To-do lists

Nice Jack!

Every morning Chad asks me the same question. "What's on your schedule for the day"? Kind of a funny question to ask a stay at home mom, not a lot of variance day to day, but really sweet nevertheless. I thought it might be fun to show you what my "to-do list" looked like today.

1. Clean up the kitchen
   
2. Clean the bathroom again (thanks to Jack's continued exploration of life as a plumber)
   
3. Do some laundry
   
4. Make bread
   
5. Do something fun with the kids
6. Have a migraine (didn't actually plan on this one, it was a mid-morning surprise)
   

Fairly boring right? And I didn't even check off most of the things on my list...except the last one. Don't worry, apparently I am not the only person who had a "to-do list" for the day.

Marian's "to-do list"

1. Cry when I lose visual contact with mom: check
   
2. Make repeated non verbal demands for granola bars and fruit snacks (it's amazing really): check
   
3. Cry to have my coat put on, then immediately cry to have it taken off 20 times: check
   
4. Only eat AFTER I get taken out of the high chair: check
   
5. Experiment with utensils without allowing mom to interfere at all, no matter how messy it gets: check
   

Jack's "to-do list" was even better.

1. Hide a smashed banana in the closet: check
   
2. Throw my cup of milk and Marian's bottle out the front door just for laughs: check
   
3. Knock Marian over: check, check, check, check......
4. Shove my puzzle pieces under the fridge: check
5. Wipe my runny nose on mom's pants while she's changing Marian's 5th poopy diaper: check
6. Pee just a little in my pants 4 times. A small enough amount that mom doesn't think it warrants a "pee-bath i.e. cold bath" but enough that I get to change my underwear 4 times. CHECK
   
7. Hide my underwear in the oven: check (the nature of the underwear's cleanliness at the time of entry into the oven appears to have been clean...THANK GOODNESS!)
   
8. Hide mom's phone behind the desk. check
9. Run the dishwasher...just for fun: check.
10. Pee all over mom's bathroom: check (that one wasn't actually his fault, I'll spare you the details.)
11. Throw sock on the griddle while mom makes a last minute "breakfast for dinner" after the planned dinner didn't turn out. check
    

As you can see, it was quite the day. As I read over these lists it really looks like I need some new parenting skills. I'm actually reading (and taking notes on) a parenting book called "Love and Logic Magic for Early Childhood". I've gotta tell you, I'm doing what it says, and I am NOT feeling the magic.

Just to be clear, I'm super in love with my kids. They do the sweetest things every day and are the joy of my life. I wouldn't change one thing. I'm building some serious character and patience skills right? I don't think that they are unusually difficult or mischievous...most days, and I promise my next post will be filled with me gloating about their sweetness. But not tonight.

Who, What, When, Where, Why, why why?

Jack has gone the way of all three year olds and asks a billion questions about Everything, EVERYDAY! So when we were at a friends house and their son pulled out the game "20 questions" Jack was in his element. It reminded me that there is a website where you can play the game 20 questions at home. Jack and I have had a blast playing this together. So if you have child that is full of a million questions, turn the tables on them, sit them on your lap, and play the game HERE. It's really fun to see what objects Jack will choose to have the computer guess. So far our favorites have been a binky, a train, and of course a race car! Have fun!

Check out those Baby Blues

So our new camera HAS ARRIVED and it has been so fun! Here are some pictures from my latest "Girls really are different than boys" experience. I remember when Jack was about 1, my friends who had little girls the same age talked about how their daughters were picky about what they wore and had a preference about which outfit. I didn't believe them, I thought "no way." At that age Jack did even care if he wore clothes or not, let alone which shirt he wore. Well, Marian cares. Anytime we go outside she has to change her hat at least 4 times before she decides which one she will wear...true she could be just playing around, but EVERY TIME she changes it 4 times at least. Then the other day, Marian woke up from her nap and gestured toward the closet so I took her over there. She then reached in and pulled a blue hand knit sweater (made by my Grandma Marian, Marian's namesake) off the hanger and made it very clear that that was what she wanted to wear. So I put the sweater, which is still much too big on her, let her play around in it. She wanted only the top button buttoned and the sleeves pushed up, not ROLLED up but pushed. It amazes me the things this little girl can communicate with a simple, one syllable "eh". When it came time for dinner I wanted to take the sweater off so it wouldn't get dirty but OH NO, Marian would have none of it. As soon as I managed to get if off she screamed and stuck out her arm the way she does when she wants her coat put on. She didn't stop screaming and "eh-ing" until I put it back on. By this point I felt it was beyond ridiculous and just plain cute so, I took some pictures! Can't beat the blue sweater that matches her blue eyes perfectly! Thanks Grandma!

See, tests can be fun

As a history teacher I used try to make my tests fun for my students...or at least entertaining, so I really enjoyed this test. This typing test really is fun, and really really addictive!

69 words

Typing Test

One of these things is not like the other

This morning Jack wanted to know if Marian had a particular body part that he had, but hadn't noticed on her. I told him no. After thinking for a minute his response was, "So... Marian's got a bum, and a what?

Are we there yet?

So obviously these are not my kids...but my flight home from SLC would have been better if they were. For one thing, they look old enough to bribe them into good behavior, for another, they are securely stowed in the overhead bin...
WHY didn't I think of that?



I flew with both kids BY MYSELF...a basic death sentence to any mother, but the trip to SLC wasn't so bad...it was the trip back.

