Raising These Crazy Boys

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2011-03-17T08:58:00.002-05:00

A naughty leprechaun came to our house and dug out and trashed all our movies! And he left his big tall hat! And he got our all of our green clothes to wear! He even left footprints behind ON THE WALL ;-)

Happy Tuesday

2011-02-22T08:40:00.002-06:00

Jack left me this magnet man on my work desk this morning. This has by far been our most successful Christmas present, these build your own magnets that were just an afterthought in my stocking from my mom. Isn't that the way gifts always work?

Get excited for Joke Time!

2011-02-17T12:07:00.000-06:00

ANIMAL JOKES By Jack Willeford

WHAT DO THE WALRUS AND ELEPHANT DO TOGETHER?
THEY DO THERE TASKS.

WHAT GRANPARENTS DO MONKEYS HAVE?
BANANAS.

WHY DON’T POLAR BEARS DON’T LIKE TO GET GROUNDED
CAUSE THEY WILL GET POLAR BURRIED

WHATS BROWN FURRY AND HOLDS A STICK IN ITS HAND
A COWBOY SQUIRREL

WHERE DID THE WHALE TURN?
THIS WHAY-UL

WHAT IS A SNAKES FAVORITE HOLIDAY?
CHRISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSMAS

My Favorite Valentine

2011-02-14T08:13:00.002-06:00

Here is my favorite Valentine of the year:

This Valentine also came with a gift of 80 cents. I said "Jack, you can keep this money, buddy" (he is INTO saving money right now so he can buy Webkinz). He furrowed his brow and said "NO MOMMY. That is a present. How would you like it if I said, 'Here, you keep these Valentines presents' that you gave me?" I thought this was a very good point, and now I'm 80 cents richer.

The Thumb Sucking

2010-12-14T09:04:00.003-06:00

Jack has been sucking his thumb since he was four-months-old. He sucks his thumb a lot too, not just at night, or just when he has a blanket, or anything like that. Just basically at all times, anytime he is bored, watching TV, riding in the car, laying down at all, or idle. I mean, that is a lot of a child's life, really.

I read lots of books about thumb sucking and I have looked at lots of online advice over the six years that he has been doing it. Everything seems to say... wait it out. It will taper off on its own. Teasing and peer pressure will do the job for you, don't worry about it. CLEARLY these people have never met my child.

When he was in 4 year old preschool he had a teacher that made him wash his hands every time he sucked his thumb in school. One day he did it 32 times. I loved this, because it was a great way to frustrate him into submission. He really didn't suck it much that year in school, but that was only three hours of the day. His current teacher that he has had for the last two years is wonderful and has had a thumb sucker herself, so she was used to it. She wanted him to stop, but we were both perplexed about how to do it.

I talked to him about it, of course. He would say "I promise I'll stop mommy" and then have his finger in his mouth exactly two seconds later. It wasn't a defiance thing, it was just a habit. He didn't even think about putting it in his mouth, so of course he couldn't just stop on his own. Something else was going to have to be a factor.

I bought a thumb-guard thing to put on his hand and that lasted less than five minutes. I said "Thumb Out" exactly one million times over the last two years and I pulled his thumb out of his mouth when I saw it in there. None of this helped even in the slightest. I never even noticed a reduction of thumb sucking from anything I tried.

His daddy took him to the dentist over Thanksgiving and they told him that the thumb had to go. Before they had been pretty relaxed about it too, but now, with his new teeth growing in, it was do or die time with the thumb. So, I bought some nasty tasting stuff that you paint on the nail so that a kid will keep those things away from their mouths. I painted it on his nail with trepidation.

He put his thumb in his mouth exactly once after that. I'm serious. It has been two weeks now and he has completely stopped. The first two nights he said it was hard to go to sleep without his thumb, which I expected. That is about all the repercussions we have had. If I had only done this when he was four.

I should have known! Things are not easy with him, so I need to learn to play him at his own games. He hates almost all tastes, so give him a nasty taste and you are home free. Genius.

I promised to get him a pet when he stopped sucking his thumb. Who's the sucker now?

The Obligatory Halloween Post!

2010-10-31T18:47:00.004-05:00

Here are some pics of my little Fire Truck (NOT FIREMAN) and bat. This bat costume is handmade by Nana and was well loved by its owner. This fire TRUCK costume had to be special ordered from London due to having a very particular three-year-old and not enough free time!

Happy Halloween to everyone!

Restaurant Talking

2010-09-20T09:38:00.005-05:00

For some reason, I feel like when we are sitting at a table at a restaurant, which is fairly often in this house, my kids open up more than they usually do. Okay, only Jack. Sam opens up at any time of day. Jack is the kid you have to drag stuff out of. "How was school?" "Fine." That has been the answer every day of his life. The only variant is "Bad." He tends to say most things are bad or he doesn't want to do them until he tries them. Then he wants to do them or will do them, either way.

Anyhow, here are some recent tidbits I've gotten at restaurants:

Jack to Sam: Sam, What do you want to be when you grow up?
Sam: Stares at him blankly, looking bewildered.
Jack: You know, when you are big? What do you want to be?
Sam: (no hesitation at all) LIGHTENING MACQUEEN!

---------------------

Me to Jack: So, buddy, are you done learning about the body yet in school?
Jack: You know. (This is another VERY common answer. I am supposed to just 'know' what is going on there. I guess he thinks I have a camera in his classroom at all times?)
Me: No, I don't know, actually. Are you?
Jack: Yes.
Me: So, you are learning about the earth now? (I only know THIS tidbit because he came home covered in paper mache for three days straight, and he said it was because they were making the earth)
Jack: Yes. But it is boring. I already know it all. (This is sort of his specialty, geography, and all things related).
Me: So, when she talks about the facts about the earth, you know it already?
Jack: Yes, it is simple stuff.
Me: Like the continents?
Jack: Yes.
Me: Do you know them?
Jack: MOM
Me: Do you?
Jack: Of course I do!
Me: Prove it.
Jack: *Rattles them off as he ticks them off on his hand*
Me: Kid, I taught seventh grade, you know. Do you know how many kids knew that when they came into my class?
Jack: How many?
Me: Absolutely none.

--------------------------------------

And one more of my favorites from the weekend that was not at a restaurant:

We are at Jack's soccer game. He has been dying to be the goalie. He isn't what I would call the most gifted athlete on the planet, but the kid is very much willing to play and it is hard to get him off of the field to take a break during the games. The coach lets him play goalie at the end of the game once it is pretty obvious we are going to lose. I am so thankful that this is the case so that I don't have to stress out that he is going to miss a ball.

The games goes on, and my son is doing okay as a goalie. He stops a few, all by kicking them away. I walk down there and say "Jack. You can use your hands, you know." He scowls at me and says, "I KNOW! My feet are MUCH STRONGER!"

The results of his quarter as goalie were that the other team scored twice. He was less than pleased. Afterwards he was upset because the girl that scored, he said, cheated. "How did she cheat?" I asked him. "She kicked it to me when I wasn't even ready!!"

Ah, my child. To know him is to love him :-)

School Days are here again

2010-08-20T19:45:00.002-05:00

It's that time already! Hard to believe. I have a 3 year old in preschool and a first grader. Time is flying past me and I'm just trying to reach in and hold on.

Georgia Aquarium

2010-07-30T07:36:00.007-05:00

Jack with the eels

Big Fish Tank

My little poser

They are actually both smiling here

This is blurry for effect, ok?

Fish!

Jack telling Sam about the starfish

The fish is coming right at me!

Me, Shane, and the boys in the tunnel under the largest aquarium tank in the Whole Wide World!!

Six Flags over Georgia

2010-07-29T06:51:00.009-05:00

Ridin' the Airplanes

Smiling Sam

What is going on here? Is this supposed to be Jesus? This really freaked me out.

Jack waiting in line

Jack riding on the freaky carousel

Shane and Jack in front of us in their old timey car. Little did they know...

...this dude was following them, with his mother who was paying little to no attention and would soon slam into them, much to the disgust of the attendants of the ride.

Boys on the flying swings. Probably really a blessing to get some air since it was about 90% humidity.

Sam checking out Thomas the Tank Engine's Station master. We were first in line for Thomas.

Thomas himself

Jack and Sam riding on Annie.

Shane. I mean, he could be hanging out on a nice cool day at this point! We should have taken after photos of how great we must of looked then.

We had a bouncing good time in Texas

2010-07-29T06:40:00.003-05:00

Thanks for having us Nana and Poppy!

One of Life's Great Mysteries

2010-07-13T17:28:00.001-05:00

Yesterday while driving in the car Jack (a picky picky picky eater) asked me "Mommy, WHY does all of the healthy food taste bad and all of the unhealthy food taste good?"

I said "Buddy, you have really stumbled upon one of life's great mysteries there. Life sucks. Get used to it."

Okay, maybe that isn't exactly what I said, but it was the gist.

Road Trippin'

2010-07-08T07:04:00.005-05:00

I took my boys on a Road Trip to Texas. It's ONLY halfway across the country, right? I kept telling myself the whole time, thank goodness my parents live in Marshall. If they lived in El Paso, this would truly be terrible!

On the way we did the fourth of July in Atlanta. Here are some of the highlights:

Sam: "Mama, are we going to stay at the Show-and-Tell tonight or at Nana's house?"
Me: "The Hotel, Sam."
Sam: "OK Mama, the Hotel."

