A Crazy Monkey, Kids Dancing at a bar...and, Mom's night out.

What a weekend.  First, a couple friends and I tried out Baby Loves Disco.  We got the kiddos there in their Jammies for the 5th Anniversary PJ party.  Then, the confusion started.  It was at Club Envy and we walked into the bar with a dance floor, but there were no dancers.  Then, we went up to another area, played in some tents, etc. until that got crowded, ventured around the bend to the back side of the bar, where the party was pumpin'.  They had food on the bar, tons of juice boxes and kid friendly snacks.  The DJ, however, was located at the end of a long, narrow passageway that was to be the dance floor.  There was no fighting my way through the crowd to get Macy and Jorey on the dance floor to win them their new PJs because they couldn't even see a dancer and only had eyes for balloons.  After 3 lost balloons, a 30 minute wait in the face painting line (only to lose interest and go so far away that mom had to lose her spot in line), and a few dances in bubbles, the girls had had enough.  I'm going to rank it a 5 out of 10.  Cool idea - bad bar to have it in...funny.  Bad bar to have the kid party...huh?

Saturday night, Auntie Amy came over to hang with the girls.  We were still down a member of the Fry family, due to hunting obsessions.  Mom went out with two of her other favorite goyles, Melissa Gaulrapp and Nina Huntington.  Who knew that Elko Speedway had a bar...and not just any bar...a big one with 2 bars and a stage...and they had G.B. Leighton!  woot woot!  We took a picture every hour...here's a couple of my favorites.

Look who got to sing 'Come and Get Your Love' with Brian!  Ooh la la!

The following day, I licked my wounds from the night before and ventured out to the MN Zoo with the girls and our friend Misty and James (aka Big Jim).  The monkeys were CRAZY! They were screaming and jumping and swinging around the branches.  I've never seen anything like it!  Here are some shots from the day. Please note Big Jim...I did all my favorite stupid faces, dances, etc...not a smile.  Not a single, stinkin' smile...It got so funny by the end of the day. 

I love the Minnesota Zoo!

The day that began like many others

I woke up early to Macy requesting a spot in my bed.  OK - get in here.  Dad's gone deer hunting, so why not.  About 2 hours later and 12 requests by Macy to get out of bed and go downstairs later, at 7:30am, Jorey walks into our room.  I know she's there, but just wait to hear what she has to say...and this is what I heard.  This is what I heard when I didn't even want to have to get out of bed, yet...
"Mom, I pooped in my pull up.".
"It was an accident"
I roll over to look at her standing in front of me with the strangest expression.  It was not one of fear or frustration, but one of matter-of-fact.  "I did it.  It's done.  What's next."
She then states, "There's poop in my bed."  So, that leads me to believe that she likely touched this poop and now she's twirling her hair. 
"Did you touch the poop?"
"Ya."
Out of bed...here we go...let's have a looksey. 
Oh, man...there's a pile of poop in the middle of the bed.  A skid coming off the bed, a few "wipe marks" on the comforter, and a poopy hand...still twirling hair.
Forget that we had a bath last night...we're having another, princess poopy-pants...get in the bathroom. 

A few things since this happened...

1.  Don't buy Target pull-ups.  Ya, they're cheaper, but if your kiddo should poop in them, the poop spills! out. 

2.  Get rid of the diaper pail that smells like death...worse than death.  It needs to go.  And, it may be extra incentive to never "accidentally" poop in your pull up some morning when you should wake up and tell mom, but it seems easier to poop in your pants.  It's early on in potty training and you know Mom will chalk it up to an accident.   Diaper pail = trash.  Gone.

3.  Who am I kidding.  Those sheets had to be changed anyways...it was an incentive program to do it.  Thanks, Jorey.

There were more fun events from the weekend, but I'm busy laundering.  I'll post on those little deets later on.  In parting, I say this to you...Don't let your kids save their good stuff for when dad leaves on a hunting trip and you're left alone to suffer!

Who's going potty in the potty chair?

