Wordless Wednesday

20 Questions

During carpool to and from summer camp today, the boys' friend Cate taught them how to play 20 Questions. I got this report from Cate's mom, who drove them home:

So Joe announces his first topic: a liquid. Charlie's first guess: "rum punch."

Later Cate chooses the topic: a place. They ask questions and narrow it down to a store in Houston. Joe's guess: "Spec's."

Cort is so proud.

*For those out of town, Spec's is the largest liquor store in Houston.

Taking pictures of our kids at the beach

As you can see, our standards weren't high.

But we did get one cute one of them all.

What a great, great trip.

Paradise Bound

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011, here we come!

The love of a child

I keep running notes of things my kids say that I find sweet, cute, or humorous. I recently looked over it, and found that each of them made statements about their love for me at around 4 years of age.

Their statements say so much about them each, individually.

There's Will. Short, sweet, and to the point:

"Mom, I just love you."

There's Charlie. Also sweet, but with a little tendency toward hyperbole and brown-nosing.

"I'm going to love you forever. I'm not ever, ever, ever not going to love you."

There's Joe. Who shows love in his own unique way. With math.

"I love you 50,000 plus 50,000!"

And there's Helen. Who's just so . . . Helen.

"Mom, I love you every day. But sometimes I don't love you."

And, of course, I love them all (and their uniqueness) more than words could ever express.

Don't stop believing (please!)

Yesterday the kids were talking about who was oldest (Charlie claims that title by less than a minute).

I wasn't really paying much attention, but I heard someone disagree and say, "No, Mommy is the oldest in our family."

And then Joe retorted that Mommy is not the oldest person in the world though. He then wondered out loud whether that would be Jesus or Santa Claus, and asked me how old Santa Claus is.

That's when Charlie said that Santa Claus "isn't any old. Because there's no such thing as Santa Claus."

I can't believe it. He didn't ask whether Santa Claus is real. He just matter-of-factly stated it. The kid hasn't even been visited by the tooth fairy yet. He can't be old enough to stop believing.

I did the only thing I could think of in the situation. I started yelling at them all for sitting around and talking instead of doing the chores I had assigned to them.

That distracted them for the moment. But I guess we'll have to bring it up sometime so he doesn't ruin it for the rest of the kids. At least the little ones. Although I'm feeling the most sad for Joe -- I think he'd believe for another 10 years if Charlie would let him, but I don't think he will.

Life and Death

The kids are at Vacation Bible School every evening this week. It's a good thing (and not just because Cort and I are enjoying our evenings out together - although we definitely are!).

This conversation tells me we need to be a little more specific when explaining some of the finer concepts of life after death. Clearly we can't let Will get all his facts from his sister.

Will: "Mom, what happens when you get to the last number?"

Me: "What is the last number?"

Will: "I don't know. But what happens when you get there?"

Me (as it dawns on me what he is talking about): "Well, then you die and go to heaven."

Helen: "Like our doggies died and went to heaven?"

Me: "Yes."

Will: "So we are going to be doggies????"

Me: "No. You will still be Will. You will just go to heaven when you die like our dogs went to heaven when they died."

Will: "But I don't want to go to heaven. I want to go places."

Me: "Um, well, heaven is a place. And it's a really nice place. You get to be with God."

Will: "But when you die, you can't walk. So how do I go to heaven and places if I can't walk?

Helen: "I think you jump."

Will: "Oh. Yeah. You just jump. I can jump!"

Me: Silence. I just went with it.

More restroom conversations

Also with Helen, but this time I was in the stall with her. She is sitting down and starting to take care of her business.

Helen: "I've got to go poo poo."

Me: "OK."

Helen (louder): "I've got to go poo poo."

Me: "I heard you. OK."

Helen: "POO POO. POO POO. POO POO. POO POO."

Me: "Helen, you don't need to talk about it. Just go to the bathroom."

Helen: "But my brothers laugh when I say 'Poo poo.'"

Me (trying to keep a straight face): "Well, I don't laugh, so you don't need to say that."

Helen: "But you're smiling . . . ."

OK. Then I laughed.

