OMG - How Adorable!!

The above phrase was repeated a gazillion times this evening as this walked around our neighborhood:


Honestly, I didn't think anyone would care that I dressed Elliott up as Raggedy Ann. If anything, I thought someone would make fun of the outfit. Not the case. And while I realize that she's 2 (for 3 more weeks) and everyone who doesn't have a 2-year-old thinks they're adorable, Elliott really did look adorable. Partly because of the costume. But mostly because of her personality. She is very gregarious (when she wants to be), and she loves talking to adults. She asked everyone what their name was, what their pets' names were, and any other question she could think of at that moment. My favorite was/is "What you doin'?"

Elliott's cuteness was only slightly diminished when people saw this toddling towards them:

Janna's bow-legged toddley walk is so stinking cute in normal clothes. In a raggedy costume it's even cuter!! I am keeping these costumes forever simply because of how cute the kids looked tonight. No picture does them justice. Janna was so content to be out and about this evening. She said "Hi dere!" to everyone she saw!

When people were all done gushing over the cuteness of my girls, this stalked up to doors:

Roaring ferociously, of course. Gabriel loves this costume, and I love him in it. He looks so cute!! He wore it last year, and I think he might be disappointed that it's not going to fit him after tonight (he had a hell of a time keeping the bottoms up over his butt because his legs are so long, and his arms are too long for the sleeves). I think I am going to put it away for him to keep. I know that's kind of dumb, but he loves it. It was the first Halloween costume he picked out himself. If nothing else, it can go in the dress-up bin.

Halloween is over. We had a great time partying and crafting and trick-or-treating. Now I have to figure out what to do with all the damned candy. I'm not about to put any of the 39+ pounds that I have lost back on by eating all the chocolate!! Anyone want some??

Responses to Lisha!

1. What time did you get up this morning? 8:19am. The kids let us sleep in!!
2. Diamonds or pearls? I won't lie - I love both!! However, if I had to choose, I'd choose...BOTH!!
3. Last film you saw at the cinema? The Mummy Returns. Yeah, it was that long ago...2001.
4. What is your favorite TV show? It's a tie between The Office and LOST.
5. What do you have for breakfast? Coffee. That's usually all I have.
6. What is your middle name? Jane.
7. What food do you dislike? Pretty much anything with mayonnaise.
8. What is your favorite CD at the moment? I haven't purchased a CD for years. I download music from the internet, and I like a little bit of everything. If you consulted my iPod it would say that the most played songs are by Maroon 5.
9. What kind of car do you drive? Dodge Grand Caravan.
10. Favorite sandwich? Right now I would have to say either a Veggie Delite sub from Subway or a buffalo "chicken" sandwich that I make at home (using a Morning Star Chik Patty).
11. What characteristic do you despise? Stupidity.
12. Favorite item of clothing? Jeans.
13. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go? I don't know. Somewhere warm. Possibly without my kids.
14. Favorite brand of clothing? I don't have one.
15. Where would you retire to? Dunno.
16. What was your most recent memorable birthday? My own, personal memorable birthday? Would be last year's. Because that was the last one I had. (And because my friends threw me a surprise party!!) Not my own, personal birthday? Janna's.
17. Favorite sport to watch? I don't watch sports. Ever.
18. Farthermost place you are sending this? I'm not sending it...
19. Person you expect to send it back first? Probably no one.
20. When is your birthday? December 14.
21. Are you a morning person or a night person? Neither. I'm bitchy all day.
22. What is your shoe size? It depends on the shoe. Sneakers - 9.5, dress shoes - 10.
23. Pets? Kuzcotopia Jane - Crack Kitty.
24. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share with us? It's almost bedtime!!! That's pretty exciting!!
25. What did you want to be when you were little? My Mom. And I'm there.
26. How are you today? Fine, just fine.
27. What is your favorite sweets? (Certainly not any sweet made with improper grammar!!) Anywho - I love sweets!! But I don't eat them now...much!! I love peanut butter cups (they MUST be Hershey's) and cookies. I also love apple and pumpkin pies!
28. What is your favorite flower? Lilacs.
29. What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to? November 21 - Elliott's 3rd birthday.
30. What is your full name? John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt. Is this name your name, too?
31. What are you listening to right now? The shower - Jon's giving the kiddos their baths!!
32. What was the last thing you ate? A flatbread, crispy crust pizza with cheese, spinach, and black olives.
33. Do you wish on stars? Yep.
34. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Red. Cause I'm awesome like that.
35. How is the weather right now? Kind of shitty. It just got done thundering and lightninging.
36. The first person you spoke to on the phone today? My Mommy.
37. Favorite soft drink? Coca-Cola Classic. The best soda in the world!!
38. Favorite restaurant? I don't think I have one. I love Chili's, though!
39. Real hair color? Something close to what it is now. As I get older, it gets darker. So I lighten it.
40. What was your favorite toy as a child? Barbies.
41. Summer or winter? Fall??
42. Hugs or kisses? Both!!
43. Chocolate or Vanilla? Again, both!!!
44. Coffee or tea? Umm, both?! Coffee in the morning, tea later in the day.
45. Do you want your friends to email you back? I love it when my friends e-mail me.
46. When was the last time you cried? I don't remember.
47. What is under your bed? Dust bunnies, books, pictures, foot spa...probably some other random crap, too.
48. What did you do last night? Entertained Katie.
49. What are you afraid of? Snakes.
50. Salty or sweet? Sweet!!
51. How many keys on your key ring? Not many...maybe 3. The "real" question should be "How many key rings vs. keys are on your key ring?".
52. How many years at your current job? 8...I was a housewife before I had kids, and now I'm a housewife and a SAHM.
53. Favorite day of the week? Thursday. I get to ogle John Krasinski.
54. How many towns have you lived in? 4 towns in 2 states.
55. Do you make friends easily? Yep. I'm very boisterous.
56. How many people will you send this to? Didn't we already cover the fact that I'm not sending this to anyone??
57. How many will respond? Probably none - ya losers!!

