I had one of those conversations with Lily that just confusing and frustrating like trying origami. You start it, try going different directions and then you have no idea how to make it work...much like the comedy "Who's on first, What's on second, etc."
So, my mother-in-law took me on several errands today. One was to Wal-Mart where I ran into Amanda - yay! Haven't seen her in such a long time. We swapped surgery stories. Anywho...we pulled into the Hobby Lobby parking lot for another errand, parked in a space and unstrapped Lily from her car seat. And, here is where the conversation began.
Me: Come on, Lily, let's go.
Lily: I see a card.
she proceeds to walk to the third row seat of the car. On her way back there she "ducks" underneath the seat belt which was caught on the arm rest of one of the second row seats.
Me: Lily, come on, we don't need cards to go into Hobby Lobby.
Lily: I want to get a card on the floor.
And with that she kneels on the floor of the van where I can't see her. The cards she was referring to were the ridiculous animals cards they are giving out at Chik-fila that you must have superman vision to even read. It comes with a plastic holder that keeps breaking sending these cards all over the floor of the van. Should have thrown them in the trash before we left.
Me: Lily, just "duck" back under the seat belt and get out of the van.
Lily: Where is the "duck" card? I can't see it. She is still kneeling on the floor of the van between the
Me: Realizes she thinks when I said "duck" I meant there was a card with a duck on it. No, Lily, there isn't a duck card. Just duck, I mean, go under the seat belt.
Lily: No, Mommy, I want to find the duck card. I can't see it. I wike (like) the duck card.
Mommy: There is no duck card. Come under the seat belt and let's go.
Lily: Where is the duck card, Mommy?
Mommy: Lily, get out of the car now or I will have to take you to the bathroom for a visit with Mr. Do-Right.
Lily: Ok, Mommy, I find the duck card later.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
A quick note on the sanitary conditions of our pool
Sadie just ran into my room and announced that there are frog eggs in the pool. How she knows this, I don't have a clue. I don't doubt her because she is actually pretty accurate when it comes to nature knowledge. Lily heard this and declared to me that she was going to teach the tadpoles how to swim. I told her they already know how to swim. She insisted that she would teach them. She then scampered off to get her bathing suit on. Anyone know if that is a bad sign concerning the cleanliness of our pool?
OK - Lily just ran back in here, completely naked with suit in hand and announced she would get the eggs out of the pool.
OK - Lily just ran back in here, completely naked with suit in hand and announced she would get the eggs out of the pool.
Summer Fun
Because we knew that I would not be very mobile this summer, trapping me home with three children, we decided to purchase one of those large inflatable pools that comes with a filter system and chlorine tabs. Yay for sanitation! We got a deal on it and it has been the best $70 we have ever spent. It is basically a large bag with an inflatable ring around the top. Every morning right after breakfast the kids race to get their bathing suits on and usually, I don't hear from them for at least an hour. The process repeats itself after lunch and then again after dinner. It has been a sanity saver for me.
They have come up with all sorts of games to play - with pool noodles, with the hose, with water balloons, even piggy backing each other. They take turns jumping off the step Jay created using hay bales. It is very cute to see Ethan and Sadie make these major jumps and then Lily comes with her little quiet step-down. Consequently, they are browning up, particularly Lily who takes after Ansley's olive complexion.
However, as predicted, after a couple of hours, when it is about time for them to come in, the bickering begins. Someone plays too rough, someone is hit in the eye with the hose, someone is kicked, someone won't stop pestering another one, or someone (guess who) pees on the driveway (at least she has the foresight to get OUT of the pool). There goes the calm and enjoyable couple of hours and out comes the referee/clean-up crew!
Lily loves getting on her bathing suit. After several weeks of training she can finally do it herself. I have never had to teach a child how to get dressed on his/her own. However, Lily seems to be a little challenged in the dexterity department. She has come up with her own vocabulary for a two piece bathing suit. One piece bathing suits are called bathing suits. But, two piece suits are water panties and water shirts! Makes sense to me.
