Mommy's Cleaning Rules

Laundry:
Do whites when Mommy runs out of socks (every 2 weeks)
Do colors when Mommy runs out of underwear and/or when Daddy runs out of work shirts (every 5 days)
Do "kids" clothes when Samuel runs out of pajamas (every 3 days or so)
Do towels and jeans when there is free time--or when Daddy starts complaining that he has worn the same pair of jeans 10 times in a row....

Dishes:
Load the dishwasher when there are no more forks. (Side note: I just found my old silverware set and added 6 more forks!!!!)

Dusting:
When every other household chore is done... and you wonder why there is an inch of dust on everything in my house....

Scrubbing down EVERYTHING:
Okay...just have to add this one in...DAWN takes grease (and everything else!) out of my way! I love DAWN dish soap! I use it on everything. I literally fill a dirty pot with DAWN (since I have to hand clean it anyway) and get a paper towel wet with it. Then I walk around and get all of my counters wet, my table wet, my chairs wet, and anything else that is dirty, wet. By the time I get back to the counters, anything that was stuck on that I typically would have had to scrub with any other cleaner comes RIGHT UP! Plus I don't have to worry about fumes and all that other stuff. Got to love it!!!

Samuel is Huge!!

He had his 1 year doctor's appointment yesterday (Happy Birthday Samuel...here's 3 shots and a finger prick for you!).

He is 32 inches tall (90th percentile)
He is 25.1 pounds (80th percentile...and we were worried about his weight gain!)
His head circumference is 18.75 inches (50th percentile)

The doctor couldn't believe it was the same kid :-D.

To put it in perspective...he is the exact same height and weight as Connor--at his TWO year appointment! (Connor's head was an inch bigger though...) Of course Connor is small for his age....

An Argument I Shouldn't Have to Have....

especially not with my 3 year old!

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Honor: "There's your belly Mommy."

Mommy: "Yep," as I pull my shirt down.

Honor: "There's a baby in there."

Mommy: "Nope. There isn't a baby in there anymore."

Honor: "Yes there is! That is where the baby is growing!"

Mommy: "NO it isn't! There isn't a baby in Mommy's belly!"

Honor: **pets my belly** "Aww...its nice and smooth. The baby likes it in there."

Mommy: "There is NOT a baby in my belly! And I don't plan for any in there any time soon!"

Honor goes off to torture Samuel.

....so much for losing all this weight! :-)

Happy Birthday Samuel

Today my BABY turns 1!!! I can hardly believe it! Mostly because he is HUGE!!! He already weighs as much as all three of the "big" kids (they all weigh the same despite varying heights)...and he is ALMOST as tall as Ariana. Yesterday in nursery there was an 18 month old baby boy in there that Samuel was taller than and another boy that is 2 weeks older than him that he dwarfed--comparatively the other baby looked like a 6 month old!

Temperament-wise he is by far the easiest. The child is very laid-back and tough. I am very thankful that he will happily play by himself, but he will just as happily play with his siblings. The kids are constantly trying to pick him up, taking toys from him and pushing him over (because he usually just bulldozes right over them) and he simply takes it and moves on--happy just to have their attention. I know this will shift in a few months...12-18 months is always my "favorite" age--they are generally just happy at this age to be acknowledged as the center of the universe and too engaged in themselves and all the new things they are learning to realize that everyone isn't always playing with them. At about 18 months they decide that they ARE the center of the universe and they are no longer learning new things at a rapid pace so they DEMAND that you think of them as the center of the universe as well. In his case, I am hoping that he remains a "gentle giant" because at this rate he will really be able to do some damage by 18 months!

My sweet boy is always ready with a smile, LOVES his mommy (got to love that!), and is generally amusing to watch. He is ALMOST walking full time (he takes steps here and there...as long as we don't try to walk him--he HATES that), he climbs stairs, rolls balls, plays with trucks and loves to bounce. He is all boy. Give him a doll or a truck and 9 times out of 10 he'll throw the doll down and run over it with the truck.

