Liar Liar vs. The Tattletale

Alex and Abby are both developing some new fun little traits. And by fun, I really mean annoying. Up until recently, Alex has been really good about fessing up to just about anything he did. But recently, he has developed his ability to lie. I've caught him red handed and he still won't confess truthfully to me. For example, I watched as he willingly jumped off of the couch onto poor unsuspecting Abby. Laughing all the while. This is where Abby's new fun trait comes in to play. She has become quite proficient at tattling. She came running and crying to me right after this incident and said, "Mom, Alex jump on me!" When I asked Alex what he did he promptly got the innocent look on his face, shrugged his shoulders, and said, "Nothing, mom. She just fell off the couch a little." Lucky for them both, I was observing from a distance so proper punishment was dealt after Alex finally admitted to jumping on her. His confession for why he did it? "Because I was just being mean to sissy." Ahh, how nice. I do believe that sibling rivalry happens the moment the second child is a bump in the tummy and the first child 'hits' the belly on 'accident'. And it continues well into old age, I'm quite sure. For now I'm okay with a tattletale. But when Abby develops the ability to lie then those tattles won't be as easily trusted.

Stuffed Animal Reserve

This is just a small sampling of the vast stuffed animal selection we have. And yes...the bucket is all stuffed animals.

You've heard of animal reserves, right? Animals go to a place where they are protected from just about anything they need protection from. Yes. Well...I have an animal reserve in my very own house. A stuffed animal reserve. The reason that I call it a reserve is because I don't think they will ever find new homes. The kids might someday ask for one that I gave away and I'd have to explain why it's gone to two sets of teary eyes. The very first thing that Alex ever received after he was born was a cute little blue stuffed bear. Then after that, it just snowballed into a massive attempt to save and salvage every single stuffed animal that the kids could get their hands on. I didn't mind it in the beginning. I mean, who doesn't love to open a Christmas present and see a sweet little stuffed cow to love and cherish? Heck, I've done my fair share of damage when it comes to the massive amount of fluff for the kids. They would make googly eyes at some cute stuffed toy and I'd give in and say, "I bet this is the one they will cherish forever." Turns out that each animal has about a week and then it is quickly replaced by some other obsession. For example, last week for Alex was a monkey and this week it's a snake. One week with a bunny for Abby is changed to a puppy the next. In the end, they are never really excited or attached to any of them for very long. But this week they went over to Mandy's house. In her basement is a pile of old stuffed animals from her childhood. Each time they go over, they pick out the same things and carry them around. Mandy, being the awesome aunt she is, let them take them home with them this time. And guess what? They carry them around with them every chance they get. Go figure. They are an old wombat for Alex and a puppy for Abby.


I could probably give them a thousand dollars worth of stuffed toys, but inevitably they will love the old dusty ones from the 1980's. I told them that if they survive a round through the washer and dryer then it was meant to be.

For the Moment...

I have nothing prepared for the blog. But I promised myself I would get back to blogging tomorrow. If you were hoping for a Funday Sunday, I'm sorry. I didn't get on the computer much yesterday. Josh was home for the first weekend he's had in a long time so his computer needs sort of trumped mine. But Funday Sunday will return this weekend. Until tomorrow, I have nothing much to write about. So, for the moment I shall leave you with a couple of funny pictures of one of our many cats, Luke. He's obsessed with jumping into any and everyone's arms when they least expect it (from the ground). He chose my dad as his target 'audience'. And he loves to perch on shoulders. He's got a complex, I think.

Vacuum Vacation

I've decided that I need a vacation. I need a vacation from vacuuming my floors. Due to Alex's allergies, I have been a thorough cleaner for going on over two years. When I purchased my vacuum cleaner three or four years ago, I never thought that I would be using it so often. Oddly enough, it came equipped with a HEPA filter and so I never had to buy a new one when we found out that we needed to watch out for some of the allergens in the home. One thing you are supposed to do with allergies is to vacuum and sweep your floors and dust often to keep the allergens down. That, combined with air filters, has kept our house pretty friendly for anyone who might have a few allergy issues. But I have vacuumed every other day for the last couple of years. That, my friends, is a whole lot of vacuuming. I'm actually impressed with the vacuum I have. It hasn't quite died yet. I can tell the suction power is starting to wane, but it still works. The worst part about it, is knowing that every other day I have to lug that big thing out and vacuum every bit of carpet I can. Maybe it's overkill. Who knows. But sometimes I just go and look at the vacuum, sigh, and say, "Maybe I should get hard wood floors."

