So the gender confusion goes both ways...

I thought I just had a little boy who looked up to his big sister and would sometimes do girly things...

But then today Sarah TT'd in the potty, standing up. She stood on the stool, faced the potty and somehow managed to thrust her hips forward enough to not make a huge mess.

She was so surprised when, instead of being proud, I asked her not to do it again.

*help*

Get that girl a crossword puzzle

The other day Sarah was telling me that she wants to be a doctor like Uncle B when she grows up.

Jack told me he wanted to be a fairy when grows up.

I said, "Hang on... What? You want to be a fairy?"

Sarah said, "No, mom. He said 'farrier'".

I said, "Wow, do you even know what that is?"

She said, "Yeah, the person who puts horseshoes on the horses."

:)
I'm so proud. She's got a crossword-puzzle, random-word-knowing vocabulary.

Then again, if Jack actually did use the word "farrier", so does he. ;)

Resurrection Eggs

So one of my projects tomorrow is going to be to make Resurrection Eggs with my kids. If you don't know what they are... They are plastic eggs filled with symbols of the Easter story and a Bible verse explaining the significance.

For example, one is filled with coins representing the silver that Judas was paid to betray Jesus.

One has a toothpick representing the spear that pierced his side.

One has a rock alluding to the stone in front of the tomb.

The last one is empty because Jesus is risen.

(obviously there are 8 more that I'm not writing about. Google it if you want. haha)

Anyway, I really am excited about going through the Easter story with the kids and starting to explain what it's all about.


But for the record and on a side note...
I know there are people who have problems with the Easter bunny or any type of commercial things associated with religious holidays. I think the Easter bunny is fun. Trust me the kids don't believe there's an actual rabbit coming into our house hiding eggs. They know it's a game... And hiding and re-hiding eggs over and over again is an activity that can last for days. So yes... I will be doing "regular" eggs as well. :)

Happiness in my heart

The five of us went to The Blackeyed Pea for dinner last night. First dinner with all 5 of us at a sit down restaurant without a play area. No crying. No meltdowns. It was wonderful. I looked at Jason from across the table and said, "Look at us. Almost filling up a table for 6. Feels good to sit as a full, complete family. And no one's crying! This is good! My heart is happy."

My ALDI experience

I tried out the new store.... well, at least it's new to me. If you're curious about it, you can read about it at www.aldi.com

I'm glad I went to the website before going because it prepped me for the following things that I would not have known otherwise:

1. You pay to use your shopping cart... (yes, you get your money back)

There's a little machine on every shopping cart that keeps them attached to one another. In order to free your cart, you have to put a quarter into the machine. Once you're finished with your cart, as soon as you return it, you get your quarter back.

Apparently this cuts down on costs because shopping carts aren't being lost or running into your car, etc.

2. You can't be particular about buying brand names

They don't have many brand names. It's all sold under their brands.

However, little tidbit of info... Jason's boss has toured a Dole foods factory. (I won't get into why he did that...) But on the tour, the Dole representative was explaining that a certain amount of fruit was being packaged in Dole containers. And then they had a contract with WalMart to package some of their fruit in WalMart brand (I think it's called "Great Value") containers. Same fruit. Same factory. The "off brand" wasn't really off at all. It was Dole, wrapped in WalMart packaging,

I tell you that story to say that I have found that the toaster pastries I bought are just like Kellogg's Pop Tarts. And the no name fish sticks seem to be Gorton's. I'm usually a brand name shopper and DO NOT have the patience to clip coupons. Going to ALDI forced me to shop differently and I noticed in the prices... I'll get to that later.

3. They don't have everything you'll need.

No baby stuff. Few OTC medications. No deli. No pharmacy. So you will have to make a separate trip to another store for those items.

4. Bring your own bags from home and sack your own groceries.

Both of these things I'm happy to do. I think it's always good to bring bags instead of using the plastic ones at the store. I just never got in the habit of doing it, but I really liked bringing my own environmentally-conscious, reusable bags.

