My Rocks!

One day James may be embarrassed by this little story...

James went potty. When he was finished he grabbed his testicles and proclaimed, "My Rocks!" I was stunned... and not knowing if I heard correctly, I said, "What did you say, James?" He then grabbed himself again and shouted, "My Rocks!" Then went screaming with delight while running down the hall...

I asked Jim if he had taught him anything new, but he didn't have a clue where the rocks comment came from.

Chicken?

James has a runny green nose today, so we didn't go to church. (I don't want to risk the chance of him giving it to another kid or subjecting the poor nursery worker to wiping his nose 100 times.) It has been a relaxing, inside sort of day. (Except for Jim, who had to go to work.) We have played and read books. After putting James down for a nap, I turned on tv. I found the Miss America pagent being replayed from last night. So, I decided to let Jemma watch. She loved seeing all the beautiful gowns. During the talent portion, Miss Hawaii did a hula dance with a costume that had feathers. Jemma honestly looks at me and says, "Why is she dressed like a chicken?" I cracked up laughing.... http://www.breitbart.tv/?p=265483

Lunch time!

I didn't take a picture today... I should have. About 11:00, as I was finishing dishes, James took out the new jar of strawberry jam from the pantry and asked, "Whad this?" I told him what it was. Then, I walked into the laundry room and as I was taking laundry out of the washing machine, James came in and said, "Mommy, hungry." I get this at least 20 times a day from my always hungry boy. So, I said "Let Mommy finish with laundry and I'll feed you lunch... what do you want?" He replied, "Butter-butter stawberry jelly sa-which and chocolate milk" which I think is pretty good for a kid who isn't even two yet. So, I stopped doing laundry and went into the kitchen. On the table was a jar of peanut butter and the strawberry jelly, his favorite green plate and a blue cup. All I had to do was get the bread, knife and milk. He had everything else ready. So, I joined him as he happily ate all of his sandwich. The laundry just had to wait...

Not one flake...

Not one single snowflake fell here today. It snowed south of here... and west of here... but not here. Now it is just cold. I can't complain though... the house is warm and cozy and the kids have been having fun playing indoors... at least I'm not in Chicago!

The kids painted tonight... something fun to pass the time indoors! :)

Snow?!?

Northerners will laugh... school was cancelled today because of a winter storm that is due to bring us 1-3 inches of SNOW today. Jemma is quite disappointed not to go to school, but she is happy to stay in her pjs and watch Sid the Science Kid on TV. I'll post pics tonight IF we do indeed get some white stuff. :)

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This was Jemma getting ready to go to school last Thursdsay. I just love the black coat... she looks so cute! :) And of course, James is holding tight to his frog and monkey...

Disney

We are planning to take the kids to Disney this fall, so I ordered their free planning DVD. Jemma was holding the brochure last night and I asked her if she knew what the castle was and she replied, "No, Mommy... what is that?" I told her that it was where the princesses lived and asked if she would like to visit. She replied, "I need to visit them so they will not be lonely!"

I'm so excited to plan this trip. Jim has never been to Disney, Jemma is totatally into Princesses, James loves Mickey and friends, and I just think it is one of the happiest places on Earth! Plus, GrandMary has agreed to make the trip with us. It will be wonderful to have another adult set of eyes and hands for the kids. Plus, she has never been to Disney. What a spectacular week this is going to be!! :)

Update

This is going to be a long post... I've been neglecting the blog and choosing to spend any "free" time with my husband and kids. It is so, so, so wonderful to have Jim home. Yes, I know and appreciate how incredibly lucky we are that he was able to be with us for the holidays. And, he has had pretty "normal" hours for work lately. We've been able to enjoy dinners together as a family and spend our evenings playing with the kids! As a bonus, I've made it to the gym several evenings alone. He even took the kids for me to visit Gymboree to redeem some Gymbucks last night. I do have an absolutely wonderful husband!! :)

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The day after Christmas, we headed to PA. It was a great trip. Jemma and James were excellent! It was so wonderful to be with family. Jemma and James ran to hug Elizabeth and the boys (Ken, Andy and Jim) unpacked the car and set up the pack-n-play... it is certainly easier to travel with lots of help! :) Here is Cassandra playing with the door. She is such a cutie! And all the kids loved playing with this toy!

