a laugh at the dougers expense. again.

Just because I don't want forget... I had just finished up a jog w/ a friend, and we were outside chatting by the moonlight. All of a sudden my front door is thrown open and Dougie comes flying out of the house soaking wet (like dripping water from his hair, nose, clothes,etc.) and a little bloody.  He barks a few orders, "MOVE! FIND A WRENCH! NOW!" And all the while I am still frozen in the same spot utterly confused with different scenarios of what must have happened playing in my mind.  The first one being that he was scared of a burglar, running away, leaving my two kids...any maybe he was taking a shower fully clothed? The next one being that every toilet in my house must have turned into Old Faithful.  And dang it, now I have to spend the whole night cleaning poopy messes again.

I watched as he used his super-human-adrenaline strength and turned the water line to our house off -  with out a wrench! I guess I was too slow.

He was trying to be a manly man and fix our water heater himself.  After 3 days, 3 Home Depot trips, and 1 attic "mini-flood" it is as good as new.

P.S.  I tried so hard to be a good, not high maintenance, Africanized girl those 3 days with cold showers.  I've had many a cold shower or bucket shower over the years.  Mary Ellen Edmunds talks about how at times she purposely will turn the shower to cold and then say a prayer that somehow that hot water she would have used will find its way to someone in Africa.  But all I did was complain, curse Doug for taking so long to fix it, and sing really loud. 

Schools Out For the Summer!

Yesterday was my last day of preschool.  

It was a fantastic year.  Really great kids. They made my job entertaining every day.

And now...Summer is here!

And it still brings me joyful butterflies to my tummy.

 (I loved my apples and sweet notes.)

I am looking forward to a little more free time to hold, kiss, and laugh with my Rhetters.

And to have a little more time to play with this doodle bug too.

Who hums from morning to night non stop.

I love watching his LOVE of life.

p.s. "LLCNIA" spells Callin! 

After helping so many other kids write their name, I had no idea how exciting it would be to see my own child do this!

I'm 27.2 days and still the same

I don't know why I was fretting! :) Aging is fun at this stage.  Although I seriously think I am digressing in the maturity department. I have door bell ditched twice in the past week.  But then again I don't think I used to almost pee my pants with excitement and laughter back in the old days. 

I had a fantastic weekend full of lunches, and flowers, and sweet notes, and Oreo ice cream cake, and sweet boys, and home videos, and a clean car, and a nap, and LOST.  Who could ask for anything more!

the pantry bandit strikes again.

7:35 am.  10 oreos later he was discovered. 

(And like every other child he eats the cream first.)

I am thinking that I am going to have to change Rhett's morning nursing location to something that gives me a little more supervision visibility...what do you think?

And a word to those who are judging me at this very moment.  No, I don't have a house that is normally stocked full of junk food.  The Cheetos was a random fluke.  The Mint Newman O's are a dinner time bribe.  You have no idea how well this child will eat almost everything on his plate just for ONE post dinner dessert cookie.  And since we live in Houston, they are stale 24 hours after the package is opened, so it really is not much of a temptation to have a package in the house.

And yes,  the pantry is triply child proof locked, but Callin is not your typical child.

When life gives you lemons make lemonade...

Or I got a new one.  How about, "When your toilet regurgitates all of its contents from the past month or so (all over the whole bathroom, walls, sink, hall...), HECK with the lemonade."  My approach was:  Cry.  Call your visiting teachers.  Pay the plumber what ever he wants. Use approximately 6 rolls of paper towels.  Wear big yellow gloves.  Get several good pep talks from my mom.  Lysol. Pine Sol. Comet. Bleach.   Then take the night off and let your husband heat up leftovers and get the kids to bed while you go out to eat. 

Cal captured my emotions of the day so well. And yes, he did insist on wearing his tie on his pocket to church.

This just so happens to be the 200th post on "The Lewis Fam,"  (such a shame it has to be so crappy, no pun intended). 

grocery store tips? anyone?

