Snow Fun but no pictures

I got home a bit early with the kids last night. Since it was light outside, I decided that playing in the snow was more important than getting something ready for supper.
We made snow angels, played on the swing set, cleaned the snow off the fort, tromped through the snow, and sledded down the hill... all in about 30 minutes. Ryan came home in time to take one long ride down the hill on the sled with Scott. Then we headed back to the house... Bethany running down the driveway and loving every moment of stepping in the snow and Scott getting a ride back in the sled.
We got back to the house about 30 minutes before we needed to leave for bible study. No supper, no babysitter but we had fun. Fortunately Ryan thought about supper and brought pizza home and our neighbors were willing to keep the kids (which my kids LOVE).
Nice. I love when things fall into place like that!

Praying and Eating Children

When I arrived at my parents last night to get the kids, they were all downstairs. As I made my way down there, I had the usual greeting from Scott: repeatedly screaming mommy and running towards me while Bethany simply acknowledged me. But last night the excitement was just as quickly gone and they returned to their playing.

Scott and Bethany were using their little imaginations to the full extent. They were playing house and having a blast. I was partly involved with them but mostly just chatting with my folks. They two kids were going non-stop.

At one point Bethany and Scott were talking about being married. After having watched them greet each other yesterday morning with a kiss on the lips, I wondered if they did that because that's what Ryan and I do.

I continued my conversation with my mom.

Next thing I heard was Bethany talking about having babies in her belly. Shortly after that they must have been born and she was laying them on the stairs. Scott excused himself for a potty break and when he came back she stirnly scolded him to make sure he didn't step on their babies as he came down the stairs.

I continued my conversation with my mom.

I look over and Bethany, the new mom, has a plate in her hand with ice-cubes (from the toy kitchen set) which were her babies and she was talking to Scott about eating the babies. I informed her that she can't eat her babies and Scott, the protective and apparently hungry, father stepped right in and said that this was their pretending and they could eat their babies.

"Oh dear" I thought and sorta continued my conversation with my mom while watching out for hannibals.

Next thing I know Bethany brings me a plate - hopefully not the one she ate her babies from - and a fork. I asked her to help me pray for my food... and before I could finish my sentence she was gone with my plate to the kitchen because she forgot to frost the cake. When she came back, I initiated my request again. Short and sweet, Bethany prayed "God, thank you for God. Amen" while Scott bullied through the prayer to insert his leadership and said "we are not a praying family". "Oh really?" I asked. I thought we were a praying family and thanked Bethany for her prayer. Scott continued, this is our pretend family and Bethany and I are married and we can do what we want. We are NOT a praying family. "Well then" I thought as I chuckled at their continued creativity and role playing.

Amidst the laughter mom said "well I can imagine why they're not a praying family... they eat their kids. What family that eats their kids would be a praying family?"

Point well taken mom! Oh Lord, how I love the minds of children and their creativity that You have given them. May I always encourage their creativity while also teaching them to live a life pleasing to You, to be a family rooted in prayer and NOT to eat their children! Amen.

Music to My Ears

Tonight while doing dishes, my sweet girl wanted to help with the dishes. I managed to talk her out of it this time. My guys were in the other room being rewarded with Wii time while Bethany and I hung out in the kitchen. I listening to Ryan's favorites on his ipod and of course Bethany was movin' to the music.

The song on the playlist: You shook me all night long by AC/DC.

Know what I did, cause I'm a good mom like that? I started the song over and turned it up. Yes, conservative little me.

It gets worse.

I then picked Bethany up and let her stand on the counter so we could be closer in height and we danced our little hearts out on the dirty kitchen floor next to the sink with boiling water. And it was fun! Now I know, especially now after looking up the song lyrics (which I promptly removed the link after reading the lyrics) that its not a song I want my daughter to learn. In fact, I much prefer her singing I love You Lord or Good Morning Beautiful instead.

It gets even worse.

That is the same song that plays when I call Ryan's cell phone. I thought it would be cute/embarrassing for that ring to be his wife calling. One of the guys in the office joked that Ryan sees the caller id and doesn't want to talk to me. That might be true. But it might also be that he leaves his phone in his truck because he doesn't want to hear that song when I call :)

This thought is not music to my ears! Hubby, maybe you should change the ringtone!