They have come up with all sorts of games to play - with pool noodles, with the hose, with water balloons, even piggy backing each other. They take turns jumping off the step Jay created using hay bales. It is very cute to see Ethan and Sadie make these major jumps and then Lily comes with her little quiet step-down. Consequently, they are browning up, particularly Lily who takes after Ansley's olive complexion.
However, as predicted, after a couple of hours, when it is about time for them to come in, the bickering begins. Someone plays too rough, someone is hit in the eye with the hose, someone is kicked, someone won't stop pestering another one, or someone (guess who) pees on the driveway (at least she has the foresight to get OUT of the pool). There goes the calm and enjoyable couple of hours and out comes the referee/clean-up crew!
Lily loves getting on her bathing suit. After several weeks of training she can finally do it herself. I have never had to teach a child how to get dressed on his/her own. However, Lily seems to be a little challenged in the dexterity department. She has come up with her own vocabulary for a two piece bathing suit. One piece bathing suits are called bathing suits. But, two piece suits are water panties and water shirts! Makes sense to me.
Monday, June 09, 2008
Jay's Perspective
Jay entered our bedroom where I was (no surprise here) lounging on the bed. He had just returned from Wal-Mart where he picked up a prescription and a few other notables. He was really stoked because the pharmacy had accidentally filled his prescription twice. They let him purchase both at the same time (is that legal?), thus giving him 4 months at one time. After commenting about this victory, he had an "aha" moment. See, his prescription is somewhat of an amphetamine, helping him with weight control. I, on the other hand, still pop a muscle relaxer only at night when I am feeling the ouches. So, his "aha" mention was: Our medications are symbolic of our personalities. I am all hyped up while you are just sort of there." I laughed pretty hard and thought it was funny. But, now that I type it, I am thinking that wait a minute...
Sunday, June 08, 2008
Ok - After prompting from a friend, I have set up a Facebook page. It has been a complete time vortex for me, but hey - I am just lounging around anyway. Over did it at the wedding reception last night and have had some odd pain today. Bummer. Anyway, search for me. You never know who else you might see! They are easy and fun to set up. I hope to find more "friends" soon.
Boy drama - age 6
Last night we went to a wedding reception for Sadie's teacher. Because of my surgery and recovery, I was not given clearance to attend the wedding due to the lengthy amount of sitting that would be involved. However, we arranged for another family to take Sadie to the ceremony and we would meet up with them at the reception (which I was given the ok to attend).
Sadie had been looking forward to this wedding for quite a while. All week she would ask, "How many more days until Miss Adkins' wedding?" I knew she was building up a lot of excitement and anticipation which can only mean one diagnosis for Sadie: emotional overload resulting in meltdowns. I have experience with Sadie in this area, so I planned accordingly. I started getting her ready an hour before her pick-up time so that we could have at least one meltdown and still be ready on time. It is just her nature. I have found it is easier to let her just get it out at this age rather than try to stop it. At this juncture she just can't deal with the intensity and complexity of her emotions. They are few and far between and last only a few minutes. We are working on it and I see little improvements, but until it is resolved, I just plan ahead.
We hot rolled her hair and after several attempts to style it, one flailing upstairs to her room, we reached a compromise. She wore a very stylish dress that had a halter tie, sequins and even some tuile on the bottom, brown sandals (which I advised against), a pink pocketbook and lots and lots of light purple lip gloss, applied over and over again. Interesting several mothers mentioned to me that they almost didn't recognize her because her hair was so styled.
We received a call from Sadie as she was leaving the wedding with the other family. "Mommy, can you bring me some other shoes? These sandals hurt my feet." Ok. "Mommy, can you tell Ethan and Lily that I miss them?" Ok. See you in a little bit at the reception. I packed a small bag with two possible shoe choices, a pair of socks and several different hair bows/clips to cover my bases, thus avoiding any issues that might arise.
