Weekend away

Jorge was gone for the weekend (traveling for work) so I took the kids with my parents to my uncle's newly purchased "farm" in Indiana and then to my parent's cottage in Michigan. It was a great weekend! The kids are already talking about going back to the farm. They loved it! Logan's favorite parts were the swingset in the yard and the massive lego collection belonging to my cousin!

Here's a taste of the farm!


Me and my dad!


The kids were oozing with happiness!

Good day

This is my second week of work and I really like my job! Today I had lunch with a new friend and got the little office speech that the office is holding their own through the economic drop. And they are starting a bonus program based on production. Life is good:)

Collaborative bedtime story

me: "It was the night before Halloween and everyone was getting their costumes together. Logan was dressed up as..."
logan: "Batman" (Should be interesting to see which of 50 ideas he chooses to be for Halloween this year!)
me:"And Sylvie is....."
sylvie: "Cinderella!"
logan: "And Daddy is a Tiger! And Mommy is an elephant! And Blue Blankey is an Chihuaha!!!! And Abby is a Dalmation!"
me: "Sylvie, what is pink blankey going to be?"
sylvie:"A girl chihuaha!"

Kids....get some. They are hilarious. I guarantee. Oh, and apparently dieting isn't going well, I think Logan sees me as an elephant. Time to stop eating. Ever.

Ho Hum....it's home from work I come!

One good morning with the kids +
One helpful husband +
No traffic+
Nice co-workers+
Confidence that I was doing the work correctly+
Finding everything I needed to do my work quickly+
Perks like free coffee and cheap pop machine and a radio with my taste in music+
Clean bathrooms+
Boss treating me and my co-workers to lunch at Panera=
An all around great first day.

Hi Ho, Hi Ho.....

it's off to work I go!

Downtown

I always LOVED this song! "Downtown"

When you're alone and life is making you lonely
You can always go - downtown
When you've got worries, all the noise and the hurry
Seems to help, I know - downtown
Just listen to the music of the traffic in the city
Linger on the sidewalk where the neon signs are pretty
How can you lose?

The lights are much brighter there
You can forget all your troubles, forget all your cares
So go downtown, things'll be great when you're
Downtown - no finer place, for sure
Downtown - everything's waiting for you

We went downtown to Chicago tonight. The kids both walked, there were no packed diapers, no bottles, not even a toy save the puppy in Sylvie's arm. It was liberating and FUN! We all had a blast. Lesson learned though, plan a specific place for dinner because when kids are hungry, the claws come out and they get crank-y! We ended up eating at Water Tower Place and we all ate well...yum!

We visited Milawaukee and even during the day it was like a ghost town. Chicago was ca-razy at night. People in dresses and bow-ties. People in shorts. One guy in a leopard suit fitting himself into a box. Bet you can guess which person intrigued Sylvie the most!

The kids were slack jawed, watching each and every horse, carriage and oddity that walked by. They listed (for the most part) and held our hands on the massively busy streets. A great time was had by all. Jorge and I love giving our kids experiences like this. So fun!

A morning at the park

It got really hot today, so I'm happy we snuck in a trip to the park this morning.



She really looks like Jorge and his mom here!


Almost 5....the attitude arrived


But he's still cute!




And he LOVES his sister


A multi-tasking woman already, trying to climb with a baby in her arms


Okay, I'll put the toys in a new spot while I climb


She made it to the top!


Still my baby....still loves the baby swings


She LOVES to laugh


Climbing the steep slides (back to multi-tasking holding that baby)

The Little Mermaid story....Sylvie style

We were watching the Little Mermaid and
Sylvie said "The Sea Witch is MAD!"
I said "The Sea Witch is always Mad."
She said "She needs to take a NAP. She wanted to sleep in Ariel's bed, but Ariel said NO because she is mean."

Oh these two kids and their imagination. Did I tell you what Logan said the other morning?
"Mom, I was hungry, my stomach was growling. But don't worry, I pushed a button right here on my wall and Spiderman gave me a hot dog." He also tells me daily randomly "Oh here! The Easter Bunny left me an egg for you. It has candy in it." or he'll say "Look mom! A Candy Ball." Now I have no idea what a candy ball is but apparently they are all over the universe.

So, do they look like me?

Answer in my poll to the right! I came across this lovely picture of me in Kindergarten. I was just about Logan's age. Slammin' hairstyle isn't it?

Here is me at age 4


Here is Logan




Here is Sylvie




Here is one of Jorge as a child

Cabbage Patch

Meet Lynden. He was one of my favorite dolls growing up. Sylvie has taken a liking to him now!


Last night we played Dominoes. Logan set up this "pattern" and I was impressed that Sylvie took the time to flip over all her dominoes to fit his pattern. They had a great time!





They set up a kennel for their puppies. After fighting over whose dog would get to sit in the pen, Logan made a pen big enough for both - so sweet!

