Like Mother Like Son

So, our one crab pot produces 4-6 crabs at a time. We would have more, but someone took our other pot. We think the commercial guys just grabbed it when they grabbed theirs. Anyways, we cook up the few we get and then put them in the fridge till I have enough to pick. So, I put the boys up to the bed the other day and brought out the crabs. I made sure they weren't around, because, you know how boys are. Well, they came downstairs to see Alex and there I was, picking crabs. They immediately climbed up on my lap and Ryan went to grab the mallet. So, I showed James how to do it and he did a good job, as you can see. I though Grandpa Boyd would be proud of him....

Very Uncomfortable

I wish i had a picture to go along with this, so I'll try to convey the emotions involved. I was able to go out last night and have dessert and coffee with a friend at Kaminsky's, downtown. We had a great time until they turned up the 'background' music so loud we had to yell at each other. The coffee was decent and the dessert was good. And as Yolande drove me to my car, we got stopped at a red light. One guy, walking across the street, decided to stop in front of our car and do a little Austin Powers strip tease. No, not just for a few seconds, but the entire 2 minutes the light was red. Talk about uncomfortable. All we could do was stare. He didn't seem over-intoxicated or even high. But it left us in a state of shock. So, I share this with no resolution, other than I had really weird dreams last night.

Time with Friends

Our friends, Chris & Erin Wallace and their two children, Cami and Noah, came for a brief visit to Charleston. They're being relocated to Rhode Island and then San Diego, so they are doing an East Coast vacation trip.

They spent 2 nights and 1 day here, and we had a good time. The kids kicked around in the pineapple fountain downtown and we ate at Sticky Fingers. We played cards at night and drank Firefly and margaritas. Alex is real good at making those now. And yes, Olivia decided to finally sleep in a stroller. She's not one for car seats or strollers. That's the only time she'll scream.

Anyways, a cute picture of the girl sleeping.

And the cuteness fades away...

Isn't there a verse in the bible about all things turning to dust?? I remember one time being at the Heisig's house and one of the children broke a plate or something. And Mrs. Heisig very quietly and sincerely made a comment about this will all be gone when the Lord comes back. I think about that often. Mostly when I'm not being quiet and gracious to my children when they break or mess up something. Well, we had another opportunity to practice. James found a blue sharpie outside yesterday and wrote around the whole outside room that's outside the master bedroom. He didn't just pick one spot and do some artwork, but went around the whole thing!! Daddy was not happy, not even remotely. You can imagine why not...seeing as he built this house and knows the labor it will take to remove it and fix it. But, I got to the 'gracious' one who disciplined James and explained to him the problem. I don't think a 3 year old gets the time and effort it will take to fix this...

Ah...the boots

A few visits ago, Alex and I wandered through a Texas pawn shop. We found a great pair of black cowboy boots that I intended to send to one of my nieces. Well, they never got packed up and now, they sort of fit Ryan. Ryan likes to 'dress' up as you can see from other pictures I've posted. He's been known to walk around in my shoes, alex's shoes and James' shoes. He wears headbands and big boy underwear (over his diaper) and anything else he can figure out how to put on. James does this too, but not as extreme. James likes to try on clothes, especially ones that I have in piles to pick through for consignment. Anyways, as we were getting ready to go for a walk, Ryan had to wear the boots. They have heels on them so it's a bit tricky, but he couldn't be dissuaded. So, here they are. James thought it was funny that Ryan was wearing boots.

You know when...

You know when you're out somewhere, like the park, and there's that kid who's jumping off of things your heart drops because you think he'll fall down off the jungle gym and crack his neck?? Well, that's the kind of thing I see and hear when I'm with Ryan. In fact, it's guaranteed. Sometimes when I'm around my sister's kids, I get like that. Little John was opening something with a kitchen knife and it made my heart jump. maybe that's because Alex decided to open a package with a machete one day and ended up getting stitches in his hand. Either way, we took the boys downtown to Waterfront Park and to the Pineapple Fountain. You're allowed to 'wade' in it, but for little kids, it's like swimming.

