Monday, November 30, 2009

Another Durango Workout

The babies were playing in the garage (I know it sounds terrible, but I park my car in the driveway and then they can ride/drive/push/crash their riding toys all over the garage. It's nice and warm in there and level...our driveway slopes down so they always go flying a million miles an hour down into the street.) when I looked at my watch and it said 3:27. JR's bus comes at 3:30 so I figured it would be fine to let them bring a toy (Kyle=Big Wheel, Reed=tennis racket) out to meet JR. I assumed there was no possible way we'd make it to the bus stop (around the corner and down the street) and that we'd meet up with JR a few yards from the house. But of course, the bus was 15 minutes late. Which gave us plenty of time to "ride" the Big Wheel and drag a tennis racket all the way. So how did we get home?
Plan 1:
JR would ride the Big Wheel home. Kyle would be entertained by the tennis racket, and I would carry JR's backpack and herd the babies home.
Plan 1 failed miserably. Kyle totally freaked out when JR took off on his Big Wheel. He went completely "Flat Stanley/boneless/slippery eel" on me and threw one of his biggest dramatic showcases to date.
Plan 2:
JR carries the tennis racket, Kyle gets on the Big Wheel and I'll push from behind. We hope Reed, with his athletic prowess, will jog along with us.
Plan 2 was nearly a success, but even with all his almost-2-year-old physical fitness, poor little Reed wound up crying and lagging behind.
Plan 3:
Put Reed on the back of the Big Wheel, and have him hang on to Kyle. I push from behind (still wearing JR's backpack).
I never thought it would work. But it did! Reed held on like a champ. I can't even imagine the amusement of my neighbors seeing me pushing a Big Wheel of twins up our mountainous (yes, mountainous...I'm a Texan) street. Needless to say, I was doing some serious huffing and puffing when we finally made it to the driveway. I'm thinking it's the next biggest fitness craze...Twin Big Wheel Pushing. Think I could market it and start making my millions?

Sunday, November 29, 2009

My Deer Boys

Surprise, Surprise...Jason and JR were able to squeeze a little hunting into a jammed packed Thanksgiving vacation. (A good rule of thumb when it comes to male Ingersolls: If there's any possible way hunting can be included, it's going to be.)


You know you're in Texas when you hunt in shorts and flip-flops!


I believe my mother's exact description was "it's the Taj Mahal of deer stands".


Glassing for wildlife. And for all of you, like me, that don't hunt, 'glassing' is a big, fancy word for "lookin' around".


The hunters came home empty handed. But when you get to drink Dr. Pepper and eat Swiss Cake Rolls (not pictured) in the deer stand...well, that's pretty exciting too!

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Birthday Cubed

After 3 parties we're finally done celebrating Jason's birthday. And he says his birthday gets forgotten being around Thanksgiving. Huh!


Here's our celebration before we left for Houston. JR and I made the cake, evident by JR's signature sprinkles all in one spot garnish.



Party #2 in Houston. Birthday cupcakes and Blue Bell ice cream!



And then Jason's actual birthday (the day before Thanksgiving) at Windy Hill.


Whew! Needless to say, I'm partied out!

Friday, November 27, 2009

Who Made The Right Choice?

As we were watching the big Texas/Texas A&M game last night, Harry was just a little too excited to cheer for "Jason's team." (Hum...) JR was cheering for whoever was winning, ("Is Mommy's team winning or Daddy's?") but as you can see, we know who his loyalties are really with. Good thing I dressed the babies yesterday...They certainly look like winners!

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Bad News Bears

I have good news and bad news.
The bad news: dial-up Internet at Windy Hill Farm isn't interested in allowing me to upload cute and witty pictures documenting our fun little pre-Thanksgiving activities for you.
The good news: You'll get to enjoy doubled-up posts in the days to come.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Oh, and Jason's upset I didn't wish him 'happy birthday' on Facebook (even though we've now celebrated his birthday 3 times). So, Happy Birthday, Jason!

