Benjamin and Bee

We have a new member in our family.  Ben has adopted "Bee" as his baby.  I'm still not sure if I should refer to it as a he or a she.  Bee looks more like a she to me, but I was corrected by Wyatt.  "Bee is a HE Mom!"  Ok then. 

Ben and Bee do everything together.

They eat together at every meal.

They lay together.

They dance together.

They swing together.

They get haircuts together.

And last, but not least.  (I promise you.)  They sleep together.  Ben tells Bee "Ni, Ni Bee".

Correction: Ben sleeps and Bee keeps an eye on him. 

Not gonna lie - Bee kind of creeps everybody else out though.

Daddy Daughter Dance

Oh my...  You would have thought it was prom night at our house tonight.  For the past week it's all we have heard about, it's all anybody has heard about.  When we first found out about the dance Jason decided to make it a whole night event and go out to dinner with Riley first and then the dance.  He asked her where she would like to go and she said, "McDonald's!"  Jason, "No, where else?"  Riley, "Taco Bell?"  Jason, "No Riley, a nice restaurant."  Riley, "Ahhh, I know!  Lobster Tails!"  And so it was set.  Red Lobster and then the dance. 

She got home from school today and hopped right into the bath.  Washed up.  Went downstairs and put on her Sunday best.  There were some options put out there about how to do her hair.  We wrested between dots, side dot, or side ponytail.  In the end we went with a side ponytail braided.  Then she picked out the perfect earings.  Finally a little glitter eye shaddow and some red chapstick.  She was ready for the ball. 

Before Jason had even started getting ready she was already planning her dessert.  (Nannie would be so proud.)  Then daddy got dressed in his Sunday best and they were off.  More talk of dessert was made on the car ride to the restaurant.  Then when they got to the restaurant there was (according to Riley), "two big piles of lobsters..  Not even dead..  They even still had their heads on."  Daddy and Riley enjoyed their lobster tails and for dessert chocolate chip cookie oozing yummies from the inside topped with delicious ice cream. 

The dance was great.  I received a text from Jason and it said, "I was told not to dance with her.  She wanted to play with her friends."  Followed by a crying face.  Riley did the limbo twice and then told daddy to get out of line.  She ran around with her friends skipping, laughing, and just soaking up the night.  By the time they walked in the door both had smiles across their faces from ear to ear.  A true night to remember.

No worries - It's not the stomach flu!

I went grocery shopping today while my cousin Cherise watched the kids.  I came home and saw that the empty prunes container was laying on top of the recycling bin because the bin was full.  So I changed the bag and didn't think anything of it.  Later in the evening I gave the kids a bath.  Riley took the first bath and Ben hopped in with her.  After she was done he decided to stay in and take a bath with Wyatt.  I go in to wash up Wyatt.  Just after I put the shampoo in his hair and he starts suddsing up his body Ben farts.  Only he didn't just fart, he sharted.  A brown cloud starts to form around him in the tub.  Ben just looks at it and starts saying, "Ewwww".  I pull Ben and Wyatt (with shampoo still in his hair) out of the tub.  Ben starts whining and pointing to his butt.  I yell to Riley to get me a diaper quick!  We get the diaper on him and he seems happier.  I put Wyatt's head over the tub and rinse his hair.  Wyatt actually almost jumped back in the tub to get washed off.  GROSS! 

A few minutes later you can hear the water coming from Ben's back side.  Riley starts busting out laughing so hard I thought she was going to wet herself.  This happens another time or two and were finally done.  I go to change his diaper and there is brown water flowing all over the place.  He is laying on a towel on my bed and it is flowing off the towel and onto my blankets.  The kids just think this is hysterical.  I'm yelling at them so they can hear me over their laughter to get me a poop bag.  Then I'm yelling again because one bag just wasn't enough. 

As this is happening I think back to the empty container of prunes that prompted me to change the recycling bin.  I wanted to make sure Ben didn't have the stomach flut so I text Cherise and ask, "How many prunes did Ben eat today?"  She calls me back because as soon as she read it she's thinking, "I forgot to tell her about that with my crazy afternoon with the kids."  Apparently she walked into the kitchen to find Ben's mouth so full of prunes that she wasn't sure how he was even chewing them.  Then I told her that the container was probably 1/2 full and she just starts busting out laughing.  That's some funny shit right there!

