It happened again.

Its been like 8 years since this exact exchange took place, but it happened again.  Brandon and I were leaving the basketball game the other night and Brandon, the friendly guy that he is, was talking to the couple waiting to cross the street with us.  The woman lit a cigarette with a lighter that had an LED light on the end.  The light projected an image of Santa.  Brandon commented that it was cool and the woman asked me if I wanted to see a Santa on my daddy's shirt.  I really wasn't paying any attention anyway and I totally missed that she was talking to me so she asked me again.  Finally her husband or boyfriend or whomever kind of nudged her and she said 'oh I mean your husband or your boyfriend'.  I just laughed and she said 'sorry- your short!'.  Like it was my fault she made the mistake.  Seriously, the things people go ahead and say out loud just kill me sometimes. 

Oh and also- the woman either aged BADLY or her companion was at least 10 years younger than her.  Jusy saying... 

Now they're friends!

I don't know if they've given up or if they are the most laid back cats in the world but they both let Peyton carry them around and chase them last night.  I was sure they would hide under a bed or something but they never did.  You can see he wore them out, though.

Yes, Christmas is here.

(If you read these via email, you'll probably have to look at the blog to get the full effect.  I don't think the formatting will come through.   http://www.ourandersonupdate.blogspot.com/)

1.  Vow not to 'skip Christmas' this year.  Check.

2.  Cheerfully put up Christmas decorations.  Check.

3.  Kid is happy.  Check.

4.  Forget about son's school Christmas party and sending drinks.  Check.

5.  Husband begrudgingly saves the day.  Check.

6.  Buy Christmas gift for son's teacher, send it to school, forget the card.  Check. 

7.  Put pretty packages under the tree.  Recieve gifts from family members afar, put sealed cardboard mailing boxes under tree.  Check.

8.  Go Christmas shopping.  Purchase gifts one at a time the night before I will see the recipient.  Check. 

9.  Dress up the blog for Christmas.  Check.

10.  Watch Merry Madagascar for the 259th time.  Check.

11.  Teach son to make noodles for the first time.  Check. 

12.  Change Pandora station to Christmas music.   Relearn the words to Christmas songs from son.  Check.

Uh oh!

I fear for the spring.  I THINK this will pass but, if you remember...

I wanted to grow tomatoes and peppers in pots in my front yard.  I now have a 15' x 4' garden in my backyard. 

I said I wanted a pool for Peyton to cool off in during the hot days of summer.  I have a 15' pool that our WHOLE local family enjoys. 

I mentioned that it sure would be nice to have a deck or something by the pool so we could get in and out easier.  I have a beautiful deck by the pool. 

Saturday night Brandon and I were watching BIG and I mentioned that I always wanted a big trampoline like the one they have in the movie.  He actually said, "Well, I'd get you one but I don't know where we'd put it."  I swear, I heard the gears begin to turn in his head.  I told him that we certainly did not have room for a trampoline and it probably wouldn't be responsible to have one anyway.  (I had a knack for injuring myself on several friends' trampolines.)  But seriously, I think I woke the beast. 

I did give him credit, though.  I told him I thought he'd put it on the roof if he thought I really wanted it.  He agreed. 

The bonding has begun!

It's true.  The employees have become pets.  I'm not happy about it.  Well, maybe a little.

 



Here THEY are!

Yes, they.  We have not one but two cats now.  Really, though, I challenge anyone to go to the animal shelter and NOT bring home as many animals as you can.  I count myself lucky that I don't have a dog.  When we couldn't decide which cat to get, Brandon thought we should go look at the dogs while we thought about the cats.  Really?  I'm SO lucky they keep the puppies in another room. 

