Chuck E. Cheese...Worst Pizza in the World.

Jimmy is 3 years old. He's a boy. He pees and poops in his pants.

We're happy with our little family, but life would be so great if he'd just get with the program and start using the potty. He essentially got "kicked out" of his little pre-school session for the 2nd half of the year since he wasn't potty trained enough to go to school in underwear. Actually, he didn't get kicked out, I just didn't re-enroll him. The thought of sending him 2 days a week to school in underwear, was just like asking for them to call me while I was in the middle of shopping at Meijer. Plus, he wasn't even near ready when I had to make that decision in November. I knew he'd eventually use the potty. I knew that we'd get there and that by Summer, I'd have a somewhat potty trained child. I trusted that this would happen.

Yesterday, Jimmy went an entire day dry AND pooped on the potty. OMG! It was such a great day. Now, I'm not going to lie. I had to tell him to use the potty. Although, he told me that he wanted to poop on the potty. And go he did. He was so proud of himself. We kept telling him if he pooped on the potty, that we'd go to Chuck E. Cheese. Well, go we did.

Jimmy had never been there, but he has seen the appropriately placed commercials on PBS. Julia went once when she was 18 months old. You can tell that we love to take out kids there, since they are now 3 and 5. I'd rather go to McDonald's and let the kids play in the play area there and not wash their hands before they ate, than go to Chuck E Cheese. I think I hate other people's hyped up kids. I think I hate paying $25 for a meal that quite honestly is the most disgusting pizza ever. How can Little Ceasar's (which up until yesterday I would have told you was sub-par) make a $5 pizza that is edible, but Chuck E. Cheese can triple their price and get away with passing what was served in that pan off as pizza? Ugh, but I digress...it's not the pizza we're paying for...it's the experience.

Well, let me tell you about our experience. We arrive at 5:45 to a jam packed parking lot. WTH? It's a Wednesday night. I figured there would be a few families looking for something to do with the kiddos after work. Maybe a random mid-week birthday party. Ugh, not so much. Once inside, I see tons of kids. Running around like they are sucking sugar through straws. They are running into people. They are crazed. I see zombie like parents standing in a long line waiting to order pizza and other delectable treats. Our kids are just taking it all in. Heads going back and forth, jaws to the floor....thinking...."This place is awesome!" I am thinking about how I can see if the kids just want to go to McDonald's. No way. Kurt & Mom look for a table. There are no available tables. They finally find one that looks somewhat deserted. Kurt gets some tokens and he and the kids are off. Mom sits down dazed. When I asked her to come with us, she choke-laughed, but she came along anyway. While standing in line, I find out that it is a fundraiser for a local elementary school, which accounts for about 90% of the patrons. The pizza is served. It is as gross as I remember. I don't even know where to start. At least they have good Coke. The kids eat their pizza and I can tell that they are getting tired. But they know they have more tokens...so they go play some more games. Kurt is great at places like this. He sticks with the kids. He doesn't get irritated. Me...not so much. I hate crowds of people and I really don't like bands of youths hyped up on sugar. We use up the remaining tokens and turn in our tickets. The kids can select some random garbage that I can throw out later. The kids are so overwhelmed in general, they can't even really pick a prize. We pick for them, 2 plastic spoons. Which on a normal day would seem like a great idea. The kids fight over these other 2 plastic spoons we have at home, so it would make sense to get 2 more, right? Ugh WRONG. Instantly, Julia is crying. No, Hysterical. Jimmy starts crying, because Julia is crying. Both of them are rubbing germs that the purell didn't kill into their eyes. We're trying to get their coats on, trying to get out the door. If we didn't have the matching numbers stamped on our hands, one would think we truly were stealing some kids. Fortunately, the boy stops crying, because he's not really crying about anything and sees this as an opportunity to look like an angel for once. Screaming girl ensues in the car...all the way home...up the stairs and in the bath. Why all the rage? She wanted a toothpick style sword instead of a spoon. Really? She was tired, but still.

After both kids were finally in bed, I patted myself on the back...able to look back on the experience and say to myself..."He'll have to be going on the potty exclusively for the next 2 years before I step foot in that place again."

Aye Poppi!

My mom's husband Earle was given a great gift this week. He finally got a kidney. It's been a long road and several failed attempts, but Sunday night they got the call that there was one available and that he was #1 on the list. They got the go ahead on Monday and he had a new kidney by the night's end.

