Yeehaw

Cole had been begging me for the last couple of weeks to go to Darla's house so he could ride Hope. His idea of riding hope last time was to feed her hay and pet her. I kept putting off asking becauase I know that Darla works and is a single mom and is probably quite busy. Finally, I asked. She was happy to let us come over. Cole was so excited.




I was shocked when Cole couldn't wait to jump on the horse. He rode her for probably 20 minutes or so. Hope pretty much just walked around eating grass but that was perfect for my young cowboy. Then, Sage wanted to ride. I couldn't believe it! It has been so much fun these last 2 or 3 months watching my kids conqur all sorts of fears and just grow up. I am proud of them and the achievements they have been making.

Personality differences

We have Ammon on Tues. and Weds. Ammon thinks it is kind of funny to make people think he is mad at them and then say some little joke about it to lighten the mood. Cole hates this! It makes him uncomfortable but he knows that it is Ammon joking so he really does try to be a sport about it. He will kind of play it off but you can tell by his posture he is really uncomfortable with it. Sage, it doesn't even phase her. Ammon will give her a menacing look and say something to her and she just asks him why he is sad. When he does this to Cole she will say, "AMMON! BE NICE TO COLE!!!" It is so funny. Cole tries to make as little contact with Ammon as possible. Sage begs to go see him. Cole really never annoys Ammon. Ammon thinks he is funny and cute. He loves Sage too but she knows how to push all his buttons. He gets so aggravated with her. I think it is so funny. I think it is good to help him with patience and it is a dose of his own medicine.

What we did today

We have millions of toys. We have cars, trains, farms, farm animals, jungle animals, dinosaurs, legos, and tons more stuffed in bags in the garage. I bring them out every so often and trade out. Today I decide to help my kids make a whole town. We made a zoo, a dinosaur museum, a farm, a train station, an airport, truck stop, race track and forest area. It was kind of fun. We get it all made and what does Cole do? Grab his gun and shoot the deer in our wooded area. He has to show me how he "smokes deer". Sage grabbed the gorilla in out of the zoo and tells me "don't do that to my baby!" I thought it would be fun to get his toy people and walk around looking at the things to do in the town we made. Cole didn't think that Skelator should be walking around the town and grabbed The Rock to beat up skelator. Then Sage grabbed woody and said that he is the daddy to her baby. So I wanted the farmer to fix the fense but Cole decided that he too needed to smoke the deer. I guess it wasn't exactly what I had in mind but they had fun. That was the whole point right.

GRRRR

Cole and Sage were invited to a party a few weeks ago. It was really fun and was animal themed. Julie, the hostess with the mostess, gave all the kids a mask to take home. Cole got a tiger and Sage got a rabbit. It was so cute. My kids loved them and wore them all day long...and all night long. I went into Cole's bedroom at about 11:00 that night to make sure he was tucked in for the night and this is what I saw:

Sugar and Spice

About a year ago, Will asked Sage if she was his buddy. Cole, sitting right there chimes in and says, "I am your buddy. Sage is your angel!" William quickly agreed. Fast forward about a year. I was changing McKelle's diaper and Sage was sitting next to me. I was talking to McKelle and said, "Hi sweetie!" Sage jumps in and says, "I am sweetie, she is your angel!" Of course I agreed. Then I asked Sage if she was my angel too. She said yes, and Cole is too. She then leans down, kisses McKelle and whispers, "hi sweet hear".

I later go into the living room where McKelle has pulled herself up on so she is standing next to the couch. She is trying to reach something. I go into the kitchen to start lunch. I hear a little squeal, look through the window and see Sage trying to knock her off balance. Of course I jump onto Sage. She starts to cry. Cole tells her not to knock McKelle over. She cries harder and runs to me. I hug her, explain that she can't do that, put her back down and continue with lunch. Soon McKelle is crying and Cole is yelling at Sage not to knock McKelle down! I swear there has to be an angel and devil on each of Sage's shoulders.

Old McDonald Had a Farm

We were in the grocery store. I was looking at something I didn't really need but thinking about getting. I hear Cole whisper, "Mom, look! It's Old McDonald!" I look up and this man, in a wicker brim hat and overalls, is walking down the isle toward us. I smile at Cole and say it is. Cole keeps watching him but doesn't say anything else. As the man gets really close Cole says, with a big smile, "Hey Old McDonald! How are you?" The man just looks at him. So he says it again. The man still just looks at him. It has now become kind of awkward so I turn around and leave the isle.

