This week is kicking my butt. All five of us have had a cough for weeks now. I’m so sick of constantly saying, “Cover your mouth!” “Cough away from people!” “Did you cover your mouth?” “DON’T COUGH RIGHT ON THE FOOD!” I finally took the kids to the clinic on Tuesday and both girls have ear infections and are on antibiotics. I’m on them as well, for what I was told is a sinus infection, but what I’m 99% sure is just the allergies I’ve suffered from for the last bazillion years. Kaylie’s had the cough the longest and is on different antibiotics this time. Expensive ones. Noah was literally speechless when I told him how much the drugs were. Thank God (literally) for prescription coverage.

Preston’s been teething (AGAIN)(13th and 14th teeth) and just popped through his bottom left canine, with his bottom right one about to pop through. These teeth have given him even more trouble than his molars did. Drool and whining are aplenty.

I’ve been training for the 10k at the end of the month and doing my cleaning job on my spare evenings and Saturdays and hanging out with babies all day and every time I turn around it’s Thursday again (here’s my Canadian Family article this week: Clearly Organized Bags: An Easy Way to Corral Your Child’s Toys) and some weeks I live for Sundays, the day we have absolutely nothing work-related going on.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy all the previously-mentioned things (save for the teething and coughing), but sometimes I can’t keep up. I get annoyed that I can’t stay on top of stuff at home and Noah keeps telling me not to worry about it and he takes care of so much. He does the dishes and the laundry and the bathroom and he vacuums and he bathes the kids and puts them to bed and I’m so thankful he does so much. I’ve been going to bed too late and I’ve been exhausted all day. I know things will get better when I get into a routine with everything, I just have to get there.

This week has been extra crazy with super-fun stuff like hanging out with Ugandan kids and having a visit from my friend Matt. We’ve been good friends since high school and a while ago he messaged me to say that he was coming through and was thinking of stopping by for a visit. I haven’t seen him in about eight years, so I was quite looking forward to it. I absolutely love it when people I know come through town because it’s so rare. It’s nice to see a familiar face once in a while, you know?

I found this photo of us in Grade 11 on a band trip in Whistler, with our friend Tom:

Nice ski-goggle tan, Matty.

He hasn’t changed a bit and he said that I haven’t either, besides the thing about being married and adding two more kids. And, you know, I thought he was here to visit me until he and Noah hit it off and started ganging up on me. Those bullies. It’s a good thing I CAN DEFEND MYSELF and throw a few punches right back at them. Go watch your hockey. I DON’T EVEN CARE.

The girls totally enjoyed having Matt visit and made him play video games with them. He said he now understands all the Liliana quotes I put up on Facebook. Preston kept his distance, as he usually does with most people, but finally gave Matt a few smiles.

I just got a Facebook message from another (also-formerly-from-Terrace) friend who is going to be in town on May Long, and her message totally made my day.

In less-fun stuff, I’ve battled nightmares on and off for the last couple years and last night I had a pretty harsh one. The nightmares are extremely vivid and based on real-life deep hurts, so they always leave me in a deep funk in the morning. Last night I had a particularly horrid one and this morning sucked. I wish I could just shrug nightmares off, but they are unforgiving.

Both girls had the day off school and had a really hard time BEING QUIET while the babies were sleeping. Granted, one baby slept for three hours and the other for two (I checked on them numerous times to make sure they were STILL BREATHING, as they usually sleep for about an hour), so it was a long time to BE QUIET AND NOT FIGHT, but when Noah called around 11am, I was at the end of my rope. He came home for lunch, brought me a coffee, and then freed me of both girls for the afternoon.

The boys finally woke up and ate great for lunch. I wiped them down, took them out of their high chairs, and went to make sure the playroom was baby-friendly after the girls were in there. I then walked into the living room to find Preston holding my (now cooled and almost-but-not-completely empty) coffee cup upside-down. He and Kesler were stomping the puddle of coffee into the carpet. It’s a good thing the carpet is brown.

