Birthday parties, super hero's, rope swings and pseudo-crafts

 

I haven't made anything crafty in ages, so I'm counting my Super Hero play dough as a creative outlet.  I use this recipe, and it rocks.

 

 

The adults may have had more fun than the kids in this foam pit.  We may have to re-book it for Jon's upcoming bday....

Look out below!

 

Birthday boy swinging into action Batman style.

 

War!

 

Let there be cake!

 

O's night job, saving Gotham City. 

 

This One's for You, G&G!

"I wanna weed chara bwown.  Gwama? Gwama?"

 

A Few of the Perks...

...of having a photographer as one of your besties.  Glad to share life with you, lhf creative, and glad you want to document it! 

 

Life Lately

Shawn T. putting us through the ringer.  Working out with your kids? That's what I call Insanity. 

Check out Superman's new hair cut!  Our first trip to an actual hair cut place, but I forgot my camera. 

I find it hard to believe that our card board fire truck is still alive and well.  And supporting close to 40 pounds. 

New policy at our house:  Every visitor must pick out 5 to 10 books to take home.  Thanks in advance.

"ahhhhhhhhh....AAhhhhhhh.... daaaaa"

 

 

iphone photo dump

I've been informed that I need to quit slacking and get some new pics up.  Agreed. 

 

 

Enjoy your weekend!

 

Happy Weekend!

Best quotes of the week:

Superman:  "Mama, I tell you what we need to do today.  We need to go to the store and buy a baby.  Where can we get a baby at?"

And a few days later...

"I've got a sister, Owlie."
"Owlie is your brother.  Sister's are girls."
"Where we gonna get a sister at?  Mama, we need to go do that."

Struggling with Holiday Weight?

We are.

 

Melkam Genna!

One of Jon's New Year's Resolutions (and I have never know him to make one before) was to celebrate more ET holidays this year. 

We were only a week late with Genna (ET Christmas), so I'd say we are doing good.  And Superman got to shout Merry Christmas a few more times this evening. 

We had some delicious food and a great time with friends.  Love these kids, love this family!

 

I Pee Paw-yay

It happened.  We've got a potty trained kid.  Actually, two of them.  Believe it or not, this leaves me feeling a little torn. 

The good news: 
I'm so proud of that little Bear!  It's fun to be his cheerleader.
No more washing or buying diapers. 
He is such a lightweight and they don't make underwear that teeny, so I laugh every time I see them falling off his rump.
We get to hear him say "paw-yay" multiple times a day.

The bad news (get ready, the bad news is terrible):
There are no more Mot babies. 

And now here is a re-cap of the last 6 days, because I am a mom and that's what moms do.  Talk about potty training.  Also because I don't have baby books for my kids and possibly someday they will care.  Or more likely demand that I never blog again, because what teen would want his potty training experience to be on the internet?  Until then...

Days 1 and 2
Theme:  House-broken, not potty trained.
Ever seen a camel get potty trained?  No, I suspect not.  That was pretty much what was happening around here, though.  Apparently Bear was quite aware that we didn't want the floor to get peed on, so rather than use the potty he just held it.  For hours.  One time it was 5 hours.  And this was with a liquid diet.  When he did finally go, our little potty was half full.  Nothing but optimists around here. 

Day 3
Theme:  I'm mad you didn't forget about this stupid thing.
There were some tears and asking for a diaper on day three. He also carried the potty off and hid it.  I'll be honest, these tactics did test my resolve and I wondered if I should just go ahead and put a diaper on him.  This was also the only day he had any real accidents.  Later in the afternoon, I noticed a huge molar poking it's way out of his gums while he was wailing his head off.  Some ibuprofen helped day three immensely. 

 

This picture pretty much sums day three up. 

 

Days 4 and 5

Theme:  Champion!

By day 4 we quit asking if he needed to go.  Self-initiating!  He also put his camel days behind him and began going more frequently. 

 

Day 6

Theme:  The coup de gras.... #2!

I think the theme pretty much says it all.  :)

 

And voila!  A potty trained kid!  All we needed was:

lemonade

a new dinosaur sippy

juice boxes

hot chocolate

soup

Popsicles

apple juice

orange juice

a new Thomas water bottle

chocolate milk

smoothies

water

Luigi's Italian Ice

skittles

one little potty

and one kid who was ready months ago (I suspect this may be the most important part).

