Rough Month

December has been rough. I don't know any other way to put it.

Will tore the ACL and meniscus in his right knee sometime back in early November. He had surgery to repair it on December 7th, and it turned out to be an incredibly painful recovery. Will's parents came out to help me with the kids, and I'm not sure how we would have coped otherwise.

(However, Graham really liked the leg brace and stilts (crutches) that Daddy came home with.)

The day after Will's parents left, Chase got sick and spent the day vomiting. We got through that one, and now Will is sick. As I am typing, he is lying upstairs with a fever of 102 and a stomach bug. And only one reliable leg to get him to the bathroom.

Christmas cards are not going to be sent. The kitchen floor is crunchy when we walk, and the basement floor is covered in dirty laundry. We are subsisting on leftovers and fast food. We watched movies all evening. And I don't feel the least bit guilty about it.

Just wanted to give our family and friends a heads up... We are not quite in the Christmas spirit around here (unless you count the movies we're watching), but we hope that all of you are having a much better end to your year.

Ours is going out with a bang!

Christmas Programs

Within 8 days, our kids were in 3 Christmas programs this year.

The kids were in one at church. Gabriella was "smiling" but it looks painful. Chase spent the program lying on his belly, so it was a surprise when he stood up for the picture. Graham didn't cry this year.

Chase was also in a program for preschool. He stood up for that one and was actually pretty well-behaved. There were two boys yelling and bullying each other throughout the songs, so they set the bar kind of low.

Graham's school program went well, and this video is worth watching. Graham refused to move when he thought people were laughing at him.

Good question.

This one's from Gabriella:

"Why do we have to wash my hair? So it won't get cavities?"

Smith Story 5

I was doing the dishes the other day when Chase started pointing at the dining room and yelling, "Get in the fire! Get in the fire!" He was obviously talking to me, but I wasn't sure why. I gamely played along, went into the dining room, and yelled, "Ow, it's hot, it's hot in here!"

Gabriella ran up and said, "I'm Jesus! I'll pull you out." That's when I realized they were acting out Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. It warmed my heart, and not because I was in a pretend oven.

Then my heart cooled as "Jesus" pulled me out and they started arguing.

"I'm Jesus! No, I'm Jesus! Get in the fire! I'm God! No, I want to be God! You get in the fire! GET BACK IN THE FIRE!"

We are working on it. I think the definition of 'sacrilege' will make its way into that story soon.

Smith Story 4

Graham shared something very insightful last night.

"Mom, when other kids do something mean to me, they are always doing it on purpose. But when I do something mean, it's always on accident. Isn't that weird?"

Smith Story 3

I will tell you right now that this blog entry should be accompanied by lots of beautiful pictures of the kids playing in fall leaves.

We raked leaves into the garden last week. (I should say, "I raked leaves into the garden" because Will hurt his knee and can't do much outdoor work right now.) So, after I raked leaves into the garden, I noticed that the light was beautiful from the setting sun, and the kids were so cute playing in the big piles of leaves, and it was an all-around perfect picture opportunity. I asked Will to grab the camera, and he met us at the garden to take our Fall 2012 leaf pictures.

Then Gabriella got a leaf in her mouth.

Then the gagging started. The frantic open-your-mouth-so-I-can-grab-it moment. More gagging. Then up came her strawberry pudding, all over the pile of leaves.

We went inside.

Thus, there are no pictures to accompany this blog.

Smith Story 2

We're supposed to be listening to the kids' Christmas CD's so they can learn the songs for their Christmas programs. As we were driving to school yesterday, the narration was talking about Jesus' birth and how it ultimately lead to his death.

Gabriella: Jesus died?
Me: Yes, He died to save us from all of the bad things we do.
Gabriella: So we can go to heaven?
Me: Yes, so we can go to heaven to be with Jesus when we die.
Gabriella: And we can ride a manatee?

Hmmm... Riding a manatee is illegal on Earth, but will it be possible in heaven? I, for one, do not know. And who am I to squash a toddler's dream?

Smith Story 1

Last Friday, Graham got to wear his pajamas to school. When his preschool teacher sent out the weekly report, it included a section on how they go to sleep at night. Most of the responses were things like this:

Ryan—I sleep on my tummy with my cat.
Mireya—I put my head on my pillow and go to sleep.
Asher—I sleep with my blanket and pillow.
Cole—I sleep with my scratchy blanket.

