Sunday, December 27, 2009

Well... We can't buy slurpees at that 7-11 ever again...

The 7-11 situation actually occurred a few weeks ago, but as I settled in to share a couple Christmas pictures, I figured that I might as well fill you all in on a fun little trip that we had... SPOILER ALERT: nothing about this one has to do with Addison or Kaelyn (I know, I can't believe it either!)

So, our bank, Navy Federal, allows us to use 7-11 ATM's free of charge. Slurpees were always a childhood favorite of mine, and my kids have grown to love them quite a bit also. While running errands, I stopped into a local 7-11 to get some cash out, and a conversation went something like this:

Kaelyn: Mommy, where are we?

Me: We're at 7-11

Kaelyn: Oh, you think that they might have slurpees here?

Me: Kaelyn, I think you know that they have slurpees here... you think it's a little cold for a slurpee?

All 3 kids in unison: NOOOOO!!!!

So we walk over to the slurpee machine. I was fumbling cups and lids for 3 children when I notice Bryce doing the pee pee dance. SIDE NOTE: My last mall trip consisted of SIX bathroom trips, which happens to be TWICE the number of stores that we went to, so before this errand, I insisted that everyone use the potty before we left. Of course, everyone INSISTED that they didn't have to go. Anyway, five minutes into our first stop, Bryce is hopping around like he's about to pee on the floor. The next conversation went like this:

Me: Bryce, do you have to go to the bathroom?

Bryce: Yeah, but I want Cherry and Coke.

Me: Drop the slurpee and go to the bathroom. It will still be here when you get back.

The bathroom was literally 3 feet away from the slurpee station... you turn the corner, and the men's was one one side, women on the other...

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP!

Bryce, still doing the pee pee dance, comes hopping on over.

Me: What is that?

Bryce: I don't know

7-11 guy (frantically running over): It's the emergency exit

Me: BRYCE! You pushed open the emergency exit?

Bryce: I didn't see it!

Me: Seriously, you didn't see the big red bar with the sign that read "alarm will sound?"

Bryce: No, I didn't read the sign.

Me: Really, because you read "buy giftcards here" when we walked in.

Bryce: Oh.

Me: Go to the bathroom

Meanwhile, the 7-11 guy is fumbling around for the keys to turn the obnoxious alarm off. Turns out, the owner, who lives an hour away, has the keys. Meaning, the employees and the customers had to listen to the beeping for an HOUR! We said we were sorry, and left. Adam says that we should have stayed... but what good would I have been? In retrospect, I probably should have taken away the slurpees, or at least Bryce's slurpee, since they were all 3 slurping away during the lecture given by the guy at the checkout counter. Needless to say, we haven't been back since. Good thing they opened up that new one by walmart!

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

In the Past 24 Hours...

Addison removed the ornaments from the bottom half of my tree...
Kaelyn bit Bryce (and drew blood) because he tried to pick those ornaments up...
Then, Kaelyn again reminded me about my "BIIIIIIIG BELLY!" (enough already, I get it)...
Oh, and when she thought no one was looking, she nonchalantly spit on Addison...
Why would she do that? "Because DD was crying on the ground" (well, I guess that's a good reason)...
The girls ate an ENTIRE zip lock bag of gummy bears in about 30 seconds because Bryce accidentally left them on the dining room table....
And Addison threw my Sidekick in the bucket of Oxyclean.
Oh. And I'm pretty sure that I have ornament glass stuck in the bottom of my foot.
YAY... Adam's ONE day off this week is tomorrow... I'm really not so great at being this out numbered!

Saturday, November 14, 2009

What's Wrong with my Children!?!

Conversation Adam had with Kaelyn:

Adam: Kaelyn, why's your arm all wet?

(couch cushions were stacked up by the fish tank and it was obvious she was playing in there)

Kaelyn: Um... Um... I went outside, and I sat in the car, and the seat was wet so my arm got wet.

Adam: Kaelyn, that's a lie. You did not go outside. Why is your arm wet?

Kaelyn: Um... Um... Addison took her pants off, then she took her diaper off, then she peed on the floor, then she peed on my arm, so it got wet.

Adam: And then Addison put her diaper and pants back on?

Kaelyn: Uh-huh

Adam: Go to time out.

Seriously, where does she come up with this stuff? And Bryce, the good one, just got in trouble at a friends house for throwing bricks over the fence... BRICKS! And, it was his idea.

What's Addison doing? Well, we went to the doctor. She's still 18 pounds. Her favorite thing to say is NO MA'AM (while she hits you)... and she's learning new things from her sister everyday.

Monday, November 2, 2009

Halloween Aftermath....

"MOMMY!!! I am NOT eating candy."



Did she really think that I was going to fall for that?

