Friday, June 26, 2009

Oh, Jerry

Jerry, oh, Jerry. Of my three hooligans, Jerry is my challenge, my test in life, a terror. On many occasions I have said that he is payback for both me and Tyler, rolled into one child, and boy are we in for it.

Jerry makes me crazy several times a day. He destroys just about anything he touches, it seems. Give him a BB and it is toast. Nothing stands a chance in his little hands. He climbs on things you wouldn't even dream of, like stacking a stool on top of a chair to climb onto the counter top and then on to the top of the fridge. He has a temper that can be out of this world. He screams. He yells. He cries. He screams at the top of his lungs. He has mastered the tantrum, especially out in public. If he doesn't want to do it, forget it, there is no way you can make him. No bribe or threat can get in the way of what he wants to do. Just look at the family picture at the top of the blog. He didn't want to smile or look at the camera. He hits for no reason, usually his little brother. Today, all I had to do was go get something out of the garage, a mere 6 feet away, and came back to find Michael hollering with a big red mark on his arm. Last week, Jerry poked Michael with a safety pin, multiple times, while the all the boys were happily playing in their room. He throws things, and at people or things. If you need to go to the bathroom, be prepared for what you will find when you come back. Yesterday, he chewed up chocolate animal crackers, sucked up the mush into a medicine syringe, then shot it on the walls and ceiling. The child does not listen, worse than any other child I think I have ever seen. He will just look at you, smile, laugh, and go right on doing whatever it was, like running into the middle of the street or dumping water all over the bathroom floor. Jerry can push my buttons in a heartbeat. I want to run from the house screaming. I want to give him away. I want to leave him at the fire department. Jerry makes me absolutely nuts!

HOWEVER

Jerry is as sweet and loving as can be. He helps, happily. Setting the table is one of his favorite chores. Not too long ago I came downstairs and Tyler was hiding around the corner. Tyler motioned for me to come closer, but be quiet, then pointed into the kitchen. There was Jerry, pulling out the trash can and taking out the trash bag, all by himself, without either of us asking him to. He also loves to take out the recycling, that is his job and he knows he does it well. He is a huge help with his little brother. He loves both of his brothers dearly. Each day, when we drop Thomas off at school, Jerry waves and tells him goodbye, even though Thomas is too far away to hear. He has even had inconsolable meltdowns because he doesn't get to go with Thomas. They all play together for hours on end. The dump trucks are such a fun toy, and now Jerry likes to push Michael around in them, just like his big brother used to do for him. Jerry and Michael are best play buddies, and Jerry enjoys teaching Michael all of his tricks, just as a big brother should. He loves to dance and play. If you haven't seen him dance, you are missing out big time. He is a smart little boy and is very curious. He just wants to know how things work and what will happen if he does something. What will happen if I crumble syrofoam... it looks like snow all over the dining room. He is a problem solver. He is stubborn, and won't give up until he has accomplished his goal. Jerry is so funny. He is the most animated person I know. I say he is a miniature Jim Carey, think "The Mask" and you have it. There is the personality of about eight people crammed inside his little three year old body. He tells the funniest stories, and acts them out as he tells them. Oh, the stories he tells. He could be his own stage production. The puppet shows he and Thomas put on are a sight to behold. He loves to snuggle. I love nap time every day. Naps are great for the break I get, but I love the falling asleep part. Every day, after lunch, Jerry goes up to his room and waits while I put Michael in his bed. Then, it is Mommy and Jerry time. We lay down in his bed and snuggle. We just spend quiet time together, just Jerry and Mommy.

Right now, he is in bed asleep. In the middle of tantrums and screaming, I decided he needed a nap. We went upstairs and snuggled and he was asleep in a few short minutes. He has the most peaceful look on his face. His long, dark lashes are resting on his cheekbones. Under his arm are his ragged teddy bear, who has red drink from some escapade that I have yet to clean off his fur, and his snuggle blanket. His blanket is covering him up and he looks so nice and snuggly and peaceful. Once he fell asleep, I just lay there beside him, looking at him.

How can he be so sweet and loving, and make me crazy at the same time? As much as he makes me nuts, I love him even more. He tries my patience to no end, and yet I just want to hug him and keep him little.

