Friday, July 26, 2013

Splash fun!

Got the splashpad bouncehouse working! One of our free neighborhood finds... Kids loved it!

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Amazing Gender Stereotypes Batman

Apparently, Jacob kicked off a helluva discussion in Kate's classroom by wearing this outfit to school.

Kate concluded: Yeah, the boys thought only girls could like Hello Kitty but anyone can.

The main kid who started the discussion was braiding the assistant teacher's hair at drop-off while this discussion was happening.  The teacher used this as a "well, some people might say only girls should braid hair" talking point. He followed with, "but I'm really good at braiding" to which she closed with "exactly. You wouldn't want someone telling you what you can and can't like, would you?"

Saturday, July 20, 2013

Taking bets

Taking bets on the chance this is going to solve our sleepless nights. Trying to teach Kate how to sing him to sleep...

Friday, July 19, 2013

Oh, yay. The BIG questions.

Always at bedtime.  Always to the lucky Momma.  Looking forward to Daddy tucking Kate in...

"Mommy, when will you die?"
"Mommy, when will I die?"
"Mommy, what happens when you die?  Do you turn back into a tiny baby again and start all over?"
"Mommy, when we're all dead, do the dinosaurs come back and then the next one and the next one and the next one until us?"
"Mommy, do we get to decide how long to stay in heaven and then come back down here?  I'm not going to stay up there that long."
"Mommy, maybe the police officers and the fire fighters and the aliens know what happens when we die.  We should ask them."

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Upon this rock...

We've been very spiritual lately, apparently.  It just sorta happened.  We spent a few weeks reading stories about Buddha (here) and now the kids each have their own little Buddha figurines.  Jesus's Buddha tends to ride the firetruck and fight fires.  He's very adventurous, but obviously loving and compassionate.  Tonight, Kate picked out a book about Jesus to read before bed.  It's this one, my favorite of our Jesus books.  Anyway, so we read it and she asks me to tell her another Jesus story.  Well, I quickly realize my stories need some bulking up.  I told her a story about wine from water which didn't seem to appease her.  Then I tried the birth story.  Eventually, grasping for straws, I told her about how Jesus had a friend named Peter who he put in charge of starting the church.

The story ended with this discussion:

"Jesus's friend named Peter?"
"Yep."
"You mean, Claire's daddy, Peter?"
"Uh, no. Uh, a different, Peter.  A loooong long time ago."
"So, we go to that church?"
"Um, well, no, now there are lots of different churches."
"Why don't we go to that one?"
"Well, it's kinda complicated.  You see, there are lots of different things people believe..."
(interrupting) "Did they knock it down?"
(oh!  physical church!)  "Um, I... uh... don't know!  It's probably far away anyhow."
"Like, you have to take three planes and go for 10 hours?"
"Um, yes, actually, probably exactly that."

Lesson learned:  Mom needs some brushing up before stumbling through stories.  And, although I dearly love Claire's daddy, Peter, he's not THAT old.

Saturday, July 13, 2013

2 Years Old!

My little guy is 2!

He seems so much older to me because he keeps up with his big sis so
well. He's pretty much across the board 50-75%
height/weight/headsize. He still has never consistently slept through
the night. (Hoping this happens before 3, but who knows at this
point. He's beaten us down.) Has proven himself to be a good
traveler. And, is just all around my sweet boy.

Phrases of the moment:

"No train, Mommy. I'm too scared." (when told we are going on the Metrorail)
"I'm ready, Mommy" (when we stop at stoplights)
"It's too loud" or "I-ant ear it" depending on if his sister has asked
for the music to be louder or softer (he chooses the opposite already)

Kids at Nana's?

Ah... sweet quiet...

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Day 2

We are on day 2 of our drive to Missouri. Stayed in a nice hotel with breakfast and a pool. An early morning swim got the kids ready for sitting for leg two of the drive.

Last year, this leg of our trip included Kate having an accident in the hotel bed as well as a night terror that led to her screaming and hiding behind the toilet. This year, Jacob had a (much less severe) night terror (thank you Melatonin) that was only 10 minutes of crying. (sorry third floor hotel stayers)

Day 1 included lunch in Waco at the river and feeding the ducks, dinner at the McDonald's for the plays cape (they ate ONLY the apple slices from the happy meal...), and lots of excitement over the hotel.

Fingers crossed we will make good time and have happy kids