Fun With Grandma

Grandma, we always have such a fun time with you! Thank you for coming to visit us. You brought us each a special gift: books and dollar bills for Coleman, new boots for Spence, and clothes and a purse for Allie! And Spence is as much in love with the new blue boots as he was the green ones!

A very Spencey picture

Coleman and Spence really enjoyed their "dates" with you Grandma. They love spending time with you, just talking and eating lunch, without having to be told to "hurry up" or "no we don't have time to go there" or "it's Allie's naptime." It doesn't hurt that you let them pick out a new toy and buy it for them, but in a few months they won't remember the toy, but they'll always remember the time they got to spend by themselves with you. What a precious gift!

Grandma and Spence about to leave for their date

They were all super-duper excited to show you Daddy's new truck. And what a cool Grandma, sitting in the back with them!


Grandma, we already miss you! But when we get sad, we'll just look at this silly picture:


...and remember that we have the most wonderful Grandma in the world! Tell Grandpa "hi" for us! Can't wait to see you both in Colorado this summer!

Ant Attack

Allie sat in an ant bed yesterday and is covered with more ant bites than I can count. I'm guessing she has about 150 bites. She was wearing a dress and it's just unreal how they climbed up her back and tummy and got down in her shoes. The ladies that were on the nursery playground with her told me she cried a little, then acted fine. Before we left church we got some advice from a friend who's a pediatrician. When I put cream on them, she says "ouch" but hasn't scratched them at all. I would be constantly itching all over! The nursery workers are always so careful to check for ant piles before they go out to play, and they are very good at watching the kids, so I know it was just an accident. Please pray that she will not start scratching, and that the bites won't get infected! We feel so sorry for her, but I think the only time she realizes there's something wrong is when we look at her and say, "Aw poor baby!"





Otherwise, we're having a great time with Grandma! I'll have a few pictures and adventures to share later!

Action Packed Couch Cusions

When one gets to go out with Daddy and ride in Daddy's truck, one must let Daddy choose the outfit.

La la la... I can't hear you! That's what I say to moms who start telling me about their teenagers. The toddler, preschool, and kindergarten ages are enough for me to deal with at the moment. And yes, I know I'll be staring down teenagers before I know it, but I'll think about that another day. Not today. Today I'll think about all the bath toys I need to sanitize because Allie pooped in the tub. And maybe the spot on the boys' bedroom floor, because once out of the tub, she went and finished her business in their bedroom. I'll think about the crunched up Rice Crispies that I need to sweep up. I'll think about all the sippy cups that seem to have disappeared that I'll probably find under a bed, in the car, and behind the toilet. I'll think about how to deal with whininess, slow-p0keyness, and the dilemma of Spence never being able to find his flip flops. No, not those flip flops, or those, but the other ones. And I'll thank God for the chance to think about all these things. To be a part of these demanding, needy, precious little children's lives. What a joy! An exhausting, sometimes overwhelming joy! But yes, a joy. I'll try to savor every crazy moment. Then when they're teenagers I can embarrass them with stories from their childhood! Well, maybe just once or twice.

Now for the action packed part. A while back I posted some pictures of the boys having fun flying through the air. They've now incorporated the couch cushions into their acrobatics! (And Rita, we tell them if we have to buy a new couch we won't be able to go to Disney World!)

They look like innocent little angels

Flying high!

King of the World!

Watch out for the baby!

She loves these crazy boys' moves! Check out Coleman...

And this morning Spence said, "Allie can stand on one leg!" She was standing in the windowsill by the front door showing off her balancing talent.

Same Old Same Old

There is no same old, same old around here! It is something different every day. Excitement around every corner! When I walk into a room to see what my children are doing, I have no clue what I'll find. Just take a look:

She found Coleman's shoes!

He found my sports bra!

