Melody's cuteness

So this morning I got out of the shower and got dressed and I was about to go and dry my hair..when both girls woke up. Lucky me! So I got Melody and brought her into my room to keep an eye on Kylie while I went to dry my hair. They entertain one another pretty easily. So I have the baby monitor in the bathroom with me and right as I finished drying my hair I hear:

Melody: "OK Kylie, you count to 10 and I will hide.
OK...ready you count now and I am going to hide, Kylie.
One, two, three....Peek A Boo!!"
(Hysterical laughing by both girls)

It was just soooo cute to hear Melody being such a BIG girl. She absolutely loves her little sister..can you tell?

Yesterday Melody was up early with me and Kylie was still sleeping. When we hear Kylie wake up Melody runs over to the bottom of the stairs and says:

"Mommy, you stay right here. (With her finger pointed and looking at me) I will be right back!! I am going to get Kylie..she is awake. You stay right here. OK!?"

Then she proceeded up the stairs to my bedroom to see her sister. I followed and laughed all the way there.

Whooo Hooo!! and Homeschooling

I just got a call back from a company that does diaper studies. They send out diapers or pull ups to people to use on their children to see what we think of them. Then I give them my opinions on them and fill out three surveys and at the end I will receive $10!! I will be getting Pull-Ups for Melody to use for three weeks...once a week I will receive a call to answer my survey and then at the end I will be mailed a check for the $10 for participating! How great is this? Hopefully over those three weeks I can get Melody potty trained and into underwear. Man, I LOVE FREE STUFF..but it is even better to get paid for it too!! WHOOOO HOOOOO! Can you hear me yelling for joy from there? They should be here on or around April 12th! I can't wait!

I also want to talk about a "Mom's Night Out" program I will be going to on April 2nd. The topic of discussion will be: "The Simplicity of Homeschooling". I can't wait for this either! It will be my first time really meeting up with many homeschooling moms and also getting to talk to other people who have been or are just starting with homeschooling like me. Also, on April 21st there will be a USED CURRICULUM SALE..so hopefully I will be able to pick up everything I need rather cheap for the fall. Lets only hope!

Renting a House?

Well we went to look at a house on Sunday afternoon. Living here in this apartment is ok..but man..I would love some privacy and less noise to have to deal with...especially with two little ones that nap! My neighbors on one side don't seem to know how to shut the door or open the door without slamming the wall! My neighbors on the other side have extra people living there and they smoke to high heaven...STINKY! They then go and smoke in the basement and the smoke gets into my apartment! Having a child with asthma..this is not a good situation. The house we looked at is a little small but it is a HOUSE! We would have a yard and privacy and we even know the neighbors and they have a pool that they have already offered for us to be able to use! We would have to downsize on some stuff...the closets are TINY so I would really need to cut down on some clothing. But hey...I have stuff that doesn't fit so it should be that hard to do. Please pray that we end up being picked to get this house. It has a larger kitchen and three bedrooms and a separate dining room...so it has plusses compared to where we are now. Yes the rooms a small..but really not that bad...pretty similar in size to what we have now...some bigger, some smaller. The bathroom is a bit smaller..but hey..how many times a day do we really go in there? That doesn't make any difference to me. It also has washer/dryer hook ups..so hopefully we can use our own washer and dryer! I can plant a garden with the kids and just have fun! We will hopefully know by next week. Prayers please!

Homeschooling

Over the past few weeks I have truly been thinking about homeschooling my children.

My reasons are:

• Lack of information sent home from school
• Too many fundraisers
• Not enough information about what my kids are learning
• Personal time with teacher if pretty much none
• Expanding horizons would be so much easier at home
• We can do more as a family this way and get so much closer to one another
• I can teach about the Bible if I want to without being ridiculed
• My kids can still play with friends outside of "school" and be social

Here is a place you can see 55 reasons why people homeschool. Check it out..then leave me a comment and let me know your thoughts on the subject.

I have borrowed books from the library, I have spoken to mothers who homeschool and I am building a nice group of people I can turn to if I need the help.

