The Graduate

 I am sad to say that this is the only picture from the program that came out. The rest were very dark and blurry. At least you can see how pretty she looked in her new dress. And the next time you run into Grace, I am sure she would be happy to perform an encore. 
This is after the program. Grace was enjoying some cookies and juice outside on the lawn.

Memorial Day at the Beach

The whole clan at the beach on base.


Grace and Annabelle had a blast in the water.


Michael had his feet in the ocean for the first time.

Grace Lenore

Annabelle Lee

Who's the Boss?

Let me just say right up front that I am not above bribing my children. There are times when you need them to do something and the only way to get results is with a lollipop, or if they are able to watch a movie, or whatever... 

Well, yesterday I was trying to get my room straightened up as the laundry was trying to take over. The girls sensed I was attempting to do something productive, so naturally they immediately clung to me like glue, needing anything and everything that would tear me away from my project.  So, I tried to bribe them to help me.  The bait: ice cream.

ME: Girls, if you help me put this laundry away, then you can have some ice cream. 

BELLIE: OK Mama. (she immediately begins picking up clothes and handing them to me.)

GRACE: OK, this is what I am going to do. I am going to go downstairs and get a piece of paper and a pencil. I will come back and make a list of everything that you need to do. Now, when I get back you better be cleaning Mama, this room is a mess.

So I am standing there looking slightly dumbfounded as she descends the stairs to get her list making supplies. I hear her coming back and actually think to myself. "gee I better get cleaning or Grace will be mad." And yes, I do see that there is a problem with this.  

Then she perches herself on the edge of my bed and begins her list. 

GRACE: Oh wait! I have an idea. I will draw a letter and you will pick something up that begins with that letter, OK Mama? Won't that just be great? Ok, now here we go. 

(Sidenote: How clever is that? I should be doing that with the girls, NOT the other way around? I don't know where the child gets these things from!)

At this point, Annabelle is getting a little tired of cleaning without her sisters help. She has lost patience with Grace's list-making. I see her stop and think for a second about what to do next, and then she makes the decision to join Grace on the bed in what I can only assume would be an assistant position. 

The next thing I know, I am being directed by my 4 1/2  and 3 year olds on how to clean my room. For a second, I am annoyed at the fact that they are watching and I am cleaning. I am mumbling under my breath that they are SO not getting any ice cream. But then I realize that I am meeting all my objectives: the room is getting cleaned, the girls are not fighting, whining, breaking anything, or doing anything else they that might do to make me mad, and it is even a little bit fun. 

So, I win. I am supermom, hear me roar. And after dinner, they did have a bowl of ice cream. 

Mama and Michael

ME: Michael, why are you making that face?

MICHAEL: Well, I will eat it because I love you, Mama. But we both know that lukewarm, strained green beans taste like s#!t.

Old School Fun

Grace had a blast playing with the bouncers that I found at Target this morning. For $5.00, you can't beat it.


Unfortunately, Annabelle's legs are a bit too short to be able to reach the ground. It was sad. Very, very sad.

Trouble

We're Famous

Check out a little question and answer session at Car & Caboodle

Things

Good Thing: Annabelle learned how to do a somersault. 

Not Such a Good Thing: Today she tried to do one in a public bathroom.

Grace and Mama

GRACE: This is the awfulest day of my life.

ME: Why is that?

GRACE: Because you gave me a pink straw and I wanted yellow.

Sweetness

Are You Serious?

We got home from school about 25 minutes ago and the girls are both still in the car. No, they haven't fallen asleep...they are arguing over who gets to open the door. 

How long do you think they will fight it out? (I decided I will only intervene if they start getting violent OR if they figure out how to hot-wire the car.)

Grace and Mama

GRACE: Mom, Sunday was Mother's Day, right?

ME: Yes. 

GRACE:  So when is kid's day?

ME: Pretty much every other day. 

Happy Mother's Day!

Michael's New High Chair

Thank you IKEA for making an inexpensive high chair that doesn't have a million cracks and crevices to collect gunk. As much as I admire the high end high chairs, why spend a fortune when you can spend $18.99??? It doesn't have all the bells and whistles, or come fully loaded with a toy bar, and it doesn't come with some fancy designer cover on it. But it was under $20.00!!! Besides, you barely notice the chair with such a handsome little guy in it. 

Grace Logic

GRACE: Mom, this is my point. If you give me some pink milk, I will do whatever you say.

ME: You are supposed to do everything I say, I am the mom. I'm in charge.

GRACE: You are missing my point. I will actually do it. 

