Time Out!

Forgot something really funny that happened during all of Gates time outs on Monday!! I only require to be called mam when my kids are in trouble--usually Gunnar so I know she is paying attention to me. Gates is starting to catch on to this apparently because the other day after he had done his time on the stairs(that's our time out spot) he got up and said "I'm real sorry MAM!" So hard to keep a straight face around him some days. Gotta love it, but I have a feeling he will spend many, many, many more days on the stairs.

Of course with almost everything on ones blog you really do have to be there to appreciate the full effect, but it's so fun to share, because I typically don't remember to tell every detail of our lives during conversation nor do I have the time. These little moments are ones I love to let you in on. Hope you are enjoying our disfunctional daily lives!!

OUR WEEK IN A FLASH

Well here it is Saturday and I haven't updated in almost a week. Seems like the week went by in the blink of an eye. Not too much going on this week just busy and not much time to sit down in front of the computer. Where do I start? We'll just take it day by day....

Monday: Gunnar was suppose to go to gymnastics but got picked up early from school because she was sick.. Nothing too bad, a little fever and a headache. Tylenol and a little rest did the trick. She woke up feeling better than ever, but we decided to sit the gym out for the night. Gates and I went to the gym--he played and I sweated my bootie off. Gates got put in time out at the gym for hitting Elijah. I walked in and he was screaming bloody murder. However, when I was getting ready to give him his bath he had a huge bit mark on his shoulder--you could see every tooth and it matched Elijahs mouth perfectly.HAHAHA Gates had to eat soap and got put in time out for saying "Holy Shit"--his new favorite phrase, when Todd got home from work. He got it from the Sand Lot. The one bad word in the whole movie and Gates picks up on it. Sounds like Gates had a rough MONDAY.

Tuesday: It was off to school for everyone. I volunteered in Gun's class for an hour, which I do every other Tuesday. I love it, the kids are hilarious. They just tell you like it is, no quams about it. Todd delivered meals on wheels. I think he had eight meals to deliver. He enjoyed it a lot. He is planning to do this for the next three weeks and Gunnar is going with him when she tracks out. She is so excited. She definitely has a heart to help people. Todd is trying to get on someones good side:) I worked and had a pretty good night. Busy but good.

Wednesday: I slept---AHHHH. Todd got Gunnar off to school then took Gates to story time at Barnes and Noble. We LOVE story time!! After that Gates got an awesome new hair cut.. He is soooo handsome. Gunnar went to her friend Bryannas after school for a few hours to play. I cleaned Gunnar's room from top to bottom--lots of stuff disappeared.. Feels so good to purge stuff.

Thursday: Todd was up at 4am--off to Jacksonville for the night. He was seeing a recruit. I got both kids off to school then enjoyed a quick run. Gates and I went to lunch with Gunnar. After lunch the weather was so beautiful we decided to go to the park for a bit before nap time. Tiffany and Elijah and Tracy and Dominic joined us. The kids had a great time and the women well gabbed a lot. Got to catch up sometime. We had dinner with the Walters--yummy chili that Shayne had made and claims to be the best ever--but as I remember he didn't even get in the top ten at the CHILI COOK OFF last year! I however did!!! The cook off takes place again on November 8th? I think--watch out here I come.

Friday: Gun went to school. Me and Tiff went to Old Navy with the boys (wouldn't recommend that to anyone). I think we spent more time chasing them than shopping. Anyway got a few things for the kids for the fall. I'm happy to say they have both grown out of their jeans!! Gates is now in a 2T. Yes, he is about to turn 3--I think he got my little people genes. Actually Gunnar is 7 and still wears a size 6 so who knows--maybe its the clothes. Gates and I went to the gym after our Old Navy venture. He plays really hard there. He screamed at me all the way home because I had to stop and get gas.. Can you say TIRED? or is he just a typical man? Todd always gets mad when I don't have gas in my car!! Todd got home and the house became chaotic as usual.. NO actually not too bad tonight, Todd was tired and Gunnar was gone. I ran to do a few errands ALONE! We were all in bed early..

Saturday: Todd was up and out the door early -- headed to the NC STATE vs ECU game. He and the guys went. Gunnar is still gone with Bailey and Gates and I are just hanging out enjoying a quiet day. Todd and I are going to the neighbor hood wine tasting tonight and Landi is watching the kids. Should be fun but still have no idea what dish or bottle of wine we are taking. Hopefully Todd will get home and I can run out to get the goods.

