The Ozmerican Life

So what are you all doing right now??

I'm relaxing at my computer while my 3 year old mops my floor :)

Last night, Quaid, Ava and I were settling down before bed with a nice bowl of popcorn. Daddy and Jentzen were gone....Keira was in bed sleeping (aka singing to herself in a loud screechy but oh so cute pitch)

I snatched a few pieces from the bowl.....

Q and A: "Hey! Mom!!!!"

Me: "Thanks for sharing :)"

A: "Once we swallow something down our throat, mom, we can't get it back."

Me: "That's right Ava."

A: "Unless we have really long arms."

Q: "Yeah and skinny too."

A: "Skinny like Keira's hand."

Q: "Yeah but really long."

I'd like to see that happen.

And earlier that day....

J: "Hot samich" ("sandwich" for those of you that don't understand 2 year old dialect) "Mom can you blow on it." (smiling with a cute pleading look)

Me: "Well, where are your lips?"

J: (pausing while his smile dropped off, with a serious scrunchy eyebrow look) "I took them off!!!"

Me: "Really?"

J: "Yep, and swallowed them down my froat!" (Again, "throat" in 2 year old talk)

Me: "Wow Jentzen, that's pretty talented."

J: "Yeah it is!!!!! They're not comin' back!"

I love how kids lives live in a land of non-reality. So innocent...if it sounds good to them, then why not! When and Why do we ever grow out of this??

Ready to dig in! Yep gloves and all...I have to admit my stomach was turning a bit at the thought of digging in it's behind. Nathan's only help to me was getting me some gloves. Thanks hun!

"Are you sure about that mom?"

"Chicken?? Did someone say Chicken? I'm hungry!!""Hey, what is that?? I can't eat that!!!"

"We can't watch, this is going to be disgusting!" "This does not look good!"

"Oh mom, do you really have to?? I think I'm going to be sick"

"Yep I do....Here I go!!""Oh mom, the poor chicken!!"

"I can't watch!"

"Well maybe just a peek...."

"Am I going to have to eat that??"

A: "That was cool mom, let's do it again?"

J: "MMMMmmmm, when can I eat?"

Q: "Mom, I don't like it!"

And the best of all...the last comment by Quaid....

"Mom, when you cook that it will turn into real chicken, won't it?"

A natural already!! Yes!!!!!
Ava having a little reading time with Keira....she grabbed my Bible...good choice Ava!!!
It's been awhile so I thought I would post a few pics of Keira. I really love green eyes and so far she has them! She actually has a bit of orange tint to her hair too...we'll see how that grows out.
Ava is enamored with her little sister at the moment...always wanting to hold her and Keira quite enjoys the time as well.
Quaid actually took this picture......ssshhh don't tell Nathan I let the kids hold his camera!!!
And just for the record....yes she does cry!!! It never happens so I just had to get a pic of it!!!

I sadly have no picture to go along with this story. If i did have one, it would be AWESOME!! But as you continue to read, you'll know why!



I was outside raking the lawn and picking up piles of rocks (from the snowplow if you remember) this was day #2.



Nathan had previously had the 4-wheeler on the back of the truck along with the ramps to get it on and off the truck. The kids were climbing up and down the ramps and jumping in the back of the pickup.



Then...I hear a scream...one of those screeching ones that means that something is wrong...seriously wrong.



A: "Quick mom! Quaid needs you!!!"



The first thought through my head was..."Oh great, he fell through one of the spaces in the ramps and cracked his leg in half." After all...like father like son.



I ran over there and got a good look at Quaid's position...and started to laugh. Yep that's right, I was laughing at my child that was screaming with a look of terror on his face. His arms were flailing around and his feet were kicking....



What's that??.....His arms and feet were both off the ground?? Yep that's right again! He was hanging upside down off the tailgate from his back pocket! It was hilarious!!!!



Now here's where I had to laugh at myself....While running to him in the first place it took me a few seconds to fully take in his position. When I realized that he was actually just fine I stopped dead in my tracks with the following monologue in my head...



Me1: "Quick go get the camera...what a picture!!"



Me2: "Don't you dare! Look at the look on your son's face."



Me1: "But I NEED it for the blog! What a story!"



