They Are Taking Over the World

I am never disappointed by son’s ability to make me smile.  Yesterday on the way to take Lauren to school, Evan became extremely frustrated.  I could hear his heart rate increase from the front seat before he passionately said, “MOM, why are the bulldozers RUINING our world?” 

 

 

I laughed and explained that they are just making the roads wider and the roads will be much nicer once they finish.

He still didn’t find any humor in the situation,”Well their mommies must not have taught them to clean up their mess before they started something else.”

I was so thankful that I had just swallowed my drink of water because I have no doubt that I would have been wearing it otherwise.

The child is only three, but in our world he has not seen a road that leads to our home that is Construction-orange-free.  It’s sad to say… there are three different highway/main routes that we can take to get to our home and all three are under construction and have been his entire life.  So from his point of view, the machines are taking over.

Technorati Tags: bulldozers,boys,passion,road work,detour,toys

Of course I do, but do you?

THINGS HE SAYS TOO EARLY IN THE MORNING:

Evan: Mom, do you know where my balls are?

(I have to admit, I wasn’t quite sure how to answer that one.  So I answered it with a question).

Me: Yes, but do YOU know where they are? 

Evan: He giggled hysterically and said “OF COURSE!”

(I still have no idea what “balls” we was referring to at that particular moment).

 

Technorati Tags: Too Early in the Morning,Raising Boys

Sharp Dressed Men

   I can’t get that ZZ Top song out of my head.

There are a lot of handsome cowboys out there, but I don’t think there are any that are much cuter than this little man.  He melts my heart with his loving ways everyday.

Watch out bad guys… He is here to protect and serve.

 

And he has incredible aim.

 

I have to say, he comes by his silliness honestly.  Here is the cowboy’s disco dad.

As Evan likes to say, He’s superfly for a white guy. 

I love these crazy guys!!!!

Technorati Tags: Costume,dress up,never grow old

These kids keep us young!

Paying It Forward!

My morning today started like most mornings… too early.  I would have loved to stay in bed with my husband and snuggle up and sleep in, but duty calls.  I woke up and began getting Lauren ready for school and taking care of all the other normal motherhood responsibilities.  All the while I was thinking about my husband asleep (or should I say resting… it’s impossible to sleep when the kids & I are on the other side of the bedroom wall eating breakfast and doing dishes) wishing that I was snuggled up next to him.  God I love that man.

Sorry about that.   My mind drifted off again.  I can’t help it.  There aren’t many things that can make me happier than the feeling of his arms holding me when I’m snuggled up close to him.  Like I said, I love that man.

Ok, where was I?  Oh yea, my morning.  (I think that I just may or may not have a mild case of ADD lately.  I seem to be easily distracted.  It makes cleaning the house a LOOONG nightmare). 

So after the kids were ready and we all kissed that handsome man that was resting in my bed farewell, we took Lauren to school.  Then Evan & I were off to enjoy one of our favorite times of the day.  We take a little trip to Starbucks so that I can get a much needed dose of caffeine and he gets a dose of sugar ( a WC mocha and a box of chocolate milk).  We laugh, talk, read books, and tell stories.  It’s our special time of the day.  100% complete, undivided attention therefore building a stronger friendship/relationship.

As always I pulled up to the window to get our goodies so that the fun can begin.  It’s needless to say that there is a smile of anticipation plastered across my face, but I’ll say it anyway… there was a HUGE smile across my face.  Then the sweet barista at the window just says thank you and hands me my order.  I tried to pay again, and she tells me that it’s already been taken care of.  Well I’m slow.  That doesn’t happen to me.  So I tried to explain that she must be mistaken and I tried to give her my card… again.  She laughed at me… again.  And said that it was already taken care of by the gentleman in line in front of me. 

Then I started looking around.  It was at that moment that I realized just how UN-observant that I really am.  I was thinking to myself… there was a car in front of me?  Of course there was… I wonder what kind it was… what color was it… blue… I think.  All I could remember about the car in front of me is that the license plate holder had a phrase on it that said… Try it… you might like it.  Other than that.  I had nothing. 

After a moment I realized I had been playing with Evan… making silly faces and visiting with him.  I have a big car that sits up high and Evan was sitting directly behind me.  So to the person in the car in front of me… it probably looked like I was alone… making funny, goofy, and probably gross (I’m playing with a little boy… they like gross… it makes them giggle… and the giggle is worth it) faces.   I’m sure that the scenario was probably an entertaining one.

However, since I was unable to thank my audience I felt obliged to keep the kind gesture going and I paid for the order of the person behind me.  (I got quite a deal).   

So thank you to the person driving the blue car. 

To everyone else:  Please keep the random acts of kindness going.  It’s the first step in making this world a better place.

