WIL Day 6: 29 Friday 2011

Week in the Life - Day 6: Friday, July 29, 2011

This morning, Sydney went across the street for a play date with the girls (and the shared babysitter, college student, Liz.)

After he got home, I had hoped that he would be inspired to wear big boy pants - since Lise is now potty-trained. He did agree to wear BIG BOY PANTS. Since I wanted to self-contain accidents to the kitchen, if possible, we decided to do some baking, making a new recipe: Loaded Oatmeal Cookies.

It called for things that I have never used before - such as flax seed and wheat germ. (Thankfully, Mike has these things for his baking and granola-making-fix.) He, of course, didn't notice that it SHOULD be refrigerated after opening.

After everything had been measured out and was ready to go, I plugged in my grandmother's old stand mixer to discover that it was dead, Dead, DEAD. (It had smelled HOT when Mike was done using it earlier in the week to make bread, using the dough hooks.) My dad, Papa Olson, confirmed that it is DEAD. Thankfully, neighbor-boy Mason was home to loan us a handheld mixer. (We repaid them in cookies, of course!)

Loaded with dark chocolate and craisins, these were DELICIOUS COOKIES!

Mmmm, Loaded Oatmeal Cookies were DELICIOUS! I would make them again!!!

While we were working in the kitchen, I heard "Uh-oh!" It was NOT an accident report of bladder or bowels, but WAS a report of spilled chocolate chips. Sydney had been eating them and managed to get SOME on his face.

Suddenly, I noticed that one of my oven mitts had disappeared; found it tucked inside our potty.

Big Boy Pants on while working in the kitchen.

Silas supervised from his bouncy seat.

Sydney kept a close eye on Silas, as well.

Silas started to get fussy so, I laid him on the floor an he started to watch the Food Network.

A few minutes later, he was fast asleep!

A common view at our house - Sydney at his seat with a sippy cup and our (smaller) cat Eddy on the table - keeping Sydney company.

Sydney's colorful lunch: red bell peppers. orange carrots, yellow mac & cheese, yellow pineapple, green beans, hot dogs and dark red kidney beans.

Like most days, I did some laundry.

Eddy likes to help with laundry, too.

Sydney was playing with his farmer and animals before bed.

Lining up and talking to his toys... SO CUTE!

Diaper changes before bed. Thankful for the stripe on Silas' diaper that turns colors when wet/dirty. (Blue is dirty.) Silas wears size 2, but weighs enough to upgrade to size 3 at any time now. Sydney wears Size 3 during the day and a Size 4 Overnight diaper for bedtime.

We brush our teeth before bed. Sydney's newest toothbrush is KEY-KEY MONSTAH. Being two and QUITE INDEPENDENT, Sydney insists upon taking the cap off of his toothpaste, dropping it onto the floor every. single. night! (Thankfully, he still lets ME put the paste on for him.)

Our lop-sided nursery... we had some evidence of water on the other side of the nursery and hope to get it looked at. To be safe(r), we moved Silas' crib to Sydney's side of the room.

WIL Day 5: 28 Thursday 2011

Day 5: Thursday, July 28, 2011.

We got SLAMMED with a series of storms that would NOT move out of our area!!! (It started around 6pm last night.) We had record rainfall that was OUT OF THIS WORLD and caused some MAJOR (CRAZY) flash floods. Various streets and even major highways were closed. Lightening strikes caused damage to a building downtown - blasting bricks off of the building. It had also caused at least one fire. Nearby - just 35 miles away, Mike's dad got only .14" of rain... almost nothing at all; yet WE got pounded!

10.62" (at the airport) within less than 24 hours in Dubuque.

Some rainfall totals around our area.

Record 24 hour rainfall in Dubuque. (10.62" +)

Additional rainfall expected to hit Dubuque later today... another 1.86". PLEASE... rain, rain GO AWAY! (NOTE: Thankfully, the additional rainfall did track south of us so, we did not get a huge amount as forecasted.)

Putting my (waterproof) Danner boots on so that I could go into the basement to suck out water during (the boys') naptime. Thankfully, we had only about an inch of water in the basement. Our neighbor's son had a few inches at his place; his friend around the corner had 5 feet of water in his basement and claimed that he had always wanted a pool, indoor - no less. (NOTE: The weekend newspaper was reporting downtown locations with 8-10' of water in their basements, as well as retaining walls crumbling and yards washing away completely. NOT COOL!)

After naps, while we were searching in the freezer for some salmon for dinner, Sydney spotted a popsicle. Naturally, they are QUITE MESSY so, we ate it outside on the deck.