Here was Graham's response:
Graham—I sleep on my belly with my hands under my pillow.  My blanket is next to me and I pull up the covers and my mom and dad give me a kiss and tuck me in.  If I get up, I have to tuck myself back in.

Christmas Pictures

We took a Christmas picture ourselves this year. If the goal is to spread holiday cheer, I think we should have included one of these and given everyone the gift of a belly laugh.

Welcome, little one.

We are excited about the birth of our new niece, Olivia. She was born last Saturday and has got to be one of the cutest babies I've ever seen! Okay, all my nieces and nephews are the cutest babies I've ever seen. Okay, there's just something about newborns. But see for yourself, she is very cute.

Congratulations, Caleb and Christina! Hope you're getting some sleep!

Story from the backseat.

As we were driving Graham to school yesterday, Gabriella said, "Quiet! I want to tell a story!" Here it is:

"One day, I was walking through the grass, and I saw a lion. The lion came and bite my head and my hair, but my face was safe. I run away and jump, and the lion eats my head."

Then she laughed hysterically.

As I am half-gagging at the imagery she just produced, I was still somewhat proud of her because

a) She told her first story ever.
b) It wasn't about princesses.

So let's hope she becomes a famous writer someday and I can point back to that morning, hopefully with relief that she's not writing about people being eaten by wild animals.

Wisdom from the backseat.

Gabriella: I going to be a ballerina when I grow up 'cause I a girl!
Chase: I'm going to be a race car. Mommy, what are you going to be?
Me: I'm going to be a mommy.
Chase: No, you have to BE something.

Graham's Hay Rake

Dose of Random Pictures

At Will's company picnic this year, the boys got to shoot bottle rockets and Gabriella had her face painted.

I came upstairs one day to find Chase and Graham having a tea party.

Sometimes we see the occasional forest creature in our backyard. Here was a fox, wandering around at lunchtime.

Homemade playdough is fun.

Bike Day

Chase had Bike Day at preschool on Wednesday. It was a rough morning anyway, so I let him choose which bike to take. I fully expected him to take his normal tricycle. Granted, he has some trouble riding it, and I did hit it with the van once, so one of its tires is bent.

However, that's not the bike Chase picked. He chose Pinto, the noseless worm toy salvaged by our neighbor from a "free" pile in someone's front yard.

Gabriella named it Pinto and is particularly fond of feeding it pretend carrots through the hole in his face. Chase decided Pinto was a better choice than a tricycle.

I actually found myself glad that Chase didn't care that his bike was different from everyone else's and that other kids might find it weird. But I also found myself glad that nobody else was around when I dropped it off and picked it up. :D

Preschool!

Today was the first day of preschool for both Graham and Chase.

 

Chase asked for one extra hug and then walked right in. Graham had a hard time letting go of his daddy. All the teachers said they did great and the boys each said they were well-behaved. 

Later, however, Chase said his teacher told him he needed to sit down. Then Graham said his teacher told him the same thing. They also said they didn't learn anything. This could be an interesting year.

Oh, dear.

I'm trying to teach our kids to hold hands as they cross streets and parking lots. This doesn't always work.

Me: Kids, grab on to someone's hand. Here we go!
Chase: I don't wanna hold hands!
Me: Chase, you have to hold hands when we cross the street.
Chase (folds his hands together): I hold my own hand.

In other news, Gabriella has been referring to me as her "big mama."

Mini Will

Graham wants to be like his daddy. Sometimes it is amazing to see this little Will running around, helping in the yard and practicing his casting. If only he would bring home a mini-paycheck, we would be in business.

Well, hello everyone.

Grunt, struggle, stretch. Sigh.

Yes, that is our family, climbing back to reality after a summer of blissful insanity. I still have no idea where July went, and it's already halfway through August. Seriously, how can we misplace 6 weeks? My quest is to answer this question, and I think blogging will help.

I know the summer kicked off with Chris & Kim's wedding over Memorial Day. Yes, Will's sister got married, so Will can't accuse her of freeloading anymore (he was most disappointed about this). The kids miss their Aunt Kim, but we get to see her occasionally. Usually at Chick-fil-a, where she has to avoid getting the kids' greasy fingers on her work clothes.

