Scrapbooking

Yes, I love scrapbooking. And as of late I've got a scrapbooking idol -- my friend Autumn. I love her pages, because they don't just look great, but they also have stories and thoughts on them. As you look through her scrapbook, you get to know her and her family. (See what I'm talking about at http://www.simplescrapbooksmag.com/gallery/search.ihtml?designer_idx=108702)

Now, she'd probably be embarrassed to know I'm blogging praises to her work. But believe me, she's the best I've EVER seen. (I'm her unofficial scrappin' stalker. I'll ask her how to become official later ... :) Anyway, the reason I mention her is because she's inspired me to include more stories and information on my pages instead of just scrapbooking cute pictures.

So, now whenever the kids say something cute, instead of thinking, "I need to write that down," I think, "I need to scrapbook that! What picture should I use?" That's why I scanned the pic of Paul in the previous blog and took pics of the boys in their Spiderman shirt. Otherwise that cute, fun story would be forgotten. Now it's going to be a memory they'll cherish ... or at least I will. :)

If I can't convert you to scrappin' your life, at least I'll have fun doing mine! It's a great hobby that happens to also preserve some fun memories. I also enjoy it, because I get to do it with Becca, my mom, my sister (we're working on the other 3 sisters :) and several friends. Hopefully you never get as scrapbook-mental as I am, though, because last week I looked at Shayla's dress and thought, "That would be cute paper!" Maybe I'll scan it! ;)

Superheroes

So, I mentioned in yesterday's blog about the boys sharing a Star Wars T-shirt. I know they're good about sharing shirts now, because they've been sharing a Spiderman shirt for about a year now. Every time it goes through the laundry I just ask them whose turn it is and they tell me.

Why do they share the shirt? It's actually a very cute story:

One evening as a part of bedtime stories, Paul pulled out his memory book and showed the boys pictures of when he was as young as they are. They got very excited when they saw his kindergarten picture, and not because Tyler had just finished kindergarten. Paul was wearing a Spiderman shirt!

Boys: “Daddy, what happened to your Spiderman shirt?”

Daddy: “I’m not sure. I’m guessing Grandma Brown got rid of it when I got too big.”

Boys: “Will you ask her? Maybe she still has it!”

Daddy: “I don’t think she still has it, but I’ll ask her.”

So, next time he was on the phone with his mom, he said, “I know you’ve got a bunch of stuff in storage. Any chance you still have that Spiderman shirt I wore in my kindergarten picture?”

Carol, who didn’t realize he was joking, said, “Well, Paul, that was a long time ago!” Paul explained how excited the boys had been about seeing their dad wearing a Spiderman shirt.

A few weeks later a package came in the mail with a new Spiderman T-shirt and a note from Grandma saying that she thought someone could use the shirt. I was worried the boys would fight over it, but they’ve been very good about taking turns. And each time they wear it, they do so with pride that they’re wearing a Spiderman shirt just like Daddy did.

I took pictures to scrapbook the story, so here they are. Check my gallery often to see when I finish the scrapbook page. :) Link to my gallery is on the bottom left of my blog.

Star Wars yummies

I think I already mentioned that my boys are fascinated with Star Wars. I don't know how boys learn about it when we never mentioned it and it's something like 30 years old. Anyway, Tyler said at school they have a Star Wars cookbook that they can't checkout. Funny book to not be able to check out since I'm sure many kids can remember the recipes until they get home to try them ... :)

So, we finally checked our pathetically small city library and found that they have it. We placed a hold and soon enough they called to say it was our turn. Tyler was giddy. They've got some fun things in there to try. So far we've already done Skywalker Smoothies, C3PO pancakes and R2D2 treats (pictured below). Tonight I've promised them Yoda Soda. We also plan to make Wookie Cookies, Han-burgers and Jabba Jell-O. We've gotta get them all done and return the book by May 14, so we're going to have a couple of Star Wars-filled weeks.

Oh, and we lucked out last weekend and found a Star Wars T-shirt at a yard sale with Yoda on it. Fortunately they're good about sharing these days. Come on over tonight if you'd like to see it on Tyler and get some Yoda Soda ...

