KerryAndGabe.com

Something I’m thinking: I’m thinking that I could have slept the whole day yesterday, and I think I’d still feel tired. I’m still recovering from the solo parenting weekend (almost a week ago now). Gabe had a lot of fun on his trip!

Something happening around the house: We all stayed home yesterday which was a cold and rainy day. We were glad that we didn’t have plans! The kids entertained each other pretty well, and Gabe and I spent quite a bit of time being lazy.

Something I’m reading: I finished the third and fourth book of the Sisterhood of the Pants series. They were quick, fun reads. I also finished A Land More Kind than Home by Wiley Cash and The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg. Both books were for our new online book club. I didn’t love either one, though the habit book had a lot of interesting anecdotes. I enjoyed the first section of the book the most. It got repetitive, and some of the organizational/society things weren’t as interesting. The last section had a few more interesting bits with night terrors and gambling. I’m reading I’ve Got Your Number. I had been on the waiting list at the library for a while, and it finally became available recently. I’m not sure how much to expect from it!

Something Gabe is reading: Gabe has been reading a lot, too. He finished Deadline by Mira Grant and is now reading the third book in that series. He also read the first book of another series, The Warded Man by Peter V. Brett in the Demon Cycle series.

Something I’m watching: We are thinking about streaming Downton Abbey to see what all the fuss is about. It looks boring to me, but people seem to like it. It’s free to stream, so we’ll see if we like it. I guess.

Something I’m playing: We had games night yesterday. I was able to play Tzolk’in: The Mayan Calendar twice. I liked it, but I wonder if I’ll be able to get a handle on a good strategy to use in that game! I’m glad I finally got a chance to play it as I have heard about it from several friends.

Something I’m creating: I haven’t finished the 2011 photobook or worked on it much. I started an 8×8 book about my Disney adventures with Audrey early last year. I guess I finished about a third of the book so far.

Something tasty: I can’t stop eating Brach’s Hiding Eggs and Reese’s Peanut Butter Eggs. I’m glad Easter will be over soon.

Something about both kiddos: The kids and I had a great time while Gabe was gone. When he returned, they said, “Daddy! Daddy! You missed all the fun!” We went out to dinner almost every night which kept us out of the house and kept me from needing to figure out what to cook. Keeping us out of the house was an even better benefit as I didn’t have much energy to keep up with cleaning and laundry and all that. We went bowling (their first time). They loved it, but I’m not sure I’ll do it again for a while! We went to the Shiny Diner for the first time (well, theirs, I hadn’t been in at least a decade). We had rollerblading lessons and spent the weekend with Sophie and her mommy doing all kinds of crafts, Easter egg hunts, and cookie decorating. The kids had their first official slumber party. Marie and Sophie ended up sleeping in the guest room, but Maddie and Cullen slept in sleeping bags on Maddie’s floor. They took forever to go to sleep. The kids made a sign for Gabe to welcome him home. We had a lot of fun, but we were very happy to have Daddy home again. Surprisingly, I kept everyone healthy and happy and kept my sanity at the same time. It’s a miracle. They had rollerblading again this weekend, and both kids did great. Maddie claims that she doesn’t like rollerblading anymore, but I don’t think that’s true. She has a big smile on her face while she’s doing it, and today she asked to rollerblade on the hardwoods in the house. They are both making big improvements! Oh, and we got some “journals” while Daddy was out of town, and the kids have been drawing and writing in them frequently. One of the crafts that we did while Sophie was spending the weekend with us was to make things out of toilet paper rolls. The kids all decided to make binoculars and used them to “explore” the backyard. They then returned and wrote what they saw in their journals. Some of the pictures are mostly scribbles, but the process was great!

Something Maddie is doing (5 years old): She’s not been doing particularly well at bedtime. I think part of this is her usual stuff, and another is both the time change and Daddy being out of town for almost a week. She went to bed at a pretty reasonable time tonight, so I hope that’s a good sign. She has been staying awake until 10:30pm or 11pm almost every night. That made for an exhausting time while Gabe was out of town as I couldn’t really go to bed until I got them settled (and then one or both of them would be up bright and early in the morning). Maddie is still reading every day. I’m glad she’s so motivated! It seems like in the past couple of weeks she’s gotten a lot faster with her reading. I’ve been impressed. I wonder when she will make the leap to read to herself. It’s rewarding to see all of her hard work (and mine) paying off after months of daily practice.

Something Cullen is doing (3 years old): Cullen has been enjoying his journal and enjoys drawing random pictures and writing his name (not always with the letters in order). We are wondering whether Cullen may have a food sensitivity. His cheeks have frequently been flushed, and we used to think that it happened mostly when he had been playing outside and it was too hot or too cold. Recently, I have noticed it happening at other times when he hasn’t been in any extreme temperatures (though the temperatures didn’t have to be all that extreme). We think we are noticing a correlation with things like pizza and other tomato things. Since tomatoes are one of his favorite foods, that could explain why his cheeks have been so flushed lately. I feel like it happens even without tomatoes, but I found out that many of his other favorite foods contain some of the same things that can cause sensitivities with tomatoes. We may have to do some more investigating. Cullen has been doing well at preschool! He is excited about being at Children’s House, and he was even more excited when I volunteered in his classroom on Pi Day. We made mini chocolate pudding pies in mini muffin pans. I had so much fun! Cullen was so proud to share his mommy with the class.

Something I am struggling with: I knew I would have a hard time writing this one while Gabe was out of town, so I’m not surprised I skipped. As long as I write this every other week, I think I’ll be happy. I’m having trouble finding time for writing…and still need to write Maddie’s 5-year letter. I’ve worked on it, but I have a ways to go to finish it.

Something I’m doing towards my goals: I did some fundraising for this year’s Walk MS. I’m having a slow start, and the walk is coming up fast. I always wonder at this time of year if we’ll make our goals, and somehow we always do. Somehow I still find myself doubting it each year.

