Monday, December 28, 2009

We were out of town skiing this weekend...(more on that later)...so we were on our way home with Jentzen, Ava and Keira. Quaid got to ride home with grandma and grandpa.

We had just eaten at Hardees...oh yummm. There's one in Hinkley which just happens to be half way to Giants Ridge. Lucky Me!! We stopped there on the way and on the way home....Hot Ham and Cheese and Curly Fries!!! (sigh) Until next year my fastfood love!

We had just finished lunch and gotten the kids packed back in the car...Ava and Jentzen started to squabble about something....

Big Tough Daddy (in his stern angry dad tone): "We just had lunch, you're full...I don't want to hear any fighting! If you do I will pull this car over and throw you in the snow!"

Jentzen: "OOOOHHHH Daddy!! That sounds like fun!!!!"

Foiled again!!

Monday, December 21, 2009

..is quite special. He's got the cutest smile and his laugh is absolutely delightful! I can't get enough of it. It's the cutest little giggle. I am always picking hip up, throwing him around, tickling him like crazy...just so I can hear it. In mid laughter, he always squeaks out, "Please stop it mama!" And I always do, I'm really working on him to ask properly for things and saying words instead of letting out a shout or grunt, or whine in frustration...so I want show him that it acutally works. And the he just sits there waiting for me to attack him again...and I always do.

He is very expressive with is words. If he likes something, he likes it...his entire face lights up and his he opens his mouth as wide as it can go with every word...and each word he says as if it's going to change the world. It's quite cute as well, to match his giggle. And if he doesn't like something that same passion goes into his arguement as well! His face, volume, and tone say it all! When the boy is angry, you know it! He huffs and puffs like a train and you can hear it all over the house.

So he was having a little incident when he was well, let's just say "frustrated" with something. So Nathan told him to go to his room and come back down when he had a better attitude. We don't allow that attitude in our house. So we hear him walking up the stairs and then Ava shouted, "Jentzen, come and play....."

So down he comes the stairs...

N: "Jentzen, you're supposed to be going upstairs."

J: (in the chipperest of happy voices) "I finished my attitude!!"

N: "Jentzen....."

J: "But I finished my attitude!!!"

How can you say no to that!?!?!

Friday, December 11, 2009

I've made a goal to take the kids out somewhere once a week. Sometimes I forget that when I'm at work, the kids stay home. Not going anywhere the other days of the week mean my kids stay home all of the days. And especially now that it's too cold to get outside...they really are stuck in a lot.

So yesterday was the day. It also happened to be the coldest day of the winter yet. It was single digits. Yuck. I really just wanted to wrap up with a blanket and lay on the couch all day and watch movies. Yeah, that wasn't happening!

I told the kids early in the morning that we would go somewhere after lunch so I would have to go. I'm an adult and I still have to trick myself into it!

Quaid asked where we were going. I replied with Costco. You could imagine his response. Since when is grocery shopping considered somewhere fun for kids? He was not happy. I did add "then somewhere fun after" and he was okay with that.

Not only was it cold but there was also fresh snow on the ground. We arrived at Costco and all jumped out of the car. I parked next to a curb. Jentzen hopped out of the car and immediately right into the ankle deep snow that was previously untouched. The sort that just says, "Come on...Jump in me!"

I was a smidge irritated because it was cold and I was holding Keira and trying to make sure that Quaid and Ava weren't playing in the traffic and trying to get Jentzen out of the snow. So he came running down the curb coming to grab my hand....

And well we all know that curbs eventually end and we all know that there's about a 6 inch drop off. Turns out Jentzen wasn't aware of that. And it also turns out that the snowplow didn't get very close to the curb because the snow was at the same height at the curb for a few feet longer...You can see it already, can't you? He comes running up and hits that drop off and goes sprawling out into the 6 inch snow. He is covered from head to toe with snow. Luckily for me...he even had his coat unzipped! So he's standing there crying, trying to shake the snow off and because of his coat being unzipped, it was shaking his whole coat off. I could see that him pulling it together enough to walk himself into the store was not going to happen. So I grab him up and carry him screaming with his coat off in one arm, and Keira in the other arm. And that leaves me no arms to hang onto Quaid and Ava.

Normally this would be a worry for Ava. She has a tendency to start looking around, not pay attention to where she is going. I was just waiting for her to be taking a look at the birds and walking herself right into a parked car and then she would be laying in the snow crying and I would be out of arms. Thankfully Quaid and Ava were great and followed right along. I think if that had happened I would have gone straight back to the car and drove straight home as quick as possible.

Judging from that start I had no idea what would be waiting for me as I stroll through the isles of Costco with their oversized cart and 4 kids. Amazingly enough it went extermely smooth. And just when I thought I was a bit nuts...I checked out next to a lady that had 5 kids about the same ages of mine...now she was nuts!!

So now to the fun part...the Eden Prairie Mall has a play area that's for kids 48" and under and while Quaid is still short enough, I make the most possible use of it I can. The kids were excited about it and I managed to make it all the way through Kohl's without Jentzen's radar arm knocking anything off the shelves....which is a good thing because I really wasn't in the mood to buy any ugly broken Christmas ornament.

All was well playing. Keira just walked and walked. She's really getting good...even in her shoes.

Up comes Jentzen, "Mom my pants are falling down." A common problem with my no-bummed children.

I reach around to pull them up from the back and stick my thumbs in the waistband so I could roll them over. Baby soft cheeks is all I feel. Really?

Me: "Jentzen you have no undies on!" (quietly enough so no other mother will hear me ask my child why he isn't wearing any underwear)

J: "I know that." (thankfully he took note of my quiet tone and answered in the same tone)

Me: "Why not?"

J: "You told me to change."

Me: "Your pants, not to take your undies off."

J: "I dripped in them a little bit."

Me: "And you didn't go get a new pair."

J: "Nope!!"

And that was it...off he ran.

And in case you were wondering, we made it out of Kohl's and home with no incident as well. Ava only walked into a center isle display once with no casualties :)

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Is it ok....

...to feed one of your children M&Ms for breakfast?

...then proceed to let the other two lick my batter bowl and fudge pan for their breakfast?

...all this while making the other one eat a banana and cheerios?

...to wildly cheer after beating a 4 year old in a card game?

...hear a cry, pause for a moment to hear if it's a "I'm hurt cry" or just an "I'm irritated" cry...figuring out it's an "I'm irritated" cry, and then ask another child to help her because I'm not done vacuuming yet?

...to vacuum up your kids broken crayons because I don't want to bend over to pick them up?

...to spell "vaccuumm" like that and then spell check it?

...to feed my kids sandwiches, peas, and carrots while I get the leftover pizza?

....to be irritated with the fact that I have to explain why the word dumped really sounds like dumpt but the word hugged really sounds like hugged.

And it's only noon...

Saturday, December 5, 2009

It is 7:37am, I just watched the bus go by our driveway. Quaid could be on it...instead he's still sleeping :)

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Jentzen

This happened awhile back and I just found the pictures. Jentzen was getting dressed for the day. Came running in..."Mom there's something silly with my shirt!!


Yeah, that's Keira's onesie. And like any good mom would do....
I buttoned it up to get the full effect...Jentzen was not impressed!

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