*Did I really see Halloween decorations at Costco this week? I'm not complaining. :)

*Went to our church's Wacky Wednesday this morning. My mom met me at church and took Kendall to her house to nap. Cam and I had a great time! They had three rooms all with stations of different activities/games.

*My little Kendall screamed today more than she has in the last few months. I've never seen her so constipated. I realized I have been feeding her more bananas than normal (I put them in her food trap for her to suck on while we are on walks).

*Going to a friend's wedding this weekend. I own one pair of heels, which are black. I've never been into heels. For some dumb reason, I always feel like I'm trying to be older and more mature and I feel kind of silly

*Loving the show, "Raising Sextuplets". Chris likes it too.

*Chris went to see the new Will Ferral movie tonight with a friend. Can't beat $2.50 Wednesdays! I think I'll take advantage of him being gone and go to bed at 8.

*I'm currently down one food trap and one of Kendall's shoes. Whenever we go on walks, I get so engrossed in my Dr. Laura that I fail to see when she tosses one out the stroller. Grrr...

*Chris joined a local gym and is really enjoying it. Sometimes I miss going to the gym. But when I really think about it, would I really use my precious nap times to work out? Probably not.

*Cam turns 4 in a few weeks!!!!

deli

One of my top 5 favorite foods is a REALLY good sandwich. This involves amazing bread, lots of mayo, sharp cheese, and good meat (but not too much...that grosses me out). Chris has also really been into sandwiches lately for his lunches. The problem? Deli meat is so darn expensive! Where do you find good deals on deli meat? I don't want to buy the nasty cheapo stuff that's probably mostly nitrates, yet I don't want to spend $6.99 a pound at the deli counter.

p.s. I thought this was such a cute picture this morning. In my attempts to find things to occupy our day, I came up with the toothpick game (wow...oh so creative). I gave Cam some toothpicks so he could float them down the "river" (aka, gutter). Kendall wanted in on the action. I can already see my sister's lips smirk in disapproval. But Susan, I think the birds won't be tempted to pick up the toothpicks...they are smart enough to sense they are wood, not food. :)

our saturday

This morning Chris and Cam went to Home Depot for their craft time. Home Depot does this once a month and it was such a neat experience. Today they made a school bus pencil holder. Kids get an apron their first time, then a pin each time the come back.




After Kendall's nap, we headed out to Palm Springs. After lunch at Costco, we went to the mall to walk around. Kendall loved just being able to walk all over the place without us holding her hand. Here we are in Barnes in Noble, where she enjoyed taking books off the shelves.



After coming home, we hung out for a while and Chris left to go watch the UFC fight with some friends. I'm in the middle of catching up on a little Gilmore Girls.

spaghetti fest

I've blogged before about our huge chicken bakes, where we bbq a bunch of chicken and then freeze each in baggies for later. Chris had the idea of doing something similar for spaghetti. Today we bought ground beef (or "chubs" as the package says) from Costco. For this lean of beef, we found Costco to be the cheapest. We cooked 5 pounds of it, bagged each, and froze. This way, we can simply pop one out, add sauce, and have spaghetti. We usually have it once a week anyway, so this will make things a lot easier. :)



p.s. Tonight we finished up a very good movie I would recommend: The Ghost Writer

first day

Today was Cam's first day at his new school. A while back, his special ed teacher and I decided that it would be a great idea to have him attend her class two days a week, then attend a "typical" preschool the other two days. He has made so much progress socially and verbally, however we felt these areas would improve at faster rate if he were to be around "typical" children more (meaning kids who talk and play/interact appropriately).

This morning I took him with the intention of staying a while, just so he could get acclimated. I stayed a whopping 4 minutes. He went right in with me and began playing with the toys. I told him that I would be going and would be back later to pick him up. He responded, "OK, sure!!". What a little champ! When I went to pick him up, he was so happy and his teacher said he did great! I'm very anxious and excited about this new atmosphere for him and I can only imagine the kind of progress we will soon see.

thoughts

One of the many things I've learned from listening to Dr. Laura is that it's the wives/moms who set the tone of the house. If we are naggy, complaining, negative, etc., we bring our entire household down.

People have often asked me, "How do you do it with both you and Chris home all day together? Don't you go crazy?" Fortunately not only do I not go crazy, but I love it and wouldn't have it any other way. However it does bring a few difficulties.

We, as moms, can go through 10 different moods in one day. I'm sure I'm not the only one who has returned from an outing gone wrong with the kids. We are exhausted, frustrated, and many times full of tears. Typically when this happens, by the time the husband returns home from a day at the office, hopefully the wife will have calmed down and be able to be cheerful and welcoming.

Sometimes it is difficult for Chris because he sees EVERY single emotion I go through. Sometimes I have cried after a frustrating outing (like today after a very difficult walk to the store with the kids). This can be hard for Chris because he is also brought down, simply by seeing me sad. However within 30 minutes, I'm back to normal and having a great time again. I try to explain to him that I can go through so many different emotions during the day, and to not take them too seriously. But that is much easier said that done.

So I try hard to remain positive throughout the day. I don't want to stuff my feelings if I'm overwhelmed. And he also doesn't want me to not be able to share when I'm having a hard day. But I also don't want to send him on a roller coaster every day with my ups and downs...a roller coaster he wouldn't experience if he worked outside the house.

So that is the main difficulty with him working from home (besides the obvious distracting noise which comes with kids). While I often fail, I try to keep an upbeat tone around the house because it really can turn into a vicious cycle of me getting sad, which makes him sad, which makes me frustrated that I made him sad...

Chris left Friday morning for Vegas. Shortly after, I headed over to my parents' and my mom and I went to Victoria Gardens. We had a picnic lunch, let Cam ride the train, and I introduced her to the Bass Pro Shop. Cam loves the boats and was again very excited to get into each one and play around. We headed back and made a quick stop by Frugos before getting home. Whenever Chris is gone, I like to get some yogurt and put it in the freezer for later. It's a nice treat to look forward to once the kids are down. :)



Saturday morning we met some friends (fellow early birds) at the park. Cam had a great time playing and I got to visit. After Kendall's nap, I dropped Cam off at my dad's office since he would be spending the day and night with my parents (he LOVES when he gets to do this). Kendall and I headed out to a friend's house in Orange County (her husband was with Chris in Vegas). We met at a park, then hung out at her place for a few hours. We had such a great time and talked non-stop the entire time.

Kendall and I with Ana and Mia (sorry so blurry)


This morning we went to church to do the Cam exchange. Right now I'm trying to figure out how to keep us busy until Chris arrives home. It sounds like he had another fun trip, made all the more awesome due to the fact that when he played golf yesterday morning, he hit a hole in one!! I didn't realize that many golfers go their entire lives without every doing this. We are all very excited for him. :)

p.s. I want to add that I have been SOO frustrated lately with my driving. Sometimes I feel like I'm the most ditsy driver ever. On Friday, I drove 15 minutes passed Victoria Gardens because my mom and I were talking. Then yesterday, I missed my exit for Ana's house because I was engrossed in a Dr. Laura. Can I not talk and drive at the same time? I do this ALL the time!!