Meow

I snapped a few pictures before taking the cat food away.

Bailee's bubble

Bailey's bubble is gone and she is home resting. It was a LONG day. We were at the hospital from 10am-3:30pm. Her procedure took like 5 minutes. She has a couple dissolvable stitches in her scalp. If anyone wants pictures let me know. :)

Dirty Gym Clothes

After weeks and weeks of begging, Bailey finally remembered to bring home her dirty gym clothes for the first time this school year.  She said her friend has never brought home her gym clothes to get washed, but this girl's father is the gym teacher and her mom is also a teacher at the school.  Somehow, I think that girl's clothes get washed.  Kids are gross.

Pee pee

I let Avery run around with no diaper for like 2 minutes and she managed to climb on the dishwasher door and pee on it. Gross.

Bailey's bubble

Bailey has this pea-sized bubble on her scalp. It was broken once and was a bloody mess. The pediatrician said it was a hemangioma and we can seek out a plastic surgeon or dermatologist to have it removed. After a couple of dead ends, I decided to ask friends for advice. I just sent a Facebook message to 4 of my friends in Buffalo. A friend of one of my friends recommended an Ear, Nose and Throat doctor who also specializes in vascular malformations. If I wouldn't have reached out to my friend network, I may have gone nuts. This bubble continues to grow and hair is getting harder to brush and wash.

We met the doctor today and he said this thing is a pyogenic granuloma. He has to surgically remove it and Bailey will undergo general anesthesia. Yikes! At least she is getting it taken care of even though just describing the procedure makes Bailey want to vomit.

I'm not going to post a picture.

My kids are beautiful

Here are some pictures we had taken last weekend. A member of my moms group started taking reasonably priced photos last year and I love how she just sends you a CD and rights to your photos. I think our last session went really well.

I think my kids are beautiful. I hope the Internet does too.

Reposting this from Facebook

I was going to box up our extra winter items so I felt I should share.  Laurie Notaro, an author I enjoy has been making arrangements via Facebook to help people who are stuck in the cold.  She originally arranged a drive to help Lucille but has broadened her efforts to help more people in the area.  I was going to box up our extra winter accessories since we have quite a lot.  Just thought I would pass it on.  

What Hurricane Victims on Long Beach Island NJ need NOW:
(Please Share!!) For our friend Lucille Ascolillo and others:

Long Underwear/thermals in all sizes for the firemen and displaced. The gas is off on the island and they are COLD.
Gloves, Knit Hats, Scarves, etc
Medicine (over the counter cold medicine, Tylenol, etc
Immodium. Some of the people have been eating what’s in their freezers and ar

e sick from it.
Adult size depends. (VERY needed and requested)
HEAVY socks.
Anything holiday spirit-ish
Toys or Games. Some of the children on the island have no toys after the storm destroyed their homes.

The issue is that UPS won't deliver to a PO box, so a way around this if people would like to ship items is to send them to Wendy Ann Jones, another IG, at her business. Wendy has kindly offered to drive the items down to the island!
Items can be sent to Wendy's business at:

A Time to Kiln

50 Broad Street

Red Bank NJ 07701

Election Day

We decorated our house for election day. Bailey had the day off of school so i took both kiddos to vote. Bailey filled out my ballot and Avery gnawed on the table. Nick stayed up for all of the results, Avery, Bailey and I all fell asleep from time to time. Luckily, Avery woke me up at 10:30 so I could watch CNN call the election.

I've still got it!

Bailey's new friend asked me if I was "the sister or the mom". Bailey is so proud to tell her friends I'm 32. Our family finds this phenomenon funny since I'm 22 years older than her. I wanted to post this on Facebook, but I fear my friends are approaching the age where they may be sensitive about age and looks and stuff like that. I didn't want to brag. I know how much I want to punch people when they toot their horn about wearing a size small.

I'm not a model, I look like a fat DJ Tanner from Full house. Don't be jealous. Come to think of it, Avery looks like baby Michelle Tanner.

This kid is nuts.

Avery failed to go to bed by 8pm tonight. This is very rare for her. It is now 11:20pm and she is trying to sleep in the cat bed. She is sneezing. I sense a cold coming on!

Happy Halloween

Bailey was an alien Michael Jackson and Avery was a baby witch. Bailey was mostly running full speed with her friends so I didn't get too many photos of her. Avery was mega cute at my friend Amy's house and made herself at home on the porch in a rocking chair. Both girls made it from 6:00-7:45 and both were ready to go home

Toy of the day

Yesterday it was the utensil basket from the dishwasher. Today it is a Jiffy box! So cute to find it filled with blocks.