Am I crazy for even thinking of doing this? Maybe...but I truly think my kids will be kinder, gentler, more respectful and just plain good kids this way. Those who know me and my family...I have noticed my son, who is 10, has changed his attitude a ton over the past few years and I really don't like where it is headed. I can take them on field trips whenever I feel like it and it relates to what we are studying. I can get Melody and Zachary involved with one another more on a learning level. Zachary can help teach Melody things and even Zachary can learn from his little sister.

Well I have tried to give my reasons why in this post..but what are your reasons why not? No matter what anyone says I truly think this might be the best thing for my kids and my family.

Here Kitty....

Lastnight Melody decided to become a Kitty. She went over to the spot where our cat Frisky usually sits and sat down herself. She then started to pretend to lick her "paws" and laugh. Peter and I both looked at her at the same time and both laughed. We asked, "Melody what are you doing?" She responded, "I am being a Kitty!" I am hoping she might do it again and let me get a photo or video of it happening. It was just too cute!

Here are the photos of the snow...

These were all taken out the front door of our apartment. We got about 12-15 inches of snow overall. Great sledding snow according to Zachary. He had a blast this afternoon. It is topped with a layer of ice so it was nice and solid to sled on. Too bad it is goign to be warming up again over the next five days to close to 60 degrees F again. The first day of spring is this week..so I guess it is bound to warm up.

Snow, Snow, Snow

Well with every single channel is reporting different amounts. I have seen 12+ inches, 10-15 inches, 6-10 inches and 5-10 inches. I know we have already gotten about 5-6 inches already and it is supposed to go on for about 15 hours more. My kids love the snow..I love watching the snow falling...but man..I hate the clean up from it. We get so much dirt and yuck in the house from outside once the sand and salt is down I have to vacuum a few times a day when there are people going in and out all the time. I will take photos when it is done...it should be very beautiful. Sad to think it was just about 70 degrees two days ago..and now it is 30 or below and snowing tons. That's New England for ya. :)

Little Drummer Girl (and boy)

Kylie and Zachary playing together. She loves to play the drums and after I changed her diaper Zachary brought her the cover to her drum and she played like this for about 15 minutes. They had a great time! Just had to share. :)

Irish Soda Bread

Last night I made some Irish Soda Bread and I am so impressed with how good it is! I had to make the buttermilk with vinegar and milk but it still taste wonderful! My sweet husband said we could just eat this for dinner. As you can tell by the photos..we ate about half of it with butter before dinner...lol.
Here is the recipe for you all to try and enjoy. Only thing I had to change with the recipe was to cook it longer...I added about 15 - 20 minutes of cooking time to the recipe. Unless you like raw bread. :) I also left out the raisins. Enjoy!!

4 cups flour
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup cold butter
1 cup golden raisins
1 3/4 cups buttermilk
(Mix 1 Tbsp. white vinegar with milk to make buttermilk)

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add raisins. Stir in buttermilk just until moistened. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; gently knead 6-8 times.

Place on an ungreased baking sheet; pat into a 7 inch round loaf. Using a sharp knife, cut a 1 inch cross about 1/4 inch deep on top of the loaf. Bake at 375 degrees F for 40-45 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.

The Joy of Chocolate Pudding

Well the other day I made some chocolate pudding. It sat there for a day or so until we actually sat down to consume it and when we did it was gone rather quickly. As you view the photos below realize they wanted more and more...and I didn't have anymore to give. I have to make sure to add that to my grocery list. :)

Organize......

Well I have been working on trying to get our home organized. This is not an easy feat. So much STUFF and no where to put it all. We have cleaned out the basement a few times and gotten rid of sooo much STUFF..but it seems like it never ends. The living room is full of toys, the kitchen is full of things that need a new home or need to be worked on, the bedroom has extra stuff with no real home, the closets have clothing that need to be taken out because they don't fit anyone...so these are just a few things I need to do. I also need to try to finish off the basement so that the girls can go and play downstairs with art supplies. Zachary can maybe play too if I get it set up right...he does crafts all the time and enjoys that...but right now there is no place to work on things. I am hoping to atleast be able to wash the kitchen floor tonight...by washing..I mean take everything I can out of the kitchen and wash the WHOLE floor..not just where there isn't stuff. This turns into a whole big project every time. Lets hope I can get it done. Oh I also need to clean the bathroom..anyone interested in doing this for me? I hate to have to clean the bathroom..I truly don't know who likes it much.

