Trick-or-Treat or Snowball Fights for Halloween?

Well it looks like the possibility of snow for South Central PA is becoming more of a reality as a storm heads our way!  It's supposed to be here by Saturday morning.  It isn't the first time snow has visited us in October but I honestly can't remember the last time it happened.  My kids are excited for sure!  We have a lot of Halloween and Autumn activities planned for this weekend, including a hay ride on Saturday and trick-or-treating on Halloween and I really hope the snowstorm doesn't ruin our activities.  I'm not worrying too much just yet- plenty of storms that were "certain" to hit us missed us entirely.  Something to do with the valley we live in making weather somewhat unpredictable, I think. 

I like to visit http://wgal.com/ for weather-related news because they have radar, which I'm completely addicted to watching.  I live in the approximate center of the teeny tiny picture below but you can see the giant mass of snow headed my way.  I'm not rushing out to buy my milk, eggs and bread just yet but it looks like this one might get us. 




Happy...Snoween?!!! 

Dear Baby Doll Makers

A letter to the makers/creators of toys:

My boys want dolls.  But my boys want BOY dolls.  They want boy Crib Life dolls and on that note they also want boy Zoobles (although I still think they are way overpriced).  They want boy Squinkies (THANK YOU Squinkies, you're on the right track!!). 

At least my 3 year old boy wants boy versions.  I don't think my 18 month old cares just yet and seems happy playing with pink stuff, though we did pick up a baby dressed in blue just for him.  But all I hear ALL DAY LONG is, "Mommy, mommy, mommy I want a boy Crib Life" and, "Mommy, mommy, mommy I want a boy Zooble!". 

So here's a hint: some boys want boy versions of girl toys.  Think about it please.  And while you're at it, think about a pink nerf gun.  My daughter would totally appreciate it. 

Money or Mama

I was chatting with the kids today and Amara asked for a trampoline after I announced a win (2nd this week- yeah!!).  I told her that trampolines cost a lot more than my prize and that they were too much money, not to mention too big for our yard.  She asked why one of her friends has one.  I had to explain that some people need or choose to work and that some people need or choose to stay home and that we were the latter family.  I told her that if I worked that we could probably afford a trampoline and asked her if she'd rather have more money or more mommy. 

Suddenly my house erupted in a cacophony of kids protesting.  From one end of the house I heard from Zachary, "more mommy!  I want you to be home!!".  From the dining room (our common room) Amara was telling me that daddy would never get her to school on time and telling me how much she wants me to be home.  Jonas was saying, "stay home mommy, I love you." and Henry said, "uv you mama.  Kiss." 

Melt. 

We don't have a lot of money but I'm thinking that we made the right decisions (sort of by choice and sort of by necessity) for our family.  And I wouldn't have it any other way! 

Common Sense, Common Courtesy

I'm a very passive person.  I let people walk all over me, allow people to talk down to me and rarely stand up for myself.  So my outlet for complaint is my head, my blog, friends or Jason.  Today, it's my blog because my head hurts from the smoke, my phone is dead and J's at work.  He'd tell me to suck it up and say something anyway.

If I were working in someone's home I would never consider doing anything that wasn't approved by them- I wouldn't help myself to the kitchen without asking, I wouldn't go into their bedroom without being invited and I certainly never, ever would smoke in someone's house.  If I walked into an obviously smoke-free home I wouldn't even dream of asking to smoke in their house (not that I smoke, but if I did) and I would NEVER throw cigarette butts anywhere but the trash while outside and away from open doors. 

So why, I wonder, would anyone ever come into MY house and do the above without asking?  WHY?????  Why would you bring your disgusting cigarettes into my house and then proceed to smoke them without an invite from me, the freaking homeowner.  Yeah, sure it's in the basement where no one but the grownups go to do laundry but it travels, guys.  I'm sitting in the dining room trying not to puke.  I'm much too passive a person to say anything, just the thought of it makes me sick to my stomach.  About as sick as the cigarette smoke makes me feel. 

