White Out

Poor JR, this face says it all. There really is nothing more embarrassing than having your mom take a picture of you at the bus stop. But, in my own defense, it was class picture day today and I wanted to get a picture of him in this cute white shirt before it became stain filled. (I don't have any girls...picture day is the most dressed up I can hope for!) I was much less obsessive about how JR looked this year, although I did give his hair a squirt of hairspray as he walked out the door this morning. And I did ask him not to play in the sandbox at school until after pictures. When he got home he assured me that pictures were taken before recess and before he got green marker all over his shirt and hands. And no, it's still not warm enough for shorts and short sleeves in the morning. (I made him put his jacket on before he got on the bus.)

Baby Talk: Ice Cream Dreams

Reed: It was 31 cent scoop night at Baskin-Robbins today.
Kyle: Mommy said we could all go get a cone. I couldn't wait! I love ice cream!
R: But when we got to B-R, the parking lot was full and there were people everywhere. The firetrucks were even there for ice cream! Needless to say, the line was out the door.
K: Daddy said he wasn't standing in a line out the door for ice cream, so we got to go to Dairy Queen instead!
R: Woo-Hoo! I'd rather have a Blizzard anyway. I love DQ!
K: So here we are enjoying Baskin Robbins 31 cent scoop night at DQ with a Blizzard. And Mommy wanted me to tell everybody the pictures aren't so good because she took them with her phone.

R: Look how patiently I'm waiting for my Blizzard. And Mommy hollers out we're bad in restaurants. Do you see anybody being bad?


K: And look at my big teeth. I can't wait to sink them into the M&M's I know Daddy will choose for his Blizzard.


R: We don't have a picture of JR waiting patiently because he got to go help Daddy order.
K: But as you can see he was pretty excited about the Blizzard situation.


R: Yummy, Yummy, Yummy, Yummy!


K: If you don't get that ice cream in my lips faster I'm going to scream out!

Both: We can't wait to get to Texas. Now that the Grandmothers have seen how happy Blizzards make us, we're sure we can talk them in to getting us one every day!

Shalom Y'all!

I was talking to my mom the other day and all of a sudden she said, "Oh Jan! I'm so upset! I just got the worst news." (Now normally most people would panic at a statement like that, but since I get my own flair for the dramatics from my mom, I wasn't too worried.)

My Mom: I just found out I'm not a Jew!"
Me: Really? Why not? (Thinking maybe she'd talked about genealogy with one of her cousins.)
My mom (the now non Jew): Well, I was watching this show last night, and they said that you can only be a Jew if your mom is a Jew. Your daddy can be a Jewish Rabbi, but if your mom's not a Jew, then either are you. You can also convert to Judaism, but those are the only two ways.
Me: Oh, I'm so sad for you. You love telling everybody you're a Jew.
My mom: I know! I was so upset I went and woke up your daddy to tell him. (I'm sure he was thrilled to be woken up for that little tidbit.)
Me: Well, you've been telling everybody you're a German Jew for so long, I'd just go ahead and keep telling it. It makes a good story. (And we're all about the good stories.)

So my mom, still wallowing in her new found non-Jewness, will be thrilled to hear that I got a postcard today from the Jews for Jesus! (Which is the picture I posted.) I was actually pretty excited because it starts off:
"Shalom Jan Ingersoll" (I don't think I've ever been 'Shalomed' before!)
So see, Mom, it's okay. I'm on the Jews for Jesus mailing list. And, in my book, you're still the best German Jew Presbyterian around!

Keep 'Em Busy!

I used to think the moms that talked about summer camps were crazy. They seemed in such a panic to make sure their kids were all signed up for camps and activities. I thought it was just some kind of status thing...until I spent summer (and spring break) not having anything lined up for JR. I won't ever make that mistake again. JR and I both need summer activities for him to keep us both sane. I spent the weekend trying to organize his summer schedule (yes, it really does take planning and scheduling), and as of this afternoon he's all signed up and paid up. Woo-Hoo! Here's what JR's summer looks like:

