Pieces of Me

Random Bits

2012-01-24T08:29:00.004-06:00

This past Saturday, Tom took Ellie to Monster Jam with my two brothers and brother in law and their kids. Tom is really not a fan of Monster Jam. It just isn't his scene. I am not sure it is Ellie's scene either, but she was happy to be with her daddy and her cousins.
***
I ran out of gas on the way to work yesterday morning. The last time I ran out of gas, I was 20 years old and had just purchased my first car. I don't remember it being as stressful of an experience as it was yesterday when I found myself on the side of a busy road, in the dark, with two small children. I was there for 45 minutes before Tom arrived with a gas can. In that time, not a single person stopped to offer help or ask if I was okay.
***
Ellie informs me this morning that a boy in her class, Cody, is so handsome. All the girls in her class love Cody because he is so handsome. She says he has straight blond hair and skin the same color as hers. But in the next breath she tells me that Jayden B. is her boyfriend. Jayden B. has "curly hair and brown skin." I ask her how he can be her boyfriend when she keeps talking about how handsome Cody is. She replies, "Well, I don't tell Jayden that I think Cody is handsome!" I ask her what she and Jayden do that makes him her boyfriend (with just a little fear of what her response will be). Apparently, she pushes him on the swing at recess. Also, sometimes he gets hurt and she helps him feel better. Whew. I can get behind that kind of relationship.

Vomit and New Shoes (but not vomit on the new shoes)

2012-01-20T10:45:00.004-06:00

Here it is, already Friday, and I am just now getting around to writing about LAST weekend. My poor, neglected blog. So....last weekend. I had Monday off so I decided to take Ellie to see Beauty and the Beast 3D. I invited her cousins, Kinleigh and Olivia, to join us. When I picked up Olivia, Sabrina informed me that Kolby had been throwing up all morning and I might not want to take Olivia. As if I would leave her at home when she was all dressed up in her Belle slippers and carrying a rose and a Belle figurine! I figured that since she hadn't thrown up all morning she was probably fine. Famous last words. As soon as we were seated and the theater darkened, Olivia threw up. I took her and cleaned her up and told her to vomit in her clear, plastic purse if she felt sick again. What? She still wanted to watch the movie and so did the other girls! By the next morning, both Kinleigh and Ellie were throwing up.

***

I also took Ellie to buy a new pair of Twinkle Toe Sketchers last weekend. Remember how conflicted I was about those shoes? Heehee. Now Ellie's thing is that she wants an iTouch because her cousins have them. On this, I am standing firm because Ellie loses everything. Oh, and she is 5. She kept begging and pleading until I told her she could have one when she is 8. I am sure technology won't have changed at all by then, right?

***

When Ellie was getting dressed for school this morning, she pulled out her old, ugly Montessori t-shirt. I think she had worn it like twice for field trips back in the day. I tried to push her towards a different outfit, but apparently it is twin day at school and she and her little friend (who also used to go to her daycare) had planned this whole outfit together...right down to their matching Twinkle Toe Sketchers.

Just Jack

2012-01-11T08:10:00.009-06:00

He can count to 10 in English and Spanish

He loves to wear hats and sunglasses. But mostly hats.

When we put him to bed, he will keep saying "I love you" as we walk out of the room. We respond with "I love you, too" and just keep repeating until we have walked far enough away that he can't hear us anymore.

He likes to repeat everything Ellie says, immediately after she says it.

He loves, loves, loves to color.

He also likes reading books, playing with Legos, throwing/kicking balls, and teasing his sister.

He stills calls cars and trucks "beep-beeps."

The threat of time-out can usually cut short a tantrum and bring out some serious sweetness. "O-tay, Mommy. I sorry. I love you."

*Had to add this cute little story from this morning: Jack walked up to Ellie and hit her with a ball he was holding. I told him "no hitting" so he turned to the wall and hit it in defiance. I then asked him if he needed to go to time-out. He turned to Ellie and said in his sweet, high-pitched voice, "I sorry, Ellie." Then he turned to the wall and said, "I sorry, wall." Both Ellie and the wall got his head-hugs, as well.

This will never be a food blog

2012-01-06T08:19:00.004-06:00

In the month of December, I gained ten pounds. Ten. Who does that? So, with the start of the new year, along with millions of others, Tom and I have decided to eat more healthy. We all know that "eat more healthy" means diet, right? So, last night I made grilled balsamic marinated chicken that I had marinated overnight. It was delicious. And I made a spinach caprese salad. I have never bought fresh mozzarella or fresh basil before. I actually had to Google how to chop fresh basil. How did people cook before the internet? Anyway, I was pretty proud of my little salad. So proud, in fact, that I became one of those people who takes pictures of their food.

I have also recruited a few teacher friends to walk laps around the school with me. I think I have enough people recruited that I should have a walking partner every day. I remember when I was in high school and I would see the older teachers walking around school in their dress clothes and running shoes. And now I have become one of them. I am not sure how I feel about that.

Weekend recap: Farewell to 2011 edition

2011-12-31T19:24:00.005-06:00

Happy (almost) New Year! Everyone is outside lighting fireworks, but Jack and I are inside watching Sesame Street because he burned his hand on this sparkler:

I thought I would take advantage of the free time to do one final blog entry for 2011. I noticed on the side bar in my archives that the number of blog posts has dwindled considerably each year. I wish I could wax poetic about something profound to end the year, but I have nothing. Looks like it's just going to be a weekend recap!

Yesterday, I took the kids to the zoo. Ellie immediately asked if there were elevators at the zoo. When I responded in the negative, she became much more excited about the trip. Tom had to stay home to wait for our new TV to be delivered (a new TV! After 10 years of the same old one, we finally got a fancy, flat screen thanks to some generous Christmas monies from our parents). We met up with Daniel and Sabrina and some friends and spent a good 4 hours checking out the animals. The kids had fun imitating the animals they saw.

Their favorite was petting the goats at the Children's Zoo. There weren't many goats in the enclosure this year. Seems like they used to have a lot more goats along with an assortment of other animals. Oh well, the kids didn't notice as they happily brushed every goat they could find. After the zoo, we went over to Tara's house to celebrate my mother-in-law's birthday. Usually, Ellie insists on helping blow out the candles, but this year she had company. All in all, it was a fun night.

Aside from the little sparkler incident, we ended the year on a high note. 2011 has been good to us. Here's to an even better 2012!

A funy thing happened at the museum today

2011-12-27T18:45:00.006-06:00

Today, Ellie managed to get her elbow stuck in the elevator of the Children's Museum. Not in the door or anything, but in the rail that most people just hold onto with their hand (if they even touch it at all). Let me just start from the beginning...

Our friend Alex gave us a few family passes to the Houston Children's Museum. I thought it would be a fun thing to do with the family over our break. The day started out promising enough. The kids had fun driving an ambulance,

shopping,

surfing,

and even rock climbing.

Unfortunately, too many days of late nights and no naps were getting to Jack and we decided to make an early retreat. We boarded the elevator to go up one simple floor. As we were exiting, I hear Ellie scream, "I'm stuck!" I look back and see that her elbow is wedged between the rail and the wall. No big deal, right? What goes in, must go out? One would think. But no amount of pushing and pulling would free that elbow. The entire time, Ellie is screaming and crying hysterically. A museum employee decides that we need to remove the rail. I was all, no, no, I am sure we can pull her loose. Still no luck. At this point, Ellie's screams have drawn a crowd of concerned parents. Tom and I are trying unsuccessfully to fight back laughter while our small child is screaming at the top of her lungs. I consider taking a picture, but decide against it since all those people are watching and it might make me look too callous. Then, another employee runs and gets a bottle of dish soap which they pour down Ellie's arm. It does the trick and she pops free, but still keeps crying and screaming. They take her to their little medical area and give her an ice pack while filling out an incident report. Finally, we are free to go...back down the elevator, which causes more screaming from Ellie because she doesn't want to ride in the elevator ever again. Tom decides he will distract her by pretending his hand is stuck in the rail and he can't pull it loose. By this point, Ellie is hysterical and convinced that the elevator is out to destroy her entire family. I make matters worse by having her pose for a picture right outside the museum. I am sure there are more loving and caring parents out there, but you'd be hard-pressed to find them.

The obligatory Christmas recap

2011-12-26T04:11:00.009-06:00

Christmas Eve:I love Christmas Eve. I love watching the grandkids act out the story of Jesus's birth (at first I wrote "act out Jesus's birth," but that just sounds like we had some small child reenact a labor scene...gross). My dad always narrates and my brother is always the donkey and now that I am old, I always get to be a spectator. I remember as a child, the part of Mary was always the coveted role, but Ellie just wanted to be an angel. Jack was supposed to be holding the star of Bethlehem, but he was removed from his star-holding duties after attempting to impale the baby Jesus (played by his tiny cousin Krew). After getting the religious stuff out of the way, my dad then told his Pack for Santa's Back story. Another story that has been told every Christmas Eve for as long as I can remember. Jesus's birth and Santa's Pack have always gone hand in hand. The kids were riveted. We also continued the tradition of eating Jesus's birthday cake and Mark once again was a party pooper and refused to let us sing Happy Birthday. Not that I didn't try.My parents had just returned from a Disney Cruise/trip to Disney World with my oldest brother and his family. They decided they would buy a gift for all 21 grandkids at Disney World. I imagine they spent their entire time at Disney World shopping. But the grandkids were so excited with their gifts.

We ended the night by having the kids open their Christmas pajamas and attempting to photograph them in all their cuddly cuteness.

Christmas Day:

I woke the kids up at 6:30am on Christmas Day. Yeah, that's right, I WOKE THEM UP! Tom thought I was being ridiculous, but I wanted them to have plenty of time to open and play with their gifts before going to church. It worked like a charm.After church, we went over to my Mother-in-Law's house where the living room was completely full of gifts. We ate a delicious meal to build up our strength for all that unwrapping. It was crazy, I was unwrapping gifts like a mad-woman and then promptly shoving them in a large, black, trash bag.

So, when we got home that night and I was going through and sorting them, I kept discovering all kinds of neat stuff I had missed the first time around. It was like Christmas times 2. Anyway the kids had fun destroying my MIL's house. Jack even managed to pull a curtain rod down on his head, giving himself a black eye. I am pretty sure my mother-in-law takes great pleasure in buying my kids the noisiest toys available.

Christmas Day After:

We went to my father-in-law's house for one final day of celebrating. We filled up on yummy fajitas and watched the kids play.

It was fun visiting, but it was right during Jack's nap-time and towards the end he started to have a meltdown. His sister teasing him didn't help.

Sorry about the marks on your window, Tom!

I love Christmas. Three days filled with my three favorite things: food, family, and fun (not necessarily in that order)!

Sunday Best: Christmas morning edition

2011-12-25T09:00:00.002-06:00

Merry Christmas!

A preschool Christmas party (as boring as it sounds)

2011-12-19T13:18:00.004-06:00

Jack's preschool Christmas party was last Friday. We have attended the past several years with Ellie and have always had fun. This year, with Ellie in Kindergarten, I went for Jack's party and Tom went to pick up Ellie from school. Jack has been singing "Bingle Bells" for weeks now so I knew he was excited about the party. But when I showed up, he started crying and insisted on sitting in my lap instead of joining the rest of the class for their performance. When it was time for Jingle Bells (Bingle Bells!), I was able to convince Jack to join the other kids, but as soon as I snapped his picture he was back in my lap.
I knew that decorating gingerbread houses would cheer him up.

But he was more into eating than decorating. I tried to put a few pieces of candy on his house and he got mad at me because he preferred the quicker method of eating straight from the bowl.

We ended up being the first to leave because I wanted the other kids at the table to have some candy to decorate their houses. The whole thing was actually quite stressful. I don't know why I am even documenting it except that I always documented Ellie's Christmas parties and I feel like poor Jack doesn't get enough blog-mention. Being Child #5 out of 7, I am very sensitive to that sort of thing!

My tiny teenager goes to high school

2011-12-14T15:01:00.005-06:00

I have been missing a lot of work lately due to my kids and their disappointing immune systems. About a month ago, Jack ended up having to come to school with me for 1st period because his daycare refused to admit him (apparently, if you get sent home for diarrhea you can bring your child back the following day, but if it happens again they will deny admittance). My students in my 1st class acted as though they had never seen a small child before. They kept trying to pick him up and Jack kept trying to crawl back into my uterus. I went home that day and was telling Tom all about it when suddenly Ellie perked up and started insisting that I take her to school, too. She then continued to ask me every other day if she could come to school with me. Well, today, her wish was granted. She woke up this morning crying because her head hurt so bad. Ellie has an unusually high pain threshold, so I knew she was serious, but I gave her Advil and proceeded to get the kids ready for school anyway. As we were walking out the door, she started vomiting. "See, I TOLD you I was sick, Mommy!" With such short notice, I had no choice but to take Ellie to school with me while typed up a lesson plan and waited for the sub to show. My 1st period was again overjoyed to see another small human, but this time they had someone eager to accept their advances. First, she wrote "boys" on the chalkboard and put a frowny face next to it and then wrote "girls" with a smiley face. My students loved this. Then, she drew pictures of Christmas trees and candy canes for all the girls (smiley face!) in my class. I tried to warn my students that she was sick, but they still insisted on hugging her and sitting next to her. Clearly, we got a lot accomplished. When it was time for us to leave, Ellie (who had miraculously recovered from her mystery illness) started begging to stay at school and meet all my students. I have always felt like Ellie is a teenager masquerading as a 5 year old and her total comfort in the high school setting just proves my point.

