I had started to mentally prepare myself for possibly having to burn a hole in the nail to drain the fluid/blood…but thankfully I don’t think we’ll have to do it. It started leaking a little fluid/blood last night so I helped it along with some gentle pressure and Owen said it didn’t hurt. It looked lots better immediately and looked even better today!
Year: 2013
TOUCHDOWN MSU!
Where’d you go?
And the original pic, which was cute, too.
MSU Kids
I didn’t even plan ahead to dress them for game day. Kind of. I went to get Katie dressed and her MSU outfit was on the top of the stack in the dresser. And it was at that point that I realized it was a game day and put Owen in his jersey as well.
This pic didn’t turn out too bad.
And these next two just make me laugh out loud. Owen gets the craziest faces when I tell him to smile.
Ahhh, that’s better.
Well, not that.
Sister can do it.
And then THE shot. Perfect.
And then outside after the farmer’s market.
My Little Super…now and then.
This is one of Owen’s personalized books. I know I have a picture of him doing the same thing from a ways back, but my searching hasn’t turned it up yet. Stay tuned.
One version of his Candyland.
“Blue’s in trouble! Super Green, Super Red, Super Yellow to the rescue!”
“Mama, Super Red is a really good runner and skater.”
And it went on and on from there for a good 10 minutes. 🙂
Mama! She’s pretending to be a superhero!
Side! Siiide!
Katie can definitely tell you when she wants to go outside. She stands at the gate, points, and says “SIDE! SIDE!” 🙂
So since it was nice today we went for a walk before going to pick Owen up from school.
Well I didn’t kill myself or blow up the car.
Katie’s nap today was my designated time to go out and attempt to get the battery charger hooked up to Tom’s car (I was going to do it yesterday but it was FREEZING).
For reference: BatteryMINDer Charger/Maintainer/Desulfater – 12V, Model# 2012
Of course I read all the instructions—and if I ignored all the DANGER! IF YOU BREATHE ON THIS THING WRONG YOUR BATTERY WILL EXPLODE AND KILL YOU! warnings, it looked pretty easy to hook up. I’ll be using the quick connect first (since I know where those ends are since we just used them to jump the car last week) and then if it’s working and the battery is actually charging, I will change in a week or so to the more permanent hard-wired connections.
And honestly, it wasn’t TOO bad. I mean, I had a few minor snafus but I expect that with everything I do—nothing can ever be dead simple (though this came close).
One of the first instructions was “Keep the charger out of the rain and snow.” Of course. There are waterproof models but I didn’t get one of those.
I thought about trying to get the car closer to the garage (hoping the cables would be long enough to set the charger inside) but no, you cannot put a hybrid car with a dead battery into neutral (thanks Google). So the car was staying where it was.
And I had to use an extension cord—which of course isn’t recommended unless you have one with the correct voltage (what?!)—so I’m assuming a typical orange heavy duty outdoor extension cord is just fine. Ugh.
And it said to hook to the positive and negative, but there is no negative. And the bolt we used during the jumping process was too far away. So I Googled and yes, any similar bolt is fine (and then I saw an identical bolt much closer so used that).
Then the moment of truth—plugging the battery in—and….??? GREEN LIGHTS! Like they’re supposed to be! And the light for the Weak Battery is on. And other lights are blinking and pulsing. YAY! I didn’t blow up me or the car! /knock on wood
And here was my solution to make it weatherproof: a Rubbermaid tub in front of the car.
HOW SOON UNTIL TOM COMES HOME?!
I think I’ve been told it could take anywhere from a few days to a week to build up enough of a charge to start it. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
New dress, new tights, new boots!
The good part about buying kids shoes ahead of time? You can get good sale prices. (It was still a crazy price for kids shoes, but they were $10 off and SOOOOO cute.)
The bad part about buying kids shoes ahead of time? You are only guessing at the sizes and by the time the season is right to wear them, they could already be outgrown.
At least these still fit, but they are a bit tighter than I’d hoped for (they are a 6.5 and I think she’s almost at the limit of her size 6s).
