Sunday, December 30, 2012

Christmas with the Calls

This year our Christmas plans with the Call's got changed a bit with snow, a trip to North Carolina, and Phil being sick.  Phil's mom, Sarah, and Thomas decided to go visit Robert and Heather down in North Carolina for a couple days while his dad was on a trip for work.  It worked out well because Phil was burning up due to the fever from the flu.  It lasted for forever!  His fever didn't break until Thursday afternoon after starting on Sunday night!  So far I have gotten lucky and haven't gotten it so I'm hoping that my luck sticks and I can keep away from it for the rest of the season.  Southern Indiana also got a bunch of snow when we were supposed to being leaving for Batesville, they actually got significantly more than we did, which definitely wasn't fair, but it did make for some good sledding in their hilly backyard later on in the week!  We did eventually make it down on Friday afternoon and immediately had Christmas with everyone.  Santa even brought Sarah and Phil's mom some things they had forgotten at our house!  Pete got a choo-choo and a dump truck for his legos and a cute shirt, plus a stick tractor book from his cousin Eliza, since I didn't let him open it at our house and made him wait. (mean mommy!) I got tons of play-dough, containers and a super cute yellow scarf.  Phil got a yellow shirt to match my scarf and some Mr. Potato Heads.  We also got some family presents of food storage goodies so that is always exciting. 

We have been playing a ton and Pete is soaking up all the time he can with Popo.  Poor Popo hasn't even gotten much time to go and work on his plane because Pete won't let him out of sight!  Every time he has had to leave the house for something Pete wanders around the house yelling, "Popo! Popo! Pete Popo..." until he finds something interesting for awhile and then he will resume the search until finally he hears him come through the door.  Pete really does like grammy and Sarah and Thomas too but Popo's always seem to be the great prizes in the family in his eyes.  Before Christmas I asked Pete what he wanted for Christmas, I was expecting a "Mowie"  or Choo-choo for an answer but no it was a thought out response, Popo.  I am so glad to have a son that wants a person more than a thing, it takes most people years and years and many losses to truly realize what they really want in this world, only to have it be too late in this lifetime to really happen.  But I'm also glad to have wonderful men in my life that can be such great Popos!  We are truly blessed to have great Dads that have become amazing grandpas and grandpas that are super Great Grandpas! So thanks grandpas! Thanks for the hour long tractor rides, and airplane play and snuggles with a crazy toddler because that is what he truly wanted for Christmas was time with his Popos and boy did he get it in spades!

Also I just joined twitter so find me at @kimphilpluspete

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

First Christmas in Our House

This year I did something a bit different and had all of the presents for Pete bought way early, as in last year after the day after Christmas for the most part. It worked out well because I got everything for cheap and had it bought already, so when our car decided to die in the parking lot at 10.30 the other night, while it was snowing. I didn't have to worry when I had it towed to the shop and got the $256 bill. It still stunk but I was worrying about where the money would come from that close to Christmas. Disaster averted. Normally we don't do much for each other but get Pete a bit more though all he gets really are clothes for the summer time (that I bought on the clearance rack earlier in the year) and books plus some stuff that he generally needs. We were planning on doing homemade only gifts for the two of us, but Phil ran out of time so I picked myself up a new purse while at the outlet malls a couple weeks ago. I made Phil a super cool mug at Pottery Bayou. We are huge Star Wars geeks and I had to make this mug for Phil when I saw it on Pinterest. On the back it says, "You're the Obi Wan for Me!"  I then also found a coat to replace his 10 year old goodwill coat for him as well and he had time to work on my homemade presents as well so we ended up getting some other presents too! We still didn't even go over 40 bucks for total for our couple gifts! Pete had one special gift to open that didn't make it over to Great Grandma Horn's Christmas the other day because it had lots of little pieces we didn't want to get lost in the mayhem. He got a crop duster playset! It has a crop duster and playmat and truck with a trailer and barrels and a tractor and fake corn rows. He was so excited with it. I think he was thrilled with all of his presents this year. He didn't get a ton of toys but he did get what he enjoys farm stuff and trains!

Mom and Dad came over for fresh cinnamon rolls and to watch us open presents.  In the past we had done it on our own and it was kind of boring after having so many people around earlier on in the season to be just the three of us.  Maybe once Pete gets older and is really getting into it, we will like the just us time but for now it was so much more fun, plus I didn't have a ton of cinnamon rolls sitting around the house whispering my name to come and eat them...instead I dropped off the leftovers at a friends house so they could have a special treat!  

