Splish Splash I was takin’ a bath

Posted February 14th, 2007 by Mom | Comments (0)

Yesterday late afternoon, the boys told me that they were going to go take a bath in their bathroom. No problem. I have watched them start the water in the tub, plug the drain, get undressed and close the glass doors to the shower. I heard the water and waited a few minutes and then went in there to check on them. (They usually ask me to put some bubbles in the water after it is started.)

When I went to check on the boys, I found them naked, sitting on the bathroom counter, water filled up to the top of the sink with massive amounts of hand soap bubbles covering them and the counter. J was busy “cleanin’ the mirra” with his new yellow toothbrush. I proceeded to help them into the bathtub so they could play more.

If I could see into the future, I would have told them to get off the counter and get dressed since they could play in the water on the laundry room floor in the morning. This morning as I was doing laundry, I walked into the laundry room to find that there was lots of water on the floor - enough that I had to use a cotton towel plus paper towels to clean it up. I now know the precise low spot on the floor in the laundry room. When the washer leaks, that spot on the floor would be great for a 4 year old and a 2 year old to jump, splish and splash!

Reminiscing is fun

Posted February 10th, 2007 by Mom | Comments (0)

My parents, Nana and Pop, were just here for dinner. B had to go to work to get caught up. What a long month it has already been for him! The boys and I had a fun time. Grandparents and fried chicken - life is good!

Over dinner we were talking about the boys and they reminded me of some things that I should blog for posterity… This is the only one that I can currently remember.:

Yesterday morning (Friday) we had below freezing temperatures and some sleet. The boys and I at lunchtime went out to do a little shopping. The roads were fine. After we finished shopping, I got the boys ice cream cones to eat on the way home. C was fine. He wanted his ice cream in a cup with a spoon. J wanted the full fledged ice cream cone. Even after J carefully tucked several napkins under his chin, he still managed quite a mess. After we got home, I let the boys play while I took a couple of minutes to wipe out J’s carseat with a damp washcloth. I went out back to tell the boys that it was rest time and found C in his play fort sliding on the layer of ice on the 2nd floor. Oh my! He yelled for help to get down - don’t know how he got up there in the first place considering there was ice on the ladder stairs… I went to him and let him fall into my arms. What these boys won’t get into…

A Love of Music

Posted February 10th, 2007 by Mom | Comments (0)

The first week of January, I joined our church handbell choir. I am playing the big bells - C3-F3. It has been a lot of fun. I haven’t played handbells since church handbell choir way back in my middle school/high school years. When I played in grammar school age church choir, the music pieces were much more elementary than this adult choir. This is a challenge, but I feel ready to learn and contribute.

Yesterday evening and this morning, our handbell choir participated in a handbell festival. Didn’t know of such an event until recently. At the festival, we had a guest conductor who gave us constructive feedback to aid us in properly playing the music pieces. After hours of rehearsal, we were ready to play in a worship service the pieces that we have been working on the past 6 weeks. I can’t wait to get back to practice on Wednesday evening and discuss all that we learned at the festival.

It is always fun to pick up the kids from childcare on Wednesday evenings. At church we first have dinner and then I go to handbell practice while my mom keeps the boys for a half hour until childcare opens for prayer meeting. When I am finished with rehearsal, I go into prayer meeting and then get the boys and go home. J always asks me, “Did you get to play the BIG bells?” He is fascinated with them. Last Wednesday evening, before rehearsal, I took the boys into the practice room with me and let them play the bells with my mallets (the bells are too big to pick up easily). They loved it.

I am also teaching them how to play piano - I have color tabs taped to 3 octaves of our piano keys with a color book to match. C is enjoying learning “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” although he calls it the alphabet song. Hopefully they will learn to love music as much as I do. I know C loves to listen to music. Each time he learns a new song that he likes, he asks me or B to burn him a CD of it to play repeatedly on his CD player in his bedroom. Who knows… maybe I am raising the next Beethoven or Mozart?!

First dental visit for the boys

Posted February 7th, 2007 by Mom | Comments (0)

C and J went to the dentist for the first time this morning. C was great! He sat still, mainly sitting on his hands, was polite and kept his mouth open for the hygienist. I couldn’t believe how grownup he acted. C even requested that he be examined first! Afterwards, he chose a blue toothbrush. From the treasure chest he picked a toy ring - kid likes his bling.

J sat still for most of the exam. He got scared by the electric toothbrush and the hygienist said that he didn’t have to have them brushed. At this age it is more about getting into the habit of going to the dentist - not scaring people off for a lifetime. J sat still for the scraping part and was very inquisitive about all the equipment in the office. J chose a yellow toothbrush and a toy car (of course!) from the treasure chest. The car was in pieces before we made it home (what a non-shock!) and is now in the trash. I gave them each a sucker (I know - not a good example of good teeth care - don’t email me.) and the car was forgotten.

Don’t plan on sleeping late in this house.

Posted February 3rd, 2007 by Mom | Comments (0)

Last night, I asked B if he would like to sleep in on Saturday (today) morning. (He’s been so sweet to let me sleep in on Saturday mornings and he takes over playing with C and J.) B was thrilled at the idea. Work has been very busy the past several weeks and he has been really tired.

Well, this morning, I woke up, got dressed in anticipation of taking the kids out for breakfast and to Walmart (yes, I will brave it again with C and J…) The kids woke up and decided that they wanted Grandma’s homemade bread for breakfast instead of Chick-Fil-A (Grandma’s bread is REALLY GOOD!). A little while later, I went out to the garage to get something out of my car. In the garage was a little bird, not young, just small. I pressed the button to raise the garage door and… OOPS! - I had forgotten to close the house kitchen door that leads to the garage. In flies the bird. UGH! Now what do I do?! I need B, but I don’t want to wake him up. Oh well. I go get B and tell him what has happened. He shakes his head and then his first instruction is to close all of the door to other rooms in the house. Good idea. I knew I needed him!

We opened the doors to the sunshiny, but cold, day. B said that the bird had better not poop in his house! After chasing the bird for about 15 minutes, while Tara the cat enjoyed watching, out flies the bird to his home outside. Whew! What a start to the day. B has gone back to bed and the boys are sad not to have a bird for a pet.

Moon?!

Posted February 3rd, 2007 by Mom | Comments (0)

Last night, B’s parents lovingly offered to keep C and J for the evening so B and I could go out to dinner and a movie. While I was putting J in bed, B’s mom (Grandma to C and J) called. She wanted to relay a conversation that they had over dinner.

A little background - At Grandma and Grandpa’s home, their kitchen has an eating area with a beautiful wooden table. The table looks out of a plate glass window onto Grandma’s colorful flower garden bordered by Grandpa’s expertly manicured backyard.

At dinner, C was facing the window. He looked up and said, “I see the moon!” After a pause, their was a puzzled look on his face and he said, “It looks funny.” Grandpa and Grandma looked up at the moon and realized that it was not the moon, but a reflection of their kitchen light on the window glass! After stifling a major laugh, they sweetly taught C about reflections.

Grandma and Grandpa: Thanks for the wonderful evening out with your son! We had a great dinner sans kids without having to spell words or color with crayons on the kids’ menus.