Nope, NOT ME!

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

Wow! Is it really Monday again? These weeks are going by much too fast and these kids of ours are growing up much too soon! There are stages I will be very happy to see go, but I am not ready for them to be in high school nearly tomorrow.

Somehow, I managed to make it through the week without many blunders to tell. There are a few though!

We did in fact manage to make it to the Monster Jam truck show Friday night...however, I am not sure you can say we "attended" the show. Well, unless you count sitting through the singing of the national anthem and watching the crazy lady get shot from a cannon. Oh, weren't there trucks there? You know...the monster kind? Well, yes there were. Were they not doing Monster truck tricks? Um, I think they were going to?... you see we only made it through .25 jumps. My son did not absolutely loose his mind when the truck reved his engine in the first attempt to clear the cars lined up. We did NOT have to leave the show at that very minute to take him outside the building where he continued his complete meltdown. Bless his heart. I really thought they would LOVE the noise, big trucks and splendor of it all. It's not like we didn't know it was going to be LOUD, they are well, you know, MONSTER trucks and all... in a closed in building. We even took earplugs. Much unlike the person who sued McDonald's b/c they got burned by the HOT coffee...or the complaint I "saw" recently at a restaurant of someone we "know" that said something to the affect that when they squezzed their cup of HOT coffee, it burnt them badly. Hmm, maybe they are on to something. Hey, I should write a letter to the show kindly explaining that we would like a refund, and then some, because their trucks were too loud and the noise caused emotional damage to my 3 year old! I mean they didn't tell us to bring head gear like you wear at a gun range. Clearly, we were first time attenders (and very out of place) as many of the other kiddos had this necessary head gear. Did I mention I missed the memo of proper attire for the night? Jeans and cute Target sweater was not it....daisy dukes, riped hose of various colors and tall boots of various kind....man, I should have read the memo!

I did not get absolutely lazy this past week and unpack the very bottles I had just packed away (mean momma I know....took the bottle away already) because I was too lazy to wash the 2 sippy cups we use. I am pretty sure the emotional damage explains the tantrums we have witnessed here recently. Tantrums in a 11 month old....NOT my child!

I was not careless over the weekend when cleaning out our van and left the inside lights on...ALL night long. Thus running the battery dead so we could only unlock ONE door. I guess that is what happens when EVERYTHING is electrical on cars now. The "unlock" button on the door itself would not even work to unlock the rest of the doors. It had to be jumped off 4 times to get everything working again. Then of course the alarm was screaming b/c we unlocked the car with the key and not the remote thingy...b/c you know, the remote thingy WAS NOT WORKING! Did I mention the battery was dead?...and that means NO radio and NO DVD player unless you have "the code"....which of course WE DID NOT HAVE. A four hour drive with no radio and no dvd player....perfect!

That my friends brings me to my next blunder....I most certinally did NOT put the potty trained boys in pull ups b/c we WERE NOT STOPPING (really, we wern't) until we pulled in our driveway! They were 2 hours behind their nap time and meltdowns are a nice adjective to describe their overtired, grandparent over-sugared selves. With No modern entertainment for the drive we were SLEEPING THE ENTIRE TRIP HOME! They were appalled when we offered them crayons and coloring books...appalled! Oh my, what have we created with our overuse of modern technology? and guess what....it worked! They slept until we were 2o minutes out! and....there was not urine to clean up out of a carseat of a boy who slept REALLY hard! Good thing we did pull ups:) Oh...and they did not go to bed until 10:45, not our children...but we got home in peace and quiet! Being the teenager she nearly is...it is now after 10am and she is STILL asleep! Now to find that darn "code".

Here's to another perfect parenting week!

proof we were AT the Monster Truck Jam, which in no way implies we ATTENDED the Monster Truck Jam

Did I mention we were on the 4th row?..hmm, maybe THAT was the issue and not noise of the small trucks motoring around the track...and these were the cheap seats!

see, every nap

Updating my twitter dad

Just Because

Wordless Wednesday

Love at first sight

This post is part of "Laughter Lives! Tuesday" on the Riggs Family Blog. Check our their blog to read everyone else's "Laughter Lives!" posts.

New party: "Laughter Lives! Tuesday"





This weeks theme: The Funny, Cute & Endearing Ways We Say 'I Love You'


I've been reading this blog for awhile now and checking in on Miss Abby. Abby and
her family have been in my prayers as they are in a daily fight for her life. Amazing
family, amazing story...one amazing little girl. Pull up a chair and head on over
to check them out. Please join with me in prayer for Abby, for her family and
for the medical team caring for her.



