ARG...STAINS!

So just about every morning Luke has strawberries with his breakfast.  I have finally stopped cutting up his food.  He will pick up the strawberry and just take a few bites out of it until it's gone, which is fantastic except for the strawberry juice that runs down his chin.  I generally make him wear a bib if he still has on his pj's, or just take his clothes off and wipe him down later.  This morning he took too long to eat so I finally left the breakfast table and sat with my coffee to start catching up on my DVRed shows.  A little while later he comes up to me, pulling on his bib as if to say "I'm done, get this thing off of me!".  So I ask him if he's done, he says "yeah" and I take it off. 

An hour later I look over at him sitting in his chair reading and he looks like this.

Really?  I specifically put his bib on his so he would NOT stain his shirt.  Apparently he went back later and ate the berries that he didn't finish before.  *sigh*  At least he's almost out grown those pj's. 

Not long after that we were playing on the floor and I look to my left at the entertainment center and I find a new decoration.  (and some awesome fingerprints on the digital frame)

I did not leave that there.  I guess he didn't finish his chocolate chip muffin for breakfast either.  20 minutes later it was gone.

 

Flowers

Today we weren't home more than we were home.  That never happens.  First we went to Kid's Kastle.  It's this ginormous playground that has more nooks and crannys and little passages than I have ever explored.  Every little boy's dream.  Except for my little boy, who apparently doesn't like gravel or tight spaces.  But we played for a little while and then headed to Lowe's for some flowers.

Saturday when Luke and I were at the birthday party, Cody did some work in the front yard.  The only thing is that he didn't actually work in the YARD, he cleaned out my flower bed.  Which normally I would have been very grateful for, but I had kept all the plants from last year to see if they would come back.  I probably should have communicated that at some point.  My bad.  So I needed some new flowers for the flower beds. 

We came home, ate a quick lunch, and I got both boys down for naps so I could go do this.  Ta da!

(Don't mind the crab grass there on the left.  I got spray for that today too.)

Our yard may be full of mowed down weeds, but at least the flower beds are bright and cheery! 

By the time I got done and showered off the boys were awake.  Boooo to missing my quiet time.  So we headed off to Walmart to get some much needed groceries.  Can you believe I was completely out of fruit?  I can't remember the last time that happend.  I was having to get creative with food for Luke. 

See?  Busy day. 

Weekend happenings

This weekend went by in a flash.  Yesterday morning I took Luke to his friend's birthday party.  Except I thought it was at 11 at the grandparents house, when in reality it was at 10 across town at a park.  Oops.  Eventually we made it.  And I even got a bite of the cupcake. 

Last night I went up to the church and hung out with the youth group girls for a spa night.  We had tons of food, foot spas, lots of nail polish, and beads to make jewelry.  Super fun and super girly! 

This morning before church I checked on my seeds (which I do several times a day, every day) and guess what?!  We're growing!  And this time I promise not to pull any of the seedlings up.  I don't know which seeds these are, but I'm sure by the time it counts I'll have figured it out.  Two pots down, three more to go!

(I promise where my finger is, there is a tiny tiny little sprout)

I have a problem

Sometimes when I'm sitting in a drive thru and it's taking F.O.R.E.V.E.R. I am really really REALLY tempted to put the car in park, walk up to the window, and politely ask why it's taking so long.  I mean, I am completely aware that the people inside are doing the best that they can to move the line along (at least that's what I choose to believe), they are not just sitting around taking pleasure in making people wait, and my turn will come eventually.  I would just like to know why it's taking so long.  It would make the waiting seem a little less pointless.  I was in the waiting line at CVS yesterday for my allergy perscription and I swear I sat there for 20 minutes.  But I was not about to get out of the car and go inside.  Luke has come to a stage in life where he hates hates hates to get back into his seat and screams bloody murder.  If I got out to go in, then we would have to get back in and I didn't want to face the scream.

So that was problem #1, and here is problem #2.  It's completely different.  You see, it's about my vice.  I can't resist it.  It is........children's books. 

