Thanksgiving Roundup

This Thanksgiving, as usual, we traveled to good ole Southern Illinois to visit with J's side of the family.  We enjoyed wonderful food prepared by MaGa (the girl's grandma) and also had a s'more or two by the roaring fire.  While it was a bit chilly, we were able to get out a bit and go to the Science Center on Saturday.  After that we ate at a greek restaurant in St. Louis with Pop (the girl's grandpa) and the awesome Aunt Amanda (J's sis).  Yum!  Here are some pictures from the weekend of fun:

eating breakfast in their grandparent's bed while watching some cartoons

Miss M taking down some notes on nature in the woods behind MaGa's house

starting her early...

C riding the rocking horse that her great-grandpa made many moons ago

So despite the loooooooong car ride and especially the last hour of said lonnnnnnnng car ride whereas a little toddler has had enough and wants out NOW and a big sister who thinks shushing her baby sister quite loudly will help anything and a mother that is trying to read her book and a father that is trying to drive...

we had an awesome Thanksgiving holiday.  How about you?

Thanks to them...

I have everything I need.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Things I am not grateful for

So since it is the season to be thankful, I thought I would be contrarian and list the things I am not grateful for...

• cancer of any kind
• drugs that destroy not just yourself but those that you love and that love you
• people that are crabby and take it out on the innocent
• traffic that is stopped for no good reason
• bad tv shows that stay on the air for longer than necessary
• clothes, etc that try to make my 6 year old look like a 16 year old
• cheaply made toys that are not cheap in cost
• family and friends that leave your life way too early

But, then I am reminded of this...

and all is good and right in the world.

What a Deal! or Save Big Money! or...

In this week's Target ad, you can buy one Tag Reader book and get one FREE!  But that is not the best part.

Go here and watch a video.  After you register, you will receive a $5 coupon for a Tag book.  You can even print out two if you watch the video again and give them a different e-mail address.  Your other info can be the same, just the e-mail needs to be different.

Then go to your local Target with your two coupons and pick out any two Tag books.  The second book has to be equal or lesser to the other book's price for it to be free.  I was then able to use both of my coupons on these two books!

Here's how my receipt looked:

1 book: $13.99

2nd book: $9.99

minus $9.99 (BOGO Free)

minus $5.00 (coupon)

minus $5.00 (coupon)

Total: $3.99 for TWO books!

Hopefully all Target stores will take both coupons.  The selection at my Target was surprisingly good, but I wouldn't wait since the BOGO free deal ends on Wednesday.
Thanks to Baby Cheapskate and their reader Julie for early heads-up on this deal!

Me and C by Miss M

C loves to hug me!  I don't know why, but she is cute!  And she is the best baby sister that I have ever had. Babies are cute.  Babies can bite, but my baby sister is so strong!  She looks small but she is strong.  Because I really don't know why she is so strong but that is probably the way she is made. 

Today I went to Waterford.  Waterford is a computer lab where people go on computers.  We go on certain days.  I'll tell you how to get there.  You go out my classroom and then you go through the hallway, you go past the principal's office and then another hallway and then you see an open door and that is the computer lab.  There are a lot of computers there.  We go straight and then we take a turn and then we see our computers.  If you see another door open in the computer lab, that is the library.  That is kind of a shortcut.  If you go through the library, I picked out a book there on Monday because that is my day to go to the library.  I found a book in the M section because the letter starts with my name and I found a Star Wars book!  It was so cool that I had to show my daddy.  Inside it it has Darth Vader, Princess Leia, the droids and in one part it shows Darth Vader shouting "Take Her Away!"  and that's it.

[Dictated to AEK by Miss M, age 6]

Had a good life until C gotta hold of it...

RIP Raggedy Ann & Andy bowl 1974-2010

Taking a Toddler to the Doctor or things I wish I didn't have to do

Today was C's 18 month check up at the doctor.  I dread taking C to the doctor.  She screams and cries the minute we enter the office.  Today I brought along her book Going to the Doctor by Anne Civardi and read it to her as we were waiting.  That seemed to calm her down a bit.  Then we entered the examining room.
The minute the doctor opened the door, she screamed and cried.  We couldn't weigh her without me holding her and then subtracting my weight alone from the weight holding her.  Her measurements are, of course, not the most accurate because she wouldn't lay down for more than a second.  She refused to sit on the examining table so I just held her.
Then came the shots.  She received two today plus a prick on the finger to test hemoglobin.  She HATES the finger prick the worst.  We managed.  She then received her shots and I swear she cries the most when the doctor puts the bandaids on!
This was all before 10 this morning.  Fun.  And we get to go back in another 3 months.  At least it wasn't as bad (yes, it has been worse) as when I had both C and Miss M at the doctor's office for Miss M to get her shots for kindergarten.  Miss M screamed when she received her shots, which of course set off C.  Real Fun.

For the grandmas and any one else curious, here are C's stats:
At 18 months old, she is 32.5 inches tall (give or take an inch) and weighs 23 pounds.  From her last visit three months ago, she has grew an inch and a half and gained three pounds.  She is still tiny, but as we like to say, she is small but she is mighty!

A Week of Firsts

Curious?  Here's what has happened in our corner of the world:

* C had her very first haircut!  I was so nervous that she was going to scream at the stylist, but she did great!  She sat quite still (for an almost 18 month old) and hardly made a peep.  According to her sister, it doesn't look like she got it cut....but believe me, it looks so much better and neater!  Take a look:

*  Miss M counted to 100 for the first time all by herself!  This is quite an accomplishment and something that she has been trying to master for sometime.  She is now working on adding up numbers in her head.  This is all her doing...

