Lazy days of summer

Today started out ambitiously enough. I motivated Ellie with a timer to help me pick up the whole house. Then we folded and put away three loads of laundy (with me folding 5 outfits to Ellie's 1. I can't wait til my free labor is more efficient). I was then going to swiffer, sweep, mop, vacuum...you know, do the floors, but I was distracted by the leftover pie in the freezer. So, we took a pie break. Then I remembered the books I picked up from the library the other day so I dumped all the Little People stuff on the just-picked-up floors that still needed mopping. With those pesky kids out of the way, I managed to read for most of the day, stopping occassionally to dump out new toys or dole out snacks. As we sat down for dinner tonight, I realized Tom was the only one who had gotten dressed today. He actually had to take the kids out of their pajamas to bathe them and put them in new ones.

Days like today remind me why I love summer so much. And also why it is probably a good thing I am not a stay-at-home mom year round.

I Scream, You Scream

Dianna mentioned wanting to take the kids to the Bluebell Factory for a tour. I went once in high school and didn't remember anything about the tour, but I definitely remembered the ice cream at the end. That was enough to convince me! We invited Rosie and Sabrina and then Sabrina invited Abby and then we had a 5 car caravan to Brenham, Texas.

Check out Kolby milking the cow!
Ellie enjoyed both her and Jack's rainbow sherbet at the end of the tour.
The kids weren't all that captivated by the tour, but they sure had fun climbing on the window sills and running in circles around the ice cream parlor.
Our plan was to have a picnic after the tour and then go to the water park across the street. Unfortunately, almost every one was full from the ice cream and not in the mood for wrangling the kids at a water park. Di and I didn't want our packed lunches to be for not so we headed down the road to Fireman's Park. Dianna and I may have been worn out, but the kids sure weren't!

Sunday Best: No Pic Father's Day edition

I didn't get a Sunday Best picture today because I was THIRTY minutes late for church. I hate being late for anything. But I didn't quite calculate how Father's Day would throw me off my game. I wanted to make Tom a special breakfast so that took a little extra time. And by special breakfast I mean a muffin mix and turkey bacon, but still, longer than cold cereal. Also, Tom normally gets Jack dressed and ready on Sundays while I get Ellie ready. I let Tom off the hook this morning without realizing that meant twice the kid-getting-ready time for me. Really, it was actually a good thing because it made me appreciate Tom's Sunday help a little more. Usually, I consider Sundays a big freebie for him, but I guess he does a little more than I thought.

Anyway, that is why I don't have any pictures of Jack in his awesome gray, pinstripe suit. You might be wondering why I didn't just take a picture of my kids AFTER church, but after three hours of church, my kids look like they spent a week at a refugee camp and aren't fit for any photo-taking. How about some pics of them with their dad instead? Appropriate, what with it being this very important day and all.

A special father's day shout out to my father-in-law, my dad, and, most importantly, my cute husband!

Grumpy Face

I have mentioned Jack's grumpy face several times on this blog. It is something people always comment on. He isn't truly grumpy, it is just a face he pulls when he doesn't know people or, well, when he doesn't get his way. I have yet to catch the FULL grumpy face on film, but the picture below is midway between happy and grumpy.

Today we were at our third birthday party in as many days and Jack did not know most of the people there so his grumpy face was in full bloom. I overheard some people talking about that grumpy kid and what an expression he had. I butted in and said he wasn't really grumpy, he just did that when he didn't know people. They seemed a little embarrassed about being overheard by the grumpy child's mother and tried to compensate by approaching Jack in a friendly manner. Jack was having none of it. His eyebrows furrowed even deeper and he wrapped his arms around my legs as tight as possible. I tried to tell them he takes awhile to warm up, but then one of them tried to pick him up! At this point, he was clutching my leg and screaming so I decided it was time to make a speedy exit. (But the party was absolutely adorable and the food was delicious, Michelle! Sorry about Jack's face...I know he loved seeing Ashtyn!)

My Jack, he shows such a range of emotions on his little face. I sure do love that kid...grumpy face and all!

Swimming right along

I am staying at my mom's house for a few days while Tom is away at some coaching conference (that he had to pay for even though he is a speaker...don't even get me started). Anyway, my goal for this little trip was to teach Ellie to swim. I dropped a significant sum over Spring Break for lessons and Ellie learned NOTHING. The whole time I was watching, I kept thinking, I am a much better teacher. I taught swim lessons for years and I think I was fairly good at it, but suddenly I have a FIVE year old who can't swim. So, as soon as we got here, we suited up and headed to the pool. Now she can comfortably put her face in and swim about half the length of the pool (of course, their pool isn't THAT big). I haven't taught her breathing yet, but I am proud of those long arms and big kicks!