Brandon was supposed to pick out a cat (any cat) and bring it home from work yesterday.  But after about 30 minutes in the shelter he called me and said he needed me to come help decide.  I really wanted to make fun of him but I didn't.  So once I got there, he explained that we needed to meet all of the cats so that we were sure we got the right cat.  It had to be a cat that would put up with Peyton's playing and also be a good hunter.  I conceded that he had a point and went to meet the cats.  All 186 of them.  We narrowed it down to these two and decided we would get the cheaper of the two.  They were both free.  So when I picked the black and white cat brandon said 'lets just get them both'.  So we took our cardboard cat carriers and shook our heads all the way down the concrete hallway to save our cats.  My cat (the black and white one named, Bella) got right in the carrier.  No protesting, just plopped right in there.  By the time I had my carrier closed, I looked at Brandon and saw that he had his hands above his head and the cat was headed down the back of his shirt.  We were in separate glassed rooms so I couldn't hear how this all went down but I'm pretty sure that somehow the cat climbed up the front of brandon, over his head and down his back.  I almost fell over I was laughing so hard. 

Finally we got the cats into our cars and drove them home.  Ryan had picked up Peyton and he was waiting for us with his face plastered to the glass when we arrived.  He was SO excited to meet the cats.  That lasted about three minutes, though.  The second they sniffed Peyton's toys, the novelty had worn off and Peyton went after them to save his toys.  There were lots of shouts of 'My Toys!' and "Get Out Of There!".  It was pretty funny but eventually Peyton decided that he could share his toys with the cats.  Peyton and the cats are not best friends yet but Peyton DID ask if they could sleep with him in the tent.  I think there's hope for them yet.  (they did NOT sleep in his room)

Bella (the name the shelter gave her but I think it fits, I'll probably keep it)

She is very sweet and could probably live the rest of her days being held.  She might not make the best hunter but she sure makes me happy.   I always wanted to carry Joey around when he was a puppy and now I can carry this one around if I want!   She plays with the other cat well, though, so I really have no doubts about her hunting.

Brandon named his cat Pistol, as in Pistol Pete, but I like Pete better.  I think I'll call him Pete. 

He is very sweet too.  He's not as cuddly as Bella but he likes to be held, too.  He just always wants to see what's going on more than cuddling. 

I couldn't get a picture of Pete without my underwear in it as well so I'll have to put up another picture later.  I think I need to clean up my bedroom....

We all had our caves this weekend

It has been too cold to play outside

and I've grown tired of the dump-all-the-toys-in-the-floor-and-leave-them-game. 

So I pulled out the tent.  Peyton and his imaginary monster friend played in the tent all afternoon. 

The monster doesn't have a name.  Its just 'Monster'.  He is friendly- but he bites.  He is brown.  He likes to eat tickets from Incredible pizza.  (The proper way to feed him is to throw the tickets at him so he doesnt bite you)  He is small enough to be carried in two hands and he fits inside a Capri Sun box.  If you put your hand inside the box, he might bite you.  He will follow a trail of tickets if you want him to follow you to a different room.  He likes to read books.  He likes to camp. 

The monster was sleeping right there by Peyton's head.  Did you see him?  I didn't. 

(I saw Woody but Woody isn't a monster.  I asked.)  And, yes, Peyton really is sleeping. 

 And here is my cave.  While Peyton and the monster played in the tent on Saturday I cleaned out the office.  (Mom, can you believe it??)  I'm having a tiny little panic attack right now thinking about the things I took to Goodwill this weekend but I'm thrilled with the usable office space.  I didn't take a picture of it but there is actually a wide open space in the middle of the floor where you can... walk around.  I managed to fit our food storage, my 'closet' and the drying rack in there, too.  I didn't fit the ironing board in there but I might still figure that out. 



And, of course, Brandon's cave was the garage. 

The 68th Day

For 68 days our house has been animal-free.  Well, pet-free.  It turns out our attic is full of mice.  Or maybe its just one big mouse.  It lives with the anaconda up there.  (And the guys wonder why I have to harness my chi everytime I go up there.)  Saturday night Brandon and I were watching a movie in the garage when we heard something walking around in the attic.  Did you get that?  We HEARD something WALKING AROUND up there.  We looked at the ceiling then looked at each other and immediately decided to get a cat.  Later I remembered why we didn't have a cat in the first place.  We had dogs that DID NOT tolerate a cat in the house and we didn't have a suitable place for a cat to live outside.  Well, those reasons no longer stand up.  I DO NOT want another furry animal in my house but, apparently even more, I do not want mice (or snakes) inside my house, either. 

