... but only for a second.

It snowed the second snow of the season today and unlike the first snow (Dec 1st) we actually got enough to shovel. I bundled up the little girls to go and get the big kids. While they played, errr cried in the snow I shoveled enough to make a path and get out. My neighbor was out shoveling too. We love our neighbors. They are an older retired couple whose children are our age... with kids our children's age too. When I got back from picking up the kids she had shoveled our sidewalk and the lower half of the drive way I had yet to complete. See, this is why we love our neighbors and our neighborhood.

That's all. Oh, well, the girls are trying to potty train themselves and they are doing a pretty good job at it, when they make it into the potty. They run around diaperless most of the time (despite my best efforts to put a diaper on them - they just take it right off along with their pants). Madelyn has gone in the potty at least 2 times and Caitlyn twice.

We put up our tree up last night... it's going to be a VERY LONG 20 DAYS until Christmas. As of today the tree has already been knocked over and we've suffered 3 ornament fatalities.

Reflections

Homemade pickles

The Garden

Jackson taking his first swing on a big boy swing (CSA summer gathering at the Farm)

As summer slowly comes to an end there are so many things that come to mind.

We have had a love affair with the garden this year. It's amazing how much we have produced, given away, stored and eaten. It also amazes me how much our children love it and will eat anything that comes from it... even the beets! Speaking of beets, I roasted some for dinner guests on Sunday and they were delicious, who knew! I think I'll grow more next year.

Time flys! The girls have gotten big and even more amazing is that the summer is gone! Abygail is in school and while we still go to playgroup the summer free days are gone and we didn't even take advantage of them. It's this time of year that I look back on those days of missed opportunities with remorse and a renewed sense of determination. My mantra? I will leave my house and show my children the world. Shall we see how long that lasts?

On the theme of worlds, we got to play in a fun play world on Labor Day at the Children's Museum of Play. This place is great. Jason went with us and it was his first time going. He loved it just as much as the kids. We went in the butterfly garden which was amazing. It's reported that Jackson had more than one butterflies land on his body/head, wish I had seen that. No worries, we were there with lots of friends so while I did not personally get to see it at least I can blog about it!

While we are talking about blogs, I've been horrible these last 7 or more months haven't I!!!???

Well, Let's move on to more pleasant topics, shall we? This past 30 days has been full of events and fun. On the 16th of last month we celebrated our 6th anniversary. I'm not sure that you could say we 'celebrated' it as we told no one and did nothing. We actually had dinner at some friends house and just enjoyed their company, nothing special but we liked it.

Last week was Jason's 36th birthday (shhh, don't tell him I told you)! We had a Mexican Fiesta with chicken enchiladas, rice, beans (a cold bean salad which was more like a salsa or relish but hey, it was beans), chips, cheese, guacamole and it was all washed down with a raspberry sparkling concoction made table side. Finally came the bonfire and dessert portion of the evening where we put 1 full box of candles (because they come in packs of 36) on a chocolate raspberry cake. It was bright, it was hot, it was a flaming cake!!! Just kidding, wink, wink. Too bad I forgot the ice cream in the freezer, it too was raspberry.

Just over the weekend we went to an ice cream party, a baby shower (well, not "we", just "I"), a girls afternoon (again, just "I"), entertained guests for dinner, played at the museum and park and finished the day off with a yummy dinner with friends again. We like our friends here, can you tell?

Have I mentioned that Abygail started preschool this week? I have? Are you sure??? Well, in case you missed it, she did. She loves it, but that's for another post.

Back to the the end of summer theme, we are excited for this fall season. We can't wait to get to the pumpkin patch, out to Letchworth, go on a few hikes, get the fire pit going and enjoy the weather and colors that await us. Here's to a great summer past and a wonderful fall to come!

What's going on?

Our life around here is falling into a routine. Last week we had our first outing to the Zoo. Abygail and Jackson did so well at listening and obeying while we were there and they didn't argue very much at all when I said it was time to go. That was a big relief, I hope this continues because it means we can get out more. We didn't stay long...I forgot the formula for the girlies so we had to come home early. I even had it ready but it didn't quite make it to the bag :( .

We've also gone on 3 walks just me and the 4 kiddie-kins. It's funny seeing a baby and two kids in our double stroller and me pushing it along with another baby in the front carrier. People always give me looks of amazement or sympathy LOL.

