a day at the park

We have a park right around the corner from our house that has a playground FULL of sand. We met our friends Laurel, Greg and Emmett there today. It was a great day to go to the park and all the kids had a great time EXCEPT for Henry on the swings but there's no stopping that. 

George makes friends wherever he goes!

Yeah, I don't like this either. 

I like this!!

Henry butt-scoots across the sand. 

I'm ready to go home, Mama.

D'Oh!

All in all, it was a fantastic day at the park and I am still washing sand off the little one. Oh well :)

This is why I have a content warning....

DON'T READ IF YOU ARE EASILY OFFENDED OR HAVE NO SENSE OF HUMOR.

I started this blog for many reasons. The main reason was to chronicle the lives of my children so I don't forget a single awesome thing they do. Another reason is to note interesting/worthy events that happen in my adult life. Part of what makes me, me are my friendships. I have the most unique, creative, loving and supportive friends. Mark and I are lucky. Very lucky indeed.

Many of my posts have and will stem from simple ideas I post on facebook. This past Friday my friend, we will call her Maple, posted this:

I would like my FB friends to comment on this status, sharing how you met me. But I want you to LIE. That's right, just make it up. After you comment, copy this to your status, so I can do the same.




Normally, I don't subscribe to the "please say something nice about me" posts because it just seems very selfish. Like you need to have someone blow sunshine up your @$$. This one, however, lets your friends show off their creativity. Man, did they show it off. I mean WOW. Here are the posts I received. The names have been changed to protect their saucy, goody two-shoes image :)

• Fallen Tiller - You don't remember? It was a chilly evening after the Big Top Circus. An evening I will never forget. My son wanted to see the Monkeys and after such a great performance we made our way down to the cages. As we peered in there you stood, in your Martha Stuart Pink Pea Coat, petting them every so gently. Looking deep into my eyes you whispered, sir please do not feed the animals.
• Winifred Fastner - I met you at Richards rendezvous after your very first performance... Which was epic by the way! You should def sport those rainbow pasties again next time you're out! I think you were only 15 at the time but they didn't know that.... Anyways you rocked that pole!
• Drason Lublock - Ahhhhh Jess, i remember it like it was yesterday. I had just finished my ten mile run on the beautiful beach of Virgin Gorda. As i was toweling off i caught a glimpse of a native sushi bar. This was perfect because my run had left my body drained of nutrients needed to continue my day. So i decided to investigate this native cuisine further. When i reached the door i heard an angelic voice from within singing. As i opened the door i was met with sparkling smiles from the hostesses and was quickly seated.
  But before i was settled into my seat, my ears where directing my eyes to a small make shift stage in the corner of the room. I thought to myself, i have to go and see whom this sweet music is coming from. So i made my way to the stage and sitting on a bar stool with a guitar wrapped around her neck was none other than Jessica Starkey. And this is how we first met.
• Melvin Tonka Truck - I met you at the Retreat in Lynchburg about two years ago...you should remember we all sat around a campfire singing Kumbaya and witnessing to each other and sharing our awesome experiences. I think the most enjoyable part about that week was when we went and stood outside of that devil's establishment and held signs expressing our disdain and delivering our earthbound mortal judgment on others. I really enjoyed those days....p.s. I hear that there is a "see the light" program coming up to try and help homosexuals reform their ways...i've already registered and I was delighted to see your name on the list of attendees.
• Maple Speer - well, we haven't met face-to-face yet, but i'm hoping we can real soon! you seemed like such a wild one when we chatted! i was your on-line chat advisor for AdamAndEve.com. you had questions about our Alexander Skarsgard Jumbo Double Duty #$%#. i hope i was able to answer all your questions and you found my online video demo of the proper use of a #$%-on, enlightening. i really appreciate the kind words you had to say in our online survey about how well i explained the #$%^#-Clamps-of-the-Month Club and i'm sure you'll enjoy getting that surprise package every month!!! thank you for being our top buyer that day!! i also wanted to let you know that i was not able to get the over-sized shipping charges waived at this time, as it took over half of our warehouse staff to fill the order and UPS had to land the airplane on our warehouse roof to load your order. i hope that you and all of your love partners enjoy the items you purchased. : )
• Whorina Miller - We met when I beat up yo' @$$ for workin' my corner! AND I need my thigh-high boots back, b****.
• Smug Bemmer - I met Jessica in the summer of 91' when, both of us decided to join the circus. Barbara (her name before she changed it) had aspirations of taming a lion, and I was a passionate clown. One day, while having lunch at the Olive Garden with Barbara and and the Bearded Lady, we all decided that our 3 ring lives was coming to an end. Barbara cracked her whip and killed the Bearded Lady by accident. I haven't had unlimited soup and salad since.

Holy Cow! My friends are HILARIOUS. I just had to record this because it just makes me laugh. Every.Single.Time. Some are long, lengthy stories that people came up with in minutes and others are short, raunchy and really show my sense of humor. And yes, this blog is really just about blowing sunshine up my @$$ but I couldn't help it. I love my friends. 

Georgeisms #1

1)

I took Ada (our German Shepherd) to get fixed yesterday at the SPCA. On the way home from picking her up, this was the conversation in the car:

George: "Why does Ada have a booboo on her tummy?"

Me (sensing a long, confusing conversation coming on): "Because she had to have surgery, honey."

George: "Why?"

Me: "To prevent her from having babies." NOTE: I have always worked very hard to stay calm through the incessant why why why why's of childhood. I try to explain everything to the best of my                    

ability or help George look it up so we can learn together. I do not always succeed in staying calm but that's like saying I don't always succeed in being a good mom. Duh. Anyways...

George: "WHY WOULD YOU WANT HER TO NOT HAVE BABIES?" He says completely horrified.

