More Book

Like any good mom, I want to encourage my kids to love reading. I want to foster a love of learning. I hope they will experience the thrill of getting lost in a good book, turning each page with enthusiasm wondering what will happen next. Okay, so I've indulged myself in many flights of fancy through a good book.

So like a good mom, I'm encouraging Grace to like books. Actually she doesn't need much encouragement. She would be perfectly content to let me read book after book after book all day. Whenever I happen to sit down during the day on the couch, she heads over to her cupboard that has her downstairs books and brings me a book.

"Book. Book"

"Okay Grace, one book."

We read "Hop on Pop" for the 5,300,302th time.

"Okay we're all done."

"No. More book. More book. More book."

She's very persistent when it comes to her books.

So she was thrilled when she discovered the library on Monday. It was her first visit. She could have stayed there all day bringing me book after book from the seemingly never ending collection.

She now has her own library card.




We checked out 7 books. (Between Mr. D and myself, we've already read them all at least 12 times each).



I hope she understands that these books have to go back to the library.

But I'm sure I can help any misunderstanding by checking out more books. More book. More book. More book.

Saturday - Market Day

So in the past few months, Saturday mornings have become my new grocery shopping day. Back in the day, b.c. (before children), Mr. D and I used to go together, usually on Sunday afternoons. We would buy scads of boxed cereal cause it was always on sale and I had coupons. Then Grace came, and we would still all go together. The times I went by myself, were lonely - I missed my company.

Then came the new wee one, and it doesn't make as much sense to load up everyone to go to the market. So I've been going Saturday mornings and doing it myself. Here's my little secret - I'm not so lonely anymore. Rather, I enjoy my little excursion out by myself. I get up, plan my meals, make my list, bring my cup of coffee, and roam the aisles. The cart isn't full of boxes of cereal anymore - rather better foods (mostly) that I try to feed the family.

I really started to reevaluate what we were eating when Grace started to eat solids. Suddenly the frosted, sugared flakes didn't seem like the best choice. We also started shopping at the healthy food store, where the most well known cereal is Kashi.

My goal has been to make more and more of our foods rather than buy packaged. I've been making granola and bread for a few months now. My next goal is tortillas. Mr. D has requested pretzels also. I would love to find a good recipe for crackers. My attempt at graham crackers a while back didn't turn out so well.

The one thing I figured out when learning how to go shopping well and help meal preparation is plan my meals for the week. I plan exactly what I'm going to make and then shop around that menu. It helps me so much in shopping wisely and having more time during the week because I don't have to figure out what to make and if I have the right ingredients.

So this week, the family will be enjoying, or at least, eating:
Monday - Brown rice with diced steak and peppers
Tuesday - Baked Tortellini with peppers and zucchini
Wednesday - Tortilla Casserole
Thursday - Dijon Chicken and pasta
Friday - Hawaiian Pizza on whole wheat crust (I love my breadmaker!)
Saturday - Creamy Rice, Chicken and Spinach dinner
Sunday - finish up all the leftovers in the house

Plus, I'll make a batch of beef barley stew to have in the house for lunches during the week. I've been doing that lately - making a soup to have on hand for lunch or to supplement dinner.

I'm all shopped now for the week. I had a lovely trip to the store this morning. They had a great price on cheese, so my little cheese-hounds at home are satisfied as well.

Good for a Chuckle

Oh no I didn't... back to back entries. Woah - this is getting crazy now. What? Am I figuring out how to handle two kidlets these days. Okay, I won't go that far.

But today was a boring at-home, so I don't have any fascinating tales of adventure or exciting photos to share. So instead, dear friends, I thought I would share just some of thoughts that have made me chuckle today.

* How I spend all day trying to get my son to burp and my daughter not to. I swear, she's a teenage boy in disguise. She belches like a grown person, then grins like she's the greatest thing since sliced bread. Through her giggle, she mumbles something that resembles "'cuse you". I repeat, "Excuse ME". She grins. And belches. Lovely.