That is 3 of our Christmas' down and 2 more to go!  The joys of having lots of family and having them nearby!

Christmas with the Horn's

Monday we had Christmas with my parents and Matt and his family. The kids of course were ultra excited (okay the older ones that knew what was going on) Pete was almost the last one to get up, but he had stayed up late the night before at Great Grandma Horn's. Pete is about the slowest present opener of all time. He was the last one to finish! He is really good at appreciating each gift though, so that was nice. Each one got played with at least a bit before moving onto the next package to be opened. He got some Thomas the Train cars and a building and some new GeoTrax tracks and train car. He also got some clothes, every kid's worse nightmare. An unexpected coolness though (for him, I knew it was coming) was his tractor pillowcase. It matches his "mowie blanket" and his new tractor from Great Grandma Horn is on it! He was so excited when he realized what the chunk of fabric was, he even wanted to get in his crib for bed! Phil got some new sweaters, a little ladder (with a giftcard to buy a real ladder to get on our roof) and a new harmonica. The kids were mesmerized buy the little ladder that Dad had made and we had to take it away from them because they kept fighting over it, after they had all gotten cool stuff for presents! It was an interesting turn of events. I some pretty sweet stuff too. Mostly things for the kitchen but that is what I enjoy so it works out well, and Phil and Pete end up liking it too! I got a Yonanas machine (it makes ice cream out of frozen bananas), a tortilla press (I actually made pretty homemade tortillas for dinner tonight) and a tortilla bowl baking pan to make taco salads. I did get some non-kitchen stuff too, like my programmable thermostat, and some non-metallic jewelry.

Pete modeling his pillowcase and blanket tonight while sleeping
Phil also became officially sick in the morning as well. He started running a fever and it still has broken as of 9.30 on Tuesday night. So it kind of made it a bit sad but Pete and I had a fun time while Phil slept and tried fighting it in bed.

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Christmas with the Horn Grandparents

Today we had our first Christmas of the season. It was with my grandparents and family. We had it over at there house which was packed full with the 5 little kids and all the adults. We had a delicious dinner and dessert plus lots of wonderful presents! The last couple years grandma has wanted help getting the presents so enlists the parents to get the kids gifts so we get the money to buy what they need/want. We knew early on what Pete wanted-a "big" red tractor preferably one with some kind of implement or trailer to go along with it considering his obsession with hitching things together. Well I found the perfect one the other day at TSC and picked it up for him. It was a metal Farmall H, which personally doesn't mean anything to me all I know is that it was in our price range, metal (meaning harder for Pete to destroy), red, looks old, and it came with a wagon to hitch up! He also got some new shoes for the summer, pj's and some monster trucks. I'd even found some ridiculous tractor wrapping paper for it on super clearance. Phil got a case for his electronics and some shoes. I got a new pair of boots, yoga pants and a shirt and the big one was a new printer. The one we've been using is one I got for college so it is ready to be replaced and I'm super excited to have wireless and mobile printing!

First notices the present (see the paper?)
Most of paper removed

Sees what is in the big box, smile starts to appear

Sheer joy as he truly sees what is in the box
I stopped adding pictures here because I figured you'd see lots of pictures of Pete playing with it in the future!

Saturday, December 22, 2012

Christmas Time

Well 'tis the season.  We've had our tree up since the day after Thanksgiving, along with our beautiful homemade tree skirt.  I've had the scented pine cone garland up over the doorway to the  dining room.  The stockings are made and are ready to hang up on Christmas Eve.  All of the presents are wrapped and ready to go to the various houses for Christmas with the family.  Pretty much it's go time.

Last year I'll admit it I wasn't too into the "Christmas Spirit", no clue why but I just wasn't into it I barely got the tree up and Phil didn't want to do it either.  This year though is a whole other story.  We are super excited to see Pete do the Christmas thing.  He isn't getting a ton but what he is getting (okay from someone other than us, ours is mostly pretty lame) is perfect and he will love it.  He is already trying to attack the presents.  I decided not to use the bows because they always get yanked off first and make the wrapping ugly afterwards.

