Tuesday, March 30, 2010

The Smurfs

Sammy had swim lessons today.  He did fabulous, but the water was pretty cold.  So cold, in fact, that afterwards, his lips had a tiny tinge of blue, and were quivering for almost a half hour.

After swim lessons, we always go into the ladies locker room to change.  Today, we had a bit of a . . . comedy show . . . in the locker room.  I'm not sure why I'm delineating that we had a comedy show today, considering that we have a comedy show every day in our house, however, today we had a bit of an audience.

I was drying Sammy with his towel, and asked him to pull down his swim trunks to change.  When he did, he happened to notice that his penis was blue.  And announced it to everyone.  "MOMMY!  My penis is blue!  Why is my penis blue?  I don't want my penis to be blue!"

"Sammy, put your underwear on.  Stop talking about your penis."  Ignore stares and giggles from 5 other moms in the locker room. 

"Mommy!  I want my penis to be . . . "  stares at arm, deciphering what color it is . . . "I want my penis to be white, like my arm.  Why is my penis blue?"  He's absolutely panicked.  Still ignoring stares and giggles. 

"Sammy, put your clothes on.  NOW!"  Clothes are on.  We pick up Sophia from Childwatch.  We load into the truck, and head down Westheimer Parkway to Target.

"Mommy, did the pool make my penis turn blue?  Did Miss Denise's pool make my penis blue?"  Miss Denise is Sammy's swim teacher.  He loves her.  I launch into a discussion of bloodflow and cold.  It takes me about five minutes and is horrible.  Afterwards, I tell him if he has any other questions about his penis, he should ask his Daddy when he gets home from work.

Later on at dinner, Sammy announces, "Daddy!  In the locker room today, my penis was BLUE!"  Mike had already been forewarned.  He replied, "Yep, when your penis gets cold, it turns blue."  End of story.  "OK, Daddy."  A five minute conversation, condensed into 9 words. 

Apparently, I don't speak penis talk.  Next time there is a penis issue, my response is going to be "Talk to your dad!" 

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Friday, March 26, 2010

Katy's 5th Annual Golden Eggvent

We attended the City-Wide Easter Egg Hunt today.  I had my reservations, as when I attended the 1st annual event 5 years ago, I almost got trampled (with my nieces and nephews and 8 months pregnant with Sammy), however, I decided to give it another go.

We arrived beforehand, purchased an egg collection bag for Sammy, and headed over to Heritage Park to take a few pictures.


It's difficult to get both to look at the camera, but I can try!

Sophia is always so determined!

Checking out the flowers
Pretty Princess Sophia

Sammy loved the giant tortoise

And the pig . . . he chased the pig all over the petting zoo, but never got to pet him!

And now for the requisite Easter bunny picture! 

The highlight of the day was supposed to be the Easter egg hunt.  I coached Sammy beforehand, advising him to pick up all the eggs he could see, and not to stop and look at each one.  However, he did.  He examined every egg before placing it in his bag.  But he had fun, anyway!


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Thursday, March 25, 2010

More Words

After our little talk the other day, I thought Sammy understood that we were to say "Oh no," instead of "Oh shit."  Apparently, it hasn't sunk in yet . . .

We have a wooden caddy on one of our end tables that we keep our many remotes in.  Mike is a bit of an electronics freak, so in this caddy we currently have six different remotes.  Sophia was cruising around the end table, and reached up, grabbing the remote caddy and spilling its contents all over the floor.

Sammy muttered quietly, "Oh shit."  I sat there for a second and said, "Excuse me?"  I honestly wasn't sure if I'd heard him correctly.  But I had.  He responded, "Sorry for saying oh shit, mommy!" 

Smirk . . . look across the living room at Mike.  Our eyes meet, he smirks, and Mike has to turn away and bury his face in the couch so Sammy can't see him laughing silently.  Laughing so hard that there are tears coming out of his eyes.  It's terrible, I know . . .


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Wednesday, March 24, 2010

The Pillow Pet

Sammy wants a pillow pet.  I know you've seen the commercial for it . . ."It's a pillow . . . it's a pet!  It's a pillow pet!"  He mentioned to us the other day that he wanted one, and we told him he didn't need one.  Apparently he did . . .

This morning, Sammy came downstairs and announced he had made a big mess in his room.  After going upstairs to investigate, I determined that he had, in fact, made a big mess in his room.  And the hallway.  And his sister's room.  I wish I would have taken a picture, but I was honestly too frustrated at the time.  I suppose I will have to describe it.