We went to the Signal Mtn. ward because Will had to be there. We were on the front row and my kids were being amazingly great. One speaker was up there and was talking in a quiet voice with her arms folded. Because of this, Cole folded his arms, bowed his head, and waited for the prayer to finish. I kept telling him it wasn't a prayer but he would just hush me. So for the next 5 minutes, he sat there in proper prayer form. He then decided he was sick of it and asked me when the prayer would end, I told him it wasn't a prayer. He then turned around to look at all the people behind him. Sitting right behind me was a man with a long white beard. Cole just lit up. He whispered (very loudly), "hi Santa!" The man was such a trooper, he smiled said hi and asked if he was being a good boy. Cole said yes. The rest of the meeting, Cole kept looking back and the man would smile and one time I think he whispered "ho ho ho". Why couldn't Old McDonald be like that?

It should be taken as a compliment when kids say things like that. I would take it as one anyway. It is someone everyone loves.

Funny girl

We have Ammon on Wednesdays. He is doing much better but still a work in progress. His memory is coming back and his speach is clear now but is slow. We were eating luch and Sage was a jabber box. She gets like that a lot when she is talking to Ammon. So she is telling Ammon about how she likes to swim in Larry's pool and continues to ask him a million questions about swimming. She won't even stop long enough for him to answer any questions. He is getting kind of irritated about it. So then she asks if he likes to swim.

He says, "No. Do you want to know why?"

She says, "because water gets in your eyes and nose and you have to get your head wet." And then continues to go on and on and ask him questions. He really waants to make a joke so he he repeats, "I don't like to swim. Do you want to know why?" He then hurries on to say, "I don't like to swim because I am scared." (He really isn't he just was trying to make her laugh.)

She says (in a sweet concerned voice),"Oh, your scared? You are a chicken, bock bock!".

I started laughing my head off. totally taken by surprise on that answer. He started to laugh too.

Kids say...

We are in the pool and I am holding onto Sage's arms trying to get her to kick her legs.
me: "Sage, kick your legs like you are Arial."
Sage: "I'm not Arial, I'm Flounder!"

I am in the livingroom and all of a sudden I hear:
Cole: "Sage, stop choking me!"
pause
Cole: "Sage, I am NOT your BABY!"
pause
Cole: "Sage, I am NOT your BABY!"
Sage: laughing hysterically

Kids are playing. All of a sudden Sage comes running up to me. "Hold you Mommy, hold you Mommy." She is practically climbing up my legs. Then you see Cole running after her, "give that back!" She always steals his toys and runs to me for rescue.

Okay so Cole knows there are some words he is not allowed to say. Yet, he can't help but say them. He use to say, "Mom, we don't say damn do we." Then I would tell him we don't even ask a question like that just to say it. So now he has an even trickier way to get that word in.
Cole: "Mom, what animals make dams?"
Me: "beavers"
Cole: "yes, beavers make dams."
I never say anything because at least he is saying the word correctly now. If he has to get it in, I don't mind it like this.

Sage is carrying a safety pin around as her baby.
Me: "Sage, what do you have?"
Sage has no clue what the object is called.
Sage: "Um, a dingle hopper!"

Contest Time!!!

The theme for this months contest is "Holiday Parties or Parades". I am doing this now because I have a patriotic charm bracelet. I would like to have the winner receive it before the 4Th of July. The contest starts today and It will end Next Friday. Also, Lauren brought up a good question. If you do not have kids, you can tell a kid story of a child you are close to. If you choose my children to write on, you will of course win. Just kidding. Good luck!!!




There are two because they are different sizes. You will get the one that fits. The Silver beads and clasp are silvertone so they are not of great quality. But if you don't wear them in the tub a bunch of times, they should be okay. If you are allergic to metal, then these won't work for you. Sorry for the disclaimer but I am using up some of my "starter" beads to replace with much better quality. I think they are cute so I get the one that is not gifted. Hurray for me! :)
Here is my little story:


Cole had just turned one. It was about a week after his birthday and there was a light parade going on. It was in Late Nov. so it was cold outside. Uncommonly cold for the south. I had a nice warm winter coat for him and Cole and I had met up with Will's Aunt and Uncle to watch the parade. We set out our chairs, we got out the hot chocolate. We got out the blankets and scarves and wrapped up really tight to enjoy. It was a great little parade and then we went home. I had kept Cole in his coat until we were home. I took off his coat and much to my surprise, he was drenched in sweat. He was warm alright...He was a trooper though because he never made any kind of fuss the whole time.



