Lower Ears for Smiles

Smilesy got his first hair cut this week. I think it looks super cute, though daddy was a little disappointed that I had it done. The curls were super cute, but they were getting out of hand and a bit long to sit the way they should. They'll grow back later.

Before picture below:

And after:





I think it makes him look a lot more like his daddy...and less like a little girl =). Handsome little guy? I think so.

Laundry Chronicles: Pink

Now, you might think by the title that we are going to talk about a red sock that gets thrown in with the whites...but no sir. I like to keep you on your toes.

Pink is Curly's best friend. Curly usually keeps pink very close to her, especially during times of rest or sleeping. Pink is a staple in her life, like food and water. Pink is that important.

Now we go with a different topic that seems quite unrelated at the start but then you quickly begin to see where they come together. That's the predictability of this writer.

Curly is three. Curly is potty trained...during the day. Curly needs to learn to go potty at night. That's not a fun thing for this Mommy to think about because unlike all the hooligans that stay up til all hours of night (read 8pm bedtimers) and have no need of getting up to go potty at night, Curly and Smiles go to bed at 6pm. She can stay up until 6:30 or 7 on a lucky night. She sleeps until about 7am. (Yes. I miss when it was 8am before Smiles was born.)

...count the hours....it's okay, I won't tell if you use your fingers.

Yep. That's right. Long time no pee.

We tried a few nights and then I gave up and decided she just wasn't ready. She is a very heavy sleeper afterall, so heavy that I can't even wake her enough to sleep walk her to the bathroom. AND IF I get her to the bathroom, she sits there too sleepy to release enough to pee. Not. Working.

You would think that changing the sheets every night would be the biggest reason that I don't want to do this night time potty fiasco. But that's not entirely true. While I don't like changing the sheets so often, it does work well that she is on a bunk bed with two beds that have waterproof mattress covers and the bottom is still empty. Her sister is still waiting in a far off land to warm that little bottom bunk. So a quick switch of clothes and bunks and we are good until morning. I don't have to focus on stripping the bed until then.

No. The issue isn't only the sheet changing. The big issue is Pink. Pink the blankey.

See...wet bed = wet Pink. We have an extra bed. We don't have an extra Pink. No extra Pink means Mommy doesn't get a wink.

Unless...Mommy gets so lazy with the rules that she actually allows Curly to sleep with a slightly damp blankey. BUT THAT would NEVER happen here. I'm just saying that some Mom's might do that. Not me.

There is weeping and wailing. You would think that someone had died. For real. Or that monsters came out from under the bed. But no...

SHE JUST WANTS TO SLEEP WITH A STINKING PEED BLANKET!

And here is where I correct you again. You are probably thinking- 3 year old logic states that I need my blanket to sleep and I don't care if it stinks. Uh....NO. That would mean that the protesting of washing Pink was limited to the middle of the night or near naptime. And that's just not so.

Curly believes within the deepest parts of her that if Pink gets washed something horrible will happen. She is convinced of it. She didn't tell me so with words, but it's pretty clear that she believes that because if I tell her that I am going to clean Pink, she throws herself on the floor in attempted self sacrifice on behalf of Pink, begging me to spare her beloved best sleep mate.

If you saw it, trust me, you would surely think that I was an awful Mother who threatens to unravel Pink thread by thread right in front of her face.

It's tragic.

So, what's a Mommy to do? If you have any suggestions, feel free to share them. For now, Pink is my bi-weekly (okay, more like monthly) prisoner of war. If I'm lucky I get to free her before Curly becomes any the wiser.

As you can see, Pink has been around a long time. If you can consider three and a half years a long time...

Pink turning Smiles into a "manger".

Notice that pj's are usually still on when Pink is around. And that she isn't selfish with Pink. She shares her with Smiles all the time.

Meanwhile, Back at the Farm...

It's that time of year again. My favorite time of year- FALL. Time for our trip out to the farm for the pumpkin experience.

Try getting these two to look the same direction at the same time and you will understand why light was the least of my worries at the moment...

Curly loves animals. She was feeling pretty brave to get this close to the goat, and I think for good reason. Not long after the photo, Mr. goat came out of that hole pretty far... could scare the pants right off Miss Curly and nearly did.

They got to climb through a long tunnel (read large pipe) suspended in the air. It was fun for both of them, though Curly was too fast to get many photos of. Smiles LOVED the tunnel!






Then...well, then I think I forgot my brain over with that tunnel and got into a cow train with Smiles since he was too small to ride in it himself. It was a bit tight.

And then...


it started raining (actually down-pouring in wonderful Northwest style) on our way back.

I don't think you can actually tell from the pictures the severity of the rain, but I tell you it was some hard rain. My lap looked like I had stepped straight out of a pool when I got out. That's WITH Smiles sitting on it! All that said it was one of the most fun things I have done with Smiles and we both couldn't stop laughing. Curly was laughing right along with us in the car in front of us.

So...we needed something dry for a little while after that. Off to the "corn room" it was. They have a very fun room at Maris Farms that is filled with corn kernels. There are rubber ducks hiding in it so the little ones can search for them. Quite fun if you ask Curly, and Smiles was pretty interested this year too.

As you can see, the corn was good at soaking in the wet from our clothes with it's dry coating of dust. It actually worked quite well.

Smiles found a duck. That was fun and looked so tasty too.

WHAT!?! Sister stole his duck!!! That mean sister...she had to give it back. Can't have a fun day without a little issue between siblings, right?

He is quick to forgive her. You know that sunshine comes out of her...well, nevermind...he got his duck back.

(You can see where Smiles had a coat to protect him and where he didn't with the rain soaked pants.)

Now for little brother's revenge. He got to bury her in corn!

(She really looks scared, doesn't she...)

Mom helped Smiles finish the job.

Yep. Totally frightened out of her mind...I'm sure of it Smiles.

She asked to be painted with a pig, so that's what she got.

Then Smiles got to drive her on a tractor (don't worry, it doesn't really move).

He loved that. He never gets to lead.

I think we need to teach them about looking AT the camera for these shots...hmmm...

And then came the pumpkin picking. We adopted a rule from a mentor mom (who happens to be a good friend's mother) my first year of MOPS. Her rule was that the kids could get whatever pumpkin they wanted, but they had to be able to carry it to the car all by themselves. Love that rule. Except this year...

Maris kind of failed us. Their pumpkins were way too HUGE. We looked and looked, and they have tons of pumpkins, but we couldn't find one that she could pick up.

Luckily she was content to get the kind Smiles gets. The small ones. She got a small pumpkin and a gourd since she could carry both of them.

We weren't going to carve this year anyway, so it worked out just fine.

Curly with her pumpkin, and Smiles with his.

Happy Harvest friends!

If you would like to see last year's trip to Maris, click here.