White Gloves

While visiting with Santa today, Mekhi brought up a very vaild question. "If Santa puts coal in all the naughty kids' stockings, how does he keep his gloves so white?"

GOAL!!!!

Trevin scored 3 goals in soccer this morning! He was so excited with the first goal that he hardly believed it actually went in. After, I asked him to show me how excited he was to have scored and this is the face he gave me:

I'm pretty sure I jumped higher and screamed louder than he did!

Sleepover

The boys got a tent for their birthday and Mekhi has been sleeping in the tent for the last week or so. It takes up most of his bedroom floor, but he's loving it. Trevin had a "sleepover" in Mekhi's tent last night. This is a picture of Rob reading them a story before going to sleep.

Truth is, they didn't ever go to sleep. After an hour of playing and giggling I had to send Trevin back to his bedroom! I hope someday they will remember the fun they had, though.

I Hear You!!!

The boys have discovered that they can converse with each other through the house vents. One is in the downstairs bathroom and the other is in the upstairs bathroom. I'll spare you the details of their conversation, but I'm sure you can imagine! Mekhi calls it the Bathroom Talking Game. I call it TMI.

Choices

This morning the boys asked to watch the NFL Draft on ESPN. They were bummed to learn it doesn't start until 3:00 this afternoon. However, they were happy to settle for Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. I don't suppose most people who watch the draft would also be thrilled with the Disney Channel!

Just Pretend, Mom!

Mekhi and I were playing Tic-Tac-Toe today and I asked him who was going first. He wasn't sure, so I reminded him that a gentleman always lets the lady go first. He thought for a while, then whispered in my ear. "Maybe you should just pretend to be a boy, Mom!"

Mater

This past weekend we made a quick...or so we thought...trip to visit family for Easter. About 40 miles down the road my "Big Green Machine" (as the boys affectionately call the Suburban), lost power and wouldn't drive more than 45 mph. We turned around and stopped off at a large, local dealership. After about an hour they cleaned some sensors and we were back on the road. Unfortunately we kept having the same problem, but with a little patience we made it to our destination and had a wonderful Easter celebration.

However a little over an hour into the night-time drive home, we lost engine power again and pulled off on the side of the road. After a couple minutes of sitting in a broken-down car in the dark, Trevin blurted out "Hey, does anyone know Mater's phone number?". It was a logical question, if you ask me! This time we couldn't go faster than 15 mph and, since it was late at night and we were more than 1 hour from a ride, we bedded down in local Super 8 (the only hotel for miles!).

Imagine how excited the boys were when they woke up in the morning to learn that the local tow company had a tow truck big enough to fit our whole family on the 1 1/2 hour drive back home! The opportunity to ride in a 'Mater' pretty much tops the list of excitement for 5-year-olds! They were thrilled. It's really too bad the tow company wasn't hiring drivers, because Trevin would have signed on! I could hardly get him to leave the driver alone while he hooked up the 'Big Green Machine'. Here are some shots of the boys and Mater:

That's not a dead guy under there, it's the driver!

Sleepover

Trevin invited Mekhi to his room for a sleepover tonight! He was even a good host and let Mekhi sleep in his bed. I put them down 20 mintues ago and they're still talking. Wonder how long it's going to take for them to go to sleep?

April Fool's

We celebrated a little April Fool's Day fun today. I wasn't really sure if they'd get the whole concept, but it was comical to watch them try out different April Fool's jokes all day. It all started with these pancakes:

I gave the T pancake to Mekhi, the M to Trevin, the Mom to Dad and the Dad to Mom. Everyone closed their eyes while I put the pancakes on the table and we all opened our eyes at the same time. Trevin said "Mom, they're all mixed up" and Mekhi said "You scrambled our breakfast!". Simple, but silly. Truth is, I didn't really want to get too crazy with the jokes because I'd really pay for it later in the day!

I also played a little trick on them at lunch. I froze milk in the bottom of their cups and then just poured a little over the top when it was time to eat. They took a sip, but couldn't get too much out!

My favorite kid April Fool's joke of the day came from Mekhi. After lunch I said it was time for a nap. Mekhi quickly blurted out "APRIL FOOL'S!!". He was bummed to learn that I wasn't joking.

