Meat Tenderizer?

Check. 
Purse Around the Neck?
Check.
Ready to get down to some business?  Always.

Sometimes I think they plan these things…

“OK, first I’ll smile..”
“then you smile.”

Plus a visit with the Big Man of the Hour himself!
Note no picture with Miss C.  She cried when even Mommy 
was holding her and standing next to Santa!

Randomness

a new style trend
sightseeing

Once Upon a Mattress (a review)

Once upon a time, there was a little girl named Princess Miss M who had to sleep on a crib mattress that had belonged to her lovely cousin, Princess Caley and her siblings.  Now the mattress was fine and sturdy since it had lasted for many many MANY years.  But it was beginning to show its age.  You see, Princess Caley is fifteen years older than Princess Miss M.  Nevertheless, Miss M slumbered with no problems for three years on said mattress.  Then her sister was born.  Princess Baby C also acquired the slumbering aid.  By this time, their mother, the Queen, had discovered the wonders of the internet and all that it can behold.  She found a website, Go Green Street,  that was having a giveaway for a crib mattress.  Oh, what joy it would be if she would win this.  Perhaps Baby C would sleep longer and more restful if this dream would come true!  So the Queen entered said contest and crossed her fingers and waited.

Then, one day, she was checking her email and behold…she had won!  Fanfare and trumpets were heard throughout the land as the good word was heard.  After a bit of a wait, the magical mattress finally appeared at the Queen’s doorstep!  Hooray!  The Queen quickly set to work at placing the new mattress into the crib and taking out the old.  She immediately could see a difference.  There were no spaces from the mattress to the crib railings.  It was a solid well-made mattress that was constructed out of coconut husks and wrapped in lambswool.  Sweet slumber would quickly come to the Princess Baby C!

Alas, many slumber filled nights have be felled the land since that joyful day and although Princess C is definitely now a fine sleeper, one can not be confident that it is because of the fine mattress.  Do not get me wrong, my lovely reader, it is a top of the line mattress and full of organic natural goodness.  High recommendations abound, but be forewarned of the cost of this piece of wonder.  That is the sad part of this tale but one the Queen did not have to pay. Hip Hip Hooray!

——-
Side Note: When Miss M saw me downloading these pictures, she said, “Those are just pictures of a mattress.  No one is going to want to read about that!”  Is she right?…

Our Cooking Stars

Thanksgiving Roundup

This Thanksgiving, as usual, we traveled to good ole Southern Illinois to visit with J’s side of the family.  We enjoyed wonderful food prepared by MaGa (the girl’s grandma) and also had a s’more or two by the roaring fire.  While it was a bit chilly, we were able to get out a bit and go to the Science Center on Saturday.  After that we ate at a greek restaurant in St. Louis with Pop (the girl’s grandpa) and the awesome Aunt Amanda (J’s sis).  Yum!  Here are some pictures from the weekend of fun:

eating breakfast in their grandparent’s bed while watching some cartoons

Miss M taking down some notes on nature in the woods behind MaGa’s house

starting her early…

C riding the rocking horse that her great-grandpa made many moons ago
So despite the loooooooong car ride and especially the last hour of said lonnnnnnnng car ride whereas a little toddler has had enough and wants out NOW and a big sister who thinks shushing her baby sister quite loudly will help anything and a mother that is trying to read her book and a father that is trying to drive…
we had an awesome Thanksgiving holiday.  How about you?

Thanks to them…

I have everything I need.
Happy Thanksgiving!

Things I am not grateful for

So since it is the season to be thankful, I thought I would be contrarian and list the things I am not grateful for…
  • cancer of any kind
  • drugs that destroy not just yourself but those that you love and that love you
  • people that are crabby and take it out on the innocent
  • traffic that is stopped for no good reason
  • bad tv shows that stay on the air for longer than necessary
  • clothes, etc that try to make my 6 year old look like a 16 year old
  • cheaply made toys that are not cheap in cost
  • family and friends that leave your life way too early
But, then I am reminded of this…
and all is good and right in the world.

Taking a Toddler to the Doctor or things I wish I didn’t have to do

Today was C’s 18 month check up at the doctor.  I dread taking C to the doctor.  She screams and cries the minute we enter the office.  Today I brought along her book Going to the Doctor by Anne Civardi and read it to her as we were waiting.  That seemed to calm her down a bit.  Then we entered the examining room.
The minute the doctor opened the door, she screamed and cried.  We couldn’t weigh her without me holding her and then subtracting my weight alone from the weight holding her.  Her measurements are, of course, not the most accurate because she wouldn’t lay down for more than a second.  She refused to sit on the examining table so I just held her.
Then came the shots.  She received two today plus a prick on the finger to test hemoglobin.  She HATES the finger prick the worst.  We managed.  She then received her shots and I swear she cries the most when the doctor puts the bandaids on!
This was all before 10 this morning.  Fun.  And we get to go back in another 3 months.  At least it wasn’t as bad (yes, it has been worse) as when I had both C and Miss M at the doctor’s office for Miss M to get her shots for kindergarten.  Miss M screamed when she received her shots, which of course set off C.  Real Fun.

For the grandmas and any one else curious, here are C’s stats:
At 18 months old, she is 32.5 inches tall (give or take an inch) and weighs 23 pounds.  From her last visit three months ago, she has grew an inch and a half and gained three pounds.  She is still tiny, but as we like to say, she is small but she is mighty!

A Week of Firsts

Curious?  Here’s what has happened in our corner of the world:
* C had her very first haircut!  I was so nervous that she was going to scream at the stylist, but she did great!  She sat quite still (for an almost 18 month old) and hardly made a peep.  According to her sister, it doesn’t look like she got it cut….but believe me, it looks so much better and neater!  Take a look:
*  Miss M counted to 100 for the first time all by herself!  This is quite an accomplishment and something that she has been trying to master for sometime.  She is now working on adding up numbers in her head.  This is all her doing…
*  We met with Miss M’s fabulous kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Sombeck, this week for our first parent-teacher conference.  She said that Miss M is doing splendid and a joy in class.
*  From their aunt and uncle, the girls received a box of Scooby-Doo tattoos… C saw her sister getting one put on her arm and she of course had to have one too!