Dear Santa

Daniel's letter to Santa has been written and his 25 days of waiting begins.
Starting tomorrow we will use our Advent calendar to count down the days until "Jesus's Birthday"


He had a little help with the writing but the wish for "cars and a train" will surely come true. Mommy can guarantee it. :)
How can any elf say no to that face?!

Take 2

We returned the problematic tree and got ourselves the one I was eyeing for 3 weeks but was more than I wanted to spend. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

Here is our beauty with our cutie.

MAC is also posing (on the floor next to D's left foot).
The boys convinced me to get a multi-colored tree and I couldn't agree more once it was up. D didn't hesitate pointing to the colored one when given a choice. Ry picked it because it reminded him of his childhood (me too!) and well, because D picked it as well.
Our Dickens Village is causing many time outs but hopefully the newness of it will wear out soon because we are worn out from using the word "No".
Now for the gift shopping...

...and it's over

Well, one holiday behind us, that was quick. It was lightning speed as the fall decor was thrown out and the whole city lit up with X-Mas magic and cheer.
Not in this house. We take our time to digest the left over turkey, ham, etc. in the fridge before we go nuts....yeah right! If I had a tree to decorate it would have been done today.
Instead, we concentrated on the decorations inside the house. This year I'm realizing we have too much crap! I've made an executive decision not put out some stuff because it's just starting to look tacky and Christmas is not about decorations it's about celebrating the birth of Christ. My mom screamed this in my ear as I told her all the streets and homes were decorated already.
She hates lots of stuff out and so it's no surprise that at X-Mas time she proclaims it should be simple because it's not about how much you put out. This is coming from a woman that has two trees in her house that are so filled with ornaments you can't even see the tree. Gotta love her! She is the matriarch of our family and turning 60 this coming Saturday!
So our Thanksgiving went something like this.
Kept D busy with some paint in the morning.
I started making our turkey, potatoes and stuffing. I wasn't feeling 100% so it just drained me but turned out great.
Since it was just the three of us (no one wanted to get our germs) I made myself comfy.
Dinner was delicious, with sparkling apple cider. Ry loved this stuff!
Daniel was in one of his moods so we had to confine him to a high chair. We ate in our dining room, it was lovely. Afterward, we got into our pajamas and watched CARS. Great night considering how horrible we felt the day before. The bad news is that grandma M got the bug on Thanksgiving. Sorry RaRa!!!
Today, the decor emerged from dusty boxes after 2 years.
Fleece pajamas were put on for a cold night
We're ready for the Holidays!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

With the Norovirus attacking the Marron clan on Monday night, our plans for Thanksgiving have changed. BUT we'll be Thankful for a warm home and the three musketeers will continue on.
On another note, we're waiting to hear if the X-Mas tree I just told you about will explode when lit. Costco left a lovely recorded message (....we're sorry for the inconvenience BUT your new tree may "blow up"...) on my phone as I lay in bed begging God to make my sickness stop. Well, the sickness got better but it may be back to square one with the tree.
Awww the memories.
We wish you a wonderful Thanksgiving!!!!

