Countdown to the Superbowl!

Tomorrow is the Superbowl - Steelers vs. Cardinals. And if you know me at all, you know who I'm rooting for!

We have our Steelers clothes all laid out and ready to go for tomorrow. I think we're going to wear them to church. :) We're having two of our neighbor families over for the game. I can't wait! I didn't want to just sit at home and watch TV like Chris and I usually do. The Superbowl is a special occasion! I made two big pots of chili today. Tomorrow I'm going to make two giant sandwiches (one loaf of Italian bread each) and taco dip. Our neighbors are bringing chicken wings, dip, and desserts. Yum! Hopefully I can enjoy the social aspect of the game and not spend the whole time yelling at the TV!

Here are a couple of great links to Steelers fan songs. Make sure to check them out!
Here We Go Steelers Song
Pop Rocks (11-13 yr olds) singing "Heartbreaker" Steelers-style

I have to finish eating the bread pudding that I made the other day so that there's room in the fridge for all of the Superbowl food. It was an experiment - I didn't even know if I liked bread pudding, but I had 2/3 of a loaf of day-old, pretty stale Italian bread that I didn't want to waste. Check out how pretty it turned out (and it tasted good, too!):


The kids had dance class this morning and Francesca looked so cute that I had to pull out the camera. Aren't these sweet pictures?

No School Again Today

Today is yet another snow day where school was canceled. So far we've gotten about an inch and a half of snow and it's doing this little rainy/icy thing now but nothing too bad. It's 1:13 pm. So really, couldn't they have went to school? It was no surprise that hundreds of schools canceled last night BEFORE any snow even started. They cancel at the prediction of snow here, which is just odd to me. I remember that happening last year and the storm ended up missing us entirely. Oops! Don't get me wrong, I want my kids to be safe and don't want the bus sliding off the road, but I also don't want them unnecessarily going to school until the Fourth of July.

Regardless, we were all home today. Chris and several of his co-workers decided to work from home today to do all of their peer reviews for their yearly "focal" evaluations. The threat of snow and school closings was a good excuse for them to take a break from "real" work and get those done.

The kids and I spent the morning playing "Hi Ho Cherry-O" and "Sequence for Kids." Counting and strategy - that's educational! We also did some watercolor paintings of castles using my favorite craft book - 365 Things to Make and Do. Then we watched "Kung Fu Panda," had lunch, and now Francesca is napping. Dominic just came downstairs from a half hour of quiet reading time. He read "Robert and the Sneaker Snobs" and is going to tell me about it now, so toodle-loo!

Tagged

Okay, Kym tagged me to put this survey and answers in my blog, so here it is:

Here are the 8s:

Rules:1) Post Rules on your blog
2) Answer the six "8" items
3) Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving them a comment

8 favorite shows
American Idol
House
Bones
24
Grey's Anatomy
Survivor
Desperate Housewives
So You Think You Can Dance

8 things I did yesterday
Worked out with "My Fitness Coach" on the Wii
Did Laundry
Made Dinner
Took Dominic to the bus in the AM & picked him up in the PM
Went to WalMart
Had lunch with Francesca
Watched TV with Chris after the kids were in bed
Went to the post office

8 things I look forward to
Going to Rome in April
Seeing my Mom for a few days when she comes to stay with the kids when we're in Rome
Chris getting home from work
The weekend
Watching my children grow up
The Brioche I have in the oven right now
Going to Disney in 2010
Warm weather!

8 things I wish for
Dominic and Francesca to outgrow their food allergies
Dominic and Francesca to outgrow their food allergies
Dominic and Francesca to outgrow their food allergies
Dominic and Francesca to outgrow their food allergies
Dominic and Francesca to outgrow their food allergies
Dominic and Francesca to outgrow their food allergies
Dominic and Francesca to outgrow their food allergies
Dominic and Francesca to outgrow their food allergies

8 Restaurants
The Longhorn
TGI Fridays
Qdoba
Sonoma
Papa Gino's
Primanti Brothers!!!
The Cheesecake Factory (for dessert)
Outback

I'm not tagging anyone. Uh-oh, I'm breaking the rules! The tag police are going to get me! :)

Kids In Bed

The kids are in bed, la la-la la! I love this time of night where the kids are in bed (by 7:56) so we can relax on the couch and watch TV for a couple of hours. Reeeelax. What a good word. And I could use it. I worked out again today using "My Fitness Coach" on the Wii and that trainer (her name is Maya) once again kicked my butt. To add insult to injury, after I was done sweating to the Wii for half an hour, I decided to do this 12-Minute Miracle exercise routine from these new "Thin Thighs" cards I bought off the clearance table at Barnes and Noble. HOLY MOLY MY THIGHS HURT!!! And I think my hamstrings have sprung.