A REAL Reindeer: Part II

2011-12-10T20:14:00.006-06:00

So, you remember how last year we crashed another neighborhood's Christmas celebration and I was so excited because they had a real reindeer even though that reindeer had only one antler? Well, we went back today and this time the reindeer had TWO antlers. But there were also two antlers laying on the ground in front of Santa's sleigh and I found this very disturbing because somewhere out there is a reindeer walking around bare-headed.

Ellie was so excited to sit on Santa's lap. The whole time we were in line, she did her bouncing thing. Ellie likes to jump and she can jump up and down for a whole hour straight if she is excited or bored or just feeling bouncy. When it was our turn to see Santa, Jack went into full on meltdown mode and so Ellie ventured into the sleigh alone. Really, it is a shame she isn't an only child because this would have made a perfect Christmas card picture. I am a little stressed about the whole Christmas card thing. I always put it off til the last minute and this year was no exception. I ran out and picked up the kids new Christmas sweaters today and figured I would snaps some pictures for our cards while we were crashing this Christmas thing. Why do I always forget how uncooperative my kids are when it comes to pictures? It went a little something like this:

That naughty elf!

2011-12-06T15:32:00.003-06:00

Oh my gosh, y'all, we have been having so much fun with Elf on the Shelf! I wish I had started it earlier! The first night we just had it sitting on the mantle of the fireplace. The next night I forgot to movie it, but luckily Tom was on top of things and I found Elf sitting on the camel in the Nativity! I told Tom he was the official Elf-mover from now on because, not only is he more creative, but he has a better memory than I do.

This has been my favorite, by far. Such a naughty elf!
Ellie said that it looks like the Elf is "marrying" her Barbie.

So, obviously Tom and I have been enjoying ourselves, but Ellie absolutely loves the Elf, too. She named him Jingles and each morning she excitedly leaps out of bed and begins her search. And all I have to do is mention that the elf is watching to prompt a change in her behavior. On Sunday, she was acting up a little during church and out of habit I whispered, "Don't forget the elf is watching you." Then I remembered where we were and quickly added, "And Jesus, too!"

In which we skip Thanksgiving and go to SeaWorld instead

2011-11-27T14:47:00.005-06:00

Tom and I decided to take a little trip to SeaWorld for Thanksgiving. Tom's one requirement was that he be able to watch the A&M/UT game uninterrupted. I made sure to get a suite so the kids could sleep in one room and we could watch the game in the other. Man, that game was a heartbreaker, losing in the last 2 seconds. Something I promptly forgot about until the next morning when I was wearing my A&M shirt at breakfast and a strange man grabbed me roughly by the shoulder. He kept saying "two seconds" in a tortured voice. I just stared at him nervously, trying to figure out the meaning. Was he a crazy man saying we only had two seconds to live? Two seconds to change a life? I was going to walk away, but instead just asked him what he meant. "Your shirt! The game! Losing in the last 2 seconds!" Oh. Yeah. That.

Anyway, back to documenting our little vacation. Dianna and her family joined us and we had a blast at SeaWorld. They had it decorated for Christmas and the shows were all Christmas themed. I love Christmas. And not just because my name is featured prominently in many of the songs, something Ellie was quick to point out to me. I was happy my sister and her family were along because that meant more people to keep an eye on Ellie and I didn't lose her once this time. Ellie was thrilled to be tall enough to go on a few of the rides alone with her cousin Kinleigh.

I was just relieved that I didn't have to accompany her because rides make me queasy. I was actually feeling pretty miserable that day and we ended up leaving the park before Dianna and her family. When we got home, I promptly went to bed and stayed there for the next 36 hours with a high fever, chills, achiness, and just feeling like I was going to die. Tom was awesome and took care of the kids the entire time. At one point on Saturday, he came in to tell me Jack also had a high fever, but I was too busy planning my funeral for it to register. I am now feeling like I will survive, but poor Jack is worse than ever which is why I am up at 2:45 in the morning blogging about SeaWorld and sickness. There is something about nighttime that makes all illnesses seem scarier and I feel as if by being awake and standing guard, I can keep Jack from getting worse.

Deck the Halls

2011-11-27T14:30:00.004-06:00

Normally I procrastinate dragging out the tree and all the Christmas decorations until like 2 weeks before Christmas, but this year I was on my game and insisted we clean and decorate the day before Thanksgiving since we would be going out of town the following day. This way, when we got back from San Antonio, I would be returning to a clean and decorated home. I am genius like that. Decorating was made even more fun this year as Jack was old enough to join in. Although I am pretty sure he pulled off as many ornaments as he put on the tree. Once again, Ellie was able to put the spire on top of the tree. Every year Tom asks to switch to a star for the top of the tree as the spire is aways crooked and every year I remind him that I grew up with a spire and you don't mess with tradition.

Grandparents' Day

2011-11-22T16:18:00.003-06:00

Last Friday, Ellie's school celebrated Grandparents' Day. My parents were in Italy, but fortunately, Tom's mom was able to take off from work so she could attend. The kids greeted their grandparents with a musical number, one I know by heart since Ellie has been singing it every. single. day for the past two months.After a few more songs and some pastries, the kids escorted their grandparents back to their classroom for a little wreath making. According to Ellie, Nana promised Ellie that this wreath would go at the very top of her tree.

Bullets of randomness

2011-11-13T07:27:00.002-06:00

The kids and I ate at ChickFil-A twice in a 24 hour period this weekend. We went to dinner Friday night with Sabrina and her kids because our husbands had once again abandoned us for the weekend (for a little thing called the state cross country meet). Then, Saturday at 11:00, I met up with 3 of my favorite work friends and their families for even more ChickFil-A. It never gets old,

Jack has decided he is too big to hold my hand. Every time I try, he goes limp and I end up having to drag him or carry him. I have started bathing him in Johnson's Head-to-Toe Body Wash again so he will at least smell like a baby.

We bought Ellie a fish a few weeks ago. She named him Starlight and it was her favorite thing for about an hour. I am always pleasantly surprised when I walk in her room and find it still alive. On a completely unrelated note, did you know beta fishes can go almost a week without being fed and still live?

I walked out of my house one day this week and discovered the neighbor boys digging a hole in my front yard. It was almost to my knee. Then, the next day one of their parents had a tractor thing and was digging a giant hole in their yard and knocked out the water for the whole street. I need to put my house back on the market.

My kind of camping

2011-11-07T09:57:00.005-06:00

Some of my family were going camping last weekend, but Sabrina and I couldn't go since our talented-coach-husbands were going to be gone at the regional cross country championships. I was so disappointed because I have all these great memories camping with my family when I was young. But Sabrina saved the day by organizing a little backyard camp-out that ended at dark.

We had tents...

and food...... and fun...

So, although we didn't get to go camping for real, everyone knows the best part of camping is food, family, and fun...and we had plenty of that.

Ruh-roh

2011-11-05T09:39:00.003-05:00

Halloween was so long ago that I no longer have anything to say about it. Ellie told me well in advance that she was going to be Daphne, Jack was going to be Scooby, I was going to be Velma, and bald Daddy was going to be Shaggy. I decided that Tom and I would just go as teachers. Everyone was happy. And Jack didn't seem to mind that he was carrying last year's Easter basket since I forgot to get him a pumpkin bucket or something more Halloween-y.

Adventures in potty training

2011-10-25T12:00:00.001-05:00

This morning as I pulled Jack out of his crib and prepared to change his diaper, he started insisting that he sit on the potty. So I took him in there and placed him backwards, as I have seen my sister do with my nephew. Well, he was terrified because his little body was about to fall into the toilet so I pulled out Ellie’s old Elmo potty seat. Jack happily sat (forward facing) on the seat and I went about doing Ellie’s hair. Suddenly, I hear Jack yelling “peepee” over and over. I look and see Jack shooting pee all over the bathroom! Clearly, I am ignorant in the ways of boys because I had no idea his little thingy would not continue pointing down. So, I call Tom up on my way to school to relay the story and to ask him how we are supposed to teach Jack to point his weewee down when peeing.
“I don’t know, Holly. That’s not my area.”
“Well, it is definitely not MY area!”

So, please feel free to share your potty training tips for little boys.

Weekend Recap: Home Alone

2011-10-17T15:00:00.005-05:00

This weekend it was just me and my semi-sick kiddos. Tom took his team to a cross country meet in Arkansas (yes, Arkansas. Who goes there?) for the entire weekend. At first, I was kind of looking forward to the me-time in the evenings, but after spending Friday night alone, I invited Ellie to sleep with me on Saturday night. Big mistake. Huge. She was snoring and tossing and turning all night long. At one point, she had her arm AND her leg thrown over me. I texted Tom about what it is like to sleep with her and he responded, "Sounds just like her mom." Hmmmm. Anyway, I was really happy when Tom returned home last night. Ellie, on the other hand, wanted him to stay away for a few more days so she could continue sleeping with me. She says it isn't fair that she has to sleep alone when Tom and I get to sleep together.

Speaking of hair (we weren't, but I didn't have a segue into this part), I cut mine this weekend. It has gotten really long and I have been hating it for months now. So I chopped it short and choppy, about chin-length, and then went ultra blond. I came home feeling sassy and stylish until Ellie informed me that it looked terrible and she liked it better long.

Brought to you by the letter J & the number 2

2011-10-15T16:15:00.005-05:00

We celebrated Jack's birthday last Monday at a nearby park. I went with the Sesame Street theme since that is Jack's current obsession. I pretty much stole all my party ideas from Pinterest.

The birthday food. My sister, Dianna, made the pasta. It was delish.

My mom made the cupcakes. They had cream cheese and chocolate chips in the middle. Also delish. I had my nieces and nephews color the sesame street characters when I was babysitting them the day before. You see how great I am at delegating food and decorations? It's a sign of true leadership.

Jack really enjoyed my mom's cupcakes. Probably more than if I had made them.

Party guests...the fam.

Party games: Color with the Count, Bubbles with Big Bird, Pin the Nose on Elmo, and Oscar's Trashcan Toss. The kids liked the games, but I think they liked the park better.
Gift bags filled with Elmo goodies from the Dollar Spot at Target.

I'm not gonna lie, I stressed and stressed over this party even though it was just family. But I am pleased with how it all turned out. I am especially pleased that the rain didn't start until right as everyone was driving away.

Dear Jack

2011-10-12T15:50:00.003-05:00

Dear Jack,

Today marks two years since you joined our family. Although the thought of you growing up saddens me, I was still very excited to celebrate your birthday with you. I spent several weeks planning a Sesame Street themed birthday party because you love the characters so much (especially Ernie and Elmo, with Cookie Monster coming in a distant third). We celebrated your birthday a couple of days ago and ever since then you have been talking about your birthday. I am not really sure what you are saying about it as the only word I can consistently make out is “birthday.” This morning, Ellie, your dad, and I went into your room together to wake you up. We sang Happy Birthday to you while you bounced around your crib in excitement. I kept telling you “happy birthday” and you kept replying “happy birthday” right back.

You have evolved from one word commands to 3-4 word sentences. You love to sing and will serenade us every morning on the way to school. You can throw a tantrum that makes everyone stop and stare in awe at the force of your emotion. You are willful and impatient, but you are also incredibly loving and sweet.

You are such a boy. You prefer outside to inside, running to walking, jumping to standing. You like to throw balls and push cars. Your favorite thing right now is Jeeps. You are an expert at spotting Jeeps on the road, shouting out “Jeep! Beep, beep!” You still have a bit of a shoe obsession and you will clomp around in anything from your dad’s running shoes to your sister’s dress-up shoes (ok, so maybe you aren’t ALL boy).

Jack, it seems so strange to me that just two years ago I hadn’t even met you yet. It feels as though I have known you and loved you forever. Happy birthday, my sweet boy.

Mama

Weekend Recap: Zombie Moms edition

2011-10-03T08:59:00.004-05:00

I haven't been to any of Tom's cross country meets this season. Although I love watching him in action (I think he looks so cute when he is coaching), I don't love chasing the kids around and trying to keep them off the course. However, the weather was so nice this Saturday that I decided we would go watch the meet. Daniel brought Kolby and Olivia and all the kids had so much fun playing. Tom's team placed second. I'm so proud of Tom. He puts so much time and effort into his team and they really perform.

That night, I took Ellie over to a friend's house for a kid-movie night. Everyone was supposed to wear pajamas, but Dianna and I failed to get the memo. While the kids watched and played, the moms sat around snacking and visiting. At one point, we decided to do facials. And I have the embarrassing photo to prove it.
After the movie was over and the green stuff washed off our faces, I went over to Dianna's to watch a movie (with a sleeping Ellie sprawled across my lap). I didn't get home til after midnight and as I was driving home, I tried to remember the last time I had stayed out so late. I couldn't. I probably need to get out more.

Parenting fail

2011-10-03T08:35:00.003-05:00

Last year, I discovered the joys of grocery shopping WITHOUT children. I used to feel this need to rush to pick up my kids every day from daycare. THEN, I would go grocery shopping. I didn't want to be cheated from a single, extra second of time with them. One day my sister asked me why I didn't just pick them up from daycare AFTER I finished grocery shopping? When I explained how I didn't want to miss any precious time with my little angels, she was all, how much quality time are you getting in a grocery store? Sold. Suddenly, I didn't hate grocery shopping quite so much.

