Conversations with my children

The following are 2 conversations I had with Ethan and Abby today:

1. Abby: Mommy, what's in your mouth?
Me: (chewing gum) Nothing
Abby: Can I have some nothing too Mommy?
Me: No, not right now
Abby: I love you Mommy, you are my best mommy

Hummm - it's good to be the best even when I lied about the gum AND told her no;)

2. Me: Abby, are you OK? (She's had some stomach issues yesterday and today)
Ethan: I bet she has diary
Me: What?
Ethan: You know, diary - that runny poop you get after you throw up.

What's the deal with white gumballs?

One of my fondest childhood memories is spending time at my grandma MiMi's house. She had this gumball machine sitting at the end of her kitchen counter and to make it even more fun there was always a dish of pennies sitting by the machine, so we could have gumballs anytime we wanted. Even when I was in college and would stop by to visit I would still get gumballs from the gumball machine. The only gumballs I didn't like were the white ones. Inevitably I would put in a penny and out would roll a white gumball. Thanks to MiMi and her never ending supply of pennies I could just put in another penny and out would roll a gumball of another color (hopefully). I always left the white gumballs in the machine and eventually they would disappear. Either one of my cousins would take them or MiMi got tired of looking at them - I'll never know. The gumball story was one of the first memories I shared with Ed when we started dating. One year for my birthday he bought me my very own gumball machine - just like MiMi's!!

I loved the sentiment and to this day it is one of the favorite gifts he's ever given me. However, I found the appeal of the gumballs wasn't there when the machine was sitting on my own counter. I think I loved the idea of gumballs and the memories linked to the gumball machine at MiMi's house. So the poor gumballs sat in the machine for about 6 years - until last month when my own children developed an interest in the gumball machine. So off to Toys R Us we went to get brand new gumballs - we dumped out the old and poured in the new. The kids love it - they each get a piece just about every day. I've once again started putting pennies into the machine to get myself a gumball every now and then. Just about every time I decided to get one, I put in a penny and out rolls - you guessed it - a white gumball. Today I got 4 white gumballs in a row! I'm not sure what the deal is with white gumballs, but Ethan doesn't like them either. So we have to pawn the white ones off on pour unsuspecting Abby. She doesn't seem to care - she's just happy she's finally getting gum!

Bully and the Beast

I knew it was coming and in all honesty it took longer than I thought. Abby has become a bully - and her favorite target is her brother. I have to say a majority of the time he deserves what he gets, but this week Ethan has been the victim of random 2-yr-old acts of violence. Last night they were walking up the steps and she turned around and bit him on the arm. Hard enough to leave marks. Today she just randomly smacked him - numerous times. So we've started time out for Abby. She is such a different child from Ethan - even when he was very young and we first started him in time out he would yell and scream and wiggle around the entire time he was sitting in the spot. He still does this. Tonight I put Abby in time out after she once again hit Ethan. I sat her down and told her she was in time out for 2 minutes. I set the timer and sat down at the kitchen table to finish dinner. She sat there quiet as a mouse with her hands on her lap the entire time. I could see the wheels turning in her head - I think she was plotting her revenge. When her time was up I asked her if she knew why she was in time out. She said "no", so I explained to her it was because she hit Ethan and that it wasn't very nice. She looked at me - then at Ethan - and back at me and said "but he's fine Mommy and I love you". Hard to argue with that logic;)

You can take the boy out of the country........

Today after school Ethan and his friend Leyton were playing in the backyard. The phone rang and I glanced at the caller ID and noticed it was our next door neighbor. I answered the phone and this is what I heard "I don't want to be nosy, but I thought I'd let you know the boys are peeing in the dog water". Seriously. This is both amusing and disturbing on many levels. Ed and I lived on no less than 4 acres from the time we moved in together 11-yrs-ago up until we moved to suburbia in 2005. So Ed thought nothing of teaching Ethan to "pee on a tree" when he was potty training. This was fine when we lived on 4 acres, but not so much here in the ol' subdivision. It's a habit we've been trying to break for the last 2 years (apparently without much success).