And when they scan your items, they put them right back in the basket, unsacked. You then go to this little counter area after you pay and can sack everything there.

The spin they put on this is that they're not spending money hiring sackers. Most major grocery stores, according to them, hide the cost of plastic bags, employees who will sack your groceries, and shopping carts that could be stolen or damaged by upping their prices on your groceries. They are able to save us money by making us sack our own groceries. Tactful spin, huh?

5. No credit cards or checks. Cash and debit cards only.

So at the end of the day, I bought all my groceries for breakfast, lunch and dinner for the entire week and spent.... drumroll please.... $56. FIFTY-SIX DOLLARS!!!
(Not to out myself on how crappy my kids eat, but... fruit snacks, cheese crackers, chicken nuggets, fish sticks, OJ, 2 kinds of milk, yogurt, all the meats and fish that I'll be cooking for dinner, cereal, bread, tortillas, etc.... 56 bucks...)

I did not need to buy diapers this week but I did need some OTC meds and some baby food (plus I needed a couple of grocery items that ALDI didn't carry) so I made a separate trip to WalMart and spent $30 there.

So all in all... I spent under $100 on groceries this week. Normally, with my Reward card at Tom Thumb or Kroger, I spend around $120. If I need to buy cleaning products or diapers, we're looking at closer to $200.

This week $86.

Of course, if you want to be picky, the one I went to was up in Frisco and I took the Tollway.. so add in the cost of tolls. And then I had to make a separate trip to WalMart, so I guess you could figure that I had to spend money on gasoline... blah blah blah.

But I'm pumped about how much I saved. It was definitely an experience. It would take some getting used to. But I'll be going again for sure.

So those are my editorial comments on Aldi. :)

Pros and Cons... The distance between babies

Having had my first 2 kids 14 months apart... and then having 2 1/2 years between my youngest two... I've been asked recently (mostly by women with one baby who are interested in when to start trying for #2) which is the better distance.

First you know that I laugh sometimes at people who think they can plan when they're going to have a baby. It happens when it happens. You can do your best to get pregnant. You can do your best to prevent pregnancies. But sometimes God plans things that you don't.

Having said that though... operating under the assumption that you can totally plan these things out... here are my pros and cons of spreading them out and having them close together.

Having them within about a year of each other:

Pros:

1. The house is already babyproofed.

2. You're still in "baby mode". You haven't really had the taste of freedom that comes from a child that's potty trained or can talk or can dress him/herself. So it's easy to gear back down to newborn status.

3. You probably haven't already gotten rid of your baby gear. Your older one outgrows something and it almost immediately goes to the baby. VERY LITTLE time, if any, spent in storage.

4. Kinda tied to #2, you're already strapped down, moving in slow motion. There's no such thing yet as a quick trip anywhere. You're accustomed to packing a diaper bag. You know the drill about getting out the stroller or parking near a shopping cart return. It's second nature, so you're less likely to be grumpy about slowing your life down again to accomodate a newborn.

5. You have a built in play date. The kids are almost like twins.. but not. They play together and entertain each other because they're very close to being on the same level... especially when they hit toddler/preschool ages.

6. Your oldest has ZERO jealousy of the baby. No comprehension of what is going on. S can't even remember a time in her life that J wasn't around.


Cons:

1. I had a crawler and a newborn because S was a really late walker. That's hard.

2. You barely have any time to get the weight off before it's going right back on. And with each kid (I don't care how far apart they are) it gets harder to get the weight off simply because you have less time to work out.

3. J's infancy is a blur. I don't remember a thing about him because I was sooo consumed with S, since she could do nothing for herself. I am more in tune with C, even though I have 2 other kids because my 2 other kids are old enough to play independently.

4. You may need 2 of some things. 2 high chairs. 2 cribs. Get rid of your single stroller and buy a double. There's definitely more money to be spent when you can't use the baby stuff from your first child.


