David working late + me working all day + no food in the house + freezing temp that I don't want to drag the kids to the grocery store in = TAKE OUT FOR DINNER!
I chose Applebee's carside to go. The roads were a bit slick so it took a little longer to get there and get home than planned. Plus Tate decided to throw the remote at Drue's head right before we got into the car so I had to pause to comfort/discipline which also made us later.
We got it home and I doled out all their little meals. The fries were cold, my chicken sandwich left a lot to be desired. Then Drue took a bite of her macaroni. Instant wailing ensued.
I probed her to further explain what was the matter with her noodle entree and between sobs she said, "My macaroni isn't soft and silky!". I looked down at her dry, clumpy dish and thought her description had been right on.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Signs, signs, everwhere are signs...
Ok, so it's a small thing. But it bugs me. Can't help it.
After David gets something out of a cabinet in the kitchen...HE LEAVES THE DOOR OPEN! So, many a time, I have walked into the kitchen while he's in there and MULTIPLE doors are wide open with all our junk and disorganization exposed.
Rather than nag or complain too much about it, I have just started saying sarcastically, "Well, Daddy's home!!" as I go about shutting all the doors, perhaps slamming a few in the process.
The kids (and I) are still getting used to David's crazy schedule and long hours. It's hard for them to keep track of which night he closes and won't be home to sing to them, which weekend days he works, etc.
Tonight on the way home Reese said out of the blue, "I hope the cabinet doors are open."
Of course, I was puzzled by this statement. Wasn't sure why she'd wish them to be open since she knows it drives me crazy...so I figured I had heard her wrong.
"You hope the cabinet doors are open?" I repeated for clarification.
"Yes", she confirmed, "Because that means Daddy's home!".
After David gets something out of a cabinet in the kitchen...HE LEAVES THE DOOR OPEN! So, many a time, I have walked into the kitchen while he's in there and MULTIPLE doors are wide open with all our junk and disorganization exposed.
Rather than nag or complain too much about it, I have just started saying sarcastically, "Well, Daddy's home!!" as I go about shutting all the doors, perhaps slamming a few in the process.
The kids (and I) are still getting used to David's crazy schedule and long hours. It's hard for them to keep track of which night he closes and won't be home to sing to them, which weekend days he works, etc.
Tonight on the way home Reese said out of the blue, "I hope the cabinet doors are open."
Of course, I was puzzled by this statement. Wasn't sure why she'd wish them to be open since she knows it drives me crazy...so I figured I had heard her wrong.
"You hope the cabinet doors are open?" I repeated for clarification.
"Yes", she confirmed, "Because that means Daddy's home!".
Seatbelts are overrated (NOT REALLY)
I really do not consider myself to be a mother who intentionally puts her children in harms' way. We are down to having just one kid who requires assistance with putting a seatbelt on. Obviously, that is Tate. He can undo his buckle once we reach our destination but isn't able to buckle it yet.
It feels funny telling the girls to "hop on in and buckle yourselves". Drue still has a hard time on occasion. When her booster isn't positioned exactly so...she can kind of go a little crazy when it takes a minute to finagle her buckle til it "clicks".
When Drue's booster is in the middle seat, she can't get it buckled at all. That's where it was tonight. So I reached over and buckled her, then went and got in the drivers seat and started the car.
Tate's little voice piped up, "NOT I BUCKLED! NOT I BUCKLED!". Yes, I had forgotten to buckle the little dear...and if that weren't bad enough...this is the SECOND time in the past few days that has occurred! (I really need to move Drue's booster back to the backseat).
Because my mind thinks that once I have buckled one child in, my job is done. And it's kind of humbling that my 2 year old needs to remind me to buckle him!
It feels funny telling the girls to "hop on in and buckle yourselves". Drue still has a hard time on occasion. When her booster isn't positioned exactly so...she can kind of go a little crazy when it takes a minute to finagle her buckle til it "clicks".
When Drue's booster is in the middle seat, she can't get it buckled at all. That's where it was tonight. So I reached over and buckled her, then went and got in the drivers seat and started the car.
Tate's little voice piped up, "NOT I BUCKLED! NOT I BUCKLED!". Yes, I had forgotten to buckle the little dear...and if that weren't bad enough...this is the SECOND time in the past few days that has occurred! (I really need to move Drue's booster back to the backseat).
Because my mind thinks that once I have buckled one child in, my job is done. And it's kind of humbling that my 2 year old needs to remind me to buckle him!
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Another "cute" story
The other night Tate and I went to Target while the girls were at AWANA. I have been wanting to get some clothes with my Christmas money. I am not usually too successful at buying clothes with the kids around because I am the type of person who has to try everything on and corralling them all into a 3 foot by 3 foot dressing room usually results in me banging my head against the side of it repeatedly in frustration and not getting anything tried on.