Jerry, I love you to pieces, even when you make me want to pull my hair out and run away screaming. You are a joy in my life and I would have a gaping hole without you. When you turn around and flash that smile, or run up and hug me for no apparent reason, you melt my heart.

Boojiboo Flirty Apron GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

Boojiboo Flirty Apron GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

I so want a cute and fun apron, and now I know where to find one. Thanks to friends for posting it on their blogs so I can snitch it and enter too. Have fun looking at all the stuff on here, but beware, you could spend hours.

Sunday, June 21, 2009

In My Head

First off... Happy Father's Day to all of you father types. We hope you had a wonderful day, with lots of yummy food, eye catching ties, priceless handmade crafts, and plenty hugs and love.

So, we had Sunday dinner with Lolly, as usual. We had super easy and yummy crock pot beef BBQ with homemade sourdough bread. Lolly brought rich, heart attack inducing Texas brownies. After dinner, we were getting ready to eat dessert and the kids decided we needed candles to go with our brownies. It seems after Tyler's birthday and Aunt Amanda's birthday, all desserts require candles, so Jerry and Thomas had candles which we lit and blew out several times. Anyway... Thomas wanted to sing Happy Birthday to himself. Fine. Whatever. He started to sing "Happy Birthday to you, Happy..." Then it happened. He stopped and looked at us and said "I'm going to sing to myself... in my head." He got this look on his face and we could just hear him singing inside his head. Then, he looked up without the singing in his head look, smiled at us, laughed, and ate his cake. Is there anything to do at that point but laugh? What a funny boy.

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Lame

Thomas asked daddy for snack. Daddy told Thomas to ask mama. Thomas asked me, I said I changed my name. Daddy asked what I changed my name to.... I just looked at him with "that look" and didn't answer.

Daddy says we should change Thomas's name. We should change it to "Cindy." I say it should be "Grumpy." Daddy says "How about Grumpy Cindy?" Thomas rolled over on the couch so he couldn't see either of us.

Daddy asks Thomas if we can call him Grumpy Cindy. Thomas says no, again. Daddy asks why not? Thomas says:

THAT'S LAME

Much laughter and disbelief ensue.
Just to clarify, we asked him to repeat. Yup, he said it's lame. More laughter and the obvious statement that this incident is definitely blog-worthy.

Oh well, he's Grumpy Cindy until he isn't grumpy anymore. Maybe snack will make him less grumpy. What do you think, Aunt Amanda?

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Today

Today is Tyler's birthday. He's old.

This morning I was making his lunch and breakfast. He came downstairs and started laughing. I had my shirt on backwards. Painfully, obviously, backwards. It is a shirt from one of my races and has all the sponsors on the back, well, front this morning.

I am making a German Chocolate Cake. It is his favorite. I have never even attempted one. I am not using a box or can frosting. I can't stand coconut.

All the kids are home now. It is summer break. Kids are thrilled, parents not so much.

I made sourdough bread this morning. Right now it is just dough, and it has to rise for 12 hours, then another 12 hours. We'll have yummy warm bread for breakfast tomorrow.

Tomorrow is another day.

Thursday, June 04, 2009

Stalker

I have a confession.

I am a blog stalker.

Yes, I stalk blogs. Not only do I stalk them, but I hunt through all your links to find other people I know and want to stalk. We have so many friends all over the place, this is such a great way to keep up with everybody. It is also quite difficult to find out the blogs for all the people we love to keep up with, so sorting through others' links is my new activity.

So, how on earth do I keep up with all of you? Yeah, that is a lot of sites to visit every day, just to check and see if you posted. Enter Google Reader. You haven't heard of the reader?!?! This was news to me until I stumbled on it mentioned in another blog. How cool is this.... you click the follow this blog link at the top of the page and it attaches it to your google or yahoo or other pages. Then, everybody is listed in one place and it shows you when they post. Then, all you have to do is scroll through your reader page to see what your friends are posting. No more clicking through all my favorites. AND, I can check up on everybody anywhere I am, so long as I can access google.

There, I feel better now that I admit I have a problem. Now send me links for you if I'm not one of your "followers" yet. I need more people to keep up with, because we love you.