Naturally Wild, Just Like Our Boys!

Yesterday was one of those perfect days we dream of here in Southeast Texas. Blue skies, cool breeze, low humidity, mild temperatures. A perfect day to go to the zoo! So that's what we did. This was Spence's first trip and only Coleman's second. He hadn't been since he was 11 months old, so it was like a first visit for him also. We bought a family membership so we can go back as much as we want all year long. Here are some pictures from the day.

When we took Coleman to the zoo for the first time, he was not walking yet. I think Spence enjoyed his first trip more because he could hop up on the fence and see the animals, then jump down and run to the next thing!

Checking out the flamingos!

Monkey see, monkey do. Look at us climb on the fence like little monkeys!

There are brushes to use in the petting zoo. We had a strong suspicion that these animals had been heavily sedated. If not, they were trained to put up with a lot.

Can you spread your arms as wide as an eagle's wings?

What a fun day at the zoo!

Procrastination

Last week when I picked up Coleman from school there was a worksheet in his backpack that said "send back." His first homework! Of course it laid on the counter all week, and tonight after dinner I figured we better do it since he goes back to school tomorrow (he just goes one day a week). The directions were to count the objects, then circle the correct number. So we did the first one together. He counted two birds, then found the number two. He wasn't sure why he needed to circle the two, so I explained that it was so his teacher would know that he knew the right answer. Surprisingly, he just circled it and there was no further questioning. I had to get up and do something, and when I returned he had already correctly answered the next two! I was so proud of my little man. When he was done I made another worksheet for him and he completed it. He only had trouble identifying the number six. That's a stupid number anyway. Hopefully he won't be as big of a procrastinator as his Daddy and me! That reminds me... I should be planning my music lessons for tomorrow.

Coleman working on his homework. Hurry! It's due tomorrow!

This is our new coffee table. The old one met a gruesome end when Coleman decided to lift out the top piece of glass and shove it onto the floor, causing it to shatter. Though we were upset with him and he was sent to his room and punished for the offense, I was glad we could finally get a new coffee table. I got the old one in 1997 from a junky antique store in Longview for $30. Actually, I'm sure my mom paid for it. Thanks Mom! I never thought I'd have it for 11 years though! That thing withstood moving from Longview, to Morton, to Louisiana Tech, back to Morton, to Houston where it moved from apartment, to condo, to house, to house. It was one of those ugly pieces of furniture that just won't die. One that serves it's purpose, and you just can't justify buying a new one with two little ones driving their cars and banging around. So I secretly said a little "thank you" to Coleman the Destroyer. And no, this one does not have a glass top, just a handy little shelf to hide on.

A Career in Modeling?

Striking a pose in his Lightning McQueen underwear

After nap today the new undies were fresh out of the dryer and ready to be tried out. I wasn't too worried, because when I let him out of his room at 3:30 from his "rest time" (this term is used very loosely and is open to interpretation) his pull-up was filled up with poop. I figured I was safe from having to clean up a big mess today. I told him, "This is the last poop in your pants. Once you start wearing big boy underwear you can't do that anymore." I almost cried when I put the underwear on him. He looked so grown up! He made it from 3:30 to 8:00 (bathtime) with no accidents! He was pretty upset that he had to wear a pull-up to bed, but Mommy's just not up for getting out of bed in the middle of the night and stripping his bed and cleaning up a big mess.

He wore these flippers in the bath last night, but they are a tad too small. We couldn't locate the snorkel. Spence looks concerned to be a part of this family.

It's your call. Could we have the next male underwear model on our hands?

Wal-Mart Shopping List

• Gym clothes
• Superman underwear
• Carpet stain remover

Is it sad that I was so excited to go to Wal-Mart and buy gym clothes? No? Is it sad that I was excited just thinking about it yesterday? Probably. I've decided it doesn't take much to get me excited. Last week I saw a commercial that informed me that Whataburger has their bar-b-que cheddar burger back for a limited time only! I was so excited that I wanted to rush out and get one that instant, but I didn't. I decided I could wait until Wednesday when the boys were at school and I could eat my burger and drink my coke in peace. If you don't have Whataburgers where you live, I'm so sorry. They have the best cokes in the world. Their burgers are good too. I had to take a few years off from eating there once I moved away from home because this was my dad's favorite restaurant and we went there OFTEN. I'll just leave it at that. But I really appreciate a good Whataburger now. And according to my dad, not all Whataburgers are good. When they lived outside of Dallas, the Whataburger close to them was bad. The one in their home town now was bad, but is under new management and seems to be improving. Our Whataburger and the one at Bissonet and Highway 59 in Houston are the best in the area. Enough on Whataburgers, though. My typing was just interrupted by a 3 year old with a plan. This is what he said:

I'm going to make you a deal. If I be really quiet and not bother you if you want to take a nap, then you can't make me go upstairs. Is it a deal?