Something I’m looking forward to: Book club is this week! We are discussing Little Bee (and it sounds like many of us didn’t like it, so we’ll see what everyone has to say!). We also have some doctor appointments and dinner and games with friends. We are going to do a dino egg hunt next weekend, and the Easter Bunny is coming to town! Just in case I don’t write next week, the following week brings a movie outing with some book club peeps (The Host), the second kiddo book club meeting, and a birthday party.

Something captured: At the Shiny Diner while Daddy was out of town

Something that makes me happy: Weekends filled with near perfect weather! We had a lot of fun playing outside.

Something I’m thinking: I just didn’t get my act together to write one last week, so here I am covering two weeks again. I don’t even have a good excuse!

Something I’m reading: I finally finished A Feast for Crows. I’m going to take a little break to catch up on some other reading before tackling the next book. I started and finished Little Bee for this month’s book club. I didn’t love it, but I liked it well enough. I started and finished Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet and enjoyed it! I started and finished The Second Summer of the Sisterhood after a friend suggested that I continue the series. I’m now reading the third book in the series.

Something Gabe is reading: Gabe finished The Blinding Knife and he is now reading Deadline by Mira Grant.

Something I’m watching: We saw a live play, Rapunzel, last Sunday. We all had a good time at the theater, though the play wasn’t exactly what we were expecting. This weekend, we went to see Charlotte’s Web at a different theater. We had another great experience there! The kids are having fun with their cultural events.

Something I’m playing: We played some Catan Junior this week. We’ve also been playing outside a lot. I love spring.

Something I’m creating: I only had one of the two scrapbooking days that I mentioned with the last Sunday Somethings, but I did manage to make quite a bit of progress in my 2011 photobook. I hope to continue doing a few pages almost every night so I can finish that one.

Something about both kiddos: My sister brought two of her baby goats for a visit on Saturday. We all enjoyed watching the “kids” frolic in our yard. Several neighbors enjoyed them as well. It was just so much fun. The goats were adorable. Oh, and they loved seeing Aunt Kristin, too. We took the kids to the cafe on Friday, and that was Cullen’s first time for that special privilege! Both kids did great. Hopefully, we can take them more often now.

Something Maddie is doing (5 years old): She got some practice on the new bike this weekend, and she still loves to ride the balance bike. She really zips around on that thing now! We found out that she will be attending the year round school that we were hoping to get into…though we don’t know which track yet. Somehow, I don’t feel as relieved as I thought I might. I guess I don’t fully trust that we’re in yet. Maddie attended her first book club meeting! It was great. We had activities, crafts, and snacks related to Irish history and folklore. The kids seemed to have fun!

Something Cullen is doing (3 years old): Cullen has continued to do well in his new classroom. He seems to be more tired in the evenings. He’s more sensitive as usual and ready for bed! This has caused a little extra conflict between Maddie and Cullen. Hopefully, things will settle down as he adjusts to the new routines at preschool. They had their first jammie day to celebrate Dr. Seuss’s birthday. Cullen was excited, and they did some cute activities to celebrate. Prior to this weekend (before he saw the baby goats), he said, “When I grow up like a Daddy, I’m going to have baby goats. I’m going to name them different names. One is named carrot.” He was excited to see the baby goats in theory, but he was a little nervous about actually seeing them. He warmed up after a little while and held and petted the goats. He brings up the baby goats at random all the time (even before meeting them, so we’ll see how much he talks about them now!). Cullen’s been doing great with potty training lately, and he started wearing underwear at night. We have had to change sheets a lot more than usual!

Something I am struggling with: I’ve had issues writing…I’ve had some writer’s block on Maddie’s letter. Fortunately, I’ve made a lot of notes and wrote about half of it, so hopefully I’ll be able to capture all of the important things.

Something I’m looking forward to: I’m not sure I’m looking forward to Gabe’s trip to Phoenix, but we have some plans while he is gone. We’re having a slumber party with friends, rollerblading, and a Lego event. Hopefully, the kids will not be too crazy while Gabe is gone.

Something random: I had a dream last night that I was trapped on a resurrected Titanic filled with mostly zombie pirates.

Something captured: Cullen and my sister with a baby goat!

Something that makes me happy: We’re getting a new mattress this week! I hope that we like it, as we have hated our current one for 6 years. Oh, and I finished our taxes. Woohoo!

Something I’m thinking: We have too many appointments this time of year. Ack!

Something I’m hoping: I hoping that appointments go well.

Something happening around the house: I’m working on scanning again. Scanning, scanning, scanning. Pretty soon we’ll be recycling, shredding, recycling, and shredding. We’re taking several boxes to an upcoming shred-a-thon.

Something I’m reading: I finished Nurture Shock, and I enjoyed it! It gives parents a lot to think about. I should reread some of the chapters from time to time. I finished reading State of the Onion, and I would enjoy other books in that series. I’m now reading Son, the fourth book in The Giver series by Lois Lowry.

Something Gabe is reading: Gabe finished Book 8 of the Wool series, and it was great to finally be able to talk about it to each other. We’ll be watching for the next book in the series. He’s now reading King of Thorns by Mark Lawrence.

Something I’m playing: We had fun playing Tichu with friends on Friday night. I played The Castles of Burgundy, Telestrations, Big Boggle, and Forbidden Island at our games night on Saturday.

Something I’m creating: I helped the kids create their Valentines for this week. Maddie still needs to make her mailbox. I think real homework is going to stress me out!

Something tasty: Gabe and I have a bad Reese’s Peanut Butter Hearts habit this time of year. Yum!

Something about both kiddos: They had their last rollerblading lesson for this session and got their medals! They were excited about that part, and now they can get a free donut every time they visit Dunkin Donuts for the next couple months or something? Anyway, we went and treated the kiddos (and ourselves) to donuts after the lesson. The kids both created their Valentines. I’m not a big fan of the store bought ones (though that doesn’t mean I won’t buy them some years!).