The kidney is working great and if it weren't for a few unrelated complications, I think he'd start to feel better. He has developed a touch of pneumonia and it is that much harder to fight off infection when you are taking such high dosages of anti-rejection drugs. To make matters even worse, there was a point where the doctors thought that he'd had a minor heart attack, but apparently he was just experiencing a little distress. At any rate, he's sedated and on a vent (which they hope to wean him off today) and the prognosis looks good. He's been sick and on dialysis for so long, that it will be a welcome change to see him looking better and not so tired.

All of this "good" news does not come without some sadness. I think of the family that made such a selfless choice in their time of sorrow by donating their loved one's organs. Do they know how much of an impact they have made in our family? Do they realize what a gift they have given us? Do they know we pray for their family's recovery as much as we do for Earle's? It is such a priceless gift.

Julia & Jimmy don't know the extent of what has transpired over the past few days. Julia knew that Poppi needed to have a surgery so he didn't have to use his "machine" at night. They don't know the details that go into him getting a kidney. In all honesty, they have focused on the fact that when Poppi got his surgery, that we'd get to have Charlie (their dog). Which is really all I want them to think about now. They are lucky to have 2 Grandpas - Papa (my dad) and a Poppi that will be around for a lot longer.

Monster Jam!

Jimmy is wild about cars & trucks. He loves going to the library and checking out the non-fiction section where all the books and videos are about various methods of transportation. One of his favorite movies to get (on VHS...thankfully we still have a working VCR) is There Goes a Monster Truck. So Kurt thought that it would be fun to take him to Monster Jam when it came to town. I think Fun was an understatement.

A week before, we watched a little bit of one on TV. Not knowing the lingo, the various truck names - I think it was helpful...apparently the phrase FULL THROTTLE covers plenty of situations. Kurt & Jimmy didn't want to look like novices.

Kurt got tickets with some friends from work and their kids, but it ended up that some people from his old department had the company suite, so they ended up going up there. A few weekends before we had dinner with a couple and their kids and they were up there. I am sure that Jimmy was happy to see those boys again.

When they first got to Ford Field, Jimmy could hear the trucks moving around. He panicked and told Kurt...They're starting Dad! Let's Go! He was so worried that he'd miss the show. Fortunately, it was a late night affair and I don't think he was going to miss a thing.

Here are a few pics that Kurt took from the night. Jimmy is wearing his hat in most of these pictures, because it was the only way to keep the ear plugs in his ears.

Jimmy was so fired up when he got home at 10:45PM. He was running around the house screaming, telling me about the trucks and which ones he saw. I thought that he'd never go to sleep. Fortunately, the minute he hit the sack and was still for a few minutes, he crashed. What fun he had! I know that we'll have to go again next year. Perhaps Julia and I will go too, just to see what the fuss was about.

What We're Into These Days

As many of you know, I am an avid scrapbooker. One of the main purposes for blogging was so I wouldn't forget all the details when it came time to scrapbook. One of the things I have been trying to do lately is think of "out of the box pages." Things that when I look back in 20 years I will say "Wow, I totally forgot about that!" I am sure that I will remember all the birthday, Christmas, typical events that get scrapbooked, but it's the things that are part of our day to day lives that I am sure that I will forget. So from time to time, I am going to make it a point to blog about stuff that we're into...just so I don't forget.

I don't blog about Kurt that often. He's not really into others knowing what he's up to. But he does exist and he does participate in our family beyond paying the bills. Kurt has really been into running and working out this past year. I am actually really proud of him and his dedication. While the efforts of his working out are evident in his physical appearance (he's a hottie), I know that it does wonders for his emotional well being. He has always been the more health conscious of the two of us, but his lifestyle has rubbed off on me and I am working out more too. The fact that we are both thinner and in better shape than the day we got married is quite an accomplishment. Plus, hopefully we'll live a little longer and enjoy our fabulous life...together.

It's hard to say exactly what I am into these days (more like what I am NOT into)...there is what I'd like to be into more and what I am into. I have been really motivated lately to clean the house and rid it of excess. It's been something that I have been working on since the fall. My house is CLEAN, but you know when you come across a candle holder that you've had for 15 years and you keep moving to the back of the cabinet and you never really liked it anyway. Sorry...it's time to go. And that's the stuff that I've been doing. Kurt has a panic attack whenever he thinks about how much stuff we have stashed everywhere. Some of it can't be helped, but some of it can. Just watch an episode of Hoarders and you will be ready to purge. I am giddy with excitement that the Mom2Mom Sale is coming up in April. I can't wait to unload all of this baby stuff and kids clothes I have.

