Saturday, March 26, 2011

Kids Do the Darndest Things

There are no pictures of my kids on this post. You will thank me when I tell you why. This morning I was cleaning up the kitchen and Connor asked me for a mint. I had some on the counter, they were in a round can, Sour Ice Breakers to be specific. He really likes them but I always limit him to one at a time/per day. So, I obliged and gave him one. I noticed when I put the container up that it was pretty full. I wondered where this can had been hiding to still have so many mints left. I was pretty sure that it had arrived in a Christmas stocking. Anyway, I put the can up and went on my way. Just like I always do. I went back to my bedroom to finish getting ready. I was just about done when Travis comes into my room holding an empty can in his hands. He proceeds to tell me that he took it from Connor because he was eating the mints. OH MY GOSH! I froze for a moment as I pictured Connor stuffing the entire contents of mints in his mouth. I said, where did all of the mints go?? Travis had a blank stare, he had no idea how full the can had been before he caught Connor with it. Travis and I quickly walked down the hallway and into the family room where Connor was nicely watching TV. I said to Connor, "Did you eat all of these mints?" Connor looked at me with that cute smile and said, "No." In return I said, "Well then, where did they go?" For a moment I hoped that he had dumped them out and put them under the couch or something. Then Connor energetically shouts, "They are all in my TUMMY!" My jaw hit the floor. I didn't even bother with a time out. I told Daryle that Connor was going to pay for this eventually. All of those mints have to come out some way, so we might as well let him enjoy his TV for now. We told him that was a bad choice and that he should NEVER do that again. He just kept smiling. A few hours later Daryle had put him down for a nap. We could hear him playing so Daryle went in to check on him. Daryle yelled for me to come quick. Uh-oh, I thought. Here we go. Sure enough, diarrhea was on the quilt, sheets, pillow pet (on side note, those wash well in the washer and dryer) and the carpet on the floor by his bed. He was an absolute mess. I cleaned up the disaster in his room while Daryle stripped him down and gave him a bath. We made SURE he knew what caused this.... those MINTS!! Poor guy had diarrhea on and off for an hour or so. I really hope he learned his lesson. (Why oh why does Connor always have to learn the hard way??) The only downfall, he now knows what Peptobismal for Kids tastes like and thinks it's YUMMY! I let him look at the bottle for a minute, afterall it has a "childproof" lock on it. Within seconds he had it opened up. Tomorrow I am putting all medications in a locked box. And note to Santa, NO MORE MINTS FOR CONNOR!

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Happy Birthday Rock

Our second week of spring break is half way over....I wish I could freeze time right here! We have been keeping busy even though we are not on our normal schedule. I was told I had to sew a patch on Travis' baseball uniform this year. I was a little nervous about that just because I don't sew that much... ok not at all... however, I did take Home Economics and my talented grandma taught me a thing or two about sewing. In the end I was pretty proud!
Don't worry, the real thing looks better than my blurry picture. While we were in Legoland Rock turned 12 years old. Wow! It seems like just yesterday we brought him home. (Not that long ago he crawled under the deck in our backyard in Memphis and got stuck. Daryle wasn't home so it was up to me to get him out. I called all kinds of emergency numbers. Finally somebody told me to get a squirt bottle with soap and water. That pretty much did the trick! Then I had to chase him around the backyard because he tried to eat my water bottle. Oh how I don't miss the puppy days!) Even though he is a doggy school drop out we still love him to pieces. We couldn't ask for a better dog with the boys. I just wish he didn't bark so much. Other than that he is pretty perfect. Travis and I went to Target and he carefully considered every possibility in the aisle until he picked out this perfect birthday present for him.
Rock had a hard time posing for this picture, he wanted that bone SOOOOO badly!
We decided to celebrate with cupcakes. Grammy and Grandpa even came over to help decorate. Don't worry, Rock's didn't have frosting on them.
Treat time! As you can see Daddy had to come and hold Rock back so that he didn't gulp those cupcakes right out of Travis' hands! (Oh, and if you ask Connor about the color of his shirt, it is not yellow.. it is mustard.)
Last night was Travis' first baseball game. He is playing kid pitch now so he has moved up to the big fields. I like this area much better because they have bleachers to sit in and there is a fence all the way around to keep us all safe. (Mostly Connor.... no worries about getting hit in the head with a ball or swinging bat from him getting too close to the field. Last year I had a few heart attacks about that one!) Here he is in his uniform. He makes a pretty cute baseball player, even if I am his mom and terribly biased! I did not realize how much fun it was going to be to watch him play this year. The boys are all growing up and actually understand postions for the most part. They all walk around with a little swagger. They are all so cute! (It is even funnier to see them all mess around with those cups they have to wear now!!)
Travis and Coach Dad, or I mean, Coach Daryle.
This year we have our friend Cody in town. He has graciously offered his time and talent to help Daryle coach the kids. We have known Cody since before he was even born, kind of crazy to see him all grown up at 18 (almost 19) and helping Daryle coach little league!
Connor has already found a way to lure the cute girls over. Just bring out the book on trucks and tractors and see where it takes you. Like his brother, he sure can spot the cute ones!!
It was dark and hard to take pictures. This one has been lightened twice and zoomed in on. Terrible quality but proof that he played second base last night.
Today we went to the park with some cousins. While we were waiting I got a picture of Connor's favorite park toy... the swings of course! Travis and the girls started playing hide and seek. I spotted this head sticking out from the middle of the bush.
It was Travis!! LOL Funny kid! Oops, looks like he was spotted!

