All I want for Christmas....

The other night as we were standing in line to see Santa I asked Marinn what she was going to tell him she wanted for Christmas.  She told me she couldn't say.  I reminded her that it was me and Daddy that bought the gifts so if she wanted something specific she should let us know.  Her reply was precious.
She said, "Mom, you and Dad can get me whatever you would like to get me, I will like it."
She was totally sincere and it just melted my heart.  She still wouldn't tell me what she was going to tell Santa.  After a good 45 min of waiting in line it was our turn.  Marinn and Taurin sat on his lap and he started to ask them if their room was clean and if they cleaned it themselves. He was a great Santa!  Then he asked Taurin what she wanted and she told him a baby doll.
Then he asked Marinn, she replied, "Some gloves, my hands are pretty cold."
We couldn't help but giggle when we heard her request, we had been standing outside in the cool weather for quite a long time and I guess gloves sounded like just the right thing for the moment.

Later the next day I mentioned getting rid of some of the old toys to make room for the new ones they would be getting for Christmas.  The next thing you know Marinn and Taurin have loaded up all of their toys but about 3 stuffed animals and anything that wouldn't fit in a Wal-Mart bag.  I was happy to see that they weren't so concerned about having it all and they would freely give it all up in a moment.  We went back through their toys and put some back so they would have something to enjoy until Christmas came.  I'm excited to see their faces light up on Christmas morning,  even more so feeling like they know the true meaning of Christmas and the joy of giving.

Health Food and Fasting

As parents we try to feed our kids healthy foods, but what do we do when they don't enjoy our selections?  Do we give in to their pleas of disgust and give them the bad stuff they enjoy? 

In general my children have done pretty well eating what I serve them,  I always try to make things taste good and allow them small servings at a time so they aren't overwhelmed by new flavors.  Recently there have been many meals where my kids just don't want to eat what I'm serving and the other night at dinner I was frustrated that no one was eating and asked Andrew what I should do to solve this problem.  He had an idea that we have seen used by friends that has been effective and decided it was time to get serious.  

THE RULE: When dinner is served you have 30 minutes to eat what you are served, if you do not complete your meal dinner is over and you can continue eating what was served for dinner at breakfast the next morning.  This rule continues to all remaining meals until it is finished.  

So... I let the kids know the rule even gave them some incentive of a piece of chocolate cake for finishing their dinner.  Here were the results.

Marinn: Quickly finished her food and happily enjoyed a piece of chocolate cake. 

Shaw: Ate a few bites and was dissatisfied with the flavor.  He was served the same meal for the following breakfast and ate a few more bites,  but still didn't complete the meal.  Lunch time came and his hunger got the best of him, he quickly finished the dinner and then gladly enjoyed a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  

Taurin: Ate a few bites of the dinner.  Ate a few bites the next day at breakfast and lunch.  All day she was hilarious... she kept saying she was sleepy, that she wasn't hungry, giving us puppy dog eyes and asking for hot dogs.  The funniest part was I kept finding her laying like this....

Face down in the carpet, pitiful and patiently waiting our surrender.  Dinner came and she had about 5 bites of food remaining from the dinner before.  She finally finished and was rewarded with lots of mac and cheese, a hot dog, and a cheese stick.  

Since that day, meals have been pleasant.  Everyone is gladly finishing their food and actually complimenting the chef.  

Food Drive for Shaved Heads

Marinn's school is doing a food drive.  I sent her to school with a backpack full of cans letting her know that if they brought in enough the principal would shave his head.  She was excited about this idea and was fully willing to carry the load of cans for the cause. 

 

Andrew picked her up that afternoon from school and as she came in my mom asked her if she turned in her cans... she said very disappointed, "I didn't get my head shaved! Mom, I didn't bring enough to get shaved!"  I giggled that her competitive nature went so far that she wanted to win even if it meant her getting her head shaved.  She was seriously disappointed that she still had hair.  

After explaining that the principal would be the one shaving his head she was okay with the idea, and we sent her off again today with more cans. 

**This was a quick photoshopping adventure and I apologize for the poor quality, but I still think it's hilarious.... I actually used an old picture of Andrew's shaved head for this**

Tongue Tied

tongue-tie

   [tuhng-tahy]  Show IPA noun, verb, -tied, -ty·ing.

noun

1.

impeded motion of the tongue caused especially by shortness of the frenum, which binds it to the floor of the mouth.

So, we thought that Shaw might be a bit tongue-tied because when he sticks his tongue out it looks kind of like this... 

