Hats and kids, shake and mix well

This is Linus and Chloe and their new friend, our next door neighbor.

They moved in about 2 years after we did, and had this darling baby girl. I didn't see her all that often and I somehow had it in my head that she was still a baby, even though she wasn't that much younger than Linus. Well suddenly at the end of this summer the kids discovered each other and there's been no separating them when we are outside playing in the backyard (our yards connect, kinda). Linus would go run to the front of their house and watch them whenever they were getting ready to leave. One day I heard him waving at them and yelling "BYE!!! SEE YOU LATER!! I LOVE YOU!!!" Anyway, the first time they started playing with each other, they all held hands and ran back and forth across a little hill between our yards over and over, laughing and shrieking with delight. It was like they were long lost friends getting together again.
Anyway, we were all playing out back while I was taking pictures of a new hat I made for my blog/shop and they all wanted pictures of themselves in the hat. I obliged. They were so eager, how could I say no?

That's a stink face if I've ever seen one.

Chloe and Linus were being so weird and she just kept giving me these sweet smiles. Such a treasure, I love having her over. Hopefully my kids won't teach her all their bad habbits...
Oh so posh, Chloe. Always the drama mama...
PS- I'm opening up my TV Time discussion on facebook, join me there to give me your input! :-)

TV time

From all you experienced mothers I draw so much from: I need your input.
Studies say no more than an hour of TV a day for kids.

My questions: is NO TV better than that or does it matter?
Currently my kids watch a 25 minute show or two a day in the morning on Netflix, usually so I can shower and/or finish dishes or get some other chore done before our day is completely started. There are others in this house *coughCRAIGcough* who think this is too much. That really, any TV is too much. Now, I am in no way defending my position here- I'm at a point now where it may be beneficial for us to let go of the TV and move on with life. I don't want my kids attached to it, and I know for certain there have been times where they've had too much TV when I was pregnant and/or at low points in my "working mommy" routine (it was really a crutch, I was weak, I admit it).
Now, we've rotated through shows that I feel are more educational. I'm not saying that a TV can replace education, however, media can be a powerful tool as well, if used in the right way. Currently they've watched Pinky-Dinky Doo, Word World, Sid the Science Kid, and for fun sometimes Backyardigans or Busytown Mysteries. A lot of times I talk to them when the show is over what the episode was about and try to connect that at times to what is going on in our day. I don't always sit with them through the whole episode (like when I'm showering, obviously, it's a babysitting tool in that case- I know that's a no-no, but it is what it is right now).
So, what do you think? Tell me your honest opinion. Is there anything that says no TV makes a big difference from a little TV? Obviously I need to do a little more research on my own as well, but sometimes the "mom-to-mom" gems I receive from you all are more beneficial to me than that.
Cheerio

I could complain...

But I won't.
Let's just say the last week or so with the kids has been a little rough. Not on my part, I must say I've held together magnificently under the pressure, but with nuts-o sleeping schedules the kids have suddenly adopted (bedtime routine was just...not good, I'll leave it at that), it's been challenging.
However, under it all there has been this constant river of "feel-goodness". I am blessed, let me just say that, and I am grateful for it. Being at home is no picnic, but it is wonderful. I've had a couple kids I've watched at home here and there for other families and I have loved it- even when once a lamp got knocked over by a weeping, wailing, and gnashing child who was having a hard time being consoled, and the glass shattered all over my carpet, and then every child in my house was weeping, wailing, and gnashing and I felt like joining them, I didn't. I was grateful. I was laughing. I was at home. I am at home. I hesitate saying that, because I know when I read blogs of other Moms who were able to do this, I envied them when they gushed about it while I was working, and here I am gushing, but I decided that was my problem, not theirs, this really is the best job in the world and I am blessed to have it.
Things I have been thankful for:

• Telling my children the stories of Jesus, which they now ask me to tell them almost everyday. It really really warms my heart that they genuinely want to know about him, they ask me why he had to die almost everyday, and rejoice when we talk about his resurrection over and over again like I'm telling it for the first time each time. Lovely lovely lovely.
  
