Tooth Fairy Blues

I love being a mom, and I love traditions and holidays, I just wish some traditions were more compatible with the demands of motherhood, i.e. the tooth fairy. It's 7 o' clock at night, ben was out of town, Avery and Weston were sick and Eden comes running in to my room excited because she finally lost her tooth. She starts going on and on about the tooth fairy coming and what she'll leave for her. My mind begins to race trying to remember if I had any cash in my wallet, any in Ben's drawer, any change in the car-no, no, and no. I start in on the couch cushions when I begin contemplating ruining Eden's childhood and spoil the magic of the tooth fairy and tell her the cold, hard truth. Then I remember that Britta has some money in a jar in the laundry room...crisis averted.

NOT EVEN A WEEK LATER!!!!!

Eden lost her top tooth and again was extremely excited, and I thought to myself, well at least this time I know I have a dollar in my purse, whoo! So the day goes by, evening, kids in bed, I lay down to read a book and was so tired,fell asleep. Next thing I know, it's 6:45 am, and I hear Eden in tears talking to Ben while he's getting ready for work telling him the tooth fairy didn't come. SHOOT!!!!! Granted I was up a few times through out the night with Weston, and I should have remembered then, but I was only awake by the most technical sense of the word. Ben and I tried to smooth out the situation and told her we were sure the tooth fairy would come that night. All day, I kept reminding myself to put the dollar from my purse under her pillow. Well, I leave for a meeting, come home, go to my wallet to get out the dollar and it's not there!!! Oh that's right, I had to use it to donate to Eden's class for a book fair! So Ben goes to the store, 10 at night, to get her her favorite candy bar and it puts it under pillow. All is well.

Now, I know the easy and responsible solution would be keeping extra money on hand, but that would involve an extra errand to the bank or actually remembering to get cash back at the grocery store while I'm shepherding three kids past the candy section, loading grcoeries in the cart and telling Weston, "It's okay, we're almost done, hang in there buddy." Why oh why didn't the person who created the tooth fairy have a clause built in to make it easier on parents: "The tooth fairy will come within 1-3 days from the time the tooth came out."

Update on Weston

Weston is 5 and half months old!! He is rolling all over the place, sitting up on his own, and loves to gnaw on our faces. Eating is his favorite hobby, followed closely by drooling and excels at both. While he's pretty satisfied with strained peas, we can tell he's looking forward to using his two new teeth to their full extent to sample the food on our plates. He laughs and growls and blows raspberries and is a ton of fun to play with.

"...and just like that, our cat days were over...."

If you've seen the movie Forrest Gump then you will probably remember Forrest's transitions between phases of his life began with "and just like that" and ended with "my ______ days were over". And just like that his shrimping/army/running/etc. days were at an end. Two weeks ago, we realized our cat days were over.

Two Saturdays ago we returned our two cats Pepper and Piper to the adoption agency where we got them. Almost a year to the day that we got them, we passed the joy of pet ownership on to another cat family. We had been talking about doing this for the past six months. We'd offered to friends and neighbors. We posted on Craig's List. We'd even talked about just leaving the door open and letting them wander out 'on accident'. Fortunately/unfortunately, our consciences wouldn't let us go with the last option. So, we contacted the adoption agency where we got the pets and told them we were bringing them back.

Stephanie and I waited until the last minute to break the news to the girls. That Friday night we gathered the girls around us and informed them that in the morning we were going to take the cats back so another family could enjoy having them. We were completely unprepared for the responses we got:

"All right! I HATE it when they jump up on my bed at night!" (EDEN)
"Yeah!! No more cats!" (BRITTA)

Stephanie and I were rendered speechless. We were ready to launch into all of the reasons why it was not a good idea to keep the cats any longer only to find that the girls were already in a heavenly orbit anticipating total cat-less-ness. There was nothing more to be said.

The next morning we loaded all the cat paraphenalia and the two cats in the van and took them to the adoption agency. There were not really any questions asked. We left feeling like we'd just avoided another potentially uncomfortable discussion. We spent the rest of the day cleaning the house and vacuuming cat hair off of everything. At the end of the day, floors and counters were gleaming, and the smell of cats was completely absent.

In the two weeks since the cats have been gone, we only remember the cats fondly. No feelings of guilt or regret. I mean, come on - no more scooping the cat box!! No more watching to make sure the doors don't get left open. No more cats pawing you in your sleep. No more scratching of our couch. No more fur balls underfoot as you turn a corner. No cat food on the floor. AND we were able to reclaim the second bathroom. Truly, our cat days are over.

Normally we aren't able to walk away from our obligations this easily. So, we keep wondering when the other shoe is going to drop. So... is that it? Is it really just this easy? Based on our experience, YES!!

