DoodleRooskie

Words of Wisdom.

2011-07-25T11:27:00.004-05:00

It's hot. Like, 110 degrees hot. I've been too lazy to get the kids outside in this heat much lately and I woke up at 4 in the morning worried about what a bad, lazy mother I've been and vowing to do better. After all, we only get so much time with our children before they don't want to be with us anymore. And the girls (both girls - boo hoo) will be in school in a month. So I made a promise to myself that starting today, we were going to DO stuff together, besides just an hour at the pool here or there. So I asked them what they wanted to do this morning. To my utter dismay, they chose to play tennis. It was 9:30, so I said "Ok, we have a small window where the heat won't kill us on the spot, so get your gear on and let's go." We decided to add to the fun by riding our bikes to the tennis courts. It's not too far, but Rhett's only four and he's still on training wheels, so he lags behind quite a bit. We were a little over halfway to the courts when he informed me, "Mom, I think it would have been a lot faster if we drove in the car."

Then, on the way home, after a brief run through the splash park to cool off, we saw a bunny that had been run over in the middle of the road. Off to the side we saw - if you are eating, you may want to set it to the side now - the babies. As in, the fetal babies that very clearly had shot out of the momma's tummy when she got run over. I know, ewwww. But the kids were fascinated. Horrified, disgusted, and fascinated. After they had had all they could take, we took off for home. Reese kept saying "I hope nothing else kills those babies." I didn't have the heart to tell her that the hawk that was circling was probably going to, in fact, kill those babies again. Avery mentioned that it was sad that the babies never got to be born. I agreed and she said "Well, at least I got to be born, and Reese and Rhett got to be born." My first thought was, Yes, Avery, I'm very glad I didn't get squashed by a Suburban that shot you out of my belly, but I felt that was a bit sarcastic for an 8 year old, so again, I just agreed. Then Rhett pipes up. "Mom, we can't kill pets." I said "Well, honey, it was an accident and they probably weren't anyone's pets. It is sad, though." Rhett responds with, "But those are Jesus' pets and we aren't allowed to kill Jesus' pets." Once again, sage advice from a four-year-old.

Funny Guy

2011-05-23T10:42:00.006-05:00

I have finally accepted as reality something I have suspected for quite some time. Rhett is hilarious. I used to think he was just cute and adorable and funny because he was a little kid and little kids are just funny. But I have come to realize that being funny is something that just comes naturally to him, whether he's trying or not.

Here's an example of him being hilarious without knowing what he was doing was hilarious:

In case you don't recognize this move, he's doing the sprinkler. At his preschool class' Easter party. Without being prompted. I, in fact, am the one who often encourages this move at home, but I wasn't even there. Another mom took this photo after he did it three or four times. She said "He kept doing this one move over and over again, very seriously." She wasn't aware of the sprinkler as a dance move, apparently. She is now. I guess he did it repeatedly until another idea took hold and he dropped to the floor in an attempt to try his hand at breakdancing.
I laugh out loud every time I see this picture and visualize him dancing his little heart out, doing moves that we all know are silly, but that he thinks is real, serious dancing. See? Funny.

Then, there are the words and conversations. Oh my Lord, this boy tries my patience. I have to bite my lip to keep from laughing and hold my hands at my sides to keep from strangling him at least 7 times a day. He keeps me on my toes, that's for sure. I had to write some of the more recent chats down, so I can one day, when he comes to me, pulling his hair out over his own little boy's exasperating behavior, pull out this little record and just grin.

Aaron told all the kids to go brush their teeth. All went in their respective bathrooms to do as they were told. Rhett was out in less than 12 seconds. Aaron asked him if he brushed his teeth and this is where it led:
Rhett: Yep, I brushed 'em.
Aaron: You haven't been in there long enough to even put toothpaste on the brush. You didn't.
Rhett: I did, Dad. I really did.
Aaron: Your toothbrush isn't even wet. You did not brush.
Rhett: I used an invisible toothbrush. See? (Here he began pretending as though he was holding a toothbrush and moving his hand up and down in front of his mouth, like he was brushing them right then.)

While getting dressed one day, Rhett started crying, saying "They're too far apart!" I asked him what in the world he was talking about and he showed me that the button wouldn't go in the hole because the pants were too small. They're too far apart. I know the feeling, Buddy.

Rhett's note from school last week: "Besides him climbing the urinal on the wall, it was a great day." Me: Rhett, did you get in trouble today? Rhett: Just for climbing the potty!

Me: Do you think you are funny?
Rhett, shaking his head No: Since I'm 4. I used to be funny, when I was 3. Not now. So don't laugh.

Signage

2011-03-28T09:42:00.010-05:00

On Saturday, as I headed out to the backyard to start my garden, I noticed some new signage around our house.

This one was on the front of their playhouse. Apparently, wasps have been coming into the playhouse. This is their warning to keep out.

The sign itself probably isn't terribly frightening to a wasp, but the can above it will surely do the trick. But just in case a particularly brave, or stupid, wasp decides to risk it and head inside the house, he will soon regret it.

I'm not sure what will happen to this rogue wasp when he realizes he "shouldn't of" come in, but I'm sure he'll be sorry.

The last sign was inside the garage. There's a story behind this one. My darling husband, in an attempt to keep the garage somewhat neat has purchased a bike rack. There's a slot for each child's bike and trust me, there is hell to pay if the bikes aren't where they belong. (If you know my husband, you know that there is NEVER hell to pay where he's concerned. If you don't know him, trust me. There is never hell to pay.)

The kids have done pretty well at keeping up with the bikes. But alas, their dad forgot about one thing: scooters. There are no slots for scooters. And he is forever tripping over, kicking, or almost running over their Razor scooters. Until today, we haven't had a real solution to this problem.

Hmmm...should I worry that there are no scooters actually parked here? Nah, the garage is Dad's area. Now, off to convince Avery to make a sign that says "Pick up your toys, clean up your mess, and for Pete's sake, flush the toilet!"

Not So Grown Up After All (Thank goodness!)

2011-03-05T10:59:00.003-06:00

Avery is 7. She'll be 8 in May and it's all moving too fast for me. She's becoming much more independent, and doesn't seem to need me as much as she used to. (sob!) Don't get me wrong. She still wants to snuggle and sleep in Mommy's bed, but only at night when all her friends have gone home and it's just us.
It seems that, every day, she's asking for more and more freedom. She wants to go to the park with her friends, without me. She wants to walk the neighbor's dog, without me. She wants to walk to school, without me. I try to let go, little bits at a time. We compromise. She can go to the park, but she has to take a walkie talkie so I can talk to her whenever I want to. She can walk the neighbor's dog, but only if the dog's owner's big brother goes with them. She can't walk to school alone yet, but she gets to walk by herself, after school, all the way to the crossing guard a block away and I pick her up there.
Yesterday, we walked her to school. She asked to ride her bike and I said yes. The neighbor boys (owners of previously mentioned dog) rode by on their bikes and she asked if she could go with them. I said yes, and that I would be coming behind them.
They rode off and were far enough ahead of us that I couldnt' see them anymore. I really was ok with it, but I had the backpack, so I had to go on up to school. Before we got to the street the school is on, I see Avery riding her bike toward me. I said "Honey, you didn't have to come back. I was bringing your backpack." She burst into tears. She said, through tears, "Momma, I couldn't even see you. We were too far ahead. I wanted to see you, so I came back. I'm not ready to ride my bike without you."
I almost burst into tears too, but instead just yelled inside my own head "Thankyou, God! She still needs me!"
All I said to her was "Honey, I'm always here," and then floated all the way to school on a cloud of mommy-bliss.

Daddy Daughter Dance

2011-03-05T10:30:00.008-06:00

Every year, our city holds a Daddy/Daughter Dance. It's pretty self-explanatory; Dads take their daughters to a dance. Some people go all out with this...fancy dresses, limos, makeup and hair done at the salon, etc. (That was never going to happen at our house, by the way. A new dress and lots of extra attention are treat enough, in my opinion.) We've never even considered going because frankly, that's not Avery's thing and until this year, Reese wasn't old enough to go.

Aaron asked Reese if that was something she would like to do. She didn't hesitate before shouting "YES!" We didn't think Avery would be interested in going, but of course, in the interest of fairness, we had to offer it. Surprisingly, she said yes. I told her she had to dress up and she was still ok with it. So, with both girls in, we had to make a decision. There are different dance times for different ages. Unfortunately, Reese's dance was from 2-3:30 and Avery's was from 4-5:30. Reese was allowed to go to Avery's dance, but older kids can't go to a younger dance. At first we thought they would all go together, then we considered the logistics of both girls wanting Aaron's attention. Being the sweet, considerate Daddy that he is, Aaron decided to go to two separate dances. (Yes, that meant he had to buy two separate tickets for himself. Told you he was sweet.)

The girls and I started shopping for dresses. Avery was easy. I asked if she wanted to go shopping and she said "No, I'm just wearing a girl shirt and jeans." Uh oh. I explained to her that she needed to wear a dress. It didn't have to be fancy, but she needed to dress up. She reluctantly agreed. We found a cute black dress at Gap online, ordered it and some tall boots. Avery is done.

Reese, as expected, took a bit longer. We hit four stores and tried on at least 12 dresses before we found the perfect compromise of fancy, affordable and seasonally appropriate. Fortunately, shoes were easier. Only two stores and three different styles before we found the one.

She tried her entire outfit on at least three times before Dance Weekend and could hardly wait. Avery was excited about going, but definitely more low-key. Aaron told each girl she could choose the tie he would wear and Avery was mostly excited that he agreed to wear his OU tie to her dance.

The day of the dance was exactly as you might imagine. Avery went to softball practice while Reese got ready for her dance. She took a long bath, and then put on her robe while we got her ready.

Here she is after her hair was dried, but before it was straightened and styled.

And here she is after styled hair, waiting for her nails to dry. The cutest thing about all of this was her excitement level. I bet she said at least 10 times, "Mom, this is so exciting!" or "Mom, I think I look so beautiful."

And here's the finished product, with her "date":

I love that Aaron thought of ordering corsages for the girls. They loved it too.

Obviously, I didn't get to attend the dance. In fact, Aaron took a picture of a sign at the dance that said "No Moms Allowed." But, I can just about picture how Reese pranced around at the dance. Aaron said she basically led him around the room the entire time, getting snack after snack, looking for her friends (not sure who she thought she was going to see, but she didn't see anyone she knew. That didn't stop her from looking). Aaron said they didn't dance until the very end, and the dancing was more spinning Reese and twirling her in the air. I can only imagine. She is very, um, commanding when she wants to be. And she LOVES to have someone cater to her. She may have been a princess in a former life.

While Reese was at her dance, Avery watched TV. I made her take a bath and wash her hair early so it could start to dry. I knew she wasn't going to tolerate a lot of time in front of the mirror fixing her hair. In fact, she told me more than once that I was driving her crazy, trying to curl her hair. "It's already curly, Mom! Why do you have to curl it again?" I didn't even bother trying to explain it to her. I must say, once she got ready, I think she enjoyed it. She seemed proud of her outfit and was excited about the dance. I didn't get many pictures of her.

Here are some pictures after Reese's dance and before Avery's.

Reese was very depressed when Aaron and Avery left for the dance. You know that "let-down" after a big event? She had it big time. I didn't know if I would be able to bring her out of it, then I reminded her that we were all going out for a family dinner and she would still be wearing her fancy outfit. That perked her up.

Aaron's report on his dance with Avery: They danced. Big time. A lot. The food line was long and the picture line was even longer, so they just got their groove on the entire time. I would have given just about anything to be a fly on the wall to see this. Aaron doesn't dance. Ever. Ok, not ever. He has danced with me about 4 times in our 11 years together. I'm glad he was able to overcome his dislike of public dancing because he made two little girls very, very happy.

Thanks, Daddy, for making your girls feel so special. What a great day!

Christmas 2010

2011-01-24T08:17:00.011-06:00

So, I didn't take any pictures of my kids at Christmas. I know, I know...loser parent. I don't know what happened to me this year. I didn't get the camera out on Christmas morning at home (that has honestly never happened since Avery was born) and I didn't get the camera out on Christmas night in Oklahoma. I had the camera with me, I just didn't use it. I didn't think much of it at the time, only a nagging feeling that maybe I should have...but now I'm depressed about it. I feel like a bad mother who doesn't think her kids are cute or funny anymore, so why bother with pictures. So I'm sad. Luckily, I do have this group of pictures to make me laugh...in fact, after looking at the results of this "photo shoot" I dare you to NOT have a smile on your face.

Here's the background story: My mom realized a few months ago that her grandkids' ages, as of Christmas Day, would be exactly 1,2,3,4,5,6,7, and 8. So she just knew she had to commemorate this occasion. She bought them all bright colored sweatshirts and painted wooden numbers for each of them to hold. We (she and I) honestly thought we could pull this off without a hitch. Ok, we thought there might be like, ONE hitch, but we really thought we'd get an excellent, beautiful, adorable picture of all 8 children. I guess we forgot that two of these numbers are ONE and TWO. You've probably guessed by now that things didn't go as planned. Especially with a TWO year old involved. A tired, overwhelmed, cranky two year old. What were we thinking?

Here's what we ended up with....

Here's one with RJ (Mr. Two) crying.

Here's one with Mr. Two leaving.

Here's one with Uncle Bo putting the 2 in front of him...notice he tries to kick it over. If memory serves me correctly, he did, in fact, kick it over.

Here's one with Mr. Two throwing the 2.

Here's one with Mr. Two crying again...and yet, we still haven't taken the hint that this picture is NOT going to happen.

Here's a repeat of Uncle Bo and the kicking. Seriously, it happened twice. I can prove it by the numbers on the pictures.

I will end by saying that these are the best pictures that came out of my camera. There are shots with my sister making threats to Mr. Two (he didn't care), there are shots of Mr. One leaving and crying (He sat more still and stopped crying when Mr. Two was doing his thing...he knew he wasn't going to be able to upstage that one), there are more shots of Uncle Bo trying his hardest to give Mr. Two his 2. And even more shots of Mr. Two throwing, kicking and generally hating the 2. So we gave up.

We are giving serious thought to using this one and photoshopping Mr. One and Mr. Two in on a happier, less exhausted day. What do you think?

(FYI- I have no clue how to photoshop people into a picture so we have a better chance of Mr. Two calling me up, apologizing for his crankiness that evening, and asking if we can reschedule the photo shoot than we do of me getting the picture my mom wanted. But hey, I'd like to thank Mr. Two for making me laugh out loud every time I look at these pictures. I can't wait until he's Mr. Twenty-Two so I can show him!)

Reese is 5!!

2010-12-20T13:46:00.008-06:00

Actually, Reese has been 5 for almost two months. I'm just a lazy, bad mother who can't keep up with anything. Thank you to my sister for reminding me that I'm not keeping up with this blog. I am pretty sure that, by this point, she is the only one reading, but if I don't document my kids' childhood here, I doubt I'll remember it! So thanks, Lauren, for nudging me.

Part of me can't believe Reese is already FIVE. Five is a kid. Not even a hint of baby left. (Well, except for the fact that she still sucks her fingers when she's sad or sleepy!) The other part of me can totally believe it because she acts about nine sometimes. She is still a sweetie, but is also becoming quite a drama queen. When she is told "no," she can wail and whine that life is no fair, she never gets anything, and she can't believe how sad she feels. She has actually said "I can't believe you just let me cry like this!"

But she is also pretty funny. Most of the time, she's not trying. Like here:

This was an outfit that Avery wore and I bought it for her because it wasn't too girly, but still cute. It's now in Reese's drawer, but hadn't been worn until this day. I said "Reese, you look cute in that outfit" and she said "Yeah, it's like I just got off of a horse." I have no idea what that means...maybe because it has patches, or maybe because it's jean shorts. I asked her what she meant and she responded with "Well, just look at it." So look at it. Do you think she looks like she just got off of a horse????

She is also a fabulous big sister to Rhett. As long as Avery isn't around, the two of them get along fabulously. (Isn't there always a problem when there is an odd number of kids?) Here they are, pretending to go on "a-cation."

Here she is on her actual 5th birthday, looking too precious and way too grown up:

And here she is last week, after begging me to wrap her like a present and put her under the tree:
Best present I ever got! Love you, Sweet Reesie!

Reese

2010-11-16T15:03:00.002-06:00

So I'm way behind AGAIN. I have a post for Reese's birthday, but haven't downloaded pictures yet. So, even though this isn't a long post and there are tons of things I've skipped, I had to get it in writing before I forget.

Reese's teacher told me after school that she was really quiet today - that she just didn't seem like herself. So, on the car ride home I said "Reesie, Mrs. White said you were super quiet. Do you know why?" Her answer killed me. She said "It was a sad day. I was at the end of the line, then I had to sit by myself because Jack was being mean, then no one would play with me at recess and I was all by myself. And I don't know why because I'm a fun girl."

First of all, I have to say, I don't know if there is a worse feeling than when you are left out of something. Second, I know it won't be the last time she's left out of something, so I hope she keeps that "I'm a fun girl" self-confident attitude forever! You go, Reesie!!

