Leggies

 We've started VERY low-key potty training over here. He's not even two and more importantly, I'm not ready, but he keeps talking about it and I thought I'd give it a try. No expectations, it will probably only last a week. With that said, it's been 3 days and he seems to be doing... alright. Batting around 0.550, maybe. Mostly I do it cause look at those leggies. Who wouldn't want to look at those all day? 

Anyway, this morning he had a diaper on when we took the kids to school and when we walked in the door, he told me he had a stinky diaper. Playfully, I scold him:

Me: What? You went poo poo in your diaper? Where do we go poo poo?

Drew: Right dere. (pointing... down there)

Me: You silly goose! We go poo poo in the potty!

Drew: (looks up at me)... Oh, shoot.

I can't help but laugh at that to which he responds:

"Hee. Hee. Oh, shoot. Dat's a funny one!"

Yep, it is. You little stinker!

 

I ask... is there boy out there without bruises? Or is that against the boy code?

In other news, I'll be starting my spending fast tomorrow. I feel like last year, I had a break through and this year, I already know is going to be terrible. We have SO MANY things going on (which you'll soon hear about, I'm sure), but I'm going to try my best. You can read about all my adventures in frugality here here and here.

This year, besides the unavoidable "stuff" that I can't get away from, I'll limit my grocery budget, not go out to eat or buy anything on Amazon. 

And if I really can't do it, maybe I'll just postpone till June or something. Cause I really love these fasts. Like, really like em.

And as always, if you're joining me, please let me know. I love the camaraderie!

Growing

Ethan rode his bigger bike today for the first time since he cut his tongue open. (We got him a smaller bike to ride when that happened; it was just too big). He was so proud and I was too. He can now go faster and up and down "obstacles" much easier. Just what a mother was hoping for. Anyway, it made me realize that maybe just maybe this little boy of mine is finally growing. Up to the ruler we went and sure enough, those Flintstones are helping. And just in time... Matterhorn (with the help of some shoes), here we come!

41.5", which apparently puts him in the 38%ile. He's also on the scrawny side, poor little dude. He is so much smaller than the other kids his age. Maybe he'll be like his mamma and grow 6 inches in his 15th year.

44.5", which puts her in the taller than all my friends category. No surprise.

(FYI. That's not a wayward tooth, it's an apple piece.)

 29", which puts him in the I'm not as big as I think I am category.

Two-timing woman

I got to go on a date Friday night with another man. I won't lie, I had a good time. He told me he loved me, opened the door for me (even though he also let it slam in my face... baby steps), and held my hand. We also shared a romantic race car ride. It was then that I decided 16 will definitely come too soon, as I literally felt my life flash before my eyes right there in the land of Chuck E.

 Tutti Frutti, btw, is no Pnkberry, but it will do for now. 

Especially when it brings this kind of smile to this cute face.

 

It was about this time that he looked up at me and said, "I love you momma!" 

So sincere. So southern. So sweet. Heart melted.

 

I love date nights with my kiddos. It's so funny to me how when I ask them if they want to go on a date with me, I always get nervous. Like they're going to say, "No. Of course I don't want to go on a date with you, mom. I see you all the time." But every time, their face lights up. "Just me? YES!!!"

Mmmm, yes. My cup runneth over.

Andrea's birthday

It's pretty fitting that Andrea's birthday fell on a national holiday this year. Andrea was the queen of school holidays. If the kids were out of school, she had something amazing planned. She always said that nothing was too much work for a good time. So we celebrated her birthday today, Andrea style. Even the weather brought her a gift. Nothing was too warm for Andrea. Nothing.

It was a beautiful morning. The kids all played so well and had so much fun. It was a BYOL (lunch) affair, but of course there was dessert to spare. And nothing fruity, thank you very much, only the richest, gooiest, chocolate-y-est desserts were good enough for Andrea's birthday celebration. 

***Emotion alert! Continue at your own risk. 

I look at this next picture and can't help but get emotional. While I miss Andrea so much I can hardly stand it, I am incredibly and eternally grateful for these, and many other, amazing women who have been through it all with me. We've cried together and been there for each other through a really hard thing. We all share the same hurt, and aching, and endless love for our friend and her wonderful family. I know we'll never again be the same. But we've been through it together, and together, we're better. And together, we've done amazing things. I also can't help but notice the joy on everyone's faces. Not forced, but genuine happiness to celebrate the birthday of our dear friend. I am so blessed and honored to call them my friends. 

*** end emotional content. 

 This was, of course, only a small portion of the people there. Oh, and no, it wasn't a "wear a baby bump under your shirt" costume party. Everyone, really everyone, is pregnant around here. The ward count is up to 20.

I can't help but think Andrea has had something to do with the madness. If you knew Andrea, you'd know that she's in charge wherever she is. 

 The kids all wrote notes to Andrea on the balloons.

Sweet, sweet girls, sending notes to their mom. 

 The kids had the best. day. ever.

Or so I heard.

Some kids were left to their own devices and I'd say they fared pretty well.

I told Candace's mom that she should be SO proud that she only took one. Really, that's a proud mom moment right there. 

