Pirate Night

This Wednesday was Pirate Night. I bought this really cute little Pirate Foamie kit at Michael's on sale. We then went on a Pirate hunt with treasuer map and all. The kids had fun reading the map and going over the slide, look in the mailbox, through the fort to the other side where a big red "X" marked the spot. I went to the dollar store earlier this week and bought some silly string, bubbles, and sidewalk chalk for them to play with. They had fun with the silly string, I was kinda of fearful of Guy's safety but he seem to have a good time. After trying to clean up the silly string and bubbles everywhere. I brought out a special treat of popsicles made from Kool-Aid. Phillip kept complaining that his did not taste good. We finally discovered 10 minutes later that his still had the plastic sleeve on it. He enjoyed it a lot once we took the sleeve off. I am not a big ice cream fan, but there is something about summer memories being sealed with something cold and sweet. I am looking forward to pop-ice this summer!

I won an award!!!

This is not the best picture of me, however, here is me and my award.

Well I don't want to brag, mainly because I feel like I did not do a whole lot at the school this year. However, I did win Amboy's Elementary volunteer of the year award. It is going to look great on a resume in a couple of years. I was honored with the other recipients at a really nice ceremony at a local church this past week. The food was good (I would love to get the recipe for the chicken casserole), and the NLRHS dancers preformed. NLR High School has tapping, jazz and other dancing class electives, which I think is neat. We never had that many options in high school. Thomas was at Mother's Day Out so my date was Guy. He was so well behaved that many people did not know that there was a baby there until I left. The award itself was really neat. What they did was had a contest at each school and the two winners were framed and given to the award recipients (Volunteer and sponsor of the year.)

What surprised me was I was the youngest person there. Most of the recipients were retirees. Which makes me hope that there are some of our generation volunteering. Well, probably at a school with more active volunteers the young parents are just overshadowed. Anyway, I just wanted to share.

The Terrible Twos

Right now as Thomas is going through his "terrible twos" I want to jot down a couple of thoughts that must go through his "terrible two" year old mind.

1. I don't understand why people sit on the commode and that is it. They need to think outside the bowl because it a perfect place for fun. It can be your own swimming pool, you can do science experiments (does the truck sing or float, how much toilet paper and mommy's make up can fit in there.), and when you are little and mommy takes away all of the step stools it is a great place to wash your hands. Now if I can figure out the little silver handle, and how to make the water spin it would be great.

2. I don't need any stinky step stools or chair. A drum, transformer mask, pillow, or canned food. Anything that makes me taller works. I prefer a step stool though

3. I Love Chocolate, I also like it when it is just in my reach. By the way, you can overdose on chocolate milk mix. If you eat over a 1/2 of a big canister of it and your stomach starts swelling and you either vomit or have diarrhea. The nurses exchange recommends for you to go to the emergency room immediately.

3. Why look for a toy one by one. It is more efficient to dump whatever you have on the floor. Then, you might find something you are not even looking for...

4. If you wake up and it is dark, the best place to go is the middle of mommy and daddy's bed They love it when you sleep sideways. Mom loves it when you kick her in the neck over and over so she knows that you are there.

5. When mommy is in a hurry or needs to change my diaper the best thing to do is to run and hide. She loves that game. The best place to hide is under the table or under a bed, especially when she is nine months pregnant. If you realize you don't have time to hide, just cover your face. The rule is if you can't see them they can't see you.

6. There is no use in running in the grocery store because then you don't have a chance of maybe getting a treat. The best time to run is in the parking lot when mommy has a cart full of grocery and Guy is all tucked into his seat. Warning: You will probably get a pretty good spanking all the way to the car once she catches you.

7. Parents love it when you headbutt them. Especially when they are not expecting it.

8. Biting is so old School. The new thing is to lick. You can lick anything shoes, books, your brother's feet, the slide, water hose, public water fountains.

I am enjoying this age. He is a bundle of energy. He can be a handful, but it is so neat to see breakthroughs. He is starting to understand consequences for his actions. He is becoming a great kid. His vocabulary is expanding rapidly, and more and more of a calmer demeanor and understanding of feelings is coming around. He is a sweet kid, but he can be a handful!

A Great Free Saturday activity...

Thomas wearing his safety goggles upside down..





Thomas and Phillip checking out what they just made

The family having fun at Lowe's

This Saturday we went to our first Build & Grow clinic at Lowe'ss and had a great time. They do the clinics every other Saturday, they are free, and they are a great learning activity. The kids received a free apron, goggles, and a patch for completeing their activity. The activity all ready has the predrilled holes which makes hammering easy. Plus, the hammers are kids size. Phillip almost hit my fingers twice hammering. The kids and Jay really enjoyed making the project, and I am looking forward to going again in a couple of weeks. Next time is a memory box.

Afterwards we went to Wally-World to get some odds and ends, and then ended the day with a special treat of Happy Meals from McDonalds.

I just keep thinking that I would not be able to do this if I still worked at the Girl Scouts. I am so thankful that I am able to spend this time with my family.

Earth Day Wednesday

Phillip and Thomas in front of the little flower bed...

Guy hanging out in the playpen

Thomas spent the first 30 minutes taking a little nap..

