Cute Quotes...

"Mama, why you sooo... mahd (mad)? You so, so mahd!" (when Avery was up going potty for the 3rd time before bed last night, a.k.a. her new stalling technique :)

"I see a turkey showing all its feathers...I think it see's a girl turkey!" (Bryton, on our way home from Rockford last night. We haven't explained the turkey hunting process to him, but he must be listening!)

"My phone number is a lot of numbers." (Bryton)
"Yeah, its 10 numbers total. Do you know it?" (Brian)
"Yes." (Bryton)
"It's 815.3..." (Brian)
"69.4596!" (Bryton) - (again, Bryton's a listener...'cause we haven't worked w/ him on his phone number, here at home, and they haven't worked on it at school either)

"Big, big chicken! Tum (come) here, big red chicken! Where did that red byrd (bird) go?!" (Avery repeated this multiple times, at Red Robin Restaurant last night...she was a bit obsessed w/ talking to the Red Robin mascot!)

Breakfasts...

Avery prefers main meals for breakfast, I've found out. So, I'm trying to decide if this is OK or not. I'm thinking it is. She'll eat non-breakfast foods, such as fish sticks and green beans for breakfast, a whole lot better than she'll eat cereal, toast, pancakes, oatmeal etc... Since she's eating better now, I don't think I'll pick this battle. I remember a neighbor of ours, when we were little kids, who did this throughout his Jr. High and High School years. I always thought it was strange that his mom would heat him up spaghetti for breakfast. Maybe its just a stage Avery is in, but I'd rather have her eat something than nothing in the morning.
Bryton, on the other hand, loves breakfast foods. Egg McMuffins (made at home), cereal, toast, waffles...you name it, he'll eat it! Usually he eats breakfast at home, and then breakfast again at school...since their breakfast is a little later in the morning.
And then there are the mornings when we are in a hurry, and their early morning breakfast is a few peanut butter or oatmeal cookies and milk :) I count on their vitamins to balance out those mornings!

A Special Mother's Day...

Today, and every other day, I'm reminded of what a special little family I have! Bryton, Avery, and Brian woke me up this morning, saying "Happy Mother's Day!" Then I was surprised with homemade picture frames w/ the kids pics in them, a beautiful ring, and a bouquet of flowers. Wow...I was a bit shocked to get such nice gifts from my extra special people. So, on this rainy Mother's Day, we are enjoying family time...and I thank God for the many blessings, big and small, in my life :)

Park Time

So, this is my assumed position these days, while we are at the park. However, I feel like I spend a lot of time saying "Bryton/Avery please don't do that!" What is it with kids and them wanting to play on playground equipment every wrong way possible?! (For instance, this picture of Avery climbing up the slide while Bryton, who's feet you can see in the picture, is sliding down!) I have 2 daredevils on my hands. I'm trying to "prep" myself for possible injuries this summer...and I hope I'm ready for this next stage!

This Week's Favorites

Kohl's - I'm liking their Vera Wang Intimates line
Lena Park District - We have great summer kids programs and many parks within walking distance, considering the small size of our town.
Nora Roberts - I've just gotten back into reading after the kids go to bed, and oh how I've missed her!
Blueberries - Our kids love these right out of the bag, frozen or not! I prefer them in homemade blueberry muffins :)
Paul Mitchell Super Skinny Relaxing Balm - Good for "calming" my hair, and I only use a quarter sized amount.

Love It, Love It!!!

Or in Avery's deep little voice, "Wuv it, Wuv it!" I love the little adventures the kids and I have, while we are on walks!
Avery and I were on our way to the library today, and the noon fire whistle went off. Then the church bells started chiming. Then we saw a bunch of birds pecking around in someone's yard. And finally we saw the water tower. Avery gets so genuinely excited about what is going on around her!

"See dat (that) water tower? Wow! Big, big water tower!"
"Hear dat, Mommy?! Where dat toming (coming) from? Go see it?" (fire whistle)
"What's dat sound?! Pretty song? Princess song?" (church bells)
"Touch 'em? Tute (cute) baby birds!" (all little things are babies, these days :)
"Here we are! We at da wibrary (library)! Wuv it, Wuv it!"

Video Games and Movies

Bryton loves playing video games and watching movies; however, we have to greatly limit both around our house. Otherwise, he'd want to do this a lot more than he currently does. A trend we are seeing...Bryton is having a hard time, at the age of 5 (since he's playing 10+ yr. old PS2 games), distinguishing between make believe and real life. He'll often ask me "Is that in this real life?" when he's watching a show on TV. I suppose this is normal, but for now he's on a break from video games. Movies I'm not as worried about, since we don't watch many... but Spiderman and Transformers aren't the first options out of my mouth these days.