Say What?

On Friday I took the kids to the mall for a play date with another little girl. After the dinosaur play land area, a carousel ride, a treat from Mrs. Field's, shopping at Sanrio (Aidan was thrilled with that!), and letting us moms catch up, it was time to go. We had to walk through a department store to get to where our car was parked. And of course they had an amazing Memorial Day Sale so we had to shop a little more. The kids picked out new church shoes and sandals. They had Nike sandals on sale for $10 instead of $26, that's cheaper than most any other brand! I was excited, Nike has always been top notch in my book. So, we are waiting in line to make our purchase when Aidan suddenly shouts,
"Mom! I don't want these! I want Skechers! You never buy me Skechers!"
I'm thinking, "Ummm, hold on, did my 4 year old son just complain about his mother buying him Nikes?! He has a brand preference already? Nikes are still cool right?" (As everyone in line turns to look at us. I just cheerfully smile, shrug, and say, "You can never win!" And they all smile and laugh. The boy doesn't even realize does he?

In a Pinch?

I went to make dinner tonight and was ready to mix-in and heat up the last ingredient-- sour cream. I opened the container, which I thought was brand new, only to find that someone (David) had opened it, and by the looks of it... a while ago. Yikes! What's a girl to do? I was not about to pack up the kids and drive 12 miles round trip to the grocery store to pick up the one last thing. And then the thought came to me, I can make my own substitute from scratch. I have made my own buttermilk when I had none, so it was worth a try. And voila it worked like a charm and dinner was on the table before 6 pm! So if this ever happens to you do this: Mix in a bowl 1 cup evaporated milk, 1/4 cup mayonnaise, and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice. I don't know about using this as a topping itself, but if your recipe calls for a cup of sour cream as a heated mix-in I can personally guarantee you that it will taste the same! Actually it tasted better.

3 Pictures

"My big brother does love me!"


"Please don't eat me!"


"I love watching the ducks at Gardner Village!"

Birthday Party Fun

Seery wanted to be a glittery butterfly
Aidan wanted to be Spiderman. This is him doing a Spiderman face. (His face paint was almost totally rubbed off after hours of seriously playing super heroes with the boys)

This afternoon Aidan and Seery went to a birthday party for a boy that Aidan goes to preschool with. I have to say this was the best kids party I have ever seen. The mom, a former makeup artist had a face painting station. Two other tables were set up for cupcake decorating. They had a Spiderman game, a real hit with the boys. The party ended with a pinata always so fun to watch how little kids 4 and under use a baseball bat!

3 Generation Vacation

"I'm ready for the pool now!" She kept saying my outfit is "Serious"

Why yes I would like to leave my "pretty" in my hair while I swim

Room Service for 4!

Seery relaxing while burning the midnight oil!

This past weekend was the "Father & Sons" Camp out at Utah Lake. (I will have David post about this later.) So while the boys were away the girls decided to play! Seery and I went to the Hilton in Salt Lake City along with my mom and sister, Kristin. It was such a beautiful hotel. We had dinner at the Olive Garden next door. And as soon as we got back to the hotel we hit the pool and spa for a couple of hours. Seery was even comfortable enough jumping into the pool once she realized that I would catch her each and every time. Then we got back to the room and ordered room service. Oh yes, yummy desserts brought right to us. Seery stayed up until about midnight, amazingly. She fell asleep after we ordered a movie. She was loving that she could snack on her favorite things while perched upon a big bed. The next morning I was the first one up, David started calling at 5:30 am, because Aidan of course was up at first light! Seery slept all the way until 9 am, and when she did wake up she was so confused, she felt rested but could not figure out why it was still so dark... you know how those hotel curtains are, you never know what time it is. I laughed and had to pull back the curtains and show her it really was morning. We walked across the street to a cafe for breakfast. And then of course hit the pool again for a few more hours. The best part about the Hilton was the late check-out time of 2 pm! What hotel does that? Seery fell asleep as we drove up Emigration Canyon for a late lunch. We went to Ruth's Diner which has been around at least since the 1930's even Betty Crocker ate there and complimented Ruth's cooking. If you haven't been this place needs to be on your list. We ate outdoors and had the most leisurely lunch. Not to mention I never get my mom all to myself. With Seery asleep still in her stroller we had a wonderful conversation. I am so grateful for our time spent as 3 generations of women.

Our Dinner Out...Sans Dad

Tonight I took the kids out all by myself to a real restaurant, not a place with a play land. I have never done this before. I was a little worried, but it went great! Luckily we were seated at a booth that could fit 3 on either side so I sat on the outside, to ensure that they would be seated for the duration of the meal. They were seriously fabulous! They both ate their meals and we chatted the whole time. I was so proud.