Laundry skills

After 4 seasons of football under my belt, I am pretty dang good at getting mud out of football pants.  Here is a series of crappy photos chronicling my efforts yesterday morning.  The pictures are really bad because they are from my phone, but you don't need expert photography skills if your laundry skills are as superior as mine. 

Here are 2 "before" pictures.  Bailey got extra muddy this weekend.

I scrubbed them in the sink with some Oxy Clean powder and a brush.  I probably added some blue Dawn dish soap as well.  

Then I tossed them in the washer on "Whitest Whites" with more Oxy Clean and some bleach.  You may have to wear sunglasses because these pants are WHITE.  I am awesome.  

We won!

I like to enter contests.  I just caught myself entering a giveaway from a frugal living blog for a freezer cookbook.  I would like to have this cookbook and it can't hurt to enter.  I enter stuff like this all the time.  I even entered a lottery for tickets to go to the White House Easter Egg roll this year.  I entered the lottery for tickets to Michael Jackson's funeral service.  I tried really hard to score tickets to see the wire walk across Niagara Falls from Goat Island.  I didn't win any of those. 

Here are some things I have won:

1.  50/50 raffle last year at one of Bailey's football games.
2.  We won 2 baskets at Bingo Night at Bailey's school.
3.  I won tickets to see Sesame Street Live from Channel 13 News in Toledo.
4.  I won 2 tickets to an early screening of a Harry Potter movie.
5.  I won a backpack AND water bottle from a running class this spring.

This week I found out we won tickets to this weekend's Buffalo Bills game.  We also won on-field pregame passes, a football autographed by Stevie Johnson and 8 coupons for free Intense Milks!  Bailey's anxiety about noise and fire has gotten the best of her and she isn't going so Nick and I are going together without the kids.  I won these tickets by entering a Facebook contest and I'm so thankful that I did.  Avery wants to play with the football soooo bad.  I bought her a little football and she just dropped it and kept pointing to the refrigerator (the ball is on top) saying "baa?". 

Kelkenberg Farm

We like Kelkenberg farm in Clarence, NY and have gone back for a few years now.  It was a good trip.  Avery is more fun because she likes to slap all of the animals and one sheep got mad at her. 

Click on the picture below to see more pictures. 

Kelkenberg Farm 2012

Here is our porch all decorated for Halloween. It isn't quite done but close enough.

Avery is REALLY NAUGHTY

Grounded for LIFE!!!!

Avery removed her diaper and examined, dropped on the floor, smashed, smeared and probably ate it's poopy contents.

That is her last nap in a disposable diaper with no pants. She has been VERY interested in the tabs and has been imitating the noises it makes when you rip them off.

Contrary to the Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, smartphone, blogging society we live in these days, I did NOT take any photos.

Avery is just plain naughty

I found a travel sized toothpaste in the toilet this morning. Good job Avery! I should document the occasion. I try to take some photos and as I snap one, I catch her throwing another treasure in the toilet.

Bad Choices

Avery gets some Tabasco sauce from the fridge and wants to play. She soon regrets her decision.

An hour in the life of Avery

This kid is busy. Dishwasher, garbage can, cabinets and rearranging fridge magnets. This was all while I was trying to make dinner. I could have turned on Elmo for Bailey and we wouldn't have seen her until the video needed re-starting.

And as a bonus, here is a new video from a couple minutes ago.  Avery spends a lot of her time trying to put clothes on.  

Football Week 2 Update

Week 1 of Bailey's football season was a miserable loss 21-6 at Lew-Port.  The refs were unusually nit-picky and that hurt our team quite a lot.  Bailey's team isn't very experienced and our coach is very experienced, but never at such a young level.  It was hard to watch. 

This week was at home against Niagara-Wheatfield.  The weather was gorgeous and Bailey got 2 tackles!  Avery wore her new shirt and ate lots of gravel.  Nick worked the chains to satisfy our volunteer requirement.  Each team scored a touchdown, but both were taken away because OUR team caused a flag to be thrown both times (holding and offsides I believe).  We tied 0-0. 

Go Bailey!

Avery is Bailey's biggest little fan. I made her a shirt to wear to games. My craft skills are crude, but adequate.