Conversations with the beans

Last weekend I had to work Fri, Sat and Sun. As soon as I got home on Sunday night, I went directly to the couch with the intention of not moving till bedtime. Josh had to leave as soon as I got home, but it was almost bed time for the kids, so I put some cartoons on and rested my feet. Fin sits down next to me, pats my head and says,

"How was work Mama?"

"It was a long day, Mama is really tired."

Fin nods his head sagely, "You should just west on da couch Mama."

Parker scowls at me, "Mama! You go bed!" and jabs her finger towards upstairs.

We have a cuckoo clock in the kitchen, but the "cuckoo" part of the clock is merely decorative. Fin was looking at it the other day and says,

"Mama we should get a coo-coo cwock that makes music, and da people just move around and dance and stuff."

"Yeah, that'd be cool. Like Gammie's?"

"Yeah. That'd be so tool." and then he starts singing "So tool! So tool!" in the same exact notes the bird in the clock would sing "Coo-coo! Coo-coo!"

Parker has never been a huge fan of clothes. If she could be naked 100% of the time, she'd be the happiest little person in the world. Recently when I do let her go naked as soon as she's "free" she'll strike a pose (arms wide, legs bent like a sumo wrestler) and half growl, half yell

"I'mmmmmmm nnnnnnnnnakkkeeeed!!!!"

It reminds me of the Saturday Night Live Molly Shannon sketch where she plays the fifty year old woman who is always saying "I'mmmm fifty!!"

This morning Parker dumped a full cup of juice on the carpet, so I took her cup away. She was obviously upset, and proceeded to have a tantrum, which landed her upstairs in her room in a time out. While I was cleaning up the mess, Fin looks at me and shakes his head, "Why is Parker so schwif-i-cult (difficult) Mama? Yeah? Why is she?"

Fin has never eaten the skin off an apple, even when I slice it he eats it like you would eat an orange slice. Yesterday Parker was eating a whole apple (uncut) and he decided he wanted one. As he's eating it he informs me "Dis part of the apple helps your gums Mama." pointing to the skin

"It does help your gums. Who told you that?" I was curious, since I know I didn't tell him that

"Nobody did. I just know dat."

On the way to school yesterday Fin says

"Maybe we don't have chapel today."

"Umm, I think you do, its Thursday."

"No! I don't think we do!" he says forcefully

"Okay, I guess we'll see. Don't you want to go to chapel?"

he sighs, "No. It just makes me so tired."

At the Spectrum last night Parker kept clasping her hands behind her back (like you would to stretch your arms) and running around saying,

"I'm a butter-fwy! I'm a butter-fwy!"

And when she wasn't doing that she was trying to convince Jessie that there were a) monkeys hiding in the "twees" ("siwwy monkeys. Funny!") or b) there were "scawey spiduh"s in every corner.

When its too hot to play outside...

Mom has to get creative.  So when I saw the plans for this newspaper hut, I was super excited.  Every kid loves a tent/fort/hut and we've made many a fort using the sheets and furniture.  But they always end up falling apart, or falling on top of them, and take up the entire room.  This seemed a little more permanent, and at the very least more contained.  It would also let them help me make it.  They helped me roll all the poles and tape them, and then they lined up all the triangles for me to staple together.  Its when I started stapling that I thought, mmm this is not as easy as I planned.  It was difficult to staple two poles together, let alone three, and then five (at the top).  I thought, this is impossible, something must be wrong.  I went back to the computer, and realized I had make the poles twice as thick, and half the length they were supposed to be.  Oops.  It came together anyways.  Once I get some more staples, I'm gonna try it again.

Fin had me put a sheet over it (and given the choice between a pink sheet and a tan one, he of course, chose the pink).  I added the boa for flourish.  

They had their morning snack of grapes, strawberries and yogurt covered raisins inside, and were adorably polite to each other.  "Here Sisssy, hab a straw-bewry, its yummy!"  "Dank you Pippin!"  "Here Pippin, a bewwy!"  "Sank you Sissy!"

Some more creativity:

Last week Parker decided to give herself a pedicure, and after getting my approval both kids went to town coloring all over themselves and each other.

Then Fin decided he would like to be a tiger, so I drew some whiskers and he and Parker ran around the house roaring.  Poor Tammie ran for her life.

Next up, I'm thinking macaroni noodles and yarn.  

Start making room in your jewelry boxes now!

The Most AMAZING Video You Will Ever See

Is this:

Yes, thats right.  Griffin "I only eat pb&j, vanilla yogurt, and chicken nuggets in the shape of a dinosaur" Daniel Wright just ate spinach.  SPINACH.  Which just goes to show that patience and persistence is key with my little man (and all preschoolers, I'm sure).  Never have I been so excited about some one else eating something.  

Take me to the fair

So I'm a little backed up in my posts, but I'm just going to continue the chrnological flow of this blog and hope to catch up sometime soon!  So a post all about Ms. Parker Leigh's fab doggy glamour party is coming, I promise.  But I just had to write about our trip to the Orange County Fair.

