Happy Birthday little man!

My little boy is 2 today. We had a great day. Then had a few friends over for a BBQ and cake and ice cream this evening. I made strawberry Shortcake. It turned out excellent. It was my first time making it. Dominic got a slew of presents mostly car stuff and kids tools. He loves it all. I can't believe he is 2 already. Boy how time flies. His birth was so wonderful. It is really nice to look back on it with such nice memories. I made a video highlighting his last two years.

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I wish kittens were mean...

Seriously. QUIT LAUGHING!!! I wish they were a little bit mean. I wish that when my daughter is being mean to them, or squishing the life out of it, the kitten would turn around and bite her. The big cat will scratch or bite when she has had enough. The kitten doesn't, it cries pitifully. That doesn't stop Gioia though. She laughes or ignores it. We were seriously considering keeping the kitten. Not now. For one, I am sick of refereeing the Kitten vs. Gioia battle. Second, I saw the little shit try to claw my leather furniture. UM NO!!! We want to sell that this spring and get something we like better. Cat scratches are not conducive to that.

Weekend with Daddy.

Well Massimo was gone all week to St. Louis for work. We normally go with him but I declined this time since it is so friggin hot. So he got back Friday. Saturday we went and looked at some property. It was nice but location wasn't as good. It was close to a highway. After that, lunch and we went to Town Center and did some shopping. DH needed some new running shoes, and I needed a new bra. We found both.

Sunday we went to the church at 8am, then we decided to go to the zoo. We packed a lunch and headed out. It was a great day. We saw lots of animals and rode the zoo train. Here are a couple pictures.

Crayon Roll

So once again I have copied some fun things my friend Sarah T. is doing. Her blog if you don't already check it out, always has the cutest things on it. Lately she has posted several tutorials that are online and show pictures of each step. I need these kinds of things. Without pictures I am totally clueless. That is why I have such trouble making things from paper patterns. However, if you give me a picture and the exact measurements, I can make it, it seems.

I have also set my sewing machine up in the living room. This is great! I have even be successful in keeping the kids from bothering it. Seems after the newness of it being there wore off, they aren't very interested in it. I can sew, stop, help them, or whatever and they can play right near me. It is great.

So here it is. The Crayon Roll I made Gioia. I made one for Dominic too, but hers turned out better. I am giving them to the kids as presents next week for Dominics Birthday.

Pool party pictures.

Tuesday night we went to a pool party. It was really fun. We made it potluck and had lots of food. Here are few pictures from that.

Dominic blowing bubbles.
Gioia swimming.
And here is what a hot tub of Soggy Granola looks like! HA HA! My friends will get the joke. Or AKA...how many people can you fit in one hot tub?

I been tagged again.

I was tagged by Alissa. So I will try to make it interesting.

Here are the rules for being tagged:
RULES - Post rules before giving the facts - Players start with eight random facts/habits about themselves - People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules - At the end of the your blog you need to tag six people and list their names - Leave them a comment on their blog, telling them they have been tagged and not to forget to read your blog.

1. I like to sing. I sang at a local talent show a few weeks ago and I got 2nd place. Woo hoo! I won 10 dollars. ha ha!

2. I got run over by a van when I was 3. No permanent damage and no broken bones. I think the only one traumatized was my mom. Poor mom. :)

3. I would love to have a homebirth next time. Gotta keep talking with that husband of mine to convince him. Each person we know that has one gets us closer and closer. Especially all you HBAC (HomeBirth After Cesarean) mommas! You ROCK!!!

4. I love ice cream! I try to eat healthy but we have ice cream several times a week. DH and I love to go out and get ice cream at Culvers, or Dairy Queen. We went to the best place last week. Sylas and Maddys in Olathe. OH it was heaven. I had English Toffee ice cream on a homemade waffle cone. WOW! DH had Pistachio Almond and it was great as well. I can't wait to go back there again.

5. I spend too much time on the internet. Damn you KCAP! LOL! I check my email, chat on my forum, and do tons of other things. If we move to the country I am going to fork out the 50 bucks for Satellite Internet because I can do without TV but don't try to take my Internet.

6. I love to cook. I really enjoyed the cooking club I was in but DH wasn't as impressed with it. I especially love making tasty desserts. I can't wait for winter food time. I am hungry for Clam Chowder and Chicken Pot Pie. MMMM!!!

7. I love good rock music. I am really disappointed lately that my favorite rock station has TONS of swearing on it. I mean, even during the commercial breaks. It is so bad that I can hardly listen to it for fear of the kids repeating it. GGRR!!

8. I like to get a reaction out of people. I love to wear my advocacy shirts for Breastfeeding, my bumper stickers and things like that. I think people will never become comfortable with things like nursing older babies (like 2 year olds) if they don't see people doing it. I don't mind answering questions about stuff like birth, breastfeeding, homeschooling so I guess I am a good person to promote it.

Ok. I am not going to tag anyone, because they have already been all tagged. Enjoy.

I feel so Crafty!

