Buzz Off

Mosquitoes...ugh. They are literally waiting at the door to dive bomb us on our way outside to play. I would almost swear that all the mosquitoes in the state use our backyard as a headquarters. For some reason, though, Josh is immune to them. He must have some random freakish super power that repels biting bugs. He can sit outside for an hour and get no bites at all. Whereas the kiddos and me end up looking like we got a nasty case of chicken pox. Yes, I do spray the kids down with bug spray. However, I don't feel really safe spraying chemicals on their sensitive little faces. So by the end of the evening, Abby and Alex have at least 5 or 6 new bites to add to the ever growing itchy bump list. Poor kids. They wake up every night at least 3 times crying and scratching their bites.

Well, my mom...working in a lawn and garden center...got some free samples of this thing called Bug Band. Ever heard of it? Well, if you haven't then you really must seek it out. It's a nifty little bracelet/band that you wear on your wrist/ankle/belt and it is supposed to keep away the many insects that like to bug us all (pun intended). I was skeptical, but gave it a go for good measure. I was shocked to see what happened. Those nasty little biters were hovering over the kids all night, but never once landed on their skin. It was like there was a magical force shield around them and the bugs couldn't get past it. Very weird. My favorite part of this little bracelet is that it is supposed to work for 120 hours an comes with a little case to store it in when you aren't using it. It is made from the oil of geraniums. I guess back in the day, people used to plant geraniums in flower boxes outside their windows because they are notorious for keeping bugs at bay. Huh...who knew? Turns out that they were right. So if you are lookin' for a pretty snazzy way to keep the biting at it's minimum, I'd recommend these things. (I was not paid to promote this folks...just trying to get the word out to stop the summer itch.) I can't guarantee that these things work for the 120 hours they claim, but neither Alex or Abby had a single bite on them last night. And guess what? They both slept through the night itch-free.

Check 'em out...seriously...you might be surprised too! Bugband.net

Tatoo Boy

Over the course of his two and half years, Alex has had his fair share of visits to the doctor's office. The one joy of going for him has always been the end of the appointment when he gets to pick one of those wonderful stickers out of the bin. We had quite the collection of stickers. And they don't just come with his doctor visits. My OB has stickers for kiddos to get when they accompany the mama's to their pregnancy appointments. Well, he has officially abandoned his love of stickers and moved up a level. There are three bins to choose from.

1. The pencil bin...which he is much too young to appreciate. He would more than likely end up revisiting the doctor after falling with one in his mouth.

2. The sticker bin...very popular for most kids. Friendly to all ages. Though Abby enjoys dining on them if she gets one.

3. The tatoo bin...temporary tatoos for youngsters to decorate their skin with. How can you go wrong with these?

So Alex has moved on up to a love of the temporary tatoos. I couldn't let the little monkey wear temp tatoos for the longest time because his skin was just too darn sensitive. He'd break out from anything on his skin. Well, he has officially toughened up and is no longer a sensitive little dude. (still won't try the smell-good laundry soap though) He loves, loves, LOVES those tatoos. We get them whenever we can. I think that he is going to have an absolute blast when we go to the state fair this year. They give out those tatoos at nearly every booth. I'll be taking a before and after photograph of that day. I think it's the cutest thing to watch him brag about his tatoos when we put them on him. So without further ado, here are a couple of pictures of his latest temporary body art.

Dinosaur Tatoo

Spiderman Tatoo

Move Over Jack Sparrow!

Optimus Prime just kicked poor Jack Sparrow's butt. As far as guilty pleasure movies go, Pirates of the Caribbean has been the movie series that has topped my popcorn-watch-ability chart since I saw the first one in the theatre. But here lately, I've taken a liking to Transformers. I didn't get the pleasure of seeing it on the big screen and I regret that now. Coulda, shoulda, woulda, eh? Well, as you may have realized from the most recent blog entry below this one, I was scheduled to see Transformers 2 today. Well, I just got back and all I can say is...HOLY COW!!!! Okay...that movie was beyond awesome! If you know me, you know that I'm a geek to the core. I mean, you can't see a movie 11 times in the theater (Lord of the Rings: Return of the King) and not be classified as a geek, ya know what I mean? So I've been watching Transformers at home on the trusty DVD player and have gotten absolutely hooked. I will not admit to the number of times I've seen it. Okay...nevermind that last statement. I have no shame. I have seen it 10 times in the last two months. (Go ahead. Roll your eyes.) It has bumped my love of Pirates of the Caribbean down a level on the ol' favorite list. Seriously folks, the movie rocks. But not nearly as much as the second one. I know that I have a list of movies that I must see, but I shall give this advice to you. If you are going to see one movie in the theater this year, then see Transformers. Michael Bay (director) knows what the viewers want. I laughed. I cried. And I was literally on the edge of my seat wanting more by the time the credits hit. I mean, I love Harry Potter and all, but you can't see a Michael Bay film for the first time on your couch or you just won't get the full effect of it's magnificence. I can't wait until Alex and Abby are old enough that they can go with us to enjoy the awesomeness of these kinds of movies.

So as far as getting out of the house and enjoying some personal-away-from-the-kids time...that part was great too. The kids are finally old enough to leave them for a day with Grandma and Grandpa. They had a blast and were little angels. They didn't even suffer from mommy-complex issues this time around. I must admit that is has got the wheels in my brain to start turning. I am wondering if it wouldn't be nice to stick with just two kiddos instead of the three that I had planned on having eventually. Though I will probably change my mind again later. It was so nice to get out though. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa! I'll be sure to drop them off in a week or two when I need to see the movie again.

P.S. Seriously folks...go see Transformers 2. You won't be sorry.

