Menchaca Munchkins

Preschool Lessons

2011-09-08T18:32:00.000-07:00

Here are some lessons I, the mommy, has learned from preschool:

1. Empty your child's shoes before coming in the house, otherwise you'll have half the playground on your living room floor. (lesson learned on Sept. 6, 2011)

2. Little girls need to wear shorts under their dresses, especially if your child is a "monkey" on the playground. (lesson learned on Sept. 8, 2011)

Craft Time

2011-02-19T18:45:00.000-08:00

My kids love crafts and there is a store in Austin, Lakeshore Learning Store, that offers free crafts on Saturday. We went today for the first time in a long time and had a great time. Today's craft was making a presidential briefcase, in honor of President's Day coming up. The kids got to glue on sparkly dots, foam shapes, stars, and other crafty type items. They also got to blot dots on their briefcases to add color. They spent about 30 minutes working on their briefcases, it was so much fun to watch both kids be so focused on one activity. After that we walked around the store and played with many of the toys the employees had set out on small tables. The kids had a blast and it was a great way to spend a Saturday while Ben was at work.

Snow Day

2011-02-09T06:51:00.000-08:00

Last week we had our annual snow day of the year. Here in Austin we usually get one day in February that we get a small amount of snow. This year it snowed overnight and when we woke up our yard was covered in snow. Well, I don't know about "covered" since you could still see some grass sticking up, but it was enough for us. When Heidi woke up I took her to the window and had her look outside. In the softest most innocent voice she said, "snoooooooooow." She was so excited to see snow again. Noah gave the snow the funniest look. Last year for the snow day he was only 13 months old, not really old enough to remember the snow. When he looked outside his eyebrows furrowed and he stared at the white stuff covering his outdoor toys.

After breakfast the kids got bundled up, and of course I could not find both of Noah's gloves so he was stuck with wearing one of my gloves. He didn't mind. After we were all dressed we went outside to play in the snow. The kids couldn't wait to attack that snow. Heidi immediately fell into the snow and made a snow angel. Next she wanted to make a snowman, but the snow was too powdery and wouldn't stick together. Noah walked around and looked at all his toys in shock of the snow on them. After some play time the kids and daddy tried to have a snowball fight, but again the snow wouldn't stick. Instead of snowballs they had a snow-dusting fight. It was very cute and fun.

After all the outdoor excitement we went inside and cuddled by the fire to warm up. Unfortunately the snow didn't last long. The sun came out and by noon most of the snow had melted. One day of snow is enough for us here in Austin. We're looking forward to next year's snow day.

Heidi-isms

2011-02-02T20:32:00.000-08:00

Heidi is such a talker and often says things that we just can't believe came from her mouth. So here a few:

As we were walking through Kohl's Sunday night Ben and I heard her say, "Sucks for you mommy". I asked her what she said and she stopped in her tracks and said it again. Then I noticed she stopped right in front of a display of women's socks. "SOCKS for you mommy." (1/30/11)

During bedtime prayers Heidi prayed, "and God can you help my mommy to follow my directions the first time I say them." (1/31/11)

After tripping over a toy in the play room she got out her pretend phone and called her daddy. Here's how the conversation went, "Daddy can you come home now? I just lost my balance and can't seem to find it." (2/1/11)

"Today is Tuesday and the next day is Threes-Day". (2/8/11)

Noah is 2

2011-01-01T07:12:00.000-08:00

My baby boy is now a big 2 year old. We celebrated the last day of 2010 with Noah's birthday. The morning started with Heidi excitedly running into his room to wish him a happy birthday. Noah was all smiles from there on out. After breakfast I got the kids' clothes together to get dressed. Noah was so excited to put on his "Birthday Boy" shirt. He normally fights me on getting dressed in the morning, but not this day. He quickly got dressed and kept pointing to his shirt.