• We all went to Craig's hockey game last week. Before we left, I was talking to Craig's dad about the next day's schedule since Grandma Ellingson is out helping the newest addition to the family in Yuma and I was helping fill in some gaps here and there, and when I told him I was going to the hockey game he asked, "Do you need us to watch the kids tonight so you can go?" and I said "Nope, we're all going, thanks!" When I was working, I was not readily excited to handle all three kids in public situations easily, so the fact that that wasn't even a concern to me filled me with pride. And the kids melted down at the rink and I was able to reign them back in and it was great!
  
• When I now ask Linus to "do me a quick favor" and he replies, "Yep, I can!"
• When I see Chloe actually learning things I've been teaching her in our preschool lessons every day. Those lessons are some of my most cherished moments with her.
  
• When Odell lays her head on my should every time I pick her up for a hug, and she says "Mmmmm!" like she's getting a really good squeeze out of it. None of my other kids cuddled at her age, it's just about the sweetest thing I've ever experienced.
  
• My kids dancing. I don't upload videos all that often, but I felt like this one was worth preserving. By the way, we've listened to this song a lot lately.
  

I especially love it when Linus takes off his sunglasses so he can really get into it. This probably isn't as funny to everyone else as it is to me, but that doesn't mean I enjoy it any less. :-)

Friday night in DENBERRR!!!!

Our kids have no distance perception whatsoever. Or time for that matter. Events that were yesterday happened "last year". Things that happened a few days ago were "just a minute ago". And when we're going to DenBER (Denver) to see Grandma and Grandpa John, it's almost impossible for them to understand the "they live in Denver, no they're house is not Denver, see those big buildings? That's Denver, but they don't live in the buildings...the buildings are in Denver and so is Grandma and Grandpa's house, Denver is a place just like Windsor, etc, etc." Linus got so confused that yesterday while at Grandma's house he started calling from downstairs, "Den-ber? Den-ber!! Den-ber where are you??? Grandma Den-ber, come downstairs wiss us!"
If we all just lived on the same cul-desac that would make life so much easier.
Oh wait...

Here are a couple of pictures from our adventures. After long deliberation and going back and forth, I finally decided that Linus would probably be just fine if we went to the Denver Art Museum with he and Chloe. Chloe, I knew wouldn't be an issue, but Linus's attention span just doesn't last that long if a lot of tactile and moving, interesting things aren't going on...and it helps if food is involved, most of which don't happen at an Art Museum. So I debated and debated and debated, and I really don't know why I worried so much about it because....
I was wrong and he was sort of a terror after the first half hour (we didn't stay much longer than that). Although we did get these really neat backpacks that you can check out that bring you to a certain spot in the museum and have you do an activity based on what is going on in that particular exhibit. He held on till we got to the craft at the end when we had to color, and then his attention went out the door and suddenly landed on all these cool looking things in reachable distance. I managed to catch him before he touched most of the things we looked at (he had a problem staying behind "the line"). It's just a good thing that the security people weren't always looking our direction. Also, thank you Grandma for taking pictures, I left my camera in the car by accident.


But I'm glad I took him, because he needs to be exposed to cultural things like museums, I can't lock him up forever, and it wasn't completely awful, he did seem to have fun. (PS- every first Saturday of the month is free admission at the Denver Art Museum, if you have children than longer attention spans than Linus, I totally recommend going, they have lots of fun things for kids to do there!) The rest of the day was filled with good food and pool time (weeks of awfully hot record setting weather in Colorado and then the day we go to Grandma's pool and it's barely 70 out. Story of our life...the kids and Daddy swam anyway, I opted out. Although Craig made sure to soak me a couple of times anyway). We also celebrated Odell's birthday the night before with a really yummy chocolate cake and a few gifts, plus looking at the neat things Grandma brought home from Israel.

