That's a Classic

Last night the kids were playing with silly putty. Their new discovery was that silly putty bounces, just like a rubber ball. They kept rolling it into a ball shape and throwing it down the hall and in the kitchen. Ian brought his ball to me, and he was just giggling. He said, "I have to tell you something silly. I bounced my silly putty and it bounced into the toilet! So I had to get it out." My first question, seeing as how he was currently holding the actual ball that had been in the toilet, was, "Did you wash it off?" He assured me he did, and his hands too. A few minutes later, Cory (who hadn't been present for the earlier conversation) came and sat down on the couch beside me and Ian brought his putty over to him. "Make a ball for me, Daddy," he said. Cory gamely took the putty and began rolling it into a ball. Then Elise goes, "Yeah, he dropped that ball in the toilet." Cory stopped rolling and just looked from one to the other of the three of us, each of whom burst out laughing. Poor guy! We assured him it had been washed off, for whatever consolation that was. The look on his face when Elise told him it had been in the toilet was just priceless. What a good sport he is. :)

Odds and Ends Around Here

Elise is growing up so fast, it is really scary. I think some of it may be the different phases kids go through. There was a while there where there was some sassiness, some contention or competition between us, and generally things not being as smooth as they had previously been. Apparently she has worked out some of those things and has just become the joy of our family. She is the absolute best big sister in the world. She plays with Ian, including him in practically every activity or adventure she is planning. He adores her so much that he cries almost every day when she leaves for school and the other day when she was out he said, "Yay!!! Now I don't have to cry today!" With Merry Grace she is completely untiring in her help with her. She will push her on the tricycle, pull her in the wagon, tote her around and just all-around help her with whatever she needs. At dinner time, both little kids want to sit beside her, so even though we only have two chairs side-by-side, she pulls a third one around and scrunches them closely together so they call all three sit together. And not only is she great with her siblings, but she's a huge help to me. Just last night at dinner she helped make the salad and set the table. Then when Cory and Ian left for t-ball, she stayed right with me and helped me clear off the table. I really cannot say enough good things about her and every one is deserved.

In other kids news, Ian had a dentist's appointment today and did wonderfully. On the way there he asked me "What does 'in the lane' mean?" I wasn't sure where he'd come up with that phrase, so I asked him where he'd heard it or to use it in a sentence, so I'd know where he was coming from. He replied, "You know, like 'Andale, Andale!'" Merry Grace is in love with horses, which she calls "Soresies" and whenever we pass a field with horses, cows, goats or anything of the like she shrieks, "Soresies." It's so adorable. I love the little way she says things. She's putting more and more words together and getting more and more opinionated. She's a lot of fun. :)

I had a proud mommy moment last night when my kids went crazy over their vegetables at dinner. We had salad with a homemade vinaigrette dressing, corn, peas and potatoes. They cleaned their plates and wanted more of everything except the peas. Even Merry Grace couldn't eat enough of her lettuce. It turns out Elise fed at least one pea to Max, but I can't complain when they ate so well. Lots of times meals are not a joyous event, so to have them all enjoy the food (especially veggies) and want more, so it was a great day!

Names

I was thinking about the different names kids call their grandparents these days. It seems like the names grandparents go by today have much more variety than when I was a kid and certainly when my parents were kids. I called both sets "Grandpa" and "Grandma", and they were distinguished by the fact that for my paternal grandparents I used their last name in addition to their title and with my maternal grandparents I used their first names. Today my kids call my mom and dad "Grammy" and "Papa". They call Cory's parents "Grandma" and "Pa". With their being so many grandchildren on his side of the family, his dad also goes by "Grandy" and "Granddaddy". My kids are also fortunate enough to have three great-grandmothers living whom they call "Grandma J", "Dee-Dee", and "Little Grandma". I still think my kids use more of the traditional grandparent titles. What did you call your grandparents, and if you have kids, what titles do they use for their grandparents now?

