Christmas Carols

I'm so proud.....we often sing Christmas carols throughout the day and while we are driving in the van. Jameson's favourite is "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer". Stellan's favourite is "Santa Claus is Coming to Town". I'm sure their Sunday School teachers would also be so proud. We'll work on that.

The Christmas Story

Jameson and I had some alone time yesterday while Stellan was still sleeping. We sat together on the sofa and I asked him a few questions about Christmas. He told me that Jesus was born in a stable on some hay. He knew that Mary was Jesus' mother. He could also tell me that the shepherds and the wise men came to visit baby Jesus. When I asked him what gifts the wise men brought for baby Jesus, he proudly exclaimed, "Coal". Uh, close.
I then continued to ask him a few questions; specifially how Mary got to Bethlehem. "On a donkey. It wasn't comfortable!" What insight!

Picnic

We headed out to Target for some necessities. I once again brought the suckers for entertainment. On the way out I decided to grab a lunch from the cafe. The boys each got a hot dog, yogurt and milk (I'm sure they thought the healthy yogurt and milk would offset the hot dog...). On a whim I decided to bring them to the train park so we could have a picnic in the van. It was very muddy out due to the aforementioned sleet/rain so we were just going to stay in the van. Once again Jameson mentioned that the police man would come and tell him to get out of the van and go on the swings. Still cute but he's playing it up now.
We literally sat in the van while the boys ate their lunches. We saw at least half a dozen trains whiz by the park. What great (and cheap) entertainment! I promised them that we would come back after nap time with their boots on so they could watch the trains while they were swinging. We did just that but boy was it cold! They had a blast though so who can complain?

Library

I just remembered this one....
We had plans to go to the museum last Thursday. I met Trina at the mall but we decided that the weather was too ominous and we should stick closer to home. That brought us to the library. It was quite deserted because of the weather, what a nice treat. We played for a bit and then realized that we were just on time for story time and craft time. The boys had a great time dancing around with scarves and bells and listening to the stories. They each made a reindeer out of candy canes (I'm sure we all remember doing those at some point in life). We were sitting around reading and playing when Jameson finally decided that it was time to go pee. (He'd been holding himself and doing the pee dance for quite some time.) I took him to the washroom where he did his thing. At one point he loudly exclaimed, "Mommy, you touch your vagina?". Horror of horrors! Thank God that we were the only ones in the washroom. I had fears that everyone in the lobby could hear us though. I once again explained to him the concept of "private parts" and how no one is allowed to touch them but yourself. "Yeah Mommy, so you touch your vagina and I touch my penis?" Well, he's getting the concept but I think we still need to work on that one.

Dishwasher

So our dishwasher has never really worked properly. It's to the point where we have to practically wash the dishes before putting them in the dishwasher. Seems a bit pointless. So we called the landlady and she made a call to the repairman. He showed up bright and early at 7 am this morning. (The one good thing with the first appointment of the day is that they are on time.) Thankfully we were all awake (I wasn't technically "up" but I was awake). The boys warmed up to him quite quickly and would turn around on the sofa and say, "Man, what are you doing?". Honestly, I think they said that 20 times while he was here. He was so patient. They would wander over and see what he was doing and then say, "Are those your tools?". He patiently answered that, yes, indeed they were his tools.
He had to go back to his van for a minute so I took the opportunity to change Jameson out of his pjs. While I was changing him he commented, "That man has a penis but you have a vagina mommy". Thank God for small favours, he was still at his van. (Note that Jameson now proudly says "vagina" instead of "magina".)

Awesome

Jameson and I were cuddling on Sunday when he looked at me and said,
"Mommy, I love you. You are awesome. But....I'm super awesome!"
I'm thinking my son doesn't have self-esteem issues!

Bribery, a Wonderful Parenting Tool

I had to do it. I had to go out an get groceries and there was no way I could wait until James was home. Panic and fear set in but then I decided to overcome and control my destiny. I pulled out the suckers and I bribed my children. I promised suckers and a trip to the train station if they behaved.
We headed out to Shop Rite. I hoped to plop them in a regular shopping cart before they noticed the fancy, difficult to steer but oh so kid enticing carts. No luck. They spotted them and immediately wanted to ride in them. Fine, I can do this. I had a heart to heart and basically told them that if they so much as stuck a finger out of the cart I would transfer them to the regular cart. Also, no sitting/pushing/licking/biting/whatever else they could possibly do to each other. Big doe eyes looked back and said, "Yes Mommy". I so don't believe that look, they totally know how to play the game.
We headed into the store and I was quietly cheering that the cart actually had functioning wheels, what a treat! The boys lasted about 2 aisles and then remembered that they wanted suckers. No problem. I pulled them out and distributed them. Nice big Jolly Rancher suckers, should last quite a while. I had my list ready and I completed my shopping as quickly as possible. I doled out several wipes but there were no major problems. I was filled with relief as the suckers lasted until the last aisle (talk about good timing). I headed to the check out and piled the groceries on the belt. They were still behaving but it was obvious that their patience was running out. They both started to lean on each other but a reminder of the best treat that was yet to come quickly put them both back in their proper places. I got out of the store with my sanity still in tact and two children without mild concussions from cart mishaps (refer to previous post). Thank God for big favours!!!!
A quick stop at Starbucks and we headed to the train station. Jameson had a small meltdown when he realized that his train whistles were at home. An overlook on my part, I'll remember next time. I told him that if he had two choices; he could continue crying and we could head directly home or he could stop crying and we would go to the train station. An obvious choice, even for a 3 year old. So glad he chose to stop crying since this also involved Stellan.
We arrived at the train station and ended up waiting 30 minutes for a train. I had the time and they deserved the treat so we gladly waited. Besides, I had Starbucks to keep me company. :)
There were four trains that all arrived within 5 minutes of each other. The boys were so excited and appeased enough for us to head home. How wonderful that they love the trains so much. I don't know what I'm going to do for treats/bribes when they outgrow the fascination of the trains. Let's hope it lasts at least 2 more years. :)
When we got home I praised them and even called daddy to loudly sing their praises. Hopefully the intrinsic rewards of good behaviour will one day outweigh the extrinsic rewards that I have to offer to maintain my sanity. It's just a matter of survival right now.

Ear Ache

Poor Stellan has yet another ear infection. :( A short while after he woke up from nap yesterday he started crying and told me that his ear hurt. (I have to say, it's great when the have the vocabulary to put words to things, makes figuring out the problem a whole lot easier.) Stellan is prone to ear infections so I can't say I was surprised. I called the pediatrician and she had an opening in 30 minutes. Once again, well worth the co-pay for that kind of service!!! They took us as soon as we got to the office and the nurse told me to take off his shirt. Seemed easy enough. But then again, we're dealing with a cranky 2 year old. I tried to take off his shirt and he threw an absolute fit! The doctor came in while he was screaming and said it was fine for now, just let him be. Good first impression son! The doctor was very nice though, no complaints. She warmed up the stethoscope and was able to do her initial check with little resistance from Stellan. Then it was time to take off his hat so she could look in his ear, after all that's where the problem was. Seeing as he threw a fit when I told him he had to wear the hat, I figured it would be relatively easy to take it off. Uh, sure. Another screaming match followed and we decided just to lift up the ear flaps when necessary. Jameson told the doctor that it was Stellan's left ear that hurt (so smart, distinguishes between left and right) and sure enough, it was inflammed. She had to take out some ear wax to make a definite assessment. Uh oh, that hasn't gone over so well in the past. Sure enough, history repeated itself. He was screaming and flailing as she tried to remove the minor obstruction. (It sounds gross but it wasn't too bad.) I was literally holding him as tightly as I could so he would be somewhat still so she would perforate his ear drum or something. Sheesh, what a work out. The doctor did her thing and then prescribed an antibiotic. Well, at least he loves medicine. She gave me a sample of motrin to give him right away to help alleviate the pain. My medicine loving child decided to be stubborn(wherever does he get that trait from?!?!) and said, "No medicine". Whatever. I asked a few more questions and then we headed on our merry way. We made a pit stop in the lobby because the boys decided that the toys at the doctor's office were more fun to play with than the ones at home. Lovely, spread the germs!
Stellan willingly took his medicine before bed so I'm hoping he's well on his way to recovery. Poor angel (who screams like the devil).

What a Kid!

I was busy making harvest loaf in the kitchen when Jameson walked in and said, "Mommy, I looked at my watch and it said it's time to play with play dough".
How cute is that?