Sydney had popsicle running down his arm and dripping off of his elbow. His paper towel napkin was saturated, but he kept wiping. He also had it in his hair. He reported that it is: Mmmm, good popkickle! Nih-knee like a lot. I do!

I figured out how to shoot pictures with a delay so that I could attempt to be in some photos for a change.

Using the 10-second timer to take this picture, Sydney helped me squeeze the Uncle Ben's Wild Rice. Amazing how well it tastes in just 90 seconds. Sydney loves to be a helper in the kitchen. The step-stool is his new favorite thing; although, I prefer him to stand on a dining room chair, for safety instead.

Our dinner: Wild Rice with dried cranberries, green beans, chunky applesauce and salmon fillet with apricot honey glaze.

WIL Day 4: 27 Wednesday 2011

WIL Day 4: 27 Wednesday 2011

Welcome to my Week in the Life project - inspired by Ali Edwards. (http://aliedwards.com)

This week, I am trying to capture OUR LIFE in photos. If I find time, I am trying to document snippets from our life... what we eat, what's going on in our lives, funny conversations, etc. My goal is to capture the good, the bad and the ugly - as well as our EVERY DAY LIFE.

Day 4: Wednesday, July 27, 2011.

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Sydney is off at the neighbor's house for playdate/babysitting time - leaving me time to make Creamed Eggs on Toast for Mike & I, as well as folding a MOUNTAIN of laundry.

Wednesday is garbage day. Since Silas woke me early enough, I boxed up our paper recycle bin and set it out on the curb. I came back inside to find this:

Otto, our 20 pound cat, thinks he is smaller than he actually is.

Silas was getting QUITE a workout this morning. He keeps trying to flip himself over. He wiggles and rolls onto his side and then flails and pulls to eventually (sometimes) flip. He also likes to wiggle and push himself across the floor on his back; thankfully, he still does it at turtle speed.

He tires himself out after all of his wiggling and a quiet nursing session (while Sydney plays across the street with the girls.)

4 year old Claire had built "a house" with couch cushions and a laundry basket while Sydney played there. At home, he tried to claim my laundry basket for a house. Instead, I introduced him to a world of blanket forts... which I used to do with my brother when we were kids.

Sydney LOVED going inside his "house".

Sydney's lunch (inspired by Sesame Street to eat a rainbow of nutrient-rich foods): ham cubes, red raspberries, carrot sticks, yellow bell pepper, garbanzo beans, snap peas, broccoli, blueberries, purple grapes.

My lunch: A salad with pea pods, carrot sticks, avocado slices, garbanzo beans, diced ham and some string cheese, as well as a side of fresh fruit.

Sydney and I enjoy a colorful and healthy lunch together.

Sydney ate almost all of his lunch. The balance of it, he decided to put into his cup.

Ah, yes... the perfect place to put broccoli.

YUM! Chunks in your milk! (Someday, he'll - hopefully - learn that floaties in your drink are NOT COOL!)

After lunch, Sydney (and Silas) were napping. I went down into the basement to finish sucking out the standing water for Mike. I guess we can feel fortunate, as far as the basement is concerned... there were PLENTY of people with FEET of water in their basements. (Plus, ours is a dingy old basement; it's not like it was a finished basement.)

I just found a self-timer setting on my camera so, I laid it on the bed and took a picture of myself working at my computer. There are a couple of blogs that I check out on a regular basis and I was downloading some more pics off of my camera. I am love, Love, LOVING participating in Week in the Life AND Project Life. (Looking forward to getting back to my somewhat neglected PL album again... it's been a few weeks... but thankfully, I still take plenty of pics to document what we're doing.)

Self-timer: Quick nap for me, too - before Silas wakes to eat again. Think he is going through a growth spurt... wants to eat often and has been sleeping a lot, too.

Afternoons, during Sydney's nap, I often nurse Silas on the bed in the office. There, we can nap together - if he's willing to sleep after nursing.

Sydney, awake from his nap, heads downstairs. He has started trying to walk down the stairs like a big person now... left foot on one step, right foot on the next. (He did mis-judge how difficult this is and bumped his head on the wall.) He still likes to hold our hand or be carried down the stairs.

Post-nap snack. Apple sliced and peeled. (If it isn't peeled, he will eat the apple and then hand you a glob of chewed peel; Eeew!)

Self-timer: Post-nap diaper change for Silas. (Size 2 Pampers are feeling small left-to-right.)

Sydney was SUPER EXCITED to help make tacos with Mommy. At 5pm each day, we get to wake Daddy from his sleep. Today, he woke to the smell of tacos... yum! Sydney also enjoyed his FAVORITE FOOD... Weight Watchers Smart Ones: Santa Fe style Rice & Beans. We also enjoyed some Corn & Bean Salsa with Lime Chips.