Understatement of the Day

WARNING: Kind of Gross. Seriously. Read at your own risk.

We have been really lucky about illness in our house so far this winter. Aside from a bit of a cold here and there, we've all been really healthy.

Or maybe I should say, we all were pretty healthy. Until about 5:00 this morning. That's when Wesley came into our room complaining of a stomach ache and started vomiting a minute later. That's when we discovered his fever.

So, it's a day at home for Mommy, taking care of the boys. And Wesley seemed to be doing pretty well. He played for a while, then napped. Unfortunately, he woke up crying and projectile vomiting (thank goodness for maroon carpet)

Ryan took in the scene and said, "Mom, Wesley puked."

"Yes, Ryan. I know," I told him as I worked to clean up the mess.

He wrinkled his nose, "I don't like the puke."

Like I said. Understatement of the day.

Not Me Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to http://www.mycharmingkids.net/ to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

I did not injure myself in the first week of my new exercise routine. That would have embarrassing and only serve to illustrate why I have avoided real exercise for nearly a decade.

I did not stress out about how busy the weekend would be when it was weekend that I worked and the only person who would be ridiculously busy in our house was Duane.

I was not more excited about Duane's new glasses than he was!

I totally bought Confetti Cake Pop Tarts because I thought the kids would want to try them and not because I wanted to try them. I'd never justify a junk food purchase by saying it was for my kids.

There is no way on earth I accidently deleted Wesley's favorite movie from the DVR. And even if I did, I certainly did not go buy it after discovering it wasn't scheduled to be on TV for a while. And even if both those things were true, I know I didn't present it to Wesley as a reward for a good report card instead of fessing up that I erased his show.

Sunday Sweet and Sunday Sad

What a roller coaster of emotions today has been.  It began as a very sweet Sunday at church. It was Arts and Music Sunday, so the choir sang and the bell choir played and the band played and there were trumpets and the organ playing. It was beautiful. Of course, my favorite part of the service was when a group of the Sunday School kids did the Lord's Prayer in sign language. Check out who is front and center.


The sweetness continued after picking Ryan up from his Sunday School class. He ran over to where Duane and Wesley were standing, looked at all of us and announced, "I missed you three!"  Go ahead and say "awwww..." I'll wait........

You back?  Good!

The sad part came this afternoon when we went back to church. There was a lovely family service for dear Isabel Grace, our niece. I knew it was going to be hard, and it was, but our pastors offered so many words and scriptures of comfort. Still, lots of tears were shed. And do you know who broke my heart the most? Wesley. 

Wesley was really taken by the picture of Isabel that was sitting on the altar. I think he probably could have looked it all day. During the service, he sat on my lap, held my hand, and cried here and there. At one point he put his hand over his heart and whispered to me, "Mom, my heart feels slow."  I'm pretty sure my heart felt the same way.

After the service in the worship center, we all went out to the columbarium to place Isabel's ashes inside. Wesley couldn't hold it in anymore. He really started bawling then. I knew he was upset about losing his cousin before he even got to know her, but I didn't realise how hard it would be for him. Thankfully, everyone was wonderful with him and told him that he could visit her grave anytime he wanted (it's right outside our church) and that even though we are sad that we don't get to hold her and play with her, she is in a happy place.

When we went back inside, Wesley raced up the aisle to the altar and cried in front of Isabel's picture. Then he ran over and sat beneath the stained glass window and cried some more.

Even though it was really hard, I'm so glad we all got a chance to say goodbye to Isabel as a family. And Wesley is doing okay now.

Growing Up

Ryan is suddenly such a big guy. Seriously, when did my baby turn into a honest to goodness kid instead of a toddler?

It's not just the fact that we've pretty much said goodbye to diapers - although that certainly doesn't hurt. It's that he's suddenly doing things like putting his shoes on by himself and picking out his own clothes and asking how to spell words.

After we dropped off Wesley this morning, Ryan and I went to turn in his preschool application for next school year. Duane and I thought long and hard about putting Ryan in the 3 and 4 year old class so he could be with his good buddy D., but after reading the class descriptions we decided to put him in the straight 4 year old class because the goal of that class is Kindergarten readiness. I hope that was the right choice, but as long as Ryan doesn't have the social issues that Wesley did, we're only planning on one year of preschool.

Anyhow, after we dropped off the registration in the office, Ryan walked right down the hall to Wesley's classroom from last year. "We have to pick Wesley up," he told me. I can't believe Ryan remembered exactly which room to go to!

I reminded Ryan that Wesley goes to a different school now, to which Ryan responded, "So let's go pick Wesley up his new school."

