Ahh, Siblings

I love watching Lauren and Tucker interact, especially now that they can have meaningful conversations that I do not have to be a part of. It is hilarious. For some reason, they have determined that to see a motorcycle is a special thing, and whether or not you see it is of particular importance. Some times, it can become contentious and end in tears, but most of the time it is good-natured fun. Here is a typical car conversation:
L: I SEE A MOTORCYCLE!!
T: I SEE A MOTORCYCLE, TOO!!
L & T (sing-songy): WE SEE A MOTORCYCLE, WE SEE A MOTORCYCLE!
L: I see a motorcycle, I put an 'X' on you (obviously, this has been picked up on the playgrounds of kindergarten)
T: I see a motorcycle, I put a 'T' on you (hey, I'm not saying he's brilliant b/c he picked his own initial...but I will say that he absolutely picked that all by himself!!)
This is the point where it could end in tears, but mostly ends in giggles.

In other news, Lauren had her post-op visit yesterday and has been released to resume the full duties of being a 5-almost-6 year old. Whew! We did get good news from the doctor, it looks like the hole in her left ear is patched (for now) and all is healing well. We go back in 6 weeks for another checkup. Let's hope that continues to be the case and that her hearing continues to improve!!

Sometimes, I Surprise Even Myself

That's right, I finally have broken down and paid someone else to paint my bathroom. Painting would have been easy enough, it was all the D%&N wallpaper remnants that needed to be removed that kept hanging me up. If anyone ever needs to know, I am 100% anti-wallpaper. I should have taken 'before' pics, but that way it would make it much harder to forget that I let my bathroom sit, half-stripped, for.....well, a long time anyways.
I'm considering letting the kids do some abstract art on canvas to decorate...will post new pics with the finished product.

Oh! The Things We Have Done!

It's Spring Break, and we are having a great week. After the weather cleared up, we have spent the last few days outside and it has been fab-o-lus. Lauren is still recovering from the ear surgery she had last week, so she can't do any running or jumping (which stinks), but we are doing lots of chalk art and playdoh playing. We have also had several meals al fresco, and I hope to have several more over the weekend. Today we went on our traditional spring break trip to the zoo, which was a blast.

Chalk Art...

File this one under "Things I Assumed Would Never Ever Happen..."

Cuties

Hey! These kids actually do have a dad!!

Tucker wasn't sure about the train at first, but he ended up enjoying the ride...

It Had To Be Said, also know as "A Rant"

My children are not well behaved in church. I am under no delusion that they are. They are fidgety, bored, antsy, and sometimes, yes, loud. I would greatly prefer to skip attending church from approximately age 2 to age 5. I am also of the belief that if they don’t attend, they won’t learn how to behave as well as not get in the practice of going to church.

Lauren, at 5 3/4 is just being able to mostly sit through mass without great incident. Tucker, however is another story. Idle threats and cajoling most certainly do not work with Tucker. It is sometimes a constant battle to keep him quiet in mass. It is not fun and is embarrassing at times.

However. This morning in mass, I was absolutely shocked when a lady in church turned around and loudly shushed Tucker. I was so caught off guard and offended that I gave her A Dirty Look, to which she saw and added "Please" to her shush. I mean, really, lady? Shushing a two year old, who you do not know and are not otherwise involved with? You think that will correct the behavior? It royally pissed me off. What I envisioned saying to her, had we not been in church and all, was the nicest and ugliest thing I could think of: "I’m so sorry. I sincerely hope that one day when you have children, people will be a little more understanding." (if only I'd had the chance to say it...)

It is just a reminder to me to always think before you speak (or shush). You don’t know what someone else is going through. Especially with parenting. Parenting is hard, and if you haven’t been there - as this lady OBVIOUSLY has not - you cannot possibly understand the effort involved in doing something as simple as attending mass on Sunday.

Can I get an Amen?

Star Student

Lauren was the Star Student in her class this week. As part of her official duties, she had to bring "Woody" home and document their goings-on. As you can tell, they had quite the time. He helped her with her homework...

They hung out with Tucker in a fort...

Lauren showed Woody a snowball that we have kept in our freezer for just such an occasion...

And, perhaps most exciting of all...

She took him to McDonald's for a Happy Meal!! It's great to be a star!

And Goes Out Like a Lopsided Snowman

The snow was very fun while it lasted.

Comes in Like a Lion...

The biggest snowman I have ever actually built...was almost as tall as Tucker...

What a pleasant surprise to wake up to on a Sunday Morning!!

Tucker ate snow the entire time we were outside...and pitched such a fit when we came in, I had to bring a bowl in for him and Lauren!! It is still snowing outside, and has snowed so much that it has covered everything we messed up this morning!! Hopefully we will get to play some more before it is gone. What fun!!