• Last Day of school-May 21
• Last week of May-open (hoping he's old enough to take a golf clinic)
• 1st three weeks of June- tennis lessons (T, TH), skateboarding lessons (M,W,F) I know, I can't believe there's such a thing as skateboarding lessons!
• June 20th- leave for Houston
• June 21-July 18th-Texas. While in Houston he'll attend Vacation Bible School for a week.
• Week of July 19th-return to Durango-my family visits
• Last week of July-day camp at the ski mountain all week
• 1st week of August-family vacay (We're going to Yellowstone.)
• 2nd week of August-kayaking day camp. I think they teach them in the indoor pool, and then if they get good enough, they let them kayak down a calm part of the river. (He's most excited about this, with skateboarding a close second.)
• 3rd week of August-visit from Jason's family, wrapping up the weekend with an antelope hunt in New Mexico.
• School starts Monday, August 24th

That should keep him busy, and keep us both happy!

It's Not Easy Being Green

JR had a holiday from school today. (Considering where we're living now, I'm guessing it was in celebration of Earth Day.) So, I took the kids to the library this afternoon (yep, we parked in the back) and then walked over to Burger King for lunch. See, I'm environmentally friendly, we walked to lunch. On the way to BK, JR told me this little tidbit:
JR: Mommy, When you send me Sunny D in my lunch, I recycle the bottle.
Me: You do?
JR: Yes. Since it's plastic I put it in the recycling bin.
Me: That's good, JR.
JR (very breezily): I know, I'm savin' the planet.

Saving the planet...all in a day's work.

Chip Mystery

You'll remember back this summer we had to break out covert video surveillance, night vision technology, and a high-speed digital camera to find our pacifier thief. Well, I've had to set up yet another sting operation. Lately JR has been upset about the state of his chips when he opens them at school. Seems he's been having to eat a bag full of crumbs. Of course we can't have our JR eating crumbs now can we?! Sounds to me like it's time for Mission Chip Crumbles.

Hummm, that's interesting. Is that a baby butt I see peeking from behind the pantry? Let's get a closer look at another angle.


After rewinding the tape from a different view, we can clearly see Kyle at the beginning stages of opening the pantry door.



And what do we have here? Looks to me like Kyle helping himself to a bag of chips.

From another camera we can see Kyle racing from the scene of the crime. Look at him go!


Back to the pantry camera, we see Kyle has left the door open for his accomplice, Reed. Who's already made his chip selection.

And another, He's got 2! Talk about snatch and grab!


Well, JR, looks like we've solved your chip mystery.

Local-ized

Wow, it's another big 3 post day. But Grandmothers, I'm warning you, you probably won't like 2 of the stories.
So I'm doing my best not to stick out here. Not fit in, just not stick out. I also don't want JR to stick out, so look what I let him wear to school today. Shorts! I know! It was 43 degrees this morning, and since it wasn't freezing I think that's the 'all clear' to send your kid to school in shorts. (All the other kids at the bus stop were wearing them.) Texans, can you imagine how many layers we'd have on our kids if it was 43? We'd have no less than a hat, scarf, and mittens...and I sent mine to school in shorts! JR was thrilled when I told him I might let him wear shorts today. He said, "Mommy! I'm wearing shorts and a short-sleeved shirt." When I talked to my mom and told her I sent JR in shorts she said something like, "Can you do that?" Well, I did. I'm assimilating to my new culture. And really, if Jason keeps moving us around like this, I'll be so cultured there won't be anything left to shock!

Hunting is a Dangerous Sport

So you might remember back in October when I tripped over our zebra rug and broke my new computer. (If not, here ya go.) Obviously this zebra is getting its revenge on Jason since now another family member has hit the deck. Poor JR was about to go to bed and was coming into our room for his last 'goodnight'. As he walked in, he slid on the rug and tripped. When he fell he hit his head on the siderail of our bed. Our house is all wood floors with lots of wood trim (What you'd think a house in Colorado should look like) so just walking around seems to be amplified by 10. The sound JR's head made when it hit our bed made me think we were headed straight to the emergency room. I grabbed him up, fully expecting him to be covered in blood or unconscious. Luckily, neither was the case. His head bruised and a goose egg popped up immediately. I ran and got him a bag of frozen brussel sprouts (I know, but Jason's mom loves them so they're in our freezer for her) which really seemed to do the trick. This morning he awoke with just a slight bruise and no bump. But was quick to tell me that it still hurt (after I asked about it, of course).