Weekend Recap

The holidays are in full swing at the Marron household. Finding the perfect artificial tree that doesn't cost more than my house has been a challenge, but Costco delivered. As I threw the box on the cart that weighted more than me I felt victorious because 24 hours before that....
I took a half day on Friday to take D to the Dr. and drive Ry to work, his car has been in the repair shop because someone went forward instead of backwards and a pole was in the way. D has been battling a cold for over a month but after yet another visit to the Dr. the Dr. thinks it's allergies. With a higher dose of Zyrtec at night we'll see how it all goes.
Since we had some time to spare after dropping Ry off, we enjoyed a bagel at Panera together. I wish I could do this all the time.
After our appt D and I stopped by two X-Mas tree stores and my mind started to race, as did D up and down the aisles. Two stores, no tree. You see, I have already made an additional 3 trips to other stores (one of them got me a red light violation) and no tree, my options were starting to run out.
I dropped him off at daycare and went to Home Depot, as my sister told me she saw the perfect tree there. She wanted us to buy a tree from her as our "open house" gift. I just had them over, don't really believe in open houses but OK.
The one at Home Depot was nice so I got it with other crappola that took up my trunk. I loaded it on and since Costco was right there I decided to be lazy with dinner and pick up a roasted chicken.
I walked in and there it was, the nicest tree, $10 cheaper than Home Depot with 250 more lights (total of 1000 lights). I felt defeated. I went back to Home Depot, returned the tree and prayed that the next day Costco would still have the tree there, unlike my nativity scene that was out on display since September and all of a sudden a storm of religious folks must have walked in and bought them all because not one box remained when I returned on Saturday.
I got our tree and loaded the 60lbs box into my car as there were no good Samaritans anywhere to be seen to assist me, except the annoying people that starred at me waiting for me to pull out of the spot they so badly wanted, but they smiled.
Fast forward, the rest of our weekend went something like this.
D picked out his annual ornament (really only his second but it's tradition)
Gee can you guess what it is
Visited my sister and mom with D so we could trace everyone hands for our turkey (scroll down for the reveal).
Went to 2 Toys R Us to find our gift for D. As we ran around the store looking for the last one in stock here is what D was doing.
No, that's not his gift, although if it was up to daddy we would get him everything he touched. No self control! :)
Here is his gift.
One melt down in the first store had us getting french fries on the way to the second store. The melt down started with son and ended with hungry dad.
Once we got home it was time to prepare the family bird.
Here it is....
D had three choices of eyes, poor Grandma was secretly hoping for the smaller ones but D insisted on "big eyes". Daddy and mommy agreed.
The whole family participated, though my teenage niece said "why can't you just cut out any hands, no one will know", to that I responded "now that would be cheating"! Bless her, because I was really thinking about it. :)
Back of the bird that has the family hands. This bird will be part of our table decor on Thursday and D's Turkey feast at school on Tuesday.
Close up of the candy D helped glue on.Another busy week coming up. I'll be taking a break from blogging until next week because I'm hosting this great Holiday and obsessing over everything tasting and looking nice.
I'll be back with full details and many pictures.

Eye in the sky

OK, so maybe the video proves that I have a lead foot but seriously, is a complete stop necessary when you can see no traffic is coming?
There was no "Do not turn on red" sign anywhere, but I guess a full stop was required before making that turn.
This now makes Ry and I even on red light violations. That made him happy.
The ticket came in the mail with pictures and access to view my violation on line with a full colored video. I guess IL has to make money somehow to get control of the budget.

Off with your head Turkey

Yesterday we had a wonderful Thanksgiving pot luck at work.

I brought a left over cupcake home, it was in the shape of a turkey.

Daniel eyed it for a while, sampled the frosting with his finger and then got a spoon, sat down and went to town.

Hmmm this looks neat. Looks like that bird grandma obsessed over all day long.

Come to me my delicious, sweet friend.We have a little project going on at our house now. We have to make a turkey for D's daycare for their Thanksgiving feast next week.

Let me tell you, my MIL, a retired teacher is taking it to the next level.

The entire family is involved and the turkey will be our center piece next week. Stay tuned for details.

"this is sooo blog worthy"

