When Mommy Is Away...

Daddy will play...


I turned on the camera the other day and found these crazy pictures. Hmmm... I wonder what ELSE goes on in my house in the mornings...

Canon SX110

You may or may not remember that a my camera broke a few weeks back... Anyone who knows me (and is annoyed by my constant picture taking) knows that I have my camera with me almost always! So with a broken camera, I was at a HUGE loss... Pictureless blog posts, pictureless Facebook posts, the inability to capture crazy kid moments, etc.

Two weeks ago I got a NEW camera (an early birthday present) and boy is it great! I chose a Canon SX110. This camera has many 'large camera' functions while still being a nice size camera. The only thing I've had trouble with so far is that it's not too quick to reset for the next picture when it's in Auto Mode. Other than that though, I LOVE IT!



And check out what 10x zoom does! This picture was taken while standing on the soccer field watching Big A's practice... It's so clear you can even read the phone number on the bottome... Anyone looking to rent a blimp?


So now that I'm up and running with pictures, I'll try to catch up the blog... I have some GREAT stories from our weekend in LA and I still owe you a camping trip from two weeks ago! Stay tuned...

One Twenty Over Eighty

Grandma and Grandpa came over for dinner tonight. After dinner Little A was giving Grandma a thorough check-up with her doctor kit. While taking Grandma's blood pressure, Grandma told Little A, "Say, 'You're blood pressure is one twenty over eighty.'"

Little A said, "Your blood pressure is one twenty over eighty."

Again Grandma said, "Say, 'You're healthy now. Your blood pressure is one twenty over eighty."

Little A said, "You're healthy now. You're blood pressure if one twenty over eighty. One twenty over Aidy. One twenty over Aiden."

Uh-oh... Maybe it's time for a new nickname for Big A!

Cute Kidisms

Little A while school clothes shopping at Kohls (If you didn't already know this, I HEART KOHLS!!!):

Grandma: "Come on, Little A. Let's go try these thing on."

Little A: "Oooh! Are we going in the dressing box?"

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Little A in random conversation with Grandpa:

Little A - "I'm going on a vacation."

Grandpa - "Really? Where are you going?"

(Of course I'm thinking she's going to say camping...)

Little A - "I'm going on an airplane."

Grandpa (and Grandma and Mommy) - "You ARE??"

Little A - "Yes. I'm going on an airplane."

Grandpa - "Where are you going?"

Little A - "I'm leaving on an airplane and you won't see me anymore!"

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Little A while singing in the car this week:

"Rock-a-bye baby, in the tree top, when the wind blows, " *PAUSE* "This thing fall down."

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Big A watching cows at the Auction Yard with Grandma and Grandpa:

There had been a grey cow in the ring and when that one left, a little brown cow came out.

Big A - "Grandma! THAT cow gives CHOCOLATE MILK!"

(Note to self: Talk less about Farmville in front of the kids...)

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Big A while making a wish on a friend's 'wishing stone' (or was it a 'wishing rock'???):

Big A - "Can I please make a wish?"

Friend - "Well... What are you going to wish for?"

Big A - "You can't tell anyone your wish or it won't come true."

Friend - "Well, okay."

Big A ('now with wishing stone in his hands) - "I wish I had a John Deere Backhoe."

Friend - "Why don't you wish for something that could really happen? That won't ever happen but why don't you wish that if you lost something you'd find it?"

Big A ('still wish wishing stone in his hands) - "Okay, I know!" *PAUSE* *Now Whispering in my ear* "Mommy, how do I make a wish???"

Will You Please Reconsider?

You know those times when the kids are misbehaving or not listening and you start making threats? And you know those times when in the heat of the moment you make a threat that you'll later regret because you were angry and you blurted out the first thing that came to mind even though it was COMPLETELY unreasonable? Admit it, you've done it! But what are you going to do? You have to follow through, RIGHT??? Because you wouldn't want to be one of THOSE parents... You know which ones I'm talking about! The ones who threaten but would NEVER consider following through?

Earlier in the week I was taking the kids to Grandma and Grandpa's house so that I could run an errand with my mom and go to a dentist appointment. Big A was acting up in the car and after two warnings I told him that if he swatted at his sister again he would not be able to stay at Grandma and Grandpa's (Keep in mind, his listening skills have been pretty much non-existent this week and I'm fed up!). Of COURSE he did it again and with a big shit eating grin on his face. I said, "THAT'S IT! You're NOT staying at Grandma's!" Well... The tears ensued and the "THAT'S NOT FAIR" started but what was I to do?

When we got to my parents' house I reminded him that he was not staying and when we went inside I said to my mom, "CRAP! Now what do I do? I told Big A that he couldn't stay here and now how do I get out of it?"

Grandma immediately went in to talk to Big A about listening and minding and things that grandma's talk to grandsons about and a few minutes later Big A came to me and said, "Mommy, will you please reconsider? (HUH? Did my 4 1/2 year old just ask me to 'reconsider'???) Grandpa hasn't seen me in a long time and he was really looking forward to playing with me."

Of course I caved, what was I going to do? I reiterated to Big A (IN FRONT OF GRANDPA) how he was expected to behave and what would happen if Grandpa had to talk to him at all (that he will NOT be staying with Grandma and Grandpa next time) and Mom and I were off.