I just feel so...so...disrespected.  And headachy.  I'm glad I have somewhere to go tonight- I can air out the house.  And maybe this weekend I'll buy some NO SMOKING signs for the house.  I can deal with passive-agressive. 

When I Grow Up...

I like to imagine what my kids will be like as adults.  What they'll do for a living, whether they will have 1 kid, 5 kids or none, will they stay close to home or move far away...that kind of stuff.  Of course I enjoy them as they are now and don't want it to fly by, I just like to wonder. 
I see Zachary as an engineer on a construction site, helping to create awesome buildings, playing video games and spending time with his wife and 2 kids in his free time.  He will take them out for ice cream often.  I picture Amara as a working mom with 1 child and a stay-at-home husband.  She is an entomologist, teaching at a local college or nature center and creates art in her free time.  She may have a few too many pets.  Jonas will be a police officer- a good guy who makes sure that the streets are safe for kids and families.  Maybe he'll have kids, maybe not.  I can't tell yet.  He'll love playing sports.  Henry...well he is going to drive fast cars and motorcycles and play lots of basketball.  He's still a baby and that's what he loves, haha!

My dreams for Jonas were crushed when we were driving home from school today. 
Me: Jonas, what do you want to be when you grow up?
Jonas: Hmmmm....nothing.
Me: Nothing?  You have to be something when you grow up, like a firefighter or a teacher. 
Jonas: I...waaaant to be....a.... TREE! 
Me: A tree?  Like those?  (I point to a line of trees)
Henry: Mama, Jonas ook!  Teeee!
Jonas: Yes!!  A tree like that. 
Me: You know, if you grow up to be a tree you will have to learn to not walk or talk.  Trees can't move and they can't say anything. 
Jonas: Trees don't talk?  They don't walk or talk?  Maybe not.  Maybe I won't be a tree.
Me: That's probably a good idea.  So what else would you like to be?
Jonas: Mommy, are you going the speed limit?  You didn't stop at the stop sign. (Hence the police officer career assigned to him)Henry: Mama, mama!  Ook ook.  Baketball!!  Cycle, vroom vroom!  (He doesn't miss a basketball net or court, or the motorcycles)

Me: Jonas, I didn't need to stop at that sign, it was for the other way.  And yes, I am going the speed limit.
Jonas: Okay.  You have one more chance.     

Orville Redenbacher's Lime + Salt Popcorn

I was grocery shopping at Giant yesterday and made my regular popcorn stop.  My kids love popcorn and my 3 year old loves to make it for everyone.  Who am I to argue with one less snack to make?  I am somewhat familiar with my available options and usually select the cheapest.  If two are priced the same I select the one that looks the best at the time.  Besides Jolly Time's Kettle Corn they all taste pretty much the same to me. 
But yesterday I saw something different- maybe the color describing what kind of popcorn it was?  I was looking specifically for a popcorn that would get me my 100 points towards gas and this box was one of them.  Lime + Salt.  New?  I like lime in my salty food so this was a no brainer.  Plus it says "No Artificial Ingredients".  Huh...I'll look into that some more later.  I'm a big fan of healthy foods and try lean more toward the "healthy" processed stuff.  Tossed it into my cart, along with a regular flavor just in case this experiment turned out to be awful. 
Fast forward to today, when I decided to give it a test.  The smell?  YUM.  The flavor?  It's actually very mild but I like it!  It's enough flavor that I don't need any "butter" which is pretty cool.  I won't knock anyone down to grab it but if it stays on the shelves I'll pick it up from time to time. 
How does it measure up to Orville's Movie Theater Butter?  Did you know they add color to buttered popcorn?  Ummm...why?  The Lime+Salt actually has 20 more calories per serving.  Fat is the same, Saturated Fat is better for L+S.  The other noticeable differences are more sodium in L+S and way more Potassium in the Movie Theater Butter. 

Jonas Loves Reading

If your kid isn't 3-ish, you don't care what a 3 year old is reading, or you'd rather see what a 10 year old is reading then you can check out Zachary Loves Reading or stay tuned for what my 6 year old daughter loves to read. 

