Our Trip Up North, Day 3

Our Trip Up North, Day 2

We had a GREAT time at the amusement park! Here are some pictures from our day.

Our Trip Up North, Day 1

Our Peaceful Dinner Out

Yeah right. Using the words peaceful and dinner in the same sentence should have made you look twice.

I decided to take the kids to Chipotle for dinner tonight. I don't know what I was thinking. It all started while I was paying. The kids ran ahead to find a table. They wanted a tall table. I wanted a regular table. I was afraid Danielle would fall off the stool and break her head, and I did not have bandaids or ice cream with me to stop the crying. They settled for another table without much complaining, but while I was getting the drinks a table AWAY from everyone else opened up. I thought that would probably be our best choice, so we switched tables. Panic ensued. Danielle shrieked "Our food! Our food!" (I couldn't carry everything to the new table at once.) We finally got settled.

As I cut their quesadillas, they argued over drinks and wiggled around in their seats. Danielle stood on hers once. Draped herself across it another time. I finally gave the kids their food and settled in to eat mine. After my first bite, Tyler started squirming in that significant way. Ugg. So, we all put our food down and traipsed to the bathroom. Danielle had to touch every empty seat on the way there, even if it was at someone else's table. Tyler got in the bathroom and had to look around. Meanwhile, I had visions of my barely touched burrito being tossed into the trash by some zealous table-cleaner. I erroneously told Tyler my fears and he switched to super speedy mode. He peed in a hurry and then tried to quickly pull up his shorts and undies...at the same time...while hopping up and down. This just made it all take longer. I opened the bathroom door and the kids bolted out at full speed, racing through the restaurant to our table. "It's still there, Mom. It's ok." "Well, of course it is." I said to the onlookers. Like anyone really cleans those tables anyway.

I got the kids back in their seats and sat down in mine. Just as I picked up my burrito, Danielle started to whine about her sandal. I put my burrito back down and tucked her toes back into her sandal. I finally got to sneak in a couple bites before Tyler asked me for a bite. He put his mouth on one part, decided that wasn't the best choice, and took a bite off the other end. Eew. In the meantime, I'm continually telling Danielle to sit down in her seat. Finally, I followed through on my threat and got a high chair for her. That started the screaming. "NOOOOO Mommy! NOOOOO!" Even if no one was paying attention to our antics before, they could all hear us now. I ignored her (and them) and placed her in the highchair, moved her food, and sat down to eat as if nothing had happened. After a couple rather uneventful minutes, something drew my attention to Danielle's chair. She had eaten all the rice and cheese out of her quesadillas and had draped the tortillas over the arms of the high chair, as if they were wet towels hung over a line to dry in the breeze. But before I could react to that, Tyler started squirming again. Now, this kid can hold it forever! How is it he had to go twice in the same meal??? This time it was #2. "Why didn't you go when we were just in there." "I just had to pee then." (5 minutes ago!!) His face was red, he was holding himself, and jumping up and down. And I asked him if he could wait. Duh. Of course not. I reluctantly put down my burrito and corralled everyone to the bathroom. On the way to the bathroom, Danielle tripped over air and sprawled across the floor. The concern over having our food tossed was still weighing on Tyler's mind as he sat on the toilet and muttered "Hurry. Hurry. Hurry." We made it back to the table and everyone sat back down. Just as I was ready to take another bite, Danielle cried about another issue with her sandal. More escaping toes. I just took the shoes off this time.

I finally finished my dinner. We cleaned our table and left the restaurant. (Were those cheers I heard as the door shut behind us?) On the way out I grumbled, "You guys acted like animals in there." Tyler earnestly said, "Really? What kind?" As we walked across the parking lot, Danielle jumped in a mud puddle. Apparently my reflexes had been worn down by dinner because I didn't even register it was there until it was too late. Finally she topped it off by running ahead to a patch of mud, stepping in it, and then climbing into my not-so-new van, where she smeared the mud across the so far stain free floor mats.

I wearily strapped the kids into their seats and hurried home to find the antacid.