Spreading them out at least a couple of years:

Pros:

1. Your other child is more independent! This is huge. It can also be challenging having one in the "terrible 2s" and having a baby. But just the idea that you're not bottle feeding both. Or that at least one of your kids can talk to you.. that helps a ton.

2. If you hang on to your baby stuff (which I suggest doing unless and until it is medically impossible for you to get pregnant) then you don't have to buy much.

3. You've had enough time to forget the woes of infancy. It actually seems fun and cute to pull out the teeny tiny clothes. And buy the teeny tiny diapers. Aw, so cute. Because you've blocked out the sleepless nights when you've been sleeping well for the last couple of years.

4. You've had enough time away from your maternity clothes to enjoy (kinda) pulling them out again. You had forgotten that you had that cute dress or that comfy top, etc.

5. Your older child might actually be helpful. Don't misunderstand... he or she is still a child and may not be super helpful all the time... but sometimes they are good about handing you a diaper or entertaining the baby while you take a shower.

Cons:

1. Re-babyproofing, including throwing out all kinds of choking hazards and trying desperately to impress on a 2 yr old that Goldfish crackers left on the ground could choke the baby.

2. Gearing back down. Slowing down again can be a tad frustrating. When your oldest is pottytrained or close to being pottytrained, you start to kinda think... "Ok, now this is good." And it can be hard to go back to... "Crap, I need to be home in the morning AND afternoon to let the baby take a nap."

3. It takes a little bit longer sometimes for the older one to really care about the younger one. Really babies don't do an awful lot for the first 6 mos and that can seem like an ETERNITY to a 2 yr old. He or she may be excited about the new baby but can quickly lose interest when he/she realizes this baby doesn't do anything.

4. Tied to #3, jealousy. It's hard when it's all about the baby and you have a toddler on your hands that, with or without a newborn, is prone to temper tantrums.


That's all I can really think of for now... IF I'VE FORGOTTEN ANYTHING MOMS OF MORE THAN ONE, LEAVE A COMMENT!!... To conclude and sum it all up...

Having a baby... and going from 1 to 2... has challenges. Just like you didn't really know what to expect with your first, it's hard to really know what to expect with your 2nd. BUT no matter how you do it or when you do it, expanding your family is exciting!! And challenges that are met and conquered are AWESOME! Soooo I say, if you know you want another child, be responsible if you know you're not ready for another just yet (I learned that lesson) but leave it in God's hands and trust that HE knows what you can handle. You'll surprise yourself. You can do more than you thought you could!!

Is poop clean if you wash it?

**Let me stop now and say that this entire post is way too much information for you, I know.***

Jason used to always ask that question when S was a baby. It cracks me up!! We sooo treat poop stains like it's totally fine if the stain is on a clean pair of baby jammies.

Just folded a pair of C's PJs that are stained from an accident that happened yesterday. Yes, I preteated the stain and I immediately washed it...twice. But somehow it ended up stained nonetheless. So technically there's poop on her clothes. But her clothes have been washed and dried. So they're clean right? And if the poop stain has been washed, then it's clean too... right??

I mean, I won't be taking her to church in these, but I say they're fine for around the house.

Because poop is clean if you wash it.

Aldi

Have you been seeing the commercials for this new grocery store? I wonder if it really is cheaper. I'm always excited about new stores and the possibility of saving money. I think I'm going to try out the new store in Frisco.

If you've been, let me know what you think. I'll let you know what I think when I get back.

Little Girl's Hair

I am sooo bad at fixing hair. Somehow I am missing that part of my DNA..... It's a gene I should have because I would consider myself a fairly girly girl (i.e. I prefer dresses to pants... not to be confused with "high maintenace" girly). But I don't know how to do anything.

S has curly hair and it's getting longer every day. When it's wet, it hits her mid-back. Long enough to do some fun things with. But I don't know how. French braiding? Not a clue. She wanted a bun the other day for her dance class. I can do one on me but couldn't figure out how to do one on her. If she wanted me to get my CHI and straighten the darn thing and then pull it into a ponytail, I could definitely handle that. That's how I "fix" mine.