As I mentioned earlier, Sammy wanted a pillow pet.  We told him he didn't need one, since he had his Thomas the Tank Engine pillow, shaped like a train.  Since we told him we wouldn't get him one, Sammy decided to make his own. 

As you know, Sammy is obsessed with scissors.  So obsessed, in fact, that I have recently taken my girlfriend Amanda's advice and hidden every pair of scissors in the house.  I'd tell you their location, but then I'd have to kill you . . .

Sammy found the one pair of scissors that I didn't hide.  As a matter of fact, he found a pair of scissors that I didnt't even know existed.  When he showed me the scissors he used to create his pillow pet, I had to figure out where they came from.  He must have searched forever in my craft area!  The scissors he found were in a drawer, inside of a Cricut tool kit, which means he had to unzip it.  I had never seen them before in my life!

Back to the pillow pet.  The cool thing about a pillow pet is that you unbuckle the belt and the legs spread out and the stuffed animal becomes a pillow.  Since we told Sammy he had his Thomas pillow, he wanted to use that as his makeshift pillow pet, and the only thing he needed it to do was spread out.  Therefore, he took the scissors that he found, and cut right down the middle of the bottom of his Thomas pillow, thereby allowing the bottom to spread out.  Just like a pillow pet!

The only problem with this idea was that Thomas was stuffed with millions of tiny, microscopic styrofoam balls.  Balls that spilled out of Thomas and all over Sammy's bed and floor.  Balls that had static electricity, and therefore stuck to Sammy when he walked down the hall and went into his sister's room and climbed into Sophia's bed.  Balls that were, literally, on every surface in both Sammy and Sophia's room, as well as the hallway.

By the time I discovered the pillow pet fiasco, the balls seemed to have multiplied.  Unfortunately, they were not able to be vacuumed with a simple vacuum.  When you turned it on, they would just blow everywhere and stick to the walls, and to you.  I ended up having to use the hose vacuum.

I got on my hands and knees, and vacuumed every square inch of their rooms using the hose vacuum.  As well as the hallway in between.  Maddening, yes.  Satisfying, maybe.  Cleaned it all up, absolutely.

So, lessons learned . . .
  1. Buy your kid a pillow pet.  Otherwise, you may live to regret it.
  2. If your 3 year old goes upstairs and it gets really quiet, be afraid . . .VERY afraid.
  3. When you think you've hidden all the scissors in the house, you haven't.  Look again.
  4. Don't take life so seriously.  Yes, you vacuumed almost 350 sq feet on your hands and knees.  Not to worry - it counts as exercise!
So, why did it take me so long to blog about this?  Honestly, I was trying to gain some perspective on the situation.  It took me a bit of time, but as Erma Bombeck says, "If you can laugh at it, you can live with it."  And as my BFF Amanda says, "He was being creative!  You have to give him credit for that!" 

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Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Good Helper

Lately, Sammy likes to go into Sophia's room in the morning and say hello to her.  Sometimes she's already awake, singing, and she's happy to see him.  Sometimes she's asleep, and he wakes her up with his singing.  I believe both of my children are walking musicals. 

This morning, Sammy and Sophia were talking to one another and singing while Mike and I were still laying in bed.  We can see them on the baby monitor, and all seemed to be going well.  However, Sammy left Sophia's room and ran downstairs to our room.  Where Mike happened to notice a creamy white residue on Sammy's hands.

After asking him what it was, Sammy revealed to us that it was diaper cream.  We asked him what he was doing with it, wherein he shared with us that Sophia was hungry and he had been feeding it to her.  Aaaaaagggggghhhhhhh! 

Mike runs upstairs, grabs Sophia, while I google the number for poison control.  Here's how she looked . . .


There's definitely Triple Paste all over her face, and some in her mouth.  I got Poison Control on the phone, which by the way is a HUGE service.  All I had to do was tell them her age and the name of the product.  I didn't have to tell them ingredients or anything - they immediately knew all that was in it. 

Just so you know, if your child happens to ingest diaper cream . . . it's not harmful.  If they eat a lot of it, it can have a laxative-like effect.  But otherwise, they're ok.  Just wondering . . . if they get diarrhea from eating diaper rash cream, do you think it causes diaper rash?  Or does it kind of cancel it out?


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Monday, March 22, 2010

The Secrets of Banana Bread

I'm going to take a page from my girlfriend Jaime's blog and share some cooking secrets with you.  Fabulous cooking secrets, passed down for generations.  Ok, from my mom.

