I could listen to this all day!

Turn up the volume on your speakers and get ready to laugh! On the way back from the Pumpkin Patch today, Wyatt and Mariah were watching Open Season in the van and he was CRACKING UP! There are a few movies that he absolutely loses it on: Open Season, any Looney Tunes, and Ice Age. I always wonder, what is it exactly that his little 2 year old mind thinks is so funny? I really could listen to this giggle all day!

Wyatt and his many hats

For some reason, Wyatt has a compulsion to always have something on his head. He has several hats around that he wears quite frequently. But when he can't find a hat, he uses whatever is available!

Literal kids

Just a reminder of how kids' minds work. Everything is very literal! Before Saige's first Brownie Girl Scout meeting tonight I told her we may carpool with another mom in our neighborhood. Here's how the conversation went down:

Saige: Oh, so where are we going to go?
Me: To your Girls Scout meeting.
Saige: And we're going to swim there?
Me: No, carpooling is when you just share the driving to or from somewhere.
Saige: So we're not going to swim at Girl Scouts tonight?
Me: nope.
Saige: Are we going to a pool?
Me: No.
Saige: What are we going to do in the car again?
Me: Swim. (I gave up at that point!)

Then after her Brownie meeting she asked:
"When are we going to eat brownies there?"

Too cute!

A Special Award

Every month at our Elementary school they focus on a different quality/character trait. This past month it was "Respect". At the end of the month they have an assembly that is centered around the trait of the month and a child from each class who exhibits that quality is given a special award. We are so proud that Saige received the "Respect" award! Way to go Saige!

(Just FYI, it was also pajama day at school. That's why they all look like they just rolled out of bed!)

Birthday Girl!

I have ignored my blog for far too long I know, but we've had a lot going on. Including Mariah's 3rd birthday! Yes, our littlest girl is now a big girl. In the weeks leading up to her birthday she kept saying, "I'm about to be bigger". She is definitely relishing in her new found "grown-upness"!

What do you think?

I always thought that the "leashes" they make for kids were so unusual, so cruel, so unnecessary. Then....I had a boy! I was at Babies R Us today and saw this "Kinderkord" product next to the leashes. It actually was developed by Joan Lunden who has two sets of twins ("Necessity is the mother of invention" is printed right on the box). I decided to buy it and try it out. I'm terrified though that the first time we use it in public we are going to get many disapproving stares from strangers. Stares that I'm sure I have given to many parents over the years when I've seen their children wearing the traditional kid leashes. How nieve I was!

This Kinderkord system has two wristbands, one for the parent and one for the child with a small retracting cord in between that extends to a maximum of 3 feet. It can easily be unlatched if we want to give him the freedom to go where he wants, but easily be latched again when it's not safe for him to wander.

We have gotten to the point that Wyatt knows how to wiggle out of any stroller harness, he knows how to wiggle out of the grocery cart harness, and he of course knows how to wiggle out of our arms if we try to carry him. Darn him being so smart!

I just thought I would see, have any of you every used a product like this? Did it help?

New piano, new haircut

Two new things this week...we bought a new piano which I am very excited about. We haven't owned one in several years, so my skills are a little weak. But honestly (and I'm totally not meaning to brag here) I've picked it up a lot faster than a thought. A little like riding a bike I guess, you never forget!

Wyatt also got a haircut. Although this is not his "first haircut", this is definitely the one that makes him look like a little boy rather than a baby. I think he looks sooooo handsome! Why do they have to grow up so fast!?

Labor Day at the Zoo

We rarely have a whole day that we get to spend together as a family, so on Monday, we decided to make good use of the holiday and went to the KC Zoo. Although we had a great time, every time I go there I am reminded of why I don't really like to go to our zoo. Having been to such wonderful zoos like the St. Louis zoo and the Omaha Zoo (both of which are top notch) the KC zoo pales in comparison. And SeaWorld....forget about it! Who can compete with that!? I think my biggest complaint (and I'm sure many of you who have been will agree) is ALL THE WALKING! I should have worn a pedometer, but I'm guessing we walked somthing like 10 miles. That's 10 miles of walking up and down hills in 90 degree Midwestern freaking humid heat! That's 10 miles while either pushing a double stroller with 80+ pounds of "kid" in it or pulling a wagon with 80+ pounds of "kid" in it. Not easy, and my body hurts today.