I Found My USB Cord!!!!

2010-10-25T12:48:00.010-05:00

After a month of living in the new house, I still have at least 10 boxes that still need to be unpacked. I haven't actually unpacked even one box in the past week - until today. And guess what I found? My USB cord for my camera, so that I can download pictures to my computer again!

Here is a little bit of what I found...

This is Avery with her pet hamster, Digger. We told her she could buy a hamster if she earned the money. I figured a hamster with cage was about $30. I told her she had to earn $25 and I would pay for anything extra. Guess what I found out? Hamsters are not as disposable as I thought. With cage, food, and rodent, the total came to a whopping $65. Digger is supposed to be a test to see how ready Avery is for a puppy. She has been dying for one since she was about 3 and I am dying for her NOT to have one. I'm not too worried right now since I have been the one to supply Digger with food and water for the last two weeks. Anyway, the point is that she loves the hamster...and he has survived for over two months, which is a record in our house!

Above is a picture of Reese feeding her baby. I don't think this picture requires any explanation, except that I think it's precious!

Here's a picture of Reese and Rhett on their first day of Small Fry Soccer. Reese loved it and is convinced she is going to sign up for soccer...unless she signs up for softball. Or she wants to keep doing dance. Or cheerleading. Or maybe volleyball, if they have it. Basically, the girl can't make up her mind. So we'll wait and see what time of year it is when she lands on a decision!

Here are Reese and Rhett taking one of their last baths in our old house...

...and here are their handprints in the concrete patio in the backyard. If I could have taken this, I would have. It still brings a tear to my eye to see it:

We miss our old house - it was so us - but we do love our new one and are enjoying making it ours.

I will end with a picture of the newest chapter in our lives: Our first night in the new house...tired from a long day of moving, but happy and excited to be here!

Reese

2010-09-13T09:51:00.007-05:00

Reese is still dressing herself 5 days a week. Now that she's in school on Tuesdays and Thursdays, we decide together what she will wear, but I give her free reign most other days..

There aren't many years in life that you can get away with a swimsuit and heels...I'm going to let the girl express herself while she can! Besides, it always gives me something to smile about!

Second Grader

2010-09-13T09:48:00.005-05:00

Avery has started second grade! SECOND! I have a second grader! Lord, help me....
She has even started wearing some girl clothes...anything with skulls on it is fair game!

Interesting Development

2010-09-13T09:39:00.005-05:00

Perhaps one of the more interesting developments in the last couple of months is Rhett's choice of sleepwear....

He absolutely loves to wear Reese's pajamas lately.

But oddly enough, he doesn't like it when we laugh at him. Or photograph him while laughing. Go figure.

Updates...

2010-09-10T18:46:00.002-05:00

There are countless reasons I haven't posted in a while:

1. I'm lazy.
2. We are moving! Just to a new house, not a new city...same neighborhood, same schools, just more toilets! :)
3. I started a new job, teaching 3 year olds at a Christian preschool. I'm tired.
4. I got an iphone, which I stare at any time I'm not packing or working. Laptops are SO 2008.

Anyway, I'm about to post a gazillion different posts all at once. I love keeping up with our daily life as much as possible, because Lord knows I won't remember it in 20 years!!!

A New Excuse

2010-07-30T16:03:00.003-05:00

Me: Girls, you guys need to clean all these crayons and books off of the table if you are wanting to decorate these cookies.

Reese: Mom, just wait one minute. Avery has to save the world.

I wonder how long that takes...I mean, should I just clean the dadgum table myself?

The Biker Bar

2010-07-22T13:44:00.003-05:00

Yes, they are pretending that they are in a biker bar. When they asked if they could move furniture, those words were not used. As a parent, I know I should discourage them from pretending they are in a bar. I wrestled with the "good parent" side of my brain for a good 5 minutes before I decided to just keep my mouth shut and see how this thing plays out. When I was a kid we had candy cigarettes. And BB guns that worked. Plus, I think it's funny. And hey, it's better than TV or video games. At least they are using their imagination. So I let it go.
I have no idea how they know anything about biker bars. Honestly. I don't go to biker bars, my husband doesn't go to biker bars, we aren't related to any bikers or people that frequent biker bars. I am 99.9% sure we haven't had a discussion about biker bars. Nevertheless, here we are. In a biker bar. Avery and Rhett are both bikers. I can see it in Avery. She's wearing a leather jacket and a do-rag with flames on it. And a black and silver belt that you cannot see. She looks tough and biker-ish. What I do not understand is why Rhett is wearing a windbreaker zipped to the top, hood tight around his face. I have never, EVER seen a biker wearing a windbreaker with the hood up. For that matter, I don't think I've ever seen a tough, macho type wearing a windbreaker with the hood up. But he tells me he's a tough guy named "Crayon," so there.
Reese is dressed as Snow White. Because of this, obviously, she wasn't allowed in at first. She cried and wailed about the injustice, but the bikers weren't budging. They finally told her that if she put on a tough jacket and didn't talk about girl stuff, she could come in. She brought her stuffed cat and wore a crown, but she didn't breathe a word of princess-y, girly chatter. In fact, she even came up with the idea of getting Cokes and pretending they were beers. Yes, I let them. I know, I know. Bad parenting. But I said no at first...and I reminded them that beer was for grown ups, 21 and over. And remember? We had candy cigarettes. And I don't smoke. I even once snorted Pixy Stix (80's party scenes on TV all the time) and pretended it was cocaine and I've never done cocaine in my life. So they'll be ok. Right?
Don't answer. And do not, under any circumstance, tell me about it if you someday see one of these children in a bar, or on a motorcycle or drinking beer. I don't want to know.

What is this little weirdo doing????

2010-07-21T12:31:00.002-05:00

He is looking at our family pictures, saying "I wuff you Reese, I wuff you Avery, I wuff me, I wuff Mommy and Daddy. And I wuff God." Awwwwwww...kinda makes you feel bad for calling him a little weirdo, huh?

P.S. I need to document why the pictures are no longer on the wall. Last weekend, Aaron went on a boys' trip to the Jersey Shore (he swears there was no fist pumping, but I'm not convinced). Not only was I home alone with all three kids for three nights and four days, but I painted our hallway. I did it right, too, just like my Dad taught me. Cleaned the baseboards, taped them off, cleaned the walls, etc. I worked so hard, and now, I'm having a hard time knowing what i want to do in this newly clean, unstained space. It really doesn't matter what I do with it. I will know (and more importantly, Aaron will know) every time I look at it that I did it all by myself. With three kids underfoot and no one to help with anything. I rock. (Sorry...there are so few times I can say that about myself, that I have to take every opportunity to do so.)

Remember These?

2010-07-14T12:39:00.004-05:00

Remember these?

This is one of those little craft kits you can pick up at Hobby Lobby...I bought tons of little kits on that aisle at the beginning of the summer. The kids love stuff like this. I got this kit out yesterday morning and they have worked almost non-stop (we took breaks for meals and a brief water balloon fight this morning) on them ever since. After lunch today, Reese and Avery went right back to work on theirs. I was still arguing with Rhett over eating the grilled cheese he asked me to make and then refused to eat. All of a sudden, he starts crying. At first, I thought it was over the food and I was about to send him to his room. Then I noticed that he's grabbing at his face. I asked what was wrong and he cries, "It hurts!" At that exact moment, a tiny pink bead came flying out of his nose. But he kept crying. And digging in his nose. "Are there any more up there?" I asked. He nodded his head yes. I said "Why?" and immediately dismissed the question and any answer that might have followed. I told him to blow his nose as hard as he could. Nothing. Well, not nothing, but no beads came out. I pinched his nose and felt something hard in there. He squealed even louder, yelling "Dat hurt, Momma!" Definitely still beads up his nose. I told him to keep blowing while I called the doctor's office. As snot flies all over the kitchen, the message service at the doctor's office answers. Great. They're on lunch break. I honestly don't know if this is an emergency or not. I hear about kids doing this all the time...so I know he's not going to die. But do I need to rush to an ER or can I wait for the doctor to eat lunch? I call my husband to see if he knows. (Rhett is still blowing) Of course, he doesn't answer. I hang up, tell the girls to finish their popsicles because we are going to the doctor. As I spin in circles wondering what to do first, Rhett yells, happily, "It's right there!" I look down and there, at his feet, is a tiny green bead, covered in snot. Whew. That was a close one. If you looked at him right now, you'd never know he was in the middle of a traumatic meltdown just 5 minutes ago. I'm glad we didn't have to go to the doctor and have some nasty probe shoved up Rhett's nostril, because you just know I would have had to hold him down. Yes, I am definitely relieved...and I think I'll just leave that "Why?" alone for now.

Gambling

2010-07-03T11:02:00.002-05:00

I am sitting in the living room, watching my husband teach my children how to play poker. Reese delightedly tells me, "Momma, we are gambling!" I say, sort of jokingly, "You know, I don't think God likes for us to gamble." Avery responds with, "But I'm really good at it!"

Ok, so I know I need to spend a little more time on the importance of God's rules, but I must admit, I find it hilariously adorable when Avery holds up her hands and says "Whoa, I'm out...you got me this time," as if she knows what she is doing.

Avery's Birthday

2010-06-10T14:36:00.012-05:00

I'm so behind...on the blog, in my scrapbooks, and in life in general. I just downloaded pictures off of my camera. There were 160. I realized, after downloading and beginning to edit, that I never acknowledged or posted pictures of Avery's birthday, which was on May 20th. Better late than never, I guess! Happy 7th, Baby Girl!

Her actual birthday was a Thursday. We invited a couple of friends over after school and we ordered pizza and played in the water. She said it was one of the best parties ever - and it didn't cost me a dime, except for the pizza!

Her "real" party was on Saturday, at Grammy's (in Oklahoma). We had planned to go to Great Wolf Lodge for the weekend, but somehow, Grammy's was mentioned. We gave Avery the option and she didn't hesitate before shouting, "GRAMMY'S!" She also said the only present she wanted for her birthday was to get to sleep with Grammy. I'm not going to expect this kind of low maintenance birthday forever, but I sure am happy about it for now!

Here are a few pics from the weekend in Oklahoma:

It was a pretty typical backyard birthday party...she had presents...

and cake....

and frog and turtle races...

(FYI-the frog won)!

They had a water balloon fight...

...and when the water balloons ran out, Aunt La La drenched them!

Spending her birthday with her cousins was exactly what she wanted. She had the best time! When we woke up on Sunday, she almost cried when she realized we had to go home. Her daddy told her we could stay later than usual, and Auntie Em and I decided to help the kids have a lemonade stand.

Here are the kids, waiting for the signs, which I was in charge of.

The big kids all had jobs. Avery and JD were in charge of pouring lemonade, Reese and Macy were in charge of the money. That left Big Tuna with no job. He was a little sad until Uncle Josh and Daddy came up with the idea to put him in a sandwich board and have him walk up and down the driveway, advertising the stand.

I made the lemon signs and Josh taped them to a Bud Light box (always classy!). We tied the lemons together with twine and voila!

How stinking cute is that?

Looking at this makes me want to have a lemonade stand in the front yard right now. Let me just go empty this Bud Light box real quick......

Why We Need Our Own Pool

2010-06-02T11:54:00.005-05:00

I took Reese and Rhett to the neighborhood pool today since Avery is having a campout in the library at school. (I don't think Avery will think it was a fair comparison, but I do the best I can.)
Anyway, taking them to the pool isn't relaxing. They are doing better with their floaties this year, but we're not at the point where I am just lying by the pool, reading a magazine. I'm in the water with them, swimming, most of the time. Today, after letting them jump to me 432 times, I suggested that they swim with me so I could get some laps in. After letting Reese "ride" for a while, it was Rhett's turn. He hadn't been on 3 seconds, when he started screaming "A WHALE! I'M RIDING A WHALE!" He didn't say it once. Or twice. It was constant, the entire time he was on my back. I froze for a second, then tried to play it cool. I knew if I stopped, all the spectators would know that I thought I was a whale. Going along with it, I think, conveys the message that I'm completely comfortable with my body and am totally fine with my son screaming that I'm a whale. Still, I stayed under as long as I could before I had to come up for air. Luckily the pool wasn't as crowded as it normally is, but the walk of shame to my bag was still quite, well, shameful.
We need our own pool.

Times Have Changed

2010-05-31T10:16:00.002-05:00

The Baby Doctor

2010-05-28T18:16:00.002-05:00

What kid doesn't like to hear the story about the day they were born? Avery has always asked me questions about what it was like when she was a baby, but tonight was the first time Reese has asked about the day she was born. I started telling her how excited we were to finally meet her, but then how the doctor came in and said there was something wrong. I told her how he said we have to get her out NOW. I told her how a bunch of nurses came in and how they were all preparing me to have a baby with some sort of problem. And I told her that they sent in a bunch of baby doctors to take care of her as soon as she came out.
The minute I said "baby doctors," Reese got tickled. Avery wanted me to tell the rest of the story, but Reese kept interrupting, saying, "I can't believe they had baby doctors there!" I thought she was just fascinated that she was the center of such a big ordeal. At least that's what I thought until about 10 minutes ago, when she held up her hands to indicate a small sized person and said "Mom, were those doctors like this big?' She honestly thought I meant the doctors were babies. Not a doctor FOR babies, but that the baby doctors were actually babies who were doctors.
No wonder she was so tickled...who wouldn't laugh at that?
Thank you Reesie...from now on, when I remember the day you were born, instead of feeling panicked and seeing a gazillion health care professionals staring at me, waiting to deliver a sick child, I will always see that delivery room full of little tiny babies, standing around wearing scrubs and lab coats, as their stethoscopes drag the ground!

The Good, The Bad, and The Adorable

2010-05-11T09:25:00.008-05:00

I'll start with the bad, just to get it out of the way. Luckily, there hasn't been much bad about the last 3 weeks. In fact, I've been busy having so much fun, I haven't had a chance to sit down and record it all...but I've got to keep up with this. This blog is my only chance at remembering our life, as my memory is pretty much worthless. So, here goes - I'll try to sum up the past three weeks as quickly and painlessly as possible.
So, on to the bad news: My mom came to visit on her birthday, May 5. That's not the bad news. In fact, we were so stinking excited for her to get here, I'm not sure any of us slept in the days preceding her visit. The bad news is this: The day she got here - HER BIRTHDAY - she parked in front of our house. We had just gotten home from picking Avery up from school, having a frozen yogurt in honor of GRAMMY'S BIRTHDAY and were home in the backyard. The kids were playing in the water and Grammy and I were preparing for a celebratory BIRTHDAY beer in the backyard. I ran inside to get something and heard a loud CRASH! My very first thought was "Oh no, not Mom's truck. Not Mom's truck." Guess what? It was Mom's truck. The lady in this car:

swerved over to the wrong side of the street and hit my mom's truck head on. She supposedly fell asleep, but considering she had to turn onto our street 2 blocks earlier, we suspect some texting/phoning could have been going on. Either way, she slammed Mom's truck and totaled her own car. Lucky for us, no one was in Mom's truck and it wasn't totaled. It is, however, in a shop here in Frisco as we speak. And Mom had to rent a car to drive back to Oklahoma. And it was a huge hassle on her first two days here. And did I mention she was here to celebrate her BIRTHDAY? Some celebration. But again, we are so thankful it wasn't any worse than it was and we were able to move on from this and have several great days while she was here.

I think that's all I have for the bad section of this post. Aren't we lucky? I had a minor scare at the dermatologist, when they sent me an email which led me to panic and think I had gotten bad results back from a mole biopsy, but it was a mistake and all is good.

Now, on to the Good section:
There are many, many things I could post here...probably the most fun we had while Mom was here was our shopping day on Friday. Retail therapy is an amazing thing, isn't it? We came home completely energized, excited and not at all thinking about Mom's wrecked truck out front. I wish I had thought to take pictures of the style show we had when we got home, but I was too excited about all the clothes and shoes my Mommy bought me to think of a camera. Let's just say hearing my mom say (several times, I may add), "Just get it...I'm buying" totally rocked. I haven't gone anywhere to wear any of my cute stuff, but that hasn't stopped me from trying it all on several times since she left!

I hate to say that I had more fun shopping than I had celebrating my sweet baby boy's 3rd birthday - they were equally special and fun. Let's just consider them the same on the Good list. I should probably include the fact that I didn't write Rhett a special birthday post on the bad list...but I promise, I will make it up to him somehow.

He didn't seem to notice - he got all he wanted and then some. I can't believe he's already 3. I think I'm putting it out of my mind so I don't have to think about the fact that I no longer have any babies and that they are growing up way too fast. Should this be in the bad section if I'm about to cry? Nah, I guess it's all good. Bittersweet, but mostly good.

