Claudia,
Sorry, Claud, that it has been a month since your graduation day and I haven't posted pictures yet. Papa took the pictures and I am not able to put them on the blog (goofy technical stuff with web albums).
It was a great ceremony and a great year!
You did a fabulous job in preschool and will make a great kkindergartner!
Love,
Mommy, Daddy and William
Monday, June 20, 2011
Friday, June 17, 2011
OUCH
Quote from Claudia...
"Those aren't grey hairs on your head, Mom. It's just the light making the hair look shiny. But, your face, Mom, sure is getting a lot of cracks (wrinkles) in it."
"Those aren't grey hairs on your head, Mom. It's just the light making the hair look shiny. But, your face, Mom, sure is getting a lot of cracks (wrinkles) in it."
Monday, April 25, 2011
Easter 2011
We had a wonderful Easter this year! Our EARLY morning started with the Bunny who brought baskets full of treats, twistable colored pencils ("the best kind") and games for the Leapster Explorers.
After breakfast, we headed to church and then to Grandma's house for an afternoon of fun with cousins.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
I Need a Vacation
What a crappy week!
Brian, once again, is MIA. He leaves for work at 6:30am, returns at 6:30pm, then works on the computer until midnight. The kids and dogs no longer recognize him. I've started telling people that I am a single parent. Enough said.
Secondly, I opened the back door to let the dogs out. They dashed passed me, head-butted the screen door and ran for the bunny nest in our lilies. By the time I quickly dressed (I was a wearing a tank top, no bra and pajama pants... a scary sight), Sophie had a baby bunny in her mouth and would not release it. I bribed her with treats, chased her through the yard, but she would still not release it. I felt so bad, that I just stood there and cried. Finally, I went in the house and grabbed a handful of turkey hoping she would drop the bunny for the turkey. After what seemed like an eternity, she released the bunny to eat the turkey. The bunny was dead. Fortunately, the kids were absorbed in a cartoon and didn't know what was taking place in the back yard so I was able to wrap the bunny in a plastic bag and dispose of it in our garbage can. Sorry Mommy Bunny. The dogs will be leashed up from now on and will stay away from your nest.
My third disaster involved the carpet cleaner. The new carpet cleaner. I decided to shampoo the carpets... which worked great in one bedroom. Then the cleaner stopped spitting out the water. I took the tank off, replaced it and it still wouldn't work. I unplugged the stupid machine, took it apart, put it back together and discovered it worked. I continued cleaning for several minutes until I saw that the bottom tank contained no dirty water. What the heck? The machine was spitting out the water with cleaner, but not suctioning up the dirty water. Took the darn machine apart again, but I couldn't get it to work which let me with a soggy carpet in the upstairs hallway. I spent a good hour soaking up the mess with towels. The towels are still in the laundry room waiting to be washed. And yesterday, the older dog, who never has potty problems, pottied on the clean carpet!
And.... the doctors' office lost William's kindergarten paperwork so now I need to go to the elementary school, pick up new paperwork, drop it off at the doctors' office and hope they can actually place it in his file until I return to pick it up again.
Then there's the regular occurrence of the cat going stealth, running past me as I have the door open to let the dogs in. Well, Rosie, you can now fend for yourself. I'm done picking you out of the thorn bushes and taking the deck apart only for you to dash from me as I remove the last screw of the lattice in an effort to bring you back in the house. You're on your own.
To end my week, the older dog weaseled her way out of her harness and leash and killed all the bunnies in the nest. I am sick and completely puzzled as how she freed herself. I found 7 bunnies total. She was only outside for a few minutes LEASHED. Damn dog!
I'm thinking that it might be a good time to take myself on a vacation. MYSELF.
Brian, once again, is MIA. He leaves for work at 6:30am, returns at 6:30pm, then works on the computer until midnight. The kids and dogs no longer recognize him. I've started telling people that I am a single parent. Enough said.
