On my days off I drop Reese off at school in my pajamas. I have no desire to arise early, get myself ready, and get her up and ready before 8am. There really is no need. I whisk her up the road in the van and she pops out.
I do try and make myself a little more presentable before I pick her up, however. At least I'm wearing clothes, definitely a smattering of make up, and don't have bed head. We usually walk to pick her up and I visit with the other moms.
Yesterday Tate and I were heading to Leavenworth right after we dropped the girls at school, so I got up early, showered, did my hair and make up and we were on our way.
Reese looked puzzled and said, "Mommy? Do you work today?".
"No", I replied.
This puzzled her even more. "Well, then why are you pretty?".
Thursday, May 06, 2010
Wednesday, May 05, 2010
False Alarm
There is a grassy hill outside Drue's preschool that the kids like to run around on when it's nice outside. It usually has a scattering of little ones all over it when school lets out for the day.
In the past, it's been a bit challenging to let my kids know when it's time to go. Because they can't hear me calling them above all the commotion, wind, etc. So I would either have to scream their name like a crazy person or run over and physically retrieve them from the hill itself. They would always come once I had their attention...but getting their attention wasn't always fun.
A few weeks ago Drue asked if she and Tate could run on the hill when I picked her up. So I said, "Yes, you can but you need to look over at me every so often and when I wave my arm like this (I made a motion for them to come back) you guys have to come!".
"Ok, we will," she assured me.
Off they ran. And she did look over at me every few minutes or so.
I got to talking with one of the stay at home dads of a little girl in Drue's class. He was telling me that they were in the middle of getting their master bath remodeled and went on to explain what all that entailed.
It sounded like his layout was similar to ours so I started telling him how ours was set up and I would love to take out some of our closet and put in a jacuzzi tub.
A few minutes into our conversation I happened to look down and Drue and Tate were standing in front of me waiting patiently.
"Oh, are you guys ready to go?" I asked a little bit surprised.
"Well, you waved us over here." Drue said matter-of-factly.
At first I was confused, but then it dawned on me that if I'm standing up talking to someone I tend to use my hands a lot. And I'm sure in the course of me explaining how our master bed/bath was laid out, my hand gestures looked like I was waving Drue and Tate in!
In the past, it's been a bit challenging to let my kids know when it's time to go. Because they can't hear me calling them above all the commotion, wind, etc. So I would either have to scream their name like a crazy person or run over and physically retrieve them from the hill itself. They would always come once I had their attention...but getting their attention wasn't always fun.
A few weeks ago Drue asked if she and Tate could run on the hill when I picked her up. So I said, "Yes, you can but you need to look over at me every so often and when I wave my arm like this (I made a motion for them to come back) you guys have to come!".
"Ok, we will," she assured me.
Off they ran. And she did look over at me every few minutes or so.
I got to talking with one of the stay at home dads of a little girl in Drue's class. He was telling me that they were in the middle of getting their master bath remodeled and went on to explain what all that entailed.
It sounded like his layout was similar to ours so I started telling him how ours was set up and I would love to take out some of our closet and put in a jacuzzi tub.
A few minutes into our conversation I happened to look down and Drue and Tate were standing in front of me waiting patiently.
"Oh, are you guys ready to go?" I asked a little bit surprised.
"Well, you waved us over here." Drue said matter-of-factly.
At first I was confused, but then it dawned on me that if I'm standing up talking to someone I tend to use my hands a lot. And I'm sure in the course of me explaining how our master bed/bath was laid out, my hand gestures looked like I was waving Drue and Tate in!
Saturday, May 01, 2010
Innocence
We walk by them, drive by them, see them in magazines, and on television. And probably don't even think twice. But Reesie did....
Underwear ads.
Not even suggestive lingerie. We're talking run of the mill Fruit of the Loom or any given brand of *ahem* bras and the "p" word. Nope, still don't like saying it.
We were walking through Target today and Reese said, "Oh my gosh! That lady is in her bra and panties! I don't understand how someone could let another person take their picture when they are just in their bra and panties? Mommy, why are those up there anyway?".
