Making the Perfect Father's Day Gift

Step 1: Take about 65 pictures of your kids, holding wood letters.

Step 2: While taking these pictures, say "Please sit still and hold this - it's for Daddy!" about 73 times.

Step 3: Make sure kids don't get bit by strange fly thingy that landed on the white letter and won't get off.

Step 4: Finally give up, and hope that the three precious pictures I need will be somewhere on the camera.

Here are the 60+ pictures I took, just to get the right ones:



And here is the final result - changed to black and white in the perfect frame. Dad loved it!

(If you can't tell, the middle picture has both kids holding the letter "A")

Taking After Dad

I just ran into the kitchen a few minutes ago, and noticed THIS in the living room.

Ric asleep on the couch (he's even sleeping through the golf!) and Ryan passed out on the floor. This kid can just go to sleep anywhere!

But that's not the funniest part, look at what Ryan has in his hand! He fell asleep mid-crunch as he was munching on nachos!

Too funny!

Happy Father's Day Tie!

Do you LOVE this? A few weeks ago, the Primary asked for old ties so the kids could make a special project for Father's Day.

This is the result. First, get past how handsome my sexy hubby is in his new "readers" (heh) and TAKE.A.LOOK.AT.THAT.TIE!

Ryan carefully glued all the feathers, letters, sequins, and especially googly eyes on just for him. I LOVE IT! (So did Ric.)

All the dad's at Church with Primary kids were sporting their new ties - it was hysterical!

Here's a closeup of his fine handiwork...

Ric promised that he'd wear it every Father's Day. We'll see...

Overheard in the bathroom...

...while Ric was showing Ryan how to sink Cheerios in the potty...

Ryan: But how do you get it in the hole?

Lessons Learned

This past week was an interesting one, with a few things learned along the way!

Experience #1: On Tuesday, I went to Target to pick up a few things like toilet paper, pull ups (gotta be ready if Ryan decides to cooperate with the the potty, right?) and soda. Since the TP took up so much room, I put it under the basket. I paid for everything, walked out to the car, emptied the basket, and put the cart in the corral - forgetting the 3 packages of soda.

It wasn't until I was pulling out that I realized I hadn't loaded up the soda into the car, so I looked over towards the cart and saw a man quickly loading MY soda into the back of his truck. It wasn't more than just 60 seconds between the time I got into my car and saw this happening. He MUST have seen me leaving the cart with soda on the bottom and getting into my car. Instead of saying something, he takes it.

What would you do if you were him in this case? I know that I would have tried to find the person who mistakenly left the soda. If I couldn't find them, I would have taken it back inside because it wasn't mine.

What would you do if you were me and saw this man helping himself to your soda? (He was driving a really nice truck, by the way.) What did I do? I let it be and cursed myself for not loading it up into my car all the way home. (Luckily, I used coupons, so it was cheap!) I thought about stopping, rolling down my window and asking him to load it into my car instead. But unfortunately these days, you never know about people. *sigh*

Lesson learned: Pay attention and load EVERYTHING into the car, OR don't put anything below the cart!

Experience #2: Today, I ran to Shaws to pick up a few more things! (HUGE sales this week!) I had Ryan and Megan with me. Usually they are pretty good, but they can be distracting - especially when checking out, I like to watch the screen to make sure that I'm getting all the discounts and prices I'm planning on.

I had split my groceries into two different orders to take advantage of a Catalina* (cash back to use on your next transaction) that was going to print out. (Did you know that you can do that? Split things up so you use them right away! It doesn't take much longer than paying for everything at once!) Anyway, the first transaction went through fine. The second transaction didn't. Of course, I was herding Megan and Ryan through in the cart and didn't realize that the checker hadn't scanned my store card for the second transaction! In the end, my groceries totaled about $92, after coupons it was about $65. That didn't seem right to me though, it was a lot higher than the $30 (for both transactions) I had calculated at home. But, they were already working on the next customer and the kids were getting antsy.