I’m so glad today is Friday. I love weekends so, SO much.

The girls had an extra-special playdate yesterday. Noah’s parents’ billeted Watoto kids came over for a couple hours and had a total blast. The girls asked over and over and over, “Are the Watoto kids here yet? When are they coming? Are they almost here? WHY AREN’T THEY HERE YET?” All four girls went straight out to the trampoline and giggled and giggled.

Preston, Sharon, Maria, Liliana, Kaylie

When they were done, they tried to ride bikes. The Watoto kids hadn’t ridden bikes before, but they are incredibly curious, energetic, and brave.

It took them a bit to learn how the pedals worked and I pushed each girl on a bike for over half an hour. That doesn’t sound like a long time, but one girl wanted to ride Noah’s bike, which is too big for even me, and I just couldn’t say no to her so I held on to the back of the seat and the handlebar and ran around and around and around the trampoline. I tried to tell the one girl that I was tired (and ready to pass out), but she pointed to the seat and said, “Push!” So push I did. Every once in a while she’d say, “Leave!” and I’d let go and she’d fall over. But she got right back up and wanted to go again. I’m pretty sure that if they’d stayed the entire day, both of them would be riding without training wheels no problem.

Both girls thought Preston was just the greatest. They packed him around and put him on their shoulders and passed him back and forth.

One girl came inside to use the washroom and didn’t go back outside. She was checking things out and discovered an xbox controller. She turned it over and over and pressed all the buttons. Noah turned on the xbox, showed her how it worked, and let her play Kung Fu Panda for a couple minutes. Liliana “helped”, too. “No, that way! Follow the green dot! Press A! No, PRESS A!”

When it was time for the girls to go, both of them ran up to Sue with their index fingers pointing, “One more! One more minute! Two more … five more minutes!” They wanted to go back on the trampoline.

They were allowed to and afterward we went to have dinner at the in-laws’ place.

I’ve seen three or four of the Watoto choirs and they are a blessing every time.

And also, these kids have 4,386 times more energy than I do.

FaceTime’ing with Dad last weekend

My boy is feeling better today. Hooray! He went a couple days last week with a high fever, eating nothing, just nursing. He whimpered and he was extremely snuggly and sensitive. If someone looked the wrong way at him, he cried. Today is better. He’s eating again and he only cried when his buddy Kesler came near him. My boy has a big personal bubble.

Both girls had Friday off from school. Liliana always has Fridays off, but Kaylie had it off for … something. It seems as though she has at least one day a week off. It sure didn’t feel like, when I was a kid, we had as many days off as she has. Usually on days I don’t have to leave the house, we have a pajama day and don’t do much. This past Friday, however, my friend Chris suggested we hang out and since her son Nathanael (Liliana’s four-year-old friend) was coming with her, I let Kaylie have a play date, too. (Is it still called a play date when kids are 10-going-on-11?)

I’m not really a fan of play dates. I mean, having kids over when their parents are also over is fine, but the kids of people I don’t know? School friends and such? Not a fan. I just … I don’t know what it is. I’d just rather avoid them. Because, as Liliana always tells me, I’m a bad parent. But, I’d rather Kaylie have a friend over than have her go to a place where I don’t know the parents (and I don’t like meeting parents)(I HAVE ISSUES, OKAY?).

Chris and I spent the day baking, and you’d think we’d have had a lot to show by the end of the day, but I ate six muffins and the brownies kind of disappeared and the cookies were just really tasty. It’s all gone already, is what I’m saying. It’s a good thing I made that coffee cake yesterday so I’d have something to eat for breakfast today.

Noah suggested that Chris and I have a girls’ night, so we did. Chris’s husband came for dinner and then took their son home, Noah went to hang out with his mom (and subject her to Centre Ice hockey), and the three of us (I let Kaylie stay up) watched Runaway Bride and ate popcorn and chocolate. Oh, and I fell asleep and stayed asleep through most of the movie. Whoops.