We have been doing our Advent calendars, Phil has the Star Wars Lego one from last year (thank you clearance) and Pete has a chocolate one along with me.  We aren't doing the Santa thing too much except for the stockings and we have one Santa decoration and only because Pete found it before the box of unused decorations made it back to the basement for storage.  I'm just not into it.  We always did it some but not a ton.  We are probably going to do the same thing.  I see how it can be fun but for us it is just more of a symbol of the consumerist spirit of the season and just another way to guilt people into buying more junk.

This year we are trying something  new for Christmas cards.  We are sending out e-cards from jibjab instead of the traditional ones.  Normally I drop a ton of money on the cards,stamps and pictures to go with them along with the time involved considering our extended family!

Well here is the end project, enjoy!


Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Christmas Crafting-Stockings

Another update for us is our stockings this year.  Normally I just use the 98 cent ones I picked up from Target when we got married but again new house I should probably stop making it look like a cheap apartment.  I couldn't decide what I really wanted so I went with some cute blue jean stockings for Pete and I and made Phil one from a sweater.  I wasn't a huge fan of the sweater stocking, but it was incredibly easy to make, which was also the point of making it.  Personally there is no point in putting tons of time and money into something to hang up for maybe a month of the year!

Blue Jean stockings
I made two stockings from one pair of my pants and no I'm not telling you the size.  I used the butt portion so I could get the pockets and use the to of the pants for the stocking and save myself a hem along the way.  I used our old stockings as a guide for the shape and just made them a bit bigger to allow for some seam allowance.  I just use the side of the foot for a guide since it won't be doing much "work" and I could save myself some space inside.  The back of the stocking I used the bottom leg portion again to save myself some hemming on denim. You should really use some WonderUnder on the toe and heel decorations but I didn't and think they turned out fine without it.

Sweater Stocking
I cut this one out a lot bigger than my previous ones because I was going to do French seams on it.  A French seam makes it so the ravelins stay inside of a pocket that you are making by sewing it twice.  It saves me from lining a ton of things that normally I would feel compelled to finish up more with linings. You sew it wrong sides together first. Then sew it again with right sides together keeping your first seams raw edges between the first and second sewn seams.  (To the right of your second seam.)  Or if you want a better explanation check out this tutorial.

Christmas Crafting- The Tree Skirt

My first Christmas crafting was a tree skirt.  For the last few years (okay since we've been married) we have used a tablecloth or chunk of material for a tree skirt.  Now that we have a house, I decided it was time to finally get a real tree skirt.  I looked into buying one and $30 was not a price I was willing to pay for material to cover up a tree stand and keep packages off the floor!  Maybe if it was cheaper I would have just bought one and been a lazy bum. The hardest part of this tree skirt is figuring out how to put the material together to get it reversible which is where I messed up on mine while making it at 11pm one night.  I could go through and fix it but I'll just make another if I want to change it up.  


Reversible Star Christmas Tree Skirt

Supplies:
4 Squares of cotton, main and contrasting colors- Your size will depend on the width of your tree I made my squares end right at the edge of my bottom branches for our house. 
Sewing machine
pins
scissors

With right sides together sew two of the same pieces (main with main color) of fabric together leaving a small opening to turn it right side out. This will give you a big square pillow case.  Do the same thing with the other 2 pieces of contrasting fabric. Next find the centers of your squares and pin together the squares forming a star shape.  You really will want to pin this part together because it will move like crazy on you.  Sew the squares together, Make sure your bobbin color will look good with the underside because it will be visible on the backside.  Now in between two points of your star cut to the center of the star/squares and make a circle for your tree trunk.  Pin both sides so you can zig zag over the edges of the new cuts to prevent fraying.

There is your new tree skirt! Super easy and a bit different than your basic circle or old tablecloth.

Saturday, December 8, 2012

Family Pictures!

On Black Friday we went to Olan Mills and had our family pictures taken.  They had a deal going for an image cd with all your pictures for 39 bucks, which is a crazy good deal since normally it is around 150 for it. We finally got them back yesterday and today I'm going through the cd. 



Thursday, December 6, 2012

Hot Chocolate and Toast

 This is one of my favorite breakfasts of all time.  I've mentioned it to many people and just get blank stares until I explain its sheer deliciousness to them, which sometimes still give blank stares back, but oh well more for me!  The basics of it are hot cocoa (not instant, the good stuff made on the stove) and peanut butter toast.  You slather on the pb and then fold the toast in half then dip it in the hot cocoa.  It is a masterpiece of chocolate, peanut butter and bread.  A classic.  Today I made it for lunch because I felt bad feeding Pete his normal cheese fare, so I changed it up a bit.  Here is the evidence of the meal and pleasure that Pete got out of it.  Apparently he was a bit more interested in the hot chocolate than the toast today but I did give him a treat of marshmallow cream so it was to be expected.  I loved that he was licking the marshmallow cream instead of grabbing a spoon which he did eventually dig through the sliverware drawer to find.
Ummm...Can I help you?