Whew, it's been a busy day here at our house but I wanted to get this post up before Tuesday was over so we could participate in their party. Every Tuesday there is a different theme...yet, one guaranteed to make you laugh! So in sticking with this weeks them, I bring you:

"Love at first sight"

Sure, we have many ways of saying "I love you" here in our house, and many ways of showing it too. The most precious yet, was seen a little over a year ago tomorrow. February 28, 2008 Miss Priss made her debut and the boys welcomed her....well, the only way they knew how.

It really was quite an honor for her, at least that is how we will explain it to her one day. She was the first to penetrate their "inner" circle...the circle that included...just them. In the 2 1/2 years of their life no other child had been able to do so. We've nicknamed it "twin snobs". ALL moments of their life...from conception forward...it has ALWAYS been them. One egg...One sperm...TWO babies. Who needs another chum when you've got each other...it's all you've ever known.

The bond between the two of them is almost indescribable. They have their own looks, their own silent language and yes, even their own spoken language at one time. One look and you are seeing double...and yes, we HAVE mixed them up before! Luckily we have had safeguards in place to sort things out....we think:) They are VERY close and at the time Miss Priss came along, they were not letting anyone into their inner circle.

Their most prized possession? Their cars

Things they WILL NOT share? Their cars and stickers...and most certainly not their stickers of cars.

You see, she was a very smart little girl. She knew they way to their heart early on. She had been paying attention those 10 long months (yes, you do the math...40 weeks is 10, not 9, but 10 months). She had presents waiting for them when they came to meet her.

Cars and stickers....stickers of cars

I'll let you see how the meet and greet went...I think it went very well:)

Beside looking like she was hot off "LA INK"...I'd say she had worked her way into the "inner circle" quite nicely! Now taking them off was a whole different story:)

(anybody out there who can tell me why that top paragraph looks so funny? It looks fine in the edit Html mode?)

Nope, NOT ME!

Wow! Has it really been since October since I participated in this? Nah, I didn't think so:) I am sure many of you have found MckMama by now and enjoy her insight, laughter, stories and mishaps as much as me. She really is a riot I tell you . Last time I did this there were 262 entries, now there are over 300! Head on over there to see the fabulous world of MckMama and her many small children and to see her "Not me!" post of the day. Oh, I am am NOT completely jealous that she is cruising around the Caribbean as you read....ahhh, we can all dream can't we! Well deserved my "friend", I hope you have a fabulous time!

I did NOT get demoted from pancake maker/flipper last night to chocolate chip/M&M inserter. Clearly, everyone knows how to make pancakes and flip them without anything going wrong. Who feeds there kids M&M pancakes for supper anyway? Not I!

I most certainly did NOT skip a page pages in the bedtime book we were reading last night. It was not the second time I was reading said book and was not tired of the same ole story line, again.

I am NOT completely guilty of placing Miss Priss in her stroller all bundled up for the cold weather only to find the stroller straps not fitting...then choosing to leave them unsnapped and in the "care" of her 3 year old brother...only to hear the worst ear piercing scream ever and to find the stroller upside down on top of her, over the curb of the sidewalk...in the street. I do NOT know better especially since I am a pediatric ICU nurse...really, mom of the year award!

Our live Christmas decorations did not nearly poison 2 of our kids this past Christmas season. The berries were Not seen as "small grapes" by our son and unknowingly shared with his baby sister. Again, mom of the year....I think that makes 2 nominations already. Oh, and a "flagged" file at poison control and the local ER for sure! Again, what pediatric nurse lets that stuff in her home....wait, don't answer that. All joking aside, everyone was FINE...well except for dear hubby's wallet. The ER doc even remembered me....I told him we have funded his kids college fund well over the past year.

I am NOT looking forward to this weekend and the complete redneck event that we are willingly paying to attend with our boys. Stay tuned, pictures and stories to come!

Go ahead, join in the fun. Tell us about your parenting moments gone wrong. They say after all, laughter is the best medicine:)

Of course, I'll top it all off with some pictures...that is all you really want anyway:)

Miss Priss' position of choice for nap time 98% of the time

sitting up, slouched over

Yes, I know, it looks horrendously uncomfortable. I try to move her but it only awakens her. So now I just leave her and she will sleep 2-3 hours this way. She HATES being by herself (just like her daddy) and used to just cry and cry when we would leave her in her room to nap. Eventually she would fall asleep. It didn't take too long for the crying days to stop....now she just crawls to the end of her crib nearest the door...to sit and wait...for the door to open and for someone to come in and get her. I know this because I have watched the series of events many times. She will sit there until she literally falls asleep and her head falls over. I don't know which is more pitiful....the crying she used to do (you know the one...the you just hurt my feelings/how could you cry) or the waiting ever so patiently to be rescued only to give in and tumble over? Rarely does she stay lying down where I place her....the amount of pictures I have of her sleeping this way is crazy. At night she generally stays lying down. Oh, you are just too much baby girl!

