Ice water and battle wounds

I can safely say that the kids are back in school and I am recovered from our 4-day weekend, save my sunburn. Our weekend started off pretty rough. Friday was rainy and chilly. That meant I was stuck in the house with two whiny kids. If that was a preview of summer vacation, I wanted nothing to do with it!

Luckily the weekend took a turn for the better. The sun was shining bright and the air was hot. After Friday, I took every opportunity to ship those kids of mine outside. Being a boy, Little Dude spent most of that outside time in the dirt. No matter how many times I tried to wipe him off, the dirt kept coming back!


dirty feet

Our water bill probably will probably be just as ugly!



GG took the more girly approach and chalked up any piece of cement she could find.


pretty painted toes

I think I like the girly feet better!


I think she opted for chalk over her usual kicking the soccer ball because goal practice is now banned. Yes, I want them to practice and love the sport, but I don't appreciate the huge crack that is now in my deck box!


Sunday was yet another day for my to ship those buggers outside. At someone else's house! I loaded the kids up to head to a picnic at a friend's house. Her children are friends of mine, and there were other little people who came and went throughout the afternoon.

All afternoon, the kids ran circles around the house. Literally! After a few hours, the adults became concerned. The temperature was teetering around 90 and all of their little faces were the shade of Elmo. A hospital trip was not on anyone's agenda, so we needed to cool those kids down and quick.

My friend, the party hostess, noticed that one of the plastic barrels holding some of the drinks was now more full of water than cans and bottles. Why not give it to the kids, right? Except it wasn't for them to drink.

Ice water battle


And we may or may not have failed to tell the kids exactly where the water came from. Let's just say Little Dude was quite shocked when he dumped a full cup over his head. I hear ice water is a little chilly!

Ice water battle


Now that our weekend is over, I think we can all look back and agree that it was a good one. The proof is on the kids, whose legs are covered with bruises, scrapes, and mosquito bites.

How was your holiday weekend?


Until next time...



It's a miracle!

I have been waiting for this day for close to a week now. Remember the bird nest I blogged about? In case you missed, you can check it out here and here. Go ahead, I'll wait.

We finally have baby birds in that nest. The babies are big enough to be seen when they stretch their necks. I have been tying to take a picture of their cute, fuzzy heads and yesterday I finally captured the moment.

As I was planning the post out in my head, a miracle happened. I think I may have died and gone to heaven. Delayed rapture? I'm not sure, but whatever the reason, I made sure to document that moment. Who knows when, or if, it will happen again.


Pigpen
Sunday night while I was once again scrubbing the dirt off Little Dude, I made a joke about him having to wash the kitchen floor. Surprisingly, he appeared interested in this idea. But I'm not dumb. I didn't actually expect a 5 year old boy to voluntarily wash a kitchen floor.


<---That looks like a kid who loves to clean right? Last night when we returned from the playground, my boy went straight to the kitchen for a snack (the non-stop-eating teenage years scare the bejeebus out of me!). As he was reaching for a pack of crackers and cheese, he paused and turned to me. "Mom? When can I wash the floor?" I don't think I have ever gathered cleaning supplies faster than I did at that moment. Hell to the yes you can clean my floor!!
It's a miracle How to get your kids to clean


And not only did he wash the floor, but he also dried it!

I love my boy!

And no, you can't have him!



Wordful Wednesday by

and



Until next time...



Rearranging fits

As a mom of a sentimental and creative boy, I have to schedule my cleaning and purging at specific times. Like when he's at school. Many times my boy will forget about certain toys, but if I pull it out to clean and donate in front of him, the chance of a fit of epic proportions is rather high. Yesterday I did quite a bit of cleaning and rearranging. Then I braced myself for the wrath to come once he realized what I had done.

For a year now I have been trying to move the Little People and all of their accessories out of the house. Early on I was successful with some little things. But the fire trucks (yes, plural) had to stay. And the airplane. And the garbage truck. And the house. And the big city.

Yesterday I finally decided I had enough. It was time for the World of Little People to find a new home. If I could get the Little People out from under the boy's bed, I could store toys under there that he actually plays with. Moving those toys would also create more storage space under the art/Lego table.

I know some of those darn Little People ganged up and are hiding throughout the house, but I gathered what I could. Except the Big City. I guess I'm a tad sentimental, too. Plus I got a really good deal on that thing. It's getting used until it breaks!