I thought I could successfully try on 2 items with just Tate along, and with minimal head banging. I took him into the large wheelchair accessible one partly because it was large enough for him to run around in, and partly because it doesn't have an opening at the bottom that he could escape through while I try to run after him half clothed.
Poor little guy. He is so verbal now that sometimes I only half pay attention to what he is saying. I will insert the words "ohhhhh" and "uh huh" appropriately and agree with something he's just said, "Yes you are a fast Superman", etc.
But when he really wants to get his point across he will calmly repeat the same phrase over and over and over....
Tate has already associated Target with where David works. So everytime we go to one he asks for David repeatedly. While we were in the dressing room he kept asking, "Daddy go?". "He's at work", I kept saying. "Daddy work?". "Yes, Tate". After I tried on a sweater and turned a few times in the mirror...I could hear that he had moved on to a different subject matter. "Mommaubooful....mommaubooful". I stopped and looked at him and said, "What did you say?".
He looked up at me and said more clearly, "Momma u beau'ful".
Of course my heart melted all over the dressing room floor...and then I watched him walk right up close to the mirror and say, "Tate cute!".
I thought I could successfully try on 2 items with just Tate along, and with minimal head banging. I took him into the large wheelchair accessible one partly because it was large enough for him to run around in, and partly because it doesn't have an opening at the bottom that he could escape through while I try to run after him half clothed.
Poor little guy. He is so verbal now that sometimes I only half pay attention to what he is saying. I will insert the words "ohhhhh" and "uh huh" appropriately and agree with something he's just said, "Yes you are a fast Superman", etc.
But when he really wants to get his point across he will calmly repeat the same phrase over and over and over....
Tate has already associated Target with where David works. So everytime we go to one he asks for David repeatedly. While we were in the dressing room he kept asking, "Daddy go?". "He's at work", I kept saying. "Daddy work?". "Yes, Tate". After I tried on a sweater and turned a few times in the mirror...I could hear that he had moved on to a different subject matter. "Mommaubooful....mommaubooful". I stopped and looked at him and said, "What did you say?".
He looked up at me and said more clearly, "Momma u beau'ful".
Of course my heart melted all over the dressing room floor...and then I watched him walk right up close to the mirror and say, "Tate cute!".
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Gifts from God
The girls' devotion tonight was about how God made a special plan for their life even before they were born. It also talked about how God has given each of us a special gift. There are always questions to discuss also, so tonight I read, "What special gift has God given you?".
Reese's hand shot right up. I wasn't sure how much she understood about God's gifts so I half expected her to say her "webkin".
But she simply said, "God gave me a special gift of being sweet."
Awwwww....couldn't you just eat her?
Drue was next. I worry that she doesn't think for herself at times because she usually will just say whatever Reese said.
But she very sweetly, and very confidently said, "God gave me a special gift of being cute...".
Reese's hand shot right up. I wasn't sure how much she understood about God's gifts so I half expected her to say her "webkin".
But she simply said, "God gave me a special gift of being sweet."
Awwwww....couldn't you just eat her?
Drue was next. I worry that she doesn't think for herself at times because she usually will just say whatever Reese said.
But she very sweetly, and very confidently said, "God gave me a special gift of being cute...".
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Love How That Little Mind Works
Drue loves to brush my hair. And I love having my hair brushed.
Sometimes, however, I have to cut our sessions short because it relaxes me so much and makes me so sleepy that I fear my motherly duties will suffer should someone require my attention right away and I am snoozing away on the couch.
She wanted to brush my hair this evening but we had to run an errand so I told her she could do it when we got back. She remembered this promise about 5 minutes before their bedtime so I let her do her magic for a bit.
She grabbed my brush, a comb, and Tate's plastic pliers and got to work. Reese and Tate were sitting either side of me on the couch watching. In a flash, Tate disappeared. I figured he was plotting mischief seeing that I was otherwise occupied so I called out to him.
He didn't answer but I was already halfway in my hair brushing trance so I was just going to let him get away with whatever he was doing....this time.
A few seconds late he reappeared, with a big grin on his face, carrying my straightening iron. What a cutie! He scrambled back to his spot and started (halfway gently) doing my hair with it.
Of course my trance was now shattered but who cares?
Tate still seems so little to me, that I forget he is turning into a real little boy with real little thoughts and real little plans to carry out those thoughts.
I figured his plan evolved one of two ways:
"Drue looks like she's having fun. I'm going to go find something to do Mommy's hair with too. I think I'll head up to that place where she always fixes herself up." (And just happened to stumble upon my straightening iron.)
