Pretends to be an angel

Lemme start with yesterday's nap.  I put Luke down at the same time as Kayden.  Nothing different there.  90% of the time he's good about staying in his bed and talking himself to sleep (or singing, or kicking, or calling for me).  Yesterday was the other 10%.  It took 2 1/2 hours of me taking puppy, taking blanket, taking pillow, shaking my finger, snarling words,  taking knitted blanket, a swat to the bottom, and taking his quilt.  The kid literally had a sheet on his bed.  After all of that I STILL heard him playing in his room, so I walked down the hall hunched over so I could watch him through the knob hole.  He could hear my footsteps, and I watched him scramble back in bed.  I didn't go in or open the door, but I stood there and watched him for a minute.  FINALLY about 10 minutes later he fell asleep.  Only by that time Kayden was waking up, so Momma didn't get her nap at all.  Boooooo.

In bible class last night he made this picture. 

I like to put all the things that he makes on the fridge, but I'm not sure how to take him scribbling a black cloud for a picture that supposed to be about us doing good. 

Anyway, let's move on to today.  It started out just like any other morning- breakfast, diapers, toys everywhere in 2.5 seconds. 

I let Luke have two chocolate chip muffins and let's just say he was a happy camper.  And that's not a booger, that's muffin.  Promise.

Then something wonderful happened- I got to have a skype chat with Lindsay!  Since she lives in Canada this will be the closest thing to us "meeting" that will probably happen in our life time, but I  loved it!  I got to see baby Eva and tell her in person what's been going on lately.  Much to tell, but that's for a later date.  After we were through I went to start on some sewing projects I've been horrifically putting off.  Plus I got an Esty order today so that needed to be taken care of. 

All was going pretty normal, Kayden was playing with toys, I was sewing, and Luke was out back with the dog.  Then I looked out the window.  And saw this.

Mmmmmm, pretty sure he didn't start out that way.  I may have been forgetful lately, but not THAT forgetful.  And sorry for the poor quality of the picture.  I had a split second to capture it before he was on to me and ran off.  I quickly brought the necked boy  inside and put a fresh diaper on him.  Soon it was lunch time, then glorious nap time.

You better believe I told him very sternly that he better stay in bed this time, because I was not going to have another incident like yesterday.  And you know what?  I only had to go in there once because he was up playing, which meant he only lost puppy (okay, when I went in there to get puppy and put him back in bed I did lock up all his toys with a baby proof lock, but I like to think my stern words and punishment of no puppy truly had an effect.)  This meant that Momma got to take a 2 hour nap today.  Whoo hoo!  It's also the reason I'm able to stay up so late typing right now. 

It's a good thing that I was so well rested when nap time was over, when he woke up he called for me to come get him instead of just getting out of bed.   This would be the reason. 

Stinker.  Luckily all was dry.  And I would like to say that was the end of our diaper removal fiasco today, but this evening while I was cooking dinner he went out in the back yard again.  This time when I turned around he had the front of his whole body pressed up against the glass door with, you guessed it, no diaper.  That was quiet a sight.  Looking back, I'm not sure why it didn't occur to me to put shorts on him after the 2 other times he removed his diaper today, but I didn't.  I didn't learn from my mistakes. 

Good  news though, tomorrow we are going to the fair, and I intend to keep us fully dressed the entire time. 

Also, one last thing.  Last night I got irritated at Cody while he was out with his friend, and it may have resulted in me yelling at him, hanging up, and throwing my phone (not too hard, it's been through enough trauma).  This morning when I got up I found this in the kitchen.

Well played my friend.  Well played.

Errands and a sweet boy

This morning I got out with the boys to do errands.  I needed some fabric from Hobby Lobby, and one our way in I realized something.  I had given Kayden his morning bottle and had totally forgotten to feed him a jar of food.  WHOOPS!  Who does that?!?!  (sorry Ashley, if you're reading)  He was a total trooper though, and didn't fuss or anything.  In fact, he dozed through most of the errands.  After Hobby Lobby we went to pay my AT&T bill,  then to Bath and Body Works to pick up a good fall smelling scented oil for my oil warmer.  Kayden was so out that I just held him cradle style in the store and had Luke follow me.  Luckily we were the only people in there and the girl working was SUPER nice to stand with me and open all the little bottles and hold them up to my nose so I could smell them since my arms were full of baby.  I'm sure we were a sight.  But I left happy with my purchase!  Then I swung into Which Wich to grab a free sandwich with a coupon mom had given me, and I needed an Oreo milkshake too.  Doesn't everyone need an Oreo milkshake at 10:45?  Mmm.  It was good to.  Luke tried to bat his little eyes for a sip but this momma wasn't sharing.  It was mine.  All mine. 