We decided to go to the shelter the next day but Sunday proved to be too busy and Brandon practically passes the shelter on the way home from work so he said he would bring one home on Monday.  I gave him the following qualifications:

1.  Young-ish (needs to be up to the challenge)
2.  Short-haired
3.  At the shelter for the longest period of time
4.  Black (that was Peyton's choice)

So while there is a list of things I am NOT looking forward to today, I am ecstatic at the thought of a feline employee. 

(Don't you love how I made you read through my thought process just to say 'we're getting a cat'?)  :)

Day 1 in Chicago

Warning:  If you were not part of the Anderson Trip to Chicago, you will probably find these pictures slightly boring.  Or maybe a lot boring. 

This is Chicago downtown traffic at 3:30 on a Tuesday afternoon.

This is Chicago downtown traffic at 4:30 on Tuesday afternoon. 

Notice the skyline.  It has only moved fractionally closer.  Alan DID try to warn us.  

Day 1 in Chicago started happily cold.  See?  Smiles and pink noses. 

The famous Cloud Gate.   

If you look really closely, you can see Brandon and Peyton watching the ice skaters

in the middle of the picture a little to the right. 

Buckingham Fountain.  In the cold.  Notice all the people!? 

All of the people who skipped Buckingham Fountain knew that there was sleet coming.  (and also that it was late November in Chicago).  We didn't.  When the sleet started to hurt our faces our little family took shelter under the counter of a closed concession stand and waited out the weather.  Brandon even gave Peyton his coat.  What a good dad!

The Field Museum was awesome! 

Brandon and I particularly enjoyed the 'largest collection of mummies'. 

Peyton loved the 'largest collection of complete dinosaur skeletons.'

This was a robotic dinosaur exhibit that Peyton specifically wanted to see. 

About 3 minutes into it he said 'lets get out of here'! 

I guess thats what we get for taking tourism advice from a 3 year old. 

The exhibit actually was cool, though.  The dinosaurs could 'see' you and would react to you.  See the screen to the right of the dinosaur's head?  You can see what they see.  I understood why Peyton was scared of them, though.  It was just a little too "Jurassic Park" for a preschooler.

--

And that ends my Chicago pictures.  Really.  Brandon and I went out all but one day and explored the town but it was too cold for me to take my hands out of my gloves and take pictures.  We will just have to go back in the summer!  The inside things were very fun too, though.  Did I mention that we were actually visiting family there??  We got to meet baby Grace and see her parents and grandparents.  Peyton was a little disappointed that she didn't play with him but his Mae Mae and Pawpaw wore him out.  Its good to have family in Chicago!

Monday Countdown

I'm shamelessly copying this from my sister-in-law, Sara (The Sara Adventure), who got this from her friend Jennifer (This is Who I Am), who got it from her friend Candice (Bookish Penguin). I wanted to write but had nothing in particular to write about except a singularly disgusting car ride across town with my boys on Friday. So I found this and thought it would serve as a better blog post. (That's not true. I have a little shame. I did ask permission.)


Five Things I'm Grateful For

1. My family, big & small
2. A good job
3. My comfortable life
4. Bedtime stories with Peyton
5. A heater in the garage

Four Things I Can't Stop Thinking About

1. Peyton's sheer joy in discovering Christmas for the third time
2. The mouse I found in my beloved BBOP (Big Bag of Popcorn)
3. Winter break is almost here!!
4. I have to go to the grocery store again.

Three Things I Want To Accomplish This Week

1. Finish cleaning the car seats
2. Figure out what to get Brandon for his birthday (and Christmas, while I'm at it)
3. Resume my pre-Thanksgiving gym-going routine

Two Things I Am Working To Be Positive About

1. Cleaning out the office
2. Not spending Christmastime with ALL of my family
One Random Thing

1. Childproof locks on car doors are not always your friend

For the record, I also have a comfortable sweatshirt.