FRIGID

Alrighty....we have been absent. Alive, but very absent. LOTS of stories stored up and seeing that it is FRIGID out, plenty of time to hunker down and throw up some posts.

Frigid you might say? Don't you live in the south you might ask? Well, yes, come to think of it we do! However, somewhere along the line the weather man got it wrong...VERY, VERY WRONG! You see, numbers in the single digits, teens, 20's and 30's DO NOT BELONG HERE!

Well of course, if you have some of this to play with.... well, then maybe. But only for a day mind you.

"Cause then you could have some fun family time (you know, because EVERYTHING shuts down when the white stuff appears) and build some of these little guys!


But alas, we have none of this white stuff...these were pictures from last January. We just have the FRIGID temperatures sans the white stuff.

I live in the South for a reason...the deep South. It is NOT for cold weather:) Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the changing of seasons. I missed the 4 seasons when we were in Southern California. I just am not on board with temperatures in the teens and below freezing for that matter. By below freezing I generally mean anything lower than 68:)

I like a few good days here and there where you get to wear your wool pants and bundle up in you fun sweaters and have a fire. Just not so many in a row...with 3 small kids...stuck in the house....no outlet for energy. So, you see my dilemma.

When I call my neighbor in the morning before 11 am to see if her heat is working...because ours is NOT...and it is 19*....something is very wrong. Only to learn that she is out and about doing a photo shoot! What? I hope she charged an inclement weather fee. Granted, she is well from you know....the frigid north and all. I think she laughs at us Southerners and our "cold" weather....and then invites us over for lunch and a good thawing in her warm, heat is very much working, home. Thank you Sara. The food was delicious, the company welcoming and the warmth inviting.

Then I think of this post from MckMama and realize maybe I've gone too far out on limb with the use of Frigid and South in the same sentence. When you can do this on a Sunday drive...well, then I guess you earn the right to use the word FRIGID as a description for your home town.

In the mean time, we'll be here in the frigid very cold South trying our best to stay warm and remember days gone by of summer, sun and temperatures warm enough to roast a turkey!

Ahh, yes...days playing in the sand at the beach!

Oh, and playing in the water fountains at the neighborhood pool.

Yes, yes, chocolate ice cream!

Now you're talking...peaches!

Not just ANY peaches...but good ole' South Carolina peaches. mmm, mmm!

Isn't Georgia, the peach state? Well, yes it is. But you see, I am a SC girl through and through and WE have the BEST peaches known to man! Gaffney peaches to be exact. Red Haven is my favorite. One of my favorite peach "events" is this one near my home town. You can find all things peach here: ice cream, tea, cobbler, jams and jelly...queens and her court! My mouth is watering as I type this. Oh the things you can do with a good peach....

homemade peach ice cream...need I say more?

(by far one of my favorite mother's day presents...an ice cream maker just the size you need for a few servings)

Bake yourself a good pound cake...serve with, you guessed it...peach ice cream!

Pound cake, fresh peaches and vanilla ice cream....the pound cake HAS TO BE WARM!

I guess we are left to dreaming of our peach desserts from last summer. I didn't even put the homemade peach cobbler and peaches & cream up. Ohhhh... peaches & cream, now your talking. A pecan crust with a filling of cream cheese, powdered sugar and cool whip. Wait for it....topped with peaches!

What's a girl to do...peach season is a L O N G way away.

Unless of course....

You have these bad boys tucked away in your freezer!

Really, what should I make?

Oh, and in the South, it's not rude to invite yourself over for dessert either!

Back to the pool
I don't EVEN want to know what Parker is doing...

Oh, this is D-EEE-lightful!

In the mean time we will be doing lots of this:

and passing our time by practicing our standing...

and playing dress up with Miss Priss' bows...yes,yes, the boys too.

did I mention they have GREAT hair for bows...and they love wearing my bracelets...no, I didn't think I did.

I did get me one of the fabulous coat, mummy, wrap everything up but your head and hands blankets for my birthday! You know the one....the one you've been secretly eyeing....stop being ridiculous and go buy it! It is WONDERFUL. Well, except for snuggling...the hubby HATES when I wear it. Wear it? Well, yes you wear it.