A Gross Little Blog

For anyone out there who might be slightly offended by the disgusting things that kids can do, you might want to wait this blog out until the next time I post. However, this is a major part of my life right now (or for the last two years), so I figure I might as well write about it. That way, many years from now, I can pull up the blog and share this with Alex and Abby when they have their own kids who do disgusting things and ask me, "Mom, did we do this when were little? Cuz it's totally disgusting." And I can say, "Why, let me pull up your old blog and share with you some of the joyful things I had to witness." So this is what I am doing. I am going to share with you a few of the disgusting little things that I've had to handle for the last couple of years.

• No list of gross things that kids do can be complete without the first one. Alex at one year, eating cat poop. Why? I mean...seriously. Why??
  
• Eating mud. Both of the kids constantly feel it is necessary to see if each chunk of mud they find is a different flavor. Luckily Alex isn't doing this anymore.
• Eating sand by the scoopful. And by the way, it's just as gross going in as it is going out.
• Drinking the birdbath water or...during the winter...eating birdbath ice.
  
• Abby, during Alex's early potty training, decided that picking up the removable part of the potty chair and drinking her brother's old pee (that I didn't know was in there until too late), was a good idea. It happened in slow motion, folks. Nothing I could do about it.
• Just a few days ago I woke up to two very quiet kids sitting on the bathroom counter. I hear Alex say this, "Hey, this is good toothpaste!" followed by Abby, "Yeah, good!" I jumped out of bed to find them eating the baby toothpaste. It had a screw on cap people!! What the heck?!?
• The day after the toothpaste incident after putting everything on the counter way up high, I go in to find Abby on the bathroom counter...again. What is she eating? The only thing left to eat. The foaming hand soap! Disgusting. (No worries...she's fine. It was only one pump worth from what I could tell).
• Alex, now peeing standing up, was in the bathroom relieving himself. I went in to make sure he didn't need help, only to find Abby standing beside him with a cup...catching everything she could! *sigh*
• Eating old nasty cat litter. Yup...that one is from both kids too.
• Eating bugs/earthworms/spiders. Alive and dead. The worst was when Abby ate a brown recluse. It was still twitching in her mouth when she showed me. (I just got a shiver down my spine.) Hey...it's protein, right?
  
• Handing me wriggling spiders that aren't anywhere being dead. (Oooh! Wow! Watch mommy jump!)
• Using their toothbrushes to scrub out the nasty sink drain...then putting the brush in their mouth.
• Dipping bananas in ketchup...and enjoying it.
  
• Licking store windows/floors.
• Eating an old french fry that was on the ground outside in our car port. (At least I know it was from our van and not the wal-mart parking lot, right?)
• Eating chalk. This one is almost all Abby.
• Sucking on an old, used dryer sheet. Hey, this one was off my clock. It was at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Not my fault!
  
• And finally, what would this list be without...eating boogers...and saying "Mmm, mom! Those are good boogers!"

It's all true folks. What truly baffles me is that these kids can eat every nasty thing they can possibly find, but when it come to eating their dinner, they won't touch a thing. And now after reviewing this list, I can't help but wonder something. How do kids survive into adulthood after stuff like this?

Sweet Victory

Last night I had a moment of parenting's sweet, sweet victory. I swear that I spend half my day telling Alex and Abby to say sorry, please, and thank you at the appropriate times. Sorry is the one that is used most often of course. But last night I witnessed from a distance a moment I shall treasure always. Alex was jumping off of the arm of the couch (which I should have given him time out for but chose to overlook it because of his following good behavior). When he jumped, he smacked Abby with his foot. He instantly got up and and looked at his sister and said, "I'm sorry Abby." Abby looked back to him and said, "It's okay Adix". (She pronounces his name that way.) Anyhow, I was positively beaming. They were so sweet to each other and he used 'sorry' in the perfect way. I gave them high fives later for it. Ahhh...sweet, sweet victory. Feels good.

Playtime Phlog

It's been awhile since I put up some good pictures of the kiddos so I figure that means that it's time for another round of Phlog. I have actually been quite lazy when it comes to my photo taking but I do have a lot of pictures I've taken in the last couple of weeks or so of the kids enjoying some playtime together. Even though they seem to spend a good amount of time fighting, they really do love playing together. Without further ado...I give you the first phlog of 2010.

Alex is really getting creative with the blocks these days.

Of course...I do have a bit of a hand in it as well.

Abby got a tea set for Christmas and they literally spend hours a day playing with it. They call it their Rosy Tea Party. Yeah...don't ask. It's a Wiggles thing.

Alex's Rosy Tea. Today was rainbow sprinkles and marshmallows. Mmmm...

Abby's Rosy Tea. She sure does love pretend play.

Abby loves to wear the wig I used for Halloween when I was one of the Wiggles so she calls it her 'shimmy hair' because the Wiggles wear wigs when the sing the Shimmy Shake song.

Painting is the new wonderful fun thing that the kids always want to do. Seriously. Always.

Abby is actually pretty good at it.