I am into Facebook. It's a love hate relationship. I spend way too much time on it, catching up with old friends or just chatting with Lib and a few other friends that I talk to on a regular basis anyway. I play a game called Bejeweled Blitz when I have time, competing with my friends trying to beat their scores. I love reading what people are up to (it's the voyeur in me), but don't have the time to talk to in real life. I usually go on it when we are watching TV or a game that doesn't require my full attention. But I hate how when I look at the clock, I realize I have wasted an entire night (again) doing absolutely nothing. Ugh. In 2010, I am making a concerted effort to not spend as much time on it...but we all know that it will suck me in.

Another thing that I wish I had more time for is my crafting. I have made a huge effort this year to not volunteer too much and not be part of so many groups, so I can have more time for me. I love making cards and updating our scrapbooks. I love pouring over books and magazines about scrapbooking. I joined a scrapbooking league with a girlfriend that meets a few times a month. I make it a point to get together with my high school and college friends often to scrap. I need a creative outlet to be sane. Probably some of that comes from not having a job, but sitting down for an hour and making something gives me a sense of accomplishment and purpose. Not that SAHM isn't full of purpose, but potty training a 3 year old is like talking to a drunk or someone that doesn't speak your language. So an hour of creativity calms the 14 hours of chaos I experienced before.

Kurt and I are pretty big TV & movie watchers. We have become addicted to our DVR and the ease of watching what we want when we want. Our local library has pretty much any TV show that is available on DVD, as well any movie that is on DVD. We've become quite savvy with requesting what we want and just waiting for it to come in. We may have to wait a while for stuff sometimes, but it eventually comes in and we feel like we got our moneys worth out of our township taxes. Some of our favorite shows this past year have been: Mad Men, Entourage, Weeds, The Office, Gary Unmarried, Modern Family, SNL, Diners, Drive Ins and Dives, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Big Love, Lost, and we are STILL watching Seinfeld re-runs when they are on...laughing at our favorite lines...which we know by heart. I DVR lots of other things that Kurt won't watch (nor would I expect him to). Some of my favorites have been: Nip Tuck (I am in love with Dr. Troy), Desperate Housewives, Greys Anatomy, HGTV shows, Oprah and The Real Desperate Housewives (Orange County & New Jersey). This is all good stuff to get my weekly ironing done while watching.

One thing that we are NOT into is all of the reality talent shows...American Idol, Dancing with the Stars, So You Think You Can Dance. It's just not our thing. Although, I do admit that I do enjoy watching the auditions of these shows...laughing at some people. Which is mean. I know. We also have fun watching the first few episodes of The Bachelor...what a train wreck.

We're into Tiger Baseball, MSU Football & Basketball, Red Wing Hockey. We're into cars and planning on what we're going to get next. We're into eating out at Leo's, Sizzling Sticks and Save Time Pizza. We're into home renovation projects, yard work and making our home nice. We're into going to the movies when my mom & Earle take the kids for the weekend. We're into Kurt's mom making us dinner at least once a week. We're into our iPods. We're into coffee and dessert after the kids go to bed. We're into getting together with our friends and family. We're into reading the paper on Sunday mornings. And as cheesy as it sounds (I will take flack on this one, but I don't care)...we are still into each other.

Oh...and we are also into our kids, but that is another blog post.

Random Unconnected Thoughts on Jimmy

Jimmy & I have been having fun lately while Julia is at school. He's such a little character. Sometimes I look at him and wonder...

• When asked what he wanted for dessert the other night cookie or ice cream, he told us half cookie, half ice cream. He has the concept of fractions down.
• He told me that his "jail truck has 100 horse power engine. " Kurt wondered if we could just skip preschool and enroll him in Mo-tech now. He already knows most of the parts of the car.
• Quite frankly he told Kurt tonight "Your daddy died and your dog died. We need to go to the dog store and buy a new dog."
• While playing with the maracas the other day, he told me he was "playing with his marac Obamas."
• Today during our Meijer shopping trip, I told him to pick out 2 boxes of fruit snacks and he picked out Batman for him and My Little Pony for Julia. He could have picked out 2 for him, but he didn't.

