Blogworthy Day

I keep promising to get better about posting, but I don't seem to ever find the time to sit down, collect my thoughts, and post. I even have a list saved on my phone of all the things I need to blog about, but something happened today that motivated me to actually type.

Here is the letter I recieved from Barrett's teacher at pick up. The envelope read, "To the parents of Barrett Schmidt".

Mrs. Schmidt,
Today during rest time we had two little girls playing "show and tell" of their privates. Barrett was watching the "show". I just wanted to let you know ~ we told them this was not ok to be doing and Barrett smiled and hid his face in his blanket. I just knew he would probably come home and tell you about it.

I really didn't know if I was supposed to laugh, discipline him, or judge the moms of the obviously wild girls. It will be no surprise to any of you who know me in real life which way I went with this one.

I did talk to the teachers in case I was supposed to be upset, but they assured me he was just watching and he was not interacting with them. I struggled to withhold the comment about him handing them folded dollar bills and managed to make it to the car without any inappropriate comments. But, as soon as we were in the car, I did get the whole story from Barrett.

You'll be relieved to know that he wasn't at all interested in the naked girls, he was more fascinated by one of the girls panties that had Hello Kitty on them.

After I thought the discussion was over and we were quietly driving down the road, Barrett asked, "Mom, can you get some of those kitty panties?"

Go ahead, analyze that one.

Happy 2nd!

It's hard to believe my little man is two today! I would write more, but I am enjoying playing with him. Maybe you'll get more about him tomorrow.

Happy Birthday my Fisher Man!

Valentine's Pictures?

Every year, I take a Valentine's picture to send out cards to all the people we love.

I was discussing with Barrett what he thought we should do this year because I couldn't find any cute Valentine's shirts. I joked that I could dress him as cupid, and he looked a little irritated or it might have been confusion. I then said that Fisher could be cupid because he loves to shoot. I thought I was so funny, and then all of the sudden, Barrett got all excited and yelled, "Yeah, he can be Cupid and I'll be Donner!"

I never thought of that. Who is the goof that named a reindeer Cupid?

Anyway, back to the pictures.

Unfortunately, this year it hasn't happened.

I had great intentions. The clothes were bought, and the set up idea was done, but my three year old just didn't cooperate.

Barrett literally made it impossible. He never cooperated. He didn't even cooperate enough to get a picture of him anywhere near the red bucket we use every year.

The day we stopped and bought the adorable Valentine's cupcakes that were going to be a part of our photo shoot, Barrett grabbed the bag, swung it around, and slammed it into the side of the cart. I'm a fan of logical consequences, so Fisher and I ate all the destroyed cupcakes in one sitting while Barrett did not get any.

I still plan on getting photos, and I guess I will be posting a late Happy Valentine's on line.

I hope everyone has a great Love Day!

Mommy v. The Tank

Back at Thanksgiving, everyone wanted to know what to get the boys for Christmas. I really didn’t have many ideas, but I did have one.

I knew one thing that would thrill Barrett, and I decided to reserve it for Uncle Ray.

Uncle Ray and Almost-Aunt Kristin, gave Barrett his first pets, two goldfish.

Before I continue the story, let me be sure you understand that the fish were my idea. I harbor no hard feelings towards Ray and Kristin. They only did what I told them to do.

The first week with Bubbles and Fishy was great. Barrett was overly responsible, and it was all perfect. After all, the fish were my idea, and I am so smart.

By week two, the pump on the aquarium died.

The boy and I ran to the pet store, and they were great about replacing the messed up pump.

Later that same week, I noticed the water was nasty again. Since they are Barrett’s pets, I had him help me replace the water in the tank.

All was good. Bubbles and Fishy were happily swimming in clean water, and I am still brilliant for the fish idea.

Two days later, the water was nasty again. Barrett and I did another water change. I begin to think I am not as smart as I thought.

We decide to head the pet store and discuss our issues. We leave with some new, special food and drops for the water.

Within another couple days, they need another water change, and Bubbles isn’t acting like she feels good.

I told Barrett not to help this time because secretly I know that he must be doing something wrong. After all, I had two fish growing up, and they lived a long time.

While I was moving the tank, somehow I broke it. Water was flying everywhere, and Bubbles and Fishy weren’t too thrilled that the water level was dropping at a ridiculous rate.

