Fun Monday - Purse Edition

This week our Fun Monday hostess is Church Lady over in PA and her assignment is to post a picture of our purse and describe the contents kept within the purse. Little did I know that our pictures would be VERY similar!

This is my purse I've been carrying for quite some time now. It was a gift from my awesome sister-in-law and I love how bright and fun it is.


The inside contents are pretty much what are always in my purse, although I usually have mints, which are absent right now from the inside. Here's a pic:



So lets see: There is a cell phone, a baggie with Tylenol, my son's prayer book, my sons spare pair of glasses, a pay stub from a parking spot at the train station,two post-it note pads, my wallet, the post card with the eye doctor's new address on it, tissues, my van insurance card, old move stubs and a movie coupon, two packs of gum for the kids, 6 pens, antibacterial hand lotion, coupons, my coupon organizer, old grocery lists, old receipts from Meijer and Menards, an expired Children's Place coupon, a reusable bag, my periodontist appointment card, a Fannie Mae gift card, my two PADS assignment tags, and crackers.

Now that that is done, I need to go and clean my purse! Go check out everyone else's purse!

Two Days, Two Teeth

My six year old daughter has been nursing two loose teeth in the front of her mouth for several weeks now. Every opportunity she could find to wiggle those teeth she took advantage of. If her fingers weren't manipulating them back and forth, her tongue would do the job. My husband captured her wiggling her teeth on video and uploaded it to his blog for all to see.

Yesterday the first tooth came out shortly before we were due to leave for swim lessons (thank goodness!). Emma had managed to turn it completely sideways in her mouth and I urged her to keep wiggling it until it came out. She was very excited to tell her Dad and could not wait for a visit from the Tooth Fairy last night. (She was up by 6:00 AM looking to see if there was a dollar under her pillow.)

Tonight the Tooth Fairy will be coming again! Just about 15 minutes ago Emma came running into the laundry room with a slightly bloody mouth shouting, "My other tooth came out! My other tooth came out!" Sure enough, I looked down at her and the neighbor to the tooth she lost on Monday was nowhere in sight.

"Where is it?" I asked.

"I don't know," was her reply.


She somehow bumped her lip on the couch and it dislodged her tooth. Now she's sporting a full on hockey player's grin and the realization that she is going to miss out on the entire corn on the cob season this summer.

And that the Tooth Fairy will be making another visit tonight.

Growing Up

I just sent my baby, Zoe, to a full day of preschool in the car pool with my older kids. I have been looking forward to this day for quite some time. A whole day to myself (actually, 7:55AM to 1:30PM - I'm helping with the end of the day party in preschool at 1:30) with no specific tasks to do (did the grocery shopping yesterday). And I'm still excited.


But, I wasn't prepared for the lump in my throat and stomach as I buckled her into the backseat of the minivan. She was smiling broadly, and I couldn't help but smile back at my big girl. She looked so small among the 1st and 4th graders in the van. So small, so sweet, so excited. This is her last school day before she "graduates" on Friday. All year she has only gone three afternoons a week. But today she goes for the full school day, 8:15 until 2:45, with a lunch packed into her backpack and a day filled with friends and graduation practice.

I'm sure we'll both enjoy our day. But I didn't know I'd feel like this.

I just want to say to all of the men who stop at the adult bookstore on Route 30, this is NOT a good place to get your wife a Mother's Day gift!

(Seriously, it looks like the parking lot for that place is always full!)

It's Closing In On Us

The junior high that is less than a mile from my house has closed, as well as the junior high where my neighbor works has closed due to suspected cases of Swine flu. We actually watched this neighbor's daughter yesterday for several hours. The family that carpools with us has two sons who go to the junior high by our house. I never really expected all this to happen so close to home. I guess it is.

More Gum News

Way back in January, I talked about my trip to the periodontist to have a gum graft. Basically, the doc took a slice of tissue from the roof of my mouth and sewed it above one of my front teeth to fix a receding gum above that tooth.

