Saturday, March 27, 2010

Kid Quotes from the Week

Matthew and Anna have kept me pretty amused this week with all of their silly sayings and antics. Let's start with Miss Anna.

At breakfast yesterday, Matthew and I were trying to get her to make animal sounds. I said, "Anna, can you moo like a cow?" Anna said, "C-o-o-o-o-o-w." And proceeded to do that type of thing for the next four or five animals. Matthew told her what she was supposed to do and then she had this "well, duh" look on her face and laughed.

At supper two nights ago, we had fried chicken. Anna said, "Can I have some Q-Bar sauce so I can dip it in my chicken." Not exactly sure how you do that....

We went shopping at Kohl's on Thursday for spring/summer outfits and I while I was looking for some things for Ben, I told Matthew to go find himself some dress pants and polos for church. I figured he's probably ready to start locating his own clothing, not just give me yea's and nay's on choices. He left for a bit, then returned with two pair of pants and a polo. The pants were size 4 and would have been about three inches too short and the polo would have fit Rob. He did find the cheapest pants, however, so we returned the small ones and found the correct size. Then we found the boys polos and he selected two that look great on him. And now he knows his size. :)

Matthew and I went to Aldi's yesterday and on the way there, he started talking about the improper use of the name of God. He said, "Using God's name the wrong way is taking his name insane." Once I could breathe again, I corrected him.

You may notice a lack of Ben in this post. He's had a hard week, so not much of what he's been doing amused me at all. Let's pray for a better week ahead!

Monday, March 22, 2010

Happy Birthday to Anna

Yesterday was Anna's second birthday. On Saturday, I kissed her little cheek as she was sleeping and realized I was kisssing my last one-year-old for the last time. And then I tried to snap out of it :)

We decided to keep Anna's birthday low key. She knew something was going on and knew she was the center of attention for the day, but I'm not quite sure how much she comprehended. When we all woke up, she opened two of her presents. She got a Minnie Mouse apron made by Grandma L. and from my parents, a baby doll car seat and counting book. She had already received her toddler bedding set from her Litwiller grandparents a week ago or so when she moved beds. She immediately put on the apron and went to get her dolly so she could try out the car seat.

At church, Anna moved up to the 2's and 3's class. She had received a Bible as a baby gift when she was born, so she took it along with her offering into her new class. She was very excited to move up! After church, we took the family to Perkins for lunch. All three of the kids belong to the kid's club, so both Ben and Anna had free birthday meals to cash in. Matthew was rather upset he didn't have a free meal, but we promised to pay for his :)

We came home and put the birthday girl down for a nap. The boys went to work making her birthday cards for her party, which was after church Sunday night. I picked up sandwiches and chips from the grocery store and we invited her favorite babysitters to come over. I had made her a chocolate cake with pink frosting, per her request. The cake was yummy, but the frosting turned out overly sweet. Thankfully, you don't notice it too much! She was so cute trying to blow out her candles. :)

After cake, she opened two more presents. Her great-grandma sent her some money, so I thought I'd buy her an outfit to open. It has Minnie Mouse all over it (her favorite). We got her a little tea set and she had a blast playing tea party all night. It's funny...she really doesn't have much of a frame of reference for "tea party" but she knew just what to do! Must be a girl thing.

We had to laugh when Jasper got down on the floor to play with Anna. She wouldn't serve him tea, which made him "cry." She then said she was sorry and offered him tea and a cooky. I told his wife it looked a little like that scene in Frankenstein where the little girl gives the monster some flowers. Pictures are on Facebook.

Today I took Ben and Anna for their annual check-ups. Both children are fine and healthy. Ben is 41 lbs. and 42 inches tall (80ish percentile for height, 69 for weight) and Anna is 28 1/2 lbs, 35 inches tall (80ish percentile for both). They are both on track to be rather tall, which would be funny considering that I'm only 5'3" and Rob is 5'6"! Ben did have his shots today and shouldn't need anything more until he's 10 or so. He took it pretty well, but one went into the muscle and those always sting. We went through the drive-thru at McDonald's afterwards and an ice cream cone made it all better :)

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Saturday Update

We did catch one more mouse the evening after Rob sealed the holes (so I DID see one go down the radiator.) Since then, the traps have been empty and there have been no more mouse sightings. We did find a giant centipede under the stereo speaker, however. On Wednesday, I asked Ben to turn on Patch the Pirate and he went to plug in the CD player. He screamed and shot into the kitchen, which caused me to jump onto my chair, which caused Matthew to dash into the living room. Turns out a centipede crawled across Ben's foot. Bugs I can handle!

