Adventures with Nick and Sally » Life Lyn Style

Passing on Pizza?!

Jan 072012

Today was a crazy day for our household. I went to bed last night with a planned hike this morning. I woke up feeling yucky and spent much of the day sleeping. Sally hasn’t been herself for a couple of days. She seems fine for a few hours and then has a total meltdown. Hopefully, she’ll feel better soon.

Stephen felt the brunt of things today. I chilled on the sofa and napped off and on. He took the kids for haircuts, shoes, bananas, and a craft before lunch. After lunch he held Sally for a long time since she did not want to go to her bed for a nap, but clearly needed one.

Nick played for a really long time before finally napping. By then, Sally had tried her bed and didn’t last. While I got a nap, Stephen didn’t really even get a break.

Fast forward to dinner time….

Stephen asked me if I wanted to order a pizza for dinner. Pizza is one of my favorite foods. I could eat it every day. I especially like pizza with tons of meat topping and thick crust. The richer and saucier the tomato sauce the better. Ordering a pizza is easy. The kids love it when the pizza man comes to the door. The problem is that pizza delivered is about $15. We can choose to spend $15 on pizza, but it’s not really good for us and we’d rather go out to a nicer restaurant once in a while than spend $15 a week on pizza.

But, it was one of those days. We were all tired and grumpy. Pizza would taste great.

We talk about dinner plans several times and then I just decided to gather some energy and make dinner. Then, I decided I had enough energy to clean the kitchen or make dinner. I didn’t have enough energy for both. When it was all said and done, we ate chili from our freezer along with freshly made corn muffins. It was delicious and it was better than spending $15 on a pizza.

After dinner, Stephen took the kids on a run to Target. He was gone just long enough for me to get the kitchen clean.

An hour later, the kitchen is clean, the toys are picked up and both kids are sleeping. It’s ending up a pretty good day.

I’m proud of myself for not going the pizza route. I’m also reminded that we need to keep a couple of easy meals in the freezer for nights like this. It’s better for our waistline and our budget.

Turning off the TV – Fun with Pattern Blocks

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Jan 042012

A few weeks ago, I talked about snowflakes. I think Nick’s grandparents liked that idea because this pattern block set showed up for a Christmas present.

Yesterday, Nick woke up from his nap before Sally and wanted to do a craft. To him that means he wants to play with something at the kitchen table. I didn’t have a good plan and I didn’t really want to do a project that involved glue, scissors and a mess. Enter the pattern block gift.

This is a classic Melissa and Doug toy. It’s exactly what you would expect. It was a high quality box with nice wood pieces in kid friendly colors. The big downfall (as with most of their toys) is there isn’t a lid. Once you know this and find a suitable shoe box or something to use, it’s all good.

Sorting:

Concentrating:

Pondering:

Working on dexterity to pick up the small pieces:

Happy with his work:

I liked these pattern blocks because we could talk about colors and shapes. He got to practice sorting in the trays that I picked up from the after Christmas sale. There were also enough blocks that he could do several patterns before he had to reuse some of the blocks. These aren’t puzzles where the pieces fit into a recessed board. If he wasn’t careful, the whole design would move. It was good practice for him. He even decided to do a couple of them “double decker” where he stacked the pattern on the same board two high. I loved this activity and look forward to using it more with Nick. Sally will be able to try it soon as well.

I recently cleaned out a bookcase in our den to house our craft projects. It’s not quite organized yet, but I’m looking forward to having many things available at my disposal to keep the kids busy and learning during the cold, dark, winter that is upon us.

Frosty Outside, Frosty Inside

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Jan 022012

I had planned to do a post from my Hawaii trip tonight, but alas you’ll have to wait to hear about my snorkeling adventure.

We are in the middle of getting our first real snow fall. I think we’ve had snow three or four times this season, but this is the first significant lake effect storm. The kids have been so excited to make a snowman.

When we woke up today, we were disappointed since there wasn’t hardly any snow yet. We promised them they could play in the snow after nap time. One thing led to another and then it was dark.

We decided to bring the snow inside. It was the best decision yet. The kids had a blast, we didn’t have to get everyone bundled up, and it was easier to clean up than most of our craft projects.

We started out with mittens and gloves, but they quickly figured out their dexterity was better without them.

We tried raisins for eyes and they didn’t stick, so we ended up with Cheerios. Since Stephen got his braces off, we stock raw carrots again. They came in handy.

Sally decided to take her clothes off today. She’s been running around in a diaper. It was a riot to see her play with the snow without clothes on.

