Right Now

I have a sleeping child on my lap and can't move. Going on 2 hours now...

Dishes need to be washed.
Laundry needs to be folded.
I have nothing prepared for dinner.
And I have to pee.
Do I care?
Nope because my son also needs me right now and he takes priority.
I love being able to stay home with my kids.

Emily & MLK

Emily is in the first grade. This is the first time that she brought home anything from school to show that she learned about MLK. The other night at dinner, we talked about Martin Luther King and what he was about. Ben has one African American boy in his class (whose adopted to white parents) and Emily doesn't have any. She said, "well, there is one girl whose skin is kind of brown". We do have a great Hispanic population that helps make up for the lack of diversity in this small town. And it really doesn't matter if you are African American, Asian, Hispanic or Caucasian, the idea is that everyone is equal.

Emily did several art projects about MLK. The first being this set of hands (one white who desperately needs a manicure to clean her cuticles, and one dark)

And on the inside she wrote about what kind of person she will be.

She also made a little book about Dr. King.

I particularly like her drawing of 2 school girls playing together.

The truth is, my kids don't even seem to notice or care about skin color.
It may have taken almost 50 years, but that's exactly what MLK dreamed about.

Brotherly Love

On Tuesday and Thursday, it's just Noah and Ben at home during the day. Ben is an independent kid who could play in his room alone the entire day. But on the two days they are home together, he does a good job of playing with his brother too. They took some time out to play the other day.

It's important to teach your little brother how to wrestle and to let him win sometimes.

But, it's more important to teach your little brother how to love.

And Ben is really really good at that.

I think Noah is enjoying all the attention.


Noah isn't content to do anything for very long. So, he's off to find something else to get into.

Like learning to be a superhero.
Don't mind all the little pieces of toilet paper on the floor. That's Noah's new favorite thing...to get a square of toilet paper and rip it into 100 pieces and throw it on the floor. That or he throws the entire roll of toilet paper in the toilet. Lucky me. We're all learning to keep the bathroom doors shut. But he's cute, so I forgive him.


And when I told him to throw his arms up and fly, he knew exactly what I meant.

I better start buying costumes now in a size 2T. It's a good thing he has Ben to teach him all this good stuff because the stuff I teach him is not so good.

Noah doesn't say a lot of words we understand. I was walking down the hallway last night and said to David how I was pissed about something. And as clear as day Noah says "pissed". David and I about fell over.

I can't wait to tell the Doctor at his 18 month check up next month that he says "Mama, Dada, Em (Emily), no, go, good, mo (more), done, ba (bottle) and pissed". Great parenting Gina.

Leaving For College

I know the kids won't be this age forever. It seems like yesterday David and I found out there was a little girl in my tummy. We sat in the ultrasound room and cried happy tears. And in the blink of an eye, my girl will be seven this summer.

It's hard to imagine what our lives will be like when they grow up and move out. Will I be sad? Or will I plan a trip to Italy for just David and I? Maybe both. I'm still getting used to the fact that I'm a Mother...of three kids. By the time I get used to that idea, they'll leave me. And I'll have to find a new normal for my life and my quiet empty clean house.

Or maybe not...because they may never leave.

Thanks to a recommendation from my BFF Pam, David and I are now watching the show Dexter. I put the first season on hold at the library over a month ago, and it was finally available last Saturday. Perfect timing as nothing is on TV and it's too cold to do anything outside.

So, we did what any responsible parent would do. We put the kids in our bedroom with Toy Story 3 and some food and water. And we started watching Dexter. We watched 8 episodes in 2 days. It's a really good show.

But, this isn't about Dexter. It's about Toy Story 3. At some point, Emily came walking out of our room and she was crying. Really crying. Toy Story 3 is about Andy leaving for college. Emily was crying because she told us she never wants to leave us and go to college. Ben was crying too for the same reason.

Our kids never want to leave us.