Saturday morning was the usual gymnastics/ballet/Tim Hortons (it kills me that there is no apostrophe in Tim Hortons)(related: I have issues) shenanigans and after lunch we headed to my favorite one-year-old boy’s birthday party. I didn’t pay too much attention to the address on the FB invite and just assumed it was at Kesler’s house. Except nobody was there. So I checked the invite, apologized to my family, and typed the address into google maps. I forgot to put in a teeny tiny letter and we ended up at the wrong house. Again. Whoops. So this time I double AND TRIPLE checked that I had the address right and we showed up at the party an hour late. But we were right on time for cake, so I’ll call it a WIN.

Mr. Kesler will have to share the title of favorite one-year-old boy in 16 days (!!!), so we had to celebrate. Kesler downed his birthday cupcake in record time. It was quite awesome to watch. Especially since I didn’t have to clean him up.

Oh, and Saturday was also the first day of the spring run of 7 Days.

I missed the winter run, so I was looking forward to this one. And here’s Sunday’s shot:

Sunday I went for my first run in three weeks. I let my head/neck/shoulder pain take over the last couple weeks, but through the magic of muscle relaxants, I could finally move again. Woot. It always takes me forever to get my butt out the door to go running. I’m a professional staller/procrastinator. And I’m quite lazy. But, when I get back, I’m always glad I went. And then I fall down dead in my couch groove from the overabundance of physical activity.

We have dinner at the in-laws with Taygan every Sunday evening, and since Sue had just gotten back from vacation a couple days before, we had her, Taygan, and Andrew at our place instead, which means that we had people for dinner twice in three days, which is very weird for us hermits. It gave me an excuse to cook, though, which was quite nice because I haven’t been doing much of that lately.

It’s weird how time just disappears. Every time I turn my back, it’s the weekend again (which is not a bad thing) and then it’s Monday and then the end of March and then HOLY CRAP MY BABY IS ALMOST ONE. I’m way behind on blog reading (sorry about that), there are a bazillion shows piled up on our DVR, and there is some shrimp in my fridge that should really be thrown out already. And both Noah and I went to bed at 8:30 last night. Well, he fell asleep on the couch until 2am and I went to bed intending to go to sleep but fell down a Facebook wormhole and then couldn’t sleep until almost midnight. Lame.

Am I caught up now? Oh, right, here’s my Canadian Family post from last Thursday. It’s about thermometers. Alrighty. I think that’s it now.

Happy Monday!

Noah told me Monday night that we were expected to receive many inches of snow. I didn’t think too much of it, as the weather man is nearly always wrong, but Tuesday morning he called me after his morning Bible study and suggested that the kids and I stay home because the predicted snow did come and the roads were very dangerous. I was on-board completely, and called the girls’ schools to tell them that they would be Wilson-kid free today. While the girls watched the Sound of Music (I lifted Liliana’s TV ban for the morning, as she was very disappointed about missing school), I caught up on photo editing. I’ve been using my Canon a lot more recently, and I sure missed it.

The snow is so pretty. I’m not a big fan of bitterly cold temperatures (which we’ve mostly avoided this year, thankfully) or winter driving, but I am a fan of having lots of snow — it’s so beautiful.

I spent most of Saturday and Sunday switching the girls’ rooms around. I’d had the idea of having one bedroom and one playroom for a while, but was waiting for Kaylie to be on board with it. The girls had been sleeping in the same room anyway, as neither likes to sleep alone. I hadn’t asked Kaylie about it for a couple months, but on Saturday she was excited about it.

Preston “helped” and was stoked to be where he’s usually not allowed.

I didn’t know exactly how I wanted the rooms to look, so I just dove in and hoped for the best. I knew I wanted to have somewhere for Kaylie to put her special things, out of reach of Liliana, and I wanted a place for Liliana’s special things as well. When we lived in the two-bedroom apartment in Regina, I stacked their dressers so that they’d still have space to play. I decided to do the same again, not to save space, but to have a higher shelf for Kaylie.

