Winter Classes

Jack and Anna are finally at the age where they can both take classes at the Y by themselves. This is a huge milestone for me because up until now, I've done a lot of swimming classes with them. Don't get me wrong, I like swimming. But the whole ordeal gets tiring with changing and then getting in the water and then changing again.

So now Jack is taking Tae Kwon Do and basketball (a last-minute sign-up on a whim). And Anna is very ecstatic about a little girl dance class.

I don't want to be one of those families with crazy schedules who have something every night of the week. But this is sure going to help us get through winter. Plus, we figured out that it's cheaper to become members of the Y, rather than to pay community rates for individual classes.

So this weekend was the first session. I went with Jack to basketball, and he was VERY timid at first. He is my cautious boy who is very self-conscious, so he didn't want to do the dribbling drills at all. He finally warmed up, though, and had a blast. Afterward, we got him a $5 basketball at the store and he's been practicing his dribbling ALL weekend long in the house.

I didn't go to Anna's class, but Steve said she loves it. Imagine 8 to 10 little 3 and 4-year-olds, all decked out in little dance shoes and tutus. It doesn't get much cuter than that. Hopefully we'll have pictures soon.

The Blog About Snow

As I type this, I know I'm going to have critics. People around here hate winter and the snow. Believe me, they start talking about hating it as soon as the first snowfall. I get it...it's cold and wet and icky and dirty. And I've definitely had my fair share of complaining about it. In fact, every year on the first very very cold day, I usually call Steve and complain to him about bringing me to this nasty cold state. (Actually, I usually say worse things than that, but I'm keeping this blog PG.)

But the thing is, there are some really cool things about living in a place where it snows. Today we got home and there was about 5 inches of snow in the driveway. The kids were in complete and utter excitement as they put on their snowpants and boots. And then while I snowblowed the driveway, they had an absolute blast.

It was pretty, too. The wind wasn't blowing. It wasn't that cold. And the sky was completely clear and crisp. It was a beautiful scene.

I'll be sick of snow next week, I'm sure. And definitely by March when it's still snowing. But sometimes it's just fun and pretty.

Our Christmas List

Christmas is only 2/3 of the way finished for us because we'll be going to Steve's mom's house on New Year's Eve. We've had a wonderful holiday thus far, though. It kicked off more than a week ago when we hit the road the night before a huge snowstorm hit Milwaukee. Whew! Then Steve and I joined Vicki and Jeff in Vegas for a few days before flying back to Oklahoma for Christmas.

Here are some of the highlights of our adventures, in my traditional list style.

* Jack might not remember what Santa brought him for Christmas this year, but Santa did leave him a note. In it, he told Jack that he kissed his toes while he was sleeping. Now, Jack has been playing "pretend Santa" with Anna, and he always makes her kiss his toes when she's being Santa.
* Anna fell in love with my Grandma, and it was the cutest thing in the world. Today I even asked her to name all of her grandmas, and she only named Grandma Bingham. "I can't think of the rest," she said. (Sorry other Grandmas. Don't take it personal, though.)
* My dad fired up their hot tub while we were there, and the kids LOVED going out there...sometimes even three times a day!
* We had great weather in Oklahoma. Jack even said, "It can't be Christmas. Where's the snow?"
* While I spent lots of money in Vegas with shopping, Steve was more productive and actually made a little with his gambling. Wooohooo!
* The built-in DVD player in our new van totally rocks.
* My brother, Steve, won money in Vegas, too. I'm super proud of him. My other brother....well, let's just say he didn't win.
* Jack and Anna had a blast playing with their cousin, Lockin. The three of those kids are crazy.

That's the highlights for now. We had a really great trip overall.

Car Salesmen Make Me Cringe

We're in the market to update our van these days. We travel such long distance throughout the year that we try to watch our overall mileage, which is getting up there. And we just want some cool new features like a built-in DVD (no cords!), windows that roll down in the second row and a power back door.

