Lord, help me.

I have to say in all honesty that I struggle on Sunday mornings. My goal, as always, is to make it to 7:30 mass with 3 children that do not look like they just rolled out of bed (even though that is EXACTLY what they have just done). It is always a taxing experience and we usually get to church just in time to slide into the kids room.

We all have a place in the church community, I really believe that. I also believe that the Peters’ place is to be there as comic relief. The kids really use their best material while at mass.

 

Sunday, January 22^nd – (you may have seen this first on posted on facebook)

AJ (In a Whisper) – Mom, God’s superpower is love, right?

Me: Yep, that’s right

AJ: Serious?

Me: Serious

AJ: [Deep thought]

AJ: Mom, What’s God, Psychic?

Me: Psychic? What do you mean?

AJ: You know…Like his helper with super powers.

Me: You mean his SIDE KICK?

AJ: Yeah, his Psychic.

Me: Probably Jesus

AJ: Yeah, his son Jesus, That’s a good Psychic.

 

Sunday, January 29^nd –

A 12 month old baby is toddling around towards AJ’s chair. Rylen, sensing that someone is moving in on his territory, runs to his brother, gives the baby a look with his furrowed brow and yells, “MY A-GEE!” (FYI…he calls AJ A-GEE)

Later that mass…

I smell something so I lean over to AJ.

Me: Did you toot?

AJ: (said with a grin on his face) Sure smells like I did!

 

Sunday, February 5^th –

AJ: Mom, what does God look like?

Me: Nobody really knows, AJ

AJ: I think I know

Me: Really? What do you think?

AJ: I think He looks just like that Statue of Livery.

 

I rest my case.

2011

 It seems that each year flies by with even more alacrity (a PAMIDA vocabulary word) than the former one. It is so hard as a working mom to pause from the daily grind and just enjoy the little ones. Every milestone is so bittersweet. Do you ever feel that you just want to freeze time? I find that I try to will myself to remember everything they do, every cute thing they say, not wanting to forget anything. I am going to try my best to recap 2011 for each kid; hopefully this can serve as a snapshot in time each year going forward:

Gwen (age 8 to 9) –

Gwen has transformed from a little girl to a young lady this year. 4^th grade seems to be the first stepping stone to the tween years. She is so “with it.” She is determined to do well in school, keep her room tidy, and to keep her brothers in check. Volleyball is her favorite sport and her favorite colors (currently) are yellow and black (shocker). She is a VERY passionate Hawkeye football fan and can probably talk football confidently with any ESPN commentator.

I often wonder who is parenting who. She recently scolded me about my messy office at work. She pushes me to help her complete school projects weeks before they are due (in classic Abby form, I consistently drag my feet). She is so much her father’s child. Her responsibility and hard work was not unnoticed, this Christmas she was rewarded with her own cell phone.

I am so blessed to be able to giggle and laugh with her. Our inside jokes are so much fun to share: her love of tacos, the band Big Time Rush, and babies with mustaches. She thinks the word toilet is hilarious. Despite the rolling eyes and bickering, she loves her brothers so much. She has such a big heart!

She came downstairs sobbing the other day. I asked if she was hurt and she shook her head and told me that she had been watching a story on TV about a family that lost their Dad to cancer and were going to lose their house. She was inconsolable and I was so proud. We try so hard to get through to our kids that nothing is certain in life and if we do not have compassion for one another we have nothing. It was one of the best moments I have had as a parent to see that something like that had touched her.

AJ (age 4 to 5) –

AJ started pre-school this year. He is a funny kid. In his own environment he is friendly, chatty, and outgoing.  But when he is out of his element he is very reserved and unsure. It was a rough first day but thanks to a secret weapon he got through it just fine. Currently he is loving pre-school!

He is infatuated with super heroes. Batman is his current favorite although he also loves The Flash. The Flash by the way is an ironic favorite considering that he does nothing fast or speedily. He calls the heroes’ logos their hearts and says he has a Flash heart. Every night as bedtime he asks me the same thing: “Mom, can you tell me a Batman story? And the Joker steals something? And Batman fights him and gets it back?” Do you know how tough it is to find something new for the Joker to steal every night? The list of Jokers thefts includes but is not limited to: Oreos, peanut butter, basketball hoops, The Alphabet, Mrs. Mittlieder, Milk, Christmas lights, etc.

