a funny thing happened on the way to the consignment shop...

Or I should say, while at the consignment shop.  My parents had some bulky items they wanted to take to the consignment shop.  So rather than them bring the stuff to my house, and then I lug it with Amelia in tow to the shop, I made special arrangements for them to drop it off last Friday.  Or so I thought.  We drove there in a monsoon, only to find that the info had not been passed on to the staff working that day.  The owner begrudgingly accepted my parents' two oak book shelves and a large wooden wine rack. I turn around, and my parents are looking at a chair.  Next thing I know, they are buying said chair and I am helping Dad get it into the back of their car.  I think the owner was eating a little bit of humble pie after they made such a big purchase.

And to top it off, the book shelves had both sold by the time I went in Tuesday morning!  I should get some sort of bonus...I made that store a lot of money in the past week!

first (and hopefully last)

...snow, of this school year.  Sunday we got a little bit of snow, just enough to coat the grass, not enough to stick on the road (at least at our house).  Monday Seth had a vacation day, but Amelia didn't.  She ended up with a snow day, and around 4:30, we went for a family walk, because it was in the low 50s.  The kids played outside for about 30 minutes.  After having the school year extended by over a week last year, I'll be more than happy to have no snow days this year!

went to the lodge

We got a little stir-crazy last week, and decided at last minute to go to Great Wolf Lodge Friday night.  We even splurged on one of the "kid camp" rooms that came with bunk beds.

We ate a quick dinner at the buffet, took a quick picture:

and then got on our bathing suits and rode water slides until it was time for story time in the lobby:

The kids were in their beds at 9 and complained that we were keeping them up, ha!  We were all up pretty early on Saturday, so we hit the Dunkin Donuts in the lodge and were ready to hit the water again as soon as the park opened at 9.  (Amelia is in the background of this picture)

You're allowed to play all day when you check out.  We stayed until 2pm, and that was the longest one-hour drive home ever.  Nathan and I got more sore and tired the closer we got to home.  The kids loved the wave pool, and we took a beating trying to keep the kids above water after each wave (because heaven forbid you wear a "baby" life preserver!).

class party

Amelia and her classmates had a great time celebrating Valentine's Day one day late.  Here they are noshing on cupcakes and Valentine's trail mix made by another mommy:

While the other mommies cleaned up snack and started setting up our craft, I led a game of Love Bingo.  It went a little like this:  "If you have a red heart, put a candy on it.  If you have a purple heart, put a candy on it..."

Then the kids decorated their valentine's boxes.  It was a little chaotic and we almost ran out of time.  They turned out really cute though!

The poor boys went home with a LOT of princess cards!  :)

valentines

Monday night, a couple mommy friends called and asked if we could prep for Amelia's class party (which was on the 15th) on Tueday, instead of the day of the party.  I quickly cleaned up the main level of the house, and we were ready for an impromptu playdate.  But not before the kids opened their special deliveries from their grandparents:

After school, Nathan took the kids on a "top secret" trip.  Imagine my surprise when they came home with a dozen roses!  Nathan and the kids have been "sneaking" out to get flowers on my birthday and Valentine's Day for years now...the kids don't know I'm on to them.  Never have they come home with anything this extravagant before.  Note to my future children-in-law:  Amelia has expensive tastes, and Seth picks out awesome presents.

Seth finally outgrew his "heart breaker" shirt that he's worn since his first year of preschool.  (And to think I almost didn't want to spend $7 on it three years ago, ha!)  For the next couple of years, he's "Mr. Irresistible"!

Look, Ma! No hands!

Monday night Seth and I had our standing skate date.  He had a breakthrough, and is now able to skate independently around the rink:

Actually, we made it a double date.  Nathan and Amelia joined us.  Nathan for his first time since college; Amelia's first time ever!  She was not scared, but quickly learned she couldn't jump, twirl, etc like some of the big girls.  It wasn't long before I wasn't allowed to skate anywhere near her:

Good job, kids!  Thanks for not breaking any bones!  We'll try it again next month!

winter weekend

We are having a mild winter, and I'm not complaining.  I like not having to get bundled up to go outside, I like the power bill, and I like not having to worry about the not-always-necessary snow days (with that I am in the minority with my mommy friends).  Saturday tried to give us just a tiny taste of winter...it was windy and downright frigid.  We went the Y for rpm (spin class), which has become our usual, and then listened to the wind whip against the house as we waited for the cousins to arrive.  The kids wanted to play outside.  Willie and Millie lasted less than 10 minutes, coming in with bright pink cheeks and noses.  

