curiosity

Why do people drive motorcycles to Sam's Club? What, other than oregano, can you buy at Sam's and transport home via motorcycle?

Samuel today

Last night was the first time we'd found Samuel sleeping on the floor in his room. He's been content in his crib for his entire life...all 2 years, 4 months, 17 days. We put him back in before we went to bed (after, of course, taking a "couple" of pictures to document the occasion). He was again on the floor this morning. And after his nap. But it's not just that he's on the floor. He's under his bed. He did offer an explaination. His pacifiers were under the bed. Of course.

I took Samuel to the doctor this morning and he acted like Spiderman during his exam. He got a Spiderman sticker and wore it proudly. It was Spiderman all day. I finally asked him what and how he knew about Spiderman as he's had minimal exposure (none?) to it other than seeing the consumer options at Target or a friend's house. His answer was frank. "TV." Oh. Silly me. I asked how he saw it on TV. "Daddy see Spiderman on TV!" Chris, however, denies watching Spiderman with Samuel.

Easier to breathe today

On a more positive note than last post...

We are in the middle of an "opposite of archery" weekend. In archery you pack an hour of fun into four hours (sorry, Carrie). We've packed in too much fun stuff yesterday and today to last us a month and we've still got our "lunch party" tomorrow. (I love the terminology of preschoolers.) The details of our activities aren't probably so exciting for anyone else, but all the kids got some one on one time with one parent or grandparent this weekend. Now that's fun.

Perhaps one of the most successful moments was checking the receipt at Kroger. Seriously. We saved over $170.00 on this trip alone. And only spent $340. The only thing better would have been to top $200. There's always next month!

Never a hug so sweet

The first time I thought the kids were actually hugging me was great. Every one since then is great. But the best one was today. We were at a birthday party and although we were paying close attention to the kids, neither Chris or I nor any other adult saw McKenna get into the pool when the rest of the kids were lining up for sno-cones. She was bouncing around in the water, no life jacket, having a good ol' time. The enormity of this danger is still growing in my mind. Right reaction or not, once we got her out of the pool, there was not really any time for discipline. Just hugs. Wet, messy, filled-with-life hugs. Praise the Lord for protecting her!

Success!

The "big-girl purple blankie" or "new purple blankie" is now just "PURPLE BLANKIE"!

A first time for everything

We've had a lot of firsts at our house in the last few years. One that I never thought would happen...well, it actually happened. I made a double batch of chocolate chip cookies and didn't eat even one morsel of dough. Not a bite. This is amazing.

Me cavewoman.

A long story just got shorter because Anna needs to snuggle.  How many Mother's Days will I have that she asks that...

Samuel decided to throw away his pacifiers this morning.  He threw them all in the trash can and I said passionately all day that I would not dig them out, would not buy new ones, would not give him another pacifier.

Nap didn't happen.  Cried for almost an hour and a half.  I thought that for sure bed time would be easy--he'd be SO tired.

Bed time.  Fast forward two hours.  Sam's still up, bouncing in his spring-footed bed, having a grand time with his books and his imagination.  

Sometime during the day I was informed that said pacifiers never actually made it to the big trash can in the garage.  They were ready to be cleaned and distributed.  

Call me Betty.  Call me Wilma.  I'm a cavewoman.  I totally caved.

And he's sleeping so well now...

Expectations

The trouble watching "Jon & Kate plus 8" is that there are expectations that somehow seep into the viewer's mind.  Every good mom cleans the floor (on her hands and knees) after each meal.  Every child gets teeth brushed twice daily.  Every day.  Baths happen quickly and efficiently.  These aren't bad things, but realistically, they don't happen in our home.

More expectations come when I let the girls watch it with me.  Anna and McKenna think it's fascinating.  About a month ago they saw the episode that included Mother's Day.  Kate got breakfast in bed.  Our girls have mentioned it a couple of times in the past few weeks but I haven't said much in response.  Anna got very excited today about Mother's Day because that's the day she gets to cook breakfast for me to eat when I'm still in my bed.  She's all giddy and covering her mouth to keep from telling me anything else about the coming celebration.  McKenna bops along with her usual enthusiasm, telling me that she's going to make chicken for me.  Anna shushes her so as not to ruin the surprise.

I just spoke with Chris.  He had no idea this was in the works.  Since it's mother's day am I allowed to make a request for one small change?  Could we save the chicken for lunch or dinner?  

Theory tested

For the record, time does not heal all wounds.  At least not in a week.  

My stomach still hurts from all the laughter last weekend that began when our train departed Hobbs station in Noblesville.  Noblesville's train station is not a bustling place.  It is not crowded.  It's quaint, even.  This did not stop mom and dad and the kids and I from boarding the WRONG TRAIN.  We were trying to ride the (obviously red, very classic looking) caboose South about a mile into Noblesville.  Once we started moving, mom and dad and I all made eye contact as we simultaneously thought, "we're headed north".  Moments later we hear a woman on the train tell some of the other passengers that we were headed to Atlanta.  Atlanta?  Yes, we went a good thirty minutes north to tiny Atlanta, Indiana.  It's quainter than quaint should be and we were unprepaired for a trip longer than 20 minutes round trip.  It was nap time when we started.  We had  no pacifier, no snacks, nothing.  The kids were great, though, so really there aren't any complaints, just a lot of laughing.  We had about an hour to kill in Atlanta so we hit up the "ice cream shop".  It was really a "professional" photographer (you should have seen the studi0--it looks a little like my scrapbook from second grade.  I made my second grade scrap book by myself immediately after second grade) selling Schwann's ice cream on the sidewalk.  No matter...it was a beautiful day and we were already getting sore from laughing at our mistake.  How in the world could we have boarded the wrong train?  

I had hoped to visit my sisters in South Bend and take the kids to Chicago on the train.  I may have to reconsider.  Who knows where we'd end up!