The Angels are Coming!

So I am lying down with Charlie to get him to fall asleep. We say prayers and cover up. He snuggles right up close to me and looks me straight in the eyes in the darkness and says in a creepy whispery voice, "Mom, the angels are coming." AHHHHHH creepy scary!!! I go, "What do they look like?" terrified to hear the answer. He says, "Scary. Dark eyes. They can fly!" And he is looking toward the ceiling as if he can see something. Freak me out! I start to realize that I had just prayed out loud for him the "Angels of God..." prayer, so perhaps I got him thinking, but I think tomorrow night we will safely pray the Hail Mary. Also tonight Elaina (7) had a big meltdown revolving around how much she misses Tavy, my inlaws dog that passed away a while back. We are talking lots of tears and bawling, inconsolable sobs with intermittent "I MISS TAVY!" She is a definite animal lover, and dog lover most of all, but I did not realize she would be this emotional about this subject. I held her, and told her that the dog was in dog heaven with all the other dogs that had died, and that they were all happy playing together. I brought our dog in the room for her to snuggle. I asked her what I could do to make her feel better. She said "nothing" between sobs. So, I found us a Strawberry Shortcake movie to watch and that seemed to do the trick eventually, by getting her mind off of it all. I think she was over-tired and emotional. However I know one thing: our dog needs to live a long life, because I don't think a Strawberry Shortcake video will do the trick next time. I'm about ready to give my Charlie some coffee to get things moving along on the toilet. Toilet training only goes along as smooth and regularly as their bowels do!

This is HUGE!!!!!

Jack gave his first guitar lesson to Ben and Ben's friend today. I was so proud of him! He was so professional! Taught them all the parts of the guitar, how to correctly hold it, and how to play the G chord. Then after the lesson he explained to the mother what her son should practice for next week! So cute! This is great for Jack. He LOVES to teach, and he is good with little kids. I have had a huge revelation....when studying with Jack, he can teach ME instead of me teaching HIM! He will love this and I am absolutely sure that he will retain the information better! I cannot wait to try this out on the next reading comprehension quiz!!! Also I CAN'T forget: Ben: "Did somebody just toot? no wait that was just me." Charlie: "It was just ben." Every time Ben flips over my chips in the game Othello, he very "in your face-ish" says, "THANK YOU!" Does he think I am EVER going to let him win with that attitude?! Potty training days 2 and 3: I cannot comment for fear of jinxing.

Potty Training 101

1. Have plenty of drinks. 2. Have plenty of salty snacks, so the trainee will want to drink the drinks. 3. The drinking will give lots of pottying opportunities. 4. Show no fear. The trainee will sense fear and use it to his advantage, threatening to pee on things, pee on you, poo on the floor, or worse - to never pee or poo again. 5. Expect to spend all day (or 3 days) in the bathroom. 6. Have plenty of movies available in the bathroom. 7. Have a step stool as a foot rest so their legs don't fall asleep on the toilet. 8. Be prepared with rewards. But don't pull out the rewards too quickly this can come back to bite you. Try just happy potty dances and high fives first upon success, you may be surprised at how much the trainee likes this. 9. Have plenty of hand sanitizer nearby, since your trainee is eating and drinking while on the toilet. 10. Be patient. Very patient. All this being said, and having potty-trained 4 children in the past, I still feel absolutely helpless to the power that the trainee holds. Day one of potty training is done. He peed on me while laughing and saying, "I'm doing it again!" and I was proud of him...something here is not quite right.

SNOW DAY!