Monday, November 23, 2009

Rocket Men

So let's play "Guess Where I Am" again. And this time I'll give you a big hint. It's soooo much better than a coffee shop!
I'm at the mall! (Memorial City to be exact.) But it gets better. I'm at the mall....and I'm ALONE! I know! After a breakfast at IHOP ("IHOPS" as JR calls it) with a table full of people with the last name "Ingersoll" (except for Harry), I was dropped off all by myself! I called my mom to check in with her and when she asked me where I was I said, "I think I'm in heaven!"
But before I head off to shop all by myself...at a real mall, I have a picture from the Rockets game for you. The whole purpose in going to the game was to take Harry since he's a huge fan. (Not of the Rockets, but of the NBA in general.)But according to Jason it was JR that enjoyed it the most. Jason said JR screamed and cheered the whole time.
Me: What was he screaming?
Jason: He was just going crazy and screaming "DEFENSE! DEFENSE!"
Me: The whole time?
Jason: No, only when the other team had the ball.
Me: Wow! I'm so impressed he knows what 'defense' is! (Obviously, we're not a big sports watching family, to say the least.)
Jason, who was more excited about the Rockets Dancers, said JR was very upset by the halftime show and covered his eyes while the girls danced. (In contrast, that was probably the only time of the evening that Jason perked up.) Rocket Dancers aside, JR came home thrilled that "our team won" thanks to his super-fan abilities.

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Howdy Houston (well, almost)

We left Amarillo at 6:00 this morning. I didn't update since I figured most of you weren't blog reading at that early hour. I took over driving midmorning, and I'm pretty sure blogging and driving don't mix. With Jason back at the wheel and the babies asleep (I'm in complete shock), I thought I'd let you know we should be pulling into Houston about 4 o'clock. The big guys (JR included) are going to the Rockets game tonight so we're not hitting any fun tourist traps, just doing some serious driving.

Friday, November 20, 2009

Here

We rolled into Amarillo at 9:54 CO time/ 10:54 TX time. Night-night!

Sleeping!

8:30 and babies are asleep! Jason and I are detoxing our ears from cartoon and muppet voices

IMG00282.jpg

We're on the death march portion of our trip (Bloomfield, NM to Albuquerque). No hysterics from the back of the car yet. And JR hasn't even complained about watching 'baby shows' yet. On the DVD now: Blue's Clues.

Heading Out

We're on our way to Amarillo! We just pulled out of the driveway at 1:53 (I'm using my phone to email this post). I'll be sure and keep you updated on any exciting roadtrip happenings.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Was Wendy on the Mayflower?

If you know my mom, then you know she doesn't care for Thanksgiving food. She starts in around September letting everyone know she's "not a turkey and dressin' fan". She even has a turned-up, wincey face she makes so you know she's serious about her distaste. And so it seems our favorite picky eater, JR, has inherited the "Non Fan of Thanksgiving Food Gene". JR eats exactly two things at Thanksgiving dinner: corn and Cousin Caleb's reindeer cookies. (And in case your wondering, the rest of us all eat and love traditional Thanksgiving yummys.) With the big day being right around the corner, JR's school had their Thanksgiving lunch in the cafeteria today, and of course, the parents were encouraged to come and eat with their child. I figured there was about a 50% chance that corn would be on the menu, but I was quite certain Cousin Caleb's reindeer cookies would be nowhere to be found. So what did I do?

I brought in Wendy's.

Now, the way I see it, I'm either:
A. A fun and fabulous mom.
B. A total enabler to my son's picking eating.
C. Completely given up in the food department and decided to blame "Nature" over "Nurture"
or
D. Have eaten enough school cafeteria food to know it can't even pretend to compete with Wendy's.

Answer: I'm going with "all of the above".

So here's the Ingy version of a Thanksgiving school lunch. (My mom will be so proud.) Except there were no costumes, in a true Ingy version there would be Indian headdresses and Pilgrim bonnets at a minimum. But you can see JR's super cool "woven" placemat he made for the occasion.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Dangerous Again!

So after a few weeks of boring ol' Tiny Tots with age appropriate activities, the good ol' high adventure Tiny Tots that we know and love was in full force. Death-defying apparatuses abounded today: There was walking on the high beam, flips over the bar, and the big 7 ft tall climbing and sliding mat was back. (Kyle was able to do it today!) But I guess the Ingy boys enjoyed the past few weeks of low key gymnastics. Although they participated in all the daredevil stunts asked of them, their favorite activity of the day was much more calm. Both of them would lay on one of the mats, then log roll all over it (and each other). After a few rolls they would say, "Night, Night" and then the other would fall out laughing in hysterics. Now why is it they can't entertain themselves with this little game at home? Especially the "Night, Night" part!

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Little Ryan Seacrest

Actually I should probably call him "Big Ryan Seacrest", I think JR's already the same height as the real Ryan. JR's little Cub Scout den visited the radio station yesterday, and needless to say, he was pretty excited about the whole situation. He was even chosen to talk in the microphone (excitement!) and have his voice recorded. (I still don't think he realized he wasn't talking on the radio.) I love that the kid who goes to speech was the one chosen to talk. And for you Durangoans, that's the Dina Davis...morning radio host from 6-10 on 99.7 The Point. I know, what can I say, we're just always hangin' with celebrities.

