Monday, March 23, 2009

Rainbows in the Rain

Holy macaroni. What a weekend. How is it possible that the past 48 hours have included sunburn, a migraine headache, a chipped windshield (thanks I65. Love ya.), a flat tire (thanks, hwy 59. Love you.), a mischievous disaster*, and a 3am trip to the E.R.**, yet I still enjoyed myself in good old Alabammer?

Good friends are usually worth it.



*I'd love to know Connor's motivation for emptying the contents of a full can of spray sunblock all over the interior of my vehicle. I really would. So would he. He claims "I just wasn't thinkin'."

**I'm going to spare you the gross details of this story. Let's just say it began like a stomach virus and ended up like one of the Egyptian plagues. I'm still not entirely better. I'm going to see a regular doctor tomorrow to find out what the heck happened.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Boing.

The other day, at lunch:

Connor: "Don't cut up my grapes, Mom! My teeth need to bounce on them."

Monday, March 9, 2009

Going Buggy


Who can stay inside with all that gorgeous sunshine floating around?

I opened all the windows this morning to let in some fresh air, the Mini-Medlins and I went to run some errands, and when we got home, Connor's room was filled with red wasps! I shut the window (most of them were clinging to the screen) and trapped the majority between the window and the screen (yep, they're still there), then I went on a killing spree and I think I got the free-range ones. No idea how they got in--there must be a gap someplace in the screen. I yanked down his window blinds in my rampage; I'll fix that after we're sure we have found their point of entry. Connor's going to nap in our bed this afternoon.


This weekend we had our first family hiking excursion, at the state park in Guntersville! It was a wonderful day for it. Connor was so excited he couldn't sleep the night before, and when we got there, he was ecstatic, running up and down the trail and gathering sticks. Both the wee ones were troopers, really.
We did end up carrying them both a good bit (we didn't have a backpack carrier for Mia so I threw together a sling and hauled her on my hip, no prob), but they had fun, and I was relieved to discover that we don't have whiny "indoor kids." We have a camping trip scheduled for early July, around the weekend of Mia's birthday. I think they'll be into it.


Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Time "March"-es on.

I gave up Facebook for Lent. What was I thinking?

Actually, it's been fairly liberating. All these weeks I've been wondering where the time goes in my day... suddenly I've got time to fold laundry, do dishes, read to the kids, make more infernal to-do lists...it's like I have two extra hours every day! And since I'm no longer feverishly refreshing my FB homepage to gobble status updates and peruse photos, leave comments, scrawl on people's "walls," (resist, resist. Go outside and take a deep breath, Manders.), perhaps I'll squeeze in a couple extra blog entries. Not that anyone reads this goop.



As Spring creeps around the corner (I am told it's coming. It'd better hurry up if it knows what's good for it), I find myself waxing nostalgic, knowing my babies are approaching their birthdays. Connor has a smidge more than two months left to be a three-year-old. Soon enough, he'll be waist-deep in big-kid pursuits, anticipating the big troop-off to Kindergarten, whispering to his friends instead of begging me to listen to his jokes. In photos taken just last year, he still had that exquisite toddler pot-belly. Now his legs have gotten lean and his face has lost that cherub roundness. Already this year, we've had some doozy conversations, about outer space, death, God, respect and love. He's already looking forward to four. Not because he's planning a party. He's been told he'll be able to ride a scooter. "And when I'm five," he says, "we're going to Disney World!!" It's nice to have goals.

And my really really baby, the youngest of our household, is buzzing toward "two" with tremendous speed herself. 20 months old yesterday. She's never considered herself "the baby." I'll warrant when she's old enough to express it, she'll demand we never call her that. She is every bit as grown as Brother in her estimation, and entitled to all the rights and privileges thereunto affixed. I absolutely love this age. She is so entertaining. She dances, she sings, she tries so admirably to communicate verbally, and we just never know what she's going to say. I've kept a journal of both the kids' "baby babbles" so I can taunt them in later years. Here's a handful of some of the things we've overheard Miss Mimi say this week:

Wook! I did it! I buckle!”

Uh-ohh, fall down *cookie.” (*or insert dropped object here)

Meeka” Mickey Mouse. As in Meeska Mooska.

Tickle me. Tickle toes, tickle foot.”

I'm sticky.”

Beers, Udder Beers, and Money” = Bear, Other Bear, and Bunny (her loveys! I adore those nicknames!!)

How do you do, Bubber?”

Cah gah go?” Where'd Connor go?

Hi, Daddy! I eatin' seawall (cereal)!”

“Dankoowelcome.” Thank you/welcome. This is one word.


When she's mad, she'll kick her feet and say “keek!.” This is usually accompanied by a prone position, her little nose in the carpet, and a giant wail. She doesn't lose her temper excessively, but it happens. Usually when she's denied a treat.

She's very creative about naming her toys. She received a stuffed dog as a Valentine gift and named it “Silly.” Her favorite baby doll (which she got for Christmas) is named “Circle.” Cracks me up.