Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Is it Spring yet?

The wind is howling as I sit down to write this post and tomorrow's forecast calls for more wind, rain and snow. We're wearing sweatshirts and Reina is bundled up in big brother's hand-me-down camo. It's definitely not summer yet. Two nights ago, the winds calmed down and we all spent a little time in the backyard after dinner. This is the view from our back yard. The land behind us belongs to the Air Force Base so we have a pretty view of the prairie. It was one of the selling features when we bought the house, even though we've since learned that we are the first buffer for the wind and all of the tumbleweeds. The previous owners of our house were very handy and one of the things they left behind was a 2-story playhouse. When the kids are older, it's going to be a great place to have sleepovers and hide out from parents. Right now, it's more of a place to bonk your head and get a splinter. Will and Glenn shimmied up to the second floor and hung out for a while. And by "hang out" I mean, pretend to shoot imaginary gun-guns at imaginary bad things on the horizon. Lots of testosterone floating around our backyard. Finally, Reina and I braved the man cave for a few minutes so that I could properly document the occasion.

Even though the temperature outside doesn't feel like Spring, inside - I've got a serious case of spring cleaning. It's been helped by the fact that Aunt Vicky is staying with us this week and she's been watching the show "Hoarders." Everytime I hesitate about throwing/recycling/giving something away that I haven't used in 2 years, she threatens to sign me up for the show. So with that in mind, I present you with the cabinet-that-stands-outside-our-kitchen-that-is-usually-filled-with-crap-that-we-never-sort-through. TADA! Take a good look because it will never look this good again. And guess what? Both drawers open AND shut!


Here's an example of my hoarder-ness and procrastination paying off. This week, I went to finally take down the Christmas wreath that's been hanging on our garage since early December.
I noticed a little nest inside the wreath and after finding something tall (Will's wobbly trike) to stand on, I noticed this inside:
Good thing our neighborhood doesn't have any of those pesky 'holiday decoration time limit' ordinances! This wreath will be up all summer long!

Monday, April 26, 2010

What he really thinks of his sister

On Saturday, I was running a bunch of errands with both kids in tow. While we were driving, Will and I were talking about firemen. He's on a fireman kick again. He's been wearing his vinyl fireman jacket and hat all day, while carrying a fire extinguisher and hose around. You should see the looks we get in Target. If he's 14 and still wearing that get-up, I'll address it then. Anyway, in the car, he announces that he's going to be a fireman when he grows up and that I can be one, too. I ask him if Reina is going to be a fireman (woman? person? firefighter?) when she grows up and he thinks about it for a minute and then says...

"No, she can be the fire dog."

Friday, April 23, 2010

Happy birthday Glenn!

Wednesday was Glenn's birthday. To protect his privacy, we'll leave the actual year out. I would write Glenn a birthday letter but I'm not eloquent enough to accurately describe what a great Dad he is and how lucky I am to have such a terrific husband and partner in all this madness. Instead, I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

When Glenn sits on the floor the kids (and Canyon!) make a beeline for him. There's nothing like wrestling with your daddy. He's got enough arm strength and patience to hold both kids at once and make them giggle. Not the best picture of Reina but you get the idea. They love their Daddy! To celebrate the birthday, we had chinese food and an ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins. No, Glenn did not get a homemade robot cake. Isn't he lucky? The ice cream cake was a big hit with ALL members of the family.
Happy birthday honey!

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Well it was nice while it lasted

I was just patting myself on the back on Friday. Congratulating myself for the kids staying healthy for one WHOLE month. The ear tubes have been working well and everyone has been cheerful and chatty. And then Will went to bed last night. A few hours into the night, he woke up coughing, gagging and screaming. One rough night led to a doctor's appointment this morning and a diagnosis of strep throat. So much for our streak of good health.
By dinnertime, everyone was in the need of some fresh air so we ventured outside. Reina worked on her dexterity by carefully picking up pieces of gravel and putting them in a flowerpot. Who needs expensive baby toys when you've got gravel?!
Aunt Vicky and her pets are staying with us the week. So when I saw we "all" ventured outside, I mean 1 cat, 2 dogs, 2 kids and 1 parent. I felt like the recess monitor. Luckily for me, the four-legged participants are a little leery of playing with a three-year old in the backyard.
Hermione: "Is the coast clear yet?"
Canyon: "Nope. The kid is headed your way."
Bailey: "Is it time for dinner?"
Earlier in the weekend, I snapped this shot of Reina as she was getting ready for a nap. Glenn took her pigtails out which led to this 'mad scientist' look. I really need to do something about her hair.