So, since she was wearing boots, that required tights—her FIRST tights, in fact! She didn’t think twice about them and didn’t try to remove them at all! And then it was picking a dress which she might not fit in when it gets to be warm again—a size 18m. But first, we tried shoes because I thought I might be able to exchange the boots for a bigger size (at Amazon) but they are out of stock.
When Owen saw her, he said “Katie! You are so adorable!” 🙂
What happened with Owen tonight you might be asking.
So he asked to watch TV and I said no (Why? Why mama why?) and I asked him if he remembered what happened last night and he said yes, he was being snotty. And then he decided ON HIS OWN to put away toys! I said I liked that decision and would help him once he got started. It lasted about three minutes before his attention was elsewhere. But I was fine because he was playing with Katie and I hadn’t asked him to do it.
Fast forward about an hour and there was a toy he wanted to play with but it required floor space so I said we needed to pick up first. I only had to remind (prompt) him twice and it was done. EASY PEASY!
Color me flabbergasted. And happy.
So he got to play with his toy. And then later he asked to watch a show so I said yes. And we had a talk at bedtime about how I was very proud of him and he made me very happy tonight (as opposed to last night) and he seemed excited. I hope it continues.
PLEASE let it continue.
Toe Update
He says it hurts less…but wow does it look awful.
Channeling Owen
I gave her yogurt today and the first thing she did was dunk her string cheese in it.
And then her fingers…
Pirate Cracker
Owen: Mama I want to go to the pirate cracker.
Me: The what?
Owen: The pirate cracker.
Me: I have no idea what that is.
Owen: We went the other day. The pirate cracker.
It hits me.
Me: Oh! The chiropractor.
Owen: Yes! The pirate cracker!
Me: Chiro–
Owen: Chiro–
Me: Practor.
Owen: Practor.
Me: Chiropractor.
Owen: Pirate cracker.
What’s happened to my good little boy?
I feel like over the past few days I am suddenly spiraling out of control with Owen. There’s a lot of stubbornness and snottiness on his part and a lot of ensuing frustration and yelling on my part. Maybe he’s just becoming a normal 4-almost-5-year-old but he’s really been so good overall thus far that anything out of the ordinary really throws me. And he is definitely acting out of the ordinary. I almost feel like I’m at the end of my rope with this issue…and it’s only been a few days.
You know he’s always been VERY good about doing his chores (helping with Maggie, picking up toys, clearing the table) but lately he just flat out refuses to help pick up toys at bedtime (yes, I said help, because I do it with him). He starts playing with every toy, he starts playing with Katie, he whines that Katie is stepping on him or otherwise in his way, he suddenly can’t figure out how to put the boxes together, he whines at every step, and then he always says some variation of “I am NOT going to pick up toys…I don’t wanna.”
He knows talking back and being grouchy will lose him TV privileges (his favorite thing) but he continues to do it. He knows he won’t get his chore badge (which with enough missing badges he loses his weekly reward toy). He knows he will have to go to bed early and won’t get a bedtime story (which I reiterate every night—I remind him of it all EVERY night). It doesn’t matter. Tonight I even broke down and played the “I might have to talk to Santa card” which kind of got his attention and he said he didn’t want me to talk to Santa so I told him I’d give him one more chance… But every night he promises he’ll be a good boy the next night…and it doesn’t happen. I gave him a “last chance” while he was brushing his teeth, telling him he could stay up to his regular bedtime if he went back downstairs and picked up the toys and he interrupted me to tell me he’d just go to bed.
Of course, after having first been calm and patient for 15-30 minutes with all the repeated warnings and waiting for him to pick up toys on his own…and then with him being grouchy to me…I end up getting frustrated and yelling. It just sucks because he’s GREAT from the time he gets home through dinner…but the last 30 minutes make me want to throttle him.
We don’t have enough time to put toys away in the morning. We could try to put them away earlier in the day, but it’s hard because Katie just pulls them all out again anyway. I guess it’s possible he’s acting out against Tom being gone, but why now? Why the last few days?