It was a beautiful wedding and a beautiful reception that was spoiled by two nasty thunderstorms. (Even as I type this, I'm thinking, "Seriously??? There had to be TWO???) Everyone we talked to had so much fun, though, even if the party was crashed by a wet oppossum.

And that was that. The ending wasn't ideal, but they made the best of it and got some awesome mudsliding pictures out of it. We are looking forward to next year's raindate reception. Congratulations, Kim & Chris!

Teeball, Anyone?

Last night, Graham was hitting balls off the tee in the front yard. He's actually pretty good, so they were all over by our neighbor's yard. Here's our conversation:

Me: Now you need to go pick up the balls so you can hit them again!
Graham: It's too hot to pick them up.
Me: Well, if you want to hit them anymore, you'll have to get them.
Graham: Well, on tennis balls (Wimbledon), somebody else picks them up.
Me: You don't have anyone to do that, Graham.
Graham: I thought you were going to do it.

Is there an age limit on the ball kids they use in professional tennis? Obviously, I could be practicing for that job.

Precious Sleep

We recently took the side off Gabriella's crib so that she has a "big girl bed". Whoever thought convertible cribs would make good toddler beds has never heard a child roll out of one multiple times during a night.

She was so excited the first night, and she made it the entire time in bed.

The next night, before we even went to bed, she was on the floor.

I guess we'll work on it.

Things I Learned at the Zoo

Yesterday, I took the kids to the zoo with my friend Amanda and her family. Here are a few things I learned.

1. Put band-aids in my purse. If Graham falls and skins his knee, he will fuss about it for the next hour until the bloody spot is hidden from sight. 
2. Do not let Chase spend time with overweight women in halter tops. He follows them around shouting, "That guy not wearing any clothes!"
3. Listen when Gabriella complains that her bellybutton hurts. Do not feed her lunch. She will vomit all over my shirt and force a smelly, early retreat from the zoo.

It was an experience I will never forget. The people eating lunch while Gabriella was vomiting will probably never forget it, either.

Chasing Chase

This video shows so many things about Chase: his habit of running everywhere, his love of screaming at the top of his lungs, and how he plays hide-n-seek the wrong way. It shows his penchant for running around in his underwear and his tendency to run into things. In this case, it's a bush. And then he yells, "Wow, that was close."

Obviously.

Gabriella comes in crying.

Gabriella: I can't reach my snack!
Me: Well, what do you say?
Gabriella: I need to be taller.

Lazy Man's Wagon Ride

Our kids enjoyed an evening with their friend Adeline.

She's No Emily Post.

Gabriella asked me to have a picnic with her today. I sat down and looked over her table.

Me: May I have a cupcake?
Gabriella: No, you not hungry.
Me: What's in this cup?
Gabriella: That coffee.
Me: Oh, can I have a drink?
Gabriella: No, you no like coffee.

Hmmm. I guess we need to go over some picnic etiquette.

Where'd they go?

I was inside with Gabriella one day when I realized I hadn't seen or heard any of the boys (or Will) for awhile. They were supposedly working in the garden, but they weren't out there. I went out to put something in the van and happened to spot them.

Evidently, they were watching a pair of mallards from the church driveway. And yes, Chase is lying down.

Random Pictures

Here are a few pictures from the last month or so.

Putting dirt in the pots for some flowers for Aunt Kim's wedding. We use every possible excuse to get out the construction equipment.

Gabriella put peas in her ears at dinner one evening.

Graham and Chase inspected Daddy's car with their magnifying glasses. Later, I showed them how to light things on fire in the sunlight. Then I realized that was a very bad idea and we had to put the magnifying glasses away.

Chase is going to hate me for this picture one day.

And finally, Easter pictures. There were better ones, but this one is much more representative of what it looks like when we try to take a fancy picture.

Just do it.

We pray with the kids before bedtime, and lately, the way my kids talk to Jesus has been cracking me up. The other night, Graham led a rambling prayer about excavators and other construction equipment, and then signed off with, "Let's get to it, Jesus. Amen."

Chilling Together

I came into the family room the other day and the kids were all sitting on the end of the couch together watching Chase play on the computer. It is so rare for them to be in such close proximity without fighting that I had to take a picture.