Ta-co

Mom, why do they call it a taco? Because it can talk and go?

A Natural

I don't know where he gets it! As I explained earlier, he loves James Taylor!

All I can say is that he's a natural!

He's Gonna Blow

Last fall, the boys and I took a road trip. Trevin literally went from reading the map

to car sick on the side of the road in 5 minutes.

I now carry Dramamine everywhere I go!

Yum!

I know it's unhealthy and wasteful, but I'm not gonna lie, I laugh every time I see one of their little tiny mouths taking a bite out of a huge Costco pizza slice!

Whatever Works

Yes, that is a straw in Trevin's ice cream cone! Whatever works, I guess!

Carolina In My Mind

Mekhi loves music. He also has a hard time going to sleep at night. Therefore, he often gets to listen to headphones while drifting off. His favorite CD lately has been James Taylor's Greatest Hits. It's completely normal to hear him bust out with "In my mind I'm going to Carolina"!

I didn't realize how much he was listening to the lyrics until he started a James Taylor conversation with me a few mornings ago. It started like this:

"Mom, how does James Taylor go to Carolina in his mind?"

I responded with an explanation of imagination and then we visited some of our favorite places "in our minds."

After he finally understood the concept, he mentioned this:

"Mom, do you know that James Taylor will be your friend if you just call him?"

I chuckled and sang a few lines from the song before he posed this question:

"But Mom, why didn't James Taylor tell us his phone number?"

I couldn't answer that question!

Dirty

In all honesty, the first couple years of the boys' life were pretty challenging for me. It was a huge accomplishment if I took a shower, did my hair, wore clothes other than PJ's, and did the dishes. I was so excited the summer they were about 1 1/2 years old because I finally had enough energy to attempt planting some flowers! I got out the flower pots, filled them with dirt, and was planning exactly which flowers I'd fill them with. Imagine my surprise when I came outside to find this:

My initial reaction, of course, was not too positive! However, I quickly realized that boys are mesmerized by digging in the dirt. I decided it was best to abandon my hopes for a little spring color in favor of hours of entertainment for toddlers! Every spring I'm still reminded of their dirty little faces staring up at me from inside my flower pots.

Teamwork

Now, that's teamwork!

It's Just Our Age!

While out of town this weekend, the boys found a STOP sign that was smaller than average. Trevin asked, "Mom, would you like to take our picture next to this STOP sign? It's just our age!". Apparently, things that are shorter than normal are 5 years old!

Socks

...and just to emphasize the truth to my last post about the boys' differences, Mekhi wore this lovely sock combination all day today!

Differences

Tonight during the bed time routine I witnessed a perfect example of how different my kids are! Mekhi was walking around the house wearing only PJ pants and 1 sock. While I asked Mekhi where his shirt and 2nd sock were, Trevin came into the room and announced that he picked out underwear that matched his PJ's (a matching pant & shirt set, of course)! One kid is walking around half dressed and the other is matching his underwear to his outfit! They're so different.

By the way, Mekhi eventually did manage to get a shirt on (but it wasn't the one that matched his pants!).

All Boxed Up

A few years ago we got a huge box with Christmas presents. Here's proof that kids have more fun with the boxes than the gifts:

It Stinks In There

Warning: You will not find this post comical if you're not humored by a little bathroom humor!

While on a long drive with the boys, we had to make a pit stop. Unfortunately the gas station bathroom was an occupied one seater and they were too young for me to send them into the men's bathroom on their own. After we waited for an unusually long time, I knew we were in for trouble. We waited and waited. There were no other bathroom stops for many miles, so we just had to wait. Finally, a woman opened the door and I pushed a potty dancing Mekhi into the stall. But he boldly stopped and the door and yelled "MOM, IT STINKS IN THERE. I'M NOT GOING IN THERE." The poor woman just shrugged her shoulders, said she was sorry and quickly left the bathroom. Kids sure don't have restraint with the words that exit their mouths!

Those Aren't Pants

This is a classic photo! Mekhi, at about 2, tried to get himself dressed. The problem is that those aren't pants!

