Throwback Thursday Halloween Edition

Throwback Thursday... Halloween Edition

 

This was October 2009.  And it's a beautiful thing, because we are recycling these costumes this year.  Kaiya will be a honey bee, Kaleb - Winnie the Pooh, and Kadence the Hunny Pot.

 

 

And just because it made me laugh when I was going through pictures.  Kaleb subjected to playing "dress up" with his big sister.  What little buddies these two are.

Tuesdays with Dr. Tony

Thought today would be a great day (since it's Tuesday) to post about the opportunity that Tony has had to be on our local news station every Tuesday morning.  We have had a lot of fun with it... there is much discussion about which ties go with which shirts and Tony is even nice enough to let me brainstorm prop ideas with him.

One of my favorite things about it is how the kids react to it.  This photo is from last year -- one of the first weeks he was on. 

We usually gather around whatever electronic device is close by.  And wait patiently for Daddy to come on.  We can usually see the set being setup during the commercial break.  No cable for us -- we are streaming online, so we get to see that "behind the scenes" stuff while we wait.  Some of us have a bit more patience than others...  Then he comes on.  And that's followed by quite a bit of shush-ing.  Generally, everyone is telling Kadence to zip it.  Stop moving!  Get your head out of my way! Kaaaaaaaaaay-dence!!!  I wish I could tell you that they sat like the little angels they appear to be in the above picture each week.  Not true.  There has even been an occasion where I have to admit to Tony that I couldn't hear a blasted thing because they were squabbling.  But thankfully, I usually don't have to wait too long until it is posted online.

We watch.  Then we critique.  The kids usually compare it to the week before and decide if it is better than the week before.  They usually want to tell me something they learned about health.  Or brag about already knowing it.

Then we wait again... for Daddy to get home.  He gets quite a round of applause from those little people when he walks in the garage door.  It is seriously the cutest. thing. ever.

You can find his clips here: www.wccbcharlotte.com -- Search for Tuesdays with Dr. Tony.

Here's the most current one: Healthier Halloween

Juice Jigglers

In our attempts to limit our kid's exposure to artificial flavors/dyes and excess sugar in foods, we've had to get creative with some of those normal, fun "kid" foods.  Like Jello Jigglers. Oh, I love those things.  I remember watching The Food Network and the show - Barefoot Contessa.  She featured these Juice Jigglers and I scribbled the recipe down in a little notebook.  We've made these often and the kids (and me!) love them.

**Disclaimer:  Healthy people can sometimes pick at each other and criticize each other's choices... just gonna say it now.  This recipe uses Knox Gelatin... and I know that some have strong opinions about gelatin. I know there are better gelatins out there -- So make your own substitutions... please don't tell me all about it.  :)

**Disclaimer #2:  These are photos taken from my iPad. I leave the real photography to my sister.

Ingredients: Juice, Knox Gelatin

Step 1: Measure one cup of juice.  Dissolve 4 envelopes of Knox unflavored gelatin in it.

It starts to look thick... like this.

Step 2: Heat 3 cups of juice to boiling and then add to thick gelatin and stir until it dissolves.

 Step 3: Pour into greased baking dish -- this one is an 11x7

 

Step 4: Refrigerate for at least 3 hours - or until set.

Here's the link to the recipe:  http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/fruit-juice-shapes-recipe/index.html

Throwback Thursday

Here's a throwback to 2002. 

It's Harder than it Seems

This blogging every day for 30 days is a bit harder than it seems.  I'm really struggling for content.  I need these kids to step up their game!  Kadence is always good for a few laughs.  She came through a bit for me today... but still.  I feel like I need more.

Car ride to church:

Kaleb is helping her get buckled in her seat.  You may be wondering why... I mean -- why do all the hard work myself?  Everyone deserves the pleasure of buckling Kadence into her seat every now and again.

She says in a super sweet voice, "Don't hurry."  And then not even 2 seconds later she screams, "I'm waiting on you!!"  Kaiya and I busted out laughing.  Kaiya says, "Well, that didn't make any sense!"

And then a good 10 minutes down the road we hear this little voice that says, "You is stupid."  Followed immediately by, "I wuv you soooooo much."

The child is clearly confused.

I'm meeting my deadline by 7 minutes tonight.  And so thankful that tomorrow is Throwback Thursday.  It shouldn't be too difficult to come up with a good one for that.

