We are moving!!!

Ok, not to a new house. But the blog is moving to notthebossame.blogspot.com I have always hated that our blog address doesn't include Addy. So we are moving to my girls' favorite saying "You're not the boss 'a me!" (Shortened to "Notthebossame")

See you there!

Our Livingroom Idols

Here are Hayley & Addy competing for this year's Allen Livingroom Idol. ;)

We are home!

We got home on Saturday and then today got a clean bill of health from the pediatrician.

Here is her smiling face for some reassurance. (Notice the Thomas jammies. She LOVES her Thomas!!!)

Prayers for Addy

We are in the hospital night #2 with Addy. She has RSV and is having a hard time keeping her oxygen levels above 90% while she is sleeping.

So, please pray that she does well tonight so we can go home tomorrow.

Christmas Pageant

On Wednesday night the kids were rehearsing for the pageant. I heard this beautiful little voice singing, looked up to realize it was Sydney.

Today the weather has been horrible. Winds, blowing snow, we got stuck in our driveway trying to pull out to go to the pageant (I was able to rock out of it), but it was all worth it! There is something about hearing the story from the mouths of these sweet children that is just magical.

So here is Sydney singing about seeing the star.

Knight or Night???

When we were home for Thanksgiving my mom took Sydney, Hayley, and me to see a local production of Amal and the Night Visitors. It's a great Christmas story of the 3 Wise Men who stop at the home of a Widow and her son, Amal.

Well, the girls have been practicing for their Christmas Pageant at church and Hayley informs me that she is going to be Knight. I figured maybe there was some special production going on or something until she said, "Remember. Like the knights in Amal." ;)

NIGHT visitors, but Hayley in her world of princesses and queens and kings, she thought they were KNIGHT visitors.

At what point ??

At what point do kids recognize themselves in pictures or the mirror? Addy just looked at the picture below of her and Sydney and said, "Baby has my telephone!"

No matter how many times I remind her that that is HER, she still says baby. In the Halloween pictures, I pointed to Syd, she says, "Sydney!" I point to Hayley, she says, "Hayley!" I point to her and she says "Baby!"

She must wonder why we have so many pictures of that baby!

December 6, 2008

Well, daily posts aren't working out. The end of the week was too busy.

But I promised pictures from Sydney's concert, so here they are...

Since Jeremy got the lights on the tree and I didn't get a good picture of Sydney taken back when I got the woods pictures ( like the one above. ) It's a long story, it involves Addy and a pile of dog poop. I'll leave it at that, anyway, I snapped some pictures of Sydney before the concert. I'll save the best one for later.


Sydney always stands in the back row at her concerts. Being another child who stood in the back row always, I feel for her. But luckily some of her best friends are tall too, so they stand back there with her.

And while they are all 2nd graders, oh there were some great moments! But her teacher (waving in the left corner) did a great job with all 100 7 &8 year olds!

After the concert we snapped some pictures of her and one of her best friends.

Today was this friend's birthday (Happy Birthday!!!)

And a picture of Sydney with her WONDERFUL teacher!

The rest of the week was busy with other activities (I wish we had so much more room for all of our activities!)

Wednesday night was church. The girls are preparing for the Christmas Pageant. I go with Addy to the preschooler's part of the Wednesday night program. This week they were having these sweet 3 & 4 year olds practicing saying "Glory to God in the highest." They are all such angels!!! So sweet.

Thursday night I went to my MOPS group (Mothers of Preschoolers). We had a cookie exchange. I made Almond Bars. YUMMY! Here is the recipe for you.



Last night was our town Christmas Tree lighting. Why do I still get all teary eyed with it every year. It is something about hearing all of those tiny voices singing "You'd better watch out. You'd better not cry. You'd better not pout, I'm telling you why!" Gets me every time.

We came home, had hot chocolate and popcorn and watched "The Grinch." Such a fun movie!

We've decided we may not see Sydney again for a full weekend. She was at a slumber party last night, and then while I was out picking her up another friend of hers called to see if she could go to the free movie in town today.

On Saturdays in town the local movie theater runs some older kids movies for free admission. Today's movie was Alvin and the Chipmunks. She had a great time.

Hayley also had a birthday party to go to today.

While the girls were gone, and Addy was sleeping (3 hour nap. OH, and she slept ALL night in her bed last night!) I got some gifts wrapped.

Addy just went under the tree and pulled one up to try to open it. This will be a battle to keep her out of them.

December 2, 2008

HA! The lights were found. OF COURSE they were in the smoothie maker box behind the water heater. Where else would they be?

Jeremy put the lights on the tree while I got Sydney ready for her Winter Program.

I promise to add pictures tomorrow.

The 2nd graders did great. A few of them had a hard time standing still. One little girl in the front row was really bothered by her tights and was itching at them, and eventually pulled her dress up to pull them up. Too funny!

Sydney had one part in the concert where she and some girls from her class got up and did a little kick line wearing Snickerdoodle cookies on their heads. Sydney's fell off and she was a little embarrassed, but she kept right on going.

I am always amazed at how well the music teacher can keep all 100+ 2nd graders all on stage performing so nicely! AMAZING!