I'm also still not used to neighbors watching our every move. Now, don't get me wrong, I like our neighbors and I'm happy they called so I knew to change the dog's water, but they get home from work and sit on their deck to observe the on-goings of our street until late at night. This ritual also involves beer and lots of cigarette smoking. It still amazes me that anyone can sit on a deck for that long - they have some serious deck-sitting stamina. I'm continually amazed by how things work here in suburbia - but I guess it's a good thing the neighbors were on the deck or Hero would have been drinking some pretty gross water!

"I want to be you when I grow up"

I started going to a kickboxing class about a year and a half ago - about the same time I went back to Weight Watchers to lose the rest of my "baby weight". I initially started the class because I knew if I wanted to lose the weight and keep it off I needed to exercise. I've continued with the class for many reasons - it has helped with my weight loss, but more importantly it helps me maintain what little sanity I have left after spending all day at home with 2 kids. It is my stress relief - my time away. Anyway, last night at the class there was a new woman who was there with her teenage daughter. After the class she came up and asked me "how long have you been taking this class?" I told her I'd been taking it for quite a while and she looked at me very seriously and said "I want to be you when I grow up". I had to laugh - I never envisioned being a role model for anyone when it comes to exercise. Who knew!!

I came home from kickboxing last night to find 2 very dirty and sweaty kids. They had been playing outside in the backyard - and by the looks of them they had been playing VERY hard. They wanted a drink before their bath, so I sat them at the table and gave them each a juice box. Then I turned around to check my email and heard Ethan say "Abby is using all the napkins". I turned around to find her squirting her juice box all over the napkin basket on the table. I yelled at her and she started crying and screaming like a typical 2-yr-old. While I was cleaning up the juice I looked over to see Ethan grinning from ear to ear. I asked him what was so funny and he looked at me with his sweaty hair and dirt streaked face and said "at least it wasn't me this time". Once again I had to laugh!!

Roughing it

So today I decided to download the pictures Ed took on the camp out. Here is what I found:

Apparently camping these days involves a large blow-up viewing screen for showing movies(top pic) and a Playstation for video games. Who know - maybe I'll try this camping thing next year (as long as there is running water available!!).

Happy Father's Day!!

I'm pretty sure Ed had a good Father's Day. He doesn't get too excited about holidays, so it's hard to tell for sure. He and Ethan went on their annual Toyota Land Cruiser camp out this weekend. They packed up all their camping gear and pitched a tent in the front yard of a fellow land cruiser friend's home. The people who host this event each year own quite a bit of land between here and St. Joe - and there are all sorts of trails for those who want to go "wheeling". (See - I'm even learning the terminology even if I don't do the whole camping thing). I'm always a little perplexed by what to buy Ed for holidays, but this year I think I did OK. He has been intrigued by the "Fishing Rocket" infomercial on TV. I was contemplating the wisdom of spending $40.00 on such a contraption when I stumbled across them at Target! Then they were on sale at Target - so I took it as a sign and purchased the fishing rocket for Ed for Father's Day. The boys took their new toy on the camp out - and while they weren't able to fish, they still had fun shooting the rocket portion at the campsite!

Yesterday Abby and I headed to St. Joe to celebrate Father's Day with my family. Then we came home and found 2 very tired campers! We took Ed out to Red Robin for dinner, came home and had both kids in bed by 8:30pm:) Ethan was exhausted from camping and Abby didn't have a nap due to our visit to St. Joe - so they were both pretty tired. Not that I'm complaining......

