What a Great Week

This has really been a great week for my family and I. In a lot of ways it was a typical week but at the same time fun and interesting. One great thing is that Gretchen has went all week without her paci at home! That's My Girl! She is still using the paci at Nana's (my mom's) when she is there a couple times a week. But hey, its progress. You have to start somewhere, right?

Then there was the typical stuff like doing homework and going to class and to work. Went for my weekly library run and found some great books on saving money and check out Disney's Earth and a PBS special called "Is Wal-Mart Good For America." Both were really good and education. I loved the penguins. I think that people should walk like them and be able to slide on our bellies. And we got our Netflick movies Eurika Season 2 and Invictus. Brian didn't like the idea first of watching Eurika but now he looks forward to getting another in the mail. I am my father's child. Sci-Fi runs in these veins.

Brian and I took the jet ski out. Brian worked on it and got it running. I was sort of scared to take it out. Brian said that we might be in the middle of the lake and the thing just die on us. Are you serious? I'm not getting strained in the middle of the lake and have to push the jet ski back to the van. We were actually able to do a little good for the environment when we stopped to walk around a little island in the middle of the lake. There was a bag of trash that some people had left that some animals had gotten into. Trash was everywhere. Of course we couldn't pick it all up but we could pick up the cans and crush them and put them in the little compartment on the jet ski. 49 cans we picked up and recycled from this one bag of trash.



On the domestic side of me I am in the middle of making an apron. On Tuesdays between my classes I go to my moms and we have a domestic lesson. First it was going to just be a sewing lesson but she is going to help me bake, sew, can , and what ever else I want her to teach me. Also I made apple cupcakes. In the family fun magazine I saw cupcakes made to look like apples. I figured I would try it out. The problem was is that I didn't realize that it took so much red food coloring to make icing red. I had used all the red and the icing was pink. I thought if I added a little Burgundy that it would darken it a little. Instead we have a purplish pink icing. Oh well, lesson learned. To make the stem you take a Tootsie roll mini and roll it a bit to make it a little longer and then take a green airhead and make a leaf. Viola! A purple apple.

One of the coolest things that happened was when Brian and his mom went to Goodwill Friday night he found a Dyson vacuum cleaner for only $6. He brought that bad boy home and got it running and now I have a super cleaner vacuum. This thing picks up so much more then my old cleaner did. I was kind of embarrassed when he vacuumed for the first time and I saw all that it had gotten up.

Saturday was crazy. I went into work early, then hopped over for a quick haircut, then hoped over to the Firefighters Challenge to Volunteer with my Education Class at the bouncy house and then get ready for party, party, home, Gretchen took a nap while cleaned house, Brian took his kids to play putt putt, they came home, we watched The Diary of a wimpy kid, and I feel asleep on the coach.

The only bad thing that happened was Gretchen getting a hold of my camera. Just when I actually had important pictures I wanted to share with everyone. Before I could chase her down to get it it was gone. I have looked everywhere. Under everything, in every bag, box, crack, and black hole. I'm not so much devastated on losing the camera but about losing the pictures on the camera. So for the next few months til Christmas I will be resorting on a disposable.

Here are some really neat websites to check out...
www.PETAKids.com
www.Teachkind.org
parentngpink.com
familyliteracyandyou.blogspot.com
iheartcoupondeals.com
lgreenss.blogspot.com
frugalmom.net
theideabox.com

Talking About Reunions

Every year on the first Saturday in October at my Granny's house we have a John Flack Family Reunion. Usually around 100 people come. Most are family and then some are friends of the family that might as well be family. We haven't always don't a reunion every year. Several years ago people got tired of only getting together at funerals. My Granny came from a large family. She was the 11 child out of 12. Now only 5 are still living.

The Reunion is great. Lots of cousins getting together, kids running around, food, storytelling, picture taking, and banjo picking.

Brian mentioned the other day that one of his old school Mt.Vernon is going to do an All-Class Reunion. I believe Mt. Vernon used to be a High School as well as Elementary and Middle School. I would love for my Middle School to do a small reunion. Mostly I want to see the teachers. Of course I still run into some of them every now and then. Gretchen and I ran in to Mr.Terry my old P.E and Math teacher in Lowe's one day and Gretchen wouldn't let go of his finger. I see my 6th grade teacher Ms.Pellitier every Tuesday night at the college because she is one of my teachers for my Creative Activities class.

Most of the people I went to Middle School with I also went to High School with. Next year will be my 10 year Class Reunion. I wish they did reunions differently. When you are in HS you don't just associate with people your in class. You become friends with people in upper and lower grades. Instead I think we should invite classes from a few years before us and a few years after us. And I think its a great idea to invite some of the teachers that taught us. Of course if our principle Dr. Casebolt came he would have to go into a speech and then read "Oh the places you will Go" by Dr. Sues and then resite Someone has To by Shel Silverstein. Two things we heard a million times between Freshman and Senior year.

The thing that sucks about Reunions is that some people can't or won't come. A friend of mind recently had a 40th HS reunion and said that people that had never came to the reunions before finally came. I said " well, when you are younger and starting a family its harder to get away sometime." He said "No. What it is is that by the time you get to be my age you don't care anymore about impressing people, you're really just happy to still be alive." At my mom's HS reunion a clique rented out a separate room and and it was by invitation only for you to get in. I just pray my class doesn't do that.

