Gender Differences

Laurel, Ian and I are playing with some little plastic dinosaurs. First I interact with Ian. Growling, I hold a dinosaur before Ian and tease, "Roar, I'm a T-Rex and I'm going to eat you."

Ian picks up a nearby T-Rex, growls back at mine and begins to attack it. Soon there are chomping sounds, which I can only assume that his dinosaur ate mine.

I then turn and play with Laurel. I hold the same dinosaur in front of her and give a growl. "Roar, I'm a T-Rex and I'm going to eat you!!"

Laurel sweetly smiles and happily chirps at it, "I love you." She then takes the dinosaur from me and gives it a hug and a kiss.

A Happy Reunion

Hi, Daddy! (Day 4)

Dear Daddy,

We're so glad you called this morning. We love to hear your voice. Have fun in your classes today.

So far, we've played with trains...


and we've packed our bags to stay the night at Grandma Ann's.


We're so excited. Grandma says we get to ride the Molly Trolley to the park today. But there are lots of clouds and it may rain. Mommy says we won't melt if we get wet. We're also very excited because we'll get to see you tomorrow! We miss you. Remember, as soon as we see you, you have to be Tickle Monster.

We love you. Hugs. Kissy, kissy,
Ian and Laurel, and Mommy too

Hi, Daddy, Please Come Home!!!

Dear Daddy,

We talk about you all the time and wonder if you're ok in Las Sega (Las Vegas in Laurel-ese). We love talking to you on the phone. Ian yells so you can hear better since you are sooooo far away. We kiss the phone a bunch since we hear you on it.

Today we went to our weekly classes. Laurel had ABC fun in her class, and Ian played Duck, Duck, Goose in his. Mommy was going to take pictures, but she forgot to put the memory card back in the camera. Silly Mommy!

Here are some pictures of what we're doing at home:



Laurel is getting away with sucking on her fingers since you're not around to remind her, "Fingers out," and take away her blankie.






Of course, Ian is setting up his race track a different way.







He's also busy playing on his computer. *Picture courtesy of Ian.



Laurel's put together several picnics for us to munch on. *Picture courtesy of Ian.






Mommy never stops doing laundry. *Picture courtesy of Ian.







Don't worry, we're helping Mommy with the chores. Ian picked up the newspaper and rolled the black trash barrel back into the backyard. Laurel helped Mommy make sandwiches for lunch.

We also helped water the plants.

Look, Daddy, look! We pulled out some carrots. They almost look big enough to eat.

But we're not waiting, we're eating them NOW!!! YUMMY!!!

Good night, Daddy! We love you. Have sweet dreams.



Hugs and kisses,
Ian and Laurel and Mommy too!

Hi, Daddy! (Day 2)

Dear Daddy,

Oh, how we miss you. Mommy's keeping us busy so we don't think about you being gone too much. She says if we stay busy you'll be home sooner.





Today we went to the dinosaur museum.




















First we panned for gold. We did find some gold, but the fun part was getting wet! It was hot, but the water felt good. We'll show you our gold when we get home.
























The museum has lots of dinosaurs. Laurel was scared of them. Mommy kept saying they aren't real, but they were big and moving. Some have really big teeth. We didn't want to be eaten, so we stayed close to Mommy.













































We also saw stars, meteors, planets, and comets. We got to touch some meteors.
























Hey, Daddy, guess what? We're movie stars! That's right, we were on TV! The museum has a place where you go behind the TV, but you show up on it. It's fun Daddy. We danced and pretended to jump on the people.




























After the museum, we went to Grandma Edie's for lunch. We must have eaten too many snacks in the van, we weren't hungry for lunch. But Papa Chuck gave us chocolate milk, and we drank it all up. Ian got to stay the afternoon over at Grandma's, but Laurel went home with Mommy. Ian will come home after dinner. Grandma and Papa want to see our new shower.

We love you Daddy! We are sending you hugs and kisses.

Love,
Ian and Laurel, and Mommy too!

Hi, Daddy!

Dear Daddy,

We miss you. Night time is just not the same without the tickle monster around. Mommy just can't make the right noises for it to be effective. Promise you'll turn into Tickle Monster as soon as you get home.

Today we went to the mall and played indoors. Mommy says it's too hot to play outside today, but 108 doesn't sound hot to us. We did get to jump and run and make friends at the play area. We went on the carousel and got to get a book at the store. Here's a picture of us reading Ian's new Lightning McQueen book.

We are being very good. Tonight we both cleaned up all our toys and brushed our teeth without giving Mommy too much grief. Ian won the race to see who could get their jammies on the fastest. Laurel chose to read I Love You Stinky Face, and Ian of course wanted Curious George. Tonight, it was the one where George makes the pancakes. Can we have blueberry pancakes, Daddy?