I explained that we just dropped Wesley off and we couldn't go get him until later this afternoon.

"But I like Wesley," Ryan answered.

"Well, I like him too," I said. "But he still has to go to school."

Maybe Ryan still has some little boy left in him after all.

Grandmas Aren't the Only Ones

Grandmas have a reputation for spoiling their grandchildren. We've all seen the t-shirts, pillows, plaques, etc. touting this grandma-given right. And I'll admit, I give my mom a good-natured hard time about spoiling Wesley and Ryan. Of course, I'm 38 and she still spoils me too, so really, who am I to talk?

Today I learned (once again) that it's not just grandmas that love to spoil their grandchildren.

Grandma H. went to exercise while Ryan was at her house today - leaving Grandpa H. and Ryan to have some guy time. Apparently Ryan got hungry during guy time and being the self sufficient little man he is, he went to the cupboard and got out the bread, then went to the pantry to get some sandwich ingredients. 

And what did Ryan choose for his sandwich? Peanut butter? Tuna fish? Oh no. My son chose this (picture from Google images)

And the best part? Grandpa made him a sandwich with the chosen ingredients! Any wonder why Ryan ate two sandwiches for lunch?

Part of me wants to cry, but most of me finds it really really funny. I know Ryan doesn't normally eat Nutella and marshmallow fluff sandwiches for lunch. And I know one day of them isn't going to hurt him. I just think it's hilarious that Grandpa was totally willing to go along with it!

Perhaps we'll get Grandpa one of these shirts for a random upcoming holiday. Hey, if the shirt fits.....

Proud Parents

Truth be told, I feel kind of funny bragging on the kids on my blog. I know - what's the point of a blog if you can't brag about your kids on it. That's kind of the whole point, right?

We got Wesley's report card for the second grading period today and I couldn't be more proud of him. There are no letter grades in Kindergarten, but he made improvements in the areas he needed to do better in AND (the part that makes librarian mommy the most proud) he is reading at a middle first grade level! That means he's going to be moved to the advanced reading group!!  He's participating more in class (although the teacher would still like more participation) and he can nearly count to 100 in sixty seconds!  Now that's pretty impressive.

We're awfully proud of Ryan these days too. He's doing wonderfully well with potty training. He has almost filled up his "no accidents" chart and we'll be heading for a family night celebration at the bounce house soon.  I think we might even ditch the diapers overnight in the next few days. Oh to be diaper free! The very thought of it gives me happy goosebumps!

Ryan's Obsession

Ryan has been obsessed with Dagedar since shortly before Christmas. Don't know what Dagedar is? Well, the easiest way to describe it is that it's like Hot Wheels cars and tracks, but instead of cars, they are little balls. And of course, there are a million of the little balls to collect and they are all different.

As I said, Ryan is REALLY into this toy. He has spent his allowance on additional balls and carriers and launchers and whatnot.  But my favorite part of his new love is the language he has created for it.  He calls the balls "dageballs".  The track becomes a "dagetrack."  I think you get the idea. It's cute enough that I can almost get over the nightly fights about who gets to play with which "dageball" and which track to set up.  Almost.

Not Me Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to http://www.mycharmingkids.net/ to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

I did not repeatedly forget that last Monday was Martin Luther King Day causing me to arrive VERY early to Grandma and Grandpa P.'s to drop the kids off.

I certainly was not the person who began to excercise for the first time in YEARS and then promptly went to work the next day and ordered Girl Scout cookies. Not me! And I know I didn't eat an entire pint of Ben and Jerrys on the same day.

I did not overdress the kids and myself every single day that even a flake of snow was preditcted.

Set Em Up Joe

Overheard as the boys were getting juice boxes out of the fridge...

Ryan: "One for me and one for my brover (brother)"

Wesley: "Thanks, Rybaby"

Guess a couple of drinks together can make friends out of enemies - or at least out of brothers who have been bickering most of the day.

Just Like the Big Guys

Duane and I have been trying to get the boys hair cut for at well over a week now. I don't know what's going on at the Cookie Cutters around town, but there are no appointments to be found! We were getting pretty sick of having Beiber 1 and Beiber 2 hanging around the house, so we decided to take them to the barber shop where Duane gets his hair cut.

Some of you may remember that we attempted this feat a year or so ago with disastrous results. To be honest, I'm surprised the guys that own the place didn't cringe the moment we walked in the door, but the boys did much better this time around.

The haircuts aren't quite as stylish as the gals at Cookie Cutters get them, but they look a LOT better. And most importantly, these guys had better lollipops!