He is an eating machine! He eats 30 oz of formula a day PLUS 3 meals a day. We've been slowly introducing whole milk to him so he will be ready to switch over to that any day now. He eats at the table with the family and he has even learned to be quiet during meal-time prayer!

Just thinking of him warms my heart. He is a beautiful baby boy and he is GREATLY loved.

What I Hate About Potty Training...

...having an adorable 2 year-old climb onto my lap...only to have an "accident" all over my freshly cleaned jeans.

Naptime Denial

Mommy: "Time for nap, Ariana."

Ariana: "I don't want to go to bed, Mommy!"

Mommy: "I know, but its time for nap anyway. Go upstairs to bed."

Ariana: "I'm not hungry!"

Mommy: "Good, because it is naptime. Go to bed!"

Ariana (all the way upstairs to her bed): "I'm not hungry, Mommy! I'm not hungry!!!"

What's On Your Radio?

I have to admit something...I actually enjoy listening to children's music. At any given time I will be "rocking out" to "Be Kind to Your Web-footed Friends..." or "The Itsy Bitsy Spider". Occasionally I will actually turn on the CDs and listen to them when the children are NOT in the truck. **gasp**

Today as we were driving to church, we were listening to Bible tunes--our favorite Sunday morning CD of children singing Sunday school songs. "Deep and Wide" came on and Connor enthusiastically yelled, "this song's awesome Mommy!" Yes son, I agree...

Definitions

Although it is actually impossible to truly define my children, if one should attempt to capture a glimpse of their essence in a definition in the dictionary, this would be what it would look like:

Honor: hon·or

Pronunciation:\ˈä-nər\

Function:noun

1. princess
2. one who has multiple leadership qualities, including, but not limited to: bossiness, excellent lecturing skills, and physical manipulation of followers
3. one who possesses excellent problem-solving skills
4. one who impersonates people ten times her own age
5. one who is capable of using a dimple to its full advantage
6. manipulator of daddies worldwide

descriptive adjectives: intelligent, crafty, humorous, responsible
synonyms: leader, caretaker, actress

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Connor: con·nor

Pronunciation:\ˈkä-nər\

Function:noun

1. informant
2. architect/construction worker
3. lover of praise
4. ripper of paper
5. one who has a high-pitched cry, much like that of a siren, used to drive parents crazy
6. species of cuddle bug - requires substantial physical contact to thrive

descriptive adjectives: creative, artistic, tender-hearted, empathetic, masculine
synonyms: lover, theologian, superhero

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Ariana: Ar·i·an·a

Pronunciation:\ˈer-ē-än-ə\

Function:noun

1. mommy impersonator
2. enforcer of rules--including rules that are made up on the spot
3. a. one who has the ability to care for others one moment and attack them the next b. having the ability to strike with no warning
4. one whose large eyes and smile can turn the angriest person into an old softy
5. manipulator of mommies

descriptive adjectives: cute, moody, lovable, aggressive
synonyms: helper, mimic, boss
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Samuel: Sam·u·el

Pronunciation:\ˈsam-yə-wəl\

Function:noun

1. destructor of toys
2. tormentor of small children
3. one who has a joyful spirit and laid-back personality
4. one whose smile is capable of making one think it is actually a good thing they are being bitten and having their hair pulled
5. a melter of hearts

descriptive adjectives: amusing, active, strong, curious
synonyms: biter, bulldozer, tornado

Manly

Walking down the tool aisle at Wal-Mart with Honor and Connor:

Connor: "Mommy, Look! Tools for Daddy!"

Mommy: "Aww...can't Mommy use the tools too?"

Honor: "You can use the tools if you want to be a man."

