Chubby can be beautiful

Colin was goofing around, as he does, and pretended to wrap himself in bandages, but mispoke and said "I'm a mommy now!" (instead of mummy) So I rubbed his tummy and said "Ooooh, is there a baby in there? Where's the daddy?" And he said, "No, there's a baby in ELLA'S tummy, and I'm the daddy" Ella looked up in surpise, then down at her tummy and said "NO! I'm just CHUBBY!"
Colin and I were speechless for a second, then we both fell all over ourselves saying "NOOOO! You're not chubby! You're BEAUTIFUL!"
She looked at us as if we are insane and said "But, chubby can be beautiful"

Ella has no patience

Colin was taking some liquid Benadryl, and quite honestly, stalling about drinking it. He'd raise it to his lips, then say something, then raise it up again, then say something else. *rollingmyeyes*

Finally Ella shouted "JUST DRINK IT ALREADY!"

It was additionally hysterical that she was wearing pink monkey pajamas and care bear socks when she shouted that demand. lol

The inner workings of the sibling relationship

In order to prevent (or attempt to prevent) fighting over movies, I let my kids take turns picking the movie. When its Ella's turn, she won't pick any of the movies I suggest because "Brother doesn't like girls in movies" Its a big source of frustration for me, because a)I want her to like what she likes and b) I want a girly-girl. ;)
When its Colin's turn, he has no such dilemma, he picks Ninja Turtles, or some superhero movie. BUT, he usually leaves while his movie is on. And Ella sits and watches it, because Colin likes it.
Hmmm.

Noooooooo!!!!!

I just had a very startling experience.

Ella just came to me and said "Brother hit me with a poodle!" and he said "False!" and it struck me.....my son is Dwight.

">

NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Wedding plans

I overheard Ella today, talking to Colin about their wedding plans. Ella, like all other 3 yr olds, has chosen a completely unsuitable groom.....her brother. She was talking over what their wedding will be like, "And I'll wear a big dress with pink all over it, and a veil, and there will be dancing, and lots of flowers, it will be beautiful! And you will be so handsome in your tux, and we'll dance together, because we'll be married!" And Colin, while not wanting to dash his sister's dreams, it way too logical to agree that this is a possiblity, so he took the only out he could think of "Is this when you're a grownup? Well, when you're a grownup, I'll be an old man, and you are too beautiful to marry an old man!"

She accepted this, but still plans on dancing with him at her wedding. She said "I'll just marry nobody then, and we can still dance while I'm in my pretty dress."

A lesson from Ella

Its been awhile since I've posted anything here, what with the hospital drama we've been starring in this last week.
But I knew eventually one of the kids would say something that would have me running for the computer. lol
Today I got frustrated with the remote and said "Oh I give UP!" Ella looked at me sadly and said "But momma, Yo Gabba Gabba says "don't give up, never give up"
Thanks for the guilt, kid.

Oh, and here's a story from the hospital that I found amusing. Especially since she totally set me up. Ella asked me "What are you allergic to again?" and I said "Oranges, Kiwis and band-aids"
Ella replies "Eeew, gah-ross!"
I asked her what was gross, and she said, completely deadpan "Why would you ever eat a bandaid?"
Hahahaha

Oh the WHORE!

Sometimes your kids misunderstand something so delicious, you just HAVE to tell other people. A LOT of other people. *evil laugh*

Colin was goofing around, about what I forget, and he said "Oh the WHORE!"

"Um...do you mean, 'oh the HORROR?' "

"No, whore is when there's one, and horror is more than one"

I decided not to ask "one of WHAT?"

lol

Big Brother

Ever since Ella was a baby, Colin has used the exact same routine every time she gets hurt. It goes like this--
Step 1. "Ella, are you okay?"
Step 2. Run and get one of his OWN stuffed animals (that normally he won't let her touch)
Step 3. Perform slapstick comedy to make her laugh.