Yahoo!  Jorey finally has been getting about 80% of her potty in the toilet.  That makes mom happy as a lark.  Ken and I had decided on the potty training day.  Macy and I were trying our first dance class (she hated it!) and Jorey was home with dad...alone...to learn how to go potty in the toilet.
Saturday morning, Halloween Day, Jorey was given the smack down by her dad.  He told her not to go potty in her pants and she did.  Oh, boy...Dad wasn't amused and told her about his disdain.  A couple accidents (including a puddle in the kitchen, a puddle on the counter, and a 40-minute session on the toilet later, and mom arrived home to find her girl in a diaper.  Something that happened that morning, though, stuck in her stubborn little mind and I was shocked as can be.  After 5 minutes of laying in bed for a nap, she was up saying she had to go potty.  I helped her try.  Nothing.  Back to bed.  5 minutes later, again, she had to go.  I told her to go in the bathroom - had caramel mix on the stove that was going to certainly burn all over the stove surface if I were to leave it unattended.  By the time I got up there, she had the diaper off, but had to go so bad, she had a teeny tiny accident on the floor.  After she stopped crying over the trauma, she was told that it was good that she tried and it was Mom's fault for not getting her up on the toilet.  She was unable to gain enough composure and relaxation to get any more out.  Back to bed.  5 minutes later, we had to go again...after the last session, we put a pull-up on so we could get it down and 'assume the position' in time to be effective.  This time, we got up there in time and got a few little dribbles in there.  It was still quite stressful.  Back to bed.  5 minutes later, we needed to go again.  This was the best one.  We got it all.  So, back to bed and AGAIN, 5 minutes later, we tried again...but, we were good to go.  Needless to say, with all the excitement, the girls only got a 20 minute nap before their neighborhood Halloween Party.  long sigh...
Today, though, Jorey stayed dry all day!  She went potty in the toilet five times with no accidents.  Woo Hoo.  We're on our way to diaper freedom.  Way to go, big girl!  I'm proud of you!

Happy Halloween

Well, we had our first Halloween that both girls would dress up and were happy to do so.  Last year, Jorey was 100% opposed to her Dragon costume and put it on for about 5 angry minutes.  This year, though, Jorey was tickled pink to be "piderman".  The only prerequisite was that we don't wear the eye mask.  That did produce some anger and then it was lost at their daycare party anyways!  Reginald was a Post man.  He loved it (not so much).  We had the Frys over to help with Trick-or-Treaters and have some dinner and watch the MN Football game, so we had a few visitors.  Payne and Logan Pietig came over to join us for some good times.  Logan was Flash and Payne was some sort of Star Wars character that I'm still trying to figure out. :)  (Btw- I'm going to clean the glass on the front door right now after that family pic...gross!  Jorey's very helpful with letting Reg out and in...it makes for a shiny glass door.  ;)

This week, at daycare, they had lots of dress-up days. 
The first was "Dress Like a Pumpkin".  Well, I could only come up with this...But, Paige seemed to have nearly the same theme and Macy was happy to wear it, so we all win!
I didn't get a picture of Crazy hair and clothes day...I don't know what I was thinking, but by Thursday...I was frazzled.  I could NOT keep up with life last week.  Hopefully, this week is going to be better. :)

Are the dinosaurs dead?

"Mom, can you leave the light on and the door open so I don't get scared of the monsters?"
"Macy, honey, there are no monsters.  There's no such thing as monsters in real life.  You don't have to be scared of them..." 
"Well, are the dinosaurs all dead?"
"Yep - The dinosaurs are extinct."
"They stink?"
"No, they're EX-tinct."
"What's that?"
"That means they're all gone and they've been dead for a long time."
"Why did they died?"
"Because they were as big as our house and they ran out of food."
"OK"...with a satisfied smile. 

Jorey told me today, when getting out of the car after daycare, that she was too tired to carry her baby in the house...She said it in a mel-o-dramatic tone..."Mom, I caaannnnn't carry my baby....I'm toooooo tiiiiieeerrrrrddd." 
She also tells us - all of the time - that she's "got a belly ache" when she doesn't want to do something.  She'll put the most pathetic look on her face moan and roll around when it's bedtime, saying, "Well, I'm thirrrrrsty!"