Follow Up to Yesterday's Post

I went to MOPS today, and while chatting with the girl sitting next to me, it just happened to come up in conversation that she doesn't own a TV. That's nice. Guess TV-free week is super easy for them!

Thank You, Jason!

JR came home from school Friday with a note about how this is "turn off the TV week" (which also includes the computer, DVDs, and video games). It was an optional activity (Praise the Lord), and they gave us a form to fill out listing the activities we did instead of using electronic devices. The school encouraged us to give up all these things as a family (HA!) and if the kids go a whole week TV-free they get a prize. I told JR about it, and tried to encourage him that this was not something we really wanted to do. (For those of you asking "why not?" I say: I spent 3 years in a Communist country where the 2 best channels we got were Discovery and Star World. Thankfully Star World ran American Idol, but they also ran re-runs of A-Team and Magnum PI. I've done my time without TV, thank you very much!) Anyway, JR said he wanted to try, so I told him okay. JR woke up early this morning (I don't know how early because I get up at 7:00, so it was before 7:00) and as Jason was leaving he told me, "I fed JR breakfast and he's watching TV in his room". So as we were going to the bus stop this morning it hit me that JR was supposed to be TV-free this week, but he had already been watching TV. Leave it to the Ingersolls to not even make it 10 minutes in the TV-free week. And to that I say...Hallelujah! Thank you, Jason! I broke the news to JR saying, "it's the TV-free week, but you were already watching it this morning. Let's just not do that, okay. Mommy will get you a prize anyway." (Knowing that the "prize" was his only real motivation.) Once I told him I'd get him a prize, he was happy as can be. That, and the fact that he has his first loose tooth. Which I'm sure will be reported on soon.

Doggone It!

Poor Hunter. Ever since we got back from our Easter trip he just hasn't been the same. Our regular dog sitter (Yep, we've been here long enough to have a regular dog sitter) was already booked for Easter weekend. Kennels aren't very popular here since Durango is a very "dog friendly community" (boy, that's an understatement). So I found a place that I thought was "kennel like". What it turned out to be is a lady who runs a doggie daycare out of her house, but she'll also keep dogs overnight. I got Hunter all signed up. But before she would agree to keep him, we had to go over to her house a few days before we left so she could met him. ( You can just imagine the conversation I had with Jason trying to explain that one to him.) When we arrived there were about 4 dogs running around the house, and another lady picking up her dog from daycare. The owner told us all about the 2 hour hikes she and the dogs take in the woods everyday, and how does Hunter do off the leash? Umm...he runs off. She asked us about the things Hunter likes to do. Umm....sleep and sit in our laps. And if there were any important things she needed to know. Umm...his bark is crazy loud and annoying and he'll want to sleep in the bed with you. Jason couldn't get out of that place fast enough. We laughed all the way home about Crazy Dog Lady...so not Jason's type. We told Crazy Dog Lady we would drop Hunter off about 10:00 AM before we left for Easter. At 10:05 the morning of , she was calling Jason's cell phone wondering where we were (Umm, turning on your street. ) because she was ready to get going on their daily hike. (And if I ever take up 2 hour daily hikes, I really hope I look a lot more fit than she does.) We dropped Hunter off and headed to the airport. While we were home, we wondered a few times how Hunter was doing at Crazy Dog Lady's. Well, apparently, Hunter must have been furious he wasn't at home with our normal dog sitter (who happens to be a college student and very pretty). When we picked Hunter up we had a....report card waiting for us. Oh yes! A report card. Now, I'm the mom of 3 wild, crazy, and rambunctious boys. I used to shake in fear waiting for JR outside his preschool worried about what shenanigans he had pulled that day. I'm trying my best to keep a handle on these boys, so needless to say, I could care less if the dog gets a bad report card. But, for your amusement, here are some report card highlights:
Hunter was "unsettled and not so happy with the hike".
I told you he likes to sleep and sit in your lap.
He was "not too keen on the 2 puppies that visited Friday".
So he doesn't play well with others? What do you expect? He's an only dog!
He "has quite a squeal that almost put [Crazy Dog Lady] and the other dogs in cardiac arrest".
We warned you his bark was loud and annoying.
Hunter "wanted to go outside [Saturday night] but then didn't want to come back in.
So what?! Let him sit outside. You've got a doggie-door, he'll come back in when he's ready.
So I guess Crazy Dog Lady traumatized Hunter with his bad report card. Hopefully, he'll be back to normal soon. And don't worry Hunter, I've already got Pretty Dog Sitter all lined up for our vacation in August.

