We made it home last night, and we were all definitely glad to be back. After four days of being in the car for at least two hours, it was nice to plant ourselves down and not move. Overall, though, the weekend was really, really good.

We left for Cory's parents' house in Lake Wilson, MN, after Cory got home from work on Thursday. We left Friday morning to continue our travels, so that stop was basically a chance to break up our trip, drop off Lucy so they could keep her for a couple days and let Accalia and Cole have some serious grandparent-grandchild bonding time. That night Cole started walking around in a sort of crouch, which was very entertaining for all.

On Friday, we drove to St. Paul where our hotel was located. Cory and I both agreed that we hate driving in traffic. Yes, we may miss out on a lot of cutural and entertainment opportunities living in South Dakota, but thankfully it doesn't take us an hour to drive 30 miles. It's also good to know that there are bad drivers everywhere.

Anyway, once we made it to the hotel, we had to jump in the pool right away, of course. I was a very bad mommy and had forgotten to pack any pool toys. Accalia had a blast even without those, but we really wish we had noticed the vending machine that sold water toys before checkout. Ah well. The plan for supper was to eat at a nearby Bridgeman's. I was so excited to discover that thanks to Mapquest because I didn't think there were any Bridgeman's up and running anymore. Well, it turned out to be as it is everywhere: an Embers serving Bridgeman's ice cream. Sigh. Accalia was happy since she was able to gobble up the pancakes she had been craving. For those of you wondering why my obsession with Bridgeman's, it's because I worked at one throughout part of high school and college and was really, really looking forward to eating some specialty hashbrowns. Yummy!

So after that (and discovering that Mapquest can indeed give wrong directions) we headed back to the hotel. Not the most pleasant experience ever. The thermostat was apparently broken in our room, so it remained a stuffy 80 degrees the entire time. The front desk offered us a fan, which we readily agreed to, but wasn't able to deliver to us until well after 10 p.m.

We survived, though, and the next morning Cory and Accalia dropped Cole and I off at North Heights Lutheran Church in Arden Hills for Leader Day. Needless to say, it's hard to concentrate on speakers when you're also trying to entertain a 14 month old. Since it was a LLL function, there were plenty of other children there, too, so it was to be expected. This was my first time attending any LLL gathering other than a monthly Series meeting, so I was really looking forward to it. It was wonderful walking into a room filled with mothers carrying their babies in slings, sitting and nursing, or just interacting with their children and each other in gentle, respectful ways.

Cole fell asleep toward the end of the morning presentation by Barbara Wilson-Clay, so I was able to sit and concentrate on her presentation and slide show for a few minutes. Throughout the morning and the rest of the day, I was constantly meeting people I'd only corresponded with via email. It was kind of strange having to go around looking at each other's name tags, but I was so happy to meet these people. I also met a number of Leaders and Applicants that I'm corresponding with, which was very special for me. One Applicant even came up and gave me a hug :)

After lunch, I conducted a Leader recognition ceremony. Immediately after that was the session I presented on helping Applicants feel less overwhelmed. It was a small group - about 10 - but it went really, really well. I wasn't even able to get through my entire presentation because there were so many questions and discussions. Most of the attendees even stayed after to chat with me for a bit. The rest of the afternoon consisted of one more session and some final business/announcements.

Accalia and Cory were waiting for me out in the hall. I was so happy to see Accalia. That was the longest we'd ever been separated, so we had lots of hugs and kisses to give each other. She had a great time with Cory, of course, and even took a two hour nap, but I think she was a bit emotional from being reunited since she just started crying after we'd been back together for a few minutes. Happy tears, of course :)

We took off right away (through horrendous traffic, I might add) to my parents in Mankato. We stayed that night, and Accalia woke up at some point and started vomiting. Again and again and again. When morning came she certainly wasn't better but had stopped vomiting. I really wasn't looking forward to yesterday even if both kids had been healthy since we had even more driving, but it turned out okay since Accalia slept most of the way. We drove 2 1/2 hours to Lake Wilson to pick up Lucy and then drove another 2 1/2 hours back home.

The kids and I slept in until nearly 8 a.m. I don't even remember when that last happened, but apparently we all really needed it. Unfortunately I think Cole and I may be experiencing what Accalia had. No vomiting - yet - but I've been feeling quesy since last night. Cole just went down for a nap after only being awake about two hours. We'll see, I guess! Whoops! Now it appears that Cole is away once again.

Cole is standing right next to me right now and screaming excitedly each time I type or each time the screen changes. We're leaving today for the wilds of Minnesota and won't be home until Sunday. No guarantees I'll be back online that day, but you can always wait by the computer in anticipation :)

Cole slept more solidly last night than he has for weeks. We woke up just a little before 6 a.m., and I felt as if I actually had a decent night's sleep.

Cory was home yesterday since it was Veteran's Day. He came to Accalia's dance class and watched. I was able to watch a lot more of it, too, since Cole wasn't trying to run onto the dance floor constantly. Accalia's definitely about the most enthusiastic girl there. I don't know about the other children, but Accalia's there because she asked to be and because she has a love of dance. Hopefully that's the case with the others. Definitely not with one of the little girls. I don't think she's even 3 yet, so I was surprised she was even in this class. When she and her mom arrive, she starts grabbing at her mom and saying, "No, no, no!" Her mom has started staying for class and watching her, and her daughter runs to her every chance she gets.

Other not-so-exciting news from yesterday: Cory raked and I continued preparing for my session at Leader Day. I have a bunch of stuff to do before we leave tomorrow, so hopefully I actually take care of it all. We'll be gone Thursday (after Cory gets home from work) and be back Sunday.

Today we're heading off to story time. I'm hoping today I get a chance to catch up on email, but I won't hold my breath.

Last night Accalia was disappointed because we couldn't see any stars. It was still fairly early, so it probably wasn't quite dark enough to see much. It was cloudy, too. The night before, though, we were running outside every 5 minutes to see the lunar eclipse. She loved that.

I can't remember if I mentioned here or not that I'm participating in this book contest judging. They send me a stack of books and I have to fill out an evaulation form for each. My category is parenting, and thankfully none of the books looks like it will make sick to my stomach with the author's theory. This morning, Accalia and I were having fun with one of the books - Pick Me Up! Music CD & American Sign Language Activity Guide. It really is a neat book. There are 20 songs, so we can listen to them on the CD and read the lyrics/try out the illustrated signs in the book.

Accalia's in the bathtub right now. After she's finished and we all get ready (I'm not dressed yet for the day), we're heading to the dollar store so the kids can pick out something.

Cory and the kids just left to do a bit more Christmas shopping. I have George Winston's December album helping me chill right now, so I can concentrate and preparing my session outline for Saturday's Leader Day. Really, I have to do it now. Seriously. I just had to plug out a blog entry before doing anything else. I have my priorities.

Yesterday's shopping expedition went fine. We were gone about half a day. We only hit three stores but got basically all that we wanted. We really splurged at Waldenbooks, both for ourselves and as gifts for others. What can I say? We're book people :) Then we headed to Toys R Us. Everyone was getting rather punchy by then, so we headed to lunch at Perkins where Cole was his usual charming self with the other patrons. Really makes me feel sad for Accalia that she didn't have more people oohing and ahhing over her since she was so shy at that age. Not that I necessarily want or need the adoration of strangers for my children, but I do want people to know how amazing my children are and that their personality differences add to that amazement. Anyway, after lunch we went to the pet store to pick up a couple treats for Lucy as well as some non-toxic ice melter. Then it was home.

So now I'm going to work on that outline. Wish me luck!

The rest of the week apparently just got away from me - at least with my blog writing. Since I'm up early with Cole (as usual), I thought I'd better update all of you. We're going to be gone much of the day doing a bit of holiday shopping in the bustling city of Sioux City, Iowa.

Let's see. On Wednesday, we went to story time and then to my co-Leader's house for a couple hours. On Thursday, we drove off to Mitchell to spend the night at my friend Sara's house. She was having an Usborne Books party that night, and I wanted to go but didn't want to drive home later at night, so I took the easy way out . Well, and since it has been months and months since I've been to Mitchell, it was about time to go. Accalia had a great time playing with Taylor (Sara's older daughter), and I spent most of my time keeping Cole from hitting her younger daughter on the head.

Cole appears to be a very, um, tactile greeter. I don't know why he feels the need to pat some children on the head each time he passes them, but he does. The funny thing is that he pats them like he pats Lucy, and he's much more gentle patting Lucy than he was when he started out. Each time Cole gives one of him pats, I'll always demonstrate a more gentle touch - "Soft touch, Cole," I say as I take his hand and stroke it against my face. Now when I do that Cole will smile big, give me a hearty pat right away and then give me a gentle stroke. LOL! He's on the right track.

Continuing on with the rest of the week...Friday we returned home to Yankton and really didn't do much after that. Cory watched The Hulk last night, and Accalia caught snatches of it when Bruce was changing into The Hulk. "He's soooo angry, Mommy" was Accalia's comment.

I'm off to rescue Cole from a pile of puzzle pieces.

Oy. Long day here. The kids seemed extra loud today, and I wasn't really in the mood for a lot of noise. Goes with the territory, though.

We had a few things going on. Accalia had dance and was so excited to show me that they're learning to do cartwheels. I told her that's something she'll have to teach me . We also learned that she'll be dancing in a recital in the spring. She'll be a bunny. Tonight Accalia was describing what she'll look like again and again and again.

After dance, when everyone was in the dressing room changing, I happened to overhear the end of a conversation between the mom and girl right next to me. I have no idea what they were talking about, but I heard the mom say, "You don't get to have an opinion about that." Isn't that just about the stupidest thing you could say to another person?

