Mommy, am I killing you?

Who gets something on every shopping trip?

2011-11-26T15:18:00.000-05:00

On the trip to see Ack-Ack try on her wedding dress, we found some great dresses for the girls. It was not our plan to buy dresses for the girls on this trip. The second we saw Abby in the dress, we had to take it home. Harper refused to try hers on, even though she was more than happy to walk around the store with her clothes off. Doesn't matter, the dress looks exactly the same, just a little smaller. Please note that the girls are not going to be flower girls. Thanks Nana for the dresses!

Because she is two....

2011-11-26T15:09:00.000-05:00

We were out watching my sister try on her wedding dress. Harper wanted to take off her clothes too. Yes, we were out in public like this. No, I have no shame.

We love Aunt Ack-Ack

2011-11-25T21:10:00.001-05:00

Ack-Ack and David had us over for tree decorating. We all love Aunt Ack-Ack and Uncle David.

A conversation with all three

2011-11-24T22:20:00.000-05:00

Wearing my Big Sister's Boots and Lookin' Cute!

2011-11-13T13:21:00.006-05:00

What is going on in this picture...you decide

2011-10-12T22:39:00.000-04:00

Option A: Harper loved my glasses so much that she wanted to eat them.
Option B: Harper saw a bug on my face and wanted to eat it.
Option C: Harper is telling me deep thoughts about her political views regarding the kids song at the kids sing a long.
Option D: Harper is upset that she is wearing an outfit made entirely out of Abby's hand me downs, including a dress that is a 3T and is way to big but one of Abby's favorites so she forces it on Harper.
Option E: I am getting the sweetest, sloppiest baby kiss from the cutest two year old. She is smiling. I am smiling.

So what is wrong with you?

2011-09-25T22:00:00.001-04:00

I have not gotten along very well with bugs this year. Earlier in the year, I was attached by chiggers and had to be put on antibiotics. I will spare the details on the blog. For a visual, when I showed my friend Meg who is a medical professional, she responded with "that is pretty gross. Go get it checked out."

Recently, I got a tick or spider bite. I will not spare you the details so stop now if you don't want to know the rest. Here is a picture of the bite. It is about the size of three quarters and it is on my back. Gross, I know.

Turns out that I have a tick borne illness. It is not Lyme disease which is good, but I still am bad. The fever is gone. The bug bite is almost gone. The weakness in my legs is not gone. I am walking around like I am lame. I stagger. I am slow. People at work keep asking what is wrong with me. I tell them, but then I regret it. They regret asking. So now I am telling the world: Stay away from ticks.

Football For The Perrymans

2011-09-17T13:04:00.001-04:00

This year we signed William up for flag football. Will is a go with the flow little guy so he was lukewarm to the idea. Even with his tepid acceptance of playing football, Will was thrilled about playing outside with little boys his age. He could also see that his Daddy (yes, the 32 year old who still wants to play football but has aged out of the rec league) was super excited so it helped Will get in the right spirit. We bought the mouth guard, cleats, socks, uniform and practice jersey. We were ready. Then I learned that practice would be every day of the week until school started. Wait what?

Yes that is right, every day.
Oh my gosh, what have we signed up for?
This is crazy.
I have learned more than I ever had about rushing. I get home at 5:30. We have to leave the house by 5:40. In that ten minutes, everyone has get out of the car, to go to the bathroom, eat something, change clothes and get re-buckled into car seats. Needless to say, there is a lots of noise. Most of the noise is me yelling "GO, GO, GO, GET IN THE CAR!!"

When we get there, the calm sets in. I put my chair down in the grass, arrange the snacks and the water balls and settle in for the1.5 hours of watching practice. Practice is the exact opposite of the getting ready time. It is quiet. Time passes slowly. The girls play aimlessly and there is nothing to accomplish. I am shocked at myself saying this, but I actually look forward to sitting out in the grass next to the football field.

Now that school has started, we only practice twice a week and have games on Saturday morning at 8am. We are supposed to be there at 7:15, which we never have made it on time, however it is okay. I think the coaches understand and expect us all to come running up with our kids and chairs and waterbottles at 7:35.

Strange enough, I tear up every time Will's little team takes the field. I love that little guy running out on the field ready to take on a game challenge. I think of him as a tiny baby in my arms and the way Matt dreamed of the day when HIS boy could play football. I think of all the other mommies thinking this exact same thought about their sons and I get all choked up....until I snap back to reality of Harper spilling her drink, Abby loudly requesting bubble gum 400 times in a row until I cave, and the slew of activities that I need to prepare my brain for the rest of the day. The pride and tears are a fleeting moment but they are worth it. I am sure we will sign up for football again next year.

Harper Turns Two!

2011-09-10T22:42:00.033-04:00

My little lady turned 2. I am so excited that my littlest is so grown. She is so full of excitement and words and giggles. She can sing Happy Birthday but it sounds like "happy Bourth Day to yewww" I loved it. Here is she is opening presents. She got a towel (because she loves towels) and a stroller (because she loves strollers).

Here she is doing her absoulte favorite thing in the whole world: playing with both Abby and Will. The best part is that they are playing willingly for a few minutes. That makes it even better.

Harper's new favorite trick is to take take pictures with her eyes closed. She smiles a big smile and closes her eyes. She thinks it is funny and laughs and laughs after the picture. Here she is with Aunt Ack-Ack and with Matt.

Happy Birthday Harper. You are awesome even with your eyes closed in every picture.

Happy First Day of 1st Grade!!

2011-09-06T21:55:00.001-04:00

Will started the first grade today! He was all packed and ready to go. We have had lots and lots of rain so we had first day of school pictures in the kitchen. Check out the smiles on these faces.

How do you spend time during a hurricane?

2011-08-29T22:35:00.012-04:00

By running and playing in the gutter of course! There was no thunder, no lightening and the girls wanted to play outside. Why not? I want them running and and playing in the puddles. When they laid down in the gutter full of rain water I was a bit concerned because it was gross, but I didn't stop them. Nothing says youth like playing in the rain.

Very proud of their wet clothes. You can see that Abby is contantly talking. Nothing new here.

Harper is in full run. I think she saw one of the cats.

Sparkles

2011-08-25T22:05:00.000-04:00

Abby let me know the other day that her name is Sparkles. Sometimes she goes by Sparkles Abby (Abby is her middle name) and sometimes it is just Sparkles.

It's cool. It could be worse.

Cornhole with the Perrymans

2011-08-20T08:11:00.065-04:00

Ah, it is summer! I love summer. We are enjoying every bit of the warm (okay, super hot) weather. One of the constant activities for the summer is cornhole. We play with our neighbors in the back yard and have a great time. Here we are one random Saturday night. Please note the baby on the cornhole board.

Harper has the best seat in the yard. Abby is posing.

At the other end of the yard is the other half of the teams. Please note that Matt is my partner in this game. Usually, he ops for Kevin as his Cornhole partner. Kevin is really good. Matt is too. I am...well...getting better. I have had one or two great games but mostly I throw all over the place. It might be because of the distracting children. Please note there are no distracting children on Matt's side.

Matt's boards are the ones with the Carolina Tar Heel on it.

So why do we have custom boards?

Because it is really fun. Even I like it and I don't like most games. I have played in the street on days when the ground is too wet to play in the grass. I have played past my bed time. I have let my kids stay up past bed time so that we can play one more game.

So where are the children during all of these events?
Usually we serve them dinner and let them run around the house and yard to burn off energy. They have a great time and entertain themselves until they fall into bed exhausted. Really, a win win situation.

So how serious are we about this game?

We are so serious we have played in corn hole tournament. My partner and I did...um...just okay in the tournament. Matt and his partner Kevin did great. They came in second place and I was so proud. This was not Matt's first tournament.

An amazing team.

And here is me in the game!

So come over any time, let's drag the boards into the street (not actually drag, because Matt would have a heart attack if someone moved his boards improperly) and throw some cornhole!

Sunscreen and All Three

2011-07-18T06:00:00.001-04:00

I have noticed that sun protection is a major duty of motherhood. It is your duty as a mommy to cover everyone from head to toe in spf 50. The responses come in varying degrees from the children who are super excited to get to the pool/beach/park/away from me and normally don't want to stand still for anything, including sunscreen. Their responses fall into the following catergories:

1. The screemer. It is too cold. It smells. It got into my eyes. This response usually comes with jumping around, running away and loud opposition.

2. The helper. This one wants to help. They grab the sunscreen from you and apply it in thick, uneven piles all around their body. They are proud and will not let you help them smooth it out or apply sunscreen to their back. The astute mother has to be steathy and smooth, cover, and reapply to the face without them knowing. This usually comes in the form of a hug or an unassuming back rub. My kids have also sunscreened my car before. Don't worry, it does not take off the paint.

