Toddler Tales: Car Seat Napper

Today's tale is a cautionary tale for the unsuspecting parent!  Please learn a lesson from my misadventure with a car seat napper!

It was a cold winter Wednesday night, the first night back at AWANA for the big kids.  The parents were tired from working all day and decided a date night was a good idea...after all the kids are occupied we could go to dinner...then we remembered we have a toddler...oh well, he can just go with us.  HA...mistake number one!

We took the kids to church and then we went to Chipotle... mm...yummy in  a burrito bowl with lime chips on the side.  The toddler did pretty well, and the restaurant was pretty empty since it was a Wednesday night so we survived the dinner portion of the evening!  Yeah us!  Then we looked at the clock...only 7:10 pm we still have an hour before we need to pick the big kids up...what do we do now?  Well, the husband had received Kohl's cash back from a recent gift card excursion for work clothes and he had graciously determined that I could use it so we decided since we're out lets go to Kohl's and see what I could find.  Mistake number two!

We get to Kohl s and get the toddler situated in one of those stroller carts.  The husband and toddler start walking around and I check out the ladies department to see if I can find something I like for the price I needed.  I find a purple v neck shirt that will work well for work and I lament at not having more to spend but know I need to stay on budget.   But I still have left over money and with Kohl's cash there is no change and I want to use all of it if possible!  The husband mentions that there are some frames on clearance so I go check them out!  

I am looking at frames and by this point the toddler is well being a toddler.  He doesn't want to sit in the stroller anymore he wants to PUSH the stroller.  And he doesn't do it well.  The husband gets stressed out by situations like this and I am still trying to shop!  A disaster is looming...but hooray!  I find a frame for 3 dollars that has a J on it and would go with our decor!  We head to check out...we try to trick the toddler into thinking he is pushing but anytime we touch the cart he screams...a meltdown is imminent...either from the toddler or the husband.  We get to check out.. the husband and toddler put the cart back and I go pay...score one for me only $1.08 out of pocket!  Wahoo!  I love not spending much!  The toddler is now full on cranky, tired and wanting his own way.  It takes an additional 5 minutes to leave the store but we finally make it to the car...and drive away taking the long way trying to kill more time...you guessed it...mistake number three!

Driving around causes the toddler to fall asleep in the car.  Now smart parents would head home and put him to bed...we didn't do that...we went and waited at church and then the lesson went over so by the time everyone is in the car and heading home the toddler has had a 30 minute nap in the car and is raring to go and play not go to bed.  

11:30 I FINALLY get him to his bed and fast asleep!  I'm beyond tired at this point and just praying he sleeps well...which he does and let me tell you 5:55 when the alarm goes off is much to early when you are used to going to bed around 9:30 or 10 and you don't get to bed till closer to midnight...so parents don't make our same mistakes, stick to your bedtime nighttime routines and don't let your toddler nap at night in the car!

Where's your Scooter??

This is the question that Dan asked Janea this afternoon. She totally panicked as she looked out side and the place she had left it and it wasn't there...it was missing.

She had it for 4 days and now it's gone....but where could it go??? Worried that it had been stolen I also went outside to look for it only to have Dan pull me aside and say.."hold on". Seems she had left it in a bad spot upon coming in last night and he decided to teach her a lesson. He brought it inside when he got home this morning at 3:30 and hid it in a spot she wouldn't think to look and then asked her today where it was. Boy did she learn an important lesson about treating our stuff with more care. She was in tears thinking she had caused it to be stolen. Dan sat her down and had a discussion of treating our stuff better and then he told her that it wasn't stolen just hidden from her view.

It's still in it's hiding place...she had been told that she will have to wait a day or two before she gets it back. She's relieved and at the same time I think she is more aware that we have to treat our stuff with care.

Pain and Suffering

This is me right now....Step..."ow".....Step...."ow"....step...."ow"!

I played volleyball last night and my legs hurt so bad right now....so I thought I would take some Aleve to help me aleve my pain but I only have 1 pill left in my bottle and I need 2! Usually when I play volleyball my lower legs hurt and my feet hurt. Well this morning my thighs are killing me and my feet hurt!