Today I went in to have all that pink and healed up gum tissue laser resurfaced. I had to be numbed up and then he went to work with a very quiet laser. It was fine, though sometimes he had my upper lip pushed so far out of the way it made it difficult to breathe through my nose. Which in some ways was okay, because then I couldn't smell the burning tissue. However I could sort of "taste" it when I breathed through my mouth. I don't recommend it!

My periodontist told me it would turn red and feel like a burn before it eventually pinked up. It is then that I can brush that part of my gum again. Yay.

Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid

I'm not one to get all crazy about big health warnings and such. I just feel like we are bombarded with warnings of all kinds, and until I see significant reason to worry, I generally don't.

That may all change here, though. A high school in our city has been closed until Monday due to a suspected case of the Swine flu. Another school in a neighboring town has been closed for the same reason. The high school, Marmion Academy, has students that are siblings of students at my children's school. (Did you follow that?) So, if it is Swine flu, this boy has been in contact with other boys (it's an all boy school) who are brothers of students at my children's school. It concerns me. If it is confirmed as Swine flu, I will be watching my kids a little more carefully.

Breakin' My Heart

Even though it was announced in February, I still was shocked, though not completely surprised, by the fact that Steve Page has left the Barenaked Ladies.

I have loved BNL for many years. My big brother, Kevin, introduced me to them in the 90's and they quickly became my favorite band of all time. I know Page has had a lot of problems with drug use and poor choices in the last year or two, but I somehow hoped he would get it together. Considering he and Ed Robertson shared a considerable amount of the leads on the songs the group wrote and sang, he will be sadly missed. And since 139 of my 1300+ songs in iTunes are by BNL, I will be reminded often of his mark on the band.

I wish the remaining band members, Jim, Kevin, Ed, and Tyler the best. I will still listen to all of their new music and continue to love them. But I can't help but think I will miss Steve's musical contribution to the group. I have never attended a more fun live show than the Ladies. I hope it will still be as much fun without Steve.

Stem Cell Research

I found this little gem at Third Base Politics and felt I needed to share it here. Dr. Oz, Oprah's favorite doctor, is telling everyone that adult stem cells will be the root of a cure for Parkinson's and advances in treatment for other diseases, not embryonic stem cell research. This is huge, and for it to finally be shown on mainstream TV is wonderful, in my opinion. Check it out:

Baptism Weekend

My newest nephew, Declan, was baptized this Sunday. The ceremony was held in a lovely old chapel with wooden floors and beautiful stained glass windows. The remarkable part was that Declan was the only child baptized that day. All three of my kids had several other children and families baptized on the same day they did. But Declan's was relaxed and personal and the old deacon who performed the ceremony was great with children. He made sure that both my three kids and three of Declan's cousins on his father's side of his family had a good view and even let them help him after the baptism with cleaning up and turning the font off.


My husband, Brendan, was godfather. It was fun to watch him light the candle and hold Declan in the pictures afterwards. A cool little aside - the beautiful baptismal gown Declan is wearing was originally his great grandfather's. He wore it, my mother-in-law was baptized in it, as well as my husband and his brother and sister (Declan's mom), and all three of my kids.

The party at my mother-in-law's house was a lot of fun. My brother-in-law's family is lots of fun, and I always enjoy my husband's family. Zoe made friends with the Coffey cousins and spent the entire day running around with them. She has arranged a playdate for an unspecified later date.

I played my usual role, which was to make the cake. I love doing that. I spent a lot of time online looking at other people's cakes for baptisms and first communions, trying to get some inspiration. But, it was a cross that I found at a Christian Bookstore that gave me my final idea for Declan's cake. I bought it as part of Declan's gift and used it as the cake topper for the cake. It is a two-sided cross with a little baby in jammies holding a blankie. On each side is a prayer, one for the morning and one for the night. The jammies have tiny little stars on them. When I saw them, I knew Declan's cake would have to have stars. This is what I made:


It was a huge four layered 9-inch cake. It was chocolate frosted with vanilla buttercream. I made marshmallow fondant stars to encircle the top and sides of the cake. Both the cake and the frosting are made from scratch. The cake recipe is a Martha Stewart recipe - a real keeper! The buttercream is Wilton's recipe.