OR
"Hmmmm....I think I'll run upstairs and get that red clicky thingy that Mommy plays with in her hair but always tells me not to touch because it's hot!".
Sweet times.
Sometimes, however, I have to cut our sessions short because it relaxes me so much and makes me so sleepy that I fear my motherly duties will suffer should someone require my attention right away and I am snoozing away on the couch.
She wanted to brush my hair this evening but we had to run an errand so I told her she could do it when we got back. She remembered this promise about 5 minutes before their bedtime so I let her do her magic for a bit.
She grabbed my brush, a comb, and Tate's plastic pliers and got to work. Reese and Tate were sitting either side of me on the couch watching. In a flash, Tate disappeared. I figured he was plotting mischief seeing that I was otherwise occupied so I called out to him.
He didn't answer but I was already halfway in my hair brushing trance so I was just going to let him get away with whatever he was doing....this time.
A few seconds late he reappeared, with a big grin on his face, carrying my straightening iron. What a cutie! He scrambled back to his spot and started (halfway gently) doing my hair with it.
Of course my trance was now shattered but who cares?
Tate still seems so little to me, that I forget he is turning into a real little boy with real little thoughts and real little plans to carry out those thoughts.
I figured his plan evolved one of two ways:
"Drue looks like she's having fun. I'm going to go find something to do Mommy's hair with too. I think I'll head up to that place where she always fixes herself up." (And just happened to stumble upon my straightening iron.)
OR
"Hmmmm....I think I'll run upstairs and get that red clicky thingy that Mommy plays with in her hair but always tells me not to touch because it's hot!".
Sweet times.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
A Tale of Two Phones
To all those sweet commercials where the husband/wife cleverly surprises their spouse with jewelry, or car keys, or some other big surprise....I say BAH HUMBUG!
Last year David got me a new cell phone for Christmas. A really cool razor flip phone...and it was going to be a TOTAL surprise. When I got home from work one day he cleverly swiped my old cell phone and snuck out my sim card. His plan was to put the sim card in my new phone, place it in my stocking, then call it. How sweet is that?
Well it would have been VERY sweet had I not decided that I needed to text someone at that precise moment. I grabbed my old phone off the dining room table and the screen was blank. I tried to turn it off and on and nothing happened. Thinking the sim card had just been shaken loose I took the back off to discover....NO sim card whatsoever. Of course, I started screeching that someone had taken my sim card, etc when David walked up behind me and said with a sigh, "Surprise...Merry Christmas."
Of course I was ecstatic anyway but we both laughed about the sweet surprise being ruined.
Fast forward a year...to today. David has been hinting since his last business trip that he wanted a touch screen internet phone. He went on and on about how cool they were. And he kept hinting that his phone was up for an upgrade anyway.
I have never handled our phone plan or services, or anything like that but giddily bopped into the T Mobile store this morning and announced that I wanted to surprise my husband with a new phone for Christmas. After we settled on the right plan and price for the new phone, the salesman looked at the computer and said, "Oh. David is the only one listed on here who can make changes to his plan."
My heart sank a little because it wasn't going to be a fun surprise after all again. I would have to go get him and drag him up to the store to get his own phone. The salesman went to talk to his manager who came back and said, "We're not going to get in trouble for this are we?". I laughed and said, "No, but if he needs to come back up here with me it's no big deal."
They really liked the idea of me wanting to surprise him so after I gave them David's last 4 social security numbers, which proved to them, that I was indeed, in a close relationship with him, they let me get it.
I dashed home knowing full well I wasn't going to be able to wait til Christmas to give it to him. (We have never been able to wait to give each other our presents). I was planning on stealing his idea from last year and slip his sim card into this new phone then hide it somewhere so he would have to call his phone when he needed it.
We were meeting up with friends at the mall, so my plan would have to wait until aftwrwards. But I slipped the new phone into my coat pocket anyway. We were going to the same mall where I just bought the phone, so if he did drag me into the store to look at it again, I would be ready and say, "Why don't you just use the one I have in my pocket?".
Sure enough, on our way out of the mall we passed the T Mobile store. I have zero capability to put on a poker face or act natural when I have a big secret. So I was a bit nervous.
"They're pretty busy today," David commented.
"Yep", I replied nonchalantly, scared he could hear my heart pounding.
He stopped under the big poster advertisement for his phone and remarked, "I don't think I want that phone anymore."
I looked at him strangely and managed to squeak out a casual, "Oh?".
Part of me thought he must somehow know I got the phone was toying with me. Because that is David to a T.
