I'm so steamed right now. We picked up some new living room furniture pieces a couple of weeks ago, and it is already showing signs of abuse from the kids and the dog. We got an incredible deal on a sofa at a clearance sale, but that doesn't make me feel any better about the dog leaving permanent scratches in the cushions. So now our nice looking new sofa has an old throw blanket on top to prevent it from receiving additional "dog scars". Our loveseat (not new) has a busted spring in one seat cushion from the kids jumping on it.  read more »

Choosyboy seems to be coming out of his shell lately. Until recently, he had been more reserved than his older sister, who was always the life of the party. In fact, Choosygirl's first word was "hi". Her brother was usually the one to bury his head into mom's shoulder or hide behind my leg when someone tried talking to him. But not anymore.  read more »

Choosygirl's birthday party was great. We had a small group of friends over, who brought their small group of children. It lasted just the right amount of time, and there were no casualties. Our tricked-out Wal-Mart salsa was a hit, as were the 88-cent archaeological dig projects that we picked up for the kids. These small packages (also from Wal-Mart) each came with a block of hardened sand, a plastic knife and a small brush. The kids get to chip away at the sand block until they reach a treasure piece inside.  read more »

It's been a while since I've blogged, but I honestly have a good excuse. Aside from being very busy, I'm also trying to get accustomed to a totally new work schedule. This is rough!  read more »

Choosygirl will be turning seven next week, and we've been trying to figure out what to do about her birthday party. Her school has this inconvenient policy about party invitations that states that we must invite the entire class. Although I understand that they don't want any of the children to have their feelings hurt, there is no way that I am going to have an entire class of six and seven-year-olds running around our home. There were only half a dozen of them in our house last year, and it was pure chaos. Some kids trashed the house - others got hurt.  read more »

Sometimes I correct my son when he uses a phrase incorrectly, or pronounces a word wrong. But on certain occasions, it is just too cute to correct him.

Case in point: Our friends have a little girl name "Vivian." She's cute as a button, about the same age as my son, and they play well together. I don't know why, but Choosyboy calls her "Amphibian." I love it.