Why Are You Pulling Out Your Hair Mommy?

Coleman has officially entered the questioning phase. He's always been curious and has asked questions, but now it's that never ending string of questions. Here's an example from our ride home from church today.

Coleman: What's that balloon tied there for?
Me: Maybe it's somebody's birthday.
Coleman: Why is it their birthday?
Me: Because it's the day they were born.
Coleman: Why were they born?
Me: Hey, look at that big truck over there!!!

After the balloon line of questioning was over I started making up a song to distract him from asking more questions:

My two boys are ... sweet!
My two boys are ... silly!
My two boys are ... cute!
My two boys are ... (really long pause here because I was trying to think of something to rhyme with silly and I just couldn't) ... BOYS!!!

They both just laughed and laughed and Coleman said, "Sing it again!" So each time I would change up the last word of each line, except it always ended with "BOYS!!!" Every time I would finish we would laugh uncontrollably then Coleman would tell me to sing it again. This went on for about 10 minutes. Yes, I was no longer answering questions, but I was stuck in this never ending silly song. My plan had backfired.

I know this is a normal phase, but oh dear. I guess I really won't pull all my hair out. I mean, everybody else's kids do this too, and I don't see Mommies walking around with big bald patches on their heads. But why does he ask all these questions? How long will this last? What is he trying to do to me? When will it be enough? Will I survive? If only he knew I didn't have all the answers!

Don't Mess With Coleman's Brother!

Tonight Coleman and Spence were in the play area of Chic-Fil-A. A girl who was twice as big as Coleman and probably 6 or 7 years old was trying to get by Spence and was pushing him to the side a little. Coleman went right up to her, and chest puffed out a little, said, "Don't you do that to him ever!" She stood there for a minute then went and sat on the bench like she'd been put in time-out!

Happy Easter

I hope you had a wonderful day celebrating the resurrection of our Lord. It was a beautiful day here for that kind of celebration. Here are some pictures from our day.

Family Picture taken Easter Morning

Two of the sweetest boys you ever did know

Time to hunt the Resurrection Eggs!

Coleman found almost all of them.

Spence found one too!

After all the eggs were found, we sat down and opened them one at a time. Each egg contained something that helped tell the Easter story, such as a small palm branch, a piece of Chex cereal (for the last supper), a cross, a stone (to symbolize the one that sealed the tomb), and finally an empty egg (to show that on Easter morning Jesus was no longer in the tomb). There are 12 eggs in the full set of Resurrection eggs, but I took out some since Coleman is still so young. I really didn't want to give him access to a nail. We were given the eggs last year at our church's Easter egg hunt, but this was our first year to use them. We had a wonderful Easter! I hope you did also!

Be Careful What You Bid On...

Brian's latest "accidental" Ebay purchase - 2000 BMW 323 Ci

Ladies, have your husbands ever accidentally bought a car? I didn't think so. Brian placed his top bid on this car several days ago, not thinking he would actually win it. Surprise! He did! No, I'm not mad. He bid a very reasonable amount and was able to pay cash for it. We're both still a little shocked at the Beamer sitting in our driveway though. I think I have more of a right to be shocked though. I'm going to have to install software to block Brian from Ebay.

Finally, My Opinion!

Those of you that have read my blog for any amount of time know that I am a fan of Dancing With the Stars. (If you're not, you may want to stop reading right now. There are no cute stories about the boys in this post.) I have to admit, when the stars were introduced this year, I was not that impressed. I'm not sure why. I guess I had gotten so into the cast last year that I hated to see them go and figured no one else could live up to the excitement and entertainment that they brought. (Brian is definitely rolling his eyes right now.) Since I am such a fan though, I decided that I would give the newbies a chance to prove themselves. I have to say, I really enjoyed the show this week. Monday night the male stars danced, then Tuesday it was the women's turn. I wasn't familiar with several of the stars, such as Christian de la Fuenta, Mario, Jason Taylor, or Marissa Jaret Winokur. But now I am. My favorites are Marlee Matlin, Marissa, and Kristi Yamaguchi. I also like Mario and Jason Taylor, but I haven't seen enough of their personalities to know if they are favorites or not. Priscilla Presley actually impressed me, but she's not a top pick. Who has to go? Adam Carolla and Penn Jillette. And soon!!! Monica Seles was also not very impressive, but if you remember, she's a lefty, so I'm sure there is some discrimination against lefties in ballroom dancing. I'll give her a chance. Oh, I'm also very disappointed that one of the pros, Maks, is not back this season. But the new guy, Fabian (is that a male dancer's name or what!) seems likeable. The one thing about the show that I dislike is how they drag it out. Lose the comments from last year's competitors, take the mike away from that girl host, cancel the performances from today's hottest bands, and just let the couples dance! Then it wouldn't take 3 hours for 12 couples to do a 3 minute dance. These are all just my opinions though. It will be interesting to see who goes first. I'll be there!