Sunday, November 1, 2009

HALLOWEEN!

As always, the Halloween festivities lasted for days this year! A few of the highlights....

We had a great time at the pumpkin patch. Well, let me rephrase... the kids had a great time at the pumpkin patch. We usually like to go as a family, but it rained on all of Adam's off days, so I had the priveledge of taking all 3 kids, and Bryce's friend Hunter, by myself.

Because it had been raining so much, I made a completely WRONG shoe choice... I mean, who wears heels to the farm anyway?

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Addison, was also not a very big fan of the mud. She really wanted to pick a pumpkin....

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Then her hand got dirty...

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So she was outta there :)

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I guess the petting zoo and hay ride made up for it, because she even smiled for this picture!

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Nana and Papa flew in (which is always very exciting) and they carved the pumpkins with the kids.

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Kaelyn had to wash hers first... I guess it was muddy...

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And Addison, again, was not a big fan of getting her hands dirty, so Papa had to carve hers. She's kinda hard to impress :)

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The neighborhood rented a cotton candy and popcorn machine and we volunteered (Adam says he was volun-told), to make cotton candy for the kids.

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The girls LOVED it!

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I don't even think that love is the right word... it was more like OBSESSED. My mom tried to take a picture of the girls with my dad without cotton candy... um yeah, sorry Nana! That was not going to happen!

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Once the candy came out, it was impossible to get any pictures. All I have to say is... Addison has QUITE a sweet tooth. Probably even worse than her mom :)

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Notice how she's unable to take her eyes off Ryan's candy in the group picture.

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This is pretty much what all of the pictures from Halloween look like...

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So today, I bribed them with candy so I could get some good ones (well, as good as it was gonna get) with their costumes on. Just looking at the skittles wasn't good enough for Addison...

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She had to physically hold them, and then all was well :)

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Incase you were wondering, Addison is not a T-rex, or an alligator... Bryce was the knight, Kaelyn was the princess (duh!), and Addison was the girl dragon (said in the donkey's voice from shrek!).

A girl dragon that loves her some candy!

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Friday, October 23, 2009

People of Walmart

http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/... a neighbor introduced me to this site a while back, and today I actually looked to see if Kaelyn made the cut. Since she's been peeing/pooping in her pants all day everyday, I took them all away, and she's down to just a few pairs of leggings :) The other day she actually came out in Addison's pajamas... hahaha... but I guess it hasn't gotten to the point yet where she's decided to start peeing in the potty again. Anyway, she dressed herself this morning, which wasn't a big deal because we weren't going to go anywhere, until I had 10 loads of laundry to do and zero dryer sheets. I told her to put on her shoes so we could go to walmart, and she came out in red cowboy boots... PERFECT shoes for a priceless outfit! As of this evening, her picture still wasn't posted on the site, but I wouldn't be surprised if I saw her there in the near future. The funny thing is... we really didn't get that many weird looks.



Wednesday, October 21, 2009

WOW how things change... well, sort of :)

I'm really bad about backing up my pictures incase our computer crashes, so in effort to do that, I've been having a really great time looking at some old pictures. I came across these and had to share! It's amazing how much they have changed in two years... that is, they've gotten bigger, smarter, stronger, and are able to come up with much better ways to outsmart me on a daily basis. However, not much has changed in the personality department.



This was a photo session with Bryce and Kaelyn for our Christmas cards in 2007. Needless to say, Kaelyn wouldn't cooperate, so we asked Bryce to just sit there with his arm out hoping that I could quickly snap a picture before she slid back down and went about kicking and screaming at his feet.

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Then, we got the idea to stand her up. She was scared of hights then, and wouldn't get down by herself. Does it surprise you that that didn't work either? Here is Kaelyn biting Bryce, while he cooperates and smiles for the camera.

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And here is what we ended up sending out (did I mention that some things never change!)

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Shortly after this photo session, Addison was born. Here is her first Christmas.

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And here she is at 3 week old...
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And here she is now... why is her face always so dirty :)

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What a little miracle!

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Addison's hair is finally getting long enough that I can force it into 2 pigtails. So today, after breakfast, I did just that.




Kaelyn: Mommy, Addison looks like a GIRL!
Addison: AWWW, Man!

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Trying to be Patient...

