Slow Down, Gym Shoe!

Meet The Newest Kid!

For the month of July, I'm going to be babysitting for a little boy named Rafael four days a week. Rafael is six years old, just a little older than Little Bear. His mother is good friends with Jimmy's sister, and we met at a family party a few months ago. This week was my first week of watching him. I had no idea how not used to little boys I've become! I guess its been too long since Monkeyboy was little. On the other hand, maybe its just this little boy in particular that I'm not used to!

You see, Rafael has very little interest in reading stories, doing arts and crafts or other projects, playing games, or going on outings. All he really wants to do is run around pretending to be a wolf or a monster or some sort of anime character!

He really is a sweet boy, though! He tells some crazy stories. According to Rafael, he has two wolves at home, he plays Grand Theft Auto every day, he rides a motorcycle, he drives a racecar, his dad is as big as a tree, and he once died because his mom left him alone in the car! When in doubt, I can always tell when he's spinning a yarn when he follows it up with, "Don't tell my mom, because she doesn't know!" or "Don't tell anyone, because they won't believe you!"

He gets along really well with Little Bear, even though he tells me every day that he wishes there were some boys for him to play with. They're both going into first grade. I think its great for Little Bear, because she doesn't really have any neighborhood friends here yet, so she can't just go out and play the way she used to in the old neighborhood. At the old house, Little Bear would be out playing constantly with the neighborhood girls. Here, she's pretty much limited to playing with Pufferfish, Tigerlly, and now Rafael. So hopefully having Rafael with us will make the summer a little better for Little Bear!

Other than that, I don't have much new to report. I've just been so tired lately! I could pass out cold, right now, for instance! Its a little weird. Maybe I am going through depression again. I just want to sleep for a long, long time...

I'll probably have more interesting things to write about next week! I've kind of been off my blogging game, lately!

Rafael on the playground.

Things I Love Thursday: Yoga For Kids!

A few weeks ago I participated in Things I Love Thursday. I really liked reading about what everyone else loved... and I even won the Little Debbie 100 Calorie Snack Cake Giveaway! What could be better than that?
So I thought I'd do it again today.
A few weeks ago I was doing a "healthy bodies" theme with Little Bear and Pufferfish. We never actually finished our theme week, because it was during moving week so everything got chaotic and crazy! Anyway, the other day I was fishing through my backpack, and I found this DVD I had ordered for our healthy bodies week. Its called Yoga Kids! Its geared for kids between the ages of three and six, and it guides them through fun yoga movements in alphabetical order.
Pufferfish mostly enjoyed watching the animals on the DVD, but Little Bear really liked doing the yoga! Her mom used to do yoga sometimes, so Little Bear knew what it was. She dragged the crib mattress into the back room to use as a "yoga mat", and she did yoga until lunch time!

Here is Little Bear doing one of the yoga poses.

Little Bear tries out an enthusiastic "ohm!"

Which brings us to another addition of "things I never imagined myself saying...":
"We do not punch each other while we're ohm-ing!"

An Exciting Weekend For Little Bear!

The last time I wrote, I mentioned that Little Bear had gotten upset over her first loose tooth. Well, last night Little Bear lost that tooth! She lost it in the dead of night, apparently. How do you lose a tooth at two in the morning? What was she doing? Having a dream about eating corn on the cob, perhaps?
Anyway, Little Bear is now happy as a clam about her lost tooth, which she is saving in a plastic baggie until she can put it under her pillow tonight. She's been showing everyone and anyone. She wanted to show you, too!

That's not all the excitement Little Bear had! Her grandma has a motor scooter that she rides all around town. Monkeyboy has ridden on the scooter, as have Megan and Sarah, but never Little Bear. Last night Little Bear got to take her first ride on the back of the motor scooter!

Pretty exciting weekend for a not-quite-six-year-old, don't you think?

