Cheers to Drug-Mart and Jeers to Non-Drive-Thrus

Cheers to Drug Mart, who just this morning got Mylicon gas drops for me through the drive-thru window. Upon seeing my plight this morning (I don't have much of a voice left, my infant was crying and there were 2 other little people in the car), the pharmacy tech left the pharmacy window and got me THREE different gas drop varieties to choose from. Kudos to Drug Mart for knowing what true customer satisfaction is these days!! :)

JEERS to establishments without drive thrus. Why can't I get a healthy lunch from Subway without getting out of the car? Why doesn't my local grocery store offer a drive thru for 10 items or less. Why oh why does the post office insist that I enter their establishment to mail a package or buy stamps? Mothers of young children should ban together and demand some drive thrus!!

Okay, thanks for "listening" to my tirades this morning....Have a nice day!

My training potty doesn't have a five point harness.

It's true. My daughter's training potty doesn't have a five point harness. Do the makers of these potties believe that mommies have the luxury of standing beside the potty for endless minutes to ensure toddlers stay put?? My daughter realizes that while I'm nursing my baby I am unable to consistently enforce the command "sit on the potty," thus rendering me totally ineffective at potty training for the time being.

If the potty had a five point harness, my daughter could stand up and "carry" the potty around the room with her and I would have fewer accidents to clean up....sounds like a great idea to me!

My Morning

Okay, so I spent yesterday cleaning up vomit all day. My 2 year old was sick and was sick in almost every room of the house, even in my van (you know, the 10 minutes she sat in it waiting for Jared to get home from school). She went to sleep early and easily last night and I hoped my troubles were over.

Fast forward to this morning....no vomit since yesterday afternoon! Yay!! I slept in this morning and decided to get up at 7 a.m. (a good 90 minutes past the norm). The baby was stirring so I brought her to my room so I could feed her and watch some news. At 7:30 the eldest two children arrived in my room. I undressed my baby and started to change her diaper....that's when it happened. I removed the soaked diaper and went to place a clean diaper under her bottom and she decided that was the right moment to let loose! She peed all over my bed, her legs and my pajamas.

Nevermind that I was wearing my last matching pajamas after yesterday's laundry fiasco due to vomit. Oh, did I mention that I just changed my sheets yesterday, too! Argh!!! Well, I'm off to do laundry -- probably enough to rival that of my dear friend Renae.

Santa Train

Yesterday we took the kids to ride the Santa Train--the kids' first real train ride ever. We had a great day! I think the highlight for Scott was the fact that the small town had a Sonic....where we ate lunch. To reciprocate, Scott took us to Cracker Barrel for supper.


More about Santa Claus....After visiting with Santa, Jared asked me "Why does Santa have such a big, big, big hiney?" Let's just say Scott and I were thrilled that Jared waited until Santa left the train car before asking. "What did we say?" you might ask....nothing! We did what all smart parents do---changed the subject! :)





Jared told Santa he wanted a new Rudolph. We have a Rudolph that plays music (courtesy of James & Charity) that doesn't work right...we think he just needs new batteries. Anyway, when asked what he wanted, that's what Jared asked for from Santa!

Evie cried when Santa sat down with us. Just before he left, she decided to give him a high-five.

Lights at the Zoo

Twice last week we went to look at the lights at the zoo. The train set was amazing. The statistics said it was more than 600 ft of track and more than 6000 ft of wire (I think) and it weighed more than a ton. Jared was amazed; he got to talk to an engineer and run one of the trains.
















Isn't she a vision in pink swirls? :)

Autumn Leaves

Now this is a super-sized pile of leaves. Scott gathered these last weekend. It was pretty cold, but Jared didn't mind.

Is Santa Claus real??

Yes, it's that time of year again...

Last night Jared asked me if Santa Claus was real. Not ever wanting to lie to my kids, I told Jared that no, Santa was not real. I explained that a real person wears a Santa suit and pretends to be Santa Claus. Realizing other parents are okay with SC being part of their traditions, I also told Jared that some kids believe in SC and we shouldn't go around saying SC isn't real.

Well, tonight we went to the zoo to look at the Christmas lights. Again, Jared asked me about SC. I gave him the same reply as yesterday. Then it happened---Santa was walking towards us in the zoo. Jared looked at me and said, "Mommy, Santa is real. There he is!"

Now that Jared knows he's real, maybe that will be the end of the questions until next year....at least, I hope so! :)

Happy Birthday to you....you live in a zoo!

Yesterday was Jared's 5th birthday.....my, how time flies. It was my favorite birthday to date. He waited patiently all day to open presents. After dinner at his favorite eatery, Ci Ci's Pizza, we had cupcakes and he opened gifts. He was even anxious to make a few thank-you phone calls, which was very sweet.

Jared & Madison

I took this just a few minute ago.....too sweet!

First Smile Caught on Film

No, this is not her first smile....merely the first one I was able to snap a picture of so far!

Mid-November Pics of the Girls

The "little sister" onesie is a hand-me-down from the Johns. It's too cute on her; I was super happy that it still fit her!

Weekend Pics

Here are a few pics from the weekend. The ponytail is new for Evie. Surprisingly, she likes it and leaves it alone!

Not everyone likes to "go"

Between our two eldest children, the go-cart is not going to get used for awhile! Jared is just a little too big (that's being generous, don't you think? let's just say it didn't go as fast as it does when Evie's on it!) even though he clearly still loves it.....and Evie didn't like it at all! Scott and I were actually expecting a wheel or two to fall off while Jared was riding!

Jack-o-Lantern

I forgot to post a picture of the kids' jack-o-lantern that Daddy helped make!

Happy Halloween!

A couple of my pics are out of order.....

Here's Madison as an Ohio State cheerleader for Halloween!

Harvest Fall Party at school. Evie had a good time until she saw the crib full of dolls and found out she couldn't play with them during story time! I loved the activity pictured below....who would have thought to hammer golf tees into a pumpkin?? (I guess Jared's teacher would have!)

Yes, my kids went trick-or-treating with "The Hoff." I spent the evening holding Madison and handing out candy with a few of my neighbors.

Last weekend Scott made a leaf pile for Jared to play in. They had a blast!

Scott and the kids made a jack-o-lantern the night before Halloween.