Those are so MY kids

I think it's only normal for every parent to look at their kids every once in awhile and wonder where on earth they possibly came from.  This is most often the case when they are throwing an enormous tantrum, saying something completely off the wall or eating some disgusting concoction it would only be possible for an untested stomach to handle.

On the flip side, there are those moments that there is not a doubt in your mind that they totally belong to you.  I know it's true because I carried them for (almost) eight months and my body still carries the scars from both of them.  But every so often I appreciate the additional reminder.  Not once but twice today I was completely proud to claim them both.

First, we were in the car running errands after I picked up Noah from school.  We were discussing the plans for the weekend and I was letting them know that on Sunday Grant was going to take them to do some top secret Christmas shopping.  I told the kiddos that they needed to think about what they wanted to get their respective Godparents.  Noah then launched into the following:

"I know what to get Aunt Shell.  A penguin.  She has to have a penguin.  Because Uncle Dudley won't buy her one.  I'll get her one.  And I guess we should get something for Uncle Dudley too.  (Long pause)  But I don't care what he says, I am NOT buying him anything Ohio State.  Nothing."

Yep, my kiddo.

Later, I was making dinner and told both of them that they could play or do whatever they'd like.  I turned around a few minutes later to find this:

Yep, so my kiddos.  I am so thankful that they both appreciate the joy of a good book :)

Alright, we're all off to snuggle on the couch and watch Santa Paws 2 together this evening.  So glad it's Friday!

Success!

 I'm thinking of contacting my local Congress person in the next few days as I think I may have discovered today one of the most vile forms of torture that would cause any terrorist to think twice about messing with us if this would be the consequence if they were caught; shopping at Toys R Us mere weeks before Christmas with two 'under fives' while they are armed with the knowledge you  are NOT buying them anything.  I'm a mom therefore used to dealing with these kind of situations and the thought of this terrified even me.

I may be stretching this a little too far as in all honesty, my two kiddos handled it fairly well.  It could have been that while she knew she wasn't getting one of the many toys she informed me she's putting on her 'list for Santa' Mikayla knew we were out to find her a bank.  And after I read Noah the riot act for throwing a fit in the car because he wasn't getting another bank, I think he may have known better than to mess with me too much.  So we made it through Toys R Us fairly unscathed (and I did come away with a few more shopping ideas...) but completely unsuccessful on the bank front.

So we tried the Big Lots next door.  Nada.
Then the Five and Below next to that.  Nope.  Though they did have one in the shape of a toilet that 'flushed' when you put money in it.  Fortunately Mikayla was not in the least bit interested.
Marshall's.  Nothing.
The Christian Book Store.  Uh-uh.
Justice.  No.  They did have a safe, though, the clerk informed me.  We passed.
Kohl's.  No such luck.
JoAnn's.  Zilch.
In my desperation we even stopped at Wal-Mart on the way home.  They had an Angry Birds bank, but Mikayla is not as taken with that as Noah is (fortunately) so it didn't even tempt her.

By this time it is almost 1:30, they haven't had any lunch and my poor little girl is close to heart broken.  I had to call in the big guns...  I phoned Grant at work who assured her if she was good the rest of the day, took a bath after her nap and ate all her dinner, he would take her out and hunt high and low until they found exactly what she wanted.  I then sweetened the pot by telling her that if she and Daddy had no luck I would take her to the Disney Store tomorrow after Noah got out of school.

So after dinner they set out and Grant (God bless him) had more luck than I did - at another Toys R Us for that matter!  And while it wasn't a princess bank (you'll have to check out the pics to see what she found) she was thrilled.  When she came home I asked multiple times if she was OK with it not being princess and she was adamant about keeping what she had that she was very happy.  Happy Mikayla  = Happy Mama.  So we 'fed' both piggies tonight and now all is right with the world.  Thank goodness Daddy was able to come to the rescue!

(Sorry about the goofy pictures, I could not get her to hold still long enough to get a decent one.)

Daily Giggle

First off, since I didn't mention it in my earlier post (though not because I forgot about it, I did email them earlier and tried to call!) HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to my amazingly wonderful parents.  31 years and still going strong.  Thank you for being such a wonderful example of how special marriage is meant to be :)

As I was sitting here earlier discussing my day with Grant I remembered two 'giggles' from today that I just had to share.  One from each kiddo!