Me2: "Go get him down...you can't leave him like that! And what would everyone reading your blog think? They would obviously know that you left him there, ran and got the camera, and then proceeded to say, "Smile Quaid" while you took his picture!"



Me1: "Yeah you're right...."



I continued on towards Quaid. I was about 2 feet from him....yet again....



Me2: "Oh come on....What a shot...never again will you get such an image...it will only take a second! He'll be okay."



So I take one step back towards the house...



Me1: "Seriously, look at your son's face. It's sheer terror! GO GET HIM!!!"



Like my title suggests...Me1 won.



So in order to give my "Me2" a chance, later on that evening the following:



Me: "Quaid, that was awesome the way you were hanging off the truck!"



Q: (with a sad, disturbed, confused look) "I didn't like it!"



Me: "It was the coolest...I loved it!!! Do you think we could hang you up there again so I can get a picture of it??"



Q: "No, I don't want to!"



Me: "Oh come on Quaid, it will be fun!!



Q: "No!"



So sorry, no picture. I bet you could imagine it though.



Later that evening I had a chuckle to myself. I actually had to talk myself out of walking away from my screaming son...TWICE!! And then asked if I could put him through the traumatic experience again!



There's still part of me that thinks it would have been totally worth it and Quaid would have forgiven me!!!

So my little girl Ava....well she' quite the girly girl when it comes to fashion. We've had more than one occasion that involves her crossing her little arms, sitting herself right down on the floor in a huff and whining...."It doesn't look good on me!!!" And then she changes into something more suitable.

The other day she was in my closet....

Ava: "Mom, I don't like this white shirt."

Me: "Why not?"

Ava: "It doesn't look good on you."

I think I've shared this before...(If I was a good blogger I would have put a label on it and would be able to easily look back...but I'm not so sorry)

So today, I was out raking the yard...ALL DAY. Note to self...and the family snowplower...next year we will find a different place other than the grass to put all the snow...unfortunately the rocks don't melt along with the snow so we ended up with half the driveway in our lawn. So I was on hour number 3 of raking...feeling a bit worn out...sore...sweaty...dirty...

From my beautiful girl, while casually sitting in the lawn resting....

Ava: "Mom, when you're done raking I want you to go in the house and change."

Me: "Why do I need to change?"

Ava: "I don't like you in those clothes, you don't look good in those clothes."

Thanks for the encouragement honey :) At least I know I'll always get an honest opinion!!

For all you wives and mothers out there who have sent your husband or kids somewhere to get something, only to find them coming back empty handed stating will full confidence, "It's not there, I looked" and then going yourself only to find the item in .001 seconds flat right where you said it was and told them to look...this is for you!!!

I bet that one made you think for a second!! What did you think I meant???

Our tomato plants of course!! Deb and I are attempting to have a garden this year. And why not start big?? So we are starting our tomatoes from seed. For all of you tomato plant buyers, this is how it's really done!!!

The size of our garden will be 50' x 40' at least. We've got in the plans: sweet corn, beans, peas, carrots, tomatoes. Grown in other spots: melons and watermelons (thanks dad for some stolen space in your pumpkin patch), and potatoes (in Deb's home garden plot). And at last but not least.....POPCORN. Yep that's right, we are going to grow some popcorn. So I've been told that it involves a little bit of work to actually get it to the point where we are actually able to pop the pop corn kernels....we're going to give it a go anyway.

I think the kids are going to be pretty excited to watch things growing and help at harvest time. Better train them in now on the weeding and tending to the garden...so maybe in a few years it's their job!! I can sit in the house sipping lemonade watching :) Yep, that was my child hood...working in the pumpkin patch sweating, getting eaten by mosquitoes and pulling weeds...the whole time swearing that I would never grow anything again, and I would never submit my kids to this kind of torture! Hhhhmmmm....it seems to be different now that I'm on the mom side!!!

I'll keep you posted on the progress of our garden. Deb and I HAVE to work hard at this. We have such ideals in our minds and our husbands are...let's just say a little less optimistic with regards to our gardening capabilities....(aka, it's going to be one big dried out crusty weed patch with one bean and half of a corn stock.) So to avoid the, "I told you so" we are determined!!