Snippets of life

Some of the funnier things that have happened over the last few weeks:

John Michael has fallen in *love* with the "socks" that are available at Payless for trying on shoes.  I threw them away after our first visit when he discovered them for the first time.  He asked for them several times at home, but I just pretended not to hear him (nice Mommy trick, right?).  We were in Payless again today & he kept asking "where are the socks, where are the socks?"  I snagged a pair and am saving them for a future distraction technique.  He likes to put them on, then put on his flip flops and run.  They make you "weally fast!"  (and just in case it's not clear, those "socks" he likes, they are the little pantyhose footies... nice, huh???)

Our new dog, Shelly, likes to leave monkey guts & parrot guts lying all over the house.  So if you are over & notice white stuffing all over the house, you'll know who the culprit is.  Also, crayons are particularly tasty in her opinion.  Check out that tail that just curls into the perfect C - you have to watch out when she starts whipping it around though - especially if she's recently had a dip in the pool! 

My favorite "funny" of the week:
After months of hot (>100 degrees) dry weather, with a yard full of branches, brown leaves and dirt, what should you do if you want to be outside riding a bike or running on the path around the house when a strong wind (really strong!) starts gusting and blowing all of the above around?   Run inside, fetch your swim goggles and proceed to ride/run/walk/play outside again to your heart's content regardless of wind, blowing leaves, sticks, and dust.  All siblings should follow suit, while Mother collapses in giggles outside.  Too bad I missed the photo opp!

Sweetness at Midnight

A few nights ago, I was working at the computer late at night, when suddenly I heard pitter, patter, pitter, patter.  But something was wrong with this sound - Coco's nails were more clickety, clack on the floor.

And then a sweet little boy voice saying "Mama, I didn't get to see the moon tonight!" 

My youngest had gotten out of his crib (we keep the gate down now & he's quite the expert at crawling in and out) and I guess was ready for a night time adventure.  I was surprised at his request because it's been quite a long time since we have looked at the moon. But he picked a perfect night for it. 

We went out on to the front porch and took a look.  There it was, big, bright, and shiny.  It was so bright that JM had to shield his eyes.  But he looked happy, if somewhat sleepy, to see it.  So we sat down on the porch swing for a few minutes and peeked through the tree branches at that bright full moon.  It was still pretty hot outside, so we were both ready to go back inside pretty quickly. 

I told JM "Say good night to the moon."  And he started to and then stopped and said, "the moon can't talk, Mommy!" 

Then it was off to rock my sweet little boy (in the cool of the house) and get him back to bed for the rest of the night.  What a great way to end my day.

Hot & Dry

I think Mike & I might have worked a leeeetttllle too long in the sun this morning.

We decided to go to church tonight and then out to dinner afterward.  So we were only gone for a few hours (okay about three - dessert at two different locations-DQ & the snow cone stand- took at least 30 minutes of that time).

When we got home, I noticed that Mike must have left a small sprinkler going to make a damp spot for Coco & to keep her cool.  Good thing, since it was 105 degrees when we got home around 7:30.  But then I noticed that the dirt in our new flower beds looked darker and moist, hmmmm.  And then I saw that our new path looked wet, too.  Oh, I thought I must not have realized it but Mike must have given the dirt and path a good watering before we left for church.  Although I couldn't quite figure out when he would have done that since I thought we headed out to the car about the same time, but my brain didn't ponder that for too long.  I wanted to get inside and out of the heat, so I walked on toward the outdoor faucet to turn off that sprinkler Mike had left on for Coco. 

After I turned the faucet off, I noticed that the there was a drip, drip noise.  The down spout for the gutter is right next to the faucet, but why would the downspout be making a noise?  I shook out the few leaves that were in the end of it,. but didn't see anyhthing other than some wet, old leaves.  Hmmmm, I thought.  And the drip, drip noise continued.  My next thought was "maybe Mike got a little bit of water on the roof when he was watering the ground" but somehow that just didn't seem right either (more likely that I would end up watering the roof than the yard, but not Mike!)  Aha!  I had a better idea - maybe there was a frog under the downspout trying to jump up and making that repetitive noise (and yes, we have had frogs living under our downspout before so this wasn't such a crazy thought, right???).  So I checked .... no frog.  Well, my brain was spent, and I had no more inspired thoughts, so I shrugged my shoulders and headed in to the cool house.