3. The runner. This is much more sneaky than the screemer. This response includes a smile from the child and a darting run in the opposite direction from the sunscreen applier. The baby likes to run towards the road. This one gets me particuallay out of breath because of the chase and then the constant arm holding while applying the sunscreen.

4. The negociator. The baby can't usually handle this one because she doesn't have enough words but the six year old can do it with ease. They list the reasons they don't need sunscreen. My favorites have included that it is cloudy, or cold, or we had it yesterday. This also comes in the form of "just cover Abby first. I will get my sunscreen next."

5. The grown up. Yes, this is my husband who is very fair and will burn easy. He goes to the extremes of all of these. He puts on too much, or not every much because he is not going to be in the sun very long. I am not responsible for putting sunscreen on the grown up but I do heckle.

Whatcha doin' Harper?

2011-07-16T22:16:00.000-04:00

Harper loves towels. I don't know where her love comes from but she just loves them. She requests them. There is more than once that she has asked me (yelled at me) "TOWEL, MOMMY, TO-WEL!!" I picked Harper up from school one day this summer:

Me: Harper are you excited to go see Will and Abby.
Pause.
Harper: Um, no. Towel.

She also steals them. I no longer am able to keep a dish towel on my oven. She steals them every time. She also hoards them. I found 4 towels in her bed one time.
Matt and I are okay with her love for towels. The calm her down. Let the little girl enjoy her simple pleasure.

Classic Harper: Two fingers in her mouth and a dish towel.

Who needs two shoes when towels make her this happy?

This is the madness that Harper is chillin' in. Good thing she has a towel.

Painting Update

2011-06-29T21:47:00.000-04:00

We survived painting our dinning room. http://mommy-am-i-killing-you.blogspot.com/2011/06/this-is-what-crazy-looks-like.html
And I love it! The color looks good. The furniture is back in its place.
The question on all of your minds: "Anna, did you let the kids help?" No, no I did not. I let them clean up paint spatters but that was it. I just couldn't manage three kids with paint brushes.

This is what crazy looks like

2011-06-26T22:30:00.000-04:00

Ever think you might want to paint your dining room? Ever had hard time deciding on paint colors? Yes, yes, this is a normal grown up dilemma. It is not too challenging, there are no real consequences in this decision and it should not be a big deal. Until you add three kids.

I want my kids to be helpful, inquisitive and excited to try new things. Until it comes to painting my dining room. Still, I was ready for this and purchased plastic sheeting so they could have a chance to paint too. Then the paint started flying. And then the paint started dripping. I couldn't clean it up fast enough. This is what house cleaning nightmares are made of.

Here are my little helpers working away. They are darn cute and having the best time. However, there is paint everywhere. There is paint on Will's shoulder. I found paint on the bottom of Abby's feet (AFTER she walked on the hardwood floors). There was paint on me.

And yet, I have still not picked a color for my dining room. I welcome your input.

Why did I try this?

2011-06-21T22:00:00.002-04:00

What possessed me to do this? I am sitting on the couch on a normal Wednesday night. I was falling asleep when I remembered that we were having a fudge competition at work the next day. I got up, put my glasses back on, and stumbled into the kitchen. I googled a fudge recipe and got started.

I woke up as the fudge started to boil.

I looked back at the recipe and saw that it was labeled as "advanced." (please note the beverage in the picture). What had I gotten myself into? It turns out, I got myself into a 4 hour fudge recipe. 4 hours!!! Who does anything in the kitchen for 4 hours!!!

Since I was already 20 minutes in, I decided to stay with it (and I was out of sugar so I couldn't start over). I kept with it. I watched for the boiling. I waiting to take it off the stove until it started creating soft balls in cold water. I only used a wooden spoon. I didn't stir when I added the butter even when every part of me wanted to. Matt came home from work around midnight and I shocked him because I was still awake. Finally it was time to taste it....and it was...was...

Gross. Something was wrong. Very wrong. It was all granular and sugary, not fudgy. It tasted bad. I was hoping it would, I don't know, magically change over night so I didn't throw it away, I put it in the fridge overnight. The next morning, I could not face the fudge. On the way into work, I stopped by the grocery store and bought some professionally made fudge. I put it on a plate and called it my own. In addition to the store bought fudge, I took my "wrong" fudge in to work. No one ate it and I would not admit to bringing it in.

The winner of the work fudge competition? Me. With my store bought fudge. And I happily accepted the prize.

Farm box and my own veggies

2011-06-16T20:13:00.001-04:00

I caved. I bought a co-op box of farm produce every week. I know, I know, I planted a garden so I shouldn't have to buy a box, right? Wrong. My garden has so far only produced 3 tomatoes (the squirles have gotten the rest) and the handful of green beans that I have referenced before. There is some squash coming, but it is not here yet.
So I have had two deliveries from the farm delivery and let me tell you, I can't get enough. I am so excited on Thursday afternoon to come home and see what is in my box. It is like Christmas, and all my gifts are produce. The kids and Matt eat relatively little amounts of produce so it is really all for me. So far, I have gotten mint, potatoes, tomatoes. squash, green bean (yes, I know I am growning green beans, don't rub it in), corn an blueberries.
Check out the box. Tell me you wouldn't be excited to see this on your kitchen on Thursday afternoon.

Here is something I made with the produce. Again, I was the only one in my house who would eat this without making a huge fuss (including Matt). It was darn good.

The moral of this blog is that even if you are trying to grown your own veggies, a suppliment of fresh and local produce from a farm co-op makes you feel good however a bit disappointed in your own gardening skills.

Dinner At The Pool

2011-06-06T22:04:00.002-04:00

Why do I like to go to the pool and eat dinner during the summer?
1. There are fun people there to talk to.
2. No clean up. It doesn't matter what the kids drop on the ground, the pool company will just hose it off after we leave.
3. Dinner is more of an event. Eat a little. Run after the baby. Jump in the pool. Repeat.
4. The kids are pooped afterward. They do everything but ask to get into bed when we get home.
5. Popcorn counts as part of dinner.

I have a hobby...I grow things

2011-06-04T13:49:00.003-04:00

I happen to be ridiculously proud of my backyard garden. I am not a good gardener and I have never really done this before, but I thought I would give it a try. And I love it. I show everyone who comes over to my house. I ask other people about their gardens (and then ask to see them). I come home at lunch to water the plants and then hurry back to work for meetings. I take the girls outside at night to water the plants and look for new veggies growing. Most of the garden looks like this. Yes, those are snap peas and carrots coming up!!! I know, I am so excited to see little things coming out of the ground! I bet you are excited too.

On the side of the yard, I am growing yellow squash. I grew them from seeds so I have a few too many. I hope this means that I am going to have lots of squash. So far, I only have two squash. But they are way cool!!

My green beans are my pride and joy. I also grew them from seed so have way to many for my small garden. And they took off! They are taller than me. Please note that my models were very excited to show how tall the beans are.

On Friday night, I picked my first set of green beans. And here they are, please count all 7 of them! After
looking at them for a while, showing the kids, calling Matt, I did throw away the 7th bean because it looked a bit funny.

If you are not blogging, what are you doing?

2011-05-24T19:20:00.001-04:00

I am reading, that is what. I have been addicted to reading two books, The Sparrow and then it's sequel, Children of God. When I say addicted, I could not stop reading them. I could also not stop thinking about them. I even dreamed about them once or twice. I would read the books during my lunch break at work. I read them while Abby watched her show at night. On our car trip to Wilmington, I told Matt the whole plot line of the first book and then began reading the second book out loud to him. I am normally not into science fiction (except for the Twilight series but I think that is more tween drama than sci fi) but these books did a great job building an alternate world and making me interested. The main character lost his faith and then refound it. I could not get enough. So that is what I am up to when I am not on my blog...well this, and working, and raising kids, and trying to keep the house clean and the cats fed....poor cats, they at a lot of late night meals when I wanted to finish just one more page.

Weeknight Dinners

2011-05-20T20:22:00.002-04:00

My neighbor Jen texts me from time to time and asks if we want to combine resources for dinner. On the nights that I actually check my phone, I say yes (my friends know that am pretty bad about checking my phone...my bad, I am just forgetful). These nights are a God send. Jen will bring over whatever she was cooking. I throw together half of a meal and we combine whatever dinner resources we have to feed the mass of kids. Here is a sample of one night: baked potatoes, carrots, chicken, wheat thins, left over spinach dip, grapes and honeydew melon. If Jen wasn't here, I would only be feeding my kids grapes and potatoes and milk (they would only eat the grapes). Together, we are giving them a well organized meal that they will actually eat.

As we prepare the meal, the kids entertain themselves. Harper still hangs out with Jen and me. Harper is trying out some melon in the picture below.