We almost didn't go, money being a little tight, what with birthday parties, car problems, you know, the usual stuff.  But when it came down to it, the kids were so excited about going, and I'd already broken their hearts once.  See, on Monday of last week, I thought, well I'll just take the kids during the day, and we'll look at the cows, buy some cotton candy, and we can declare the County Fair as DONE.  So we packed up, put our sunscreen on, sippy cups firmly in hand and headed down the 55.  Pulled into the parking lot.  Or rather, didn't pull in.  Since our way was blocked by a giant sign that read: NO PARKING.  FAIR CLOSED MONDAYS.  Oh.  Uhhh, guys we can't go to the fair today.  "We're gonna go seeee coooowwwwsss!!!" Parker sang from the back.  Uhhh, no Sissy, sorry no cows.  Cows are closed.  "But maybe we can go ober dere Mommy"  Fin said pointing to the other parking lot.  No buddy, the fair is closed.  "But wwwwhhhhhyyyyyy!!!"  Oh man, here we go.  So I thought fast.  I thought, where in the heck can I get my hands on some cows?  And fast?  And cheap?  And as we got back onto the freeway it dawned on me.  THE ZOO!  The glorious Santa Ana Zoo.  Which boasts $9 entry fee (and thats everyone combined) funny monkeys, and an entire barnyard with, yes, A COW.  So we went there instead, and the kids had a blast.  But throughout the week, everytime he woke up Fin would ask, "Are we going to the fair nooooowww?" and then Parker would chime in, jumping up and down "we're gonna go see coooowwwsss?!"

So we went on Thursday.  Auntie Mimi, Uncle Pez, and baby-girl Lily met us there.  We first hit up a small petting zoo, where Parker stuck her hand into every single mouth of every single animal there.  Even the giant camels.  That girl has no fear of animals whatsoever.  They would lunge out at her, trying to get the food she didn't have, and gum her hands and nibble at her fingers and she'd squeal with joy, saying "Awwww, cute!!!  Tickles!"  Fin spent about thirty seconds in there glancing at the animals, before asking over and over, "Can we pwease weabe now? Please Mommy?!"  So we made our way to the rides.  Fin spotted a tiny roller coaster that he wanted to ride, but after seeing it squeal and lurch and rock, he decided that perhaps the bumper cars were more his style.  Except he didn't want to go alone.  And they were kids sized bumper cars.  So in the picture you'll see Josh, knees up to his chin, one leg over the steering wheel, the only adult in a ride filled with six year olds, trying desperately not to knock into them.  It was hilarious, and Fin looked miserable the whole time, but as Auntie Mimi and I predicted he declared it "sooo much fun!"  We hit up a couple more rides, including one that again, was not made for adults, and I thought I'd break (and thats bad, since I weigh less than most adolescent boys) a sort of "offroading" truck ride that bounced along.  I could not stop laughing, and Kim, Josh and Pez were all cracking up yelling at me not to break the ride.  Then Fin and I rode a train, where Fin chastised me for pushing buttons and spinning the steering wheel, he took his position as driver very seriously.  "What does this button do Fin?"  never taking his eyes off the track, he swats at my hand, "No Mom.  Stop.  Just don't." 

We then headed over to some more animals, and Parker once again got a hands on experience.  As a couple was ooohhhing and ahhing over "How cute she is!" Parker stuck four of her fingers up a cows nose.  Yeah.  I lunged to grab her as the couple and everyone else cracked up.  She also had a baby chick who bit her finger, which of course she thought was "cuuuttee!"  After that we headed over to the "big kids" rides, where Uncle Pez bought a sausage and while he ordered and ate it, we all boogied to mariachi music, Baby-girl Lily especially.  Her little legs were kicking in perfect beat, and she had a giant smile on her face.  When the music stopped, then started again, her face just lit up in another giant smile.  She was loving her some mariachi music.  Any gal who will dance in public with us is okay by me, and Lils passed that test with flying colors.  She knows how to party.  So now that Pez had finished is giant sausage, with onions, peppers and god knows what else, we thought, well we should probably go on one of these rides.  How 'bout that one, the one that spins you around and then the whole thing swings around upside down so you're hanging in the air three stories, spinning and spinning and spinning, upside down, till all the blood rushes to your head and you feel like your eyeballs are going to explode.  Heck yeah!  So Pez and I did it.  There were two girls in our little section with us, all of twelve years old, and one turns to me and says, "You're not going to throw up right?"  Umm no promises.  No one threw up, but we all decided that the County Fair was officially DONE.  So we took our photo booth pics and loaded up the car and the kids were asleep before we got on the freeway.    

When I was a kid we would always go to the fair, but we never went on any rides.  I never felt like I was missing out.  For me the fair means ridiculous food, like giant turkey legs, fried twinkies, and popcorn.  It means looking at farm animals, booths selling jacuzzis, and dancing in public like a fool.  Mainly it meant being with my family and enjoying each other.  

The County Fair is officially DONE.

Till the LA County Fair, that is.