This afternoon I had a haircut. My stylist nicked my ear while she was razoring my hair and it bled for quite a while. She felt awful - said it had never happened to her before.

I also went to the dentist. Cory came home early to be with the kids. My front tooth chipped last year, and I had it repaired earlier this year. About a week after the initial repair, it chipped again. A couple months went by and it chipped this past weekend. My dentist said he saw what was causing it to chip again and again, so hopefully it's taken care of. I haven't been charged for these past two visits, so I'm happy about that.

We'll be gone a bit tomorrow. It's storytime and then we're heading to my co-Leader's house for a while.

Poor, poor George. I'm talking about our weeping willow tree, of course. Overnight we had a bit of snow and a good deal of sleet/rain. Today it's been doing the sleet/rain mixture on and off. Poor George is bent over and nearly touching the ground. I went out this morning and shook some of the ice off his branches. Hopefully we'll be able to pull him back up and rope him again so he's tall and straight.

Accalia was so excited to see the first signs of winter precipitation. We walked outside and she said, "Look! It's rain-snow!" Later, in the car on the way to return the pants I bought yesterday, she said, "Snow is my favorite food!"

So the Leader Day outfit update is this. I returned the pants I bought yesterday because there was too much flare at the bottom. I enjoy a little flare, but these almost covered my feet, and if you know me you know my feet are not petite (size 10). I found the perfect pair of pants at a different store for just a few dollars more. Yay!

Now we're off to the chiropractor.

It's going to be an early night for me. Cole was once again up between 5 and 5:30 a.m. this morning, and I had stayed up later last night to watch Saturday Night Live. We were on the go a lot today. My important mission was finding an appropriate outfit to buy for Leader Day. The contents of my closet are so very sad. I think the last new clothes I've bought in recent years have usually been either maternity clothes or stretchy clothes for those in between times postpartum. I found something. At least I definitely found the sweater I'm going to wear. I have the pants, but I think I'm going to look at one more store tomorrow and return these pants if I see something I like better.

Clothes shopping is a pretty traumatic experience for me. I just don't enjoy it. I'd much rather do it online, but then I never know how the clothes fit and I don't want to go through all of the hassle of returning or exchanging things. If I had the money, I'd hire someone to buy my wardrobe. Eek! I have the heebie jeebies just thinking of returning to the store tomorrow.

Cory and Accalia went to see Brother Bear this afternoon. She loved it. Accalia hasn't been to a movie in an actual movie theater since before Cole was born and Cory took her to see Lilo & Stitch. Then she wanted to leave part way through because she missed me. We've seen more movies at the drive in than in the theater since becoming parents, so I'm sure it was just as much fun for Cory. Accalia got all dressed up in a velvety dress and tights for her date with Cory. Cole and I did a bit of my clothes shopping then, and we were both glad to get home.

Cory and the kids just left on a shopping expedition. It's been a loooong time since I've had any alone time, so I'm really happy to be sitting here with just Lucy sniffing around by me. The practical, responsible side of me thought that I should really tackle all of the LLL stuff I have to do for Leader Day. Then the nurturing, smart side of me said that I should take this opportunity for some much needed renewing time. So that's the side I'm going with today.

Cole took a 2 1/2 hour nap this afternoon. He has only done that maybe once or twice before. Hopefully this means he'll fall asleep a bit later tonight and sleep in a bit tomorrow.

The LLL meeting this morning went so much better than I thought it would. Besides my co-Leader and I, there were three moms there that I hadn't met before. Two I had actually talked to on the phone: one made the half hour trip despite the fact that she was busy with family and planning for her son's baptism tomorrow. The only lives about an hour away but used to live here and ran in the same LLL circles as my co-Leader. The other mom, who seems to be planning to become a member, is someone I know of since she's a familiar name in the homebirth and homeschooling communities around here. Her youngest is just a few days older than Cole and born with the assistance of my midwife.

Word seems to be getting around about LLL. I heard several people say today that other's were planning to come but had other obligations or were hoping to come because they really enjoyed it before. One mom called before the meeting to say she couldn't make it because she and her daughter were sick, but she was planning to make a donation to the group. Yay!

So I have hopes that our group will become active and a place for mothers to know they'll receive terrific mothering and breastfeeding support.

I'm beginning to know the pre-dawn hours very well, but I'm not terribly thrilled about it. I may have to start drinking coffee just to get going while Cole is in this early to rise phase.

The kids had a blast trick or treating yesterday. Late afternoon we took them around to all of the downtown businesses since they do a special trick or treating each year. That was really nice since there were tons of other kids out and it reminded me a lot of when I was little. We have barely any kids that come around our neighborhood, so it's pretty depressing. This year we had about six that came to our door. Of course we probably missed a few since we were also out for a while, but still!

When we went around our neighborhood, Cole and I just went for a couple blocks because it was pretty cold out and Cole refuses to wear a hat or mittens at this point. He was getting pretty cold and weepy by the time we got home. I told Cory I wanted to go to the next street over at least because that's where all of the big, old houses start and I wanted to get a peek inside :)

This morning we have our monthly LLL meeting. Hopefully the turnout is good. Today is also my baby brother's 24th birthday! Happy birthday, Jeremy!

Cole and I made an early morning run to Wal-Mart to stock up on a bunch of stuff. Included in all of that was a pink sweatsuit for Accalia. She's going as a pink ballerina fairy princess, but her original costume of tights and leotard is just not warm enough for our trick or treating temps of 30-something degrees. So, I came back home, presented Accalia with the sweatsuit, and told her all about how fairy princess's turn into snow princess's when the weather gets cold and their clothes change too. She was extremely excited to get more pink clothing (my mom must just be so happy!), so all is well.

As Cole and I came in the door from the aforementioned shopping trip, Accalia excitedly said, "Look Mama! I can jump rope all by myself!" And indeed she can. I've been helping her jump rope by having her stand in front of me while I man the rope and she jumps when it's time. She doesn't need my assistance anymore, though, and was only too happy to tell me: "I don't need help anymore, Mommy! I can do it myself!" Sniff, sniff.

Oy. An early start to our Halloween. Cole was quite restless throughout the night and was ready to be up around 5 a.m. Mama was not. So now it's nearly two hours later and I'm still not ready to be up.

Cory's staying home from work today. He's still feeling pretty awful. When he went to the doctor yesterday, she didn't even examine him - just looked at his chart and said, "Yup, it's the same thing as before" when Cory was telling her it didn't feel the same. So she prescribed an antibiotic that "should wipe everything out". Then I made an appointment for Cory to go to our chiropractor, who helped Cory feel much better right away. Dr. P. adjusted areas that affect by the prostate and kidneys.

Now Cory's up and I'd better go.

Poor Cory. He came home sick from work and is going to the doctor in about an hour. He thinks it's a kidney infection. He's upstairs resting right now. The kids are in the bathtub. Not sure what we'll do with our day now. We didn't really have anything planned. Kind of aimless today, I suppose.

Finally there's a report out showing that vaccination rates are actually quite high. You'll have to complete the free registration at "Pediatric News" to read this article, but the gist of it is that vaccination rates, except for Hep B, are at 95% or higher, which is what officials were hoping.

As a non-vaccinating parent, I really get sick of hearing the media and officials blame those of us who choose not to vaccinate on all of these outbreaks - whooping cough (pertusis) is the current one. What these same media "professionals" and officials fail to say is that the people who are usually passing on these diseases have been vaccinated. This makes sense, of course, since each vaccination carries with it the little gift of some of that particular virus or bacteria. They also usually fail to tell us that many of the people who acquire the disease during these outbreaks have also been vaccinated previously.

Vaccination is an extremely personal and very, very difficult decision to make, and I would never want to make a parent feel bad about the decision they do make. I just hope that it is a well researched and educated decision. It's a decision we certainly didn't come lightly to and one I still struggle with occasionally. Knowing what I know now about vaccinations and how our bodies function, as well as about the diseases children are vaccinated against and what other treatments are available, I feel that we've made the right choice for our family.

Oh, I found that link thanks to NVIC.

Mouse Trap is a fun game, but it's a pain in the butt to set up and keep set up! That's another one of our Goodwill games (just missing one piece) that Accalia has been playing today.

This morning Accalia and I were talking about the differences between our right and left hands, namely which is which. I showed her which was her left hand - "that's the one that you're holding the banana with" - and went on to say that her left hand is the one she usually uses for writing, coloring, cutting, etc. After a few moments of intense thought, Accalia said, "And my right hand is the one I use to pick my nose and butt!" Ah, my sweet, sweet, uncouth daughter!

We're heading off to storytime in just a little bit. Accalia's quite excited because there will be a Halloween theme. Last night Accalia and Cory carved pumpkins. He had told Accalia they would do it after the season premiere of "24" (priorities, ya know), and Accalia was running in every few minutes to ask if it was time yet. Cory's been enthralled with the Pumpkin Masters carving kits for a few years now, and this year Accalia had her own kids carving kit that included a wooden mallet and colored pegs (think Litebrite only much bigger).

After that, the evening went downhill. It was one of those nights where we were all tired and rather cranky. It was one of those nights when, if your four year old starts crying, instead of feeling concern and compassion you just feel annoyance. Ick. Thankfully today is off to a good start.

Cole slept in a little later today - until almost 6 a.m. Lucy's frantic barking at the newspaper carrier woke him up. I have to figure out a new nighttime diapering system. Cole is turning out to be a very heavy wetter - much heavier than Accalia - and is waking up most mornings leaking. Okay, I realize that I could just get up at some point during the night and change his diaper, but I'm really too lazy to do that on a regular basis. We use prefolds and Bummis Super Whisper Wraps all of the time, and at night I just add a doubler and a flannel strip. I really wish I were one of those people who loves to experiment with diapers and try out all different sorts of combinations. I'm not. I just want a diaper that works and stay up!