They actually offer a class through the city's parks and recreation catalog on "fixing girl's hair". Bring your daughter and a brush and they'll teach you how to do something other than stick a headband on her. I'm seriously considering going.

And with C... there's really nothing I can do. I LOVE LOVE LOVE when I see babies in big bows. But my baby in a big bow looks stupid. I don't like it. I think it's too fussy on my kids. But hopefully by the time she has enough hair to fix, I'll have this thing down, and my girls will have cute hair.

Thank goodness I can just keep J's hair short and call it a day.

Is anyone else as hopeless as me?

I love a good meal in a box (or bag)

I've often mentioned how I'm not the greatest cook. I actually can cook. I just don't enjoy it, so I look for easy ways out. And I often rotate the same meals in and out, over and over again.

So here are my favorite cop outs when I can't think of what to cook....



How great is Buitoni?? Boil some water. 7 minutes later, dinner is served. Mmmm.



I happen to love Chinese food and found that this is pretty good, in my opinion. I've done the boxed version where all you add is chicken. And I've done the frozen version. Both are good. Not good for you, but I'm all about ease.



This is a dressed up version of Hamburger Helper's cousin, Chicken Helper. Something about it coming out of a Macaroni Grill box though makes me feel like I made something better than average.



This is my all time favorite. All you need is 10 mins and a skillet. Add a bagged Caesar salad and some garlic bread and call it a meal. Kisha and I have talked about the greatness that is Bertollis. They also have Oven Bake meals. What's great about them (other than how fast they are) is that they are designed for 2 people so you don't have massive amounts of leftovers if it's just you and the husband eating that night.

So there are my favorite cheats when I "cook" but don't really do much!

This summer is filling up

The kids' social calendar is starting to get some things on it for the summer. I am so excited! Now I just need to wait for the Parks and Rec catalog to come out and fill up some more down time with things to keep them busy.

As an added bonus, S and J can do classes together because of their ages. That makes scheduling much easier!

I make no sense...

I worried so much over this blog and whether it was safe to post certain things on here... blah blah blah... you know my issues...

But then today I turn around and sell something on craigslist. I tell the guy where I live. The kids and I are here by ourselves, and I let him in my house without worrying about it at all.

How does that make any sense?

Smart, Julie... Worry about hypothetical people out in cyberspace, but let strangers into your home when your husband's at work. Thank goodness God looks out for me when I'm an idiot.

Who are you?

Does anybody else get friend requests on FB from people that you know you should know, but you have no idea who they are? The name sounds familiar, but you can't really place how you know them. Then you realize your mutual friends are, let's say, high school friends. So then you think... Ok I should know you from high school. But I don't remember you at all.

I hate that.

Ruthless Spring Cleaning

Today is another round of filling donation bags with the kids' toys while they're at school. The stuff just accumulates. It's maddening. I don't need help making messes. I'm pretty good at being disorganized all by myself. (Should've put that as one of the 6 things I'm a master of.)

Why do the kids always seem to play with the toys right before I'm about to give them away? It makes me feel kinda guilty about getting rid of them.

But today I'm being ruthless. If I haven't seen anyone play with it in the last week, it's gone. And, in some instances, if I haven't seen them play with it for longer than 5 minutes (I don't care how recently) then it's gone.

3 big bags are already full. Feels good.

Just Being Helpful

Yesterday my doorbell rang. It was the 2 girls (ages 9 and 7) that live down the street from us. When I opened the door, they asked if I had anything that I needed them to do.

My first question was: Who are you? (Yes, they live down the street from me, but I didn't know that until yesterday. I had never seen them before.)

I asked them what they meant... Do I have anything for them to do? What?

They said, "Well we could sweep these leaves off your front porch."

Um, ok. Thanks... I was still confused. I flat out asked them, "Why do you want to sweep the leaves off my porch?"