A few random thoughts

Cory and I saw a commercial several days ago for Hellmann's mayonnaise. It was pretty funny, because it was basically touting mayonnaise as a health food--omega-3 fatty acids and so forth. I love mayonnaise, but I definitely have to use it sparingly, as it is not on my list of "healthy" foods. I did, however, use some on a tomato sandwich or two yesterday. Cory bought some tomatoes at the store earlier in the week, and for someone who doesn't like tomatoes, he picked out one of the best tomatoes I have eaten in a long time. I had tomato sandwiches for lunch and dinner and a half of one for a snack in between. Yummy!!!! In other randomness, I was thinking about how our hot water heater's heating element (or something of the sort) went out the other day and I had 2 or 3 days of cold showers. There is almost nothing in the world that will get me grumpier than a cold shower first thing in the morning. I don't know what it is... Continuing on, Ian cut the side of his foot this morning on a basket (do not ask me how) and it was hurting him. It wasn't a bad cut, more just the skin, which can be really sensitive. Anyway, his bandaid's kept coming unstuck and we were going to have to try something different, so I told him that we needed to put some antibiotic cream on it anyway. He responded, "You mean super glue?" AHHHHHHHH!!! No, I told him, I most certainly did not mean super glue. There was no need for him to ever use super glue, thank you very much. Good grief.

Mischievous Mischief

It started Sunday afternoon with a few little mischievous incidents, and continued into the evening. While drawing and coloring, Merry Grace found a magic marker and wrote on several things that were not paper. I promptly threw the marker in the trashcan and started wiping the window sill, etc. off. Minutes later I look over at the kids and see them drawing red X's on their hands and tummies with the red marker that Merry Grace recovered from the trashcan. I had pretty much had it at this point, so I told the kids to go to the bathroom and start running the water for a bath, that I would be right in there. I took a second to finish wiping off what I could of the marker and heard the kids begin splashing in the water. I didn't think too much of it, since they were supposed to be running bath water, but when I went in to the bathroom they (meaning Ian and Merry Grace) were splashing around in the toilet with that indestructible red marker. The toilet water was, of course, red and there were red water droplets sprayed all over the bathroom. Sheesh!!!! We survived the evening, all in one piece, thankfully. Then on Monday night, Cory had late appointments, so it was just the kids and I. My laundry was in desperate need of attention, so I began the overwhelming job of folding heaven knows how many baskets. The kids were supposedly playing happily and nicely in another room. They typically play so well together and genuinely love being together. Well, they had fun, alright. That fun, however, was Elise squirting out super glue all over her and Ian's hands. The miraculous thing is that they didn't glue their hands to anything around the house or each other or any body part. That being said, they managed to entirely coat the palms of their hands with super glue. So instead of spending the next little while folding laundry, I spent the next two hours soaking and picking super glue off four little hands. It came off better than I could have imagined, but it was incredibly tedious. My favorite part of the whole thing was when I said to Ian after hours of peeling super glue from his hangs, "You're never going to do this again are you?" He responded, "I didn't do it this time. Elise did." Not to be sidetracked from the real issue, I replied, "Well, I know, but if Elise ever wants to do something like this again, you'll say 'No', right?" To which he said, "Yes!!! I didn't think about that this time!" I think my main accomplishment for the last few days has been to keep a reasonable amount of sanity and not blow a gasket. :) Not so bad, if you ask me.

Lovin' the Weather

One day this week it was 70 degrees or better and we were once again outside enjoying the weather. Cory's parents spent one night with us, so Grandma came outside with Ian, Merry Grace & I to bask in the sunshine.

Ian was team "Tarheel", and the imaginary team was Duke and he had Grandma keep score of the game. Needless to say, out of three games, the Tarheels creamed Duke. He's a pretty good little shot.


I love how the kids interact with one another and how sweet they are together. This is just one example of that. :)


Ian and Elise are playing t-ball/softball this year and we've been practicing some out in the yard. Merry Grace thinks she's big enough to play "beeball" too and tries really hard, considering she's just slightly bigger than the tee and can barely lift the bat.


While Ian was making baskets, Merry Grace drove the "beeball" around in the jeep and thank goodness she buckled it in. Safety first!!!


My little all-star!!!


Elise was a good big sister and pulled Merry Grace around in the wagon. Merry Grace was riding in style, no doubt about it!


I think you can get a little better view here. We have an outdoor fire pit thingie and Elise took the copper bowl part out, dumped out all the ashes, placed it in the wagon and made a sweet little bed for Merry Grace to ride in. I think they both enjoyed it!


Luckily, Merry Grace doesn't mind being driven around since she's not so great at steering. And the bigger kids would rather drive anyway.


Our little dog Max. He's a cutie.

Tagged!!!

Tagged

My friend Susan tagged me, so here goes!!! Check at the end to see if I tagged you!

5 Things I Was Doing 10 Years Ago
1. I was a senior in high school.
2. I was taking an internship class where I got to shadow teachers at an elementary school. It just happened that my best friend and I had it together and more often than not it became what my parents called my "drive around and eat Chinese food"class.
3. I was trying to get ready for the Senior Prom.
4. I spent lots of weekends baby-sitting my brothers, and didn't mind it a bit. This could be a big argument for spacing your kids out. I would love an in-house baby-sitter!
5. And Cory, whom I had never actually dated, but had written for two whole years, was coming home from his mission in a few short months.

