Vacation and Memories

We just returned on Saturday night from being in Massachusetts for a week and I already miss it. It brought back GREAT memories.

Nights of playing frisbee at Simonds Park with the Gang.

Ice cream at Mac's on RT 38 in Tewksbury.

IFC

Wonderful time in Children's church.

Having Dunkin Donuts on every corner and w/in miles of each other.

Friends from High School and church.

Silver Lake

ROCKPORT!!!!

NH

Worcester and my 1st real apartment

and the list can go on.

I went to see the house my mom grew up in and then we moved into when I was 15. They've changed it....definitely a great improvement, but now it doesn't look like "my house." Saw our old neighbor and learned her husband (who was 80 something) died 4 years ago.

Ate some great food, saw the ocean, and most of all got to see some awesome friends!

Was it a good vacation? Nope....it was GREAT!!!

One more time.....

My daughter is so adorable at age 3. All week I've been at the church either helping Miss Kitty (our church secretary/admin assistant) or decorating, organizing, etc. for VBS. She's been w/ the babysitters there, but she hasn't sqwaked about being there.

The first day she woke up, I told her we need to get ready to go to church. She said, "I have to see Luke and Sadie....tell them 'bout Tiny Tim." My friend from MA told her this cute story. She loves it.

Today she was heard screaming.....AHHHHH Thunder. She loves thunder stormes. She really does. I think it's cute.

She's been super good this week. I'm praying she's this good next week, especially since I'll have to wake her up to be at the church @ 7:30....being part of the Staff is part of the job. I'm excited. We have about 75 kids signed up....not sure how much staff, but I'm sure it will all come together.

I hear her playing and talking .... the cute things she says make me smile. Then she asks me to play with her. It's so cute. We play this game either on my bed or hers. She crawls under the blanket and says, "Mommy say, 'what's this lump?'" So I pat "the lump" and say, "this is a hard lump, it's not a pillow, and it's giggling, what is this lump?" Then lift up the blanket and say, "It's ARIANNE!!" and tickle her. Well, tonight she decided that I was to be the lump and she proceed to say, "What's this lump? It's just the right size for me to lay on." Then she get's off me and I say, "It's the Tickle Monster." and "pop" out from the blanket. And she giggles and says, "One more time mommy, OK?"

So cute......so those are some of Arianne's cuteness this past week. So glad she's been in good spirits. I love her!!!

disgusting little habits.....

UGH! Arianne has been sick for a while now and she CONTINUALLY wipes her nose on me....YUCK!!

Then there's the licking part....where does she come up with that? What is a mom to do? Well, I licked her back, but it doesn't seem to phase her....she continually does it.....IS THIS NORMAL?

Well....she's going stir crazy and hopefully our babysitter will be here tomorrow. Especially since my house is a disaster, it looks like a tornado hit it and how many times can you watch Little Einsteins.... Lord Help Me! Don't get me wrong it's a terrific show, but it's the only thing she really likes. (Little Einsteins is on Disney and has classical music, great characters and art, we have the disks, so they are readily available.) We actually got her Pat Pat Rocket and the characters for Christmas....thank God for Ebay! It talks and stuff....she'll love it.

I don't mind the show, but it's getting annoying....however, it has become a great way to get her to obey. If she doesn't, she's not allowed to watch it. Keeps her in check! "Find her currency," Dr. Phil always says, so I have.

Paul is on-call this week, so he's not always available to play with her. He's her biggest playmate. She loves her daddy, as I'm sure all little girls do. Daddy's little girl.

Is your child like this? If so, PLEASE share your stories with me so I don't think I'm the only one.....Thanks!

Thanks for reading.....

Cute sayings....

Ok, tell me if you've heard these sayings before?

How 'bout that Mommy?
Whacha think about that Mommy?
That would make me happy Mommy?

Those are the sayings Arianne is quoting nowadays.....too cute.

She'll say, "We go to Nanny Carol's house, how bout that mommy?" Or, "After my nap, I have a lollipop, how 'bout that? That would make me happy Mommy."