Then the 9 yr old said, "We just want to be helpful."

They went home and came back with a rake and a trash bag and cleaned my front porch.

Not for money. Really for no reason at all. They just wanted to be helpful.

I realized how cynical and grouchy I must've sounded. But I've never had someone ring my doorbell and ask me if they could do something nice for me for nothing in return.

Kids can be so great at restoring your faith in people. Thanks, girls. What you did for me was super nice, and I appreciate it!!

Just checked the school district website...

Kindergarten Registration is in TWO weeks!!

Wow... It's starting to feel real that I have one who's old enough to go to kindergarten.

I'm not sad yet... Still in disbelief. But I know "sad/sentimental" will hit me soon.

Master Award

One of my best blogging friends Elizabeth gave me the Master Blog Award. This means that I need to share 6 things that I am a Master at. And I'll name 6 people to share their master skills (if they want to play along)...


6 things I am a master of:

1. Arguing

Believe it or not... because I really am not confrontational with most people. But if I have to argue (or if I'm just in the mood to argue) I can shut someone down. Not that that's something to be proud of... :) I talk fast, have a good memory of the points the other person made, and am capable of thinking on my feet. I'd rather not disagree with people... I'm just talking about when I'm pushed into a corner. I don't like to argue about things that get me super worked up though... religion, politics, things like that. To me, that's stressful and frustrating because it's just a never ending cycle of opinions that aren't going to change.


2. Multi-tasking

I can refill a cup while holding a baby, microwaving chicken nuggets, talking on the phone, and picking things up off the floor with my toes.


3. Proofreading

I do not follow grammatical rules on the blog, but I know every one of them and have a habit of proofing things that are in print. I will be the first to find the misspelled word, the inappropriately placed punctuation, or the gerund participle phrase that should've begun with a possessive pronoun. I LOVE GRAMMAR!! (Oh, and Elizabeth, I too have a love of diagramming sentences. There's something so satisfying about it.) lol!


4. Quick grocery shopping

I'm pretty sure people are annoyed with me when I'm in the store because I push that cart with conviction and walk with purpose. Outta my way!! I'm sorry that you don't know where the cereal you're looking for is, but I know what I'm looking for and I'm gonna have to get around you now. I try to move quickly because, ever since I had my kids, I feel like there's an internal countdown clock, ticking towards someone having a meltdown. I feel the need to hurry up because you never know when someone's gonna lose it... and it just might be me. :)


5. Crossword puzzles

I've mentioned this before. I love 'em and am pretty good at them.


6. Doctor's visits with my kids

I'm good at getting in with all 3, knowing in which order each kid needs to be seen so as to minimize crying, and the things to say to get the doctor's attention. :) For example, a doctor might send you away if you say that your child has only been sick for 5 days. If you say it's been at least a week, then you're taken a little more seriously, and you can get the cold addressed then, instead of having to make another appointment a week later. (I don't fudge like that often. But I have done it once or twice.)


Here's who I pass the baton to...

Jennie
Holly
Kisha
Amanda
Laura
Stefani

My new quest

With swimsuit season rapidly approaching, I raise the white flag and surrender to the one piece bathing suit. Although I have busted my butt after each pregnancy, I have no business in a bikini. No one needs to see the tummy that has droopy, saggy skin hanging down from it every time I bend over.

So now I'm off to find an age-appropriate (I'm 30, not 50), cute (because I believe a cute one exists) one piece bathing suit.

If you run across one, let me know!!!

Spring Break has taught me...

that I need to have at least one activity scheduled every weekday this summer. The kids need things to do!!

(It sucks to have a pool in our backyard that we can't use during the summer days because I can't handle 3 kids who can't swim all by myself.)

Which reminds me...

First activity: swim lessons!!!!

