Grandpa's Helpers

My parents came for a visit last week, so we took a trip out to help my Grandma. One of the things my dad did was dig out the tiles that were in her lawn and reset them. This was interesting to the boys so they started helping him.

They would leap on the tiles that were unburied like they were video game characters trying to reach the end of the board.

Then when grandpa got the grass dug up they would pull it up and carry it to the wheelbarrow. After a few holes they got sticks and started to fish in the muddy holes. until Grandpa was ready for them to pick up more grass.

They thought this was a fun game.

I don't think they realized this was work, and I was not going to tell them.

Softball

The Softball season has started again and Emily had her first game on Tuesday.

She loves playing and is getting pretty good at it. She hit the ball both times she was up to bat.

This was an extra special game because all of her Grandparents were there to watch.

"That's Funny"

Warning :this post has a PG rating due to language, but I had to share. I hope you find the humor in it like I did.... P.S. I did get permission from Ryan before posting it.

The prescriptions are all working and everyone is starting to feel better, so life is returning to normal.

There is a conversation in our house that I have started hearing repeated over and over again throughout each day. It is one between Joe and Josh. One of them will see or hear something that they think is funny and then the conversation starts.

"That's funny"

"Yeah That's funny"

Laugh, Laugh, repeat whatever they thought was funny, laugh some more.

This morning the boys were up and Emily was getting ready for school. After she ate breakfast, she started making herself a lunch. So she went to the cupboard and got out a brown lunch sack. The boys saw the bag and immediately got their own and began packing their lunch too. (This means something they will eat when they return from driving Emily to school) They each got a banana and a granola bar.

Soon it was time for Emily to leave. Ryan was going to drive her. He was in the basement so he called Emily down and headed into the garage. The boys grabbed their lunches and headed to the car. Ryan told them that they could not go he was just driving Emily to the school, but the boys started crying and saying they really wanted to go. (As they stood in the doorway holding their bags.)

Ryan was not ready to handle the whining today so he yelled,

"FINE, JUST GET IN THE DAMN CAR!!"

Which was followed by the boys laughing and saying,

"That's Funny, damn car" as they climbed into the car. Repeating it and laughing.

Ryan then said, "Don't say that it's a bad word!"

But it was too late, the conversation had started and Ryan was heckled with his words the whole drive to school.

When they returned home the boys came in, sat down, and ate their lunch, while Ryan took some time to himself shoveling the walks.

I am grateful for my kids, who remind me to find the humor in things....

I have been laughing about this all day.

Who Is The Sous

For as long as I can remember I have loved to cook. I enjoy every part of it. Finding a recipe, molding those ingredients together into something tasty to eat, and then most of all taking pleasure in eating the item I made. I enjoy all kinds of cuisine and like to try to cook most of them. I find cooking a joy and a release from the day. A place where I am truly in charge. When It is time to cook dinner, it is a time for me to step away from the kids, cleaning and other stuff to focus on something I enjoy and to have a minute to myself to think while I cut and cook the meat and vegetables. I will admit that there are days when things are busy and we quickly throw together spaghetti or Tacos so we can move on to other things. But I usually find two or three nights a week when I can make something fun.

Once again it is getting close to dinner time. I don't need to look at the clock to know this because I can hear my kids going through the cupboards in the kitchen and asking me the age old question.... "What's for dinner?" usually followed by "can I have a snack?" I head into the kitchen and pull out the meat I have defrosting and the other ingredients I will need. Tonight the menu is Teriyaki Pork Stir Fry. This is one of my favorites. The flavorful sauce and the fresh veggies make it a treat for me. (My kids like the meat, but usually pick out most of the vegetables)

Suddenly I hear the familiar sound of the stool coming across the kitchen towards me, mixed with the familiar three year old voice asking the following questions......

"Are you making dinner?"

"What are you making?"

"Oh you are making chicken" (all meat is chicken to Josh)

"I will help you cook the chicken mom."

I begin cutting up the pork and Josh starts his narration of what I am doing. Then he notices the rice cooking on the stove and sees the little bubbles coming out the side of the lid and popping.

