Amazon and Mockingjay

Please someone tell me that I am not the only person in the world that has trouble distinguishing "home." Every time we pack up to head to MN I think to myself, "I am going home." But then when we pack up and head back, I think "I am going home." Apparently I have two homes. 

My love for Amazon has no bounds. We have all been in the midst of a cold. It slowly made it's way through the ranks. Then just as we were pretty recovered, with only touch of acute bronchitis left in two of us, BAM! Another hit. Now everyone is pretty recovered from that except me. I am currently without sense of smell or taste. Super fun. 

But anyway, Amazon. We needed new accessories for our Baby Comfy Nose. (Which I like so much more than nosefrida because you can clean it so much easier and it is just a better angle for wiggly babies.) But we were headed to MN so I just one day shipped to me there. No big deal. 

But on the way I realized we left C's potty seat at home. Now, it's not essential to the process but it does make it easier. Plus we are going to be there in December. And April. And M hasn't potty trained yet. And probably at some point my brothers will get married and have kids and they will potty train. It was probably okay for my parents to just have one at their house. And they are available on Amazon Prime Now. 

Life changer my friends. I ordered the potty seat and some lotion (that I was legitimately going to go to Walgreens for anyway) and some stacking cups to kick me over the $20 minimum. Then I got a notification that Safiya was on my way with my order. I got a tracking dot, and watched her make her way towards my location. One hour and fifteen minutes later, my delivery arrived. 

All of the feels. I already loved Amazon but this was fun on a whole new level. It is a good thing I don't live there because I could see it being addicting. The prices on the items were the exact same prices they would have been on "normal" Amazon. (Some things are well priced, some are not.) There was no additional delivery fee other than an optional tip to the driver. Drivers cannot accept cash and you have the potential to change the tip amount for 2 days after the delivery. In case, you know, the driver was exceptionally great or horrible.

But it was a relief to have a potty seat for the long weekend, and one to just leave there so I never have to worry about it again. It also cracked me up, that as we were waiting for my Prime Now package, my Prime 1-Day showed up. My parents didn't get any packages but I got two in the span of an hour. 

So Thanksgiving was just fine. Low key and whatever. 

Friday night, Husband and I went on a date. An actual date! No kids and something fun! We went to see Mockingjay part 2 at the fancy, all leather reclining seat theater. Oh my. If those were an option I would only ever see a movie in those seats. The theater was packed and because of the half walls and the reclining it was like we were the only people there. 

The movie itself was pretty good. I should have gone in with the fact it was essentially going to be a war movie in my head. I don't usually like big action movies. So I was really nervous. I found myself talking myself through parts of it. "There is going to be tar soon." "There are going to be mutts. Because this movie is also shown in 3D it will leap out at me." (This 3D movie trend can end anytime now. I don't like seeing 3D and it just seems excessive when you watch it normal.) 

I overall liked it. There were things that were different from the books. Joanna and Katniss training quite hard to be able to go to war didn't happen. Which is a shame, because Joanna is such a great character and Jenna Malone really is excellent. It was the most disappointing part of the whole movie really. 

The journey through the Capitol was intense, exhilarating and sad, which is kind of exactly how I felt reading the book so kudos to them. The books were all written with so much Katniss and her internal monologues, that obviously they couldn't do that well in movie format but I thought the love triangle was done just fine. In the book she says that she doesn't need the fire and anger that Gale brings her, but she needs the person she is when she is with Peeta. The movie couldn't completely come out and say that of course, but it matters not because they show that. 

We had a good time. 

So we can sum up my Thanksgiving weekend with: 

1. Amazon Prime and Prime Now = Good.
2. Mockingjay 2 in leather reclining theater seats = Good.
3. Colds that lose you the ability to smell and taste = Not Good. 

Happy Monday everyone. 

A Week in My Life: Sunday

Well I made it. A whole week about my life. Almost. Thursday is was my downfall. But never mind.

Today can be summed up with two things:

1. The Packers beat the Vikings. Boo. I like it best when the Vikings win and the Packers lose, so losing to the Packers is a double sting. 
2. My fantasy football team DID win however so I will at least stay a contender for the playoffs. Yay!

Have a great start to the week!

