Friday, October 2, 2009

October Update

Around the House: A long awaited improvement for our house... a new TV. J finally picked out his birthday present and it arrived last week. I picked out the stand which is actually a low buffet (I hate those silver or black laquered TV stands) and it looks pretty good in our family room. Pros for having a new TV: watching Dancing with the Stars without lines across the screen, not having to worry that one of the kids will pull over the entertainment center and 75lb tv on top of themselves. Cons: worrying that of the kids will knock over (or throw something at or spill something on) the new tv and we'll be out 3 times the $ than the old one, and of course figuring the new remote.

Also, a pleasant surprise in the flower bed... the tiny mums that I bought 3 for $2 in the checkout at Home Depot last year came up and started to bloom last week. And they are huge; at least 24 inches across. That makes 2 things that I managed not to kill this summer!

In the Kitchen: Not too much going on since I've been working so much lately. I am, however, going to try a new recipe for New York Crumb Cake tomorrow for company. It looks so yummy, I can't wait.

New with Embry: Embry is getting along great at school. And she asks me everyday, "How many days until soccer?" She is doing better about actually eating her lunch and resting if she gets tired in the afternoon. She had an especially good time at school yesterday when a very lively thunderstorm rolled through town. Apparently, the teacher instructed the students to stop their work and come to the center of the room. They turned the lights off and closed their eyes and listened to the rain and thunder. Then they read a book about rain and discussed why the lightning comes before the thunder and so on. She was so excited to tell me all about it.

New with Matthew: Matthew has recently become pleasantly independent lately. I say "pleasantly" because he has always been independent in the way that he wants to do things for himself. But he is now actually able to do so many more things for himself, safely and without much help. For example, I can set his yogurt, milk (in an open cup) and crackers on his highchair tray and he will feed himself without spilling (too much) or choking from putting too much food in his mouth. I can now actually eat a meal while he is eating his. Also, he has become quite comfortable with walking himself to and from the car at home. This may not seem like a big deal, but to anyone who has tried to carry a toddler while unloading groceries, wrestling with a diaper bag and balancing a coffee all at once knows how freeing this is. He can be relied on not to fall up the stairs, or run into the street, and I don't have to make several trips in order to bring everything along. Baby steps, but they make a big difference in our everyday life.

I'm Grateful For: See above.

The Weather Outside: I finally had to turn on the heat this week. Wednesday morning the temp outside was 49 and the temp in the house was 55. I tried to warm up by putting a sweater on over my pj's and digging out my warm slippers from the back of the closet. But, I just couldn't get comfortable and I used Matthew's cold hands as my final excuse. I turned the switch on the central air to "heat" and left it on for about 30 minutes. Just enough time to take the chill out of the air. I was satisfied and the house was left smelling a little musty like it always does when you turn on the furnace for the first time.

I am Obsessed With: The new TV series "Glee." I think it's on Fox, I don't know for sure since I've only watched it on Hulu. It is hilarious. Somewhat campy (I think that's a word) with very dry humor and lots of "High School Musical" style singing and dancing (which I would normally despise). But the fact that no one takes it too seriously makes it so good.

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