Grandma's Know Everything

This week marks the first week that Ashley has started to sing lullabys with me. Every single nap, and nighttime I'll sing "I Am a Child of God" to her and Monday she started singing along with me. Mostly only getting the last words of phrases, but it was so sweet-it made me half sad to know she's getting that old! She also started saying "I love you" back when we tuck her in at night. Normally we would pat her back and say, "Love you" and she wouldn't respond. But this week she's responding and singing. It's so cute seeing the difference between raising a boy vs a girl. Ash loves to dance and when the radio plays and I'm singing, she always starts to dance and try to sing along too. I love it!

This week there have been many times when I knew what Austin was up to (getting out of bed because I heard him jump out or filling the sink with water....) but I would always surprise him when he got in trouble. He would ask, "How did you know I was out of my bed?" And I responded with, "Mommy's know everything." And he has been retorting with, "You're too young. Only Grandma's know everything!" Very well said.

This week Duane and I were able to attend the LDS Temple together. It was wonderful going back (its been too long since we've been last). But I almost gave Duane a heart attack as we're getting ready to go, we were going through different kids classes/workshops being offered at the local Rec center (Freedom Center) and Austin really wanted to take a cooking class. He didn't want T-ball like Duane wanted him to join. Nor did he want any sport for that matter. Austin just wanted the tot cooking class. Duane told him no and then Austin went on to put my bra on his head. That sent Duane over the edge. I explained that Austin's masculinity will not be determined at 4 because of a cooking class or the fact that he's touched a bra. Needless to say, the temple calmed him down. Duane got Austin really excited about taking Tae-Kwon Do instead of cooking. Kih-Yah!

Tonight we went to the County Fair with some of our buddies and we had a ball. Corndogs, cotton candy, funnel cakes, fried oreo's and cheap fair rides. It's always something fun to go to once a year, but then you're glad that its only once a year.
The kids got their pictures taken this week and it was so fun. They both love to ham it up in front of a camera.

We leave on Monday to drive to Charleston and leave Tuesday for HAWAII!!! We're glad the tropical storm has left.....yikes!
Aloha!
Angie

Oh Snap

"How does that feel!?!?" was the question I heard from Austin. The kids and I were wrestling around the floor when I felt a sudden sharp snap. Only to realize Austin had grabbed the back of my bra and slung it back as if he were Davey fighting Goliath with his slingshot and snapped me. It hurt but I had to start laughing which just added fuel to his fire. The joys of having a boy. He also gets into Ash's dress up clothes and makes a mockery of them when he puts them on his head and dances around Ashley. She's screaming frantically but again, the crying adds fun and then the teasing game becomes ultra-exciting. This week at the Kids World (the nursery at my gym) Austin brought a little backpack which I thought was full of little toys. The leader told me that he couldn't bring in cologne anymore. I guess Austin had found one of daddy's colognes and stuck it in his backpack. Austin had sprayed everything and almost every child with Daddy's Dolce Gabanna. I then talked to him about why we don't do that (allergies, invades privacy, etc) and Austin apologized to the nursery leader the next day and told her, "I promise I won't bring in the manly alcohol anymore. Sorry."

Ashley has "graduated" out of her high chair this week! (She's really not big enough but she thinks she is....probably only because Austin isn't in a high-chair, she doesn't like being put into hers.) But every time I lift her up to her spot at the table now, she just smiles in pure joy!

Austin tried on one of Duane's suit jackets and looked like a wizard. He also painted a picture and painted his name on it because he saw his buddy Cameron had written his name on artwork. A little friendly competition is always healthy!

It's becoming more and more evident that Ashley is Daddy's little princess. Ash will ask for everything and Daddy is there to give it to her. She'll even throw something on the ground and scream, "Daddy!" just to see if he'll retrieve it for her. And guess what? He does. I told him we're creating a complete monster by letting her act like this and giving in to her every whim. But Duane just says, "She's my baby." Wrapped around her little finger....
A bit of exciting news for us....we're going to HAWAII!!! August 20-28. We're so excited! Dropping the kids off in Charleston with their grandparents and we're staying at the Hilton in Oahu. This year was our 7 year anniversary and this will be the first time together without the kids! T minus 8 days in counting!!!!
We ran 10 miles yesterday for our training. The weather was SO nice outside! It wasn't unbearably hot like it has been. Very enjoyable! Only 8 more weeks till the half marathon!
Enjoy the mid-August dog days of summer! (It won't last much longer...school starts right around the corner....)
Angie

Mine Too!

This week marks about the month mark that everything Austin has, Ashley HAS to have as well. If not, then a LOUD scream fills the car, home, church, grocery store, etc. It doesn't even matter what the object is, as long as it's in Austin's hands, Ashley needs it. So poor Austin is always being told to share. Giving Ash whatever prized posession he brings along with him. So now its double everything. Happy meal toys, drinks, treats. There must be two identical objects, or someone's not happy.


Ashley loves her pacifier "binki" but she calls it her "baby". But she'll throw it whenever she gets upset. But then she'll call out "BABY!" And immediately need it. I find that consistency is a great parenting discipline technique but I fail miserably when she throws her binki and I say, "Bye bye binki" and don't give it back to her. But then after 10 minutes of screaming at different locations I find myself frantically searching all over the car/cart, etc for the blasted binki! Just put it in her mouth!
Duane came back from Egypt this week and he said it as so hot there. Like 120 degrees hot. I saw him on the Today show with Condi! The day we were picking him up from the airport Austin wanted to surprise daddy and make cupcakes and put candles in them. Whenever there's a celebration, Austin believes there must be candles. He'll be our little pyromaniac!

Coming home from the gym one day this week, Austin told me he loved the Kids Club there. He said he meets lots of nice friends. Then he asked if he could go to a spend-the-night party. I told him he's a little too young to go to another little boys house to spend the night. He then told me, "Mom, it's not a boy. It's a girl. I've already spent the night at a boys house. It's now a girls turn."

Happy August!
Angie