Dianna and her kids are joining us tomorrow so I am looking forward to time with my sister and my newest nephew! Not to mention, her kids can entertain my kids so I don't have to anymore. Hey, when I am at my mom's house, I like to BE mothered.

Crisis of faith

As Tom and I were putting Ellie to bed tonight, she was resisting saying her good night prayers. "Jesus isn't real," she told us. "It's just a story." I wasn't sure how to respond so I just stayed quiet (Tom was burying his face in the blankets to hide his laughter) while Ellie continued on, "Jesus is just a story. Heaven isn't real, either." She continued on with this vein of reasoning very emphatically. I chose not to make a big deal of it, but told her that Jesus is real and talked a little about heaven and how my and daddy's grandmas are in heaven. The whole time I was thinking, How am I having this conversation with my 5 year old? As I was leaving the room, I asked her, "Do you still think Jesus isn't real?" "I don't know," was her reply.

Isn't she a little young to be having a crisis of faith? Afterward, Tom said she must have heard that from someone, but I don't think so. Nor do I think she is having a crisis of faith. That is just Ellie logic. Plus, she likes to be contrary. I have no idea where she gets it from.

You might want to call CPS after reading this

SeaWorld is giving teachers complimentary Fun passes for 2011. What a great deal for Tom and me! We decided to do a little mini-vacation to San Antonio and take Ellie and Jack to SeaWorld for two days. We booked a hotel on the Riverwalk and really enjoyed showing the kids around, riding the boat down the “river,” showing Ellie the Alamo, and, of course, going to SeaWorld.

However, our little mini-vacation wasn’t all smooth sailing. Jack would not go to sleep at night with us in the room with him. Then, he figured out how to climb out of the crib and destroy the room (including breaking my glasses). Also, it wouldn’t be a vacation if Ellie didn’t throw up all over her sheets in the middle of the night. And let’s not forget the worst part of the whole trip…losing Ellie at SeaWorld. Twice.

When we first arrived at SeaWorld Wednesday morning and Ellie darted ahead of us in her excitement to see it all, we pulled her aside and gave her a stern talk about staying with us and what to do if she got lost (stay still or tell someone with a walkie-talkie). We then went to the new Bay of Play that had opened up so Jack could see Elmo and Co. perform. While Tom had Jack, I took Ellie to an enclosed splashpad. I positioned myself near the one opening and watched Ellie run about. After a bit, a mother came over to me to ask me a question about where to purchase swim diapers. This conversation was less than a minute, but when I looked back to the play area, I didn’t see Ellie. I walked around the area looking for her and then walked out to where a larger splash pad was. Still no Ellie. At this point, my stomach was in knots and I went to one of the park attendants to tell her I couldn’t find my daughter. Tom and Jack found their way over to us and we looked some more. Still no Ellie. Finally, another attendant with a walkie-talkie said they had a missing child over at the carousel. Apparently, Ellie decided to leave the splash pad, go on one of those big rope-climbing jungle gyms and then go for a ride on the horses with no concern at all for the family she left behind. Again, we gave Ellie a stern talking to about staying with us and stranger danger and being lost forever and NEVER SEEING HER FAMILY AGAIN. We then proceeded to have a perfectly lovely day at SeaWorld.

The next day we returned and decided to start our day swimming in the Lost Lagoon. We set up camp on some beach chairs and I made a point of telling Ellie that if she got separated from us, to just come back to Jack’s stroller and wait for us. We then played in the water for a while and met back at the stroller to discuss further plans. While Tom and I were talking, Ellie was sitting on the beach chair one minute and the next she was gone. I could not believe this was happening again! We scanned the pool area and then Tom went over to the other parts of the Lost Lagoon to check for her. After about 10 minutes of looking, I once again went to a park attendant to confess to losing my child. We had to go to park security and lo and behold, they had Ellie. Apparently, she had decided to run up the stairs and leave the water park area completely. She then went to security to inform them she was lost. Clearly, she wanted to relive the attention from yesterday.

It is an odd feeling to be so happy to see your child and want to strangle her at the same time. And to think, we thought Jack would be the challenging one.

The many faces of Ellie

On Sunday, we went over to friends' house for a BBQ. Ellie had mostly recovered from her mystery illness, but she was left with a nasty cough. A cough so nasty that she would throw up in the most noisy manner. Our friends are expecting their first child in a month. I am sure they loved eating around my hacking, gagging child who threw up in their back yard no less than 5 times. Amidst all the gagging, my friend snapped some pics of the kids. I love these because they really capture Ellie's personality (even when sick).

Now I am off to take Ellie to the doctor because she is covered head to toe in a rash.