Hardly! That's the deal Daddy made yesterday when he was home with Coleman after church while I had a meeting. I need that brief time each day when the boys are tucked away in their rooms and I can get some things done, or get nothing at all done, by myself. Sorry pal.

On to the second item on my list: Superman underwear. No, potty training is not going any better than has been, but we thought maybe the excitement of getting big boy underwear would be a motivator. But it might not be, hence the third item on my shopping list. And of course Wal-Mart was out of Superman underwear. I thought Coleman would be upset, but he seemed pretty into the Lightning McQueen and Thomas the Train underwear. So we now have 6 pairs of underwear. Today's goal is not to dirty all 6 and drain the contents of the bottle of carpet stain remover. Are my goals too lofty???

Since I squealed on Brian about making a deal with our child so he could take a nap, I must tell you all something sweet that Brian did for me. Church is usually over about 11:45 and my meeting was to start at 2:00. We live about 25 minutes from church, so I wouldn't have much time at home before turning around and driving back for my meeting. We went to church in two cars, and Brian brought the boys home while I shopped until time for my meeting. I can't even tell you how much I needed a little me time. Thank you Brian! And you worked hard this week, so you deserved a nap also, even if you had to make a deal with a 3 year old to get it!

More Potty Woes

There are certain places you work hard to avoid. Fast food bathrooms are at the top of that list. If it's just me and I have to go, no problem, I can hold my breath for quite some time. But if the kids are in tow, then forget about it. It's like an outing within an outing to lug all the junk in and keep the touching of disgustingness to a minimum. Coleman has developed a condition where he steps one foot into a fast food restaurant and poops his pants. I initially thought it was just triggered by McDonald's, but today it happened at Burger King. I've tried warning him ahead of time that the fast food bathroom is stinky and that it is very difficult to change his pull-up standing by the sink. He's too big to put on the germ infested changing table that pulls out from the wall, and if we go into the stall I have to have one hand free to swat Spence away from the toilet. I think the public restroom is meant for more of a one-on-one defense than a zone. Oh well. Halleluia to whoever invented the travel size Purell hand sanitizer. And until they can both go in the toilet, I guess you'll find me changing poopies in the bathroom of McDonald's (and Burger King, and ChicFilA...).

Gotta love a good poop story. But if you don't, here's a conversation Coleman and I had on the way home from a playdate today. I had just spotted a green Mazda 626 like I had before we got the Civic.

Mommy: See that green car Coleman? Mommy used to have one just like it.
Coleman: See that silver car? I used to have one of those when I was a Daddy. I used to have 10 cars when I was a Daddy.
Mommy: Oh. Your Daddy is working on that. He's up to three!

Love ya Brian! But seriously, stop buying cars.

Three Generations of Piks

This past weekend Grandpa and Uncle Brent came to visit. Grandpa just celebrated a birthday, and his present from Grandma was a trip to come see us and tickets for him, Brian, and Brent to go to the Sweet 16 basketball tournament. We had so much fun with them here. Brian got to drive them around in his new car and I got a break from pushing the tire swing! Now Coleman is really wanting to go to Montana. We took Uncle Brent to the airport Monday and Coleman wanted to hop on a plane and fly to Montana right then! We'll probably be going in a few months. He'll just have to wait.

Yesterday Coleman wanted to play a game that he had played with Grandpa. I had to play Grandpa's part, so I sat in the middle of the floor and Coleman ran around me. I was supposed to stick out my arm and try to grab him when he came around. Apparently not as easy as Grandpa made it look! I kept getting told that I wasn't doing it like Grandpa and what I needed to do so it would be like when he played with Grandpa. So Grandpa, the boys had a great time playing with you! You'll have to teach me how to play the right way next time I see you!

It's hard to get three generations to smile at the same time.

Grandma sent some yummy candy. If I remember correctly it was red...

Sunday after church the guys had to run off to their little basketball tournament, while the boys and I enjoyed a picnic at the park with our Sunday School friends.

I'm up here like a big boy!

Coleman and Eric

Wyatt and Coleman

Keep reading! I have two posts today!

When Little Brother Tries to Play

Coleman loves to play with Spence, but gets annoyed a lot because Spence doesn't know all of his rules and expectations. Today while Spence was napping Coleman and I built an awesome train track. We were having lots of fun. When Spence woke up he was welcomed into the room to play with us, but it didn't take long for him to start pulling the track apart. Coleman was being pretty patient, but finally he had had enough. He got down on Spence's level and said, "Look at me Spence. Look at my eyes. Do not mess up my track!" Now they have the plastic bowling set out. We'll just have to see how this plays out.

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!