Sara and the kitchen chair

Sara, in her 18th month, has figured out how to get up on the dining room and kitchen chairs. Yikes!

We've had to go from using the tables to keep things away from her to putting them on top of the entertainment center. The kitchen counters weren't even a safe spot because she's figured out how to push the chair to the kitchen counter and then climb up on the chair. She's a smart one....

The Nutcracker Ballet Tea

Today we went to the Collin County Ballet Theatre's annual Nutcracker & Sugar Plum Fairy team - this is our third one and it was really great.

It's at the Westin in Frisco and they really do a great job. They serve kid-friendly tea sandwiches of peanut butter & jelly and grilled cheese, strawberries with cream, scones with jelly and cookies. It's kid heaven! And then, when they think it can't get any better, they get to mingle and dance with the ballerinas.


As we were leaving all of the little girls were spinning and twirling, pretending they were the ballerinas - it's so cute!


Here are some pictures from the event...


This is Paige and her American Girl doll, Kit, in their matching outfits. I hadn't bought a Christmas dress for Paige yet and thought she would love to have an outfit to match her doll. Note to self - before you promise a matching dress, check out the price tag. :) Enough said.


My little lady enjoying the tea (well, lemonade) part of the ballet

Paige with Riley and Caroline

Paige with a few of the dancers from the show...

Paige's Tooth Finally Came Out!

Paige finally lost her first tooth this morning - it took over two weeks since we first noticed it was loose for that little bugger to come out!

And here's Paige getting ready for the tooth fairy - Grandma Margaret made her a tooth fairy pillow. I need to remember to go up to her room and make sure the tooth fairy does her job!

Our little Rock Star

Check out the Rock Star playing a little Barbie guitar...

and our trip to McAlister's... "MMMMmmm..."

Lots of Baking!

Last Sunday was a big baking day in our house. We started off the morning making Cinnamon Rolls. Paige took the lead and did everything except for take them out of the oven. (Mom's not quite ready to let her try that one...)

Paige did a great job and they were VERY tasty!



And that afternoon Paige made her first cake using the Easy Bake Oven. It was just like I remembered it - light bulb and all!

It was alot of fun until mom had to call for reinforcements when she got the cake stuck in the Not So Easy Bake Oven after it was done. Dad had to come in and save the day! (No, I have no idea how the cake got stuck - seriously)

I can't believe it's already here...

We went to the mall this morning to meet the Nirchis to allow the kids to let loose in the play area at the mall. And after play time is snack time so I bought the girls some pretzel sticks.

We pick up Subway for lunch on the way home and as Paige is eating her sandwich she starts to complain about how it hurts. Now, you have to know that Paige whines about hurting, stomach aches, being too full, etc whenever she doesn't want to finish the food that has been given to. I realized this trick very quickly after the first "stomach ache" when not 10 minutes later she was asking for cookies. Sigh.

I basically tell her to suck it up and finish her sandwich. But then she tells me that one specific front tooth hurts and that it's moving. Huh? Moving?

No, can't be - you are WAY too young to lose a baby tooth. But, after a quick confirmation that in fact, the tooth is moving AND you can see the adult one popping in behind it, I let it sink in. My first born is not a little girl anymore. She's my big girl. This is seriously bumming me out a bit. I just can't believe she is old enough for her baby teeth to come out. Okay, logically, I get that she's five and that's about the right age but my heart tells me different - she TOO young!

I'll keep you updated but I have a feeling the Tooth Fairy will be visiting our home tonight or tomorrow!

Halloween

We had a great Halloween this year! We spent it with our good friends the Butlers and the Harrisons over at the Butlers house. Food, drinks and candy - what could be better?



The Butlers really do their house up for Halloween - the kids loved it! Heck, I loved it!

Here's Little Red Riding Hood! You can't really tell from this picture but Sara absolutely hated the cape...

...but she loved the basket.

And here's Paige as a Barbie Cheerleader. Let me tell you, I wouldn't have bought this particular costume if I have would have known that it was "sexy" version but oh well... I mean seriously, what kiddos costume shows her midriff?



Here are Paige and Marshall before Trick or Treating. They're smiling but on the inside they were saying "Can we go? Can we go yet? Can we go now? Can we go?".

Paige's Birthday Party

We had Paige's 5th birthday party this past weekend. It was great! We had it at Kreative Kidz in Plano - Paige picked "Princess and Knights" as the theme. They decorated the entire area and had costumes for all of the kids to wear. And then there were helpers dressed up as Snow White and Cinderella that organized games for the kids.


We did a little different this year in that I made her keep the guest list to 10 kids. The last two years she has invited her whole class and had 25+ kids at her party. She actually broke down crying last year because she had too many presents to open. Seriously? That gave me the big hint to tone it down this year.


Here are some pictures of the party...

The Miscellaneous Post

What do you call a post that has a mish-mash of stuff because you haven't had time to sit at your computer and upload pictures for over a month? You call it "The Miscellaneous Post".