Works everytime. And now she expects it. lol

Today she fell off the arm of the couch (Gee, wonder why we have the rule, no sitting on the arm of the couch??) and as I was comforting her, he ran away and she looked up at me and said "He's bringing me a stuffed animal" lol

I turned to Brook and said "Do you think this will continue her whole life? When she's in the hospital having her first baby, will he bring her a stuffed animal" and while Brook and I both pondered that and got choked up, the two kids said "Yes".

I hope so.

Although, what I REALLY want to see is him, at age 30, 35, or whatever, falling down on the hospital floor, just to make her laugh.

Ella is not a good listener

Ella is the most stubborn child I've had. And my other two kids are 1)a stepchild and 2) a child with a mood disorder. So I KNOW stubborn. Ella beats them both.

I'll tell her to do something, and she acts like she never heard me. Brook jokes that all parental and authoritative voices speak at a frequency that Ella is deaf to. And it seems that way. Sigh.

So today I tried a trick I've used for YEARS, as a preschool teacher and later as a parent. I got the kids to play the "good listener game" with me. Its a modified version of Simon Says to demonstrate what it means to "listen" (IE. do as you are told) Ella completely ignored me. COMPLETELY. Like I wasn't even in the room. So, I gave Colin a candy for "winning" the game. And she lost it.

I gave her a few minutes to freak out, then I said "Ella, would you please get pick an outfit to wear today" (because, God forbid I pick an outfit for her, but she refuses to get dressed, so getting out of the house is an ordeal) And she said "I can't. I'm busy." And I said "That's too bad, because I know how much you wanted a candy, too, and I thought that if you did what I asked, I would give you a "good listener sticker", and if you get 3 stickers, that means you get a candy!"

Suddenly, she was picking and outfit, and putting it on. lol

THEN she put her shoes on the first time I asked BY HERSELF (another never-ending battle) THEN she came in the bathroom so I could brush her hair the first time I asked (ANOTHER never-ending battle)

So, in other words, we'd be good to go to the library right now..........except that now she's eating candy. Doh.

Colin's form of sweetness

As you probably already know, Colin has a mood disorder, and has a tendency to handle his emotions in completely inappropriate ways (like screaming bloody murder if Ella sits too close to him, pushing her to the ground if she touches him, etc)

Today he spent 2 hours at Lazy Lego Days at the community center, so I knew that he was going to be extra tense when he got home.

I was right. Its been a tough couple of hours.

But, in the midst of his disorder he's still a sweet kid.

At one point he screamed "I HATE YOU!" to me. Sigh. After he spent some "cool down" time in his room, he came out and said to me "You know how I sometimes lie? Well, I lied when I said I hated you."

Awwww.

Then, in order to get Ella to get dressed, he "raced" her, saying "Oh you're gonna beat me! I bet you get dressed before I put all my silly bands on!" lol She got dressed.

Who's the boss?!?!!

I ask that question 100 times a day, and mostly I get ignored. lol Ella is a unique kind of stubborn that requires me to be on her case nearly 24/7, and it gets exhausting.

This morning, while Brook is still sleeping, Ella was playing with a Littlest Pet Shop playground, cranking a Merry Go Round at the top, which makes a really loud "click click click" sound. I told her to stop, because Dad was sleeping. She kept doing it, so I counted "1............2..........." and she snatches the thing up, rips the Merry Go Round off the top and says "There, now it won't make noise" and stormed out, leaving the toy in here.

She's 3. I'm very scared for her teenage years.

Awww!

Its a sweet post today, all sweet stories.

First, we went to a different zoo today, in Grand Rapids. This zoo has penguins, sting rays you can pet, flamingos, alligators, lions, and a wide variety of monkey-types. Ella was very excited about the flamingos. She would exclaim "I love them because they are PINK!!!" lol During our trip, she realized that there are people who work at the zoo, people who have the job of caring for the animals. Suddenly that's the best thing she's ever heard. Now she says "When I grow up I wanna be a momma, but my job will be to be a zookeeper! A zookeeper that pets the animals!"