Please clean your room.

This is Kaleb's idea of cleaning his room. Shove everything into closet. Close closet door. Room clean. 

This mama has other plans..

What does the kid say?

Our kids are obsessed with the video "What does the fox say?" And by obsessed, I mean we listen to it at least 2 times every time we ride in the car.  But that's a post for another time.  Right now I need to document the latest kid sayings around here:

Kadence: Come oooowwwwnnnn.
Kaleb: smarshmallows
Kadence: No fair!
Kaiya: she is getting too grow up, darn it!
Kaleb: boob cushion (bra)

Leaky Diapers

Friday was a fantastic day.  And a day full of leaky diapers and little people waste all over me.  Kadence needs potty trained.  Like yesterday.  And I don't know what I have been thinking.  Maybe that Kaiya and Kaleb would just decide to take matters into their own hands and potty train their little sister?  Well, folks... that hasn't happened.  Apparently it is still up to me. Blast.

I've decided to be all relaxed lazy this time.  No need to rush her.  It will just happen when she is ready.  Hmm... today something in the universe was telling me to start potty training as soon as possible.  Because I was peed and pooped on multiple times today.

This is cute little miss all dressed and ready for the day.  Notice sweater, dress and tights.

She decided to go on the potty today at the office.  Yeah... that shot out all over my shoes and the bathroom floor.

Then we're sitting in the 3D Theater at Discovery Place and with about 3 minutes left, I start to smell something a little funky.  As we exit and I am carrying her... the stench is worse and I'm feeling a little dampness.  Here she is again... notice what's missing.  The sweater and tights.  The poo was everywhere.  On my jeans. My hands. Her tights and sweater.  I needed a hazard suit to change this diaper.  I wanted to put paper bags over all our heads while we changed her in the bathroom.  That way we wouldn't be recognized as we continued touring the museum the rest of the afternoon.

Right now Discovery Place has an exhibit called Grossology.  We could have been part of the exhibit today.  Seriously.  I was smelling that mess for a good 20 minutes after exiting the bathroom.

After our really long, full day I took the kids out to dinner.  Went to get Kadence out of her car seat and the entire half side of her dress is wet.  Lean down and take a sniff.  Yep.  It couldn't just be water.  It had to be that...  Somehow, with her diaper fully on, she managed to pee all over half of herself.  How does this even happen?  So this is how she ended the day dressed:  No pants. Wearing her brother's sweatshirt.

And next week... we'll start potty training.  Maybe.

She's a Dipper

The "blogworld" doesn't know Kadence very well.  We just can't imagine our lives without this little girl.  Words I would use to describe her: fierce, loving, two, funny.  And out of all three kids -- she is my little dipper.  Give her chicken w/ a bit of seasoning and she'll eat a couple pieces.  Give her chicken with a pile of ketchup and well... you won't even be able to blink and it will all be gone.  I have seen this kid dip food in some crazy combinations.  Strawberries and hummus probably takes the cake.  Today her culinary skills were coming out when she came up with this one:  PB & J dipped in Cinnamon Applesauce.

Zzzzzz...

So much for a fun trip with Mama to the library. She fell asleep on the way there, slept the entire time on this little bench, slept the entire way home.  And you should have seen the look on her face when she realized she missed it all! :)  She was so confused about how I had all those new books.

Thirty Days of Blogging... For Real

I've gotta jump back in here. This blog is like the pet you have before children.  It gets less and less attention, each passing year.  I start to say, "I have no idea how it got like this..."  And then, of course I know exactly how it got like this.  We started a business.  I worked full-time.  We had another child.  We started homeschooling.  I worked part-time.  Gymnastics, AWANA, Soccer.  And Facebook - I got lazy and resorted to little status blurbs, rather than blog posts.  Blah Blah Blah. Life!

But the truth is... this blog is 98% for me and 2% for the rest of you.  Family and friends... A few lurking strangers, I'm sure.  It's the place where I document milestones and funny moments.  It's the place we go back and look at with the kids to show them what they were like when they were little littler.

So it's time to get back. And I've gotta find a way to grab all of the facebook status posts and instagrams -- or at least my favorite kids ones - and import them into this blog.  That way the memories are all in one tidy place.

But for today... It's Throw Back Thursday.  So here's one for ya -- paired with this new beautiful picture of the two big ones.  Time flies... eh?