The Flower and the Bee

We went to a downtown street festival tonight to collect candy from all the downtown shop owners and play the carnival games that a local church sets up for kids of all ages. The kids had a blast! There was that perfect chill in the air, but it was warm enough that we weren't miserable outside. We were only there for about an hour, but Bo had enough candy to last for a while!

He really loved his bee costume, and he kept making little buzzing noises.

Ella was a precious little flower. She wanted to walk everywhere, and she was practically dragging Jason around trying to get from table to table! Jason joked that if she fell, at least she'd have a pillow to cushion her fall!

I loved Bo's little wings and stinger, and people kept stopping us to tell us how cute Ella was. She really is cute!

Bo was so excited about this crunch bar that we let him eat it right away!

When we pulled into the garage tonight, he kept saying, "Remember yesterday when we went outside and I was a bee and I got to eat lots of candy?" I think we'll be talking about this one for a while!

Morning Outside

We were outside this morning while Ella napped because it was PERFECT! Bo had so much fun, and I loved these shots that I got of him...

Jason came home while we were outside playing, so he got in on the photo action.

This is Bo saying, "Hey Mom!" from the top of the slide.

And here we are at the end of our run. I guess everything is more fun with a waterbottle!

A Day in the Life!

I know that no matter how hard I try I will never understand what work is really like for Jason. There are times that I want to think I know exactly what his days look like, but the more I experience life, the more I realize how hard it is to understand life from someone else's perspective. With that being said, I thought I would give you a bit of a glimpse into my life.

This was my yesterday:
7:02-wake up not to an alarm. When I worked, I used to fantasize about not waking up to an alarm clock every morning. I must confess, it is one of the greatest joys of not having a day that must start at a specific time!
Quickly shower and get dressed.
7:40-kids up and to the breakfast table. This includes pouring multiple bowls of cereal [2-3 for Bo, 1-2 for Ella, and 1 for me], making eggs and toast for the kids, attempting to drink a cup of coffee while I fold a load of laundry, empty and relaod the dishwasher, and gather the necessary items for our morning out.
8:40-kids up from the table and clean. Now, it's a mad dash. Kids changed, hands washed, teeth brushed, hair combed and fixed, shoes on, and car loaded up...
9:12-we're out the door and to the doctor's office
9:22-we're waiting for the doctor...and waiting...and waiting...Bo explores all drawers in the exam room, climbs up on each chair, plays with the blinds, tries to climb in the basket for those lovely gowns, slides around on the doctor's chair with wheels, and enjoys picking up the toy Ella keeps dropping out of the stroller. We finally see the doctor.
10:16-we're back in the car
10:32-we arrive at the playgroup I coordinate. It's a costume party, so Bo gets to put on his costume and Ella gets dressed as well! We'll post costume pics tomorrow!
11:58-we're back in the car and headed home. Ella falls alseep in the car, so she goes straight to bed when we get home.
12:32-the kids are in bed. I unload the car and clean out the serving dishes I brought for the playgroup and I put away the kids costumes.
Email: playgroup thank yous and planning for our get together next week
Blogging: one of my few purely selfish acts of the day!
Phone calls: reschedule pediatrician appointments, make flu shot appointments, call doctor's office to ask all the questions I forgot this morning, call Jason to ask a question about insurance
1:22-Bo is still awake and singing, "Bob the builder...can we fix it?...Bob the builder...yes, we can!" I hear an occasional wall kick as well, but he is NOT getting up!
1:25-I head outside to clean off the playset. It's a nice day and Bo gets so dirty every time we play out there! Have you ever tried to clean the inside of a swirly side from the bottom up? Let's just say it's not easy, and I don't think my adult body was made to bend the way it needed to!
1:47-I'm back inside and now Ella is awake. I'm bracing for a long afternoon, and Bo has yet to fall asleep.
2:01-the kids are up. I still had lots of work to do, so they helped me. Rather they followed me around while I worked...
Put away the NINE loads of laundry I'd done! Straighten back bed rooms and bathrooms [not clean, just straighten. Who knew this was such a crazy task!] Vacuum bedrooms and den. Clean dishes and wipe down counters in the kitchen. We stopped frequently to read or play with a ball or have some water. The kids are still young enough that they think chore time is fun time. When does that go away?
4:22-we're all hungry, but it's too early for dinner, so I turn on "Clifford." Bo is happy to watch and Ella is distracted enough that I'm able to cook dinner in peace and have a conversation with my mother on the phone.
5:07-we sit down to eat. Dad was on call, so we decided to do an early dinner: pasta, chicken, and vegetables. Ella wasn't digging it, so most of it ended up on the table, but Bo ate quite a bit. I let them keep eating while I finish filling the dishwasher and get it running.
5:48-bathtime. This was quite a fun time. The kids stayed in the water until it was positively icy, and they had so much fun splashing around. I looked like I might as well have been in there with them. Once we were all clean and pajamas were on, I was walking through the den and I noticed the time...
7:14...YAY...that was such a long bathtime! Wait, it was only 6:14...not what I was expecting. The kids were already tired, so I knew it would be an early bedtime, but 6 is definitely too early. So, we were all playing happily.
6:58-Bo has a meltdown. The books he's playing with are not cooperating. I decide it's time for bed, so we head to the potty and he calms down. As we head back to the room, Ella comes out with one of the books, and we have another meltdown. We manage to come down from that one and pick up the books. I go to get the last book from Ella and she is playing happily in the toilet water as the book floats around. Whoops, I forgot to close the lid after my trip with Bo. Book out of toilet...washing hands. Bo comes in the bathroom and has yet another meltdown because he sees the sopping wet book. Time for bed!
7:07-both kids are down, and I'm going to be super productive, or NOT...I manage to get a little sewing done instead of sitting in front of the TV all night, but I was pretty tired by this point.
10:18-get into bed and suddenly remember that I had intended to type this blog entry last night BEFORE bed...I think I fell alseep before I could decide whether or not to get up and post it or just stay in bed!
12: 14, 2:41, and 6:22-get up to pee!

