One of those Days

I'm having one again.  One of those days where I just want to hide out in my room with the door shut - away from any yelling, fighting and whining humans.  A day where I wish I was the one who got dressed and ready in the morning, drove in the car alone to my job, where I'd sit at a desk ALONE all day - free to go to lunch or a walk or use the restroom as I pleased...  Ugh.  

I had planned on taking the crew SHOPPING of all things this morning.  Am I insane? The older two have been bickering since they opened their eyes, and for some reason, Jacob cannot be separated from me for more than 2.4 minutes.  I had this fun little excursion planned in my head where the boys were interested and actually HELPFUL in selecting window treatments for their bedrooms.   ha.  We never made it out of the house.  

The highlight of the afternoon was when Jacob waltzed out to the kitchen announcing 'NEED WASSED', holding his filthy hands out in front of him.  Did he sneak chocolate out of the pantry?  I wish.  When he made a face of disgust and said, 'ucky'  - I knew.  The little stinker reached down the back of his diaper, and apparently groped around a bit before deciding something wasn't right.  If I hadn't just changed a dirty diaper 30 minutes prior, I'd be feeling a little bad for not checking his back end before that happened... but come on!  Two in an hour? Double ugh.

It's now 4:00 p.m. and I've made it though most of the day.  Between going for a school tour with the principal earlier today and shopping for school supplies (tonight), Jacob managed to get a few winks in - hopefully improving his mood.  Sure, he was mid-bite of his third bowl of cereal... sitting on a counter stool... but hey, I'll take what I can get!

Smooth Criminal

I was awoken this morning at 6:30 a.m. by the sound of little feet pitter pattering all around the house.  As I sleepily drug myself out of bed and started drudging across the room to investigate, I mentally scolded myself for staying up so late to watch the director's cut of Twilight (who does that!).   When I reached the threshold of our bedroom and stepped into the hallway, the pitter patter noises came to an abrupt halt. A quick glance to my left confirmed my suspicions... frozen in a guilty pose half-way up the stairway was little Jakey - with a BIG smile on his face.  'Done Seepin?' he asked me.  YUP.

I had mixed feelings about moving Jacob to his toddler bed for several reasons, the escape-artist factor being at the top of the list.  Not only will it be the final time we pack away the crib, but we now have to deal with this little free agent wandering around at God only knows what times of the morning (and night!).  I was secretly kind of happy when he refused to stay put Friday night after we first introduced the bed to him. The gravitational pull to experiment with his new found freedom was far greater than that of his little bed and pillow. He kept sneaking out at random intervals to see if we were still keeping tabs on him, which of course we were.  After hauling him back for the 50th time, Ben decided to put him back in his crib.  'waaaaaaahhhhhhhh' - not happy.

So, yesterday at nap time when I offered the bed option to him again, he was very receptive.  He only wandered out three or four times before he abided by my firm instructions to 'STAY'.  It was so cute to see him sleeping in the bed!  And he was very proud of himself when he woke up, coming out on his own to announce to us, "ME WATE UP'!  

Last night it only took two tries to get him to stay put.  However, I'm thinking a little gate across his door might be a nice feature to add for after he falls asleep.  As long as he drifts to dreamland with the illusion that he can escape at any moment, he may still cooperate.  

Ben (who had fallen asleep during the director's cut, and apparently didn't wake up when I went up to bed) reported to me this morning that he also returned the whiney wanderer to his little bed at about 4:00 am.   

Hmmm.  Gate.  Definitely.  

  

Recipe for Disaster

First, take one incredibly cranky and demanding toddler.  

For best results, use this one:

Next, leave the room while he/she acquires one box of cake flour* 

from the top shelf of the pantry

* any kind of flour you have on hand will work, 

however if there is a picture of an actual yummy cake on it 

-like this one has - 

you will probably have better results

Wait FIVE minutes...

TA-DAH!

I Geek the Library!

