The kids and I are in Corvallis for the week, picking raspberries and blueberries. It's hard to stay away from home at this time of year! So I don't. :o)
Last night we went to my little brother's frisbee game (they won 12-1...or more...I was a little distracted). Sammy, as you know, is in underwear full-time, and last night was no exception. I could tell he had to go, but he's not so great at going behind trees yet (tho we got a lot of practice on the trip here...), so I just told him to hold it. Dumb, yes, I know.
Towards the end of the game I looked around and saw him a ways off, standing in a frozen pose. Uh-oh. I went over to him to ask if he needed to go potty.
"Potty and poop...I already went poop. What are you going to do with me?" Asked with a deer-in-the-headlights look.
What am I going to do with him? Where did that come from?
So I borrowed a baggie and a doggie and went behind a tree and did a little pooper scooping. Disgusting, but he was already in his extra underwear! (note to self: put several pairs of extra underwear in the car)
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Recipe for a clean kitchen
1 - waffle dinner
5 each - plates, napkins, cups, forks, knives
3 - hungry children
10 - freshly washed strawberries, across the table from the 3-year-old
2 - cups fresh, hot syrup
1 - syrup container with the 1" diameter lid open
1 - 3-year-old reaching across the table to get said strawberries
1 1/2 - cups fresh, hot syrup spilling over table onto floor
You want clean? Clean up syrup!!!
5 each - plates, napkins, cups, forks, knives
3 - hungry children
10 - freshly washed strawberries, across the table from the 3-year-old
2 - cups fresh, hot syrup
1 - syrup container with the 1" diameter lid open
1 - 3-year-old reaching across the table to get said strawberries
1 1/2 - cups fresh, hot syrup spilling over table onto floor
You want clean? Clean up syrup!!!
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
How do you decorate?
Mason: What is that place all decorated with machines?
Me: A power sub-station.
Mason: It's so pretty!
Me: A power sub-station.
Mason: It's so pretty!
Monday, June 22, 2009
Can I get a "Hallelujah"?
I just packed up my diapers. No more for 5 1/2 months! Hallelujah! Way to go, Sammy! (and much thanks to Dr. Glenn Latham, author of "The Power of Positive Parenting")
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
A happy day!
Elise was very brave tonight and asked Stephen to pull out her "bunny tooth". She'd been wanting him to pull it, but my camera battery is dead and I told her it couldn't come out until I got a picture. So I borrowed a friend's camera today and got my picture, and now that cute little tooth is gone! And I need to borrow a camera again...
We took Elise's best friend bowling for her party, and guess who won? Not me...Sammy! Yes, my 3-year-old bowled 117 and whupped us all. I told him that whenever he knocked down all the pins he had to do a little dance. He took his thumb out of his mouth and asked, "Why?" I didn't really have a good answer to that, and he never did do a little dance, even though he got 3 spares and a strike.
Of course no entry would be complete without a story about my middle child. Mason, I love you, kiddo!
Again, I have to go back in time to set up the story...I had Sammy in underwear during nap time, and when he woke up I thought he was dry. I found he was wet later, but checked his bed (obviously not very well) and thought all was well. Come bed time and a funny smell, I realize my mistake. So I send him upstairs to my bed so I can strip his bed and get clean sheets, etc.
Mason was intrigued by these goings-on and queried "If I wet my bed could I go in your bed, too?" I gave some non-answer like, "We'd talk about it if it ever happens, blah, blah." Soon after this little conversation I went upstairs for the clean bedding (you can see where this is going, right? I couldn't...), and came down within 3 minutes. Guess what I found? Mason, bare-bummed, with his underwear full of potty and a rather enormous yellow squishy spot on his bed.
He didn't.
He did.
MASON!!!
"It was an accident, Mommy. I'm sorry! It was an accident."
Who can describe what was running through my head at that moment? I won't even try.
He is sleeping on an old towel. I have zero pity for him. It's a good thing I love him so much! I'll have to ask Stephen to post a quote on that thought...
We took Elise's best friend bowling for her party, and guess who won? Not me...Sammy! Yes, my 3-year-old bowled 117 and whupped us all. I told him that whenever he knocked down all the pins he had to do a little dance. He took his thumb out of his mouth and asked, "Why?" I didn't really have a good answer to that, and he never did do a little dance, even though he got 3 spares and a strike.
Of course no entry would be complete without a story about my middle child. Mason, I love you, kiddo!