Being a teacher and obviously a lover of kids, Miss Adkins had a special room ready for kids attending the wedding (which there were many!). There were coloring books and crayons and a lady that was specifically in charge of the room. The kids also had their own, at their height, buffet line of chicken fingers, french fries and juice boxes. In addition to the Mario Brothers-themed wedding cake (I am NOT kidding - it was great), there was an ice cream bar with toppings. I thought this was the smartest idea I have EVER seen at a reception. How incredibly kind of her to put so much thought into making sure the kids had a great time as well!
Sadie had already decided what boy she was going to ask to dance with her, at least a month ahead of time. It was a boy she has been in school with since the early-2's class in preschool. Unfortunately, he is not into dancing. She was crushed, but not beaten. She moved onto to several other boys. One, thankfully, danced with her. It began as some jumping up in down and ended with swinging each other around. At that point in time, gone were the hot-rolled curls, the hairclips and in place my usual little sweaty, tomboy Sadie whose hair didn't even looked combed! She continued to ask other boys from her class to dance - each one turning her down. Now, she was quite down trodden. She came to our table, flopped down and cried. No one wanted to dance with her. I had to explain that boys, in general do not like to dance. They don't understand it and frankly, with rare exception, aren't very good at it. I also had her look on the dance floor and see how few boys were there. No little boys were there and only a handful of men. Case in point.
When we got ready to leave, Sadie was exhausted and spent. She couldn't contain her utter emotional waste as we said goodbye to the new Mr. and Mrs. Newell and broke down crying...again.
When she got into bed, I laid down with her. I wasn't sure I would be able to get up again, but could tell she wanted to discuss the evening. After mulling over the lack of dance desire of most boys, I offered up that she should put that down as a desirable quality for her husband. Of course, this should be after knowing he is a man of God. That way, she will always have a dance partner.
Sadie had been looking forward to this wedding for quite a while. All week she would ask, "How many more days until Miss Adkins' wedding?" I knew she was building up a lot of excitement and anticipation which can only mean one diagnosis for Sadie: emotional overload resulting in meltdowns. I have experience with Sadie in this area, so I planned accordingly. I started getting her ready an hour before her pick-up time so that we could have at least one meltdown and still be ready on time. It is just her nature. I have found it is easier to let her just get it out at this age rather than try to stop it. At this juncture she just can't deal with the intensity and complexity of her emotions. They are few and far between and last only a few minutes. We are working on it and I see little improvements, but until it is resolved, I just plan ahead.
We hot rolled her hair and after several attempts to style it, one flailing upstairs to her room, we reached a compromise. She wore a very stylish dress that had a halter tie, sequins and even some tuile on the bottom, brown sandals (which I advised against), a pink pocketbook and lots and lots of light purple lip gloss, applied over and over again. Interesting several mothers mentioned to me that they almost didn't recognize her because her hair was so styled.
We received a call from Sadie as she was leaving the wedding with the other family. "Mommy, can you bring me some other shoes? These sandals hurt my feet." Ok. "Mommy, can you tell Ethan and Lily that I miss them?" Ok. See you in a little bit at the reception. I packed a small bag with two possible shoe choices, a pair of socks and several different hair bows/clips to cover my bases, thus avoiding any issues that might arise.
Being a teacher and obviously a lover of kids, Miss Adkins had a special room ready for kids attending the wedding (which there were many!). There were coloring books and crayons and a lady that was specifically in charge of the room. The kids also had their own, at their height, buffet line of chicken fingers, french fries and juice boxes. In addition to the Mario Brothers-themed wedding cake (I am NOT kidding - it was great), there was an ice cream bar with toppings. I thought this was the smartest idea I have EVER seen at a reception. How incredibly kind of her to put so much thought into making sure the kids had a great time as well!