Last Friday I was in desperate need of groceries. Tom had a meeting after school and couldn't pick up Ellie from kindergarten so I decided to stop by Kroger to get some groceries....with the kids. I thought since they had those fun cars in front of the carts then the kids would be sufficiently entertained. I thought wrong. Within 15 minutes, Ellie was whining that Jack was squishing her. Jack was hollering because he spotted cereal in the cart that he wanted to eat. Ellie pushed Jack, Jack screamed, I made Ellie get out of the cart, Ellie started crying in earnest and begging for a second chance. By this point, mothers were giving me sympathetic glances and non-mothers were giving me annoyed, pointed looks. I dragged Ellie and the enormous grocery cart to an empty aisle, at which point I started whispering angry threats into Ellie's ears. She started yelling, "I don't want a spanking!" over and over....I hadn't even threatened a spanking (although the thought had certainly crossed my mind). I had reached my breaking point. "Shut your mouth or I will beat you," I hissed into her ear. She recoiled in horror at my white-trash transformation and cried out, "That's rude! You don't tell someone you will beat them!" Not a proud moment for me. I decided to cut short our excursion and head home. Ellie was asleep in the car before I was even out of the parking lot. I posted the following to Facebook: I will never take my kids grocery shopping again. We will starve first.

Why, yes, I do have another child

2011-09-30T15:17:00.002-05:00

I know Ellie gets a lot of blog-mention around here, but that doesn't mean Jack is a wallflower. If anything, he has a stronger personality than Ellie. I remember when he was a baby and I was so sure he was going to be my laid-back, quiet child. What was I thinking? As if Tom and I could even create such a creature! Jack is a firecracker. He wants what he wants and he makes sure everyone knows it. He is also incredibly stubborn. He would rather go to time out than say sorry. If he is angry at you, no matter how upset or tearful he is, he will not let you hug or comfort him. This is so different from Ellie who always needs the reassurance that we still love her even when we are upset with her. But, Jack is still my snuggler (when he isn't punishing me) and he gives the best hugs and kisses. I can't get enough of his baby-soft skin, hand dimples, and chubby cheeks. His birthday is rapidly approaching, but I will keep this one a baby for as long as possible!

Sunday Best: Fully Clothed edition

2011-09-25T16:33:00.002-05:00

Question of the day

2011-09-24T18:04:00.002-05:00

At what age do you start making your kids wear clothes?

Middle of the night ramblings

2011-09-24T02:17:00.004-05:00

It is 2am and I can't sleep so I thought I would update the 'ol blog. Something I only manage to do once a week these days.

Isn't it strange the things you obsess over in the middle of the night? Right now I am thinking of Elllie and how she can't ride a bicycle even though she is in kindergarten. And that I am somehow failing as a parent because of this. Part of the problem is we bought her a full size bike that tips easy, even with the training wheels. She goes down the driveway? Tips over. Turns a little sharply? Tips over. So, while she loves her bike in theory, Ellie is not really a fan of actually riding it. The other part of the problem is that Tom and I just don't work with her. I like to blame it on our neighborhood with its cracked, bumpy sidewalks. Not conducive to bike riding.

You see what I mean about obsessing? And in the morning I will be all, eh, who needs to be able to ride a bike anyway? Usually, my middle-of-the-night obsessions are about my kids' health or about bugs. Remember the mosquitoes? Well, now I obsess over ants. The drought and heat have driven them indoors and we have swarms of them. Plus, they are fire ants so they bite. I have ant baits hidden all over, but I worry Jack will find one and manage to crack through its child-proof exterior and poison himself. Oh, heck, now I am over the bike riding and on to the bugs.

In other news, school is going well for all. Jack seems happy when I drop him off and pick him up. He was coloring when I picked him up yesterday and threw a huge screaming fit when I took him away from it. Ellie still loves kindergarten, even on the days she gets a black check mark. She asked me today if it was hard for me to get smiley faces when I was in kindergarten. I reassured her that it was, but that I would still work hard at it every day. I am starting to get into the rhythm of school and accepting the fact that I can no longer stay home in my pajamas all day and maybe that's not such a bad thing. Tom is busy with cross country and his team is doing amazing, as always. So, yeah, things are going well..even with the bike riding and ant issues.

In which you wonder why I only talk about Ellie

2011-09-17T10:10:00.005-05:00

Me: [Turning on the vacuum near where Ellie is playing]
Ellie: Mom! What has gotten into you?
Me: It's Saturday. I'm cleaning.
Ellie: Well, do something boring instead.
Me: Cleaning IS boring.
Ellie: Well, do something NOT boring then.
Me: I can't. I need to clean. Do you want to live in a messy house?
Ellie: Yes.

And as an update....Ellie received ALL smiley faces on her behavior chart this week! I wonder if my little email conversation to her teacher about my concerns with Ellie not being challenged has anything to do with it? Ugh, I am the parent that I hate...a helicopter parent. But it did get her smiley faces!

In other Ellie news, I bought Ellie an MP3 player last week (total steal off Amazon). I think I have well-documented her love of music, so it will come as no surprise to anyone that she now wears earbuds everywhere (except school). She even goes to sleep wearing them and I have to sneak in and turn off her MP3 player after she falls asleep. I thought that I did a pretty good job loading innocent pop songs onto her music player, but I learned earlier this week just how important listening to lyrics can be. Did y'all know that Katy Perry's "Hot and Cold" has the B-word in it? I sure didn't...until I heard Ellie belting it out loud and clear. I told her it was a bad word and I would need to erase the song which brought her to tears because it is "the Chipmunk song" and it is her favorite.

Oh, Ellie

2011-09-11T19:42:00.006-05:00

Today was the Primary Program at church. Meaning that all the children from ages 3-12 were sitting on the stage, singing, and saying their parts. Ellie's class was actually sitting on the floor in front of the stage. I had to sit with my own class up on the stage, but before going up, I gave Ellie the talk about keeping her skirt down and sitting reverently. Um, this is Ellie we are talking about. The girl can't even stay still in her sleep! She was in constant motion. At one point she even fell off the chair. Her teacher was sitting right next to her and even he couldn't control her. I started wondering if I should medicate her.

Her rambunctiousness has carried over into kindergarten. She started off the year getting all smiley faces in her binder. But last week it was all black check marks for "talking" and "blurting out." Part of me thinks she is just bored because they are learning shapes and colors and Ellie learned that when she was 2. She graduated Montessori last year knowing how to sound out small words and do double digit addition and subtraction. So, she isn't really being challenged. But I also realized that Ellie is Ellie and she is always going to have a difficult time sitting still and being quiet. But I will continue to work with her and attempt to tame my wild child...at least during school and church hours.

10 years ago today...

2011-09-11T19:34:00.001-05:00

10 years ago today, I was newly engaged and my mind was filled with thoughts of wedding details and plans for the future. I was getting ready for school when Tom called me from the Enron building where he worked in their fitness center. “Turn on your TV,” he said. “A plane just flew into one of the Twin Towers.” While talking to him, I watched in total confusion as the second plane hit. I was in shock, but I didn’t quite get the full implications yet. As I drove to school, I continued to listen to the news coverage on the radio. My first class was Government and all the talk was on that day’s events. By that point, the Pentagon had been hit and people were finally making the terrorist connection. Someone in my large stadium class stood up and started saying how the U.S. is a bully and we brought this on ourselves. Well, talk about saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. People started yelling, others walked out, and I just sat there trying to absorb it all. In the weeks that followed, there was a lot of fear, but what impressed me the most was how our country pulled together. We had so much pride and unity. I feel like as a country we have lost that feeling. I just hope we never have to experience such a tragic event to bring our country back together again.

This and that

2011-09-02T19:25:00.002-05:00

Well, I made it through the second week of school. I even have a killer cold to show for it. I always struggle at the beginning of each school year. It is hard for me to go from being a stay-at-home mom to a working mom. I feel the guilt and miss my kiddos terribly. I think this year was especially difficult because Ellie started kindergarten and I was further reminded of how short their time as babies truly is.

On a more positive note, Ellie is thriving in kindergarten. My little social butterfly loves being around kids all day. And Jack now walks happily into daycare and hardly gives me a second glance when I leave. A far cry from his first week when I had to pry him off of me.

And now going completely off topic, I finally have a family photo! The last professional family picture we took was when Ellie was only a year old. Tom and I both hate having our pictures taken, but our abstinence was getting a bit ridiculous.
And because it make me laugh...
Enjoy the long weekend, y'all!

First day of kindergarten!

2011-08-22T16:40:00.002-05:00

This is the outfit Ellie picked out for her first day back to school. I like tomorrow's outfit much better. Ellie was so excited to go to school this morning. This is her pose for just take the picture so we can go, mom. It is very similar to her I have to pee pose.

Ellie goes to Club Rewind in the morning which is a before-school program at her school. She is a car-rider in the afternoons. When Tom went to get her this afternoon, they couldn't find her. She had been sent back to Club Rewind for the afternoon session and she was MAD that Tom was picking her up! She didn't want to come home! She loved school...everything about it. What a relief.

Back to school

2011-08-20T19:28:00.004-05:00

When I filled out the paperwork to enroll Ellie in kindergarten, one question asked what type of teacher would work best for my child. I think I put something like, "firm but loving." What I should have put is "not male." Ellie does not do well with men. She gets giggly and hyper and hangs all over them. I know, not a good sign for things to come. I actually moved her out of tumbling and into gymnastics just to switch her from male to female instructors. So, when Tom and I took Ellie to Meet the Teacher this Thursday, we were really dismayed to hear Ellie has a male kindergarten teacher. Before we even met him, Tom was all, "You have to be the annoying parent who insists her child gets another teacher." But, once we met him our fears were laid to rest. He is no-nonsense...just what Ellie needs. And I must say, it was weird being on the parent side of meet the teacher.

Prior to meeting her teacher, I took her to get a feather extension. I was tempted to get one for myself as well, but I have a feeling that the majority of my students will be sporting them this year and there is nothing lamer than a teacher trying to be cool. After meeting her teacher, I took Ellie school shopping. As I was standing in the check out line, my mother-in-law magically appeared and insisted we keep shopping. She managed to find all these great deals I had somehow missed and then footed the bill for the entire expedition! Even though Ellie had plenty of clothes by this point, I still couldn't resist hitting Target for tax free weekend. I let Ellie pick out all her own clothes without objecting (her taste is very different than mine). With all these new clothes and a feather in her hair, my girl is set for kindergarten!

I have been busy all week trying to get ready for school, too. I was moved to a different classroom, so all my spare time was spent moving couches, filing cabinets, and tables around. I have to have 4 different stations in my room: computers, independent reading, small group, and whole group. I just couldn't seem to make it work like in my old room. Oh well, I did have fun printing and framing these posters I stole off pinterest:

Now I am just excited and a little anxious for Monday morning!

Things that make me smile

2011-08-17T20:55:00.005-05:00

Ellie came rushing out of the bathroom tonight to tell me, "Mommy, guess what? I just pooed the pokiest poo in my whole life!"

***

I bought one of those Bounce dryer bars and as I installed it in my dryer, I just felt so happy. 10 year ago, I never would have gotten so much pleasure out of a new laundry product.

***

I love when Jack pats the floor next to him and demands that I, "Sit down! Sit down!" He always wants someone sitting next to him when he plays.

I also love how he loudly says "Bye" to everyone we pass. Ellie always said hi, but Jack prefers the byes.

***

When Ellie stayed with my parents a few days ago, she informed them that sometimes we run out of food and she has to go hungry. (Not true, Mom and Dad! No need to buy us groceries! Unless you want to. In that case, just some Blue Bell ice cream should do.)

End-of-summer blues

2011-08-14T20:09:00.004-05:00

I go back to work tomorrow. And so I am a little down tonight. Ellie is with my mom for a few days and Jack is going to daycare tomorrow. I know I will have to pry him off me kicking and screaming. I hate that. It totally amps the mother-guilt. It's not that I hate my job or anything. It's just that I spent my summer with these three people:

They beat moody teenagers any day of the week.

My first (and hopefully not last) 5K

2011-08-13T16:41:00.003-05:00

At the beginning of the summer, I made a list of things I hoped to accomplish and one of the things on the list was to run a 5k. Running a 5k has actually been a goal of mine since my freshman year of college when I signed up for the Habitat for Humanity 5K. I got the t-shirt when I signed up, but the morning of the race, I just turned my alarm off and went back to sleep. I still have the t-shirt. 15 years and 50 pounds later and I still haven't run a 5K. Nevermind that the rest of my siblings have been busy doing marathons and triathlons. This summer I began training in earnest, determined to finally run that measly 3.1 miles. My awesome sister-in-law, Sabrina, was doing the same thing and we decided to run one together. So, this morning, with our husbands and kids cheering us on, we completed our very first 5K in 32 minutes, 45 seconds. Yay us. Now I want to start training for a 10K. What say you, Sabrina?

An afternoon with a princess

2011-08-10T10:18:00.006-05:00

Ellie's cousin Kinleigh had a birthday party last weekend. I didn't tell Ellie that Belle from Beauty and the Beast would be in attendance. Ellie was blown away. She honestly believed it was the REAL Belle and she constantly peppered her with questions about her life at the castle.

Belle did a great job. She read a story to the kids and danced with them, even bursting into song occasionally. Never once did she break from character.
Ellie has now switched her allegiance from Cinderella to Belle.
My little girl is starting kindergarten in a little over a week. I am surprised how hard I am taking it. I just want to keep her my little princess forever.

