New Developments

He sings 80's hits.

She claps.
(warning: watching her might be a form of anti-birth control)

My Favorite Olympic Moment

No, not when the bedazzled and feathered Lysacek won gold in ice skating.
(Although I was thoroughly entertained by the costumes of the ice skating men)
It wasn't when Apolo Ohno won silver because the two Koreans knocked each other over.
And it wasn't when Lindsay Vaughn won gold skiing with a hurt leg.

It was when Brian and I were snuggled under blankets with the kids asleep watching Shaun White win the snowboarding gold.
Brian suddenly said with much conviction:
Man, if I was there I would definitely start the U. S. A. chant!

I found this to be a strange comment coming from my very reserved husband so I turned to look at him and asked, Why, because you would be so excited that Shaun White won?

He said no, followed by silence. 

A man of mystery.

So I took another guess.
Is it because you would be so proud of your country? 

He said No, I just really like it when people do that chant and yell
U.S.A! U.S.A!
If I was there, I would start it. I really like to hear it.

And that was all the explanation I was able to get. 

I found Brian's random love for the U.S.A chant to be pretty amusing.

Keeping It Fresh

Part of my job description is to think of new activities for my children to enjoy in their daily lives. Play is a serious thing for kids. They need it. It's important to their little worlds. And I try to keep play as fresh as possible, especially when we're at home aaaaaaaaaaallllllllllllllllllll day.

The only problem is that my brain is barely functioning at the moment. We don't get alot of sleep.  And let's not forget the countless brain cells I am convinced come out in my breast milk.

Just last night I called Brian to ask him what I wrote my thesis over in grad school. It was only 3 years ago. IT WAS MY THESIS PEOPLE. I spent countless hours researching and writing it. I spent a few hours having diarrhea over defending it in front of professors I feared and respected. And for the life of me I couldn't remember what it was about. My retrieval tool in my brain sat there with his arms crossed and ignored my pleas. And Brian was no help despite the hours he spent helping me with revisions and listening to practice runs on my presentations. Man alive. It's kinda scary when something important just isn't there. Did I mention we don't get much sleep?

Luckily we own a computer and I was able to open up the ole grad school folder and say, "Oh yeah, duh!"

That little tangent was a disclaimer to my next point:
I rarely (or maybe never) come up with novel games or innovative activities.
My goal is to simply keep it fresh. To give the little monkeys a different way to play.  Most of the time it involves moving to a different area and seeing what we can come up with. For example, today's morning activity was (hold on to your seats) "Play Time in Mash's Crib."

If you have a crib in the house, you should try it. They played for 45 minutes which I think translates to about 3 hours adult time.  

I'll try to keep these brilliant inspirations coming.

Snow

Drumroll please.

We got 12 inches of snow! 

Some would call that a whole foot! This is the most snow Dallas has ever gotten in a day. The previous record was 8 inches. 

I can't put into words how much happiness the snow brought with it.

There was a family sledding adventure behind Wal-mart. Until the manager called the police and we were removed from the premises. Silas sported girl gloves (the whole city was sold out except that pair) and the twins sported impressive ghetto snow boots. 

 

  

  

Here's a small glimpse of the fun we had. 

Things to watch for: Brian breaking the sound barrier at the end
and the song - it captures how my heart felt all night.

After we relocated a snowball fight broke out that turned slightly violent when someone crossed the line and started throwing like Harry from Dumb and Dumber.

Later we ate some Joe Willy's burgers in our ski clothes.
Felt like we were fresh off the slopes.

The next day we stayed home and made a snowman and a snow fort-slide.

 

 

 

 

Even though the snowman's head fell off while we were jumping on the trampoline it didn't dampen our spirits.

These past few days have been a blast. 

Game Time Answer

Hmm. No one really came close. And by the way I'm offended that so many of you think I would write about such disgusting bodily functions. 

So. What's about to happen in this picture? Here's a hint:

Figure it out? Yeah. A big couch pillow is about to make contact - SMACK! - with her face. Compliments of her genteel older brother. We were all playing on the floor when I got lost in the moment and started taking pictures of her. And, you see, whenever I pay attention to her for more than 5.5 seconds, a voice in Silas' head (the one from Mortal Combat) says "FINISH HER!"  He came up from behind me and got her with a sneak attack. I think she was crying out for help with her eyes but I didn't see it.

More evidence that Silas isn't completely on board with this polygamous mother-child arrangement.

Thanks for participating in the game. I guess I'll save the awesome prize for next time. 

Game Time!

Let's play a game I like to call

"What's About to Happen in this Picture?"

Take a good look and make a guess.

(And to make it interesting, there's a small prize for whoever gets the closest!) 

Home Remedy: Chapped Lip

Have a child with a persistent chapped lip? Delved into savings trying every brand of chapstick and lip moisturizer? We found a solution that finally worked with Silas, our champion top lip sucker.

Follow these simple steps:

1. Wet the chapped lip with water. (We held a wet washcloth on his lip for a few secs).
2. Slather on petroleum jelly.
3. Repeat these steps throughout the day like they're going out of style.
4. Once the redness starts to subside you can skip step one
     and continue with step two.
5. Once the redness is completely gone don't put on yer party hats yet.
      Learn from my mistake. Keep using the Vaseline for a few days.
6. Sleep with one eye open and if you see a hint of redness coming back,
     you better get on it and start with step two pronto.
     (Step one is only necessary when severe chappage is happening).

His chapped lip improved in a day, completely gone within 2 weeks. 

Here are some before and after pics: 

Before

After