News from Russia

Other than some troubles withdrawing rubles from the ATM, Ron seems to be doing just fine. He sent this picture to us today:




Tyler wanted to know if there was a fireman's station nearby and why he was balancing a tv on his head. :) Ron said they went to a Japanese restaurant for lunch. There were so many of them that they put them in the back room, which was equipped with a stripper's pole. Ron assured me he hadn't had any vodka, so this is probably as risque as it got.

Park Pictures

We received an email from Ron this evening stating he made it safely but was very very tired. I guess 18 hours of travel will do that to you.

Here are a couple pictures from our trip to the park today. We had a lot of fun until Danielle pinched her finger off. Well, maybe it didn't really fall off, but she screamed like it had. Turns out it wasn't anything a bandaid and some ice cream couldn't cure.

Jesus Hears Them All

Ron left for a trip to Russia tonight. He'll be gone a little longer than usual, and is definitely farther away than normal. None of us are too excited about this trip. For some reason, it just feels different than his other business trips.

Tonight while I was getting Danielle ready for bed, I asked her if she would like to say a prayer for Daddy. She immediately smiled & said yes, sat up in bed, and folded her little hands. Pleased with her eagerness, I started to pray. She surprised me by repeating every word I said at first. Then she stopped repeating and just seconded my requests: "Please keep Daddy safe. " "Yes, yes!" We finished our prayer and both said "Amen!" Then she laid back down in bed.

Awhile later as I was getting Tyler ready for bed, I asked him if he would like to say a prayer for Daddy, too. He said he would like to and cuddled up close to me, his face against my chest. I prayed and he was silent. After I was done he said, "I didn't say anything." I replied, "You didn't have to. You can just think it. God knows what you're thinking." He said, "God knows everything." He paused for a second and a smirk spread across his face. "Even the naughty stuff."

There's just something about seeing my children bow their little heads and hearts to God that touches my soul. It humbles me. It reminds me that God doesn't need a bunch of eloquent words to understand my heart's cry. And I don't have to understand every intricate detail of His plan. I just need to believe in Him. Period.

Seeing them pray also encourages me. Hopefully these times of simple little prayers together are building a foundation for their own individual relationships with God. How wonderful it would be if years from now they were bowing their heads and teaching their own children how to talk to Jesus. How comforting to know that they will always have Someone to turn to and talk to that loves them even more than I do.

Tonight I was also struck by how different Danielle's & Tyler's prayers were. Yet I have no doubt that God heard them both...loud and clear. Spoken or silent, simple or complex, in the United States or in Russia (or somewhere in between) Jesus hears them all.

The Tinkerbell Dress (from yesterday)

She kept sticking that flower in our faces and saying "Wanna mell my flower?"

The Pause Button

The news channel we watched last night did an interview with one of the stars of Adam Sandler's new movie Click! In the movie, the main character finds a "special" universal remote control that controls more than just the tv. The interviewer asked the star if he could have a universal remote with only one button, what button would he pick?

That's an easy question for me. I would pick a "pause" button. Not "erase" or "rewind" or even "mute". Pause.

As I write this now, Tyler is sitting near me racing cars down his orange track. This has been a favorite activity of his since he was only 18 months old. Watching him now reminds me of those early days, too. He's making car noises and crashing them into each other, then sending along emergency vehicles for a quick rescue. Occasionally he'll jump up and dig through the box of cars until he finds the perfect one (maybe the "low car with the thingy on top"). He's busy playing and being a boy in his perfect, 4 year old way.

Danielle is setting up a tea party for us on the end table. She's setting out all the little tea cups and now the spoons. "Don't stir it yet, Mommy. I haven't poured the tea yet." She finishes setting everything up and then pours the tea, oblivious to my typing. After all, what else could be more important than a tea party with her? She lifts her cup, says "Cheers!" and waits for me to mimic her. I look at her looking at me. Those blond curls, beautiful smile, and that tinkerbell dress again. How could I refuse?

These are the moments I would choose to pause. Just to take a couple extra minutes to drink in all the details of the moment. I know all too soon I'll be watching a 14 year old race off with his friends or begging a 12 year old to sit down for a minute and talk to me. And although I think these times are fleeing too quickly, I know that there will be moments at those ages I will want to pause, too.

While there are some moments in time I wouldn't mind revisiting and a moment of quiet sometimes seems unimaginable, living in the moment seems to mean the most to me right now.