Secondly, I opened the back door to let the dogs out. They dashed passed me, head-butted the screen door and ran for the bunny nest in our lilies. By the time I quickly dressed (I was a wearing a tank top, no bra and pajama pants... a scary sight), Sophie had a baby bunny in her mouth and would not release it. I bribed her with treats, chased her through the yard, but she would still not release it. I felt so bad, that I just stood there and cried. Finally, I went in the house and grabbed a handful of turkey hoping she would drop the bunny for the turkey. After what seemed like an eternity, she released the bunny to eat the turkey. The bunny was dead. Fortunately, the kids were absorbed in a cartoon and didn't know what was taking place in the back yard so I was able to wrap the bunny in a plastic bag and dispose of it in our garbage can. Sorry Mommy Bunny. The dogs will be leashed up from now on and will stay away from your nest.
My third disaster involved the carpet cleaner. The new carpet cleaner. I decided to shampoo the carpets... which worked great in one bedroom. Then the cleaner stopped spitting out the water. I took the tank off, replaced it and it still wouldn't work. I unplugged the stupid machine, took it apart, put it back together and discovered it worked. I continued cleaning for several minutes until I saw that the bottom tank contained no dirty water. What the heck? The machine was spitting out the water with cleaner, but not suctioning up the dirty water. Took the darn machine apart again, but I couldn't get it to work which let me with a soggy carpet in the upstairs hallway. I spent a good hour soaking up the mess with towels. The towels are still in the laundry room waiting to be washed. And yesterday, the older dog, who never has potty problems, pottied on the clean carpet!
And.... the doctors' office lost William's kindergarten paperwork so now I need to go to the elementary school, pick up new paperwork, drop it off at the doctors' office and hope they can actually place it in his file until I return to pick it up again.
Then there's the regular occurrence of the cat going stealth, running past me as I have the door open to let the dogs in. Well, Rosie, you can now fend for yourself. I'm done picking you out of the thorn bushes and taking the deck apart only for you to dash from me as I remove the last screw of the lattice in an effort to bring you back in the house. You're on your own.
To end my week, the older dog weaseled her way out of her harness and leash and killed all the bunnies in the nest. I am sick and completely puzzled as how she freed herself. I found 7 bunnies total. She was only outside for a few minutes LEASHED. Damn dog!
I'm thinking that it might be a good time to take myself on a vacation. MYSELF.
Saturday, April 09, 2011
Claudia's Tooth
Dear Claudia,
Congratulations! You lost your first tooth on April 3rd.
It was a wiggly little thing for quite some time, driving you absolutely crazy! You wouldn't let anyone get near it except for William. You asked him to pull it out for you, but he was afraid to hurt you, so the two of you came downstairs in search of the Master Tooth-Puller (that would be me). I gave that little guy a slight tug and out it came.
As relieved as you were to have the tooth out, you did not want to turn it over to the Tooth Fairy (I don't blame you... the whole Tooth Fairy thing is kind of creepy), so you wrote the Tooth Fairy a note (which I will eventually scan and include) asking the Fairy to leave the tooth with you.
The Tooth Fairy was so impressed by your note, that she left the tooth with you and also left you $3.00!!
It seems that you will be following in William's footsteps because you have two more wiggly teeth that will be coming out soon.
Congratulations Claudi on losing your tooth and being brave enough to ask the Tooth Fairy to leave your tooth with you!
Love,
Your Favorite Mommy :)
Monday, February 21, 2011
The Big Lost Tooth
I lost a big one!!!
While we were in Indy this past weekend, William lost his front tooth. He actually LOST it... as in a swimming pool!
William and Claudia were swimming with their cousins and William's face made contact with Matthew's foot. The tooth came out and settled somewhere on the bottom of the pool. I entered the pool area right after the tooth came out to find William crying hysterically and holding a towel full of blood. I thought he had jumped in the pool backwards again (after telling him not to a million times) and smashed his face on the side of the pool. He was actually crying because he couldn't find the tooth in the pool and no tooth meant no Tooth Fairy (according to William).
