Thank You!

Thanks for your great ideas for traveling with small children. I'm also thankful to those who I know must have been praying for us.

I especially want to thank my kind cousin who sent me a great link. These ideas, while not novel, are very useful. I'd used clipboards in the car before, but I'd never thought to use cookie sheets. It worked like a charm.

Those same tips also reminded me that a road trip doesn't have to be neat and tidy. I cut up small pieces of paper and brought along glue sticks. My son enjoyed gluing the small scraps of paper into a notebook.

Messy? Yes.

Worth it? Definitely.

Now, I have one tip of my own to share. Normally I stick to this rule, but yesterday, I deviated from it.

The rule is to stick to the child's normal diet as closely as possible. Otherwise you may end up spending the first few hours at grandma's house wiping little bums. We'll leave it at that!

Though I'm sure this little visit out west will give me plenty of stories to share, I'm going to wait to do that until after we've officially celebrated Thanksgiving.

Until then, have a very Happy Thanksgiving!

He Screamed for Five Months!

Who screamed?

My son. My darling son.

He screamed each and every time we were in the car until he was 5 months old. As he got older, he would grant us brief periods of quiet. However, car travel longer than 20 minutes was still not fun.

He was two months old the first time we took a long road trip. He screamed for 9 of the 10 hours we were in the car. I promise I'm not exaggerating.

Now, at 2 and a half, he is still a challenge in the car.

This is where I need your help. We have a trip coming up. This trip is one that takes 9 1/2 hours without children. Care to guess how long it will take us with the children? I have no idea. I'm praying for not much longer than 10 1/2 hours.

So, could you please help a girl out? What has worked for you with your travel with little ones? Oh, I guess I should mention that we do have a DVD player in the minivan. I'll also add that my son has no interest whatsoever in television. Usually, I appreciate this, except of course when we have long car rides.

Any suggestions? Please, pretty please.

Create a New Birthday Tradition

It's simple.


Just begin the tradition of eating ice cream for breakfast on your kids' birthdays. I'd say dealing with their sugar high is a small price to pay for the fun memories made by a fun tradition.


Add to the fun by assigning a certain plate as your family's "special day" plate. We use a simple red plate that I bought at Walmart. A fancier version, such as this, could also be used.


It works for me, and it tastes great too! Please stop by Rocks in My Dryer for more Works-for-Me Wednesday ideas.

Has it really been four years?

Exactly four years ago today, we brought home our first baby. I remember feeling both excited and nervous.





Yesterday, as I watched my firstborn wait for her friends to arrive to her first big-girl birthday party, I felt the same way.




I'm thrilled to be on this journey with my sweet Ann. It has only been four years, but they've been some of the best years.

Happy Fourth Birthday, Ann! Your Daddy and I are honored that we get to be your parents. We love you sweet one.

Happy Nine Months!

Jane,

You are nine months! I can hardly believe it. There is something about nine months. Perhaps it is because it seems to mark the beginning of being an older baby and soon a toddler.

This picture makes me smile. It really describes you, as you are both laid back and adventurous. That is such a delightful combination. Even with most of your eyes covered, you smiled as you attempted to climb a few stairs.

Sweet girl, you have been a wonderful addition to our family. You happily go wherever we need to go. It doesn't matter where we're going, you simply have a good time. You freely offer smiles to anyone willing to make eye contact with you. However, you reserve the biggest smiles for your family. We love that!

You are trying hard to keep up with your brother and sister. They are so sweet to you. (Most of the time.) Your brother even requests that you play in his room with him. He also never lets me drop him off at Mother's Day Out without first letting him give you a kiss.

There are times when I wish you would stay this age forever. I don't think I would ever tire of your cuddles and you almost toothless grin. Yet, I'm so grateful that you are healthy and growing stronger with each day.

I love you little one. May this next month be even better than the last! (And may I suggest that a key to making this a stellar month would be sleeping through the night. Just a thought. Sleep is fun, fun, fun!)

It's a Dirty Job

But, someone has to pick the chocolate chips out of the baby's muffin. It might as well be me!

I have a feeling it won't be too long before she is on to what I'm doing. I better eat those chocolate chips while I can.

Interesting

One would think that the same child who has repeatedly stuck his hand into a dirty diaper would be excited about putting the same hand into a pumpkin.

The look on his face proves he prefers stinky over slimy.

It should be noted that I worried I might be crossing the line by documenting the fact that my son has repeatedly stuck his hand in his poop. It isn't my intention to use my blog to humiliate my children. Also, I do realize that he won't be little forever. One day he may read this post. He might even be a bit embarrassed about what I shared.

I do believe I will tell him it is payback for having to wipe poop off multiple items in his room one too many times.

That's fair. Right?

Adding to Mimi's Photo Album

Earlier today I received an email from my mom. In it, she referred to herself in the third person and wrote, "Mimi is waiting very patiently for pictures of Halloween."

Oh, really?

Thanks for your patience, Mimi. Here you go.

This is our fairy princess. Ann's costume was quite basic. However, it made her happy and that is all that mattered. We managed to talk her into wearing the headband for a quick picture, but that was it. That is probably just as well since I don't think fairy princesses usually have antennae.

In case you missed it, here is a closer shot of her choice of footwear. She bypassed her dress-up princess shoes and actual dress-up shoes in order to wear these. Do we have a budding fashionista on our hands?

Our little guy decided to be a fireman instead of a frog. The picture doesn't show how the coat reached down to his ankles. If you ask this mama, it only added to the charm.

As I looked at the above photo, I realized we must have had a theme going with mismatched head wear. He quickly ditched his hat as well.

Now, I never tire of looking and Jane in her little pumpkin suit. All three of our babies have worn this. I do believe I will have a hard time parting with in. Perhaps I could talk my children into having their children wear it?

Here is the family shot. Please note that 4 out of 5 of us are LOOKING IN THE SAME DIRECTION! If I had known this would happen, we would have all been wearing coordinating outfits and I would have have my Christmas card ready to go. Oh well.

Now, I saved the best for last. This is what I saw as I peered into Ann's bag of candy. Can you guess what I took for myself?

I'll give you a hint by telling you that the 3Musketeers is a full-size candy bar.

Strange, I'm suddenly craving a little chocolate.