Who needs cable with these kids for entertainment?

I was about to get in bed but thought I'd better write down some of the things the kids (mostly Joshua) have said lately that have kept me rolling. And, what better place to write it than here for all of you to share?

On Wednesday Ethan got his first chance to spend the night at Gaga's house by himself. (Well, without his brother or sister . . . obviously, I don't mean literally by himself. Even I wouldn't let him do that until he's at least 5 or 6!) Joshua, mind you, has done this countless times, but this was Ethan's first time. I let him go partly because he's been wanting a turn, partly because he doesn't like going to small group (he loves social gatherings about as much as his daddy does), and partly because Joshua needs to learn to deal with being the one NOT getting to do something on occassion. (Josh has never been one to see the glass half full when someone else has a glass that might possibly, conceivably, potentially EVER contain more than his.) Joshua was quite convinced that this turn of events was utterly unfair and that he "never" gets to go to Gaga's house. He talked ALL night about what he thought Ethan was probably doing and what time Ethan would be going to bed and whether Ethan might be getting to swim, and whether Gaga was buying Ethan a pony and making him her sole heir, etc, etc. So, Thursday morning we woke up (with him in our bed since spending the night with mom is always the consolation prize for not getting to spend the night with Gaga), and I asked him what he wanted for breakfast -
Joshua: "I wish we had dino egg oatmeal."
Me: "I know, but we don't."
J: "I bet Ethan is getting dino egg oatmeal at Gaga's house."
Me: "He might be."
J: "It's not fair. We NEVER have dino egg."
Me: "That's not true. We buy it sometimes."
J: "But Ethan gets to have it today!"
Me: "Well, would you like to sit here and be sad that we don't have dino egg oatmeal or go find something else to eat?:
J: "Find something else . . . but, I can SEE Ethan eating the dino eggs in my head!"
Who says only girls can be drama queens?

When I picked Ethan up on Thursday, I told him that I was so glad to see him because I missed him. He said, "I missed you, too, mommmy." I replied, "You did?" He amended his answer and said, "Actually, I didn't." Of course, you didn't. My name becomes "Mommy who?" when my kids catch a glimpse of Gaga's house!

Yesterday, I took Joshua by the Tae Kwan Do academy because I'm thinking about signing him (and maybe Ethan) up for some lessons. As we were leaving, I was explaining to Josh how the whole belt system works . . . you know, passing on my expertise in the area of martial arts. So, I explained that you start with white and then as you get better, you take tests, and if you pass you move on to yellow, green, etc. Joshua said, "So, if you pass the test, the belt changes color?!"

He is also so imaginative. This morning he took the box from my new crock pot (my old one died a slow and painful death) and stuck it on the handle of my mop and announced it was a "boxsicle." He then told me not to throw away the box because he was going to make something out of it. I left him in the kitchen with the box and the mop, and a few minutes later, I heard, "Mom, help, I'm stuck!" I hollered that I would be there in a minute (because you know, I'm on my way to a mom of the year award for how safe I keep my kids and all), and he said, "My head is on the dirty mop." I entered the kitchen and found him in the crockpot box (no, it was not very large - it's not like it was a big screen tv or something) with the broom stuck through it and his head pressed against the sponge part of the mop, with the handle part sticking through the bottom of the box, which was turned on its side. (Are you getting this? There will be a quiz at the end.) He had taken paper cups and glued them to the bottom of the box (which was on the side now), and somehow this was supposed to be . . . are you ready? . . . a cat. I can't even summon up all of my creative brain cells (all 1 1/2 of them, that is) and imagine how that could possibly be a cat, but of course, Joshua saw it.

And, lastly, since Lauren is never one to be left out of anything about things kids say . . . we were standing in the checkout line at Barnes & Noble today waiting to pay for a book. It was for me (thank you, MOPS, for the gift card), and Lauren said - in her loudest of voices - "I want a book, too." I said, "No, you don't need a book right now." She announces - still in her loudest voice - "Because books are for the potty!" Thanks, kid.

A conversation between Lauren and her Leggos

"I can make a big wall. And you all have to talk to me in Spanish!"
[babble, babble - apparently coming from the leggos]
"Hey, that's not Spanish!"
[more babble]
"To find out, go to pbskids dot org!"

