Don't bother me with the details.....

For some reason, Miss C has started saying this.  I have no idea where she got it from.  She says "Frosty the Snowman".  She's been watching that movie lately.  The only other thing she really watches is Mickey Mouse.  So, I guess I better pay closer attention to that movie.  I didn't think I would have to start "screening" what she watches this early..... 

Anyway, I'm going to bother with the details.  The details of the big birthday bash this past weekend.  We had Miss C's tea party on Saturday and I think it went well.  All the kids seemed to have a blast, and loved our version of tea time.  I'll have more pics tomorrow for my 10 on Tuesday.  But for now.....here are the details....

11/18/05, 5:18 p.m.

That is the exact moment I became a mom.

And the one who gave me that honor turns three today.  I can't believe it's been three years already.  Watching her grow up before our eyes has been so amazing.  Happy birthday baby.

So it's a special 10 on Tuesday today

1.  We have a special dinner planned for Miss C.  All her favorites.  Macaroni and Cheese (and not the box kind, the real southern kind), carrots, cucumbers and "dip dip".  Throw in some cheese and crackers, some "wine of apple juice" and you have one happy little girl.  Here she is with her "appetizers" and doing a cheers to her 3rd birthday.

2.  The cake of choice tonight is blue.  That's her new favorite color (well, it's been a favorite for a couple of months now).  It's also in the shape of Lightning McQueen.  Yep, a blue Lightning McQueen cake.  I worked on it all day yesterday.  And it didn't go exactly as planned.  First of all, it came out of the pan in about 8 pieces.  Now, I'm no Betty Crocker, but I don't think that was supposed to happen.  So I had to "glue" it together with frosting.  I don't think my three year old munchkin will mind.  That's the beauty of a three year old.  It could be a pile of blue cake and she wouldn't care.  So stop laughing.  She loved it.

3.  Here's a shot of my three year old.  Today, on her birthday.

4.  Here she is this morning seeing her birthday gift for the first time.

5.  Here is Little J ringing the birthday bell during gift opening time.  It's a tradition in the C household.  J used to do it with his parents when he was a little boy.  I love little traditions like that. 

6.  I think her favorite gift was the Hello Kitty personal CD player from Mee Maw and Goompa.  She couldn't get enough of it.

7.  So much so, she wouldn't take it off during cake.

8.  Without even missing a beat, once the candles are blown out this is what happens.  I swear she nearly bit my hand off :)

9.  The aftermath

 

10.  And drumroll please.....

Here's the addition to 10 on Tuesday.  A little background.  I was just thinking the other day that I don't have enough pictures of me with the kids.  I'm always the one behind the camera and I hate to think in 30 years I'll be looking back at these photos wondering, "where was I during all of this?".  So on this special Tuesday, the date three years ago I became a mom, I'm starting "52 weeks:  My kids and I".  Every week for the next 52 weeks I'm going to make a special effort to get in front of the camera with my kids.  It's my new #10 on each 10 on Tuesday.

For my very first picture, I was inspired by the phrase, "Dance like no one is watching".  We often have impromptu dance parties in our living room.  Usually it's to the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse song, but the kids love it.  The sillier the better.  Both of the kids really love music and I try to have it on as often as possible.

So here we are shakin' what our mamma gave us.  Like we get paid to do it!

Don't laugh at this one either.  I thought no one was looking :)

10 on Tuesday

Here's my attempt for this week :)

1.  Happy Birthday Aunt J!  We all hope you have a great day!

2.  Today is day #1 of Little J's gluten free diet.  God help me.  This is my last resort.  I kind of hope it doesn't work because do you know how much of a pain a gluten free diet is?  I'm going to have to get creative!  But I'm hopeful that we can curtail some of the fussiness.  I really have this gut instinct that he doesn't feel right most of the time.  He's kind of in the middle of that spectrum.  Not sick enough (thank god) to easily identify what's wrong but not "healthy" enough to feel good all the time.  So hopefully this will bring some relief.  If not, then I'm at a loss.

3.  I was sick with some sort of stomach bug this past weekend....so I missed out on a lot of the activities.  I also haven't picked up the camera in almost two weeks (to photograph the kids that is).  I miss it!  But I think I also needed the break.  So unfortunately, this post may lack some pics unless I can get out the camera today....and right now, the chances aren't lookin' so good.

4.  Miss C has a busy weekend.  She had two birthday parties to attend.  She's been friends with these little girls since they were weeks old.  First was Miss M's party at build a bear on Friday.  Unfortunately Miss C wasn't in the greatest mood.  She feel asleep during quiet time and I had to wake her up to go.  Not pretty.  Little J only had a 20 minute nap that day.  So I was one stressed out mama.  I missed Miss A's b-day on Saturday.  I was sad to miss it.  J took her to the party instead.  I got a full report from Miss C when she got home.  It was at an equestrian center nearby and the kiddos enjoyed pony rides, tractors, etc.  Miss C didn't go near the ponies, but went on and on about the tractors and cupcakes.  That girl loves her some cake.  Happy Birthday Miss M and A!