Hold on, I think I hear screaming from Francesca's room. Hard to tell with the dishwasher and dryer both going plus Chris running water. Oh yeah, that's her. "Honey, go check on Francesca!" There, my job is done.

Anyway, I am so looking forward to curling up with some tea and watching House and 24 tonight. Oh, that Jack Bauer... I think he totally rocks. (I think that may also have more than a little to do with the fact that he also played David in "The Lost Boys.")

Tomorrow I have to pull out Francesca's immunization records, her birth certificate, and a copy of one of our home-related bills to prove our town residency so I can register Francesca for kindergarten on Wednesday morning. Kindergarten! I can't believe it! She still seems so young - and even though she's super smart and right where she should be for her age, Dominic was reading at 4 1/2. I guess that makes me feel like she's younger for her age. Will she be ready? Will she do well? I'm sure she will, but it's so nerve-wracking! Here I am, already anxious about sending her off on the big bus and it's still 7 months away! My baby... doing on the bus.... to the big school... Oh y eah, there will be tears that day for sure.

But for now, she's lucky not to be beat every day. :)

Rotten Egg

Dominic is in tears. Why, you ask? Because he was the "rotten egg" coming down the stairs. This is the kid that anytime he's going anywhere - up the stairs, down the stairs, out the door, even getting dressed... - he'll sing-song "last one down's a rotten egg!" (Of course he waits until he's in first place and guaranteed not to be the rotten egg before he does it.) He just took a shower and on the way down the stairs with Chris, Francesca said the last one down was... well, you know. Chris got down first, so Dominic is crying because he's the rotten egg. Apparently he can dish it out, but can't take it. Good. Now we can ban the whole rotten egg thing - it was driving me crazy anyway!

Getting Fit

Over the holidays when I got together with my friends Darlene and Crista, Crista's friend (Christine, I think?) mentioned that a trainer had called her "skinny fat." That's how I've considered myself since then - skinny but out of shape. No muscle and no cardio ability. Last year I joined "Curves" and went regularly (3 days per week) for a couple of months and was so proud, but then wasn't feeling well for a while and took a break. Since August I've only went a few times. It's the same problem I've always had - I like to work out once I've started, it's just getting there or getting started that gives me trouble. I'm lazy that way, I admit it. It's easier to stay home. But when I do go, I enjoy it and feel good about it. (You'd think that would be motivation to go, but my laziness is stubborn.) However, I am determined to exercise more - whether it's at home or at Curves. Maybe if I don't put pressure on myself to leave the house to exercise, I'll do it. It's a theory. :)

Part of trying to stack the odds in my favor is having options at home. We've had a Wii Fit for a while and I like it, but because of all the clicking between exercises, I feel like I get about 30 minutes of exercise for an hour or time, and it ends up being not cardio intense at all. I will use it for yoga, balance, and some strength training, but want to mix it up a bit. I pulled out my old Tae Bo tapes and also my Buns of Steel tape. (Yes, tapes! VHS rules! LOL!) And I got a new Wii "game." I put game in quotes because it is so not a game - it is a serious workout. It's called "My Fitness Coach" and it kicked my butt the first time I did it today! I'm hoping to do it 3 times a week for 30-45 minutes each time. Wish me luck!

There, that's my resolution to go from skinny fat to skinny fit. That one vowel change makes a world of difference! Now that I've written it for all of you to read, maybe that will motivate - or guilt - me into following through. So ask me how it's going - hopefully I'll be able to answer without guilt!

Back to School!

Today both kids are in school. Finally. I feel as though they haven't been in a regular school routine since Christmas vacation. We've had a few snow days and two hour delays, plus they had off for MLK day and yesterday as a "professional development" day (most likely scheduled for yesterday due to the inauguration of our new President). Francesca ended up with 5 days in a row off, while Dominic had 4 in a row. I have to admit, we were all ready for them to go to school this morning!

