A picture's worth a thousand words...

Home for wayward Scouts...

The International Scout tends to have a sort of cult following. Merril has loved them for years and I think neglected Scouts all over the world can feel that love and want to be near it. It's almost magnetic. But seriously, how many is enough?

Scout #1-

Current status: broken

Current location: my back yard

Reason for being here: going to be fixed up one day

Scout #2-

Current status: running (a rarity at my house)

Current location: parked next to the driveway

Reason for being here: Merril's Uncle McKay didn't want to pay to store it anymore. Merril intends to buy it some day.Scout #3-

Current status: broken

Current location: in front of my house, kind of on the sidewalk

Reason for being here: Not quite sure, it's a long story

Rick, Megan, and Dan-you'll all recognize this Scout. It's bounced around and has arrived back here again. I believe we're storing it until Merril's cousin from Washington state can come get it. I hope. I feel like I could sponser one of those starving children commercials for Scouts.

Just think, for pennies a day...you could sponsor one of these Scouts. Don't let this opportunity slip away. :)

Shaved head...

Merril couldn't stand the long locks of flowing hair so it was mohawk time. *cue the eye rolls and head shakes* Here's the before:

Here's the after (from behind, painted green and orange):

We went to the sand dunes so he could ride his dirt bike and look like a punk. Doesn't he look happy!

Oh well, at least he has a ton of hair.

I knew he was a punk when I married him. At least he keeps things interesting. :)

Oh, and one funny bit about the sand dunes. I drove Merril's red truck around the dunes with the kids. I'm not a super wheeler but I can hold my own. So anyways, we were driving around on this hill and watching others play on the hill. Merril was sitting on his bike and a guy on a 4-wheeler stopped and said, "Is that your Dodge?"

Merril said, "Yeah."

Guy said, "Is that your old lady drivin'?"

Merril said, "Yeah!"

So it's official, I really am old.

My favorite age...

Around 18 months marks my favorite age for my kids. Kids at this age eat whatever you throw at them, are learning and speaking a lot, have an abundance of personality, and small amounts of attitude. Juliet seems to have more faces and personality than my other kids. Maybe I'm not remembering correctly. Anyhoo, kids at this age move from being a service burden to lots of fun. Here are my favorite things about Juliet at this age:

She loves water! If a swimsuit is within a 5 foot radius, she'll either bring it to me and insist upon wearing it (usually over her clothes, it's February for crying out loud!) or she'll say, "Boat!" And 9 times out of 10 I can find her playing in the sink.

She loves to be "up high." This one can have its disadvantages. None of the other kids have been so interested in height. She likes to stand on counters, tables, the couch, whatever. (Maxine's just out of the frame so you don't have to call CPS on me. *wink*)

She also likes to hang. This is a low bar in the closet.

She's just barely discovered that she's tall enough to reach it....and hang from it. She's yet to fall from it.

She's quite the partner in crime as well. She follows Jack and he doesn't seem to mind. I found the two of them having a snack of grapes while sitting in the fridge. (I like how she's almost pointing to Jack like, "It was his idea Mom. I just went along with it.")

Basically, I wish children were somehow born at this age. It's my absolute favorite. I'll enjoy it until the tantrums take over. Se la vie. P.S. Someone asked how Jack was doing with potty training. *indifferent shrug* He pooped in the toilet until he received his reward, now he's back to going in his underoos. Whatever. He'll figure it out eventually. Oh, and Merril shaved his head. *eye roll* Pictures to follow.

Birthday surprise...

I turned 29 yesterday! Instead of taking me out to dinner, Merril got a sitter for Jack and Juliet and took me out to breakfast. After breakfast, we went to the Parade of Homes and looked at a home worth 3 million dollars. I didn't take my camera so it was nice to just wander around and look with my eyes instead of behind a lens. Later that night, I had Young Womens and was surprised with balloons and tulips from the leaders. I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who called or sent a gift! THANK YOU!!

I'm still a little weirded out by the age. Women claim they're 29 for the rest of their lives. I don't feel that old and I'm amazed that I'm pushing 30. It's been great so far! I'm looking forward to more!

Wow, time flies...