A Week in My Life: Saturday

It was a snow day! Or it would have been if it wasn't Saturday. But it was still a home snow day. My day started early, much earlier than my normal Saturday which is usually my day to sleep in. But I heard the troops on the 3 season porch gearing up for outside and I didn't want to miss it.

I got downstairs just in time to see M sobbing on the porch because the boys had left her inside. Really, Husband was just trying to shovel the steps and some of the sidewalk before getting her and she got to go out soon. But it was still snowing. The wind was whipping. It was cold. She put in maybe five minutes before she quit. The boys lasted a little longer.

After everyone was inside and warm... I went back to bed. Well first I snuggled M and got her down for her morning rest and then I went back to bed. Sleep is my love language.

When I rejoined the group, I talked down my crankypants C from his "NO!" phase. He opted for a PBJ lunch and it only took a little convincing for him to actually eat it. He did not take a nap yesterday. We paid the price today.

After he was down for a rest I headed out to shovel. Let's just sum it up by saying #alliwantforchristmasisasnowblower 5-9 inches of wet heavy snow and boy am I feeling it. Husband joined me after M went down for her afternoon rest and we tag teamed the rest of our parking area and the front steps and sidewalk.

We shoveled into the alley, because right behind our house the alley turns into a hill and if it gets icy it's pretty hazardous. When we were out front on the sidewalk, I shoveled half of our neighbor's sidewalk because it's always good to put into the bank of snow karma. As we came back around the house they were just plowing our alley.

Well we headed right back there to get the windrow of snow that was left at the bottom of our parking area. Best to get those before they freeze into ice chunks. The driver of the truck did a really good job, making several passes, especially on the hill. He was smiley and waved to us and we waved back. We were just thrilled we could get rid of the snow right away and that we had minimized the amount earlier. But the driver came through again and took a giant bit of the windrow with him. He absolutely needn't have done that but we are SO glad that he did.

I wrote an email to the city with his truck number commending him. It is so nice that he took the time to do his job well, and even going above and beyond his duty to be friendly and help us out.

Post-nap time the boys went back outside. But it had gotten colder, and the really good snowman snow turned not so good. Kind of a bummer. But they fashioned a snowman as best they could. Snow angels and playing in the little house made for more fun and then my little guy was cold and had enough. He had a cold relapse and when he's well I imagine he will spend all day out there, but today, short spurts were enough.

Besides the delicious chicken Parmesan we had for dinner, this basically sums up our day. So that is our Saturday. :) 

A Week in My Life: Friday (with a Thursday Recap) in 7QT

Coming back at you from Friday night for another edition of A Week in My Life 2015 in 7QT Style. Okay, so I skipped Thursday. Let's just go back quick here and let take number one be all about Thursday.

one. Let's do Thursday in Haiku. Yes?

Thanksgiving Party.

Both kids to Walgreens for milk. 

T'was crazy windy. 

two. So now that we've covered yesterday let's move on to today! Husband took the day off so I got to sleep in a little! Holla!

three. C and I went to art class today. I am really bad at taking pictures in the moment but here are some of the projects that we did today. 

A Native American hat. A turkey dinner with mashed potatoes. A turkey hand print. We never got around to the leaf wreath. We spent a great deal of time at the play-dough table and the sensory table. It was candy corn this week. We also got to make pilgrim hat snacks using fudge stripe cookies, a mini Reese's Peanut Butter Cup, frosting and a M&M. 

It was super cute, as he was leaving, he told me that "Mason would like an apple." So he brought his friends an apple each and he did really like to pass them out at the end of class. He is a really thoughtful kid. Bonus: no tears this week!! 

four. A super duper snow storm is happening to us right now, so after art Husband and C went to the grocery store to stock us up with everything. He loves his weekly trip to the store with Daddy and I love that they won't have to go anywhere tomorrow. 

five. In good news for Husband, one of his employees resigned today. This person was in a disciplinary process and the resignation is a big sigh of relief for him. The attitude of his department is going to vastly improve that's for sure!! 

six. I gathered all the snow supplies for the outdoor fun that is sure to happen tomorrow. One of the things C made sure to get at the store was carrot sticks for a snowman nose. 

seven. And just one more to let you in on today: here's the snow. 

Happy Friday!! 

A Week in My Life: Wednesday

Today was light years better than yesterday. 

We started our day by oversleeping but it was kind of a non-issue since Husband is salary and can be late a little every now and then. All told he was probably only like 25 minutes late. 