I thought I wouldn't have any exciting content for the blog today but boy was I wrong.
Our morning started a bit interesting when right before church D went #2 in his pull. Because I hadn't realized he went I was in a hurry to put him on the potty before we left and quickly pulled his pull up down, only to discover a hand covered in doo doo. Not a good start. I washed myself and him off and thought that the antibiotics we switched him to on Friday are giving him the runs, but it was only the morning so I was going to see how it went.
After church I was excited to go to the mall to get my new cell phone. Since most of my friends make fun of my 2008 cell phone I had to upgrade. I got the Droid Ally and it's sweet.
Right after my new gadget was safely in my pocket we stopped by Stride Rite and picked up D a new pair of shoes. D was happy, I was happy and we were ready to leave...
when daddy realized he was hungry. After debating what we should have a little voice from the stroller confirmed McDonald's.
Fries and chicken nuggets for my sweet boy it was (D that is), daddy had a burger.
We were just chilling, me practicing taking pictures with my new phone and D and daddy goofing off when I noticed a spot on D's brand new black shoes (not the ones we bought him but another new pair that only goes with fancy outfits. I like to get him dressed up for church). Ry said "I think he stepped in something". My eyes grew wider as I realized the spot was also on his pant leg and I slowly held my breath and lifted his pant leg up, I gasped. He stepped in something alright, his own doo doo that was leaking out of his pull up.
(5 minutes earlier, D stood a little strange and we thought he was going but he refuses to tell us that he is so we accepted the "No" and went on with our lunch.)
We panicked, as D was shoving fries in his mouth we were rummaging through his backpack that we take everywhere. Why would it have an extra outfit? Of course it didn't.
I whisked him off to the bathroom and honestly I didn't know where to begin. I went in with only three things, wipes, a new pull up and a Jewel bag.
D is 36lbs and somehow every manufacturer of changing tables doesn't realize that there are kids 25lbs + that need to be changed, still. I laid him on the table and he proceeded to slide down because his legs were dangling. Meanwhile, he didn't make a sound, looked innocent as could be.
I took his shoes off and put them in the bag
I took his socks off and put them in the bag
then it got scary...
I took the pants off and WHOA mama.
I'm sure all the people waiting in line with kids appreciated that I was taking my sweet time.
He had #$#@##@ everywhere, on his legs, feet, back, you get the picture.
I was frantically pulling wipes and wiping him down, while trying to scoot him up before he slid down and we had to call 911 into the poopy stall.
Of course, the garbage was on the other side of the double stall so the Michael Jordan that I am, I kept throwing the wipes trying to make it into the waste basket.
Half of them made it, the other landed on the floor.
With a new pull up on, he had no pants, socks or shoes to put on. I cleaned up the best that I could and walked out of the bathroom with a baby that was half naked. I got a couple of glances. Really people, do you really think I would walk with my child like this at the mall, let alone in 40 degree weather?
The first thing we saw was the Gymboree store. We high tailed it there and I frantically searched the sale rack (I wasn't gonna spend full price on anything), I found some pants, a top and grabbed socks (they were on sale 5 for $10). I tossed the pants to Ryan, who ripped the tags off and put them on D, who was oblivious to our efforts as he watched some show on the TV in the store.
I actually found a coupon in my organizer that I used and TADA, a dressed baby with his new shoes on.

He was tired and so were we.
We laughed and agreed that "this is sooo blog worthy".
Needless to say Mr. D did not get a dose of meds tonight. I will be calling the Dr. tomorrow and hopefully #$#@# won't be flying around at the daycare cuz good luck to whoever has to manage that mess. Never a dull moment.

Filling space

I have really nothing to blog about but since I just washed all the floors in our house and I'm completely exhausted, with that comes complete deliriousness.
Last night as I finished decorating our half bath I felt the same way.
I've been a shopping nut at Hobby Lobby lately. They have awesome stuff.
I got bathroom accessories and some office accessories as well.
Here were my finds this weekend for the office.
A cool lamp. I always wanted one of these but the prices on these at Restoration Hardware are ridiculous. This baby cost me $50!
Every office has to have a globe
I've been trying to stay on top of decorating things but with a budget in mind I have to be creative. Tomorrow I'm taking 1/2 day off of work for some ME time. I plan to go to Hobby Lobby for hours and an outdoor mall to just walk, maybe even get a pedicure. The possibilities are endless.
The to-do list is getting longer and longer.
Did I mention that my beautiful boy has been pacifier free for a week!!!!!!!!!!!!! He didn't make a fuss about it at all. I thought for sure he would go nuts but he asked for it twice and we said "you don't need it" and that was the end of that. In place of the paci the M&Ms are in full swing to reward for going potty.

