My little Germ Magnet & Kylie

It's been awhile because Matthew just caught his 4th virus in 4 weeks. Poor little guy. It may have something to do with the fact that his fingers are very attracted to his nose.
*update (saturday): turns out it's not a virus, it's something bacterial so he started antibiotics yesterday. Yay, we should be better in a few days!

When Kylie is happy, everybody is happy. Seriously, she really sets the mood of our family. Luckily she is a pretty happy girl. She is so funny too - she communicates her daily thoughts to us on her board. We get everything from weather and mood updates to what she'd like for dinner to what boy she thinks is cute. I'm pretty happy right now too - my kids are off track at school for 3 weeks! I love having them home. Now if we can just get Matthew healthy, we can go play.

Kylie's teeth are falling out so quickly!

She can read the Tooth Fairy's notes by herself now. I'm worried that she may be getting suspicious about the whole Tooth Fairy / Santa Clause thing. I try to disguise my writing, but she gives me funny looks and tells me that the Tooth Fairy's handwriting looks just like mine. I will have to savor this Christmas - it may be our last "magical" one.

Goodbye Summer

Today I noticed the leaves on my trees are turning orange and red. Autumn is my favorite season, but for the first time I was sad to see the end of summer. I will not miss the heat, but I will miss all the fun things that summer means to the kids.

Goodbye Summer - we will miss you!

Random Review #2

I like it when people tell me about products they've tried - that way I can avoid wasting my money, or not miss out on something great. Remember when I posted about my love for Vaseline Foot Lotion? I know you are still grateful for that, and you use it all the time, right? Right?

So, I've decided to post about other stuff I try - because of course you want my opinion.

I have used Pine Sol to scrub my floors for as long as I can remember. I don't think I've ever used anything else. I heart Pine Sol. If you are a regular visitor to my home, I'm sure you've been assaulted by the smell of Pine Sol upon entering. I've grown to love that smell.

Anyway, in my effort to be more earth friendly I thought I'd give something new a try. This week I tried "Green Works" natural dilutable cleaner made by Clorox. I wanted to love this product, really I did. But, the truth is, it's just OK. It's definitely no Pine Sol.

Good Things:

1. It cleans well. All spills came up effortlessly.

2. It's made from 99.2% natural ingredients, and it's better for the earth and my home.

3. It dries super fast. By the time I was scrubbing the last part of my floor, the first part was already dry. I loved that.

Not-so-good things:

1. The smell is blah. Not good smelling, not horrible.

2. It leaves a residue. It's not totally obvious, but there is a bit of a film left over. And, when I walked across the floor in bare feet, it didn't have that wonderful perfectly-clean-feel. My feet could feel the residue. This is what killed it for me. I even tried it 2 days later with less cleaner than suggested - it still left a residue. It is super sudsy, so maybe it just needs to be rinsed, but who has time for that? In all fairness, John could not see or feel the residue, so I may just be picky.

I am going to continue searching for an earth-friendly floor cleaner that smells good and doesn't leave a residue. If I find one, I'll let you know. If you know of one, please let me know.

John Feels Pretty

When John and I were dating, I asked him if I could paint his toenails. I believe his response was, "Are you crazy?" I just wanted to give him a nice pedicure, maybe a coat of clear, who wouldn't love that? haha. John has carefully guarded his feet for almost 15 years now - I've never been able to get near them. To say that John totally shocked me today is an understatement. But, how could he say no to this sweet face...?

That's right, today, out of the blue, Kylie innocently asked her daddy if she could paint his toenails. I heard her and laughed a little bit, thinking "oh boy, I hope he doesn't ask her if she is crazy!"

Without hesitating for even half a second, John pulled off his socks and said, "sure sweetheart." Atleast she chose blue polish :)
Of course Matthew wanted in on the fun too. Only, he lucked out and got pink. Kylie really needs a sister! Which leads me to my next topic...

Translation: Mommy when are we going to have another baby/when mommy/mommy I love you mommy/when when when when mommy/so when mommy/if you think about it you will feel better mommy

Oh, I cannot tell you how much this broke my heart. Kylie is well aware of the fact that we are unable to have any more babies, but she is in serious denial. She wants a baby so badly.
I was a little surprised though when my friend came up to me at school one morning and said, "I hear congratulations are in order." I was like, huh, oh did I do something good? She was obviously embarassed when she realized that no I was not pregnant, even though Kylie told her daughter (Kylie's best friend) that I was having a baby. WHAT?!

