huh?

I got a great note from Sidney (age 5):

You ro the Best! Yao came to my prde pad to day at one fifde two. Loo loo! Hoo? Do you lic sbgede?

Translation: You are the Best! You came to my party pad today at one-fifty-two. Loo loo! hoo? Do you like spagetti?

Again I say.... huh?

happy stella day!

I'm starting to be convinced that the way a child arrives into the world is very telling of his or her future personality (at least as a toddler and young child. I'll let you know if the theory holds true.)

Taylor made life easy on his pregnant mama and arrived 9 days before his due date, making a super quick entrance and waiting for no one (including the doctor). Mellow and easy to please, our doctor called him a 'trick baby'---a baby that 'tricks' you into having another one!

Sidney had to be served an eviction notice to vacate the premises and came into the world starving for both food and stimulation. A Drama Queen and Perfectionist from day one--She needed to make an entrance and make sure she was good and ready for it.

Stella didn't want to waste one moment of life and arrived 6 weeks early. Super sweet, snuggly, and mellow she captured the hearts of everyone around her. Once she started moving, though, look out! Busy and needing to explore every little detail and jumping from one thing to the next. Perfectionism is completely not a priority. Give her fun and waste no time doing it and the rest will come later.

That was two years ago today that my little Stella became part of our family. She has easily taken on the role of Baby of the family and is willing to share that role with the new baby, but is in no way ready to give it up entirely.

From my little 5 pound 8 ounce peanut to my big 2 year old today she's only gotten better!

Happy Birthday my Stella Bell!

the cardboard house

Last Christmas, the kids asked to make a Gingerbread House. Now, this would be an easy task if I could just buy the kit or use graham crackers. Having a gluten-free kid takes the ease out of it, though, and I baked up a cute little Gingerbread House for them to decorate. This year, the holiday spirit just wasn't kicking me to be that ambitious. Cardboard makes a wonderful substitute for gingerbread! It's not as if the kids actually eat the gingerbread anyway. They just want the candy. Best of both worlds.

Sid's Side:


Tay's Side:

it's beginning to look a lot like....halloween?

Three days before Christmas and something is amiss! It started with Sidney putting on a black dress and black tights and declaring herself a cat for the day. She insisted on whiskers and I couldn't think of a good reason to say no (and I tried). There is this word is our house that is slowly starting to become known as 'the F word' in my mind. Fair. It all must be fair and equal. I keep asking them who told them life was going to be fair and equal, but they look at me as if I have two heads. So, in all fairness, Taylor had to be painted as well. First he said he was a superhero. Now he's an Indian (excuse me. Native American.)
Even the almost two-year-old is learning the 'Fair' word and had to join in the action.
It's almost the new year, but for now, we are living in the past---Merry Halloween!

being 7

life lessons by taylor

Taylor (7) is such a great big brother. He's always teaching his little sister (5) profound and useful life lessons, particularly on the drive to school each morning. Things such as "Cattle is plural already, it's not Cattles! It's Cattle or Cows."

Today's life lesson: "Don't ever, ever try to lick a frozen pole!"

decor and more

Anything crafty has been on the back burner for awhile now. Crafting with a toddler around puts a damper on things (no dear, you may NOT stick your fingers under the needle in the sewing machine and please leave the pedal alone when mommy is using the serger with the sharp cutting knives, I need my fingers!). Not to mention the stress of moving. But Christmas was coming and so was my mom (who loves decorating for Christmas). My Christmas decor is meager compared to hers, but it's growing each year and I chose this year to make it grow by leaps and bounds. It never hurts when mom goes to Hobby Lobby with me and can't resist things either and offers up her plastic to pay. My tree is now adorned with a beautiful tree skirt and wooden Merry Christmas sign and my mantle a little brighter with a "Believe" plague. (Click on pictures to make bigger)Inspired by my friends Lei and Kierste I created the ragamuffin garland for my mantle,
I got a little taste of the crafting/decorating bug and created one for the baby/guest room that is done in a vintage Americana theme. It needed a ragamuffin garland:
I will refrain from putting one of these in every room in the house, but a cute pink one just might appear in the big girl's room.

My mom saw a Christmas decoration that she loved---a simple Christmas tree on a square canvas. She didn't buy it and described it to me. So, we created one of our own:
She took this one home with her and it looked so good in my kitchen that I made one of my own:
Sidney has been trying to make all sorts of paper ornaments for our tree, much to my dismay. My Christmas tree is sacred ground. Once it's decorated, it's not to be touched, rearranged, or otherwise renovated. My kids just don't seem to take that seriously and I end up with all sorts of the above. In an attempt to quench her need for ornament making, we made some ornaments for her classroom tree. Taylor joined in the fun and we made a few super cute ornaments:
And then there's my new love.