I have to stop from laughing. She's so darn cute. I love my 2 1/2 year old. I can't believe she's 2 1/2! Time flies and soon she'll be all grown up. I hope and pray we're doing a good job.

Nanny Carol & Uncle Kevin have moved away and I know Arianne doesn't understand, but I already miss my friend. She misses her too.....just the other day she asked to go over there and I told her, "Nanny Carol doesn't live there anymore." I took her over there through various stages of Carol's house changing, from full to empty....we stood in her driveway with the pods and took pictures, but I don't think she understands quite what that means.

I really want to visit Carol a lot, but I know it's impossible, even though she's only 7 hours away.
I won't be able to see her as often as I like but she's always there for me. I'm hoping Arianne will never forget her. She's an important person in my life.

I must say, though, that October SUCKS! It seems like everything bad happens in October....My mom died, Dad died, then Nanny Carol & Uncle Kevin move away......

So even though my daughter makes me laugh and I have her joy around me, it still doesn't stop me from feeling sad.....

Thanks for reading.....blessings to all.

BIG GIRL BED!!!

Ok, so for the past 5 months or so we have been trying to get Arianne out of the crib and into the "Big Girl Bed"!

First there was the crib to toddler bed, which is essentially just taking the front of the crib off. DID NOT GO WELL...during this time, she would want me to stay in the room with her for a while (usually through 3 Twinkle Twinkle Little Star songs) so we brought in the full size mattress from our guest room and put it on the floor of her room.

So the second thing was, she wanted to sleep on the full-size mattress instead of the toddler bed. She did really well, once we put up the gate so she couldn't wander around the house.

Then third, reorganized her room and put the crib to a Full-size bed and SHE LOVES IT!! Success Finally! While we were on vacation, we forgot stuff for the pack-n-play so we bought a full-size sheet, fitted sheet and pillowcases--that SHE PICKED OUT and blanket. Those are now on her bed...here are a few pictures of her in "her new room" and BIG GIRL BED!!!

She loves jumping on her Big-Girl Bed!

something funny

When I lived in Massachusetts, I was very involved Children's ministry. I loved my volunteer position and developed close friendships w/ quite a few girls, tonight I was on another site and one of the girls wrote this to the Children's Pastor:

Haha, I am SO glad I came to see you tonight to pick up those costumes for next week's skit! When I got home, Josh hadn't fed the dog (as usual), so I made him feed him, and then after he'd holed himself up in his room again, I threw on the Satan mask and claws and knocked on the door until he opened up. His look of pure terror was PRICELESS!!! Maybe now he'll remember who will be waiting for him if he doesn't care for his pet LOL

Sometimes it's good to be "in" with the Children's Pastor.....it comes in hand when tormenting siblings. I just couldn't resist passing this along....I thought it was so funny.

My brother used to use his Karate' on us...what were some things your siblings did to you?

homeschooling a 2 year old....

Well, I've decided to home school Arianne, and yes, Paul is OK with that. We should have started a few weeks ago, but I just couldn't get a handle on it. I know some people think I'm nuts because she's only 2, but hey, they need to learn stuff too. Funny thing is...she LOVES to learn.

I've got stuff ready to go to start tomorrow. I just hope it goes well. I think she'll have fun because all her friends from the neighborhood (who happen to be 4, 7, & 8) all go to school and she knows this....therefore, she wants to go too. She keeps telling me, "I get big like Rosie & Kacie, mommy" to which I reply, "Yes, one day you'll get big like Rosie & Kacie." Then she says, "I go to school too mommy," to which my reply is, "Someday." Well, why not now.

What is our first lesson about? Well the first week is counting to 5, the story of Jonah and people in your family. It should be good and fun, at least I'm going to try. I'll keep everyone posted. She has a memory verse every month, we go to music classes on Thursdays and I'm not going to be gestapo about it...but make it fun! I can't wait....but PLEASE pray for me!