Again, I have to go back in time to set up the story...I had Sammy in underwear during nap time, and when he woke up I thought he was dry. I found he was wet later, but checked his bed (obviously not very well) and thought all was well. Come bed time and a funny smell, I realize my mistake. So I send him upstairs to my bed so I can strip his bed and get clean sheets, etc.
Mason was intrigued by these goings-on and queried "If I wet my bed could I go in your bed, too?" I gave some non-answer like, "We'd talk about it if it ever happens, blah, blah." Soon after this little conversation I went upstairs for the clean bedding (you can see where this is going, right? I couldn't...), and came down within 3 minutes. Guess what I found? Mason, bare-bummed, with his underwear full of potty and a rather enormous yellow squishy spot on his bed.
He didn't.
He did.
MASON!!!
"It was an accident, Mommy. I'm sorry! It was an accident."
Who can describe what was running through my head at that moment? I won't even try.
He is sleeping on an old towel. I have zero pity for him. It's a good thing I love him so much! I'll have to ask Stephen to post a quote on that thought...
Monday, June 8, 2009
Bladder control
My Sammy has incredible bladder control. He is potty-learning right now (he is very trained to go in his diaper...), and from 8:00 this morning until 7:00 tonight he only went potty ONE time. Sheesh! Wish my pregnant self could do that! ;o)
Saturday, June 6, 2009
D-day
In case you didn't know, today marks the 65th anniversary of the invasion at Normandy. D-day. The Army put together a fantastic website to educate those of us who don't know much about what it was really like. Take 8 minutes so you can see something of what it was like...
Friday, June 5, 2009
Camping (mis)adventures
We went camping tonight. Yes, you read that right - tonight.
Let me go back a couple of months...Mason has been begging to go camping for that long. He would sigh and say, "When is it summer?" "Why, Mason?" "Because then we can go camping. How many days until summer? How many minutes?"
We were going to go camping last weekend, but that didn't work out, so we were all planning on going this weekend. Looking at the weather I was a little concerned it wouldn't happen, but we were optimistic, and didn't let a weather report of "Chance of thunderstorms, winds of 20-30 mph, rain showers after midnight, lows in the mid-30s" deter us. Surely it would pass us.
Well, no.
We arrived at the beautiful campground about 6pm and got a fire started and the tent up, despite the wind. ("Sit on that corner, Elise! Don't move for another second, Sammy!") Maybe I should mention that we have the Taj Mahal of tents. It is mammoth - it has a doggy door and 3 rooms. Seriously. Once the tent was up, Elise and Sammy spent most of the time in the car, out of the wind, while Mason and Stephen unloaded.
While I got dinner going, Stephen grabbed some rope from the car and Macgyvered it to hold up the tent (tied to the resident hitching rack. Again, seriously.) We even moved the tent so the wind wouldn't collapse it on us. And then the wind changed. When we were in the tent Mason asked me what "collapse" meant. I told him to wait a couple of seconds and he would see. Sure enough, it collapsed on the left, and then on the right. He gets it now.
About 8:45pm, after some yummy pizzas and s'mores, the kids and I retired to the tent to see if we would be able to stay warm enough. We decided that we would...and that is when Mason learned what "collapse" means. Elise was in tears - "I want to go HOME!!!", the boys were starting to freak out, so I called it a night. I put Elise in the car and started packing up. Stephen came in to help, and sent Sammy to the car, too.
He arrived to Elise getting out - she had thrown up ALL over my guitar, the front console and the floor mats. Oh, joy. I covered it all with towels (bless the inspiration that had me bring them!), calmed the poor girl down, and rushed to finish loading the car back up.
The wind was picking up and the clouds were gathering. Elise had just given back dinner. Sammy and Mason were crying because they were afraid of the wind. We are now home in our nice, warm beds. We had a great 3 1/2 hours of camping! We hope to do it again soon! Now we know what 20-30 mph winds can do to a tent, and will be more wise in the future.
Let me go back a couple of months...Mason has been begging to go camping for that long. He would sigh and say, "When is it summer?" "Why, Mason?" "Because then we can go camping. How many days until summer? How many minutes?"
We were going to go camping last weekend, but that didn't work out, so we were all planning on going this weekend. Looking at the weather I was a little concerned it wouldn't happen, but we were optimistic, and didn't let a weather report of "Chance of thunderstorms, winds of 20-30 mph, rain showers after midnight, lows in the mid-30s" deter us. Surely it would pass us.
Well, no.
We arrived at the beautiful campground about 6pm and got a fire started and the tent up, despite the wind. ("Sit on that corner, Elise! Don't move for another second, Sammy!") Maybe I should mention that we have the Taj Mahal of tents. It is mammoth - it has a doggy door and 3 rooms. Seriously. Once the tent was up, Elise and Sammy spent most of the time in the car, out of the wind, while Mason and Stephen unloaded.
