My scary moment...

I was in the kitchen this weekend, doing some dishes, and the "men" were sitting in the living room watching some various guy programing. I walked around the corner to go and sit down and rest... I was met by this....



I just said, "OH my," and went to grab my camera. The thing is that neither of them realized that the other was doing the same thing. Who watches TV with their arm over their head??? This has to be some genetic problem that occurs when cloning people, or something... CRAZY.

HAPPY 5TH BIRTHDAY LUCIE!!!

Lucie is 5 today, and we have been celebrating in style. We have some awesome makeovers...


A toast to a good five years, and five more to come...




And perhaps the pinnacle of livelyhood... Getting her very own library card!!!

Dinner time at the ranch...

Last night Ben fixed us Rancho Baked Beans for dinner. Quite delicious, and there were none leftover as usual. I made the girls a quesodilla to go with it, since I am aware that they are not the biggest bean fan. We all sat down at the table, ate dinner, and then started the nightly ritual of coaxing the girls to eat some.
I got up and started clearing the dishes while my hubby was sitting at the table. "Sadie, could you eat just a little bit more? I know that you are going to be hungry later." She just peers up at him with those big blue eyes and says " I can't, Daddy. My diarrhea is all gone." As we all continued for the next few minutes trying to figure out what is going on, she picked up her plate and said "See, I don't have anymore diarrhea." OH!!! Quesodilla, diarrhea... It's all the same!

Ben kicks it!

We had an incident right around Easter 08 when Ben rode his bike down the road and fell over. It was like something out of a cartoon. He just plopped over. No feet down, no catching himself, just one minute he is riding his bike, the next he is laying on the ground on his bike. It was awful. He told me that he would NEVER ride a bike again. It is too dangerous.

Then for Christmas last year, he asked for a razor scooter. His Grandad went everywhere under the moon to find the blue razor since blue is Ben's favorite color, and Ben seldom asks for something. You just kinda have to guess about what he wants. Ben has loved the scooter. As a matter of fact, I still go to check on him at least two times a week that the scooter is in bed with him. The scooter has never seen outside action, because it is also deemed too dangerous, but it is loved.

Fast forward to my frustration with all things electronic. I had to take Lucie for her diagnostic testing for Kindergarten yesterday. When we returned home I announced that we would eat a fine feast of Taco Bell and then go out to ride bikes. Ben says "I'm not going." I told him that we would just get his bike out and he could sit on it and push it around with his feet. He finally agreed about this, and took it in the grass to play with it. He quickly got frustrated when he kept trying to get it to go in the grass. (I saw him out of the corner of my eye trying to pedal.) The girls moved to the road, and I finally convinced Ben to bring his out.

After several times of me standing there holding the bike, and him walking away telling me that he couldn't ride there, he finally climbed on with me holding the bike VERY steady. I then had him put his feet up and showed him how it was just like tight rope walking on the wii board. That clicked. He agreed it was just like adjusting his character on the screen when he played the game.



My Ben took off down the road on a bike. Furthermore, he can't wait to go back out and ride more! I am so pleased. I have to say that this has made the wii fit worth more than I had to pay for it!

Communication Barrier....

I am tired. I am tired of listening to people argue and whine. I am tired of picking up the same things over and over. I am tired of feeling like I am living in a trailer park again. (Just that whole house looking awful feeling, I guess...)

Andrew has returned home because he had a medical problem. Fine, we keep moving forward.

I guess that this turn of events has caused me to realize that I am in a very poor position with my family right now. I am disrespected. When I ask a simple question, I am met by lies. I am really furious.

Sorry, I am not going to keep dumping on my reader... I guess that what I really wanted to write about right now is I was tired of the shouting. Tired of the drone of the tv. Tired of little zombies walking through the house and randomly throwing things into the floor.

So I told the children to find something else to do. "Something that is not electronic" is what I instructed them. Sounds simple enough.

The funny thing is that the same barrage of questions assaulted me from every direction that did before I said this...

Can I get on the computer?

Can I watch a movie?

Can I turn the TV on?

Can I play playstation?

Can we watch a movie in Lucie's room? {I like this one in particular, because it is almost like implying that because you are in Lucie's room, it is not electronic...}

After several "NO"s and me hitting the point that I started to look a little like the sea witch in The Little Mermaid... I stop a moment for one more question...

"Mommy, is there anything in this house that isn't electwonic?" Lucie says...

Wow. I can't even talk to my kids anymore. I am so stressed....

Morning time with the girls...

Sitting at the computer checking my email, and the poll results for the guinea pig name, I am listening to the conversation of the girls. My little princesses are in the living room. Sadie is coloring and Lucie is criticizing. Lucie says "Saaa-dee! You can't cower that way. It is aww wong. Your supposed to cower with these fingers holding the cwayons..." Sadie says "Yes, I can, because I'm a giant and I know what I am doing." Followed by, the typical "NO, I am the giant, because I am smarted than you..." And you get the great childhood argument of yes, no, yes, no, me, me, me, me that makes me think debate team will never be a great option for my children. Then Lucie says "Fine! I am going upstairs! I AM THE GIANT IN THIS FAMILY!!! I AM THE SMARTEST ONE HERE!!!"

Me, just sitting over at the computer trying not to die laughing and secretly wishing I had this argument on video tape, so Lucie could see that the genius of the family thought that the right word was giant...

Here are pics of said guinea pig for the poll. Thanks for all of your help.