Polar Bear Polar Bear

I'm sitting in the office, catching up on some last minute emails before I have to go to class. All of a sudden I hear...

Ryan: Hippo, hippo, what do you hear? I hear a zebra makin' noises.

Megan: 'sat? (What's that?)

Ryan: A ZEBRA Megan! A ZEBRA!

First, it touches my heart to hear Ryan "reading" to her - and the fact that they can communicate with each other is the best!

For the first time...

...Megan cried when Ann Marie, our babysitter left today. She cried and ran to her, wanting to be picked up. Then she put her head on AM's shoulder and patted AM's back with her little hand.

I cried inside too.

She's only over here one day a week for about four hours, so it's not like I'm ditching the kids to go to work all the time! Maybe it was a one time thing - she did have a little bit of a fever and probably isn't feeling great. (At least that's what I'll keep telling myself!)

Just overheard...

...as Ric is getting dressed.

Ryan: Daddy, I want to see your weenie.

Dad: No, you don't need to see it, you have one of your own.

(By the way...we're thinking that we are at the beginning of the "Why's" - WAY too many questions all of a sudden!)

WHAT is that SMELL?

So...for the last few days, Ric and I have been trying to identify a strange smell in the office. At first, we thought another fly had gotten fried in the halogen lamp - that can be a pretty nasty smell, but usually there's smoke involved. :)

I knew we had to figure out the source of it, not that the smell was all that bad, it was just strange. But, with all the STUFF in the office, wires running everywhere, our computer network, printers, etc. I was worried that something was slowly burning or something and might cause a fire.

So today, I took everything apart... literally! I pulled everything out from under my desk - all the plastic drawers that organize my craft and stamping stuff. I had the vacuum handy because I knew there would be cat hair all over since ChiChi likes to go under there and sleep.

As I vacuumed, I'm sniffing everywhere to see if I could find it. Nothing in the carpet. Nothing under the plastic drawers. I took my PC apart and vacuumed it out (serious dust bunnies there!), still nothing! THEN, I FOUND IT!

Inside the baseboard, laying on top of the heating core was a tiny little field mouse.

A d.e.a.d. little field mouse.

Apparently, ChiChi does much more than just sleep under my desk! She's always thought she was a mighty hunter. This isn't the first little animal or insect she's brought into the house. But this one ended up in the baseboard somehow. (You would never know that this cat is 12 years old!)

It couldn't have been there too long, but long enough to start to smell. YUCK! Sure enough, when I put my nose there it smelled!

Of course, being the blogger that I am, I had Ric put on the rubber gloves and get it while I got the camera! (hehe) Poor little guy!

(By the way, can you find Ryan in the picture of my dismantled office?)

SHOES!

It's all Megan is in to these days. Right after I change her clothes in the morning, she picks a pair to wear. She will follow me around the house until I put them on her! She even knows which ones are which. She does the same when I put her PJ's on - she has to have shoes to match! :)

Today, for example, she decided that she wanted to wear her Sunday shoes. There was no talking her out of them.

Reminds me of a little someone I know who lives in Florida now! We used to call her Miss Emelda! Am I right Sue? :)

It must be a girl thing because Ryan was never interested in them. He'd rather be barefoot - unless he's wearing his sneakers that light up when he walks!

When Daddy Does Lunch

Random thoughts for the week...

...before I forget them completely!

I hope I never forget the look of concentration on Ryan's face as he pedaled his tricycle around the block (ALL the way around the block) for the first time. His little tongue sticking out the side of his mouth. He was tired but so proud he did it!

Megan is so pretty in her little pink frilly nightgown. It's almost as if she knows that there's a ruffle on the bottom and that means she can flit around like a princess. Tonight, she brought her Sunday shoes in to me to put on, WITH the nightgown. Yep - she's definitely a girly girl! (Now if I can just get her to keep a bow in her hair!

My mom is right. (Yes, mom, you read that right!) It IS much easier to make dinner when you thaw a pound of already cooked hamburger! I'm LOVING my new FoodSaver! After vacuum sealing meatloaf, ground beef, chicken with and without marinades, powdered sugar, and granola, I tried the marinate feature. WOW - this chicken just fell apart after it was done in the oven! Yep - my new favorite appliance. (Thanks Rach for recommending it!) Anyway, back to the hamburger. I thawed one of my vacuum sealed already cooked packages today and threw it in with the pasta sauce for dinner. It was the easiest thing ever!