After dinner, we sit out side and talk as the kids run around and burn off energy. I think Will snapped this picture last week on either Tuesday or Friday. Please notice the kid toys and the kids scattered about. I think we look relaxed.

Please Note: Mag Ridge families are invited over anytime. All you need to bring is something to contribute to dinner and your kids to play with my kids. Text me first, but be prepared for a few days lag time in the reply.

Mom and Dad share everything

2011-05-17T19:13:00.000-04:00

The whole Perryman family was riding in the car. I handed Matt 5 dollars because he had a meeting the next day and didn't have money for the tolls.
From the backseat, William asked: "Mom, why did you give daddy your five dollars?"
I said: "For the Tolls."
Will said: "But Mommy, that was your five dollars."
I said: "Yes Will, that is okay. That is Daddy's five dollars also. Mommy and Daddy are married. That means we share everything."
Will said: "Everything?"
I said: "Yes, everything. We share money, our cars, our house, our room. We even share our kids."

That made Will laugh. Then a blessed moment of silence as Will processed these thoughts. This is when Abby piped up too.

Abby said: "I think you should just share one kid. MEEEE!!!!"

I think my middle girl needs some more attention.

Harper's Head Bands

2011-05-11T19:21:00.004-04:00

Harper likes to wear headbands. I think she likes to wear them because she has to rip them off of Abby's head and then Abby screams like a crazy woman. I am so proud of Harper, she is learning cause and effect.

Harper hasn't quite learned the correct wear them, but she has her own style.

She is teaching our neighbor Kevin how to wear them too.

You two wear those head bands proudly.

Abby's 4th Birthday

2011-05-09T21:56:00.002-04:00

Abby is 4 years old. My little lady has grown into a feisty, original, hilarious little girl. For her birthday, Abby and I put together an Afternoon Tea. Here is Abby at her birthday party looking like a little lady in the amazing party dress that my sister bought for her. Abby has worn it to school twice now.

Check out the party table. Abby and I set the table and got the goodies arranged together. We put it on the table together, Abby and me. Abby didn't help a bunch, but she did put out the napkins. I cut, chopped, set, sweated and cleaned. It was her birthday, so it is okay that I did the lion's share of work.

Because her birthday this year happened to fall on Mother's day, we decided to invite the mommies to join us (me). The little girls ran around outside in their pretty dresses. The mommies sat in the kitchen in our pretty dresses. We drank pink lemonade and wine. For clarification, the little girls drank pink lemonade and the mommies drank wine. My neighbor was outside and took a picture of us all together. I have decided we need more events to wear pretty party dresses!

Paw Dad's Challenge

2011-05-07T19:55:00.001-04:00

Nana and Paw Dad came to visit for Matt's Birthday, Abby's Birthday and Becca's Birthday. As part of their pile of presents that they brought for everyone, they brought butterfly nets for the kids.

My mom offered one of Paw Dad's quarters to the first kid who could catch a bug. This kept the big kids busy for at least 20 minutes as they ran around looking for bugs. Harper chased after the big kids for a while and then just decided to sit on the deck with her butterfly net. I don't think anyone caught a bug, but Paw Dad had the quarters ready.

Saturday morning real time

2011-04-26T19:20:00.006-04:00

It is hard to be a 3, almost 4 year old. Mommy makes you do things you don't want to do like change your too short dress, not eat candy and also not fuss about it. This little video is from Saturday. I would like to say this is the first time this has happened, but alas, it is not the first and not the last. My favorite part is Abby dancing around singing "mommy is mean."

Open scene: Abby just got out of time out for fussing. The timer is still beeping and Mommy has not yet turned it off before we have a big talk about why Abby had a time out. Mommy is trying to talk to Abby about her behavior. Mommy tries to engage Daddy in this conversation to get another parent (who is logical, because Abby is not) involved.

Background activity: Will runs to sit with Daddy. Daddy is on the couch because he hurt his back. He has not been off the couch for two weeks.

Outside of the frame activity: Harper is running around naked. Mommy is trying to get her dressed so that we can go to Target. Note the dress and shoes in Mommy's hands.

Abby and Mommy conversation: Don't be fussy. Abby will get time outs for being fussy. Mommy shows Abby her fussy behavior. Yes, Mommy did say "Don't be a fuss face." That makes Abby laugh. Mommy is trying to deflect the conversation by talking about the upcoming birthday party, Target, anything.

Abby actions: She stomps. Continues to fuss. Abby asks about candy. Abby does her 'mommy is mean' dance. Abby earns an additional time out.

End scene: Mommy checks the fridge for grocery needs, checks her purse for money, and resets the timer for an additional time out. It took a bit, but Abby did finish her time out. Abby did not stop fussing right away, but we can hope that she will stop fussing before she turns, best guess, 10 years old.

A Chocolate Doughnut

2011-04-25T22:16:00.003-04:00

What started out as a great idea to buy chocolate doughnuts turned into a back seat mess. Harper knows when the big kids get something and she will not be left out. Thank goodness Matt caught this on film.

I should not let Will hold the camera

2011-04-18T21:50:00.030-04:00

This is what happens. Here I am, minding my own business, sitting in my family room, enjoying some down time. I know it is down time because I am sitting. What is going on around me? Well, I am not sure exactly what is going on. All I know is that it looks like this picture to the left, just in real life it is much louder. This picture does not show the wild little guy behind the camera. He was busy snapping pictures.

Here is another true life picture that Will took. I look like I am on a mission. Abby looks like she is digging through drawers. Harper looks like she is about to go to Target. If this is a Saturday, it is a really good chance we are getting ready to go to Target.

Getting ready to go anywhere explains this next picture. Thank you Will, for snapping pictures while I am giving out stern directions (yelling). I bet I was telling him not to take my picture and to go put his shoes on. Really, I don't want to yell, but it just comes out when I have to remind a certain adorable little boy to put on his shoes for the 50th time. If I am not careful, my face could freeze this way.

This is why I buy sunglasses in bulk

2011-04-11T21:55:00.000-04:00

Baby's first tantrum

2011-04-06T21:50:00.002-04:00

Let's add this to the list of firsts in the baby book. Last night, Harper wanted something on the counter. To think about it, Harper wants lots of things on the counter...sunglasses, my phone, sharp knives. To her, we keep all good things on the counter just out of her reach. To her credit, she is right. We do keep all the good stuff up there.

In the first picture, Harper is reaching for one of those good things. It might have been the camera now that I think about it. That is what prompted me to take these pictures. I got the camera instead of her.

Yes, now I am sure it was the camera. She was not happy with me that I have the camera when she wanted it. She took the time to grunt at me with her baby grunts. She started pointing with her baby fingers to let me know that she wants the camera. Wait for it...

...Oh she is not happy now! Here is the tantrum that we knew would happen sooner or later. Go Harper go! Make it a good one!

A strong finish with a time out on the stairs. Oh yes, baby's first time out. This picture also does double duty as it also records baby's first escape from time out.

Garden Helpers

2011-04-04T21:58:00.000-04:00

This year, unlike other years, I am enjoying workin in the yard. It is a great stress relief. While my yard is not looking good yet (not even close), I've had lots of fun potting plants and putting down mulch. While Will has helped me some-he wants to help with the hedge trimmers and I am not okay with that yet- Abby and Harper are joining me for the gardening work. Abby calls it "digging." Here are a few recent pictures of them helping me start some veggie seeds.

Each girl had her own shovel and dirt.

Abby knew this was a photo op and made sure to act accordingly.

Harper is following Abby's lead. Check out the look Harper is shooting Abby. Please note Harper's snack bowl on the table.

Now note that Harper's snack bowl is full of dirt. She put it there. Relly, she sort of flicked it in there with her shovel. God made dirt. Dirt won't hurt. Still, let's hope she doesn't eat it in large quantities.

Better shot of the dirt.

The finished products of our hard work. Abby helped me water them after we finished our "digging."

Green Dinner for St Patrick's Day 2011

2011-03-17T21:53:00.000-04:00

I have never been a big St Patrick's Day celebrator, but it just felt right this year. Thanks to our neighbors, we had a green dinner, with spinach, green mashed potatoes and green rice. I made green apples (okay, God made them green) and chicken that was not green but should have been. Harper loved it. I loved it. The big kids ate two bites and ran away to play.

Besides the chicken, only one thing wasn't green...it was red...and it was great.

Will's first lost tooth

2011-03-13T21:16:00.002-04:00

When did my little boy get so grown? When he was eating a snack today, his loose tooth feel right out! He immediatly came over and handed it to me. That was gross. I think loose teeth and teeth after they fall out of your mouth are really really disgusting. That doesn't matter when you are a mom because you have to pick that little tiny nasty tooth up and put it into a baggy so we can save it for the toothfairy.