I need to go. My daughter wants to doctor me and my son needs me to find a trailer for his alligator truck. Unpause.

A Shame on Me Moment

Today I found a clearing on the carpet in the family room and got inspired to vacuum. Since it was still early, the kids hadn't had the chance to scatter too many toys yet, so I hurried to pick up what was already there before more could join the ranks. I declared my intention to vacuum, and shortly thereafter the kids decided to parade around the family room and dining room with their bowls of dry cheerios. When they do this, several cheerios inevitably fall on the floor, eventually making a long trail from one room to the other. I asked them to sit down until I could finish vacuuming. Danielle complied, but Tyler continued the march. After asking him a couple more times, and growing more impatient with each request, I commanded him to sit down. He did so but tossed in a smart reply, too. (He has been getting mouthy lately!) Frustrated, I reached out to grab his arm (to get his attention, of course) and was spouting something about showing a little respect. Well, as I reached for him, I bumped him just the right way and his entire bowl flipped into the air, spreading cheerios all over the couch, chair, and floor. I made a much bigger mess than he would have.

After vacuuming and cooling off a little, I thought I would try to make a lesson out of this for Tyler. My point was SUPPOSED to be that being angry doesn't do anything except make a bigger mess out of things. I apologized to Tyler for losing my temper and asked him to forgive me. Then I attempted to turn this into a life lesson:

"Tyler, I got angry, didn't I? What happened when I got angry?" Now, I was looking for the answer "You made a big mess."


Instead I got: "You got really red, Mom."

Boy's Best Friend

Much to Hunter's dismay, the kids thought maybe she wanted some company in her crate...a LOT of company.

Father's Day, Part 2

Happy Father's Day, Ron. Our children are blessed to call you their daddy. Thanks for all you do to provide for us and love us.

Father's Day, Part 1

We had a really nice Father's Day today. Ron went to the water park with us. It's the first time he's ever gone with the kids. Ron took Danielle on her first ferris wheel ride. He took Tyler on his first real roller coaster ride - 3 times (sorry, Grandpa R) and rode every water slide that Tyler was tall enough to ride. Tyler is fearless when it comes to trying new things. He begged Ron to take him on 2 very large water slides, so Ron did. Ron said the one slide had a lot of tunnels and steep drops and was a little frightening. Plus , they both got dumped out of the tube at the end. The two of them were reminiscing in the car on the way home:

Ron: Tyler, we had fun on the slides, didn't we. Do you remember that black slide?

Tyler: Daddy, I think I'll remember that slide for the rest of my life.

I'm sure Ron will too.

Question of the Day & a Candid of My Girly Girl

Tyler's thought provoking question of the day: "Do mail carriers get mail? And if they do, who brings it to them?"

Sweet Dreams

Tyler came bounding down the stairs this morning with a smile on his face. He was the last one out of bed. He said, "I overslept a little bit because I was having a really really good dream! I dreamed that me and Thunderbolt were catching all the bad guys!" (Thunderbolt is the heroic Superdog in the animated sequel to 101 Dalmatians.)

After breakfast we went back upstairs to take baths and get dressed. I started the water and came out of the bathroom to find Tyler all snuggled down in bed, covers up to his chin. His eyes were closed and he had a content look on his face. I said, "Are you tired or just cold?" He looked up at me with that same contented look and said, "I'm trying to finish my dream!"

Super Mom

Now that I'm a mom, I've been automatically entered into the elite group of female super-humans. Somehow moms are all-knowing, all-hearing, and all-seeing. (I'm not even going to comment on how much they can accomplish in one day's time.) Super Moms are even invisible. After all, I still hear my mom's voice even when I can't see her. :)

Somehow I'm the only one who knows where Tyler's "low car with the thing on top" is, even though I certainly wasn't the last one who had it. And not only do I know where it is, I actually know which one of the hundreds of cars he's specifically referring to. (I heard him ask Danielle where something was the other day. Maybe it's just a female power?) I can take 10 different doll outfits and know exactly which doll each one was meant for. I know where the "baby kitty" is (right next to the baby puppy), and I know where the red fish whistle is (although I'll never tell).