The Joy and Joyness of Buzz Word

During our Anderson Christmas Extravaganza of '08 I fell in love with a game called "Buzz Word". Perhaps it was just the people I was with(I miss you all so much!) but it was ridiculously fun to play and compete, and I told Ben I wanted the game for my birthday. Well, wonderful man that he is, he got it for me, and now I want to share it all with you! So, each week depending on how on top of things I am (don't hold your breath) I am going to post a Buzz Word Round. For those of you who have never played: There are ten clues. The "Buzz Word" is part of the answer to the clues. For example, Buzz Word is apple. Clue #1 is " The object of my affection. Answer-Apple of my eye." Clue #2 "Lump in a man's throat. Answer-Adam's Apple." I'll post one from the easy and hard categories. Feel free to post your answer in the comments section or just enjoy the mental exercise.

Buzz Word is "First"
1. Current commemoratives issued for stamp collectors
2. The ship captain's right-hand man
3. She resides at the White House
4. On the active roster of the football team
5. Foremost in quality
6. Attention is given in the order of arrival
7. Captain Picard battles the Borg in this Star Trek movie
8. Rod Stewart's heartbroken song
9. Rambo movie
10 What comes before your surname

Buzz Word is "Not"
1. Ripley's...
2. Gone, but
3. Unequal to a rose-colored penny
4. It doesn't end until it ends
5. Rolling Stones', "Love is love..." song
6. Inequitable
7. Les valuable than a pile of garbanzos
8. Verse spoken while plucking petals
9. Waste not...
10. It isn't Armegeddon

Do You Like Things?

Every once in a while I like to ask the girls a slightly off question or ones that makes them think outside the box. Their answers give a little insight to their personalities or as you'll see with Avery, insight to how their day is going. The question I asked recently was "Do you like 'things'?"

Avery: "I do not like Britta! I like mommy and daddy, and Eden, and Weston and food. But NOT BRITTA!"

Britta: "Yeah, sure." (My easy going child)

Eden: "What kinds of things?" (My very analytical child)

My Britta Bee

Playing with Britta is like performing a play without a script, and yet you're expected to know your part. Britta was apparently given the script and knows how it's all supposed to work, but I just can't seem to keep up.

Example 1:

Britta: "Mom, look the pig (imaginary mind you and completely invisible)is stealing the pie! She climbed on the table and jumped up to the counter. She's running through the market!!"

Mom: "Oh,no! Someone should stop her!"

Britta: "There, I fought her and took the pie and put it on the roof."

Mom: "Well, what if she gets a ladder and takes it again?"

Britta: (looking at me as if her suspicions that mom doesn't know anything have just been confirmed) "Pigs can't climb ladders."

Example 2: (Britta is pretending to be a dog)

"Look mom, the dog is walking to the door. Look, mom the dog is going out the door. Look mom, the dog is looking around. Look mom the dog sees a bird. Look mom, the dog is barking at the bird. Look mom, the dog is chasing the bird."

Mom: "I see doggy. You went out the door and chased the bird."

Britta: (sighing to herself) No, mom, I saw the door, then I went outside, then I looked around, and THEN I saw the bird. I'll show you again."

Mom: thinking to herself that she'd better go get a notebook, pen, and advil.

Example 3:

Britta: "I have free water for sale. Do you want some?"

Mom: "FREE water for SALE?"

Britta: "Yeah, do you want some?"

Mom: "Sure I'll take a cup."

Britta: "Kay, that'll be 4 dollars."

Mom: "But I thought is was free."

Britta: "It is."

Mom:....

Better Late than Never

So, this post is meant to give you a fly by tour of the last few months of our lives. However, I am not skilled in the arts of blogging and I couldn't quite remember to post pictures in reverse order so that the time frame lines up or makes sense...so we're going backwards from December to October and then within each event the pictures are going from finish to start...take an advil before you continue.

Our family spent Christmas in Texas with both the Anderson's and the Taylors. A bit crazy at times to juggle, but definitely fun and made some great memories. We don't have Taylor Christmas photos yet, but once we do we'll represent! So here are some highlights from the Anderson's Christmas:

The Whole Gang!!! Two parents, seven kids, three spouses, nine grandkids, a dog, and... did I forget anyone?

My Gang!

Will, Jamie, and my favorite red headed niece!

Mel and her crew! I love Drew in this picture :)

My favorite picture of the siblings. While this is pretty true to life...

This is a bit more accurate!

Random pic from the Zoo

My sweet Britta B just lookin' happy to be in Texas

Mel, Caroline, Jamie, and I went to...ah, Mel and Caro don't hate me, but I can't remember the name of your favorite restraunt!!! It'll come to me I'm sure as soon as I post this...

Still at "the restraunt"

HANNAH BANANA!!

Aw, Moose, words fail me...

Mel enjoying time with nieces and her kids

Avery decorating "her" branch on my parents' tree. It was loaded down with her contraband. Everytime I came into the living room Avery had a candy cane in her mouth that she had taken from her branch.

Not sure exactly what Melanie and Eric are doing, but fishing comes to mind...My question is what she did she use for bait?

Random pic from the park

Ditto

Ah, and here we begin a saga in reverse order. Bear with me:

VICTORY!!!! THE JAR IS OPENED thanks to...