Growing up, we always had black bananas in our freezer.  Anytime the bananas started to get old, my mom would throw them into the freezer, so that at any point in time you could open the freezer and at least ten black bananas would fall out.  And possibly land on your toe.  Bananas might seem harmless, but throw them in the freezer and let them turn black, and they get heavy!  Depending on how they land, it can feel like a knife to your little toe.  Not fun, trust me!

I remember constantly yelling at my mom about the bananas.  I yelled about them landing on my toe, I yelled about how many of them there were, and I yelled about how disgusting they were.  I yelled about the bananas all the time.  At least, every time I opened the freezer any way.  And my poor mom endured the yelling.  Because she had a secret - a beautiful secret - about black bananas.

Over ripe bananas make the best banana bread.  And while we'd all love to be able to buy yellow and black spotted, super ripe bananas at the store, they simply don't stock it.  When you want to make banana bread, it's usually on a whim, or for a brunch, so you don't have time to sit around and wait for your fresh bananas to ripen.  Therefore, you buy bananas like you normally would.  But when they start to get overripe, and no one wants to eat them, you simply throw them in the freezer.  The cold speeds up the ripening process, hence the black peel, and yet the temperature places the banana on hold - in the perfect state for banana bread!

After I had been married for about a year, my parents were visiting us in San Antonio where we spent the first three years of our marital life.  My mom opened the freezer, and sure enough, 7 black bananas fell out and landed on her toe.  She laughed and laughed.  After yelling at me, of course!

And now for my next baking secret from my mom . . . moist baked goods.  Who has ever eaten a cake or some type of bread that was extremely dry?  So dry, in fact, that you needed to wash it down with a glass of milk?  My baked goods don't have that problem.  I'm not trying to brag, but if anything, mine always seem a bit overmoist. 

And here's why . . . I separate the eggs.  Yes, it takes a bit more time, yes, it means a few more dishes, but the proof is in the moistness!  In the first part of any baking recipe, usually where you cream butter and sugar together and then add eggs, simply separate the eggs, and only add the egg yolk.  Leave the egg whites aside until right before you pour the batter into the pan.  Then, beat the egg whites until they are fluffy, and fold into the batter with a spatula.  Voila'!  Instant moisture!  Works every time!

Want to try my mom's banana bread recipe?

Best Banana Bread
1/2 c butter
1 c sugar
2 eggs, separated
4 sm or 3 lg bananas, mashed
1 c flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 c nuts (optional)

Cream butter and sugar.  Add egg yolks and bananas.  Sift flour and soda together.  Fold in flour.  Add egg whites which have been beaten until fluffy.  Pour into a greased loaf pan.  Bake at 300 degrees for 1 hour!


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Sunday, March 21, 2010

A New Patio!

Mike loves being outside.  And honestly, so do I.  He's been pushing for adding on to the patio since we bought our house 4 years ago.  I've been holding him back for awhile, but I think what we decided to do was a good compromise.

We added approximately 380 sq feet of concrete slab to the back.  Since we live on the front entrance street in our neighborhood, it's really not safe for our kids to play in the front yard.  Now that Sammy is getting older, and Sophia is getting mobile, we really need a safe area for them to play.  Hence the add-on!

The concrete workers showed up at 8 am on Friday morning.  Right as we were working on our clean up job from the prior night's shenanigans.  I think they thought it was pretty funny.  As did the garbage men.  But that is another blog, from another day.

They built the forms, laid the rebar, and were ready and waiting for the concrete by 12:30 pm.  Unfortunately, the concrete didn't get there until 4 pm!  One of the workers had brought his son with him, who appeared to be about age 6.  I'm thinking it was due to Spring Break in session all over the Houston area.  Sammy was really interested in the little boy, and when we were getting ready to leave to visit the nursing home for our monthly playdate, Sammy wanted to share his toys with the boy, who basically had to sit in our backyard all day.  I thought that was really sweet - and it was completely his idea.  He selected several Matchbox cars and some Transformers, and excitedly gave them to the boy to play with on our covered patio area.  Very sweet!  I think the boy and his father were grateful.

After the concrete was poured, they were helping it to set and brushing it.  We let Kona into the front yard to go to the bathroom, and didn't realize that he had run around to the backyard . . . right across the freshly poured concrete!  I was so embarrassed - God bless the concrete contractors.  They laughed and smoothed it out!  We were really impressed with all of them.

When it was almost done, we went around to the corner and placed our mark for eternity onto the slab.  Check it out!

Lindsey and Sophia are on the left, and Mike and Sammy are on the right!

