frugos

Mom...I look just too cute to stay in doors. Shouldn't we go get some frozen yogurt? After all, it is 15% off today for Halloween!



Well, ok, I supposed for the sake of getting you out in your pumpkin outfit...

halloween happenin

Tonight I took Cam to our church's Halloween carnival. Chris stayed back with Kendall. He was SO cute and we had such a fun night. I liked having it be just him and I, allowing me to focus all my attention on him. Our church does an amazing job on the event and I can't wait until next year when Cam will love it even more.

I loved how the booths were so little kid friendly. And it didn't matter how far off they were in throwing the bean bags...they always got some candy!



A couple months back Chris and I met a couple at a park here in town. We hit it off and have gotten together a few times. I invited them to come tonight and we had a fun time hanging out together.



This fire truck was parked right at the entrance. Cam headed right toward it and got a big kick out of getting inside and looking it all over. :)

go figure

This morning I worked in Cam's class and all was fine. A couple hours later I received a call telling me he was crying very hard, wouldn't stop, and was tugging at his ear. Kendall had just gone down for a nap, so Chris hopped in the car and raced to school. We couldn't get an appointment for several hours, so he took Cam to Urgent Care. They let Chris in right away after taking one look at Cam (he was still crying very hard...which is very unlike him).

Yep, an ear infection. Finally by the end of their time there, Cam was fine and came home happy. The odd part about our little stinker was that there was no way the Tylenol they gave him could have taken effect so quickly. So how did he get over the pain and why is he so incredibly happy right now, running around the house? I guess we'll never know. After coming home and attempting a nap ("attempting" is the key word), we just played around the house. Actually we played after he ate his pumpkin cookie daddy got him from the store (he IS sick after all!).



We played out in the back so we could keep Chris company. Today was bbq chicken day...2 whole Costco bags to be exact.

disneyland

Very hot. Cam is coming down with something. Both kids either skipped all together or didn't get a good nap. Didn't get to go on too many rides.

But we had LOTS of fun and it was totally worth it. :)

saturday

Most Saturdays around here consist of, "What do you want to do?", "I don't know, what do you want to do?", "Um...we could go to Target?", "I'm tired of Target", "Hmmm...".

Yesterday, however, was a packed Saturday and we had a lot of fun. The morning started out with Chris and Cam's weekly breakfast date (donut and park). Cam was especially excited because this time he got to ride in his bike trailer. Shortly after they got back, we met some friends for the Fall Festival we had seen signs for. After realizing that we didn't know where it took place (the sign didn't say the location...go figure), we went on wild goose chase trying to find it and ended up just hanging out at a park. Note to our city: It might help if you actually tell people WHERE your big shindig is. :)

After lunch, Chris took Cam to a golf store and I took Kendall out to visit Jen. She drove out for the afternoon and I got to spend a little time with her and Ella. I'll take anytime I can get with her since we only typically have the phone as she lives an hour away.

Later that evening my parents came over to babysit. We have been wanting to try a new restaurant and a friend of mine recommended Romano's. It was sooo good and we loved the quiet/quaint atmosphere. We will definitely go there again as it had many of my "musts" for a restaurant: Good atmosphere, good bread before the meal, excellent food, salads included. :)



After a quick stop to pick up frozen yogurt on the way home, we concluded our day.

p.s. My mom made the cutest sleep sack for Kendall. I love these as they are easy to use and provide good warmth on top of the pajamas. Thanks, mom!

today

So today I was watching Sandra Lee's Semi Homemade on the Food channel. Her "theme" was a playgroup for her nephews. Chris happened to walk in while I was watching...

Chris: Wow, nothing says a boys playdate like whole wheat pitas!
Me: She said her nephew likes pitas and that's why she is using them!
Chris: Well, he needs to think about what the other boys will like...oohh, she is putting the dip in a lettuce cup! I bet the boys will go crazy over that! Lettuce!!
Me: Whatever! I think kids would totally like this dip.
Chris: Maybe she should suggest they do their math homework next. That would be a GREAT play date!

Very heated arguments go on over here...and about very important issues indeed. :)

bike

We dug out our bike trailer a few weeks back. Cam loves his bike rides, just like he used to. It is amazing how much heavier he is this time around. The poor thing is too tall to put the cover over, so we are stuck if it rains. :) Also, this trailer is supposed to be for two kids...however I don't think there is room for Kendall's leg in this thing!



