painted skies

For the past couple of weeks when it hasn't been raining......which it mostly has, we have had beautiful sunny days that end with beautiful painted skies. Such a lovely sight......now if only it were warm enough to sit outside and enjoy the view.......alas, 39 degrees is not lounging outside weather! lol These photos have not been edited at all!!

Merry Christmas again

Tomorrow is the big day!! We have been waiting as patiently as possible for our new TV stand to arrive and tomorrow between 2-6 it is going to be delivered. Now that doesn't seem like a big deal I know, but there is more to this story! We were very blessed to get a surprise gift from my grandmother for Christmas and with it we were able to pay off a good chunk of our car, but we also decided that since it was a gift we would get ourselves a few nice things that we would never have bought with our normal budget. So we replaced our TV in the den with an LCD and also got a big plasma to go in our living room. We've had both TVs since right before Christmas, but we needed a new TV stand for the big one so we haven't even taken it out of the box because we haven't had any place to put it. This HUGE box has been in our bedroom right next to Dan's side of the bed (which he runs into every morning) and I am so excited to get it out of our room. So.....we have the stand being delivered tomorrow which means that Dan will set the TV up too which means we actually get to watch our new TV. We also got a Blue Ray player which we have been using already, but not on the big TV, so that should be fun......Dan has been saving his Dark Knight Blue Ray for when we get everything set up, and he's been foaming at the mouth since Christmas to watch it!!! lol We have a sleeper sofa coming too, but it was special order so we won't get that until sometime in February.....Christmas is just gonna keep on coming.

So, since we are getting the new set up, we gave our old TV to Dan's brother and he came this past weekend and got it. We also got rid of our old entertainment center.....Dan had me try and sell it on Craigslist, and seriously, NO ONE even emailed me. No one wanted to buy it! lol It was a little out dated. We ended up listing it as free and someone came the same day and took it away. We got it for free so it wasn't like we had a big investment in it or anything! Anyway.....Maddie has been VERY sad that her TV is gone. She keeps walking over to where the entertainment center used to be and puts her arms out and says "Oh no my TB, what pappened." and then she looks in the den where our new TV is and says "come with me, nother TB." She also went into our room looking for the TV. I told her we were getting a new TV, and even showed her the huge box, but she doesn't seem to care. She just feels sad that her old TV is gone. lol I'm sure she will get over it, but it will be an adjustment having the TV up high where she can't touch it, or pour her milk on it.....which she used to do. My kid is the best! lol

The end of second hand?

I know numerous people who make baby/children's items by hand and sell them. I have bought numerous things that have been hand made for my children. Maybe you have too?? I would say that 97% of the clothes and toys that we buy for the girls are second hand and who knows how old. If it is in good condition and clean I have no problem buying it. One of my most favorite things to buy used is children's books because there are great deals to be found!! For those who only like to buy brand new, nothing will change in 2009, but for those like me who enjoy supporting small businesses who hand make toys and clothes and buy things used, life is about to get shaken up!! A bill has been passed and effective February 10, 2009 all children's products have to be tested for lead and must come with a certificate indicating as much. If something was manuactured before this date say, a copy of Green Eggs and Ham then it must get tested before it can be sold which will cost thousands of dollars, or it can not be sold and effectively will be destroyed.....libraries and second hand store will not be allowed to accept them even as donations!! This new bill is going to affect everyone who has children. It will affect books, clothing, stuffed animals, wooden furniture, any kind of fabric, hair brushes etc. Anything you can imagine that relates to children 12 years and younger. Second had stores and consignment shops will go out of business, small business owners who make burp cloths or winter hats will have to stop operation and you and I will have no choice but to buy toys and clothes from major manufacturers in places like China who will be the only ones who can afford to test their items. And costs for all children's items are going to go up because manufacturers are going to pass their testing costs onto the consumers!!

I'm all for taking measures to protect our children, but large toy manufacturers in China were the ones making items with lead and causing problems, not the stay at home Mama's who make doll clothes and sell them on ETSY. Below are some links that explain everything a lot better than I can. If you have kiddos and buy used or hand made childrens items please take the time to read these. We need to work together to make amendments to this bill!!