Paci Withdraw

Saturday of this week I decided to start weening Gretchen off the paci. The first day she did very well. We did the cool turkey approach and she did fine. I thought "Wow, my daughter is awesome and adjust to things perfectly." Then Sunday came and I was eating my words. Every time I laid her down for a nap she screamed and screamed til I couldn't take it anymore and out go get her up. My sweet little girl turned in to totally different child. I thought the devil had possessed her. I thought that since she had gotten up early and hadn't had a nap that she would go right off to sleep at bedtime. Nope. OK, on to plan #2. Plan 2 was to do what the dentist suggested. Take some scissors or nail clippers and cut a small hole on one side of the paci. So, I did that and gave it to her and she went right off to sleep. So, in a week or so I will cut another hole on the other side of the paci and keep cutting until eventually there will be no paci. The idea is to make the paci undesirable. I want to do what the dentist recommends and have her weened off of it by the time she is 18 months.

In this process of weening her off the paci I start to think about all the other goals I have for her for the next year. Its kind of neat that as parents we have the control to when our childs transitions to the next stage in something mostly because we as the parent have to either give them the tools to succeed or take something away to help them grow. One thing is to get her used to a bed so I can get rid of the crib. We have a bunk bed set up already and she can climb on and off of it but right now she thinks its a game. She would be up and down in and out of the bed all night if I let her sleep in it now. I also what to get rid of the high chair and have her either sit at a little table or in a boost at the table. I haven't decided about when I'm going to start potty training. We already have a potty seat and sometimes I sit her on it when I am using the bathroom. I also use the Pull-Up's already but this is mostly because they stay up better now that she is mobile. My biggest road block is Brian. He would probably keep her in a crib and high chair forever if he could. However, as I have said before I am claustrophobic and don't like clutter. Therefore, just like many other times I will have to sneak her high chair and crib out if the house when she is finished using them.

Also, lets talk about the Birthday Party thing. When I was pregnant Brian and I had a discussion about birthday parties. He told me a story about being invited to a party and then being the only one that showed up at the party. Then and there I made a promise that Gretchen would go to all parties that she was invited to unless there was a legitimate reason why she couldn't go. The reason is is that parents spend a lot of time and money to do a party. This month Gretchen has a party every weekend. One is at Bubba's FunPark and I am not too excited about it it cause I will have to crawl in the tunnels on my knees with Grethcen. This will be like going to McDonald's or KidzPlay with her. Its all I can do at times to keep up. She thinks she is a big kid. At KidzPlay the other day she was playing in the baby section and figured out where the exit was and escaped. But taking her down all the big slides was fun for both of us.

Different food habits

When cohabitating with someone you learn to compromise with certain things. For Brian and I our biggest compromise is the food factor. I actually compromise more then he does. One of the biggest problems is SALT. Brian puts salt on everything. I don't know how many times we have ordered a pizza and Brian has pre-salted it before I get my slice to eat. This also happens when we order a Chef Salad from the Grill to share. I'm not a big salt fan. I do salt foods but definately not everything nor do I salt it to the point where I feel I am drawning in an ocean of salt. I tell Brian don't to salt it until the food is on his own plate. At this point I think he does it on purpose to annoy me.

The other compromise is choosing a restuarant to eat at. Both of us like Chinese but picking a Chinese Restaurant turns into an arguement. I like Dragon Palace and he likes the Chinese place at Wal-Mart. I don't even bother knowing the name of it. Most times we end up at the one at Wal-Mart or we end up picking a different place. I think its just Brian's family in general. They all like crappy restaurants. I actually have told Brian that he is to never take me back to Ryan's again. It is a waste of money to pay $10 for a drink and buffet when all I will end up eating is Macaroni and Cheese.

The biggest compromise is when Brian goes on a diet. Pretty much when he is on a diet I am on a diet. This is actually fine with me considering the amount of crap we end up eating when he is off a diet. Of course I don't have to be one a diet too but I try to be encouraging and limit the junk food so it doesn't tempt him. Now in my house we have tons of veggies and fruit, veggie burgers for me, Diet Mt. Dew for him, Sugar Free Lemonade, oatmeal, granola, greek yogurt, and other healthy foods. I love chocolate and my rule is that no man is going to come between me and my chocolate. So of course I keep a jar of Nutella. I really hope Brian sticks with his diet this time. I really want us to be a good example for Gretchen so she will eat healthy too.

I got to cuddle with my baby

This morning was the first time in many many months that I had to get up with Gretchen. I think around 3 am she started crying in her crib. Its been so long I woke straight up in a panic thinking something was wrong. I though she had fallen out of the crib. She is a climber and I know it is just a matter of time when she will attempt to climb out of her crib. So this morning I though she has fallen out and hurt herself. I get up and I am a litte disoriented and end up turning every light between our room and her room on. When I get to her room she was crying because she had dropped her paci outside of the crib and needed it. So I grab the paci and cuddle Gretchen to calm her down. She was wet so I went ahead and changed her. Then we went to the living room and cuddled on the couch and went back to sleep. This was a rare moment for me. She hasn't let me hold her and go to sleep with her since she was like 3 months. Once I transitioned her from sleeping in the bassinet in our room to the crib in her room that was it. She was a big girl and didn't need mommy to rock her. So last night for about 2 hours I took the time to cuddle with my baby girl. Its different cuddling with a 1 year old compared to a new born. Grethcen is 10 1/2 inches longer then she was a year ago and doesn't curl up in a little ball with her knees in her chest anymore. And of course she is a lot heavier. When she was born she was 7 lbs 2 oz. At her one year check up on her birthday exactly a year later she weighted 21 lbs and 4 oz. After a while she woke up and wanted back in her bed. Well, I enjoyed it while it lasted.