easter egg hunt in clayton

went to riverwood last saturday for their easter egg hunt. kendal was really not interested in the eggs. we didn't even have a basket, i didn't think he'd need one. we got to the 0-2 age field which was roped off... he said "ball, ball!" then we had to keep him away until it was time to go in. when we finally did get to go in, he just wanted to say hi to all the kids in there with him - so finally i sat him on the ground and put an egg in his lap - he picked it up and threw it. so i got another, showed him it would open (though it was not the time to open the eggs), he was completely unimpressed - and threw it again. so, we just kept walking around saying hi and once the field was clear, we went back to the stroller and had a snack.

old vs new and why DVD players are good.

since i've been picking on my husband lately (see the fast food menu blog), i thought i'd post another blog about something we disagree on. and that topic would be whether or not a DVD players should be installed in cars these days. so we bought a new car recently, and this car's purpose is for family trips for the next 8 to 10 years (or however long it lasts). our kids, right now, may not really be into movies and stuff, but in the next 2 years or so (save kendal and the wonderpets), watching movies will be great pacifiers for long, boring trips. and, i want to put a DVD player in our car. nathaniel feels differently. he says "we didn't have one when i was growing up and we'd travel from CA to IN every summer." suppose that'd be a long ways, maybe a 2 or 3 day trip? anyway, here is where i think his argument has a loophole. back in the 70s and 80s: #1, cars were bigger. there was room to move around. i remember traveling to buckroe beach with tuter and father and mom and me and melissa and aunt joy and amy and ramey and smitty and sandy (smitty's mama) and god knows who else. two of us could fit in the floor behind the driver seat (i remember playing cards with amy there). #2, we didn't have to wear seatbelts "back in the day" so, unlike kids (and adults) these days, we weren't strapped to our spot for hours on end. nathaniel, (jon, amy, or others that are probably going to argue with me here because you also traveled across country without a DVD player), could you imagine having to sit in ONE spot for LONG PERIODS OF time without being able to move around and stretch your legs? and not that a DVD player helps this, but it does distract from the numb-feet affect of... #3, back when we were little, we didn't have to sit in a car/booster seat until we were 12 or over 80 pounds. i'm sure my sister would agree that once a kid reaches a certain age, their feet start going numb when they can't fit them all in the seat with them (and there is nothing to rest them on). i remember the first time bubba got to that age/size. i was in the car that trip. it was a long trip. thank God for CARS (the disney movie) because it distracted him from his uncomfortableness. #4, not only do kids now have to sit in carseats in smaller cars, they can't even turn sideways to play a game like, eh, connect four. once they are in the booster seats, that shoulder strap still has to be across their shoulder. and like a youngin' in a infant seat, if you AREN'T BELTED IN PROPERLY, YOU CAN CAUSE MORE HARM THAN DONE if you are in an accident. so, wouldn't it be advantageous to encourage children to look forward and sit up and straight (rather than want to shift to the side or wiggle their arms out of the seat, etc.)? traveling isn't what it was 30 years ago when we were little. traveling is "compact" now (and faster). compact isn't comfortable. a DVD player helps distract from the uncomfort. i'm FOR getting a DVD player in the car. ASAP. now if i could only convince my old fashioned "i used to walk to school in the snow up hill both ways" husband to concur. even though i didn't know it snowed in S-CA.

claws for paws & kills for thrills

**warning, these pictures are graphic! don't blow them up unless you want grossness!** today holly and i went to durham and had lunch with aunt amy. we had a great time, holly ate a bottle and i ate a whole pizza by myself. mushrooms. it was the mushrooms. they were just calling me, and i couldn't stop! anyway, funny thing is is that while we were gone, i was telling amy how much i think the cats like being outside full time now. now when i get home, i go in and out of the garage. when nathaniel got home, kendal was a little "emotional", so he spent a little time outside trying to calm him down. he noticed that the cats had a little bit of fun while i was out to lunch!!! this half-eaten mouse was near-burried in the corrigated cardboard scratching post thing that the cats have on the front porch. just down from there, this half-eaten squirrel was behind a rock (underneath the overhang of the dining room). so, i suppose while the boss is away, the cats will play! we definitely won't be having a rodent problem this year! or a snake problem, or a moth problem, or a spider problem, etc...

What do you want?