Five seconds later
Sam: "Mama, are we at the Show-and-Tell yet?"

----------------------

We are at the Fourth of July party at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta. It is extremely crowded. They have these cool Olympic Rings that shoot water out of the ground and the kids can play in. The boys have been looking forward to it. We show up and it is an absolute madhouse. I immediately start making categories of worries in my mind about how I'll possibly keep up with them in the crowds if they are running around in this.

Me: "Jack you have to hold Sam's hand at all times."
Jack: "Awwww........"
Me: "Look. Here is the red stroller. I'm parking it here. You should be able to see it. If you can't find me, come here, and I'll meet you here. Do you remember my phone number? It's 999-999-9999. Okay buddy? I'm going to try to watch you the whole time."

We find an area that is not too crazy and Sam of course busts into the water through the people. Jack is hanging back near my legs. He looks really concerned. He is the thoughtful child.

Finally I say, "What's wrong?"
He says, "Mama, what did you tell me your phone number for?"
Me: "In case you got lost, you could call me."
He looks at me like I am an idiot: "FROM WHERE???????"
I laugh. "Good point, buddy. Just go play. I'll find you."

----------------

After the sprinklers, we are at the main area of the park. It is like a huge festival and there are lines of food carts. I start reading of all of the choices for them about what they could have for dinner. Jack chooses something quickly. Sam is sitting in the back of the stroller. After reading about 50 choices to him, he looks at me with big eyes and says "Mama, can you choose for me?"

My children are opposites.

---------------

We are about to get into the car to drive ten hours, at the end of which are Nana and Poppy. The boys are very excited to see them, but they don't realize, of course, the fact that we have to spend the entire day in the car first. As we are leaving our hotel room Jack is staring in the mirror. "Can you fix my hair? It needs to be flatter." I brush it. "Right before we get there, can you look at it again and see how it looks. If it looks messy, can you fix it again?" He asks these things so earnestly, it sort of breaks my heart.

Don't you wish...

2010-07-03T07:38:00.000-05:00

we all still loved balloons enough to sleep holding them? :-)

The Truth Hurts, Sometimes

2010-06-27T15:53:00.003-05:00

I'm back at home with my boys now, as it should be. Scotland was lots of fun but 9 days is too long for me not to see my guys.

Jack, like any six-year-old, will tell you exactly what he thinks. He doesn't exactly sugarcoat things so that your feelings are not hurt when he tells you something. It is an endearing quality, but can sometimes lead to you really shaking your head.

The other day, he was talking about what he wanted to be when he grew up. He was talking about being 22, and suddenly he goes "Wait, will you guys even be ALIVE then?" He is really big on us dying, and I guess he is assuming it will be in the next 16 years.

Last night, I was reading him a story before bed. He said to me, "Mommy, I have to tell you something. Your breath smells..."

Dramatic pause. I'm bracing for something really rude.

"TERRIFIC! Wow! It smells just like peaches!"

I must admit, it made me feel good. Expecting the worst can help sometimes.

Graduate

2010-05-27T21:45:00.005-05:00

My little buddy is a Kindergarten graduate. Hard to believe next year he will be in FIRST GRADE! I am not ready for them to grow up. He did great at his graduation and his celebration luau tonight. We had a GREAT year and we don't want it to be over. Time flies when you are having fun!

Funky

2010-05-11T08:36:00.004-05:00

Most of the time when my kids say stuff, it is easy to see where they got the words from (often from yours truly). Yesterday, I tried to get Sam to lay down on his Elmo couch (it is like a little fold out bed thing that they sleep on all the time) and go to sleep. Jack and I were lounging around reading, and I wanted him to go to sleep. He told me "Mama, this Elmo couch is TOO FUNKY!" I laughed. I have never said Funky to him that I can recall. So, I told him to go sleep somewhere else if he wanted to. I said "Go to your bed or the couch then". He said "Nope. All the sleepin' places here are TOO FUNKY. I guess I just gotta' stay 'wake!"

He's a mess, that child.

Jack is 6! Sam is 3!

2010-05-01T14:59:00.007-05:00

Birthday parties are big fun around here. We had a lot of fun at our six and three birthday this month!

We had our own special birthday cakes.

s
e

We had some yummy food

Yes, this is one of our children. He ate BEEF at this party. I'm as shocked as the next guy. This feat has not been repeated since.

We had a cool guy make some balloon art

We decorated our own eco-friendly water bottles (though, Keith did say, doesn't putting paint on them make them no longer biodegradable?)

We had fun!

But we were exhausted!

Columbia Trips

2010-04-13T17:06:00.004-05:00

Sam climbing on the pirate ship.

Jack doing a pirate puppet show.

Alicia in the pirate jail.

Sam VERY NERVOUSLY feeding the giraffes.

Take note, this doesn't happen very often at our house. Jack was actually trying to help his brother.

Our map reader for the day. He was very proud of his skill.

My Little Strongman

2010-04-11T09:45:00.000-05:00

Kate Silvia Photos

2010-04-02T14:34:00.004-05:00

A friend in my mom's group took these awesome new photos of the boys. Enjoy!

Sam's First Soccer Game

2010-03-20T17:26:00.003-05:00

There are two men in my life who don't live here that are dying to see Sam in action (Dad and Shane). So here he is, in all his, ahem, glory?

The video is totally worth watching. Sam is supposed to be kicking off. Then he is supposed to be, of course, PLAYING, when what he does is wander around the field. At least he is cute, and he does still have pink shoes!

Mimi and Papa Dean Visit!

2010-03-19T18:38:00.002-05:00

Sam trying to say Cheese.

Mimi and Jack at Bee City

Terri held a tarantula when we all said no thanks! She's so brave!

On being the one he's looking for

2010-03-02T09:40:00.003-06:00

Like all of us, I don't take enough time to step back from the brushing and the wiping and the washing and the doing to really reflect on what I'm doing here raising these boys. Sometimes I think about it for a split second, yes, but I don't really think about it all that often.

The other day, at soccer, Jack made me remember. You see, soccer has always been a bit of a struggle with him. Daddy wants to play it with him. Daddy cares deeply about soccer and wants the boys to care deeply about it, too. He really is trying not to push it on them, and I think he does well with that. But that doesn't change the fact that he WANTS them to love it too. To share it with them.

So far, Jack hasn't loved it too. Not even a little bit. Keith has coached his team for the past three seasons, and Jack has fought us all the way. Mind you, he fights us about most things, so it isn't entirely surprising. But still.

He says he doesn't want to go, doesn't want to kick the ball. He gets frustrated when he can't run as fast as the other kids. Last season I had to put him in time out for half of a game because he threw a fit about how one of the other really good kids was scoring all of the goals and "THAT'S NOT FAIR!!"

So that's where we've been with it. In fact, Keith told Jack on Friday on the way to soccer that if he didn't want to play after this season, then fine. He could stop. We weren't going to make him do it anymore unless he really wanted to. (Please note, just like everything, once Jack gets to soccer practice or a game, he has fun. It's the getting him there that is an issue).

So that brings us to Saturday morning. It was his second game of the season. Last season, he scored three goals all season, and each time he was ecstatic. It was always a pleasure to watch him so full of joy. Saturday, he gets dressed in his soccer jersey by himself. He goes out and plays around with daddy on the field before the game with all of the kids with a smile on his face. And he really wants to play with the game starts. As always, he sort of hangs back from the pack of kids that are crowded around the ball. He isn't the aggressive type, really, and I think all that makes him a bit nervous. But in this league, not being in the middle of that sometimes really works out in your favor. If there are six kids crowded around the ball, oftentimes the ball shoots out from the pack. And he's often standing there. This week, it happened three times. And all three times, he kicked it right into the goal.

Right afterward, all three times, he turned toward the sideline, right where I was. And his eyes searched for me. He had a huge smile on his face and his eyes were lit up in pleasure. But he wouldn't jump up and down, wouldn't raise his hands up in the air, until his eyes found mine. He needed me to be so happy too, and show it.

And I did! Every time, I'd jump up and clap. I was so proud of that boy! And the thing I was proud of, of course, was not the soccer goal in a U6 YMCA soccer game. It was that little boy, and him having so much excitement in his little self! He is such a cautious boy, so smart and serious, and being his parent can be tedious, lord knows. But Saturday morning, he was just a five year old boy, jumping up and down for a soccer goal.

And I was just his proud mama, as I always will be.

Summerville Snow Day

2010-02-14T09:41:00.003-06:00

Larger than life snowman.

Our neighborhood snowman is a Marine.

Our house.

Our kitten, Squiggy, he's an outside fanatic. This didn't dampen his spirits.

Breakfast for Dinner

2010-02-10T13:10:00.001-06:00

Well, they don't eat MUCH but they will eat this ONE thing. I guess it is better than nothing at all.

Beer

2010-02-04T10:08:00.001-06:00

If you listened to my kids often, you would seriously think Keith was an alcoholic. A few nights ago at dinner, Sam asked him "Whatcha got daddy? Beer or coffee?"

Then today he was asking me if Santa was coming soon to give him presents. I said no, Santa was over for a while. He said

"No mommy. Santa is coming to bring me presents. And Daddy and You and Jacky. He is going to bring me a e-phant, and you a bear and Jacky a doggy and daddy a.... he bring daddy a BEER!"