Technorati Tags: Pay It Forward,Random acts of kindness,Starbucks

Baseball Forever

Recently my dearly beloved husband celebrated a birthday.  In case anyone was wondering he turned 21… again.  Don’t worry honey I wouldn’t sell you out.  And yes, in case anyone was wondering, I did rob the cradle. 

To celebrate my hot younger husband, I bought him tickets to the Cardinals / Cubs game.  He went with Evan (our son), his dad & brother & his son, Jett. 

The ballgame was quite an experience for the two young boys.  Jett has been to baseball games, but this was a first for Evan.  (I was praying that he wouldn’t drive the guys crazy before the game was over). 

After driving six hours, watching batting practice, and all the pregame festivities this little man fell asleep during the first inning and slept throughout the entire game.

And then there was Evan… my little energizer bunny.  He was bouncing off the rails, literally.  He had numerous root beers and ice cream.  The little boy was in HEAVEN.  I think that Corey created a lifetime baseball fan. 

If anything baseball crosses Evan’s line of sight, a huge perma-grin grows across his face.

 
 

 

Are We There Yet

 

(Photo taken from our trip last February.  Corey was not going to stop under any circumstances to let me get one this time.  Clark Griswald, I mean Corey, had a schedule).

During a recent trip to Table Rock in Missouri, Evan (aka "Repeat") was in rare form.

(I was trying to get a cool picture to celebrate our fun day at the park, but little man had a different pose in mind.  “Mom take a picture up my nose and see if I have any boogies!” God bless him). 

I have to admit this was only because Lauren (aka "Pete") was catching up her beauty sleep.

(No, we don’t usually let our kids lay down in the street.  But her legs have a tendency to stop working when she doesn’t get her way.  I’m still looking for the medical term for this ailment.  However, I was extremely pleased to get such a pretty picture out of the ordeal).

My husband on the other hand was in not-so rare form. He was teasing and flirting and making me laugh. (He was harassing me endlessly).

(In this photo, Corey is pleading with me to never take his photo again.  Of course, my response is “Me no speak Ingles.” Sorry Corey, I love you too much to not ever take your photo. LOL)

So I lovingly helped repeat out and redirected Evan's focus to Dad... All I had to do was ask Corey once, "Are we there yet?" and for the next ten minutes that's all that we heard from Repeat. Each time made me giggle and laugh. Paybacks baby.

 

Our friend’s beautiful home.  Thank you for showing us such sweet hospitality. 

Still ornery,

J

-- Post From My iPhone

The Champ

(This is one of many bad photos taken with my phone. It's easier to get a close-up photograph of a fly in the air with a 50mm lens than the back of my ever-moving son's head).

Last weekend my little guy ended the night with this nasty gash on the back of his head. Originally I took these pictures in the ER just to amuse and occupy him. (He is very much like his dad in that area). I would take a photo and show him and for the next few minutes he would slowly give me a play by play of his boo-boo. He would remind me of the instant that he jumped out of my lap ( which is also known as base), that he fell and the second that the pillow hit him and he fell back against the chair.

Of course, his version is much more graphic and animated. Each time he concluded the play by play, he would say, "let's take another picture". I would oblige and the entire story would begin again. For about thirty minutes, I felt as if I had stepped into the set of the movie "Groundhog Day".

All that to say, I was so pleased that he wasn't crying and that he was acting so tough throughout our hospital visit. He truly amazes me.

Belly Babble

Evan:  My Belly is talking, no it’s crying

Dad:  Why is your belly talking?

Evan:  No, it’s CRYING.

Dad:  Why is it crying?

Evan:  It’s crying for the ice cream store.  It needs more today.

(originally Feb. 22, 2009)

Never Say NEVER

For the most part I could say that I gave birth to two of the sweetest, snuggly, loving children.

I might add, who run VERY fast and love being chased.  His giggles while being pursued are the sweetest sound.

And who may someday be voted as the class clown.  She loves to see people laugh and will gladly act as goofy as it takes to bring smiles to those around her.

However, like every child they have moments that make me wonder what they are thinking, or if they are even thinking at all. 

Life with these two is constant comedy.

Recently I came across an old notebook with so many funny stories of the kids and lists pertaining to them when they were younger.  This one may make you giggle, just plain gross you out, or both.  Enjoy.

********************************

So me of these things I thought that I would never say because of the effect that these words had on me, others are phrases I thought that I would never say because I thought that they sounded ridiculous, and THEN there are the phrases that I thought that I would never NEED to say… or at least I hoped that I wouldn’t..

 “Evan stop licking food off your sister’s fingers.”

“Because I said so.” (The classic among all generations).

“Please quit trying to EAT the dogs ears… she doesn’t bite your ears.”