The original plan for the day was to take the kids to Chuck E Cheese for Noah's first play experience. Things did not turn out that way. Heidi was running a fever and not feeling well, so we decided to stay home and let her rest. We did take the kids out to lunch at Mighty Fine Burgers so that the birthday boy could have a cheeseburger, fries, and a chocolate milk shake. Normally I don't let the kids get french fries when we eat fast food, but since it was Noah's birthday I made an exception. The few times I've let him have a few fries he loved them so I knew this would be a special treat for him. He had a blast eating his special lunch and really enjoyed dipping the fries in the ketchup. His face was almost completely covered in ketchup by the time we were done eating. He might be a good eater, but not exactly a clean eater.

While the kids napped I wrapped Noah's presents and made the frosting for his cupcakes that I made the previous day. After Heidi woke up she came downstairs and helped me decorate the cupcakes. I frosted (using my new frosting gun my mom gave me for Christmas, and it was awesome!) and Heidi decorated with sprinkles. We had a good little system going. All the cupcakes got frosted and decorated while Noah was still sleeping. After he woke up and came downstairs we let him open his presents from us. He got a new Thomas the Train set and train, a baseball glove and ball (so he doesn't have to use Heidi's pink Dora glove and ball anymore), and a guitar. He quickly learned "mine" and was very reluctant to let Heidi play with any of his new toys. It took a little convincing, but he finally learned to share (not happily though). What can I say, he's a two year old, it'll take some time.

After dinner we put candles in the cupcakes and sang happy birthday to Noah. He was all smiles the entire time and tried really hard to blow out the candles. He got the first candle quickly, but struggled to get the second candle out. Eventually with Daddy's help the candle was blown out. Then the kids dove into their cupcakes, icing first. We had a great day celebrating Noah's birthday as a family and are looking forward to celebrating with friends at his upcoming party.

Favorite Holiday Memories

2010-12-30T07:33:00.000-08:00

There were a few things the kids did that made this holiday season so much fun:

*Noah's obsession of Candy Canes. He only ate one candy cane before Christmas, but was completely obsessed with them. And in Noah language it was: "Can Caaaaaaane".

*Heidi singing Christmas songs. She could pick up on just about any song and would sing it over and over. One of her favorites was Ruldoph the Red Nose Reindeer.

*Noah singing Jingle Bells: "jiji bells, jiji bells, jiji way"

*Watching Heidi take over 2 hours to make her gingerbread house.

*Noah learning about Santa Clause. The first time we saw Santa (right before Thanksgiving) Noah was so scared he wouldn't even look at Santa. Not too much after that he loved Santa and every time he would see a Santa he would yell "Tanta".

*Watching the kids get so excited each morning over moving the snowflake on the advent calendar.

*Taking the kids to look at Christmas lights in Austin. There were a few houses that went above and beyond decorating. We were very sad that the Trail of Lights was not up this year (a yearly tradition for us), so we had to make due with seeing a few houses.

*Seeing Noah's disappointed face when he opened a gift and it was clothes instead of a toy, priceless.

*Watching Heidi pick a gift at the store, put it on the ground, and say: "here Noah, pick this gift out for me."

*Hearing Heidi say "pink bike with a bell" whenever asked what she wanted for Christmas. It's a good thing Santa came through with her request. The reason she wanted a bell is so she can warn people she is coming so they can get out of her way.

*Hearing Noah say the words: "Pipmas Tree" and "Merry Pipmas".

*Watching Heidi rip through all the presents as quickly as possible without even looking at what was in the box.

It is so much fun watching Christmas through their eyes. Having little kids at Christmas time is so magical and wonderful. These are just a few of the great memories from Christmas 2010!

Christmas 2010

2010-12-27T07:20:00.000-08:00

I loved Christmas this year, it was full of memories. The kids were full of excitement over the entire holiday. Our Christmas started weeks ago when we went to Houston to see my 10 year old nephew in his first school play, A Dickens of a Christmas. It was a very cute play and I'm so glad we got the opportunity to go see him. While we were there we exchanged gifts with my sister and her kids. Noah's favorite gift was a dinosaur piggy bank. He sat on the ground for an hour putting coins in over and over. I took the plug out of the bottom so the coins would go straight through, it kept him busy for a long time.