I'll stop being so negative now, because we did enjoy much of it. Saige and I got to ride a camel which we had never done before. And I'm pretty certain that Mariah and Micheala had never been to a zoo before, so they had a great time getting to see animals we had only read about in books. All in all it was a great day.

Cheetalicious!

We watched the new "Cheetah Girls: One World" movie this past week. Micheala just couldn't stop dancing every time a new song came on. She's got some groovy moves, don't you think?! I love seeing my kids dance because they could care less what they look like, who's watching them, or whether or not they have any rhythm. They dance like nobody is looking!

An update

Just thought I would update you all, we are currently at a 50% success rate with the bus company. Still a failing grade, but after having such problems the first two days of school, it has certainly been nice that the second two days of school both of my children have been on the same bus and dropped of at the correct stop! Keep it up Coulter Bus Company!

I need to vent!

Reference the post from a few days ago, what cute girls, setting out on their first day of school. How exciting. What anticipation! They innocently got on the bus that morning, fully trusting that they would then be dropped off in the same spot without incident that afternoon after a full day of learning and fun. At dismissal time on the first day of school, Micheala was placed on bus #10 instead of bus #1, a mistake by the bus company who added in a random zero on the bus sheet they sent to the school. Not a huge deal, she still got home, an hour later than she should have and on a different bus than Saige, but at least she got home safe and sound. After talking to the office and her teacher we thought it was all resolved.....so they get on the bus the second day of school after much reassurance from me that today would be better. They would both be on the same bus coming home and please make sure you are on bus #1 this time. Apparently, partway through the day Saige's teacher is notified that she is to ride bus #18 instead. Micheala gets no such note. So, AGAIN, they are placed on separate buses. Saige is let off at our bus stop.....but no Micheala! I stop the bus driver and explain that I am missing a kid. He radios bus #1 to make sure she is on that bus. The driver radios back that yes she is. She is then told that she need to be dropped off at Dublin and Killarney (our bus stop). The driver makes her move to the front of the bus, then proceeds to make her get out at a bus stop on the opposite side of our neighborhood!!! How did I find this out you ask?!? While waiting at our stop for bus #1 to come, a lady driving an SUV comes around the corner, looks in her backseat, then looks at me really oddly. She rolls down her window and says, "Do you know who this girl is?" I look in her backseat, and you guessed it, MICHEALA! She proceeds to tell me where she was dropped at and that she found Micheala running down the sidewalk crying, picked her up, and drove her around until she found us. Micheala does not know her phone number, doesn't know our address, and I don't even think she could point out our house to someone! Thank goodness she was picked up by a very nice, good samaritan.

So, the next two hours I spent on the phone with the school, the bus company, her teacher, and finally left a message at the superintendents office demanding a call back in the morning. I was FURIOUS!!! It takes a lot to get me to the point of yelling at someone, but I WAS FURIOUS! The bus company was very unsympathetic and unapologetic. I wanted to reach through the phone and strangle the lady! I actually thought (sorry if this shocks you mom), "I wish I knew how to cuss someone out, because I really want to, but I know it wouldn't come out right out of my mouth!" I was fired up, it took hours for me to calm down last night. And Micheala, she went right upstairs and played with Barbies all night. She is so sweet, and has a really short memory I guess, because she got on the bus just fine this morning.

So today I'm thinking, "Am I a fool for putting my children on the bus for the third day in a row considering all of the mistakes made the past two days?!" Unfortunately, I didn't really have a choice. To drop off and pick up kids at school you actually have to get out of the car, show photo ID, sign them out, etc, etc. And with two little ones in tow that often run opposite directions...I just can't do it. I have learned my lesson for next year though. My kids will NOT ride the bus the first week of school. NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, again.

This morning I spoke with the superintendant and relayed to him all of the above. Of anyone I talked to, he was the most sympathetic, apologetic, yet least responsible for the whole ordeal. I feel better now having voiced my concerns to him, and I have been guaranteed that they will be on the right bus today, and will be on the same bus. If not...............

What are we going to do with this boy?!?!