Claudia, with a teeny bit of help from Sydney, started a search and rescue mission. She continued to dive and scan the bottom of the pool for William's tooth.
And... guess what? SHE FOUND IT!!!!
William was so happy to have his tooth back and Claudia was so happy to have found it for her favorite brother.
The Tooth Fairy came to the hotel and left William a special gift. Not money, but a StarWars movie- A New Hope. William couldn't believe his luck.
We had an eventful weekend with cousins and Grandma :)
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
William's Report Card
William,
Today you received your first kindergarten report card. You did a great job! We're so proud of you!!!
Love You,
Mom
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Lentil Chili
Ingredients
8 cups low-sodium vegetable broth, divided
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 large red bell pepper, chopped
5 cloves garlic, finely chopped
4 teaspoons salt-free chili powder
1 (16-ounce) package brown lentils (about 2 1/4 cups lentils)
2 (15-ounce) cans no-salt-added diced tomatoes
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
Method
Bring 3/4 cup broth to a simmer in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion, bell pepper and garlic and cook about 8 minutes or until onion is translucent and pepper is tender. Stir in chili powder and cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add lentils, tomatoes and remaining 7 1/4 cups broth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, partially covered, 30 minutes or until lentils are almost tender. Uncover and cook 10 minutes longer. Stir in cilantro and serve.
Nutrition
Per serving : 120 calories (5 from fat), 0g total fat, 0g saturated fat, 0mg cholesterol, 180mg sodium, 21g total carbohydrate (7g dietary fiber, 6g sugar), 6g protein
Serves 8
Friday, December 17, 2010
So ....What's Happening At the Stage House?
I went in for surgery for on November 30th, got sick from the anesthesia and pain meds. While in the hospital, the staff lost 2 bags of my personal belongings, delivered me to the wrong room and gave me meds that I declined. Perhaps I need to lower my standards when it comes to acceptable medical care.
Claudia developed a double dose of pink eye, and fever and a stomach bug causing her to empty the contents of her stomach in our bathtub... at least it wasn't the carpet.
I caught Claudia's bug, while still recovering from surgery. It's not fun to throw-up when stitches are involved.
I woke up on a Tuesday morning and couldn't get out of bed. I managed to injure my back (again) while sleeping.... amazing. I made an appointment with my doctor for the following day, but the pain was so intense that I had Brian take me to the ER where I stood (it hurt to sit or lie down) for 4 hours. They offered me pain meds which I declined, sent me home and told me to ice my back. My back still hurts to the point that I can not dress the lower half of my body without assistance.
Our 7 year old high efficiency furnace broke. Called the furnace man to fix it, but he couldn't because he didn't have the part in stock. The fix-it man told us that if we had purchased a mid-range furnace, he would have had the part in stock. Gosh, what were we thinking when we purchased the more expensive furnace (insert sarcasm)? That was on a Thursday evening. The part would not be available until Monday afternoon because it was being delivered from Glendale Heights in Illinois. We would have driven to IL, but a rather large snow storm blanketed Porter County and the roads were not impassible. The storm also delayed the Lenox truck which showed up on Tuesday afternoon.
During the furnace ordeal, we packed up the kids and shipped them out to Mimi and Papa's so they would not freeze. Brian and I would have joined the kids but we had the 2 dogs and cat at home... Mimi and Papa have 2 large greyhounds. Four dogs and one cat are not a good mix. Brian and I roughed it at home with a handful of space heaters until the frigid cold and snow storm hit. Then we packed up the pups and headed east to Crown Point where we stayed at for 2 nights.
While we were at Mimi's house William came down with the stomach bug. Poor guy. He had it worse than the rest of us. I gave him a glass of water which he quickly tossed back up stating "That just came back up like a fire hose". Luckily, the bug only lasted a day.
