Category: Shopping

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Activities Cole Family & Friends Parenting Ryan Shopping

Odds & Ends

  • It finally warmed up today.  Ryan received an air rocket launcher for his birthday (over a month ago), and has been dying to use it, but it has been too cold.  Today when he saw the sun was shining, he said, “Today is a nice day.   Can we go to the park and shoot off the rocket?”  After breakfast we headed out, only to discover it was way too windy to shoot the rocket off.  We took the boys to the park instead, but the wind was very strong, and was making it cold yet again.  After about 15 minutes, we had to call it quits. 

We came home, had lunch, and then the boys took a nap.  When Cole woke up I took him to the health food store, and the grocery store for groceries.  The wind had died down, and it was wonderful.  Cole and I didn’t even need our jackets.  Joe took Ryan to finally shoot off his rocket.  We all got home at the same time, and Ryan had so much fun with the rocket.  He kept saying he hopes it is warm tomorrow, so he can go again. 

  • While we were eating dinner, Cole was particularly fussy- he didn’t want to eat, but he kept pointing to my plate.  When I offered him my plate, he would just start fussing again.  We couldn’t figure out what the problem was.  I was trying to get Cole to eat something, but to no avail.  I tried bribing next- I told Cole if he ate his food he could have dessert.  Even that didn’t work.  But Ryan, not missing a beat, had to point out that he was already done with his dinner and he was going to get dessert.  I told him that was correct, but we were going to wait for dessert until Cole had eaten.  Frustrated, Ryan pulls says to Cole, in his best stern Sir Topham Hatt voice, “Coley, you are causing confusion and delay.”         

I just burst out laughing- it was so funny, and just perfect timing.  Later, as they were getting dressed after their bath, Cole was goofing around, and was not being very cooperative, when I was trying to get him to stay still, so I could put his diaper on.  Again, Ryan tells Cole, he “is causing confusion and delay.” 

  • I got my hair cut yesterday.  I realized it had been almost six months, since the last time a pair of scissors had touched my hair.  It was to my shoulders, and I got about three inches cut off, and got it thinned out.  I always forget how much lighter my neck feels when I have this done.  I like it.  I didn’t get it a new cut, but it feels great to have it trimmed up again.

  • My Alzheimer’s is behind me!  I finally, finally, found the bag of art supplies I have been looking for now, for several weeks.  Were they in some obscure place?  Nope.  They were in a Dillard’s bag, in the front closet- the closet I have checked at least 20 times before.  Don’t know why I never found them before, or how I missed them, but I was very happy when I came across them yesterday. 

I think what threw me was the Dillard’s bag.  I hardly ever shop at Dillard’s.  I can’t say when the last time I was there.  I don’t know where the bag even came from, so I think when I saw it, I figured it was something really, really, old in there- like clothes that need to be donated or something like that, and I just skipped right over it.  Now we’ll see if we get another snowy day, in which the boys could actually use the supplies before next winter.  

  • My Alzheimer’s is gone, but now it has hit Joe.  He has a bad habit of forgetting to close the garage door.  Someone could walk right in our house this way, or just help themselves to his myriads of tools on the shelves in there, and we would never know they were gone, until that day he is looking for that one tool, and can’t find it.  Joe carried in the groceries for me this afternoon around five.  We carry them in through the garage, since it leads right into the kitchen.

Tonight at 11, the doorbell rings.  We were watching a movie, and wondered who in the world would be at the door that late?  Joe answered it, and it was our wonderful neighbor across the street.  He told us he was sorry to bother us, but they were getting ready to go to sleep, and had noticed that our garage door had been open all night, and he knew we usually keep it closed, so he wanted to let us know.  Thank goodness he did.  That would have been great- leaving the door up all night.  I check it sometimes before I go to bed, but not always.  I told Joe we need an alarm or something. 

  • Tomorrow it is supposed to be warm again, and no wind.  I desperately need some new clothes.  I won’t complain, because I finally, finally lost all my baby weight for good, and then some.  I have forced myself to stop eating dessert every (only occasionally now) night, and surprisingly lost almost 10 pounds.  So once again, I don’t have any jeans that fit great.  I’m hoping to sneak off to the mall for some shopping.  I also have a friend who is due in March with her first baby, and she is having a boy.  I know they are having some great sales right now too, so I want to get her baby some goodies.  🙂  We’ll  see how that goes. 

