sucker amimals

I have been wanting to post this since I started the blog. This is almost a nightly occurrence during tubby time. Aunt Shauna gave us this set of animals last year at Christmas that ended up being the all important bathtub buddies. They all have holes in the bottom that often end up being used as a squirt guns. For entertainment Chad also started to attach them to the kids.  He likes to see how many he can get on before they start pulling them off.
I just found this old post that I never finished.  Better late than never!

pulling teeth

What kid isn't excited to loose teeth?  Aimee has been waiting patiently ever since kindergarten started to loose her first tooth.  She would often get off the bus with the first thing that came out of her mouth being that someone in her class lost a tooth.  One night in November we were returning from a temple trip to pick our kids up at a friends house.  Instead of, "hi, Mom and Dad" when we walked through their door, we got, "I have a loose tooth!"  And pretty much from that time forward she was wiggling away at it.  The next evening just after Chad left for the evening to attend a church meeting, we were talking to his brother on Skype.  Aimee showed him her loose tooth.  Uncle Steve suggested that she just go ahead and yank it out.  Two minutes later, her sweet little smile had a hole in it, and she couldn't have been happier about it!

 From the time I learned of the loose tooth, until the time it was gone was less than 24 hours.  She was pretty determined wiggler!  Chad was heartbroken that he missed the big pull.  I later mentioned how sad I was that her little smile would never be the same, especially as her adult teeth started crowding their way into her tiny mouth.  That was the wrong thing to say since I don't know a dad who has a harder time watching his little girl grow up.  That night the Tooth fairy spent about 25 minutes trying to follow a YouTube origami video to transform a dollar bill into a butterfly.  Luckily, this cheapskate mom (this according to Chad) thinks the Tooth fairy will only be leaving a dollar for the first tooth.

I can't get the videos or pictures to post of the second tooth coming out, but it was even more fun!  Aimee was so anxious to get it out she asked me to tie floss to her tooth, attach it to a door and do the old slam trick.  I told her I didn't think it was loose enough, and that it might hurt, but she didn't care.  Well, long story short, it didn't work.  It wasn't loose enough.  It was fun though.  It took her several more days of twisting and wiggling to get it loose enough for me to yank for her.  And she loved getting TWO quarters, instead of just one dollar!

tis the season

Usually we decorate our tree on the same day we put it up.  This year it took us a few days to get around to it.  Luckily, my kiddos are getting big enough that they know exactly what to do when we pull out the decorations.  It was difficult, to say the least, for them to wait until Chad got the lights on the tree before they started hanging things up. 

Pratt did the honors this year of putting the star on the tree.  He didn't really get the utility of the spiral that allows the start to sit on the top of the tree, and came up with his own method.  Aimee just about went nuts!  She asked several times if she could fix it.  When we told her no, she finally asked if she could please put it on next year.  I think she has a touch of my OCD...

I thought that perhaps this year we could decorate the entire tree.  By the time Christmas was over there was nothing in arms reach left (or in Hobbs reach).  We knew of a few balls being broken, but learned that Pratt must had discarded the evidence effectively, because about half of the balls that went up didn't make it back into the storage containers.  We bought some new decorations after Christmas on clearance, but I with May adding to Pratt's mischief next year, we will definitely stick with the top half decorating!

thanksgiving with family

Chad's oldest brother Steve and his family recently drove up from Alabama to have Thanksgiving with us!  We were thrilled to have them!  Last year our Thanksgiving dinner was held in the hospital cafeteria during Chad's lunch break, and it had been six years since we had spent that holiday with any family.

We aren't the best entertainers, and spent most of the time making meals, visiting, and getting Pratt out of trouble, but we still loved that (minus the Pratt part).  We just loved getting to spend time together! 

We were able to take them to the Christmas tree farm that we fell in love with last year to help us get our tree.  We learned that the day after Thanksgiving didn't make for quite the magical experience we'd had the previous year when we went on a warm day in the middle of the week, but we still had fun having them be a part of our new tree tradition.

I adore all of my in-laws!  I know not everyone can say that, and I feel pretty lucky to be a part of such an amazing family.  Since Steve and Emily are the only relative within driving distance, we just hope they won't get too sick of us!

the naughty list

Truly, I have no idea where to begin with this post.  My second son is such a piece of work, but not necessarily in a bad way.  He very much has the attitude that "where there is a will, there is a way."  This often serves to his (and my) benefit.  However, he also seems to have the mantra of, "I'll do what works best for me." Some kids get in trouble because they seem to have a naughty streak, and want to exasperate their parents.  Other kids often seem like it just isn't clicking, or they don't get that something is bad.  Neither of these are Pratt.  He definitely gets it, and he isn't trying to be naughty, it just works out that getting from point A to point B lands him on that particular list.  He knows that he is going to get in trouble for doing certain things, but it is like he just decides that it's worth it.  

Case in point:  Pratt knows how to potty in the toilet.  He gets that when he has the urge, he just has to let me know and he has my undivided attention.  If he thinks he will get a potty treat out of it, it might be worth the effort.  If not, he feels he has better things to do (or get into) than hastle with the whole thing.  It just so happened that one time when this happened, he decided to clean up his own mess, rather than get in trouble for getting his "roos" dirty.  In the process, I believe he found his own feces to be a rather entertaining play medium.  Note the poo pie below I found in one of Aimee's play dishes. (I had to close the door to the bathroom so I wouldn't get caught by him taking a picture of his "baking skills.)

A second illustration:  while we had family up from Alabama for Thanksgiving, Pratt enjoyed that they weren't as aware of his capabilities for trouble.  My 9 year old niece brought nail polish for her and Aimee to play with together.  When Pratt saw the activity, and that once they were done it was left within his view and reach he naturally pounced.  In his attempt to paint his own toes  He emptied the purple polish all over the up stairs playroom carpet.

He must also have had swimming with drawls, because on a late November day he showed his two year old cousin how to climb in the fish tank (25 gallons) to try to catch fish.  Enough water got on the floor that it started coming through the ceiling on the floor below.  His cousin got in trouble too, but I am 100% sure that Pratt initiated the activity.

Call me at the end of pretty much any, and I can tell you what Pratt got in trouble for doing.  Today it was blowing a fuse in the dining area and living room. We have yet to find a punishment that he dislikes enough to deter him from causing problems (I am open to any suggestions).  While I think I am pretty much immune, it doesn't help that Chad melts when Pratt gives him one of his adorable coy smiles.

Pratt recently learned how to get past the child safety knobs as well as the cabinet locks.  I am looking into alternatives.  In the mean time, I am praying that we avoid catastrophe and maintain our home value until a solution can be found.