On a better note, let's see if I can add a video of my little dishwashing helper. Nevermind my random chatter. The cute part starts about 20 seconds in when Bethany talks to her daddy:

Makin' Cookies

This morning we woke earlier than I hoped and went to my Nanny's house. The word is out to everyone now that I'm in CA so it was no surprise. However, Great Gram was surprised to see me there right away this morning and really surprised to see little Bethany. Of course, Bethany jumped right up to the counter to help Great Gram make cookies (even though Gram was making raisin pie). The two of them had a blast and I'm guessing that the ingredients and therefore the pie won't be quite perfect. It may even have a smidge of a taste of oreo here and there. But the two of them had fun and I even heard Great Gram say that this just made her day.

I'm so glad for the opportunity to be here. Today the family gathers at 4pm to have a celebration of life service for my Uncle James. It will be good to see those who can make it.

Also to note, I couldn't wait to really surprise Kristine so I did call her last night from my dad's cell phone. She was still surprised to make the connection with my voice and the local number but not as surprised as if I'd knocked on her front door.

Weekend Report

I spent Friday night and Saturday morning at Beulahland Bible Camp hanging out with the Mexico City team. It was great to bond with old and new friends while we did some cultural presentations, shared what God's doing in our lives, prayed with our partners and studied God's Word. It was exciting to hear two of our team mates express a desire to be baptized. Both of them had been baptized at a young age but want to be baptized now as a public statement regarding their faith. What a cool end to our time together.

At noon Ryan, the kids, and our friend Elaine met me at the camp for a picnic and fishing. It was cold and rainy but we were prepared for lunch and Scott was determined to fish. It was a light rain so we managed that but were cold. Scott caught a big fish right away but after that Elaine was the only one who caught fish. As an international student from Malaysia, this was her first fishing experience and she loved it. I also paddled around the big pond with the kids and they loved it but my quads didn't!

Saturday night we did a quick run to Ryan's folks and grabbed some pizza in town before getting to their house. We ate our "diet" pizza [I think thin crust pizza is like being on a diet cause I love bread] had a quick tour of the remodel project, helped them move some things, showed them the waiting child list for adoption and picked a little girl that I want to get some more information about, stopped at WallyWorld on our way home and got in bed late.

Sunday was a full day at the church. I was home at 3pm and had a lazy afternoon with the family. Ryan left to work on the train that he and a few guys are building for vacation bible school, and eventually I got the wild indians in bed. [I seriously wonder how differently they would act if they didn't have sugar in their diet.] I popped two tylen0l pm's and headed to bed!

Cute but Defiant

Last night was night #4 that Bethany slept in her big girl bed which is in Scott's room. It wasn't near as dramatic as a few other nights. At 10pm when I went in to check on them, the room was quiet but Scott wasn't in bed. I found him a few feet away wide awake and snuggled up to his sleeping sister. He was so excited to be sleeping with her. I acknowledged him and walked out. Those two! I appreciate that they love each other and hope it continues moreso than the fighting. This morning when I left at 5:45am, Scott was in his own bed. Who knows if he slept with Bethany all night or if he just snuggled her for a few minutes.

Scott's Poop Drama

Well, how much do I share here. I have two kids that both have issues going #2. Scott from very early on has required help via laxatives. Yes, we've talked to the doctors, we're giving him adequate liquids, etc. Now that he's a big boy, he purposefully holds it in. Why would you do such a thing? He does. Eventually he's gets constipated and we are forced to put him back on laxatives and mineral oil. He continues to hold it. At some point he can't hold it anymore (this time 3-4 days later) and it becomes a mess. My poor mom! For several days straight, he pooped in his undies numerous times. Mom ran out of clothes and put him in a swimmie pull up from last year. It didn't fit. She didn't have a choice. Finally on the 3rd day (which happened to be a Cubbies night which means I had something to bribe/threatened him with), he got it under control and only pooped in the toilet. It stinks, quite literally, for everyone involved.

I don't know what to do with this child and his problem. I understand from Ryan's mom that its a genetic problem. I have told Scott that only big boys get to go to school. We'll see how he does come fall. As it was last night, he thought he was going to school today because he'd pooped on the big boy potty.

This is when I'm thankful that Bethany is still in diapers. You remove stench, wipe her down, and put on a fresh diaper. She's thrilled with that process... maybe a little too much!

Haircuts

Bethany got her first haircut last night. Although it wasn't really a hair cut, just a little trim to even it up and hopefully stimulate it to grow some more.

