Dinner Out With A Toddler

For fun this weekend, we went out to dinner as a family. On a chance, we asked Little Dude where he might like to go-and apparently Red Lobster is his favorite place ever. Marketing gurus-your ads are working on my 2 year old.

Anyways, we decided Red Lobster was, in fact, a great dinner place for us to try out as a family, so off we went.

Dinner was great, our waiter was amazing, and we had a ton of fun! Little Dude even ate most of his meal, proving that it must really be his favorite place ever.

The only thing that can through a kink into a nice family dinner? Well, it went something like this:

Us: eating and talking
JR: GRUNT
Us: Looking at JR, knowing what he's doing.
Little Dude: giggling
Us: smiling
Little Dude: (VERY LOUD VOICE) JR is POOPING!! He's POOPING!
Us: SHUUUSH! It's OK....
Little Dude: (Sorta Loud Voice) Will his poop be green?

Oh my.

New Reviews At Miche Reviews

I have some new reviews to share on my review blog, Miche Reviews! You can see what new online kid-safe virtual world has captured my toddler's heart, giving him a "Jump Start" on learning.

You can see what preschool system has captured my heart because of their great Balanced Learning approach to preschool activities and check out all the amazing resources they have to offer your munchkin.

And for my little JR? Nothing could be better than an organic lovey that is made right here in the USA out of all natural materials. So when he is sucking on Waverly's leg, I don't have to worry what dyes he might be ingesting! And Little Dude loved learning about Waverly's friends, too!

Remember how I got to talk to Suze Orman? Well if you love makeup, I have a great giveaway from Avon and Suze for you, so be sure to check it out!

I was lucky enough to try out the new Diane Birch CD, which hit stores June 2-trust me, if you love Tori and Ani, you will really enjoy Diane's Bible Belt!

To enter giveaways either leave a comment here or on the giveaway post telling me you want to be entered! Take care and have a great weekend!

Fingers Up My Nose

Yesterday I was working, and doing my best to catch up on the huge pile of "to dos" I had, er, still have, while the kids played on the floor around my office. Now that JR is bigger and starting to walk, he and Little Dude play so very well and entertain each other a lot, which is super great for my work hours.

Until one or the other takes a toy from the other. Or JR goes for the train tracks. Or the blocks. Or the race cars...you get the idea.

So, Little Dude came running over, eager to tell me what ever it was that JR had done to him, and distracted me from work.

And so, I took a moment, scooped him in my arms, and started listening to his sordid tail of destroyed train tracks, thrown cars, chewed on blocks and oh heavens no the knocked down complex he had built.

Like a good little parent, I listened, knowing that these were all issues the boys would work out themselves, and by simply letting Little Dude vent all would be well. So I really focused on each word, and each gesture Little Dude used to explain his annoyance at having the train tracks disrupted, because, you know, they have very important work to do!

And then it happened.

Little Dude stuck a finger UP MY NOSE. It took me a second to process what he was doing, and how to react, so for a few seconds, we just sat there looking at each other. Well, me looking, Little Dude still explaining the demise of his trains.

So, I did what anyone with a toddler's fingers up their nose would do, I asked him why his thought it was a good idea to stick his fingers up there. While pulling his hands off my face.

His answer?

Because yes.

Oh geeze.

Fourth Of July Kid Safe Activity

I LOVE the 4th of July, and back when I taught preschool on of my fellow teachers shared this activity with me. I don't know who came up with it or where it is from, but it is SO FUN and great I just had to share it. Little Dude is amazed every time we do it. And you can do it any time of the year with different colors, like red and green at Christmas, or red and purple at Valentine's-you get the idea. I really enjoy watching it, too, because the experiment is just so very fun! It actually looks like magic.

So, without further ado, here is what you need:

* Large, tall clear jar filled with water, the more the better!
* Blue, red and yellow liquid food coloring
* 2 or 3 tablespoons cooking oil
* Smaller jar
* Spoon or stir stick for mixing
* Clear Pyrex measuring cup

What you and your kids do:

1. Fill the jar with tap water. Place it on a table where your child can watch it from several angles. If your child is older, they could even do this step.

2. Invite your child to pour 2 tablespoons of oil into a clear Pyrex measuring cup-your kids will have a blast, and honestly, they can't put too much in. Just make sure you have at least 2 tablespoons, less and it won't work with that much water.