But the proud look on Will's face was priceless. He was nervous and excited all at the same time. He was jumping up in down with joy. He was thrilled that he had lost his first tooth. I forgot all about my dislike of teeth and jumed up and down with him. I was thrilled for him too.

Way to go Will. You are a grown up boy.

Turn around for one minute...

2011-03-12T09:58:00.001-05:00

...and my kids are finding funny ways to entertain themselves. They entertain me too.

Will is doing some push ups in between Wii games.

Abby is cleaning the floor. Yes, she is cleaning it with Febreeze. What ever makes you happy Abby.

Harper it taking apart the diswasher. Clever.

Someone loves to wear makeup

2011-03-08T21:30:00.000-05:00

Oh my Abby, growing up so fast. When I get ready for work in the morning, she joins me. She does not want me to do her hair, she would rather have all the knots and tangles. She does not want to help me pick out her clothes, she wants to wear her mismatched dresses and pants. She is after one thing and one thing only….makeup.

I say: Abby, just a little bit of makeup, I want you to look like a professional lady (not a professional hooker).

Abby: Oh mommy, I am going to look so pretty.

I say: You are already so pretty.

Abby: (holding up my concealer) Where does this go mommy?

I say: On your eyes, but just a little bit.

Abby: (smearing it all over her face) Okay mommy.

Daycare must think I am crazy. I took Abby to school looking slight an umpa-lumpa. What did I say to Abby? Very pretty Abby, very pretty.

This may hurt my rep but...

2011-03-06T16:40:00.001-05:00

My mom came up from North Carolina this weekend to celebrate Will’s 6^th birthday. My sister also came to visit.

I will caveat the rest of the story by letting you know that I love, love, love when family comes to visit. I do also expect to put up with some gentle ribbing about the gross things that my kids do. Things like snotty noses, unpleasant smells and dirty kid items, things that are not unique to my own children. I take all the ribbing in good fun. Not to mention that I know what they say is completely true (my kids do have snotty noses).

This weekend, the item for discussion was my trusty high chair. This chair has survived three Perryman children. It has not made it through the war without a few, um, scars. The scars have come in the form of caked on dirt that is too gross to be removed. Sure, I wash the tray after every meal but the sides and the legs get hosed off about once a year. Yes, I freely admit that the chair is gross.

Becca and Mom are appalled at the chair. They got out their rubber gloves and cleaning supplies and went after it. Things I overheard:

Mom said: Anna, this is really gross.
Me: I know Mom.
Mom said: I can get off the dirt. Let me see what I can do. When was the last time you cleaned this?
Me: I have no clue. Maybe after Abby stopped using it?

Becca said: I think this spot is a really old, glued down squished raisin.

Mom said: Pry it off with a knife.

Becca said: Ew gross, that was not a raisin.

I will put up with this any day of the week. Check out the before and after pictures. I love you ladies. Thanks for cleaning the highchair.

Telling Stories

2011-03-02T21:31:00.001-05:00

At night, before we go to bed, Will and Abby both get stories that I make up. Each child gets their very own story in their own room. Harper does not yet get her own story, but she does stand up in her crib to hear Abby's. Here are the stories from tonight.

Will:
There once was a little boy named Will. He had super powers. His super power tonight is that he (pause for Will to offer what he wants. Then I put it into the story. Laser beams are tonight's power) can shoot laser beams out of his eyes! He got this power from his mommy who could also shoot laser beams out of her eyes. The biggest obstacle with this power is learning how to control it even when you are angry. Can you do that Will? Mommy is still learning to harness this power.
Will did great with his super power but one day, he had to protect his sisters from a bully. He said don't be mean to my family or I will shoot you with laser beams! The bullies laughed at Will. Then he shot them with his laser beams and they ran away, with laser beam holes it their pants. The end (lots of laughs from the little guy).

As a side note, I know you are reading this story and think "How is is possible that Anna is the not the most fun parent in the Perryman house?" I agree, I am also shocked I am not the most fun parent, but alas, Matt is more fun than me because he wrestles with the kids on the floor. I also yell when I get mad.

Here is Abby's story:
There once was a little girl named Abby....the story gets cut off right here so Abby can take over. She then continues the story:
There was also a little mommy named Anna (this was my favorite part). And there were puppies. And Shay-Shay. And Nana and Paw-Dad and Ack-Ack and Day-bid, and Thomas and Shandra: BUT NOT Will or Harper. Just me. Daddy stayed home with Harper and William. And I hugged the puppies because I loved them. And I didn't have to go to sleep at bedtime. And we ate pop-tarts and pizza and juice boxes and we didn't have to eat green beans.

You can take the redneck out of North Carolina...

2011-02-26T13:09:00.004-05:00

...But I can't guarantee we will always act like the sophisticated people we are during our day jobs. The other night, Matt took the kids out into the garage for a little Nerf gun target practice. I thought it sounded like a great idea (aka get the kids out of my house for ten minutes so I can make dinner).

I decided to go out and join the fun. If neighbors were driving by, here is what they would see.

1. A grown man and five kids (our three plus our neighbors kids) playing outside in a very cold garage. Two little boys holding nerf guns. A grown man setting up the shooting targets.

2. Two little girls riding tricycles through the nerf gun firing range. You would also hear some yelling as Will says "Abs, get out of the way!!! Mom says I can't shoot you but you are in the way!!" I think that made Abby even happier. Check out her grin.

3. A little toddler removing some of the "targets" when she gets excited. Please note the targets came out of the recycling bin. They included an empty beer case, two boxes of Target brand cereal and two diet coke bottles.

4. All the children trying to find the nerf gun bullets out in the dark. They did not have much success so there were many bullets in the yard and the street the next morning.

Sure, we may look a little country, but it was a lot of fun...even for me who only got to shoot the nerf gun once.

My (Will's) first school project

2011-02-22T21:58:00.000-05:00

It was Sunday night. The children have been bathed. The dishes have been cleaned up. We were sitting down to read a book and go through Will's school folder.

All of a sudden I see it. Will is going to be star student next week....which means he needs to create a poster about all of his favorite things. We have to have a poster complete by tomorrow morning! Crap!

Well, we got the project done. I did not have very much patience during the process,but Will made something he was proud of. I was proud of him too.

Here is the rub...school was out on Monday for President's day. I figured that out on Monday morning right after we all woke up.

What do grown ups do on vacay?

2011-02-19T08:21:00.002-05:00

We went (escaped) to Miami for a long weekend. What do four people do on vacation in Miami? We do the same things we would do at home.

We go to Target. Yes, we flew to Miami and had to seek out the closest Target for all of our vacation Target needs: snacks, mixers, a new shirt. You can tell we are on vacay because Kevin looks relaxed. It is because he is not chasing after kids on this Target trip.

We take pictures of strange trees that we see. This thing was in the middle of shopping area.

We pose next to a strange piece of crystal. Jen let me know it was a geode.

Matt poses next to a huge stuffed bear. Matt let me know that it smelled like a bear.

We pose next to a random statue. I think it was Columbus or De Soto. I drink coffee.

Jen posed next to a wall that Michael Weston poses next to in Burn Notice. If you don't watch Burn Notice, you should.

The main thing we do is sit next to the pool and do nothing. Matt took I picture of me doing nothing next to the pool. You can't see it in the picture, but I am reading a magazine with my feet in the water. Doing nothing is what I do best on vacation.

Traveling with Matt

2011-02-16T08:11:00.007-05:00

Matt and I agree on many things but travel is not one of them. We have a philisophical differences that have not been reconcilled in our years of marriage.

Situation: What time should we get to the airport?

Anna's solution: It is a domestic flight. It will be fine. I don't want to get there too early and have nothing to do.

Matt's solution: We are getting on a plane and everything takes longer than expected. We need to get there super early.

Our flight from Richmond to Miami left at 7:25. It was everything in my power not to get there oh, the day before. So here we are enjoying our wait time in the airport. At least I got breakfast at 5:30am at the airport.

What is Harper doing...

2011-02-07T20:05:00.001-05:00

Harper can be left to her own devices sometimes as the Perryman family madness moves into a fever pitch around her. When we look to find Harper, here is what I found the other day.

Yes, those are rubber gloves. She needed them to play the piano. Really, she can do whatever she wants because she is staying out of trouble and quiet.

When you give a girl an apple

2011-01-26T20:59:00.002-05:00

When you give a girl an apple....mommy will feel very virtuous for feeding her child right and steering her towards good food choices. When you give a girl an apple...you will watch with pleasure as you realize how grown she is.
When you give a girl an apple...her little sister will want one too. When you give a baby an apple...your heart will swell with pride for establishing good eating habits early and setting up a life time of health eating.
When you give your baby an apple...you will then follow her around to make sure she is not eating the seeds because you think you saw her eat one earlier and it grossed you and also made you worry about the apple as a choking hazard. When you give your baby an apple...you will sigh continuously as you pick up half eaten apples off the floor wash them off and hand them back to the baby when she points with her cute little baby finger and grunts at you with her cute pre-speech grunts.
When you give a baby an apple....you will finally lose the apple and go in search of it.
When you give a baby an apple....you will finally find the apple the next day in the pantry. You will look around for someone else to pick up the nasty, old apple but then you realize you are the mommy and have to pick it up.