Okay, it's off to get us ready for some spooky stories.

Another early morning for Cole and me - a smidgen past 5:30 was our wake up call. I'm getting used to it, though, because it wasn't nearly as difficult for me to get up today as it was the day before and the day before that.

Accalia had dance today and was so excited because she wanted to show her Swan Lake "moves." Lucky for her they were having solo performance time in class so Accalia was able to perform her interpretation for the others. She was also thrilled because today she was the leader. I think that basically involves her being the first in line and leading the other girls from one room to another.

During dance class, Cole and I ran to Wal-Mart so I could price supplies I need to purchase for the Leader Recognition Ceremony I'll be in charge of at Leader Day on November 15.

Right now Cole is napping and Accalia is waiting for me to finish this so we can play Hungry, Hungry Hippos. Games have been her deal lately, and she usually only suggests playing them when Cole is asleep. I think she's figured out it may just be easier to wait to play them rather than risk Cole knocking everything over.

Right now I'm reading "The Culture Clash: A revolutionary new way of understanding the relationship between humans and domestic dogs" by Jean Donaldson. Definitely a must for any dog owner.

Yesterday I was searching for all sorts of sites to download sheet music from since Accalia was begging for different songs and I haven't bought any new music for myself for a long, long time. Lots of good stuff out there! I have a mixture of classical and contemporary pieces to try out now. I even downloaded The Simpson's theme song for Cory's sake. I was really pleased with Lori Line's site. She puts up a new song every month for downloading.

Okay, now to finish up and play a game with Accalia.

Accalia had fun today playing songs on the piano. I printed off a bunch of blank music sheets, and she composed her own melodies. She was very excited to show Cory what she had done when he came home around 6.

I was sitting on the floor with Cole playing with a few Matchbox cars, and I said "Can you make the car go vroom?" Cole then proceed to jump up and down (a skill he's been working on lately). Each time I'd say vroom after that he's jump up and down. Pretty cute, although I have to wonder about his comprehension skills ;)

Tomorrow is the season premiere of the show "24". Cory and I have been hooked on it since the first season two years ago.

With Halloween coming up on Friday, it's definitely put me in the mood for The Rocky Horror Picture Show. I think we probably traumatized our friends Heather and Jeremy when we showed it to them the first year we were living in this house in Yankton, which was going into our second year of marriage. Hee, hee, hee...

Cole continues his early mornings. Today we were up at 5:30. Either this is just temporary or his sleep needs are changing and I may need to try to keep him up a little later at night so that he sleeps in a bit in the morning. That would definitely be nice.

Accalia can play Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star on the piano! The other day she was playing games here. One of the games is a keyboard that has the notes along with songs in all different colors. She was showing me what she could do, and I said, "Hey, we could do that on the piano." "Cool! Let's!" was Accalia's reply. So this morning I color coded the treble cleft and started transcribing songs to match the colors. Her favorite so far is Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. Then she requested Old McDonald Had A Farm. Now you can hear her sitting at the piano and saying "Green, green, black, black, pink, pink, black" as she plays the song. I write the names of the notes on the pieces of colored construction paper and explained that to her, but I don't think she really cares :)

Today I was helping Accalia brush her teeth, and I noticed that she had a bunch of red spots all over her gums and her tongue. She hadn't complained about her mouth hurting her, although after I asked she said it did. Then I realized I had seen these same red spots on the bottom of Cole's feet the other night. Cory did a little googling and I called my mom, and we came up with hand, foot and mouth disease, a pretty benign viral ailment of children. We did take the kids to the convenient care clinic, though, because I wasn't sure about the kids being able to go out and have contact with others since it's very contagious. All should be fine, though, when our social calender picks up on Tuesday.

While we were in the clinic waiting room, Accalia and I were looking at the fish in the aquarium. One of the fish was relieving itself, and if you've been around fish you know it seems to take forever and ever. Accalia noticed this, and her advice to the fish was: "It has to wiggle its butt to get the poop out - like this!" Then she went on to demonstrate.

Cory prepared supper - a lovely casserole - and we're just waiting for it to cook. It should be a quiet night around here.

Cole's starting to exhibit the crazy sleep patterns of a newborn. Lovely. This morning he sat up in bed at 3:30 a.m. wide awake. So we were up for an hour or so. Then both Accalia and Cole were wide awake at 6:30 a.m. Accalia woke up saying a prayer of thanksgiving: "I love my mommy. I love my daddy. I love my Cole. I love my Lucy. Amen." I could barely open my eyes at that point, so Cory got up with them and I slept for another couple hours.

Accalia's been complaining on and off all day that she's not feeling good. I'm not sure what's going on, but she's taken a rather lengthy nap this afternoon.

We took the kids for some pre-Halloween festivities at a local assisted living/nursing home. A bunch of the residents line up to hand out candy, and this year they also had a haunted room and a bunch of games and a maze. Accalia loved it. In the haunted room, she was more scared than curious and was looking in and under and at everything to figure out how it was all working.

The mysterious package deliveries continue. Today I received another package from the U.S. Postal Service for Amy Greve. This time there were Priority Mail envelopes, tape, and a bunch of customs labels. I am so confused, and I really hope I find out who ordered all of this one day.

Well, neither Accalia nor Cole much improved their moods today. Hopefully it will be an early night for both! Perhaps Cole's short temper is due to the fact that he's cutting four teeth right now. That would probably make me cranky, too.

Two packages were delivered to me today. One I was expecting. The other still has me scratching my head and really curious about who sent it. I was intrigued right away because the name on the label was Amy Greve. I haven't been Amy Greve for more than six years now, although sometimes my family forgets. The package was also from the U.S. Postal Service. Hmm. So I opened it and discovered a whole stack of Priority Mail boxes ready to be put together and used. Okay, since I've never ordered supplies from the U.S.P.S. and probably wouldn't do so under my maiden name, I called the number on the label to find out about the delivery. The operator told me the order had been mailed in, but that's about it. So now I have all of these ready to use boxes just waiting to be mailed, and I'd really, really like to know who sent them.

My good mood is hanging quite thinnly by a thread right now. Both children have been in rather delicate moods since they woke up. Cole is now nursing down for an early nap, so I'm assuming part of his bad mood was just not enough sleep. Even listening to the latest Barenaked Ladies CD that Cory picked up yesterday while he was in Sioux Falls didn't help. So he must be exhausted! We shall see how it goes with Accalia.

After I put Cole down, I think I shall shower. It's been a couple days, so it's probably a good idea :)

After six years of marriage (8 years of knowing each other and/or dating) and two children, I think it's safe to say that Cory and I are past that lovey dovey newlywed stage. I really do miss it sometimes, but I can't think of anyone I'd rather be with no matter what.

We spent the two summers before we were married living in separate states (he in South Dakota and me back in Minnesota living with my parents). It was awful. It didn't seem as if our visits and phone calls lasted nearly long enough. And this was before either of us had email - imagine that! - otherwise I'm sure we'd have been online every spare second. So we wrote letters to each other every day. Every day. And we saved all of those letters. Sunday was an awful day because there was no mail. Cory put together tapes for me, too. I have a dozen or so compilations of songs he made for me - with commentary :)

Gosh, we almost sound co-dependent, don't we? LOL! That couldn't be further from the truth, though. We just really, really enjoy being together. Good thing for a marriage :)

All of these sappy ramblings have just popped up because I was listening to an Indigo Girls cd while unloading and loading the dishwasher this morning. Cole was my little clingy monkey and laughed and giggled while I held him and we danced. Cory introduced me to their music (now we just need someone to introduce us to them! Jessica, I know you have connections! ;). We danced to "Power of Two" at our wedding dance. We saw them at Lillith Fair just a few days before our wedding. We just really, really like them in case you hadn't picked up on that.

Okay, now I'm losing my train of thought. A fairly common occurance unless both children are asleep. Oh, who am I kidding. I'm getting more and more absent minded with each passing day.

Now it's time to pass along the computer to Accalia.

We went to storytime this morning, where Accalia made a ghost out of a craft stick and tissues. They went outside to see if their ghosts could fly. The kids had fun - always seem to with all of the crafts so far - but I have to wonder just how small their budget is with the typical craft the children's librarian picks.

This afternoon we went to a park to feed the ducks and geese. As we were standing near the pond throwing bits of bread, Accalia turned and ran all the way to the other side of the park to the playground equipment. Cole and I followed shortly after. Accalia was just starting to climb up the ladder to a slide when she saw us coming and jumped down to the ground. "Mom, what are YOU doing here?" she asked quite innocently. I started laughing once I realized she had wanted to play on the equipment by herself. I love those flashes of independence she shows more and more each day.

Accalia's keeps asking to go to the "black park." I wasn't quite sure what she meant, and when I asked she pointed to the wheel of the van and said, "It has one of these that you can swing on." Ah. Okay, now I just have to remember which park has a tire swing. LOL! I think it's one by the lake.

I just love the decade series' on VH1 right now. The commentaries are usually hilarious. It was funny watching "I Love The 70s", but I wasn't familiar with a lot of the things they were talking about. Now that they're running "I Love The 80s", I'm remembering a lot. I was born in 1976, so I was becoming quite aware of the world around me as the 80s progressed. Smurfs, friendship bracelets, scratch 'n sniff stickers, Dukes of Hazzard, etc. etc. So a lot of those things were lame, I'll give you that, but I'm suddenly remembering all of these fads my friends and I went through in elementary school.

Accalia has discovered the humor in mooning us. NO idea where that came from. One day she just pulled down her pants and let the full moom beam upon us. It reminds me so much of my cousin Scott when we were in elementary school. I remember that happening quite a lot during recess.