The floods

September 2008 Rainstorm dumped more rain in a few days than the Chicago area saw in 137 years. WOW! We got a lot of rain and then the remnants of Hurricane Ike arrived. Our basement was a bit flooded (it's unfinished) so Jorge and I were moving things around at 6:30 am on a Saturday. But a few of our neighbors had some exterior sump pump action going on to relieve the flooding and I know the neighbors to one side had water in a basement apartment- yikes! We consider ourselves lucky. For the amount of rain around here, the backyard flooding was nothing. And the crazy thing is about 2 hours after the rain stopped, the flooding in our backyard was almost gone while our neighbors still had theirs.

Here was our backyard


And our neighbor's side yard


The alley


And my cutie pies!

Rainy Day

2 Sets of Rain Boots + 3 Umbrellas + Light End of Summer Rain= Good Fun!

We took a stroll through the neighborhood under umbrellas today. We saw one worm but it was impressive enough to come back and observe at least 2 more times. And Sylvie was happy.

On a side note, we got our first "American Girl" catalogue in the mail. Does this mean I can buy them for her now? Please?

Jorge just saved us $50!

We all need haircuts right now and both of us were whining about the $. So we looked at Abby (who gets the most expensive haircut) and Jorge came up with a solution....

When the dog's hair is in her eyes and she can't see, this is how you push the haircut off for a few more days!!!!

Before


After


Of course Sylvie did NOT like Abby's new hairstyle. Usually they shave her head but when we requested a "Crown" at a different Petsmart, they provided a punk-rock "poof" instead. I think she looks a bit like Cruella Deville in the real dalmations show rocking this hairstyle. I'm thinking we'll shave her down next. A girl needs variety right?

Employment!

I am officially employed! I will be working in the architectural department of a local builder and will be starting in the coming days. I'm working out the details of how the kids will get from point A to point B before Hour X, but it's all coming together!

Wish me luck!

Sunday Morning, Take 2

About 4 minutes after that last post, Logan decided to start crying. I didn't know why he was crying, but he does that sometimes. So then he's telling me his ear hurts and a bunch of garbage that I thought sounded something like "I can't hear out of it." So I figured maybe he had an ear infection since he's been so moody. I gave him some Motrin and started snuggling. Turns out he really was saying "I stuck something in there." Meaning a bean. As in, from the little "Sandbox" project of a previous post. Yep. Stuck a BEAN in his ear.

So we gracefully told dad to HURRY up in the shower, get everyone's shoes on and head over to make a $100 deposit to the local ER. The docs were great so he wasn't too upset. It took one pair of alligator scissors and two tries but the bean has been extracted. Ear Wax and all. Gotta love life with kids.

Sunday Morning

Given the choice, Logan prefers hanging out with toys. Given the choice, Sylvie wants to either lay on the couch with tv programs of her choice chugging milk. If that is not possible, she wants to be entertained, played with and out and about like her mommy.

Both kids have had a cranky past few days. We are in the transition of "back to school" for Logan so there is jealousy on Sylvie's part, emotions galore on Logan's part. Extra sleep for Logan, and a lack of sleep for Sylvie. She partied hardy last night til 1:30 am for Jorge! Ack! Logan must be growing as well, he's eating every 30 minutes and playing so intensely with all his toys, they cover every surface every time I turn around! Sylvie doesn't play with toys as much, she likes to pick a few and obsess over them, lose them and then ask where they are. She's more into dress up, pretend with her kitchen, or princesses. Or being goofy and making us laugh. Or chasing the dog. Or having temper tantrums. Or asking for milk.

Here are my cutie pies playing well together this morning......

Ecards

Can be cheesy. Or they can be just what you needed to hear. My mom sent me one this morning. I won't plagerize but basically it said something along the lines of....

"Somewhere deep inside lies a song,
Only you can hear,
Listen closely and follow the song
And see what path is uniquely yours
And what adventures it will lead you on...."

I have two interviews tomorrow that would lead me on two unique paths if I were offered either job. Wish me luck in the interviews but also luck in deciding. The past few times I've had job offers on the table, I have had to choose between two jobs. Wish me the clarity of decision if it comes to that. And wish me luck in getting even ONE offer right? While I have LOVED staying home with my kiddeos, my bank account has other words to say about that decision while unemployed.

Indoor Sandbox

After getting dumped on with rain, I was at the grocery with Sylvie. She picked out a bag of beans. Since we were at Aldi and everything is dirt cheap ($70 for a cart overflowing wiht groceries, no coupons, no sales) I told her we could make an "Indoor Sandbox" with it.

Here is the evidence but basically we poured some beans in a tin and grabbed some "scoops." Later I added more beans and more scoops. She only tried one. After I told her 50 times she would get sick if she tried one. Yup, she was all freaked out because it tasted gross. It only took I I tell you!

First Day of School- 2008!

Dear Mr. and Mx. Bus Drivers, Please come when we are told you will come sometime soon. Picking up 15 minutes early and dropping off 1 hour late just doesn't work very well. Dear Logan's Teacher- thank you for letting the kids play outside today- it was the highlight of Logan's day!

Sylvie was a trooper waiting while eating her lunch outside with me......


Then we got bored and she wanted me to start taking pictures.....



And finally we saw the bus arriving.....


She really missed her brother today!


And he was very happy to be home!