"Well...um...er...to advertise those specific items," I stammered.
"Then why don't they just take a picture of the underwear then? By itself? Without someone having to be wearing them? I am never doing that!".
Whew.
Underwear ads.
Not even suggestive lingerie. We're talking run of the mill Fruit of the Loom or any given brand of *ahem* bras and the "p" word. Nope, still don't like saying it.
We were walking through Target today and Reese said, "Oh my gosh! That lady is in her bra and panties! I don't understand how someone could let another person take their picture when they are just in their bra and panties? Mommy, why are those up there anyway?".
"Well...um...er...to advertise those specific items," I stammered.
"Then why don't they just take a picture of the underwear then? By itself? Without someone having to be wearing them? I am never doing that!".
Whew.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Truth be Told
I sprayed some foaming carpet cleaner on the carpet this morning which had to soak in for 3 minutes, per the instructions. I certainly wasn't going to waste a good 3 minutes of my day standing there watching it so I headed into the kitchen to sweep.
On my way out of the room, I spied Tate curiously eyeing this fun white foam that Mommy just sprayed on the carpet so I firmly told him, "Stay. Out. Of. The. Cleaner."
I set the microwave timer for 3 minutes because everytime I try to multitask household chores, something gets forgotten. A load of laundry may stay in the washer for a day or so (then need to be rewashed because it stinks), the chicken I meant to set out for supper is still frozen solid in the freezer at 5:30pm, or I misplace my phone because I can't remember which room I was last in when I was trying to text and clean at the same time.
As I was sweeping the kitchen, Tate came through and went straight for the towel that hangs on the stove door handle. Out of the corner of my eye I could see him wiping something very carefully and thoroughly.
"What ya wipin'?", I asked the child, whom I'm convinced will show up at his wedding with spaghetti sauce smeared all over his face because that is his signature look.
"I'm tryin' to wipe this cleaner off my monster truck", he said truthfully.
Which struck me as odd. He is one of my sneakiest children. Didn't he know he had just incriminated himself? He could have easily gone into another room to wipe it off. Or he could have said he spilled his water on it or something. (No, I'm not condoning either of those scenarios but they sound more like Tate).
"Mommy told you to stay out of the cleaner Tate," I reminded him, thinking of an appropriate consequence to his disobedience.
These were his exact words (including the extra "you"), "Well, my monster truck didn't hear you...what you said. He just got in there!"
On my way out of the room, I spied Tate curiously eyeing this fun white foam that Mommy just sprayed on the carpet so I firmly told him, "Stay. Out. Of. The. Cleaner."
I set the microwave timer for 3 minutes because everytime I try to multitask household chores, something gets forgotten. A load of laundry may stay in the washer for a day or so (then need to be rewashed because it stinks), the chicken I meant to set out for supper is still frozen solid in the freezer at 5:30pm, or I misplace my phone because I can't remember which room I was last in when I was trying to text and clean at the same time.
As I was sweeping the kitchen, Tate came through and went straight for the towel that hangs on the stove door handle. Out of the corner of my eye I could see him wiping something very carefully and thoroughly.
"What ya wipin'?", I asked the child, whom I'm convinced will show up at his wedding with spaghetti sauce smeared all over his face because that is his signature look.
"I'm tryin' to wipe this cleaner off my monster truck", he said truthfully.
Which struck me as odd. He is one of my sneakiest children. Didn't he know he had just incriminated himself? He could have easily gone into another room to wipe it off. Or he could have said he spilled his water on it or something. (No, I'm not condoning either of those scenarios but they sound more like Tate).
"Mommy told you to stay out of the cleaner Tate," I reminded him, thinking of an appropriate consequence to his disobedience.
These were his exact words (including the extra "you"), "Well, my monster truck didn't hear you...what you said. He just got in there!"
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Sleepovers
The girls have taken to having "sleepovers" with each other and sharing one of their twin beds...
...I have taken to capturing some of these moments forever.
...I have taken to capturing some of these moments forever.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Do as they Preach, Not as they Do
Last Sunday I had all 3 kids with me in big church. (David teaches the 3rd Grade boys Sunday school class, lest you think he's a heathen and just wasn't at church with us).
