The Wonderful World of Make Believe (Only in Real Life!)

Today, we took the kids to see Horton Hears a Who at the dollar theater, and I was totally impressed! I wasn't expecting that outcome for a lot of reasons. First of all, I am not a Dr. Seuss fan. Chris grew up with those stories being favorites, and I guess I just didn't. I've never been able to get very much into that whimsical, nonsensical Land of Make Believe stuff. I didn't really enjoy The Grinch Who Stole Christmas or The Cat in the Hat, so when Chris suggested we go today, I was all about going just for the experience of taking the kids and doing something fun together as a family, though I wasn't at all excited about seeing the film itself. Second, I usually think of Jim Carrey and Carol Burnett and cringe. To be fair, I guess it could just be some of their ROLES that I find obnoxious and not them. My other hesitation came from the thought of taking a 2 and a 3 year-old to the movies again. I've done that only once before (last fall, with my parents) and it didn't end very well. I missed quite a bit of Ratatouille (which, I suppose, I really didn't feel I missed) and ended up dealing with an unhappy child outside. I warned Chris ahead of time that if Ashley started having one of her fits, I would be leaving, taking the car, and going to do the grocery shopping and would pick him and Zachary up after the show ended. I was fully expecting that to happen...if I were living in Real Life.

Well, it turns out I really enjoyed the movie! I think it was the best of all the Dr. Seuss films made so far, and I didn't find myself wishing it would hurry up and end even once. And that says a lot coming from someone who almost would rather stay home and clean house than go to a movie these days. I feel so unproductive when I go to a movie unless it's one I really want to see, and I am probably the last person who knows what movies are coming out, so I generally have no thoughts about any of them. Me and the movies--probably a blog topic for another day. But this was a great experience that actually made me MORE interested in going back more frequently to the movies, even with the kids. Loved it!

Most of all, I was shocked and amazed that Ashley was a DOLL and I got to stay in the theater for the whole movie!!! We made sure to take her blankie (oh, the power of that blankie!) and she sat in my lap almost the entire time and just let me cuddle her for nearly 2 hours. There wasn't a single moment of distress for either of us. (Can somebody please pinch me?!) I love, love, LOVE that she was so easy today! That, to me, was like living in a fantasy world!

New Look

Are you blinded by my new blog background and colors? So sorry. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I just got sick of the old one. I really like this background, but because it's so bright (which is WHY I like it), it is hard to find coordinating colors that show up and do not add to the extreme brightness.

When Playtime Gets A Little Twisted

Zachary and Ashley are having a heyday with some new toys they acquired yesterday for their birthdays courtesy of Aunt Steven and Uncle Amanda. (Don't ask me why, but I always mix their names up like that!) Anyway, Ashley got a new cradle for her dolly and Zachary got a set of power tools for his "workshop". (I think he thinks he will actually be building something with these tools, and today when I asked him what he plans to build, he said he's going to build a car. I think this is great since we could use a bigger car to haul more of our stuff around.)

Zachary and Ashley are like 2 peas in a pod sometimes...the best of friends, usually. And today they were playing so nicely together and sharing their toys so well. Occasionally, Ashley would get mildly irritated that Zachary had the screwdriver she wanted or that he was pounding the plastic nails into the plastic wood all wrong. So, instead of listening to her not-so-mild tantrums about Zachary taking HER tools away from her (She's 2--EVERYTHING is hers), I made Ashley his "Assistant Tool Girl." And there was peace in the land. (For some reason, giving Ashley a title always seems to make life so much easier. Previously, she informed me that "Queen" would be a good one.) It is safe to say that both kids love the tools. And a little later, when I broke out the new dolly accessories and put together the cradle, Zachary was suddenly fond of dolls, too! Imagine that!

So, for quite awhile, my 2 children played harmoniously together with the dolly, then the tools, and then they pulled out the doctor's kit. Not that my kids have scared me yet while playing doctor or anything, but I was curious to listen in while they examined the dolly. Her diagnosis was a broken leg. Ouch. I asked Zachary how the dolly got the broken leg, half-expecting him to concoct some unlikely story about the dolly's mother dropping the dolly after her bath, but he was simply unsure of how it happened. (Yeah right! Try telling THAT to the ER nurse.) So anyway, Zachary requested that I be there to assist with the fixing of the broken leg. All it takes, he said, is an "Owie-Aid" and the "Plunger". (That would be a Band-Aid and the syringe thingy used to give shots.) And, voila, the baby is all better and is resting comfortably again in her new cradle.

What compassionate children I have who would so lovingly care for their wounded playmate that way, I think to myself...and then, suddenly, Zachary pulls out his electric saw and declares, "AND HERE ARE SOME WONDERFUL TOOLS TO SCARE HER!"

OK, now you guys are scaring ME!


Little bundle of joy...
...feeling much better!