Chris decided to get a little exercise and take him to school this morning on the bike. I think Cam was all for the idea.

10 questions

Three things you are wearing right now:
new comfy long sleeved shirt from Target, jean capris I've had for about 5 years, a nursing bra that has seen better days :)

Three things you want very badly at the moment
caramel frapp with extra caramel, Kendall to nap longer than 30 minutes, a fairy to come and vacuum my house

Two things you did last night:
got my hair highlighted after over a year (which included the night off from bedtime-kid duty), watched 30 Rock

Two things you ate today:
grapes, hot chocolate with marshmallows

Two people you last talked to on the phone:
mom, Chris

Two things you are going to do tomorrow:
go to Bible Study, go to Walmart

Your favorite beverages:
hot chocolate, frapp, cola (I don't like non-colas very much like sprite, fresca, etc.)

Two things that have made you smile in the last 12 hours
having Cam ask me "how's it going mama?" when I walked into his room this morning, feeding Kendall rice cereal

One thing you wish you wouldn't have wasted TV time on
"Ghost of Girlfriends Past" -honestly, the fact that they talked about sex the first 15 minutes was annoying, so I ended up turning it off. Plus I'm tired of Matthew McConaughey's role he ALWAYS plays of, "I'm a sexy guy that no girl can tame".

Two things you will do today
go to Costco for our weekly family trip, take a walk with kids

while chris has been gone...

Chris left right after taking Cam to school on Friday. Later that morning, my mom went with me to Cam's first IEP (unfortunately they couldn't reschedule so Chris could go). My dad stayed with Kendall. The IEP went great. I am absolutely blown away by the people that are working/teaching Cam. They are fabulous. How do I know? You can tell a lot just by talking to someone, but the main reason is the progress that Cam has made since being there. We are blown away and are amazed everyday with new things he is saying and doing. I'm sooo grateful for this school. We decided to increase his hours a bit since we have seen such awesome things come of his time there, in addition to the fact that he really enjoys it.

After the meeting my mom hung out for a while and then we just stayed around the house and went for a walk for the rest of the day. Saturday we took another walk and Cam and I made a batch of muffins, which he really got into helping me with (especially sampling the raisins). We then headed over to my parents'. Both kids took naps (well, Cam went down...but decided a nap was not in the cards that day) and we headed home in the early afternoon. While we were there, we attempted a photo shoot in the kids' Halloween costumes.

My cowgirl and Superman...




This morning I can't believe I got both kids ready and to church 20 minutes early. I had to help out today in another kids' class so we needed to get going and out the door without being late. It was pretty easy to help out, but I'm a little tired. Usually church gives me a chance to actually breathe, but I was "on" today. :)

Right now both kids are down (well, Cam isn't and I swear he is going to come through the ceiling with all the jumping he is doing) and I just had a great lunch of some Barley Lentil Stew that my mom made me. Chris should be home late this afternoon and I'll be happy to see him. :)

dream day

Today while Kendall was asleep, I was on Cam's bed watching him toodle around and found myself thinking, "I would give anything right now to just lie down and go to sleep". But obviously that wasn't an option, as it never is nowadays. :) However it got me thinking about what my dream day would look like. So here is what I would do if money were no object and the kids were with grandma. :)

*Wake up and lie in bed for however long I want
*Walk with Chris to Starbucks where I would get a White Chocolate Mocha, a scone, and sit and read
*Walk back and take a looooong shower
*Drive to Palm Springs and lay out by some hotel pool, reading magazines
*Eat lunch by the pool (brought to me by those great pool people who are always roaming about ready to take orders)
*Chris could go play golf and I would spend the afternoon at the spa (I've heard wraps are divine, so I might try that)
*Go to an early dinner at Cheesecake Factory (hamburger for me, Spicy Cashew Chicken for Chris)
*Drive back home and lie in bed, eating my cheesecake (Peanut Butter Choc. Chip Cookie Dough, to be exact) and watch TV till I drift off to sleep...

What would your "day off from mommyhood" include???

he is off!

