MK2's Birthday celebration and playing with Hermano

we had a great day today. Bug and I spent the morning preparing for my birthday/Superbowl celebration. Bug was in charge of decorating the cupcakes. After lunch, we headed over to the MKs house to celebrate MK2's 3rd birthday. She is officially known as Princess MK2 now.

There was lots of running
There was lots of talking- Bug, MK2 and S.

MK2 had a princess themed party (foreshadowing- in case you are wondering)

My little Prince

Pulling the strings on the pinata.

The pinata- Princess castle. oh-ah

So what do you do when you are the only boy at a princess party??? Why, you play princess dress up with the girls of course. Bug, in high heel shoes.

And his princess crown.

After the party- we came home to prepare for Hermano's visit. Vaca Momma called me this morning to see if we could watch Hermano while Vaca Momma and Vaca Daddy had a date night in honor of their anniversary. No problem on our end. So Hermanao was dropped off at 5:30 and he and Bug played

computer time

Motoring around the house

Yep- this is the way to travel

They played some cars

some more cars

And then, we played bowling. This was the hit of the night- in more ways than one.

They took turns, one would bowl and one would set up the pins. I like that that they figures out that a long straight line was an easier target than a compact triangle.

I got down and sat behind the pins to catch them in action. Hermano's picture was staged- he kept rolling the ball before I could take the picture.

it was a good day. Tomorrow is momma birthday celebration and the Superbowl- I am so excited.

Love to you,

Deb

Part 2 of my whine about winter

Drivers are insane in the snow- seriously insane. I think some people actually only drive when it snows.

Seen today by Bug and me: driving south on the major thoroughfare in our neighborhood- the city regularly threatens to annex the shopping corridor on this street for tax purposes. Car in the right lane (our lane) stopped - no blinking lights, no nothing. Mother gets out of the car- gets into the backseat, takes out the child carrier seat and goes around the car, into the snow covered driveway, rings the doorbell and handed over the baby to the grandmother/daycare provider. The mother then walks back to the car- with about 20 cars waiting behind her because it is evening rush hour and both lanes are packed with cars- gets back in her car after giving me a friendly wave and drives off!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Seen at Frisch's - car parked on the ramp in between the handicap parking spots. It was like they were thinking that with snow and ice still on the parking lot, the lines for parking spaces don't count and intelligence is not applicable.

Seen today on multiple roads- staying in your lane is optional- driving straddling the lane is preferred. At evening rush hour as I drove to get Bug and as we were driving to my parents house, there were cars driving on lane lines- clearly visible.


According to my boss- we have 51 more days until Spring. I think I am going to add a counter to the blog- cause winter needs to end now.

We have 2 birth parties this weekend, MK2 turned 3 (YEAH) and i am celebrating my birthday- so there will lots of pictures to post.

And on a bright note- my driveway is clear of ice. It took 3 days to get it completely cleared, but it is done. The biggest help- SUNSHINE.

love and hugs,
Deb

I am tired of winer- can it be Spring now????

My mom and I were talking tonight- we are ready to pack up and move to Guatemala. We are sick of the snow and ice. More snow is expected tonight and anotehr large storm could be hitting us on Monday.

here is why I dislike snow and ice:
1. The roads are inconsistently crap. It would be OK if the roads were all crap or all good, but as I drove Bug to daycare this morning- the roads in our neighborhood and the main road were like driving on a pot hole filled road. The ice was inconsistently scrapped off and it made driving a bear. Once we got into the next municipality, the roads were completely clean, no ice, no snow, no problem. In my sister's neighborhood, the main roads were clear and the side roads (like her road) had not been touched. Yes, I know there are lots and lots of roads to clear, but at least clear the main roads. I drive the interstate home from my sister's house- it was a joke.

2. Drivers are complete idiots. While driving home from dropping off Bug, I came up on a truck stopped in the traffic lane, helping a car in the break down lane. The lights on the truck were off, so in the predawn darkness this morning, he (and it was a he) was very lucky that I did not slam into him as I attempted to break on the ice. I have no idea if anyone else hit him, but it would be a miracle if no one hit him or his truck. There is no excuse for stopping your truck on a highway, in the traffic lane, in the darkness, turning off your lights to help another driver. Pull over in front of them!!!

3. The grocery stores are packed with folks buying eggs, bread and milk- you would think the world was going to run out of food. I got home too late on Monday to stop for groceries before the storm hit, but we made it tonight. I guess everyone else decided to get out too- the sotre was packed with people just walkign around- just looking. The parking lot looked like the snowplow team jut looked at it- hoping to scare the snow and ice away. Bug and I walked the shopping cart to our car and needed help from 2 other shoppers to get the cart to our car thanks to the lack of plowing.

