Two in Blue

Ahhhh. Isn't this sweet?

Almost as charming as Gabe when he smeared an entire tube of hair gel into the carpet yesterday, showed me, and then proudly exclaimed, "I keen duh carpet!"

Even more fetching was last week after he downed an entire mug of my coffee (again) and then buzzed (literally!) around here for hours singing, "You are AWESOME, Mommy!"

But nothing was as charming as when he decided to experiment with loading TP into the toilet (stuffed tighter than a Thanksgiving turkey) and flush it just prior to my morning of errands with GLLAM in tow. Sharing the whole saga is one of those If Only I Had Time stories and would reduce me to tears, but suffice it to say that I arrived home just in time to spend the afternoon mopping up water and rounding up dehumidiers and fans from all my gracious neighbors.

And to think I have the blessing of chasing two in blue in another year or so.....

Ahhhh. Isn't this sweet?

If Only I Had Time

If Only I Had Time....I would tell you the story of how my girls are able to navigate the library better than I ever could.  I would take credit but in all honestly, it is sheer neglect.  

Read: I'm chasing after the rest of GLLAM.

If Only I Had Time.....I would tell you about Madeline jumping up in bed with me and saying, "Mom, I gotta tell you something..." and sharing that some boy has a crush on her.  

(Ok, not only do I not have time, I already shed a tear over this once!)

If Only I Had Time....You would read about how Lincoln has me completely whipped and has yet to see his crib.  Oh, my bad, he did take one nap in there last week.  Despite getting weekly emails from mommies all over the country, I have managed to break EVERY one of my rules with this little guy.  And I'm lovin' every minute.

(Oops, was that plagiarism?  Pretty sure that was a McDonalds tag line at one time.  Or maybe a song by Loverboy.  I forget.)

If Only I Had Time....I would make you laugh by telling you about the girl's Biography/History Fair and how Madeline wore huuuge sunglasses and stumbled about introducing herself as Helen Keller to everyone that approached her booth.

If Only I Had Time....I would share with you how I told my husband I had scheduled a vasectomy for him.  It was via Google calendar.  And I got a call about 14 seconds later.

But I don't.  Have time that is.  These are all the stories I would share if I were tending to my blog.  Which I'm not.  So instead, I'll share a couple fun photos with you.  I snapped these after coming home from helping my brother and SIL move into their new house.  Ron had offered to take the day off and basically do My Job.  

Is that a jogging stroller?  In the kitchen??

(please click on this picture to blow it up and give yourself a better view)

A new way of taking out the trash?

If Only I Had Time.....

Free Climbing

Free climbing: a type of rock (or staircase) climbing in which the climber uses only hands, feet and other parts of the body to ascend.  No artificial aids are employed to make upwards progress.

(in addition climber may yell, "Yook how high I am!" causing you to pause from dinner-making duties to check-in)

Again?

Apparently I did not explain plethora last time?

(bonus points for the re-hanging of the lavendar, btw)

This time we even got a little dry-your-hands-off bonus.

All told, 29 rolls.

Whatcha Talkin' bout Willis

(scroll down and pause music before viewing)

UPDATED:

Ron walked in the door from work tonight, looked at Gabe, and said:

Whatcha Talkin' bout Willis!

Mystery solved.

-------------------------

I wish I could say I had the slightest idea where he got this.  He threw it out as we were making lunch today.

I was just thankful the camera was nearby and I was able to catch it on film.  Thank you Go Go Gadget arm.

Plethora of TP

I asked one of the kiddos to refill the toilet paper holder in the half bath.

Need a Laugh?

I asked Ron to snap a photo of Gabe and I roasting a s'more together.  I'll be honest, I was kinda going for a Norman Rockwell Moment.

I was not anticipating a photo of me jacking my pants up.

Paybacks

So, my brother (you too Jen -- you are so not off the hook sista!) and I have this back-and-forth battle where we dress our sons in funky threads.  Well, funky to us.

I thought we had somewhat of a truce going after I outfitted Max in this Winnie the Pooh concoction a few months back (notice the hair parted in the middle).

And took him to meet up with them at church.  Ha!

Apparently not.

We're at my parents on Memorial Day and the cousins were swimming in the kiddie pool.  Sam, being the loving, always-aiming-to-please brother that he is, offered to towel Gabe off and dress him.  Wasn't that sweet?  (read: sarcasm very thick)

Gabe shows back up in this get-up.  And yes, that would be Lightning McQueen from Pixar's film Cars blasted on the front of his demin overalls. The worst part:  Gabe couldn't have been more proud.  He kept walking around showing everyone and sticking his tummy out to make sure they didn't miss the obnoxiously big, red car on the front of his outfit.