We love books and maybe we have just a few too many in our storage-unfriendly house.  Yet we still go to the library and take out MORE books.  I'm still not sure a Kindle will ever take the place of a real book.  Kids (or maybe just my kids) don't seem to notice the difference between a computer, video game or electronic device of any sort.  I hate to think that they think I'm playing games when I'm really reading.  I want them to love reading and it seems that only a book could really do that. 

On a recent trip Jonas (3 1/2 years old) choose two books to check out.  He is so cute with his seriousness when it's time to chekout our books.  He insists that he hold his card himself and he will patiently and calmly stand in line.  If you know anything about Jo this statement above would make you crack up, or at the very least you would smother a laugh.
I didn't write down the titles or authors of these books.  1 wasn't the least bit memorable- a lesson we learn frequently, but don't get upset over since the library is FREE!  The other he absolutely LOVED.  After I read it to him a few times he read it back to me.  Then he read it to big sis Amara and little brother Henry.  Over and over.  Fortunately it was a good book and they didn't mind.   

It was called "I Feel a Foot!" 
 
and is about some animal friends sleeping in the woods.  They wake up after Turtle hears a sound and go off to investigate.  They all are trying to figure out what it is they have found in the dark and all have their own ideas.  It's fun, colorful, creative and easy to read.  It's not long so kids won't get bored.  Important for jumpy, active children!  Jonas and I definitely recommend this book. 

Another one of Jo's abso. favorite books is called "Dinosaurs Love Underpants". 

We have read this book into destruction- I seriously need to re-staple all the pages back together and tape some tears.  I'm not sure he'll ever tire of it.  When you first open the book there are a whole bunch of pairs of underpants and each time we read it we choose our favorite pair.  The story has a lot of rhyming words and is about how cavemen were tired of not having clothes so they made underwear.  The dinosaurs loved them so much that they took them and started fighting over them until they were all destroyed (how did you think dinosaurs became extinct???).  Totally fun for dino lovers but if you hope this book will help your potty-hating child then you might be disappointed.  It was why I got the book in the first place- "Hey Jo, these dinosaurs love underpants so much so don't you want to wear them all the time too?"  Nope- didn't happen.  But it's a great book and lots of fun to read again and again.  

We also read "Where the Wild Things Are" a few times but I wasn't that impressed. 

I thought it would be a totally awesome book but maybe I'm just missing something?  Jonas enjoyed it quite a bit though. 
On the subject of Maurice Sendak, I came across a book once in a grocery store called "Last Night I Dreamed a Circus"


which I bought without even opening (which I've never done).  Just reading the title inspired me to purchase the book for my daughter, who used to wake up and tell me about some insane dreams that she would have.  The stories were fascinating!  I wasn't disappointed and this book absolutely reminded me of her dreams.  This book comes Maurice Sendak- recommended.


What's on your 3 year old childs must-read list?  What were your favorite books as a child? 