**sigh**...we're teaching them well!

A Stitch in Time

Honor had to have surgery. We've known it was coming for a while so we put it off as long as we could. She was born with (what we thought were) 2 epigastric hernias...actually she was born with an umbilical hernia also, but that went away on its own. We were hoping the other ones would go away as well so I waited to take her to a specialist. But I finally decided I couldn't wait any longer and took her to the specialist on May 14th. The specialist immediately wanted to do surgery...this type of hernia does not go away on its own and can cause severe problems down the road. Of course I was scared to put her under general anesthesia, but he made it seem like there was no choice--she would need surgery at some point and it is either do it now or when it becomes an emergency situation. So we went ahead and scheduled it for yesterday.

Daddy and I were VERY nervous, but we did our best to not let it show. Monday night I told Honor that in the morning I would be waking her up early to take her to the hospital. There she would get to put on a mask like what Connor used to have to wear for breathing treatments (she started getting excited), then she would take a nap, and when she woke up I would be there with a balloon and the bumps on her belly would be gone. At this point she was very excited. "I want a RED balloon." Okay.

Tuesday morning I woke her up at 5:30 and drove an hour to the hospital...took us an hour and a half though because of construction. She was not allowed to have anything to eat or drink. When we got to admissions, they went ahead and registered us and gave Honor a wrist band. They also gave a wrist band to the dolly she brought with her. Then up to the surgery ward to wait. We ended up waiting for almost 3 hours before getting back to a pre-Op room. (Our surgeon had to perform an emergency surgery so ours got pushed back.) We spent that time reading books and playing "which hand?" with a quarter Honor found on the floor. She was having a lot of fun.

When we finally went back to the pre-Op room, Honor got to choose a pair of scrubs, a pair of socks and a hat to wear. She changed into those and lay down on the bed. She then told me that I needed to leave now so that she could take her nap. She wanted her balloon. I told her that she had to wait for the nurses to take her to where she would take a nap. Oh.

Shortly after that a woman came in to talk to Honor about the surgery....that was actually her entire job!--to talk to children about their surgeries. She explained to Honor about the mask. Honor was used to seeing a similar mask on Connor so she very politely, but impatiently listened to the lady talk. She wasn't scared of it at all--she had always wanted to wear Connor's! The lady let her choose what kind of smell she wanted to smell--Honor chose strawberries. Then Honor got to decorate her mask with Nemo stickers...Joy!

After that we were given pictures to color and a puzzle to put together. Shortly after we finished the puzzle, the surgeon came over to mark on her belly where the incision would be. Then the anesthesiologist came in. I immediately felt better after talking with her....she had experience! Both doctors explained what I should expect after the surgery as far as how Honor would behave and what she would/would not be able to do. They did a great job preparing us!

After they left, we were given Candy Land to play. Honor had a blast! And she beat me--or would have, but the nurses came to take her away before we could finish. She was given the opportunity of either riding in a wagon or walking. Honor wanted to walk. So off they went. Honor wasn't scared a bit.

Less than 45 minutes later the surgeon came out to tell me that all was fine. Honor would be waking up any minute. While he was sewing up the two hernias he knew about, he found a third one and sewed that up as well. "Three hernias for the price of two," he joked. A couple of minutes later the nurses came out to take me to the recovery room.

Honor was just barely waking up. She was crying and shaking a little. They told me that would happen so I was prepared. I picked her up and held her. Once they gave her her blankie and dolly she stopped whimpering and started feeling better. I pointed out her balloon--I couldn't find a red one, but they had a teddy bear shaped one. She really liked it a lot! About an hour later we went home. Honor hadn't regained her ability to walk yet which really bothered her, but other than that she was none the worse for wear.


The hardest part of all has been getting her to settle down! She kept trying all night to walk and once she was finally able to, we couldn't keep her down! I gave strict instructions to Connor and Ariana that they are not to roughhouse with Honor under any circumstances. Connor is abiding by it, but Ariana is struggling a bit....I keep needing to remind her. Honor isn't in a lot of pain. Her stomach is tender to the touch, but otherwise she forgets about it--except to point it out to people, "see my owie!"

Last night as I tucked her into bed, Honor thanked me for the fun day. I told her that I hope it was the only fun day like that we ever have to have!