You know what they say about Paybacks....

Mommy?

I came home from getting my hair did last night and GLAM was running around playing outside.  They stopped dead in their tracks when I got out of the car.  They weren't sure what to make of the blown-out-straight-style.

Abigial:  Mom, I loooooove it.  You should keep it straight for-ev-er!  (runs to get camera and snaps this picture)

Gabriel: Mommy?  

Lauren: (very, very quiet. an occasional glance, no words)

Madeline: Will it turn back to curly tomorrow, Mom?

Creative Dining

Lauren kept complaining during dinner that her fingers were "burning" as she was eating her corn on the cob.

I knew we had those corn handle thingamajiggers but honestly, I was too hungry to stop and find them.   Danny would want her to solve this problem on her own.

Apparently, oven mitts have more than one use.

Need a Laugh?

(scroll down and pause music before viewing)

The kids made box costumes on Saturday morning.  Here's the turtle who has obviously been frightened into her shell.   

It certainly wasn't due to the crazy person filming the footage.

Abby decided she was a quarterback.

(and no, you aren't tripping on acid....camera operator may be though)

Accessorize Much?

Here's a picture I captured of Lauren playing in the backyard yesterday.  I should preface this by saying it was 85 and sunny.  

I had to know.....why the snow hat? 

Apparently, the wind was blowing her hair around.

Project Runway, Here She Comes!

Abigail and I were out for a little "us" time last night and came home to find that the famous seamstress had been busy at work.  She recently debuted her first piece here, remember?

She took one of Ron's shirts, similar to the one pictured here...

...and reconstructed it to a size 2T.  The stitching is impecable, no? 

She could hardly wait until he woke this morning so she could do a fitting.

Gabe says he's ready for GQ.

Inventory Control Tags

So, I get this cute little message from my dry cleaners today (which I almost deleted out of my inbox without reading) that said: Beware of the Inventory Control Tags.

It went on to explain that its important to snip them out because they contain a colored dye that can release during washing or drying.  Really?  You don't say.

I really didn't need to read that since I have no experience with purple dye. Nope.

Ok, I have.  Ummm, like 9 different times.  It has literally almost driven me crazy because I can never figure out where the "purple pen" is coming from.  

I finally had to assume it was the Sock Monster and he was switching up his modus operandi.  Please tell me you know the Sock Monster.  He's the guy who comes during the dryer cycle and steals the matches to your socks.

I am off to cut out 700 tags.  Just wanted to give you a heads up.

Random thoughts by Kristen:

So, as I am typing this I hear Ron tell the girls that he is charging them a dollar to referee an argument for them (another Danny Silk technique...and trust me, it works).

After he finished explaining how it doesn't matter who sleeps in which sleeping bag and how to honor each other, he asked them to leave a dollar on his dresser.  Abigail comes back down a minute later with $6.00.  Ron said, "Sweetheart, you only need to leave me a dollar.  Why are you trying to give me $6.00?"

Her response:  Because I love you Dad!

A day in the life.....

Boys will be Boys

I haven't posted one of these in quite a while, but don't think it is for lack of material.  Puh-lease.

Yesterday, alone, was quite a day.  For starters, he Crayola'd himself from hand to shoulder.  By that I mean, both hands and shoulders.

Yes, I've had to coin the term Crayola'd which should tell you something.  

As you can see from my photo attempt, he was not happy about showing off his work.

(remember, he does not care for the paparazzi!)

As I was downloading the attempted picture on the Mac, he strolled in with his very soiled diaper down at his knees saying, "I poop on potty?"  

No, my love, you pooped in your diaper and there is now residue streaked down both of your legs.  Wonderful.

(potty training is starting to look somewhat enticing to me)

Later as I was making dinner, I hadn't seen him for about .9 seconds (which usually means he's had enough time to escape the house and cross into the neighboring suburb) so I asked Madeline to take a peek.  She found him covered head-to-toe in conditioner.  Completely. Covered.  Apparently, he is into body treatments.  I wish I could have snapped a picture but honestly, I wanted to scream by brains out  I was just trying to handle the whole situation with grace.

Don't laugh but as I was trying to quickly post this I heard some quiet noises in the kitchen. Those are never good.  I peeked in to find him pouring an entire box of cereal into a bowl of very little milk.  Yes, the breakfast dishes are still on the table.  What's your point? 

And did I mention it was organic cereal? Read: expensive

I gotta run.  Literally, run.

Happy Birthday Re-do

 Thank goodness for second chances.

My heart is smiling.