"Mom hurry the water is coming!"

"No Josh, it is supposed to look like that."

"Okay mom you keep cutting the chicken."

Josh then opens up the spice cupboard and begins pulling out the spices he thinks I should add to the meat.

"Mom put this in."

"No Josh that won't taste good."

"Oh will this taste good?"

This continues for a bit as Josh pulls out each spice container one after another telling me it would be good in the dish....I finish the meat and put it in the pan to cook.

"Okay mom I will stir the meat."

I let him help cook the meat, because it makes him feel like he is helping and it doesn't hurt anything. While Josh is stirring the meat I start cutting the vegetables. Suddenly the orders start coming at me again.

"Oh mom you are cutting those. Cut that one. Are you cutting them right. What are you doing with that. Do I like that."

It then occurs to me that I have been demoted from head-chef to sous-chef. Instead of being the one in charge I am now being ordered about my kitchen, and the little sanctuary I had is no longer.

I really don't mind having the kids help me cook. I think it is a fun way for us to spend time together. The meal was good, and in the end it was nice to know that Josh was happy he helped make dinner. But next time he can be the Sous-chef.

SICK

I have not posted anything for awhile, but it is because I have had nothing to post about.

All of the germs floating around the neighborhood have hit our family all at the same time.

We started two weeks ago with the stomach flue and then moved on to colds, croup and Influenza (body aches, fever etc....but not throwing up). And yes, we all had our flu shot this year.

I think Emily's teacher is wondering what I have done with her. She has missed about two weeks of school, and she is still home today. The biggest problem is that it has been different illnesses, so until today I could not get the doctor to give her medicine. Finally today they decided she has developed a sinus infection and gave her a prescription. Unfortunately Joe is suffering with Influenza today too. WHEN WILL IT END!

I am really starting to doubt all of the labels on cleaning supplies that say they kill 99.9% of germs. I guess the germs at our house are the 00.1% it does not kill.

Lucky Find

From the time Josh was a little baby he has always liked the color GREEN. If he gets to choose something he always goes for the green one. When he goes shopping with me he is always telling me to buy the stuff in the green packaging. If his green Pajama's are clean those are the ones he wears first. (Even before the Firetruck or Thomas pajamas.)

Last week I was making a cake and Josh wanted me to make it green. In fact if you ask Josh what his favorite color is he will always say GREEN.

Now that I am feeling better. We have taken on my least favorite task of raising a toddler.....

POTTY TRAINING!!!

Josh and I went and bought a potty seat and some underpants with his promise that he would use the potty if he had these items.

The next day when he woke up we put on his underwear instead of a diaper. This did not go over well. He did not wet his pants, but every time he used the potty, after he was done he would cry for a diaper.

So I resorted to the "Potty treat" reward system. His favorite treats are M&M's, so I gave him a few of those if he could used the potty. This was working OK. He stopped asking for diapers, but he still cried a little when I took him potty, and he was still not very willing to go. He was not wetting his pants, but I was having to force him into the bathroom.

Yesterday I had to do the weekly shopping and so I stopped by the M&M's to restock. To my surprise I found these bags of all GREEN M&M's. They were left over from Valentine's day and on sale for half price.

This was such a lucky find, because now Josh happily goes by himself to the potty without crying so he can get his GREEN M&M's. No one else is allowed to have any, and Josh watches as we get him some to make sure that we are not eating "His Green M&M's." I know some might look at this as bribery, but when it comes to potty training I say whatever works,

and this is working great!

Outside Again

I love this time of year when the temperature warms up and the snow is melted. It is so nice to go outside and work in the yard and let the kids run free.

Joseph and Josh have spent the last two days out running around in the back yard. Josh was so tired last night that he was asking for his pajama's by 6:30pm.

The only down side to this is more dirt is brought into the house. So far the boys have been good about taking their shoes off.

This morning we got the bikes out and took them for a spin.

The weatherman is saying to expect snow at the end of this week.......... so we are trying to take advantage of the warmer weather while it lasts.