The mouse is back.  Or, most likely, a family member of the original mouse is back.  I don't care to believe that the mouse I disposed of in the trashcan while still breathing is, in fact, back inside my house. 

Either way, I found a mouse inside my beloved BBOP.  The big bag of popcorn.  I loved that thing.  You know how people have a pair of comfortable slippers or an old, soft sweatshirt?  That bag was my comfortable thing.  I loved that it was always there!  The other night was the kind of night for a nice bowl of popcorn.  My canister in the kitchen was empty so I took it to make a withdrawal from the BBOP.  When I unfurled the top of the bag I thought I heard a little extra crunching noise.  I wasn't sure so I just left it for a minute before sticking my hand inside.  Then, just for good measure, I whacked the side with Peyton's golf club.  (not hard enough to break the bag but hard enough to scare something that might be inside).  Sure enough, I heard the scratching of disgusting little mouse feet and saw its little head pop up.  Not wanting it to escape as long as it was contained, I speed-dialed brandon to come inside (from the garage) and dispose of the thing.  I would have done it myself except I can't lift the bag.  (That's an excuse.  I can't lift the bag but I also seriously doubt that I would have picked the thing up knowing the mouse could possibly chew his way out while the bag was clutched to my body.)

So finally Brandon arrives to save the day and I'm standing guard at the doorway wielding a golf club and shouting 'no!' every time the thing jumped up (it made me feel better).  Brandon looked briefly amused (and I kind of see why...) but went over to close the top & remove the offending mouse.  No sooner did I say, "careful, I think he'll be able to get out soon", did the evil little thing jump out and haul across the floor.  Bah!  So close!! 

So now my bag of popcorn is gone and I have a mouse loose in my house.  Traps are set but I plan to get poison tonight.   His relative never fell for the traps.  I actually caught the other one in the kitchen by scooping him into an empty baby wipe containter with Peyton's golf club.  I'm SOO glad Peyton likes to golf!

Peyton attended a friend's birthday party for the first time this weekend.  It was a brave new world for both of us!  In case you didn't know... I'm not a GIANT fan of attending parties.  Oh yes, I'll plan the biggest, baddest blow out you've ever seen but I really want no part in the festivities.  I fully realize I'm much too much of a control freak for that!  But when Peyton recieved an adorable Curious George birthday party invitation, I knew the jig was up.  My time had come.  I chose to focus on Peyton's excitement, though.  The birthday party was for Hannah, a girl in his class at school.  Truthfully, I"ve never heard him mention her name before last week (when he got the invite) but that's not important.  Everyday Peyton asked me if we were going to Hannah's Boi-Dae Pahty.  He was SOO excited!!  And I was excited for him. 

So Saturday morning we loaded up and headed to Target to purchase Hannah's new puzzle.  (yes, I actually put off buying the present until 2 hours before the party)  Peyton REALLY wanted to get a Thomas the Tank Engine puzzle but I directed him to fish.  Fish seemed safe.  (How do I know if Hannah likes Thomas?)  When I gave him the choice of a princess gift bag or a birthday cake bag he kind of looked at me like 'what kind of question is that?' look and said 'boi-dae cake'.  (I mean, come on, mom... we're going to a birthday party...) 

The party looked super fun when we arrived!  There was a bounce house, loads of balloons littering the floor (for kicking and throwing, of course) a coloring station and Curious George decorations everywhere.  Peyton had a blast until we heard the first 'boom'.  The party was in a church gym (good thinking for Hannah's mom).  But after lots of playing, the balloons had worn thin and began to pop.  Peyton recently developed a debilitating fear of loud noises, particularly popping balloons.  Have you heard a balloon pop in a basically empty gym?  Its LOUD.  Here's the scene from 1:45 to 2:15:   Peyton is playing on the floor or in the bounce house or coloring happily.  A balloon pops.  Peyton looks around frantically.  He locates me in the room, makes eye contact and breaks down, sobbing and shaking.  I go over, hold him for a few minutes and calm him down.  We find something else to do and he is distracted.  5 minutes later:  repeat the whole thing. 

