Hannah's Dance Recital 2009

Hannah's Dance recital was this weekend. She (and the rest of her class) work really hard all year just to get to this and I have to say that they did fantastic!

Her Ballet class danced to "A Whole New World" From Aladdin.

Her Tap class danced to "California Girls".

She just loves her teacher and I have to say that not only is she great with the kids but she comes up with some really cute dance numbers! I'll be excited to see what she comes up with next year.

Uh...

So earlier today one of the kids did something really cute and I said to myself "Ooh, I've got to post about that" only I cannot for the life of me remember what it was that was so cute now that I'm sitting at the computer so I guess I'll just let my brain run wild for a bit and see what I can come up with here!

We celebrated Bill's birthday last week. The kids insisted that we make daddy's cake this year so that's exactly what we did. I told the kids that they could decorate it (which totally made their day) but they couldn't agree on what kind of frosting. We stood in the baking goods isle for about 5 minutes with them arguing in a way that only kids can "chocolate, vanilla, chocolate, vanilla..." until I finally settled it by letting them get both to use. I must say that the cake was pretty cool AND Bill loved it!

Bill's Cake

Alexander has had strep throat 6 times in the last year so we had to take him to an ENT to see if he needed his tonsils out. I was told last year that because he was having problems with his tonsils and because I had my tonsils taken out and because Bill had a history of chronic strep that he may eventually have to have them removed, so I was really nervous about taking him to the specialist. Luckily she took a look at his throat (and his history) and said that she wants to wait to see if next winter is as bad a this winter and then we can take it from there because his problems are a winter thing. We were so very relieved to hear that because I really didn't want my baby to have surgery!

Hannah's/My girl scout troop is done with their cookie sales (thank god!) and they managed to raise over $900 for the troop. I always knew that GS cookies were like crack but geez, people really go nuts for these things! We had a cookie sale at our church and I was hunting for more cookies half way through the sale. You'd think that Thin Mints were made of gold the way people were asking for them!

I still can't think of what I wanted to post and my brain is starting to hurt so I'm going to stop boring you now. If I remember what I was going to say, okay who am I kidding? Even if I remember what I wanted to say I'm sure that I'll forget again by the time that I get back to the computer anyway!

Blame It On The Dentist & The World's Strongest 3 Year Old

Hannah lost her fourth tooth tonight. So far all of the teeth that she's lost have been on the bottom and it's making her a little upset. After dinner tonight she says to me "I don't understand why I lost that tooth. The last time I was at the dentist he said that my top middle teeth were loose and that they would fall out soon but they are still there and I'm losing other teeth instead." I went on to explain to her that the dentist was only guessing that those would be the next to go but he didn't actually know which ones would be next. I then told her that she is losing her teeth in the order that they first came in when she was a baby so the next teeth that come out should be the top middle ones. She seemed to feel better after that. She loves whenever I tell her about herself as a baby.

It amazes me that I can remember in what order her teeth came in but I can't remember what I did yesterday! Sometimes I just don't know about myself!

Because Alexander is the smallest person in our family (or maybe it's because he's 3) he is obsessed with finding things that are his size. He get so excited when he finds "little like me" things as he likes to call them, that he has to tell everyone about his new discoveries. About a half hour before bedtime tonight, Bill and the kids were in our room (doing god know what) and all of a sudden I hear "Hey these are my size!" followed by Bill's laughter. I hear him running down the hall to show me and this is what I see:

He has found Alexander size weights and now he can "exercise!" Man I just love this kid. He's just too cute sometimes!

A Change of Scenery

Okay, so I'm not actually Irish and I'm not really into St. Patrick's Day but I thought that this background was cute and I've got Irish friends so I figured that it was okay to put this up! Well, that and I was getting tired of the Valentine's Day background and I'm not really ready for spring backgrounds either and I'm tired and don't feel like searching for another background that I like so this really was my only option!

Now That's My Kind of Valentine!!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

I Sort of See It!

People tell me all the time that Hannah looks just like me. My response to this is to agree with that person and to indulge them as they go on and on about her being my clone and all that other good junk that I can't think of right now. But I have a confession to make - I've never really seen much of a resemblance between the two of us. I mean, sure we've both got dark brown hair and eyes and we've got just about the same skin tone but that's all I saw until I stumbled upon this picture.