I suppose this is the part where I confess that I let her watch pbs in my bed for half an hour every morning so I can squeeze in 30 more minutes of shut-eye. At least I know she has good retention skills, right?

What a weekend!

This picture pretty much sums up our weekend. (Is that a lot of goggles or what?) It was basically a four-day swimming and eating binge. Starting on Friday afternoon, we spent four days going to my parents' house at 4-5 in the afternoon and not leaving until between 8 and 9 at night. Of course, we somehow managed to get a meal out of my mom each of those nights . . . and when I say "we," I mean me, David and the kids as well as my brother, his wife, and their four kids! Yes, mom finally announced last night that Cafe Mom is closed for awhile. ;) What a great time the kids had, though . . . swimming in the rain, swimming in the dark, eating watermelon in the backyard, eating popsicles in the pool . . . they were in summertime heaven!

On Saturday we managed to squeeze in another activity before swim-time. We took the kids to a place near hear called Westville. It's basically a town preserved and frozen in time from the 1850's. There was a re-enactment of a Creek Indian war at one point - here are Joshua and Ethan with a few of the "soldiers:"



The kids got to help make candles in a big cauldron of hot wax (does anyone else think that sounds like an insane thing for ME to let MY kids do after the recent Tylenol and dresser incidents?!), watch someone operate a giant pedal-operated loom, see a blacksmith work, and see a meal cooked over an open fire in the kitchen of one of the old houses. Here are the oldest three on the judge's bench in the old courthouse (Lauren's actually up there, too; you just can't see her):





Tired Ethan riding on Uncle Dan's shoulders:



This woman showed us the Singer House and told us about life back in the day:

Thankful Friday

• the white sand of the Gulf Coast and being able to share it with people I love
• kids who aren't afraid to try new foods
• a husband who lets me take trips, knowing how much I love to travel
• kids who love to watch "Little House on the Prairie" with me
• my big brother, whose birthday is tomorrow
• the fact that I may be getting old, but I'm not as old as he is!
• long weekends

Beach Trip 2008 (Warning: picture overload!)

Every year my mom, my aunt Bobbie, my cousins (Jessica and Jackie) and I take the kids to the beach. It is always a blast, and this year was no exception. The kids loved, loved, loved it, as you can see from this Baywatch shot. :)



Joshua and Lesey took to the water like fish; they rode waves, swam through waves, swam underwater, got knocked down and dragged around . . . and loved every minute of it.













Josh also spent his days digging giant holes in the sand.





Ethan liked playing in the surf where it just went around his ankles and knees. He really loved it, but he didn't like it if we took him out where it got deep. I am going to try to post a video link later; in most of the videos, Ethan is running from away from a wave and laughing.












Lauren did not like the water AT ALL. Little miss scared-of-her-own-shadow (and, I do mean that literally as she freaks out over her shadow as we walk to the car after small group every Wed. night!) loved digging in the sand and jumping in the holes Joshua made, but let a drop of ocean touch her feet, and you'd think she was being drawn and quartered.











On Saturday night we went to eat at the Old Florida Fish House so Joshua could get the crab claws he loves so much. (Remember this is the kid who chooses Red Lobster for his b'day dinner every year.)





We ran into Lauren Roberts while we were there and were able to get an entire group photo for the first time! Of course, by then the kids were awfully tired of sitting and smiling.



On Monday we went to a great little shopping area in Rosemary beach to get ice cream cones and walk around a bit. We also found a cute kids' shop where each of the kids picked out a webkinz. Josh and Ethan both chose Tigers, Lauren chose a chihuahua (aptly named Taco), and Lesey chose a Panda.









Since this was all after a long morning at the beach, Lauren was a bit tired.



Also for perhaps the first time ever . . . proof that I, too, was at the beach. :)

Mother's Day

Sorry, I have no pictures. I have been slack in the photo department this week. I do have cute stories, though, so your visit to my blog will not have been in vain.

On Saturday, Josh asked me what I wanted for Mother's Day. Thinking he may go shopping with David and wanting to tell him something pretty easy to find, I said, "bubble bath." So, come Sunday morning, Josh came excitedly into my bedroom bearing a GIANT (Christmas!) gift bag. Inside was something well-wrapped with construction paper and about 75 feet of scotch tape. He had wrapped up his Sesame Street watermelon bubble bath for me! Is he too sweet or what? Of course, I took a delicious smelling bath that night. :)

I also received 2 dozen gorgeous roses from David Saturday afternoon . . . and have even managed to keep them alive so far. (3 days - that must be some type of Guiness record, right?)

