The Best Gifts

I can't imagine having a more precious gift under my tree.

Santa love

So, is it bad that it's been so long that you have to give your password a couple tries when signing in to your own blog??
Here are a couple shots with the big guy. We love Santa!


I am so proud of this little lady. She is getting used to her camera-happy mom and can flash a perfect smile with a moment's notice.

Parker was very intent on making sure Santa understood exactly what he was listing.

Peyton was introduced to Santa last weekend. Despite my fears that he would be scared of Santa (after all, the week before he went Kung Fu on Curious George, smacking him in the face and screaming at the Children's Museum in STL), he LOVES him!! Still very curious about his get-up, though.

Is she for real???

I was reading an article about sleep strategies for moms. One suggestion is to have a routine, similar to what we have for our kids, where there are cues to help you wind down. An example of such a cue was a bath, pictured above. Umm... yeah, right! I would be doing well on a typical evening to have time to slice the lime in that tub!

On her way to becoming a die-hard Mizzou fan

Today I was playing a game with Maegan and Parker helping them to learn the US state names and their capitols. When I asked Maegan for the capitol of Missouri, she replied, "Mizzou?" She also thought Hollywood was the capitol of California. Clearly, I will have to work on Cali, but the other is debatable.

Mom is NUTS!

So today I have been clued in TWICE by Parker that it seems I am losing my mind.... not that directly, of course.

Today was his turn to put away clean dishes. Upon asking him for the fourth time to do it, he insisted, "Mom, you told me you were going to do it since I couldn't get the pans to line up straight." I have absolutely no recollection of this and told him so. He said, "Ok, I'll do it. I guess you just didn't hear yourself say that." Funny thing is that he wasn't being sarcastic at all when he said it.

And before that, we were swinging in the hammock in our backyard. He likes to get it going really high and it makes me nauseous. Peyton kept saying "High, high," since mom was being a party pooper. Parker said, "No, Peyton. Mom is sick. She just needs her head to calm down!"

..... I can't say that I disagree.

Vacuum cleaner VS. Paper Shredder

My bagless vacuum cleaner has been having a hard time off and on for several months. For some reason, it always takes me a while to remember that all that needs to be done is to empty the canister and clean the filter. Go figure. This time, however, it has been doing pretty poorly for several weeks and it hasn't been that long since I cleaned it. So today I was cleaning in Peyton's room and was trying to vacuum the edges of the room with the hose. It didn't have any suction... at all. It perplexed me because the canister wasn't all that full. But I decided to empty it anyway and clean the filters, which took about 30 minutes. Nada. After much deep thought, I removed the hose and stuck a broom handle up it to see if it was clogged.... this is the point at which you need some background information....

A couple weeks ago I was looking for chores to occupy my bored kids. If I hear complaining about boredom, I don't hesitate to give them something to do. So I assigned them the task of shredding several hundred documents that had been waiting for just the right amount of complaining. They actually liked the shredding, but the problem is that Peyton opened the trash bag they were loading the remains in and was making it "rain" all over my living room and office. After picking up the largest "puddles" by hand, I decided to let my trusty vacuum cleaner do the rest. It constipated the poor thing somethin' fierce. I had to dump it several times before the task was done. It was a disaster. So back to today.....

I pushed the broom handle up and it stopped with at least 18 inches left of hose to go. WAY clogged with.... you guessed it.... millions of little shreds of paper. I had to get out our kabob skewers and work on that thing for another 30 minutes to get all that stuff out. Time well spent! After this, I hooked the hose back up and fired her up. When I put my hand over the end to test, it was so strong that it knocked my vacuum over backward. I revacuumed the house in celebration!!

So in the battle of vacuum cleaner vs. paper shredder, the victor is WOMAN!