We got home, all had an early lunch, and all had an early nap.

As soon as I laid the boys down I laid down on the couch, and didn't get up till Luke was up (he was first today).  He walked into the living room and around the side of the couch where my head was.  Then my sweet sweet boy saw that I was sleeping, so he stroked my hair, patted my back, and kissed my shoulder.  I could have squeezed the stuffing out of him he was so precious.  I love that boy.

For dinner I really wanted to make baked potato soup, but when I ran it by Cody he thought I just said baked potatoes.  That's why there was a bit of confusion when he said he wanted chili.  And Fritos.  And chives.  And bacon bits.  When we finally got it all straightened out he said he still just wanted the baked potato with all those fixings, so that's what I made.  Plus some Texas Toast.  Plus a pickle spear.  It was a good dinner.  Really!

Two points

I can sum up my day in two measly bullet points-

-It was Monday, so it was house cleaning day.

-I just accidentally crunched a gecko under my foot in the kitchen and I made Cody pick it up with a paper towel. 

Yep.  That's it.

Weekend Recap

Well, the ladies retreat was fun.  I sure do love my friends.  Friday night we got there, had some sessions, and were done with the planned stuff for the night by 10.   The only problem was that I was STARVING and needed waffles to sleep.  So my dear friends took a trip with me to IHOP.  I haven't been there that late in forever!  Like, forever.  We had a grand ole time, and the only thing that would have made it better was if there hadn't been a million high schoolers in there.  Apparently the football game that night was at home and we timed it just right to arrive when it was over.  Holy moly.  I may have even made the comment "I KNOW I wasn't that inconsiderate when I was in high school."  I think I'm getting old. 

After an eternity long trip for food (I guess IHOP isn't really known for their speedy service) we went back to our room and hit the sheets. I don't think I've ever gone to bed before 1 at a retreat before, but man I was exhausted.  And being full of waffles I slept good too.  At one point before we drifted off Sara asked us if it was okay to go down to breakfast in the morning in her robe.  I told her no.  We were not homeless.  Then we all crashed until about 5, when a storm woke us up.  We were only awake briefly, but long enough to joke about how it would be awful for someone to pull the fire alarm while it was pouring rain. 

And then.......

And then at 7 (about 30 minutes before we were set to wake up) the fire alarm went off.  Seriously.  We stumbled out of our room and down the 4 FLIGHTS of emergency stairs at the end of our hallway only to get outside in the rain and see no one.  No one.  We went back in and walked up to the front lobby and plopped down in some chairs.  If there wasn't smoke, we weren't standing in the rain.  We had already determined that Kerry's super sniffer nose was working overboard the night before so we asked her if she smelled smoke.  In true joking manner, she sniffed around for a minute, declared the building smoke free, and all we had to do was wait for the all clear.  It came about 5 minutes later.  Then we realized that they had started serving breakfast and Sara asked if since we were there if we could go ahead and eat.  Eh, why not. 

And guess what she was wearing?  Mmmmmm hmmmmm.  Her robe.   Obviously we were all in our jammies (and when I say "all", I mean just the 4 of us in our room.  We saw lots of other ladies from our group and they were all dressed, made up, and ready for the day).  So it turns out we looked homeless for breakfast. 

The rest of the day went by.  The sessions were good.  I like the keynote speaker.  I left a little early with Mom, and then had dinner with them that night.  I was in bed by 9:30 I was so tired. 

And then we come to today.  Today fall decided to show up.  I actually wore pants to church!  It stayed in the mid 70's all day, and I don't think this week the temps will get about 85.  Wa hoo!  Tonight we had small groups at the park in honor of the cool weather and we got COLD!  Can you imagine?  Maybe we will get fall this year!

Ladies' Retreat

Well, in about an hour I'm headed out for an over night ladies retreat with the church.  Am I going to miss my sweet sweet boy?  Yes.  The screaming that he's currently doing because I won't let him unpack my bag (which he "helped" me pack by adding A shoe, some hair brushes, a water bottle, and used Kleenex)?  Not so much.  I guess I'll miss Cody too.  ;)

Speaking of, last night I gently reminded him that I would be leaving today.  I asked him if he wanted me to leave him a note containing all the important stuff- what Luke eats, when he sleeps, etc.  Cody said  "Nah, he's a kid.  I'll figure it out."  And you know what?  I haven't.  Eek! 

p.s.-  My friend Lindsay finally had her baby Evalyn, and she's posted the first part of Eva's arrival story!

Play date

This morning I took the boys over to the Sloan's house for a play date.  Tamara brought her kiddo's too, so that meant there were three 2 year old boys (as in their birthdays are within 4 months of each other), a 10 month old boy, an 8 month old girl, and a 2 month old boy.  That's a lot of boys!  Needless to say they created quite a ruckas.  After they played for a couple of hours we loaded everyone up and went to grab some lunch at Einstein Brother's Bagels. 