His favorite food is macaroni and cheese and his favorite cereal is Lucky Charms…he calls them Yucky Charms. He also likes dates with mom as long as he doesn’t have to kiss me. He is very patient with Rylen and plays really well with him. He thinks the Gwen is perfect. He has a tendency to call each of them a “stinky butt” from time to time, however.

AJ is such a lover and the most affectionate of all of the kids. He will just snuggle up to me or Scott if we are sitting down, he is always hugging or kissing the grandmas and aunts. I think this one is a lady’s man. At least 3 times a week we find him in our bed at about 4AM. He knows that he can crawl over the footboard and slide between us without us noticing. He also never stops talking…never.

Rylen (age 1 to just barely 2) –

Rylen takes his role as the baby VERY seriously. He takes full advantage of his powers of cuteness to get away with anything. He says next to nothing but you can tell that the wheels are always turning in the brain of his. Favorite thing to say…”No.”

He wants so badly to be big like the other two. Anything they do he is determined to do as well. Right now he follows right behind AJ in most activities but I would not be surprised if Ry is running the show in a short while. He plays extremely well on his own and loves to build tracks and play the remote control trains.

He loves M&M which he calls “Nomanums.” He is also the biggest Mamma’s boy I have ever seen. I don’t mind, though. However while we were on vacation I asked him if he wanted to go on the waterslide with mom and his answer was. “Ewww!” As if I didn’t already have poor bathing suit self esteem!

Scott and I have been so blessed. Through all of the chaos, mess, and noise these kids make our hearts full and our life so complete. Here’s to the adventures of 2011! Can’t wait to see what 2012 will bring.

Let’s Start with November

I am very guilty of blog neglect. So sorry to my faithful 4 readers…

I am going to play catch up by talking about Thanksgiving first. We had a really great Thanksgiving at our place this year. Everyone pitched in and brough some delicious stuff. I got into the spirit by personalizing our tablewear:

I think my sister called it a “Thanksgiving Divided.” We had a table for the Husker Fans, and a table for the awesome people who like the Hawkeyes.

Pie Coma

After that big meal, my mom and I got a little zany and went to Old Navy at midnight. Although my mom ended up getting a great deal on a coat, this will not be an outing that we will repeat.

Bright and early Friday morn we packed 3 sleepy kids in the car and headed to Lincoln. Thanks to our fantastic friend Shawn, we were able to rent a building for the day to watch the game and cheer for the Hawks.

Mom and the Kids at the Party – we’ll get mom on our side eventually. She looks better in Black and Gold.

After the game…tired us!

So, It was a great Thanksgiving weekend (even with a loss). Next Year is Iowa City and it will be a whole different ball game!

Iowa vs. Nebraska…Am I really a Traitor?

Well, if you are anywhere near the heart of America you know what is happening this Black Friday (It has already been termed, “Black and Gold” Friday at our home). Yes, finally after countless taunting over whose team is superior…the Hawkeyes and the Huskers will face off in Lincoln, NE.

As most of you already know, when I married Scott I also married the University of Iowa athletic program. Scott never forced me or even coerced or bribed me to convert; it was just sort of a gradual slide to the Black and Gold side. Some say that since I am a Nebraska native, I should cheer for Nebraska. Well, if I follow that theory I will just trace my heritage back further and root for Notre Dame. I’m really more of a fighting Irish gal than one who husks corn, anyway.

I must be clear on this fact, changing my affiliation was not something that I took lightly. To be honest, despite several binding ties to UNL…I never really considered myself a “Husker.” My dad is somewhat of a super fan, Alex Henery is actually a cousin of mine, I even babysat the senior fullback Tyler Legate a time or two in my younger days. I would say the peak of my Husker support came in college when my friend Mindy and I Ironed big red letters spelling out HUSKERS on the front of tight white tees for our waitressing gig. It was more a ploy for tips than a show of support, however.

The real switch came a few years ago. My daughter bleeds Black and Gold. She proudly wears her Hawkeye hair bows and tees to school…win or lose. She is very passionate about it. So, imagine her dismay when at the age of 8…EIGHT she was the recipient of an obscene gesture from a man in a restaurant wearing a Nebraska jersey. What was the cause of his disdain, you may ask? Gwen was wearing an Iowa T-shirt. A little girl wearing an opposing teams t-shirt enraged this man to the point of flipping her off in a public eating establishment!