As I wasn't sure if this would be enough cake, I made a second, smaller cake. I made another Martha Stewart recipe, and it turned out fabulous. It was a vanilla cake that I brushed with an Amaretto simple syrup. The frosting was an Almond Swiss Buttercream. It was the first time I made a cooked frosting and I must admit it turned out great. I have long been intimidated by cooked frostings, but with my trusty Kitchenaid stand mixer and my candy thermometer, the frosting turned out really good. What amazed me most was that the frosting for just one cake took three (3!) sticks of butter. That's a lot of butter. But it was good. I decided to coat the sides with sliced almonds. The cake turned out really dense, but really good.


This is the godfather with his godson. They're both pretty cute, don't ya think?

What Is Your Best April Fool's Joke?

My parents are in visiting from Ohio. As my mom sat at the breakfast table this morning, she told Zoe to, "Watch out! There's a bug right there!" and pointed at the floor by Zoe's feet. Zoe fell hook line and sinker as my mom said, "April Fool's."

The kids all giggled and Zoe started planning. About five minutes later Zoe walked up to my mom and said, "Look outside, there's a flying Grandma!" My mom, being the good grandma that she is, looked out the window and pretended to be surprised that there was no flying grandma. Zoe shouted, "April Fools" and we all had a good laugh.

My Baby Wears Combat Boots

Zoe has discovered a pair of boots in her closet and has taken quite a liking to them. She wore them around the house and outside to play this morning, and wants to wear them to preschool next week.

While I think she looks pretty cute in them, I'm not sure what the attraction is.


If you look closely in this picture, you can see they are Lizzie McGuire boots. They are hand-me-downs from one of the many awesome people who give me clothes for my girls. In fact, I think everything Zoe is wearing, except for the tights, are hand-me-downs. Gotta love that!

So, are your kids as stylish as mine?

Scrapbooking Weekend

Two weekends ago my sister treated me to a scrapbooking weekend in Marshall, Michigan . The two of us met at the Riverside Inn and spent the entire weekend catching up on our scrapbooking. Okay, Leanne is pretty much up to date on her scrapbooks, but she still had some stuff to complete in her books. I, on the other hand, haven't scrapbooked in years and am hopelessly behind on my albums. But, I seized the opportunity and worked my butt off.

I did six spreads for Ian, five for Emma, and four for Zoe. Ian is now almost three in his album, Emma is about 6 months, and Zoe is about 2 months in her album. I know, I'll never catch up! But, I am now organized and having gotten a jump start in Michigan, I'm ready to get a lot more done.

Here are some of the pages I did while there:

This is a page for Ian. I found the layout idea from an idea book at the inn where we stayed. this was one of my faster and simpler pages, but I still love the results.



These are two of Emma. I like the ribbon I used and I think they are both really cute! (Only using one photo makes the layout a lot easier!)



This is Zoe. I used this photo I took of her a few days after coming home in my birth announcements. I just loved both photos and wanted them both showcased.

The inn was really just a house made for scrapbooking retreats. It is set on a river and the view from the kitchen is absolutely breathtaking. Our hostess, Katrina, lived next door with her husband and two kids. She provided all of our meals, which were delicious. There were snacks and drinks that we could help ourselves to at any time. While she ordered our dinners and lunch from local restaurants, she always provided salad or fruit as a side dish and made a dessert for both Friday and Saturday. She made Saturday morning breakfast and Sunday brunch, which included a delicious sausage gravy over homemade biscuits. The basement had 12-six foot tables each with an Ott light for well illuminated workspaces. The scrapbooking room also had a Cricut with about 6 or 7 cartridges, a Sizzix die cut machine with several dies, lots of scrapbook idea books, and CD player and TV with DVD's.

Leanne and I had an awesome time talking and sharing pictures with each other. Unfortunately, I did not have my camera to take any pictures because my kids and husband were walking in the Naperville St. Patrick's Day parade the same day. But trust me, it was an excellent weekend.