Happy birthday, Andrea!

Winter

The whole country is making fun of Californians right now. "They're such wimps cause they can't handle 50 degrees!" It's always cool to make fun of Californians and I get it. But I also get where those wimpy Californians are coming from. I mean, obviously because I used to be one and always will be one at heart. But also because here in Texas, we lived the same sob story. You see, when you live in a place that's known for it's beautiful winters, 50 and even below, yes below, is really cold. We're used to being outside all the time. All year long. We don't handle things like indoor play areas and jackets and real shoes and stuff so well. Anyway, our cold streak finally broke today and the kids couldn't be contained one second longer.

And quit making fun of the Californians. It's not their fault they can't read.

Name the movie.

Still here

Whenever I go too long without posting, my sweet mother-in-law, bless her too-kind-to-ever-say-anything heart (by the way, I live in Texas, I'm allowed to bless people's hearts), will go through our blog and make comments on a few of the old posts as if to say, "I'm still here. I'm still their grandmother. And I still want to see pictures of them. Even if it means old Christmas photos I've looked at at least a million times."

Well, we're still here, too. It's been awhile, I know. January can get a little boring and slow and cold and lazy.
Anyway, let me reacquaint you with these kids of mine.

Let's start with the one on the left. Ethan, our oldest, is over warm clothes. It's actually been pretty cold here for these parts (in the 30's, even) and the best we can do is to sometimes wear pants and agree to bring a jacket along. He swears he's never cold and only rarely wears the jacket. I guess being the mother of a boy has its drawbacks. He lives every aspect of being a boy and LOVES playing superhero with his friends. The  bummer is when they play with the girls and the girls are fine with it for five minutes and then all of a sudden they get hurt and want the boys to be in trouble. It's a rough patch we're going through here, I tell ya. But it sure is cute when all the boys are running around shooting imaginary webs at each other.

The one in the middle is Drew. In his eyes, he's the funniest kid alive. He tells "jokes" all day long. Like during dinner the other night, he kept saying, "soup. hahahahaha. soup soup. hahahahaha!" Sometimes out of nowhere, he'll say something random and throw his head back and start laughing. He makes killer funny faces and this is always followed by some jiggity jig. He's our Jimmy*: Goofy, goofy-looking, and confidence for days. He also has superpowers, in case you were wondering. He'll say, "Iromnan. tshhhhhhhh" and shoot trucks, people, anything in his way. And if the saying about being what you eat were true, Drew would be a cup full of applesauce-y milk, with a few chunks of rice. Last item of note is that he's learned the letters of the alphabet and my personal faves are the way he says W ("dubbu youuuu") and Z ("zebra").

Finishing up on the right side of our photo, we have Kate, our sweet little ballerina. She loves her ballet class so much, it has spilled in to her every day routine, adding spins and curtseys to dinnertime and bedtime and anything that ends in -time. She told me to take this picture, which is fitting in so many ways. She loves to read. Loves to be taken seriously. Loves pictures of herself. And loves to have things done her way. 

Please excuse her hair, as this was post-ballet bun frizz.

We welcome you back into our lives and hope our absence wasn't too damaging to your emotional stability.

*Jimmy's my brother. If you don't know him, you're missing out. I would make meeting him your life's goal. As well as anyone in my family, really. It's full of gems. 

traditions

With our family, we've adopted a couple traditions in the last few years that I think might just stick.

The first is reading Christmas books by the Christmas tree each night. 24 books are wrapped by December 1st and we open a new one each night and then read some others as well, just for good measure. There are some really good Christmas books out there. Its an advent calendar of sorts in hopes of eluding the dreaded question: is tomorrow Christmas? Well, not if there's still books under the tree.

 

If you noticed my heart-shaped bokeh you get a special prize. 

 The second is a mix-up of an OLD Packer family tradition of having French Pancakes every morning from Christmas till New Year's Day. Since we've been in Texas, we've taken it an extra step by adding in "a morning of friends" some time during the Christmas break. I pinch myself every year for failing to take pictures. This year, I even set out my camera, but alas, no pictures. Sad me. 

But, I did get this gem. Here is Packer generation #3 of French pancakes teaching Packer generation #4 the ins and outs. I hope he's paying close attention.

Tradition tells that you make the batter ahead of time and it gets better each day (this is actually true). This year, we made 15 times the recipe. That's 30 eggs. It only lasted till Thursday.

Traditions are cool. They're what make your family... yours. And as long as we keep 'em simple, I'll remain a fan.

gargling 101

Ethan was gargling his milk at the lunch table. Kate inquired of his ability to perform such awesomeness.

Ethan:

Oh, Carter showed me how to do it. Do you want me to teach you?

First you take a sip of milk. Lean your head back. Blow a lil' bit and move your tongue around. 

That's when the milk goes crazy in your mouth.

And that's it! That's how you do the googly googly thing.

Me? I'm just grateful we made it this long without the gargle gracing our table. And that he wasn't spitting it at anyone. And that he was eating his lunch. And that Drew only joined in on the laughter and didn't attempt the googly googly thing. And that no one was fighting. So much to be grateful for.