I got my hair cut too. Had more than enough to donate it to Pantene's Beautiful Lengths program. They have partnered with the American Cancer Society to provide wigs to assist cancer patients suffering hair loss... try to explain that to a curious 3 year old who doesn't like his mommy's short hair! Here's a picture of the cut (I forgot to take a "before" picture).

Bath time

Bethany must have been determined to have a bath last night... she's such a girl. During lunch, she took the meat out of her sandwich and rubbed the mayo covered meat all through her hair. Not sure what her deal is but if she's eating then her hands always get in her hair. When I saw her last night her hair looked a tad bit oily and I felt bad since she hadn't had a bath for several days. Mom informed me that she might well need a bath because of her lunch time fun. That girl!

Here's a few pictures to show you how precious she is... even if she takes after her dad in fashion: The first is of her in true form - with a guitar, wearing a hat of some sort and wearing Scott's old snow boots. This child loves those 3 things. The second is of her in her "pretty princess" outfit where she also had to wear the snow boots. That's my girl - knows how to clean up but isn't afraid to be tough!

Bethany, it's HOT

For months we've been warning Bethany that the wood stove is hot. Last night, she learned from experience. This child has no fear of the wood stove. She even so much as takes newspaper and tries to throw it in when we're starting a fire. She gets warned and scolded quite often. How do you train a child to stay away from the hot stove? Do you let them touch it?

Last night while fixing supper, the kids were playing in the other room. All of a sudden Bethany started screaming which usually means that Scott is bugging her in some way. As Ryan questioned a confused little boy, Ryan noticed that Bethany would look at her hand, then the wood stove, then her hand again.

Ryan: Bethany, did you touch the stove?
B: yes
me: Was it hot?
B: yes
Ryan: Are you going to touch it again?
B: no

She has a good sized blister on her middle finger. Tonight when we start the wood stove, do you think she'll be right there with no fear of it being hot?

Broccoli

Last night during supper (which I almost had on the table when Ryan got home) Scott didn't want to eat his roasted broccoli. He kept telling us that he didn't like it, that it was yucky, that he would eat the stems but not the top. We were pretty firm with him that he would be eating all two of the small florets that were on his plate. He was also determined. At one point, he wrapped his napkin around his broccoli and promptly sat it on the table. Eagle-eye Dad saw what was happening and removed the broccoli, put it back on Scott's plate and took the napkin away. Bethany on the other hand was begging for more broccoli (a word she says pretty clearly at 19 months of age) and would take more bites of the rest of her meal in order to get another bite of broccoli!

Scott eventually choked down the broccoli.

After I promised that he wouldn't have ice-cream if he didn't eat it.

Poor Kids

Okay, I'm not feeling super free to give details in fear that it might be held against me at some point but I'll share a little about my scare from last night so that you can remember to buckle your kids in:
Half way down the driveway last night, I made a sudden stop to let Scott get out of his carseat and help me drive. The sudden stop on the hill and Scott fell out of his carseat. I was really confused at how he got his belt off so quickly before I realized that I'd not buckled him in. I was both extremely thankful that nothing happened as I imagined the many things that could have happened and heart broken to realize that I didn't do everything in my power to keep my child safe. I was distraught. Scott had no clue. I apologized profusely and explained to him that any time mommy forgets to put on his seatbelt that I need him to remind me that he needs buckled in. Scott helped me finish our trek down the driveway and we made it into the house where a whole new drama unfolded.

Bethany had been abnormally whiny at my moms and I figured she was hungry. She ate some crackers and seemed fine. We got in the van to go home and she whined some more and said her tummy hurt. Not sure if she was just crazy since she had cotton pants on (vs. the regular jeans) or if the tights under neath were comfortable or if in fact, her tummy hurt. At home, she continued her whiny state and I knew that she needed to get to bed since the night before was a late and crazy night at the superbowl party. But she seemed more than tired so I started paying closer attention. She seemed to not want to sit in her hi-chair and didn't want to finish her meal. The little girl on the go seemed to want to be held. She crawled up next to me at the corner buffet thing and stood next to me eating my food and I continued to watch her. I noticed that she wasn't moving her left arm so I decided to move it for her. She reacted with a whiny cry and her arm was stiff and she said "no touch, mommy" and pulled away. I checked it again and sure enough she was holding it close and not wanting any movement from it. Ryan and I continued our observance while we ate and finally called the emergency room. I just knew that we were about to have another late night, this time in the emergency room. The doctor was sure that her elbow was out of place. He explained to me how to get it back in place, how she would react, and that 20-30 minutes later she would begin to use it again. He told me that if I couldn't or didn't want to do it, I could bring her in and he'd be the bad guy. We hung up the phone and I grabbed Bethany and held her and loved her (already remorseful of the pain I was about to inflict). I did just at the doctor explained and while I held her elbow in one hand, I felt/heard it pop back into place. It was such a yucky feeling. I think it almost made Bethany gag as she made a few gagging type of noises. But she immediately reached both arms up and grabbed me around the neck. Halelujah, she was using her arm. We watched the kids play for a while before going to bed and she favored her arm but used it, especially when I treated her with a chocolate chip cookie for being such a big girl.