Tonight Luke and I were on our own again, and I didn't want to just get something delivered like last Friday night.  I didn't know what I wanted to eat, I just wanted to get out of the house.  So Luke and I headed out and went to Half Price Books until I could figure out what I wanted for dinner.  When we left, we weren't alone.  We were accompained by 4 more books to add to my extremely large children's book collection. I'm talking hundreds of books. This time all the books just happend to be........now don't laugh.......Christmas books.  I didn't even realize it until we got home.  But I'm really excited about them!  I got Olive, the Other Reindeer (I already had the companion book to it which is Olive My Love.  Odd, I know, that I have the second one before the first), Mooseltoe (I also have the first book that goes with this, Moosestach, about a moose with an out of control mustache), Auntie Clause (about a family's mysterious aunt who always disapears around Christmas time), and Texas Night Before Christmas (do I even have to explain how awesome that one is?!). 

Then we went to La Madeleine's for dinner.  I'm just loving the age that Luke is right now.  He is becoming better and better behaved in public, and he's still so friggin cute that I get compliments ALLL the time.  He sat in his own chair, no booster seat, with his own dinner and ate like a big boy.  He stayed close by me when my hands were full of drinks.  And you know what I love about living in Texas?  How nice people are when they see you need help with your kid.  Tonight I had a random person get me a high chair just in case I needed it.  Yesterday at Target Luke got both boots stuck in one leg hole of the cart when I tried to put him in, and I was laughing so hard as I was trying to pull him out that I couldn't, and some lady came over and helped me.  When I have both boys with me I never ever have to open my own door to the store.  And when Luke is not being a sweet boy and screams in a store, no one gives me a dirty look.  Just chuckles and pats on the shoulder with a "We've all been there."  I love Texas.  I hope that people where you live are just as understanding. 

Cold feet and blue lips

So the first thing I did this morning (after waking up at the un-godly hour of 7:30 AM with Mr. Chatty Cathy) was call the AC people to see when they could come out.  I mean, it was 8:03 and I was praying they opened at 8 instead of 9.  Praise Jesus- they not only answered by they had someone at my house by 10:30!  Another huge blessing was the fact that the weather was gorgeous today, so with the windows all open it stayed a breezy 74 in the house.  My feet were cold.  Thank you Jesus for taking care of me and my babies today!

Back to the story.  So the dude came out and after poking around told me that the compressor fan was out.  So that's what the circular saw noise was.  He told me it would be $479 to replace.  *gasp*  For one little fan?!?!  Holy moly.  But then he told me that our whole unit really needed to be replaced, and that would START at $5000.  Start.  5 grand.  I wasn't really suprised that he said that.  The unit is origional with the house, which has already had birthday number 30.  Yes.  It's ancient.  But unfortunantly we don't have any insurance/warrenty policy that would cover replacing a unit that's just plain old and we don't have that kind of pocket change, so the quick fix of the fan will have to buy us some time.  And $500 doesn't look so bad when compaired to $5000.  That's a whole extra zero.

So all of that took pretty much the entire morning and early afternoon.  Plus the fact that Luke wouldn't go down for a nap really made it all fun. I mean, I put him in the crib at 12:45 and at 1:45 he was howling.  It started a chit chat with himself, and then I went into rock him.  Big mistake.  That's why an hour later he was voicing his frustrations in tears.  But I knew eventually tears would give way to sleep, and I was right. 

After he got up, at 4, I quickly got him dressed and headed out to get a hair cut.  Lord have mercy, the horror.  The girl wanted to try clippers on him to get it more even and I have never seen the poor child more terrified of anything.  Not needles, not the shower, not the vacuum, not even spaghetti.  That boy was HYSTERICAL.   She switched back to scissors, and things were okay until she had to use the little trimmers around the edges.  Panic and hysteria resumed once more.  We tried pinning his arms and head.  I tried holding him standing up.  I tried holding him sitting down.  I tried to give him a sucker.  There is a massage place next door, and I sure hope no one was trying to relax at that time because it sounded like a horror film. 

In the end he got a good hair cut.  And a sucker.  His first sucker.   I probably shouldn't have picked out a blue one though, because then he ended up looking like this.

Can you see the wide circle of blue around his lips?  If he were napping at this point someone might try to resuscitate him.  And it didn't come off with wipees.  Nope.  It took an hour for it to wear off. 

