Hello Spring!
Its beautiful at the ranch right now. The flowers are blooming and I actually have my garden planted. I???m hoping for at least enough veggies for salad and home made salsa. I have really enjoyed using the new growth around us to help teach my little boys about God???s creation. Spring also brings a few dangers to living in a rural area. SNAKES! I have been dreading our first snake encounter and have had a watchful eye on the boys outdoors. Saturday confirmed those fears with a 7 foot Bull snake!! Yes I said, 7 feet. Bull snakes are harmless and actually aid in keeping down the rat and squirrel population. However, I believe this snake was keeping down the small pet population as well. Daniel was able to use the snake to scare the boys and our dog so that they hopefully are on the lookout as well. We let him go, we just relocated him a little farther away.
Bearcrow
Last week I took the boys shoe shopping and Noah, of course, had a very specific shoe in mind. He wanted tennis shoes and he kept telling me that he wanted bear-crow. I had no idea what he was talking about, but I told him if he found it, I???d get him Bear-crow. He got the idea that Tanner had Bear-crow and so he of course had to have it. As we entered the store he yelled, ???Mommy see, that???s it, Bear-crow!???. And sure enough there were shoes with bear-crow (commonly known as Velcro!).
Summer clothes
Every year my kids go through this shock of changing seasons. Mostly through clothing. It starts getting warmer and they are still insisting on jackets and hats. This year Noah is struggling with short pants. It has really bothered him that his knees and shins are showing. I got him dressed the other day and he looked at me like I was crazy. Like, how could a mother send her child outdoors half-dressed! We have been battling shorts vs. pants for the last week. Thankfully it started raining and we haven???t had to discuss short sleeves and short pants again.
My little artist
Both my boys take a nap at about the same time during the day, giving me some mommy time. The other day, however, I decided to take a nap too. I must have fell into a deep sleep because I never knew that Noah had stayed awake. To my chagrin I awoke to him calling him half-way through naptime. I quickly and angrily told him to get back to bed and go to sleep! I woke up before the boys and checked on Noah. He was lying on his bed asleep, covered in permanent marker! From his feet all the way up his legs. I then walked past the bathroom and found where he had gone to wash it off and I suppose the marker took control of him again, and he wrote all over the bathroom toilet seat and sink. Later, when I ask him why he would do such a thing, he put his head in his hands and just looked at me bewildered saying, ???I just don???t know why I do these things mom, I just don???t know why???. And really, that wraps up my little Noah, in one adorable yet frustrating phrase.
8 responses to “Springtime”
Brooke,
That was absolutely adorable – I loved to hear the latest on those two cuties!!! (I especially loved the “Bear-Crow” story!) And boy do I remember the permanent marker stage, watch out for that little artist!
brooke – one bit of advice – greasy eye makeup remover… on a whim i tried my sample of lancomes dual finish and it took the permanent marker right off of seth’s skin, 🙂 feeling for you…
heidi jo
🙂
Brooke – how old is Noah? We just had a very similar marker episode in our house with our 4 year old daughter, Nora (I wrote about it and posted pictures in my blog if you’re interested). HOWEVER, she did not use PERMANENT marker!!! Oh my – I’m so sorry about the mess you’ll be cleaning up:(
Wow I just had that marker experience with my two boys 6 and now 4. except most of it went on the wood floors, doors and walls. Now the Mr clean eraser did okay on the floors but didn’t do well on the walls or door. It faided the blackness of the marker but seemed to spread it also! I hope your able to get rid of the mess better than i did for ours !
My twin boys also have a hard time with the shorts versus the long pants. My Matthew pulls and pulls so hard at those shorts trying to make them long. They don’t do too bad with the short sleeves because even in the winter here we wear short sleeves, they do have a problem with going to long sleeves though. I always thought this was part of their Autism, so it’s nice to know other kids have the same problem.
I also experienced the Sharpie Marker all over our white stair rail and his body.. My Matthew, who is 4, certainly enjoyed himself. I took a picture and tried to clean up as much as I could. Rubbing alchohol did well on His skin and a pretty good job on the stairs, but I was rubbing so hard on the stairs that the paint started coming off. We just plan on repainting it.
Just wait till they’re older the shorts/pants issue will reverse. I have a hard time getting Carlin (he’s 12) to not put on a sleveless shirt and shorts in the winter when it’s 30 degrees. and forget about Jackets – that is a whole other battle!! Aren’t Boys fun?? 🙂
Noah is three and a half. Mr. Clean eraser helped the painted wall, but my toilet seat cover was thrown away. Thankfully the marker in the sink cleaned out. oil based cleaners did the trick on his skin. What fun markers and kids are!! Good luck to all of you too!
Our Ruthie decided to decorate the entire piano keyboard with the marker! An older child supervising her awoke me with a “Guess what Ruthie Did?!” Thankfully I had learned at a teaching seminar that permanent marker comes off white boards with rubbing alcohol. We had Purell. It worked and spared my piano with just a little residue. Thank God it wasn’t the beige carpet! I’ll have to remember the trick with the skin. I have had children that just went around with their body art for a week or so!