Me at age 6 - and don't you DARE make fun of my hair. It was 1986 and I was in style damn it!

Hannah at age 6

I can actually (sort of) see where people say that she's my clone now! Her face is a little rounder then mine was, my eyes were a little more almond shaped then hers and of course she's got some of Bill in her, but I see it. Now I don't feel like such a weirdo anymore, well at least about this!!

Now if I can only convince Bill that Alexander really does look just like him as a kid because of course, he doesn't see that!

Alexander's Top 10 Favorite Things to Say

#10 - Do I have to wash my hands?

#9 - Just put my jammies on, not bedtime?

#8 - I don't want to go to bed!

#7 - I'm gonna beat my high score!!

#6 - I'm a big boy, right mom?

#5 - Sorry Hannah.

#4 - I'm hungry.

#3 - Can I have a snack?

#2 - No Wii til the weekend, right mom?

#1 - Is it the weekend?

These are the things that come out of Alexander's mouth most often, as in a million times a day! I think that he'll be a great interrogator when he grows up because he's really good at wearing me down so that I just give in!

BTW, this is his 3 pre-k school picture. Doesn't he look huge!?!?!

She's Got the Reading Bug

Hannah has been trying to read ever since she got her first library card at the age of (nearly) 2. In the past she has pretended to read by making up stories by looking at the pictures in her books and actually memorized some of her favorite books and has "read" them to me. She's always loved books and I am glad that she (and Alexander) seem to have inherited my love of reading.

This year in kindergarten she has started phonics, spelling and is continuing to write more and more complex sentences. She has practiced her spelling words, letter sounds and combination letter sounds religiously and tonight all of her hard work has started to pay off. Tonight as we sat on the couch, my baby read me a (almost) whole book!!! Of course there were words in there that were just too big for her to figure out but she got 85% of the words right. I am so proud of her!! I can't wait for her to get better at reading so that I can share with her some of my favorite books from when I was a kid. A whole new world has just opened up to her and I can't wait to watch her explore it.

The Countdown is On

Happy 2009!! I know that it's a little early but we're heading out to our annual new years eve party at a friend's house tonight so I will not be able to get to the computer until tomorrow. I hope that everyone has a safe and Happy New Year!

Happy Birthday Hannah

**Sorry that there are no pictures but our computer is breaking and we're waiting for our new one to be delivered before we put up any new pics**

Today is Hannah's 6th birthday. The family came by for cake over the weekend and today she had a friend party at the play area in the Community Pavillion not far from our house. This is the second friend party that she's had and boy, did it go better then her first friend party!! First of all, it wasn't in my house (so it's automatically superior to last year because I didn't have to clean up) and secondly, all of the kids played nice and were completely occupied for 2 1/2 hours and I hardly had to do anything!! She had 21 friends there and while that is a lot of kids, it was a huge success!! Hannah was happy to be with her friends and they were all so polite and kind enough to get her some really nice gifts!

Since it is her birthday, I have been thinking back to the night/morning that I had her. It amazes me that the day is still so fresh in my mind. I'm sure that I have forgotten a lot of that day but it still feels like it was just yesterday. I remember just staring at her after she was born, she was 5 1/2 weeks early and just so little (not even 5 pounds) but she was just so amazing to me.

Six years later I am still staring at her in amazement - she is so beyond anything that I thought she could possibly be. She's smart and funny, she loves her family with all of her enormous heart and looks after her little brother as if she were his mother, even though he drives her crazy! She's always willing to help and is compassionate to those that are sad or hurting. She's grown so much as a person in just the last year alone that it's a little unbelievable at times but I can't wait to see what the coming year will bring for her. Happy Birthday Sweet Pea, we love you so much!

I'm Exhausted!

Happy Black Friday everyone! For those of you that were out in the crowds, way to go and for those of you who weren't well, I can't really blame you for staying home!! I have gone shopping on Black Friday for several years now and today was no different. I was out the door and on my way to the stores at 3:30 am. I normally start at Target and work my way around from there, usually only hitting 2 or 3 stores but today I decided on a new plan. I started at Carson's (whch opened at 4 am) and picked up new pillows for the family and some flannel sheets for my aunt. Carson's must have opened the doors a little early because I was standing in line waiting to get into Toys R Us by 4:20 and I know that I was in Carson's for at least a half an hour!