Poor Peyton's nerves were so shot he didnt even want his cupcake.  (one of his most favorite things)  By 3:00, though, he had eaten a cupcake, downed some apple juice and watched Hannah open her presents.  We were satisfied with our first birthday party experience and went home to tell Daddy about it.  Its funny how a three year old remembers things.  When Brandon asked him about the party he told him about the bouncy house and cupcakes and presents.  Never a mention of awful balloons!

5 Seconds of Guilt-Free Me

So I'm sitting here eating Brandon's leftover chimichanga for lunch and truly wasting my lunch break reading online drivel and loving every minute when I happened upon this article.  All I'm going to say is I unabashedly LOVE LOVE LOVE it.  Yep, its just a mom who sounds tired and frustrated and possibly sitting across the room from some single or childless person at work as she writes it.  And I love it!  I love it because someone else wrote it and I don't have to feel guilty about writing it myself.  Though I've seriously had this exact same train of thought.  Read it if you want but the picture really says it all. 

http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/parenting/supermom-is-super-tired-2399986/


Also- I found this article as I was reading another article about how terrible it is for parents to let kids play on iPhones. Yep. That sounds about right. And nope, I don't feel guilty in the least for doing it! 

(I sound all "I do what I want" right now but wait just a second, it will pass.)

The Mouse Trap vs. The Neurologist

First we had snakes.  Then the rabbit showed up.  I think both are still around but my latest nemesis is a 2" gray mouse.  A smart gray mouse.  I've seen him everyday for about a week now and he scares me everytime.  I've seen him run up under the dishwasher, behind the oven, behind the trashcan and even jump (or maybe fall) from the top shelf in the front closet.  The thing is, he isn't leaving much of a trail and Brandon has never seen him.  I would expect to find droppings and chewed up containers but we have none of that.  Well, I have found a few droppings.  Even as Brandon was setting the traps, he looked at me like I was crazy.  I kind of get it.  He said he believed that we had A mouse but the way I talked about it sounded like an infestation.  Usually when you SEE a mouse, you have a lot more than one and there are signs of an infestation everywhere.  Again, I get it, BUT...  So Brandon indulged his crazy wife and we put down mouse traps in as many places as we could and we waited. 

Two days later I'm still waiting and I'm still terrorized by this genious mouse.  Everyday he makes a run for it in a new place and scares me anew.  And everyday he isn't ensnared Brandon wonders a little more if he should find a notable neurologist.  I'm beginning to agree...

In the words of Paul Harvey:

If you read the last post, you know that we lost Atlas and Joey last weekend.  Here's the rest of the story:

The next morning we let the dogs out for their morning potty break and let them snooze in the cool sunshine while Lynn, Chaney, Mom and I got ready to leave for Amarillo. Or so we thought. Later in the morning we noticed that we hadn't seen them in a while and, sure enough, they had escaped through a newly created hole in the fence.

Mom and I searched everywhere we could imagine and couldn't find them before we left town. Brandon searched more that afternoon and had no luck. Finally, Monday morning we found Atlas at the shelter and someone had already put a deposit on him to adopt him if no one claimed him.

If someone had asked us if they could have Atlas, we would have given him away months ago. We love our dogs but our family has outgrown them.  They would really be happier with someone who wants to include them in their family. So when we found out that someone else really wanted Atlas, we decided to let the adoption continue. We believe he will be much happier the rest of his life. It was a more difficult decision than I might have expected but we feel like it was the right decision.

We still don't know about Joey. To our knowledge, he is not at the shelter and we have had no calls. We will continue to check the shelter periodically but we don't expect to know what happened to him.

