Can anyone tell me...

• Why Frances will eat pizza, pizza soup and dip cheese sticks in spaghetti sauce from this jar, but will not eat spaghetti?

• Why my children are up at 5am on Saturdays, but have to be dragged out of bed at 7 on school days?

• Where there is room to sit on this couch with all these animals?

• Why my children know ALL the rules in our household, except when they should be following them?
• Why dinner takes 45 minutes to eat every night?
• Where Henry gets all his energy?
• How these kids got to be so cute?

Break me off a piece of that...

Peppermint stick!

Last night after the kids wanted to eat some candy. They both picked out a big huge candy cane. After explaining to them both that they could not eat the whole thing, I opened Henry's. His was broken at the top, so I didn't have to do anything to his. Frances' wasn't broken so I knew I would have to break it. I decided to give it one solid whack on the table to break a piece off. It didn't exactly work out as planned!!

Friday Fill-Ins

1. It's time to get this Friday started, so we can get this week over with!
2. Rise and shine  ... and don't forget the smiles!
3. I'm trying to get back into the habit of blogging and recording our family's memories.
4. "Mommy, are all Princesses' daddies kings?", that was the last funny comment I received.
5. Please send me a housekeeper--STAT!
6. I hope the people I work with like me, cause I'm in it for the long haul.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to hubby cooking dinner, tomorrow my plans include a birthday party for a friend and Sunday, I want to teach Children's Church and then spend the day with my family!

Thankful Thursdays

Oh...Blogging. How I have missed you. I have been doing some work on the header and background here and I am mostly happy with it.  I made it pink for Valentine's Day.  Awwwww..... And of course there's no point in revamping the layout if I don't put some content here for people to read (hi Mom!!). Since today is Thursday, I thought I would post a Thankful Thursday to try and get me back on track.

• I am infinitely thankful for my new job. I love what I do. I love the people I work with. I love helping the students who come in.  I have a regular schedule, Monday through Friday, 8-5.  I have an hour long lunch break that is just enough time to go home, eat lunch, run a load of laundry and sometimes even get dinner started.  I have vacation time and sick days and personal days.  I feel like things are just so much more consistent now.  I am very thankful and truly blessed to have come across this job posting back in June.
• My family is another thing I am thankful for. I had a good amount of time off at Christmas and we were able to travel a bit. We got to spend time with Ken's dad, brother and sister in law as well as my niece, Abby.  I got to go home and see my parents and little brother. The kids and I also got to take a trip to my brother John's house and visit with him and Jessica and meet their dogs. Frances and Benjamin LOVED the dogs!! Henry was a little wary of them. He likes the idea of dogs; not so much the dogs themselves.

      We are also in the process of trying to plan a family reunion with my dad's side of the family.  We all got together two years ago in June and had a really great time. This time Benjamin would be along for the ride.  We are looking at renting some cabins in a state park and hanging out together for a week. It sounds exciting and I can't wait to see everyone again!

• In all honesty, things are good right now and it is pretty easy to say that I am thankful for everything.  Things aren't perfect, but I don't really expect them to be.  I just feel like I am in a good place right now. With my family, my kids, my job, all of it.  I am a happy camper!! Except for those two grey hairs I discovered this month!!

Benjamin's 50 words

I did this post with Henry when he was getting close to two, so I thought I should start one for Benjamin as well.  His language has really taken off recently and he seems to be talking a lot!  SO far he can say:

1. mama
2. dada
3. sissy (Frances)
4. bubba (Henry)
5. mee mee (himself)
6. keekee (Oscar)
7. cah (car, truck, etc,)
8. more
9. peez (please)
10. kang koo (thank you)
11. coo coo (choo choo train)
12. nah nigh (not nice)
13. bigh (bite-as in "the cat bit me")
14. num num (any kind of food, usually candy)
15. baf (bath)
16. jooooooose (juice or sippy cup)
17. nigh nigh (night night)
18. hi
19. bye bye
20. ummmm
21. noooooooo
22. huh huuuuh (for "yes")
23. mine
24. no (nose)
25. eye
26. ear
27. ball
28. Animal sound: RAWR!! (appropriate for a lion, bear, or tiger)
29. Animal sound: woof woof (for a dog)
30. Animal sound: mow mow (for a cat)

That's a pretty good list so far. I know I am forgetting some, so I will be back to add to it.

