Boots

Aren't these boots adorable? It was love at first site for me and the Boy. We both really want them. Then we found out they were 50% off and available in the Boy's size. Wooohooo!






We found these a couple of days before the Boy's birthday and the Boy wore them to his party which was outside and wet. These boots were perfect! The more I look at them, the cuter they become. I knew I had a shoe problem but now I have a shoe problem times three. (I am in charge of shoe shopping for the Girl, the Boy and myself!) I think I am in trouble.

Busy

If I don't blog much in the next two weeks, it's because I am sewing like mad. My first craft show is on Dec 5. Come out and see me if you are in the area!

Happy Thanksgiving

I love this time of year. Beautiful colors can be seen everywhere. The weather is cooling down enough for me to crave being wrapped up in a warm blanket but not so cold that I want to hibernate. The aromas of fall cooking and the early blasting of Christmas carols always puts me in a good mood.

Here is a little dance called Autumn Leaves Are Falling:


We have plenty to be thankful for this year. The Girl started school without a glitch; the Boy is talking and running and growing into a happy little boy; Hubby is enjoying work; I am enjoying sewing and selling on etsy. It's been an exciting year. I am thankful that I have so much to be thankful for.

Enjoy the turkey dance. Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Birthday My Boy!

My Boy is two years old today! Time really flies.

Remember when I brought this little bundle home?


Somehow, he turned into this Boy! Hubby thinks that this should be the cut off point and I am not allowed to called him Baby anymore. I am not so sure...


Anyway, we threw him a little party at the playground today. First, food had to be cooked and cakes had to be baked. Now, I am not a baker. In fact, I may be the only chemist who can't bake. I hate measuring and somehow I always manage to mess up something like not setting the timer right or mixing too much or forgetting an ingredient. So usually, I use boxed cake mixes. I was feeling guilty that I haven't done much for the Boy so I decided to try and bake him some special cupcakes.


Seeing this batter, you probably thought I messed up again. Well, this is a strange batter. What you see in the picture is some gooey stuff on the bottom topped with chocolate chips, fresh raspberries and shredded zucchini. Yep, looks more like a salad to me. This is what they look like "naked".


Then I dressed them up real nice with frosting made from scratch. I have always bought canned frosting and didn't know how much work it takes to make frosting, nor did I know what goes into frosting. The amount of sugar and butter involved is frightening. Having this knowledge taught me to frost the cakes modestly.


In addition to the "plain" ones, I made an army of Cars themed ones for the kids.


This is the one the Boy chose.


Here you see him marking his territory. He was telling this little girl whom you can barely see in the picture that the cake is his and he was not sharing.


I put him on a chair so he felt bigger and more in control of his cake. The girl you see in the picture is actually a different girl whom the Boy knows a little better and trusts around his cake a little more.


Then, we sang the song.


Then it's time to sink our teeth into my strange creation. Here is the first group of cake eaters.


A second group of cake eaters.


A more private group of cake eaters.


I only took one bite out of the Girl's cake but the Boy finished his whole cake and Hubby said the cake was good. I am quite surprised. I thought it sounded healthy and the picture on the recipe looked good. I am going to have to try one to judge for myself.

We headed out to the playground after all that eating.


And birthday pictures with Mommy and Daddy.


So there we go. Our Boy is another year older. Thank you for being our village and giving our Boy a happy and adventurous two years filled with love.

Action Packed Friday

First, the Boy and I tagged along with the Girl to a field trip at the fire station. The Girl was unimpressed at first but did warm up eventually.


"Ding ding!"


"Please, just don't fall off." says Mr Firefighter.


"I am going to ring the bell one more time while you are not looking."


"Weee! So wet!"


Both the Boy and the Girl played in the puddles for a bit after each kid got a turn to play with the hose. After they were both thoroughly soaked, we set out for a trip to the outlet. We had to stop by a shop to fix our stroller and to get some shoes for the Boy. Guess what shoes we got? Firetruck shoes! These shoes have firetrucks on the side that lights up as the Boy walks. They are so cool I think I want a pair. To top it off, I also got the boy a pair of melt your heart cute firetruck rain boots and reminded him that he could go home and nap in his firetruck bed. Talk about overload.

Here they are playing at the kids area after just one shop. My kids are NOT shopping material.


Later in the evening, the Boy initiated some dress up play. He was CRAZY that night.


Check out this little trouble maker. I tried really hard to get him to stand still and sing a song. Can you tell what he's singing?


I was totally exhausted after such an action packed day so I thought I'd take a quick nap on the floor. The Boy started out just putting his lovey on me as a blanket.


A few minutes later, I felt quite a bit of weight on my back and could see flashes of light out of the corner of my eyes. Guess Hubby was amused enough to take some pictures. In case you can't tell, there is a box of books, a helmet, a cat, some pigs, a spoon and one or two other small objects on me.


Then the Boy ran out of things to put on me and he....


What a day!

Back To Normal

Last week was crazy. The rest of our Disney trip was insane. Kids got really sick and we ended up calling in-hotel urgent medical care for both little ones. We are home now and they are recovering. The whole experience was too traumatic. We also realized that our HMO insurance plan doesn't give us any coverage outside of Cali. Where is Micheal Moore when you need him? So... that's all I am going to say about the trip. We have a few more pictures but I don't think I will put them on here. I am making a DVD for our family and the Girl made a little autograph book to remember the trip by. I think that pretty much conclude the extravaganza.