We didn't get to read tonight because the concert went pretty late.

December 1, 2008

Today was busy getting back into the swing of our routine.

I promised Hayley's teacher that I would make Gingerbread Playdoh for her class.

Here is the recipe for anyone who is interested:

Gingerbread Playdoh

2 Cups Flour
1 Cup Salt
1 Tablespoon Ground Ginger
1 Tablespoon Ground Cinnamon
1 Tablespoon Ground All Spice
1 Tablespoon Ground Clove
2 Tablespoons of Vegetable Oil
1 Cup Water

Mix it all together until it forms a dough. The recipe said to refrigerate it, but I hope that wasn't necessary. I double the recipe, but used the 1 Tablespoon of each of the spices and it still smelled WONDERFUL!

I didn't take any pictures of this activity because my camera cord is lost and I was afraid I wouldn't be able to get them off of my camera. Thanks to my BFF otherwise known as Super Bibby, I now have an extra cord and you can look forward to pictures from Sydney's concert tomorrow!

We got the Christmas Tree put up, but couldn't find the lights ANYWHERE. We searched and searched and searched. All of this losing stuff is driving me crazy!

Tonight we read "Auntie Claus and the Key to Christmas" by Elise Primavera

Holiday Memories

I am realizing how fast time is going. After having a few drinks with two of Jeremy's aunts (thanks for the fun Laurie & Joan) whose children are grown up, I realize that I need to really enjoy the holidays as much as I can while our girls are young.

This is the time of year that when ANYTHING that is remotely cool is advertised on TV we hear shouts of "I want that" followed by, "NO, I want that!" Soon enough they will want money for Christmas to buy their own clothes and gifts rather than toys.

So that I can relive this year for many years to come I am going to TRY to blog about every day of December this year. (TRY being the key word!)

So, we'll start with the night of November 30th. We got home from our Thanksgiving trip to Des Moines (happy birthday, Dad!). And we started our annual tradition of reading a Christmas book every night before bed. I've been buying the girls each a Christmas book every year since Sydney was born. So, do the math.. that's 8 books so far for Sydney, plus 5 for Hayley, and 2 for Addy. So we have 15 between the 3 of them. (Well, somehow we always end up with WAY more. Darn Scholastic pulls me in every time.)

So tonight we started with "T'was the Night Before Christmas" illustrated by Mary Engelbreit. I just love her illustrations! We all curled up on our new Cozy Sack (an early Christmas gift from Daddy) in our cozy jammies and pointed out all of the cool things in the illustrations.

Ok, so really it was just me and Addy. Hayley was pouting because SHE didn't get to pick the book. Sydney was reading a chapter book because these "baby" books aren't cool. See it's already happening! But Addy and I (read mostly I) really enjoyed it!

Trick or Treat

These girls are too funny. Before we went Trick or Treating I was able to get them to take a couple of pictures.

Hayley had to try SO hard not to pose in this picture.
She couldn't hold it back any longer. Do you see Addy getting an idea?

Addy just had to pose too. Sydney is just SO embarrassed.

Then they all strike a pose.

My baby is growing up!

My baby is growing up! We took down her crib today. Took the crib down for the LAST TIME in our house. I'm feeling a little emotional about it. I mean, she's my baby.

But she won't stay IN the crib, so it makes sense to take it down. She's been sleeping in her bed (well at least a few hours each night) for 2 or 3 weeks now.

But she is my baby!

But she's talking SO much. Such great sentences like, "Oh darn it! I spill my water!" (You should hear her "OH darn it!" It is so cute!)

And she is using the potty. Quite a bit at daycare and almost every time for #2 at home.

BUT she is my baby. Have I mentioned that?

BUT she will be TWO in just a few weeks. TWO! I remember Sydney turning two like it was yesterday, but that was SIX years ago. (We announced we were pregnant with Hayley at Sydney's 2nd birthday parties). And Hayley at two- she had the cutest piggy tails. (Well, Addy lacks that!)

But today, when we were out shopping, and she fell asleep in the car. She stayed asleep and I sat on a comfy couch with her asleep on my chest while Jeremy & the older 2 looked for bunk beds. I had flash backs to when she was just tiny. But instead I just took a LONG sniff of that warm baby head smell. Can I bottle that??? Then the sales guy talked about his son turning 15 today. And how he really misses these younger years.

And just look at her last year at this time over on the top right hand side of the page. She had JUST started walking, but both Sydney & Hayley had to hold on to her so tight so she wouldn't just tumble over. And look how tall she's gotten in just a year!

So, we took the crib down for the last time. But, she'll always be my baby, right???

Two new products to try

I've joined a General Mills Product testing group. Right now they are focusing on 2 new products. If you would like a coupon to try one of these products, please leave a comment below and I'll have one e-mailed to you.

*WARNING* Stupid Wal-mart does not take internet coupons. Serioulsy, how stupid are they? DO NOT SHOP AT WAL-MART!!!! But if you want to use the coupons you have to use them anywhere else. Which is great because Wal-mart is HORRIBLE!!!