I moved a bookshelf from Kaylie’s (former) room to the master bedroom, for Noah’s books. I’m all about getting rid of stuff instead of making room for more stuff — except when it comes to books. You can never have took many books. I’m probably going to be one of the last people in the world to get a kindle or nook or whatever kind of digital book reader thingy. I prefer the real thing. I’m pretty sure Noah feels the same way since getting new books is pretty much his favourite thing, so much so that he needs a bookshelf all to himself.

Since there was now space on the living room bookshelf, I moved all the girls’ books out there. I cleaned out Kaylie’s closet and moved all her and Preston’s clothes into Liliana’s closet. Thankfully, the closets in this house are quite spacious, although I really hate the closet doors. They slide back and forth and prevent the closet from being fully open. It’s quite annoying. #FirstWorldProblem #DiamondShoes

Eventually I will move Preston into the kids’ bedroom as well, but not until he sleeps for longer than two-hour stretches. (Something we will be working on during the girls’ Easter break, when I don’t have to be anywhere at any set time.) (And when he isn’t pushing through two molars, like he is right now.)

The girls kept themselves occupied, excitedly watching me switch stuff from room to room.

Liliana had a bunk bed in her room, where she was sleeping on the top bunk. She wanted to switch to the bottom, which was completely fine with Kaylie who wanted the top anyway. We’ve played musical beds many times in the last four years that switching beds wasn’t anything abnormal to them.

Once in a while, the girls exceed my expectations in how well they can get along. Kaylie let Liliana up on her bunk to play and it was huge to Liliana. Even though hours earlier the top bunk had been hers, the fact that it was now Kaylie’s and she was allowed up there totally made Liliana’s day.

I’m mostly done with the rooms, and I’ll post photos when they are completely completed. So far, the room sharing is going well, except that the girls don’t go to sleep until later than usual. The best part is that both rooms have been kept clean all week — the girls have been cleaning up after themselves (with a little prompting). It’s a March Miracle.

I started my new job this past week — carer of Kesler. It’s going really well so far. Mr. K is a mere 20 days older than Mr. P, and they’re nearly identical in regards to milestones. It’s funny how having double the babies makes quadruple the work. It’s fun, though. Kesler is a total ham. The hardest part is getting them to and from the van. In the morning, Kaylie helps me by taking one baby there, and then when we pick her up, she helps by taking one baby back inside. I only have to do it a couple times by myself, and I will not be sad when the boys start walking outside. You try unlocking a vehicle door the old-fashioned way while carrying 25lbs of baby boy on each hip.

They’ve been napping at almost the same time every day, which is pretty rad. Preston’s crib is still in my room, and I set up a pack-n-play for Kesler in the girls’ room — there are two walls and two doors separating them, and so far, they have not woken each other up.

Preston is quite the mama’s boy (just like his daddy) and does not like it when I am holding Kesler. He starts to cry and then crawls or walks over to me to be held, too.

Both girls absolutely love playing with the babies, but Liliana is still working on being gentle. She totally body-slammed Preston today. On purpose. She wasn’t looking to hurt him, but she doesn’t yet understand that babies are BABIES.

I don’t regret for a moment quitting my job(s) to stay home and hang out with babies all day. There is nothing else I’d rather do. Although a day at a poop-free spa might be nice once in a while.

Mid-morning on Tuesday, the snow day, the girls asked to go outside. The wind was still a bit blowy, but I bundled them up tight and sent them out. There’s no way I’m saying no to a kid who wants to play outside (unless it is really unsafe). They’ve been inside so much lately that they need to expel some energy somehow. I went out to take photos of their snow playing, but the snow was up to my knees and I was in capri sweats and winter boots, and, well, I’m a wimp and I didn’t like the feeling of snow coming into my boots. I took a few photos and ran back inside. Had I not a baby who needed looking after, I would have bundled up more and played out there with them. I love huge snowfalls (when I don’t have to leave the house).