Laundry Gauntlet

Chad teases me about "laundry explosions" from time to time on laundry days. If you are not aware of what that is, it is piles of folded or partially folded clothes on the couch, chair, coffee table... you get the picture... from the laundry I work on during the day. The idea is to have it put away before everyone gets home, but that's not always the way it ends up. One night, I decided to put all the laundry in baskets and set them outside the room they went in since the kids were already asleep. On our way to bed than night, I had to laugh. Once I saw the gauntlet Chad and I had to pass through to get to our room, there was no denying the "explosion."

Pesky little siblings

We have this bratty neighbor girl who will be 5 yrs-old soon. She is a mega whiner. So today Maegan got on her soapbox and said, " Mom, she is so whiney. She is almost as old as Quinten (my 5-yr-old nephew) and he doesn't whine at all like that. Plus, Quinten has 2 little brothers that could bug him. She is the littlest one. She doesn't have any pesky little brothers or sisters, so what in the world does she have to whine about?"
Well said, my dear.

A drill on childcare

All year long, I have been looking forward to summer... to having time to swim, have kids over to play, go to the library.... to live the life of leisure. So far, our summer is not at all that way. Parker broke his hand about a week before school got out and is in a cast. Out of a desire to not torture him anymore, we have all avoided swimming until he gets out (tomorrow.. yippie!) Beyond that we have been really busy with a kitchen remodel (pictures will post as soon as the darn thing gets finished), and tomorrow kicks off our summer trip extravaganza. Parker is going to Cali for 2 weeks, Maegan is going to Utah for 1 week, then to Cali for 1 week, then both are coming back and were going to Tennessee for about 1 week. We will be home for about 1 1/2 weeks, then to Texas for about 2 1/2 weeks. By then it will be just a couple weeks before school starts, and back to the grind. It should be a whirlwind of fun!!

Maegan is going to Utah to visit Lindsey for the first of her many trips this summer. They are going to hike, play tennis, see SLC, go to a pottery class, and do girlie things galore. So yesterday, Maegan said, "Mom, I am so excited to go see Aunt Lindsey. We are going to have so much fun! Plus, it will be kind of like a drill for her to help her learn how to take care of kids."

Chillin' in the Park

One of the first things I noticed about Columbia was all of the wonderful parks. It is continuing to be one of my joys of living here. Another joy.... can't wait for the awesome camera I will be getting soon. That way I can capture the action for jumping from a swing WITH hang time!!

Who knows, anyway?

Maegan tackled a non-fiction book report at the end of her second grade year. She decided to do it on the Twin Towers. She wrote and illustrated a book. She also created a clay sculpture that was mounted to a scene she designed. It was quite good! So the set-up was that all the kids had these buttons that they made on their desks. The adults walked around, pushed the button of the report they wanted, kid presented, and then it was open question time. I asked her a few questions, which she was of course able to answer well after her extensive research. Then I asked, "So what did people do inside the Twin Towers?" She replied in a voice loaded with conspiracy, "Well, it was probably office work because they had a lot of desks. But nobody REALLY knows what they did in there. And we can't find out now because their dead." I about choked. Isn't it funny that something that might be so offensive out of an adult's mouth is so cute from a child?

Lemons and Lemonade

Parker has been wanting to have a lemonade stand for a very long time. Why have I been putting this off for what has probably been more than a year? Maybe the mess, maybe my child peddling from the street corner, maybe the disappointment when no one stops (especially considering that we have had very little traffic in the last 2 places we have lived). I'm not sure, but today was the day I finally gave in. I agreed to let him do it only if it would be free, instead of the $3.00 per cup that he proposed. Watching his enthusiasm, his patience between customers, his careful preparation in setting it all up, gave me the sweetest feeling. It was truly a moment to cherish. Lesson: Sometimes the things we want to do the least are the things we need the most.


A little for you.....


A little for me.

Today is the day

Birds singing, trees swaying in the gentle breeze, the soothing hum of lawn mowers on this lazy Sunday afternoon. How could anyone resist finally taking the time to start a blog?