A Girl Named Charlotte

Having twins boys, I've always imagined that there might be a day when they quarreled over a girl. Thankfully, they have already found a solution to this problem on their own! A few mornings ago they crawled into bed with us and started talking about their Charlotte's.

"My Charlotte is cute."

"Well, my Charlotte is really cute."

Apparently, they both have girls in their AWANA classes named Charlotte. Instead of fighting over the same girl, they'll just find girls with the same names. Now, if I could just get over the fact that this conversation happened with my 5 year olds. I can't believe it!

Protected

I flew to California with the boys last Thanksgiving. While packing, Mekhi asked me if he could bring his Coon Skin cap. I figured it was a harmless way to keep him excited in the airport. When we sat down in the terminal waiting to board, I was surprised when Trevin pulled his Superman cape out of his backpack! I didn't even know he had put it in there. (I'm sure glad he didn't put anything in there that would have caused trouble with airport security!) Surely, the other passengers were thankful to be protected in the air by Superman and Daniel Boone.

I'm Still 4

A conversation with Mekhi on the morning of his birthday:
Mekhi: "Mom, I don't think I'm 5 yet"
Me: "Why not?"
Mekhi: "Because I still look like I'm 4."

I guess he was expecting to look different in the mirror when he turned 5!

No Thank You

Mekhi's honest and from-the-heart prayer before dinner a few nights ago: "Dear God, thank you for the food I like and no thank you for the food I don't like." Hey, at least he used his manners!

Thoughts on Babysitters

• What are the qualities of a good babysitter? One that will help your kids clean up their messes while you finish getting ready for your date. It also helps if the house is cleaner when you get home than it was when you left. Although, maybe it's kind of insulting that the babysitter can keep my house cleaner than I can!

• The boys' 5th birthday is in a few days. They're very excited to be 5 years old (Trevin has mentioned several times that he's "almost a grown up, now"). We have a wonderful babysitter and the boys love her, but they were VERY insulted at the thought of 'baby' sitter. "We're not babies, mommy." So we decided that instead of a babysitter, they having an 'Almost 5 year-old' sitter!

• On one hand it's reassuring when your kids are so excited about the babysitter that they are not sad when you leave. On the other hand, it's really sad.

Mannequins

Meet the newest Old Navy Mannequins!

All packed!

The boys were getting ready for an overnight trip to Auntie's house. I didn't even ask them to get packed, but they appeared in my bedroom looking like this:

I'm so glad they remembered the essentials (like swim goggles in the winter!)

Stitches?

So, the very army men that made me laugh in my last post caused us an emergency trip to the pediatrician 5 days later! We weren't in the room when it all happened, but here's what we've figured out:

1. Mekhi had a shortage of army men.
2. Trevin had an abundance of army men.
3. Mekhi wanted more army men.
4. Trevin didn't want to lose army men.
5. There was a fight.
6. There was a lot of blood & tears.
7. There was a bloody nose and a bloody mouth.

We're still not sure exactly what happened, but it boiled down to the fact that Mekhi ripped the frenulum on his upper lip. This is the skin that connects the lip to the gums on the inside of the mouth. Let me tell you, this is a GROSS injury! When we lifted up his upper lip, it looked like his lip was going to fall off his face. Ewwwww....

It turns out that doctors try not to do stitches in the mouth because of an increased risk of infection. Surprisingly it is healing nicely (milkshakes help, of course!).

Now, that's a swollen lip!

Ewwww....

He was trying to smile, must not have been too bad!

Safe

A very special thanks to my Little Men who protected me from the bad guys while putting on my makeup today!

P-I-Z-Z-A

So, we moved. That's fun. It's been a few months and I still have unopened boxes. Yikes! Our move was really drawn out. The house was on the market for 8 months. After we finally sold, we moved in with my Sis-in-Law. We had offered on a Short Sale home but were waiting to hear from the bank. Of course the boys loved living with Auntie (nothing to do with the fact that she has a Wii, of course!). In fact they were determined that the bank was going to tell us that we couldn't have the house we wanted and that we were going to just get to live with Auntie forever!

