Do we have a future Hermione Granger in the house?

I saw Meghan playing with the broom yesterday. It looked like she was riding it and I thought it looked super cute.

Too bad I didn't get the camera quite fast enough to get the best picture.

Feeding the baby

We won't be having many opportunities for pictures like these, since Meghan is nearing the one year mark and will soon be weaned from the bottle.

It is just so cute when Jase asks to feed Meghan her bottle...

When the cat sleeps, the mouse plays...

While Meghan loves her brother, she also loves having the toys (his toys) to herself to play. I think it must be not having to fight for the toys and being hit, pushed over, and sat on.

A yarn ball or a mummy?

Jase loves to play with my yarn and my knitting needles and crochet hooks. Today he decided to wrap himself up with one of my scrap yarn balls.

Then he couldn't pull it off, so we cut it off. All the while Little Miss Meghan was going bonkers over the yarn strings...

Popsicles

Meghan had her first popsicle over the weekend. Jase got sick Thursday and I took him to Urgent Care after I got home. The Dr thought it was strep, so they did a culture and gave him an antibiotic. So, while we were waiting at Target for his prescription, he said he wanted some popsicles. So he picked out some yummy Dora popsicles. When we got home he had one and Meghan had one too. I thought she wouldn't hold it, but she grabbed right onto the stick and held on. She actually ate more of hers than Jase did of his.

It turns out that Jase didn't have strep, but Croup again (like the 10th time in a little less than 2 years). Meghan and I woke up Saturday morning with fevers. Meghan had a really high fever overnight and went to Urgent Care in the morning. There is some virus really prevalent right now and it sounds like everyone is getting it...

Oreo cookies

Meghan loves Oreo cookies. Here she is in all her Oreo messiness...

You just gotta love a messy baby - I just don;t like cleaning everything up!

PS-I think the blow out she had at the fair was from the Oreo's...

County Fair

Wednesday when I got home from work I decided that we should all go to the fair. Since parking and getting is free, there would just the cost of a ride or two for Jase and some yummy fair food.

It took us a bit of waiting to get into the fairgrounds and the car parked, but it was worth it as Jase loved it (and Meghan loved watching all the people). The first thing Jase saw was the ferris wheel and he really wanted to go on it. We told him after we looked around some and saw the animals, etc.

We walked around, got some balloons, coloring books, stickers, and a fire hat (Jase loved it), a 50 cent yummy sno-cone, saw the pigs, cows, rabbits, ducks, chickens, geese, horses, army vehicles, and tractors. Then we got a couple tickets and Joseph and Jase went on the ferris wheel.



The treat of the night for the kids was cotton candy (and Joe and I even had some too, although I don't really like it anymore...). Meghan wasn't sure what to think and just kept sticking her tongue out to touch it and then pull away.

We decided at 2 hours later that it was a great trip and we would have to come back next year. We walked back to the car and got Jase in his booster and I was getting Meghan out of the stroller. When I unstrapped her I just stopped and said something like that is sooo distgusting. She completely pooped out the front side of her diaper, all over her adorable outfit. The really strange thing is that it looked like melted dark chocolate, not poop (but it was poop). So we preceded to strip her clothes off, use probably about 20 wipes and then she got to ride home in just her diaper as I didn't pack an extra set of clothes. When we were cleaning her up, I said I wished I would have gotten a picture of just how gross it was. This was one time I was tempted to throw out the outfit, but since we really it, it traveled home to get soaked and stain treated. Oh and there were like 3 cars that wanted our parking spot, but the whole ordeal took around 10 minutes I'm guessing from when we first walked up to the car. None of the cars waited that long...

Stickers and capsules

There are several things that Jase loves to do and one of his favorites are stickers. Any type of stickers (address labels, price tag stickers, fun stickers, you name it; if it is a sticker, then he loves it).
Another favorite includes the foam capsules that grow into an animal when placed in warm water. He used to get these in the tub during bath time, but now that Jase and Meghan take baths together and Meghan eats everything, he can't have them at bath time.
I actually forgot that we still had some, until cleaning off my desk and found a bag with some. So, we decided to soak some in some water and see what grew. I think this time we got a giraffe, flamingo, t-rex, dragonfly, and a couple more animals that I don't remember (and I'm too lazy to get up and look - hey, at least I'm honest, it's been a loooooong day with a teething baby).



