Christmas!

Brian and I are loving sharing what Christmas is all about, the story of the world and God's redemption, with our little guy who's getting old enough to get some of it.

Here's a video that's been pretty popular in our house lately.

And here are our some of our favorite Christmas pictures.

 

Hope you have a great Christmas!

Christmas Program

Silas has a beautiful singing voice. From a remarkably young age he has been able to sing on pitch and keep great rhythm. The only problem is that he can be shy about singing in front of people. I know he's only three but I'm afraid of him developing the phobia I have about people hearing me sing. I have a decent voice but the only person I've ever sang in front of for real has been the safest person on earth, my husband, who doesn't have a critical morsel in his body and isn't capable of giving false praise. But I hate that I have such a hard time letting loose and just singing!

So as this year's Christmas program approached, I developed a plan. We practiced his songs and I talked to him about how it's good and courageous to sing loud so people can hear your beautiful voice. Then came the bribe or what I like to think of as "encouragement." I told him if he was brave enough to sing quietly we would LOVE hearing his voice and he would get a piece of candy. And if he was brave enough to sing loud for everyone to hear he would get candy and a new hot wheels car.

I'm on the fence about this parenting tactic but I wanted to give him a push to get him over the fear.

I ended up getting a little more than I bargained for.

Things I Learned in California: Lesson 4

We are Disney fans. 

I never got the Disneyworld/land craze before. Even as a child I never really had the urge. I lived by Six Flags and what was the big deal about this Disney place? 

But then we went to Disneyland with our 3 and 1 year old. I don't know about it being the happiest place on earth but I would say it's pretty darn happy. It turned out to be the highlight of our vacation.

 

In this shop they pretended to have parents that bought them $20 ear hats.

The rides were unique and plentiful for the young ones. Silas is still beaming about being able to pilot a rocket ship.

 The characters were friendly and brought Silas sheer joy.
(we'll overlook the terror they caused Mash)

The music and attention to detail made the stress-ridden theme park experience much more enjoyable. We didn't want to leave. 

If we ever win the lottery we're going on a Disney cruise.

I wonder what one's chances of winning the lottery drop to when you don't play it.

Things I learned in California: Lesson 3

I'm married to Clark Griswold. The unrealistic expectations. The over-the-top plans.

Every night we had a version of this conversation when Brian got to the hotel room after work. Angie: What do you think we should do tonight? It's been a really long day for us. You know, we haven't been further than 3 feet away from each other all day. Plus they didn't nap and it's already their bedtime. What if we go to one of the Disney restaurants close by and then put the kids down early and we watch a movie? Brian: I was really wanting to check out Santa Monica Beach. They have a pier with carnival rides and it's supposed to be cool. Angie: You know that will take about an hour to get there and we'll probably hit traffic going through L.A. And it's getting cold outside. Brian: Ahh, we should do it. The kids will be fine!

We proceed to drive for 1.5 hours (while I hold my ears and go to my happy place because the kids are screaming and hungry) walk out on the chilly pier and look at the rides that are closed for the night.

 

When we were leaving Brian looked over the quarter mile of beach down to the water and said, "I've never walked on a beach at night, lets take the stroller down there." The cold wet wind hit my face and I watched him strain to push the double stroller 5 feet into the sand. I looked at how far he had to go and told him Clark, I mean Brian, turn the stroller around and come back to the car. It will take you all night to get to the water and the kids coughs are getting worse and Madison's eyes are frozen. I patted him on the back and promised him we'd see the beach at night another time.

The examples go on and on. Like another time when I tried to convince him that we should eat at the little diner out on the water instead of the nice Hawaiian restaurant on the beach with the valet service and people walking in wearing business clothes. But my Clarky wanted to try the Hawaiian food. I'm sure he had visions of us being serenaded by ukuleles, the children throwing their heads back in laughter as we fed each other food from our kabobs. Reality looked more like Madison throwing crayons at the table next to us, screaming from exhaustion, and covering herself with macaroni while I quietly played "I spy" with Silas and pretended I wasn't there.

