Cucumber Pear & Tonic and Preschool Predicaments

I expect boy drama at age 16. I expect it at 13. Hell, I even expect it at 9. But 2?! Geez Louise…

Parker and C have quite the history. From their early days, four months old and holding hands while in side-by-side bouncers in the infant room, to Toddler 1 where Parker would dish out just as many hugs as she did face slaps and bites, to Toddler 2 where C would run to Parker, arms outstretched, while exclaiming “Karker! Karrrrrkerrrr!” to be met with either an inviting smile or ear piercing scream, to 2 1/2s where Parker went from crying at drop-off by the mere sight of C to asking, begging, pleading me to take her to play with him. Helloooo rocky relationship.

Silly me thought the drama was a thing of the past until ::dun dun dun:: another woman entered the picture. Now there are two little ladies vying for C’s attention, one-upping each other to make C happy, whether that’s by pushing him backwards on a trike as he enjoys or by playing the game of his choice or by sharing snacks. When C gravitates more towards the other little lady, P cries. Vice versa. And so on & and so on & no end in sight.

And this, my friends, is why all parents are entitled to a beverage of their choice at the end of the day.

Cucumber Pear Tonic: inspired by the Rusty Bucket



Ingredients: get ready, this is tricky
Cucumber
Pear vodka
Tonic
Sugar

Directions: -muddle cucumber. I’m sure there’s a legit way to do this, but I peel, slice, and go to town mashing with a tenderizer. Place in bottom of glass and top with ice.
-shake together pear vodka, tonic and sugar. I only added sugar to cut the bitterness of the tonic. Worked for me, but if you’re a tonic lover you can skip this part. Also, I really tend not to measure when I cook and/or drink but about two shots of vodka, teaspoon of sugar, and top it off with tonic.
-pour over ice. Drink. Pretend preschool love triangles do not exist. Repeat as often as necessary.






Yesterday during circle time the children were asked what makes them happy. C proudly said, “ My mom. And Karker.”

Winning.

Kris is old. OLD!

Occasionally (read: often) as I approached the big 3-0 I was reminded by that hubby of mine that I in fact was more or less an old hag while he, still in his 20s, was the young cool one.

All that talk caught up with him and sure enough, he's now 30 (a mere three weeks after me thankyouverymuch). Now both of us can live an old, uncool live together.  What better place to kick off this new decade then in Frankenmuth! Michigan's Little Bavaria is our bday celebration hot spot.  Up bright and early, we were on the road by 9am and pulled into our first stop, the zoo, by 10am. 

Lots of new exhibits since our last stop for Parker's 2nd birthday.  Petting area, complete with a 10 month old baby camel, a million alligators, and a leopard to name a few.

One person in this picture is not impressed.

Say cheese, camel!

A girl and her goats.

Two and some odd hours of animal seeing, picture posing, and playground playing later and we headed off for a road of mini golf.  Quite the task with an Ergo-sleeping baby and the "amateur"course which in all actuality should be renamed the toddler-death course with all the drop-offs into seemingly deep rivers.  But we all finished in one piece and had enough energy to do some water bumper boats.

I've learned a lot since having children.  Most important lesson of all--it's not the wisest idea to wear a strapless shirt while also wearing an Ergo.  Lets just stop at that...

Giraffe attire, as to fit in.

Wait for it...

Got it!

After bumper boats we headed to the Bavarian Inn for arcades and the play place.  Parker scored a pink plush turtle and plastic alligator with her game tickets and was SO proud of herself.  Teagan was so proud to be in the drivers seat.

Honk honk!

Then we did what all parents pushing a double stroller filled with kids should do.  We went wine and beer tasting. Nothing really caught our taste buds but we did score a boot shaped shot glass which made the tasting well worth it.

Pouches up.

Blah, that tastes awful!

Better now!

Dinner was your typical fabulous chicken dinner with enough food to feed a small army.  Perfect way to cap off such a special occasion. Happy 30th to the best hubs and daddy out there! Cheers to you and all you do for us!

And even though you maybe be old, you're still pretty cool ;)

Things & more things

Happenings as of late: 1) Hello shiny new kitchen! Much thanks to Trusted Improvement of Novi for getting the job done. Initially we planned on going with Lowes for our granite but lordy lordy do they have sucky salespeople and counter ordering policies marketed to people other than those who have two full time jobs + two little ones (like sitting down for a 2 hour meeting in addition to an initial consultation. Let’s see here …ummm, thanks, no thanks). So we refused. Glad I did because TI made this process so easy. Came to our house, everything done over the phone, and our only “inconvenience” was going to the granite shop to pick out our slab. Easy peasy and I’m SO happy with our kitchen now.

2) I'm currently working on a little business venture. Because you know, I barely have time to pee and sleep so why not add more to my plate. But that’s how I function :) It’s in the works so stay tuned!

New business? Teagan approves.

3) Teagan plays peek-a-boo. Just when I think she can't get any cuter she ups the ante.

3) Who remembers the Verve Pipe? The one hit wonder that is the "Freshman" or whatever it was called? We saw them in a rockin concert at the Detroit Zoo. VP has crossed over to singing kiddo songs. No joke. It was sort of a kid Woodstock this night. We had rain, we had mud, we had dancing, we had beer and wine flowing (for serious). Parker wiped out and ended up a muddy mess.

Pre-KidStock '13

4) Parker still takes a paci. It’s only at bedtime—not at naps since we stopped those…too much of a hassle to get her down and she sleeps better at night without one—but I’d like to break this habit. So when I saw a genius idea on the interwebz I jumped. You explain to your child that you will be mailing the pacis to someone, in this case Minnie Mouse, and in turn Minnie will mail a present back to you. Parker was geeked. So we grabbed a free envelope, stuffed the paci in, walked proudly to the mailbox and said later.

