Wednesday, July 21, 2010

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

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

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.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

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.

Monday, July 12, 2010

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.

Saturday, July 10, 2010

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?!?!

Thursday, July 8, 2010

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.

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

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

Monday, July 5, 2010

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.

Sunday, July 4, 2010



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

Saturday, July 3, 2010

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?"

Friday, July 2, 2010

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.

Thursday, July 1, 2010

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.