Peacock pride is back! Did I ever tell you how cute Riley is? See for yourself!

Devin had his Halloween concert and parade today at school. The parents were to arrive at 9 am and we went to his classroom. All the students were lined up around the carpet and they all looked SO SO SO cute. Devin got to stand next to Orphan Annie! They sang a good 6 or 7 songs all about Halloween and scary stuff. They acted out waving their hands and doing all sorts of movements throughout the songs. Sweetest kid ever. Once I figure out how to upload videos off my camcorder to the Internet I will do so.

 Devin and his teachers

 We then went to the all purpose room and the kids came down in a line about 5 minutes later. The 4 year olds were in front of his class and it is hysterical to see how much better they walk in a line and wave at the same time. I swear the 3 year olds have a hard time concentrating on doing both while dressed up with lots and lots of moms and dads staring at them. I know there were not parents there for every kid in Devin's class and that makes me sad. I would hate for my child not to have someone there to smile back at them. After they marched out of the preschool wing and into the elementary wing they went outside. Riley and I left at that point and ran some errands.

After our errands we had an hour or so to kill so we went to a park down the street from Devin's school. My friend Mandy and her daughter Mia swung by for the tail end for a little fresh air too. Her daughter was 1 in August so she and Riley are the perfect playmate age. I took some pictures of Riley while we were playing and here they are. She is SO easy to take pictures of when she is in her element. That was NOT the case last Saturday when we went to the portrait studio to try and take our family photo. She wanted nothing to do with sitting still or lookingat the photographer. I got some goods ones none the less and cannot wait to share them. There is one serious face one that she looks identical to me as a kid. I know my mother would say she has my puss. The rest were just so cute I could not decide. I have another 15 or just that are just like these.

Halloween is almost here! Everyone is missing his first concert/parade :(

 I was never really into Halloween....but now that I have two kids I find myself LOVING it. They are just so fricking cute in their costumes. Devin is going to be a chef. I got the costume during Gymbucks redemption period at Gymboree last month and Riley is going to be a kitty cat that is from Old Navy. I scored Riley's at a community yard sale new with tags for $5 last fall....SCORE! Devin has been asking if it is time to wear his costume now for two weeks. We thankfully had a chance to put them in their costumes last Saturday for a friend's Halloween themed birthday party. They were so cute and got lots of compliments. Kids are just so cute all dressed up for the holiday. Devin's hat is a tad big so it pushes his ears out, but he does not seem to mind. Since Riley is now finally talking a bit she can say "meow" when she is in her costume. Cami (the birthday girl) was a lil ladybug and was sweet as can be!

taken at the park last Friday

 taken at the park Friday

Devin is SO excited to go trick or treating this weekend. In Las Vegas we have perfect weather for it. The average is usually 65-75 so there is no major layering needed like there was back East when we were kids. I bought Snyder's pretzel bags and fruit roll ups for the trick or treaters. Frank calls me lame and told me we were going to get egged since I did not buy candy. I will not buy chocolate since childhood obesity is everywhere....and if we have left overs, I want our kids to be able to eat what we have (and I will not give them candy). I got the fruit roll ups to satisfy him with giving out sugar.  Last year I gave out goldfish snack bags and Annie's snack bags. Devin also has a Halloween concert and parade at school on Thursday. I am so sad that all of our family is missing it. It is times like this I really hate living so far away from everyone. He is overly excited and anxiously awaiting for Thursday to get here so he can "walk in a line" with his friends and "smile and wave to Mommy and Daddy." I guess the teachers have been prepping the kids on what a parade is. I will be that mom who has her video running and camera out as well.

Devin officially is staying dry overnight. He has been potty trained for over a year during the day time, but up until last month had been peeing in his pull up at night. The kid is the soundest sleeper ever. I was taking him to the potty when Frank and I went to bed around 10 and he stands and pees in his sleep, carry him back to bed and he rolls over and continues sleeping. Hysterical! Now he wakes up dry everyday. So glad because those pull ups are expensive! I was proud to have potty trained him so early for a boy....but confused as to why he was still peeing at night. At least that chapter is over and now Riley is next. I will hopefully have her potty trained started in December. I figure she is 21 mo by then and is already interested now.

I took the kids to the local park yesterday since the weather was absolutely perfect out. I really want to get better at taking pictures so I brought the camera along and was playing with the settings. These last three pics are some that I took. I love taking pictures and I love having the camera to be able to do it....I just wish I had the knowledge of all my camera offered. I am starting to read up on it more...but I guess I just need to get out there and practice more. Kids are tough to take pics of though since they are all over the place. I like action and candid pics better than still sitting portraits. I love kids in action and seeing their personality first hand. None of these pics have been edited, so that is my next chore....figure out how I can play with the settings of the picture with editing software.

Trip to Palm Desert, CA-A whole week to relax? and do nothing but relax?