Now, I am all for team spirit but at that moment I dropped any kind of interest in the Nebraska Cornhuskers. I am not naïve enough to think that there are not bad fans for every team…but he ruined it for me. I am not saying that I wish for the Huskers to lose…but I don’t really cheer them on either. Considering our logistics, we are destined to get ribbed by co-workers, friends, and neighbors. And I can take it and dish it out in good humor. However, I am careful what I say. I always remember the guy at the restaurant and I remind myself how ugly poor sportsmanship can be. I can be a fan without putting other teams down. Hopefully there are people that share my feelings and welcome the Iowa fans into Lincoln on Friday the 25^th for a good day of conference football. I love the Big 10! Let’s do our conference proud.

So, win or lose this year I will still don my family in black and gold next season and trek the 4 hours to stand outside and BBQ hot dogs with our friends. When it comes down to it, it is all about the environment. Go Hawks!

Update: I forgot to mention how powerfully I dislike Tommy Frazier. I have reasons…oh…I have reasons.

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween from the Peters!

This Post is Brought to you Today by the Letter P

Pinterest has possessed me to prepare some pretty projects for you to peruse.

P is for Peters:

I saw this leaf monogram on pinterest and thought that it was easy enough for even me to complete!

You can get the full tutorial here.

P is for Pretzels!

I made these little pretzel bites using only Rhodes frozen dough. They are perfect for a football snacky afternoon.

The recipe suggests a parmesan or cinnamon sugar glaze but I just sprinkled some sea salt after brushing the butter on, get the recipe here.

Finally…P is for Pierced…as in ears…as in Gwen’s ears.

In prime Gwen fashion she somberly walked into the mall and nodded to me, “It’s time, mom.” It went very well, no tears, and she looks like a little lady.

Gwen’s also been working on her own projects, her assignment for school was to “disguise” her turkey for Thanksgiving. She disguised hers as an Ipod. Check out her turkey’s playlist below:

What’s new with the Peters?

To be honest there is really nothing new with us. But with three kids and jobs and home and activities…each day is an adventure.

So, I suck at blogging. I was doing so well until School started up again! Grr! I’ll try harder.

Rylen is starting to say a bit more. Watch out for this guy…he has a real mischievious spirit:

AJ is doing great in Soccer and really enjoys it. He’s the kind of guy who plays by his own rules so…I’ll just show you the video:

Gwenny is doing great as always. We have 1 volleyball game left in the fall season and she is pulling straight A’s so far this year. She has worked really hard and we are SO proud of her. She is still learning electric guitar, maybe she’ll let me video tape a concert?

As for Scott and I? We are just enjoying the journey.

ABC Baby Show

The best part of my job?

C’mon, it’s looking at all the cute little baby things everyday! My theory is that anything is cute if it is tiny. This weekend was the ABC Kids Expo in Louisville, KY, as in the Derby and the Sluggers (and according to Expo rumors it was also home to Pauly D on Friday night, can you believe I missed him?). My boss Michaele and I packed up Friday and headed out on this year’s adventure.

There were a lot of great things to see, here is a brief rundown of my favorite stuff:

Nuk’s Line of Annabel Karmel Food Prep was pretty impressive. New this year is a steamer/food processor. (I could not find where this is available yet, but it should be coming soon). Annabel Karmel has really been on the forefront of the natural baby food trend and this line looks very nice. How many moms out there would like to make their own baby food? If you have an opinion I would love to hear it.

The most innovative thing I saw at the show was the grow up cup from Sassy:

It is a spill proof cup that your baby can drink from at any angle, there is no spout. it is a pretty nice transition to a regular cup, in my opinion. If you like them on Facebook you can receive a BOGO coupon for these at BRU. See link here.

Pacifiers really suck! (LOL at myself) This year many of other brands are coming out with their own version of the “Soothie” The one piece all silicone pacifier. My personal fav is the gumdrop line from TOMY (First Years).

These have sold well for us and are given to Moms in several hospitals. Plus I think they are a bit more aesthetically pleasing compared to a Soothie.

One thing that  won my personal award for “Greatest Grandparent Item” was a 3 stage high chair from Evenflo (also could not find this on the market yet). It converts from a regular high chair, to one that is lower to the ground, then it converts again to a toddler table and chair. Great for Grandma’s house says this baby retailer!