5 Things On My To-Do List
1. Go to the store and pick up a few things.
2. Fold some laundry. I suspect I will easily find a reason to move this to tomorrow's to-do list.
3. Straighten up the kids room. I started in the kitchen/living room and have been working my way to the back of the house, one room at a time.
4. Watch the ACC tournament.
5. Go to Elise's t-ball practice.
6. Sounds like an intense day, doesn't it? ;)


5 Snacks I Enjoy
Oh, there are so many!
1. Potato Chips (I only like these for a snack when I'm pregnant. Go figure!)
2. Any fruit with a little bit of that sweet, cream cheese fruit dip.
3. Anything chocolate!!!
4. Peanut butter and banana sandwiches.
5. Icees or slushies

5 Places I've Lived
1. Raleigh, NC
2. Wilmington, NC
3. Albertson, NC
4. Mt. Airy, NC
5. Fuquay-Varina, NC (do you notice a NC trend here?)

What I Would Do if I Became a Billionaire
1. Finish the home repairs we want to do or just move somewhere with lots of land. :)
2. Get new cars, free and clear.
3. Help some family members who could use it.
4. Save, Save, Save.
5. Do whatever good we could.
6. Oh, and I'd really like a porch swing. :)

5 Bad Habits
1. My sweet tooth.
2. Not taking the trash out when it gets full and just stacking things on top until Cory gets home.
3. Misplacing my car keys.
4. Neglecting just about everything when I get into a good book.
5. Not putting the laundry away after I fold it.

5 Jobs I've Had
1. Cleaning my dad's office
2. Day-care "teacher"
3. Teller for Wachovia
4. Helping Cory with whatever thing he needs help with.
5. Mother

People don't know about me ...
I think some people may know these things about me, but here goes anyway! I always wear lipstick (and I literally mean always) and mascara. I'm not adventurous or daring AT ALL. I have no desire to EVER sky dive, bungee jump, ride in a hot air balloon, ride a motorcycle or about 30 other things I could rattle off the top of my head. I like to get stains out of laundry and I can get most reasonable things out, even tough stains. If I could live anywhere in the world, it would be a little cottage right on the beach or a big farm with lots of animals. I detest any celebrity magazine or TV show and refuse to read or watch one. I will, however, read the yahoo headline story about a celeb. :) I enjoyed high school and have good memories of it, although I would not be interested in going back. I'm sure there are more tantalizing details of my life, but I'm drawing a blank for now. :)

I tag: Lynetta, Kristin, and Lisa. And I'd love my mom and dad to do it, but don't think they will. :)

How we know Spring is almost here...

We have loved the gorgeous Spring weather so much we can hardly stand it. It feels so good to be outside in the fresh air and work in the yard and play with the kids. Here are some pictures from around our house today, which are clear indications that Spring is on its way!

Here are some blossoms on a cute little tree in our backyard. While I was taking the pictures a honeybee flew up and landed on the flowers. We all enjoyed watching him.


Here is a dandelion. I know these are just weeds, but after the winter I'm thrilled to see anything that looks like a flower. We have quite a few of these in our front yard which, when they go to seed, the kids love to pick and make wishes and blow them across the yard. I guess its a good things I like them. We're probably destined to see more of them.


Another flowering tree around our house. This one is in the front. I love any flowering tree and would be very tempted to have nothing but those around my house.


Merry Grace was out swinging in the yard today. She loved it!!! I could barely get her off to come back inside!

While I was planting some seeds, Ian spent time climbing some small trees in our yard. He was quite good and thrilled with his new skills.

YAY SPRING!!!

Not the House Special

Since becoming pregnant this time, I've needed to get something in my tummy first thing in the morning. Cory and the kids have been so wonderful to help me out with this. This morning I was teasing Elise and said, "Elise, what are you fixing me for breakfast?" She responded, "I think Daddy is going to fix you something and I'm going to fix you something. Something special. But its not the 'House Special'. You'll see." This is where I started getting nervous. The last time she made me the House Special it was a bowl of cereal with Cocoa Pebbles, Banana Nut Crunch, Reese's Puffs, and Honey Nut Cheerios mixed together. Yummy, right? Don't you all eat that for breakfast? Luckily this time it wasn't the House Special, it was a bowl of Corn Flakes, with the tiniest sprinkling of sugar. And it was really good. :)

