April 2016

"You're a poophead!" she says with arm outstretched, finger dramatically extended and pointing in your face.  Then continues around the table, "and you're a poophead!  And you're a poophead!  And you're a poophead!"  Making sure to leave no one out, radiant smile crossing her face.  Like she's actually proud of herself.  Where did this come from?  (and when will it end???)

And it's not just her, it's him, too - the initial instigator.  "Abby, say, 'poop-cheese.'  hee-hee.  Abby, say, 'poop-cat.' hee-hee-hee.  Abby, say, 'poop-banana!'  hee-hee..."  There was one night this month when literally every word that came out of his mouth at dinner was "poop."  Every.single.word.

I mean, I get it.  We talk about poop a lot around here.  Every day, it's the topic of many legitimate conversations.  And I'm not a total prude - I can appreciate a little bathroom humor from time to time.  But I'm done.  Done.  My sanity is quickly dripping away with every new usage of the word poop that comes out of their mouths...  Hoping this phase passes quickly!

I do love when they play together though, even if they only talk about poop...

You know what else I hope passes quickly?  Tornado season.  Living in Oklahoma, it's "just" part of life.  But it's been a lot more tense now that I'm responsible for two Littles!  It's a delicate balance - making sure the kids are prepared for a potential serious threat, all the while pretending all day that I'm not secretly glancing at the weather app on my phone watching that dreadful red blob with its trajectory slotted straight for our town.

my screen shot to send to Charlie who was in Kansas while we were in our hidey-hole 

I'm pretty cool-headed when it comes to storms, which is good, because I think children can smell fear like dogs.  Yesterday we had our first "adventure" in our storm shelter, and Bruce and Abby handled it like champs.  As soon as our town was put under the tornado warning, and the sirens started wailing, we grabbed our "go bag" and headed for the shelter.  No one asked to go and look for a toy first, no one questioned where the cats were.  I am so thankful that my kids knew they needed to respond to me immediately, but were not fearful to carry out our plan.  We flipped on our flashlight, settled in on some old patio cushions and read books for about 30 minutes.  Abby found the big empty yogurt container I had packed, and after explaining to her that it was our "emergency toilet" - Bruce instantly had to pee.  Of course.  So that provided some comic relief that we all needed.  In the end, we just got a ton of rain - but I'm thankful for educated weatherman, advance warning systems, precautionary measures, and good practice.

it's always easy to relax when we've got a pile of books around us

Other Highlights and Kidbits of the month:

We went to the Medieval Fair!  Not being a pirate anymore, we had to come up with a new costume for Bruce this year.  I finally got around to making him a Star Wars cloak, so that proved to be good enough for him and seemingly theme-appropriate.  Abby still refuses to wear costumes.  Cool.

 

the pirate ship was back this year!

firing cannons

eating lunch and watching a living chess game

Bruce's knight

trying to pick up a few pointers

we love these singing pirate guys, and are happy most of their jokes go over our kids' heads!

We had our Kolarik family reunion in Kansas!  It was a smaller group than we've had in the past, but it was still a really enjoyable time.  Due to various circumstances, a lot of the older generation wasn't able to make it this year, so the "cousins" did most of the food planning, cooking, and event coordinating.  Being so introverted, it was a good opportunity pushing me to interact with them more!  And there were 8 kids under the age of 8 - which was crazy, especially when playing "trash compactor," but also a lot of fun!  The kids are finally old enough to really play with each other - and once they discovered they had a common interest in Star Wars, bonds were quickly forged.  And a lot of jedi training went on over the weekend...

canola fields!

such a blustery day!

Abbs found a wagon!  Hurray!

 

 

mandatory tractor tire picture

in the wheat!

finding bugs

 

reading Star Wars books

I don't know if Lady bugs make nests - but we found dozens all in the same spot - it was crazy!

 

They were crawling all over us!

bonfire at the creek!

cousin Jared the wrestle machine!