Monday, November 16, 2009

Guess Where

Guess where I am.
Nope. Guess again.
Not there either.
You'll never guess, so I'll just tell you.
I'm sitting in a coffee shop. Durango Coffee Company to be exact. I know, I'm sooo not a coffee shop person. I'm not the girl with dreadlocks, the girl who tried to carry in her Labrador puppy, or the girl who ordered the giant fru-fru-frapa-fi-fi...all of whom have already left. But I am the girl taking pictures of herself with her camera phone to post on this blog. Not sure which of us would be deemed the "coolest". (I decided not to post the picture since I'm not wearing any make-up...remember I was raised in the South, my mother would not like that one bit!) This morning is my "morning off". I finally found a babysitter to come every Monday morning! (It's hard finding a babysitter during a weekday since all the high school kids are, well, in school.) Every other Monday I volunteer at JR's school, but this is my Monday to do what I want for 2 whole hours. Of course I'd feel way more comfortable sitting in the library, but it doesn't open til 9, so here I am coffee shopping it. Unfortunately, I do have some errands to run, so I'll have to wrap it up. But be sure and wave to me if you see me this morning...I'll have two free arms to wave back since I'll only be carrying a purse!

Sunday, November 15, 2009

The Coat that's SNOW Fabulous!

I'm going to take a minute and apologise upfront for the future bombardment of snow pictures you're going to have to endure this winter. I think the snow is just beautiful, so I'll be forcing my family to pose and smile many more times this year (JR refused to pose and smile this morning, but was happy to play photographer.)
And since the ground was covered in snow, it was totally appropriate for Jason and me to wear our new pea coats (as seen here) to church this morning. Now I must admit, I was a tad concerned when I got a call a month or so ago from Jason. He was in Denver, and as we neared the end of our conversation he said. "Oh, I bought a new coat." I usually don't have to worry about Jason shopping alone since he doesn't like to shop.
Me: Really? Where you'd get it?
Jason: I bought it in the airport.
Great. Jason is notorious for airport shopping. But luckily he tends to gravitate to the Johnson and Murphy store, so I was hoping this was one of those cases.
Me: Oh, another airport purchase. Where?
Jason: I got it at Johnson and Murphy. Don't worry, Leroy told me it looks good.
Are you kidding me? I'm not supposed to worry because Leroy said it looked good?! Leroy whose originally from Nebraska, used to be in the military, and likes to fish and chop wood in his spare time...
Me: "Oh yeah, I certainly won't worry since Leroy said it looked good. In fact, I'm sure Leroy's getting his Project Runway portfolio pulled together as we speak."
Now had Jason called me and said, "Don't worry, JD told me it looks good." (as in my friend JD) I'd have been totally fine with that. I have no problem with Jason taking fashion advice from an opera singer (in fact, I'd encourage it), but I was a bit nervous to see what Jason and Leroy had decided looked good. But as you can see, Leroy and Jason actually did a great job. They picked out a beautiful pea coat. So beautiful, in fact, that I decided I needed my own pea coat! So, Leroy, You did a great job. Love the coat...it's fabulous!

Friday, November 13, 2009

Favorful Favor

I'm gonna say it Granny Sherry so look away..."As Joel Osteen would say, 'The favor of the Lord is upon us.' " I was picking up Harry from basketball tryouts and he ran out to tell me it would be 30 more minutes. I decided to run over to the grocery store and pick up some more pacifiers for Kyle. While in the store I figured I'd be the nice mom and also picked up a dozen sugar cookies (I was also banking they would keep everybody quiet and happy while we waited.) When I got back to the car it wouldn't even turn over. The battery was completely dead.
Now here comes the favor part:
Jason's plane had just landed and he was able to come right over and rescue us.
The cookies were even a bigger hit than I had expected. Nobody even seemed to mind that they couldn't watch Dora for the millionth-thousandth time.
JR's Leapster doesn't run on the car battery so he, too, was perfectly content.
And really, is there anyplace better than the grocery store to be stranded? (Considering Durango doesn't have a Target or a real mall, the answer is 'no'.)
So, Praise the Lord! As you can see by Reed's big smile as he ate one of his 3 cookies, it was a totally easy, noneventful, favorful "breakdown".

Text Test

I'm thinkin this is the perfect opportunity 2 c if I can post a text. Car battery dead n grocery store parking lot. PTL I have cookies 2 entertain kids!

