One on One

It's rare that my sweet husband and I have the opportunity to spend quality time one on one with our kids. The kind of time you etch out of a busy family schedule and designate to just that kid. Like a movie or lunch or shopping. It is  especially difficult when we are so out numbered and all...


But we do try hard to get out with the big boys every couple months or so. Like Agent P got to go to the dump last weekend with dad. That was cool :)...for them...


The twins, well, they just don't know the difference (yet).  They usually go where the other goes, it's one of the hazards of being a twin.


It's just how it is.


Until last Saturday.


I asked Mini P if she wanted to go to Target and Sunflower Market with me. She couldn't believe her good fortune!  She said "just one kid not three or four???" Yup I told her, just her. "No brothers??" Yup, no brothers. 


The girl could hardly wait and made sure that her brothers were well aware that she was going and they were not!


Once we got to Target she said she "couldn't wait to see them again!". Who? I said. "The brothers!" She missed them already?

But then something happened. (besides the picture taking I attempted from my phone...)


Something I will never forget.


She talked NON-STOP (no, I do NOT know where she gets that trait...). The ENTIRE time we were in Target. Like the sister discovered she could talk with no one interrupting her or bossing her around. And boy oh boy did she take FULL advantage.


"Look at these vitamins, what are these granola bars? I like the ones with chocolate chips! Oh, I see watermelon and cantaloupe and oranges! There is a vacuum, for vacuuming stuff. I like that soft blankie, it's for snuggling and LOOK it comes in green-that's Monkey's favorite color and blue, that's gramma's favorite color...sorry they don't have black mama-your favorite color. I like the towels with the pink dots on them. LOOK - those are the flippy floppys that I have - the purple ones, but not the pink ones, I need the pink ones. OH look at that dress up shirt for babies (baby onsie with tutu on it) it's for dancing and twirling and spinning around!!!"


and on and on and on and on. About every thing she saw. Every.Thing. 


I was exhausted by the time we left. And I forgot to use my coupon for Monkey's pull-ups she had my head spinning so fast!


And, we still had another stop. Oh help me!


It was much the same, but thankfully she was wearing down! It was getting close to lunch and nap...and since she is still a twin - she needs to nap with her brother. Thank goodness.


The ride home was unusually quiet. She had exhausted her 40,000 word limit for the day :) and apparently had nothing more to say.

Bink-O

Mini P LOVES music. A LOT. 


The one she's been singing all week is BINGO.


"There was a farmer had a dog and Bink-O was his name-O"
"Bink-I-N-G-O, Bink-I-N-G-O, Bink-I-N-G-O and Bink-O was his name-O"

We've just gotta catch up!

I think that in order to catch up to present day events; I have GOT to put it all in one post. I am pretty sure that it will be quick.

Or not really.

You all know how I can take one simple event and make it into a very long post. I know, it's just a talent that I have, no need to be jealous of my ability to drone on and on about things and provide lots of useless information.

It's a talent that can't be bought.

Where shall we start?

Halloween?

Halloween it is.

I have a very sweet little boy who really struggles with things that don't go his way. He has a very clear cut idea of how things should be and often falls to itty bitty pieces when they stray from the plan. I pretty much have NO CLUE what the plan is. Just when I think I know, he changes the plan and our world is turned upside down.

Halloween is no different for him.

This is him last year:


Monkey absolutely refused to put on his bumble bee costume.



He is the one on the right - the one in a t-shirt. Yes, so is Agent P - but that is his custom costume :)

And then this year:

To my credit, I truly thought that if WE dressed up as pirates with the kids - Monkey would be all over that idea. (Let's not even look at the partially dressed "baseball player". I guess you get to a certain age and dressing up is not fun...until you get as old as your parents... :) )

Nope. That did not sway Monkey at all.

I did convince him to finally put it on when we went out Trick-or-Treating (however he refused to let me take a picture of him). Of course he couldn't wear it when we did Trunk-or-Treat at church or went to a Halloween party 2 days earlier. Now it is in the dress up bucket never to be touched by him again.

One of them really enjoyed Halloween...





And was the perfect pirate who wore her costume happily!

Next up?

Agent P's "Show me YOU" at school.

This is where the teacher sends a bag home and the kids put things in the bag that they love and is a reflection of them.  They get to show it to all the kids in class and talk about the stuff that they brought.

Agent P has been DYING to do this since the first week. 4 months later, it was finally his turn.

This is what he took:

I spy a Transformer, speed car of sorts, airplane and hot wheel. I also see a stuffed octopus and 2 shiny rocks/gems (orange and blue). Now take a look at the last item (top right). It is an empty box of Tazo Tea - Passion flavor (a personal favorite of mine).

I completely understand the cars and transformer. The stuffed octopus I'm on the fence about because I truly don't know why he took it. It's not like he sleeps with it or plays with it, but whatever. He packed it.

But let's talk about the empty tea box.

That he took from the recycle on his way out the door.

I asked his teacher how he explained the box. She said he told the class to look inside - that it was really, really cool. Yup. I've always thought kids just needed empty boxes. Forget the toys. An empty box will do it every time. Apparently he passed it around to the kids to take a look.

