This Week

Rain, rain go away. I'm sick of this! Thursday and Friday were so nice. We played outside Thursday night until after dark, and Friday we spent 2.5 hours at Riley Park. We also went to Baskin Robbins and had a playdate with Anthony and Chase. I got to visit with Rachel, which was awesome. Saturday we went to them to Jumpin Jacks, which I thought was a good value for $6.36. Ryan really liked their bounce houses and the fun house mirrors. There weren't too many people there either, which was nice. I think they were all at KidsFest.



Last weekend I went and cropped with the girls. It was fun and I had my usual spurt of laughing until I cried. The weekend before that I had Hansens and Diane&Brian over for Mardi Gras. I made a King Cake and some kickass gumbo. I took some to my boss at work, who is from Louisiana, and he ruled it authentic.



The other excitement was our trip to McDonalds last Sunday. We ran into a bully. He was either 3 or 4. He was trash talking to Ryan. I told Ryan that the bully was a bad boy and he should stay away from him. Then Ryan comes back and said he had hit him. I said, was it an accident or on purpose? So Ryan marches over and said "Hey kid, did you hit me on accident or on purpose?". The kid turns and flips me the bird. Then Ryan says "Kid, you are a bad boy so I won't play with you. Next time if you can be good I will play with you." The kid glares at me. I look over at the mom. She glares at me. I was so proud. Then we skee-daddled. Normally I would say something to the mom, but she looked like a wirey piece of white trash that could really kick my ass. And use the f-bomb a lot. By the way, she also left to go to the restroom and left him all by himself in there.

The insurance company came and got the trailer and we got our check. Now we just have to find something else to haul dj equipment in.

Thanks for the Spiderman Bathrobe Aunt Kathy!

Update

Ryan and his new belt.

Batman on his mighty steed at HyVee.

New belt and new dragon boots.

Things at the Stein house are good yet bad, horrible yet wonderful. The bad is that things are tight since Todd hasn't had luck finding a job yet. Even the shit jobs have more applicants than positions. I know he is frustrated too and needs some social contact! We have tried various daycare schedules to keep Ryan hanging out with his friends, but Ryan is now home full time with us. Todd is home with him Mon - Thursday, and I am working 4 - 10 hour days so I can be home on Fridays. Todd is dee-jaying on Friday nights. Ryan is loving being home, but he doesn't nap and doesn't eat, so that can make for some long days. We have been crafting and Todd and Ryan have a schedule of playtime, reading time, craft time, etc so it is going well.

The great thing about all this is that we are spending a lot of time together. The bad thing is that we are spending a lot of time together. We all have cabin fever and are bickering. I took Ryan on a few errands the other day and he kept begging me not to take him home yet. We managed to hit the last 5 minutes of Clifford the Big Red Dog's visit to the library, so that was very exciting. I also have fixed him up on two play dates, but the friend he had over today didn't really want to play, so he watched tv and Ryan played outside. It was too nice to stay in. Yesterday I took him to the zoo. It was awesome. There were only 10 people there that I saw and it was nice enough to walk around outside.

Another lovely thing is that Culver cut all the money to pay my salary out of the budget, but it is only February and I have 11 years of seniority so I'm not to worried. Plus the work the inventory I have to do is mandated by state law so they need me.

Our basement is all cleaned up since we had those work parties in January, so I am hoping to do some entertaining for the poker girls soon. I am also looking forward to cropping with the girls on February 28! Sadly, I have not done any cropping since the last time we were together on November 1.

The thing I am most proud of Ryan is that he has an awesome imagination and uses it all the time. He saw the Imagination Movers on Disney the other day, and now he runs around in a pair of blue pajamas (they're supposed to be coveralls) so he can be the Imagination Guy. He also has an imaginary baby brother who is either named Alec or Jaison, depending on the day. He also spends a lot of time as Nick the cleaner guy.

He has also started dressing himself, doing dishes, dusting, and helping with the laundry. He is such a big boy now!

snow

Hello Faithful Readers

Hi everyone. I'm still here. I guess I got busy with Ryan and the holidays and got behind on my blog. Not much is new here except Ryan pees in the potty now. I also rearranged his room and removed some toys so he can actually move around in there.

Ryan is staying home now with Todd 3 days a week, so we are all adjusting. It is sooo nice to get up those 3 days and only have to get me ready to go! We are having a party on the 16th for my section at work and on the 17th for Todd's former employees, so we have been frantically reorganizing the basement. I am looking forward to it, but I will be glad when it's over!

I am also insanely jealous. My parents are an a cruise right now and should be entering the Panama Canal tomorrow morning. Sounds a lot better than Des Moines.

The next best gift, the Planet Heroes rocket ship.

The Happiest Kid You Have Ever Seen

Ryan managed to find his big Christmas gift before it was wrapped. He was hysterical, so we let him have it early. I was disappointed, but he was estatic!

Chirstmas morning we got home from Oskaloosa at 12:00 am. Ryan was up at 4 am. Todd managed to keep him in his room until 6:30, and then he and I watched cartoons until about 8:15, when he suddenly looked over and noticed Santa had been there! He was wound up all day and finally collapsed on my lap at 7:45 pm.

Don't Be Jealous Girls!

I can't believe I actually won something!

Blogger won't let me post the picture of my winnings.

I WON!!!