The other day Allie didn't want her baby doll in the car, but Spence said he wanted it. A thought went through my mind that I shouldn't let my little boy play with a doll, but I went ahead and handed Frannie to him. As we drove down the road, I could hear him talking to Frannie. At least he's into cars and monsters and boyish things as well as dolls, I thought. Then I heard him laughing and talking about heads popping off. When we got out of the car this is what the doll looked like:

He calls it Face Foot!

I had to laugh that I actually thought my little guy would play with a doll the same as a girl would. He violently popped off her head and rammed it onto her foot! What a boy. So I won't worry that he likes to put on my bras either!

The kids aren't the only ones who make things interesting around here. Most of you know that Brian "accidentally" was the winning bidder for a BMW on eBay several years ago. It required a lot of maintenance and to take it to the shop was too expensive, so he's been fixing it himself. He decided to start seriously looking for a truck a few months ago. Instead of eBay, this time he turned to Craigslist. (If you're wondering, Brian would cease to exist without the internet!) After looking at quite a few trucks, he finally found the perfect one!

Meet his new 2003 Toyota Tundra!

The boys jump at every chance to ride in it. And Allie can often be heard saying, "I want Daddy's truck!" Hopefully the BMW will sale quickly!

I don't want to leave Coleman out. Last night as we were leaving church he pointed to the bulletin board where they post pictures and information about the missionaries we support. He said, "One day my picture might be up there." Wouldn't that be something? Things like that help me remember how important this task of parenting actually is. What a huge responsibility!

Lord, give me strength! Give me wisdom in guiding these precious kids toward You. And thank you for a sense of humor. It keeps me sane and my head of hair intact. Amen.

Life With Allie

If you have a toddler or have had a toddler or even know what a toddler is you can probably answer this question. What happens when you leave a bottle of syrup on the table after breakfast? Of course, you end up with a sticky toddler and a sticky everything within her reach! Everybody got that answer correct I'm sure! But what happens when you leave the dryer door open? Give up? The dryer ends up full of dog food! That's a new one, even for around here! I haven't checked yet to see if the dog food is sticky or not.
Allie is most assuredly at the "in to everything" stage. But she's also saying more words and sentences every day. My favorite thing right now is how she says "hi" to everything. When we pass the pond it's, "Hi duck!" And if we look out in the yard it's, "Hi cat!" or "Hi squirrel!" It seems as if she's determined to get them all to say "hi" back to her. She's also learned many "I want" phrases. And most of her words end with the letter y: "I want loshy (lotion). I want chocy (chocolate). I want Daddy (Daddy)!"
Tonight the kids were putting their clothes in the hamper (a built in cabinet in their bathroom) when a roach ran out. Coleman screamed, threw clothes at it, and hightailed it out of the room! The roach ran into Allie's foot, then headed for the corner. I grabbed a shoe and whacked it a few times. Allie finally looked down and saw the dead roach. She waved at it and said, "Hi bug!" And as always, her kind gesture was not returned.
I wiped up the floor and flushed the roach. Coleman finally came back into the bathroom, very much on guard. I promised the roach was dead and flushed. He was sure he saw a leg and wing in the toilet. He gets this from his Daddy. Brian is a wonderful guy who can do many things, but killing bugs is not one of them. I actually once witnessed him caulk around an outlet to trap a roach so he wouldn't have to kill it. He's not ashamed of this. He's from Montana, and they don't have big, creepy bugs up there like we have down here. Everything's bigger in Texas! So I'm in charge of killing bugs. That and pulling teeth, when the time comes. I know they lose teeth in Montana, so that may be an issue Brian has to work through.
Let me end this long rambling with news of our latest purchase: a Toyota Tundra! Brian has been wanting a truck so he could get rid of his BMW. It requires too much maintenance. So he finally found the right one and we brought it home tonight. Just one more car and each of us could go our separate ways each day! Hopefully it won't take long for him to make some repairs on the BMW and sell it.
OK. That's enough from me. Hope everyone has a wonderful, blessed weekend!