5.  Little J's new favorite phrase is "No Way!" (and not as in "get out of here" or "are you serious").  It's the dreaded toddler "No" with his own little spin.  We kinda laughed at first.  I mean, how stinkin' cute is that?!  But now it's not so funny.  I'm waiting for him to pull the "No Sir".  Cause that's usually what I'm sayin' to him.

6.  We finger painted today.  Here's the before:

Here's the after:

Notice how she managed to get it all in her hair!  You will also see the huge chunk that she decided to cut a couple of weeks ago.  Nice.

7.  I love to see this little guy smile.  I wonder if the gluten free day is already working it's magic.  I know it's scientifically impossible to see results already, but I'm still hopeful!

8.  Let's see, I'm running out of steam here......oh, I know.  I promised a few out-takes of the b-day invite.  Here are a couple.  Not the best, but funny in their own way :)

I know she is thinking, "crap!  Now what do I do?!  I don't want to take my hand off the tea cup in case Little J reaches for it, but he's eating my Marshmallows!"

Serving up tea

And I wish she would have done this before we decided to get into the pumpkin costume....

I'm thrrrrreeeee!

9.  Little J's new words......yuck (thanks J) and buns (as in Hot Cross Buns).  He is also really getting into pretend play.  He loves Miss C's kitchen.  Right now he and J are pretending to make and drink coffee.  I guess it's bitter, because that is where the "yuck" is coming in.  I just love the life lessons daddies teach their kids.

10.  Ok, I think this is it.  I'm getting ready to head out to dinner with the ladies and frankly I can't think of any more right now.  Next Tuesday I plan to add a special addition to the 10 on Tuesday (which will become part of the 10 on Tuesday every week).  I was hoping to work it out for today, but I didn't get it done (surprise).  Plus next Tuesday is a special day anyway, so stay tuned for what I have up my sleeve.....

progression of a holiday photo shoot

I attempted to do a photo shoot for our holiday cards this past weekend.  We had beautiful weather and I had already purchased the kids holiday clothes (instead of waiting until December and then scrambling to do the photos).  You would think that since this was my passion, I would have some sort of kick ass holiday card to show for it.  Ha, ha.  Let me just show you how the afternoon went.

This was the first photo of the day.  I nearly squealed with delight when I saw it in the view finder.  I didn't even have to try, and I got a half way decent shot of the kid.  I will admit she is getting a tad easier to photograph (ahem, I mean a tad easier to bribe).  I just love the little cutesy expression.

Then look who decided to join us.  Things pretty much went downhill from here.  I started by singing and Miss C even managed to get into the tune.  Just look at Little J.  He's probably thinking, "I can't believe you are behaving for this.  Just what do you think you are doing?  Am I going to have to screw this up all by myself?  I thought we were a team here."

Not a nano second later, I get this.

So I bribe with the big guns.  Lollipops.  Notice how the crying immediately stops.  Look at those little beggars.

Gotta love Miss C.  I imagine she was thinking, "touchdown!  We got a lollipop within 2 minutes of starting and I didn't even have to throw a tantrum.  Way to go Little J!"

So they decide to throw a little bone my way and actually both look at the camera.  The problem is they both have lollipops shoved in their mouths.  I don't even think they took them out for one second.  Nope, not one second.  Believe me I was ready just in case they did.

So I decide to switch it up a bit hoping to get a decent shot.  This is Little J's best, "and what the heck do you think you are doing?  I'm not going to cooperate.  So just get any hope of a good shot out of your head."

Once the lollipops were gone, Miss C decided to put her own little spin on ruining a photo shoot.

And that's just about when I decided to give up and vow to try again another day.

Kids 1

Mom 0.

Daylight savings + halloween

Hate it.  Extra hour of sleep.  Yeah right.  Tell that to my 17 month old who was up at 5 a.m. this morning.  Every parent knows that their kids are not going to sleep the extra hour.  In fact, daylight savings manages to screw up their entire sleep pattern.  There is a silver lining though....they went to bed an hour early tonight :)

We had a great halloween.  The kids were really into it.  We kicked off the festivities with a party for all of the kids.  

Caroline ate her first caramel apple.  Do you think she liked it?

Then we met up with Mee Maw and Goompa for a quick dinner and then we headed out for some trick or treating fun.  Here's Little J on his way out...

Miss C in action.  She just loved going up to the door and ringing the bell.

Even Little J got in on the action.  He was able to mutter out something that sounded like Trick or Treat.  I was quite impressed.  He also loved all the candles in the pumpkins.  He kept trying to sing happy birthday and then blow them out.

Miss C with me and with Mee Maw.

Finally, surveying all the loot.  They were up late that night on a total sugar high.  That could explain why daylights savings has been so hard on us :)

10 on Wednesday

Forget it.  I have the hardest time with making the Tuesday deadline.  So now it will just be 10 on whichever day I can get around to it :).  I've been pretty busy and this has kind of taken a back seat.  Sorry kids!  Your mama has a life too!