While I got dinner going, Stephen grabbed some rope from the car and Macgyvered it to hold up the tent (tied to the resident hitching rack. Again, seriously.) We even moved the tent so the wind wouldn't collapse it on us. And then the wind changed. When we were in the tent Mason asked me what "collapse" meant. I told him to wait a couple of seconds and he would see. Sure enough, it collapsed on the left, and then on the right. He gets it now.
About 8:45pm, after some yummy pizzas and s'mores, the kids and I retired to the tent to see if we would be able to stay warm enough. We decided that we would...and that is when Mason learned what "collapse" means. Elise was in tears - "I want to go HOME!!!", the boys were starting to freak out, so I called it a night. I put Elise in the car and started packing up. Stephen came in to help, and sent Sammy to the car, too.
He arrived to Elise getting out - she had thrown up ALL over my guitar, the front console and the floor mats. Oh, joy. I covered it all with towels (bless the inspiration that had me bring them!), calmed the poor girl down, and rushed to finish loading the car back up.
The wind was picking up and the clouds were gathering. Elise had just given back dinner. Sammy and Mason were crying because they were afraid of the wind. We are now home in our nice, warm beds. We had a great 3 1/2 hours of camping! We hope to do it again soon! Now we know what 20-30 mph winds can do to a tent, and will be more wise in the future.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Differences
For the record, Elise turns 7 next week, Mason is 5 and Sammy is 3.
RULES
Elise: You DO NOT break rules. They are there for a reason, and if Mommy says "no", that is the answer.
Mason: How can I stay within the rules and still do what I want to do? Rules are made to be bent - or even broken. If I ask enough I might catch Mommy unaware and she will say I can do what I want to do. Maybe I can bribe Sammy with a "prize" and get him to do what I want. Hmm...this is a problem...I can come up with a solution.
Sammy: Who am I playing with? I'll do that.
BEDTIME
Elise: I am tired. I'll look at books and then turn off my light and fall asleep.
Mason: C'mon Sammy! Let's drink our water and then spit it out! I wonder how many times I can come out of our room before Mommy gets really mad?
Sammy: What is Mason doing? I'll do that.
BOOKS
Elise: Fairy Tales
Mason: Non-fiction - robots, machines, heavy machinery, pipes
Sammy: Anything
MUSIC
Elise: Classical - The Nutcracker, Peter and the Wolf; Popular - Enchanted soundtrack; Danny Kaye; Les Miserables; The Phantom of the Opera
Mason: Led Zeppelin, Erasure, U2, The Chicken Dance, Big Band/Jazz
Sammy: No preference
DANCE
Elise: Ballet
Mason: The Chicken Dance, Mexican Hat Dance, the Hokey-pokey
Sammy: Silly
OCCUPATION
Elise: Mom & dancer
Mason: Electrical engineer & dad ("I'm going to have great kids when I am a daddy")
Sammy: Clown
RULES
Elise: You DO NOT break rules. They are there for a reason, and if Mommy says "no", that is the answer.
Mason: How can I stay within the rules and still do what I want to do? Rules are made to be bent - or even broken. If I ask enough I might catch Mommy unaware and she will say I can do what I want to do. Maybe I can bribe Sammy with a "prize" and get him to do what I want. Hmm...this is a problem...I can come up with a solution.
Sammy: Who am I playing with? I'll do that.
BEDTIME
Elise: I am tired. I'll look at books and then turn off my light and fall asleep.
Mason: C'mon Sammy! Let's drink our water and then spit it out! I wonder how many times I can come out of our room before Mommy gets really mad?
Sammy: What is Mason doing? I'll do that.
BOOKS
Elise: Fairy Tales
Mason: Non-fiction - robots, machines, heavy machinery, pipes
Sammy: Anything
MUSIC
Elise: Classical - The Nutcracker, Peter and the Wolf; Popular - Enchanted soundtrack; Danny Kaye; Les Miserables; The Phantom of the Opera
Mason: Led Zeppelin, Erasure, U2, The Chicken Dance, Big Band/Jazz
Sammy: No preference
DANCE
Elise: Ballet
Mason: The Chicken Dance, Mexican Hat Dance, the Hokey-pokey
Sammy: Silly
OCCUPATION
Elise: Mom & dancer
Mason: Electrical engineer & dad ("I'm going to have great kids when I am a daddy")
Sammy: Clown
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