Best Use of Pampered Chef Product Ever

Sunday Night, lesson planning, not wanting to make a big meal...and we are out of popcorn so there goes my back-up of Movie Night with popcorn and apples. Hhhmmmmm.... Enter Pampered Chef Product. This is a tray with an insert that you can stick in the freezer. One side of the insert is flat and the other side has little holes to hold deviled eggs. It is intended for when you are bringing a tray of fruit or veggies or eggs to a summer picnic. But we have found a higher calling for the Divided Tray. We used the flat side insert and then placed the plastic divider on top. And, voila, magic snack tray for dinner-and-a-movie! We loaded this with grapes, apples, sugar snap pea chips and one corn dog for each kiddo. They each had their side so no squabbling over who gets the last grape. Perfect-O dinner!!!

Who knew Jim's lap held so much? Two kiddos and dinner. Wonder if the people at Pampered Chef had this in mind when they made this product?

Oh, and the movie of choice? "A Year Without a Santa Claus." Marie's pick.

We've Been Boo'ed from Georgia!

We are lucky to have such great "China Sisters." If you read our blog, you saw our trip in June to see our special group in Tennessee. (Aaaahhhh....I am sooo ready for a rocker on that porch! And a massage chair!) Well, we now have an annual tradition of our Boo Box. The Boo Box arrives on your porch some autumn day as a surprise treat. And, yesterday, we got Boo'ed.



The dynamic duo received the special box yesterday but Momma had Parent-teacher conferences so we delayed the opening till today. Besides, yesterday Ty was not in the best health. But...here they are today eagerly awaiting the opening of "The Boo Box!"
Marie is indeed reading her and Ty's names on the address (Thank you, Rossette for including Ty!) Ty is hanging out, knowing that something is up but no clue what it is...



Marie learns who sent her this box o' joy...her Atlanta bud, Annalee. Then, they dove into the box and started discovering all the treats!!!!

Ty can't figure out what exactly is candy and what isn't so he decides to taste-test each item. No kidding...by the way the dinosaur is NOT candy. But, you gotta try!!!

Marie tries on the hat. ARRGGH - her hair is in her eyes!!! That one wisp I cannot tame!!!

The dynamic duo are L-O-V-I-N-G their treats!!! Thank you soo much! We have stamped, colored, enjoyed M & M's, eaten the ring candy and my fave is that Marie took her nap with her little Jack o'Lantern Lamp on the ENTIRE time. She was truly thrilled!!!

(Well, Tarita, do not tell Shoshannah but in the next week she will be Boo'ed!!! Hope she has as much fun as we did!)

Prepping for the Big Night

Ty LOVES his Halloween costume; to the point that he drags it around the house with him. So today we let him give it a spin. You can see he is quite comfy being Pumpkin Boy.

Work and Play

The kids are in a definate music kick. Ty will sway at just about any tune; I have seen him start to shake it to a jingle on the radio. Marie is very very into the marching band right now (must be football season). So the other evening we had them rocking out to the Michigan Marching Band blasting from my I-Pod. This evolved into a full dance party to Flock of Seagulls. Oh yes, it was 80's night in the Whall kitchen.

I don't know what exactly happens in Marie's classroom while she is there in the mornings but they taught her to love cleaning. I have to watch her to make sure she doesn't "clean" the dark walls. She will wrestle us for the broom, sneak off with the Swifter and loves a container of soapy water and a rag. This is obiously not a result of her home environment. Thank you, Ms. Julie!

Ty's Secret Stash

The very mobile toddler likes to empty drawers, shut himself into the bathroom and laundry room and chase his sister. But when that ain't happening, his favorite thing to do is to drag around his secret stash.

Let's peek, shall we? What's he got in that IKEA barn anyways??? The lid to a shaving cream bottle, a plastic hammer, a letter magnet and letter chains, one retro-Little People person and some farm animals.

And soon, the remote!

THAT'S WHERE IT WENT!!!

Off to walk laps with his stash!

Belated Bubbles Beauts

We take our bubbles very, very seriously. No clothing to distract with it's dampness, fan to supplement bubble production.

Final Product

Chief Bubble Production Engineer Pleased with Results

Far reaching

(Yes, these are old. The high today was 45 and has been unseasonably icky for a while. We are a little lax on the dress code around here but we do insist on clothing when it is near freezing. But, hey, I have been really busy. )

Apocryphal Moment

Marie was "reading" to me last night from her children's Bible. One page showed the manger scene which she described as Jesus's momma and Jesus and Santa and some deer that got lost in the woods!?!? Gotta work on some catechism...