Now we're home, and the manager's son is doing some work on the outside of our place. Ella asked what all the noise was and I said "There's a man doing some carpentry on the house." She said oh, and walked away. A few minutes later she asked me when the man was going to be done with the carpet treehouse, she wanted to play in it. lol

Tonight is Doctor Who night (a new episode on BBC America!) and the deal is that Colin has to EARN the right to stay up and watch it. I told him that he was pretty good, he could watch tonight. So he made a card for me and his dad that says "I apresheate all you do for me" (he means appreciate) How sweet is that?!?!

I think maybe she doesn't understand the concept

Ella was snuggling with me on my bed, when she suddenly said "Do you know who the most famous famous FAMOUS girl is in the whole whole WHOLE wide world?"

I said "No, who?" and she said "YOU!"

"Oh really? What am I famous for?"

And Ella said "Because I love you."

Awwwww. Doesn't make a bit of sense, but its still sweet.

War and no Peace

There's some sort of battle happening in my living room this morning. Not between the kids, for once, because they seem to be on the same side. But there's an abundance of sound effects coming from there (most whizzing and pinging sounds) and everytime Ella tries to walk anywhere, Colin knocks her down, gently, and says "DUCK!" and she doesn't get mad at him. lol

And Colin seems to only be moving around in a series of complex rolls. He'll roll somewhere, flatten himself against the wall or the couch, then he gives his status into his imaginary communication device, then rolls to the next place.

I would put a stop to it, but they're getting along, so I'll just wait and see.....

Startin' off the morning with some drama!

Ella and I are currently the only ones awake, although she did wait until 8am to wake up, so I appreciate that.

Just a few minutes ago she started screaming hysterically. She standing where she was, screaming. Of course I jumped about 10 feet and whispered frantically "What, what what?!?!?"

Whitney, our white cat, was attacking her Pillow Pet's tail. And instead of stopping her, Ella decided to freak out.

I stopped Whitney, took Ella and Rainbow over to the couch, but Ella was still crying. It took a good 5 minutes for her to stop.

Lol

Rainbow is fine, by the way, it was just indignation over Whitney DARING to attack her that made Ella so upset.

So you think you can judge?

I've been letting Colin stay up late on Wednesdays to watch So You Think You Can Dance with me. He loves it.

Tonight, before the show came on, he was scurrying around, "getting ready". That made me curious. What he was doing was setting up a "Judge's table", and making himself look like one of the SYTYCD judges. lol He had his glass of water, and a scarf around his neck (?)

After every dance I ask him "What did you think of that?" and he says "I'm going to hold my opinion until I hear what Nigel has to say about it." and he always agrees with Nigel. (A smart move, I think. lol)

His off the cuff comments kill me. Like just now, when one of the dancers was dancing to a Bollywood number, he said the guy (who was wearing harem pants, a vest, and a gold necklace) "looks like a salesman". What?? lol

Oh, and while he LOVES all hip hop routines, he will NOT STOP walking around like a Ken doll after watching a routine based on that. lol

A conversation with Ella

Ella- Brother won't get my pillow pet for me!

Mom- Where is it?

Colin (from the other room)- She THREW it at me, and now wants me to fetch it for her!

Mom- Ella, get your pillow

Ella- But there's a spider over there, and it will bite me and make me dead, and I don't want to get dead just for a pillow pet!

Mom- You won't die, I promise, just go get it.

Ella- Do spiders bite?

Mom- Um....no, they don't.

Ella- They just bite bad people who steal cats?

Mom- Um...yep.

Ella- Okay.

Yep, I'm a pushover

So we went to Toys R Us this morning, to get Ella's unicorn pillow pet, only to discover that their shipment didn't contain any pillow pets. Doh. The next shipment? Next week, after the sale is over. Doh, again.

I came home, and did a quick search, and the next nearest Toys R Us is an hour away, in Grand Rapids. Doh, yet again. But to buy the Pillow Pet online and have it shipped to us would cost an extra $15. Doh.

