Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Playing on the school bus

I'm not quite sure how the monster tunnel turned into a school bus but it has. And fine by me, they entertain them selves for long periods of time playing in their school bus. They are playing in there right now as a matter of fact and if I was smart I'd get off this time consuming computer and go do something productive today. Like fold the mountain of clothes that is sitting atop my bed waiting for yours truly to come and fold it. Or clean the ghastly play room that I am certain is going to take me to an early grave. (That room seems to throw up on itself every couple of hours!) Or, well, I wont continue. Some of you might think less of me if I told you all the things I need to do around here that have been neglected lately. My one and only excuse is that me and the kids have a little cold. I did disinfect everything yesterday though, so maybe we wont be sick for the next month. Score one for big mama!!!


Thursday, January 21, 2010

Mac a whole

I just love how kids mix words and letters up at this age. James is usually the one to mix words up when he is learning to say something new, I wish I could remember ones he's said in the past but my memory is a little foggy at the moment. Remember how we started having game night a few times a week? Well, Whack A Mole is one of the games.
It is really for ages 4 and up but I thought they would at least get a kick out of actually being allowed to hit something and hit it hard! Not to mention start working on their hand/eye coordination. (I know some of the things we do with our kids probably have some of you scratching your head but remember our motto around here is "Never too early"!) Any who, they really like it but their attention span only lasts for so long before they start trying to hit each other with the whackers and we have to put mack a wholle away!
They also love, love, love to play memory. Of course, their own version of it which is turning the cars over picture side up and finding two of a kind that way! James is super fast finding stuff but has no interest in actually picking up the cards. Audrey gets the most out of it I think. She stands over the cards looking intently for stuff and saying "Okay, I tie (try) mommy. I tie." when I ask to her to find something! She's not much for holding onto her cards but she does get excited when she finds what she is looking for and picks it up and throws it at me! Last night while we were playing Audrey kept saying "Wook (look) around, wook around" (doing the hand motions too) when ever I told her to look for something. She also would say some other stuff (that I can't exactly remember right now) and last night it dawned on me that all the things she was saying were things we had told them to do when we first taught them how to play. And that was about 2 weeks ago. It's amazing to me the things children can remember. Their brains really are little sponges.

Yes, I realize they are playing HHP in this pic and not Memory but I didn't have a pic of them playing memory!
Even though they love playing all their games, playing with play dough is their favorite. I found this little bucket of beach creations at Target that has a few miniature cans of play dough, some sea animal cut outs, a teeny tiny shovel, a teeny tiny sand bucket and even some play dough sand. It's actually called sand composite I believe but it's really neat. A little weird because it feels wet and grainy when you touch it but it doesn't leave your hand wet or sandy. There are some real master minds at the play dough company these days!

I will leave you today with a few pictures of our play dough creations.


Jon singing "trust in me" to Audrey while waving "Kahh" around. Notice she's not so sure....

This is my version of Krosty (frosty) the snowman. Nice, huh?!


And because we took pictures of our play dough animals, James wanted a picture of his! I think this was supposed to be Kystel (Krystal) Krosty's snow wife!

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Trust in me, Kahh

James is turning out to be the comedian of the family. (Now, as soon as he starts doing impressions his daddy wont have nothing on him!) He has started saying the funniest things lately and I'll give you a short list of them:One day I thought I smelled poo so I asked "James, did you poo-poo?" He replies "No, I not." "Then what's that smell"? I ask, and with out even thinking about it he replies "A candle."

One night he was supposed to be going to sleep but he was thinking of every excuse in the book to prolong that process and when he'd run out of reasonable ideas he yells "MOMMY!!! I need a diaper" so I go in there (for like the umpteenth time) and ask why he needs a diaper. He says " I tee-tee." I told him no, he tee tee's in his diaper all the time and to go to sleep. I guess he figured that was that because we didn't hear another lame excuse out of him the rest of the night!

We were building a tower one day with some blocks and he knocked mine over and started laughing. I said "James, why did you knock over my tower?" His reply, "I a little booger."

My personal favorite is where he wakes me up at 6:30 in the morning screaming "Mommy!!!! I want cereals." And then while he's eating those cereals and watching the news with me, a McDonald's add pops up and he says "Look! News on french fries."