The next weekend we traveled to Ft. Worth to spend the weekend with Ben's parents. We attempted to let Heidi and Noah share a room, but that did not go over so well. We exchanged gifts with "Nana and Papi" and had a great time there. Heidi got 2 new pairs of boots and has not worn any other shoes since receiving those.

Finally came Christmas at home. On Tuesday we went and looked at Christmas lights in Austin. There were some streets and houses that went all out. One guy takes 2 weeks off of work and devotes his 2 weeks to decorating the outside of his house. It was absolutely amazing. We'll go back there for sure in the next couple of years. Wednesday morning I took the kids to Walgreens to pick out presents for each other. Heidi picked out a little stuffed puppy and then found a little kitty cat that she wanted, so she put it on the ground and said "here Noah, pick this out for me." So of course I got the kitty cat as a gift from Noah to Heidi. She definitely knows what she wants.

Friday was Christmas eve and it was full of fun. We started the day by baking cookies for Santa, or as Noah says: "Tanta". I was really surprised at how well the kids did with helping get the cookies ready. We mande chocolate chip cookies, because Santa at the mall said that was his favorite. The kids rolled the dough into balls or some type of ball shape and plopped them down on the cookie sheet. And of course they got to test out the cookies once they were baked, just to make sure they were Santa ready. After that we decorated a cake for our birthday party for Jesus. The kids poured sprinkles all over the cake and had a blast doing it. After nap time we had dinner, then sang Happy Birthday to Jesus and ate his cake, and then got to open a few gifts. On Christmas Eve we exchange family gifts. The kids got gifts from each other and one gift from mommy and daddy.

Finally Christmas morning had come. When I went into Heidi's room to get her she said, "Santa didn't come." I asked why she thought that and she said, "because it's really far away." The look on her face was so sad. Then I told her that I had been downstairs and Santa did come and left presents for her and Noah. Her face completely changed and she was wide awake after that. I went and got Noah and all 4 of us headed downstairs. I wish I had been downstairs to see the excitement on her face when she saw the pink bike with a bell that Santa had left for her. That was what she had been asking for for months. Noah opened a gift and immediately wanted to play with it. Heidi on the other hand ripped open all her gifts before Noah was done with his first.

After all the gifts had been opened and we had breakfast my parents came over for the day. They brought in all their gifts and the kids had a blast with all the new things they got. We are very thankful for all the family that made the holidays a blast. The kids really enjoyed their Christmas and are all ready looking forward to Santa coming next year.

Pumpkin Patch

2010-10-16T11:52:00.000-07:00

Today was such a fun adventure. Ben and I took the kids to the Elgin Christmas Tree Farm to visit the pumpkin patch. We spent a couple of hours there and had a blast. The weather was warmer than I was expecting so we all tired out quicker than expected, but had a blast while there. Before entering the pumpkin patch they have some goats, chickens, pigs, and other animals for the kids to feed hay to. The kids really enjoyed looking at the animals but had no interest in touching them (thank goodness). Next we went through the maze and we let Heidi lead the way. We did go around in circles at one point but finally found our way out.

For days now Heidi has been asking to go to the pumpkin patch so she could go on a hayride. So as soon as entered the actual pumpkin patch the first thing we did was head over to the hayride and a little girl had a big big smile on her face the entire ride. Noah had a great time on the ride too, but had trouble sitting still. He wanted to get up and walk around that ride. Half way through the hayride is a play place, so we got off and let the kids play for a while. They were able to climb the big hay stack, play bean bag toss, play tetherball, climb on the play scape, and run around in all the excitement. After all that play, we jumped back on the hayride and rode back to the front of the pumpkin patch.