Oh.  My.  Goodness.  We were THE thing to watch.  Imagine a table for 8 with three little boys standing in their chairs on one side, three baby's in various seats around the table, and three mothers attempting to keep things civilized.  I believe the true test of motherhood is when you are completely outnumbered by children and still able to maintain adult conversation.  We passed with flying colors.  AND the kicker is that we only got one disapproving glare from a lady who looked like she needed a little fun in her life.  Not bad, eh? 

After lunch we came home and I put the boys down for a nap while I did some sewing.  Then Kayden went home, Luke got up, and we went to have dinner at church.  Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiith the same group of people I spent the rest of my day with.  For bible class tonight I got to help out in Luke's class.  My special friend is definitely special.  While all the other kids were jumping, participating, chatting, playing, my baby boy just stood there to watch.  I do believe we have an introvert on our hands.  I try not to worry about him being so quiet, isolating himself like he does, because I'm fairly certain that Cody was just like this as a child.  It wasn't until high school that he came out of his shell.  And I can say this because I've known Cody since we were 7.  But, as a mother you want your child to be liked by the others.  To be social and outgoing.  To have fun in the way that I think he should have fun.   But I'm learning that every child is different, and I need to let go of how I think he "should" be.  As long as he is truly happy, I'll be happy.  At least he won't be annoying to his teachers one day with his constant talking, like a certain someone who is pecking at her keyboard!  I like to find the silver lining. 

What a fun day we had.  I just wish that most of my days could be like to day.  Being a people person I always feel better after hanging out with friends, getting to visit and do life.  I just wish Brandy didn't have to go back to work so that she could play with us more!  It's finally getting cool enough (maybe) to start taking the boys to the park, so soon Tamara and I will get to have our weekly time.  Whoo hoo!

Get ready for nuthin

Well, today and yesterday were just a whole lotta nuthin.  I actually let Luke watch some cartoons while he ate breakfast, and he thoroughly enjoyed it. 

I had to force him to eat.  See Daisy perched?  She's just waiting for the spills. 

I tried to get him to smile for the camera, but it turned out more like acting try-outs.

You're watching a scary movie....what do you do?

And now it's switched to a comedy!

Oh boy I spend a lot of time alone-ish.  I guess that's the occupational hazard of a stay at home mom.   The rest of the day was spent with me piddling around with the sewing machine.  I really enjoy looking at someone's craft project and trying to figure out how to do it myself, then trying it.  It's my version of mechanical curiosity.  Last year I received a notebook cover in a give away and I was curious to see if I could replicate it.  Good news.  I can.  So now I have a notebook cover in some of my favorite material...it matches my coasters and my camera strap.  You know, I didn't ever take a picture of my new coasters I made, did I?  Hmmmmm.  Oh well.  Maybe tomorrow I'll have something more interesting to talk about.  I'm actually getting out of the house.  Whoa!  We have a play date in the morning with some friends and then we'll be going to lunch.  Yessssssssssssss.  I've eaten lunch meat sandwiches everyday for the last three weeks. 

Field Trip: A Trip to the Field

To Cowboy's field that is, at the new Cowboys Stadium.  That's what I did today.  Somehow I let my family convince me to go and tour this place....something I never thought I would do. 

It started out okay.  Luke immediately found the biggest tv on the planet.  Have you heard?  Like, for serious, it's the biggest there is.  Luke was thrilled.

There were also some cheerleaders hanging out on the famous star, so after much begging I let Luke get his picture taken with them. 

Just kidding.  It was my idea and he is SOOOOOOOOOO going to love me in 15 years.  And besides, he's gotten a big jump start on me.  I didn't get my picture on the big famous star until high school. 

That's me right at the top tip of the white towel the person is waving.  What can I say?  High school foot ball is a huge deal in Texas.  (excuse the picture of a picture.  I have no scanner.)

There was a mariachi band there today.  Because who doesn't want to listen to that when touring a giant stadium for something so all-American?

I really wanted a picture with my boy on the 50 yard line.  Have I told you before how much Luke hates to take pictures on command?  Ergo, a fit ensued.

Who doesn't love a sister that keeps snapping away, even when the photographic moment has passed?

Finally we wandered off the field and into the locker room.  We actually got to go in both the player's AND the cheerleader's locker room, but I only got pictures of the players.  For some reason Ashley wanted her picture with these specific names. 

I wanted in on the fun, so I got my picture with one too.  I just picked a name.  And I picked a sport.  I'm sure this dude plays golf at some point. 