I know that I've posted three times today...but I can't help myself. There's just so much useless stuff to blog about today!!

The Playlist...

...is on the side of the blog. Right under the "About Me" section. It's pink. I don't have it turned on to automatic play. Every time I opened this page, the music scared me (I forgot that I had the songs listed, and I wasn't expecting them to play.)!!

Weekly Weigh-In!!

The Week: Not too shabby! I did a pretty great job of keeping my cool - literally and figuratively - all week. I am really trying my hardest not to yell as much (and if you know me at all, then you know that this is going to be very hard for me), and I think that I am doing well. I am always going to be a "yeller", and I embrace that. My parents were (and still are) yellers, so I come by it naturally. My kids are difficult at best, and I deal with them the best way I can. All three thrive on negative attention, so I am trying to be more positive. Wish me luck!!

We had some fun MOMS Club events this week. The horse farm was awesome (did you see my gorgeous girls???), and our Halloween party was the best kid party I have ever been to. It was so relaxed and the kids all had a blast. It was great!!

The weekend has been really quiet. And kind of dreary. It's getting ready to rain (and it rained almost all day yesterday). I love sunny Fall...but I hate rainy Fall. Yesterday was spent running errands...ALONE!! Jonny kept the kiddos, and I went all over getting groceries and a few Christmas presents for the kids (Yes, I am that Mom. I have the Girls done, and Gabriel's stuff has to be ordered.). My pal, Katie came over last night for dinner, and we got to giggle and laugh together. It was really nice.

Today has been spent the same way last Sunday was spent...cleaning. Again, don't get me wrong - I love that my husband has the motivation to clean...that he's willing to clean...that he does a great job cleaning. My complaint is that after his urge is gone, he does "nothing" for months. Yeah he does some dishes and laundry, and I am NOT complaining about the fact that he does something. But I do those things EVERY SINGLE DAY. I guess my whole problem with his cleaning bug is that I am expected to be impressed and grateful that he's done something so wonderful. No one is impressed and/or grateful that I clean every damned day. But I think that I am going to call it quits for the day. I don't know how much more scrubbing my poor hands can handle!

