Clean Hair

I went grocery shopping on Sunday and picked up some kid's shampoo. We ran out of Drew's favorite flavor so I remembered to buy more. No big deal...I unloaded groceries and I began to bake cookies. Tim and the kids were in and out of the kitchen and at some point Tim asked me where was Zach. I thought for a second...I don't know where he is but wherever he is, he is awfully quiet. Quiet, if you have kids...specifically 3 kids, does not always indicate something good is going on. Tim went to get bathroom trash and I quickly heard "I thought I smelled something really sweet..." There sat Zach under our bar washing his dry hair with the new shampoo. AAGGHHH. I wasn't exactly ready to bathe him but unless I wanted him to look like a greaser, a bath was our only solution. He thought he was pretty clever and here are the pictures that make this a pretty funny situation. I admit it...I laughed uncontrollably over this...trying to be a little more laid back than normal. At any rate, we all got a good laugh over Mr. Zach!

Are you serious???

So dang cute...even with shampoo in dry hair!

The things children say...

I am often amazed when I am "busy" at the things my kids say to each other. Lately, my favorite time is when the boys are in the car together without Grace...their conversation is priceless. I picked the 2 of them up one day last week and once we were all settled Drew pulled out his uneaten snack from his schoolbag. "We had a birthday party mommy so I didn't eat my goldfish..." Thus begins the conversation between Drew and Zach..."Drewboo (Zach's pet name for Drew and mine too...)you not eat your goldfish today?" "No Zach, we had a birthday today so we had a special snack." "Oh, Drewboo have special snack today???" "Yes, Zach...it was a special cookie." "Oh, Zachie (what Zach calls himself) likes cookies." "It was good but now we can share my goldfish." "We eat Drewboo's goldfish in the car?" "Yes Zach, I will share with you." This continued on the entire ride home. Drew indeed shared his goldfish and they chatted with one another until we got home. It is not always this pleasant, especially in the car but on this particular day it was.

On the other hand, I also hear my kids talking to one another in ways I would prefer them not to. Occasionally, Grace will speak to the boys as if she is their mother and she is mimicking me. She has never said anything inappropriate, but sometimes her tone is not how I would prefer. I realize that she takes in all that I say and how I say things so it is mine and Tim's job to model the way we want our children to act. This task scares me as I am often not who I want my kids to become. I try hard but I often fail. The other day Drew was being utterly ridiculous about something and I said "that is just plain stupid" and there was a hush amongst the kids and they all began to tell me stupid is a bad word. They are learning but I hope to lead them by example, not just by telling them how they should act, what they should say, etc.

Kidney Stones and Labor

What is the difference between these 2 painful events? In labor, you can get an epidural the minute you can no longer bear the pain. Now, I am proud to say that I did not receive an epidural with any of my kids until I was like 5 or 6 cm dilated. In fact, Tim thought it was a waste of money for 2 of my deliveries as I had the epidural less than 2 hours before my babies were born. Anyway, I got the epidural when I could no longer tolerate the contractions rocking my body. With kidney stones, you only receive drugs once the doctor is pretty sure he/she knows what is wrong with you. I had the unfortunate privilege to experience this last Monday night...



I had had back pain for a few days but I have 3 kids so no big deal. By Monday night, I could not get comfortable in bed. I tossed and turned, got up, layed back down...I was miserable. I finally dozed off for about 30 minutes to be awkened by what seriously felt like back labor. I was in agony. I could hardly catch my breath. I woke Tim up and we began to assess the situation. After about an hour, I finally decided I needed drugs and we didn't have anything strong enough at home so we headed to Piedmont Hospital. It was a quick process and lucky for me, I passed the stone before they finally shot me up with narcotics. It was misery. I wish this on no one.

I had a procedure done yesterday and there is still one more stone to come but hopefully my narcotics in the medicine cabinet will be my saving grace. We shall see....

Soccer Mom and Soccer Kids...

this is during the game... they are all standing around!

Soccer moms: 1) moms that drive all over for their kids and their lives pretty much revolve around the schedules of their kids. 2)moms that at some point played soccer

Soccer kids: kids that play soccer

I am fast becoming a soccer mom by my definition above. My kids are still little and their schedules are pretty much school and tonight we added a sport to the mix. My life does revolve around my kids but they do not nor will they ever dictate my schedule. Tim and I decide what activities our family can handle and we go with it. I love the fact that my kids are getting old enough to play sports. I am definitely a ball park mom. I played softball as a little girl and soccer as an older kid and loved it. I especially loved soccer. Tonight Grace and Drew had their first games and it was so much fun. Both sets of grandparents came and the only bummer was that Tim was out of town.

My Drew man did so great tonight. He was a good defender and scored about 10 goals. I am not joking either! Now there is not a ton of skill going on at 4 but he gets it. He is so obviously athletic and he LOVES to run around and compete. He told me after the game, "I was a great player mommy." Where is his modesty?? I look forward to watching his abiltity grow and I really look forward to t-ball in the spring!

