The worst bike ride ever

OK, in keeping with my recent theme, first something that has nothing to do with the title. I've been told that "Baby" and "Little Baby" aren't very accurate names for my kids. And while it's true, people don't just get to change names, right? Mmmm. Well, I guess until I figure it out maybe I'll try "Girl" and "Boy". Or you may be asking yourself why I don't use actual names. Point taken. I started out without names because I was writing about Hubby being gone all the time and I felt a little creeped out about that and identifying us. But I suppose it would be that hard for someone to figure it out if they wanted to. Back to the worst bike ride ever. Girl has gotten really good at riding her bike and wants to go all the time. And Boy loves riding in the baby seat, so it's a good way to get out, enjoy the day, and kill some time. So before we go I ask both Boy and Girl if they need a potty break. No one does. OK, fine. We head out. We ride and ride and ride. Until we turn around. Girl needs potty break. We are FAR from real potties but close to trees. I do what any reasonable mom would do and pick a suitable tree off the trail behind a bit of foliage. What I haven't done yet is properly teach her how to pee in the woods. So she basically pees all over herself, shorts, and shoes. Nice. Meanwhile Boy also decides he'd like a potty break, so his pants are around his ankles. He gets performance shy, and it's a good thing b/c his shorts were dry at this point so I ganked them from him and let Girl wear them. Good thing they were those elastic band shorts, and the 24 month shorts did a descent job of fitting. Of course Girl is all sorts of wigged out and uncomfortable (and through tears actually said she should have listened to me and next time she would since I pointed out to her I had suggested she take a potty break before we left. We'll see if she does). Dry shorts, but no panties and wet socks and shoes. Which, my bad, I probably shouldn't have let her wear her slip on red sparkle shoes. Next time I'll require proper footwear, which leads to the rest of the story. I managed to convince Girl she had to suck it up, and yes, I think I used those actual words. The only way to get comfortable was to bike it back to the house. So we head on. She needs a break. Fine. We stop. We go. She wants another break. Fine. We stop. On we go. Another break...and I tell her to wait until we go past the bridge. She turns on the gas and starts flying when her slippery pee shoe slips off the peddle and the peddle clocks her ankle nice and hard. Miraculously she doesn't fall but cruises to a stop screaming the whole time. We manage to get off the trail and I take a look while handling a pee sock and shoe. It looked fine but she was carrying on so I was kinda concerned. She could walk on it, tho, so I knew it couldn't be too awful. So the end is nearly in site. She gets back on the bike and we get to the point of the trial we have to roll our bikes across a green belt to get to our neighborhood. If it weren't for the kindness of a stranger we'd have never made it. Girl was all sorts of convinced she could only crawl and couldn't roll her bike. So the stranger got the bike to the right place while Girl had a piggy back ride from me. I think I was rolling my bike with Boy in the seat. Hear me roar. No wonder I'm soar. So we did make it home and Girl was even jumping before bed. Drrrr-aaammmmma.

Potty Trained

OK, before I get to the topic at hand, I gotta say that I see how pathetic my blog layout is. I mean the header is 3 years old, the family photo is four years old, and the birthday tickers are two years old. I obviously am not keeping up with things very well. So moving on...a big triumphant accomplishment as far as I'm concerned, Little Baby is potty trained at 27 months old. I did everything wrong with Baby, so I was actually planning on waiting until Little Baby was like 5 or something to undertake the challenge. Instead I dove right into to the 3 day method where you basically let the kid pee his pants for 3 days until he "gets" it. Which he did on day 2. And without any accidents after day 4 (it's now been a week), I say it's a success. Mostly. The nighttime training got everything jacked up (as far as sleeping is concerned), but clean and dry all day works for me! But here is where the story is...I took the kids (sans hubs b/c he's out of the country for the month. Yes, for the whole entire month) to a festival event (bounce house, band, food trucks...you get the idea) which is still a little risky. I've been traveling with a little potty in my car, but since we walked to this event, no little potty. But no worries, the dreaded port o potties were there. We'd been there for about 2 hours when he asks for a potty break. And well, whaddya gonna do? I take the kid to the port of john and he does his business. Great. So then it's time to go home and I'm hot, tired, and worn out, and Little Baby is making a full out scene like 2 year olds do about wanting to use the potty. I really did not want to indulge him in his request. But when I finally made out what he was saying, I just had to...he was screaming over and over and over "potty 'fridgerator, potty fridgerator"! Which is hilarious to me. Guess the port o potties do look a bit like a refrigerator. And if it helps a kid keep his big boy pants clean, well, guess we'll do it. Good thing he is cute, because he sure can wear a momma out!