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Had To Have 'Em!

I am so not an impulse buyer, and I'm not really that big of a shopper. (Y'all know I'm much too conservative for that.) But as the babies and I were wandering around Walgreen's to kill time while JR was at gymnastics, I found something I had to buy. (And when I say "wandering" I mean the babies were touching, grabbing, and holding everything in the store and I was walking along behind them picking up and putting back.) Kyle loves shoes, but he really loves houseshoes. (Is that an East Texas word? Should I have called them "slippers" for the public at large?) And since I've always had a thing for sock monkeys, I just couldn't think of anything we needed more.
So get ready for cuteness as Kyle will now begin the modeling portion of this post:

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Everything is Bigger In Texas

I used to have a t-shirt with that saying on it. I wore it bunches when we lived in China. (I really wanted the one that said "Texas is bigger than France", especially since all the French people we knew were not friendly...but I restrained myself. You know me, "Diplomacy" is my middle name.) But, unfortunately, this native Texan is worried that "everything" might not be so accurate. Seems we brought some quite small Texans with us to Colorado. Check out little Reed this morning, at 22 months his shirt is a size 18 months. Okay, that's not so bad. But look at his pants. They're 3-6 months! Not kidding. He was wearing those same pants this time last year. I saw them this morning and thought, surely these won't fit him. And as you can see, they fit him just fine. Kyle's doing a little bit better since the blue jeans you see him in here are 12 months. (On a side note, you should have seen them tearin' up the trampoline at Tiny Tots today. They are jumping machines! The teacher said kids don't usually start jumping until 2...but these two can jump like nobody's business.)

And though I don't like proving the point that maybe everything isn't bigger in Texas, I do have another example. Check out our neighbors' dog compared to Hunter. And keep in mind that Hunter is an absolute giant in the Bichon world.
This dog is 170 pounds! (And let's all remember we live in a neighborhood with no fences. That means this dog is inside all the time. ) Needless to say, I'm feelin' like we Texans aren't doing our part in proclaiming our bigness...which would actually be totally fine if everybody was telling me how teeny-tiny I looked!

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Desperate Times

Call for desperate measures. And I don't think I've ever seen such a desperate measure used by my husband. Let me back up and start at yesterday's naptime. I noticed Kyle had been using the same pacifier for a few days, but hadn't really given it much thought. Around naptime I discovered that Kyle had chewed his pacifier away from the "handle". Not thinking much of it, I threw the pacifier away since he had 3 others to choose from. Little did I know that Kyle had decided he will only use a certain kind of pacifier now. (There go Jason's picky genes making my life difficult again.) The other 3 pacifiers he had to choose from were not worthy to be used, not even in emergency situations. As I laid them down for their naps, I figured he'd eventually get tired of fussing about it, and pick up one of the other 3 pacifiers. Nope. He wouldn't even pick the others up, except to throw them out of the crib and across the room. (There go my flair for the dramatics genes making my life difficult again.) I made an emergency call to Jason explaining he had to stop on the way home to buy a specific pacifier. (The clear kind, not the flesh colored kind.) Jason didn't quite understand why the need for a specific pacifier, but after he heard the wailing and gnashing of teeth in the background, I'm pretty sure a sleepless night was passing before his eyes. And just how desperate was my husband to make sure he got a full nights sleep? Just check out Kyle's new pacifier.

No, your eyes do not deceive you, nor have I photoshopped anything in this picture. That's a pink pacifier. Obviously, there was only one (and I mean one) package of Kyle's pacifiers left in the store. I can't even imagine Jason buying them. But, Woo-hoo, finally, something pink in my house!

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Backyard Petting Zoo

Jason and I are always telling people how we see more wildlife in our backyard than we did our whole trip to Yellowstone. And while we might be exaggerating just a bit, check out how close JR got to this mule deer tonight. Sure didn't have anything like that happening at Yellowstone. I actually thought for a minute that this little guy was going to let JR touch him! He was so cute I wanted to ask Jason if we could start feeding him like a pet, but then decided against it since I really don't need anymore males in (or around) my house. I know the pictures are terrible as it was just turning dusk, but I promise I tried every setting on my camera. Unfortunately, these are the best I could get. Good Picture Takers cringe away.








Saturday, November 7, 2009

Breaking News!