Yesterday was Monday.  That meant it was cleaning day and laundry day, nothing worth talking about there. 

Today we had a few fun things on the agenda.  It started with a 9 AM doctor's appointment for me.  I was in dire straights for a refill on the allergy meds and apparently you have to pay a $20 co-pay to say "I need more allergy meds".  He didn't look at me, he didn't ask me anything, just filled it and sent me on my way.  Please tell me why that couldn't be done over the phone. 

We also had our weekly playtime at the park this morning at 10:30, but we had about an hour to kill in between the dr and park time.  So, I took a stab at taking the boys to Starbucks.  It wasn't too bad at all.  Kayden just sat on the table in the car seat (love that age!) and Luke did fairly well.  He ate the breakfast I brought for him, then of course wanted part of what I ordered, and then entertained the fellow patrons by trying to "get away" with things like walking close to the door and grinning at me like he was hot stuff.  It was all good and well until he actually got half way out the door and I had to run across the seating area to retrieve him.  Then I felt we were just being distractions to the people trying to do actual work, so we left.  I got the boys out to the car with my coffee still intact, but that's when things took a sour note.  I had the coffee on the back of the car while I buckled in Luke and a strong wind blew it over.  So bummed.  I had only gotten 3 sips of it.  The only thing that made me feel okay with the situation was the fact that I had gotten weighed at the dr's office.  I was so pleasesntly suprised at the number on the scale that I figured why ruin it with a calorie laiden drink?   Plus I could get a huge Dr. Pepper later and not even feel guilty about it. 

We went off to the park and got there a few minutes before our friends did.  Poor Luke got really interested in the birds and spent a good 10 minutes trying to catch himself a crow.  And wouldn't you know, he didn't get a single one.  We played out there until 11:45 with Jayden and his mom Tamara, until SOMEONE was so tired he was crying over ever little thing.  Like how I wouldn't let him go play in the parking lot or in our empty car. 

We took off and I stopped at Chick fil A for lunch (told you I could have something and not feel guilty about it!).  The rest of the afternoon was slow and easy, except for the fact that our air conditioner quit working.  So now we are all hot, sticky (the humidity is really up there), and personally I'm dreading trying to sleep in this.  It's supposed to rain tonight, so we can't even leave the windows open.  Not that I could anyway, I would be listening to all the noises outside and paranoid that men in black ski masks were making their way inside. 

He has RISEN!

What a beatiful day to celebrate.  Last night when I put Luke to bed I got to tell him all about today.  Today is an amazing day that we get to remember.  Today is the reason we are truly alive.  Today is the reason we have hope.  Today is the reason we have a future.  And all because THE Lord, in compelete love, had the compassion to experience Hell so that we could have everything.  EVERYTHING.

Amazing.

As you do in most celebrations, we had a little gift exchange.  Okay, we gifted Luke in the traditional Easter manner.  He got to wear his super handsome Easter outfit to church:

He got his Easter basket before we left:

After nap time we had a egg hunt in the back yard:

And we at ate lots and lots of candy:

I didn't even let him eat this much candy at Halloween.  I'm becoming a big ole softie.

Then we came in and busted out the car that was inside the big egg and his new bubbles.  Oh my, we had not done bubbles in a long time, since he's really been old enough to enjoy them I guess, and he LOVED IT.  I got the biggest kick out of watching his entire face light up and him flapping his arms around like a maniac trying to "catch" them.  And apparently we haven't gotten down the concept of blowing, because I would catch a bubble on the wand and he would "blow" it off.....which really meant he would lean in closer and closer until is eventually kissed it and it popped. 

Tonight Cody picked us up dinner from a new place- Fuzzy Tacos.  I don't like Mexican food, and I don't like tacos.  Oh. My. Word.  It was pure amazingness.   I could eat there every day.  I had never had it before and I wasn't particularly looking forward to tonight's entree, but I'm so glad I went with it. 

Also, we still had a wild banshee at 8:50.  Bedtime is usually 8 at the latest.  Cody calls him Raptor-boy when he gets to shrieking like that.  I'm talking running races with himself crazy.  He would go "Ahh...ahhh....gooooo!" and then tear off through the house (that's translates "Ready.....set.....gooooo!" for those of you who don't speak Luke-talk).  This kid was on more of a sugar high than he knew what to do with. 