The day that we decided to part with our dogs for good, we had a mini-feast and felt sad for one evening. The next day I began plans for renovating the backyard for human use and moved the patio furniture to the deck near the back door. (So that we can, you know, use it!)  We have absolutely loved our time with the dogs but we are excited to start the next chapter of our family's life. 

Time for an update

Its been a while since I did my blog thing and several times lately I've thought, 'That would be a good story for the blog".  So I guess I better get to it. 

This has been a weird october.  Well... weird, yes.  But full is more like it.  All in one week I have been surprised that October is already half over and thought 'when will this month be over??'.  So let's recap:

September was full of birthday parties and family visits and it was all wonderful.  I really did enjoy every minute. 

Then last Tuesday Brandon went in to have his eyes checked for a new contact prescription and found out he had an ulcer on his eye.  It sounds as bad as it is.  He was devastated that he had to wear glasses indefinitely.  The glasses made him sick and the eye was uncomfortable to put it mildly.  Currently the ulcer is healing and contacts have been ordered but he will have to try several (probably) to get the right contacts for his eyes.  He has adjusted to glasses and life is better. 

The following Friday Mom, Aunt Lynn, Chaney, Peyton and I all went to Amarillo for Gamy's 80th birthday party.  But before we left town, Atlas and Joey got out of the yard and could not be found.  (More on that story in another post).

Gamy's birthday party was great.  She had lots of friends and family there and, I think, she really enjoyed it.  It was fun to have so much family there at once.  Saturday evening the kids were playing in Ginny and Tony's living room and I felt a weird sense of transition watching another generation pass through that house. 

Peyton and I came home Sunday night and hit the ground running.  Monday morning came quickly and it was back to life as usual.  This morning I was enjoying a 'lazy' morning at work without deadlines when I heard what sounded like the wind just before a tornado comes by.  Then the building shook a little and I thought something must have crashed outside.  (That happens pretty often outside the maintenance department)  Then I realized it was too loud and the building shook too much for a crash and I thought there was an explosion (like a bomb).  Then (as the building continued to shake), I realized that we were having an earthquake and ran to the nearest doorway.  It was a 5.1 mag earthquake and I would prefer not to experience a stronger one! 

And now I am enjoying a fantastic fall afternoon.  The kind we get only a few times a year here.  I had roasted pepper & gouda soup for lunch and am enjoying a cup of starbucks coffee with hazelnut creamer.  And this evening there is a strong possibility of dinner on the deck.  At least right now, I'm okay with a few more weeks of October!

New Family Photo

Kristine's friend, Brynna, came to town to take pictures of Joe & Kristine and we had a new family photo taken.  I haven't seen most of them but this one turned out pretty well, I think.  I can't wait to see the rest!!

Some days he looks SO grown up!

Please disregard the wet area on his shirt and jeans. 

He assured me it wasn't pee pee.  And I'm pretty sure it really was milk. 

He was SO proud of his hat!

Love the facial expressions!

This is his 'digger' by the way.  (hoe)

Playground Politics

I knew that having a baby changes everything.  Clearly.  I mean, I've seen the shampoo commercials.  But Johnson & Johnson didn't prepare me for the playground.  Actually, I didn't know that I NEEDED to be prepared for the playground.  It all seemed so straightforward.  Slides, swings, kids.  No problem.  But there's more.  There is a whole playground dynamic outside the wooden boundary.  Its with the parents. 

I was sitting at a Chick Fil A playground watching Peyton play with five other kids of varying ages when I realized that I felt strangely self conscious.  All of a sudden questions like, "should I stop him from following that girl around?" (it might creep ME out) and "do I seem like a bad parent for not helping my kid when he yells for me to help him up the stairs?"  (our playground 'deal' is- if you can't get there on your own, you can't go)  were popping into my otherwise confident (ha!) mind. 