My Day Out

Tomorrow is the big day. Well...one of the big days. I shall take a minor leave of the kiddos to go spend some quality time with Josh. If you follow my movie counters on the side bar, then you will know that tomorrow I will be seeing Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. I am so incredibly pumped to get out of the house for awhile. We are dropping the kiddos off at Grandma and Grandpa's house tomorrow morning and catching a nice noon matinee of the flick. It's going to be great. I do so miss the movies. Josh and I used to pretty avid movie goers pre-kid and since Alex, I think maybe we have seen three or four movies. That was a one month quota a few years back. For now I'll just enjoy the rare times I get. I fully plan on kickin' back and relaxin' tomorrow for 2 1/2 hours of joy joy popcorn movie goodness. Have a great weekend everyone! I know I will!

When a Good Idea Goes Bad

Abby is in her experimenting phase. She loves to try everything she can. She is starting to babble more and learning more words as the days go by. She tries, with all her might, to do everything that Alex does. For the most part, she is generally successful. Right now, one of the things she enjoys doing...or at least trying to do...is putting on hats. I got quite a few random hats from garage sales for the kiddos. Police hat, fireman hat, pirate hat, etc. She does enjoy them. (she also enjoys attempting to smash them while yelling 'hi-yah!', but that's a story for another day) So when she sees a hat, she plops it on her head and parades around the house with a goofy grin on her little face. Well...little Miss Thing decided this weekend that pots and pans could fit on her head as well. Oh the amazing things to discover when you are a toddler. As you may well know, pots and pans were not originally intended for use as head wear. Unfortunately, Abby was not aware of such an obvious rule. She decided to put an angel-food cake pan on her head. You know the pan, right? Has a nice convenient hole built right into the bottom? (see image on right)

Well, that pan fit every so neatly over her head and slipped right down to sit on her shoulders. Well, there was a little lesson to be learned for even the adults in this kind of crazy situation. Apparently, what goes on, doesn't necessarily come off as easy. Actually, it may not come off at all. I'm sure Abby thought it was a fun idea to wear it as a hat. But...

...it was not a good idea in the end. As you can see, Her head came through just fine. We pulled and buttered her up and even tried to put tape around the inside of the hole to ease her head through. It wouldn't budge for love nor money. She was screaming bloody murder by this time and something had to be done. I've had this cake pan for many a year and was sad to have to do it but in the end, Josh got his tin snips out and...

...we had to destroy the pan. Every time we tried to pull it off, it would nearly slice her forehead open. We had no choice in the matter, but she is safely now without a cake pan on her head and much happier. Did she learn her lesson? Well...we won't know because it was the only angel-food cake pan we had. I'm sure if given the opportunity, she would gladly go for round two.

Gene Splicing

Since Alex first gained his mobility, I've noticed a trend with both the kids over the 2 1/2 years. You know that the name of this blog is called Little Monkeys, right? Well, my general thinking was that the kiddos had some sort of monkey genes that they developed the older they got. Seriously, folks...they would swing from vines (yes, both of them) if I had them hanging from the drop ceiling. Some days, it is all I can do to keep them from literally climbing the walls. So, yeah...there you have it. My kids are part monkey, part human. Well, up until two days ago, I would never have been able to accurately compare them to another animal. Abby decided to climb one of the slides outside because she dearly loves to be as high up as she can possibly go. Before I could get to her, due to attending to Alex's needs at the time, she had attempted this fateful climb with a cellphone in one hand. Once at the top, as I was bookin' it for her, she tipped over backwards and went tumbling down the slide landing with one arm awkwardly behind her back. I'm sure you can picture it. She just laid on the ground screaming as I got to her a split second too late. At first, I was convinced it was broke or dislocated because it drooped at her side like a little limp noodle. Finally, after an hour, she started regaining use in it. She still is favoring it because it is a little sore. What I realized after this was that she, along with her brother, have been consistent about climbing to the highest point they can (i.e. tables, chairs, beds, counter-tops, air-conditioner units...you know, the usual). Do you know an animal that fits this description of needing to be on top of the highest point? Well, goats are like that. So it is now obvious that Alex and Abby are 1/3 human, 1/3 monkey, and 1/3 mountain goat*. There was some serious gene splicing going on here. Anyhow, that's my story, and I'm stickin' to it!

Here is Logan with one of Alex's monkey stuffed animals. Alex shares with him. :0)

*Please note that I do not actually believe that my children have monkey or goat genes. That would be impossible, folks. It is a joke for all intents and purposes.

Sometimes You Gotta Laugh

This may be a bit strange to some of you, but I found it really funny and cute. If you are a follower of the blog, then you'll know that Alex has to have quite a bit of medicine to control his Asthma. One of the medicines that he has to have twice a day, is called Pulmicort. It's a medication that he has to breathe in with the use of a nebulizer. The best way for a kid his age to inhale it properly, is to use a mask. So this is what he looks like when he is using his mask.


Not funny, right? It actually makes me feel bad that he has to do his at such a young age. And it's even sadder that he is incredibly used to it. But, honestly, he doesn't mind it too much because he gets to watch YouTube videos for the 6 or 7 minutes it takes to do it. He enjoys watching the monster truck, tractor and firetruck videos. He even knows how to put the mask on and turn the nebulizer on himself. He's a little pro. So everytime I see him do this, it reminds me of a sci-fi movie. Anyone out there able to guess which movie I'm talking about? No? Well, it reminds me of Star Wars. Big surprise, eh? So I couldn't find an image from the movie on google, but I did find a picture of one of the action figures of Han Solo when he is hunting mynocks inside the space slug during Empire Strikes Back and when you put the two images together, this is what you get...

It makes me laugh. It was a my way of putting a good spin on a poopy situation. And sometimes, you just gotta laugh.