Ok..well onto other things...I have been thinking more and more about scrapbooking and trying to find a time and place to do it. Well with three kids and no where to leave everything set up it is rather hard. I have a bin full of stuff and photos piled up and no idea when I will ever get around to working on it again. I have up to and through Melody's first two days of life done..lol..but that is it..she is 2 1/2!!! I was talking with a friend this morning about it and she said that she and a few other friends have been getting together every other week to work on their stuff..so hopefully I will be able to join them and get some of mine done too. I only need a few hours really...to myself!! The only time I am truly alone each day is in the shower! So, time to work on this would be fabulous. Lets all hope it actually happens though. That would be one less thing sitting in my kitchen..lol.

Finally!!

I have been trying to post for days! For some reason it wouldn't let me! Phew...I am so happy to be able to post all the things I was thinking about...but...what in the world was I thinking about? My short term memory isn't quite what it used to be.

Well I can tell you that Melody calls zerberts...yoursberts...it is funny to hear her say. Most people call them raspberries..but I call them zerberts. Melody was standing on her changing table and took off her shirt so I had my chance and went over and gave her a big zerbert on her belly. Which ensued in her laughing and Kylie laughing. This went on for a while until my lips were feeling funny.

Yesterday my friend came over with her two daughters who are the same age as Zachary and Melody..so they had fun on the play date. Zachary played in the basement with his Robo Raptor and his Robo Pet Dog. They seemed to have fun together. The younger girls had a blast..tearing apart the apartment! There were toys and snacks everywhere..but that is all in the day of playing with little ones. I am just glad that they each had some fun. I also had fun talking with an adult! Conversations with a two year old only go so far.

I have been painting Melody fingernails lately..and she is so good about sitting still and letting them dry and even picks out her own color. I just redid them for tomorrow..to match her dress. Red and sparkly.

Ok..so I am adding a few photos...I can't help myself..my kids are just too cute!

(Even if I do say so myself.)

Melody took this pic of her big brother. Pretty pink fingernails.

Showing off the fingernails. Smiling for a photo!!

Smirking for a photo. Just so cute in her nightgown.

Sisters...loving one another. Smiling while walking across the room!

One of my favorite photos.

Lazy weekend

So this weekend we really didn't do much. Laundry, eating, sleeping..although not much..talking and playing with the kids. Nothing truly exciting but hey..if you can do it all as a family it is great!

Friday we had the in-laws over for dinner. I made pizza and they brought some salad. I like that kind of deal. :) They stayed for a bit and played with the kids. Watched Kylie walk across the room a few times with her walker. Looked at some of Zachary's school work. Listened to Melody chit chat a bit. We watched 1 vs. 100 and laughed at the people who play..just how stupid do they have to be on there?

On Saturday my sweet husband finally put the curtain rod up in the kids room...well Melody had to help. So she was having fun with Daddy and she would hand him the small screwdriver when he needed it. So he says to her, "I need Turner", which Melody responds back with, "No Daddy, it's not Turner, it's Phillipe!" It was hysterical! (For those of you who have no idea what I am talking about...it is from the show Handy Manny.) Daddy had to apologize to Melody for correcting him and being right. It was just so cute. She has been doing tons of cute things lately..just being her normal 2 year old self.

Sunday I played catch-up on the dishes we used the two days prior. I usually do them the next morning because we have dinner so late..but I was being lazy.

This morning I was up at my normal time of 7am. Took my shower, made sure Zachary was all set to head back to school. Did more dishes from last night. Vacuumed the living room. Swept the kitchen floor. Got both girls ready for their day. Fed Melody and Kylie. Took some really cute photos of the girls playing and separate. (Melody actually smiled for me!) I will post those later. :)

It is bitter cold out there today so if you live in the NE..dress warm!