So, we drove to Grand Rapids. I'd never been there before, and was a bit nervous, but we had fun, and Ella has her unicorn now. She's totally in love with "Rainbow". She keeps showing us the very complex system of strapping and unstrapping her middle, to turn her from pet to pillow. Its all very exciting.

lol

Today is the day!

Ella wants a Pillow Pet, a unicorn one, with a ferocity and determination that I've never seen her have before. So of course, it makes me want to get it for her. lol Its all she's talked about practically for over a week now, she's even named it already. (Rainbow Sunshine)

We went on Saturday to Toys R Us, because they were on sale, and had been actually for a couple days, but apparently there had been a mistake, because the shipment hadn't arrived yet, and wasn't due to arrive till Wednesday. In the words of the Toys R Us employee I spoke to "Somebody screwed up!"

So we've been waiting for Wednesday, and here it is! We leave in about an hour and a half so that we're there when the store opens. Ella could not be more excited. And I'm excited, because I have a really good motivation to get her to get her shoes on, a task which usually takes all morning. lol

Ella's introduction

Apparently Ella has graduated from introducing herself "I'm EllaGraceCunningham"

At the park just now she ran up to two boys playing near Colin and said "I'm Brother's Sister! My name is Ella. I'm a strong girl, and also I am beautiful!"

I think I like this introduction better. I love how she thinks EVERYONE calls Colin "Brother", like its his name. And strong gets first billing over beautiful.

Love her.

Only my kids

I don't know whether to laugh or scream.

I was in the middle of telling Colin that his Mighty Bean ramp isn't a sword (to which he replied "I'm not using it as a sword" "Okay, what are you using it as?" "A whip" "Well, its not a whip, either.") when suddenly Ella appeared with a Barbie, which she began to use to sword fight with Colin.

And chaos reigns, Mom is ignored, and the great Barbie battle rages on.

The deal

Buwahhahaha! I cleverly tricked my too-smart son into doing a new chore. And the best part is, it was HIS idea!!!!

Colin got two dollars from the tooth fairy, and it was burnin' a hole in his pocket. So when we went grocery shopping today, the boy got a lesson in "nothin's cheap anymore" lol He couldn't believe that Legos were more than $2. He kept saying "I can buy this, I'll pay for half and you pay for half." Um, boy? a) Momma never said nothing 'bout paying for your purchases and b) it wouldn't be half. So he quickly got the point that it was a $2 limit, and that was it.

Finally he found a small pack of his new obsession, Mighty Beans for $3. He said "Can you pay the $1? Please?" and I asked "What are you gonna do for the $1?" and he said "I'll do a NEW chore for two days!"

I jumped on that deal! lol So, today he did some dishes. And tomorrow he'll do a few more, and then he's paid up, and in the meantime, he got 2 Mighty Beans that he didn't have (one of them was a RARE!) and 1 he did. He's happy. I'm happy. That's a good deal.

Taunts

Ella is strutting around saying "I'm the awesomest kid in the world, and you're not!" Its working to its desired effect because its REALLY tweeking Colin. lol So his retort is "Yeah, well, I'm the SMARTEST kid in the world, so THERE!"

So I'm the mother to the smartest and most awesome kids? I asked them "What does that make me?" Colin said "Our mom"

Doh.

I posted earlier about Colin and the tooth drama last night. He was up until 12:30am last night (gaah) so I made a point of telling him that he was DEFINETELY going to bed on time tonight. Three minutes before his bedtime, he came in and told me he was going to bed early, because he'd stayed up so late the night before. lol Three minutes? Sure, that makes up for 4.5 hours. But he was so proud of himself, that I just said "Sounds great,bud. Thanks."
lol

The Tooth

In case you didn't know, my son has a mood disorder, and that comes with some pretty severe anxieties. About EVERYthing. So yesterday evening Colin's tooth became quite loose, and he was terrified to go to bed because he thought he would swallow his tooth.

Normally I'm a stickler for the rules, but sometimes you have to be more flexible.

