Simple Woman

January

It finally looks like January outside! Minnesota, like most of the country, has been experiencing a "La Nina" winter which in this case, means all the snow and cold weather has been stuck way north . Today, we got a light dusting of snow, and the temps are suppose to drop today below the freezing mark. I, like most have enjoyed the break from winter. However...there are a few things I have missed and didn't know I would miss:

1. My walk in freezer! In Minnesota, the garage is doubles as a freezer for many months of the year. I can buy extra milk and bread for example...leave it in the garage and save me some trips to the store. Not to mention winter is a great time to make freezer meals, and save some time in the kitchen.

2. The feel of my flannel sheets and electric matress pad. Several nights this past week, I woke up HOT! What is UP with THAT..its January!

3. Fires. We have a fireplace, but who wants to cozy up to a fire when the kids are still outside playing in the 50 degree weather? Not to mention it is currently a little over full of finacial papers that need to be burned. January = clean out files time, but who wants a fire?

4. Snow toys. The girls have gotten their skates and scooters back out. Will the sleds get any use this year? Will the summer toys lose their luster with year round use?

5. Sweaters...probably not a big deal, because you could use your sweater as a jacket the last few weeks, but today I put on a sweater AND a shirt, and it just felt cozy!

6. Homework and music practice. Hello! This has been SUCH a battle. Who wants to do that when you can play outside! I think for kiddos in places like Florida, they get used to, and assume that the weather will be good day after day. Around here, everyone is waiting for the weather to change to normal...so day after day its, well, I HAVE to play outside while I can. And its hard to say no. Today? Its going to be to cold to play outside for long. I'm excited to get homework and music practice done promptly tonight, especially because Wednesday is the busiest day of the week.

7. Winter foods....we've been grilling out quite a bit lately. Did you get that? Grilling out! Hubby made a briquit on the grill this weekend. Time to get back to soups, oven casseroles, roasts. You know, winter food!! I'm a seasonal eater, and tend to prepare things with that in mind. I'd never make potato soup for example in July. Its been tricky to know what to make, or be hungry for when its 50 degrees in January. I'm now, picky and weird.

8. I can now find my keys....they are in my winter coat pocket! The coat I've worn all day! Hooray!! Do you know how much time this saves???
So, call me weird. But I'd like to say, "Hello January, I missed you!"

ITS THANKSGIVING PEOPLE!!

I am writing this post using many of my 4 year olds thoughts. Which I think give great validity to the point.

The title of this post is a direct quote from her. She has become extremely disgusted with all of the Christmas decorations she has seem up the last two weeks. She shakes her head and mumbles under her breath, its Thanksgiving people...come on!

She asked me about a week ago how we were going to celebrate both Thanksgiving and Christmas. I explained her that there was about a month between the two holidays and we would celebrate both. She was just that more upset. Come on then people its NOT Christmas!!!

We got a Christmas card in the mail yesterday. I hid it from her.

We passed a yard yesterday with a giant blow up Turkey. She YELLED Bravo!!!! while wildly clapping. I'm pretty sure she would have shook the owners hands. Probably hugged them too. She also chewed out another yard that had a blow up Santa. Wow, the angst!

I promise I have done NO COACHING on this subject with her.

So, one has to ask.....if the 4 year old gets it........

So, HAPPY THANKSGIVING PEOPLE!!!

CIADD

Its November, which means its time for me to blog daily. Its an annual thing,and as I'm not very good with annual, its good practice for me. I hate to mess it up. I'm a bit competitive, so it is going to bug me insanely that I missed yesterday. I'm chalking it up to a severe case of CIADD. Never heard of it? I'm not surprised, and then again I am. I actually googled it before I came here, thinking surely by now someone has named this affliction that effects most mothers. Perhaps someone has named it something different, but I can not for the life of me think of a better name for it. I'd spend more time brainstorming a name for this condition but I was just now interrupted to help cheer on Dora. (dang interactive TV shows)So I'm going to stick with what I know it to be and see if you agree.

CIADD = Child Induced Attention Deficit Disorder

Yesterday I had a bad case of it. I woke well rested and ready to start the day. 3 kids ready for church, and me, Sunday school, church, breakfast, chores, homework, snow, music practice, nap time for one, and about 100 teeny tiny things to minor to mention that prevented me from blogging even though I sat down here 3 different times to do so. (that I recall anyway) I also never got a grocery list made so this AM trip was a total wing job. I am not going back there either...we will eat whats here and thats that. Nah.

