Drug Dealer

So we moved away from family, but who would have thought that there would be distant relatives of ours in this town? Figures that they would be the town drug dealers - at least they are the legal variety. I noticed this sign when I first moved here and just thought it was very silly that of all things to be named Parrish - it had to be the drug store. Maybe they will give me a discount for namesake.

no nap

Just for the record I think it is officially the end of naps for C. She has given them up with me altogether, but she will still stay in her crib and nap a while for the sitter. Such a sad thing for a mom to loose naptime, especially when she needs to write. Ah well - life moves on.

Stud dog

Yoda would like to formally announce that he is now on the market looking for pure bred female boxers who would like to bear puppies. He is willing to provide this service for a fee, but he makes no promise of long term commitment. Right now he is just wanting to play the field. Just look at him, what dog wouldn't want some of this?

Day trip

So last weekend we went on a day trip to Lancaster. It was great and a nice break from my usually scenery (which is usually my computer or office at school). This is the furthest I have been since moving here, and it was welcome. We took the kids to a children's museum. It was alright, but pretty bad compared to the one in Minnesota I went to with Jackson & Max. Either way, the kids had a great time. They played store, farm, went fishing, face painted, and made cars to race. Pretty much a dream place for them. We took this trip because J was assigned to his first NCAA soccer playoff game. It was that evening and it ended up going into double overtime and a shootout in 20 degree weather. J ended up with bronchitis shortly thereafter, but I am sure he would say it was worth it.

Too funny

I was going to get back to work, until C just decided to turn on the TV. It came on to PBS and it was the chair workout. For those of you who don't know about this at all it is a workout designed for the elderly or disabled and it done sitting in a chair. I just looked over to see if she wanted the channel changed, and she was doing the workout! Holy cow that was a riot. She is too funny! Oh, just an aside J went to the doctor today. He has had a bad cough and it was sounding raspy and fluid filled. I convinced him to go - as I thought it was bronchitis. What do you know - I was right. I am so smart sometimes! Not that I wanted to be right on this one. As a result, he got to buy $85 in medicine to get better. Could it be that reffing soccer in 20-30 degree weather can make you sick?

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

3/4 cup sugar
1.4 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
3/4 cup canned pumpkin (works great with homemade as well)
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 cup chocolate chips (semisweet is what I prefer for this one - use mini if you make mini muffins instead)
Preheat oven to 400, line muffin tins. Mix sugar, oil, & eggs. Add pumpkin & water. Add dry ingredients, mix until moistened. Stir in chocolate chips. Bake 20-25 min for regular size muffins.

Cranberry Pecan Muffins

1/2 cup butter softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup sour cream or substitute plain yogurt
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup cranberries (they can be fresh or frozen)
1/2 cup chopped pecans
Cream together butter and sugar, add eggs, add vanilla. Fold in sour cream. Combine dry ingredients, add to other mixture until just moistened. Fold in cranberries, & pecans. Fill lined muffin tins and bake at 400 for 20-25 min.

Motivation

So I need another break from writing, just finished up one thing and need something less intense before changing gears. This time I thought I would lend a little insight into my work. Before this program I used to sit down to write a paper for a class. I would read background, create an outline, and write. Usually a 5 page paper took about 2-3 hours for me to draft, then a day to sit and an hour or two more to edit. Lets just say the bar has been raised here - about 25 stories higher. The writing now is more technical - which is a challenge - and takes much longer for me. Also I now edit my drafts so much that they aren't similar in any way to the original. I guess this is just the process for good writing, but it can be killer. This leads to my need for motivation. I can't really say writing itself is motivating. I mean yes when I finally have a final product I am happy with, but considering the standards that is usually takes many months. So I have created my own system of motivation: BAKING. I know it sounds silly, but for me baking doesn't take much brain power - especially what I bake - but it is highly motivating. I get to do it with my kids, take a break, make my family happy, and EAT! On days where I know I will be writing a ton, I set a goal for myself and when I reach it I reward myself and my family with a baked good. Lately I have been on a muffin kick. I will post a few of my favorites. Mainly this is because generally they are healthier than other treats I make so I don't feel as guilty indulging. Claire has been enjoying this trend as well - I think the picture proves it! I also use my favorite TV shows as motivation and......you guessed it blogging. Lucky for all of you! Best part about blogging is the lack of extensive editing!

House again

At the risk of being boring I am posting another house photo. I will not continue at this rate, but it has been changing a lot right now - changes later will be more subtle. Plus I know many of you out there like this type of update. You know who you are! For those of you hoping for more potty training stories you will just have to wait. The quality on this one isn't as great - I took it with my phone, not my camera. Should be ready to roof soon, side, etc. Then on to the months of interior work. So glad I am not working on it in the 20 degree weather!