The Weight: Not bad. I stayed the same this week - still 36 pounds down.

I'm Not Much of a Photographer, Either...

Lisha added a really nice picture to her post for today, and claimed that she wasn't much of a photographer. Regardless, the picture was lovely, and she can take pictures of my stuff any day!!

My photography skills are very lacking, but I got this shot on a field trip this week. And I love it. My friend, Keelie pointed out that the sky looks awesome, and the fence stands out in contrast. I like it for those reasons, too. But I also like it because my Girls are in the same stance.

I'm not much of a singer either. And neither are my kids. But that isn't stopping them from belting out some Flobots songs. Loudly. And asking for an entire concert of the favorite songs. I've added a playlist for you listening pleasure. This is what my kids would prefer to listen to. Nasty Mommy that I am, I prefer them to listen to something a little less mature.

Weekly Weigh-In!!

The Week: Could have been better, but it also could have been a lot worse. We had a number of very awesome MOMS Club events this week (the fish hatchery was AWESOME!!), and Jon and I took the kiddos out and about all day yesterday. Honestly, I can't think of anything to complain about right now. Hmmmmm....it must be that all of the dust and cleaning product chemicals are getting to me. It's Sunday. The proverbial day of rest. Just not for me. For whatever reason, my hubby got a bug up his ass about cleaning. And when that happens, the entire house is turned upside down. He means well, and he does a lot of hard work. But it's annoying. I clean every day. Can't I please just sit on my ass for one afternoon? Please? Nope. At least I'm not doing all of the work alone. There are now 3 more garbage bags of stuff to go to Goodwill along with a pile of trash that is bigger than me. I really shouldn't complain. And my kids? All three are playing very happily TOGETHER in the cleaned out play-room. Now I need to figure out what to make for dinner...

The Weight: I was pretty sure I had gained weight this week - but I was wrong! I lost 3.2 pounds, bringing the total to 36 pounds even. Yay!!

The Week In Pictures

Since I have absolutely nothing of substance to write about, I thought I'd share some pictures. Enjoy!

Weekly Weigh-in!!

The Week: Ok, so I'm a day late. Deal!! Last week was pretty crappy. Mostly because Jon was out of town for most of it. I lived through it...and so did the kids. I won't go into detail, but they were less than pleasant. And as a result, I was less than less than pleasant. Good times!

Like I said, I made it through the week (with special help from Erin and her family - THANK YOU!!). On Friday we went "home" to see family. We got to see my Dad (who we see maybe thrice a year), which was nice. Jon got to see his Nana, too. The kids and I didn't go see her since we are all sick, but at least he got to spend a few hours with her. I think he's glad he did. We spent the rest of the weekend with my Mom. Saturday we went to a local pumpkin patch and had a great time! (I'll post pics if I feel like it. Most of them will be on my website. If you want to see them, let me know. It's ok if you don't want to.) We came home yesterday, and I am pretty wiped out. While it was a very nice weekend, it was also very tiring.

The Weight: As of 6:35am on Sunday morning, I am 32.8 pounds below my original starting weight. That's a 2.6 pound loss for the week!

HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY, KEELIE!

This post is dedicated to you - my very best friend of over 25 years. I am such a horrible BF - I completely flaked on sending you a card...or an e-mail...or something stupid on Facebook. I didn't forget about your birthday. I just forgot to do something about it. Forgive me?

I honestly don't remember when we first met. I know it was in pre-school, and we just sort of became attached. Forever. Sure we've had some rough patches, but no matter what you have always been there for me. There really aren't enough words to express what you have meant to my life. I wouldn't be the person I am today without having had you as a constant for the past quarter century. I love you dearly. I am so proud of you - proud of you for being an awesome Mom, proud of you for going back to school, proud of you for just being you. And I'm overly proud and privileged to call you my friend.

So, Happy Belated "29th" Birthday! Hope you had a great day!

Weekly Weigh-In!!

The Week: As you might have read in my last post, we've been having some school and sleep issues around here. The school issues have been resolved - thank goodness. Both kids had a great week in school, and I am exceedingly proud of the strides they have made.

