Life, the Universe, and Everything

Rolling

We took the kids roller skating on Monday. I've been wanting to take them for a long time, but I just couldn't figure out how to manage it. I can't teach 2 kids to skate at the same time. And it's not something Rob really is good at. He doesn't have a lot of patience. So I needed help. Monday was a holiday, so we headed over to the skating rink where Naomi and Marisa were skating to enlist the help I needed. Rob came with us mostly for moral support.

We walked into the rink and I was shocked by all the memories that came back. We didn't skate a lot as kids, but we did come to town for it sometimes. Plus, they had evenings for the local schools where they donated half their profits as a fundraiser, so we went to those every month or so. I had completely forgotten how much I enjoyed that as a kid. It was a simpler time in my life. I had a lot of good times at that place. In contrast, Rob had never been skating. I couldn't believe that was possible.

So anyway, we got the kids skates and laced them up. They stood up and promptly fell on their asses. Naomi and Marisa were a big help. After about 2 hours, both kids could manage (for short periods) to stand up and even move around on their own. Even on the rink. Of course, they liked the carpeted area better, because it was easier.

Ally gained some confidence, and Anya took to it really well. Maybe becasue she's younger and has less fear of hurting herself? We all had a good time, and Rob even got a pair of skates and helped me after a while. It didn't take him long to pick it up, and we had a great time. I hope it's soemthing the kids will enjoy enough to continue doing occassionally.

Resolution

We're going to St Louis Children's hospital today. We have an appointment there with a pediatric neurologist. Anya hasn't fallen since Thanksgiving. She's taken no medication, not changed her diet, done nothing measurabley different, and yet, the falling down stopped. It's cyclical. And we still don't have an answeer. And it's is just possible she's started again. If so, it would be great timing, but I really want it to stop. Ha. That's the biggest unnderstatment ever. She fell once last night and for the past couple of days she has looked a little wobbly, off and on.We don't know if we're being paranoid, and she just fell, or if this is the beginning of another cycle.

I hate this. But just maybe we'll talk to someone who can help today

New toys

Look, Look!

 

Look what we got. You know the nice thing about being in debt up to your eyeballs? One more thing doesn't make a whole lot of difference overall. (Plus, we're working on the debt thing. I'm making money selling lia sophia, and Rob's making a paycheck now. I love working fo the state. He took a year off, and came back to work making $4000 a year more than when he left. And gets a promotion in July. So - no lectures necesary.)

Anyway, now we have to get cable. You should have seen the look on the best buy guy's face when they came to deliver it and we told him we didn't have cable. It was quite funny.

Confidence in her sister

I buckled Ally in the car while asking her about her day. She was bursting with excitement when she told that everyone in her class stayed on GREEN! all day! Just as I was about to congratulate her, Anya interrupted.

"Even you?"

I call time-out

Bleh. drove to Robinson and back yesterday for a very long day. It was fun and totally worth it for the lia sophia show I went for, but long drive (2.5 to 3 hours one way). And then today, we had to rush around after work to get both kids, buy a present (nothing like waiting til the last minute), and make it in time for a birthday party - at Chuck-E-Cheese (Do they have those in Austrailia, Carolyn?). Need to relax. Can't find a coherent thought. zzzz...

Snow days

Ally was supposed to start school again on Thursday. Didn't happen. I stayed home with her, and didn't take Anya to day care either. The kids played and had a good ol time doing nothing in particular. I read a book. We were sloth-like for a good protion of the day. I kept thinking that I should do something, but couldn't muster the motivation. I didn't even play much with the kids. They have finally reached the age were the playing together exceeds the fighting it causes. I've been told this only lasts a few years before it starts up again. But for now, I'm enjoying it. (You know what their current favorite toy is? A box. 2 in fact. We bought this ottoman thing for storing all our guitar hero stuff, and the box it came ni has been even more fun than anything we bought them for Christmas. They want to nap in the damn thing. And then they've still got the box from the dog feeder thing we bought in November.)

But I was still ready to go back to work Friday. And it was not to be. It didn't even snow Thursday night. I guess the temp was still bad. I don't know. I'm not used to this. Day cares don't generally have snow days. There is no bus route to worry about.  So I did what any sane person would do. I waited until a decent hour and called my babysitter and put her on retainer. The next time a snow day is imminent, she's going to call me and see if I need her.Did I mention that she lives across the street and 3 houses down? It's awesome.

Wouldn't you know it , though? The weather is too cold for the snow to be useful for snowmen or anything. I hate Illinois. Last year, we didn't get to make a single snowman (I think) I hope this year will be different

They can parrot it back, but they're still not getting it

Anya overheard My step-dad ask someone what she wanted Santa to bring her. And, of course, she had to put her 2 cents in. "You don't ask for what you want, you open it and you say thank you anyway." It's a variation on "you get what you get and you don't throw a fit" And yet? I still had to remind her to tell everyone thank you.

I walked into the bathroom to ask Ally what was taking so long, and before I could ask, I took a breath. And then I knew. That kid can stink up a room! When I mentioned it, she commented about how she probably shouldn't eat her boogers then, huh? And yet? I had to tell her to get her fingers out of her nose 3 times tonight.

When are they goning to go from knowing it to doing it? Arg!

On a Roll

See this? See how I'm posting every day?

I rock, right?

I heard from all of you when I couldn't manage it. "I think it's time for a new post, Katie," but where are you now, huh?

Huh?

Oh. You never bother to check anymore, since I haven't posted for a couple months.

Right.

uh, nevermind.