Owning a Marriott Timeshare has been an awesome investment for us. We are able to vacation twice a year in fully equipped 2 bedroom condos instead of hotel rooms which is awesome when you have kids. Having a full kitchen and separate bedrooms is just heaven on Earth when traveling with young children that go to bed before you do and still take naps mid day.  This past week we went to Shadow Ridge in Palm Desert Cali which is about 10 minutes away from Palm Springs, CA.  As Marriott owners we were able to receive special privileges to a private pool area and they allowed us to change our room (to a whole different building) because I did not like the view. We were originally placed in a second floor unit facing the back end of a water feature and stared at the maintenance path that the crew takes. BLAH! So I called the front desk and they moved us to a third floor unit across the way that over looked a lake on a beautiful green. Score! There was little bunnies and ducks every night that played in the grass below our room.

There were three adult sized pool, a toddler pool, water slide with pool and two splash pads on the grounds. There was never a problem with over crowded pool areas which is so surprising. The weather was hot and averaged about 95-98 daily and cooled down at night to about 70. Who wouldn't want to vacation in that weather? Our guess was that during this time of year desert golf courses over seed and they are closed for 4-6 weeks at a time including the Nick Faldo course that was in our resort. Frank did not golf while we were there. He did not want to go alone, and without a babysitter I could not play with him. Maybe next time we can recruit some friends to vacation the same time we do and then the boys can play golf together or we all can go? 

As suspected, the kids LOVED LOVED LOVED the water slide. Devin and Riley both went down the first time on our laps and then after that it was the highlight of their day. Devin must have gone down on that slide 150 times with no exaggeration. The slide attendants got to know him by name. We sent Riley down a few times alone with one of us catching her at the bottom and she then swam with swimmies to the stairs where she would climb up and walk back to the stairs to go again. The loved the splash pads and the one pool where we had privileges to was zero entry so they could just walk in like at the beach. The majority of this pool was 3-3.5 feet where we played so Devin was able to jump off the side and stand when he was in the water.

There is a big shopping area called Paseo Drive which they compare to Rodeo Drive in BH. Now I was not that impressed with it and Frank told me I was spoiled by living in Las Vegas and so close to Philly and NYC growing up. They had the usual round up of Tiffany's, Gucci, Kate Spade, Burberry, Lucky, True Religion, Janie and Jack, JCrew, Coach etc....but the cool part was the art galleries. There were so many art galleries and jewelry stores. We went into a few galleries and fell in love with one painter. His name was Michael James Smith from England and does oils. He paints English countrysides and it takes him 15-16 layers to create his finished product. We SO would have bought one, but there was a downside....smallest one was a 16 by 20 and was 10K. Largest one was 4 ft by 5ft and was 75k. A bit pricey for us, but they were amazing none the less.  We went to a nice dinner there at a place called Pacifica Seafood and it was pretty good. Kids behaved well and we were complimented on them. I was stressed out worrying that others would get mad if they were too noisy, but nothing that a few glasses of wine couldn't fix.

Besides golf and shopping there is not much to do in Palm Desert/Palm Springs. There was a small zoo that we could have gone to, but we decided to skip it. We literally went to one of the pools everyday and just hung out. Believe me, we loved it for the first 3 or 4 days, but after that we were bored and ready for something else. So sad that we cannot just sit back and relax for a week. I think it would have been different if we did not have the kids with us because we would have been able to lay around and read a book or float in the pool, but with a 1.5 and 3 year old that was not in the agenda.

On the way home, we took a little detour to go to a U Pick Farm in the San Bernandino Mountains.  The place was called Riley's at Los Rios Rancho and they had apple picking and pumpkin picking. By the website and the reviews I thought this place was going to be the best farm on Earth. Our apple orchard here in Las Vegas was better than theirs and the pumpkin patch was about a 40 ft by 40ft patch of dirt with pumpkins scattered here and there. Kids loved it which made it all worth while. Frank got some fresh pressed apple cider and said it was the best he has ever had so that trip was totally worth the detour. The ride home was about 4.5 hours since we went the long way home by the children both took naps and the traffic coming into LV from LA was light for a Friday afternoon.

All in all it was a great week with the family. Kids had a blast and Frank and I were able to have a beer or two on the patio while the kids hung out. It is always nice to get away from home too (even though the landscaping and weather is exactly the same as our back yard haha).  I am not sure we would go back to that area again, unless like I said we were with other people.  Next up we have Sedona, AZ and the Grand Canyon leaving Vegas on  Nov 11th. We will also be going on the Polar Express in the Grand Canyon that Saturday night to see Santa. How cool! Totally stoked for that one.

Kids are freaking hysterical-Go to Williams and Sonoma for a great fall activity!