I am so excited! I have made two things this week that worked out. Usually I have grand ideas of making things, clothes for the kids, things for myself and it never works out. I can't figure out the pattern or I make it wrong. Anyway, I made Gioia's skirt the other day. Which I am planning to make her a couple more just tweek the measurements. Today I made a bag. WOO HOO! And it turned out good but GIANT. Its ok though. I am going to use it for a beach bag. We needed a bigger bag to fit our towels and toys in. I have enough material left to make a smaller bag for my sister. She said she would like one for school to throw stuff in. I think I am going to make some for Christmas for some of my female relatives. I have some really nice material I bought that will look great.

Got the pattern for this fromhere.
http://craftywench.typepad.com/knittingwench/2007/07/very-easy-tote-.html

Give me a diaper...

We had a fun day yesterday. Our family from Iowa came down. They came to get their bikes we got for them. DH spent the evening in the heat fixing most of them. The kids were very excited. They have their new garage rebuilt now, so they have a place to keep the bikes. (They had a garage fire last April/May? A total lost of all of it and the contents.) All the kids ages 11, 9, 6, and 4 slept in the bunkbeds and cots in Gioia's room. Dominic slept with us. They totured, i mean played with the kittens and we also went swimming. They left this morning and headed home. We went for lunch at Korma Sutra, Indian food restaurant. It was delicious and they had buffet. The kids liked it ok. The 4 of us ate for 26.50 (including tip). So we were happy about that.

Dominic is trucking along with the potty learning. He did something weird yesterday. He didn't poop. He is usually a really regular guy. Then last night we has whining and pulling at his bottom. So i tried to put him on the potty and he didn't want to. Then he fell asleep and I put a diaper on him. This morning we took off the diaper, peed on the potty and put underwear back on. Later he made a small poop on the floor. I was like OH NO. So i tried the potty and he wouldn't go and he was crying about it. Finally i said, do you want a diaper? He agreed and then he walked over behind the table and pooped in it. Poor little guy! I think we HELD it yesterday. He is doing so great I don't want to traumatize him with the poop issue. For now, if he wants to poop in a diaper, so be it.

Sewing.

So yesterday I went to get some fabric to make a skirt for Gioia and a bag for me, possibly one for my sister and if they turn out great, maybe some for Christmas gifts. We get the fabric only 30 bucks. YAHH! I actually make it home with all the things i need. I start sewing Gioia's skirt last night, only to realize I cut every piece wrong. :( I cut them all the wrong directions. ALL the fabric is wasted. :( I was so upset I really thought I was going to cry. Well, I had dreams about it all night. I realized I had some leftover fabric that would match the little bit I had left. SO I worked on it today and I MADE A SKIRT!! It was really easy ( well if you are smart even to cut it right). I got it from here: SKIRT
I will make a few more for her maybe for Christmas. I would make it a few inches less wide around the waist. It is supposed to be gathered to twirl, but I think it is too gathered and would look better a smidge smaller. I would also like to try it a couple inches shorter. My daughter is tall and skinny.


Not to leave the boy out. Here he is in Big Boy Pants. He is still awesome about peeing in the potty and not his pants. Still not pooping on the potty but hey. I have been only using about one diaper a day for this week and I am REALLY happy about that.

Potty learning

I just have to share my excitement. This has been all his idea really. I decided last week to sit him on the potty in the morning with his cereal to see if I could catch his regular morning poop. Well I got pee instead. I was excited. For about 3 mornings in a row he peed first thing after waking.

Well for the last 2 days he has been naked and using the potty. Of course we are having accidents and I will be pleasantly surprised if we don't have them for quite a while yet. He will be 2 on the 30th.

I am so surprised he is doing it this early. But very excited. We haven't had any poops yet, but he will sit down and pee when asked to. So that is really awesome that he has the control to do that.

Right now he has on "big boy blues clues pants". :)

Fairs Fairs everywhere!

We had a week of crazy fair fun! First we had the Johnson County fair. We went on Tuesday for "Family Fun Night". The kids had a good time and we ate some tasty but bad for you Fair food. Sweet Potato fries and corn dog for the kids. It was really hot. Then Wed. we went back up to the fair for the kids to ride the rides. It was great fun. Dominic could only ride the cars and the carousel, he was too short for the other ones. Gioia wanted to ride everything. She rode everything that she could. She and my sister rode the Ferris Wheel. The swings were her favorite thing though. The first turn around on the swings, her face had the biggest grin possible and her eyes were all lit up. I don't think she knew she would fly that high. She LOVED it. Massimo said, that look on her face was worth the 16 dollar armband.

Thursday we left here to go to my moms house. Our hometown fair, which we call the Jameson Picnic, was going on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. So Thursday night we made it down. We ate some delicious Tenderloin sandwiches and then they had a talent show. Gioia sang "He's got the whole world in his hands" and "Immaculate Mary". Both are songs she learned in Bible School. Then I sang "Before he cheats" by Carrie Underwood. Gioia didn't place but I won Second place in the 17 and over group. I don't have pictures of this because I videotaped it instead.