I can't really put my finger on why the last month has been so busy. Some of it has to do with work and my obsession of not being able to "unplug" and some of it probably has to do with the Fall TV Season starting. Yep, that's about as lame as it gets.

So..in all it's lameness are some things to catch you up on...

1. Paige turns five this weekend! She is now into "Camp Rock" and "High School Musical".

2. Sara is talking, talking, talking. She has new words every day. And so far, no swear words. I no you may be confused by that but I'm pretty sure Paige had dropped "the f-bomb" by 16 months. (You think I'm kidding, don't you? Well maybe I am and maybe I'm not...)

3. Todd and I still don't know who to vote for although Todd has insisted we keep an Obama sign in front of the house. Our fun of the week was to put the sign in the front yard of our super-Republican friends while they were on vacation. Tee hee. Did I mention we took pictures?

4. Todd and I both refuse to login to look at our 401K balances again. I had a moment of weakness last week and regret seeing that I've lost 25% of the value of my 401K. Sigh.

5. The Chore Chart is a definite hit with Paige. Ever since we motivated her with cash ($5 a week), it's been easier to get her to do things around the house. Basically, $15 = 1 new Barbie. And Paige loves her Barbies. Her chores for this week are to pick up her sister's toys, stay seated at the dinner table for the entire meal, dress herself for school in the morning, help set the table, homework (she has spelling words each week, we practice them every night) and going to bed. Yes, we pay her to go to bed. She has to go without pouting, arguing and many nights we can even get her to walk herself up to her room without parental assistance - sometimes.

This is Sara loving her (well mom's) Chic-Fil-A fries. This kid cracks me up. (Yeah, I know, real safe having her sitting on the counter, huh?)



Here's Paige singing "The Pumpkin Song" for Halloween...

Here is a video of Sara talking and talking and talking...just like her mom.

This is a video of Sara on her Bounce & Spin Zebra - she got it for her birthday five months ago and is finally big enough to really get full use out of it - and she sure does!

Grandpa and Grandma Zagumny along with Uncle Ryan and Aunt Mandy got Paige this awesome princess scooter (and of course matching helmet and pads) for her 5th birthday - Paige loves her new scooter. The only issue is that Sara loves it too and wants to ride it with Paige. It's really not built for two if you know what I mean...

Paige loves anything that makes her feel like she's a princess - a carousel will definitely do that!

Little Sara-Bobeara after bathtime..

..and after dinner time - really, the bathtime picture should be after because we go straight from the highchair to the bath. We need to teach her that you don't eat food with your hands and play with your hair at the same time.

Our favorite Galveston vacation spot

In the last several years we have gone on a group trip to Galveston and each time we've stayed in the same house right on the beach past the Seawall.

We first went to Galveston with Paige when she was around 20 months. It was the first time she had experienced the beach and sand. She LOVED the water. She headed right out with no fear (now I had fear but she didn't).

We took her again a year later and she just played and played in the sand. It was such a beautiful and relaxing vacation (I was maybe 8 weeks pregnant and I slept alot while everyone was on the beach).

I emailed the owner yesterday to ask her how our favorite vacation home had fared after Hurricane Ike.

See for yourself...

This is the house in Galveston pre-Ike

And this is what is left...do you notice how the water comes up very close to the house? It used to be at least several hundred feet back...

And this is the front of the living room - I guess that's all that is left.

Lastly, here are some pictures form our two vacations to Galveston...

First day of school and more Wiggles!

I can't believe almost a month has flown by since the last time I've blogged!

The girls had their first day of the new semester start here on August 25th. For Sara, everything was pretty status quo, no change in classrooms. But there was a big girl type of change for Paige - she started her first day of private kindergarten. In Texas the cutoff for the first day of school is September 1 and Paige's birthday is at the end of October so even though I thought she was ready for public school kindergarten, she wasn't eligible. So, we did the next best thing and got into a private one. She's loving it so far!

Here are some pictures from their first day --

And then there's Sara's ongoing obsession with "The Wiggles" - here is a video of her trying to get me to turn on the TV. She cracks me up!

The Apple Jacks Bandit!

Sara's new nickname is "The Apple Jacks Bandit". You can't leave this one alone for a second.

Todd had her portable chair out on the floor in front of the TV. One might say that he had it there so she could enjoy "The Wiggles" while eating her Apple Jacks. Another might say that he wanted to lay on the couch and perhaps fall asleep while his daughter was watching "The Wiggles" and eating her Apple Jacks. But that's not the story.

Later that morning Todd and I are in the kitchen figuring out what to make for lunch and we hear Paige yelling. We walk into the living room and see that Sara must have wanted just a few more Apple Jacks...and she got them...and dumped the box upside down all over the floor. And then, continued to eat them off of the floor and her portable chair.

I'll leave it up to you to review the evidence - both still photo and video...

And for some reason, during part of this video, I got WAY to close to the microphone and I sound like Darth Vadar.

Orange Belt! Orange Belt!