In other news, the puppies have started to go to their new homes. Tigerlily's family was already committed to taking Guinness home, but at the last minute on Thursday night they decided to take Butter too. (They named him Miller. Get it? Guinness and Miller?) I'm so happy that Guinness and Butter... I mean Miller... are going to get to be buddies! They are living it up at their new home, spending hours and hours romping around outside, wrestling together, and being snuggled and played with by everyone in the family.
The next puppy to go to his new home was Shakers. Jimmy's brother and sister-in-law (Becca's parents) came and picked him up on Friday. They're going to call him Biggie (not to be confused with Big Guy, which is what we call the largest puppy!) I think Biggie is going to be the most spoiled puppy! He's already got a soft new bed, a blanket, and new toys! Plus there are no little kids in the house (Becca and her sister Patty are fifteen and twelve) so Biggie will have a much more peaceful household. Here's a picture of him all snuggled up in his new blanket, right before his new family took him home!

Luna has been going on visits with Little Bear's grandma and Sarah and Megan, and she'll eventually be going to live with them. Pepper, whose new name is Ily (for I Love You) will be staying with us, of course. And Sherbert will most likely be going with Tigerlily's dad's brother, where she'll be another spoiled little pooch! The only puppy who still needs a home is  Big Guy.
I'm gonna miss all those puppies!

Interesting Information About Umbilical Cord Blood Banking

So, I spent about forty-five minutes writing a sponsored post about umbilical cord blood banking... only to find out that this particular blog wasn't eligible to take the sponsored post. I ended up posting it on another blog, which I no longer even write in, that is eligible for some reason. It was a really interesting post, though, and I actually learned a lot from writing it. I was so aggravated that I couldn't include it in this blog, because I thought you guys might actually like reading it. So if you'd like to read it anyway, check it out here. Thanks!

Kids Are Strange Little Creatures!

Tigerlily and Little Bear were playing around, pretending to be puppies, when Little Bear grabbed the back of Tigerlily's shirt with her teeth, the way the real puppies often do to us! Tigerlily tried to pull away, and yanked Little Bear's tooth out with it! The tooth didn't come out all the way, but it just got loosened a little. So now Little Bear is running around, screaming that she can never eat again, that it hurts, and that she does not want a loose tooth! The older kids have been trying to reassure Little Bear that this happens all the time. Many nearly-six-year-olds have loose teeth. With loose teeth comes the tooth fairy, after all! They've even offered to help her wiggle the loose tooth so that it will fall out faster and stop hurting. But Little Bear will have no part of it. She's been screaming for an hour!

Me: "Little Bear, its going to be okay! Monkeyboy has lost lots of teeth! I bet there are lots of kids your age, right now, who have loose teeth!"

Little Bear: (screaming) "And are they all crying about it? I don't think so!"

Me: "???"

Some other strange moments from the world of Little Bear...

Pufferfish: (walking into the toyroom closet and shutting the door) "Goodbye! Have fun! See you tomorrow!"

Me: "???"

Little Bear: "My tummy is hurting!"

Me: "You want me to pinch you? That way, you'll stop thinking about your tummy!"

(Little Bear pinches me, hard, about ten times.)

Me: "Ow! Quit pinching me!"

Little Bear: "But its helping me stop thinking about my tummy!"

Me: "???"

(While waiting in the car for Jimmy to come out of the grocery store...)

Little Bear: "I'm so hot! I need some air! I need a drink! I need alimony!"

Me: "???"

Quick Updates (Including a Puppy Update!)

I don't have a whole lot new to post... Jimmy hasn't been working, so I haven't been watching the kids a whole lot lately. Its been kind of a break for me, I guess, but kinda stressfull. Plus I really miss our regular routines of getting out of the house each day. By next week I think I'll just take the kids out anyway just to give Jimmy a break during the day. Today though I came back to my mom's house to take care of some bidness! ;)
Anyways, not much new! The kids are all still enjoying the new house! We've been having a lot of family gatherings... Tigerlily and her parents have been coming over just about every weekend, sometimes spending the night! Little Bear and Tigerlily fight like sisters, but I think it is very cool for the kids to be surrounded by family members like that! I enjoy it, myself!
Here's a picture I took this morning of Little Bear and Pufferfish playing around in the back room! They're both getting so huge, aren't they?

