Strictly for your entertainment...

Just because I love you...yes you...all my blogging friends who repeatedly tell me how funny all of the things that I blog about are...I'm going to give you a rundown of my day.

Backtrack a little...you all know this is going to start with some weird symptom or sickness because all of my really good stories do you know...

Sunday Noah is playing in the yard and I, being the ever attentive mom that I am, notice a huge well a knot on the back of his neck. I thoroughly examine the knot and am trying not to jump to conclusions (which I have a tendency to do). I call the pediatrician who says it would be a good idea to take a look at it so off we go today to the doctor's office.

So I have both kids in tow, and of course I slyly hide Lilly's pacifier in my pocket before we go in, because of course my nineteen month old doesn't suck on a paci, I mean really...

The visit goes well...the knot is a cyst that is common in kids after a mosquito or tick bite. Yes, my child is the only kid I've ever heard of sprouting a marble sized knot in his neck because of a bug bite but you know...

So now to the humorous part of my day. I am totally sick and I mean SICK and tired of buying toys that my kids play with for 2 seconds and then they are done with. So I decide to venture to the parent-teacher store to find some activities that will keep them occupied during these long summer days that will last longer than 5 minutes. Hellooo...all of my teacher friends...why did you not warn me it's not a good idea to take 2 small kids in this store??? Basically it's full of fun games, books, puzzles, art supplies, etc...and the kids want it all and I mean all...including a $11 dollar container of plastic toys that I'm pretty darn sure I saw at the dollar tree the other day...

OK back to my point. I have managed to steer them past the rack of plastic critters and the stuffed animals and have located a very helpful lady to assist me. I basically tell her that I'm looking for some activities that will be good for Noah to expand on his preschool skills and to get ready for kindergarten as well as some games that are fun and educational for both of the kids. She was great. She pointed out some great games, puzzles, etc. Noah is also asking the poor lady 20 questions about bugs, about human hearts, about art, etc. etc. Let me interject something here, Noah is somewhat like his mother...we are a little nerdy when it comes to books, art supplies, and educational games and sets. I mean seriously the two of us together could have spent hours and hundreds of dollars in the store.

BUT...I forgot to mention little princess, who before now had been riding in her stroller. Well all at once she decides she had enough and she commences to fuss. We give her a delightful puzzle with about 20 pieces which she plays with for a good while. Then I almost make it to the checkout counter and she throws it down. Puzzle pieces go flying and we manage to gather them back up. Nice helpful sales lady hands it back to Lilly and she does it again. Now she's crying and snotting and drooling and I'm trying to pay and Noah is informing the lady his middle name and his address and maybe his blood type (OK I'm kidding about the blood type)

So we finally make it out the door when Lil spots a $40 stuffed frog. Did I mention the child is obsessed with frogs. I mean she loves them. Well she points and wails and moans and I keep right on trucking to the car. I"m sure the salespeople were glad to see me and my circus go right out the door...

We finally get to the car and where Lilly falls asleep in about 5 minutes. After that, we make it home with our purchases and the kids actually played with their activities for about an hour while I made lunch. After lunch we played with them some more and then spent the rest of the afternoon outside in the yard. It was fun once we made it home.

Oh and if you're wondering what we found, Noah picked out two really cool puzzles. They are about 50 pieces and they are wooden and he is AWESOME at puzzles. Seriously, the kid has been doing puzzles since he was 2 and he's much better at them than I am.

We got Lilly a set of brightly colored pegs that you put in a foam board. You can then stack them on each other or sort them or count or do colors or whatever. They have them in the preschool and kindergarten rooms both and she really loved them. Everything I read says this is a good age to work on motor skills so I guess that' s why she likes them . I set her up in her high chair and she goes to town....

After Daddy got home I had a photo session to shoot while Lil napped and Noah helped Travis plant our garden.

Yes, we grow a garden, as funny as this sounds. We have had a garden pretty much every year since we got married. We grow tomatoes, squash, corn, peppers, cantelope, and this year we're taking a stab at pumpkins and green beans. Noah loves it and his favorite thing is to go pick cherry tomatoes and eat them right off the vine. Also it gives Travis and excuse to haul out the tractor and wear his beloved overalls and to play in the dirt with his little boy...and Lilly's favorite thing..well she just loves to eat!

So I suppose this is a long post about nothing in particular...

Oh yeah, one other thing...my kids are pretty good eaters. They eat vegetables, fruits, etc. They love broccoli, green beans, squash. But...I still use any exscuse in the world to sneak more veggies in their diet. I'm going to do a post soon about some of the recipes i use that makes it easy to get kids to eat carrots, spinach, squash, etc. and some of the cookbooks where I found this stuff at.