The boys have both come down with some kind of mild cold. They cough a little in the morning and sound congested but get better as the day goes on. I have felt a little congestion myself, but not much. My game plan this time is to keep them from all contact with other people. I think that works best so they don't CATCH anything or GIVE anything. We had to cancel plans to go to a friend's house last night, but it's worth it to kill the bug quickly. They already seem much better this morning.

We're planning a very small celebration for Anna's second birthday tomorrow. We have all of the presents in place and I'll wrap them up tonight. I plan to give her the gifts over the course of the day rather than all at once. After church tomorrow night, we invited her favorite babysitters over for cake. I still have a bunch of stuff left from her first birthday, so she'll have a girly flower party again. She knows her birthday is tomorrow and also knows she gets to move up to the 2's and 3's class. I filled out her new nursery sheet on Thursday and realized this is my last time filling out a nursery sheet. I almost cried, but I decided that if I keep thinking of all her milestones as my last time to experience that, I'll cry her entire life. Instead, I'm going to think of it as the first time my GIRL does something. :)

The boys have had a great time with the nice weather we had this week. They have gotten good and dirty playing in the backyard. Matthew is working on riding his bike w/o training wheels. We don't have a very level place to work on this and our street is just busy enough to rule it out for a riding area. We're going to try to take him out to the church when the parking lot is empty to let him loose. I think he'd have it already if he didn't lean to one side so often!

Ben seems to be slowly leaving his defiant stage. It's been a real trip training him, but I am starting to see the fruits of our efforts. He really can be a delightful child when he's behaving. He still sleeps with his binky at night, but I think he's just big enough to clobber anyone that makes fun of him. He's indicated that he's ready to read, so as soon as I get my book back from a friend who borrowed it, we'll begin reading lessons. He's not real interested in a schooltime right now, so other than reading books, we're not doing anything. He does want to write his letters, but I let him work on the MagniDoodle for that. This fall I'll start him in Core 4/5 for his preschool year.

Matthew loves his Core K work. Well, most of it. He's still not too keen on handwriting (although his writing is coming along nicely) and we finally did hit a read-aloud book that he didn't like. I'm kind of surprised he didn't like it b/c it was about a boy at a lighthouse, but it didn't float his boat. (heh-heh) He just finished Explode the Code 4 and was BEGGING me to do book 5 on Friday. I love teaching him!

Rob is putting the finishing touches on his resume and is ready to start sending it out. I am enjoying the monthly scrapbooking class I joined and am having fun with that new hobby, as well as making cards. Hmm....I guess that's about all that's new for us :)

Happy First Day of Spring to all of you! If you life near us, you've probably got some snow on the ground to help you celebrate!

Monday, March 15, 2010

Mousehunt II

Currently, Rob is putting back all of the tubs into the hall closet. He just finished sealing up the gargantuan hole that the mice were using as a gateway to our home. We're hoping that we won't see them anymore. He's going to set a trap for the next few days to catch anybody that didn't make it to "safety" before the hole was sealed.

The reason for the more drastic measures is because we just keep trapping mice. We caught another one Sunday morning, (live this time in the four-mouse trap) and Rob and I saw one last night before bedtime. Ugh! I was literally frozen in fear and would not cross the dining room to get to the stairs. As I was bracing myself for a run, Rob says, "Don't run fast. It might make them race out again." Yipes! Thanks, hon!

This morning Rob found the trap void of both peanut butter and mouse. Little stinkers. He then reset the trap and told me to have Ben check it. I told Rob no, because then I'd be responsible to make sure Ben threw it out and then cleansed himself properly and THAT wasn't going to happen. I think I may have seen one shoot down the radiator, but my eyes could have been playing tricks on me. I went grocery shopping when Rob got home and he went to work on the closet. Hopefully there will be no more mice in my house!

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Mousehunt, Litwiller style

Let me just start this post by stating that I hate mice. I've never considered myself to be a real squeemish person and I can trap/kill insects with the best of them, but mice....**shudder**....that I can't handle. The events that took place yesterday prove it.

Thursday night, Rob was cooking up a snack in the kitchen for his darling wife when he saw something scoot across the floor and go under the oven. He told me he saw something that was either a small mouse or a large insect. He pulled out the stove and starred down the small, furry creature. It then scurried it's way into the cabinet with our baking pans. Yikes! We thought that it got into the house when the boys were taking out recyclables. We haven't seen any mice in over two years so we didn't think we really had a problem.