Something Maddie is doing (4.5 years old): Maddie has made huge improvements in rollerblading! She’s getting more comfortable, and she’s actually picking up her feet to get speed. We’re so proud of her. She’ll be in the intermediate class for the next session in a few weeks. Maddie had her own design in mind for her valentines for her classmates. She drew hearts inside of a circle for each one, and then she decorated with stickers and wrote “from Maddie” on the back. Twenty valentines is a lot to do, so we split it up over several sessions. We were also proud of her when she used stickers to cover up her mistakes. Usually, she has to start over when making a mistake, so that was a big step for her! We continue to be impressed by her reading. She’s reading every day, and I’m surprised by the words that she no longer needs help with. Gabe and I are constantly introducing a new book to her and then asking the other parent, “um, did you read this to her? Has she read that one before?” and continue to be surprised when the answer is no. She’s been reading a Level 3 reader to me the last two nights. Maddie now has a walkie talkie that she can use to “summon” us to her room. This has been working fabulously. She is allowed to summon each of us once after we leave her room, and she has been using it in the middle of the night. This is a welcome change to her outbursts and screaming and yelling and crying both at bedtime and the middle of the night. It’s quite pleasant. Thanks to a good friend for the suggestion!!! Ultimately, we are hoping that she won’t need us to come every time she calls us, but for now this is a welcome change.

Something Cullen is doing (3 years old): Cullen made very cute valentines. He drew himself with each of his friends, and I labeled the people and wrote what he said about the picture. I hope that the one girl that he said he was “connected” to isn’t too creeped out by it. Haha! This morning, the kids and I listened to Mumford and Sons on the way to school from my iPhone. It was paused all day, and I turned it back on in the van right before getting Cullen. As soon as Cullen got into the car, he said, “this is a VERY long song!” Yesterday, he was telling Maddie stories which all seemed to be a variation on “Mickey and the Beanstalk” (a story he’s been getting at bedtime).

Something I am struggling with: Writing this on Sunday.

Something I’m looking forward to: We have several doctor appointments this week (two for Maddie and a dental appointment for me) and the last ballet class for the kids. I’m looking forward to my long overdue hair appointment on Wednesday! We’re all looking forward to Maddie’s Special Day this weekend. I also have a baby shower for a friend on Sunday. Busy week!

Something captured: Daddy and the kiddos after their medal ceremony on Saturday (which reminds me that we lost a knee pad!).

Now that we’re well into 2013, it’s time to reflect on 2012, right? It’s a challenge to even remember last week much less all of last year, but I’m going to give it a try…

Best Restaurant: Considering how little we go out to interesting restaurants these days, this is always a tough category for me. We make sure to go out each year to somewhere new and fancy on our anniversary, but most of the rest of our meals tend to be at boring kid friendly places. I’m going to pick Draft. Sadly, it closed at the end of the year for reasons unrelated to its popularity. We went with friends before a concert in February and again with Gabe’s parents just before they closed their doors. YUM!

Best Book: I actually read quite a few great books this year. The candidates for the “best” of the year were Ready Player One, The Kingkiller Chronicles, and the Wool series. It’s hard to compare the three because they were different, but since I’m forcing myself to pick one “best,” I’d have to pick The Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss. I highly recommend all of the finalists from this year, though! And I can’t wait to read the next one in The Kingkiller Chronicles as well as the Wool series (by Hugh Howey). I really did have a tough time choosing between the two.

Best Vacation: I might as well rename this category to “the major vacation that we took this year.” Of course, our best vacation this year was our big trip to Disney World! We had been looking forward to it for a long time, and it was great (though exhausting). We’ll do it again in a couple years! We did have a good number of wonderful shorter vacations this year, too.

Best Movie: This one is difficult for me because when I look at the list of movies that we saw in the theater, nothing stands out clearly above the rest. I guess I would pick The Avengers.

Best TV Show: My favorite show this year was Hart of Dixie.

Best Music: I don’t pay attention to the newest music these days, but we went to a fantastic concert in July with Kristin and Chad. We saw Roger Waters perform The Wall in its entirety. That was quite an experience! I wish we had had better seats, but it was still great to be there.

Best Board Game: Our favorite new game this year was Village. We need to add this one to our collection!

Best Lighter Game: I really enjoyed Riff Raff which I played at TBGT. I haven’t been able to find it for sale anywhere.

Best Party Game: We have had Cranium Hoopla for years, but I finally played it at TBGT. It was a perfect game to play with family and friends! We had fun with it on Thanksgiving with Gabe’s family, with my family at Christmas, and with friends at New Year’s. Fun game!

Best Video Game: I guess this one has to go to NintendoLand since it’s one of the only video games that we played this year. I look forward to playing more of the Wii U. With all that free time that I don’t have…

Best iPad Game: Gabe and I both spent quite a bit of time playing Mystery Manor on our iPads at the beginning of the year. It was fun while it was lasted!

Best Kids’ Game: We played a lot of kids’ games in 2012, and my favorite of those is Catan Junior. It plays somewhat similarly to the real game, and I love this intro to Eurogames for the kids. They are loving it. The kids ask to play “the pirate game” often.

Best Toy (for Maddie): My favorite toy of the year for Maddie is her Olivia’s House Friends Lego set. It’s awesome! It’s a dollhouse made of Legos. FUN!

Best Toy (for Cullen): Cullen was very into the wooden trains this year, and we all enjoyed them. We had fun making huge layouts, and they got some motorized trains for Christmas. Good times!

Best Maddie Moment: My favorite Maddie moment was riding in the front car of Goofy’s Barnstormer when she put her hands way up in the air. She was so happy. It was a wonderful experience! Loved it!

Best Cullen Moment: Cullen and I spend quite a bit of time together, and we have so many special moments together. He’s so sweet, especially every night when we go through his bedtime routine. We had a lot of great moments at Disney, too. I think that my favorite may have been when Cullen told Rapunzel that he would protect me from the dragon. He was so sweet with Minnie Mouse and the princesses!

Best Reunion: I didn’t think I’d be able to think of one this year for “best reunion,” but then I realized that Audrey and I reunited our travel relationship! We had a wonderful time at Disney in April. Hopefully, we’ll be able to take some more trips together in the future.

Something that makes me happy: The tradition that we started last year of having a “special day” for the kids near their birthdays. Today was Cullen Special Day! We had a wonderful time as a family (but we’re all exhausted!).