My all-hearing power came the second I delivered Tyler. In addition to being able to distinguish my baby's cry from others, I was oddly the only one who could hear Tyler cry during the night. Didn't matter how loud I turned up the volume on the monitor and pointed it at Ron's head, I was still the only one able to hear him. Same thing with puking kids. My all-hearing powers enable me to register that initial gagging cough from the depths of a restful slumber (and over Ron's snoring). To Tyler's amazement...and dismay...I can hear him when he quietly mutters something threatening to Danielle. Or says something he knows he shouldn't have. I can also hear the clock change from 6:59 pm to 7:00 pm: the start of bedtimes!

My favorite power is the all-seeing power. As I mentioned in a previous blog, Tyler has been getting sneakier about things. Like brushing his teeth. A couple times he's acted like he's putting toothpaste on, but he wasn't. Of course I didn't see him fake it the first time, I just guessed based on his behavior (tapped in to the all-knowing power), but he doesn't know that. He was baffled and a little awed that I actually knew he had faked it. We have a rule that whenever we leave the house, everyone has to go potty, whether you think you need to or not. Lately Tyler has started shutting the bathroom door, putting the lid up forcefully so we can hear it clink, waiting a minute, and then flushing. He comes out declaring he's gone and is ready to go. Ron, a mere man, was fooled by this. But not Super Mom. Too quick. Too giggly. Too easy. The first time it happened, I questioned him. "I went Mom! See, no smirk." Right. I pulled up his shirt to see if his pants were snapped. (He can't resnap his pants, so often he'll leave them unsnapped after he's gone. Leaves more room for dinner that way, too.) They were snapped. I called his bluff and made him go - with the door open this time. "How did you know I didn't go? The door was shut!"

I had fun with this power again today. Overall we had a very good day behavior-wise, but there was one occasion where Tyler started to lose his temper. In order to avoid a full-blown eruption (from me or him?) I sent him to his room for a time-out. Still angry, he obeyed and headed up the stairs. He paused for a minute and I knew, I just knew, he was sticking his tongue out at me. I didn't turn around and look. I didn't comment. But I knew. A few minutes later I hollered up at him and told him he could come back down if he had calmed down...and if he apologized to me for sticking his tongue out.

Pause. "I didn't stick my tongue out."

"Yes you did."

Pause. I'm sure he was wondering what angle to take. "You didn't SEE me stick my tongue out."

"But I know you did."

Pause. Quiet mumbling. (Too quiet for my all-hearing power to decipher.)

"What was that?"

"I said I'm sorry for sticking my tongue out at you." And he actually sounded like he meant it.

It's good to be Super Mom.

I'm so much skinnier in chalk.

Danielle asked me to draw her and Tyler. She's drawing Mommy & Daddy. Tyler (in his new bike helmet) is writing the word "boo" on the garage door drawing of our new house.

What a beautiful day for visiting the zoo, riding bikes, and creating chalk masterpieces!

My Girly Girl

Danielle is such a girly girl. Maybe it's more obvious to me because Tyler is indeed ALL boy.

She loves to dress up in her "princess ballerina" costumes. Her most frequently requested outfit is a shorts outfit that has Tinkerbell on the chest and a fairy type skirt over the shorts. (I don't think Tyler has a clue about what's in his dresser.) Tyler was reliving a dream he had the other day, so Danielle had to tell us about hers. Whether it was real or imagined, it was about "pink horsies". Ron bought new bikes for the kids the other day. We talked about what kind of bikes the kids would like to have, if possible. Tyler wanted a blue one with a hand-brake (like Grandpa Chevalier's). Danielle wanted "a pink one with a basket for my babies to ride in". She prances on her tiptoes to cross the room. Twirls for Daddy each time she wears a dress. Loves admiring herself in the mirror. (Tyler enjoys the mirror, too, but he's busy sticking his tongue out at himself. Danielle practices smiling and batting her eyelashes.) She's dramatic and whiny...in a princessy sort of way. Somehow, she's able to sort absolutely everything into a Daddy, Mommy, and Baby grouping. Doesn't matter if it's spaghetti - the big piece is the daddy one, medium size piece is the mommy one, the smallest one is the baby one - or stuffed animals. Absolutely everything can be classified in this way to her. (I'm glad her view of a family unit consists of both a mommy & a daddy. Not all kids are as lucky.) And if you ask her what she wants to be when she grows up, she says "I want to be a mommy." Ahhh, she's following my career path. :)