Try, Try Again

If at first yelled at by a 6 year old for making something new and different, try, try again! I guess that's my new motto. So if you haven't read about Coleman's reaction to the oatmeal chocolate chip muffins I made for breakfast this morning, scroll down and check out the post below...
Caught up now? Great! So my next idea was that I could make better chewy granola bars than Mr. Quaker himself. And guess what... I can!!! At least Brian, Spence, and I think I can. Allie hasn't tried them yet. Coleman had about 4 bites, and with each bite he gave me the thumbs down sign. Ugh. That kid.

Click here for the recipe! I didn't follow the directions exactly. I used some of the tips that others had left in the reviews. If you plan on making them, let me know and I can give you a few of the best tips, like substituting some of the oats for Rice Crispies! They didn't set as well as I would have liked, and the chocolate made them a little messy, but overall I like how they turned out. And I like that I know exactly what's in them and they aren't packed with preservatives enough to give them a shelf life of 3 years!

So those are my adventures in cooking. On another note, I'm feeling a twinge of sadness mixed with a whoosh of freedom. I've made the hard decision not to watch the new season of Dancing With the Stars. I know, I know. It's been my favorite show. But every year I get annoyed, and Brian gets doubly annoyed, with how many hours it's on each week. I usually just DVR it then I can skip some stuff, but it still takes a big chunk of my time. My decision was a little easier since I don't even know half the "celebrities" that are on this time around. So I made it through the premiere tonight without even turning on the TV! What will power I have...

Cute Dress, Bad Attitude

We've been seeing so many lady bugs around, so when I was deciding what Allie would wear to church yesterday, I picked the lady bug dress that Rhonda bought Allie when we were in Wisconsin in January. It is adorable on her! Just look!


She's chewing up a mint in this picture. That's the only way I can get a pony tail in her hair!

Ready for church!

OK. That's it for the cuteness. Now on to something ugly. I decided that I was going to cut back on the packaged, processed foods that I buy. So I started looking into some healthier recipes for foods the kids like. I'm not talking tofu or things with pureed veggies. Things the kids will possibly eat, like muffin and granola bar recipes so I don't have to buy muffin mix and boxes of granola bars with all that added stuff. So I made a batch of oatmeal chocolate chip muffins last night. I thought they were pretty good, but when I tried to give Coleman one for breakfast this morning, he went berserko on me! My 6 year old son sounded like a 13 year old girl screaming about oatmeal in the muffins and how disgusting they were and how he would never eat it. This was before he even sniffed it! (Sorry, I'm a big food sniffer.) He eventually took a bite and said they were disgusting just like he predicted, but I'm not so sure. I think he just had to stick with his previous story to save face. Spence ate about half of one (he's notorious for eating the chocolate chips out of things) and Allie liked them! I forgot that when it comes to ingredients in recipes, it's OK to lie to your kids. That sounds so awful, but possibly if I would have omitted the word "oatmeal" when introducing the new muffin, the whole scene could have been avoided. Oh well. The next recipe is for a chewy granola bar! I'm sure Coleman will find something wrong with it! I'll let you know how it goes!

Give Me More Outdoors

I couldn't stand being indoors at all today (except for that little nap I took) so I pulled Brian and Coleman away from the TV (all they want to do is watch basketball these days!!!) and we took a picnic dinner to the park. Well, if you can call getting carry-out pizza and store bought cookies a picnic, then that's what we did!

I am so thankful for this wonderful family!

Learning to balance


3 Little Rock Wall Climbers

She was determined to make it to the top like her brothers!

Very proud of herself!

When it was time to leave the park, I heard Brian telling Coleman, "Time to go! Gonzaga's playing!!!" And as soon as we walked in the door, they were watching the game. Coleman is really into the tournament this year. Last night I let him stay up until 10:00 watching with Brian. I think he was pretty excited!