If you've ever had a conversation with me, then you've heard a story about Kaelyn. That little girl is amazing. There is no other way to say it. She's witty, she's conniving, she LOVES being the center of attention, and she's so dramatic that she can bust out real tears like you wouldn't believe. AND... she's pretty, so it's so easy for her to bat those big brown eyes, and Adam (who doesn't deal with her all day) gives her whatever she wants, leaving me to be the disciplinarian. Boy, do we have some mom - daughter drama going on right now. I really try to laugh, and be grateful for her because I know that she is truly a blessing, but geez, she's only 3! What is she going to be like at 12? So yesterday was just one of those days... she woke up entirely too early, and from the time she opened her eyes, she had her mind made up that she wasn't going to be good. And when she sets her mind to something, there's no looking back. She pooped her pants (twice), cut up some of Bryce's school work, and when I put her in time out, she shook out Addison's milk all over the floor. We had company over last night, so I was really trying to clean... but it was like taking one step forward, and two steps back. I swept my floor 3 times because she kept dumping out the vacuum. She spit out her ice cream all over the floor after I mopped it. She refused to pick up her toys, so I did, and the second that I cleaned up her dollhouse, she knocked the entire thing on the floor. And to top it off, she colored all over the mural in her room, with permanent marker! This mural is literally 2 years in the making... we've had paint and color issues, and I have countless hours invested in it. You can see here where she tried to stay in the lines...

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And here she just went for it!
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I just feel like every time I take the time to make something for her, she can't wait for the perfect opportunity to mess it up. I painted her a pink table and decorated it with ribbon and tulle for her dollhouse... yeah, that lasted about a week. And, here is her toy chest, that I've already redone once.
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I really try to spend time with her by taking her to playdates, and keeping her busy with school and dance. Is this a cry for attention? A power struggle? I just don't understand why she does it... and why she's not remorseful. Yesterday, I tried tough love, time out, pleading, negotiating... and I didn't know what else to do. So I went in my closet and called my mom and cried. It was that bad. But today, as she snuggles on my arm as I type, I feel guilty. I feel guilty for losing my patience, and I feel guilty for being so angry. I just don't know what I'm going to do with her.

Monday, October 12, 2009

Odds and Ends

I'm starting to think that I'm only going to be able to shower on Adam's off days...
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I like the idea of being dirty WAY more than I like cleaning up after the terrible twosome!


The evolution of the car...
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The Fair!
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Kaelyn loves Kobe... just like her mommy!
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And when Bryce ran out of feed, he just picked it up off the floor... just like his daddy!
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Addison has figured out how to get out of her sleepers....
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Hope there's not another poop situation!

Friday, October 2, 2009

When They Come Home...

This morning Fox and Friends, did a story on a Marine who wrote a book about his struggles in Fallujah. As most of you know, Adam was in that battle, and almost five years later, it is still difficult for me to cope with... I can't even fathom what it must be like for him. So thank you, Derek Sholl, for writing this song. It feels as though you are speaking directly to my family. As the five year anniversary of the Battle of Fallujah approaches, please keep my husband, his fellow marines, and the families of the fallen in your prayers. November always proves to be difficult.

Thursday, October 1, 2009

At Least it Wasn't Pee This Time!

Adam had the night off last night, and for once, we didn't have a single thing to do... so we put the kids down, and started watching a movie. A movie that we've started and stopped 4 different times, so I, for one was excited to finally get through it. About 15 minutes into it, we hear Addison scream. Not the "I'm hurt" or the "I'm sad" scream, but the "you really pissed me off scream." I looked at Adam, laughed, and told him that Kaelyn must have thrown something in her crib. Kaelyn sleeps with her infamous piggy, and Addison absolutely HATES to sleep with anything besides her pillow. Since Kaelyn is, well, Kaelyn, I often find her stockpiling whatever she can find into Addison's crib. 5 minutes after the scream, Kaelyn walks in.

Me: Kaelyn, did you throw a bunch of things in Addison's crib?
Kaelyn: Nope, just one.

Can't fault the girl for being honest!

Adam walks into the girls room, and comes back with Addison in his arms.

Adam: KAELYN! What did you dump on Addison?
Kaelyn: Just one glass of water.

At least it wasn't pee this time!

Monday, September 28, 2009

My constant threats finally made the girls realize that it's not a good idea to flush things down the toilet. Well, it was either my threats or flushing their toys finally became boring for them. My guess is probably the latter, but either way, here's what I found in the fireplace this morning...


Tuesday, September 22, 2009

A Typical Night in the Earls House

Bryce doesn't like to get his fingers sticky. That is why, tonight, he ate a rice krispie treat with a bowl and spoon. Addison, my little opportunist, thought she would take advantage of the situation, and snatch the treat right off his spoon. After all, she had already finished hers. And she doesn't mind sticky fingers at all!
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And then she ran away with it.
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Until she could finally eat it.
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Bryce who refuses to eat anything with "baby slobber" on it, was really sad. (This is not at all re-enacted)


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And Kaelyn, who surprisingly stayed out of it all, just danced around in her daddy's shirt. (Which is better than no shirt!)

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And, if you can look past my unmade bed, here is the result...
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Doesn't she look happy with Rice Krispie hanging from her chin :)