No School!!!

How rare is it that in North Eastern Texas we get to experience a SNOW DAY at school. Josh's school, Drew's school, my MOPS, and AWANA tonight was canceled. Good grief, what am I going to do with 2 kids all day trapped indoors? YIKES!

Baby Lola

I know that putting down Boomer and Gidget would be hard on me but I never realized just HOW hard it would be.... in November Drew got a new dog (ha ha... that's the story anyway).... this is Lola. Her birthday is September 19 and she's the newest little member of my family. She's just a cute little bumbly pup... she thinks she needs to be in my lap to sleep ... especially when I'm on the computer, hates being outside when it's cold and isn't a snuggle buddy unless you're on a couch... otherwise, she wants to play with Sadie. It's SO nice for Sadie to have a little buddy, they LOVE to play play play! Anyways, this is my new baby... I love her... This is my baby love... Lola

May No and Fur

I played with Drew with play doh for like an hour today. We had such a good time. He calls it "may no". I'd roll it out with the little rolling pin... and then he'd get a cookie cutter out and put it down (I was teaching him the "good" side of the cookie cutters to cut with (sharper side)...and then he'd go "push push push". Then he'd pull the cookie cutter off... I'd peel the excess away and he'd pick up his little treasure and move it to the side. When we got quite a few on the little table... he'd wave both his little hands over all his little creations like he was performing some magic act and say, "momma -- look at awww dis.... dey sooo preeeeeetty." It was soo adorable...

Next funny story...

at dinner I was discussing with Josh about women shaving their legs... and how I'm really lucky because not only do I not have thick hair on my legs but I only have to shave the bottom half of my leg... it was a big discussions about razors, etc. I told him how my sister, his "auntie"... her legs were like the bottom of mine all the way up to her thigh... I'd hate that... and he said... so you don't have fur like her... Fur? Yikes! LOL... No, mommy doesn't have FUR!

I had to go grocery shopping tonight ... in the freezing rain... UGH... it's 9:45... I fear strep is ruining my evening... going to bed. Anytime I get around any kids that have it... my body just can't fight it off.. it's maddening!!! I can fight off colds, the flu even... strep... and my body just invites it in. I hate having a sore throat. waah waah waah... lol...

My new insurance should be kicking in so hopefully I'll get my cards and can keep my Rx updated...otherwise PMS and no Lexapro should be interesting! LOL....

GWEN -- have a GREAT TRIP to Florida!!! I got my vacation booked for the Fall! :) We can trade photo secrets!! OK... off to bed... Oh... one last note.. Josh's new favorite show are reruns of SAVED BY THE BELL! LOL... I'd never seen an episode of that until about a month ago... did people REALLY watch that? Blech!!!

Nite all... sweet dreams... stay warm and safe... ice storm supposedly blowing in tonight... I've got my 'lectric blankie on... about to drink some Theraflu, eat a cough drop and zzzzzzz off to la la land -- it's nice there, they know me.

Wissen wissen

Yes, I'm trying to teach Drew now -- who is potty training himself, not to have to SEE what's in the potty, but to LISTEN for it. Tuesday at school after much success at home using the potty (the boy is OBSESSED with peeing now) he walked into the bathroom and saw those little toilets and turned around and walked right out. He wanted nothing to do with them. So... I went to Target to get him a little potty seat to go over the big toilet... it has Elmo and Cookie Monster on it... so he'll get up on the potty now and say "wissen... wissen".... and he wants you to listen to him pee. he won't stay on there long enough to poop yet.. usually it's within a couple of minutes of peeing... but if he toots he'll tell you "poo poo comin" LOL... but he'll never stay on it long enough or he doesn't want his cheeks splashed with water.. who knows a toddler's mentality... but hey... wissen... he pees!!! :) it's a start!!! And ... by Thursday, yes, my little man peed at school.

I can't believe I'm blogging about pee... good GRIEF the conversations motherhood turns us to have! Ha!

A new year and the second half

AWANA started back up tonight... it was so great to see all the kiddos back... to see my friends... especially Dee and Cindy.... see my buddy Tyler... and how excited he was about all his new Christmas goodies -- Santa brought him a SNAKE! (Dee, you're brave!)... for their game, the kids had several rounds of tug of war. The girls vs. boys one was TOO funny... the girls outnumbered the boys 2 to 1 so of COURSE they won.. it was SO funny because the boys were pretty darn mad about it.

Burn baby burn

Monday nights are good for more than football -- it's the best day that both the boys go to gymnastics and BURN ENERGY!!! If nothing else, I know they'll both sleep well on Monday nights. Unfortunately, it usually means a late supper too so they don't get to bed on time...and they both have school the next day but that's a sacrifice I'm willing to make (at the present time).

