Cheap Make-Up!

I just found this link on another friend's blog. They have all kinds of make-up for only a dollar. It's not trial size! I ordered some stuff, so I hope it all turns out. Also, if you put "carolina" as a coupon code, you get 50% off your order up to $15. Check it out here: http://www.eyeslipsface.com/default.asp

Duck, Duck, Goose!

One of my favorite memories as a child was going to feed the ducks. We would pop a big bag of popcorn (FYI the ducks out here prefer the cheap Wal Mart bread) and have blast feeding it all to the ducks. So, I love taking Carter to do it. We have the perfect spot, and the ducks come up out of the water as soon as they see a kid headed toward them. The one thing that I never had to deal with as a kid were the mean, mean geese! Today Carter was having a good time with the ducks, when all of a sudden, here come a gaggle of geese (isn't that what they are called?). They totally bullied their way in and took all the food. Then, they had the nerve to stand there hissing at us. I was almost certain that they were going to attack. I don't see what the sport in hunting geese is. I could have taken one out today by kicking it in the head. I definitely don't see what people around here like about these things. They put fake ones on their lawns like they are some beautiful creature. All I know is that when I see them hanging out in the road it is all I can do to not take them out. I hate them. Carter still had a good time, and if you ask him, he will tell you the ducks were nice, but the geese were "a little bit crabby".
I love the way he launches the bread at the ducks. Each time, he would scare some of them back into the water.

After feeding the ducks, we checked out the water fall. Carter is obsessed with water falls. We drive by this one almost everyday and he still gets excited every time. Whenever we drive anywhere, he always asks to drive by it. I don't think it's that this specific one is that great, it is nice, but he gets just as excited about the nasty fountains outside Wal Mart. Go figure. After a heavy rain, it turns a foul yellow color and Carter announces that someone needs to clean it out. I'd like to see someone volunteer for that one...

One thing that I do love about Wisconsin are the little bits of nature that they have preserved in the middle of the city. After the water fall, we went for a little walk. One minute you are crossing main street, the next you are in this:

It is really beautiful. Every time I see these awesome secluded trails so close to my house I tell myself that I need to get the kids on a schedule so I can start running again. At this time of year, is it really worth it though? I would just get to where I can run a mile without passing out and winter would set in. Maybe next spring. For now, I will just keep doing my little Denise Austin workouts every morning and dream of being skinny again.

Where does Daddy live?

Mike has been gone almost every evening this week and last with work and mowing the lawns and everything. Tonight Carter asked "Where does Daddy live?". It took me a minute to convince him that Daddy still lived here. Sad, right?

Chicago

This last weekend we went down to Chicago with my sister, Amber. Amber and I went down to see "Wicked". Mike went to watch the kids (thanks, Mike!). We loved the show, and the kids were great for Mike back at the hotel (completely unexpected), so it was a success all around.

The next morning we walked around downtown Chicago. The first stop was Millennium Park, where they have these really cool fountains. At first they just look like 2 small-scale skyscrapers. Then water starts flowing and a face appears. After a few minutes water starts pouring out of the mouth.

Before:After:It was cold, so we didn't let Carter play in the water, but you can bet he tried! Notice the lack of shoes--somewhere in the chaos that was getting everything and everyone in the car, his shoes were left behind. We did buy him some further up the street. Am I a bad mom? At least I didn't leave him behind...How pathetic is it that out of 10 pictures, this is the best we could get? We really struggle sometimes. I do love this one of Samantha. We bought her a new coat at H&M (I just discovered the super-cute baby clothes there) and she was doing a fashion show for us at lunch. I love her huge eyes.
One of the reasons I love Chicago is the diversity and the random things that you find there. Here is a drum-line (or bucket-line?)
And say you were walking down the street and all of a sudden you thought "man, I could really go for a game of chess right now", they've got you covered!That's right, step right up and make your move! There weren't many takers when we went by, but I am sure business picked up later :).

It was a fun day, and we were all exhausted by the time we got home, which is always a sign that we enjoyed ourselves.

Off the subject, but a funny side note...Samantha was wearing tights to church the other day and Carter asked what they were. When I told them they were tights, he asked "super tights?". He's a strange one.

I love the doctor's office!

Not really, but one would think so with the number of visits I have made there over the past week. Last week, it was Samantha's diaper rash, Tuesday it was Samantha's bald spot (it's behind her ear, no big deal) and then today Carter's ears. Love it. We tried the new Kohl's clinic out today instead of making the 30 minute trek down to the pediatrician. It was OK--great for me, not so great for Carter. The nurse was great with him, but I swear the Nurse Practitioner couldn't see Carter's eardrums, she kept looking over and over again and saying that his ears were just really waxy. I don't believe it for a second. Carter's Dr. always knows what's going on. Anyways, long story short, if you need something quick and easy checked out--try it out (for all you Kohl's wives out there). It's super cheap. The pharmacy is fabulous--$5 prescriptions--can you really beat that?

The whole point of the story is what Carter said to me at the Dr. The nurse gave him a whole bunch of stickers, and he was putting them everywhere. He gave one to himself for being a big boy, and then he put one on me and said, "that's for being a good mommy." Totally made my week, especially since I feel like all I do lately is yell at him. He has some serious jealousy going on, he pushed Samantha off of the cart the other day at Sam's club--she was buckled in her car seat and was scared, but fine--that is just one example of what I am dealing with lately. Today he tried to push her (in her car seat again) out of the car. The funny thing is that he always tells me that he is going to do it. "I am going to push her out..." "I am going to pinch her..." "I am going to put water on her face...". I don't know what I am going to do with him.