Made in China

D has been fighting naps since Friday. Since he was sick and had another Dr. appt, only to be put on the same meds for 2 weeks for his sinus infection, I called in our old sitter to come over and stay with him on Friday. I was working from home and just couldn't send him to daycare after he got a flu shot and got blood drawn to test for lead.
He was crying bloody murder for his nap, the same thing happened on Saturday. He never did take a nap that day. My sister and family came over for some pizza and a movie and D was delirious by 6:15!
We ordered pizza and watched as he ran around the room bouncing into things.
Sunday, he tried the same thing but daddy took control and read him a book from outside the crib!
It seemed to have worked, only 20 minutes of talking to himself and then he passed out and woke up so happy...
happy to be a big boy in his booster seat. Yes, we still had him in a high chair. It was convenient to keep him occupied in there and trapped. But the kitchen is starting to get cramped, with the borrowed table from my mom taking so much space, the high chair had to go.
He was thrilled!
Notice everything around him is from the movie CARS! Grandpa and Grandma just bought him a CD player in the shape of...
what else
Lightning McQueen
The tires sticking out are speakers, isn't that neat?!
Speaking of investing 25% of our paychecks towards Disney products such as cars, bath wash, utensils, etc. About 7 months ago when we were living in our rental and desperate for some normalcy we bought D a Cars car that changes color in Warm/Cold water. We didn't even know it at the time that the car was a character from the movie. We enjoyed for about 3 weeks as the car changed colors from red to yellow and back. Then it died. We figured with daily baths it did its job. Since then we bought another car that changed the color ONCE! I mean it changed and did not change back. Today I bought Lightning McQueen in hopes that the Matel product would give us at least 3 weeks worth of yellow/red/yellow/red magic.
It changed to yellow alright (seen above) but never back to red. We tried cold/warm/hot/icy cold and NOTHING!!! We even tried to read any directions that we might be messing up but the picture and words on the back of ICY COLD changes colors and WARM changes it back pretty much described our actions. Pretty simple to follow, but nope. $5.99 I'll never see again, or will I?! I'm planning to write a letter to Matel in Ontario, Canada who makes the product in China that they suck and my poor baby watched in amazement then confusion as the darn thing stayed yellow.
Nowhere in the movie is there a yellow Lighting McQueen. You can't fool a 2.5 year old, you just can't. His poor little hand was holding that good for nothing racing car under all temperatures and nothing was happening, then he uttered the words that had me looking at the address at the back of the packaging..."broken mommy".
Watch out Ontario Canada, this mama did not pay $5.99 (3 times) and watched her only son devastated and possibly emotionally scared to get nothing out of this.
I'll keep you updated as a settlement is reached and we'll retire on our winnings...or at least get another stinkin car.

Smile

A couple of weeks ago D had his "school" pictures taken. We got them back today.

You could tell the little guy wasn't feeling well that day but we think he looks cute regardless.

We also have a project on our hands and it's not on the house. We got a note to take home today telling us we have to make a family turkey for the Thanksgiving lunch at school. We were challenged to be creative and use a variety of things to create the turkey (noodles, cereal, etc.). Hmmmm...this should be interesting. I'll keep y'all posted.

Night time loves

I love when Ry reads 20 books to Daniel when I only have the time and patience for about 4 every night.
I love how they get settled in on the glider with a peaceful look on their faces and just crack up at everything they are reading.
I love that before any books are read we say prayers with D and read him a daily toddler bible reading.
I love that D loves his little bible.
I love how he learned how to make the sign of the cross and the serious looks he gets when he does it.
I love that they have their little lines memorized and that D finishes Ry's sentences.
I love that they both love to get their drinks on (G Rated, of course) while reading.
I love that D has a wonderful daddy who loves him so!