Mr. Big Man

Sam went for his tuxedo fitting yesterday. (You may remember the story about his requested service as ring bearer for our friends Ben and Rebecca.)

He was very cute-- standing like a big man and letting them measure him all up. Of course, I had to take pictures, which I think he thought was ruining his cool-guy image.

Perhaps the funniest part was how interested our little friend Miss Elizabeth was in his tuxedo. "When will you get it? How did it look? Did you get to pick it out?" As we came out of the store, she had her arm around him and was acting quite chummy. I think she's trying to get her dibs in on my handsome little man for the day of the wedding. He'll be hot stuff, I tell you.

OOF!

Took the kids to Oceans of Fun for the first time on Monday. We went with Tonya and her two kids, 3 O'Donnell kids, and another friend of Tonya's and her two kids. It was quite the crew.

Ah yes, nothing more relaxing then a lazy day by the pool. Chasing toddlers, comforting crying preschoolers, passing out raisins and juice boxes to fend off sleepiness and grouchiness. Don't forget swim diapers. Whoever thought of those things was a genius-- convincing pools that just because the diaper covers up the stink or soaks up the pee that it doesn't all just mix into the lovliness that is pool water. Don't think about it too much-- chlorine fixes everything, right?

Although not relaxing, it was fun. I told Sam to walk tall over to the big kid slides, because at 45", he's just shy of the requisite 46" required for big sliding. It worked. He had a great time.

Kate did well too. She's become a little water-in-the-face shy in the last couple of weeks, so I let her ease her way into activity. (I think she doesn't want to mess up her hair. At least that's my reason.) She did fine in the kiddie pools, or as my sidekick. She really enjoyed playing with big kid Becca O'Donnell-- preferred that to Mama even! By the end of the day, she was going down those kiddie slides like a crazy woman. It was a successful trip! I think I'd even try it again sometime.

Crash

Kate has a new nickname. Unfortunately, it's appropriate. Janet dubbed Kate "Crash" last night after she continued to walk into doorframes, trip over her shoes, and bump into corners. She's so busy going, going, going that she fails to watch where she's going and just bumps into things. Plus, her fearlessness puts her in regular contact with dangerous situations, like last Saturday when she fell off a suspension bridge at the playground because 4 5-year-old boys were jumping on it and she bounced off and landed face down in the woodchips. Good grief.

Super Lunch!

We had a fun time this weekend. My parents were in town, so we went to the Legends on Friday night. Papaw and Daddy took the kids to see "Kung Fu Panda" (or as Kate says: Kuh Foo Pana) while Mom and I shopped. Saturday we went to Sam's t-ball practice and followed up with Lunch with Superheroes! at Hyvee. It was pretty silly, really. A bunch of teenage baggers dressed up in costumes, but Sam thought it was pretty neat. See the picture above. Kate wanted no part of the picture. I think it's that scary Wolverine that she doesn't like.

We also had Nanny over to watch some sprinkler fun in the front yard and to eat tacos on Saturday night. I think it was nice for her to get to spend some time viewing the animals, I mean great-grandchildren, in their natural habitat!

It's an Adventure (Oasis)!

Yesterday was the second day of the Incredible Summer of Fun. Outing: Adventure Oasis, a small water park in Independence. Lucky for us, it was "toddler town" day, which meant that it was FREE! I love free!

The kids had a good time. Sam's about the only kid there that will stand under the huge bucket that dumps over the entire water playground area and not run away or scream. He loves it. We took his little friend Bashir from across the street, and he wasn't so sure about that part. Sam went down the slides and played non-stop, mostly solo. He did help out with Kate when needed, but after falling, she decided that Mommy was a necessary accessory.

About Kate: When we got there, I was turned putting down my bag and towels and stuff, and the minute I took off her cover-up, she was gone. She ran out to the playground-- which required wading into the water, climbing up the stairs through splash and spray. No problem. In fact, i had to run after her, because she was following Sam to a tube slide. I was totally panicked because she didn't have on a single floaty or lifejacket or anything. Obviously, being 19 months, she doesn't know how to swim. So I left her at the top with Sam and RAN down to the bottom (through the sprinklers, dumping buckets, very cold water). Down came Sam.

"Where's Kate?" I asked in my calmest, most in-control voice. (Ha)

"I don't know."

So I run back up and she's chickened out. Whew.

She is relatively undeterred, though, until she slips off a step a few minutes later and dunks herself. After that, mommy was required.

It's funny the things you do in the name of motherhood. I really would rather not get into a freezing pool of water, then climb playground equipment only to have buckets of freezing water dumped on my head and sprayed up my skirt. I have very little desire to sit on the slide and go down. Much less do it multiple times. Yet, off I went, cheering the large bucket of doom and laughing when I got water in my face, so that Kate and Sam would know that this was the definition of fun. And it worked. They had fun. I don't think Bashir was buying it, but we all ended up having a great time.