Phillip digging a hole for a tomato plant

Jay and Phillip cleaning out the Pepsi bottle..

We had our Earth Day Celebration tonight on "Wednesday Activity Night". We planted some vegetables and herbs in the front flower bed. If we get any vegetables or herbs I will be surprised because I am not much of a gardener. Phillip went to Wal-Mart with me last night and we picked out six tomato plants, oregano, cilantro, a red bell pepper and an eggplant. The flower bed we put them in is way too small but we will see. Mostly this was an experience of planting something. We made two little planters one with a milk jug and another with a 2L Pepsi bottle (we talked briefly about recycling.)Guy hung out in the playpen and really seem to enjoy it. I have not found any bug bites on him yet so he is going to be all right. Phillip made friends with a Grub worm we found and carried him around the rest of the night. Luckily he lost it before we came in, I was afraid he was going to want to sleep with the Grub worm. We finish the night with a special treat of two bubble gum flavored Popsicles from the ice cream truck. I was a little bummed because none of the boys would share. Phillip loves Wednesday night activity night. He named it and he said the best part of tonight was finding his friend the Grub Worm. Boys will be boys....

Enjoying the ice cream

Next week will either be pirates or dinosaurs.

Hush Little baby....

Guy geting a little cat nap

Sleep finally won with Thomas

A couple of years ago, my friend Karen Smith sent me a silly email survey. One of the questions was "what is the best sound", and she answered her boys sleeping. I could not agree more. It is so peaceful to watch a child sleep. No matter what they had destroyed that day or how many temper tantrums they had, your heart melts when you see them sleeping so peacefully. It is a chance to regroup and move forward. When they wake up you are not so mad at them for dumping all the Chocolate milk mix on the floor or wiping all of your Plumeria body cream on the walls and on your bed. As a stay at home mommy I love a good nap and bedtime. I will admit there are time I count down to bedtime.

Hole in one...

Thomas as "Redneck baby" Playing in our toy infested yard.

Phillip practicing his swing in a safer place.

Guy with a small shiner on his right eye.

I came home today from work and Phillip was at the door waiting for me. He wanted some scissors and for me to draw a circle. Well, I have put up the kids scissors somewhere that Thomas could not get them, and I guess me to because I don't know where they are. I found some old "grown up" scissors, and drew the circle and cut it out myself. I asked him why he wanted a circle, and he said it was his golf hole and asked if I wanted to play golf. Well, we were in the living room talking and Phillip was practicing his swing when the little plastic golf club made contact after about the 20th try to the little plastic golf ball! BAM, that golf ball went flying through the living room like a champagne cork. Out of all the places it could have it, it hit Guy right on the forehead and then bounced off the wall before landing on the floor. Guy was a trooper but we moved the golf game outside. Things to remember: No golf in the house, and this summer we are going to have to go miniature golfing.

Nana was here!

This weekend my mom came up to visit. I always enjoy her visiting. The kids get to play and mom and I usually get to go out without the kids at some point. She came in on Friday night, we went Michael's to find some supplies for Wednesday night activities. We also went to Harvest Food for Moonlight Madness. Harvest food had milk for $2.97 a gallon limit two with mom there I was able to get four. Plus some other things. We now have six packages of hot dogs. I froze five of them, but we are going to be eating a lot of hot dogs which is great because the kids love them.

On Saturday we went to the Pulaski County Family Play Day which was great. It is hit or miss if the kid fairs are any good, but this one was great! They had neat crafts,many hands on activities, and they gave us a lot of free books.








Afterwards we went to the Old Mill in North Little Rock which was beautiful and nerve wracking at the same time. The Old Mill is not very kid friendly and has a lot of places that a kid can fall to their death. Thomas fell while playing in the Mill because the floor was so slippery, but he just got up and started laughing. He is a tough boy.
After the Old Mill, we went over to Hobby Lobby to kill time before Sonic's 1/2 price drink special. We went to Sonic and got some drinks and went home. That night we had fun just playing and having a good time. I cooked a roast, and then after the kids went to sleep I made some egg salad.
Sunday morning, all three boys were awake by 4:00 in the morning. Phillip had a dream about
eating paper. Jay got up and made breakfast: Fried Eggs, Fried Potatoes, Bacon, Toast. So mom's cholesterol went up about 20 points. Mom took a couple of pictures of Guy and she was gone. The laundry is pretty much caught up and the kids are pretty tired so I am hoping that they might take a nap and I can get some rest. Well, it is time to get off to play Geo-Tracks...

Here is the beginning...

Well, I am going to start trying to blog and share the adventures of our family through this website. There are a couple of things I ask that you keep in mind:

1. This blog is about quainty not quality...If you are going to judge it on a there when there should be a their or a sentence that ends with a preposition. Then, you should not read this!! I want to share the memories of my children with everyone. I might be working on this while feeding a baby or while Phillip is whining to get on the Internet! I just want to remember these precious moments of the children while they are still young.

2. If you do not want to be overwhelmed by picture upon picture of my children, or the silly things they say or do, then this is not for you.

If you are family and friends who are for some odd reason interested in our families adventures/misadventures. Then, this is the place for you.