For Halloween, Accalia is going to be a ballerina princess. She came up with a combination of her ballet clothes and Rapunzel like hat. Of course it all has to be pink, including her hair, nails, makeup, etc. Today we bough pink, glittery spray for her hair, and she wanted it on immediately. She loved it. "I don't like my old hair. I like my new hair!" Tomorrow she'll be heading to storytime with a reddish tint to her locks.

I think the fertility waters are flowing strongly in my group of friends and family. Cory's parents told us over the weekend that his cousin Peggy and her husband, Dalas, are expecting their first in June. Congratulations! We honestly didn't think they were going to have children. They've been married about 8 years, and we always had the impression that they weren't heading in that direction. Such wonderful news!

This afternoon the kids played in the bathtub for a while. They both got out at the same time. While I was drying Cole off with a towel, Accalia insisted on drying herself off with one tissue. Needless to say, she really didn't get very dry. She put a lot of effort into it, though!

Last night while I was reading this blog, I came upon a quote that really fit well with my new frame of mind:

"Dwell not on the past. Use it to illustrate a point, then leave it behind. Nothing really matters except what you do now in this instant of time. From this moment onwards you can be an entirely different person, filled with love and understanding, ready with an outstretched hand, uplifted and positive in every thought and deed."
Eileen Caddy

It's been a good day so far. Accalia has been wanting to help me around the house, so we've made chocolate chip cookies and loaded and unloaded the dishwasher. Good stuff.

I was rubbing Cole's gums this afternoon - he was leaning into it like Lucy does when we scratch around her ears - and discovered that he has two upper molars starting to poke through! And I think he's working on a lower incisor or has been for a bit. Poor guy!

I'm feeling really at peace as the day ends. There have been a few things that have been troubling me for a while, but I've resolved them and am feeling fine with these things. I know - very vague - but this isn't something I really want to get into on my blog. I did want everyone to know there's been a shift in my mental state. A good one - just in case Cory starts looking for a therapist for me :)

It hasn't been a terribly exciting weekend around here, which is probably not such a bad thing.

After we went to lunch on Saturday, Cory dropped me and Cole off at the house while he and Accalia continued on with some errands. Since Cole hadn't napped, we figured he'd go down for a nap and then I'd be able to do a little work. Of course he didn't nap, but that was okay.

We all raked up leaves from the front yard so Accalia and Cole could play in a big pile of leaves. Cole and Accalia used their big plastic shovels from Discovery Toys to scoop up the leaves.

Cole is making his requests known in many different ways now. Yesterday, when he wanted to go outside, he picked up my big, clunky sandals and pointed to the door. Then, when he wanted to go for a ride in the stroller, he first brought Lucy's lease to me and then got my shoes and went to the stroller. So that was Lucy's lucky day, too, with an extra walk thanks to Cole.

Today Cory cleaned both our vehicles inside and out. They look quite lovely. Once Cole is awake and (I assume) the Vikings game is over, he's going to take both kids out for a bit. This means I'll have to focus on my session outline, I guess!

Cory and I watched "The Ring" last night. Extremely creepy!!! Horror isn't the first genre I pick out when renting a movie, but it's fun every once in a while. I'm a pretty big chicken after watching these movies, though. So after "The Ring" was over, Cory and I finished watching an Indigo Girls concert DVD we had also rented.

It's almost as much fun to watch a scary movie with someone who gets as freaked out as you. Cory deals with these things much better than me, although he did seem willing to go to bed at the same time as me and sit and read using a book light if I had insisted.

When I was a freshman at South Dakota State University, my friend Heather and I roomed together. We're both fairly chicken when it comes to scary movies. We rented "Silence of the Lambs" one Friday night and did that ever give us the heebie jeebies! After the movie was over, I remember us hanging on to each other and glancing over our shoulders as we went to the bathroom and went down to the dorm lobby. We both agreed that we wouldn't leave the other alone that night.

I thought for sure that creepy little girl from "The Ring" would invade my dreams last night. Nope. Instead I dreamed that it was the night before Leader Day, and I still didn't have an outline for the session I'm presenting. And my roommate for the workshop was Lars from Metallica. Not sure what that last part says about my subconscious :)

Today when I was wiping Accalia's butt (since this is my blog I give myself permission to tell stories about my childrens' bodily functions, 'kay?), she said, while making gagging noises, "My poop makes you sick."

"Your poop doesn't make me sick," I replied. "Everyone's poop smells pretty bad."

"Yeah," Accalia said, reflecting on this bit of wisdom. "I have too much poop. Poop, poop, poop, poop, poop."

Cole, meanwhile, has taken to pointing and waving at our weeping willow, George. We have a perfect view of him when we sit at the computer, so Cole likes to carry on little hand conversations with George as George waves back and worth in the wind.

Accalia and I picked up a pair of walkie talkies at Goodwill today for a mere dollar. They're fabulous entertainment and will be even more fun once Accalia has all of the motions down for what to press when she wants to talk and when she wants to listen. And the novelty is so great yet that it's even more fun to stand two feet from each other and talk on them rather than going into different rooms :)

Oh cool, Accalia can pick out songs from Swan Lake! She's listening to her Ballet Classic cd right now.

Gosh, it's been kind of a strange and stressful day for me. I have a ton of stuff to do for La Leche League, and I got my personal correspondence with several Applicants taken care of today, but I'm going to have to set aside a block of time this weekend to work on the session I'm giving at Leader Day in November. Hopefully it'll be nice enough for Cory and the kids to go to a park for a while.

This morning, a post-loss Cory said he has to get to a happier place now that the Cubs' season is finished. He said he had lost perspective of what it means to be a Cubs fan - "always being disappointed."

We had a bunch of errands to run this morning. After we left the post office, I was driving through the construction zone that has been our main thoroughfare through town since the beginning of summer. There was an oversized load ahead of me - a truck carrying a combine - and he was speeding through the construction. He came to a metal sign weighed down with sandbags and clipped it. He didn't even slow down. And here I was behind him with this sign flipping up and over into the single lane of traffic. Thankfully it didn't go far enough out that I couldn't quickly swerve around it without hitting anyone. I would have gotten his license and called the police, but he didn't have a license plate on the back and I wasn't able to catch up with him.

When we were at Wal-Mart, a man in his 40s or 50s came up to me as I was pushing our cart to the checkout lane. "Good gracious!" he said. "Don't tell me you are the mother of these children! I'd swear you were their big sister!" I smiled, thanked him and moved on. I don't think the man was completely all there, but it was still a very sweet thing to say - something no one has ever said to me since I became a mother. Not that they have any reason to! I think I pretty much look my age - 27 - which is well within the normal age range for motherhood.

Both kids just had a splashy, warm bubble bath, and I'm going to turn over the computer to Accalia: "I want to play Barbie!" And I think I'll try to get Cole to sleep soon.

Gosh, it's been kind of a strange and stressful day for me. I have a ton of stuff to do for La Leche League, and I got my personal correspondence with several Applicants taken care of today, but I'm going to have to set aside a block of time this weekend to work on the session I'm giving at Leader Day in November. Hopefully it'll be nice enough for Cory and the kids to go to a park for a while.

This morning, a post-loss Cory said he has to get to a happier place now that the Cubs' season is finished. He said he had lost perspective of what it means to be a Cubs fan - "always being disappointed."

We had a bunch of errands to run this morning. After we left the post office, I was driving through the construction zone that has been our main thoroughfare through town since the beginning of summer. There was an oversized load ahead of me - a truck carrying a combine - and he was speeding through the construction. He came to a metal sign weighed down with sandbags and clipped it. He didn't even slow down. And here I was behind him with this sign flipping up and over into the single lane of traffic. Thankfully it didn't go far enough out that I couldn't quickly swerve around it without hitting anyone. I would have gotten his license and called the police, but he didn't have a license plate on the back and I wasn't able to catch up with him.

When we were at Wal-Mart, a man in his 40s or 50s came up to me as I was pushing our cart to the checkout lane. "Good gracious!" he said. "Don't tell me you are the mother of these children! I'd swear you were their big sister!" I smiled, thanked him and moved on. I don't think the man was completely all there, but it was still a very sweet thing to say - something no one has ever said to me since I became a mother. Not that they have any reason to! I think I pretty much look my age - 27 - which is well within the normal age range for motherhood.

Both kids just had a splashy, warm bubble bath, and I'm going to turn over the computer to Accalia: "I want to play Barbie!" And I think I'll try to get Cole to sleep soon.

Gosh, it's been kind of a strange and stressful day for me. I have a ton of stuff to do for La Leche League, and I got my personal correspondence with several Applicants taken care of today, but I'm going to have to set aside a block of time this weekend to work on the session I'm giving at Leader Day in November. Hopefully it'll be nice enough for Cory and the kids to go to a park for a while.

This morning, a post-loss Cory said he has to get to a happier place now that the Cubs' season is finished. He said he had lost perspective of what it means to be a Cubs fan - "always being disappointed."

We had a bunch of errands to run this morning. After we left the post office, I was driving through the construction zone that has been our main thoroughfare through town since the beginning of summer. There was an oversized load ahead of me - a truck carrying a combine - and he was speeding through the construction. He came to a metal sign weighed down with sandbags and clipped it. He didn't even slow down. And here I was behind him with this sign flipping up and over into the single lane of traffic. Thankfully it didn't go far enough out that I couldn't quickly swerve around it without hitting anyone. I would have gotten his license and called the police, but he didn't have a license plate on the back and I wasn't able to catch up with him.