Vent, Rant, a Little Bit of Whine

It's almost the end of the summer...and what awesome adventures have we gone on?  None.  Why?  Well I can't get ANYTHING done.  Nothing.  EVER.  Half way into any chore I get sidetracked by kid A fighting kid B or kid C taking kid A's toys.  Then I give up and we don't get to go have fun.  And this happens every. single. day. 
Ugh.  I'm in such a rut and today started off worse than normal.  Usually I wake up earlier than everyone because I need time to wake up or I'm a monster, and it's the only time I'm awake alone.  And I can maybe get 1 of my 7 loads of needed laundry done.  But today I fell back to sleep because my alarm went off in the middle of a dream (don't you hate that?).  When I woke up I was completely bombarded by my older two.  My oldest is 10 and has ADHD and he won't ever be quiet.  It's "quack quack screeeeeeeeech mommy mommy mommy mommmy guess what guess what I can [blah blah blah] AHHHHH quack reeee eeeeeeeeee!"  How anyone could handle that the instant they wake up is beyond me, and I'm a terrible example of a patient and tolerant person.  My 6 year old daughter LOVES to tattle and loves to scream at the top of her lungs if her older brother makes her mad.  All the parenting books in the world haven't solved that one yet.  It's only 9:30 and I'm already ready to throw in the towel and give up for the day.  1 isn't even awake yet!  
To top it off, it's raining.  Which normally isn't so bad- we play in the rain often.  But there's some pouring involved.  I can't coordinate rainy-day activities because I can't even find a place to coordinate them.  Nowhere is safe from the mess of kids.  With the age ranges of 1-10 we have play spaces in every nook and cranny (of which there aren't many- my house is a rectangle with no closets to hide clutter on the first floor- the living spaces) so there are toys and things everywhere.
My house is a mess (and when people say their house is a mess and there's like 2 things on their counters, maybe a blanket askew, a throw pillow fell on the floor and they might need to run the vacuum over the carpet once I hate them- I want to say "come see my house and tell me that your house is a "wreck").  My house is a real, live, serious mess and I can't even clean it because I'm playing ref to my team constantly.  I can only sit here and wonder when I'll ever be able to clean it.  And organized...well that might never happen.  And boy oh boy would I just love it if my kids would clean up after themselves once, without me having to hunt them down and force them to do it.  So I'm constantly at war with my kids and house and always losing the fight. 


I know some of this is my fault.  I know there are things I could do and steps I could take to prevent these things from happening as often as they do.  It doesn't help I have some sort of issue with being tired all the time.  And not "mom tired".  I am purely exhausted throughout the day, regardless of what I eat or what I'm doing.  At around 6 I hit a wall and almost completely crash.  It takes everything in my power to keep myself going for the next 4-5 hours.  Being this tired does nothing for my stress levels and ability to handle craziness AND being the head of house.  Where's hubby?  He's at work from about 8:30-9pm so I'm going it alone most of the time.  If you read my blog regularly you know that he is on a quest to lose some weight.  He stays after work to workout at the office building's gym.  One day he's going to have to quit and start somewhere that we can all go so that I can get these kids out of the house and give myself some peace.

I just need to vent.  To hear that others might be going through something similar (stories please).  Some SOLUTIONS!                  

Grandparents

I got to spend a lot of time with my grandpa and grandma when I was growing up.  We lost my grandfather many years ago and the other day I was talking about a book that reminded me of him.  The book is called "Could Be Worse" (look it up- it's a great book).  My perspective might not be what he really was, or how he really was but I was a young girl who got to hang out with my grandparents regularly and in my mind it was special every time.  I'm glad I only remember the good parts, or maybe there never were bad parts.  I wonder if my mom's story about my time with them when I was little would be different.  This is about memories and grandparents- the ones we have and are grateful for, and the ones we wish were never lost.   

Grandpa and Grandma Knaub:  My mom's dad was the silent type.  Ask him a question and by the time he answered you were pretty sure that he either never heard you or had decided not to answer.  This was just how he was, or how I remember him.  I would spend the night many Friday nights.  I don't recall a lot of discussion for our Friday night schedule, it was just how it was.  At 8pm my grandma or I would turn on the tv and put on the channel that showed TGIF.  We loved watching Full House, Step By Step, Family Matters and whatever other shows entertained us from 8-10pm.  Then it was "bed time".  This ritual included story time.  My grandma would sometimes tell me this story about a legend- a talking fox in Japan.  I don't recall the story but remember it was a little scary (but I also really enjoyed it).  We (and sometimes just I) would read Grimm's Fairy Tales.  I loved those stories.  If I remember correctly, this was when it was Grandpa's time to shine.  Grandma would go to bed and he would silently get out the table, the checkers board and pieces and set up our checkers game.  We would play and chat.  I don't remember who won and it didn't matter. 
In the morning I would wake to the smell of cinnamon pancakes.  They were perfect every time.  My grandma used a simple recipe- I think it's just flour, milk and egg, like a crepe.  Then she buttered it and sprinkled on cinnamon and sugar.  I've made it for my kids and some of them like it.  It's still one of my favorite things to eat.  That and my mom's creamed eggs are two of my favorite comfort breakfast foods. 
I also remember some other things from my time there.  I used to love, love, love sitting down in the basement on a stool playing on the typewriter, listening to the "how dry I am" dog and pretending that the bar was my office.  I loved pushing the very old stroller around the "scary" part of the basement, though it was never so scary when my grandpa was in the workshop that was in the same room.  The giant pine tree in the backyard was my secret hideout.  I bet I was real sneaky with my bright pink outfits hiding in that sparse growth.  The house behind theirs, beyond the bushes and down the little hill (which looked big when I was little) was certainly occupied by a witch.  To my family- you probably know and love many of the things I'm talking about!  If not, ask someone about them.  My grandfather died from a heart attack years ago.  Hopefully my grandma will be around for many years to come.  My mom had me when she was 29, I think.  Once I asked my grandma how old she was and she said, "26".  I'm happy to keep it that way :)