We went to the Pumpkin Patch this weekend on a beautiful day. And a bunch of the girls' friends were there too. (I love living in a small town- even when you drive 30 miles away to the nearest pumpkin patch- your friends are there too!)

Some of the cutest kids anywhere!!!

That goofy grin!

Pumpkin Muffins

Image by Effie of allrecipes.com

So I read this great blog www.thepioneerwoman.com. She was talking recently about making your own pumpkin puree. I saw some nice small sugar pumpkins at the grocery store and picked up a couple.

I knocked the stem off, cut them in half, scooped the seeds out (which I will roast tomorrow) then cut into quarters and baked at 305 degrees for 45 minutes. Then I pureed them in my food processor. (NO REALLY. I did this! Crazy huh?!?!)

So then I was dying to try them baked in something and found a recipe for Pumpkin Muffins on allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

2 cups pureed pumpkin (doesn't have to be home done pumpkin- canned will work fine)

3 cups all purpose flour (I subbed 2 c. whole wheat flour and 1 c. oatmeal(

2 cups white sugar

2 t. baking soda

1/2 t. baking powder

2 t. ground cloves

2 t. ground cinnamon

2 t. ground nutmeg

1 t. ground allspice

1 t. salt

2/3 cup vegetable oil (I subbed 2/3 c. applesauce)

3 eggs (I think I might have only used 2 on accident)

Directions

• In a large bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and salt. In a separate bowl mix together pumpkin, vegetable oil and eggs. Stir pumpkin mixture into flour mixture until smooth. Scoop batter into prepared muffin cups 
• Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 20 to 25 minutes until a toothpick comes out of the center of a muffin comes out clean.

This made 24 normal sized muffins plus 9 mini muffins.

YUMMY!!!!! And the smell- Double YUMMY!

Sorry I haven't posted

We got some internet filtering software at work, so I can't log onto our blog to post pictures. And my internet connection at home is a royal pain (I need to find about 3 hours to sit on the phone with customer support. Does anyone know where I can find 3 hours of quiet to be on the phone??? Anyone?? Buhler???)

So in the mean time you may just have to settle for some stories. 

Sydney is loving school still. She finished up the soccer season which she really enjoyed again. She is reading wonderfully. She is learning "times" which I have to remind her is also called multiplication. 

Hayley is learning some sight words and this week is working on the letters A and S. 

Addy has hit the terrible two's a little early. She is climbing out of her crib, so we need to take it down. She won't stay in her crib. It's been a rough couple of weeks. She just does not give up. As I'm typing this she's sitting next to me, "Mom- my candy. Mom, my candy! Mom- COOKIE! Mom!!!!"

We had a great time at the D-days parade last weekend. I wish I could share some pictures with you. Maybe I'll figure it out soon.

So, there is a quick update.

Congrats to Jason & Kristi with the arrival of Izabella Rose. 

Testing Windows Live Writer

So I've been doing this blog now for nearly 2 years and I hate the format of blogger. But I love that it is free.

So today on another blog I saw some information about Windows Live Writer. It is supposed to make it easier to add photos and post to the blog. So I'm trying it out.

In blogger if you add a photo it automatically pops up to the top of the post, which drives me crazy, especially when I have a bunch of photos to add.  With Windows Live Writer I am supposed to be able to put the photos anywhere. And I can post offline, which is great too.

So here is my test!

Great it works. And the great thing is I can rotate my photos in Live Writer, you can add effects too! YAY!!!!

Eight is GREAT!

Eight years ago a baby was born, and so was a mother (and a father, and grandparents, and aunts and uncles)! It is hard to imagine life now without these three precious girls in our lives. Each one of them is so different from the others, but also holds a special place in their dad & my heart!

Happy Eighth Birthday, Sydney!!!

Do you have a favorite Sydney memory? Post it in the comments. Sydney will LOVE to read all of the stories about her.

One of my favorite Sydney moments was when I was pregnant with Hayley. Jeremy use to puff up his belly to pretend he was pregnant too. One night when he did it Sydney looked at him and said, "WOW Daddy, that's ONE BIG BABY!"

Sydney's birthday party 2008

We had seven of Sydney's friends over for our first slumber party on Saturday night. It was a blast. The girls were all SO well behaved. The first ones (including the birthday girl) fell asleep around 9:30. The last one was just falling asleep when I went to bed at 11:30.

Here are some pictures:

Sydney requested the nail polish game again. The girls all sit in a circle and pass around 3 pots of nail polish to some music. When the music stops whoever has the nail polish gets to paint one finger nail or toe nail. I'm not sure why it worked out this way, but the same 3 girls kept getting all of the nail polish. they must have been holding on to it longer or something. Anyway I think it got passed around about 4 times and then they were bored with the game and just decided to paint their nails instead.

Shortly after the nail polish game I noticed how wonderful the light was so I had the girls pose for a picture.

I made pillow cases again for the girls to decorate:

After dark we had a camp fire going and gave the girls glow necklaces and played "Ghost in the Graveyard." It was fun. The girls were all running around outside in the dark playing tag. We also found some left over sparklers and let them do those too.

We had music going the entire time, and at one point the girls all sang along.