I have to add a little background for this last one so that those of you well past the Disney stage will understand! Jungle Book is one of their favorite movies and they love the snake, Kahh. They love the song Kahh sings while he is hypnotizing Mogli but all they know of the song is the "trust in me" part. Well, this morning I was getting ready to get in the shower (they play in my bed while I do that) and I asked them if I could trust them to be nice to each other while I was in the shower. And, again with out even thinking, he gives me this sly grin and starts singing "Trust in me, trust in me Kahh." I love this age!

Monday, January 18, 2010

The park

Jon has off school today so we decided to take the kids to Thomasville and spend the morning at the park. They, of course, were over the top excited to go to the pak (park) and play on the sides (slides), sings (swings) and to chim (climb)! We had never been to the park in t-ville and were pleasantly surprised when we go there. It's a huge area filled with big oak trees and two really nice play areas that are just perfect for kids their size!

I packed a pic-nic lunch and we ate our ham and cheese sandwiches and drank our Capri sun's under a pavilion right next to the train track. Just as we were finishing
up lunch the train came thru and they started screaming "It's Thomas! It's Thomas!"

James wanted to do everything by himself which led to one very nervous mama and daddy! Audrey was a little more cautious but she eventually warmed up and started going down the slides with out Jon or myself.
The weather was just perfect for our little outing and we all enjoyed our selves immensely! This park gets an A+ from the Mizell's!

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Never too early

Having a daddy that is a middle school teacher is leading to our children knowing, uh, things that some high school students don't even know. I left these two alone for a few hours one afternoon to take James to the doctor and when I came back my daughter could name and pick out half of the Southern states on the United States map. I know she is my child so I am entitled to be biased but seriously, she is one smart cookie. I hope the girl can keep these smarts through out her schooling career!

Monday, January 11, 2010

Normal again...

After a long road to recovery around here, we have finally gotten back into our groove after being gone for so long. There for a few days I was really beginning to wonder if we would ever recover. I must give a shout out to every one who had a hand in making my children more rotten than they already were, job well done!!

We had a wonderful weekend filled with church, good food and friends and lots of down time! When we weren't at church we were huddled in the living room snuggling under blankets, playing with play dough, wrestling and watching football and cartoons. It was nice.
For a few nights after Audrey got sick in New Orleans, she slept in the bed with me. It was during one of those nights that I had another one of those moments where I looked at the sleeping child beside me and realized, she's not a baby any more. I've had those moments before, every mother has, and each time I have one it makes me a little melancholy for a while. Another stage has passed, another moment with her gone. While I was watching her that night, breathing softly beside me, it struck me how long she was and how much her little features have changed. Her features are still little (thank goodness she still has quite a few years before she hits that awkward stage like her poor mama did!) but they look older, not quite so babyish. Her hair is longer and she acts and talks like she's 12, not 2!

I cherish each and every moment with my kids and I know that one more day I get to spend with them, to love and nurture them, is a gift because we never know what the future may hold. I try not to dwell on the fact that my children are growing up right before my very eyes, that before I know it they will be so long and gangly that it will be nearly impossible for me to hold them on my lap and rock. So, I'm trying intently to enjoy this stage of Audrey talking my head off from the moment she wakes up till the moment she goes to sleep (I have a feeling that this particular stage will last forever!). I am laughing hysterically at all the funny things my son comes up with to say, almost on a daily basis now. And I am trying to keep a record of all of them so I can laugh at them when I'm 50 and going through empty nest syndrome! I am making a conscious effort to stop more times through out the day to read, do something constructive or just to laugh with them. We started having a family game night every other night and that has turned out to be the best thing we ever added to our nightly routine!! We play Memory(our version of it!), Hungry Hippos, Whack a Mole and bowling. Jon and I have enjoyed ourselves so much and the kids, well, they get over the top excited
when we tell them it's game night!