They were covered in snow, but so happy when they finally came inside. They had so much fun that they went out again when Noah came home, to “help” him shovel the driveway.

I had a couple birthday cheques I was saving for a new lens and I finally cashed them a bit ago because I finally found a fun affordable lens. (Sorry, family members who finally saw that on their bank statements.)

I got this one from Photojojo. I opened the box from the bottom (the shipping label was on top covered in thick annoying plastic), and out popped a dinosaur. I thought it was odd, and also kind of cool. I didn’t notice until afterward that there was this sticker on the side of the box:

Photojojo is awesome.

Liliana saw the dinosaur when she got home from school and accused me of stealing one of her dinosaurs. I showed her the sticker on the box and tried to get her to say stow-away-asaurus. I’m not sure yet if she believed me or not that I didn’t steal one of her dinosaurs. Oh well. I steal dinosaurs from four-year-olds for kicks.

I even went so far as to take a self-portrait with my fancy new lens, just so that you know that I exist and I’m not making all this stuff up.

Or am I?

*~*~*
Oh, and if you’re interested, here is my Canadian Family post from this week:
How to Cut Diapering Costs: The Case for Going Cloth
*~*~*

I actually suck at sending people stuff. I mean, I really love to do it, but I have the hardest time actually getting to the post office. My nieces know this, as I don’t think they’ve ever had an on-time birthday gift from Auntie Jen.

Also, I have yet to send out my 2011 Christmas cards. Or Preston’s birth announcements. I KNOW. I suck at life. I asked some people for their addresses, and they’re probably wondering where their Christmas card is and when I started to hate them.

Anyway, Bethany is the best package sender I have ever met yet to meet. I put a certain book on my 2012 Book List and Bethany sent it to me as an early birthday present. Because she rocks like that.

And how nifty is the Peanuts tape? Bethany, you have to tell me where you get that tape.

Anyway, the big reveal:

Attachments by Rainbow Rowell! Bethany has been raving about this book and if there’s one thing I know about Bethany, she’s got great taste — many of the TV shows I’ve watched and books I’ve read were at her suggestion.

Bethany had been sending me cryptic messages about layers and that she knew I’d like the gift, but the next layer would be better.

It was.

She got Rainbow Rowell to sign it! Now, I had no idea that she was going to do this, but Rainbow and Bethany went to highschool (or, college?) together, so when Bethany was traveling around where Rainbow lives, she got Rainbow to write an inscription for me. That is pretty rad.

So, thank you, Bethany (and Rainbow!). I can’t wait to read it. As soon as I finish Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, which they both know anyway, because … oh wait. It’s a secret. Never mind.

three-kid room fail
We live in a three-bedroom house and I’ve been trying to figure out how to make it work when Preston transitions out of our room. So I had this idea. I’d put all three kids in one room – just their beds – and have the other room as a play room with their toys. They were all for it and Kaylie started sleeping in Liliana’s room (Liliana has a bunk bed in her room, Kaylie a loft bed in hers) to see if it was something she wanted to do long-term. On the second night, she decided she wanted to keep their rooms separate. But she’s still sleeping in Liliana’s room. Both girls hate sleeping alone. Whatever.

So the other day she comes and says to me something about being okay with moving her bed into Liliana’s room. I say something about the other room and she says that she’d like to keep it as her own private room. I asked her, “So you get two bedrooms?” Liliana piped up just then, quite heartbroken, “SO I DON’T GET A BEDROOM?!”