“I know you are tired when we get home you can take a nap, but there’s no reason to be overdramatic and lay down in the street.”  To which my child replied, “I DON’T NEED A NAP… just a very short rest time… like 5 seconds or so but NOT in my bed because I might fall asleep and I DON’T NEED A NAP.”

“Please take your feet off the table, we are at a restaurant.”

While eating lunch with my brother-in-law and one of his buddies, my husband, and the kids…

“Is HE Uncle ____’s boyfriend?”

“No sweetie.  Your uncle doesn’t have a boyfriend, just a girlfriend.”

After being bombarded with more questions at the table with her uncle and his friend directly in front of us, I whispered, “Shhhh, I will tell you what a girlfriend & boyfriend is later tonight.”  I was totally wanting to postpone this conversation until she was 18 years old!

“Please stop spitting your gum in my hand, please put it in the trash.  And please stop trying to put it my hair.”

“Please take the rock out of your mouth.  We don’t eat rocks!!  They hurt your teeth and you could choke on it.” (Do I really need to explain why we don’t eat rocks? seriously).  Just the thought still makes me laugh.

“Stop biting my shirt.  We don’t eat clothes.”  Once again, I am amazed that I have to tell them this… boys are so different from girls!

“I think that it’s awesome that you want to clean up the dog poo, but please use a poo bag or the shovel.  DON’T pick it up with your hands.”  This was my husband… just kidding.  LOL.  He’s going to kill me for that.

“Please don’t lick the spoon that we use to stir the dog food.”

“This is going to hurt me more than it will you.”

“Please stop touching your man-parts.” (I thought that I would have to say that when he was 12 years old, but not 2 years old).

Now that the kids are older, I have many new “Never Sayings”.  So I just may have to have a sequel to this post in the future.  That is, IF your stomachs can handle it.

Technorati Tags: kids,funny,parenting,never,Because I said so,poop,clothes

Vans Custom Shoe Giveaway

Last night I played around on the Vans website, www.vans.com designing some custom shoes for my son.  He loves light weight, slip-on shoes and for this hot summer weather, Vans are perfect.  He had just outgrown his last pair and we tried to buy some that were similar from a different store and needless to say… it didn’t work.  I have to admit, he comes by this honestly.  His dad is also a shoe FANATIC.  Although, I do think that Evan, my son, is far more particular about his shoes than Corey.

Well after talking about Evan’s new shoes, Lauren was intrigued and wanted to design her own pair of shoes.  She had such a blast.  I bet you can’t guess her favorite color. :-)

Choice #1

She has it narrowed down to three pairs that she likes, but said that she would like some help.  So I asked her if she wanted to help me host a contest and we could let other people pick which pair that they liked.  To this proposition, she started jumping up & down and clapping her hands, screaming, and the wild excitement ended with twirls.  (I think that she likes the idea). 

Choice #2

So please take a look at the three pairs of shoes that she created and leave a comment telling us which you like best.

Choice #3

But you guessed it, the fun doesn’t end here.  Lauren & I are also hosting a fun contest for a free pair of Vans Custom Shoes.

It only takes seconds to pick your colors and begin designing. 

1. To enter go to Van’s website, design your own pair take a screenshot, or just tell us which you liked best.
2. Post your screenshot and blog about the Vans experience
3. Blog about this giveaway
4. Twitter about the giveaway
5. and as always, Follow this blog.

Happy Shopping.

www.vans.com

select Shop

Select custom

and begin…. it really is THAT simple.

This contest will end June 26, 2009 at midnight.

Technorati Tags: vans custom shoes,giveaway,contests,free,shoes

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Batter Up

I always knew that watching Evan’s first T-Ball practice would be an adventure, as usual.  But I had not prepared myself for the full hilarity of the event.  Fortunately, Evan gets to play T-Ball with his cousin Braxton (Brax is 6 weeks older than Evan). 

Unfortunately, I ONLY have pictures to share with you.  I really wish that I had video because in this case ONLY video can do the moment justice.

To give you an idea of the dynamics, I’ll begin by telling you this.  Braxton lives, loves, and breathes baseball.  He takes his baseball serious.  He watches baseball on television intently studying the players and copying their moves.  When he walks up to the T to bat, he picks up dirt in his hands rubs it together, circles the bat in the air, and winds up to hit. 

Then there’s Evan who has the energy of a horse right before the race.  He is stuck in the gate ready to be let loose.  He runs at the T with excitement and nearly pulls a “Happy Gilmore” at the ball that is placed up on the T.  He was the same way in the field.  I had to literally hold him back until the other players hit the ball then I would release him & let him tackle the ball & throw it to first base.  Instead of the horse hearing the sound of the gun to start the race, it was the sound of the bat hitting the leather ball that sent Evan running. 