Friday, January 8, 2010

New Years

On Saturday after Christmas, Jon and I loaded up the van and left the cold, muddy country to make the trek back to GA by ourselves. Both of the churches he serves were ha
ving church on Sunday(one in the morning, one at night)and he needed/wanted to be there. We were turning right around on Monday to go back to Hattiesburg for New Years and did not want to drag the kids along, so we left them with PawPaw, SuSu and Uncle Will. It was nice to ride along in the car and be able to have an actual conversation, one that didn't get interrupted every 20 seconds! James got sick that night, however, with a stomach virus and I felt so
bad for not being with him. We decided to go to New Orleans on Monday instead of h'burg and I'm so glad we did because about an hour after Audrey went to sleep that night she woke
up vomiting. A lot and it was nasty. Neither one of us slept good that night. Audrey because her tummy hurt and me because I just new I was about to get a face full of up chuck every time she flipped or flopped. That's gross, I know but it's what I was thinking!
Poor SuSu got sick that night too, so we all decided it best to delay our trip to the 'burg until Wednesday night. As a Christmas present for Mr. Ronnie and Ms. Susan, us "kids" scheduled a family portrait session in Hattiesburg for Wednesday but were able to move it to
Thursday morning which happened to work out better, the weather was absolutely
perfect! We were at the University of Southern Mississippi's campus and
the pictures turned out wonderful! We had fun too!!

The New Year's Eve meeting at Ideal can be an interesting experience for young mothers since services usually go thru midnight. This year we started earlier, at 4:00 and broke for supper at 6. Then started back at 7:00 and ended at 9. That would have worked out great had my kids not been in such an irritated state to begin with. They were rowdy, cranky and only wanted me. They pretty much didn't want any one to look at them and they were fighting over me screaming, "That's MY mommy!" I called it quits after supper and went back to Aunt Becky and Uncle Hugh's and put them to be on time for a change! Now, I can hang with the best and have fought my way through plenty of church services but sometimes a mama has to do what a mama has to do! Preacher's wife or not.

We spent most of New Year's day at Nenie's before heading home sweet home to Georgia! Sweet Sydney just had to get all the kids some donuts before we left and they were a big hit!(With the adults too!)


Monday, January 4, 2010

Christmas in the country

Christmas is over, the new year has been rung in and my Christmas tree is sitting on the front porch. That's as far as I got it, Jon will have to take care of the rest. We spent the holidays with the Mizell's and Mozingo's and had a wonderful time. But after being gone for 2 weeks,
we were more than happy to get home. At this moment I am totally content to stay put till May!

We spent the few days before Christmas in New Orleans at Jon's parents home. We had a great time but that part of the trip will have to wait because I cannot find the memory card with all those pictures on it. I am trying to stay positive that it will turn up soon, really soon. I have a lot of good memories on there. Okay, can't talk about it any more, I'm feeling sick.....

We spent Christmas eve and day out in the country in Mississippi. The "country" really is the country. Way out in the country. Jon's grandmother (Nenie) has three siblings: Uncle John, Aunt Lucille and Aunt Mae(she passed away 3 years ago and is Audrey's namesake). Each sibling has a few acres on the farm where they were born and lived a few years before moving to New Orleans. Each sibling also has a "vacation" house on their land. This is where the siblings and all their offspring congregate for holidays: Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, 4th of July, you get the picture. There were around 75 of us this year and there were about 20 or so missing. For the most part each family stays around their house until it's time to eat and then we all gather at who evers turn it is to have the meal. It's a great time and I am so glad to be a part of such a wonderful thing!! It was my first Christmas in the country since Harrison was born the year Jon and I got married and J&A were quarantined the last time it was the country's turn. It was a crazy hectic time but I really enjoyed myself. It was so much fun to be with everyone and see all the kids opening their presents!

Audrey with JoJo Christmas morning. It was one of those last minute impulse buys and it turned out to be her favorite present of the day.James with his dinosaurs. Another last minute impulse buy that was another favorite!Christmas afternoon after we ate dinner at Uncle John's and took one of the world's largest family photos ever, we walked across the road to let the kids pet the horses. They got a kick out of it!
Don't worry, I didn't let his little lips actually touch the horse!

I have tons more pictures and random little stories but, they too will have to wait. Santa and Mrs. Claus brought us a new computer for Christmas, a Mac to be exact, and it's a little different than our old PC. I haven't had much time to explore it since we got it so until I get comfortable with my new pet, the posts may be sparse! But when I do post they will probably be all about Christmas so please, bear with me!!