Back to my point, I move the LP World to the creepy, spider-ridden basement, which will be their temporary home. Blocks and dinosaurs and fold-up play sets now filled the space under Little Dude's bed. Toys that once sat on top of the art/Lego table are now stored nicely underneath.

I prepared myself for the previous mentioned fit of epic proportions when the boy realized what I had done. He love the world of LP and spent many, many hours playing with them. It took a year to get to this point and I up and went away with them without consulting him first.

After dinner, I gently explained what I had done and why. My boy nodded and agreed that he is now a big kid.


*insert tear from me*


My boy then proceeded downstairs and that, my friends, is when he realized I had thrown away some of the boxes he drew on. He hadn't touched them in months. We are always getting packages so it's not like he would never have another box to play with.

Enter epic fit..... NOW!


We buy our kids toys that can get kicked to the curb at any given moment. But crappy cardboard boxes? Who knew it was a crime to get rid of those?!



Until next time....

Why do we wear what we do?

I often ponder that question in regards to my kids. Why do I bother dressing them? The amount of laundry I have to do is staggering! It would be so much easier if I declared this casa a nudist colony. I'm sure the neighbors would love us. Don't you agree?

At the moment I am focused on a certain article of clothing. Well, not so much me as Little Dude.

When getting out of the bath the other night he asked why we wear underwear.

Knowing I would have to choose my words wisely, I wasn't quite sure how to respond. The boy really would run around naked if we let him! I finally decided to say we wear underwear because it's in the rules. I know, a cop out answer, but he seemed content with it. Until he had to one up me with a better explanation.


If you don't war underwear at your job and have to go really bad, your pants will get wet.


Well, now. That makes perfect sense!

So next time you have to leave the house, make sure you put some underwear on before your pants.



Until next time....

Proud, with restrictions


We all have our proud mommy moments and usually we like to brag about share them. But sometimes our proud moments are that kind of proud. You know, the moments where you can't believe this child is related to you in any way.

Kmama has created a meme where we can share our proud moments, good, bad, and funny. You can read more about it here. If you have a moment you'd like to share, and I'm sure you do, feel free to link up.





By the time GG was done with pre-school and getting ready to start pre-K, she knew all of her letters along with their sounds. She also knew a few words, mostly names. I thought for sure she would be an early reader. I was so maybe it was hereditary.

In Kindergarten, she was beginning to learn letters and sounds, most of which she knew. She was starting to learn how to blend certain sounds together to form words. This was it! This was my opportunity to get her reading.

Many, many nights her and I sat in her uber-comfy bed with Hop on Pop. Surely she could read those words. All she had to do was sound the letters out, which she knew how to do.

Many, many nights her and I sat in her uber-comfy bed with Hop on Pop. Tears were streaming down all four of our cheeks. This was not it. She was not ready to read. My heart was shattered.

Towards the middle of her Kindergarten year, someone flipped a switch. Her reading switch. She was reading words left and right as if she had been doing it forever. I had a reader! Over time the words got longer, as well as the books. Last year, in second grade, she was finally able to read short chapter books. Junie B., A to Z mysteries, Magic Tree House.

Her book self soon filled up. By the end of second grade, she had read most of the books on her shelf at least once. Wanting to challenge her, I offered up my Harry Potter books. She had seen the first few movies and I knew she would fall in love with Harry as I did. She tried to read the first, but was scared. She said it was the story that scared her, but I think it was the book itself. All those words. So many chapters. This time I was fine with waiting.

Towards the end of the summer leading up to third grade, GG decided once again to try the first Harry Potter book. She read it in a matter of days. I finally had the reader I hoped for. I was so unbelievably proud of her. She was also proud of herself.


Now before you go and get all "way to go girl" on me, I have recently come to realize that there is a downside to all this reading.

In the past few weeks, GG has read books 4, 5, and half of 6 in the Harry Potter series. The reason she is trying to cram these books in before the school year ends is because they are worth beaucoup points. The kids' school participates in Accelerated Reader. In short, you read a book and take a quiz on it. You receive points based on your test score. All children who participate receive a prize, but the children with the most points in each grade level receive an extra special prize.

GG wants to win. I guess being competitive is hereditary.

In order to finish reading all seven books by the end of the school year, GG must read a lot. I wanted a reader, but I also want a child who likes to play with toys. I will admit, the lack of cleaning up toys at the end of the day is a perk. Realizing GG is hiding under her covers reading at 11:30pm is not a perk. We have to be out the door by 6:30am. Yes, some mornings are ugly!

I certainly don't want to deter her from reading, but we have had to put a time limit on how long she read at night.

