The things we do for kids

So just the other day I asked Kaija what she wanted from Santa. (she's seen him twice now, so I'm afraid the 'list' keeps changing). As a side note, it's a good thing she's not old enough to piece things together because she calls the Santa at the mall, the 'one that's a little scary with darker hair' and the one at our church Christmas party is the 'nice Santa'. Her list started out as barbie stuff and a crocodile. (She has this toy crocodile that's kind of squishy feeling and she wanted another one from Santa). So I was a little unprepared when she told me she asked Santa for a Princess crocodile with a green crown (yes, it's still her favorite color) and a skirt. Luckily, I had nothing better to do last night since Teem was out of town, so I quickly worked on this little project that had presented itself. I guess we sometimes go to extreme measures so that our kids will believe in Santa. I actually was quite impressed with my creativity (since I am seriously lacking in that department). I'd start selling them on ebay, but I have an inkling that these 'crocodile princesses' are not in high demand...maybe next year :)

Clark Griswald at the Pink House

FYI: Clark Griswald is Chevy Chase on Christmas Vacation. So if any of you know Teem, you know that when he does something out of his own desire, it is done with 110% effort. This year's Christmas lights have been no exception. He has spent the last two saturdays perfecting his work and adding to it. What made me laugh (not to his face, of course, but in my head) was when he said, "well, I need to go back a get a couple more boxes of lights". This was after he had already gone through at least 20 boxes. And those 'couple of' boxes turned out to be about 8. Now, it may not look as impressive as it sounds, but I do not exaggerate the # of lights. And there are probably about 8 extension cords strewn throughout our yard so that the circuit doesn't trip (or whatever it's called). Give me a break, I'm not an electrician.
A couple weekends ago we did end up going to the 'north pole' to see santa. It turns out it's a boat ride to the north pole and that's it. You don't even get out, but santa is sitting in his little house on the shore and reads off all the kids names. Kaija loved that part. It was an experience we may never have again (for better or worse). I'd post pictures of that, but they didn't turn out so well due to the darkness and movement of the boat.

GOOD MORNING COEUR D'ALENE

This morning Coeur d'Alene was spotlighted on Good Morning America, and I didn't even know it until 4 am this morning, when our house was shaking from the fireworks downtown, since we are not very far from the main street. Other than the terror (thinking we were under attack, or worse...that our kids would wake up :), I thought it was pretty cool to have our town on national TV. Who would've thought?! Here are a few reasons why they picked CDA:

• Home to the world's largest holiday tree at 161 feet, which is more than twice the size of the tree in New York City's Rockefeller Center

• Over 30,000 lights trim the tree

• 1.5 million lights transformed the tiny town into a winter wonderland tour

• A special North Pole village has been set up by the resort that can only be reached by crossing the lake

Viva Las Vegas

Last weekend, Teem and I got to go to Vegas with his office staff and their spouses. Technically, it was for a dental conference, but we also had some good times together. We did a lot of walking (thank goodness, because we also did a lot of eating)...there seems to be a theme to my vacations: Food. I'm just training for Thanksgiving. :) We also did the dinner show at Excalibur and got to see a cirque du soleil show (la reve...AMAZING!) I definitely had Kaija and Luukkas withdrawls, especially since I was gone two weekends in a row, and I don't miss the smoke and the nastiness that can be found there, but is was definitely worth the time with Teem. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

New York Trip

Last weekend, I was able to leave my kids with my mom (thanks Mimi) and spend a few days with three great friends from Michigan (Jana, Lisa and Debbie and a little time with Emily D.) in NY shopping, eating, and all the other NY stuff...did I mention eating. I swear I gained 10 pounds, but most of it was worth it. I haven't been able to upload my pictures, so go to Lisa's blog for pics and more details. Thanks for the memories, girls. I'm off to Vegas with Teem and his office staff for an extended weekend.

Happy Halloween!

This year it seems as though we've had a week long halloween celebration. It started with our church halloween party...as you can see, my date was a 70's rock star (or something like that). We then carved pumpkins on Sunday. Then on Tuesday was Kaija's preschool halloween party. Wednesday we went to our library storytime and they got to do a halloween parade for the staff and recite a pumpkin poem that they learned. That afternoon we went downtown Coeur d'Alene for the trick-or-treating at the shops. Kaija and Luukas had it made...I pushed them around in the stroller and they sat there and looked cute and held their buckets. We went to the mall (they do trick-or-treating and games and such) then got a few housed of the traditional trick-or-treating in our neighborhood. Kaija kept saying, "one more house, okay?" She was totally into it. She also politely corrected anyone who said, "what a cute dinosaur" or "what a cute crocodile." She said, "I'm a green dragon." It was her choice actually, since her favorite color is GREEN these days, she didn't care much what the costume was except the color. I hope you all had a wonderful halloween.