I came downstairs the next morning, hoping to hear that the trap set in the night had caught the mouse and the problem was solved. What I found instead was a note that read, "Sorry, I haven't caught the mouse. He's still in the cabinet and I set the trap in there." Oooo-kaaay, I thought, now I have a mouse in my cabinet...alive. And at some point during the day, he's going to crave peanut butter and I'm going to hear that trap snap and possibly hear a mouse thrashing about. EEEEWWW!!! I did the dishes that morning, muttering under my breath about my husband's lack of mouse-cathing skills. Then I realized it's not HIS fault the thing didn't eat the peanut butter last night! I pulled the wooden recycle bin in front of the cabinet so the kids wouldn't open it and check and figured I could handle life until Rob came home at 2pm to dispose of the invader.

And then at about 11am, I was sitting at the dining room table at the laptop when I saw a brown furry body come out from under the piano and then run back under when it heard me scream. I jumped onto the chair, which made Matthew panic and jump onto the couch. Even Ben, my tough one, freaked out and I yelled, "That's it! We're leaving!" Matthew ran upstairs to grab socks, I threw a diaper in my purse, and we high-tailed it out of there. Having no vehicle (we only have one) I was rather limited in my options, but I decided since it was close to lunch, we'd go to McDonald's. I was shaking the entire time and I didn't calm down until the end of the meal. Wow. I don't know when I have ever panicked so badly!

We also walked around ShopKo and let Ben pick out some things with his birthday money (and they watched Up for awhile on all of the TV's) and then went to Walgreens. By then it was 1:30, so we decided to go home and run quickly upstairs. We read books and ate candy until Rob came home. He and Ben did discover that the mouse trapped in the cabinet was dead....which means I saw a DIFFERENT mouse. AAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

Since all of the pans had to be scrubbed clean, we went out for supper to Upper Krust (the boys choice.) It was delicious, calmed us all down, and we headed back home. I made a deal with Rob that I would reorganize the study by myself if he would scrub down the kitchen. He worked on that for a bit while the kids and I watched a movie. Then he set a trap in the closet near where the second sighting happened. And he found a dead mouse in the trap right before bedtime. So he set another trap overnight and guess what? We caught ANOTHER mouse!!!! All the rain we've had must have driven them inside.

Today we'll be going out to purchase one of those soundwave things in hopes that we can drive away these unwanted pests. Cause Momma can't take no more mouse sightings!!!

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Happy Birthday to Ben!

Today is Benjamin Joel's fourth birthday. Man, it seems like time just flew by. His was the hardest birth, yet he was my easiest baby. Right now he's my hardest child to manage so I'm hoping he'll be my easiest teenager??? Eh, we'll see.

We decided to invite some of his friends over for a party yesterday. He wanted a Curious George party again (last year's family party was of the same theme) so I attempted to decorate accordingly. Since we have no party store in the area and neither Wal-Mart nor ShopKo have C.G., I decided to make my own. I cut out a yellow hat for the invites, stamped monkeys on napkins and treat bags, and Rob drew a picture of Curious George and a birthday cake. I tried cutting the plates in the shape of the yellow hat, but it ended up looking pretty bad. I was going to cut his cake in that shape as well, but after seeing the plates, Ben wouldn't let me try. Thankfully, we still had the plastic piece from last year's cake. (Pics are on Facebook.)

Only one of the five invite-ees were able to come, but having two siblings kind of gives you a good base for a party anyway. Well. Miss Anna, who was going to be allowed to skip her nap, was extremely cranky from staying up late the night before, so we put her down. That gave us our two boys and the one guest. When he arrived, his two older siblings (age 5 and 7) were with him, so we asked them to stay as well. Instant party! I had made up five treat bags so it was perfect. We played a few games, read a Curious George book, ate cake and monkey shakes, played more games, opened presents, and then the kids played with the presents. Ben received an alien crane game from his friends, a Curious George movie from my parents, and Legos from us. He had a great time.

Today, he opened his present from Rob's parents. They had bought him a Leapster and he was VERY excited. Matthew already has one and Ben knew how to play it a little. He also received a Wall-E game to go with it and Matthew gave him his old Clifford game. Ben's currently engrossed with the Leapster. We took him out for lunch at the Chinese buffet, the kids' favorite place to go.

The only dark side to the day is the fact that he had to leave the three-year-old class. He loves his teacher very much. She sent him a birthday post card this week and he nearly cried when he realized he wouldn't be in her class anymore. She loves him as well and I think it was a little hard for her to see him go. Thankfully, he had a great time in his new class and is in junior church with Matthew, so that helped.