Anyway, here is my 10 or as close to it as I can get!

1.  This is my absolute favorite.  I swear I did not set this up at all.  But some things never change.  Kids just can resist the urge to put on those Mr. Potato Head glasses.  What is it about those things?  Don't the realize that they are just too small?  I mean, I have at least 15 pairs of sunglasses hanging around the house and these are the ones they prefer.  The first pic is Miss C at about 17 months old.  The second is Little J at about the same age.  Isn't that a coincidence?  I think not.

2.  Little J has picked up the Happy Birthday song.  We sing it a lot around here.  Especially when we blow out the lights.  This is his version:

Hap birth to yoooooouuuuu

Hap birth to yoooooouuuuu

Hap birth to yoooooouuuuu

and then he blows out the candle.  He actually has the tune too.  It's too stinkin cute to watch.  He also has the idea of Baa Baa Black sheep.  Although he only gets out the Baa Baa part.  He also attempts Twinkle Twinkle but can't get the word out.  So he just kind of grunts to it.  He usually tries to sing that when he is rocking a baby doll.  It's the one song they both associate with calming down and going to bed.

3.  We went to the pumpkin patch again with Miss C.  This time it was with her preschool class.  Even though she isn't going yet (we pushed the start date back to December 1st), we were still invited to attend the field trip with the class.   They had a good time playing on the playground, taking a hay ride and picking out their own pumpkins.  Actually, Miss C picked them out for all of us.

4.  Little J has a few new words.  They are bus, park, truck (although he misses the t and the r), balloon (boon), hello, go, again and help.  He is also saying, "Max, no!".  Hmmmm.  Wonder where he gets that?  He is repeating some stuff back to us too so there are others, I just can't think of them.  J has been letting him watch Thomas the Train (the cartoon).  Little J freaks when he sees it.  He screams, "Choo choo!" over and over again.  I think he really likes trains!  Maybe that will be the theme of birthday #2.

5.  While we were at the pumpkin farm, the kids fed the animals.  Each child got one small cup with the feed in it.  They were supposed to put the food down these tubes for each of the animals.  Each of their approaches couldn't have been more different.  Miss C took one kernel at a time and put it down the shoot.  I'm sure the animals on the other end were going crazy.  Little J just decided to dump his entire cup into the cage.  No tube required.  

6.  Miss C's birthday invitations are out.  I'll post a couple of the out-take pics in a few days.  I don't want to spoil the surprise for anyone!

7.  It's 4:05 p.m. and both of my kids are still napping.  Pure heaven.  We went to Monkey Joe's today again.  I'm thinking I'm going to be hitting that place everyday.  

8.  I don't think I'm going to make 10 today, so this is my last one.  I got a chance to practice photography with friends last weekend.  It was a whole family (which I've never done).  I had a good time and got lots of great practice.  Here are a couple of the cute family.  

Can't you just eat them up?  

Flashback Friday....already

So I had a draft for 10 on Tuesday started two days ago and never made it past number 1. You will notice the time stamp on this post.  It actually is Thursday because I had to start this a day early to get it out on time (which I'm actually posting at 7:45 a.m. on Friday).  That pretty much sums up my week. Busy, busy, busy. We've been running around all week. Doing what, I'm not sure. Well actually we did do a bunch of stuff. Pumpkin patch, Monkey Joe's (like Chuck E Cheese but with bounce houses instead), library for story time, walks to the park, and I can't even remember Monday and Tuesday.

Plus I've been working on Miss C's birthday invitation. For some reason I've been agonizing over every little detail. For what, I don't know. SHE'S ONLY GOING TO BE 3! It's not like it's her wedding invitation. Regardless, I think I'm finally finished and I'm sending it off to print today. I hope they turn out ok. I've been having trouble with the colors on the monitor and I'm a little nervous how it's going to look printed. Of course I'm probably going to be the only one that even notices.

In celebration of Miss C's birthday in a couple of weeks, here are some pics from her actual birth-day. I can't believe it's been almost 3 years. It really does seem like only yesterday. She's ready for her birthday this year. We're having a tea party and she is so excited. Everyday she asks if her friends can come over for her tea party. She's requested lemonade in the tea pots and is flipping between a pink caterpillar cake and a blue Lightning McQueen cake. I have no idea how she got the idea of a caterpillar cake in her mind. I don't think she has ever seen one of those before. I hope she's not too disappointed when it's pink frilly cupcakes. That's what I want for the party :). I figure this is probably the last year I get a say in the matter. Next year it will probably be a truck and tractor party. So I'm going girly for my last hurrah. I mean pepto-bismol pink everywhere. I can't wait.

Anyway, here are the pics. We have a busy weekend so I promise (hopefully) a 10 on Tuesday on time.

Welcome to the world Miss C (please ignore the woman holding the baby.  After all she just gave birth!):

Meeting daddy for the first time.  She actually opened her eyes for the first time to look at him.  I say it's love at first sight.

Sleeping in mama's arms