The Antique (and junque!) store. My dad recently got into Antique stores, so when I passed one every day I knew I must take my dad there. We have this piano that is truly an antique---1901 Chickering. The only thing missing was something to sit on. We've been dragging a kitchen chair to the piano for the last 5 years and have been hoping to find an antique piano stoool to go with it. Guess what we found at the antique store? My dad and Steve have been working on refinishing it and it's looking better every day (pictures when it's finished).

Two other things I got at the Antique store are a couple of pitchers for my built in shelves. One is most definitely not an antique, but the other is and I love them equally.

All of this has awakened the crafter/decorator inside of me and I have, oh, about a dozen projects in mind as of this morning. I believe it was just a few days ago when I was cursing my crafty friends' very names. Now, I'm thinking of joining their ranks again. At the very bottom of the totem pole of course.

adventures in gluten-free cooking

Thanksgiving is actually fairly easy to modify to gluten free (GF). Use GF flour on the turkey, cornstarch for the gravy and skip the stuffing. This year, however, after repeated Max & Ruby commercials where Max gets stuffed eating stuffing, Sidney really wanted stuffing with her Thanksgiving dinner. We were lucky enough to be invited to the home of new friends for dinner where DeAnné did most of the cooking, so I told Sidney I'd give GF stuffing a try.

I'm not sure how anyone cooked, cleaned, parented, crafted, or even survived B.I. (Before Internet). I know going GF would have been a much bigger ordeal without the Internet (aka my favorite GF resource). I searched among countless GF stuffing recipes to find a fairly simple version and got started.

It started with a loaf of GF Brown Rice bread cut into cubes and toasted in the oven.
I don't know what it is about this brand of bread we use, but I cannot stand the smell of it. I've made homemade gluten free breads (once or twice!) and they never smell. The taste is fine (as far as GF breads go), but the smell is icky, so I was glad to get some celery, onion, garlic, and other spices cooking on the stove. YUMMY!
Mixed all together with some chicken broth and it started to smell and look like stuffing. Topped with butter and baked it looked like the real deal.
And it tasted good! We're on to something!

this lemon isn't making any lemonade

A drive anywhere by myself is a rare treat these days as is a grocery shopping trip by myself. I fully enjoyed the quiet in the van and shopping without stopping to pick up my list off the floor after Stella had thrown it out for the tenth time or breaking out the fruit snacks to keep her happy for 2 minutes.

After a long shopping trip of dogging turkey and stuffing seeking shoppers (no turkeys to be found) and a cart filled to overflowing, I loaded everything into the back of the van. I sat down in the driver's seat with a big sigh and moment of regret for not buying anything tasty to drink on the way home. I did have that much needed gallon of bunny tracks ice cream to look forward to when I got home, though, so I quickly put the key in the ignition and turned.

All in the turn of the ignition, the needles on the gauges started jumping around, the lights on the panel started blinking, the windshield wipers came on and sprayed wiper fluid on the windshield, the doors were locking and unlocking and the horn was blaring. I think the only thing that didn't happen was the starting of the engine. I think I laughed. Nothing was funny, but if I didn't laugh, I think I would have truly thought my van was possessed and have run screaming. I waited a moment or two and tried again---nothing but a blaring horn and locks locking and unlocking. Fantastic.

I called Steve at home and he cursed the name of our Lemon of a Van for not the first time, and found the roadside assistance phone number for me. Roadside Assistance sent someone to jump start the van, but he quickly discovered there was nothing wrong with the battery and was only rewarded with a horn in his face when I tried starting the van. The very nice 70-year-old man with very little, if any, teeth offered to drive me home when he found out that Steve couldn't come get me (kids asleep and not enough car seats for them). I politely declined his offer even when he reminded me that he was old enough to be my great-grandfather. I was too tired to make his day by telling him that he was only a year old than my Father.

I called Steve again and we tried to figure out a way to get me and the groceries home. Steve was worried about the meat going bad. All I could think about was my gallon of ice cream slowly melting in the back. Luckily for the groceries, but unluckily for me clad in flip flops and short sleeves, it was a cold night. I called the only person from church I know more than just in passing (she's a facebook friend, how much closer can we get than that!?), but couldn't get a hold of her. I called the only other person I really know here, my long-time Internet friend, Jess. She didn't hesitate to jump in her car and come rescue my ice cream me.

The fate of the lemon is still undecided. This morning it was towed 2+ hours away to the nearest Saturn dealership after other GM dealerships right where we live wouldn't service it (never mind that Chevy has the EXACT van with a Chevy name). All I know is that thing is not giving me any lemonade. At least I still have my ice cream.

who you callin' a tramp?