I feel like I have so many things I'm excited about right now but I need to slow down and pace myself. I've been working on the 'other' blog again and I hope I can stay up with that because I really think it's a usefull resource for myself and others in the area. I've also been winning a LOT of stuff lately. In the past month I've won:
4 Sun-chaser Kits with sunscreen and other things worth $20
1 pair of Bolle Sunglasses worth $109
$100 check from Hershey's
3 $20 visa cards from Coke
1 $25 Amex card and a reusable shopping bag from a blog giveaway
4 $4 coupons for Pace salsa
A month supply of Dole Fruit Gels
2 coupons for a chocolate candy bars
$50 gift cert. for food and flowers from 1800 flowers
2 Rascal Flatts song downloads
$10 from Century 21

I know Right!!! Yes, I've been staying up past my bedtime for all this. The Visa, Amex, checks and cash cards are very usefull and so are the food coupons and winnings. Sunglasses are always nice and so is sunscreen. So that's another thing I am spending time on.

Another thing is couponing. Last week I was able to get 40+ packages of diapers for not just cheap but FREE. How? I had built up store credit from other FREE deals that didn't cost me a penny but gave me store credit (I used a coupon to get it free, no tax even. Then they gave me store credit just for 'buying' it). Yet another thing I'm spending time on.

Book club is coming round again and luckily this time I've already read the book. My sisters have gotten me onto Facebook which in reality is NOT a good thing for a mom that already has too much on her plate but it's nice to keep in touch with them and so that's something else I'm spending time on.

My kids are getting so big and developing so fast...I'm glad I'm able to stay home with them.


So what am I NOT spending time on? Cleaning my house! O, I'm so ashamed ... I should get to that RIGHT NOW!

Jumping on the Love Train/Chain

A few of my friends have jumped on the love train/chain, and I've decided to do it as well. Here's how it works:

They made a post about giving service, kindness and love to others and the first five commenters to that post would receive a homemade goodness from her.....but.... in return they have to offer the same incentive on their own blog. And so on and so forth....

Well, somehow I was lucky enough to be one of Rozannah's first five, but missed the cut off for Diana's. So...now it is my turn to put a few chinks in the chain. My only stipulation is that you won't receive your awesome homemade something until you have posted your Love Chain/Train message, and further more I have until 2010 to deliver it to you! (Hey, I'm busy!)

DISCLAIMER: I'm not crafty so I reserve the right to do an act of service, make something edible or do something crafty with the understanding from you that it might not be perfect or even good/edible/usable - but it will be done with my two hands and with love!

*Yes, I copied Rozannah's post and put it here with a few modifications.
Why is that song "On The Chain Gang" now in my head?

SHAMELESS/Another Fabulous Diaper Deal

NO, I'M NOT CHANGING OUR BLOG TO A DEAL BLOG, BUT I DO LIKE PASSING ON FABULOUS FINDS!

I know this has already been sent around here in Buffalo but I wanted to send it around again, and make sure it gets to anyone that hasn't already seen it! If you haven't already done this...DO IT! I've changed a few things...I changed the $10 off code to my referral code which gives me $5.00 for each of you that make a purchase and then $1.00 each time you make an additional purchase AND I've added the website where you can send your receipt in and get an additional $0.75 refund for each package of Huggies diapers you buy (this refund is good where ever you buy your diapers - not just diapers.com)!

If you don't buy diapers but you know someone who does, PLEASE send this on!

Diaper deal!

Okay, for all of you ladies out there using diapers, I found a pretty good deal online for you, especially if you are into Luvs, Huggies, or Pampers. If you have never used Diapers.com, then this is the deal for you. Here are a couple of scenarios:
One example of the great deals:
Huggies Snug and Dry Diapers Extra Large Case, Size 4, 150 diapers $38.99
Huggies Snug and Dry Diaper - Jumbo Pack, Size 4, 34 diapers $10.99
= $49.98
- $10 off $49 code (type the code SRVY7855) (this is my referral code so that you and I both get $ off!)
+ Free Shipping
= $39.98 shipped
- $14.97 refund for Parenting Magazine
= $25.01 after rebate divided by 184 diapers ~ $.14 per diaper


Anyway, I just thought you might be interested. I actually ordered the size 1 and I'm getting 284 diapers for that price which makes them $0.09 a diaper! And, you don't have to rush the crowds at your favorite diaper purchasing place!
Just so you know, any name-brand diaper that you can get around .15 cents a diaper is a killer deal, and of course, the smaller the size, the better the deal! Oh yeah, and you get them in 2 business days! It's a one-time deal, here's the link to the mail-in-rebate: http://www.diapers.com/helpcenter/parenting.htm . So, you will front around 38.00-42.00 at first, but then send in the rebate and in 6-8 weeks you'll be reimbursed 14.97.

