deja vu?

Have I seen this before?  I am sure I've seen this before.  It's been awhile but I'm sure I have!  I think it's been about 3 years but I know I've seen this before.

    Levi - now                                              Nathan - 3 years ago

  

                                           Levi - now

                                            Nathan - 3 years ago

  

    Levi - now                                               Nathan - 3 years ago

   

    Levi - now                                             Nathan - 3 years ago

 

                                           Levi - now

                                           Nathan - 3 years ago

 Guess I have seen this before!  I'm NOT going crazy!  It's always good to know my brain is still functioning even after a few kids and several years of craziness.

not me monday

Today I'm linking up with "not me" Monday from MckMama's blog.  A fun way to admit the things we did not do this past week.
I definitely did not ask Nathan what he had in his mouth, only to find out he was chewing on one of our cat's fingernails.  My son knows better than to pick of things off the floor and chew on them.
I did not leave the baby gate open at the bottom of the stairs so that my 10 month old could climb the stairs by himself and play with the toilet paper in the bathroom.  I would never do something that would put my child at risk for such a large tumble.  I am a very attentive mother who would not be trying to clean the kitchen and fold laundry while my child high-tailed it upstairs only realizing he was gone because it was too quiet. 
All three of our cars have needed work in the past month so when we went to pick up the Subaru from the shop I did not agree to meet my husband there on his way home from work.  I think through things so thoroughly that I would have realized before I packed up the kids and headed half way across town that if both my hubby and I were already driving cars there was no way we could bring the 3rd car home from the shop with us.  As a quick thinker I would have seen the flaws in that from the beginning.    
After sorting out our plan to pick up the car my husband did not give into our 3 year old's screaming, call me in the Subaru, have me pull over and move him to my car.  We do not tolerate such meltdowns and we certainly do not give in to these.  There was no way I felt bummed out to lose my alone-ness in my car and have to share the radio, conversation, and quietness with my son.  I love him too much and want him by my side constantly.  A childless car ride would be too lonely for me to handle
I did not tell my son to just pee in his nighttime pull-up for the remainder of the night after getting up twice during the night to use the potty.  I would never want to discourage such potty training successes just so I could sleep and not get up with a cranky, tired boy in the middle of the night.  

no need for toys

Why is it that we spend lots of money on toys and yet our children find the basic house items just as much fun?

Toilet paper fun!

   

Not only does Levi find playing with toilet paper to be extremely entertaining, his older brother loved to do the same thing when he was little too.


    
Then there is the kitchen!  A land of endless exploration and fun!

Nathan playing with the items in the stove drawer.

Levi enjoying the dishwasher.

Laundry help?

 Levi doesn't know whether or not to eat the mulch or just stick with shoes.  Hmmm.  He looks like he is trying to smoke the mulch like a cigar.

  

Nathan's going to stick with electronics - remote control and cell phone.

Levi and his friend playing with the stroller.

The old pictures of Nathan at the same age as Levi playing with these "non-toys" made me wonder if it's just this young age.  Then I remembered...the vacuum box.  

Nope, it's still fun as a 3 year old too!

not me monday

Today I'm linking up with "not me" Monday from MckMama's blog.  A fun way to admit the things we did not do this past week.
I did not let my son eat macaroni and cheese for lunch Saturday, lunch and dinner Sunday, and dinner on Monday.  I am way more concerned about my son's nutrition and giving him healthy, varied, meals that include food from all food groups.  
I did not let me son chew on his older brother's shoe.  Protecting my baby from the germs and nasties that hang out on the bottom of shoes is one of my biggest priorities.  I did not wash a pair of old Croc's in the dishwasher so said little brother could happily chew on shoes as toys are meant for chewing not shoes. 
I did not tell my husband I wanted him to take a day off of work so I could work on my projects around the house without the children interrupting me.  I would never encourage him to stay home from work just so I could have a break from the children.  I am way more productive than that even with children constantly tugging on me.  
I did not find out that my splurge on a pair of shoes for my 3 year old from the children's consignment sale left me with a pair of squeakie shoes that he will never wear.  You know the shoes that are supposed to squeak with every step they take - on purpose!  I would thoroughly check out each purchase and make sure that my money is well spent as not to end up with something that would waste my money.
Come back again next Monday to see what else I did not do this week.  