How's That Spelled?

In naming my firstborn, I thought Honor would be an easy name to spell. Apparently I was wrong.

It first started back before Honor was born:
"How will you spell that?"
"Like Honor, you know, 'Honor thy Father and Mother'."
"Will that be H-O-N-O-R, or H-O-N-O-U-R?"
"We're Americans."

It has only escalated from there. I can understand that it is an unusual name. Many people think I am saying "Anna" at first since that is a "normal" name. But once I say my typical "like, Honor thy Father and Mother," people should know how to spell it. But apparently in this world of more TVs/few books, text messaging, and spell check people have forgotten the basic necessity of spelling.

Or maybe people just want to make it more complicated than it is. Some of the misspellings I have seen of Honor's name include: Honour, Honnor, Honer, Honner, Anner, Anor, Onner. Some of these are actually pretty spellings if I hadn't named Honor with a purpose.

One of the definitions of Honor in my dictionary (one of MANY great definitions I might add) is "an adherence to that which is right." Honor's middle name is Elizabeth: "to God be the oath." Together her name means to adhere to that which is right, my oath is to God...right=God. My desire for Honor is to see her walk with God her whole life and to always try to do what is right according to God's standards (not man's). If you change the spelling of her name, you completely change the meaning. (Not unlike there, their, and they're....) I sincerely hope and pray (daily) that she will live up to her name.

So, for those of you who do not know how to spell my daughter's name by now, it is H-O-N-O-R. And for the rest of the people out there, I guess I will just have to get used to it...

God Has Big Plans for Me

I think we've all looked at our lives and said, "who am I". I don't think anyone can honestly look at themselves and say they "know" what kind of person they are. People are much more than that. I can say I am a whole bunch of characteristics, (I am a Christian, I am a wife, I am a mom, I am a woman, I am a moral person, I am an optimist, I am a bookworm, etc.) but I am a whole lot more than each of them also.

Another blogger, Photoqueen, posted about this on her blog. I think she has it figured out when she said:

"What I do know is that God made me who I am, whoever that is. And I'm 100% sure He made me to do something BIG. I just have no idea what my "BIG thing" is!"

The conclusion I've come to is this: whatever it is God has me here for, it fits His Purpose to a T, thus it is big enough for me. Even if it is something "small" like raising my kids and then they do something "big". Or they do something "small" and witness to someone in a random place years from now and that person gets saved and then goes on to lead a million people to the LORD....that would mean I had a part in that and that would be BIG.

A long time ago I heard a version of the Frank Jenner story and it has stuck with me over the years. My job is simply to continue doing what I know I should do (and honestly, be better at doing what I know I should do). Then if I feel led to do more through prayer and reading my Bible, I should do that as well. My job is to allow God to present the possibilities and take them as they come. I might never see the impact my life had on others, but I know God has a plan for me and if I am faithful to Him, He will do something HUGE!...even if I never know I had a part in it....

Too Trusting Mommy

I was sitting on the floor playing with the kids when Honor came up to me.

"Mommy. Look up at the sky!" Okay. "Mommy. Open your mouth!" Okay. "Mommy. Close your eyes!" Oka...WAIT A MINUTE! I opened my eyes just in time to see my daughter leaning over me with a mouthful of water as if I were a baby bird of sorts and she needed to give me my nourishment.

"Honor STOP THAT!" She laughed and sputtered up water all over me and herself.

Honor has found an amusing new game lately. It is called spitting....well to be more accurate, it is called spitting out water. I believe she learned this new trick while we were teaching her to swim in grandma's pool. We told her if she got water in her mouth to just spit it out. The next day, I found her taking a drink of her water and spitting it in the dog water. Who knows how long she'd been doing that before I caught her!

Then this morning after the "bird incident", I saw her holding out a cube to Jasmine through the fence and watched as Jasmine vigorously licked something out of it. Sure enough when I took the cardboard cube to look in it, I dumped water all over myself.

I am just so thankful that we only give the kids water to drink!