Additionally you can get $0.75 rebate on each package of diapers you buy through this website:

http://caregiversmarketplace.com/FrameSetup.asp

Forward this to all your friends that purchase diapers too. Make sure and change the $10 off code to your referral code - or if you don't need the $ than leave mine there!

(yes, i sent out an email too...just want to make sure you get the info. thanks to Natalie and Kandis for making sure I was aware of this deal in the first place!)

AMAZING DIAPER DEAL

If you use diapers - especially if you use them like I do - than you will appreciate this information.

First go here and print off the Huggies coupons for $5.00 and $3.00 off 1 sized package of diapers. Then go in to Walgreens and

Scenario 1: buy 3 packages to get $10.00 in store dollars to spend during your next store visit. Then go to this website and fill out the cash back form for $0.75 back for each package of diapers bought. Total spent on 3 packages of diapers (if you have 3 $5 coupons like I do) is $2.75. This amount includes the $10 to spend during your next Walgreens visit (you do have to get their special Register Rewards card for this to work).

Additional websites with this information: http://www.frugalinvirginia.com/2009/03/hot-walgreens-diaper-deal.html

Or Scenario 2: http://www.frugalcouponmom.com/2009/03/5-huggies-coupon-moneymaker.html

If you don't have any need to buy diapers, but would like to print these coupons and send them to me (because I've reached the limit and it won't let me print any more:)...I'd love you forever and like you for always!

No Time To Blog

(pictures soon to come, when i get another free moment and I change the batteries on the camera, we are sadly devoid of pictures from aunt melissa's visit!)

Well, it's been 6 weeks! Yup, the girls are 6 weeks old, yesterday was their due date! I can't believe how much things have changed but also how much it seems like this has always been our family.

Our last round of visitors (really helpers) left on Thursday and they have been sorely missed. I still have to keep up with everything though, why? Because when you have 2 that you are bottle feeding 6 bottles doesn't last very long at all! Also, during the round of helpers our washer died, yup, died - never to be resurrected. We got an estimate on repair and it was $1,200.00. I told the nice man, thanks but no thanks! So that evening Jason and I went and purchased a new set of machines...we got the large capacity - because we are now considered a large family, and you can't just get a large capacity washer and then split it up into 3 loads for the dryer...so we got the dryer to go with it. It's my favorite toy now. It does my laundry in 1/3 of the time and 3xs the amount at once and it saves money on electricity and water and to top it all off, it sings to me. Yup, it sings a happy clothes washing song to me that makes me happy to go down and take care of the mountain of laundry! It's a great mood lifter, I highly recommend it to anyone who is in need of a mood boost ;)

So, I was checking out the girls yesterday and couldn't believe how big they've gotten. At their 3 week Dr visit (3 weeks ago) Caitlyn was 5 lbs 2 oz and Madelyn was 6lbs 2 oz. Sometimes we look at Cait now and think, "wait - who am I holding?" because she's got cheeks now. Madelyn we can still difinetively peg but Caitlyn gives us cause for pause sometimes. Madelyn is still a screamer but it's not so urgent or highpiched...or maybe I'm just used to it now. Madelyn is also a poop machine the last several days! They both take 2ozs or more at each feeding, closer to 3 ozs now but occasionally they chug 4 ozs (Madelyn more than Caitlyn). They wake up at 1am and 5am which is nice for catching some zzzzzs.

Speaking of Zs, Jackson has once again started sleeping all the way through the night! Ya! One down, three to go :)

You Gotta See This

This is the best laugh I've had in awhile.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83JDXXKzOXg

speaking as a Texan - she's right, one icicle shuts the whole city down :)

Side Notes

Here are some side notes, additional comments, on our trip to the pumpkin farm. (Thanks Erika for taking the pictures!)