With the cold and snow (and spotty school schedule), we've been playing quite a bit of the Wii. I usually don't let them in front of a screen (TV or computer) for more than 30-60 minutes per day, but I let that limit slide quite a bit due to the interactive nature of the Wii. (Okay, and because we were stuck inside, bored, and driving each other crazy!) The kids pooled their Target gift cards that they got for Christmas and bought a new game called "Outdoor Adventure." It comes with a mat and can be played by either 1 or 2 players (unfortunately there's no 4 player option). It's fun and keep them moving - pumping their arms while doing a mine cart ride, running and jumping over hurdles, and paddling a kayak. My arms were exhausted yesterday after doing the mine cart - I thought they were going to fall off and I actually think they are a little sore today! I do know that we all needed drinks of water after playing, so that's a good sign that we were active. :)

I'm just hoping that once the weather warms up a bit, I can drag them away from the Wii and get them outside!

More Snow

We woke up this morning to snow! We weren't really expecting any, but then again we haven't paid attention much to the weather the past couple of days. We ended up getting about six inches overnight and through lunch time today. When Chris took Dominic to Sunday school at 8:45, the roads were pretty treacherous and hadn't been plowed. He said he was fishtailing in the truck even in four wheel drive. When we went to church for 10:00, there were still no signs of plows. I guess that's what happens when it snows on a Sunday!

Between the snow and the frigid temperatures (-0.3 degrees, are you kidding me?), we have been stuck in the house all weekend. By this afternoon, the kids were nuts. My patience, which isn't that great on a good day, was sorely tested and I have to admit that I failed. Yes, there was some yelling in our house. I just couldn't take the craziness, the climbing on the couch, kicking, whining, and a multitude of other pent-up behaviors. After about 20 minutes in their own rooms, they calmed down a bunch, so we made chocolate cupcakes using one of the allergen-free box mixes that Aunt Lorraine got them for Christmas.

While they cooled, Chris and I made dinner and the kids set the table for dinner. We had pasta puttanesca and homemade bread - yummy!

Now it's time to watch the Steelers play in the AFC championship game. If they win this one, they go to the Superbowl! I have my fingers crossed! Go Steelers!

(The kids have the next two days off school for MLK day and the inauguration - aka teacher development day. I am going to have to plan some activities so we don't all drive each other crazy!)

Updates

Just posting a few miscellaneous updates....

Francesca is still doing nebulizer treatments for her cough/breathing. We were doing them 4 times per day since we saw the doctor last week. We went again yesterday and she said to drop to 3 times per day for a couple of days, then 2 times per day for a couple, then if Francesca isn't coughing or wheezing we can stop them altogether. However, if we can't get her off the treatments or if her cough gets worse, then we'll have to start her on a daily asthma preventative like Dominic takes. (He takes two different ones, actually.) So cross your fingers!

While we were at her doctor's appointment, her doc asked if she'd had a fever since we were there last Thursday (and it was 103.2). I said no, she hasn't been warm since then. We came home, she took a nap, and wouldn't you know it, woke up with a fever and was miserable the rest of the evening. *sigh* Luckily some Motrin helped and she's been fine so far today. *knock wood*

We just got back from gymnastics class and dinner is started. We're having Asian Orange Salmon - yum! We aren't huge fish eaters, but there are a few things that we like and this is one of my favorites. Soy sauce, orange juice, garlic and brown sugar make a yummy marinade/glaze for salmon. Francesca probably won't eat it, but she doesn't eat anything for dinner these days. Overnight she turned into a picky eater who doesn't like whatever is on the table, whether she's eaten in the past or even had it at all before. It's infuriating to have mealtime be a struggle with her. We tell her fine, don't eat it, but she sits and whines and grunts and pouts and demands something else, so she really does ruin dinner for us a lot of the time. It used to be such a nice family time, which makes it all the more frustrating that it's become so unpleasant (unless we're having sloppy joes, mac & cheese, or spaghetti).

Wish us luck for a halfway pleasant dinner tonight! (I'm not getting my hopes up.)