But he went on to say, "Yeah, I think I want the one that has a stylus and you can actually write on the phone screen itself instead of having to use the keyboard."
I guess I was still looking strange because he jokingly said, "You didn't get it for me did you?".
My eyes welled up with tears as I slipped the phone out of my pocket and held it out for him to see.
He thought I was showing him my phone, because they are both black so he laughed and said in a teasing tone, "Oh is that it?".
When he looked closer and saw it was the new phone, he stopped in his tracks and took a double take.
There we stood in the middle of the mall...another ruined surprise...a phone he wasn't even sure he wanted now...and tears falling down my cheek...oh, and a 2 year old that was so far ahead of us, he was almost out the door to the parking lot. Sentimental Christmas memories...
Of course, we are already laughing about it now. David looks like a little boy excited about his new toy. He is waiting for his internet service to be activated on it, and picks it up every 30 seconds to check it.
I guess I will start working on what I can try and surprise him with for his birthday...in February.
Last year David got me a new cell phone for Christmas. A really cool razor flip phone...and it was going to be a TOTAL surprise. When I got home from work one day he cleverly swiped my old cell phone and snuck out my sim card. His plan was to put the sim card in my new phone, place it in my stocking, then call it. How sweet is that?
Well it would have been VERY sweet had I not decided that I needed to text someone at that precise moment. I grabbed my old phone off the dining room table and the screen was blank. I tried to turn it off and on and nothing happened. Thinking the sim card had just been shaken loose I took the back off to discover....NO sim card whatsoever. Of course, I started screeching that someone had taken my sim card, etc when David walked up behind me and said with a sigh, "Surprise...Merry Christmas."
Of course I was ecstatic anyway but we both laughed about the sweet surprise being ruined.
Fast forward a year...to today. David has been hinting since his last business trip that he wanted a touch screen internet phone. He went on and on about how cool they were. And he kept hinting that his phone was up for an upgrade anyway.
I have never handled our phone plan or services, or anything like that but giddily bopped into the T Mobile store this morning and announced that I wanted to surprise my husband with a new phone for Christmas. After we settled on the right plan and price for the new phone, the salesman looked at the computer and said, "Oh. David is the only one listed on here who can make changes to his plan."
My heart sank a little because it wasn't going to be a fun surprise after all again. I would have to go get him and drag him up to the store to get his own phone. The salesman went to talk to his manager who came back and said, "We're not going to get in trouble for this are we?". I laughed and said, "No, but if he needs to come back up here with me it's no big deal."
They really liked the idea of me wanting to surprise him so after I gave them David's last 4 social security numbers, which proved to them, that I was indeed, in a close relationship with him, they let me get it.
I dashed home knowing full well I wasn't going to be able to wait til Christmas to give it to him. (We have never been able to wait to give each other our presents). I was planning on stealing his idea from last year and slip his sim card into this new phone then hide it somewhere so he would have to call his phone when he needed it.
We were meeting up with friends at the mall, so my plan would have to wait until aftwrwards. But I slipped the new phone into my coat pocket anyway. We were going to the same mall where I just bought the phone, so if he did drag me into the store to look at it again, I would be ready and say, "Why don't you just use the one I have in my pocket?".
Sure enough, on our way out of the mall we passed the T Mobile store. I have zero capability to put on a poker face or act natural when I have a big secret. So I was a bit nervous.
"They're pretty busy today," David commented.
"Yep", I replied nonchalantly, scared he could hear my heart pounding.
He stopped under the big poster advertisement for his phone and remarked, "I don't think I want that phone anymore."
I looked at him strangely and managed to squeak out a casual, "Oh?".
Part of me thought he must somehow know I got the phone was toying with me. Because that is David to a T.
But he went on to say, "Yeah, I think I want the one that has a stylus and you can actually write on the phone screen itself instead of having to use the keyboard."
I guess I was still looking strange because he jokingly said, "You didn't get it for me did you?".
My eyes welled up with tears as I slipped the phone out of my pocket and held it out for him to see.
He thought I was showing him my phone, because they are both black so he laughed and said in a teasing tone, "Oh is that it?".
When he looked closer and saw it was the new phone, he stopped in his tracks and took a double take.
There we stood in the middle of the mall...another ruined surprise...a phone he wasn't even sure he wanted now...and tears falling down my cheek...oh, and a 2 year old that was so far ahead of us, he was almost out the door to the parking lot. Sentimental Christmas memories...
Of course, we are already laughing about it now. David looks like a little boy excited about his new toy. He is waiting for his internet service to be activated on it, and picks it up every 30 seconds to check it.
I guess I will start working on what I can try and surprise him with for his birthday...in February.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
