Cutie Pies

Here are the school photos for March. I was late bringing them in that day, so the teacher took them straight back when we got there. I hadn't filled out the form for the pictures yet (surprise, surprise) so she had me come with. It's always so sweet to watch your kids when you're not supposed to be there! Every time Kessler laughed, he covered his mouth. Every time Makena laughed, she bent over. They must have taken 20 pictures each.

Facebook killed my blog.

Facebook is only partly to blame. But, I'm mad at it at the moment so it's going to carry the brunt. Another culprit is my trading--that's probably more to blame than anything, but I can't be mad at it because you don't bite the hand that feeds you, someday. Any day? The other blog inhibitor is my sanity. Blogging used to be my therapy for the tough mommy days. Those days are much less frequent so therapy 5 times a week isn't necessary. Shew!

But, I know I'm going to regret not keeping a journal of the stories. There have been a few. Just the little things that make me smile just thinking about them.

I'll start with our trip to Australia in February for Julie and Ken's wedding. The trip there was quite noteworthy--4 flights, 36 hours! The kids were extremely tired. Kessler cried nearly the entire time from Brisbane to Melbourne, until the wheels hit the ground and he was out! I carried him through Melbourne airport, which was no small accomplishment. I'm glad I did though, for two reasons. The first of which is Kessler is getting so big. The days of carrying him are numbered. And secondly, it made me love the people of Melbourne. At least 5 people offered to help and countless others made some sort of endearing comment as they were passing by. It was quite sweet. I truly love the United States, but it makes me sad that these simple exchanges with strangers are gone.

Much of the rest of the trip was a blur because of jet lag and the fallout from trying to trade while there. There are a few things I do remember. The first is what an absolutely stunning bride Julie made. Not that I expected anything different, but she looked as if she stepped off the cover of a bridal magazine. Her dress was gorgeous!

The other thing I remember is the night before the wedding. Ken and Julie treated everyone to dinner. We were trying to get Kessler dressed. We pulled out his adorable little linen, long sleeve oxford shirt. He started crying as soon as he realized it was headed toward him! "No, I don't want to wear daddy's shirt!! I want to wear a baby shirt!!" Somehow, we won this battle, which still amazes me. Come to think of it, maybe we didn't win as I seem to remember Kessler being pretty cranky the rest of the evening.

Makena, on the other hand, loved getting dressed up! Lucky enough, she was able to do it again the next day. She and cousins, Phoebe and Ruby had the cutest little dresses. They looked like little princesses. Now, Makena is fascinated by weddings. She wanted to know if she could marry Kessler. She asked if we could go ask our neighbors if they would like to marry her. She finally gave up on mom and dad making the arrangements. One day last week when I came to pick her up, Ms. Danielle explained that she was in the middle of a ceremony. She pointed to the corner where Makena and Dillan were both playing in fancy costume dresses and high heels!! They had just gotten married! Apparently they have gotten remarried nearly everyday since!

Ballets have become popular lately as well. Shortly after getting back from Australia, Makena asked if she could put on her wedding dress to go to the ballet. As I was getting the dress, Kessler started asking for his ballet clothes. In the midst, the phone rang. A few minutes later, the kids started down the stairs, holding hands. Makena was wearing her dress over her clothes and Kessler was wearing "daddy's shirt" and underwear. It was so amazingly sweet.

I had planned on writing more, but I don't want to hurt myself as I attempt to reenter the world of blogging!

"Kessler peed in the bath tub"

Makena and Kessler were taking their nightly bath while Mark and I were perusing wedding videos. Watching people forsake the formalities of their wedding to dance like fools, makes me laugh.

So, anyway, Mark diligently responded to Makena's call for help. "Kessler, did you pee in the bath?" "No, I peed on Makena." Kessler was relieved to have cleared up the confusion.

Happy New Year everyone!!

"A-a-a-ass starts with A."

Now, you might be appalled that your 4 year old know this. Initially we were. But, when you think about it--if she had said, "A-a-a-a-apple starts with A", we would have assumed she was regurgitating something she was told at school. Not that that would be a bad thing. But, because we are pretty certain "ass" is not on her preschool vocabulary list, we can proudly say she figured this one out on her own. Go Makena!!!

School Photos!!!

I must say; they are some gorgeous kids!










Please notice the girl/boy ratio. Apparently there was an abundance of Y chromosomes in 2006. Also, this class is for 2 years and up. Kessler is one of the youngest at 2 years 1 month and some change in the photo. Look how big he is!

Pacific Grove Triathlon

Just a really quick entry to post a photo from the Triathlon that Mark did this weekend.

Mommy, there's dog poop in my bed.

"Come look."

(There have been plenty of things happening that are blog-worthy. But, the most recent happenings cannot be ignored.)

"I'll show you, Mommy. It's dog poop." Makena declared as she grabbed my hand and started to pull. We have a lot of pretend games these days. Ask Grandma about "Night Time, Day Day", for example. This must be a game since Makena has a new bed, a loft bed.. that's 4 feet off the ground and only accessible by ladder or a slippery slide. Merlin can do a lot of things, but if there isn't a loaf of bread on top of Makena's bed, he's certainly not going to climb it

I felt relief as I ascended the stairs knowing I would not find dog poop. That relief quickly dissipated as I grew closer to the bedroom door. The stench gagged me as I crossed the threshold and looked atop the bed. There sat Kessler, "Poopies, Mommy, poopies." The proof of the poopies was all over his hands and feet, pillow and sheets and his bare ass.

Now mind you, this boy potty trained himself on his second birthday. His first word was a sentence, "I want some." Today, I decided to take an alternate route to school. The second I made the turn off of the beaten path, he asked, "Mommy, where are we going?" He's 2 years, 1 month old and he knows when we've deviated from the normal route? Do you think he knows that shitting in Makena's bed was wrong? Yet, he still did it. We are so screwed.

I'm outnumbered; both the dog and Kessler are smarter than me.

Two years down, 16 to go.