Tonight we are going to Grandma's to decorate for Christmas. Tomorrow the kids are going to Mimi ad Papa's to bake cookies and spend the night which provides me with the only opportunity I will have to shop, organize and wrap.
Since this has been such a chaotic month, I decided to splurge and buy myself a Christmas gift. I usually don't use retail therapy as a cure-all, but this time I found it to be completely necessary.... and it got Brian off the hook when it comes to shopping for me.
Claudia developed a double dose of pink eye, and fever and a stomach bug causing her to empty the contents of her stomach in our bathtub... at least it wasn't the carpet.
I caught Claudia's bug, while still recovering from surgery. It's not fun to throw-up when stitches are involved.
I woke up on a Tuesday morning and couldn't get out of bed. I managed to injure my back (again) while sleeping.... amazing. I made an appointment with my doctor for the following day, but the pain was so intense that I had Brian take me to the ER where I stood (it hurt to sit or lie down) for 4 hours. They offered me pain meds which I declined, sent me home and told me to ice my back. My back still hurts to the point that I can not dress the lower half of my body without assistance.
Our 7 year old high efficiency furnace broke. Called the furnace man to fix it, but he couldn't because he didn't have the part in stock. The fix-it man told us that if we had purchased a mid-range furnace, he would have had the part in stock. Gosh, what were we thinking when we purchased the more expensive furnace (insert sarcasm)? That was on a Thursday evening. The part would not be available until Monday afternoon because it was being delivered from Glendale Heights in Illinois. We would have driven to IL, but a rather large snow storm blanketed Porter County and the roads were not impassible. The storm also delayed the Lenox truck which showed up on Tuesday afternoon.
During the furnace ordeal, we packed up the kids and shipped them out to Mimi and Papa's so they would not freeze. Brian and I would have joined the kids but we had the 2 dogs and cat at home... Mimi and Papa have 2 large greyhounds. Four dogs and one cat are not a good mix. Brian and I roughed it at home with a handful of space heaters until the frigid cold and snow storm hit. Then we packed up the pups and headed east to Crown Point where we stayed at for 2 nights.
While we were at Mimi's house William came down with the stomach bug. Poor guy. He had it worse than the rest of us. I gave him a glass of water which he quickly tossed back up stating "That just came back up like a fire hose". Luckily, the bug only lasted a day.
Tonight we are going to Grandma's to decorate for Christmas. Tomorrow the kids are going to Mimi ad Papa's to bake cookies and spend the night which provides me with the only opportunity I will have to shop, organize and wrap.
Since this has been such a chaotic month, I decided to splurge and buy myself a Christmas gift. I usually don't use retail therapy as a cure-all, but this time I found it to be completely necessary.... and it got Brian off the hook when it comes to shopping for me.
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Thanksgiving Weekend 2010
Happy Thanksgiving
This year we stayed home for Thanksgiving. Our original plan was to go to Grandma's house for the day, but Grandma got sick. Brian and I thought it was great to hang out in our jammies until noon and not have to rush to be anywhere, but the kids, especially William, thought otherwise... "This is the worst Thanksgiving ever." I heard repeatedly. William was upset that he was not at Grandma's playing with his favorite boy cousins.
We did get together later with Grandma and the Benton's for a Polish Thanksgiving. We met at a Polish restaurant in Lynwood where Aunt G. was greeted by a glass of water down her back... the waitress had butter fingers and colorful language. Despite the wet beginning, we enjoyed all the delicious foods, especially the sauerkraut and pierogies (which I ate my weight in...YUM).
We went to the Museum of Science and Industry on Saturday... where we met our Novak cousins and Aunt M. We had lots of fun. I really enjoyed the Muppet's exhibit. There's nothing quite like Kermit the Frog! The kids went home with Aunt M. and spent the night at her house.
On Sunday, we met the Novak's and Mimi and Papa for pizza at San Fratello's. We celebrated Brian's 41st birthday and made our way back home.... exhausted from the busy weekend!
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