What things do your kids love? And what makes them super happy (as the motto goes "a happy momma makes for a happy house"; I also think that happy kids make for a happy momma).

Sundress

I just love little girls in sundresses...isn't she just adorable!

Nap time

I just love seeing my babies (big and small) sleeping.

It also means a quiet house...which makes this momma very happy!

Hungry?

Maybe we don't feed her enough...


But then again it must be her teething. Nothing is safe with her around...

Weekly deal

This was my weekly steal of a deal last week from CVS:

I got everything in the picture for 23 cents before tax (75 cents after tax)!

Waiter, there's a fly in my soup!

Have you ever had one of those experiences? Well, I ended up being the waiter tonight and Joe was the "customer"... I feel so embarrassed to even post this, but I want to document it in our journal, so now you all get to know too...

I made a kale, potato, and sausage soup similar to Olive Garden's Toscana soup. When I was cleaning the kale (I got it from our weekly share at the farmer's market - yum) I noticed a nice bright green caterpillar - like the inch worm ones we found on leaves as kids and played with - well at least I played with them. Anyways, I looked over all the leaves well and then chopped the kale into slices.

Fast forward to dinner time: Jase thinks soup is gross and Meghan already ate, so Joe and I sat down to a nice bowl of soup and some sweet Italian bread that I got on Saturday when I went grocery shopping. We each ate a bowl of soup and Joe went back for a second bowl. A couple bites into the second bowl he pushed something onto the sloped edge of the bowl and asked me what I thought it looked like - I said a caterpillar and started to laugh. I then told him that I had found one when I was cleaning the kale and looked it over well, but I guessed not well enough...
(this is after moving "it" to my empty bowl...)

Needless to say Joe stopped eating the soup and I couldn't bring myself to save the rest of the soup (another 2-3 bowls). We're not that hard up for extra protein...

Have you ever had an experience like this? Were you the chef, the "customer", or both?

Father/Son Camping Trip #2

Friday night Joe and Paul took the young boys (Jase, Ashton, and Dominic - yes, Paul was a brave one taking Dom who is just 18 months old) camping. From the pictures it looks like they had a great time. This time they camped at Wolfe's Leisure Time Campground on SR 25. Last year they camped at Prophetstown State Park.
I've been told that Dominic had a hard time with sleeping and Paul actually took home around 3a (that's the bonus of only being 10 minutes away from home when camping with little ones). The next morning Jase woke up at his normal 7a and proceeded to wake everyone else up - that's my boy!

Here are some of my favorite pics - enjoy!

Camp - looks nice and kids seem happy to play in the tents, and having a fire and food...


The many faces of Dominic (how cute is he...)


Dominic having a blast on the slide.


The big kids at the park.


Some fun down by the mighty Wabash River - can you believe all those water bugs - ugh!


Silly kids waiting for some s'mores before bedtime.


This is one of my favs with the blurred look (although blogger won't orient it correctly).


Going for a hike after a (mostly) sleepless night.

If anyone else wants to join in on the Father/Son camping trips let us know - the guys are hoping for at least one more this year...

Handmade letters

I first thought of making these for my son to learn his name. Then when he got them for his birthday, he decided that he needed the whole alphabet. So now I'm making my daughter's name and then I'll fill in with the rest of the alphabet...

Go check out "I Made It Myself" at Christy's blog.

What's better than strawberries?

Blueberries! Specifically 18 pounds of blueberries! Yummy-yummo! Here's what 18 pounds of blueberries looks like (note that the berries are already package for the freezer in batches of 1 cup = pancakes, 2 cups = muffins, and 5 cups = pie/tart).