Pete likes his pb toast open face style


Finally resorting to technology to eat the marshmallow cream

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

The Biggest Hick of the Year Award

So wondering how Pete and I earned this highest honor?  Well after grocery shopping around town we finally made it to Martin's Supermarket to get some lunch with Grandma Horn and finish up our expedition around town before Pete's nap.  I'd checked his diaper before putting him in his car seat to head to our final stop he was dry and ready to go and they weren't across town from each other pretty close really for Indiana.  We made it through the produce and I picked out my sushi, grandma her sandwich and Pete his muffin (real healthy lunch their mom, but in my defense it was pumpkin).  We paid for our lunch and sat down to eat.  I'd finished my sushi up and check out what Pete was doing and noticed his seat was soaked (non vinyl seats in an eating establishment, great idea) as were his pants.  He'd peed all the way through his diaper, flannel lined pants and the seat cushion!  I ran him to the bathroom and changed his diaper, but didn't have any extra pants since it hasn't been an issue for the last year!  So we continued our shopping trip (this is December mind you, though 65 degrees that day) with Pete in a diaper, shoes and socks and the kicker-a John Deere tractor shirt.  Isn't it the cherry on top of the story thereby qualifying us for the award?!

 ...But it sadly gets even worse...

 Pete had a container of chocolate milk he was drinking with a straw.  Well he got to the bottom of the container and tipped it back to get some more forgetting about the straw.  There was more than he thought left in there and dumped it all down his shirt, diaper and the floor.  So now I have to clean him up with the remaining dry part of his shirt, the back.  So now picture toddler/preschooler in the grocery cart in a cloth diaper and nothing else, but in December.

 Really I'm surprised CPS hasn't showed up on my doorstep demanding answer about that trip.  I mean really! It was insane and what kind of mother has her kid in just a diaper in December.  The looks I got were absolutely awful so I kept trying to explain to the poor cashier that just kept looking at me like I was insane.

Oh the joys of motherhood.  Please tell me you bad mommy moment so I don't feel so bad.  Please?!

Monday, December 3, 2012

A Video Post

Here are some videos that we'd taken with the camera awhile ago and just now took off.  One is from our trip to Five Oaks Dairy.  They have a big tour you can go on, the whole thing takes a good 3ish hours and we could have spent even more time there if we didn't have more plans for the day. They have a cow painted bus you ride on through the cow barns and then get to watch the miking carousel, there is also a birthing barn and some videos and a "moo-seum" to go through.  In the summer they have a playset, train rides and some other outdoor games to play.  They did have a giant trampoline/bounce house thing.  It was a mix of the and was so stinking awesome.  The adults kept playing after the kids got tired of it!  Pete had a blast as did Matt and Tashina's kiddos.  Pete really liked the idea of a cow bus, two favorite things in one.  Phil wasn't able to come with us because he was at a conference in Indy for Student Council.



The next video is of Pete working Great Grand Popo's puzzle.  He swiped his glasses and was wandering around their house with them on.  What a silly boy!


Thursday, November 22, 2012

Thankful


Here are the things I've been thankful for all month long.  If you are friends with me on facebook you've seen it otherwise you probably haven't.  I like being able to see the everyday things I'm thankful for, I enjoyed having to think about things that I was thankful for each day.  Some days were hard to come up with things, while other days I had so many it was hard to choose just one to post online.

Day 1:I'm thankful for a heavy sleeping little boy that I can snuggle with in the middle of the night without waking him up.
Day 2: I'm thankful for sheep and their wonderful wool that allows me to knit amazing things.
Day 3: I'm thankful for family and fun times together.
Day 4: I'm thankful for the extra hour of sleep I got this morning. Though I still HATE daylight savings and want Indiana time zone back!
Day 5: I'm thankful for a wonderful hubby that I get to spend all of eternity with, not just this life!   
Day 6: Today I'm thankful for Dentists and their drugs so I don't feel the drilling and filling in my cracked tooth. 