4. Neighbors or anyone who know a storm is coming, have room in their driveway but yet refuse to move their cars off he street. There are at least 20 cars in my neighborhood that have been plowed into permanent parking spaces. These same cars belong to houses that have room in their driveways to park the cars there in storms. I don't get it, if they parked their cars in their driveways, they would have clean driveways- but I guess they like a snow filled driveway and having to shovel out their cars.

5. Kids who sit inside all day rather than shovel the driveway. My neighborhood is filled with teenagers- not a single one was out shoveling snow. School has been closed for 3 days- these kids could have earned tons of money- heck I would have paid a teenager to shovel the snow yesterday and to shovel the ice off today. Bug is seriously knocking on doors as soon as he is 10 years old- little man could be earning some cold hard cash. heck, if he was just few years older, I would have gone around earning extra money yesterday.

OK, those are my rants about snow. I am ready for Spring- my seed catalogues have arrived, my birthday has passed, it is time for the Home and Garden show so I can start planning what I am going to be doing.

Love and hugs,
Deb

Winter storm Day 2 and Momma's birthday

Today was day 2 of the winter storm- we had ice over night- from 12 noon yesterday until 4 am this morning. Then the snow started. It snowed until 11:30 am. The roads were a mess and watching the TV, there were lots of times the streets could not even be seen. Obviously, Bug stayed home with me.
I had a plan today- craft time, bake a cake, shovel snow and nap in the afternoon. Most of it came to pass- but Bug had not napped all day- which is leading to an exhausted momma.

Here is our day-

Having Chocolate Yum Yum cake (yes, that is the name). Some wonderful friends gave me the recipe years ago- actually they made it for me on my 25th birthday. Today I turned 43 (yes, I told you all my age). I had to call them just to let them know I was thinking about them. They said that we should come visit them next year- the house off the coast of Seattle will be ready. I am ready for a trip out to the west coast to see them. Bug, serving me ice pizza.

Sliding in the snow. His slide was filled with ice and snow- but he had a good time.

Frosty was quite frozen today. His hat and scarf are totally encased in ice.

Our lilac bush is encased in ice. I hope the bush blooms OK

Craft time: Noodle art. Thanks Becca for this idea. Bug totally enjoyed this craft- although he only liked the spaghetti strands, not the elbow macaroni or the ziti.

We also made ziti necklaces and painted them.

My necklace and you can see Bug's at the top of the picture.

Threading the ziti on the string

See, this is how it is done Momma

Our drive way after I shoveled snow for 2 hours. The worst part was the end of the driveway where the snow low had come through last night and put all the crud from the street up on to the driveway. I think that part alone took over an hour to shovel- it was all wet and heavy and frozen solid. There is still a layer of ice on the driveway- hopefully I can get traction in the morning to get backed out and take Bug to Auntie Lulu's house.

As you can see- I have wonderful neighbors that think moving their car off the street in a snow storm is optional.

Snow and ice on the grill that I plan using this weekend. Although the weather report for this weekend is not looking so good and the snow and ice we got over the last 2 days will still be here.

Frosty out in the yard this morning before he was completely covered. Bug dug him out while I worked on the driveway.

How the neighborhood looked this morning- you can't even tell I shoveled the driveway yesterday. But you can see the car across the street blocked in by the snowplow path.

That was my birthday- home in the house with the Bug- crafting, baking and shoveling snow. I will be happy to go back to work tomorrow while Bug is at my sister's. It is not that I don't like having him at home, it is just that he will not let me work at all.

Love to you,

Deb

Save children's resale stores

The consumer Product DSafety Improvement Act 9CPSIA) was passed to protect children from unsafe, lead laced toys. However, it ended up including ALL products intended for children 12 years of age and under.

2009 may be remembered as the year children's resale (thrift stores, garage sales, craigslist, ebay, consignment stores, etc) die if congress does nto take immediate action.

Please visit the following link. Youc an sign the petition and email your congressman all in 3 steps. The new law goes into effect on 10Feb2009- ACT now.

http://www.narts.org/SaveKidsResale.htm

Love to you,
Deb

SNOWMAN

I got home from Boston at 10:00 pm last night. The snow and ice was due to arrive at 2 am this morning. But on the drive from the airport to pick up Bug, I drove into the ice - that was on the big hill I had drive up to get to Auntie Lulu's house. The at the top of hill it was all snow. We got home at 11:42 pm and went straight to bed. i am so thankful that I did not stay an extra night in Boston- I doubt I would have made it home today.