As it rained all day on Saturday, we had to wait until today to fully enjoy our new play area!  Mike grilled steak, Sammy rode his bike in circles, and Sophia practiced her walking again.  I even made a hopscotch to teach Sammy how to play, but he wasn't very interested . . . the kids were too busy having fun!




So . . . what do you think?  The area in the front, with the picnic table and table and chairs on it, was the addition.  Was it worth the $1500?  I find it quite priceless at the moment . . .

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Saturday, March 20, 2010

Cute Cute Cute!

Dig around, look for snacks . . . is that a cookie back there?  Wait, someone said my name . . .

Yes, you caught me in the cabinet!

OK, I'll come out now!

It was so fun, though!

And I'm so cute!

How about a hug!

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Friday, March 19, 2010

There have GOT to be better uses for toilet paper . . .

This morning I was awoken to the lovely sounds of my husband yelling "Lindsey!  Get up!  Get up now!  Someone has VANDALIZED our house.  They DESTROYED our yard!  They DESTROYED our plants!  Get up!"  To be honest, I was scared to death - an awakening of GET UP NOW made me feel like one of the kids was missing or something.  I threw on my zebra print robe, pink slippers, and ran out to the front door.  Where I was greeted by this . . .


Yes, our house was wrapped.  Yes, we called the cops.  Because, this was no ordinary wrapping job . . . not only were the trees and the bushes wrapped with toilet paper . . . they also brought bags of shredded paper.  And dumped it all over my front porch . . .


And on top of my truck.  As well as taking a beautiful potted fern we were given for our housewarming shower when we got married 7 years ago by our dear friends, Frank and Renee, and dumping it and the dirt all over our cars . . .

 So, I suppose you're asking who we ticked off.  Unfortunately, no one.  Such is the life of living next door to a student in high school.  A junior on the football team to be exact.  His parents drive a black truck, we drive a black truck, and HIS parents are smart enough to park their vehicles in the garage.  So, apparently, the girls soccer team was not too happy with the football team.  And our house got mistaken for his. 

Sure did make for a fun morning cleaning it up . . . broom handles to get the TP out of the trees . . . me using the canister vacuum for all the crap on the front porch . . . Mike mowing the front lawn and bagging it, to suck up all the shredded paper from the grass . . .

Oh, and why did we call the police?  Our spotlights for our landscape lights were smashed in, plus the damage to the potted plants.  It's criminal mischief . . . and the policeman said "Holy Crap!" when he got to our house . . . of course, later, when Sammy told everyone the story about it (as he spent all morning peeking out the front window), all he remembered was "Lindsey!  Get up!  Get up now!" and "Holy Crap!"  I think he really enjoyed the morning . . .

By the way - don't get me wrong - I wrapped many a house in my day.  But that's all we did.  The shredded paper, the smashed landscape lights, the potted plants dumped on the vehicles . . . this was way too much.  I wonder what exactly the high school students who did this are thinking - that it would be ok to vandalize someone else's property in this manner . . .

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Thursday, March 18, 2010

Fun Day at the Farm!

We spent the best day with our friends today at Debbie and her son Travis's farm!  It's about an hour North of Katy, and miles from stress for sure.  The kids played in the yard . . .

Pretty Princess Sophia!

Could Evan possibly be Sophia's first boyfriend?  He was so sweet!

Sammy and his best friend, Grayson

Grayson, Sammy and Travis check out the cows!

Simon, Olivia, Grayson, Travis and Sammy throwing rocks in the pond!  Yes, those are his fireman boots!

Olivia, Grayson, Sammy and Travis hanging out!

What a beautiful day!  Thanks, Debbie and Travis - we were so relaxed!
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Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Friends and Words

Today, I had the great joy of getting to see several of my favorite people that I never get to see anymore.  A few weeks ago, one of my favorite former student's mom Crystal(who's also a great friend of mine), arranged for us to meet at the Houston Zoo on Tuesday of her daughter's Spring Break.  It was meant to be a suprise to Caila, and I was so excited to get to participate in it.  Also, my former teaching partner, Melissa, planned to attend as well.  I was so excited when we went to bed on Monday night - I never get to see them anymore since we moved back to Katy, and I felt so blessed to get to the following day.

Except, when we woke up, it was raining.  Drizzling rain.  Rain that was supposed to last all day.  I dutifully packed lunches and changes of clothes anyway, loaded up the truck and headed downtown to the museum district.  I also picked up my niece and nephew, Amber and Austin, to go with us.  En route, I had a quick conversation with Crystal and Melissa where we changed our plans and headed to the Children's Museum instead due to the rain.

