Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Safety. Sort Of.

The other morning before school Kyle and Reed headed out to the car before JR and I did.
(Not much bike riding going on in the snow and cold.)
 
 
I didn't think much about them being in the car alone, but when I got in, I started laughing.
 
 
It's not the first time I've seen (or posted about) stuffed animals in a seat belt, but I've never seen four strapped under the same belt!
 
(You can barely see the belt, but it's going over the back of the little wolf on top.)


Of course I snapped a picture, and then, of course, they had to be in the picture.

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Snow, You're No Friend of Mine

Today I should be recapping Randi's fabulous and amazing Academy Awards party.
I should also be getting ready to go see Catch Me if You Can the Musical tonight.
 
But, I won't be doing either of those things.
Because this is what Sunday looked like.
 
Who would have thought snow on Sunday would keep me away from opening night at the theatre on Tuesday?
Well, the storm we had on Sunday attacked north Texas yesterday, so the trucks couldn't get here.
 
 
I might not have been excited for the snow, but the kids were.
 
Here they are (JR, Reed, and Nolan) heading out to sled.
 
 
Jason got to do one of his favorite activities he's missed out on since our Durango days.
 

And Kyle ran out of snow to shovel at the house, so he moved to the street.


But, thankfully, my social calendar isn't a full bust. 
Randi moved her Oscar party to this Sunday, and we'll be seeing our show on Thursday!

Monday, February 25, 2013

Bear With Me Again

Guess what I found about an hour after I posted about my "friend" Toby Bear yesterday?
 
Toby's hat.
It was in the pantry.
 
If you're wondering how it got in the pantry, or how it took me a 5 days to discover it, well...
 
-I have boys.
-I don't like to cook.
 
The hat will go back to school tomorrow, and to the mom who had Toby Bear this weekend:
You're welcome.
Just one less accessory you had to keep up with.

Sunday, February 24, 2013

I Can't Bear it Again

You might remember last year when Buddy Bear came home from preschool to spend the weekend with us. 
The bear with its own books, journal, outfits, and general "stuff" that gets lost in my house in two seconds.  
 
 
Joy, oh joy, the bear is back this year. Only this time its name is Toby Bear, and it has different outfits.  
 
 
And wouldn't you know it, we were lucky enough to get Toby over the holiday weekend.
   Four full days! 
 
I tried to hide it as soon as Kyle walked in with it, but of course, he was having none of that. Not only did we have to take this bear everywhere, (did I mention it even has sunglasses) but Kyle wanted to change its clothes every few minutes.
 
"But mom, Toby can't sleep in his leather vest."
 
So just where all did Toby Bear go:
 
To IHOP
 
4-wheeling
 
to the park
 
 
And poor Granny Sherry had to take the thing to the movies!
 
So long, Toby Bear!
Can't wait to see you when Reed brings you home!

Saturday, February 23, 2013

Fashion Fabulous Friday (On Saturday)



It was P day at preschool yesterday. 
Pajama and popcorn day.

 
I swear, it seems like these kids have pajama day every other week.
 
But the thrill of the pajama never seems to diminish.

Thursday, February 21, 2013

BFFs

As I mentioned yesterday, Steven, Liz, and the kids came to visit us for the long weekend.  I didn't see much of the kids since they were off playing, but I did manage to get a few pictures.
 
 
This one from Casa Bonita just cracks me up. 
Those are our 6, in the self proclaimed "best seats in the house", all screaming at the diver.  They were screaming what dive to do and where to do it from, but, I have to say, they were great cheerleaders.


All the kids buddied up, and really had fun together.



There were lots of tears and protests when these two had to say goodbye.

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

I'm Broken

So about two hours before Steven, Liz, and their kids (our Durango friends) were to arrive and surprise our kids on Saturday, Kyle and Reed thought it would be a good idea to go outside, move the window well grate, and climb up and down the fire escape ladder.
 
 
For you Texans: you have to have a way to get out of the basement in case of a fire, so there's a little "well" with a ladder outside the basement windows. 
 (This is not the one they moved. The one they moved is raised, so they were able to just slide it off.)
 
 
Kyle came to get me to show me the "cool thing" they were doing, and after I put a stop to the "cool thing", decided to put the grate back on.  I didn't realize how heavy it was (I mean, I thought two 5 year olds had lifted it) and not knowing they had actually slid it off, picked it up and dropped it on my right hand ring finger.
 
