Reminiscing the baby years

Convo with Parker while watching Lillie's favorite Baby Einstein video:

Parker: "Mom, do you remember when I was a baby, like when I was 3 and I LOVED this video?"

Me: "Well, 3 isn't a baby but i do remember you LOVED this video."

Parker: "3 is definitely a baby. People who are 3 can't do anything! They can't have icecream for breakfast or stay up til dark."

Me: "Hmmm... well kids who are older can't do those things either."

Parker: "Yeah I guess. But 3 feels like a baby to me."

Country Bumpkins

If photos could sum up my kids lives in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by land and not to mention cows, these would be them! (YES, that really is our backyard!!)

Rescue Hero

According to Parker, Lillie woke up this morning "being a nudgie and making him frustrating." ( I think it was more to get his attention but sometimes it's all the same thing). Usually, she wakes up and runs to tackle hug him. Instead, this morning she went straight for him as he was laying on the couch watching TV and yanked off his Thomas slippers. Then she proceeded to rip his blanket off of him and then run away with it, in the hopes he would chase her. Luckily (for her) he is laid back and pretty nice about things like this because in his defense, he did give her several chances to redeem herself but she continued on her mission to get to him. She stole his cereal, tried to tickle his hair (not sure what that was about) and then got his toothbrush out of the bathroom, and tried to force it down his throat. She really was owning up to her secret nickname "Lil the pill". I decided to hang low during all of this and stay out of it. Finally, after a good 1/2 hour of this torment I hear Parker say VERY loudly to her while hiding under his blanket so she couldn't attack him with her hard plastic princess shoes... "Lillie! STOP! You are making me sooo tired and I don't know what to do with you!! MOMmmmm!!! Are you going to rescue me from Lillie???"

Haha... "Rescue". Very accurate word usage. I did rescue him and once she realized that she was not getting a playmate acting that way, she tackle hugged him and smothered him with kisses and said "sorry" about a dozen times. Once again, I learned a valuable lesson on forgiveness from my kids. After all that attention getting torture, Parker didn't even hesitate to tackle hug her back say, " I forgive you Lillie" and invite her under his dinosaur cave. AMAZING!!

My brother. My hero. My friend.

Marriage mantra

Those of you who talk to me on a regular basis know that Trevis and I have a new mantra. It is: "Moving is not a marriage builder." We have decided that we could probably write a book with this title and sell millions of copies just on the basis of humorous curiosity and the fact that the majority of married couples can relate to it on a personal level.

It's not that we are falling apart or even at odds, we're just slightly stressed and it wears on the family. Like yesterday morning for example. We were all dressed for church and Trev went out to start the van and just as we are getting ready to put the kids in the car, our agent calls. We haven't had a call in over a week to see the house. The weather was cold, rainy and windy. It was after 10 in the morning, the kids had taken every toy we own out of their closets, the breakfast dishes were in the sink, I had a pile of laundry in the washer, a pile in the dryer and a pile in a basket on the floor, the kids bath toys were scattered all over the bathroom not to mention they had used their bath crayons and their creative drawings were all over the bathtub, and out of all days I decided that it would be a good day to wash our bedding so our bed was "naked"... needless to say, we had to scratch church b/c there was no way we could get the house ready in 10 minutes and even if we could, we couldn't skip Lillie's nap AGAIN. In a matter of seconds, we were undressed, the vacume running, Swifter in full action and glass cleaner spraying...

We managed to get the house cleaned up and Lillie rested fairly quickly and efficiently, but we were soooo bummed about missing church and having a change of plans for the day (and it wasn't the first time)...

It just seems like it is one thing after another. First the dishwasher goes out, then the dryer starts acting wierd, then mysterious stains appear on our carpet that we can't get out. We have lived here for almost 6 years uneventfully and with no major expenses . Then we put a For Sale sign in the front yard and the house rebels against us or something...

It's only been 2 weeks since we put the house up for sale and only 6 weeks since Trev started his new job so I wasn't planning on selling this place quite yet . Just hoping that his commute would be easier and that his days would be shorter and mine would be smoother. I was hoping the weather would be warmer and the potential buyers would be more abundant. I have no control over these things and I am trusting God with His timing here but as I pray every night, "Lord, a little less drama and a lot more patience would be more than welcomed around here."

To jump or not to jump

After A LOT of hopping around the house and lots of yelling "BOINGGG!!" "BOINGGG!" I finally told Parker to PLEASE stop and find something else to do. To which he replied, "But Mommmm... I'm being a joey and joey's need to jump or else they get bored!"

My internal response: "But Parkerrrr... as cute and creative as your response is... I need some peace and quiet or I might jump outside for some! A bored joey sounds VERY good at the moment if you ask me."

Our Pampered Chef

The other night for dinner I had made a new Sausage Jumbalaya recipe. Although it didn't taste bad, it was missing something and Trev and I couldn't quite figure it out. We thought maybe cheese would help, but that wasn't it. Then we tried a little red pepper and that wasn't it either. Fast forward to tonite. We did jumbalaya leftovers for dinner. About 2 spoonfuls into the meal, Parker pipes up, "Hey Mom! Do you think I could have some sourcream with this?" BINGO! That was the missing ingredient! The sourcream was perfect. It cooled off the heat of the dish and added a little something!

Way to go Parker my little culinary artist! Can you make some suggestions on my spinach tofu quiche? Last time I made it, it was on the bland side....

Rules of the Road

Parker has this Jeep Powerwheels that he loves, loves, loves driving all over our yard. He gives Lillie spins, pretends he is putting out fires, saves crocodiles, and has even been known to drive thru the garden for a "forest emergency."
So, today while we were out and about Parker asks me if when he turns 6 (b/c when you are 4, 6 yrs old seems VERY old) if he will be able to drive a "big car" like mine. I explained to him that he has to wait until he is 16 to drive and he has to take special classes and go to driving school before he can drive a real car. To which he replied quite confused, "But why Mom? I drive my Jeep everyday and have never been in an accident."

hmm.. yeah. try explaining the difference between a 12 volt battery operated jeep and a car powered with an engine and gasoline...

Nap vs. Rest

Conversation with Parker before making him take a nap today that he didn't want to take but desperately needed:

Parker: "Mom, When God rested on like the 7th day. Was he tired or did he just maybe sit in bed and read a book but not sleep?"
Me: (knowing exactly where this convo is headed): "Hmm not sure. He probably slept and when he woke up he laid in bed for a little bit and rested some more."
Parker: "Oh. Well, I think he just sat in bed and read some Bible stories and then he woke up after maybe 10 seconds and played with the animals."

haha.. the irony of God reading his own stories that He knew would take place and only needing a 10 second nap after creating the WHOLE earth was enough to make me chuckle out loud! Needless to say, Parker was asleep within 5 minutes!

Spring Bunnies

Snow Blossoms

While out on our run this morning, we turned into a neighborhood with a ton of blossoming trees. The little white blossoms were flying everywhere and literally covered the air that I was choking on them with every inhale. As we were running, Lillie started to yell, " Mommee....SNOW!!! Mommeee... SNOW!!!" and Parker broke into a happy rendition of Jingle Bells. Since we had no snow this year, I have to say this was the best April Fools we could have asked for:)