Wow I love snow days. I really do. I wake up to my phone ringing off the hook full of recorded messages about school closings. I roll over and smile and stretch back into slumber for stolen time in my cozy warm bed as outside the snow continues to fall and add to the blanket of white already laid out and making the world quiet and still. And then I get KICKED in the head! Because my 2 year old somehow is in my bed. I don't recall bringing him in, I just see a child determined to sleep perpendicular in between my husband and I. But I don't care. Because it is a snow day! I may just take a NAP later - why? Because its a snow day! I may just lie around and watch Christmas movies while drinking cocoa and eating cookies, why? Because its a snow day! And so the day begins...chocolate chip pancakes are made and devoured, snow pants, gloves, hats, boots and big coats are found, and soon the quiet blanket of white is broken! Snow balls are thrown, snowmen are attempted, and ice is soon running down the kids sleeves and there are knocks at the door to come in for their cocoa. And that's when my favorite part of a snow day begins. The "defrost." Removing the frozen clothing to leave only the under-layer of warmth, that skinny, stuck-to-you clothing that is still warm against your skin. Fresh socks are put on, a fire is started, and cocoa is drunk as our feet are tucked under us and our cheeks begin to melt...finally. I look around the room to see pink cheeks surrounding me, and there is a nice lull that seeps into the rest of the day. The beautiful Snow Day.

Surprise Karaoke

Who knew how much fun it would be to study over Jack's guitar music book?! It came with a cd full of fabulous popular classic rock songs. We put the cd in and myself, Jack and Scotty all began singing along having our own little fun karaoke session of every song in the book. So fun, and funny, as Jack was using his Elvis voice periodically, and Scotty was making fun of himself for not being the most on key singer. Love when something simple and fun like that happens between me and my big boys, as their heads are usually stuck staring at some electronic device or another. When Jack learns these songs on his guitar, we are REALLY going to be having some fun! I see a band forming.....

The Love Pat

A few times lately I've given Charlie what I would call a love pat on his bottom. Maybe I'll pick him up and gently swat him as I give him a little kiss or pretend to eat him. Recently he said, "HEY!" After I did it and I think he thought I was upset at him and spanking him out of anger or something. So I said, "honey, that was just a little love pat!" Tonight we were lying on my bed watching a video and I was doing Elaina's toenails. Charlie started to get rambunctious on my bed and I kept telling him to settle down. Eventually he kicks me in the backside with his foot. I say, "hey, that's not very nice! Don't you do that, no kicking!" And he says, "That was a love pat." Stinker.

The Monkey Suit, The Clementines, and The Nose-blow

Firstly, the monkey suit: Charlie loves his monkey costume from Halloween this past year. He comes up to me often with it in hand and says, "Mom, I wear my monkey soup?" OF COURSE! I mean first of all why would I deny him when he says "monkey-soup" so sweetly? Secondly, how could I pass by the idea of seeing my 2 yr old run around in a furry, cozy, soft monkey costume all day? So, he dresses like a monkey pretty often. The Clementines: Are clementines toxic if eaten in extreme abundance? Sheesh I sure hope not. Right after telling a story of Elaina eating an entire bag of clementines the day before, my daughter proceeds to ask for a clementine at my brother's house. I say she can have one, but jokingly tell her not to eat all of Aunt Kim's clementines. I look over at the fruit bowl about 15 minutes later and of the 7 clementines that were there, there are NONE! I am going to need to start rationing out the clementines I guess. I mean while it is great vitamin c I am sure...too much of anything is a bad thing, right? The Nose-blow: So we are at church, which is where many of my blog entries are inspired, and I notice Ben picking his nose. I non-chalantly get a wetwipe from my purse (no kleenex) and motion for him to move closer to me. I go to wipe the booger I can see and to my surprise he blows, which I was not ready for, so spray flies a bit and I try to regroup and get a better grip on his nose, then he just waits there not blowing so I go to wipe again, and that is when he starts to blow again! Boogers and spray flying again! so I am giggling at the stooge act we are creating and trying to have the wipe in place at the same time as he is blowing and we just keep being off and he keeps blowing when I am wiping and I keep holding it up there for a blow while he is just standing there doing nothing. By the end of the charade I have tears in my eyes and am cracking up, and the woman behind me who I expected to be laughing too, just had a really weird look on her face. The best part is that Ben ended up laughing too. I wish I had that on video. We could not do it again if we tried.