 
As soon as I did it, I squealed "I just broke my finger!"
And it hurt! The kind of hurt where I couldn't even cry because it took my breath away hurt.
 
 
I called Jason's mom who left her groceries in the middle of the store, and Debbie, my neighbor.  They were both here in a second, and Debbie took me to the ER, while Sherry watched the kids.
 
 
Now at this point, you might be wondering where Jason was in all of this.  So for the irony of the story...Jason was in Houston at a safety banquet for work! Yep, he was about to honor one of the guys in his region with the North American safety award for the year, while his wife was at home (clearly being unsafe) and breaking a finger.


Back at the ER, Debbie was a great partner and kept me thoroughly entertained while my finger looked like this:

When they asked me what my pain level was I said, "Well now it's a 7, but when I did it I thought I was going to die!"  (Never wanting to pass up an opportunity to be slightly dramatic.)

My official diagnosis is I fractured the tip of my finger. I went back to the doctor yesterday, where my finger looked like this:


 
The doctor said I'll be in the splint for at least 2 weeks, and started me on 10 days of antibiotics since I also have an open wound and they're worried it might become infected.
(And he said I'll definitely loose my finger nail. Ugh!)
 
So what does that mean for you:  Well, for you blog readers, you'll need to excuse misspellings and dropped letters/words since typing isn't the easiest thing in the world. 
And for those of you who see me in public, please excuse my hair, make-up, and children's hair.  If we're all fully clothed, I'm calling it a success!

Sunday, February 17, 2013

A Really Good Excuse

Alrighty, soooo, I'm gonna have to take a few days off from blogging.
Typing's not the easiest thing right now.
 
 
My right hand looks like this.
 
Long story short: I dropped a window well grate on my right hand ring finger.
 
I'll be back with the long story when I can type, which will include what a window well grate is for all you Texans!

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Crafting Some Love

It's the moment you've been waiting for, the Valentine big reveal.

 
JR's actually turned out really cute. I had the fortune cookies and good luck coins left over from Bunco, so when I found the little saying online I was so excited to have all the supplies sitting in my house!
 
JR said the kids loved them.



I could hardly contain my excitement when Kyle and Reed informed me that the girls needed Hello Kitty valentines and the boys needed Cars. 
You mean, I get to buy girl stuff? Done!


But I couldn't just stop at the Hello Kitty cards for the girls. I saw the chocolate roses and had to have them. 
They only have 5 girls in their class, and, truth be told, I was kinda visualizing Kyle having a mini The Bachelor rose ceremony. 
 
"Sophie, will you accept this rose?" 
"Yes, Kyle! Absolutely."
 
 
 
Reed gave out bags of candy with his Hello Kitty cards, which also included a heart candy ring (more Bunco leftovers).

The preschool guys also got bags of candy (but without the heart ring).
 
 
 
And if you're in need of some ideas for next year:
One of the preschool moms tied balloons to the bags of candy.  Huge hit, but no picture.
 
 
I thought this one was cute if you're one of those non-candy people.



And some serious work went into this one.

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Alerting the Neighborhood

I'm guessing Kyle and Reed's teachers must build up being the star student like it's the end-all-be-all of preschool.
 
 
Finally, after a few weeks of waiting, it was Kyle's turn to be the most honorable star student.
 
 
We filled out his star student paper yesterday (most of his answers were the same as Reed's) and I really thought that the excitement had passed.
 
 
Until at 7:01 this morning when I was awoken to the trampling of feet and the squealing "I'm the star student! I'm the star student!"
 
 
I'd like to compare it to Paul Revere's ride, I'm certain it was on the same decibel level, I'm just not sure the importance of the message can compete.
 
 
As the Star Student was leaving today he told me to take his picture with his star student backpack.
I'm not sure why he looks so subdued, he was screaming "star student!" in place of "cheese."
I must have caught him in an awkward syllable.

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Monday, February 11, 2013

Ski it Again

We did the ski thing again this weekend.
It wasn't -15 so that was a big plus.
 
And though it wasn't -15, it did snow.
I'm not sure if Reed is covered in snow from it falling from the sky or from landing in it face first.