But, when it was all said and done, we had some good laughs. And even though his thirst for adventure squelches all rational thought,
I love the man.

Things I Learned in California: Lesson 2

Beaches are therapeutic.
We went straight from the airport to this beautiful place.

At first I was still in fluttering mode. I followed the kids around snapping pictures, pointing things out and asking questions.

But soon the beach got to me. The feel of the sand, splash of water on my feet, sound of waves crashing, the warmth and shimmer of sunlight.

I started to breathe deeper. I relaxed. I played.

Frisbee with Brian and "Find the Buried Treasure" with Silas.

Belly laughs when Madison suddenly ran full speed into the water only to face-plant and roll like a log in the wet sand.

I think there are places on this earth where our creator was especially creative. I feel the most content in these places. They touch a place in the soul seldom reached by the suburbs of Dallas.

Things I learned in California: Lesson 1

It's not the flight with children that is to be feared. It's getting through the airport.  

Here's our entourage: An XXL double stroller. A huge car seat. A matching second huge car seat. Diaper bag. Laptop bag. Duffel bag full of toys and food. Roller carry on suitcase. Toddler who doesn't speak English and runs like a wild animal the minute she is set down. Preschooler with major sensory issues who woke up 2 hours early and hasn't eaten breakfast. Mother and father who have never flown with kids and rarely flown without kids.

We start by checking our one gigantic suitcase packed so full that the zipper is slowly popping apart because we're too cheap to pay the fees to check more.

Then we innocently herd ourselves into the security checkpoint line. I start reading the signs. Laptops must be removed from laptop bags. Hmm. That's a problem because we worked for 20 minutes this morning wedging two laptops into one laptop bag to bring our total of 87 things to carry down to 86. But we do it.

The next sign is about liquids. I bite my lip and eye the diaper bag. No telling what's in that abyss. I start emptying it. We've taken up 5 plastic bins so far.

Things start moving faster. I take off all of our shoes, my belt (enter next problem, my pants start falling down because my body doubles in width above my pants and the laws of physics start to take effect). Silas naturally goes exploring and is embarrassed when security sternly tells him he can't be back here. Brian is trying to shove the double stroller into the x-ray machine (ramming is probably more accurate) while security tells him Sir, you're going to have to check that, and people are starting to make comments and get uncomfortably close in an effort to speed things along. The plastic bin count is up to 10 and I am informed that I need to meet with a security guard to test the liquid in our sippee cups. Silas is suddenly terrified of the metal detector and I drag him kicking and screaming with my free hand, squeeze the little monkey against me with my other arm, and squirt the guard with the sweat shooting out of my face as I walk through. I hear Brian yelling in the background "Angie, they're saying the car seats are too big to fit through the machine!" I look at him with fireball eyes that scream "Deal with it and don't even think about letting them take our car seats!"

Silas has a massive meltdown at my feet and Madison tries to do acrobatics to get out of my arms as I watch the security guard wave test strips over the water in their sippee cups. Ok ma'am, you're good to go! So I run off through the airport and hop on a flight to St. Lucia. Then I snap back to reality and wrestle my child to the ground to replace his shoes, take him behind the chairs to give a spanking for the horrible behavior, find my younger escapee, meet up with my husband and tell him lets not let this ruin our trip, give him a high five, send him to grab breakfast while I reassemble all of our belongings, and see him return with a gigantic gooey cinnamon roll (that won't be hard to feed to two fussy children on a cramped plane at all).

It was so hot in that airport.

We were the last people to board the plane. Brian hit people with the car seat he had heaved behind his back as he squeezed down the aisle like a pack mule.

Why was I so worried about the flight? It went great. The monkey was strapped in the car seat and I had an endless supply of food and toys. It was so fun to see the excitement on Silas' face and hear his little voice say Are we floating in the air? Is this your plane Daddy? Are we going backwards? We're flying up high in the sky!

The other good news is that we knew what to expect on the way home. 

It went the same, just without the element of surprise.