I feel like we didn't do anything last week and then I looked at the pictures on my camera. The pictures tell a different story. First off, it snowed on Monday. And not the little flakes but serious, huge cotton-ball-size-flakes falling from the sky. It melted by the afternoon.
On Tuesday, we went to a pond to skip rocks. I say "skip" rocks but rocks were just thrown. Maxine had one that was almost a skip but it smooshed across the surface more than anything. Maxine's trying to master the perfect throw. Juliet just looked at the ducks. (She was happy, just not in this picture.) Then I remembered I had some animal crackers in the truck so I ran to get them. After reading all the signs by the pond and ascertaining that it was okay to feed the ducks, I ran back. We fed the ducks and Juliet thought that was hysterical! The ducks were pretty tame. "Hello ducks! Quack, quack, quack." She said this until we left and then said, "Bye ducks. Quack, quack quack."

And lastly, Maxine lost another top tooth so she has a gaping hole in the front of her face.

She wanted to get it super clean so as she was cleaning it, it slipped out of her hand and down the drain. She was unconsolable but we assured her the tooth fairy was small enough to slip down the drain. Rest assured, she received her dollar.

Time out...

Okay, they're not really in time out. I'd finished folding clothes in the dryer and they climbed in, blankets and all. It reminds me of something my sisters and I used to do. We'd load one of us in the dryer, add pillows, close the door and turn the dryer on. It was like one of those rides at an amusement park that spins you upside down over and over. (I don't think it was very safe and I wouldn't recommend it, especially if you had mean siblings. The person on the outside is responsible for stopping the dryer when you're finished with the "ride.") I even think our little dog might have taken a ride with one of us, maybe Jeannie. It was probably hard on the dryer as well.
Anyhoo, we didn't turn it on this time around. Jack and Juliet just wanted to play house.

It's about time!!

CAUTION: Toilet story follows...
(It's a happy toilet story but I just wanted you to be forewarned if you're not in the mood.)

We had a little break through at our house!! Jack has been peeing in the toilet for around 2 weeks and doing well. We've still had an accident here and there but essentially on an upward path. However, he had yet to do his #2 business in the toilet. I've been trying not to pressure him or make him feel bad because it's just one of those things that kids will do when they are ready. No amount of coaxing, bribing, and yelling ever made Maxine get it done any quicker. My whole theme this potty training go round was, "Encourage and back off." Every time he soiled his drawers, I'd say, "It's okay, you'll get it next time. Good practice though!" I'd wash the underoos and not say anymore about it.

But today he said he needed to pee and I sat him on the toilet. He made sounds that indicated that he might need to do a #2 as well. I said, "If you need to poo, you could do it now. But if you don't want to, it's no big deal." Merril called and needed some info for work so I left Jack on the john. After a minute or two, Jack starts squealing, "Mom, I did it! I went poo in the toilet!!" So I go running in there and we cheered and celebrated! Merril was still on the phone and congratulated Jack and told him what a big boy he was. Then Jack took off to find Maxine, his biggest toilet achievement fan! She's full of happy faces and great encouragement for him. She's great.

I've felt so much better potty training Jack than I did Maxine. I tried to keep the frustration down and the encouragement up and it seems to have made a huge difference. Too bad for Maxine, she was the guinea pig.

Trampoline!

Snapped this with my phone the other day. I know it's overexposed but I just wanted to capture the crazy hair! We love the trampoline at our house.

Why I love the internet...

Merril's Dad, Mark, is a truck driver. Mark called Merril yesterday evening and said he needed to wake up at 5:00 a.m. but he forgot his alarm clock this trip.

Merril asked, " Do you have an alarm clock on your cell phone??"

Mark said, "I've never been able to find one. Can you wake up at 5:00 a.m. and give me a call?"

Merril stutters, "Ummmm....Uhhhh...let me call you back in a second."

Now just so you know, Merril has a really hard time falling back asleep once an alarm goes off. So seeking an alternative solution, we turned to the Internet. Overhearing the conversation, I Googled "wake up call to cell phone."

The wake up service http://www.mysnoozester.com/, offers 10 free wake-up or reminder calls with sign up. In under 5 minutes, we had Mark's phone verified and ready to go. Before bed, we tested the service on Merril's phone. You can also choose the type of voice that wakes you up including, American lady, Indian guy, Drill Sergeant, Pirate Captain, and Irish leprechaun. We chose Pirate for the test. Worked famously. The Internet is a wonderful thing, properly utilized. :)