I really wished I had the camera when we were picking - the kids did really well. Jase was upset about the bugs, but loved picking the berries and more over loved having a bucket to move around - note that next year he gets his own bucket to pick into. Meghan was pretty content in her stroller, eating half of Jase's double cheeseburger (that we picked up on the way to the farm), drank her whole sippy cup of juice, and ate who knows how many berries - Jase kept her supplied with berries on her tray. When she started getting fussy, I put her on the ground so I could clean the stroller off (man was it a mess - a darker colored seat would have hid the food, but my lovely orange!). Meghan loves to crawl on the grass and pick it (which means eat it too) and then she made her way under the bushes, where the ground was covered with berries (some good and some not). That was the end of her crawling around - back in the stroller with some toys and she was good for another 20 minutes...

We also saw Paul and Ashton and picked berries with them for a little bit. Jase liked having a friend there; although Jase makes friends with any child he sees. When we were parking at the berry farm, Jase saw 3 kids get out of a van in front of us. He couldn't get out of his booster fast enough and out the door. He kept saying, "I'm Jase" and running around with them. Since we were walking together, we ended up picking next to each other, so the "older" kids showed Jase how to pick the berries. It was pretty darn cute!

This was also the first night that both kids went to bed at the same time (it was late though, after 9p), while they were still awake, and Meghan didn't cry, not a peep...

Messes

Meghan's arms have grown longer, because she used to not be able to get things at the back of the couch, and now, well she can get anything anywhere but on the kitchen counter or the tabletop. This is the mess she left for me the other day when we were home alone together without the boys. I gave her about 5 puffs on the floor to snack on and I guess she thought she needed them all...

Mashed potatoes

What do you think - does Meghan like mashed potatoes?

Definitely! It was all over her, including eyelashes, hair, and ear...

Grumpy

I've been ornery lately and stressed and just not a hugely happy camper at home. It doesn't help that I've had the flu a couple times in the last 2 months. The kids are at a really frustrating age too. Jase just won't listen, picks on his sister (tackles her), and won't eat anything but cheese sticks, fruit snacks, and candy. Meghan is so mobile (toddling, climbing, crawls super fast), eats everything (including fuzz and dirt), doesn't know "no" yet, and won't sleep in her crib for more than 1-2 hours anytime (therefore she sleeps in our bed every night = not a great night's sleep). But I'm also a perfectionist and like to have a clean and orderly home (which is not possible with a 3yo and a 10 month old), time to myself to read, knit, or whatever else I wish to do.
Not everything is bad though... we have great times and here are some fun times of me and the kids...


I think I'm just frustrated with not having enough me time - so it is a good thing I have bunko this week! A few hours with great friends and yummy food - just what the Dr ordered...

Meghan is as cute as a bee...

I actually made this outfit a while ago - it was super easy and looks super cute. I wish I had more time to sew as I love all the cute clothes that I could make (and I definitely have the fabric!).


Christy over at crafty conservative started doing a "I made it myself" Saturday - go check it out! Maybe one day I will start an etsy store...

Super saving shopping day!

So I thought that for my 100th post, I would blog about my super saving shopping day at Target and CVS.

I'll start with Target. I love going to A full cup and printing out Target coupons that I can use with my manufacturers coupons for double savings. Here is what I got at Target...

The total price before coupons and gift cards was $93.28. Guess how much it cost me? $39.60 out of my pocket (and that was including a new umbrella ($20) so Meghan and I wouldn't get soaked going to the car).
The best deal at Target this last week was that Pampers were on sale for $8.49 for the jumbo packs. I had several $1 off man. coupons, and then printed off the target coupons for $5 off a jumbo pack of diapers and bag of wipes. I also used a coupon for a $5 gift card with the diaper and wipes purchase (plus I had man. coupons for the wipes). With all those coupons stacked (and the gift cards used), I ended up getting the 3 packs of diapers and wipes for $9.94 before taxes (that is less than the normal price of one pack of diapers)! That is a huge steal...especially since diaper prices are going up.