The big boys didn't last much longer, and I had just enough coffee cups to make hot chocolate for all the kids.   I had bought cheap tickets to the Wake Forest-Clemson basketball game.  We were in the upper level, and Wake lost by a lot, but we had a great time at the game.  We even let the kids sit together and they behaved!  The tickets came with popcorn and a drink, which we bought right before half-time, so their hands and mouths were too busy with their snack to get in trouble during the second half!

Sunday we went to church and then wiled the afternoon away until it was time for Seth to go to yet another birthday party for a classmate.  This one was at Bounce U, and it was the first time he's let me leave a party before.  I put my cell phone number in his pocket and made a nice solo trip to the grocery store.  Amelia loved staying home and having her daddy all to herself!

Welcome to Mitford

Last year I fell in love with a series of books by Jan Karon, best known as the Mitford series.  It takes place in a fictitious small town in NC and follows a decade or so in life of an Episcopalian priest.  I finished the ninth book towards the end of the year.  I knew the play was coming into town, and I wanted to finish the books if before I saw it.  (Okay, I really didn't think I'd get to see it, but a girl can dream, right?)  In mid-January, I jokingly asked Nathan if he wanted to see it with me, thinking he'd say no, and then I'd see if someone from church wanted to go with me.  Heck, I would have gone by myself.  But much to my surprise, he said yes.  Our neighbor was going to be home from college that weekend, and was willing to watch the kids on the afternoon of the Super Bowl.  I went online to browse for tickets.  It's not a huge venue, so all the seats are the same price.  I was offered dead center, fourth row tickets.  A couple clicks, and they were mine!  The week before the play, I read a promotional article in the Sunday paper.  I was pleased to find out the play was written by Robert Inman, another excellent NC writer.  The play promised to not disappoint the Mitford fan, but be enjoyable for someone who had never read the books.  I was soooo excited.  Flash forward one week.  We got to the theater and found out we were in a definite minority.  I think the average age of the patrons for that matinee was about 75.  I'm not kidding.  We sat back and enjoyed the show.  The play did exactly what it promised to do, hitting the high points of all nine books in under two hours.  I was misty-eyed throughout most of it.  It was fantastic.  Nathan really liked it, too.  During the Super Bowl, I was looking through the morning paper and saw the show's review.  The stage was described as a watercolor pop-up book that moved, and I really wish I had taken a picture of it before the show.  It was beautiful.  We both like live theatre; I'm not sure why we don't go more often.  We should!  If "Welcome to Mitford" comes to your town, GO SEE IT!!!

rough week

Last week was a rough one for Amelia.  She was excessively clumsy, got her finger caught in a door at school (which led to an ouchy boo-boo), scraped the tip of her nose when I plastic bucket tipped over on her, and ended up in urgent care Saturday night with acute sinusitis.  She was screaming her ear hurt;  I wasn't taking any chances.  

For the rest of us, the last week has been same ol', same ol'.  Last Saturday Seth did go to a birthday party for one of his classmates.  It was a Mario theme and the boys had fun playing Wii and other games together.  They lived within walking distance of our house.  Who knew?  Seth wanted me to stay, so I had a chance to visit with the mom while the boys played.  It was our first school party of the year, and now he has another one this weekend.  There's few things Seth likes better than a good party, especially when you get to eat a cupcake that looks like a Super Mario mushroom!

somebody has a birthday this month...

....not that anyone is counting the days or anything.

Other than that, not much new around here.  School, work, reading, YMCA.  Rinse and repeat.

pajama day

Amelia's class had a pajama party yesterday.  She wanted to wear her new penguin pj's.  She legally brought lovey to school (on Monday I found out she had smuggled lovey into school under her dress).  They had pancakes and bananas for snack.  Then last night, Seth's school had movie night in the gym.  The kids put on their pj's (Amelia wore a different pair), packed their sleeping bags, and enjoyed popcorn and lemonade while watching Cars 2 with a hundred (or more) of their closest friends.  I was smart this year and brought a lawn chair, my iphone, and a book!  The only other thing worth mentioning this week is that I have switched my work schedule a bit...the first week was really nice, I hope it stays that way!

