Being Halloween and all, I thought that I would post pictures of my kiddies playing dress up.
We got a fantastic princess treasure dress-up box from our neighbour and all the kids love to dress up.
I won't tell the boys that it's princess dresses ... I just tell them they are princes or sultans.
And yes, they are wearing skirts as head dresses.
Here is my ballerina on her first day of dance class and my bruiser ~ the kid seems to always have some sort of lump or bump or black eye on his face. That's what happens when a one year old CLIMBS every single thing you can (and cannot) imagine. I do supervise but he still gets into everything!!
1. It was a dark and stormy night, but thankfully it happened AFTER the trick or treaters were safely home and in bed.
2. My husband was in the hospital having surgery, so I offered to take the books myself.
3. Rushing out, I realized I forgot the extra pair of pants after a pee pee accident from the toddler.
4. What was that?? ...I think I heard a howl!
5. Shhhh... if we stay quiet maybe the kids will go back to sleep.
6. Trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat!
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to pizza night, tomorrow my plans include swim lessons and trick or treating with the kiddies and Sunday, I want to chill out!
To get you into the Halloween spirit, check out these fun stories. Thanks to Picture Book of the Day you can get daily updates on cool books to check out with some activities to do with the kids after reading them.
Thanks to List Plan It for a list of ways to prepare your car for winter.
Get your car ready now while the weather is still decent so you are not caught stranded and unprepared.
Find your scraper and put it in a convenient location.
Locate your windshield wiper fluid or stock up at the store. Works great to remove a layer of frost in the mornings. If you live in a place that ices their roads, then you will need a heavy supply to clean off the gunk that coats your windows in the winter time.
Put together an emergency winter weather kit to store in your car. Get a crate or a medium plastic box and fill it with the following: blanket, extra gloves, small snow shovel, flashlight, and a box of crackers or snacks.
Replace your windshield wipers. They will be put to the test throughout the winter and you need them to work as well as possible.
Check the tread on your tires. Replace tires that are becoming too worn for safely driving in winter conditions. If you live in a place that gets a lot of snow, you may want to consider snow tires.
Don’t let your car get too low on gas. Try to get in the habit of filling up once you reach a quarter of a tank.
Check your anti-freeze. Top off your radiator with a mixture of half coolant and half water.
Flu season has arrived and so has the issue of vaccination and the new string of H1N1. Reports of deaths related to the H1N1 virus on the news have already started. Is this media hysteria or legitimate cause for concern? Should I vaccinate my young family or let my body work it out should we come across this virus? How else to protect myself?
I received this email that seems to explain H1N1 and how to prevent contamination should we be exposed to the virus.
The only portals of entry are the nostrils and mouth/throat. In a global epidemic of this nature, it's almost impossible not coming into contact with H1N1 in spite of all precautions. Contact with H1N1 is not so much of a problem as proliferation is.While you are still healthy and not showing any symptoms of H1N1 infection, in order to prevent proliferation, aggravation of symptoms development of secondary infections, some very simple steps, not fully highlighted in official communications, can be practiced (instead of focusing on how to stock N95 or Tamiflu):
1. Frequent hand-washing (well highlighted as official communications).
2. "Hands-off-the-face" approach. Resist all temptations to touch any part of face (unless you want to eat, bathe or slap).
3. Gargle twice a day with warm salt water (use Listerine if you don't trust salt). H1N1 takes 2-3 days after initial infection in the throat/nasal cavity to proliferate and show characteristic symptoms. Simple gargling prevents proliferation. In a way, gargling with salt water has the same effect on a healthy individual that Tamiflu has on an infected one. Don't under estimate this simple, inexpensive and powerful preventative method.
4. Similar to 3 above, clean your nostrils at least once every day with warm salt water. Not everybody may be good at using a Neti pot, but blowing the nose hard once a day and swabbing both nostrils with cotton swabs dipped in warm salt water is very effective in bringing down viral population.
5. Boost your natural immunity with foods that are rich in Vitamin C. If you have to supplement with Vitamin C tablets, make sure that it also has Zinc to boost absorption.
6. Drink as much of warm liquids (tea, coffee, etc) as you can. Drinking warm liquids has the same effect as gargling, but in the reverse direction. They wash off proliferating viruses from the throat into the stomach where they cannot survive, proliferate or do any harm.
If you read a recent front page story of the SF Chronicle, you would have read about a female humpback whale that had become entangled in a spider web of crab traps and lines. She was weighted down by hundreds of pounds of traps that caused her to struggle to stay afloat. She also had hundreds of yards of line rope wrapped around her body, her tail, her torso, and a line tugging in her mouth.
A fisherman spotted her just east of the FarallonIslands (outside the Golden Gate) and radioed an environmental group for help.
Within a few hours, the rescue team arrived and determined that she was so bad off, the only way to save her was to dive in and untangle her.
They worked for hours with curved knives and eventually freed her.
When she was free, the divers say she swam in what seemed like joyous circles.
She then came back to each and every diver, one at a time, and nudged them, pushed them gently around ~ she was thanking them. Some said it was the most incredibly beautiful experience of their lives.
The guy who cut the rope out of her mouth said her eyes were following him the whole time, and he will never be the same.
May you, and all those you love, be so blessed and fortunate to be surrounded by people who will help you get untangled from the things that are binding you.
And, may you always know the joy of giving and receiving gratitude.
6. Nothing tastes like thin feels is the true elixir of life!
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to the kids going to bed and to watching Ghost Whisperer, tomorrow my plans include weighing in @ Weight Watchers, taking the kids swimming, and perhaps check out sweaters at Northern Reflection and Sunday, I want to sleep in and then wake up 30 pounds lighter!
Egad! I blinked and then it was the second half of October ... what the heck?! I have been so crazy with the kiddies that I've been falling into bed at the end of the night, quite literally, and so the computer has been the very furthest thing from my mind. I'm so pooped that I have been lax on my Christmas gift creations and emails. I suppose this happens to the best of us - even with a young family. I will do my best to be more consistent.
Being Halloween and all, I thought that I would post pictures of my kiddies playing dress up.
Here is my ballerina on her first day of dance class and my bruiser ~ the kid seems to always have some sort of lump or bump or black eye on his face. That's what happens when a one year old CLIMBS every single thing you can (and cannot) imagine. I do supervise but he still gets into everything!!