So, I took everything out to the car, loaded up the kids, started the car, and pulled out my receipt. It definitely wasn't right. The Hamburger Helper that was supposed to be only $1 a box rang up at $2.50!! Eeeek! When you buy 15 boxes, that adds up! I turned off the car, got the kids back out into the shopping cart, and went back in to the service desk, where we determined that my card wasn't scanned. I should have caught that - and the checkout guy should have caught it too, but we didn't. Anyway, they credited my account $46 - which in the end with both transactions was about right - whew!

Lesson learned: Either don't take the kids with me to the store so I can pay attention to the check out, OR make sure I check my receipt every time I shop!

Experience #3: This one requires a little bit of faith and knowing that we were blessed because we pay our tithing. A few weeks ago, Ric and I had our annual eye exams. If you don't know, Ric has reading glasses now that he uses at work. We found out that his prescription had changed, so he needed new glasses. (We think this is the reason that he was getting dizzy at work, his Rx was off!)

His prescription for new glasses had been sitting on my desk for a week. On Monday, I was surfing my regular coupon/frugal living blogs and saw a post that listed a sale on men's frames and lenses for a particular company. (Are you sitting down for this?) I found some VERY stylish frames, which included single vision lenses (anti-glare and all that), for ONLY $6.95. YES, you read that right, SIX DOLLARS and NINETY FIVE CENTS! Add the shipping and his completed pair of reading glasses was less than $15!

We couldn't go wrong to try this company, and we didn't. His glasses arrived today - they are very modern and the Rx is right. He's taking them to work tomorrow to see if he still has problems with getting dizzy. If he seems to be OK, I'm ordering ANOTHER PAIR! Why not? One for work and one for home! :)

Just so you know, the company is Coastal Contacts in Blaine Washington. I'm sure we'll be using them again! Even if we have to pay more for glasses!

Lesson Learned: Paying our tithing definitely blesses our family. We don't have a lot of extra money for things like this, especially since we used all of our flex spending for my gall bladder experience! Gotta love glasses for $14.38! :) We'll post pictures so you can see that we didn't pick up a cheap pair, they're actually very stylish!

PS - I have to share what we had for dinner tonight - Grilled Bruschetta Chicken. It was to die for! So easy, and didn't take more than 20 minutes to make! We're going to try the same ingredients on a pizza next - YUM!

Piggie Tails!

How cute is this?

Somehow, I managed to get pig tails into Megan's hair today. They only lasted about 10 minutes though. Ryan decided to wrestle with her and they came out.

Good thing I got this picture first! I LOVE that she's hiding her eyes!

Frosting Overdose

Just a random picture from Saturday.

If you look closely, you can see an empty bowl of pink frosting. Ryan just happened to pass out on the floor after cleaning out the bowl.

It's just too funny not to share! hehe

Eeeeeeek!!!

Good thing I'm not totally squeamish! We all came in from mowing the lawn and playing outside when I was pulling ice-cream sandwiches out of the freezer for the kids when Ryan said, "Mommy, there's a mouse!"

Sure enough, ChiChi had been outside and brought in her latest catch. I had to herd the kids away as I grabbed a paper towel to pick him up. He was definitely dead, but still warm... (TMI?)

By the way, see the pink smudge below his head? That's frosting left over from Megan's B-day. STILL haven't cleaned it up! :)

Win Free Shelf Reliance Storage!

You all probably know by now that I'm a preparedness junkie. The hardest part is figuring out where to STORE everything - am I right?

Shelf Reliance has great solutions - I love their products! And now they are giving away all sorts of things every two weeks! Starting with their Harvest 72" storage shelves! (I'd LOVE LOVE LOVE those!)

If you'd like to win one, just go to their blog and leave a comment. And if you win - I promise I won't hate you forever! :)

Happy Hoo Hoo Megan!

We just returned from Megan's 2-year visit with the pediatrician. She weighs 26 pounds and is 34 inches tall! Just right!

Here you go - highlights of Megan's party!

The Birthday Girl! Happy Hoo Hoo Megan! (That's what she says when we say "Happy Birthday" to anyone!)