Also, Clover and the puppies are staying at our house now! They are going to be able to go to their new homes in about a week. As you can see, they can handle solid food now, and are being weaned from Clover's milk! Clover is really relieved about that... The bigger they get, the more it hurts her to feed them. They have sharp little teeth! Now, to get her to feed them, we have to sit with her and pet her the whole time to keep her calm!
They are so funny though! They're definitely more social now, and they want to spend time with humans. Jimmy built a large box for them to hang out in most of the time, so that they're not wandering around in the house peeing and pooping on stuff and getting lost and what have ya. So they're in the box, which is plenty large enough for them all to walk around in, play in, etc. But when a person walks by, they'll all start jumping up and whimpering, like, "Take me out and pet me!" In order to take them all out, you have to have at least two people willing to help, because the puppies run amok  everywhere and constantly pee and poop! But they are a lot of fun!
Want to meet them, one by one? Start with the black one and go clockwise around the feeding circle!
1. Luna, aka Midnight. (Sarah named her Luna, but Little Bear named her Midnight, which, confusingly enough, is also the name of Tigerlily's family's cat!) Lunais the one who we thought wouldn't make it because she wasn't gaining weight, but as you can see she has caught up! She's still the tiniest. Her face is like a little teddybear! She loves to be cuddled, but she also loves to scrap with her brothers and sisters! Every time I see her, she's wrestling with one of them!
2. Buttered Toast. He's just a little roll of butter running around! He'didn't start out as social as the other ones, but he definitely loves attention and hugs!
3. Herbert, aka Big Guy. (Sarah named him Herbert originally, but Little Bear calls him Big Guy!) This puppy is the hugest one, way bigger than his brothers and sisters! He thinks he's the leader of the pack! He's very cuddly though and always wants to be the first to be taken out and petted! He's also the first one who has ran into the kitchen and started eating Clover's grown-up dog food! He says, "I'm way past that mashed up puppy chow stuff!"
4. Sherbert. She's a sweet little girl who likes to wrestle! She's also a good growler! When her brothers and sisters pick on her, she snarls and snaps at them! She loves belly rubs!
5. Ronnie, aka Guinness. (Megan originally named him Ronnie, but Tigerlily's family, who is going to take him, have named him Guinness!) He's one of the most spoiled puppies of the bunch! Whenever we take them out to play, he's the first one trying to run into the carpeted rooms where puppies are not allowed to go! Also, last night after all the puppies went to sleep, Guinness stayed up and whined and cried until I took him out and let him sleep with me. He might get to go home a little earlier than the others! 6. Doctor, aka Shakers! (Sarah and I named him Doctor, but Becca, who is taking him, has named him Shakers!) He's one of the puppies I fell in love with the earliest... definitely one of the most cuddly! I love his cute little chihuahua face!
7. Pepper, aka TBA! (She's the one we're keeping, but we haven't given her a new name yet for some reason!) (Get it? The two little chihuahua twins are Doctor and Pepper?) She's tiny and cuddly, and is really good friends with Luna! They're the two little girls who are always playing and cuddling together! Pepper is sweet and playful and not too whiny, at least not yet! She loves to be cuddled!

They are so sweet, aren't they? I love watching them chow down all their food!

Anyway, look for more updates and news later in the week! Thanks for reading!

Have Double The Fun On Your Vacation!

 Here's a sponsored post I found that I thought some of you might find interesting! If you're planning to go to Sea World this summer, wouldn't it be cool to also get to Visit Busch Gardens or Aquatic free? (In case you don't know, Busch Gardens is a theme park with roller coasters and shows and stuff, kind of similar to a Six Flags theme park, and Aquatica is an amazing water park created by SeaWorld.) The offer is iopen through December of this year, so if you're interested in planning a fall or winter vacation to Florida that is a little cheaper, but definitely just as awesome, as Disney, this might be something you want to check out!