Rewind

Oh my word, I'm a total mess, and I'm shocked. Who am I? What is my deal? Baby starts kindergarten tomorrow, and I keep wishing that it was yesterday. Or yesterday yesterday. I've had 5 1/2 years (mostly) at home with her, and suddenly it's not enough. Yeah, I've heard of moms going all crazy and sad when their kiddos go off to school, but up until a couple of weeks ago I was a "yea whoo!" mom instead of a "boo hoo" mom. My oh my how the table has suddenly turned. The kids don't care, of course. They've been going to some sort of lesson or preschool their whole lives, so I guess they don't "get" the milestone this is. But all the grown ups have been acting like it's a big deal and keep asking about it, so maybe she gets it more than I thinks. Baby has been so fun lately. Really pleasant to be with. I'm going to miss not being around her as much. I'll miss not being spontaneous and going to get shaved ice, take a trip to the zoo, or pack a picnic to the park. We had 3 picnics, a trip to the zoo, a visit to the arboretum, a bowling play date, and a water park visit all within the past 6 days. Way to pack it in, huh? She's been asking for these gaudy light up shoes called twinkle toes for a couple of weeks which we've automatically said no to b/c we just don't buy those kinda things. If the shoes aren't 10 bucks at Marshall's or the grandmothers don't give them we don't have them. So we told her no and she was OK with that. But when I told her we needed to go shopping for shoes for school she asked again for twinkle toes. I told her we would at Marshall's. They didn't have them, but the gaudy store next door, and they cost way more than $10 so I told her we couldn't get them and maybe she could have some for Christmas. She took it so well that I wanted to buy them right then for her. Instead I gave her a few more days. And she was so helpful and obedient and wonderful that I surprised her on Saturday for a shopping trip for twinkle toes. It was was so fun to see her eyes light up at the possibility! And how she loved trying them all on, and how excited she was. She didn't even pout when I told her she couldn't wear them the first day. I mean, come on, not with the adorable ABC dress made by Grams. She's gotta wear ruffle socks and red shoes. But I'm nearly as excited as she is for Tuesday so she can wear hear awful, gaudy shoes. Ew. I can't believe I bought those things for her. Not my taste, but I guess I don't get to choose everything anymore, huh? Ah, well. So I guess I better get on with my evening and pack her lunch. Which I'll have to do until I learn how to get money on her cafeteria card. I think part of the problem of back to school is that I gotta get things figured out too!