*  We met with Miss M's fabulous kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Sombeck, this week for our first parent-teacher conference.  She said that Miss M is doing splendid and a joy in class.

*  From their aunt and uncle, the girls received a box of Scooby-Doo tattoos... C saw her sister getting one put on her arm and she of course had to have one too! 

I Love My Baby Sister by Miss M

I love my baby sister because she is so cute!  I like her because she is the cutest baby ever except when she has a really runny nose.  It is so like so I say "Yuck!" when she has a runny nose.  I don't really like when her nose is all stuffed up.  Once I told my teacher, Mrs. Sombeck, that when I was trying to pick up my baby sister she wiped her nose on my shirt!  It was the grossest thing ever!  I showed my teacher and she laughed.  It looked weird when I looked at it.  It was so weird that I had to tell her assistant, Mrs. K.  And it was like the best day at school because I have two girls at my table and two boys, Brody and Yousef.  Brody sits across from me and Yousef sits across from the other girl that I don't remember her name.  Sometimes people get moved to yellow but the only person who got moved to yellow is my friend, K.J.

Somethings are weird at school.  Like last Friday when I was a cat for Halloween and my baby sister was a pumpkin.  And at our party I still was a cat.  And both my teacher and Mrs. K were both Cat in the Hat!

And that's all.  Thank you!  Bye Bye!  Boo! Ha Ha!

[Dictated by Miss M (age 6) to AEK]

Thank You

My Grandmother's Uncle who served in WWI

Today is a day set aside to say "thanks."  Thank you to the brave men and women of our country who have served and continue to serve our country.  Thank you to their families who must continue on with daily living while their loved ones are very, very far away.  Words can not express the extreme gratitude I feel towards those who have lost their lives in service.  Their sacrifice was life itself.

I am humbled by these people and the choice they made to stand and fight.  I am humbled by the families that miss their loved ones so deeply but still stand by them as they go on to fight.

Thankful  Humbled  Honored

Coloring with a Message..

"I Love You"

Baby C talking and talking and....

Hope that gave you a smile on a Tuesday!

Miss M's Twin! A My Twinn Review.

As some of you know, I love to enter giveaways that I find online.   I have decided to start to review those products that I have been lucky enough to win.  Here is the first of a hopefully weekly series.

As part of Miss M's present from us, she received a My Twinn doll that I had won from the Happily Domestic blog.  If you are not familiar with My Twinn, it is a doll like an American Girl doll.  The biggest difference is that My Twinn is made to look like your child!  This "magically" happens after you full out their extensive questionnaire and submit a picture of your special child.   What most impressed me about the questionnaire was how detailed it was.  It even asked if she had any freckles (how many and where) so that they could replicate.  After that is received, their artisans go to work to create a truly one of a kind doll.

Miss M on her b-day with her Twinn.

The doll takes about 4 weeks to be handcrafted and shipped to your home.  When I first opened the box, I was a bit amazed.  It was almost like looking at Miss M in the future, say when she is 8 or so.  I was impressed by the craftsmanship and detail they put into this doll.  M has a few freckles on the bridge of her nose and so does her twin!  Also, M wears a barrette on the left side of her hair.  Her twin was delivered with a ponytail and a bow on her left side as well.

C showing how big the doll is.  Almost as big as her!

The only negative thing about this doll is the cost of her clothes. She comes in one outfit (you choose from 3 or 4 options).   Of course, after receiving her doll, Miss M wanted more clothes...especially ones for herself that would match her doll.  Well, to get an outfit for both the doll and your child, it will cost over 50 bucks! To get just another outfit for the doll will cost you from twenty to thirty dollars.  A bit pricey for me for doll clothes.

Overall, if you are looking for an unique gift for that special girl in your life, then you might want to consider My Twinn.  As for the doll's clothes,  perhaps make your own or find someone who can!

A special thanks to Happily Domestic & My Twinn for the giveway that I won!

P.S.  Check out Happily Domestic's site today (11/4) for a special post about someone you might know...

Halloween is SO Great! by Miss M

I went trick and treating w/my mom and my dad and my baby sister, C.  We went to lots of good houses.  I got lots of good candy.  I also went to grandma's house.  I am mostly eating all of my candy because it tastes so good.  It is so so great.  It is the best candy EVER!  I was a cat and C was a pumpkin.  C got not too much candy because I went to more houses.  One house I got a package of peanut butter crackers.  I ate them all up!  It was so good.  Next year I really want another one of those!  When I came home, I ate one of the pieces of candy.  We made a jack of lantern with eyes that are kinda curvy and a mouth that is a circle.  And that's all.

Please come back to Queen of the Snot Princesses because we don't have a lot of followers and we want a lot.  So please follow us!  Thank you.

[Dictated by Miss M (age 6) to AEK]

Proceed with Caution: Baby C is....

taking off her shirt..

again.

Halloween Weekend Fun

On our way to pick some pumpkins...yes we waited till October 30th to do this!

If you live in the Chicago suburbs, go to the Farm at the Center in Palos Park!

When we got home, Baby C took a nap while Daddy and Miss M carved up

the pumpkin!  But first you gotta remove the guts!

Getting ready to trick or treat on October 31st.  Miss M had to wait

until Baby C woke up from her nap.  It was torture!

Candy!  Baby C riding in style while her sister gets the goods.

Overall it was a great weekend filled with fun and good weather.  It was a little chilly but at least it was sunny and not raining or snowing!  Most of my childhood memories of Halloween are of trick or treating in the rain and/or with a winter coat on!  Gotta love Chicago.