Fun in the Snow

Yesterday we woke up to snow. Nothing major, just about three inches had fallen overnight. Since it wasn't bitterly cold (it was in the 20's rather than single digits), we decided to all go out in the snow. Chris snowblowed and I did a little shoveling, then we did a little sledding and made some snow angels. Chris got two snowball makers at his company's Yankee Gift Swap before Christmas, so Dominic had a great time making snowballs and tossing them at Chris - and me!

Here's my little snow angel! It was a riot, she'd walk around seemingly aimlessly until she found a pristine spot of snow, then just fall over backwards like she had passed out. The first time, she scared me - until I saw her arms and legs going to make the angel. Cute!

I always have the task of creating the sledding path by throwing myself and the sled down our tiny hill over and over and over, each time going maybe 12 inches farther than the last time. By the time it's ready and the sled will actually slide all the way down to the back yard, I'm exhausted! Luckily the kids were willing to give me a push so I could enjoy the ride.

Until next time....

Lazy Sunday

It's a lazy Sunday morning here at the Beyer household. Yesterday we took all of the Christmas decorations and the tree down, so things look pretty bare in comparison. Then we played Mario Kart online with Uncle Mike and Courtney for a while. This morning we woke up to about 3 inches of snow on the ground - nothing major, but Sunday school was canceled for Dominic. That gave us an excuse to *gasp!* skip church today. I feel a little guilty about it (isn't guilt a cornerstone of religion anyway?) but not guilty enough to go. Plus it starts in 3 minutes and we're still in our pajamas.

So today we'll do some house clean up (hopefully), play, cook, and basically waste the day away with no particular plans. I love days like this! :)

Just a Bronchial Thing

Francesca doesn't have pneumonia, thank goodness. Just a "bronchial thing" mostly on her left side causing wheezing on that side. She has to do albuterol via a nebulizer every 4-6 hours during the day until Tuesday when we go back to the doctor. She also had a fever of 103.2 degrees - yikes - so she got Motrin at the doctor's office and she'll get another dose before bed.

This is only the second time she's ever needed the nebulizer; the other was 14-15 months ago. So the wheezing isn't quite bad or frequent enough for an asthma diagnosis requiring a daily preventative medication. I'm crossing my fingers that it stays that way. Poor Dominic takes two daily preventatives, so I was hoping we'd dodge that bullet with Francesca. It's looking less likely that she'll be spared the asthma diagnosis, but there's still hope - I hope.

I also hope that the albuterol doesn't affect here like it did Dominic. It made him hyper and extremely emotional. Francesca is emotional and flies into fits enough as it is, we certainly don't need medication making it worse!

Time for the kids' bedtime routine, then we have two blissful hours with no kids before Chris and I go to bed. I wonder if there's anything good on TV?

Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie-Woogie Flu

Poor Francesca. She's had a cough forever now - over a month, at least. The past couple of days, it's sounded more phlegmy, she's had a little fever, and it sounded like she was wheezing. Chris has been giving her the albuterol inhaler for the wheezing, but I figured it was time to go to the doctor. I called today just after she went down for her nap and they definitely want to see her today. In fact, the receptionist said she can't schedule me for tomorrow because of the wheezing. The problem is that they wanted to see us at 2:30, but I have to be at Dominic's bus stop by 3:15 and it's a 20 minute drive from the doctor's office. Plus it takes a good 8-10 minutes to get out of their office, down six floors, through the hospital, to the parking garage, and then to the car, so we'd have to leave the office by 2:45 and you know that wouldn't happen.

I was transferred to a nurse, explained the situation to her, and she said with the symptoms lasting so long and now getting worse plus adding in fever and wheezing, that she may have walking pneumonia. Just what I wanted to hear. I explained that I definitely want to bring her in - that's why I called - but I really didn't have a choice about getting my son off the bus. Sometimes it's harder than usual to not have family close by. I wish I could call my mom and say "hey, can you grab Dominic at the bus stop for me?" Add another drop to the homesick bucket.

Luckily the nurse said they'd squeeze Francesca in at 2:00. (They go to lunch from 1-2:00, so that's the earliest we could get there when they'd be open since I called at about 12:40.) So in a few minutes I'll be waking her up from her nap, which is never pleasant, and headed there - fingers crossed that they'll actually be able to see us right away. She may need chest x-rays, so I emailed our neighbor to see if she could grab Dominic at the bus if I don't make it there on time. I haven't heard back from her yet - she's at work so I can't call - but I'm crossing my fingers that she'll be able to be my back-up.