Insult vs. Innocence

These are things that my children say to me on a regular basis that they consider HUGE compliments...however, if an adult said the same thing to me on a regular basis, I would be VERY insulted....

"Mommy, you have BIG feet!"

"Mommy, you have a BIG mouth!"

"Mommy, you are GIANT!"

"Mommy, you have a BIG belly!"

"Mommy, you are a BIG GIRL!"

"Mommy, you are OLD!"

"Wow, Mommy! This house is a mess!"

Negotiations

Dinnertime at our house goes something like this:

Honor: "Mommy, can I have some lettuce?"

Mommy: "You have to take a bite of your green beans and a bite of your pork chop first."

Honor eats said bites and I give her a small piece of my romaine lettuce--no dressing.

Honor: "Mmmmm. Mommy, can I have another piece of lettuce?"

Mommy: "You have to take another bite of your pork chop."

This continues until her pork chop is gone. Daddy gets up from the dinner table leaving some mashed potatoes, a few green beans, and a piece of pork chop.

Connor: "Mommy, can I have Daddy's mashed potatoes?"

Mommy: "You have to eat everything on your plate first."

Connor eats everything on his plate--except his wheat thins. I give him what is left on Daddy's plate. Connor eats everything on his plate AGAIN--except his wheat thins.

Ariana: "Mommy. I want Connor's crackers."

I give them to her without conditions...this will change when she turns 3--hopes she enjoys it now!

My Favorite Room

AWWW...the Toy Room (otherwise known as the front room). This is my favorite room of the house. Partly because I can stick the kids in there any time I want and fence them in (although that usually only works well when I am in there with them!) and partly because it is the ONLY room in the house where there is a place for everything and everything is in its place. I actually ENJOY cleaning this room--which is a good thing since I have to do it at least 3 times a day just to keep up with it! This room is also "cheery". It is filled with toys...how can you be unhappy in that? What I would like to do some day is put up a digital picture frame and center it on one of the walls. Then I will take pictures of the kids' artwork and display it digitally there--to add to the cheeriness. The rest of the house is filled with bills, rotten food, laundry and clutter of all sorts...a never ending cycle of work. This is the one room in which I can put things away and, if I shut the gate, it will actually STAY clean for longer then 10 minutes!

The room can quickly become a mess. Samuel really enjoys going through all the boxes on the wall and pulling out all of the blocks, costumes, puzzle pieces and cars and spreading them throughout the room. Connor enjoys knocking the bricks down and dumping the balls on the floor. Honor enjoys taking all of the Little People and Barn Animals and placing them throughout the room. Ariana's favorite thing is to dump all of the stuffed animals out of the red "car" and ride it around the room over to the Lego tub to dump that all over the floor so she can then put the tub on her head.

Then any one of the four children will go over to the magnetic alphabet board and push all of the letters onto the floor which I have just meticulously placed in alphabetical order and put the left over letters into words....this happens at least 4 times a day...pretty much any time they are allowed in the room really. Honor is starting to realize that the letters go back in a particular order and she WAS putting them back after she used them, but now she thinks it is more fun to take each individual letter and replace it with another one so that at first glance it LOOKS right until I actually look at the letter order. And I am just anal enough that I need to re-do the letters EVERY time.


If you ever call me after the kids are in bed, this is usually where I end up. I love to clean it...I really do. You will hear me dumping blocks back in their respective buckets, organizing the alphabet blocks by color and then by letter, and stacking cups so that they fit better in the tea pot.

Oh...I love this room!

What Are The Rules?

My kids know "THE Rules" by heart now: "No Fits. No Hits. Obey Mommy and Daddy." Simple and to the point. They change slightly periodically if the "scenery" changes: "No Fits, No Hits, Obey Grandma and Grandpa...Obey Mrs. Kim...Obey Aunt Steph", etc.

Honor and Connor like to play "mom" and "dad". Honor had her "babies" "eating" at the table in the toy room and "playing" with toys. Connor came over and told the babies that there are "no toys at the dinner table....Oooobeeeeey Daddy."