Here's one of the best things on the Good list:
I always put up some decorations on the kids birthdays. I always do it the night before, so they wake up to decorations. Since we celebrated Rhett's birthday with Grammy on Friday, I told Aaron to remind me to decorate on Saturday night. But guess what (Bad section again)? I was so tired Saturday night, that I forgot to decorate.
Lucky for me, and especially for Rhett, I have a husband who takes care of things when I fall short. He woke up early on Sunday morning, and saw that I had forgotten to decorate. He knew that I would be upset if Rhett woke up without decorations, but as he put it, he was in a "Catch 22" because he didn't want to wake me up early on Mother's Day. So this is what happened.
I woke up to this sign on the inside of my bedroom door.

Aaron wrote the top part. Avery wrote "If you come out" and drew a fist. As if she would punch me if we came out. What a lovely sentiment to write for your mother on Mother's Day. I thought it was precious - and so her.

When they got back, we found out they had been out getting breakfast. And I was allowed to come out of my room. And I saw curly ribbon on the light and these:

Aaron wrote them and he is mortified that I took pictures of his handwriting. He said it looks like a 3rd grader wrote them. But let's be honest - how many grown men are good at bubble letters? He just tried to do what he thought I would have done. It was the sweetest, most romantic thing he's done for me in a long, long time and I'll never forget it. (Well, I probably will forget, but that's why I have it recorded here!)

Ok, clearly, we've had lots of good things happening. I will finish up with The Adorable:

Here is Reese, modeling an outfit that Grammy purchased for her. Yes, you are seeing this correctly. The baby doll's clothes are identical. On our shopping extravaganza we found an adorable marketplace that had a shop with adorable little girls' clothes and each outfit had a matching doll-sized outfit. The doll clothes are actually made for an American Girl sized doll, but thankfully, Reese hasn't caught on to the AG trend so we're just using it on our regular old baby doll. Frankly, she didn't care about the doll outfit, but my mom and I just had to have it. How could we not?

Ok, that's it for now...I'll try not to wait so long between posts so that you aren't forced to read a novel every 2-3 weeks. Happy Monday! :)

Next Top Model

2010-04-23T10:32:00.009-05:00

When I ask to take Avery's picture, I have to force her to smile. I can't catch Rhett long enough to get a good one. But Reese? Ah, sweet Reesie...she loooooooves to have her picture taken. In fact, all I have to do is hold up a camera and say "Say Cheese!" and this is what I get:

Somebody call Tyra!

How Do I Keep a Straight Face?

2010-04-22T07:38:00.002-05:00

Reese has a dentist appointment this morning. It's just for a regular check-up and cleaning, but the last time we were there, the dentist told her that, if she didn't stop sucking her fingers, we'd have to put a mouth guard in. We've tried everything: threats, bribes, wearing a glove on one hand, appealing to her vanity and explaining what it does to her teeth, etc. Nothing works. I'm afraid the mouth guard is inevitable. Probably not today, but I bet he suggests it today. Aaron and I discussed it last night, just wondering how much something like that costs. We thought we were talking privately, but apparently not.
I reminded Reese this morning that we had a dentist appointment and she started sobbing and sucking her fingers. I said "You love the dentist. Why are you crying?" She could barely get these words out: "I don't want a lifeguard in my mouth!"
How am I NOT supposed to laugh at that? I had to hug her and bit my lip to keep from laughing out loud.

Let's all cross our fingers that the "lifeguard" isn't necessary and if it is necessary, that it's not a gazillion dollars. Thanks!

Do NOT Trust This Face

2010-04-20T20:01:00.004-05:00

Look very carefully at this face. Behind that sweet smile and those angelic blue eyes is a mischevious little monster. He is running me ragged lately and seems to take great pleasure in doing so. I had to run after him for a good 5 minutes, even getting his sisters involved in the chase to get this picture of him. This is what I kept getting:

You wanna know what finally got him to stop? I told him he could look at the camera and say "TOOTIE!"
Any potty words will stop him in his tracks. In fact, here is a conversation that proves everything I've said thus far:

Rhett: Mom, I wuff you.
Mom: I love you too, Baby.
Rhett: And I wuff Daddy. And Avery. And Reesie.
Mom: We all love you too.
Rhett: AND I WUFF POOP!

He risks this, knowing he will be in trouble and have to sit in time out for talking about poop when nobody is pooping, needs to poop or just pooped. Poop is an off limits topic in general conversation around here and he knows it. And he doesn't care. It's worth it to him. He'd sit in time out all day if he could yell about poop and tee-tee and booties and toots. Yep, he's running me ragged. And I love every minute of it!

Post 2

2010-04-19T09:17:00.002-05:00

Our hot water tank broke last night. Even the valve that shuts off the hot water broke in Aaron's hand when he tried to turn it off. At one point, we had our garden hose running up to the attic (where the tank is) and out the back door to drain into the yard instead of into our closet vent, which was where it all began.
Besides the fact that we have no water at all this morning and I have a dentist appointment at 1:00, which means I go to the dentist wearing a ball cap because I can't shower, I've been pretty upbeat through the whole thing. This morning, I actually amazed myself with my own ingenuity - I had to go to the bathroom. I mean really go to the bathroom. I mean...well, you probably get it. And I have neighborhood friends, but I just don't know how to call them and ask if I can come over and USE their bathroom, if you know what I mean (I think we have established that you know what I mean). So, you know what I did? I went to our neighbor's and filled up a bucket with water from their hose. And used that bucket of water to flush the toilet. I considered filling it up again and again, heating it on the stove and filling the bathtub with water so I could at least be clean at the dentist today. But then I woke up from that daydream, realized I wasn't Laura Ingalls, and threw on the ballcap. The dentist can just smell me all afternoon...that's what he gets for charging me $1200 to torture me by grinding down my tooth and putting a new crown on!
Monday rocks!!!!

If I Were President...

2010-04-19T09:07:00.006-05:00

I found this in Avery's notebook this weekend. In case you aren't well versed in first grade writing, I'll translate, based on how she explained them to me.

If I were president, I would "I want everyone well." (This is kind of a Miss America answer, don't you think? "I wish for world peace.")
I would also "Sleep with my mom every night." (Do you think President Obama ever wished for this when he was a kid?)
But I would not "forget about Mrs. Seddighi." (Her teacher)
One thing I would change would be "we could stay home." (That's my honor student!)
I would never want to change "Keep this playground." (Again with the academic avoidance.)

I love that her teacher wrote "You make me smile." That's exactly what I thought when I read it - especially since she's bald in her self-portrait. I guess even a 6-year-old recognizes the stress of the presidency!

And your name is?

2010-04-08T16:39:00.002-05:00

Rhett found a friend at the playground today. As the little boy started to leave, Rhett chased after him. I had to go after him to make sure he didn't leave with his new friend. I said "Rhett, where do you think you are going?" He responded, "Wis my friend. I play wis my friend." I asked him what the little boy's name is and Rhett said, "He name is....he name is....he name is...Brown Boy."

Brown Boy. I've never met someone named Brown Boy, have you? This particular child was technically brown but I feel certain that's not what his parents call him. I also hope that Rhett doesn't walk up to other kids and say things like, "Hey Brown Boy! You play wis me?"

Goofballs!

2010-04-08T10:23:00.004-05:00

I have no idea why, but the girls have taken to wearing Rhett's pajamas to bed. It's not really as noticeable on Reese and Rhett, but how Avery is able to sleep comfortably in them is beyond me.

The Easter Bunny

2010-04-02T17:44:00.003-05:00

The jig is up...on the Easter Bunny, that is. Avery informed me two nights ago that the Easter Bunny isn't real. The conversation went something like this:

Me, responding to something she was begging for: Well, maybe the Easter Bunny will bring it to you. Easter is next weekend.

Avery: Mom, I know the Easter Bunny is you.

Me: What? Why would you say that?

Avery: Because I think it is. Isn't it?

Me: Did someone tell you that?

Avery: No. I figured it out myself. They don't make bunnies that big. It would have to be a guy in a big bunny suit. Plus, it doesn't even make sense. Santa comes down the chimney because he's magic. How is a bunny going to come down our chimney? Bunnies aren't magic. That doesn't make any sense at all. I just think it can't be real.

Me, totally relieved that she still believes in Santa: Uh, well, you are right. I think what happened is, people saw how much little kids like Santa Claus, so they wanted to do something else. And, since bunnies are around in the springtime and Easter is a springtime holiday, they just created a bunny to bring kids fun stuff and hide their eggs. But you're right. It's just Mom and Dad.

Avery: Yeah, that's why we get a whole bunch of stuff from Santa, but just a little bit from the Easter Bunny.

Me: Sure. It would be very hard to do what Santa does.

Avery: Yeah. Plus, Santa lives at the North Pole. Where does the Easter Bunny even live?

Me: Hmmm...good point.

Avery: See? Told you it didn't make any sense.

Me: You have to promise not to say anything to the little ones. They are still very excited about the bunny. But between you and me, Easter is really only about Jesus. The other stuff is just for little kids.

Avery: Well, at least Santa is real.

Me, sadly inside my head: Yeah. At least we still have Santa.

What Up, Dawg?

2010-03-29T07:31:00.003-05:00

Yo! Have a good Monday! Fo Shizzle.

The Next Rachel Zoe?

2010-03-25T21:01:00.005-05:00

Reese is well on her way to becoming the next Rachel Zoe, stylist to the stars. Especially with outfits like this one:

Yeah, those are tights. No, she is not wearing a skirt over the tights. In fact, I had to put the smack down in order to get her to put on a skirt when we went to pick Avery up from school. Oh, and for those who are wondering, the tank is a size 3T. She wears a 5.

Not sure what this move is all about....maybe she's channeling Flashdance?
Either way, the girl's got a bright future, as either a stylist, a dancer or, if all else fails, a bag lady.

Childhood

2010-03-22T13:39:00.004-05:00

To me, this picture captures the very essence of childhood. The toothless grin, the unkempt hair, the candy around the mouth. I just love it. If I was a really good photographer and put my photos on display in a gallery somewhere, I would call it "Childhood." But, since I'm not, I'll just title it that here, for myself and my loyal readers (Hi Mom!).

Spring Break!!!

2010-03-22T08:53:00.021-05:00

We just got back from what is, to date, the best vacation we've ever had. And it took place in little old Oklahoma! Beaver's Bend, to be precise. Maybe this ridiculously long post will make up for the fact that I haven't posted in a few weeks. (Thanks to those of you who noticed that I hadn't!)

The kids prepared for this trip for days. They knew we were going to be staying in a cabin in the woods, so they thought camo would be the best choice of attire. They had dress rehearsals several times in the days preceding our trip.

We arrived at the cabin Thursday afternoon. The kids were enthralled with all aspects of the cabin. Besides the fact that it's in the woods and we could do lots of exploring, it had a porch swing!

....and a hot tub!

Seriously, folks, if we never left the cabin, the kids would have been happy, as long as they could live in the hot tub. I think they would have slept in it if that wasn't extremely dangerous.

Aaron and I are considering putting one in the backyard, just so we don't have to hire babysitters anymore. I'm joking. Sort of.

We also did quite a bit of fishing.

I was surprised that Reese was our most avid fisherman. She couldn't get enough of it. Avery has been before, so I knew she liked it. Rhett was upset he didn't have his own fishing pole. In hindsight, we should have brought one for him, even though he can't cast, reel or stand still. His favorite part of fishing was throwing rocks into the water. I don't think any of the fishermen in the area appreciated it, but I couldn't keep him from doing it. Seriously, it was like an obsession with him. He couldn't walk two steps without picking up a rock, even when I said not to. It was like some force was compelling him to bend over, pick up a rock and throw it in the river. I must say, it was pretty cute when the rock would make a splash. He would make a fist and say "Yessss!"

Thursday night, we decided to cook hamburgers outside, over an open flame. Turns out, we are waaaay too "citified" to do something like that.

After much effort on the part of my sweet husband, he said "Mom, I think we're going to have to cook these indoors if you don't mind." I didn't mind. Neither did they:

Friday started off with more fishing, followed by a thrilling train ride. Ok, it wasn't thrilling for anyone except Rhett, but he's so enamored with trains right now, we just had to do it. It was totally worth it. He LOVED it. Almost as much as he loved throwing rocks into the water. Almost.

After lunch, we went for a canoe ride and then played minature golf. I don't have any pictures of the canoeing, because I didn't want to take my camera on the water. I have no excuse for not taking pictures of minature golf, except I was really concentrating on getting a good score.

Saturday started out rainy. But a little rain never hurt anyone, and we were determined to hike at least part of one of the trails. A little rain turned into a lot, but we still had a great time. In fact, this was my favorite part of the trip.

The weather continued to get worse - rain turned to sleet and 58 degrees turned to 32 in a matter of hours. We were stuck indoors for much of the afternoon. After putting together 2 puzzles and playing 78 games of Zingo, we started to get cabin fever. (Get it? Cabin fever? And we really were in a cabin? You can laugh later.)

We got out the yellow pages to see if there was any entertainment. There was a bowling alley in DeQueen, Arkansas, and a skating rink in Broken Bow, Oklahoma. Aaron and I, being children of the 70s and 80s, hesitated only a moment before choosing skating.

Reese liked it, but I wouldn't say she loved it.

Although she lasted longer than Rhett, who was sick of it after about 20 minutes. Actually, I'm not sure he ever really liked it. He just went along with it because everyone else was. Here he is, wishing someone would take the dadgum skates off, already!

Avery hugged the wall for about 15 minutes before she got the hang of it. But once she did, she never stopped skating the entire 2 hours we were there. She was a skating machine. At one point, she pulled over long enough to say "Mom, this is so fun. This is my favorite part of the trip!" Totally worth the $8 we spent on admission. (For our whole family. Gotta love small towns!)

Aaron looked as if 20 years hadn't passed since he spent his Saturdays at the roller rink in another small town in Oklahoma. I, however, looked like this the majority of the time:

Look at those little kids darting in front of me. I didn't hit them, but at some point, a chubby kid in front of me decided to change directions and slammed right into me. He fell, I fell and his friend, who I didn't even realized was there, fell. Please take a moment to enjoy that mental picture...chubby, close-to-40-year-old mother of three, dogpiling two chubby, approximately-11-year-old boys in the middle of a skating rink.

At any rate, we had a great time. We woke up yesterday morning to snow covering the trees. It was a beautiful view out the back window of the cabin. Needless to say, we'll be going back as soon as we can!

(Still thinking about the pile of chubbies rolling around on the skating rink floor? Me too.)

Sweet Sibling Moments

2010-02-24T12:51:00.012-06:00

As of today, February 24, 2010, I can honestly say that my kids, in general, get along pretty well. (You never know what kind of demons will overtake them tomorrow.) They are usually pretty kind to one another and actually, sometimes, go out of their way to make their brother or sister happy. They fight, of course, and tattle and whine, but today, instead of focusing on those moments, I decided to highlight a few of the compassionate actions that happen around here.

Reese can swing by herself. Rhett cannot. I was probably laying on the couch, eating chips and watching Judge Judy, so I couldn't help the poor boy. Luckily, he has a big sister around to grab the rope and bring him along with her.

See that sweet face? That picture was taken shortly after she did something that I never wanted to forget. I've already forgotten what started the initial conversation, I just know that Avery wanted something that she can't afford. There was a lot of explaining about college educations and jobs, but it wasn't sinking in. Just when I was about to throw up my hands and tell Avery she wasn't allowed to say the words "not fair" or "money" for the rest of the night, Reese marched into the kitchen and plunked this on the counter.

She said "Here you go, Avery. Now you can buy whatever you want." That sweet angel had gone into her room, emptied her piggy bank and was prepared to hand over every dime she had to her name. It wasn't enough to buy whatever it was that Avery wanted, but I still thought it was just about the sweetest gesture ever.

Ok, I don't know that this has anything to do with anyone doing something nice for anyone else, but I love watching them play together. I guess you could say that Rhett was very kind and patient while Reese played "Beauty Shop" with him. He's being a good sport, which is, in my opinion, the best way for a little brother to show his love.

I realized as I went through pictures, that I don't have any recent pictures of Avery doing something sweet for her siblings. It also made me realize how much I take her everyday sweetness for granted. I don't take pictures of her getting Rhett a sippy cup of milk, or of helping Reese put on her jacket. I never stop and make a big deal out of her choosing to watch Fairytopia, because Reese loves it, instead of her much-preferred Batman cartoons. She cuddles Rhett when he's sad and sticks up for both of them when she thinks I'm being too hard on them, or not listening to them. She, in my opinion, is one big reason why Reese and Rhett are sweet and kind. I think she sets the tone of how they all get along and for the most part, that tone is one of joyful, funny, sweet kindness.

Since I didn't have any pictures of the wonderful things she does for Reese and Rhett, I thought I'd share a tiny glimpse of her six and a half year old self:

Every night, when I put the girls to bed, I lay with them and chat. They are never ready to go to sleep when I'm ready to leave the room, so I tell them I'm going to get ready for bed and then come back and check. They are almost always asleep by the time I get back to their room. One day, Avery complained that she felt lonely when she woke up without seeing me one more time, and how was she supposed to know that I came back? She wanted me to wake her, I knew that wasn't ever going to happen, so we compromised. I started leaving them a note. So, if they fall asleep before I come back, this is what they see on the floor next to their bed.