When we were out running errands earlier I mentioned to Noah and Mikayla that they should start thinking about what they might want to get Grant for Christmas that we might go and do some shopping tomorrow (which has been delayed until we find a bank for Kayla now).  As a result, I got:

Kayla:  I want to get Daddy a ti-ti (their word for their most special blanket that goes everywhere with them)
Me: A ti-ti?
Kayla:  Yes.  He needs a ti-ti
Me:  He does?
Kayla:  Uh-huh, a pink ti-ti.  For when he falls asleep on the couch.  He needs a pink ti-ti.

Grant, consider yourself warned, she was pretty adamant...

Then at dinner we were discussing if we should buy a lottery ticket for tonight's humongous Powerball drawing and what we would do if we won.

Noah: Mom?
Me: Yes, Noah.
Noah:  If we win, can I go to a Michigan game?
Me:  Yes, Noah, if we win $550 Million dollars, I will take you to a Michigan game.
Noah:  Really?
Me:  Noah, if we win $550 Million dollars I will take you to every Michigan home game next season.
Grant:  Noah, if we win $550 Million dollars we can build a wing on the stadium and you can go to every game for the rest of your life.
Noah:  Yes!  I get to go to a Michigan game!

I didn't have the heart to explain to him that we probably aren't going to win $550 million dollars...  He is so my kid :-p

My boys and their toys

 The kiddos and I made a trip to M Den today so I could order my Michigan jersey.  It was what I finally decided I wanted to spend my Papa money on.  I have always wanted my own jersey with my name on it so I know he'd be thrilled that was what I decided on.  But I wanted to share his memory with the kiddos as well.  One thing they clearly remember is him emptying his pockets when they would see him so they could 'feed their piggies'  And while they each have little banks now, I thought it would be fun for them to pick something out themselves that would mean something to them.  Noah had his heart set on a Michigan bank so we picked that up at M Den, too.  I am currently having quite the time convincing him not to carry it with him everywhere :-p  Mikayla wants a princess bank so it's on the agenda for tomorrow...

The other pictures, I just had to share for my Dad.  Grant and the kiddos put up some of the Christmas decorations on Sunday (our tree is up!) which of course included the village.  In true Kosakowski fashion, the Gatchel's are extending 'the village' tradition.  And the second year in, it's official, the village is already larger than the space intended for it!  The mantle has been completely overrun and he invaded the bookshelves.  I'm afraid it's going to start taking over the entire room at this point.  And he's talking about lights and music and I swear my Dad is rubbing off on him.

Noah and his new pig

 He's so proud

 See it creeping onto the book shelves over there...

Mikayla and the Pink Fluff

 Two words - Pink Fluff.  I stumbled across a recipe a week or so ago and knew we HAD to make it in kid kitchen.  My Bean is the Queen of Pink.  She lives and breathes pink some days I'm convinced.  If there was a way to make all of Mikayla's food pink I would never have any problem convincing her to eat it.  I knew she would adore making this and other than the cool whip it wasn't the most unhealthy option ever.

But it was a pretty simple dish to throw together so I knew we needed something to go with it.  I have a couple of recipe ideas on the back burner that I have been dying to try out with the kiddos but I am still on my continued quest to rid us of the Halloween candy.  So I left it up to them; Cake Batter Blondies or Starburst cookies.  Stupid question when you're asking a four and two year old, I know.  Starburst cookies it was!

I was a little hesitant about trying these out.  After the disaster that was the Skittles cookies I was more than a little nervous about stuffing what is a stiffer alternative to taffy in a cookie.  But you only live once!  (And it got rid of a whole bunch of candy...)  Noah LOVES them!  And I have to admit they didn't turn out half bad.  I was a little nervous when I took the first one off the tray to give it to Kayla to try as the Starburst stuck to my cookie sheet and the whole cookie fell apart, but I got out my metal spatula for the rest and let them cool on the wire racks for awhile and the rest held together fairly well.  We'll let Grant put in his opinion later.  I think I might stick them in the microwave for a few seconds before letting him try them to soften up the Starburst a bit.  We did have some extra batter (that's right, we ran out of candy!) so we just frosted the extras with a bit of rainbow chip icing that's been hiding in my fridge for awhile.  I even let Noah play with the knife again ;-)

I'll have to let you know what the consensus is on the Pink Fluff as it is part of tonight's dinner menu.  Lord knows Kayla will scarf it down!