Anyway, this is the first year that I'd gone to TRU because I always thought that it would be a madhouse but I was pleasantly surprised by what I found. The line went from the doors, around the corner and all the way to the end of the building by the time they opened the doors at 5 am. Fortunately I was near the front and I got in pretty quickly. I have say that TRU was very organized and I will definately be going back there! They gave out numbered tickets for certain "big" electronics but you had to actually be in line to get a ticket and it was first come, first serve which I thought was really fair. Another thing that I absolutely LOVED is that there were employees standing outside making sure that everyone that stood in line got in before all of the people that stayed in their cars and tried to just sneak in once the doors opened (I hate when people do that, I think it's SO rude)!! They were also very organized when it came to standing in line to check out and even taped arrows to the floor so that people knew where to stand to wait in line. The staff was fantastic too! I had to check out in the electronics department because I had some stuff to get there and the employees would actually get your stuff for you while you waited in line - it was great!!

After leaving TRU, I went to Target, Macy's, Costco and the Carter's outlet. I wasn't planning on going to the Carter's store but I had some time to kill before Costco opened so I decided to stop in and boy am I glad that I did. The whole store was 50% off and an employee at the door was handing out additional coupons at the door so everything was 80% off!!! I got the kids at least $500 worth of stuff for next to nothing and that totally made my day!!

After 6 stores and 7 hours of shopping I finally made it home, cold and hungry and ready for a nap. The kids were excited to see me, which is always nice and Bill was glad that I didn't come home battered and bruised! I ended up putting off taking a nap so that I could (sort of) help Bill finish putting up the Christmas lights outside and make lunch. I fell asleep on a wing chair in the frontroom around 2:30 and slept til about 4:00. Bill was kind enough to keep the kids from disturbing me (although really I'm sure there could have been a reenatcment of D-Day going on in front of me and it wouldn't have woken me) and he also unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher, threw in some laundry, folded the mountain of laundry that was in our room and got us dinner. He may have done more but I'm still a little fuzzy about this afternoon.

This year the stores didn't seem as crowded as they have been in the past and I managed to get in and out of stores in a decent amount of time. I'm pretty sure that I've finished all of my shopping for the kids which is a huge relief and I even picked up a few things for others who are on my shopping list. And even though I am ready for bed again now, I'm glad that went out today. It's such a good feeling to know that you've gotten something accomplished. I think it's a great way to kick off the holiday season and I'm (sort of) looking forward to next year!

Sending a Little Holiday Cheer Abroad

I've added the "Let's Say Thanks" application from Xerox to my blog so that anyone who wants to can send a message to a soldier over seas for the holiday. I know that not everyone was in favor of this war to begin with but that does not change the fact that there are thousands of men and women who are away from home and fighting for our country so why not take a minute to send them a greeting and to let them know that someone back home is thinking about them.

It's That Time of Year Again

No, I'm not talking about Christmas or Christmas shopping exactly, although I am planning on starting that very soon! It's time to start posting stuff on Ebay! I sporatically sell things online throughout the year to earn extra money for whatever we need (for example at the end of last year I sold enough stuff to pay for our trip to Wisconsin Dells!). Anyway, evey year I go through the kids clothes and toys and sell them around Christmas time. It's a great way for me to weed out the stuff that they not longer use AND get extra cash to buy them new Christmas presents. I know it sounds silly to get rid of stuff just to bring in new stuff, but it's like a circle of life thing so I go with it.

Among the various things that I've got to sell this year I've also got some combo sets that I am selling like Hannah's Dora house (and the million little pieces that came with it), Alexander's Diego Rescue Center (and it's million pieces) and possibly a Bitty Baby crib w/ bedding, diaper bag and high chair, oh and the actual Bitty Baby that Hannah hasn't used probably since she got it. I'm hoping to get a decent price for them, so cross your fingers for me because here I go!

Catching up with Plenty of Pictures!

