And I am back.

Change of season colds stink. As per usual it started with the germ factory and spread to his parents. Luckily we are all starting to feel a lot better! Good thing because this week promises to be a busy one. We have story time, music class, tons of projects and crafts, packing for the 3day (*sigh*. I'm terrified!) and tons more.

Here are a few scenes from the past week.


Jenna and Chase playing the drums in music class.


Pounding on the bass drum... now that was fun!


So stinking cute!


Ok... now it looks like I stole this but I promise, I paid for it. I may have gotten it for a steal but I definitely forked over some cash ;~) A couple people we know have this FP Learning Home playset and Chase loves it everywhere we go. So... when I saw it at a yard sale, I just couldn't resist! Only by the time I went to buy it, the homeowners had packed all their stuff away because of the rain and went inside. So I knocked on the door... told them I saw it earlier and that I wanted to take it off their hands if they still had it. They were offering $20 so I countered with $10 because it's missing the balls and shapes. Reluctantly they agreed. W00t! Came home and ordered a replacement set on ebay for $10. Even more w00t!

We also got a toddler bed frame (similar to this one) for $20, a pair of shoes for Chase for $0.50, a radio flyer push trike for $10 and a set of 3 collector Thomas trains for $12.

Funny story about the trains. The guy kept saying that everything was half off the marked price. So I glanced down and saw $30. $15... not bad. Looked up and said "would you take $10?" He hesitated and said "$15 is a good deal". And I swear to you I looked at him and said "$10 is a better deal". I kid you not when I say I don't do that... I offer lower almost always but if there is confrontation, I usually back down. My mom was the haggler, not me. He hesitated again and I said "split it with me, $12?" to which he agreed. YAY! More trains for Chase!

BTW... if you are a yard sale shopper and you don't offer lower... you should. Originally the bed frame was $50 with a mattress (ick!) and the trike was $15! Lowered with a simple question! The shoes were $0.50 but you really can't beat that so I paid 'full-price' ;~)

Christmas and his birthday are taken care of!


And finally a shot of my little helper. I love this age... he wants to do everything we do, including chores. We went to help daddy set up a meeting and of course, since I was pushing the chair cart, he wanted to help. It takes a little longer to let him 'help' but it makes a world of difference. He looks up at me and just gets the biggest grin when he's helped... nothing like it in the world!

I would be remiss if I didn't at least mention the whole 'switch to private' move I did with the blog. I found out that David was reading it and to be quite honest, it totally tripped me out. I pulled the blog just until I had chance to think about how I wanted to proceed. While it was down, we had several good emails which turned into a really good hour and a half phone call. (Anyone want to guess how nervous I was for that!) It's totally insane (in a good way) to have connected with him. I heard stories about my childhood and got to know a little more of where I come from. I think I pinpointed it when I told my MIL that I no longer feel like I just materialized at a certain age... someone knew me when I was a baby. Someone has memories of me.

In fact David shared a memory that I had never hear before... I was suspended from pre-school.

[pause for laughter]

Apparently a boy had taken my seat and after asking him nicely to give it back, I said "get the hell out of my seat"... for which I was suspended.

Not much has changed in the past 25 years ;~)

It may seem like a small memory but it made a big difference to me.

So as you can probably tell, I am back to a public blog. Sorry about the interruption and I promise, I'm not going anywhere anytime soon!