Backseat Conversation

When not in conversation, this is a typical scene from the backseat mid-afternoon

On our way home Wip asked me about the wedding picture on the shelf at the top of the stairs. He asked me if we went to a wedding and was curious if he and Duncan went to Grams and Poppy's house. I explained that the wedding was our wedding and it was before he was born. His wheels started turning and he said "oh! I was in your belly!" (not exactly, kid). He reminded me of a story I told him about getting sick. He said "remember when I was in your belly and I did not like the chick fil a". This was a story I told him probably years ago...how does he remember this stuff. Trust me, I will never forget being 9 months pregnant and getting sick from chick fil a....not my finest hour.

I am really weird. If something gets in my head while I am driving in the car, I usually just belt it out. While out running errands with D, we drove past Fan Outfitter store. It made me think of basketball season and I just started chanting..."whats your favorite color baby?"....this was Duncan's version.

Wip has had a pretty busy social calendar lately...from baking class to playdates it is not unusual for me to just pick up D from school. The other day, it was just me and D, as we were pulling out of the parking lot I hear D say "ah, man we forgot about Wip"...I tried to get a reenactment here

Halloween Spirit

In the spirit of Halloween, this weekend, we headed to a family friendly Halloween party, went to the Fall Ball at the Temple, and ended the weekend with a Pumpkin Carving Party on a farm.

It was a struggle to get the boys excited to put their costumes on because they have both changed their minds (no less than 10 times). They wanted to be Batman and Ironman...sorry boys, a giraffe and a moose it is going to have to be . Once we got to the party the costumes came off, but it did not stop the fun. Need proof? Check out Wip's moves on the dance floor here and here.

Trying to get D to put on his costume a.k.a. bribing with 2 lollipops and a chocolate treat.

So a moose and a giraffe walk into this Halloween party...

I love how D would not take his eye off of the dessert

Ninja turtle and moose unite!

So at the end of the night D was alternating between a chicken finger and a lollipop...pretty genius. 

Wip hanging with his buddy Is at the Temple Fall Ball

Duncan followed this sweet dog everywhere

Time to start carving

Daddy working hard 

There was a lot of good carving going on

D on a John Deer

Hanging with the Easley boys

Pretty much sums up the weekend

Learning

I am always learning. 

I am learning that I don't always have it together to put my clothes away...and while it drives me crazy, sometimes my section of the room is "messy".

I am learning that Wip is happiest right before bed. He is typically a happy kid, but there is something about when he gets out of the bath to get his jammies on.

source

I am learning that a squeaky clean face might not be the best thing. Click here for the article.

  

Wip sees Duncan

Duncan runs to Wip

Love

I am learning how Wip and Duncan are more than brothers, they are best friends. As I have said before, Duncan's teacher LOOOOOVES to send pictures. The other day I got the series above.

I am learning about the serious issue of bullying. I watched this documentary on Netflix, and did not stop crying the entire time. It was so bad that when I saw my father in law at the gym the next morning, he asked me what was wrong because my eyes were still so puffy. It is hard to watch, but it is very powerful. 

Teachable Moment

The demon finally went to sleep

We had a young man babysit the boys last Friday night. Before he arrived he texted Patrick and asked if he should bring any board games (so sweet). Upon arrival he informed me that he packed his favorite childhood DVD's for the boys to enjoy (super sweet). When we got home from our evening out, I could tell this young man was a little frazzled. Duncan had yet to go to sleep (it was 10pm) and he said that they just kept asking to watch more Loony Toon cartoons. I told him that as long as the children were still alive, everything was fine. On his way out the door he informed me that he was keeping the Loony Toons DVD here because he promised Wip it would be here when he woke up (super duper sweet).

When the boys woke up the next day, I asked Wip if he had fun with the new babysitter and he looked at me and said "mommy, he looked different...his hair was different". This was my teachable moment. The young man is kind, loving, and happens to be African American. I told Wip that we need to be kind to everyone, even when they look different. I tried to tell him if we all looked the same it would be pretty boring world that we live in. Finally, I yelled for Patrick to come up in case I was missing something or if he had anything to add:). Those teachable moments can creep up on you in this job of being a parent. I have often heard that folks want their children to be "colorblind" and if it could only be that easy. I want to teach my children to be kind human beings no matter how similar or different someone might be.

Wip was pretty excited that he left the Loony Toons DVD for him! Loony Toons and Fruit Loops, could a Saturday morning get any better?

KCD

Only at KCD can you walk past the theater on a Sunday afternoon and hear a young man playing piano like this. This is only one of the many reasons that I love KCD.

The other night we went to the girls golf banquet.

Upon arrival Duncan was passed out from his "no nap until late afternoon" phase. He kindly drooled all over the hosts bed. I am sure they were pleased:)

Wip had a blast (and even wrote his own name tag....atta boy!).

KCD has been like a second home to me and my family. It has been a place where I have been frustrated, ecstatic, and humbled over the 10 years that I have walked through those doors to work. It has introduced me to some of the most incredible young people and has challenged me to work my hardest.

Take all of my hard work that I have put into KCD and multiply it by 500 to really understand how hard Patrick works for the school. He puts so much blood, sweat, and tears into making sure those students have the best possible chance at having a successful life.

At the golf banquet, the blood, sweat, and tears were recognized as the team gave him a "couples only" trip to Chicago for the weekend. A chance to get away, eat, sleep in, and just roam the streets of Chi-town. I must say that I was pretty excited that they think so highly of him, because I get to share in the fun! I also was so grateful that all of his hard work does not go unnoticed. Well done girls golf team, well done.