We are sooo looking forward to this next week being over because Gunnar TRACKS OUT!! 3 weeks off YEAH!! We are going to Massachusetts to see Tim, Deanne and the kiddos on the 8th we will return that Sunday. Can't wait to see them, it's been way toooooo long. Also really excited about showing Gunnar our old stomping grounds. I think she will think it is really neat. I think Todd and I are going to try to take the kids to Boston for a day. Such a great time of year to visit -- the trees will be beautiful. I desperately want to get to Yankee Candle. I think Gun and Gates too would enjoy that. They can make their own candles. They also have a wax museum and other stuff. If anyone has any request better let me know soon.. Until next time......

Movie Night

AAAHHHH! It's Sunday night and it's nice and quiet in the house. Everyone is all tucked in and fast asleep. Gates is snuggled in with Gunnar, his new favorite place to sleep. The dogs are snoring and Todd, well, he's watching TV, in bed of course. We had movie night tonight and it was sooo nice to have order in our house on a Sunday night, because normally it's full of chaos. We are usually trying to prepare for the week ahead, but tonight we seemed to have it together. I had taken Gunnar and a friend to the pool today and Gates joined us when he woke up from nap. Todd enjoyed an hour and a half bike ride. I showered the kiddos at the pool and got them into their jammies before coming home. We quickly came home and gobbled up a yummy pasta dinner(go figure (pasta)):). After dinner Gunnar got her clothes laid out and straightened up her room. Gates well, he was just Gates--he wanted to be OUTSIDE---that boy and his baseball. I swear. Anyway, we redirected him tonight and did some fun stuff inside--he'd had his bath for goodness sakes.. I have a thing about going to bed with dirty feet.. With all this said I think that's why we were ahead of schedule tonight. We got all the time consuming stuff done early and had time to kill. So we decided to do family movie night. We watched The Spiderwick Chronicles, the first 20 minutes or so were a little on the scary side--just a little mysterious. Gates watched with one eye!! He was hiding behind a pillow. We ate popcorn and dibs and drank lemonade. Whoever came up with dibs is a genious in my book. Little bites of ice cream with a chocolate crunch-no bowl to clean up, no spoon required, no mess for mom---YEAH I like it. And my kids think I'm the bomb for allowing them to eat 'em. WE all win. Even the big kid likes them--no not me--the bigger one! It was a great night--low key, family filled.. We did lots of lovin on one another--my favorite thing to do, before starting another busy week.

BOYS BOYS BOYS

Yesterday Gates had some buds over... They were so funny. Busy boys but soooo good. So much better than the girls. Boys don't bicker, and whine about being left out, they don't care whose playing what, they don't mind that you aren't talking to them and are talking to someone else. They are just sooo happy to be together and play. We had Domonic and Elijah over and honestly it was a breeze. They ate some snacks, drank lemonade and just acted silly. The difference between boys and girls is that if Gunnar would have had three girls over I would have gotten at least one time if not ten---she's not talking to me, they aren't playing what I want to play, she looked at me funny, blablabla!!! Why can't everyone just get along? Gates was funny he want to have a sleepover--and we decided to wait for another night on that. He is so use to hearing Gunnar ask for a sleepover that he just thinks that's what you're suppose to do after you play with someone. I hope this is how life with a boy will continue smoothe and easy--we have enough drama, we definately don't need anymore.

“A boy is a magical creature - you can lock him out of your workshop, but you can't lock him out of your heart.”
Allan Beck quotes

Dinner Delights

Whew, so tonight we had some very interesting conversation at dinner. At first it was just the usual small talk, but Gunnar seemed to be deep in thought. I ask her what she was thinking about and she said "mom, when are we going to have another baby?" I said "well, Gunnar I don't think we are going too--we are very happy with you and Gates". She says "mom I've heard you say you might like another baby before". I said "sometimes I think I might but daddy likes just having two kids and really so do I because we feel soo lucky to have you and Gates". I mean who could be luckier to have one drama queen and one totally wild man. She looks up from eating and says "you don't need dad, just go get another man to give you that seed!!!" Yikes, with this being said I will now explain. Not long ago Gunnar and I were alone driving in the car and out of the blue she ask how babies get in your tummy. I quickly ask God for guidance on this topic and this is what came to mind. I said "Gunnar you know how ducks lay eggs?" and she said "yes, so ". I explained that a daddy duck gives a mommy duck a SEED and it helps her grow an egg in her tummy, then when the egg is just right she lays it and protects it until finally a little duckling hatches. I said "so a daddy gives a mommy a SEED and a baby grows in her tummy. When the baby is ready to come out the mommies tummy starts to hurt and she knows it's time for the baby to arrive, so they go to the hospital. The baby is born and the mommy protects her child for the rest of its life. I think we talked a little more but this seemed to satisfy her curiosity at this time.