Don't worry Cherise - Someone once gave Riley the container of prunes to snack on when she was little and the same thing happened to her.  Only when it hit Riley we had just got to my in-laws house and we were sitting at the kitchen table eating dinner.

Wyatt's World

Across the street from us the neighbors have a truck topper in their front yard (classy - I know.)  Yesterday Wyatt went out to the bus, saw this, and told me that the truck sunk into their yard and they can never drive their truck again.

Then this morning we opened a new pack of hangers and one was broken.  I asked Wyatt to put it in the recycling bin and instead of doing that he got the duck tape, took it to his daddy, and asked him to fix the hanger.  Duck tape really is the first tool a guy learns to use.

Super Why

The other day I hear this loud thud that sounds like the outside door slamming shut.  Then my mom says, "Wyatt just slammed his head on the wall.".  He starts crying and I say, "Really Wyatt!  Are you kidding me?  Can't you ever just calm down?"  I take him to the kitchen and get him a wet cloth to wipe the blood where his lip is bleeding.  After everything (and one) calms down I ask him, "What were you doing?" Wyatt replies very honestly...."Running with my eyes closed."  I started laughing so hard I was crying.  Apparently he thought he didn't need his spiddy sense of sight.

The Grocery Check Out That Just Wouldn't End

Just when you thought that it couldn't get worse, it does....

So I'm living my life in quite a tired fog right now.  Things are getting forgotten, dropped, and just plain missed all over the place.  If these kids would just let me sleep life would be better.  Do you know that feeling you get when you have a head cold and take a ton of medicine?  The best way I can describe my last week is "Medicine Head".  I want to wipe the fog from my eyes and shake the clumsiness off my fingers, and I just can't. 

I go to the grocery store yesterday.  Cherise, my cousin, is here watching the kids, but Ben is real clingy to me lately so I decide to just take him with me.  No big deal, right?  Wrong.  I have to deal with him screaming and hollering all through the store because he wants me to carry him.  I don't think so!  I get through the store and find a check out line.  The lady is older, good at her job, and patient.  All these qualities are very important for my check out experiance.  So here is the list of what went wrong...

1. Forget half my coupons at home and have to take 1/4 of my food out of the cart.  I just can't get myself to spend money if I don't have to.

2. Ben dumps half the box of CheezeIt's on the ground that I opened for him while we were shopping to calm him down.
3. Check out lady has no broom for me to sweep up our mess.

4. Manager comes over with a broom and notices that my nursery water is leaking all over the floor.

5. Go to buy beer and I have no driver's license and my state ID that I do have is expired.  So now I have to put that with all the other food I can't buy.

6. Start loading up my cart and drop my carton of eggs on the ground.  Yes, they break.

7. Go to check out and forget to give her the coupons that I do have.

8. She takes them, scans them, and gives me the cash.  ...  I didn't give her all the coupons.  oops?!?!  She scans the rest and is able to give me the cash for the rest.  Her comment to me for this was, "oh girl????"   Earlier in this process she screwed something up and told me I was rubbing off on her.  Funny and True.

All threw this I had Benjamin crying and whining in my ears the whole time.  Makes a girl kind of nutty.

I got home and told Cherise, "The next time I decide it's a good idea to take Ben with me, "Just Because", remind me that this is a bad idea."  Not blaming all this on him, but he didn't make it any easier.

Evening Prayer

Tonight everyone wanted to pray at bedtime. 

Riley prayed for Auntie to feel better and her friend's hampster.

Wyatt prayed for Daddy to get home safe and good dreams.

Just when I thought we were done Mr. Ben starts grunting at me and I look over at him and he is waving his folded hands at me.  I asked him, "Do you want to pray too?"  He answers, "Ya" in his baby German accent.  Then he prays with his nuk still in his mouth, "Love you.  Amen."  He was pleased with his prayer and layed down after that to go to sleep.