Something I’m thinking: I can’t believe that my little boy will be 3 in two days.

Something I’m hoping: I hope that we will continue our tradition and that the kids will have fond memories of it. I know we will.

Something happening around the house: We still need to purge a bunch of things that we started to organize last year. I’m thinking we should probably do this before my parents come to visit in a couple of weeks. Right now, we don’t have a good place for them to sleep.

Something I’m reading: I finished Delirium and started the sequel. I’ll probably have that finished tonight. I’m enjoying it well enough, but it’s not as good as other dystopian series that I have read.

Something Gabe is reading: He finished the first 5 books in the Wool series and started on book 6! I learned that book 8 should be out by the end of the month, so I’m looking forward to that.

Something I’m watching: We went to see Wreck It Ralph for Cullen’s special day today. It was cute!

Something I’m playing: We played Kids of Carcassonne tonight before bed.

Something I’m creating: I sorted through my 2011 photos for the general photobook. I haven’t started on it yet, but I think I’ll be able to fit it all into one volume (which is my goal now with the yearbooks. 2010 was 3 volumes, and that is just too many.).

Something tasty: Gingerbread pancakes at breakfast this morning and Cullen’s birthday cake this evening.

Something about both kiddos: Sleep was a big issue when I wrote the last report, and it seems to be getting better. We separated the kids, and that was like hitting a reset button for them. We have changed up the routine a little (with a little more swapping of parents here and there), and I’ve been going back after a short time to praise them for staying in bed and being quiet. I have been doing this several times, and they love when I come back to “check on them” and love the praise and extra attention. Both kids actually slept through the night TWO NIGHTS IN A ROW. I know I probably shouldn’t speak or type that or I’ll probably jinx it all. It’s a miracle, that’s for sure. I can’t even tell you the last time we had two nights of uninterrupted sleep. Possibly never (well, not since Cullen was born). They both had rollerblading yesterday, and they did fairly well. Maddie is getting more confidence and skating a little faster. She’s still one of the slowest kids in the class (well, apart from Cullen, of course). She does a lot better when she isn’t trying to look out for her brother. We are signing them up for another session, and I’m glad that the kids will be in different levels. That should help Maddie, anyway. We took them both for haircuts yesterday as well. Maddie’s is super short. It’s cute on her, but I think it’s a little shorter than I had wanted it! She loves it. Cullen’s is fine, but nobody can seem to get his bangs straight. They tried to compensate this time, but it’s still not quite right. Maybe we’ll have to try something different. He did love going through the day yesterday with “spiky hair.” Today we had “Cullen Special Day” and went out to our favorite breakfast place, Toys R Us where Cullen could pick out any toy he wanted, the dinner theater for lunch and a movie, a park we hadn’t explored before, and Cullen’s choice of dinner and cake at home with friends. What a wonderful day!

Something Maddie is doing (4.5 years old): She’s bringing home lots of readers from school, and the ones that she is bringing home are super easy for her. They are mostly short vowel readers, and she has progressed into more complicated readers. She did a great job with a long Amelia Bedelia Level 1 reader. We read it over several nights, and I was impressed sometimes at how much she could read without help. I had to help her a few times for each new type of word, and she started to learn many patterns on her own. She’s very interested in practicing right now, so that is exciting! She finally earned her butterfly and flower lights that we told her she could have when she had a good night (no getting out of the room or screaming for us until 7am). She now has had two good nights in a row, so let’s hope it’s a new pattern… I know better than to believe that it is a new habit after two days, but I can still hope. She still loves to create artwork and gets creative with her art projects and cutting. She has been getting more creative with Legos and making her own models. Yesterday morning, Maddie said to Cullen in the car, “Hey, Cullen! Let’s pretend we’re dorks! Haha! Cullen, I’m a dork! Are you a dork?” Gabe and I thought this was hilarious.

Something Cullen is doing (2.5 years old): Cullen will be THREE this week. I can’t believe it! He’s been such a funny boy this week. One night, he created and sang the following song to Puff the Magic Dragon: Puff the Magic Spider, lived in a web, and when he was hanging, he pooped on Daddy’s head. He loves to sing, and we all love to make up silly lyrics. I cracked up when he did this one. He’s very good at the iPad and iPhone. One morning, Gabe came out into the living room to find Cullen sitting on the couch playing Angry Birds with Gabe’s iPad. He loves eating veggies. This weekend when we went to PF Changs, he kept asking for more tomatoes and cucumbers. He also likes the crab wontons from there. He turned in his papers for Children’s House, so we should be hearing news of him moving up any day now. I can’t believe that the kids will both be out of the daycare building. It’s bittersweet. Today, when we took him to Toys R Us, he started with a large stuffed dog as his first selection and kept trading until he ended up with a Cars racetrack with microcars. He did say that he wanted to get some kind of race car, so I guess he ended up with what thought he wanted! In between, he had a Minnie Mouse pillow pet, different Lego sets, and some other race car sets.

Something I’m doing towards my goals: We booked two trips…NYC in the spring and a Disney cruise next year. I can’t wait! The kids are excited, too, but they have no idea what to expect, of course.

Something I learned: My point and shoot camera has been set to a lower exposure for more than a year. I wish I had realized this before now! Oh well. A similar thing happened with our SLR for the first year that we owned it. We had some funky custom white balance setting that screwed up the majority of our photos.

Something I’m looking forward to: I’m looking forward to Cullen’s 3rd birthday and a dinner date with a friend. We also have a games day with friends, ballet, and rollerblading. Busy week!

Something random: I don’t write anything for this most weeks. That’s pretty random, right?

Something captured: Putting the finishing touches on Cullen’s birthday cake…sprinkles!

Something that makes me happy: Naps and pajama days. Happy new year for us!

Something I’m thinking: I didn’t feel like writing this for the past couple of days. Our break hasn’t been very restful, but we’ve had a nice time with family and friends. We also had a wonderful Christmas! The kids enjoyed their gifts from Santa, and Maddie and I put together the big Olivia’s house set.

