zoo

just got back from the zoo- boy did the kids have fun.

Matthew was thrilled that they had a little potty for him:

I mean, Look at it- so cute and little, who wouldn't be thrilled (well, me for one if I had to use it...)

Sophia wore herself out on the small playground...

she did so much running and playing...

she's asleep in her crib now- like a rag doll when I laid her down....

That girl has no fear. When Matthew was little, he'd be so cautious, you hardly had to watch him- he's like that still... you can't even coax him to go down the slide (though in the past he's loved the slide).

Sophia though, she'd walk right down the slide if you'd let her.

She's a thrill seeker....

in other news, we got a really great view of the tiger today:

Bourbon festival

We took a little trip to visit Sara and Stuart and to enjoy the bourbon festival this weekend... Matthew had a lot of fun bouncing in the castle. He was lucky- he got a lot of time in it for his turn- our timing was perfect, and he even got some time in all by himself.




other fun stuff? Riding the turkey of course....

Even David Michael got in on the fun...

(ok Sara, so maybe it isn't the best picture but I think it's pretty darn good....)

so- me trying to be a "deal seeking mom"- went to the store this morning for Kroger's '$10 Mega Event'... not a cheap trip but...

money spent:$151.47 (that I don't feel is an accomplishment...)

Kroger plus savings: $41.21

coupon savings: $24.50 (which I'm VERY proud of)

this, despite the free toilet paper being sold out- I ended up getting 2-2 pack double rolls... which looking back I should have passed on since I can always go back later in the week and look for the free stuff... but, come on now... am I really going to go back? Probably not- and I can always print those coupons again if I do.

overall it was a very frustrating trip for me... the TP was gone, the sour cream that was on sale was gone... the guy who bagged my groceries did a HORRIBLE job. (a large container of yogurt with my eggs- he dropped my light bulbs on the floor, 5 of my bags had holes in them when I got home and 4 items fell out of bags either in the van or on the way up to the door...) Matthew kept wining asking to go home and fussing because he didn't have a drink, Sophia wouldn't sit in the cart, and we had to make a rush potty trip- and ended up in the guys bathroom because the ladies bathroom was full... but now I'm home and almost everything is in it's place- so all is right in the world again. I feel really bad about complaining to Erik about how the trip went- I should know that I just need to keep to myself about junk like that until it passes and I can sit back and look at it with a more humorous attitude... I'm sure I gave a ton of people a show as I frustratedly tossed my bags into the van and tried not to cry. :)

pumpkin carving

Happy Halloween!

carving a pumpkin "butt", originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

the Sunday before Halloween, we went to Minnie Mouses' house and carved pumpkins.

So we lined the kids up on the couch (one sibbling to be added to this bunch in the new year, plus Sara's, plus another friend that is due to have her 2nd any day now)

and then we lined the pumpkins up too...

Some Halloween fun

The Friday, a week before Halloween (yeah, I know, I'm behind) we went to a fundraiser pumpkin walk and trick-or-treated, drank hot chocolate and dipped our own donuts in chocolate and sprinkles. yum.

Minnie and her dad met us there...






isn't she SO cute??

her 1st visit to the zoo

her 1st visit to the zoo, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

We headed to the zoo with Susan 2 weeks ago (she left for her job in DC today! *sniff sniff*).

T'was Sophia's first trip there. She did well.

Matthew, er... I mean Batman, loved the park the best.

batman visits the rinos, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

While Matthew played, I nursed Sophia. I've come to accept the fact that we'll never go any where unless this is done. With Matthew I was very hesitant, running to the store just after he'd filled his tummy, once leaving a full shopping cart to go to the car to feed him, and then to go home. Not this time- I'd never get anything done, and it's much more practical to just bring a sling and take care of business. I could be kidding myself, but most times, I don't think anyone knows, she's covered well enough that she looks asleep, but you can still tell she's a baby, so there's a little bit of mystery...

Well at the zoo this day it was HOT. No way was I going to be able to cover her enough to leave no suspicion all... but just enough. Any how this lady heads over towards me from the other side of the park, passes two benches and sits down on the other end of my bench. Makes me nervous... what does she want? why is she sitting so close? You know- the deal with personal space??
So any how, she sits there a while, looking at me quite often. I think she maybe thought I was nursing Sophia, but couldn't tell and so she decided to come over and take a look? (weird IMO) So I pay close attention to her with my motherly protective instincts... as soon as she looks away after a little bout of staring, I fix myself up and pull Sophia up to burp her. The lady looks over again, and then stands up to leave. Thank goodness!
I still have no idea what her deal was... was she trying to check it out so she could be rude and tell me about how I should go home? (hope not- we're one of the states where that'd be illegal!)Was she going to give me a thumbs up? who knows. Guess I needed one of these.

how we ran errands

shopping, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

I know I told you that I'd show you the cute cupcakes, but I couldn't not catch you up to my week before last first.... here's how we shopped while Mia was here- in style, with cape and hat...