It just may look something like this:

Very appropriate for frigid very cold temperatures. Great for blogging, reading a book, flipping through a magazine....keeping your home thermostat at 65-66*! Yes, yes, a bit tough to snuggle with....but you have plenty of other blankets for that. You really do NEED one. Snuggle fleece blanket with sleeves or slanket.

Your Welcome

Hear Ye Hear Ye...

All in favor of eliminating Thursday from the week....say "I".

I

No more Thursdays for us in the Darley household. We are officially skipping from Wednesday to Friday as of now. I mean who wouldn't like to get to the weekend faster? See, it's a win/win for everyone.

Yesterday was Thursday and true to our past 3 weeks and running, the boys are sick....AGAIN. This time we only made it to the drop off line at school before Peyton tossed his cookies, thus sparing the chapel. Like the good mother that I am, I sent the bouncing and laughing Parker right in the door. What are the chances he is sick at the same time? Weeeel, obviously REALLY GOOD. Good thing I'm not a betting woman. We had not even made it home yet when I got THE PHONE CALL. Parker had graced the classroom floor. Wonderful, I am THAT mom....AGAIN this week. You see, it was last Thursday that Peyton lost "it" in chapel:) The week before that was nasty, nasty colds and Peyton's croup.

So you see my dilemma. We either take Thursdays out of the picture or we go into hibernation until the first sign of life in the spring. That is an awful lot of indoor time....lots of pent up energy...nope, I think we will just choose the NO Thursday option.

I wanted to title the post "You're Invited"....but Chris said I was not allowed to have pity parties anymore. I tried really, really hard yesterday....he even brought me flowers to decorate with, but declined to join me. What good is a party by yourself? He is trying to convince me his eternal optimism is going to rub off. This is where we butt heads...he is the optimist (visionary) and I am the pessimist (realist). This has lead to many a talkuments in our 7 years of marital bliss. A talkument...what's that? Glad you asked. Our good friends in California, the Turners introduced us to this concept, well term really. We were already having them on our own, just didn't have a name for them. You see a talkument is a close kissing cousin to an argument. There are no loud voices or hurtful words....disagreeing, yes plenty of that. Tears? You betcha. Maybe even an eye roll and grunt or two. You know the ones....don't tell me you've never had a talkument with your other (better) 1/2!

He finally convinced me to read The Energy Bus by Jon Gordon...which I did not do begrudgingly at all. Really, I didn't. So, I just put if off until you know...a better time. Like, standing in line for 1 1/2 hours to vote:) Alright...it was a pretty good book and I finished it in no time flat. You could probably read the whole thing in less than 3 hours if you had the time. If you're a leadership/knowledge junkie like my hubby than this is the book for you. If you are like me, then I promise you will find it a good read and may just turn your realism a little more toward the optimist side....yes, I might be switching camps. Well, you know except for the times when something realistic needs to be said:)

For example: It's Clemson homecoming this weekend. Before the second edition of puke fest we were planning on going. The kids are better but there is a 70% chance of rain and wind and cold temps. Yes, yes, that does mean there is a 30% chance of sun:) However...we have 3 small kids...who have been sick...who still have colds and coughs...sounds like the perfect storm for pneumonia:) There you have it...realism at it's best!

SOOO...since I am trying to switch camps. I decided to think of all the things these icky 3 weeks of sickness that am thankful for.

1.The car is clean....again
2.The car seat is clean...again
3.The floor mats of the car are now clean...again
4.The washing machine has had a good workout...again
5.We have a NEW bottle of Lysol
6.The bathrooms are disinfected (heck, the whole house is disinfected)...again

OK, OK I am trying...I really am.

I did think seriously about it though. If I am having to clean the car...it means I have a car to drive. If I was taking them to preschool then that means I had money to send them and money to pay for gas for the car. Cleaning bathrooms means I have a home to call my own. Washing clothes means we have clothes to wear and get dirty. Having a washing machine means we have multiple clothes to wear and get dirty...that I am not going to a laundry mat or washing by hand. Complaining that the kids have been sick for 3 weeks must mean that a majority of the other 49 weeks they have been healthy. So, Chris is right. Something good can be found in anything. All I have to do is look for it and then focus on it.

What fun is a post without pictures? Not very fun!

Miss Priss' all time favorite toy to play with?... a truck, go figure

This could be a picture of how the boys DESTROY our den all before 9am...but it is to capture their idea of what I thought was a learning moment.