Lacking Activity

Let me explain my absence. Two kinds of sick bugs (stomach and flu) have been making laps around the 4 of us. Then we decided to pack up, coughs and all, and head to sunny California for a week. I figured sharing our germs might even the score with these Californians with their rock hard abs and their 70 degree year long weather. Actually, Brian was going for a week long business trip and I wasn't having it.

Pictures and stories to come.
Like when Silas begged pweeeze I don't want to stay in a honytail! (sounds like ponytail and he means hotel). I wonder what he thought a honytail was.

Latest Food Kick

I was a big fan of HandiSnacks when I was little and it turns out my kids are too. Everyday I hear Mommy I need some dippin sticks pweeze! Mash is always close behind raising one arm and shouting one of her only phrases, I do!

That cheesy mystery concoction still doesn't disappoint.

Preview

This fireman and his fire dog will hit the streets in two weeks. 

My little three year old can hardly wait. 

I couldn't figure out what he meant when he asked morning after morning if we were going to get candy today. Boy you done lost yo mind. When have we ever gone to get you candy? Then finally he said you know, when we knock on the doors! 

Oh I get it I get it. Not for a few weeks sweetie.

Burning Brush

I shared a picture of Brian's sooty legs a while back and this is their story.

One night Brian came in from working outside and said, Man when we set the brush pile on fire it is going to be crazy! I asked why and he said he had dumped about 100 gallons of vegetable oil and a barrel of fat on top of the fire (Remember his truck runs on vegetable oil? We're not into soap making or mass food production).  And not to mention the oil was dumped on a mountain range of dried tree branches from landscaping our entire property.

The next day were all sitting at the table eating lunch when Brian said, Hmm I thought I saw smoke going by the window. Must have been dust.

A minute later we both saw it. A huge cloud of smoke blowing past the window. Brian stood up and looked out the back door and started running. I got up and looked and saw a huge fire blazing in the back part of our property. About 100 feet from the house. It was huge. And very tall. And it hadn't rained in a long time and this day happened to be breezy and extra hot. The blaze spread was spreading extremely fast and was already past the fence.

In typical Brian fashion, he grabbed the water hose and started running barefoot towards the fire. I said calmly, Brian I think this is one for the fire department. He kept running but yelled back at me, Yeah, call 911! So I did and help was on the way.

But while we waited for the professionals Brian and I were quite the team. He yelled for me to find more hose so I bravely dug around in an area I like to call the "snake pit" which is behind the shop where the copperheads live and the leaves are 2 feet deep. I found a hose and ran to take it to him when I noticed his feet were completely black and he was standing funny like they were burning. He was real impressed when I brought him his crocs. But in spite of his gear my unorthodox but highly competent husband was able to get the fire under control by running laps around the blaze with the water hose before the fire department arrived. 

The firemen worked fast and before long all that remained were a few barrels that Brian wanted to let burn down. That was when I thought, Oh yeah I locked the kids in the house and I should take pictures of this.

At one point a container of vegetable oil turned over and started spilling out. One of the firemen saw the stream coming from the jug and started to run yelling Look out Bill there's gasoline! And Brian said oh no that's just vegetable oil. They were a little unsure. Vegetable oil? What are you a cook or something?

I found the kids running around making siren noises inside. 

Silas loved that real firemen came to his house.

They gave Brian some funny looks when he explained how the fire started spontaneously. Uh huh. Sure it did. Fires start by themselves all the time.

I think Brian liked the way this brush burn went down.  

He's a sucker for a good adrenaline rush.

My Little Cockatiel

I think she would appraise for well over a billion.

Science with the B Man

We are nerds.

Brian is the type of nerd who has endless amounts of knowledge packed in his brain and he can figure anything and I mean anything out. I'm the type who is intelligent in a select few areas but can't retain anything in any area and is always doing something awkward.

In my early twenties (I'm ashamed to say) Brian informed me that stars were distant suns in other galaxies. I died laughing at first because I knew that stars were just twinkling little balls in between all of the planets in our solar system. I would often wonder how astronauts managed to avoid them in their trips to the moon. Hi I'm Angie and I missed an average of 30 days of school every semester because my mom had rebellion issues. You can see why I was blown away to realize I was seeing suns in other galaxies. It rocked my world.

