We are family!

A small part of my big family at Thanksgiving 06. The credits list is HUGE and can be found at DST.


We have started taking afternoon walks with William actually walking! He loves his bear backpack harness thing - which is awesome because if we didn't have that he would be in the street in moments! Thursday afternoon we took a puddle walk during a break in the rain. I took my dSLR with us and the battery died! The boys LOVED splashing in the puddles and I loved watching them love it.

This weekend we have plans to visit our city's big brand new library! It looks gorgeous from the outside, I cannot wait to see inside! I am very anxious to go to Costco tomorrow to pick up my first big set of printed LOs. I am printing at 8x8 size... I hope it works well! A $20 experiment!

Scallop recipe - it was from the cookbook "How to Cook Everything" - I will try to get the recipe tomorrow and post it!

Happy Friday!

The week sure flew by! The boys and I had a tough Valentine's day - they were just super crazy and a trip to the park was disastrous when William kept trying to run away down big hills (straight towards the road) or in to muddy ravines. I gave the boys a bath after the park (about 50% of the bathwater ended up on the floor) and then an early picnic dinner on the livingroom floor. When Carl got home we put them to bed and then had some nice time together - interrupted by both boys waking up, screaming a number of times.

Carl made us scallops in a lemon glaze, fillet mignon and crusty hot bread. Our fresh asparagus was left out because of the multiple wakings. We had dinner and watched American Idol in between tending to the boys. We had a rare treat of mid-week wine, it was good stuff - 7 deadly Zins.


My valentine and I with Traci Reed's New Black Lace collection available at ACOT:

Corina's Papa Collection

This beautiful and very special collection is 20% off today at www.funkyplaygrounddesigns.com.






Kid = Kimberly Geswein
Kit = Corina Nielsen

Spring Chicken LO

full credits
William was so little! These pictures are not excellent and I have had them sitting for a long time waiting for the right kit to work with them. This fun kit compliments the vivid colors in the photos - and my cute kids!

Glitter, Glitter Everywhere

What was I thinking? Zachary helped me make a list of 11 people that we need to give Valentines to. And then I set a 2 year old and 4 year old free with red paint, red glitter glue, silver glitter, stickers, glue and paper. Ohmy. My kitchen table looks like a giant Valentine! We finally just had to walk away - we have Valentines in various stage of drying and we will write in them after lunch.

William has been exceptionally crabby and we are all sneezing this morning. The rain came back in town and so has a cold. I am hoping to get a LO done with Corina's new Spring Chicken



I have a LO that will be revealed with a new Corina collection tomorrow. I got to borrow Kimberly Geswein's beautiful daughter, Katie for my LO. I am itching to share - that kid is SO cute!

New Car! New Car! New Car!

After a few delays on Saturday, Carl was home with our new van! It was pouring rain and the birthday party we had planned to go to was canceled (not because of the rain but because the birthday girl was sick). The rain kept Carl from getting the carseats in but I did take the van for a solo spin around the neighborhood. We have a bunch of fun little extras - power sliding doors and liftgate, power rear quarter windows (the 3rd row windows), power adjustable driver and passenger seats (which I didn't think was that big of a deal but now that I can brace William's car seat against the passenger seat and still be comfy - I think it is an excellent deal!), fake wood paneling (LOL), upgraded fabric... but those are all just extras - the important part is that it is SAFE!



Sunday we got the seats installed and went for a drive. We met my parents, brother, his GF and Emme for lunch. We had really good Chinese food with a bunch of fiascoes - Carl dumped his soup in to his lap and William dumped his soup on to my foot. After lunch we went to an indoor play place. William spent the first hour like this...

He eventually woke up and had a great time with Emme and Zachary.



There was a group people there with some really rowdy dads. They were throwing balls at each other (the dads) and their kids - hard. It was pretty chaotic for awhile. There was one very friendly dad that was making us a bit uncomfortable with just how friendly he was to these kids he didn't know. He kept following Emme in to a dark, secluded spot underneath the play structure - creepy.

Zachary had told the OFD (over friendly dad) his name at some point, because Zachary is a friendly guy like that. At some point Zachary and another child crashed in to each other - Carl saw it and said that Zachary was being too rough. So Zachary and I sat down and talked about playing gently and he was reminded that if he could not play gently we would have to leave (I was having a hard time with this since the group of DADS were not playing gently - I should have given them the same talk, although I wouldn't have had them sit on my lap for the talk!). So a few minutes after Zachary and I talk I hear OFD yelling across the entire play area "Zachary, Zachary" and I think - wow, they must have had a friend named Zachary arrive because he certainly cannot be yelling for MY Zachary like that. OFD gets off his butt and walks across the play area, past me, glancing over his shoulder and says "you don't mind, I need to talk to Zachary" - I quickly informed him that I DID in fact mind, and asked what the problem was. WTF. You don't get to call my child across the room and talk to him. NO NO NO. So he tells me that Zachary pushed this girl and he needs to talk to him about it. UH, NO! Dude, that is MY job, which I have already done. I did talk to Zachary about it, again - and that wasn't even the girl he crashed with - this guy had NO idea what he was talking about. It was so odd. Thankfully he left soon after and we had some quieter playtime before we headed home for a dinner of PB&J and cereal.