They love it. I don't know what it is about the eye and the heart that makes "I love you" seem so special, but Avery goes nuts over it. In fact, I just found a note in her school notebook that I had put in her lunch box. It was an index card with the same message. I always leave notes in her lunch, but that's the only one she has kept. I asked her why she kept it and she said "It's because I know you love me, even when I'm at school." Say it with me: Awwwww.

That's not all....a couple of weeks ago, when I went into their room, she wasn't asleep. She was crying and didn't want to be in her bed. I rubbed her back and left again. A few minutes later, she came in my room, begging to sleep with me. I said no and told her to go back to bed. Never one to give up so easily, she came back, crying harder and begging louder. I was tired and irritated and I told her that if she got up again, she would be in big trouble. I didn't hear from her again. But when I woke up the next morning, this was on the floor by my bed:

When she got up, I asked her what this was all about, even though I already knew and had shed a tear over it earlier that morning. She said "Well, I felt lonely in my room and I didn't want you to be upset with me. I came back in just to hug you and you were sleeping, so I went and got my diary and made you a picture like you make me when I'm sleeping."

How's that for setting a tone of sweetness?

P.S. I am aware that I used the word 'sweet' in this post so often, you may feel a bit nauseous, but I don't know any other word to describe the sweet moments that my sweet babies show me from time to time. Have a sweet day!

Time Out

2010-02-22T08:44:00.009-06:00

I sent Rhett to time out the other day - I can't even remember the crime - and didn't pay much attention as he walked over to get in the chair. I looked over to notice that he had grabbed Reese's baby on the way. He loved on that baby the whole time, comforting the baby in ways he probably wished his mean old mother would comfort him.

Here he is before he knew I was taking pictures of him -

And here he is after (the flash gave me away) -

You know, it seems that it takes away a bit of the "sting" of time out if they catch you taking pictures...but how else am I going to have a good collection to show during his Senior Breakfast?

I can't let a little thing like effective discipline get in the way of entertainment, so I just keep on snappin'. Even during a mealtime meltdown.

Notice the food hasn't even been placed in front of him yet. For all he knows, we're having marshmallows and Ding Dongs for dinner. Just the words "Dinner's ready!" send him into a Category 5 meltdown.

You could come to our house at mealtime and see this any night of the week, unless it's a special occasion (Mom's laziness constitutes a special occasion, right?) and Aaron has brought home McDonald's or something equally junky and artery-clogging. Oh, and unless he's been sent to his room for throwing a fit.

He literally just sits on his bed, looking depressed. He hasn't figured out that he could be playing with all of his toys and we would never know the difference. Nope. He's a good boy. He knows that he's in trouble, so he sits on his bed, in the "trouble" position. It's happened so often, that now, when I say "Come on guys, it's dinner time," he says "I go my room, Momma?" And for some reason, I always say no, even though I know this is where it's all gonna end. Sigh.

I will reflect back on this post one day when he's in high school and I want to complain that I can't keep food in the house because he's eating so much. Bigger sigh.

Arguing with a Fence Post

2010-02-17T12:02:00.004-06:00

Me: Rhett, get down off of that table. You know you aren't supposed to be climbing on that.

Rhett: My mom said I could.

Me: Uh, I'm your mom and I say no.

Rhett: But my udder mom say yes.

Me, sighing: Get down.

Rhett: I'm telling.

Me: Who are you telling?

Rhett: My udder mom.

What I really want to know is, where the heck is this other mom when it's time to scrub toilets or fold laundry?

It sure doesn't feel like Texas

2010-02-12T08:40:00.003-06:00

Because it's snowing...

2010-02-11T08:22:00.003-06:00

...we got up 30 minutes earlier than usual and had snow ice cream for breakfast!

It tasted horrible, but they loved jumping out of bed and going outside first thing in the morning...not to mention having ice cream for breakfast. It has to be a great day when you start out like that, right?

The Big Costco Adventure

2010-01-29T19:18:00.006-06:00

This afternoon, after Avery got out of school, our whole family went to Costco. Most of these trips do contain a few minor incidents, but usually nothing worth writing about - or at least nothing that I want to remember forever. Someone usually gets lost for a few heart-stopping minutes and someone almost always gets hurt by falling off of a cart. At least one if not all three of the kids cry at some point and there are always, always at least 14 arguments (mostly between the kids). Today's visit, however, turned out to be the best one yet.

First, somewhere between the wine section and the guy passing out the fudge samples, Avery yanked her front tooth out. I'm sure I don't have to tell you the excitement that this event causes in a 6 year old and her siblings. I will tell you that we stopped mid-aisle, not caring who was behind us or trying to get past us. We all shrieked, jumped up and down and hugged each other, as if we had just hit the Powerball jackpot. It was a glorious moment.

There was some slight panic when she thought she dropped the tooth in Costco, but after a good 10 minutes of searching every spot we had been since it first fell out, we realized that it was just stuck to the Kleenex she had wrapped it in. Whew.

Next, the kids went off with their dad and found a little picnic table. Usually, when those four go off on their own, they come back with bags full of candy bars and boxes of every fruit snack you can imagine but, I must admit, this discovery was their best one yet. Of course, it wasn't as cheap as the candy is, but we've been wanting a little outside table ever since the wooden one we had rotted in the rain. Plus, this purchase doesn't cause hyperactivity or cavities. So I'm happy.

They are ecstatic about it. Avery informed me that they would be eating all of their meals on this table from now on, forever! I informed her that no meals would take place on the rug, but we'll deal with that when the next meal comes. (Side note: The table folds up so that it will lay flat or lean up against a wall. Able-to-be-hidden is one of my favorite qualities in a kids' item.)

The third, and final, life-altering event involved the gorgeously pink dress that Reese is wearing in the above photo. As we walked toward the checkout lanes, we passed through the clothing section. There was a rack of little girls' dresses, overflowing with all sorts of pink, fluffy, shiny, and rustly concoctions. Reese thought she had died and gone to Heaven. She stood there, wrapping her arms around each dress that she loved and then, as if her life wasn't perfect enough at that moment, her daddy said the words that every woman wants to hear: "If you want one, you can have one...they aren't expensive." She spent several minutes going from dress to dress, trying to find the perfect one. I saw this one on the end and, trying to distract her from the black and white horror with the monstrous magenta rose on it, showed her this one. She turned to look and her eyes got wide. She immediately dropped the offensive one on the ground and ran to me, grabbing the dress and twirling with it in her arms. "This one! This one! I have to have this one!" she said as she twirled. After the excitement had died down a bit, she looked at me and said "Momma, when I look at this dress it makes me want to go faster."

I know exactly how you feel, Baby. I have the same reaction when I see that Sephora box arrive on the doorstep.

Super Family!

2010-01-19T07:00:00.002-06:00

Super Mom, Super Dad and Super Baby...I'll let you guess who's who. Have a SUPER day!

What the.....?

2010-01-13T10:35:00.003-06:00

Sprinkles!

2010-01-12T10:43:00.004-06:00

We love Sprinkles cupcakes. Unfortunately, the only place to get them is about a 40 minute drive away, into Dallas. Also, they are a gazillion dollars apiece. So we don't get them often. But, sometimes I buy the (also way expensive) Sprinkles mixes at Williams Sonoma. Economically, they are a total ripoff. The mix is about $14 and it is just a mix. You still have to add butter, milk, eggs and you have to make your own icing. (They provide the recipe.) So basically, you get a package of dry mix for $14. Oh, I forgot the signature dot to put on top of the cupcake. That explains the high cost. (not) But dang, those things are good. Sometimes it's worth all the extra expense. Sometimes, a Betty Crocker just won't do. Plus, $14 for a dozen Sprinkles isn't all that bad...a dozen at the shop is at least $36. Anyway, sometimes I just want one! For those occasions, we keep a Sprinkles kit in the pantry.

Guess what flavor we made today?

What the hell is red velvet, anyway?

Interesting Playdate

2010-01-06T17:31:00.002-06:00

Avery had a friend over this afternoon...for most of the afternoon they played together, in the same room. Toward the end, however, Avery was just wandering around in the living room and kitchen while her friend stayed in the girls' bedroom with Reese. Assuming Avery was mad, even though she looked totally normal, I asked what was wrong and she said "Nothing." I asked her why she wasn't playing with her friend and Reese and she said "We're pretending like we're divorced." So basically, they spent a good 10-15 minutes in separate rooms, doing separate things. And here I thought the whole concept of a playdate was for them to get to play together.
What's next? Pretending to be poor? Out of work? Frustrated with cleaning up after kids who don't appreciate it?
I will never understand the mind of a child.

A Day to Remember

2010-01-04T18:51:00.002-06:00

I received an email from Avery's teacher today, telling me that Avery wasn't her "normal, cheery self" today. She said Avery seemed kind of distant and maybe she was concerned about me being sick.
I was sick all day yesterday and on the mend today so I kind of thought her mood might have something to do with the fact that I was isolated in my room, with fever, on a day when we usually snuggle and cuddle together in the evening. Combine that with her daddy getting her ready and rushing her along on the first day back to school after a two week vacation and it's no surprise that she might feel a little blue.
When she got home (someone else brought her home because I was afraid to leave the house for too long), I asked her how her day was. She was perfectly cheerful and had the same happy attitude she normally does. I told her that her teacher emailed me that she seemed sad and she said "Yeah, I was sad today." When I asked her why, she said "Because you were sick and I was worried. I just couldn't stop thinking about you."

No, I'm not bragging or trying to be unnecessarily sappy, but I have to mark this day in history because I have a sinking feeling that, someday in the not-so-distant future, she'll be perpetually annoyed with me and wanting very little to do with me. When I feel like I might just strangle her and when she wants to run away from home, I can pull this out and remind her that, once upon a time, I was her whole world. As she is mine.

Why?

2009-12-21T19:50:00.003-06:00

Why do Santa pictures cost $20? And why did I ever start a tradition of getting them done? I have them all framed and get them out for display every year. Every year, when the picture is worse than the year before, I say I'm not doing it again. And yet, when I get all the pictures out, I convince myself that I'll be sorry if I don't continue it. As of right now, I'm just sorry I don't have my $20 back.

Please feel free to laugh. At all of them. Sure, Rhett is the most obviously funny, but if you know what my girls really look like, it's kind of funny too...Reese looks slightly psychotic and Avery has the Chandler Bing "freeze-when-a-camera-appears" smile.

The silver lining: Bringing the Santa pictures out in twenty years!

General Store

2009-12-15T12:05:00.010-06:00

I had to do some baking this morning and it's freezing outside so it's an "indoor day." I didn't want the kids to watch TV all day and I sure didn't want them to be bored, because, as we all know, boredom leads to fighting with each other and asking Mom 400 questions per hour. So I tried to think of something that they could do together that would take a while. The Princess cash register in the middle of the floor gave me the idea: Pretend grocery shopping! Oh how I loved to play grocery store when I was a kid. I LOVED to unload my mom's groceries while tapping away on an adding machine of some sort. My one unrealized dream is to be a grocery store checker. I know, I know, I could probably be one really easily right now, but the automatic scanner ruined it for me. I need to be able to punch in numbers really fast to enjoy myself.

Wait. Where was I? Oh right...grocery store for the kids. So, I set up the "store" in the kitchen, got them some grocery sacks and told them to get after it.

Honestly, they weren't that excited when I mentioned it, but they got pretty pumped when they saw it all set up and realized I was letting them use real groceries.

First things first, of course: Reese had to make a list.....

Note: The "Health and Beauty" section is kept separate from the food section. Even a pretend store has to be somewhat organized if you want to streamline your shopping experience.

Rhett did some shopping at first, but gave up after Reese made him be her baby and then became impatient with him. That could not have been part of the game. How in the world would she ever get the idea that a mom gets impatient with her precious child at the grocery store?

Clearly, Reese had business to take care of, so as soon as Rhett balked at being her verbally abused baby, she forgot all about him and got busy shopping.

I think my favorite thing is that she actually read the list she made.

She looked at it every time she picked up an item. I had to get a close up of the list, without her knowing, just so you could see why I find it hilarious that she referred to this list a gazillion times this morning.

If you ever need to get something done, or if you are just in the mood to laugh at your kids, set up a store. It's worth what little time and effort it takes to set up and clean up!

Sweet Girl

2009-12-10T19:22:00.002-06:00

She and her big sister are coloring at the table...most of the time has been filled with silence as they both concentrate on their "art." Reese spoke after at least 10 minutes of quiet: "Avery, I miss you when you go to school." Back to silence.

These are the moments that erase all of the arguing, crying, screaming, fussing, and time-outing that goes on in any given day.

The newest family member...

2009-12-07T13:43:00.004-06:00

This is my sister's baby, (her 3rd boy, bless her heart!) born at 9:30 this morning. Isn't he the sweetest thing? It's times like these, I wish I had never moved to Texas! It kills me to be 5 hours from this little face!

We interrrupt the scheduled post...

2009-12-03T11:27:00.003-06:00

It snowed yesterday. For about an hour. I got a picture of Avery and Reese out in the snow and it's pretty cute. I was sitting down at the computer to post the picture, along with a long diatribe about how Rhett was afraid of the snow at first and it was all adorable and blah, blah, blah.
But I was interrupted mid-post. Reese is rubbing my back as I type (I pay her in chocolates. Seriously.) and she came to my bra strap. I said "That feels really good" because, you know, that strap gets a big tight and it feels nice to have it all scratched. I closed my eyes to enjoy the moment, when her little voice came from behind me. "I like this fat part the best, Momma."

Forget the snow picture...I'm headed to the treadmill.

The excitement begins...

2009-11-25T08:54:00.005-06:00

We put up our Christmas tree last night. I didn't think I was ready - I'm OCD about the order and organization of things and to me, Christmas decorations come AFTER Thanksgiving, despite what Hobby Lobby, Wal Mart and the mall throw at me the day after Halloween. But this year, we're traveling to Oklahoma for Thanksgiving, so we either had to put them up before or wait until next week to do it. I asked the kids what they wanted to do, fully prepared to put up decorations that very moment. Their response was as expected: "Now! Now! Put them up NOW!!!"

So we did. They love all the decorations, but there is something about the tree that just mesmerizes them. Avery said "I don't know why, but I could just stare at this tree all night." It's almost hypnotic. I wish I had one year-round so I could just park them in front of it when I needed to get things done. Wouldn't that be awesome? Every time I needed a break, I'd just say "Go to the tree," and I'd have all the time in the world to clean the bathrooms, run on the treadmill, paint my nails, waste time on the computer....wait. Where was I?

Oh, right. The tree.

When I told the girls to brush their teeth and get ready for bed, they said they just had to look at the tree some more. They wished they could sleep by the tree so they could see it all night. I was like "Well, I wouldn't really mind, but the floor is hard. I don't think we can put enough blankets down to make it comfy." They didn't care, but I didn't particularly want them running in my room at 2 a.m. telling me the floor was too hard, so I told them no. Then I thought about it....and remembered the trundle bed in the office/guest room.

It was perfect. At first, I thought they would be too excited to sleep, but eventually, they both dozed off. They actually made it all night long. We may have created a new tradition at our house...

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Again with the crafts

2009-11-22T11:54:00.003-06:00

I like for them to do them themselves, with minimal help from me, for this very reason:

I like to see the range of abilities from ages 2 to 6.

I'm especially liking Reese's artistic vision today...

See those black dashes in the midst of the "feathers?" Those, according to her, are eyebrows. Eyebrows on the turkey's feathers. Interesting concept. I love the vision of a 4 year old...anything goes!

Hel-LO!

2009-11-11T07:59:00.003-06:00

Remember Uncle Leo from Seinfeld? Every time he and Jerry saw each other, they both said "Hel LO!" in a particular manner.

This morning, I came home from the gym and had a few minutes of alone time. I was actually spending it voting for my brother, Bo Atterberry, as coach of the year at http://www.coachofthey ear.com/. (I've been wondering how I could casually work that in to conversation.)

I was in the kitchen on my laptop so I wasn't visible to anyone coming out of my bedroom. I was deeply engrossed in my computer when I heard a little voice saying "HelLO! HelLO!" ala Uncle Leo. I peered out of the kitchen into the living room where I saw this:

Luckily, I had my camera on the counter directly in front of me so I could document proof that he did, in fact, come into my room around midnight last night, coughing and hacking and that I did have to get up, get medicine and give him a drink, which he promptly spilled on his shirt that I then had to remove. He wasn't pleased that he was greeted with the bright flash of the camera instead of his usual good morning hugs and kisses, but I think it was worth it, just this once.

First Boyfriend?

