Cole Family

We were driving Megan’s little friend over to our house for a play date. This is what I heard:

Little friend:  Lets out a shriek

Megan:  “Did you just touch something gooey?”

Little friend: Nods solemnly.

Megan:  “Those are just really, really, really old fruit snacks.  Just don’t put your hand there. That’s what we do.”

I guess it’s time for me to venture into the back of the van. I’ll just watch where I put my hands. 

Random happenings over the past few days:

• I tried to pump gas at 3 different gas stations to no avail. Finally at the 3rd gas station a little trickle came from the pump. What?? (it was also pouring rain)
• Megan pulled the full grocery cart down on top of her and Lindsay while I was rummaging through the frozen foods section looking for pies.  They both lay there, stunned, while several employees came running over to help lift the cart off of them. I just stood there holding the pies with a stern look on my face.
• Garrett lost another tooth.
• We’ve had several incidents where Lindsay has tried to “potty train” herself.  Her version of potty training includes removing her diaper and “going” near the toilet. Then climbing on the toilet.  It’s a work in progress.
• While I was on the phone complaining to my friend about how busy Lindsay is and how she gets into everything, Lindsay was in the kitchen taking out the eggs and cracking them on the floor.
• Garrett’s bus driver ran over two mailboxes when she was backing the bus up to avoid a flooded road.  By the time the kids got off the bus the story had morphed into: “The bus driver ran into a ditch and knocked off her tires!”
• The day after Jon got his bike out of the shop for a tune up, he crashed it by slipping on some wet leaves on the road on his way to work. He just rode it right back to the shop to get fixed again.

Almost every elderly lady that sees me in a store as I’m struggling with my kids comes up to me and says, “You’ll miss this!” I probably will. 

Across the street from us lives a family where both the parents work.  They have an au pair that cares for their children while they are away.  The old au pair (Tania) recently went back home to South Africa after living here for 2 years.  The new au pair (Amy) is from Northern England and has a strong accent…it’s almost a Scottish accent since she lives so close to Scotland.

The other day Megan was over at their house playing and stepped in a puddle of glue (if you know Megan, you know that if there is a mess to be made or an accident to be had, she will do both. Stepping in a puddle of glue is almost to be expected.).  Amy kindly told me she would wash the glue-soaked socks and return them to us later.  We were at the bus stop waiting for the school bus when Amy pulled the socks out of her pocket and came over to Megan. 

Amy:  “Megan! Here you go… I washed the glue out of your socks.”
Megan:  Silence.
Amy:  “Your socks. Remember the glue?”
Megan, with a confused stare:  “What’s guh-LOOH?”

Amy asked Megan if she could understand her and Megan said, “No! I don’t know what you’re saying!”   We couldn’t stop laughing.

I walked in on Garrett reading books to Lindsay. These are the kind of moments that make all the fights, frustrations, and tantrums seem minor and help me remember that my kids are great. 

Sometimes the moments only last a moment...

 
“What you talkin’ bout, Willis?”  Lindsay didn’t like the direction this story was going. 

Garrett is really into making chapter books right now. He’s made a comic book, a scary Halloween book, an Indiana Jones book, and several other action books.  His latest chapter book is “The Adventures of Captain Socks.” Captain Socks is a character that Garrett created all by himself*.  He’s a superhero that only wears socks.  And when I say only socks, I mean only socks.  The illustrations below prove my point. 

*Captain Socks may or may not be loosely based on “The Adventures of Captain Underpants” (with the obvious exception of the underpants).

Remember this incident? I do. Vividly. 

Eerily, today I re-lived that exact incident with Lindsay. She had been whining for a few minutes (or maybe a lot of minutes) and I was expertly ignoring her until I noticed her outstretched finger covered with a hauntingly familiar brown substance. “Please let that be chocolate” I whispered to myself, already knowing it was not.  

Is there a way I can blame this on Jon?

Here’s a cute idea for a “Thankful Thanksgiving.”  Get a mason jar. Fill it with things you are thankful for. Pull one out every day until Thanksgiving.  Talk about it. I got the idea from here:
http://kari-youcanmakeit.blogspot.com/2009/10/thankful-countdown.html

There are pre-made thankful countdown ideas here: http://www.sugardoodle.net/mambo/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5177

P.S. I didn’t even decorate my mason jar like the other people did…just cut out the strips of paper and folded them in half and stuck them in the jar. My kids don’t notice all that extra work.

My kids teach me so many things. Megan’s latest nugget of knowledge: 

“Mom, when you cry, your eyeballs are throwing up.”

Today in class Garrett was awarded “Student of the Month”. 

He also received his first “ticket” ever for bad behavior .

Good + Bad = Mediumish (his words)

This year we had a witch, Strawberry Shortcake,  Indiana Jones and a WHOLE lot of candy! We only had about 10 trick or treaters (3 of which were our own children).

 
She LOVED her green hair. 

 
He took his role as Indiana Jones very seriously. 

Later, at the ward trunk-or-treat party, a beard was added to finish off his look (face paint, not chocolate).

Megan’s doll was the inspiration for her costume…she had very specific ideas (like spraying her hair pink even though it’s already red…the perfect color for Strawberry Shortcake).

Happy Halloween!  Jon and I will now begin sneaking candy from the kid’s Halloween stash, starting with Lindsay’s since she is way too little to notice….er, I mean too little to be eating all that junk (I’m just thinking of her health…).