We happen to have great timing because the economy is down, so dealerships are cutting pretty good deals. And my parents are going to buy our current van. We're driving down there in a couple of weeks, so then we could just drive it to them!

Anyway, back to the point of my whole post. Car salesmen nauseate me. Here are my top 5 car salesmen annoyances...

1. They make lame jokes, and then you laugh just to be kind. Ugh.
2. They don't take me serious. Apparently, I have to have a man with me to buy a car because they will actually ask me when I want to come back with my husband. (They don't even know I'm married. One guy said something like that over the phone!)
3. They make stuff up on the fly. ("This car had new tires put on recently. Oh year, they are good as new.")
4. They want to talk too much and show you everything. (Like the folding rear seat is something miraculous that will make you buy it on the spot.)
5. They really aren't that thorough and ignore your questions. (I will ask very simple questions via e-mail and they glaze over them and just try to get me in the door.)

So what is it about car salesmen? How can they all share this annoying traints? And why aren't there more women?

I found this one van I really like but really don't like the salesman. We'll see how my search goes. If I can get through the salesmen, then we should be driving in a much cooler van in a couple of weeks. After all, if you drive a van, shouldn't it be much cooler?

Happy, Merry Thanksgiving

We had a fabulous Thanksgiving in Minneapolis this weekend. Since I still don't have a camera, here are some of the highlights...

*We went to Macy's in downtown to go through this Christmas scene. Then we stood in line to see Santa. Jack got stage fright when he actually saw Santa and told him he'd send him a letter instead. (My company has breakfast with Santa next weekend, so we're going to craft the perfect letter this week to hand him personally. How convenient.)
*We went to our first movie as a family, along with Steve's dad and his family. We went to see Bolt, and it was super cute. Anna had a couple of moments, but she made it through. Yeah!
*Jack and Anna got lots of good play time in with Uncle Sam and Aunt Julia. We may not have a huge family, but this just means the kids get extra attention!
*We had Christmas with Steve's dad since we won't see them next month. Jack and Anna LOVED this. Jack got this United States game that Grandma Ginny played with him about 10 times. (What a great grandma!) And Anna got this baby doll and wooden cradle; she took care of it all weekend.
*I couldn't bear the thought of NOT shopping on Black Friday, so I went out to Target in the afternoon and got all my "Toys for Tots" presents taken care of.
*I got to sleep in three mornings in a row, though not because the kids slept late. I just have the most wonderful husband.
*Anna had about 7 pieces of bacon this morning for breakfast. (I figured I should throw that in there because I'm sure she would mention that as a highlight of the weekend.)
*Oh yeah, the actual Thanksgiving dinner! Steve's dad made a fabulous meal, and we'd pretty much cleaned it out by Sunday. Gotta love leftovers.

So yes, we had a great, Thanksgiving weekend. It's so much fun to see my kids growing up and being to play with each other and even unsupervised. We went to a movie, went out to dinner and stood in a looooong line to see Santa. These are all things that would have stressed us out 2 years ago. Now they are just fun. What a great family we have. I'm very thankful for that.

Thanksgiving Message from Jack

Jack learned a new turkey song at school. I couldn't post a direct audio file, so I had to upload it into a movie. I just put his song behind this recent photo I took. (He has this tie set, and he wanted to wear it so bad one day!)

In case you don't understand his words, he's saying...

Gobble Gobble said the turkey
Soon it will be Thanksgiving Day.
The way they treat me,
They're going to eat me,
So I better run away.

No More Babies

It's official. We no longer have babies in our house. Anna turned 3 on Friday. She's a big kid now...wearing underwear and everything.

We had a nice little party for her on Saturday. She got some great presents, including lots of horse-themed stuff and a cool set of princess shoes that she wears all the time. She loved everything, but her princess "bouncy ball" was among her favorite items. That little girl has mastered her bouncy technique with curls boppin' behind perfectly. For anyone looking for a good gift for a little kid, I would highly recommend the bouncy ball.

Here's a picture of her with her new horse, Sal, too. She can climb on him and sit on him. So cute. And her aunt Maggie sent her a cowgirl hat and outfit to complete her look when she rides Sal.