Baby Talk: Little Dudes

Kyle: I'm really mad at Mommy. She always refers to us as "the babies", and she also does this thing where she'll say, "If you're a little-bitty baby and you want to take a nap say 'me'!" or "If you're a little-bitty baby and you want to eat lunch say 'me'!" I'm guessing she wants us to holler out 'me', but since we can't say that word yet, I'm not really sure what's up with that little routine of hers. But honestly, I think all her talk of us being 'little-bitty babies' has come true! We went to the doctor yesterday for our 15 month check-up. We were sure we were going to make it on the growth chart this time. Unfortunately, nope. In fact, we've only gained about a pound since our 12 month check-up. Mommy always carries us at the same time, so she knew that I weighted more than Reed, and she was certain we weighted 20 lbs. Umm, not so much. I came in at 19 lbs 11 oz and Reed is 19 lbs 1 oz. And to add further insult to injury, Mommy went and looked up what JR weighted at 15 months. Oh yes, Wonder Boy, JR, clocked in at 27 1/2 lbs when he was our age. Just another example of how fabulous and wonderful JR was/is. We get it, people! Big Brother's great...so can we put the focus back on us now?

Reed: Who cares if we're little? The doctor says we're fine. Plus everybody tells us how cute we are. I say we milk this "little thing" for all it's worth. By the way, I'm mad at Mommy too. I was having a blast playing with the magnetic wall at the doctor's office. It was great....They had stripped me down to my diaper, I was moving magnets around the wall, and the doctor was messing with Kyle. I was having a blast. Then all of a sudden, here comes Mommy gettin' all up in my business! She swoops me up, and expects me to sit there nicely while the doctor starts messin' with me. I let them know quick I was having none of that. I heard Mommy telling Daddy I "was bad" while the doctor was examining me. Whatever! Mommy was the bad one for interrupting my play time. And I sure let Mommy and the doctor know I was mad! Then guess what they did to us? Gave us each 2 shots! I'm tellin' ya...these people are crazy if they thought I was going to sit up there and be "good" during all that. Whatever, Dude!

Really?!

No, these aren't JR's "first day on the bus" pictures taken back in January. I just took them about an hour ago! (That's JR in the orange coat.) Can you believe it's snowing again? When does it stop? Apparently, not for awhile. Our neighbor told me that is snowed on Memorial Day weekend last year. What?! Why are people just now sharing this very important information with me. It was 24 at the bus stop this morning, and 66 in Houston. And yes, I lived in a place with "seasons" before. And this is not how I remember "spring" in Beijing. And just to prove it, I checked the weather in Beijing and since its nighttime it's only 58, but the high tomorrow is 75! I knew I wasn't the one who's crazy. Snowing in April is crazy!

He's Been Caught

Disclaimer: This picture has nothing to do with today's story; I just thought it was cute of JR and Grandpa Gary.

Yep, He's been caught. If you remember JR has been helping himself to breakfast at school every morning. (read about it here) But this morning Jason called me to tell me he had just gotten off the phone with the Riverview Elementary cafeteria. They called this morning and asked Jason if we knew JR was eating breakfast at school. He said he laughed and said, "Well, to be honest, we didn't know for awhile." She told Jason that JR was "just the cutest little boy" and he didn't have a cafeteria card so he had memorized his number. She mainly wanted us to know that he was getting cereal, but not really eating it. Jason asked if he was being bad or disturbing the other kids and she told him that he wasn't. He's just sitting with his friends, having fun, and "eating breakfast". Jason told her that we really don't care if he eats or not, and if he's being good just to go ahead and keep letting him not eat breakfast. Oh, and I owe $12 for the cereal he's "eating" every morning.

Big Time Post Day

Alrighty, I'm almost caught up with Easter postings, so it's a big 3 post day!

