Then He Was 3....

(a post full of ellipses)

Just like that, sweet Ben went from a tiny, sweet (early) baby to this...



At 3, Ben...

...loves triceratops

...thinks ketchup is a square meal
...is a complete and utter mama's boy

...refuses to be potty trained

...is a master fit-thrower
...loves the color orange (despite our Aggie roots)

...always answers "great" when asked how he is, or how he slept

...is a puzzle master

...has a major sweet tooth and is a candy fiend


Happy Birthday, sweet Ben!

St*ff My Kids Say, 1st Ed.

Since this is a family joint, I'll refrain from the foul language and call this "St*ff My Kids Say".  (The asterisk is just for effect, people!)

I think we are all in agreement that kids say some crazy stuff!  I need to keep a journal of it, Sherry-style, but I'm not so good at having a pen/paper around, even when I need it.  So, Facebook and my iPhone do the trick, in a pinch. 

And because I need to record it someplace else besides Facebook (in case I just get fed up with all the political garbage people spew on it daily and delete my account...seriously, why can't we all just post cute pictures and funny e-cards and be done with it?!) the blog wins the "back-up" spot.

So without further adieu, here is "St*ff My Kids Say, 1st Ed."

And in case you are new, K is the 4 year old girl, B is the 2 year old boy.  No, I'm not hiding their names, it is just easier to type.  :)  Laziness at its finest.

At the fabric store with the kids and I just asked for a yard of fabric:
K: what's a yard?
Me: it is a unit of measure
K: is it a non-standard unit of measure?
Me: a what?
K: non-standard unit of measure. You know like when you measure something with something that is not a ruler.
(seriously, are we raising a kid-genius?  A doogie-ette? Nah, they probably watch too much tv)



Me: Hey, were you two in the bathroom?
K: Yup
Me: What were you BOTH doing in there?
B: Oh, you know. Just dwinking chocwate milk and stuff. 

What's stuff? Turns out, it was sneaking binkies and coloring with markers on the bathroom stool.  

Brian: Ben, let me teach you something. Women are crazy and hormonal. Ben, what are they?
B: hippos. 
Brian: NO. Never say that. They are?
B: cwazy and homonal.
K: I'm a woman.  Womans are girls.

Brian: That's right.  And you know what you guys are?  Crazy and...

B: homonal

K: (crying) I don't like that! That is not fun and not nice!!
(yes, I know that is a terrible thing for my husband to get my son to say, but dang it if it wasn't hilarious at the time.)


K: Ben, do you know what? When I get bigger, I am going to ride a school bus.
B: when I get bigger, I'm going to ride one, too. And you know what, I am even going to drive it.
K: no you're not.
B: well, when I am really bigger.
K: actually no. You aren't.

My daughter, the dream crusher.


I am scrubbing my face with one of those microderm abrasion scrubber things before church on Sunday, while Kaylynn watches. She's watching me in the bathroom more and more, asking about my flat iron and make-up. Not sure I like it. 
K: what are you doing that for?
Me: I'm scrubbing my face.
K: why
Me: It makes me feel like my face looks better. Takes the dead skin off.
K: do you have to do that now because you are old?
Me: Yup. Mama's old.
K: well, you don't look old to me.
Me: I love you! You can tell me that every day. How old do you think I am?
K: umm, let's count (she starts at my feet and moves towards my head...) 1, 2, 3, ...15. You're 15 years old.
I am so glad she has no concept of age. I love her little innocent mind.

K started telling me how when she moves out, I'll need another little girl at home. "Because I'll be far away, but you know, I'll come spend the night with you sometimes." So I asked if she thought she needed another little brother or sister. She said, we'd probably need one of each (Brian asked me later - why are you talking to her about this?!) Anywho, so I asked her, if she had another sibling, what she'd name it. She said her sister needed a cute name, something like "Katelyn". I told her that it was a little too close to her name, so she said, "Rose" is cute, too. So I asked about a brother, and she said, "well, what do you think?" I said, "I asked you what you thought." She sat in silence for a second and said, "Star Rocket would be a great name for a little brother. Don't you think that's perfect?" I said, "Kaylynn, that is the best name ever." She said, "well, when I was a kid (?????) daddy used to take me outside to see the stars every night and when he didn't, I would freak out."

I don't know how she moved from Rose to Star Rocket, but IF we ever have another little boy around here, don't be surprised if his nickname is Star Rocket. 


B: "but I already brushed my teeth, daddy."
Brian: "no, you were eating toothpaste, that is not the same thing."

And I'll end on a sweet one...

As she's walking out the door to go to school - "Bye mom! Don't forget to eat lunch! And don't forget that I love you!"

Fun with Boxes

Why do we waste all this money on cute, eco-friendly (and some not-so-eco-friendly) toys?  They have been in the play room for well over half an hour, just chillin' in the boxes.

That's all I got today, folks. Happy Monday!

Let's Run Away...

