The Art of Accessorizing

Sunday morning was some quality time at home. Darby had an assignment for her new class to draw a family portrait. Originally she vehemently refused - at first she drew a large and small shark. Then there was a "really big whale". Finally she acquiesced and did one of the best pictures I've seen her do. Tongue out is her signature move.

The commentary was excellent as well:

• "Daddy's tall and big. Mommy's very little."
• "All of us have bodies."
• "Oh! We need feet! ...Now we have feet."

For his part, Dalton channeled his super-hero cape and made an excellent, high energy, brightly colored masterpiece. 

Darby's potty time pre-nap is often an extended event (although I'm confident she's not stalling...). Dalton likes to join in the fun. That day he enjoyed playing with Mommy's glasses.

The boy likes his accessories. No cracks necessary about him playing in the closet.

After nap we went over to Eva's for a playdate.  And by "after nap", I mean Darby's.  Mr. Man decided he didn't need one - until the 5 minute car ride...


We always say these 2 are total "frenemies". I believe these 3 pics illustrate that perfectly. 

Dalton enjoyed protecting everyone from a bubble invasion. The girls were basically oblivious to him. I see a lot of that in his future when he wants to play with big sister. 


Even his cute and studly poses couldn't catch their attention - where is Bailey-Boo-Boo when you need her?


Darby did get into the bubbles for a little while.


By the end of the day, Dalton was worn out. Darby somehow convinced Eva to practice her backup occupation of shoe sales. 

Water, Water, Everywhere, Nor Any Drop to Drink...

So, Friday night we did the ALS challenge.  Dalton was so adorable.  He got all upset when Mommy got wet.  Such a sweet boy.

Saturday morning was our usual weekend chaos.  Mommy had some ridiculous notion that she could shower in peace since Daddy was there.  Silly Mommy.  Dalton and Darby were eating cereal in the playroom - where Daddy was sitting on the couch 2 feet from them.  But Dalton, got up, with his bowl, walked all the way across the house and started yelling to me in that shower that he wanted more cereal.  I hadn't even gotten him the first bowl in the first place.  And he was not takin' no for an answer. I eventually had to phone Tim from the shower to come get him.

After breakfast, Darby decided everyone needed to group nap.  She kept getting up and finding new things to put under the covers - stuffed animals, plastic food, books, etc. - but oddly enough, she never asked/told me to participate.  No sleep for Mommy apparently.


After all this, and after we had dissuaded Darby from the now infamous "Pizza Party" (which we have to pack and prepare for every weekend, but which has yet to actually happen) and told her that she could take Teddy to the doctor later, we headed for the "beach" at Little Elm.  It's a lake beach, but the sand is nice, everything's clean, the facilities are great and are even being renovated, and it wasn't crowded in the morning. It's pretty much everything you'd hope for in a lake beach experience.  We had a great time swimming and playing in the sand and chasing a beach ball that we found that kept blowing away.  We will be going back.  I think I need to clean off my waterproof camera case, because the pics look much murkier than reality.

Dalton: All Boy.

Dalton with his beloved Bailey-Boo.  He calls her on the "phone" all the time telling her he's going to come see her.  They are too cute.

I miss the days when Dalton was a good sleeper. It used to be we could walk into the room, dump him in the crib, walk out and after squawking for 2 minutes he would go to sleep. Now:

1. We have to read a story

2. He sits in the rocking chair, I sit on the ottoman and sing "The Wheels on the Bus"

3. I sit on the chair, he sits on my lap and I rock him. 

4. Then Tim has to rock him

5. Then me rocking again and finally I put him in the crib 

6. His latest is that I have to sit in the room until he falls asleep

7. Finally - just when you thought you were done - at 2-3am repeat steps #5 & #6.

Despite the lack of sleep he has also been getting up early. Please note the sweet looking bedhead.


Luckily he has learned early the boy method of solving the crazy hair problem. What used to be my Trinity hat has lately become a frequent fixture on his head.  He also seems to have picked up on another boy behavior - having his head turned by a cute blond in a short skirt.  

Bailey-Boo - you shouldn't put up with that...

I'm comin' for ya June Cleaver...

I'm not going to pretend that I have it all together enough to give my kids a home-cooked meal every night. When I get home from work it is usually between 6 and 6:30, and at that point they have a shelf life of about 3 minutes before they start begging for snacks or melting down. Even chicken nuggets is a stretch because they have a cooking time and because ovens take FOREVER to heat up.  There are a whole lot of nights where I heat up leftovers or cook hot dogs or grilled cheese or pasta or makes the world's most perfect food - PB&J.

But last night was special. I had seen a recipe for chicken and broccoli pockets and though I couldn't make the real recipe, because it has dairy, I figured I could fake something similar.  Tim went to the store on the way to pick up the kids so I had him pick up the ingredients. 

When they got home I fought my way through the "snack" demands and got started. Dalton is VERY interested in every move I make in the kitchen so he climbed up on his stool to supervise. He demanded a total play-by-play, had to inspect every ingredient I touched and had to do all the microwave button-work during the defrosting process. The pockets weren't all that pretty but they had promise tastewise. The crust was Pillsbury crescent roll dough and inside I put cut up chicken, broccoli, mushrooms and Darby's fake cheddar cheese. 

When they went in the oven, my assistant helped me clean up. He loves loading and unloading the dishwasher. I know that won't last, but it sure is nice for now.  

When the pockets came out of the oven, Dalton got his oven mitt and helped there too. Finally, sister tore herself away from Despicable Me long enough to come see what was going on. 

I had high hopes for the reception as everything in there was something Darby liked and I had sold Dalton hard about this being something he had cooked. That was silly. I know better. Darby was all over the cherry tomatoes that Nana and Pa had brought over from the plant she had helped them grow, but wouldn't touch the pocket.  Dalton picked at it but wasn't thrilled. Not surprising there. His plate looked like it had been pecked by a flock of birds. 

Long story short, they both ended up with 2 bowls of cereal apiece. As you can see in the video, Dalton thoroughly enjoyed that... He cracks me up.

This Is How We Roll

We hit the Kohl's Saturday. The kids can have fun anywhere.


That night we went over to the Bridges' for Jamie's birthday. Good times were had by all. There was a whole lot of somersaulting (including by Miss Jamie). That's Dalton's new obsession. We have progressed past running and galloping and jumping everywhere - now we are rolling into the room.

Video of the somersault party.  To protect the innocent I cut out the plumber crack portion of Jamie's awesome backwards roll and started with the triumphant landing.


Sunday was a quiet (Ha!), rainy day at home. Darby wanted to color with markers. Clearly I should have been more specific about what she got to color. Mommy likes to take advantage of a nice photo op though. You might see this on a Christmas card - if I get organized enough to make one (Ha! again).

For someone who hates it when I try to take her picture, she sure can ham it up in front of a mirror, and she sure likes to see the pics later...