Yes, it's true!

Baby number three is on the way! The kids and I were able to hear the heartbeat this morning, and it was nice and strong at 160! The nurse said the baby was moving a ton, so things could be interesting here in a few months. I think I'm going to start looking up names that mean "peaceful one."
We thought my due date was going to be April 28th, but after my early ultrasound [above], the doctor changed my due date to May 7th! I know it's not that different, but it sure seems like a big change right now...we'll keep you posted as things progress!

Friends!

Bo had a little friend over the other evening to play, and they sure did have fun! He was so ready for bed when it was all said and done!

They spent a good deal of time jumping on the bed...or rather, being told not to jump on the bed! Ella was trying so hard to get in on the fun!

Pigtails for the Park

These shots are actually before our trip to the park last week, but the pigtails were just too cute. It's been SO windy here that when we go outside, Ella's hair flies everywhere. I was really shocked at how long the pigtails were. I guess it's just easy not to notice her hair is that long on a day to day basis!

We did the park again today. It was one of those crisp fall days where it's chilly, but it still feels so good to be outside. We LOVE a morning at the park! The kids are so much happier to be out of the house, and it just makes my afternoon fabulous! Ella's actually able to walk around now too, so that makes things more pleasant for her and for me. We're going to have to take advantage of it before it gets too cold here!

Church

The kids looked too cute this Sunday before church, so I decided to get out the camera. Jason was on call, so it always makes me feel good when I can get up and get myself and the kids ready for church and still have enough time to take a few pictures before we leave. Much more fun than those mornings where I'm frantically trying to talk Bo into going pee-pee on the potty one last time before we're super late!

Laundry

The other day Ella helped me move the laundry from our bedroom out towards the laundry room.