No pictures-- are you kidding?! No photos of me getting drenched allowed.

Never Too Young

When we were getting ready this morning, Sam and Kate were watching Playhouse Disney, of course. Sam came into me and said, "You know, mom. They said that you're never too young to start saving energy. Or water. Or electricity. I'm not too young mom. So I'm going to do it."

A little tree-hugger is born. Thanks, Disney.

The Mess Maker

We have a few nicknames for Kate. Everyone gets them. Sam had some doozies. Stinky Pants Man became Pants Man and then Pants. I call him Sweet Pig and Mr. Nice Guy. You get the idea. Well, Kate has a few. Most aren't very flattering-- not the kind we'll put underneath her senior picture. One of infamy is The Messmaker.

The Mess Maker can be used in many ways. As in, "You're being messmaker." Or "That's messmaker." or "Don't be Messmaker."

A perfect example came last week. We were eating strawberries (most examples do involved eating, but not all) and angel food cake after a yummy dinner at Grandma's. The strawberries had a glaze on them. Apparently, not all natural coloring used in that glaze.

The pictures were taken AFTER we had washed her hands and face. And, the damage was not limited to the hands and face. We were pretty sure she had just gotten her first tattoo. I warned Stuart via phone that she'd been permanently dyed.

Two bits of good news: a little scrubbing in the bathtub did the trick right away. And, she's not allergic to strawberries.

The Incredible Summer of Fun Begins!

The Incredible Summer of Fun has begun! What?! Haven't heard of it!?! Impossible!

I decided that there were so many fun things to do during the summer in Kansas City that I needed to map out a plan to get the kids to some of them on Wednesdays. And then (here's where it gets good), I decided that if I could go, we could invite other moms who are home on Wednesdays. And so it begins: Jaime's Incredible Summer of Fun.

Our first event was going to the zoo. I figured early in the summer would be less hot. If less, it was certainly humid. We had 6 moms total, and who knows how many kids. I had two. That is who I was in charge of.

Sam took off leading the pack. No, not just the kids. The moms too. Like he knew where he was going. And at one point, he said as we passed by a worker, "Nice day today, isn't it?" Amy cracked up, but that's my son. 4 going on 84.

Kate enjoyed what she could see. I've decided she's earned a new nickname: the trash collector. A few nights ago, I wiped the extra bites of leftover pizza into the kitchen trash can and finished cleaning up the table. Kids were playing elsewhere when I walked away. Just a couple of minutes later, I see Kate eating pizza. No pizza is out, so I asked if she got it from the trash can. Uh-huh. Great.

At the zoo, she dropped cheerios on the floor (and by floor, I mean dirt), and that didn't stop her. Just kept eating. Also, she worked the moms, picking off snacks from poor, unsuspecting 'friends' and hoarding her own. What a woman. Don't say she got that from me. She didn't. I may be messy, but I don't eat messy.

All in all, it was a successful day. A hot, sticky, snacky successful day.

I'm a winner!

No, not for the usual reasons. Today I won tickets for "Walking with Dinosaurs". I was listening to my usual sports radio program on the way to the office (The Border Patrol on 810, if you must know). They started talking about the show, which I'd heard of but just couldn't bring myself to buy tickets for. They took two callers for 2 tickets and I was one of them! What a deal! After a quick call to secure a babysitter and a lunch trip to pickup the tix, it was set.

Jo didn't tell Sam about the tickets, so I got to when I picked him up. He was pretty excited, having seen a few commercials. He did great at the show and took it all in. I would try to explain the show, but so far every time I try to, it comes out sounding like a cross between the Disney Electric Parade and a science lecture. You can try the site if you want to know more: http://www.dinosaurlive.com/.

At one point in the show, Sam said something I thought was so cute. I don't want to give away the plot (no, there really wasn't one), but a mama dinosaur helped out a baby and they approached each other afterwards. Sam said, "What do you think they are saying, Mom?"

This type of question is not at all uncommon in our house.

"Um, I don't know, Sam. What do you think?" I responded. This type of response is not at all uncommon in our house.

"He's saying, 'You're welcome.'" He was so certain of the conversation, and I was just so pleased it was polite!

The one other notable thing about the trip was that when we got out of the show, it was pouring. Big time. Instead of waiting it out, we made a dash for our car, which was fortunately parked close. There we were, running through the rain. Sam clutching his new $20 plastic dinosaur and me clutching keys. We yelled and laughed as we ran-- hey, we already looked plenty crazy-- and it was actually pretty fun. The only thing I had to dry off with in the car was kleenex, so there you go. We got home to find Megan and Kate coming up from a tornado warning stay in the basement. Crazy!