Sadie had already decided what boy she was going to ask to dance with her, at least a month ahead of time. It was a boy she has been in school with since the early-2's class in preschool. Unfortunately, he is not into dancing. She was crushed, but not beaten. She moved onto to several other boys. One, thankfully, danced with her. It began as some jumping up in down and ended with swinging each other around. At that point in time, gone were the hot-rolled curls, the hairclips and in place my usual little sweaty, tomboy Sadie whose hair didn't even looked combed! She continued to ask other boys from her class to dance - each one turning her down. Now, she was quite down trodden. She came to our table, flopped down and cried. No one wanted to dance with her. I had to explain that boys, in general do not like to dance. They don't understand it and frankly, with rare exception, aren't very good at it. I also had her look on the dance floor and see how few boys were there. No little boys were there and only a handful of men. Case in point.
When we got ready to leave, Sadie was exhausted and spent. She couldn't contain her utter emotional waste as we said goodbye to the new Mr. and Mrs. Newell and broke down crying...again.
When she got into bed, I laid down with her. I wasn't sure I would be able to get up again, but could tell she wanted to discuss the evening. After mulling over the lack of dance desire of most boys, I offered up that she should put that down as a desirable quality for her husband. Of course, this should be after knowing he is a man of God. That way, she will always have a dance partner.
Friday, June 06, 2008
A trip to...
I am still recovering by our family trip this evening. Jay announced to me, in private, that he wanted to take the family out tonight. He told me where and in my desperation to get out of the house for the second time in over a week, I agreed. Under cloak of going to the grocery store, we managed to keep it a surprise from the kids until we pulled into the parking lot. It is on the top of the list for every person who has recently had back surgery. Gastronomical delights abound which can thoroughly satisfy person that hasn't eaten out in about 3 weeks, save a trip to chik-fila this week. The pinnacle of gourmet decadence and romantic ambiance...Can you guess???? Could it possibly be??? Wait, don't guess now...I'll give you another hint...my kids went bonkers in the car at the sight of it...I gave it away with that one, I am sure. Yes, you guessed it...CHUCK E. CHEESE!!!!!
Alright, I am being a little extreme - I did like getting out of this house, despite the noise, pizza and my slowly escalating pain. Seriously, though, the kids still love that place. Jay's purpose was to reward the kids for incredible report cards this school year. It is also a place unlike anything they have in the Netherlands and since Jay's mom is here, well, you just have to go. It ranks up there with Golden Corral in terms of unbelievable-ness to her.
I really should attach a picture of Lily taken at her 2nd birthday - also held at Mr. Cheese's house. The expression on her face is how I imagine my face when I see Jesus. Except, she is gazing, adoringly at the big mouse. It is pure adoration. It was really no different this time either. Chuck came out for someone's birthday party and she literally pushed through the crowd of kids whose parents had shelled out the bucks for his appearance and jumped into his arms. To say she is a big fan of the mouse is really an understatement.
Back to tonight...we took their report cards which gives them 15 extra tokens a piece and then brought in a discount coupon from the 'net. We sent the kids off into the wonderland with plastic cups and tokens in hand. Two hours later, three salads, one large pizza and several refills later, we were at the "trash trove," oops, I mean "treasure trove," to pick out our incredible prizes from the 75 or tickets we have earned. Seriously, who ever earns 3,000 tickets for an inflatable Chuck E. Cheese bouncy ball?
Actually, before we were finished with the games, Sadie came up to me thrust her prize pickins' in my hands and said, "I'm done, I am going to the playset." Huh? So, she did all her games, turned her tickets into the machines herself and got her prizes. O-K. She doesn't need me for that anymore. Ethan took for-ev-er to decide as he usually does. He always asks me if I think his choice is ok. Or, would I pick that if I were him. You know, the child that needs affirmation that he is doing the right thing. He accidently got shorted a measly 30 ticket item (the world to him) - a plastic scorpion ring. The boy was nearly in tears -at 8! The line was long, the prize redeemer had left his station leaving throngs of other kids waiting, Jay was impatient, I was in pain, Lily was itching to crack open her lollipops, so what was a mom to do? Yeah, you know it. I went around the line to the cashier and just said, we got short a scorpion deal - can we just get one? Supermom to the rescue, a boy's smile returned and we headed to the car.
