Favorite "FOTO" Friday...

Today is Favorite "Foto" Friday at According to Lala...

This is one of my favorite "fotos" ... Lilley-Kate's first Christmas... First visit with Santa... Nick was 14 at the time and even though he was WELL BEYOND the whole "SANTA Thing"... he agreed to being in the picture... I LOVED this Santa... so nice... I remember he actually chatted with Nick and cooed with Lilley-Kate so long one of his "elves" had to remind him there were other kids waiting!!! LOL...

I hope everyone has a WONDERFUL and SAFE HOLIDAY!!!
Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

Tuesday's "TIP"...

Today is "TIP" Day at According to Lala...

When Lilley-Kate was 4 I tried and tried to figure out a way to "teach" patience... teach her that sometimes you have to WAIT for something and not everything happens immediately... I racked my brain to think of a way to "teach" patience...

I finally came up with the "timer" method... a few times a day... whenever Lilley-Kate would ask for something (snack... toy... help) I would tell her "to be patient" and would set the timer for 3 minutes... I told her when the timer "beeped" I would give her what she asked for... once she got use to the 3 minute "delay"... I increased it by 1 minute, until we were at 7 minutes... I would say within the month... she had "learned patience"... so if we had to wait in line... she could wait quietly... if I had to get things together before heading out... she could patiently wait... and even to this day I will occassionally set the timer just as a "reinforcement" of the original lesson...

Try it with your little ones... start with 2 minutes... and work up to what you are comfortable with...

Have a GREAT Tuesday!!!

A Fun Day with Friends...

Yesterday as the snow fell outside it was nothing but FUN inside at our house!!! My friend Mrs. Hardt (Melissa) and her two girls came over (Lilley-Kate and Kylee went to Pre-School together and are BFFs) for a Gingerbread House Decorating Party... it was lots of fun for the girls... Melissa and I pre-constructed the houses using the gingerbread graham crackers and sticks... we had LOTS of fun... we've already decided we are doing it again next year AND Melissa and I will decorate a house too!

Award Worthy...

Well... the weatherman finally got it right!!! We were forecasted for some "major" snow beginning at 3pm this afternoon... at 2:50 I looked outside and said to my husband... here comes the snow (just a few flakes at that time)... BUT... by 3pm as forecasted it was snowing so hard we couldn't see the back fence in our yard! By 7:30 we had a generous 2"... and measured just over 4" at 10:15 with the snow still falling! This storm is suppose to net us 8"... seeing how accurate the weatherman was with its' arrival I'm thinking we'll get that 8"!!! Lilley-Kate was so excited and played outside while Michael did some shoveling!

Merry Christmas Neighbor...

Lilley-Kate and "Daddy" spent the morning making Christmas Cookies (I was out running some errands and getting some final shopping done for the holidays)... This is the first year that Lilley-Kate has really been "into" the whole Christmas "thing"... so cookies it was... LOTS of cookies... so many cookies that I packaged some up for our "immediate neighbors" (the one's on each side and directly across the street) and Lilley-Kate and Michael "delivered" them just as the snow was starting... I watched out the windows as Lilley-Kate PROUDLY held the cookies as she and Michael approached each house... she was so excited and told me that each of the neighbors said "Merry Christmas" when she gave them the cookies!

Full House...

Well... Christmas/Winter break has started for the college kids...we have a full house tonight... Nick's friends are "camping out" here tonight... My husband/Nick will shuttle everyone into the city bright and early tomorrow morning (leaving NLT 3:30AM!!!) to get to the train station and airport in time to catch transportation home for Christmas/Winter break... we will be picking everyone back up as they come in once classes get ready to resume after the New Year...

Right now everyone is piled into the Family Room and they are watching "slasher" movies... (EEEEEEwwwww... NOT my idea of a good movie night)... they have all said they will be staying up until the "bus" pulls out at 3:30AM... LOL... yea... we'll see how many have to be woken up once the alarm goes off!!!