It’s not happening. Funny, though, that the 10-year-old thought she could get away with having 1.5 bedrooms, leaving her sister with half a bedroom while Noah, Preston, and I shared the third one. FUNNY GIRL, THAT KAYLIE. I still don’t know where we’re going to put Preston when (IF!) he (EVER!) starts sleeping through the night. Maybe we’ll keep him in the garage.

holiday time
Noah got home from work last Friday just before noon and does not have to go back to work until next Tuesday. That’s a whole 10.5 days off. It’s been wonderful. I’ve had entire days where I have not had to leave the house. I have not had to drive anybody anywhere. I’ve gotten an entire night’s sleep to myself because Noah took Preston and the two of them slept in the living room. (He offered to do this again, but I have to pump a bottle for Preston to have overnight and I really hate pumping.)(I don’t mind too much getting up in the night with Mr. P, but a whole night’s sleep is pretty fantastic.)

baking bonanza
My friend Melissa and her son Kesler came over a couple days before Christmas and we baked up a storm. We made peanut butter marshmallow bars, peanut butter chocolate bars, Toblerone shortbread cookies, and the Pioneer Woman’s cinnamon rolls.

I’m pretty sure I ate an entire pan of cinnamon rolls that night. And one every day after that.

The girls helped out

and the boys hung out and napped and fought over toys.

I’m pretty sure we have to do that again soon.

baby
A friend of mine had a baby yesterday. Today, Kaylie and I went to visit them.

This little guy was half an ounce smaller than my smallest baby. He is tiny and precious and fits in one arm. I don’t think there’s anything I enjoy more than holding a sleeping newborn baby. I’d have a whole bunch of them if they didn’t go and turn into children so quickly.

and then there was Christmas
We spent this Christmas just like we have every Christmas since we moved to Saskatchewan – with my in-laws. You should feel sorry for them, they just can’t get rid of us, even during the holidays. My parents live two provinces away, and since driving on snowy icy roads is completely out of the question and flying is astronomically expensive, we aren’t likely to spend a Christmas in BC for quite some time.

One of my very favorite things during Christmas is the Christmas Eve service. I can’t remember ever missing one. When I was growing up, we attended a church that also had a Christmas Day service. I’ve really missed that since switching to a different church when I was 15, but with Christmas being on a Sunday this year, I got to attend a Christmas Day service again. I think I’m going to find a church that does it every year because I just really love it. We even sang carols from hymnals. It was very old-school and very perfect.

We let the kids open one gift on Christmas Eve, because growing up my family opened all our presents on Christmas Eve and letting my kids open one keeps that tradition alive. Since Christmas traditions matter more to Noah than they do to me, we mostly go with what he wants to do, which is open presents on Christmas morning.

Something Noah likes doing that I didn’t do growing up is stockings. Noah and I exchanged stockings on Christmas Eve after the kids were in bed, and first thing the next morning, Noah walked down the hall with the girls stockings saying, “Ho ho ho” in a monotone voice, just like his dad did when he was growing up. The girls aren’t allowed out of their beds on Christmas morning until Noah comes with their stockings.

After the present opening on Christmas morning, we headed to the Christmas Day service and then spent the rest of the day at the in-laws’. Noah’s sisters stayed in BC, but friends came for Christmas dinner, filling the house and making it feel more Christmas-y. I grew up around so many aunts and uncles and cousins and grandparents that having lots of people around during holidays just feels right. And good. And merry.

I spend the entirety of Boxing Day packing up all the Christmas decorations and rearranging our living room to accommodate our giant new-to-us TV and and new-to-us keyboard. Hand-me-downs are quite wonderful. As is having everything Christmas-y all packed up. Decorations are festive and all, but they’re also cluttery and once Christmas is over, I just want them gone.

my sick-for-just-a-morning snuggly sleeping boy

This week has been full of eating and play dates and Lego-building and cleaning and organizing and shopping and game-playing and movie-watching and just enjoying being together with nowhere to be. I kind of don’t want this week/year/holiday to end.

“Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.”
“Cue the mouse!”
“I’m here, I’m here, the mouse is here!
“What’s the bowl for?”
“So you can see that I am not stirring. Note the hand never touches the spoon.”
-A Muppet Family Christmas

1. The parents of Liliana’s Sunday School class were told of a little performance the kids were doing after the service Sunday. Noah and I went upstairs right after the service and waited while the younger class did their thing. Liliana’s class then filed on to the stage. Liliana decided that her BFF Nathanael was in her way and hip-checked him. He would have fallen off the (foot-high) stage had a SS teacher not been right beside him.