Now on to CVS...
I got this pack of diaper and some new make-up (mascara, lipstick, and eye shadow) for $3.66! The price before coupons and sales was $38.95. Wow! That just made my day! Everything was on sale and I used $6 in coupons for the package of diapers, and coupons for $1 off the lipstick, and the eyeshadow was free when buying mascara. The mascara and lipstick were by one get one free, so I got 2 of the 3 free. Then, I had a $3 off a $15 purchase and some extra care bucks from a couple weeks ago that also helped bring down the price.

Then I went to Meijer and did some grocery shopping (everything was on sale, but no deals that compared with the previous two). I did get a couple more packages of diapers to make today's steal on diapers a total of 7 jumbo packs of diapers for $21.93.

Meghan's a climber

just like Jase is, but she has started a lot sooner (she's not even 10 months old yet).

She has been trying to get her knee up onto things (boxes, toys, low bed, etc) for a few weeks, and she has now conquered it. Now she just needs to figure out how to get back down and not topple off backwards or sideways or forwards. In the few days since then, she has tried to climb things, including trying to get up on the couch by climbing on anything that is setting next to the seat. Danger girl...

And here are some more sleeping pictures. Meghan is really attached to the puppy that she has a death grip on.

I love my little thumb sucker!

Animals

Jase found a new use for Jenga blocks - to corral his animals in the wild African safari, Antarctica, and the farm yard on our table...

Corn on the cob

is such a wonderful summertime side dish in the great midwest. Here is Meghan joining in on the fun too...

My man Jase

I love kids in bibs, so I loved it when I got these Levi bibs last fall at Target for $3! I've been wanting Jase to wear them for a few weeks but he has adamantly persisted that he doesn't like them. Finally after pleading and Joe helping by picking up Jase, I was able to pull them on. Afterwards, we had this conversation:

Me: Do you like your bibs?

Jase: NO!

Me: But Grandpa wears them...

Jase: NO - I DON'T LIKE THEM!

Me: But aren't they comfortable and nice to wear?

Jase: NO!

Me: Other kids wear them and like them...

Jase: No they don't like to wear them because they are not fun to wear.

Then after going shopping (we now have an aquarium - but that is for another post) and had some fun with them, he didn't want to take them off - go figure...

Painting

I want to make the kid's room a little more girl friendly, since everything is sky blue (walls, ceiling, trim). There is a half wall that has striped wallpaper that is pink and blue (next to Meghan's crib). I want to paint the ceiling trim a different color, but I'm not sure what to paint it, the standard white? yellow? green? Any ideas?

Also, my kitchen is blue and currently has dark stained cabinets. I think I want to paint them white to help make the kitchen look larger and brighten up the whole area. Any thoughts for those of you that have seen my kitchen (or haven't)? Has anyone painted cabinets white? Any tips?

Changes are a good thing

I hope...

We've been rearranging rooms, since we have yet to find the ideal positions for furniture, etc. That is up until now.

Last weekend we talked about moving around our bedroom. We didn't start it until Monday night, so it is still being worked on (no pictures until it is complete).

We've also talked about moving Meghan into Jase's room and turning Meghan's "room" into a toy room. So this morning I woke up and decided to do it (after asking Jase Thursday night if he wanted Meghan to sleep in his room - and he excitedly said yes). It took most of the day (with many breaks to nurse Meghan, cook food, clean dishes, grocery shop, etc), but we love it! Meghan took her naps in there and is doing well. Jase doesn't take many naps anymore, so having Meghan in an actual room will be better for noise control during her naps.

And here is the toy room:


A funny story: when the kids were put to bed tonight, Meghan of course started to cry. We tucked Jase in with his 2 blankets (and long sleeved pj's and pants) and left them to work our going to sleep. They were both tired and after about 5 minutes I heard Jase start crying too. I went in and he asked me to make Meghan stop crying. It was cute and then he covered his ears when she started again...

This was after about 10 minutes:



And of course since it is Independence day, we grilled hot dogs, brats, and bacon cheeseburgers, had watermelon, and some lovely trifles in the good ole red, white, and blue. Hope you had a great 4th!