I took the day off on Friday, and we had a great girls' day. I can honestly say that I'm not sad to see my kids get bigger. Sure babies are cute and all, but I don't have that yearning to keep them young. I love watching them grow up and develop. Our weekends are quite pleasant, and the kids can even play unsupervised for short spurts (until someone cries out because the other hit, kicked or took something).

I feel very blessed to have such a great little family!

PS: These pictures are from my iphone. Word has it that I'm getting a new camera for Christmas, so hang in there!

Mosaics, Birthdays and Funny Stories

I haven't had a good regular post in a while. Well, following my great run last week, I haven't worked out a single day since then. Ha! A big reason is that I've had this nasty sore throat all last week that was brutal in the mornings. And then now I have this weird earache. But all excuses aside, hopefully I'll get back in the swing of things soon. I've built up my endurance, so I don't want to just lose it.

Today I did a lot of mosaics to finish up some Christmas presents I'm working on. They turned out cool. Jack and Anna even helped me do one of the pieces. That's the beauty of mosaics. It doesn't really matter where you put the pieces, as long as you're not doing a pattern. So they had a blast with that.

Anna's birthday is quickly approaching. I took the day off on Friday to hang out with her, and I think I might be looking forward to it more than her! That girl has been counting down the days to her birthday for a long time, so everyone is excited that it's almost here. (Especially Jack because he knows that it's one more step closer to his!)

Finally, here's my funny story of the week. We were in the drive-thru line at Walgreens, and there were some cars in front of us. We were just sitting there, hanging out. And Anna says, "Dammit cars!" Unfortunately, I have to take credit for that one. It doesn't make me proud, though.

I actually did it!

I really did it...I ran my 5k today. I've been working on it for a few weeks now, exercising and running outside weekly. Last weekend, I ran about 2.75 miles, and then today, I made it to the 3.1.

It was a cold and icky morning, though not as bad as it could have been. The kids went in the stroller on the walking portion with Steve and the grandparents. And my wonderful cross-country coach friend, Rachel, ran with me. She was such a good sport. She stayed with me the whole time, even though I know she could have gone faster. She even talked to me to keep my mind off the task at hand. What a great friend!

My time wasn't anything to brag about, but I finished the whole thing without stopping, which was my goal. I don't expect to be training for a full or half marathon anytime soon, so I might as well enjoy the moment while it lasts.

I celebrated my accomplishment by having a deep tissue massage.

Christmas Wishes

So it might be a little early for Christmas talk, but not in our house. Jack saw something with Santa on it, so he's already been talking about what he's going to ask Santa for.

Last month, he'd decided he wanted a Power Ranger brook and dustpan. (Don't ask me why. I have no idea.) But then now he's decided he wants a white Power Ranger, a gray Power Ranger and a Jack cup. Let me explain what Jack cup is. He had pictures taken at school, and they sent up a mock-up photo of his photo on a cup. Jack was amazed! Now he's sure that Santa will bring him a Jack cup. I'm sure Santa can definitely handle that. Good thing, too, since we'll in Oklahoma when Santa stops by.

Anna, on the other hand, just wants a princess dustpan and princess bucket. She's funny.

By the way, if you people haven't signed up for my giveaway on www.how-tostudio.com, you need to do it! If I'm doing the making, I'd rather do it for someone I know. Though I promise not to "fix" it. I truly draw names for the giveaways.

Costume Contest

I need some voting today. I'm going to enter Jack's Elvis costume (2 years ago; my mom made it) in a photo costume contest. Which of these photos do you like?

I was going to find an Elvis wig, but I figured there was no need to go overboard. The way the contest works is that if you make it through the first round, then it's up to the public's vote.

It really bugs me that some of the photos have random things in the background. D'oh! I should have picked up better before I took the pictures. Maybe Tina can photoshop it for me.