Best Friends

In many ways Abby is very much like her father. She's very laid back (as much as a 2-yr-old can be), she wakes up happy (a trait she definitely does not get from me) and she pretty much goes with the flow. However, there are other aspects of her personality that are all me. The way she talks, how much she talks and her love of animals. She ADORES Hero. After she wakes up in the morning, she goes out to visit him while still in her pajamas. She hugs him, snuggles with him and is delighted when I let him come into the house for a visit. Of course, very often these visits are not voluntary on my part. Abby can open the sliding glass door and she goes out to visit Hero just about every hour when we are home and she often forgets to shut the door when she comes back in the house. So every once and a while I will be in our room folding laundry or cleaning and in moseys Hero with Abby running behind him squealing in delight. The other day she was laying on him out on the deck and I could resist taking a few pics - they make such a cute pair:)

The Princess and the Devil

Abby has been in rare 2-yr-old form today. We had a playgroup for the 2-yr-old crowd from the MOMS Club today and the plan was to have a picnic in the backyard. Unfortunately about 15 minutes after everyone arrived in began to rain, so we had our picnic on the kitchen floor instead. The kitchen floor picnic was a lot of fun, so I think the playgroup was a success despite the rain. Our backyard is currently a soggy mess due to all the rain, but I thought we would be safe having the playgroup outside if the kids stayed in the rock play area. My daughter was "helping" me get ready for the playgroup - and when I headed to the garage to bring some toys out back, she dumped over Hero's large bucket of water and added to the mudpit - then proceeded to dig her feet into the mud - and rub mud all over her clothes. So, I hauled her up to the shower, stripped her down and hosed her off. This is a process we've repeated 2 additional times today. She has figured out how to open the back sliding door and is a sneaky little thing. She sneaks out to see Hero and before we know it she's in the mud.

She's also learned how to climb. While the 2-yr-old crowd was playing in Abby's room, someone opened the dresser drawer and took out all of Abby's clothes. I walked in her room to find clothes and toys all over the floor and Abby standing in the 2nd dresser drawer. Just a warning - never leave a room full of 2-yr-olds unattended;) They had fun and I didn't mind the mess, so all is well. However, I was relaying the events of the day to Ed over dinner and he looked at Abby and said "is Ethan going to be the good one now? Is it your turn to be the devil?" She smiled her best smile, looked at Ed and said "No Daddy, I a princess. Ethan is the devil." Then proceeded to walk around the house saying "Ethan is the devil, Ethan is the devil". It was pretty amusing.

I also determined today that I have a serious problem. I am officially a fountain diet coke addict (as if there was any doubt). This morning after I dropped Ethan off at the bus I ran to Sonic to pick up my Diet Coke. Once I got there, I had the revelation that since I was hosting the playgroup I wouldn't have a chance to leave the house again today. So, I bought 2 Route 44 Diet Cokes. Then I came home and hid one in the fridge in the garage until Ed left so he wouldn't know I bought 2. This was when I decided I have a problem. I guess atleast I'm not hiding bottles of Vodka:)

Family Picture Day

Each time we've had family pictures taken we end up with a holiday-type photo. This is usually because I want to send out Christmas cards and also has something to do with having 2 children with birthdays in November. Last year I was going to get our family picture taken when I had the kid's pics taken, but decided to wait until spring and get a family picture that didn't involve a Christmas Tree. So, today was the big day. Have I mentioned recently that Ethan is in a VERY anti-camera stage? We had to both bribe and threaten him to get him to cooperate - it was a long morning. We did end up with a few good pictures - they aren't the best we've had taken, but until Ethan is in a more photogenic mood they'll have to do!

Playing in the Rain

Abby loves to play outside on the deck - it's one of her favorite places to hang out, especially when Hero comes up to visit. So, this afternoon when it was raining, she begged and begged to "get wet in the rain". It was pretty warm outside and at the time there was no thunder or lightening, so I finally gave in and let her out in the rain. This is what she looked like when she started playing outside:

She played outside for about 15 minutes - stomping in the water and just running around in true excitement like only a 2-yr-old can. Here is a picture of her stomping in the rain - and another with Hero (I wish it wouldn't have come out blurry - it's such a cute pic). He was pretty funny - he kept looking at her like he was wondering why she wouldn't just go back inside so he could get back to the shelter of his doghouse:)

And here's what she looked like right before she came in from her escapades in the rain:

Who could resist that face??