I am still programmed to sit on an aisle close to an exit door, just in case. The girls were sitting on either side of me and Tate was in my lap. He is programmed to fall asleep during big church.
During the course of the pastor's message, he quoted something with the word "stupid" in it. All three kids turned to me wide eyed and whispered, "We don't say stupid!".
Wednesday night, Tate and I were waiting for the girls to finish up at choir practice. Usually I will use this time to run to Target with him real quick, but this night I just wanted to sit.
He had brought along a few books for me to read while we waited and he really was behaving himself quite well. At one point, he kind of hollered out a little bit so I reminded him that we don't holler out in church. "Just like we don't run in church", I went on to explain.
"Why?" he asked.
"Because this is God's house and we shouldn't holler out or run...unless you're playing a game outside or in the gym", I added, so he wouldn't get too confused.
Next thing I know there went our Middle School pastor....running by us down the hall to go speak to his waiting students.
I am still programmed to sit on an aisle close to an exit door, just in case. The girls were sitting on either side of me and Tate was in my lap. He is programmed to fall asleep during big church.
During the course of the pastor's message, he quoted something with the word "stupid" in it. All three kids turned to me wide eyed and whispered, "We don't say stupid!".
Wednesday night, Tate and I were waiting for the girls to finish up at choir practice. Usually I will use this time to run to Target with him real quick, but this night I just wanted to sit.
He had brought along a few books for me to read while we waited and he really was behaving himself quite well. At one point, he kind of hollered out a little bit so I reminded him that we don't holler out in church. "Just like we don't run in church", I went on to explain.
"Why?" he asked.
"Because this is God's house and we shouldn't holler out or run...unless you're playing a game outside or in the gym", I added, so he wouldn't get too confused.
Next thing I know there went our Middle School pastor....running by us down the hall to go speak to his waiting students.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
The Injury (For Lack of a More Creative Title)
The kids (mainly the girls) will resort to almost anything to postpone their nighttime slumber. Tate sneaks out of his room as well, but he just isn't as creative with his reasons.
The girls come find us to tell us about spiders/bugs in their room. They want to give us just one more kiss. They are scared that a stranger will scale the 2 story wall outside their window and climb in. And, of course, they have somehow injured themselves and need immediate attention. This mainly consists of a tiny scratch invisible to the naked eye.
The injuries, severe or mild, annoy me the most I think. For the simple fact of how in the world does one injure themselves if they are lying down in their bed, under the covers like they are supposed to be? Obviously, there is horsing around going on for one of them to get injured.
Last night I had them all in bed before 8:00pm. I started the dishwasher, then settled into my bed with my book. David was out of town so I had at least a couple hours of uninterrupted reading. Blissful.
I had already been in the girls' room a couple times to tell them to settle down and quit jumping from bed to bed.
As I started reading, I remembered that Reese hadn't prayed for her missionaries yet. She has to pray for a set of missionaries everyday for a week to get signed off on that particular step in her AWANA book. So I called her into my room to say her prayer. Drue followed.
After she finished she lingered for a few seconds longer and Drue ran on ahead back to their room. I heard a loud crash then crying. I didn't jump up immediately because my first thought was, "I told them to stop jumping from bed to bed." Isn't that terrible?
Her crying came closer as Drue made her way into my room. I expected to see a big, purple goose egg forming on her noggin but instead, she was holding her mouth with both hands. "This isn't going to be pretty," I thought.
I gently pulled her hands away and saw her little mouth filled with blood. I told Reese to go back to her room, but not before her curiosity got the best of her and she peeked around and saw the blood. She immediately started crying too and ran off. Great. I hadn't wanted her to freak Drue out more.
I ended up calling her back in to bring us a rag for Drue to spit all her blood out onto. She came right away. I also asked her to go grab some ice for us, forgetting that I had already turned all the downstairs lights off. She ran down there anyway, turning on the lights as she went.
