Not In Its Way

We've heard from several people wondering if we are in Gustav's path. Thank you for thinking of us. It looks like it will make landfall in Louisiana around New Orleans. Please be praying for these people as they are evacuating and preparing for the worst. At least this time around people seem to be more prepared and aware of how bad it can be.

Seems my Ask Amanda column raised some eyebrows! I should have worded question 4 a little differently. I just loved that picture with Spence leaning on one leg and Coleman on the other. It can be crazy handling two kids in public, but as long as you can get one on one side and one on the other, it's usually ok. Well, until one decides to throw a fit. That happened shortly after that picture was taken, although I can't remember what the fit was about. We've probably had about 35 more fits since then, so my mind is a little clouded.

Hope you all have a fun and safe Labor Day weekend!

Ask Amanda

Question: What should my son wear when helping his Dad with home projects?
Answer: Always, always wear some kind of helmet to protect his head. And if it's a messy project, have him wear an old t-shirt.


Question: My son is 3. Is he too young to learn the Heimlich maneuver?
Answer: Absolutely not! My 3 year old is always performing the Heimlich!


Question: My grandson is always wanting to dig through my nightstand drawers. Should I tell him to keep out?
Answer: No way! He might find something that you would definitely want to take a picture of!


Question: I'm trying to decide if I should have another child. Would I be able to handle two out in public?
Answer: You've got two hands for them to hold onto, and two legs for them to lean on. Go for it!

One of Those Days

We were out the door by 8:30 this morning. Plenty of time to drop the kids off in their new classes (it's promotion Sunday), deliver the danishes to the college class, and make it to our Bible study class on time (same class, we don't ever promote, we try to deny the fact that we're getting older). We would have made it in plenty of time if we didn't have a flat tire on the freeway. What a way to start your Sunday. And I did mention I was bringing food for hungry college kids, right? I kept my cool, but I was so upset that I was responsible for something and might come off as looking irresponsible or like a flake. We managed to get off the freeway and my wonderful, very useful husband was able to change the tire in a matter of minutes. Of course the four year old spare that had been neatly tucked under that carpet in the back was low on air. No problem, we'll just find a gas station and put some air in. Air, that stuff that surrounds us and we breathe in and out all day long, costs $.75 at gas stations. Too bad I didn't think of containing air, putting it under pressure, and selling it! Since we'd thrown our last bits of change into a fountain last night, Brian had to go in the store and buy some Gatorade and ask for cash back. Finally we're on the road, but you know you're only supposed to drive 50 miles per hour with those donut tires. We did make it to church, get the boys to their class, deliver the danishes, and arrive in our class about 40 minutes late. In church we sat behind a lady and her friend that held a conversation, normal voices not hushed ones, from the time of the opening song until the pastor got up to preach. (My list of who I cannot sit near in church is getting longer: Perfume lady, off-key loud singer, now Miss Chatty Pants.) We sang a song with some weird humming and "oo-ing" part that always make me think the visitors will not come back. Then, when we picked up Coleman, there were stickers on his Sunday School papers imprinted with his name (or not his name) spelled C-o-l-m-a-n. I feel bad because they probably have 100 or so stickers already printed with "Colman," but I don't want his name misspelled on everything he does at church.

I was thinking, why do I let these insignificant things bother me? Thank You Lord that we were not hurt going down the freeway at 65 miles per hour with a flat tire. Thank You that Brian was with us and able to change it. Thank You that we have money set aside to buy new tires. And when we got to church, the college class was not nearing starvation because my danishes did not arrive on time. And nobody called me a loser or a flake. Hopefully, somebody was blessed by the humming song, and I'm thankful for the ladies willing to teach my 3 year old about Jesus, no matter how they spell his name. I think sometimes we need these little inconveniences to remind us what really matters. I wouldn't change a thing about today. Well, I would try to have more patience, and maybe I would have hummed and "oo-ed" at the top of my lungs, if only to drown out Miss Chatty Pants!

