They Match!

This was a major accomplishment for me. I got the children in their "matching" outfits, with no fussing from anyone. They agreed to take pictures. They smiled for said pictures. And this was all done before school while Zach was out of town for work! (Their cooperation was fueled by the two sweet rolls that they each had for breakfast, but that's a minor detail that I'm willing to overlook.)

Time Marches On

Zach makes fun of me because every month I have to comment on how I can't believe it's and where did that previous month go. Literally, I say this every month. I continue to be astounded when I come back to the blogging world and see that I haven't posted in a month. But, recently we've been so busy that I'm not surprised that I somehow miss the passing of time. March was a whirlwind: I went to Chicago the first weekend to visit baby Jack (oh, and his parents too). Carol was in town for a visit the next weekend. We went to Chattanooga with the Petreys one weekend. Had Supper Club at our house. Will started soccer. Took Julia to her first dentist visit, and found out at the same visit that Will had two more cavities (the dentist keeps claiming that it's genetic and not our fault, but I think he's just being nice). Zach traveled every week for work. We celebrated Teacher Appreciation week at school, and I went with Will's class on a field trip to the library. Oh, and I worked at my job some, too, you know...in my free time.

Once we got into April, we had a weekend FULL of birthday parties. Zach went to the Masters for "work". I went to NYC to see my best friend, who is getting married soon. Soccer continued. Junior League ramped up. Easter looms.

Each month, or each season, I always think "Oh, once we get through XYZ, things will calm down." Yet somehow, they never do. I'm finally starting to realize that this may just be my life these days! I just hope I can slow down and enjoy it every once in a while.

Girlie Thursdays: Cutest Thing Ever

This morning, Julia was looking at a picture from our wedding.

"That when you got marry."
"Yes, that's when Mama and Daddy got married."
"I not there. I was still with God."

She and I had discussed this weeks ago when she could not accept my answer that she wasn't at our wedding. She kept asking where she was, and didn't understand "you weren't born yet." At some point, I used some terminology about how she was still in heaven with God. I guess it stuck with her! You never know what they are picking up.

The Circus

Alternate Title: Sometimes, Just Sometimes, I Think That Maybe We're Doing Something Right

At the end of January, we took both kids to the circus (yes, it's been that long since I posted on the blog). This was Julia's first trip, and though she had no idea what a "circus" was, she was thrilled. She's at a phase where regardless of what the event is, she wants to make sure that she gets to go. In fact, a common question from her whenever she hears us talking about anything, is "Me go?!?" I guess she finally started to realize that we took Will to certain things that she didn't get to attend, and now she is not willing to miss out.

Anyway, I digress. This was Julia's first trip to the circus, but it was Will's third. Last year, we had a firm policy that we were not going to buy any of the plastic, crappy toys that the circus has to offer. We made a big deal about how getting to go to the circus was the big treat, and he also got to get a snow-cone in a tiger cup, which we thought counted as a toy. It did not. At least not in Will's mind. He held it together pretty well until we were leaving, where we had to walk through the plastic toy gauntlet. Then, he lost it--screaming, crying, pouting--if you can think of a bad behavior, he did it. Needless to say, this left a bad taste in our mouth regarding our circus visit.

Fast forward to this year: we decided to come up with a new plan. We succumbed to the fact that buying a plastic toy for each child was just part of the circus experience and cost. But, we told Will that he was going to have to help pay for his toy by using some of his allowance. He gets four dollars a week (when we remember) and doesn't have much to spend it on, so he has quite a stash. He quickly accepted our terms and ran upstairs to get his money. When he came back, we were astounded:

"Here is my five dollars for my toy. And here is five dollars for Julia to get a toy. Because she doesn't get an allowance, so how is she going to get a toy? I brought five dollars for her."

I think I teared up a little bit. This is the exact attitude of giving and sharing that we're trying to foster, and he came up with it all on his own. Of course, he was praised effusively, which he loved, and we all headed out to the circus.

When it came time to pick a toy, he picked a light up, spinning sword, which I believe he has played with exactly once since. But, here's the best part of this story: Julia was standing with us while Will picked his toy, but didn't seem to realize what was going on, and we weren't about to clue her in if she wasn't begging for something (I'm sure she'll mention it in therapy later). After we paid for Will's sword, the man gave us a comment card that had a picture of an elephant on it. Julia thought that was her toy from the circus! And she was happy about it! Between the picture of the elephant and the free tattoo she had gotten before the show, she thought she had hit the jackpot.

And so did we.

Wednesday Will-isms

Since I've been away from the blogging world for a while, I wanted to share some of the funny things that Will has said over the past few weeks:

"Mama, are dinosaurs bigger than....(here I think he's going to say something that might be comparable to a dinosaur, like a house, bus, tree, etc)...a beaver?"
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"Mama, why doesn't Julia have any jeans? She needs some so she can be a cowgirl."
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"Awww...it's time to get ready for school already? I didn't even get to have my shark battle!"
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Julia's really into animal noises, so one day we were going through what sounds all of the animals make. I jokingly asked Will what a shark says, to which he quickly replied, "Duh-nun. Duh-nun. Duh-nun" (aka, the theme song from Jaws). Where he came up with that, I will never know!

Privacy

If you come to our house and happen to need to use the restroom, be sure to lock the door. Julia loves to visit people in the bathroom. I've quickly learned this (the hard way) and have taken to locking the door more often than not. But, Julia really loves visiting people while they're in the bathroom. So, this is what I get while I'm just trying to have two minutes to myself:

(Doorknob jiggles repeatedly.)
YOU IN DER MAMA??? YOU LOCK DOOR???

Yes Julia, I'll be right out.

WHAT YOU DOIN' MAMA? YOU GO POTTY??

Yes, Julia. Just a minute.

YOU GOIN' POTTY MAMA?? YOU NEED PI-VACY? YOU LOCK DOOR AND YOU HAVE PI-VACY MAMA??

Yes, Julia. That's just what I would call this. Complete and utter privacy.

Girlie Thursdays

Also known as, reason #4,326,501 why we're screwed:

Julia wanted to play Elmo on my phone, but I told her no. She looked at me as if I had slapped her across the face, and growled back, "Don't. tell. me. no!"

Oh little girl. That's what Mamas are for! And unfortunately for all of us, I think you're going to need to hear 'no' quite often.

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And, reason #4,326,502:

Will asked for something in a not-very-nice way. In fact, he pretty much ordered me to get whatever it is he wanted. Since I am always such a buzz-kill, I quickly told him that that was not the way we asked for things around here. Julia heard the conversation and decided to interject.

Julia: We say please, Wuh-wuh. (what she calls Will)
Will: JULIA! You are not the boss of me!
Julia (very calmly): I am. And we say please.