How-To Guru

Our how-to site is squeaking along slowly. We're not getting a TON of visitors, and I'm still trying to figure out how to promote it. We recently started offering weekly giveaways with our how-tos as incentive for people to visit our site. That seems to be helping, but I don't yet know how to get the big traffic. I think I'd need a major blogger or media site of some sort to do a story on us, and I don't know how to make that happen.

By the way, enter to win a tie dye sweatshirt this week, just by making a comment.

I figure this is a good learning process no matter what. I started out by doing a super simple blog, and now I can add html to make it three columns, change the background, etc., etc.

By the way, if you have any shopping on Amazon to do, please do it through our blog. We get a portion of sales if you enter through our site. Yes, yes, this is cool. But we haven't made any money yet.

Halloween Fun

I'd like to be posting a picture of Jack and Anna in their costumes right about now, but sadly, my camera is gone. Let me back up, though.

First things first...on Friday, I took off a 1/2 day to help out in Jack's classroom. They were having their party that day, and I helped clean out pumpkin goop and such. It was a lot of fun and not crazy at all. The kids were surprisingly well behaved. I NEVER would have paraded 21 kids around the school in and out of all the classrooms, but this teacher did and those kids stayed in line the whole time. Amazing!

Then today was our city's trick-or-treat day. The kids were SUPER excited to get going. And even though it was cold and windy, they barely noticed (until the light freezing rain started...then they noticed). I got some fabulous pictures, but my camera has mysteriously disappeared. Actually, it's not so mysterious. It was in the holder on the stroller, but we think it fell out when we folded down the stroller and loaded it in the van. Steve went right back to try and find it, but it wasn't there. I figure there's a 50/50 chance of whether some punk kid picked it up verses a family. And honestly, if you find a camera, how the heck are you supposed to find out who it belongs to?

Lesson learned: put your phone number on your camera. This is a basic lesson for taking it on vacation and such, but sadly, I never did it. Grrr.

Luckily, I had uploaded my pictures recently, so here's a lovely photo of the kids and Steve with our carved pumpkins.

Happy Birthday to Ash!

Today is my good friend, Ashley's, birthday. Ash is pretty awesome and a super talented news producer and cake maker extraordinaire. She was always the "best dressed" girl of our group in high school. (That "best dressed" award for senior year totally should have gone to you Ash. I think the ballots were fixed.)

It's weird to think about how long I've known her. One of my only memories of kindergarten is being scared on the first day. Then my mom told me that Ashley would be in my class, and that immediately made me happy. (I also have memories of mean Mrs. Cooper, but I won't go into those.)

I was almost always on the same t-ball or softball team with Ash. (Go Dolls!) We didn't hang out much in junior high, but then good old speech class brought us back together. I have many, many, many great memories with Ashley in them. The best thing about Ash is that she appears to be more conservative on the outside, but she's got some great funk hidden underneath. (Though she probably wouldn't choose the word "funk" for herself. Hehe.)

I guess my favorite moment with Ash would have to be performing our dramatic duet, Wings, in high school. (Dramatic duet was just a category for a theatre competition where you had two people perform a 5 to 10 minute routine.) Ash and I didn't like any of the usual dramatic duets out there, so we wrote our own and got it published under a pseudonym by some semi-shady Web site online. I sure wish I could find it now. We did pretty good that year with Wings.

Above all, I feel very lucky that Ash and I are still in touch, even though we went to different colleges and now live in different states. Thanks for keeping in touch, Ash.

And to show how super talented Ash is, here's a picture of one of her cool cakes she makes.

Headed to School

Jack's class is having their Halloween party tomorrow at school, and I volunteered to help. I'm taking off 1/2 a day of work to help parade the kids around the school in their costumes and carve pumpkins.

I think I'm more excited than Jack is. It's my first "help at school" day. We're supposed to bring the "healthy" treat for the party, so we put grapes it cute little ghosts bags.

Then Sunday is trick-or-treating in our neighborhood.

I'll try to remember to report on my morning with a bunch of 4-year-olds. Around 10 a.m., I might be thinking, "What have I got myself into?"