Jack's Missing Something!

2010-02-01T12:41:00.001-06:00

Our little ring "bears"

2010-01-19T15:31:00.003-06:00

They surprised us all by actually walking down the isle! More pictures to come, I'm sure ;-)

Really REALLY not a baby anymore

2010-01-05T14:55:00.002-06:00

I hate to admit it, but my baby isn't a baby anymore. Suddenly, he is too aware, too inquisitive and too darn verbal to be considered a baby by anyone's standards. Sigh.

He just busted out here and said "Now WHAT is going on out here?"

He has taken to saying "Now THAT'S not supposed to happen!" all of the time.

I have realized that he has memorized the words to several of his favorite books.

He gets an evil look and says "You'll never find that NOW" at least several times a day (sound familiar to any other Swiper/Dora enthusiasts?)

Miss Leigh, his favorite teacher, said that today when they came into the gym, she was holding another little boy. So he just walked right up to her, grabbed her face, and kissed her on the lips. She said he was staking his claim.

Two days ago in the car, he said "Mom, are you a gu-url or a boy?" and I said "Girl" and he said "Yep, That's right!" (another of his cherished lines lately). I said "Is Daddy a girl or a boy" and he said "A boy, like ME!" and I said "Right. What about Jacky?" and he said "Jacky is my brother! And he is a boy, like me!"

I am happy, and he is still so cute. But I have always LOVED babies. I am not ready to have none of them here!

Now we just need to get rid of these pesky diapers....

Ho! Ho! Ho!

2009-12-31T09:11:00.003-06:00

These boys are SPOILED ROTTEN!

Sam's stuff (above)

Santa left them both a racetrack
Jack's stuff.

Pilates for Men

2009-12-31T08:57:00.005-06:00

Keith is falling apart over here. He hurts something of his at least once a week. If this is what 30 does to you, I'm not turning thirty in 2010. No thanks. One of his ailments is his back. He has been doing Pilates sometimes to help his back to (hopefully) become more limber. One night the boys all did the whole 30 minute video together. It was really hilarious. Sam made it almost the whole way through but at the end he was just climbing on Keith or going under his legs. Here are some pictures of the scene for your enjoyment.

Christmas Crazies

2009-12-19T17:01:00.004-06:00

I need to get some Disney pictures up, but hopefully I will soon. I managed to forget my camera to BOTH children's Christmas programs. Mom of the year! However, my children still seem to be surviving.

Jack told Keith today in the car that he can't wait until we die because then he will be able to do whatever he wanted because we would no longer tell him what to do. He doesn't, of course, realize how mean that is to say, though we tried to tell him. He said in response, "Well, Dad, You will definitely die first because you are 30 and we are only 5 and 2." Let's all hope that is very true for the both of us!

Keith really enjoys antagonizing Jack, which I'll admit is not terribly hard. One thing he does that really bothers Jack is answer "Your face!" to everything. We were in the car (again) and Jack was naming a bunch of countries and saying he was going to paint them ("Paint Nigeria!" "Paint Haiti!" "Paint Chile!" I have no idea how he knows about all this stuff. He got really annoyed when I said Antarctica because MOM IT IS NOT CONTINENTS!). Keith says to him "Can I please just say 1?" And Jack says "NO DADDY! Because I know you are going to say Paint Your Face!" And the sad part is that if you know Keith at all, he probably was, and he even admitted that he had considered it.

Keith went to volunteer in Jack's class the other day and the job he got was to laminate these pages that the kids wrote that said "Christmas is about __________" and then they fill it in and draw a picture. He wrote "love" and then drew a picture of all of our stockings that said Mom Dad Jack Sam. It was really cute and he said maybe some of the things we tell them actually get through. Keith also went to lunch with Jack's class and said two of the boys kept asking him "Are you Jack's brother?"

Sam is also a little bit bad lately. A little bad is an understatement, but whatever. He has taken to asking as soon as we get in the car "Are we there yet?" Then he repeatedly asks you "Where we GOIN'?" and "Are we there yet?" the whole way to your destination.

He told his teachers at school that he really wanted Santa to bring him a car, a truck and a muffin.

He saw this Santa the other day in the dry cleaners and he told me "MOMMY, I really think that Santa want to tell me Merry Kiss-mas!"

He also saw a Smart Car and told me "Mommy, this car is tiny. The other cars is big. Why is this tiny?" It always makes me amazed where they pick up some of these words. I really don't feel like I use the word "Tiny". Maybe Wow Wow Wubbzy and Dora 'splore can be credited with something around here.

Merry Christmas to all!

Hope you had a lovely Turkey Day!

2009-11-27T12:43:00.002-06:00

The Pilgrim and the Indian both enjoyed theirs.

Do You Follow?

2009-11-21T14:34:00.002-06:00

We frequently get these types of instructions. I certainly can't follow it. Can you?

Our Summer Garden

2009-11-21T13:53:00.002-06:00

I think I should start at least occasionally brushing my hair!

To everything, turn, turn, turn, there is a season, turn, turn, turn

2009-11-18T14:09:00.004-06:00

All of the sudden, Jack eats dinner.

For anyone that has ever been around him, this is a huge accomplishment. He is one hell of a picky eater. I totally realize that this is the pot calling the kettle black here, really. I do. But still, I have to deal with it day in and day out and IT IS EXHAUSTING.

Here is what he eats: fruit, carbohydrates, and dairy. (A few months ago, as I was talking to someone else about this, he added 'I like junk too!') That leaves a few LARGE categories that he'll have nothing to do with including meat and vegetables. He also hates peanut butter, pizza, mac and cheese, and all normal kids food. Plus, as anyone that knows me knows, we don't eat any condiments around here. So REALLY it is just fruit, carbs, and dairy. Every day.

So this is what he eats at EVERY MEAL: some sort of bread with jelly or honey on it, some kind of fruit, and either yogurt or cheese. Occasionally substitute the sandwich for like, crackers.

Can you imagine?

So, where is the breakthrough here? Lately, I make him some variation of this, put it out for dinner, and the child eats it. All. With no arguing, no whining about what is there, no complaints about the kind of bread. He just sits there and eats. IT IS THE LITTLE THINGS, PEOPLE. Trust me.

And, yes, we've tried the hard line. Several times. And yes, we could try harder, I know that. We could demand more of him, fight with him more. We could go through another week of him throwing up at the table every night, everyone yelling, tears. But yesterday, I put corn on the child's plate and he didn't cry, he just took the three bites I asked of him. Last week he tried buttered noodles. Today I put different bread in his lunch and asked him if he ate it. He said "Yep." I asked him if he liked it, and he said "Not really, but I ate it all." Now, who are you and what have you done with my son?

While I'd love to sigh now and feel accomplished, at least a little bit, I have to tell you, so far, Sam eats even less and even fewer items than Jack ever has. So, let the games begin, again.

Eliza Visits for Halloween

2009-11-09T09:55:00.002-06:00

I love how I never have a picture of the person who visits since they take all of the pictures!!

Sam as a bat

Jack as black spiderman

"Nobody Take My Candy"

The said candy

Jack scored two goals on Halloween and was very proud!

The many faces of Jack

2009-11-09T09:47:00.004-06:00

I hate that my scanner has sort of distorted them, but Keith says they are very Vincent Van Gogh :-)

Uncle Shane Does SC

2009-10-20T16:05:00.003-05:00

My brother came to stay with us and see how well he could handle the craziness. We all had fun!

Sam and Jack say WELCOME! (Okay, well, Jack just ignornes you, but that is his classic welcome)

We go somewhere with no children dressed for fall!

We go to a soccer game and fight to keep Sam off the field just like every week!

Jack scores two goals for us!

Sam warms up to him and finally lets him hold him!

Shane thinks this is pretty representative of how things go around here....

Jack is in Pirate Jail at the Children's Museum.

Sam says So Long, Farewell, and We Hope you come back SOON!

Cha Cha Slide

2009-10-15T12:26:00.003-05:00

This is a video of Jack doing the Cha Cha Slide, which apparently they do at school if it is raining during recess :-) We originally video taped it b/c it was pretty funny to watch Sam try to copy everything Jack was doing, but of course by this point he was mostly bored with it and ready to play with something else. He comes in and out of the dancing. The video is almost six minutes long, but just the first 30 seconds or so should give you the general idea!!

Sam's Puzzles

2009-10-15T12:14:00.005-05:00

We get worried around here, because our oldest child gets called "bright," about all the implications that that could have on the youngest child. You know, the one that is 2 1/2 but still says that almost everything is the color "OR-AAAAAANGE"?

So we were happy the other night when he got down this Opposite Pairs puzzle and did it all by himself, without big brother's "help" (*cough* interruption). It's hard sometimes to speak for yourself when you're always being spoken for!!

What they do when you think they are sleeping

2009-10-12T10:21:00.002-05:00

And yep, that's sharpie. Any ideas on how to get it off? Magic Eraser?

Jack-isms (and Sam-isms Too)

2009-10-07T15:13:00.003-05:00

Jack says the funniest stuff these days. It is just because he is so grown up sounding. Oftentimes I will think I am going to write something on my blog that he says, but it just is not as funny if you cannot hear the WAY he says things. So matter-of-factly, as if he is the authority on all things.

