Saturday, April 25, 2009

Guest Post - Daniel, Again

*** Please enjoy this new guest post from my husband, Daniel. Apparently, he had a very different experience on vacation than I did. ***


THE STUPIDEST ANIMAL EVER CREATED!!

Hello,

Although my anger has subsided a bit since I’ve first came across the Tawny Frogmouth Owl, I am still somewhat bewildered, as I’m still trying to understand the reason for its existence. Give me a minute to retell the tale of this asinine experience, as it represents just a couple minutes of one day of our grand vacation to Nashville.

We stopped at a little zoo in southern Kentucky that specializes in animals from Australia. Kangaroos, dingoes, and lorikeets were all very popular animals to visit. However, when we meandered to the aviary to see the laughing Kookaburra, the most unsuspecting thing happened to me! I saw it! I wondered, “Is that just a head of a hawk? This must be a mistake! Someone must have forgotten to clean the cage when they were cutting the heads from the bodies of the owls. Wait? They don’t do that at zoos!!!”

Dumbfounded I stared. But then it looked at me and that’s when I got scared. I screamed, “Sara, it’s alive! Where’s the bird’s body? Where’s his wing?! Where’s his feet?!!” As he stared at me, I felt as if he was thinking, “not this again.” I felt as if he went through this day after day and was resentful not only to me but the entire human population (or at least Kentucky’s). I felt him hating me as our eyes locked momentarily. I could have felt pity, but I didn’t. My bemusement turned quickly to anger because of his ill-will toward me.

I did not want to ever see this creature again. I wanted rid of him from the earth. Predators, poachers, hunters, bored teenagers, global warming do your worst to this bodiless thing! But as I’ve said before, I am less upset now that I’ve had time to adjust.

If you know of any other animals that are equally heinous, please share because I do not want to go through that ever again. You know, things like wiener dogs without legs (they just look like a hot dog that barks), a turtle without a shell, people with eleven fingers (and the eleventh isn’t necessarily on either hand), cats with no ears (they exist!).


Big Kid Beds

So, about three months ago, we bought "big kid beds" for Abby and Avery. Since Abby was five years old, we figured it was weird for her to still sleep in a toddler bed (even though she fit just fine). Also, her friend came over one day and said, "Wow, Abby. You have a small bed." Like in a monotone "wow" voice, not in a mocking voice, but still....

And so we headed out to Ikea, because I love that place, and found ourselves some new beds. We ended up finding two identical twin beds, but in white for Abby and in black for Avery. Avery's was on sale, but Abby's was not. Apparently they weren't identical after all. But they are cute, and they are big kid beds.

Now I'm slowly, slowly decorating the rooms and trying to make one of them sporty (my choice) and the other one fancy (Abby's choice). The fancy room is also supposed to be a princess room, but I'm not into themes such as that and we're compromising. Compromising as in, "I'm doing what I want, because I have the money in my wallet."

So here are a few pictures to let you know what I'm going for:


This is the color scheme, but my camera is hard to adjust to get a true picture. I think they look much prettier in person. They've got the colors right and the theme, so I love them. I got these signs clearanced at Michael's, so the thrifty side of me is happy as well.


This is the big girl bed. The comforter is a leftover from the toddler bed, but it sort of fits into the color scheme, though not the princess theme. For now, it works, but I hope to make her another quilt eventually. But you can ask my mom, Abby shouldn't hold her breath on that one.


And this is another sign that I made for Abby's room. I found all the wood picture cut-out thingies clearanced at Michael's, and the white board was in the "Handyman" section of Ikea. Another thrifty decoration! You can also see the pretty lavendar color we painted the walls in this picture.

*************************************************************************

Has anyone else been decorating lately? I would love to get links to your blog and see the pictures if so!

Monday, April 20, 2009

I Shouldn't Be Surprised

I don't know why I wasn't expecting it this morning when Avery woke me up at 6:36. I don't know why I was surprised. After all, this is the same kid who stuck one of these (the little ball thingies) up his nose just two months ago:


This is the same kid who broke his little pinkie when he was only one year old. He had a yeast infection in his eye once. I found him across the street, playing with garbage cans when he was 15 months old (and supposedly playing in his room). He was almost born in the car, for goodness sakes!

Yet, when Avery woke me up at 6:36 this morning to tell me that something was still in his ear, I was surprised. He informed me that "the thing from his dresser was in his ear," but "it doesn't hurt anymore!"

I was alarmed. I asked him what it was, exactly, in his ear, and how it had gotten there. All he knew was that it had come from inside his dresser, was circle-shaped, and white. Oh yeah, and still in his ear because he had stuck it in there.

So, instead of really trying to remove it myself, I called the doctor when the office opened. I've learned that the doctor is best at these things. We went to the doctor's office later in the morning, and he used big tweezers (forceps, as he calls them) to remove the object. Turns out it was a rubber drawer-stop thing that prevents the drawers from getting slammed. Apparently, these things are the exact same size as Avery's ear canal.

Maybe I should have expected something like this from Avery, since he did this and this. But no, I was still surprised. Even though he tried to pick up a smashed tampon in the CVS parking lot the other day, while screaming "clouds!" Yup, he continues to surprise me daily. Sometimes even hourly.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Presenting... Tulips in the Snow!


Well, we woke up this morning to snow. Snow - in April? Yes, it's supposed to be Spring, but Ohio doesn't understand this. Fortunately, we did have a couple weeks of actual Springy weather before this snow got here.

Last weekend we were able to play in the yard, go to the kite festival, and fly a few kites of our own. Daniel decided to try something new, and took the training wheels off of Abby's bike for a few minutes.