Yes, It was Eventful

I was hoping for a non eventful trip home that I wouldn't be able to blog about, but lucky you, there's a story. We left Lovelady about 9:15 AM in a typical Texas spring downpour. The kind of storm that might just throw a tornado in your path at any second. We got to the airport in between downpours and thought we might have timed it just right. Unfortunately, seems we timed it just wrong. They closed the airport for about 20 minutes, which was really fine by me. Being a nervous flier, I'd much rather err on the side of caution than get up in the middle of a rainstorm and have to endure a "bumpy puke ride" as my friend Marica refers to it. The 20 minute closure of the airport sent all incoming flights to San Antonio, Dallas, or Austin. So when the airport opened, we had no plane and no crew. Our plane finally arrived (which had been diverted to San Antonio) and all was looking up. Until they told us our crew was stuck in Dallas...and oh by the way, your plane is broken too. At that point Jason decided our flight would probably be cancelled. A broken plane is never a good sign. To our surprise, they did find us another plane, but the crew was still in Dallas. About 3:00 PM our crew finally arrived and we all boarded the plane. Just as we were all loaded and they were about to shut the door, they told us we all had to get off the plane because it had a flat tire. (FFA regulations say you can't change a flat with people on board.) We all unloaded and stood around in the skyway for another 15 minutes. When we finally got back on, I was sitting in the front with Kyle, and Jason, Reed, and JR were sitting a few rows behind me. (Don't feel sorry for Jason, I had Kyle and JR on the way down.) I heard lots of screams coming from Reed during the flight (I kept Kyle fairly quiet by just letting him do pretty much whatever he wanted). If I have to find one positive thing about being delayed all afternoon...at least the weather had plenty of time to clear up, so the flight itself was just fine. We landed about 5:00 (mountain time) in Albuquerque and then drove the 4 hours on home to Durango. As Jason and I drove home he kept saying, "These kids are going to have to learn to fly at some point. They're awful! I mean, they're Ingersolls...they're just going to have to learn to fly! JR had flown all over the world by the time he was their age." Needless to say, we won't be making anymore weekend trips to Houston. Looks like it's going to be car rides only for awhile.

As for the pictures: The top one: on the way to Houston-Kyle attacking JR while he tries to work in one of his books. Kyle thinks airplane time is "playtime". Below: Jason's "easy" flight to Houston with Reed. And Kyle staying quiet when I gave him a whole bag of Nilla Wafers to eat/play with to Albuquerque.

Baby Talk: Easter Party #21

Guest Bloggers: Kyle and Reed Ingersoll

K: We were super excited to go to Texas for Easter and see all our grandparents. We also attended the 21st annual Easter party at our Aunt Lu's. (She's really mommy's cousin, but we like to call everybody "aunt".)

R: Here's JR and "favorite cousin Caleb" about to eat lunch.
K: And now that we've seen JR, I think that's quite enough of him. Let's see how we spent the day!


R: We rode Big Wheels.



K:We tried to take a family Easter egg hunt picture.
R: I don't think we did too good. Elizabeth is the only one smiling and looking at the camera!


R: Mommy tried to help me hunt more eggs, but after I found three I was satisfied. I had way more fun just playing with my eggs than looking for more.

K: Me too! Daddy finally gave up trying to make me hunt more when I started crying. Not sure why we needed any more. These two were super fun!

R: We were too little to hold the big pinata stick, so we beat him with a maraca. It was awesome!

K: I hit him so hard I think I broke him!

R: Umm, No you didn't.

R: We loved all the food, but the cookies were the best.

K: It was great. Maw-Maw and Paw-Paw kept telling Mommy, "Go get these babies some more cookies."

R: It was a fun day. We loved the Easter party!

Bunny Bailout

Was there a Bunny Bailout I missed? With this economy the media won't quit talking about, I was sure the picture with the Easter Bunny line wouldn't have been 2 HOURS LONG. Oh yes, 2 hours! And just to make sure we're all on the same page about the state of our economy, Jason and I picked the cheapest Easter Bunny picture package which was $21.64 (to be exact) AND we had all our kids in one picture. Part of the reason the picture line was 2 HOURS is that most parents were having a group shot of their kids, and then individual shots. Oh yeah they were. Not only that, but both families who checked out in front of me, bought the $20 Easter frames for the pictures!