A busy weekend

We had big plans for the weekend. Phil and Adina and their three kids were coming as well as Paul and Amy and their three kids. We had plans to go swimming and then to go to Yardley, PA for the light show at Shadybrook Farms.
Everyone (minus Phil) showed up around 1 o'clock. We had some chicken noodle soup (yummy, I made it from scratch) and egg casserole. We packed up the suits and headed out to pool. We were a bit worried that they weren't going to let us all in since we are technically only allowed 2 guests. (Is 9 a stretch?) We got in no problem. The sign on the door mentioned that the heater was broken so "swim fast". (It literally said that.) The kids didn't seem to mind and the dads were willing participants and got in with the kids. The kids splashed and jumped around for over an hour. We headed back to the change room. Stellan was wandering around and happened to look into a shower stall. The old woman snapped, "Don't look!". Ease up lady, he's not a little pervert, he's just a curious kid. He won't even remember what he saw (thank God for small miracles). Oh well, some people are just nasty and bitter. The ladies were waiting in the foyer as the guys were finishing their showers and the nasty old lady came through. She pushed her way through us, knocking into some of us. As she was leaving I called out after her, "Have a wonderful day!". Merry Christmas too lady!
We headed back to our house where the kids played and the adults sat and relaxed with a cup of coffee. We then ate chilli and salad with some warm bread from the Amish market (yummy bread!). We piled in our cars and headed out to Yardley, PA where we planned on taking a hay ride in order to see the Christmas lights that were set up throughout the farm. Jameson and Stellan both fell asleep within minutes of pulling out of the driveway. They were exhausted from the swim and neither of them had a nap. I was thankful for a bit of peace and quiet. We got to the farm only to notice that traffic was backed up for miles. Amazing how many people were waiting to get in and see the lights. We scrapped the idea of a hayride and decided to drive in our vans and see the lights that way. The kids were still sleeping so I figured I should wake them up so they could enjoy the lights as well. I literally had to shake them, call their names, and poke them in order to wake them up. Thankfully the lights distracted them or else I know that they would have been miserable. Stellan opted to join me on my lap in the front in order to have a better view of the lights. It didn't last long, he wanted to sit with Jameson in the back seat. Neither of them liked it too much so I ended up having the two of them on my lap. I had made some chocolate chip cookies so we were able to enjoy them during the ride. I have to say, the lights were fantastic. At first it was just a bunch of advertisements and I was quite concerned. Once we got into the farm though the lights were much better. There were holidays characters as well as religious scenes. We drove through light tunnels and saw light covered trees. There was even the a display for the Twelve Days of Christmas: 12 drummers drumming, 11 lords a leaping, 10 ladies dancing, 9 pipers piping, 8 maids a milking, 7 swans a swimming, 6 geese a laying, 5 golden rings, 4 calling birds, 3 french hens, 2 turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree. Pretty impressive. We wanted to sing along but the boys didn't appreciate it. Maybe next year.
We got home and put the boys right to bed. What a great day! Long and exhausting but great fun. We love it here!

Snow

Jameson and I were sitting and talking on the couch (a rare quiet time while Stellan was sleeping). I asked him, "Who makes the snow?"
Without stopping to think he replied, "The snowman."
How cute is that?

Advent Calendar

I'm tired of explaining that Santa is NOT coming after lunch so I decided to make an advent calendar. Sure, I could have bought one but I decided to make one instead. I had some lovely watchmaker cases but have never used them so I decided to make the calendar using them. I stuck some magnets on the back and numbered stickers on the front. Then I filled them with M&M's. I put them on the fridge in the shape of a Christmas tree. How cute! I can't wait to see what the boys think when they see it in the morning. Granted, I was a few days late in making it so they get a lot of M&M's tomorrow. :)

James......

(This is retold as it was told to me by James when I came back from grocery shopping tonight.)

Apparently Jameson was being quite a stinker when James put him to bed. He was demanding different things to bring to bed with him. After several attempts to please him, James eventually told him enough was enough. This is what James heard coming from Jameson's room, "James, you're bad". How funny.

Train Spotting

I decided to take the boys to the train station to watch the trains. (Yeah, not everyone's idea of fun but they were in heaven!) Seeing as it was blustery and cold I told them that they would have to stay in the van to watch the trains. Stellan didn't mind, he was just thrilled to be going to the train station. Jameson, of course, complained. I told him that if he whined we would turn around and go home without seeing the trains. Shortly thereafter I heard him say, "Mommy. The police man will come up to us and tell us that we can't stay in the van. We'll have to get out to see the trains."
Where does he come up with these things?

As we were sitting there Stellan asked if Awison was coming on the train. Nope, she's still riding around enjoying the good life. :)

Christmas Program

I'm so excited, Jameson has a verse for the Christmas program at church. I have to admit, I'm a bit worried though. He knows the verse but I'm not sure if he'll actually say it in front of the church. I'm also a bit worried which version he'll actually say. Here are the three versions that were heard around the counter at lunch.
VERSION 1: THE REAL VERSE
I may be little, but I can say,
Thank you God, for Christmas day.

VERSION 2: HOW JAMESON SAYS IT
I be little, I can say,
Thank you God, for Christmas day.

(Very close, I'm happy. Actually, quite proud and beaming....)

VERSION 3: STELLAN CAME UP WITH THIS ONE
blah blah blah (can't really understand the first line)
Thank you God, for our Christmas tree


I will die if that is what comes out of Jameson's mouth the night of the program. I'll keep you updated.

(Go figure that Stellan would come up with that one. I'm in trouble with that little guy!)

Potty

I've learned my lesson. Jameson has a huge bladder and can hold it forever but he eventually reaches a point where he can't hold on much longer. I now carry a potty in the back of my van. Good thing because he reached that point on the way back from the airport. Thankfully I was able to pull over on a dead end street and he hopped into the back of the van where he sat on the potty and did his thing. I wonder if the people who live on the street minded that I dumped it on the grass? I figure it's no worse than a dog peeing on the grass.......

O Christmas Tree continued....

I now had to head back to Kmart to return the top portion of the tree. I found a closer, but still not all that close, store online. My mom offered to watch the boys so I could quickly go there and exchange it. Uh right, quickly. Maybe if the people who worked at Kmart had an ounce of common sense.
I brought the tree top to customer service. I explained to the girl what the issue was and she told me I could not return it, there was nothing they could do, they needed the whole tree. She explained that they needed the tree in order to send it back as damaged goods. OK, I get that, but why not just substitute the top and call it done? Nope, can't do that. Fine, I asked to speak to her manager. She got on the intercom and screamed, "Can Louella please come to the front?". It was deafening.
Louella came to the front and I explained the situation to her. Nope, not allowed. I asked for further clarification and she told me that each tree has a different UPC therefore the top of one tree can't just be taken out and replaced.
"So, you're telling me that if you have 15 trees that are identical, they all have different UPC numbers?"
"Yep, they're different by a number or two. You can check for yourself."
"I will."
"So, uh, which tree was it anyway?"
"The 6 and a half food, blue somethingorother Martha Stewart tree, Box # 66."
"Uh, just a minute."
She came back carrying the tree top and offered to do the exchange. I asked her to plug it in to make sure it worked (it did). I thanked her and went on my way; on my way to the Christmas tree aisle where I double checked the UPCs. Of course, as I expected, they were all the same. So, do they typically deal with dumb people who buy these lame excuses? Sheesh

I finished putting up and decorating the tree when the boys were sleeping. I realize that part of the tradition is having the whole family dress the tree but I figured it was best if I did it so they wouldn't get used to touching it. I have to say, it looks beautiful. I love it! When the boys came down from their naps Stellan said, "Oh, a Christmas tree!!". He was so excited, how cute. We didn't have much time to admire it since we had to take my mom to the airport. It was the first thing we did when we got home though. After dinner we went over to the tree and each of us put our letter (J, C, J, S) on the tree. The boys were thrilled. Stellan kept trying to touch the balls, this is going to be a long process teaching him not to touch it. Eventually I told them that everytime they touch it Santa will bring one less toy. Hey, whatever works. ;)

Garden State Discovery Museum

I looked in my trustworthy New Jersey book and picked a new place to visit, the Garden State Discovery Museum. It was voted one of the 20 best kids museums in the country. I thought it was worth a try. What an amazing place!!! The kids were in love with it.
It's not a huge place but there are a ton of things for the kids to do. Since it is geared toward kids they are allowed to touch everything. There was a makeshift news room where they could actually work the cameras and see themselves on camera. There was a rock climbing wall and a bubble area where the kids could have a bubble blown up around them. There were miniature sports areas, Jameson was in heaven. There were a few displays that had animals, mostly reptiles and other creepy things. Stellan loved the lizards. This place was ideal for kids of all ages, I was so impressed. Actually, I ended up buying a year pass. I now have access to 150 kids museums across the country. How cool. Next we're going to the Please Touch museum in Philly.
I am so excited that I now have places to go when the weather is dreary. What's really nice about this pass is that I'm allowed to bring 4 friends for free each time. Yippee!! I'll fill up the van and head down there, can't wait!

O Christmas Tree

James and I decided to get a Christmas tree this year. We felt the boys were old enough to understand that they can't climb it and throw all the ornaments off. My mom and I headed off with the boys to Target. I was greatly disappointed with their selection of trees. My mom suggested that we head to Kmart because they carry the Martha Stewart line. The problem was, I had absolutely no idea where there was a Kmart. I called James and he found one, telling me that it was just off Route 1. No problem, I was sure I could find it. We headed out that way and kept driving and driving. Uh right, no Kmart in sight. We ended up in a terrible part of Trenton. Similar to the areas of Detroit where you don't want to go, especially after dark. We locked our doors and mom called her friend back home in Yelm, trying to get specific directions. It took a while but we eventually found a Kmart. Thanks James, it was no where close to Route 1.
I found a tree I liked and then went about the task of picking out the decorations. What a big deal, so many choices. In order to keep the boys entertained I gave them each a train that made noises when you spun the wheels. It worked. They were so well behaved that I ended up buying them the trains. They played with them so much that the batteries wore out by the time we got home. Lovely.