Something happening around the house: We had our annual New Year’s Eve games night last night! We also managed to get Cullen’s room mostly finished, so he has a room again! The office is in disarray, so we have a lot of work to be done there.

Something I’m reading: I decided to continue the Earth’s Children series with The Valley of the Horses.

Something Gabe is reading: He’s reading the Wool Omnibus, and I think he’s on book 3.

Something I’m playing: We played Phoenicia on Sunday. The kids have played some games with us in the past week. We played some NintendoLand on the Wii U this week, and several people tried it last night. At games night, I played Wits and Wagers Family, Cranium Hoopla, Telestrations, Password, and Trivial Pursuit Genus 6. We went out while Gabe’s parents were in town and played Photo Hunt and NTN trivia.

Something I’m creating: I started on the Allure of the Seas cruise photobook from 2011! It feels great to get started on that one, especially since we promised it to family as gifts over a year ago. Better late than never? I’ve also been creating lots of Legos. Our family has been Lego crazy over the break, and we’ve almost built every model that we have (displayed proudly on our shelves in the living room). Gabe and I even bought a few sets that are decidedly more for ourselves than the kids.

Something tasty: A friend made a tasty s’mores no bake treat for New Year’s Eve games night last night. I think I might have eaten half the tray. Ooh, and we took Gabe’s parents to Draft. That was tasty, and we’re sad that they are now permanently closed.

Something about both kiddos: The kids were excited about Christmas and Santa’s visit. They have been playing together so well lately (for the most part). Of course, they still fight at times, but they can play together for hours. They are sad when they can’t play with each other. Maddie complains that she has “nobody to play with.” I hope that they will continue to be buddies throughout their lives (though I do realize it will have ups and downs through the years). They are incredibly cute together much of the time. This week, they have started putting on “magic shows.” We aren’t sure where they got that idea, but they insist that it has to be done in Cullen’s new room without the lights. I guess the glow in the dark stars add to the ambiance of their show. Their signature trick involves showing us some balls and then throwing them under the bed or on the floor or in the closet as they “disappear.” They were having slumber parties in Maddie’s room with Cullen’s crib mattress on Maddie’s floor. They have slept in separate rooms a few times, but they are still having slumber parties but now in Cullen’s room. Once, they even slept in the same bed all night. We are trying to get them to sleep in their own rooms, but sometimes it’s just easier for everyone to let them have their slumber parties! Both kids have been playing the Wii U a little bit, and they are starting to get the hang of some of the games in NintendoLand (especially the ghost one and the Mario running one).

Something Maddie is doing (4.5 years old): Maddie and I put together Olivia’s House on Christmas Day. We actually managed to put together the entire house in one day. I love all the details! Maddie managed to put it all together by herself with the exception of the last portion of the yard. She ran out of steam but wanted to finish it “all in one day,” so I helped her finish it up. She was so sweet while we were working on the project. She kept saying things like “I really love you, Mommy” and “I’m so happy!” and “I’m so happy to be doing Legos with you, Mommy.” Maddie got a bunch of new readers for Christmas, and she has been interested in reading them to us. Most of them are phonics readers (some of those are focused on sight words). She’s been making a lot of progress! She’s jealous of Cullen’s new room and says that she also wants a “space room.” Maddie helped us apply the decals around the room.

Something Cullen is doing (2.5 years old): Cullen is very excited about his new room, and it looks great! We still need to put some finishing touches on the room, but we were very happy with how it turned out. Cullen has had a lot of accidents in the past couple of weeks, but we are making some progress. He has gotten to the point where he has no interest in starting to poop on the potty (but will finish if we are able to catch him in the act or see signs that he needs to before he starts). It’s a bit frustrating. He’s had a few wet accidents, but we have gone back to reminding him to use the potty a bit more frequently and making him take potty breaks regularly. Cullen really has gotten great at knowing his way around the iPhone or iPad. He knows how to go back to the home screen, choose new apps, go to a different screen, open folders, and play a variety of games. Cullen is still making a lot of train layouts with the wooden train set. Santa brought both kids a motorized train, so they have had a good time setting up huge layouts in the living room and running the trains.

Something I am struggling with: Clutter, clutter, clutter. We have been organizing and purging in our house. We did manage to take a van load to Goodwill with more to come soon.

Something I’m doing towards my goals: I’m finally making progress on my photobooks. I’m also pretty much caught up on my photos. I have a few more to sort from December, and I’ll be caught up! It has been a long time since I have been caught up like that. Now I just have a bunch of photobooks to create…

Something I’m looking forward to: We don’t have too many plans for the rest of this week, though I am looking forward to the kids using their new rollerblades for the first time on Saturday morning! Santa brought both kids rollerblades for Christmas.

Something random: I read 42 books in 2012!

Something captured: It was a full week, and I’m posting two pictures from this week.

Cullen in his new room.

A proud Maddie with the completed Olivia’s House.

Something that makes me happy: Christmas traditions! I can’t believe it’s already Christmas Eve. We had a great time visiting with family and friends so far and have fun gatherings yet to come.

Something I’m thinking: Christmas arrived so fast this year, and I feel a bit disorganized with our house in disarray (see “something happening around the house”). I’ve reached a breaking point with clutter, and I’m ready to get rid of stuff.

Something I’m hoping: I hope that we will have a wonderful Christmas morning. I love our tradition of Christmas morning with just our little family (while visiting with family and friends in the days surrounding it).

Something happening around the house: Gabe and I are doing a lot of purging. We are putting Gabe’s office in the nursery (Cullen’s current room), and we’ll be making the office into Cullen’s new big boy space-themed room. We decided it was time to get rid of outgrown kid clothes (keeping a few sentimental pieces). We boxed up more than 7 boxes of boy clothes for a couple of friends, and we’ll have more girl clothes soon. We also have a lot of other stuff that we are going to donate, sell, or give away. Currently, Gabe’s new office is full of piles of stuff, and Cullen and Maddie are having nightly slumber parties until Cullen’s room is finished.

