Update

Been a while since I have taken care of my blog:( Been busy around here, although some days by the end of the day I have not gotten anything done, or what I did get done has been undone already. ho hum..
so, i guess we have busy with the normal stuff around here. Elise is getting to be a very very busy girl. She has been working on a few milestones. She is getting around very well. She doesn't use her knees, but she is really gaining some upper body strength with all her creeping around. She is still working on her first tooth. It has not popped out yet, but she has a pretty good blister on her lower gum just waiting to pop. Last weekend she discovered the dog dishes for the first time, she got a little splashing in before I got her relocated. Beasley has never minded sharing with any of the kids. They don't mind sharing with her either, no wonder they get along so well.

Adelaide is developing quite the imagination and has been doing a lot of dramatic play. she will sit and play with two pieces of toast (or any other food items) for long stretches of time. One morning she had one half bit into a 'stairway' and the other half was some sort of animal or something that was going up the stairs and falling off the top. It would yell as it fell and then she would ask if it wanted to 'play again'. I try not to interrupt her little conversation because it is so fun to listen to. If I ask about it she usually stops.

Vinny is up to his usual antics. He has only taken a few days off from 'being' spiderman since October 24th. He has worn his halloween costume portions of nearly every day since then. I NEVER bring it up, but he always asks for it. We have had to take a couple days off for washings here and there (luckily it has to air dry so I can have a day of not having to see him in the same outfit). He does not wear it to school or out, but changes and leaves his clothes lieing wherever he was when he decided to transform into Spiderman. He still loves school, but every day claims he does not remember what they did! He is a boy with a ton of energy and goes non-stop from wake to bedtime. No longer even attempting a nap has made bedtime with him super easy.

Had Turkey Day at Dave's grandparents yesterday, lots of famly and yummy food. Kids had a great time and were sad to leave, but Adelaide was getting pretty sleepy.

I took part in Black Friday shopping this morning. I don't start too early, but I still got some good deals. Most of the stores were not too busy, but Toys R Us and Kohls were absolutely nuts! After a checkout line of 45 minutes at Toys R Us I saw the mile long line at Kohls and decided to move on to my next destination. I got a bunch of Christmas presents as well as some various things for us and the kids. Got outfits for the kids to do a christmas card photo. If past years is any indication of how that photo op goes they will either A. wear those outfits every day for the next 3 weeks or B. will be wearing something entirely different in the final photo! These photo shot ideas of mine Never work out!!! we are trying Take 1 tomorrow morning - keeping my fingers crossed:):)

Lights Out

So the newly environmentally conscious kid we have here (Vinny) has decided (finally) that he sleeps better with his light OFF! It has been about a year that he has been sleeping with his light on. He had two night lights and then moved to sleeping with his main room light on also. For a while I would go shut it off before we went to bed, but then we would end up with a little boy sneaking into bed with us in the middle of the night. I started just leaving it on and he got much better at staying in his room all night (at least much more often). Lately, he had been staying in his room all night no problem and this week he started wanting his light off. Monday night he got up at some point and shut it off himself and Tuesday he asked that we shut it off when we left the room. Not sure what brought it about, but he really has become very energy conscious. He shuts off the tv and lights when he leaves a room (or at least a level). We have soo many light switches in the basement that he gets frustrated when he can't find the right switch to get them all off and won't come up until we come help him (and it is hard for us to find all the right ones too).

Unfortuneately, he has a cold now and ended up in our room last night because he couldn't breathe very well. Just real stuffy and has not been able to master the art of nose blowing! Hopefully, once he gets better he will go back to sleeping all night in the dark.

Ready or not....

There was a very comical game of hide and seek going on here tonight. Vinny and Dave are playing hide and seek. Vinny wants the rooms to be dark for hiding, but he is scared of the dark, so he hides in the doorway. Gotta say it doesn't take Dave too long to find him, since he is in the door and giggles and comes running out once Dave says ready or not, here I come. He told Dave to count to one backwards before he comes to look for him.
On Vinny's turn to look for Daddy, he counts and heads out with his flashlight to look and quickly turns to me and tells me it works better if I come with him.

Adelaide is getting back to her normal self. The kids and I got flu shots last Monday. Adelaide and Vinny got the flu mist. Apparently, this wasn't the best for Addie. She got a mild case of the flu with a fever and generally lethargic and sad. :( She seems to be better now. Just a little more sleepy than normal.

Elise is all over the place. I am working to remember to keep the gates closed and the small and dirty things (like the dog bones) off the floor. She can make her way across a room pretty quick! She does not do a true crawl yet, but she pushes with her toes and can get some pretty decent speed. Vinny was trying to show her what 'real' crawling looks like today.