I guess you can't win them all!



Until next time....

Competitions and kontusts

It has come to my attention that I need to change some things around here. Apparently a big, important event is coming up and I need to be ready. You may not know this, but I enjoy a good competition. And when I'm in a competition, I'm n it to win it even though I rarely do.

I need to purge our living room of toys that are no longer played with. Don't tell the kids! I do this when they are at school because what they don't know won't hurt them.

Once I have the space in our living room, I need to pull out my Wii Fit balance board and give it a good dusting. I should probably replace the batteries. Just in case!

wii fitthis guy is going to help me!

I need to do some yoga to stretch my body out, some strength training so I can kick some ass, and finally I need to dip into the balance activities. The one in particular that I need to focus on is the hula hoop.

Why do I need to do all these things? Partly because I do need to get back into shape, but the main reason is because of this....



hula hoop scooter riding

In case you need help deciphering 5-year-old-ese, allow me to translate.


Hula hoop scooter
riding
contest


The more I look at this, I realize I better look into some sort of scooter riding game so I can really perfect my skills. As of now I can barely hula hoop, let alone do it while riding a scooter!


Until next time....

He's got rhythm

Someday my little boy is going to make one woman very happy.

Over the weekend, the four of us attended the wedding of a very good friend of me and the husband. If it wasn't for her, the husband and I wouldn't be where we are today.

The ceremony was in a tiny, but beautiful old church. The ceremony was short and sweet, which was really good for those of us with kids! The reception? I think many of us will remember it for years to come.

Mom and daughter at the wedding


When we arrived at the hall, cookies and appetizers were set up for guests to eat while they waited for the bridal party to arrive. Genius idea if you ask me.


Cookies


Once the kids were fed and fueled, they were ready to hit the dance floor. When I say "they", I really mean Little Dude. It took GG a while to warm up to dancing. We've recently learned that she has a bit of stage fright.






When all was said and done, Little Dude danced for 3 hours straight. The only thing that could have made it better was if the belly dancer danced with him during her performance. It wasn't for lack of trying, but she did dance with him later in the night.

A boy who dances would make any girl happy, but as parents, we might be in for a bumpy ride!



Until next time....

The nerve of some people

Yesterday was yet another crazy, busy day. Will it ever slow down?! Thankfully the craziness wasn't all bad.

The teachers at the kids' school and the 3rd graders got together to set up a thank you treat for the PTA. We had cards from most of the teachers thanking us for all the PTA did for teacher appreciation week. Each day the teachers received something, with a luncheon at the end of the week. The teachers were very appreciative, especially since our school was the only one out of the four to do something for our teachers that week.

The thank you treat for the PTA members was an appetizer bar and dessert bar. We had fruit, pretzels, meat and cheese, brownies, cake, cookies, and drinks. Sadly none of those drinks were alcoholic! Each of the 3rd graders made a place mat that all said things like "You rock" and "Thank for all you do". There were some funny ones, like the place mat with a picture of a broken crayon. The tagline read "You can fix anything with your magic". O the appple that said "Thanks for helping us worm our way out". Not sure what that meant, but I chuckled!

The final PTA meeting of the year was to follow our luncheon. The seven of us who are regulars (four of those being officers - sad) were joking that more people would show for the meeting because of the free food. We were surprised that only two other people showed. What amazed me was that they left after eating and didn't stay for the meeting.

Out of the 250 students in the school, almost all of them have at least one parent who is a PTA member. When it comes time to help for events and activities within the school, there are maybe 12 people who volunteer to help. For the meetings, I'm shocked when there are more than 7 people there. But offer free food and they come out of the woodwork.

The nerve of some people!



Until next time....

One to remember

I never like Mondays, but yesterday was particularly rough. When your sleep schedule is thrown off course, you eventually pay for it.

I woke up too early Saturday morning. From the moment my feet touched the ground I was off running. The husband had an all day conference, the kids had soccer, and I had to go shopping for my mom in the afternoon. Shopping with two kids who were not only exhausted from playing soccer, but were also still recovering from being sick was not a pleasurable experience. Thank goodness they played nice in the car on the way to pick the husband up. After that, they were all over him because he was gone all day.

Saturday night the four of us went out to finish our shopping. The husband had some ladies to buy things for. The husband bought his mom a Kindle, which I think she's excited to use. His parents aren't always comfortable with new technology. Or technology period. While at Best Buy I noticed that they also carried what I wanted. Not only was I excited to walk out of the store with a Keurig in hand, but also a box of k-cups from Caribou Coffee (my addiction!).