He did it!

Last summer we thought Tyler would be excited about learning to ride his bike without training wheels. So, we never put them on his new bike and practiced a few times. Problem is that my boys aren't the adventurous, do-anything type. So, he barely rode his bike at all last summer.

That made me think that maybe we should just put the training wheels back on so he can enjoy his bike this summer. Paul went out with him once or twice and practiced and we both tried to convince him that it really isn't TOO scary.

Needless to say, Monday night he got the hang of it and was off. Once he realized he was riding on his own he was determined to do it over and over and over. Then he wanted to try it on all different surfaces. "Mom! I taught myself how to ride my bike on grass!!!"

Here are some pictures of the success. The first couple of pictures he has his tongue sticking out while he concentrates. The look on his face in the last picture is awesome!

Kids are smart!

I'm going to try to post a video here to show you how smart kids are. For Zachary's birthday he was given one of those "hopper" balls. That's what we call it -- don't know if there's an "official" name. Anyway, Shayla's obviously not big enough to ride it, although she sees Tyler and Zachary having all kinds of fun on it.


I hadn't really even thought of her wanting to try it until one day I was standing in the kitchen and she dragged it in, set up next to the oven and started bouncing. Look at this:






Hilarious, huh? I guess I better make sure she doesn't try it while I'm baking something for dinner ...

"Chatty" Women

So, I'm guessing you've heard about the supposed study that says women say something like three times as many words per day as men? I've heard about it for years. However, it was just recently that I figured it out: They must have polled stay-at-home women and go-to-work men.

I figure that 85% (or more) of our words go something like this:

"Yes, I'll get you crackers and juice. Just a minute."

"I WILL get the juice after I get the crackers. Please be patient."

"I can't get the crackers and juice at the same time."

"I know you're thirsty now that you're eating the crackers. That's why I'm getting you juice!"

"It's time to go, so put your shoes on please."

"Please put your shoes on."

"Put your shoes on, please!"

"PUT YOUR SHOES ON OR YOU CAN'T WEAR ANY!"

"Run and go potty."

"Yes, you do need to go."

"Just try to go!"

"Did you flush and wash hands?"

"Then go flush and wash hands."

"I didn't hear a flush. Go flush!"

"Now wash your hands."

"You have to wash them again after you flush!"

"No, you can't have a sucker until after lunch."

"Because then you won't want to eat lunch if you eat the sucker."

"NO! You can either eat it after lunch or not at all."

"No, it's not time for lunch yet. It's 9 a.m. We don't eat until 11:30. That's two and a half hours from now. Would you like a snack?"

"No, you can't have the sucker as a snack!"

"You can eat the sucker after lunch."

"Because you won't want to eat lunch if ..."

Ever see one of those circle stories? Don't many conversations with your kids FEEL like circle conversations?!?

In any case, I'm glad I figured out the mystery of why women "talk" so much. I guess I figured this out just in time for Mother's Day.

And on that note, HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to my mom, Paul's mom and all my mom buddies!!!

Mommy Minute

I'm turning into my mother. Things I said I would never do, I now do. (Big example -- I said I would NEVER fall asleep during a TV show or movie and then wake up and ask my husband what happened. Oops ... I do that regularly now ...)

Anyway, as I was typing my "conversation" above, I typed, "Just a minute." Reminded me that when we were growing up and my mom said that, we knew what she actually meant was, "Just a MOMMY minute." Did anyone else call them "Mommy Minutes"? That's when your mom says it will be a minute, and then it takes her another 10 or more.

I figured I'd never make my kids experience the Mommy minute. However, now that I have a zillion things going at once I realize why a Mommy minute even exists. I figure if I'm lucky, then at the end of the Mommy minute the kids have forgotten whatever it was they asked about and I'm off the hook ... although that isn't usually the case.

Unfortunately for my kids, they get to experience many Mommy minutes. Fortunately for them, though, it's usually because I'm doing something else they need or want ... although they will probably not realize it until they are parents themselves!!!

Mom, how you ever survived eight of us I just can't figure out ...