She was chomping on a piece of corn all evening and wouldn't let it go, not even while swinging. Note to self- corn on the cob is a safe, occupying piece of wonderfullness that will be used for nutrition and entertainment in the future...
We love Aunt Rose. ("aunt", not "ant")
Chloe, being a great older sister and pushing baby Odell. Odell still chomping on the corn. Hopefully that's not bad for her teeth...
Beautiful Grandma and Beautiful Baby. :-)
Chomp Chomp.


Lookout, the shark is going to get you!


Here it comes!!

Here is Linus flying in the pool. I won't show you the picture of Chloe doing the same. I was behind her when her bathing suit bottom started falling off during the toss. That's one to show her first date I'm sure, though. :-)


Tomorrow is Labor Day. Look for parade pictures and other outdoor fun in the future. :-)

Bloggers Alert

If you haven't checked out my "other" blog, Chelsea's Attic, yet, here's your golden opportunity!
If you're anything like I was, you may be sick of getting your blog header just right. With our first blog (that I eventually gave up since it centered around Chloe...and then came Linus, and it didn't make sense to have a blog that didn't involve him somehow in our family...), I was a dunce. Click HERE to see it. I still kind of giggle when I think about how frustrated I was getting this stupid picture to not jump out of my computer and try to inhale me with it's size...really, it was a simple thing, but I just didn't want to bother with it. I was embarrassed to send our blog to family or friends over it. How shameful. Anyway, I finally got over my technical incompetence when I started my photography (because I had to) and now have evolved to making this lovely tutorial just for you.

http://www.chelseasattic.com/2011/08/designing-blog-banner-in-photoshop-for.html

I would love input on any of you bloggers out there who have done anything like this (or actually, especially those of you who've never done anything like this). My main concern is, does it make sense?? And if it doesn't, where are you hung up? Any feedback would be grand.

Chloe and Linus got into Chloe's Pretty Pretty Princess game this morning. I hope Linus kills me when he's older for posting this. I'm sure Craig will.
I think the blue jewelery matches his eyes, don't you?


Such a goofball.
And yes, that is a brace you see on Chloe's arm. Here she is giving her best poutey face.
On Saturday Daddy was playing with the kids on the tramp and somehow Chloe fell on her arm, although Craig didn't see exactly how it happened. Oh the drama. Our little princess was quick to blame Craig for the incident and didn't let up crying over it for a good hour. I wish I could say that was not typical, otherwise I might have brought her in on Saturday instead of waiting until Monday. She got to have her first X-ray and see her bones, which showed a very slight buckle fracture. The brace is just to protect her from fracturing it all the way, they will see if she needs a hard cast or if the brace is working on Tuesday after Labor Day. We're glad for the brace, though, and with the okay from her doctor, it means that we can take it off so she can go swimming at Grandma's house in Denver this weekend. The hard cast would have meant no swimming on that one.
Check back later for Labor Day fun (Denver, hectic day at church with our first Sunday after boundary changes, then Labor Day Parade and fireworks on Monday- hooray!).

Just make up your mind!

Yeah I know, I changed things around again. It's like keeping the furniture in your living room in the same arrangement for too long. Sometimes you just need to move it around. Or in my case, completely remodel...(if only remodeling your living room were as inexpensive as remodeling your blog...)

Wanted to share with you this magical tool I've used for two kids now and still use it all the time. Sometimes even for quick sauce mix-ups when I don't need a lot (like when I'm making pesto, like tonight- great recipe HERE). Odell has eaten everything off the table because of this beauty, I only bought baby food when we went camping and I couldn't bring this guy along. Now she's old enough that she can ingest most things without gagging or choking on them, so I don't need it as much, but my heart would warm when I could mix her up some of our healthy home cooked meals in a baby edible form. And I wish I knew the name of this because I would share it with you, but I'm pretty sure if you looked up "baby food mixer" at Babies R Us you might find it, because I think it came from there.