Princess Tea Party

Last Saturday, we had wanted to go as a family to a play at the children's theater, but it was sold out when I called to get tickets.  After a quick trip to the Y and an even quicker shower/outfit change, Amelia and I went to a Princess Tea party at the children's museum.  (The boys stayed home to play Wii and had a manly lunch at IHOP.)  The girls made tiaras and wands while listening to the Disney Princesses soundtrack, 

ate mini cupcakes, mini marshmallows, pink applesauce, and pretzels for snack, learned how to wave and curtsy, and made fans because princesses "don't get sweaty".

Afterwards they paraded through the museum for all the other patrons to see.

It was a rainy day...my girl is a practical princess (or she is obsessed with her rain boots this week, take your pick).  She doesn't know who Kate Middleton is, but that's who she wants to be when she grows up!

so far so good

I haven't started over-committing myself to school projects yet.  I made a deal with myself that if there wasn't something important on the calendar, I was going to the Y.  The week before Christmas I went three times.  The week after, four.  These last two weeks, I've gone five times each week.  I've been going to Pilates, BodyStep, and a day or two on the cardio machines.   Last Saturday Nathan and I did RPM, the Les Mills version of a spin class.  It was so much fun; we're doing it again this Saturday!  The only excitement of the past week is that Seth got to have a sleepover in Hickory last Saturday for Ryan's birthday, and he had big fun.  We hear he is a natural playing the guitar...hmm.  On Sunday we met in Statesville to pick him up.  Zaxby's has fried dill pickles, yum!

5 months later...

You know that to-do list I was talking about?  In December I finally developed the water camera we took to the beach.  Today I finally got around to scanning the keepers.

Man, we were tan!

raising readers

Last fall, I read a book called The Reading Promise.  It was a memoir written by a recent college graduate about a reading streak she and her father had that lasted over nine years.  If you want to be inspired to raise your children to read, I recommend reading the foreword written by her father and the author's closing thoughts.  I didn't need the inspiration, but their words rung very true to me.  

I love books.  I always have.  I loved Scholastic book orders and book fairs and summer reading logs and the bookmobile in Rochester.  I loved getting free pizzas from Pizza Hut for Book-It.  I loved to read in the car on long trips and curling up with a good book at night.  When we moved to NC, I quickly found the two warmest spots in the house to cuddle up with a good book.  I would tear through books on Christmas and spring break during college.  I cannot think of one single day of my post-college life that there hasn't been a book on my nightstand, ready to go.  I even took a book to the hospital with me when I had both kids.

I am raising readers.  It wasn't something I sought out to do, but over the last year, has evolved from quick bedtime stories to longer and longer nightly reading sessions.  This is what Seth's nightstand looks like on any given day, our bedtime book, plus a stack of stuff he's reading to get his fifteen minutes in every day for school.  He has recently made a big jump into the Magic Tree House series, and he loves them.

This is Amelia's bookshelf.  She will come listen to whatever I read to Seth at night, and then wants her own book.  Whew!

I recently went through their bookshelves, thinking there would be a bunch I would consign this spring.  I moved some preschool books from Seth's shelf to Amelia's, threw out a couple that had seen better days, and maybe had a handful I could bear to part with.  We still read them all!

I am not the only good example in this house.  Nathan tends to read in waves that tend to coincide with the end of sports seasons, but now that he's home more, there's a whole lot of reading going on.  We are headed to B&N this afternoon so he can pick up the next book in the John Jakes series.

We both come by it naturally.  We were raised by readers.  Almost all our siblings and their spouses are big readers, and books get passed back and forth at almost every family event.  Here is a picture, circa 1981, of me holding my dad hostage with a book.  I'm sure if we only had 12 tv channels, no Wii, and no internet, there would be even more reading going on it this house!

meeting baby James

After a year of losing more special people than just those I mentioned on the blog, 2012 is going to bring a lot of special babies (None here, don't be starting any rumors!).  On the 3rd, we happily welcomed sweet baby James, our fifth nephew, into the world.  Saturday morning we drove down to meet the little guy.  It was love at first sight:

 Seth was so excited that he and James matched!

