They Say Its My Birthday

To celebrate getting older, I decided to go to the place where you can always be a kid! Disneyland!!!!


We had a great time. As I told Mr. D - we had a 10 hour adventure at Disneyland without any tears, meltdowns, tantrums, or arguments. It truly is a magical place!



We had so much fun with Grace. She is a stud when it comes to the rides. She went on everything we took her on and liked them all. Well, I don't think she was particularly fond of the really dark ones like Pirates of the Caribbean, but she didn't act too traumatized.

She went on the spinning tea cups,

flying rocket ships,


even the Matterhorn roller coaster.

But she still says her favorites are the "horses" (carousel). Wuss.


And to make my day even brighter, she took a picture with Tinkerbell! Our first character picture.



Paul was a good sport. He took a good 1 1/2 nap in the stroller, so he hung in there pretty good. He even rode his share of rides.

As part of my birthday gift, Mr D also upgraded our tickets to annual passes! Whee! Now we have a full year ahead of magical fun. I can't wait!

It was a really fun day. But exhausting. I'm not sure how some families do the multiple day Disney experience vacations. Wow.

I would say if I had to turn..., well, older... this was a great way to do it.

Halloween Pics!

Just wanted to share some Halloween pictures... almost a week late. We had a fun time with my two little cuties playing at the church festival. I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves.

How I Scared the Neighbors

So my neighbors hate me now.

Okay, so hate might be too strong of a word.

There was a disruption in the neighborhood and it centered around me....


and my dog.

Drats.

I haven't even had a chance to make friends... okay, acquaintances with these folks, and now they hate, dislike, okay, have a bad feeling about me.

And the problem is, it truly is entirely my fault. And I don't like being at fault.

Last week, I decided to take advantage of the warm weather and bring the kids outside and wash my car. Paul was in the play yard, Grace was scampering around, playing with the bucket of sudsy water, and I thought, "hey, I'll let Toby out of the backyard and he can run around a bit."

And here's the thing, Toby is a super well-mannered dog. At our old place, he totally knew his boundaries and I could let him outside and never even have a second thought.

Well, now he isn't quite as clear about boundaries and he really hasn't been out front much besides going for a walk.

So here I am washing away, keeping one eye on one kid, and the second on the other... when I realized that Toby has wandered away. Wandered away right up our neighbor's driveway. We are at the end of a cul-de-sac, so the neighbor is really somewhat across the street.

I call him immediately and he responded and ran right home. I glanced at the neighbors and it seemed no one was out and about, so I figured, "no harm, no foul" and didn't worry about it again.

A little while later, my old neighbor calls. My old neighbor, from my old neighborhood, where people liked me and I knew them, and trusted them. Oh but enough boo-hooing.

So now, I'm on the phone, drying my car, watching the kids AND the dog when I notice the neighbor's daughter is out, along with her neighbor's daughter, and it looks like a parent or two. They are all standing out and looking towards my house. I assumed they were just interested because we were all out and that isn't usually the case. I would have gone over and said something, but I was on the phone. I thought, "bummer, this is my chance to get to chat with the neighbors," but I really couldn't interrupt my neighbor who was telling me about her kitchen catching fire that morning. (I guess my story pales in comparison to that).

Fast forward an hour. We're cleaned up, inside, finishing lunch when the doorbell rings.

It's my neighbor. Who wants to talk to me. It didn't sound good.

And it wasn't. She goes on to tell me how my dog had run not only to their house, but into the backyard, scared her daughter, who ran to the neighbors. The neighbors all went out onto their upper deck to watch the big scary dog from their backyard. My neighbor was in her house afraid and went around and shut up her windows because of the big scary dog.

Sigh.

I apologize. Many times. I try to explain that Toby is very gentle and usually well-mannered.

I apologize again. I invite her to bring over her kids to meet him and they can see he is a nice dog.

And I promise it won't happen again.

But I'm still the reason that a "wild" dog was roaming the neighborhood.

We went over to their house the following day with Toby (on a leash!) to apologize again. But they were not home. We realized later that they had left for the weekend. We went to their neighbor's house as well, but nobody answered.

I know we should still go over, but now almost a week has passed and its awkward. But I guess not as awkward as living here for many more years and not making contact.