Day 7: I'm thankful for blankets. Especially when little boys rip off their clothes for nap and refuse to be dressed again and mommy is too cheap to turn up the furnace for a nap.
Day 8: I'm thankful for yoga.
Day 9: I'm thankful for being able to work when I want to and be a stay-at-home mom normally! I get the best of both worlds!   
Day 10: I'm thankful for grocery stores, specifically cheap ones.
Day 11: I'm thankful for books.
Day 12: I'm thankful for friends.
Day 13: I'm thankful for technology, internet and blogging.
Day 14: Today I'm thankful for shopping and good people to tag along with me.
Day 15: I'm thankful for craftiness (painting, knitting, sewing; not wily, sly)
Day 16: Today I'm thankful for brains....and no I'm not a zombie...yet....
Day 17: I'm thankful for traditions, even if I don't always keep with them.
Day 18: I'm thankful to live in a great community and to have lived in other wonderful communities that we've had to move and leave behind.
Day 19: Today I'm thankful for the past. Sometimes I miss it, other times I'm glad it is behind me!
Day 20: I'm thankful for a toddler that takes naps. I especially thankful when he decides to take long naps, like today!
Day 21: Today I'm thankful for a house and home. It is so nice to have a safe comfortable place to come back to and own. Plus I can hang pictures without fear.            

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Grandpa's Birthday

Monday was my grandpa's birthday.  We had a nice dinner with everyone at Penguin Point and then went over to their house for cake and ice cream. Pete got to play with the toys over there and freak out shag a bit.  Sometimes Pete is fine with him then other times he doesn't want the dog near him! It was a fun evening to hang out and celebrate a great grandpa, in both aspects.  Pete loved the cake and kept sneaking finger-fulls of frosting when no one was looking.  He looked really cold but really it was the very blue frosting turning him blue, not the temperature!
Grandpa Horn

Mom goofing off at the restaurant (and she gets on Uncle David about camera faces?)

The birthday cake

Shaggy being camera shy


Pete after eating the blue frosting from the cake

Monday, November 19, 2012

Free Stuff Snob?...with a freebie

  I love free stuff, it is one of my favorites.  Most of Pete's outdoor toys have been dumpster diving finds or someone getting rid of stuff and me snatching it up off of facebook.  I'm a cheapskate I'll gladly admit it, but at the same time I'm picky.  I won't be happy with just anything.  I guess I'm a free stuff snob.  One of my favorite things to be snobby about are cards, I can't always get the super cute cards because I kind of gag a bit on the price, unless they are customized then I can handle paying a bit more for them because they aren't the run of the mill big box store cards.
  What is even better then is when I can get something for free and be snobby about it.  Treat.com is one of the websites I use when I'm sending out birthday and random holiday cards (non-Christmas).  I've made quite a few cards from their website and have gotten crazy good deals or free cards from them! This is where I made Phil's Valentine from Pete and a Thanksgiving card for Grandma and Grandpa Welch. They also will mail them for you for the cost of the stamp!  I love it, my life is so much easier when I can order it online and once it is printed have it shipped directly to them instead of coming to me and then sending it out. Though I've done it that way as well.  You can also schedule cards to be sent out so you don't have to figure out how long it will take the postal service to get it across the country.  You make your card now and they send it out in time for the delivery date. 

 Now the moral of this story is that Treat.com is having a good deal for you my friends!  They are having two days of FREE cards.  You can make your free card today (Monday 11/19/12) or tomorrow  (Tuesday 11/20/12).  Just design your card and use the promo code: TREATBLOGR 


One of my favorite uses is to send kids cards from Santa about being on the nice or naughty list.  I sent one to grandma last year as a prank. A fun and early just because Christmas card could be fun as well or a Thanksgiving card for the family you can't make it to this year.  Anyway you end up with a free card to send to someone to enjoy and brighten your day without lightening your wallet!

Also feel free to share this post on facebook, twitter or +1 it on google.  Also I've added a subscribe via email box on the bottom of my blog and a google+  button on the upper left hand corner.  Anyone can use the promo code so share away, the more the merrier!

Hey also let me know if you use the code with a comment!