We went with our neighbors, Debbie and Scott, and their daughters. 
Mr. Scott was nice enough to let JR tag along with them, so he wasn't forced to do the "easy stuff" with the family. 
Here's JR (red ski helmet) enjoying a ski lift in between the two pretty daughters. 
Give him a few more years and he'll realize how lucky he was.


We were excited about Kyle and Reed's progress, and Jason says they'll be better than me by next year. (Not that that's hard!)
 


All of a sudden the ski equipment got really heavy!


And actual proof I was there.

Sunday, February 10, 2013

Happy Year of the Snake

Today is Chinese New Year.
We did absolutely nothing Chinese-y.
 
But I do have this that Reed brought me the other day.
It's his "Chinese writing".
 
I think the red character is one Ayi did when she was here, so it's real.
 
The rest are Reed's interpretation of the Chinese written word.
 
I'm going to pretend it says: Happy New Year! Have a great year of the Snake!

Thursday, February 7, 2013

I Have Boys. They Are Bad.

I always thought JR was a wild and crazy boy.
Then I met Kyle and Reed.
 
JR's had his moments, but the other two take the cake.
 
And by 'take the cake' I mean Kyle colored on JR's piano keys.
 
Reed witnessed the crime; then tattled.
 
Thankfully his vandalism was done in pencil. 
His excuse? "Reed wouldn't let me play the piano, so it's his fault."
 
He took his punishment from me, and since I'm the "mean one", I'm not so sure why he was scared for Jason to come home from work....except that Kyle likes me best, so maybe he thinks Jason's the "mean one".

 
He assumed the under the coffee table hiding place position when Jason walked in.

 
And being the awesome mom I am, I snapped a picture of him and laughed.

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

His Cherokee Name Should be "Bullets Over Broadway"

Continuing with the gun/hunting theme from yesterday (and you know I love a good theme), JR had his first 4H shooting sports practice last night. Unfortunately, Jason wasn't able to take him, which left me as the designated non-shooter.
 
 
Now, you may be thinking none of this sounds like a big deal, but as I found out, JR had never actually loaded his gun.  Which left me having a "here's how you load the gun" lesson from Jason.
A lesson that may or may not have been interrupted with me running into the closet to hide when I thought a bullet might accidentally come flying out of the gun, ricochet off the wall, and kill me. But I digress.
 
 
I was so nervous about having to take JR to shooting practice and load a gun, I could hardly think of anything else yesterday. 
 I mean, asking me to load a gun (and give JR shooting tips) is like asking Jason to match Beyoncé's Super Bowl routine step-by-step. (Which is what I was actually doing during half time...just to prove to my children how "cool" I am.)
 
 
I was telling Caroline how scared I was, to which she replied, "That's awful! I can't think of anything worse!"
Thank you! I've lived with these Ingersolls so long, I was starting to think I was the weird one.
(BTW, Caroline could also perform Beyoncé's Super Bowl routine if the need arose.)
 
 
 
Turns out, the 4H kids have to do all their own loading, so when the time came for JR to practice, I basically pulled the damsel in distress act, and was able to get one of the leaders to show JR how to do it. 
And after a few minutes, JR looked like an old pro (and I got to stay out of the way).
 
 
 
JR loading his gun. (So glad it wasn't me!)




Go JR!
(Though I'm guessing there's no cheerleading at these things since you can't hear anything.)

Monday, February 4, 2013

Bird is the Word

So after seeing the "excitement" that was Phineas and Ferb Live, you might be thinking that poor JR was left out.

Um, no.

Jason, JR, and some of our neighborhood friends took off on a pheasant hunt in Kansas this weekend.

I never get the full story of what happens on these hunts (I guess hunting trip are like Vegas trips).  All I can really piece together is that pheasants were hunted and fun was had by all.

Thankfully, Jason did snap a picture or two for our viewing enjoyment.


This picture just cracks me up.
First, Nolan has a toy Nerf gun. Then, the girl of the group, Anna, is the one holding the dead birds!



I could fill a scrapbook with just "portraits" of these two in camouflage.


 
JR and Anna
(Anna is our favorite dog, Zoe's, "sister".)






The hunting group  (AKA: Jason and JR plus 3 sets of our neighbors.)