I just keep reminding myself that it took about six years at our other place before we really got to know all our neighbors. I just have to have patience.... or hope they all move!

Happy Birthday Mr. Paul

It's hard to believe that it has already been a year since Paul Henry joined our family. It's gone by so fast. Much faster than it was with Grace. I realized this time that it is so fleeting that he will be a round, pudgy, kissable-all-over baby that I just need to soak it in and not worry if he is sleeping through the night, nursing too much, and just cuddle with him while he will still let me.

We had a delightful little birthday party for him last weekend. Really, I did keep it small-scale. Mr. D was very proud of my restraint. Even though I did inform him that I am keeping all the decorations because I am SO doing the theme again when he is older. I had so many ideas and fun activities, that just weren't suited for a one-year old.


Watch out! Paul is RACING to #1!

I came up with the theme idea based on his Halloween costume, which I had purchased a couple months ago. I figured why not maximize my use of it.

Paul had a great time...

getting into presents before the official "present time",

and then getting into more presents, and

showing off his cute outfit.


Then it was cake time! We had a near cake-trosphe. I purchased a race car mold on ebay for a great price and was so excited to make it for the party. However, after two stuck, ruined cakes, I had to give. I guess I should have tried it out prior to 9pm the evening before the party. So I came up with a quick solution... cupcakes!


They turned out pretty cute. Not a race car... but cute, I guess.

Paul wasn't too excited with his cake.

I know, probably cause it was a healthy banana cake without sugar, but "ppssssssth" (blowing a big raspberry) on that. I would rather have him not eat any cake then overload him with sugar when he hasn't had any yet. He had plenty of cake eating years ahead of him.

He also wasn't too thrilled with opening presents either. But Grace willing stepped in there.


Wait Paul! There's more presents to open!


All in all, we had a great time celebrating Paul's big race to one!

And what does the big #1 winner have to say?


I'll take that as a sign of a great party... to tired to comment!

Four Big Boxes

On our doorstep yesterday arrived four big boxes. Just in time for Paul's birthday party. Well, not really FOR his party, but they will help.

We finally purchased barstools for our kitchen. Yay! I say finally, as if we've been waiting for years, rather than a few months. But, Mr. D has been looking forward to this purchase since we moved in. I'm not sure I quite understand his enthusiasm for eating at the island, but hey, they are pretty cool to have. And so easy to feed the munchkins too.

So he couldn't wait to bust open the boxes and set them up today before he left for work this afternoon.


He left the four big, empty boxes out with the disclaimer he would take care of them tomorrow morning. I was going to let him.

But then, I had a fabulous idea.

After I had finished cleaning the kitchen from top to bottom, and scrubing the floors, I had the great idea to cut up the boxes. Yes, in the same mentioned kitchen area.

But, I wasn't just cutting them to throw out. It was a fun idea. We built a house.


The kids thought it was pretty neat.


Grace even brought in her dolls and set up house.


I had her color the inside to add her decorative touch.

But now I realize, I have a big box house in the middle of the room. I wonder how long before the kids either tire or destroy the box house.

End of Summer Fun

It's been busy these days. I keep waiting for creativity to strike so I can share something delightful and funny, but that hasn't happened. I guess I'll settle for the mundane, "here's what we're up to" post.

Why so busy?

I don't know. It just seems everything started up at once.

Mr. D's hours went to evenings, so that means that I am on kid-duty for most of the day AND night. That keeps me moving.


We had a couple playdates this week. We welcomed in the start of fall by celebrating 100+ degree weather at the nearby water park. The kids loved it.




Me? I'm ready for fall. My tan (what there was of it to begin with) has faded. I'm ready for jeans and socks. Okay, okay, I'll admit it. I'm tired of shaving everyday and making sure my toenails are done.


On Wednesday, we had Grace's appointment with the school speech pathologist to proceed in getting her into some speech therapy. I love my little dear to pieces, but her pronunciation needs help. Fortunately at the evaluation, it was determined that it is strictly intelligibility that needs work. She doesn't seem to have any deficiencies in language development or comprehension. I didn't think so, but it is nice to hear it confirmed anyhow.