On our way out we went up to the concession stand deck, and got just a few more pictures.  Look at that giant baby in a tiny stadium! 

By then Luke and I were grumpy from too much walking and not enough food, so we left the stadium and went to eat.  Nothing like having lunch at 3:00 PM!  We dined at burger and ice cream joint and it was mmm mmm good.  So filling I'm skipping dinner tonight.  Seriously.  Belly=heavy with food.

But really folks,  it was a good day.  And I needed that.

My Prayer

Dear Savior, Redeemer, Friend, and Papa....

I have a small favor to ask of You.  Do you think you could turn down the heater?  Just about 10 degrees would be fantastic right now.  See, it was 95 degrees today and I'm just plumb tired of listening to the air conditioner going.  Now don't get me wrong- I am VERY THANKFUL for my a/c, but it's the middle of September.  Thanks for listening.  I know you've got a ton going on in the rest of the world, but I'm confident you are on top of it all.  Talk to you soon!

Your Princess

p.s.- While you are attending to this little ole town I live in, if you could touch Luke's mouth and allow him to speak properly, that would be greatly appreciated as well.  Thanks!

Saved by the swat

While Luke was in the bath tonight, I was putting away the groceries we had just picked  up from the store.  As I  muddled my way through it there came a maniacal laughter from the bathroom.

That can't be good.

Sure enough, when I dashed in there I found water all over the floor.  He had been dumping it out AGAIN, after many many nights of getting scolded for it.  Enough times that it's become a class A offense- stern warnings, no puppy, and time outs are skipped and it goes straight to the spanking.  So when I asked him to stand up he got a panicky look in his eyes and started doing a little run-in-place thing that I can only describe as his future pee pee dance (when he's potty trained) and holding his little bottom in his hands.  I knew I had to follow through with the punishment, because that's what happens when you pour a gallon of bath water on the floor, but it was very hard to keep from laughing and just hugging him.  Poor baby.  I've never seen him do that before, but I'm 100% certain it won't be the last.  If he's anything like his daddy I will see the don't-spank-my-bottom dance multiple times. 

It's a good  thing this story squeezed into our day at the very last minute, because otherwise I woulda had nuthin.  We ate dinner at church tonight, fried chicken, and at one point I looked over and he had picked up the chicken leg off my plate and was chowing down.  Except he was chowing down on the very end and had managed to get all the cartilage off.  I thought my days of fishing things out of his mouth were over but there I was at the dinner table with our friends, knuckle deep trying to get out huge wads of cartilage before they were removed via the Heimlich Maneuver.  I joked that if I had my camera on me I would have taken a picture of the bare bones for the ole blog and my friend made a comment that it must have been a slow day at the Carver house to warrant pictures of chicken bones for a post topic. 

He was right.  Until bath time that was the highlight of my day.  What did I do the other 10 hours prior?  Only took my DVR from 68% capacity to 35% capacity.  It's a dirty job, but someone had to do it.  New shows started this week, and I need to make sure there is sufficient space for them! Hel-loooo!  And besides the incident mentioned about the bath, we actually had a really good day.  Probably the best day we've had in awhile.   He only got time out once this morning and that was it.  I was so glad to have a sweet day with my sweet boy.  Thank you for all the prayers ya'll are rising up, prayer is the key to it all!

And since I didn't have any pictures from today or any of Luke yesterday here are a couple from after the birthday party the other day.  My boy sure does love to play outside.  Poor kid has 8 or 9 mosquito bites from being out there.

Pillow Case tutorial and yard comparison

Today I sewed and mowed the yard.  Since that about sums up my day, I thought I would give the masses a little sewing tutorial in how I made some new slipcovers for the couch cushions.   I was shocked at how quickly I was able to get through them, I did all 5 in just a few hours!  And all the fabric together was about $40- the price of only TWO new pillows.  Ssssssssscore!

Real quick, before I get started, here are the pictures of the front of my house that I said I would post ohhhhhhhhh, last week sometime.  Since I mowed this afternoon I figured I didn't have any more reasons to keep putting it off.  Here is what our house looked like when we bought it a little over three years ago:

And here's what it looks like now:

(close up of the new crepe myrtle in front of Luke's window)

I couldn't BELIEVE how much the shrubs had grown by the front door until I saw these!  When we moved in there were no crepe myrtles, no weeds, no dead spots, and no little boys standing in the door way.  Some changes for the worse (my bad Yard!) and some changes for the good.  :)

And here's my couch before the new covers:

I used to love the red, but it's been so hard to find ANYTHING to accessorize it with that wasn't in straight up neutrals.  The fabric I picked may not completely go with the red, but it was too pretty to pass up.

1.  Take off old pillow cover and take measurements.

2.  Add 1/2 inch (this allows for the 1/4 inseam) to the length and width, then cut out fabric you want for the front of the pillow. Set aside.