Kiddo Comfort

We had something very sad happen our family yesterday. I am not going to share it here because it is not my story to tell (meaning I am not the primary person involved) but it has left a hole in our hearts.

I was very upset last night, but trying to keep it together and act like everything was alright in front of the boys. They must have known something was wrong though because they were right by my side all night. Wesley made a book of his own and read it to me. Ryan got a blanket and all his stuffed animal friends and crawled up on the couch next to me to "nuggle." 

By bedtime, I was still feeling quite heartbroken, so I told the boys they could sleep in my bed. Usually the boys getting in bed with me means that Ryan gets in the middle since he's the littlest and Wesley and I take the sides. Last night they curled up on either side of me and told me they loved me. Wesley even held my hand until he fell asleep.

Tonight we shared the news with Wesley. I knew it would upset him on some level, but I wasn't sure how much. My dear, sweet boy cried at the news. And tonight it was my turn to provide the comfort. My turn to snuggle next to him on the couch with a blanket and hold his hand and tell him that it's okay to be sad. And after the tears stopped, his immediate thought was of the person who is hurting the most right now.  I am so proud to be his mama.

Not Quite Imaginary Friends

Ryan has two stuffed animal buddies. If you know our family in real life, or read this blog regularly, you probably know all about Wesley's bear. When Ryan was born we thought we had the whole stuffed animal thing figured out. We purchased TWO of the same stuffed monkey (the same brand and size as Wesley's bear) and rotated them with Ryan so they would wear evenly.

It worked pretty well for a while. That is, it worked until Ryan discovered Wesley's "spare" bear (Thank you, Uncle Kirk). Ryan abandoned the bobo brothers and laid claim to the bear that looks like a less gross version of Wesley's. 

Then at Christmas Wesley gave Ryan a stuffed blue dog. Now we are back to two stuffed friends - neither of which are the ones that Duane and I picked out three years ago.

 Ryan isn't nearly as dependant on his stuffed animals as Wesley was (is), but every now and then he brings them to life. Yesterday morning Ryan had to wake up his stuffed animals so they could get ready for the day. He claimed they liked to do somersaults down the stairs (better the toys than the kid) and he worked with them on proper somersault form before sending them tumbling. He'd hold their arms up (or ears in case of the dog), bend them in half and tuck their head down, then send them flying. It was so funny to watch because it's EXACTLY how Ryan does a somersault.

Yesterday was also the first time he insisted on getting them breakfast. Luckily, they weren't too hungry and were content to just sit at the table with their unopened juice boxes. My kids don't eat much, but if I have to start feeding stuffed animals, things could get expensive pretty quickly.

I wonder what other adventures Ryan and his not quite imaginary friends will get up to this winter?

Little Big Man

Duane got a new exercise video for Christmas. He was previewing it last night and the boys were playing in the same room. Ryan was really taken with the preview and proudly announced, "I want to be a big man someday. Like when I am 11." 

What are these for?

Oh! Toddler/Preschooler pushups

Lifting weights - Ryan style

Looks like he's well on his way.

Reading Buddies

This is offically one of my favorite pictures now. Aunt and uncle and nephews reading together. So very sweet!

Short Stories

I considered breaking these stories up into three different posts (especially since I was a big old slacker his week and neglected to work up a Not Me Monday for tomorrow) but they really aren't much more than shorts.

This morning Ryan wanted computer time but we were trying to get him to eat breakfast. "I think my tummy wants computer," he told us.

Fast forward to this afternoon. Wesley picked out some Valentine stickers at the store and couldn't wait to get home to make a card for C. Ryan decided to make her a card too. Sure hope this gal doesn't come between brothers.

Finally, fast forward to tonight. Uncle Kirk and Aunt Susan came over for a while. At one point, Aunt Susan commented that she was cold. Ryan climbed down from the chair he was sitting in, crawled up into Susan's lap and started "nuggling" her to help her warm up. So sweet!!!

The Family That Gives Together

Duane and I gave blood at our church this morning. We decided to take the kids along rather than ask Grandma and Grandpa to watch them. And yes, we did use the iPad and the iPhone as electronic babysitters while we were giving blood.

Anyhow, before we left the house this morning, Duane spent a few minutes talking to Wesley about what it means to give blood and why we think it's important. His talk must have stuck with Wesley (no pun intended) because after Wesley had a lot of questions about the whole thing when we got there.

Wesley wanted to know if everyone there was giving blood and after we were done, he wanted to know if it had hurt. We told him that it hurt for a couple of seconds when they put the needle in, but after that it doesn't hurt. Wesley then wanted to see the needle, so the technicians and one of the men donating let Wesley take a look at the blood going through the tubes and into the bag. When the technician took the needle out, she showed it to Wesley and he didn't freak out at all.