We did some more playing, ate lunch, and then finally made our way to the big pile of pumpkins. Noah went crazy. He was so excited to play with the pumpkins. The pile was about 6 feet tall and he had no problem climbing up to the top and climbing all around all the pumpkins. His big sister followed him, but he was definitely the leader in this game. I'm pretty sure Noah was in Heaven with all those pumpkins surrounding him. He kept yelling "pumpan" and smiling big. Once we took lots of pictures and picked out our family pumpkin we let Heidi go pick a small pumpkin to paint. Inside a barn they have tables set up with lots of trays of paint. Heidi worked on her pumpkin very seriously while Noah tried to carry all the small pumpkins in the entire patch. He filled his arms with 3 or 4 pumpkins and said, "more more". The boy likes his pumpkins. Ben let him pick out one small pumpkin to take home. Since being home he has not let go of the pumpkin and keeps yelling, "pumpan".

Both kids had a great time at this year's trip to the pumpkin patch. I love having a family tradition and am already looking forward to the next visit.

Heidi's Birthday Party

2010-10-11T07:43:00.001-07:00

Heidi had a great birthday week. Her birthday was on a Tuesday so I decided to spoil her that day. First I took her to get a mani/pedi at the nail salon. She was so cute sitting in the big chair getting her nails and toes painted. The ladies at the salon were so awesome. They painted her toes and put flowers on the big toes. Then they painted her fingers and put a flower on all 10 fingers. Super cute! Next the kids and I went to McDonald's for lunch. It turned out to not be the best decision. Because it was summer there were so many big kids in the play area and Heidi kept getting run over. We stayed in the play area only long enough for her to get a bloody fat lip, but then we got an ice cream cone to share. On the way to sit down, the top of her ice cream fell to the floor. It was like a scene from a movie. As soon as she saw the ice cream was on the ground she burst into tears. Once she calmed down she was able to eat what was left, which was still plenty of ice cream. By the time she left she was much happier and filled with yummy chicken nuggets and ice cream. Finally, for dinner she requested eggs and waffles with syrup. Easy dinner! So I made eggs and put the waffles in the toaster. She was a happy girl with her special birthday dinner. After dinner we let her open two of her gifts, her Leapster and Leapster carrying case. She was so excited about her gifts and started playing that Leapster like a pro.

Later in the week we had birthday party #1, a party with her friends from our playgroup. We had it here at the house and titled it Craft Day Birthday. I put a couple of Heidi's favorite crafts out on little tables for the kids to play with. For this party I made the "ice cream cone" cupcakes. Basically you put the cupcake batter in the cupcake tins and then put an ice cream cone on top, then bake. The cake bakes right into the cone. They are super cute when decorated. All the kids loved them and ate every bite of them.

Finally, on Saturday Heidi had her pool party! She was so excited about her pool party and all of her family that came in to celebrate. We held the party at our neighborhood pool and they have a very large pavilion that we reserved as well. The pavilion had lots of picnic tables and shade for those who didn't swim and was the perfect place to eat lunch and open gifts. It was the perfect setup. As soon as Heidi and Noah arrived at the pool they went right to the water. They love swimming and had a blast. After an hour of swimming all the kids came to the pavilion for lunch, gifts, and cake. Heidi got lots of great gifts and we are very thankful for everything she got. For the cake, this year I made Sandals Cake. I cut the regular size cake in half lengthwise and shaped each like a sandal. Then iced and decorated the cake to look like a cute girlie sandal. A piece of fruit by the foot made the strap of the sandal and it was done. It was a very cute cake and worth all the extra work it took.

The rest of the day Heidi kept asking to go back to her pool party. She had a great birthday week and I enjoyed getting to spoil my little girl a little. Thanks to everyone who made her week so special, especially those who traveled from out of town.

Noah's Bday Party

2010-01-10T18:22:00.000-08:00

Wow, time flies. Noah had his first birthday party recently. It's crazy to think I have a 1 year old and 2 year old. His birthday party was a success and he had lots of fun. He was a little overwhelmed by the large number of people, so he was clinging on to his mommy most of the time. When it came time to open the presents Heidi had a blast tearing through all the paper and opening, what she thought, were her gifts. She still thinks all the toys are just for her... that's a 2 year old for you. It's so much fun seeing all the different toys and gifts different people bring. Each person gives something so unique that it gives a wide range of activities for the kids.