So I have to brag a little about the cupcakes I made. Don't they look fabulous? I just used a boxed cake and the buttercream icing recipe from the Wilton website. I added some pink coloring and then piped it on to the cupcakes. (Instructions are on the website too for how to make the swirl.) Yes, there was just as much frosting as cake, but don't they look pretty? After everything was frosted, I used spray food color to "highlight" the edges.

Even the roses that Daddy brought home for Megan (and mom) matched! (No, we didn't plan that one.) Lastly, the invitation I sent out matches too. I'm all done being "matchy matchy" for a while! Whew!

Ryan was more interested in the presents. He had been asking ALL DAY if it was time to open them.

Once she saw the coloring book and crayons - none of the other gifts mattered!

Funny thing about the party hat. As soon as we said it was time for the cake, she ran to get it and put it on. She's all about the accessories!

Blowing out ALL those candles!


Trying out her new "wheels."

FINALLY - Proof!

From day ONE for both Ryan and Megan, everyone says that they look like Ric.

Ummm...hello? I'm the one who carried them for 9 months, lost control of my bladder more times that I can count, endured the nausea, swollen feet, and all that other fun stuff.

"Oh she's/he's so cute - she/he looks just like Dad!" Grrrr...

Now I give you ME at about the same age as Megan now.

See the similarities? In fact, when I showed the picture to Meg she pointed and said "Megan!"

Love that! :)

Just a quickie to check out

If you are a friend of mine on Facebook, you might have seen my status on Saturday saying that GiGi had taken the kids to the Gaspee Days Parade and I had 3 hours to myself.

(For those of you who don't know - the burning of the HMS Gaspee was really the first event that eventually ended up in the Revolutionary War. It's usually missing from the history books, but it's a BIG DEAL here in Warwick, Rhode Island!)

Anyway...the big parade actually kicks off in front of our Church...and a port-a-potty was brought in to "help" the thousands of people out. Check out this picture my friend posted of the cast of characters lined up to "go" at the parade on her blog. Hysterical! :)

PS - pictures of Megan's birthday party coming soon! Oh...and you won't want to miss the PROOF that she is my daughter and doesn't just look like Ric! heh

Happy Banana Birthday Meg-Goo!

This morning, all Megan wanted for her breakfast was a banana. Here's how it went down...

Megan: Mommy, I want "nana"

Mom: You can have one - would you like me to open it for you?

Megan: Uh huh

Mom: Here you go (handing the banana to Meg)

Megan: Thanks! Welcome!

She's learned that "You're Welcome" comes after Thank You" at least! :)

Happy 2nd Birthday Megs!

We'll post more later today after her birthday party. We've invited family over for a BBQ - and it looks like the weather just might cooperate for us today! YAY!

(How convenient that the logo for my business IS a bunch of bananas!)

At My Wit's End...

Why don't kids come with user manuals? I'm sure that there's a "boy" and "girl" version out there somewhere, right? (Warning: Extremely LONG post here!)

I'm. Going. To. Lose. My. Mind.

Wait - I think I already have!

Before you think that this is just a venting/complaining post (it very well might be that) - I'm hoping to find some answers too. Who knows, I may have some ideas myself, or someone "out there" who is reading may have the "miracle cure" for me! (I know...I could have used a "cure" about 4 1/2 years ago - BEFORE I got pregnant! But nooooo...now that I have a 3 1/2 year old and a 2 year old - I have find after the fact solutions rather than take preventative measures.)

Anyway... things at the Levett-ventures household are challenging right now.

Exhibit A: Ryan

I feel like I've completely lost control. My wonderful blue-eyed, blond haired boy is becoming someone I don't like. Of course I love him to pieces and always will. But lately, I don't like him.

"He's 3 1/2 - he'll grow out of it..." Right? I don't know. I feel like if I don't correct his behavior soon, he'll turn into the boy in the Sunbeam/CTR class at Church who needs special attention because of his bad behavior.

Let me just list a few examples of some "Ryan-isms" that are not so funny, so they usually don't make it up here for the masses.