Last night we were in bed talking before we went to sleep and at some point he mentioned that the time dimension is different in space than on earth. I told you we're nerds. What the heck are you talking about Brian? Yeah, time is different in space. If you take a digital clock into space it will come back with a different time than here on earth.

I assured him that time is just a concept in our heads. A unit of measurement. Time being a dimension is just silly talk. If the time is off on the clock that went to space it's because the air pressure or some other difference made it malfunction. That's like saying that 12 inches is different on earth than it is in space.

Actually Angie, you bring up another interesting point. Length changes at the speed of light. A foot at the speed of light is shorter than a foot standing still. Length shrinks with speed.

I gave up and told him that's enough outta you Bill Nye, I gotta get me some beauty rest. But secretly I was impressed once again with my husband's smarts. And the good news is that I think he passed it on to Silas who is turning out to be sharp as a tack.

By the way, if this is the first time you've heard about the stars being far away suns, don't be ashamed. Sometimes these little facts just slip through the cracks.

Another Kroger Moment

Someone did the nicest thing today. We were leaving Kroger and my bag of ice was falling out of the cart so I stopped to put it back underneath. When I looked up Silas was standing in the middle of the busy street crossing in front of the store. At the same time I saw a huge truck turning out of the row and heading towards him. A primal scream came out of me Silas! and he started running back to me. People around me also screamed when they saw what was happening. I got him back to the cart and bent down pulling him close to me, trying to decide what to do. I pointed to all of the cars explaining what would happen if they ran over him, trying to paint a very vivid picture. I made him look in my eyes and repeat what I was telling him and promising me that he would only go in the street if mommy was with him. I could tell he was embarrassed and a little upset so I gave him a big hug and told him I don't ever want him to get hurt. We walked to our car with him holding onto the cart.

When we got to the car a woman drove over and stopped. She said I just have to tell you how awesome I think you handled that. If that were me I would have lost it and at least screamed at my child! You did such an amazing job teaching him and not getting carried away with your emotions.

It's powerful to get that kind of encouragement as a parent. You feel such a huge responsibility when you raise children and so much of the time you magnify your flaws and your victories rarely make it on the radar. For instance, as I was walking to my car I was thinking of how I let my guard down and my child ran into the street, not that I did anything good afterward. If you ever see a parent doing something well, you should take the time to let them know (even, maybe especially, if it's your spouse!)

On another note, I can't believe the things that come out of Silas' mouth these days. He's so stinkin entertaining. 

 

When we got home he and I ate lunch together at the dinner table with The Biggest Loser playing in the living room. He wanted to know why that lady was crying. I told him that sometime people's bodies get too big and then they feel really bad and it's hard for them to move and walk. And that lady was sad because she didn't feel good but she was going to work really hard to make her body smaller again so she could run and jump and feel better. He was very interested.

He asked me if my body ever gets too big. I told him yes, when I carried you in my belly my body got very big then I had to exercise alot to get it smaller again. He asked where you do that exercise at? I said here in my house. Where? he asked again. Right here in my house I repeated. But Mommy, this is my house. Where your house at?

Adventure in Carter's

I have a problem. My urge to use coupons is so strong I can hardly go into any store without them. This makes spontaneous shopping almost impossible for me. But on the bright side it saves our family a decent amount of money.

A few months ago, I took the kids to the outdoor mall armed with a 20% off coupon to Carter's. Silas and Mash were low on pajamas so I was going to grab a few pairs then let the kids get some energy out at the play ground. I pushed the stroller out of the sweltering heat and into the cool oasis of Carter's.

To my pleasant surprise there were about 8 round racks in the back of the store full of pajamas and clothes marked 70% off. Most of the items were around $18.00 to start with so I started doing the math. Let's see, if they are 70% off then I can just figure 90% off since I have the 20% off coupon. Wait let me make sure the coupon will work on the sale items. I ask the lady. Yes they sure do! Ok back to the math. I guess that would mean I just pay 10%. Wait that makes these things $1.80. Holy Cow. A 4-piece pajama set for $1.80! Endless 2-piece girl and boy outfits for $1.80! Is this really happening?