That is a great dress...again...and again

2011-01-23T20:23:00.007-05:00

I will need to start this post by saying I love this dress...really really love it. But, I paid too much for it. I am cheap and I don't buy expensive things, even for big events. I usually go for quantity over quality when it comes to clothes.
However, I needed a dress for one of my best friend's weddings. I shopped and shopped and couldn't find anything I liked. And then I found this dress for $200.00. It was not on sale, clearance or discount, it was just $200.00. I could not buy it. I put it back on the rack.
Two days later, I still didn't have a dress for LPB's wedding. I took Matt back to the store with me and all the kids (now you see how nuts I was) to look at the dress. I tried on a few other dresses too. I had to have it this dress. Matt's exact words were "we have to get out of here, the kids are going nuts, buy that dress and get over it."
So to make up for spending too much, I wear the dress every where. I would wear it shopping if I felt like it wouldn't cause too much of a scene.
1. Here I am with my college/high school girlfriends at LPB's wedding. First wear.
2. Here I am at my work annual awards part. Second wear.
3. Here I am at the neighborhood semi formal wine night (first semi formal wine night ever). Third wear.
If it were not for facebook, I could wear this dress even more than I have. Darn facebook is ruining me getting more value out of this dress. Oh well. Good thing I love this dress.

Family Planning

2011-01-17T23:23:00.001-05:00

William loves his sisters. Sometimes they try his patience (as they do mine) but for the most part, he really likes having them around (as do I). I think this is what prompted the next conversation.
Will: Mommy, how old was I when Abby was born?
Me: 2.
Will: Mommy, how old was I when Harper was born?
Me: 4.
Will: Mommy, how old will I be when you poop out the next baby?
(Try not to spit my wine out.)
Me: Well Will, I don't know. I don't know if we are going to have another baby.
Will: You should have another baby. We could name him Justin.

I don't want to tell him that babies are hard. I don't want to tell him that some days I am just trying to keep my head above water with three and pooping out another baby is not on the radar right now.

Mommy's job

2011-01-11T23:14:00.001-05:00

The kids do give me most of my material for my blog. I have gone through a dry spell so I was super excited when Abby blurted out this little gem on the way home from Christmas with my family in Greensboro. Thank goodness for long car trips.
Will, Abby, Harper and I were riding in the car. I had talked to the kids moments before about bad behavior (it is now a constant discussion about not being rude, saying kind things to our family or not hurting our siblings) and it was one of those times that someone was screaming. After that person calmed down, I heard Will and Abby talking. Abby said to William: Mommy has two jobs.
I then interrupted because I was interested. I said: Abby, what are Mommy's two jobs?
Abby said: One job is for her to work at Elephant.
I said: And what is the other job?
Abby said: The other job is for her to be mean.
Awesome.

Dinner with the Kiddos

2011-01-07T18:52:00.001-05:00

Matt is out of town this week so the kids and I are having dinner together. We had picnic night together that went over very well. The menu? Chicken nuggets, apples and milk. I could go the rest of my life without eating another chicken nugget. My dinner is pictured below.

My dinner was awesome. Wine is dangerous on carpet but I made it work.

Papa Tim

2011-01-03T22:39:00.003-05:00

Today was Papa Tim's birthday, he would have been 60. Papa Tim passed away December 29th 2010. It came very suddenly and unexpectedly. Oh Papa Tim, I will miss you.

Tim was Matt's dad and immediately welcomed me into his family. He took my side when Matt and I disagreed (except on politics). He helped with the kids and loved them fiercly.

And even when we didn't agree on politics, he did not engage me in political arguments because he knew I didn't like it- and he loved to argue about politics. Thanks Papa Tim for that courtesy. I never thanked you for that.

Papa Tim had a brash sense of humor. When I asked him to dial it back around the kids, I would say, "Oh Papa Tim (sigh). You can't say that. Oh Papa Tim (sigh) you can't watch that around the kids. Oh Papa Tim (sigh) don't do that." After a few years with the kids, he would prompt me to call him out after he had done something he knew would cross my "Oh Papa Tim" line. He would flash me a big, sheepish grin. He would say "Anna, I know what you are going to say," and then he would say it to himself before I could get to it: "Oh Papa Tim."

Even though we take comfort that you have gone to a better place, we miss you Papa Tim. We miss your off-color jokes and you falling asleep on the couch. We miss you playing with the kids and your laughter.

Oh Papa Tim.

Christmas 2010

2010-12-25T21:59:00.002-05:00

The kids learned a new Christmas song from Shay-Shay and Papa Tim. I love it so we sing it all the time.

Santa is coming, hi ho, hi ho.

Santa travels over ice and snow.

So pull up the covers and cover your head

Because Santa won't like it if your not in bed.

I think I like it because it mixes Christmas fun with a little Santa fear.

All jokes aside, the kids had a great time with Christmas. They are the perfect age to do things like:

- Put out reindeer food in the front yard. (Reindeer food is a mixture of glitter and oatmeal.)

- Believe that Santa really did take a bit out of the cookie and drank all the milk that we left out for him. Tell everyone multiple times.

- Get super exited when Santa's (aka Uncle Thomas) bells jingle outside their window.

- Write a letter for Santa. This year, Will included me in his letter and asked Santa to bring me some clothes because I like clothes. It melted my heart.

- Eat all 5 candy canes out of the stocking in one sitting.

- Ask Aunt Ack-Ack to get in the play house with them.

- Open all their presents right away to play with them. Nerf guns, puzzles, Memory, Bouncy ball, pillow pet. They tried to play with them all at once. It was a funny, silly manic frenzy.

- Check out Harper's presents and say "I will play with them for her because she is a baby."

Merry Christmas kids.

30 is not so bad, really

2010-12-21T06:24:00.002-05:00

I won't lie, I have not been looking forward to this birthday. Now that it is here, it is not so bad. To celebrate my birthday in style, this is what I am going to do:
1. Get up before my kids. Enjoy a cup of coffee in the quiet. It is a simple pleasure but it is the best. If the kids come into my room to sleep in the middle of the night, they make it extra challenging to sneak out of the bedroom and downstairs without waking them up. I am getting to be a pro. I guess it is because I am 30.
2. Take the day off of work. Matt is going to do the same. We might even talk to each other. I really do enjoy talking to that man but screaming the events of the day to each other over the children at dinner is not really adult conversation. Lately, Harper has been quiet the comedian and tries constantly to make her brother and sister laugh by hitting herself in the head. It is funny, but it kills all dinner conversation.
3. Take the kids out to breakfast. I expect loud singing of Happy Birthday at Panera. I can handle it, I am 30.
3. Go shopping and buy myself something pretty, but not too expensive because we are on a budget. That is what you do when you turn 30 and become responsible.
4. Take a nap. A really good nap. The kind of nap that I take my contacts out and turn on the noise maker. I would do this at any age.
6. Go out to dinner with my friends.
7. Have a big glass of red wine, and toast to the next 30 years of fun.

Come on kids we are going to the park so mommy and daddy can see their friends

2010-12-06T21:58:00.002-05:00

When it is warm outside, we take the kids to the park at least 3 times a week. We love the park. Check out Harper's face. Pure joy. Yes, the park is for the kids but we found out it has grown up benefits too. I give the park credit for giving us friends when we moved to Virginia. We knew no one, but there were kids at the park who came with their cool parents. We chatted. We laughed at the kids. We starting bringing wine. I wanted to go the the park every day. The kids go to the park to play but Matt and I go to socialize. Here is a recent picture of Matt looking down the street, hoping to see some of our friends bringing their kids to the park. He has his phone in his hand so he can text them if they don't show. Don't worry Matt, your friends are on their way.

thanksgiving comes but once a year...

2010-12-01T21:51:00.002-05:00

...and good thing because I can't zip up my skinny pants. We had a great time with the family who made the long drive up from North Carolina to visit. To add a little spice to this year's post about Thanksgiving, I asked the little people in my house to tell me what they are thankful for. Harper can't speak coherently yet but if she could, I am sure she would list things she is thankful for in the following order:

1. Bunny. This is a stuffed pink bunny that used to be Abby's. Harper's face lights up when she sees bunny.

2. Daddy. She loves her daddy ALMOST as much as she loves bunny. She has the same reaction when she sees Daddy as when she sees bunny.