To buy and to sell

The Odyssey is sold and there is a "sold" sign on the demo Sedona that Carl test drove tonight - he will go back to finish the purchase tomorrow. Hopefully we will be going to a gymnastics birthday party in our new van tomorrow!

In other news... ACOT's birthday bash is tomorrow! Join me 1-2am EST (or 10-11pm my time) at ACOT! There will loads of games, contests, crops and prizes all day and I will be closing up the festivities late at night!

Can you hear me now?

YES! HE CAN! The hearing test was passed with flying colors! William was so cooperative and so stinking adorable during the battery of tests the audiologist performed. She was so impressed with how great he did and asked if he was always this well behaved - uh, NO, never! LOL!

We have the Odyssey in our driveway! Finally. 75 days, $17,700 in repairs and $3500 in rental fees later. Goodness.

Today we will work on selling/trading in the van and hopefully we will have a Kia Sedona by 5pm tomorrow when we have a gymnastics birthday party. Sunday we might have breakfast or lunch with my family (to celebrate my birthday, 2 weeks later). My mom and I just scheduled one of my birthday babysitting days for Feb. 17th. Wahoooooooooo! Date night, well date afternoon since we try to get back by 7-8pm and get the kids changed and in the car and on the way home. We need it.

I hope to be back later with a new LO.

Thursday already?

How is that possible? This morning we have William's hearing test and we are hoping to pick up the Odyssey this afternoon. Hoping. The Kia dealership has really low balled the trade in offer so we are going to try a couple of other avenues first. At the least we need to get back what we owe on it- although it would have been nice to make $$ on it like we had the potential to do before the accident.

Last night I finished my first LO for Penny with her gorgeous Chirp set (see yesterday's post for the full kit and link). Full credits in my gallery on DST

Maybe tomorrow...

How many times can the body shop say "maybe tomorrow"? We have been hearing "maybe tomorrow" since last Wednesday. A solid week of "maybe tomorrow"s is getting very old. I am getting really stressed out by all of this. I just want it to be DONE and for us to have a safe vehicle for our family that doesn't require us losing $$ on. Ugh. What a PITA.


In fun digi news... I have been invited to be a part of the CT for Penny's Miscellany! This is the first kit I am playing with -

A big thanks to GERI!

Geri called me and talked me through fixing what ailed my blog. THANK YOU, GERI!

If you are just joining me for the day I have a big weekend/Monday update a couple of posts down - with photos included. Our day has been hectic and we haven't even left the house. The Odyssey is still not finished. The alignment is now correct but now the systems all have to be set because the airbag sensors will not go off. Once again, a glaring reminder that we are doing the right thing in not putting the kids back in this vehicle. $18k+ in repairs, 2 months and one fiasco after another. They are thinking we might get it back tomorrow. Goodness.

On the home front. William has been in rare 2-year-old form today. Stripping and leaving a trail of tinkle behind him, full blown tantrums at every turn (especially when I insisted that the dog's dish was full - he kept wanting to pile the kibble on top of the dog food mountain and was FURIOUS with me when I made him stop) and the most charming when I have been dealing with the body shop, Enterprise Rent-a-Car, auto glass services, a doctor's office - you get the idea - every time I picked up the phone he was in my face, SCREAMING. ACK! I do think this is spectacularly deviant behavior because he isn't feeling well. He sneezed throughout the morning, fell asleep during Sesame Street at 10am, didn't eat his lunch and is now sacked out against my side on the couch while I type. We have been so blessed this winter - one pre-Christmas cold and Zachary's short bout with the stomach flu last week, I guess it is our time to have another batch of sickies.

Note to self...

Don't try to customize your blog. All you have succeeded in doing is screwing it up. WTG!

"It is Spankish for Naughty"

Full credits on DST

journaling....
“Liljack” was all you would say when I asked what you were doing in the bathroom. You had been in there a long time and I peeked in to see if you needed help. Over and over you stated “liljack” as you continued to pump foam soap all over the sink, counter and floor. Finally, as I grew more frustrated you told me “Liljack, it is Spanish for naughty”. Spanish or not, naughty you were.