We had a play date this morning which was all around lovely. The boys played. The girls napped and then played. The moms talked. It was the perfect play date. We need those sometimes. 

Lunch rolled around and I just couldn't face the PBJ train that we've been on so I made banana chocolate chip pancakes for lunch. They were good. 

She liked them. 

So did he. 

We also got excellent mail today. Our advent candle holder. I can't really call it a wreath since it's not but I am so excited. I have been searching for years for a decent one that spoke to me and then I found this one on Etsy. It shipped fast and looks great. I am very excited for Advent to start. 

All told, it was a pretty darn good day. 

Linking up again with Kathryn and the Team Whitaker for her Week In my Life Series.

Week in My Life: Tuesday

Standard art because though there are many positives to be said for the Chromebook, unzipping a file is not one.

There is an episode of Grey's Anatomy, where Derek Shepard, is faced with an impossible tumor. All the other doctors believe, as he did initially, that in order to remove it he would have to clip the cord and paralyze the patient. The patient, Issac, is a well loved hospital employee and he is very wise. (Or well written. Potato potato.) 

He tells Derek to "Go home, sleep on it. We'll talk more tomorrow." 

And that pretty much sums up my day. 

It poured. C went to school and learned about the letter O. M cried for two hours straight. I thought I was losing my mind from the crying.  And that's about how today went. 

After bedtime, when I was supposed to be cleaning the house for our play date tomorrow, I popped online for a few minutes. M's Godmother had posted an article about this artist, Emma Lindström.  She does these marble like paintings and for real if someone has $3000 they want to spend on some art for my house, I'll take Yuga because I love it. 

This painting speaks to my soul today. It's a beach. It's mica. It's happiness. It's heaven. It's fascinating. I cannot stop looking at this and gleaming some other new insight. It feels like how today felt. Full of promise.

"Go home, sleep on it. We'll talk more tomorrow." 

Week In My Life 2015: Monday

Hello all you friends and visitors. It is a Week in My Life 2015 hosted by Kathryn at Team Whitaker. Do you read her blog? Because you should. She is a party planner extraordinaire and she just got back from Chicago in which she did almost every single thing I would do on a Chicago weekend. What I am saying is that you're missing out if you're not reading her posts. 

Anyhoo, she is hosting this link up for a Week in My Life. You post a little bit about your life every day for a week. 

Today was about as normal Monday as it gets. It was raining so outside was not an option. Also M has been still getting over the cold and I think crazy teething so she has been extra snuggly. As is immediately coming out of her high chair after breakfast all she wanted to do was snuggle until morning nap. Which was kinda nice. 

The highlights of today include: 

• C got his National Geographic Kids Magazine. This issue was seemingly written for him. An identify the type of penguins including the Chinstrap penguin, Snow Leopards, Bats and even a Wild Kratts advertising. 
• M said "Hi Mama." She usually only says Dada even though she's perfectly capable of saying "Mama" so when she says hi just to me, I melt just a little. A lot actually. 
• Husband called with the news that he has more vacation time than he thought which means both our Thanksgiving and Christmas can start a day earlier. I am pretty excited!! 

So happy Monday everybody!

7QT

one. This kid. 

Oh how he makes me grow as a person. Everything he does is my learning curve too. I can only worry about so much before I become completely overwhelmed and feel like a failure. Then I step back and remember that: 

1. He is his own person. Comparing him to others steals both of our joy. 
2. Because he is his own person, every emotion and reaction is not a direct reflection on me and my parenting ability. 
3. What he really needs is for me to love him. Even when I am frustrated, love has to come first. 

I just need to remind myself occasionally. (Okay, frequently.) I think I am in the camp of age 3 is harder than age 2. Because 3 is kicking my butt. 

two. We had our quality time art class today. It was good. Until the end. There were tears again but not nearly so dramatic as last week. So I guess, at art class, my kid is just going to be the crying kid. We are a work in progress. 

It was because of this water table he was so upset to leave. It's always a sensory activity. Last week: water beads. This week: popcorn. Next week: I'm not sure but I bet you he's going to love it. 

I am glad he was having fun however. I am very glad for that. 

three. He also needs a haircut this weekend. 

four. M had to wear a hat outside today because it's cold and crazy windy. 