Here’s a little fact for you: Goldfish can breathe sideways if there is only a centimeter of water in their tank.

We move the fish into a bowl of water, throw in a few drops of the stuff that apparently make the tap water safe, and we load up to head to the pet store.

I learn a few new things on trip number three.

1. Goldfish are the dirtiest fish in the world. They poop more than any others which makes lots of ammonia.

2. Ammonia is bad for fish.

3. Ammonia makes water nasty.

4. A two gallon tank is WAY too small for 2 goldfish.

5. Fish are not an easy, cheap pet.

When we leave the store, we now have with us a new 10 gallon tank, ammonia drops, ammonia test strips, and a new tree thing for the tank.

We get home, set up everything, and wait for Daddy to get home and roll his eyes at the amount of money two goldfish have cost.

All is good until I find Bubbles floating in the tank.

Barrett and Daddy bury her in the back yard. Barrett is not happy that Fishy is all alone which leads to trip number 5.

We leave the store with Bubbles II and a new sucker fish that Barrett names Dorothy after his Nana. Apparently, we joke about her being a sucker too often. The fish guy assures me that Bubbles probably died as a result of the trauma of all the water changes. The only good part of the trip was when fish guy thanked me for being honest with Barrett about Bubbles death.

We bring Bubbles II and Dorothy home, and they seem happy in their new home, the ammonia test is good, and for a brief moment I think to myself that this was still a good idea.

A few days later, Dorothy is not right. (The fish, not the mother-in-law.) She is swimming weird, and Barrett tells me he doesn’t want her to die. We pray for Dorothy’s health. I even overhear Barrett praying for her on his own. Dorothy still dies the next day.

Daddy and Barrett bury Dorothy next to Bubbles I, and we head out for trip number 6. This time, we take in a water sample.

The fish guy informs me that our water is toxic. He then asks where I live. He informs me that the tap water in my neighborhood is almost impossible to make safe for fish, and that I need to buy Spring water. I put bottled water for my family on my mental grocery list, and decide that I am done.

I ask if there are other fish we can get that aren’t toxic poopers, and after much discussion with Barrett, we agree on what has to be done.

We go home and load Bubbles II and Fishy into a jar, and drive to Nana and Paw’s house. We put them in the cow trough, and they swim with all the other happy goldfish.

We clean out the tank at home and start all over again. We now have clean water in our ten gallon tank and just yesterday, on our 7th pet store trip, we bought 4 new, tiny guppies.

Fish Guy assures me they are hard to kill…

So, if you are wondering why I haven’t blogged in a month, it’s because I have been dealing with fish every free moment. Sounds fun, huh?

The Whole Christmas Season in One Post

This is going to be a long one, but I figure I owe it to those of you who are actually still checking to see if I update.

Ok, going backwards a couple months...

Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving was great. Lots of food. Really that's all to say about it.

Thanksgiving night at midnight, I did something I honestly never thought I would do.

I went shopping.

I am not a sale person. I don't like digging through cloths. I don't like the stores when there is more than 5 people in them. I don't like lines. I have no patience for any of those things. So, why in the world did I agree to go shopping with Leanne at midnight?

Three reasons:

1. The outlet mall is in my backyard. If it was too crazy, I could easily go home.

2. I hear people talk about shopping after Thanksgiving and that it is a fun kind of chaos.

3. Gymboree was having $5 pajamas. Since I have a jammie obsession, I had to go.

To say that it was a crazy experience would be an understatement. There were people everywhere, and I think every mom in a 50 mile radius wanted jammies too.

Leanne and I were the 5th people in line, and we had a game plan. Ok, we really didn't until the people all around us did. The goal was for us to grab all the jammies we could in sizes 2T, 2T, 3T, and 4T.

It was crazy! I did have a lady grab pajamas out of my hand, but, in the end, we surpassed our goal.

As we headed to the back of the store to survey our arm loads of jammies, we were like two kids in a candy shop. We decided what we "needed" and got in line.

We were amazed that the line was half way around the store. While we waited in line for over an hour, we kept taking turns leaving line to shop more since everything was on sale. We ended up with as much as we could hold. After checking out, we walked the mall a little more, and we were home by 2 am.