I'll be the first to admit that I eat out way too much. I haven't the time to cook. Heck, I hardly have the time to eat. If it weren't for frozen meals, I don't think I'd ever eat. I will say, though, that my kids (only Kendal at this point) rarely eats fast food. I do take the time to "cook" him meals. Its easy for him since he only eats cheese sandwiches and oranges, with the occasional cracker or two. Easy breezy. Anyway, I digress. yesterday i dropped by nathaniel's office for lunch. holly's lunch. i ate early, but she was hungry. it was about 1:30, and he hadn't eaten yet. so i offered to give him a ride to a drive thru somewhere close. he picked McDs. how many times have we been through McDs? probably hundreds, thousands of times in our lives. but this is how it goes when WE go through one now (i also do this at chick filet, which is another common stop for us): {approaching the menu board} me (driving): what do you want? nathaniel: i don't know. me: you don't know? why don't you know? how many times have you seen the menu? you have to tell me what you want before we get to the menu or i'm picking something for you (like a fish sandwich). nathaniel: i just need to look. me (getting louder and louder and speaking faster and faster): do you want a burger? lettuce? cheese? double? triple? chicken? grilled? fried? salad? WHAT DO YOU WANT??? nathaniel (as soon as the menu is in sight): geez. i'll take a number [13, grilled] with a tea. anyway, do YOU have to look at the menu to know what you want? (i understand that maybe you have to see what number it is, if you want a combo, but do you have to see it to know WHAT you want - i.e. a burger or a chicken sandwich?) am i asking too much? i always know what i want before i get to the menu.

k&h sitting around

this isn't an exciting video, and it is kinda long, but for those of you who'd like a little insight to the daily interactions between kendal and holly, here is about 2 and a half minutes of it during wonder pets. kendal is sick, so he's a little less hyper than usual, & holly is ALL about watching him now. of coarse, he still wants to play with her too. the doctor said to minimize his contact with her (since he has some unknow virus that appears like strep but has a negative culture) which is a joke (to keep him away from her). he wants to get inside her skin, so to speak - so this was the best we could do to have him close but not constantly licking her. yes, licking her. he likes to lick her hands and feet. and head. he likes to lick her head, forehead, cheeks, shoulder, whatever he can get close to. he just loves her so much. won't be long before she's licking back either i'm sure. too bad they won't love each other like this forever (well until puberty). i suppose that'd be too much to ask, 2 kids, 15 months apart, no fighting. he's gotten into holding hands lately too, as you can see in this video. and we decided that when kendal is sick, wonder pets should be on tv ALL THE TIME. thanks mom and dad T for the wonderpets DVD that he got for christmas. its been a life saver. and he feels all better today. fever is practically gone and so is the rash. his nose is still runny but not like it was. maybe he can get out of PJs today.

Then

when i first heard this song (and let me say here that i rarely listen to country...), i thought of my sister and rob. but as i listened more, i thought of me and nathaniel. funny that finally when i hear love songs like this, i think of myself instead of just my sister. finally. Then lyrics I remember, trying not to stare the night that I first met you. You had me mesmerized. And three weeks later in the front porch light, taking forty five minutes to kiss goodnight. I hadn't told you yet, but I thought I loved you then. Now your my whole life, now your my whole world. And I just can't believe, the way I feel about you girl. Like a river meets the sea, stronger than it's ever been. We've come so far since that day. And I thought I loved you then. I remember, taking you back to right where I first met you. You were so surprised. There people around but I didn't care. I got down on one knee right there. And once again, I thought I loved you then. Now your my whole life, now your my whole world. And I just can't believe, the way I feel about you girl. Like a river meets the sea, stronger than it's ever been. We've come so far since that day. And I thought I loved you then. I can just see you, with a baby on the way. I can just see you, when your hair is turning grey. What I can't see is how I'm ever going to love you more. But I've said that before. Now your my whole life, now your my whole world. And I just can't believe the way I feel about you girl. We'll look back someday, at this moment that we're in and I'll look at you and say, "And I thought I loved you then." And I thought I loved you then.

i'm not dieting, but i have lost a few pounds. why is it, then, that my pants are tighter? no matter what i do, the belt area is tighter and tighter and tighter? UUGH! i hate pants. can i just do elastic now? here's to mom pants. (just kidding. i'm just glad i can wear PJs 90% of the time. today, though, i'm going out to lunch, which requires me to wear something other than PJs. and it must be my dryer, because not only are my pants getting tighter, they are also shorter. and i know i'm not getting any taller...)