I'll post later with the diagnosis. Cross your fingers that it isn't too bad...

Millbury Public - CLOSED

School is closed today. We woke up to slushy roads that weren't too bad, but according to the news, we were in a "hole" in the storm with lots still to come. That was about an hour ago and now it's "raining" little ice balls. Chris is considering working from home, and I hope he decides to. It makes me nervous having him drive when the weather and roads are bad.

In the meantime, we have the news on the TV. They just showed a few shots from Israel. Dominic was watching and said "That's Canada, right?" Canada??? Not sure where that came from, but it made me smile. Good thing he got that interactive globe from Santa - we went and found Israel on it.

Uh-oh, trouble in the kitchen. Apparently Francesca just wiped a booger on Chris's shirt, which he isn't happy about. Rather than go get a tissue like he told her, Francesca is now carrying on and working up to hysterics. Good morning everyone!

My BFFs

I totally forgot to post this photo earlier. It was taken while we were visiting my parents' house over the holidays. These are my two best friends in the world - Crista on the left and Darlene in the middle.

We've been friends since 3rd grade, which just proves that the best friends someone can have are ones they've had from childhood. (Why is it so much harder to make a really good friend as an adult???)

The picture was taken at Crista's apartment. For years I used to invite a bunch of girl friends to my parents' house over Christmas for lots of wine and carrying on. As the years have passed with me here in MA, I've gradually fallen out of touch with a couple of those people. Factor in a husband and kids, and having "the girls" over was difficult. Hello?? We need privacy to talk about women stuff! Thank goodness Crista offered up her bachelorette pad about three years ago for the three of us to get together. I LOVE our post-Christmas girls night with taco dip (made without chili sauce, of course), stuffed mushrooms (blackened), drinks (Cosmos that could remove paint), and wonderful conversation (yoohoo, entertaining, and bleaching of an unmentionable). I just wish I was there so we could do it more often. I'm thinking twice a week would be good....

"Wintry" Mix

It's Tuesday night and the weather forecast online is calling for a "wintry" mix tonight & tomorrow. First of all, should it be "wintery" and not "wintry?" Regardless, that's what we're supposed to get, and the news is already showing school closings. It's not snowing yet, but the anticipation of snow and rain is enough to get those school scrambling to cancel.

We'll see what happens with our schools in the morning. I really want the kids to have school. Don't get me wrong, I don't want them to go if the roads are unsafe, but I really do enjoy that couple of hours of time alone when Francesca is in preschool. It isn't much time, but if I hustle I can accomplish quite a bit. Today I dropped her off, went to WalMart to get a bunch of groceries, stopped at Goretti's Supermarket on the way home to take advantage of their Tuesday chicken special (boneless breasts for $1.98/lb!), put it all away, swept out the garage, did a load of laundry, mixed up a batch of bread dough (from the book "Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day" - love it!) and then went to pick her up. While she napped, I put away a few more presents, organized our boxes & gift wrap, did more laundry including washing the kitchen throw rugs, ran the central vac all downstairs, and mopped the never-ending expanse of tile. As the afternoon went on, I also washed dishes, baked bread for dinner, played Dance Dance Revolution (DDR) on the Wii, and made White Bean Chicken Chili for dinner. *whew!*

If they do have school tomorrow and there's no delay, I may actually go to Curves. My membership is ticking away and I haven't went regularly since August. Yikes. I can't even remember when my year started, but there can't be much left so I'd better take advantage of it while I can. The good news is that our health insurance paid for more than half of the membership (nice perk) so I don't feel quite as guilty as I would if I had paid for all of it.

I'm off to bed with Chris in a few minutes. The sooner we go to sleep, the sooner we'll wake up and see if the "wintry" mix lives up to the hype.

Christmas is over and we're home at last!

We're home, we're home, we're home! La la la-la la la! Oh, I can't tell you how happy I was to get home, to sleep in my own bed, to take a nice long shower in my own bathroom.... Don't get me wrong, I love to travel and see our families, but living out of a suitcase in someone else's house with all different stuff can get old very quickly.

