Rain Rain Come Again

Our weather has been beautiful lately. However, on the one day we had rain, I pulled out the matching raincoats I bought the boys from Children's Place. Seeing them look so cute, now I wish the rain would come again...

I don't think that one other person noticed that they we're matching. How could anyone miss it? Am I bias? I don't think so!!

Shawn insists that they don't like matching. But, I think he's just feeling left out....

Riley is such a serious baby. He always looks so intent. His smiles are kept for special occasions only. Have you all noticed that there are not many pictures of him smiling? I almost don't know what to make of him sometimes. Caleb is so easy to make smile, although he doesn't like to smile for the camera anymore.

I'm blaming all my girls who have talked about nothing else but the "Twilight Series" for my week of absence at blogging. My curiosity got the best of me and I went and bought the first book in the series and haven't been able to put it down. It's such an easy read and it grabs you and pulls you in. I don't even know what's really that great about the book other than to say it's kinda like reading "Dawson's Creek" with "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"....kinda. And those shows rocked when I was 20....about 10 years ago. Maybe that's what I like about the series, it makes me think I'm young again.

Anyway, the one thing that I've learned this week is that reading isn't the same as it use to be. Finding the time to read with two little ones and still having all the other responsibilities is a challenge. I get to read 10 pages at a time and then anxiously wait till the next time I have 10 minutes to sit down. And if I read at night, I'm so exhausted that 10 pages is too much before I fall asleep.

Different Parenting Styles

I know every couple has a different way of raising their kids. And within that couple each person has their own parenting style. Shawn and I are no different. Below are video examples of our styles. Watch both and tell me which style you think works best.....

I don't know about all of you, but I'd rather laugh than be scared. Eek!!! I think Shawn may need some parenting classes.....

Engrish

Awhile back my friend, Jill, turned me onto this website: http://www.engrish.com/. Basically, it's the clumsy way the Japanese use English. I've seen some great examples, but I never seem to have my camera with me. This time, it was caught on film!

Who are they calling slow??

Oh and below is a picture of Caleb playing at the park where the sign is found.

Hey! Does someone know somthing that I don't??

(hahahaha)

Hanicapped?

Okay, so is it just me or is it sometimes very difficult to read the letters in the "letter verification" when you're leaving a comment on some one's blog? I was asking Shawn this question and he seems to think it's me. He told me to use the handicapped sign to the right of the letters and it would give me an audio of the letters so I could enter them correctly. Has anyone else ever tried this? You have to try it just to hear how scary it sounds. I mean it sounds like something that would be on a horror movie. And then all I could make out was numbers, not letters and still couldn't enter the correct "letter verification". Sometimes it takes me several tries to enter it correctly. Am I handicapped??? Am I alone in this struggle???

Life Lesson #2

I know that many of you already practice this lesson, but I have been slow to the idea. My life lesson #2 is make a meal plan. My idea of a meal plan has always been to have items that we eat on a normal basis in the house, open the freezer the afternoon of and try to put together a meal. It's worked ok for the last 13 years, but now my time is VERY limited!! So now, I sit down and write out on a calendar what we'll be eating for each day of the week. I've done 2 weeks and it has saved me so much time and sanity. I love it! It makes grocery shopping easier and it makes dinner time relaxing. If you're not already practicing this lesson, try it!

Here's an example of my meal plan....

Our weekend

I was thinking that we had an uneventful weekend, but after I started looking at all the pictures that we took, I realized that just because we stayed home doesn't mean that it wasn't eventful.

Riley is starting to sit up on his own for a few brief moments before he realizes that you're not holding onto him, which then he falls head first onto the floor.

Friday night we made homemade pizzas. Caleb decided that his pizza needed a whole can of black olives and entire bag of cheese. Shawn was a bit more conservative with his pizza, but added red onions.

Here is what came of the experience. Two wonderful pizzas, but I think the verdict was unanimous...Caleb's pizza was the BEST!!

Caleb definitely thought so!

Caleb also got some packages from each grandma. Thanks! Caleb loves his Wall-E goodies. He especially liked the shoes that light up!

And he loved his Tonka goodies. He especially liked the stacking cards, which he enjoyed showing to Riley after him and I had played with them.

Last, but not least, we got a Nintendo Wii and it seems that the whole family enjoys playing. Caleb and Shawn were playing boxing and then later Shawn and I played boxing. That game could be a great marriage counseling tool!

Learning to dress

Caleb attempted to dress himself after he'd gone potty and put his underwear on backwards with his butt check hanging out. I laughed so hard I thought I was going to have to change my underwear!!

It's so cute that he's learning to dress himself. There's never a dull moment in this house!!

Life Lessons

Okay, starting today I am adding a new section to my blog called,
"Life Lessons". So lesson #1. Never wash a blue bath rug and a yellow bath rug together.

As we all know from preschool, yellow and blue make green. Yes, that's right, my yellow rug is now the nice color of a neon green, not even a nice color green, but neon.
I have been washing these rugs so often due to Caleb missing the potty that I thought I would save some time today by washing them together...the only time I've saved will be the drying time of the "use to be" yelllow rug because it is now in the trash and I have to make a run to the store to see if they have something useful for the duckie bathroom...

Labor Day Weekend

This weekend we did nothing. Really...we didn't do one exciting thing. I had all these ideas of going to Yokohoma or Mt. Fuji, but Shawn hurt his knee on Friday and wasn't up to doing much on Saturday. Sunday came and everyone just wanted to hang out at the house and then today, I couldn't get anyone motiviated to do anything. It took moving a mountain to get everyone out the door for a walk around the base. Of course, Caleb fell wearing his Wall-E shoes, while pulling his wagon and then wanted to come home. Actually, his exact words were,"Mommy, Boo Boo. Me go home". So the long weekend has come to an end now. I told Shawn that I felt guilt that I didn't do anything. I wish we would have atleast invited some people over for dinner. Shawn's answer is, when he's home he wants to spend time with the boys not people he works with 24/7. And he did just get back from a deployment on Wed. but still, I think I suffered from some cabin fever this weekend....

Caleb's wagon pulling wound

Shawn and Caleb wrestling. Caleb LOVES spending time with his daddy. Daddy is fun, mommy is boring!!

I think even Riley had fun this weekend just hanging out. He was having a blast just bouncing away in his bouncy chair. I think it might be best if Shawn and I start buckling him in. Notice in the video that he's holding on.....and I don't know if you can tell from the video, but he'd just finished eating an entire jar of carrots and I thought for sure that it was all about to come back out of him!!