Chris left this morning for Las Vegas. I had surprised him by booking two nights with his two best friends, Noah and Jeremy. They have gone several times before, a couple times with us wives. I'm so surprised and excited that it all worked out considering Noah lives in Oregon and Jeremy's wife is expecting their second child. The weekend will be more work on my part without his help, but I've made a couple plans with a friend and my mom, so I'm sure it will go by quickly. So with a bag of gooey bars I made for their trip and a few sets of clothes, Chris drove off this morning and I already can't wait to hear all about it!

sleep training schmeep training

I mentioned about a week ago that I was going to start sleep training with Kendall. I wish I could say it was going better. I've got her down to just feeding once during the night, but she still wakes up A LOT. Last night she woke up 4 additional times. Sometimes I'll go and stick in the paci, other times I'll turn my noise machine on for the 30 minute timer and if she is still crying, I'll go in and do the paci. Ugh. I'm tired of this. The last straw happened at 5:30 this morning. After refusing to go in, she got so loud she woke up Cam.

I wasn't in the best of moods, so Chris took Cam to breakfast while I rested on the couch until Kendall woke up for the morning.



I know this phase of life is short and I'll look back and laugh at what a big deal I made of it, but sleep is sleep. And I would like more of it!! :)

pumpkin patch

potty update

So potty training has actually been going great! We have had very few accidents (well, less than I had anticipated) and he is always more than willing to go when we take him. I got some great advice last time so if anyone has more, send it my way. Specifically I'm wondering...

*At what point do you trust him to tell you when he has to go pee? Do you keep asking him and hope that he'll just start telling you on his own?

*Today we had a great breakthrough in that he told us he had a stinkbug before he actually did it. But then this afternoon at the park, he didn't tell Chris and Chris had a lovely clean up session...lovely because we forgot to send anything with him (wipes, extra clothes, etc.)!! More often than not, Cam waits until his nap or bedtime to do his stuff, because he knows he has a diaper on. Anyone else experience their kid waiting until they knew they had on a diaper? I would think the solution would be to put him to bed in underwear...but oh how I do not want to be woken up by hearing, "Mama! Stinkbug!!"

back in season

Today we went to Palm Springs for lunch and to hang out. It's so nice to have our weather back. 100+ degree heat over the summer put a halt to our visits. It was beautiful today.

After lunch, we split up and Chris dropped Cam and I off at the mall while he and Kendall went to the golf store. Cam loved climbing all over the various coin operated cars, trucks, helicopters, etc., while I sat and relaxed on a bench. Luckily he still is content with climbing all over them, rather than having me waste money on making them actually move. :) After treating ourselves to a piece of Sees chocolate, we met Chris. He got some good deals at the golf store and all was good. :)

One of the highlights? Cheesecake factory got our order wrong (we always split a chicken salad sandwich) so they gave us a free piece of cheesecake! They can get our order wrong as much as they want if that's what we'll get out of it!!

baking

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to bake. For me, it is so relaxing and I often like to do it when I have had a rough day. Yes, the sampling is nice, but the actual process is somehow therapeutic. Sounds cheesy, but it's true for me. I don't get to do it near as often as I once did. For one thing, having two kids doesn't allow much time for it. Another thing is that since Chris doesn't work outside the home, I have no where to send the goodies, and I don't want a whole batch sitting around staring us in the face every time we enter the kitchen.

Today I felt like baking and decided to try an angel food cake I made a while back (this one is chocolate). Here are my two baking buddies. Kendall was more just to sit and look pretty, whereas Cam helped me clean out the bowl with the shovel (aka "spatula").





I know, Chris doesn't like chocolate (which I believe is a sin, right?), but he does like this cake since it isn't too rich. :) I hope it turns out for our night. We don't have anything planned other than catching up on tivo, but having a fun dessert makes it more of a "night". :)

p.s. It's also a great exercise in helping Cam learn to share...

life

*Today I observed Cam's pre school class in the hopes of helping out once a week. It was neat to see all that he does and I'm going to really like doing it on a consistent basis. It will be good to learn some of the phrases they use with him (like "quiet hands" when they want him to pay attention) so I can also use them at home.

*As the Holiday season approaches, our weekly Costco visits are getting more and more fun for Cam (as if a pizza lunch and samples weren't enough!). Christmas toys are on display as well as their supply of outdoor lights. He loves to look/play with both!