Olivier came over for dinner and Pictionary. My mom had so much fun with him at Thanksgiving that she wanted him to come back while she was still here. She loves the fact that he picks on me as much as I pick on him. He's like a brother to me. For some strange reason the guys decided to do another round of guys vs gals. We kicked their butts, again. It was no fun though, they acted so defeated right from the beginning. Time for a new game.

It was too late to put up the tree, decided to do it the next day. I put up the bottom two sections of the tree and fluffed them up nicely. When we plugged in the top part of the tree we noticed that half of the lights didn't work. This was supposed to be the ever lit type. Man! Mom tried every single light bulb and even replaced the fuses. Still, nothing worked. What a pain!

New York

I decided that it would be ridiculous for my mom to come all this way and not head into New York City. We decided that the five us would go on Sunday and spend the day there. I was looking forward to it but was somewhat apprehensive, not knowing how the boys would do. We figured it would be best to go for the first time when my mom was with us, an extra set of hands would come in "handy". Saturday night James changed his mind and decided that he would stay home with the boys. As much as I wanted all of us to go together, this was really the best decision. It was a pretty cold day and the crowds were crazy.
We just made it to the train (literally, we ran up the stairs to the platform to catch it). We got off at Penn Station where we headed above ground. My mom was quite taken aback by the size of the city. We grabbed coffee and a quick bite to eat and then headed out on a mission to go shopping. We definitely accomplished our mission. We started at Macy's and worked our way all over the city. I could not even guess how many blocks we walked during the day. We retraced a lot of the steps that James and I took just a few weeks earlier. It's amazing how much the city can change in a short period of time, it was all decked out for the holidays this time. It was great.
We decided to head back to Princeton on the 6:10 train. We headed back toward Penn Station with plenty of time to spare. (We had to walk at least 25 blocks. Thought the exercise would be good, decided not to take the subway.) That was until we realized how much the crowds slowed us down. Once we hit Broadway we could barely move. We headed underground to the subway or else we would never make the train. The subway was empty where we went down, it was eerie. We made it through and found a police officer who told us which way to go. Once we got there we had to stop someone again and find out which train to get on. I don't think I'll ever get used to the subway system. We got off and then had to ask yet another person how to get to Penn Station. We had no time to waste. As we rushed down we found our gate and got on our train. Only 10 minutes early. Good thing we decided to get on the subway otherwise we would never have made it. I fell asleep shortly after we took off.
What a long day......but I got a cute pair of shoes. ;)

Black Friday

There was no way I was going to drag my butt out of bed to make it to the Black Friday sales. I could barely drag myself off the couch once I got out of bed. I was EXHAUSTED.
My mom and I decided to head into downtown Princeton to look around at the shops once the boys went down for a nap. We didn't see any killer deals but I still managed to find a cute pair of black boots with a wedge heel. The plan was for James to bring the boys downtown once they woke up from their naps. There was going to be a tree lighting so we thought it would be a lot of fun for the boys to see. James battled the crowds in the downtown and we met him outside the hotel where he handed over the boys and then he headed off to the parking garage. We fought our way toward the tree ceremony where we listened to the brass group and the local high school choir. It was a beautiful evening. The weather was quite cold but tolerable. We had to hold both of the boys but that meant that my back was killing me. James put Jameson on his shoulders and I held Stellan. They were absolutely mesmerized. Santa eventually made his appearance and flipped the switch. It was amazing. The huge tree has more lights than the tree in Rockefeller Center. The boys loved it. They are definitely in the mood for Christmas now.

Thanksgiving

It has been a while but I'm back. So, thanksgiving....what a day. We made a ton of food and had a ton of left-overs. We had a great time though so it was all worth it.
When everyone came they congregated in the kitchen. I was glad to see everyone but I just didn't want to see them in the kitchen. It's a bit stressful trying to prepare a meal while having the company watching you from the other side of the counter. Besides, there is so much room elsewhere in the house. I set up the appetizers and drinks in the living room and dining room hoping that people would congregate there. But no, they still gathered in the kitchen. It ended up that they barely ate the appetizers so we had a ton of them left over.
It was unique that we had so many countries represented, something I was very thankful for. I know that many of them weren't exactly used to the typical American thanksgiving fare so it was interesting to see their reactions. The best reaction would be when a couple of them, who were hanging around the kitchen, saw my mom take the stuffing out of the turkey. Imagine being new to a country and some of the culinary delights it has to offer when you see a woman pulling stuffing out of the turkey's butt. And then to think that you are expected to eat that. Quite hilarious in my opinion.
All of the food was quite delicious. I'm sure everyone had more than enough to eat and then some. We moved onto dessert. Two of James' co-workers brought desserts in addition to the 3 pumpkin pies that I made. In the end one slice of the ice cream cake, about 4 cupcakes and half of one pie was eaten. Yikes!! That is a heck of a lot of left overs.

Olivier and a couple from Paris (how cool!!) stayed to play Pictionary. He spread the word all night that it was a great game to play and I was the person to beat. When it was guys against girls we had a noticeable command of the board. Imeine was a terrific artist, as was my mom, and I'm a great guesser. We won! We decided to switch it up a bit and move into mixed partners. I paired up with Walid (Imeine's husband) who was quite set on winning. He was obvisouly less than impressed that the guys lost the first round. It was a tense game and quite competitive but, in the end, Walid and I were the champions!! :) Yes, that is me gloating.

It was a long day but we were very thankful for all of the blessings of the year as well as the new friends in our lives. We are so thankful that we have been given the opportunity to move to Princeton and we believe that our lives have been truly blessed.

Pumpkin Pie

Oops. I'm an idiot.
I decided to make three pumpkin pies since I already had some open pumpkin in the fridge. No problem, easy enough. I was using the recipe on the back of the can of pumpkin, easy and yummy. I realized I would have to add to the recipe since I had the extra pumpkin but I forgot that the recipe was written for two pies. That critical piece of information was rather necessary and the oversight meant that I tripled everything. Oops. That meant I prepared enough dry ingredients for 6 pies. Wow!!! Considering our guest list that would work out to half a pie per person. A bit excessive I would say. Thankfully I realized the error of my ways before mixing in the wet ingredients. I divided the dry ingredients in half and went on my way preparing just 3 pies. Sheesh. They sure smell yummy right now as they are baking though. :)

Preparations

I'm so excited, tomorrow is Thanksgiving. That means that I should be getting things ready rather that typing my blog but that's beside the point.

We're hoping to have 12 adults and 5 children here for dinner tomorrow night. That's a large gathering and there is going to be a heck of a lot of food. Thankfully my mom is coming into town tonight and she is going to help me with the food preparation. The other preparations have been in the works for a few weeks now. I made adorable place cards last night but they took forever to complete. Really cute though. I'm anxious to decorate for Christmas but I find it necessary to hold onto the fall decorations just a bit longer for Thanksgiving. I have conceded to listening to Christmas music though; love the Josh Groban Noel CD.

I'm really excited about the fact that we will have 6 different countries represented around our table tomorrow night. How cool is that? What a unique opportunity. The countries are: Canada (had to list it first since it's the best!!!), Netherlands, Norway, South Korea, France and the US. My mom is the US stand in although she is technically not American and refuses to become American. So, that means that we officially have 5 countries, the US technically not included, but we're all celebrating and American holiday. Go figure. :)

Costco

I love Costco. I know I'm not alone as was apparent when we went shopping there last week. The place was packed. The store opened at 11 am for the general public, business card holders at 10 (strange time, kind of late I think) and I walked in the doors at 11:01. The place was swarming with people.
First, let me preface this by saying that I had to drive half an hour to get there. Granted, I realize that there are many people (my parents included) that have to drive half an hour to get about anywhere. Having said that, I choose to live in the city in order to avoid the drive. Just so happens that the nearest Costco is half an hour away. Trusty mapquest gave me very good directions so we were well on our way.

I loaded the boys into the double ride shopping cart, I love it when stores have those. I had a few specific things that I needed to get but I thought I would look around to see what else looked good. There were lovely large pointsettias for a really good price so I decided to pick one up. It wasn't long before Stellan realized it was in the cart and decided to start pulling off the leaves. Lovely. I took it out and decided to wait until the end to pick it up before checking out.

Once in the food section there were plenty of tasty morsels to be tried. The kids loved the crackers but weren't too fond of the cheese spread on top. They both liked the roast beef but weren't fond of the empanadas; they were pretty spicy. They each licked the piece of parmigana cheese but quickly scowled and refused to eat it. Then it was time for the next course, dessert. They were passing out samples of rice pudding. I handed the sample to Jameson, he took a bite and the proudly exclaimed, "Mmm, mommy it's so creamy". I laughed so hard. What a kid!

I had my cart nice and full when I heard, "I need to pee". Darn it. We headed toward the bathroom and left our cart outside and headed toward the handicap stall since there is enough room for three. That also means there is enough room for Stellan to pull out the seat covers and shove them in the sanitary napkin disposal. Germs, yuck! Then Stellan grabbed onto the toilet seat to get a better look. Eww! Jameson did what he had to do then we all washed our hands. We got back into the cart and headed out to get the rest of the shopping finished, the kids were about at their limit.