He got moved to an advanced reading group, and as I have been sort of waiting for this, I was very curious about it. The only way to get any info from him is to ask VERY specific questions, which he loves.

So I was asking him all about it...

..."And then how do you go to your new library class?"

"Well, Mrs. Someone comes to our door, and says 'Jack and Camryn, right this way!' and then we stand up, holding hands, and walk to the library."

I mean, it is hard not to crack up and this stuff. You can just see the mental picture. As always, you are NOT allowed to laugh at anything he says or he gets deeply offended.

In the same conversation...

..."Do you know any of these other children in the class that come from the other Kindergarten classes?"

"Well, there are only six."

"Do you know them?"

"No"

"Are their any other boys in there?"

Long, pensive pause. You have to retain utter silence during these pauses or he once again gets angry.

"Well, mommy. I am not trying to tease about this. There is a boy in there but he really looks like a girl."

"Well, that is o.k. I realize you aren't trying to tease, and it is o.k. to say to your mommy, just try not to say it to him, though, because that would really hurt his feelings."

I mean, seriously? He is five! How does he come up with this stuff?

-------------

Sam was taking a bath in 'Jack's bathtub' the other night, as opposed to ours, where he usually bathes. Reason being I was washing dishes and then I could still see him, but obviously not well enough. I walk back in there and water is all over the floor.

"Sam! Did you do this? Pouring water out of the bath is not nice! That is not for good boys, it is for bad boys!"

He jumps down, then dashes off and says "I a bad boy, mommy!"

Mary Had A Little Lamb

2009-09-27T15:38:00.003-05:00

Jack had to memorize this poem for school. I think he has done a great job with it! He says "He doesn't want anyone to think his stuff is cute."

My little Mess

2009-09-27T15:25:00.003-05:00

Yesterday, I took the boys to an ice-skating birthday party. Keith is working 70 hrs a week right now, so Sam had to come, and of course he had to SKATE too, like the big kids. So after all that fun, we are driving home, and I see some Mormon Missionaries outside in our cul-de-sac. I am obviously not in the mood to deal with them so I come in, shut the door, and tell Jack if anyone rings the doorbell we are not going to answer it.

After a few minutes, we are getting the kids in the bath, and of course the doorbell rings.

Jack is very excited about the prospect of ignoring it at first because we have never done that before.

"Be quiet!" I tell him.

"Momma, why? What do they want to do?"

"They want to tell us about Jesus, and mommy doesn't have the patience for that right now."

He sits there quietly for a few minutes, then says...

"Momma, can we PLEASE open it? I really don't know all that much ABOUT Jesus!"

Coming Right Up!

2009-09-05T13:59:00.003-05:00

Sam is problematically cute these days, thus he can get away with almost anything. One of his favorite games is to pretend to sell you food. What I love about it is that he usually says, "Do you want i-creeeem?" and You have to say "Yes" and then he says "OK, coming right up!" It is so precious, I could die. He also says "Yes, sir" a lot and you can hear both in this video. The "Coming Right Up" is right at the beginning if you want to just watch for five seconds, which I would not blame you for at all.

Becoming A Person, not just a Kid

2009-08-24T14:30:00.003-05:00

Jack has taken to a new form of interview. No longer does he want to just talk to me about whatever. As a matter of fact, he has never been one to tell you much about himself or what he thinks or what he has been doing. Suddenly, though, I have become very interesting to him, and it is a little disconcerting if you ask me.

Last night, we went to see a movie called Inglorious Basterds. He asks me what movie we are going to see. I tell him. We go. We return. We walk loops around the cul-de-sac.

"What happened in your movie, mommy?"

Ok, now, this is going to be hard to see where the problem lies unless you have seen the movie. But you've all seen SOME Quentin Tarantino movie, haven't you? Can you think of ANY scene from any of them that would be appropriate to relate to my five year old? I have already told him the inappropriate name for this movie. And I quite liked the movie, myself. But it is in all ways totally violent and nothing I can tell him about.

So, I tell him some part about a fire, some part about nicknames, some part about how the germans do the sign for three differently than Americans. He loves this and practices the three and says we can now go to Germany. Then he looks at me deeply and says, "Okay, mommy, just three more things about the movie. Please."

I am perplexed. Never has he cared so much about what I have to say, and I do want to indulge him, yet this topic is just SO wrong.

And then today, he had an 'incident' at school in which he got upset because he thought he was being punished for bad behavior when he was not. It was not a big deal at all, but he got upset, and so his teacher told me he was upset, and he heard her. We get into the car.

"I don't want to talk about that."

Well, ok. We drive.

"Please tell me some things. Not about when or why I was upset. Please tell me something else about you."

Now, this is even worse. What in the world am I going to tell him about what we did all day. Sam watched TV while I cleaned the house and surfed the internet? So I tell him about 18 kids and counting and something interesting that happened on that show, and how Sam took a long time to fall asleep, and when he asks me for one more thing, I tell him about a graduate school I read about on the internet. He seems satisfied enough. Then we walk in the door, and he says:

"Mommy, I see this laundry here. You did not tell me about this. You must have forgot."

These types of things don't last long with him. But, it does make me think that he is a big boy now capable of understanding big concepts. And worse, he LOVES to try to grasp these types of larger concepts. The problem is just, how will I keep coming up with stuff to tell him?

I think I am going to have to stay up late and look up stuff on howthingswork.com.

My "Official" Kindergartner

2009-08-20T16:21:00.003-05:00

Jack came home with a sticker on that said he was an official Kindergartner, so I guess he is! He had a great first day of school. He was really excited when he woke up and he did great when I dropped him off. He was a little tentative, but he was sitting next to his good friend Abby from last year, so that made him feel much better! He took his lunch today (they eat at 10:30!) and had an afternoon snack. He said he even "fell asleep a little" during rest time.

When I picked him up he said he loved it and asked if he could "Please please please please go back to school tomorrow!" He also said Mrs. Zielke and Mrs. Keller were the best teachers ever in the whole wide world. I guess that is a rousing endorsement if there ever was one! I'm glad he likes it. Maybe I'll take some more pictures of him tomorrow in his PE uniform.

Fun in Texas

2009-08-19T13:29:00.003-05:00

We did lots of fun stuff in Texas, but we didn't take many pictures of it ;-) Here is us at the zoo. Sam HATED feeding the birds and said he wanted to immediately "GO OUT!" But Jack really liked it!

Cute Little Golfers

2009-07-27T14:36:00.004-05:00

We took these teenies to Putt Putt the other day and I was on "toddler duty" with Sam and his best bud, Lilly. They are some cute little ones, I must say.

Boys live here

2009-07-24T11:11:00.001-05:00

Can you tell? I got such a laugh when I found this on my kitchen cabinet.

Who he is

2009-07-15T14:36:00.002-05:00

Before I had kids, I was more of a believer in nurture. I sort of thought that kids turned out a certain way because of things that their parents did or did not do to make them that way. Now, I have to say that I think I believe mostly the opposite. Kids are who they are. Certainly, it seems, parenting can help or hurt. But I don't so much believe that I can make my kids into anything that they aren't already. And it isn't really my place. All I can do is to help them do the best with what they have.

Jack has always been what we consider to be strong-willed. But, he is also very bright and certainly very much in his own head. He will play by himself all day, happily, and never ask me to do something with him. He goes from building with blocks for an hour, to digging in the backyard, to art, to strumming on his fake guitar. He doesn't ever ask "What can I do?" or say "Mommy, I'm BOOOORED!" And this is the way he has always been. Even as a two year old, he would draw with crayons happily for an hour. I have friends that don't have kids like this, and have noticed and said we were lucky for it. And when I spend two hours cleaning and then look over and realize that he is still there and still doing the same activity that he was doing when I started, I even marvel at it myself. He is a chatterbox, but can sit quietly over a task for two hours, never speaking a word. This is remarkable at his age. I don't even do the same task well for two hours. So, I guess you have to take the challenges with the blessings, and realize that they are what they are, for better or for worse.

Summer is great, because it gives him this time to explore and do things his way. This whole single-minded focus is probably one of the reasons he is bright in the first place.

I think it is hard as a parent, or at least for me, to realize that I don't have as much control over him as I once thought I would. But also, it is a relief. He already is who he is. Thank heavens.

Beachin'

2009-07-12T17:02:00.007-05:00

Okay... gotta give credit where credit is due here. These photos are taken by Sharon Masula at www.sharon.masula.com

I only wish I could take photos this cute ;-)

Sam's A Pretty Girl

2009-07-11T09:07:00.004-05:00

Sam has a great best friend, Lilly, and they are joined at the hip. The other night they were playing in Lilly's mom's car and Sam found a bunch of hair clips and bows. Miss Ci-Tal (aka Chrystal) helped him out by putting them in his hair for him. He really does make a nice looking girl. He had a huge fit because he wanted to sleep with the bows in. I had to put these cute white and pink scrunchies in so that he could sleep without poking himself in the eye with a metal clasp.

Sam Singing Some Songs

2009-07-02T08:30:00.004-05:00

Sam's singing has really improved lately ;-) This time I shouldn't even have to post what he is singing, as I think you will actually be able to figure it out!