      

thomas day out

There're two, there're four, there're six, there're eight
shunting trucks and hauling freight....

Nathan sings the theme song to Thomas the Train over and over everyday.  He LOVES Thomas and his friends!  Months ago we decided to take Nathan to Thomas Day Out.  We took Levi to grandma's house for the day and off we went to spend some special time with Nathan.  What a money making deal this is!  But, it's also such a dream day for our little boy!

We were planning on surprising Nathan and not telling him where we were going except as we headed to the parking lot right out his window was Thomas puffing down the tracks!  We live next to train tracks and watch trains all day long so Nathan knows that Thomas doesn't ride the rails very often.  We told him where we were headed and I asked if he wanted to ride on Thomas to which he said "ummm...no".  Once he processed where we were going and rode the bus that played Thomas cartoons as they took us from the parking lot to the musuem (Thomas' stomping grounds for the next few weekends) he took to the idea very quickly!  You can see the excitement on his face as we rode the bus!

Thomas tattoos, train tables, Sir Topham Hatt, lots of other engines and train cars to see, small model trains running around outside, and of course, our Thomas ride, kept us busy for hours.  All that, and the trek through the gift shop as we were headed out.  Goodness, talk about Nathan's dream land!  We told him he could pick one new toy from the gift shop but poor kid couldn't decide what he wanted with hundreds of things to pick from.

Thomas!

Waving to Thomas!

All aboard!

Say "choo choo"!

What a special day!

We all loved 'Nathan's special day'!!

crock pot success

A week or two ago I linked up to Kelly's Korner to share a favorite crock pot meal along with almost 300 other people.  So far I've made three awesome crock pot recipes I thought you might enjoy too!

The first is Fiesta Chicken!  Really heathy, easy, and delicious!  It was so yummy that I almost decided to make it again this week.  Instead, I found a similar recipe and if it's a success I'll post the link another day!

I love this second recipe!  Fall off the bone tender chicken and potatoes!  It uses a whole chicken which is such a cost savings!  We will be using recipe again and again!  Rotissurie style chicken and potatoes.
 
The last recipe I made was a dessert.  Hot Fudge Spoon Cake.  I've only ever cooked main dishes in my crock pot so when I saw this chocolate cake I had to give it a try.  When finished there is a layer of cake on top of layer of gooey hot fudge!  We completed the cake with a little vanilla ice cream!  YUMMY!

Just typing this makes me hungry!  Off to the store for more ingredients for my next crock pot meal!

because...

Being 3 is all about me (Well, not me, but my son.  So I guess it's all about him.).  Nathan wants what he wants, does what he wants to do, acts how he wants.  Doesn’t matter if it’s appropriate or not he is just doing what he thinks he should do or wants to do.  I guess that is where my hubby and I come in to wrangle the wildness of being 3!  Or maybe instead of wrangling we should all adopt the reasoning of a 3 year old.   

Here is how Nathan justifies many of his behaviors or choices.

At the circle time rug at school.  “I sit on the red bee with a 3 because that’s how old I am.”

Convincing me why Thomas the Train needs to come with us in the car.  “I NEED Thomas because he’s my favorite number 1 blue engine.”

“I picked the blue one because blue is my favorite color.”

“I need chocolate ice cream because chocolate is my favorite.”

His reasons, justifications, explanations are starting to rub off on me.  I may just have to use these sometimes.  

"I'm not clean the house because I want a cleaning service to do it."

"We are not watching one more episode of Dinosaur Train, Umizoomi, Super Why, Cat in the Hat, because then I'm stuck with these ridiculous theme songs in my head all day."

"I'm not changing any more dirty diapers because trying to wrangle a 9 month old is seriously too much of a work out for me."

"I'm not going to the grocery store anymore because I really dislike pushing the school bus shopping cart all around the store."  Could those things be any harder to control!

"I'm not going to go to bed because I know as soon as I fall asleep I'm going to hear the cries and calls of my children and have to drag my tired self out of bed."

labor day fun

Labor day weekend was full of little hands helping daddy plant trees.

With his own wheelbarrow, shovel, and rake Nathan was a great help!  