My big bum and refried beans

Actually, the two are unrelated but I have two short funny stories to share and I didn't want to do two separate posts. Plus, I thought it might be an attention grabber. :) So as mentioned in previous posts, Kaija has a cheerleader-type personality ... cheering on Luukas, the bath water, and now me. She was my audience a couple days ago when I was using the toilet and she started by saying, "you can do it mommy, I'm so proud of you." I was touched that she cared :) until she added, "don't worry mommy, you won't fall in. You have a big bum, you'll be okay." If she wasn't so dang cute about how she said it, I might be offended. We've had a lot of talks about how she won't fall in the potty because her bum is big enough to keep her up, so I'm guessing she made a similar conclusion about my bum.
The second story is just a brief example of Luukas' temper and how he manages (or mismanages) it. We went to the store Saturday night to pick out some pumpkins for our Sunday activity and we made the mistake of letting the kids roam free (actually, we had no choice because Teem's huge pumpkin took up most the room). So I made a second mistake of letting Kaija and Luukas pick out a couple apples and carry their own bags around. We were in the canned food isle and Luukas wanted to put some beans in his bag with the apples. Well, needless to say he wasn't too thrilled when I took it out of the bag and told him, "No". So after screaming for a few seconds, he chose to release his anger on the innocent cans of beans on the shelf in front of him (seriously out of control...like when you see an adult do it in the movies). I had to call Teem over to help me. Luckily, no one was injured :) and I don't even think we dented a can. The good part about this temper of his is that he lets it all out and then he's fine. I'm sure there will be more temper tales to come, so stay tuned.

Field trips

Over the last three weeks, Kaija has had two great field trips with her preschool. The first was Walter's farm where the kids got to play in a pea pit, go on a wagon ride, pick their own apple AND pumpkins as well as sample the apple cider...yummmy! The second was called Carver's farm. The activities included a corn maze, a wagon ride and popcorn picking. They got to take home a couple ears of Indian corn which makes for good popcorn in a few weeks (or so they said). Kaija's favorite part was selecting a gourd from the gourd patch (??) because it is green - her favorite color these days. Speaking of green, stay tuned for Kaija's costume in a couple weeks. I let her pick it out herself. I can only say that she surprised me with her choice, but she wants to wear it everyday.

The Compromise

I know I've added a lot of posts in a short time, but kids are so funny, I had to share. Luukas has recently become quite fond of Kaija's princess chair. So when we watch movies, he'll often sit in it unless it is already occupied. A couple nights ago, Luukas was sitting in it and the next thing I knew, Kaija was getting in it and Luukas was winding up to strike his sister (he is no long a pushover, but simply a pusher). I tried to work out a compromise, so the picture explains it best. They actually sat like that for 5 or 10 minutes.

Pet Bass

Saturday during naps, Teem went fishing in Lake Coeur d'Alene and had some luck. He caught two pretty good-size bass. Well, I was gone later that day and Teem didn't want to gut and clean the fish with the kids around, so he just filled the bath tub with cold water (luckily the downstairs one that nobody uses) and decided to put the fish in there until he had time to clean them. Well, the kids, according to Teem, loved playing with the fish like they were their pets. (I'm cringing thinking about it...yuck), but they had a good time. Kaija was a little confused when she woke up and her new 'pets' were gone, but she didn't seem to mind eating them at dinner time. I'm pretty sure she didn't make the connection that the fish swimming in our bathtub were the same fish she was eating the next night. I also spent Saturday night scouring the tub. EEEWWW! I'm still not sure how I feel about it all, but I can't complain because I had away time that afternoon.

Funny Kaija

I just have to share this, because it made me laugh. So after Kaija and Luukas took their bath the other day Kaija was leaning over the tub saying something, so I got close enough to hear her. Evidently, she was comforting the bath water as it was going down the drain, "go down there, yep, that's it. It's not scary. There you go. It's quiet, not loud. See you next time." She is still getting over the whole loud toilet thing, so maybe she was empathizing with the water. Who knows.

Golf Lessons

For my birthday (back in May), Teem gave me a gift certificate for private golf lessons. I just barely started last week, but it looks promising. It was a little embarrassing the first time because I had ordered women's clubs from Costco and it turns out they were a little bit purple. I have since exchanged them for some men's clubs (since I found out my fingers are apparently man length). The instructor didn't say much the first time except, "well, you don't have any problems with strength and aggression." I took it as a compliment. :) I think this golf thing might not be so bad after all.

