My new romance

My Ode to Shout Stain-remover

Grass stain on little shorts?

Shout.

Chocolate ice cream on little shirt, pants, mama's shirt, and blankets?

Shout.

Mud on the butt of little pants?

Shout.

Wild raspberry stains on everyone's shirts AND pants?

Shout.

Mysterious stain on garage sale clothing find?

Shout.

Miraculously successful with this use.

Red pen left uncapped on good bedspread leading to a huge spreading stain?

Shout...

Both for the bedspread and at the husband for doing the dastardly deed.

My love knows no bounds

for the magical chemistry that is Shout stain-remover.

Hunt for electronics

Our desktop Dell computer is severely out-dated by about 10 years. Our mouse (original) with a ball and cable has just about died. Off to BestBuy we went...it usually my go-to store for electronics because of friendly service and ability to play with everything. The helpful salesman tried very hard not to laugh at me when I told him what I needed and that the newer laser mice with USB adaptor didn't work with my machine. He did mention a few other stores to try. We also needed anti-virus software, which was conveniently located across from their laptops. Hmmm....$100 for mouse and software or $500 for a new laptop. This was extremely tempting, especially since Brian and I are constantly (but politely) fighting over the Apple laptop. I decided to go home, cruise the Internet for reviews, and purchase a new machine the following day.

While home last night, our digital camera (kodak from 2004) is slowing dying an agonizing death. The joystick has went, we can't delete photos, and now the flash refuses to work. Now I'm looking for a camera AND a laptop.

Today, armed with ideas and prices, I head to Target and BestBuy to molest the digital cameras. Brian was off to work, so I had Tamlin wih me. Being smart, and knowing the attention span of a 19month old, I packed a bag of trucks for him. Tam is currently in love with carrying bags or purses. He was a trouper, patiently playing with his trucks around my feet and the surrounding lower shelves while I interrogated the salesmen. He was also good at smiling and making friends with anyone else perusing the electronics. We did make sure we left with the same number of trucks as we entered with in each store :-)

At the end of the day I'm pretty sure I'm picking up a Cannon camera. I wanted a camera with at least the zoom of the old (10x) and had quick shutter speed for capture kiddo. I liked how easily I learned this camera in the store. However, I'm torn between a Toshiba and a Asus laptop. They are comparable in price, way faster then anything we need, and huge in terms of memory storage. The Asus being a little less in everything than the Toshiba. We would love another Apple, but way out of the budget!

Here's Tam playing outside after our outing :-)

Oh, and he is without pants... he was playing in the kiddy pool too.

Using a spoon

I think I can finally say that Tam has "Mastered" the use of a spoon...and that he is willing to use it. He knows that eating utensils are important, but has the tendency to hold spoon or fork in one hand and happily gobble food using the fingers of his other hand.

Today, I gave him a packet of pomegranate slurry, which he loves, and a spoon. He went at it like a starving man. Being the proud momma, I cheered and praised my big boy. He finished the entire bowl...with the majority of the food going into his mouth...though there were a few misses :-)

Flying went well

Our respective journeys last week went well. Brian and Tamlin successfully navigated the air. Brian's stomach turned in on itself only once and Tam slept through nearly all theflights.

Here's Tam waiting for his first flight at 6:30AM. Middle photo is of Tam with his Grandma Margie (Brian's mom) and the last photo is with Tam's Great-grandma Hixenbaugh.

Change of plans...

This calm week turned into upheaval with a single phone call. Originally, we

had planned for Brian's folks to come out and help with Tam while I traveled

to Utah for a science conference. This was to be a great time for Tam to

play with his grandparents from Mars :-)

However, Brian's grandfather inconveniently passed away...not that death is

ever convenient. He was a great man. I am really glad that I got to meet him

and that he got to see Tam last year. He will be missed by many, many family

and friends.

Brian was asked to sing at his funeral service this weekend. This means we

had a frantic couple of hours figuring out how to make this work. We are in

Michigan, I am traveling to Utah, and the service is in New Jersey. What are

we going to do with the cat? What are we going to do with the Tamlin? What

about work?

In the end, I booked airplane tickets for Brian and Tam to NJ while I am still

heading in the opposite direction. Kiddo is still young enough to ride in the

lap and not cost additional money. Brian is already steadying himself for the

chaos that is traveling with a wee one AND having a queasy stomach in a plane.

On another odd note, because this is last minute solo-parenting trip, we

decided to leave the cloth diapers at home and utilize disposables for

convenience. Brian didn't want to lug dirty diapers on the plane (and I'm sure

others will appreciate this). Off to the store we tromped.

I had NO REAL IDEA that there were so many disposable diapers. I admit I

know they exist, but previously I just skipped this aisle in the store. Different

brands, sizes, absorbancies, elastic-ness, soakablity, etc. I was overwhelmed.

Thankfully, another mom wandered down the aisle to purchase her own diapers

for a kiddo. I pounced on her (not literally). I stated that I cloth diaper but

needed diapers and what did she use on her 2.5yr daughter. She was quite

helpful and I left the store with the exact same type she swore by, but a size

smaller for our little guy.

Goodness... I am still very glad that we use cloth diapers!

Wordless Wednesday - Truck love

DTE was doing work behind the park...

They were finishing up by filling in a hole with the back-hoe...

We watched...

Then the driver offered to let Tam have a go at it...

Tam seemed to be a mixture of being elated and terrified.