And that's not the end of my drama...

As we put the kids to bed, I did the normal bed time routine which includes praying with Scott. I try to enjoy the time rather than rush through it but sometimes get frustrated when I expect my son to say what he's thankful for and he starts asking God when he gets to play the Wii next or when he gets to go to California next. I do have to remember that he's only 3. So we finished our prayer and then I started adding to his list of thankful things, like he's thankful that his daddy loves him and puts him to bed every night, and he's thankful that his house is warm, etc. When I said that he was "thankful cause he has the best mom in the world", he looked right at me and said "but mommy, you didn't buckle me in tonight!" Yes, back to reality... I guess I wasn't the best mom in the world last night. Sorry son.

Breakdown

I'm not sure who was having the mental breakdown this morning: the children or the parents.

Two whiny/crying kids + two rushed parents = chaos real quick

The chaos slowed while we drove to mom's and then picked back up to full speed when we arrived. Neither child could be pacified. Neither child would obey. Crying insued. I stayed at mom's long enough to get each child calmed down. And in the end, I gave in and let them have the cheerios.

My Little Princess

I'm not sure these pictures do justice to the tantrum my daughter had on Wednesday. I'd share the video but it's over a minute long and a large file to load. Let's just say that on a "normal" day, she wouldn't have gotten away with this fit of hers.

It was probably a good thing that Scott went to his Grandma and Grandpa's to spend the night with them on Saturday. It gave our little girl some much needed only-child time. She may be adorable but she is just like her mamma. Watch out world!

Too Much

Okay, this kid has the cheesiest grin ever. She loves to smile and say "cheese". Unfortunately, the result of her cute grin is a picture where she looks uncomfy or mad. Oh well.

The other night we had some friends over and Bethany latched right on to Zack. She reminded me of the 8th grade girls who are boy crazy. She loved playing with Zack and he was sweet to her even though he probably preferred to be playing the Wii and not worrying about stepping on little feet that were constantly under him.

Bethany wanted to be like her brother and thought she could drink out of a normal cup. Do you think she learned her lesson? Umm, no!



This child loves to crawl in boxes. I can't remember what the box was the other night that she had to be in. It was about 8" wide and 12" tall but she thought she needed to be in it. She brought it to me and asked for help. The box bulged as she squeezed her toddler body into it. Before I could grab my camera, she was wanting out of the box.

Playing with Gifts

Scott loves to help in the kitchen so I thought a little apron would be a perfect gift. He was less than thrilled when he opened it but as soon as it was time to serve dessert, he grabbed his apron and was the cutest little server. He left it on for hours and loved it.

Bethany got a little kitchen set that she just loves. Here she's feeding her Grandpa with a spoon. She has played non-stop with that thing, even when it was dark in the living room and the rest of us were in the kitchen. She is ADORABLE!

Uncle Eric is so great with the kids. Both Scott and Bethany love getting attention from him. Here Bethany and her Unky Eric are playing in a box and using it as a drum. This child is easily entertained if you refer to something as a drum. She loves music and noise in general!

Gift Opening

I make an honest effort for my kids to know and understand that we're celebrating Christmas as a holy type of day... the celebration of the birth of Jesus, the son of God who came to sacrifice. With that said, I like the idea of gifts because the kings brought gifts to baby Jesus. I love to buy gifts and spoil my children but we make a point not to do that. This year was difficult as I was out shopping numerous times and found some really good deals. I went just a tad over budget but we didn't do anything extreme for our kids. No BIG and spendy gifts, not loads and loads of things to unwrap. A little bit of effort can teach young kids a lot. Unfortunately, I'm not sure they learned what its all about this year. Scott was totally selfish and wanted to open another gift and didn't appreciate it when he unwrapped "just another box". Bethany was so tired she didn't care much. If it was a gift in a bag, she'd throw a fit. In her little mind, all she knew was that she wanted to tear paper off a box. Though we did the advent calendar, the advent wreath and other things to help influence their little minds, we have lots of work to do. I wanted to make a birthday cake for Jesus with the kids to try to help them understand the purpose of all this celebration but in the craziness of all the activity, we didn't get it done.