Friday, November 16, 2012

Shopping Trip with Grandmas

Mom and Pete post shopping trip
Wednesday was our annual trip with grandmas up to Darlington in Fort Wayne.  They sell a little bit of everything especially Christmas stuff like wrapping paper and bows, plus calendars, books, knick knancks, toys, gloves and coloring books.  But the catch is that everything in the store is $1.59 (except for the candy and calendars which are 2.99)  It is all the stuff that the school have for fundraisers so all the super expensive wrapping paper that the neighbor kids are trying to sell you is $1.59 instead of $5-10 bucks a roll!  I normally attack the books the most and get a ton for Pete because you can't be that price for board book for a toddler, especially Christmas ones.  I'm always on the look out for Christmas books for him because every year I go through and pull the box of Christmas books out and wrap them and starting December 1 he gets to unwrap one a day until Christmas Day.  He gets to practice his unwrapping skills and open something once a day which saves his real presents from "accidental" openings.  I love the tradition and am getting really close to having too many books.  (is that really possible though?)

Also on our trip we ran into Target for a good time wandering and shopping. Boy do I miss having one in town.   The dollar spot was disappointing though, hardly anything was a buck and now parts of it are up to $3!  Lame.  I got some good deals on some stuff namely a Big Bang Theory shirt for Phil for $2.98!  I love good deals.

We ate at Five Guys for lunch since there is now one in Fort Wayne.  I love this place they have the best burgers and fries and the price isn't too bad.  They have a ton of toppings, which are free and the fries and cut there and you know where the potatoes are grown because they write it on the white board above the sacks of potatoes.  Yum...I need to move on or I'll want another burger but don't have gas money to go up there!

Grandmas wanted to stop in at Macy's, but Pete was being grumpy because he decided to wake up for the day at 2.30 in the morning since he didn't want to take a nap the day before and fell asleep at 4.30.  We walked the mall and noticed how much stuff has changed since I'd been there last.  Eeks!  It was a great time and I bought lots of fun stuff.

Family Shot!
 You can tell from the pictures from later on in the evening that we all survived (including the bank account) and were still having fun.  Though I think I need to change the light bulb to get rid of that horrible yellow color!

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Neurologist Check up

On Tuesday Pete had his month post seizure check up with his Neurologist in Fort Wayne.  It took me longer to fill out the paper work than the appointment took which I guess would be a good thing!  The doctor said they didn't find anything on the MRI that was abnormal outside of the allowed range.  (everyone is a bit different so there is a range of "normal")  Pete was always within the range so it is declared normal!  The doctor checked to make sure he was still himself and not turning into devil boy, since a side effect of the medication is mood swings and grumpiness.  (it says so on the side of the bottle) Anything that is grumpy about the boy comes from being a 2 year old that doesn't always get his way and hears the word NO from mommy or daddy.  All is well but we are going to leave him on the medication for awhile longer and he has a checkup in April to see the neurologist again and suck some more money from us.

I just found this picture and had to show off our hard working boy.  Poor kid is already getting stuck doing chores at the house.

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Thank the Troops

    I love all of the stuff that our country does for Veteran's Day.  Cities have memorials and programs hosted by the schools and businesses offer good deals for Veteran's and send special things to those overseas still currently serving.  While we do have some veteran's in the family we don't have any immediate family currently serving except for my cousin's husband who is currently deployed.  While I don't have to face those challenges that he does every day or what she has to keeping the family grounded, organized and trying to explain to toddlers where daddy is everyday, I'm thankful for them.
   Well I found this cool thing from Shutterfly that they are doing this year for those serving.  They have 4 different cards (see above image) to choose from that you can write your own message and add a picture if you want and they will send them to the troops for you for FREE! I made one for our family to be sent using the facebook app.  It was nice because you could include a picture and put some time personalizing it or leave it fairly plain and used the text that they already had and just sign your name.  Here is the link to make your own card to be sent out. Also you can share your finished card on facebook and let others know as well!

Friday, November 9, 2012

Happy Halloween

This year for Halloween we did our normal Star Wars theme.  I update my Princess Leia costume and Phil went as a Jedi.  Pete did get to change it up and took over Phil's roll as Luke Skywalker this time.  He was in love with the light saber that he got to carry around with him!  Pete wasn't just any Luke Skywalker though, he was specifically the Luke from Dagobah carrying Yoda on his back! 
   It was super fun costume and was easy to make the bulk of it except for the Yoda on his back.  It was a bit tricky and took me awhile to work on earlier in the year since I knew what I wanted to do for Halloween pretty early this time around.  I took one of the kid leashes that looks like a dog backpack and ripped apart the dog and used it for a pattern to make yoda changing up the ears and the nose a bit.  The nose really was the hardest part because I couldn't get the shape quite right with the pattern I was using without messing up the head.  I went ahead and left a bit of a dog snout shape to it because it was easier and looked better than some of my other attempts at "fixing" it.  I then used the same straps from the dog back pack leash and just replaced it with the homemade Yoda.  It worked out well to have the leash on him so he could have some freedom and walk around while trick-or -treating without his hand going numb from having to hold mine the whole time. 
   This year we tried something new to us and went to the downtown trick-or-treating and costume contest.  The weather was decent and Pete entered into the costume contest.  He won 3rd place in the funniest category for his age group!  I'm super thrilled with it since I did put time and effort into it and he got a cool new pig flashlight for his prize!  I have some better pictures but not on this computer right now so I'll post some more later.