So I have posted before about "Devin-sims" which really are just things he says that makes me crack up. He is a never ending talker and sometimes I cannot believe what comes out of his mouth. No, it's not cuss words or mean things since we do not talk like that around him....it is mainly phrases and his 3 year old reasoning.

I go to boot camp classes on Monday and Wednesdays and on those days Frank usually gets home before me and starts dinner. Devin asked what we were having for dinner and I said we were going to have Chinese food. He said, "Is the China man going to come to our house today? He is really nice." I laughed so hard and said no that Daddy was going to make the stir fry and that we were not getting delivery. Now mind you, we only get delivery Chinese foods (maybe) once a month if that since we do not really have a decent one around us. He apparently just likes the guy who brings it to us since he talks to Devin I guess, who really knows. 

Living in Las Vegas, we have a lot of unemployed day laborers who sit outside of nurseries waiting for work. They are legally not allowed to be on the property of the store so they always gather/sit right outside of the driveway to get into the parking lot. We drive past one every day he goes to school and Devin asks "Why those guys are sitting on the wall (NJ barrier) outside of the plant store." I told him that they are looking for work and he responded by telling me that was silly since you cannot "find" work by sitting on a wall. I told him they were landscapers who were not busy and he said, "Mom, our neighbors have bushes that are a jungle, maybe they can work there?" I told him how right he was and that I am sure they would be happy to work at our neighbors house and he told me he would tell the neighbors about the men when we got home.

Thanks to his two Aunts Kelly and Dana, whenever we are out and about and someone says goodbye to him he give them pounds and "blows it up." Now, for all those who are not aware of what this is....think Howie Mandel giving a fist bump and then lifting his hand up in the air and expanding his fingers out while saying "pshew" as if his hand was exploding. He does this with restaurant servers, people in Frank's office, people in stores pretty much anyone he comes in contact with who he talks to. My sisters would be so proud of him and I just shake my head and laugh. He really is so sweet and cute-I just wish he would be more gentle with Riley.

Being a boy he is NOT the neatest pee-er out there. I do not know how he manages to do this everytime, but when he sits on the potty to poo he also pees too (which of course is normal) but seems to shoot it out in the VERY small crack where the bowl and the lid touch. There is always a stream on the floor. He tells me it shoots out a lil bit before he pushes it down. I mean how much force is behind that pee, and why doesn't he aim it down from the get go? I am still trying to get a handle on this who boy thing and I think I am doing ok until I go to wipe his bum and find a puddle of pee on the tile.

Today I had some time to kill before I picked him up at preschool after Riley's 18 rescheduled well check. We went to The District which is a little out door shopping area. Being such a beautiful day, I thought an outdoor walk would be awesome and I let Riley walk instead of strapping her in a stroller. She loved the freedom and chased the birds all over the place. We went into Williams and Sonoma since they had the most delicious fragrance coming out of the door....freshly baked pumpkin pecan bread. YUM! I bought the coolest activity for Devin to do with Frank. They had haunted house kits and what better to do in October! Frank always builds a gingerbread house and train around Christmas with Devin so I thought this would be fun for them to do today. It comes complete with all of the structural pieces and candy to decorate it. If you have a WS around you, I would say this is a fun and not too messy activity to do with the kids. Devin is allergic to eggs so I could not buy any of the fall treats in the store. That pumpkin bread was fricking awesome and if you have a party to go to, talk about a great host gift set-bread mix, cute loaf pan and a spatula!

Random updates

Devin is getting better everyday with writing his name. As of now it is all caps, but after he has mastered the caps I will try to do lower case. Straight lines seem to be much easier for him to write (cap E, N) than the lower case versions. He really does enjoy learning to write and gets proud when he can copy what I write on the line above his. He is super observant and since he talks non stop in the car. He knows the last 5 turns by street name on the way to pull into our driveway. I used to tell him where we were going by street name on the way home if he were falling asleep in his car seat and it apparently stuck. He knows all the surrounding streets that run perpendicular as well if we take a different road home. He also looks out the window and knows areas of Las Vegas and what is around that place. For example, he knows what stores/peoples houses are off each exit of the highways. He will tell me to go one more hill (exit ramp) or get off at this hill to go to our destination. At least I do not have to worry about him being a man with no sense of direction later in life.

Devin has a serious gag reflex. He always has and it is something we have gotten used to. If he tries to chew a piece of food that is too big and it tickles the back of his throat, he throws up. Not only just what is in his mouth, but it induces him to empty his stomach. He is trained to go to the kitchen trash can and he stands there and tcob. He also vomits if he runs around after dinner before his belly is settled. He vomits if he coughs too much. This morning on the way to preschool he was coughing like he does every morning. He is groggy in the morning and has to clear his throat and as we were about 15 minutes into our 18 min drive to school he coughed too much and projectile vomited all over my car and himself. It was soy milk and man is that disgusting to clean up. So we had to turn around and go home to get him changed. He ate some breakfast as we drove back to school and he was really only 30 min late after all was said and done. I have become a master at taking apart his car seat though since that was not the first time, nor will it be the last.