Also army men from the roof make for loads of evening entertainment. That is until one particular participant decided to rip the parachute off of the man (like we all didn't know that was coming...).

Dreamlife

A man in a business suit and hat sits at his table at the local diner, sipping his water and reading the paper. Busy sounds of the restaurant are all around him, but he is enveloped in the paper, and does not add to the noise around him except the ruffling of the paper as he turns the pages and the sipping of his water.
Finally, a waitress, young, blonde, wearing a white apron around her blue uniform dress and red lipstick, comes up. She refills the man's water without asking, then patiently waits for the man to order. She does not need to get his attention, he's a regular at the diner. She taps her pen on her pad until he turns to her with a mock look of surprise on his face.
"Hi there," he says happily.
"What can I get for you today?" asks the waitress.
"Hmm...well I like food," he begins. "How about...waffles, french fries, hot chocolate, a cucumber, and...grapes."
The waitress does not flinch at his unusual requests as she scribbles his order onto her pad. "Anything else?"
"Yes," he continues. "Um.....uh......waffles...."
"You said that."
"....and.....french fries...."
"Um...we're all out of french fries. Do you want ah....skeedasoh?"
"Yes. I want that."
The buss and hubbub in the small diner continues, unmoved by the strange interaction occurring between the man in his business suit and the blonde waitress in the blue dress. A few minutes pass as they continue to their conversation, the man continuing to ask for more obscene things or request items he's already asked for, the waitress changing what they are offering, making up food items that are not on the menu. Or actual food items at all, for that matter.
"....So," continues the waitress. "You can have the hot chocolate if you want it. And the skeedasoh. Is that okay?"
"But!" the man protests, starting suddenly to get irritated. His brow furrows over his once serene face. "GAH!.....OKAY! Just...just BRING ME MY FOOD!"
"Okay," the waitress says. "That will be ninety nine dollars please."
The man pulls out his wallet, pays for his food without question, and the waitress brings back a plate full of items he did not order. He pays no attention and begins to eat his food.
"Hey!" the waitress exclaims after he bites into a mouth-full of a full, ripe tomato. "Want to see my dance?!"
"Um...okay," says the man.
The waitress immediately drops her pen and pad on the floor and starts hopping manically in a circle in front of the man's table. She can't help herself and begins to giggle hysterically as she dances, clearly embarrassed that she would dance like that in front of a person, let alone a whole restaurant full of people, but unable to stop herself all the same. She makes an unexpected jerk in the wrong direction when she looses footing and accidentally steps on the man's foot, who until that point seemed to have lost interest in the dancing waitress in front of his table, munching on a bunch of bananas with the peels on.
Suddenly he leaps to his feet and yells angrily at the waitress, "OOWWWWW!!!!! YOU STEPPED ON MY FOOT!!!!" Without warning, he throws his arms up and shoves the waitress as hard as he can onto the floor. The waitress screeches in return as she hits the floor, then jumps to her feet again and shoves the man in back onto his table. His food flies into the air as his plate gets knocked over and his ice water empties onto the linoleum floor beneath them. The man's head smacks into the wall behind him, not enough to cause a bump, but enough to make an audible thump.
"OW OW OW OW!!!!" the man wails, grasping his injured head, and he suddenly bursts into sobbing tears.

"MMOOOOOMMMMMMMY!!! CHLOE PUSHED ME OVER!!!!!"

And then a large woman twice their size crashes into the restaurant, soothes the crying man, makes he and the waitress apologize to each other, and helps them clean up their mess.

Yeah, my life could totally be like a graphic novel or something. Right?



We went to Kid's day at Centerra yesterday, which resulted in 40 minutes of sort of enjoyment and 40 minutes of wailing and gnashing of teeth. We tried to wait in line for face paint, but it was too long, so I agreed to paint Chloe's face for her when we got home. And it was the cheapo stuff that rubbed off on everything it touched. At least she enjoyed it long enough for me to take a picture of her with it. :-)