The problem was that he didn't want to mess with the tooth because it hurt. He'd ask ME to do it, then push my hand or pull away as soon as I touched it. Also, the blood freaked him out, so even though I tried to hide the fact that he was bleeding, he eventually figured it out. Because of all that, it was 12:30 before the tooth FINALLY came out.

And then, he refused to put the tooth under his pillow. He knows the Tooth Fairy isn't real, he's known it for a long time (figured it out when he was 3 or 4) and he hates it when I talk to him as if those things are real. He kept saying "Mom! (rolling his eyes) Can't you just give me the money?" So finally we made a deal, I gave him the money, and he put it under his pillow and told his sister in the morning that the tooth fairy brought it. lol

A message to my kids

Hey kids, these things are the OPPOSITE of helpful, thought you should know...

1) When I say "excuse me" and without looking, you move MORE into the way.

2) When I'm struggling to get out the front door with a giant bag of garbage, and just as I get through, you yell "HEY MOM! Look at this!" or "WATCH ME MOM!!"

3) When you all talk at the same time. I can't hear more than one conversation at a time, and sometimes not even that.

4) When I'm reading, typing, thinking, and you walk into the room talking and expect me to have heard everything you said and respond accordingly.

5) When I am dropping stuff, and trying to keep hold and I say "SOMEBODY HELP ME!" and you stand there, looking at me and say "With what?"

Colin's interpretation of my favorite things

Colin drew a picture for me today, encompassing what he thought were my favorite things in the whole world.

It was me, with a giraffe head, wearing a Wonder Woman costume and a tutu, with Brook next to me, also wearing a Wonder Woman costume.

Hahahaha.

Ella on the phone

I am so upset that she won't ever let me take video of her. lol

She's walking around with her play phone, it rang, she pretended to look at the caller ID, and she said "Oh, its someone that needs my help." Then she answered the phone and said "What is it now?!?" Then there was a lot "You're kidding!" "Why do you do this to me?!?" and "Oh, fine!" then she hung up the phone and said "Iyiyiyiyi! These people! Do they think I am FAMOUS or something?!?"

Hahahahaha.

Colin's take on Wonder Woman's new look

So I saw the news today that Wonder Woman has a new look. Since I love Wonder Woman I took the news...not great.

Colin likes it even less. lol

His opinion? "She looks like one of those people who sit on the sidewalk, with their backs against big buildings, smoking cigarettes."

What? lol

He even drew a picture of it. lol I'd scan it into the computer, but I can't get the printer to work.

My kid cracks me up.

That's my son

We confuse a lot of people at the park.

Lately Colin has been dressing up as the seventh Doctor from Doctor Who, and most people have no idea who that is. So what that means is that my son is going outside, in the summer, wearing long pants, long-sleeved shirt (unless Momma prevailed that day) a green felt hat left over from St. Patrick's Day, and an umbrella.

I added a picture of the seventh doctor--->

I ALWAYS encourage my kids' creativity and individuality, and I have no problem (besides fear of him overheating) of him dressing up as the Doctor. But, I just wish there was an easier way to explain it to confused parents. lol

Little SNEAK!

Well, after a week without a computer, you'd think I'd have a lot of kid stories to tell. But alas, that's why I created this blog, because I have a crappy memory. lol I'm sure my kids did amazing, hysterical, frustrating and memorable things this week.....can't remember a single one. Doh.

BUT, I can remember what happened ten minutes ago, thank God.

So, Ella got up from bed to go to the bathroom, again (rolleyes) and I walked in to discover that the little poop had hidden a juice box in the Kandoo wipes box! AND a cheese stick in the toilet paper roll! She didn't have to use the bathroom, she was having a SNACK!

GARGH!!!

Oh the horror!

I just had to stop my son from putting on cowboy boots with his basketball clothes.

Are we sure this is MY child?

Ella's boyfriend

Today is a hugely busy day, (this is intermission, right now lol) This morning we had Colin's basketball camp, (I'll upload pictures later!) and now we're heading out to pick up Victoria's boyfriend and going to the zoo.

