Imaginations at Play Day

It's hot as heck outside and SG is out of town so we went to an "indoor exploration playground" today called Imaginations at Play. It's sort of a cross between ImagineIt! and I.N.K. (Interactive Neighborhood for Kids). Now that TJ can walk well, he got to join in the fun.
It was a nice time. I would recommend going at the time slot we did (noon-1:30). It was a little crowded when we 1st got there but people started heading ot soon after and it was pretty empty the rest of our visit. There are tables and chairs if you decide to bring lunch or a snack, lots of benches for moms to sit and watch, several hand sanitizing stations and right now it's $2 off admission until summer ends!

TJ's about to go in the music tree...

He likes the piano, but....

He found climbing in and out of the tree was far more fun!

That is until he found a shopping cart he could run around with...

He's a man on a mission!
Very determined little man...
But wait! What is this...

Mom, LOOK, a water table!!

And here would be why we had to leave the water table - because someone couldn't stop putting the toys in his mouth - YUCK!

SO off we went to baby jail, I mean the "toddler area"...

See, mom, I can go through the catapiller...

Whew that was hard work!

But, WAIT, I have to see if it's just as cool to go through the opposite direction!

Yep, just as cool and there's a tongue on this side!

There's my sweet girl! This is where she stayed when she wasn't manning the produce stand.

So sweet and smiley!

TJ wants to know what this is all about...

And he digs in!

Check out my new blog!

Hi everyone! It's been a crazy year with TJ and swim team and life with 3 kids. I'm hoping to start blogging more as this school year gets under way. In the mean time, I thought you would like to check out my new blog. It's where I posting a lots of classroom and crafty projects. Thanks!

http://room-moms-rock.blogspot.com/

Why You Shouldn't Watch Biggest Loser with Your Husband

Conversation while watching Biggest Loser

Tad (looking at a BL contestant): Dang, I wouldn't want to look at that if you were my wife!
Kimberly: Tad, that's horrible to say about someone. My butt wasn't this big either when we got married.
Tad: Your butt wasn't pregnant.
Kimberly: Ok, well then I wasn't pregnant this summer either but my but was still bigger.
Tad: You weren't fat this summer.
Kimberly: SO, you're saying I'm fat now?!
Tad: That's not what I said.
Kimberly: No, that's exactly what you said.
Tad: That's not what I meant. Why are you always twisting my words on me?
Kimberly: I'm not TWISTING your words I'm repeating EXACTLY the words you spoke.
Tad: I didn't mean your actual butt.
Kimberly: What hypothetical butt did you mean then?
Tad: I meant like when someone says "your a dumb butt", that doesn't mean your actual butt is dumb!
Kimberly: But we are watching a weight show and we were discussing large actual butts.
Tad:(silence)
Kimberly: Yeah, that's what I thought.

The DNA Results are IN...

OK, I had to say that. I've always wanted to - ever since a co-worker at my last job used that as the title of the e-mail he sent to our ENTIRE division informing us that he had a paternity test done on his "one night stand" and was now a father! I don't make this stuff up. Again, my time spent at this last job is why I find The Office so hysterically funny and sadly, so realistic!

Anywho, so the first line of DNA results came in (otherwise known as the FISH test) from my amnio done on Monday and it is definitely a BOY and he has perfectly normal 13th, 18th and 21st chromosomes (which means he does NOT have downs or any of the other two scary syndromes that is caused by trisomies of these chromosomes). See Tad, I am paying attention when you are trying to educate me on my "MINOR" in genetics!

In about 8 days we will get the second line of results in (testing for what I'm not sure and I don't think I want to know) I just vaguely remember Tad explaining they have to grow or reproduce the chromosomes or look at the genes, I'm not sure. Again, I'm still working on my genetics degree and Tad didn't have his white board when going over this.

And then in about 3 weeks (hopefully) we will have the results from the Mayo Clinic for the BWS test. This takes the longest because they have to do "a lot of crap" to distinguish my "junk" from the baby's and then look at the methylation - don't even get me started on explaining this! So, we wait and wait and Tad grows impatient because I don't follow along so easily when he going over methylation for the 1,000th time.

Next week I start my progesterone shots that I have to have every week until I'm 36 weeks along. This is to try and ensure the sucker stays in there as long as possible. When getting my second opinion today from my midwife she said "They are a pain in the butt (literally, sorry about the pun) but you NEED them". And that's the update so far...thanks for stoppping by!

Smoothing Over Rough Patches

OK, so my friend Susannah suggested I write a post on this the other day when I told them my plans. I have a gift (Tad calls it manipulation - I like to refer to it as ensuring my kid stays in good standing and recognizing the people that spend every day with her). And for the record, several of my other friends share this same "gift".