Doesn't my little girl look all grown up!?

Abygail was checking this turkey out and got a little too close...then it pecked her!

Jackson REALLY enjoyed his sister's ice cream.

Jackson playing peek-a-boo (his favorite game) in the pumpkin pyramid.

Our family (wish I had taken my glasses off and maybe even done something with my hair!)

Two super cute kids playing in the pumpkin pyramid! Don't ya just want to pinch their cheeks?

Nap-tastrophy

Another milestone this week...we've started a new nap routine, or rather, I have. It started on Wednesday so we've only tried it out for 3 days so far but, I have my fingers crossed and am hoping and praying that this will work, otherwise Jason is going to have to ship me off to the loony bin.

Here's the old routine: Jackson slept in his pack-n-play which is the only thing set up in the nursery, while I put him down (which only takes 2 seconds because he's the best sleeper in the world) I let Abygail watch one episode of Little Bear. Then it's time for her to lay down on the couch and either take a nap or quietly read books and play with other quiet toys. This has not really been working because I have to stay in there the whole time and do the same as her (read or nap). In the past month I think she's only taken a dozen naps which only gives me a dozen days of sanity. Something had to be done and done now before the twins come.

So here's the new routine and the solution: Jackson now takes a nap in his crib with is in our room, in his room there is a small fan that we run for quiet noise...in our room there is an AC which I just put on fan only and run it for quiet noise. I then put Abygail (at almost the same time) in the nursery in the pack-n-play or on the floor with pillow and blanket (whichever she wants because she can climb out of the pack-n-play anyway) and leave the room (after the snuggles and nap kisses of course).

Day 1: She cried for 45 mins, then started saying ow, ow, ow, so I feared that she had stuck her finger in the socket and electrocuted herself (there seriously is nothing else up there and they love unplugging the fan). I checked on her to find her perfectly ok except for a poopy diaper. I changed her and told her it was still nap time, put her back upstairs and left. She cried for 20 mins and then fell asleep. What did I accomplish during this time - SOOOO MUCH!!! I got the living room cleaned and vacuumed, ate my lunch in peace and rested. It was a very good sanity day.

Day 2: She cried for an hour and a half, kept Jackson awake almost the whole time and then woke him up shortly after he finally fell asleep (I forgot to turn the 'fan' on for him this day - won't forget again!). Finally after an hour and a half I was DONE listening to both of them screaming and figured it was good enough.

Day 3: Same routine, she cried for about an hour and then feel asleep. Jackson woke up shortly after and I brought him downstairs waiting for Abygail to wake up. By 4:30 I went up to wake her up only to be confronted with the WORST, NASTIEST MESS I'VE EVER SEEN OR SMELLED IN MY LIFE!!! Apparently she had gone poop again, only this time she had taken her clothes off, her diaper off and I don't know...maybe danced in it!!! She was covered in poop and so was the floor and her discarded clothes. (I didn't get a picture - I don't think one wants to see or remember that). It dry too, dried on her hands, feet, legs, floor, clothes YUCK YUCK YUCK!!! I had left her in the room just to sleep on the floor and when I opened the door she was in the pack-n-play...I think she wanted to escape the poop and find a clean/poop free place to sleep. When I cleaned it up I just threw her in the shower (that stuff was so caked and dried on I couldn't get it off any other way) and I wound up throwing the clothes away - they were stained anyway and who want's to wear poop stains even if they don't smell on the outside of your clothes!!!

No matter, I will deal with poop, I will listen to screaming and crying, I will handle the police when my neighbor finally calls them because I'm sure they can hear my child screaming and think she is being abused. I will survive this until she sleeps, there's no turning back - it will work, it must work, I will it to work!!! And in the end we will all be the happier for it and I will lavish in my 'alone' time, and enjoy the few months left before we start training two new little ones about sleeping.

Heart Broken

I found this gorgeous piece of art here. I think it's beautiful and all the other work this artist does is fabulous too. I love the colors, the flow and the textures that I'm sure are there because of how she creates her art. Actually she creates it in a different way than I've ever heard/read about before. The title of this piece is Mariposa, which in Spanish means butterfly. Isn't that true, a pregnant woman is like a butterfly, changing and growing? Also the life she carries within...cocooned waiting for 'it's' turn to spread their wings. This piece really touched my heart when I saw it. Actually, it makes me cry when I look at it, that's how much it speaks to me at this moment in my life.