Grocery Store Reprise...

...this time in the cheese aisle. Chase started quoting a line from a movie to an African-American woman in her 40's.

"Hey, watch out there, young fella!"

Luckily, she thought it was hysterical.

Do we really need food?

I took the 3 kids to the grocery store yesterday. This means several things:

1. I load the kids into one of those X-Large carts that are as long as a semi-truck and twice as loud. (Seriously, I think they should put Wide Load signs on the back and install back-up sirens.)
2. Without fail, the kids get frustrated halfway through our trip, at which point I pull out large amounts of snacks and fervently pray that they last through the checkout lane.
3. We make an extended trip to the lobster tank to watch lobsters and run off energy.
4. My efforts were futile. The snacks never last through the checkout lane.

It is no wonder that I go alone when buying more than three items.

Gabriella has a few new habits lately, including pulling down her pants in public places and saying hi to everyone she meets. Yesterday, she said hello to every person we passed in an aisle. If they acknowledged her, she would say, "What you name? I Gabbywellwa." We saw an older gentleman in the toilet paper aisle and she went through the drill.

Gabriella: Hi! What you name? I Gabbywellwa.
[Man looks at me quizzically.]
Me: She said her name is Gabriella.
Man: Oh! I'm Mark.
Chase: There's a Chase Monkey back here!
[Man does not understand why he is talking about monkeys. Turns away.]
Chase: Hey! Come back here! I gotta talk to you!

Ordinarily, I would make a quick exit, but this is physically impossible with the aforementioned enormous cart. So we make a slow, rumbling exit made only more embarrassing by the fact that Chase was still yelling at his new friend who refused to pay attention to him.

Keeping My Spots

Getting sunscreen on before we go outside is a major pain. I don't want to scare them by talking about skin cancer, but after having a suspicious mole removed, we're not taking any chances. How do you explain that to a 4-year-old?

Me: Let's get sunscreen on so we can go outside.
[All kids scream and whine.]
Graham: Why do we have to use sunscreen?
Me: So you don't get spots all over your arms like mine. Do you see them?
Graham: Mommy, you look bootiful in your spots.
Me: [heavy sigh]

If anyone has any ideas, let me know.

deja vu

I remember doing this with my brother and sister.

Watch Out, Danica Patrick.

This is why motorized race cars and girls with long hair don't mix. Gabriella's hairstyle could now be described as a "semi-mullet".

Tractor Party

We had a birthday party for the boys over the weekend, and they had a great time. We got to see lots of friends and relatives and I think all the kids had fun getting very, very dirty. I had no idea a corn bin would make them so dusty (see Chase's sleeves below). For our families and friends who couldn't join us, here are a few pictures.









Big thanks to Grandpa for taking pictures and to everyone who helped clean up the straw afterwards (it did not stay on the tarps like I had planned). Happy Birthday, Graham & Chase!

Gabriella's Pastimes

Gabriella sure has a lot of character.

Three days ago, she put her breakfast cereal in her ears.
Two days ago, she cut a hole in her shirt with a pair of scissors.
Yesterday, she tried to check out a book about stem cell research at the library.
Today, she was snuggling with me on the chair. Here was our conversation:

Me: Well, Gabriella, do you think I should get up and finish vacuuming?
Gabriella: No, Daddy vacuum.
[Pause as my heart melts knowing she wants to keep snuggling with me, then she finishes...]
Gabriella: Mommy need to take a shower.

Name Above All Names

Graham and Chase like to refer to people as "Your-name Duh-Dode". For instance, I am Mommy Duh-Dode, Will is Daddy Duh-Dode, and the guy who measured our counters was "Hey, Duh-Dode."

Chase also has a habit of calling everyone "Guy". Once, as we were waiting in the pharmacy line, he turned to the 90 year-old woman behind us and shouted, "Hey, Guy! You got some food?"

But my favorite has to be Graham's new name for me: Mommy del Woppy. I think he is trying to call me Mommy Jalopy, but that's not very flattering, either.

Perfect (Snow)Storm

We had the best snow for making snowmen yesterday, so we headed out after naptime.






We built snowmen for everyone in our house. All the kids wanted to do was lick them.