This is my last vacation post, I promise

2011-08-04T09:35:00.005-05:00

When we go on road trips, Tom does all the driving. He says it is because he loves to drive, but maybe he just hates the way I drive? Either way, it is a win-win situation because I can read the whole time. I brought four books with me (Bossypants, What Happened to Goodbye, Something Borrowed, Before I Go To Sleep) and I was able to read them all in drive time alone. Of course, Tom kept wanting me to look at and discuss the scenery with him. This is a hidden side of Tom, he really appreciates beauty (which is why he married me, heh heh). He could even find beauty in the West Texas landscape. Every rest stop, he would make me take a picture of the kids with his chosen backdrop. As we got closer to Arizona, the terrain became more hilly. Tom kept referring to the hills as mountains, but, as someone who lived in Utah for a few years, I am an expert on mountains and I set him straight. We had a lively discussion going about the difference between hills and mountains (I know, we are so fun to hang out with) when suddenly a mountain sprang up from nowhere. According to my brother-in-law, Jason, it is the second largest mountain in Arizona. Tom wanted to go up this mountain, and as luck would have it, my brother-in-law had some ashes that he needed to scatter from the top of that very mountain. [Quick explanation: Jason is a mortician and owns his own funeral home. Apparently, the deceased family did not want to scatter the ashes themselves, but knew where they wanted them scattered.] So, we joined Jason and the deceased for the trip. Once we reached a good scattering place, we hiked around a bit while Jason did his thing (apparently, you have to make a map of where you scatter ashes, GPS coordinates and all. Just a fun fact for ya). Because of the dry weather, the forest rangers had gathered all the branches and brush into piles. My niece explained to Ellie that "the Indians used to live in them a long time ago. Like in the 1970s." I didn't bother correcting her.

On our way back down the mountain, the winding roads were getting to everyone. I have never been carsick in my life and even I was feeling it. Tom ended up vomiting and thus ended his obsession with the mountain.

Tom karaokes

2011-07-31T18:32:00.004-05:00

While at the scorpion ranch, we had a night of karaoke. Those of you who know Tom in real life will be completely shocked when I tell you that Tom participated. You read that right. The ever-so-reasonable Tom sang Britney Spears' "Hit Me Baby One More Time" in front of my entire family (including my grandpa and aunts and uncles). And, yes, the song choice was entirely his. I don't have any pictures because I was too busy recording. I would post the video, but I value my marriage too much. At the end of his heartfelt Britney rendition, Tom then offered to do an encore with my brothers. He chose Backstreet Boys' "I Want it That Way." Please see the following blurry, camera-phone pics as evidence:
Notice who is hogging the mike?
Tom is actually jumping in the air here to reach the high notes. In case you were wondering, this was an alcohol-free event.

Scorpions, tarantulas, and bees...oh my

2011-07-29T10:23:00.004-05:00

Our family reunion was at the C.O.D. Ranch in Oracle, Arizona. This ranch was awesome in many ways: our own personal chef, sweet casitas, hiking trails, hot tub and pool, among many other things. However, the ranch had one major drawback in my opinion. It's "wildlife" as the chef called it. The first night there the chef reminded us to check our beds and shoes and told us that we would probably see about 8-10 scorpions each. He reassured us that they haven't had a scorpion bite in about a year and a half. I personally didn't find it all that reassuring.

Each night we would gather around the campfire to hear family history stories. The first night we were listening to my dad tell stories about his life. The younger kids had grown a little restless and were playing in the golf cart (of course) a few feet away. Suddenly, I hear Ellie say to the other kids, "It's a tarantula! There's only one thing to do [pause] run for your lives!" And then all the kids came screaming back to the fire. I expected to see a large spider, but wouldn't you know, it really was a tarantula.

Something I didn't know about scorpions is that they glow under black light. My sister bought several black light flashlights for us to check our cabins each night. That first night, after seeing the tarantula, we went back to our cabin and Tom discovered a scorpion on the wall above the Jack's pack-n-play. Needless to say, I didn't sleep much that night.

My sister-in-law, Alethia, is a lover of all things creepy-crawlie. She took the kids for a flashlight walk to look for bugs. They counted over 40 scorpions.The kids thought it was awesome. Me? Not so much. I have to say, it was a relief to come home and not have to check every surface of my room with a black light.

Oh, yeah, I threw the bees in my title to be clever. The ranch wasn't overrun with them or anything. But Ellie did get her first bee sting at the ranch. She had fallen down a mountain earlier in the day, scraping up her arms and legs, and she barely even whimpered about it. But when she got stung by the bee? You could hear her screaming throughout the ranch. Everyone knew about it. She was fine after some Benadryl and Ibuprofen. Really, the bees and the fire ants were the least of my concerns.

I'm pushing for an all-inclusive resort in Florida as our next reunion spot.

1 might be too young to drive

2011-07-28T09:35:00.011-05:00

We are back from our exotic vacation in the Arizona desert. Things I learned on this vacation:

a black light flashlight is a must for finding and killing scorpions in your cabin

duct tape is great for removing very fine cactus needles

Ellie is NOT allergic to bee stings

Jack is obsessed with golf carts and should not be left unattended in one

I will probably write about my vacation in way too many posts, but for this one I think I will address Jack and his golf cart obsession. The scorpion-infested ranch that my family rented out for our reunion had a golf cart so my dad could chauffeur my mom and grandma around. All Jack wanted to do the whole time we were there was sit in that golf cart (which he referred to as a "beep beep"). I took the following picture and posted it on Facebook along with the caption "Good thing they don't know how to start it!" You see where this is going, don't you?

The next day, I am sitting on the porch, shooting the breeze with my sisters, while Jack and his two cousins (ages 2 and 4) are playing in the golf cart a few feet away. Tom is sitting on a porch a few cabins away and shouts out on inquiry about Jack's whereabouts. I reply that he is playing in the golf cart. "Good plan, Holly, let our 1 year old play in a motorized vehicle." Not liking his condescending tone, I roll my eyes and was about to respond that it's not like Jack can drive it when suddenly I see the cart moving out of the corner of my eye. Jack is at the wheel and my 4 year old nephew is on the floor pushing the peddle (after first finding the key hidden on top and inserting it into the ignition). I was off that porch in a flash, trying to push back on the moving cart and yelling for someone to come stop this thing (what? I certainly don't know how to work a golf cart! I leave that to the children).

Anyway, no one got hurt, but I did spend a lot of my vacation sitting next to Jack in that cart, making sure he didn't take any excursions on his own.

In which I don't wish my husband a happy birthday

2011-07-19T22:14:00.003-05:00

Y'all, guess what? Today is Tom's birthday! But he isn't going to get any fancy birthday shout out from me because he doesn't read my blog. Not that he doesn't know about it, he just can't be bothered. And thank heavens because then he would know my secrets, like how I fed him my student's leftovers and passed it off as my own cooking.

I would like to say I made today amazing for him, but as we are leaving for a long road trip tomorrow, today was full of boring errands. My sister did watch the kids this afternoon, so we could squeeze in a matinee (thanks, Di!).

Before you start feeling too sorry for Tom, know that he did get a party. His sister invited us over to her house on Sunday to celebrate. As always, I forgot my camera, so please forgive the camera-phone quality and lack of pictures.

As I mentioned above, tomorrow we leave for Arizona. 15 hours in the car with two kids (broken up into two days). I requested every Elmo and Signing Time DVD from the library. I am hoping that will keep Jack entertained. And I bought Ellie a new book for her Tag Reader and a new game for her MobiGo. How on earth did we manage road trips before technology? I seem to remember singing a lot of "Wheels on the Bus"as a child which just makes me even more impressed with my parents because 15 hours of singing would make me want to drive off the road into the nearest tree.

The Greatest Show on Earth (debatable)

2011-07-08T19:02:00.006-05:00

I had so many projects planned for this summer to make my house more showable (is that even a word?) but I have failed to accomplish any of them. Instead, I have spent my summer going to the $1 movies with Ellie and her cousins, swimming, and just relaxing. After my run this morning? I showered and then got BACK INTO MY PAJAMAS. Summer is deep in my bones. Now where was I...oh yes, I was going to write about the circus. We have taken Ellie to the circus every year for the past 4 years. But this was Jack's first year to go. Really, we should have just left him at home with Nana like we did last year because he was only interested in the first 10 minutes. Part of the problem was his bedtime is at 7 and the show didn't start til 7:30.

Still, it was a fun night and we went with my sister, two brothers, and their respective families. So, 8 adults and 11 kids if you want to do the math.

We went out to eat at Joe's Crab Shack beforehand. Leilani wore a bib that said, "I have crabs." I am hoping she is still too young to realize the full implications of that bib. The kids enjoyed dinner almost as much as they enjoyed the circus. Speaking of which, the circus gets less and less impressive every year. Part of the problem is they use fewer animals. They still had the tigers, but I am pretty sure those tigers were high on tranquilizers...they were so sluggish. Part of me was hoping one would just wake up and launch himself at the trainer. Not to hurt him, but at least to add a little excitement. And then there were the flying trapeze artists. No lie, they missed about 50% of their swings or throws or flying...whatever it is called. And the twisted part of me (the same part hoping for the tiger attack) was thrilled to see them fall to the net below. So, basically, their failure was a plus for me.Another plus? I didn't lose Ellie once!

Sunday Best: the blessing of Krew edition

2011-07-03T18:46:00.004-05:00

Tom joined us for church today because my adorable nephew Krew was being blessed. The picture below are the men in the blessing circle (my dad, brother-in-law, and two brothers) with their matchy-matchy gray suits that they totally planned. If they had bought matching ties for the occasion, then I would be a little concerned.
Tom is in the picture, too, so he wouldn't feel left out. Judging by his expression, I am pretty sure he wouldn't have minded being left out.

After church, Dianna invited everyone over for dinner at her place. The food was delish and Ellie was thrilled to be running wild with her cousins (Jack would've been, too, but thankfully he slept most of the time. The boy is a terror these days). Anyway, it was a nice break from our normal, boring Sundays.

Lazy days of summer

2011-06-24T18:30:00.002-05:00

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

2011-06-20T21:40:00.007-05:00

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

2011-06-19T17:52:00.005-05:00

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

2011-06-18T15:06:00.003-05:00

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

2011-06-14T17:05:00.003-05:00

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

2011-06-13T22:49:00.004-05:00

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

2011-06-10T14:40:00.003-05:00

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

2011-06-01T07:36:00.002-05:00

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.

My Little Man

2011-05-30T12:23:00.000-05:00

Sunday Best: Time and Love edition

2011-05-30T07:29:00.004-05:00

Yesterday at church, the bishop (our minister) talked about raising your kids right. His message was that the two things kids need are time and love. I know we have the love part down because we are very affectionate in this house (both physically and verbally), but I worry about the time part. I needed the reminder to be a more present mother and to spend time liberally, spontaneously, and individually with the kiddos.

It's all about the food

2011-05-26T08:16:00.006-05:00

I have been enjoying some good food lately. Tuesday night, I went to the Melting Pot with my mom and sisters. Anything dipped in cheese and chocolate tastes delicious, right?

Then, yesterday, I told my classes they could bring in food for an end-of-year party. In the past, this usually meant chips, sodas, and packaged desserts from WalMart. However, this year I am teaching solely ESL students and the dishes were much different. I am not sure of the names, but I enjoyed these amazing biscuit things from Columbia, a Puerto Rican rice dish, and lots of different Mexican dishes. My students were bringing in big, disposable metal pans full of food. One girl told me to take the rest of her food home. It was rice with the chicken and gravy you pour over it. Tom will NOT eat leftovers and he definitely wouldn't eat anything a student made. So, I just pretended like I cooked it and served it for dinner last night. He commented on how good dinner was and I was all, "thank you." I just hope he doesn't ask me to make it again.

Ironman Texas

2011-05-23T08:34:00.005-05:00

My dad and two brothers competed in the Ironman this Saturday. For those you you who don't know, the Ironman is a 2.4 mile swim, followed by a 112 mile bike ride, and then finishes with a 26.2 mile run. My brother Mark had already completed an Ironman previously, but Daniel and my Dad had "only" done half Ironmans. Even though I was feeling pretty sick, I wanted to go cheer them on so as soon as Tom got home on Saturday, I drove out to the Woodlands for the event.

The Ironman is expensive. It costs over $600 to enter and the training takes up a lot of time. So much time, in fact, that my mom and sister-in-laws wore these shirts the day of the race:

The Ironman officials are very strict. If you do not finish each portion within a certain amount of time, they will pull you out of the competition...all that time and money wasted. My sister saw one swimmer reach shore just seconds after the cutoff time and they pulled her out and wouldn't let her finish. Pretty intense, right?

My brothers finished the swim and bike portion faster than expected. And each time we saw them on the run, they were smiling and looking great. After their last loop, we headed over to the finish line. We expected to see them within the hour, but no one showed. Meanwhile, my mom gets a call saying my dad passed out during the run and is in the med tent. So, she headed over to the tent and we continued to wait for my brothers to finish. An hour passed and still no boys. Finally, 1.5 hour after we expected them, they went running by. Daniel seemed in great spirits, but Mark looked a little out of it. Apparently, 6 miles to the finish line, Mark got really sick and couldn't keep anything down. He was on the ground and the medics kept coming over to him, but if you get any medical assistance you are pulled out of the event. So, Mark and Daniel kept fighting them off. The medics were getting ready to override Mark's decision so he staggered a few feet down the road and hid behind a bush. Daniel stayed with him for the next 45 minutes until he recovered enough to finish the last few miles.

