Sunday Best: The past two weeks

While I am playing catch up, here are my Sunday Best pics from the past two Sundays. I love how last Sunday Sam was too busy eating stolen crackers from the pantry to pose, but he still made sure to get in the picture.

MLK Day at the Texas Battleship

Tom's older sister and two of her boys came for a visit over MLK weekend.  We decided to go see the Texas Battleship on Monday since no one had been in years.  The older kids loved it, but I had to escort Sam off the ship after about 15 minutes.  He is at this stage where he wants to roam free and dive down portholes or throw himself overboard.  A battleship is no place for toddlers.

  

 

While we were there, Tom shared a story about how when he was in 5th grade, he was part of this service project where they raised funds to refinish the Texas Battleship.  The kids thought it was pretty cool that he helped save the battleship and I thought it was pretty cool that just when I think I know of of Tom's stories, he pulls a new one out of the hat.  For the record, he told it better than I did.

Some moments that have made me smile

Last night I was washing dishes and Tom came up and gave me a few swats on the bottom.  I guess Sam was watching because a few moments later he came over and started patting my bum.

On Saturday, the kids were cleaning their rooms and they dumped their laundry baskets over the banister for me to get their dirty clothes.  A little while later, I noticed more clothes being thrown down so I picked them up and took them to the laundry.  Then more clothes came down.  I took a closer look and realized they were Sam's clothes.  Sam had taken one of the empty laundry baskets, gone into his room and partially emptied his drawers into the basket, dragged the basket to the banister, and threw the clothes overboard. 

Yesterday after his bath, Jack was combing his hair in front of the mirror and I heard him say, "This is a bad hair day,  A bad, bad hair day.  Bad hair day right here, folks."

Last night, Ellie had Math and Science Night at the school.  Tom and I were both so tired from teaching all day that we did everything in our power to talk her out of going.  I even tried to bribe her with a movie night and popcorn, but she still insisted on going.  Tom very reluctantly took her.  I realize how very sad it is that two teachers tried to talk their daughter out of enriching her education.

Welcome to the New Year

Here we are, I blinked and January is halfway over.  School resumed and I went on autopilot.  Track season is starting which means Tom will be MIA until May.  I have enrolled Ellie and Jack into softball/t-ball.  It starts in February and I am wondering if I have bitten off more than I can chew. Dragging wild Sam to multiple practices and games is always a little tricky, but I am also excited for the kids to try out a new sport.  Now to go buy helmets, bats, gloves, cleats, bags, clothes, etc...baseball is not a cheap sport! 

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We started a little kindness competition at our house. Every time someone is unkind, they get a mark next to their name.  The person with the least marks at the end of the day gets a special treat of privilege.  Ellie and Jack compete against each other.  Ellie, of course, insisted that Tom and I be part of the competition so we compete against each other and the kids are our judges. Last Sunday, the kids were in my room fighting and being really obnoxious and I lost my temper and yelled at them to get out of my room.  I came downstairs later to find a mark next to my name.  I made them go put marks next to their names, too.  Tom wasn't home, but when he got home that night, he made sure to point out that he won the competition for the day.  It is easy to win when you have been gone all day!

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And, just because they make me happy, here are my #sundaybest pics from the past two weeks.  I love how Sam takes his cue from the other two.