I've had so much going on around here that I haven't had any time to post. I've been wanting to put up pictures from Halloween but I keep putting it off. Today I figured that if I put it off any more that I'm going to be posting Christmas pics along with the Halloween ones and that's just something that I cannot do so here goes!

A few weekends before Halloween we took the kids to a pumpkin farm. We normally go to Bengston's in Orland Park but this year we decided to try a new one. We ended up at Cottonwood Farms in Crest Hill and it was great! All of the attractions, except for the pony rides, was included in the price of admission which was really nice because at Bengston's everything is separate (and expensive)! The kids had a blast going through the haunted barn, riding the train and playing in the 3 play areas. Bill and I even got to go on a train ride with them, they had a train that was big enough to fit adults!

Slide Races in the play area

On the train

Playing on the firetruck

We always pick our pumpkins out of the field instead of picking from the ones that they bring up and put in piles all around the farm, so after playing for a while and grabbing some lunch we got on the hayride to be taken out to the pumpkin fields. Now most "farms" just place pumpkins randomly in a nice neat field and replenish them as they need (I'm pretty sure that they don't actually grow them themselves but who knows) so imagine our surprise when we get to this field and see that it is an actual pumpkin patch with pumpkins still on the vine!! Even though I have been going to pumpkin farms my entire life I had never seen one like this - I was pretty impressed!

A genuine pumpkin patch!!

Alexander didn't want to take pictures but I was lucky enough to get this one

The whole family

We ended up spending most of the day there and it was well worth it, we will definitely be going back there! The kids had so much fun that they passed out in the car and did not wake up until the next morning!! They ended up sleeping for about 14 hours!

After the pumpkin patch

She was too tired to take her coat off after walking in the house!

The Saturday before Halloween we carved our pumpkins. The kids wanted to draw their own faces this year so we gave them each a marker and they went to work.

Alexander and his "happy" pumpkin

Hannah and her "Scary" pumpkin

They wanted to carve their own pumpkins this year too. We had bought pumpkin carving safety knives and they gave it a try. Unfortunately they are still a little small for carving pumpkins and it's still a little too hard for them so they ended up giving them over to mom and dad.

Trying to cut the top open

Trying to just get the knife out

Bill being silly - can't you just see why I love him!?!?

After the carving was done we put them in the living room and the kids took pictures with them.

The finished products

After much anticipation, Halloween finally arrived. Both kids had parties at school and I was lucky enough to be able to help out at both parties. There was a costume parade before lunch that the whole school participated in and then the big kids were off to lunch while the preschoolers got to go home for the day. Bill came to the parade and took Alexander home afterwards. Since I am a room mom for Hannah's class this year I headed back in to help with lunches and to get her party underway after that. Let me tell you, I have a new found appreciation for teachers!! After spending 2 1/2 hours with 36 kindergartners I was exhausted!! I don't know how teachers do it but they've got to be the some of the bravest people out there!

After taking a short nap (yes, I napped!) Bill and I took the kids trick or treating. We ended up walking around with one of our neighbors and her 2 kids which was really nice.

This year the kids were a witch and Batman

Getting the goods

After about 3 blocks Alexander was done so Bill took him home to pass out candy. Hannah was just getting started so she and I and our neighbor and her kids kept going. We ended up going about 5 more blocks before Hannah's bag hit capacity. Her bag was so heavy that she couldn't carry it anymore and I ended up lugging it back home. As soon as we got home, Hannah took over as "official Novak family treat giver". Every year she stands at the door and waits for trick or treaters so that she can give them candy (and will not move from her post to save her life) and this year was no different. She eventually got tired of standing at the door so my smart little girl dragged over her Dora chair and sat in front of the door waiting. She finally passed out her last piece of candy at 8:00 and we made her close the door. She was a little upset that she had 9 pieces left but was happy when I told her that she could keep them for herself and her brother. We spent the rest of the night hanging out, playing board games and watching t.v. I thought that we had a great Halloween season this year and I can't wait for next year.