Miss Riley is finally starting to talk. Just happened about a week or two ago. She has been able to say words here and there, but she is finally using them now. She says, Momma, Daddy, doddy (doggy), chew (shoe), baby, yes, no, this, that, CerCer (Cera), meow, Ded (Dev) and tank tu (thank you). She really is such a sweet baby and takes a lot of rough housing from Devin. I need to build a center divider wall between them in the car. I have visions of my moms arm somehow detaching and swatting us in the back seat when we were fighting and it makes me laugh out loud. My car is too big to reach them, but I can tell you that I have to tell Devin to stop touching his sister way too much. Maybe I will invent some type of device to install in a back seat to divide the bench seat.

Riley is a monkey too now a days. She climbs on anything and everything she can. She now climbs up the kitchen chairs and I find her standing on the kitchen table yelling to me. She does the same outside with the patio table. She climbs on the coffee table upstairs in the play room and she climbs on the sofas and tries to jump off since she has seen Devin do that. It scares me to death since we have so much tile.

We are headed to Palm Desert/Springs on Friday and I am super excited to go on another family vacation with the kids. We will be staying at the Marriott's Shadow Ridge vacation club place and supposedly it is very family oriented. They have a water slide at one of the four pools and I know Devin will love going down that! Riley will too, but on our laps. She is a lil dare devil. We shall see when we get there. I am pumped to go to the farmers market and the street fairs they will have. I miss that kind of thing living in Las Vegas. It is only about a 3.5 hour car ride from our house and hopefully they will both nap since we are leaving about an hour after lunch.

If I were a millionaire my kids would be in head to toe Janie and Jack!

I absolutely adore Janie and Jack. For all those who know the brand, I am sure you agree with me when I say they have the sweetest clothes ever! For those of you who are not familiar with the brand-you need to get online and go to http://www.janieandjack.com/. My mom calls the store Jack and Jill and I just laugh. I fell in love with the brand when I received a 3 piece layette at Devin's baby shower 3.5 years ago.

Being a stay at home mom with limited spending money, I shop there when I make extra money selling the kids gently used clothes/toys/equipment on EBay or CL. I have to shop the sales racks because if I did not the small allowance I have would be wiped out with one outfit. Kids do not wear clothes long enough anyway to buy at full price.  A good friend of mine shops there pretty much exclusively for her daughter and I envy that. I wish Riley and Devin could look cute every day like her daughter does. Devin wears dress shorts and polo shirts to school everyday and Janie and Jack is just perfect attire for school. Yes, I can shop at Old Navy or Gymboree for this type of clothes, but Janie and Jacks quality is SO much better. For some reason, J and J rarely shows any wash wear and any stain comes out with minimal effort when Gymboree/old navy/target/some baby gap etc always looks worn and shabby after being washed. Not to mention how much the other brands bleed or pill even when washed in cold and hung dry.

They hosted a Friends and Family weekend this past weekend to where they offer email subscribers and frequent customers 30% off discount cards for their entire purchase. Now, I did go in the store and yes I could have gone ape wild....but I had a budget and had to stay within that budget. I did go over (only $25) but since Frank is the best husband ever he only asked me one time if they "really needed" what I bought. I put Riley in two of the dresses I bought and she just is a vision of sweetness and is such a doll. She even has learned to spin and stick her hip out as if striking a pose when I told her to show Daddy her new dress. They also had this great promotion when you spend $75 during the first day of the Friends and Family, you get a free 8 * 10 picture at their exclusive studio sitting in the store this week! So, Riley will be wearing a baby blue sweater dress from the Enchanted Garden line with matching hat and Devin will be in navy blue slacks and a white oxford. Riley's outfit totally channels 1920's and she seriously could not get any cuter!  I will post pictures as soon as we get them back.

For $243 I got
Devin
Racing Team madras shorts w matching polo
Racing Team knit shorts w matching t
a basic white oxford
Turtle Bay visor
bull dog hat

Riley
Strawberry sweet t shirt w matching shorts
Strawberry sweet gingham top w matching shorts
Ice Cream social gingham dress w cardigan
Ice Cream social two swing tops w matching capris
Sweet Kittens layette line dress
Island Dressing plaid shorts (I know I can find a matching top on eBay in the spring)
Enchanted Garden sweater dress w matching sweater hat and tights
basic white tights

Now, I did buy only sale/clearance items and got the additional 30% off for the promotional sale. I think I made out pretty well!  I do not know why boys clothes are so much more expensive. I do hate they they never have half as much as the girls selections because Devin does love clothes and the sales rack for boys are so limited. We did manage to get him the Racing team stuff so he is a  happy camper.