Can't hurt to start the chores early, can it?

My Little Meerkat

Over the weekend, Jason was doing some channel surfing during halftime of the football game, and he ran across "Meerkat Manner" on the Animal Planet. Bo was completely enthralled with watching these meerkats, and he can't stop talking about it. We only watched about 10 minutes of the show before it ended, but Bo now talks about meerkats all the time. He even makes meerkat sounds, and last night he asked for meerkat kisses! Then, he took it to a whole new level:

Bo: Mom, I'm going to be a meerkat...

And this is what happened next...pure entertainment!

Rock On!

Ella LOVES to climb up in the rocking chair and seriously rock! I love this face...she was saying something here, but I'm still not sure what!

Naptime

I wish you could hear my children right now! Despite the fact that they are in separate rooms down the hall from one another, they are having a naptime "moment." Bo was singing and giggling, and Ella heard him and joined the fun. They are just talking and laughing back and forth, and it's so precious! I love it that they are starting to relate to each other in real ways...not always positive ways, but they are certainly authentic with each other!

Ina

Let me preface this post with a general statement about the TV. I am not a fan of passive TV watching. There are several shows that I enjoy watching on a regular basis and keeping up with, but I do not generally like to have the TV on for long periods of time during the day. Our daytime TV experiences generally begin and end with Sesame Street. We recently upgraded our basic cable [7 channels] to extended basic [60 channels] so that we could really enjoy the fall football season! This means that we now have the Food Network, and the Food Network throws my passive TV watching preference out the window. What's better than walking by the TV at various times during the day and seeing delicious dishes appear?

With two young children, I've forced myself to have a little self control and limited my watching to one show! I love the Barefoot Contessa so that is the one show that I watch in the afternoon. The kids are typically up from their naps, so they watch it with me, and Bo loves it! He comments on the ingredients and talks about how delicious things look. It's actually fun to watch it with him!

The other night at dinner we had this conversation:
Bo: Mom, watch Ina please?
Me: Bo, we're not going to do that right now. It's time for you to eat.
Jason: [obviously disturbed] What did he just say?
Me: Oh, he just wants to watch TV...
Jason: Well, what have you been watching?
[all very confused for a short moment...then it becomes clear. Apparently "watch Ina" sounds a little suspect to the untrained ear!]

I suppose I'm going to have to warn the sweet ladies in the church nursery...

Pumkin Painting

I bought Bo a pumpkin at the store not too long ago, and I kept telling him that we were going to paint it. [He's a little too young for pumkin carving!] He was so excited about it and he kept asking when we were going to do it, so I finally got everything set up for him this morning.

He started off seeming to understand the concept of making a face,

BUT the pumpkin art quickly became much more absract.

This is the finished product. I helped paint a couple of leaves up on the top, but other than that, it's a Bo original. Bo informed me that there's an elephant and a rainbow on there!

Salt and Laundry Sugar

"You are the salt of the earth." Matthew 5:13
My son is moderately obssessed with salt. He loves watching me salt food as I'm cooking dinner. He requests salt on just about everything. He even enjoys dipping his wet finger in a pile of salt and licking it.

Last night, when Jason got home from work, we were having a conversation. A real, adult conversation that you long for as the stay at home mom of two toddlers. We walked back the bedroom with Ella so Jason could change out of his dress clothes and left Bo playing happily in the den. As we were chatting away, I suddenly realized it was quiet, and not the kind of quiet that is good when you have a two year old. As I came around the corner in the hallway I noticed Bo standing next to the fish tank with the salt shaker. Upon further inspection, I realized there were piles of salt everywhere. The kitchen counter was covered. The floor was gritty. Ella's booster chair looked like it had sustained an early winter blizzard of salt. AND a still undetermined amount of salt made it into the fish tank. I wiped; I swept; I vaccumed, and I still feel the crunch of salt under my feet in certain places of the kitchen.

