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Mother’s Day by Sam

Janie — Sun, 13 May 2012 19:05:56 +0000

My Mommy by Sam

That’s better

Janie — Sat, 12 May 2012 20:52:29 +0000

I got to plant a little bit today. That looks much better.

Special Breakfast

Janie — Wed, 09 May 2012 12:04:03 +0000

For Samantha’s 4th birthday, she got a subscription to Highlights High Five magazine. She loves it. Not only does she read it from cover to cover constantly, there are also games, crafts, and recipes that she wants to try. Every. Month.

This month’s recipe was Breakfast in a Glass, so we tried it out yesterday. She liked it.

Yogurt (in place of cottage cheese), peaches, bananas, granola, and blueberries

Happy Birthday Ellie!

Janie — Wed, 02 May 2012 19:10:03 +0000

How time flies!
I took Ellie to the doctor today for a check up, and she’s doing great! She still has a slight murmur, from the ASD. We go back to the cardiologist in December for a check up. (We last went when she was 6 months old.) Otherwise, she’s a regular long, tall Sally in her stats.
We took her to the mall for lunch and to Build-a-Bear afterwards. She was so happy looking and picking out animals. (And I think her favorite color might be purple from all the purple things she picked out.) We were going to go all out and stuff an animal, but decided to get a smaller one that was already stuffed. It’s a purple giraffe. Neato.

Playground

Janie — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 20:45:08 +0000

Well, once again, I am woefully behind on pictures and updates to the blog.

At the end of March, we decided to make use of the slide that Santa brought to us. It had been on the back porch since Christmas morning, and it was getting plenty of use there. However, the slide was propped up on the arms of a rocking chair, so it wasn’t very stable. The girls loved bouncing and going down it every sort of way possible. But, we have a great place for a playground and I wanted to give the girls more reasons to go outside and enjoy the outdoors. The prep work was not without some drama, but we did the majority of it during one weekend, with a little bit before and after. I’m very happy with the end result, and I think the girls are too.

Bringing home the posts:

Posts in the ground:

Some singing helpers:

Working on the roof:

Finished:

Easter 2012

Janie — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 01:15:44 +0000

We had a great Easter this year! We stayed at home and did Easter crafts on Good Friday (both girls were out of school). We dyed eggs, made Easter Egg Hunt cookies and decorated a tree on Holy Saturday. The Easter Bunny hid baskets this year, so after some early morning hunting (for Sam at least), the girls dug through their baskets then we skirted off to church. We had to take the obligatory family picture (which I think had some tears) then we hunted for Easter Eggs all day. And I mean all. day. It was relaxing and fun to spend the day outside playing.

Ugh

Janie — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 14:58:17 +0000

Still not finished. I blame the mortgage company of our previous house that has since gone out of business. It has nothing to do with our procrastination.

Taste the Rainbow

Janie — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 20:42:55 +0000

It’s nearing the end of Lent, and I’m running low on no meat ideas for Friday dinners. I’m fine eating a bowl of cereal (yum!) but I don’t think my meat-eating family would like that every week.

In an effort to jazz up the lunch box when Samantha started taking her lunch to school last fall, I started reading a few lunch box blogs. It takes only a little more effort to make lunch special, which then means, it will get eaten. I have to admit, these days, Brian usually makes her lunch. However, Samantha has always been pretty good about eating vegetables and fruits of all kinds. (Her favorite vegetables are peas and beans. My least favorite!) The common theme in getting kids to eat healthier is fun. We had some discussions about superpowers. For example, carrots make you have super sight. I make Ants on a Log and arrange food playfully on the plate.

So, last week I decided that a hot meal was out since it was so hot outside. Samantha loves rainbows, and I’m trying to instill that we need to eat food of all colors, so I had the idea to make a rainbow dinner. Nothing fancy. It received great reviews though. It even inspired Sam to eat her squash, which is her absolute least favorite veggie (and one of my favorites!).

Ellie on the other hand is trickier. Her diet consists of dairy, fruit and crackers. That’s about all she’ll eat. I’ll keep working on her.

strawberries, sweet potatoes, yellow squash, asparagus, blueberries and purple grapes

Look What Sam Found

Brian — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 15:37:21 +0000

I’m no snake expert, but I think this is a Black Rat Snake. It’s shiny black with a white belly. Janie: ”It’s got a big ole hole in the mouth.”

Absent

Janie — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 20:52:59 +0000

I’ve realized that I’m using twitter (@janiemauter) to update the world on my life instead of this here blog. Apologies. I’m trying to update, so some posts are back-dated. If you’re reading from the web, go back a page or two to make sure you get them all. If you get to the Guatemala post, that’s far enough.

Copy Cat

Janie — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 20:32:49 +0000

Ellie is a such a sponge. I can hardly believe she’ll be 2 soon!

UA Gymnastics

Janie — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 21:53:14 +0000

Samantha and I went to a gymnastics meet back in early February. She has loved her gymnastics class so much (really, just the trampoline) (despite having a new teacher every few weeks) that I thought she’d enjoy the meet. She did. She learned a couple of cheers like “Go Go Go Alabama” and “B-A-M-A Roll Tide Roll.”

About a month later, we went again as a family (and the Grissoms were supposed to go with us, but their attempt was foiled yet again by sickness). Sam was an old pro this time. She asked for popcorn until I conceded. I got the family tub, and discovered that Ellie can put us all under the table with her popcorn eating. (That blur down there is one reason I didn’t get to watch much of the second meet…)

Sam + Brick Wall = Doctor

Janie — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 22:16:58 +0000

After 4.5 years, we had our first real encounter with a trauma accident. (I’d say that’s not too bad!) Sam was at school playing on the playground with bubbles when she tripped and fell into a brick wall. She put a pretty good hole into her forehead. Obviously, head wounds bleed a lot (Alex, maybe you should stop reading here) and she was rushed to the office. They cleaned her up as much as possible, gave her a popsicle and called me. They told me that she’d probably need stitches. So, off I go to pick her up.

(This happened on a Thursday. I had a stomach bug on Tuesday, therefore wasn’t at work. Ellie had an ear infection on Wednesday and needed a trip to the doctor’s office, therefore wasn’t at work. I finally go back to work on Thursday and was called back for Sam. Needless to say, not much got done at work that week.)

She was pretty shaken up, especially since we would have to go to the doctor. Sam is pretty terrified of the doctor. She made me promise to tell the doctor that she didn’t need any shots. I promised.

The nurse had to numb the area. It was a goo that took 20-30 min to work. That was pretty traumatic. Then the doctor had to wash out the wound. That was even more traumatic. Then the doctor glued the skin back together. Oh, the horror.

When it was all over with, she’ll tell you how she got a popsicle, a sucker, some reese’s cups, and some nail polish out of the deal. Maybe being hurt isn’t such a bad thing?

At the doctor’s waiting room:

Getting numbed:

At home afterwards:

Spring

Janie — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 17:32:23 +0000

The one and only blooming azalea at our house is trying to bloom again. It tried earlier, but was foiled by the cold snap.

Catechism Quiz

Brian — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 14:48:53 +0000

You are a 95% traditional Catholic!

Congratulations! You are more knowlegeable than most modern theologians! You have achieved mastery over the most important doctrines of the Catholic Faith! You should share your incredible understanding with others!

Do You Know Your Baltimore Catechism?