My dad ended up with IVs in both arms and an EKG. I am proud of my dad for finishing the swim and the bike. And I am proud of my brothers for finishing the Ironman by 8:00. However, I think all three of them are COMPLETELY INSANE and I hope they have it out of their systems because it is REALLY STRESSFUL being a spectator at these things.

Ellie graduates

2011-05-20T20:59:00.003-05:00

Yesterday, I walked into Jack's daycare room right as his teacher was checking his temp. "102," she informed me. Because I had already taken off work the day before and I had just read the school-wide email saying we didn't have any subs available for Friday, I made Jack's teacher check his temp again. Still 102. I believe my exact words to her were, "You're killing me." You see, this is so not the weekend for sick kids. Tom was leaving for Austin to coach the Congress Avenue Mile and I had Ellie's graduation to attend on Friday and the IronMan on Saturday. There was no time for sickness. I took both kids back up to school with me so I could write out sub plans (even though we apparently didn't have any subs).
This morning, Jack still had a fever, but seemed in a good mood. In fact, when I went to take a picture of Ellie all dressed up for her graduation day, he jumped right in shouting, "Cheese!"
After dropping Ellie off, Jack and I played for awhile and then laid down for naps. While I was sleeping, I missed a call from daycare saying that now Ellie has a fever and is hunched over the trash can saying she is going to throw up. Most parents would be concerned about their sick child, but my first thought was, "I paid $20 bucks for a cap and gown that she will never wear?" Plus, I was really looking forward to her graduation and the cute photo op (with my old, crappy camera since my nice one STILL isn't working) it would make. They decided to let Ellie stay for her graduation, mainly because she was begging them. I gave them permission to dose her up with Tylenol and patted myself on the back for my excellent parenting.

Because Tom is out of town, my mom came with me to graduation. I don't think she realized we would be crammed into a small room and have to sit in tiny, chairs that had tennis balls on the feet. It was so hot in there that I thought I would faint. But Ellie was super cute in her little white gown and cardboard hat.

Here she is accepting her "diploma" from Ms. Ginger.

All the kids read a speech they had prepared. Here is Ellie's:

I have been at Montessori since I was 1 year old. I learned my ABCs and how to read. I learned addition and subtraction. I still haven't learned to nap, but I made a lot of friends.
Completely adorable.

The graduation ceremony last 1 1/2 hours. The kids were getting restless and none more so than my little Ellie. I started keeping track and she got in trouble 4 times during the ceremony. And by "got in trouble," I mean that a teacher had to go to the back row and reprimand her. Nice.

It seems strange to say I am proud of my girl for graduating preschool of all things. Because, let's be honest, everyone graduated. The preschool dropout rate isn't really a big concern. But, still, I am proud of my little girl.

Happy Birthday, Mia!

2011-05-19T11:36:00.005-05:00

What's this? Two posts in one day? That's because when I was getting my anniversary pictures (all TWO of them) off my phone, I saw that I had taken like a million pictures at Mia's birthday party this past weekend. And what a fun party it was! Mark and Rosie set up their backyard for a day of watery fun. After swimming and playing on the water side, the kids played a game of balloon toss on the sport court. Jack just played with the balloons. And then he went around with the wagon picking up balloon fragments. Such a good helper! After the balloon toss, the kids played kickball with wading pools as bases and a sprinkler and tarp as home base. No one was keeping score and kids were running every which way, but everyone was super excited about the game. Except for Jack who couldn't stay away from the bubble machine. He was pretty much just drinking the bubbles straight from the bowl and I was getting a little worried about future diapers.

We have been on a streak of birthday parties lately. I even had to turn down an invitation for one this Saturday because we will be in the Woodlands cheering on my Dad and brothers as they do the IronMan. I am looking forward to summer when the fun isn't just reserved for the weekends.

9 years and going strong

2011-05-19T11:23:00.004-05:00

Yesterday, Tom and I took the day off from work so we could celebrate our 9^th anniversary. Tom still had to wake up early for practice (heaven forbid his team should miss a workout) and I took the kids to daycare. Afterward, we met up at IHOP for breakfast. One of my former students waited on us. Even on my day off, I can’t escape my students. Then we went home and took a nap before hitting the matinee. After the movie, we went out for fajitas and then picked up the kids. The night before, I had explained to Ellie about our anniversary. She really wanted to celebrate our “married time” with us so after picking them up, we went for ice cream. It was the perfect way to end our day of celebration.

I’m not going to lie to you; the past nine years haven’t all been sunshine and roses. But even when Tom and I are duking it out in the trenches, I always know in the back of my mind that we will be okay. I sure do love that husband of mine and I always will.

Sunday Best: Cranky Mom edition

2011-05-15T18:03:00.003-05:00

I woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. Seriously, every little thing was making me angry. So, when my expensive SLR camera refused to take pictures when I finally had my kids standing still and posed, well, I was just furious. The thing has been doing that more and more lately. It just clicks and clicks and won't let me take the shot. It will focus on anything else in the room, but never my children. So, I resorted to my old point-and-shoot camera, but the kids were no longer willing to cooperate. And this is why I never take pictures anymore (although I took a ton of pics yesterday with my phone at Mia's fun birthday party, which I plan on posting tomorrow in all their blurry glory). Anyway, I was really mad and I just wanted to yell at someone so I yelled at Tom (because that is what husbands are for) and I am not usually a yeller so Ellie quickly appeared and started scolding me for "talking mean" and I was all, "Don't you tell me what to do. Now let's go to church and think about Jesus."

Sunday Best: Mother's Day edition

2011-05-08T18:27:00.005-05:00

I think this would be such a cute Mother's Day photo if only Jack wasn't wearing his pajamas and ELLIE'S SHOES! Sigh.

I left Jack at home with Tom today because I had to give a talk in church. What a disaster that was. I was scheduled to speak right after the children did their special musical number. Since Ellie was already up on the stage to sing, she didn't want to go sit back in the audience if I was going to be on the stage. Not wanting to get into a power struggle in front of the entire congregation, I just told her to sit down behind me and stay there. Yeah, that lasted two seconds and then she was hanging on me. I am trying to stay focused on my talk, but Ellie is all over the place. At one point, she climbed up on the stool next to me and was waving to people in the audience. Thankfully, one of her Primary teachers was sitting on the front row and somehow got Ellie to come sit with her family.

Other than having to speak in church, my Mother's Day was awesome! Tom cleaned the house while I was gone. He even mopped and vacuumed all the rooms! Plus, he kept the kids quiet so I could take a two hour nap! I feel so well-rested and content in my clean, little house.

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there!

My child the genius

2011-05-06T12:23:00.002-05:00

I forgot to write about the Parent-Teacher Conference I had with Ellie's preschool teacher last Friday. It was pretty basic, but she did mention that Ellie has mastered addition and subtraction and can now do double digits and carry over numbers. Yeah, yeah, math is boring. What really caught my attention was she said Ellie is now reading. Say what? I read to the child every night and she has never once given me any indication that she could read. So, I pulled out some beginning reader books and, sure enough, Ellie was sounding out all the words. I guess I need to start having her read to ME!

Although I didn't have anything to do with teaching Ellie math and reading, I did teach her what the speed limit signs mean. BIG MISTAKE. Ever time we pass a sign, Ellie will have to yell from the back seat, "Mom, go 40! Are you going 40? Go 40!" And if I don't respond and tell her that I am going 40 (or whatever the sign says) then she will just keep repeating herself over and over. Have you ever noticed how many speed limit signs there are? Because there are A LOT of them!

Two very different parties

2011-05-02T13:26:00.004-05:00

The birthday parties just keep on coming. Friday, we went to Olivia's party. She went with the Tangled theme and Sabrina was super creative as always. I didn't get any pictures of the birthday girl, but check out how cute she looked on Sab's blog. I did, however, get some phone pics of my kids loving on Olivia's sister, Naomi!Jack can't get enough of Naomi. As Ellie likes to say, "That is so ADORABLE!"
I also got an action shot of Ellie hitting the piñata with a frying pan. She didn't crack it open...that piñata was made of steel!

On Saturday, Ellie attended a very different birthday party...one that I had complete forgotten about. About two weeks ago, the neighborhood kids came by with an invitation for the boy next door's 6th birthday party. He is the one Ellie plays with the most. The invitation was actually a Spider Man thank you card. The outside said "Thank You" and the inside said "Thanks for making my party a swinging good time." Handwritten was the day April 30, 3pm, and the address. I completely forgot all about it because I didn't plan on attending. However, the morning of the party, little Ariel (that's HIS name) was knocking at our door demanding to know if Ellie was coming. I made a quick trip to Walgreens for a gift and took Ellie over at about 3:30. Even though she was almost 30 minutes late, there was hardly anyone there. Over the next couple of hours, the party grew bigger and louder. I felt a little awkward staying because all of the adults spoke strictly Spanish and seemed to know each other really well (Ellie was the only non-Hispanic in attendance). I kept expecting the party to end, but each time I would go to retrieve Ellie from their backyard, she would insist on staying til the piñata and cake. They didn't do that piñata until 6:30. I made her come home because the party was turning into a bit of a boozefest. That party lasted until after midnight! Crazy party for a 6 year old, right? But Ellie had a blast at both parties.

Oh, one more random thing...we had a showing on our house Sunday. I was in a rush to get out and I guess I forgot to turn off Jack's sound machine that plays music. Here is the feedback we got:

Nice home. But all of the closed doors made my client think someone might be home in the master and master bath. I would recommend leaving all bedroom and bathroom doors open and turn off the nursery music. It is creepy in an empty house.

Easter Weekend

2011-04-26T13:29:00.005-05:00

I am finally getting around to documenting our long weekend. And what a fun weekend it was! On Friday, we went over to Sabrina's house to celebrate Naomi's first birthday with an Easter egg hunt and bunny cupcakes.After dessert, my parents generously took us all out for fajitas at Alicia's. Mmmmmm, best fajitas in town.

Saturday was a lazy day at home and Tom spoiled me by taking care of the kids for a good part of the day so I could nap, watch TV, and just be lazy. My kind of day.

Saturday night, we put together the kids' Easter baskets. I am not big on giving candy to my kids so their baskets were mostly filled with stuff from the Dollar Spot at Target.
However, no Easter basket would be complete without a chocolate bunny. And I even let them eat it for breakfast!
Ellie insisted on wearing her flower girl dress for Easter and I was more than happy to oblige since that meant one less dress I had to buy!
After church, we went to my sister-in-law Tara's house for more fun! My mother-in-law and Tara had so much planned and the kids just had a blast.
I like this diaper shot of the boys. Future plumbers?
Ellie is looking all devious because she figured out that if she shook the eggs and it made a lot of noise, then that meant more money. If it didn't jangle much, she would return the egg for the "babies" to find.
Tara organized an egg dying table. Ellie took to it like a pro, but little Brannon just liked squeezing the eggs in the dye to make one, big, gushy mess. I'm no fool...I didn't let Jack anywhere near that table!
As if the egg dying wasn't enough, the kids also got to decorate rice crispy treats!
Jack skipped the decorating and went straight to the eating!
And when Jack threw up all over his room later, I remembered why I limit the sugar intake!

Stats

2011-04-20T09:39:00.002-05:00

I took Ellie and Jack in for the well-child check-ups yesterday. Poor Jack had to have three shots. At the end up it, not only was Jack screaming mad, but poor Ellie was huddled on the chair sobbing her little eyes out. She does not like seeing her baby brother in pain. Not to worry, a sugar-free sucker and some stickers cheered them both up immediately.

Here are Ellie's 5 year stats:

Height - 44" (63%)

Weight - 47 lbs (87%)

Ellie looks really proportional to me and the pediatrician said that the higher weight is probably due to muscle tone. Which makes sense considering Ellie is constantly bouncing. She is like Tigger.

And for Jack:

Height - 33 3/4 (87.5%)

Weight - 28lbs 1oz (77.7%)

FOC - 19 1/2 (90.5%)

So...he is a big kid, but basically proportional (except for that giant head of his).

Because everyone deserves three birthday parties

2011-04-18T08:50:00.004-05:00

The day of Ellie's birthday, Tom and I took cake and goody bags to her preschool class. They do this cute little program for the birthday child where they have her hold a model of the earth and rotate around the sun for each year of her life. With each rotation, her parent tells a milestone or something neat their child did that year. Really, the birthday child just likes being the center of attention...especially if the birthday child is named Ellie. Ellie picked her cake out from Walmart...the Tangled cake. After the party, I promptly confiscated the decorations to put on her next birthday cake that she would be eating in a few hours.I wasn't really planning on doing cake and ice cream with the cousins the night of Ellie's birthday since we were doing the big family party at Chuck E. Cheese's on Saturday. However, Ellie kept asking for strawberry cake for her birthday and Walmart didn't give strawberry as one of their cake options. Being the indulgent mom that I am, I bought a cake mix and frosting and just thought we would do a small party at home that night. Then, I realized Tom would be at a track meet and Ellie would be eating the entire cake by herself. So, we celebrated at Dianna's house with the cousins and my mom so kindly made dinner for everyone as well. Dianna happened to be out of town at the time and I am pretty sure after all the pictures I texted her of us trying to dismantle her garbage disposal to remove a cup, she is never going to let us use her house for parties again.
The big party was at Chuck E. Cheese's at Ellie's request. It was crowded and hectic and I felt like I didn't really get to talk to anyone, but all of the kids had a blast...especially Ellie. She has already requested having her party at Chuck E. Cheese's again next year. I am going to aim for I calmer venue.