It's kind of neat that we were able to share a simple yet important thing with him and that he was actually interested. We may have a future blood donor in our house.

Mean Ol' Mom and Dad

I'm sure you've heard the whole "I'm your parent - not your friend" thing before. Heck, you may have even said it.  Let me tell you, our kids sure know the truth of that statement.  Want proof?

We always tell Wesley that if he gets in trouble at school he will get in bigger trouble at home.  Yesterday he "wasn't listening", which probably means talking, and had to have a sit out. Sit out is kind of the second level of trouble in his class. First you get a warning, then you get sit out (pushing your chair away from the table and the group), then you get time out (which is at a completely different table).  Wesley has never had sit out before, although he delights in ratting out telling us which of his classmates had to go to sit out or time out each day.

As soon as I walked in the door to Grandma's yesterday, Wesley fessed up that the had to go to sit out. He looked like he was about to cry as he mumbled his confession (although I think the whole "verge of tears" thing was an act. The kid has a future in show business).  I informed him that he lost any playtime on the iPad for the night and that sit out earned him an automatic strike at home.  I also gave him what might be the worst punishment - making him tell his dad! 

More proof that we are mean parents? We check Wesley's homework every night and make him do it over if we aren't happy with it.  Most of his homework is handwriting, which is not Wesley's strong point. He can have very nice handwriting if he takes the time to hold his pencil correctly and pays attention to what he does. Unfortunately, he does not like to hold his pencil correctly and pay attention to what he is doing, so homework usually has to be redone at least 2 times, resulting in dramatic sighs and cries of "I hate homework!"

Lest you think that we pick on poor Wesley, Ryan would also be happy to tell you what mean parents we are. There are times when it is necessary to send Ryan to his room - usually because he's been hitting or spitting. Ryan has tons of toys and race tracks in his room. Really, the place is practically a three-year-old's paradise. So what does he do when we send him up there?  He slams the door and screams, "I hate you both!" at us.

Ah....being a parent is so rewarding sometimes.

Lost and Found

Duane was cleaning out the closet when I arrived home from work tonight. Check out what he found!

The bug tunnel - not the kids!!

A Visit From the Tooth Fairy

As you can probably tell from the previous abbreviated post, Wesley FINALLY lost his loose tooth. I don't know that I would normally be this excited about it, but it was the tooth that has a (nearly all the way in) permanent tooth behind it. Actually, you can hardly tell he lost a tooth.

Regardless of that, a lost tooth requires a visit from the tooth fairy. Wesley and Daddy tucked the tooth under one of his pillows and the wait was on. While Wesley tried to fall asleep (not that it took too long) Duane and I had a little discussion with the tooth fairy about the going rate for a six-year-old tooth. The daddy tooth fairy dug out a five dollar bill and said he thought that was the going rate. The mommy tooth fairy dug out two $1 coins and said she thought that would be more than generous enough.  The daddy tooth fairy agreed and the coins were left while we were asleep.

Wesley woke up this morning and couldn't wait to look under his pillow. He was thrilled with the tooth fairy's generous offering ("I thought maybe she was on vacation and wouldn't leave anything") and immediately called Ryan into his room to look. Ryan was pretty darn impressed with those coins. But Wesley can be a really sweet big brother when he wants to be and told Ryan that he if has no accidents today (we're potty training) or no strikes, Wesley would give him one of the coins. We'll see how that goes.

Now, I have a question for any tooth fairies that may be reading this. Do you actually save the teeth? Just curious.

It's About Time

Wesley lost his first tooth tonight!!!!! Whoo-hoo!!!!!! He is so excited!

Mmmmmm....Brains

Ryan has been on a clementine/cuties kick lately. Last night he neglected to eat much of dinner, but was more than happy to eat clementines. Since he couldn't reach the fruit bowl on the counter, Wesley helped him out. Then there was the little issue of peeling the thing.

"Mom, please peel it for me," Ryan said as he handed the fruit to me.

I started to dig my thumbnail into its skin whenRyan stopped me. "No! Not at the top or the bottom. You have to peel the middle!"

Fine. I started peeling it in the middle then moved on to the ends. As I approached the top of the clementine, Ryan leaned in and began to watch intently.

"Does this one has brains?" he asked.

What?!? Brains!?!

He watched as I removed the top without the little core of pith that sometimes comes out of a clementine in a bunch and said, "No brains!"

Someone must have called that part the membrane in front of him. Of course the presence of the membranes didn't slow him down with his second clementine. He just said "Braaaaaiiiinnns" in a slightly creepy voice.