When we were at Wal-Mart, a man in his 40s or 50s came up to me as I was pushing our cart to the checkout lane. "Good gracious!" he said. "Don't tell me you are the mother of these children! I'd swear you were their big sister!" I smiled, thanked him and moved on. I don't think the man was completely all there, but it was still a very sweet thing to say - something no one has ever said to me since I became a mother. Not that they have any reason to! I think I pretty much look my age - 27 - which is well within the normal age range for motherhood.

Both kids just had a splashy, warm bubble bath, and I'm going to turn over the computer to Accalia: "I want to play Barbie!" And I think I'll try to get Cole to sleep soon.

"And, somewhere men are laughing, and little children shout, but there is no joy in Mudville --
mighty Casey has struck out." (Casey at the Bat)

No, it's not a mood of celebration here. I feel really bad for Cory. He's a true fan and taking it really hard that the Cubs won't be in the World Series.

Congratulations to my brother, Anthony, and his wife, Kathy! They just found out they're expecting #2 in May or June. Their son, Elijah, turned four today and is one of Accalia's favorite buds.

On an unrelated note, go Red Sox! And really go, Cubbies!

Today, on the way to my co-Leader's house in Hartington, Neb., Accalia and I were talking about the Cubs and how upset Cory will be if they lose tonight and don't make it to the World Series. A house we were passing in Hartington had a Cubs logo hanging outside, and Accalia exclaimed, "There's Daddy's house!" I also made some remark about praying for a win, and Accalia immediately set about doing so. It was so cute hearing her whispering a prayer in the backseat. Not sure if it was more for the Cubs to win or for Cory to be happy. LOL!

This did not make for a happy husband last night. Obviously I'm hoping for a better outcome tonight. Cory's brother called during the inning from hell (Cory knew it was him as soon as the phone rang), and when I answered started saying, "Okay Amy, what I need you to do is remove all sharp objects from the area. Then you and the kids needs to find a safe place to go."

Ever since the midwife we used with Cole went on trial, was found guilty and subsequently has to stop practicing in South Dakota, I've been pretty down about my birthing options. I've really dreaded the thought of having another pregnancy and going the OB/GYN and hospital route. Not that I couldn't make it a decent experience and not that other women aren't able to do likewise, but having a homebirth has been "it" for me, and I don't want to do anything less.

Well, yesterday my friend Karen emailed this link. I had no idea there was another direct entry midwife nearby who was practicing. I emailed her and we've chatted and it turns out that Yankton is in her coverage area. Sioux City is just about an hour from Yankton. Wow. You have no idea the relief I feel knowing I actually have an option again and can plan for another homebirth.

The kids and I have to get ready for the day now. Have a good one, everyone!

I'm sending out lots of hugs, prayers and employment vibes to you, Anne! What a scary time this is for you and your family. I'm so glad that you are looking for the positive in all of this. Anne's been a great friend since Accalia was just a toddler, and I've always loved browsing through her website.

I forgot to mention the big event that took place over the weekend. Cole had his first haircut at the barbershop where Cory had his first haircut. Cole was happy through about half of it and then became rather impatient. He looks quite dashing now and like such a big boy!

Accalia had dance today. Enjoyed it as she always does.

This afternoon we went to Vermillion to meet up with a few un/homeschoolers from a list I am on. It was a really nice time, and we all got along quite well. Considering there were about five adults and 10 children, that's pretty good! We met up at the thrift store, took advantage of a few bargains and then headed over to the kid friendly Coffeeshop Gallery to partake of treats and conversation.

If the Cubs win tonight, they're headed to the World Series. Go Cubbies! So watching that game and paying bills will be my excitement.

We're back and settling in after our weekend in Minnesota with Cory's parents. It was a nice time. Nothing too exciting to report, really. Cory brought along his Cubs shrine, and shockingly we ended up watching lots of sports.

Cory had today off because of Native American Day - Columbus Day in most other states, I believe. We all went to the chiropractor, but that was just about the extent of our wild adventures.

I took the test here to find out where I am on the political compass. I ended up in the libertarian left in the company of Ghandi, Nelson Mandela and The Dalai Lama. Who would have thought?

I can't believe I didn't notice it before, but Cole has another tooth almost completely popped up - this one on the bottom right. That brings the total to seven. And I think he'll have another coming through on top soon enough.

I'm slowly packing for our weekend away. I'm not being nearly as productive as I could be, though. Better get a move on!

Tomorrow we're leaving for a weekend with Cory's parents, so I won't be posting until Monday or Tuesday most likely. We haven't been to their house for quite a while, it feels like, since they've been coming to see us more recently.

Cole has been one talkative fellow today. His word of choice is "mom." It sounds so funny to me because Accalia has never called me Mom. She's always referred to me as Mommy or Mama. When Cole is upset because Accalia has something he wants or he can't reach something he wants, he'll come to wherever I am and yell "Mom!"

Last night Accalia got out of bed in the middle of the night, ran out into the hallway, took off her pajamas and came back to bed. No idea why she did that, and she doesn't remember doing it. As soon as she woke up this morning, though, she told me about her dream. She dreamt that the downstairs was covered with ice and that it was cracking.

This afternoon, after being inspired by my friend Amy's trip to a nearby state recreation area, the kids and I went out to our recreation area for a while. I asked Accalia if she wanted to walk in the woods. "Does it have a path?" She could barely contain her excitement when I told her there was a path. So we walked on that path until we came to some workers doing maintenance and had to turn around. Then we played on the playground equipment nearby.

Now I have to concentrate on laundry and packing. Fun, fun, fun!

Best of luck to California! I'm not quite convinced that Schwarzenegger is the man for the job, but I do hope things improve for California.

We're heading off to storytime soon, and that will most likely be the excitement of the day (or at least our outing for the day).

Yesterday when we were heading out to Accalia's haircut, Accalia was standing underneath our cedar tree in the front yard watching a squirrel run around in the branches. Once I had Cole buckled in his carseat, Accalia runs over to the van and says, "The squirrel threw something at my head!" "Oh, did he throw a nut at you?", I asked. "Yes!" was the reply. I did find a little seed in her hair, but it's hard to say whether it was thrown by the squirrel and if it was intentional :)

Cole's quite cranky so far this morning. Hopefully his mood improves or storytime could be an adventure.

The first words out of Accalia's mouth this morning were "I had a dream about a pink dinosaur!" How neat, I thought. I don't remember colors in my dreams. The dinosaur was friendly, but other than that I don't know what else happened in Accalia's nightly wanderings.

This afternoon when we were playing outside, Accalia discovered she had dirt all over her legs. "Look Mommy! I'm changing color!"

Just got a book in the mail today that I've been eagerly awaiting. Accalia and I are going to look at all of the beautiful illustrations in it after I put Cole down for a nap.

If you didn't hear Cory's scream tonight after the Cubs eliminated the Braves from the playoffs, it's probably because he muffled it with a pillow so he wouldn't wake Cole. My sweetie was a nervous wreck even though the Cubs had a four run lead in the top of the 9th. I'm thinking of going away for a while during these upcoming games with Florida so I spare myself the stress of watching Cory stress out during the games :) Okay, it is pretty darn cute, and I can't blame him since this is almost a century in the making.

Accalia was thrilled to go outside and look at the stars tonight, although her biggest criticism was, "We need to get rid of the trees so we can see." I had originally asked if she wanted to go out so we could see Mars and a few other really bright stars, but she didn't really care about those. We found Cassiopeia right away again, and then Accalia was pretty convinced she saw Cygnus (the swan), although I was having a hard enough time finding the Big Dipper! I need to get a good star chart so I have some idea of where more of the constellations are located. It was so cute watching Accalia out in the dark, sitting on our yard and thumbing through the book of connect the dot constellations that I made for her.

Cole is going through an extremely jealous phase right now. It doesn't matter who it is, but if I hug or kiss or hold anyone, Cole immediately lets out a yelp and comes running to me to take his place on my lap. Sometimes he'll just get a goofy grin on his face if he sees Cory and I kiss or hug, but usually he wants in on the action. What a hardship to have to shower an adorable 13-month-old with hugs and kisses, huh?

If everyone could just take a few seconds to send lots of really positive thoughts my way for tomorrow - positive "both kids will nap at the same time and for a couple of hours so Amy can work on LLL things" thoughts - I'd really appreciate it. Thanks!

Cole fell asleep for a late afternoon nap around 4 p.m. Aargh. Not really what I'm in the mood for today, but I guess there are some things I just can't prevent. Poor kid has been taking morning naps more often lately, so I'm thinking he's probably going through a growth spurt and needing some extra winks.

This morning was another LLL meeting here in Yankton. It was a little disappointing since only one mother showed up this time - one who had been at the first meeting. I was rather annoyed with the local newspaper since they didn't publish the meeting notice until today. That'll give people time to plan, eh? I have to do a little more publicity before the next meeting Nov. 1. This past month just got away from me.

Today as we went from the library, to a restaurant to a store, I just noticed how unhappy everyone seems. So many parents yelling - screaming - at their kids, so many kids whining and moping, so many people just looking annoyed with life in general. Not that I don't feel that way; in fact, I've felt that way a lot more over the past couple years than I want to, but it just seems like such a sad way to live. How can you enjoy life when there's always something to be upset about?

I might have to think about supper soon. Cory's been busy putting stuff away upstairs and watching baseball playoff games. Go Cubbies!

Here's a place to go to possibly connect with other homeschoolers near you.

Now that the crisp fall weather is upon us - at least in the mornings - I really feel the need to update my tea supply. I don't think I've bought anything new since Cole was born, so my teas are definitely geared toward pregnant or lactating women: Mothers Milk Tea, variations of ginger and dandelion root. I finished up all of my red raspberry leaf tea long ago, but that sounds really yummy right now.

