Fun crowd!

I just overheard Avery and Richie playing. She was "reading" to Richie out of one of their books a story in which Dora, Boots, Nana and Almighty God are packing for a trip to California. (Yes, she did use the exact phrase "Almighty God"...and very respectfully, I might add.)

I have to say that if I were going to California and I could choose any four people to take with me, these four would definitely be in the running!

Small victories....

Today I'd had enough. Richie will be 3 in two months and heaven help us, it's time the child was potty trained. Today was the day. All previous efforts had failed and the child had no interest. So, we went to the last resort....the "bare bottoms" technique. I need not describe that in any further detail. I'm sure you can picture it in your mind adequately for yourself.

All morning Richie was in his BB state. He hasn't an ounce of modesty, so this really wasn't a big deal to him. It started getting a little bizarre for me when he was doing back flips off the couch. But, I thought I'd best not stifle his freedom...it was after all in the best interest of humanity that we make this small sacrifice, enduring his nakedness, in order to get him trained.

From 9am until 11:30 he was BB. I fed him plenty of juice and water, so I knew he was primed. At 11:30am, the hour had come. I took my stand. I sat him on the potty and commanded him to GO. He cried. And screamed. And wailed. "I DON'T WANT TO GO PEE PEE! I DON'T WANT TO BE A BIG BOY!!! I WANT TO GET UP!!!!!!!!" This display lasted for about 10 minutes during which I was rehearsing the blog entry where I would tell all about how I'm a terrible mother for letting my child run around stark naked all day and then forcing him to sit on his potty chair for an entire quarter hour.

Then, it got quiet. Suspiciously quiet. I figured he was either asleep at the wheel or was busy knotting up an entire roll of toilet paper. I waited....and then....the SHOUT....."MOMMY! I DID IT!!!"

I burst into the bathroom and lo and behold....he did it. I don't think pee in a small bowl has ever looked so beautiful to me. Since the Brownes celebrate by dancing, Richie and Avery and I sprang into a new "Pee Pee Dance." We danced all the way into the kitchen where we each partook of 5 M & M's and rejoiced.

Small victory? Perhaps. But, it pretty much makes my month!

Making memories...

We spent Thanksgiving in Poplar Bluff with my parents and siblings. My kids started counting down the days to our visit about 3 weeks ago. There’s not much in their lives more exciting than visiting with Nana and Poppy. And, it’s no wonder. The weekend was full of all the things they love. Chocolate pie, pancakes, strawberry milk, movies, coloring, cookie baking, bubbles, bacon, giant indoor tents, the Wii, Go Fish and so much more.

It was a really nice weekend for me too. With all 15 or so of us piling into Mom and Dad’s place, their whole upstairs looks like a Toys R Us store ate a Thanksgiving dinner and then exploded leaving all sorts family shrapnel all over the house. But, it’s somewhat comforting to me…all the mess. I did try to clean up a few times, but to no lasting avail. I’m not sure if that big sister tendency of mine is more helpful or annoying. I guess it doesn’t really matter, because amid all the mayhem, I started really reflecting on what it is that I love so much about family and our times together.

Watching our relationships with one another is so interesting to me. The older cousins playing with the babies. Nana baking cookies with the grandkids. Siblings helping each other with their children. Grandparents, in that inevitable roll reversal that comes with age, caring for their own parents. Brothers relating to brothers-in-law. Even though sometimes we experience the “iron sharpening iron,” I know that we all love each other and the memories that we build during times like this will last for lifetimes.

Holidays in my childhood were similar, but I was on the “kid” end of the family. We would often go to Aunt Karen’s in St. Louis and looking back, those were the highlights of my childhood. Grandma cooking in the kitchen. Presents galore. Late night card games, bunking with my sister in the basement. I watched as the older family members experienced the “iron sharpening iron.” And, those times together gave me memories to last a lifetime.

When we said “goodbye” today, there were tears abounding. Mom cried. I cried. Carson and Avery cried. I think if I would have looked a little harder I might have seen my Dad with a tear welling up. I told the kids as we were pulling away that we should be so grateful for the memories that we’re making. I told them that the feeling that they had in their hearts in that moment was Love. Love for our family and appreciation for the memories that will hopefully last a lifetime. About 45 minutes later, Carson said, “Mom, I can stop crying now because I know how much Nana and Poppy love me.” Yes, they do.

And, we’ve started counting the days until our next time together. It’s 30….in case you were wondering.

Hanky waivin' frenzy....

Last night I cuddled up under the covers, grabbed the Tivo remote and saw that Oprah's Favorite Things was on. That show is such a hoot. The stuff she chooses is generally cool, but jeepers creepers the people on that show go so absolutely nut-ball-bonkers that it really is the most hilarious thing to watch.