Busy, Busy, Busy

I have become so busy with my family and other obligations that I've dropped the ball on my blogging lately. And it seems that the longer I go without blogging, the harder it is to get back into it. So today I am forcing myself on here in hopes that I will become re-dedicated to my blog and sharing the fun and crazy things going on in my life.

Today I share with you two fairly new (within the last month) occurrences in my life.

#1: I have begun to listen to country music. And I like it. I find myself turning to US99.5 more and more often, and only turning back to my traditional pop/ rock channels when they run one of their extremely long commercial breaks. Much to my husband's disdain, I like the themes of the songs, the slower pace, and the often humorous messages in the songs. I have even used some of my birthday iTunes gift card to download two country songs already (Darius Rucker's "It Won't Be Like This For Long" and Rodney Atkins "Watching You")

I have always liked some country. I own lots of Garth Brooks and have Shania Twain's first album and Carrie Underwood's first album. I also love Kenny Rogers and have an album of his greatest hits. So I guess it's no surprise I am liking it more and more now.

My husband will just have to find some way to live with it.

#2: I joined Facebook. Truly addicting. And I feel guilty when I haven't responded to people who send a message to me. I have been trying to find time to sit down and write everyone back, and therefore have neglected this blog in the process.

But it is fun! And I think that after the initial finding of old friends, the time on FB should slow down. Because really, once you catch up with someone you haven't talked to in over 20 years, you probably aren't going to talk everyday.

For anyone who is reluctant to give it a try, I suggest you do it. I have found people I never imagined I could find. For example, I lived in England for five years when I was in elementary school. I have found several old friends from those years, as well as an old music teacher! And seriously, it was so fun finding my fourth grade boyfriend and reminiscing on those days.

On top of that, I've found old college and high school friends and I'm able to quickly keep up with them and see their beautiful children.

And probably one of the most rewarding is finding old students from the four years I taught. They are all in college and graduating soon. The two I've contacted are so sweet and told me how much they loved me as a teacher. If that doesn't make someone feel good, I don't know what could.

My Baby Is Five!

My youngest daughter, Zoe turned five today. I let her pick dinner and my benevolent daughter passed over bacon cheeseburger roll-up, probably her favorite meal of all time, for tacos, something her brother and sister both like. (Let's just say her big brother and big sister don't particularly enjoy bacon cheeseburger roll-up and leave it at that.) After dinner we sang "Happy Birthday" to Zoe and had ice cream.


We had the family over on Sunday to celebrate and had lots of fun and good food. I made my current favorite hors d'oeuvres, bacon wrapped lil' smokies. Can you say, "the way to ruin a diet?" Anyways, let's just say that they all got eaten along with the sugar coated pecans, cheese and crackers, dill vegetable dip and M&M's.


Zoe requested a Scooby Doo cake this year, so I made her a chocolate chocolate chip cake frosted in both chocolate and vanilla buttercream. Luckily I had a Wilton cake pan from when my son wanted a Scooby Doo cake several years earlier and so this cake was fairly easy to make. Zoe really loved it, which is always what is the most important to me.

Zoe got lots of great gifts, three dresses, a Barbie Thumbelina doll, a Hannah Montana doll, a book, and her favorite gift of the day: The Imaginext BatCave. It comes with the Batcycle, a Batman, a Robin, and lots of cool little features inside the BatCave itself. All three of my kids have now played with it every single day since Zoe received it and yes, Thumbelina and Hannah have been inside, as well as Brendan's Batgirl from on his dresser.


Now I just have to get used to the fact that my baby is five. Not sure how long it is going to take for that to sink in!

The Number 11 on March 11th

The number 11 isn't looking so good this morning on March 11. When I started up my computer to check my e-mail, this is what greeted me on my My Yahoo homepage:


Not the best representation of the number 11. But don't worry, I'll be posting something later that is sure to make 11 a happy number again.

