Friday, May 30, 2008

You've gotta love this smile!















There's nothing like losing your two front teeth at the same time, or in Carson's case, within 3 days of each other.

It was a memorable Memorial Day for sure. Pulling Carson's teeth is like pulling teeth. That just sounded really stupid, didn't it? My point is that my son has such high anxiety about his teeth from going to the dentist to flossing - he freaks out. The last two teeth he has lost were pulled out by Dad and was somewhat done as trickery. You can't let Carson know what's coming so he just had to pull without warning. Traumatic? Yep. But, the teeth were out.

This time it was my turn. My aunt informed me about the string process. Not the ridiculous "3 Stooges" method where you tie a piece of string to your tooth and the other end to a door knob and then slam the door shut. No, this method is a bit more humane, if you will. You take a piece of dental floss and wrap it behind the tooth, bring it up front and then criss-cross them making sure the floss is up above/below the tooth by the gum line. Then, all you do is pull the criss-cross and the tooth magically gets squeezed right out! I can't believe I hadn't known about this in the past. Poor Taylor, what he had to endure.

Just getting the floss into Carson's mouth was the first challenge, but once it was in I let him feel it. Then with a slight tug, out popped the tooth onto the floor, but it went missing. With a little searching we managed to find it, but poor Carson was sad. He wanted me to put it back where it was in his mouth.

Now fast forward 3 days to last night. I hear commotion in the bathroom between Dad and Carson and go in to see the attempt to pull his other front tooth. I agree to take over, but had to have Dad put a death hold on Carson who refused to hold still. Carson was doing everything in his power to stop us by kicking, screaming, and spitting. I go through the process, get the string on and pull, but nothing seemed to happen. Carson continues his rage and spits again at me and guess what spit right out into my hand? Yep, the other front tooth. We all had a great laugh at that.

Not only has his looks changed, but he sounds so different when he talks. More specifically words that have the letter "S" in them. It's too cute.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Which one is it?

My five year old just came up to me with a trial sized toothpaste and asked, "Mom, is this butt cream or toothpaste?"

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Uncooked pizza, stolen vehicle and some bushes

Here's another hilarious police story from our local paper.

Note to self if ever intoxicated: cook pizza before eating and avoid bushes.

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A woman stole a car from outside a pizza parlor Friday night, then crashed into a car and a building, police said.

Police said the woman left the scene of both crashes, but was found a short time later eating a stolen, uncooked frozen pizza in the bushes outside a Walgreens store.

The woman was taken to jail on charges of drunken driving, leaving the scene of an accident, theft and false informing.

The woman is accused of stealing a Ford Focus. Police received a call shortly after 9 p.m. Friday that the car rear-ended another vehicle.

The woman whose vehicle was struck followed the Ford Focus, but she lost the car when it turned around and headed eastbound. A short time later, police received a report that the Ford Focus, driven by an apparently intoxicated woman in a nurse's uniform, crashed into a Burger King.

Minor damage occurred and the Ford Focus left the scene. But at 10 p.m. Friday, police received a report of a woman unconscious in the bushes at a Walgreens. Police said the woman, who was wearing a nurse's uniform, had stolen a frozen pizza from Walgreens and was eating it uncooked outside the store.

Police said the woman gave a false name, but was identified. The Ford Focus was recovered and had paint transfer linking it to the two crashes, police said.

Monday, May 19, 2008

The garage sale weekend

This past week has been so busy. I have been preparing for the garage sale we had on Friday and Saturday, along with deep cleaning and de-cluttering for the 2 house showings we had during the garage sale. What timing, huh?

I am one of those strange people who enjoy every aspect of having a garage sale. I love finding things to sell, organizing and pricing the items, sitting outside all day in the sun while I watch people buy our stuff, making a decent amount of money, and even cleaning up and packing it away to give to the neighbor for their fund raising garage sale in June. My husband made a funny comment. He said, "Don't you feel bad making people pay money for our junk?" And I replied, "Heck no! That's what garage sales are all about."

Garage sales sure bring out all kinds of breeds of people, if I can put it nicely that way. And with all the different breeds, you're bound to get interesting comments and questions. For instance, one woman asked, "How much you want for the Chinese balls?" A few gentlemen were looking specifically for tools, of which we had none. And one man made the comment, "You must not be going through a divorce." True.

People will also buy pretty much anything. N*Sync and Backstreet Boys CD's, bras, potty seats, stuffed animals, "Happy Meal" toys, used make-up, and more.

And the neighborhood kids swarm each sale (our entire neighborhood participated) and raid the free box and spend countess quarters buying cookies and pop. My oldest son Taylor and a few of his friends decided to try and attract buyers by dressing up in costumes and standing on the corner. I think they caused the opposite, but they were very entertaining. These pictures will be great to display at their high school graduation open house. Bribery!