And just to give you an idea of how this could affect our life, here is a short list of items that we have that are used:

Maddie's bunk beds
Charlotte's crib and dresser
exersaucer
walker
bouncer
papasan chair
tricycle
4 strollers
3 car seats
baby swing
bumbo chair
countless toys
countless books

So Long Natural Children's Products?

My longest blog ever

The Smart Mama

Handmade Toy Alliance

CPSIA Central

the view

This may seem like a really weird picture, but I took it because I still can't get over the pony tail. My child who was basically bald until she was a year old, and since then has had the slowest growing hair ever......has a pony tail. I have become accustomed to seeing her hair down and usually all over the place, the pony tail is very foreign to me. She looks a LOT older with her hair all done. Sigh. My baby is growing up!

6 random facts

There was recently a tag put out by my friend Becky. I have time to do it today, so here goes.

6 random facts about yours truly.......

1. I HATE hair. Its okay while its attached to my head, but once it leaves my follicle I think it is the grossest thing in the world. I've gotten a lot better with this over the years, especially with the worlds most shedding dog, but it still makes me gag a little when I have to deal with hair. I'm sure it will get even easier as I deal with little girls and doing hair.

2. I adore Beyonce. I know it's weird because I'm not even into R&B music, but I think her songs are catchy.....I end up singing them all the time, and I think she is a fantastic dancer. I wish I had even 5% of her skills. I can not dance. Beyonce can DANCE!!


3. I like most veggies......I love eggplant, broccoli, mushrooms, cauliflower.....but I DESPISE peas!! I won't eat them, I won't cook with them. I think they are horrible little veggies. I do however like sugar snap peas, and I like split pea soup. Weird? Yeah.

4. I read my own blogs. When I'm bored I'll go through my old blogs and read them all. Not really sure if anyone else reads them, but I am my own fan. I'm lame! lol

5. I could easily live in my pajamas. I would have no problem giving up all other clothes besides pajamas. And I've always been this way.....it's not just a post babies thing. I love jammies. I would wear them in public if I had less pride.

6. I never learned how to type correctly. I guess I am what you would call a hunt and pecker, but I have the keyboard memorized. I don't keep my fingers on the correct "home" keys and I split my time 50-50 between looking at the screen and looking at my fingers typing. Despite all this, I am quite a fast little typer.....and I am generally pretty accurate in my spelling. I guess I have adapted.

Here's a bonus random fact just because I care!!

7. I really dislike handling and preparing raw meat. Beef is the easiest for me. Chicken is the worst. It's so slimy and jiggly and I just really don't like having to touch it. If Dan is home I can usually get him to handle the raw chicken for me, but on work nights I am on my own. Turkey cutlets are the second worst.....slimy as well!

Anyone who feels like it can assume they have been tagged and write your own 6 random facts. I'd love to hear them!!

Gratuitous Maddie

Her favorite phrase right now is "my turn to try." She has started saying "no" a lot lately, but it's always appropriate.......do you want to go outside? "no." Do you want to take a bath? "no." Can I have a hug and a kiss? "no." She also says yes a lot, but the answering with a "no," is new. She has been mothering recently which she never used to be into. She carries her animals around the house and tucks them into bed and piles them in baskets. She has two dolls that she is starting to warm up to, but mostly she mothers animals.....it might have something to do with the live baby in her house.....not big on the babies lol!! She has a really good memory. On Christmas eve I told her that Daddy was going to take her to get a Mickey Mouse Christmas movie. Dan told me that he couldn't find the movie in the store so he told Maddie to go find Mickey Mouse. She goes around the corner and comes back with the exact movie Dan was looking for. Her favorite outside activity as of late is racing. She lines herself up, says "on your mark, get set, GO," and then runs down the street. She has been the winner every time!!! She is such a fantastically adorable little girl!! I'm lucky!

2 girls, 7 months, same dress

This one is mostly for my mother. Here is Maddie when she was 7 months.....we were in California for Easter and my mom bought the cousins matching outfits and my brother did a little photo shoot with them. And here is Charlotte at 7 months in the same dress. Since it's winter and far too cold for her to wear this dress anywhere I did a photo shoot on my bed, in our heated house!! I think they look nothing alike at 7 months. I'm glad I have all of Maddie's (and now Charlotte's too) first year documented and organized by week so that I can look back and do accurate comparisons. It's fun to watch them grow and see how they are changing!!