Prior to catching strep, Will had a pretty good weekend. He keeps coming out with new sayings and it's hard not to giggle. At church on Sunday, he and Reina and I spent most of the service in the nursery where they played with toys while I tried to pay attention to the service. Will piled a bunch of stuffed animals in a chair and was rocking them to sleep singing "Rock a bye baby ... something unintelligible here... and a happy New Year!"
We had a milestone with Will this weekend. The start of the butt/poop jokes. At dinner, he stood up, pulled his pants down and said "Mom, look at my butt!" and started laughing. I really thought we had a few more years before we had to deal with this type of humor. I guess I was wrong.

Friday, April 16, 2010

Avon Walk for the Cure

Some of you know and some you don't, but I have accepted the challenge and am participating in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. I'll be walking close to 40 miles in Rocky Mountains over the course of a weekend in June. I am walking to support a friend who lost her mother to breast cancer when she was 9 years old.

I have pledged to raise money for the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer as part of my participation in the walk. Your contribution will help to support medical research into the possible causes of and cure for breast cancer, education and early detection programs, and clinical care and support services for women with breast cancer in communities across the country. There is a special focus on helping medically underserved women, the poor, minorities, the elderly, or those with inadequate health insurance. And much of the money granted by the Foundation goes back to the communities where it was raised, supporting everything from local grassroots programs to national organizations.

It is faster and easier than ever to support this great cause - you can make a donation online by simply clicking here: Click here to visit my personal page. If you aren't comfortable donating online, you can send payment to me (checks payable to Avon Walk for the Cure) and I'll get it credited to my account.

Whatever you can give will help! Some of you have already pledged money for the cause and I truly appreciate your support. I will keep you posted on my progress.

It's been another quiet week for us. We haven't been to the doctor in one whole month - whoo-hoo! The weather is warming up so we're spending more time outside.

Driving trucks... Reina's turn to be in the driver's seat. Luckily the battery had died at this point but she had fun anyway. She has some sort of automotive part on her head. Not sure what that's all about .... future Ms. JiffyLube 2027?
When not busy honing her driver's ed skills, Reina loves to reorganize the kitchen. Here she is sorting through a brand-new box of sandwich bags. So helpful!Yup, the Buzz Wings continue to be a dominant force in our household. Every morning, the first thing we hear is "can I put my buzz wings on now?" Reina's anticipating getting whacked in the back of the head... again.

Hope your weekend is free from head-whacking!

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Normalcy

It's been a quiet week here in Lake Wobegan ... errr Cheyenne. Both kids are healthy (!!), the sun's been shining (!!) and that giant snowdrift in the backyard is almost gone. There wouldn't be much to blog about if it wasn't for all of the language development we have going on in the Pauley household. Oh and Reina has met another milestone. Baby's first black eye. It's more like a light green/yellow eye at this point. It might also look like a brother-inflicted-bruise but it was actually self-inflicted on the stairs and we'll just leave it at that.

Will is talking up a storm these days and I've learned that even when it seems like he's not paying attention, those little ears are hearing everything. Case in point, I'm driving the kids to the store and we are listening to the news on the radio. The announcer is talking about the Masters and Tiger Woods and Will perks up and asks "There's a tiger in the woods?" Note to self: Discontinue all language that should not be repeated in front of church or grandparents and resort to spelling or Spanish.

Will is also getting more expressive. Twice this weekend he told me with awe "You have big hands Mom!" after I leaned into the backseat to pick something up that he had dropped. I'm assuming he was impressed with my reach and not my gargantuan man-hands.