The Pre-Flight:
For starters, Jack fell asleep in the car on the way to the airport and... wait for it, WET HIS PANTS. Just a little, but enough to cause a problem. I had already checked our luggage at the curb before I even woke Jack up so we didn't have extra clothes...I had diapers for Marian but that did us no good. Apparently no one in the airport sells kids pants...my kid couldn't have bee the first traveler in the SLC airport to wet his pants. Luckily it was just a little but all I could do was stuff his pants with paper towels...poor kid.

The 1st 2 hours were suvivable, Jack watched movies on the ipod for about 5 minutes..then was done, but looking out the window and asking if we were going down kept him pretty occupied. Marian was happy sucking on her ring pop (and rubbing it on my clothes) and putting koosh balls in and out of the empty tissue box I brought (genius airplane toy)

The 3rd hour---the beginning of the end:
Jack announces that wants to get OFF THE PLANE! Marian wants to sleep...at least subconsciously...but won't. I've used EVERYTHING IN THE BAGS ( there were lots and lots of things) to entertain the kids but I'm maintaining my "I can do this" attitude... barely.

The 4th hour...the tears begin to flow...and they are not Jack's and not Marian's! Jack was throwing a full blown tantrum in the seat next to me and was kicking the seat in front of him. The Paris Hilton wannabe (seriously, she had a little dog with her under the seat) in front of him was not at all understanding...if looks could kill, I would have been dead by then. To keep Jack from kicking the seat I put him in my seat since no one was in front of me. That left nothing between Jack and the aisle..so of course he ran for it! Straight towards the cockpit (with no shoes on of course, he'd thrown those already). Do Air Marshalls view 3 year olds as serious threats? I dragged Jack back through 1st class, back to our row, behind Miss Hilton and pray that the flight will be over. No, Jack starts hitting ME, Marian continues to scream (as she had been for the precvious 30 minutes). What's a mother to do? Seriously! Talk about stuck!
Luckily there were about 3 families on the plane that we knew...one of them was right behind us and sweet Heather Brown starting passing up toys for Jack (which he threw ) but then he realized he could turn around and talk to Heather and Bean for entertainment...THANK YOU HEATHER!
My good friend Nadia was on the flight with her little girl and she offered to switch babies (you can't get mad at someone elses baby) and they girls seemed to like the change of scenery...for a while. And then...we landed!
FINALLY! The highlight of the flight was watching Jack try to pop his ears as we landed. I couldn't get him to plug his nose and blow...he would just plug his nose and sniff. It was pretty funny.

p.s. Dear family in SLC, I love you a lot, but I have no intention of flying with my kids again so you'll have to come see us! At least for now!

Top 10 reasons I'm glad my purse was stolen

There will be NO pictures in this post because my camera, along with my wallet, cell phone, fancy new Victoria Secret lip gloss, a few diapers, and lots of wet wipes were in my purse that was STOLEN last week. No I was not hanging out in Roxbury (the Boston hood). I was at my brother-in-law's wedding reception in Sandy, Utah. Apparently a dodgy place! To be honest, the only thing I could have done to have made it easier for the purse snatcher to steal my purse would have been to just give it to them. I left it in the coat closet (with other people's purses mind you) but mine was right by the door...DUH! I was in and out of the coat closet getting things out of my purse and anyone watching me could tell that I was chasing two little kids and trying to keep them from knocking over punch glasses or licking the frosting off the wedding cake, and that I wasn't paying attention to my purse AT ALL! And when you think about it, it's the perfect crime. No one at a wedding reception knows EVERYONE so no one would say...hey you don't belong here. Just go get some food, linger around the coat closet, and casually take a purse or two and out you go! Gosh you could even take a handful of the wedding gift cards/checks people leave at receptions, no one would EVER know they were missing! Anyway, one time when I went back to coat closet to get Marian's sippy cup...I saw the sippy, but no purse! I couldn't believe it! We looked everywhere but I was pretty sure it was stolen, and I was right. 20 minutes later when I called my credit card companies to cancel my cards, I found out that the purse snatcher had already washed their car TWICE, been grocery shopping, gone on a $550+ WAl-Mart Shopping spree, an tried to fill up their gas tank. Oh, and they rented a Red Box movie! Luckily I won't have to pay for any of it!
Since then, I've been using my detective skills I learned from watching all the police/lawyer shows with Chad to nail these suckers (gas station surveilence cameras etc...) but in the mean time, I'm trying to look on the bright side. So here is the...
Top 10 reasons why I'm glad my purse was stolen

1. I know now to NEVER leave my purse in stupid places (like wedding reception coat closets)
2. There was chocolate toffee left over from the wedding luncheon in my purse...and I probably would have eaten it...who needs the extra calories at Christmas time anyway?
3. My cell phone was falling apart (thanks to Marian) and I was thinking of getting a new one sometime soon anyway. My new one is awesome..same number so call me!
4. My camera (which was a great quality camera) was the beign of my existence. It was too big, too slow, and did WAY TOO MANY things that I didn't need and so I never carried it around with me. Now I'll use my Christmas money to get a new sleek Cannon Power shot like Chad's sister Nina (I've COVETED her camera since August)
5. I will no longer be breaking the 10th commandment
6. I got a super cute new purse (big and red so more noticeable if someone wants to steal it) for half price at Target.
   

Okay so there are only 6, BUT to be honest, it has been SUCH A PAIN! Anyone who has had their purse stolen would think that coming up with 6 positive things is pretty darn good. Luckily my sister had downloaded all the pictures on my camera onto her computer just a few days before so I only lost a few pictures. Other than that...no permanent harm done. The lip gloss can be repurchased, I've got a new phone, a new camera will soon be on it's way, and I've always got more diapers. I have two healthy, beautiful kids (who try as they did, did not ruin the reception) and a good husband. So life is is good. Happy New Year everyone!