sweet moments

maggie says to the construction worker coming up from the basement, covered in dry wall dust "i weely like your shirt."
he says, "thanks"
she says, "hold still i need to take your picture." she then holds up her princess phone and pretends to shoot pics of him.
jeff pours her a chocolate milk and the syrup is almost gone, so it makes a funny noise when he squirts it out.
maggie goes back to the worker and says "hey worker, i drinking chocolate toots."
he says "what was that?"
she says, "i said i drinking chocolate toots."
lovely.

meet me in st. louis

spring break 10 the family ventured to st. louis. jeff being the totally adventurous one decided to ride the amtrak from kc to st. louis with the four children and i drove alone in blissful peace. (in all honestly i was actually lonely) i guess the train ride wasn't all it was cracked up to be, exposing our children to bums, alcoholics and lots of bare stinky feet. apparantly one stinky guy really liked maggie and was trying to make conversation with them, jeff headed him off quite quickly. good thing it was just a five hour drive!
i picked them up from the train station and off we went, exploring the city.
we tried the "free" science center, which after 12 dollars in parking, you go in and realize anything fun your children might want to do, costs a good chunk of change. we were tired and hungry, so i might be unfair in judging it harshly, but over all it was dirty and not so much fun.
being the totally organized traveler i am, i had mapquested routes to every destination, from the planned place we would be at to our new destination. the first nights dinner was to be at the famous crown candy kitchen, as seen on "man vs. food milkshake competition". carson loves that show and was ready for a milkshake challenge.
unfortunately my clever directions landed us right in the middle of the hood.
no kidding, there were "popping" noises, young males running across the street and hiding in between parked cars and houses. it took a good seven blocks for us to wind our way out of that mess.

real culture children. duck your heads and don't look up.
we aborted the dinner and drove to the burbs of kirkwood instead.
pizza and shopping, much safer.


the next day we went to the zoo - which was nicer than ours, but not quite omaha.
the highlight here were the "zebras without stripes" better known as:

seriously?

after a big expensive lunch on the historic hill, we decided this family should just go find a target, buy food and have a picnic for dinner. funny how the simplest of things can be the most fun. we bought them dollar jump ropes and bubbles and headed back to our hotel where we could simply walk over to the arch. we layed out a blanket and feasted on peanut butter sandwiches, fruit, trail mix, pretzels and easter candy under the arch. delicious, fun and low stress.
this will probably be our favorite memory of the trip. oh - i forgot to mention while dining at the old italian place carson set off the
alarms by trying to exit the wrong door. that got some old italian men moving away from their plates and to us pretty quickly.


the last day was spent at the magic house in kirkwood. way fun, affordable and they are already asking when they can go back. maggie almost caused a little scuffle by telling a little boy in the make believe pizza shop to get away from her pizza, its not for babies and he cant touch it. his mama didnt appreciate her directness.
i think it is important that girls learn how to shoot it straight.


low points - the train, the hood, pricey meals and deceptive "free" activities.
high points - picnic under the arch, magic house, memories made in a new city together.

dental trouble

so molly and i had our dentist appointments yesterday. i thought it would be clever to take maggie along so she could start getting used to the dentist chair and what happens there.
dr. george is about 15 minutes away. about 14 minutes into the car ride, maggie falls asleep. its 4pm. she isn't really allowed to nap that late, bc that means there will be a party at our house until around, oh say midnight.
i pulled in, got her out and carried her in with molly by my side. she fell back asleep on my shoulder. i let molly go first while i held mags, thinking 10 minutes should do her ok.
molly's teeth were lovely, she was done and it was my turn. maggie was still snoozing on my shoulder. i tried to gently lay her down on a blanket they got for me.
well, gently doesn't happen when your 6 feet tall and your child is 42 lbs. i lugged her on the ground, surely this would wake her. nope. she fell asleep, flat on her back in the middle of our little cubicle.
this rotten child won't sleep at home on my pillow top mattress with fleece blankets and pillows. now she decides to sleep on tile floor in a brightly lit dental office?
give me a break.
i got in the chair, let the tech start cleaning my teeth and told molly to start gently waking her. kindly rub her leg and talk to her please.
so molly, being the lovely child she is, rubs maggie's leg and asks her if she would like one of her prizes.
im locked in the chair with drool coming out of my mouth and a bib on.
maggie springs awake and starts kicking the very thin wall, still on her back, and begins screaming. "NOOOOOO MOLLLY I DONT WANT YOUR TREATS. NOOOO NOOO NOOO NOOO..."
over and over, loud as she could.
everyone in the office, including dr. george comes running to our stall.
this freaks her out more, and she starts flailing about on the floor like a big carp washed up on the bank. screaming, hitting, kicking.
i just keep laying there while she polishes my teeth. i try to say something like
its ooaaakkayamaaaii. but just gibberish comes out.

dr. george just said, well, looks like she is not going to be like molly, huh?

big family

i love this article! i hope my dear friend (who has a big family and has had a rough month) reads it and smiles.
(article originally written by matthew archibold and posted on my charming kids blog)


Why big families are easier:

Patience. I never have to teach patience. My children know that I can’t drop everything for them if I have a baby in my arms.

