Harnessing my inner 'white trash'

Last night was Thursday Night Thunder at the Irwindale Speedway. The drag races went from 5-10pm and we were there for about 2 hours of it. At first I felt pretty embarrassed by the fact that my baby was barefoot and without a coat of her own (wearing an extra of her brother's and wrapped up in my coat). Then I thought a bit about the noise. Was I doing unrecoverable damage to my children's ears? Then I saw the kid with a mullet, the King Taco stand, the VW bug racing, the Uhaul truck racing, the funnel cakes... and I felt better.
The engines roared, the folks around us could care less if my kids were dressed properly, there were M&Ms, I had my diet Dr. Pepper, and the cars raced on!
By the end of the evening, Dylan and his buddy Joshua were running in the parking lot between our cars and the King Taco stand, pretending to be cars in the Piston Cup Championship. It was a good night. And we ALL had fun (Addie included!)

Tantrum

Dylan still throws some pretty classic toddler tantrums. Of course he does. And over pretty much anything, but at least we are gaining a sense of humor about a lot of things. And when he does something he knows he isn't supposed to... like pull his sister's leg, block her from moving across the room to one of us, throw something in the house, or 'back talk', he gets a time out. FOUR whole minutes to start (because the recommendation is a minute for every year of age), but we add another minute if he fights us further. Sometimes those time-outs are all the quiet our house sees during the day and we sometimes secretly (ok, not so secretly anymore since I'm posting about it) enjoy when we can relish in some silence.
One day last week I got some nice quiet time for a whopping 10 minutes because of his behavior!



And let me add for the record that the tantrum/episode of 'self-expression' was only beginning with what you see here on the video. It got worse after the tape stopped rolling...

In the Buff

Kathy posted something over on her blog with some pretty cute pictures of the kids on there. Go check it out here. I think the second to last picture is probably my favorite one. It just cracks me up!

And while Kathy has lost her hair, she certainly has not lost her great sense of humor and wit. I think the way she has handled Dylan's curiosity has been neat to watch.

In fact, something interesting is that the one time (on Easter Sunday) that he saw her with her wig on, he didn't even notice a difference between hair and no hair to comment on it. It's a testimony that he sees Kathy as KATHY and not her hair or what she wears or whatever.

Deep in Thought

(Stealing this quote from a friend of mine's blog)

In the work force, there are many days when people oppose you all day long.

As a mommy, there are many days when little people oppose you all day long. . . And then they poop on you.

Splish Splash

These kids love the water. Put them in a pool or spa and they are just about as happy as two kids can be. And get them down to San Diego with their grandparents in their pool... it's a recipe for pure happiness!

Frito Bandito

Ryan and Addie have this little song they sing together. It's genesis was from the Frito Bandito song that Kathy sings sometimes to us.


When Ryan sings it to her, she sings it back with a hearty "aye yi yi yi" and we all laugh.


We really need to get it on video.



Now to be honest, I'm tempted to change the words to match Dylan and all his friend's love for cheetos. It'd work, don't you think?

Update: Got a video in the car of Addie singing her little song. Nevermind the turbulence. I was sitting in the FAR back of the car and it sure was a bumpy ride.

Our Little Girl

Our little girl is growing up fast. Too fast.
Today she waved goodbye to her daddy after we meeting up for lunch. Last week she tried to climb the stairs (made it up 2 of them, with mama and Bonnie close behind).

She still loves the kitty cat. She makes a high-pitched squealing sound whenever she sees him.
She's been trying to say 'dylan' for days now. It's funny. She concentrates so hard, and all that comes out over and over is 'ddddtt' but you can tell that's what she is trying to say.
And man alive, this girl loves to eat. Give her any kind of vegetable (green beans, carrots, corn, peas, broccoli) and she'll gobble it up and want more. She loves vanilla yogurt, cheese, malt-o-meal, bananas, pasta, and pretty much anything else she can steal from your plate.
She squeals with delight when her brother clowns around, trying to make her laugh, or when she's tickled by her daddy.
She loves hair brushes, doorstops, and did I mention food?
And that smile? It can melt your heart in an instant.
She's a happy baby.