Something I’m reading: I couldn’t resist and finished books 6 and 7 of the Wool series. Now I’m forced to wait to read more until they get published. Great series! If you’re a fan of the dystopian genre, you need to read it. Just be patient with the first two books and trust me that it gets better and better. I want to learn more about this world!

Something Gabe is reading: He started reading the Wool series. Yay!

Something I’m watching: We watched Love Actually last night (instead of writing my somethings). I love that movie!!!

Something I’m playing: We played Cranium Hoopla and a little NintendoLand with my family. Gabe and I played a little of the new Super Mario for the Wii U, I think (was that this week? It’s all blurring together now).

Something I’m creating: I sorted through some photos, and I’m getting close to having the Disney photos organized…finally! I still need to get rid of a few, but I’ve been making a lot of progress. Otherwise, I’ve been creating crafts and putting together Legos with the kids. It’s our goal to assemble all of the models that we have collected so far and creating a Lego village over the break.

Something tasty: Oh, man, we’ve had too many tasty things…cookies, fudge, Dad’s meatloaf, Chex mix, etc, etc.

Something about both kiddos: They are excited about getting presents from family members and friends (and especially Santa!). They have both been enjoying putting together lego kits. They had fun making sugar cookies this afternoon. We are not afraid of icing and sprinkles in this house. Most cookies looked like someone dumped a bowl of sprinkles onto them, and that’s pretty much how they were created. The kids have been having daily slumber parties since we’re transitioning Cullen’s room and the office. We are hoping to make progress on putting his room together this week.

Something Maddie is doing (4.5 years old): Maddie is on her best behavior, and I think she really is concerned that Santa is keeping an eye on her. She spent an hour in her room this morning and was very quiet. When we checked on her, we discovered that she was cleaning. She wasn’t doing her usual cleaning which consists of piling everything from the floor onto other surfaces (at random). She had put things away properly and even made her bed. It’s a Christmas miracle! This week when I asked Maddie whether she thought that Santa would bring her presents, she said, “Yes, I don’t see why not!” Maddie is getting really good at Angry Birds and prefers the Star Wars version these days. She will quit the level if she knows she’s not going to get 3 stars, and she says, “It’s not just about winning, is it Mommy?” (meaning it’s also about getting the best score).

Something Cullen is doing (2.5 years old): He’s been having a good number of accidents. I guess we should go back to Disney World which apparently inspired him because “Mickey wouldn’t want poop on his table.” Santa doesn’t appear to have the same effect. Oh well. This week he had an accident in his underwear at school and told his teachers that another kid at school did it. Today, when I asked whether he had poop in his underwear, he told me that he didn’t do it and that somehow *I* had put poop in his underwear. He also told his teachers that he had a secret hiding place in our living room and that he was “very sneaky.” When I picked him up from school that day, I said, “Cullen, what am I going to do with you?” He said, “Eat me” and I asked if that’s what his teacher said (she says, “I could just eat him/you up!” sometimes). He said, “yeah, because I’m a turkey!” The other day when he was playing Fruit Ninja on Daddy’s iPhone, he said, “I’m GREAT at this fruit engine!” He’s getting pretty good at angry birds, too. He was defiant today and wasn’t listening very well. At some point, he told me that he wanted me to email Santa because he was sure family or a friend would bring him a LeapPad.

Something I’m looking forward to: Christmas!!!

Something captured: Sweet kids on Christmas Eve!

Something that makes me happy: Disney World! Getting home makes me happy, too.

Something I’m thinking: I’m thinking about all the fun and exciting things we did on our trip. I can’t believe that it is over.

Something I’m hoping: I hope to start writing up our trip reports soon, though I have to wait a week or so before I can get the photo pass photos. I have a lot of thoughts on posts in my head…now I just have to type them all out. Well, and sort through the almost 3000 photos.

Something happening around the house: It was nice to come home to a clean house, but a weekend at home destroyed our chances for that!

Something I’m reading: I read a little more of the 2nd book in The Mysterious Benedict Society, but then I switched to start and finish Let’s Pretend This Never Happened: A Mostly True Memoir. I didn’t get too much time to read at Disney, and I wanted to make sure I finished it before book club this week.

Something Gabe is reading: He started and finished Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence. He has started reading The Blinding Knife by Brent Weeks.

Something I’m watching: We have been watching Amazing Race, Survivor, Elementary, Hart of Dixie, and Revolution. I’m also trying to keep up with Gossip Girl, 90210, and Grey’s Anatomy. It’s hard to keep up with everything after being gone for a week and a half!

Something I’m playing: The kids and I played Kids of Carcassonne this afternoon, and Gabe and I have been playing some Ticket to Ride Europe on the iPhone.

Something tasty: I had a bit too much tasty food this week. Good times! I think my favorite was probably the Dole Whip, maybe mostly because I hadn’t expected to like it at all!

Something about both kiddos: We all had a wonderful, wonderful time at Disney. Too much to think about or cover here tonight! It was a long time for them to be in Disney. You could tell that they were pretty tired by the end – an extra rest day would have been beneficial. But they had a wonderful time. Both kids had haircuts today and look totally adorable. Now I just wish we had done it before our trip!