Today we got to revel in the fact that our Savior lives and enjoy the Sabath.  We had more candy than should have been allowed.  We had a great lunch with the family and a relaxing dinner with the Von Trapp family singers (Sound of Music was on).  It was a grand day.

LTC convention

Tonight was the LTC convention and I just have to say our kids sounded great!  We even got the comment from a judge that we were the best performance they had heard all day.  Wow!  I am so proud of what they accomplished and how hard they worked.  Afterwards Cody and I met up with some friends at Blue Goose and sat out on the patio for a couple of hours enjoying a gorgeous Saturday night.  We even were home by 9:30.  Does that ever happen? 

Now I'm just looking forward to tomorrow- Easter!

Random Bits

1. There are a couple of new shows I've been watching lately.  Some I'm proud of, some I'm not.  After a multi-year hiatus from VH1, I've been sucked back in by Sober House (which was preceeded by Celebrity Rehab) and Jessica Simpson's Price of Beauty.  I'm actually really glad to see good ole Jess in a show that doesn't make her look like a blubbering fool, and it's been really interesting to learn about beauty in other culutres.  And obviously those were some extremely guilty pleasures.  What I'm proud to proclaim I watch is Modern Family.  Oh. My. Gosh.  I think it's my next Friends.  I've had a hard time letting go of that one. 

2.  I think it's hysterical that Luke hates having dirt on his hands.  Whenever he gets them dirty outside he will come in and have me brush them off.  He'll just walk up to me with his hands out- palms up- and make a noise in the back of his throat.  I'll brush them off, he'll go running back outside, and 2 minutes later he's back. 

3.  I'm really not sure what I should write down as his "first" word.  He says something that sounds like "that" and "this" and any time you ask him a question he'll answer "yes", no matter what you said.  Also recently he's started saying something along the lines of "go".  Do I pick one of these?  Do I wait until it's more clear cut? 

4.  I made and ordered my 4th photo book last month.  I keep forgetting to tell you about this one.  To flip  through the books I've made you can go here.  You could even buy one if you wanted, but I don't know why you would really want to spend upwards of $70 for books of pictures solely of my son.  At the end of the month is my one year anniversary of the blog, so I'm going to upload all of my posts to a book format and get it printed so future generations can read what life was like in the early 2000's.  If' it survives a couple of hundred years, being passed down generation to generation.  Or just for Luke and his future kids to see what kind of mess he really was.

Green Thumb

I'm trying to plant stuff again.  Yesterday Luke and I went to Lowe's and got potting soil and a bunch of seed packets.  We also nearly got blown away standing in line due to some wickedly strong wind that's whipping through here, which lead to my rosemary seeds getting blown away.  Super bummed about that but maybe I can get some more soon.

Anyway, I got some basil, parsely, cilantro, and chives, which I planted last night in little pots and put them outside my back door.  I went to check on them this morning and there was nothing. 

Just kidding.

I know I"ve got a week or so before I can use them to cook.

Plus I also got some grape tomato seeds, spinach seeds, and zinna seeds.  I thought I might plant those in this little strip of yard in between the house and the sidewalk that leads to the driveway in the back yard.  But right now that little strip of land is totally and utterly consumed with weeds.  So if I get them all dug up in the next week or so I might try my hand at grown me some veggies.  The last time I tried to grow vegtables I was probably in middle school.  I was so worried that the little sprouts coming up were weeds that I pulled them all up.  Is any one suprised that NOT ONE thing grew in my little garden?  Not one.  But that summer we sure did have a nice clean flower bed.

Now switching gears, I forgot that I had hidden the camera in my robe pocket the other day to keep it away from Luke, and I had a few things to share.  Like what we wore Sunday morning to church:

And also a 10 second clip of Luke "talking".  I know I've mentioned several times about how he is behind verbally, so I wanted to get a video him.  Not just for you, but so that one day when this is all behind us we can look back and laugh.  I just hope he's not 30 when we can finally look back and laugh.