On a side note--- I noticed this elderly couple seated in our area. I love seeing elderly couples out together. It's like a visual confirmation to me that some couples really do stay together forever in this crazy world. My favorite spotting though was in the fall last year. I was shopping at Costco, and as usual we had stopped for a hot dog lunch after we had checked out. I saw an elderly couple sitting together talking and laughing. When they got up to leave I noticed what was in their cart: 2 dozen beautiful roses and a box of Depends. Every time I remember that day I smile, laugh, and can't help but thinking... that is the cutest thing I have ever seen!

Our Girl Time

I blogged about this once before. While Aidan is at school, Seery and I have our girl time. Here are a couple of pictures from a Friday outing a couple of weeks ago. I took her to South Towne Mall in Sandy because her favorite store of all time is Sanrio, or as we like to call it the "Hello Kitty Store". I think that is what the store was called when I was a kid, so I still call it that. My mom used to take me there to shop when I was little. So this is so special for me to do the same thing with my daughter. When we got to the store I told her she could buy two things, so she picked a cute pink wallet and some gum. We went to Mrs. Field's for a treat and she asked for a frosted flower cookie. What a fun day for her! It was cute to see Seery proudly carry her Hello Kitty bag through the mall. And like in the bottom picture, point out things she liked, she was saying when I took the second picture, "Look mom a cute pink purse!"

Out of Steam

Even a "Ballerina Princess", as Seery likes to call herself, eventually runs out of energy and must take a nap. It made me laugh to see that she had fallen asleep with her legs bent beneath her and laying against the stairs! (That can't be comfortable!) It's like she just stopped what she was doing and fell asleep on the spot.

Aidan's New Food Allergy

There is always some sort of health issue occurring at our home. This week it has been Aidan's turn. I picked him up from preschool on Monday, and when we got home I noticed a white sort of bump on his left arm, and then noticed another bump on his right arm. When I lifted up his shirt he was covered, and they went all down his legs. I didn't immediately think it was hives but I knew in my gut he was definitely having some sort of allergic reaction. I called his pediatrician and we got an appointment that evening. The on-call doctor said it was indeed hives from an allergic reaction to something that he most likely ate in the last 12 hours. He said to give him Benadryl and told me the signs of things to watch for. Aidan hates medicine and has never had Benadryl. The poor kid was so itchy he begged for it and was asleep within 30 minutes. So starting Tuesday David and I were trying to figure what he ate since nothing about his diet has changed. However, we have learned you can develop an allergy to anything at anytime. Allergies occur through contact, you are not necessarily born with them. We thought at first it was fish sticks, since David is severely allergic to seafood. Just to be safe we cut his food back to the basic bland simple foods until we figured it out. But today when Aidan went to preschool David asked if they had eaten anything on Monday or did any special crafts with different materials. Now, we have never had to worry about snacks at his preschool since they treat it like a real school and never have snack time. Come to find out they were given animal crackers on Monday for some reason, as a treat I guess, and one of the ingredients was nutmeg. So suddenly things become clear. When Aidan was 15 months or so we gave him pumpkin bread and he had a similar reaction so we never gave him anything again with nutmeg. Who knew that Costco animal crackers had nutmeg? So we are positive now that he's allergic to nutmeg. Well, I was thinking today after preschool, I wonder if it's more than that. Aidan has never eaten peanut butter (crazy I know since Seery loves it) or any nuts for that matter. So I made peanut butter chocolate chip cookies so that I could get him to eat one and see what happens. Unfortunately he had an instant reaction. His face became red and he immeadiately broke out in hives, luckily his breathing was fine. I gave him Benadryl and called his pediatrician. He has a nut allergy. So we went from wondering what's going on to now we have to carry Epi needles at all times for him. They are mailing me a list of "How to read a label" since nuts are listed under different names. And he has a referral to the top allergist in the state of Utah, whom we will schedule an appointment with tomorrow. So things are about to drastically change in our home. We will be surprised, I am sure, with how many things probably contain nuts or their oils. We will have to bring his snacks for him when he eats outside the home. We will have to notify the primary and his preschool. Anyone who ever watches him will have to be trained with how and when to use the Epi needles and when to call 911 just in case he is ever exposed to nuts. I learned today that allergic reactions worsen with each exposure, which explains these last few days. So there you have it. I feel so bad for him!

A Battle of Wills

Sadly, I think the "terrible 2's" have finally hit my sweet Seery. It's been about 2 weeks. She has become extremely picky about what she wants and very bossy to all who cross her path. It has taken me 2 hours every night to get her to stay in her bed and sleep. It is a complete nightmare getting her into her car seat if we are not going to a place that she likes. Lately she has become a drama queen who is not easily satisfied to the point of throwing some award winning temper tantrums that quite frankly embarrass me. And then all of a sudden she stops screaming and crying as quickly as she started and is once again fine. Oh, and time out does not deter her. This is new territory for me. Aidan was never like this. I could negotiate with him better, I could always calm him, and he did not carry on like this. Seery has always been such an adorably sweet child. I know this is a phase. I am just trying to keep my sanity and would love any advice from you moms who have successfully come out on the other side of the "terrible 2's"!