Kayla attends to the first job - unwrapping the Starbursts!

 Noah helped

 Rolling rolling rolling

 Starting on the Pink Fluff

 Pre-mixed pink fluff

"Mama, it's pink!"

 Mikayla's cookie

 Got to be honest, kind of grosses me out, but they liked them!

 The bottoms are actually kind of cute :)

 Noah goes to town

Noah and I frosted the rest of the cookies

Hail to the Victors!

 Let's all please observe a moment of silence for the end of the Wolverine football season (barring a Bowl Game appearance next month).  It has definitely had its ups and downs.  Brady Hoke, I love ya, man, but you blew the game for us today.  The decision to go for it on 4th on the first series in the second half totally shifted the momentum in the Buckeyes favor.  Further, the decision to take that play and attempt it to run it up the middle AGAIN (though that hadn't worked the previous three plays already) sealed our fate.  Plus, hello, even if you don't use him put Denard on the field if he's able!  Just his presence out there is a threat.  *Sigh*  Congrats to the Buckeyes on a perfect season against a series of opponents where no one was ranked higher than 19 (us today, in fact) during which you almost were defeated three times by all currently unranked teams.  Heck of an accomplishment there!  (That dripping noise you hear, my sarcasm)

Anyway...

Wait, one more Buckeye dig - And while you did manage to have a better record than us, you still won't get the one thing we will to wrap up this season - a Bowl Game appearance.  Cheaters never prosper and all that.

Alright, done now :-p

We decided to stay in Fremont last night so we were able to watch the game with the fam (Mom, Dad and Scott at least) today.  I love the ups and downs of watching in Fremont.  ABC, the letter LJ and I are drafting regarding your commentators (with plenty of input from Scott) will be arriving shortly.  Tipper, hope all those chicken wings are worth it tomorrow.  Mom - did you finish all the twizzlers Noah and Kayla kept bringing you yet?  We're doing this again next year, right???

That is my baby girl!

 A girl and her Papa

Even Tipper was decked out in her maize and blue!

'Twas the Lights Before Christmas

Sometimes I think my family is kind of nutso.  Scratch that, a lot of the time I think my family is kind of nutso.  But I honestly wouldn't have it any other way because even if the strangest of circumstances we have a ton of fun.

Last night we made our annual trek to the Lights Before Christmas at the Toledo Zoo.  And as usual, it never fails (other than last year) we managed to pick the COLDEST night to go.  And honestly the cold wasn't so bad but the wind - yuck!  But we made it through and for the most part enjoyed ourselves immensely.  Noah and Kayla (thanks to Papa) even got to see Santa!  We had dinner at Charlie's followed by what will surely be an annual stop from now on a yogurt bar called Lola's.

Aunt Shell, Kayla, Aunt Sarah and Noah arrive!

 We hung out in the tunnel for a few minutes to get out of the wind

 Mikayla to Aunt Sarah "Do you have any money?"  (She wanted to throw coins in the fountain)

 That's me in the purple coat - five layers on top!

 Pretty :)

 You know it's cold when even the seals aren't swimming...

 And the polar bears look to be hibernating

 Wolves!

  

 Aunt Shell showing off her 'poo knowledge' - there's really no need to comment on this further...

 Noah and Grandma take it all in

 This Tiger was seriously miffed, pacing away.  Noah said he was a Detroit Tiger

 Penguins!

 A stop inside to warm up and see the trains

 Group shot with the reindeer

 Papa, a true man of his word, promised to take them to see Santa

 Mommy and Kayla the elves

 Noah, too

 Aunt Shell, Uncle Dudley and Kayla watching the singing trees

 Aunt Sarah and Noah got in on the action, too

 The blue tree!

 On the elephant for Grandma :)