The next morning my arms were actually sore from holding all my loot in line, but the stacks of jammies were worth it. My boys each had 6 pairs of Christmas jammies and some others as well. They are well dressed little sleepers. :)

It was definitely an experience. I'm not sure if it's worth doing every year, but I am pretty certain Leanne and I will try again because we laughed A LOT.

Thanksgiving weekend was so much fun for the boys because Daddy was around to play.

On that Sunday, we went to the church where Uncle Ray and Kristin are getting married in March. The were being blessed by the church.

While I am sure the little blessing was wonderful, wrestling two kids during a Catholic church service isn't very fun.

The real high point was Barrett observing the things about the Catholic Church that are different from our church. Since I was raised Catholic, it was all normal to me, but Barrett asked me who the bleeding man on the cross was. I told him it was Jesus, and with a very upset face he said, "Why doesn't Ray and Kristin's church like Jesus?"

Needless to say, when we left to go for a walk because he was restless, I explained, as best as I could to a three year old, that Catholics love Jesus. They didn't nail him to the cross. I'm pretty sure I made it as clear as mud for him.

After the service, we went out to eat. We had used the video camera to tape the blessing for Kristin's parents since they couldn't be there. The disk holds 30 minutes, and the blessing lasted about 2 minutes. I hated to waste the rest of the disk, so I had Barrett sing while we waited for our food. After he sang, I was going to tape Fisher a little too for Kristin's mom to see.

As I started to tape him way, he choked on a chip and puked into his bowl. Nana was mortified that it was on tape, and she was even more upset that we all thought it was funny. I think she recovered ok until I told her you can't delete what you record. I am sure Kristin's mom, who had 6 kids, got a great laugh out of that little moment. Is it wrong that I never questioned sending it to her?

The following week, Barrett was so excited because Santa was going to be at his school. Both boys were so good the morning that were going to see him. Normally, I spend most of the morning playing referee, but they happily sat next to each other and watched tv while I packed us up for school.

I'm pretty sure Fisher was clueless, and he was just following Barrett's lead which tells me who causes the problems in the mornings.

Once we got to school, the hardest part was making them wait their turn. Once they got to Santa, Barrett was ready to tell him what he wanted. His list was really simple, a kitchen and a jeep. The jeep was the coached gift that Santa had already ordered. The kitchen was all Barrett. Doug tried to convince him he didn't want a kitchen, but he was not successful.

When Santa asked Fisher what he wanted, Barrett piped in with, "He really wants a kitchen."

I should have left well enough alone. I should have said thank you and walked away, but instead, I said, "Barrett, Fisher can talk. Fisher tell Santa what you want."

Fisher smiled, looked right at Santa and said, "Bullets. Shoot pigs. Shoot deers. Boom, Boom."

Yea, that's not embarrassing at church.

After seeing Santa, Fisher was obsessed with the man he called, "Claus". I am not sure why he only referred to him as Claus, but it cracked me up.

The following weekend, the preschoolers were going to be singing in church. I don't know what possessed me to think that Barrett would be fine seeing me. Instead of getting cute pictures of my kid in his first performance, I have a picture of him sitting and watching everyone else.

While I am a little sad that my son didn't want to perform the songs he has been practicing for two months, I am glad that Barrett wasn't the one that caused the entire sanctuary to gasp.

No, that honor is left for Leanne's eldest, Logan.

Logan didn't even want to go into the sanctuary. I ended up carrying him in, and having him sit on the floor beside me. I asked a couple of times if he would like to stand by his friends, but he was positive that he didn't want to go up with everyone else.

I was surprised when he just stood up and marched up the stairs of the alter. I still don't know what he was so interested in. The flowers? The piano? What I do know, is that he was not interested in facing the audience. (You can see him on the top left.)

Had he chosen to turn around, it might have prevented what came next.

I'm not sure how it happened, but moments after I took this picture, I heard the gasps of the entire congregation. I turned to see Logan coming down the marble stairs - head first.

Just as the congregation got quiet, his head hit the marble at the bottom of the stairs with a huge THUD.

Apparently from some angles it looked like I caught him, but I am sorry to say, I didn't. Luckily though, I was there and was able to comfort him quickly. He only screamed a couple of times.

His mom didn't even get to enjoy his big moment. She was sitting in the other service waiting for the preschoolers to arrive. Needless to say, Logan did not perform there either.