It was pure torture for him when they had to take turns.  He would see & hear the ball being hit & his legs would run in place (again I had to hold him back).  He was READY.  He would then turn & look at me with a very serious face that I have seen his father make so often and say in a whispered voice, “Uh MOM, I can’t get the ball if you keep holding me like that”. 

  

I would then have to explain, “You have to take turns”.  His three year old mind processed this and then he replied, “No.  They can just be faster”.  I so bad wanted to laugh, because I know if MY DAD heard this statement then he would be so proud.  If the characteristic of competitiveness is hereditary then Evan has no chance.  Both Corey & I are competitive and have competitive relatives for many generations.   Instead, I had to say again, take your turn.  I then started whispering in his ear what each child was doing and pointing out what movements were good and related that to him and how he could improve each time.  This helped tremendously.  He would stay close long enough to wait until it was his turn again.

Evan was so excited in this picture you can see him running up to the T & swinging even before he got into position.

I think that his coach was a little surprised that the wild swing actually connected.

After that I worked with him, helped him find his grip and step up to the plate…

He loved the distance he got, but then we wanted to hit left handed… again surprising his coach.  

 

He hit the ball just as well from both directions.  This is another quality that seems to be hereditary.  My brother can also switch hit.  I write with both my right & left hands and noticed that Evan will do the same from time to time while coloring. 

Technorati Tags: T-Ball,Sports

To wrap up the practice, the coach had the kids run the bases and once again Evan’s excitement got the best of him.  He went from home base to second to first then to third base.  However, the second time around he ran with his teammates and did a WONDERFUL job. 

He just turned three and wants to be SO big, but I really wish that I could slow down time just a bit because it is happening too fast for me.

Spoiled Rotten

As far as the title goes, it could possibly be referring to me, Lauren, or Lucy (the puppy). Corey absolutely loves to surprise people and he has swept me off my feet on many occasions by his amazing surprises. I posted about finding Lucy online a month ago, but buying her wasn't an option. Corey tried to tell me that he wasn't a dog person and that he already let me have one and that was enough. (Little did I know that this is what he really had up his sleeve. He's so sneaky). When he told me, I was so excited that I found myself jumping up & down and screamed or rather squealed like a school girl (then I had to remind myself that I just got the kids to sleep so I had to quietly celebrate).

We had an extensive name discussion and even breaking out name books, Corey finally chose Lucy. I like it... Luke (our other boxer) & Lucy.

I was so excited that I wanted to tell everyone at that moment, but I also wanted to wait so that I could share these pictures with you.


Lauren & I decided while we were waiting at the airport for Lucy to arrive that this was definitely better than Christmas. Lauren is a HUGE dog lover... the girl puts me to shame, and I thought that I had a bad case of puppy love. We can barely contain ourselves.


She has arrived. After two flights and a long morning in airports, Lucy was happy to be in Oklahoma.

Waiting for Lucy to get checked in was asking a lot of Lauren but she was amazingly patient.


Lauren sighed a deep breath of relief and gave her a "forehead kiss"before she was even completely out of the crate. We were all giggling and awwing her love for this little one.


But no, she didn't stop at forehead kisses. There were lots of nose kisses, mouth kisses, cheek kisses and puppy kisses (No Lauren didn't lick the puppy, or at least I hope not... I can't make any promises).


Of course I was ecstatic! I was not only happy that Lucy had arrived, but I was also very excited that Corey was able to surprise me & the kids at the airport on a Monday afternoon so that he could also be there when she arrived. I was glad that he was able to share the moment with us.
Evan was so excited to hold her too. He was smiling from ear to ear. I honestly don't know if he remembers Luke being this small.


Once we got outside and the kids were buckled in the car (he had a hard time seperating both me & Lauren from Lucy), Corey was able to hold her. However, because I was so excited I didn't change the ISO and the White Balance on my camera so all I have are these blinding shots of Corey holding Lucy. If anyone has any recommendations of software to fix these photos, I am all ears. I love the smile on Corey's face... this picture is all the proof I need that Corey really is a dog lover. I love his sweet & tender heart and I love how Lucy is able to bring that out. She has a way of making most people melt. She is such a little sweetheart.Like I said the above picture is all the proof that I need, but then I have this picture and no these kisses were not intended for me. They were for Lucy. :-)



And then I have THIS picture. He let her lick him. I NEVER thought that I would ever see this willingly happen. She has no idea what she has done.


At this point I don't know who is melting my heart faster... this tender-hearted man or this sweet little snuggly puppy.

Thank you baby! I am sure that you have an idea just how much we appreciate this wonderful surprise, but just in case you don't.... Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Or as Lauren would say, "That is a million Good Daddy Awards".