He made a run down the field...to score!!

Grace is a diva. I am certain she is half my sister's kid as I don't ever remember being quite this way. I was dramatic and Grace is way dramatic but I just don't ever remember being a diva. My girl is high maintenance and watching her play tonight was true entertainment. She had a few good hits on the ball and her face...she got hit at least 2 times and it was hard to get her to chill out. Thank goodness GAGA (my mom) was there because my mom has this unique bond with Grace and can pretty much calm her down anytime. She was a cute soccer player but she admitted on the way home that she might need to stick to ballet and gymnastics. GREAT....we have 9 games left!!!

She sure looks cute!

The Thinking Chair...

aka time out. I have 3 kids and I could pretty much tell you who will get in trouble and who wouldn't dare get in trouble outside of our home. I will say over the last year, I have had a few surprises. The Heiskell School utilizes the "thinking chair" as a short time out if needed. They also use the "crying chair" if some sad soul needs to cry for a few minutes. The premise is that if you are misbehaving or crying, you need to sit alone. It helps the kids shape up so they can rejoin the group. I think this is used until kindergarten or so. Grace, I am proud to say, went the whole school year last year without sitting in the thinking chair. I admit that I was surprised but very pleased.

I assume that Zach will sit in the thinking chair multiple times in one day. I almost have no doubt...he is 2 and he is strong...willed that is!

I also would have bet my life that Drew would NEVER even come close to sitting in the thinking chair. Especially the first week...After he got in the car on his first day he said, "I sort of had to sit in the thinking chair today." I laughed out loud...."You did what???" He began to explain to me the events leading up to the sitting and I laughed even harder. This story is much better in person as his speech is priceless on several of the words he said but I will try and do it justice. "Drew, why did you have to sit in the thinking chair?" "Because I didn't say pwesent when the teacher called my name." Oh, he must have been confused...he didn't know about saying present when roll is called. "Why didn't you say present when your name was called?" "I didn't feel like it." "Were you told to say present when your name was called?" "Yes, but I didn't want to." Alrighty then...maybe my perfect obedient child is going to throw me a curve ball this year. I explained to him that the respectful thing to do is to obey the adult even when it is hard. He seemed ok with my lecture....

Today resulted in Drew getting in the car and announcing that he said pwesent today and raised his hand. I guess he was testing the waters yesterday. It makes me laugh but I want to always emphasize the importance of ALWAYS respecting adults. If the truth be told and I wouldn't dare tell him this...I think asking a bunch of 3 and 4 year olds to say present is a bit strange to begin with!

First Day of School Part Deaux

yes, Zach is missing his pants....

AAAHHHH...the sound of silence. It is a golden sound and one that I am not all that familiar with. I mean, there are 5 of us living together and 3 of them are 6 and under. Kids are noisy...I accept that. I am however, quite content with a morning ALL ALONE!!! Yesterday was insanely busy. Tim took Grace to school at 7:30 and I left with the boys at 8 for their meet and greet with their new teachers. From there, we ran home for 20 minutes, I took them to a friend's house and then I went to preschool orientation for the second year in a row. I dropped $800 in a matter of minutes signing them up for activities, early drop off...yada yada...I ran and picked the boys up, ran home to get my insurance card that was not in my wallet, ran to drop a RX at Publix and came home with 45 minutes to spare before we had to leave to go get in the carpool line for Grace. Phew..this was all before 3pm. In the midst of this, I saw Tim for like 5 minutes and told him to have a great trip to CA and gave him a kiss and was on my way. So, all 3 kids were in bed by 7:30 because the night before was just as crazy as our day and we were all exhausted!!

6:45 and I couldn't believe it was already time to get up. I am not a morning person...not now not ever. I faked it for a few months last fall when I did Boot Camp with some friends at 5:45 in the morning. I can't believe I ever did that...not again. Anyway, I got up and Grace and Drew were downstairs a few minutes later. I have been setting an alarm in Grace's room and for now it gets her up. She is more of a morning person than me. They got ready and when they went back upstairs to brush their teeth, I got Zach up. He was not at all happy when I turned the light on. It took him a good 15 minutes to perk up. Once he remembered he was going to school, it was all good. It is what often makes me laugh about him. As attached to me as he is, he loves going and doing new things. We left for school at 7:29 and thankfully did not hit the Vinings train or a whole lot of traffic. We dropped Grace off at 7:49 and pulled back around to the preschool. I got the boys out and we waited for early morning care to open. Zach began to play with another little boy and I knew he was fine. When the doors opened, Zach told me bye and went right in. Drew on the other hand, turned back toward me with those pleading eyes and for a second my eyes burned with tears. He went on in and I bolted. These are sweet times in our life. My kids are growing up but are still little. I am excited to go get them and see what all they did today!
Pictures to follow...my camera got damp at Disney and getting a clear picture is quite difficult...I may have gotten 1 this morning to post...