You’ve seen that scene in Home Alone 2, right? The one where Buzz lights up Kevin’s ears during his school concert solo and then Kevin knocks over the entire choir? I couldn’t find the scene by itself, but you can see it in the first part of this clip:

Liliana totally pulled a Kevin McCallister. I’ve compared her to various fictional characters in the past — Dennis the Menace, Calvin from Calvin & Hobbes, the Tasmanian Devil — but this is the closest we’ve come to an exact replica. Except that Liliana is a girl. Anyway, here is her Sunday performance:

She’s the one who can’t keep still. She’s also the one who tells the other kids at the end, “Stand up again!” So helpful, my girl.

2. Preston wants to do nothing but stand. Except when he’s demanding that you help him walk. Or jump.

Or play with Christmas ornaments while attempting to pull the tree down on himself again.

Which is why we re-introduced Baby Jail.

3. We decorated gingerbread houses last week and for the first year I can remember, I let the girls eat them almost right away. Usually we let them get all dry and crusty and dusty and we pick the candy off and throw the gingerbread out. Not this year.

I picked the village of gingerbread houses so that maybe it would keep the girls from bickering over how one gingerbread house was decorated. Kaylie’s friend Abby helped out as well.

4. Noah and I spent quite some time this evening talking with this kid.

She’s dealing with some of the crap that I did at her age and it kills me that I can’t just *poof* solve all of her problems. I know, though, that teaching her to deal with her problems will benefit her much more than if I solve them for her. It just sucks seeing your kid in pain.

I’m glad, though, to have a partner in this parenting thing. I didn’t find single-parenting that difficult — I mean, it was still single-parenting, but Kaylie was an easy baby and a super-fun toddler. This whole parenting-a-pre-teen thing? Hardest thing I’ve done in my life. The in-laws were right when they said that the easy part is over. I’m thankful I have someone very unlike me to share parenting challenges with.

She’s such a great kid, though. She’s smart (her last report card was perfect)(literally)(I’m bragging now, aren’t I?), she’s witty, she knows the right time to roll her eyes at Noah or Russ, she cares about others’ feelings, she makes wise judgment calls. But, she’s also 10, and sometimes I want to send her to her Grannie for a month like I did when she was three.

(When she was three, she and I were living in Caronport, SK and my mom missed her terribly. So, when Nick and Teresa got married, Kaylie and I went to the wedding, and she flew home with my mom while I flew home by myself. I picked her up when I went home for Christmas. It was the worst month of my life. Noah tells me now that I was not a very nice person while Kaylie was gone. Well, DUH, I missed my baby! She was well taken care of, though, obviously, and she even came back completely potty trained!)

5. I got a rare shot of Liliana and Nathanael earlier today and I wanted to share it with you. It’s not blurry! They’re both looking! They’re smiling!

(Nathanael is the son of a good friend of mine.) Don’t they look adorable and innocent? Looks can be deceiving. (Although they are cute.) I’m pretty sure that no kid ever EVER has had as much energy as these two do. They are so hilarious and fun. And frustrating. I’m glad they have each other. They fight like siblings, tattle on each other, and get really sad when they have to part ways.

6. DID YOU SEE WHAT MY HUSBAND DID?

It’s one of those things where guys are like THAT IS AWESOME! and the womenfolk are like THAT IS CREEPY! Kaylie and Liliana love it and I … well … mustaches aren’t my favorite. Noah loves it, though, and I think he should shape his facial hair any way he likes. As long as he’s okay with me not liking it, which he totally is.

7. I’m doing a bunch of Christmas baking on Wednesday with a friend of mine. Since Noah is constantly asking me (nicely) to do Christmas baking (I have done some, not a lot), he is quite looking forward to Wednesday. And so am I. Noah’s more of a fan of the things his mom made when he was growing up, but since his mom lives a mere six kilometres away and Noah feels an entitlement to whatever is in his mom’s freezer (much to his dad’s dismay), I’m making WHATEVER I WANT. Ha! (I may tease Noah about being a mama’s boy, but in reality I’m hoping my son is a mama’s boy, too.)(So far, he is.)