To Whom it May Concern

*Warning: Those with a weak stomach should read no further. We are going to talk about vomit.

This is my formal request, better yet, my absolute and desperate pleading, that the party responsible for causing my children to continuously catch illnesses causing them to vomit EVERYWHERE to please, please, please stop. I cannot take it anymore. The children are also starting to get annoyed.

This request is also written on behalf of the numerous locations, which include but are not limited to, the sofa, the floor and walls of the children's bathroom upstairs, and the entire interior of my car, which seem also to have offended someone or something. Or these places have paid a heavy price for simply finding themselves to be in the line of fire, so to speak. 

At the very least, could you lay off the vomit for a while? Otherwise I may have to move the family into a bubble, sealing all offending germs, bacteria, etc...outside. And as isolating as that may be, the silver lining is that I would imagine it is very easy to clean vomit in a bubble. 

Grace's Pretty New Dress

One Last Thing about the Weekend...

After spending the day at the Air Show on Saturday, the kids were a little hesitant to go back for another whole day on Sunday. Grace said, "but didn't we just go to the Air Show yesterday?" Since Eric was going to be flying again, and dropping some paratroopers this time, I decided we needed to at least make an appearance.  And they agreed, reluctantly.

We parked in a much better location this time, and we really didn't even need to leave the parking lot to have a spectacular view of all the action. When I spotted the Huey overhead, we all got very excited, the girls were waving and dancing around, etc... They were actually starting to have fun. 

Or so I thought.

As soon as the Huey was out of sight, Grace said, no longer laughing or dancing, "So that was Daddy?"  

When I assured her that it was, she said, "Ok, I'm done." 

On the Move

Starting Early

Michael had his first taste of Sam Adams last weekend. I was trying to convince myself that the cold bottle was soothing to his teething gums, but I think I might just be fooling myself. He is a Rogers, after all, so Sam Adams would be his first choice.

Pardon Me

I am making some changes, rearranging things, and making some additions to the site.  Please feel free to leave comments. 

Flamingos

To everyone I hold near and dear who happen to have an interest in all things flamingo, you must make your way to Target. They have a new line of outdoor summer stuff that includes plastic plates and cups, serving pieces, paper plates, napkins, etc... in a brilliant flamingo design. It is probably going to be on sale Sunday because it just came out this week and it is a huge section near the front of the store (yes, I am there a lot. I notice these things). So, go. Run, don't walk, and stock up now.

Slacker Baby

I had a brilliant plan to attach the mop pad to the tummy of Michael's onesie. I figured that as long as he was going to be down there crawling around all the time, he might as well help me out with the cleaning. He seemed okay with it at first, but all of a sudden he got very upset at the mop pad, violently ripping it off of his shirt and shaking it all over the place. 

Apparently he is all play and no work. 

MCAS New River Air Show

What you can't see in this picture: the girls refusing to let anyone else sit in the Huey ("but it's Daddy's, so we can stay in here as long as we want"), Grace's show-stopping melt down because we wouldn't let her get a Bratz ice cream cone, Annabelle refusing to walk for 75% of the 5 hours we were there, Grace taking about 15 bottles of water from the courtesy tent and shoving them underneath the stroller because she wanted them for later... Michael did what you see him doing in the picture pretty much the entire time. And of course, we were able to see Eric fly in this time, so the kids and I have redeemed ourselves from missing it at the Christmas party.

The girls had a blast crawling around in all the helicopters on display. 

Grace was nice enough to let our friend, Patrick have a few minutes in the front seat of the Huey.

Without some sort of crazy paparazzi lens, this was the best I could do to get a picture of Eric flying. Trust me, he's in there.

Hollywood, Here She Comes

Check Me Out

For anyone who is interested (and I know you all are!), I have started writing for another website. You can see my first post, In The Bag, at Car and Caboodle: Life in the Family Lane

Like Father, Like Daughters

So, the girls and I were in the backyard. I was on the deck (away from "nature") and they were playing at their table, pretending to make dinner. They started to venture closer and closer to the woods. The last thing I needed was to have to one of them actually go into the woods, and then I may have had to go in and retrieve them.

So, as Grace was nearing the very spot where I saw the copperhead, I blurted out, and I know I probably shouldn't have, "Hey, you know there are snakes in there right?!" Annabelle laughed and said, "Yeah, and lions and tigers and bears." They both laughed so hard. Grace said, "You are so silly, Mama." I am not certain, but I think they may have been making fun of me.

On the bright side, apparently my completely ridiculous fear of snakes has not transfered to my kids. However, it looks their father's uncontrollable urge to poke fun at others has...