She did the show in Macon, GA, which she says has historically had the highest Oprah show ratings. Evidently 45% of Macon-ites watch Oprah every day. When she announced that it was the Favorite Things show, I swear I have never seen such a hysterical, huggin-and-a-kissin your neighbor, tears a-streamin', screamin', shoutin', jumpin', and praisin' Jesus spectical in all my life. And, believe me, I've seen some crazy Jesus praisin' in my day.

It wouldn't surprise me at all to hear that they had medics on standby to deal with any hyperventilating, passing out, heart attack, black eye from yer neighbor, falling down bruises, busted ear drums and any other such stress-induced ailments.

Not to mention that Oprah caught a bit of her own bug and contracted some afflicted Southern accent for the entire show.......y'aalllll.

The whole thing is just nutty.

If I ever get tickets to that show, remind me to take a paper bag for my own hyperventilating fit which will no doubt overtake me.

Christmas lists...

I love Christmas lists. If you're in a family that doesn't implement a firm Christmas list policy, then I urge you to consider it. My family exchanges lists for each other so that we don't have to guess what to buy for every single person and I'm ensured that the gifts I receive will be way cool....because I chose them! Heh Heh.

I do understand how some folks may consider this Christmas selfishness. But, since the selfishness is two ways, I think it's totally cool. Easy shopping for the giver. Cool gifts for the receiver.

In previous years, our kids didn't really understand all that goes into Christmas lists and so I compiled lists for them. Oh, but this year is entirely different. With every toy magazine and newspaper flyer that comes into the house, they are pouring over them with pens handy. Carson's biggest concern is checking the appropriate ages for each of the gifts. If and only if the item says "Ages 5 and up" will it be considered for his list. Avery just pretty much wants anything pink, purple, princess or pony. Easy to please. Richie, I'm helping since he's still a bit too young.

For the last few years I've been using eToys.com. I will say that the prices are not always as low as what you might find on ToysRUs or Amazon, but they hooked me when they were one of the first sites that allowed a parent to easily track all of the lists for their kids with one login. So, once the magazines and flyers have been thoroughly inspected, I transfer the selections to eToys. We may be on the verge of giving eToys some sort website heart attack because I think there are about 500 items on each of my kids' lists! Ah well. It's fun for them and it's much of the joy of Christmas.

Fall fun...

When we moved back to the Springfield area last year, one thing we looked forward to was taking the kids to all sorts of activities in order to expose them to various learning opportunities. I know that Springfield is not exactly cultural mecca but it's a far cry better than the Missouri Bootheel from whence we came.

We took them to their first theatre production a few weeks ago to see My Little Pony--The World's Biggest Tea Party. As I suspected, they loved it. As I also suspected, Richard and I had more fun watching our kids' reactions to the whole display rather than the display itself. Although, I do think I caught Richard grooving ever so slightly to the purple dinosaur DJ who was working the turntables over some 70's disco song during one of the numbers.

We also took them to the Ozarko marching band festival at Missouri State. It is their heritage to participate in marching band...a blessing that Richard and I will both proudly (or perhaps not so proudly) pass on to them. It was all in all a very fun evening until Richie decided he needed to start climbing the stadium bleachers and yelling during every performance. Very bad marching band etiquette!

Space invaders...

Since the moment I first conceived, my children have been invading my space. First in the womb, and then in all manner of ways after their births. Since they've been getting older and more self-sufficient, I have noticed that they don't need me quite as much, they don't cling to me constantly like they used to and sometimes I miss it. Last night was not one of those times.

Richie has been in the unfortunate habit for a few weeks of crying around 1am. Normally, with the others, I would have driven a hard line and made them stay in their own bed even if they cried for awhile. But, with Carson in school and without the luxury of sleeping in until whenever, I don't want to let him cry it out. So, he's been coming in to sleep with Mommy and Daddy.

He brought, as usual, his own pillow and blanket to add to our already crowded space. Little Dude insistsed on sleeping in the middle. Then, since he had his own blanket, he proceeded to kick all of the covers down below his feet. This meant that I had to scrunch down to the middle of the bed to have any warmth for myself. BUT, that caused me to be right in the line of fire of his flailing limbs which he could not for heaven's sake keep still. I was kicked repeatedly about the head and back from 1:30am until 2:30am. When he wasn't kicking, he was scratching his leg. And scratching......and scratching.

At 2:30am, our daughter came in and said she was having bad thoughts. I mumbled something about turning on her closet light and she went back to bed. After another half hour of freezing and flailing with Richie, she came in again. Frustrated, I think I said something about bad thoughts being a choice and how she should choose to think about something good like candy canes and pink ponies. That didn't help as she went into her room and began to wail. Awesome.

So, I left Richie in the bed with Daddy hoping he wouldn't fall off the bed with all of his tossing and then let Avery sleep in the floor in the boys room (in Richie's normal preferred spot) and I took the bottom bunk under Carson. We were all invading each other's space. And after musical beds, I think I finally settled in for a couple of hours of uninterrupted sleep except for the ocassional start as I rolled over to find the red, glowing Spiderman head night light staring directly into my bed.

Not the best night's sleep.