Paige got her Orange Belt today! She did great - we are so proud of her!

Here are some pictures of her today in class...






This is a picture of Taylor, Paige and Blake. Blake also got his orange belt today. These three have been friends since they were in the infant room at daycare together...

So what does Miss. Susie's baby eat?

I was cleaning out some of Sara's baby things and came across three of those sample cans of formula you get when companies are trying to get you to use their product.

I put them on the counter and Paige asked me if I was going to give that to Sara. I told her no, that Sara is a big girl now and drinks milk and that I was going to try and find a baby to give the formula to.

Paige asks me if we should give the formula to Miss Susie's baby. (Miss Susie is our neighbor across the street has a new baby girl that she breastfeeds). I told her no, Miss Susie's baby doesn't drink formula.

Paige asks "So what does Miss Susie's baby eat?" (Please note that I never breastfed either of my kids so Paige has no clue about this whole breastfeeding thing).

Hmm...I think to myself - do I lie to her and give some crap story about how the stork brings her special baby milk? Nah. I'll just bite the bullet and tell the truth.

"Paige, when a mommy has a baby, she gets milk in her boobies that she uses to feed the baby."

Paige asks "How does she get the milk out of the boobies?"

My response, "Well, the baby sucks on the Mommy's boobies and the milk comes out."

Paige gets the biggest grin, rolls her eyes and says "MOM - THAT'S SO SILLY!!!" and just starts giggling. I'm not sure if she believes me but we sort of leave it at that.

Or so I think.

The next morning I drop Paige off at daycare and she walks up to her little girlfriend and asks her "Did you drink milk out of your Mommy's boobies?" Yeah, I'm mortified, looking around to see if anyone else heard that. I quickly tell Paige that's not something we ask our friends and left it at that.

I swear, I was waiting all day to get a phone call from daycare asking me to pick my child up. I never got one and we haven't talked about that since... If she asks where babies come from, I'm using the stork line.

Oprah and Hard Boiled Eggs

I tape the Oprah Winfrey show every day and save the ones where I think the topics sound interesting. And the during Christmas break or the summer, when there isn't any decent TV, I watch them.

I'm currently on an episode from last October with Dr. Oz where he is describing his anti-aging plan. I haven't gone to her website yet to take the online test to validate that I'm probaby doing 99 out of 100 things wrong. Regardless, he mentions that India has the lowest rate of Alzheimer's in the world and that's it's related to the spice Cumin. And then he showed some deviled eggs because Cumin is a common ingrediant in deviled eggs.

(Yeah, I know, this doesn't seem like it's going anywhere and it's really not but if you're reading my blog you're probably a little bit bored anyways so work with me!)

Then I'm like "Mmmm...hard boiled eggs sound good". I promptly turn off Oprah and go downstairs to see if we have any eggs and we do.

If you know me, you know I don't really cook. Not really, not without explicitly following a recipe and destroying the kitchen. I can make a kick-butt grilled cheese and boil hot dogs with the best but that's about where it ends.

I decided to Google "How to boil an egg". I just found out I have been boiling eggs wrong my entire life. I actually read three different posts about hard boiling eggs and they were all the same.

I always boiled the water, threw the eggs in the boiling water, waiting 10 minutes and started opening up eggs every couple minutes until I was satisfied they would all probably be done. Yeah, so if I threw in a dozen eggs I normally only got 9-10 that were usable because I had cracked open 2-3 as testers.

Here's the post I followed: http://www.wikihow.com/Hard-Boil-an-Egg.

I used this posting cause it had pictures although I probably didn't really need them. Or the video. Trust me, I wasn't sad enough that I had to watch the video. The pictures sufficed.

And now I have 8 hard-boiled eggs to make deviled eggs tonight. I'm off now to Google a good deviled egg recipe. Maybe there will be pictures and a video. Tee hee...

Update: I didn't find any recipes that used cumin in deviled eggs. Hmm... Oh well. I made them and they turned out okay although Paige turned her nose up at "the yellow stuff". One day I'll tell her what's in hot dogs. Ha Ha!

Welcome to our new blog!

I have been wanting to move off of our vonniezone.spaces.live.com blog for a while now, mainly because it requires you to login to post comments.

I've added some pictures for The Wiggles concert we went to last weekend - we went with Dave, Jules and Dom. This concert was actually the best out of the three we've been too even though Greg wasn't there anymore. But we liked Sam! (For those of you who do not have toddlers, Greg was the original "Yellow" Wiggle and he retired last year and Sam replaced him). Here's a video of the kids dancing to the Wiggles finale.




And guess who figured out how to climb on the coffee table? If you said "Todd", you're wrong. It's Sara - check out this video of her on the coffee table. As soon as you got up there, she started to dance. When I saw her do that, I had flashbacks of a particular night I had too many margaritas and was dancing on the coffee table in my apartment on Frankford and the Tollway with Julie, Tinka, and Michelle. But enough about that. Check out the video...