So how did the picture turn out? Well, about like I thought it would. I knew Kyle wouldn't want anything to do with The Bunny, and I knew Reed would be fine with him as long as he thought it was a big dog. Reed looked a little scared at first, but after I petted the Easter Bunny like a dog, Reed followed right along. He sat in his lap with no tears. I thought I could keep Kyle from crying by putting him in JR's lap, but as you can see from the picture, no such luck. So here's the picture, which I actually love because it captures each of their personalities perfectly. Kyle full of drama and scared to death, Reed content but not overjoyed, and JR thrilled since he knows The Easter Bunny will be bringing a basket of goodies for him.

Flying High

Well, we'll be boarding the plane tomorrow morning. It was a super quick trip, but thankfully the flight down was non eventful. I sat next to JR with Kyle in my lap, and besides that he wouldn't sit still, everything was fine. He was rambunctious enough to make me feel like the looser in a wrestling match, but didn't seem to disturb anybody else. Jason had Reed, who was more calm and even took a fifteen minute nap. Hopefully the morning flight home won't be blog-worthy! I'll be sure and post a full Easter report tomorrow.

Early Baskets

I wanted to post a quick note before we head to the airport. I fixed the kids' Easter baskets yesterday and hid them in the closet so I could put them out this morning before we left. JR is at school, so when we get home Easter night, his basket will be waiting for him. I fixed two baskets for the babies too, and thought all was safe inside my closet. As Jason and I were getting ready this morning I heard squeals of delight coming from my closet. Kyle and Reed had taken it upon themselves to have Easter baskets 3 days early. Easter candy, toys, and eggs were slung from one end of the closet to another. Both of them had huge grins on their faces as they "played" with their toys and eggs. Kyle was beating a package of Peeps so hard on the floor that I hope JR doesn't mind squished Peeps this year. Yep, it's going to be a super-fun day!

I See it Coming!

I'm gonna put this out there right now: JR was a really good baby. There. I said it. We're flying to Houston tomorrow for a quick trip home for Easter and I can already tell that Kyle and Reed are gearing up to put on quite the spectacle. (You'll remember our last airplane trip didn't go so well.) You should have seen them in WalMart today. They were screaming and hollering for everything they saw. They didn't care what it was! When JR was little I'd put things in the basket and he'd play with them, and then I'd put it back on the shelf when it was time to go. These two are having none of that. I'd put things in the basket with them, and then they'd throw it out and start squealing for something else. One of JR's friend's mom actually found me in the toy department and said, "I figured that was you from all the noise." I finally got so fed up with the squealing that I opened up a package of M&Ms thinking that would keep them quiet. Nope. They gobbled those down so fast that we were still waiting in line to check out by the time they were finished. But late this afternoon really takes the cake. Jason and I just happened to be standing next to their cribs and were about to pick them up when Kyle braced one foot on the headboard of his crib and launched himself over the railing. If we hadn't been standing there to catch him he would have landed on his head. We've switched which crib they sleep in hoping that will keep them "cribed up" a bit longer. JR NEVER even tried to climb out of his crib. I admit it. I thought JR was a handful, but I didn't know how easy I had it!

Spring Update III

Before I get into the "spring" part I was just sitting here trying to decide who's the most dramatic of the Ingersolls. Jason would tell you he's not dramatic, but really he is. When we were first married he would be on the phone every night to customers in Korea. He'd yell, scream, and stomp around the house. After he'd get off the phone I'd always say, "I'd never buy anything from you!" He'd explain "that's how they do business there", but whatever, he loved it. So yes, Jason is dramatic too. So my mini-Jason/#3 dramatist* gets off the bus today wearing his "I'm so pitiful it's just pitiful" face. (Here's where the "spring" part comes in.) Obviously the moms who sent their kids to the bus in shorts this morning know a thing or two about Durango weather because JR couldn't tell me enough times how hot he was. (He was only wearing a long-sleeve T-shirt and wind-pants...the way he acted you'd have thought I'd made him wear a parka!) He told me how they now go outside for PE and he was hot. He was hot at recess. He was hot on the bus. And how he could hardly walk home he was so hot. (BTW, the high today was 60.) As we were walking home he'd say, "I just don't know if I can make it. I'm so tired from being so hot. I'm having to walk too far in this heat. I'm going to need a big drink of water when we get home. I'm parched." (You can thank Maw-Maw for teaching him that vocabulary word.) After making the "death march" down the street to our house, I got him his glass of water and he ripped off his shirt as fast as he could. As he flopped on the couch he told me a few more times how hot he was, and was finally satisfied when I told him I would send him in short-sleeved shirts for the rest of the year. Yes, JR in his "hotness" has declared it is spring!