I think that about sums up Agent P though, someone who can look into an empty box and see something wonderful!

We have a visitor - 2 actually! :)

Grandma Joan (my sweet husband's mama) and "Grandma" Lynn (a dear family friend)

They are staying down at a State Park campground for 6 months and we couldn't be happier....especially the kids who are enjoying the endless reading that they have been doing. For some reason, there is no picture of Grandma Lynn with the kids - I think that I am so busy when they are here that I forget to take pictures. I will be better next time! 

I entertained the idea of putting the twins 3rd birthday here at the end - but there are a lot of really great pictures that my Aunt took and I don't want to deny you all the wonderful details of a party that revolved around 3 year olds - lol!

Cheers!

You scratch my back..

I'll scratch yours...

Or not.

Agent P has no intention of reciprocating the back scratching, I guarantee it.

I was in the kitchen getting dinner going and I hear Agent P "Sissy, will you tickle my back - on the inside (of his shirt)". Being the little miss mama that she is, she happily lifts his shirt and scratches his back.

Mini P is a very diverse little girl.

She is an eye patch wearing, plyer using, crazy haired, back scratching kind of girl!

This sweet girl -

is certainly one of a kind! At nearly 2.5 (6 weeks out) she is such a joy and her large personality can hardly be contained in her petite little body. She warms my heart each day and never fails to make me smile!

She has been known to say more than her fair share! Lately I've heard her say:

"I don't sink (think) so mommy" (when I tell her it's time to clean up)
"Oh, Daddy is at work sweetie" (to Monkey when he is asking for Daddy)
"Mommy this dinner is 'alicious'  "(delicious)
"Be quiet Monkey - I'm trying to sleep!" (she doesn't cal him Monkey, but you get the point)

She speaks in full articulate sentences and loves to talk. All. Day. Long.

• She doesn't run, she sort of hop/skips as she "runs"l!
• She loves to sleep and never complains about going to bed! When she wakes up from her naps, she will just pick up a book and read and rarey lets me now she is awake. (Her brother has that job covered)
• As of today's nap - she has a bed full of 10 board books and about 10 friends (babies, bears etc) :- )
• She eats nearly everything that we give her.
• She has been potty trained for about 6 months - but has random accidents when she's too busy playing - or doesn't get a nap :- ).
• She loves to have her hair done with "pretties and clippies"
• Loves her blanket - the one with the tag she can suck on (eeeww)
• She is a sweet girl and when the boys aren't paying attention in the morning, she'll sneak up on her daddy's lap for a little snug :- )
• She can scream louder and more ear numbing than anyone I know.
• She can throw a fit, and then put herself in timeout for doing so.
• She is colorful top to bottom. Loves hats, sun glasses, other people's shoes..

Without this sweet girl we would not be blessed with a girl, since she is the only one! We love you Mini P!

Blankie Washing Day

Blankie Washing Day has become a day that I regularly procrastinate and always dread. It is not an easy feat, but I accomplish it on a regular semi-regular basis. OK. That is probably an exaggeration...I frequently get them washed when my sweet husband complains that they smell :- )!

Monkey and Mini P are very much blankie kids - much like their brothers. In fact (shhh, don't tell anyone) A-Dog still has his two of his blankies (because he had THREE) from when he was a baby (minus 1 that he gave to Agent P) and they are still in his bed to sleep with. I don't know if he cuddles them each night, but thankfully he doesn't have to carry them around everywhere like his youngest siblings!

Monkey and Mini P take the blankies EVERYWHERE. Outside to play, to drive 1 mile to the bus stop and back, plus to bed. And every chance we get, we leave them in the truck when unloading. Like on Sunday, we did NOT have them in church, which if you were in church with us, you would know that they would have been washed sooner to remove the chocolate bar from kids sermon. But I digress. Like usual. 

Getting the blankies washed is a delicate process. This is how it went today:

1. Drive A-Dog to school (somehow blankies remained at home and no one cared).

2. Come home, unload all kids and RUN FAST to the house.

3. Open house door and shut it before ANY kids can get in.

4. Run around frantically looking for all the blankies to wash.

5. Sprint to laundry room and get the washer started - SPEED WASH ONLY 30 min - don't mess around with the regular load setting, that takes 50 minutes, we don't have that kind of time!!!

6. Let kids in the house and act like nothing happened.

7. After they are washed, sneak into laundry room again and put them in the dryer.

8. DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT GET CAUGHT!!!!

Well, I got all the steps done except #8. 15 minutes into the drying cycle, somehow they were spotted in the dryer. Somehow meaning I was in the laundry room getting their clothes out of the dresser in there and they were on my heals. This explains why they are naked.

They were NOT happy.

Standing at the dryer, hoping the blankies will magically fall out.

Can you see those HUGE tears???

Mini P banging on the dryer, Monkey watching and hoping...

It was so very sad.  Mini P kept screaming SCREAMING - "bankie, bankie, bankie". Over and over and over. Did I mention over and over and over??? I literally had to drag them out kicking and screaming (I now know how that phrase came to be) - one at a time, racing to get the other and get the door shut and locked before the other snuck back in.

Finally I pulled the blankies out of the dryer, partially wet and handed them out and all was good!