Day at the Park

The weather has been beautiful here for the last few days, however there is a chance of rain the rest of the week:( Monday is usually grocery day, but given the weather I opted for an outing at the park with the MOMS Club instead of dragging both kids to WalMart. We had a good time, but Ethan was ready to leave after only 45 minutes. He's grumpy today, so it may be a very long day. Actually, I think he might be getting a sinus infection, which might explain his mood. Abby had a great time picking dandelions and blowing the seeds - so by next week there will be many more dandelions at the park courtesy of my daughter:)

Visitors

My niece and nephew are here for the evening. Ethan and Abby love having Caylie and Dalton here to play - and I have yet to figure out how having 4 kids in the house can be less work than having 2. Seems counter intuitive, but they entertain each other surprisingly well. Not that I'm in the market for any more kids, because I'm sure after the novelty wears off they will be fighting like cats and dogs and I'll be ready to pull my hair out. But for now, all is quiet. They've played outside all day, taken baths and are now watching a movie before bed. I did decide one thing today - the talkative gene for sure comes from my side of the family (shocking, I know!). I took Caylie and Abby to Target today the talking NEVER stopped. We did have a fun day - it was quite warm and they talked me into getting out the sprinkler - they had a great time playing in the water.

Kittens and Anteaters

We've been invaded by ants. I'm very annoyed that I can't figure out where they're coming from, but they really like the area under Abby's chair (go figure). Anyway, after I dropped Ethan off at school this morning Abby asked "where we going now Mommy?" I told her we needed to go to the store and get something to kill the ants. She got this very excited look on her face and exclaimed "we get a kitty"! I laughed and asked her why we needed a kitty. She looked at me and said "kitty kill the ants". The poor little thing really wants a cat. Unfortunately I am allergic and Ed hates cats, so the chances of her getting one are very slim. Anyhow, when I picked Ethan up from school he asked what Abby and I did today. So, I told him the story about Abby wanting a kitty to kill the ants. He looked at me and said "well, that's silly. We should just get an anteater." Imagine how surprised Ed would be if he came home and found an anteater living in the kitchen!! Then Ethan thought for a while and asked "do anteaters pee and poop?". Now, I don't have a lot of experience with anteaters, but I'm assuming they do indeed excrete waste like other animals, so I assured him they did. Ethan then said "well, that's OK, we could just take it outside like we used to take Princess outside. Or we could just get some bug spray". Yes - I settled for the bug spray, but who knows, if that doesn't work I might be in the market for an anteater:)

I did it!!!!!

Finally today I hit the goal weight set by my Dr. at weight watchers!! I still have a bit of weight to lose to get to my official goal at ww (about 10 pounds), but I am still very excited because as long as I maintain my current weight for 6 weeks I won't have to pay ww anymore:) For those of you who know me well, you know this is HUGE since I've been paying them pretty much since 1999 (with the exception of the 2 years I was pregnant). I can't tell you how excited I am at the moment. It's taken me almost 16 months to lose 38 pounds - but it's been worth all the hard work. I know in the previous post I mentioned I get tired of listening to Dora the Explorer, so is it ironic that I have the "we did it" song from Dora running through my head??

The Baseball Song

I admit it - I get very tired of listening to Bob the Builder and Dora the Explorer. So, I've started to introduce the kids to music I enjoy listening to. A while ago I made a CD that had "You gotta fight for your right to Party" by the Beastie Boys. Last weekend Abby started asking for the "baseball song". There is a baseball song on her Dora CD, so I assumed that was what she wanted and put it on. "No, no, no Mommy" she told me - "the baseball song". I said "Abby, this is the baseball song", but being a persistent 2-yr-old, she kept telling me this was the wrong song. So finally I asked her if there was another baseball song and she said "yes, the kick it song". Ah ha - I finally caught onto her logic (and she was thrilled). I guess in her world, you kick a ball and therefore the "kick it" song otherwise known as "fight for your right" is now known as "the baseball song" in our house (even though you don't actually kick a baseball, but who am I to argue with the princess?). Anyhow, the point of this very long and rambling post is that it's absolutely hilarious to watch Ethan and Abby sing the Beastie Boys. I'm working on getting a video of them to download so you can see just how funny it is for yourselves!

Am I psychic??