Kids, go makes yourselves at home. Mama's got some shopping to do!

I set Mash on the floor to crawl around on the carpet (she still wasn't walking at the time) and I started loading up the stroller like I was on Supermarket Sweep. My mission engrossed me. I was thinking of upcoming birthdays, holidays, and the seasons in the coming years my kids would need clothes for. The stroller grew taller and heavier by the minute.

Mash and Silas also ventured further and further away by the minute. I heard the ladies working the cash registers telling Silas to come back in the store a few times. And I heard a few exclamations of surprise when women would comb through the clothes on the rack and notice a baby sitting on the floor in the middle of the clothes rack smiling up at them. They would look for a mother nearby but there were none to be found. Then there were times when Mash attempted to climb in other strollers to play with the baby inside. This went on for a long time. I chuckled to myself at everyone's shock from my children's behavior but I also felt hesitation, thinking I should stop shopping and tend to my children. But then I pounded my chest with my fist and told myself You have to do this Angie. You don't have a choice. $1.80 is a once in a lifetime opportunity!

After almost an hour had passed I was starting to lose track of what I had stacked in the mountain of clothes on the stroller. The kids were starting to get irritable. Their free reign of Carter's inspired them to relieve their bowels (in the worst way) and the smell was starting to fill the store. And worst of all, my blood sugar was getting low. But I ignored my shakes and the smell and shooed away the kids and pressed on a little longer.

When I started to realize that this was going to be a quite expensive total, I looked around and decided I had gotten my fill of the bargain. Man this is awesome. Let's go check out and see what an amazing deal I got on all these clothes. I stood in line and counted about 50 items. My total should be about $97. That hurts a little but it's the right decision.

The lady scanned all of my clothes while the kids cried around my feet. Silas made known his hunger, thirst, and dirty diaper to the world (not that the last one was any mystery). Mash made general pathetic cries and tried to climb up my legs, pulling my pants down in the process.

Ok ma'am, your total is $239. Ummm, that can't be right. Did my coupon work? Yes ma'am it did. I thought my total would be $97. How much was each item? Let's see, it looks like they are all a little under $5. But they were supposed to be 90% off. Something's wrong here.

Then she dealt the blow. The 20% is taken off the total after the 70%. I took a deep breath. It wasn't a pleasant one either. Although $5 was still a decent bargain for clothes, it didn't justify my mountain. I knew I had to put most of the clothes back. The kids screamed and pleaded for a change of scenery that included food and clean diapers as I sorted through and found a few pairs of pajamas to buy. I paid my $15, put the kids in the now empty stroller and headed out to find a bathroom to clean them.

Afterward we sat at a picnic table and ate our sandwiches I brought from home. Did I mention I'm a cheapskate?  The kids were happy and I smiled as I watched them eat. I decided to make it up to them, the whole hour of neglect and irritability they just endured, by stopping at the Tollhouse Cookie store on the way to the playground. That's right kids, when we feel upset we soothe ourselves with food.

At the playground (sorry this story is never ending) a sweet mom saw how profusely I was sweating and gave me a spare rubberband out of her diaper bag for me to put my hair up with. The germophobe in me really didn't want to use it but she just stared at me waiting. So I put my hair up and was thankful for the breeze on my neck. Then about 5 minutes later her daughter came running out of the train SCREAMING and bawling saying someone punched her in the face. We were all very alarmed as the mom consoled her. She asked her daughter who did it. Her daughter took her by the hand and led her to the culprit. Hmm looks like they're walking toward Silas. Wait she's pointing at Silas (bawling and clinging to her mom). I jumped up and asked Silas if he hit the girl. He said yes, she wouldn't share the steering wheel whiff me! The mom gave me the dirtiest look, as if I encouraged Silas to hit her daughter. While I was informing Silas of what was going to happen later I noticed the mom was still scowling at me. It really was an awkwardly long dirty look. I had Silas in my lap and didn't know what to say so I just offered back her rubberband. She said, No you can keep it! Come on we're leaving! And with that unfortunate incident, we ended our trip to the mall.