I noticed that that Diego videos that I had picked up at Target the night before were $2 cheaper at Costco. They were supposed to be a surprise from Santa but even Santa is frugal. I picked them up but couldn't hide them from the kids. They each took a video and hung on for dear life. I hope it will be a case of out of sight out of mind. They will be confined to the closet for the next month hoping that the boys will forget about them. Considering Jameson's past displays of memory, it's doubtful. It might be difficult to preserve the identity of Santa before it really begins. Will have to come up with an alternative plan.

Jameson noticed the display train sets and wanted to play with each of them. Thankfully they were in plastic cases so there was no way they could play with them and it was obvious even to a 3 year old. But he's smart enough to know that mommy could easily buy it and bring it home for him to play with. Shoot. Oh well, ask Santa. He won't bring it but it is worth a try.

I found an employee and kindly asked him to bring one of the 6 foot long tables to the front for me. No problem. Well, not exactly. He brought it but then he didn't drop it off at my check out line. Once I got to the front (after a considerable length of time) I couldn't find where he put my table. We eventually found it but I felt badly for holding up the line. In the meantime the boys decided it would be fun to start strangling each other. How entertaining. I managed to get the poinsettia to the checkout but then the bagger lady put it in the cart without me noticing it. Yet it didn't escape Stellan's notice. A passerby pointed out the fact that my son was picking of the poinsettia leaves. "You know their poinsonous right?", she said in her accusatory voice. "Thanks lady, you want to watch them while I shop?" I said in my inner voice, wishing I had the nerve to say it out loud.

We got back to the van and loaded it up. I got the boys buckled in and then looked for my directions before heading home. Darn it, where did they go? I searched high and low but could not find those silly directions. I have to assume that they blew out in the gale force winds that were blowing, most likely from the North considering the bite that they carried. Now what? I had never been to Bridgewater, New Jersey before, how was I supposed to get home? I said a quick prayer and headed out on instinct. I'm glad to say I got home without a hitch. Not a single wrong turn. I'm impressed. :)

Once home I again vowed not to take the kids shopping again for a very long time. When will I ever learn?

Bed time

It's late, I typed a lot tonight. What a pain trying to catch up. Will try to keep up a bit better. Not so sure though since the holidays are here. So excited for Thanksgiving!!!!!

American Football

We had to do it, it's an American tradition. Through James' work we were able to get tickets to the Princeton vs Yale football game. Deloitte sponsored a tailgate party and then off to the game we headed. Once we sat down there was a guy asking us if the person a row in front of us and down a bit was Dean Cain. Uh, not sure but I'll definitely check that one out. Sure enough, it was Superman in the flesh. What a nice looking man!

The boys were quite mesmerized by the game and sat practically pefectly still for the first half. During the half time show they loved watching the two bands on the field. James stepped away and headed to the washroom. When he game back he was talking to none other than Dean Cain. I was so impressed!! James mentioned that he saw him on a recent episode of Smallville and asked if he was a Princeton alumnus. Sure enough, he is. At that point I asked James to ask him if we could get a picture with him. I told the boys it was Superman so they were definitley willing to get in the picture. Dean (first name basis, hehe) was kind enough to come up to us since we had the kids; he said he understood what it was like to have little ones. Olivier and Marije took a picture, of course I didn't have my camera. :(

That evening we headed back into Princeton to have some dinner. We joined Marije/Olivier and Jong/Harriett at Winberries for some dinner. A rude host said we couldn't join them since they had already eaten. Meanwhile, they only had appetizers and were planning on eating a full meal with us. I tried to explain this to the rude man but he just didn't get it. We ended up leaving and Marije didn't leave a tip, good girl!

We went to a Japanese restaurant down the street where we got to eat sushi for dinner! I'm glad we left the other place, I got to eat my favourite food!! It was delicious!!!!

Olivier and Marije came back to our house to play some games. Dutch Blitz and Pictionary, what a great way to spend a Saturday evening. Marije and I dominated the first game of Pictionary, winning by a landslide. We decided to switch things up a bit and I ended up partnering up with Olivier while James and Marije formed a team. I shamefully admit that Olivier and I lost. It was definitely a close and competitive game but the other team won. :( I blame Olivier. :) hehe

Auntie Awison

Not a day goes by that Stellan doesn't ask for Auntie Awison. I've tried telling him that she has gone home but he doesn't seem to grasp that. In fact, in his little mind I'm sure he thinks Allison is still on the train just riding around. He must think she lives the life of luxury. I half expect him to look for Allison to step off a train the next time we go to the station. Poor little guy. I know Allison's heart melted a bit more when I told her the story. :)

Time to go home... :(

It was the day Awison (that's how Stellan pronounces it) was scheduled to leave. She was good enough to take public transport back to the airport to save me the scary drive into New York. I thought we should do something nice in the morning before I had to take her to the train station. I had read about the Delaware Raritan canal and decided it would be a great idea to go for a hike. I headed out on Rte 27 hoping I'd find a way down to the path. I headed down Church St, an adorable little street just off Rte 27. Surprise, it didn't exactly take us to the walking path. Well, I turned down another street hoping to find the path. I lucked out, not only did I find the path, I also found Rockingham; the last residence of George Washington during the Revolutionary War. Pretty cool. We didn't go into the house but we did head down to the canal. So breathtakingly beautiful. The colours were spectacular and the weather was cool but beautiful. It was a bit of a trek downward and Jameson kept falling. What a trooper though, he just got up and kept bouncing down the path. I think he did manage to fall in some horse poop once though. Maybe he just stepped in it but he did have a bit of stench about him. Lovely.
We got down to the canal and the boys immediately started throwing acorns into the water. Amazing how much fun that is for them. We walked down the path along the water and then stopped to throw more things into the water. It was absolutely picturesque. There was no wind so he canal was smooth as glass with colourful leaves dotting the surface.
We headed back up in order to get Allison to the train station on time. The boys were so excited to see the trains. We walked Allison to the platform and waited for her train. At one point an express train came roaring through the station. OK, I'll admit, I was a bit startled. The boys, on the other hand, were thrilled. I don't even think they batted an eyelash. Go figure.
Jameson was given strict instructions to stay behind the yellow line. Sure enough, he tried to put just his toes over, all the while looking at me to see if I noticed. One warning that if he did it again that we would immediately head back to the car made him stop.
When the train came Allison hugged the boys good-bye (me too!) and away she went. The boys were so amazed with the train. we waited for one more train and then headed back to the car where I promised the boys we would wait for another train. Little did I know that it would take another 20 to 30 minutes for a train to arrive. In the meantime the boys started picking on each other. After a few warnings I followed through and left the station. Much crying and screaming followed but I'm hoping it was a lesson learned. I did promise that we would come back someday if they had good behaviour. I was quite disappointed to see the train in my rearview mirror as we pulled away. If only they had lasted a bit longer....maybe next time. I now have another way to spend some time on rainy days; sitting in the parking lot of the train station.

Cranbury

We headed out to Cranbury to visit the cute little Americana town. We drove through the town and decided to park and walk a bit. Out came the gigantic stroller; just can't risk having the kids running free, too dangerous. Well, it might have been a bit of a mistake. Cranbury is an old town with old buildings. Old buildings with no ramps and narrow passageways. We were quite the sight as we hauled the stupid stroller up the stairs and through the doors. We ended up leaving the stroller and having the kids walk through the used book store. What a store it was! Hundreds and hundreds of used books. When Jameson walked in he commented that it smelled like *&%%$#'s house (name hidden to protect those who are unaware of their musty smelling home). Quite funny. Allison was on the hunt for a specific book, I was on the hunt for a way to keep the kids out of trouble. We headed to the rather dinky kids section. Pathetic kids section actually, so tiny! Jameson needed to go pee. Lovely. We headed to the disgustingly dirty bathroom. I tried to turn a blind eye to the filth but it was difficult. I dreaded having to lift the seat, who knows what hides beneath....yuck! I tried to convince Jameson that he didn't need to lift the seat but old habits die hard. Holding back the gags, I encouraged him to finish quickly. Even the sink was dirty. Is their a point in washing hands in a dirty sink, does it do any good? We did it anyway, hoping for the best.
Allison found her book and away we went. She also bought the boys a book about a snow plow, reminiscent of her childhood. No wonder she's their favourite honorary auntie.
Since New Jersey is the unofficial diner capital of the States (I bet no one else knows that fact besides myself and the author of the book I read it in), we decided to head to the Americana Diner. What a huge place with yummy food. I have to admit that Bubi's still has a better Greek burger but this was still tasty.
Headed home for nap time. Gotta love nap time. :)

Adventure Aquarium

The plan was to go to Adventure Aquarium in Camden, about an hour south of us. It worked out quite well because it was cool and rainy. When I got up in the morning I had a nagging feeling that we were going to get lost on our way to the Aquarium. I had never been there but we did have very detailed mapquest directions. Still, that nagging feeling was telling me we were going to get lost. Well, maybe it was the voice of experience. Allison and I have quite a history when it comes to driving and getting lost. (Some people might remember these stories)Hmm...Mansfield and the Hemiter's; at least 6 visits to my sister's and 6 different ways of getting there, not on purpose; Niagara Falls; the list could go on and on.