I Will Not Entitle This "Shear Excitement"

Those of you with hair know how expensive it is to get a haircut. I've taken Coleman to so many different places. From a $6 cut to a $17 cut, they all looked like they should have paid me money not to sue them for butchering my son! I've never found anyone that could make his hair look decent. So I decided that I could probably do just as good myself. I figured I would acquire a little knowledge before I just grabbed the scissors and started snipping. Actually, I did that when Coleman was about a year old and it was hideous. So this time I ordered a DVD called "How to Cut Kid's Hair" and invested in some good scissors and a cape. I had to invest a little money, but after a few haircuts it will be worth it. Last night I told Brian that I was expecting Coleman's hair to look really good after I cut it. I have no idea why I was so confident. Sure, I cut Brian's hair, but as long as the guard for the clippers doesn't fall off I can't really mess it up. Here is a before picture:


And here are two after pictures:



What do you think? Not too bad, huh? I popped in a Magic School Bus DVD, gave him a sucker, and he was good to go. Hopefully I'll get better and soon be brave enough to try Spence's. I might have to give him a sucker laced with Nyquil though.

A few other things going on around here...

Spence has been calling Coleman "Buddy" for a while because Coleman calls Spence his little buddy. Today he finally started trying to say "Coleman." It comes out "Tehbin." It's so cute! And he can finally say "Pence!"

Coleman can go to the bathroom by himself, but he likes to come up with excuses so that I'll take him. Here's his latest one.

Coleman: I need to go potty!
Mommy: OK. You can do it.
Coleman: But you have to take me because I love you.

How can I say no to that?

How Much Do They Pay Those Announcers?

I'm so glad the Olympic announcers are there. I could never come to the conclusion on my own that stepping over the line three times during a floor routine might cost the gymnast a medal. And the language they're using to describe the gymnasts' routines - crazy hard. Did their seventh grade daughters help them come up with comments? I loved listening to their comments on the women's 100 meter dash last night. They were going on and on saying what they believed was going through the women's minds as they raced for the finish line. I figure their thoughts for those 10 seconds were pretty simple: Run as fast as you can!!! I read on someone else's blog that she had heard the announcers say, "...it's so important in synchronized swimming to train in the same place together." I bet the first swimmers to figure that out blew the judges away with their awesome degree of synchronization! Here's one I actually heard tonight while watching the women's 100 meter hurdles. After the lady from Sweden fell on the first hurdle, the announcer said (and I'm not lying here), "In the women's hurdles, you've got to make that first hurdle." I should really apply for this job in 2012. I could come up with lines just as good!

You'll Think He's Sweet

Guess what my wonderful husband did yesterday. After church he stayed home with the boys while I went to the mall! It was the last day of tax-free shopping, so it was quite the mad house. But I didn't care because I wasn't looking for anything specific and I didn't have the boys to keep up with. I stayed out for about 2 1/2 hours, then when I got home Brian took the boys to the park while I stayed home. I love you Brian! I'll take free time over flowers any day! Of course flowers are nice too.

And now for Coleman's cute sayings:

Coleman is doing great going to the potty, but he still sleeps in pull-ups. Last night I opened a new package with a Buzz Lightyear and Woody design.

Mommy: Look at your new pull-ups!
Coleman: Oh! It's Woody and Buzz! Buzz is cool!
Mommy: Woody is cool, too.
Coleman: No, Buzz is cool. Woody will be in a few weeks.

We had Grandma and Grandpa on speaker phone last night. Grandma had asked Coleman what he wanted for his birthday. He told her all this Batman stuff, then ran off to play. I was talking to Grandpa and Coleman ran up to the phone and yelled, "I want a toaster!!!"

Oh, by the way, I bought a purse at the mall. I thought Rita and all the purse girls might be pleased! Love purses! Rita, I had to have a new red one to replace the one I bought in Boston at Filene's Basement 7 years ago! It was time. While I'm on the topic of purses, some of you ladies might enjoy this book. I read part of it at my mom's house. It's hilarious. And she's a Christian comedian and author, so that makes the book even better.

How Do You Get To Saturday?

Coleman drove me crazy all week asking when Keller would get here. We love visits from Keller and his family, but next time I will not tell Coleman they're coming until they pull up in the driveway! Once they arrived, we had so much fun. It's always fun to catch up with old friends, and now that the kids are older, they had fun playing together and gave us a chance to just relax and chat. After the kids went to bed, we stayed up late talking and watching the Olympics. Did you see Michael Phelps win that relay all by himself? That's what the announcers made it sound like! And then they focused on him only during the metal ceremony. If I was a mother of one of those other 3 guys somebody would be hearing it from me! Oh well, it was fun to see history made! We saw another amazing thing this weekend: Batman and Spiderman in the same room!