Those GOYLES!

This past weekend, we had fun as a fam.  We had our family pics taken by my co-worker, Jill, who is working on getting into that field.  She came out on the most amazing fall day to snap some pics.  The day started out a little rough.  It was one of those "I told you so" days...I told you to stop screwing around and stand still, but then - when doing a booty dance - you touched the curling iron and got a sad wound on your hand.  2 hours after it happened, it seemed to be way more painful than at the beginning?  I thought she was faking, so I tried to make her laugh, but I got this series of terror, here. We went to get burn ointment and a bandage right after this and it was better...immediately.   :)

After that, we went to the MOA, where we dined at Cantina #1 - it was pretty darn good.  Then, we went to go on a few rides and got our family drawn by this amazing artist that did a great job.  I'll try to get a pic of the drawing some time and get it on here, but it looks just like us.  (I know that's the whole idea, but it was just so good!)  The girls and Ken enjoyed the crazy bus...

Jorey's trying NOT to smile.

We're enjoying Ken, now that softball is over with!  It's getting to be that hunting time...when he can only think about bucks in rutt and how to slay them and how to block his scents with all the latest grass-scented non-lures...because you NEED those things to get the bucks.  I know, Love Bug, I  know.  It's your one true passion...You're the king slayer.  Gun opener is in 2 weeks...depending on the weather, we may not see him.  Stay tuned to see if he's able to capture: 1) "just a little basket buck"  - this comes complete with a big hand gesture showing the size of the basket, or 2) "A Pig"- once Natalie thought he really saw a PIG - not a Pig of a deer...fun stuff.  or 3) Any deer will do because he thinks he needs to provide for his family that does not crave his venison.  We shall see...

Oh, and I took the geeks to Burger King on Saturday for about 3 hours - they ran non-stop and got free kids cones with their meals.  All of the sudden, Jorey suggests they do a "cheers"...right on.  Cheers!

 

 

We missed our Goyles, but the Sunshine made it all worthwhile!

'Tis the season for Ken's trip to Palm Springs with the Minnesota Lawmen softball team.  This was the last year they'll be having it in Palm Springs, so it was really nice that it could be 106 degrees to help us with the departure!  Next year, the World Police Softball Tournament is going to be in Las Vegas...holy moly...so it should be an adventure.  Ken and I have talked about 25 times about going and just never have spent the money or time to go.  We were lucky to have Kara and her friend Chris to join us.  They were able to stay Friday thru Sunday and we had the best time.  I snapped just 375 pics of them to share with everyone back home. ;)  Hey - if you're going to be really overly obnoxious with a camera, be that way around a couple models and you get by just fine...

 I love all the funny ladies that are married to the other lawmen players.  We only get together a couple times a year at these tournaments and a few other events, but it's always lots of fun and very entertaining.  They try to get me in trouble from time to time...I can't hang!...but, it's a good time none-the-less.

Ken played very well - even though he got a bad cold before we left.  The team ended up in 5th place, so not too shabby.  Of course, they were frustrated with their finish.

Thankfully, when we arrived home and the girls were returned to our care from Orange Papa and Gramma's, they did not cry and say they wanted to stay with them!  Huge thanks to Heidi and Kyle, as well as Orange Papa and Gramma for taking care of our sick little buggers.  Back to work...ugh...

Dorks...My kids are total dorks...

My little sassertons have provided me much entertainment and much stress in the last couple weeks.  Here are a few of the highlights...

