It's what's for dinner

The other night Aidan found the grill smoking as I prepared to start cooking dinner and asked, "So mommy, what are we burning for dinner tonight?"

Side note: It is usually daddy that cooks on the grill, not me, so he was obviously commenting that his father regularly burns dinner on the grill!

Siblings

For the most part, the kids all get along very well. Reese and Aidan are usually smothering Gretchen in kisses and hugs causing her to fuss. While I try to remind them that she needs her space and that they wouldn't want somebody in their face all the time, I am so glad that they are so in love with their little sister!

While they get along well, Aidan and Gretchen really know how to push each other's buttons and Gretchen can hold her own against her older brother! She is intrigued by his cars and always trying to take them from him. Aidan gets mad and will try to take them away from her. Gretchen does not give in easily though! I have seen her take a bite at him or even ram her head at him to thwart his attacks.

Gretchen may be able to fight back against her big brother, but she is no match for her older sister! Whenever Gretchen is getting into something that she should not be or is generally annoying her big sister, Reese picks her up and places her in her bumbo seat. Gretchen is then stuck in the seat until somebody lets her out, but that doesn't stop her from trying to get out on her own!

Daddy's girl

Gretchen has been babbling lots lately, but her preferred sound to make is "Da". Tonight as she was blabbing away, "Dadadadadada!" I said, "Mmmmmmmmmmmma!" She laughed and went right back to "Dadadadadada!" This time I copied her and said, "Mamamamama!" Again she laughed and went back to "Dadada!" I was jealous until I finally, I got her to say "Nnnnnnna". Then as I was snuggling with her, Gretchen leaned over and gave me a big open-mouthed kiss on the lips. Randy happened to be watching and he immediately tried to get her to give him a big kiss and she just pushed his face away. I guess actions really do speak louder than words!

I wanna hold your hand

Last night the kids were helping me to carry branches from the bushes that I trimmed to the backyard to put in the burn pile. As we were returning to the front yard to gather more branches, Aidan stopped and asked, "Can I hold your hand mommy?" I didn't hesitate to grab his outstretched hand as we walked through the backyard, across the driveway and back to the pile of branches in the front yard.  After the next trip, he stopped and grabbed my hand again. Aidan has always been a very tender hearted and sweet little boy and moments like these remind me of the special bond that I share with my little man.

A Day in the Life

Every night during dinner I ask the kids about their day and what they did. Last night Aidan held nothing back, and I was a little surprised!

"We played, and watched tv, had some lunch, got naked and went to bed."

My kids love to be naked and they often strip down as soon as we get home and almost always go to bed naked, so I was not surprised at all that Aidan had stripped down at grammy's before going to bed. I was however, surprised at how nonchalant he was about it and wondered why that little tidbit even made it into his recap of the days events! Gotta love kids and the funny things they say!

Mother's Day 2013

My Mother's Day started bright and early with Aidan waking me up at 5:45 because he had an itchy butt. I helped him to clean up and then we went down to the basement to play so that we would not wake the rest of the house. While playing Aidan approached me and said that he wanted to make daddy a card because he was probably sore from roofing the day before. I'm not going to lie I was a little miffed that it was my day, he had come to me to take care of his personal hygiene and he was worried about making his dad a card! Soon after Gretchen woke up soaking wet! So I was wiping another butt, just 2 hours into my Mother's Day. About that time Reese woke up. After giving me a kiss and telling me Happy Mother's Day, she showered me with gifts that she had made at school. My favorite was a recipe book that her teacher made. She had asked the kids and moms to submit their favorite recipes that they enjoyed making together. Reese had chosen the Ariel birthday cake that we made for her 4th birthday, while I chose my mom's egg noodles for homemade chicken noodle soup. After reading through the recipe book and getting a few good laughs, I got the kids fed and then showered and got ready for the day. We left for Dubuque around 9am and met up with my mom and sister to do some shopping. A few hours later, we were not quite ready to leave, but the kids were finished shopping, so we went to Dairy Queen for a little treat. Afterwards we said our goodbyes and headed back home. We spent the rest of the evening relaxing at home and ordering in dinner so that I did not have to cook. After putting the kids to bed, I even got a chance to play with my brand new tablet! All in all, it was a perfect Mother's Day!

What's in a name?

While visiting Whitey's the other day with my family, I ordered a peanut butter cup shake. When it was finished the clerk set it on the counter and said, "This is the Reese's." Reese immediately turned around and said, "Is that one mine?"