The Buzz Lightyear obsession continues. Will wears his 'Buzz wings' practically every waking moment. At least he can't sneak up on us. The sounds of those wings ricocheting off furniture and the walls give us an indication he's headed our way.

Reina is saying more and more. When you have something that she wants (particularly a food item) she politely points and says "Dat!" If you don't respond right away, she repeats "DAT!" until it's a stream of "DAT DAT DAT DAT DAT DAT" and you have to give in because it's church and everyone else is being quiet and just give your baby a fruit snack already! She also says "yeah" when you ask her if she's hungry. She might be monosyllabic but she gets her point across.
Reina's new obsession is shoes. I bought these sandals for Easter but Reina thinks they go with everything. No "no white shoes before Memorial Day" rule for her! I generally don't put shoes on her but she brought me these this afternoon with the clear message that I was to put them on her feet. She who must be obeyed!We've been trying to get outside to enjoy the nice weather. In Wyoming, you never know how long it will last.
Both kids enjoy riding around the front yard in the John Deere truck.
It's also fun to try to lose Dad by scraping him off underneath the tree.
Finally, this picture could be titled "Events that precede a trip to the ER" but luckily it didn't.
Happy Spring!

Monday, April 5, 2010

Easter Weekend

Easter weekend at the Pauley household! Glenn's been putting in some long hours at the office so the kids and I escaped down to Denver for a trip to the zoo and Grandma and Pop-pops house. First up - a picnic at the zoo.
I had planned on having lunch at a little cafe next to the polar bears but after buying our lunch, wrangling the double stroller through tight corners and finding an empty table in the sun, Will announces that he has to (in his words ) PEE! Which led to the following exchange:

Will: Mom I have to PEE!
Mom: Okay Will. Hold on, I'll pack up the lunch and we'll go find a potty.
Will: (pulling his pants down) I want to pee outside!
Mom: Will, you can't pee outside. We don't pee in public. (pulling his pants back up with one hand while holding Reina with the other)
Will: We're not in PUBLIC!
Mom: Will, you can't pee where people are eating their lunch.
Will: grumble grumble grumble
While at the zoo, we saw many interesting creatures. Here is the elusive apple-juice-loving-easter-bunny. Will really liked these lions. They found us slightly less interesting. yawn.

Will is very empathetic right now. He watched this gorilla for a few minutes and then turned around and told me that the gorilla was sad. I find these creatures fascinating but I agree with Will's sentiment. They do look sad. On a related note - when you ask Will why a person or animal is sad, his usual reply is "because he wants his mommy." Awww!! These are the moments that I force myself to remember when he's throwing a Defcon 5 Level tantrum because we won't read the Buzz Buzz book for the 19th time.




We saw elephants and tigers and giraffes and rode a train. Those all pale in comparison (for a 3-yr old) compared to the joy that exists in hiding behind trash cans when your mom is trying to get everybody headed towards the car.
Will woke up Sunday morning and asked, "Is it Easter Bunny day?" Close, buddy. Glenn had to fly off to Florida to see his dad receive an award from the Austrian embassy (I'm looking for the link and I'll put it in another post) so the kids and I went to church in Brighton. I really like going to church with my parents because with two extra babysitters, there's a decent chance that I'll get to sit through a service. After church, we had Easter breakfast and there was an Easter egg hunt for the kiddos. Here's Will getting pumped up to find some eggs. The Hansens are a competitive clan so it's important for me to pass that personality trait on to the next generation.
Reina wasn't eligible for the rough and tumble Easter egg hunt (wait until next year!) so she watched from the sidelines.
Back at home, they took 30 seconds to pose for Easter pictures before finding even more eggs scattered around Pop-pops house.

Happy Easter to All!

Thursday, April 1, 2010

How I tormented Glenn today

By emailing him after lunch that I took Reina to the mall and pierced her ears without telling him about it. Glenn's pretty against piercing her ears this early and he's asked me a couple times to not do it yet. My little cohort even helped out by looking sad, pitiful and recently pierced in this picture. April Fool's!!

P.S. They are stick-on earrings.