Drew was in rare form... had a great GREAT time bouncing on the trampoline. It's so funny to see how coordinated you really DO have to be in order to do things like .... bounce on a trampoline or click sticks together to a beat. They have a cute little program for the kids... they start out on the trampoline... walk over and have circle time with music that ends with a bubble machine and they all just love that... then they follow the red path to the water fountains and get a drink. Drew is Mr. Independent and doesn't want any help -- although he really CAN'T get a drink by himself...darnit if he's not going to try. ... then they go run down a long trampoline and jump into a big foam pit and crawl around in there or swing from the rope swing and dive into the pit, etc. then they have some sort of obstacle course set up for them to do.... work on cartwheels, back flips, hand stands, climbing... then they get a drink again... then they go to a 2nd obstacle course where they work on balance and coordination on the beams, hanging on the horizontal bar, etc. By then, all the parents have worked up a good sweat... the kids are spent... they sit on the edge of the area and get stickers and a stamp on their hands (I hate that part)... we wait about 10 minutes for Josh... wade through cluster of people and head out.

Josh did AWESOME on the rings at gymnastics, he told me on Tuesday that his arms were sore... I knew they would be! I have a hard time watching Josh while having to do Drew's class with him.. one of these days I'll get grandma or PawPaw to come up and do Drew's class with him and I'll video tape Josh. He'll like that.

I'm glad I'm no surgeon & Drew's quite the little character

While Drew was napping this afternoon, Josh wanted to play some games. So, I gave me about 15 minutes to myself while he watched LazyTown after my shower. I decided to do one better and get out TWO games so out came Operation and Candyland. I asked Josh which he preferred to play -- he got a big smile and said, "Operation." So we started.... he got one... I got one.... then we were just stuck. I swear we played that game for 45 minutes and I finally said, look, we both suck at this game, let's play Candyland, ok? He just laughed and said, yeah, we suck bad.... and so we played a few games of Candyland. It was so funny!

Drew was so funny tonight too. He was throwing a fit (b/c he was tired -- mommy is getting his schedule back to normal)...and we were about to eat... and i mentioned a bath so since he'd taken a red Christmas stamp to town all over the back of his hand.. he wanted a bath -- right then. I said, after we eat, you can have a bath.... bath BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATH

So, of course he didn't win, we ate, he did his puzzles and ate some animal crackers... Andy finished and said, you want to go take a bath? Drew started to the gate... but once he got through the gate, he saw the stamp that he'd gone to town with all over the back of his hand... and proceeded to do the same thing... again... Andy was like.. lets go.. and started counting down... 3.....2.....1..... lets go and started to act like he was going to race drew up the stairs.... drew just looked at him with stamp in hand and said "bye" LOL...
I was laughing so hard I nearly choked on my salad!

A Conversation With Josh

I was feeding Josh and Drew lunch today… grilled cheese sandwiches, chicken noodle-o’s and Cheetoes. Josh ate a Cheetoe and so Drew did too. I told Drew he needed to eat his sandwich too and not just his chips and Josh said, "He ate a cheetoe because I did."

I said, "That’s fine, but I just wanted him to know to eat his sandwich as well."

Josh then replied, "He likes cheetoes like me."

I said, "Well that’s something you have in common."

"We’re brothers, we’re supposed to have stuff in common," he said... to which I replied, "Well, I have a sister and we don’t have a lot in common."

Josh sat there and took a bite of his sandwich and contemplated and then replied, "You both don’t like each other."

LOL… Kids, they really DO say the darndest things!

New Tiger and Drew-gate and Josh-aroni

Tonight we had our first Tiger Cub meeting of the new year. The theme for the month is "Poles Apart". We're supposed to teach the boys about the Arctic and the Anarctic. It's such a neat and rewarding experience to see them break out of their proverbial shells and grasp new concepts, make new friends and be proud of their achievements. The different personalities and characteristics that each one of my little Cubs possesses are so great -- I feel so fortunate to have such a great group of kids. I started off by passing around a roll of toilet paper and had each boy take "some". Ultimately for each square they were to tell our new Cubmate, CJ, one fact about themselves. It was cute... and was a great ice breaker. Then I showed them a map of the Arctic Circle and then had them make Anarctic fact wheels. while they were working on that, I prepared their plaster skrimshaws for next week. We went over all the things they are supposed to remember (motto, sign, salute, etc.) and they just did a great job. They each got their "assignments" to report on for next week -- one arctic and one anarctic animal. They will need to stand up before the group and tell us about their animals.