We cracked up because here was this huge playground structure, open field, paths to ride their scooters on, and where did they want to hang out?? In this bush!! Kids, gotta love 'em!

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Spring Break Fun

This week the leprechauns came by our house again to wish us a Happy St. Patrick's Day. We love seeing what they have done each year. This year they brought new shirts, headbands, bow ties and of course a box of Lucky Charms cereal. All of it was a hit!
Connor loved his headband!
Travis enjoyed it for a bit.... only to get a few pictures. Then it all came off (well, at least he kept his shirt on all day!) He's a party pooper sometimes!
On Friday we went to the Phoenix Children's Museum again. This time we took some good friends of ours. It was really fun because they had never been there before. The last time we went it was super crowded. This time was less crowded so the kids got to do more things. Here they are going through the car wash. Travis took pride in being able to pedal these two around!
We gave him a boost and off they went!
Maddie took a turn at the wheel too. At first it was just Connor and then suddenly Travis hopped on board too. She was a bit shocked at first (who wouldn't when you suddenly have an extra 60 pounds on the back of your bike!) but she did a good job! She has some strong legs!
Travis still takes the grocery store quite seriously. I love watching the kids in this area because you can tell they are imitating how their parents shop at the store. They are just so funny!
Here they all are after a day of fun. We were smart this time and brought our own lunches so we could eat outside. It was a beautiful day. Connor enjoyed chasing the "birdies" while mom cringed at all of the pigeons running this way and that way. I was so afraid he was actually going to catch one at one point! Thank goodness he finally found the water bottles and pretend windows to wash and squeegee. That worked... until he found out he could squirt those birdies with the water bottle!! UGH!
The only problem with this place is that it needs to be closer to our house! The kids have so much fun. It can be hard for me to find things to do that entertain both of my boys since they do have a five year age difference. This place is perfect! I am so thankful we still have one more week off. I still have some serious spring cleaning to do around here. Hopefully I will find some time to get it all done!

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Legoland or Bust!

If you want pictures, then you have come to the right place! On Sunday we left for Legoland which is close to San Diego. The drive isn't too bad, but seemed to take us about 2 hours longer than we had anticipated. Traveling with two kids means a few more stops along the way. Especially when they don't want to sleep much! They did each have their own DVD player, which helped keep the peace for quite some time. Here they are once we got on the road.

As you can see, having a third row seat helps too. He doesn't really enjoy it back there but sometimes you have to do what you have to do!
Finally we reached our destination. Once we checked into our hotel we decided to find the beach. We found a nice one just as the sun was setting. Connor could have stayed all night. Too bad we were only there for about fifteen minutes or so. We had to pick him up, kicking and screaming back to the car.

One thing my boys enjoy is a nice hotel. Here they are getting comfy on mom and dad's fluffy bed.
After a good night's sleep we were off to meet up with our friends from Memphis. We got there a bit early and they got caught up in some traffic. Eventually we all got together!

Here we are on Connor's first ride. There were only two issues (which lasted the entire day). 1. Connor does NOT like to wait in line for over 10 minutes. He turns into a climbing monkey, kicks his shoes off in all directions and screams. Those of you who know Connor know that he is not usually like that. However, he is quite independent. He wanted to do what he wanted to do NOW not later! 2. He had to learn that even though the wait is much longer than the ride you do need to get off when the ride is over. Some tough lessons my little one had to learn. At least he enjoyed the rides once he got to get on them!
Next we went on a little boat ride. The wait was not too bad and the ride was nice. I say it was a hit!