3.  Divide the length in half, then add 2 1/2 inches to it for the back, and cut TWO panels.  Confused?  Here's an example:  If your pillow is 10 x 10, then you would cut out two pieces of fabric that are 10 1/2 x 12 1/2. 

4.  Hem one length side of the back flaps by turning it over 1/4 of an inch once, then again, to completely hide the raw edge.  Repeat on other panel.  These will be in the middle, where the pillow will come in and out.

5.  Sew up the hem. 

6.  Now you are ready to pin it all together.  Pin the three raw sides of a back panel to one side of the front, repeat with the other panel to the opposite end.  Take care that all prints are wrong side out.  You should have all 4 sides pinned, with the over lapping hemmed opening in the middle. 

7.  Sew all 4 sides with 1/4 inch inseam.

8.  Turn right side out, stuff with pillow, and decorate!

Hope that wasn't too confusing, I'm pretty terrible at explaining things!

Cleaning Day

Welp, the title just about sums up my day.  It's Monday.  So it's cleaning day.  There was a marathon of Hoarders on, so I had that going in the back ground while I scrubbed, organized, and washed.  I was really on a roll this morning.  I put Kayden down for a quick morning nap so I could clean the bathrooms.  I figured Luke would get tired of watching after 30 seconds and run off to play. 

Wrong.

I had wisely put the chemicals right next to my feet so I could make sure no little fingers would get on them, and I put all the objects that reside on the lavatory (toothbrushe, hand soap, Cody's cologne) on the floor behind me so that they wouldn't get in the way.  Just like normal.  But today, after I finished cleaning the mirror I turned around to pick the stuff up there was Luke.  Using my toothbrush.  On his teeth. 

I made Cody go to the store tonight to get us new ones.

I posted that as a facebook status later, and someone commented "At least he was practicing good oral hygiene as opposed to cleaning the toilet."  Touche my friend.  Touche. 

The rest of the day passed pretty uneventfully.  I wore a shirt today that is too tight in the arms.  Isn't that thrilling information?  A lot of times when I'm at home and not going anywhere I'll put on clothes that I like but don't really feel I'll wear out in public anymore.  Like this cute yellow plaid shirt with sleeves that feel like they're cutting off circulation.  This way I haven't wasted money on clothes I'll never wear again, and their feelings won't get hurt because they never leave the closet.  Confession:  sometimes I still think inanimate objects have feelings. 

Completely changing subjects, this raising a two year old is tough stuff.  Do you ever feel like you are seeing the absolute worst qualities about yourself in your children?  I'm kind of feeling that right now.  I've always had an issue with sharing.  I know, I know.  I'm 27 years  old and I should have a grip on it by now.  Unfortunately, I've always had selfish tendencies (Ashley, no laughing.)  Several months ago my friend was  pregnant and on a tight budget, so she asked if she could borrow my maternity clothes.  The clothes that are in the very back of my closet because I'm not pregnant.  The clothes I will probably never wear again.  Yet,  something just clinched up inside of me and my first reaction was to say no.  What is that?  I took a deep breath and said yes though, and you know what?  It was just fine.  I was just fine.  And now the clothes are back in the depths of my closet, never to see the light of day again.  The past week of having to teach Luke to share his toys has been very wearing and sometimes painful.  Of course I want him to learn to share.  Of course I want him to have a sweet giving spirit.  Of course he is having a hard time because he's TWO and those ARE his toys.  But as I'm disciplining him again and again and again for it, I almost just want to cave and say "I know buddy.  I know it's hard.  And I'm afraid it's not going to be any more fun in 20 years cause I've been there.  I'm still there. You just go ahead and do what you want." 

Don't worry though.  I won't. 

Saturday

Oooo boy, I'm getting creative with the titles today!  This morning Luke slept in until 8:15.  Wahooo!  That was especially nice since I stayed up late completing two orders and then lost a couple of more hours of sleep to allergies.  Darn you allergies and a climate outside perfectly conducive to growing all kinds of fungus.

I'm being serious.  I found these outside this morning.  With about 4 other friends.  More on that in a minute.

Anyway, I got up, fixed the boy some breakfast and jumped in the shower cause we had places to go!  It was birthday party time again.  And today's adventure was at Going Bonkers!  Ug.  It's one of those places that people without kids poke fun of and look down upon (much like the dreaded Chuck E. Cheese) but people with kids have resigned themselves to for the sake of their kids.  Because people with kids know you will do absolutely anything to give your sunshine the time of their life.  And for some reason Going Bonkers! does that.  So we got ready quickly so that I would have time to photograph  one of my orders and swing by the cleaners to mail it (yes, there is an official post office in the cleaners up  the street, it's the most convenient).  I TOLD Luke to stay inside while I took a few quick pictures, but did he listen?  No.