3. All the rest of you people who are not bunny and not daddy. Sure, she may give us a smile, but it is not the same as her number 1 and number 2.
The two speaking children in my house also weighed in on what they were thankful for:

1. homedays (the opposite of school days)

2. yeah days, i don't go to school or have to take a bath.

3. mayme that can make everything yummy to eat. But she died.

4. big swings i can get on myself.

5. mommy-when she is nice to kids. And she gives me tape for my paper when i color.

6. daddy-he pushes me really high on the swings.

It is hard to be the middle child and this is why

2010-11-29T19:31:00.003-05:00

I have posted many times that I am a middle child and what that means to me. It is a blessing to be the one in the middle. I also have a soft spot in my heart for my Abby, as she too is blessed (a debatable blessed, but I digress) with being the middle child.

This weekend, Abby earned her middle child stripes. I was running around the house with some Thanksgiving preparation work. I was holding baby Harper who had just had a big breakfast. Will caught both of us in action with his amazing camera work.

I guess I was swinging Harper around a bit too much during my mad dash around the house. Abby was under my feet but it was my sister who brought the situation to my attention. Becca, with a very disturbed voice said: "There is something wrong with Abby." I looked down at Abby and oh, there was something wrong with Abby. Harper had THROWN UP in Abby's hair. It was just a little baby spit up but it still counts as throw up when it in in your hair.

I got the throw up out pretty quick but I could not stop myself from taking a picture first. I tried not to laugh but could not help myself. Abby's face in this picture captures it all.

On nights like tonight, a Monday night, where Abby would not eat her dinner, got frustrated with everything, lied to me about her green beans and talked way to loud, I will think of this. When Abby and her three year old attitude are trying every bit of my patience, I give her one extra pass because she puts up with a lot as my special middle child.

I love to play with my brother and sister

2010-11-15T20:24:00.002-05:00

Harper is a lucky little girl to be born into a family that has constant playmates available for her. There are times when the playmates are not so willing. While on the whole the Abby and Will are very good with Harper, it is hard for them when she is in their stuff...like here where she is chewing on parts of the Wii and standing in front of the TV.

I can't capture it on film well, but it cracks me up to see William or Abby trying to lift Harper to move her. They are frustrated that she is playing with their toys. Harper giggles and smiles as they pick her up (it is hard for them because they are not very big). They set her down at my feet and sigh with their hands on their hips: HARPER IS TOUCHING MY STUFF! The kids go back to the other room. Harper has not stopped smiling. She immediately starts crawling back over to their toys. I just settle down into the couch with a People Magazine to watch the fun and remember my own childhood with my own brother and sister. Kids, it does get better....when someone goes to college.

My stance on firearms

2010-11-13T15:42:00.005-05:00

William held up his new toy, a small fake saxophone.

Will: Mom, this makes the perfect gun. Check how good it shoots.

Me: Oh yeah, that is great Will.

Will: Mom, did you know that there are real guns in the world?

Me: Really? Yes, Will I did know that.

Will: Why don't we have a real gun?

Me: Will, I don't really like guns. That is why we don't have a gun.

Will: Dad likes real guns.

Me: You are right Will, he does like guns. But I don't like guns.

Will: And you have to listen to girls or they will break up with you.

Me: I have no response. I have no idea what to say.

Halloween 2010

2010-11-02T22:18:00.008-04:00

My Ninja, Princess and Love Bug were awesome this Halloween. They are the perfect age for the Halloween festivities which included a Halloween parade put on by my very cool neighbors in addition to the traditional trick-or-treating. For trick-or-treating we had a rockin time, complete with an impromptu Halloween sound track. The group we went with included:
1. My three kids, as I referred the them earlier: the Ninja, Princess and Love Bug
2. Two additional princesses (all three were in the same Cinderella dress)
3. Two storm troopers (one under 10, one over 30)
4. A Spiderman with no mask and Spiderman's dad who did wear the mask
5. A pirate
6. Dracula
7. The tooth fairy - who as answered the age old question of what you do with a prom dress that still fits. You get a wand, a set a wings and wear that dress again!
8. Three other adults who dressed as adults. Don't let the outfits fool you, I saw everyone in that group break out a dance move during the trick-or-treating event.
9. Matt and I were also there and yes, did not miss the occasion to dress up. Matt went as Tigger. Again. He reminded me that he has owned that costume for longer than he has known me. Wear it proud Tigger.
10. I purchased a Peeps costume online. I laughed at my own joke all night long as I told people I was going as a Sexy Chic.

Getting ready for this American tradition does take more time than I expected. My usual line about having three children: Having three is no more difficult than having one...it is just more car seats. I take that comment back when I was try trying to get ready by dressing three children in complicated outfits, get in my costume, pack drinks for Matt and me, pack a cooler for the kids, pack jackets for later in the evening when it gets cold AND make all this stuff fit in the stroller. For the record, I was on time for the Halloween festivities. I was sweating and so was Matt, but we had all three kids with us and we were ready to be away from the house for the next three hours. Yes, only a three hour tour. So worth it.

April Fools...in October

2010-10-27T20:01:00.008-04:00

My kids don't really get the point of April Fools. I realized this at breakfast the other morning when they started playing April Fools jokes on me. Well, not really April Fools jokes. They just kept saying April Fools. For example:

1. Mommy, someone is in the bathroom. April Fools! (no one was in the bathroom)

2. Mommy, you have underwear on your head. April Fools! (no, I didn't)

3. Mommy, I just ate all my cereal. April Fools! (see picture below)

I briefly debated in my head if explaining April Fools would be possible. Would they understand that (a.)it is not April and (b.)their jokes are not funny? Would I be doing any harm if they didn't actually understand what April Fools was? I decided it would take more time than it was worth to explain the April Fools concept and went back to my coffee while they continued happily with their April Fools jokes.

While I was enjoying my coffee, I fake smiled and fake laughed at their April Fools jokes. I silently took comfort in the fact that my kids are funny when they are not trying. For example:

1. William, my grown up little man.

Will said: Mommy, I broke the seat.

I said: Will you are going to have to fixt that yourself.

Will said: Oh snap.

2. Abby, my middle daughter.

Abby sings this song at the top of her voice to the tune of the Scooby Do theme song. She usually does it when she is concentrating on her coloring or stickers.

Abby sings: Abby Abby Lou, where are you, we got some work to do now. Come on Abby Lou, where are you? We got some work to do now. Repeat multiple times.

3. Harper, my little baby girl.

I said: Say mom-ma.

Harper said: Dad-da (she smiles big).

I said: Come on baby, say mom-ma. Mom-ma. Mom-ma.

Harper said: Da-da. Da-da. DA-DA (bigger smile).

Oh kiddos, you are SO, SO funny.

Where did you get those Harper?

2010-10-24T20:42:00.000-04:00

I swear, I just turned my back for 30 seconds. In that short time, I straightened up the living room, packed a bag for our outing and picked up the cat water bowl so Harper wouldn't play in it.

When I turn back around it was 6 minutes later and I was trying to hussle the kids out the door. I found Haper in the pantry being a bit too quiet. Harper had successfully opened the pantry door, knocked some crackers off the shelf, and sat down to have herself a little snack. She was very proud of herself. While I was a bit grossed out that she was eating crackers off the pantry floor, I was very proud of multi step process she followed to get to something on her own. Way to go, self sufficent third born.

Seasons are easy, clothes are hard

2010-10-20T19:45:00.000-04:00

Oh William, I am so sorry to send you to school like this. Abby and I go shopping all the time together. It is kind of our thing that we do together. That means that I am prepared with all season outfits for Abby. Unfortunalty for you and your clothing choices, you do not like to shop. I forget to buy new clothes for you. I am reminded when you come down the stairs in an outfit that showes your belly or is too tight on your little five year old butt. Fall has snuck up on me and all of your long pants are too short. My bad buddy.

ode to the end of summer 2010

2010-10-10T21:30:00.000-04:00

It is offically over. I have loved the summer of 2010. I found these pictures and had to post them, even though it is October.

We went to an outdoor event last weekend and everyone had to wear a jacket. Fall is here.

The conversation was bound to happen

2010-10-07T21:40:00.003-04:00

Abby is learning about the differences between a girl and a boy. I would like to reference an older post where William learned about the differences between girls and boys.
http://mommy-am-i-killing-you.blogspot.com/2009/01/girls-vs-boys.html

Now it is Abby's turn. Here is her story.
Abby (yelling): Mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy. Mommy!!!
Me: Yes Abby, what do you need?
Abby (still loud): Mommy!
Me: Yes?
Abby: Um, mommy? I have a question. What is my penis called again?
Me: What?
Abby: What is my penis called?
Me: Abby you don't have a penis. You have a vagina.
Abby: Bober!! (yelling to William) Bober!!! My penis is called a ba-gina!

