He's Too Dang Smart

Never turn your back on a toddler, they'll never cease to surprise you. After an unusually late trip to Target for diapers and other essentials, me and Super came home and I got him out of the car and into the house. Having to return back to the car to get the next load of stuff, I was thinking to myself what a nice trip we had and how much I was looking forward to reading some more of my book (that'll be another blog). I reached out and turned the door knob and gave a slight push... nothing happened. I put down my packages and tried to push harder, know that our door sticks sometimes... nope. I was locked out of the house by my son.

I knocked on the door to see if I could get him to undo the damage. But hearing my knock and my voice calling from the other side of the door just caused him to panic a bit. Moving to a window, I beckoned him over to try to calm him down through the window. After a few minutes of coaxing him to the window and pointing to the lock, he was more uneasy and had himself a good cry. But neither of us gave up. A few more minutes later and I was able to talk to him enough and gesture enough that my big boy understood what to do and unlocked the window. Two seconds later I was back in the house with a new vow to never leave without my keys attached to me in some way. I've heard of other children doing this on a regular basis and I'm so thankful my son was able to do what was needed to do to help me back inside. Hopefully this experience won't teach him to get out on his own through that window. Cross your fingers for me!

Groans Heard Around the World

It's the first day of football season and I could not be less happy. Normally the only day Danny and I get to spend together with Super is Sunday. I know the games only take a few hours but those are prime hours that I'm used to having and I hate watching my husband lounge around watching a game while his little boy wants his attention. I know I'm not the only one out there who feels this way and I'm keeping my chin up. I'll have plenty of time that day to do just about anything else so I'm going to do my best to take advantage of it.

Why Mothers Should Not Nap

There are several reasons but I had a wake up call very recently... I closed my eyes because I was exhausted (keeping my ears open for a distress call, just in case) and woke up 45 minutes later to this....

Just to let you know, flour doesn't make a sound but it can get on EVERYTHING in an apartment if you give a toddler enough time. When I laid down, I made sure to hide anything dangerous (I JUST noticed there was Raid on the counter, thank goodness he doesn't care about it) and to put away the basket our son climbs on top of... but he can get things off the washing machine now. It took two days to clean up because if you look hard, you'll see a large cup of water that he used to make the most disgusting paste in the world. When I saw what he had done, I almost lost it. I was very thankful that a good friend came over and rescued him. I was not capable of handling everything at once. See that green thing in the last picture? That's our salt and pepper shaker. Pour salt out of the top, grind out of the bottom, it's one of my favorite kitchen tools. He completely submerged it and it had to get tossed. Actually, I almost salvaged it but the next night when we were making dinner, Super was playing with the lid to the salt part and innocently put it down. I didn't realize until it was too late that he put it on the stove top and it melted. Grrrr! What do you do? Cover him with kisses and finish as quickly as you can. I also now know to keep the flour in a very high place that requires me to get a step stool or to call for Danny. Ahhh kids, they keep it interesting.

Down the Crapper

Darn it! Super just walked into the bathroom right as I was flushing and threw one of this foam numbers in. I hope that #2 (ha ha pun) doesn't block anything, I have no idea how to retrieve something like that. He's never really had much interest in throwing things in and I'm sad that I have to start locking the door on him. Just pray for me that it doesn't back up in the house.

Yea!

While my mom was visiting last week, she told me the basic outline for the Clan of the Cave Bear series so I needed to order them on eBay. They are finally here! I'm so happy and after a long day at work, a much needed Enrichment meeting at church and a toddler that insisted on staying up an hour later than normal, I could really use a good book and a solid nights sleep. I just hope I'm not too engrossed that I can put it down. I have a feeling it's going to be tough.

P.S. I wrote a quick blog about our visit listed a few entries back if you want to read it!

Happy Birthday Annie!

(Picture stolen from her mothers blog)

This precious little lady entered our lives just one year ago and she has been a constant joy among the people that love her. She's adventurous and strong, doesn't take any crap from her big brother and I have a feeling she's going to be a sassy girl that gives her mom a run for her money. I'm truely thankful that I'm a member of her family and that I get to watch her grow up into the amazing woman I know she'll be. Happy Birthday Annie Bananie!