OK, enough of the sappy stuff and the soul bearing.

So ... we will not be finding out the gender of our twins this Monday as expected. I'm heart broken over it. Turns out that with good things, bad things happen too. This semester Jason's adviser took him off of the TA (teacher's assistant) payroll and put him on the GA (graduate assistant or research assistant) payroll. While this is GREAT move for him, in that he now can focus on his research and get done a little faster...it came with a down side. Our insurance changed...and my beloved, wonderful, amazing doctor does not accept the new insurance and is not willing to change that.

So, once again, I'm forced to switch doctors in the middle of a pregnancy - at least this time it's not at 7 months and on a horrible note! Seriously though, I've been heart broken and depressed about this since finding out. To top it off, now we don't have the sonogram on Monday to look forward to either. Our (previous) doctor is sending us a list of doctors she would recommend - hopefully we'll get that today - after which we'll be able to make new appointments and find out what the schedule will be for 'finding out'.

Send some good karma my way!

This is another one of my favorite artists on Esty.

BIG LAUGH

This is something Jason does in the lab all day long. He left it up on his email this afternoon and like a good little wife, I clicked on it and LAUGHED! Click here and laugh too :) I think they need one of these!

Hey, What's Goin' On?!

So, I've been a slacker of late. My apologies to my loyal reader base. I know you all sit with bated breath waiting, waiting, waiting for some sign of what's going on in our 'hood'. (ha, ha, ha!)

Well, wait no more. Here's a small update on what's been happening.

Our good friends and neighbors, Rachel and Tyler, are out of town for a month or so and let us borrow their kiddie pool while they are gone. We've been swimming and playing on our outdoor playhouse. We've been to the Zoo, Jackson's favorite animal is the rhinoceros but unlike his sister he doesn't like the carousel too much. Also we have gone to Cazenovia Park and played in the water fountains. We went to a 4th of July birthday party for Sam (Abygail's 'boy' friend :)

The kids are getting so funny. Yesterday I caught them playing with each other and just laughing and laughing. One will chase the other and then the roles are reversed - very cute! Abygail is such a talker. She says the funniest things. The night of the last book club meeting I told her I was going out with my girlfriends to talk about books. She said "I go with my friends and we talk about books, and we tell stories." This morning she told me "Mommy, you eat your breakfast and when you are through you can have a popsicle, but you have to finish breakfast first." I think she is the one that wanted a popsicle! Speaking of, Jackson is in LOVE with popsicles, everytime he goes by the fridge he reaches up and says "psssss". He also likes to say "teessssss" to brush his teeth and "tisssssss" for everything else (this).

He understands LOTS of words and can even say "mmmimmmm" for milk. This is the week for weening him. I've nursed him for 13 months and it's time to move forward. It's a bitter sweet ending. I'll miss my special time with him but, it's time so we will march forward.

What else can I tell you about? The garden is doing well, the tomato plants have little green tomatoes on them. I left my cauliflower a day too long and they went to seed. The broccoli is huge but still have not produced anything. Carrots, lettuce, beets, green beans and snap peas are all growing very well. We are harvesting lettuce and snap peas anytime we need/want them but that's really all that we are getting right now. Everything else is growing well and we can't wait to see the fruits of our labors.

Not much more to tell. Hope you had a great 4th of July and a happy weekend!

Service Always Brings Blessings

This is more of a journal entry than anything else. We had a very full week this past week/weekend.

Not only did we have family in town but we had lots of other things going on. A few things slipped through the cracks...well, on my part at least. On Tuesday at 6:09 Tiffany's flight came in, at the same time(ish) I was scheduled to teach an enrichment activity on sprouting seeds to eat (bean sprouts, alfalfa sprouts...etc). Due to the timing one thing just had to be dropped, fortunately for Tiffany she was not the one that was dropped :). Wednesday I got the privilege of bringing a meal to a new mom (I love these opportunities!). Not only was it a new mom but it was a friend and neighbor which made it even better. Saturday a friend asked me to help her with some commitments she had made in watching children, I was glad to help because it meant that I could offer some final service to a family that was moving out of the ward and our neighborhood, who we had grown really close to. While Diana and I were watching 8 kids (our own included) Jason was helping the Uries pack the moving truck.