We actually opened gifts first so all the kids at the party would have fun toys to play with. That was such a good idea, thanks mom! We ended up having the party at our neighborhood amenity center, so there were no toys inside. There was a playscape outside, where Heidi spent almost the entire time there, but nothing for the younger kids to do inside. That's why we opened the gifts early, took all the packaging off, and let the kids play their little hearts out.

By the time we were ready for cupcakes Noah was full from the lasagna he ate. He didn't dive into the cupcake like we wanted to see... but he sure did have fun spreading that green icing all over his face, hair, and clothes. That's the way a 1 year old should play with his food.

We had such a good time at his party. I'm so glad our families and friends could make it. I was so excited my friends from MOPS could make it. Our kids are so close in age it's fun to see them play together. Now that Noah's party is all done with it's time to start thinking about Heidi's birthday coming up this summer!

The innocence of Christmas

2009-12-07T04:58:00.000-08:00

This has been my favorite Christmas season ever! Heidi understands what's happening this year and it is so much fun. Anytime she sees a Christmas tree, an ornament, Christmas lights, or Santa she gets this soft voice and says what it is. It's such an innocent tiny voice she uses. It is so much fun to experience Christmas through her this year.

We've been talking about going to see Santa and sitting on his lap to tell him what she wants for Christmas. Saturday at our church is Saturday with Santa, so she'll get a chance to see Santa. She is still convinced that she's not going to sit in his lap, but on the couch to see Santa. I'm not really sure how this is going to happen. Last year at Saturday with Santa she wouldn't even come close to sitting in his lap, in fact, she would not let go of her daddy. I'm hoping things will be different this year since she knows who Santa is and that he brings presents to the good girls and boys.

I really want to take a day to bake cookies with the kids so they can leave them for Santa on Christmas Eve night. I think I'll keep it simple this year and buy the ready to bake cookie dough. Last year I tried to bake gingerbread men and it was just a huge mess. Heidi had a lot of fun using the gingerbread men cookie cutters, but they just didn't taste so great in the end. This year I have my wild Noah walking around everywhere, so I think I'll take the pressure off this year and make some simple cookies. I am going to look for the gingerbread cookie kit I got last year where Heidi was able to paint the icing after they were baked. She had an absolute blast with that last year.

There are still a couple of weeks till Christmas, and I can't wait to see what Heidi learns each day. I really hope she sits in Santa's lap even if it's just for a couple of seconds.

Trick or Treat

2009-10-31T17:57:00.000-07:00

Today was Heidi's first time to go Trick or Treating. She's just over 2 years old so we thought it was time for her to experience her first trick or treating. We were a little surprised when our doorbell rang at 6:30 with the sounds of kids yelling "trick or treat". So we got Heidi dressed in her Pumpkin Princess costume to go score some candy. Before she could leave, I had to get my pictures... after all I am the mommy and it's my right to take as many pictures of her life as I want.

Heidi and her daddy took off to go trick or treat. Noah stayed home with me to pass out candy. Noah and I sat outside and gave out candy as the kids came to the house. Noah was happy sitting in his stroller watching all the kids. We also got to watch Heidi and her daddy walk from house to house. It was adorable and my heart melted as I watched her. After about 30 minutes Noah was done sitting in his stroller. It was his bedtime and his little body was telling him to start fussing. At the same time I saw Heidi and Ben start walking home. It was perfect timing. When the two got home Ben took Noah inside to feed him his bottle and put him to bed. Heidi stayed with me to hand out the rest of the candy.

While handing out candy Heidi dug into her pumpkin to see her treats. She had a few non-candy items so we opened those to eat. She started with fruit snacks and said "this is my favorite snack". Then we opened the pretzels and guess what, "this is my favorite snack". After the pretzels we opened a lollipop. It was her first lollipop. I told her to eat it like a popsicle and she slowly licked the lollipop. She never finished it, just licked it for a while. Eventually she was done and ready for bed. Now both kids are in bed and Ben and I are watching college football. It was a fun Halloween and I can't wait till next year when both kids will be going trick or treating with their daddy.

