Kids | Page 8 | Minivans Are Hot

Ice Cream Surprise

August 16, 2010 by Kelli

*update – if you’re having trouble with the video constantly stopping and buffering, click on the numbers in the bottom right hand corner. I don’t know what they mean but if you click it it should change from 360p to 480p and then the video should play without stopping. At least that’s what worked for me. I think it has something to do with pixels, but I dunno really…

I got this idea from my friend Nicole a few months ago.

We put the kids to bed early last night. Sloan stomped and groaned and bemoaned the fact that the summer is over and school is starting and “why won’t you let me stay up and enjoy my last night of summer – WAAAAAAHHHH!” About five minutes after laying them down, we went into their room and flipped on the light (only to find them both sitting up in the same bed…so much for them actually going to bed) and told them we wanted to go get some ice cream.

“Would you like to come with us?” we asked.

Their reactions were priceless. And you can see them for yourself.

*a quick disclaimer: Lee got a little ahead of me and flipped the kids light on before I had the camera going so I missed a little bit of their reaction. Bummer.

I think my favorite part of the video is when Lee begins talking about third nipples (nubbin’s) and Sloan starts laughing so hard he almost wets his pants.

Welcome to crazy town. So glad you came. Leave your shoes at the door…or leave them on. Whatever. We talk about third nipples. You can do whatever you want.

Have I mentioned lately I love my family?

Yay for the Ice Cream Surprise!

And now I’m off to shower so I can take Sloan to school to meet his teacher. I’m taking my kid to meet his first grade teacher. I’m taking my child to his elementary school where he’s going to be spending the entire day at school. I’m having a panic attack while I think about taking my kid to see his first grade class.

I’m feeling old.

Filed Under: Family, funny stuff that happens, Kids, Kids do the darndest things, Landon, Lee, Life, Motherhood, School Tagged With: Dairy Queen, Ice Cream Surprise, Kids, Kids and Ice Cream, Kids are Funny, Summer's End

What We’re Up To

June 3, 2010 by Kelli

It’s summertime. And the livin’ is easy…

But I’m not gonna let the livin’ be lazy. My kids get up at the crack of dawn. It’s not unusual for us to be up, fed, dressed and ready for the day by 7:30 – not because I want it to be that way, you see. I would give a limb for them to sleep until 8:00 just once. Heck, I’d be thrilled if they slept until 7:00! So with everyone waking up so early, what on Earth will we do with ourselves all day everyday? This week we started our summer schedule and built in to every weekday is “learning time” from 8:00-9:00.

It looks a little like this:

And Landon usually looks like this because I make him leave the room and play quietly by himself while the older kids work…something he’s not overly fond of.

This time is being spent on their Russian homework, Tia’s English Alphabet (poor girl, we’ve spent so much time on the Russian that she doesn’t know her English letters at all), Sloan working on his summer packet from school, math, reading and writing in their journals. It’s actually going really well. The kids are able to get all of their work out of the way early which frees them up to play the rest of the day.

We set a reading goal for Sloan this summer. If he reads 10 books, we’ll go to Chuck E Cheese. If he reads 20 books, we’ll go to the Magic House. If he reads 35 books in English and 5 books in Russian we will spend the whole day at Six Flags. So far he has completed one book and is chomping at the bit to go to the library to check out new books.

We’ll do that as soon as I pay off our overdue book fines. Ahem…

I think I’m going to like this schedule. It’s tough, for sure. I would much rather let them watch TV all morning so I could play on the computer, but I know this is a more productive way to spend these early morning hours. It means I will have less time to blog, which is probably not a bad thing. It will mean I need to be much more disciplined with my time, which is definately not a bad thing. But it will also mean that I will be able to send Sloan to 1st grade prepared and Tia will finally know the difference between the letter H in English and the letter H (which sounds like N) in Russian. It’s kind of important that I teach her that…

What are your summer plans?

Filed Under: discipline, Family, Kids, Life, Motherhood Tagged With: Kids, summertime, teaching kids

Live and Learn

May 25, 2010 by Kelli

I had a casual business meeting yesterday. It was at a St. Louis Bread Company so I decided rather than round up childcare for Landon and Tia, I’d just take them along. No big deal. They know how to behave in a restaurant.

Riiiight.

I’m not sure exactly when I determined that bringing them along was a bad idea. It might have been about the time that Landon started dipping his napkin in his cup. Or maybe it was when he poured his entire cup of water over his sandwich.

No, that wasn’t it.

It could have been the moment when they both crawled under the table and started peeking their eyes up over the edge and laughing hysterically. At that point I got a nagging feeling that this meeting wasn’t going as well as it could have.

I think the breaking point came when they spilled out from under the table and began wrestling on the floor. Right in the middle of the restaurant. Shrieking and laughing.