Now back to dinner---Gunnar says "when is it ever going to stop raining?" (more rain for us again today--I must say I didn't mind at all as I had worked last night and am doing so again tonight--the rain was great for my beauty rest).. I said "it's hurricane season, that's why we are getting so much rain". "Huh, when did they add that season?" was her response. Of course I explained that it's not really a season but a time of year when hurricanes occur and with that comes a lot of rain. She said "so why don't they just call it the hurricane time of year?" I told her to write a letter to the weather man and ask him--my brain did not have enough sleep for all these questions!!!

Now to Gates dinner conversation--I put his dinner plate in front of him and he looks up at me and says "oooouuu that is "stho disth-custh-ting"" meaning that is so discusting. Thanks Gunnar for enhancing your brothers vocabulary. One bite and he ate the whole thing--it was spaghetti and meat balls for crying out loud. I don't think I know anyone that doesn't love that!

I am always amazed at how much my kids really do listen to what we are saying. Point proven about the SEED and all the new words Gates is learning from his big sis. When you really need and want them to listen it is like pulling teeth but when it is something you wish you wouldn't have said or even if its something interesting to them they remember every little bit of the conversation and it usually finds a way of coming back out at the most inopportune times.

Flipping the card

Apparently flipping the card is not such a good thing in second grade. Gunnar's teacher uses this system for behavior. You start off with a green card and if you are really good you get to move to purple if you aren't so great or get caught doing something in class that is a NO NO then you move to yellow, then last is red. Gunnar came home today and said "mom, I think you are going to be upset with me." I said "well, what's the matter?" She said very quickly "I had to move my card but it wasn't my fault." I asked what that meant and she explained the system to me. I said well what did you do? She says "me and Lindsey(a new friend) were passing this piece of paper back and forth and Ms. Schaper thought it was a note, but mom I swear it was just Lindsey's bookmarker". I said "did you explain this to Ms. Schaper?" She said "I tried but Ms. Schaper shushed me." "Mom are you really mad at me, am I grounded?" I said, "Nope I'm not mad, you aren't always going to have a perfect day, right?" She smiled and said "I knew I loved you mom!" However, I did explain that I do expect her to obey the rules in the classroom. Part of our morning routine is to pray for a great day. On our way to the bus we hold hands and thank God for a new day, I pray that Gunnar is a good listener to her teachers, a leader to her friends and nice to everyone she comes in contact with--even people she may not be fond of.. we use this word in our prayer because she and I decided God probably wouldn't like it if we said people she doesn't like--hehe although we all know that God really knows what we mean. Anyway, Gunnar said to me mom maybe we need to add into our morning prayer---"Please don't let Gunnar get her card flipped anymore!!" I told her we could but God wasn't going to hide things from Ms. Schaper so she still has to do the work if she wants God to do his end of the bargain. She looked at me puzzled and she said "mom, you always say God can work miracles, so why can't he do it for me?"

Go Wolfpack!!

WTH------translation--- "Wolfpack in the HOUSE"! With a rocky start the wolfpack pulled it out in the end and we were there to witness the glory. We had such an awesome time. We thought Hanna was going to blow us away early in the day but by tailgate time the sky was clear and the sun was blazing. We hit KFC --no translation needed--right?--at about 3ish then off to Finley Stadium to start the big Hoorah. The Schafrons joined in on the excitement(Derek, Annie, Lexi and Bailey). We had the perfect tailgate spot--we set up chairs, tables, flipped the minivan seat and chowed down. We passed the time by tossing around the football and watching people walk by in amazement as Gates socked the baseball to the moon with every swing. I can't tell you how many people said "wow, how old is that kid?" We also did a lot of people watching. As we all know with rain comes mud puddles. Well, these were no ordinary mud puddles--they were covered with mulch and when stepped in they were like quick sand. We laughed until we cried and our stomachs hurt. I can't begin to tell you how many people we saw lose their shoes in the sticky stuff. They would step in, sink to their knees and were lucky to pull their feet back out. If you know anything about tailgating--all the college kids walk around struting their stuff--kinda hard to do muddy and shoeless!!!! You go from I'm so COOL to Holy Shit -- who saw me do that? We really did get a kick out of it--still makes me chuckle today(one of things where you kinda had to be there):0)