When we woke up this morning, there was 3-5 inches of snow on the ground. I already knew that Bug was going to be staying home today, but the snow this morning and the traffic reports confirmed it. I had calls for work this morning and Bug watched CARS and Clifford. After finishing the calls, Bug and I headed outside to shovel the driveway. After finishing the driveway, I took Bug for sled ride around the neighborhood. After that, we built Bug's first snowman in the backyard. I think we had a good time. Bug and I took a 3 hour nap (yeah, I know the entire long nap thing).

Here are pictures of our day:

Introducing Bug and Frosty the snowman (Bug's choice for his snowman's name) Frosty looking cool

Building him

Bug pulling his sled back to our house

Bug and Momma- picture taken by Policeman Adam who lives across the street from us.

Bug in the sled going around he neighborhood. He loved it. He is also almost too big for his sled- good thing there is a snow ski at Lulu's house that is supposed to come to our house.

Bug decided to put his face right into the snow and get a snow beard. Silly boy

Making snow angels in the front yard

Our driveway before it was shoveled

Bug shoveling the sidewalk up by the house. He is just too cute.

From the weather reports, Bug is going to be home tomorrow too (Yea- Momma's birthday present). They are saying we will get 1/2 inch of ice over night (power outages expected) and then we are supposed to get 4-6 more inches by 12 noon tomorrow. Altogether, we will get 13.5 inches of snow and ice between today and tomorrow.

I am off to make Bug some broccoli cheese rice for dinner.

Love to you,

Deb

Playing with friends at toddler Otterville

We had a busy day today- but it was all fun.
We spent the morning in our jammies, cleaning the house and packing suitcases for my business trip tomorrow. I am traveling for 2 days. Bug is staying with Auntie Lulu while I am gone. I am praying for no snow on Monday evening so I can get home safe and sound to my Bug.

Pictures are as usual in reverse order-

We spent the afternoon at Toddler Otterville with N and his momma J and with the MKs.

MK2 turned 3 this month- where does the time go. She and Bug were loving the giant Lego's.
N is 2.25 years old, so Bug and MK2 are taller and he was not appreciative that they could reach higher to put the Lego's up. But it was all good.

The 3 friends. Bug and MK2 ran around the dance studio area for a good 30 minutes. I was shocked that Bug was not sound asleep in the car by the time we got to the highway. he stayed awake all the way home after playing hard for 5 hours.

This is at the water table area- of course, your tongue needs to be dried.

Yes, he tried the water under the dryer trick again- he was not getting wet- but he let N do it and get water all over him. Bug is way too smart.

I was wise this time- Bug had a complete change of clothes with me, down to water shoes so he could splash water all over the place.

The otter- of course Bug and N were terrified of him.

Bug and N on the slide. They were having a great time. Now for my soapbox rant. When your children are older (lets say 7-12 years old) and they bring the balls from the ball pit out of the pit and throw them onto the netting above the slides where the younger kids are playing and then start jump in up and launching the balls into the air- please stop them. The toddlers don't realize the balls will rain down on them and when the toddlers' parents are watching- you better believe that we will be getting the manager. Just because it is a play area- does not mean your kids get to hurt the little kids. Pay attention to your children and how their actions are impacting the rest of the kids.

We took a train ride outside- there was a train show at the store

Momma and Bug

J and N

Bug figured out that he could push the button with his foot- using less energy.

Playing house.

Being a good Poppi, pushing his baby after working hard all day as a police man.

Admiring himself in the mirror. I actually had to stage this picture- Little man kept walking right up to the mirror.

CHOO-CHOO

We had lunch at McDonald's near my parents- Bug's request. I think after the time in Guatemala, he wanted to play on the play scape. But the older kids, whose parents were ignoring them, were racing through the play scape and scaring the little kids. Do you see the theme to our day- older kids, parents not watching and littler kids afraid or hurt. What is wrong with parents. I don't care how much you want to talk to your friends- you still have to watch your children.

Bug did figure out how to get up to the next level. This ledge is too high for him to climb up. You have to stand on the balance disks and then get up- Bug figured out that he could stand on the disk and sit down onto the ledge.

They put in a new video game- used to be a bicycle game that Bug could never reach the pedals for. Now it is a skateboard game. He liked this.

I am out of town on Sunday and Monday, I doubt I will blog while I am gone.

Love to you,

Deb