Tuesday, July 21, 2009

joys of curious kids

Around 8 this morning I decided to make muffins with the kids. It's been in the mid 70's the past few days. b.e.a.u.t.i.f.u.l. So I turn on the oven and start pulling out the ingredients. Molly and Gabe like to touch and smell everything. 5 minute projects take 20 minutes, but I asked for their help. So as were doing this I start to smell something burning. Then before I know it the smoke detectors are going off. Luckily for us we live in a two bedroom apartment that has 4 smoke doctors that are all connected to each other. So as I'm fanning off the smoke detector my mind is racing.... something like Q: when is the last time I used the oven? A: yesterday Q: could anything have dripped or spilled? A: no Q: is there something on top of the stove? A: no. What is going on? Then it dawns on me that Gabe has been really interested in the broiler the past few days. I had a vision in my head of a plastic magnet melted all over. After a few minutes when I got the courage to open the broiler I found a charred go-gurt box.

After the smell disappeared I baked our apple cinnamon muffins. They turned out really good. I still can't believe that I almost burnt down our apartment this morning. I think we're going to have to start putting the gate up again :(

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Happy Birthday!


Today was the anniversary of the day Drew was born. Drew's pretty sure that this is the first time he's had school on his birthday... Other than that it was a fun day. He got pizza, cake, ice cream and presents. Topping the list he got an i-touch. I'm not sure how much he'll be accomplishing at school tomorrow.

Friday, July 10, 2009

I'm Done!


I'm happy to report that I finished the 6th Harry Potter book. I'm not sure how I feel about the two that I just finished. The 5th book was so angry. Harry was so mad the whole time, not to mention the Umbridge woman. I wasn't happy with the ending. The 6th book had a better tone, but again not the ending that I wanted. Maybe this is why I'm not an author. I don't want the character's I've grown attached to being killed off. I know that in the battle of good vs evil that there have to be casualties, but really? I think I'm still in denial about the ending of the 6th book. I'm assuming that Harry will be triumphant in the end, but I'm not sure how.
Now it's back to reality and the housework that I've been neglecting :)

Saturday, July 4, 2009

Happy Independence Day!

Sunday, June 28, 2009

We're back!

Well, we've been back for a while now... I don't know if any readers of this blog are Harry Potter fans, but if you are you know that the 6th movie is coming out in the middle of next month. Last summer Drew and I made a deal. He would read the Twilight books if I read the HP books. So he read the Twilight books and I'm behind. I'm 1/2 way through the 5th book. I'm trying to be done with the 6th before the movie comes out... Drew says it's impossible and he might be right, but I always like proving him wrong. (Like when he told me there was no way I could cut our food budget. I loved the look on his face when he realized I was able to almost cut it in half. I'm hoping to see that face again, but it means that certain things are being neglected. Like the blog.) So here are a few happenings.


We left sunny hot Lincoln for a getaway. I needed some time to recharge so we went home (well to our first home. I'm not sure that I've considered Chicago home for a while). This is what we got

cold and rainy. I packed summer clothes for our kids and we froze most of the time. Drew and I spent the day downtown a.l.o.n.e. one day. This was our view. It was a little disappointing, but it was nice to have a day to ourselves.

We also had our first camping trip all by ourselves. We spent a few days in Nauvoo. It was great, but summer found us there. It was amazingly hot and humid. I thought that Molly's hair was starting to straighten, but with all the humidity she had a nice fro going. Molly and Gabe both did way better than I thought they would. I was so proud of them.
We got bunk beds! I've been thinking about bunk beds for a while now. My parents had this one in the basement. How could I pass up free? I think it will be a while before we get a mattress for the top bunk. Right now I have the toy basket up there. Molly really likes climbing to the top, but she has no idea how to get down. She fell off yesterday. It hasn't phased her she's still jumping and acting like a lunatic up there... As they say kids will be kids.

This has been my view the past few days. All of the sudden everywhere I turn I hear CHEESE CHEESE. If I don't stop and pose she gets a little moody with me. If Molly is one thing it's persistent. She has started talking a ton. Most people probably don't believe that because she's so shy when she's uncomfortable, but she really is. It's fun listening to her. She loves singing and she wants you to repeat everything she's telling you. Sometimes that's a little tricky. I do love it that she also expects Gabe to repeat things too and he now says cheese to her whenever he sees the camera. This also delights Molly to no end as she takes pictures of him and then shows them to everyone. There's Gabie...


Gabie as Molly calls him and he calls himself now has two teeth. On Monday Gabe pointed to a picture of a tooth and said teeth. It was exciting for me. Drew looked at me and asked if it had just really happened. He cracks me up. He's standing by himself more and more and has started to attempt walking. He's so funny. The second he realizes he's not holding on to anything he sits. He's like a moose, he's big and can crawl faster than anything. Sometimes I get a little worried that he isn't walking yet, but I keep telling myself it's a spectrum. Molly walked 3 months early so at 15 months I'll start to worry. I'm also sure that when he does take off I'll be sorry that I wanted him walking.

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

it's about time

Gabe got his first tooth today! He's just shy of 14 months. I guess better late than never. I can see a bunch more teeth right under the gums. Hopefully they'll all come in really fast and we can be done with the teething thing for a while. But hey 1 is a start, I'm glad to know that he does have teeth after all. :)

Thursday, June 4, 2009

so excited

SCHOOL'S OUT!!!
Drew had his last qualifying exam yesterday. I'm so excited for his first year to be over. The past month has been so hard. I'm not sure how single parents do it. Now Drew has a whole month off. Wahoo! I'm sure that by the end of his break he'll be more than ready to go back, but as of right now it's a much needed break for me and probably Drew too. I'm ready to hit the road.