We headed out on the long drive. No problems, Stellan fell asleep and we were finding our way just fine. Then it happened. We got lost. I can't exactly tell you what happened or how it happened but we did end up in Philadelphia. For those who are geographically challenged, that's in a totally different state!!!!! We left New Jersey and ended up in Pennsylvania. Now, it wasn't such a shock, the fact that we drove over the Ben Franklin bridge and saw a sign that welcomed us to Pennsylvania were definite clues that we weren't on the right path. But the problem was that we couldn't do a u-turn on the brdige, it was too late.

We got over the bridge and eventually found our way around Philly and back onto the bridge to head back to Camden. Sheesh. Thankfully Stellan slept through all of it. Once we were back in Camden the signs were quite clear directing us to the aquarium. We found parking and headed in. What a fantastic aquarium!! The kids absolutely loved it! We ended up staying for 4 hours! The shark tunnel was a big hit with Stellan and Jameson seemed to be particularly fond of the seal show. They loved the place so I ended up getting a season pass. What a great way to spend dreary winter days!

Princeton University

We decided to take advantage of the absolutely beautiful fall weather and do a tour of Princeton University. We walked around a bit before the tour began. We wanted to learn a bit about the history of the university and see some of the gorgeous campus. Uh, not so. Instead it was geared toward prospective students. I told the guide that it was a few years away but we thought we should check it out. Uh right, not going to happen. Tuition for one year of undergraduate study is approximately $46, 000. (gasp, cough, choke) I didn't pay that much for 4 years of undergraduate study. Heck, I didn't even pay that much with books included, plus school supplies, plus gas for my commute,..... you get the point. That's ridiculous!!
We left the tour after a while because it just wasn't what we had expected. We walked around a bit before heading home for lunch and nap time. We did stop at Witherspoon Bread Company for a tomato and fresh mozzarella sandwich, yummy!

Daylight Savings

We were a bit concerned with Daylight Savings time since Stellan had a bad habit of getting up at 5:30 on the old time. 4:30, dreadful! We put them to bed a bit later than normal hoping it would offset the clocks being turned back.
Well, we were pleasantly surprised, he slept in until 8:30!!! Wow! It was incredible. Jameson slept in relatively well too, what a blessing. :)
We spent the morning at church and then headed home after lunch. Allison and I wanted to spend some time in Princeton and this was our only chance to do it without the boys. The two of us headed into town and grabbed a quick coffee (Small World Coffee, yummy). We moved onto Palmer Square. Unfortunately we noticed that the stores closed at 5:00. Allison looked at her watch and realized it was already 4:30. Time to make the best of the time we had, we shopped and kept shopping. We shopped for quite some time actually. Allison made several purchases and I did a lot of looking. Stores seemed to be staying open long past when they should have closed; bonus! After our last store we headed to Teresa Cafe for dinner. Yummy meal! We got home and realized it was only 8 o'clock rather than 9 o'clock as we initially thought. Ooops, Allison forgot to turn back her watch. No wonder those stores were still open.

Looking back...Halloween

I was taking the boys to a Fall Festival to celebrate Halloween. Didn't really see the point in dressing them up and taking them to the neighbours that we don't know in order to get candy that I don't want them to eat.

I had planned on dressing Stellan up as a bumble bee, using Jameson's costume from last year. I knew that Jameson would be quite upset but hoped that his train conductor (or "dunductor" as he says it) outfit would appease him.

I told Jameson that it was Halloween at breakfast. He was so excited, he couldn't wait to see Halloween (OK, a bit of confusion but he knew what he meant). After nap it was finally time to get dressed. I decided not to bother with a possible costume meltdown so I dressed them both as train conductors. Did they ever look cute! They loved their outfits and happily went to the Fall Festival. They had a great time there and gathered a few candies and small toys, so much more practical!

New York

After a short night we got up early (thank you Stellan) and got ready to head out to New York City. We were rushing around quite a bit since we didn't have a chance to pack the night before (extra Pictionary game....). We wanted to catch the express train into Penn Station so we didn't have to stop a dozen times on the way there. We missed the 9:45 so we decided to catch any train that we could at that point. That was before the parking. We drove around looking for a parking space. What a joke! I asked one of the cabbies that was camped out at the station where we could find parking. He said that they fill up by 7:30. What?!?! There is a several year waiting list for the pass spots. That's insane!! He suggested going to the Chinese restaurant at the corner to see if they would rent us a spot for the day. We ended up finding a place where we paid double what we would have in the regular lot. Oh well, at least we got a spot.

By the time we parked, walked back to the station and bought our tickets we caught the 10:45 express. Not too bad.

Uneventful but relaxing train ride. Got into Penn Station about an hour later.

Followed James around because I had absolutely no idea what I was doing or where I was going. Hopped on the subway and headed toward Time Square.

Got off and headed back above ground. Oh my goodness. What a crazy city! It is unbelievable how big everything is in the city. You look up and all you see are buildings. Really tall buildings.

We walked toward the hotel which was only a few blocks away from Times Square. We had to haul our luggage through throngs of people but we managed just fine. We checked into our tiny hotel. Cute but tiny. After a quick freshening up we headed out for some exploring.

Our first stop was to get some street meat. So yummy. I had lamb on a pita and it was absolutely delicious!! Go figure, great food from a street vendor.

We took the subway to Battery Park in order to catch the ferry to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. The line to catch the ferry was an hour. It was at that point that we decided that we couldn't make our dinner reservations so we rescheduled them for after the Broadway show. The boat ride was a bit cool, OK, downright cold, but so beautiful. It was an absolutely clear day so we had a great view.

We saw the Statue of Liberty but decided not to get off so we could have more time at Ellis Island. She was gorgeous. Huge.

We got off the ferry at Ellis Island and headed inside. It was so amazing to read about all the history and the lives that were changed right in that same building. I don't have any family that came into Ellis Island but it was still touching.

We headed back to mainland where we took the subway to Ground Zero. There is a ton of construction in the area and we didn't have a lot of time but we were still able to see where the two towers once stood. How sad. :(

Back on the Subway and back to our hotel. We grabbed a quick snack and then got ready for our Broadway show. Thankfully we were only a few blocks away because my high heeled boots look good but are definitely not too comfortable.

"Legally Blonde" is definitey geared to the female crowd but there were still quite a few guys. Kudos to James for so willingly going with me. This was all based on a recommendation by a friend who knows Broadway and has even done some acting (off Broadway but still in NY). I have to say, it was hilarious!!! It takes a lot to get me to laugh out loud and this show definitely made me laugh many times. I really enjoyed it. During intermission James and I headed into the lobbby for a bottle of water. I think it is a secret ploy to make the air really dry so people get extremely thirsty. Then they charge you $4 for a bottle of water. No, that's not a typo. Crazy.

After the show, a great first experience, we headed to DB Bistro for dinner. A little surprising when you head out of the theatre, knowing it's about 10 o'clock, and yet it is still bright as day. Good 'ole Broadway. What a lovely waste of energy.

Thankfully the restaurant was only a few blocks from the theatre (good planning James!). What a great little French restaurant. I have to say it was one of the best meals I have ever eaten. I had bacon wrapped salmon served with figs, raspberry butter sauce and two veggies that I'm not exactly sure of their identities but they were still delicious. A small bite of dessert and a pricey bill (or check as they say in the US) later and we were on our way. Midnight, not too bad.

We headed back to the tiny room and got ready for bed. When I laid down on the bed I noticed that the head of the bed definitely slanted downward. I felt the blood rushing to my head and my sinuses getting congested. I was tempted to call front desk but it was already 12:30 and I was in my pj's. We took off the covers and moved to the other end of the bed. Oh well, it still worked. A bit irritating though.

The next morning when we checked out I asked to speak to a manager. I told him about our mattress situation the night before. He explained that I should have called front desk. I replied that it was late and I was already in my pj's. He apologized and then proceeded to check us out. I then asked, "How are you going to make this up to us?". He explained that he couldn't reduce our rate for the night but he did offer a free night's stay at another time. Not bad. :)

We headed out for a quick breakfast (yummy omelet) and then walked down 5th Ave. We did a lot of window shopping but not much buying. I wanted to go into Sax Fifth Avenue and have a look around. I wasn't expecting such a grandiose store. It was huge!! We looked around on many of the floors but didn't do any real splurges.

We also went into Tiffany's. We didn't go to all 6 floors but I did look around a bit. I have never seen so much sparkle in my life. Just for fun I picked out a ring that I wanted to try on. The salesman came over and I pointed out which one I was interested in. He explained that they have a store policy that prohibits them from showing anything over $500, 000 on the counter. If we were interested we would have to book a special viewing room. No problem, I understand. (He was very friendly, not at all condescending.) He looked at the tag for the particular ring that I was interested in. Since it was tagged at a million dollars (gasp) he couldn't bring it out but he did lift it up higher for us to get a better look. The other one that I found quite attractive was worth 2.5 million. (double gasp) I finally found one for only $350, 000 and was able to try it on. Beautiful but totally not worth it.

We also went to Rockerfeller Centre where we met some cranberry farmers who were there for an Oceanspray display. Quite interesting, especially after seeing the two guys on tv. Watched the skaters and saw where the tree will soon be errected.

Went to Central Park. So beautiful. Amazing how there is such a huge and beautiful park in the middle of the concrete jungle. We walked around for quite some time before heading back to the subway/train. It was quite a task to manoeuvre through the busy city streets while carrying our luggage. We got where we needed to be just fine and headed home. The train was packed, standing room only, but we managed to get seats. What a long and exhausting day. We made it back in time to see the kids, have them sing happy birthday, eat a cupcake (thanks Allison) and put the kids to bed.

