Best Friends

I have the most FANTASTIC friend named Amelia.  We have been friends for 15 years!!  We both have had four kids spaced about the same time frame apart.  Ella and Liesl are the closest in age.  They are only 2 weeks apart although were due nearly at the same time.  It is so fun to see these little girls becoming best friends just like their mommies!  Amelia will make you feel like you are the most amazing, smart, talented, perfect person that she knows and then will also tell you when you are being a complete moron. I love her to pieces!!!
 

Liesl and Ella

Ella and Liesl age 2, sitting on a stool sharing a bag of chocolate.  Don't they look guilty?  They were being oh so quiet!

Ella and Liesl at 4 months old.

Feeling Fierce

Sam took a nose dive off the swing last week. His tooth was impacted and had to be removed and he had about 5 stitches in his lip. I have some other pictures and I might post more about it later. We had a crazy trip to the ER the night before we left town. Very glad that he has recovered so quickly. As of this morning he has only one stitch left to dissolve.

Happy Easter!!

HAPPY EASTER!!  We tried to capture a few pictures before church because we were all looking oh so dapper and I knew that we wouldn't look nearly as lovely after church.  I was right.  Sam slobbered all over his clothes and Ella threw a fit during church and pulled out her hair ribbons.  Oh well, we tried!  As you can see we having a fantastic addition to our photos...MICAH!  He has been home for 2 weeks now.  We are enjoying every minute!!  I will post his homecoming photos later. 

Porter's Joke

Porter told a funny joke yesterday and got in trouble for it.  But before I share his genius humor let me give you a little background.

The house we are living in needs lots of work.  Lots and lots!  Fortunately for me my brother, Matthew, has been out of work for a few weeks and has been spending his time over here helping me remodel.  Matt has a teensy weensy temper and at times has been know to shout and let off a curse word or two.   I have told my boys NOT to repeat anything Uncle Matt says. 

So this is the joke Porter told yesterday:

"Why did the frog kiss the house?"

"Because he was a stupid-ass toad!"

I sat and visited with Porter about what was appropriate and what wasn't, etc.  Then he pipes up and says, "well how come Uncle matt always says it?"  So we asked Uncle Matt.  Matt and I were both trying hard not laugh as he tried to back pedal out of that one!

Porter's other favorite word to say is BAM IT!  That one is my own fault.  Sam has a super love affair with the toilet and is constantly putting his hands in it, dropping toys in, trying to drink with a teacup out of it, sticking the toilet brush in, etc.  It is a constant struggle to keep the bathroom door shut and Sam out of the toilet.  One day I was walking past and noticed Sam in front of the toilet with something brown in his hand!  Three things went through my mind, 1)Stop Sam! 2)Damn it not again and 3) I hope it's not poop.  This all jumbled together and came out, "SAM IT, DAMN IT!"

The boys ran around the house laughing their heads off repeating exactly what I had said.  And clever Porter is in kindergarten right now and they do work lots on rhyming to make new words!  So Bam It was born.  *sigh*  It's tough being a parent!  It's even tougher to be a parent that doesn't curse!  As if there ever was such a thing!  Oh, and it was just a hair clip...that time!  

Meltdown Madness

Long time no blog, right?  Well, life is a little hectic these days.  But my dear sweet daughter provided me with material to blog about this evening.  She is a dynamic 2 and 3/4 year old little girl.  So full of fire, opinion, and gusto. 

This is me trying to think of another way of saying dramatic, fire-breathing, she-devil.  

Holy Moly this girl is something else!!    But she can melt my heart with a sweet smile.   But back to my reason for blogging.

I almost pulled a "Bobbi."  What is a Bobbi? I am getting a head of myself.  Read on...if you dare!

I needed to go to Wal-mart this evening. (with 4 kids...that is another post entirely)  Everyone was ready to go except Ella...aka fire breather.  She was in the bathroom playing with water.  I took her out of the bathroom (offense #1), changed her diaper (offense #2...and yes she is not potty trained yet), changed her pants (offense #3 because she had peed in them) and tried to put socks and shoes on her.  Offense #4 was insisting that she wear her wet shirt.  It was slightly damp.  I told her she was wearing it.  I tried to explain to her that if she wants to play in the water, then she can wear a wet shirt.   She is a typical toddler girl that insists on changing clothes no less than 10 times a day.  She screamed and howled as though deeply wounded at the injustices I was putting upon her.  She threw herself to the ground in a fit of rage, flailing her arms and legs about, grabbing her socks and shoes and pulling them off and refused to cooperate.  I broke out into a sweat trying to get her clothes back on her.  All the while trying to keep my cool so that I didn't lose it on her.  I left her on the floor in the throes of her agony and loaded up the rest of the kids.  I turned the lights out, shut the door and said, "goodbye."

She didn't believe it for a second, but the boys were concerned.  So I went back inside, grabbed her and everything she had peeled off.  I drove to my mom's house intent on dropping her off.  I even told her that Grandma would spank her if she didn't quit screaming! (Nice of me, huh?  :)  )   She calmed down after we got to my mom's house, so I took her to Wal-mart. 

She did pretty well until we started to checkout.  Stupidly I decided to go through the self-checkout line.  Hello...bad idea. And I never remember what a nightmare it is until I do it again! How do you control 3 kids who want to help you scan, bag, sit on the bagging area, run the conveyor, etc.  and make sure that the 4th stays in the cart? 

So meltdown number two ensued.  Once again she laid down on the floor kicking and screaming, removing her shoes and socks.  I ignored her and finished scanning everything.  Then I realized that my last item didn't have a bar code.  The lovely attendant who was giving me pity smiles came to my aid.  Almost immediately two other workers came running over to help her try to find the code.  They couldn't, so one of them ran off to get another one.  By this time I had picked Ella up off the floor and put her in the cart.   She was half hanging over the side, screaming her guts out.  And there we waited for what seemed like 10 minutes.  Steam must have been coming out my ears.

I was tempted to become the token "crazy, cursing, screaming at her kid, spanking them in the aisle wal-mart mom."  But i didn't.  I thought about it though! 

Instead I contemplated the Bobbi.  What is a Bobbi?  Well, my lovely sister-in-law Bobbi has been known to leave the store....without purchasing anything...screaming kids in tow.  I think it is AWESOME!  As I stood there contemplating "the bobbi" the worker showed up.  I had wanted to purchase a fabric bundle that was on clearance. It was $19...wayyyyy too much.  So I didn't get it!!!  I had stood there with a screaming kid (did I mention that she made a kid behind us cry too?)  for nothing. 

It gives me chest pains just to think about it.  She screamed all the way out of the store and continued screaming after I loaded her into the van.

What am I going to do when she becomes hormonal? 

It is a good thing that Micah is coming home in two months.  I may be headed to the loony bin.