Date night IN!

Okay, so with three kids, Seth working many hours each week, and very little extra income, we have started having Date Night In! Seth read an article about having date night in your house in Redbook (don't let hime know I told you he read this magazine), and so we are giving it a try. We choose a day each week, we try for Sundays. Our focus each date night is to take some uninterrupted time with each other. We put the kids to bed (of course this doesn't always include Dane), and then we spend time together. It is simple, inexpensive moments together. The photos were kindly taken by Elliott, as she had to come down stairs to see what we were doing... which I took advantage of having the extra person so she could capture a photo. And then back up to bed she went! Seth and I were enjoying Shrimp Scampi - a frozen entree from Sams Club. It was easy to fix, tasted close to restaurant style, and only cost us $5.00. We did (after Elliott went back upstairs) were able to enjoy a peaceful dinner without having to fix drinks for kids, add ketchup, or discipline children as we enjoyed our dinner. Other 'date night in' activites have been boardgames, coffee (decaf of course since date night happens after 8pm) and pie, strawberries and chocolate. I will say it has been nice to have the time to talk with each other. We are so busy during the times when the kids are awake, that we rarely have time for a single conversation! So we now know we can at least get one good conversation in each week. Even though Dane has joined us during Date NIght In, he doesn't talk as much as the other two! I told Seth we need to write down our experiences and after the end of one year, we need to publish a book and share our experiences with everyone else! So many of us are in the same situation with little extra time, money and the energy to plan a night out... so bringing it 'in' every so often is nice!

The tooth fairy is not my calling....

Myles lost his tooth Saturday night when he accidentally hit his chin with his knee. Which I must add the tooth had nearly been danglin out of his mouth for a week know. Finally it came out... and he came running to me with a bloody mouth, ooohhh I hate losing teeth. We did have to search the floor for the tooth, thank goodness Dane wasn't in the room otherwise, he may have swallowed it (since he picks everything up and puts it in his mouth). Sunday morning Myles wakes up and says we forgot to put his tooth under his pillow. Seth and I look at each other and had to laugh at the fact we forgot to put his tooth under his pillow (and thank goodness he's not an assertive child and did it himself and then we would have failed at acting like the tooth fairy. Well last night we reminded him to put the tooth under his pillow, and went we went to bed without swapping out the tooth for some change. This morning, I mumbled half asleep to my husband at 5:30am to put the t-o-o-t-h under his pillow (I had to spell it out since Elliott was listening at the end of our bed, it seems she crawls in midmorning and the minute you are up, she's up, too). So we were saved by Myles ability to sleep through anything and my half asleep mumbles. So (only a day late) Myles woke up to a surprise under his pillow!

Before & After

Okay, sometime before Christmas I took Myles in for complete hair do makeover. Honestly he probably would have been about three inches short of being able to donate to the locks of love! He had some sections that were 5 inches! It was time for a hair do make over! He felt 10 times lighter! And his hats all of a sudden seemed smaller. My apologies for the late writing, however, the pictures just now made it on my computer.... so much for staying on top of my blog! Ha, however, I thought you might all enjoy!

A walk in the snow

Elliott was thrilled to wake up to snow... and she really wanted to go sledding. So I said after school we'll go sledding. However, we got too much snow for me to consider pushing Dane in his stroller (even though it does have extra big wheels)... so I opted for a walk in the snow. She was playing with a friends in the neighbor hood (I dropped her off after preschool), and instead of picking her up in the car, Dane and I walked over and got her! And in our snow gear, we walked back, and elliott loved it! She loves the snow. And she is the only person I know that doesn't mind having snow in her face (it does worry me a bit that she may get frostbite!) Dane even enjoyed the walk. I put him in his front carrier and zipped him up inside my jacket and he had a hat and scarf. I couldn't cover his hands so he could suck his thumb. When we got home Elliott dove into the snow and made snow angels, ate the snow, and played for a little bit. We didn't get to go sledding today, but the weather forcast looks promising so maybe later in the weekend!

Fashion Show

Elliott has her own opinions of what to wear, and it has been a struggle getting her dressed for some time. And after long thought of why and what to do about it.... I decided her clothes were getting a bit snug, and it was not comfortable for her. So off to Target I went to get her an entire new wardrobe (thank gooness for some awesome sales). I decided my dream of getting her to wear dresses is over now, I've had a wonderful previous five years of putting pretty skirts and dresses, so I'm okay with this new lack of interest in dresses (her span of 18months to two years were spent mostly in cute cotten skirts with adorable tights underneath). I stocked up on cotten pants and long sleeve cotton shirts with acceptable, fun prints! And there was no having her try these items on at the store, so I brought the items home, cranked up the music, put on a little lip gloss, and told her it was a fashion show. Needless to say, she put on each outfit, and I was able to get a 'thumbs up' or a 'never gonna wear it' from Elliott! It was also nice to have Grandma and Grandpa Taylor and Aunt Sarah visiting as an audience for Elliott's innate desire to run the catwalk! It's not something she has learned or taken classes to do... it is something she was born to do (or maybe too many Yahoo music videos).She enjoyed changing her clothes and swinging her scarf, adding accessories and making the faces. She said she always wants to have fashion shows... so at least now I know how to get her to try on clothes. And can I share the shirts were only $4.00 such a bargain, and the pants either $4 or $6....such a deal.

Happy New Years

New Years Eve, we had a gathering with the neighbors! It was a great evening of yummy food, games and the kiddos playing! The kids ranged from infants to middle school! Luckily the middle schooler had an interest in Legos and assisted Myles in completing part of his 3800 piece Lego set! And the other kids enjoyed playing the Wii! It was especially fun to watch them all on Lego Rock Band (picture shown above!). And surprisingly the entire family (baby Dane included) stayed up past midnight! Some neighbors left early, and some stayed for the evening, it was fun to bring in the new year with friends and neighbors!