On the way home I informed the kids that their present to me the following day would be to let me sleep in. Thinking they would hopefully allow that, I decided to stay up entirely too late that evening. On a side note, my new Keurig may have contributed to that!

Sunday I woke at the crack of noon. Not only was I excited that the midgets actually let me sleep in, but I was excited to see them greet me with breakfast in bed. GG was first to the bed. In her hands was a plate holding a big, fat omelet stuffed with cheese, mushrooms, green peppers, and red onions. Little Dude followed her with a big glass full of orange juice. I would have stayed in bed to eat, but once again, my new toy beckoned. Might I say that Dark Magic coffee is quite delicious!

The rest of the day was peppered with pictures and cards from the kids and a big basket of flowers from my in-laws. I'm not sure what kind of flowers they are, but I do know they attract humming birds. Hopefully we will see one for the second summer in a row.

When I wasn't collecting trinkets from the kids, I was sprawled out on the couch with a good book. It was definitely a Mother's Day to remember.

How was yours?





Until next time....

Even Superman wasn't perfect

With the exception of the first 4 years of GG's life, I feel blessed to have 2 relatively healthy children. GG had asthma that began when she was 18 months old. It took many trips to the pediatrician and the hospital, but we finally got it under control. Each year thus far has been better and better in regards to her asthma.

With Little Dude, I can count on one hand the number of times he has been sick over the past 5 years. Runny noses don't count because when you're in day care, it's almost a requirement to have snot pouring out of your nose. Although he was no where near as bad as the other kids!

Little Dude was in day care until he was 3. The next two years he was at home with me. Sure, we went to the library and the park, but he wasn't exposed to other kids as he was in day care. I expected him to enter Kindergarten and start bringing home every disease under the sun. Surely his immune system suffered in those 2 years home with me.

I was wrong.

Every week was a different story with his classmates. One week they were all throwing up. The next they all had strep throat. Through it all, Little Dude avoided everything. He had Superman immunity!

I sympathized with friends who had 3 kids that would pass germs back and forth for weeks at a time. I would also make sure to tell them that my kids didn't do that. They had Superman immunity. Yes, even GG developed this special immunity.

I felt so special. My kids weren't missing school. My kids weren't up all night sick as a dog. My kids were able to eat and keep their food in their stomachs where it belonged. My kids were Superman awesome!

But do you know what happens when you brag about this anyone and everyone? It comes back to bite you in the ass. Hard!

Last month, Little Dude had an ear infection of epic proportions. I've never seen a kid so miserable from an achy ear. And GG had a lot of ear infections! The past 2 weeks, Little Dude's nose is just disgusting. I had no idea a child's nose could produce so much junk! I've worked in day care and I've seen some nasty stuff. Then he picks it, it bleeds, and it's just nasty. Now he has a cough, which I am starting to wonder if it needs looked at. Or listened to. But by a professional because I am no where near one.

I am not a professional because I am the mom who swore up and down that her daughter had strep throat. At the pediatrician's office yesterday, I made sure they did a strep test because that is what she had. To make a long painful morning story short, we walked out of the office with 3 prescriptions. Two are breathing medications and one is a steroid. These won't help with strep throat, but they will help a child who has pneumonia and asthma.

Even Superman isn't perfect.



ps. the side effects of the albuterol and the steroids make GG a total pain in the ass. And mean. Please send reinforcements. I accept rum and/or chocolate. Hell, at this point I would even take beer or wine, which I don't usually drink. And it's only day 1 of the meds. Help! Please!



Proud Mommy MomentBragging about your kids not getting sick and then trying to diagnose them when they are, resulting in sending the pediatrician into panic mode leads to a not so Proud Mommy Moment.

If you have a moment to share, click the button, read and link up!





Until next time...

3 strikes and you might be out

Today I'm joining Steph with her Tuesday Tirade. I have a bone to pick with someone.


I've mentioned Little Dude's soccer coach before and the fact that he is a wuss. I would also like to add that he is an inconsiderate jerk. Let me explain...

Two weekends ago I received a phone call from the coach's wife. They weren't able to make the game but she couldn't get a hold of the head of the league. She wasn't sure what to do. I had to be at the field for GG's game anyway so I told her I would Little Dude. If his team showed up, we would figure out how to play. After talking to other parents from the team I learned I was the only to receive such a phone call. Don't you think you should call the whole team if you can't make it to a game?