S's first mani/pedi

As a Spring Break treat (and because Mommy has been totally preoccupied with J for the last week), KK babysat the 2 little kids and we went to the nail salon. :)

I admit, it was a little over the top to let her have a spa pedicure. And she insisted on wearing her sunglasses, hat, and sundress... so I did feel a little like I was walking in with a diva... but it was super fun. She loved it!! She picked out purple sparkly polish. We'll definitely go again sometime as a special treat.

(And I hadn't had a pedicure since before C was born so my toes... and heels..really needed the attention.)

Congratulations, B and Abby!

My little brother, Brian, found out today where he matched to do his residency. He'll be heading back to VA!!! Congrats!!

This was his Facebook status:

Otolaryngology-head and neck surgery at the University of Virginia.

This is where he wanted to go, and I know he and his wife are super excited!!!

Lots of patience and hard work for the last few years... by both Brian AND Abby! Hooray! Congratulations, yall!

Keep your spoons, Moms

FYI:

Baby spoons are the perfect size for stirring cocktails.

;)

Potty Training (3rd Attempt, Day Three)

No accidents!!!

Tells me when he needs to go.

Goes by himself.

Wakes up dry in the morning.

Words cannot express my joy and relief!!

This is a HUGE hurdle we're clearing because he is such a strong-willed child. :)

Pics

There was an in-store photo shoot inside Janie and Jack at the mall. One of those deals where if you spend "x", then you get a complimentary 8 by 10 photo. Of course, if you like the pics, you can forego your FREE picture and spend $$ you don't need to be spending to buy more pictures at a discounted rate.

Anyhow... that's what I did. I bought a few pics of the kids. I still need to do a family photo shoot where I have bazillions of pictures to choose from but this was fun.

It was hard to get everyone to smile at the same time and C was NOT having it, so this was one of the only shots where she wasn't crying.

Alright I'm back...

So I tried going private. No, nothing weird happened. I just was feeling weird about having pics and stories and info about my family on the internet. But I guess it's really no different than having pics of my kids stored on kodakgallery.com. It's certainly not any different than Facebook.

You should know though that I'm that person that won't put the kids' names on backpacks when they head off to elementary school. I won't put the kids' names and team name and jersey number on the back of my car someday. (In fact, sometimes I play a game when I'm driving where I see how much I can tell about a family just by the stickers on their car. You'd be surprised how many times I could tell you where the kids go to school, what their names are, what sports they're interested in, etc. I'm just not comfortable with that personally. Although I don't judge people for being more laid back than me.) There's just a certain amount of privacy that I feel is good.


But I hated being private on the blog. It never told anyone when I had updated my blog. And not to sound like I need people to read my blog, but I missed having my friends check up on me. :)

Soooo, the compromise is this...

I'm going to be more aware of not posting where I live or too much information.

I have done the statcounter that Elizabeth suggested, so I can stay on top of who is logging on to my webpage.

And I think I'm going to try to use initials when I talk about the kids instead of full names. (That may be too hard to keep up with because it's not natural. But I know other people do it, just as an added safeguard.)


Thanks for being patient with me as I figure out how to blog in the way that I'm most comfortable.

*sigh* I have so many issues. :)

Potty Training (3rd Attempt, Day Two)

Making progress.. Yippee!!!

Many successes

Few accidents... so far

(Man, I hope I didn't just jinx it.)

Potty Training (3rd Attempt, Day One)

It sucks.

Do I really need to elaborate? :)

A few small successes.

Many many many big messes.

Keeping fingers crossed for improvement tomorrow.

Shouldn't have gone...

Please read the flyer above. What do you envision?

I told my kids that I would take them to the mall Saturday where there would be butterflies and balloons and maybe even some face painting, if the lines weren't too long. (But I knew the lines would be long.) There was even a description of the event on the mall website advertizing a LIVE butterfly show and release.

We got there. There was some guy dressed up in some goofy outfit like he was about to go bug-catching, rambling on and on... and on... about the life cycle of a butterfly. No real butterflies. Not one. And at the end of his THIRTY MINUTE dissertation, he called 6 children from the audience to hold plastic butterfly wings and run around the stage.. as though they were butterflies in flight.