And here's my boy:
Is it just me, or is he holding that saw just like a shotgun?

Hundreds of Little Doughnuts Go Floating By

Hooray for outings with mom! It seems like it's been forever since I've attempted a fun outing with Zachary and Ashley, on a weekday, just the 3 of us, for no other reason than I wanted to take them to experience something new and different. Can you guess what our fun activity was for the day? A visit to our local Krispy Kreme doughnut shop! And it was a hit! The kids loved watching the doughnut "boats" go floating by. Watching the doughnuts was apparently much more fun than picking out our assortment to take home. Afterwards, the kids each got a free doughnut fresh off the assembly line, and I don't think they NEEDED that extra bit of sugary excitement, but that was still very cool. I'm sure they will ask to go back sometime.

By the way, I'm not a big fan of the Krispy Kreme brand. I much prefer Dunkin Donuts, and I've still never been much of a doughnut fan to begin with. I just like that we could go and enjoy this little sideshow. Thanks to Zachary's recent discovery and love of Food Network's Unwrapped, we are really into seeing how things are made. I'm thinking that our next stop will be that little creamery down in Brenham when Aunt Wendy comes to visit next month. (What do you think, Chia? I mean, we'll be on our way to Houston anyway. I can't believe we have grown up in this area and have never had a tour of the Blue Bell Creamery!)

Our Trip to San Antonio

It has been a week and a half since we returned from our mini-vacation to San Antonio, but I finally have the pictures ready to post. We really had a lot of fun together even if we didn't travel far from home. It was so nice to just get away for a few days as a family.

Day 1: Remembering the Alamo and Discovering Hemisfair Park

Yeah, I remember the Alamo. Been there, done that a few times. But I have 2 kids now (native Texans even!) who had never been. Oh, they couldn't have cared a whole lot less, but I've got proof that we took them to see a little piece of Texas history.







On the other hand, I've lived here for how many years without seeing Hemisfair Park?! I'd actually never heard of it until just before this trip. It turns out that Hemisfair Park was the site of the 1968 World's Fair. The LDS Church had an exhibit there and my grandmother sang with a group at the Fair. It was such a nice evening to take a walk in the park, and there was also a pretty cool playscape for the kids.








Day 2: Taking Our Monkeys Back to the Zoo

It had been about 6 years since Chris and I last went to the San Antonio Zoo. It's really nothing spectacular compared to some other zoos we've visited, but we always love seeing the animals without worrying that the kids are acting like animals, too. :)












Day 3: Cascade Caverns: A Little Hole-in-the-Wall Kind of Place

Caves are a great place to take the kids, as long as you can leave them down there if they start throwing a tantrum or something. OK, well maybe not, but we thought we'd check this out since Chris is into cave exploration and we haven't been to Carlsbad yet. This one was not so exciting for us, but it was OK and Zachary seemed to think it was pretty cool. Ashley, on the other hand,...maybe not so much.








I'm finally beginning to see the light!


Day 4: SeaWorld: Save the Whale Show For Somebody Else!

We ended our vacation with a trip to see Shamu. We had season passes a few years ago, and unfortunately the shows today are all still the same as they were back then. We were going mostly for the kids, though, since Zachary wasn't quite 2 the last time we went, and Ashley had been only 4 weeks old. Zachary had a blast riding the Shamu Express rollercoaster. Ashley's favorite ride was the moving conveyor belt at Penguin Encounters. Forget the penguins. Just give her a ride on the conveyor belt and she's happy. Make her sit through 30 seconds of "Believe", though, and you won't be! :D Save the day by retrieving favorite blankie from the car and everyone lives happily ever after.

Drama A La Mode

My little brother, Steven, and his wife, Amanda, came into town today for the 3-day Memorial Day weekend. It was sort of a surprise to me, since I just found out last night that they were coming. So when family gets together, that's always an excuse to eat in, eat out, eat, eat, eat... Of course, it's not until we're inside of a restaurant and I'm struggling to get my kids to sit down and be pleasant that I am reminded that it's probably time I learn my lesson and keep my children away from restaurants as much as possible (the feisty girl-child anyway.) But it's just so hard when you want to share their cuteness (such cuteness) with the relatives who miss out on that regularly as well as the rest of the general public.

As dinner was winding down, Ashley's patience was winding down a little faster, so I took her outside to wait for everyone else to follow behind us. She was running up and down the sidewalks, giggling and enjoying the fresh air as I sat and watched her from a bench nearby. A few minutes later, the inevitable happened and she fell right on her face and ended up with a huge knot on her forehead...the kind that scares every parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, brother, stranger. (I had to reassure the man standing outside the restaurant that, no, she wasn't born with a purple golf ball protruding from her head.) After my dad went back for a bag of ice to apply to the battle wound (I can call it that since just about everything's a battle with a 2 year-old these days), we decided that a screaming, wailing child doesn't do much for welcoming diners looking for a way to relax on a warm and breezy Saturday night. Ahhh, the joys of motherhood!

