Thankful for grinning faces

I think happiness is contagious.

If you are around an unhappy person, over time, it will impact your emotional state.

If you are around a happy person, hopefully you will be happier too.

I think this is even more true around children.

Delia's crabby times make me feel crabby too, but her happy times just make my heart fill with love and delight.




And I am SO thankful for every grin that I see on her face.




I hope your life is filled with grinning faces too!!

Thankful for good food

I am back! Granted, I am hosting Thanksgiving this week and may not be around later on, but I'm here for now. :)

For each post this week, I will post about things that make me thankful.

Today is about one of my favorite things -- food!

As you probably know, I work full-time, so this puts a damper on dinner preparations. These days, Delia and I get home at 5:00, and she is hungry immediately.

I am SO thankful for convenience food during the work week. I don't always feel like the best mom when I make/serve it, but I am thankful when it puts a stop to Delia's whining after only 5 minutes instead of 45.

Last week we discovered Culinary Circle Parmesan Chicken Alfredo Pasta. This particular meal is in the refrigerator section near our grocery store deli, and since it is not frozen, it only takes 4-5 minutes to make! And seriously, it has the most delicious alfredo sauce! I whipped up some garlic bread and served this up last week. Even Delia liked it. Next time, I will steam some broccoli and add that. So thank you Culinary Circle. I am so thankful for this meal option!

When I DO have time to actually make a meal (and Delia is happily playing with her daddy), I really do enjoy cooking. One of my good friends introduced me to an awesome recipe, which I made last night -- Butter Chicken (Indian Chicken in Tomato Cream Sauce). I modify the recipe slightly (don't add peas, I don't remove the chicken from the sauce before adding the cream, and I use fresh ginger). I serve it up with rice and some kind of whole grain artisan bread. Mmmmmm. Dinner was SO good last night! Plus, it makes enough to last us several dinners. I am so thankful for being introduced to this recipe!

I am also thankful for new recipes! I love trying out new recipes when I get a chance. This year for Thanksgiving, I am going to try to cook my turkey upside down for the first time. I'll let you know how it goes!

I have not been kidnapped by aliens.

I have only been kidnapped by my peers and managers at work.

I am in all-day meetings from now until next Thursday.

The good news is that I am taking next Friday off of work to go see New Moon with a bunch of other Twi-geeks like me!

Oh yes, so where was I?

I am really sad that I have not been able to visit those on my blogroll lately and that I probably won't be around much anytime soon either. :(

Delia is sad about it too.




Take care, and I will visit you sometime soon!!

Random Toddler Observation

We went to Home Depot this morning to pick up a few things. As Stu was asking an employee there about something, Delia and I approach them.

Delia asks, "Who is that?"

I answer (after looking at the name written on his apron), "That's Ben."

Delia says (very loudly), "Ben has eyebrows!!"

I said, "Yes, Ben does have eyebrows." (And I'm wondering if he thinks we're insane.)

Stu and Ben finish up their exchange, and we walk away with Delia yelling "Bye, Ben!!!"

Photostory Friday: Happiness is

Happiness is not...

Wearing cat ears (for only 20 seconds)

Happiness might be...

Getting out of the costume to check out someone else's toys

Happiness is...

A horsey that bounces up and down!

Happiness definitely is...

Bouncing up and down so hard that your hair bounces too!



This Photostory Friday was brought to you by


Hosted by Cecily and Carissa

Thanks, liquor store guy!

Yesterday I was finally given some good work-related news.

My promotion (that I was told about 10 months ago) was finally awarded to me!
Along with a raise! Woo hoo!

I decided that I needed to stop off at the liquor store on the way home after picking Delia up from daycare.

(I have no idea why I thought I should pick her up first, by the way.)

Delia and I arrived at the liquor store, which thankfully is quite spacious and has wide aisles.

Delia immediately whipped off her jacket and began running up and down the aisles.

I grabbed a bottle of champage while running past the coolers.

Now you can picture my little, red-headed child giggling her way up and down the aisles, while I trailed behind her clutching her jacket, my purse, and a bottle of champagne.

Delia was having so much fun!

I just wanted to go home.

After about 5 minutes of this fun, I decided that Delia had been disruptive enough, and it was time for my big move.

"Delia," I said, "If you put on your jacket and we pay for this, you get a sucker!"

Delia yelled "No go home!" and took off running again.

I pretty much tackled her to the floor near the cash registers and attempted to put her jacket on.