We Did It!

The soccer season is over, the golf matches have ended, and the only thing on my mind is (finally) sitting down to a family dinner (just one per week, is that too much to ask?).

In the Dinner a Love Story cookbook, Jenny (a.k.a my BFF) says that if you have a kid under three you might not want to include him in the family dinner festivities. We went against this advice and took the plunge...WE DID IT!  We finally had a family dinner.

The menu included:

• sloppy joes 
• sweet potato fries
• green beans

Duncan loved the sloppy joes (Wip, not so much).

The funniest part was when Wip started talking about inviting his friend Caroline over for a Gingerbread House Decorating Party. He was telling me exactly where she would sit and what they would do. Then it hit me, the last time that he sat in our dining room was almost a year ago when we had his friends over to decorate gingerbread houses...oh my. This family dinner was loooooooong overdue.

Adorable

Wip made this today at school. When Patrick asked him what it was, Wip exclaimed "my family!". When Patrick asked why there was five people in the picture, Wip responded "it is my mommy, me, my daddy, Duncan, and my sister". When asked if he would rather have a dog or a sister he said "both!". Adorable, but not happening:)

These fine ladies are the seniors on my soccer team. Are they not adorable? 

Wip has been working so hard on writing his name! Love seeing the encouragement, adorable.

I made this. I would not say it was adorable...it was ooohy, gooey, and delicious.

http://i.huffpost.com/gen/398934/RIZDEN-UP-1.jpg

We are big fans of the movie "Up". That makes this costume not only the best I have ever seen (big statement), but pretty darn adorable.

I love this picture. I love all of the motion going on around Duncan. Adorable.

This young lady graduated from KCD and now attends Emory University. I got to catch up with her at a conference, and well, you guessed it...she is adorable.

I found these two little doodlebugs crashing in Wip's bed the other night...adorable.

I bought "The Little Mermaid" yesterday and it is already a huge hit in our house. Watching these little munchkins get caught up in a movie is pretty adorable.

On the blog Dinner a Love Story, they call nightly cocktails medicine. I find that adorable.

I had a meeting at school. Wip was so patient and drew tons of pictures on the wipe board. This was my favorite. He called it "Noah's Ark" and if you look closely you can see a giraffe, zebra, and camel. Adorable.

Finally, this was where I found Duncan this afternoon. He desperately needed a nap and was fighting it, so I locked him in his room (don't judge). When it got quite, I tip toed upstairs and this is what I found. The fact that he passed out with his dragon cape on is simply adorable.

The Flops

I went to an authentic Chinese restaurant near Indianapolis last week. It could have been a total flop. The hosts set out a "sample" menu for us to try (pigs ear, tofu, chicken, etc.). The truth is, I really enjoyed the food (especially the Chow Mei Fun). In fact, I can't wait to take my family to try some authentic Chinese cuisine.

This past week I also tried "new" menu items at home. It was a total failure. Here is what I mean...

Chicken Orzo Soup from Dinner a Love Story. I worked on this for an entire day. It was going to be amazing.  I even "bragged" about it at family dinner. The problem was I did not have enough chicken broth and too much orzo. Introducing, mediocre chicken with lots of orzo and little liquid (salt required).

Chicken & Wild Rice Casserole from Weelicious. This recipe spoke to me because it was a "healthy" version of the classic chicken casserole. With the leaves changing, I was ready to give this recipe a whirl. Let's just say there is a reason that cream of chicken soup is included in the casserole. The healthy version...not worth it.

Baked Chicken Salad from the recipe book of Francie. I have made this recipe a ton. It always turns out great. In fact, it was the first book club dish I ever attempted...talk about nervous (but it was fine:). This time, I added a little extra celery and I put everything in the food processor. The product turned into a watery mess...thanks finely chopped celery. Lesson learned.

Potsticker Soup's On! from Trader Joe's. This final flop could have been a hit. It had the flavor and ease of something that had the potential to be put on the rotation. Sadly, it does not explain that when you are making the soup before putting the children to bed you should not add the pan seared potsickers to the soup because when you finish putting them to bed, you will end up with a mushy mess.

I hope you have enjoyed this version of "The Flops". Needless to say, I am sticking with what I know works this week:)

Brothers Don't Shake Hands...

Brothers gotta hug.

Cracking Me Up

If you have never watched Parks and Recreation...shame on you! We have been fans for a while and it never disappoints. With a recent episode that we watched titled "Halloween Surprise", we literally could not stop laughing...especially at this part. Cracking. Me. Up.

So the photo above is cracking me up because of daddy's caption in his text when I was at a conference... "mommy, enjoy your trust fall". This video is cracking me up. This video is cracking me up even more.

http://ohhappyday.com/2013/10/homemade-halloween-fashion-icons-part-1/

This photo is making me wish I had a girl with attitude...I mean seriously cracking me up!

This is Wip's version of a triceratops...cracking me up.

This is Duncan in his Spiderman underpants (yes, we have started potty training). It has to crack me up because the last time I did this, it almost did me in!

This picture cracks me up because it is so hard for me to believe that Tanner and Duncan are old enough to walk and talk...for some reason in my head I feel like they will always be the babies (but they are both proving otherwise:).

This picture is cracking me up because it is Duncan on a fire truck looking precious...we all know the truth:)

This picture is cracking me up because the boy loves to go, go, go, but he still needs his beauty sleep...still trying to find that balance!

Finally, my little vampires in their Bruce Springsteen t-shirts are cracking me up for no other reason than wearing "Bruce" shirts and vampire teeth. Hope you have enjoyed this segment of "cracking me up!".