Good ol Dog!

Once upon a time I got a great birthday present of a super canine companion. She was cute little black 5 month old lab/hound cross that we named Beasley. Boy was she full of energy. Have to admit their were times those first few months (okay maybe first year) that we did not know if we could keep up this crazy adopted pup. We had much destruction. There was the newel posts and spindles that were chew toys, the leashes we had to buy every few weeks as she chewed through them, the unraveled berber carpet, and the power cords (luckily she did not electrocute herself or burn the house down) just to name a few. We did survive these and she is now a super family dog. She still gets into mischief, but the kids love her and she looks out for them and endures much taunting and hair pulling.
When she was a pup she got ALL the attention from us. So many walks, toys, playtime galore, puppy school, doggy daycare. Well times change! While she is still a great dog and super companion. She is my devoted running companion that dislikes my treadmill almost as much as I do since it means she does not get to go running with me. She almost always follows me into my closet to check if I am putting on my running clothes and gets super excited when the running shoes come out! She is no longer the only one looking for attention anymore.
We just realized that she turned 7 last week!!! Time flies! She is a great dog (isn't she pretty!!!) and I thought she deserved a posting - I am sure she would much rather get a treat and a good belly rub. :)

Wacky Wednesday

Vinny has been figuring out the workings of his car seat. He is still in a 5-point harness since he is so light. He started by being able to get the chest clip undone. Then he was able to get the button open himself with the help of one his toys (it has a handle just the right size to push that sticky button open). Now he is able to sometimes get out completely by himself. The button is pretty hard to do, so sometimes he can't quite get it. This morning we went to school and he was working to get himself unbuckled. He couldn't get the button pushed hard enough. He started saying 'Mommy, can you get me out!!!!' then he says 'I am so humiliated!'. I busted up laughing! I don't think he has any idea of what humiliated means and I have no clue where he heard it. So then once i was laughing he started in on his usual 'you are a monkey butt' and other references to butts to try to keep me laughing. okay, this little habit not so funny.

2056 Presidential Candidate?

What a fitting day to wear this bib!

November?!?!

Today was just a beautiful day!!! I wish we could have weather like this all year. It is November 3rd and we went to the park and no coats were needed. Adelaide had hers on of course, since for some reason she thinks a coat is needed EVERY time you go outdoors. We fought her on this ALL summer. Even when it was 90 degrees she wanted a coat on. So, she was pretty warm playing today.

This morning we had to head to the clinic for Elise's flu shot (she needed it in two doses this year) and I decided when we got there I would see if the rest of us could get them too. Vinny and Adelaide got the nasal spray up the nose. What a wonderful creation!! Vinny thought it was pretty cool, Adelaide wasn't a big fan, but I am sure she didn't understand what it was and there were no tears so I see that as success! Elise and I got the shot form, I now have a sore arm and I am sure Elise has a sore little leg. Hope it keeps us all healthy this year!!

Time, Time, Time....

I am coming to the realization that I would really like some staff here. If I am going to have enough time to blog, process photos, facebook, flickr, email, play with the kids, read - and update goodreads, read to the kids, I really am going to have to bring someone in to clean, do laundry, cook.... Guess that is why my emails are not responded to very quickly, my blog is usually behind and the laundry doesn't get folded very quickly. Oh well, at least I don't get bored! Maybe the queen sheeba on the couch, aka Beasley (the dog), could start helping out a bit more than letting me know it is time to eat again!! :)

More pics

I am pretty far behind on pics with my posts as our desktop computer moved on to the computer afterlife. Here are some pics from October.

Quest for photos...

I have been trying and trying and trying to get some good (even just one) pics of Adelaide. This may actually be part of the problem as now she is super annoyed with the camera! Her current reaction to me taking out the camera is 'ouch' and hides her face - this is not helpful in getting the perfect fall photo!!

So, this entry shows a few of the 'decent' pics I have managed of Adelaide lately.

Trick or Treat

Friday the kids finally got to wear their costumes for the real deal! We went Trick or Treating and the kids had SOO much fun. They did very well. Vinny was stellar at saying 'trick or treat', 'thank you' and 'happy halloween'. Addie did pretty well - she is only two - Trick or Treat is still a mouthful for her. Vinny was very courteous. He would just take one piece of candy, even when the people were trying to give him more. Adelaide on the other hand was grabbing handfuls! Her bucket is noticeablely more full - so mom can skim a little off the top and it won't be noticed, right?! There was no problem getting them to call it a night since they knew a treat was in store at the end.