Monday Bloody Monday

Yesterday we spent nearly 3 hours at the park. Our homeschool preschool met for a play day. We had a nice time, met some new friends and the boys played hard. In the last 30 minutes they both bit it. The park we were at is mostly padded, foam ground cover or sand - and both boys took a header on the cement. Goodness. William has an itty bitty goose egg on top of the one he got a week or so ago from falling over the gate in to the kitchen. Zachary got a good bunch of road rash on his forehead, temple and cheek. Poor guys.

After the park we came home for what turned in to a messy, messy lunch. The boys were both covered with blackberries and almond butter, on top of the sand and dirt from the park. So in the tub they went. They spent a good hour in there with bath paints (we make our own colors out of baby shampoo and food coloring) and then got a good scrub down and soak. Then we had spaghetti for dinner LOL! Duh.

The best part of bath paints is painting a brother.

Our weekend was busy with lots of nothing. A couple of trips to the park, the farmer's market, watching the Krispy Kreme donut machines, Target, the grocery store (on Super Bowl Sunday - BAD idea).

Watching the donut machine.

William doesn't like the bridges that move so Zachary took
him by the hand to help him across. So sweet.
My boys.
Running to catch up with Daddy and Brother.

We are still waiting for the Odyssey back... it failed alignment. Duh. An SUV hit the tire going 40 MPH. Why would it pass the alignment tests? The impact broke the steering column from the inside. This wasn't a fender bender, I still cannot believe they did not total the van. And now we are discussing waiting until we have #3 to buy a van and using the Jeep again as our family vehicle. Uck. Being financially responsible sucks. We need to discuss the costs and benefits some more but it is a possibility we will be selling the Odyssey and repairing the Jeep.

AAAAAAAAAAGHHHHH

Nov. 26th a stupid man ran a red light and smashed our van. 2 months of pain, bruising, body shops, tow companies, rentals, doctor appointments, insurance companies, new carseats... you get the idea. It has been a mess and of course it won't end well, why would it? I just called the body shop back, after waiting for a call back that never came and very casually I was told my van would be ready on MONDAY. MONDAY? As in 3 days after the insurance company has cut off our rental? Monday, as in after the weekend we planned to trade the van in for a new van? Monday, as in we turn in the rental today and have no vehicle for the weekend? MONDAY? NO! That is NOT ok. I demanded to talk to a supervisor who said he would try to push it through and if it didn't go through he would pay our rental over the weekend. Except that Enterprise can't double direct bill so WE would have to pay the rental and hope to be reimbursed by the body shop. Good grief.

Tears... many tears

So I am still waiting to hear from the body shop that the Odyssey is ready for pick up - I called and the guy I have been working with for 2 months is out today. Nice. So now they are trying to find someone else who can let me know what is going on.

I have also been in email contact throughout the morning with the internet manager of the local Kia dealer. We are now considering a claret red 2006 EX that has been used a demo and has 1500+ miles on it. The manager confirmed that it has only been driven by one of the district managers and is in excellent condition. Now we are waiting to hear if we would purchase this vehicle as new or used and how that effects the bottom line.

But while nerve wracking, none of that is bringing me to tears. My friend and designer Kimberly had told me about a high school friend of hers who has cancer and today on DST she posted a link to the friend's blog. Oh, so sad. I am so thankful for my health (that I take for granted and should really be doing much more to preserve) and then time and energy that I have to spend with my babies. My heart is just breaking for this woman and her family. I have been reading the blog from the beginning, in tears.

We are a Nielsen Family

Well sort of. We are doing a one week "TV Viewing Diary". It is sort of stressing me out. I don't know that I want to see how much TV we watch written down in journal format! Tivo has made a reality TV junkie out of me. I am tempted to wait to watch some of these shows until next week when we don't have to record everything. Well, tempted but right now I am watching Real Housewives of Orange County while blogging and scrapping. *blush*


We are still on track to get the Odyssey back tomorrow. The wheeling and dealing of finding a new van is stressing me out and making me feel like Wonder Woman all at once. At first we were just dealing with the local dealer's Costco pricing plan but then I started doing more research and realized we could likely find a better price. I am negotiating with the local dealer as well as contacting 3 other dealerships to see what they have in-stock and if they can give me a better price. One of the dealerships called this evening and asked all sorts of questions that I now know better than to answer! Like what does how much we owe on our trade in have to do with the price of the new vehicle? NOTHING! Or what price am I looking for? Huh? No way... you tell me your price and we can go from there. We are looking for a 2006 so while we have some wiggle room in that they want to clear them out there is not a ton of inventory to chose from. Here is hoping that tomorrow we find the right van at the right price!