*Last week I got up to the check out stand and realized I had bought cook and serve pudding instead of instant. I told the clerk I didn't want the pudding, but she accidentally put it in my cart. Anyway, I figured I would give it a try. I'm one of those that HAS to have dessert every night, so pudding is usually on the menu since it is somewhat of a low fat item (notice I didn't say healthy because I know it is probably all chemicals!). Anyway, I couldn't tell any difference, which led me to wonder, "Why on earth would anyone buy cook and serve when it takes so much longer to make??"

*Does anyone else feel like The Office just isn't as funny as it used to be?

*I hate my hair. I hate the color and the cut. But I don't want to spend the money on getting it colored and while I would like bangs, I don't want to get them cut because I don't know how to trim them once they get too long (and I can't go back every time I need a trim). I feel blah.

*I put up our Halloween decorations outside. I LOVE the start of Holiday season!!!

*Kendall has followed in her brother's footsteps when he was this age and started taking 30 minute naps. Yep. 30 minutes. Lovely.

i love my kids...

toy story and spaghetti

Cam's favorite movies are Toy Story I and II. Seeing as they just released both in 3D, we thought it was the perfect opportunity to take him to the theatre for his first movie. Chris took him this morning knowing the theatre wouldn't be crowded on a weekday. After walking passed a zombie movie where Cam could hear the loud noises, he got a little scared and wasn't too into the experience until the actual movie started. But Chris stuck it out, knowing he would love it once it started...and boy did he!! He would laugh, yell, point out things, say his favorite lines, etc. throughout the movie. He also LOVED the 3D glasses.

At the end of the first movie, Chris asked him if he wanted to go home or watch "a different Toy Story" (what he calls the second one). Sure enough he wanted to stay through until the end. It was quite a successful trip and I'm thankful to Chris for also sticking out both movies because let's face it, those movies are cute, but two in a row can get a little old. :) Here is Cam in his cool glasses...



Tonight we are having spaghetti using the tastiest and cheapest homemade sauce you'll find. My next door neighbor made lasagna using it back when Cam was born. After Kendall came along, I specifically requested she make it again. Here is the recipe in case you are interested. The secret ingredient is cinnamon. So good! It is super easy. You just have to make it a little ahead of your dinner since it has to simmer for a while.



Spaghetti Sauce
1 lb. ground beef/turkey (cooked)
3- 6 oz. cans tomato paste
1 tsp. garlic salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 1/2 tbls. sugar
2 tsp salt
4 cups water

Add all ingredients and let simmer at least an hour (longer if you can).

weekend

This weekend Chris's family came down to celebrate his birthday. Saturday started with a round of golf (for about half of the family...not me of course). Upon coming home, they were greeted with a Mexican feast. His parents had brought down the infamous "chile verde" from Chris's favorite restaurant. I won't even touch the stuff as it is so spicy it makes your lips burn (why on earth is that appealing to eat??). We had a few friends come, including several of our neighbors. I love how we have gotten to be friends with the few houses that surround us. It was a lot of fun to have all the kids running around and the adults milling about and playing corn hole. We had tons of food and we topped it off with Chris's favorite German Chocolate Sandwich cookies and ice cream. It was such a perfect day and Chris got some great gifts (mostly golf related).

This morning I took Cam to church and Kendall stayed back with everyone. Later we went to an early lunch with Chris's aunt Noonie and Deb. After a marathon almost 3 hour nap from Cam (woohoo!), Chris and I split up and I took Cam to a park and he took Kendall to Walmart. The cold weather had made us realize we were lacking in the warm clothing department for both kids. He came home with some cozy sweats for Cam and a couple new shirts. Cam and I had a great time at the park playing chase, meeting a couple huge dogs, and swinging.

My only regret from the weekend was how lousy I was at taking pictures. This was the only good one I got (actually my mom took it). Next time I'm going to assign someone to take some candid shots. At least this one is super cute of the cousins...



Tonight is supposed to be the beginning of sleep training for Kendall. She has gotten far too comfortable with waking up and having mommy come in and either stick the paci in her mouth or feed her. Going into her room 5x last night made it quite obvious that she is playing me for a fool. So will I suck it up and follow through? I'm not feeling too confident. There is something so easy about only being awake for 10 min to feed her, as opposed to listening to her cry for 30 min. I guess we will see how I feel come first wake up. :)