And it's not that anyone seemed to be judging.  In fact the other parents were perfectly friendly to me and Peyton.  But the dynamic is weird.  Especially when it's my kid following the girl around.  Really, he was just trying to play with her and she wasn't having it.  (they start young)  But, to my relief, another child showed up who was screaming.  I mean, SCREAMING.  All.  The.  Time.  At the top of her lungs.  She climbed to the top of the play structure and she screamed.  She slid down the slide and she screamed.  She walked across the rubber floor and she screamed.  And apparently she really does do this all the time.  She wasn't upset, just expressing herself.  Her daddy was really embarassed but clearly defeated.  He apologized to the rest of us a couple of times.  I really had no problem with his daughter.  I was glad she was screaming outside instead of inside.  It changed the thought from 'do these people mind that my kid is learning social rules with their kids?' to 'glad i'm not that guy'.   And the dynamic shifts.

Another one for the books

I forgot this one earlier:

When we were leaving the grocery store we passed a man dressed in jeans and a button-down shirt and a cowboy hat.  I never thought a thing about it until Peyton said 'Giddy up cowboy' as he passed.  Either the man didn't hear or he nicely ignored us because he walked on inside.  I really need to work on my 'please-excuse-my-child's-developing-vocabulary' speech.  For the record, though, it was pretty funny.

Peyton-isms

When Peyton and I sat down to eat dinner tonight, I said a prayer and then Peyton asked if he could say a prayer. Of course I said yes and he proceeded to say an identical prayer to the one I said. When he said "blessings" it sounded more like "disgusting" but I think his heart was in the right place. :)  I was so proud!

Then at the grocery store I got a watermelon and asked him if he would like some in his lunch box. He said "well it won't fit".  I told him I would cut it up so that it would fit and he just kind of looked at me like, "I really don't see how it will fit."  I kind of wish I could see him open his lunch today and see his reaction (if there is one) because when he asked for more watermelon last night I told him he could have more in his lunch box tomorrow and, again, he said 'it won't fit'.  I wonder if he will think it is something else in the lunch box.

Just had to share the latest Peyton-isms!

The "Stories" from Fort Worth

There really isn't a dull moment when Peyton is around.  This weekend was no exception!  He supplied me with two speechless moments. 

My 'favorite' was the night we arrive in Ft Worth.  We all went to check out the pool at our very nice hotel just to see if we might be interested in swimming.  It didn't disappoint.  It was a beautiful pool but it was completely packed and was adjacent to an outdoor bar area that looked like it had been taken from a Miami hotel rooftop.  It was full of well dressed people enjoying their holiday weekend.  We were glad we had seen the pool area but we were very happy to go back upstairs to our comfortable room.  I knew Peyton was right in front of me but I wasn't actually looking at him so when we turned to leave and I took Peyton's hand, I realized that he stepped over something.  It was his shoes, pants and underwear.  He had (quickly) undressed and was ready to swim!  Right there in the middle of this scene from a Miami rooftop.  I was mortified for about a second and then I was laughing too hard to get his clothes back on as quickly as I wanted.  Of course, he was heartbroken that we weren't swimming but I told him we could put on his suit and come back down.  But by the time we got upstairs, he decided a shower would be just as fun and so we got to skip the pool.  That story was funny, even to me. 

The second story is Kristine's favorite.  It is only slightly funny to me.  Maybe in 20 years it will be funnier.  We were in a hand-made jewelry store at the Stockyards and Andrea was looking at a piece of jewelry.  The rest of us had already looked and Peyton, Kathy and I were standing/sitting off to the side of the store.  It was a small store so we were trying to stay out of the way.  Kathy was sitting in a chair along a wall, Peyton was in the stroller facing her beside the wall and I was standing behind him.  (So Kathy was facing the store and we were facing her side)  I had given him a bottle of water to drink while we cooled off inside the store.   All of a sudden Kathy looked at Peyton, gasped and had a look of horror on her face so I looked down and Peyton was holding out the bottle of water and squeezing it so that the water gushed out.  I had the same reaction as Kathy and we got the bottle out of his hands as quickly as we could but there was still a puddle in the carpet in front of Peyton.  Of course, everyone in the store saw what happened and one of the sales ladies got a towel to dry it up.  The store didn't have a posted 'no children' policy but it certainly wasn't toy's-r-us.  The other sales lady probably would have had a worse reaction if she hadn't been trying to push a sale on Andrea.  The much nicer woman who helped us was very cheerful and assured me that worse things had been spilled in the store.  I was still mortified but I could have handled that.  But as she was kneeling down in front of Peyton to soak up the mess he had made, he points to the floor and says 'wipe that up'.  I almost died.  Seriously.  I continued to apologize profusely to the woman my son was ordering around and she continued to be very cheerful.  And then Peyton and I left the store as quickly as possible. 