Kid-isms and a few other random thoughts

I love the little things kids say, where they don't get the words or the expressions quite right. I'm always sad when they learn the "right" way to say things. The older they get, the more they lose these little expressions, but I was reminded of one that Elise says that is so cute. Instead of saying "pinky swear" she calls it "pinky square". I think it is too adorable. Yesterday while we were straightening up my room I had on "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition". It was near the end where the house and so forth were being revealed. Elise asked me, "Is that house one of your dreams?" I told her "No" that I love our house. So she asked, "Well what do you want for one of your dreams?" I semi-jokingly told her I wanted a porch swing. In total seriousness she looked at me and said, "I believe you'll get your dream." She is just too cute.

The beautiful spring weather has been wonderful the last few days. I'm dying to get out and work in the yard, if only my queasy stomach will follow my inclinations. I had a really good day yesterday and got lots of good cleaning done. It felt very rewarding, if a bit tiring.

On Sunday, near the end of sacrament meeting, Ian started complaining of "sweaty feet". Elise says the same thing during the summer when she has to wear socks and shoes. Cory always takes the kids to primary and for good reason since two or three people stopped me with questions before I could get out of the chapel. It's really not a big deal, but this Sunday as I gathered up my things to get out of there, I realized one of the things I was holding was Ian's socks and shoes. Ugh. Apparently he'd already solved the "sweaty feet" problem. I was headed to primary to take them to him, when I saw someone I needed to talk to and then got stopped again. Then I felt like I needed to spend a few minutes tweaking my lesson before Relief Society, and the next thing I knew church was over and I'd never made it in there with the shoes. Good grief. So, sorry to all the primary leaders and kids for whom we set a bad example. Thank goodness we can try again next week.

We're in the process of having our house painted. If you've ever seen our house, its all brick with a little bit of wood stuff on the front...as an accent, I guess. Basically we have this lovely front porch (railings and all), the carport, the wood siding stuff and all the window and other trim currently painted a dingy mustard yellow. But that is slowly but surely being put to rest. It will soon be a sand color with white accents. So much nicer. Almost like getting a new house without actually having to move. :)

Ian likes to fall asleep with the covers completely over his head. He says it is because he is scared, which may be true, but it does a good job of scaring me. I realize he is 4 1/2 years old, but it still makes me nervous. I have yet to convince him of a better way.

I am just doomed to have independent fashionistas in my children. It is a constant internal struggle for me to convince my kids to my line of thinking regarding proper fashion attire. I've mentioned this before, but the morning's events reminded me again. Elise was getting dressed for school and was asking about the temperature. After some discussion over what shoes she could wear, she came back in my room with a pair of pink strappy wedges. I decided that while it will be warmer today, pants are still the way she needs to go, so I suggested a pair of black pants and a magenta top with some cats on it. The whole outfit actually matched and looked really nice and when Elise looked at it she said, "Hey! I actually like this. It's cool and it goes together, but without really matching." The funny thing is, is I think I saw her fashion style through her eyes for just a moment. I'm hoping as we pick out spring clothes I'll be able to find more things she'll really like wearing...but still looks nice. Then Ian came in with a pair of too-small royal blue knit shorts with red and white stripes...and a navy blue UNC shirt to go with it. He wanted to know if it matched. Usually I just say "yes" no matter how horrendous it looks, but this morning I said, "Not exactly, buddy." So he came back a few minutes later with the same shorts and another shirt that still did not match. Again I told him "Not so much." But he was convinced it did, so he's wearing it as I type. And Merry Grace...well, she's happy wearing anything from nothing to something of Ian or Elise's or something from her closet, but only if she's in the mood. I'm having a serious internal struggle over how much leeway to give them in their dressing. There are so few things they have control over at their ages, especially the younger they are. They are sweet, good, well-behaved kids, they just have a non-conformist fashion sense. I just don't know how much I should lay down the law over their clothes and how much to say, "You have to do it my way." I love their free-spiritedness about it, but there are times I cringe when I look at what they've picked out. Actually lots of times. :)

Also, as I've watched the poll, I'm interested in knowing what "other" favorite Easter candy you have. So if you don't mind sharing, tell me what they are. Mine was Snicker's Egg. They are rich, but so yummy. It's a good thing they only make them at Easter. I don't know how great my resistance would be otherwise.

Well, that about sums it up. Now I need to get on with some of my effective activities...whatever those are. It's a toss up between folding laundry and taking the kids out in the yard...hmmm....