To me, the most endearing part of her "girlyness" though is the way she plays mommy. There are days when she picks out a baby in the morning and takes care of it all day long. She will cradle the baby and walk very slowly, saying "Shhhh. My baby is sleeping." She will feed it a bottle and insist on taking it (and all its supplies) in the van with us. She has to dress and undress it. Pretend like she's giving it a bath. Feed it. Read to it. Rescue it from Tyler. She'll ask us if we'd like to hold her baby and then instruct us on the proper way to hold it. At night she'll tuck it into bed with her (and scream if the blanket covers its face). If I'm lucky, sometimes I hear her sing to her babies. On the way to the park today, I heard her singing to today's lucky doll: "Lullaby. Go to sleep. If the tree falls, the baby will break. Lullaby. Lullaby."

I know she may not always be such a girly girl, and that's ok with me, but right now I'm cherishing the memories it's creating.

Strawberries & Nuts

In an attempt to fill an hour today, I decided on a whim to take the kids to a local strawberry farm to pick strawberries. My preferred method of picking strawberries, as I've made known, is picking them up off the cart. But I heard that the fresh strawberries are exceptionally good this year, so I thought we'd try it out. To my surprise, we had a nice time. There weren't any bees and the sun wasn't scorching. We weren't out there so long that the kids lost interest. My only minor complaint was the mud, but even that wasn't too bad. So, we picked a few strawberries, ate a few strawberries, and then sat in rockers on the front porch of the market and enjoyed freshly made slushies. We had a nice time. And, the strawberries really are exceptional. The kids don't usually eat strawberries, but Danielle's mouth and chin were all red from eating so many, and Tyler kept sneaking back into the kitchen to steal more while I was cleaning them. So, I guess I should say sorry for whining to Grandma Robbins & Aunt Aya. Hopefully the berries will still be good when we get around to going later this month. (And the sun won't be scorching and the bees won't be out and...)



Tyler provided me with a couple moments of amusement today:

Ron has to go to Russia for business later this month. When he first told the kids about his trip, he mentioned to them that at this time of year there is daylight almost all day long. Tyler was fascinated by that. We were talking about his trip again this afternoon when Tyler asked if the people in Russia ever get to eat breakfast since they never really have night time.

Tonight while putting Tyler to bed, he gave me a hug and said, "When I'm older, I'm going to marry you, Mom, because I love you so much." I hugged him back and said, "I love you, too, but I'm already married." He simply replied, "Nuts!" and rolled over and went to sleep.

Our Trip to the Library - a Solid 5 Farts Experience!

I don't have any funny stories to share today, so I thought I would ramble on about our trip to the library. No mention of body parts in this posting, I promise.

Today the kids and I visited the library near our apartment. This was our first visit to this building. Apparently this branch services more children than our old library, so they were especially kid friendly. In addition to an overwhelming amount of kids' books, there was a space in the back the kids thought looked like a castle. It was formed with actual bricks and made a circle around the back of the building. Inside the circle were various murals and sculptures depicting various literary scenes. There were benches along the inside rim of the circle, and bean bag chairs tossed in the middle. There was also an easel holding a flannel board, complete with a variety of felt characters and shapes, just waiting for a preschooler's imagination to bring them to life. In another corner was a stack of puppets and stuffed animals. This was a cool library!

The kids, who love going to the library anyway, were just thrilled. Tyler hurriedly filled a basket full of books and retreated into the castle to find a bench. Each time I looked in at him, he had his head bent over a book, studying each picture and occasionally talking to himself. Danielle picked out a few books and chose to sit at a table within eyesight of me. I tried to scour the shelves to find some quality books to take home. Every once in awhile Tyler would scurry out, replace his books in the correct bins (the picture books were kept in bins sorted alphabetically), and refill his basket. It was a good experience.