Jimmy loves to go shopping. His favorite places are Meijers, Costco, Target and Marshalls. How ironic, that those are the stores that, while I probably would rather go to the mall, we go to most often. Sometimes when we are shopping, he'll fall asleep. Maybe we should go to the mall.

Jimmy is very head strong. He's probably going to be 4 before he is potty trained. He'll go when he's in the mood, he'll sit on the potty to humor you and then tell you that he's "all out." He pretty much doesn't have much interest in it and is much happier going in his pants. No sense in fighting with him. He's his own little man. If things aren't going his way or the way he thinks they should go, he'll pretty much freak out...screaming or crying. It can be kind of exhausting to deal with. But if you can distract him, he'll calm down and sometimes he'll even cuddle with you.

Jimmy is a sweet little boy. He loves his family, his cars and dessert. Today he told me to come have my coffee on the couch with him while he was watching Dinosaur Train. When I sat down, he cuddled up with me. How sweet is that? He melted my heart. But he does that every day...

The Christmas Season is a Busy Season...a Collection of Short Stories.

We had a busy December in our home. Lots going on, lots of fun things to do. This year we made a bigger effort to reduce the amount of crazy that comes with Christmas. I didn't stress out about making everything perfect, which is hard for me. In years' past I would stay up too late doing stuff that people didn't notice or didn't care that much about. So this year I didn't stress out. I spent time doing stuff that I wanted to do, relaxed with the family, enjoyed the season. And that we did.
One of the first things we did to kick off December was go to the tree lighting. The kids love this and really talk about it all year, pointing out in the summer "the tree that gets 1 2 3 lights!" We braved the rain and saw Santa right away.

While we were eating some cookies and punch, The Grinch was walking around. Jimmy was not too happy to see him, but Julia couldn't wait to have her picture taken with him. This movie and book are one of their favorites, but Jimmy just isn't a fan of adults in costume.


At the tree lighting, there were lots of things to do and see. They had dancers, singers, crafts, cookie decorating and drums. Drums? Yeah, a room full of little kids and all of the percussion instruments you could think of. Both kids loved it, but Jimmy couldn't get enough. I am not sure this would be my first choice for his musical education. But at least he has rhythm.

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Another fun thing we did was have Breakfast with Santa. Grammie drove over to go with us. The kids had fun seeing another Santa and getting their faces painted. This event was held at our church and I am just so proud of our church and the great active youth group we have. They organized and ran a great event.

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Our kids are budding photographers. They love taking pictures. I know they watch us taking pictures and want to be a big kid too. It's so funny to watch them line up the shot and then say stuff to us before they take the picture. My favorite is after they take it, they look at it and say "Oh, that's a good one!"

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We had our good friends, Doug, Kelly & Paige, over one night to hang out and the kids made gingerbread houses. Aunt Michelle bought a kit for the kids earlier in the month, which was so nice of her to think of. The kids loved adding their "touches" to their houses. I learned a few things for next year, since this was the first time I had done a house. I know...strange, but we never did them as kids. I was so abused.

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My favorite Christmas tradition is baking. I love to make several different kinds of cookies throughout the month, freezing the dough and then baking the cookies as we need them. Ever since I was a little girl ("old enough to hold a plastic knife" as my mom says), we would frost sugar cookies. This is a tradition that I must pass on to my kids too. I love that Julia would ask me every few days once she saw the basket of cookie cutters when we were going to decorate cookies. A few days before Christmas seemed like a good day to do it and we invited her friend, Kylie and sister Ashley over to decorate. Plus it gave their mom a few hours to run some errands without kids. We had fun decorating the cookies while listening to Christmas music. These cookies were my favorite yet again.

Kylie & Julia

Julia, Jimmy, Ashley & Kylie

Wilton Decorating has nothing on Julia

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Christmas Eve we went to Kurt's mom's house. The kids were pretty excited to see their cousins (minus Christina & Meghan who were in Florida visiting their other Grandpa) and open some presents. They saw the presents under the tree earlier in the week when we went over to Mom's for dinner one night. Julia couldn't stop talking about the three presents with her name on them. But before presents is the food. I know that those of you who aren't part of this Italian Family have heard the tales of excess, but really you have to experience it and the 3 days of leftovers that ensue after.

Some of the appetizers....after they've been raided...I know, still plenty there.

Some of the dinner buffet...after it has been served. Again...it looks like there is enough to feed another giant family. And there is.

The Desserts...my favorite part!