I detail all of this because...although it seemed like a lot, it didn't feel like a lot. We (I) felt like I was doing my part as a friend, neighbor and family member, but we received so much more in return than we gave. Most importantly by listing it out (the opportunities for service) I can put it next to the following list and see how blessed we are when we help others.

Blessings Received:
While Tiffany, Tony and Brittany were in town, they paid for everything!
The Uries brought us their left over fridge food, and clothes for Jason!
They also brought us a great outdoor play set their neighbor had and wanted to get rid of along with some other outdoor play toys!
Rachel and Tyler let us use the van so we (Tiffany's gang and ours) could all go out together!
Our Garden is really growing!
We got to form even stronger bonds with family and friends!
We got two deliveries of COOKIES :)

These may all seem like little things but they were really big to us and it made for a SUPER GREAT WEEK!!!

So, next time I feel overwhelmed and like I've taken on too much...hopefully I'll remember to come back to this post and see that it's all worth it.

It's June Already?!

Here's just a few things that have happened since the last post.

~Abygail's friend James was over on Wednesday, I got some great film of them dancing.





~Jackson got a bloody nose from playing so hard on Friday at the Ward Activity

~Jackson bit his tongue last night

~I got a new calling, Activities Committee Chairman - now I have keys, is this a good thing or bad thing?

~More planting: Corn, Carrots, Lettuce, Zinnias, Peppers

~Garden growing like a weed, weeds are growing too :)



~"We're in the spinach", we've had spinach every day for the last 4 days. In eggs and salads.


(Before the first harvest of baby spinach leaves, The first dish with spinach in it)

~We rode to church today. Jason left me 2 miles behind...but I finally made it just in time for the announcements :)

~Jason sold his 2 month old bike and got a new one

~I've ridden to the store a few times with the kids. Here's a picture of Abygail after one of those rides :)



****UPDATE****
~And apparently my daughter got in a fight with one of her very good friends in nursery...what a crazy girl! Her father took care of it.

My Mouth Is On Fire!...And Other Random Things

I picked up a new salsa at the store the other day. We are salsa lovers and it's a staple of our diet. I haven't found any good salsa since leaving Texas. I found a replacement. It's called Screaming Hot made by Garden Fresh of MI. I really didn't notice or realize that the name of it was SCREAMING HOT. Once I did take note of that I thought "how hot could it be, I'm from TX!" Well...

Down Side: IT BURNS! HELP!
Up Side: SOOOOO YUMMY!
Down Side: So Yummy I can't stop eating it - IT BURNS! HELP!

We've now tried all the other flavors (except Mango - yuk!) and honestly - none of them are quite as delicious as the Scream Hot. We'll have to see if mixing it with one of their milds will do the trick. Until then - if you come to our house and we offer you salsa, consider yourself warned!!!

We finally bought Jason a bike with some of our tax return money. He's really been enjoying riding to school. It takes him about 15 mins to get to south campus and 25 mins to north campus from home. We are so proud of him for riding! This will not only help our pursuit of treading more lightly on the environment but it will also save our pocket book about $30 a month in either bus tokens or gas.

Yesterday Jason removed the tree from our front yard. Many people have worked on this tree. First the weather uprooted it, then the city chopped it up and left us a stump half in the ground, then the gas company repaired the leak in the gas line from it's uprooting and pulled most of it the rest of the way out of the ground for us, lastly Jason chopped it up. It's been a long time coming but this weekend was the perfect weekend to do it and frankly, it could not have been done before now. He did a great job and had a lot of "fun" (in his words) doing it. It gave him a reason to buy a chainsaw and do manly things. He looked like He-man at one point - he was swinging a rather large ax to chop through a root.
Abygail loves music (as we've mentioned many times before), she's learning so many songs. It seems like we sing all day long. A few months back I started trying to involve her in the singing. We were in the car and I was singing Popcorn Popping and I stopped mid-verse to see if she would sing the next line...SHE DID! Now I sing part of the song and stop, wait for her to pick it up, when she's gone as far as she can then I pick it back up. Our singing sessions go back and forth just like that. This morning on the way to church she wanted to sing Child of God "by self" (as she likes to say about EVERYTHING). It was such an endearing and precious moment to hear her sing as much of the song as she could remember.
Abygail has nick names for all of us. Jackson is Jackson-Boy, Daddy is Daddy-Man and Mommy is Mommy-kins. She also likes to say HI!, in her sing song voice, to everyone she sees and walks around the house saying "my name Abygail!". Her favorite show is Little Bear and she has finally started to like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

The kids love playing with Daddy, their favorite thing to do is clobber him!