Great. Terminology is the first lesson. We will get the rest later.

Why daughters need a dad

2010-10-04T20:27:00.002-04:00

Girls learn lots from their moms. I see Abby mimic me in ways that William never did. I am sure that Harper will do the same. The way Abby cuts her eyes and lifts her voice are things she got straight from me. I would like to reflect on the things that Matt gives my girls that only could come from him. Don't get me wrong, William will get these things from his dad right along with the girls but that is an obvious connection. William mimics Matt the way to Abby mimics me.

1. Wrestling moves. All the kids wrestle on the floor with Matt. Matt is teaching the girls as well as Will to wrestle. This picture was taken right before the wrestling started.
2. Dance Moves. Ask the majority of my college friends about trying to teach me how to dance. Even though they put much time and energy into teaching me dance moves, my groove still leaves lots to be desired. Matt on the other hand is a good dancer and will hopefully teach the kids.

3. How to relax. I can be a bit high strung. Here is me holding Harper at the bus stop one morning. I am trying hard to contain her squiggly baby moves. Matt on the other hand, does not try to contain her energy in the same way. He actually encourages it. 4. How to sleep. Matt is an excellent sleeper. My kids can sleep through anything. Most recently, we had a fire alarm that needed a new battery. Unfortunately, the smoke alarm did not register the new battery that we put into it. We had to remove it from the wall after two days of alarm chirping. All the children slept through it just fine. Abby even elected to sleep in the same room as the chirping alarm. I give the kids things too. They will remember my laundry folding parties and holding hands in the middle of the night when they come in to sleep next to my bed. I am sure they will look at this blog when they are older (because I will make them) and have their own memories of this time. But right now, while they are wrestling on the floor, I am glad Matt and I can use our strengths to give the kids - Will, Abby and Harper - something special.

Don't be a slave to fashion...

2010-09-30T22:28:00.000-04:00

...because Abby is not. My middle daughter likes to wear what she likes to wear. She likes to change clothes a few times a day. Her outfits of choice are all her own. She likes "go-go" shoes, jewlery (her favorite piece is a bead necklace on a piece of twine) and a crown. The socks with sandles, car shoes or a frilly dance skirt are really just necessary accessories.

I do draw the line at wearing her nightgown to school but I have let it go to Target, against my better judgement.

A bachelorette party with this old lady

2010-09-28T21:12:00.004-04:00

LP is getting married in a few short weeks. For her bachelorette weekend, 8 very fine ladies went to Wrightsville beach to live it up like the rock stars we know we are....kind of. Here are the stories that I must write down to give you a little snap shot of a bachelorette weekend when you are 29.

1. My price of entry was 10 hours (5 hours down and then 5 hours back) in the car with all three children. Matt supposedly had to work but every time I spoke to him he was playing corn hole

2. I dropped the kids off at Papa Tim and Shay Shay's house at 8pm on Friday. I felt free! I felt awesome and young with NO car seats in the back. I turned up the radio and headed off to the beach house a few minutes away. On my drive, a young man drove up along side me and stopped next to me at the stop light. He smiled. I smiled. What a great start to the weekend! He then motioned for me to roll down the window. Okay, from the safety of my own car, this should be fine, what the heck.

He said: "Hey."

I said: "Hey."

Then he said: "Did you know you have two ice cream cups on your back bumper? They are about to fall off."
Dang. That went a different direction than I expected.

I immediately started laughing. I guess I think I am just a little hotter than I actually am. I also realized I can't get away from being a mom, even when the kids are not in the car. It was just like the Toyota commercial where the lady leaves her diaper bag on top of her van, only mine was ice cream cups.

3. On the first night we were there, we had dinner at the house and talked until the wee hours of the morning. We also had a dance party. For the sake of comfort, we changed into our jammies first. Save those restrictive dress up clothes for another day. While we are at it, I am also going take my contacts out and change into my glasses too.

4. Here is a great picture of all of us out on the town. Interestingly enough, the young man who took this picture told us to all make our best "cougar face." All eight of us stopped talking to stare him down.
One of our group yelled: "We are not cougars! We are not old!"

All I know is that when we are cougars, we are going to look great.

Harper's Birthday

2010-09-10T21:02:00.004-04:00

1 year ago today, our Harper was born. Today she is happy go lucky, pulling up to stand, front facing car seat riding, grape eating girl. I think she enjoyed her birthday as much as any little girl could. She ate some blueberry pie. Her siblings sang to her a few times. Abby never got the tune right, but it did not bother Harper.
I can't believe my baby is a year old. Part of me wants to freeze her right now. She is so cool sucking on her two fingers and smiling with her six teeth. She may have the the same long lashes as her brother and the same giggle as her sister, but our Harper is one of a kind.

The first day of kindergarten

2010-09-07T21:32:00.004-04:00

William went to kindergarten today. There were no tears, no crying but lots of big smiles from Will. I, on the the other hand, had a rough go of it with the new morning routine. It was really hard getting to the bus stop on time. Yes, I know I have been packing up the kids and taking them to day care every morning for 5 years, but being on time for a bus is a whole other ball game. The mommy stakes have been raised. And then there is homework too?!? Kindergarten is hard. Here are a few pictures from our morning.

Will waiting with his guy friends at the bus stop.

He is ready to get on the bus and go! No fear from this guy.

Abby packed her own lunch and her bunny for 'school' this morning. Check her out looking very grown up. I also bought her a nap mat that was a school supply requirement for Will. The 6 extra dollars I spent was well worth the peace it bought me.

Harper needed a break and got back into the car. Yes, she is using Will's old car seat from when he was small.

Check out Harper Crawling

2010-09-02T07:16:00.003-04:00

So Harper is crawling all the time, all over the house. Where do I find her? With her hands in the cat water bowl. Well, I guess it could be worse. Like the toliet.

Here is where I found her last night. Really, I only found her because Abby was yelling that Harper was in her table. Harper looks very pleased with herself.

Nothing could make me happier

2010-09-01T07:02:00.004-04:00

I love Will for so many reasons. To see him vacuuming the family room almost brings a tear to my eye. I am thrilled that I have someone else who will vacuum (Yes, I bribed him with a trip to the dollar store, but I can live with that). Mainly, I am shocked that he is so grown up. Will starts kindergarten in a few days. I know that he is big enough to pick out his clothes, pack a lunch and (GASP) get on a bus by himself. Still when I look at him, I see the tiny newborn wearing a little blue sweatsuit that is too big because I didn't know what size to pack for the hospital. Only yesterday was the sweatsuit. Today is vacuuming. Tomorrow is driving the car.

Mommy is a professional during the day

2010-08-26T19:56:00.000-04:00

At work, we took professional pictures. Here is mine.

Who is this put together woman?

Unfortunately, this is what I normally look like.

Maybe I should start wearing a suit all the time! Maybe I should wear makeup! Maybe I should brush my hair. Dang, that seems like a lot of work. Maybe I should just grab a cute kid anytime someone has a camera so that the focus is on them instead of me. Good thing I have three kids. I like that plan the best.

My Hat

2010-08-23T21:41:00.001-04:00

I bought a hat before we St. Thomas. It was really cheap but I thought I needed it. After that, I feel that the hat took on a small life of its own.

It started out calm enough, as Jen and I took turns wearing the hat around the resort. Then it went out with us most nights. As I looked at the pictures, I was shocked to see how many of our vacation pictures had the hat in them. Yes, we talked our new friends into wearing the hat too. I hope we asked them, but I bet we forced them into it. Yes we made them take pictures with the hat on. As some point, we decided that the hat was my punching hat. I never actually punched someone but Jen was nice enough to act out the punch for me. Turns out that I don't need kids around to act juvenile.

St Thomas- Part 2- We're on a Boat!

2010-08-20T23:07:00.002-04:00

The best day of our vacation was out on a boat. We had so much fun eating, drinking and snorkling. I swear, all of my break outs on my face went away when we were out on the boat. Too bad they came back when I got back to real life.
Here we are with the boat captain. I am sure he was sick of it by the end of the day but he hid it well.
Here is Kevin as the king of the world...just like Titanic.
Here is Jen trying to stay out of the sun. She moved spots constantly.
Here is me trying to get more sun. I switched spots with Jen willingly.
Here is Matt taking a picture of himself. He had the best time on the boat. He did throw Kevin off the boat for fun one time. In his defense, the boat was stopped.

We met new friends, two newly weds on the boat. We coaxed them into going out with us the next night.
We wanted to go out the same night, but we just couldn't. We were still living it up in the car ride home. I went to bed at 9:30 that night, which is still later than I stay up at home.

St Thomas Part 1- The Recap

2010-08-19T22:48:00.004-04:00

We got away (escaped) to St Thomas for five days with our friends Jen and Kevin. We had an awesome time. Here is a recap of our trip in pictures.