I wonder

OK, I wonder lots of things. I've been thinking about this particular post for a week or more with the original thought wondering about kindergarten starting for Baby and if I did all the things I wanted to do with her as a preschooler. But then I got to wondering about a lot of other things too. And you, for instance, may also be wondering some things. Like why I haven't written anything this summer. I've thought about it. I know some fellow bloggers think about it and even write without publishing. I just think about it, no writing. I guess I haven't felt like I have had much to write about. Which sorta might be a good thing since I often write when I need to work through something happening "big" in my life (good or bad). I coulda kept you up to date with all our summering. And I mean, this summer stay at home mom business is not for sissies! It is work. But I actually love summer. I need the break in routine, the license to be lenient with nutrition and bedtime. We've done lots of stuff, and our actual summer vacation is still yet to come. We've had a trip to the local water park, the grown ups took a mission trip with our church while the kids had a blast at grandparents, we've gone to the zoo, the arboretum, and an indoor safari park. We've made trips to the spray park, and Baby has honest to goodness learned to swim. We've made countless art projects and worked on reading. Baby is particularly good with her numbers (addition, subtraction, and even a bit of multiplication). Baby got her first pet of her own (a Beta fish named Rainbow). She's attended soccer camp and several day long gymnastics camps. I can't even tell you the amount of cookies and recipes we've made (and consumed). I've had a weekend girls trip, and well, there's always an army weekend. Luckily the army weekend in July included spouses and a fancy smancy dinner and overnight stay at the Omni in Austin. And don't forget the circus! Where Little Baby was so wound up that he might as well have been one of the acts. So, I digress back to wondering. Now that kindergarten is upon is in two short weeks, I wonder...have I really done it all? Done all the things I wanted to do, all the things I thought I would do? All the things I should have done? Did I waste the time away by wishing I could just have a moment to myself rather than getting on the floor and coloring or doing some fabulous crafting project? I mean, I tend to count it as a good day if I just make it through with a reasonable amount of self control and minimal amount of yelling. Doesn't sound too glamorous. Or like I took advantage of our time together. But since we do have two whole weeks left together we do have a few things on our agenda. Like a trip to the beach! And when we return, we're gonna get to one of those projects Baby always wants to do, but I never want to because it's easy to turn on the TV for her so I can fold laundry or load the dishwasher. Seriously?! By the way I describe my days you'd think my house would actually be tidy!! Ok, so here's the project. Baby wants to make these little apple cover things that are pretty cute. One looks like and apple and one looks like a cat. It's made out of fleece and you put it around an apple you put in your lunch to make it look cute and protect it from bruising. Only I'm an idiot and bought THREE TIMES the amount of fabric I need. You'd think that I'd realize a whole YARD of fabric is way too much to cover ONE apple before I requested my cutting. But no. So, if you've got a birthday coming up or some other special occasion, lucky you, you just might get an apple cozy. So, I wonder...is anyone else as nutty as me?!

Little Baby is Two!

So continuing in the madness of the past 5 years, I went all out on birthday cake. I don't really go all out on the parties, but the cake, yes. We had a circus theme (mostly because I already had a clown pan), and there are ideas all over the internet for carnival/circus decorations and games. We had 3 other families over who all have children about the same age as ours, so it was a good time. Food was frito pie and corn dog casserole muffins and plenty of junk like pretzels, popcorn, cotton candy, and of course cake and ice cream! I thought the photo booth turned out especially well.

Games we play

So there are many many games Baby plays, but two that are recent favorites are:
Run away doggie and
Ding Dong
Run away doggie is basically Baby chasing after Little Baby as he shrieks and tries to get away as Baby yells, "run away doggie" over and over. Sometimes it involves some sort of leash.
Ding dong is very similar, only it involves a "love pat" of sorts on the head while Little Baby shrieks and tries to get away while Baby chases him yelling "ding dong" and "patting" him on the head.

It's funny to watch and Little Baby sometimes turns the table shrieking "ding dong" and chasing Baby. The best part about these games is that my children are enjoying playing together. I love watching them together! I also enjoy the fact that neither of these games involve me :)