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

The boys make me laugh

I originally started this blog to document all the funny and memorable things my boys say and do.

And today I bring it back to it's roots and keep you up to date on their latest words.

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I was at the grocery store shopping with my 3 year old Luke. As I was waiting in line to pay, my son picks up a bottle of Pine Sol floor cleaner. He looks at it, holds it up to me and asks, "Mom, is this beer?"

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We were driving back home along a rural stretch of road. I announce to the boys that there are cows out in the field. Carson, my 5 year old replies, "They look like buffalo."

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On Mother's Day I walk out of the bedroom in the morning to see our table filled with flowers, gifts, and cards from the boys and my husband. Luke is very excited and yells out, "Mom - Happy Birthday!" I had to correct him and remind him that it wasn't my birthday, but was Mother's Day. He looks at me with confusion, walks away, and mumbles, "Happy Easter."

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Out on a shopping adventure at the mall I am standing in line to pay with both Carson and Luke. They are getting impatient as the line is taking a very long time, plus it was nap time so they were restless. At the checkout there are bags of candy, and Luke begins to lick one of the bags. If that wasn't bad enough, he looks at a man standing behind us and says, "It's Daddy!" The man was a bit embarrassed but was a good sport and said, "Don't let my wife hear that!" I do have to give Luke credit, the guy was dressed like my husband when he goes to work and they were about the same height and had the same color hair and style. So, Luke was close, but not quite.

Monday, May 12, 2008

Random Picture Day

I am at a loss for an actual post, so you get my random picture day post. Enjoy.



This is the purse I am currently using and it's working out pretty nice. It's very roomy and it makes me feel like I have some sense of fashion, even though I don't have a clue.

The boys decided to create their own hairstyles without my knowledge. There's lots of hair gel in there, but they look oh so darn cute.


I asked Luke to give me a really mad face - he pulled it off very well.


Here's Carson's attempt at a mad face - what a goof ball.


Here is how Carson makes his own sandwich. Notice the mustard - Dijon, ugh.

Blogger is being a pain in the booty and won't let me upload any more pictures, so that's all she wrote.

Thursday, May 08, 2008

You can pick your friends, and you can pick your nose......

But you can't pick your friend's nose.

I love that saying and I couldn't wait to use it.

Today I am speaking, actually I guess I am typing, about noses.

More specifically, Luke and Carson and their nose issues.

This morning Luke woke up and had blood all over his face, pajamas, pillows and sheets. It was a mess. I wondered who he got in a fight with last night. And for that matter, what the other guy looked like. There's nothing more frightening than seeing your child covered in his own blood. So I've been on clean up patrol and am monitoring him since the bleeding comes and goes. It's not really bad, but when I have him blow he looks at it and says Ewweee. My sentiments exactly.

Carson on the other hand has a bad habit of being a picker. What is it that's so enticing about digging for gold? I am surprised he hasn't had many bloody noses. I am very thankful that my boys don't internally recycle their finds, if you know what I mean. That is seriously one thing that will get me on the verge of vomiting, seeing a kid eat his own booger. I even had a hard time typing that out without my stomach churning. Ugh! Nasty! I would rather clean up puke or change a juicy diaper than see what I just typed.

And another "why" question I have is why do kids find it necessary to put items inside their nose when they were never intended to be there in the first place? Such as when Carson was younger he put a popcorn kernel in his nose. Thankfully we were able to have him blow it out, or we would have been making a trip to the ER. Another time one of the boys (I can't recall which one it was in particular) put a green pea up there.

I don't get it. Is this just a boy thing or do girls do it too?

Wednesday, May 07, 2008

My little Luke


Yesterday I went to vote in the primary election and a sweet older gentleman gave me a sticker to wear that showed "My Vote Counted." When I got home Luke looked at my sticker and asked if I had gotten my shots. He figured since I received a sticker I must have had to get a shot. He's so cute and so observant.

On Monday he celebrated his 3rd birthday. I couldn't post that day because my laptop battery was exhausted and my charger was broken, but I'm back up and running. We're finally out of the 2's, but I know for sure the 3's can be even more of a challenge. I've been there with 2 other boys so we'll see how this year pans out.

Luke is at that age where he is starting to say cute things. Not that he hasn't in the past, but now you can actually understand him better. Not only does he say cute things, but he also says things that can be embarrassing.