So, that is Barrett and his buddy's first church performance. Leanne and I are so proud...

Barrett and Fisher also experienced their first snow. It wasn't much, but the boys were excited.

I think it's time to visit Gigi in Colorado. They will be amazed at all the snow at her house!

We did finally put our tree up by the middle of December. They boys had so much fun helping with the tree. I think that is the longest Fisher has ever stayed focused on one activity.

And yes, those are Gymboree jammies!

I really think what the boys liked the most was climbing on the step ladder. They kept running to it with ornaments trying to beat each other to it.

Fisher really wanted to put the star on top of the tree, but he just wasn't big enough. After Daddy got it up there, Fisher was thrilled to just touch the star.

After the star was on top, both boys cheered that our tree was decorated!

Every morning the boys would wake up and immediately turn the tree lights on. I am so happy they enjoy the Christmas stuff as much as I do.

Barrett has enjoyed being funny lately. He thought he was hilarious in this drum. (Oh, and yes, those are more Gymboree pajamas.)

What he did not think was funny was that he couldn't get out. Fisher and Daddy laughed and laughed which made Barrett even less happy.

Fisher is quite the little funny man too. He loves putting on accessories. He especially likes the work goggles that came with Barrett's tool bench, but he is a little confused. He puts them on and then begs to swim in the pool. I don't think a one year old understands the concept of it being too cold outside.

Yep, more Christmas jammies!

The weekend before Christmas we headed to Dallas to my Aunt Jeanne's house. Barrett had a blast helping Jeanne make soup. My dad felt the need to "help" so as Barrett added things, my dad would name them.

Unfortunately, he wasn't saying what they really were. The corn was canary poop, and the ground beef was elephant poop. I'm not sure how many different poops there were, but it was a lot. My poor aunt now has to deal with being teased for serving Poop Soup.

Jeanne and all the little boys make birthday cakes for Jesus each year. Both of my boys loved it, but for different reasons.

Barrett liked decorating his with all the icing and sprinkles.

Fisher just ate the icing.

The boys got lots of great gifts at Aunt Jeanne's but the clear favorites were the disk shooting guns and the animal masks. Even big cousin Tyler thought the masks were fun!

There have been numerous times that one of my boys is wearing an animal mask and the other is hunting.

After spending two days in Dallas, we came home to have Christmas with Gran Gran and all Doug's cousins on his dad's side.

As usual, Gran Gran's decorative bath tub was the place to play.

It's always fun when all the kids get together. They did their typical cowboy stuff, but Leanne got a gift all the boys enjoyed.

Leanne had her own little beauty salon, and Barrett was so happy about his blue finger nails.

Daddy was not so happy.

Fisher wasn't interested in a manicure, but he did manage to have fun in a gift bag.

The next night, we had Christmas with my dad and sister. Barrett had a blast with his cousins. Tyler made a great bull for him to ride, and Fisher loved getting to shoot the bad bull!

The higlight of the night was when Barrett opened his diner from Papa. Barrett and Fisher couldn't wait for me to get it put together. It took a while, but I did manage to finish.

Christmas Eve was a blur. Since I am the nursery director of the church, it was a busy day for me. I loved every minute of it. There is nothing better than kids on Christmas Eve. They all looked adorable and were contagoius with excitement.

I was able to be home with the boys to put out cookies for Santa and tuck them in.

Barrett was so happy when he woke up Christmas and Santa had gone.

I almost felt bad when the very first gift he found in his stocking was a toothbrush, but he was thrilled.

Fisher was happy with his farm animals,

but he was most thrilled with Chicken Little. He loves the movie, and he was almost shocked when a Chicken Little was in the box. He immediately wanted to just snuggle him and drink milk. He didn't even care about other presents for a few minutes.

The big Santa gift was left outside, but I don't have any pictures only video. Santa gave them a jeep to share. They jumped in right away, and Barrett attempted to drive. Fisher was so funny with his cap gun in hand shooting. Later, when Fisher was driving, he ran into the tree, attempted to shoot the tree, and then told Nana to cut it. I don't think he even considered driving around it.

Ok, so I made it through Christmas Day, and that's as far as I can go right now because I am tired of typing.

Besides, I want to go check on my floors that are being installed as I type. Woo Hoo! I'll post pictures when they are done.