After I got her cleaned up and iced up, I surveyed the damage a little more closely. At first, I thought her tooth had gone straight through her top lip. Turns out, she did have a fat lip that was mangled from the inside, however just a small cut on the outside, most likely from the bed frame.
Oh yeah, and she wasn't jumping from bed to bed. She ran into the room before Reese so she could hide under Reese's bed and scare her. But on her way down to the ground, she smashed her face instead.
I wanted to cheer Drue up post haste, so we gave David a quick call so she could tell him good night. After I explained to him what happened he said, "I know something that would be good for that...a popsicle". Drue's eyes lit up at that idea and she smiled. Of course, Reese got one two and they ate them in my bed. After they finished Reese pled her case of why she felt they both needed to sleep in my bed with me.
I was reluctant about that. "If I let you sleep in my bed tonight you two are going to be banging your heads against the wall every night to get to sleep in here!". They promised, in all seriousness that they wouldn't.
So they settled in for the night. And yes, I Googled "tooth through lip" to ease my mind. Reese was still crying about it long after Drue had stopped. She said, "Whenever I see blood I cover that part on me because I think I am going to bleed."
The girls come find us to tell us about spiders/bugs in their room. They want to give us just one more kiss. They are scared that a stranger will scale the 2 story wall outside their window and climb in. And, of course, they have somehow injured themselves and need immediate attention. This mainly consists of a tiny scratch invisible to the naked eye.
The injuries, severe or mild, annoy me the most I think. For the simple fact of how in the world does one injure themselves if they are lying down in their bed, under the covers like they are supposed to be? Obviously, there is horsing around going on for one of them to get injured.
Last night I had them all in bed before 8:00pm. I started the dishwasher, then settled into my bed with my book. David was out of town so I had at least a couple hours of uninterrupted reading. Blissful.
I had already been in the girls' room a couple times to tell them to settle down and quit jumping from bed to bed.
As I started reading, I remembered that Reese hadn't prayed for her missionaries yet. She has to pray for a set of missionaries everyday for a week to get signed off on that particular step in her AWANA book. So I called her into my room to say her prayer. Drue followed.
After she finished she lingered for a few seconds longer and Drue ran on ahead back to their room. I heard a loud crash then crying. I didn't jump up immediately because my first thought was, "I told them to stop jumping from bed to bed." Isn't that terrible?
Her crying came closer as Drue made her way into my room. I expected to see a big, purple goose egg forming on her noggin but instead, she was holding her mouth with both hands. "This isn't going to be pretty," I thought.
I gently pulled her hands away and saw her little mouth filled with blood. I told Reese to go back to her room, but not before her curiosity got the best of her and she peeked around and saw the blood. She immediately started crying too and ran off. Great. I hadn't wanted her to freak Drue out more.
I ended up calling her back in to bring us a rag for Drue to spit all her blood out onto. She came right away. I also asked her to go grab some ice for us, forgetting that I had already turned all the downstairs lights off. She ran down there anyway, turning on the lights as she went.
After I got her cleaned up and iced up, I surveyed the damage a little more closely. At first, I thought her tooth had gone straight through her top lip. Turns out, she did have a fat lip that was mangled from the inside, however just a small cut on the outside, most likely from the bed frame.
Oh yeah, and she wasn't jumping from bed to bed. She ran into the room before Reese so she could hide under Reese's bed and scare her. But on her way down to the ground, she smashed her face instead.
I wanted to cheer Drue up post haste, so we gave David a quick call so she could tell him good night. After I explained to him what happened he said, "I know something that would be good for that...a popsicle". Drue's eyes lit up at that idea and she smiled. Of course, Reese got one two and they ate them in my bed. After they finished Reese pled her case of why she felt they both needed to sleep in my bed with me.
I was reluctant about that. "If I let you sleep in my bed tonight you two are going to be banging your heads against the wall every night to get to sleep in here!". They promised, in all seriousness that they wouldn't.
So they settled in for the night. And yes, I Googled "tooth through lip" to ease my mind. Reese was still crying about it long after Drue had stopped. She said, "Whenever I see blood I cover that part on me because I think I am going to bleed."
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