One other "tidbit" of my life is that my 2 year has taken up the habit of not only not sleeping in his bed, but apparently sleep walking... to another area of his quarters and sleeping on the FLOOR?! He will, at times, bring ALL of his binkies and Lumpy along for the relocation too. I'm considering purchasing a sleeping bag to put in other areas so that at least he'll be warm when he decides to wander. His schedule is SO screwed up right now... he's not liking me too much for waking him up early...but ... it'll help him get back in the swing of things so he can be on his "regular" schedule (whatever that is) and I can get some work done!

He's slowly being potty trained. When he does poop in his pants lately, he (regardless of whether YOU are around or not) drops troup and tries taking off his diaper. This, no doubt, is quite a stinky, messy situation. I think it's time for pullups! If he doesn't HAVE to go but just wants to... the poor kid just strains and grunts and groans... I swear sometime I think he's just goign to take off! If he just has to toot while he's on the potty chair, he'll tell you "poo poo's comin'" LOL. It's so hard to keep a straight face.

He is in LOVE with the puzzles his "aunt" Laura and "uncle" Jeff and Gabe got him for Christmas. Between the Buzz Lightyear jammies, his work bench and new puzzles, those are the top three Christmas gifts this year.

Drew is very focused on his shows... if you try to sing along with the songs or quote the movie, he will squish his finger on his nose and say "beee quiet" but it's more like "kiiiiiiiiiiii-et" it's so funny. His other funny trait right now at 2.5 is when he wants to show YOU Something, he will do the "come here" sign and say "show me show me show me"... meaning I want to take you mommy over here to show you something....

He likes to pretend he's on the computer... he'll click the mouse... type...

The scoop on the puppy --

Lola is growing like a weed. I just love her to pieces! I was telling one of my best friends, Gwen, last night or night before last... I really think i went into a deeper depression when I had to put down both of my dogs within 6 weeks of one another... because with animals (dogs especially) you really do get the only source of unconditional love you will ever get in your life... and with them passing, I'd really felt like I'd lost that. Plus, having new little puppy breath -- who can resist?! :) She's from a big litter -- 9 pups... and was just the cutests little runt. I jsut loved her instantly... she's staring at me right now wondering why I won't give her any more carmel corn. :) She thinks she needs to sit in my lap when she's tired. :) I love it. :)

Josh is just ... well, he's such a little man. We've been letting his hair grow out. My mom hates it ..and apparently has told him so. I've offered to cut it or take him to have it cut but he likes it long now... so it's his hair and I'll let him keep it however he wants, as long as it's not in his eyes, he won't hear a complaint out of me. He loves his new Razor Scooter that Santa got him... and his ATM bank and lava lamp... and I don't know where he gets this -- he gets excited about new clothes. :) Ha! Gotta love him. Drew does too -- as long as they either have some association with the Dallas Cowboys, Texas Tech, baseball or the GAP! lol... he's familiar with Polo too. Scary they get branded so early. :)

Josh commented to me the other day that I take more photos of Drew than I do him... I said... Josh... smile...and he stopped what he was doing, looked at me, tilted his head and smiled. I showed him in my camera. See how great that looks.... now watch... and I snapped about 7 of drew... NONE of them were any good... I said "SEE?" LOL... he hasn't complained since.

I do need to take some more photos...

Statute of Limitations

Is there a statute of limitations for grieving over a dead fish? I just looked and realized Josh's fish that died, Dennis, is still in the freezer. lol....wonder if he'd notice that he mysteriously disappeared? Anyone feel like sushi tonight? ROFL... I'm kidding... I know, that was a BAAAD joke... blech!

My Big Boy is HOME!

Josh got home from seeing his dad in Iowa today. My mom picked him up from the airport since a) Drew was sick and b) I had a dr's appointment. Nothing like starting out the new year at your OB-GYN's office huh? LOL.... being a woman really sucks sometimes! Hopefully they'll figure out what it is THIS time and I won't have to go back for a WHOLE year. I am learning to like that place like the dentist. Blech!

When Drew woke up from his nap, I had Josh walk in with me... I turned on the light which he wasn't expecting so I got that squinty-eyed "bright light" face and then he saw Josh and just stood right up and walked over to him and gave him a hug.... no words, no sounds.... that was a true blue loving brotherhood moment.

Of course, Drew just whacked Josh over the head with a purple plastic bucket... so it was short-lived, but hey... at least it DID live. :) LOL Back to reality

Tonight we feast at Fuddruckers... kind of a loud, welcome home for Josh ...since tomorrow is his last "free day" before he has to go back to school on the 4th. Let him have last "hurrah" before it's back to reality for him. Tonight we'll watch the rest of Harry Potter and I'll have him read me a ton of books... just the way I like to be tucked in. I can't wait to get a good night's sleep.... always do when my two favorite men are under one roof. :)

TTFN