I'm going to make some gnoshing stuff for them and then head up to bed...

IRRITATED...

Well... go figure... second "MAN DAY" in a row (UGH)... and NOW I am IRRITATED... and even more than usual after my 19 yo reminded me that I am ALWAYS irritated to some degree... I acted all offended and hurt when he said it... but truth be told he IS probably right... as the "Holiday" ( I referred to it last night as "HELLiday" and my husband busted out laughing) draws nearer I am starting to feel like I am drowning... nothing "new"... I keep looking at my closet door longingly... OH just to be able to "closet" myself until Jan. 3rd... but alas... I am not really the type to go running into the closet screaming like a banchee... I'll just put on the "happy face" and plow forward... as usual...

Tuesday's "TIP"...

Today is "TIP Day" at According to Lala...

In this day and age I take every opportunity to "exercise the brain"... technology today has enabled us to become "non-thinkers"... and with our children growing up in an age of "exploding technology" sometimes "old school" is the best approach...

It has become time for starting to teach Lilley-Kate (5 1/2) to "tell time"... therefore... the THREE DIGITAL CLOCKS we have in our home have been put away for a bit (the microwave clock is covered with a sticker, the ones in our bedroom replaced with "Baby Ben"s)... and I have purchases 3 inexpensive "basic" ANALOG CLOCKS and placed them in each room that doesn't have a clock... one of them being IN Lilley-Kate's room...

I used this method with Nick (19) when he was little... he learned to ACCURATELY tell time in about a month... a friend recently confessed that her FOURTH GRADER could not tell time on an ANALOG CLOCK... I suggested it to her and it worked great (took about two weeks)

So... put away the digitals... and teach "telling time" the "old school" way!!!

One of THOSE Days...

It's only 9:44am... and I already know I'm having a "MAN DAY" (OK... I REALLY knew at about 7am when I woke up)... yep... for those of you who DON'T know about "MAN DAYS"... you can only imagine... for those of you that DO know... you KNOW what I'm talking about... if I crawled into my closet and didn't come out for a bit do you think ANYONE would notice? Because THAT is becoming a definite possibility...

Favorite "FOTO" Friday...

It's Favorite "FOTO" Friday here at According to Lala...

This is my newest favorite "foto"... taken this past Wednesday... Lilley-Kate was so anxious to get home from kindie and play outside... well... me not being much of an outdoorsie Mommy... Nick offered to go out and play with Lilley-Kate... and NICK suggested the snapshot!!! Big Brother and Little Sister... even though there are 14 years seperating them... they are the best of friends...

Have a nice weekend everyone!!!

SURVIVOR CHINA... Recap

As the snow fell last night here... I was snugglie and warm on the couch... it was SURVIVOR night... for those of you that missed the show... here is the RECAP...

HAE DE FONG... Show opens with the return from Tribal and the blindsiding of James... Everyone is glad that it worked because noone would've wanted to return to camp if it hadn't for fear of James...

RAIN RAIN and more RAIN... everyone is huddled in the little cave... TODD talks about being homesick and his alliance of AMANDA, COURTNEY and DENISE (hoping they stick together and follow the plan)... says they need to get rid of ERIK and PG... BUT... if they were SMART (the other three in the alliance) they would take the opportunity to get rid of HIM (Todd)...

REWARD CHALLENGE... Blindfolded while walking a maze... get to the center with your partner and you win... Partners would be FAMILY MEMBERS!!! All the family memebers were revealed... everyone cried when their family memebers came out... COURTNEY'S Dad is English and "LOOKED" English (pressed trousers and dress shirt)... AMANDA'S sister looked ALOT like her (AMANDA)... DENISE'S HUSBAND was revealed (you could tell they love each other a LOT)... so... then TODD'S sister comes out... they hug... TODD asks about his OTHER SISTER... and TODD'S sister reveals she had a miscarriage and lost the baby... GAMETIME... so everyone starts through the maze... they finally figure out the marco polo method and the game picks up.... AMANDA and her sister were using bird calls to locate each other... HILARIOUS... COURTNEY'S Dad complained a bit... DENISE and her HUSBAND get to the center and WIN REWARD!!!... She gets to pick 2 other SURVIVORS and family to go on the reward... she chooses AMANDA and TODD (PG is livid b/c she chose Denise for a previous reward)... so they go out on a boat for a big meal and some visiting and then get to go back to camp to spend the night...