Like my flowers?  The only ones I planted at the beginning of the summer are the small pink and white ones in the very bottom middle.  Where did the other ones come from?  Good question.  I'm guess seeds from what I planted last year.  But they sure are pretty!

So we got fixed up, mailed out, and on to Going Bonkers!  What is Going Bonkers! you ask?  It's a place that looks like this on the inside.

Think fast food playground times 100.  And I was pretty sure Luke would have nothing to do with it.

(p.s.- those are strangers)

I was  right.  He spent most of his time walking around, watching the people play, pushing the buttons on the arcade games, and being held.  By me.  I tried to get him onto the equipment, but he just got panicky and shook his head "no no no no no no".  Eh.  It's just a giant germ fest anyway.  On the plus side, we got a good picture together

and we got to have cake!  We were home by noon, where we had a lazy afternoon.  Well, lazy after the nap.  We came in and I tried to give him a substantial lunch (I didn't think cake for a meal would earn me any good mom points) and he had such a horrific melt down I just stuck him in bed.  But after that we were good.  Tonight I had a pretty bad tummy ache, and my sweet sweet boy came and sat by me on the floor and pet my hair.  *sniff sniff*  I love him.

Who needs sleep

Ugh.  Last night I was out of my prescription allergy medicine (which actually doesn't work that well) and I had to scrounge around.  I found some old Claritin D in the back of a drawer and good news! it doesn't expire until next month.  The bad news?  Apparently is was some kind of non-drowsy formula that kept me up all. night. long.  It was one of those situations where I would only slightly doze and every 45 minutes or so wake up.  Plus it was still raining outside.  About 3 I gave up and plopped in front of the computer.  I found a link on Lindsay's facebook to this blog called Cake Wrecks.  Oh my goodness.  If you think it's funny during the day, try it when you are delirious with no sleep in the middle of the night.  I think I was actually crying.  Anyway, the point is, I got no sleep last night.

That didn't stop Luke from waking up at 7:30 either.  It was odd, his room was pitch black from the blanket I've got hung over his curtains and the thick rain clouds outside, but that didn't stop the pitter patter of his little feet.  We got up and man was it coming down outside.  I settled in for a Pysch marathon when to my horror the cable/internet went out!  There I was stuck inside with two boys, torrential rains outside, and no entertainment.  Did I fold Mt. Laundry?  No.  Did I clean up all the grass off the floor that had been tracked in?  No.  Did I clean the bathrooms?  No.  I colored.  And it was glorious.  Finally I sucked it up and went out to the box in the garage and jimmy rigged the Verizon box with an extension cord over the car.  Awesome, huh?  Finally the internet was back  up and the marathon was back on.  What a great way to spend a flooded day.

And flood it did.  There were flash floods and tornadoes everywhere.  A couple of my friends had water up or over the bumpers of their cars, but luckily it didn't get that high here at the house. 

See?  Barely standing water.  By 1:00 the clouds were gone, the sun was out, and the pavement was dry.  At my house that is.  When I got to church tonight Ashley said that there were tornadoes at her apartment only a few minutes before hand. 

Several people have asked me how Luke is doing with Kayden. 

Eh.

You can definitely tell he's an only child, and that he is 2.  He doesn't mind (usually) when Kayden is touching him or physically close or playing with toys that are laying idle, but when Kayden goes for whatever toy that Luke is playing with is when we have the most problems.  Lots of screeching and jerking away.  Sometimes Luke just stands there and screams until I do/say something, sometimes he just picks up and moves away in a huff.  Like today.  Luke was trying to play with his keyboard, and didn't like that Kayden was hitting the keys too.  So the solution?  Move to higher ground!  He did this all by himself.

Look at that smile.  I'm in for it.

Rain!

This morning when I woke up I thought that it might be raining.  Then I just convinced myself that it was the ceiling fan going, and rolled back over.  Later on I heard a knock at the door.  Ahh!  I forgot to turn the alarm on last night and it was Kayden at the door!  Cody was 45 minutes late to work and I may or may not have been fully covered when I answered the door.  But one thing I DO remember from opening up the door was seeing....rain!  It rained all.  day.  long.  All day.  Loved it.  I just wish I hadn't watered for 3 hours yesterday!  Eh.  The new crepe myrtles loved it. 

I really did mean to get a picture of the front of the house today, but the rain kinda put a kink in that.  It was odd outside.  From the inside looking out, it really could have been a chilly 60 degrees outside.  Unfortunately I had to run a couple of errands this afternoon with the boys, and I put both Luke and I in pants fully expecting it to be chilly.  Actually.....it was quite the opposite.  When I stepped out of the car to mail an order my glasses immediately fogged over.  It was hot.  And rainy.  Which is what, a 100% humidity?  

