The Tooth Came Out

So at last we have a toothless little boy.  He was eating his cereal and felt the tooth in his mouth.  He came running all excited and I was pretty excited that I didn't have to pull it ;-)  He even had to make up a song about the day.

Meet "My Honey"

Late last week Samara wanted to have a tea party.  She invited a puppy dog my sister gave me when James and I were first married.  I desperately wanted a dog, but we weren't allowed to have pets at our apartment so Sara gave me this dog.  Recently, Samara discovered this puppy in my closet and has been playing with it. 

For the tea party, she wanted the puppy to dress up.  So she put her "Tangled" dress on it and thus started a darling ritual of Samara dressing the dog for the day and also in jammies at night.  Samara has named it "My Honey."  My Honey has traveled with us in the car (I had to buckle her up in the passenger seat).  Samara has "fed", "bathed", and "disciplined" My Honey as well.  She has also said that the dog is her sister. It is incredibly adorable to see her attachment with the puppy grow.  Welcome to the fam!

My Honey and Samara in their Jammies

Both are dressed for the day

Final Four

Holla!  KU just beat North Carolina to advance to the Final Four in New Orleans next weekend.  Of course, if I was made out of money, I would book my tickets right now and join the team there.  But, alas, I will be content watching it at home.  It feels great to be a Jayhawk...oh snap, where are the other Big 12 teams?!?  Oh, they didn't make it; my bad ;-)

Enjoy the sidelines, Roy!  Bill is a keeper.

New Shoes, Outside Play and a New Recipe

'Tis the season to get the kiddos new shoes for spring/summer.  The boys requested Spiderman flip-flops (yes, I'm pretty sure I have passed on my, um, "love" for these type of shoes).  As previously mentioned, Samara picked out a pair of light pink flip-flops on Saturday.  Last week I ordered her first ever pair of "Jelly" shoes.  It definitely felt like a flasback to the '80's, but it's all good.  The shoes came in today and Samara exclaimed, "Aren't they the prettiest Princess shoes ever?!?"  I'm guessing she likes them; she wore them until bedtime.  Aren't they adorable?

After we picked Malachi up from school, we played outside for nearly 2 hours.  The boys took turns riding a bike and a Big Wheel while pretending to be pizza delivery boys.  They were charging $50 for their pizzas.  A little steep on the price, huh?  Samara found a stroller in the garage and initially I thought she would want to push a dolly in it.  Instead, she wanted me to push her.  So for about 45 minutes I pushed her up and down our sidewalk. (it's a good thing we live on the corner so it took a little bit before we turned around to go the other way!).  She must not quite understand that the purpose of playing outside is to RUN off their energy not just sit!

It's always interesting to see what new things they discover.  This afternoon was about how a rock from our patio can make "chalk" on the cement.  They were all fascinated by this and tried multiple rocks to see what color "chalk" it made.  Right before it was time to go inside I was sitting on the back steps.  Malachi came up to me and out of the blue asked, "Do you know what I'm thankful for?"  Intrigued, I replied that I didn't know, but would love to find out.  He said (and in this order), "I'm thankful my DS, family, George, Bob, and our house."  I couldn't help but smile and give him a hug...even if he is getting to the age that he thinks he's too cool for a "mommy hug".

All 3 kiddos climbed up on the ledge and I couldn't help but take a picture.  Then they just HAD to have a silly-face pic!

On Sunday afternoon, I tried a new crock pot recipe.  It's delish and will certainly grace our table in the future.  I found it on the website:  www.crockingirls.com  I served it over rice.

Italian Cream Cheese Chicken

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2 tablespoons water

2 tablespoons butter

1 package dry Italian salad dressing mix

1 can cream of chicken soup

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

Directions:

1. Melt butter in microwave.
2. Add water and packet of Italian dressing to butter and mix well.
3. Place chicken in slow cooker.
4. Pour butter mixture over chicken.
5. Turn pieces over to coat both sides well.
6. Cook on High for 3 hours.
7. In separate bowl, mix cream of chicken soup and cream cheese together.
8. Remove the chicken from the slow cooker and cut into bite size pieces.
9. Return chicken to slow cooker and add the cream cheese mixture.
10. Whisk together to blend well.
11. Cover and cook an additional 1/2 hour.

Serve over pasta or hot cooked rice.