Here are a few pictures of the kiddos opening gifts (they managed to help everyone who had a gift to open):

Ryan said he's eager for the day when he gets to open his own gifts again. Since I don't like an audience when I open gifts, I enjoy the kids' help so they take the focus.

Bethany and Scott opened their stockings Christmas morning before we headed to Ryan's grandparents. You would have thought that Bethany was a poor child who'd never had a toy or a gift before. She grabbed up as much as she could in her arms and was not going to let go!

Nothing beats a crying kid when you're trying to take a cute picture. Little Miss Attitude was ticked that we wanted her to sit down in front of the Christmas tree. Apparently there was something else she wanted to be doing!

Beautiful

On a regular basis I make sure to tell Bethany that she's so beautiful. Also on a regular basis, after I've done her hair, I let her look in the mirror to see herself. Last night as we were getting ready to go to the Christmas program, I put a clip in her hair and picked her up in front of the mirror. In her small voice I heard her say "beautiful". It so precious to hear her say as I had not said it this time. Here's Bethany in a basket of clean, folded clothes. She never gets in a basket of dirty clothes and I've never seen her in a basket of clean unfolded clothes. She seems to only like the clean, folded clothes to rest her bottom on!

a Few Fun things

The kids are hilarious. They make us laugh, often. The other night we put the kids to bed and decided to watch a movie in bed before we went to sleep. A few minutes later Scott was out of bed. As I tucked him back in, he said: "mommy, turn your light off, I'm tired and want to sleep". His door was shut, our door was shut, it wasn't really keeping him awake. Good excuse though for a 3 year old.

Another funny moment was when the recycle truck was dumping the canister (think big trash bin on the curb). We live in the country and don't have that so we made a deal out of it and had Scott watch how it worked. Only the truck grabber didn't get a good grab and instead of the top popping open, stuff falling out and the canister getting set back down, the canister slid right out of the grabber into the dump truck. The driver took out a piece of paper and peered at the house seemingly looking for the address before he drove off. Today there is a new recycle thing out front.

Bethany has a new nick-name. I know I don't like them but this is fitting. We've been calling her Bethany-zilla or boo-zilla cause she's into everything. I've found her playing in the toilet multiple times. Today I left the bathroom for a minute and when I came back she had dropped a phone in the toilet and was playing in the toilet water (Ashley, if you read this before I get to tell you, just know that we will be buying you a new one).

California in pictures... so far

Okay, so I uploaded some pictures from my camera. They are most recent to oldest (all 3 days worth)... The kiddos with my precious Grandma. She has had two heart surgeries in the last few months and I thank God that I had another opportunity to spend a little time with her. We ate lunch with Grandma, my cousin and my dad at a local favorite, Sal's.

Yesterday we spent the day shopping. We saw a few people briefly (my sister, my friend Amy, my uncle James) but we mostly shopped. I added a cute purse to my collection (thanks to Renae for sending me a few recently). This can double as a diaper bag and maybe even an overnight bag! It was quite the bargain at $12. Got it at a store that sells stuff the local malls don't sell right away. I also bought some cute shoes there but found out they were different sizes when I tried to put them on today. Guess I'll be going back there!

The next few pictures are from our trip to Pismo. Not seen in these pictures are Ryan (he took most of them) and my dad (I should have uploaded one more). We ate at the famous "Splash Cafe", and played on the beach. To my amazement, the only shopping I did was for a bucket and shovel since the local Wmart didn't have one.

You can't tell real well from this picture but I drew Scott's name in the sand and then he sat in the "O" for a picture.

Probably one of the most exciting parts of our trip was surprising my Grandma and Aunt Janie in the Denver airport. They had a short, short lay over so we met them at the gate and walked them to their connecting gate. We stopped long enough for a hug and a picture. Grandma's face when she realized the wacko lady that was talking to her was me: Priceless!