Back at camp PG, COURTNEY and ERIK all doubt TODD'S story about his sister... COURTNEY does a less than award worthy immitation of TODD... Reward winners and family return back to camp... PG doesn't want to be around DENISE and is still mad... Guests spend the night and leave the next morning... DENISE pretty much immediately approaches PG and explains that she didn't have a choice on who to pick for reward sharing... PG says she understands but is still mad

IMMUNITY CHALLENGE... Tethered obstacle to raise flag... answer 3 questions right... use the keys to open the locks... raise your flag and win IMMUNITY... game starts out and quickly PG an dTODD are leading.. comes down to PG and TODD... Todd answers a question wrong and PG WINS IMMUNITY (her 2nd inividual immunity win)...

Back at camp after the challenge PG is actually stunned she won and considers herself the underdog in the TRIBE... TODD becomes nervous about AMANDA... AMANDA reveals to ERIK that she (AMANDA) didn't believe TODD's story either... PG tells ERIK that she will vote for TODD but she doesn't think he has much of a chance at staying... DENISE becomes the SEING VOTE and she is confused as to what to do...which makes TODD nervous...

TRIBAL COUNCIL... Jeff asks about the 4 vs. 2 split in the Tribe... PG says someone could change up the game with their vote and possibly go from 4th to 3rd... giving them a better chance to win... TODD says he trusts people but doesn't know how much he trusts them... It is time to vote... ERIK GOES...

*** Jamie fidgeted teh entire TRIBAL COUNCIL and at one point looked like she was laughing... it seemed very distracting...

NEXT WEEK should be GOOD!!!

Tuesday's "TIP"...

It's "TIP" day at According to Lala...

I can remember as a child watching The Carol Burnette Show (Oh I just SO dated myself... LOL) and one of the neatest things was her little "signal" at the end of the show where she would tug on her earlobe... I always wondered what that meant and WHO she was signaling... over the years I have heard a couple of different stories as to the meaning behind the "tug"... anyway... I always thought it was a neat thing...

So... When our son Nick (19) was little I thought it would be nice to have a "signal" with him... and I use the same "signal" with Lilley-Kate... it is the "sign"... I LOVE YOU... we use this at different times... at night before bed... just when she is going into her classroom at school and looks back at me down the hallway... when she is going into Ballet class... when she was up on the stage during her school program... just our little way of saying "Hi" to each other...

When we took Nick to school for his first year of college and left him in his dorm... we looked up at his window as we were leaving and there he was sending me the "signal" that had been "ours" since he was little... a memory I will always treasure...

So "adopt" a little signal between you and your little ones... something simple... it'll be something that continues throughout the years... and maybe someday you'll see the "signal" being sent from a college dorm window...

Have a great day!!!

Today's Weather...

SNOW SNOW and more SNOW!!!

We woke up to a generous 2" this morning... COLD and WINDY...

I'm still not use to these Northern Winters... Nope...

Not our first snowfall of the season... we saw the first snowflakes of the season in these parts on OCTOBER 16th!!!

Just Wondering...

If maybe the big drug companies are working on a vaccine against THIS?... Would it be a ONE-TIME only vaccine?... Or a series of vaccines over time?... Would a BOOSTER be needed later in life?... Would it be seasonal like the flu-shot?... Would there be children more recommended to receive the vaccine than others? I always referred to it as ENTITLEMENT SYNDROME... but I like the "ring" of AFFLUENZA better...