Julia & Jimmy couldn't wait to open gifts. They had been patient, but it was getting hard to be so good. Aunt Fran gave Julia and Jimmy a coveted ZhuZhu pet. I didn't think that Julia even knew what it was, because it wasn't something she asked for and I didn't bother to look for one since they were THE TOY of 2009. As soon as she opened it, she knew exactly what it did and what it was. Interesting what these kids can learn from TV.

Julia is so expressive! She was so excited to see a pair of PJs with WonderWoman on them. Mom loves to shop and spends a greater part of her fall (and Spring and Summer) finding just the perfect gifts for everyone on her list. Another cool thing she found for Julia was a WonderWoman Switch Plate cover for her bedroom. Where does one find that?

Jimmy showing us who Grandma's Boy Really Is.

There was much speculation as to when Julia would be getting her American Girl Doll. She knew that she was going to get it for Christmas, but didn't know when. In the summer we went to Chicago to look at the dolls in the store, she picked Julie after much deliberation on hair length and eye color. Mom has bought all the girls a doll, so this was the year for Julia. Uncle Jeff picked up the doll when he was in Chicago for business a few months back. I still chuckle picturing him in that store, looking for the Julie section and then walking down Michigan Avenue with that huge red bag. What an Uncle!

Julia was just so excited when she opened this present. I am sure that many dollars will be spent on accessories, clothes and friends in the next few years. But really, can you put a price on that imagination that goes with it?

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I found these super cute doll beds online, but didn't like the bedding that came with them, so I made it my Christmas Project for 2009 to make cute bedding for the beds. No small feat with little people surrounding you all the time. I managed to get them done several days before Christmas so Santa could leave them for Julia & my niece, Olivia. I think they turned out so cute!

Olivia's Doll Bed

Julia's Doll Bed with the rest of her presents from Santa.

Santa came!

Jimmy with his favorite present...a Log (Pipe) Truck

All a girl could want!

I didn't take any pictures when we went to my dad's house for Christmas Day. My sister took all the pictures. We had a full house and it was hard to get up and take pictures.

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Because Christmas 2009 was all about celebrating without stress, we had the rule of one house per day. With divorced parents and a mother-in-law, that leaves 3 days of celebrations. We have Christmas Eve with Kurt's family, Christmas Day with my Dad's family and a new tradition of Boxing Day with my Mom's family. We hosted the Boxing Day Fete...which in hindsight should have been Festivus (the Seinfeld holiday where there are the feats of strength at the Festivus "Pole" and the airing of grievances. Perhaps next year Kurt will get his wish, because he has alot (or so he says).

I made my famous Italian Beef (thanks Aunt Fran...you have made me famous) and we used our wedding china. I don't even think Kurt complained about it either. He's getting soft in his old age.

Julia trying out her Rollar Skates from Aunt Libby in the FoyerGood Gift Award 2009 goes to Uncle Chuck & Aunt Marcy for getting the kids Light Sabers, among other gifts. These aren't any ordinary Light Sabers that our kids have seen. These light up and make (very loud) lazer cutting sounds. The force is strong with these two. Of course Julia is Padma.

Jimmy loves all things that have to do with tools. Last year he got a tool bench with some tools in it, but it didn't have all the necessary tools. Grammie and Poppi rounded out his collection with things like a vice, drill press, tool belt, and a bunch of other random tools that I don't bother myself with. He even got his own tool box. He's loving helping out around the house. Although he looks like he is auditioning for the Village People or some type of All Male Review.

Not to be outdone by her brother, Julia had to have a wardrobe change in the middle of Boxing Day and put on her "Cheetah." She would wear this dance/gymnastics leotard every day if I let her. In the summer, she would beg me to let her wear it outside or when we'd run errands. You can see why I didn't cave often. Most mornings in our home she will be running around in this get-up or her too small WonderWoman costume. I have a feeling she's working on her moves for Project Runway 2025 or she's auditioning for Roller Derby. At least she's got a matching purse.

And no Christmas celebration would be complete without a game. This year we played Left Right Center, a dice game. We played with quarters and the pot didn't turn over for 3 times for the last game, which left Kurt victorious. He will now be able to wash his car all summer on his winnings.

Well, just writing all of that exhausted me. Good thing i have had a few days to recover from all of our festivities. I am glad that we're now in January, back to our regular schedule and some normalcy. It's nice to have such a great fun filled month to look back on during the next 2 very cold months ahead.