Yeah, I'm Cute

I wanted to get a picture of Spence to show off his new shoes, so I pulled out the camera and took a few shots. He looks so adorable, forget about the new shoes! He is such a sweet little guy. And of course his brother is a sweet little guy also, it's just that he's three. He's been moody lately. He'll be fine, then all of a sudden he's quite distressed about something. Reminds me of when I was a teenage girl. He'll let you know exactly what he thinks or wants from you. Yesterday I was asking him a question and he said, "I'm playing with my stickers. You can't talk to me right now." Two seconds later he's the sweetest child on earth. I guess that's normal.


When he gets up from rest time (the word nap is taboo) we're going to make Easter cookies. I've got cutters in the shape of a cross, an egg, and a bunny. Then we'll do an Easter activity. I spent some time earlier today looking online for Easter activities for toddlers. I think I found a few good sites. Here's one in case you have little ones and are looking for ideas, and if you have any good stories or activities to share the true meaning of Easter with toddlers let me know!

This week we remember the last week of Jesus' life here on earth. I think of the agony He went through leading up to and on the day we now call Good Friday. We can call it that because we know what happened three days later! I hope you have a wonderful week and can focus on Jesus, His wonderful sacrifice, His amazing love for us, and how we can share that with others.

Fun-filled Saturday Part 1

There was so much fun to be had yesterday that it requires two posts! The day started with the annual Easter Egg Hunt at our church. It's supposed to be for kids 2 and older, but since there were so many little ones there they had a separate egg hunt for 2 and under. Luckily I had brought Spence's basket in case of such a situation. Occasionally I come prepared.

Coleman and his soccer ball basket and Spence and his froggy basket

This was Spence's first Easter Egg Hunt. He found 3 eggs!

On your mark, get set, GO!!! Coleman might have gotten a slow start (he's behind the girl in the blue dress), but he ran past all the other kids to the end of the field and had his choice of eggs.

Smiling over the victorious hunt!

The boys and the pastor's kids after the egg hunt. You can see Spence got into the chocolate-filled eggs.

The day wasn't over here! We got in the car and headed toward our second fun-filled activity...

Fun-filled Saturday Part 2

After the Easter Egg Hunt, we headed straight to the Houston Livestock Show. This was Coleman's third year and Spence's second. It was so crowded, but we had lots of fun. We saw pigs, cows, chickens, and baby chicks hatching. The boys enjoyed cheering for the little pot bellied pigs at the pig races. Of course the attraction that we had to drag Coleman away from was the John Deere tractors. At the carnival, Coleman walked right past all the kiddie rides and went on the bigger ones. I thought he would get scared, or worse yet puke (he's a notorious puker), but neither happened. He caught air on the Goliath Slide, had a smile from ear to ear on the big tugboat that rocked back and forth and side to side, and had to be pried off the big ride that went round and round and round and made mommy queasy just watching. Oh he's going to be a thrill-seeker!

I love the livestock show!

I promise that smell is not me!

As a girl, I guess I just don't get the thrill in climbing on big tractors.

I didn't tell them they'd be eating her at McDonald's next week.

If you click on the picture, you can see Coleman and Daddy getting ready to ride.

The Weekend In Review

It seems like the boys have been changing so drastically lately. They went to stay with Nana and Poppa this past weekend so we could get some work done in the kitchen, and when they came back Sunday evening Coleman looked different! Spence is like a little man now. He loves to copy whatever his big brother is doing. Their favorite game is "hide and go scare." Coleman tells me or Brian where to hide and to scare him when he comes into the room. Then he tells us where he will hide and that he's going to scare us. Spence is getting into it also.