I'm Converted

I've never been against the kid play places like Monkey Joe's and KangaZoom but I never really cared enough about them to go to one. With my mom visiting for a few days and the endless rain she brought with her, we decided to give one a try. We've both heard my big sister rave about places like this and Carley, my little sister works in one, so we knew it couldn't be bad.

Super LOVED it. He loved it so much that my mom gave him an early birthday present and the next 10 visits are on her. I can't wait to take him back. He loves balls and they have an abundance of them in all kinds of sizes. He loves to bounce and jump and he realized it could do both without a lot of effort or any pain if he fell.






I have to say that I loved it too. Who knew that putting on a pair of socks and running around could be so fun after the age of 10? I think I'm going to enjoy going back so often and I'm interested to see if Danny can participate with us. With him being as big as he is, I doubt he'd fit in most of the inflatables but I'm pretty sure he could make it down one of the gigantic slides they have. On the subject of the slides, they are so cool! Hunter had no fear as he climbed up them and I didn't have to help because falling wouldn't hurt but he was flawless the 3-4 times he did it himself.

I'm excited to say that we'll be going back soon and often. I think I'm even going to cancel my gym membership so the budget doesn't have to change. I don't go anymore anyway and this form of cardio is much more fun.

Tooting My Own Horn

I don't get to see my niece and nephew often enough but I feel like I still know them. I'm constantly on the phone with Penny and listening to their life, reading a blog about them or getting a random phone call from one of them that my sis doesn't know about. I'm a pretty good aunt and here is why...I called my big sis the other day to see what was up. We've both been really busy so I haven't gotten to talk to her as often as I want to. Little Annie was having herself a big tantrum and it was clearly audible in the back ground of the conversation. I could hear Penny practically rolling her eyes in exasperation over this little girl that would not give up the screaming. So I dug down in my brain and remembered a fact about my niece, she loves shoes, and I told my sis that she should try putting some on her. A minute later, there was blessed silence and I got a big thank you from a very happy mother. That girl and her love of shoes is after my own heart. I don't personally have an extensive collection... yet, but as she gets older and we all become more financially stable, we're going to have a great time shopping together.

Our Visit From Suburban Earth Mama

We had such a great visit. Mom is so low maintenance that she makes you WANT to take care of her, especially since she did it while I was growing up, I want to return to favor as well as be a good hostess. She came in super late on Saturday night, we set up her bed, had some good chatting and went to sleep. Sunday was a lazy day, interrupted by a fun little birthday party and it was good that Super got a chance to get comfortable with this other person in our home. Monday and Tuesday were a flurry of shopping, playing with Hunter and eating way too much food. Something I love about Suburban Mama... she loves to fill our refrigerator (and I'm in no ways complaining) and then take us out for lunch (which again, not complaining). I usually have a hard time going with the flow and letting her take us out when we have a house FULL of food. Then again, I'm more than happy to sit back and let myself be spoiled.


It's really nice to be able to sit back with your mother and actually talk about things that are important in your life now. Just a few years ago, everything was different and if you go back a few more years... yikes! But now that I'm a mother and she is finding herself lots of new hobbies, including finding the perfect piece of land for her dream home, we actually understand each other much better. It's also fun to find out how much we have in common, even if it's just something like yard work and books. We started a Monopoly game one night (she totally enabled me) and she began telling me about these books she started reading when she was the young mother of a toddler. After hearing a rough run down of them, I asked her to really tell me the story. I'm not someone that can't hear the ending or a book or a movie before I get to it myself. I'm actually happy most of the time to find out what's going to happen first.

After a few days of shopping and hanging out...I'm sad she had to leave but I'm happy we'll get to see each other soon. I love the relationship we have... it may not be perfect but it's perfect for us and it's all ours to do whatever we want with it.

It'll Be a Few Days

I have so much to update about but I slashed open my right index finger on a staple to the point that typing HURTS. So, it'll be a few days before I can really catch up because as I'm jotting this note for my regular readers, the pressure has split open my finger again. Anyone that wants to talk better call me because no emails will be returned until at least Saturday.