As a parent it seems as if you spend every waking minute caring for your kids. One routine task in our day is giving Liam a head to toe wipe down after meals. "Clean, clean" he chants as we de-grime his hands and face. "That's right we're getting you all clean, clean" (We've been told we are reinforcing Liam's doublespeak by doing it ourselves - yep, yep, so true, so true, wink, wink!).

So it should have been really nice when one of my kids decided to take care of me. Today, Liam ran up to me and yelled, "clean, clean!" It would have been really sweet if he had been rubbing me down with the toilet bowl brush at the time! Somehow, I just didn't feel very clean after that.

Posted by Pam at 09:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Monday night, I finally got out my ballot (hurray for Oregon's vote by mail system!) and started filling it out. Megan came into the kitchen a bit later,"Mommy, are you voting?" Indeed, I was. "Can I vote, too?"

"Sure," I said. "Come sit by me."
"How do you vote?"

I got out the voter's pamphlet. On the inside there are some sample arrows that show you how to vote. Megan had them all filled in in a few seconds. "Now what?"

We turned the page. "See all these pictures?" I explained,"These are the people you can vote for. You can look at them and then circle the one you like."

Megan looked down. "TTT-ooo-mmm - Tom. Ssss-tttt-aaaa - Sta"
"That's Stu, honey," I corrected.
"I like Tom the best" she stated, as she circled his grinning mug.

And so we went through the book together, with me helping her read the names and her picking her favorites (I had already finished my voting in case you were worried that I might be biased by Megan's choices - haha!) She voted for Deb because I have a friend named Debbie, and she voted for the guys with the last name Smith (for obvious reasons). Finally, we got down to our last "vote"; Sam vs. Gerry.

"I want Sam because I like Green Eggs and Ham." ("I am Sam. I am Sam. Sam I am"). It seemed like better voting logic that some people use!

Posted by Pam at 09:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Saturday was the end of daylight savings. It is always sad to see it end, but with mornings still dark at 7 am, it was time. At least there is a consolation prize: an extra hour in the day. For most people, this is a great opportunity to catch up on sleep, but not for those with kids!

With Halloween and Mac's mom visiting our kid's didn't really need a time change to mess up their sleep schedules, but time waits for no man (or kid). And so with the time change Liam was yelling for attention at 5:20, which even on DST, would be early for him. I got Liam and then Megan came clamoring into our bed around 5:45. We had stayed up a bit later than usual with Mac's mom and had already changed our clocks, so it really did feel like 5:30 and not 6:30. By 7:00 (standard time), we had already finished breakfast.

So, How chipper was Mac after that "extra" hour of sleep? "This is the worst frickin' day of the year!" he said, just about the time he was pouring his third cup of coffee.

Posted by Pam at 09:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Megan couldn't wait for Halloween - any excuse to wear a ballet outfit is a good one these days (she's been sleeping in them lately , too). Fortunately, the kids got a costume preview day at a friend's Early Halloween 4th b-day party, so we were well prepared for the big day.

Liam went as a clown, the same costume that Megan, Mac and both of his sisters wore when they were all two years old. Does that make the Smiths a family of Bozos??

Not sure if Liam had a clue what was going on, but he was happy to be out an about (once the wig was off) and he seemed to get into the spirit, spending the whole night yelling, "Chick cheat." Close enough, I guess, cause everybody gave him candy.

Afterwards our "fairy ballerina" showed off her dance moves. The pink on her cheek isn't make-up - that's where she crashed into the floor from dancing in slippery tights (the inside of her lip is purple, too). It seems our dancing queen still needs a bit of practice!

Not to worry - nothing a few pieces of candy couldn't cure!

Poor Liam didn't get to sample the wares that night. He went straight to bed - no clowning around!

Posted by Pam at 08:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Kids grow up fast. It seems mine have already outgrown baths. This is the new exciting way to get clean (I am sure we will be back to baths when this gets old).

Posted by Pam at 08:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Growing up I always wanted very long hair, but my hair only grows to about my midback, no matter how long I go without a cut. Perhaps that's why Megan's never gotten more of a trim - a bit of a vicarious hair-do. But we've had one too many days with hair in the yogurt, pancake syrup, jelly...you name it. And even when it is clean, it is still often just a tangled mess. So today's order of business was to tame the tresses!

Before

After

It's still pony tail long, but without the bottom six inches.

Posted by Pam at 08:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Liam figures things out in a way that Megan just never did. In contrast Megan knew ALL of her colors at this point. Liam still just says 'red' (no longer pink) for everything. Today he figured out how to get up onto the counter, by dragging the little chair over to the big chair. I should also mention that Liam is bruised up in a way that Megan never was!

Also, heard in our house: "Liam! You can't stand on the cat!"

Posted by Pam at 08:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)