Good news...we won our game last night!

I really am 30...

Tonight I noticed that I am getting old and I know this because...

TV shows I watched as a kid are now being turned into movies. ex: Dukes of Hazzard, Transformers.

My children have no clue what a record player is or how it works.

I remember when my dad got his first computer and you had to use special disks to get programs to work and there was no internet!

I have had 5 different presidents in my lifetime.

My pictures from high school when I thought I was cool are really funny looking!

I totally get shows like I love the 80's on VH1!

I am older than MTV!

However with age comes wisdom and I have learned some very important things:

Always check if the toilet seat is down before sitting on it! Especially if you marry a guy who only had brothers!

Always wear a seatbelt! It never fails that when you don't wear one the kids need something! When it's on they are okay!

Being cute only works until your 25 for speeding tickets, then you really have to be creative to get out of them!

God is in control no matter how screwed up you are!

Life is tough, then you die, but the great thing Heaven is waiting!

Surrounding yourself with younger people while sometimes can make you feel old, you'll find yourself doing things that help you stay young

You are only as old as you feel!

When you lose touch with people you can reconnect!

So thank you for reading my ramblings and I'll post more later! BTW--my husband who is older than me is still one of the biggest kids at heart and is so wanting to see the Transformers movie and has bought way too many of the toys! Jaron is sooooo jealous!

My BABY isn't a BABY anymore..

Okay, she hasn't been a baby for a long time but still, I can't believe how old she is now! She turned 7 on Friday!!!! That's almost two full hands, soon she'll be double digits, then a teenager, then married, then I'll be a grandma! auuughh!!! I can't handle it! Okay, now that I'm done freaking out and marrying her off, I can be okay again.

For Janeas birthday this year we went out on the town. I took her and two friend to see Surf's Up and I saw roughly 1/2 of the movie since Jaron came too. He was not interested in the movie so we spent a lot of time in the bathroom, playing video games in the lobby and just frustrating Mom. The part I saw very cute! Then we went to McDonalds and had Happy Meals and played in the new R GYM (playplace). All in all a pretty good day since we then went to Grandma's and Grandpa's for cake and dinner! I do have pictures but since I didn't bring a CD I can't get them off my MOM's computer--I so need a digital camera! Dan if you are reading this that is what I want for Christmas--or our anniversary:) HINT HINT HINT!!!

I'll post birthday pictures soon!

SO HAPPY BIRTHDAY JANEA DANIELLE!!!!

I'm feeling old today...

It dawned on me today that I am really 30! Dan's birthday was yesterday and he is now the big 33. (Happy Birthday Honey) If you had asked me 10 years ago where I would be in 10 years I would never have placed myself here. I always saw myself getting married but i did not expect to be a mom of a seven year old at the age of 30! Janea's birthday is less than a month away! My baby is growing up so fast. I can't believe my real "baby" is now four! He's going to kindergarten in another year or two! They are growing up too fast:( At thirty I saw myself as having 1 child of around 2 maybe! God is good, and I am the proud mom of two! Stressed sometimes but I do think that I have two of the best kids around.

Last night at church was the Awana Awards night! I was so proud of all my kids and the hard work that they put into saying their sections. I am the director of the program at our church. Janea got her book award and then was also awarded the 2nd place girls Spark of the Year! I am so proud! She is highly motivated to get to be the Spark of the year next year!

Jaron is so funny! He was playing outside today and all he could talk about was Daddy's birthday! I think he was more excited than Dan! He is on a huge Spiderman kick right now! He got a Spiderman poster for his wall! He had it up with 3 minutes of us getting home tonight! I'm such a pushover at times! (I just noticed I am using the explamation point a lot, if my students did this I would lower their grades!)

I think I am feeling old because I need a night off! Dan is working the late shift and so I am alone for most of the week. I am looking forward to summer break and being able to be more than just two ships that pass in the night. We're scheduled to go out this weekend so hopefully I'll start feeling younger again!