It's a Boy Thing....

Quinn loves ballet (I think probably because a lot of the stuff is pink). She loves looking at pictures of dancers and reading her ballet books and twirling around the room like a ballerina. Because she loves ballet so much I have decided this Christmas to take her to the Nutcracker. I decided to gauge Greyson's interest in accompanying us last night at dinner.

Me: Greyson, I am going to take Quinn to the ballet in December. Do you want to come?
G: No thank you.
Me: Oh, why not?
G: Because Daddy and I are going to bat lessons.
Me: Bat lessons?
G: (exasperated) Yes, Mommy bat lessons.
Me: What do you do at bat lessons?
G: (even more exasperated) You wear black shoes.
Me: Is that all.
G: No, Mommy. You were black shoes and run around like bats.
Me: Well that sounds like fun. Can I come?
G: (laughs hysterically) No Mommy it is just for boys. Silly Mommy.

I wonder if Raif knows where he is going.....

The Mother of all Projects

When Raif and I moved into this house a little under three years ago I had (in theory) a great unpacking strategy. I put all of our boxes in the basement and then brought them up one at a time to unpack. This was great in keeping the little people out of the boxes and keeping a relatively clean house and since I didn't have a lot of time each day to unpack it kept me from getting stressed.

Well after I unpacked all the essentials I sort of lost the motivation to get anymore done. The boxes were down in the basement, out of sight, and well just really easy to forget about. And so they sat. What's more, since the basement was already a complete disaster area it was really easy to just keep adding to the mess and so crap has been piling up and piling up and well, now it is almost impossible to walk through our basement.

So today I have started the great basement clean-out of 2009. I am determined to get that basement looking at least somewhat respectable. It is going to take awhile because a) it is a complete mess b) I am determined to find a place for everything down there or get rid of it. Goodwill and I are going to become friends. E-Bay/Craigslist and I are going to become friends and I may have to buy the trashman a Christmas gift this year for all the work he is going to do.

To keep myself honest and movitated I am going to post some pictures of what it looks like now and then post in a month to show my progress. If you see anything in there you want, let me know!!

Karma

We have an unwritten rule in our house. Raif and I have refused to respond to questions not asked with manners. For example - "I want a cookie" is met with a blank stare and no response until "May I have a cookie, please." comes out of a mouth. This has worked fairly well and the kids have done a lot better recently on their manners.

This evening, at dinner, I told Greyson "Finish your milk." I was met with a blank stare. "Greyson, I asked you to finish your milk." He didn't flinch. Finally, getting annoyed I said sternly "I am not going to ask you again - finish your milk."

"Mommy, I am not going to do it until you say please."

Lesson learned.

What Not To Wear

I have pleaded, bribed, corrected, praised and done everything I can think of. But no matter what I seem to say or do this is how my son leaves the bathroom.....


Shirt tucked in his underwear.
Underwear mid-waist like a little old man
Shorts below his waist like a teenage rapper

I don't think Tim Gunn has any worries about my son taking over his job.

The Rough Life...

First Day of School

For some reason Greyson felt quite patriotic today and insisted on taking his American flag to school.
Greyson and his new teacher - Ms. Ashley in Discovery Kingdom.
Quinn and her teacher Ms. Amanda in Fuzzy Caterpillars

Click Your Heels Three Times....

They always say you can't go home again but every year we seem to pile the family into the SUV (it really should have wood panels on the side) and drive halfway across the country to go home to Kansas. We spent a busy week at the Kansas City Zoo, the Petting Farm, Science City and an evening with the Parsons clan.

I got my annual BBQ fix at Jack Stack BBQ - as you can tell Greyson liked it too.


And a trip to KC wouldn't be complete without a lunch at Fritz's. Fritz's is this diner where there are no waiters. You sit down and order by phone and then your lunch is brought out by a train. For my son who LOVES trains this just rocks his world.

However, the best part every year is the trip out to our friends Rodger and Suzy's farm for the pony ride. The kids adore Smokey the pony as well as playing out at the farm. I can't wait until they are old enough to ride by themselves so we can go riding together but until then I am just happy that they love riding as much as I do.


As always for the complete pictorial chronicles of our KS adventure see Raif's smug-mug page.