The sleep issues are another story. Right now, Elliott is laying in a pack 'n play whining. Notice I said pack 'n play. Not bed. Because she can't stay in her bed, she gets to sleep in a play pen. And she hates it. One would think that because she hates it so much, she would learn to stay in her bed. Not the case with Miss Thing. If anything, her loathing of the pack 'n play seems to make her more apt to leave her bed. I'm not exactly sure why that is. She just doesn't want to stay in her bed. She wants to wander/poke/play - or as I like to call it, "dick around". It makes me nuts. Not only is she keeping her siblings awake, but she's just not being safe. I am petrified that she will fall down the steps or something. We have tried putting a gate in her doorway, but she can climb those with no problem. Closing the door doesn't work either because it sticks - and if she needs to potty she can't get out. I'm just about out of ideas. Anyone have any suggestions?

Yesterday was my MOMS Club luncheon. It was so much fun! I got a chance to dress up! And I looked HOT!! My clothes were a little on the loose side, but they still looked cute. All of my Mommy pals looked cute, too!! I don't have a picture of Miss Erin to put up here, but here's Jennifer and I. Aren't we just too cute for words?? (Or do we look like lesbians??)

Today has been nice...quiet...sad. All of the above. Nice in that there was nothing that had to be done. Quiet because the kids were very well behaved. Sad because Jon's Nana is in the hospital. She's 95. We kind of feel like we're on hold right now. Every time the phone rings I worry that it's his Mom with bad news. We'll see what happens as the week goes on.

The Weight: I am 30.2 pounds lighter than I was 10 weeks ago!! How cool is that?

Good Times!

I'm back! Didja miss me? I spent the first part of the week in PA with Janna and my pal Jennifer. Jen had a conference at the hospital where my Mom works, so I went along for the ride. It was a nice, relaxing trip. Janna is so easy to travel with. She's so content (even without a decent nap or a good night's sleep).

We got back Tuesday night, and I was so excited to see my Big Hosers and husband. Aside from hospital stays, I have never left the kids for more than a few hours. They were glad to see me, too.

All that gladness and excitement? Pretty sure it wore off sometime on Wednesday morning. Jon informed me on Tuesday evening that the Big Kids were both having some issues at school. Apparently both of them are over-excited when they get there, and that leads to all kinds of obnoxiousness. I know, you're probably saying to yourself, "Courtney's kids? Obnoxious? Never." But yep. Obnoxious they are. Gabriel likes to blurt/yell out answers in class instead of waiting patiently with his hand raised. He also likes to be the center of attention. Elliott has the same problems - yelling, needing a ton of attention - but she has another issue. She likes to leave. She finishes her crafts, and then she tries to leave the classroom. So we've been talking about the need for patience and listening skills. I talked with both of their teachers, and the end of this week went well.

Sleep woes are also a huge part of the reason that the gladness/excitement has worn off. Janna didn't sleep well while we were in PA, and now she doesn't think she has to sleep at all. Her naps have gone from a daily total of over 4 hours (one hour in the a.m. and 3+ hours in the p.m.) to a piddly 1.5 hours. She doesn't fall asleep until 9:30 usually, and then she's up around 6. She's growing more miserable as the days go on. Elliott's lack of sleep leads to Janna's. E doesn't like to stay in her own bed. So she wanders and she picks. She usually gets a spank to the bottom, as well. Gabriel has also started having an issue with napping. His issue? He no longer does it. And it's killing me. I NEED nap-time. It's a necessity. And it hasn't gone well this week at all. Needless to say, I am annoyed. And I have a ginormous headache.

So...the lack of sleeping needs to change. So does the amount of sass/back-talk/attitude that the kids give. Elliott is the worst of all. She's so whiny, and she's manipulative to boot. She plays Jon and I against each other. While she almost never succeeds in getting what she wants, she totally succeeds in pissing us both off. Gabriel has gotten much better since school started, but he's still got quite the mouth on him. Even Janna has started with the nastiness. She says "No!" far too much for a Girly of her age, and she's taken to hitting.

Good times at my house this week. Good times. Jon's traveling again for part of next week, so I can only imagine what it will be like...