Wild Child
When Big Al was little, he was WILD! He was (and still is) a ball of energy. He wasn’t a “bad” kid, just very energetic. He just never stopped! And he was fearless. At three years old, he begged us to put him on top of the house so he could jump off. He thought he could fly if the wind blew his Superman cape, which he wore every single day. He had no fear of getting hurt. He’s still like that, for the most part.
When Smarty was little, he was calm. He would sit and look at books or play quietly by himself. Don’t get me wrong, he still got into trouble. For instance, he was a climber. He would climb on top on the counter to get on top of the microwave so he could reach the chocolate cake I had hidden on top of the fridge. Or he would climb the shelves in the pantry like a ladder to get to the cookies on the highest shelf. Smarty loves junkfood, just like his mommy.
I was so sure that my little girl would be different. Girls are supposed to be different than boys, right? I thought she would be a quiet child and would want to play dress up and have tea parties every day. I never dreamed that she would be a fearless ball of energy who likes to climb and sneak out of the house!
I can’t keep this girl contained! I don’t feel like I can take my eyes off of her for one minute. Seriously. She’s into everything. And she’s fearless.
She’s going to be the death of me, I tell ya!
She can unlock every door in this house, including the dead bolts and the screen door latches on the covered porch. So, I can’t keep her inside. Our yard is not fenced and people drive like maniacs down our street. I’m hoping that some of those plastic doorknob covers will help with this problem.
She can climb over both baby gates that we own. If she doesn’t feel like climbing it, she somehow manages to knock it down. So, I can’t keep her in any room or particular area of the house.
She does things like jump off of the couch without holding on to anything and comes within inches of busting her face on the coffee table. She also likes to stand on the back of the couch and free-fall onto the cushions. She also likes to stand on the coffee table. So, I can’t leave her in the den or the formal living room alone, for fear of a trip to the ER.
She climbs on everything – the chairs from her little table set, the step-stool in the bathroom, her baby doll stroller, her airplane ride-on toy, any container or box, kitchen chair, stackable blocks – you name it, she will use it to climb up on something else!
She has no fear of falling or getting hurt. When she does fall and get hurt, it does not stop her from doing it again.
She is my “Wild Child”. I’m not sure I’m going to survive the 2’s, much less the teenage years if she doesn’t outgrow this stuff soon!
If she doesn’t, I hope they will let me have visitors in my padded room.
Daddy’s Girl
I have so many pictures like this:
Little Bean, holding her Daddy’s hand.
Or riding on his shoulders.
Or exploring with Daddy.
It makes my heart so happy to watch them.
Hubby is such a great father. When I was pregnant with Bean, though, I couldn’t help but wonder how he would be with a little girl. He has always been so “rough & tumble” with the boys, always pushing them to do their best and to be strong boys. Would he be so rough on our little girl? He said he would. He said he would hold her to the same standard that he’s always held the boys to. He said she wouldn’t end up being a “spoiled little princess”.
But, she melts his heart. You can see it in his eyes when she’s around. You can see it in the goofy grin he gets when he’s talking to her. He reportedly told his mother that “it’s just different with little girls”.
Don’t get me wrong. He makes her behave. But there’s something special about their relationship. She’s Daddy’s girl.
Wednesday nights are Daddy/Beanie nights. While the boys and I are at church, they eat macaroni & cheese, go to the park to play, get ice cream, call Nana, and then he gives her a bath and gets her ready for bed.
She looks forward to it, too!
At naptime I tell her that it’s Wednesday and she says “When I wake up, I’m going to have fun with Daddy! We’re gonna eat macaroni & cheese and go to the park and get ice cream and call Nana and take a bath!” She knows that’s her special time with Daddy.
God has truly blessed me with a wonderful man. I couldn’t have chosen a better father for my children, especially Daddy’s girl.
These Days Are Fleeting
Big Al is always dressing up as something. He surprises me when he walks out of his room each day. I never know if I’m going to be the mother of a spy, “army man”, baseball player, football player, pirate…..the list goes on. Seriously, the boy rarely wears “normal” clothes – he’s always dressed as some kind of character!
Yesterday, he was a pirate.
He went out on the back deck to play, using the deck as his ship. We had a discussion last week about how the deck is not a pirate ship – especially when little boys tape their pirate flags to the guttering with packing tape. I generally don’t like for them to play on the deck because they always mess up my furniture and climb on the banisters. Really, I just don’t want the mess that they usually make.
I started out the door to fuss at him and to remind him that the deck isn’t a pirate ship. But, on my way out the door, I realized that Big Al is nearly half-way to his 12th birthday. Pretty soon, he isn’t going to be interested in dressing up as some character and playing with his brother on the back deck. I know the day will come when it isn’t “cool” to play dress up. And I know that day isn’t too far down the road for us. My little guy is growing up fast.
So, instead of telling him to get off the deck, I just reminded him that he’s not allowed to tape stuff to the gutters. Because these days are fleeting. And I want to enjoy them as much as he does.
Wordless Wednesday: Wheee!
Where’s Beanie?
I put Bean down for a nap the other day but when I went in a little later to check on her, she wasn’t in her bed! I looked in her floor and in the closet but I couldn’t find her. I started to freak out a little – imagining one of those scenes from the movie when someone sneaks through the window and kidnaps the sleeping child – but then I heard her slow, sleepy breathing. I followed the sound and found her under the bed.
Silly girl!
A Tantrum in Pictures
I try to take little pictures of the kids throughout the day. On this particular day, Bean was playing “Mommy” with her baby in the stroller. I thought it was cute so I snapped a picture.
“Take a picture of my baby”
She put her baby in the stroller and I asked for another picture. ”No”, she replied.
What? No? You can’t just tell me no! So I took another picture anyway.
Well, that just ticked her off!