* I hear Mr. D outside with Grace before he leaves for work. She's helping him give the dogs and plants fresh water. I pause when I hear him saying repeatedly, "Moron. Moron." Really Mr. D? Sure she's only two and doesn't get everything, but c'mon, a moron. Then I realize what he's really saying is, "more on. more on." Grace was in charge of turning on the faucet for the hose and he was repeating her two-year old sentence structure. Moron. More on.

* I haven't come up with a good excuse yet why we gave our children the initials G.E.D. and P.H.D. I guess we have higher expectations for Paul. Maybe Grace will marry well. But honestly, both have middle names that are family names and they just worked - I can't help what their initials spell. Well, I guess I really could have helped it, but I chose not to.

* My daughter has a sixth sense. It's her sense of cheese. This kid seems to always know when I'm taking cheese out of the refrigerator. Suddenly next to me I hear a very persistent little voice, "cheese. cheese. cheese." pause. "peease." This morning, she shared her slice with dad, from whom she inherited said sixth sense. They were both so pleased to have finagled cheese out of mommy-the-cheese-hoarder. But cheese is expensive - they can't just be gobbling it down. They don't seem to agree with me.

So of course, all my stories again revolved around the wee ones, but that's the way things go most times around here. It's that or talking about my laundry folks. And laundry isn't that exciting usually. But, I have been adding some lavender essential oil to my drying cylce and my clothes smell yummy.

Okay, so maybe laundry can be thrilling.

And they grow up so fast...

Paul is 3 months old today! It has just flown by. He's getting so big - outgrowing some of his 3-6 month sleepers already. He stretches out and they get all taut. It's sad to pack them away so quickly. He's still so good natured. He puts up with the "tough" love from Grace... for the most part. He's sleeping pretty good too - he will go a good 6 hours before waking up (usually around 2-3am) and then will go back down until about 7am - or when Grace comes in the room to wake up everyone.




Speaking of the Gracie-poo, I'm ecstatic to announce that she is day potty-trained. Big girl panties by day... and well, diapers still by night. But I am thrilled with her daytime accomplishments. I don't even have to do the hour-by-hour potty runs with her - she can come tell me, and BEFORE she goes too. As we go to the potty, she tells me "Gee dry. No poopoo, No peepee." That is her mantra. She repeats it all too often - in the store, at the park, to the cashier. She's then will show me everything that will get wet if she has an accident - she points to her pants, her shoes, her socks.... did you know even her hairbow will get wet if she goes peepee? I guess there's no holding back when she's gotta go.

That's the latest from kidsville.

And now, in no attempt to segue, I'm just going to talk about how pleased as punch I was with my last CVS shopping trip. I scored BIG time. Check this out.




Some of the items above include: 4 packages of batteries, three eyeshadows, two mascaras, 3 greeting cards, hair spray and body wash... plus more.

My total?
$6.27

I'm serious. And I got $4 back in ExtraCare Bucks. Granted I did have $10 in ECB to use towards my total, but I still did some smart shopping there. Those batteries? Free baby. Now Grace's Christmas toys can actually do what they were meant to do. Her "Mommy I Can Swim Doll" can now start swimming in the bath rather then just floating.

Thankful Thursday

I'm feeling pretty thankful this Thursday, so here's a Thankful Thursday list for ya'll.

I'm thankful for:

1. my hour of "Sara time" I'm enjoying. Kiddoes are in bed asleep and hubby is still at work. I love my family, but I also love sneaking in an hour here and there of alone time.

2. my freshly scrubbed floors. Today I got down on hands and knees and scrubbed up all the grime from the Santa Ana winds, as well as the loose plastic pine needles and scattered glitter from Christmas. I love clean floors that don't turn my socks grey.