Apparently Kylie told a few other people, and news travels quickly around here - so don't believe the rumors - although I wish I could be, I am definitely NOT pregnant.

However, we will most likely begin the adoption process at the beginning of the year.

In other news...

Kylie is now riding her bike without training wheels. And she has bruises all over her legs to prove it. She is doing awesome.

More exciting news - John and I beat Rock Band this weekend. Yes, it's the first time I've ever beat a video game. It's the first time I've ever really played a video game. I guess singing isn't too geeky right?

Smells Good...

I love the way fresh baked bread smells! Matthew was my little helper - he said it smelled so good he wanted to lick the bread machine! My dad bakes a lot of bread, and I told him I'd post my new recipe. It's a good one...

Original Recipe: (for a 2lb loaf)

1/2 c. apple juice
3/4 c. apple sauce
1 egg
3Tbsp. butter pieces
4 c. bread flour
1/4 c. brown sugar
1 Tbsp. + 1 tsp. gluten
2 tsp. salt
1-1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. baking soda
2-1/4 SAF yeast or 2-3/4 bread machine yeast

Matthew had just finished eating the last of our applesauce, so instead I replaced the apple juice with milk, and the apple sauce with yogurt. It worked great. I also added lots of raisins. We normally only eat wheat bread, but this makes a good bread for french toast or a yummy treat.

I Can Sew!

In the eighth grade, I paid my friend Pam $20. to sew my home-ec project for me because I had no clue how to use a sewing machine. And frankly that 100mph needle scared me.

Well, I decided it was time to face my fear. Being the big nerd that I am, I checked out a library book and read about how to do it. And, honestly, it turns out it's not that bad. It's actually kinda relaxing.

John may be surprised to hear that, since I spent the first hour cursing at the sewing machine. (Don't worry the kids were asleep!) But, I got over it, and made friends with the machine.

Here is what I made....

Pajama pants for Matthew

And pajama pants for Kylie. I think I may go all-out-dorky-mom and sew them matching ones for Christmas. Look for the embarassing pictures in December :)

Kickin' It

Kylie and Matthew had their first soccer games of the season yesterday. They both had a good time, and won too - yay!

We decided to put the kids on different teams this year. I think it will be helpful for Matthew because he won't be playing up a year. Oh ya, and fun for me....double the practice, double the games, double the fun - haha.

Mattie in action! He has a great coach (thanks Becky!) - I think her coaching style will really help his sportsmanship this year.

Go Kylie! Kylie and her friend are the only 2 girls on the team. I was worried about it at first, but Kylie can totally keep up with the boys. My girl is fast :)

Labor Day Weekend Recap

Overall, it was a great family weekend...

Kylie gets gushing bloody noses several times a week, sometimes in her sleep which really freaks me out, so we started off Labor Day weekend by having Kylie's nose cauterized. I know, woohoo, we're party animals. Surprisingly, Kylie did not feel a thing. The numbing stuff must work really well. Sadly, Kylie has had 3 gushers since Friday, and she will need to have her nose re-cauterized.

On a side note, am I the only one getting sick of this Hannah Montana t-shirt?! It needs to mysteriously disappear. Kylie would wear it every day if I let her, completely ignoring the 30 other perfectly cute shirts in her closet. Really, I promise, my daughter does own other clothes!

John's birthday was also this weekend. You'd think that would be a picture-worthy occassion, but no, I did not take a single photo. I think I was too busy cooking all of his favorite foods on Sunday! We went to dinner at Tepanyaki (of course) on Saturday night. Then on Sunday night, John had a couple friends over and played video games until 5AM. They even let me play Rockband with them. I think John had a pretty good birthday - he is like a little kid and gets very excited to be celebrated, so his birthdays are always fun.

On Sunday night, Kylie had her cousin Peyton spend the night. They are only 6 months apart, and they have lots of fun together. They stayed up giggling and talking about boys until 2:30 AM! Again, where was my camera?! On Monday we took Kylie, Matthew and Peyton to The Pie Pizzeria for lunch and then to Boondocks for some fun. My kids love the Kiddie Cove - I highly recommend it. Hours of fun for only $3 each. Matthew also loves video games like his daddy. He's a natural just like his daddy too - way better than me.

Somehow I managed to dig out my camera to document this.