The best was when she told me that Jesus died for us...cause he's Awesome....like Daddy's Awesome...and he prays for all the people in his Kingdom.

Evidently Jim is doing a good job!

Together

My two little ones have started to interact with one another rather than simply co-exsist and vie for my lap. Just a few weeks ago, as summer was coming to a close, they started to play together and want to do things with each other. It is so sweet. Yes, sometimes Ty still takes a cheap shot if Marie is on my lap by pulling her hair or giving her a swat. Yes, sometimes Marie still comments about things she can do because she is bigger and Ty is "just a baby." But more and more they want to be together, whether it's playtime, meal time or bedtime; they just like being part of a pair.

Playing in the sink. Momma had to take a picture quick so she could return to spotting.

In the corn maze

Tub Time! Losing one, Daddy!

Heeeerrrrrreeee's Ty!!

Someone thinks he is funny.

My Yard

My front yard is so so so so very sad looking. At our old house, we had a long stretch of hostas and shade perennials that looked quite nice. The yard was small but ok. Now, the yard is a lovely blend of grass, clover and moss. I have places to plant flowers but we scaled back budgets and I didn't buy very many plants or flowers so it's a bit bare. The driveway needs to be paved and the estimate we got is a bit much for right now so the gravel is disappearing and moss is moving into the gravel drive. It needs some love and attention. But we would both rather spend our time doing things with Thing 1 and 2 right now than do lawn work. I enjoy lawn work but I don't want to commit the time to it right now. But, there are days like today when I look at it and cringe quite a bit.

The lawn also looks like Romper Room. We hit a garage sale a few weeks back and got some deals that we truly couldn't resist (Baby slide for a buck, etc) but the yard truly looks like a daycare. It's such a short time, though. I can garden for decades, God willing, but Baby Slides as lawn ornaments will be around for a very very short time. So, I will keep ignoring the bad lawn care if you will, okay?

Don't say what you don't mean...

ai yi yi

toddlers

they are tough

She had a great breakfast which is unusual. Did okay in church, not her best but not horrible. Ate an acceptable lunch and then said, "I am tttiiirrrred. I want to go take my nap." Don't need to tell me that twice, specially in that whiny voice. "See ya." Flash forward to almost two hours later and she reappears without having slept. There was singing, bathroom usage, resting...all good but no sleep. In the interim, I have been cooking for the week. One dish was mac and cheese (homemade, no box). And, there was the battleground.
I foolishly insisted she eat the entire plate of mac n cheese that she asked for. And the wait began. She sang some more (loud enough so we couldn't hear the radio), went to the bathroom and all around stalled. Beautifully. She could hide nuclear arms in a 3rd world nation and keep the UN away for decades. Finally, the angry monster seething within surfaced and I drew my line in the sand before reflecting about how I'd feel if things didn't go as I envisioned. I told her that if she couldn't do as I asked here at home then we couldn't go out as a family today. I wasn't going to take her out if she couldn't behave. I know, I know..I am so ashamed as I type it. It was freakin MACARONI!!!! But I was so irritated that she didn't nap even though she was so tired she left lunch early and now was doing this monkey business. (yes, I said monkey business). She said, "I don't want to go anyplace, I want to stay home." See...loves power. Could run that 3rd world nation. Momma trumps with, "well, if we are staying home, then you can go take that nap that you didn't take earlier." Off she goes. oops. I look at the clock - 4pm. uhhh...her napping now means a nightmare later. And I WANT TO GO DO OUR FAMILY THING!!! So now I have a situation that isn't workable and I am not happy with.
In comes Daddy. We quickly plot that he will go up and tell her quickly that he has made a decision. We will go do our family outing, she isn't to nap (was drifting off when he arrived) and she is to come tell me she is sorry. In 3 minutes we are out the door and happy. Well, all except Ty who screams as he just wants to be held and not strapped into the car. But he was happy when he got out so that's okay.
And here are some pictures.

In the end, Jim and I talked about "where did it go wrong???" We think she didn't sleep because she was overtired and had to go #2. She can't sleep whenever she needs to go. So, prunes come back into the diet for her. Oh, and Momma, seriously, pick your battles and don't sweat the small stuff so much.

Celebration

We had some cause for celebration this week. First full week of school over (successfully if not tiringly), a get together with our good friends, a boat ride, and Marie's Day! It is a good time; take a peek.

Hanging out with friends...waaaay overdue. The girls played outside, dressed up and then got a boat ride with their dads while the mommas stayed home and chatted. Marie's drink, by the way, is the milk in front of her, not the beer. The flowers are from Jim to celebrate Family Day. It was soooo great to spend time together with our friends again. It had been way way too long.