Her hair as a result was making me laugh. 

five. She does not need a haircut. It's going to be a long time before that's a concern of mine. 

six. I got my holiday scents from Scentsy. I know I haven't posted about it at all since last year but I am totally in love with Scentsy. I should probably just sign up just so that I get commission on my own orders. I am only half joking about that too. 

seven. 

Even though this morning did not go the way I wanted it to, I am going to be grateful for it. I am going to smile, make a lasagna for my family and focus on the good stuff. 

Theme Thursday: Close Up

Hey guess what? It's Thursday. 

Since apparently the sub-theme this week is throwback I am going to go with a throwback close-up picture. Because, gosh darn it, I just didn't take any pictures this week. 

Well, okay, technically I took a picture on Tuesday but it was of an X-ray craft for our sick day. That is boring and does not count. So while we are all getting over this cold that has slowly made it's way through the ranks, (I think we're on the happier side of things now but cross your fingers because I went ahead and typed that in.) no pictures were taken because sad, red eyes and runny noses are real life but not exactly close-up photo worthy. 

So anyway. Back to Theme Thursday. Picture it: 90 degrees, hazy and humid day in June. Father's Day. And I decided that we are going to go do a photo shoot at a new to us park. Good thing I did because I love the results of those pictures. 

Okay. Happy Thursday! Link up your close-ups with Micaela because I love having pictures to look at on Thursday. I have high hopes that I can get a decent group picture for next week. 

In The News

It's time for another "new stories Madeline wants to comment on" post. Okay. 

• Starbucks Cups. Besides the media and Donald Trump, have you actually encountered anyone even remotely upset that the cup is red? Asking for a friend. 

• This Target OCD Christmas shirt. Let's go back to the Starbucks cup thing. Why are we all making up these "offenses?" I still haven't heard anyone but the media decide they're outraged. I mean really, let's get outraged about something that matters. 

• Adult Coloring Books. I am pro-adult coloring books. I colored a coloring sheet every day in grad school so I totally buy the "stress relief" thing. I want one. 

• Everyone is all like Star Wars! I'm over here like, "The trailer for My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 has been released!" I'm pretty excited. And I've still never *cough* seen the Star Wars movies in entirety. I saw a part where the one guy is getting smushed in a garbage compacter and then there's those creepy Teddy Bears. That's my knowledge of those movies. 

• We only got the Packers/North Carolina game on Sunday. I am decidedly anti-Packers. But I will try and push aside my feelings for a minute. While they did have a pretty bad game, especially from a team that by all accounts is pretty darn good, that does not excuse their sideline behavior. Get it together boys. And Mr. Rodgers, I am sure that you didn't mean to break the Surface, and I actually would have been just as frustrated, but remember that the cameras go where ever you go. Pro tip for you. 

• In Politics... what the heck? The caucus is in 81 days and I don't see a front runner in either party. I will say there's something intriguing about the idea that a person wouldn't need to take money from anyone to run for President and then to be President. But I am pretty sure that doesn't make Donald a reasonable option.

• I am decidedly pro Veterans! Happy Veterans Day to those who have served and are currently serving! 

Have a lovely Wednesday friends. 

Ramblings

The past few days have kept me on my toes. We (C mostly, M now and me just a smidgen.) got a cold. Nothing major, just runny noses that turns into a cough. Fluids and rest have been quite sufficient, but you know kids and illness aren't always a recipe for fun. But the snuggles have been awesome!

I kept C home from school today because my mom said to me last night "Would you want them to send their kids to your house if they were like him?" He is right on the fence of well but I figured play it safe. So we did letter X just the two of us while M napped. I got a run down on what they did at school today so we could follow suit a little.

It really shouldn't have surprised me but M is struggling in the transition to a sippy cup. This is the same girl who all but refused a bottle until she was 7 months old. Then only one specific brand. So really, this anti cup thing isn't so much a shock as it is a pain. Of course the brands of cups we had in the house weren't to her liking so I got two other brands and one may possibly be a contender. I would have her go cold turkey off the bottle and just have to use the cups but she's sick and I just want her to have plenty of fluids.

It's hilarious to me though that when I google this, there are a lot of princesses out there who have likes and dislikes when it comes to sippy cups and there isn't a magic cup that works for everyone. At least I feel secure in the knowledge that I am trying to get rid of the bottle and my cupboard isn't the only one that looks like an aisle at Babies R Us.

