Meet Reggie

 What a week this has been!  Errands to run, faces to make.  How's a 3 year old supposed to fit it all in?

 Oh good, food!

 You know, the more I pay attention the more I realize cowboy boots are the style for PreK.  No Uggs in this town!

 He wants you to think that he actually slid down the pole.  But that would mean he could actually reach it up top.  So, instead he had me take his picture at the bottom and then told me to tell everyone he slid down.....

 Short legs and long ladder do not mix......

 Again, short legs and long ladder dont mix.....

 Warren is training for his Space walk, and channeling Clint Eastwood........

 Warren:  "When I do this, Mommy freaks out and runs to me...."

 This is Reggie, he is a Mexican Dinosaur.  And because of that, we all have to learn how to speak Spanish.  And "Quiere Limpiar Para Los Zapatos" is not enough.... 

 This is Reggie via Siesta

This is Ike, zonked out cold.....

Happy Friday All!

Helping Make Dinner.....

My Darling Daughter: "Can I open the jar now?"

Me:  "No"

My Darling Daughter: "Can I open it now?"

Me: "NO!"

My Darling Daughter:  "How about now?"

Me: "No, Im not ready for the jar to be open." In a loud almost yelling tone

My Darling Daughter: "Geez, you could have said that the first time!"

Me: "No should have been enough"

My Darling Daughter: "Well it's not!"

Me: "Le Sigh......."

It's Monday

Which means another week involving the morning routine.... 

I have adopted a military basic training style, which is wake them up with only enough time to get dressed, fed and out the door.  I do this for a multitude of reasons.

Reason #1:  It limits how much my darling Daughter can argue.  This happens in 2 ways, first, she isn't fully awake and in turn not in prime debate mode.  Second, she doesn't have time to argue effectively; as it is either fight and ride the bus, or get to school on time to do what she wants....

Reason #2:  If the kids are in a hurry, it limits how much they can screw around and complicate things. 

Reason #3:  They remain groggy through out the process, which makes it much easier to herd them.

Reason #4:  I am not a morning person, and I try to squeeze in as much sleep as possible before I have to get up.  I have tried to get up when Hubby gets up, but alas I have failed miserably.  Instead, I snuggle in deeper as the minutes tick away before I absolutely have to get up and get the kids out the door.

Now, due to my darling Daughter volunteering for Safety Patrol, I can no longer just send her to school on the bus.  AND, it requires us to leave the house about 20 minutes earlier than pre-safety patrol.  This does not bode well for my anti-morning mentality.

I have also learned that no matter what, my Darling Daughter must start off the day with an argument.  Having realized this, I have figured out I can at least control what we argue about; and with limited time baring down on us, I can also limit the extent of the disagreement and intensity.  This one took me a while, but I figured it out. 

I have also learned that along side necessary reading materials that include, but are not limited to the following:

What To Expect When You Are Expecting
Belly Laughs:  The Naked Truth About Pregnancy and Childbirth
The Complete Guide To Childhood Diseases
How To Clean Anything
First Aid 101
and
The Bar Tenders Handbook

Every parent should also read Sun Tzu's The Art Of War.

I have it downloaded onto my smart but not talented phone, AND I pulled out DH's manual from college.  I intend to read, take notes and apply what I learn in a very deliberate manner.

I just want to survive the Tween and Teen Years.  So, I figure I should prepare myself for whatever comes up.  Take PreEmptive actions and prepare for all the guts and gore that come with raising a strong minded puberty ridden tween. 

I wonder if I can cross utilize this training for a zombie apocalypse?

Short Term Memory Loss

Im pretty sure not even a truck load of Gingko Biloba could help me now.  Fortunately, I just text myself any information I need to remember.  Or at least think I should remember.  I then spend hours filing through my texts wondering what they heck I intended when I texted myself, because it sure as heck no longer makes sense.  Sometimes I have a good mental moment, and remember why I texted whatever it was that I texted myself, then I go back to see if I can conjure up anymore mental accuity; only to realize that whatever it was that I finally remembered is now obsolete. 

Anyways, here I am wanting to blog. And for the life of me, I can't remember much of what I wanted to blog about.  Even though I have a series of texts with comments, statements and similar such entries; all of which no longer make any sense to me.