  • I have to take my Jeep back into the shop on Monday.  We had it in last week for a tune up, and the shocks were shot.  After we got it back, it idled very rough, and the check engine light came on.  Guess they didn’t fix it right, or did something wrong.  So I hope to get all those little things done tomorrow, since we’ll be home-bound on Monday. 

 Hope you can stand all the excitement around here.  At least we aren’t sick.  J

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Activities Cole Family & Friends Mothering Ryan Shopping Work

Happy Friday

This has been a busy week, so I am glad it is Friday!  We have been having very cold temperatures but fortunately, we were able to get out and go for some nice long walks, before it got too cold.  I wanted to go this morning after our music class, but it is just too cold out for Cole. 

 My in-laws got sick on Wednesday, so I had some last minute shuffling for child care.  Our wonderful child care provider J, who the boys go to for the mornings on Thursday, was able to take them for a half day on Wednesday, so I went to work in the morning, and then had the afternoon “off.”  I played with the boys, read them lots of stories, and then indulged myself with a 2 hour nap, while the boys took their nap too!  It was wonderful.  After the boys went to bed, I worked for a few more hours. 

Yesterday, as I was getting ready to leave work, my boss asked to speak to me.  Without getting in too much detail, her biggest client, and the one who she has had the longest (18 years) needed some help preparing their 2008 budget reports for their board meeting in two weeks.  She is absolutely swamped with work, and she asked me if I wanted to take a shot at preparing these budget reports.  She explained it to me briefly, and I told her I would try.  Fortunately, I can do all the work from home.  I wasn’t really sure, if I had bitten off more than I could chew, so last night I reviewed exactly what I was supposed to do.  It is fairly complex, but I think and hope I can manage it.  Of course, my boss said to let her know if I have any questions, but I am really hoping I can get it done in the coming week.  I am really happy and surprised, frankly, she asked me to take this on, since this is her most important client, but it also feels good to have a mental challenge, and be able to put my skills to the test. 

Tomorrow we have some dinner plans “in the big city” with my brother and sister-in-law, and my dad and step-mom are going to babysit the boys, while we go.  The boys are already super excited.  Joe has another busy work week ahead of him, and at the end of next week, my youngest sister, who lives out of state, is coming for a long weekend visit.  She will be staying with me for a night, so I am very excited to see her.  It has been over a year, since she has been able to stay with me, when she comes to town. I think we will go shopping- we always love to do that.  Sisters make the best shopping partners too, because they can be honest and don’t worry about hurting your feelings. 

Ryan has just turned into a little chatter-box.  He just goes on and on about everything, and he comes up with the funniest things.  The other night he told me he was going to go to dinner with some friends, and he’d be back, when he got back.  (say, that doesn’t sound like something his mother would say, does it?)  When I asked him who his friends are, he just said, that was his business! 

He has also learned somehow, somewhere how to pee standing up.  Neither Joe nor myself had taught him this, and to tell the truth, I like him sitting down- let’s just say it is less of a clean-up for Mommy.  Anyway, when I asked him where he learned to do that, he said, “At my work.”  OK then!

Ryan always asks Joe and I how our days at work go.  Last week, he was whining and he said he was tired.  This was after my work day, and I told him I was tired too, and that I had to sit in a hard chair all day (not really, but my regular chair was broken, and the chair I was using, just wasn’t as comfortable).  The next day he was very concerned and asked me if I was tired after work.  I told him no, and he said, “Oh good- you didn’t have to sit in the hard chair then?”  It is just amazing how much they process.

Cole is blooming into his own little person- very determined, but also very sweet.  When something happens that he doesn’t like, he sticks his bottom lip out in a major pout, and then crunches up his forehead, and looks down at the ground.  He is saying “mama” a lot, and says “da” for yes.  Funny, how he has his own language, and funny too, we know what he means.

 Those are all the updates for now- I hope everyone has a great (and warm) weekend.

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Little Pumpkin Sweet Pea Designs Shopping

Coupon for Little Pumpkin Sweet Pea Designs Store

I haven’t mentioned my on-line store, Little Pumpkin Sweet Pea Designs,  very often in my blog, even though I have a few links to it.  When I checked my e-mail for the store today, I discovered the following special coupon from Cafe Press (who hosts the site), and thought I would share this special.   If you think you might do some shopping here, hurry though, because it looks like the coupon code (FRFAM2007) is valid only until the 28th.  I also have a feeling this code will work on other stores at Cafe Press, so that may be worth a try if you find other things you like as well in a different store.