So besides my quick trip to the cleaners to mail something, running the water bill by the courthouse, and a Sonic strawberry limeade (which I shared with Luke and he wasn't a huge fan, you should have seen his face), what did we do today?  Not much.  I watched a movie this morning, something I haven't done in forever!   I chased Luke around and around and played tickle monster.  I made Kayden give himself a bottle.  I know, so mean.  I started and finished the order I subsequently mailed later.  I made muffins.   In  general, it was a lazy day.  But who doesn't have those days when it rains?  Tonight Luke had dragged his farm set into the living room, and I started playing with the farmer.  In as deep a manly voice I could muster I had the farmer "talk" to Luke.  He had never encountered that before!  At first he backed up, then he interacted with the farmer a little.  The farmer asked him for the pigs, the horse, and the cow, and Luke would dig them out and hand them to the farmer.  It was so funny!  Then I started talking directly to Luke, asking him how he was doing, and he didn't like that very much.  He hid his face.  It was a sweet first while it lasted!  If he has nightmares tonight though, there's a good chance we may not play like this again for awhile. 

And since you haven't heard enough about my boy tonight, I'm gonna let you in on one more little thing.  His new obsession is to chase down the dog with his toy crate.  To do this, he has to put all the toys that usually stay in/on it in various places.  Like here

or here

which doesn't make me all that happy.  When I went to clean up the mess, the crates were no where to be found.  Eventually I found them under the kitchen table. 

Apparently that's a great place to park them.  It's a good thing this little face is so darn cute.

Quick funny

Real quick....the funniest thing happened today.  I was in the kitchen and Luke comes strutting in wearing only a diaper.  Totally normal.  Except what was not totally normal was the way he was wearing it.  Some how the two tabs that wrap around his belly had stayed velcroed together, but the actual diaper part had slid out and was flapping behind him.  It was like a little white belt and a loin cloth in the back, with his whole front exposed.  Oh, I SO wanted to get a picture of it, but there was just no way to do it in an appropriate manner.  But hopefully now that it's written I'll never forget the mental image. 

Other than that, not much went on today.  Cody and I planted the crepe myrtle bushes in the front yard, maybe tomorrow I'll get a picture of the front of the house now.  We went to Mom and Dad's for dinner, Grandy is in town visiting, and we had a delish meal of homemade lasagna and chocolate cake from scratch.  My momma knows how to feed me!

Lesson not learned

This morning at about 10:30 my friend Brandy sent out a text that she was going to the park and would love the company.  Tamara and I rose to the occasion, and we all met at the park.  They drove and, get this, I WALKED.  That's right.  I packed my baby up in a stroller (Kayden was home with Grandma cause Ashley got her wisdom teeth out today) and we walked up to the park.  It only took about 15 minutes and it was a BEAUTIFUL day.  A little windy, but that's what kept us cool.  Anyway, I was so proud of myself for taking the initiative and walking up there.  Once we were there what did Luke want to play with?  His stroller.  He pushed it all around in the grass.  When he got annoyed that it would roll right on the uneven ground, he came and sat on the bench with us gals while we gabbed.  I tried and tried to get him to go play with Jayden and Zane.  Nope.  Would have no part of it.  Finally we went over to the swing and, I'm not even kidding, I pushed him on the swing for 45 minutes.  I think I may have tennis elbow tomorrow.  When I forced him off the swing, he STILL wouldn't have anything to do with the playground.  I even tried bribing him with a chip, and after much pouting climbed up the stairs, went across the bridge and back, then down the stairs and was done with it.  Who in the world has heard of a little boy who doesn't love the playground?!

Oh lordy, the funniest thing happened while we were there though.  We were getting ready to leave when another mom with three kids showed up.  The mom and oldest boy were behind us trying to fly a kite when the little boy and little girl came walking past us to get to the playground.  As he passed the little boy asked us, as cheerful and carefree as you could ever imagine, "Are ya'll strangers?!"  Oh man, we busted out laughing.  Then he said "I wonder if ya'll are the good or the bad kind of strangers.  I'm not supposed to talk to strangers!"  It was hysterical.  Then the little girl stopped and was watching Jordyn sleep in Tamara's arms.  She yelled over to her mother "Hey Mom!  I'm gonna watch this stranger's baby sleep okay!"  I haven't laughed that hard in awhile.  It was very obvious they had just gotten the stranger danger talk, and apparently taken it to heart.  And I thought Luke gave me a run for my money!

