Survivor

So, Jake has been out of town since Thursday...we're on a steady downhill slide at this point. I'm so tired I can't see straight.
For the last two days, Ty has woken up at 4:30 am. He's perky and ready to roll. His room has blackout blinds and a white noise machine. I've given him a clock and strict instructions to not leave his room before 6:00. I've tried to get him to sleep with me in my bed. Nothing. Tonight, I'm going to try moving Brooklyn into Sadie's room and leaving Ty in his own room (with a child gate on the door so he can't leave his room). Is that unbearably mean? Because Ty has been up at 4:30, I've been pretty much up at that time the last two days (as if being a single mom isn't hard enough). This morning I left him downstairs and went down a few minutes later to find him sitting on the floor eating Buffalo Wing flavored Doritos and strawberries.

Ty's Injury Report

Ty: "Dad, ask me what's on my finger."
Dad: "Ty, what's on your finger?"
Ty: (seriously) "It's a bandaid."
Pause
Ty: "Dad, ask me why I have a bandaid on my finger"
Dad: "Ty, why do you have a bandaid on your finger"
Ty: (seriously) "Because I got in a big bike crash!"

Note: The bike crash wasn't serious, we had a scraped finger. Jake does not believe in the magical healing properties of bandaids, but choses instead to beleive they are merely for the purpose of stoppoing bleeding. However, in this case, he was the one encouraging the bandaids, going so far as taking Ty to buy "cool" bandaids, just so that Ty isn't afraid to get on his bike again. Ty scraped his finger on Saturday, but was insistent on Sunday morning that he wear a bandaid to nursery so that he could impress his teacher (and all the cute chicks, cuz chicks dig battle wounds...or at least guys think so!)

"Real Simple" Bargain

I love "Real Simple" magazine, but only get to read it on occasion, as it's kinda pricey. It's only $5 for a subscription right now on Amazon. Don't let Amazon fool you into filling up your cart to get free shipping, if you put it in your cart and order it; it only comes to $5 total. Pretty nice deal...

Also, Walgreens is closing out lots of their summer toys. If the $5 I spent on "Real Simple" wasn't the best $5 I spent this week, my bubble machine for the kids was. All of their toys are 50% off, making the prices very reasonable for bribery, birthday gifts, and all other kid-related purposes.

More than one way to....

Eat a watermelon...
I bought a watermelon with seeds this week (it was on sale, of course). For $2.50, I figured the kids might enjoy learning to eat a watermelon with seeds. I mean, honestly, us "old folks" didn't know anything different as kids...this seedless watermelon business took all the fun out of eating watermelon.
Brooklyn meticulously picks out all the seeds from her watermelon, before proceeding to eat them (them, as in the seeds)
Tyler sloppily picks out most of the seeds from his watermelon, then places them in his mouth so he can practice spitting them out like Mommy. He's not too good at it and most of them just dangle on his lips until he wipes his mouth.
Sadie would eat the whole thing...fruit, seeds and rind if I'd let her.

Still Alive...

It's been awhile since I got up to posting on my blog. We're alive...we're just enjoying summer too much to blog. I have an awesome garden and the yard looks pretty good overall (it's taken some work, and I'm still growing an incredible variety of weed species) The kids are loving the summer and all that comes with it. Ty is learning to ride his new bike and Brooklyn has quickly taken to not having training wheels. We've had a trip to Utah; and had an awesome 4th of July here at home. (I love the 4th of July...almost as much as Christmas). I am gardening and doing some reading (yeah, if you catch me at the park I still can be found with a book/magazine in hand, although I must be delusional because I've yet to read while the kids play). We're just trying to get out and have some time with friends and to enjoy the beautiful sunshine (while it lasts). Jake is in school for the next few weeks, and then we'll have a break for almost two months. I'm not sure who's more excited, him or me. I should treat him to a fishing trip or something, but I think for the first few weeks, he'll just be saving my sanity by playing with the kids. I hope to post more later, I can always hope for rain. I guess it just kills me when I have a few minutes to sit and the computer (without the distraction of three screaming kids) to sit and blog...I'll catch up. After all, in Milwaukee, we have 13 1/2 months of winter every year.

It's Only Hair, Right?

Made a big mistake this weekend. This past week, I was at my hair suicide point (I have the scissors in hand and I'm going to start cutting!) I asked several friends where they go for haircuts (my "regular" hair girl moved) and had one salon mentioned twice. Gold! I called and made an appointment for Saturday. When I walked into this "salon", I realized I had made a grave mistake. Carenza is a hip salon in Brookfield, where several stylists work. I was looking forward to the scalp massage...I walked into a basement office building into a one-room business run by a woman in her late fourties. Her business is named Carizma. Slip of the tongue = bad haircut. I didn't have the nerve to tell her, "uh, think I have the wrong place...". I didn't actually realize my mistake until she told me about how many people mix up Carizma and Carenza while she was washing my hair (close in names; also both located on the same street). She cut my bangs really weird (lower half are super short and all one length, next layer is longer and uneven...more like I like it)...overall, my haircut in too short. Oh well, it will grow back, right? A word to the wise....CARENZA!

Heavy-Weight Champ

Big news! Today, Sadie had her 2-year well-baby visit. She is officially 20 lbs (plus 8 oz). One very small step for most babies, but a huge milestone for us! The nurses in the office who know Sadie all too well gave us a little cheer as they heard that we'd hit our mark. I thought I would cry...