I informed Emily that there are colleges that she can go to near our home. She can stay here and go to college and I'll do all her laundry and her Dad will make her pea soup. She thought that sounded like a good idea.

I'm documenting this story because I want to show them that the mere thought of leaving us brought them to tears at one time.

Little do they know that in 10 years, they'll be chomping at the bit to get out of this house. Please, don't tell them. I'm going to enjoy their innocence for as long as I can.

Artistic Outlet or Therapy?

Ben has never shown any interest in drawing. He's never even wanted to hold a pencil. His homework from preschool was always a nightmare. All of a sudden, he can't get enough of drawing. And he only draws Spiderman, of course.

He draws picture after picture after picture. And he insists I hang them up in my kitchen with tape. These are just a few. There are another dozen or so that accidentally fell in the garbage when he wasn't looking.

At first I was a little scared. They look so violent. Like those kids you see on a 60 Minutes kind of show that draw very angry dark pictures.


So, I held my breath and asked him to tell me about his picture. And this is how he describes it...

Whew...so what appears to be electricity frying Spiderman's brains is just his Spidey senses tingling. Thank God.

I don't think he'll need therapy after all. It all makes sense. And some look very happy like this one of spiderman with two suns. Oh wait, do the suns represent good and evil? Oh never mind!

If you'd like to order Ben's custom wallpaper for your kitchen, I'll be more than happy to send you a dozen for free!

Kids In Cardboard Houses...

...should color them!

My sister's family gave my kids a playhouse for Christmas. It was a Discovery Kids playhouse that is made out of cardboard. It sets up quickly and you can color or paint it and play in it. I had seen these at Costco awhile back. The kids thought they were awesome. I refused to pay $25 for a cardboard box.

I was wrong. This house is so much fun. We set it up just the other day and the kids are having a blast playing in it and coloring it.


Even Noah got into coloring.

And it's great for playing peek a boo through the windows.

This house is huge inside, about 4 feet tall.

It's been several days and the kids are still playing with it. But, I think I will pack it up and store it under Emily's bed. It's a perfect thing to take out on a rainy/cold day. Who knew a cardboard house could be so fun?

Pinching Pennies In The New Year

Watching my grocery budget and using coupons is one of my main goals for this year. I did pretty well in December. We spent $328 on groceries and all household items (shampoo, diapers, laundry soap, etc). My goal is $10 a day, so I was over by $18. But, we did have company for 9 days, so it's all good. I'm not going to beat myself up if I don't or can't stick to the penny every month. It is what it is.

Emily started back to school today and Ben was supposed to, but the pipes froze and burst at his preschool church building. No water = no class. So, Ben had to come with Noah and I for our shopping trip this morning. At first he wasn't thrilled, but when he found out we could hit every bakery for a cookie he thought shopping was pretty cool.

We hit 4 stores today, crazy I know. But, I will go into a store to buy what's on sale and that's it. So, we went to CVS, Safeway, Albertsons and Fry's. It took us 1 hour and 45 minutes and that's with 2 kids and half the time I was holding Noah and pushing the cart with one hand. It's my workout for the day. I'm a multi-tasker.

I got everything in this picture for $32.86. The price would have been $171.17 without sales and coupons. 81% savings, not too shabby.

My best savings came from CVS. They rock when it comes to accepting coupons, unlike Walgreens who are coupon Nazi's. I got...
4 bottles of Excedrin (Excedrin is my favorite for headaches, but this should last me about 2 years)
3 boxes of NutriGran bars (which Ben and Noah will eat in about 2 weeks)
2 rolls of Christmas wrapping paper on clearance
1 bottle of Wisk detergent
All for $4.22. I saved 92% off the total. I did a happy dance all the way to the car. Also counts as another workout for the day. Win/win.

I've been couponing for 3 months now and I'm really noticing a difference in our checkbook. I can't wait to see what a difference I can make if I keep this up for an entire year. We could actually put money in savings. Heck with that, we'll go on a vacation!