In other news - Ethan is doing AWESOME at school - I am so proud of him. We had absolutely no tears this morning - which was a good thing since I forgot to set the alarm and didn't wake up until 7:30. He has to be at the bus stop by 8:00 - so it was a very rushed morning.

I also officially made Lifetime status at Weight Watchers today, which means I don't have to pay them anymore (Yeah!). I still have about 5 lbs to lose to get to my official goal, but it's sooooo nice not to have to continue to pay the monthly fee. I stopped by Sonic and bought myself a celebratory diet coke on my way home from the meeting.

It's been a good day:)

Summer School Update

So, yesterday was the first day of summer school for Ethan. The morning went about like I anticipated. I got out of the shower and heard this very loud crying coming from Ethan's room. I went in to investigate assuming maybe his throat was hurting. When I asked what was wrong, he looked at me with his big blue eyes full of tears and said "I don't want to go". Jeesh - he hadn't even gotten out of bed yet, and already it was starting. The rest of the morning went pretty much like the beginning. When we were ready and it was time to get in the van, I pulled out the camera to get some "1st day of school pics". The above were the result. He was ready (but not happy about it), but then took off his backpack and laid on the floor crying and telling me very adamantly he WAS NOT going. OK, time to bring in reinforcements. Ed was working downstairs, so I went down and got him. Ed pretty much carried him to the van kicking a screaming. All the way to school he cried and yelled. I looked longingly at McDonalds really wanting a diet coke, but couldn't stop for fear Ethan would make a break for it. So, we drove on past and finally pulled up to the school. Luckily once he got out of the van, he calmed down a bit. We went into the school, found his room and as luck would have it there on the list of students was one of Ethan's friends from preschool - and one from down the street. I don't think I've ever been so happy about anything in my entire life!! Once he met his teacher and checked out the room, he really calmed down. I left him playing PlayDoh with his friends and escaped to Sonic to get my very large diet coke!! Abby and I had a quiet day and then we went up to pick Ethan up from the bus. He got off very excited and reported that he had a fun day. The only mishap was leaving his new lunchbox with his new Lightning McQueen thermos at school. We got home and he informed me he was going to pick up his lunch box tomorrow and then coming home. No more school. Good Lord - I envisioned every morning in June starting like the first day..... This morning he cried and whined a bit, but got on the bus and waved and smiled at me when the bus pulled off. So, we are making progress. Tonight he asked me if he had to go back again tomorrow. I said yes (expecting a lot of complaints). With no crying or whining he asked if he had to ride the bus. Once again I answered yes - waiting for the tears to start. He looked at me, smiled and said "YES!" Holy Cow - I'm wondering if the child is bi-polar:) Honestly, I think he's enjoying his new found independence now that he's comfortable with the whole school and bus situation. I'm enjoying the quiet days - and the fact that he's zonked out in bed at night by 8:30! I love him dearly, but I think we were both ready for kindergarten!!

Take a boat, take a train, take a.....camel?

We made our first trip to the KC Zoo today. The weather couldn't have been better and we had a great time! We purchased a family pass, and I have a feeling the kids and I will be visiting the zoo quite often this summer. Abby LOVED the animals. She would have moved right in with the monkeys and taken up residence if we gave her the option. They were offering camel rides - something Ethan wanted NOTHING to do with. I couldn't keep Abby away from them - so today I took my first camel ride. It was OK - but I can tell you I wouldn't want to travel long distances by camel! Abby would have stayed on the camel all day - but at $3.00 a ride her time was limited. We also purchased the transportation pass and had access to train, boat and tram rides all day. Ethan was much happier about the transportation pass than he was about the possibility of riding on a camel:)