Oh, I was so pleased last night! I think I've mentioned here before that I really hope one of my children shares my rather neglected interest in the stars. Shortly after I put Cole to bed, Accalia said, "Let's go outside and look at the stars!" Her interest has been peaked by, of all things, her new Barbie of Swan Lake DVD. The game on the DVD is matching constellations, and she just loved doing that and hearing the stories behind the constellations. Well, it's kind of hard to get a full view of the sky since we live in town and parts of our view are obstructed by the large and still leafy neighborhood trees. And I wondered if Accalia would even be able to see the constellations when I pointed them out. We were successful with Cassiopeia. She was pretty happy to see and hear about the beautiful queen.

Now Accalia wants me to find a book about constellations, so I'm going to have to do a little searching. I have a feeling we'll be playing lots of astronomy games online today.

Cole's happily playing with a puzzle and Accalia is still sleeping. Lucy's barking to be let in now. Hang on.

Okay. We were gone for much of the day yesterday, and then Accalia spent the majority of the evening playing games at this site, so I really didn't get a chance to be online much.

It was a pretty good day overall, but by the time we got home both kids were quite cranky - probably trying to decompress from the day and just a bit tired. We started off at the library for storytime. I've noticed that Accalia seems to move towards the boys rather than the girls when she's in a setting with children from both genders. Maybe it's just my imagination.

Cory told me that he should really start giving me some of his cards to hand out to parents when I see them doing or saying certain things :) During storytime, I was over by the toys and puzzles with some of the other moms and infants/toddlers. One of the boys kept lying down on the floor and saying "Now I'm pretending to be dead." The mom said, "No, you don't pretend to be dead. Pretend your asleep." I think it's just a natural progression of childhood to wonder about death and to act that out in your play, although obviously there's probably a point where too much obsession with death could raise red flags. Don't think that was the case here, but the mom really wasn't comfortable with her son talking about death. Accalia's never really asked about death or played dead, but we talked a little about it last May when my grandma died.

After storytime (and after having to drive back to the library from about 5 miles out of town to retrieve the kids' jackets), we headed to nearby Hartington, NE to visit with my pseudo LLL co-Leader and anyone else who was at her bimonthly open house for moms. The turnout wasn't as good as last time, but there were a couple of her friends - moms who once nursed - and one of her daughters-in-law and her two kids. Accalia had a blast running around with a little boy, and Cole wasn't quite sure at first how to approach the little girl close to his age. We spent a couple hours there and stopped at the grocery store before heading home.

I think we're going out to the dam today to watch all of the people fish for paddlefish. The monthlong fishing season just opened up here. I'm really not thrilled about fishing and hunting as "sports" (as opposed to fishing and hunting out of necessity for food, etc.), but Accalia loves being out at the dam and watching all of the boats. Then we'll probably head to the aquarium if it's open. For the most part, though, I think today will be hanging out at home and catching up on things.

I can't wait to get furniture put back on our floors! It's driving me a bit insane only being able to use half our house space. I have to figure out where we're going to eat supper now since most of our living room furniture is stuffed into the dining room.

Accalia had her first dance class today, and most of it was very similar to what she did in her summer class - summersaults, balance beams, dancing with scarves and other accessories, learning basic ballet positions, etc. She really had a lot of fun and loved her teacher, Lisa. It definitely helped that Lisa is a very motherly type and is excellent with the kids. I spent the hour trying to keep Cole away from the dance floor and talking with a mom I had met before at storytime. She just had her second child a couple weeks ago, so of course I asked if she was nursing (yes) and invited her to our upcoming LLL meeting on Saturday :)

Talk about a rather stressful morning, though! I had left Accalia's leotard on top of her dresser (I think!) before we left for the weekend. Everything got moved around since Cory refinished all of the floors (except for two rooms) upstairs. About a half hour before class, I realized I had no idea where the leotard was, so we ran to Kmart to pick up a new one. Accalia was also thrilled to get Barbie of Swan Lake, which she'd been asking for FOREVER. Perfect first day of dance gift :)

Time to take care of supper!

I'M BACK!!! Aren't you terribly excited? Feeling as if your life is just a little more complete now? I know I'm glad to have Internet and email capabilities again. Although, truthfully it was nice having that extra time that I normally would spend online. And I received a few more phone calls than normal.

A quick rundown of the past week:

- My birthday was last Monday (22nd), and the kids and I spent part of the day at my friend Amy's house having a playdate with her and our friends Sara and Karen and all of our kids, of course. When we returned home, we all went to the chiropractor (free adjustment for my birthday!) and went out to eat. My big gift from the family was a digital camera!

- The rest of the week was fairly uneventful, and then the kids and I left for Mankato on Friday to stay with my parents for a few days while Cory refinished the floors upstairs and downstairs. The floors look marvelous!

- In Mankato, I saw my friend Heather, who's feeling so much better now that she's closing in on the second trimester. Can't wait for a little belly to start popping out on her! Got to see my brother Jeremy and his wife Jessica's new house. They moved into it at the end of May, but I haven't had a chance to see it before now. Also got to see my cousin Rachel's new house that her husband built. Beautiful!

Now I'll have to get back to all of my responsibilities - both at home and online. Tomorrow Accalia has her first dance class. Hoping she enjoys it!

Being dependent on technology really sucks sometimes. I'm at our local library right now because our computer died last night. Well, it may not be dead, but we have to take it to the shop to find out what's going on. Hopefully it's something that can be repaired and hopefully it won't take long at all.

Highlights for the upcoming week:

- my 27th birthday tomorrow (Monday)
- playdate at Amy's house tomorrow, too
- going to my parents' house Friday and returning home next Monday

So, I can't say when I'll be back online. I'm already going through computer withdrawal, but this time may be good for me, too. I'll post again as soon as I can.

I'm still sick. And Cole seems to have caught a new cold - maybe thanks to me. Who knows. I'll just be glad when we're all better again. This is getting really old.

Tonight, while Cory took Cole and Lucy for a walk, Accalia and I played Chutes and Ladders. I tried my hardest to not win, but I did. Accalia was so sad. Tears welled up in her eyes and she said in a quavery voice, "I was supposed to win!" Thankfully Cory came home then and played a game with her, which she won. Poor kiddo. Best not to play win-lose type games when it's getting later on in the day.

I think it's safe to say Cole has gone down to one nap a day. It's kind of hard even though I'm used to having at least one child awake throughout the day. Part of it is that he's just constantly on the go now that he's a full fledged walker. Today he was just walking back and forth all day. He'd walk between the living room and the office/playroom, peak around the corner and say, "Huh?" Very cute.

Cory's tearing up our nasty brown carpeting in the living. There are beautiful wood floors underneath (which we knew already). Such a shame that they've been covered up for decades.

This was one of those days that you just want to forget about for the most part. There were some bright spots, though.

Cory had a cancellation and came home early, so we had the evening to spend together (although not a quiet one).

We added to our board game collection with marvelous deals at Goodwill: Chutes and Ladders, Memory and Outburst Junior all for less than $3.

My mom called to tell me about this elderly volunteer at the hospital who came to see her for a sore finger (my mom is a nurse at the urgent care clinic attached to the hospital). My mom asked this woman - now 89 - if she remembered me and this woman did :) She said they all loved me, that I was so dependable, etc. etc. I volunteered at the hospital from about eighth grade until I graduated from high school - basic candy striper duties such as manning the information desk, delivering mail and flowers, and working in the gift shop.

So, here's to a better tomorrow!

Cory and the kids are out shopping for my birthday present (the 22nd if anyone is keeping track). Accalia also needs to get new ballet slippers for her class starting in less than two weeks.

I try to avoid Dr. Phil because he really annoys me, but I happened to be flipping channels this afternoon and came upon his show and paused. He had a family on with a very competitive mother - the kind who screams at her kids during their games, yells at the coaches, etc. - who was forcing her kids to do these activities they didn't want to do and was really bringing them down with her desire for them to always win (that being the most important thing of all). Dr. Phil started talking about extrinsic and intrinsic motivation (i.e. extrinsic is doing something because someone tells you to do it and intrinsic being doing it out of self motivation). He talked about how harmful the former can be and how little it actually accomplishes for the person doing it, while the latter does so much more for the person and others around him. This is a big part of our unschooling (and subsequent life) philosophy in how we are raising our children and treat each other. I could go on and on about this, but I'm not inclined to at the moment :) Not that Dr. Phil was endorsing unschooling in any way, but it was nice to hear something like this in the mainstream.

Today was the start of the fall session of storytime at the library. I was a bit disappointed because the number of children was around 15-20, and I was really hoping it would be closer to 10. There were a lot of younger siblings around, so that did add to the general chaos, but it certainly doesn't help when the majority of the parents leave to wander around the library or actually leave the building and leave the librarian to try to conduct storytime and discipline children. Of course this is what happens in school classrooms all the time, so I suppose it's just expected by the majority of parents. There were a couple parents who stuck close by and helped out with their kids, so that was nice.

Accalia had a good time, and her favorite part was the craft (as usual), which was painting. She usually doesn't enjoy listening to the stories, and I think this is partly because they aren't stories she chose and isn't terribly interested in listening to, and she's used to reading being a much more intimate activity. At home, she's snuggled next to me or Cory and has our undivided attention (unless Cole is awake and climbing all over). At storytime, she's trying to hear the story and watch what all of the other kids are doing.

