Straight Talk

I was talking to Mom recently, and she said that she read an article or something that said people aren't usually honest on blogs because they don't want people knowing the bad parts of their lives. I always think I'm being pretty honest, but I'm going to make a more conscious effort going forward. I want to look back years from now and remember how life REALLY was, not just the good parts :) So, here goes (this entry is a little random, so please forgive me but I'm exhausted - much harder to put together something that flows... I certainly hope Ms Bice from high school English doesn't read this! Oh, and I hope my relatives who are English teachers can also forgive me, if they happen to read this. And if you're wondering, my goal is now to make this the longest parenthetical note in any blog I know.).

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We had a fun but tiring weekend. I cleaned the house almost all weekend - why does it seem like I clean one thing and then turn right around and it's dirty again? When I say clean, I mean CLEAN! I used the "real" mop (the string one that you have to squeeze), and even got Alan to bring the big extension ladder upstairs to clean the catwalk. However, it looks like a pigsty once again. UGH! I was trying to get the house spic and span since we'll be leaving for the beach on Saturday, and Alan is gone to Las Vegas this week. I am SO ready for a vacation (although with 2 kids, it will hardly be a vacation for us!).

Saturday morning, we went to Anna's birthday party and had lots of fun. Happy birthday, Anna! I can't believe she's 1 already - time flies! By the way - not sure you can really see Anna in any of these! Look closely and you can see her tutu...

This week is not starting out on such a good foot. Even Charlie has been extremely fussy today - not his usual mellow self. I guess even easy babies are not easy all the time (well, I guess that no baby is ever really all that easy, no matter how good they are!).

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I've also decided to start a new quiet time routine - one that Alan told me about. You read one book of the Bible every day for a month (or divide it up, if it's a long book). By the end of two years, you will have read AND retained every book (the retention is always my problem). After that, you do it again, but only read the Old Testament once every three years, since we aren't under that law anymore - the New Testament makes more sense to study regularly. You're supposed to do this for an hour every day. Do you think I've had 3 minutes to even get started reading? No! I have read maybe 2 verses so far. Looks like the tiny book of 1 John will be stretched out longer than 1 month :) However, it's important that I at least put forth an effort, and that my kids see me with my Bible on a regular basis.

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Today we went to the library for storytime and had a meltdown when we were leaving (it involved me carrying both kids out to the car from the 2nd floor, back of the building). Needless to say, I'm still feeling the effects, especially since Carter likes to struggle and he's very heavy and strong! He is just so strong willed, and I can't ever let him win or it will be even worse. He didn't get his way after not listening to me, so we had to leave even though he didn't want to. In the car after he stopped crying and screaming, he told me he was sorry and that he wasn't going to do that again. That was good to hear - maybe I'm making progress :) Tonight while getting ready for bed, I told him he could watch Backyardigans before bed, but only if he brushed his teeth and got ready for bed first. Well, he dilly-dallied and wouldn't really brush his teeth so he went to bed with no Backyardigans. Again, not a hit with him, but I have to stick my ground! I told him we'd try again tomorrow and that if he listened to me, we could watch them. He understood why he had to go straight to bed though, so he didn't even cry or scream this time, but instead accepted his fate and is now in bed, all of his own accord. Yay!

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Carter "taking my picture" with the camera he made from blocks:

Charlie with his new favorite comfort - his fingers! Yep, he likes to spit out his pappy and go for his fingers. Not a habit I'm crazy about, since I can at least make sure his pappy is clean (not always sure about the fingers though), and also when it comes time to give up the habit, it will be easier to take the pappy away. However, it's so darn cute right now!

Rhetorical question here - are we taking the Mr/Mrs thing too far? I know it's polite, but Carter calls EVERYONE Mr or Mrs now (Mr. Papa, Mrs Gigi, etc). He also can't say Coach Rob unless I say it first - it usually comes out "Mr. Chrob." And tonight while telling bedtime stories and saying our prayer, I asked Carter who made the world (we had just read this in a book). He said, "Mr. God." If only I could ingrain his thank-yous, pleases, sirs and ma'ams this much :)

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And finally for tonight, here's a sneak peek at the cute cowboy outfit I ordered Charlie to wear at Carter's birthday party - those are smocked cowboys with little stick horses if you can't see it very well. Giddy up!