James was happy to walk around in it and eventually got down and was pushing himself around. Ryan, as you can see, just went for it. That's me in the background freaking out that maybe he'll get caught under the fountain. But I didn't get the looks from the spectators thinking that there was this little body floating in the fountain. We just said, "yes, he's fearless". So, enjoy the video of our little fish.

No binkies!

Well, I finally bit the bullet and snipped the ends off of all the binkies I could find. I knew it wouldn't be as hard on Ryan as it would be on James. And sure enough, James is still moaning up in his bed. I bet Ryan's already asleep but I don't want to check on James yet.

I decided to do this because James is old enough to sleep without one and I think it'll help improve his speech. But it can't be just one child giving it up, it has to be both. However, I do feel like I'm taking his comfort away because this is the only thing he's been attached to, EVER!! Hopefully he won't remember this transition.

Crabs! Crabs! Crabs!

Yes, we got some crab pots. And thanks to our friends, a John Boat that fits perfectly in our creek. This little boat has been gracing the backyard of our friend's house and they were more than happy to entrust it to us. Alex took it out for a 'spin' the other day and it works real well in the creek. He also found some crab pots that had a few crabs in them. We didn't take them, but we did buy our own. Now, all we need is some chicken necks and Alex to put them out. Nothing like fresh seafood!! Picture to come..

Cow Appreciation Day

Another nice thing about Southernsavers.com is that it tells you when stores and/or restaurants are doing free things. For example, last friday, Chick Fil A had Cow Appreciation Day. If you went dressed as a cow, you got a free combo meal. If you went with a cow item, you got a free entree. So, I found a white t-shirt and made some black circles on it so Ryan could be a cow. When we got to Chick Fil A, we got to spin the wheel and got a free drink. So, my boys and I ate a meal for free!!! Oh, I had a cow item so we got one kids meal, a small drink and nuggets for free. Alex had a cow mask which we got at the hundred yen store in Japan, so his meal was $3. So, we all ate for $3. Not bad.

When you turn your back...

I got the boys some washable paint, which is a lot of fun. But when I turned my back, this is how Ryan looked.

It's 1 pm...

And it feels like 6 pm. I'm ready to open that bottle of red wine that's looking at me. Nothing major happened, just a meltdown at RiteAid by a 3 year old and an incessant crying before bedtime of a 2 year old. (Both might have colds or be getting them). So, the baby's asleep, but she periodicially cries out. No noise is coming from the boys' rooms, so hopefully they're asleep. I'll go check. Anyways,

My mind is bogged down with potty training, couponing, cleaning, disciplining and overall, life. But, this is a season of life and will soon pass. I enjoy the little things of life, including Ryan learning to talk, James becoming more articulate, Olivia smiling at me (and the fans). Alex, going crabbing to bring me some crabs. Yes, I'm super excited about that. You can have 2 crab pots without a crab license. He got a little john boat from a friend of his that fits perfectly in the creek.

I'm excited about getting a haircut tomorrow. Alex is landscape shopping at a going out of business store and apparently can landscape our yard for really cheap. So, I'm going to reheat my cup of coffee for the 3rd time and try to re-set my dial.

Coupon Trip #1

Okay, I have to give credit to my husband for doing the grocery shopping. I have done my research on Southernsavers.com, clipped my coupons, ordered my newspaper, and organized my coupons. We decided to go to Publix, because they are priced well. So, with a hand written list and coupons in hand, I sent my husband to the grocery store. Alex, though, got very excited about he B1G1 deals, that he deviated from the list. More like, he added to the list. So, we have a lot more than we need, but it wasn't quite the deal I was going for. But, we did save $85 through coupons and in-store promotions, so that wasn't so bad. This next week, I'll be more specific and we'll try again.

P.S. This is worth a shot if you're willing to get the Sunday paper and cut coupons and try things you might not normally buy.

Let's Get Physical!

Yes, Ryan put this together, all by himself.