I need a nap.  Oh, wait.  That is one of the comments on my phone!  That must have been from Thursday, when I went to go hide in my room for a few minutes of peace and quiet.  Ike must have sensed an overwhelming serenity with in the vicinity, because like a heat seeking missile, he flew into my room and promptly eviscerated my peace and tranquility.  Next thing I know he had taken over my game of Angry Birds, and his brother has burrowed himself into my nice comfy blankets.  Peace was gone, Quiet was gone, and I now have a stabbing pain in my side from where Warren kicked me, as he burrowed deeper into my bedding.

In a desperate attempt to convince Ike the water activity at the park was indeed good clean fun.  We made our way back to the park, towels in hand.

 And Ike had fun!  Lots and lots of fun!

 Warren was a zombie, and Ike was fighting the zombie apocalypse.

This is where I informed them it was time to go and pick up their Sister from school.  Gasp!  The horrors!

 When we got home though, there was a big box!  So, they had forgotten the horrible atrocities I had committed.

MMMMMMMMM  Buttercream Cookies!

Did I mention this weekend is also Easter Weekend?

And what happens when Grandpa sends Easter Baskets 3000 miles?

 This is your typical Chocolate Bunny.....

This is your typical Chocolate Bunny mailed from the deserts of Nevada......

Or Salvador Dali is our Post Master. 

Take Your Pick...

7am came far too early this morning. 

And so did the sugar high, courtesy of the Easter Bunny, Grandparents and Hubby Dear......

 Ike hasn't quite grasped the concept of an Easter Egg Hunt.  He had no trouble finding eggs.  And he had lots of fun.  He would show me every egg he found, and then promptly toss it over his shoulder.  DOH!

 Oh look, someone joined in on the fun!

 This is Warren impatiently showing me his stash, as he watches Isabel and Alex fight over an orange egg....

 This is Ike wanting me to take the egg from the turtle...

We don't put candy into the eggs.  Istead this year they got "lucky stars" they could cash in for money.....  That's because we neglected to get change ahead of time....  Doh!

Happy Easter to all!

Sprung A Leak

Spring is here in Georgia, and with that comes heat.  The local park has a fountain activity where kids can get soaked, and soak others.  Warren was thrilled!

 Warren soaked, happy and having fun!

Ike, not so much.

Ike had no intention of entertaining the idea of good clean fun.  So, instead he played in the mulch and waited until Warren was done.   Then he zonked out in the car for a nice long nap.

I wish I could have napped, I didn't get much sleep lastnight.  Having to share a bed with Warren, Giraffie the Giraffe and Reggie the Dinosaur was not exactly ideal.  It being the bottom bunk, and all the pillows and blankets hoarded by a tie dyed t-rex and a giraffe.  Well, I figured I should just muddle through. 

Reggie The Dinosaur, he likes to dress up like a sheriff.

Giraffie, he would like to know if this is his good side?
Fortunately for me, both Ike and Warren insist on the shark sleeping downstairs.  He sleeps with his mouth open and Ike says it's freaky at night. 

I think I agree with Ike.

Third Times A Charm?

Not this time!

So, Im determined to finish this long account of the Spring Break that wasn't.

Thursday started off fresh, showered and ready to go.  It was a unanomous decision that we would hit up South Carolina for vineyards, and enjoy a picnic lunch.  First stop is Aiken, South Carolina.  It is an artsy fartsy little place, lots of boutiques and cafes.  I had fun strolling the shops, looking for the winery that is supposed to be there.  No winery, so that was strike one for the day.  But their gallery was a great deal of fun and we did find a wig shop! 

I don't know about everyone else, but I had a blast in the wig shop!  Lots of empty heads all around, it was one of those true to life experiences where it is indeed true that 300 heads are not better than one.  Much like Congress!

 Isabel did not like it when I suggested she try on a wig, not even the neon blue one. 

 This is where Stepford Wives come when they have over dyed their hair and go bald......

I told Ike that the heads were watching him, he then informed me the heads were fake and ran off to find something to take apart.

Then it was time for a picnic......

 That would be my son doing what he does best, brooding.  He gets that strand of DNA from his Father.

 That would be Ike, ordering more food.  I think he wanted 3 more grapes.....

This is his opinion of my efforts......  DOH!