 Me: "Well..... Because when dogs have too many babies there aren't enough willing people to take care of them so they have to be put down."

 George: "What does 'put down' mean?"

                   

NOTE: At this point, I am too far down the rabbit hole to look back. Just keep swimming...

Me: "It means they have to be killed."

George: "WHAT???????"

I don't remember how the conversation ended but I do know it's not my best mothering work. I should have seen where that would have lead right at the beginning but didn't. Oh well. One can only hope George didn't go to school telling other little girls and boys about "cutting stomachs out of dogs so they won't have babies so they don't have to be killed" . I wonder what Ms. Glover thinks goes on in our home since Henry likes to put stuff into George's book bag without us knowing. Like a used bottle, a pacifier, diapers and underwear. Each on separate occasions. Nice right?

2)

Mark and I have a nightly food battle with George to get him to eat what I cook. I know every parent goes through this but it wears you down when the moment you say it's time for dinner the crying begins. It wears you down. I am not a short order cook so George HAS to eat what I make, no matter what. As he has gotten older, though, his strategy has changed. 

Such strategies include:

• complaining that his stomach hurts. He has stopped using this one recently because he realizes that whenever he says this I say "Ok, then you need to be in bed."
• complaining that he is too cold and needs various clothing items. Seriously. Tonight he needed a warmer shirt, then his pants were too tight. Finally, his feet were cold and he needed to put his shoes back on. This KIND of works because I can't say to my child "No you have to sit there and be cold. "
• Bargaining. "Can I just eat two bites of this and two bites of that?"
• Claiming allergies. 
• Stalling. I.E fiddling with his shirt, moving the food around his plate, etc. 
• Crying.
• Bargaining for weeks in advance. "Can you not make this next week?"
• Saying he has eaten more than he has actually eaten. 
• Killing time. He will sit there for HOURS pretending he is eating.

Our strategies include:

• Yelling. I would be lying if this didn't happen once....or twice...or three times.  I come from a long line of yellers. Don't judge. 
• Bargaining. "If you eat this, you can have dessert." Since I never make dessert, this usually results in me scrambling to come up with something for dessert.
• Guilt. "There are less fortunate children that would LOVE to eat this good food." I never thought I would use that line but I did. It didn't work.
• Having said food for breakfast in the morning.
• Mini-theater. Mark "Mmmmmm THIS IS SOO GOOOD. IT'S THE BEST FOOD I HAVE EVER EATEN." Me: "I KNOW!! IT IS SO GOOD." 

None of these techniques work in preventing the crying EVERY TIME I announce dinner. It also doesn't prevent him from gagging when he eats the food. Gagging to the point of vomiting. Yeah, that makes me feel good.  Tonight he said something new and completely caught us off-guard:

George, completely serious, says: "I don't need to eat anymore because I have been working out hard at the gym."

No joke. 

And now for some random photos for the grandparents.

There may be a bink addiction. 

This is Henry's Easter Bunny Suit that George loves to wear. Cute!

                                          

I have never been able to duplicate this. 

Fun Dip. Provided by Oma.

Yeah, I let them have fun dip. So?

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

A bunch of hacking sickies

It seems like the sickness never ends at the Starkey house. Since the beginning of the year we have had two stomach flus, two RSV's and two ear infections. George has missed an ENTIRE week of school due to a constant fever and a cough that just doesn't stop. The cough is so bad, he makes himself sick from it. I have to wake him up in the middle of the night sometimes because he doesn't even realize he is coughing in his sleep. I got a call from his best friend's mother to see if everything was alright. This came a day AFTER the teacher called to check in. It's nice to know he is missed :)

Last night, Henry spiked a fever and started wheezing. He was breathing really fast and it scared us. I called the on-call pediatrician but no one called me back. Nice. That was the straw that broke the camel's back. I couldn't take another week of a sick child if something could be done about it.

Fast forward to the pediatrician this morning. Three hours spent and we come home with a these goodies:

I usually don't run to the dr at the first sign of fever since I am a veteran mother. I am usually sent home, more times than not, with the expert "advice" of more rest and fluids. Duh. Really? I am also one of those mothers that doesn't like to give their child antibiotics unless they really need it. Antibiotics are completely overused and I want them to work when I really need them to.

This time? This time, going to the Dr was a good thing. A very good thing. Henry did not think so, though,  as he was assaulted everywhere but it was for his own good and he won't remember right? At least I hope he won't. He put up a huge fight with the nebulizer until George and I started to sing to him. First it was "Twinkle Twinkle", then "Apples and Bananas" and finally "Old McDonald." (BTW What sound does a stingray make?) I am sure everyone could hear us but I didn't care. Nothing pulls at my heart like a screaming sick child. He finally gave into it after a few minutes and actually fell asleep. Look at this pitiful little boy:

All is well now. They have dumped the entire contents of the Lego bucket out in their room and are playing happily. Now, if I could just stop myself from passing out amidst those Legos. Mama needs sleep.

Marriage NOTE: Mark sent me a text today: "You are my perfect pair." Awwwww. Swoon.
I love that man.

Valentine's NOTE: Went to the gym on Valentine's Day. It was almost empty. I fought the urge to tell the person next to me that I had a Valentine and wasn't alone on Valentine's Day. Valentine's Day at the gym is pitiful.

Here's some cute misc pictures I have taken over the past few days. The weather has been so nice I let the sickies out of the house to play until the hacking coughing attracted too much attention.

He fell asleep and this was all I could think of to cover him. Not my brightest moment. 

"Toss me again, Daddy!"

We don't believe in regular children's toys around here. 

What a beautiful big boy!

I just love his rolls. LOVE LOVE LOVE