Nathan helped daddy check the garden and pick a bowl full of ripe tomatoes.  It was hard to get to the tomatoes because the pumpkin plants have taken over!

We cheered on our Nebraska Cornhuskers!  Nathan couldn't wait to wear his jersey!  Touchdown!

Mommy picked up some new slippers from the children's consignment sale.

Levi helped mommy rearrange the pantry.

We enjoyed the outside with walks, bike rides, and playing in the yard.

Nothing like some great family time!

Hope you and yours had a wonderful Labor Day weekend too!

a taste of fall

It's so close to fall I can almost taste it.  Signs fall is right around the corner...

*  The not-too-hot and not-too-cold daytime temps and the almost chilly nighttime temps.  Sunday afternoon I sat in my bedroom reading a book, windows open, listening to the leaves rustle in the slight breeze.  Seventy degree temps cooled the house enough that I kept my toes under the covers as I read.

*  College football!  The start of football season is always a sign fall is right around the corner.  We jumped right in throwing our first college football party of the season!

*  School is back in session.  Fall used to be marked by my returning to work (teaching) after summer vacation.  Now it's my oldest son starting school - preschool that marks the start of fall.  That, and the fact that my hubby is taking his last (finally) class for his master's degree this fall.

We had a great long weekend and enjoyed some swimming, our family football party, church, and errand running.  My hubby worked on planting the trees we bought for the backyard and I even helped with the mowing.  A few nice walks around the block were enjoyed with the cooler weather.  Nathan rode his bike while Levi kicked his legs with joy in the stroller.

It's going to be a wonderful fall if this weekend gives any insight of what is to come!

show us your life - favorite blogs

I LOVE BLOGS!!  Is it the glimpse into another family's life I like?  Is it the funny stories that keep me coming back?  The stories that make me cry I can't resist?  The feeling that there are families similar to mine that I feel a connection to?  The abundant recipes and helpful tips?  The connection to discounts and coupons?  I'm not sure I can put my finger on exactly what I like most about reading blogs but I know I can't stop!!  I'm linking up with Kelly's Korner to share a few of my favorite blogs in no particular order (well except maybe the first one).

1)  The Hertzler Family - This is my other blog.  The one I started when my oldest son was 3 months old and now he is almost 3 and 1/2.  It's my family site.  I share funny pictures and stories mainly for family and friends to keep up with us!  I also started a stash of recipes on this site as well.  If you really want to know more about myself and my kids just head this way!  It's not as much of me but definitely more of them!

2)  Into the Woods - This is my sister's blog.  She is married but has no children yet.  Working as a preschool teacher she has lots of funny stories to share.  Wise with her coupons and bargain hunting she gives great tips to help score great deals!!  She has such a funny way of sharing about herself, her family, and her interests.

3)  Finding Joy in the Journey -  A friend of mine from high school has been blessed with a beautiful boy but in their efforts to grow their family they have been facing infertility.  Her blog is an honest look at the ups and downs of their journey.  She is open and honest about her feelings of hurt and heartbreak but also highlights the immense blessings she has in the family God has already given her!  Join her as she finds joy in the journey of infertility.

4)  My Charming Kids - MckMama (as she calls herself), her husband, and their 5 kids, keep life interesting with all their adventures (spent the summer together in an RV traveling the country).  I enjoy her pictures and photography tips too!  The pictures at the top of my blog are courtesy of her when she made it to Denver this summer.  We were able to schedule a photo session with her and she captured some great shots of our family.

5)  Alaskarella - Although she is on a break from updating for while she is so funny.  I suggest you go back and read some of her posts.  She is the daughter of a former co-worker of mine.  Stationed in Hawaii for years while her husband was doing his residency the Army restationed them to Alaska.  It's funny stories or her adjusting to life in the cold land of Alaska while raising their two young daughters.  Her hubby has been deployed and while he is away, I believe she has come back to Colorado to be with her family until his return next spring.

6)  COOKING BLOGS!!  I love to cook and am always looking for new sites and recipes!
     * Our Family Eats
     * Picky Palate
     * Bakerella
     * Two Peas & Their Pod 
     * Real Mom Kitchen 
     * Brown Eyed Baker