Honey-do Lists....

I believe I've mentioned before the lack of honey-do-lists in our home due to compliance. Shawn doesn't want lists. He is more than willing to help out when he can, he just prefers to do it at his own pace, on his own time, and without being told he needs to do it. Imagine my surprise at this mornings conversation. I was merely adjusting myself in bed, blurry-eyed and noticing the clock at 5:45 am. Shawn was putting on his coat on his way out the door. He paused briefly and said:

"Will you make me a list of things you want me to accomplish tomorrow so I can get a lot done?"
Me: "What? You want me to make a list of things I'm going to do for you to see?"
Shawn: "No, a list of things you want me to accomplish."
Me: "As in, written down on paper? Things I want done. By you? I'm confused."
Shawn: "Just make a list so I can see what needs to be done, look at it, and then organize my time tomorrow."
Me: "Seriously?"
Shawn: "Bye. I love you." (kind of agitated at my disbelief)

Then he was gone. Where is my husband and who is this list-requesting man I've never known before? Now I need to figure out what to put on that list.......

A Change of Plans......

I am a planner. I always have been. I don't do spontaneous. It amazes me when people wake up one morning and decide to pack the car for a vacation. I need to plan in advance. The most unplanned activity I've experienced had to be the week after Christmas when the kids & I took that overnight trip to St. Louis with only 1 day notice. What I failed to mention is that I'd been considering it for months before I actually decided. I am a planner. I like to be organized, which is probably why I plan. I've learned recently that even though you might plan your life the way you'd like it to go, higher ups often times change what you thought was a great plan.Surprised? Me too. Since we were done having kids and everything. I've absolved this house of anything and everything dealing with baby and/or pregnancy. We still have a crib, but only because Landon sleeps in it. I do have to say that I'm surprisingly okay with this new discovery. I thought getting a positive on this particular test might send me into a fit of rage. Wrong. I'm kind of excited. Weird. I know. But at this point I can either be happy about it or let it ruin my life. I choose to be happy. I am glad I thought Landon was my last baby for so long because I think I was able to enjoy him more. Every late night feeding I treasured knowing I would never have to do it again. Every miserable teething moment was cherished because it was my last and final. It will kind of be fun to have another "last" baby. Let's just think pink or Kennedy might run away from home.

Yet Another Birthday....

Jack turned 4 yesterday. He's been anticipating this day for quite awhile now. Birthday season kicks off in our house in November, and everyday since he's been asking when January 9th is going to get here. I assured him it would eventually show up. And it did. This is the first birthday of his that he was very specific about. He had special details weaved into his celebration that I thought were so "Jack like" I couldn't refuse. Like the fact that he didn't want a cake for his party, just Popsicles. I convinced him maybe we should have a cake for the family, and he consented, only if it was a Mickey Mouse Head. Not Mickey Mouse, just his head. And for his presents he wanted 2 more skeleton books. Not 1, but 2. And, if he was going to have friends over, he only wanted 4. He wanted to have as many as he was old. He kept saying names, but then when he realized it was more than 4, he stuck with his plan. I tried to convince him that it was okay if he went over his age, but he was pretty adamant. This boy really knows what he wants.

For his family birthday dinner he chose Burger King and everyone should get a happy meal. We ate inside so the kids could play in the small-but-still-considered-a-play-place. True to Jack form, part way through dinner he was not listening and being just a little too aggressive. When warned, his snide remarks led him to spend the rest of his birthday dinner in the van with Shawn while the rest of us stayed and played. Jack will always be Jack. And I love it. This morning I overheard him telling Landon that even though it wasn't his birthday anymore he's still 4. He also took the time this morning to tell me all about the body. Apparently I know nothing and he knows all there is to know. True Surgeon mentality. (No offense please)

Sincerest Apologies....