Keeping our house safe from bad guys!

What handsome little guys!

Good friends

Older good friends

My Faves

I've been following the boys around with a camera this week. Here are some of my favorite shots:

Favorite Musicians

Favorite Athletes

Favorite Smile

Favorite Garbage Man (this was a tie)

Favorite Chefs

Favorite Stain Stick

Surprisingly, this was not the fault of the young chefs. I did this myself after I had taken the bowl away from them. It all came out!

Spence is learning new words every day! I love this stage. He loves to sit on the computer chair and have Brian spin him (Mommy doesn't do round and round stuff) and he'll say, "More 'round!" And he looooooves to jump. He'll say, "Jump! More jump!" He can now say cereal, which is his favorite food. When he wants some he'll say, "Bowl," to let me know he wants it in a bowl with milk, not just haphazardly thrown on his highchair tray. After he finishes he says, "More chereal." His chereal of choice is Life. He'll point to your eye, actually trying to insert his finger in your eye, and say, "Eye." Then he does the same to your other eye and says, "More eye." Brian jokes that he will some day go to the Olympics in "More Jump." The announcers will say that he really stuck the landing, and there was no balance check! What a sweetheart. Coleman is in some sort of schizophrenic phase where one day he's so out of control that I think I'll have to duct tape him to a chair (which of course I never would do... uh, no, I wouldn't... I'm 99% sure I wouldn't... better get rid of all the duct tape). Then the next day he's the sweetest, most angelic child. I like the latter, but hey, the other days build character, right? Today he wanted to play cowboy (he found his old cowboy hat in his closet and wore it around) and wanted me to be the horse. I told him I didn't feel like having him ride around on my back. He said, "Just for 4 minutes." No. "How about 3 minutes?" No again. I suggested zero minutes. He said, "Zero's not a number." It just wasn't a number he was interested in! Man, I love these boys!

A Day with Daddy - Frosted Flakes and Water Balloons

What sweet brothers sharing a snack!

Spence can't say Coleman, so he calls him "Buddy."

Coleman saying "Cheese" with a mean face

This weekend, we were a host home for 9th and 10th grade girls from our church's youth group. Every August before school starts they have Disciple Now, which is like a weekend retreat. Church members send TONS of snacks and breakfast foods for them so we don't have to worry about feeding them. I was out Saturday morning, and Brian stayed home with the boys. About lunch time I started to worry that I wouldn't be home for the boys' lunch, but I figured if Brian couldn't decide what to feed them, he'd call me. When I got home, he told me he looked around the kitchen and spotted a huge box of Frosted Flakes and said, "Boys, here's lunch!" Brian said as he was pouring Coleman's fourth bowl of Frosted Flakes, Coleman said, "This is going to be my last bowl. I don't want to eat all the girls' cereal and make them sad." How thoughtful! I don't think he was worried about eating all their cookies though. They also filled water balloons for the girls. Coleman didn't know about water balloons, so Brian was telling him that they are balloons that you fill with water. He said Coleman got this big grin and said, "Then you pop them?" He loved them! After the girls had popped 150 water balloons (which took all of 2 minutes) Coleman asked if they could go to the park with him. I think he had a good time this weekend. And I enjoyed the weekend too, since no one kept the babies awake! I don't think I was that quiet when I was that age.

Miscommunication

Today we ate lunch at Chick-Fil-A. I feel like they could build three Chick-Fil-As side by side by side and they would all be crowded. So sorry if you don't have a Chick-Fil-A where you live. Anyway, to help the drive through move a little quicker, they put employees in bright yellow vests and send them out with menus and cell phones. They go to cars waiting in line and take their order, then call it in. Coleman looked out the window and saw one of the yellow vested employees. He said, "Mommy, what's that guy doing out there?" I replied, "He's taking people's orders." I was trying to get us all rounded up and ready to leave, so I didn't feel like trying to explain anything. I hoped this answer would be good enough. It seemed to be. A few minutes later as we were heading out the door, Coleman asked, "Why is he taking people's quarters?" How funny! I think Coleman learned a new word today: order - to tell someone what you want to eat.