Pete and the Leaves


 Fall has been in full force for awhile now and I haven't updated the blog in awhile.  Pete has been in love with all of the piles of leaves that have landed in our yard and in my parents.  We made him a huge pile a bit ago and he would run through and jump at the very edge of it all.  It was great fun for the little boy, especially since they are dog poop free leaves! Finally he decided that he would pull out his power wheels and try driving through them, luckily for us the battery was about dead and the leaves overpowered it quickly.  If not then we never would have gotten him off of it for dinner!
Pete in the middle of a leaf pile
Trying to get a snack from Grandma
playing on the powerwheel


Monday, October 22, 2012

Christmas?!

Part of me is really irritated that stores are already getting ready.  Have you noticed the Halloween trees that look suspiciously like Christmas trees but with bats and pumpkins and red/orange/yellow leaves instead of garland?  While the other part is already working on homemade presents and decorations.  The next big dilemma in my mind though is Christmas cards.  I have a horrible time trying to figure out what to do; I have the stuff to make my own, but that takes time and effort, which normally I don't have either!  Well I like something special for Christmas and obiviously I don't like to spend too much time working on it so photo cards are a crazy good idea.  I just used them for the first time for Pete's birthday party invite.  They turned out great and I didn't have to spend the whole time making something cute.  This time I'm using Shutterfly for Christmas photo cards.I mean do you see how many cute ones there are? Normally I try to narrow down some pictures for Christmas while I take them during the year and have a running list so I'm not sitting there the day after Thanksgiving in a turkey daze trying to remember which of my two-thousand Pete pictures look the best for slot four.  Instead I've narrowed it down to 35 and can go from there.  I really like the ones that I can show pictures from the whole year to fill in the gaps that I've missed in blogging and general family/friend visiting and letters.  Isn't that super cute?  Granted it would be cuter if Pete was the model, but alas no one asks for my opinion there.  They just want to know about my thoughts on their Christmas cards and if I'll promote them on my blog.  Well you can see my answer, so yes this is a sponsored post that I am earning something for.  But really you can get something cool out of the deal too, if you check out the special offers page. 

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Adventures in the Medical Field