In some sort of psychic moment, on Saturday when I manufactured the grocery list with Husband I asked for everything to be something I could prep the night before or something for the crockpot. It's been a huge relief to not be worried about dinner every night and yet we are still eating extremely well. I am not a "share all the meal plan" kind of girl but this week we have had and are anticipating:

Saturday: Rotisserie Chicken* 

Sunday: Crock pot roast and potatoes

Monday: Chili

Tuesday: Chicken Tacos

Wednesday: Egg Bake

Thursday: Lasagna

Friday: Homemade Pizza

(*Also made into soup and chicken noodle casserole that we froze for next week.)

Snazzy! This past weekend we also bagged up a solid portion of our leaves. The mature trees in our neighborhood are gorgeous but man does bagging leaves suck. We put out 9 bags this week, which isn't so bad. Hopefully the rest of the leaves left on our tree will drop this week so next weekend we can be done! I also told Husband that we are going to build our next house and plant only coniferous trees. 

He thinks I'm kidding. 

Have a great Tuesday!

QT: 7

one. After 2 weeks off school, busy as they were, this week got the best of me. So please join me on a recap of the past week. 

two. Halloween was good. It stopped raining just in time for Dinosaurs to enjoy trick-or-treating. We got some trick-or-treaters at our house. All in all it was a major win!

three. Monday we had our one year well check for M and C tagged along for his flu shot. C became the first kid in history to thank the nurse for a shot. "Thank you for making me healthy. Thank you for my bam-baid." It was the longest appointment in history because our pediatrician, who is our actual in real life friend, had a Nurse Practitioner student working with her. So it took double the time needed. Plus we had to stop at the lab for a finger prick blood test for M. But all is well. Everyone is healthy and on track, 

four. Tuesday and Thursday we hosted school for the letter E. It kicked my butt. The break was great but getting back to routine was hard for them and they were exceptionally wiggly and unable to focus. C's highlight was hatching penguin eggs. (Penguin figurines put in balloon, filled with water, frozen, balloon peeled off = eggs) 

We did this super cute envelope craft but it wasn't a hit. Thursday went better than Tuesday but the highlight of both days was playing in the yard. It didn't rain and was in the 70s so outside we went!! 

five. Also on Tuesday was E for Election day. C went with me to vote. He liked it and we talked about how important it is. He especially liked his sticker. As a bonus, we got ourselves a new mayor which is great news! (To me.) 

six. furthering the NP being not so stellar* she looked in M's mouth and said "I think it's going to be a long while before she gets anymore teeth." Boom: M's top front left tooth emerged yesterday. *I know that it was a coincidence and not all babies get red or swollen gums but it was the cherry on top to my not impressed face with her. Luckily, she is not my regular. 

seven. Today we had our first art class. It's billed as a quality time class. The teacher, Miss Erin, sets up different craft stations and the kids rotate. C did really well until it was time to leave and then he had an epic meltdown. Boo. Well we have 5 more classes this session and 6 more of the next session to get acclimated to the whole thing. 

The weird part was he was surprising me with how into the crafts he was. He's usually not a craft guy. He also doesn't usually melt down quite like that, sometimes he lets out a good "No! Not time to go home." But then, get's over it. Not today. I felt like mother of the year as every other kid was silent and watching. Poor us. Life is hard. 

Oh hey, that was seven. It's November, can you believe it?! Have a great weekend. 

Theme Thursday: Catchlights

Holy Smokes you guys. It's Thursday. I am in utter disbelief. I mean, it makes perfect sense that it is Thursday. We had school today. At my house. But somehow the dots did not connect in my head so I need to catch up.

It's Thursday. Theme Thursday. Catchlights. On it.

We tried to do a photo shoot for M this past weekend. You know for a brilliant 1 year old picture. But she has transitioned into "hard to photograph." She would rather be climbing and jumping and not sitting. Anything but sitting and smiling simultaneously. What were we thinking?!

But apparently 3.5 is the age where they come back around to the possibility of posing. So we took some of C. I present to you: Catchlights.

Now for the elusive picture of both kids at the same time!! At least I have two weeks before Groups is the theme. Gives me time for plenty of outtakes. 

Link 'em up with Micaela. It's fun.