"Mommy, I'm going to fire you!" (meaning, I'm going to burn you)
"I'm going to knife you..."
"I'm going to dead you..." (see where this is going?)
"I don't love you anymore"
"You are going to jail!"

It's not only what he's saying, but the anger behind it that scares me. He's hitting, kicking, pushing, spitting, pinching. Yes, I know they are all boy things, but that doesn't mean I can let him do them.

Unfortunately, saying 'Ryan, please don't kick your sister' just encourages him to do it more. So I have resorted to yelling at him and/or putting him in a time out. (Time out's at our house consist of a chair facing the corner in the kitchen for 5 minutes.)

The problems usually happen when he's bored and I can't keep him occupied 100% of the time without sacrificing everything I need to do during the day. For some reason, unlike Megan, he doesn't take the initiative very often to find something to play with or do by himself. He's always asking to do something WITH me or to have me HELP him when I know that he is can do it himself.

Anyway, that's the current version of Ryan in a nutshell.

I'm open to any and all suggestions, because everything I've tried just doesn't seem to make a difference in how he acts. (Yes, I try daily to control my yelling at him too - eventually, though I fail at that one.)

I think one thing that might help is a rigid daily schedule. The thought of putting together AND following a schedule completely overwhelms me. It's probably the solution I'm looking for - and I should get myself together and just do it. (I'll let you know.)

BTW - I did put a chore chart together for him, which he seemed pretty happy about. He earns points for doing different things around the house, and after so many, he gets to have a "happy meal" or something he's been wanting. At least he's learning (sloooooowwwwwwly) to earn and work for things.)

Exhibit B: Megan

Megan. My sweet little love bug is turning two in just two days! Up until the last week, she's been the best little girl I could want. All of a sudden (as if she KNOWS about the "terrible twos") she's been throwing tantrums. Just yesterday we were at the library and she was on the floor screaming (who knows why) and I was "that mom" who couldn't control her child.

(Not that I care about the ladies who moved their "exclusive well-behaved play group" from spot to spot in the library when my kids came near them... just PLEASE don't tell me that your kids have never had a melt down in a public place before because I don't believe it! )

Meg is smart. I'm not just saying that because I'm her mom. She really is very bright. She speaks in complete sentences and can have full conversations when she wants to - not just a sentence here and there. So it's not like she can't communicate her frustrations - she actually does, whether it be through what she says or what she signs to us. (A perfect example that learning sign language BEFORE you learn to speak will not slow down learning to speak at all - take that baby sign language critics! hehe)

Because this new "melt down" behavior came as a complete surprise, I really don't know how long it will last, or if she's just reacting to other behavior in the house (mine, Ryan's, Dad's etc) Here's hoping that it's a very short phase and she's back to her "perfect little girl" self soon!

Exhibit C: Potty Training

No...potty training is a subject for a different post.

Exhibit D: Me

I'm not perfect - never will be. But I like to think I try. I'm completely overwhelmed with all that I need and want to do. Ric (and my therapist) says that I take on too much. I'll admit that I do - but keeping myself busy usually keeps me happy! And I like to think that when I've accomplished what I set out to do that I'm very successful too!

Unfortunately, my perfectionistic tendencies start to work against me when I can't get everything done that I want to do! And my stupid self-talk kicks in with the same old stuff. "You're failing, just give up - You'll never be able to do that - Why do you even try?" (And you wonder why I'm in therapy and take a cocktail of happy pills? heh)

So - while I'm swirling in self-doubt, it makes it difficult to think straight enough to find solutions for what's happening with my kids.

Yesterday, after coming home from the wonderful library experience, we had lunch and Megan went down (unwillingly) for a nap. Ryan was constantly asking for something, a DVD, a TV show, something to drink, something to eat, to play a game, and on and on and on. It's like that every day! (Made worse by the fact that the weather is crappy outside so we can't get out to use some of that energy!)

I had hit my limit of nagging and begging and told Ryan that it was "quiet time" - that means that he sits or lays on the couch with a book and we'll turn something on TV to watch if he wants to. He doesn't have to sleep (though I hope he does!), but he does have to be quiet. This way, Megan can still sleep and maybe I can get something else done. The only rule is that he can't leave the couch.