Shopping with Samara

I needed to exchange a shirt in Wichita today.  It was Isaiah's turn to go shopping with me, but he decided to stay home and watch James play a computer game and ride bikes in the park.  So Samara eagerly accompanied me.  On the way, she kept talking about the color pink and how "we like pink, but blue is 'dee-gusting'."  Our first stop was at the mall.  She obediently held my hand as we combed through the store to find a shirt that would fit better.  She was constantly pointing out "beautiful" shirts and asking me if we should get it.  I finally found a few to try on and she was more than happy to give me her opinion.  I settled on a blue shirt <gasp>; while at the register, I had to try to explain the concept of an exchange.  She got the jest of it.

Next, we went to Old Navy to look at their flip-flops.  She immediately noticed the chid-size mannequins and begged to give them a hug and shake their hands.  It felt a little weird to pick her up so she could hug them, but it was super sweet, too.  She found a pair of pink flip-flops (no surprise) and I found a pair of gray ones. 

We then stopped at Target.  I needed to grab some beverages/snacks and sunglasses for my impending road-trip (will blog about that soon).  Samara also needed a new swimsuit and sunglasses.  She chose a pink Princess suit that has a tutu attached and a pair of Hello Kitty pink sunglasses.  In the car, she was struggling to stay awake and she just looked darling looking out of her pink shades.

It's so much fun to have a little girl to share the joy of shopping with.  May we have many years of shopping trips =) 

As Sweet As They Come and Ex-Girlfriends

I've had a horrible cough for about a month and a few days ago I spiked a low-grade fever (which I still have).  Because mommies don't get sick days, I've pressed onward even though I don't feel great. After we had a pizza party with root beer and a movie in the living room last night, I just needed to crash on the sofa.  Malachi really showed his sweet, nurturing side to me.  He tucked me in with a blanket and pillow and he came over about every 5-10 minutes to ask if I needed more water or if he could do anything for me.  When it was his bedtime, he brought over my laptop in case I felt like working on it.  He refilled my water because he wouldn't be around to do it anymore; he also said if I needed anything that I just needed to come get him and he would do whatever I needed.  I felt so proud that he would take such good care of his mama. 

While eating breakfast this morning, Isaiah decided to talk about James' ex-girlfriends (which we've never really talked about that with them so I have no idea WHERE it came from).  Anyway, Isaiah has the notion that James "lost" these girls by playing Hide and Seek, but when James met me, he didn't lose me and loved me so we got married.  LOL...oh Isaiah, I love how you think!

New Spring Look

Samara's all ready for spring.  She put this outfit together all by herself (I mean are you at all surprised?!?)  The outfit consists of a "Bam-Bam and Pebbles shirt, pink shorts, Princess Jammie shirt, and, of course, her Jayhawk slipper boots.  And nothing pulls it all together better than a Santa hat.  Flaunt that look Miss Samara!

We May Never Have a Child-Free Home

It's adorable.  Instead of Isaiah saying, "when I grow up" or "when I'm an adult", he says, "when I'm a daddy."  He's talked about how when he marries, he will still call me a lot.  But a few days ago, he started saying that he isn't going to get married.  He is just going to live with us forever so he wouldn't have to call us.  I'll have to remind him of this when he thinks we are the worst parents ever and can't wait to move out ;-)

Samara's Birthday List

The month of January is jam-packed full of birthdays including the boys' and mine.  Since Samara doesn't want to be left out, she has started telling us what she wants for her birthday (it isn't until Sept!)  She doesn't want much except:

  " Mr. Incredibles Daddy
    Mr. Incredibles Mommy
    Mr. Incredibles Boy
    Mr. Incredibles Girl
    Mr. Incredibles boots
    Mr. Incredibles mask
    Sleeping 'Booty' (Beauty) dress
    Sleeping 'Booty' shoes
    Sleeping 'Booty' cape
    Pocahontas dress
    John Smith (from Pocahontas)"

I have a feeling this list is just going to get longer and longer and . . .

Randomness

She picked out her outfit to wear to pick Malachi up from school.  Yes, she did get out of the car like this!

Her throne....chill-laxin'

Happy Groundhog Day

I think our Groundhog is way cuter than the one that makes national news.

Can I Have My Purse Back, Please?

I remember when a woman's purse was a sacred place.  Very few dared to enter into it.  Men feared what was inside.  But now that we are out of the stage of carrying a diaper bag, it has become the "catch-all" place.  My purse is currently used as a snack-carrying, sippee-cup holding, coloring book/crayons hauling bag and as illustrated below,it's also a toy chest.  It's pretty hard to find a set of car keys when it's buried under this mess. How long will this phase last??

Those Ridiculous, I Mean, Wonderful McDonald's Toys (x 3!)