Our youngest little one is a firecracker. She is SO funny, ALWAYS smiling, running, loud and happy. Sometimes I think I should have named her Joy, because that is what she is. You can't help but love her and laugh with her (even when she's up to no good). Many of the people in our life feel her "fighting" spirit is God given and it's why she has flourished so well in spite of her medical issues. So, I was a little worried when she was going into a more serene, structured classroom this year without her older sister to "supervise" her. For the first few weeks she was getting accustom to her surroundings - very quiet, very shy and very on task. Then about 3 weeks ago she felt comfortable to be more herself. And so ensued a couple of weeks were we needed to help her find a balance between being herself and following the school rules. For a few days there I could tell her teachers' nerves were wearing a little thin. We worked with them and with our baby girl and I think this balance has been achieved and maintained (at least since the middle of last week).

To help make sure no lasting damage was done, I decided to put "operation smooth things" over into action. Yesterday I went to the dollar section at Target and picked up a tube of the Pumpkin Spice body scrub and a Ghiradelli Chocolate Square for each of the teachers. I then included a note that said "Thanks for helping me through my rough patch at school, I hope my new behavior (and this scrub & chocolate) will help smooth things over!". They LOVED it! I know it's corny and some might think stupid. Yes, I know that this was not necessary to my child's enrollment at the school, however it was an inexpensive but much appreciated gift that let those teachers know we appreciate their patience. I think too often people don't take time to do this. It's not that we are trying to "buy" our way past our children's bad behavior - that we take very seriously at our house and we addressed with our child. But, it is hard on the teachers (even when they are trained and paid to deal with it) and it's nice to let them know you recognize that.

One of my friends a few years ago had a rough patch with her child at school. She made a little "see no evil, hear no evil" scrapbook for the teachers. It had a page that said "I'm sorry I didn't listen, I promise to do better" (and a picture of her child holding her hand to her ear), a page with "I'm sorry I didn't pay attention, I promise to do better" (with a picture of her child's hands over her eyes), and a page for "I'm sorry I didn't do my best yesterday, I promise to do better" (with a picture of her child looking sad). The teachers LOVED it. It showed them that the parent took their issues seriously, discussed it with her child and most of all it made them laugh!! What ideas or "operation smooth things over" have you used?

Short Order Cook

I don't know what I've started but the girls are now becoming "house hermits" too! I gave them the choice the past two nights of going to Zaxby's or eating whatever I could scrounge up from the fridge & pantry and without any hesitation they screamed 'STAY AT HOME". So, tonight I just happened to have found this recipe for Waffle House waffles and so we whipped them up with eggs, bacon and oranges. They really liked them. They don't taste exactly like Waffle House but they are the closest I have ever made. (It may be that they don't taste exactly the same because we use 100% maple syrup here and they don't at Waffle House.)

Waffle House Waffles
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 egg
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar - Yeah, no wonder they are so good!
2 tablespoons butter, softened
2 tablespoons shortening
1/2 cup half & half
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1. Combine flour, salt and baking soda in a medium bowl. Stir to combine.
2. Lightly beat the egg in another medium bowl. Add the sugar,butter, and shortening and mix well with an electric mixer until smooth. Add the half & half, milk, buttermilk and vanilla. Mix well.
3. Add the dry flour mixture to the wet mixture while beating. Mix until smooth.
4. Cover and chill at LEAST 15-20 minutes. Waffle House actually refrigerates overnight!
5. Rub a light coating of vegetable oil on a waffle iron. Preheat the waffle iron. Leave the batter out of the refrigerator to warm up a bit as your waffle iron is preheating.

First By-Weekend of 2008

This was a hectic weekend. Tad was gone on a family golf tournament so it was just me and the girls. Sarah-Grace had a swim meet on Friday night. She did good, but I could tell she wasn't herself. I don't know if it was that Tad wasn't there or if she was overwhelmed by the disorder of this swim meet compared to her other team. Either way she did well. She didn't break her personal best record for the backstroke (that she set in the county meet), but she swam it faster than she did in the regular season. Most importantly she dropped exactly SEVEN seconds off her freestyle which is pretty amazing!! She came in second in all of her heats. I think it's good she gets used to this now because this summer she is moving up to the 7 and 8 year old group and so it's going to be a LOT tougher.

The girls spent the night with Jeannie & Kristi on Friday so I could participate in Compassion in Action with my church on Saturday morning. It was awesome! My group did a food drive for the Lawrenceville Co-op and we collected over 1,000 items!! It was really wonderful getting to know more people in my church AND in my neighborhood. If anyone wants to help with the Lawrenceville Co-op they will need help sorting the 15,000 or so items they received over the weekend this Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. So, you can find me there at least one of those days this week.

The girls had 2 birthday parties yesterday. However I didn't realize until the afternoon (once I finished up Compassion in Action) that one of them was in Lilburn and there was NO way I could get there and get back in time for the other birthday party. So we decided to come home and rest (which was a good idea because I was exhausted) and then Grace went to the party and I took Charlotte to the mall.

Today we went to church and I took the girls to the Elisha Winn fair which they loved. We walked the grounds spoke to a few historical societies, shopped and then I let them eat a hot dog and we all split a funnel cake. Here is their picture. The girls also go to meet Ms. Dacula and have their picture taken with her crown. I will try and upload thise pictures soon!