I think I've figured out just one reason why so many kids don't enjoy reading (and I think there are many reasons). I heard so many parents today say things like "You can only pick out two books" or "No, you can't get any books today. We just got books at such and such a place." What? Why would you discourage your child's interest like that? When we leave the library, our bag is stuffed full of books, so that's at least a dozen books that we bring home from the library each week. And we could easily bring home more if I was physically capable of doing so :)

After storytime, we drove to nearby Hartington, Neb., to stop at an open house my co-Leader was holding. It was really, really nice. There were 5 or 6 other moms there - all really nice - and a group of kids. Accalia and Cole had a blast playing with all of the kids. Cole, of course, had to be right in the action with the big kids. That meant I didn't get quite as much of a chance to talk with everyone as I would have liked since the kids were playing on this trolley parked in the front yard, but the nice thing about LLL events is that no one expects there to be a quiet, uninterrupted conversation. It's just natural to have children around and on top of you :)

These comics are great!

I have a candle lit right now for my friend who is in labor and will be birthing twins before long. I'm so anxious for the birth announcement!

I'm now sick. I felt it coming on last night right before bed. It's not horrible, but I'm definitely not feeling like myself. Thankfully Accalia has been entertaining herself for much of the day. Cole is just getting a kick of walking around everywhere. I'm not sure he's even crawled today. He was almost running at one point, actually. And he's busy practicing his turns and carrying things while he walks.

Tomorrow is the start of storytime at the library. Accalia's really looking forward to that. After that, we're going to head to my co-Leader's house in Hartington, Neb., for a LLL open house she's throwing. That's a really good way to kick off a new series of meetings. I have a lot of LLL stuff to do and not just getting things ready for the next series meeting here in Yankton. I have to buckle down and start preparing my session for Leader Day in November. I also have an article deadline next month.

There's a phrase I've been coming back to a lot lately in thinking about my interactions with others - especially Accalia and Cole: Something you say could last forever. Yeesh! How's that for pressure? But it's so true. There are so many things from my past that stick with me - both very hurtful and very helpful - that the person saying or doing it might not have even given a thought when they said it. And now that I'm a parent myself, I've found myself saying things or doing things that I wish had never been said or done. It's very obvious to me where I picked those traits up from, and I'm glad that I at least know that I can prevent my children from experiencing the same things. That's also why, when I screw up, that I'm sure to tell Accalia or Cole that what I did was wrong and that I'm sorry. I can't ever remember hearing that growing up. How sad for a child to grow up thinking it's okay they were treated in certain ways.

Accalia received a Disney Princess stationery set in the mail today. She gave out such an excited squeal :) She's upstairs right now busily writing out letters to all sorts of people. Accalia seems to be feeling much better today. Apparently she wasn't hit as hard with the bug as Cole was. Or maybe she'll really crash tonight. Let's hope it's after we've gone grocery shopping!

Maybe we should dress Cole up as Frankenstein for Halloween. He does a marvelous impression. Now that he's walking so much yet isn't too sure of his balance yet, it's so cute to watch. He walks around, sometimes lurching forward if he's in a big hurry, with his arms straight out in front of him. And when he's really excited, he'll make his "EEEEEE" sound in a loud voice. Too cute. I don't think I'll call him Frankenstein to his face, though - could cause issues later on in life :)

Accalia now apparently has the bug that Cole did earlier. Around noon she laid down on the couch, said her eyes hurt and asked me to blow her nose. She's had a fever of around 101 today, too. Poor girl. After a nap and a lot of veg time, she felt good enough to bounce super balls with Cole and Cory, but she's back on the couch watching Fantasia now. We were going to get together with another LLL Leader and talk with a potential Applicant tomorrow, but I had to cancel since Accalia won't be up to it. Oh well. Such is life.

Last night Cory and I watched Chicago. We really enjoyed it, too. I think my favorite number had to be with Richard Gere as the ventriloquist and Renee Zellweger as the dummy, and with Gere the puppeteer of the media. Sorry, can't think of the name of the song. Loved that protrayal of the press - even though I was once a devoted newspaper writer myself. I haven't seen a musical since "Mulan Rouge", which I also really enjoyed.

I'm going to put Cole up in bed now and hope for a quiet night.

Today we had been planning to drive up to Sioux Falls to participate in their LLL group's World Walk, but we decided that wouldn't be too smart with Cole just getting over this bug. So we're just having a lazy day at home. We picked up Cole's one year pictures from Wal-Mart, and they turned out quite well if I do say so myself.

Cory returned safely home from Pierre last night, and since both kids fell asleep early we just relaxed and watched "Super Troopers." Pretty funny movie and even funnier for us since Cory's brother is a highway patrol officer here in South Dakota. Tonight we're hoping to watch "Chicago" if both kids cooperate. They're both fairly low key, but who know. Cole will either be falling asleep for a late nap or make it through the day with just one nap once again. He started cutting out one of his two daily naps a couple weeks ago, which is a few months earlier than Accalia. I really don't mind, though, since it usually works out better for us when we run errands or what not to be able to work around just one nap.

Cole seems to be doing a little better - no fever as far as I can tell. Definitely punchy still. And unfortunately Accalia and Cole just didn't want to cooperate last night and fall asleep early and give me a couple glorious hours of me time. Just as Cole was waking up from an afternoon nap, Accalia fell asleep. At 5 p.m. For three hours. When she woke up, we went out to drive around and grab a late supper. Accalia was just thrilled to be out in the dark and see all of the different lights from houses and businesses. I suppose it's been a while since it's gotten dark early enough that we'd be driving around in the dark. "Ooh, Mommy! Everyone else is asleep right now!" This was at 8:12 p.m. LOL!

So a very cranky, overtired boy finally went to sleep at 9:30, while Accalia lasted until midnight. And both were ready to be up for the day a little after 7 a.m. Okay, I'm a little sleep deprived because I'm starting to obsess about times and I don't usually do that.

Since Cole's still a little sickly boy, I'm not going over to Vermillion to meet up with all these super cool homeschoolers. I mean, how can they not be cool if they want to meet me? ;) The good news is that we've decided to cancel today and try to meet up in a few weeks since this date doesn't seem to be working out for anyone.

It's hard to believe it's already been two years. I still find it extremely disturbing to view images of the destruction and death at the WTC, Pentagon and in Pennsylvania. I get very emotional seeing the media coverage or viewing it all online. I think the enormity and reality of it all is probably still not entirely within my grasp. Partly that's because I haven't been affected personally in that a loved one was killed and I live so far away from the locations that were attacked. Personally I hate to watch the media replay footage from that day. What purpose does that serve? Is it to give people that emotional kick in the stomach? Does it make sure we really don't forget what happened? It must be so painful to the families and loved ones of the victims.

Rather ironically, Cory is once again gone at a mental health meeting on Sept. 11. In 2001, he was in Rapid City and called me with the news. I had just turned on the television. Today he left for a mental health meeting in Pierre and will be back tomorrow. He called just a few minutes ago and said his hotel is probably the safest place in the state right now because it's surrounded by highway patrol vehicles. The highway patrol is also meeting in Pierre, so Cory will be able to spend some time with his brother.

God must really have a sense of humor where I'm concerned. Right before Cory leaves for a night, Cole gets sick. I thought something was going on since Cole's been so clingy and nursing frequently this week. Yesterday he woke up from a nap and felt really warm, so I took his temp and it was 100 degrees. He doesn't seem to have as much of a temp today, but he's definitely not himself. Cranky, clingy and no life in those eyes. Last night was not a good night, and Cole and I ended up in the guest room for half of the night.

And something's going on with Accalia. I don't think she's getting sick, but I could be wrong. She's been rather weepy and more clingy at night, asking if she can sleep right by me. Usually she's in her bed on the other side of Cory, but this week I've been wedged in between both kids throughout the night. Not an unpleasant thing at all :) She's had a couple dreams that have caused her to wake up crying - dreams about being lost and not able to find me. This morning she was really shy around Cory and rather weepy before he left, but it wasn't because he was leaving. Maybe she's going through some psychological and emotional changes - just part of growing up.

Last night Accalia was playing games on the computer (not uncommon lately as I rarely get a chance to get on), and I walked toward the bathroom and saw a puddle of urine.
Me: Accalia, did you pee on the floor? (duh question since I doubt it was Cory!)
Accalia: Yup.
Me: Are you okay?
Accalia: I have a problem.
Me: What's that?
Accalia: I peed on the bathroom floor!

Accalia definitely was catching up on sleep last night. She fell asleep probably before 6 p.m. and didn't get up until after 7 a.m.! She even slept through all of the thunder and lightning and three plus inches of rain we had last night.

Things are getting busier when it comes to La Leche League. The coordinator of a group called Parents As Teachers called me the other day wanting information about meetings she could pass along to parents. The kids and I dropped off a packet this morning. I've also been asked to work with a possible Leader Applicant in Nebraska even though that isn't my area. Geographically, I'm closer to her than other Nebraska Leaders are, so this is the way it works. I may also be working with another mom nearby who expressed interest in leadership. Of course I haven't given either my stamp of approval, so we shall see :)

My uncle had given us a gift certificate for a fancy children's clothing boutique in town back in June when he came to celebrate Accalia's birthday. We went there today. Ouch on the prices and thumbs down on the selection. I had told Accalia she could pick out anything in the store, and she had told me that she wanted "a beautiful dress like Sleeping Beauty." Well, she did find a satiny, frilly, flowery pink number that fit the bill. Hopefully it still fits for next Easter :) For now I guess it's an extravagant dress up dress. I guess I could have just said, "No Accalia, you have to pick something that is appropriate for winter. Blah, blah, blah." But hey, it was her gift certificate and she's the one wearing the clothes. It's actually fun now that Accalia wants to choose what new clothes we get. I enjoy not having to make all of the decisions myself. Cole, of course, doesn't really care what he wears at this point, so I picked out something for him, too.

When we got home, Accalia had me brush her hair ("Hold it out straight and brush it like Sleeping Beauty, Mom"), help her into the dress, find "beautiful" shoes and put a tiara on her. Then she danced around to her "ballerina" music.