Daddy, will Peter Pan and Tinkerbell visit us tonight? Can we go to Neverland? Remember when Captain Hook was scared of the crocodile, remember that Daddy?

We're sending you hugs and kisses. Sweet dreams, Daddy! We love you!

--Ian and Laurel (Mommy sends her love too.)

Sick, But Not Deterred

Ian has some stomach virus today. He woke me up at six this morning complaining that his stomach hurt. About an hour later, the vomiting began. He is all too familiar with what we call the Barf Bowl, and knows to use it when needed.

Today is garbage truck day. More than that, we get visited by two garbage trucks. One picks up our recycling, and another picks up plant material. Ian is laying on the beach towel covered couch. He is gray and still. But, upon hearing an all too familiar screech of brakes, he sits up and softly reports, "The garbage truck is here."

Ian staggers towards the front windows. I rush to grab the Barf Bowl and follow him. He opens the curtains to view the marvelous truck lifting our recycling barrel. Good thing I closely follow him with the Barf Bowl, he immediately begins retching into it. He will not stop watching his beloved garbage truck, but continues looking out the window, all the while throwing up.

The truck finally departs, and Ian pretty much collapses in my arms and I walk him back to the couch. After convincing him that chicken noodle soup would not be a great idea right now, and reading to him a book about garbage trucks, Ian is asleep and hopefully on the mend.

Moonlighting

So, I've got a secret blog. Back in September, I started trying to lose weight and was occasionally posting about it. Then, I took a break from blogging, those end of the year holidays came and went, and I gained all the weight back plus an additional four pounds. Heavy, heavy sigh.

Depressed and failure are some words that describe my feelings towards myself at the time. Fortunately, enough was enough, the clothes were getting WAY too tight, and I decided to stand up again, dust myself off and take charge over this part of my life.

Back in March, I refocused my efforts on getting healthy. I started taking note of portions and calories consumed, started incorporating exercise into a busy life, and chose to create a blog dedicated to this one aspect of my life. It's dull - just me keeping track of whatever goes into the pie hole, exercise, struggles, successes, and such. But, oh, it's so important to me. I'm posting daily, and it's helping me keep focused.

Unfortunately, this blog has suffered. Where are all the cute stories of the kids? I need to find balance between the two. So I now must offer a story, that incorporates both...

I need to exercise at home. Driving to some gym and putting the kids into a daycare while I work out is not my idea of fun. Yes, I gave it a try last summer, and I just didn't like spending 40 minutes on the road each day.

Exercising at home obviously takes away that 40 minute drive time, but there is a challenge: Laurel and Ian sometimes get in the way. I think it's so cute when they want to work out with me, but when I'm doing aerobics, I'm afraid I might jump on them, or my hand might hit them as they walk by. Actually, both kids have accidentally been whacked by me as they ran by at the wrong moment.

The solution was simple. Whenever I exercise, I divide the room with a long piece of yarn. The kids can work out or play on one side, while I sweat it out on the other. Does it work? For the most part, yes. Laurel still crosses the line to crawl between my legs while I'm stretching. To her, I'm a tunnel at that point and she just can't resist. I just hope I can keep my balance.



Ian doing the moves in the aerobics DVD with me.










Laurel tries to do lunges.













Ian holds wooden beads as his weights during strength training. He's having some fun.













*BTW: sometimes I have brain fart and forget to change my identity when leaving comments on your blogs. If you see someone by the name of Slenderella, that's me. :-)

Happy Mother's Day

Why I love being a mother...



Happy Mother's Day!

Bad Fashion, Beware

There is a Fashion Nazi residing in our household. She goes by name of Laurel, and she knows exactly what she wants to wear. Point blank she tells us if an outfit is not desired. Try to put it on her, and you face fits of fury exerting the energy of a tornado. There will be high pitched shrieks, tears, flailing arms, back arching, and the inevitable escape. We've learned to offer her choices in her apparel, giving her control. It makes for a much happier morning.

Evidently, ponytails and a sequined shirt
are appropriate apparel for a baseball game.

However, the opinions are not limited to herself. Paul likes to be shirtless when brushing his teeth, thus eliminating the possibility of getting toothpaste on it. This bothers Laurel to no end. She stands next to him, points and yells, "Daddy, put on a shirt!"

Sometimes I wear a light jacket in the house when cold. Laurel points at me and says, "Mommy, no coat!"

I usually respond, "Honey, I'm cold and I need the jacket to keep warm."

Comfort is not of importance to her, only how I look. She repeats herself, "Mommy, no coat!"

Me walking away does not deter her. She just follows, repeating her command. "Mommy, no coat! Take coat off, NOW!"

This lasts for a few minutes, but I refuse to give in to her demands. My needs are important, too. Eventually, she gives up or gets distracted, and I always get to laugh at my wonderfully opinionated daughter.

Look out, Ian. It won't be long before she notices you like to wear your shirts backwards. I'm just warning you...