And because I felt that I wasn't busy and getting out enough, I signed up for a MOPS group (Mothers of Preschoolers) as well as a weekly women's bible study at church. So we added those on our schedule this week. Yay for childcare at both of those events however!

And tomorrow we are heading to the fair with some friends.
Oh, and Saturday the kids and I are going shopping with my sister-in-law.

Whew! So at least I can't complain that I'm bored and lonely!

A Garden

This was a corner of our backyard when we moved in two months ago.


Then it looked like this as we (meaning hired help, not myself) dug out part of the slope that made up our yard.



But now, we have this.


Oh, and this.


But back to this.

This is going to be my garden area. I am so excited. I am imagining all sorts of fresh veggies, maybe some fruits. Some succulent berries or crisp lettuce. Saving money, feeding my family, teaching the kids about nature. How fun.

One problem.

I don't know how to garden.

Yet.

My thumb isn't looking anything green so far. There's no dirt under the nail. It's one step from being manicured.

Okay, maybe not that bad, but really, I'm not sure even where to begin. Good thing I have some time until spring.

Of course, I'm assuming I should wait until then.

Save While I Spend

I am on a mission to save a few dollars these days. Of course, isn't everyone it seems. It has become a bit of a game now to see how good of deals I can score.

My last trip on Sunday was a winner - I purchased a gallon of milk, hairspray, a Glade candle, two jars of Welch's jelly, and hair dye. I paid $1.44 out of pocket... PLUS, I earned $13 towards a future purchase. Mr. D was waiting in the car for me with the kidlets and he said he always can tell if I made a good purchase because I come out grinning.

I have a Target trip planned tomorrow... hopefully I come out grinning again!

Also, to save some money, I haven't had a dryer for the last month. Our dryer gave up for good, and we are hoping to find a good deal on Craigslist. I love that site. We have found a few leads, but they have been snatched up before we could get to them. Our recent 100+ degree weather has been drying my clothes "super-fast" as Grace would say, so I haven't had any concerns. Yet. When we get our quasi-fall season sometime, then we'll have to get serious in looking for a replacement.

So with the money that I'm saving here and there, I'm using to start decorating the house. Even though we are unpacked, the rooms just don't have a "Sara-touch" yet. I need to add some finishing touches here and there. I have a lot of empty wall space that I didn't have before. The paint is just kinda "blah". I have a list of things to do, but I am trying to remember "one thing at a time" or rather, one room at a time.

Ok, the point of all this rambling really is to share that I found a super-cute bedding set for Grace's room.

I found it on a few websites, all around the same price. But then I found that one of the websites I considered, also listed their products on ebay. Brand new and sealed. I scored it for $20 less then I would have paid through their real website. Not including what they would have charged me for shipping. Sweet. See, I can save while I spend.

That's what I'm telling Mr. D at least.

Paul-iwog

In honor of Paul's 10-month birthday tomorrow, here's the latest on my little man.

My little happy man. He is (generally) such an easy going guy. He likes everyone. Likes to clap his hands. He says "Dada" and "Mama".

He's a big boy - not a surprise there. He is already in his 12-month clothes. He loves to eat everything that I give him. He really hasn't turned up his nose at anything yet. Loves fruit though - which is funny cause we couldn't get Grace to eat for years. He will chow down cantaloupe, watermelon, and grapes like nobody's business.

He has 8 teeth already, and I think that there might be more on the way. I think the back molars might be on the move cause I think I can spy the little marks on his upper jaw. I'm hoping that is the case as he hasn't been the best sleeper lately.

I was so proud of my man for a while there. Around 7 months or so he started sleeping most of the night through. I thought I was going to have it made in the shade as Grace had basically just started sleeping through the night at 2 years! But then.... he changed his mind and seems to be more on "let's wake up a couple times during the night and then rise up nice and early for mom!" He's ready to play usually around 6:30am. I'm not. Especially when I just was up with him at 5am.


And now, Paul-iwog is on the move. He started crawling a couple weeks ago and nothing holds him back now. Well, nothing except for his baby cage.
He typically will play in there for quite a while. But when he's done... well, he's done.

And now, I have two months to plan for his birthday party! I already have the theme picked out. But I'll leave that for another story.... oooh... the suspense.