My favorite sister gets here tonight (sorry to the rest of you sisters, but you all know that's how it is), and I am so excited! Carter loves her and I always love seeing her. We have lots of fun stuff planned. I need go clean my house, so I'm not embarrassed when she gets here. Later!

How smart are you?

My friend Karen put this up on her blog. I enjoy a good brain workout every now and then, so I gave it a shot. Karen got 27 of them right (in only about 20 minutes, I found out later). I consider myself fairly intelligent and figured I could do about the same. After working on it off and on all day, I got 18 and then cheated on the rest. I have to admit, I am a bit ashamed to only be in the "intelligent" category, while she qualifies for "genius". It's a good think I've got my looks going for me :).

You give it a shot:

You have to work out what the letters mean. See No 0 as an example. According to MENSA, if you get 19+ of these, you are a "genius". Only 2 MENSA members achieved full marks. See how well you do.

Scoring: 1-5 is Average, 6-11 is Somewhat Intelligent, 12-18 is Intelligent, 19+ is Genius.

0) 24 H in a D (24 hours in a day)
1) 26 L of the A
2) 7 D of the W
3) 7 W of the W
4) 12 S of the Z
5) 66 B of the B
6) 54 C in a P (WJs)
7) 13 S in the USF
8) 18 H on a G C
9) 39 B of the O T
10) 5 T on a F
11) 90 D in a R A
12) 3 B M (S H T R)
13) 32 is the T in D F at which W F
14) 15 P on a R T
15) 3 W on a T
16) 100 C in a D
17) 11 P in a F (S) T
18) 12 M in a Y
19) 13 is UFS
20) 8 T on a O
21) 29 D in F in a L Y
22) 27 B in the N T
23) 365 D in a Y
24) 13 L in a B D
25) 52 W in a Y
26) 9 L of a C
27) 60 M in a H
28) 23 P of C in the H B
29) 64 S on a C B
30) 9 P in S A
31) 6 B to an O in C
32) 1000 Y in a M
33) 15 M on a D M C

Not as easy as it might seem, eh? You can find the answers by googling them or I have them also. Good luck!

Blessed Silence

After all of that frustration last night, tonight was such a relief! Samantha went to sleep by herself in her crib for the first time EVER! She didn't even cry, she just squawked a couple of times and then silence, blessed silence. She even slept through Carter's bedtime shenanigans, which is a small miracle. One small step for Samantha, one giant leap for the Chaplin family.

I'm a bad mom...

Carter tonight: (Smiling, after getting into my gum) "I'm a little turd." I guess I need to start watching what I say more.

This one doesn't make me a bad mom, it's just funny: I think that Carter may be the only 2 year old to know the words to "If you could hie to Kolob" and "Put your shoulder to the wheel". Mike picks the most random songs to sing to him at bedtime.

Speaking of bedtime, anyone out there have any advice on getting Samantha to sleep? Since she was born, she wouldn't sleep in her own bed for more than 15 minutes. I can get maybe 30-45 minutes out of her now, but as soon as she wakes up and sees that I'm not there, she starts screaming. I have tried crying it out, but she just won't give up! I want her out of our bed and into hers, but her and Carter share a room, so she has to be able to sleep more than 30 minutes on her own. I am completely clueless as to what I should do. As I am writing this, she is screaming in my bed because tried about 6 times over an hour to put her down once she was asleep and she woke up every time. Maybe I could hire someone to hold her while she sleeps? I hear royal nannies had people to do that in the old days... Any takers?

We have arrived...

You know you have arrived when you get the minivan, right? Although I swore I would never get one--if we ever got a bigger car, it would be a big SUV--meet the newest member of the family:

That's right, a 2001 Honda Odyssey. I actually do love it. I know it is nerdy, but there is definitely a reason why so many people drive them. It is very convenient. Mike is still having a hard time coming to terms with it, but then it wasn't his big booty squeezing in between the car seats. Now my booty can get as big as I want it to get :).

We just need to get rid of our Altima now. If anyone knows of anyone looking for one, you let me know!

Another new arrival is my new camera! I have been looking at them since my parents came out in May. My dad has a nice camera and his pictures looked a lot better than mine (the fact that he is a better photographer in general has nothing to do with this, I'm sure). So I told Mike that when we go the money from selling the condo, I was getting a camera. It actually arrived a week ago, but one of the pixels was out and so I exchanged it. The new one gets here Tuesday, and it feels like Christmas! Here she is, the Nikon D40x:

I went to the library and checked out a bunch of photography books, so I can actually use it. I am very excited. Hopefully I can figure it all out and get some good pictures.

Otherwise, life is fairly uneventful. I am sick, the first time I have been really sick since I was pregnant with Carter, I think. Pre-kids I would have laid on the couch all weekend watching TV. Not anymore, sadly enough, the only thing I have been doing differently is taking a long nap every day with Samantha. We did stay home from church today. It's just a cold, but it sure does suck.

Mike was in Las Vegas for work this past week. He had quite the busy week--Partying it up with the Hilton sisters:

One of his vendors got some of his co-workers and him into the club where they were having a party to celebrate Nicky's new clothing line. Mike also saw LL Cool J and some NBA players. He missed out on the party with Eminem and Jay Z, but I hear there were a bunch of thugs there. I can't believe the amount of money the vendors spend on their buyers. It's nuts. Maybe they should send a little of that cash to the little kids in China making the clothes. But, that's a whole other issue.

Anyways, I am pooped and my hacking cough is getting worse, I am off to bed.