Finally, have you seen these:

They are handy dandy (pardon my pun) little magnets that you smack onto the side of your car. They are available in several patterns and keeps your kids safe in dangerous parking lots. Kids know that they need to put their hand on the magnet and wait there safely until mom can buckle them in. Great for moms with kids of multiple ages. So Simple and Clever, two of my favorite things!

My other favs included pretty much all of the bedding from Kidsline (Carters), including a crib set that was full of adorable rockets and monkeys in space helmets. I was also digging a lot of the gear at Dorel (Cosco and Safety First). there was a new tandem stroller as well as a new car seat that had built in fans on the side to keep the kiddies nice and cool.

Watermelon…and Waterlogged

This last weekend was the very first Iowa homegame of the season. As is our tradition, we made it a family affair. There is only one word to describe the entire experience…soggy. It rained, and rained, and rained, and (you get the picture). I will spare you details of the mud, wet food, and cold children.  Despite our circumstances, we had a great time.

We tried to get a family picture but what with the torrential downpours…we didn’t fit it in.

I can’t help but show my watermelon keg…

I first saw this idea on Bower Power and with a few minor adjustments I had the ultimate football beverage!

I started by finding a watermelon that would easily sit the tall way. then I cut the top off and scooped out the watermelon as I would a pumpkin for a jack-o-lantern:

Then I pureed the watermelon in my blender and strained it to make sure there was no pulp or seeds. I then took a can of frozen pink lemonade, instead of 4 cans of water I prepared it with 3 can fulls of watermelon puree and 1 can full of pink lemonade vodka (UV). I stored it in am empty 2 liter soda bottle for transportation.

This next part is what I like to call, “watermelon acupuncture.” I propped him up on an icecream bucket, printed of a tigerhawk logo that was the desired size, and started poking him. I left two skewers in to keep the paper in place and with the pointy end of another skewer and dotted the design’s outline.

 

(Yes, it was late at night…yes, I was watching Jersey Shore)

My final step was to take a scraping tool from a pumpkin carving set and scrape the top layer of the watermelon away to reveal my design.

And as fast as Pauly D could say T-shirt time…I had a pretty hawkeye watermelon!

I waited until we were actually at the game to insert the spigot. I got one at Home Depot and bought an additional piece that screwed inside the melon to keep it in place. using a screwdriver I made a hole and little by little carved around it until the spigot was through and I could fasten the back piece on. I then filled it with the delicious pink melonade (I just thought of that!) and a good time was had by all…for 1 hour…until the rain started…then we were cold.

Preschool

Today was AJ’s first day of preschool.

He was so nervous! It had me a bit worried. I never had to deal with Gwen being nervous. She was just so easy going that she would just jump into whatever was her next thing. AJ is more reserved (more Abby-like). It takes him time to warm up to things.

He was super excited until it was time to get out of the van…

After a few minutes I realized that my calm reassurance was not going to cut the mustard. I didn’t want to force things, afraid that that would have the opposite affect. As a last act of desperation I remembered that I had a Saint Gerard medal on me (patron Saint of Motherhood…boy did he earn his title today!) I told AJ that I was really shy as a little girl and that if he got out of the car, I would show him my secret weapon.

I showed him the medal and explained that I keep it with me and it gives me super Mommy powers. I told him that he could keep it in his pocket and whenever he felt scared, he can feel the medal in his pocket and remember that he is brave. Believe it or not…that seemed to work.

Miracle of Miracles he met me at the door 3 hours later with a big smile. “I had a great time, Mom!!!” He said. phew! Crisis Averted. Here is the photo-journalist version of the story:

Before:

During:

After:

 

Additional Comments:

I forgot to mention that I took the young man to McDonald’s (as requested) for a happy meal and he proceeded to pull out my chair for me. Not only brave, but a gentleman as well.

In other news …I let Rylen know that he must be my baby forever. He responded by hugging me, then pushing his way out of my arms to follow his brother. I think that was his kind way of saying, “Fat Chance.” I don’t know how much more of the “aging” I can take. As is tradition at our house the kids get ot pick thier First Day of School meal each year. AJ chose Mac N Cheese (a complicated dish, I know). Ry finished his, pushed his bowl away, pulled AJ’s bowl over and finished that as well.