Spring Break

So this is gonna be Two In One. Our actual spring break is now, but we took a ski trip a few weeks ago with some friends who have an earlier spring break. And it was SO MUCH FUN! I hadn't skied in about 15 years, and Hubby and Baby had never skied. But it came right back to me, and I was just as average as I was 15 years ago. Fine by me! We loaded the car up and drove to Angel Fire, NM with our bestest friends who have kiddos roughly the same age as ours. We stayed over night in Amarillo on the way up, so it wasn't an awful drive. Pretty good in fact. And our friends have access to an awesome house, so the accommodations were great, plus the house was basically across the street from the mountain. Back when I "used to ski" it seems like we had to take buses and leave like at 7 AM to drive an hour to ski. But maybe it's just 'cause I was a cranky teenager. We probably stayed across the street then too. Anyway. The mountain is a great size...big enough for variety, but small enough to be a great place to learn. Hubby took a short class in the morning and was skiing blues the very same day! He'd probably be upset if I didn't mention he skied black before the trip was over, so there ya go. He skied black. Baby (and her friend) went to ski school all day while the babies stayed in day care. The next day we actually took the big kids all the way up to the top! And Baby did great. I loved skiing behind her listening to her hum. Sure, she had a few spills, but no major meltdowns, which is a pretty big deal. I'm hopeful another ski trip is in our future! We had so much fun, not only skiing but spending a whole week with our besties.
Baby actually celebrated her 5th birthday while we were there, too. So that was fun. I think she might have been a little confused, because at this point we had been celebrating for like a week or more. Anyway, I made cupcakes and we went out to dinner.
OK, spring break #2, which is now, and our actual spring break. We've been having fun, but I think today has been the biggest adventure thus far. Monday we met cousins at the Rain forest Cafe, where I had never been and had been wanting to go. The kids had fun, but now I've got it out of my system and don't feel the need to return. It was packed! Dunno why I didn't think it would be, but we got there at 4 so I thought we'd miss the crowd. Today I must have felt real adventuresome, because I took both kids by myself on the rail system here (which I haven't ridden in like 10 years, so it's like I've never ridden it). It was great, though! I did my research and we got on a train and rode for 4 stops before getting off at an underground station, which was exciting. Then we took a short walk to a shopping center and had frozen yogurt. Next we took a trolley ride! There is an old trolley system in the uptown area around here, so we just hopped on, rode the loop, and got off back at the rail station. So, we rode: an outside elevator, a train, a reeeeaaaalllly long escalator, a glass elevator inside that went at an angel, and a trolley. Wow. Lots of transportation. I feel like we conquered the city today! And everyone had a good time, even better.

Memory Lane

Happy 7th Anniversary, Hubby! Yesterday the Hubs and I celebrated 7 years of wedded bliss. We talked about how I guess it hasn't been all that long, but whoa, we sure have experienced a whole lotta life in those 7 years! 3 houses, 2 kids, and 1 deployment.
We took a trip down memory lane to celebrate. We had dinner at the restaurant where we had our rehearsal dinner (first time we had been back!). When they found out it was our anniversary they spread rose petals on our table and brought us champagne! Fun. Plus the food was great. We topped it off with creme brulee. Mmmmm.
Next stop was the hotel around the corner. Sight our our reception. Again, first time we had been there in 7 years. I was trying to break in the ballroom (who cares there was a sign that said "in use?"), when an employee asked if he could help. When I explained what we were doing, he happily got his keys and Hubby and I started reminiscing. We must have had sweet stars in our eyes or he was feeling generous, and he offered us a drink on the house. We weren't planning on staying out late, but who could pass it up?
Here's to many more anniversary celebrations, Hubs! You make life fun.

Happy Birthday, Baby!

Lookie, lookie! Baby is almost 5! Her b-day is actually on the 28th, but we are going to be in NM on our first ever ski trip then (post to follow!), so we celebrated this weekend. Side note, I'm seeing that on the little blog ticker on "how old your child is", it's a year out dated. Oops.
So, if you've been with me awhile, you know I judge my motherhood on my birthday cake creations. Success! I'm a good mom for one more year! After brainstorming together, Baby and I came up with a "wear your pjs and watch Jungle Book" party theme. And since Baby can't resist pink, I made a pink jungle flower cake. And since there were about a billion 5 year olds, I also made jungle animal cupcakes (elephant, tiger, monkey, in honor of the animals in the movie). See photos.
It rained and rained and rained on Saturday, so it turned out to be a super duper day for movie and pizza in pjs. Now, I thought I had sent the invitations out a little late, so I pretty much let Baby invite everyone she wanted (all 21 kids). I thought, surely only about 10, maybe 15 will come. Nope. 19. Plus younger siblings and some parents (thank goodness there were plenty of adults on hand!) It was C-R-A-Z-Y. But lots of fun. See photos of the cake, what I thought the party would be like, and what it actually was. Happy Birthday, Baby!