I've always said I wouldn't ever have a trampoline. Words Eaten.

When we broke the big news to the kids that we were moving to Arkansas, one of the first things we told them was that we would have a big yard and would get them a trampoline. They were sold!

We made good on our promise and finally got it all set up on Saturday. Taylor and Sidney spent most of the day out there and Stella joined them later. They jumped yesterday until it was dark and time to come inside for dinner and started asking to go out to jump at 6:30 this morning (when it was still dark and wet outside). I'd say it's a hit!

tractor dad

Part of the fun of having a nice big yard is having a nice big ride-on lawn mower! Steve's lawn mowing debut turned out to be quite the show. Taylor and Sidney cheered him on (go daddy go!) and the horses in the field behind us trotted over to get a glimpse (and proceeded to run away when the mower backfired).

I'm not sure mowing the lawn is supposed to be this much fun!

musings of new writers

Watching my child learn to read/write is a complete joy to me! I've always loved to read and there are times when I love to write and seeing my kids find the joy in that is high on my list. Sidney just turned 5 years old and is learning to read and write. I've been finding some funny little notes around the house---on paper, on the chalkboard, etc. Here's some of the latest and greatest:

MUSKTEER iS THE BEST (Barbie has a musketeers movie out that Sidney loves).

SiDNEY iS THE BEST
TAYLOR iS THE NOT GOOD
STELLA iS THE CUTE

JANESSA BCUS YOO R MY BEST FRED I LUV YOO

SiDNEY iS THE BEST BCUS SHEE CAN ACT LiC U PRiNSSUSS

I love that she uses all caps except for the "i"s.

Sidney is just following in the footsteps of big brother, Taylor, who likes to write short stories, and loves reading. He is whipping right through the "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" books ( he read two last week and is halfway through another one!) and tries to read for an hour a night! Yesterday, he started writing a story that I found lying around. I'm not sure why the funny spacing....but I got a kick out of it!

Moon Myiesterys #1

Chapter 1
are we on the moon?

Once there was
1 asternot.
They live in orlando, flarda.
One time they blasted
into space!
There misson
was to
go to the moon.
When they have got there he
said "Are
we on the
moon?"
And Something anssered.
And it said "yes."

Talk about a cliffhanger! My kids are awesome!

halloween part II

Have you heard the one about The Ninja, The Witch, and The Puppy?

Me neither. And it's probably not even funny.

Halloween got put on the back burner this year because of our big move to Arkansas. If we could have managed it, Halloween wouldn't have even happened this year, but as kids grow up and go to school, their teachers teach them silly things like how to read a calendar and there was no getting around it. This is the first year that we bought a costume at the store for Taylor. Normally I would care. This year, I don't! I did put together Stella's, so maybe my mom-of-the-year award won't be taken away just yet.

It took one or two houses for Stella to catch on to the trick-or-treating idea. She learned very quickly to go up to the door, speech some gibberish and hold open her bag. When she got candy, she waved goodbye and took off down the driveway saying "Go!" It was completely adorable and even though she was mistaken for a cow, she was the cutest puppy (a tie, of course, for the puppy that Taylor dressed as for his 2nd Halloween).

halloween part I

I used my powers of persuasion to talk the kids into painting their pumpkins this year instead of carving (because I'm the master carver in the house and that was not on my mile long list of things to do). They must have sensed the borderline hysteria in my voice, because they complied and were happy about it.

There are some artists in the family (and that list does not include me) and one of my favorite things is to watch my kids use their creative skills and be little artists. However, next time, Taylor's artistic flair might have to be taken outside to prevent the splatters of red paint that ended up all over the kitchen. Stella had her first painting experience and was enthralled! I let her get messy, but drew the line when she started painting her face and then her chair. There are many more pictures of Stella because, well, it's her first time and these things must be documented. Enjoy!

oh Arizona!

There are some things I will not miss about living in Arizona (the scorching summers, scorpions, and cinderblock fences to start). But there are certainly some things I will miss....

'Winter' in Arizona: Just beautiful and just perfect. A whole season of outdoor living: crisp, but not freezing mornings where the kids can go out and play and comfortable afternoons.

School in Arizona: Uniforms, oh how I love thee, Uniforms! And what's not to love about my kids practicing Yoga at school (and then going outside before school on a beautiful October morning and practicing Yoga in the backyard)?