Now that we are semi-settled into our new place, I'm trying to meet some folks around here and get involved in the community.  Last night I attended my first 'friends of the library' meeting as my official first attempt to do so.  The library is housed in a little teensy-weensy building (I mean, the town is teensy weensy, so what would ya expect), so I wasn't expecting much when I first went there.  

I guess it just goes to show that it's true: You can't judge a book (or a library) by it's cover! This little library is the cutest dang thing!  I enrolled the kids in their summer reading program, which was totally awesome (beekeepers, magicians, crafts, prizes), and we've been regularly checking out materials ever since our first visit.  Their inventory is obviously limited, but they have a nice assortment of materials, including lots of dvd's for the kids.  Heck, I could even check out a cake pan if I wanted!

The librarian had made it known on a couple visits that the library was in big need of fundraising and improvements, which is why I decided to pay the $10 annual fee for my membership and attend the monthly meeting.  I looked over the budget last night, and frankly - it was depressing. The entire library operates on only  $39,000 a year!  That includes the librarian's wages!  Wow. Their wish list has basic things like a desk, shelving, a security camera (to stop people from putting apples and garbage in the drop box), children's carpet, indoor signage, a color printer, a projector screen... etc etc.  

We have a couple of fundraising ideas, like a library cookbook, a bake sale and a soup supper, but I can't imagine that will raise near enough money for all the things they need.  Hmph.  I am a newbie at fundraising and not really sure where to start.  Community awareness?  I'm sure a lot of people around here are totally unaware of this little gem under their noses.  So, I'm going to start researching on what I or the group can do to get this little library some STUFF!  Any ideas?

Hayward Trip Recap - the short version

We are safe and sound, back from Hayward now for three days.  I finally got the rest of the bags and laundry put away yesterday.  Sometimes it's harder to get settled after a trip than it is getting ready to go!  Of course now that we are back, it is hotter than the dickens here - near 90 degree temps everyday.  Sure wish we had some of that in Hayward!

The trip overall was very good.  The weather, as eluded to, stunk for a few of the days (60 degrees!), but we did get some really great days in as well.  It was a little on the cool side the entire time for any prolonged amounts of swimming, but the boys got their fair share in by the end.  Fishing off the end of the dock was a lot of fun, and even Jake was getting into it with his Spongebob pole.  The boys LOVED Uncle Ryan's new fishing boat, and while I liked it as well - I preferred the pontoon! :-)  I snapped a ton of great pictures, especially when the boys went tubing for the first time - what a hit!    

At the end of the week, Ben's cousin and his family joined us for a couple days which was super! The kids don't get to see their cousins near enough, and to spend time with them in Hayward was a big bonus to the trip.  However, I'm not sure who had more fun - the kids or the adults! Overall, it was another great family experience with lots of new memories!  THANK YOU Grandma and Grandpa for another super Hayward trip!

So far, So good (a late posting)

We arrived safely on Sunday in Hayward, and so far everything is going swimmingly.  While the jury is still out on which place is better (last year or this year), we are having fun finding out what this lake and house has to offer.  Last year our cabin was VERY secluded (like no phone, no internet, no cable - OMG), which was a little freaky at first - but by the end we had come to appreciate the 'quiet life'.  Since not everyone loved to fish 24/7 like some people (RICK), we opted for a bit more commercialized lake this year where we could still fish, but also make a wake with the boat and get to town in less than ten minutes.  (Oh and it has a phone, cable, DSL, etc - but we have yet to watch TV!) 

Yesterday we spent most of the day on the boat cruising the lake, tubing and playing around the dock.  We also boated to a Packer Bar on the lake for lunch which was really fun and yummy. Overall, it was a great day and I'm looking forward to what is to come!

Creature Seekers

As we ready ourselves to depart on our week long vacation to Hayward, WI, I'm getting myself into 'beast bird and fish' mode.  If this trip is anything like last year, I'll be up to my eyeballs in fish, crawdads, frogs and any other little creature the boys can get their hands on.  I've had a little practice getting into the swing of things here as of late...

I'd be lying if I said I didn't scream like a girl when this next photo was taken.  

Can you guess why?

Let's try that again...

RIBBIT!