Monkey See Monkey Do!

Soooo...I have a slight affection for Diet Dr. Pepper with cherry. It's pretty yummy. Apparently Ella thinks that this should be her beverage of choice also. The other day I caught her sitting in front of the pantry with a pop in her hand sucking at the top, hoping that she just might get a taste. I laughed and thought it was pretty funny. Then last night I left Harmon in charge of Ella while I went to the bathroom. He ran outside to hang out with his dad and left me to discover Ella's surprise. She had gotten into the pantry, pulled out a can of pop and somehow punctured the side of the can. Pop was spraying everywhere and she was FURIOUS! She kept lifting up the can to get a drink only to have it spray her and then she would drop the can, it would spray her face and she would start shrieking. It was hilarious! Of course I had to take a couple of pictures. Too funny...and reminds me that maybe I should kick the habit before I raise a Dr. Pepper addict. 11 months is a little early to be hitting the sauce







And this is what happens when you take away the toy....unhappiness.

Moving On Up!

We recently moved to a newer and MUCH bigger house on base. Base housing can be a real benefit to live in. Especially here, where it is so far into town and the weather can be so questionable. And let's face it....I wasn't real interested in buying a home in North Dakota. Not really my choice of retirement locations. The base is in the process of tearing down all the old housing and building new houses. Houses that are more current and comparable to options available downtown. Here is our old house. GHETTO...it seriously lacked some curb appeal. But it was charming on the inside...charming and tiny with no dishwasher and the bathrooms were only upstairs. The master bathroom in the new house is bigger than the old house's two bathrooms put together! They build a lot of duplex's up here, both on the base and in town. I am sure it has something to do with the freezing cold weather up here. We were fortunate enough to get the best neighbors on base! The people we shared the unit with are great friends now. We hope they get to move right next to us in the new house.

Here it is...so much nicer and bigger!!

In the distance is a HUGE playground with a large field that extends behind our house. And I wanted to take a picture of our giant snow drift.

More chillin'

I am publishing pictures from Picasa and haven't quite got it figured out, but here are a couple more stair pics. Too funny!

Chillin"

Ella was a jabbering away. I decided that maybe I should go check on her. Here she was...chillin' on the stairs chewing on her socks. I need to get some gates because she has learned how to go up, but not come down. These pictures just crack me up.

Payback is a.....you know what!

Three year olds (who are going to be 4 in 3 months) are great. They can get themselves dressed, feed themselves, entertain themselves, and get into trouble. They are pretty good about getting things done....except for wiping their bums. Fortunately Porter is usually a one a day man. He will go upstairs, do his deed and then holler when he needs some help. He won't expound upon what his actual needs are unless he is really getting tired of waiting, then the "MOM!!!" turns into "MOOOOOMMMM!!!!" and finally "MOOOOMMMMM I WENT POOP!!" He is relentless in trying to get my attention. Now in all fairness I must admit that sometimes I have let him wait a little long.

Today I was loading a program onto my computer and wanted to finish what I was doing. Porter kept at it, hollering at me every 2 seconds. I finally got up when I heard him say, "Ewww." Bad news. He had tried to get off the toilet and smeared a little. Not bad, but still gross. I can't blame him for wanting to get down. I cleaned him up and then the toilet. Suddenly I was struck with the same need. I hurried into my bathroom and took care of business. Only to notice that I was out of toilet paper. I yelled at Porter to go get me some toilet paper. He ignored me!! Can you believe it??!!?

I yelled, counted to 3 (what's he gonna do...i'm not going anywhere), threatened, sweettalked, you name it, I did it. He kept telling me, "But Mommy, I'm putting my clothes on." Porter is not known for his speed. That turned into this conversation:

Me: "Get me some toilet paper out of the closet."
P: Where?
Me: In the closet
P: What?
Me: GET ME SOME TOILET PAPER FROM THE CLOSET!!!
p: Where?

Repeat 5 times.

Finally he comes moseying into my bathroom with a big grin on his face. "I got you two, Mommy!"

This exchange took about 10 minutes. I kept thinking that he got back at me for all the times I have made him sit on the can while I finished what I was doing before I came and wiped his butt. Lesson learned...next time I will go quickly to his aide!