July 4th concert

one of the star wars songs- YODA maybe?, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

Hum... can you guess where we were? can ya?
Yep. A Weird Al concert is how we spent our 4th. It was VERY entertaining. The picture above is from one of his star wars parodies- YODA perhaps? They had a screen set up above the stage so that in-between costume changes, they could play snippets of interviews and other stuff that Weird AL has done over the years. Erik said that he thinks a lot of the things were from a TV show that Weird AL did at one point. While a lot of it was really funny- some things were a bit risquee too.. but what did you expect from the guy who made UHF?

a happy fan, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

Yep. Erik was a happy guy to be there, and I've heard that Matthew was pretty good for his night out too- that'd be all night out- as in away from home sleeping and waking up somewhere else. Thanks Memee and Poppie- we know he had a blast.

the park

the park, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

We had a great trip to the park last week. Matthew ran around and was pretty darn happy to be out of the house.

I was surprised at how scary this particular park seemed for such a little guy (or rather for his mom, since Matthew didn't seem to be scared at all- amazingly). There were some HUGE slides- rock walls for climbing, and a plastic tree trunk for kids to climb up- which HAD to be at least 10 feet high, if not 12 or more....

high bridge, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

This is as close to the tall slides as Matthew made it- he'd have had to cross this bridge to get to the slide- and I was really happy when he chickened out.

dirt digging, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

and here's a sampling of the dirt/ mulch on the play ground. Matthew had a fun time playing in it- but did not like it when his sweaty leg skidded on the slide, which caused him to turn around backwards, fall back on his back and into the dirt as he rolled himself from his back to his belly- head first.
He was a trooper though- he was more upset that he had dirt on his shirt and in his mouth than he was about falling.

Cotton Candy

Cotton Candy, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

On Saturday Matthew got some cotton candy at the school's celebration for something or other... We all got to try some "wuter ice" (water ice). WOW. so much better than an Icee or whatever. So yummy and so difficult to describe.

Day 4 and 5

IMG_2178, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

Day 4 was a great day at IKEA where we ended up with a new dresser for Matthew's big boy room, a nice throw pillow for the sofa and some 'art' for the kitchen. It was also our anniversary- what a rockin' day!

Day 5 we went to the Constitution(al?) Museum where we saw statues of all of the signers of the constitution. Matthew was just a little freaked out by all the bronze life size people.

IMG_2209, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

We also got to see the Liberty Bell, which is roped off because someone who visited started to hit it with a hammer a few years back. Up until then, you could walk up and touch the thing of you wanted to.

IMG_2213, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

Then we went on a duck boat tour. We got these great duck whistles to blow at people as we drove by. Matthew thought it was pretty cool once he got the hang of it. He also loved yelling at people as we drove by "Mahoo a riding a BOAT!" It was later in the afternoon when we started our tour, and Matthew sadly didn't make it to the water part... his head was bobbing... He did wake up for just a bit after we ended up in the water... to sleepily wave and then pass out again...

Day 3

shopping, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

On the third day we went to the Please Touch Museum and Matthew had a BLAST. His favorite things were 'shopping', 'drive driving a tractor' and 'drive bus, daddy work'.

driving dad to work, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

Day 2 of Fun

paying another toll, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

Well, paying tolls wasn't a ton of fun...

meeting baby Thomas, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

but meeting Thomas was!

Matthew kept calling him Shiloh for about the first 3 days...

Day 1, Part 3

the guys, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

So, yeah. We headed to the monuments- we saw the Washington monument, the new WWII monument, the reflecting pond (which was MUCH cleaner than when my family visited years ago), the Lincoln monument and the Capitol. It was a LOT of walking, and that's why we opted for a longer metro ride and to skip seeing the white house.

crying, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

and here's Matthew's big fit of the trip, because we wouldn't let him stomp through the puddles. If he'd have had a change of pants, well, then MAYBE we could have let him, but with the cold and windy day- it wasn't a good day to be wearing wet pants... you just have to draw the line somewhere.

Matthew at the capitol, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

He did get to run and run and run at the Capitol though. And was quite happy about that.

waiting for the train, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

So happy to ride the Metro 'train'... I think he'd have fallen asleep during our ride if he hadn't been SO excited to be riding something different. He did pass out in the truck on the way back to Mike's... and slept ALL NIGHT until AFTER Erik and I woke up. Amazing what a busy day will do.