Here is a little video of our back to normal life:

Disney Boot Camp

We tried to cover everything I planned between 10 to 3 today. In order to do so, we had to be organized and goal oriented. Really, this is no way to enjoy a vacation. So I abandoned plan after about 10 minutes.

I did try to race to the Small World ride to avoid the lines, which we did . Then we headed over to ride Dumbo. The Boy cried the whole time and wanted to jump of the elephant. I have to say I secretly agree with him. Good thing the ride was only a little over 3 minutes long (the line up, however, was half an hour).

Having been on two rides, I figured we deserved a break.




Shortly after we dined, I was going to head back to the bus and to the hotel so the little ones can rest. However, they didn't make it to the bus.




Since I couldn't stroll them onto the bus, we stayed for a while longer so the Girl could meet Princess Jasmine. It was cool because we caught the parade as well.


We left the Magic Kingdom soon after the parade. After a short break back at the hotel, I decided to head downtown with the two kids. Very stupid decision. They both dozed off on the bus and made very irrational toy purchase decisions while we were there. That super short cat nap is also causing them to not sleep. It's almost 10pm and the Girl is still talking to her new toy. We have to be at breakfast by 7:30 tomorrow. Another day of Boot Camp?



As usual, I've put more pictures on FB. See you over there.

Disney Day One

After a long long long flight with a sick child, we arrived at the Swan Resort at Disney World. The Boy had a restful night of sleep and woke up in a pretty good mood. He's still very clingy and had a series of melt downs as we strolled through the first Disney Store. He just wouldn't accept that we can buy every single MacQueen and Mater that he sees in the store.

In addition, our morning was pretty rough because:
1. We couldn't get the tickets to get into the parks.
2. We had a 12:20 reservation to dine with the princesses which we'll miss if we can't get into the parks.
3. Both kids wanted to just go go go and all I could offer them was wait wait wait.

4. Both kids wanted to buy everything and I was not ready to buy anything. Can't reward bad behaviour, right?
5. I didn't sleep well last night which makes for a cranky mommy.
6. We finally got into the park but I couldn't find the restaurant.
7. We found the restaurant but the kids had already lost hope.

"WOW! A real princess!"


"Don't touch me!"


"You can touch me! I want to live in your palace forever!"


But once we sat down and the princesses started making their royal appearances, everything went smoothly. The Girl just LOVED the whole thing. She sat politely, ate everything on her plate, said please and thank you, smiled for pictures - it's what the princesses expected from her so she happily obliged.

"Princesses don't pick their noses, dear."


"How are you today Birthday Boy?"


Oh... it's not really the Boy's birthday until the end of the month but we are calling this his birthday week. Check out his Mater MacQueen cupcake.


We got a complimentary portrait and a birthday card signed by all the princesses. Talk about royal treatment.


We did a couple of hands on things for the kids after lunch and we headed back to the resort for a nap. Nobody wanted to nap, of course and they are both jumping on the beds like crazy as I type this. Oh well, they will sleep tonight, right?

"The panda bears like me."


"If Sleeping Beauty herself is not sleeping, how can you expect me to nap?"


The rest of today's pictures are on FB. Off to the evening shift now.

Belated Trick or Treat

The Girl decided to go T/T as a princess instead of as Kiki. Don't worry, my feelings were not hurt. She was a team player and wore the costume to our party so it's only fair that she gets to go as a princess on the day that's all about her (well, and other kids).



Check out this house! This is why I love going T/T-ing in this neighbourhood even though it is always crazy busy. This is a residence, a single family home! This picture was taken in their courtyard. People go into great lengths to decorate.


My Belle found another Belle.


My Belle found a werewolf! Looking at her expression, you'd think she found something funny. What she was saying was, "look, scary werewolf!" Why the smile on her face, I don't understand.


Here she is T/T-ing with her pal Dorothy. I love Dorothy's ruby slippers.


So while I was helping the girl dress up as Belle, the Boy hovered in the background asking to be dressed as Cinderella or Snow White. I guess that's where I draw the line. My Boy is not getting dressed by me and then going out in public in a dress. So we convinced him to be Totoro again. Here is my big plan when all the craziness in the near future is over: I am going to start sewing him dress up costumes that are appropriate for him. At the moment, I plan on sewing a prince costume, a cape of some sort and a car costume. We'll see how far I get.

"This one is so BIG! I think I like those people the best!"


We had a very respectable loot this year - full sized Kit Kats, lots of chocolate bites, full sized Twix, Twizzlers, etc. The kids made good choices (I did train the Girl before I sent her out. Always choose chocolates over suckers.) and they were very proud of their work. They each got to choose 3 pieces of candies to be devoured whenever they wanted. The rest went to the parents. I am also letting them bring some on our trip. Did I mention we are going on a trip to Florida? Like... tomorrow?

Anyway, we had a great Halloween. I am already starting to think about our costumes for next year. Here is a final picture - a group shot of all the kids we went T/T-ing with.