I am back to add:
   31. Buck (for a male deer--I am SO proud!)
   32. guk (truck)
   33. Animal sound: moooo (for a cow)
   34. binkg (binky)
   35. coooooo (cold)
 

A Plea to the Tooth Fairy

The kids had a dentist appointment this week. This kids love going to the dentist!  I know that sounds crazy, but the dentists at our dentist's office are both really great. One guy goes to our church and the other woman is just really friendly and sweet.  The hygienists are awesome too!  Unfortunately, their teeth don't look so great.  :(  Part of the problem is remembering to brush every night. Part of the problem is that their teeth are so squished together that it is very hard to clean between them.  Even the hygienist had trouble with all her special dental tools.  Henry is going to have to have some cavities filled in his back teeth. We also talked a bit about his thumb sucking habit.  His bite and his teeth have been already been affected and we have been talking with him about quitting, but it's not as easy as just taking away a pacifier.
On the way home from the dentist, I talked with the kids bout being better about brushing and not eating so much candy and I told Henry that he was going to have to stop sucking his thumb.  When we got home Frances and Henry went into the dining room while I was fixing dinner.  They were very quiet, but I was thankful that I was able to get dinner ready without interruptions.  After a quick dinner we got ready for bed and the kids got settled in for the night.  Frances gave Henry something and he put it under his pillow. Being curious, I asked him what it was. Frances said it was a note for the tooth fairy.
I was tired and I didn't think much of it until I was lying in bed falling asleep myself.  I jumped out of bed and crept into the kids' room. I slowly pulled the note out from under Henry's pillow. I was tucked inside a tooth ring Frances had gotten at the dentists' office.  I unfolded it and found this:

Frances thought that if the tooth fairy brought Henry a pacifier that he would stop sucking his thumb.  Awww! So sweet. But sorry, honey that's not how it works!!

10 Surefire Ways To Avoid Red Lights

From my recent driving experience, I have learned that there are some absolutely foolproof ways to get "all greens" when you are out driving around town:

1. Receive a text that you want to read and /or respond to.
2. Get something in your eye that either stings or impairs your ability to see.
3. Be ahead of schedule for a meeting you don't want to go to.
4. Hear a loud "Uh-oh" from the backseat followed by silence (or the sound of something dripping).
5. Have a misbehaving child who needs "the eye."
6. Have a coughing or sneezing fit that leaves you breathless.
7. Have an itchy foot.
8. See someone you know driving next to you, but they won't turn and look at you, despite your mad waving.
9. Drop your map on the floor right before the next turn.
10. Try to hand someone in the backseat something, but drop it right where they can seat it but not reach it. And then they start screaming for it!

Momma Can't Dance

I have posted some funny comments from the backseat and our evening commutes, but they have all involved Henry or Frances. Well, apparently, Benjamin now wants in on the fun.  I had just the boys in the car with me and we were leaving the day care parking lot. I had turned the music down in the morning so it was relatively quiet in the van.  I started whistling; something cheery. I don't remember specifically what the tune was.  And then from the back seat...my sweet littlest one, yelling: "Nooooooo! Stooooooooo!"  So I stopped whistling and said, "Benjamin, are telling Mommy to stop whistling?"  And he responds: "Huh-huuuuh"  Which is his way of saying "yes."
So, I stop whistling and turned on the radio.  And then Henry started laughing uncontrollably.

Me: What is so funny back there!?!
Henry: Benjamin is dancin'!

So of course, I try to look in the rear-view mirror to see what is going on. I can barely see his little head moving (he is still rear-facing in his car seat). So for the ride home I left the music on and listened to Henry giggling.

Later after dinner, I was cleaning up in the kitchen and Benjamin came to visit me. I turned on some music and my iPad and he started grooving.  He was bouncing up and down and waving his arms. It looked fun, so I joined in! Then he stopped and shook his little finger at me. "Noooo.  Stoooooo." So I stopped dancing and then he continued on.  Each time I tried to join in he would waggle his little finger and tell me to stop.

I made a loud hissing sound which is supposed to attract Ken's attention without alerting the kids to the fact that I am trying to point out something they are doing. (Because you know if I said, "Hey come here the kids are being cute." they would immediately stop.)

When Ken came in the kitchen, he saw Benjamin dancing. He said, "Are ya dancin', buddy?"  And Benjamin said, "Huh-huuuuh."  Then I showed Ken what would happen if I tried to dance, and Benjamin still got upset. But guess what happened when Ken started dancing!??!  Nothing!! Benjamin just looked at him and kept right on grooving.  Not fair!

But what really worries me is "What happens if all our kids learn their dance moves from Ken???"

From the Back Seat

As I drive home in the evenings, I usually try to prepare the kids for what we will do when we get home.  Usually I do this to preempt the "Can we watch TV?" discussion that I know will be coming.  Typically I tell the kids what their chores will be and remind them about putting shoes and coats away. It is never a long conversation, but there are often groans when the assigned chores are announced.  This is one of my favorite recent conversations:

Me: Tonight when we get home, Frances and Henry, you both have clothes to put away.

Henry (shouting): WHY DO WE ALWAYS HAVE CHORES?!?!

Me (after a brief time of reflection):  Well, chores are important for you to learn how to be a responsible person.

Henry (after a brief silence): Oh. I thought they were just boring.