There are no pictures for the next few rides. There is a reason for that. Connor and I waited in line for about 40 minutes for him to ride on these little cars. Daryle and Travis went on two rides that were too big for Connor and my friend's little girl. After 40 of the longest minutes of my life we finally get to the front of the line. To say I was frazzled is an understatement. Just as we go to get on the girl asks me how old he is. I say 2, well almost 3 (he will be 3 in June). Nope. He can't ride. I wanted to kick her in the shins. ( I restrained myself!) Couldn't she have put us out of our misery about 30 minutes ago???? As a compensation she tells me I can go across the way to the helicopter ride without waiting. I drag a very upset 2 year old out of that ride and we head over to the helicopter ride. I go up to the girl and she tells me that she was expecting us. However, the ride was temporarily not working. You can just imagine the frustration level that Connor was at by this time! I just wanted to cry. I found some little cars for him to play on. That worked for about 5 minutes until people were wanting to take pictures by them. Meltdown again. Suddenly I looked up and what do you know, the helicopters were working again! I rushed him over, they let us on and he was happy once again. Things got even better once we got some lunch.
Here are Connor and Grace waiting for the fireman show. He LOVED this! Phew, I could tell the day was taking a turn for the better.
Next we found the airplane ride. Hurray, not a long line!
We did happen to find Bob the Builder. Connor kept waving and talking to him. It was pretty cute!
Here we are at the last ride of the day. It was a long wait, over 45 minutes. By then we were all tired. Connor was still climbing things as you can see. He wouldn't stand still for a picture with all three kids, so that was as good as it got!
Travis and I rode together on this one. He was pretty excited to get on! However, the ride was up high and it seems he has inherited his mom's fear of heights.
He wanted me to hold his hand the whole ride! Even though he will be 8 in just a few weeks, it is nice to know he still needs me sometimes!
Here we are on our way out. Overall it was a good day. Once we got past that morning part things went much better. I think it will be awhile before we bring Connor back though!
On our way out we stopped by a strawberry stand. They are the most delicious strawberries ever! We even got a picture of the fields. They went on forever!
The next day we stopped by the beach as we headed for home. Here are a few pictures. It was a beautiful day!
Travis had to try and write his name too!
Not the best picture, but what do you expect when you ask a stranger to take the picture? It's not too bad, just Travis has his eyes closed!
We were chasing the waves. I lost!
Like mother, like son! He got so wet he had to change clothes. Good thing I brought extras!

While all of that was going on, this is all that Connor liked to do. Dig. Yes, he is a pro!

That's all for now. It was fun, wish we could have stayed a day or so longer, but on the same note I am glad to be home. I think we all slept better being in our own beds last night! I do miss that beach though!

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Soccer Banquet

Well, Saturday marked the end of another soccer season for Travis. They had a nice banquet where he got this really cool trophy. We are so proud of him! He loves sports of all kinds. Lucky for him he is athletic too. After the banquet the coaches took the kids out to Baskin Robbins for some ice cream. This is what Connor had to say about that!
Oh yeah! Connor has a sweet tooth alright! (He must have inherited that from Me! haha!)These are the only two pictures I have of the day. I had to go to an education fair from 7:30 until 3:30 so Daryle took these two pictures and sent them to me on my phone. At least it made me feel like I was sort of there with them! I hate missing things like this. Thank goodness there will be more in the future!
We had a pretty busy weekend. Yesterday was also baseball practice for Travis' team. I think we have a really nice team this year. Not that we haven't had good teams in the past. It's just that all of the parents on this team seem so nice and friendly. I like that. I guess I have ended up being co-Team Mom. I had to go to the meeting on Friday night so I could relay all the info to the real Team Mom. She has some conflicts with a few events so guess who gets to fill in for her? Actually, she is so sweet and nice I don't mind. She is going to school to be a teacher and has to go take her test that day. Of course I had complete empathy for her! Then today I got all of my report cards done, got the house cleaned, and the laundry done. The only thing on my list that didn't get done was getting some groceries. Oh well. I guess I can go tomorrow after work.
I am so excited about next weekend! We are heading over to Carlsbad so we can go to Lego Land for some family fun. We took Travis when he was about 3 1/2 and he had a ball. Connor is going to love it. He has never been to any kind of place like that before. Plus, we are meeting up with an old friend of mine from Memphis. She will be in town with her husband and daughter. I can't wait to see them! This will be our first little "vacation" as a family of 4. I don't really count going to Russia, that wasn't exactly a "vacation" even though we did have a good time together. I also don't really count going to California to visit family because, well, we are still with family! I am a little bit worried about the car trip, it will be about 6 hours from here. Traveling with one kid was fine. I am not so sure about 2! Wish us luck! I am sure I will have lots of pictures when we come back. Now, if I can only get through this jam packed week first!