Now I Remember Why I Don't do Spring Cleaning

This morning I decided to clean out Hannah's closet. It had been a while since I had done it and believe me, it needed it. I was feeling really ambitious and figured that since I has a few hours before I had to pick up Alexander from school I could straighten it out and get the bulk of my cleaning done and out of the way - What a mistake that was!!! It took me an hour to finish her closet alone (there was a lot of crap in there)!! But that's because I decided to go through all of her clothes (and she has tons of clothes) to see what still fits her and what doesn't and to rearrange the stuff on the shelves, which is mostly clothes that ALL needed to be refolded because they were all in wrinkled piles!

Sometime during the closet cleaning I apparently lost my mind and decided to go through the toys in both kids rooms and get rid of some stuff. I just did this more or less, in Hannah's room a few weeks ago but I figured that there was more stuff that I could move out that she really wouldn't miss. I didn't take much more out of her room but I did decide to get rid of her Dora kitchen (which she no longer plays with), and a few other Dora toys that she no longer has any interest in. I wanted to get this stuff out of my house ASAP so I put them up on Freecycle and they will be picked up today - yeah!!! If you don't know what Freecycle is, it's pretty much a listing of things that people are either looking to find in hopes of someone else having it and wanting to get rid of it or are getting rid of and are offering to anyone that wants it and the beauty of it is that it's all FREE!!

Anyway, Alexander's room was a comlpetely different story. I hadn't really went through any of his toys so there was a lot of little stuff to get rid of. Fortunately, I asked his teacher if she was interested in any of it for her classroom and she gladly accepted. I was really happy that she would take it because now Alexander can still play with the stuff and I know that it will be put to good use, but mostly because it's out of MY house!!! I also found a lot of stuff to put up on Ebay once I find the time to put it up there.

I didn't get everything done today that I wanted to get done but I got a good start. Of course, since I've been going through stuff my whole house now looks like a tornado went through it and it's going to take me days to get it back to even semi-clean. Now is when I wish the maid would come in and clean up my mess but, unfortunately I AM the maid so I should probably get off my behind and get back to work!!

Proof That I AM In Fact Getting Older

My 10 year High School reunion is next month and I'm still a little shocked by the fact that it's been 10 years already. I swear that it was just yesterday that I couldn't wait to get out of high school and here it is 10 years later. How the heck did that happen!?!?

Over the years I have lost touch with all of my old friends - there isn't even one person that I have kept in contact with. Of course, I was such a different person then (and by that I mean that I was pretty mean and awful to just about everyone) that I'm sure they would be completely thrown off guard by the person that I am now!

Thanks to Facebook and their "Ten Year Reunion" group I have talked to some of the girls that I knew from back then. It's been nice to hear from them and to find out what they have been up to. Of course since the invitations went out the question that everyone is asking is "Are you going to the reunion?" and my answer to that question is always the same "I don't know." Don't get me wrong, I liked high school and I've got a lot of good memories from back then but I'm not sure that I want to go. There are a few people that I'd like to see but that's not really enough motivation for me. Well, that and the fact sooner or later I'm sure that I'll run into probably every girl that I graduated with because I can't go more then a few months without running into someone from then. I swear it's crazy the number of girls that I run into around here!!

So here I sit flip flopping between weighing the pros and cons of going to see a bunch of women that I haven't seen in a decade and having flashbacks of 1998 (which I assure you is a very scary thing!). I'll have to come to a decision soon because the deadline to buy tickets is quickly approaching but for right now I'm just stuck and a tiny bit depressed that apparently time is marching on without me.

Lord Give Me Strength!

I'll admit it, I'm obsessed with chocolate. I mean really LOVE it. It can make a rotten day better and it can calm down like nothing else can. Chocolate is my friend. I'm sure that there has been a time when I have considered trading one of my kids for a chocolate fix. I can't resist it - it just calls to me - and there are 200 World's Finest chocolate bars sitting in my kitchen right now. I don't know how I'm going to keep out of it!!! So far I have managed to avoid it but I'm pretty sure that I'm going to get the shakes soon because my will power is just that weak when it comes to that milk chocolaty goodness.

So if you hear about a crazy woman in Oak Lawn that OD'd on chocolate you know that it's me. Pray for me and my (lack of) will power - and for my behind because I'm pretty sure it's about to gain 20 pounds!!