Our Dancing Man

2009-06-20T08:41:00.005-05:00

Tonight is our little Prince Charming's dance recital. How he got involved in dance is a whole different story for another day. Anyhow, Here are a few pics, and the video of the dress rehearsal for the grandmas. Warning, it is about 3 minutes long, so unless you really care, you probably don't want to watch it. The top video is all of the kids, and the bottom one is zoomed in on Jack.

He is really cute as the Prince in "Someday my Prince will Come." He secretly likes the attention of being the only boy. Tonight we are going to spike his hair up so I'll try to post some pics of that too :-)

Punishment

2009-06-18T19:54:00.003-05:00

Just in case you couldn't tell, our oldest child can be a bit of what the parenting experts would call a "challenge." It seems lately he yo-yos between acting like a perfect angel and acting like Satan's spawn. Anything can tip it off, you never know what that something may be. Anyhow, the other day he was mad a me and he threw and entire cup of chocolate milk (or "regular chocolate" at our house, for the uninitiated) at the wall on the way to his room for a punishment. If you can guess, this did not make me entirely happy. I told him he was punished from regular chocolate for the next three days.

Now, regular chocolate is a bit of an obsession that the Willeford boys have, and the moment they get up they need it, like a coffee junkie needs his fix. So the next morning, he got up and Sam got regular chocolate and Jack didn't, and if you can guess, this did not go over well. It ended in a 30 minute session of him whining and trying to negotiate with me, followed by a repeat trip to his room for another punishment. On the way out the door to Bible School he attached the following note to the refrigerator with a magnet:

It says: "Ruolz Anwon can have RC. No Punishmants"

In other words: "Rules, Anyone can have RC [Regular Chocolate]. No Punishments."

Stubborn kid. Wonder where he gets that from???

I don't know why I was worried...

2009-06-05T15:27:00.004-05:00

I took the boys to look at houses today. I have no idea why I was worried about Jack, because he seems to relish in the house hunt. He said "Well, it is really fun getting a new house, mama! [We are really into the mama lately] The problem is, after you get your new house, you still have all of your old stuff in it." I had to agree.

We went and looked at a house that is in the old historic part of Summerville. Both Keith and I love old houses, and I was excited to look at it. Unfortunately, it was nothing to get excited about, read, very old and looking very outdated with moldy bathrooms. I walked out and said, "Well, I didn't like that one." Jack said, "Yeah, me neither. It really didn't have any decorations in it." I tried to tell him that you actually put the decorations up yourself for the most part, but he insisted, saying, "But really, mama, the walls were all plain!!" Okay.

After we went and checked out another house in a cool neighborhood, he was ready to move in immediately. As we drove off, he asked me which one was OUR house an then on the way home he asked me if we were going to our "Old" house. I said, yes, of course, our stuff is still at this house. He was not pleased.

Right now he is in the backyard mostly naked with an umbrella singing "Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love you, tomorrow, you're only a day AWAY!!!!!!!" Man, our new neighbors are gonna be lucky.

How old is he???

2009-06-04T08:18:00.003-05:00

"We have to move to a new house," I tell him tentatively. I am afraid he is going to freak out, because we do this too often and I know he hates it. He has just asked Keith a few weeks ago at bedtime to promise him we can live here forever. "We will stay in the same city, though, and you can still go to the same school." I wait.

"Well, we should move to a neighborhood close to my school then mommy, so that we don't have to drive too many minutes to get there."

Hmm, smart kid. We were considering the same thing.

--------------------------------------

And last week, when I was sad about losing his great teacher that I love:

"Mommy, you are sad now about Mrs. Flatt, but next year when I am going to first grade, you are going to say the same thing about my Kindergarten teacher. You are going to love her even more and be sad to change to a new one."

Sometimes this kid is wise beyond his years :-)

The end of the preschool era...

2009-05-30T08:29:00.006-05:00

Jack had a really wonderful school year. We were so so lucky to sort of just fall into this wonderful situation with great friends and the perfect teacher for him. It is really hard for his mommy to believe that he is going to "big boy" school in the fall. I am not ready for him to grow up.

He, however, is completely unfazed. He has been asking to go Kindergarten and do harder work. He says he knows he will miss his friends but "don't worry mommy, he'll make new ones." I guess I'll have to learn to take some cues from him.

Here is a picture montage from yesterday, his last day at St. Luke's Childrens Center.

Mrs. Flatt, Joey, and the class on the last day of school.

Jack walking in to the school program.

I know it is blurry, but our choices were blurry or red eye.

I had to include this one because it is so his personality... a ham.

Looking innocent.

Receiving his diploma.

He graduated!
The class at graduation.

Jack and the best teacher, Mrs. Flatt.

Sam, causing trouble at graduation, but still looking cute.

Jack and Abby.

Julia Wilson, Austin, and Jack.

Shane and Jack.

Jack singing "Tomorrow."

And for the truly die hard fans (aka the grandmothers), Jack singing "I won't grow up."

Even Better

2009-05-24T13:03:00.002-05:00

Sorry, I don't have a picture from today, but this is my best week yet at Publix! I saved $94.88 and spent $44.60 out of pocket!

Plus, I got Sam's medicine at Rite Aid and used a coupon for a new/transferred prescription then you get a $25 gift card. I spent the $25 on art stuff to keep two kids busy for Memorial Day weekend when it is raining and we can't leave due to fever!

Saving money is pretty fun.

Extreme Couponing

2009-05-23T15:45:00.003-05:00

My mom's group here had a meeting in February about how to coupon. It is not like just taking a few coupons to the store, however. It is more like, taking 30. It takes a lot of planning and you have to buy stuff on sale and stockpile it. I have been fielding some questions about it, so I thought that I'd share some of it on here occasionally. It is really awesome once you get good at it to go into a store and save more than you spend.

I go to a grocery store here, Publix. It is awesome. I know most of you Texas folk don't have Publix, but Kroger's does some similar stuff with coupons. I also do Walgreens and CVS every week, because mostly every week those stores will have items that are free with coupons.

Anyway, here is what I got this week at Publix. My total before was 170.32, I saved 86.75 and paid 83.57. This is with buying produce, all organic meat and we go through about 4 gallons of milk a week here.

Alive

2009-05-19T13:20:00.003-05:00

This morning at gymnastics Sam choked on a granola bar, couldn't breathe, then threw it up.

Then we get home from school and do lunch and Sam goes down. I am at the computer (where else?) when Jack starts SCREAMING in the living room (about six feet away, max). I run over there and say:

"What is it?"

He is holding his sweatshirt up to his mouth and he wails, "I need to go to the HOOOOOOOOOOOSPITAL!!!!!!"

I realize I am going to get no good info out of him so I pull down the sweatshirt and look, and see blood covering his molars. I say "WHAT HAPPENED" to him firmly.

"I don't want to SAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!"

"Jack, just tell me!"

More crying. "I was moveringmuc and then boeurd."

"WHAT??"

"I was trying to carry three things but I only had two hands!!!!!!!!!!"

"What happened to your mouth?" as I blot the blood with a towel that was conveniently next to him.

"I was trying to carry three things but I couldn't so I put one in my mouth."

"Which one?" I still don't see any of the things he was 'carrying'.

"The paintbrush!"

Yep, he was holding a paintbrush in his mouth, he fell into the couch, and it went up into the roof of his mouth and punctured a hole. This is one of those things that people warn you can happen (and I have warned HIM about before, probably more like with a pen), but you never see. So I get a flashlight out and check out the damage and it is pretty sick but the bleeding is slowing. I go to our great neighbors' house and they happen to have homemade popsicles on hand, so he is covered. I would also like to say THANK GOODNESS that I didn't have to pull it out b/c I don't think I could have handled that.

No hospital today (at least not yet).

I told Keith and he said "It is amazing any of us get out of childhood alive."

Good Morning

2009-05-18T09:56:00.002-05:00

Jack comes in and lays in bed with me this morning.

"Good morning" I say.

"Hi."

"Why do you have new clothes on?"

"Oh, I just felt like a change."

Me, laughing, but knowing better: "Accident?"

"I really don't want to have to tell you this, but it was a tee-tee accident, and it is really too bad because I like that lizard and frog sheet the best of all."

2009-05-16T12:04:00.003-05:00

Last night, Jack went to his room to pick out his books to that we read before bedtime. I go in and he has chosen some fine book and "Cars and Trucks and Things that Go" by Richard Scarry. Those books take FOREVER to read. I said:

"Jack, I really don't want to read Cars and Trucks tonight."

He said, "Well, mommy, that is what I chose, so I guess you are just going to have to live with it."

Gotta love it when the things you tell them come back to haunt you.

-----------------------------------

This morning, I go out to put the boys in the car and see three of our tricycles in the cul-de-sac. Obviously we had left them out overnight. I said:

"Dang! We left our crap out all night!"

Jack says "Yeah, I guess we need to get our freaking crap."

I sigh and say "Well, neither Freaking nor Crap is a very nice word. Mommy shouldn't have said Crap either. What else can we say instead?"

Soon he is going to be calling me an MFer and I am going to only have myself to blame.

