Independent Little One

Philip and I get the shivers when we think about how strong willed Helen is, knowing that if this is a twelve month old's determination, what will she be like at sixteen? She communicates so well, but only because it gets her exactly what she wants, which is usually more food. She signs for "more" and "please" and shakes her head yes and no. When she is really hungry and unwilling to sign patiently, she wags her head and sticks her tongue out, smacking her lips, releasing intermittent outburst and yelps until she gets whatever it is she wants in her mouth. And here is the really frightening part. Do you see what she wanted to chew on this particular evening?

That right there is Mama's t-bone, or what was left of it after I devoured it. Yep, she is definitely her mother's child. Guys, she's going to be an expensive date.

Soccer Update

Well, it's week four of soccer in the books and Little Philip has improved...a little. He still has trouble staying focused and in the game which is, well, everything. You may recall that his first week he stayed planted in the same place staring up at the sky screaming "I SEE THE MOON!" This week, when his team kicked off to the other team, he stayed put screaming "THE CLOUDS ARE MOVING!" A few more weeks to go and we are hoping for a miracle.

Just in case soccer doesn't take, we are introducing baseball as a suitable alternative. Tonight Daddy took son to the MSU vs. UAB baseball game. Both daddy and son were decked out in maroon and white and Little Philip was excited to eat some stadium dogs and cheer on the dawgs. Daddy returned with footage of the experience, which lasted one inning before heading home.



The focus on the game is incredible, isn't it? "Don't look down" -- Down at what?!

My Dream is Shattered

I have a secret. I think I can cook but can't. I secretly dream of having a really cool apron hand sewn by me, made of Amy Butler bright and colorful fabric that I wear on the Food Network, for my very own show that has rave ratings. In reality, I can't even make a Bisquick recipe of the box.

For our church small group dinner this week my friend, Sarah, made hot, fresh out of the oven shortbread using the Bisquick recipe. Tonight, I tried to make the same recipe since Publix had strawberries, 3 quarts for $5. Here is what the shortbread was supposed to look like.

And here is what my shortbread looked like. Feel free to start singing the "One of these things is not like the other" song from Sesame Street. We are talking about three ingredients here: 1 cup of Bisquick, 2 T. sugar, 1/3 cup milk. Spoon it onto a baking sheet and bake for ten minutes. How did I mess this up?

Maybe it was my hasty attempt to put this together in between bathing the kids and myself for the evening before the big storm hit? (notice the wet hair and lack of make up in the picture). While I have shared with you my secret dream, I will also share with you my secret nightmare. It is to be dead asleep in a ratty sorority t-shirt from the early 90's and a pair of hubby's worn out boxers and to find myself tossed into a tree from a tornado. Then, CNN comes to film the aftermath and I'm up in that tree, screaming bloody murder in a deep Southern accent, dressed in a now wet t-shirt and men's boxers, making Alabama proud on national television.

So while my shortbread was a flop, I went to bed last night showered and clean, in real pajamas...just in case.

I Spy Bottle

I can't claim original thought for this one but I also can't figure out where I originally found this idea. I think it was on my new favorite children's craft blog The Crafty Crow but I can't be certain. It is an I Spy bottle. One 2 liter coke bottle, lots of rice and whatever little thingamabops you can find around the house. Little Philip picked some foam letters and shapes from an old craft bag consisting of a blue dolphin, a yellow letter M, and an orange giraffe. He also picked a brass button, a black and white cloth button, a wrench, green crayon, black spider, blue butterfly, die cut red apple, die cut grey starfish, a screw. a penny, a marble we found in the yard while uprooting tree roots, a matchstick, safety pin, rubber bands, silver washer, and a greenish pebble. We could have put so much more in but we decided that was enough. Simply hot glue, super glue, or something-stronger-than-Elmer's glue it shut with the bottle cap. A smaller version with a water bottle is also convenient for road trips but we've given up bottled water and did not have any little bottles to use. Little Philip has a lot of fun spinning his I Spy bottle around, finding all of the items, squealing with delight when he spots what he set out to find.

The highlight for me had to be this:

LOOK MOMMY! I FOUND A DOG HAIR!

Because you know mommy intentionally put that in there.

Space & Rocket Center

Daddy was supposed to go camping this past Friday night but there was guaranteed bad weather that night. He had already claimed a vacation day from work so instead, we all went to Huntsville Space & Rocket Center. Our admission per person would have about $20 each but since we are members of the McWane Science Center here in Birmingham, we all got in for free! Truth be told, Little Philip was too young to really enjoy the exhibits. Online, it looked like there was a great hands-on exhibit for children but when we arrived, that exhibit had been dismantled. I wanted to say "can't you at least have a dress up section for the kids to put on the space suit?!" It was fascinating from an adult perspective to see pieces of old shuttles, engines, rockets, moon landers, etc., but Little Philip much preferred the "Energy Depletion Zone" which was about the same thing as a McDonald's indoor playground. Daddy rode the ride called the Space shot that "shot" him straight up in the air to simulate a space launch. We enjoyed watching him from below while we munched on goldfish.

I have to say that on the way there we stopped at Chik-fil-A in Huntsville. Maybe everyone else knows this already but I"ll say it anyway. They are so family friendly! As soon as we arrived, the manager came out and helped me roll a high chair by the outdoor playground for Helen. She brought us plastic placemats that stick to the tables for the kids and her staff come out with cloths to dry off the wet parts of the outdoor play equipment. At the end of our meal, she stopped by again and gave the children Chik-Fil-A cows. It is such a change from the usual meal where Mom barely eats anything, let alone anything hot after feeding everyone else!

Help Whitey

When Big Philip was a little boy he had two stuff animal horses he played with, Fuzzy (brown) and Whitey (white). Both show heavy wear and tear from the many years they were treasured by a young boy. Little Philip brought them back from Brownsville recently and they have now joined an army of animals he sleeps with at night. We recently had Aunt Ellen and Uncle Rob over for dinner and, as has become our custom, we did not sit down to dinner until about 8:30, after we put the kids to bed. In this way, we can have uninterrupted adult conversations...or so we thought.

We are about finished eating at 9:30 pm when we hear over the monitor, "DADDY! HELP WHITEY! HELP WHITEY! COME QUICK! HELP WHITEY!" Daddy goes in and finds Little Philip horrified, pointing to Whitey who has metal sticks poking out from his hooves. Daddy took Whitey out of the room and this left Little Philip thinking that Whitey was going to end up in the trash can like the little dog did about a month ago. More wailing and crying ensued. Daddy promised him that we would fix, I mean, help Whitey and left the room. I'm not sure how we are going to help Whitey but I'm going to give it a try. Maybe while I'm sewing up the feet I can give Whitey the ear he seems to be missing as well. For now, a very large adult human sized brown dog, courtesy of NeeNee and Poppy, is the new bedfellow.

Mardi Gras!

Thank you, Aunt Lizzy and Great Uncle John for sending us Mardi Gras beads! We are having lots of fun with them all over the house.