The masters of Willakonda :) Until William combined his force

Eric was no match for...

THE JAR OF ARTICHOKE HEARTS!!!! It foiled us all with its ultra tight seal and unsurmountable slippy lid!

Pics Ben and I took of kids right before we left for Texas

Girls decorating their tree. Since we were going to be gone we didn't bother with a real one this year. The girls tree is about three feet tall, but I could not believe how many ornaments they were able to fit on each branch. Within the first week the tree was up it was knocked over at a least a jillion times, ornaments (plastic thank goodness) spilling everywhere. Before the girls decorate their tree next year I'm going to first coat the branches in glue...

NOVEMBER

I've told the girls about our "fun" raking, jumping in and bagging leaves when I was little. Eden decided she wanted to have this experience too. However, we don't have a many trees, or a lawn except for a grassy strip behind our apartment, or a rake. So, one day I was out with the girls and Eden found a branch from small tree that looked like a rudimentary rake.

The girls and I spent 45 min. raking a pile from a meager spattering of leaves on the ground into a pile this big:

But we had a BLAST!!!!

And just for good measure

Avery clinging to Halloween and the concept of dressing up to get copious amounts of candy

So here is another example of reverse order in the time line. Let me sum up. My wonderful, wonderful mother came out to help me after Weston was born. My dad flew out a few days later for Halloween and Weston's Baby Blessing.

My parents took the girls to the zoo

My dad came with Trick or Treating with us. I think he had the most fun! My mom stayed home with Weston. Eden was a witch (but she assured us she was a good witch), Britta was a black cat, and Avery, well, Avery said she wanted to be a fairy, but she refused to wear wings, a wand, or a crown.

Weston is 2 months old

Time for Your Annual Credit Checkup!

This week I took advantage of the opportunity to review copies of my credit report from all three credit reporting agencies.  Thanks to the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions (FACT) Act of 2003, consumers can access a free copy of their credit report at each of the three major credit reporting agencies.  You can access them online for a full month and can print (and sometimes download) a copy for your records.  While you can't get your FICO rating (credit score) for free, the items on your credit report directly affect this score and should be reviewed periodically. 

Each time I've looked at my credit reports I've noticed inconsistencies.  Sometimes these are minor (like my current employer or an incorrect home address), but sometimes I notice that something major has been recorded incorrectly.  This year I noticed that a credit card on my report had a "negative" rating.  We have never been late in our payments, so I was immediately suspicious.  When I looked into it further, I discovered that the credit card was not ours.  The account was for a gasoline company we never purchase from, and the account was opened in 1972 (I was born in 1978)!  Through a simple online dispute process I was able to get the account removed from my credit report within a day or two.  Because of the FACT Act, I was able to identify and correct these inconsistencies with no personal cost and little hassle.

I can't stress how important it is to check this information regularly!  These reports are the basis for our credit scores which in turn can affect our current and future borrowing.  Many credit card companies check their customer's credit scores every 6-12 months and adjust rates accordingly.  

If you have inaccuracies on your credit report, you could find your rates increasing without just cause.  For future borrowing, loan interest rates and loan approvals are heavily influenced by our credit scores.  Credit scores are "sticky up" but not down; basically, it takes a lot more effort to raise your credit score than it does to bring it down.  Making sure that your credit score is accurate is in your best interest and could save you a lot of time an money both now and in the future.  And, it could be the simplest way for you to quickly raise your credit score!

To access your credit reports at each of the three credit reporting bureaus, vist the website www.annualcreditreport.com.  (This website is sponsored by the three credit bureaus and the Federal Trade Commission).

For more information about the FACT Act and free annual credit reports check out this article on Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_credit_report

Here are some helpful websites that give a simple explanation of what makes up a credit (FICO) score and the best methods for raising your score:

http://www.fool.com/personal-finance/credit/get-it-done-boost-your-credit-score-in-months.aspx?terms=credit+score&vstest=search_042607_linkdefault

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fico_score

http://www.myfico.com/CreditEducation/ImproveYourSCore.aspx

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/03/23/business/main3960888.shtml

We are still alive

Having no internet at home changes so many things. First, email is right out. We just aren't as responsive. Second, blogging has come to an absolute stand still (as you all can see). Third, my lunch breaks at work are now entirely devoted to updating our bank accounts, paying bills online, receiving and writing personal emails, and researching directions, etc. Everything relating to our reliance on the internet has become complicated.

The business center at our leasing building has two computers. 75% of the time we make it over there both computers are being used. As a result, we aren't very inclined to head over unless it is late in the evening. Since this is the best time for Stephanie and I to reconnect since the kids are asleep, our last thought is for one of us to take off to the business center. We're really starting to miss what we had.

Today I decided to quickly post to say that we are still alive and that nothing drastic has happened since Weston joined our family. Schedules have adjusted and sleep is harder to come by, but everyone is healthy and life is good. Since I may not post regularly, feel free to call us on our cell phones:

Ben (703) 216-7604
Steph (703) 389-1520