What a terrific way to spend my 30th birthday. Time for a new decade....

Games

My dear Allison came to Princeton to stay with the boys so James and I could go to New York City for my 30th birthday. How wonderful is that!!!
I picked her up at the train station on Thursday morning. The boys were ecstatic!! Their favourite place in the world. Well, they didn't really know that because they had never been but I know it was their favourite place. We headed home for a quick bit and a much needed nap (for all of us).
We had James' co-workers over for another games night. The guys were quite excited to have a rematch. They thought for sure that they would be able to beat us. What were they thinking?!?! We played a Dutch card game first. Easy to play and quite fun. Marije won. That's one for the girls. I don't have to win, just have to have a fellow gal pal win. :) Then we pulled out the Pictionary game. It was a bit more fair now, 3 on 3. The girls won the first game, by quite a landslide. The guys faces were somewhat crestfallen but they were determined to try again. It was late but not too late to prevent them from presenting another challenge. We were totally up to it. Olivier was shooting daggers at me from across the table but I could handle it. We played another game of Pictionary and the girls swept the board again. That's yet again. I wonder if they will ever learn....we're tough to beat. If anyone is up for the challenge, let me know!!
We were in bed by 1:00. Not too bad. :)

I'm back.....

I'm back, just for a bit tonight.
It has been very busy around here so I haven't been able to keep up with my blog. My mother in law was here for a long weekend and then Allison was here for a week. Lots to do, lots of fun.

Hmmm...I guess I have a lot to catch up on.....where to begin?

Tired....

So not impressed....
My darling husband was snoring last night (refer to past post....guess where he'll be sleeping if that continues...). I was in such a wonderful sleep but was rudely disrupted by his noises. I was roused enough to hear him but didn't want to move and hit him; I was enjoying the half asleep sensation. Then I heard it, the beep. I knew instantly what it was, I just hoped that I was wrong. At that point I decided to give him a swift jab in the ribs, hoping to end the snorts on the other side of the bed. I also decided to break the news that we had a job to do. The smoke detector batteries were low and it decided to give us fair warning. The rude little contraption didn't care that it was 4:00 in the morning.
James was not impressed and blamed me for the whole thing. (Still not sure how it's my fault...) We went into the hallway where he literally ripped the smoke detector from the ceiling. (Thankfully in once piece, I'd hate to see our security deposit diminish due to a smoke detector.) We brought it back into our room only to be dismayed when we heard the beep again but it wasn't coming from the detector in our hands. Shoot.
We headed back down the hallway where we heard the irritating beep coming from Jameson's room. The stupid detector (truly, I realize it's not stupid and very life-saving, we're just not on the best of terms right now) was right above Jameson crib, right above his head. Oh man! James tried to get it while trying to remain quiet due to the fact that Jameson was sleeping in the crib. He couldn't quite reach it so we got the step stool from the washroom. He was then able to rip the thing off the ceiling but it was still connected with wires. Darn it! I'm used to the battery operated type. Now what?!?! The last thing we wanted was to wake Jameson up. I headed back to our bedroom. James came shortly thereafter and we decided just to leave it. He managed to pull out the battery but it still beeped. Oh great.
Our dear little trooper Jameson slept through the entire ordeal. I'm sure I was finally able to fall asleep again some time after 5. So lovely that the boys woke up at 6:30. :(
Thankfully my mother in law watched the boys in the morning so James and I could get a bit more sleep. Still tired...
Darn it, I forgot to get new batteries. I hope it doesn't beep tonight....
Need sleep.....
Goodnight.

Ooops

"Mommy, I need to pee."
OK, that means we have a little bit of time, he usually gives us a bit of notice.
"Mommy, I really need to pee."
"OK honey, we'll be home shortly."
"Mommmeeeee, I neeeeed to peeeeee."
"Hang on, we'll be right there."
"Mommy, I just peed."
Darn it.
"Honey, it's OK, it was just an accident. Can you please tell us a bit earlier next time?"
Oh man....

Train Ride

We wanted to do something special with the boys while my mother in law was in town so we decided to head out to Allaire State Park to see the historic trains. It was overcast and rainy but we decided to make the hour trip and see what there was to do. My mother in law realized she forgot to wear her running shoes, she was wearing her heels. Unfortunately she didn't realize this until we were already at the park. Uh oh.

When we got there it was barely sprinkling. We bought our tickets and waited for the 12 o'clock departure. We were the only people waiting. In fact, we were the only people on the train. A bit lonely but a great way to get a personalized train ride. Our tour guide was very friendly and extremely informative. He said that Thomas the Tank Engine was the best thing to ever happen to railroads to re-ignite the interest in young kids. The boys loved it. We were able to walk around 2 different train cars and even go into the caboose and engine. They were ecstatic. The tour guide even let Jameson switch the tracks. So thrilling.

It was definitely a trip well worth it. I'm sure it's a place we will be visiting again during our time here.

Sandbox Park

I took the kids to the sandbox park, even though it is quite barren these days (thanks to whoever threw out all the toys). I brought their own toys so they would have something to play with. As soon as we got to the park there was a kid who made a bee-line for our toys. I have no problem sharing our toys, it's just that the boys didn't even have a chance to warm up to the park before there was a kid who was already in their faces. The little boy took a car that Jameson was wanting to play with. Not a problem, it was a great learning opportunity. The only problem was that the boy snatched it from Jameson. His mother was sitting on the other side of the sand box telling her son to give the toy back. Uh yeah, a lot of help that does from way over there. Jameson let the boy have the toy which he promptly took with him back to the other side of the sandbox. Nice.
A short while later a nanny/au pair (I have no idea the difference between the two) came with a boy about Jameson's age. She let him play in the sand while she sat on the side and clipped her nails into the sand box. DISGUSTING!!! I couldn't believe my eyes. I wanted to puke! After she clipped her nails she proceeded to talk on her cell phone, endlessly. In the meantime the kid kept playing, pretty much unsupervised. What a great way to make a living?! You get to "watch" someone else's kids in a new country and you get paid to do it, all the while spending inordinate amounts of time on your cell phone. Nice.
The toy-snatching boy came back for more toys, this time yanking a toy out of Jameson's hand. Again, the mother tried to discipline from afar off but to no avail. Jameson reluctantly handed the toy over. So proud. :)
Jameson needed to pee but there was no washroom so we headed out onto the trail for him to pee. He looked for a hole in the tree but there was none so he became quite upset. I finally convinced him to pee by telling him to make the leaves at the bottom of the tree dance. Whatever works. :)
We went back to the sandbox, collected our toys from the various kids who borrowed them and then headed out. I much preferred the community toys; it definitely kept my van cleaner. :)

Family Supper

Sunday was the monthly family supper at church. This meant that we went home immediately after morning services and then came back for dinner and a special evening service. We spent the afternoon at Paul and Amy's house where the boys found a toy paradise. Lewis and Jake had a Thomas train set. Jameson and Stellan literally played for over an hour without any fights or problems. Ah, how lovely. When Stellan went to bed he insisted on taking Thomas to bed with him. Problem, there wasn't an actual Thomas train. I gave him James thinking he didn't actually know what he was talking about, he just wanted a train in general. Uh, sure. He wanted Thomas, no fooling him with silly old James. I thought I might be able to pull it off if I gave him a blue train instead. I came back with Gordon and that seemed to do the trick. Whew. Amy said we could use the train set while we lived here since her boys were no longer interested in it. Jameson and Stellan were ecstatic. They each brought a train into church with them and carried them around the entire time. So cute.
James was able to play his cello at church on Sunday evening. He played beautifully. Too bad the kids were too busy throwing beaded necklaces (Jameson) and running around with toys that they didn't actually get to see Daddy play. They did have special front row seats while James practiced on Saturday though. :)

Mattress Shopping.....again

It was time to buy a new mattress. James's mother was coming in for a visit and we had to get a mattress for her to sleep on. Since our last mattress buying expedition was one filled with much stress and crazy mattress-jumping kids, I decided to venture out on my own. It wasn't so important that we both tried it out since neither of us would be sleeping on it. (Although, if James starts snoring he'll get a good chance to try it out....) Since I had a bit of time I decided to do some shopping for myself as well. Ah, what a nice treat! It was so good to be able to go down the aisles without worrying about what might be pulled down off the shelves. It was such a treat that I decided to go down aisles that didn't even have anything of interest; just enjoyed the peace and quiet. After a few purchases I finally made it back to Sleepy's, the same store where we bought our mattress. The same guy, Rich, was there and he helped me out again. I told him of our mattress drama, he had a good laugh. Yeah, only because he didn't have to sleep on the sagging mattress. Anyway, I picked out a mattress that seemed to be quite suitable and then reminded him of his promise to give me a free Tempurpedic pillow since I gave him more business. In his typical salesman act, he pretended like I was robbing them since I was getting everything for such a good deal. Yeah, whatever, just give me the pillow. Well, I got it and can honestly say that I love it. Not sure if I would spend $125 on it but since it was free I can say it suits me just fine.