8. Did you know that Christmas is only six sleeps away? HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?

She went and made a guide with all the lens/film combinations. She didn’t include the flashes, but I never use those anyway.

Do you use hipstamatic? Then go! Read! Learn! If you don’t use it and think that this is just all too nerdy, I’m completely okay with that.

It’s called Organize! and it’s available for a limited time for only $.99! I purchased the app right away and after using it, put it on the front page of my phone. It’s that awesome.

Go ahead and make fun of the apps on my main screen. I DON’T CARE. Catan is AWESOME.

Head on over to her post and read about the app or just head straight to the app store. You won’t regret it.

Congrats, Laura!

I’ve got something exciting for you guys today. A secret mission. Are you ready?

You have arrived at the H stop on Secret Agent Josephine’s Stealthy Book Tour! Did you know that she has three books out? And that they’re incredibly awesome?!

My kids are not too knowledgeable about my blog and I don’t talk about blogging or the blogging world much with them. They’ve met many of my blog friends, but they just know them as my friends, not the blog part. One blog they do know, though, is Secret Agent Josephine. They’ve done (and loved) her coloring contests in the past, BabyBug Alphabet Flash Cards make a border around Liliana’s room, and the girls have kept up with the secret agent crafts thus far on the SAJ Stealthy Book Tour.

Another thing they love? SAJ books!

I usually hand my (or Noah’s) iPhone over to the kids when they’re stuck waiting somewhere, to make passing the time easier. Usually they play a game, but now they’re able to read SAJ’s books instead! Time well spent! Liliana loves the whimsical pictures and Kaylie loves to read the tongue-twisting words. They both love reading to their little brother, too.

Liliana’s favorite remains the “U is for Underwear” page of the SAJ’s ABCs book. She giggles and giggles and giggles, “U starts with underwear!” (Yes, she says it kind of backward.)

Another thing my kids love is crafts. They would craft all day every day if they could. SAJ was awesome enough to send us a craft to do.

Spy glasses! Specifically, Kaylie is wearing the Unbreakable Rubber Night Vision Goggles, as seen on page five of SAJ’s Numbers.

Liliana is seen here sporting the Super-Duper Bug-Eye Glasses That Magnify Everything. Do you want to make your own spy glasses? They’re perfect for spying on baby brothers. They’ll never know it’s you!

All you have to do is download the Spy Glasses template and the Spy Glasses Instructions.

I’ve been a fan of SAJ since the very first day I read her blog, way back in … a long time ago. A header designed by her graced the top of this blog for quite some time (until Preston was born and I felt guilty having a header with just the girls and not him in it) and I’m constantly amazed at how creative she is. I’m so excited about these books of hers and I look forward to what she comes up with next, because I just know she’s got so much more up her sleeve. The polar bear collects spare change.

All three books are available on Amazon in formats compatible with the iPad/iPhone, Kindle, and Nook (for only $2.99 each). They are also available on paperback, which certain family members of mine might find under the Christmas tree this year.

• iPad/iPhone: ABCs, Colors, Numbers
• Kindle: ABCs, Colors, Numbers
• Nook: ABCs, Colors, Numbers
• Paperback: ABCs, Colors, Numbers

Now for the giveaway!

As part of the book tour, SAJ is giving away a print (26 tour stops in all, one for each letter of the alphabet). Today she is giving away a letter H print. To enter, just leave a comment telling me your favorite food or animal or thing that starts with the letter H. The comments will close at midnight on November 30th and I’ll choose a winner on December 1st.

So, to review:
1. Create your own spy glasses
2. Comment to win a letter H print
3. Follow one of the above links to buy your very own Secret Agent Josephine book! Or, you know, one for (each of) your kids.

You can follow along with the book tour on Secret Agent Josephine’s blog or on Facebook.