Think he's turning into a zombie?

Not Me Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to http://www.mycharmingkids.net/ to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.


I did not do a little happy dance in my head on Wesley's first day back to school after winter break.

I did not find one of my favorite scones in the freezer, heat it up for breakfast and end up giving almost the entire thing to Ryan so he would stop crying.

I am not so anxious for Wesley's lose his tooth that I have tried to bribe him to wiggle it until it falls out.

I was not so bummed out about a kids CD for work being cancelled that I went home and used my iTunes gift card to download the album "for my kids."

Batter Up

Duane and I have instituted a "three strikes and you're out" rule with the kids. It has been working pretty well, although better for Wesley than for Ryan.

On the way home from church today Wesley was playing with the iPod Touch and started to get frustrated and lose his temper. We could hear a fit building when Wesley suddenly stopped and said, "Wait a minute. How many strikes do I have?"

I think it's hilarious that he actually took the time to weigh the cost of his fit verses how many strikes it would earn him. Must be working at least a little!

Murphy's Law

There are several things you need to know before reading much further in this post.

1) We own two cars. Well, a car and a minivan, but you know what I mean.

2) I drive the minivan and Duane drives the car.

3) Duane drives the car about five miles a day round trip.

4) The car is parked on the street in front of the house.

5) Both vehicles are in my name.

6) My birthday is in October.

Got all that? Good!

Duane informed me last night that we would have to make a quick trip to the BMV today. Turns out a letter arrived yesterday stating that due to a processing error at the BMV the registration renewal notice for the car was never sent out. From back in October!! And we hadn't noticed! Included in the letter was a 15 day extension so we could get the registration taken care of without any problem.

This morning we drove the minivan to the BMV and got the registration for the car renewed. No problem. We got home and Duane went out front to put the new sticker on the car. Guess what he found? A ticket on the car for expired tags! A ticket that had been written about an hour and a half earlier.

You guessed it, didn't you?

I decided to contest the ticket. The funny part is that when I called about the ticket, they said the error from the BMV is actually a pretty common problem. Of course, I didn't say that our tags had been expired for several months.

Following the advice of the guy on the phone I wrote a letter explaining the situation, enclosed a copy of the letter from the BMV and a copy of the new registration. Hopefully that will be enough to get me out of the ticket. I'll find out next week.

I haven't gotten a ticket since 1995 and that was when the meter I was parked at expired. I want my clean(ish) record back!

Stubborn as a Mule

See that sweet little boy in the above picture? That adorable guy is STUBBORN!!! Stubborn like no one I have ever met before.

Want to know how stubborn this kid is? How about two examples from today alone?

This child is so stubborn that he sat on the potty for nearly 20 minutes this morning with his legs tightly crossed, refusing to go even though his diaper was dry all night long. In case you are wondering, he did eventually give in and go. Of course, later on today he refused to go to the bathroom for 7.5 hours. He didn't want to mess his pants, but he didn't want to go potty either.

This child is so stubborn that when I couldn't find his soccer ball hat and put a red fleece hat on him instead, he waited until the last possible moment as I was closing and locking the door to snatch the hat off his head and toss it into the house, ensuring the offending object would be safely locked inside.

The teen years do not bode well for us.

Putty in His Hands

I've often said that God makes little boys and puppies cute for a reason - so you aren't tempted to kill them when they are driving you nuts! Ryan has come up with another way of staying on my good side.

This morning he came running up to me and planted a huge kiss on my lips.

"Mommy, you are my lovely sweet!" he said as he held my face between his hands.

Keep those sweet nothings coming kiddo. I dig 'em!

Once Burned Twice Shy

A couple of Christmases ago, Ryan got burned by a bit of candle wax. It wasn't a bad burn by any means, but it has given him a healthy respect for (read: fear of) fire.

Today is the first day this winter that it has been cold and we've had any kind of snow at all. Duane decided to humor me and start a fire in the fireplace for me. Ryan watched intently as Duane got things ready and lit the log. As soon asDuane put the fireplace screen back in place, Ryan turned those baby blues on him and asked, "Did it hurt, Daddy?"

Part of me is glad Ryan is so weary of flames, but I kind of wish he'd get over it too.

Not Me Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to http://www.mycharmingkids.net/ to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

We did not get so wrapped up in putting gifts away that we neglected to feed our children lunch. Nope. Didn't happen.

I have not totally neglected my poor desktop computer since becoming an iPad owner.

We have not decided that Ryan will only be wearing underpants now (instead of diapers) in an attempt to speed up/finish potty training. And there is no way we will probably regret that decision later today.