*I decided that the dramatic ranking of the Ingersolls is as follows: Me, Kyle, JR, Jason, Reed

Spring Update II

It was 28 at the bus stop this morning. 2 kids were wearing shorts. As you can guess, mine was not one of them. I know it was supposed to be cold in Texas this morning, and I bet none of them were wearing shorts. In fact, I bet they all had on at least 3 layers!

Chick Magnet

Getting JR to take a bath becomes more of a chore each day. And bathing daily is a must since he's either covered in sand from the sandbox at school (how it gets in his hair I don't even want to know) or reeks of chlorine from the pool. As Jason was trying to convince him into the shower before church this morning their conversation went like this:

Jason: Come on JR, don't you want to smell good? Girls like it when you smell good. What's that one's name that likes you at school.

JR: Daddy. They all like me.

Jason: Really? How do you know they like you.

JR: Because when I say something funny, they all laugh. And if they laugh, that means they like you.

Yep. Kindergarten...and he's got it all figured out.

Dusty Roads

Told ya it was dusty yesterday. This was the picture on the front page of the paper this morning. At least we got some relief from the dust...it snowed about 3 inches last night. Helloooo? Spring? Are you coming?

Spring Break....Finished!

The last day of spring break in Durango brought another "beautiful" day. It was so windy that dust and dirt filled the sky and it looked exactly like it did everyday in Beijing. Jason and I were walking to the car tonight and we both got dirt in our teeth and eyes...reminded us of the good ol' days. JR had a friend come over this afternoon (and his 3rd grade sister who fell in love with the babies when she met them at the Rec Center and asked if she could come too so she could help "baby sit"). JR also had movie night at church tonight, so it was pretty much a perfect day for him. Of course it wasn't a "best" day since he didn't get to drink Coke.

Spring Break Day 4

We gave JR the choice of going bowling or going to the movies tonight. It was a tough decision which involved throwing himself dramatically on the floor about the difficulty of choosing, but in the end he decided on bowling. Durango doesn't actually have a bowling alley, so we drove out to the Sky Ute Casino. (BTW, they have the cleanest, nicest, nonsmoking-est bowling alley I have ever been in.) I was excited to bowl because I knew we'd have to get bumpers for JR, and I'm a halfway decent bowler with bumpers. Unfortunately this place is so nice and new that you program into the computer which bowlers need bumpers and which don't. And with Jason at the control panel, I didn't get bumpers! Needless to say, both Jason and JR beat the pants off me. Jason actually looked at me one time and said, "I thought you knew how to bowl." The babies did an okay job of watching. Reed played peek-a-boo with a little girl in the next lane, while Kyle mainly ate Cheerios. Although both couldn't seem to understand why they weren't getting to play too!

Spring Break Day 3

I couldn't believe it, everybody slept in today! It was about 8:30 when everybody got up and we decided to take advantage of the beautiful spring day and head down the road to Vallecito Lake. JR had a blast learning to water ski, and the babies and I enjoyed cheering him on. After a beautiful day at the lake, we dropped by the Natural Foods CO-OP where I stocked up on organic fruits and veggies. Cooking organically is so important to me, and it's super convenient to have the CO-OP right here in town. After dinner, the new live-in housekeeper/nanny that Jason hired for me arrived, so I ran into town to have a massage and a mani-pedi. In fact, it was such a great day, I'm quite sure you're all aware that this is one big April fools.
The real day started when JR woke at 6:25. And since he clomps around the house like a big ol' elephant, and the babies are true Ingersolls and worried they might miss something, their eyes flew open about 6:28. It was a cloudy,overcast day here in Durango, with on and off snow flurries all day, I believe the high was about 38. On a high note, JR did love dinner tonight, and told me my tacos (canned chicken with cheese, Ranch, and Pace) were even better than Lunchable tacos. Which coming from JR means he thinks I served him a gourmet meal. And on the housekeeping front, I'm about to go fold my 6th load of laundry. Woo-hoo!