As we were preparing for our day this morning, Ella started telling us all about HER boyfriend, Sid. (No, NOT "the science kid" I asked. lol) Her boyfriend is 3, wears only green and yellow shirts, and plays basketball.

Also, Sid is sometimes a girl, depends on Ella's mood.

lol

I'll probably have more stories (and pictures) later.

Holy cow! She's a genius!!!

When Colin was a baby/ toddler/ preschooler, I constantly exclaimed "OMG, he's so smart, he is a genius."

By the time Ella came around, I was used to it. lol In fact, when she was 18 months old, I took her to the doctor, certain that she was behind in language development. lol She was AHEAD of her age, but behind Colin at that age. So, still above normal.

But today I have uttered the words "OMG, she's genius!" Because today I discovered that Ella can spell, and correctly write her name. OMG!!! Maybe that's not huge news, but I haven't really worked with her on her name. Three days ago I came up with a song spelling her name, but that was it. But now she can spell AND write it!

SHE'S A GENIUS!!!!

Happy Father's Day!!

Happy Father's Day to my dear and wonderful husband, who is the best dad I know.

And by the way, I have pictures like this with him and each of the three kids. lol That's his favorite dad/kid activity.

Is this in the medical books?

There's a phenomenon that I call "The 11yr old stupids" which basically means that sometimes 11 yr olds do something so astoundingly stupid and out of character it leaves you stunned, going "Wha?!? Bu...Wha? BUT.... WHAT?!?.............YOU ARE SMARTER THAN THIS!!!!!!"
lol
Victoria's most recent outbreak of this phenomenon happened when we were filling Brook's Father's Day cards. I'd left the room for a minute, and in that time, she'd put her name on the front of the envelope, like the card was for her. AND she'd gotten Ella and Colin to do it too.

HUH?

When I mentioned it, she gave me the look (that comes part and parcel with "The 11yr old stupids") you know, that blank look that either means "Nobody's home" or "I'm not stupid, YOU'RE STUPID", and said "I thought that's how you're supposed to do it. That way you know who gets what card."

HUH?

I then had to explain, very slowly, and in small words, that the cards say "HAPPY FATHER'S DAY" not "HAPPY 11 YR old Day"

ARGHBLARGHARGH!!!

A conversation with Ella

I was planning on cleaning the toilet, but when I was about to, Ella ran in to use it. Doh. So I sat and waited for her to get done.

She hops off the toilet and says "Okay, first I am going to wipe my bottom, then you are going to look and see if I got all the poop, then you're going to help me put my underpants on, then I will flush the toilet and THEN you can clean it."

And I said "But what about the kisses? When do I get the kisses?"

And she thought for a minute, then said "After my underpants are on, and after I flush the toilet, but BEFORE you clean it. That's when you can have kisses."

Heeheeheehee.

A kind of boring day

The husband was gone today, to a tournament in Chicago, so it was just the kids and I today. We spent this morning getting ready for Father's Day, and the afternoon being lazy.

I told Victoria she could invite her boyfriend to come to the zoo with us on Monday, and she should call and invite him. Which prompted a whole lot of preteen angst and giggling. lol She did invite him though, so Monday should be interesting.

My best Ella quote of the day was when I told her she needed to eat the cheese part of her manicotti before she could get more, and she said "YOU eat it then!" I said "Hey, missy! You don't talk to your momma like that!" and she replied "YOU eat it then, PUH-LEASE!!!!"

You try not to laugh

Sometimes, like all parents, I have a hard time not cracking up at my kids' antics.

Its bedtime and there's a thunderstorm- a recipe for insanity. The kids are all wired and hyped up, even though they ALL need to sleep, badly. Ella and Colin are the worst.