Drop By The Imagination Station

I was upstairs cleaning when Coleman decided to go on a trip.

Coleman: I'm going on a trip!
Mommy: Where are you going?
Coleman: Hawaiiowa! (pronounced Ha-wah-ee-o-wah)

When I finished upstairs, I came down to find out all the details. Apparently, we had to bring all the collections to Hawaiiowa. These included all the Little People, several trucks, other various toys, pillows, and blankets. Spence grabbed his Elmo basket, and Coleman said, "Yeah, cause they have Easter eggs there."

Spence helped Coleman load up the truck.

I was chosen as the driver. Luckily, since I had no clue where Hawaiiowa was located, Coleman pointed it out on the "map."

"Mommy, this is where we live." Hey, pretty close.

"And this is where Hawaiiowa is." Look! It's somewhere near Finland. That's where the Pikkulas originated! I'm not sure where I was expecting it to be. It's not like Hawaii and Iowa are close together.

Coleman took this picture of Spence and me before we got ready to leave.

Spence and Coleman getting into the truck. Hawaiiowa, here we come!

Unfortunately, the trip never happened. I refused to get into the truck, even though Coleman gave me some great pointers on how I could bend and contort my body to fit. I tried to convince him that I could sit on the hearth and be in the cab of the truck, but he said, "We're not going to Hawaiiowa today."

More Book!

This is one of those topics that won't interest everyone. It's more to inform Grandma and Grandpa of Spence's latest achievements and to serve as a reminder for me when, several years down the road, I wonder what Spence was into when he was 21 months old.

Spence is so into books right now that (OK, this is awful) I had to take all the books except four out of his room. If he had a bookshelf full of books, he would expect us to read all of them to him every night. His latest saying is, "More book! More book!" His favorite books are Bee Bee Boot (Bear's Blue Boat), Bubble (Bubble Trouble), Woof (A Day in the Life of Dogs), and Hoptoad (Hoptoad). The first title is what he calls the book. The title in parenthesis is the actual title. He loves these books! Hoptoad is so simple that I know I could write a book ten times better. It's about this toad that is slow crossing the road. His friends the turtle and the lizard actually beat him across the road, and an approaching truck has to stop to avoid hitting the toad. On each page, Spence points out the toad and says, "Rib!" That's what he calls frogs - his version of "ribbit." I say, "Frog! Ribbit!" Then he points to the turtle and says, "Turl!" I say, "Turtle!" Then he points to the lizard and says, "Ish!" This is his standard word when he doesn't know something or can't say it. I say, "Lizard!" And then he just laughs and laughs. We turn the page, and the game repeats. It's so cute, that it makes this book bearable. His other favorite book is Bubble Trouble. This is one of those beginning reader books with extremely simple language. He repeats a lot of the phrases after I read them. It's so sweet.

Thank Goodness We Didn't Board Up the House

We got a really good rain today. That was all! Just letting you all know we're fine.

Oh the Joys of Living on the Gulf Coast

Chocolate Chip Pancakes Are the Bomb!

Or maybe it was a chocolate chip pancake bomb! Spence calls chocolate "chock." So tonight he was saying, "More chock!" What a sweet little chocolate-covered man.

I can't leave out Coleman. He's become the king of excuses. If you ask him to do something he doesn't want to do, he can come up with any imaginable excuse. Most of them are pretty lame. And his latest thing is to reply, "But, but, but, but, but," until he can come up with an excuse. Yesterday he told me he was just going to say one but now!

This weekend I ran into a lady in Wal-Mart that I had worked with when I taught 2nd grade in public school. I remember her as one of the sweetest ladies I taught with. If I could have chosen to see anyone from my days at that school, I would have chosen her. As we were talking, she told me something she always remembers when she thinks about me. It was something I needed to hear. Something that confirmed that even though the years I spent working at that school were some of the darkest in my life (sounds a little dramatic, I know) God brought good from it. It made me praise God to know that she had good memories of me. God is good like that. I dreaded going to work every day when I was there. I looked for other career opportunities. I had to take antidepressants to cope. I eventually got out. But my time there was for a reason. And hopefully God was glorified. I thank Him for causing our paths to cross to remind me that I may not always know why He has me at a certain place, but He can be glorified no matter how difficult the situation.