WOW

I was at a late meeting tonight and a friend was taking care of the kids while J was home teaching. This is how C looked when I picked her up from my friend's house. Pretty crazy outfit, and she doesn't look thrilled about it. Also her shirt is on backwards, and H told me he had m&ms for dinner. While the whole story is not completely accurate I had a sudden anxiety about what would ever happen if I died. I am quite certain my children would look like hobos. If this were ever, heaven forbid, to happen please someone intervene. On the bright side, at least her clothes are clean. Love you honey, but I think your sense of style and matching needs a little work.

Cindy Lou Who Wins

For those of you keeping track the Cindy Lou Who hairdo won the poll. Thanks to all of you who voted. For those of you who didn't vote you are not welcome to complain about her hairdos in the future. You know they say if you don't vote you have to keep quiet. Same applies here. I will have to perfect the Cindy Lou do for upcoming photos.

poor voter turnout

C just wanted to make it known that she is appalled by the poor voter turnout for her hair voting. Doesn't anyone care about the world she lives in? If you haven't voted - no excuses. Your lack of concern may make a 2 year old cry!

another week

Well, I have a few highlights to add for the week.
1- We now have the house wrapped (I don't know the technical term). It is ready for the roof trusses, footers for the porch, and siding soon. J was disappointed this week when it rained the day he was supposed to have concrete poured for the porch footers. Windows are hung and we ordered doors. This week we are finalizing choices for the siding, roofing material, fascia, etc. Next we move onto choosing cabinetry, door hardware, etc.
2- H and C let me sleep in two days in a row! It helped that I finally decided to put the dog in his kennel each night. He has been getting in the habit of waking me between 5 and 7 to go out. This wouldn't be annoying if I actually wanted to be up at this time of day, but since I need to be at class late two nights a week I have found it is better to wake up a bit later (generally around 7 or so) so I am more alert at night, especially for those classes. Either way Saturday I slept in until 9 and today until 8. Wow gotta love this! I have been sick again this weekend - this time with an actual cold, so the sleep was welcomed even more.
3- This weekend H asked me if he could call his whole class to have them come over and play. I am such a mean mom and I told him no. To try and make him happy we changed the subject to a day trip next Saturday as a family. Still no decision on exactly what we will do, but maybe one of the nearby children's museums. We will save the dinosaur museum for when we visit DC - maybe over Christmas break. For those of you who don't know this I really haven't left a 30 mile radius since we moved here, so I am equally excited for the day out.
4- C is still potty training, but no luck with #2 in the potty. Not sure if she has the poop fear that I have heard about, but we are trying to work through it. She is also become an expert at the tantrums where you fall on the floor and kick and scream. Wow, she is dramatic. What is bad is that sometimes it strikes me as funny - I think man if I did that would I get out of dishes, or laundry, or homework? I have to hold back the laughter as I imagine myself trying her stunts.
5- On an academic front H is doing well in school based on his parent teacher conferences. I am as well. I have 2 of 3 papers in draft form. Two need to be completed in the next couple of weeks, with one due right before Christmas break is over. If I can get that one in draft form over Thanksgiving I will be in great shape. If I had to estimate how many pages of text I have written thus far this semester (including those from redrafted writing) I think it would be well over 300 pages by now. Shocked? Me too! Scary part is this is probably mild compared to what is to come. Next semester I am taking stats, single subject design, completing candidacy (which determines whether I remain in the program), taking 3 seminar classes, working on a research project, and sitting in on a class and supervising practicum teachers for my assistantship. That should keep me busy.
This next week it is supposed to be miserably cold - and likely that way for a few months at least. Good thing we didn't move from Phoenix or our clothing budget would be out of control right now. Hope all of you in sunny AZ are living it up because come May I will be shouting Nanny, nanny, boo, boo.

Potty training update

Just thought I would give a short potty training update. Monday night I arrived home from class around 8pm. I guess while I was at class H decided to put underwear on C. J gave permission for this. Well, as a result, C went into the hall closet and peed on my favorite boots. J cleaned it up, but I have to say I think that is disgusting. Generally she is not the specific about where she goes, and this seems more like something a dog would do. Ah well! I think we should have the routine down better by Thanksgiving.

more 2 year old antics

Just a quick update on the two year old front. J was in Pittsburg today to ref three games so I had to manage both kids at church and home alone. In theory this should be pretty easy, I mean some do this with 8 or more, but today reality won out. C was her typical self which included several outbursts of high pitched screams when she didn't get her way. She also managed to lay on the bench and repeatedly kick the lady (lucky her) seated by me. Thankfully she was cool about that part. I missed almost all announcement trying to keep the kids quiet and just before the end of the meeting as our speaker was trying to close his talk, C leaned over to H and took a bit bite out of his shoulder blade. H didn't take this very well and began crying loudly so I had to try and carry both of them out to the foyer. Sigh....just another day in the life of a mom. She didn't nap this afternoon so I am afraid I was not the best or most patient mom, but she is sleeping now and snuggled me this evening when I was reading. That part of her two year old personality is enjoyed. Just hope this theme does not carry over to her teenage days or our house will not be pretty! Heaven help us!