The fish seem just fine, so I'm thinking Bo ran out of salt by the time he made it out of the kitchen. Who knew salt could so quickly overtake my kitchen, which by the way had JUST been mopped the night before! It definitely put a new spin on Jesus's words from Matthew. Note: I'm still not sure how Bo got the salt. I am almost certain that it was up in the cabinet safely out of the grasp of little fingers. I'm thinking I must have gotten it out at some point and forgotten about it. For the life of me, I cannot figure out how it was in his reach.

Today, Bo decided the salt experiment made him thirsty for more big messes. We were moving out of the laundry room, and as I was wrangling Ella, I heard, "this needs to come down!" Turns out Bo is now tall enough to reach the plastic handle on the box of laundry detergent that I had sitting on the dryer. The brand NEW box of detergent...just opened this morning! "Oops mom, the laundry sugar fell. I will taste it." Needless to say, we did not taste it, and I simply closed the laundry room door and made it clear no one was to go in there. It's currently waiting for me to come and clean up! This is now the number one reason that I will no longer keep the box of detergent on top of my dryer, even for short periods of time.

Penny is Here!

Penny Kaye
10 pounds, 6 ounces [yes, it was a c-section!]
20 1/2 inches

Yay...Ella has another girl cousin! You can check out pictures at www.kurtdamron.com/blog
No lie...this is the biggest newborn I have ever seen!

The Mall

"Oh, what a beautiful morning! Oh, what a beautiful day!" Imagine me singing these lines from Oklahoma as I dance through the mall parking lot WITHOUT my children! Let me clarify, it was not a beautiful morning; it is not a beautiful day. It is overcast, windy, chilly, rainy, and just overall dreary, but I am not minding a bit!

Our Bible study was cancelled this morning, but the other group that meets was not cancelled, SO the childcare was still open for business. I checked with the ladies to see if they would mind me dropping the kids off for the regular two hours so that I could have a little me time. What a blessing that they were happy to let my kids stay in their Wednesday routine and let me have two glorious hours!

Two hours without a whine, a little hand grabbing something it shouldn't, requests to pee when we are as physically far away from the bathroom as possible, and constant distractions. It was glorious, did I mention glorious?

I went to the mall and walked and shopped [well, I looked a lot, but didn't buy a lot!] and walked and just enjoyed being alone. I kept seeing moms with kids. Even as I smiled at them, they all looked back at me like, "that woman just has no idea!" Trust me, I knew exactly what I was missing. I even took a lap around the toddler play area just so I could enjoy the way it looks as an outsider. Glorious!

I was so refreshed by the time I got the kids that I didn't care that I had to run through the rain. I didn't care that Bo peed in his pants. I didn't care that the giant puddle right next to the van ended up all over Bo and his jeans. I didn't care that Ella fell asleep in the car and subsequently whined her way through lunch. And I didn't care that when I told Bo it was naptime, he burst into hysterics, "but I'm awake! I want to play in the den. I'm awake!" I'm still enjoying my "me" morning. It may have to last me a while because with the holidays coming, who knows when it will happen again!

Oh, and my sister-in-law is at the hospital waiting for baby Penny or baby Max...we'll know soon!

A Mover and a Shaker!

Ella has mastered the art of standing, and I caught the cuteness on video the other night. I find her standing all over the house now, and I have to pay attention if she's within five feet because she'll come toddling over to me when I least expect it. This video is especially funny to me because she's working SO hard. She'd been walking back and forth between Jason and me for about 20 minutes when we finally grabbed the camera. I wasn't sure how much longer she'd cooperate, so I was glad to capture the moment!

Coffee

Bo loves to have a morning cup of coffee with me this days. Now that it's actually a little cooler in the mornings, something warm is so nice during breakfast. Don't worry; the coffee is decaf, and Bo doesn't realize that he gets way more milk than coffee!