Yeah. That was it. That was the moment that I knew bringing them along had been a very. bad. idea.

Thankfully, the woman I was meeting was gracious, a mom herself, and had a great sense of humor. We might even be able to do a little work together.

Provided, of course, that I never bring my kids along again.

Filed Under: Family, funny stuff that happens, Kids, Kids do the darndest things, Landon, Motherhood, Tia Tagged With: Kids, Panera Bread, Working Mom

Disturbing

May 21, 2010 by Kelli

Landon took me by the hand the other day and led me into the dining room (which is used as the arts and crafts room these days) and showed me this:

“Baby. Boo-Boo,” he said, eyes big. “I do dat.” Then he grinned, turned and walked out of the room.

Every time I walk in there, this creepy looking baby is staring at me.

It’s kind of disturbing.

Filed Under: Family, funny stuff that happens, Kids, Kids do the darndest things, Landon Tagged With: Kids, Kids coloring on walls, Kids do the darndest things

To Arkansas and Back

May 17, 2010 by Kelli

We spent a lovely, relaxing week in Arkansas last week where we kicked off our time celebrating the graduation of Lee’s youngest brother from the University of Central Arkansas. Zach was thirteen when I first met him. He was fourteen when Lee and I got married. And now he’s all grown up, has a job and is such a great guy. I’m so proud of him.

I’m getting verklempt. Talk amongst yaselves. I’ll give you a topic. The Partridge Family was neither a Partridge nor a family…discuss.

We heard rumors that Kris Allen (also a UCA alum) was at the graduation. Actually, it wasn’t a rumor – Zach’s girlfriend got stuck behind the mob of young fans wanting his autograph. I didn’t see him, though, and it’s too bad because I think he’s a doll. I would have stared. I’m not afraid to admit it.

My son is a goofball. Seriously, where does this kid get his over the top personality? Lee and I are so reserved and shy…

My sister-in-law, Becke’, photographer extraordinaire, sat down and gave me some great photo tips. I learned about ISO (they’re like worker bees. Trust me…), f-stop, shutter speed, and how the three work together to create the perfect exposure. I learned how to shoot in Manual mode and, while I need a lot of practice (I still can’t take a decent picture indoors) I came away taking better pictures from just one session. I’m telling you – Becke’s good.

(She is equally skilled, incidentally, at killing mutant Arkansas wasps that better resemble a hummingbird than a wasp using nothing but a Steno Pad and sheer force while others, who are less brave than she, look on. Don’t ask me how I know this.)

Flowers are the best practice subject. They have vibrant color, unique shape and they’re still while you take their picture. Not like my kids who are apparently allergic to sitting still.

See that blurry background? I set that! I determined how much blur I wanted (the f-stop, if you will) and adjusted my shutter speed and ISO to match. Me! Let’s all do the happy dance together, shall we?

Now I just want an editing software. I am hereby entering every contest I come across for Adobe Lightroom or Adobe Photoshop. I wouldn’t go so far as to say I need Lightroom or Photoshop, but my want is riiiiight on the border of a need.

Besides photo lessons and graduation, we enjoyed an abundance of family time. We ate out every night – and when I say every night, I mean every.single.night. My stomach is in rebellion. I’m on a bit of a detox today of dried fruit, water and green tea.

We watched the kids soak up as much cousin time as they possibly could. From putt-putt to Wii, those kids relished every moment together. I loved playing with my cousins growing up and have so many cousin memories, so I’m excited to see my kids building the same memories.

The lone girl. She held her own with all those boys, even trying to convince her older cousin that she had boy parts. We’re still trying to get her to understand that she is, indeed, actually a girl.

The baby of the family was so thrilled to be invited along with all the big kids that I thought he might actually jump out of his skin on the way to play golf.

Sam – the concentrator.

Cade – the sports nut. Feel the emotion.

Eli – the cut up.

Sloan – the one who’s here to have fun.

We are officially back to life, back to reality. But – glory! – school is almost over. Tia has three days left. Sloan has ten. I can’t wait for summer vacation.

How long do you think it will take for me to wish school would start up again?

Filed Under: Family, funny stuff that happens, Kids, Landon, Life, Motherhood, School, Sloan, summer fun, Tia Tagged With: Arkansas, Kids, Lulu Photography, Motherhood

The Zoo

April 6, 2010 by Kelli

Tia had school yesterday – Sloan did not. So I went back and forth about whether or not we should go to the Zoo after Tia went to school or whether she should just skip school and we could go in the morning.

I decided that it wouldn’t kill her to miss a day of preschool, so we headed out to the Zoo around 8:30 yesterday morning. Best. decision. ever. The Zoo was virtually empty when we arrived, which is a good thing when you have three kids who all like to run in different directions.