Ty loving the PlayPlace at "old McDonalds." He is having a little bit of a difficult weekend with teething, a cold and a bit of a red butt. But he is smiley here and loved the company we had over tonight. He is such a flirt! He isn't feeling the best so he mostly wanted to be held by Jim or I but he was definately making grins and smiles at the ladies. He went into a full fit when I held the new baby, Allie Marie. Ty did his little weird repetive scream/shriek to let us know how much he disagreed with the arrangement.


Momma and Marie at McDonalds.

Ty, doing what he does best. He seriously out-ate Marie. They both got a 4pc Chix Nugget Meal. Ty ate all of his chicken, fries (although Momma did apportion some) and most of his milk. Marie had to be coaxed into eating more than 2 nuggets. She was so thrilled with the ring in her Happy Meal and the chance to play on the play structure that she just couldn't eat. Wow... we should all be so thrilled with such simple things. She is so good at enjoying the moment and throwing herself into it with gusto!

We love you, Marie! We are so blessed to be your parents!!!

Three Years of...

Hugs...

Breathtaking Memories...

New Friends...


Beginning of our Family

Three years ago today, Marie Kathleen Yi joined our family at the Gloria Hotel in Nanchang, capital of Jiangxi Province, China. What a great 3 years it has been.

Tonight we are celebrating with a gift from China for Pengyo (her nickname) and she gets to pick the restaurant. Mom and Dad are hoping for Chinese and not, as Marie calls it, "Old MacDonalds." But it doesn't matter...she is feast for our eyes and hearts!

Firsts

Marie on her first full day this year. She is in the same classroom as last year; they remain in the same room for 3 years which I love. Last year at this time she wouldn't let go of her teacher's belt loop and just followed her around all day. This year she is off and running with just a few qualms; primarily she didn't want to get out of the car. But Jim heard from the teacher at Parent Night tonight that Marie was socializing and checking everything out in the room. Of course, when I asked what she did today she told me, "Oh, just walked around the room." Unfortunately, she isn't going to bed as early as we'd like so tomorrow morning will be tough. That will fix itself soon enough. Poor Jim has the kids in the AM.

Here is the sunflower that Marie and my mom planted after Grandparents Day last May. It was a 3in tall seedling at the time. Now it is about 6ft tall!

And Ty is doing great at daycare. He cries and protests when he is left but the transition is going easier. Today, Ms. Kat, the music lady came and he was enthralled. He is learning to use his spoon. Tonight he practiced on apple sauce. He doesn't understand that if the food is spoon-worthy, then he should not dip his fingers into it. Tonight, he tried the applesauce out as hair gel. Worked pretty well, no?

Now THAT's a Good Late Summer Day..

Yes, this is in our driveway. They fell asleep on the water as we rode to the landing, remained so while Jim loaded the boat on the trailer, missed the drive home and then snoozed in the driveway for a while.

But Ty woke up for football and chips...

First Kayak

Today was a beautiful summer day (in September). Jim took the day off and decided to take Marie kayaking. She saw a picture of a girl kayaking in a library book and wanted to try it. They set off in the late morning and had the lake largely to themselves.

They paddled to the island; Marie told me she wanted to look for mermaids. Then she decided to settle for touching the bottom of the lake with the paddle. Jim gave her a lesson on how to paddle. She then told him that they were taking turns with the paddle and could he please stop touching it during her turn? (Later, at dinner, she demonstrated her technique for me using her corn-on-the-cob as the paddle).

Great Daddy-Daughter time! And what were Momma and Ty doing? Well, Ty took his nap and then we caught up with them, viewing from shore. Ty liked to wave from the backpack.

Ty's Fierce Dance Moves

Good Ole Farmer Tad; loved and enjoyed by all the kiddos here.

Ty has decided to go upright and for the most part stay that way. He likes to jump in place, run, chase Jim, walk in circles around the table and peek from under it - anything that embellishes on walking. My Dad laughed that he was going to take Ty's new sneakers off of him because they gave him so much confidence and speed it was getting difficult to keep up with him. He has picked up some other adorable habits. Every time he takes a big sip of his drink, he has to say, "aaaaahhhh" to let you know it was satisfying. He also has taken to shaking his head except he gets it confused if it means yes or no. Lastly, he loves to make little "ruff" sounds when you ask him what a dog says. He's also very into "talking" on the phone and sitting at the little kid desk, as if he is working on some important accounts. It's just funny to see what he tries out next.