Somehow Peyton and I are both still alive to tell the story and, I'm sure, encounter another 'teachable moment'.

Our day in Fort Worth

The night we arrived in Ft Worth, Kathy's friend Andrea, took us to the Ft Worth Water Gardens near our hotel.  It is an architectural garden with three pools and water features throughout. 

Peyton and Kristine were watching the falling water pool. 

Peyton putting his feet in the Quiet Pool.

Monday we went to the Ft. Worth Stockyards.  They stage a cattle drive down the main street twice a day.  Peyton thought that was pretty neat.  He learned to say 'Longhorn'.  I took this picture from our table at the restaurant where we ate lunch. 

Andrea wanted to ride a camel and she took Peyton with her. 

He wasn't scared at all and had a great time!

Peytona lso got to ride a pony. 

He got a nice long ride and thought it was fun.

Then we took a carriage ride.  That was a lot of fun, too.

After spending all that time with the animals outside, we went into some shops to cool down. 

We found a place to sit down in the lobby of a hotel. 

We visited one more shop and then caught our train back to OKC.  It was a very fun trip! 

Peyton asked me if we could ride the big train again on our way to Kathy's Tuesday morning!  

I thought he would surely be too tired to ask for that!!  (I know I am!)

Peyton's First Train Ride

It was an early morning but Peyton was excited to ride the train!

We had to wait a bit for it to arrive.

It was pretty exciting when it came!

 

Finally we got to our seats.  We had 'family seating' where four seats faced each other.  That was great! 

On the ride to Fort Worth, we sat in the front of the second car.  That was a pretty nice place to ride. 

On the way back home, we sat in the same area of the front car right behind the engine. 

That ride was much louder from the engine and horn. 

Peyton spent most of the time looking out the window. 

The first hour or so, he wouldn't even talk to us. 

He was too busy watching things go by. 

Several times we rode through train yards. 

Peyton thought those were pretty neat!

Sorry there are no pictures of our train itself. 

It seemed like everytime the train was in the right place to take a picture I was busy boarding. 
Oh well!  I'll have to take a picture of it another time.

Its a strange new world

of 3-year old questions. 

Every morning Peyton and I count the school busses we pass on the way to Nana's house.  (there are 7)

One morning we were stopped at a light & could see a bus also stopped at the light.  Peyton was quiet for just a second and then asked... 'why bus short'?  (Translation: 'Why is that bus shorter than the others?')  I was quiet for more than a second while my brain spun trying to find an answer I wouldn't mind him sharing with all of the children in his class.  Or an unsuspecting family member.

Then I got a grip on my 3-yr old thinking and told him it was because some busses didn't need to carry as many people. 

Peyton said 'okay'.  The light turned green and Peyton never knew that we had just had a groundbreaking conversation. 

Okay, maybe groundbreaking isnt quite the right word.  But it did shake me to the realization that Peyton has been storing up all these questions for the year that he couldn't talk and now... watch out!  I'm in big trouble.

Today we sang about elephants and spiders and marching and avoided questions altogether.  Maybe this is a good routine.

Peyton's "New Room"

After Peyton filled the blanket, he turned it over and 'tucked in' his toys so they could sleep.

Oh how things change!  This was Peyton's room 3 years ago. 

Funny how the crib has made it back to the exact same spot where it started. 

Now it's just disassembled and hidden behind the cabinet.