Visit to Kingwood

2009-10-26T06:59:00.001-07:00

n Friday Ben said he was stressed about all the work that still needed to be done at work before Monday. I asked him if he wanted to work over the weekend and you could see a huge amount of stress just release from his body. He said he would see if the others at work could work over the weekend and if so then he would work and I would take the kids to Kingwood for the weekend. At 1:00 he gave me the final decision and I packed up the kids and off to Kingwood we went.

It turned out to be a perfect weekend to come visit. The weather was absolutely gorgeous all weekend, just perfect for all the outdoor play we do around here. Not much happened on Friday. We got here about 5 and Heidi's "cousins" came over to visit for a few minutes before leaving for Austin's baseball game. Everyone left for the baseball game but I stayed here to feed the kids and put the to bed. Noah fussed for a little while before falling asleep, but once he did fall asleep he slept all night with no problems (love my little 12 hour sleeper).

Saturday started out with lots of fun. We went another one of Austin's baseball game at 9:30 am and Heidi loved cheering for her cousin. His team lost but we got to see Austin get a great hit and make a few good plays. He's only 6 right now, so his team is still learning the basics. It's so cute to watch this age group. Then we came home, had lunch, and put the kids down for their naps. After nap time I woke the kids and dressed Heidi in her Halloween costume to go to a Halloween costume birthday party. The kids had a lot of fun over at someone else's house, with someone else's toys. Noah crawled around in the grass the whole time while Heidi tried out all of Meg's toys. Meg is 3 days younger than Heidi, so her toys were the perfect aged toys for Heidi to occupy herself with. After we came home we had dinner and put the kids to bed.

Sunday was full of fun too. We started off the day by going to the park. My mom stayed home with Noah so he could take a nap while Karen, Tristan, Austin, Heidi, and I went to the park. We stayed there for about 3 hours. After being there for a couple of hours Karen went back to my mom's to pick up lunch and she came back with lunch and my mom and Noah. We all had lunch at the park! Absolutely wonderful! The kids played for a little longer and then we came back home to put the kids down for their nap. While they were napping my friend from college, Tanya, drove to Kingwood to come hang out for a while. My dad made the most awesome BBQ for dinner and we all were stuffed.

We were suppose to leave to go back to Austin this morning, but it is storming like crazy. Instead of driving in this yucky rain we're going to have a relaxing day and hang out at my mom's. I love coming back home for visits, it's so much fun!

Poor Heidi

2009-10-21T07:32:00.000-07:00

My poor little Heidi is a little under the weather today. She's got a stuffy nose and a yucky cough (yes those are technical terms). She's so tired that she's just laying around sucking her thumb. Normally she's running around bossing her little Noah around, but not today. She just doesn't have the energy.

We spent the morning laying in bed watching Dora and Diego shows. Noah spent the morning playing in his exersaucer and then playpen. It's almost his nap time so I decided to let the two play in the playroom for a little while. Noah's crawling around having a good time, but Heidi is just laying on the couch.

Today is definitely a pajama day. Normally I get the kids dressed right after breakfast, but today all 3 of us are still in our pj's. I might look online for some crafts we can do today so Heidi will have something to do that doesn't require a lot of energy besides just watching tv. I'm hoping this will pass quickly and not turn into anything worse.

Heidi's Birthday Party

2009-08-10T12:22:00.001-07:00

Heidi had her 2nd birthday party on Saturday. It was much more of a success this year than last year. Last year she was sick so she didn't want to eat any of her cake. We missed out on that "dive into the cake" moment so we tried again this year. My mom bought a beautiful white cake with chocolate icing and we covered her in her art smock. She never did dive into the cake, but instead used her fork and ate a good amount of the cake.

The party itself was just ok. An August birthday is not the best time of the year for a birthday party here in Texas. We had the party at our house, but we don't have a very open house. It's a large house, but there's no "dead space" where people could gather and mingle. I would love to do an outdoor birthday party, like at a park or something, but it's just too hot. The only way an outdoor party would work is if we did the party early in the morning before it gets too hot.

I was so thankful that our families took the time out of their schedules to come to Heidi's party. I was sad that our friends from our small group at church didn't make it, but oh well... it's over now. I'm looking forward to Heidi's party next year and open to any ideas for a 3 year old's party.