P.S. I am not sure the links are working on this page! When I click on them, they come up as a blank "example" page somehow. I'm not sure if this is just to prevent me from clicking on my own affiliate links, or what. If anyone clicks on them, please report back and let me know if they worked or not!

Things I Love Thursday

I'm kind of in the mood for a meme today, and I found this one called Things I Love Thursday, so I thought this might be the perfect time to share my newest obsession.
For some odd reason, I've always loved going to new grocery stores. Throughout my childhood, my mom always grocery shopped at the same few chain grocery stores... Cub Foods, Dominick's, and Jewel. Whenever we'd go on vacation, I loved seeing what other grocery stores existed in different parts of the country! I have no idea why this is. I guess when I was a kid, the northwest suburbs were my world, and it was just amazing to me that other people existed every single day and did their grocery shopping in completely different grocery stores!
Every summer we'd go way up north in Wisconsin, to Manitowish Waters. We would do all of our grocery shopping at a small, local grocery store. I was absolutely fascinated by its' existence!
Anyways, when I grew up, I continued to shop at the same old grocery stores that my mom had shopped at when I was a kid. But we recently moved to a different town, and I discovered a special local secret... Mr. Z's grocery store!
Its a lot like the tiny grocery store I used to go to in Manitowish Waters... its been open forever, and hasn't changed much at all in at least the last thirty years or so! The aisles are much narrower than in a regular grocery store, and there's a general small-townish feeling about it.
The first time I took Little Bear, Tigerlily and Pufferfish there, it was because we were on our way to the new house (before we actually lived there) and I needed some baby wipes right away! Its such a small store, I was able to get through the store, grab the baby wipes, and get to the checkout in a matter of minutes.
As we checked out, the cashier asked me if she could give the kids some stickers. I said "of course," thinking that she would give the kids some of those little round stickers that they put on the caps of milk jugs to prove that you've paid for the milk. But the lady walked over to the service desk, and came back with three sheets of very cool, shiny animal stickers! She gave one to each of the kids. It made their day, and turned an ordinarily pain-in-the-butt errand into something really special for them!
After that, I decided that I was going to try to give Mr. Z's my grocery shopping business as much as possible. I appreciate the fact that its a small, non-chain grovery store that has managed to stay open all these years, even while other similar stores have shut down!
So the next time I needed some food, I brought Little Bear, Tigerlily, and Pufferfish to Mr. Z's again. This time, they were delighted to push their own tiny carts around the store (although I had to holler at them fifty million times to slow down and try not to run people over!) This definitely kept them from being bored and whiny during our grocery shopping!
Finally, in the front of the store, I spotted something that reminded me of my own childhood. They have a machine where, for a quarter, a chicken will lay a plastic egg, with a surprise inside it! The chicken makes a loud cackling sound as it lays the egg. I hadn't seen one of those since I was about five years old!
I gave each of the girls a quarter, and they happily bought plastic eggs from the chicken.
I think Mr. Z's has their loyalty as much as it has mine!
I love you, Mr. Z's! Please, please, please don't ever shut down!

Crazy About Kitchen SInks!