Friday we went back up for more fun and ride the rides. My mom bought the kids armband (unlimited rides) all 3 nights. Grandmas are silly like that. I thought it was hot on Tuesday, LORD ALMIGHTY, it got soooo hot by Friday and Saturday. The heat index (what it feels like) was 109 and 105. It was like been in an oven. Amazing enough they only had one incident of someone getting sick. It was a man in the band Friday night and he was diabetic, so i am not even sure it was heat related.

Saturday, they had the baby show. Dominic was in it. Then Gioia was in the Little Miss show. These are small town baby shows, Dominic had 3 boys in his group. He didn't win. Its ok. Gioia had about 8 in her group. She didn't win either but after it was over the lady had the microphone for them to say their own names. Gioia grabbed the microphone and burst into her songs again (from the talent show) and wouldn't give it back until she was finished. The crowd was laughing. So even though she didn't win the trophy, she stole the show anyway. Saturday night they rode rides, Massimo picked us up at about 9pm and we drove home. It was a long weekend, but really fun.

Petty people

GRRR!! Damn it! I am sick of petty people. My moms group I am on, this young mom posted about a medical issue she had with her pregnancy. People gave her advice, then this new lady posted her experience with it, which was (in my opinion) pretty scary. I emailed the new lady and said, Wow that was pretty scary, do you think you could edit it a little bit so you don't totally freak the pregnant mom out? She didn't agree with me that it was scary, just honest, but she edited. And she ALSO wrote that someone asked her to, and made a stinking deal of out it to the whole board. NICE. DAMN IT! The reason I emailed her privately was to not make a big deal out of it and not involve the whole community in one tiny issue. I even told the lady I was asking her a favor. I did it for the pregnant mom not to get all worried and freaked out.

FORGET IT! Sometimes it just doesn't pay to try to help other people out, because someone will get pissed off and act all petty about it.

Move out to the country, eat a lot of peaches...

So we want to move out to the country (and eat a lot of peaches...heh hee). We are serious about it and plan to try to put our house on the market next spring/summer. In the meantime, we are looking at properties, both land and houses with land. If we find a great vacant land we will probably buy it and plan to build next spring. However, we are hoping to find a house already on some great land. We have looked at a couple houses and like a few areas. We have narrowed our search down. We have to stay within about 30-40 minutes drive of my husbands work.

We looked at a house yesterday in Cleveland Missouri. It was really cool. 12.45 acres, barn (needs new roof), small shed, and "garage" that really is justs a tin building, m-ay-be you could fit one car in it but I doubt it. We would most likely tear it down and build a nice 2 car garage. The house was a 2 bed, 1 bath brick house. It has all hardwoods in it, nice old woodwork in it, and it is great. The interior doesn't need any work. Then it has a second floor that they finished. It would need a little work, but it is basically 1 bedroom, but is the size of almost two rooms. SO it would be perfect for a kids room and playgroup combo. If we bought this house, we would build on to it, probably large Master Bathroom (to make bath #2), extend the kitchen, and another room like a dining room with windows around it to have an excellent view. Then DH had a good idea that instead of a deck we could do a large patio with a wrought iron fence enclosing it, to keep the pets off when you are entertaining or eating. Think about Italy Bistro kind of theme. I think I love it all, but DH is not so sure. So we are waiting and thinking on it. It would be really nice to get a house and land already done, but of course that cost more money too.

We also found a really cute house in Peculiar, MO. We haven't been to see the inside of it yet, but DH was in love with it because it is on a gravel cul-de-sac, 8 acres and the house is already done, 3 bed, 2 bath. The online pictures look great. We drove by it one day to see the location and area. The neighbor dogs were just walking right up to us. There were several neighbors on the street but everyone has several acres in between them. That one was more money, so we would have to sell our house FIRST then buy it. I don't know if it will be on the market this spring. I am sure the sellers hope not. :)

Anyway, it is fun and exciting to be going through this process and it is SOO different this time, because we are in a better financial position and it really opens a lot of doors for us.

My list of things I am going to do when I get my land/house:
#1 - A CLOTHES LINE! WOO HOO! I can hang my diapers and other clothes outside. Fun!
#2 - Get a diesel car/van or something to run biodiesel on. AKA... Grease from the local restaurant. I need a shed to filter and store the grease. (stop laughing it is free and good for the environment)
#3 - Get a couple goats for the kids to pet and love and eat the grass.
#4 - Next spring - HUGE ASS garden. HUGE flower garden and flowers everywhere. :)
#5- Horse or Pony for the kids - maybe a year or 2 down the road.

1st pee in the potty

Last night my little guy made his first pee-pee in the potty! WOO HOO! He is only 23 months. I do not expect him to do it on any kind of regular basis, but i am just excited he knows what we want him to do. He has been asking to sit on the potty and we always let him, even though he doesn't go. I was going to try to catch his morning poop, but he did it right away this morning before we even made it to the bathroom. Oh well. I will try again tomorrow.

Yesterday we just ran errands and dropped some food off for a friend who had a baby. Took a bike ride in the evening and just had a regular day. I made some tasty BBQ ribs for dinner. Everyone loved them. We worked in the garden and I need to re-plant my green beans today.