Just as I found myself recently bragging how 2 kids is getting easier- my life goes something like this...

Within seconds meltdown #1 occurs because the cart with the blue car attached in the front is not available.  Cal barely made it to the cash register alive. I asked, distracted, threatened, pleaded, and bribed my way through the isles- while pushing the 7 foot long cart plus green car.  The checkout lady asks for my Kroger Card.  I proceed to dump the entire continents of my diaper bag out only to discover that indeed I did not have my keys.  (But I did find my single spare key a in the bottom of one pocket that I had had to use last week...and my keys were locked in my car. Few!) I push the mother load of a cart out to the car only to discover that I had lost the two year old somewhere between the checkout and the car.  Ah! Push The Mother back inside, quickly locate the Callinator on the nearest 50 cent horse ride, ask/threaten/plead/bribe my way again back into the green car, and finally make it out of there sweaty, frazzled, hungry, and tired.

Lessons learned:
1.  Kids and grocery shopping are like pickles and peanut butter- no matter how many times I try it, I still don't think they mix well. (Despite what Erin may think.) 
2.  Try hard not to lose your keys. Or your kids.

Cheetos at 7 am.  Why not?

Mom's Rule!

me, my hot mama, emily

doug (r), ben (l), lauren and the darling mother of 3 under two years old!

We miss our mom's today.  I am so glad that even though we grow up, move out, get married, they are still our moms. No matter what.  We love you!

Carpe Diem

This month I will be turning the grand old age of 27.  For some reason, all week I have almost been haunted by the fact that live is passing really quickly.  A month or so ago there was a high school party on my street and my two girlfriends and I stepped outside to house to get a better peak.  The cops showed up, everyone dispersed.  We asked a a couple of guys walking by what was going on.  In his coolest Southern-African-American-teen voice he asked, "Y'all grown?" As in "why do you old ladies want to know about the younger crowds life?"  Yes, I am almost 27.  Apparently that means I am growing up, but somehow I still fell about 15. 

I still have a lot I want to do in life, and I guess I just realized that I can't wait too long to do it.  I want to be less critical and more patient. I want to play my violin more.  I want to learn more about the New Testament. I want to be a birthing doula.  I want to adopt sweet babies.  I want to birth more babies.  I want to show my children the world and travel everywhere! I want to stay in better contact with my family and dear friends. I want to be a photographer.  I want to run another marathon.  I want to be able to communicate better.  I want to write in my journal more.

I guess I will start by seizing the tornado that hit my bedroom and be in bed by 10.

And one quick picture to show that I am working towards at least one of those goals. Too bad I know nothing about editing. (Good thing Photography Club starts next week!)

Little boys make me laugh.

Things that make motherhood so entertaining are:

Cal was watching me get dressed and said, "Hey! That's my braaaa-ccoli." Bra/Broccoli...same thing. 

 Cal walked in to my room right after waking up one morning and said, "What time is it mom? What are we doing today."  I proceeded to tell him he really should try and wait a few more years before stressing about such questions.  A day or two later he came running in after waking up and with a face full of smiles said, "I had the best dream about horses mom!"  That's better. 

Cal new found hobby of making ice cream sundaes and chocolate milk all by himself. Whenever he wants (or I should say whenever mom is not in the kitchen).  I have to say I am impressed at his ability to dish a large bowl of hard ice cream and pour milk with out spilling.  (I should clarify that he doesn't always use a bowl.  Sometimes I find him pouring the chocolate syrup directly into the carton...that works too.)

Me: "Let's go potty before bed." Cal: "I already went."  Me: "When?"  Cal: "Ummm, on Thursday I think.  At Mateus' house."   

Answering the door in my bathrobe to find a friend who was returning my two year old. (I hadn't even gotten in the shower and he escaped.)

Cal: "I like orange potatoes and green basketballs."  (Sweet potatoes and peas.) 

It was a good week!

p.s. Strawberry picking was oodles of fun as well. Even if the two year old did insist on wearing his shorts backwards.