I got home and had to make 2 pumpkin pies; one for dinner at a friend's house and one for church the next day. I ended up slicing my middle finger on the cinnamon container. Seems strange but it happened. The kids loved the fact that mommy had to wear a band-aid and insisted on wearing them as well. I knew that the oven was not trustworthy so I had purchased an oven thermometer to see how much it was off. It was off a whopping 75 degrees!!! That's insane!!! No wonder I was left with charred muffins when I tried baking them a few weeks ago! I'm thinking this must be a fire hazard....

We went to Kim and George's where the boys have their friends Hanna (4) and Aida (1). They have a ton of fun playing together, especially with the train set. The three oldest kids were having a blast watching the train go down the hill. They laughed so loudly that it echoed throughout the entire house filled with vaulted ceilings. The volume of their laughter/screaming was quite entertaining in itself so they kept doing it. It was literally impossible to hear another person talking at the dinner table. Whatever, they were having fun.

I just remembered....

I just thought of something funny Jameson said a while back. We were discussing Stellan's sore penis and Jameson came up with some thoughtful insight.
"Mommy, does Stellan's penis hurt?"
"Yes sweetie."
"Are we going to get Stellan a new penis?"
WHAT?!?! How do I answer that?!?!
"Uh, no. We can't get Stellan a new penis. Can you take off your penis and switch it for a new one?"
"No."
"Stellan can't either. His medicine will make him feel better."
"OK. Can I have some medicine too?"
"Does your penis hurt?"
"Uh, yeah. Yeah, my penis hurts mommy."
Strange kid. :)

I'm back...

After a very frustrating time when an entire post, quite a lengthy post at that, had been deleted, I decided to get back on the blogging bandwagon and try again. I'll break them up into one day at a time (even though it is from last week) so there will be several new posts at once. That way if anything is deleted I'll only lose one day as opposed to a full week.

FRIDAY:
We decided to have our first house guests over for dinner. We had James' co-workers and their families for an evening of food, drink and games. We had a great time. There was a ton of food and there were tons of drinks so we enjoyed ourselves for many hours. In fact, James and I didn't get to bed until 3 am. I have not been up that late in ages. Unfortunately the kids were in bed on time so that means that they got up at the regular time of 6:30. Sheesh. I realize a day will come when I won't be able to get them out of bed but you think they could make it until the 7 o'clock hour at least. :(
James and I love playing games so we decided to pull out one of the old favourites. Since his co-workers come from such diverse backgrounds and countries, we figured it would be best to play Pictionary; afterall, pictures are universal.
We split up, guys against girls. Us ladies had a bit of a handicap since we were one person short but we definitely made the best of the situation. Actually, we kicked their butts! :) :) I do pride myself in being quite a Pictionary whiz afterall. :) Truth be told, we kicked their butts twice. :) They were two of the best games I have played in quite some time. The guys offered some fierce competition but we were still able to beat them. There were a few cases where our team mates did not understand the word (language barrier) so a quick redraw solved the problem. Overall they did wonderfully considering English is their second language.
We definitely hope to get together again to play some more games, eat some more food and drink some more drinks.

Catch Up again

I'm about to scream! I just typed for an hour and a half and I lost it all.

I'll be back soon when I work up the nerve to do it again. I'm so angry!!

Catch Up

OK, so I realize it has been a while since I last wrote.... Here's the rundown.

Monday
Stellan had a strange swelling in his "nether regions". I was quite worried, freaked out actually. He didn't seem bothered. Bathed him and put on a new diaper. Prayed everything was going to be OK. Didn't want any life long issues; of course I was thinking the worst.

Tuesday
Stellan was better in the morning. Swelling was gone done, now it was only reddish purple. Said he had a bit of pain, not complaining though. His mood was not altered but I was still a bit worried.
Went pumpkin picking. So much fun!! The boys loved the animals and were thrilled with the tractor/hay ride. Jameson was so excited to be there that he didn't want to go to the bathroom. He ended up peeing his pants right outside the porta john. Go figure. Then he insisted on me carrying him to the car (lovely pee residue) to change is clothes. Thankfully I actually, for some strange reason, brought extra clothes. The boys each picked a pumpkin (not physically picked, just picked up a pumpkin that had been placed around a mowed down corn field. Maybe they thought no one would notice?!) and brought it back to the tractor. Jameson must have thought it resembled a basketball because he kept throwing it. Sheesh.
Came home and put the kids to bed and made a call to the local pediatrician's office. I explained the situation to the nurse and she said I could come in at 5. What a novelty, same day visits! I am so impressed!!! I am totally willing to pay the $20 copay for service like that.
James came home to watch Jameson and I took Stellan to see the pediatrician. Stellan was so cute in the waiting room. He brought along his beloved monkey (named "Monkey", what else?) and started giving him a ride in the dump truck. Then he took him to the fish tank and introduced him to the fish. How precious! It was especially cute since he was standing there with his crocs on the wrong feet. What a cute picture.
We got in to see the doctor where I briefly explained the situation. The doctor seemed like such a nice guy and had a great sense of humour. I took of Stellan's diaper and the doctor was relieved that it was the better of two possibilities. The worse case scenario could have resulted in a circumcision. Ouch! He prescribed some oral antibiotics and said he should be better in 48 hours. No known reason why this happened, just did. Poor baby. Glad he didn't seem uncomfortable though. :(
We started him on his antibiotics that night. He loved the medicine. Jameson kept begging to have medicine. So strange!

Wednesday
Stellan was doing much better.
We headed out to Mercer County Park to visit with Trina and Jeremy. The boys love the park, especially the lake where they see Canada Geese and get to throw rocks into the water. The played on the swings for a bit and then decided it was time to throw rocks. Forget the playground equipment; maybe next time I'll just bring them to a nearby pond or something. Anyway, we headed down to the waterfront and realized it was very muddy. Stellan didn't care and just kept mucking his way toward the water. I realized it was just too slippery in that area so we decided to head back up and find a different location. Stellan slipped in the mud on the way up. He thought it was quite funny but didn't like the fact that his hands got dirty. We walked toward the wooded area when Stellan spotted the mother lode, a mud puddle. He looked up at my with his impish grin and said, "Mama, I jump in puddle?". Well, that's exactly what he did. And kept doing. And convinced his brother to do. They were so unbelieveably muddy! Not exactly what I pictured our day turning out like but they were having a ton of fun. Jameson had to pee and I told him he could pee on a tree rather than go in the porta john. He thought this was a great idea. He pulled down his pants and then started looking for a hole in the tree. How priceless. We didn't find one so I told him to aim at the leaf. This was great fun but it took a bit of practice. He was quite pleased with the result.
After a bit more puddle time I took the boys back to the van where I stripped them down to their underwear/diapers. What a mess! I figure it was worth it though because they had a blast! I headed out and drove around trying to find a new way home. Have no idea where I was but I got home!
Jameson and Stellan went to Skipper Club tonight. Jameson always repeats the mantra, "Mommy always comes back". If he says this to himself he has no problem leaving me and going to his group. But then he asked, "Why do you always come back?"
"Because I love you."
"Why do you love me so much mommy?"
Sheesh, why does he need to be so philosophical? Cute though. ;)
Stellan put on quite a show for me. When I dropped him off at his room he started screaming. I know this is all for my sake because I know he loves it and stops as soon as I leave. I put him down and he stomped his feet and screamed, "NO!!". So funny to see. So dramatic. I have no idea where he gets that from. ;)

Thursday
I double booked our day so we had a play date at 10 and a lunch date at 1. No problem. We had a great play date, the two boys are roughly the same ages as Jameson and Stellan. It was so obvious when they had enough, no one wanted to share and the 30 trains that were available to play with just weren't enough. That was our signal to head out.
I headed to the lunch date. I knew where we were going but it was quite difficult to find their apartment. Stellan fell asleep in the van so I put him down when we got inside. He slept the entire time. Ended up peeing through his diaper and literally soaking his pants. Crazy full diaper! Jameson didn't want to eat so he ended up playing the whole time. He was very well behaved so I didn't complain. I enjoyed the Koren food that James' co-workers wife made. So delicious! I had a nice time getting to know the ladies a bit better. So interesting to learn about the different cultures.
Stellan woke up and we headed home where I fed them lunch (at 4:00).

The boys and I have had a great week together and I'm so thankful for their much improved behaviour. I hope this is a trend that continues.

