Philip graduated!

Little Philip's end of the year school party was this week. He "graduated" from Toddler II. Next year he will be moving one block over to All Saint's Episcopal for Tuesday-Thursday 3K class. These past two years have been wonderful for Little Philip, with love and excellent care provided by Trinity UMC. Here are a few pictures from his party, including a picture of him with his teachers Miss Margaret and Miss Carolyn.

Meat My Grill

Big Philip has created a new blog to document his passion for grilling. It is called "Meat My Grill." I must say I'm throughly supportive since it means he will continue to grill more delicious food each week! Check it out!

A New Cousin Blog

Our cousins, the Carpenters, have finally joined the blogging community! Now all three George and Amy Moss siblings have family blogs so that the ten (soon to be eleven!) cousins can keep up with each other in between visits!

What Little Boys and Girls Are Made Of

Little Philip came home with a pocket full of rocks from school today. He insisted on taking them into his bath tonight to wash them. We agreed but were vigilant to be sure none of his rocks made it down the drain. After we put him to bed, Big Philip and I were laughing about how Little Helen will probably never bring home a pocket full of rocks from school.

While there are many opinions about the nature vs. nurture debate, we firmly side with the nature side of things. How else would we explain the look of sheer joy on Little Philip's face to be having some manly conversation sitting in recliner next to his great grandfather in his recliner?

And how else could we explain biggest smile Helen has yet to offer us, dressed in her princess bathrobe?

Reminder of Things to Come

Top Five Least Fave Chores

The Pioneer Woman has listed her five least fave home related chores so I thought I'd post mine and ask y'all to share your own. Maybe talking about it, venting a bit, will help make these chores a little less cumbersome!

Mosshouse Top Five Least Fave Chores:

1. Changing the cat litter. This would not be so bad if we changed it when it really needed to be changed rather than when none of us can really stand it anymore, including the cats.

2. Mopping the floor. Three hairy animals, four if you count my husband, and two children under three makes this quite an ordeal.

3. Changing the sheets on Little Philip's bed and guest bedroom bed. Not that we have a guest bedroom anymore but we do keep a double bed in Helen's room, crammed up against the wall, for those brave enough to avoid sleep at night. Philip's bed is up against one wall as well, making it an acrobatic stunt to tuck the sheets on one side of the bed.

4. Scrubbing the kitchen counters. It reminds me of how a more up-t0-date kitchen would require much less elbow grease. My slightly obsessive-compulsive personality makes me scrub harder than I probably need to, simply because the human eye is unable to detect smaller food particles and germs on our lovely plastic dark green marbled counter tops, complete with hot glue gunned back splash. I'm not sure that a sheet of plastic glued to a wall even qualifies as a back splash.

5. Scrubbing the tub. I thought this would get better now that I'm not pregnant anymore but I think my sense of balance and ability to hold my breath for very long to avoid the fumes is never coming back. Besides, crayola bath crayons have the ability to resist even the strongest of Clorox, providing a ready reminder for adults that yes, children do abound here. And that's just the way I like it!

So what are your top five least favorite chores around the house?

Helen's First Portrait - 7 weeks old

Getting Around to the Baby Book

When Philip was born, I didn't have a baby book until Mamie Moss bought one after we came home from the hospital. I simply forgot! When Helen was born, I was determined to have her baby book ready for her arrival. Since she came three weeks early we spent much of the last six weeks completing her room, installing carseats, and making room for baby in our tiny yet charming home.

The result is that I am just now starting to put her baby book together. Big Philip did remember to save the newspaper from March 18th, the day she was born. The headlines are pretty dismal these days so I have struggled to find something funny or positive to put on the page that asks for a newspaper clipping. Other than our dismal economy, rising gas prices, and a certain New York politican that stepped down after being discovered with a prostitute (not the kind of thing you want to put in a baby book) I laughed out loud when I read Little Helen's horoscope for the day:

You see external results from the work you've been doing on the inside.

Isn't that just hilarious?

Philipisms

Little Philip leaving school seeing a red minivan like ours: That's Mommy's car!
Daddy: That looks like Mommy's car.
Little Philip: That's because it IS Mommy's car, silly goose.

Little Philip drags his rocking horse into the living room during the Kentucky Derby.
Mommy: Philip, what is your horsey's name?
Philip looks confused.
Mommy asks in a different way: Philip, what do you call your horsey?
Philip says "HERE, HORSE!"

Tossing a beach ball around the room, Mommy says "throw the ball to Riley (dog), Philip!"
Philip: No, Riley can't catch because he doesn't have hands.