Northland Moms Get Creative

When it looks like this outside, Northland moms get creative on how to get their children to burn off some energy. We were having a lazy morning at home when Dana called and asked if we wanted to go to the aquarium. Our aquarium has some issues so I haven't been there in about a year, but it sounded like a good thing to do.

Addie and Lily were very excited to see their friends, AJ and Sydney. They ran all over the upper floor of the aquarium, barely pausing to look at the fish. Lily was very impressed with the moving stairs (she's a small town girl, what can I say?). In fact, she was very upset that you didn't take the moving stairs to get down to the first floor. The elevator wasn't good enough for her.

One of Addie's favorite spots was a little bear den. It's a little "cave" that has a fuzzy stuffed animal that's supposed to be the momma bear inside. Addie thought it was a great hiding spot and wanted everyone to go inside with her. Unfortunately, AJ and Lily were not convinced it was safe. Lily went in, but wanted to go feet first (just in case). AJ checked it out and that was as far as he would go.

As always, the otter slide was a big hit with Lily. I'm not so sure they were excited about the actual otters, but the slide is neat.

We finished up with lunch at McDonalds and more playing there.

Valentine's Day Walk

This is cross posted on Knit One Blog Too because I am an idiot and wasn't paying close attention to what blog I posted on. :)


Adam and I took the girls for a walk on Saturday. Our plan was to walk down to the grocery store to pick up a loaf of crusty bread for fondue that night. It's 8 blocks to the grocery store.

We had no sooner gotten bundled up and out to the alley when Lily decided that she needed to be carried. There was no way I was carrying her the entire way (I've done it before and needed to seek chiropractic help afterward) so we got the wagon and some blankets out of the garage. Lily was very happy to be a rider, she kepting saying "Wheee! I'm on a roller coaster!"

Addie on the other hand, was quite the mountaineer. She went snowbank climbing and had to stop frequently for energy breaks (i.e. chocolate).

We got all of 4 blocks when we decided that everyone was too cold to keep going. We walked back home, got in the car and drove to the grocery store.

What a Way to Wake Up

Adam and I woke up this morning to the pitter patter of little feet running down our hallway. The sound was quickly followed by, "Momma, I'm hungry. I want hot dogs." What really brought me awake was Lily handing me a frozen package of hot dogs. She had woken up (God only knows how long she was wondering the house) and gone downstairs, opened up the freezer and perused the contents.

Otherwise, it's a lazy Sunday morning for us. Adam is fixing a broken water pipe (he's shut off water to the house, so I can't wash dishes or clothes). I'm playing on the computer, and the kids are playing upstairs. I think we might go to the Y this afternoon to swim. The kids are really looking forward to it - our freezing cold walk yesterday didn't quite bring the same degree of excitement.

Stay Right There

"Stay right there. Don't move. Where's the button I push? Did it work? Why isn't this working?"

"Addie, just hold down the button. No, look at us in the picture and hold down the button."

"Addie, bring up the camera so you can see Mommy and Daddy in the picture."

"Yes, that button right there. Hold it, hold it."

"Here we'll move down so you can see us in the picture."

"Momma, I see you! I did it!"

Miles of Smiles

This picture just makes me smile.

Someday This Will Be Used Against Me

Some day my children will hate me. I understand this. I know that I will at some point be the Worst Mommy in the Whole World. I also know that because I have 2 girls, this will last from the time that Addie is 13 to the time that Lily goes off to college.

That all being said, I took this picture anyway. Knowing that some day it may be used against me when my children accuse me of breaking child labor laws.

Honestly, she's mad because her sister wouldn't give her a long enough turn mopping, not because I forced them to mop!

Maybe, just maybe I'll be able to explain to them that they really were taking joy in the mopping of a 3 ft square entry. They were fighting over whose turn it was. And when they were done mopping the entry, they wanted to mop the rest of the house.

Can You Tell What Party We Went To?

We went to a costume birthday party this weekend. The girls didn't want to dress up as a certain green fairy, so we got a little creative. Lillian is the youngest boy, Michael. I think the deciding factor on this costume was that she got to carry her Teddy along with her all day. Addie is the oldest child, Wendy. Adam is dressed as the father, and I am the Indian Princess, Tiger Lily.

Can you tell what movie we're from? OK, I know, the green fairy is a dead giveaway. The costume party was a Peter Pan theme. We were greeted by the biggest baddest Captain Hook I've ever seen, and one of the smallest Peter Pans.

The girls had a great time. They played with balloon swords and even did a real treasure hunt for real pirate pinata treasure. Just ask Addie, she'll tell you the clue that she found all by herself (OK, maybe not all by herself).

The funniest part of the day for me was when Dana asked me how we just happened to have fringed leather lying around my house. Without skipping a beat I said, "Oh, it's a gun case." Honestly, I think if Jeff had been taking a drink there would have been Diet Pepsi sprayed across the living room. Apparently Jeff and Dana don't know that not only do I come from a family of creative costume aficionados, but so does Adam. They are also families of pack rats, and the two personalities work well together.