Hi everyone! Here is a sponsored post, brought to you by your favorite starving blogger!
Have you ever gone into a home improvement store for no particular reason, just to wander around? And have you been fascinated by all of the different kichen sinks they have available? I have! I seriously have. Refrigerators fascinate me too. I would love to someday have the kind of refrigerator that spits out ice cubes and ice water for you! Toilets are mildly interesting, and showers and bathtubs are cool. But kitchen sinks are fascinating!
I recently found myself browsing a website called MR Direct, which sells sinks and faucets, and I found some really cool kitchen sinks! I kid you not... these sinks are very cool!
Check out these stainless steel sinks, for example! Stainless is the key word here... and if you've ever seen the kitchen sink in our old house, you'll understand why! Just look how clean and shiny these sinks are! They remind me of the sinks inthe kitchens of restaurants. They are actually made of 16 gauge stainless steel, which is 25% thicker than most other stainless steel sinks. Some of these sinks are "smart divide," which means that the divider between the two sink bowls is low, so that you can easily wash large dishes such as cookie sheets without making a huge mess and getting all wet.
But you know what really impressed me on the kitchen sink site I visited? Their TrueGranite sinks! These sinks are made from environmentally friendly, recyclable materials. Seriously! Plus... this seems kind of unbelievable to me, but its true... these sinks are coated in silver ions, which kill ninety-nine percent of bacteria on contact. So, if you don't have time to scrub your sink every single day, you don't have to worry... you'll still be washing your dishes in a very sanitary sink! (When I read this, I thought about how I like to make pasta and drain it in a strainer which I set down in the sink. The strainer has about a centimeter of space between the bowl part and the sink, so your pasta doesn't actually touch the sink, but I still always feel a little grossed out when I drain my pasta this way! If I had a TruGranite sink, I wouldn't have to worry at all about my food touching the germy sink!) The TrueGranite sinks are also heat resistant, scratch resistant, and stain resistant... perfect for my crazy household!
So, if you're ever in the market for a kitchen sink, you might want to check out MR Direct!

We're Going to the Zoo Zoo Zoo, What About You You You

When everyone came to Pufferfish's birthday party this past weekend, Tigerlily's parents ended up inviting two cousins, Becca and Patty, to stay for a few extra days. They also ended up taking Little Bear home with them! They were braving a full house full of five girls between the ages of four and fifteen!
Yesterday Tigerlily's mom, Sue, invited me and Pufferfish to go along with the rest of the crew to the zoo. It was a great day for it... sunny, and warm but not extremely hot. We packed a picnic lunch, brought a stroller, and rented a wagon, so we had a big load! Want to see some pictures? Sure you do!

Sue wanted us all to climb onto this buffalo statue for a picture. It was pretty easy for the first few people to get on, but it got harder as there was less and less room to grab onto and pull ourselves up. By the time I got on, Sue had to basically shove me up there and toss the baby into my hands!

They have these giant dinosaurs right now that actually move and make roaring noises! It freaked Pufferfish out! She was standing with them when I backed up to take this picture, but when it roared, she made a beeline for me and wouldn't go back! I kept telling her, "Its just a big toy, its not real!" I'm not sure she believed me!

I'm not sure this is what this photo opportunity is supposed to turn out looking like...

Was Little Bear hugging Tigerlily, or strangling her? Only she knows for sure!

Cousin Becca spent a lot of time with Pufferfish! Pufferfish is usually really shy around people she doesn't see all the time, but she really warmed up to Becca at the zoo! Becca spent lots of time carrying Pufferfish around and playing with her, and Pufferfish was happy as a clam!

The penguin exhibit is one of my favorite parts of the zoo. We never have time to see even half of the animals at the zoo, but I always make sure to see the penguins! (Plus, its right by the splash pad!)

The big girls painted the little girls' faces in the Family Center. Here is Little Bear, looking like a butterfly!

Pufferfish and Tigerlily both turned out to be kitty cats!

Pufferfish posing for a picture with Aunt Sue!

Pufferfish watering the plants. This is the first time that she's been big enough to actually squeeze the squirt bottle handle herself!

 At least we wore them out!                                                                                       

























A great time was had by all! I love going to the zoo. I'm glad its summer so we can go more often. When Diana's sisters and Monkeyboy were little, Diana's mom used to take them all to the zoo at least once a week! They would choose one small section of the zoo to visit, and spend the whole time going to each exhibit, reading all the signs, and learning all about the animals. If the zoo wasn't 45 minutes away and I didn't have to pay for parking, I would totally do that! Maybe we could just live at the zoo!