I was met with a 25-pound noodle of a girl who slumped down onto the floor while screaming "No jacket! No jacket!"

I was then on the floor with Delia, trying to get some noodly, yet resistant arms into her jacket when I hear a man say, "Ahem."

Delia stopped struggling and we both turned around to look at him.

The liquor store guy.

He was holding a bucket of suckers and asked, "Does she need one of these?"

While Delia looked greedily at the bucket of candy, I quickly put her jacket on and zipped it back up.

She was happily enjoying her sucker by the time I was finally able to pay for my bottle of champagne.

Thanks, liquor store guy!

Photostory Friday: Potty Books

I purchased Delia a new potty book about a month ago.




It is A Potty For Me by Karen Katz.




Delia really likes this book (and so do I)!




It makes her laugh and go "Oh!"




Unfortunately, it does not make her go potty.




The great news is that Delia used her potty last night and this morning for the first time since July!! Maybe the book is finally paying off?




(It's probably more likely due to the fact that her new daycare puts her on a toilet four times a day. Ha!)


Anyway, that's it for this Photostory Friday. We hope you all have a great weekend!!


Hosted by Cecily and Kelli

p.s. For those of you following along with my daycare woes, Delia did quite a bit better yesterday morning, and today was our first drop-off without tears!

Writer's Workshop: I Am

I am

A wife and a mother
A sister to a brother

A friend to most of you
A close friend to just a few

A person who lives to learn
A person who is rarely stern

A worker striving to succeed
A worker who likes to lead

A believer that people are good
A believer who alone has stood

A mother whose life is awhirl
A mother to a beautiful little girl



This poem was written in response to Mama Kat's writing prompt
Write a poem describing who you are and/or who you are not.

Head on over to Mama Kat's to see what
other people are writing about this week!

Daycare woes

I know that daycare transitions are hard, but I need to vent.

I am so sad. Delia cried for an hour and a half this morning and did not eat breakfast. This was the worst day yet, and it was day 6.

It seems that my plan of waking up early to spend time together before drop-off may be back-firing.

See, the last few mornings before daycare drop-off, Delia gets noticeably upset and negatively anxious starting about 10 minutes before we leave. I think she is extremely anxious by the time I drop her off, so drop-offs are getting worse instead of better.

I am also afraid that she is not really bonding with her early morning teacher. She really, really likes the teacher that comes in at 9:00. In fact, it was that teacher's arrival this morning that finally calmed Delia down.

So, prior to the extra time in the AM, I used to wake Delia up 10-15 minutes before we had to leave. We always felt rushed, and sometimes, Delia would hardly be awake when I loaded her into the van.

Now I am getting her up 30-35 minutes before we leave.

I think tomorrow I will get her up 20 minutes before we need to leave. That way she will have enough time to wake up and get ready, but hopefully she will not have any extra time to start feeling anxious.

As for the teacher bonding, I don't know what to do about that. *sighs* My poor baby.

As an added note, I have consistently been saying good-bye and handing Delia to her teacher and then leaving, rather than hanging around and prolonging our good-byes. I talked with her teacher and we both agree that this will help in the long run.

Playgroup at the Pumpkin Patch

Over a year ago, Delia and I were invited into a playgroup with a group of very nice women who all had children close to Delia's age. They had originally met one another at a hospital class while they were pregnant. I am friends with one of those women, and she invited Delia and I to one of their outing last year.

Anywho, the group plans evening playgroups which is awesome for those of us who work. They try to plan something every 3 weeks or so. Last night one of the moms planned a playgroup at Anoka County Farms.

We started out the evening with some of the kiddos jumping in a huge castle bounce house. Delia preferred to watch, but she typically does her careful observing at the beginning of these playgroup outings.

Next we went on a hayride around the property. (Literally, it was around and around the main barn and pumpkin area, and I was cracking up a little bit.) Despite the tractor fumes, we all enjoyed ourselves, and no one fell off the wagon!

You can see Delia and I on the right (thanks to Alisa for the picture!).



After the hayride, we all went inside the barn for pumpkin painting. The kids loved this! Delia was totally in to it, and I literally had to drag her and the sticky, painted pumpkin away from the table to leave at the end of the evening. Stu claims that the pumpkin is a masterpiece and wants to save it. I wonder if the pumpkin will dry out or get mushy. Ew! lol.

Hope you and yours have a memorable pumpkin patch outing this year as well!