Happy 4th Birthday AJ! I'm so glad you invited us to share your birthday with you!

It's a Pony Train

Addie spent a lot of time setting up this "Pony Parade." You'll notice that the Momma and Belle are leading the Parade. Apparently the Ponies needed a human to lead them along. Some of the Littlest Pet Shops were honored to be part of the parade.

Hey There Shakey Shakey

The Wiggles have made a come back at our house. Last night after dinner I was asking Lily if she knew some Wiggles songs. I realized that since Adam got his ipod, we really haven't listened to the Wiggles at all. So I dug out the CD and started it up for Lily.

She was a dancing machine! She shook when the songs told her to shake, she swung her hips when they told her to swing, she wiggled, she giggled, she had a great time. After every song, she asked if she could listen to one more. I may have created a monster!

The checklist of things to bring back and forth may have just gotten longer with this new obsession.

Teddy - check

White Circle Blanket - check

Wiggles CD - check

Hat, mittens, neckwarmer - check

The Princess and the Mean Bad Witch

Once upon a time, in a land far far away, (The land was so far away you had to cross a bridge that makes mortal men shudder) lived a princess and a mean bad witch.

The princess was very beautiful and kind. She helped the servants in the kitchen and got the eggs every morning from the chicken coop. Whenever she saw the Mean Bad Witch, the princess would run away.

The Mean Bad Witch was also beautiful. However, she chased the pricess around the castle. What the princess didn't realize was that all the Mean Bad Witch wanted was to play with the princess.

One day, the Princess accidentally woke the Sleeping Dragon. The Princess was so scared, she didn't know what to do. But the Mean Bad Witch wasn't scared. She swooped in and saved the Princess from the dragon. From that day forward, the Princess and the Mean Bad Witch were friends.

**For those of you who can't tell, we spent Saturday morning at the Children's Museum in Duluth playing in the castle exhibit.

Dairy Free Rice Pudding

It's been a long time since I've posted a recipe. Tonight seemed like a night for comfort food. I needed (ok, wanted) something rich and creamy, but I'm trying to take off a few pounds I put on over the holidays. I adapted this Weight Watchers recipe to be dairy free. The original recipe called for skim milk, mashed banana and no cardamon. The points value was 2 per 1/3 cup serving. It came to 105 calories per serving. I would guess this version is slightly less.

1 Cup soy milk (or almond milk would be yummy)
1 Cup cooked rice
pinch salt
pinch ground cardamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract
1/4 tsp cinnamon

Bring soy milk, rice, cardamon, and salt to a boil in a heavy saucepan. Reduce heat to a simmer and stir occasionally until the milk is reduced and creamy. (about 15 minutes) Take mixture off the heat and stir in the vanilla, almond extract and cinnamon. Let cool to room temperature and serve.

I took this off the stove and threw it into the refrigerator while I put the girls to bed. When I came back downstairs the pudding was cold, but it was still really good. I think this will make a really good treat for the girls tomorrow. :)

It's a Win Win

Lily insisted upon dipping her green beans into Tofutti Sour Spreme "Sour Cream". She barely touched the baked potato or the steak, but she loved the green beans.

The Score: Momma=2, 2 Year Old=0
The Explanation: Lily has decided that she won't take her allergy medicine anymore. It tastes yucky. Or something along those lines. I'm not entirely sure as to what her rationale is since it normally just results in me getting allergy medicine spit out in my face and all along the kitchen floor. I might let this fight drop, except I have noticed a huge difference in how easily Lily goes to sleep at night when she has her medicine. It really makes me wonder how stuffed up & miserable she has been at night without the medicine.

So I decided a little bribery was in order. If Lily would take 1 tsp. of allergy medicine, then she would get 1 spoonful of Lily-safe ice cream (homemade sorbet right now). The first time we tried it, Lily was really excited. She took the medicine like a pro. And immediately spit it back out in my face. Not even the prospect of ice cream would help this one. I didn't have a lot of hope, but I mixed 1 tsp. of medicine with 2 spoons of ice cream in a bowl. I gave Lily her "Ice Cream" and watched in amazement as she did everything but lick the bowl clean. It worked again last night. She even asked for more medicine! Which is slightly scary to me...

I feel as though I have won another badge on my Mommy belt.

Pajama Day

Christmas Break is over. Addie got all bundled up this morning and headed off to school on the bus. It was a little difficult getting her dressed this morning as she really would have liked to just wear her pajama's all day. Or a dress, but no pants Momma, and no snowpants. Ha, not on your life kiddo, it's 40 below out there!!

It feels like we've been gone a long time, instead of just 4 days from work and 2 weeks from school for Addie. I have lots of photos to share with you; snowshoeing, pierogie making, etc. However, since the camera is being a bit cranky lately the photos are on both Adam's work camera and my camera so it might take some time to get them all downloaded into one folder.

Happy New Year!

Oh For FREAKING FREAK FREAK FREAK"S Sake

Read this post. Gerber has made it onto my hate list once again. Why oh why must they put milk in everything?