There are other things (and people!!!) of course that we will miss, but the beautiful October days we are having right now bring these things to heart and mind. Leaving Arizona in July would be much easier!

just a little on the trashy side

If you are like me and have a 4-year-old who wears glasses, you probably are like me and visit the eye doctor's office for repairs, adjustments, etc more than you would like. The office is great---very nice, very helpful, and they have a little children's play area to keep my kids entertained while we wait. The only problem with said play area is that it's open to those working there trying to help people choose glasses, work out their payments, etc. My kids aren't known for being especially quiet, so the faster we can get in and out of there, the better. I was just there two weeks ago for Sidney's annual eye exam where she spent 20 minutes trying on every pair of children's frames in the place before ultimately choosing the first pair she tried on. I had hoped it was the last time I'd be in there for awhile, but not so...

Taylor had his annual eye exam yesterday and I scheduled it immediately after school thinking "hey, we'll already be out and in the car, it will kill some time after school, Stella will be occupied playing in the play area. Plus, Sidney needs to pick up her new glasses. Kill two birds with one stone! Great!"

I had about 20 minutes until I needed to leave to pick up the older kids from school and I'm hanging out with Stella and hear the (locked) front door open. This is not the first time in the last couple of weeks this has happened---a few Realtors forgot to call us to show our home and assumed it was vacant. I greeted the realtor at the door and if I didn't want to sell my house so badly, I would have told her to come back the next day, but alas, I do want to sell my house, so I told her to give me 15-20 minutes and then come back. I thought I was home free from any showings by this time of the day, so the house wasn't exactly ready. I raced frantically around the house cleaning up toys, lunch dishes, wiping up crumbs, and making a bed or two. By the time I make it out of the house and into the van I smell something funky and feel something damp. I look down and realize I've got some wicked pit stains on my orange shirt. Oh well, too late to change shirts or put on some more deodorant. I'll just try and keep my arms down.

I picked up Taylor and Sidney from school and instead of my usual a-little-disheveled-but-mostly-presentable kids picked up a couple of I-rolled-in-my-lunch-instead-of-eating-it-and-I'm-not-sure-any-of-the-marker-made-it-on-the-paper kids. No time to go home and change, so I think, "It's okay--they are clearly wearing their school uniforms so people will know they just got messy at school and we don't really live like pigs." I dole out snacks to eat on the way there and off we go.

We arrive and I unbuckle and lift Stella out of her car seat and smell something funky and feel something damp. Unfortunately, it was not just my armpits this time. No time to change her diaper b/c we are barely on time as it is, so we rush inside. After a few minutes I realize a diaper change can't wait a moment longer and I go out to the car with Stella. Her shorts are beyond wearable and she refuses to wear her shoes. I head back in with a red face and armpit stains, and a tank-top- and-a-diaper only toddler who won't wear shoes.. To add to the general trashy look she had going, she pulled the elastic out of her hair and now looks like a cockatoo or rooster (take your pick.)

Luckily Taylor was sent back to the eye doctor pretty quickly (but only after he crawled all over the floor chasing a train and making a racket) and I was left with the girls. Here I am with a cute 4-year-old with blue marker on her face, some big unidentifiable stains all over her powder blue polo and a toddler who looks a little bit like an orphan. Of course, this seems to be their busiest time of day and a parade of people are in and out of the place. Lots of moms come in with kids for eye exams. One little girl who looks about 5 comes in with her blond hair perfectly combed and with a headband with a big red bow on top and pretty much looks like she stepped out of a gymboree ad. She sits happily with her mother. Another little girl (maybe 5) and her brother (about 8) who are also school uniform clad, but clean and well groomed also arrive and play quietly and sweetly with the toys. I, pit stains and baby belly and all, chase the barefoot-diaper-clad toddler around the place while she tries to swipe every pair of frames conveniently displayed at her eye level while my disheveled Kindergartner tries to be the mom and chases her too.

I know if I was 'the other mom' watching this display I'd be chuckling and thinking 'ug, I hate days like that!' Maybe it was my own insecurity, but the looks on these mom's faces seemed to say "woman, get control of your life, get some clothes on your children, wash their clothes, and for heaven's sake, get some new anti-perspirant! And what on earth are you doing having another baby anyway?"

I guess it could have been much worse....I could have been the barefoot one...

silly stella

I call this photo "Leave me alone, I'm trying to sleep on this oh-so-comfy lego table."

Stella has been my first real climber and get-into-everything kid. She has her own ideas of where to do, what to do, and how to get to it. As I snapped this picture of her last night while she was pretending to sleep on the lego table (maybe she has a future with the circus laying on a bed of nails?) I thought about all the silly photos I have captured of her being her silly self. So this entire photo blog post is dedicated to my Silly Stella Sue. She couldn't make me laugh and smile more!