We did have a great time at GG's house while we were there. On Wednesday, Mike, Kym, Courtney, Caden and Colin came from Buffalo for dinner and to visit with us. Here's a great shot of all 5 kids together. We wanted a nicer background, but when you can get all five sitting together and looking somewhat at the camera, you take your shot! I also got a nice picture of Gail and her two grown-up babies.

Francesca got to pal around and carry on with her Uncle (and Godfather). And Dominic was enjoying having some boy cousins to hang out with. Both kids love their cousins - it's too bad we can't see more of them!

Little Miss Cranky Pants (not to be confused with Little Miss Sunshine), had a few moments of crankitude. But so did Courtney, which makes me tremble in fear thinking about how Francesca is going to be when hormones come into play!

Mikey (aka Little Mikey) and Kasey even came to visit Wednesday night. Mikey is Chris's cousin, and he and Kasey are some of the nicest people I've ever met. They are so sweet, funny, and adorable. The kids love them, too. In fact, they LOVE Mikey, they have from the first time they met him. Even Francesca, who can be a little shy and clingy around people she doesn't know, hangs all over him. (Although I don't think she knew what to do about the beard this time! :)

We drove back to MA from Chris's mom's house on Thursday. The original plan was to come home on Friday, but it snowed there on Wednesday, was forecasted to be clear on Thursday, and then the weather report said snow for Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Not wanting to drive 8 hours in the snow, we moved our departure up a day and got home Thursday around 4:30 PM. (Just in time for me to cook dinner.)

If you remember from earlier posts, Santa had not yet visited the Beyer family here in MA. Since we were gone, we let him know that he could skip us on Christmas Eve and drop off the presents after we got home. So late Thursday night, while we were all asleep, Santa came!

The kids got tons of great stuff from Santa. The first thing was new suitcases for each of them! They have little kid suitcases, but as they have grown, so have their clothes! Summer travel isn't too bad - shorts and bathing suits don't take up much room. But our Christmas travel requires sweaters and pants and boots - oh my! We had to scrounge for size-appropriate luggage for their clothes for this Christmas vacation. Santa must have seen that and made sure they each have their own color-coded bags for next time!

Dominic got some new cars from "Cars," some DVDs (Schoolhouse Rock and Gremlins, along with Wall-E to share with Francesca), clothes, puzzles, and a super cool interactive globe that tells you countries, states & territories, population, climate, distance between two points on it, etc. I'm horrible at geography, so it could help me, too! We opened presents from GG and Uncle Mike, Aunt Kym and their kids as well. Dominic got video games from them for the Wii - Mario Party 8 and Smarty Pants.

Francesca started out a bit grumpy (big surprise there), but got into the swing of things as she started opening her gifts. She got lots of Fancy Nancy stuff - the "Bonjour Butterfly" book, clothes for her Fancy Nancy doll (GG got her the doll for Christmas), FN clothes for her to dress up in (purse, sunglasses, skirt, shoes, feather boa), the Sleeping Beauty DVD, and some pretty earrings. She also got Carnival Games for the Wii from Mike, Kym, Courtney, Caden and Colin.

The kids also gave us our gifts, which was so sweet. They had bought them in secret at our church's holiday fair. There was a separate shopping room for kids - no parents allowed! Each item cost $1, so they each went in with $2 and came out with presents for us.

Dominic got Chris a classic cars calendar, and Francesca got him a notepad with a patriotic theme - she loves everything that have American flags on them. Francesca got me a pretty ceramic flower pot with pink and purple flowers. It matches her room very nicely, which I find pretty darn convenient. :) Dominic got me a super cute necklace that looks like a strand of tiny Christmas lights. I wore it all day yesterday - it went perfect with my red sweater.

Out Came Tooth #2!

Well, Dominic's 2nd bottom front baby tooth fell out while we were at GG's house earlier this week. We were all sitting at the computer and he said "woah!" and spit it into his hand. So the Tooth Fairy got to visit GG's house in Olean!

I'm glad that both of those baby teeth fell out. Now we don't have to worry that they would have to be pulled. It's too funny, though. Even though he lost his two bottom front teeth within a week of each other, there's no big gap or hole since his permanent teeth were coming in behind them. When he tells people he just lost his teeth, they peek at his mouth and then give this quizzical "huh?" look.

We were singing "All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth" but I guess it really didn't apply since he already had them! :)