Movin' On Up

Lily got a painting set from Cousin Tom for Christmas - she is in heaven! Look at that concentration! That's her piece titled, Rainbow.

Lily saw a doctor today. I wanted someone to listen to her lungs and just check her over. She's been coughing since the end of September and it seems worse at night. During the day for the most part she is fine, unless she's running around a lot or going in and out of the cold.

The doc agreed that it is most likely asthma. He put her on an inhaler that she needs to take every night PLUS a over the counter allergy medicine. Some of her coughing and congestion may be due to an unspecified allergy. So, we try them both out and see if it helps. I'm hoping that she'll be able to sleep better at night without all the coughing.

Here's the good news.... Lily is 2 1/2 (really more like 2 3/4) and weighs 28 pounds. This puts her in the 30th percentile!!! Fantastic for a kid who 6 months ago was barely in the 7th percent. Maybe all that Lily-butter that she eats really does have calories in it.

Soup for Santa

No photos today folks, you've got to use your imagination.

Last night as the girls and I were driving home from the grocery store (Yes, I again took my hungry children to the grocery store at 6pm. Will I never learn?) I asked Addie if she would like to leave cookies and milk out for Santa on Christmas Eve. I got a rather noncommittal answer from the back seat.

"Addie, do you think Santa would like cookies and milk (soy of course, I hear Santa is lactose intolerant) when he comes to our house?"

"No, he'd like water." Addie told me.

"Oh, so it should be water and cookies?"

"No. Water and soup and crackers. And toast." She was so confident about the way she said this. Perhaps Santa would like some soup to warm himself up with by the time he gets to our house.

Santa Claus is Coming to Town

He's making a list, checkin' it twice, gonna find out who's naughty or nice

Santa Claus is coming to town!

And guess who is so excited she can barely sleep? We turned her crib into a daybed this weekend hoping that it would help Lily sleep in her own bed instead of the "BIG bed" guest bed in her room. It certainly has done the trick so far. Lily loves having her own little nest. She piles on all her animals and her turtle night light, then snuggles up in her blankets.

In case you were wondering where Lily gets the crazy grin from.

We had a little preview of Christmas this last weekend. Grandma and Grandpa came up to give the girls their presents early. Lily loved the artist smock she got, and all the great Play-Doh stuff to go with it.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

School Sing a Long

Addie's 4-K classroom had a sing-a-long last week. All the families were invited into the classroom. Since I was just there last week to help the kids make Monkey Bread, most of the kids remembered me. It was so fun to see all the kids in their Santa hats! It was also really nice to meet some of the other parents. I know 2 of them from different things, one was Addie's daycare teacher when she was a baby - and Addie was actually in her wedding! If we choose to go to the public school next year, Addie and this little boy will be in the same class. The other mom I know from work (I cannot remember where she works though), she asked if Addie could come over some day after school for a playdate. It would be her very first playdate without Mommy. Yikes!

The kids sang several songs for us and got to play their instruments. The instruments were definitely the bigger hit. The kids loved the shakers and jingle bells! So much so that they sometimes forgot to sing the words because they were too busy shaking.

Addie says, "Ms. Beth ROCKS!"

The best part of the program? Decorating cookies!! I couldn't believe how much sprinkles and M&M's went on these cookies. Addie decided she needed to make a cookie for herself, one for Daddy because he couldn't make it and one for Lily.

In Defense of My Homeland

I'm sitting here pondering my next blog entry, wondering if shivering counts as an aerobic activity when I read the comments from my previous post.

Ouch, accused of switching my allegience to a crummy purple and gold bunch of degenerate whiners. Shall we discuss the Love Boat incident? Perhaps not on a blog about my children.

No, my children's coats have nothing to do with the allegiance towards any particular football team. It's really hard to find green coats for girls. Plus, my girly-girls would probably revolt at anything that is not pink or purple. Lily's coat is a hand-me-down from her cousin (one that Addie barely wore) and Addie's happened to be a good sale. I figured the purple wouldn't look as dirty as fast as a light pink would.

Oh the Weather Outside is Frightful....

What does any sane Northwoods family do when they're in the middle of a blizzard?
Bundle up the kids and go play outside of course!!

We got 9" of snow yesterday and winds up to 58 mph. Adam had to go outside to get a jump on the shoveling and snowblowing and the girls needed to blow off a little steam. We quickly found out that the snow pants that Lily used last year are much too short for her. Her other snow pants were at Oma's so she didn't last very long. I took her in to get some wool socks and legwarmers to pull over her snowpants to keep her lower legs warm. By the time we got outside again, Adam and Addie had walked over to our elderly neighbor's house to see how they were faring.
The girls went for a quick sled ride around the yard.

When Adam and Addie got back from visiting the neighbor's, they made a snow cave. Actually, I'm told that it is a snow "castle." They also made a little snowgirl to guard the castle. Addie had a great time playing with Daddy outside.

Unfortunately the temperature has dropped to the negative numbers, so we won't be able to play outside until the weather improves.