First Day of Preschool

What an eventful month for Kaija...turning 3, going potty, and now her first day of preschool. She was so excited, I had a hard time convincing her to take off her backpack to get in the car seat. I dropped her off and didn't even get so much as a good-bye or anything. She just ran in and started to play with the other kids. I feel like she's growing up too fast.

Labor day weekend at Loon Lake

Last weekend for Labor Day, most of Teem's family came up to visit and we stayed up at Loon Lake at Teem's office manager's house, while they were out of town. We went tubing and boating and played in the sand. It was a great time except early Friday morning when Kaija threw up for a few hours. She literally slept the entire day on Saturday, but at least it was a great location and she had some good views while she rested. Luckily nobody else got sick and she was back to herself the next day. We think it was a little lake water that she drank on Friday or something else she ate. Anyway, that didn't ruin the good times we had.

A trip to the dentist

So yesterday I had an appointment with my dentist, who happens to be my husband. I'm still not sure that is a healthy relationship for husband and wife (Dentist/patient). In the past, I have been labeled as Teem's worst patient (by Teem). I think it's only because I hate getting shots and I'll tell him every time he's making me uncomfortable. But, I am happy to say that yesterday I had the most pleasant experience ever. I had two crowns done (one replacement and one to cover a cracked tooth) as well as two fillings (it's been a while since I've had a check-up). Anyway, thanks to some nitrous oxide, I had a wonderful time. I think I laughed out loud a couple times, but at least I knew the dentist pretty well, so it wasn't embarrassing. I think that Dr. Scarborough did a fantastic job, so thanks. He loves what he does and it shows and I am so grateful that he enjoys his work. That's it for now.

Last weekend

We went to the North Idaho Fair on Saturday and the kids had a great time. Of course they had rides and all that good stuff. Kaija and Luukas really liked seeing the animals. There was also a kids play area where they rode bikes through a maze and made necklaces.
Teem also decided to wash the car and of course the kids had to help. Luukas really got into it and was being quite meticulous about his work. :) They both ended up totally soaked, but that's all part of the fun. Sunday we went to a friends house and Kaija got a second birthday cake and loved the attention AGAIN. Kaija hasn't had a single wet accident since she first used the potty last week, but I had her first #2 accident while we were at McDonald's. I took the kids there since it was her actual birthday and Teem was out of town. She hadn't pooped for about 4 days, so I figured I would need to give her a suppository eventually, but I saw her holding her bum while she was in the playplace and I knew we were too late. So I won't go into any gross details, but you can imagine the clean-up. To make things worse, I sat her on the potty to make sure she was done and it was one of those automatic flushers and she was so terrified she was shaking when it flushed randomly. (I don't think she will ever go potty again at "Old McDonald's" as she calls it, for the rest of her life) But, tonight she successfully went #2 at home, so I'm feeling accomplished as a mother today. That was our weekend in short.

Digital Scrapbooking

So I am kind of into digital scrapbooking. I used to enjoy regular scrapbooking until I realized I couldn't possibly keep up with my kids scrapbooks if I wanted to do them. I just finished Kaija's 3rd year scrapbook and here's a link to it if anyone is interested. I'm a rookie and will probably never be really creative like the ones you see on websites and in magazines, but for me it works great and I don't spend tons of time one them. I'll be adding more links to my blog of the websites I like.
Kaija's scrapbook link
Hawaii Scrapbook

Potty training success

I just thought I'd share some good news...Kaija used the potty!!! I decided to try again (I think this was round 3). The first two times were awful experiences where Kaija would hold her pee for the ENTIRE day and just wouldn't go. So two days ago, I paused the movie we were watching and said, "As soon as your go on the potty, I'll start the movie again." I know it might sound mean, but I have tried EVERYTHING, so I was desperate. She is starting preschool in a week, so the pressure was on. Although I was going to just cheat the system, since she was pretty good at holding it all day I figured she could hold it for 3 hours in the morning. :) But now I might not have to cheat. She's definitely not totally trained, but any progress is good for me.

Weekend in Vancouver and Portland

We spent the weekend with Teem's family and celebrated Kaija's 3rd birthday a little early. She got a couple dresses from her grandparents, so she was in heaven. We had so much fun seeing family and Kaija especially enjoyed playing with her cousin Riley. At Grandma and Grandpa Scarborough's house, we picked a bunch of blackberries. Yummmy! Luukas got really good at finding and picking the ripe ones all by himself. Kaija went with Mummi (Teem's mom) and Teem to pick some blueberries, although I think more ended up in her mouth than in the bucket. Oh well. They also got to play with the kids at the day care at Mummi's house, so there was plenty of entertainment. We even drove both ways without turning on the dvd player once and the kids were perfectly happy. (Kaija won't sleep if there is a movie on). That's a first for us.