Advertising Flaw

After spending all morning writing a paper on interventions for individuals with cognitive impairments engaging in inappropriate sexual behaviors, I need a change of pace. I figured a funny post would do the trick.

So here goes. We opted to skip school pictures this year. I never really cared for the staged nature of them, and they are far too pricey for the quality. Today I was very happy with that decision when I received the following advertisement in H's backpack.

Yes this is H's school photo this year and the advertisement basically said: "It's not too late to order your school pictures for the year." I think from this picture it is clear that there is no quality control to make sure that anyone would actually consider buying the photos that they are marketing. I can honestly say this is the worst photo of H - EVER. He looks like he is witnessing a liposuction procedure, or just had a bad botox injection. I don't want to be too hard on the photographer, because you kind of need to coax H along in the process, but honestly how could you miss this one. They have to accept the photos on a digital screen. The photographer must have been in cruise control to miss this one. What is sad is that this will be in his "yearbook". Good thing it is only kindergarten. I will need to practice this skill with him to avoid the embarrassing photos in high school yearbooks. In case any of you are dying to purchase these overpriced, horrible photos, I have the information for you. Don't even think of buying it for blackmail - I have the advertisement to put in his scrapbook already. I hate to laugh at my kid, but I just can't help it with this one.

Little voter

Well today H voted at school for president. I cannot say that it was very official, but they held their own election and he told me that he voted for John McCain. Here are his reasons:
1- His first name is John just like dad.
2- His last name has "cane" in it just like the thing that helps people to walk.
I think he won points with both mom and dad with that answer. How cute is he! Just for the record he told me that John McCain had the most votes in his class. Wonder if that will be a telling sign of the outcome tonight. I doubt I will stay up for the event. It will be better for everyone if I just find out tomorrow. Hope you all had a chance to vote, I waited behind only 5 people this morning, but others in the area spent 2 1/2 hours in line. Glad I live in a small town today!

construction update

Well, I had to steal these from J's website since I still hasn't emailed me pictures. I know it seems like we don't live in the same house, but we do. Just different schedules at times which makes coordination of less pressing tasks a bit of a pain. The pictures are of the basement walls going in the product is called "Superior Walls". Ask J for more details on that - my brain is filled with other information. The other is of the subfloor for the main level. Tomorrow walls will be delivered for the main level and the framing will start for that level. How fun! Doesn't really seem like my house at this point since I don't have much time to be a part of this process. Who thinks my husband is pretty stinking cool to build this for our family? It seems to be going pretty quickly since they started. What a good man!

hairdo

This post is dedicated to the upcoming election. Hopefully we will take electing the next president more seriously than what follows:
C would like to know what you think about her bath hairdos. She is very proud of her growing hair. Please take a moment to vote for your favorite. 1- She calls this one flapper hair - can't you just picture her doing the Charleston?

2- This looks like Medusa - only the snakes are getting a tad lazy.

3- Handle hair - wouldn't it be nice if this would stay put and when she is trying to run away in the store I could just grab the handle to slow her down?

4- This one is for Papa - our attempt at Cindy Lou who hair. It is even cuter from different angles, but the model was a bit sassy and demanding during this shoot.

NOW GET OUT AND ROCK THE VOTE!

Halloween Photos

Halloween is interesting in a small town. Apparently here the city determines the day for trick or treating. Luckily people realize we are new and clued us in - otherwise we could have missed it entirely. This year it was scheduled on Thursday night. WEIRD! All of this was done on a different day because...yep you guessed it, football. The world revolves around football here so if there is a home game on Halloween surely no one would think of trick or treating at that time. It was best to move it to another day. I think I will always be an outsider around here. It would take a lifetime to get used to some of this thinking. Now for a few cute pictures.
H and C in the leaves that night.

The kitty & Spiderman by our Jack o'lantern. It really ended up looking like Michael Jackson which is the scariest face anyone could carve, but it was really not intentional - I just stink at carving - even cut my finger doing it. The hair on the jack o'lantern this year is to disguise the attack by the dog- see previous post for details on that one!

H was being a wuss - he doesn't like the feel of the pumpkin seeds so he insisted on using a spoon.

C was using a spoon after H example - she actually didn't refuse to touch the pumpkin.