Picnic

With perfect weather comes great times hanging outside...

Ev chose to play...

 while Amelia chose to eat a PB&J...

...Meggan and I (not pictured) chose to try to relax and have adult conversation about things other than cartoons and Disney princesses. Luckily, the kids only interrupted up every 25 seconds....which is 20 seconds longer than they normally give us. 

Hmmm, Maybe Not

Sometimes, you look at your kids and think they might be the smartest children the world has ever known. 9 times out of 10, they will immediately do something else to make you question whether or not you dropped them on their heads one too many times. Tonight, I was bathing the kids together. I grabbed the shampoo to wash Amelia's hair when Everett scooped up a handful, turned around, and started lathering up her hair for me. Amelia thought it was hilarious and I thought it was pretty smart of the little guy...then, just as I was about to rain praise on him, he snatched a giant pile of suds from her head and shoved them in his mouth like he was in a very strange whip cream eating contest....and then just as I was about to write it off as a mistake he'd learned his lesson from, he reached up and tried to eat a second helping. I understand it is watermelon scented shampoo, but that is just too far.

Game On

I took the kids to see Meg tonight at the homecoming football game. It was Ev's first football game experience. Even though he was up waaaaaaay past his bedtime, he was a trooper the whole night. It was a nice reminder that sometimes it is the little outings that make for a great life.

When the Cat's Away...

Apparently, when you allow your kids to eat in the living room while watching television because their mom is at work...

 ...your son will sneak his chair into the kitchen while you take out the garbage...

....and he'll steal all your fresh baked muffins as if he hasn't eaten in days....

...speaking of eating, without Meg to help guide dinner, the menu consisted of PB&J, pizza, spaghetti, yogurt, watermelon, candy pumpkins, goldfish crackers, chocolate chip cookies, milk, and blueberry muffins. 

Sundae

I wasn't sure what Meggan would want the kids to eat for dinner tonight, so I opted for a chocolate chip cookie sundae...seems hard to go wrong with that...

Solo

With Meggan working 4 nights this week, I am in full "single" dad mode....this means relaxed diet, relaxed bedtime, more fun than discipline,  and more cartoons than anyone deserves  the kids and I will have a lot of special father-child bonding time. These are the days where you really get to prove your worth as the king ape among the wild monkeys a parent.

Well, That's Different

You know how sometimes you're just lounging around in your backyard and you look up and out of nowhere there is a giant blimp cruising just above your house? Yeah, it happens....

Never Fails

All week long, the kids have had to be woken up to get ready for school. Saturday, a.k.a. one of two days Meggan and I can sleep in, rolls around and what happens?....I get tapped on the shoulder by a 4 year-old creeper wearing Minnie Mouse ears and asking me where the IPad is. I mean, seriously, did she think the mouse ears would help me take the sleep ruination better? They didn't. They just freaked me out a little. We'll see if tomorrow goes any better.

Picnic

Despite the need to chase Everett, fight bugs that send Amelia screaming, and somehow use 100 napkins while not letting any blow away, it's always nice to take advantage of beautiful weather and eat outside...

Where?

Where do my kids hear these things?!? At dinner tonight, Amelia took her first bite of her food and then said "that's frickin' hot!" So, to recap, my dog apparently has fleas, my son is beating people on the regular, and my daughter has ramped up her sassy mouth to straight vulgarity. I'm guessing this isn't going to be the year they award me with Father of the Year.

The Boy Too

I have posted on here about Amelia getting a little mouthy from time to time. Now, apparently, Everett is ready to get in on the action. We're talking about a boy who only knows a handful of words and has already started to use them with attitude. At dinner tonight, Meggan turned to him to ask him to sit down in the booth. His response? Well, if you guessed repeatedly poking his finger in her face and shouting "No! No!" and "Not Nice!", you would be correct.

On a related note, he was put in Timeout at school today pulling hair and slapping kids.

On a related note to the related note, he slapped his sister in the face twice tonight.

On a related note to the related note to the related note, his sister got sick of it and slapped him back.