Here is Ike hugging a big old tree, until the ants on the tree started hugging back....

Here is where my Aunt was attempting to get my kids to smile, and where Alex informed her that he doesn't smile unless he is happy.  And he isn't happy right now.......  That too would be a genetic trait he inherited from his other parent....

From here, we attempted to seek out more vineyards.  I think it is safe to assume that vineyards are not exactly successful in South Carolina. The last 2 vineyards we went to tour were shut down as well.  One going for the bargain basement price of $2.4 Mil and the other has yet to be determined.....

We decided not to try our luck, especially after almost driving into the Savannah River Site, where they do things with plutonium and such.  Im radio active enough as it is.......

With that, I bid a temporary adieu.  Until I have enough energy to attempt this again, I am signing off! 

Part Dos.....

I have to admit, Im still recovering.  But, Ill do my best to finish off my long winded attempt at sharing our Spring Break with you......

Wednesday we woke up, to yet another day of no power.  We were now well past 24 hours, and I just recently learned our other next door neighbors were also without water.  They are on a well, and with no electricity comes no pump for said well.  They had their Daughter and 6 Grandkids visiting for the Masters.  Oof....  Can you imagine herding Six kids through a sea of sunburned and most likely drunk golfers?  And unshowered at that!

My Aunt and I were determined to pull over and provide the address to every arborist and utility crew we encountered.  And I proceeded to utilize my car phone charger to keep my phone operational, while I harrassed the electric company about the danged tree on our power line.  We also had the Sheriff come out and "assess" the situation.  How the Electric Company did NOT know that we had a tree on the line really befuddles me, because I talked to at least 5 different humans at their call center, all of whom assured me that there was a report made and that we would have power no later than midnight........  I made them all promise too!  Like that really makes any sort of difference, ha ha ha. 

With our efforts made towards recitifying the leaning tower of power on our street, we moved on to our original mission of touring wineries.  Me excited, kids not so much......

Winery Numero Uno.........  The 1810 Country Inn And Winery.

Im really excited about this place because it not only boasts a vineyard, but also historic buildings circa 1810.  The website they have is fantastic and shared all the history involving this winery.

So, after a few foibled attempts at finding this place.  An encounter with quite the lovely large Angus Bull.  We finally found the place.  And it was shut down.

The restaurant had been boarded up.  The cottages were occupied, but not by guests.  And the vineyards were seriously overgrown.

We did get some pictures of the kids, as you can see here.  And a few of a pretty nifty automobile circa mid 20th century.  But that was about it.  There was a bug though, and he scored big with an all you can eat buffet served up on my ankle. 

 No, they didn't knock the fence post down.  It was already like that.  I swear!

 Ike's looks like he's got some evil mastermind thoughts stewing about.

 Look, eucapliptus growing wild in Georgia!  I had to crack up, the whole field was littered with sprigs of the stuff.  It sure smelled better than the usual Wet Dog smell that plagues this state.

Alex was none too thrilled with getting his picture taken.

With our failed expedition to the winery, we opted to hit up a local lake instead. 

 You know, most people who bring their lunch to work with them usually opt for a sandwich.  This guy, he brought out his smoker.  He must be a Texan!  Oh look, he is!  The smokey smell of mesquite wafted across the visitors center parking lot.  We were told the guy is from Houston (that would be the Texas version of Houston pronounced like "hues-ton"not "hows-ton"), and that he does this often.  Then they were raving about that chunk of beef he makes a lot, you know a brisket.  I miss Texas.....

 Isn't the lake pretty?

 This would be Izzy and Ike impatiently waiting for us to stop gawking.

 Such a gorgeous day!

 This would be the lady bug Izzy found, it pooped on her. 

 Here we are at the bottom of the dam, and there are my kids chucking rocks into the water.

 We then hit up the beach, where I made my kids stay clothed and wouldn't let them near the water.  They really "loved" me for that!

 I love going to the lake!

 Check out the cones on that thing!

From there, we headed home for the day.  Grilled some chicken, and impatiently waited for power to be restored.  Which it was! At 9:40 pm, 45 hours and 40 minutes since he had gone out......  We showered with hot water!  And then headed to bed.

Stay Tuned for Part Three!  Why yes!  There is more......