I'm happy that this is Week 9 at New England Tech. That means that next week is final exams - and then I have a week off! I'll miss the money in the paycheck, but it will be a nice (short) break.

Facebook - all things in moderation, right? It's been so much fun to connect with people, catch up, play games online, but man it's a black hole! I have to limit myself to just a couple minutes a day! It will be hard, but a person can only take losing a Scramble or Sudoku game so much, right?

We've been having MAJOR problems with Ryan going to bed lately. Most of the time he's OK with me during the day going down for a nap, but when Ric is home, he throws major fits. I don't know if it's related to not having his binky anymore (though he doesn't ask for it) or just being rebellious. Right now, we're all about charts and stickers. He gets to pick a sticker when he wakes up and he's in a good mood. I give him one before his nap, threatening to take it away if he's acting up. Then the same at bedtime. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Either the stickers aren't enough for him, or he's getting bored with them. We'll see I guess!

Last, before I forget... I JUST LOVE MY HUSBAND! Not for any reason in particular. He's just the BEST! :)

Get Me Ready

In case you missed it in today's Providence Journal, I've posted a great article on Emergency and Long Term Preparedness on my other blog.

Haven't been there yet? Here you go... Get Me Ready

(See? It's not just us crazy Mormon's who prepare for emergencies! :) )

Saturday Family Night 'Round the PC

Ric happened to run across a Sesame Street, 39th season preview clip on YouTube. First of all...
Sesame Street began the year I was born, so I'm particularly attached to it. But even more now since the kids watch it!

There are so many hysterical spoofs on mainstream TV shows, that any adult would LOVE watching it!

For example...

Dr. Feel (Dr. Phil)
Pre School Musical (High School Musical)
Law & Order - Special Letters Unit (Law & Order SVU - complete with Richard Belzer Muppet)
CSI - Rhyme Scene Investigation (CSI - the David Caruso Muppet is dead on!)
Meal or No Meal - (Deal or No Deal)

There are so many more - of course I can't remember them. But here's the one we watched over and over tonight, enjoy!

Ta-Da! NO MORE BINKY!

Which means.... a NEW Tricycle! YAY! Look how big our little boy is!









We found the COOLEST trike for him. It's a Radio Flyer Twist Trike. Once he's old enough, we can twist it around and it's a "chopper" (big wheel) style trike. Cool huh? (It also comes in pink, so Ryan wanted to know if Megan was getting one too! Not right now. By the way, the pink one is more expensive, what's up with that?)

Right now, he barely reaches the pedals, and doesn't really get the idea of one foot at a time, but watch out! He'll be pedaling down the street at record speed within a week! (or less!)



We're so proud of him! It was rough at first, going cold turkey, but within a few days, he didn't ask for it anymore. (Megan didn't really care either since she wasn't as attached.)





So...all the "b's" are gone (except the Red Sox one that I'm putting in his keepsake box, but he can't read yet, so he'll never find it - heh.)






Oh... and in case you weren't aware, there's nothing better than a blue "paw-sickle" while riding your new trike!





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And this was the scene this morning...Tricycle and YouTube. Life is good!

DJ Busta Ryan

Just needin' some 'BLING'! (Complete with diaper hanging out of his shorts!)

Edited: The Utah Jazz hat has been in a box of mine for YEARS! It's probably worth something now since it's the old logo/colors! Hmmm... make an offer! :)

Gabby Girl

Megan has found her voice. Maybe it's a girl thing...but she LOVES to chatter all day long!

She also knows exactly what we're saying! It's fun to watch her react to things. Just a few examples...

I was sitting at the table with some Potato Salad for lunch. She comes up to me, arms raised high, making noises for some of my salad. I said, "If you want some potatoes, say 'please'". She promptly rubbed her chest (the sign language version) and said "Peeeeeeeez." How can you refuse that?

She's started to call Ryan - "Ry Ry" - we think anyway.

"Miiiiiiine" - is a favorite of hers, as well as "Noooooooo."

New things every day - it keeps things interesting!

It's a Bird! It's a Plane! It's...

Super Ryan!