2009-11-06T14:12:00.003-06:00

Ok, I don't think it's quite that serious yet...in fact, we never discuss boyfriends and girlfriends. Avery and Reese both know they aren't allowed to get married until they are 30, which means boyfriend talk is a LONG way off. Plus, as we all know, Avery practically IS a boy, so the last thing she is thinking about is having a boyfriend. Well, that's what I thought, anyway.
Last night, I was getting her schoolwork out of her backpack and came across a piece of red construction paper with dinosaurs drawn all over it. At the top it said AVERY JACK with a heart in between. As in Avery loves Jack? I couldn't imagine it, but I had to ask. I said "Hey, Ave, what's this?" She said, "Jack made that for me." "At school?" I asked. "No, he made it at home and brought it to me." hmmmmm...interesting. I pointed to the heart and said "What's this?" She said "Mom, it's a heart. It means Love, Jack. Because Jack made it." I asked her why she thought he would make her a picture and she said "'Cause he's my best friend, Mom." Then she got busy making him a picture. It also had AVERY (heart) JACK.
I waited until later to ask her, "Why is Jack your best friend? I mean, why do you think you like him the best out of all the other boys in your class?" Her answer is Classic Avery. "Mom, he's the only boy who can take me down."
Gotta love a tomboy!

p.s. This may be one of those messages that I shouldn't share with everyone but I just HAD to have it documented. I can't ever forget it. So if you happen to run into Avery, ixnay on the ackJay. Ok?

Super Artist

2009-11-02T18:03:00.004-06:00

Can you guess who made the pumpkin on the upper left?

If you guessed "Dash" from The Incredibles, you were correct.

(I never noticed that he looks like he's carrying a small squirrel in his pants. Sorry, Buddy...it was the smallest one they had!)

Having trouble keeping track of your pumpkin?

2009-10-30T16:11:00.004-05:00

(Is this what happens when you refuse to get your kids a pet? They'll just start putting a leash on anything?)

Seriously?

2009-10-29T07:10:00.002-05:00

So, I took the kids to the playground yesterday after school. We went to the one across the field from the school because it has swings, so it wasn't too crowded. There were just a few little girls there, all around Avery's age. We hadn't been there 10 minutes when one of the girls walked up to Avery and said, "Are those real Uggs?" I learned later that she also said "How much did those cost?"
May I remind all of you that Avery is a first grader? She, for one, had no idea what Uggs are and whether hers were real or not. For the record, they are, but let me explain: My mom, her Grammy, saw them at Dillard's after Christmas about 3 years ago. They were on sale for, like, $25. Mom thought they were just too cute to pass up even though they wouldn't fit anyone at the time. They just now fit Avery and the reason she likes them is because the "fur feels good" and because "Grammy bought them."
What I want to know is, how in the world does a first or second grader know anything about "real" Uggs? More importantly, WHY does she know? I already know that answer and, if I had met that child's mother, I would probably not be surprised to see her look me up and down in my Target t shirt.
It's none of my business what values (or the lack thereof) any other parent teaches their child, but I felt a bit disheartened that the materialistic cattiness is starting so early. I didn't expect it until at least the ripe old age of about 9. Ah, girls.

And speaking of girls and Uggs, I caught Reese talking to Avery in a southern accent last night...she was imitating a country girl from our Wii bowling game who says "Aw, shucks" in a very womanly, sexy southern drawl. But Reese wasn't saying "Aw, shucks." She was saying, "Aw, shugs." She was batting her eyes and flipping her hand in that dismissive fashion that all southern ladies do when they are professing disappointment. She said it over and over. "Aw, shugs," and "Well, shugs."
Ok, this has nothing to do with Uggs except that shugs rhymes with Uggs. And I thought it was funny. And my heartache over catty little girls melted away into laughter at my little 4 year old goofball.

Happy Birthday Sweet Reesie!

2009-10-26T12:04:00.006-05:00

Good morning, Birthday Girl!

It's hard for me to believe that it was four years ago today that I first met this sweet little baby girl. My heart still swells when I see this shiny little face grinning at me first thing each morning.

Maybe it's because she had such a tough time getting here that day four years ago, maybe it's because she's the middle child and gets overshadowed so much of the time, but I wanted to make her day as special as we could. She doesn't go to school and isn't in any activities (we've tried) so she doesn't really have any little girls her own age to invite to a birthday party (bless her little heart), so we just decided to make it a special party weekend! Her actual birthday is today, but we celebrated with my mom, Grammy, Saturday. She chose bowling as her official party. Here she is with Grammy at the bowling alley:

She had her cake and presents on Saturday and I was kind of worried that today would be somewhat anticlimactic, but my sweet friends agreed to do a special playgroup today, in honor of Reese. Jennifer hosted and turned playgroup into a little surprise party. Reese couldn't have been more proud to be the guest of honor.
(Before we got to Jennifer's, I said "Are you going to go in and tell everyone it was your birthday?" and she said "No. They will just know because I am four now." Remember the days when you thought you would somehow be bigger on your birthday?)

She may not be any bigger, at least not that I can tell, but I still think it turned out to be one of the best birthdays ever, even if there wasn't a "real" party to speak of - we partied for three days with our closest family and friends. You can't beat that!

My favorite thing about today? This morning, soon after Reese got out of bed and walked into the kitchen to see it decorated for her birthday. She said "I'm four today!?" almost as a question. I said "I know it, can you believe it?" She said "I'm a big girl now!" I responded with "I know it...you have to stop growing up!" She looked at me, then ran into her room and came back with her "tippy taps" that Grammy gave her Saturday.

She ran into the kitchen, holding the tippy taps and started to put them on. She seemed somewhat distressed. She said "I hope they still fit since I'm four now!" After trying them on, she yelled, excitedly 'Mom, they still fit me even though I'm already four!" Whew.

Mood Swings

2009-10-22T10:02:00.002-05:00

I always find it amazing how roller coaster-ish parenthood is. Actually, I believe that very statement, or something similar, was made in the movie, Parenthood. Children have a way of worming their way into your heart and soul. You love them to distraction and sometimes, the things they do and say can leave you speechless - for better or for worse. Only a mother (or father) knows that you can be so joyful you think your heart will burst when your child makes you a card for Mother's Day when no one told them to, and then so angry you could scream when they kick a soccer ball in the house and it bends the blinds and breaks a plant in the kitchen. I think most parents would agree that, when it comes to kids, it's a crap shoot. You have a 50/50 shot of wanting to either hug them or smack them.
And I realized this morning that I think kids feel the same way. Here are two recent conversations between Avery and I to help support my argument:

Last week:
Avery: Mom, can I ride my bike to school?
Me: Sure. I don't think it's supposed to rain today, so we should be safe this afternoon too.

Because I think my house has been swept up in a tornado and, instead of Oz, has landed in Seattle, we're never safe from rain lately. And of course, we walk out the door and it's drizzling. Reese starts to whine because she doesn't want to be wet and cold, so I say "You know what? Let's just take the car. I don't want to walk all the way there and back with Reese whining, plus, if it's raining now, it may be raining after school and I'll have to load your bike up in the car."
Now, Avery is more than a little disappointed. She's already on her bike and wearing her helmet. I knew she would be irritated and with good reason. There's been too much car riding to and from school lately. She says "I thought you said it wasn't supposed to rain today."
Me: I didn't think it was. The weather says there is only a 10% chance and I heard them say it wasn't likely. I guess they were wrong."

We get in the car and head toward the school, where we see a gazillion cars lined up from the drop off point to the stop sign at the main intersection. I say, "Wow, looks like nobody wanted to walk today."
And Avery responds, in the most smart-ass voice I've ever heard her use,
"Wow. I wonder how come their moms knew it was raining and you didn't." Gasp. Gulp. Gasp.

I responded with something about how that was really mean and if we weren't going to school, she'd be in her room alone for an eternity and that she needed to just stop talking if she was going to be ugly. She apologized and I dropped her off, giving her a hug and a kiss as usual, but still kind of smarting from the sting of her remark.

Then, last night, I went in to lay with her. Hanging from her top bunk was a letter I had written her at parent/teacher conferences and left in her desk. It just says something about having a great day and we miss her when she's gone and she's the coolest first grader I know. And she hung it up. Went to the trouble to find tape, go in her room and find a spot for it.
When I saw it last night, I said "Hey, what's that?" She said, "It's my letter from you. I hang it there so I can see it every night." I actually had to bite my lip and hold my breath for a minute to keep from crying. My heart was as big as the helium balloon that flew away without a kid in it. I told her I thought it was so sweet of her and that I almost wanted to cry and she goes, "Hey, it helps me read and it makes me feel happy."

God, I love that kid. And she drives me crazy sometimes. But mostly I love her.
There isn't enough Prozac, Midol or booze to control these emotional mood swings. I guess, as they say in the movie, we have to just buckle up and enjoy the ride. I'm already feeling dizzy.

I did NOT make them do this....

2009-10-14T10:31:00.002-05:00

(I just made them do it again, for the camera.)

Back to Normal

2009-10-13T09:22:00.004-05:00

Finally! We are back to normal around here. Well, normal is a relative term, but my computer is fixed and my camera hardware and software has been reconnected. We are back in business.

And speaking of business, Rhett has been giving me the business on a regular basis lately. He is very two-and-a-half, very much a boy and very good at what he does.

First of all, he ends just about every sentence with some variation of a potty word. Example: I ask him to bring me his shoes. He responds with, "Okay, Pootie," or "No way, Pootah!" He knows he'll get in trouble for saying "poop"so he says a combination of "poop" and "tootie." Sometimes it's funny, but mostly it's exasperating.

He also makes a mess of everything. Everyone told me boys were different but I had no idea. Really, he wants to hit everything-people, furniture, walls, toys, etc. And take everything apart. And hit. And laugh and toot and say potty words. And hit. I can't even explain it, but if you have boys, you get it. It's just a lot. That's all. Not bad, just a lot. All the time. Except when he's sleeping...which is rare these days.

He's very aware that not doing what I say gets a big reaction. And Lord Almighty, is he getting reactions. Here he is, before he realizes that I'm taking his picture:

I wanted to take a picture of what he did to his left arm when he got a hold of a Sharpie. I caught him off guard and he yelled "Cheese!" before he knew what was happening. Ah, but then he remembered that his goal in life right now is to drive Mommy nuts and not posing for the camera is an easy way to do just that without getting in much trouble at all. So here he is...

You want to know what I said to him when he covered his face? I must admit, it wasn't one of my finer moments. I looked him in the face and, in all seriousness, I said to my two year old child, "Ha ha, I already got a good one!"

My Computer Died

2009-10-06T08:02:00.019-05:00

Not that I've had any complaints about the lack of posts recently, but just in case any of you were wondering: Yes, I'm still alive. Sadly, my computer is not. I've been having trouble with it for quite a while...actually, since the Great Water Spill, it hasn't been the same. But in the past couple of weeks, there were times I couldn't even get it to turn on. And Sunday, it finally quit completely. There was nothing I could do to get it to boot up. My first and only thought was "MY PICTURES!" I had not backed any pictures up (the backup program slows things down, so we turned it off) since May. SINCE MAY! Do you know how many precious memories I have photographed since May???? I felt like I had been punched in the chest. How can they be gone? I know people whose homes burn down lose their pictures, but my house didn't burn. Nothing bad has happened and yet, my pictures are just gone????

I was a little more than slightly distraught yesterday morning, as I considered all of the things I have photographed in the last 6 months or so. I called my husband to commiserate and he said, "Well, I think I can fix it. Don't get your hopes up, but I've been talking to some guys here at work and I have an idea." And God bless that man if he didn't spend his lunch hour searching for the right part and then spend another hour figuring out that they gave him the wrong part; another thirty minutes was spent going to the store and getting the right part. (In the meantime, we contacted our friends, Bob and Kealey, who had had similar trouble. Bob offered to go to the store with Aaron to make sure he got the right thing this time. How sweet is that???)

And would you believe that they did it? They got the right part and then my darling, wonderful, computer-nerd of a husband spent about 3 more hours recovering all of my information from my hard drive and putting it on his. God love him. Seriously, I would have either tossed the laptop in the trash and cried for a solid month, or taken the computer to Best Buy and spent $4,000 letting them recover the pictures. Thank God for husbands (today, anyway)!

I am sooooo grateful to Aaron, his work friends and our friend Bob for all the help. It really does mean the world to me that we have some of our memories back. Just look at what we would have missed:

Sea World - Part Two

2009-09-28T08:32:00.008-05:00

Wow...the last week has flown by. Aaron left for San Francisco Thursday morning and was gone for three nights and four days. I was so worried that the kids and I would get bored/antsy/on each other's nerves, that I kept us as occupied as possible. If there was an opportunity to be somewhere other than home, we were there. Science night at the school, the park, Target's toy area, the park, riding bikes at the track, the park, going out to dinner. Did I mention we went to the park? Anyway, all of this outdoor activity served two major purposes: It kept us busy and it wore the kids out.

The problem with all of that outdoor activity is that it took me away from any lazy, wasting-time-on-the-computer activity. And now I feel like I should have something really good to say...but I don't. I do, however, have some pictures from Sea World. I have "a case of the Mondays" (name that movie) so don't expect any catchy captions. Enjoy!

This trip to Sea World was 1,000 times better than our Spring Break adventure/nightmare. For one thing, it was rainy all weekend - it even rained a bit as we drove in to San Antonio - but this was a point in our favor. Sea World was not crowded at all. If you remember, our last trip was nothing but one big wait in line. We spent 2.5 hours waiting just to get in. Not this time. We were parked and in the gate in less than 10 minutes. We also didn't have to wait in line to ride rides. Avery road the Steel Eel at least three times. Here she is after her first ride:

See how excited she is? This is how she got off the ride, each time. This is deceiving, because each time she rode it, she actually cried in terror. I rode with her twice and both times, she warned me: "Mom, I'm probably going to cry. But it's ok. I'm still having fun." And she wasn't kidding. She cried. She looked positively miserable each time we went down the huge hill at the beginning...there wasn't any part of her that looked like she was having a good time. And yet, every time the car pulled into the exit station, she said 'That was so cool! Let's do it again!" That child is strange...

After waiting for Avery to get her fill of the Steel Eel, the little ones were ready to move on. We took them to Shamu's Happy Harbor, where Reese and Avery rode this ride at least 4 times:

See them in the back car? They're there, trust me. And while I couldn't see their faces much while they were on the ride, here's what Reese looked like when she came off the first time:

I'm guessing she enjoyed it...you think?

Poor Rhett couldn't ride anything. He's just about 3 inches too short. His daddy took him over to the arcade area, where he won this frog. He didn't seem to mind missing anything once he had this - something his sisters didn't have, which is always a bonus for a little brother.

The last, but most important activity on the agenda, was watching the Shamu show...I would show you pictures of how incredibly soaked we were, but to be honest with you, I was so horrified at myself in the pictures, I just couldn't bring myself to show them. It's horrid...I went on a diet immediately after seeing my skin tight, wet, shirt clinging to my body. It was sick. I can't show anyone. It's too gross...but if I don't, you can't really get the idea of how soaking wet we were when we climbed into our car for the 5 hour trip back to Frisco...oh ok, I'll show you. But only because I'm behind this computer screen and won't be able to see the looks of horror on your faces when you see what I looked like.

But you see? It's necessary to let you know how wet we were so you can appreciate just how uncomfortable the drive home really was...I couldn't lick my lips without tasting salt water and my arms were crusty with salt residue. It was a super pleasant ride...but Aaron was right to skip a hotel for the night...we were super happy to be home in our own baths and beds. And despite the less-than-comfortable drive home, it was an awesome trip. It was sooo worth the repeat trip to get our money's worth out of the season passes we bought in March. (I also brought back the refillable popcorn and drink containers we got on the nightmare trip, so we didn't even have to spend $20 on snacks this time. That'll show 'em!)

There you have it....sorry it took so long to post. And so sorry to share that picture of myself. I'm cringing for you right now.

Action Packed Weekend

2009-09-17T09:28:00.018-05:00

Last Friday, we got up and drove to Kingsville, TX, where my brother, Bo and his wife, April live. It's far. Bo and April said it usually takes them about 6-6 1/2 hours. We have three kids, so we planned for 7-7 1/2 hours. It poured on us from Waco to Austin, which added an extra hour to our trip. We arrived at Bo and April's after 8 1/2 hours in the car. I must say the kids did an excellent job. They only asked "Are we there yet?" about 42 times, which is really only about 5 times an hour if you break it down. Not bad at all for their first all-day road trip.
We didn't do anything on Friday night except hang out with Aunt April, eating pizza and waiting for Uncle Bo to come home.

Saturday morning, April had to work so we decided to make the most of our time near the coast of Texas. Our kids had never been to the beach, so we drove over to Corpus Christi for the morning, rain or no rain!
Corpus isn't the nicest, cleanest beach in the world - the first thing we saw on the shore was a dead fish - but the kids don't know that, so they loved it. Avery collected shells the entire time.

I'm not sure what Reese and Rhett did, but they kept themselves occupied. (Looking at, and discussing, the dead fish took up a considerable amount of time.)

They also found crabs. I'm sorry, but I cannot say that with a straight face. I'm like Beavis. Or is it Butthead? She said crabs. Huh-huh.

In order to add some educational value to this trip, we took the kids aboard the USS Lexington, an aircraft carrier from WW2.