...and never come back.  At least that's what we were telling ourselves after a wonderful trip to Colorado at the end of July.  Thanks to some very generous family friends and some continuing education classes for the hubster, we had a great little family/friend vacation to Breckenridge (with a couple day stopover in Denver).

First of all, let's just say that all of our kiddos are traveling rockstars!!  We left ETex at 4:00am.  Yup, that's right.  In the morning.  After going to bed at like midnight (us, not the kids), waking up to start driving 16-17 hours was difficult.  Met up with the rest of the crew for lunch in Amarillo [side bar: it's probably just me, but I can't think of Amarillo without singing George Strait's Amarillo By Morning.  Perhaps that's a side effect of growing up in Texas.]

(this iPad holder is awesome.  It'd be more awesome if I wanted to shell out the cash for bluetooth headphones, but I didn't.  These corded, ear protecting ones will work just fine)

(probably can't tell, but this is a giant wind turbine propeller.  It was ginormous!)

When we finally rolled into Breck - I think we fell in love with the weather instantly.  Something about going from 100 degrees to 65 degrees in 16 hours will do that to ya.

Each day was glorious.  We could take walks in the evening without sweating!

Even mundane things like eating at Chipotle are better in the mountains.

Picnicking by the river. Water was freezing.  But we braved it for a family photo.  First one since Christmas, I presume.

We braved the rec center for swim lessons.  Kaylynn had 4 good days - Ben had 2.  Every other day he flipped out.  Not sure why.

One day, we had to take him in a white t-shirt and a diaper.  He was not thrilled.  But he got in the pool.  Have I mentioned that I'm a sucker for little boys in white t-shirts.  Or this little boy in a white t-shirt.  Probably because it reminds me of his dad, who wears white t-shirts.

We headed up the Gondie (gondola) or as my kids called it, the "oval gondowa" to the fun park.  Still not sure what this place was called, but the Alpine Slide and coaster were awesome!

Ben took naps on the chair lifts. Did a little fishing. Or rock throwing. Or picture taking in the mountains. OH, and geocaching! And we fed chipmunks organic cheerios. They weren't fans. They were jealous of chocolate sprinkled donuts. :) And then we made it to Denver for class, where we saw awesome urban gardens and ate sushi. Denver's not bad, I tell you. We were all bummed to head back to Texas. If we could just run away and hide out without no one knowing where we were - we'd do it. So if we ever go missing - look for us out west.

Bikers

Kaylynn got a bicycle for her 4th birthday, but until recently, has been terrified to ride it. After a little adjustment to the training wheels and seat, she's good to go! Now, every time we go over to Meese & Papa's house the kids run straight to the bikes and start riding around the patio.

Last night, we convinced them to take their talents to the road and the most entertaining bike ride/walk ever! We are really impressed with Ben "Low Rider" Frink's progress on the trike. Kaylynn never pedaled the tricycle, as it has a handle on the back and preferred that everyone just push her around, like the princess that she is. :) But with Kaylynn's recent bike riding discoveries, Ben has taken off right behind her. I realize other 2 year olds may have been doing this for a while, but since none of our kids would pedal a bike, we're pretty impressed with how fast he's picked it up.

A few funny stories:

 1. When Ben pedals, he's knees are at a constant 90 degree angle (aka, he needs a bigger bike). But he goes so fast that his legs can't keep up. And he is panting like a dog the entire time he's pedaling. And we call him "Low Rider" because he is all kinds of leaned back on that trike. I really tried to get him to just keep one hand on the handle bars, and stay all leaned back, but it didn't quite have the same affect. Still funny.

2. So we're going down the road, and Ben doesn't really look where he's going. Neither of them do, actually. So he's going along and veering to the right...into Kaylynn's path, and cuts her off. She darts right, into the pasture and the bike starts bumping. She bails out, superman style, and ends up on the ground. And she is ticked off. Like MAD. The bike has fallen over and she gets up and is standing in the weeds with her hands on her hips, yelling at us, "IT'S NOT FUNNY!!" But it is. She's so dramatic, that it makes everything funny, as she is so worked up over it. Meese and I are laughing so hard that tears are streaming out of our eyes and the snorting has commenced. I'm sure it was one of those moments where you had to be there - but man if you were, you would have been doubled over in laughter!

3. The trike has no brakes. And the road at Meese & Papa's is hilly. So Ben gets going down the hill and we can't get to him fast enough before he falls over. But immediately as he falls, an airplane is flying by. If you know anything about our kids, you know that they have an eagle-eye for planes/helicopters. Instead of crying over his bleeding knee, he shouts, "airpane, daddy. Wook, mommy, dere's an airpane!!!" He fell a 2nd time and he didn't even realize he had a skinned knee until he got in the car and saw the blood. He ended up with an Angry Bird bandaid before the night was over.

 Low Rider in action

  Unicorn bikes rock!

 

And once you get to the gate, you have to climb it.