Memphis: The Road Trip

Did I mention that we drove to Memphis?

I think it may have qualified as our first successful road trip.

We left after school let out on Thursday, drove to Shreveport, and spent the night. We got up the next morning and drove to Little Rock, where we picked up Gramma and had lunch. Then we drove into Memphis Friday afternoon.

On the way back, we left Sunday afternoon and drove to Little Rock, where we all stayed the night. Charlie and Joe left Little Rock Monday morning with Gramma, because they were spending a week in Oklahoma with her. Will, Helen, Cort, and I drove from Little Rock to Houston on Monday. And made it home before 5pm. Over 1100 miles in 4 days of driving, with only one full day in between.

Now that we've actually had a successful road trip, here's what we learned:

• The number one rule in hotel selection is to get a hotel with a swimming pool. The kids look forward to it so much that they are actually excited to be driving to their destination. And it tires them out so they sleep well.
• If possible, do not stop to eat. Eating is a valuable activity that takes up time and keeps kids happy in the car. Use driving time to eat. Pack meals and snacks beforehand so you don't have to stop at all.
• Instead of taking breaks during the drive, go as hard as you can until you get there. Then use the extra time for the fun in the pool and hotel.
• If someone has to go to the bathroom, everyone gets out and goes unless they've gone within the last hour.
  
• Stay at a hotel that has free breakfast. Kids love buffets, and even a picky eater will like most of the options on a breakfast buffet. However, if you've got a long trip ahead, consider putting the buffet contents in the to-go cups provided for coffee and eating on the road, consistent with the above point.
  
• If you must stop for meals, stop at a fast food restaurant, let the kids run around ,and use the restroom while you order and wait for the food. Then take the food in the car and eat it while driving.
• If you have kids, like ours, who aren't necessarily placated by the DVD player, improvise. Download something to an ipod that they will like. We almost forgot Charlie and Joe were with us on the leg from Little Rock to Memphis, because they were watching an Astros game on their ipods.
  
• I never thought I would be one of those parents who rides in the back with their kids while their spouse sits up front alone and drives the car. (I used to make fun of moms who did that with their infants, and my kids are 4 and 7!) But truly, it makes all the difference.
  
• Having different sized decorative glass containers with candy like M&Ms, Skittles, etc. is a cute idea at a wedding reception. Taking bags of those with us and doling a single one out every 10 minutes that our kids were good in the car? Brilliant.
• Never underestimate the effectiveness of actually pulling the car over and dealing with a situation, usually a whining child. One whiner infects the whole bunch. But something about actually stopping a car--and then following through with taking a kid outside despite protests that now they'll straighten up--that sets the tone for the rest of the trip.
• Japanese restaurants where they cook in front of you--not sure whether we can manage to find one of those next to our hotel on every road trip, but it sure was the icing on the cake for the kids.

Really, it was such a great trip. Gives me hope for the Great American Road Trip With The Family one day.

Memphis: Family

An added bonus of the Memphis wedding weekend was that Cort's sister, Cindy, lives in Memphis! So we were able to spend a lot of time hanging out with family that we rarely see.

Cindy and her husband, Chris, were great hosts to our whole crew, plus some. Because on Saturday, her two kids and their families came in as well. (Her kids -- our nephews -- are just a few years younger than us, each with three kids of their own.) And Gramma was there as well.

On Saturday, we had 9 adults and 10 kids -- ages 12, 12, 9, 7, 7, 4, 4, 4, 2, and almost 1. At least, I think I got that right.

Thank goodness Aunt Cindy also has a swimming pool! And a really great playroom upstairs! Our kids spent 90% of their time in the pool. Will and Helen had fun with Evelyn and AJ, who are near their age. And Charlie and Joe were over the moon playing Cody, the only other boy (besides baby Simon), who was almost twice their age but was great to them.

I didn't grow up with gobs of cousins. My kids have them, but they are so far away (and many of them much older). It was so great to be able to get together. Hopefully it won't take a wedding to do it again.

Back row - AJ, Catelyn, Cody, Abby

Front row - Evelyn (too tired!), Helen, Joe, Charlie, Will
(Simon not present - he was napping)