Princess Parties are Rough

Gracie fell off a chair at my niece's 4th bday party yesterday and used her face to break her fall. It was dark purple for awhile, but this shiner actually looks better than it did last night.

She actually wanted me to take a picture of her owie, which was a nice change of pace from never sitting still for a picture EVER.

Tate also wanted to document his owie.

Love his face here, showing the seriousness of the situation.

Last weekend he was inspecting Grammy's freezer drawer when Gracie slammed it shut with his fingers inside. It looks a million times better than it did at first. dark purple and bloody, I really thought about taking him to the ER, but I'm a big baby. Ice packs and cuddles were the best medicine for both injuries. I'm just hoping nobody calls CPS when we stroll into church today.

My Do IT!

I think all parents of toddlers can attest to the intensity of the MY DO IT stage. If they have decided they can/will do something on their own there is no negotiation. We are learning to roll with G and T's new found independence and when we have to veto an activity. Last night's My DO IT was the hair dryer after bath time. I decided that was safe-ish as long as I controlled the temp and airflow.



What are your kids MY doing?

A Deal

Sean was out of town all weekend on a guy's trip= I went to my mom's for help with our crew. It was craziness as always and I'm still tired.

Sadly, he left again today for AZ for work. Won't be back until Friday=impending doom.

My dad is being a good sport and coming up here for a couple of days to help, and I shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth and all, but sometimes he is just another person to take care of. It will be good to have an extra pair of hands regardless to make sure Benny doesn't dive down the stairs.

Last night he broke the news to G and T that he was leaving again. It went like this.

Daddy: I have to leave again to Arizona for work tomorrow.
Gracie: Daddy, why?!
Tate: Yeah, why?
(audible sound of daddy's heart breaking)

Daddy: I have to for work, but I will be right back in a few days and gpa is coming to stay.
G: Oh.
T: Yam (means "yeah") ok.
Daddy: But we can talk on the phone every night and mama will tell me if you are being good! If you are really good I could bring you back a present?
G and T : (Widening eyes) Ok ndsjfijdfiojgjdjfiejrjjijrji (jumble of chatter)
Daddy: what kind of present would you like?
Mama: a new book?
Daddy: candy?
G and T :Yeah candy! 5 candies! blue candies!
Daddy: Ok so every night I'll call and if mama says you are being really good then I will bring you home some candy!
Gracie: YETH! I'll DO IT!

She Strikes Again

I thought we were done with this spiteful using-poop-as-a-weapon business.

Grace and Tate have both been accident free for about a week, and rarely have more than one a day if they do. But this morning I open the door to their room and see a couple of "pieces" on the ground. Grace looks at me and says "What is it, Mama?" and I naively say, "Oh it must be crumbs or chocolate chips" thinking someone snuck a snack in here yesterday. (Yes, my house is dirty enough I could have missed it). Then she says, "No, It's poop!" and laughs.

It took me too long to figure out she had done this on purpose and knew for sure it was poop. Then she showed me the part that was between her bedroom door and mine (they are directly across the hall from each other). So not only did my little girl throw some around her room, she purposely grabbed a piece to roll from under her locked door and aim at mine. Am I supposed to read into this? Was she 'sending me a message' about early bedtime? moving her bed away from the window? or in some other toddler protest?

*Sigh*
No answers here. I'm just happy that a girl at daycare is having cupcakes for her b-day and I told Gracie that girls who play with poop don't get cupcakes (because that makes logical sense, right?). She seemed serious when she told me "My not play with poop anymore, mama, ok?"

Whatever works.

Hey There, Handsome

My Funny Valentine

We had the brokest (is that a word?) Valentine's day ever yesterday. But my husband never ceases to amaze.

I ordered him a card from tiny prints (free with coupon thankyouverymuch) and I was moping around all day thinking of all I wouldn't be getting. No chocolates. No flowers. No cards. We literally had 4 dollars left in our bank account until pay day (today, yay!) But as always I am reminded how rich I am in love and family. He made me a hilarious card that I adore. After the kids went to bed he lit candles (and took down the dining room fort) to make a romantic dinner for two. We had steak and roasted potatoes with my fav cheese sauce, wine, and even dessert! He spent $1.85 at the store with coupons for our meal and dessert was chocolates he bought me at Borders with a gift card he had from Christmas. I even got a real gift, a cd I'd been wanting also from his gift card. Very sweet and thoughtful.

Finally we watched a rental we got for free with (you guessed it) another coupon! So the grand total out of pocket was $1.85 and we had a really sweet and romantic evening.

Below is the card he made me. Hilarious to me, might be semi-nerdy to you. I'm ok with that.


We used to look like this


Now we look like this


But we still have this

Hope your day reminds you of all the love in your life as well!

This Morning

I get the kids all ready by myself on week day mornings so that Sean can get to work early/ come home early. The stage is set for insanity on any given day since I am grossly outnumbered.

Here's a bit of humor from my morning (unless you don't find potty humor, well, funny).

Me: Changing Benny's diaper on the couch
G and T: fumbling around in the bathroom.
T: "My going potty!"
Me: "Ok wait for me to come help you!"
T: walks out into the hallway with his pants and big boy underwear around his ankles
G: following T with a wipe.

You can probably see where this is headed

G: "Ok buddy let me just help you!" Proceeds to wipe his bum
T: "Thank you!"
G: "Ok I put this in the trash now, mama!"
Me: Staring quite dumbfounded, stammering "um...ok yeah"

I was going to discipline/discourage her in some way, but really she was being quite sweet and helpful to her brother and frankly, I could use the help around here. (I told that to my mom and she was disgusted with me for considering letting Gracie "help" full time). Of course I wouldn't do that, I would totally take over on a number 2. I'm serious kidding.

So sweet though, not 2 minutes later Tater was pouting in the kitchen because he had to wait for his potty reward while I finished getting Benny dressed. Gracie went in there after him, "Don't be mad at my mama buddy, ok? She get your treat. Don't be mad, buddy."

She is all over this little mommy phase and I am loving it.

CSN Winner is...

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(leahhaney at gmail dot com)

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CSN Giveaway

Score! CSN has offered another giveaway to my readers! This time you get a credit for $45 to any of their stores! You could buy your sweetheart yourself something sweet for Valentine's day or gear up for Spring. The groundhog did say it was coming early! Check out these swingsets and outdoor toys, $45 would certainly be a nice discount on one of those!

Good Luck!

To enter:
1. Follow my blog, leave a comment saying so (1 entry) ----------->
2. Leave a comment with what you might use your credit for (1 entry.)
(For example, today I would spend mine entirely on chocolate.)

Make sure you leave some way for me to get a hold of you when you win!

I will draw a winner on Sunday, Feb 6th !

I'm finding driving toddlers around to be like an endless game of "I Spy" where everyone gets to spy 50 things at the same time. AND you better acknowledge each super exciting find with enthusiasm or it will be repeated until you do.

Also, they feature run-on sentences like this one by Gracie Noel:

"mamaIwannahearthatlovesongnotthatsongtheothersongisyouanddaddysotherlovesongyouanddaddyaremarriedbecauseyoulovedaddysoooomuchandyougotaringanddaddygotaringandIwantaringwhenIgetmarriedandyouloveTaterandyouloveBennyandyoulovedaddyandyouaremarriedandyouhugandkissdaddyallllltimes."

(We are really into the marriage/rings/love talk lately).

I'd guess it's been about year and a half since Sean and I had a conversation in the car. Maybe we can treat ourselves to one for Valentine's day? Lock the kids in the house for 10 minutes and pretend we are driving and talking. Sounds super lame romantic.

Yes, my standards have hit an all time low.