Outta the mouths of babes

2009-05-14T12:04:00.002-05:00

Sam talks SO MUCH now. He repeats absolutely anything you say. He also calls all adult food "chicky" as in chicken. Anything Keith and I are eating, he will come to our plate, say "Ooooh, chicky" no matter what it is. (That is another thing he does, preface EVERYTHING he says with OOOOOOOOOH, like Oooooooh airplane, oooooooooh car, ooooooooooh truck). Mostly he wants nothing to do with any of this "chicky" even though we offer it to him (he subscribes more to the Jack theory of eating which involves no meat nor vegetables and all dairy, fruit, and carbs). So, today I was eating a breadstick and I asked him if he wanted some. He said yes so I passed him one in his carseat.

"Oooooooooh. Mommy. Hot Chicky! "
-------------------------

Sam is absolutely obsessed with muffins. It is all he EVER WANTS IN LIFE. He wakes up and says "Hi mommy! Chocky milk? Muffins?" This morning he went and sprawled down in front of the pantry door after I told him that we didn't have any more muffins and cried "MUFFFFFFINS!!!" for like five minutes. I would have to make muffins all day to satisfy his craving for them, because he asks for him at least five times a day.

-------------------------

Sam is also in the phase where he is totally obsessed with books and reading. Jack went through this same phase at about this age. Books are constantly strewn all about our house. He will randomly go into his room, get several bring them to me, and shove them in my face. Then he says "READ! READ!" You get about a five second window and if you have not begun in that allotted time frame he will throw them in your face and start crying "READ!!!!!!!!!!!" It is very frantic. I don't mind so much, since I have brown bear and I Like Trucks memorized. But forget trying to finish an email or do dishes if he gets gripped with the craving for Opposites or any of his menagerie of favorites. You must stop and comply NOW or you will get a board book to the face.

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The other night Keith had just gotten home from work and we were all outside playing. Jack is walking out of the garage with a hammer.

"Hey daddy! Look! A bitch hammer!"

Keith, a little surprised, says "A what?"

"A bitch hammer!"

Keith, not wanting to say WHAT!?!?!? again and call more attention to it, just says "Well, Jack, that is not a very nice word, we don't say that, we'll have to call it a something else hammer."

Jack, completely non-plussed, says to him, "Okay, daddy, we'll call it a Wizzy Hammer!"

We still have no idea where that came from exactly nor if he was actually referring to the curse word.

-----------------------------

We are walking through the monkey house in the Columbia zoo. Jack is walking a little in front of me and this recording of a monkey going "Oooh ooh, ahh ahha ahh" goes over the loudspeaker. He turns to me and says:

"Good heavens mommy! That really FRIGHTened me!"

He really talks like a 60 year old woman sometimes.

The Four Willie Boys

2009-05-05T14:22:00.003-05:00

L to R
Wesley - 4 months, Collin, 10 months, Sam 2 years, Jack 5 years

This family doesn't make girls, what can we say?

Easter Pictures - More than a little late :-)

2009-05-05T13:51:00.005-05:00

All that pretty hair got chopped off the next day :-(

I love Jack in the background of this one!

Easter tie, only a little too short! (He told Keith the next day "Daddy, you can give this tie to the poor kids"- that is what he calls Goodwill)

The special gold egg...

Some Birthday Videos for you to Enjoy

2009-04-27T19:38:00.004-05:00

Please ignore me singing. I wish I knew how to edit it out :-)

Sam singing Happy Birthday

Jesus Loves Me

Row Row Row Your Boat

Sneakily Behaving

2009-04-13T15:46:00.004-05:00

It seems that you only really notice the strain of having kids on the hard days. The days you go to sleep and think "WHY???"

Today was the first day back at preschool after Spring Break. Score one point for Jack.

Woke up, pleasant, happy. Wanting to play with his brother. Off to school. No problems.

Took Sam to Publix, CVS, and Walgreens. Shopping from 9:15-11:15. Only a few short meltdowns over gummy bears and the desire to be held the entire time. Score one for Sam.

Picked Jack up. He is happy because he was the leader in his class today. Debate getting haircuts, not wanting to push my luck with Sam. Go to Sports Clips and it is a 30 minute wait. Definitely not at naptime. Go get chocolate shakes instead.

On the way home, drive by Fantastic Sams. No line. We pull in, get haircuts. I volunteer to sit with Sam because he has a poor haircut track record. He is so smiley we decide to try it. He sits stock still for 20 minutes. He is 2, remember. A little angel. Jack whines briefly beforehand but once we get him in the chair he is the picture of great behavior. As I am leaving I think to myself, "You know those people you occasionally see and you think HOW do they get their kids to act so well-behaved? Right now, I am those people."

Home, naptime. Jack awake. Draws pictures for almost 2 hours straight. We go get the mail. He gets two "mails" and is extremely pleased about this turn of events. Mail one - a birthday card from Uncle Doug. Contains $20. He is jumping up and down with his "One Dollar!" Asks me who it comes from, then says "Thanks, Uncle Doug!" Mail Two- stickers from Mimi and Papa Dean for Easter. Equally as pleased. Politely says "Well thank you Mimi!" Then he walks to the door and opens it and says "Well, thank you mail, have a nice day!"

Sometimes, this ain't so bad.

Birthday Bonanza

2009-04-07T12:08:00.006-05:00

The cupcake monger had a cupcake before the party even started, several during, and at least one after. I think it is all he ate all day.

My mom made this cute clown cutout and took all the kids pictures behind it.

"5" and "2" shirts.

They loved the bouncy.

Sam and his best friend, Lilly.

He managed to blow this out by himself!

You can see Nana's facepainting handiwork.

Jack and his good friend Justice.

Soccer man

2009-04-06T06:56:00.004-05:00

Score! SO pleased with himself! Look at that smile! Great birthday present for him.

We had a great time in YMCA soccer this season. Jack had a bit of a learning curve but had really improved by the end. Nana and Poppy got to see him score his first official goal this weekend! He was so proud of himself and we were very proud of him too. Keith was a great coach and had a lot of fun with it. This will not be the last of soccer in our household...

So innocent looking...

2009-03-30T16:24:00.001-05:00

Boys on Jack's school picture day...

Maybe we'll all live, after all

2009-03-23T12:32:00.004-05:00

We had a rough weekend here, Jack-wise, with a lot of misbehaving. Refusal to listen, whining, acting up in church, crying, doing the exact opposite of what he is told to do, fighting with his brother, we've got it all. We also had a lot of threats, time-out, taking away his books, taking away his Leapster globe, taking away his music, punishing him from time with friends, taking away t.v., sending him to his room, and maybe even a few spankings (though I can't remember any, but that isn't telling us much).

Today, however, a friend was over and we were all having a hard time getting along and sharing with Sam, who is one and does tend to bother. Still, part of life here is dealing with him and letting him in on the fun, even if you don't want to. After a few rounds of this, I am walking to the bedroom to intervene yet again and I hear Jack say, "Remember what my mom said, we have to be nice to Sam and share even if he isn't acting nice to us."

Hallelujah. It is amazing how much one sentence like that can renew my faith that it is not a lost cause, after all.

FU

2009-03-18T16:58:00.003-05:00

Imagine you are just sitting casually at the computer reading whatever and your child walks up to you and drops this in your lap:

I mean, dang, what would you think??

**(Okay, okay, fine. Of course I asked him "Umm, Jack, What is this?" and he said "Sorry mom, I just messed it up, I couldn't write the word 'From' right")

Night-night overcooked

2009-03-17T20:18:00.003-05:00

Tired. Late. Home from meeting.

Kid. Tired. Up too late. Uncooperative.

Argument. Not gonna go his way. No books.

Fit Ensues. Screaming in bed.

Ten minutes elapses.

"Jack, why are you crying now?"

"I want a BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOK. I want Hands, Hands, Finger, Thumb. It'll have it, it is FIIIIIIIIIIIIIINE!!!!!!!!!"

"Jack, you are punished from the book buddy. You didn't listen to mommy. You aren't gonna get a book tonight. Period."

I climb into the bed and pull him over. "Stop crying. Calm down, I'll lay here and rub your back."

Quiets.

"Mommy, if you don't read me a book, I WILL NOT kiss you goodnight."

"O.k., whatever you have to do."

More quiet. Eyes closed. Thumb sucking. Total calm. So close to thinking he might be asleep. Slow little face rises up and gets next to mine. Makes loud "Mwwwwa" sound. This is a Jack kiss.

I smile and rub his back. He couldn't take it, the guilt, I guess, of not kissing me good night. Somewhere deep down inside, he has a sweet heart, and a conscience, after all.

A day at the 'doctor'

2009-02-24T16:45:00.003-06:00

Ever listen to kids play? It is pretty worth it.

Playing Doctor

Friend: "My back is a little broken"

Jack: "Ok, it is going to be ok"

Friend: fake hyperventilating

Jack: "Just calm down, I am going to listen to your heart.... ok your heart seems fine... the problem is that it has a lot of throw up on it."

-------------------------------

Friend: "Let's take your temperature.......oh my....... you have such a huge huge huge fever! The biggest fever!"

Jack: "Oh well, that means I am going to catch on fire..."

-------------------------------

Jack: "Oh doctor, please help me. I have a broken ear."

Friend: "Sorry, just deal with it, I am not up for working now."

