So Sleepy

Daylight savings has really done a number on poor Mae.  Girl just can't seem to adjust and now falls asleep randomly.

Holiday Fun

The Minnie Mouse Booth

Being a smidge of a grinch I am suprised to report that the holidays have started a bit early for us.  I think a big part of that is due to Max being in school now.  I am such a sucker for kiddie projects and it was hard throwing away his pilgrim apron, from the class lunch yesterday, this morning, (you can't keep everything right?)  The holidays here being the first Friday in November with Walmart's Toyland.  Walmart invites all the toy vendors to set up booths on the city's old timey square.  The booths include the new toys coming out to play with, visits from characters, and lots of give aways.  So ofcourse it is a MADHOUSE!  I think it would be better if they didn't give stuff away.  I think a lot less people (who don't have kids and are just greey,) would come and then there would be more space for the kids to breath and play.  The kids got to play with some Leap Frog, Transformers, and Barbie stuff before we staked out some good seats for the Minnie Mouse show that was reported in the paper and on the website.  Nope, no show.  They did have a insipid Radio Disney show, but no Minnie.  The best I can say is that Max got to compete in a hula hoop contest can came in third.  That kid is really good with a hula hoop.  The sad thing is that by the time we gave up on Minnie it was Way too crowded to go to any other stations.  The Scooby Do Bus line looked to be atleast an hour wait.  But all things considered it was a different experience for the kids and Mae came home with a pretty awesome Barbie Makeup compact. 



I let Mae look at her make-up kit on the way home.

The next weekend I was lucky enough to score an invite to a Christmas Party from a lovely lady in my ward.  The concept behind this party was pretty genius and I highly recommend it as a change up from white elephant parties.  Everyone brings 6 of the exact same item that they really like.  The price cap for this party was 5$ per item.  At the party you draw five names and give them your items.  So everyone gets five different items from 5 different people.  It was fun to see what stuff you would get, and unlike the unpredictable white elephant parites everyone got some good stuff and I don't think anyone went home dissapointed.  I know I didn't!  The last item, remember you bring 6, is put in a grand prize bag that includes one of everything.  Guess who won that!  Yup, I was the lucky winner.  I totally didn't see that coming.  I wasn't even really listening when they read my name cause I totally figured it wouldn't be me.  There was some great stuff in that bag.  I am even wearing some festive fuzzy socks as I type.  I, myself, supplied some nice finger nail polish cause I love polishing my nails.  One of my friend put in a hunting knife from our new Cabella's which is just the zany kind of thing she would do.  I am also exited to try out my new lime juicer.  There was so much stuff!!!  So much stuff that I made up a small bag and took it to a friend who couldn't come to the party cause she had to work.  I suspect that there was atleast 20 people there.  So yay me!  And thanks ladies!

P.S.  Spellcheck is not working today.

And This Time He Means Business

So as far as I can tell The Living Scriptures people have re-packaged the "He Is Risen" dvd and are calling it "Jesus Returns."  This is so wrong.  Just so wrong.  I went ahead and IMBD'd for us all to see who else had returned. 

Superman
Batman
The Mummy
and
Nanny Mcphee

So I leave you all here with this challenge; come up with a good subtitle for "Jesus Returns" and you will be entered to win a $5 Sonic Gift Card for the holidays.  All entries must be amusing and entered by Sunday November 25th.

It really really works

This is the first ripe batch.  I had a second larger batch follow.  And yes, I had a yellow tomato plant.

As I posted earlier, my tomato bushes didn't produce until a week or so before the first frost.  I gathered all the tomatoes and placed them in sealed brown paper bags.  Well two weeks later and I had so many tomatoes that I made pasta sauce and froze it for later.  So very Mormon of me!

Mae Your Days Be Merry and Bright

I will never ever tire of puns.  I don't know much about our next kid, (other then they are still a good 3-4 years away,) but I do know their name will be a word like all the other kids.  Anyway, I thought I would mention how much I have come to enjoy Mae.  It seems like she has been such a terror these last two years with a few exceptional bursts of cuteness.  (Just enough to keep her alive.)  While we haven't per say had a break through with her speech, she has been slowly making progress, and I feel like we are now able to effectivly communicate with each other.  This has made all the difference in the world.  She and I are both happier.  She still throws tantrums, but there are less of them and it is helpful for my stress levels to atleast know what they are about.  We don't have any of the car screaming that was killing me, because we can now tell her where we are going or that we will be home soon.  Potty training is going slowly but atleast it has begun.  But Mae is just a new girl.  She plays by herself, (a welcome change from Max,) and is mostly happy during the day.  Mae currently loves Minnie Mouse and Hello Kitty.  She begs to go to the park any time we get in the car and loves playing with other kids.  She thinks the name for all kids is friend.  Any times she see a new kid she calls out "Friend!"  She loves her friends.  Her best friend is a little girl named Emmy.  These two are adorable togther.  It is fun to hear her talk about Emmy and give her hugs.  Mae loves to hug all kids.  Her speech and developmental therapy are going well, but I don't see a whole lot of progress in her physical therapy.  Yesterday her physical therapist said we needed to work on Mae core muscles.  I mentioned that I needed to work on my abs also.  She looked at me and agreed.  Ouch!  Mae is my cutie pie bubbles again which is good, cause Spike is demon monster who has his mommy's temper and anger management issues.

In the Toilet

Max and Mae's pumpkins this year

Spikey is obsessed with the toilet.  That kid is always trying to get in there and play.  You slip just one time and leave the lid up and he is there.  Today he has learned to lift the lid himself.  Grr.  I don't want to put a child safety lock on it cause of Mae and Max.  Grrr...  Well as one of my sister's said as a child, "Cleanest water in the house."

Things That Must Go.

1. Chalk. I do not understand the re-emergence of chalk in decorating. Chalk is messy! Don't people know this? Half the pictures on Pinterest show chalkboards put in all sorts of places. Not only is the actual chalk piece messy to touch, the board is messy and the erasers are messy. After one erase it is difficult to read the new message if the board isn't cleaned with spray and a rag. I don't understand why the church continues to place chalk boards in every classroom, white erase boards are so superior.

2. Arkansas Parking Lots. I can't speak for all of Arkansas, but in our area we have a large amount of badly designed parking lots. Perhaps there is a great deficency of civil engineers in Arkansas. There is no way to get into the drive through of the Bella Vista Mcdonald's without first driving all the way around the building. My gym is located in the strip mall with the Krispy Kreme, and I think there should be an award given to that mall for most awkard parking lot layout in the country. It is impossible to turn out of it without blocking three different roads. My greatest headache was Mae's therapy clinic. It is located in a office park and I swear whatever the regulation size for parking spots is; their's are 4 inches smaller. It doesn't help that all the cars going in and out are large mini-vans, and often handicaped vans.

3. Mitt Romney.