On a side note: Bo slept in his big boy bed last night and didn't get up once! Jason said he went in there to put him down, and Bo climbed into the bed and asked Jason to turn out the light. He gave him a stern warning to stay in the bed, and stay Bo did!

This morning at Target, we took a quick trip through the $1 spot. There were slinkys, so I told him that I'd buy him a "special treat" for being such a big boy. He has never delighted so much in a toy! He kept telling people that it was his special treat and talking about it. He calls it Mr. Snaky. He tried to taste it a few times, but I kept having to tell him it was not edible! Too funny!

Then today for his nap, he climbed in his big boy bed once again, and I made sure that was what he wanted. When he said he really wanted to sleep in the big bed, I told him if he got up, even once that he'd have to go to his baby bed. "No baby bed please, mom. I want to sleep in my big boy bed." And sleeping he is!

Playset Fun

I wish I had video of Ella from the park on Friday night. We decided that since it was Friday night we would do something fun. SO, we picked up a pizza and headed to the park. It was a beautiful evening; the temperature was just right and the sun was shining. We were all pretty surprised that as soon as we sat down, it started to rain. Not a hard rain, just a little drizzle. We couldn't even find a could that the rain was coming from!

We still had a great dinner and then Jason and I made it our full time job to wear the kids out by bedtime. It was great fun! Ella was enjoying trying to climb up the slides [see video below] and climbing all over the playset. Then, she discovered the big swirly slide. She managed to crawl all the way to the top of the rather large set. She seemed to want to do the slide, a big yellow curvy slide, so Jason sent her down with me waiting at the bottom. The squeal that came out of her little body as she rocketed down the slide was absolutely precious. She was laughing so hard by the time she got to the bottom, and she immediately tried to climb it again. She probably came down the slide a half a dozen times, and every time she started with the "please, please, please" as soon as she made it to my arms! Mission accomplished: the kids were exhausted by the time we headed home!

This isn't video from the park, but it does capture the spirit of Ella's attempts to "climb the slide." She is definitley an adventurous little thing!

Flutball!

Fun, Fun, Fun

I know it's only Saturday night, but I had to post a few of my favorite comments and anectdotes from the weekend so far. The kids have definitely kept me laughing yesterday and today...

Bo takes a break from playing and comes to sit down right next to my extended legs. He suddenly decides to rest his head on my knee, and then he proceeds to LICK my leg from knee to ankle. Apparently, the smell of my lotion was just too enticing!

Bo [with something in his mouth] while chewing: Mmmm.
Me: Bo what do you have in your mouth?
Bo: It's mulch mom, from the park. It's delicious!

Towards the end of dinner:
Bo: Mom, I need some new food.
Me: Bo, would you like some more to eat?
Bo: No mom, I really need some new food. How about peaches?

Ella: da-wa-ga-da-ga [to some sort of tune...not sure what she was singing, but it was definitely musical and she was trying very hard to stay in tune!]

Bo: Mommy, I just went pee-pee in the dirt, in the real dirt. [This was at the park!]

Bo knows that he is not allowed to ring the doorbell if we play outside during Ella's nap. Today we were all outside together so he asks: May I please ring the doorbell since Ella is awake and not asleep?
Me: Sure Bo.
Bo: I will ring it once. Yes, it's okay.
He goes and rings the doorbell and then we repeat the interaction, a dozen times! Each time he wanted to make sure that Ella was, in fact, awake!

Oh, and one of our favorite refrigerator magnets is seriously in trouble. We have a great pug magnet that my sister sent to remind Bo of "Puga." It's fun for Bo to talk about Puga and have her picture on the fridge. Well, Puga is now down one leg, and she has a second leg that has sustained some serious injuries. Bo managed to reach the magnet and remove one leg with his teeth; I fished that out of his mouth just after the mulch chewing incident! He then passed the magnet on to Ella and she proceeded to attempt to remove a second leg. Poor Puga will never be the same!

Makeover!