And also because he's 2 and still only saying one syllable words and sounds.  We took him to the pediatrician for a check up and asked about it, they said it was a possibility but not for sure so they referred us to a Speech Therapist. That appointment is scheduled for tomorrow.  A common solution to this problem is they clip the frenum to allow the tongue to move normally. 

Tonight Shaw is playing in the back yard on his scooter, he is riding the scooter holding a PVC pipe (Why, you ask? because my kids like to play with anything that's NOT a toy).  He is riding and decided to put the PVC pipe in his mouth, Andrew sees him and tells him to take it out, obviously noticing a possible danger.  Moments after telling him to take it out of his mouth the PVC hits a crack in the concrete and jabs it further into his mouth.  

(Yes, I just spent 10 min drawing this up on photoshop so everyone would understand. You're welcome.) 

Crying ensues and Andrew brings him in to assess the damage.  After dabbing the blood out of his mouth his sees that Shaw has basically clipped his own tongue.  Andrew decides it's best to take him to the Dr. just to make sure everything is good.  After a quick trip to the Dr. we are informed that Shaw did a great job and his tongue looks pretty much like it would look if they had clipped it for him.  

Let me give you the "coupon" breakdown:

Tongue tie surgery:            $300.00 + 

PVC Pipe approx.                    $0.79

Wiggle Scooter:                         Free (it was a gift)

AMOUNT SAVED:                 $299.21  (99.7% savings!!) 

*Shaw is doing fine, the Dr. said it will heal on it's own.  He came back from the appointment his happy little self.  He's such a tough kid and he sure knows how to save some moo-la! 

Powder Pancakes

I was visiting with Andrew while he was doing a few things on the computer.  Then I began to smell something baby soft and powdery... I scan the room looking for the source.  I notice Shaw is missing and give another scan across the room... I discover him in Daisy's crate happily playing with a spoon, bowl, and the baby powder.  There is a fragrant cloud drifting from the crate.  

 I open the crate to discover a lightly dusted boy with a bowl full of powder. 

 He tasted it a few times... I'm guessing he was attempting to make pancakes. 

 Daisy crate is now Baby Fresh and very clean. 

This is when I got the vacuum.  

"It wasn't me!"

Shaw is a very friendly outgoing kid... on occasion he has been know to just randomly grab the hand of passing stranger or touch someones arm.  I just think he's showing a little love :  ) and it's so cute.  

Recently on an outing to Applebee's I was loading the kids out to the car.  Shaw was walking and holding my left hand, I had the baby car seat and diaper bag in my right hand.  Needless to say my hands were full.  

As we were passing the bar area we passed a man sitting at a bar stool who's pants were pretty much like this:

As we passed by Shaw decided he was going to investigate and gave this guy a good poke in the rear... well it must have been pretty forceful because this guys turned around REALLY fast.  He looked at me and with my hand full of children I said, "It wasn't me!" 

As I looked back down at Shaw his fingers were in this shape (pictured below) pointing at the guy.  

The guy saw it too and he just started "cracking" up and turned to tell his friends... As we were exiting you could hear laughter erupting from the bar.  I was giggling to myself as I was quickly getting the kids to the car before the large gentleman at the bar decided he was upset about getting violated by my 2 year old.  Maybe there is a thing as "too friendly"? 

Shaw Boy turns 2!!!

We are still working on the fingers for forming the "2" sign.

 It's good to have sisters : )

 His new Hot Wheels trike! 

He loves pushing all the buttons that make the songs and lights go off. 

 He got a bunch of balls and was super excited! 

One of his presents from Mar Mar was this swimming suit / floaty, we tried it on him and he just hung out in it for awhile... it totally made him look like he had really been working his upper body : )

Shaw is such a boy and even at two he is such a brut, so strong but sweet at the same time.  Aww my baby boy has grown up so much! 

*I wanted to share the recipe for his cake because it turned out amazing and super easy! 

1 Box Devil's Food cake mix

1 large box chocolate pudding mix

1/2 cup approx. of sour cream

I mixed up the cake mix like directed and then added the pudding and sour cream and baked it for the time suggested on the box. In two 9" round pans. 

When assembling the cake I just put a nice layer of Cool Whip in between the 2 layers of cake. Then frosted it with a homemade chocolate cream cheese frosting that I got off of allrecipes.com

Frosting Recipe:

1 Cup Semi sweet chocolate chips

1/4 Cup whipping cream (I used canned milk because I didn't have cream)

1/4 Cup Powdered sugar

1 package of cream cheese, softened

Melt the chocolate chips and cream on double boiler until fully melted and then mix with cream cheese and powdered sugar.  I sifted the powdered sugar (suggested from the recipe site where I got this).   It turned out creamy and delicious and after frosting the cake I just put it in the freezer for about an hour or two to help the frosting thicken up a bit.  