So, thats my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

First Annual

This weekend the "boys" went on a hunting trip with most of the male counsins and uncles on Brian's side of the family. A two day adventure, part of it guided. Motel, male bonding. The works. They are having fun even if they are freezing their, well, pretty much everything off!!

Sooo.....whats a bunch of girls to do?


Well, we decided to get out of town too. We headed north an hour and stayed at a hotel, went shoppping, went to a movie, went out to eat. We drove home through the first snow of the year, and now we are all snuggled in bed watching Judy Moody's Not So Bummer Summer. (side note, Judy reminds me a bit of Sophia.....) warm and safe.



Will these first annuals become true annuals?

Time will tell!

Interview

Interview with Gabbie 4 years 11 months and 13 days



1. What is something mom always says to you?
Don't touch (which I guess I do....germ patrol)

2. What makes mom happy?
Having her favorite candy!

3. What makes mom sad?
When people are mean to you

4. What does your mom do to make you laugh?
Tickle me

5. What was your mom like as a child?
just like me!

6. How old is your mom?
Um, I don't know....um 40????

7. How tall is your mom?
60 feet

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
Talk to my kids

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
do lanudry and run errands

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
You would be a rock star!!! LOLOLOLOL

11. What is your mom really good at?
Folding socks (everyone has to have a talent I guess)

12. What is your mom not very good at?
Balancing clothes on your head (um....OK....)

13. What does your mom do for a job?
DO the luandry

14.What is your mom's favorite food?
hamburgers (um, no)

15. What makes you proud of your mom?
When I try to jump on the trampoline

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
Super Grover!! (HIGH praise!!!!)

17. What do you and your mom do together?
go to the doctors

18. How are you and your mom the same?
We both have blackish hair

19. How are you and your mom different?
You have glasses and I don't

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
because she kisses me a lot!

21. What does your mom like most about your dad?
because he buys you presents

22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
The grocery store (then we had a discussion because I made a face. she came to the conclusion that I just like to go "places").

Thank you Make a Wish!!

There really aren't words enough to thank everyone who supports MAW. Gabbie's trip was truely magical in all ways. She had an absolute fabulous time. It was soooo wonderful to have so many things to do and think about besides cancer. Special life time memories. Just so fantastic!

And so, with that, a few pictures that I have recieved from various locations in the last few days, to wrap things up a bit.

This is inside the Gingerbread house where we ate breakfast every day, and quite a few suppers. It was a fun place, although all the dolls looking at you while you eat is a little freaky. Just a bit.
The Gingerbread house! Fun huh?
Ol' Elmer, man Gabbie loved that tree. EVERY SINGLE time we went by it, and we had to go by it to get back to our villa after leaving pretty much every event.....she would yell, "WAKE UP ELMER!" He just kept on snoring. ;)
Inside the ice cream palace. Many a good sundae was had here! YUM YUM YUM!!

This was a fun little climbing room. Crickets would chirp, bee's buzz, little doors when opened made all sorts of noises. It was fun! I didn't take a picture of it, but GKTW sent me one! They are beyond cool!
TA-DA! I got the picture finally! Gabbie, Jacob and Brian, Tower of Terror Conquers. Yes, the ride is in that building behind them and yes, they went up and then crashed all the way down. Take. The. Stairs.

Last day. Sigh

YAWN!!!!!!!!

Tired. Thats how I remembered that day. We had gotten back from MK about 10 that night, a little wound up, so, some showers, and a little TV and a snack had us in bed about 11. Apparently A week of traveling and doing doing doing was all we could do. No one was jumping out of bed.





(yes, Jacob is in there somewhere, I promise.)
But we did get up and got packed. Made our way over to breakfast for more of those delicious waffles and THEN over to see Mickey and Minnie! Woo-hoo!! They also graciously signed Gabbie's Mickey doll. How cool is that?
And look who we found outside after meeting M and M? Hooray! Pluto was fun to meet!
This is the fabulous limo that picked up the weary travelors and delivered them to their truck. The driver chuckled about driving us all the way home. Shoot. Ah well. Brian was a champ and drove us home. He had a tiny nap on the plane, well sorta. He drifted off before the safety briefing, and Gabbie woke him teasing him about falling asleep in 1 minute, after which she promptly crashed and slept until we landed!


Isn't this a sweet picture? Our wish child had a fabulous time and truely enjoyed every single minute. We stopped and ate on the way home, and got home about 8:15. All of us were asleep before 9pm. We worked HARD having so much fun!!

