The feats of Winter

Now, let's see what has been happening around this crazy place this Winter.

We have built towers...

...and cities.

Magnificent works of art have been created.

Archeological digs for dinosaur bones were completed.

And sometimes we need to re-charge our batteries.

Sorry

It is official, I am a blogging slacker.

Chipped :(

That was fast and easy.

Gels?

I might be addicted to groupon. I had a nice relaxing outing to get my nails and hair done yesterday afternoon. The manicure was done with OPI Axxium Soak Off Gel. The gel lacquer system is painted right onto your nails, is dry before you leave the salon, supposedly lasts up to 3 weeks, and doesn't chip. It is time to remove it when it has grown out to an unreasonable point. Then you soak them for 10-15 minutes. I think this is novel. I chip nails moments after they are painted. So, I will keep you posted on this weird manicure.

Big Girl Bed

Corinne and I converted her crib yesterday after her stripping down while bored and not sleeping at nap time. Kevin and I had agreed it was time for the big girl bed a little while ago, we just had not executed. I decided that she should have the option to climb out of bed to entertain herself with toys or books instead of taking off all her clothes and peeing all over. So, she helped me with the tools and we changed out the side of her crib.

She climbed in and out about 40 times, thought it was AWESOME. We played upstairs and in and out of the bed for most of the afternoon yesterday. She went to bed immediately last night (she was extra tired from no nap) and I was sure the morning would really be the test of how the big girl bed was going.

When she woke this morning she talked a bit and when I went in her room I found her studying the low railing that keeps her from rolling out of part of the bed. Typically, Corinne starts her day with big jumps in her bed while she holds onto the railing of her crib. She was studying this ankle high railing to try to figure out how she was going to hold on to it and do her morning jumps. She seemed sad, not crying, fit throwing sad, but frustrated, unable to jump sad. I think not being able to jump in the bed so rigorously is probably not a bad thing.

Tonight she climbed in and out of bed 5 or 10 times while we got ready for bed. She and Kevin brushed teeth, we read books, and I tucked her in. Again, She stayed in bed and went to sleep.

My little girl is growing up.

* I knew I was posting to early and cursing the process. Corinne fell out of bed last night and was up multiple hours and afraid of her bed. She eventually went back to sleep in her bed with one foot on the ground. We slept in late to make up for the hours in the middle.

Shutterfly Representative?

It seems I keep hocking Shutterfly's products lately. I recently hosted a houseparty and taught everyone how to make photobooks. Now, I am going to take moment here to talk holiday cards.

In past years I have created my own custom card. I love squares and had 5 x 5 photos printed and then hunted for an affordable envelope option. This year I had my hands on the samples of Shutterflys photo cards and I have to tell you, they are nice. They tell stories, share moments, and so personal and fun.

I found awesome options for a sweet and modern 5 x 5 cards that come with envelopes (Can you tell the envelope hunt was rough?).

I had never even thought of doing a folded card. I remember when folded photo card cost a fortune and only could be ordered through professional photographers. Now they are affordable and look good with my snap shots. My mom is a huge fan of the holiday letter, giving everyone an update for each year. There is a perfect card for her that is a newsletter sort of format.

For the record I am sharing my love of holiday cards with you for a reason: Bloggers get 50 free holiday cards from Shutterfly… sign up: http://bit.ly/sfly2010

Halloween

Not quite the Halloween I had envisioned...

Corinne had no interest in carving pumpkins this afternoon. We covered the floor in newspaper and I popped the tops off our pumpkins and encouraged her to touch them. She ran to the other room and played with her toys while Kevin and I sat on the floor and each gutted and carved a pumpkin.

Nap time ran into trick or treating time and Corinne did not wake up on the right side of the bed. She was not a happy trick or treater and hated both warm costumes we have for her. She had been a cartoon character she likes for all her indoor parties, but for Halloween we have a fleece monkey and a flower. The flower wound up being too small over many layers of clothing to keep her warm and she made it to one house to visit before putting her foot down and coming back home. So, we switched to the monkey and she visited one more neighbor and insisted on coming home again. At that point we put on regular clothes, had a snack, and reset. Kevin had built a fire in the fire pit to keep us warm while handing out candy. Corinne LOVED getting candy from our bowl and putting it in the bags and buckets of all the people who can to visit her. I guess this was the year she hands out candy instead of collecting it.

Then we came inside to make tacos. It is a standard meal in our house and I can typically make them with my eyes closed. For Halloween we had a kitchen fire though. The shells caught in the toaster over after being in for less than a minute. I ran Corinne out of the house and came back in to put out the fire. Thankfully, we had some soft tortilla shells as well.

The rest of the night was uneventful. Happy Halloween.

one more thing...

One more thing....here is a little video of Corinne's favorite toy at music class; the roller coaster :)

Another Fall Is Upon Us

I love Autumn. It is such a beautiful season. The trees light up the sky and the sun shines bright.
There are all sorts of fun things to do in Michigan in the Fall. We visited the cider mill.
We dress us for Halloween. This year Corinne with be Kai-Lan (see picture) when it is warm out and a monkey on the cooler nights.
We even get to go on a hayride to pick the perfect pumpkin.
Fall is a transition in nature and has been a transition in our house. Corinne and I started mom and tot preschool and a different music class this Fall. We have begun to get up at 8 AM every day in an attempt to change her internal schedule. Corinne is happy to sleep until 9ish every morning, but that makes school very rough.

We had the great purge of 2010 and the yard sale that followed. We regularly have the pleasure of playing with our friends and family, but this Fall we even got to throw a party for Granny and Grandpa's 40th Wedding Anniversary. MSU stomped on U of M for the third straight year, that always brings me great pleasure. I personally find it awesome they have won that game since the day Corinne was born.

It has been a wonderful season so far and it is still going strong. Corinne has a packed social calendar for Halloween, playgroup party, pre-school party, Boo Bash, and so much more. I am extremely excited about attending my first murder mystery party this weekend.

Blueberry Muffins

Corinne went through the trouble of picking me fresh blueberries. So, I figured the least I could do was make her fresh blueberry muffins. I found a base recipe and went to tweaking. They turned out fantastic (if I do say so myself). So, I thought I would share the final recipe with you and with forgetful me when I want to make them again.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup milk
• Lemon Juice from 2 lemons (around 1/4 cup)
  
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
  
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Directions

1. In a small bowl, mix milk and lemon juice; set aside.
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Set aside. Add egg and oil to milk mixture; mix well. Gently stir into flour mixture just until moistened. Fold in blueberries.
3. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full. Bake at 400 degrees F at 22 minutes or until center of muffin springs back when lightly touched.

Watch That Smile Grow

I totally stole the idea for this post from Amber
( http://amberpagewrites.com/2010/07/the-evolution-of-a-smile-as-told-by-my-cell-phone.html )

Enjoy!