Work Ethic. My children have learned to work because there are always chores to do in a small house packed with little messy lunatics. And they all learn quickly that sometimes they have to clean up a mess even though they didn’t make it.

Humility. My children have learned it’s not always their turn. They’ve accepted they can’t always get their way because other people have to get their way sometimes. They’ve learned that some children are better at certain things than they are.

Foreign language skills. You can learn a lot of Spanish by watching ten years of Dora the Explorer that you just can’t pick up in two. And now with the Diego spin off I’m practically fluent.

Laughter. The children have learned to laugh at the insane non sequiturs of younger siblings. They’ve learned that laughing just feels better when seven people are doing it along with you.

Competition. Do I really need to go into this? Everything is a competition in big families. The children compete over who reads faster, who drinks their milk faster, who gets to the bathroom first…etc. Everything is a competition and they’re all keeping score.

Balance. The floor of the front room of my home is a minefield of toys and childhood paraphernalia. Just walking through the room requires great skill and balance. I’m absolutely convinced my two year old will be a favorite for Gold on the balance beam in the 2016 Olympics. (She might have to lay off the cookies a little but I’ll deal with that later.)

Life isn’t fair. Sometimes you just give it to the baby because you want a little quiet. Not all the time. But sometimes.

Just say “No.” Being able to say “no” may be the most undervalued skill in this world. The need to be liked is pervasive. The need to be cool even more so. Having brothers and sisters teaches children to say “no” about 143 times a day. It’s a good skill.

Praying. They learn that nothing beats praying together as a family.

Nature/Nurture. Having many children has taught me that nature has a lot more to do with who my kids are than nurture. This is helpful, especially when your children misbehave you don’t have to feel bad about it. Just say “Stupid nature!!!” and blame your spouse’s genes.

Namecalling. You can occasionally call your child by the wrong name and still not be considered a terrible parent. They know who you mean just from your tone. Sometimes if you need something done you can call the wrong name and someone will still show up. That helps.

Spying. My children have learned that they can’t get away with anything. I have spies who look a lot like them who are willing to drop the dime on them for anything. Even at school I’ve got a child in just about every grade. If they do something I’ll hear. That keeps them nervous. And I like keeping my kids a little nervous.

Friendship. The children have many friends. They’ve got girly friends, crying friends, fun loving friends, consoling friends, and crazy friends. And they all have the same last name. And they’ll be there forever for each other. No matter what.

Love. I think my children have learned to love because there are others around them to love and who love them. I honestly can think of no better way to teach children to love than siblings.

gymnastics

maggie loves her "mastics" class. she goes wednesday mornings and gets to see her friends and cousin there. its a parent/tot class, so either jeff or i go with her and help her do her little moves.
this week i had worked, so jeff got to take her. he was helping her with forward rolls, and her teacher, mr. chad came over to assist them.
he kept telling her to put her nose to her knees and then he could help push her over into a roll.
she wasn't getting it, and finally she told him
"mr. chad, my belly is too big for dat."

yes indeed.

oatmeal

do you know the 10 lb bags of quaker oats that costco sells? you probably don't even look at them, because only me and michelle duggar buy oatmeal in that quantity.
i think oats are healthy and they find their way into most of my baking.
i keep these large large bags of oats in my pantry, on the lower shelf with all the other giant containers of food.
funny thing about those oats - when you are in a hurry to leave for work - your two year old cherub might decide to grab the bag and shake it all over the kitchen floor.
now if it weren't my kitchen, my oats, my two year old, this would have been an awesome picture/video. it was like the christmas snowstorm in there. notice there are no pics.
i didn't find it that much of a photo-op at the time. kind of wish i would have, words just can't do it justice.
maggie looked at the kitchen, looked at me and took off running for the hills.
smart, smart little cherub.

good hygiene

ashton and i went out grocery shopping today to get away from the sick little maggie for a bit.
(she has pneumonia and really isn't that friendly)
we hit costco to get our enormous size boxes of goldfish, milk, coffee and fruit, as always stopping to get a giant hotdog on the way out.
we had to run in walmart for a few things and while in line ashton has to go potty. the restroom was right in front of my checkout, so i said go ahead buddy, i will be right here.
he runs in and out in a flash.
did you wash your hands?
he darts back to the bathroom.
he comes skipping back to the line and says this.
"mommy, grown up people never wash their hands."
yes they do honey.
"no mommy, that guy right there went tinkle and then walked right out without washing."
this man was standing in front of us waiting for his wife and got pretty flushed.
"i mean, even when they know they are supposed to, they never wash them."
thanks for pointing that out buddy. germs are gross and you will always wash.
"yes mommy, until i am a grownup right?"