What a wonderful day - I loved getting to spend time with all.  I loved teaching with Melissa - I feel she and I get each other, and getting back together, it was right where we were when teaching.  I'm so glad I got to see her and her beautiful children, Ashley and Brian!  I'm also glad I got to see Caila.  Caila was one of my favorite students - she's very wise, and has an old soul.  She also loves to giggle.  Plus, she comes from a great family (love ya Mark and Crystal!), and her little sis Cassidi is too cute!  I'm sure her older brother, Colton, is a gem as well - he comes from the same great genes - but I've only met Colton with a wave through the car window.  As Caila grows older, I'm looking forward to keeping in touch with her - I can't wait to see what a beautiful, accomplished, intelligent young woman she will become!

Melissa's daughter Ashley, Sammy, and Caila

Melissa, Caila and I

I believe Sammy might have a bit of a crush on Ashley . . . that evening, when we were eating dinner, he told me that the best part of his day was sitting on the bench and eating next to Ashley.  Hmmmm . . .

And now for my latest parenting mistake . . . This morning as we were getting packed, I might have said "Oh, shit."  But I can't remember.  Obviously, Sammy might have heard it, though.  We were in the garage loading the stroller, and Sammy dropped his toy.  He said "Oh, shit!"  "Sammy!  We don't say that, we say Oh No!"  He looks at me strangely and says, "OK, Mommy."  I thought it might have worked.

But it didn't.  Tonight, as he was changing out of his clothes before bathtime and slipped, he also slipped out with "Oh, shit" again.  "Sammy!  Oh no!  We say oh no!"  "We say oh no, Mommy?"  "Yes, Sammy."  "Not shit?"  DOH!  "No Sammy, we say oh no."  "OK, Mommy."  Wow - guess you really have to spell it out sometimes . . .

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Saturday, March 13, 2010

What a Beautiful Day!

Today was the best day!  I think it's official - Spring has sprung!  Mike worked on the lawn this morning while I took both kids for a jog in the double jogger, and Kona came with us as well!  After we got back, we played with bubbles and chalk in the front yard, and Sammy practiced riding his bike.  He's getting quite skilled - I'm so proud of what a big boy he is becoming!

After the kids took a nap, we went to a birthday party for Andrew, the son of our friends Carlos and Jen.  Mike and Carlos went to college together.  I'm sure they have tons of stories, but I will keep them private . . . for now!  The party was at Chick-Fil-A, and Katie Mae, the cow, even made a guest appearance . . .


Sammy loved her!

But I'm not sure what Sophia thought . . .

After the cow's visit, Sammy asked us if it was really a cow.  I told him it was, and then he asked, "Are you sure it's not just a man in a costume?"  He's pretty smart - it took me a long time before I figured out that things like the cow were just a man in a costume!  Somehow, I'm not sure how this newfound knowledge is going to shape up come Easter Bunny time . . . will my child be the one to tell everyone that Santa Claus doesn't really exist?

After we got home from the party, we spent some time outside in the backyard.  Sophia is really getting to be a big girl - she loves to crawl around and play.  I'm trying to get over my fear of her eating grass . . . you know what they say - the more dirt you eat as a child, the healthier you are as an adult!

Look at my big girl!

Mike and I enjoyed spending time together as well!

Sammy the pirate!

Kona the wonder dog!

And finally, a video of my pretty princess, working on her walking!  And . . . taking a fall.  She's such a trooper!



Are you enjoying this wonderful weather?  Comment with a link to your awesome weather blog post!

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Friday, March 12, 2010

Responsibilities!

This is a responsibility chart.  This is an amazing parenting tool, and a huge partner in your child's daily life!  I love this!  It's by Melissa & Doug, and it comes with many different "responsibility" magnets.  The goals listed are simple, such as take a bath, share, keep hands to yourself, and they also range to more difficult - load dishwasher, clear table, load washing machine, help with outside chores, etc.

We got the chart around October 2009.  During this time, we were working with Sammy on keeping his hands to himself.  It's amazing what a magnetic chore chart and some smiley face magnets can do.  Especially if you can talk about what their responsibilities are, and how their current choice is not meeting them. 

Sammy calls them "sponsibilities."  I also call them parental responsibilities - as you can see - he didn't brush his teeth very much so far this week . . . I think that's a mom thing, not a child thing.  Oops - the sugar bugs must be eating his teeth alive!

This week we are really focusing on sharing.  And clearing the table.  I'll let you know how it goes . . .

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