The End of Magic Kingdom Day

We were coming to the end of a magical day after meeting Jasmine. So, we quickly made our way to a few have too rides. One being the Thundermountain rollercoaster, we all loved that. The haunted house...good fun there. I don't have a picture however, the picture that came on our disc? Not us..... Anyway. Onward!

Our disc with Disney photopass pics came....so here we are offically at Magic Kingdom!
After meeting Jasmine....a person just HAS to go on the magic carpet ride....right??

Then maybe the floom ride. Well, most of us went on it. Its not really Sophia's cup of tea.
They are building a whole new princess area at MK. This picture was beautiful and Sophia loved it. I'm glad we had this very nice picture as we would use it later to show Disney cast members what she looked like when we lost her. Yes, we lost her. LONGEST 20 minutes of my life thus far. About 7pm we decided we had better stop with rides if we were going to get to the electrical parade, AND we hadn't really shopped much. Sooo, we headed towards the gift shop and told the kids they could each pick out a sweatshirt. It was getting chilly, and well, we would soon be heading to the land of cold. Sweatshirt was a practical option. (Sophia opted for a Little Mermaid throw pillow however as she is rarely cold, ah well) So, we left the store in a train fashion as we tried to travel up a now very crowded Main Street. We crossed a street which diviated in 4 different directions. 5 of us made it across. One didn't. I can't even begin to tell you how fast my stomach dropped. It was nearly dark. There were SOOO many people, (you couldn't move) and SOOO many directions she could have gone. We quickly started looking. Hannah, bless her, had the peace of mind to find a picture of her on the camera (see above) so we could show cast members. All the proper people were notified while I began to pray in earnest that Sophia please remember to find a store person should she get lost. Blessedly, she did, and 2o long long long minutes later we had her in our arms again. Just in time for the parade to start. Whew!
The parade was fantastic. We really enjoyed it. The girls had light up wands....and Jacob had a container of glow sticks that he got quite creative with as you will see here when you scroll down a bit. (see how I just suck you right in?)
Gabbie had the best seat in the house I think. Your a rockstar Daddy!!
Ta-da! Jacob's creation. Do not be fooled into thinking this was an easy-peasy thing, there was some special weaving involved to make those ears stand up independently.


We had a very magical day thats for sure. Thanks a bunch MAW Minnesota!!!!

But Where is Jasmine???

We had a blast at the special lunch. We had met many princess's over the last few days. BUT, we have not yet seen Jasmine, Gabbie's very favorite. Dad, with a little help from technology found that Jasmine was out and about and not to far from where we were! We told Gabbie....who started to dance while saying, "I'm so excited I think I"m going to pop out of my skin!!!



We loaded her up and made the trek over to where she was. The magic button got Gabbie a front of the line bump that made her day I think! She was just so excited you could almost feel it!





Happiness!!

Lunch with the Princess's

Gabbie's Make a Wish team surprised all of us with the planning of a lunch at Cinderella's castle. It was a magical thing and we all had lots of fun! Prepare for a picture filled post!

In the waiting area before we were officially welcomed in to meet Cinderella, we saw these beautiful mosaics that told the story of Cinderella
We got to meet her! The girls in their princess gear, even Jacob was game for a picture or two. It was fun and she was very sweet. We have a more formal picture too (thanks MAW) be sure to check it out when you visit us!
Gabbie and Sophia ordered pizza for lunch. It came on these super cute Mickey Mouse shaped plates. I should have, but didn't take a picture of the HUGE mound of chicken strips that Hannah ordered. To the left you can see a little bit of whats left from the antipasta platter we were also served. YUMMY food!
Brian and I ordered Pork three ways. It might look a little questionable, but I promise you, it was very good. Jacob ordered fried chicken which he also said was good. I missed a picture of that. This lunch was busy and fast moving. Before we knew it, the princess's started arriving! They couldn't promise who would be there, so each one was a suprise. They would tell a little bit about each one before they came, and we would then guess. It was great fun.




Then it was dessert time! Jacob, Brian and myself ordered the cheesecake. It was delicious, light lemony flavor with lignoberries.
The girls all ordered the cupcake! How cute is this? They had a BLAST decorating. So fun.

And they were huge. This bite? The only one she took. She was "stuffed" so, Mom and Dad had a bit, it was pretty good, but the cheesecake.....way better!
*** sidenote: Glitter eyeshadow? Doesn't stay in place very well. Oh well.