Whew! Baby Jesus has been found!
I have all the Nativity scenes that the kids can play with on shelves they can reach. ("Fancy" Nativities are out of reach.) Baby Jesus, a camel, and a sheep were missing this morning. We found the animals, but Reed and I just couldn't find Baby Jesus. Reed was very upset about missing Baby Jesus and even took the empty manger to show Jason. But not to worry, just a minute a ago I found Baby Jesus hiding on the island in our kitchen. I quickly went and laid him in His manger, but then noticed something was amiss. It seems that according to the Ingersoll version of that night in Bethlehem, a dangerous African animal was also present. And is it just me, or does it look like a Wise Man may need to step in before things take a turn for the worse?

Friday, November 6, 2009

And That's What These Two Do In There

Here's how I found Kyle after their morning nap the other day. Such a male Ingersoll, already wanting to be shirtless. But as you'll notice, the Ingersoll "instigating gene" also seems to run strong. (See yesterday's post about JR's "encouragement of others" if you missed it.) Check out Reed in the background. He obviously finds the whole situation just down right hysterical. Jason and I have always said that Reed's the one who's going to get Kyle in trouble (and then Kyle will hurt himself and cry and so on). Just look at Reed, he's totally egging him on! A house full of boys...I'm so in for it.

Thursday, November 5, 2009

So That's What They Do In There

JR got off the bus yesterday and the first thing out of his mouth was, "Mom, You don't need to look in the front pocket of my backpack. There's nothing in there today." So of course I opened his front pocket immediately and found "a white slip". (Which means he had to go to the Principal's office.) And what did I (in my amazing mom-ness) do as I read what offense my son had committed? I laughed out loud. Yep, I did. Luckily, JR wasn't paying attention at that exact moment, so I didn't blow my cover. JR's infraction? And I quote: "JR dared another student to climb on top of the toilet and look over the stall." Come on! Am I seriously supposed to get mad about that? That's hilarious, right? Of course, Jason had nearly the same reaction as I did. Unfortunately for JR, he did get in trouble at home because he lied about the incident at school, and then tried to sign my name to his white slip so he didn't have to show me.
And if you know me, you know I have the white slip signatures to share with you. Poor JR. JR, Babe, if you're going to forge a signature with bad handwriting at least sign your daddy's name...it's way more realistic.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Um, I Don't Blog Well With Boring

I think our Tiny Tots teacher must read my blog. Guess what happened today? Absolutely nothing. No danger, no insane heights, just perfectly age appropriate activities. What's up with that? How am I supposed to blog and diagram just a normal, average, plain ol' trip to Tiny Tots? And since we had what seemed to be an OSHA monitored class today, I was even able to whip out my camera phone and snap a shot of Kyle. So I'm sorry to say, you won't be enjoying my artistic stylings. But I do have a picture of a bar swinging baby! (You'll notice it's the low bar...totally safe, boring, and unDurangoan!)

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Little Miss Christmas

Okay so I'm pretty proud of my decorating progress. Chinese tree-done. JR's tree-done. Texas tree-done. And as I type this, I've got my little Christmas decorator extraordinaire working on the family tree. I've said it before, but as much as JR is like Jason, he's actually really good at decorating Christmas trees...yeah for the Reynolds' Christmas decorating genes! But even more exciting than decorating this year, was a few days ago I got a surprise from my friend, Julie. (We were buddies in China; she's in Ohio now.) Knowing how much I love Christmas decorations (we used to make an annual trip to a Christmas ornament factory in Beijing) she sent me this super cute T-shirt. Christmas and costuming (okay, almost costuming) what could be better? Nothing I can think of. So here I am (in my Little Miss Christmas T) , in front of my completed Texas tree. Yeee-Haw!

Monday, November 2, 2009

That's the Way it Should Be

I'm knee deep in Christmas trees, and I promise to have a post about my decorating progress tomorrow. But before we can jump on over to Christmas decor, I need to wrap up Halloween. Here's how I found JR yesterday morning. Check out the candy on the table. I said, "JR, I see you've got your candy all organized."
JR: I graphed it.
My stomach started knotting up at this point...There was "real life" math going on at my kitchen table! (Because if it involves candy, that certainly qualifies as real world application.) About that time Jason walked in.
Me: He's just like you. Look what your child has done with his Halloween candy.
Jason: That's the way it should be.

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Costume Parade

Never had a "white Halloween" before. Check out the snow!


Nobody stood still long enough at our clubhouse party to get any good pictures.



Trick-or-Treat Hayride. And that's just one of the rides, there were two! They're were so many kids that Jason and I walked behind with the babies! Notice all the coats...pretty safe to say I never had to wear a coat trick-or-treating in Texas! (JR is in a green and blue coat in the middle front of the picture.)