It was interesting for a while, but I'll be honest. Once I've seen a couple of bomber airplanes and read a few of the placards on the wall, I'm kind of done. I know, I know...between the crabs comment and my lack of interest in American History, I have no business being a mother of three kids, but that's a matter for another time.

I also didn't enjoy the cramped stairs and rooms. It made me a bit claustrophobic. Not that I ever thought about it, but I could not be in the military. The conditions are just, well, icky. And I'm very thankful that there are people who volunteer for that kind of thing.

Anyway, I was glad to get off of the ship. After a hot, sweaty, humid beachside lunch, we drove back to Kingsville. Everybody took a much needed shower and a nap. Then, it was game time!

My brother would kill me if he knew I posted this, but I'm kinda proud of him, so there!

This is the first thing you see when you pull up to the football stadium:

That's my brother on the right hand side of the billboard. He hates the picture for some reason I can't understand, but I thought it was cool.

Ok, on to the game...

Do you know what a javelina is? I didn't have the first clue when Bo first got the job in Kingsville. I soon learned that it's some sort of wild hog. Kingsville is pretty close to Mexico so instead of calling them the Mean, Wild Hogs, I guess they opted for Javelina. Some people call them the Hoggies. In fact, there was one woman in the stands wearing a t-shirt with HOGGIES in rhinestones across her chest. I can't imagine what people would think if I, with my DDs, wore a tight, white t-shirt with HOGGIES written across the chest. It makes me cringe to think about it. But I digress....the best part, in my opinion, of having a hog/pig for a mascot is the kids. Any kid whose parents want to pay (or, who are the big sister of the head coach so they can just do whatever they want, for free) can sign their kids up for Porky's Pack. Porky's Pack. How hilarious is that?

Here are my kids, looking at the javelina. According to Reese, he stinks. I can imagine.

The kids in Porky's Pack (just try to say it without smiling) get to be on the field pretty much the entire game. They get to run the football players onto the field before the game.

Note: She may look cool and calm here, but Avery couldn't sleep Friday night, after Uncle Bo told her she was going to run the players onto the field. "I can't believe I get to see REAL football players, Mom! I'm too excited!"

You can't see them, but the kids are several yards in front of this sign. Can you imagine how excited Avery was? I thought I was going to burst FOR her. Heck, I was excited to run the players onto the field in high school. She's only 6. On a college football field, for crying out loud.

They also hang out in the end zone during the game. Each time the Javelinas score, all the kids in Porky's Pack climb onto this train and ride around the track.

(See Avery? She's right above the M in Community on the blue car. Reese is on someone's lap.)
I know what you are thinking: Does the excitement ever end???? No. It doesn't.

Toward the end of the third quarter, the rain started (came back is more accurate).

Everybody went under the stadium to stay dry. Everybody, that is, except my kids. I can't even explain to you how much fun they were having.

Here are Avery and Reese when they realized the team was still playing. "MOM! Uncle Bo is still out there. And it's RAINING!"

After about 10 minutes under the stadium, Aaron decided it would be best for us to pack up and go back to Bo and April's. I felt guilty leaving - if Bo has to stand out in it, I don't want to go home and get warm and cozy - but knew the kids weren't going to sit up in the stands, soaking wet, for any real length of time. Plus, who knew when it was going to stop raining?

Ten seconds after we got everyone buckled in the car and were headed home, the rain stopped. Too late to go back to the game - the kids were already naked. (Except for diaper/underwear.)

This is the end of Saturday's excitement...if you are tired of reading and seeing pictures from that day, then you have some idea of how Aaron and I felt around 11:00 p.m. Saturday night, after bathing wet kids and trying to dry their shoes in time for Sea World Sunday morning.
Yeah, that's right...Sea World again...stay tuned to see if this trip went any better than the hellish, miserable Spring Break adventure!

Soccer

2009-09-09T12:09:00.014-05:00

Remember Mia Hamm? She was an awesome soccer player a few years ago. She was on the USA team with Brandi Chastain, who is most remembered for removing her top after a big win. Anyway, both of those are girls are amazing female soccer players. I'd like to say Reese is going to follow in their footsteps, but if last Saturday is any indication of Reese's interest in soccer, then I'm not going to build a shelf for her Olympic medals just yet.

It all started on a positive note. She loved her outfit:

She was a bit afraid she might get cold, so she brought a sweater.

I love that kid.

(I had not brushed her hair yet. Not that it looks much better when I do. Poor thing.)

The beginning of practice went well. (She ditched the sweater when she realized it was hotter than Hades by 9:00 a.m. in Texas.) They started by running to warm up their muscles. Reese was happy.

After the running, we had to kick the ball back and forth a little. We were still good, at this point.

The only negative moment during all of this was Firstborn Child's breakdown over being "bored, tired, hot," which, as you probably know, is code for "I'm not the center of attention and I can't handle it!" Here she is, after I reminded her how many events Reese had been to for Avery and that it was now Avery's turn to support Reese:

Is there anything more pitiful than when the Firstborn Child realizes they are not, in fact, the only important, valuable member of the family and that their events and activities are not the sole reason for this family's existence? (I've been there and it hurts. Hurts bad.

I told her to move on until she could be supportive, because this was Reese's day. As if on cue, Reese announces that she doesn't like soccer and she's not going to do it anymore. Great. This is the first stinkin' day and we paid for a whole month.

We tried being nice, we tried being firm, and then we turned to each other, wondering if we should force her to finish out this month or let her quit. This all happened in a matter of 5 minutes. Almost as quickly as Reese decided that soccer was the most vile activity every created, Avery decided to grace us with her presence again and offered to take my place as Reese's helper. She had offered 10 times before and Reese said no, but this time, Reese wanted her help.

Avery was proud to be be the big sister. She gave up the pouting to be Reese's personal, I've-done-this-a-thousand-times, all star coach/partner.

I could just die over this picture. Don't be surprised if I get a 20"x24" of it framed above the fireplace.

They did really well together, for the most part. Avery had to be reminded a few times not to hog the ball or be too bossy, but that's to be expected from a Firstborn. (I should know.)

Are you wondering where Rhett was during all of this?

He was running in the adjacent field, kicking and playing soccer by himself. The Third Child may have it worse than anybody. Nobody even knew where he was half the time. He's a survivor.

He did this for almost the entire 45- minute class. This is what he looked like after:

Poor guy. He got Dad's red cheeks and Mom's Atterberry-Sweat-Head gene.

(Sidenote: The sweaty head thing is MUCH cuter on him. I've been at clubs before, dancing so much that I looked as if I had just showered. I'm shocked it took me so long to find a husband.)

I'll end with my favorite picture of the day.

Is there anything better, as a parent, than when you see your kids getting along and having fun together?

(OSU beating Georgia was an extremely exciting moment on Saturday too, but since OU lost and my husband has sobbed uncontrollably since then, I'm trying not to make too big of a deal out of it.)

Big Boy Haircut

2009-09-08T15:41:00.004-05:00

I am not happy about this:

You see what has happened to him? Besides the fact that he has run away from me and is hiding in the corner so that I can't take a good picture of him (when just last month, he'd look at me and say "CHEESE!"), he now has a big boy haircut. It's killing me. Not because there's anything wrong with the cut, but because it added about 2 years to his age.

Just look at him! He's got the haircut, AND the attitude. It's all happening too fast. SOMEBODY, MAKE IT STOP!!!

Even PBS Has Naughty Words

2009-09-04T10:14:00.003-05:00

We are fairly careful about what we let our kids watch. Not obsessive, to be sure, and we let them watch more than some people would, but we always talk to them about TV and what they can and can't say or do, etc. I feel like my kids are pretty good about knowing that what they see on TV isn't necessarily real or ok. One channel I never worry about is PBS Kids. Maybe I should, based on this conversation with Reese this morning:

We're all sitting together watching Super Why. There is one part in every episode, where Wyatt (or is it Whyatt? That looks weird.) yells "To the book club!" Today, after he said it, Reese said "Momma, I already know I can't say that."
Me: What?
Reese: We can't say that, right?
Me: What?
Reese: Because we don't talk like that.
Me: I don't know what you mean. You can say book club if you want to.
Reese: We can say book club, but not butt club.
Me: WHAT?
Reese: He says "To the butt club" and we can't say that. We just have to say book club.

I explained, through tears of laughter, that he's not saying, nor will he ever say, "To the butt club. And no, you can't say it."

So much for wholesome television.

(She also just asked Rhett to give her a bite of "cheap." After watching him walk in circles trying to find cheap and after making her repeat herself at least four times, she pointed at my plate. She wanted a bite of peach. Is it possible that her hearing is already going? Miracle Ear, here we come.)

Random

2009-09-03T08:47:00.006-05:00

I haven't been able to log on for a few days, for some reason, and I forgot what I wanted to say...so, here are some random thoughts and pictures I wanted to get down on paper (on hard drive?) before I forget.

I think it's clear why I wanted to save this one

That helmet has created lots of hilarious pictures since we purchased it for Avery when she was about Rhett's age. Styrofoam with no discernible front or back.

I love this one because of his stance. He and Avery were playing ball (in the house! gasp!) and every time it was his turn to catch, Avery would say, "Get ready, Buddy. Get in the ready stance," and this is what he would do. Every time.

I don't think it's possible to have too many pictures of the kids sleeping. They are just so stinking precious when they are sleeping!

Here are the kids, standing by the blow-up Tony Romo outside Albertson's. I was inside and their dad said they could stand by it for a quick picture while they waited on me. When I came out, they asked if they could punch it. Their dad said no (and had already said no, apparently) so I said I would punch it one time just so they could see what would happen. It deflated on the spot. We panicked...seriously, we thought we were going to have to buy this $100 blow up Dallas Cowboy. Thankfully, it had just come off of the blower thingy so no harm done. I'm still allowed to shop there, too, if I'm not too humiliated to show my face in there after this incident.

Two Years Running

2009-08-29T17:50:00.002-05:00

So, this is the 2nd year in a row that my dad has forgotten my birthday. I'm starting to think that maybe August 28, 1972 wasn't the best day of his life. Nah, that can't be it.

My Bucket is Full

2009-08-28T20:26:00.002-05:00

First, let me say something. I am NOT bragging. My child is not perfect (as I made clear in the previous post) but every once in a while, she says or does something that stops me in my tracks and makes me so proud, I feel as if my heart will burst.
Today, as she came out of school, she saw me and said "Hey, Mom, how was your day?" I must say, that was unexpected. It is my birthday today, and so far, she's mostly been concerned with what kind of celebration this would mean for HER, so I was pleasantly surprised to hear her ask how my day was.
She was also wearing a plastic soccer ball ring. She seemed extremely proud of it, which was why I was surprised to hear her offer it to Reese when we walked in the door. She said "Here, Reese. I'm filling up your bucket."
I wasn't exactly sure what that meant, so I asked her what the bucket statement meant. She explained, "When you say nice things and do nice things, it fills up other people's buckets. And if you do mean things or say mean things, it takes away a little bit of their happiness. I'm filling Reese's bucket. 'Member when I said how your day was? That was filling up your bucket." (Note: She learned this today from her teacher at school. Possibly one of the most awesome things she has learned to date.)
So, I'm melting. Literally. I feel I won't be able to breathe if she doesn't stop with the cuteness.
The night went on and sadly, she didn't spend all her time filling up people's buckets. There was the usual arguing, fussing and tormenting among siblings. I thought maybe the bucket filling was over.
It wasn't. Around 8:00, we headed to the bath. All three of them get in together and it's usually a fuss-fest over the bath toys, hair washing, etc. But tonight, Rhett wanted a toy and instead of taking it from him or throwing it out of the tub, Avery handed it to him. I said "Avery, that was so nice. You filled up his bucket, didn't you?"
Her response was so precious and so profound that I had to run in here and write it down so that it would never be forgotten:
"Yeah, Mom. That's just who I am. I fill up people's buckets."

I know it will end, but Good Lord, it's almost too much for a mother's heart to take.
Happy Birthday to me.

It's Starting

2009-08-25T18:51:00.002-05:00

The moment I have most dreaded about having children is slowly, but surely, rearing it's ugly head: My children are becoming annoyed with me. I don't know why, but I thought it would be later. Avery's only a first grader, after all. What in the world could a first grader find to be annoyed about? Plenty, it turns out.
Take this morning for example. She got to ride her bike to school for the first time in history. Her dad even stopped at Target on the way home from work last night to get her a lock for the bike. She did nothing but lock and unlock it all night long. It's all she could talk about last night. It was the first thing she mentioned this morning. She stumbled out of bed, hair covering her sleep-filled eyes and said "Hey Mom, bike today, remember?" How could I forget? She was mumbling the combination in her sleep last night.
So I'm expecting her to be nothing but elated this morning. And for part of the morning, she was. But suddenly, on the way to school, she stops speaking to me. And then, she starts riding faster. I didn't mind until I realized she was trying to get away from me. She was ignoring me as I said her name and I knew she could hear me because she would turn her head ever so slightly and then look straight ahead without ever looking at me. I finally yelled pretty stinking loud because, you see, there is a rule that you aren't allowed to ride your bike on the school campus. You have to walk it. And we were only a few yards from the street next to the campus. So I had to tell her, but she was way ahead of me (pushing 70 pounds in a double stroller can slow a person down) and I yelled. "AVERY!" She stopped abruptly and I could tell by her posture that she was exasperated with me. Then, the worst happened. A bigger kid on his bike didn't see her stopping and ran into her. She stayed still so he could move on and then she waited until I caught up. I think she waited just so I could see the horrid, Mom-you're-the-worst-human-I've-ever-met look on her face. I said "Ave, I just wanted to tell you that you have to walk your bike once we cross the next street." Her response, and I swear her teeth were gritted, was "Mom. I know that. Is that all?" I said "Um, Avery are you acting irritated with me?" She responded pointedly, through still-gritted teeth, "My leg hurts because I got hit by someone on their bike."
Enough said. That may have been all she said but I knew what she was thinking and it goes something like this: "Listen mo-THER, I am six freakin' years old and I think I can ride a dadgum bike to school without you screeching at me all the freakin' way. And because of you and that loud dadgum mouth, I had to stop in the middle of the sidewalk like an idiot and got hit by a bigger kid, whose mother lets him ride to school ALONE, and now my leg hurts and it's all your fault and if I could kick you without being grounded for life, I would do it. So back off and go home, Fatty."
Ok, I don't think she would call me Fatty, but you get the picture. And so did I. Her attitude didn't improve much, even when I helped her lock her bike and fix her hair. When I said, "Do you want us to walk you in or do you want to go alone?" she said, still irritated and not sweetly at all, "Go with me." She never smiled at me or touched me or even spoke to me in a friendly manner but she wanted me there. When I told her good-bye, I called her "Doodlebug" and she grinned slightly. A little half smile and the tiniest wave ever. My heart broke just a little bit as I left her standing in her big-kid classroom with all her big-kid classmates.
She seemed better after school, but the worst part of all of it is that her brother and sister seem to be following suit on the whole "Mom sucks" thing.
I was helping Reese on the computer and she said "Oh my gosh, Mom. Your breath is so horrible I can't even stand it anymore." I said "Reese, that's rude!" She said, very sweetly, actually, "Well, what do I tell you to make you stop breathing at me?" Sigh.
Then, when helping Rhett out of his high chair, he said "I DO IT, MOMMA!' I helped him anyway, so he wouldn't hit his head on the table and what did he do? Stared at me with complete disgust and climbed back up in the chair, climbed right back down by himself and said "I DO IT, MOMMA!"
Just for all that, I made Mediterranean Couscous and broccoli for dinner. That'll teach 'em to treat me like dirt.

First

2009-08-24T11:20:00.006-05:00

Today was the first day of first grade for my firstborn. A big day, for sure. Probably not as big as the first day of Kindergarten, but still...another milestone. She took it all in stride, only getting very quiet as we walked into school and looking very shy when the teacher showed her the backpack hook. I know she is excited, especially because they have homework in first grade.

I am not terribly thrilled that she's growing up so fast, but I was terribly thrilled when she wanted to wear a pink shirt on the first day of school! (Thank you to Old Navy for making girl shirts with superheroes!)

Another thing to note is the backpack:

Over the summer, Bo and April came for an overnight visit. They came bearing gifts, one of which was this Javelina backpack. Apparently, the softball coach gave it to Bo and April, so they gave it to Avery. At any rate, it's an official college softball team backpack (The yellow writing says "Javelinas" and the number 2) and she loves it. This was the backpack she insisted on carrying to first grade. It's huge and heavy and has more compartments than she will ever need, but Uncle Bo and Aunt April gave it to her and that's all she needs to know it's the perfect backpack for the first day of first grade.

P.S. I got up at 6 this morning so I could have myself ready before I got them up. I actually dressed in matching clothes and put on makeup because I was having friends over for coffee and mimosas to celebrate the first day of school. I also knew that I would be walking Avery inside today and seeing other parents and teachers in the process. What I didn't know was that my shirt was on wrong side out the entire time. That'll teach me to get up extra early just to try to look cute. It's sweats and ball caps for the rest of the year. (It was probably going to be anyway, but at least now I have an excuse.)