We didn't get home from the park until 1, when I forced a fast lunch down the boy and stuck him in bed.  I finished up an order that I wanted to get mailed out today, and when he woke up we headed out to do some errands.  The day was wrapped up with pizza at Palio's for dinner.  Mmm mmm mmmmmm.

Hey look!  No pictures today!  Well, actually I did snap a few of Luke looking out the window this morning all forlorn and pathetic, like all he wants to do is go outside but the evil lady in charge won't let him.  I'm just too lazy to download the pictures.

Revolving Door

First of all, when I was getting ready for bed last night, I heard a funny tinkling sound.  I followed my ears, and it turned out to be this.

Daisy's nails IN the tub.  She was licking up the bath water that had pooled around the drain.  Her water bowl may or may not have been empty and I didn't realize it.  Some dogs drink out of the toilet.  If you're not big enough to reach it, the bath tub will have to suffice.

Today was quite busy in a non-busy kinda way.   First Luke's ECI case worker came out.  She said after listening to him that she really believes he is starting to say more than we realize, it's just really fast and he generally only says the last syllable of the word.  After she left, an old friend stopped by.  We visited for a while, which was super nice because what can I not do when people are over keeping me company?  Be out shopping. 

After Sara left I made myself some lunch and realized how quiet it was due to two napping boys.  Normally I turn on the tv while I eat lunch, but today the silence was so refreshing.  For  some reason it was just.....different.  It was raining outside, cooler and cloudy with blinds all the way up letting in soft light.  The quietness was just so luxurious that I got a magazine to read while I ate and soaked it all in.  Unfortunately it only lasted 10 minutes when Kayden woke up screaming on the wrong side of the pack n play which woke Luke up which was the end of the silence, but still.  I relished in those 10 minutes in a way I hadn't in a very long time. 

Between the time the boys woke up and Kayden got picked up my father-in-law called.  He was at Home Depot and offered to buy me the crepe myrtles that I wanted!  He said he remembered that I had wanted to plant some in the place where Cody had pulled out the other bushes, and since he was there he could get them for me.  Wasn't that the sweetest!  So now I've got two hot pink crepe myrtles sitting in the flower beds, waiting for the ground to dry a little before sticking them in the dirt.  Wa hoo!

And finally, we come to tonight.  Cody crashed on the couch when he got home from work, and that is a perilous place to lay when there is a highly energetic two year old running around.  At one point Luke decided to get cozy with Daddy, so he went and got his puppy, blanket, and quilt and climbed over Cody's head to get situated.

See how he has his blanket hooked around his toe?  He ALWAYS hooks his toe on it and he's pulled so many huge snags in that blanket doing that.  Cody mumbled something about not wanting to be in the picture, but he didn't ever move out of the way, so what's a girl supposed to do?  That was too cute not to remember forever.  Then Daisy wanted to join in the fun.

The park and bible-in-a-year

This morning Niki and I took the kiddos to the park.  Well, we tried to take them to the park.  We lasted all of 30 minutes before it started sprinkling, and Kayden did NOT like getting wet.  At all.  Plus it was hot hot hot.  I did take my camera though, so I could practice getting in action shots.  One of these days when it cools down to a temperature less than Hades I want to dress Luke up, take him somewhere, and *fingers crossed* get some good pictures of him.  I think the hardest part of getting a good picture of Luke is getting him to face the camera.  Even a little bit.  The only reason I got this gem

is because he LOVES the swing and he's kinda forced to face one direction.  Other than that I got a lot of back-of-the-head-shots

or not-so-action shots.

Unless it's the swing, he wasn't to thrilled about the park.  I think this testifies to how hot it was.

He also had some wicked bed head  again this morning.

I got some other pictures with his "why are you taking my picture again" face, but I feel I've reached my limit on pictures for this one entry. 

This afternoon I finally finished reading the bible in a year thing.  Oi.  That was not an easy thing to do, which I feel terrible about.  I can stay up reading a book or magazine for toooooooooooo long, but trying to get through the whole bible was *Lord don't strike me down* kind of a beating.  Now, I love doing a bible study each day, and I really can see the difference over the last couple of years with having a more Christ centered life, but I did a lot more scanning than I intended to.  When I first started out I had my huge concordance next to me, bible laid out, ready to dig in.  But as the months wore on I always seemed to be trying to catch up.  Being a young mom with a busy busy kid, another kid part time, and a husband who doesn't always (just being honest) help out around the house kind of puts a kink in the luxury of sitting down to study every day.  Now, I do have a set time of during nap time that is my goal to read, but life is life and that doesn't always work out.  But I'm  done and I've got mental bookmarks of places I want to go back and read slower.  Plus my friend Michelle let me borrow a book of 5 minute bible studies that she said is really good.  Yay for not feeling pressured to keep on top of one more thing!