Happy Birthday to ME

I took the kids to the Easter Egg Hunt at my work today. They all filled their buckets to the brim, without any help. Sabian won 2 big prizes. Adora got the last egg. When all the other kids decided they had all been found, Adora was crawling under the eaves to reach the last egg.

After the egg hunt we all came back to my house for my birthday party. Hooray!

Andy gave me wii fit for my birthday. We all had fun playing on it. My mom made me a fun wrap around skirt. My brother Robby even made me an apple pie! Naomi made my german chocolate birthday cake with only a little guidance from my mom. Robby and Steven say they have something else for me too, but they left it home, so I am to remain in suspense until it is delivered to me. Oh, well, I like surprises. I'm feeling the love. I don't see why anyone dreads birthdays. Time passes reguardless, but birthdays to me are a time when I am reminded people love me and they are glad I'm still around.

Sabian the Artist

I didn't get pictures of the rest of his artwork because it took me awhile to calm down and think about it. He colored himself, his baby sister Adora, and her crib, and her walls, and inside Naomi's playroom. Naomi was feverishly cleaning the walls while I bathed Adora. After that, I took a mugshot of the criminal. He was fully clothed, but that didn't stop him from coloring his belly. I found the washable marker and disposed of it and had him finished cleaning his mess. Aparently that wasn't good enough because he awoke early the next morning (between 4am and 6am) to go do it again, this time with permanent markers. Ahhh, the joys of parenting!!!

Before I go to bed...

Working overtime sure burns me out quicker, but my energy was rejuvenated frequently today when I'd think, "Gymnastics start tomorrow!" We are going to put Naomi and Sabian in a class at the same time and I'm taking every Wednesday off so I can watch them. I will only have to worry about watching Adora and smiling and waving at Naomi and Sabian. It may not always be total bliss, but the anticipation of something fun and new keeps me alive.

We just can't have nice things!

If any of you have listened to Jeff Foxworthy you will understand. My mischievious 2 year old boy first stepped on our laptop computer as a way to reach the things on top of the fridge (which were only put up there so he couldn't reach them). That is how the screen cracked and we can't hardly see through the wooly willy effect, especially the very important upper right corner. That is why we moved the computer downstairs to hook it up to the plasma HDTV we got for Christmas. Unfortunately he discovered he could pluck keys off while no one was watching.

Only 4 letters (AQOL) and 3 numbers (129) remain. Typing is much slower now. I really hate typing in passwords when it shows asterisks in place of what you type because I'm really not sure if I'm getting it right. Although I memorized the placement of the letters, the keys don't feel the same when you are only pushing on rubber nubs.

Siblings

Sabian must not be having a good day. I have heard only two things come out of his mouth, the first being a high pitched annoyed scream, "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" (which grates at my nerves and makes me want to tape his mouth shut). The other choice phrase he has been saying all day is "Naomi did it!" Sabian is merely upset he can't have his way all the time. Such is life. Were it not for the whining, I might actually pity him.
On a funnier note, Adora played a joke on her daddy. Adora is a child who hates to have her nose wiped and always turns her head when she sees a tissue coming and more often than not needs restrained to accomplish the task. Andy said he was surprised the other day when she actually held still and let him wipe her nose. He then looked at her and Adora stuck out her tongue and blew a raspberry at him then smiled as if to say "there, that will show you." Adora is so much fun. She can now walk a few steps between open arms. May 29th she decided to try walking. My parents had fun with her and showed me her new trick as soon as I got home from work. Her enthusiam was funny. I always figured she could walk if she tried, but until now, she had no desire, after all, she could crawl fast enough to get into all sorts of trouble. I think the motivating factor was the warm weather. Now that she was wearing shorts, the carpet felt rough on her knees and crawling was less fun. On the grass she walks like a stink bug on her hands and feet with her butt up in the air. I'll try to get a picture one of these times, it really is quite comical.

Family pictures 2008

We did a super family theme this year, which I thought was a lot of fun. My decision was mostly made by a fatigued mind that said I could get all the clothes cheap and easy since superman stuff is everywhere. Every year we get pictures, most of the money is spent on new clothes. This year it was a quick one stop shop at walmart for everyone except Sabian who found Jammies at the mall.