By 12:15 when we left, however, the Zoo was…well – a zoo! I knew it was time to leave when every time I turned around to check on Landon (who insists on walking about 15 paces behind us at all freaking times) he was out of my line of sight due to being swept up in large groups of people. After my third heart attack, I decided to call it a day.

So we bopped out of the park and jumped in our car, which was parked right up front and headed out past the endless line of cars waiting to park.

There's nothing like pickingyour nose oon a train ride. You should try it sometime...

There's nothing like picking your nose on a train ride. You should try it sometime...

Becke', I tried to get a picture of his bootie for you but he wouldn't turn. 🙂

Filed Under: Family, Kids, Landon, Motherhood, Sloan, Tia Tagged With: Kids, Motherhood, St. Louis, St. Louis Zoo

My New Toy

April 5, 2010 by Kelli

After selling much of my childhood and pieces of my parents souls on Craig’s List, I finally made enough money to purchse the one thing I’ve desired for awhile now. A good camera.

My parents are moving from their home of 13 years into a small condo. It’s a good thing. It’s the right decision. But it means getting rid of many of the items that I grew up with. Furniture and decorations that have graced the houses of my parents different homes for most of my life. It’s hard – not as hard for me since I have been living on my own for a long time – but definately hard for them.

My mom was sweet enough to let me post and sell her stuff and, as a reward, split the money she made fifty-fifty. And thus my brand, spanking new camera. My magic camera that actually takes the pictures I want it to take. And I’ve had a good time taking said pictures this weekend.

Yesterday we went to my parents house for one last holiday meal. And we all tried to keep it light when discussing their move, because if we started talking too seriously, the tears would begin to flow. So we laughed and joked, but inside we were all feeling a bit sentimental. Change is never easy, even if it’s necessary.

Despite the emotions, however, we had a wonderful day. The weather was perfect, the kids were well behaved and I was able to document it all just the way I wanted to…

Here is a little collage of our Easter Sunday:

Click on the image to see a larger view.

And, of course, here are a few more pictures from the weekend. The camera has been practically attached to my hand…

Blurred background! That was the one thing I wanted in a camera - the ability to actually focus on what I wanted to focus on.

We had a crazy week with several nights of late bedtimes. Which means Landon did a lot of this Saturday morning when we went to Forest Park.

Poor boy. His parents need to get him a haircut. He's looking like a mushroom head...

We’re going to the Zoo today so look forward to more pictures tomorrow!

Today’s post for STL Family Life is up. Go check it out and let me know what you think!

Filed Under: Easter, Family, Holidays, Kids, Landon, Life, Motherhood, Sloan, Tia Tagged With: Easter, Kids, Pentax K-x camera, Photography

Mom, Dad – I’m Sorry

March 31, 2010 by Kelli

There’s a tree down the street from our house. It’s branches are splayed left and right, front and back, one after another. It is the perfect climbing tree. And my kids love to climb it.

As a kid I was a bit of a dare devil. If a tree could be climbed, I scaled it to the top. If a bench was before me, I tried to flip off of it. If I could climb to the very tip of a mountain, I did it, then hung over the side for good measure. Remember, I am the same child who thought it would be a good idea to climb onto the roof out of her second story window as a kid simply because I wanted to see what the world would look like from the very tip of our house. And it is but a miracle that I didn’t break my neck trying to get away from the nest of horse flys that I stepped in on my ascent to the top.

I can distinctly remember as a kid, my mom giving me the freedom to explore while watching warily and saying a frillion times, “Kelli. Be careful. Kelli. Slow down. Kelli!” To me, it was hilarious watching her get nervous and scared because “Moooomm, I’m totally cool. I got it.” Then I’d plunge backwards and flip off the top of the football goal at our local high school.

Or hiking with my dad in Colorado the summer before my senior year, when we got to the top of Pike’s Peak, I thought it was so funny to climb down onto a little ledge over an expansive cavern below andhave dad take a picture of me from ground level looking like I was hanging on for dear life. Dad laughed, took the picture, then demanded that I get back up on solid ground before I gave him a heart attack.

So it shouldn’t be a surprise to me that my kids are a little dare devilish. And I probably deserve the hyperventilation that comes from watching them. As I stood under the tree last night watching Tia slither in and out of the branches, all but swinging from limb to limb by one arm, I got so panicked that I had to turn away. Lee laughed, Sloan and Tia cackled and I told them to hurry up and finish and get back on solid ground before I had a heart attack. In my minds eye, all I could see was one of them plumetting to the ground and my heart raced.