Something Maddie is doing (4.5 years old): When asked when we should go back to Disney, Maddie said, “Next Sunday” (today she said “Next Monday”). We told them that we probably won’t go again for a few years, maybe when Cullen is going to kindergarten. Maddie said, “no! that is too long! I’ll be 7!!!” Maddie didn’t get quite enough sleep while we were gone. It’s tough when your brother keeps waking you up and gets you up too early in the morning. It’s also impossible to get her to nap when we’re on trips (or at home), even when she needs one. So, she was a bit whiny and clingy when we weren’t doing something she enjoyed (and she was quite opinionated on what she enjoyed!). She hated being called “princess” everywhere we went by cast members. She started saying, “I am NOT a princess” to them. They didn’t know how to react. I guess they don’t cover that in their Disney training. I’m guessing they don’t run into very many preschool girls who don’t want to be called a princess. Maddie’s favorite started out as Dumbo, but then she rode Goofy’s Barnstormer, a kiddo rollercoaster. She absolutely loved it. It was amazing to watch her ride it! One of my best moments of the trip was riding it in the front car with her. She throws her arms way up in the air and couldn’t be happier. I love that little rollercoaster girl! She talked about how her favorite part was when it goes FAST. She says, “no one can catch us!” (and said the same thing about Dumbo the first few times when she was flying really high). Small World was also one of her top favorite rides. She was excited about trying some things, but she didn’t like everything she tried. She even rode Tower of Terror!!! But she did not like that one. She talked about it a lot, and she almost rode it again. I think that both kids enjoyed things better the second time they rode them. It helped them knowing what to expect. When you asked Maddie about a ride that she didn’t like, she would say “NEVER!” as in she’s never riding that again and she will NEVER like it. She said that about Tower of Terror, Pirates of the Caribbean, and a few others. She did say that about the Epcot ball ride (Spaceship Earth), but then she was begging to go on it later (after she had ridden it a 2nd time). She was very particular about characters. She wanted nothing to do with princesses or Tinkerbell. Her favorites were Minnie, Mickey, and Daisy. She refused to pose with Donald and Goofy most of the time. It always took her a few characters to warm up at the character meals. Fortunately, we usually were able to see the first characters more than once. Maddie really is enjoying saying “NEVER!” when she doesn’t like something or when she doesn’t want to do something we ask her to do.

Something Cullen is doing (2.5 years old): Cullen had a big time in Disney, too. When asked when we should go again, he said, “in 3 days.” Cullen’s favorites were Dumbo and Small World. Sometimes he’ll tell you that Goofy’s Barnstormer was one of his favorites, but he really didn’t like it! It was one of the moments on the trip when he was really scared. He wanted it to stop, but he still wanted to ride it twice. Both times he was not a fan. He absolutely loved Dumbo and Small World! He was a little scared about rides that had dark parts. He loved riding the Winnie the Pooh ride (especially the part where we bounced with Tigger). He loved driving the cars in the Tomorrowland Speedway. Cullen and I spent a lot of time together because he wanted to do everything with Mommy and Maddie wanted to do everything with Daddy. I loved seeing his joy on the rides he loved! The Spinny Minnie that he got from the Halloween party (her dress lights up) helped him in some of the rides with dark parts. He was awesome with the characters. He loved Minnie, Mickey, and the princesses the best. He told Rapunzel that he would protect me from the dragon. He gave Minnie a kiss at two different meetings. He’s such a sweet boy! He was doing great with pottying the first few days. He had no accidents until his first unfortunate incident with the tummy bug he had the rest of the trip that started late afternoon on Monday at Hollywood Studios. In the resort, he was even going to poop in the potty on his own without even telling us. He did that at least 4-5 times before the stomach bug started. That was magical. He had NEVER done it unprompted at home. He even had his nighttime pull-up on at least one or two mornings when he went to the potty. And then he got the awful bug. And the rest of the week he had the runs and that was not pretty. We had to resort to pull-ups at the park because he really couldn’t make it to the potty every time. Still, he was asking to go to the potty when he needed to go – he just didn’t have enough time every time. And then he even threw up on one day. Despite all that, he never really felt all that bad apart from some diaper rash and being tired here and there.

Something I am struggling with: I’m so glad that we had no plans this weekend. I can’t seem to get enough sleep or recover from the trip!

Something I’m doing towards my goals: We had a wonderful, amazing trip to Disney!

Something I’m looking forward to: Our anniversary is this week! We also have book club and photos with Catherine.

Something captured: I just randomly picked from the tons of photos that we have…a squinty one from Magic Kingdom.

I can’t believe that Maddie is four and a half (or was on August 20th!). Time for another letter to Maddie! (more…)

This may be my best TBGT year yet. We took vacation for Thursday and Friday and played games while the kids were in daycare, plus Kristin babysat for us at our house overnight on Friday. That worked out splendidly. Then, Gabe decided to just keep the kids at the house on Saturday evening. It was wonderful to have two late nights where I could actually sleep in the next morning. We’ll have to arrange something like that again next year.

The game wall (just a portion of the games that people brought that were available to play):

My “welcome board:”

We played many games new to us (and only a few that weren’t), and I got in a lot more play than Gabe (as usual). I present them in alphabetical order. Once again, I would be willing to play a 10 almost any time, and you couldn’t pay me to play a 1.

7 Wonders with (and without) the Cities expansion (Kerry only): I played 7 Wonders twice, once with the Cities expansion and once without any expansions (to introduce new players). I enjoyed the expansion, though some of the cards can be particularly brutal. I have no commentary on the balance of the new cards as I don’t tend to think about it that heavily. I give 7 Wonders an 8.

Botswana (Kerry only): This was my last game of TBGT. I wanted to play something light, and this one is definitely light. Unfortunately, I think that perhaps the mechanics of the game are broken or just the combination of people made it not work so well. I thought the animals were cute, but the game itself just didn’t seem to work. I give it a 2.

Castles of Burgundy (Gabe only): This one wasn’t new, of course. He played it late, so he was tired and one of his opponents was quite drunk. Still, it was enjoyable. Gabe gives Burgundy a 9.

Cranium Hoopla (Kerry only): We own this game, but we have never gotten a chance to play it. I needed to pick up the kids as Gabe was in a longer game, so I only had a few minutes to play. Hoopla was a great choice! We shortened the game initially to ensure it would fit within our time constraints, and I thought it was a lot of fun. I hope to pull it out at games nights at our house soon. I give it a 7.5 for party games.

Edo: I had wanted to play this one as it is one of the new games that has been generating some buzz. It’s one of the few games that Gabe and I played together, so it was nice to play in the same game at the same time (and we were able to play it with good friends). I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t love it either. I wouldn’t refuse to play it again, but it wouldn’t be my first choice. I give it a 5.5. Gabe gives it a 6.5.

Felinia (Gabe only): Gabe says, “Other than the bizarrish cat people theme, I found it to be an enjoyable game. I liked the mechanics. I’d have to play it again to make a final decision, but it was fun.” Gabe gives it a 7.5.