In two weeks, Miss Anna will turn two. We're not having much of a party for her, but we'll do a little cake after church that night and invite her favorite sitters. And then I get a break until July!!

Saturday, March 6, 2010

Adventures in Milwaukee

Last night, a friend and I went to see the Broadway Tour of the musical Hairspray in Milwaukee. A former drama student of mine has been in the tour group for three years as Lil' Inez (she's 24 playing a 12-year-old). I was bouncing off the walls all day, waiting to leave. First, I hadn't seen Marsena since '04 when she graduated and second, I hadn't seen a Broadway show since '03 when we saw Aida in New York City. Rob was not interested in seeing the production, so a friend went with me instead.

The show was amazing. I don't think the smile left my face the entire time. I loved the sets, costuming, the majority of the cast and of course, Marsena did an excellent job. (Trust me, she didn't learn any of it from me!) We were able to meet her after the show and talk for a little while. I dug up a picture of her from a musical in high school, made her sign my copy, and gave her a copy to keep. We laughed and reminisced for awhile, then she went to her hotel for some sleep and my friend and I left to go home.

And then the real adventure started. Rob was concerned for our safety being in the city at night, so he sprung for us to park in the event parking at the theatre. That way we were just across the street. It was also a fairly safe area of Milwaukee. All we had to do was get onto the interstate. Since it was only one block from the museum we had been to a few weeks ago, I just pulled out the directions I had copied at that time. As it turned out, we couldn't go the direction we thought we could, made a wrong turn, and ended up on the wrong interstate. My friend then pulled off and tried to turn around to go back but we couldn't figure out where the entrance was.

So here we are driving around a rather shady part of the city at 11:00pm with no clue where to go. We finally pulled over at a gas station to ask the attendant how to get back on the interstate. At just that time, a group of teens came over and were hanging out at the store entrance. They were younger teens so we weren't real worried, but it did cause a few extra prayers to go up. The gas attendant was no help, but one of the boys finally talked to my friend and told her what to do. At least he was more helpful than the police officer in the parking lot, who ignored us!

We did find the entrance and got back onto the interstate, then found our correct interstate, which had a detour, and 30 minutes later we were pointed in the right direction. We made it home at midnight with no more mishaps and lots of laughter on the way. When I got into the house, I just started laughing. I told Rob that in spite of his best efforts to keep me safe, I found trouble anyway. God is good!

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Oh Boy!

This morning, the boys asked me what we were having for breakfast. I told them they had to eat gruel. After hearing what gruel is, they yelled, "No! Gross!" I then told them they were having gruel for lunch and supper and for dessert, they could have sugar on their gruel. I was carrying Anna at the time and I turned to her and said, "You can have toast and eggies for breakfast, and ice cream, and cookies, and cake, and candy!" She got a slow, smug grin on her face, turned slightly toward the boys and said in a sing-song voice, "Candy and cookies!"

Yes, folks, Anna has reached the stage of understanding. Unfortunately, she didn't understand that I was only teasing and requested sweets for breakfast. :)

Monday, March 1, 2010

Silliness from the week

On Saturday, I was vacuuming the carpet in the living room and Anna, as usual, put both hands over her ears. Part way through the job, she took one hand off, pointed to a spot I had missed, and kept pointing until the job was done. Then she put her hand back over her ear.

Anna also enjoys doing chores with me (other than vacuuming.) I bought two small spare dusters for the kids to use and when I dust, she makes sure the couches and pillows are well-dusted. She is also my paper towel holder when I clean the bathroom.

At church last night, Matthew requested his own hymnal so he could follow along with us. Usually he looks off mine and I point out the words. He's been following along well so I figured it was probably time for his own. After the first verse, he leaned over and said rather proudly, "I finished before you guys did!"

I had to have a chat with Ben about some misbehavior after lunch today and at the end of our discussion, I explained to him that I want him to grow up to be like his Daddy someday because his Daddy follows the Lord. He replied, "Some daddies have hair and some don't. I hope I have hair because Daddy doesn't." I don't think the message got through :)

And I need to share a praise. Several months ago, I resigned from my position as nursery greeter coordinator. I just need to be in the services more consistently and need to help Rob with the boys more on Sunday nights. I was just informed last night that a replacement has been found. Hopefully within the next month I will prepare the new person to take over and have this responsibility gone. I've felt for some time that that Lord wants me to move on and I'm so very thankful that my nursery days are numbered! I'll still serve once a month until Anna is out of the nursery but I won't be in charge of anything. Hooray!