Gettin' back to it

Hello again. It's been awhile. As is starting to get way too common. So we've been up to this and that. Hubby has been traveling for work and army waaaaay too much, and I'm getting over a sinus infection with bronchitis thrown in for fun. But enough about that.
I'm planning Baby's 5th birthday party! Crazy, crazy. It's pizza and pajama time with a Jungle Book screening. I'm planning on making a flower cake and cupcakes like the jungle animals in the movie (elephants, tigers, monkeys). It's gonna be a busy week, folks!
I'm also still trying to get this Tupperware thing to work. I've sorta been hit and miss (mostly miss) on it, but I'm going to give a real good go of it this time. Click on my new link to the right to get to the online catalog...sure would appreciate your support on this! I've got a list of names on it, and I'm gonna be making phone calls, gals. Phone calls inviting you to have fun, and well, let's be honest here HOST A PARTY! Even though I named my "business" Momma's Tupperware, it's anything but stuck in the 70s (or whatever era your mom hails). New fresh products...one of my favorites is the fridge smart system that will save you big time money by properly storing your produce. I could go on and on about all of this, but let me just say...you've been warned, friends! If you'd rather approach me first about hosting a party, that'd be great. Or be expecting my phone call! Seriously, they are fun...I make a simple recipe using Tupperware products (duh), and a low pressure sales pitch (again, duh, it IS a Tupperware party), and YOU, my dear hostess get lots of free Tupperware for just inviting your best gal pals over for a little food and fun. Win, win, win, is just about how I see it ;)

Holes in his jeans

Not really sure why that's the title, but I was just thinking about Little Baby and how he has TWO pair of pants with holes in them from all his hard play. And he's only 20 months old. And that sent my mind down a path...

I'm absolutely loving these days. I'm overwhelmed with the amount of blessing I feel. I don't deserve it, I don't know why God has blessed me so, I'm so thankful, and just loving life right now. I guess you could say I'm on one of those peaks folks experience on the "ups and downs of life." Sure, I've had the down times too, but even those aren't that low.

I'm part of a Bible study, and even after growing up in the church and being faithful, it's like I'm just now getting Jesus' sacrifice, but also his unexplainable love and joy. Joy! A different kinda joy than "happy". A peaceful underlying tone to life...security maybe?

I suppose an outsider could look at my life and make the claim that it would be easy for me to have joy. And it's true...I'm in a privileged group. I've got a home, Hubby has steady employment, my children are beautiful (biased, am I?). I guess there are lots of things I don't have, too, but who cares. I've got the good stuff. God, family, basic nees fulfilled. Gravy. I've got gravy, too.

I'm usually overwhelmed by the daily responsibilies of raising 2 kiddos, but I've recently taken a new view (I could be late on this...and I think it's becuase my selfishness has finally given way to motherly sacrifice). I'm THRILLED to be the one to teach my kids, lead my kids, and influence my kids like NO ONE else. I've heard other mothers talk aobut it, but I've just now gotten it. I GET to stay home with them. I GET to take them to school and bake cookies and shuttle around to activies and the park and zoo and whatever else.

OK, I could go on and on, but even here at 7 AM Baby is up and already gave me her good morning hug, and Little Baby has been singing in his crib for at least half an hour. Better get all this "I'm happy to be mothering" day started!

TGIF, and if you don't know the Joy Of the Lord, find it! Ask me or someone else who can explain it a lot better :)