 Big brother Brian doing binky duty:

We stayed at a SpringHill Suites and had adjoining rooms with the rest of the cousins.  It was great because the kids watched a movie on one TV while the grown ups watched football on the other.  The hotel had the world's smallest indoor pool, but it was big enough for the kids to go burn some energy each day.  After checking out Sunday morning, we went back to see the little guys one more time.  Here is a picture of all seven kiddos at the playground:

Congratulations, Elise and Chad!  He's wonderful!

resolutions

In case you haven't been counting, this is my 900th post.  :)

I don't have any grand resolutions for this year, just trying to hack away at the little projects that never seem to make it to the top of the list.  I do resolve to continue to save money, and try not to bore Nathan with the fab deals I find every day.  In 2011 I kept a tally of how much money I made consigning, and let me tell you, it was impressive, even to Nathan.  Definitely time well spent.  

Nathan's lungs can't take a real Christmas tree anymore.  Seth's allergies adjusted after a few days, but Nathan had a really rough month.  We will have our first artificial tree next year.  After much debate about whether to buy now or wait until after Thanksgiving, on the 2nd the kids and I went on a hunt for our new tree. We struck out at several places, and then hit the jackpot at Home Depot:

I don't know if you can read the fine print, but that's $37.25 for a $149.99 tree.  Only problem?  No box.  So we load it into the van and drive over to BB&B, who luckily had one tree bag left in stock.  If only I had brought a 20% off coupon with me, it would have been a perfect trip!

ringing in the new year

Our last week of the year was a quiet one.  With Nathan splitting his time at work and home, our week really wasn't much different than usual, other than that Seth was home with us.  Our mornings were spent at the Y and running errands, the boys played Kirby on the Wii every afternoon, and the kids would play the evenings away.  On New Year's Eve, we decided to run into town to buy Nathan two more books in the series he likes.  We had dinner at Five Guys, went to Target, and on a whim decided to see how busy the bowling alley was.  We were able to start bumper bowling right away, and they had the black lights on at 7pm.  It is so cool that we can now do these kinds of things together.  Unfortunately, no good pictures, because all we had were our cell phones!   

When we got home, the kids put on pj's and we popped in a movie.  Seth started getting sleepy, so Nathan instituted hourly sparkler time on the deck.

By 11:30, Seth was REALLY sleepy, so we started watching silly videos to pass the last half hour.  Then it was time for the countdown...

 ...they made it!

They were upstairs and in their beds before the ticker tape finished falling in Times Square.  They slept until 7:30, but still, it was a quiet Sunday at our house.

enough with the Christmas karma-grams!

Back when Seth was three, he told me what he'd gotten me for Christmas the minute he got home from the mall.  I thought I'd gotten my karma-gram then.  Evidently not.  A couple weeks before Christmas, mom called and asked if I had gotten a wine cork trivet the year before.  No, I think you gave it to Bryan.  "Okay, forget I just asked you that."  Hmm.  Then, Nathan calls me one day to ask me which lamp I wanted, because I had put a natural light lamp on my list, and Seth decided that's what he wanted to get me.  "Act surprised when you open it."  No problem.  Flying home from Minnesota, my pen leaked on the side of my purse.  So, Amelia wanted to give me a new purse, and told me I was getting it many times the week before Christmas.  On the 23rd, at Costco, I commented that I should have told Santa that I wanted a recipe book I saw there.  Seth said, "I don't think you should tell Santa that because then you might get two of them."  Hmm.  Bryan gave me two books as my present, and told me the second part would be coming in the mail.  I assumed it was the next book in the series.  Later Christmas day, mom asks me if we should boil extra potatoes to make lefse.  I say, "I don't have a ricer, remember?"  My dad says, "I thought someone was taking care of that?"  In my head, I'm thinking, "I said I'd buy one after Christmas" as Bryan is saying, "I told you, it's in the mail!"  Ha!  It was pretty funny by the end of the holidays!

one spoiled dog

I think Colette received her favorite gift of all time this Christmas.  I found an Angry Birds frisbee at Walmart.  She loves it!  She acts like a puppy when she plays with it.

But Colette is getting to be an old (11+) dog.  She is still in excellent health, but you can tell her eyes are starting to get a little hazy and her joints are getting a little stiff.  Not that either has effected her squirrel-chasing habit at all.  Due to allergies, Colette isn't allowed in our room anymore, and we don't let her hang out on the couches when we're on them (although I'm sure she makes up for it during the night and when we're not home).  She used the holiday as an opportunity to bend the rules a little bit.  She'd jump right up with Bryan to get belly rubs or hop up on the couch next to my mom to take a nap.