Oh, this is an interesting tidbit...I was standing with Lily at the ticket redemption machine. We were there for a little while because Lily insisted on feeding them into the machine herself and really, it wasn't worth the battle. Another boy, age 7 maybe, was standing behind me, or rather kept slinking up beside me. He declared he was saving up for one of the larger prizes. Then he said, " I have to find Sadie." I said, really, I have a daughter Sadie. He said, "Yes, she is really nice, you know, as a friend. I have had fun playing with her." I had seen them playing together earlier in the germ generator, I mean playplace. I thought it was nice to hear. Upon recounting this story to Jay, Jay was aghast. He had seen them play together but saw it as a sign of the future. A future he is not quite ready for.
Alright, I am being a little extreme - I did like getting out of this house, despite the noise, pizza and my slowly escalating pain. Seriously, though, the kids still love that place. Jay's purpose was to reward the kids for incredible report cards this school year. It is also a place unlike anything they have in the Netherlands and since Jay's mom is here, well, you just have to go. It ranks up there with Golden Corral in terms of unbelievable-ness to her.
I really should attach a picture of Lily taken at her 2nd birthday - also held at Mr. Cheese's house. The expression on her face is how I imagine my face when I see Jesus. Except, she is gazing, adoringly at the big mouse. It is pure adoration. It was really no different this time either. Chuck came out for someone's birthday party and she literally pushed through the crowd of kids whose parents had shelled out the bucks for his appearance and jumped into his arms. To say she is a big fan of the mouse is really an understatement.
Back to tonight...we took their report cards which gives them 15 extra tokens a piece and then brought in a discount coupon from the 'net. We sent the kids off into the wonderland with plastic cups and tokens in hand. Two hours later, three salads, one large pizza and several refills later, we were at the "trash trove," oops, I mean "treasure trove," to pick out our incredible prizes from the 75 or tickets we have earned. Seriously, who ever earns 3,000 tickets for an inflatable Chuck E. Cheese bouncy ball?
Actually, before we were finished with the games, Sadie came up to me thrust her prize pickins' in my hands and said, "I'm done, I am going to the playset." Huh? So, she did all her games, turned her tickets into the machines herself and got her prizes. O-K. She doesn't need me for that anymore. Ethan took for-ev-er to decide as he usually does. He always asks me if I think his choice is ok. Or, would I pick that if I were him. You know, the child that needs affirmation that he is doing the right thing. He accidently got shorted a measly 30 ticket item (the world to him) - a plastic scorpion ring. The boy was nearly in tears -at 8! The line was long, the prize redeemer had left his station leaving throngs of other kids waiting, Jay was impatient, I was in pain, Lily was itching to crack open her lollipops, so what was a mom to do? Yeah, you know it. I went around the line to the cashier and just said, we got short a scorpion deal - can we just get one? Supermom to the rescue, a boy's smile returned and we headed to the car.
Oh, this is an interesting tidbit...I was standing with Lily at the ticket redemption machine. We were there for a little while because Lily insisted on feeding them into the machine herself and really, it wasn't worth the battle. Another boy, age 7 maybe, was standing behind me, or rather kept slinking up beside me. He declared he was saving up for one of the larger prizes. Then he said, " I have to find Sadie." I said, really, I have a daughter Sadie. He said, "Yes, she is really nice, you know, as a friend. I have had fun playing with her." I had seen them playing together earlier in the germ generator, I mean playplace. I thought it was nice to hear. Upon recounting this story to Jay, Jay was aghast. He had seen them play together but saw it as a sign of the future. A future he is not quite ready for.
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