Later the babies were playing at the "park".


"Mommy"'s instructions were: "No Fits, No Hits, Obey 'struction Worker!"

Is It Hot Outside?

I like to take one of the kids with me each time I run errands...it makes it a little easier on my husband and it gives me one-on-one time with them which they like. Yesterday I took Honor with me to the store. She always amuses people when we grocery shop because I let her get the groceries off the shelf and put them in the cart. This includes grabbing "six bags of broccoli" from the freezer section and "three bags of frozen strawberries" and "four frozen pizzas"...people enjoy watching her do it all without my help...and she likes showing off :-D.

ANYWAY....

On our way home, my mom called (from Iowa). When we got home, I let her talk to Honor so that I could put away groceries "uninterrupted". Honor is funny when she talks on the phone. She is getting to be such a big girl! She puts the phone up to her ear and jabbers away. Just like her Mommy, she paces up and down the floor and picks up things in her tracks. :-D

From the refrigerator, I hear Honor say:

"I don't know. Just a second, let me check."

Things like this always draw my attention so I turn to watch Honor stick her leg out the dog door. She holds it there for a second before continuing, "Yep! It's hot outside!"

She must have forgotten in the 2 minutes since we came in the house.....

The Dog Knew Better

There are days when I feel like I am an excellent mother. It might sound conceited, but I work hard at what I "do" and try my best to think of my children's safety above all else. I also try to balance that out with common sense (I would want my kids to live in a bubble if I had my way!) However, today is not one of those days....

I have been dying to try out Cosmo Dog Park voted best dog park of 2007. It boasts:

One large group ramada and 3 picnic ramadas at Cosmo Park are located throughout the park. You can also enjoy the lighted basketball court and tot lot.

I was a little wary since I have small children...I didn't want to take them to a place where dogs could knock them over. But my "visiting" case worker came out on Monday (she only comes out for the monthly visits...my other case worker does everything else) and when she found out I like to take Jasmine swimming, she told me I should try out the dog park. She said that the park had a fenced-in place for dogs to play and swim and a play area where the kids could play. I'm assuming that's what the site refers to as the "tot lot". So I decided to go on a weekday mid-morning to try it out--assuming that there wouldn't be a lot of people/dogs there...especially on a day like today when it is 100 degrees outside. I was very mistaken.

I was told that there was a play area there on the other side of a fenced area so my kids could play and my dog could swim off leash and all would be good. NOT the case. I figured I would go mid-morning on a workday to try it out for the first time since I figured there would be less people/dogs there. NOT the case. I thought Jasmine would do well and want to play since she loves quartering and has been around other strange dogs many times while hunting and never had a problem. NOT the case.

What happened was this. I packed Connor and Ariana in the stroller, put Samuel in my baby backpack, "walked" Honor, and took Jasmine over to the fenced-in area. The play area was for 8-10 year olds..MUCH too old for my kids. So I decided to try the dog area with the kids in the stroller thinking I had them under control, they wouldn't run up to strange dogs, etc. Frankly I was very stupid for even going as far as I did with the kids there. I wasn't thinking about dogs coming up to my kids and attacking THEM...I figured they were safe as long as they were contained and not bothering the dogs...what was I thinking!!! (Before I go any further, my kids are absolutely fine...no dogs tried to attack them so don't have a panic attack...I didn't think about that until afterwards which was stupid of me).

I also scared Honor (who has always been around dogs--wary, but not scared of them) because I made a big point of telling her not to touch other people's dogs. So any time a dog came CLOSE to her, she would scream and panic and climb either onto my leg or into the stroller basket.