The ABC's Remix - Updated

I know that this video is really dark and that you can't see Alexander but I love how he sings his ABC's. It cracks me up every time I hear it!! I'll try to get him to do it again for me but this is as good as it gets for now!

** Okay, I think I fixed the video so you should be able to see it now**

Alexander's First Days of School

Monday was Alexander's first day of preschool. Whenever we asked him about going to school before Monday he'd either be really excited about it or totally against it depending on his mood so we weren't quite sure what to expect on the first day. I'm happy to say that he did great!! we introduced him to his teacher and he didn't hide from her at all (which is what he normally does when meeting someone new). Bill and I got to walk him into his classroom, help him hang up his backpack and find his seat but he was completely calm the whole time. Fifteen minutes after gong to his class he was still okay and coloring a picture at his table so Bill and I decided to leave. We gave him hugs and kisses and told him that we'd be back later to get him. I did get a little teary eyed but I managed to keep them in, yea me!! When we picked him up he was happy to see us and proceeded to tell us all about his day. I was so relieved that he was happy that I was totally blindsided by his reaction to school on Tuesday!!




Tuesday after walking Hannah to the main doors so that she could go to class, I walked Alexander to his class prepared to give him a quick kiss and be on my way. I was not prepared to walk into his class and practically fall over the crying screaming little boy that was clinging to his mother's legs and fighting the teacher. Alexander took one look at the little boy and said "I want to go home". I told him that he had to stay in school and that he was going to have lots of fun but he didn't want to hear it - he wanted to go home. He was calm about it until the little girl across the table from him started crying when her mom got up to leave. He instantly started crying and grabbing my leg while begging me to take him home. His teacher was still trying to calm the other little boy down so eventually his tacher's aid cam e to my rescue. She gave him a hug and started talking to him as I inched toward the door. I said goodbye to him as the TA held him and I walked out closing the door behind me. As soon as the door closed I heard him crying and calling for me and my heart broke. Leaving him was really hard to do but going back in there would have made it worse. I came home and thought of him for 2 1/2 hours wondering if he was okay until it was time to go and get him. When he came out the door he was fine. He was happy to see me and said that he'd had fun at school and told me about his day. Boy was I relieved!!!

Last night we talked about going to school and he said that he liked it and wanted to go and that he wasn't going to cry anymore. I was hoping that he meant it and held my breath this morning as we walked up to his entrance. He asked me to stay with him for a few minutes and I agreed. He looked a little scared and didn't let go of my hand the whole time we waited for the doors to open. Once is teacher came out I walked him into the hall. I stood there with him while the rest of the kids got in line and then I gave him a kiss and told him that it was time for me to go. He said okay and gave me a hug. He did not cry when I left and was fine waiting in line with the rest of his class (I stood outside and peeked in to make sure that he was okay). Again when I picked him up he was happy to see me and told me about his day and all the fun they had.

He seems to enjoy school. I'm hoping that Tuesday's episode was brought on by the other crying kids and that there will not be a repeat performance. I don't think I could handle doing that again!

Hannah's First Day of School

Today was Hannah's first day of kindergarten. She has been talking about school for weeks now and even had a countdown going and was really happy to start today. I was not at all worried about her first day, I knew that she'd do great. She'd already had 2 years of school so today was a piece cake for her. We got her up early so that she could have breakfast and get ready and before we knew it, it was time to go. Bill actually got to take the day off and be there for her first day which was really nice because he'd never been able to take her to her first days of preschool. Anyway, as soon as we got out of the car she made a beeline for her class and quickly found a few of her friends from last year. She spent the time talking and laughing with the girls while they waited to go into their class. Somehow the kindergarten parents got to head into the building with the kids so we got to see her classroom and her table even though I'm sure that Hannah would have preferred to have had us leave her at the front door! Bill, Alexander and I finally left her but not before she gave her brother a big hug and kiss which I thought was just the sweetest thing!! She was only there for 3 hours today and when we picked her up she said that she really liked her class and that she had a good time. I am glad that she has adjusted to school so well in the last 2 years. I am so proud of my big girl - and of myself because I didn't cry, not even a little!! Of course, my real test will be on Monday when Alexander starts preschool!