Thankful Friday

Stealing this idea from my friend Kim, whose blog I love. Things I am thankful for at the end of this week:

- healthy children
- a healthy heart and properly functioning circulatory system!
- and, of course, my wonderful doctors who found my problem and fixed it
- a great relationship with my parents and siblings (and an awesome sister-in-law)
- David's newfound zeal for sprucing up the yard and flower beds
- Dora the Explorer
- warm weather
- sprinklers and children who love to play in them
- the thrill Lauren gets out of playing with bubbles . . . there's no better giggle
- friends who promise not to have any fun at their D.C. get-together since I can't be there (If you do anything besides Scrabble and _The Thin Red Line_, I will know!)
- the kids' excitement over a package from Grandma
- kids who sleep all night in their own beds
- pink pajamas with hearts on them
- blue pajamas with dinosaurs on them
- finding plastic lizards in my bed at night . . . I suspect someday I'll miss them

Thought for the day

After some discussion at our small group last night regarding living in harmony and acting with love, I've been pondering this quote from a book by John Knox (my former pastor, not the deceased theologian):

You have no need to be right when your need to be righteous has been met.

Just food for thought.

Things my kids are good at

Since yesterday was a bit of picture overload, and let's face it, not many people would be as proud of plastic animals scattered around the front yard as the parent of the scatterers, I thought I'd practice a little photo restraint today. However, I can't resist showing you what Joshua did entirely by himself while I was cooking dinner this afternoon. He told me he wanted to make this snowman craft he saw in a book his grandma sent him. I said that I didn't have time to help him with a craft at the moment, but maybe we could do it later. Joshua, never one to be deterred, asked if he could just try it all by himself. Sure, why not? Here's what he did, from start to finish without one smidgen of help from me (naturally, since the only words he ever speaks while working on something are, "Don't look yet!"):



So, in the category of "Things he's good at," crafts and anything creative/artsy would be at the top of the list for him. Other things would be physical stuff: swimming (he learned to dive (sort of) and swim to the bottom of the deep end last year, at age 4!), climbing, sports, etc.

Ethan: Here's his favorite way to pass the time:



I have pictures of him with numerous completed puzzles, but none on the hard drive of our new computer. He LOVES to work puzzles and will spend hours doing so. He plays by himself better than most 3 year olds and is already showing natural abilities at math . . . of course, you all know he got that from me. lol. On the other hand, give him a two-step instruction (ie, put your clothes on and brush your teeth), and he will still be wandering around the living room naked an hour later!

Lauren, well, Lauren loves to be the center of attention. She's a natural born entertainer and spends most of her waking hours singing, and anytime she's not singing, you can bet your bottom dollar that she's at least talking. She's not exactly singing here, but you can tell what a ham she is:



Funny Lauren incident:
On Saturday night we went to dinner at Red Robin. As the waitress was walking away from the table after we paid, Lauren leaned way out of her high chair and hollered after her, "Thanks for bringing me food!!" Typical Lauren. :)

A safari in my front yard

The boys were playing quite busily in the front yard this afternoon, and every time I went to check on them, they hurried me back inside, saying, "Don't look at anything!" While that is normally an indicator of some horribe wrongdoing, Josh assured me they weren't up to anything mischievous, so I didn't look. Finally, they came in and said to come see the "jungle world we made!" Here are just a few pictures of the many, many (way more than you'll see here) plastic animals they set up in our front yard:

The plains of Africa, wherein live cheetahs, lions, zebras, and elephants:







The less-wild of the wildlife - horses gazing over a fence (which looks suspiciously like our garden hose!):



Dinosaur Fossils:



An ant hill:



Monkeys live in trees, where else?



As do snakes:



This must be the Amazon, given all the frogs:



The Ocean:



Josh climbing a tree to escape a hungry cheetah:



And, Ethan just because he's cute (and very proud of their animal world)



I have to say I was quite proud of their ability to sort and organize the different animals. Who says 3 and 5 year olds need to be in school to learn valuable educational tools?!