So Ella was hollering to Colin from her bed "HEY BROTHER!" and I'd interuppt with "QUIET!" and she'd holler "BROTHER!" and I'd interuppt "QUIET!" This went on, back and forth for a minute, till there was quiet for a moment, then Ella yelled "MOM! QUIT INTERUPPTING! ITS RUDE!!"

lol

Sound effects

Ella was trying to convince me it was thundering outside (a common misconception of hers) and in demonstrating the sound she heard, she slapped her buddha belly. lol "Like that. Hear it? *slap* That sound."

Okay, I was typing this up when the power went out. EEEEEEKKKK!! It came back on right away, and I stepped outside to discover that we're in the middle of a storm! Ella was right!

How did I get so oblivious? Between children's programming on tv (that they don't interuppt to tell you the weather) and the AC, I had no idea.

Well, it'll be fun getting Ella to sleep tonight. Sigh.

Ella's revenge, Doctor Who style

In our house, Doctor Who is huge. (If you don't know what Doctor Who is, don't feel bad. Its a tv show in the UK) The two older kids have sonic screwdrivers (The Doctor's tool that he uses to do everything from open locks, and mess with electronics, etc) Ella was trying to write with the pen end of Victoria's, and her dad didn't want her to. They went round and round about it.

Finally, he detached the pen end, and let her play with the rest. The first thing she did? She turned the sonic screwdriver on him, and said "There, I locked your mouth shut."

Hahahahahaha.

Now I wish I had a sonic screwdriver. lol

This is one of the pictures from the bird sanctuary yesterday. I really like the pics with all three kids. I'm not sure you can tell in the picture, but Colin is wearing tux pants with a t-shirt from soccer camp. Oh, and the tux pants are 2 sizes too short. lol

Victoria leaves in just over a week, so I'm taking as many photos of her as I can. Although, her leaving is not as heartbreaking as it used to be. We're all getting used to it, finally, after 8 years of this.

I think the younger kids will be okay. Colin takes it the worst, but Ella will be fine as long as "Brother" is still with her. lol

Its the last day of school, and a half day, so I'm sure there will be plenty more stories to come.

Colin dancing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=he37kkkWHnU

I took this video of Colin's awesome dancing at the school picnic (seriously, he's an amazing mix of rhythmic and solemness that is hysterical!)

Btw, Ella was NOT running off. She was behind me. lol

The Bird Sanctuary

It was a half day of school today, since tomorrow's the last day, so to avoid "Moooom! I'm BORED!" we went to the bird sanctuary. Each kid got a bucket of bird feed, and we headed out, avoiding the bird poo. (Who knew birds could get diarrhea? Yuck!)

Ella, the princess of no fear, had no trouble. She would have ridden a swan, if he'd let her, lol. Colin was portraying his role as Brother Protector, trying to keep his sisters safe from the vicious birds. And Victoria....well, the quote of the day comes from her.

"I didn't know ducks could fly. I thought they just walked and shook their bums."

Doh.

My first blog post!!

My very first blog! How exciting! For me, anyway.

The entire purpose of this blog, that probably only me and my mom will read, is to tell stories about my kids that I will probably otherwise forget. And also, to have somewhere else to blab these things, so I don't overuse my Facebook Status Updates anymore.

So today Ella made Oliver (the black cat) dance while singing a New Kids on the Block song "Oh-oh-oh-oh, the right stuff!", refused to bounce in the bouncy house at the school picnic, and instead tried to force everyone else to STOP bouncing. Every. Single. Time. She stood in line 5 separate times, just to sit in the middle of the bouncy house screaming "STOP BOUNCING! STOP BOUNCING NOW! WHY WON'T YOU LISTEN TO ME?!?!?"

Colin told his teacher, at the picnic, "This is my sister, she likes to introduce herself with her whole name, but you can just refer to her as Ella." His teacher thought it was so clever that he used "introduce" and "refer", and I just thought "*shrug* That's nothin'. He's the only 7 yr old I know that can use 'juxtaposed' correctly."

Victoria came home and announced "Mom! We did drugs in school again today." Um...she meant, the covered drug use in one of her classes, not that she and her friends were up to nefarious business in the girls' room.

That's all the kid stories I have for today. I'm sure there will be more tomorrow.