Silas got his spanking from Daddy that night and learned his lesson about hitting people, especially girls.

But the real moral of this story is about coupons. Remember that your coupon is taken off the second total, not added to the initial discount. Thank you and goodnight.

Realized Daydreams

When I was pregnant with Silas I had two months between finishing grad school and giving birth where I just laid around waiting. It was during these months that I watched food network 8 hours a day and learned to cook. I also gained nearly 50 pounds in that time which I think may be some sort of record.

On warm days I would take a break from Paula, Ina and Giada to sit in the sun and listen to music outside. One song I was particularly fond of was Rascal Flatts "My Wish." I would think about my future son and tear up as I sang the lyrics. "Oh you'd find God's grace in every mistake and always give more than you take..."

I rested and relished the last days of childlessness but also eagerly awaited meeting the little guy growing inside me.

Fast forward to yesterday. Me and the monkeys were upstairs playing in Silas' room. I ran across a mixed CD I made for Silas before he was born to play in his nursery. So I popped it in and we listened to a few songs while we played. Then the Rascal Flatts song came on. I said Oh Silas! I used to sing this to you while you were in my belly! And I was filled with love and a sense of wonder that the baby I used to sing to was already 3 years old. We danced to the music, me dipping him, him giggling, me kissing his sweet cheeks.

I did have to pause the song once to administer a spanking after Mash tried to cut in and Silas pushed her down. He's always keeping it real. But I pushed play after the crying stopped and we danced some more.

Funny, the spankings never happened in my daydreams back then.

For Your Hump Day

Pictures that amuse me.

Sitting on the back door rug waking up together.

They made a joint decision that it would be a good idea to sit with their blankets they lay their face on every night on the rug that we wipe our feet on every day. 
The cuteness of the moment made up for it though.

I threw a cup of ice water at my mom (for good reason).

But I forgot that it had ice in it.

I was pretty shocked when she stood up and had blood coming down her face. 

These pictures are what happens when Mash encounters water.

 And when I forget to pack a swimmer diaper.

My superhero husband's legs after singlehandedly and barefootedly putting out the fire raging towards our house.

More on this story later.  

There you go.

Hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

Rolly-Poly Invasion

Large numbers of friendly rolly polys (aka pill bugs) come visit our house every day. It's kind of random and gross but I really don't mind because people in other areas get invaded by crickets which are muhuhuch worse. Those things cause me more sleep deprivation than a newborn. I have sensory issues when it comes to sleeping. Remember the bird? 

 I captured these two mourning the loss of a fallen comrade.

The only real downside to the rolly poly plague is that little miss Mash thinks they are quite tasty. Nearly every time she walks by me I study her mouth to see if she's eating one. I've had to master the "squeeze the cheeks finger sweep" maneuver on our little hunter and gatherer.

When the stars align and I get out the broom to sweep, she thinks I'm making dinner. She follows me around clapping and chuckling. Then she gets real smart. She quietly watches me put the dust pan contents in the trash (standing with her hands together behind her back sweetly smiling at me). Then she waits for me to walk away. She tips the trash can and starts reaching for her treasure. One time I thought I heard her say Where have you been all my life as she dug.
 
That girl. Can't get her to eat a morsel of human food but give her a plate of rolly polys and she'll lick it clean. And I'll be honest, her enthusiasm has piqued my curiosity. Who knows, maybe they taste like Snickers.

Out of It

When the kids and I got home Friday after running around I walked up to our front door to find it slightly opened. My veins filled with adrenaline as I remembered I definitely locked the door and that our neighbors house was robbed a few weeks ago. Did our house get broken into? I looked back at the car, thankful the kids were still buckled in their seats. Trying not to make a sound, I pushed the door open slowly. The living room was dark with toys scattered here and there. Nothing looked out of the ordinary. I creeped inside, all of my senses on full alert.