Dear Ellie: 5 years

2011-04-13T10:06:00.001-05:00

Dear Ellie,

Today is your fifth birthday. 5 years. It is hard for me to wrap my head around that number because it seems like only yesterday they were placing you in my arms for the first time and I felt that overwhelming rush of joy as I looked down at your little face.

This morning when you woke up, I tried explaining to you how special your birthday is to me because it is the anniversary of the day I became a mother. And, baby girl, being a mother is my most favorite thing in the world.

You are such a bright spot in our lives. You are so active, never content to walk when you can run, skip, or hop to wherever you want to go. And you are always laughing or giggling…you have such a positive temperament and I love that about you.

You love playing with cousins or the neighborhood kids. Hardly a day passes that my doorbell isn't being pressed over and over again by small children asking, “Can Ellie play?” The neighbor kids all seem to have free reign of the neighborhood and the streets, but you are so good about obeying my rules of staying in the front yard where I can see you and never stepping into the street. And the kids usually stay right with you…you just have that sort of magnetic personality that draws people to you.

You love so many things these days: princesses, dresses, Barbies, Scooby Doo (on TV or the Wii), riding in Daddy’s Jeep with the top down, getting slushes from Sonic, going to park, cuddling with me, chasing your brother, playing dress up, and going to the library…the list is endless.

You are sassy and independent, but you also are anxious to please and you are always doling out hugs and kisses to your family. You are very gentle with your baby brother and quick to come to his aid whenever he is fussing. I think you are the best big sister ever.

Every one who knows you always comments on the things you say. You are so verbal and quick-witted. I am often caught off-guard by how insightful you can be with your comments. And other times you just plain make me laugh.

Ellie-girl, I wish I were a better writer so I could better express how absolutely amazing you are. You changed my life the day you were born and words cannot describe how grateful I am to have you as part of my life. Happy Birthday, Ellie!

Love you forever,

Mommy

Dear Jack: 18 months

2011-04-12T08:12:00.007-05:00

Dear Jack,

Today you are eighteen months old. It seems like every day you are turning into more boy and less baby. We no longer have a room in the house that is Jack-proof because you have found a way to make even the most innocent of objects dangerous. You attempt to climb everything in sight, toys are made for throwing at high speeds, and chairs are yours to move around as you please so you can reach objects placed out of your reach.

You are full of smiles and laughter, but only for those you know and love. If a stranger attempts to coax a smile out of you, you will give him the classic Jack stare-down with furrowed brows. This look is so intense that it stops everyone in their tracks. You also bestow this look upon your family when we aren’t meeting all of your demands. In fact, if something is taken away from you or if you are frustrated by not being able to do something, you immediately switch from happy Jack to screaming Jack. Your tantrums are legendary, but also very funny.

You are such a loving, affectionate, little guy. You frequently pause mid-play to run over and hug Ellie, me, or your daddy. You say our names over and over again while wrapping your chubby, little arms around us (you finally moved past the head-butt hugs). You have a funny sense of humor and are always trying to make us laugh, whether it is by putting something on your head or walking in a funny way.

You always want Ellie to play with you and if she is busy playing Wii or watching TV, you will go turn the TV off over and over again until she gives up and chases you around the house. You still like to imitate her every move and even her speech. Your favorite thing lately is to go in her closet and put on her shoes. You then clomp around the house with the biggest grin on your face. You like to imitate me as well and I take full credit for what a great husband you will make someday. You take wet wipes and clean off all surfaces. Any trash you find goes in the garbage. You love to take the broom and push it around the house. And when you play in your little kitchen, you like to wear an apron.

Your speech is slowly developing into more than just one-word responses. Your favorite word still seems to be “mine,” but now you have mastered two-word commands as well. You love to say “No touching” while wagging your finger and grinning at us. My favorite thing you say, or course, is “I love you.”

Jack, you are fun and mischievous and oh so lovable. You bring so much joy to our family and it is hard to imagine how we ever did without you.

Love you forever,

Mommy

Ellie-isms

2011-04-08T20:35:00.002-05:00

Yesterday, Jack threw a toy in frustration when he didn't get his way. I sighed and asked rhetorically, "What am I going to do with this spoiled baby?" Ellie quickly responded, "I don't know. I was a GOOD baby!"

***

This morning as I was getting Jack dressed, Ellie commented on how she can't wait til Jack gets big. I told her no way, that I want to keep him a baby. She walked over and gently put her arm around me and said, "Mom, even when we're big, I'll always be your girl."

***

On our way to the library today, Ellie informed me that when she is big, I can always come visit her. She then said she will live by me and will have one baby. And that Jack will be with her. I asked why Jack was going to be with her and she replied that he will always be with her and they are going to get married. When I told her she couldn't marry her brother, she insisted that she could because she loves him and nobody can stop her. I decided to just let that one go because I am sure she won't still feel that way in a few years

My pizza obsession lead to this

2011-04-07T08:49:00.001-05:00

After getting a little "motivation" a few weeks back, I have been trying to be more careful about what I eat. But the problem is pizza. I love pizza. I love pizza so much that I would eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner if I could. I blame pizza (and Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, and all special occasions) for my weight gain this year. But pizza doesn't really fit into my new diet of lean protein and veggies for dinner each night. I have missed pizza so much that I decided to attempt to make a low-carb version using cauliflower for the crust. It sounded good…cauliflower, egg beaters, mozzarella, and oregano mixed together, patted into a crust, and put into the oven til crisp. Then, a little sugar free pizza sauce, fresh veggies, and a little turkey pepperoni and you have a healthy pizza. It looked and smelled delicious. Unfortunately, it tasted TERRIBLE. So, I tried again last night. This time I used an egg beater crust, salsa, mozzarella cheese, and turkey pepperoni. Not as good as real pizza, but certainly better than cauliflower pizza! I guess the lesson here is that when you are dieting you can’t have your cake and eat it, too. Literally.

Continuing to embarrass me on a daily basis

2011-04-06T09:07:00.007-05:00

I like to stop by Sonic on our way home from school to take advantage of their Happy Hour special (1/2 price drinks!) and get my Rt. 44 Diet Dr. Pepper. Sometimes I get Ellie a slush, too. The man that brought us out our drinks yesterday had long hair pulled back in a ponytail. As he was handing me our drinks, Ellie loudly announced from the back seat that she had never seen a boy with long hair before! Her tone implied that this was just beyond ridiculous. I just drove away quickly and hoped the man with the lovely locks could find humor in the situation.

Later, we had to go to Walgreens for one battery (yes, just one...it was an emergency involving an escaped dog and a dead shock collar...don't judge me). As I was unloading the kids from the car, I saw a lady trying to get into the car next to us. I apologized and she commented on how my hands were full. Ellie takes one look at her and says, "That lady has a BOY haircut!" Now, this lady was rather butch from head to toe, but I pretended not to hear Ellie as the lady was standing right there. I should have known better because Ellie felt the need to repeat that over and over again as I rushed her into the store.

So, I am thinking I need to sit Ellie down and have a little talk with her about not commenting on people's appearances. At least not within earshot.

Let the burping and farting begin

2011-04-05T09:15:00.004-05:00

Awhile back, Tom and I were at the Newlywed Game party and one couple let it slip that when the wife goes out of town, his boys like to say, "Let the burping and farting begin." Boys are so gross, aren't they? And now I have a boy who I like to think of as a sweet, innocent thing who would never be so gross. But something happened recently that gave me a glimpse of life to come. I was bathing Jack a few nights ago, trying to get him to sit down because he prefers standing in the tub (anything to increase the possibilities of getting hurt...that's how he rolls), and a loud fart escaped his rotund little bum. He looked at me with surprise and then we both started laughing because, let's be honest, it was a little funny. But then he got this look of intense concentration and lo and behold another fart came out. He had discovered intentional farting and each time he followed it with a belly laugh. I quickly finished the bath and hoped this wasn't going to become a habit. Fast forward to last night...once again I am bathing Jack, but this time he burps. You can guess where I am going with this one. Yep, my boy can apparently burp on command. Boys are so gross.

Side note: We were never allowed to say "fart" growing up as it was one of the junk words (along with words like butt and crap). The fact that I used the word fart mulitple times in this post and in the title makes me feel very risqué!

The adventures of Jack and Ellie

2011-03-31T09:52:00.006-05:00

Ellie has a little stroller for her dolls. This weekend, Jack climbed into it and Ellie was pushing him around the house. She then came up with the brilliant plan to get a running start and then send Jack flying across the wood floor from the living room to the play room (formerly known as our dining room). Both kids were screeching with laughter and I jumped up to get my little video camera to capture the moment. I called Tom in to watch and he immediately voiced his concern, telling me that Jack was going to get catapulted from the stroller. I rolled my eyes because Tom is soooo overly-cautious and proceeded to record. Although they had done this several times by now, this time Ellie somehow sent Jack flying across the room…right into the corner of the wooden cradle. Oops. I have it on video, but for once I am not going to blog it because a.) it makes me look like a bad parent and b.) you can hear Tom yelling at me at the end of it.

Just in case you were wondering, Jack was totally fine once he stopped crying. And his new bump blended in with all the other ones.

Sunday Best: This will only make sense to about 1/2 of you edition

2011-03-28T18:10:00.006-05:00

Ellie was asked to talk in Primary last Sunday. All week long, she has been a mixture of nerves and excitement. I think I am allergic to talking in front of a lot of people. I am a little shy of microphones. But when I would ask her if she didn't want to do it, she would emphatically say no. Ellie can never turn down the opportunity to be the center of attention. She was asked to share her favorite scripture story. We decided to tell the story of Lehi and the Liahona (using the model Liahona my dad made for Leilani for her baptism as a prop). She knew the story backward and forward, but when she got up there, she kept turning around for prompts from me. So I went to stand next to her and she loudly whispered, "I can do it myself!" Well, excuse me! I am pretty certain she dragged that short story out a few extra minutes just so she could be up on the stage a little longer.

Go Western Day

2011-03-25T08:26:00.003-05:00

I love Go Western Day! Ellie has participated in it for the last 3 years. Last year I actually bought her an outfit specifically for that day. Well, that and the rodeo, but then I forgot to dress her in it for the rodeo. Oh well.
This year, I was not spending any money. She already had the hat from last year's trip to the rodeo and we borrowed some boots from Aidyn. As for Jack, I put him in a pair of hand-me-down boots from Kolby. I tried them on him yesterday and it was so funny. At first, he was scared to walk so he would hold onto the wall, but after a few seconds he was stomping around in them and threw a fit when I took them off him! The kid loves shoes. This morning he kept trying to walk around in Tom's running shoes. He would manage a step or two before tripping and then he would yell and throw the shoes a few feet. And, of course, he would then do the whole thing over again. I got tired of it after a few times so I took the shoes from him....which led to an even bigger fit until I found something bright and shiny to distract him with. Babies.

What I Did Over My Spring Break

2011-03-21T09:45:00.004-05:00

Spring Break flew by so quickly! It seemed we were constantly on the go, but I find I only have a few, poor-quality pictures to show for it.

I enrolled Ellie in swim lessons over the break. She loved swim lessons and her instructor to death, but she did not make any progress. Part of the problem was the other boy in her class was terrified of the water so the instructor spent most of her time with him and when it was Ellie's turn, she didn't push her at all. But, Ellie had a blast so that makes spending all that money on lessons a little more bearable.

My favorite part of each Spring Break is taking the kids to the Rodeo. This year, Dianna and her kids joined us. Ellie was so thrilled to have her best friend, Kinleigh, to go on the rides with her!
The petting zoo portion is always a big favorite. This deer was so funny...it kept trying to eat Ellie's hat and Dianna's shirt. I bought food for the kids to feed the animals and Ellie went at it like a pro. My sister, however, freaked out and dropped the whole thing!
Jack loved the animals, as I knew he would. He wanted to feed them, too, so he kept picking up the bedding from the floor and shoving it into poor, unsuspecting animals' mouths. I put a stop to it when I caught him trying to sample it himself.
Other things we did over the break (for journaling purposes...super boring...feel free to skip):

Tom had a track meet Wednesday so Dianna and I took the kids to the park for a picnic. Dianna is a much better mom than I. She packed her kids sandwiches, sliced apples, and homemade cookies. I stopped at the store on my way over for Lunchables.

On Thursday, after I took Ellie to her last swim lesson, Tom and I left for a quick trip to San Antonio. My mom stayed with the kids and it was so nice to have a break from the daily routine of putting kids to bed, getting up at 5:30 with the kids, feeding the kids, listening to kids scream, etc. We returned on Friday and when we pulled up in the driveway, Ellie spotted us and burst into tears. She wanted nothing to do with us because she was so upset her grandma would be leaving. It's nice to know we were missed.
Friday was my nephew Brannon's birthday party. Ellie had so much fun that she informed me she wanted her family birthday party to be at the Little Gym instead of Chuck E Cheese's as she had previously requested. I told her I had already booked her Chuck E Cheese party. To which she responded, "I'll have to think on it."

Now I am back at school and that small taste of freedom has me anxiously awaiting summer.