3. Next have your child put in drops of each food coloring into the oil, about 5 drops of each color.

4. Have your child pour the oil into the jar all at once. At first, the oil will be spread around in globules, but keep watching: right before your eyes, the oil and food coloring will first float to the top, and then the globs will “find” one another and come together. SO COOL!

5. Now the “fireworks” begin! The food coloring will begin to separate from the oil and move back into the water, in long streams of each of the three colors. The colors will separate from one another as if they never mixed in the first place, and stream through the water in the three original colors that you began with; it is REALLY amazing!

Jon and Kate

I have watched the "Jon and Kate Plus Eight" show since it started, and just fell in love with the family, the kids, and the amazing way they handled that many kids. It was just fascinating and motivating to see how two 6 year olds and 6 two year olds could, in fact, go to Disney, have fun, and not get lost. Each time I watched it, I'd come away like, "Yes, I can handle my two toddlers!" Or I'd steal an organization idea. I loved it.

But last night, as I watched Jon and Kate announce they were divorcing, I felt so much sorrow for them and for the marriage that isn't being saved.

So many times each of them said the kids came first and were their priority-Kate even mentioned that the whole reason she breathes is for the kids. And that is all fine and dandy, but I wonder if perhaps that is the root of their problems. For years Jon seemingly took whatever C**P Kate seemed to throw at him, and all in all she never did treat him with respect when the cameras where around. And Jon never seemed to care, he just simply ignored it. At least when the cameras were around.

So perhaps instead of doing everything for the kids, they really should have (and maybe still could) start to focus on each other. And put each other first, treating each other with dignity and respect. And perhaps a smart idea would be to stop the show, or cut back the show, so they could focus more on being a family, rather than putting on a show for the tv audience.

Cause I'm pretty sure all the kids would really rather have their parents lovingly together, than to get some amazing play houses.

So I am torn as to whether I will watch anymore, simply because I feel like the show and the fame really took its toll on Jon and Kate, and escalated the issues that tore them apart. And the millions from the show made it an easier option to just go get a divorce and buy an apartment at Trump Towers, rather than to go through years of counseling to help mend the cracks.

So I don't know, but I am very sad for the Gosselins and their children.

Just Another Monday

It's Monday, a day that, in my opinion, is the most blah day of the week. Monday's should be half days just so they aren't such a shock from the weekend.

I set out early this morning to finally discover what was broken in my blog-for some reason it was not loading properly in IE (Internet Explorer) but since I use the much more awesome Mozilla Firefox, I had not noticed the IE issue until I got on our laptop-which until yesterday only had IE on it. That problem is at least fixed.

Anyways, I spent a lot of time yesterday playing around trying to understand why IE hated my blog, and after getting some great tips from on line friends (and slowly plotting to take my domain to a real web host so I could actually call someone for help the next time an issue like this happened, Blogger, though free beyond domain registration, has the most horrible support help) I jumped on this morning refreshed with new ideas to try and ready to get to work on reviving my blog.

Only now, it seems to be loading just fine. And I can't figure out why. Oh Blogger, you mock me.

So, if anyone finds that my blog suddenly isn't working in IE, give me a shout at CoordinatedChaos@yahoo.com.

Now, I have to get some work for my real job done before the kids get up.

Happy Birthday to JR!!

I blinked and a year went by! JR is a year old now, starting to walk, got 4 teeth in on the day of his birthday (that explains some crankiness the week before, eh!) and he is a bundle of joy with true Gemini attitude. He is either crazy happy or throwing a fit. Lucky for us, the majority of his days are crazy happy.

Birthday cake was a huge hit; and we got the cute ones at pictured at Wal-mart, with the writing decoration done by yours truly! We had a ton of fun at the beach celebrating with Grandma and Grandpa B, taking the boys bowling, and swimming.

It has been such a joy the past year for my sweet hubby and me to parent our boys, and we feel so blessed to have JR as a part of our family. Happy Birthday, JR!

This hat was so great, even though JR protested having to wear it.
Trying to walk and wearing his FUN TO BE ONE shirt!!
Do you think he liked the cake? Oh yea!!
Here was the cake before it was destroyed and enjoyed by JR!
And here is the cake the rest of us ate-it too was chocolate and oh so yummy!

Happy Birthday, JR, my new little Toddler!