Being A Parent (And A Kid) Isn't Easy

I'm not sure what it's like to have a kid with academic problems. So far, my three kids don't seem to have a lot of struggles with school. My first two learned to read fine and seem to be meeting all the marks they need to when it comes to their school subjects. My youngest, who is in preschool and has a speech problem, seems to be meeting her benchmarks as well and may even be done with speech before kindergarten starts next year. And while my kids are fairly young, 4th grade, 1st grade, and of course the preschooler, they seem to all be doing fine academically.

But my oldest child, my son, is having tremendous social difficulties. I feel like I know what to do when there is a math issue, or a science problem, but social issues are a whole different ballgame. When my youngest had speech problems, we had her tested and sent her to speech class. Through her speech class, her speech problem has shrunk while her confidence is soaring. But I don't know who to go to for social unease. I have talked to his teacher, which has helped. I have talked on the phone to the school social worker, and that helped, too.

But he still has problems. It breaks my heart. I don't know how to help him. How do you help a kid who feels awkward and doesn't feel like he has any friends? He isn't being bullied or made fun of, and he is included in the recess football game. And yet he still feels lonely.

I have listened to him and tried to reassure him that he is a great kid. I have tried to coach him with some strategies in being friends with others (following the old adage "Sometimes you have to be a friend to have a friend). I have offered to have kids from school over for the afternoon. I have let him know that I love him completely and always will. But I don't know how to make this part of his life better. I know kids have to go through some hard times in their lives. I know it can help them to grow. I know life isn't always a bowl of cherries. But it sure sucks while it is going on.

Makes Me Cry Everytime

I discovered this song some time ago, finally bought it from iTunes and every time I hear it I can't hold back the tears. It is Steven Curtis Chapman's "Cinderella" and if you have a daughter, I dare you to listen to it without tears.



My girls are only 5 and 6, but I can imagine all these upcoming events and I realize our time with them is truly only fleeting. I hope my husband and I are taking the time to dance with all three of our kids.

Weekend Fun

How was your weekend? Ours was busy, but fun. You know, the kind of busy that is good.

On Thursday, Emma, my 6 1/2 year old, had her first friend sleepover. They got to stay up until 10:15 and slept in sleeping bags on the floor. Anna had an Ariel sleeping bag while Emma used her cheerleader Barbie sleeping bag. They watched Ice Princess and had ice cream sandwiches for a treat.

The next morning Anna's mom came with her big brother and little sister and the kids played for another couple of hours while the moms chatted. It was a great way to spend a day off from school!


Then on Saturday Emma had a birthday party in the afternoon. While she was at the party I made giant half and half chocolate chip cookies to serve as dessert at that night's Daddy Daughter dance at my kids' school. Both Emma and Zoe went with Brendan this year and had a great time. The theme was sports so most of the dads wore Bears jerseys, including Brendan. Emma wore an Ohio State cheerleading outfit and Zoe wore a generic pink and blue cheerleading outfit. The reports are that the hot dog/ bratwurst/ hamburger dinner were great. There were games, dancing, and dessert, and of course the running around with the other first grade and preschool girls.



Ian and I stayed home and made a new recipe for dinner from the kids cookbook Ian got from the library. We both agreed the spicy chicken burgers were good and then we settled in for a few games of Mario Party 8 on the Wii. After Ian soundly drubbed me on the Wii, we turned on The Pink Panther movie with Steve Martin. We made popcorn and giggled at all of the silly antics of Inspector Clouseau. The girls came in just as the movie was ending at 9:00PM and we sent everyone up to bed.

Sunday brought church and play practice. It was a good weekend.

The Mind Of A Four Year Old

I don't know if this kind of thing is normal or not, but I thought it was pretty interesting. My four year old daughter, out of the blue, says the following to me at the breakfast table one recent morning:

If you were the first person created, and you were on Mars where there was no air, you would just be bleah (Zoe sticks out her tongue and closes her eyes for effect on the word bleah) dead. No one else would be created. You'd just go straight to heaven.

And that was it. She didn't add anything to her comments or give me any other hints to clue me in to her many deep thoughts that lead her to the conclusion above.

All I could say was, "Yes, I think that if the first person was created on Mars, that's exactly what would happen."