Such as last night, we were playing outside and I was chatting to the neighbors. This particular neighbor's name is Doug, but Luke could never pronounce his name so he always ended up calling him Dad. And the name has stuck. Doug's parents pull up and they are all outside in their driveway talking while Luke and I were playing in our backyard. Luke asks me who those people are and I tell him it's our neighbors grandma and grandpa. I should have known better to use first names because right off the bat Luke starts yelling, "Hi grandpa!" and continues to yell it until his greetings are acknowledged. So apparently we're related to our neighbors, little did I know.

Another example of how embarrassing a 3 year old can be was the time we were out grocery shopping. We were in an aisle where there were a lot of people and I was starving. My stomach makes this really loud obnoxious sound when it's low on food and it so happened to make that particular noise at that moment. Luke apparently hears it and asks in a rather loud voice, "Mom, you have to go poop?" Oh, the snickering around me was ridiculous. I couldn't make eye contact with anyone.

Don't you just love funny kid embarrassing moments? We'll always remember them for sure.

Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Pimp my blog

That's what I feel like has happened.

Have you noticed my new look? You like?

I sent my blog off to boot camp for a new design since it was lacking one - big time.

Huge hugs, thanks, and props go out to the amazing Beth - I Should Be Folding Laundry. That girl is so multi-talented. I bet she could balance a table on her chin while hula hooping! That's how cool she is! Thank you so much Beth!

I now feel like my blog is a better reflection of who I am and not a cookie-cutter design. I like originality and am digging my new home.




Speaking of new homes, I mentioned awhile back that we're going to be moving to Ohio this summer due to my husband's job transfer. Well, we went to look at a number of houses 2 weekends ago. With each house we looked at I was hopeful, and then we would go to the next house and that one would outshine the last one we looked at. It was one of the final ones we stopped in that I felt like it belonged to us. I could feel us living our lives in each room we toured.

Well, all except this big black cat that kept staring at us and seemed to magically appear with each room we walked in. It startled me when we first entered through the front door. I seriously thought it was a decoration, until it moved it's head. Luke looked at it and his first words were, "I love you kitty." Even when he realized it was real he just wanted it to be his friend.

I don't do cats. We've tried them out in the past, but I have never found myself to ever have a connection with them. I do not trust them. Those sharp claws and sharp teeth can come out at any given moment. No thank you.

This black cat in particular had a look on his face (probably because he was fat and old) that he was pissed off. He looked very grumpy and Luke even made notice of it by saying, "That cat is mad." So every time he'd see it, he'd say, "Mad kitty." It was really cute. (Luke that is, not the large evil cat.)

We were walking up the stairs and here comes yet another cat, fat and fluffy, speeding down the stairs. What the heck? The cats made me a little cautious about the house, plus I am allergic to them, but a good thorough carpet and duct cleaning and I should be just fine.

We determined that this was the house that we want to call our home, so we made an offer that day. And wouldn't you know it, 2 days later they accepted. So we now have a signed contract to purchase that house, but if we could only sell this one we'd be happy campers.

Friday, May 02, 2008

Your plans vs His

I have been very moved by this video and felt compelled to share it. What an amazing journey this family has gone through and their perspective blows me away.

I am thankful that Green Grass Grows posted it on her blog.

So please set aside some time (27 minutes) and watch - this family has such amazing faith and strength.



Smith Family Story from Matthew Singleton on Vimeo.

Thursday, May 01, 2008

Being made

Last night I went to my regular Wednesday night work out class. I walk in and there is a guy sitting at a table with a bunch of video camera equipment and a laptop. I drop the boys off in the child care room and notice the room is completely clean and organized and child care lady is telling my boys they can't be loud, yell or make a mess. So I ask the girl what the heck is going on. Come to find out MTV is taping an episode of the show "Made".

Seriously? Yep, seriously.

Why this particular gym I wonder since the girl is not from the city I live in, but is from a surrounding town. I am standing outside the room where they are taping waiting for my class to start thinking they might get a shot of me in the background, but then they closed the doors. Yes, I was being nosy. But I thought it was kinda cool that they were here filming. That kind of stuff doesn't happen too often around here.

It got me thinking what would I do if I were to be on that show, figuratively that is, not that I'd ever in a million years apply to be on the show. But what is it that I have always wanted to try and do or try to be but I've let other things get in the way?

I think one of my goals is to be more knowledgeable in a general sense. It's not anything a show can transform me into. I want to learn things, but keep a godly perspective. I don't want to chase after worldly knowledge and let God's wisdom take a back seat? I need to find that balance and it's not easy.

What I should really be asking is what does God want to make me into? Not what do I want for myself.

I'm getting deep here, huh? Self searching. I want to have meaning and purpose and feel useful. What am I letting stand in my way? What am I afraid of? Why do I care?

Thanks for letting me ramble.