We only had four tickets so we took turns going in and out. Todd and I took the first crew in. We wanted Gates to see the opening with the intros and fireworks. It was sooooo exciting. There was even a fly by of 4 jets to acknowledge and thank the troops. Gates loved it. After the first quarter I took Gates and Lexi out and brought Gunnar and Bailey back in. Of course the ONLY reason those two wanted to go in was for snow cones and funnel cake--my oh my! So of course I complied with their request. What kind of mom would I be to deny funnel cake? So anyway, they loved the game too. Gunnar cheered as loud as anyone in the crowd. I swear she should be a cheerleader. While I was in the game with the girls Gates kept asking everyone that walked by "got tickets?" Finally one guy stopped and talked to Gates for a few minutes--he told Todd Gates was the "neatest" two year old he had ever met. He did have four extra tickets and gave them to Gates---so now everyone could go in. That boy doesn't have a shy bone in his body.

Finally, to top the night off NC State came back from a terrible beginning to end the game with an amazing WIN--34 to 10. GO WOLFPACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Keep your fingers crossed that the remainder of the season goes our way.

New Best Friends!!

So today after only a brief 2 and a half hours of sleep my alarm goes off and sluggishly I pull myself out of bed. Time to go get little man from school. Sounds so funny still for me to say that. I throw some clothes on along with a ball cap and jump in the blue mommy bus. Off I go eager to hear the report of the day. I go in and he quickly spots me---"mommy your here" (like I was going to leave him there all day). I scoop him up and give him a big hug---he's got a big kiss for me and a really awesome purple cow he made. I ask him what the best part of the day was and he says painting again. I say is Ms. Leanne nice, he says "yeah, she nice" I ask if Ms. Portia is nice " yeah, she nice too". "Did you play with anyone today?" he says "yup Car-ter---he my bess frien" I say oh that's great A NEW BEST FRIEND. Gates says, "mom he don't talk thou" I giggle. "He doesn't talk? "nope" . "then what did you do?" He proceeds to show me how they made their cheeks fill up with air really big and spit at one another... Who couldn't use a best friend like that.

LOLLIPOPS!!

I woke up before everyone this morning as most mornings but today it was on purpose. I got up, had my coffee, read a little, and just took some deep breaths. Today was the day Gates had been waiting for all his life---the first day of school!!! The day that three years ago I didn't imagine would come for a really long time and now it's here. I got Gunnar up first so we could have a few minutes of quite before the storm. She's a lot like me--NOT a morning person. I got her ready then we came down and had a little breakfast. I made Gates his hot tea and woke him up. He is sooo much more like Todd--a morning person. He was really happy and he jumped out of bed like his behind was on fire. "Is it time to go yet"---with a little lisp that he is obtained over the past few weeks. Smile. "Not yet buddy, let's get you ready". He was like tigger --bouncing here and there. It was time to take Gunnar to the bus and he put his backpack on because he thought he was riding that big yellow bus too---I told him he was riding the blue mommy bus--not so much fun but he was ok with it as long as it got him to school. Gunnar was off and it was quickly back home to make sure we had everything. I packed a bag for the gym as Gates ate his hotdog--yes, a hotdog for breakfast--at least it's something. We took a few pics, then off we went--Todd following closely behind us. We followed Gates as he ran to get inside. He remembered exactly where to go--he ran right in and didn't look back:( My heart was a little sad I must admit. I mean I'm really happy that he was so excited, but what about me, or us or goodbye or anything. Not a word. Other parents pushed by me and Todd as we just looked at each other wondering should we go in and say goodbye or do we just go?? Todd was adamant that he was going in that room to say goodbye and give him a kiss, but I convinced him otherwise. It was probably better not to rock the boat. Let's just say a quick BYE from the door. We did and we got a little wave---see ya mommy, see ya dad. Then we were on our way. Todd to work and me to the gym kidless--which is so unusual. I felt like I had forgotten something.
At noon I picked him up. Actually I got there about 15 minutes early just so I could watch him play:) He was so darn cute, walking around that classroom like he owned the place. When the door opened he saw me and ran as fast as he could---he had soooooo much to tell me. His favorite part of the day was painting with a big shirt on!! He made a duck with real feathers. He played outside. His teachers name is "teacher", he pottied twice. He saw Elijah outside. UMMM what else-it goes on and on. I don't think he stopped talking for about 10 minutes. I think it is safe to say he liked it. His class is called the LOLLIPOPS!!! How appropriate-that's Gates FAVORITE candy!!!!!

Last night when I was laying in bed I started thinking. Gunnar was just a little older than Gates when we moved here four years ago. Soon after that we had Gates. Now she's in second grade and he's starting preschool. I often think to myself if I could turn back time would I?