3. our DVR. Seriously. I love this thing. Plus I love the fact that Mr. D finagled it out of satellite company, making our bill $5 less each month while keeping all our services. This thing has brought tv watching to a whole new level for me. It's so freeing. I don't have to worry about when something comes on - it does it for me. I worried that getting it would make me watch more tv, but rather, I find I'm actually watching less, and better quality tv. When I do sit down to watch it, I don't have to channel-surf and settle for just "something." I get to watch something I already requested. It's amazing.

4. my working internet. I've been fighting with it losing connection EVERYDAY. It was driving me mad. All it took was a simple 20 minute call to the company and so far it seems to be fixed. So easy, and I put it off for so long.

5. the fact that my daughter is alive and well and didn't drown in the bathtub. I had to leave her alone for a few minutes while I tended to sad, crying Paul. When can you leave your kid in the tub unattended and not feel like you're a bad mommy?

6. that tomorrow is Friday, and Mr. D is off, and the house is clean, so we can do something fun and I don't have to feel guilty!

7. and of course, I'm thankful for these guys.

Thanks for the Christmas Gift - I'll Save It For Summer

So I'm driving Mr. D bananas right now. He can't figure out why I haven't opened and played with my Christmas gifts yet. Actually, he still brings up the birthday gift from November that hasn't been used yet.

But, this is what he doesn't understand. I can't find the time to play with my new "toys". The gifts he's referring to are going to take some time to figure out. I have a external hard drive to back-up our pictures on, an ice cream maker, and new bakeware - which means cleaning out my old stuff and finding room for the new stuff. I've worn the new pajamas, put on the cologne, and scuffed up my new slippers already, so its not like I put all my presents in a corner and forgot about them.

But he wants me to open up the rest and play. I think he just wants ice cream and cookies if you ask me.

But its the time factor. I can't figure out how other mammas do it. Between the kids, the house, mealtimes, and laundry - I'm pretty much busy all day. When naptime comes, I have a plethora of "Sara" activities to choose from (which include the above plus keeping up with my Bible study, emails/blogs, photo archiving, etc.).

Well hopefully by July I will have opened up my new gifts.

But... I haven't run out of time to share cute kid photos. I just can't resist.



Paul is getting so big - he weighed 15 lbs at his 2 month check-up! He's already outgrowing his 3 months clothes. He is the smiliest baby ever. He is quite the charmer.



Grace is learning to be a great big sister. She helps with Paul, sings to him, shows him his new toys, and even shares her bracelets!

Disneyland!

As a true So-Cal gal, I *heart* Disneyland. I didn't get to go much as a kid, but once I was old enough to work and buy an annual pass, my love affair flourished. In high school, my friends and I would go and hang out, buy expensive ice cream cones, watch the Electric Parade, and eat sour balls (well, except for the green ones cause those taste funny).

Then in college, I was there on the weekends in my vintage dresses swing dancing at Carnation Plaza. I would still buy expensive ice cream and sour balls too.

I met Mr. D and he gamely bought an annual pass and would accompany me to the Happiest Place on Earth, or at least Anaheim, CA. However, he never did quite share my infatuation.

So it had now been over TWO YEARS since I visited the Magical Kingdom. A few years back we stopped renewing our passes since we weren't going out there enough to warrant the cost. The last time we went I had won free passes at work. I was pregnant with Grace. I can pinpoint that visit because I felt uber-guilty that I went on Space Mountain anyhow. I just couldn't pass it up... maybe that explains why Grace loves all the fast rides.

Well I have been hankering to visit D-land for a while now. Mr. D kept telling me that we should wait until Grace is old enough to appreciate it (since its freakin' expensive to go at full-price). Then I was pregnant again. Then we had a newborn. He just kept bringing up one excuse after another.

But I found a loophole!

Thanks to Disneyland, in 2009 you get in FREE on your birthday. Yes, F-R-E-E. So how did Mr. D get to celebrate the big 3-2 on January 3rd? Why, only with Mickey and friends. He got in free, Grace and Paul are both still free, so we just had to splurge for a ticket for me.

It was the best birthday I he ever had!