Back at my parents' house, we were supposed to be gathering for dessert while I spent the next half hour or so consoling Ashley and looking for any sign of a more serious injury. (She wanted Mommy and not Grandma. You know there's something wrong when that happens!) I had Chris look up "concussion" for me...just in case I couldn't remember what the signs and symptoms might be since I have never had a concussion myself. Lethargy, dizziness, confusion, irritability...all typical characteristics of normal 2 year-olds who run around all day making themselves dazed, confused, tired and temperamental. Oh, but the unconsciousness and vomiting are also the tell-tale signs which we've managed to avoid, so it's all good. We can all breathe a sigh of relief.

After giving us a nice little scare, Ashley seems to be doing fine now. There's nothing a little cake and ice cream (and Dora fruit snacks, apparently) cannot cure. Content in her crib now with her favorite blankie, she is drifting off to sleep while her nocturnal brother lurks quietly nearby and life is (almost) peaceful again.

Raw Deal

A man knocks (loudly) on your front door and then, claiming to live across the street [you haven't seen him once in the 6 1/2 years you have lived in your house], says he is there to disregard HOA rules sell frozen steaks door-to-door. He offers to sell you a carton of 47 vacuum-packed steaks for $125, a steal, he says, at little more than $2/steak. [It's actually closer to $3/steak, but nevermind his inability to do simple math.] You're tempted, but...

Which of the following is a good reason to say no?

A. Your freezer holds little more than the ice maker, a package of corn dogs, and the requisite gallon or 2 of ice cream.
B. Your husband is a full-time student, i.e. unemployed for the better part of 3 full years. Every dime spent = a dime to be paid back later...with interest.
C. For health and dietary reasons, consumption of massive quantities of red meat by yourself or spouse is not advised.
D. Your children proclaim themselves to be vegetarians (with the exception of corn dogs and the occasional bite of a fast food chicken nugget or hamburger.)
E. You have not purchased 47 steaks in your entire lifetime, let alone in one afternoon.
F. You spent the equivalent of 635 of his steaks on essential car repairs this same afternoon.
G. All of the above.

My guess is as good as yours. After 2 excuses and 3 "no, thank you's," this guy FINALLY (but reluctantly) gets the hint, but not before throwing in a glare for free as he walks away. Some people...

What Part of "NO"...?

Zachary: "Mommy, can we play the shadow game?" (Shadows Over Camelot = fairly complicated adult game with an excess of small pieces.)
Me: "No, Zachary."
Zachary: (jubilantly) "Okay!!!"
Me: "Um, that was a no."
Zachary: "But THAT was a YES!"

A Berry Happy Birthday To You!

Yesterday, we celebrated Ashley's 2nd birthday with our family here in town. First, we took the kids to Ready, Set, Play, which ended up being a lot of fun. It was something special for Ashley's big day, and we were not disappointed.



At first, Ashley was afraid to play in anything. I took her up to the top of this big, soft slide, and she did NOT want to go! She was kicking and trying to get away, but I knew (because I'm the mom) that if she just tried it, she would like it.


It took a couple times, but after that, she wanted to go over and over again, taking various family members with her at first. (She still did not want to go down alone.)



By the end, she was climbing up to the top all by herself and dodging the older kids that did not seem to pay any attention to her. She is a tough girl!




Afterwards, we came back home and had hot dogs for lunch. Uncle Matt came to join us, and Grandma and Grandpa brought a big bouquet of balloons for Ashley. I did some simple decorations, and while in the middle of putting up some streamers, Zachary asked me what I was doing. When I told him I was decorating, Ashley started saying, "I dec'ate! I dec'ate!" She was really into the colorful crepe paper.



After lunch, we tried to get Ashley to open her birthday presents, but I had a feeling it wouldn't go as planned. A present was handed to her, and she looked at it, and then, instead of opening it, she laid her little head down on it. It was past naptime, and by her own choice, she took a break from the party to rest up for the remainder of the festivities. The rest of us played Taboo and Bananagrams during the intermission. After an hour or so, we got Ashley up and expedited the eating of the cake (angel food cake with strawberries and whipped cream) and she did finally open her presents.



Since one of her favorite things these days is Strawberry Shortcake, that was sort of the "theme" for her party, I guess you could say. (I really didn't exactly plan anything until a day or 2 before.) Anyway, almost everything she got had Strawberry Shortcake on it.




My brother, Matt, is 23 and thought the excess of strawberry-scented gifts was some sort of joke. He made me laugh so hard yesterday that I literally cried. One day, maybe he will get married and have kids and then he will know why parents would do such a thing for their kids. (OK, I admit...Grandma and I were 100% responsible for the explosion of fruitiness that rocked our house yesterday.) It was a blast!