 

And now here is some Mot baby trivia for all you buffs out there.  Since becoming our son until paw-yay time, Bear has only been in one diaper size, our loyal friend: the three. 

 

 

'"Friend" the Finest Word in any Language"

Superman has his first ever imaginary friend. 
This delights me to no end.  
Her name is Mom and she lives under the table in our kitchen.  I'm sure if you were a feminist or a shrink you could pull a lot out of that concept. 
I asked him if it was his first mom that he had in Ethiopia, but nope, a third mom has appeared.  Or not.  :)

Sample conversations, in which I find it hard not to laugh out loud.

Superman yelling from the bathroom:  "Mom?  You doing good?  Mama, Owlie?  You guys being nice to my mom?"

Superman to me:  "Mama can I have candy?"
Me:  "No, not right now."
"That's okay.  I'll just ask my mom.  Hey mom?  Can I have some candy?  Hey!!  My mom said I could have some candy!!"

"Hey!  My mom just said it's going to snow promorrow!  I'm so exciting to see snow promorrow!"

Several times I've found myself asking:  "Are you talking to me or your mom under the table?" 


I'm hoping your Tuesday is filled with as much whimsy as mine is turning out to have!

 

The People Have Spoken

Did you know that I'm not so much of a morning person?  Here's the catch:  I'm not much of a night owl either.  I guess this makes me a rockstar at late mornings (provided I know that I'll be able to sneak in an afternoon nap). 

Jon makes breakfast for our boys 5 days a week, while I get ready.  When Saturday rolls around and Jon sleeps in, Superman (who is nothing without his routine) is never happy to see me.  It's going to be bad oatmeal day.  I try to talk him into cereal or pancakes, but he rarely budges. 

Superman was talking about all the good food we have in our house today, because Bear is working on potty training.  Nothing says potty training like a house full of treats and juice galore.  He then got onto the topic of cooking.  "Some peoples just good at making yummy things, and some people just make yucky things.  Ababa's weally good at making yummy oatmeal.  Mama.....  you good at making yummy noodles."

Our family has voted, three to one think Mama should sleep in every day. 

A few of my Favorite Things

I woke Bear up from a nap yesterday at 3:15.  You type A's out there are nodding your head in agreement, "yes, don't let him sleep too long, he'll never sleep at night!"  The laissez-faire folks have gaping mouths... "wake a sleeping child from a nap!  Are you nuts?"  I pretty much fall in the type A category, but all my favorite families fall on the laissez-faire side of life, so it appeals to me to try and lean that way (opposites attract, right?). But not with matters of sleep.  No way. 

When I got Bear up he just wanted to continue sleeping in my arms.  After trying to get his eyelids to stay cracked for 20 minutes he said, "mama, I gumpy."  Yep, buddy ain't it the truth.  The same thing happens to me when I get woken up.

Superman is stumped.  Why admit your weaknesses?  He responds with, "no, not me.  I'm never grumpy when I wake up."  I cleverly turn my snort in a cough. But, I do need to give credit where credit is due.  These days he hardly ever is grumpy when he wakes up.     

Once again, I found myself thinking about all the ways my boys have grown in the last year +.    Heck, not just my boys, but let's throw me, Jon, our marriage, my faith, and my knowledge of child development and adoption onto the growth side.  This seems to be on my mind a lot lately, possibly since everyone is doing year end reviews and reflections on their blogs.  Or maybe just because my boys have changed in a million ways.

Anyway, it got me thinking about how Bear has been our son longer than he hasn't.  And that is a lovely thing to think. 

Easy Tomato Basil Soup

 

Here's a picture of the amazing Caire family, the family we bought our van from back in August, packed up and headed to the mission field. 

 

And here's a really easy, Mott-approved recipe from their head chef.  Superman probably said, "mama this is the best soup ever!" 13 times during dinner.

Easy Tomato Basil Soup

Simmer together for 20 minutes:
2 28oz cans crushed tomatoes
2 T chopped fresh basil
3 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup butter

Add
2 cups of cream
salt to taste

It's way super creamy so I added a couple cups of water when done, but that step is up to you.  Your prerogative.

Enjoy!
 

 

The Best of 2012

January

February

 

March

 

April

May

 

 June

 

July

August

 

September

October

November

 

December