Then I saw something on the floor to my left. Isn't that the diaper bag we just had with us while we ran errands? Confusion filled my brain. Followed by clarity. Oh yeah, I already made one trip in with our stuff and I left the door open so I could carry in the kids.

After slapping myself repeatedly I brought the kids in and put them down for their naps. I sat down on the couch with my lunch and chuckled to myself over the incident. In the back of my mind I kept thinking this sandwich tastes funny. When there were two bites left I saw that I forgot to put meat in my sandwich. Just lettuce mustard and cheese.

Anyone know where I can get some ginkgo biloba?

Best Bed Head Ever

This is what Mash's mullet looks like in the mornings.

Isn't it great?

Proud Parenting

Last Saturday we went to a surprise dinner. Everyone in our church was assigned to a group and you showed up to someone's home not knowing who was going to be there. Our group was a hit. We reconnected with some, met others for the first time, and ate delicious barbecue. Brian and I left saying that was really fun!

But let's rewind to the middle of the dinner. We were outside eating, visiting, laughing. Kids were running around the yard entertaining themselves. Then we heard a commotion amongst the children, a few sounds of disgust coming from the older girls. Out of the corner of my eye I found the cause. I sat shocked for a millisecond as my brain processed that my son's pants were down, his little pot belly stuck out as he leaned back, and an impressively large arc of pee was spraying out into the middle of the yard.

I jumped up from the table and ran to him but my intervening did nothing to salvage our dignity.

Oh, um Silas! Sweetie, we don't pee outside. I see confusion in his face. Well, we only pee outside at our house. He feels the need to clarify. Mommy, we pee pee and poo poo outside at my house. Yes, that's right. Clearing my throat, so thankful for his thoroughness. But, Silas, when we are at someone else's house we only go potty in the toilet. Everyone graciously laughed and I informed our host that her lawn had been christened.

But yeah that's right people. Our potty training son pees outside and on particularly constipated occasions is allowed to poop outside. Something about being out in nature gets his bowels moving. And when he hasn't pooped in six days, desperate times call for desperate measures. I just hope the neighbors understand that when they look over and see our naked son walking around dropping baby ruths.

Double Rainbow Week

I just had one.

It all started with Brian taking a week off from work. It was really nice to have him home. We think he might go ahead and retire.

Then two of my favorite people in the world  (Nikki and Emily) brought their kids and came to stay with us for the weekend. These gals are my dear friends. Brian is quite fond of their husbands as well. I'm sure those are the words he would use. We met in a life group almost 9 years ago and over the years they have become like family. When we're together we laugh off about 10,000 calories and I leave the presence of these women feeling understood and encouraged. Here's the fun we had:

 Painting with chocolate pudding. Silas got a tummy ache when he tried to finish off the entire bowl. The boy loves chocolate more than a 40 year old woman after a stressful day.

The kids enjoyed rafting with Mr. Brian.

The older ones swam for at least 16 hours over the weekend.

Look at this handsome group. Mollie decided to show her best side.

We ended Brian's staycation week with a bang by taking the kids to a waterpark. They liked it. We liked it. We got there when it opened and stayed until they closed. It was one of those times when you sit back watching your children laugh in excitement and think, I absolutely love having kids. I think I want 16 more. But then it would cost $600 to go to a waterpark so that wouldn't really work. Darn those waterparks. They ruin everything.

Mash splashed, stomped and explored.

And napped in the heat.

Silas found some slides and played there all day.
He only took a break to try the wave pool.

 This is what happened as we drove out of the parking lot.

Brian does it bother you when I photograph you driving?

Yes.

 Is it still bothering you?

 Yes Angie.

Ok just checking. 

Today we had a "lay around" day at the house to recuperate. I asked Silas what he was thinking about as he quietly ate his lunch. Oh, juss thinkin about da wadapawk. Da owange swide and yewow swide and da bwue swide and da waves. I was doing the same thing.
Feeling blessed.