It’s the same feeling I get when we go to a local park that has a significant hiking trail. At one point, there is a rock that juts out over a large ravine and the kids love to go sit out on the rock and look out over the sky. I don’t blame them – it’s exhilerating. But I can’t watch. Lee has to go with them and I have to walk away so I can’t see them teetering 100 feet off the ground. Of course it’s not like they’re anywhere near the edge of the rock and they have to sit or stand very still, but I always envision them tripping and plunging and sweet mercy, I’m gonna be ill…

Mom, dad, I’m sorry for the grey hairs on your head that were caused by my insanity. If it’s any consolation, I’m pretty sure I’ll be grey early. Go ahead, I give you full permission to throw your head back and break forth with an almighty laugh of satisfaction….

*pause*

Okay, that’s good. You can stop laughing now.

Filed Under: Family, funny stuff that happens, Kids, Kids do the darndest things, Motherhood Tagged With: dare devil, Kids, mom fears, tree climbing

Beautiful Lips

March 22, 2010 by Kelli

It was October of 1999. I was a senior at Baylor University and Lee and I were an official “item.” We’d had the obligatory *DTR sometime mid-July and we had finally settled into calling one another boyfriend and girlfriend, although I must admit I giggled every time I called him my boyfriend. It sounded so silly and trivial for no other reason than I knew I was going to marry this man and “boyfriend” seemed to diminish that.

But whatever – he hadn’t put a ring on it yet so that’s what we were stuck with. You know what else he hadn’t done yet?

Kissed me.

Ah, he was a noble lad. He was ever the gentleman and I think he was trying to hold out until he proposed. But that could take forever for all I knew and, being the little minx that I was, I was doing everything in my power to break his will.

I put on shiny lip gloss. I bat my eyes repeatedly. I giggled and grabbed his arm when he made a joke. When we hugged I layed my head against his chest and lingered as long as he would let me. And he was weakening, I could tell.

Then came the crisp Texas October night. We were standing in the parking lot of my apartment complex saying our long, drawn out good-byes. It was after midnight and Lee had to get up early the next morning. I was feeling brazen and had made it some kind of subconcious mission to get him to kiss me.

We were discussing things that only those who are young and in love discuss. Those discussions that have a sole purpose of giving you extra time to stare into one another’s eyes and dig deeper into the heart of the one you adore. They are cheesy and innocent and sometimes I miss those conversations. We still have them but they’re usually laced with fecicious banter and laughter…which is also fun, come to think of it.

“What is your favorite physical trait?” Lee asked. Before I tell you my reply, I’d like to remind you once again that I had a mission to get him to kiss me. We had been an official item for roughly three months and I was so close to cracking through his gold plated chivalry.

Naughty girl…

“My kissable lips,” I said without missing a beat. His eyes widened and I grinned mischeviously. I blinked and gave him my best Come Hither.

“Gotta go,” he said and with a quick hug he hopped into his1992 fire red Pontiac Grand Am and tore out of the parking lot, dust and rocks billowing behind him. Like James Dean…only not as cool.

Dang! He was good. I was terrible, but he was good.

He finally kissed me about a week later after we had our first argument. I can’t even remember what we fought about but I do know it resulted in him looking at me and saying, “This not kissing thing is getting hard.”

We got engaged three weeks later. He was so close…

Fast forward ten and a half years to Friday when I sat on the couch with the kids watching TV. A Revlon commercial came on with Jessica Alba prancing around looking all catlike at the camera. She was advertising lipstick. When they zoomed in on her lips Sloan, who was nestled in the crook of my arm, shook his head slowly.

“Whoa,” he said. “She’s got beautiful lips.”

My head snapped down and he looked slyly at me from the corner of his eye with a devilish little grin and blushed slightly. Then he shrugged his shoulders all cool and said, “What? She’s a beautiful girl.”

He comes by it honestly folks…

*Define The Relationship

Filed Under: funny stuff that happens, Kids do the darndest things, Lee, Sloan Tagged With: Jessica Alba, Kids, kids say the darndest things, Motherhood, Revlon

Reunited and it feels so good

March 17, 2010 by Kelli

Everyone is home and they have commenced to fighting and tattling already this morning. And all is right in the Universe again…

Sweet girl came home sporting a nasty cough and a fever. 🙁

It’s been a busy writing week for me. I’m feeling a little buried right now. To read my latest at STL Family Life, click here. The topic? Body After Baby. I also guest posted over at Becke’s blog yesterday. Actually, I was a week and a day late on my deadline so I was grateful for her patience with me. You can also read my review of the new VeggieTales movie, Pistachio: The Little Boy Who Woodn’t. I have a review and a post coming up soon over at 5 Minutes for Mom as well. Whew. It’s a lot but it is fun!

Now that I have all my babies back under one roof, we will relax and enjoy the rest of our Spring Break. They’re tan, blonde and worn out. And I, once again, cannot seem to get a single task accomplished. Life goes on…