Opening gifts was a little crazy, but so much fun! We all got so many wonderful, wonderful gifts... my favorite part was watching the kids open their presents. James was so excited for these simple plastic bracelets:Jemma loved her ballerina jewlrey:

On 12/27, GrandMary and the kids made an orange geletin salad with cool whip. Then, they made Christmas cookies.
Jemma took several dress up outfits to PA. She wore the bride dress almost everyday we were there. I had her pack the outfits and she chose to leave the Tinkerbell and Belle dresses at home because she didn't want to share those. So, we packed her dress up trunk with shoes, wands, gloves and dresses that she did share with Elizabeth and James. :)

On 12/28, Uncle Andy took the girls to the firehouse for a visit. Unfortnately, James was sick and couldn't go. (He caught an icky bug that we think was lingering from the previous week when Elizabeth, Ken, Karen, Andy, Suzanne and Cassandra had all been sick!)

After the firehouse visit and during some downtime, Jim opened Jemma's science kit and the girls watched reactions with household items (baking soda, vinegar, etc). They really enjoyed it and so did us older "kids."

On Monday, 12/29 we headed North to CT. We even convinced Ken and Karen to let Elizabeth join us! :) On the trip up, we stopped at a Children's Museum to visit with Jason and Melissa. The museum had the best water play area that the kids just positively loved! After arriving and having dinner at GrandMary's house, we put the kids in the tub. Here is James "cleaning" the toilet before his bath. He loves using the brush... I wonder if I could encourage that to continue for many years?!? GrandMary read the girls books. (GrandMary was so utterly happy to have the girls both visiting with each in a twin bed in the guest room!) After reading, we left the girls to go to sleep. They should have been tired from the car ride, museum visit and earlier playtime. However, after almost two hours of giggles and several attempts by the adults to encourage them to get to sleep they were both still wide awake! I finally went up and said, "GrandMary is going to bed. I am going to bed and Uncle Jim is going to bed. You must go to sleep." About 15 minutes later I went upstairs to find them both completely and soundly asleep! This was the scene after about 45 minutes and Jim's first attempt to get them to calm down. (They both wanted water... what a great stall tactic... "I'm thirsty...")The next morning I woke with a queasy stomach and Jemma saying, "I puked on the floor." She then puked in the toilet several times. Then it hit me. My wonderful husband played nurse for Jemma and me. GrandMary took James and Elizabeth to visit Nanny and the family. I am so sad that we didn't get to visit, too. Here are Nanny's kids: Dorothy, Mary, Terry and Billy:

James and Elizabeth enjoying brunch:Dorothy and Billy with the cousins:
Dorothy and James:

Upon their arrival back at GrandMary's house, Jim packed the car and kids and we headed back to PA. Thankfully, Jemma's illness was short and didn't seem to impact her very much. She was happy and playful. Unfortunately, it hit me with a vengeance and I felt horrible well into the next day. Thankfully, Jim never got sick.

Grandpa Jim visited on New Years Eve and Day. The kids love to hear him sing and play his guitar. Jemma has even asked several times for "a guitar like Grandpa Jim's" and I've caught her singing the words to "Grandma's Featherbed" a couple of times.

The boys:

We watched the bowl game and the Hokies won!!! Yippie!!!!

Although we were sad to leave PA (1/3), it is wonderful to be back in our own house. :)

After we ate our dinner of McD and unpacked the car, Jemma and James opened presents from Tracy. Tracy gave them each books and they loved them! We got an awesome planter with our name and address engraved! :)

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Jemma horsing around with Daddy (1/7):

I finally made goodies for the trashmen (fudge and chocolate chip cookies):

(1/9): I yell, "James, where are you." He replies, "Office... checking mail-mail, Mommy!"

James helping Daddy cook breakfast by "testing the bacon" on 1/11:

James playing doctor to chef Jemma:

Jemma (1/16) bouncing on her Christmas gift from Mya:
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Potty update: James used the potty every time that Jemma did and kept a dry diaper the entire trip to PA. He even laughed and happily used the potty while we were in PA. I thought that we were on our way to potty training. BUT, once we were home he has now refused to go on the potty. He runs away saying, "No, don't want to." Sometimes he just says, "Potty too cold." I'm not pushing because he isn't even two yet, but I had a few days of hope for early potty training.

Reading

I just finished "The Gulf Between Us" by Cynthia B. Acree. Jim bought it for me.

I love to read, but have done little novel reading over the past few years because I get totally into books and every ounce of me just wants to sit and read until the book is finished, which results in kids/housework/life/sleep being neglected. I still read, but I've limited myself to internet articles and magazines and short, fluffy novels and kid-related books.

This book was relatively short, only 311 pages. But it is real. It is the memoir of a captured Marine pilot and his wife during desert storm. I cried. I cringed. My heart ached. I knew the outcome, yet I had to read the story. And it was an awesome story. I'm amazed by the the strength of the couple. I pray to never be in that situation.

This is a book that I would recommend for everyone to read. Ok, not for wives whose husbands are currently deployed... wait for their safe return first.