What? Lame.

J started crying because he was bored and frustrated (and he's been getting in funky 3 yr old moods lately). C was squirmy and heavy (should've brought the stroller). Swas in the best mood of the 3, but only because she's the oldest and, generally speaking, the happiest.

So I took the kids to get in line for face painting. It was long line as expected and there was only one face painter. 50 kids in line. One face painter.

So we went to get in line to get a balloon. It was a clown who made balloon animals. Who VERY SLOWLY made balloon animals. Who VERY SLOWLY made balloon animals and carelessly popped a few and had to start over.

Again. By myself. 3 kids. 1 trying to squirm out of my arms. 1 throwing a fit at my left hip. 1 standing by my right hip, begging me to stand in the balloon line a little while longer.

Finally I found myself begging my 4 yr old to let us leave. Please, S. I just want to go. Get out of this line. Call this outing a bust and be done.

As a compromise, we went to the play area in the mall.

As we got ready to leave, S asked, "That was it??? We're done??? But we didn't get a balloon. Or get our faces painted. And I didn't see a butterfly."

I was exhausted. I was frustrated. And I felt duped by the misleading flyer.

Spring Break Plans

The kids are home all next week. No dance. No preschool. No Bible study. So I'm going to make the most of this time and I'm going to do "Project Potty Train J part 3". Hopefully this time will work. I'm optimistic now, since he's older and Caroline's older so I can get more time away from her to focus on him.

Also on the agenda as of 12:00 today... I have agreed to pet sit for our neighbor. There's a really great family who lives diagonally from us. They are going out of town for Spring Break and have asked us to watch their gerbils.

I know what you're thinking because I'm thinking it too... Sick. Rodents.

But they stay in a 10 gallon fish tank as opposed to one of those wire cages where all the mess can fall out. And she swears I won't have to touch them. Just give them a cup of food every day and change the water every couple of days.

Honestly, I bet the kids will think it's fun to watch them through the glass. I just hope they don't come away from this week of pet-sitting thinking that I'm getting them gerbils. Cuz there's no way that's happening.

No $$

I've decided that next week (Spring Break) I'm not spending needless money on my kids. No extra cash coming out of this wallet to keep them from whining or to entertain them. We have food in the pantry; there's no need for a Happy Meal. I trip over their toys daily; I shouldn't have to hear, "I'm bored." Libraries are free. Parks are free. We can go to the mall and play on that playground. But I am NOT forking over extra dough to eat in the Food Court or ride those little cars that take 75 cents. (Do you remember when they only cost a quarter???)

Not only do I feel like I "nickel-and-dime" my money away and it's time to tighten the belt.... I also don't think they appreciate it. I just spent $15 this morning at the mall on the above mentioned mechanical rides and Food Court, and I didn't get one thank you. Not one. Spoiled, spoiled, spoiled. And it's my fault. I control the money, and they're about to hear "no" a whole lot more.

C and S

Same age. Same outfit. It's fun having 2 girls born in July. I can do what you're never supposed to do as a parent, and that is... compare them. :)

C....




S...




I totally forgot about the chunky monkey phase S went through.

Blogging...

Hey,
I'm having some reservations about blogging lately. The safety side of it. I wonder if I put too much out there. My name... first and last... my kids' names.. ages... pictures. I know the ones that I know are reading my blog aren't crazies. But I wonder who I don't know that's reading my blog.

I'm thinking about changing the setting where you have to sign in to read. I know that's annoying to a reader, but I don't want to be stupid and assume that something that I'm posting on the internet can only be found by my friends and family.

I don't mean to sound paranoid. I'm not. But you can never be too careful.

Thoughts? Anyone?

UPDATE: So obviously I DID switch my settings. If you don't want to read anymore, I totally understand. It is a hassle to sign in. For whatever reason, I feel a lot freer to post whatever I want now that I know who can access my blog and who can't. :)