(oh, and if you want a good laugh, check out the end.  Abby is stage left trying to blow out the candle.  Maddie gives her a stern "No, Thank You!"....to which Abby replies, "Yes, Please!")

Happy Birthday To You!

Madeline and I took the afternoon on Sunday to get ready for her (and Gabe's) party.  I gave her complete autonomy, letting her set up everything exactly the way she wanted to.  As we were working together, I asked her what she was most excited about. 

Her exact words:

"Even more than the presents, I am most looking forward to everyone singing Happy Birthday to me.  I love that part.  Everyone singing.  Its such a happy time!"

I was so touched by what she said and it was so completely Madeline to say it.

I will be honest and say I didn't think too much of it later (lots of activity with a huge family and 2 birthday celebrations!) until I downloaded the pictures and video later that night.  When I watched the video of the Happy Birthday song, I burst into tears.  She was so concerned about Gabe (he is seemingly reluctant about the whole thing) that she didn't even get to enjoy her part.

(scroll down & pause music before viewing)

I might have woken up at 2 am and started bawling again.  Ok, I did.  Poor Ron, he never knew what hit him!  Emotional much?  (Actually, yes)

Thankfully, I have an opportunity to "re-do" it again at her party tonight.  She is having a couple girlfriends over for little celebration.  Thank you God for second chances.  

Friendly Mom Tips

Time for another edition of Friendly Mom Tips.  Its been awhile since the last edition.

I just feel its important not to keep all this good, helpful knowledge to myself, ya know?  

Its not that I have any personal experience with any of this.  I hear these things, around town, and just want to make sure you know what you're doing.  I'm fine.  Completely.

Do Not... (or so I've heard) continue to change your son's diaper when he has "the look" and you are pretty sure he is relieving himself.  I mean, even though he might not be, and you really have to get back to what you were doing (whatever that was), don't go there.  It might end up messy.  Pun intended.  Strap on some flippin' patience Hang tight and wait it out.  Its all about timing.

Do Not... smile sweetly as you listen to your husband asking about the bath towels, hearing only every few words (car, dirty, gross) and respond, "I'm sure its fine", and then be amazed later when you towel off with a nasty, old, car wash towel.  He tried to warn you.

I'm sure if you were to do this (which you wouldn't right?), it would be because it was very early when he told you the towels might not be the "right ones"....and you were in an insomnia-induced coma when you later showered off with dirty, stained-up, car wash towel.

Do Not... decide to finally join Crackbook Facebook when you are about to head out of the country on a missions trip.  Honestly, don't you have enough to do already?  And definitely don't have alerts sent to your email when you own a Mac that dings every time you receive a message....sending you flying from any spot in the house to the office to see what's happening in everyone else's world.  That is pure addiction, my friends, and I'm sure there is a group out there for you.  

And finally, Do Not... (and this one is worth repeating!) do not try to sleep through 70 mph winds with shingles flying off your roof and down the street.  If it sounds like you are being attacked by Al-Qaeda and it continues on for more than 2 hours....it is not going to "die down anytime now." Don't be naive.  Take your entire gaggle down to the basement and fight the real war...which means settling everyone down and convincing them this is a planned family camp out.

Thanks, once again, to all my friends for passing on these very helpful tips.  If you have any to pass along, feel free.

Clean-up on Aisle 10

The girls spilt some yogurt during the lunch hour.  Oopsy.
Hmmm.  Let's see.  We could grab one of Mom's kitchen towels to clean it up.  Or, we could just have Gabe lick it up....canine-style.

Who needs a dog?

PULL IT!

Ron called a family meeting last week for a very important matter. Here's how the meeting started:    

Ron:  If you pee it - or poop it - PULL IT!   

read:  flush your waste!

(blank stares, followed by giggles)

He went on to explain that since we are all getting "older", it is high time that Mommy stopped flushing all the toilets (I might have been openly frustrated after having flushed my 16th toilet full of waste.)  

Since we often let the kids help decide the consequences, it was elected that if you forgot to PULL IT! you would forgo any treat/gum for the remainder of the day.  He had the kids repeat the mantra and adjourned the meeting.

Fast forward to today where I am about to take a much-needed siesta (that would be 2 seconds in the bathroom by myself) and find myself face-to-face with.....well, do I really need to explain further?

When I asked the kiddos who had forgotten to PULL IT!  Lauren said, "Um, it might have been me?" At the same time, Madeline peeked in and said, "Wasn't me, I wipe 3 times."  

(TMI, I know, but crucial to the story, and somewhat hilarious.....and TMI, I know)

Sure enough, there was one, small sheet of 2-ply floating.  Lauren's cover was officially blown.....and I got a visual reminder that we have more than just the PULL IT! issue to reckon with.