Fall Outing

Well we decided to head to Syracuse for their annual Fall Outing. We were looking forward to the weekend but we definitely were not looking forward to the drive. Our boys have never been good travellers so we figured it would be torture to travel. Oh well, we knew the end result would be worth it.
The boys were as expected, pretty crazy. If they weren't arguing over who got which blanket, they were arguing about which book to read or which stuffed animal to hold. They did have a lot of fun together but it meant that the noise level was at a maximum in the van. They really needed to sleep but had a difficult time winding down. They eventually gave in and James and I had a much needed break in the craziness. Actually, I think I napped too so James had a very quite ride. :)
We got to our hostess' house and got ready for dinner at church. We got there and had a very nice dinner where we were able to see many people that we hadn't seen in years. The boys were quite charming and had a great time playing with their little friends. Jameson found someone new to hang on to and idolize for the weekend. He tends to do that, he picks a boy, usually someone a few years older than himself, and then he follows him around everywhere. Quite cute to watch but probably pretty annoying if you're that little boy.
We went inside for the evening service but didn't get to hear much seeing as the boys still haven't learned how to sit quiet. They will one day....I hope.
We headed back to our hostess' house for the evening. The boys went to bed quite easily and slept through the night, what a relief. They did get up early but what else is new?
We went to Pratts Falls for the Sunday church service. What a beautiful setting! Fall is my favourite season and this proved why. I took Jameson to Sunday School but he was disappointed that he didn't get to play with playdough immediately, he actually had to listen to a lesson. Much crying and protest followed but I eventually convinced him to stay and colour. Once he was comfortable he looked at me and said, "Mommy, leave now". How cute. :)
Jameson followed his new found friend during lunch, insisting on sitting next to him to eat. Eventually we all ate and his friend was able to slip away. We headed outside where Jameson decided he could immitate his new friend and climb the rock wall too. Minor heart attack. He made it safely to the top and, thankfully, there was someone at the top to help him over. We weren't able to make it to the main attraction, the falls, but the kids didn't mind as soon as we put on the video
We headed home with relatively low expectations for the kids behaviour. We were so thankful when they both fell asleep within the first 10 minutes. I tried to sleep too but no luck. :(
The boys were actually quite well behaved for the majority of the trip. We were stuck in traffic for quite some time which ended up testing their limits. Near the end of the trip Stellan was singing "Down by the Station" while Jameson was singing "Baa Baa Black Sheep". Funny but deafening. I caught some of it on video, priceless. It's next to impossible to understand what Stellan was singing but I hear it enough that I can easily interpret it.
We got home and put the kids to be immediately. James and I were able to sit and relax for a bit and then headed to bed. Despite the less than ideal travel companions, we really enjoyed the weekend and were so thankful to enjoy God's beautiful creation.

Poop Patrol

Here's a new one....
Jameson came upstairs and was in the bathroom for quite sometime. Considering he was in there not long before that I figured it was time to check up on him. Needless to say I was quite shocked to find Jameson naked and standing in front of the sink washing his hands. I looked closely at his hands and saw poop. That's right, poop. I FREAKED!! I looked around in a panic and saw that there was no poop in the bathroom. I asked Jameson where the poop was and he very calmly explained it was in the basement. There was a sly smirk on his face when he made this shocking announcement. I asked him why he went in the basement rather than in the toilet and he said, "Because I wanted to".
"But honey, you always use the toilet."
"I didn't want to use the toilet."
Grrrrr
I wiped his bum and rushed to the basement. I found smudges of poop in different areas all over the basement. Angry, understatement. Upset, understatement. Annoyed, understatement. I went upstairs and grabbed a bucket of water and two rags. I turned the tv on for Stellan to watch Go Diego Go. Jameson also wanted to sit and watch but I instructed him that he would be coming downstairs to help me clean the poop. He actually thought this was a good idea and gladly joined me. We each grabbed a rag and went to work. Granted, he was just doing some light rubbing on the carpet but I thought it served as a good lesson. He grew impatient quite quickly and wanted to join his brother on the sofa. Uh, not so fast. He was quite upset when I told him he would be staying with me until everything was cleaned up. Besides, he was also pointing out the different spots where there was poop. Found some on the chair, some more on the train track, and yet more on the train. He then gladly pointed out that there was some poop on the big bouncy ball. Yep, that must have been the main source. By the looks of it, my best guess is that the poop somehow ended up on the ball and then the poop covered ball was bounced all over the basement. Oh my creative darlings.
By the time we finished cleaning up the poop Go Diego Go was all finished. I'm hoping that served a good lesson. We'll have to wait and see whether or not this happens again.
Anyone looking for a three year old houseguest? He's somewhat toilet trained and quite entertaining. Just let me know. He'll definitely keep you on your toes.

Buying a Van

So we did it, we bought a minivan. We've been searching the net and we've also been in contact with a dealer in nearby Langhorne PA. James finally found one located in Old Bridge NJ (no, we'd never heard of it either). We packed up the kids and headed out there. After an interesting drive out there through many different backroads, we ended up at the dealership. We headed inside and talked to David. He took us to the lot and showed us the van. The kids thought it was a playground. They loved crawling all over the van turning the lights on and off. We installed the car seats and headed out for a test drive. The kids thought it was great. They said how much they loved their new van. (A bit presumptuous.) We both really liked the van and decided to take the plunge.
We headed back to the dealership where James started the process of filling out the paperwork to buy the car. It was my job to keep the kids entertained. Thankfully there was an area with a tv and some toys, ancient dirty toys but toys nonetheless. The kids gladly played for a while but were obviously anxious to leave. At one point Jameson was lying on the floor looking under the toy box. He stood up and exclaimed that he was now chewing gum. YUCK! GROSS! I ran over and told him to spit it out. He was a bit surprised but spit out the half chewed stick into my hand. I truly wanted to puke! I threw it in the garbage and wiped my hands on an empty paper bag. Jameson still didn't see what the problem was and was now upset that he didn't get to chew a piece of gum. Didn't see the big deal?!?! Who knows how old it was? Who knows who dropped it on the floor and how long it was on the floor? Sick!!!
The boys were quickly losing it so I took them into the car to listen to CDs. Thankfully James was done the long process shortly thereafter and we were able to head home. We tried to follow the directions home but made several wrong turns before finally finding our way. Even though I keep getting lost, I still believe I have a good sense of direction. :)
We pick up our new-to-us Honda Odyssey tomorrow morning and have the DVD player installed tomorrow afternoon. Gotta keep the kids entertained on our trip to Syracuse this weekend.

Sweetest Thing

How cute!?
Jameson and I were having a conversation today that went as follows:
Mommy: "That's because Daddy is a good man."
Jameson: "No he's not."
Mommy: "Why not?"
Jameson: "Daddy's a great daddy."

So simple and clear to him.

Dinner

When we got home from church James got a phone call from his co-worker Jong asking if we'd like to join the gang in Palmer Square in downtown Princeton. Sounded like a better alternative to scrounging around in the fridge for whatever I could dig up. There would be one couple from Amsterdam, a guy from Germany and a couple from Korea with their 18 month son. I was quite excited for this adventure, relishing the fact that we actually got to go out and get to know James' co-workers a bit better. A promising sign, Jameson didn't even complain about the clothes I wanted him to wear. :)

We were fortunate enough to find an ideal parking spot on the street, less than a block from the determined meeting place. We hauled the behemoth stroller out of the trunk and strapped the kids in. A rather large tantrum followed when Jameson realized that Stellan got a steering wheel but he didn't. (Who designs a stroller like that anyway? Obviously they've never heard of sibling rivalry.) Ignoring the glares of everyone around us, we tried to calm him down while heading to the restaurant. We were pleased to see the group at a table on the patio. What a quaint setting. We steered the monstrosity of a stroller (is it obvious that I'm not a fan of the double stroller?!?!) onto the patio, unloaded the kids and parked the now folded up stroller in a corner. We were a bit tight but it would do. We promptly ordered the kids apple juice and then helped ourselves to the bread.

The kids noticed the large fountain at the entrance of the restaurant and wanted to see it. (Well, Stellan calls it a mountain but it's close enough, we know what he means.) We took our turns entertaining the kids and even managed to keep them dry.

Our pokey waiter, who was very nice despite the fact that he was so slow, took our order for the boys and brought it back relatively quickly. (Afterall, how difficult is it to make pasta with marinara sauce?) But then it took him FOREVER to take our orders. The boys finished their meal before we even placed our orders. Lovely. What to do now? Well, back to the fountain we went. A woman came up with her two boys and we started chatting. Now I have another person to call for playdates! I'm so glad I meet such nice people. Looking forward to getting together with her soon.

I headed back to the table to place our order while James played with the kids. James came back long enough to tell the waiter what he wanted and then headed back to the fountain. We both ordered salads, we really weren't that hungry.
Unfortunately for James he wasn't able to spend much time actually sitting and talking. Fortunately for me, I have a wonderful husband who let me sit and talk to his co-workers. (A bit ironic, I get it.) I really liked everyone and had a great time learning more about them and their countries. (Did you know that they never take "doggie bags" home in Europe? A new experience for them and one that they don't expect to adopt while living here.)
Our meals came and I choked when I saw James'. He had the smallest salad I thought it was an appetizer. No wonder he's so skinny! A short while later James came over and said that he needed to change Stellan's diaper, he pooped. I asked if it could wait long enough for us to eat our salads (afterall, two bites and he'd be done).
"Uh, no honey, it's pretty bad."
"It can't wait 5 minutes?"
"I think it's a blow out."
"Oh."
James took him to the car while I persuaded/bribed Jameson to sit long enough for me to eat my salad (large enough for a meal and very delicious!!). James was gone for quite some time, I was a bit concerned. He came back carrying Stellan who was now clad only in a t-shirt, a diaper, socks and shoes. How embarrassing!! (For me, not for him. He couldn't care less!) Apparently it was a blow out indeed. The shirt should have come off too but I'm sure there was a sign somewhere that said "No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service". At least we had those covered! Unfortunately, due to the soiled shirt, there was now a noticeable smell that followed Stellan. Needless to say, this was the end of our evening. James quickly finished his two bite salad, paid the bill and away we went.
We promised to get together with his co-workers again once we find a reliable babysitter.