I HAVE A WIENER   At Cub the other day, I was trying to just grab a few things.  One of these things was bread.  First, you should know that Macy and Jorey no longer want to ride in carts, they like to walk --which translates loosely into sprinting through the store, yelling, taking things off the shelves, and ultimately just giving their mom a panic attack --but, this was such a night that I figured they could walk.  I was up for the challenge.  While I was perusing the bread aisle, in search of our fave potato bread, I hear Jorey say (in a low voice), "Hey Mom, I've got a wiener."  In shock and disbelief, I just kindof looked around - looked into the terrified face of the 20ish-year-old boy stocking the bread aisle, and said, "Come on.".  She then proceeds to just grab the front of her pants, kindof bunch them out, walk with her legs together so it stays bunchy, and then struts along saying it again!  I had to laugh inside, but wondered what that poor fella was thinking...2 year old, telling mom she has a wiener?!?  He probably thought I was some sort of freaky crossdresser or something...I still can't figure out where that came from and I hope it never comes out again.

MY DAYCARE BOYFRIEND DOESN'T LIKE THAT SHIRT The other day, I'm getting Macy dressed and she tells me that she doesn't want to wear the golf shirt that I'm trying to sell the idea of wearing.  She says, "No, Mom, Liam doesn't like that shirt."  I say, "Well, how about this one" (a very similar style, just different colors) - She says, "No, Mom.  I'm not even lying.  Liam does not like that shirt.  She kindof gets a little whimsical look on her face and says, "Really, Mom.  It's true.  He just does not like that shirt."  I tried to inform her that boys shouldn't tell us what to wear and we can really do whatever we want, so if she likes the shirt, she should wear it.  She was not convinced and chose to please Liam that day.  I didn't think much about it until her daycare teacher, Miss Mandy, told me that Macy and Liam have a love-hate relationship where they play and hug one minute, and then fight the next.  I brought up the discussion we had the week before, and Miss Mandy confirmed that Liam hates button shirts so much that one day when he spilled on his shirt and they tried to put a clean shirt with buttons on him, he threw such a fit, he wore a girl shirt home!  It seems he's still her #1.  ;)

She also informed me the other day that she would like to go on a honeymoon (because Shrek and Fiona went on one and I told her that when you get married, you get to go on vacation with your hubby and celebrate and they call it a honeymoon - true enough, huh?) - So, she waited 2 days until we were going to Target and she told me that she would like to marry Liam and go on a honeymoon with him.  She then informed me that she would only marry him if he wanted to marry her because otherwise that wouldn't be any fun.  She's so smart....

Last Saturday, Ken was down cultivating his hunting land for the big hunt...Oh, brother...and the girls and I took a rainy day trip to Lookout Ridge in Woodbury.  It was fun and I ran into a friend-of-a-friend that I'd been out with a few times.  She had her kids there, so it was a good time.  It's a huge, tall, indoor climbing thingy with big slides, tunnels, a jumper, and all sorts of fun stuff.  I did see Macy's evil side when a girl was sitting in one of the tunnels and Macy asked, "What are you doing there?!  Get out of the way!"  I couldn't believe it even came out of her mouth!  So, we stopped, had to have a chat, and then continued on our way.  Now, if you can picture this, these climbing zones are built really sturdy for (big butts like me), but they're small enough for 2-year-olds to get up and around.  Imagine how much we held up traffic when we had to apologize to the scorned young girl, have a life lesson, and then maneuver all 5' 6.5" (yes, that's 6.5") of me up the little zones, while cheering Jorey on because she just wasn't so sure she wanted to keep going.  Once at the top, we all went down the dark & curly slide together and laughed a lot.  It was so much fun.  We stayed for about 3 hours and got our $5 worth and went and rested.  We spent Sunday cleaning our nasty house...it's almost like the cold, rainy weather has prompted a necessity to clean.  Some in my house are probably happy to see that.  I have anxiety!  Oh, well...

Here are some shots of our adventures.

This picture was WAY at the top of the big tower...I was sweating and breathing hard after getting up there, had about 4 12-year-old boys up my butt, but we were taking that picture...so glad I did.  Look how happy they are! 

We were trying on our winter gear last night because both girls were supposed to have a field trip to an apple orchard today...yuk!  So, we were trying to prepare with boots, umbrellas, mittens, winter coats, etc.  They were both so excited to try on their stuff...yep - kindof dorky...wouldn't have it any other way.