My Baby Boy

2009-08-17T12:29:00.003-05:00

The last couple of days have been a bit rough on my heart. First, Aaron took the side of Rhett's crib off and converted it to a toddler bed. If I had known what it would do to my insides, I would have begged him to hold off another couple of months.

He loves it. He doesn't want to sleep in it at night, but he spends a lot of time playing in it during the day. In fact, he wants to be in it just about all the time...except to sleep. In fact, he hasn't really been sleeping in his crib much lately anyway. He usually ends up in bed with his sisters and they all seem satisfied with that. So really, the removal of the side of the crib was a mere formality. But it still kills me. This means he's officially a toddler. I mean, he's in a toddler bed, so I can't even fool myself anymore.

And just like his sisters before him, he does not care about my pain and anguish at his lightning-speed growth.

As if the baby bed fiasco wasn't enough of a blow to my Mommy Heart, I chose today of all days to clean out the kids' closets. I need to get Avery ready for First Grade (sob!) and one thing led to another and I ended up cleaning all three kids' clothes and drawers. I should have stayed out of Rhett's room. Half of his closet is bare and two drawers are completely empty now. You want to know why? Because everything that was in those drawers and on those hangers was a size 2T or 24 mo. And Big Tuna can't fit into a 2T anymore. (Big Tuna has a Big Tushie) Which means he will no longer own an article of clothing that ends in "months." He's a full blown toddler and I can't take it. Do you hear me? I CAN'T TAKE IT!!! I am not ready to be the mom to a bunch of "kids." I like having little ones. I don't want them to grow up and leave me!

I wonder if this is a good time to address the subject of a reverse vasectomy with my husband?

Fashion Statements

2009-08-14T13:30:00.001-05:00

Layering necklaces is so "in"....

Hair brushing, apparently, is not.

The Table That Jack(son) Built

2009-08-14T11:14:00.003-05:00

Aaron wanted a project recently...and he got one! He wanted to encourage Avery's newfound love for Legos, so he created a setup no kid can resist.

They are surprisingly great about keeping all the pieces on/in the table and they love it so much that it doesn't even bother me that it clashes severely with the decor of the house.

Is This Me?

2009-08-10T08:41:00.002-05:00

Reese ran in the other day, wearing this outfit, exclaiming to anyone who would listen, "I'm dressed like Mom. Look at me, I'm Mom!"

I don't know about you, but I can't find one thing in this picture that looks like me. To my knowledge, I've never owned a pair of denim shorts with flamingos all over them. I also stay as far away from spaghetti straps as possible. In fact, if you've ever seen me in person, you know that people of my, um, size, look extremely vulgar and inappropriate wearing spaghetti straps. (Sidenote: I don't mind having vulgar or inappropriate conversations at times, but I don't want to look that way. Got it? Ok.)
So what, do you think she meant? She's holding food, which is totally me. She also has a purse, which is something I carry, even though mine doesn't have a cartoon Tinkerbell on the side. But still, I'm puzzled. She says it's what she's wearing, although she can't explain it either. I said, "Reese, what do you think looks like Mommy?" She spread her arms out and said "This, Momma."
I don't get it.

Treadmill

2009-08-05T08:00:00.002-05:00

You know those cup holders they have on most treadmills? I've always used them to hold my water and I've seen other people do this too. However, I discovered yesterday that they should not be used for this purpose. I'm not sure what I'm going to put in there from now on, but you can bet it won't be water. Here's why.
The baby I keep was napping so just my kids and two older ones (I watch every once in a while) were hanging out. I decided to get on the treadmill. The oldest of all of them, Rachel, followed me upstairs, I guess just to watch me run.
So, I'm about 15 minutes into a pretty good run. I have a good sweat going and am feeling great. I slow down to a walk to get a drink of water. Then it happens.
Apparently, some of the water spilled, although I didn't know it. In a split second, I slipped on the treadmill belt and began falling. The treadmilly, thankfully, is near a wall and I was able to grab the wall to hang on. The water went flying, onto the wall, down the stairs on the other side of this wall and all over me. My shin was scraping against the belt of the treadmill. I yelled "SHIT" out of fear and pain. I was able to somehow hang on to the wall and press the stop button at the same time. I looked over and Rachel seriously looked like she had just seen a ghost. She was about to cry. I immediately apologized for the cussing and told her I felt terrible about it, I was just scared and hurt. She said "I don't care about that. But it looked so scary. Are you sure you are ok?"
I wasn't 100% sure I was ok. Not because of my physical injuries - I pulled my right hamstring (for the 100th time in my life) and burned a spot on my shin, which later blistered and now hurts any time something touches it. No, the thing I was so unsure about was the fact that I had 6 children in the house and I had just about gone down like a bad Goodyear. I kind of had a small panic attack, thinking of what would have happened if I had hit the wall instead of hung on and passed out or was bleeding. I guess Rachel would have known what to do. I spent a few minutes talking to everyone about what they would do if I was to fall and pass out or hurt myself too badly to walk.
When it seemed like everyone was over the incident and understood what to do if I ever got my fat ass on the treadmill again (not this week), I started to laugh. And thanked the Lord above for two things:
1. That I wasn't hurt badly; and
2. That no one had a camera. I could have been the next You Tube sensation.

My Personal Trainer

2009-07-29T15:05:00.002-05:00

It seems this is my new personal trainer. She has really gotten into working out lately and is determined to work daily on being "super strong and super healthy." She is super competitive in just about everything, so being the strongest kid in First Grade (yep, she's just six) would really make her skirt fly up - if she wore skirts, that is.

I think it's great that she likes to exercise. We never discuss weight or being fat or anything, but we do discuss healthy habits, like limiting sugar/junk food and being active. (I sound like a Prevention ad.)

Anyway, I've found a big-time bonus to her having this little GI Jane-obsession. She motivates me now. Today, for example, I said I didn't really feel like exercising. I just wasn't motivated. I just wanted to be lazy today. You know what she told me? "Mom, you just gotta stop thinking about it and get with it."

She actually talked me into a 40-minute circuit. We took turns lifting weights and running on the treadmill. It was actually pretty fun, having someone to work out with who doesn't see working out as another daily chore.

Now, if she can only train me to put down the Oreos...

Painting with Daddy

2009-07-27T09:57:00.008-05:00

The kids have really gotten into Legos lately. Aaron wanted to get them one of those Lego tables, but since he likes to build, he opted for building them one instead of buying them one. It turned out great.

He decided to paint it on Saturday. And he thought it would be cool if each of the kids painted a different color on it. I thought he was crazy, so I stayed inside watching TV while they were outside. He had them pretty well organized. Reese did the red leg, Rhett did the orange leg, and Avery got the two blue ones. The painting lasted a whopping 20 minutes, but they loved it.

As expected, Rhett got a little wild with his brush...see the orange paint above his ear?

He doesn't seem to mind.

Reese got a little far into her paint as well.

She still has traces of red paint in there. It hurts her head when I try to brush it out. You know how tender a princess' head can be.

Avery didn't make a mess. She just is a mess...

I'm afraid she's becoming a bad influence on her younger siblings.

He looks way too sweet to be a rock star!

I think it's safe to say everybody had fun. Well, maybe not everybody. Guess who got to be in charge of clean-up?

I Don't Like Today

2009-07-24T10:56:00.002-05:00

I really hate days like today. I have absolutely no reason to be a grump, but I am. Ok, I guess I have some reason (no decent sleep in over a month, no money AT ALL in my checking account, extra 5 pounds on the scale, not a moment without my children lately, including the solo trip to Oklahoma), but really, nothing a normal, sane person couldn't overcome. Problem is, I don't think I'm sane. I suffer from depression. And I'm sick of it. I am convinced it's a chemical problem and I am on meds, which help most of the time. Except when I forget them at bedtime, like I did last night. So I wake up from a fitful sleep, grumpy for no reason at all. It's days like today when, instead of working out, I make a dessert that I know I can't keep my hands off of. I also want to spend money I don't have on crap I don't need. And I can't decide if I want to start a fight with my husband or go cry in my bed. I want time away from my children after a full-tilt, solo weekend to Oklahoma with them, although snuggling with them seems to make me calm, happy and grateful. Basically, I don't know what I want. It kind of sucks.
But you know what? Just writing it down helps. After reading my ridiculous pity-party, sob-story and feeling almost too embarrassed to hit publish, I am going to publish. Then, I am going to go do 20 push-ups, 50 sit-ups and then eat the dessert I made. I feel better already.

Oklahoma...again

2009-07-21T10:54:00.009-05:00

We were in Oklahoma last weekend while Aaron was in New Jersey, playing with his friends at the beach. The kids had a weekend of "firsts."

Here they are at Josh and Emily's dock at the lake...none of my kids have ever gone swimming in a lake. First of all, I'm not a laker. I like the beach just fine, but prefer a nice, in-ground swimming pool with a bar nearby. Second of all, I'm completely paranoid about my kids drowning in a lake. I have nightmares about it. But, I did want to hang with Emily and her kids Saturday and I did want my kids to have the full Pawhuska experience and Lake Bluestem is part of it...so, we went. I thought I'd have to be in the water with Rhett the whole time. Nope. He jumped off the dock and climbed the ladder at least 40 times. He was a fish!

The girls loved it too. Reese took a bit longer to warm up to the idea of jumping in the murky, dark water that is the lake, but once she got in, she stayed in.

Nobody drowned, so, even though I will probably always be a pool girl, I won't hesitate to go back next time!

Now for the really good stuff....Sunday, Mom's boyfriend, Jerry, took us out to see his horses...and let us all ride. Avery even got to ride by herself, without a grown-up holding the reins. There's a little part of me that thinks she may marry an Oklahoma cowboy and move up there as soon as she has the chance. Not that that's a bad thing, as long as she waits until she's thirty to do so. I'll just have to get some boots and start loving the lake, that's all.

Here she is, showing her skills.

Avery couldn't believe I forgot her boots and jeans. She had to borrow JD's pants, which were about 4 inches too short. And her tennis shoes. "Cowboys don't really wear tennis shoes, Mom." Sorry. We may have to get a pair of boots to just leave at Grammy's. It's too much for a non-cowgirl to remember to pack boots and jeans when it's 105 degrees outside, especially when I have three other people to pack for.

It was a setback, but we made it work. I think that, once she got on the horse, she wouldn't have cared if I had made her wear a skirt and rhinestone flip-flops. Ok, she might have cared about that, but you get my point. She LOVED it.

Reese and Rhett even loved it. No one wanted their turn to be over. Here's Avery, riding with Rhett.

And here's Reese, riding with some girl who also didn't have cowboy boots. Pay no attention to her, please.

I just have one question: How did my hometown, which used to bore me to tears, get to be such a hot spot of entertainment????

P.S. I almost forgot this picture...see the horse trough the kids are walking toward?

When JD spotted it, he said "Hey guys, let's go look at the hot tub."

That's just how they roll in P-town...

She's Turning Into a Teenager Already

2009-07-15T12:30:00.003-05:00

I mean, just look at her. Headphones in, oblivious to me and everything around her, playing her Nintendo DS. If she had a cell phone, I'd swear she was sixteen instead of six.

She worked hard last weekend to earn an "iPod" (really a $5 mp3 player that Aaron got off of Woot one time.) She made a list of songs for us to download for her. The list looked something like this (translations in parentheses):

The Clim (The Climb, Miley Cyrus)
Avin and Chikmuks (Alvin and the Chipmunks)
Big and Chuky (Big and Chunky, Madagascar 2)
Jony Cash (Johnny Cash)
Michael Jackson
Hana Motana (Hannah Montana)

If it had a checkmark next to it, it meant Reese wanted it on hers too (the mp3 players were 2 for $10 so she had to do some cleaning to earn one too). Every song had a checkmark.

Reese doesn't seem to care much about hers, but Avery LOVES hers. She walks around with headphones in all the time. And she sings. At the top of her lungs, all the time. My favorite is when she sings "Jackson" by Johnny Cash. We got married in a fever...hotter than a pepper sprout... it's adorable.

Today, she is singing "Billie Jean" by the late, great MJ. And I can't stop laughing because instead of "the kid is not my son," she is saying "but the kiss is not my side."
I hope she never realizes how loud, off-key and funny it is because she'll stop. That will be sad, because this is my daily entertainment.

Have I mentioned that I love that kid?

I can ride a bike....

2009-07-15T12:20:00.002-05:00

...if you push me.

And I will scream if you don't.

Not a Turd in Sight

2009-07-09T18:46:00.004-05:00

The following picture is gross. I know this, and I know that some of you will think that my family must be really gross, but I promise that we do not keep turds or dead animals anywhere inside this house. Ok, we do keep turds in certain places, but that's only because I can't get all the short people in this house to flush the toilet. But no dead animals. And it's not like we just started keeping the turds. They've been around for a good 3-4 years.

So what, if not turds or dead animals, is attracting these disgusting creatures? Last week, we killed 41 of them in about an hour's time. The kids and I were counting. I thought for sure we had a problem in our house, so I asked Aaron to buy these traps. Look at our window about 12 hours after installing the traps.

You should have seen them after 2 days. Unbelievable. So what in the world is going on? Do we have a hole somewhere?

Here's the real question: Why, after installing new traps, have we attracted zero new flies? Is it possible that they saw all their friends dying and decided not to come into our house? Why has this invasion suddenly stopped?

And why, oh why, did God create flies in the first place????????

Bored?

2009-07-07T11:55:00.002-05:00

Aaron just sent me this link...hilarious, satirical look at today's news and current events.
http://www.theonion.com/content/index

July 4th Weekend

2009-07-06T10:54:00.010-05:00

I don't know about you, but I believe that the 4th of July should be spent near water. A pool, the lake, heck a sprinkler system will work in a pinch. Whatever the source, I'd say water is necessary. Friends and family aren't a must, but they sure do make it more fun.

So, let me just say that we had neither. This is not to say we didn't have any fun, but we had to work harder at having fun than we usually do.

After lying around all morning, we decided to check out the Frisco Freedom Fest. It was advertised as "Free admission" and "Lots of free Kids' Zone activities" so we thought that sounded like a great way to spend time before the fireworks started (scheduled for 10 pm).

Here we are, just arriving at Frisco Square, around 5 p.m:

I like these pictures because, not only are we all festive in our coordinating red, white and blue, but we are still full of hope and anticipation of the 5 hours of fun we are about to have. (Did we really think the kids would last for 5 hours? Sure, with FREE activities, live music and "tons of Frisco restaurant booths" to choose from.)

Our first activity was the Euro Bungee. Avery was the only one brave enough...thank goodness, because it WAS NOT FREE. It cost 6 tickets. Aaron went to buy tickets while we stood in line. He came back and informed me that he just spent $30 on 30 tickets.

Okey dokie...well, this is a big activity. It has to cost more than the other things. Plus, Avery loved it.

See? She's loving it. Totally worth six dollars.

Now, on to the next activity...tons of bounce houses. Since bounce houses are everywhere these days, they have to be cheap.

THREE TICKETS? PER CHILD? That's three freaking dollars a child to jump on a dadgum bounce house! It's not looking like our $30 of tickets are going to last 5 hours....seriously? THREE DOLLARS TO JUMP ON A BOUNCE HOUSE? There is a restaurant by our house that has two bounce houses out back...sure, the food sucks, but at least the bounce houses are free!

We decided to take a break with a snow cone. $3 each? Yeah, but you get to make your own! Surely that's worth $3, right? Kids LOVE to squirt that syrup stuff. Suicide snow cones on the 4th of July. Gotta love that. Oh wait. I have picky kids. None of them wanted the vomit-colored snow cones they had created. There's another $9 down the drain. But look how cute they are with their sweaty, red faces.

So, where is this Kids' Zone with "tons of free activities?" It's way, way in the back...behind all the three and four ticket items, of course. It's the crappy bean bag toss where the bean bag weighs more than the actual board, so it tips over when you throw it. It's that fishing game, where the kid throws the fishing line over a screen and someone behind puts a toy on it. We have like, three paper gliders that fell apart 10 minutes after we got them. There was also a game where a kiddie pool was full of ducks with numbers on the bottom. I'm sure there was supposed to be some sort of system, but the dude running this "game" just handed a prize every time a kid picked up a duck, regardless of the number. More gliders.

We walked all the way to the back, playing one crappy game after another, until we came to the paramedic/fire station portion. The kids liked that...here they are with one of Frisco's old-timey fire truck.

So, to summarize: We spent $9 on snow cones that went in the trash; $30 on bounce houses and bungee jumping; $13 for three sandwiches; and $6 on water. All this in 2 hours. We were too broke to wait the last 3 hours before fireworks, so we came home and got in the kiddie pool in the backyard. We then had popcorn and watched a movie until 9:45, when we drove up to the CVS parking lot to sit and watch fireworks. I wouldn't say I would do it all over again, but hey, it's a memory. That's what holidays are all about, right?