Pete and Phil snoozing in the ER

Playroom at Lutheran with Pete and Phil
Monday started us out on a crazy adventure this week.  Pete hasn't been sick or had any problems other than his normal allergies just like Phil's.  I was home with him Mom stopped by to see the basement and then headed out to spend the day with Aunt Kate.  I was paying off some medical bills and trying to schedule things for the house.  I was upstairs when I heard him do a non-normal scream and ran downstairs to check on him.  I couldn't hear or see him immediately because he was laying on the floor in front of his toys.  I thought he was choking on something because he was having problems breathing and he's two if something were wrong that would make the most sense.  I checked his mouth and did the back slaps from my first aid class but nothing so I assumed it was something worse and called 911.  He was going limp in my arms and trying to go to sleep.  The dispatcher was incredibly kind as I was completely freaking out.  After a few minutes (which felt like hours) the EMS arrived and took him for me.  I more than willingly handed him over because I knew they could and would help him more than I could at the moment.  I called and terrified the poor secretaries at the high school to let Phil know.  Amazingly she could understand me through the sobs and really short choppy sentences but they did and Phil came to meet us. Our neighbor saw the ambulance and came and joined me while we waited to leave. After calling everyone and getting voicemail on Mom's I called Dad who met us when we arrived at the hospital doors. They got him in a room and started tests and all the fun stuff.  Pete was pretty out of it because of the anti-seizure meds that were given in the ambulance because he had one for them before we left our driveway.  Phil and then mom got there and we went on with tests.  The ct scan didn't show anything and neither did the chest x-ray, or blood work.  They wanted him to stay overnight for observation and some more tests but didn't have a pediatric unit so off to the nearest children's hospital we went. We had to ride in the ambulance again because of the need to watch for another seizure so the transport was called and we ended up with the same crew again!  What nice people they were great with an incredibly grumpy Pete and letting me know what was going on.  Phil drove himself over since there was only room for one of us.  I wasn't going to complain about not driving and riding in a freaking awesome ambulance with someone to talk to!  We arrived at Lutheran Children's Hospital and Pete was admitted quickly. Phil arrived a bit after us and joined us after the interrogation session about Pete's history and information.  We met with the doctor after a bit who finally cleared the poor boy to eat because he was having problems with his blood sugar staying up due the the seizure and lack of food since breakfast ended up all over me!  They had been literally "pumping him full of sugar" with glucose in his IV, so the combination of a toddler finally getting to eat and drink was a crazy busy playful kid.  The hospital had a playroom that we could go to and that is where we spent most of the afternoon and next day because Pete was so bored. Do you know how hard it is to chase a toddler with an IV pole?  Not an easy task!  He had the run of the place and did not want to share when the other kids came to use it.  We met with a neurologist that was a total jerk, but was on call.  He questioned everything I've ever done for Pete and even questioned if he had a seizure in the ambulance.  I didn't see it, but I bet the EMTs know what one looks like.  Luckily we ended up with a different neurologist the next day who was great and very understanding.  Early on Tuesday morning we had the EEG and had to get Pete hooked up.  Poor boy looked like a mummy by the time we were done.  He fell asleep during the test and then we had to wake him up for the last part, the whole thing only lasted about an hour and the test was only 30 minutes. It took a couple of hours to get the results read and have the doctor come back and let us know what was going on in his little noggin.  There was one part that was troublesome and the doctor was concerned about.  He could be a normal brainwave because it looked like one but in the wrong spot and there wasn't anything else to compare it to on his test. We went ahead and put him on a medicine to make sure he wouldn't have another seizure and scheduled an MRI. Eventually we are going to get a 23 hour EEG done to see if the pattern was normal or was something to be concerned about. 



Our daredevil first time down the slide on his bottom!
All in all he is doing great and really you can't tell anything was ever wrong with him.  He is super happy and playful.  We played outside on the playset yesterday and everything.  But I still can't let him sleep on his own (just for my own sake, not on doctors orders or anything) and I brought him to bed with us last night.  We don't have the greatest monitor so I didn't trust it.  I thought about getting a nicer one but decided he would be fine once the medicine are in his system fully and then he can sleep on his own.


Mommy and Pete on the playset




Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Outdoor Fall Fun

Pete and the trike
The weather has been so nice lately!  I love the bit of a nip that means we need a sweatshirt or long sleeves.  Perfect!  We have been getting our fill of the great outdoors lately with our backyard.  It is so nice to have our own yard to play in, instead of sharing or going to the park all the time.  We also have lots of fun toys that I have collected over time anticipating having a house.  Of course we have the cozy coupe, but we also have a tricycle and a turtle sandbox, all of which were free from the garbage finds!  It is even better when they are free!  We also have a new addition to our various outdoor toys and this one is the best facebook freebie find of all time-a playset!  Stinking awesome!  A good friend from church decided her now teenagers didn't need the playset and wanted it gone so she put it up for grabs to whoever could pick it up first.  We found a truck and picked it up that Saturday!  Pete loves it especially the double steering wheels so he can run back and forth.  He can do the stairs on his own without any problems since they are flat and not the round ladder rungs.  So far though he will not go down the slide on his butt only his tummy with feet first!  I keep thinking he will have a slide burn but so far he hasn't.  We absolutely love our house and so glad that we held out and got this one, even though it was a pain to loose the others that we liked, but this one is so much better and a perfect fit for us. 

Awesome playset



Pete excited to play outside

Just being Pete

Pete showing off the bottom of the playset to Daddy


Tuesday, October 2, 2012

How to Lick a Beater According to Pete

Step 1. Be clean, and have a fully loaded cookie dough beater

Step 2. Start with the most difficult part, the cross in the center.

Step 3.  Lick some off the outside edges and return to center to get more off.

Step 4.  Remove the dough from the center stem of beater.

Step 5.  Commence sucking phase of batter removal.

Step 6.  Use fingers to remove the final specks of dough.