Just look at the joy on her face! She went up the driveway once with Daniel, crying the whole time. She then went up the driveway with me, semi-crying, and then down the driveway with no tears. Of course, we didn't actually let go of the bike, but she then decided that she had had enough of this.


And the training wheels went back on! On the bright side, the lack of training wheels for ten minutes made her much braver on the bike once the wheels went back on. She raced me up and down the driveway a few times, winning every time.


And so it is back into the winter coats the kids go. Hopefully I can pack these away for the Spring and Summer, eventually.



If you're the type that tears up thinking about how big your kids are getting, try this:

1. Do the laundry.
2. Fold 5 pairs of your underwear.
3. Fold 5 pairs of your kid's underwear.

See? They are still small.

Monday, April 6, 2009

You Know the Feeling... Right?

You know how your kids like to ruin everything you like to do? I mean, in most ways kids make your life better. But sometimes, they just make things so hard to do. And other times, they just completely ruin things.

Like when my favorite song finally comes on the radio. I turn it up a bit to enjoy it, and inevitably, the kids either start fighting or really, really need to tell me something at that exact moment.

After I hear "Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!" I finally turn down the music and ask what they want. The answer is usually something like, "I really like candy!" or "I can wear my shoe on my hand!"

And very often, as soon as Daniel or I sit down to watch our favorite TV show at night, the kids need to potty or are "tirsty." Sometimes Ethan comes in the room just to tell me that he found a different color pacifier, and has decided to use that one instead of the one he went to bed with.

The kids also know how to really ruin a love of reading. They can wrinkle a page, tear it up altogether, or simply lose a book just before you decide to read. Of course, this actually has happened a couple hours in advance, but you don't realize it until you finally have 30 minutes of overlapping nap time and Abby entertaining herself time.

But what really makes these moments worse - or maybe better, I don't know - is when people who no longer have little kids tell you that you will miss these moments when the kids grow. Sure I will. I will definitely open up a book and think, "where are the crayon scribbles, wrinkles, and torn pages?" I will sit to watch a TV show and wonder what that loud sound is, and then realize that it is actually the TV show, which I can now hear. I will turn on my favorite CD and think, "I never heard that verse before!"

And then I will miss the noise, and the annoyance, and the pain in my butt.

But, alas, right now I am at still at an early first phase of parenting, where the kids drive me nuts and I cannot even imagine what my life would be like if they were not 2 and 3 and 5. But for now, I have to end this post early because the inevitable fight over whether Ethan's shirt should be zipped up or not is occurring right now, and I have to break it up.

Friday, April 3, 2009

Oh! Hey! Another Big Idea!

So, I was reading this blog. Not this blog, but this blog. And you know what? I really, really like her ideas. I have this crazy 2 year old and this crazy 3 year old, and all they seem to want to do in the morning is make messes and fight. The mom that writes the blog actually home schools her kids, but the idea is very similar to what I did with Abby when she was about 18 months - 3 years old.

Okay, if you didn't check out the blog, then I'll tell you what it is about. Sheesh. You're lazy! (Just kidding!) The mom has a 2 year old as well, and she basically teaches him in a Montessori-style every day, for like an hour. Montessori-style is more play-based than lesson-based, and it works better with some kids. So, the mom has these trays that she sets up, with different objects on them each day. The kid is free to pick a tray and work on it. The trays have things like pasta and bowls to sort them into on one, then the next tray has beads and things to string them onto. I can definately see my kids loving this.

The mom on the blog says that "Tot School" is actually a great way to teach her older son (a six year old) that he is not "the center of the universe." Hmm... Now is there anyone in my house that I can see acting that way? Yes. Yes, there is. (No, it's not Daniel) And when that certain someone is out of school for the summer, I can also use Tot School to teach her - err, I mean non-gendered them - the same thing!

So, I'm going to be compiling a small stock of things like beads and votive holders, pipe cleaner and pitchers, tweezers and tongs, etc. over the weekend. Then, hopefully, on Monday the boys and I can begin Tot School!

** As a side note, the "tot" on the blog looks suspiciously like my tot.**

1+1+1=1's tot:



My tot:



Weird, huh??

Get a Job!


You know the economy is bad when two year olds have to get dangerous carpentry jobs....

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Family Size-ism


Have you ever noticed how biased our country is towards families with two parents and two kids? I notice because I have three kids, but I wonder if this ticks off people with one kid, or more than three kids too....

  • You know how restaurants have nights where kids eat free? You'd be surprised at how many of those places specify "one child eats free per paying adult." So the third kid always has to share with the other two, cause I'm sure not buying a kid's meal when the other two are free!

  • Frozen Waffles pretty much only come in packs of 10. That means we always have one extra waffle per box. Every three weeks or so, after we've gone through three boxes, the kids all get "variety waffle day." A different waffle for each kid.

  • Hot Dogs and hot dog buns (at least the brand we buy) only come in packs of 8. This time there are two wasted. That means we have two "hot dog variety nights" after we've finished three packs.

  • Minivans are designed for families with 2 kids. Why else would they make the back have only 5 seats? That means that if we ever go anywhere and take the kid's friends with us, one kid gets left out.

  • Hotel packages are rarely even designed for families at all, but if they are, it's a four-person family they have in mind. Some hotels actually charge extra if you want to keep three kids and two adults in a room. Like my 2 year old really takes up that much room. If the package includes tickets to the zoo or anything like that, I can guarantee you that it will only include two adult tickets and two child tickets.

  • Even the human body is designed only for two kids. Two hands, two arms to carry them, two legs to sit them on, two eyes to watch the little guys. Maybe God is trying to tell us all something...

 
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