I want to stop yelling. I don’t want to be frustrated. I want my good little boy back.
This sucks.
Fun shopping with mom
I was worried about keeping her busy while I looked at winter costs for Owen, but luckily the toys were right behind us. She had a ball!
I didn’t find a coat so after we picked up Owen we went to Kohls. This is a blurry pic but Katie loved riding in the cart.
And EVERYONE at Kohls loved her pig tails and commented how cute they were. And of course she was saying HI and BYE to everyone. 🙂
And once we got home…Owen in his new coat (a size 8)! He loves it and wanted to wear it out to play immediately. 🙂
Cute in pink and brown
Why? Why? Why?
Owen: Mama, what does that sign say?
Me: Season’s Greetings, City of Jacksonville.
Owen: Why?
Me: Because that’s what it says.
Owen: Why? Why mama why?
Me: I need to go out at the light.
Owen: What does that mean?
Me: It means I need to exit the parking lot at the traffic light so it’s easier to take our turn.
Owen: Why?
Me: So we don’t have to wait as long.
Owen: Why? Why mama why?
Me: Owen, you need to pick up some toys.
Owen: Why?
Me: Because I asked you to and it’s one of your chores.
Owen: Why?
Me: You need to get dressed for school.
Owen: Why?
Me: Because you have to go to school today.
Owen: Why?
Me: Because it’s a school day.
Owen: Why?
Me: Owen, it’s time to pick up toys.
Owen: Why?
Me: Because it’s one of your chores.
Owen: Why?
Me: Owen, please drink your juice.
Owen: Why? Why mama why?
Me: Owen, you need to put your shoes on.
Owen: Why?
Me: Because you want to go outside.
Owen: Why?
Me: I don’t know, why do you want to go outside?
Me: Owen, you need a jacket.
Owen: Why?
Me: It’s chilly out.
Owen: Why? Why mama why?
Owen: There’s no wind no rain no storm?
Me: No.
Owen: Why?
Katie at Play
Snow? Snow! Snow.
I swear it was snowing last night before bed but it couldn’t have been because it was still like 38 degrees…but it really looked like it. This morning, I woke up to this:
Owen was VERY exited! When I got out of the shower at 6:50, he already had one flip flop on because he wanted to go outside to play! So we got him dressed quickly, put tennis shoes on, and off he went! “Mama! I love snow!” He’s obviously not my kid.
Just a little windy.
I love going out to the deck to put away the plastic chairs blowing around in the wind…only to discover the 14′ patio umbrella half out of the table and the heavy wrought iron table is what we heard moving around. EEK! Of course I couldn’t leave it like I found it (I should have taken a picture) so I had to finagle the stupid thing (which weighs a ton) and I think I threw my back out getting the umbrella safely removed. Fun!
More photo booth fun!
Fish Feeding Frenzy
They love goldfish! And they were even feeding each other!
Snack time! More!
Owen was having a cheese stick so she wanted one. Maggie isn’t looking at her because Owen also has a cheese stick plus the crinkly wrapper.
She definitely knows the sign for “more.”
Little ragamuffin
I let her pigtail be completely askew after her nap and it just kept getting worse and worse. 🙂
Right to the mulch, as usual.
Morning Katie
Photo booth!
One of Owen’s books has photo booth strips on the back cover and tonight we talked about what that was. I have an app for that, so he got to see how they were taken!
Mom, I’m Indiana Jones.
Katie making faces
She does this frequently. Some of it is her mimicking what I’m doing, but not every time.
Another surprise mystery trip!
Much closer to home this time—the elementary school just down the road. 🙂
Katie’s first slides! I missed her very first one but she kept coming back (though not one right after the other). A few times I thought she’d go down frontward but always flipped over.
She also really liked swinging with me. She’d say “Wheee!” And would swing back and forth a few times then want down. She’d wander off then come back and put her arms up. 🙂
On the way home.
Owen: Mom, that was AWESOME! Thank you so much for taking me to the playground!
🙂