Our Daughter Is Friendly Update

You know how on some blogs if the writer wants you to have access to another post they will write "click here" and you click on the word "here" to be transferred to that place? Yeah, I don't know how to do that. But this is an update to the following post that I did a few weeks ago about Hunter passing out our number for playdates and what-not:
http://mccaigers.blogspot.com/2009/04/our-daughter-is-friendly.html

We did have Hunter's new friend spend the night. It went really well and they had a great time. We had pizza (we got a Little Ceasar's--YEAH!!) and made sundaes. We watched the movie Despereux (msp?). They had trouble falling asleep, but that was to be expected. Hunter had a lot of trouble. She gets funky when she's out of her routine. This we know about her for sure. But she did eventually fall asleep. I think the last time I saw her awake it was close to midnight.

The next day we went to church and then that was it. We dropped her off at home. It was an interesting experience for me. It was a little foretaste of things to come. Trying to teach our children to "live in the world but not be of it". I say this because our new friend is a little bit more...let's say "worldly" than Hunter. Not in a super bad way. Let's just say that she has a tv with full cable in her room, unlimited access to the internet, no bedtime, no guidelines about healthy eating and she doesn't understand why Hunter's not allowed to eat in her bedroom, watch the news or drink Coke with breakfast. It made our house seem like Alcatraz. Hunter was definitely feeling it. Not that any of these are necessarily bad things but we just think Hunter's a little young to be expected to make good choices on her own in those areas. This was very difficult to explain to Hunter.

Oh, and I have since had to have a "birds and bees" talk with Hunter that was...Ahem... a little deeper than I was ready to have. (In my opinion, that's what happens when kids have unlimited access to tv. Many programs (even ones that are marketed toward kids) are full of sexual innuendo that they are not able to comprehend.)

We pray every day for God's grace and wisdom as we train up these children to be salt and light in a very, very scary world. And for at least a few good friends of the same mind-set to fall back on when the going gets tough.

I Am Love

Carter gave me this note yesterday. It says "You are love Momy." With one "m". And the picture is of me as a stick figure with my pony tail flowing out the back and three hearts above my head.

This is a keeper.

So's the kid who wrote it.

Summertime Is On It's Way or The Boys Are Hairy

Both of our boys were born with unbelievable amounts of hair. When they were babies, we used to say they were like Chia Pets: just add a little water and the next morning, their hair has grown two inches. Carter had his first "cut & blow-dry" at 5 months old.

Seriously.

About 3 summers ago, I noticed something not-so-fun about having boys with lots of hair. When it starts getting hot outside, they sweat. Their hair is wet all the time. And they start to smell like dogs. And yes, they were being bathed every day.

So, I started shaving them. At the first hint that the weather has warmed up for good (it hit 90 last weekend!), I do a "3" on the clippers and then I let it grow out over the next year with just a little trim to keep it out of their eyes and over their ears. Thought you might like to join us on this journey this year:


A whole winter's worth of hair.

Wow, that's a lot of hair.

Bring on Summertime!

About their new hair do:

Carter said, "My head is like a forest of tiny trees."

Parker said, "It feels like I have a balb head." [Not a mistake in spelling.]

Keep Your Sleep Friends To Yourself

At pre-k, Parker has to have "rest time". You know that this is not his favorite subject. He actually will fall asleep though (which is amazing because he rarely takes naps at home anymore), as long as he has two things: "Finger Blanket", which is a blue blanket that his Nana made for him and "Stitchy", a stuffed version of Stitch from Lilo and Stitch which was also given to him by Nana. His teachers call these items "Sleep Friends".

On Friday, he forgot Stitch.

When I picked him up from school we had this conversation:

Me: "So how was your day, Buddy?"

P: "Very good except for one thing."

Me: "What's that?"

P: "I forgot Stitch so Allison let me borrow her Smelly Cat."

Me: [Ewwww!] "Why is it called "Smelly Cat?""

P: "Because it smells a lot!"

Me: "What does it smell like?"

P: "Like nuffin!" (nothing)

Me: "Oh. So, were you able to fall asleep?"

P: "No because Smelly Cat doesn't smell the same as Stitchy."

Note to self: If your child starts to refer to his/her sleep friend as "Smelly" as though it's part of their name, it's probably time for a bath.

Of course it's probably the same thing as Hunter referring to her sleep friend (which she has had since she was a newborn) as "Brown Nye-Nye".

He's supposed to be pink.

RIP: Ded Brd

While I was cooking dinner, the boys were outside doing who-knows-what. This is normal. They came in to get me so that I could see what they had done.

They built a grave site for the baby bird and buried him in it.

Here they are sitting watch over it. You can see the mound in between the two chairs. And, in front of Parker is a stick with a marker attached to it that says (in Carter's handwriting): Ded Brd:

Close up of the mound:

I know it's hard to read, but this is the marker that says Ded Brd.