He didn't want to hear it and started yelling something at me, at which time I put him (forcefully) back on the couch and threatened that he stay, or else! (Don't remember what the "or else" was.) He did stay on the couch, but screamed and yelled for a long while. In the meantime, I'm in the other room with my head in my hands just trying to think of SOMETHING that I could do to change it all. Nothing came to mind.

Just about a half hour before Ric came home from work, a guy pulled up with Massachusetts plates. He grabbed a bag from his car and rang the bell. Strange.

The first thing he said was "Hi Sister Levett" and then I saw "Living Scriptures" embroidered on his bag. WOW - that was a blast from the past! I used to collect the VHS Living Scriptures stories almost 20 years ago! (No idea where they are now...) I knew he was here to sell them to me, but I let him in anyway. :) (Maybe watching something spiritual instead of "Sponge Bob" would calm my tazmanian devil a little. Nope.)

Long story short - because I had subscribed so long ago, AND they still had it on record, I was able to pick up the DVD versions for half price! (These are MUCH more enhanced with a ton of features - maybe my kids will learn something from them!) Where was I going with this? I believe that this college guy from BYU Hawaii who showed up on my doorstep to sell me some DVD's was there on purpose and as an answer to an "informal" prayer in my heart. At least watching cartoon versions of Bible and Book of Mormon stories will entertain the kids a little, would be better than what they watch now, AND just might bring a MUCH NEEDED calming Spirit into my home. (Thank you!)


--------------------------

After all this typing, I do feel better. But still, I would appreciate any and all suggestions! I just want to keep what's left of my sanity, raise good children, and accomplish a few things on my list. Too much to ask? Hmmm....

Oh crap! Call the rooter company.

I guess you can call it a mixed blessing that we didn't go to church on Sunday. Since the whole family has been (and still are) sick we opted for a day of rest and comfort at home rather than spread the flu around church and our friends. While playing in the backyard with Megan and Ryan (to get them out and away from Mommy for a while so she could rest, I noticed that our cesspool was starting to back-up again at the access pipe. After opening the cover to the cesspool, I saw that there was plenty of room so I knew that the pipe was getting clogged again with roots (common in this area). So it was on the phone to get a rooter company out here because you don't really have much of an option. After about 1 hour they showed up, and after about another hour they were gone along with our check for $200. I thought at the time it was a little pricey, but are you going to do about it. Later I found out it was reasonable and I didn't have to touch or cleanup anything.

Overheard...from Meg!

I'm still sick. My whole head is stuffed up and I'm miserable. Megan was sitting on my lap this morning as I was checking email or something and I sneezed...

Megan: You got boogies Mommy?

Mom: You have no idea...

------------------------------------

Last night, Ryan was swinging around the metal spatula that we use on the grill outside. Of course, my thoughts go to the worst case scenario...he lets go, it flies in to someone's face...and we're off to the hospital, etc. etc.

Mom: Ryan, please put the spatula back on the counter.

Ryan: (ignores me)

Mom: Ryan, I won't ask you again, please put the spatula on the counter...one....two....

Megan: (running after Ryan) one...two...three..."patula" on the "counnnnr."

Ric was on the couch and had to turn over so she wouldn't see him laughing out loud. I just covered my mouth. THAT was too funny!

What Can You Get for a Dollar?

...how about 4 boxes of cereal, 1 gallon of milk, 1 package of hotdogs, 4 packages of frozen bagel thingys, and a bottle of nose spray?

Again, this was too good not to share - want to know how I did it?

The full price for everything before sales and coupons was $33.29.

Subtract $11.92 for sales and preferred savings (because of the Stop&Shop Card)

Subtract $20.47 for coupons (Afrin, Milk, and Hot Dogs were completely free)

And I paid ONLY 90 cents!

I was so excited I even called my best friend in Colorado because she's a coupon gal too, and she wasn't even home! (The nerve!)