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Jack: "I am pretty tired of being the nurse now, I am ready to be the builder"

Good boys

2009-02-17T06:20:00.002-06:00

I didn't feel well at all yesterday afternoon and knew I was going to be sick. Keith came home an hour early from work and took care of the boys all afternoon and evening and put them to bed. Plus, he did it all in a good mood. Then after he put the boys to bed he apologized to me for goofing around on the internet for an hour before he did the dishes?!?!

At one point I asked Jack to please ask daddy to bring me some ice water. He said "Don't worry, I can do it mommy." He drug the chair out and got a cup and filled it for me and brought it in. After he dropped it off and was leaving he said, "You know, you are the best mommy for me."

I think I might get sick more often :-)

Spell

2009-02-14T19:23:00.004-06:00

Driving to Target, here is the volley of spelling game questions between me and Jack:

A: "How do you spell 'Red'?"

J: R-E-D

J: "How do you spell 'Chopsticks'?"

A: C-H-O-P-S-T-I-C-K-S

A: "How do you spell 'Nana'?"

J: N-A-N-A

J: "How do you spell 'Tactic?'"

A: T-A-C-T-I-C

A: "How do you spell 'Dog'?"

J: D-O-G

J: "How do you spell 'Northern Mariana Islands'?"

Seriously, are you freaking kidding me? How does he come up with this stuff?

BAD BABY!

2009-02-09T12:30:00.003-06:00

Sam likes to kick you while you try to change his diaper. It is really nice and I have been known to pop him on the leg in the past in order to get him to quit long enough for me to finish. I have not, however, been known to call him a "bad baby" at the same time. Saturday I was changing him and he started kicking me. I said "Sam, NO KICKING MOMMY!" He then proceeded to hit himself on the leg multiple times and say "Bad BABY!!!" in a robot voice. I have not seen anything so funny in quite some time. Luckily Jack was also in the room and he thought it was hilarious too. The main problem with all the laughing is that he now thinks that saying "Bad Baby" is sure to get a laugh and he says it all the time. Here is a video of me trying to recreate him saying this for all to see. You can definitely hear the monster voice at least :-)

P.S. We really don't call any of our kids bad, btw. He got that from Jack, who does INDEED call Sam a bad baby. I blame the Steve Martin book "The Alphabet from A to Y with Bonus Letter Z". The page for B says "Bad Baby Bubbleducks"and ever since that book became a hit in this house Baby Bubbleducks is spoken of often around here.

What do all of these pictures of Jack have in common?

2009-02-09T10:10:00.003-06:00

He has his head under the water! That's right folks, he can swim! And, as he would himself tell you, he "doesn't need floaties or anything, just goggles." We are going to the next step up class today so I hope that goes as well as this finally did (fingers crossed here).

e

Disney Extravaganza

2009-02-02T11:25:00.009-06:00

Boys NOT EXCITED at all to be there...

Jack's favorite ride, Buzz Lightyear (there were two different cool Buzz Lightyear rides, he'll tell you)

Fun times at the Honey I Shrunk the Kids Playground

Jack waiting for the Hollywood Studios Block Party Parade (aka Loud and Obnoxious Parade)

Well, he seemed to like it...

Jack LOVED seeing the characters.

We didn't really mind that he hated it though b/c it just meant less lines we had to wait in. Sam cried after we left this one for "Jo Jo, Jo Jo" even though he has never seen the show.

Really neat Kilimanjaro Safaris ride...

Fake San Francisco
Sam behind the barriers and trying to get to the cars in fake San Fransisco

Sam wearing the Hollywood Studios hat

Disney does A LOT of 3D glasses...

The big tree at Animal Kingdom

Alicia and Sam in Disney Jail

"See you next week" as Jack would tell you...

Two more excellent Disney quotes that I forgot:

Day One, Magic Kingdom, It's A Small World

Jack: "They should really call that ride 'It's a large large world'"

--------------------------

Day Three, Animal Kingdom, outside an exhibit showcasing anteaters

Lady Disney Worker asking Jack and one other little boy questions

LDW: "How many ants do you think that this anteater eats in one day? It's a lot!"

Jack: very cutely raising his hand at the elbow "One thousand?"

LDW: "No, many more than that!"

Other child: "62?"

LDW: "No, many more than that."

Jack: raising hand again "One billion?"

LDW: laughs, "No, not quite a billion."

[the answer, for those who care, was 30,000]

Crazy Quotes Disney Edition

2009-01-31T17:40:00.002-06:00

Day one, Magic Kingdom, on the Jungle Cruise ride in Adventureland:

passing a crazy assortment of African animals

Jack: "Oh, guys, look! Fake animals!"

----------------

Driving to Hollywood Studios, Day two:

Jack: "Man, mooooooooomy!"

Me: "What?"

Jack: "I forgot my elephant. I promised him he could go with us to Disney World today!"

Me: "Well, tomorrow we are going to Animal Kingdom. I think he would LOVE it there. Why don't we just take him tomorrow?"

Jack: considering..."Ok. I'll just text him and tell him that we'll do that."

--------------

Day Two, Hollywood Studios, Lights Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show (as well as all of days one and three in all locales surrounding the Disney area)

~HUGE car chase ensues, guns shooting, cars squealing, motorcycles jumping

Me: "Sam, see the cars?"

Sam: "Fan!"

Me: "See the motorcycle?"

Sam: Points "Fan!"

Me: "See the bus?"

Sam: Points up "Fan!!!"

Me: "Yes, buddy, another fan!"

------------------

Day Two, Hollywood Studios, Toy Story Midway Mania! (best freaking ride at all of Disney world)

after first ride

Keith: "How many points did you get?"

Alicia: "87,000"

Keith: "Aww, man, are you kidding? I only got 74,000. I was holding Sam on my lap and he was getting in the way. Next time you have to ride with Sam."

after second ride

Alicia: "I wipped your butt this time."

Keith: "How many?"

Alicia: "125,000"

Keith: "How'd you do that with Sam?"

Alicia: "Stuck Sam in his own seat with his own gun. He got zero. But he had a ball."

[sidenote, Keith still beat me, he got 147,000 or something like that and the high score for the day was something crazy like 333,000]

-----------------------

Day Three, Animal Kingdom, walking around and looking at the animals in the beginning on the Oasis

Sam: seeing flamingos "Mingo!"

Sam: seeing ducks "Mingo!"

Sam: seeing pigeons "Mingo!"

Keith: "Well, at least he learned one word here besides fan."

------------------------------------

Day Three, Animal Kingdom, Kilimanjaro Safari (which is REALLY FREAKING COOL), right after Sam had had a screaming fit through the last three songs of the Festival of the Lion King show

Me: "See the big ELEPHANT!"

Sam: "No!"

Me: "See the zebra!"

Sam: "No ze-ra!!"

Me: "See the giraffe?"

Sam: "No, no!"

Me: "See the antelope?"

Sam: "No, a-lope"

You see where this is going....

-----------------

Day Three, Animal Kingdom, right after "It's Tough to be a bug" 3D show (sidenote: I should really learn to listen when they say 'this show might be frightening for young children')

Walking out

Me: "So what was your favorite thing here?"

Jack: "I don't know, I but definitely hated that one the MOST OF ALL."

---------------------

Jack, dressing for Cirque de Soliel

Me: "What do you think the people are going to do there?"

Jack: silent

Me: "Like, flips?"

Jack: exasperated "Mommy, not flips. Just ALL KINDS of stuff you can't do."

Watch out folks, Dadddy has the kids all weekend...

2009-01-24T11:20:00.001-06:00

My wife bought our son a Leap Frog interactive globe for Christmas. I initially thought her idea was lame. I have subsequently changed my opinion completely. When was the last time you had a conversation with your four year-old like this:
(In response to a discussion about how the horn of Africa countries - Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya, etc - are having some trouble these days)
(Circling Saudi peninsula with finger) "But dad, what about those countries? Are they okay?"(Not wanting to discuss Islamic extremist terrorism with my four year old), "Yeah, they are doing okay."(Pointing from country to country with his finger) "But if there are some bad people in Eritrea, then maybe they can go to Yemen.""Yes, you're very right.""And then to Oman, then Iran, then Afghanistan, then Pakistan, then India, then Myanmar, then Thailand, then Malaysia, then Indonesia..."
Or, a discussion like this:
(Talking about soft "g" and hard "g" sounds)
"Dad, I know what makes a soft "g" sound.""What?""Georgia.""Yeah, right next door to us.""But its confusing because it is a place inside the United States and also a place outside the United States."
Great gift. Brilliant kid. It breaks my heart that someday soon he'll realize the coast of Somalia is full of pirates, and Georgia just got the crap beat out of it by a bully named Russia, and daddy didn't go to Afghanistan for shits and giggles, and that virtually every country in that previous string of countries is home to a small, but dedicated, contingent of anti-social types bent on terrorizing the modern world back into the stone age. When that day comes and he asks me why some people are willing to blow themselves (and anyone around them) up to make a point, I will be tempted to simply explain to him that most terrorists just need to get laid. Unfortunately, that will open up an entirely new can of worms.

Random Musings

2009-01-19T09:48:00.003-06:00

The other day we were driving home from school and Jack was telling me about something that had happened that day (which, actually, is rare, we get a lot of "Nothing happened, don't talk to me" even at four). He said that they were playing a rhyming game and Mrs. Flatt was telling them things that rhymed with their last names. I was barely paying attention thus cannot recite the list to you of what rhymed with Willeford, but afterward he came up with this gem:

"Mommy, it was just so so funny, I couldn't believe my heart."