I find myself needing to apologize. Apologize to my husband for my last post that might have made him seem inadequate as a caregiver. And to the readers that assumed my husband was negligent in his fatherly duties. I discovered today that my toddler is full of mischief regardless of who is left in charge. He will do as he pleases. At 12 noon today I was whipping up the chocolate batter that would soon become Jackson's birthday cake. As customary, I handed one of the beaters to Landon to lick clean while I divided the rest into baking pans. Landon was licking away, and the oven wasn't finished pre-heating so I said to him, "Stay where you are. I'm going to check my email and I'll be back up in one minute to wash you off. Don't move, okay?" I ran downstairs and logged into cyberspace. 2 minutes passed and I decided he was probably ready for a good washing. What I discovered when I returned was this:He obviously finished his beater quicker than anticipated and took it upon himself to re-chocolate the thing with batter from the prepared baking pan. I washed nearly 2 cups of batter off my counter, 1/2 cup off of him, all the while he was in tears. Not because he thought I was angry, but because he wanted to eat all that he'd siphoned onto the counter. Case in point. Shawn is not a neglectful father. I am not a neglectful mother. Landon has a mind of his own.

Crazy Saturdays....

Shawn had Saturday off. A rare find, so I took full advantage. I left at 9 am to grocery shop all alone. Fabulous beginning to a day. However, all good things must come to an end. As I entered the house toting various walmart sacks, this is what greeted me:Not only did he find Kennedy's purse of lipstick, he ate the tops off of most of them. Kennedy started into hysterics. Then I noticed that the poor boy just must have been hungry. Resorting to his own ingenuity, and discovering lipstick didn't do anything for his palette, he found some stray cereal and poured it into his own "bowl".

At least he used a spoon and didn't attempt to pour any milk. This baby crib was also Kennedy's, so more hysterics. I tried to fix a fun lunch to ease Kennedy's burdens. Instead of regular hot dogs I baked up some mini-corn dogs, a childhood favorite. I think Landon just prefers the hot dog part because I found these littering the ground under his bar stool:

So much for trying something new. Lucky for me I was scheduled to attend a baby shower sans kids in the afternoon. Shawn was once again left in charge. I have to admit I was a little afraid of what I'd find when I returned home the second time around. I cringed a little when I discovered what he'd done to my baby:He shaved him. All of his fuzzy, sticking-up-all-over-the-place hair. It's taking some getting used to. He did save me money on a haircut, vacuum up the remnants of the shave, and bathed the boy. I guess I can't complain too much. Shawn's on-call this coming weekend so there are no exciting surprises to look forward too. At least, I hope there aren't any.

Stone Soup....

I love this comic strip. I read it everyday. It's about sisters living next door to each other in the throws of raising children, both toddlers and teenagers. I think I like it because I can often relate. Today's had me giggling so I needed to share. Comics and Editorial Cartoons: Stone Soup on Yahoo! News
(okay, I realized this is taking you to the comic of the day you read it. My original post is for friday the 4th. Find the date at the bottom of the comic to see the one I actually meant you all to read. Sorry for the confusion. I couldn't figure out how to just post the actual comic strip from that day. Computer illiterate issues. Take it up with management.)

A Rockin' New Year...

This is Mark & Pam. We convinced them to come visit us for New Year's Eve this year. They have 4 kids, similar in ages to ours, and we all love this family. Our kids think they are cousins because we only see them every year or so. Mark is in the middle of a Radiology Residency. Pam is one of those girls that just "gets" me. She is practically living my same life so I don't have to go into too much detail for her to completely understand most things that I think and say. We go way back to that first deer-caught-in-the-headlights year of medical school when neither of us had any idea what we were really getting into. She was pretty much my sanity those few years. Needless to say, I was thrilled when they consented to stay in our home for 2 nights and ring in 2008 with us. The kids took to each other immediately. They all pretended to remember each other like long lost friends, and it was nice to see.

Ethan and Timothy pretty much stuck to video games.

Luke would join them every so often when Jack was out of tactics to convince him he was the better choice of playmate.

The girls wrote in their diaries, drew pictures, and kept themselves in their own little world most of the time.

And everybody loved baby Elsa.

For our New Years Eve dinner we made homemade pizza. Each of the kids created their own version.

We had every intention to let the kids truly ring in the New Year by staying up until the wee hours of the morning. However, the previous night the children stayed up that late on their own accord. They were pretty crabby and quick to cry, so we decided we'd celebrate a little early.

After our celebration we separated them from each other so sleep would actually occur, and then the adults watched "The Bourne Ultimatum" and stuffed our already full bellies with even more food. We actually made it to midnight. Minus the 1 1/2 hour nap I took during the movie.

It could not have been a better weekend than it was. Thank you Mark & Pam for making the small trek to our neck of the woods. We love you guys! You are welcome in our home anytime!