Want to learn how to do this? I'm happy to tell you - it's easy and requires just a little time, but SO worth it when your pantry is stocked and you haven't even come close to your food budget! :)

PS - if you use a reader to follow this blog, click on over, I've updated our banner with newer pictures.

Our Sick House - 24-Hours Later

I am completely amazed at the little girl running around our house right now.

After I came back from teaching a class yesterday afternoon, Megan seemed to be doing worse, so I called the pediatrician, loaded the kids in the car, and off we went. (Meg just wasn't herself, laying around and not even wimpering.)

The result? Megan had a full blown ear infection in her left ear - and the doctor heard some different sounds in her lungs, meaning that she was at the beginnings of pneumonia. Yippeee! NOT! So she sent us to the pharmacy with a prescription for some serious antibiotics. All of this developed over the weekend, because her ears were fine when she was checked on Friday.

This is the first time in her almost two years that she's had an ear infection - Ryan hasn't had one yet, thankfully!

FINALLY, she woke up this morning without a fever and looked a little more lively. By about noon, she was bringing me her shoes, which definitely meant she was feeling better. (She's all about the shoes these days!)

By dinner, she was her usual self, almost. Whew! Thank goodness we live in a time where we have these antibiotics that can help with situations like these! I can't even imagine what we would have done otherwise.

So enjoy these tub pictures, taken tonight. She had a blast playing around, and of course is the cutest ever!

Ryan yesterday wasn't feeling all that great yesterday either. He was pretty subdued. He even came home on his own from the neighbors, which isn't normal. Once inside the house he started puking - again...yipppeee! SO GLAD I don't have SIX kids! :) He's better today, but still with a little fever and cough so we took him to get checked just in case too. I'm sure the gals at the peditrician's front desk are tired of seeing us! We're NEVER there unless it's an annual visit - until now!

PS - Ric is fine, so far, and Me? I'm loaded up with drugs too - I have an upper respiratory infection. When it rains it pours!

PPS - Sorry, these pictures are completely out of order. I couldn't get them to cooperate with me!

Overheard a few minutes ago...

Ryan: (From the living room) Daddy, I want to play Candyland (for at least the 20th time)

Dad: I'm busy right now...

Ryan: Daaaaaaaddyyyyyyy...

Dad: Ryan, what you need is an imaginary friend.

Our 'Rock Star' - 'High Fever' Weekend!

We had a crazy weekend . We were hoping to make the best of it since it was Ric's last few days off, but no such luck with two kids!

Ric was able to take Ryan to get his hair cut, flipped up in the front, and some fun color added to the "flip." A girl from Church works at SnipIts now, we they went specifically to see her.

When they got back, Ryan immediately got on to his tricycle and rode around like a "rock star" - how do I know?

All he kept saying was..."I'm a WOCK STAR" as he was riding around in circles in front of our house. Hysterical!

Megan - on the other hand was not so lucky. On Thursday, she ended up with a really high fever (103ish.) She's really lethargic and clingy. We called the doctor and made an appointment for the morning, and were told to just try alternating Motrin and Tylenol to control it.

This started a roller coaster of ups and downs. Down to normal, then back up to 101 or 102. Megan's doctor said that she was seeing a lot of her symptoms and it was basically the flu. We just had to make sure that she was drinking fluids.

We all ended up staying home from most of Church on Sunday - just in case. (Though I did play the organ for Sacrament meeting and then left right after.) I even bowed out of a FAB Girls night out on Saturday since I didn't want to take the chance of spreading any flu germs around.

Doesn't she look miserable in these pictures? Poor thing! Since the Motrin was bringing the fever down a little, but it would spike back up, we decided to let the fever do its job and kill off whatever virus was there.

One idea I found was to take her socks, soak them in white vinegar, and put them on her to hopefully draw the toxins out. I don't know if that's what did it, but finally today her temperature is back to normal! (Though her feet smelled like pickles! heh)

Today she's just coughing and sneezing all the gunk out - so hopefully soon, she'll be back to normal! :)

So much fun - hope your weekend was better than ours!