We went into the fenced area and I let Jasmine off the leash expecting her to run right to the lake (she LOVES swimming and it was 100 degrees). She refused to leave the stroller. I couldn't get her to go more than a foot away. I even walked down to the edge of the water and she got her feet wet, but wouldn't go any further. She was protecting the kids. I hadn't thought about her doing that. Like I said, she'd been around other dogs before and never had a problem, but today (because of the kids I'm sure) she actually attacked 4 dogs for coming too close. Didn't bite them hard thankfully, but she let them know they were not welcome. She is only 40 pounds and she was attacking dogs twice her size--big labs and boxers. English Springer Spaniels are known for being protective of their family which is why they are good WATCH dogs, but I have never seen her attack anything before. Needless to say I only stayed there a few minutes before leaving.

However, I still wanted Jasmine to have a chance to play since she has been so bummed lately--I figured it would make her feel better. So I took her into the "agility" section of the dog park since there were only a few dogs in there. I parked the stroller in the ramada with the intention of letting Jasmine go play. But before I could let her go, a lady started in on me. Looking back at it now, I am glad she did...although I wish she would have changed her approach a little bit. Basically the exchange was said in a know-it-all, superior dog owner, crabby voice. She told me that kids should not be in there. Immediately I began defending my kids to her--telling her that I had them under control and they weren't leaving the stroller or offending any of the dogs. That is when she pointed out that it didn't matter how under control I had THEM, another dog owner might not have THEIR dog under control. Mallet upside the head for me. Of course I left the park immediately. The kids were VERY disappointed. I was VERY disappointed. The dog park is 30 minutes away (everything is at least 30 minutes from our house) so we drove all the way there and didn't really do anything except hassle with the stroller and the backpack and pull Jasmine back from other dogs.

I just want to say, that normally I am not this careless. I have been trained from the time I was a child that dogs are generally good. I have never been bitten. I have little fear of dogs in general. I have taught my kids always to be gentle with dogs and never to touch a dog that doesn't belong to us. My kids don't pull tails or ears and they don't bother the dogs when they are eating. The LIKE dogs, but they have a "healthy" fear of them. In my naive mind, I figured my kids would be safe from dogs. And they probably would be and will be, but not if I continue to do stupid things like what I did today. Yes, MOST dogs are gentle and under good control...and I could venture to say that 99% of the dogs at the dog park would not attack a child that was leaving it alone, but there is that 1% chance of one of the dogs having an off day or having a fear of children in general and not heeding their owner and attacking my children. The more I think about it, the more my gut hurts! How could I have been that stupid!

Jasmine knew better. Jasmine wasn't going to take any chances with HER family. When we got home, she lay down on the floor and looked at me...I could almost hear her saying to me, "why did you take those kids to such a dangerous place? What if I wasn't there to protect them?" She knew better than me...and that's the most humbling part.

Stinky

Ariana: "I have an icky stinky Mommy!"

Mommy: "Okay, I'll changer your diaper in a second."

Honor: "ARIANA...WHY do you ALWAYS have stinky diapers!"

ITS DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Daddy finished Connor and Samuel's (well, Connor's) bunk bed...well mostly anyway--enough for him to finally leave our bedroom and sleep in his own room. There are a few minor finishing touches he wants to do to it (like adding a couple of steering wheels to the cockpit and putting stars on the "ceiling" of the bottom bunk), but it looks great! My wonderful SIL offered to paint a mural on the wall for him, so that will eventually be added too (and I will upload a few pictures of that when it is done also), but here is what it looks like now (of course it looks MUCH better in person...hard to take pictures that do it justice....):




BOY my husband is handy!!!!!! :-D

Superheroes

I am such a horribly mean mommy!

Connor likes to go through a list every morning of all the people who love him: "Mommy loves me very much, Daddy loves me very much, Honor loves me, Ariana loves me, Samuel loves me, Jasmine loves me..." It is very sweet.

Well he is also really into superheroes right now and he started adding them to his list: "Batman loves me very much, Superman loves me very much, Spiderman loves me, Underdog loves me, Bibleman loves me..."

I let this go on for a few days, simply answering my typical, "mmmhmmm". But yesterday in a fit of freaky worry about some stranger dressed up in a superhero costume coming to take my little boy away and him willingly going because they "love him", I burst his little bubble. "Batman does not love you...Batman does not KNOW you...if Batman knew you, he would love you, but Batman isn't real...he is just pretend."