P.S. I also found a box of safety pins in there, too, because you never know when you might need to pin a bunch of stuff up ;-)

Kindergarten Love

Malachi came home last night and whispered in my ear that two girls, "C" and "K" have crushes on him.  In early December, Malachi attended "K's" birthday party at Pizza Hut.  I took him shopping for a gift.  He picked out a black fedora hat with a sparkly pink ribbon around it and a Hello Kitty patch on one side.  Simply cute.  Anyway, "K" loved his present and proudly wore it the rest of the night.  She was more excited about his gift than any other gift including a DS her parents gave her.  She kept giving him hugs and then came to give me a hug, too.  I had a feeling that she might be "crushing" on my son.

James asked Malachi if he held the girls' hands.  He replied that yes he does, but not at the same time.  I asked him if he liked one more than the other.  "No, I like them both."  I tried to explain that he might hurt their feelings if he was holding both of their hands.  Later he said that when he was older he was going to have to buy a ring for one of them.  I asked which girl he would choose.  He didn't know so he would do "Eeny Meeny Miny Mo".  Haha, the mind of a child!

While it is kind of adorable to see his shy smile while talking about these girls, I hope he doesn't get too girl crazy.  I'm sure we'll have many years ahead of us for that!

Our Little Monkey

He's pretty proud of himself!

"What a Day, Huh?"

Isaiah has quite the dramatic flare.  His new saying is "What a day, huh?".  The funny thing is that sometimes he will say it after he has to pick up his toys or finishes playing a game.  Not exactly an action-filled, busy kind of day in the adult world, but in the eyes of an almost 5 year, it must be! 

Now I've already had a quite day.  It started at 2:40am when Samara was wide awake and insisted on talking about going to her pink castle (???), seeing her friend John, and me buying her princess dresses.  For two and a half hours, she wanted to talk about this and move all around our bed.  Finally a little after 5am, she settled down and fell asleep on my legs (she was on her tummy with her rear way up in the air).  It was highly uncomfortable, but having her get some sleep was essential.  So in answer to your question Isaiah, yes, it has been a day =)

For Your Viewing Pleasure...

Who Are You?

Me:  "Who are you?"
Samara:  "I am Miss 'Amara' Dinkel"

Well, yes you are!

Ba-Ba-Bathroom

So it's been pretty fun watching Malachi learn about letters.  The shapes, sizes, and pronunciation.  He and I have been playing a fun game of taking turns naming objects, people, etc starting with certain letters.  We keep adding the new letters he learns to the game so it's getting quite lengthy to play. 

The other night I was loading the dishwasher and he came running in doing his potty dance.  He stops before entering the bathroom to say, "Ba-Ba-Bathroom. Bathroom starts with B".  Yes, Malachi you're right, but use it before you have an A-A-Accident which starts with "A"!!!

Gotta love learning!

Well, That's a First

George needed an updated vaccine.  Isaiah, Samara, her pink "Dino-horse" named Cupcake, George and I made our way to our vet's clinic.  While there I had George on his leash and his legs were shaking from fear.  The assistant gave him plenty of little treats to try to calm him down.  He still looked terrified.

When the vet came in, he tried to comfort George, too, but nothing seemed to help.  Samara and Isaiah were standing off to the side while the vet picked George up to put him on the table.  In the process of transferring him to the table, George had projectile pee.  And my poor Samara suffered the brunt of "it".  "It" soaked her bangs and also landed in her left eye.  She was an awesome sport.  After telling George not to pee on her again, she didn't mind the vet and I fussing over her trying to wipe up the mess as much as we could.  He then treated her to a sucker and she was content for rest of the visit. The vet commented that this incident had NEVER happened before.  He was apologetic, but we all had to chuckle too because what are the odds?  George had absolutely perfect aim! 

The rest of the visit was fortunately uneventful.  The vet insisted on listening to her dinosaur's heart and Samara refused to let it get a shot because only George needed one.  Of course, Samara received an emergency shower when we got home.  All is better now =)   

"I Need Tell You Someting"

Samara's infamous words.  Every night, without fail, she will come out of her bedroom, run up to our bed and say, "I need tell you someting".  And, also without fail, she will say the following until we tell her that's enough and to go back to bed:

"We go Great Grandma, we go Great Grandma, we go Great Grandma . . . "

She says it with such sincerity and uses her sweet voice so it can only bring a little smile to your face even though she is not where she's supposed to be.  This darling child certainly knows how to work the system exceptionally well!