Why is it so impossible to get a family photo with every kid looking at the camera and smiling?

After the third time of not listening, we had to give up on telling Naomi to put her feet back down. As an afterthought, perhaps we should have had her take her shoes off so we didn't have to stare at the bottom of her shoe.

Sabian loves duplos

He seems content to build all day. The last tower I helped him build when he became frustrated that his single depth creations were less than sturdy. He can stay entertained for hours with those blocks, and I can be entertained just watching him. He has great determination.

Snow plow

We finally broke down and got a plow. I was snowed out yesterday and couldn't even get into my driveway. Luckily a neighbor with a tractor helped me get in. Here is some pics of Andy and Sabian.

Andy loves Legos

Here's a clip of Andy playing with the new lego set he got for Christmas. Sabian and Adora enjoyed helping too (if you can call it help).

Short clip of Adora moving. I wouldn't quite call it crawling yet. She usually looks more like that 80s dance move "the worm,"

I've got the cutest kids!

Sleeping

Did you know children can fall asleep faster than I can say the alphabet backwards? I've watched Adora go from staring at me to her eyes rolling in the back of her head sleeping with her eyes open, but I figured that was where the "sleeping like a baby" phrase came from. She falls asleep fast and sleeps through unimaginable things like demolition derbies. Amazingly enough, Sabian falls asleep quickly too. Must be the result of using up all that toddler strength energy. He hasn't been sleeping lately, I think partly due to his abandonment issues resulting from inconsistency with daycares, so I've had to stay with him until he falls asleep. I watch him and it rarely takes more than 5 minutes, he's usually in a deep sleep snoring in less than 2. I wonder if he could teach me that trick so I can take speedy power naps.

Listen to your wife

Naomi knows when to throw in some attitude and it makes me laugh. I was downstairs with the kids waiting for Andy to come down to watch a movie with us. Sabian climbed in my lap with his blanket and wanted his sippy cup. I asked Naomi to call up the stairs for Daddy to bring it down with him. When she did, his reply was,"Tell mama to get it herself!" Rather than parroting that back to me she immediately retorted,"Don't you want to listen to your WIFE!!!" I just busted up laughing, she sure told him. His next reply was "I can't find any" after which I realized Sabian must have been listening to our conversation as he bolted up the stairs to show Daddy which drawer the sippy cups were kept in. Now he was out of excuses. I love my kids.

Spud Day

Spud Day is always fun. Andy and Steven Ran in the Spud Run, Andy did a 5k and Steven did a 10k. Steven came in 3rd over all, and won a first place medal for his age division. Andy rode his bike in the parade with Sabian riding behind him and Naomi rode her own bike beside him and did really well. We enjoyed the free baked pototoes, watched a magic show on the free stage, then met some star wars characters. Then we waited in line 4ever to get some frogs for Naomi. We then decided it was too hot, so we bought the movie Eragon and came home to watch it. Then we went to the demolition derby, but were too late to get seats, so we had to sit way up front and dodge the mud that was flung by the tires, making it a more interactive experience.

Demolition Derby

We took Sabian to the demolition derby on Saturday and he loved it. I don't know if he's ever watched anything so intently. I took the kids to my parents house on Tuesday morning and my mom called to ask me if I'd taken Sabian to the demolition derby. "How did you know?" I asked as I thought of the mud flung on us I thought perhaps I missed a spot when I bathed him. She tells me she's noticed a dramatic change in his play behavior. He used to peacefully drive his toy trucks all around the room saying "vroom, vroom." Now he must always have at least 2 cars and continually crashes them into each other. Boys will be boys I suppose.

Sabian is 2

We went camping at Stoddard for Sabian's Birthday. He had lots of fun pushing his dump truck around the campground and hauling leaves or water. As soon as he figured out it was his birthday, he ran to the camping trailer and came out with the candles and an ice cream scoop. He knows what birthdays are about. He got a dutch oven dinner of barbecue chicken, potatoes, and blackberry cobbler. We all had a great time.

He loved playing with his new trains on his new playmat. He loves anything to do with trucks or trains.