The fact that I took yet another picture of her only made it worse. She went to the sofa and hid her face. So I took a picture of that.
That was a the straw that broke the camel’s back! She was furious with me for taking YET ANOTHER picture of her.
At this point, she flipped out and threw an all-out tantrum because I was taking her picture. Yes, I realize that it was cruel of me to keep snapping pics but I thought it was rather funny. Yes, I’m mean like that *snicker*
She threw herself in the floor and everything! It probably didn’t help matters much that, not only was I still taking her picture, but I was also laughing.
Smarty had the audacity to come and lay on the sofa to watch her fit! She flipped out! For whatever reason, he was NOT allowed to lay on the sofa.
I know this picture is not in focus but I loved it! You can just feel the anger and aggravation!
“STOP TAKING MY PICTURE!”
So, I stopped.
But not before one last shot of her lip all pouted out 
)
Yes, I’m the meanest mommy in the world.
Happy Mother’s Day
There is nothing like being a mommy! I love every minute of it.
Big Al and me, right after I became a mommy.
Happy Mother’s Day to all the mommies out there,
Such a Good Little Mommy
On the weekends, we like to spend as much time outside as we can. With the weather we’ve been enjoying lately, we have grilled out quite a bit.
Big Al is learning to “man the grill”. Gosh, where has my little boy gone? Who is this big (little) guy in his place?
When we eat out on the back deck, I bring Bean’s high chair out there. We only have four chairs with our hand-me-down table. The last time we ate out there, Bean got busy and dragged her baby’s high chair out on the deck too. It was too cute!
She put her baby in the chair and set her a plate and some food.
She messed in the cabinets and found some plastic cups for drinks.
And then she went into her little Chef Barbie kitchen and cooked up some cake for everyone.
She’s such a good little mommy!
Cousins
Bean loves her cousins. My nephew is exactly eight months older than Bean. They love each other so very, very much. They talk on the phone often and beg to visit each other. Unfortunately, my sister and I live 3 1/2 hours apart so our kids don’t get to see each other as often as we (or they) would like.
Last Saturday was my niece’s first birthday. Smarty and Big Al had a baseball game so Bean and I traveled to North Carolina alone to attend the party and spend the night at my sister’s house.
Bean and Nephew were so happy to see each other. He came running out to the van and, as soon as Bean’s feet hit the ground, they embraced in a huge hug! They really enjoyed their time together, even though it was quite short.
Nephew LOVES motorcycles. He took Bean for a ride on his motorcycle. Why do I have the feeling they will be doing this again in about 15 years with a real motorcycle?
Bean wanted to take it for a spin herself. I was surprised that she even knew how to ride it, considering that she had never ridden anything like that before. But, she did well and she really enjoyed herself.
Nephew didn’t really care for having to hand his motorcycle over to his cousin, though. Things were better when Bean took him for a ride.
Have I mentioned how gorgeous my niece is? She is.
She really enjoyed her birthday cake, too!
I *heart* her curls. I have stick-straight, fine, limp hair. I really, really love her curls.
The kids all had a blast playing together. They played and played and played some more. By the end of the day, they were too exhausted to even give us a good smile for a picture. This was the best of, like, ten pictures.
They took a bath together. They had a blast wearing washcloth hats!
At bedtime, they decided they needed to both sleep in one bed. Nephew volunteered to “read” Bean a story. She got up for 10 drinks of water and ended up sleeping with me instead.
On Sunday morning, they went out to play before Bean and I had to get on the road. Nephew hooked up the bike trailer to his bike and took Bean for a ride. They are so adorable together!
It was so sweet to watch Bean and Nephew spend time together. I hope that one day we can live closer to each other. Until then, short weekends and quick visits and phone calls will have to do. It doesn’t seem to hinder their bond.
I Can See The Light
This week, we will wrap up Week 34 in our little homeschool adventure! I can see the light at the end of the tunnel!
In some ways it has gone by so quickly and in other ways, it has dragged on and on.
All I can say is that it has been quite the experience. Kudos to those women who homeschool all their children from start to finish! I can’t help but think maybe we may have all been better off if we had done this from the start. Having my children in public school for several years before taking them out gave them (and me) different expectations for homeschool. I can’t tell you how many times I would give them an assignment and they would say “Well, my teacher always told me….” or “In public school, we….” I eventually learned not to take it personally or get upset. Now, my response is simply “I am your teacher and this is what I’m telling you” or “There’s a reason you’re not in public school.”
When we started school in August, Bean was 22 months old. She was happy to sit at the table and color while we had school. She loved doing school! Now, as we wrap up the year, Bean is 2 1/2 and she is into everything! She no longer wants to sit still at the table and color. She would much rather drag out all of the DVDs, the pots and pans, and the clothes in her drawers and closet, and terrorize the dog. As the year has gone on, it has gotten a tad bit stressful, thanks to a certain 2 year old! Of course, it may not have been quite so stressful if the boys would keep working when I went to get Bean out of a mess instead of immediately jumping up and running off to act out a scene from Star Wars!
I have been counting down the days until this school year would be over. Many, many days ended with me in tears. I have made it clear to my husband that nothing could make me want to do this again. More days than one, I’ve been sure that I have ruined our lives by taking my kids out of public school.
Do you want to know a secret?
Part of me is really going to miss homeschooling my kids.
There, I said it!
Yes, I know I’m insane. I know it has driven me crazy for the past 9 months. But, if our house doesn’t sell before school starts in the fall, there’s a good possibility that I’ll be doing it again. And I *think* I’m okay with that.
Hoping that light at the end of the tunnel isn’t the train,
Never Miss A Post:
My Homeschool Curriculum:
Earn Free Stuff:
I Joined, Have You?
Places You Can Find Me….
-
credits