Grandpa and Grandma Klineyoung: Because of some circumstances beyond our control I wasn't able to spend as much time with my dad's parents.  Though I loved them both I was closer to my grandfather, perhaps because I didn't grow up with my dad and he was a good figure to look up to.  Even as an adult I felt like a kid whenever I saw him.  Not like I felt I was being treated like a kid, but like I wanted him to play ball with me or something.  I was glad I got a few years of visits and time with them after I had kids.  I remember when they had crabs for dinner (or lunch).  I was TERRIFIED.  I was maybe 6 and was sure these grotesque things were going to eat me.  I still won't eat crabs.  I remember spending time with my cousins.  I don't recall much of the house but as an adult I am in love with the style of house in which they lived, so it must have had an impact on me.  We lost them both recently, only a few years ago and I am reminded that time here is short; time with the people you love, doing the things you love, is limited.

My kids are lucky.  They have their Obasan (my mom- grandma in Japanese...and I hope I spelled that correctly because I'm not spell-checking), Grandma and Grandpa Weaver (Jason's dad and step-mom), Nana (Jason's mom), Grandpa Ron (my dad- he calls himself Papa Ron, they call him grandpa), Japanese Grandma (my mom's mom) and also their great-grandparents Abuelo and Abuela (Jason's step-mom's parents) and Mom Mom and Pop Pop (Jason's grandparents).  They have a unique and special relationship with all of them and I hope that continues for years to come.  I hope they can grow up with fond memories with all of them.  As it is, I'm sure they will!                    

Zachary Loves Reading

My kids and I love to read.  Here are a few of 10 year old Zachary's favorite books and current reading material.  These are actually fun to read with the whole family and reading with your kids is a great way to spend a lazy day.  When reading is fun kids will want to do it and these books fit the bill of encouraging reading. 

Zachary has been enjoying The Magic Tree House series for 2 or 3 years now. 



He has over 20 of them (but isn't even close to completing the collection of over 60 books)!  The Magic Tree House series is by Mary Pope Osbourne and is about two children, Jack and Annie, who go on adventures back in time after discovering a magic tree house full of books.  These two are great role models for kids, with their brains and kindness.  There are some factual events (history lessons!) and mythical exploration as well.  New to me, there is also a kind of spin-off series by the author titled The Merlin Missions, beginning with Christmas in Camelot), so that older kids can continue their journey with Jack and Annie while still being challenged in reading. 






He is also reading the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series by Jeff Kinney. 



There are currently 5 books in the series, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Roderick Rules, The Last Straw, Dog Days, The Ugly Truth, plus the Diary of a Wimpy Kid Do-It-Yourself Book which is a fun journal for kids.  A 6th book in the series will be coming out in the fall of 2011: Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever.  
Diary of a Wimpy Kid is about middle-schooler Greg Heffley's.  His mother buys and forces him to keep a diary- we get to enjoy his daily (and realistic pre-teen) life, from mean big brother Roderick to his annoying little brother Manny, bullies and other growing up challenges. 






I'll be sharing the other kids' favorites soon.  What are your kids reading?