On a related note to the related note to the related note to the related note, I don't expect him to slap his sister again.

Close, but No Cigar

Twice tonight, Amelia has been so close to saying something beyond her years, but yet she was so far away...

Example 1: I was sitting on the deck when she walked up to me, touched my bald spot and said "Daddy, why are you so bold?!?"

Example 2: The credits to a show were rolling and the song "Sexy and I Know It" came on and she started singing along saying "I'm sixty and I know it".

I didn't correct her either time and I'm not sure which I'd prefer she get right next time. All I'm concerned with now is whether or not I'm too bold to be sixty.

Bleh

2 days. 3 cases of a stomach virus. 1 trip to the ER. I've had better weeks.

Goodbye, Little One

I just took Everett's high chair to the garage. Aside from his crib, this is the last remaining baby item we have in the house. So, this is a major step in saying goodbye to our little baby Ev and welcoming in our big boy. Considering this is very, very, very, very likely our last child, it is a very bittersweet time.

Goodbye, Little One, it has been a pleasure

Hello, Little Man, it's going to be a lot of fun...

Surprise

Sorry for the brief absence of blog posts. I have been here all weekend....

 

celebrating a surprise birthday for her .....

and since she is probably the most avid blog reader on the planet, I couldn't mention it on here. 

Go Hard

This is how Amelia looked when I picked her up from school today....beet red, sweaty from head to toe, and smiling. You can say it was a good day....

Good Times

This guy likes it when Dad gets him dressed.

Siblings

If Everett and Amelia are as close when they're adults as they are now, they'll be incredibly lucky siblings and we'll be incredibly thankful parents...

 

Shopping is a Pleasure

Publix....where shopping is a pleasure...unless you have to carry around a 20-something pound dead weight the entire time...

Ouch

You know the saying "No good deed goes unpunished"? You know how you were so happy to find your neighbor's dog that got out of their yard, but the dog was even happier to see you when you found her? You know how that dog is old enough to be full size, but young enough to still go all puppy-crazy on your arm when you try to grab it? Yeah, I know all these things...

Oh well, I'm just glad she's home safe.

Sweet Dreams

99 nights out of 100, Everett will basically put himself to bed. However, on the 100th night, you'd have better luck trying to put a grizzly bear in sleeper hold. Apparently, two nights ago was the 100th night. I had a bad feeling when I looked into the monitor and saw Meggan gently place him in his crib only to have him spring up onto his feet like a classically trained ninja. I tried to go in and save the day. I'm not going to get into what happened in that room. I'll just say one of us limped out crying and it wasn't Everett. We were hopeful that perhaps if we left him in there alone to think about his choices, he'd come around to a rational line of thought.  He did not. Instead, he decided to stand up, rip his monitor off the side of his crib, throw it on the floor, and then deliver the death blow by turning off the light switch that powers it.  I had no choice but to return to battle. I brought out my secret weapon...disastrously bad lullaby singing. I stood there and sang like my life depended on it. After a song or two, he finally calmed down and closed his tiny eyes. I decided to sing a few more songs just to make sure he was completely asleep. After another cycle of songs, all sung in silence, I was ready to do a proper victory dance. The last words had no more than left my mouth when Everett sat straight up, started clapping,  and said "Yaaaaayyyyy!!". I left his room in shame. I tapped out. If he was to sleep at all, it was up to Meggan. I have no idea what happened in there over the next 20 minutes, but I suspect some combination of roofies, wine, and prayer because at over 2 hours past bedtime, my man was finally fast asleep. Oh well, at least we won't have to deal with that for another 100 days.

Dress Up

I leave Meggan home with the kids for one day and this is what I come home to.....

I'm all for playing dress up, but can't he at least wear a manly, blue dress or power skirt suit?!?

Go Gators

The years may pass, but the loyalties remain...

Views

We are back home from our trip to Blowing Rock. There were several great parts - meals with no kids, shopping, a swimming pool in our hotel suite, crisp weather, etc. However, I think my favorite thing may have been the view as the fog rolled in....