Miss Priss is on the move...very soon she will be on all 4's on the move...right now it is a slow and steady, but get you where you need to go, army crawl. The boys prized possessions are now within her reach. They DO NOT appreciate her new found interest in ANYTHING theirs, especially their cars. We had what I thought was a teachable moment this morning. We were talking about not pulling all our toys out at once. Picking our books up when we are done with them, BEFORE pulling out something else. "If you don't want your sister to get into your things, you need to be mindful of where you keep them. Maybe you should take this time to clean up your books." Hoping this would spur them on and they would clean up the toys and books they were not playing with...teaching them to make wise decisions without mom asking them to clean up every time. Trying to teach them there are consequences to the choices we make...some are good and some are bad. If you choose to disobey then there are consequences of timeout...loosing a privilege...maybe even the dreaded spanking. When you make choices on your own...say not cleaning up your toys...and your sister gets them and something breaks....this is the consequence of you leaving you toys out. How did our little "chat" and lesson go? Something like this:

"The heck with consequences, those are no fun. Neither is cleaning up our toys. We'll just barricade her with the toy bins in a corner of the den so she can't reach our car parades or books."Oh boys....I am afraid that she is going to outsmart you here in just a few days. I am afraid our consequence talk is going to show up again soon. Sometimes things are best learned the hard way. I can only discipline you so much for not putting your toys away. Maybe it is time to learn a consequence to your own decisions. You can't pin her in a corner forever....I don't think?

Her favorite spot...maybe 'cause the boys can't get her here...maybe b/c she knows she will be taller than them one day and she wants to see what the view looks like from above:)

a sweet moment with the 3 monkeys

Miss Priss learning to snort...very lady like of course!

"Let's go treating"

Wow! What a busy, busy day we had. So much to do...so much to see...so little time. We've never taken the boys trick or treating before so this was a new experience for them. They didn't quite get it at first but it did not take long to catch on! Peyton told us "let's go treating"...he quickly learned he wanted only treats...no tricks.

Friday morning we went downtown to "the square" where many of the local businesses dress up and hand out candy to the kids. It was a ZOO, but so much fun to see all the kids toddling around in their costumes consuming way too much sugar. It's a neat thing our small town does for all the small kids. The boys were eating the candy as fast as they could get it. I was begining to think we would not make it home with any spoils at all. It went something like this...

get a lolipop...lick, lick, move on to the next piece. I think I found a dozen open and 1/2 licked suckers in their pumpkins when we got home:) Thankfully my sister was in town and helped out. I could not have done this with 3 kids on my own!

Monkey see, monkey do...more candy for me and you!

Miss Priss taking it all in. She is her daddy's girl for sure. Her personality is her daddy all the way. The more attention the better. Will take a nap if given the chance but is just fine without one. LOVES being IN the action. Happy ALL THE TIME!

Our attempt at getting a picture with four tots...yeah right!

Parker:"Peton, whatch got in your pumpkin?"

It was home for naps...which they actually took despite the sugar bolus from that moring. That evening we were off to a party and to meet up with daddy. Last year the boys were complete grouches and no fun to be around at the party. Thankfully they made up for it this year.

Surprisingly we got a pretty good shot as a family.

Looking through the loot in the treasure chest

Aunt Mel and Miss Priss

The cutest monkey I've ever seen! (well, besides his look alike brother)

They were DONE with my effort to try to get a cute picture of the 3 of them. Sooo, here it is!

Our last attempt to get us all "dressed up". We were out of creative juices and just went as ourselves. Daddy as a cow, my two monkeys, Miss Priss and me, Little Miss Scaterbrain!

I'm sooo over this people. Besides, it's FREEZING out here. The bow on the hat mom, really? I thought I already told you what I thought about it a few months back!!

Governor Palin made a detour off the campaign trail to stop by the party.

Michael Phelps was kind enough to stop by too!

I can't believe how much the boys have grown in a year. I was going to link back to last year for the grandparents....but I never posted the pictures from last year. They were so cute in the outfits my mom made for the occasion. Sadly, they were at the age where NOTHING was going on thier head. Parker was an Indian without his headpiece and Peyton was a Cowboy without his hat. It took everything I had to get Peyton to wear his boots! They made the cutest Cowboys and Indian ever!

Most of our pictures were true to the mood they were in....craby! I did find a few where they appeared to be having a good time. I just remember they were in this stage where no matter how good of a nap they took....they woke up CRABY! Thankfully that passed as they are much better now after naptime....it's only before nap that they get craby now:)

Parker liked the fairy wand more than his headpiece...hmmmm.

Chief Parke riding his pony....updide down!

Cowboy Peyton

Our best result at a family picture. And to think Miss Priss was just a small bean in mommy's tummy at the time!

The one picture I snuck with his hat on:(

See what I mean: WAS. NOT. WEARING. THE. HEADPIECE!

You can't stay mad at that face long!

Our favorite pumpkin sighting from last year.