Two years later, same parade, we brought Cole, Sage and McKelle back. It was much warmer this night. Still kind of cold but not freezing. McKelle sat bundled up in a stroller, Cole was by me, and Sage was on her Aunt Megan's shoulders. Sage had been kind of croupy the last couple of nights so I was hoping this would help clear up her lungs. The parade was going and Cole was really into it. He would inch closer to the road. He is not paying any attention and there is a girl (just younger than I am) with brown hair standing next to him. Something in the parade kind of makes him jump. He grabs onto her back pocket. I say, "Cole, I am right here." He kind of waves me off and is still not paying attention. I say it a few more times but he is oblivious to the fact His hand is NOT in MY pocket. The girl was a sport. She never said anything and let him hold onto her. Then, after about 5 minutes he looks up to ask me something and realizes that she is not me. He jumps about a mile, kind of panics to find me and then hurries (the two steps) over to me. I just laughed (so did the girl)....A couple of days later, Sage is not getting much better. She did sleep a little better the parade night but since then, had gotten worse. I am not the kind who likes to go to the Dr. over everything but Will insists that I take her. So I do. Good thing to because come to find out, she has pneumonia . I think it started out as a cold or something but because I took her out in the cold like I did, it settled in her chest and lungs. I felt really bad about that.

What Did You Just Say?

Sage and McKelle were sleeping peacefully. Cole didn't take a nap and wanted me to go jump on the tramp with him. I love this time because I can actually jump. I don't have to be very careful about bouncing too high and I don't have to hold the child I am jumping with (although they all love that). I am almost down my mountain of a yard and Cole is already on. He says, "Come on bitch!" I am quite taken aback. Sure that I had heard him wrong, I asked, "What did you just say?" He can tell by my tone that he is possibly going to get in trouble and I can tell by the hesitancy of his response, that he has no idea what he did wrong. He repeats very quietly, politely, and hesitantly. I am sure I heard him wrong again so I say, "did you say Butch?" He says no and repeats his word. He is nervous. I ask him where he had heard that. This is the part that is crazy. He say, "I heard it on Clifford, it means girl dog." I know he has the wrong word then because although he is very correct, he is too correct and that is not something they would say on Clifford. I tell him that he is absolutely correct but it is a word that we don't use. I tell him it is a really mean name to call people. He say, "but, you are my Momma Dog." I tell him that is correct but we NEVER use that word. He says okay and starts jumping. I have no idea if he heard one of the girl dog names on the show incorrectly or what but that was really odd.

Breakfast Time Fun

Yesterday at breakfast Cole and I were having the same fight over food. He doesn't want to eat it and I seem to think he needs to. He has been doing better but it is always a struggle. I tell him he can't play with his "tape duck" (a little rubber duck that is suppose to be a mummy. He got it for Halloween last year) until he eats 10 cheerios and the bacon he ordered. I leave the kitchen for a minute. Then I hear this conversation:
Sage: (in a very authoritative voice) "Cole, you can't play with your toys until you eat your food!"
Cole: (in a very angry elevated voice seeping with hate for being ratted out) "SAGE YOU ARE NOT MY MOTHER!"
Sage: EAT YOUR FOOD!
Cole: YOU ARE NOT MY MOTHER!
I am in the back room laughing my head off. I know I should go in there before it gets to elevated and out of control but it sounded like Sage was handeling things just fine.

I am that redneck!

I was at my in-laws the other night. My mother-in-law starts telling me a story about her co-worker who was going to visit her mother. She looked over and saw this little boy with his shorts around his ankles peeing off the front porch. I just laughed. She continues with telling me where the mother lives...Yes, that was my son!

I should have guessed because why else would she have told me the story. I asked her how the lady knew who it was. She knew that William lived over by her Mom somewhere and then told Linda (my mother-in-law) where the house with the naked boy was. Ding ding ding.