STRIKE 1

The games this past weekend were phenomenal! GG scored her first goal and Little Dude played the best defense I have ever seen. After Little Dude's game was done, we started to gather our stuff so we could head home. I overheard parents of a boy from Little Dude's team talking about practice time for last night. The time was pushed back 30 minutes. Had I not overheard them, I wouldn't have known because the coach left fast as lightening.

STRIKE 2

Last night Little Dude and I arrived at the practice field at 6:15. We would either be really early or only a tad late. No one from Little Dude's team was there so I assumed we were early. Practice start time came. And went. No one showed. Luckily there was another team practicing and some of the kids were friends of Little Dude. I knew the coach and she was happy to have my boy play with them for a bit. But again, when you cancel something, a phone call to all involved would have been nice.

STRIKE 3


Yes, I will be talking to other parents from our team this weekend. If they confirm yet again that some got phone calls, but others didn't, I'm hunting down the head of the league and raising some hell. Even if other parents don't confirm what I think happened, I still don't like my heart breaking because my child is disappointed.



Until next time....

I will survive

I survived a Girl Scout overnight trip! I want to know why the adults don't get a patch for that? It's quite an accomplishment to make it out alive!

I have to give much love to those who host this event. Everything was very organized and very fun. Yes, even I had fun. Until the sleeping part.

The night started out with group events. The 314 of us were split into 3 groups and we rotated between 3 stations. Our group, the orange group, started off with the campfire. That really worked out because I was starving! The girls and adults roasted wienies and made s'mores. The best part of that event? Hearing someone yell "Watch where you put your wienie!".

Our next station was inside the dome and went off relatively well. Until the end. We made tie-dye shirts, which turned out great. We also made letters to the troops. Before it was time to move on, the girls in my troop were goofing around. GG was tackled by one of her friends and it was ugly. She landed on her shoulder funny and I was afraid she dislocated it. She moved it a few times, but I could still tell it hurt her. She refused to let me take her to someone to have it looked at and instead she opted out of participating in our next station, mini golf. She showed her friends the proper way to hold the club and would retrieve their balls when they hit them too far. Even though she was hurt, she still had fun. The funny thing is, her shoulder miraculously healed when I told her she couldn't ice skate if she was hurt.

Before heading to the main building where the ice rink was, we had to stop back at the dome and change into warmer clothes. GG had to use the bathroom so I decided to take her and we would meet our troop in the other building. Of course there was a line at the bathroom. This kind of thing tends to happen when you only have one toilet available. The other one was just nasty! Yes, one bathroom for 314 people. There were 4 porta-potties, but personally, I have to be really desperate to even go near those!

Finally it was almost our turn. We just had to wait for the woman in front of us to finish. I don't know what the hell she was doing, but perhaps a porta-potty would have been a better option for her. I did hear paper ripping and I can only assume she was lining the seat before she sat. Then there was a bunch of shuffling and jingling. Possibly a belt? We stood there for 5 minutes and I'm still not sure she did anything! Perhaps I should have printed out Momma Kiss' rules on proper bathroom etiquette and shared them? Or perhaps she knew these rules and was trying to make us leave so she could get some privacy (see previous comment on her using the porta-potties because you're not going to get privacy when there's a frickin line!).

GG and I ended up walking out and decided to find the bathrooms in the other building. We peed, she got skated up, and headed out on the ice with her friends. The girls and some other adults who were not me skated for about an hour before we headed back to the dome, where we would be sleeping.

We set up our sleeping in prime real estate on the lovely hard as a rock green astroturf. We wanted a good view of the movie, which would start promptly at 11:15. That's past my bedtime, but I really wanted to see Tangled. I can tell you it was a really good movie. Up until the point where Rapunzel escapes from her tower. That's when I crashed. I woke up a few times through the night because I couldn't feel the side of my body I was sleeping on. If you've ever slept on astroturf, than you understand. If you haven't, it's probably more comfortable sleeping on a brick road.

And just when I finally fell into a deep sleep.... BEEP, BEEP, BEEP. Some bitches set their alarms for 6 o'clock in the bloody morning! Who does that?! The lights were coming on at 7. If that didn't wake you up, then the girls who were woken up by the lights surely would have gotten you up. Thank goodness coffee was provided.

I think everyone had a good time. I know I did, but I really have to wonder. Last week, I read a post by Erin about things that SAHMs should be paid for . If I were to add "Surviving a Girl Scout sleepover" to that list, how rich would I be?



Until next time....