Needless to say, during the transition our life was pretty unorganized. We ate out a lot. I mean, A LOT. I don't know if I've ever eaten out so often in a short period of time. If you've checked out a kids menu lately, you know there aren't a ton of healthy options for the kiddos. I was attempting to keep it a little healthier (you know, plain hot dog instead of the fried corn dog). I read the menu to Mekhi (4 years old) and conveniently left off the pizza. He had probably had pizza several times already that week! When I thought I was done reading the menu Mekhi quickly pointed out that I had missed something. He pointed to the pizza and said "See Mom, it says P-I-Z-Z-A. That's how you spell pizza. They have pizza here. I'll have that."

So much for my healthy attempts! Now that I think about it, why did I even bother to read the menu? It seems as though he can do it himself! He's getting too smart!

Mac-n-Cheese

Last night I didn't go to bed until about 11:30. Unfortunately, neither did Trevin. He can have a bit of a stubborn streak (I'm sure he gets it from his Daddy...wink, wink). For some strange reason he decided that he no longer likes Mac-n-Cheese. It's a kid standard and has always been the go-to meal in our house. Mac-n-Cheese is a food group, right? Anyway, Trevin has always claimed to dislike cheese. "Trevin's don't like cheese" is a common phrase. But this distaste has never caused a problem with the orange, cheesy goodness. Last night, however, was different. Well, not SO different, but different.

You see, Trevin often chooses not to eat his dinner. Although I always expect him to eat it at some point, I've never forced him to stay up all night to eat it. In the past I've let him go to bed and then he has whatever disgusting meal he refused to eat last night for breakfast. And lunch. And so it goes until he actually eats it. Usually it's gone by breakfast and at minimum he's so hungry by the next lunch that it disappears quickly. I changed my strategy.

I had actually read Matthew 5:37 the day before and it resonated with the mommy in me.

Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No';

anything beyond this comes from the evil one.

As Trevin sat at the dinner table refusing to eat, it hit me. If I let him eat his food the next day then I really wasn't following through with my expectations. By saving his food for breakfast, I was letting him finish the meal on his terms. I expect dinner to be eaten at dinner. I said eat your dinner, so eat it now. Not after a restful night's sleep, not after running errands with me, not only once you're so hungry you have no other choice. Yes, you'll eat dinner and yes, you'll eat it now. My yes means yes!

All that to say, it took him 5 1/2 hours at the table but he finally finished his processed cheese pasta. It wasn't fun (for ANYONE!) and he was exhausted today. BUT tonight he ate every bite of his dinner and even tasted a new food without any whining! Stay tuned to hear how long his good attitude lasts!

Who's Next?

It's an age old story. Mom takes shower. Mom leaves rugrats watching a movie. Mom prays/pleads that the rugrats will stay seated peacefully for her whole shower. Mom enjoys every second of peace and quiet. Rugrats seem so quiet. Mom feels victory. Meahwhile, back in the living room, Rugrats are quiet. But Mom does not have victory. Rugrats are bored with the movie. Rugrats find scissors. Rugrats need a haricut (or so they think!). Mom emerges from the bathroom. Mom finds:

(Yep. That's hair... And it's not the remnants of their first haircut.) Mom has now lost all the calm and quiet she enjoyed in the shower and her muscles are just as tense as before!

You see, the boys really love going to the barber with daddy. They get to sit in cool chairs, they get popcorn while they wait, they even get to play a little pool. Whey their cuts are done, they get to shoot a basket and win $1.00 off the cut.

You can imagine how furious I was when I saw the hair on the table (I later found another huge chunk in the bathroom). I asked (calmly, of course) why there was hair on the table. But I didn't have to dig too deeply to figure it out.

Trevin explained it all to me: "Mom, Mekhi needed a hair cut. He sat in the chair and I gave him a towel (around his neck to keep the hair off) and cut his hair. When we were all done, I let him shoot a basket and he made it! His haircut was only $5.00". Surely he stood with scissors in his hand wondering who his next client/victim would be!

To tell you the truth, it's amazing that there was no blood! He had used really long scissors and it could have been really bad. On the up side, I learned how to use the clippers. And, Trevin did put the towel away in the hamper when he was done. At least he cleans up after himself (mostly!).

Just for fun, here's a picture from Mekhi's first real hair cut.