So now my little boy still loves superheroes, but his litany now goes like this: "Superman is a GOOD guy. Superman doesn't KNOW me. Superman doesn't love me. Batman is a GOOD guy. Batman doesn't KNOW me. Batman doesn't love me. Spiderman doesn't KNOW me..." He doesn't seem saddened by this thankfully, but it sure breaks my heart! Mean mommy! I never wanted him to think he is not loved. Its almost like he didn't understand the part that they aren't real...just that they don't love him!!!

But at least he still knows, "Mommy loves me very much...."

Too Predictable

So Barney just came on the tv...and Ariana started yelling upstairs "um E redee, adee" over and over again... pretty soon it became a little clearer: "unch E redee, Addee" and I realized she was yelling something upstairs to Daddy who had come home from work to take a quick catnap. So I listened a little more carefully..."unch IS Ready, Addee!" oooohhh...Lunch is ready, Daddy. I get it!

Unfortunately for her, lunch is NOT ready...I've been at the computer for the last 30 minutes or so and haven't made lunch yet, but Barney is on so she knows lunch is coming. Yep...too predictable! Better go make lunch now....

Conversations

Honor and Connor were roughhousing...

Connor: "Get off of me Pirate!"

Honor: "I'm not a pirate...I'm a girl!"

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Honor: "I'm a princess"

Connor: "I'm Beast" (from 'Beauty and the Beast')

Connor ties a blanket around his neck...

Connor: "I'm Superhero Beast!"

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Honor:

"I'm going to call BOB THE BUILDER."

Honor grabs her phone and pretends to talk...

"Hello, BOB THE BUILDER. Do you need help BOB THE BUILDER? I'm on my way!"

Honor walks over to me and looks me in the eye...

"What can I help you with BOB THE BUILDER?"


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Honor and Connor were lying on the floor with their blankets...

Honor: "Let me tuck you in"...."There...all tucked into your crib. I'm going to get into my sleeping bag now."

Connor: "I'm going to get into my sleeping bag now too."

Honor: "No, you sleep in a crib. I'm Mommy, I sleep in a sleeping bag."

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Honor: "Next time we take Jasmine for a swim we'll have to bring her floaties."

MOOOOMMMMM You're Silly!

Nananananananana BATMAN!....Nananananananana BATMAN!......Nananananananana BATMAN! BATMAN! BATMAN!

So the Cheerios box has a picture of Batman on the box and a little Batman figurine inside...we haven't gotten to the figurine yet, but they say it is inside...

We were discussing Batman today at breakfast:

Connor: "Batman is a good guy!"

Mommy: "Yes Batman is a good guy."

Honor: "Batman is going to eat Connor."

Mommy: "No he's not!"

Connor: "Batman is a good guy!"

Honor: "Batman is going to eat Connor."

Mommy: "Nooo...Batman is not going to eat Connor. Only Mommies eat Connor. We eat his chocolate ears right off!" I nibble at his ears...

Connor: "Mooommm! Don't eat me! You don't eat Connors...you're not a monster! Moooommm you're silly!"

Ariana: "nanananananana Batman!"

Connorisms

Mommy to Samuel: "I'm going to eat your little fingers right off!"

Connor: "No!! Don't Bite Samuel! Mommy, don't eat Samuel...he's not food!"


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Mommy: "I want to fly."

Connor: "Mommy, you're silly! You can't fly...you're not a bird!"

Mommy: "But I want to fly."

Connor: "You can't fly...you're not a butterfly!"

Honor: "Yeah...only trains can fly!"

Mommy: "But I could fly in an airplane..."

Connor: "Yeah! I could fly on the airplane with you!"...."No Mommy! You can't fly on the airplane...you're too big! You'll break it!"

(And on that note, I feel the need to say that I am now down to a size 8! WOOHOO!!!)