P.S. If you ask my kids what their favorite part of the day was, I bet they would all say the fireworks. Not because they loved them so much, but because, at one point in the parking lot, one guy had his headlights on and another guy went absolutely berserk, yelling "HEY, IDIOT! Turn off your lights, IDIOT!" over and over again. We all got in the car and laughed all the way home, mocking the yeller. The next day, that's all they wanted to talk about...the yelling guy. Hey, at least that was free.

Uncle Bo

2009-07-02T11:05:00.004-05:00

My brother and his wife stopped to stay with us on their way to Oklahoma Sunday. We hadn't seen them since Christmas, so we were so excited for them to get here-and equally sad when they left.

Avery LOVES Uncle Bo and Aunt April. Here she is with Bo on the couch. She told April later that she wasn't really sleepy, she just didn't want Bo to have to snuggle by himself.

Bo and April are both coaches, so they brought Avery plenty of gear. She got a 'real' athlete's backpack, a Javelina (Bo's team) sweatshirt, and each of the kids got a football camp t-shirt.

They loved the shirts. They slept in them Sunday night and refused to take them off all day Monday. I finally convinced them to let me wash them Monday night. I actually tricked them while they were in the tub, or I'm not so sure I could have gotten them to the washer. I don't know if it's the shirt or where the shirt came from, actually! Either way, we all miss them all the time and are considering petitioning for a job for Bo somewhere closer to us!

More Oklahoma Pictures

2009-06-29T11:41:00.008-05:00

Turns out I didn't take as many pictures as I should have...we had way more fun than the pics show!

The kids found a turtle they named Chunk. Here's a picture of Avery and Chunk:

Reese and Macy B are two peas in a pod. They both love dressing up, playing house and just in general being Miss Prisses:

We also celebrated JD's 5th birthday while we were there. His mom and dad got him a trampoline. I think Aaron and Josh hated putting it together, but it was a BIG hit with all the kids.

Josh and Emily's backyard is awesome. My kids aren't used to so much room to roam and play. Here are Rhett and Reese on the "waterslide."

Here are all the cousins at JD's birthday party. It seems like there are more every year...maybe that's because there are!

We loved the trip and were so sad to leave, Avery and I actually cried a little bit on the way home. Now that Avery is in school, we don't get to go up as often, so we're going to try for at least one more trip this summer. I'm so glad my kids have P-town to visit...there's nothing like small town freedom in the summertime!

Pictures from our Mini-Vacay

2009-06-25T11:52:00.003-05:00

On the way to Pawhuska to get Avery, we stopped in Oklahoma City so Aaron could do some business there. The kids always like staying in a hotel, so we made it a little mini-vacation. With kids, you can turn anything into a big deal, don't you think?

Here are a few pics.

Buffalo outside our hotel. I thought this was kind of cool. I want one for the backyard.

I don't even know what this is called, but it was in between our hotel and the canal at Bricktown. The kids loved it. I even got in on the action, but me looking like a sweaty, soaked rat isn't something you want to see. I will let you see Rhett kicking water on me.

And then back at the hotel....

That's Reese, testing out her new goggles in the bathtub. She looks awesome in them, doesn't she? (About how I look in goggles, I think.)

At least she was able to get hers on. Rhett wouldn't let me help him, so this is how he "swam." Seriously.

More pics from Oklahoma (including Avery!) tomorrow...or whenever I get around to it!

Avery in Oklahoma

2009-06-16T21:17:00.016-05:00

Avery has been in Oklahoma since Saturday and she hasn't called me once. I've called her, but she is too busy to talk. Luckily, my sister keeps me updated via text and she has sent a few pictures. Sunday, Aunt La La (my sister) took them to Woolaroc, a cool little museum-type place we used to always go on field trips when I was in elementary school. It has lots of Cowboys and Indians stuff, which I knew would impress Avery. Turns out, they've added a lot to Woolaroc since I was there...(can't believe it's changed in the last THIRTY years!)

There is a petting zoo there. I honestly have no idea what this animal is.

Avery forgot her cowboy boots, so Aunt La La took her to the local store to buy the ugliest boots in Osage County, but Avery loves them. She is wearing Cash's jeans and shirt, which is about 4 sizes too big, but she is happy. JD is wearing a floppy old hat that my Nana has for dress up and he seems pretty happy too. Cash is the only one who looks unhappy, but I think that might be his "I'm a cowboy, don't mess with me" look. It must be...here's one of all three of them looking that way.

They are so stinkin' cute, aren't they? Avery will have these memories forever...I'm so glad I let her go!

Although, I wasn't told there would be live ammunition:

Apparently, this "mountain man" lives there, in a tee pee. Here are the kids, inside the tee pee:

I still haven't figured out if this is for real or the dude works for Woolaroc...surely he doesn't willingly live in a tee pee with no running water or electricity? Stranger things have happened I guess.

Here they are in the campsite. It appears to be the kitchen. I'm sure cooking in a tee pee can be kind of tedious.

I wouldn't know anything about that because, apparently, I have completely lost touch with my Osage Indian heritage; I thought Avery was holding an axe in the next picture:

For those of you who have either lost touch with (or never actually had) your Native American side, this is a tomahawk. You know, the tool used to scalp the white man. There isn't a child alive in Osage County that doesn't have a rubber tomahawk. Mine had a red spearhead. It's a lovely toy to give a newborn baby.

I will leave you with a shot of the kids searching the landscape for Indians...did I mention that each of this children ARE actually Indians, even if only an itty bitty bit?

Who thinks that Aunt La La is one brave soul for taking all of these yay-hoos out by herself? I'd say she's a pretty fabulous aunt, wouldn't you?

Bittersweet

2009-06-15T08:28:00.002-05:00

It's hard to let go of your babies. Especially for me. I'm a control freak and a worrier and I want all my little chicks under my wing at all times. But, if you want normal, well-rounded kids, you have to let them have some freedom, let them grow up, have experiences, see life. At least that's what they tell me.
So, I'm trying. My sweet sister, Aunt La La, has asked me several times if Avery could come spend a week with her family. My first thought was "Not no but hell no." I didn't think I could ever let my little baby girl leave me for a whole week. La La kept asking. She reminded me that, if we want our kids to be close, they are going to have to spend more than weekends and holidays together. I know she's right. And Avery LOVES going to P-town. Grammy lives there, as well as Uncle Josh, Auntie Em and their kids. In P-town, she has more freedom. There is lots of room to run, play and get dirty. I knew she would love it, even though I wasn't totally sure she would be able to spend several nights away from home. I finally gave in. I trust La La completely and if I'm going to start letting my kids be independent and well rounded, there's no better place to start than with family, right?
Ok, so Saturday, I met La La halfway (sorta) between here and P-town. I fully expected to be sobbing when I saw her drive away with my Doodlebug, but I didn't. I just said a little prayer that they'd be safe and that was that. I will admit that my heart was a bit heavy the rest of that day, but when they called and said that they had gone to the local store for some black cowboy boots so Ave could wear them to Woolaroc the next day, that heaviness lifted and I knew this was going to be the best week Avery's ever had, to date. (By the way, the boots are horrid. Lauren said she had the choice between some "normal" brown ones and these black ones, which have red stitching and silver toes. My brother, Josh said she can either be a cowboy or do a Mexican hat dance in them. I can't wait to see them in person. I should have pictures any day now.)
Anyway, needless to say, she is having a ball. They got to shoot "real guns" at Woolaroc, get inside a real Indian tee pee and throw tomahawks. It's literally Cowboys and Indians around those parts and she's getting the full treatment this week.
I'm so glad she's having fun. And I do miss her, terribly, but it's been so good for Reese. She gets to be the big sister and I don't think she's had one meltdown since Avery left. It's like she's growing up a little bit too.
It's a good thing. Hard for me to let go and admit she's growing up, but good for her. That's what they call "bittersweet," right?

Swim Lessons

2009-06-12T09:53:00.004-05:00

The kids are in swim lessons this week and they are having a ball. They are learning a lot too, thanks to Miss Sally. And even though I love watching each of them learn new skills, I must admit that my favorite thing about this week has been watching Rhett.

He has been hilarious all week. He listens so intently, you almost forget that he's only 2 years old. He's not afraid of putting his face in the water and his favorite thing to do is jump off the side of the pool. Any time Miss Sally tells him to do something, he yells "OKAY," and when she asks him if he's ready he yells, "YEAH!" He has jumped in twice without anyone there to catch him, which nearly gave me a heart attack, (He has scratches on his back from where I reached in to grab his pants.) but other than that, he's done a great job. And he LOVES it.

Reese, on the other hand? Not so much. She really didn't like the first day too much. In fact, at one point, she very politely asked Miss Sally, "Could you please stop touching me?" She doesn't love putting her face in the water at all. She'd much rather be posing at the side of the pool.

Avery, as usual, has made it into a competition (just in her mind and in the car on the way home) and wants to be the best one in her class. So, yesterday, when Miss Sally gave them the option to either jump off the board and swim to the side or try to learn to dive, Avery was the only one who chose to dive. I'm sure she was nervous (I know I wouldn't have done my first dive from the board...I was always diving from the side for 3 weeks before I would do it off of the board.) but she wants to be the star of the class, so she did it.

Here she is, preparing for her across-pool swim. She and Rhett obviously have the same taste in goggles.

Is it just me or is she eyeballing the little boy next to her? She's probably trying to psych him out. It's not a race and no one else cares, but that's how her little mind works.

Summertime is Here!!!

2009-06-10T12:48:00.001-05:00

Hope you're enjoying it as much as we are!

Guess what they are doing????

2009-06-08T09:15:00.004-05:00

Did you guess "pulling teeth?" If so, you are right! Avery lost her first tooth last night. Needless to say, she was beyond excited. She bit down on a ball (is it strange that my kids were playing 'fetch' and carrying balls in their teeth?) and it loosened it a LOT. She was shaking and doing the half laugh/half cry. Do you even remember being that excited about something? I think childbirth was the last time I felt that way. Amazing how a 6 year old can feel that many emotions over a tooth.

We all took turns trying to pull it. She was a trooper. I tried with a Kleenex, Aaron tried with dental floss (see above) and when nothing worked, Avery just reached in there and yanked it herself. As soon as it came out, there was more shaking, accompanied by the nervous laughter.

She couldn't wait to call Grammy (and anyone else who would answer their phone at 9:20 p.m.). Here she is, spreading the joyful news.

This morning, the excitement started all over again when she found, not only the tooth (she wrote a letter to the tooth fairy asking if she could keep it), but a $5 bill and "fairy dust," which, to me, looked like pink glitter, but Avery thinks it fell off the tooth fairy's wings. Reese thinks it came off of her wand. Wherever it came from, it was worth all the hassle it takes to clean up glitter in carpet and bedding.

I can't believe how quickly she is growing up. As of Thursday last week, she is officially a first grader. I remember when I was younger, thinking that time drug by as slowly as a crippled snail. Not anymore. I wish I could push pause. Not right this second, because Reese and Avery are arguing, but maybe later. Like when they are sleeping.

Homebody

2009-05-28T10:19:00.003-05:00

I am a homebody. I love being at home. Sure, I have my times where I need to get out, but most of the time, my weekly grocery shopping cures any cabin fever I might have.
One Girls' Night Out can last me a month or more. I just don't need to be out and about. I love my house, even though it's not fancy. I love my kids, even though they drive me crazy sometimes. I even enjoy cooking, cleaning and doing laundry.
Sometimes I look at friends of mine and think "I'm so lazy." I think I should be taking my kids to Mother's Day Out or Little Gym. I should schedule more playdates. I should get them in more activities. But honestly, it wears me out just thinking about it.
I know it probably drives my friends nuts because I'm not really into chatting on the phone or always up for doing something. I like not having plans very often. I'm never bored. Honestly. If I have a time where there's not something to be cleaned or washed, someone to be fed or bathed, or wifely duties that need tending to, I don't feel bored. I feel blissful.
Right now, I'm sitting outside, on a blanket, while the baby I watch naps and Reese and Rhett run around on the sidewalk. I'm not doing anything, but I don't feel restless or bored. I feel content. The fact that we have gymnastics today bugs me more than the fact that I may not speak to another adult for 8 hours today.
My husband is going to play golf tonight and won't be home until after 9:00. I was irritated by this because he didn't tell me ahead of time and I'm a planner. And frankly, I don't want to have to take all three kids to Target, but I'm not upset that I'll be alone with the kids.
Maybe it's because I moved to Texas without a friend or family member to hang with, talk to, count on. I was home alone A LOT. I got very good at filling that time. Mani/pedis, books, magazines, computer, exercise (as a last resort). I find all kinds of ways to occupy my time if I don't have chores I have to do.
Maybe it is because I'm lazy. I hate buckling kids in and out of car seats just to run errands or "drop by" a friend's house. Maybe I just don't want to dress in something other than workout clothes or wear makeup, which I would feel the need to do if I wasn't at home all day. Maybe I am a control freak and when I'm by myself, I can watch what I want, eat what I want and boss the kids any way I want. Scratch the last sentence. Even when my husband is here and he's in charge of the remote and being picky about what we have for dinner, there's still no place else I'd rather be. (Ok, if I'm being honest, sometimes I'd rather be any place but here. The nights when kids are fighting and whining and the husband is being a turd; those nights feel a bit stifling, but fortunately, they are few and far between.)
Whatever the reason, I have decided to embrace it. I am a homebody. It works out great right now because I'm a stay at home mom with no money. The fact that it doesn't really bother me that my car may not move for 3 days at a time is probably a good thing because I can't afford to go very far anyway. Frankly, I don't do well with doing things I don't like to do, so if I hated being stuck at home or needed to be around other people all the time to be happy, I would probably be a beast to live with. (Ask Aaron what my personality was like when I had to work when Avery was a baby. I'm surprised he still liked me enough to have two more kids with me!)
So for today, I'm just going to be grateful that I'm a homebody. I feel blessed that the four people who live in this house just happen to be the four people I like to be with the most.

(P.S. How many times did I say the word 'lazy' in this post? Think I have a guilty conscience about sitting on a blanket in the front yard, jacking around on the computer when there's a floor to be vacuumed, clothes to be ironed and coupons to be clipped? Nah. No way I'm LAZY!)

Birthday Pics

2009-05-27T08:19:00.009-05:00

Last Wednesday was Avery's actual birthday. Her friend, Lilly wasn't going to be able to attend the "official" party so we had her over after school for cake and play time.

I actually think Avery would have been fine with just this as her party. They played in the water, she got presents and cake, and we all went out to Peter Piper Pizza for dinner. Here she is, in the PPP parking lot. I let her choose her own outfit.

Yes, I think she would have been fine without an "official" party. But, we had one anyway.

Here's the "official" cake. (I think it's every bit as awesome as a fancy bakery cake...and it's a cheap one from the neighborhood Kroger!)

Obviously, we went with a Rock Star theme.

The kids dressed the part.

My mom said she thought the kids (invited to the party) were too young for Guitar Hero.

I say there's no such thing as too young to rock!

See?

Happy 6th Birthday, Doodlebug! We love you bunches!

Guess Who is 6 Years Old Today???

2009-05-20T10:07:00.002-05:00

One of my favorites

2009-05-13T11:06:00.003-05:00

I was going through some old stuff this morning and came across one of my favorite pictures of all time.

It's a picture of my brothers and I, doing God knows what, in the spring of '99. I love how young we look, I love that we're all grinning so big and obviously having a great time. We were camping at Ft. Gibson lake in Oklahoma...the only thing I can say about that trip is that I learned to enjoy beer for breakfast.
A few marriages, kids, and mortgages later, I'm not sure we could ever replicate that kind of carefree silliness, but I'm thankful to have memories like this!

(P.S. In case anyone is wondering why my sister wasn't in the picture, she had probably just turned 17 and was still in high school. My parents would have never let her out of the house with a bunch of nut jobs for a three day camping trip with no adult supervision. Wait. I was 26. That's technically an adult, isn't it? Is it possible I wasn't as mature as I should have been?)

He's TWO!!!!

2009-05-12T09:51:00.007-05:00

I can't believe my baby is already two. In fact, I wouldn't believe it at all if he hadn't started yelling "NO!" at me and frowning at me at least 200 times a day.

His 2nd birthday was Saturday and we had a mini-party at home with just us and my dad, his Pa Pa. Here he is first thing Saturday morning, opening his first gift.

New shoes, which may not seem like a fun gift for a 2-year-old, but he loves shoes. Plus, they make him run super fast. See?

(He had pajamas when he woke up, but somehow, all three kids ended up in undies only.)

Here he is blowing out his candles on the ugliest cake in America. I saw a picture of an adorable cake on a box and thought I'd try to make it. I could tell early on that mine wasn't going to be adorable so we just threw some icing and sprinkles on it. The kids thought it was the coolest cake ever, but I'm extremely thankful that this cake was just for family.

His playgroup friends came over Monday and we celebrated again.

Here he is, blowing out the candle on his official cake. He said it was "Awesome," which is his latest new word and my absolute favorite. I make him say it at least 5 times a day.

Happy Birthday, Big Tuna. No matter how big you get (and how much you prefer your daddy and snub me), you'll always be my precious baby boy. LOVE YOU!!!