Fische Fluppen Friskadellen (Kerry only): I think that I have played the single board version of this game quite some time ago. I found myself in a 3-board/table, 15-person version of this game. The amusement factor in organizing such a large board game was great. The game itself isn’t bad, either, but I started on a very slow board. That was a bit frustrating. Much of the game is dependent on how fast the players around you play, so I’m not sure if our initial board suffered from sluggish players or a slow set up. Hard to say. Either way, I enjoyed playing and would definitely do it again. I give the game a 7.5.

King of Tokyo (Kerry only): This was a hot game last year, and it still got a little bit of play this year. We played it during an organizer meeting as we were making decisions and getting ready for the Saturday night festivities. I give it an 8 for filler games (last year, I apparently gave it a 9 for filler games).

Kingdom Builder (Kerry only): I didn’t get a chance to play this one until the last day, and I played it twice. I’d have to play it a few more times to see how well it comes together. The first time was more enjoyable due to the board and goal combinations. The second time felt much more frustrating. Considering it’s by the same guy who designed Dominion, this is not surprising. I liked it well enough that I put this one on our wishlist, but I’d have to play it more to determine whether the first or second time was a more typical experience. I give it a 7 due to that uncertainty.

McMulti (Kerry only): Paul has been trying to get me to play this one for the past couple of years, and we had a chance to play it this year. It’s apparently getting republished as Crude, and I’d be up for playing the new version next year. I lost miserably, but I still liked the game well enough. I give it a 7.5.

Milestones: I only got to play this one once, but Gabe won a copy of it in a random drawing. I’m guessing we’ll get a chance to play it some more! It felt a little tedious. It’s hard to say from a single play whether that is how I would feel each time. I would be willing to play more to find out. So far, I give it a 6.5. Gabe gives it a 7.

Municipium (Kerry only): This one didn’t seem to come together very well for me. I had fun playing due to the company, but I didn’t feel like the game was great. I would play it again, but it wouldn’t be my preference. I feel like I’m saying this a lot about games from this year. I give it a 5.5.

Nefarious (Kerry only): I only was able to play this once, but I was amused by it! I would definitely play it again, and I think I’ll even put it on our wishlist. I wonder if it would be less amusing after a few plays. I did enjoy it, and I give it a 7.5 for light games.

Peloponnes (Kerry only): I had to think for a minute to remember which one this was. We played with some expansions, and one of the expansions had a VERY frustrating last round. It had some interesting aspects, but I don’t see playing it again. I give it a 5.

Riff Raff (Kerry only): This is one that people saw from afar and wondered what it was. I knew I had to play it! The pirate ship is cleverly designed and has a counter weight in the bottom section to keep the ship swaying. It starts out a little unbalanced, too. I really like it, and I definitely want to add this one to my collection. I give it an 9 for dexterity games.

Say Anything (Kerry only): I was surprised that I liked this one. I have seen it for a while, and I would describe it as a sort of cross between Apples to Apples and Balderdash and Wits and Wagers. Or something. I don’t know. I played it very late at night, and I think that people who like Apples to Apples would enjoy it. I give it a 7.5 for party games, and I’d like to add it to my collection.

Seasons: I thought I might like this one more, but it felt too random and I had no idea what was going on in other people’s areas. It might be a better game when played with the draft phase, but I doubt that I will give it much more of a chance. I liked some aspects of the game, but it just didn’t seem to work well enough. I give it a 6. Gabe gives it a 7 (but he only played it once).

Skull & Roses (Kerry only): This was a quick filler game, and I found it to be amusing enough. I played it around the same time that I played Cranium Hoopla, getting in a few bonus games before I had to run off and get the kiddos from daycare. I’d play it again! I give it a 6.5 for filler games.

Songburst 70s/80s (Kerry only): Songburst usually comes out during TBGT at some point, and we played it on Friday night. It was not as fun as the previous year when we had massive, crazy sing-a-longs. We semi-played the game, putting everyone on the spot. I enjoy a sing-a-long, but I’m not so keen on getting put on the spot. So, I give this experience more of a 6 this year.

Taboo: We played Taboo very late on Friday, and I think everyone was tired. We had a few issues getting the game started as we located an electronic version with dead batteries and the timer in the real version was smashed to bits. We didn’t end up playing long. It was fun, but it wasn’t the best game of Taboo ever. I give that experience a 6 as well.

Ticket to Ride: Team Asia (Kerry only): I played this late on Thursday (not party game late or anything), and I was quite amused by the mechanics. The rules are very much like the regular Ticket to Ride (with the Asia map), but you have a partner. Partners act back to back and are not allowed to communicate their plans. Everyone has their own trains, and you and your partner share a set of trains in the same color. You have ticket and train cards in your hand, your partner has ticket and train cards in their hand, and you have a shared tray. You put one card into the tray when drawing new tickets or train cards. Some inflection table talk was allowed in our game which lead to some amusing “I’m putting the WHITE train card INTO THE TRAY.” The team dynamic was entertaining as people placed trains and said, “I hope this is what you wanted us to do here!” I give this version of the game an 8, and I’m putting it on my wishlist.

Time’s Up (regular and then regular combined with Title Recall twice) (Kerry only): I played Time’s Up three times during TBGT, and I greatly enjoyed it each time. I particularly enjoyed combining Title Recall with the regular set, and the “freeze round” was more entertaining than I had expected. I played with some awesome people, resulting in some highlights of the party gaming from the weekend. I give my experiences with Time’s Up from this year’s TBGT a 9 for party games.

Trajan: I only played this once, but I really enjoyed it! I don’t know if I will be adding it to my wishlist since it’s a longer game, and we don’t get as much opportunity to play those at our regular games nights. I’ll have to find out if it plays well as a 2-player game. The mancala type mechanic was interesting. Gabe and I each played once, but not in the same game. I give it an 8.5 (and it has potential for more). Gabe also gives it an 8.5.

Village: Village was another favorite for both of us of this year’s TBGT, and it is one that we’re definitely adding it to the wish list. The balance between using meeples to get points and killing them off at the right time was entertaining. I played twice, and Gabe played once. I give it an 8.5, and Gabe gives it a 9.