Bruce had a field trip with school to the Orr Family Farm and we all tagged along!

my kid, but your student - who's in charge of fussing at him for trying to knock the pole over???

hay ride!

wish we had these in our backyard!

Abby was in heaven

"jumping pillows"

Abbs is still terrified of the carousel horses, but was happy to ride in "Santa's sleigh"

We went to the Norman Music Festival!  And MayFair the following weekend!

dancing in the street!

watching Dan work on a cup

and she walked like this all the way back to the car...

We went to two birthday parties in one weekend - wahoo!!!  Lots of fun times with friends.

marshmallow guns!  I think Bruce ate close to a hundred marshmallows!

We have spent so much time outside!

 

not sure why Roger's puddle looked like hot chocolate this time, but they didn't mind!

trampoline fun at the neighbor's house!

Bruce continues to plug away at his Legos.  Not only is he getting much more independent with putting together boxed sets, he's also becoming a lot more confident in his imaginative ability to assemble his own creations.  At first he would just stick four or five random pieces together and say it was a such-and-such.  But some of his latest builds have been pretty impressive - identifiable and aesthetically appealing!

Lego club meeting - I got to go this time!  Hurray!

And even though Star Wars is still his go-to obsession, he's had several days this month where he's been drawn back to pirates.  And he's even been dabbling in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles a bit.  I'm having a hard time getting interested in TMNT along with him, but I am thankful that Bruce wanting to do "ninja training" helps him burn a lot of energy outside!

Abby is steadily growing her collection of mini-trains.  She has a handful of the regular-sized Thomas and friends, but her preferred ones are the tiny ones that come in various themes.  Currently, her favorite characters are Paxton, Toby, James and Victor.  Well, she really likes Luke and Emily, too.  And Gordon and Percy.  And Henry.  It's fun watching her play with them, because she treats them like people - makes them eat food, pushes them around in strollers, puts them to bed in her doll house, gives them baths, and naturally, makes them go potty on her little toy potty chair...    

at the library

She still spends a good portion of her day reading, but brings her "towers" of books into Boy's room to read on his bed.  She has completely abandoned the big, cozy chair in her room because according to her, there's a real skunk in there and that's too scary.  A lot of the time I think she's just being silly, but there have been a few nap times and bed times when she seems legitimately terrified for me to leave her alone in her crib, and will grip my hips so tightly with her little legs and scream.  Trying to convince a two year old of a skunk's inability to get inside our house is futile.

a possum on the other hand...  This is "Kylo Ren" - our frequent visitor enjoying our cat food.  Unlike the raccoons, he doesn't knock the entire bin over for his midnight snack...

And I will leave you with this little ditty that pretty much sums up life these days.

If You Decide to Plant a Garden 

A cautionary tale of chain reactions that occur in a household of budding naturalists and push-over parents.  

If you decide to plant a garden, you'll probably attract some bugs.

If you happen to discover a lady bug, your kids will want to keep it.
If you decide to adopt the lady bug, you'll need to understand they come in sibling groups.
Once the lady bugs are settled in their jar, it will be hard to discriminate against June bugs.
After all, beetles are beetles, no matter their size or color.
And as long as you've got beetles, why not add some roly poly bugs or grasshoppers for good measure?

And if you come across a caterpillar while on a walk to jump in puddles, you will have no case to argue against keeping it until it changes into a butterfly.
And when you learn from the internet that the beautiful butterfly will actually be an ugly brown moth, you'll have to continue on in the name of Science.

"Moneyfiller"

And since you've made room on the dinner table for the pitcher containing the now-chrysalis, you might as well make a little more room for an aquarium with a toad.

"Sir Hoppim Hat"

And when your kids fail to forfeit any of their bugs to feed the toad, you'll have to release the toad back into the garden.
Because vertebrates somehow don't deserve to die in glass jars.
And if you release the toad back into the garden, the empty aquarium that now sits on the patio will only serve to remind you that more creatures await.

these guys are the best.