All was well until a few minutes later (well, it really wasn't all that well, since I was chasing two naked children around the house, trying to direct them to the bathtub...).  Mike came in looking concerned and asked me, "did you know the gutter is dripping?"  Yes, I had noticed that, too.  Now I was worried again & Mike looked rather worried, too.  "Why would it be dripping?" he asked.  I had no good answer (obviously), so I gave the good wife answer and said "I've got things under control here (ha!), you go get the ladder and check things out."  Meanwhile I had started picturing crazy things - maybe a flood in the attic (but how would that happen, my brain was simultaneously thinking and asking). 

A few minutes (and a few kids in the bathtub) later, Mike came in, looking like a man with an answer.  I wondered, what could be wrong now - would it be another house repair???? How much time, how much money would this take??
So, taking a deep breath, I asked, "Why was the gutter dripping?"  And Mike's response: "It rained."

Some gems from my kids today

In the midst of Dad being in the hospital in Houston and not doing so well (pneumonia again), it was great to come home & have the kids (and my hubby) remind me of how funny they can (unintentionally) be.

So the first is from JM.  Mike always teases JM and says he is going to play with JM's toys after JM goes to sleep.  So tonight Mike asked JM - "Can I play with your train tonight?" 
"No!"
"Can Mommy play with your train after you go to bed?"

"No!  The groundups have to stay in bed tonight - no playing with my train." 


Certainly, there are days we feel "groundup" instead of grown up, so we got a good laugh from that.

Then just a few minutes later, Mike made a comment about the expired lunchmeat that I had put in the trash can (he had meant to throw it away last night, but then put it back in the fridge "for some reason").  Well, when the kids and I were ready to have our picnic today, good thing I noticed that the main course of ham  seemed a little off, so we ate crackers, applesauce and grapes and then went and got a cookie! But anyhow, back to Clara's funny comment. I told Mike that I, too, had decided the ham was done, "it had bitten the dust."  Then Clara asked, "What does that mean - it bites the duck?????"  So then Mike started with "Another one bites the duck... another one bites the duck..."  And I addedd "Quack, quack!!" 

That's all I've got for tonight.  Oh - and a couple of cute pictures, just for fun.  Lots to put on the blog about our last few months, hopefully I'll get a chance soon. 

 Getting ready for Donuts for Dad and Field Day on the last Monday of the school year

 JM with his Little Gym medal - so excited about that medal!  He has had to "borrow" from his sisters until now.

 Clara finds the largest clump of crushed limestone in our 16cy pile.  (more on our crazy landscape project later)

 Gracie showing off the stack of "little, quick pictures" that the campers did during art camp! 

Clara at the art camp reception posting next to her layered picture (the yellow one). They had an awesome time at art camp (thank you Mimi & Pap!) and are already excited about next year!

Clara's Birthday?

Okay, so I'm not so far behind that I'm posting about last August...But we did have a 5-1/2 birthday party for Clara in April.  We had promised her a "big" party like Gracie had in kindergarten, but she hadn't even started school when her actual 5th birthday rolled around.  So we decided to wait until the spring and celebrate then (and she didn't want to wait until this coming fall).

We planned a party at the Little Gym, and I have to say, we've really loved having the girls' parties there.  It was so easy and everything is done so well.  I didn't even have to load the presents into the car - they had them loaded in the van before the party was even over. 

Anyhow, the pictures speak volumes.  Check out all of the happy faces. 

JM's Buddy!

Check out my friend's blog to see what John Michael was up to last week:

http://ourgoodthings.blogspot.com/2011/05/ace-jm-get-to-play.html 

Jump Rope (for Gracie) for Hearts!

All of the first graders warming up for their day of Jump Rope for Hearts

High-flying Gracie practicing while her best friend and jump rope partner, Kareth looks on.

Kareth getting in some warm-up time (Gracie was super excited, can you tell?)

Kareth & Gracie in the middle of their routine!  They did a great job.  Thank you to everyone who supported Gracie & this organization.  She was really excited about raising money to help the kids!