Date Night

2009-07-31T10:31:00.000-07:00

Ben's birthday was at the end of June and on his birthday I made a special dinner for just the two of us. I made steamed crab legs and a couple of side dishes for us to eat after putting the kids to bed. I had so much fun having a special dinner where the two of us could sit and have a peaceful dinner that I decided every Friday night would be our date night. Every Friday night we will have something special for dinner, something that would not be good for Heidi to eat. This week we're ordering sushi! I also rented a movie from Netflix for us to watch together. Dinner and a movie, what a fun night!!

A Rainy Day

2009-07-30T16:11:00.001-07:00

I was a little worried when I saw all the dark clouds this morning. I knew we needed the rain but I wasn't sure how the day would go with 2 kids stuck in the house. At least most days we have the option of leaving the house or playing in the back yard, but today we were going to be forced to stay inside. The day turned out great. Heidi discovered the joy of pushing her shopping cart around the upstairs. It was really the first time she "went shopping". She even put her "opie" bear and baby doll in the cart and pushed them all around. We also played downstairs for a good chunk of the day. I moved all the couches and table out of the way and made an obstacle course for Heidi to run through. I put throw pillows on the ground for her to walk on to practice balance. Then I rolled up some towels as her speed bumps to jump over (she's so cute when she tries to jump, just can't get both feet off the ground... too cute). Next she had to go through the hula hoop and finish by going under the blanket that laid across two chairs. So she did all the basics, over, under, through, and on top. It was fun and she giggled her way through.

Noah, my wildman, kept trying to follow her and pull down the hula hoop. Boy he's a handful. I love my Noah. He was no problem keeping busy today. He had a good assortment of shoes to chew on, tables to pull up on, and dog toys to chase after. Why is it he chooses these dirty yucky things over the nice colorful noise making toys we have for him? Come on, mom's flip flops over a 4 key piano? Why do we even bother to buy toys for him?

All in all the day was great. Even though I did manage to get the kids dressed, I never made it that far for me. I love a good lazy day every once in a while. Although, now my definition of a lazy day is not laying on the couch watching Lifetime movies all day. The new definition of a lazy day is giving the kids just enough to occupy themselves so I don't have to spend the day driving them around to activities to keep them entertained. Wow, what a change!

Cooking with Heidi

2009-07-29T07:02:00.001-07:00

I love cooking with Heidi. Every time I say "I need to go cook" she runs into the kitchen and says "Heidi cook. I need chair." So I try to figure out what simple jobs she can do to help me cook. Last night we made pizza and salad. For the salad she took the lettuce out of the bag and put it into the bowl. While she did that I chopped all the veggies and then gave them to her to put into the bowl. She is so serious and focused while "cooking", I have no clue where she got that from. Next we made the pizzas. I put 3 pitas on a baking sheet and then put the pizza sauce on the middle of each pita. She spread the pizza sauce around on each pita. She mainly just pushed the sauce around and mommy came over and helped spread it evenly on the pitas. Then she put all the toppings on and overloaded daddy's pizza with olives. He pretty much had an olive pizza, but it was made with Heidi's love so it was the best pizza ever. Of course I chopped up some veggies, like squash and zucchini, real small and had her add them to her pizza, it was a good way of sneaking some veggies into the pizza. After that we added the cheese and I popped them in the oven. She absolutely loved her pizza and we'll do it again real soon.

I think it's important for the kids to help out in the kitchen, whether it's cooking, setting the table, or even cleaning up afterwards. Plus, it keeps her busy and is a good learning experience for her. The first thing Heidi helped me cook was her daddy's birthday cake in June. Now I'm always looking for ways for her to help me. I call her my little sous chef!

New blog

2009-07-29T06:59:00.000-07:00

I've started this new blog to keep people updated on the kids and also as a safe place to vent on anything going on in our lives. I've realized through reading other peoples' blogs that these can be very helpful, both to the writer and to those who read it. So here is my new blog, I hope you enjoy it.