Day 1, Part 2- the Air and Space Museum

a family picture, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

The 2nd part of our busy day was the Air and Space museum.
This museum is the newer of the two, and is located away from 'The Mall' in DC where all of the monuments are located.

Matthew was thrilled to look at all of the airplanes- His only 'complaint' was that he couldn't climb on them to 'ride' like he could the 'tractors'.

wow! airplanes!, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

He had a great time running around in the large open walkways, and there were just enough people NOT there that we didn't have to worry about his getting lost in a croud if he ran just a little too far. The Museum was a huge open 'garage' of sorts with airplanes in the middle and hanging from the ceilings with other displays by the walls.

shoulder ride, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

He also had a great time pretending to be an airplane himself- especially while riding high on dad's shoulders.

waiting for the metro, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

Next we headed to a place where we could park and ride the Metro into DC, a 45 minute ride.... which Matthew slept though. It was sad becasue we knew he'd have LOVED to ride the 'train' but good, because the boy needed a nap!

Day 1 of fun, part 1

riding in the truck, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

So, hooray- we made it home safe!

There were so many days FILED with fun, and SO many cute and fun pictures to share, that I think I'll be trying to relive each day day by day here on the blog... perhaps in more than one post per day.

first day started with moving the car seat over to Uncle Mike's truck. Matthew couldn't have been more thrilled to be riding in "a mikul truck". We headed over to Mike's work site in the drizzling rain.

initial excitement, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

Matthew was really happy to get to SEE so many huge earth movers ("tractors") and even more thrilled when he was told he could pick which one he wanted to climb up on.

"driving", originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

he chose the biggest of all first... and "drove" for about... 20 seconds...

I wanna ride that one!, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

After climbing the first, it became a marathon of climbing up and down and choosing the next 'tractor' to 'ride'.

big digger, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

Matthew was such a happy boy and would have spent the day there if we'd have let him...

dirty shoes, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

but we started to get REALLY dirty (it was a good thing we'd packed an extra pair of clothes for the little guy...) and had to go clean up in Mike's office.

Matthew cried for just a bit, but we had an Air and Space Museum to get to so we could see all of the airplanes!

No pictures again...

So, Sadly our computer/ Erik's lap top won't connect to the Internet here, so I'm on borrowed computers and time... Pictures and descriptions will have to wait. :)

so... Monday we traveled and such- yesterday we went to the please touch museum- Matthew had a blast- if you ask him what he did yesterday, He'll tell you that he went shopping (in their kid sized grocery store) and drove a tractor.

We got to try some yummy cheese steak for lunch- and I was even able to eat, though I'd been feeling sick for a while... I think I'm better now (knocking on wood, crossing my fingers).

Today we're off to Ikea and to try to find me some dressier (non heeled) shoes for the Baptism. I have no ability to walk in heeled shoes now- none at all, I'm sure I'd end up flat on my face.

Baby it's cold outside

We spent the day around town and in DC yesterday while visiting Uncle Mike! (Matthew's uncle- not mine or Erik's)

We started out by visiting Mike's work site where Matthew has his pick of tractors to "ride", then we headed to the air and space museum, had a pizza lunch and drove to park and ride the Metro- which Matthew was asleep for. We toured around the monuments and had a great dinner and then a very exciting 'train ride' bck- which Matthew was THRILLED about...

hopefully I'll be able to post some pictures of our adventure later in the day, we're off on the next leg of our trip later this morning- Philly!

planning a trip

grandopening, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

AT only 2 hours away- this is one trip I do plan on making this year... it'll be the closest IKEA to us... next closest being wither PA or Georgia...

Free gift tags

check out the hilarious gift tags available for free download at angry chicken.

hilarious- I think my favorite is "I totally wanted to get one of these for myself, so let me know if you don't want it"

Anyone finished with their Christmas shopping yet? I think I'm not. Mostly finished, but not. I have a thing or two to finish up sewing wise too. I'm really looking forward to the fun of Christmas, but I also find myself wishing it were another few weeks away so I'd feel more on top of things.

My sister and I went shopping with my mom this morning for some of our Christmas gifts. I thought it was fun... I mean, all the people were a bit annoying 'cause they were, like, in my way, but the whole shopping for yourself thing is pretty fun. I mean how often does someone take you shopping and say "what do you want? I'll get it for you." Plus then there's the whole fun of having/ getting to wait to use what you picked. And you know you're going to love the gift you open. Now, the fun of being surprised is lost unless you get your shopping done way ahead of time... but there's still the goodness of spending time together that makes it way worth it. I don't know if Lil' sis feels the same way... I think she was a bit annoyed by my "charge in and conquer" shopping attitude, but it was still fun for me. :)