A lot of times I research good books for the kids on the internet and then reserve them through our library's website. The librarians pull the books and then I receive an email when they're ready to be picked up. If I'm looking for something specific, this is such an easy way to get it. Anyway, a couple months ago I stumbled onto a couple winners (thanks to some amazon.com reviews): Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, by Judi & Ron Barrett and Walter the Farting Dog, by William Kotzwinkle & Glenn Murray. (Given my recent posts full of potty humor, I'm sure you can see why the latter book would be such a hit.) I think I have renewed them 3 times now. Well, I discovered the other day that there are actually sequels to the Farting Dog books! (Also to the Meatballs book, but it wasn't as good as the original.) So, I reserved them, and we picked those up today, too.

They were just as popular as the first! Tyler's favorite, though, is the second book, entitled Walter the Farting Dog; Trouble at the Yard Sale. The father sold Walter to a strange man while the kids were out getting ice cream. The strange man hooked Walter up to one end of a fart-catching machine. He hooked balloons up to the other end of the machine. And then, you guessed it - the farts inflated the balloons. The man dressed up like a clown, took the balloons to a bank, popped them, and used the gas to impair everyone while he robbed the bank (immune to the smell by his big red nose). In the end, the clown was adjusting a balloon at the end of the fart-catcher when some fart gas escaped. His cigar ignited the gas and the fart-catcher exploded. The dog was freed and the clown was trapped in the tv. Walter escaped, brought the police, was reunited with his family, and received an award from the mayor for his heroic farting. While Tyler finds the books amusing, he really thinks about the stories, too. This ultimately leads to a barrage of questions and statements. "How does his nose keep him safe?" "Why would he do that?" "Oh! That looks bad!" "How did it explode?" "I thought smoking was bad." "How did it explode?!" I had to go over the gas explosion one step at a time, explaining how fart gas could catch on fire by a lit cigar. (I sure hope this isn't one experiment he wants to try out for himself.) Surprisingly, books about farting dogs are great for creating discussion and stimulating the imagination.

So, in case you're into potty humor and looking for a good read, the Robbins' Book Club gives the Walter the Farting Dog series (and our local public library) a solid 5 farts!

Stanky Potatoes, Spoiled Surprises, and Wardrobe Malfunctions

It seems like we're in a rut with body part and bodily function jokes. Although the "t.w." word hasn't been mentioned at all today, there was still plenty of discussion relating to, well, potty humor. So, if you're tired of those kinds of stories, just skip the next 2 paragraphs.

This morning while Danielle was going to the bathroom, she informed me that her poop smelled like potatoes. (Usually she just holds her nose and mutters, "It stanks!")

Later in the day, Tyler came out of the bathroom and announced to Ron that he had to turn the fan on in the bathroom because his (Tyler's) poop smelled so bad. That reminded me of Danielle's potato smelling poop, so I relayed the story to Ron. Ron laughed and asked Tyler if his poop smelled like anything. Tyler smirked and said, "Yeah. It smells like poop." Duh.


I took the kids to the mall today to get pictures taken for Ron for Father's Day. He's complained recently that he doesn't have any updated pictures in his office, so I thought this would be a nice surprise. I know it's a little early, but I was afraid if I waited until closer to Father's Day, they would be busier and I would have to wait longer in the store. The kids were relatively cooperative, and we were able to get at least one decent picture. (I had a free coupon for one picture, so that's all I wanted anyway.) I was a little worried the kids wouldn't be able to keep the secret from Ron, so I asked them if they would like to give Daddy his picture tonight. They both agreed that they wanted to wait for Father's Day to surprise him. So, Danielle helped me find a hiding place, and I thought we were all set until Father's Day. Not so. As soon as Ron walked in the door the very first thing Danielle said was, "Daddy! I have a surprise for you!" Ron thought maybe she had made a picture today or something and asked what the surprise was. "It's pictures Daddy! We did pictures for you!" Tyler rolled his eyes and moaned. Ron got a big grin on his face. Danielle looked very proud. So, Ron got an early Father's Day present tonight.


Finally, I'm posting some pictures from our trip to visit Grandma & Grandpa C yesterday. I set up a kiddie pool for the kids to play in while we were there. I hadn't planned on spending the afternoon playing in the water, though, so I didn't bring swimsuits. All I had was an extra set of clothes for each kid. Tyler's extra clothes included a pair of denim shorts that are just a little too big, as you can see. He kept pulling them up, though, and managed to avoid a full blown wardrobe malfunction.