Ryan the Lion

We went to the opening of one of our new Waterfront Parks last week. It was a hot day, but full of free activities such as face painting, jump castles and balloon animals. Ryan got his face painted like a lion and was walking around growling. James wasn't interested. Ryan jumped in one of the jump castles, James wasn't interested. In fact, all James wanted was a snow cone. Well, I didn't have sufficient cash and buying the funnel cake, did not make him happy either. So, for about 45 minutes, he was crying and desperately hoping for the snow cone. Due to the temper tantrum, I told him, he definately was NOT gonna get the snow cone. I did have the $3, but that was all my cash. And after the tantrum....But finally, when we're getting ready to go, he decided that jumping in the jump castle would be fun. So, they jumped for another 20 minutes and then we left. Thank goodness he finally decided to enjoy himself!!

But, my dad might feel the need to tell a particular story about me and snow skiing that slightly resembles this story. I guess it runs in the family.

Couponing...

Yes, I'm going to be couponing. It's become the latest craze down here. There's a site, www.southernsavers.com. We're not talking about a few bucks saved, we're talking saving 40 - 60% on the total purchase. Check it out. I'll keep you posted on my success.

The beginning of the Turtles

I guess I forgot to write about the first turtle.

I was driving home one day and picked up a box turtle off the road. Yes, it was alive. So, I brought it home to my very excited boys. After they poked at it, pushed it around in a diaper box and put their face real close to it, I put them to bed. Then Mr. Turtle went on the screen porch. The porch is screened in except for the door. The door has slats in it about 4" above the floor. They are space a few inches apart.

After naptime, we went looking for Mr. Turtle and he was nowhere to be found. Had he really climbed up the door, squeezed through the slats, gone down a flight of 3 stairs and continued walking right off the porch, and survived?!

It appears so. He has never been found. The rolled up insulation was a possible suspect for the death of the turtle, but he wasn't in there either.

So, when we first found mr. Snapper, we thought he might be our long lost box turtle. But he wasn't.

Mr. Snapper

So, where did that box turtle go??? Well, last night we were outside 'helping' Alex and James saw something in the concrete grate leading into the garage. He was trying to get our attention, but daddy was on the phone and mommy was feeding Olivia. Now, if he was screaming, we would've ran to his side, but he was just being the typical James, sort of whiny and trying to get our attention.

Well, we finally looked and there it was. A turtle, stuck upside down in the grate.

While yelling at Ryan to not touch, Alex pulled it out with a towel. Not sure what kind of turtle it was, we didn't want to touch it. The snapping turtles around here are mean. However, we were missing a box turtle, so we just didn't know.

So, we put it in a bucket with some water to see if it was alive. It was. And Yes, the turtle was a snapper.

So, once he or she ate, we released it into the little pond.

This morning, Ryan put his shoes on, grabbed the bucket and headed toward the pond to find the turtle.

By the Way..

While I was writing the previous blog, I peeked outside to make sure the boys were okay. They were fine. However, there was poop in the baby pool. Both boys were playing with it. Does poop ever become uninteresting to boys?

The Twin Beds

So, we're in the process of moving Ryan into the 2nd twin bed in James' room. We are doing this so the baby can get set up in the 'nursery' room, which is currently Ryan's room. I found some bed rails at our local consignment shop that we set up immediately.

This has been very exciting for the boys, both boys. The first night, Ryan kept leaning over the rails and yelling "James, James". So, he eventually ended back up in his crib. The next night was better, but little sleeping boys didn't happen till 9 pm. But when they woke up at 6:30 together, it was great. They both walked down together with their blankets, big smiles on their faces.

Naptime together has not been successful. Ryan just can't seem to understand that at naptime, you have to stay in your bed. He refuses to stay in bed. So, he is taking naps in his own room, for the time being.

Here's the schedule for bedtime: Alex takes the boys up with their supplies (binkies - we haven't started the no binky stage yet, blankets and juice - this one will end soon). They each get into their beds with book and/or toys. They're allowed to play and talk for a bit till Alex comes back. They have to stay in bed though. Then, the toys go away and they go to sleep. The sleeping part for Ryan is the hardest. But by 9, he usually conks out.

Well, last night was a bit harder than usual. But Ryan finally settled down. When we went in to check on them before we went to bed, Ryan wasn't in his bed. So, after my initial panic, of where did he go? I saw him. Lying on the floor. Wedged between the closet door and a pull out cushion. He was holding the magnetic pen of the magna-doodle in his hand.