Okay... Fast forward 24 hours... I get home from work, throw dinner on the table and am rushing to get things done before soccer, when what do I hear coming from the dining room? Big A telling Little A that it's okay to put mashed potatoes in your hair. I holler a warning from the kitchen that nobody better have mashed potatoes in their hair, grab my plate, and head to the table. I sit down, take a deep breath, and look around at my company...

They are COVERED in potatoes. All over their hands, all over their placemats, and yes... All over their hair. WHAT??? WHAT??? Since WHEN do my kids eat like animals? (Okay... So as I sit here and type this I sure wish I had a working camera so I could have taken pictures of the potato monsters, but really... What would that have said to them? That it's OKAY to finger paint with your mashed potatoes???)

As you might have guessed (or maybe not because maybe you think that I'm perfect and would never raise my voice at my kids) I came unglued. I was SO frustrated! I could not figure out what had gotten into them and I threatened bed time right after dinner if they didn't start behaving.

Big A wasn't happy about that and after many times of hearing, "Please mommy, please can I play, please can I stay up, please don't make me go to bed," (which I refused to play along with after awhile) he said to me, "Mommy, can you please reconsider?"

GREAT! I see where THIS is going! Every answer he gets that he doesn't like will now be followed with, "Mommy, can you please reconsider?" I guess it's time to have a talk about WHEN it's appropriate for me to 'reconsider' and when it's not! Wish me luck!

SIDE NOTE (because this came to mind just now when I was bitching about kids playing with their mashed potatoes)...

Okay, I just realized that the kids come by this potato fetish honestly. When camera phones first came out I had a fascination with the one on Spencer's phone. I thought it was cool and I loved taking pictures of COMPLETELY random things. One night we were eating dinner at KFC and... Well... Okay... Here goes...

Riding In Cars With Boys... I Mean... KIDS!

Picture this...

You're driving down the road, listening to some tunes on the radio and the kids are happily listening to the IPod in the backseat. Think of the IPod as being like privacy glass in a limo... When they're plugged in to that they're in their own little world and you're alone in the front seat with just your thoughts.

All of a sudden the silence is shattered by your 2 1/2 year old shouting, "I know what I want! A boyfriend!"

Um... WHAT? You politely ask her to repeat what she said. "I know what I want! A boyfriend!"

HUH? Is that REALLY what she's saying? How does she even know about boyfriends? Again you ask her to repeat herself (those of you who have 2 1/2 year olds know EXACTLY what I'm talking about...) and again she says, "I know what I want! A boyfriend!"

At this point the 4 1/2 year old pipes up... "I know what I want! A boyfriend!"

If Big A is saying the same thing, that MUST be what Little A is saying. So then comes the questioning... "Where did you hear that?"

Big A - "It's on the hippopotamus song."

Me - "No it's not. Where'd you hear that?" (For those of you who are unfamiliar with the hippopotamus song, it's a song called "I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas".)

Big A - "Yes it is! It's at the beginning."

Me - "Of the hippopotamus song? I don't think so."

Big A - "Yes it is!"

Me - "Give me the IPod. Let me see."

They hand me the IPod and I skip back to the hippopotamus song...

DAMN! Have I NOT learned by now not to argue with that kid about things like tractor names and stuff like this because he's always right? HE listens to the thing all the time, NOT me. OF COURSE the hippopotamus song starts with , "I know what I want! A boyfriend!" And why wouldn't it? It's not like it has ANYTHING to do with the song!

Chalk one up for Big A... *SIGH*

(For those of you have never heard the song before... Of course the version we have on the IPod has people talking about Christmas gifts at the beginning and a little girl says, "I know what I want! A boyfriend!")

Um... Where's My Daughter?

You know that moment as a parent when you can't find your child? Just that brief sinking feeling before you realize that you're being irrational and you need to stop and think? Come on... You've all had those moments, right?

Every night when I got upstairs to go to bed, I turn on the light at the top of the stairs, open the gate, unload all the crap from my arms and then head in to the kids' room to tuck them in one, final time. Last night as turned on the light and opened the gate, I heard one of the kids shift in their bed. I turned to make sure they were asleep... Big A was asleep in his bed so I turned towards Little A's bed, and this is what I saw...

And then I had one of those moments... Irrational as it may seem, I still had one of those moments. STOP AND THINK! Okay... She has to be somewhere upstairs because she didn't go out the window or the gate, I'd have heard that in the monitor. She did at one point have a habit of getting out of bed and sleeping on the floor, but there was no Little A on the floor. My only other thought was that she must be in our room because where else could she be???

I walked into our room, unloaded my arms, and looked all around... NO LITTLE A!

Back into their room I go...
Now I KNEW full well that she was in our house, because how could she not be, right? Again I go through the 'escape' routes.... Window? No. Gate? No. Door? No. She HAS to be here...

And then I found her....

HOW CUTE IS THAT???

They're so good to each other and they love each other SO much (USUALLY)!

FREEDOM!

After two weeks... Three hundred thirty-six hours... 20,160 minutes...

Big A is a free man! Free to eat what he wants, how he wants to eat it! Free to play what he wants how he wants to play it! WAHOO! No more soft, chopped up food! No more laying around on the couch watching movies! No more 'sleepy medicine'! Free to be a 4 1/2 year old again!

And do you know how he celebrated? TWO soccer classes, goldfish crackers, fried chicken and COKE! He's a HAPPY BOY!

So this is not from yesterday, but it's cute! And he can swim again , too!

You Be The Judge!

You be the judge... Who makes a better princess???



What do you mean our friends aren't normal???