Here they are busy at work.

Nick may or may not have been trying to drink the snow. He was happy with the ground that he made out of the snow.

We’ll definitely be playing with snow inside again soon. It was great.

Year in Review Part 2

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Jan 012012

I managed to fall asleep on the couch last night and wake up 10 minutes before the ball dropped in NYC. I hope my timing in 2012 is as good! As promised, here’s part two of my year in review.

In July, we picked lots of fruit. Blueberries was our favorite. Between U-Pick farms and our CSAs, we kept busy with fresh, local produce.

In August, family from Delaware visited early in the month. Later in the month, the Connecticut clan visited as well. The cousins don’t see enough of each other and had a blast!

In September, I was fortunate to take a trip to Hawaii.

In October, we hiked with my Grandma.

In November, Sally turned 2. My grandparents celebrated 65 years of marriage.

In December, we enjoyed lots of family time.

Have a great 2012!

Year in Review Part 1

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Dec 312011

I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy New Year! 2011 was a fun-filled busy year for us. Here’s a memory from each month.

In January, I started my blog. I also started taking a fly-tying class. Here’s a photo of one of my flies.

In February, Nick turned 3. We celebrated with a bowling party.

In March, Nick tried out his new bike for the first time. We were glad to see some nice weather.

In April, I turned 40. We celebrated with a trip to the Akron Art museum and dinner.

In May, all of my siblings were in town since a few were running in the Cleveland 10K, 1/2 or Marathon. I also had the privilege of going to Baltimore for the Fit Bloggin’ conference.

In June, our Wednesday Wade Oval summer of museum visits began. Here’s Sally playing at the Cleveland Botanical Gardens.

Stay tuned tomorrow for Part 2!

A Temper Tantrum Filled Trip to the J

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Dec 292011

Thursday is our double J day. We go in the morning so I can workout and shower. Today, I had planned the water aerobics class. We go back after nap time so Nick can take his weekly swim lesson.

We were leaving this morning and we were barely on time. Sometimes I do too many dishes before I start coats, boots, mittens, socks, etc. I got everyone in the car and Nick wanted me to go in for his bird. Since I was not in the car yet and had to make another trip anyway, I picked up his stuffed yellow bird and brought it out to him. After I got in the car and buckled my seat belt, Nick decided that he wanted me to go in and get his car. I told him no. Sally was playing with her boat that she had left in the car yesterday. Nick didn’t even think of his car until he saw her playing with the boat.

He started to cry and scream. He wanted me to go in. I just started to drive. I told him that he needed to be more responsible for what he wanted to bring and that he already had his bird. He screamed that he wanted me to turn around and go back for his car. His screaming and crying continued during the entire 12 minute trip to the JCC.

I got Sally out of the car and then went to get Nick out of the car. He got out and then opened the door to get back in three times before walking toward the lobby. I told him that if I had to miss my swim class that he was going to miss his swim class. I’m not sure if he is old enough to understand that, but I need to try to teach him.

Finally, we made it to the doors and he was still crying and screaming. One of the workers walked in and said he was glad that it wasn’t just his kid. I know that everyone has tantrums, but it does get old.

Finally, Nick’s playroom friend came in with her mom and Nick wanted to walk with her. That ended up working in my favor. I may have also bribed him a little by letting him open his snack. He was still upset a little when he got to the playroom, but it worked out ok. I was just on time for class.

After a rather noisy quiet time, Nick made it to his swim lesson. He remembered to take his car into the car and all was well with the world.

I’m hoping for a smoother workout tomorrow!

Getting Back to Normal

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Dec 282011

Now that Christmas is over, it’s time to get everyone back to normal. The holidays aren’t quite over yet since New Year’s is this weekend, but it’s a much more low key time for our family.

Stephen went back to work today. He was off for 4 days and it was fun to have him home. The kids and I had a normal day that included the J, pasta lunch at home, and nice naps. We made dinner and hung out at home the rest of the day. I’m glad we didn’t try to venture out for errands or shopping.

Bed time for the kids tonight was a bit rough. They are both so tired and off schedule. I’m hoping a couple of more days like today and everyone will be caught up on sleep. We also need to get everyone back to eating more normal food. We’ve had so much pizza, cookies and other goodies around lately, that we’re all in need of some detox over the next few days as well.

I’m also looking forward to taking the tree down, storing the decorations and wrapping supplies, and organizing the new toys and gifts.

Usually, we go to the Cleveland Museum of Natural History Wednesday evenings. We haven’t been there lately, and I hope that by next Wednesday, we’ll be back in the swing of things and can make a trip down to University Circle.