Down In His Heart, Out in Our Yard

Pretty azalea in our back yard

It has been beautiful spring weather here, and we've been outside enjoying it! Here's what's happenin':

Today I was pushing Spence and Allie on the tire swing and he was singing, "Down in my heart, down in my heart..." I thought he was singing "I've got the joy, joy, joy, joy, down in my heart" but when I asked him what was in his heart, he said, "A ROCK STAR!!!" His song had a hard rock beat and went like this:

Down in my heart
Down in my heart
I've got a rock star
Down in my heart!

He's so funny! And Allie has a new look for the warmer weather:

Topless!

In this picture she's either at least being a little modest, or is too cool. She'll keep her shirt on when we're out and about, but not at home.

I set our pop up house in the back yard and we played school. Spence said, "OK children, today we're going to learn about grass." He pointed his stick to the grass and said, "Pretend this is fake grass. This is grass and there's dirt under it. It's everywhere. Time for recess children!"

Time to come in! I love how she presses her face against the glass.

Look closely at this picture and guess what Coleman is going to learn how to do. He got something new and I'm a little nervous, but I'm sure he'll do great and have it down in no time!

My Manly Outdoorsmen Return

I experienced something very rare this weekend. I think it's called being alone. Eating alone. Driving alone. Peeing alone. It was great! I also spent some time out with some girlfriends. It was just as good as the alone time! Who knew dinner could last from 6:30 to 10:00?

How did I score this alone time? Allie went to stay with my parents and Brian took the boys camping. What did I do besides eat, drive, and pee alone? I cleaned out closets, drawers, and the playroom. (I may or may not have watched a chick flick also.) I've got lots and lots of boxes and bags to take to Goodwill. I'm very excited! I've been very serious about decluttering. It's coming along nicely!

The guys made it home safely today with lots of fun stories of their forest adventures. Maybe I'll have Coleman and Spence write a post about it from their perspective. They're in bed right now though, so I'll just share some pictures.

Camping with Daddy...

...and friends!

Boys love fire

Walking across a tree bridge

Choppin' wood

They took turns and got it chopped in two! So proud of themselves!

In case you're wondering, it's no coincidence that both my boys only wore red shirts. I picked those out so they could always be seen in the woods. If Mommy's not there to watch over her babies you better believe she's gonna make it easy for Daddy to keep an eye on them! And I must say thank you to the three Daddies for getting our boys back safely! I know they had a blast. You guys are awesome!

Bayou Wildlife Park

Friday our MOPS group went to Bayou Wildlife Park in Alvin, Texas. Spence and Allie got to see lots of different animals and pet and feed them. We almost had to share our lunch with a deer!

Allie and the deer

Spence riding a pony (Allie sat on one, but didn't want to ride)

On the tram ride

My favorite animal

The most impressive animal: Goliath!
We were not allowed to feed him because he hasn't learned how to control his horns around the trams. We took her word on that!

Allie and I went with Coleman last year for one of his Pre-K field trips. So some of these animals were familiar. Click here to reminisce!

I Believe I Can Fly

I was uploading the pictures from Coleman's camera today and found these fun ones! Brian took them of the boys playing a while back. Funny how we spend so much money on toys when they have more fun just jumping on a bean bag.





And my favorite:

This Is the Month To Live In Texas

I love Texas. I've lived here my whole life, except for college. But there are times of the year that it's just miserable here and I wonder why I live here. This is not one of those times. Early Spring is a wonderful time to be in Texas! My family and friends who live in the north are still experiencing cold and snow, but we're outdoors playing. While we can. Because come mid to late May, it's all over. We'll be heading indoors until November!

Some days I feel like I force the kids to play outside or go to a park. I'll say, in not so sweet a voice, "It's BEAUTIFUL today and we are going to ENJOY IT! Now get your shoes on and stop whining! We're going to the park!!!" They always end up having fun, so it's not so bad.

Spence and his boots enjoying a swing

Riding their scooters back home

And falling off the scooter

Several tears, a few squirts of Neosporin, and two band aids later all was well. Several years ago a neighbor gave us the scooter Spence rides now. And for Christmas Brian got Coleman a Razor scooter. It has been so nice for them each to have one so there's no arguing. They love their scooters!