-----------------

We are sick today and thus staying home. This is not something I enjoy doing all day most of the time because I like to be out and going and doing. Staying home with these two can be pretty tedious. We were watching the second in a long stream of movies and I was sitting on the big couch surrounded with four baskets full of clean laundry and attempting to fold it all.

Jack looks at up from his movie and says, "You are such a great worker mommy. You work the most hardest of all the people I know. "

Don't forget it, kid. And make sure you tell that to your daddy.

----------------

I just folded sweatshirts. We usually wash laundry on Sunday. We certainly did last week and this week. I folded 11 sweatshirts that belong to Sam. Seriously, what the hell? How did he go through 11 sweatshirts in 7 days? This type of thing always perplexes me. I could count other pieces of our laundry and do the same thing, but I'm afraid you might get bored :-)

To be or not to be Pur-fet

2009-01-14T13:32:00.007-06:00

Jack is a perfectionist. So much so that it can be problematic. For example, when he wrote this version of the ABCs, I could not tell him that letters J, L, N and S were backwards or he would have taken it down off the refrigerator angrily and said it is not "puuuur-fet". He likes things that are Pur-fet a lot better than things that have any mistakes at all (lets not get into the deeper discussion of how pronouncing perfect without the c is also imperfect). This obviously causes conflict since his two favorite things in life are (1) creating art and (2) writing things. When you are four you are going to make mistakes when you try to do either of these things
So, I am in the bath (it is wonderful to have a four-year-old, I can take a bath and leave him alone with full knowledge that he is unlikely to flood the toilet or write on walls or worse even... run out the front door) and Jack comes in. I knew he was working on something.

"I am making a birthday card for Poppy"

"OK, good idea"

"I can't do it Pur-fet"

"Well, that is ok, just do your best and he'll still like it!"

"No, I CAN'T SPELL Birthday!!!!!!!!!!"

"Ok, I'll spell it for you"

"Hold on"

He brings me paper and a marker and I write it down. He exits stage right and I don't see him again til after my bath 10 minutes later.

"Did you finish your card?"

"Yes, but it is not good. I wrote the letters right but it doesn't look pur-fet I have to do it again."

I found them this morning. I just LOVE the evolution that you can see in the "Before I asked mom" version and the after :-)

Santa was nice to the boys

2009-01-10T13:00:00.004-06:00

Leapster a'playin'
Grocery cart a'pushin'
Matching p.j.'s a'wearin'
Plastic toys a'gatherin'
The only things Jack asked for were ZooBooks (a kids magazine), a baseball, and Pokemon cards. We, umm, I mean Santa, gathered all these things and then got him a couple of other toys from the over $3 section. He is obsessed with this Leapster Globe BTW. Anyone with kids over about four should consider it. It is an AWESOME learning toy. As my neighbor said recently, "How many other four year olds are running around singing about Port-au-Prince?"

Don't ask ME if he missed any of them!

2009-01-05T18:09:00.009-06:00

Jack memorized all of the states. He is obsessed with this book called The Scrambled States of America. So, one day, I realize that he can read all the states in the back of the book and I am pretty impressed. Then in the last few days I have discovered that he can also recite them verbatim just from memory. I have no idea who he came from but it is not me. I am 28 and I don't know the states in a list. So if he skipped some here I would never know the difference. We took several videos but I think this one is the closest he got to perfect. He did it in the car earlier without prompting but I guess the camera makes him stress more.

Sign Making

2008-12-22T07:54:00.002-06:00

This is sort of Jack's new thing, since he is very proud of his phonics skills, he likes to write signs. He makes them for everything he is playing pretend with, like the fake grocery store, he makes them for the neighborhood kids about twice a day, he makes them for me. It is very cute. Just like everything else he does, it uses a lot of paper! A few days ago Sam was messing up Jack's crafts and it was driving Jack nuts so I took Sam to the bathtub to remove him from the scene for a bit. After a few minutes Jack slipped the following sign under the door:

Sound it out a few times, and you'll figure it out for yourself!

Christmas Program

2008-12-19T12:35:00.009-06:00

Jack being a ham as always

Video: Where is my mom? Where? Where? Oh there you are!

Jack's Christmas Program was this morning and it was really very cute. Here is a few of the videos and pictures from the big show. I will put another few pictures up later after I figure out how to get the red eye out! Please note, if you listen carefully you can hear Keith say all of the following to me (1) That some ladies rear is in his way (2) That some kid looks like a troll and my personal favorite (3) "Man someone farted.... bad.... was it you?" Unfortunely for you a few of those quotable quotes might be on some of the videos that didn't make it here, but I'm sure you'll hear at least one. Hope you guys have a very Merry Christmas!

Video: Some Extreme Jack Swaying

Video: Counting the "little angels"

Video: Jack is SO HAPPY to have Santa surprise them

Words Lists

2008-12-16T06:21:00.004-06:00

Lets just be honest here, you really have to like my kids to care about this. I acknowledge that and I am not offended. But Keith and I were looking at the comparisons and to us it was interesting.

We made these lists of the words they can say when they really start talking, which for both of our kids was around this age, after 18 months.

Jack's is 3 1/2 columns and Sam's is 1 1/2 so that already tells you the major difference. But, it is also interesting to see how much of Jack's personality now is evident in his list. He still loves animals. Letters and counting are still high on his things I really enjoy list. And he still is ahead of some others his age in areas like reading (he could read all those letters that he could say on his list at that time, too).

What does that mean for Sam? I would say that he is definitely more of a trains and trucks guy then Jack ever was. "Choo choo" is one of his favorite words as well as some of his favorite things to strew about the house. Will he still have a propensity for saying "Poo poo" several times a day in a few years?

Sam has also taken to calling me "Leeeh-Saa" throughout the house (thanks, Keith). He will make a huge mess, say, throwing out all the DVDs from their cases, and call me in to check it out with several chants of "Leeeh-Saa". Mama must be a thing of the past (at least for this month).

One of the sweetest things Jack would do at this age is that when we put him down to sleep at night he would say "Bye-bye, See-Ya, Luff You." Then he would just lay right down and go to sleep. Sam is more about some incessant cries for BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOK and then a few minutes of gentle rocking. You are lucky if you are left with an open mouthed kiss, which is something Jack would have NEVER done. I have heard Sam whisper "Ni-ni" back to me a few times as I leave his room, on the occasions when he is tired enough to fall right to sleep.

Anyway, I still love reading over Jack's list now that he says everything and does not call the number seven "Debbie" which we thought was SO precious. So, if you have kids this age or younger, I encourage you to write it down. You'll be glad you did.

Visit with Santa

2008-12-14T11:17:00.000-06:00

No one is screaming. It is a miracle.

Not quite so weekly Jack Art

2008-12-12T15:36:00.003-06:00

Keith had a birthday so I assume that is why we all have our ages displayed. I do not know why Sam is "1A" instead of 1 or why I am "28B."

Some Christmas music for you to enjoy.

It was Col Baby, in the Billiard Room, with the Candlestick

2008-12-12T06:08:00.003-06:00

Sam has taken presents number 11 and 12 out of Jack's stash and apparently made them evaporate. Jack has woken up for the past two mornings (at the crack of dawn) and come in here to find his gift and been unsuccessful at locating the desired number. Let's just say there are some pretty grumpy people up in here at around 6:00 a.m.

Like living with a mini Mary Poppins

2008-12-04T13:41:00.003-06:00

Sometimes I just don't know where Jack gets the way he phrases things. A lot of it is, of course, modeled after the way I say things (thank God, mostly not how Keith says things, though Jack did say "What the hell" in the grocery store line recently, don't get me started...)

Nana is perfect and has made the kids these gift baskets yearly where you open one small gift daily from December 1st until Christmas Day. He LOVES it, of course, and lives for the time of day when he can open a new one. Today, right when we got home from school, he went looking in his bag for the number 4 to open for today. I was in the back, and he opened it and brought it in. It was a Christmas themed notepad.

Jack: holding it at arm's length "Today's gift (really, gift?? not present??) is really QUITE boring."

Me: "But, Jack, it is a pad of paper. And yesterday's gift was a set of markers. So if you go get the markers and use them with the pad you can make pictures with them." (Have you people forgotten he is art crazy??)

Jack: eyes light up "Well, then, it is not really too too boring AFTER ALL"

that pretty much says it all

2008-12-04T13:36:00.001-06:00

He wrote this by himself, too.

Coffee, Anyone?

2008-11-26T05:15:00.004-06:00

It is not just a drink, it can be a food too! And it works great on the hair.

You try answering these questions!!

2008-11-21T16:25:00.002-06:00

"But how did Harpo [the cat]GET to heaven from Nana's house?"
"Well why can't God and Jesus just give him back?"
"What MADE him die?" "Well, so what he was old?" "Just because you are old, you die?" "Well if you are sick, then you die?"
"Well, I AM GOING TO ASK God and Jesus to just give him back from heaven. Because if they took him there, they can just put him back."
-after a lengthy discussion on when it would be alright to push the car alarm button... "Well, if a bad man comes and makes me dead, then can I push it?"

We just NEVER CAN TELL What Sam wants

2008-11-20T16:54:00.002-06:00