This memorial is located right next to the sidewalk where we walk to get up the stairs to the back deck. So that every time we walk by it we will always be reminded: Never, ever, under any circumstances, remove a baby bird from its nest.

Baby Bird Update

Parker just brought me one of the baby birds. It was dead.

He found it under the tree from yesterday. :(

Ummmm, What?

We have had strep throat running through our house. Last Wednesday, Parker had it. This Monday, Carter had it.

Yesterday Parker was acting like he was still feeling a little sick, so we had the following exchange:

Me: "How do you feel?"

Him: "Not so good."

Me: "What's wrong?"

Him: "My lungs are tackling my throat."

Ummmm, what?

The Kids Are Baby Bird Rescuers or The Kids Are Baby Bird Killers

So, yesterday I was on the phone with my very best friend in the whole wide world of 19ish years, Kim. We hardly ever get to talk anymore since we both went back to work this year. Well, I hesitate in calling what I do "work", but I'm away from home 3 days a week. Let's put it that way.

Anyway, Carter was on the couch sick with step throat, Hunter & Parker were playing in the back yard. Hunter comes running in, shouting something about Parker in a tree & baby birds.

Not a good sign.

I went outside (phone still in hand) and my eyes landed on a very sad looking tiny figure, squirming around on the trampoline. Parker was stuck up in a tree, holding another such figure.

Me to Kim: "Oh my, Oh heavens, Oh no, Oh dear. Papi, I have to call you back..."

Me to the kids: "What did you do???????!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Hunter: "We heard these babies crying in the their nest because their mommy abandoned them."

Me: "Honey, they just hatched. Their mommy probably went to look for some worms for them!"

Hunter: "Oh no, what have we done? Now she won't take care of them because we touched them! We didn't know! We didn't know!"

Parker (still in the tree holding the poor, helpless bird): "Help me! Help me!"

I instructed the boy to put the bird back in its nest very, very carefully. Then to get out of the tree. After I spent the next 5 minutes trying to figure out how to get the other baby back in the nest, I ended up putting it in a sand bucket, sending Parker back into the tree and having him lift the bird out and back into the next.

O. My. Gosh.

All I have to say is that there is a mommy bird weeping somewhere. I actually think I heard her when we were trying to get them back in the nest. I don't have the heart to go back and check and I hope the kids don't either because they will be devastated if they find the little babies not alive in there.

What a harsh lesson.

Our Daughter Is Friendly

It's fairly easy for Hunter to make friends. (Keeping them is another story.) Everywhere we go it seems that she makes a new "best friend". She doesn't seem to care about race, color, creed, or sex for that matter, which is a very good thing. At the lake, the mall, the park, McDonald's Playland, she can be spotted dragging some poor kid by the hand over to meet her mom.

At school this usually takes the form of handing out our phone number to new friends that she makes on the playground or in carline. She's devastated when they don't call. Because, really, if she came home with a girl's phone number, I probably wouldn't let her call them either. But this week we had a couple of interesting experiences.

On Thursday when I picked her up she informed me that she "has a friend coming over today at four and another one spending the night on Saturday night."

Ok, let's go over this again. Parents don't just drop their kids off at the home of someone they've never laid eyes on before. Especially not to spend the night.

I told her, "You did the right thing by giving them your phone number. If they call [which they won't] then I'll talk to the mom and maybe we can meet at the park or something."

Right as I'm finishing up this sentence and pulling into the garage, my cell phone rings (we use my cell phone as our home phone now) and it's a lady named Heather who states that they just moved here and haven't met anyone and that my daughter gave her daughter Avery our phone number and would we like to meet at the park to play for a little while. (!)

Wow. I was shocked. Sadly, on Thursday I had some major dental work done and was in no kind of mood to take Hurricane McCaigers to the park. (That would be a different story for a different post entitled "You Know You Might Be A Redneck When...")

Anyway, Hunter was devastated. But I promise that I'll call them next week and see if they want to try again.

Then yesterday she comes home and runs up to her room to make preparations for her friend spending the night. Now, Hunter has only had one friend spend the night and it was on her birthday last year. It went well but just isn't something that I'm really into. What if they fight? What if they won't go to sleep? What if she wants to go home in the middle of the night? (I pulled that one when I was in 3rd grade.) I can't imagine letting her spend the night with someone unless it was someone that we really knew and trusted.

Again, "Hunnie, if her mom calls then we'll talk about it. Her mom will probably want to meet us and see our house. Maybe we could go to the park together...IF she calls. And then we'll talk about spending the night." About 5pm last night the phone rings. It's a little girl named Sydney, wanting to talk to Hunter. After they talk for a minute Hunter comes and says, "Sydney's mom wants to talk to you."

And so, I talk to Sydney's mom. She's saying "are you sure it's ok" and "Sydney's really excited about it" and "Hunter also invited her to go to church with you on Sunday, are you sure that's ok too?"