Coleman is full of advice too. He and Nana were going to pick up dinner from Whataburger Sunday night and as she was buckling him into his carseat he said, "You just go down Highway 6 and you'll get there." Today I was trying to get Spence out of the bathroom after they had both watched me go potty. I don't remember the last time I went to the bathroom without an audience. Oh well, that's a different story... As I was saying, I was trying to coax Spence out of the bathroom and Coleman said, "Pack it up! We're going home!" He informed me that he heard that on Toy Story. I got a kick out of the fact that he remembered the line and used it in an appropriate situation! Too much!

Brian and I did get a lot done on the kitchen project, but there's a lot left too! Coleman and Spence were supposed to stay at Nana and Poppa's until Monday, but Coleman just couldn't take being away from home any longer, so they came back Sunday evening. Even today he was still telling me he missed me. How sweet!

I have to tell you one highlight of my weekend: feeding only myself at mealtime! I think that's something you take for granted unless you have little ones. Oh, I guess I did have a couple of trips to the potty without my audience. That was nice too. Thanks Nana and Poppa.

Proof that I did indeed help with the kitchen. Here I'm sanding where the old hinges were. I also painted the wide open spaces. I'm banned from the trim.

Didn't Brian do a great job on the subway tile backsplash? I'm very impressed.

He also got started on the other wall, but we ran out of time. It's really coming together though!

Three "O"s To Start Your Day

The past few weeks our pastor has been preaching on how Jesus reached out to seekers, skeptics, outcasts, and the hurting and has given us advice on how we can do the same. If you'd like to listen to any of these sermons, you can find them on our church's website. This past Sunday he preached on making every moment count and gave us three things we can pray for every day: our opportunities, our obstacles, and our obligations. We should pray for opportunities to share His love with others every day (and eyes to see these opportunities and wisdom to know how to handle them). I started doing this, and the first day I really saw my opportunity. I was in the check-out line at the grocery store. It was Sunday afternoon and the people in front of me were in their church clothes. I didn't catch everything they were saying, but they were displeased with the checker and were being quite rude to her. She was not being rude back to them, just trying to explain why they couldn't use the coupon they were trying to use. It made me feel sick to see these people who were obviously on their way from or going to church treating this girl so poorly. When they left, I said, "I'm so sorry that they were rude to you. I hope you don't have to deal with too many people like that." She said that she did, and people were most rude on Sunday. How sad! As I was talking to her, I could see the rude lady talking with a manager. After she finished checking me out, I found the same manager and let her know that the checker was very polite, and even though the customers in front of me were quite rude to her, she was not rude to them. I was so excited that God had given me an opportunity, even if it was just something small.

The next day I prayed the same prayer. For some reason, I felt like c-r-a-p all day. Coleman was being a little tooty, and it was a dreary day. I think Satan was trying to keep me from seeing an opportunity to share Jesus' love. Hopefully something I did with the boys was pleasing in God's eyes. I'm trying to remember that whatever I do, to do it in the name of the Lord Jesus (Col. 3:17), even if it's just reading books and playing games with the boys. Some days that's my ministry!

Today I let the love of Jesus shine through me by not banging the mess out of the Ford Excursion that was parked next to me, half in my spot, making it near impossible to get Spence into his car seat.

I wonder what my opportunity will be tomorrow???

The Western Theme Continues

Before the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo begins, trailriders from all over the state ride into the city. They try to recreate the old West, and along the way make stops at different places, one of which is our church. The preschool and daycare kids get to go out and see the cowboys, horses, wagons, Native Americans, and hear a band perform. Mom and I took Coleman and Spence yesterday to see all of this.

The trailriders came through our church parking lot.

Coleman's favorite thing was listening to the drummers who were part of an elementary band.

Native Americans from the Alabama Coushatta tribe visited with the kids.

Coleman reluctantly petted a horse.

A cameraman from a local news station interviewed Mom and me. We were possibly on the 6 o'clock news, but I forgot to watch and record it!