While Parker was distracted by something I quickly grabbed a toy from my buy-now-save-for-later present closet and wrapped in up with a note from Minnie. On the porch is went to surprise miss P. Oh my was she excited!

Then bedtime happened. “Brown bankie” aka security blanket was MIA. GAH! The one thing that I knew would be our lifesaver in this paci weaning process decided to hide on us in the most critical of hours. I wasn’t in the mood for a battle so I gave Parker an option. You keep your new Cinderella and no paci, or you give her back and get a paci. Yeah…paci won that one. Maybe one day when I have more coffee in my system. 5) 2014 vacation plans are in the works! 5 year anniversary is next year (not to overshadow our 4 year which is next week!) so we're hoping to take a K&S only vacation early 2014. Our priorites are: -Beach -Drinks -Beach drinks Any suggestions? I've checked out everywhere--Turks and Caicos, Mexico, Jamaica, Cayman Islands, and so on and so on--but I'd love to hear where you went and what you liked about it! And we can't forget a family vacation so...Disney is September! Flights aren't avaiable yet but should be come October. Come that date we'll be ready to book and put this plan into action. I have loads of good info from family and friends about where to stay and what to do, but if anyone else has more insight I'd love to hear it. That is all for this rainy Thursday. It's my kind of weather--cloudy, damp, the perfect day to snuggle up with a comfy blanket and a mug of pumpkin spice latte. It might not sound like the ideal weather to some, but these kind of days always remind me of holding my little newborn fall babies :)

Parker babe--2 years 9 months!

In honor of Parker hitting the 2 year 9 month milestone this month, it’s time to devote a post to where she’s at and what she’s up to.   Super sweet mixed with a lot a little sass, I’m continually amazed by everything she does.  Amazed or shaking my head depending on the situation ;) So here you go.  A little snapshot into Parker’s life:

Sass? What sass?

Heart full of compassion.  Her neighbor friend recently started part-time at the same school.  The transition was tough at first but Parker helped her each step of the way.  Hugging her, telling her it would be okay, giving toys to her to play with…Many times in our relationship I’ll feel a glorious mix of pride and joy at the little lady she is becoming.  This time was definitely one of those times.  



Super sister.  Parker’s mission is to make Teagan happy.  In the morning P will bring toys to T; when T wakes from a nap P is the first person in her room ready to greet her; lots of hugs and kisses and giggles later and I’m so glad they will have each other forever. 

Now now, it's not always rainbows and sunshines.  Sometimes Teagan with her toy grabbing, leg kicking, hair pulling ways puts Parker in a mood. Typically it doesn't last long and they're back to being BFFs.  Lets keep it that way. 










Headstrong.  Oh my, is this child a mini version of me.  Tell her no, she fights it.  Offer a
suggestion? Sometimes she will appease you but typically?  She wants it her way.  Very independent, she likes to do everything herself.  A couple months ago she perfected both bike pedaling and steering.  Even up hills she will try her hardest to make it without the slightest assistance.  

Absolutely no fear which in turn makes me have even more fear.  How does that work?? Jumping all around on couches, climbing her playground rock wall which is high and takes lots of coordination, swinging so high to the point where I’m sure she’s going to fly around in circles (all while yelling “higher, hiiiigiher!” mind you).  Girl is confident in her abilities!

Sleep.  We’re getting there! Up until a couple weeks ago it went something like this: 9pm cuddle with P in her bed, 930pm she finally falls asleep, 1100pm up crying.  Night after night.  While Kris was in France I put my plan of attack into action.  I brought P in our bed, explained that I had lots to do—dishes, cleaning, etc & etc & etc—and that I would be in later to cuddle.  I was met with a bit of resistance but she stayed put! The next night was more tough so I had to bring out the big guns. Enter this nighttime ladybug.  With 2500 stellar Amazon reviews and at a great price I snatched it up.  Parker’s room has a bit of a ladybug theme to it so I had a lot of faith in this guy.  Works like a charm and P loves seeing the stars on moon on the ceiling.  Phase two will be to get her in her own bed.  But with Teagan’s room next to P’s and with T sleeping SO well, I don’t want to disrupt her.  I am toying with the idea of the babes sharing a room, as will be the end result when the third S comes (NOT pregnant yet!) but not sure when we’ll pull the trigger.

Let’s see, what else…P loves dancing and will be starting dance classes this fall.  End of the year recital and all! I’m stoked.  Letter recognition is improving on a daily basis it seems.  A couple months ago she started writing her letters (A all by herself thanks to help from Kris). Still picky with TV shows, she watches Sesame Street, Pajanimals Sophia the First, and Daniel Tiger but that’s it.  Parker serenades us with songs heard on the radio.  What? You’re actually listening and memorizing the words?!...Ummm....

And she’s funny. So very funny. Especially when a preschooler sized Vera Bradley bag is available. 
 

If this can be considered a carry-on we will be saving a lot of $$$ on our winter Caribbean vacay.

 

But you know what's not funny? When you're in the Costco parking lot nursing your baby and your 2 year old informs you she needs to go potty, you tell her wait a second.  Apparently "wait a second" means squat-down-on-the-leather-console-and-pee-all-over-it. 

So much for that new car smell.

You are the goofiest, most caring, cutest two year old pumpkin! I couldn't imagine a day with you in my life to keep me happy and bright! xoxo my sweetie!