a little treat?

norton was out of town at a conference this week. so mommy decided to relax a few of the "rules" around here. i let them all drink their milk in sippy cups on the couch in the morning. i let them eat their breakfast on the couch while they watched "dinosaur train." just a few little things like that. and i always prefaced everything with, "this is a little treat for you!"
this next part might seem a little off topic, but keep reading.
about a month ago i finally decided to buy some of those disposable wipes to use on the kids when they go number two. too many times, the kids would be getting red bottoms because they would wipe themselves and not do a good job. so the rule was, "tell mommy when you go poo-poo so i can wipe your bottom." a couple of days ago townsend was in the bathroom going number two. i tried to wait for him to finish-sometimes he's on there quite awhile-to wipe his bottom but suddenly i had to go too! so i told him that i was just going to give him the wipe and he could do it himself. he replied, "kinda like a treat for me?" maybe you had to be there. but it was funny. :)

a look into the future??

the other day the girls and i were in the family room playing. townsend walked in with a huge pile of papers and announced, " everyone, sit down. i am going to preach!" then he proceeded to shuffle the papers, (it was a stack of at least 30 pages-that's some sermon!) and told us that "God wants us to love each other."
with norton being a "preacher" and all, maybe this shouldn't have come as a surprise to me. but i don't think we ever use the term, "preacher." and townsend hasn't ever been in a service to see norton preach and use papers and such. so we don't know where this came from. but it was sure cute. marin, of course, decided she wanted to "creech" too. so she went and got a pile of papers and started "creeching." then townsend and marin started fighting about the papers and all the "love" went out the door. :)

3 or 13?

marin has gotten into a bad habit. a very bad habit.
she has started calling me "mom" and norton "dad."
i thought we had another ten years or so before this started!
i don't like it. not one bit.
marin, you are our BABY. hear me??
love, MOMMY AND DADDY

oh, the questions

the kids have recently started this little "game" with me. here's an example.
them- "what do we do tomorrow morning?"
me-"breakfast"
them- "what's after breakfast?"
me- "preschool"
them- "what's after preschool?"
me- "quiet time"
them- "what's after quiet time?"
on and on they go. you get the picture.
tonight marin asked, "where are we going tonight?"
me- "nowhere."
marin- "what's after nowhere?"
for some reason, it just cracked me up. :)

tennis shoes aren't just for your feet

marin has had a runny nose for the past couple of days. so she constantly asks for a "tennis shoe." we laugh every time. i get it, though. tennis shoe-tissue. say both real fast and it's perfectly understandable. :)

overheard tonight

i was giving ellory a bath tonight. marin had already had her bath and was in her pj's. townsend had disrobed and was waiting for his turn. i heard him ask marin, "do you want to play naked dancer?" then he proceeded to run around the house yelling, "i'm a naked dancer!" i was grateful and actually pretty surprised that marin did not join in.
now this being a family blog and all, there are no pictures posted to document the event. :)

booooring!

i guess mommy should come up with more exciting snacks, huh?

don't go breaking my....

COLLARBONE! i mean CLAVICLE! (pawpaw the MD corrected me-thank you)
the first broken bone in our family. townsend was painting at the table in late november when he stood up on the chair. he was wearing socks and suddenly slipped off and landed on his shoulder. he didn't seem to be in that much pain and he could move his arm. we gave him some tylenol and put him to bed. he woke up a couple of times during the night crying. he said he couldn't move and was in pain. the next morning i took him to the doctor. they did xrays and found that he had completely broken his collarbone. the doctor said that if you had to break a bone, the collarbone was the one to break. there was no setting it back into place. we just received a sling and were told it would heal on its own. by the next day, you wouldn't even know townsend had hurt himself. he was back to running, jumping, etc. i think that i was more anxious than he was!

marin turns 3!

dear mare-bear,
i think out of all the kids, you have changed the most over the last twelve months. everyone who met you this past year couldn't believe you were only 2 years old. i'm sure having two slightly older siblings has encouraged you to try to keep up with them. and you have done a pretty good job at it too!
some highlights of your year:
1. you pottytrained!!! a couple of months after you turned two, you decided you wanted to wear big girl panties. we were so glad.
2. you got a big girl bed! we moved ellory back into the girl's room after buying a bunkbed. i was hoping that the nice, comfy larger bed would keep you asleep longer. nope. still up by 6:15am.
3. you love to memorize God's Word and amaze us with how much you can remember. even the references!
4. you have such high energy. you talk and bounce around from the moment you get up-6:15am-until you go to bed-7pm. wh0 do you get this from? daddy and i cannot figure it out. we get tired just watching you.
5. you are sooooo compassionate. when you hear anything remotely like a cry, you are immediately concerned and trying to help whoever is upset. "there, there, it's ok!"
6. you love most foods. except carrots. and broccoli. and cheese. (unless it's spicy-then you love it.)
7. you can sit for long periods of time reading books with whomever will read to you.
8. you continue to show your balance and coordination on the skuut bike.
9. you LOVE caillou! (pbs kid's show)
10. you have started becoming more huggy and snuggly.
11. you have pretty much dropped your nap. every once in awhile you'll fall asleep but not usually. again, how can you keep going on only 11 hours of sleep a day?
12. you have a will. a strong one. mommy and daddy are tired. sometimes you win.
13. you get so excited for things. like your third birthday. i don't remember the other two talking so much about their birthdays. but you were convinced that there was going to be a big party with all your friends. we didn't have a party but we did take you roller skating and paige and taylor came with a present.
14. you say things like, " i love ellory. she's my sister." "townsend, you're my big brother."
15. your hair has grown enough now that no one asks, "what's HIS name?" anymore. :)
16. you are in the 90% for weight! and the 75% for height. i was concerned about the weight but the doctor said that with the height being what it is, he wasn't worried. and the fact that you jump around from morning till night. :)

marin, you are one of a kind. so special. we love you baby girl.

figured it out

another marin post-
marin has a blankie that she loves. it get's kinda nasty at times. i was "smart" enough to go to target and get another blankie as a backup. it's not exactly the same colors but pretty close. for whatever reason she now has both blankies in her bed. this morning she was holding both blankies on norton's lap. here is the short conversation they had.
norton: "what does this blankie smell like?" (referring to her original blankie)
marin: "something"
norton: "what does this blankie smell like?" (referring to the backup)
marin: "nothing"
there you have it folks! that is why having backup lovies will never work. :)