Little Pumpkin Sweet Pea Designs carries designs for babies, children, maternity, and women.   (The onesie in the picture below which says, “My Grandpa Can Fix Anything,”is one of my designs you’ll find in the store.  There are also some breastfeeding advocacy designs and bumper stickers, birth and home birth designs, and some “Green” designs.  Check out the site, and pick up a cute onesie for that special baby in your life- remember Christmas is right around the corner.  🙂

Friends & Family of

Little Pumpkin Sweet Pea Designs

Get $15 off $50*

Start shopping at Little Pumpkin Sweet Pea Designs,

https://www.cafepress.com/lpspd
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Activities Cole Family & Friends Ryan Shopping

Weekend Review- Relatives, Party, Santa, & Shopping

We had very busy weekend!  My baby sister (well, she just turned 29, but she is still my baby sister), was visiting this weekend from out-of-state. 

On Saturday morning, we met her, my sister, my brother-their spouses, and of course my niece for breakfast.  Then we took the kids to the park for an hour.  Ryan had a great time playing with his aunts and uncles, and Cole, just loves slides.  He has no fear.  He climbed up the tallest slide at the park, which had to be about 30 feet, turns around and slides down, feet first.  He laughs, and just wants to do it again, and again.

On Saturday night, Ryan and I attended a house-warming party of a friend, who moved into a new house (they had it built), about two months ago.  Unfortunately, Cole has been teething, and the excitement of the park and with his teething, he was very cranky.  Joe stayed home with Cole, since he was not in a very good party mood. 

Ryan had fun at the party, playing with a new set of three-year-old boy toys, which included new Thomas toys, he doesn’t have, and a little airplane, which was the hit of the evening.  I had fun too, visiting with some friends, and meeting some new people.  My friend’s new house is beautiful.  One of the things I liked best about it, is it has the laundry room upstairs, right next to the bedrooms.  I have seen that in new home models, and it always seemed like it makes a lot of sense- saving you time from lugging the laundry downstairs, and then lugging it back again.  At any rate, we were both having such a nice time, we were one of the last people to leave, which doesn’t happen very often. 

On Sunday, we met Joe’s sister, her kids (the cousins), and her husband at a amusement park, about two hours from our house. It had lots of rides that were just right for Ryan and Cole, and Santa was there! When it was Ryan’s turn, he just hopped on Santa’s lap, and started to tell him the one gift he wants, and how hold he is. 

The rest of the day was spent riding rides with the cousins. We left about three, and then went to my dad’s house, who made a wonderful Mexican food meal for us.  We finally arrived back home at 7. The boys played for a while, took their baths, and were conked out, shortly after.  They slept wonderfully last night. 

Today Ryan, Cole, and I met my sisters at a mall for lunch, so we could see my sister one last time before she left tonight.  It was so nice to see her.  I hope we will be able to go visit her soon.  When Ryan saw her at the mall, he ran to her with his arms wide open for a hug.

After lunch, my sisters had to get to some shops, and get my sister to the airport, so the boys and I returned a shirt at a store, and then went to play at a Pottery Barn Kids.  They always have such neat toys there.  I was bummed to see a lot of the toys were made in China, though.  I just don’t feel confident right now, buying pained toys from China. 

I had been wondering what to get Cole for Christmas- for some reason I have been drawing a blank.  He always plays with what Ryan has, but I want him to have something just for him.  After spending an hour in PBK, I was at a loss, no more.  He absolutely LOVED their cash register.   I was going to get it for him, but it was $59, and the money was $9.  I think that is kind of expensive.  I think I’ll look around and see if I can find something that may be more reasonably priced first.  He really just liked putting the credit card in the slot, which beeped.  So, a cash register with a credit card slot that beeps, is now on my list. 

(***UPDATE*** As soon as I was done writing this, I Googled play cash registers, and this one from Target came up- I’ll be making a stop there tomorrow- it even has TWO credit cards!****)

I did end up buying this play-mat for their train table.  Ryan really likes lining up his cars, and pretending they are on the street, so this should be a big hit, come Christmas. 

I am really excited for Christmas this year.  I think because finally, at least Ryan is old enough to really be in to it.  In previous years, it seemed like a lot of work, when the boys really wouldn’t have cared one way or another.  Ryan is talking about the Christmas tree, the lights, and the decorations.  It makes it that much more exciting for me, to try to make this time special and memorable for them.  I want them to always remember Christmas time as being special, magical, and fun.