Jewelry

I'm not sure if I mentioned it, but I'm now a lia sophia Independent Advisor. Fancy, huh? I love the jewelry they have in the catalogs, and holy heel, I couldn't buy everything I wanted, so I had a party and got a bunch free. And then my high-school friend advisor, told me she was didn't have time to do it anymore, and I could buy her out and get all of her  display jewelry and I was like, Hell yeah. There are some pretty things there. So now, I'm making some extra money at it, and it's really cool. I get to get out of the house and talk to adult women. I'm pushing myself into being more out-going, which has always been a problem for me. Plus I get to make money. So hey, win-win. If you're interested, I can sign you up too, and we can make money together. I'll reimburse your start-up costs even.

But really I started this post to talk about Ally. And her almost favorite Christmas present. Marley got her a necklace from Claire's. It's an initial A with pink stones set in it, and she loves it! I've never really let her wear jewelry, but I have no idea why. Oh, wait. I remember. I gave her an anklet this summer, and it took about 5 hours before she had managed to break it. Luckily it was a piece of crap I was going to throw away when I found it buried in the bottom of my jewelry box.

Anyway...

She's been wearing the thing constantly since Dec 19. And it's still going strong. Rob made her take it off before bed the other night, becasue he was worried she'd choke or something. whatever. The next day, she came to me asking to put it back on, and I laughed and said I had forgotten. But she didn't forget. You know why? "My neck feels naked without it." With barely any prompting, she sat down to write a thank you note (in the mail soon-ish). That's how much she loves this necklace.

And when Ruth asked me for ideas for Christmas, it was kind of an after thought. Sometimes you get lucky.

And on it goes...

Anya: The lion thought he was a mean lion, and he was acting like a dog and making dog noises, because he went woff and gwough, but he was weawwy a nice lion, but he didn't have any cawwaige

Ally: Because Because Becuase because BECAAAAAAAUUUUSE

Anya: I do believe in spooks, I do, I do, I do, I do, I do, I do, I do, I do, I do, I do, I do, I do. And then someone pulled the scarecrow apart and his leg was over there and his arm was over there, and his stomach was all over the place, and they had to put him back together so they could go to the witch's castle and save Dorofy.

Ally: NO, Anya! it's follow the yellow brick road, not red road!

Anya: But I don't know the names of those bad witches. Glinda was the good witch. (They just called them the wiked witch of the west and the wiked witch of the east. I don't think they had names - KT) No, those were their names. The wicked with of the est and the wicked witch of the weast.

Ally: Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down...

Oh wait. That's the movie I got her for Christmas. Who knew introducing your kids to your childhood movies would be so much fun?

What's next?  Money, Money, Money by the pound! Who knows that one? mom-you stay out of this

Party food

I had a Christmas party last month, and served some of my favorite appetizers. People asked for the recipe, so I thought I'd post it where everyone can see it. Hi all!

Sausage Stars
1 lb sausage
3 cups shredded co-jack cheese
1 cup Ranch dressing
wonton wrappers

Pre-heat oven to 350.

Filling - Cook and drain sausage. Mix with cheese and ranch.

Wonton cups - Grease mini-muffin pans. Press won tons into pans, being careful not to poke holes in them. Cook wontons about 5 minutes or until light brown. Fill with sausage mix and cook for another 5 minutes. Serve hot.

The hardest part of this recipe is finding the wonton wrappers. They're in the refrigerated produce section, usually around the organic stuff.

Bacon Wrapped Weinies

This isn't my recipe, so uh... get it here

The aftermath

Christmasis finally over here. Yesterady we opened our last round of presents with Rob's dad and step-mom. When both sets of parents are divorced and remarried, Christmas takes more than just a day (or two). I started cleaning up the Christmas decorations Friday, and all that is left is to arrange the totes in the basement where they go and vaccuum the floor.

I'm kind of sad.

This year, I really had the motivation to decorate for some reason. In years past, I always put up a tree, but never really went all out. last year, we got started. 2007 was our final year in our old house. At Christmastime, the house was for sale. We knew we were going to move to a nicer, bigger neighborhood... somewhere, so we hit the after-Christmas sales hard. We bought all kidns of stuff. And did it again last year. So this year, the front of the house was lit up well. According to the kids "Santa [was] sure to visit our house first, because it was so beautiful"

I put a bow on the front door; we had our huge tree lit decorated with a mix of Hallmark and homemade; we had a little tree in the front enteryway (next to the Santa countdown) full of stuffed animals, the archways between rooms were lit up; garland was hung; Rob even got into the spirit and hung the arch lights in the window above the stairway (which required the use of a ladder and 3 extension cords); Rudolf got rewired (so he works); we even had a tree filled with the salt-dough ornaments we made last year. Our house was so Christmas-y that Santa and Mrs Claus even came over to rock out with us.

   

So I'm sad to see Christmas go.

But not the year. I'm really looking forward to this new year. Things have been rough for us in 2009. School kicked all our butts. Rob's and Ally's. Ally has been to see the principal 3 or 4 times already. More about that later, I'm sure. But Rob is finished! He has a degree in nursing, and will take the NCLEX in the near future. He's back at work, and we have our breaks and lunches together again. I would have never believed what a difference that makes. We get all the little detail crap out of the way without the kids interupting and the evenings go smoother. We get some time to talk to each other as adults. As much as I love it, I'm still hoping it will be short-lived. Because he'll be a nurse! And hopefully that means a new job is coming our way with more money to start paying off everything we bought in the last year.

I'm not saying 2009 was all bad, but I'm really looking forward to... moving forward.