I’m off to clean and organize something!

Christmas Lights + Snow = Happy Lyn

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Dec 272011

Last Friday, we took the kids to Tower City and Public Square in downtown Cleveland to see the holiday lights. I drove to the rapid station and took the train with Nick and Sally and Stephen met us there from work. That was much simpler than driving and parking downtown and the kids LOVE the train.

Sally was enjoying a clementine while Nick studied the map. Once downtown, we checked out some of the lights inside and out.

We also saw Bruce the Talking Spruce, let Sally visit the Twigbee Shop for gifts, let the kids ride the indoor train that goes around a small part of the mall for $3 each and enjoyed dinner.

We had a great time, but we were really missing something – SNOW. I love looking at the lights in the snow. I love how the lights twinkle when they are covered by snow and if it is actually snowing at the same time that’s even better.

Tonight, we have snow and it’s still close enough to Christmas that all of the lights are still on. After dinner, we put boots on the kids and headed for a ride around the neighborhood to check out the lights. We particularly enjoyed catching the show on West Minor Road. It’s not too far for us and they “dance” to music. You pull up to the house, wait for the show to start (on the hour and half hour) and tune your radio to 107.1. It’s fun.

We’ve also enjoyed the dancing lights (without snow) in Macedonia and on 135th South of Granger. I think the one on 135th is the best.

I feel like the holidays are complete now that we have snow and enjoyed a ride for lights. Now, hopefully we’ll have enough snow for skiing soon. I’m not sure if I will go this year, but Nick and Stephen are already talking about cross-country skiing.

A Wonderful Christmas Day minus enough SLEEP

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Dec 262011

Christmas Eve went really well for us. Santa came around 10PM and I was ready for bed. Unfortunately, Sally was not. Even though she had been tucked in around 8PM, she was still awake. Stephen and I took turns trying to calm her down. It didn’t work. Finally, I went to bed around 11:30PM. Stephen’s Christmas morning started around midnight with an hour long car ride, hoping that would make Sally fall asleep. They finally made it to bed around 1:30AM. By 5:30AM, I was up with Sally. By 6:30AM, Nick was up too. I went ahead and starting baking the bread pudding that Nick had made the evening before.

We let Stephen sleep until 7AM and then Nick went up to wish him a “Good Christmas Morning”. They came down and we opened some gifts.

The “biggest” gift was a kitchen and a tool bench that friends had given us. Both Sally and Nick were impressed with the wrapping, which consisted of a blue sheet covering the goods. Sally thought it was a card table since we usually make card table tents with a sheet in the living room.

We spent the next couple of hours enjoying present opening, bread pudding, enjoying new things and getting ready for a trip to Grandma and Grandpa’s house.

We arrived in time for Christmas dinner and then enjoyed opening gifts. It was fun to have all of the family together.

We surprised mom and dad by giving them a room at a beach house for a week this summer. I think we have 5 families going in June. My sister made the card which included a photo of the house and the dates. It’s a joint gift from their kids and covers several holidays (birthday, Christmas, Mother’s Day, Earth Day, etc.). Dad was happy too, but he doesn’t show excitement like mom. I think this is my favorite photo of the day.

Sally really likes her aunts. Here’s a photo of her with Aunt Holly. Uncle Frank liked his shirt. He’s studying to be an engineer.

Lily got a “big girl” bike. She was quite happy. Carol was perplexed with this gift. She had no idea that Stephen had got her cheese (and a few other items)! She loves cheese and was very happy with the gift.

After gifts, we tried to get the kids to nap, played some games and enjoyed our family time.

After enjoying some left overs for dinner, we headed home via some Christmas light displays. Once home, we used Skype to open gifts with Stephen’s parents and brother in Delaware. Technology is a wonderful thing.

We had a great day!

Christmas Eve Day!

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Dec 242011

We spent the day as a family of four. We started out shopping at Heinen’s around 8AM. By 9AM we were making cookies.

Stephen worked on Stollen all day. It’s bread with cherries and raisins and usually is served with a glaze. We haven’t tasted it yet.

Both kids napped today. I did too! Then, we all got ready for church. Our service was at 5PM.

After church we enjoyed an appetizer type dinner with cheese, spread, crackers, shrimp, meatballs, hot dogs and more.

Nick helped me make the bread pudding for Christmas morning. It’s all ready to go into the oven when we wake up.

We finished the day enjoying a cookie and now the kids are tucked in and we are finishing up a few things for the morning. Good night!

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