Ramblings of the sleep deprived

2011-03-12T12:08:00.005-06:00

I am officially on Spring Break and it is not going as planned. Friday was supposed to be an easy day at school. I was going to teach idioms to my ESL kids and then have them draw them while I sat on my butt and relaxed. But, my morning was just getting underway when I received that dreaded phone call from the daycare. Actually, they called our school's switchboard so I received the news via the intercom in my room. It is always a little scary when a voice comes unexpectedly through the ceiling. Especially when you have music playing while your kids draw and the Top 40 station you picked may or may not have been playing a slightly inappropriate song. But I digress. Apparently, Jack had a 102.3 fever and I needed to go get him immediately. So, once again I am running around trying to find a sub and then typing up a lesson plan for said sub. I walked into the daycare all indignant because I knew my kid was completely fine and ready to demand they check his temp with me present. Yeah, one look at the kid and a quick palm to his steaming, hot forehead and I slunk out of there in shame with both kids in tow. I called my little sis to cancel our plans for the night (hanging out eating brownies and pizza while our kids destroyed her house). Tom and her husband were going to the NCAA track meet together and we were looking forward to some girl-time. I think I must have jinxed her because she got a call from her daughter's elementary school a few minutes later saying to come get her because she was throwing up. So, for the third night in a row, I was home alone with the kiddos (Tom had track meets the previous two nights...have I mentioned how much I "love" track season?). Jack woke up crying every 30 minutes throughout the night. At 4:30 he decided he was up for good and was going to spend his day crying and demanding to be held. Of course, Tom is gone all day today at that darn NCAA track meet. Why do people run? Why?

I am so glad I have this blog so I can look back in my archives and reassure myself that Ellie was always sick, too, at this age and it does eventually get better. I just hope it gets better fast because I have all sorts of plans for Spring Break. Ellie is enrolled in swim lessons, we are going to the Rodeo, and my mom is coming to stay for a night so Tom and I can have a quick, romantic getaway to the exotic San Antonio Riverwalk.

Well, this is just going on and on and I am not sure it will make the cut when I turn 2011 into a blog book. I was going to write about Ellie's weird eating preferences and Jack answering no to everything, but I'll just save that super exciting post til next time.

I guess she doesn't like naps

2011-03-09T17:19:00.002-06:00

"Mommy, guess what happens in kindergarten?"
"Um, you learn new things and have lots of fun?"
"No! There are no naps!"
"Oh. That's nice."
"I been waiting my whole life for no naps!"

On being a teacher

2011-03-09T10:01:00.003-06:00

So much has been in the news lately about education and the budget crisis. This is my 4^th year of teaching and I can honestly say that I have never worked so hard at a job in my life. I come home from work each day emotionally and physically exhausted.

My first job was when I was 16. I worked for a year at a $1.25 dry cleaner that did not have air conditioning. I spent every day standing behind the counter in the sweltering heat of the Houston summer. My next job was at a pizza place where my main duties were washing dishes, cleaning bathrooms, and mopping the floor. And yet, those jobs were nothing compared to teaching.

I love my students. I find myself getting genuinely attached to them. So many nights, I will wake up in the middle of the night thinking about a certain student. Miguel was really quiet in class today. I need to make a point of talking to him tomorrow. In my classroom, I have had fights, drugs, pregnancies, loss of loved ones, drop outs, and much, much more. Yesterday, the teacher in the room next to mine (who also teaches the same subject) had a student with a gun in his back pack. And yet each year I feel more confident as a teacher and more able to enjoy my students.

I went downstairs a few minutes ago to make copies, only to return to my classroom empty handed because we are out of paper. “When will we get some more?” I asked. “I don’t know,” was the reply. “Whenever the next shipment comes in.”

All around me is talk of budget cuts, loss of jobs, higher class numbers, elimination of programs. And I worry. I don’t worry so much about my job, but about Ellie who is starting school for the first time next year. Will she be placed in a class of 40 students with a teacher who is overwhelmed by paperwork and numbers and who simply can’t keep up with everyone? What will high school be like by the time she and Jack are teenagers? What will education be like? Because from where I am standing, in my classroom every day, the future of education looks grim.

Sibling dynamics

2011-03-07T08:44:00.004-06:00

Ellie and Jack are 3 1/2 years apart. When I was pregnant with Jack, I would worry that the age difference between him and Ellie was too great and they would not be close. But, as Jack grows, I see his relationship with Ellie evolving as well. He loves Ellie so much. When she walks into the room, he runs to her and presses his head into her (his form of hugs). He always lights up with a smile when he sees her and wants to follow her everywhere. He gets so frustrated when she can do things he can't. Ellie quickly picked up on Jack's proclivity to copy her so she will do the goofiest things and then laugh and laugh when Jack follows suit.

Now that Jack is able to follow her commands, Ellie also likes to play "school" with Jack. She is always the teacher and orders him to sit on the ground and do as she says. Some days he is a more willing pupil than others.

Ellie can also be counted on to protect Jack. The other day, Jack climbed up on the computer chair, then onto the desk, and then onto the printer (which had some papers and the Candyland game stacked on top). Ellie came running into the kitchen screaming that Jack was up high. I ran into the room to find him precariously perched on the Candlyland game and playing with Tom's bobblehead. Of course, I don't rely on Ellie to watch Jack for me, but he is pretty fast so it is nice to have an extra pair of eyes. When Ellie is leaving the room, she usually asks me to keep on eye on Jack for her.

Even though she gets jealous of all the attention Jack receives, that doesn't stop her from declaring over and over that Jack is her "one true love." I just hope they are always as close (though I am pretty sure she will no longer refer to him as her one true love when she is in high school).

Sunday Best: Spring is Here edition

2011-03-06T14:30:00.005-06:00

I know I haven't been doing my Sunday Best pictures much lately, but not to worry, I am still going to church. Usually, I am just running too late to try to take pictures. Also, since I started teaching Sunday School, I have been leaving Jack at home with Tom every other Sunday. Oh my gosh, I get so much more out of church when I am not chasing Jack around or trying to keep him occupied. I would leave him every Sunday, but Tom really treasures his alone time. Now that Jack is (almost) 17 months, I thought I would try to put him in the nursery. He was having none of it. In fact, his melt down was so intense that he wouldn't even go to his beloved aunties. He eventually calmed down enough to spend the rest of church sleeping in Dianna's arms.

On a completely different note, check out Ellie's hair! She has been requesting specific 'dos as of late and her hair is finally long enough to meet her demands. I was pretty proud of myself because I am sadly lacking in the hair styling department.

One final unrelated thing...do I not have the palest children on the planet? It is almost like they have no skin pigmentation. I am already stocking up on the sunscreen for this summer.

Thinspiration

2011-03-01T12:56:00.002-06:00

As I was walking down the hallway at school today, a teacher I don’t usually talk to asked me when my baby was due. I politely told her that I already had my baby. “Oh, you just had your baby?” “No, I had him last year.” She apologized and I quickly shrugged it off and told her I had been packing on the pounds since Thanksgiving. She told me that I need to take the baby and walk two miles every day and the weight would come off. Then, she told me to eat more fiber and recommended that I try Weight Watchers because it really worked for her daughter.

I know. So helpful. I was feeling really tempted to skip Zumba today, but I guess I will be hauling my pregnant-looking belly to the dance gym after school.

Brazen hussy

2011-02-24T18:27:00.003-06:00

Caution: This post contains partial Barbie nudity. Reader discretion advised.

My very generous friend (Hi, Amanda!) recently donated her old Barbie stuff to Ellie. You can tell my friend was the only girl in her family because the amount of Barbie accessories she had was ridiculous! However, one accessory caught Ellie's eye right away. "Look at this pretty purse, Mommy!"
And then I hear Ellie say, "Ooh, there are panties inside!" I looked up from saving Jack's life for the millionth time to see Ellie sliding some pretty fancy undies on her Barbie.

Next, she pulled out the "shirt."

And then some "socks" to match.

Not pictured: The sexy, purple heels we discovered later. At this point, I knew that I needed to recreate this photographically. Because my little Mormon Barbies never had sexy lingerie! If they did, I am sure Ken and Barbie would have had a much different relationship.

In which I complain...a lot - UPDATED

2011-02-19T18:57:00.003-06:00

Jack is in bed and Ellie has been sent to her room indefinitely so I finally have a moment to myself. Tom left the house at 5:30 this morning to go to a track meet and has yet to return home. After today, I am not sure I am going to survive track season. Ellie has always had the attitude of a teenager, but recently she has incorporated screaming tantrums into her act. Not a big fan and they bring out the worst in me. I went into this tirade tonight about how I carried her in my stomach and I feed her and buy her clothes and take care of her. "You wouldn't be able to live if it weren't for me." Yes, I did. I told all of that to my 4 year old. And then sent her to her room. Which isn't a punishment at all since all of her favorite toys and her ginormous dollhouse is in there. I can actually hear her happily playing right now. If only she would show a little remorse. What happened to my little girl who cried every time she thought I was mad at her? Also, where is the appreciation for the woman who woke up at 3 am yesterday to clean her vomit and diarrhea up off her sheets, blankets, and rug? Who stayed home and snuggled with her all day? Seriously, if 4 is this hard, how am I going to handle the teenage years?

And to continue my little pity party...I dropped a full jar of my grandpa's homemade raspberry jam today. Glass and red, sticky jelly were all over my kitchen. It took me a full hour to clean it all up and I am still making everyone wear shoes in there for the next month. I sure have been doing a lot of cleaning this weekend considering the cleaning lady was just here on Tuesday!

UPDATE - Well, don't I feel like a jerk?! After typing this, Ellie and I had a talk and for the rest of the night she was in adorable mode. I put her to bed only to be woken up once again at 3 am by a sad, little voice saying, "Mommy, I threw up all over my bed and floor." Geez, I was yelling at a sick kid! Talk about big serving of mommy guilt. Honestly, she hadn't thrown up since Friday morning and every time I asked her she said she felt fine. This is the weirdest stomach bug. Also, how come it is always the mother's job to clean up the vomit?

Just Dance

2011-02-15T09:43:00.003-06:00

Ellie and I have recently gotten hooked on Just Dance 2. Although Ellie is pretty good, she doesn't have my super, smooth moves so I always tell her she is my person on the screen. So, when she tells you she always beats me in our dance offs, don't believe a word of it. The other day we were in a fierce competition when I realized that I needed to start dinner if we were going to eat that night. I convinced Tom to take over for me. Those of you that know Tom, know how funny this is. I knew he wouldn't willingly let me document his dance moves, so I snuck a few pictures from the kitchen. Here are Ellie and Tom rocking it out. Notice the little head in the bottom left corner? That is Jack wearing pajama pants on his head. He thinks he is soooo funny.
In a matter of seconds, Jack is using a basket of books to climb onto the end table.

At this point, I am telling him "no" because I know what happens next. He tries to go from the end table onto the recliner, but the end table inevitably slips out beneath him and he goes crashing to the wood floor.

Which is why there are no more pictures because I am busy saving his life. Tom and Ellie are oblivious to all the drama because they are too busy shaking their booties.

Weekend recap and Jack's first haircut

2011-02-14T08:20:00.004-06:00

This weekend was a whirlwind of parties. Most Saturdays you will find the kids and I still in our pajamas, but this Saturday I dropped Ellie and Jack off with my mother-in-law while I went to a bridal shower. Then, I picked them up and took them over to Dianna’s house so my mom could watch them while Tom and I went to a Valentine’s party at Mark and Rosie’s house. It was so fun! We had yummy fajitas, played the Newlywed Game, and finished up with fondue desserts. I thought Tom and I would rock the Newlywed Game since we’ve known each other since we were 15, but we finished up somewhere in the middle. Dan and Sabs won, but I think they practiced in advance…so competitive, those two!

On Sunday, I dressed Ellie in a super cute Valentine’s dress, but failed to take a picture of it (just like I failed to take pictures of any of the weekend activities). After church we went back to Mark and Rosie’s for dinner and to celebrate Dianna’s birthday. So, I scored two delicious meals at Rosie’s house this weekend. After dinner, I was laughing at Jack’s long locks behind his ears. Rosie offered to cut them, so I gave Dianna my phone to document the momentous occasion of his very first haircut.

I could just leave it with the Before and After picture, but that wouldn't reflect what Rosie had to go through just to cut Jack's hair. I bet she regretted volunteering afterwards! It started out properly enough:

But then Jack realized we were trying to make him sit still.

And before we knew it, he was on the floor...

and pinned to my lap.

His hair is more difficult to cut than his fingernails! Let's just hope it grows more slowly.

Jealousy Issues

2011-02-09T14:09:00.002-06:00

Ellie has been having some jealousy issues lately. She never takes it out on Jack or is mean to him, but she has been making little comments here and there that are heartbreaking.

Mommy, I wish Jack was still in your tummy.
Mommy, I wish I was a baby.
and the kicker...
Mommy, I think you love Jack more than me.

Tears. I try not to overcompensate when she says these things. I just calmly reassure her how much she is loved and needed and remind her of all the cool things she can do that Jack can't.

She also waits until Jack needs us to demand our attention. If Jack is upset and wants to be held, then suddenly Ellie wants to be in my lap as well. If Jack is hungry and I am getting him a snack, Ellie starts hollering that she needs to be fed immediately. I realize that Jack is demanding a lot more of our attention now that he has to be watched every second, but believe me, Ellie is getting a lot of attention, too. It just seems like no matter how much attention or loves we bestow upon her, it is never enough. I guess when you are an only child for 3 1/2 years, it can be hard to share the spotlight with a high maintenance brother like Jack.

Fun with Video: Part Deaux

2011-02-06T15:32:00.003-06:00

Ellie has moved on from Tiffany to Aqua.

As you can see, Jack's major emergency of a cut has healed to the point where it looks like he has one very large eyebrow. Like a crusty caterpillar on his face. It is all I can do to not pick at it. In the few seconds that I was playing back Ellie's video for her, Jack managed to climb up on the computer chair and start banging away on the keyboard. The computer chair is on wheels and I probably should have just moved him off of it instead of video taping. Oh well.