Now cake is not in our meal plans, but I couldn't help but have a few bites of my creation.  It was heavenly... not too chocolatey or sweet.  Perfection! 

VBS & a Life Lesson

This week was VBS (Vacation Bible School) at church.  Marinn was so excited to go and was down for anything.  There were a few competitions throughout the week including a "Best Rock Star Glasses" and "Best Rock Star Hair".  

I wanted to hook her up with some rockin' glasses so we took a pair she had and added some serious glam to them.  She was excited when I dropped her off and she was sure she was going to win.  

That night when I picked her up she was in tears because her team had not won and she was upset because she knew hers were the best.  The conversation on the ride home went something like this:

Marinn, "I should have been on the green team because they always win.  Tomorrow I'm gonna be on the green team!"

Me, "Marinn, you can't change teams. You just have to try your best and see who wins, but you can't get upset if it's not you." 

Marinn with a look of total determination in her eyes says, "Tomorrow you are gonna give me the BEST  and BIGGEST rock star hair, I'm gonna wear rock star clothes, and shoes and my glasses and I'm gonna win tomorrow... I KNOW IT!"

It felt like I was listening to a coach inspiring his team right before the Super Bowl. 

Needless to say I agreed to help give her the best rock star hair. 

So, the next day came and as the children were napping I googled rock star hair and stumbled upon a youtube tutorial on how to do a female faux hawk. 

When Marinn woke up from her nap it was time to get down to business, after some serious back combing and hair spray this is what we got....

Oh yes, and some jello / red food coloring to add the red to the sides... so appropriate since she was on the red team.  She was ready to go! On the way there we went over how she was going to congratulate the team who won and if she won to tell the other teams good job.  I felt confident she would be good either way.  

As we walked into the church just about every staff member we passed complimented her on her hair.  I think that alone was a great prize, but in the end her team did win and they got the coveted Pop Rock's prize.  Life Lesson learned.

*CAUTION: When attempting this hair style be aware that this will take you approx. 30 min of combing with conditioner soaked hair to get it out. 

Funny Thought from the Past: I know that at this age the outcome of some of these competitions depends on the parents, what they are willing to do to help their child win.  I remember in high school a girl brought this amazing scale model of some shakespearian building for her project.  I was so impressed until I heard that her father was an architect.  At the time I was irritated because her project was so much cooler than mine, but I didn't have an architect as a father.  But now that I am a mother and I want my children to succeed and be the best that they desire to be, I can understand a bit better.  My kids will just be saying, "Yeah, I know my projects the best, my mom helped me with it, she's a crazy googler!"

We can't all be architects.    

Guacamole!

The other day...

Taurin finishes her food first (which rarely ever happens), she holds her bowl and says, "Ok Marinn I'm gonna show you my bowl and you are gonna say, 'Holy Moly Guacamole Guacamole!!!"
Marinn just looks at her.
Taurin shows Marinn her bowl...
Marinn exclaims excitedly, "HOLY MOLY GUACAMOLE!!!!"



Then today....

We are in the car and Andrew hits the breaks a few times, the car is silent, then in a soft voice Taurin says,
"Are you freakin' kidding me?"

*she looks oh so innocent*

Shaw Boy.

This is my Shaw Boy.

He used to be Baby Shaw. 

He steals my heart daily. 

He currently has a busted lip, many scratches, and a fingernail that just fell off. 

He is all boy.

And I love him.

All in a Day

The kids got some serious play time in the "pool" the last few days.  They have been splashing and jumping and flinging water, having a great time.  It's been in the 100's so being wet is the only way to survive the heat and they all have a pretty good tan to show for it. 

 Marinn was sitting in this basket and requested that I take a picture... she waited patiently while I tracked down the camera.  So glad she asked because I was able to get all these other great shots too : )

 I love Shaw's face in this one... so desperately trying to be like his sister. 

 Great fish face Taurin! 

 I think this picture could totally sell some sunscreen, swim suits, snorkels, color contacts, etc... Love it!

 Great example of their real personalities.

 Blaize watching all of the craziness... dreaming of the day he'll get to join in.

 Daisy lounging around keeping an eye on all the kids.  

Quote of the day:

Taurin, "Rolly Polly's have poop and pee in their mouth and they put their head in the toilet and poop and pee out of their mouth."