I need a makeover. My house needs a makeover. My heart needs a makeover. And somedays I feel like my kids need a makeover. My last haircut was in 2006. I'm not sure when I last filed or polished my nails. There is currently more eyeliner pressed into the cap on the eyeliner pencil [thank you Bo for putting the cap back on for me] than there is remaining in the pencil itself. Most days I just feel like everywhere I look there is something to be cleaned, sorted, polished, washed, wiped, changed, moved, or redone.

SO I decded that i would spend some time changing one of the few things in my life that wasn't currently too overwhelming: my blog! Yes, it was time for a new look. Those dots can really start to get to your eyes day after day after day! I've also spent some time now reading other women's blogs, and it made me feel as though my own online space needed a little clean up!

Some new and improved elements of the blog:
New colors and layout!
More notes in the sidebar!
CAPITALS! I must just add a little note here; I was an English major. For some reason, when I started this blog, I neglected to use caps, and it has really been bothering me lately. I am not sure why it took me this long, but it was just time to start typing things correctly!

I hope you enjoy the new look as much as I've enjoyed creating it for the past hour. Who knew you could have so much fun with fonts and colors? Now maybe I'll be motivated to start working on the house and myself...

beautiful day

the weather here lately has been amazing. we have loved being outdoors as much as possible and it's actually nice enough now in the afternoons that we have some flexibility. yesterday both kids took short naps, so we headed outside for a bit. initially, neither of them was really all that excited! bo was mourning the fact that i would not let him watch his bob the builder video, and ella was just altogether unhappy!

bo quickly warmed up to the "playing" idea, and got nice and dirty on the playset. it's fun to play on again now that dad reclaimed it from the spiders!

ella enjoyed crunching leaves and climbing on the slide [i got a little video of that one i'll try to get on here!],

BUT when she finally decided she was done, she didn't waste any time letting me know that she wanted back inside!

news!

last night, ella officially learned how to stand up without assistance. she did it probably half a dozen times, so i ran to get the camera. suddenly, the camera became much more interesting than the standing. we will do our best to get it on film here before too long!

play the drums everyone

why do kids always want to play in the bathroom? bo and ella love to sneak in there and play with the toilet and the toilet paper and all the bath toys! the "drums" are the most coveted of all the bathroom toys and ella loves to sit and play and sing. she's also a big time dancer!

this is the face ella made when i told her the bathroom wasn't the best place to play.

the breakfast of champions

bo loves having frosted mini wheats for breakfast!

what a man!

If you could see my husband right now, you would know what an amazing man he truly is. He is out in our backyard reclaiming the space from the spiders. Let's just say this involves a pellet gun and two large two by fours. Now, before you feel sorry for the spiders, just let me say there are at least six of them, and they are HUGE. They can definitely hold their own, OR they can go make their homes in the yards of the neighbors. Neither neighbor has children, so there's a much happier place for the spiders [and me]. I just love my husband for his willingness to make the backyard a place that we can play once again!

go dawgs

ella hasn't been the most cooperative this morning, so i wasn't able to get a shot of her in her cute red and black cheerleading uniform. bo is a little bit happier about showing off his football pride! go dawgs!

ice cream

jason got home from work a little early yesterday, so we ended up eating an early dinner. we decided to take a little trip out for some ice cream, and let's just say it was pure entertainment!

as we were looking at all the flavors, i was offering bo suggestions: chocolate, strawberry, cookies and ice cream, cookie dough, peppermint, and he stopped me, "mom, you can stop. i just want the cookie dough please." so cookie dough it was, and he was so excited! he sat and ate every last drop of that ice cream without spilling a bit!

he did end up with a little ice cream moustache, but that's to be expected. he's explaining to me in this picture that he's eating white ice cream with cookie dough in it!

ella got pink ice cream, and she enjoyed it as well. about halfway through the experience, she decided she wanted to be in control and she started feeding herself. she was even kind enough to share a few bites with bo and mommy!

the results were delicious but a little messy!