Cole, according to Accalia, looks "cool" in his clothes :)

I'm going to blame the weather for my fairly bad mood. It started out raining - which was great since I love rain and we really need some - but it's ended up being a kind of cool, humid day. The humid part I'm not thrilled about. And this sounds so old of me, but I really do think that when weather changes, it affects more sensitive joints in my body. My knee and back are still trying to get back into the swing of things with the rest of my body, and it's going rather slow. The good news is that I don't feel any worse!

I have been rather neglectful of the children today, too. They've been fed and kept in dry, clean clothes (when they want to be clothed), but that's about all I'm feeling up to.

This afternoon I made the mistake of flushing the toilet for Accalia.
Accalia: Mom! You can't do that. I do that!
Me: Okay, I'm sorry. I won't do it again.
Accalia: (walking out of the bathroom) Mommy can't flush the toilet. I flush the toilet. Mommy can't flush the toilet. I flush the toilet.

Her rant went on for a bit until she was apparently purged of her annoyance.

I'd better get started on some spaghetti sauce. We eat early on Tuesdays because Cory has to take off to see a client soon after he arrives home.

I hope Cole's not coming down with something. I really hope it's a growth spurt, although not enough of one that he'd already be too big for the 18 month size winter clothes we've recently acquired. Today he's been clingy and nursing, nursing, nursing. It reminds me of how Accalia was most of the time for those first couple years and made me realize what an independent sort of guy Cole is compared with Accalia as a baby.

Not a terribly exciting day today. Accalia is signed up for the upcoming session of storytime at the library. I'm excited that there will be smaller groups of kids rather than the 20 plus during the summer. Accalia's excited to start doing the crafts there again.

I went to the chiropractor even though I had just been last Tuesday. My knee felt like it was twisted sideways and I was limping around horribly. And I could feel it going into my lower back. Turns out my pelvis was all twisted up. Who knows how these things happen. I'm feeling better now, although my knee is bothering me a little bit yet thanks to Cole needing to be carried so much more today.

Accalia's kicking me off the computer again to play games. She's been on a game craze lately - Halloween games especially.

Accalia's on an organizing mission right now. She's taking all of the clothes out of her dresser, folding them and putting them in piles. Hopefully she'll want to put them back in her dresser!

Wasn't it absolutely thrilling to hear Bush say that we're going to spend $87 billion in Iraq? There's a homeless man who sits near the entrance to Wal-Mart most weekends - a veteran - holding a sign asking for any sort of help. His dog lies in the shade of this man's green duffle bag. Today, after we left Wal-Mart, we ran to McDonald's and brought back some food for this man. After hearing Bush speak, Cory said, "If we can spend $87 billion in Iraq, we shouldn't have anyone have to sit outside of Wal-Mart needing food or money."

Maybe I've missed the great economic upswing and all of the good economic news that this war was supposed to bring. I haven't seen it around here, at any rate. The poor economy is still hurting families. One of my fellow LLL Leaders and Area Department Coordinators (ADCs) is resigning her ADC position because she has to go back to work to help the family after her husband just took a huge pay cut.

Cory's parents brought us two boxes full of tomatoes and cucumbers. There's no way we would get through all of those, and I don't can. None of our neighbors need anything, so I took the majority down to a table outside of a nearby Catholic church. The church has this table set up much of the year so people can give their food donations and others can come and choose what they'd like. Apparently many of the local homeless population takes advantage of this.

Well, it's getting later but I'm probably not going to get to bed for a while with Accalia on her rampage. On to other things, I guess...

Accalia and Cole have just woken up from late and long naps - much needed for them after this weekend. I really should have taken advantage and napped myself, but I watched "The Hours", something I was planning to do when Cory is gone later this week. Ah well. Leaves me time to do other things if I happen to get a rare period of quiet when Cory is at his quarterly mental health meeting.

Cory's parents camped at the lake this weekend, and my mom stayed with us. We had a small birthday party for Cole at a local orchard. There were a few things about the party that Cory and I weren't too thrilled about, but I guess you take what you can get when it's your only orchard around. Not a big deal really. Cole was probably ready for a nap even before the party began at 2, but he was brave and seemed to mostly enjoy seeing the goats, going through a hay maze and going on a wagon ride to pick a pumpkin. He didn't eat any of the cake or ice cream but was fairly enthusiastic about smashing a piece of cake all over the ground.

Yesterday I also attended my first LLL meeting. Another area Leader led this first one, but eventually I'll be leading meetings. It's been a couple years since I've even attended a meeting, so it's nice to be more of a participant than facilitator at the start. Beside myself, the other Leader and a retired Leader, there were three moms. All were enthusiastic, so it made for some great conversation. They all also attend local MOPS meetings and invited me to attend. I'm not sure if I will or not because frankly that sort of thing really doesn't appeal to me, but it's nice to have that option there. I know it's a nice way for moms to get together, meet each other and listen to inspirational messages, but it's just always seemed more like a forced playgroup in a way. I'm sure my perception is way off, so feel free to correct me :)

This coming week isn't terribly full. Tomorrow we'll head to the library and sign up for storytime. Tuesday I have a haircut. Cory will be gone in Pierre Thursday and Friday. Friday I'm getting together in Vermillion with a bunch of un/homeschoolers I've met online. Saturday we're heading to Sioux Falls for their LLL group's World Walk for Breastfeeding. Okay, that actually is a full week for me. LOL!

This morning the kids and I were snuggling in bed and reading. Accalia was handing me books and said, "You're the best mommy in the whole world!"

Cole had his year checkup. I guessed a little high on the weight. He's just under 22 pounds, and according to his chart, he shrunk a little in height! I don't think that happened, but he's apparently remained steady for the past few months at 30 1/2 inches tall. Pretty typical for breastfed babies since their growth slows down in the second half of the first year - usually. At least this nurse wasn't like the nurse we had with Accalia, who was trying to blame me for Accalia lack of weight gain because she wasn't eating many solids!

Accalia's requesting some time to color online, so I'd better scoot.

I'm so tired right now - just about bordering on sleep deprivation :) Heading to bed in a few minutes. Cole just went down and Accalia seems willing. Tomorrow's the start of another busy weekend. We're having a birthday party for Cole on Saturday. Cory's parents are camping out at the lake, and my mom is coming to stay with us. Cole has his year checkup at the doc's, so we'll see what he weighs. My guess is 24 lbs.

We named our tree George. As we were driving home from the nursery, I said we should give it a name and out popped George. Cory looked at me and said, "That's what I was thinking." So we're odd, but there it is.

Accalia and I just went outside to say goodnight to George. He seems very peaceful in his new home and surrounded by a lovely cedar mulch.

The birthday boy is dumping out the contents of the plastic container cabinet in the kitchen, and Accalia has fallen asleep upstairs. Cory and I just finished eating supper, and as I look out the office window I can see the weeping willow tree we (mostly Cory!) planted today along with Cole's placenta :)

I think it's been a pretty good first birthday for Cole - not that he really knows anything too special is happening. Accalia helped him open gifts this morning. She did most of the unwrapping while Cole sat there ripping apart the discarded paper, saying "Ahhh!" as he ripped each piece. He says "Ahh!" now whenever he does anything - takes a drink, nurses, puts a toy on the table, etc. etc.

I made cupcakes for Cole's birthday treat, and they were sitting in a container on the dining room table after Accalia had decorated them. Apparently they were close enough to the edge for either Cole or Lucy to grab them, because I walked into the dining room and there were Lucy and Cole surrounded by cupcakes. Lucy was quite rapidly eating and licking up as much as she could, while Cole was happily covered in sticky chocolate frosting. We salvaged one cupcake so I could put a candle on it, we sang "Happy Birthday" to him, Accalia blew out the candle, and Cole promtly tossed the cupcake on the floor. LOL!

So that's been our day. Oh, I think I'm rather ticked off at the children's consignment store. The owner (a woman about my age) is becoming increasingly snobby each time we go there. She seems to have a real problem with the kids testing out the toys that are covering the floors, boxes, shelves, etc. That's fine. I understand that, and I've told Accalia that the owner doesn't want her touching the toys. Today I went in because I wanted to grab up a winter jacket for Cole that was just $3, and I told her I had a few things for consignment. She looked at me and said they really didn't have room for anything else. Okay, that's fine. The place is stuffed full; it really is. Then I just mentioned that we had a garage sale and had things left over. Her reply: "Oh, well then those wouldn't be things we would want anyway." I muttered a few choice words after we left the store.

Accalia has a catch phrase. We really should try to patent it or market it or both. I've heard it too many times today, but she will say "Not again!" for almost everything - doesn't even mean that it's something we really do over and over. Now she just needs to add a hand palm to her forehead and she'll be ready for the big time :)

Happy first birthday, my little man! Right now the birthday boy and his sister are enjoying a bubble bath. It's shaping up to be a glorious day of celebration. More detail to follow...

Happy Labor Day! Last Labor Day I was in early, early labor with Cole :) Just two more days until he turns one. Sniff, sniff. It's really hard to believe that it's almost been a year. These past couple years have definitely been just about the most stressful in my life but have also been filled with some wonderful things - Cole being the most wonderful addition during these times. The kids both fell asleep early last night, so Cory and I had a chance to talk about all sorts of things, including the effects of the past couple years on us. We're definitely feeling it, but thankfully it hasn't hurt our marriage ;)

Cory had today off, and we've been doing odds and ends all day. Nothing terribly exciting - oil change and tire rotation and alignment for the van, grocery shopping, etc. The woman that bought our crib at the garage sale stopped by because a couple pieces were missing. We found them behind boxes in the basement, so they must have just fallen by the wayside when we were moving things for the garage sale.

Both kids are relatively calm and quiet, so I think I'm going to make a phone call to take care of some LLL business.