Wow. My daughter, the little evangelist. I don't know what we've gotten ourselves into here, but I figure a movie (I rented Despereux for them), maybe some pizza & dessert, playing outside, then church tomorrow. (I'm just assumming that "sleep" will come somewhere between "playing outside" and "church tomorrow". Please God, let it come.)

Should be interesting. Say a prayer for us.

I've already threatened the boys with bodily harm if they pester them to death. And Parker promised to "not even look at Brittney when she comes".

Well buddy, her name is Sydney and I don't know if you have to go that far, but I'll take it.

Well Okay, As Long As There Are Napkins...

The kids and Brent eat breakfast together every morning: Organic Oatmeal and Juice. This morning Hunter missed breakfast because she came and climbed in bed with me for a little while. After the boys came back upstairs, I overheard this exchange between father and daughter:

H: "Daddy, Carter & I have made plans to play in my room right now but I missed breakfast. So, do you think that I could bring my oatmeal into my room if I bring a bunch of napkins?"

Daddy: "Ummmmm, No. We don't eat in our bedrooms, you can go eat your breakfast in the kitchen and come right back."

H: "Oh, ok."

Hunter ran back to her room where Carter was waiting and Brent and I overheard this conversation between them:

H: "Daddy said "no" about eating my oatmeal in my room."

C: "But, did you tell him about the napkins???!!!"

It makes me laugh to think of them scheming to be able to have their playdate and eat breakfast at the same time. I wish I had overheard the conversation wherein one of them (probably Carter) emphasized the importance of mentioning that there would be napkins involved.

Because that might help their cause.

Parker's Brain Is Spinning

We had a beautiful weekend and we spent a lot of time outside. At one park that we go to they have these "spinning things", for lack of a better term. The kid can stand on the bottom or sit criss-cross applesauce and then you spin them around--it can go pretty fast. I'll take a picture next time I'm there so you can see what I'm talking about. Anyway, my kids LOVE those things. It makes me dizzy just standing next to them while they're doing it.

On Saturday Parker just kept spinning and spinning. He would sit criss-cross applesauce on it and spin until he couldn't hold on with his hands anymore and then he would let it keep spinning him while his head dragged along the ground. Then he would stand up for a minute, leaning to one side with his eyes still shaking back and forth. Then do it all over again.

I was beginning to get worried. So, each time he stopped I would say "Are you ok?" so that I could assess whether or not there might be any permanent neurological damage on this go-around. Finally he stretches his ear up toward my face and says, "Look in my ear, can you see that my brain is still spinning?"

Ice Cream Sundaes and Pet Rocks

I am more of a plan "executor" than a plan "maker". If you tell me what your idea is, I can figure out a way to make it happen. I don't mind organizing who is responsible for what and making sure that everything is done on time. But the plan itself must come from someone else b/c I am not a visionary. Or very creative for that matter.

Case in point: being a room mom.

I did a post at the beginning of the school year about the fact that I'm co-room mom for Hunter's 3rd grade class (a mistake I will not make in the future). It hasn't been that bad, but it has been a lot to say the least. Two of the responsibilities of the room mom are to plan and execute a Winter and a Spring class party. This requires ideas for crafts, games and snacks. ugh.

Don't get me wrong, I COULD do it by myself if I absolutely had to, but I would a)not be very happy about it and b)probably not do a very good job. I am a "less is more" sort of person and it doesn't seem like that would go over well in the planning of these class parties. Or any kind of party for that matter, since parties are about celebrating and having a good time, excess seems to be a requirement. And that's difficult for me.

Anyway, I've been thankful for my co-room mom, Michelle. She's like me in that she does everything at the last possible second (is there any more productive way to do it? Wait, don't answer that) and is ultra-flexible. But she's also an "idea person". Excellent.

The point? Today was Hunter's class Spring Party. This is important for several reasons. The most important of which is that it marks the last major event in my career as a room-parent. (WOO-HOOOO!) Also, we want the kids to have fun celebrating Spring and the end of the school year. (Which I can't believe is upon us already).

Michelle came up with the idea for a Zen Garden and Pet Rocks and a Sundae Party. Photos of which are as follows. The kids really had a great time decorating their rocks into pets. I wish I had gotten more photos, but (of course) my camera's battery was dying.

All this to say, "Happy Spring!" Spring Break is next week and we're just going to be Chillaxin' at home.

Awesomeness.



Sundae toppings. Yum.

Hunter and her Sundae.

Decorating pet rocks.

This is Hunter's pet rock: "Samantha McCaig". She's laying on the beach on her beach towel, under her umbrella, next to beautiful blue water, surrounded by pebbles and seashells.

Man, I wish I was a pet rock right now.

This one belongs to a boy next to Hunter. I liked it b/c it looks like it's really laying on the beach and the blue rocks are the ocean. Cuteness.

By the way, most of the boys were confused by this craft and couldn't figure out what the point was of a pet rock. Or a Zen Garden. I said, "Just keep the rocks in the box until you get home, then do whatever you want with them".

Boys...