Jackson has become quite the character. He loves his Daddy very much and can't wait to see him and crawl up into his arms. The other day he got up in Jason's lap all by himself (he was on the floor and Jason was sitting in a chair). He likes to wave at everyone. He says "bye, bye" and "hello". He likes snuggling his blanket and rubbing his face on it to go to sleep. He wants to eat whatever we are eating ESPECIALLY if it's pizza. He also like eating dirt!

We went to a playground Friday morning and he got to swing for the first time, just like Abygail's first time, he wasn't sure if he liked it. Abygail got to swing in a big girl swing and L.O.V.E.D. IT! I had a hard time prying her away from the regular swing and the tire swing. We had such a good time that we went back after dinner that night with Daddy. It was a perfect day and EVERYONE from the neighborhood was already at the park. I was glad there were 2 of us. The kids had a great time running around, sliding, jumping on the 'jumping bridge' and eating dirt. Someone had a bubble machine there and Abygail loved dancing under the bubbles too.

Jason and I took on Chris and Rozannah's challenge while we were there. I'm sorry to say that I only made it around once and Jason did it twice. I think we need more practice and less people there watching us! Just give us a few more weeks and we'll be the winners!!!!!

That's it - we've been up to ... nothing. ;)

A Surprise Visit

This morning we had a surprise visitor to our backyard. He hung around for at least an hour and a half while he devoured his breakfast.

Thinking It Over

Two of the blogs that I frequent are running challenges right now. I really enjoy the different challenges because they are helping me to really think about things differently than before.

The Crunchy Chicken is running a month long No Waste challenge. As I ate dinner this evening and served my family (especially the little ones) I really thought about how much food I was putting on the plate and trying to not over serve them. This week we are to collect all our wasted food and weigh it at the end of the week. I'm keeping ours in a zip lock bag and so far it's not too much (but who's to say what's too much). I've noticed that normally I throw lots more away so I think this is helping me to really think about our food consumption and food waste.

Another challenge is at Chile Chews. The challenge:

Presenting my very first challenge. Reduce-Reuse-Recycle: Rethink it! The purpose of this challenge is to help you reduce your consumption, expenses, and garbage by getting you to think about every aspect of the recycling logo. Break out of old habits and find new ways to reduce your consumption, reuse what you can in creative ways, and recycle everything else.

Can something I am consuming be used/recycled in a new creative way? This is what I was thinking about as I threw away the packaging from Abygail's snack of blueberries and cheese. "How can I reuse these containers/packaging?" I thought to myself. Well, I didn't come up with anything, but the point is I'm trying to think of things in a new and creative way. What I did realize is that if I made my own cheese, which I hear is easy to do, and grow my own fruits and veggies there is no packaging/containers from the store to worry about.

Along those same lines, on Sunday I made chile. It was a super simple chile that consisted of 2 cans of beans, 2 cans diced chile style tomatoes, 1 can of rotelle tomatoes, 1 can of tomato sauce, mexican seasonings, cumin and 3/4 lbs of ground beef (I always buy the ground meat in the large size, which usually equals out to be 5 1/2 lbs, and then section it into 6 portions for later use). I realized that if I had my own garden (when I have my own garden) I could have (can) make this meal with my own canned tomatoes, beans and spices and only have to buy some spices and meat, if I still chose to use it. What a money saver that could (will) be!

Anyway, those are just my thoughts, enjoy.

Catching Up On Others

Missing a week or two of internet has really put me behind. I'll just have to start fresh, so if you posted something that you think I should know the next time we talk - just assume that I don't know it and just tell me.

Did You Know?

Did you know this? Well, you should, especially if you have a daughter or if you are a girl!

**ALSO** Did you know you can print your blog in a book format? Well I didn't either but someone I know did it and so I was searching today and this is a great website to get you started if that is your desire.