Last time I was at Archiver's I filled out an entry slip for their sweepstakes. I didn't win the $250, but I did win a Doodlebug 8 x 8 album and 12x12 paper pack. All the paper is black, which is interesting. Some of it is glittery and some is flocked. This was a happy moment in kind of a crappy week. I have strep throat again for the 2nd time in 30 days and Todd was out of town. Luckily Ryan was very understanding and entertained himself. The other good news is Todd's mom made it through her surgery well and should be home tomorrow.

Sigh...

So I've got this superbad chest cold and have been awake since 4:30 am. Today at 12:45 I went to bed to take a nap while Todd watched Ryan. 20 minutes later Ryan wakes me up - Todd is sound asleep on the couch.

At 3:00 we put Ryan down for his nap and I run to Dahl's for cough medecine. I arrive home 25 minutes later and Todd is sound asleep on the couch, and Ryan is amok in the kitchen. I wake Todd up and tell him I'm home. He says ok - Ryan's taking a nap. I say - oh no he isn't!

I need to cut him some slack though, his gout foot is killing him with throbbing pain. We are going to the rheumatologist tomorrow. I really don't understand how it can be eating the bone away in his foot and they aren't doing anything.

Foiled Again

I have been dreaming of having a day where it was just me in the house, and I could catch up on whatever I wanted. Yesterday was that day, and it sucked. I have a super nastly cold (thanks Ryan), and only managed to go to my hair appointment and Target before collapsing on the couch. I don't think I am going to get my Karen Foster advent calendar made before Christmas. My house is trashed too because I did a 3.5 hour conference call on Friday and Ryan made some horrible messes while I was on the phone. He was home because daycare was closed, and he doesn't like it when I don't pay attention to him!

One good thing - I almost ready the whole Twilight book yesterday. Edward does sound dreamy.

Misc.

Winter scene from our backyard and some of Ryan's fall crafts from preschool. I love the turkey and pumpkin, they are just lunch bags full of paper.

Happy Thanksgiving

We had a very nice Thanksgiving. My parents came down, and I cooked the entire meal except dessert and my mom's dressing. I am wondering how come the mothers of the world have not revolted and just started going out for lunch. It is a lot of work for it all to be over in 20 minutes. Plus by the time I got sat down, I wasn't hungry any more!

Friday my parents and I took Ryan to the Festival of Trees and Lights downtown. It was really cool. They had a lot of pretty trees to look at, and Ryan only touched 3 ornaments. They also had the train from the mall there, so he rode that twice, and we attempted to make a Gingerbread House but he ate the door. He didn't want to get his face painted. I think the highlight of the day was Grandma G bought him 3 cookies, and he got to ride in their car (formerly my Grandpa's). Every 5 minutes he would say that he liked their car! That would have made my grandpa happy. Later that night we went to Jolly Holiday Lights. Ryan conked out at the end and slept until 5:40 am the next day.

Chip off the Old Block

Ryan is just like his dad....

Last Saturday I spotted one of the neighbor's cats in the backyard. Ryan ran over to the patio door (in his pullup and it was freezing), yanked open the door and yelled "CAT! YOU GET OUT OF MY BACKYARD!" The cat took off and Ryan was all proud of himself. A few weeks ago he informed our neighbor that her cat keeps pooping in his yard, and he doesn't like it.

Is it just me?

Is it just me, or does the world seem to be going to hell-in-a-handbasket in all sectors all at the same time? The economy is depressing, all this climate change stuff is terrifying me, and now I am reading all these articles about the increasing number of starving children in the world.

I guess tonight when Ryan wants me to lie in bed with him and sing 'On top of Spaghetti' until he falls asleep I will cherish it and not be annoyed that he isn't sleeping.

By the way, in Ryan's version, the spaghetti is topped with butterscotch, not cheese. He thinks it is hilarious - his own little ode to pudding.

He also now tells jokes that make absolutely no sense but he thinks they are hilarious. His favorite is "What starts with banana? A bononna!" (say it with hand gestures)

Fun with Birds - Great for Kids

The Great Backyard Bird Count - I found this in a DNR newsletter I got. For 4 days in Febuary people all over America can count the number of birds in their backyards and send the count to a website. This is used to do a complete inventory of what kinds of birds are in America at one time. I think they give a way prizes on the website. This would be really fun for kids I think.
http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc/

Posting

I was actually going to put some new stuff on my blog today, but I have to go into work :(
Actually, it might be nice going in to work. It will be quiet and I won't have to play Superfriends in the Bat Cave! I need to get a 2 yr old for Ryan to play with.

Halloween never ends at our house. Ryan and I spent the afternoon outside. Despite being Wonder Woman to his Bat Man, I got my tulips and daffodils planted.

Yesterday I went to a 15-hour crop with Heather, Jen, Roni, Steph, Jan, and Sue. It was awesome. We were all in good moods and none of us was bitching about anything. We all got a lot done too. My neck and back have been killing me, but after the most painful 10-minute massage I have ever had in my life I was a new woman.

Ryan and me on Beggar's Night before he told us he didn't want to Trick-or-Treat. He has been wearing 4 different costumes for 6 weeks, and on the big night he just wanted "his milk, his blanket, and watch Scooby Doo". We made it to about 10 houses.

Ryan and Todd at house #3. Ryan also didn't understand that you don't eat each piece of candy as it is handed to you.