Baby, It's Cold Outside

2011-02-03T08:19:00.002-06:00

I snapped this picture with my cell phone this morning to capture the kids all bundled up for the "Arctic chill." I use the term "bundled up" loosely since usually we do not need more than light jackets around here. Jack even stuffed his cheeks full of Teddy Grahams to provide sustenance for the 20 minute commute to school. Apparently, he also felt he needed an extra pair of shoes.

This cold front has caused a frenzy amongst my students. Rumors of school cancellation and early release have made concentration near impossible. If it actually starts snowing, then we will really be in trouble. I told Ellie on the way to school this morning that it might snow tomorrow. She informed me that it doesn't snow in Texas. I corrected her and said it doesn't usually snow in Houston, but it might tomorrow and then we could stay home from school. Her response? "But I don't know how to make a snowman!"

Heaven is in South America

2011-01-27T10:00:00.005-06:00

Every morning, as the kids and I drive to school, we usually sit in relative silence listening to whatever music Ellie requests that day. 6:00 am is just too early to engage in conversation. But this morning, Ellie was in a very talkative mood and started asking me all sorts of random questions like "Why do we need signs?" and "Why are trees important?" Those were pretty easy to answer. Then she asked me why her "other name" is Edna. I explained how Daddy's grandma was named Edna and Daddy loved her so much. When she went to heaven, Daddy
wanted to remember her and so that is how Ellie got her middle name. Suddenly, the conversation took a turn that I was not prepared for…especially so early in the morning.

Does everyone die and go to heaven?
Yes, when they are really, really old.
That's horrible!
No, it's not horrible. You get to see your family that is up there and everyone is happy.
Will Daddy see his grandma when he dies and goes to heaven?
Yes, but not for a long, long, long time.
I don't want Daddy to die!

So, I spent the next minute reassuring Ellie that her daddy wasn't going to die until she was really old and married and she had kids and her kids were all grown up. Then, she moved to more theological questions about what heaven is like and where it is located. Really?
How do you explain to a 4 year old where heaven is? I went with the old standby that it was up above the clouds. She then asked, "Is it in South America?"

Drama Mama

2011-01-26T12:04:00.004-06:00

I am becoming a regular fixture at the pediatrician's office these days. I received a phone call from the daycare during my 2nd period class. The director informed me that Jack had fallen and split open his head just above his eye. She wanted me to come immediately. Having never dealt with stitches or really any sort of emergency (knock on wood), I kind of went into panic mode. In my head I was trying to remember if pediatricians can give stitches or if that is an emergency room sort of thing. Then, I thought about the daycare's propensity to exaggerate any and all illnesses and injuries so I decided to hold off on calling the doctor until I inspected the cut myself. It wasn't deep, but it was split rather wide so I drove across the street to our awesome new pediatrician. I snapped this shot of Jack while we were waiting for the doctor. The worst part was holding Jack down while they irrigated the wound and applied the Dermabond. Afterward, he was completely fine so I took him back to daycare and returned to work. So, my first minor emergency went smoothly, but I have a feeling that with Jack I am going to have lots more of them.

I was actually planning to write about Ellie and her flair for the dramatics. Last night, she was missing the brush for her My Little Pony. She wanted me to drop everything and help her look for it. When I declined, she dramatically declared, "My life is ruined!" Flash forward to this morning when I tell Ellie that she cannot have a piece of gum. She responded with, "Today is the worst day ever!" I don't know where she gets it from....certainly not from her mom who manages to take a little, tiny cut and turn it into an emergency that requires a lengthy blog post!

A terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day

2011-01-24T08:28:00.005-06:00

After a particularly long night wherein I was woken up by a teething Jack multiple times and by a thirsty Ellie once, I finally dragged myself out of bed this morning only to discover this near the ceiling in my bathroom:
In case you are wondering, that is a big bubble of water behind the paint. It seems we have some sort of plumbing issue. Anyway, my mind was on plumbers and how much they cost when I rushed out the front door this morning with my two small children in tow. My hands were full of lunches and blankets and bags. Unfortunately, I did not have my keys in hand. So, not only were we locked out of the house, but I couldn't even get in the car. I didn't bother with a jacket for myself, but luckily I had a moment of stellar parenting and put jackets on the kids so they didn't freeze to death as we waited for 30 minutes in the rain. Tom finally came to our rescue, but he was none to happy about leaving his team of 40 girls on their own. Then, on my way to work, my mom calls me and tells me I should turn off my water so I don't come home to a flooded house. It is too late for me to turn around at this point so I just crossed my fingers and said a little prayer that our flooding days are over. Of course, a light was out on my route to work so I got stuck in traffic. At this point, I just had to laugh. Naturally, I was late which is a bit of a problem when you have a roomful of students waiting on you. It is days like today that I have to remind myself that some days are just like that...even in Australia.

Ellie's first (and possibly last) mani/pedis

2011-01-20T08:31:00.004-06:00

I can't believe I am admitting this, but Ellie has been secretly biting her fingernails and toenails for years without my knowledge. It wasn't until after Jack was born and I had to cut his fast growing nails all the time that I realized I couldn't remember the last time I had cut Ellie's nails. Her nails were always so short so maybe I just thought they grew very, very slowly. I don't know. But once I realized what she was doing, I made a deal with her. I promised her I would take her for a manicure and pedicure as soon as her nails were long enough that I could see "white."

Surprisingly, it worked! Monday, we had the day off so I took Ellie for the promised mani/pedis. She was very excited and picked her own colors (hot pink and gold glitter). She didn't realize the lady doing her nails didn't speak English so she kept trying to make conversation with her. I am glad the lady didn't understand because Ellie was asking her things like, "Do you live here?" Also, Ellie noticed that a man was at the front desk, but only women were doing nails so she informed her pedicurist (is that a word?), "So, the boy is the manager and the girls are the painters, right?"

Her nails turned out great and she proudly showed them off to Tom when we arrived home. However, the next morning when I woke her up, I noticed that she had picked the nail polish off all of her nails!

Jack attack

2011-01-12T16:52:00.003-06:00

In the past two days, I have had three people (2 teachers and the director) from Jack's daycare comment on how "busy" he is. "He is always trying to climb everything!" they said. Yes, yes I know. We used to have a fairly childproof home. All I would have to do is make sure the bathroom doors were closed so he wouldn't eat the toilet paper. Now, every door has to be shut and I have to follow him around constantly. If he gets in the kitchen, he goes straight for the oven door, pulls it down, and attempts to climb in. If the dishwasher isn't clicked shut, he does the same thing with it. He has learned he can move the little chairs around and climb on them to access what he wants. He also attempts to use his ride-on toy as a step stool. Unfortunately, it rolls right out from under him. When he isn't trying to reach the highest of heights, he is finding things to throw across the room. Preferably small, heavy objects that he can throw with force. He is exhausting. Maybe that is why his daycare tried to send him home today with a 103 fever. "103?" I said in shock when I picked him up from school. "But he was completely fine this morning!" So, I took Jack across the street to our speedy, new pediatrician. Oddly enough, his temperature there was only 99.8 and everything else looked fine. "Are you sure they didn't say 100.3?" his pediatrician asked me. Yes, I was sure. I think they just needed to make it high enough so that I couldn't bring him back the next day and they could get a break from his "busy" self.

Monster Jam!

2011-01-09T13:49:00.003-06:00

My little girl who is obsessed with princesses and wearing dresses went to Monster Jam last night. I like to dress Ellie for the occasion, but what does one wear to a monster truck show? I called to ask my sister and she told me "the most white trash outfit you can find." Well, of course I own no such thing so Ellie wore a dress with black leggings. By the way, the orange thing you see in her ear is an earplug. She still had one in when she woke up this morning!
My two brothers, brother-in-law, and Tom were the ones taking the kids. Thank heavens I didn't have to go. I chose to take Jack with me over to Dianna's house so I could put him down early and we could have a little movie night. It was a lot of fun.
Tom seemed to think Ellie wasn't that interested in the monster truck show, but that is all she talked about this morning as I got her ready for church. She told me about how one truck lost its tire and how another crushed a bunch of trucks. Clearly, she was entertained. But I don't think she will be trading in her princess dolls for monster trucks any time soon.

For your viewing pleasure

2011-01-09T13:04:00.004-06:00

Remember how I told you how much Jack likes to rock? Even in his highchair? Well, Tom bought me this cool new video camera for Christmas and so I am now able to actually document it. Lucky you. Jack is usually more forceful, but he was a little
distracted my the camera. I particularly like him finishing it off by blowing a kiss at the end.

After watching me capture Jack on video, Ellie requested a chance to perform as well. I was thinking something along the lines of "I Gotta Feeling" by The Black Eyed Peas or "I Think We're Alone Now" by Tiffany. She took it in a whole other direction.

A Farewell to Christmas

2011-01-04T14:01:00.002-06:00

Last night I finally accepted that my Christmas vacation was truly at an end and took down my tree and decorations. Ellie was almost as excited about taking down the ornaments as she was putting them up. She sang “Deck the Halls” while she carefully placed each ornament in the box. After everything was put away, she asked if she could watch “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” Once it was over, she asked if she could watch it again. She also has insisted that we still listen to my Glee Christmas CD while in the car. I tried telling her that Christmas is over, but she sagely replied, “If Christmas is over, that just means it is coming again.” This coming from the child who recently told me, “Look, Mom, I’m growing up. Soon I will be going to college.”

Happy Birthday, Bana!

2010-12-31T07:52:00.002-06:00

Yesterday was Tom's mom's birthday. I think it is funny that Ellie still calls her Bana. It all started when she was like 2 and she thought when we called my MIL Nana, we meant banana and bana is how Ellie used to say banana. Fascinating, I know. But I just didn't want you to think it was a typo every time I wrote Bana...how embarrassing.

So, yes, we went over to my mother-in-law's house to celebrate. Even though it was her birthday, Bana had a belated birthday present for me. A Snuggie! I have been hinting around for one forever, but never seem to get it. I think Tom just deemed them too dorky to buy, but whatever, they are AWESOME! I fell asleep all snuggled up in mine on the recliner last night as we were watching Psych. When Tom woke me up to go to bed, I briefly considered just spending the night in mine because that is how comfortable they are, but I realized it is just a short step from wearing one of those to wearing a muumuu full time.

Christmas 2010

2010-12-29T17:10:00.009-06:00

I am FINALLY getting around to typing up my Christmas recap. We had a lot of fun, but I am sure it makes for a boring read. I just need to get it in for journaling purposes. Feel free to ignore all those words and just look at the pictures (by the way, I am typing this on our new laptop...no more computer shutdowns midblog for me!).

Christmas Eve:
Just like last year, we spent Christmas Eve at Mark and Rosie's house. My oldest sister, Jeannine, drove down from Idaho with her husband and three kids to join in on the fun (plus, they are doing the marathon New Year's Day with all the other crazies in my family). The kids had fun decorating Christmas cookies and playing with each other.

My favorite part of Christmas Eve is the reliving the traditions from my childhood. The kids acted out the birth of Jesus as my dad narrated from the Bible. I love that I can sit back and watch instead of playing a character. Ellie was a wise man this year.

Next, my Dad told "A Pack for Santa's Back." It's a story he has been telling every Christmas for as long as I can remember. Ellie was completely captivated by it this year.

Finally, we enjoyed Jesus' birthday cake (once again Mark refused to let us sing Happy Birthday to Jesus because he thinks it is too weird). Tom and I couldn't stay too late because we knew that we still had to put together Ellie's Santa gift...a 5 foot tall dollhouse. So, we put the kids in their pajamas and headed for home.Christmas Day:

Ellie slept on the floor of our bedroom so that she wouldn't walk across the house in the morning and discover Santa's gifts without us. (Side Note: Do y'all wrap the gifts from Santa? It is my firm belief that Santa does not wrap presents, but merely places them in front of the tree to await discovery. Tom seems to think Santa wraps presents. Weirdo.) Anyway, I went and got Jack from his crib and we ventured out into the living room. Ellie was so excited when she saw her (unwrapped) dollhouse. Jack promptly tried to climb it.

After the kids played for awhile and Jack took a nap, we headed over to my mother-in-law's house. On the way there, Ellie was lamenting how Santa forgot to bring her the walking dog she so wanted. Then she informed me that maybe Nana bought it for her because Nana gets her whatever she wants.

So, the kids started opening their never-ending pile of gifts. Ellie got some great toys, but I could tell by the way she was tossing them aside that she was still hoping for that "walking dog." Finally, all the gifts were unwrapped and the dog was not to be found. Then, Nana announced that she thought Santa might have left a present in the bedroom closet. Oh my gosh, I have never seen Ellie so excited. She was literally bouncing up and down while Tom removed it from its packaging.

We drove Tom's new Jeep that day and I really did not think we would be able to fit all those presents in the car. It was a tight squeeze, but we made it work.

Christmas Day After:

On the 26th, we all got dressed up for church.I'm not sure how thrilled Tom was about it. After church, we went over to my father-in-law's house for one final farewell to Christmas. We had a great time visiting, but I was too busy keeping Jack out of the cupboards to take a single picture of the night!

Seriously, Jack is into EVERYTHING these days. He is such a handful. I swear, I count down the minutes until it is time to put him to bed. But then once he is in bed, I start missing him and feel this strange urge to go get him out of his crib. He is just so darn cute.

Anyway, our Christmas was fun and best of all...filled with lots of family.