Last week I had a dream that Ethan's teacher had a baby, but no one knew she was pregnant. In the dream, all of the students and parents found out by a note sent home from school that said "We're happy to announce that Miss Monica had her baby". So the following day I told Miss Monica about my dream - and she said "oh, no way! Don't have any more of those dreams." Well, today I took Ethan to school and she walked out and told me I was psychic - she is indeed pregnant. It wasn't planned and she didn't find out until this past weekend. Ethan's other teacher told me I better not have any dreams about her:) So, watch out if I tell you I have a dream about you - it just might come true!! If it happens again, maybe I'll put a sign out front and do palm readings in my spare time!

God's backlog

Today was pretty uneventful (not that I'm complaining). We went to Sams this morning and on the way it began to rain. Ethan's preschool is through a Baptist church and they talk about the bible and all things religious. Lately he has become very interested in God and Jesus, and almost everyday tells me "you know Mom, God can do anything". Well, today Ethan was particularly upset when it started to rain and he informed me "I'm praying to God so he'll stop the rain". I replied "OK, you let me know when he gets back to you on that". Ethan looked at me and said (with a sigh) - "well it's going to take atleast a couple of hours". I found this very amusing. It did stop raining - and even though it was cloudy and windy the rest of the day, it didn't rain anymore. So who knows, maybe Ethan's onto something:)

Cookin' Donuts

I hate fried food (preparing it). My husband loves fried food. Do you see a problem here? We've come to a nice compromise in the almost 12 years we've been together - no fried food prepared in the house unless I'm gone and there's no mess when I get home. Don't you just love how compromise works around here? Anyhow, I had an entire day of scrapbooking planned today, so yesterday when I asked Ed what he wanted from the grocery store, his eyes lit up and he requested "oil and biscuits". I knew what this meant - "cookin' donuts" for breakfast. These are donuts Ed used to make in his bachelor days. In a nutshell, you take biscuit dough, roll it into balls, deep fat fry them, roll them in cinnamon/sugar and you have "cookin' donuts".

So, this morning before I left, Ed and Ethan were digging back in the far corner of our kitchen cabinets where the Fry Daddy lives. As much as I hate the smell of fried food, I couldn't resist staying around to snap a few pics of Ethan helping Dad with the donuts. I have more pics, but Blogger is being temperamental and will only let me download one at the moment. I'll work on this when I'm not so tired. So check back later!

Powder

It was one of those mornings. Abby was up before I had a chance to shower - and this is never a good way to start the day. I was trying to get dressed for our monthly MOMS Club meeting, and was drying my hair when Ethan came in and said "Um Mom, Abby found the booty powder". Now, keep in mind I really hate powder. I only have this type in the house because Abby gets really bad diaper rash and it is one of the only things that helps. Well, not only does it provide diaper rash relief, it also provides much entertainment for the 2-yr-old crowd. The pictures above are what I saw when I walked into my kitchen. Of course, I had a bit of fear when I first spotted our dark brown leather recliner. Apparently (based on the white residue all over the chair) powder girl had decided to lounge a bit in between emptying the bottle of powder on the kitchen floor. She was very proud of herself. "Look Mommy, I clean the floor" she proclaimed when I walked in the kitchen. Ughhhhh.

Then on the way home from the MOMS Club meeting, a very helpful older brother handed Abby a purple marker. She proceeded to cover her hands and pants with a very nice shade of purple. We were on our way to our friend Lucy's house for lunch, and Ethan very seriously looked at me and said "but it's OK Mom, Lucy has a sink". Hummmm - gotta love 5-yr-old logic:)

Abby is sleeping and I am having "Mommy time". It's a good thing it's nice outside, between that and the diet coke, I am still in a surprisingly OK mood!

I finally decided to do it

Ever since we moved to Liberty, I have amused my mother (and many others) with my emails about everything from the kids to my new, exciting venture as a stay at home mom living in suburbia. I can't count the number of times my Mom has said "you really should become a writer". I'm not ready for novels, but have been playing with the idea of having a "family blog" where I can post pictures of the kids and stories of our everyday life. I mentioned this to Ed last night and he looked at me very seriously and said "do I have to write anything for it". His look of relief when I said "no" was priceless.

Today has been one of those days which prompts me to once again look at the Stowers website and see what type of lab positions they have open. I was about to compose yet another of those emails to my mom (which she is saving and assures me I will find amusing later in life) when I decided I would sit down and create the blog. So feel free to visit and comment - I'd love to hear from you!!