Did you know they drive on the left side of the road in St Thomas? I found that out as soon as I got behind the wheel of our rental car. I think that is why Kevin wanted to drive most of the time. Thanks Kevin!

Matt was also happy that Kevin drove. It kept Matt and me from fighting about the other one's driving.

There were beautiful views from our hotel.

There were also iguanas at the hotel. They were very fast and would show up when we were walking around. We dubbed them EEEE-iguanas because we screamed when we saw them.

Every day we put on our bathing suits and ate a big breakfast before we went to the beach.

Each night we got dressed up and went out. We danced, we drank, we ate lots of fresh seafood. Here is one of the only pictures of all of us. I made them take 4 of them before the timer worked correctly.

Here is Jen and me dancing a bar that was really just a parking lot.

Here is Matt dancing with Kevin.

Best of all, Matt and I remembered that we really like each other.

That's One Happy Harper

2010-08-05T19:35:00.000-04:00

Harper has been enjoying a quiet week at home while the big kids are spending the week with Papa Tim and Shay Shay. She is trying to crawl but she doesn't have the forward motion down yet. No rush Harper. I like that you stay where I put you.

After Harper goes to bed at 7:30, our house is quiet....too quiet. I miss those loud, inquisitive kids.

Our Beach Trip Captured on Film

2010-08-04T07:00:00.000-04:00

I was having such a good time at the beach with the family, I forgot to take pictures. We spend an entire week playing in the ocean, building sandcastles with Uncle Thomas, walking to the turtle nest down the beach and deafening my parents and siblings with the loudness that are my children. Thank goodness Will and Abby stepped up to record a few of these memories.

This first picture is a classic. I like this picture of all the shoes still sandy from the beach. This next picture is Abby's take on that classic. Here is her dirty clothes pile, still sandy from the beach. Not sure what they were going for with this next one. This is Harper's pack-n-play.

And this is a part of the dresser at the beach house.
Thank goodness Matt took the next picture. It is a good picture in its own right. In comparison to the other pictures, it is so good, I might even print it off and frame it.

Trying to get a good picture of all three

2010-07-19T21:30:00.000-04:00

Why is Will looking at me like that? I just want a good picture. Abby is looking great but it looks like Harper is trying to pinch her...or take her shirt off. The matching outfits are ADORABLE again!!!!

Abby is going to get Harper back now. You think that Abby's arm around Harper is just sweet...it is actually very dangerous for Harper. Abby is going to pull Harper over any minute. The baby is a good in a sitting up pose, but is no match for Abby's strength. Too bad, since Harper is probably the happiest I've ever seen her. Will is watching TV.

Abby and Harper are not looking at me. Will has now moved away from me. Check him out in the background with his vogue pose. I guess I am going to have to go pay money to get the kids looking good all in the same picture. Well, I guess when they are all in the car they take pretty good pictures. Hey kids, get in the backseat, mommy needs to take a picture!

Football with the Family

2010-07-09T20:00:00.001-04:00

We went outside and played football in this extreme July heat. Here is Will getting ready to throw the football. On the other end is......is Abby ready and waiting for her turn. Will learned that if he waited long enough to throw the football, Abby would yell a lot. He likes making her angry. Matt is coaching. Here is the shot right after Will had launched it. I refer back to my statement that Will is better than me at most sports. And here is the shot right after Abby launched it. She has not yet surpassed my sporting ability. Soon.

What is Harper up to during this little game? Sitting on the grass being a good baby.

What am I doing during the little family game? Sitting on a chair drinking a glass of wine. That is my idea of a perfect sporting event.

Mayhem continues....

2010-07-06T22:23:00.004-04:00

Because the last post is fresh in my mind, tonight I asked Matt to stay in the car for 5 extra minutes so I could snap a picture for my blog. Here is what the Mayhem looked like after a late evening out at a cook out and pool party.

Here is what was going on in the front seat. Love you Matt. :)

The Mayhem in the Backseat

2010-07-04T12:33:00.007-04:00

Yes, I dream about minivans at night. We haven't taken the plunge yet, but I talk about it often. In the meantime, all three kids pretty much fill up the backseat of my car. Here is the view from the front seat. (yes this picture is staged, as you can see no one is wearing a seat belt AND no one is screaming.)It is super loud, but I think they have fun back there.

Matching Dresses Strike Again

2010-07-02T20:40:00.002-04:00

Can't....stop....buying....matching....clothes....

The Best Reward

2010-07-01T20:00:00.002-04:00

The big kids love to sleep in our room. However, I don't want them to sleep in my bed because they kick and steal the covers.

If they are really good, we let them sleep in our room.-- just on the floor. I realized it when I said it to a friend of mine..."If the kids are good, I let them sleep on the floor." You should have seen the look on her face. Then I said. "No they WANT to sleep on the floor. They like it."

(Yeah Anna, that sounded better. Really smooth.)

Here is the picture evidence that rewarding them with a chance to sleep on my floor is not as bad as it sounds.

I grow things besides children

2010-06-30T20:18:00.003-04:00

Yes, it is the LAST DAY of June and I finally have my first big tomato out of my garden. I am ridiculously proud.

Saturday Afternoon Tea Party

2010-06-13T08:12:00.002-04:00

It is nice to have ladies in the house. Especially when they invite me to a tea party on the floor. We have lost half of the plates and cups, so I got to drink out of the creamer. Harper just got one plate to chew on.

I hope I get invited again sometime.

What does Mommy do at work again?

2010-06-08T21:15:00.001-04:00

At work, my office made a parody of Miley Cyrus' Party in the USA. I showed Matt and the kids the finished product after dinner. Abby and Will loved "mommy dancing with her friends on the computer." Here are pictures of Will, Matt and Abby dancing along with the video. I don't see anyone "moving their hips like yeah" but really, I wasn't doing that in the video anyway. It was work you know!

Garden help

2010-06-06T21:09:00.003-04:00

Matt built me a raised flower bed last year when he was in a mood to do house projects. This was also the same week I gave birth to Harper. Odd timing but I was still happy to have my new flower bed. It is officially summer and I am having a great time planting veggies in the garden. Yes, I am sure I am the only one who is going to eat what I grow...Matt doesn't "trust" what is coming up and the kids think that veggies are poison. Here are a few pictures of Abby helping me plant seeds. It took us longer to get her gloves on than it did to plant all the seeds. Please don't look at my dirty garage. Abby kept asking me where the plants were. I told her that they would grow out of the seed. She inspected all the seeds and told me "Mommy, I think it might take a while." Thanks for the pep talk.Please don't miss the shoes of choice for our little gardener. She is wearing one of her brother's old car shoes. She also is wearing one of her "go-go" shoes...because we lost the other one and I can't bring myself to buy a 3 year old another pair of high heeled play shoes.

Scary Good

2010-06-04T20:01:00.002-04:00

Will and I went outside to play a little bit of baseball the other day. Out of the 5 balls I threw, he hit 4 of them. The one he missed? It was a bad throw from me. When did Will get better than me at sports? I knew this day would come. I am not that great at sports, I just didn't think his sports abilities would surpass mine before he went to kindergarten.

We are a walking Target ad

2010-06-01T20:00:00.001-04:00

Where did you get that? Target. Where is that from? Target. Where is Matt today? Target. Where do you want to go on a date? Target.

I already know I am a walking Target ad, as I do 90% of all my shopping there and then tell everyone about it. One of the first words that Abby and Will could say as small children was Target. Harper just said her first word (it was Dada) but I know that the Target is not far behind in her vocabulary.

As long as I am doing a shameless Target plug, check out these cool new chairs I just got from...well you know.

I kind of remember these people

2010-05-29T06:00:00.004-04:00

I found a few old pictures of Matt and me. I know what you are about to say. "Anna, you haven't aged at all." I will say that you are correct. I completely agree with you. Thank you for noticing. I am sure I will look exactly like this in another eight years and more too (Don't burst my bubble, this is my blog). Let's talk about Matt....he looks so young in these pictures!

This was taken at my UNC undergraduate graduation. We were engaged. I just got that necklace as a present from my mom.

We were "studying" in the library at Carolina. We thought we were so cool. Who am I kidding, we WERE SO COOL!!!!

This was at our rehearsal dinner. Don't let that smile fool you folks, I am sure I was yelling at Matt for something that he didn't think even mattered to his crazy wife.

I guess that didn't change at all either.

Get that hat on while you can

2010-05-28T10:16:00.002-04:00

Let's face it, kids hate hats. They probably only hate hats because we (parents) make them wear the hat. Harper doesn't have enough arm control or desire to remove the hat from her head. Yet.

Until that day, I will make her wear every hat we own that is her size. We have lots of hats because I bought a lot before we had Abby. I was given even more after I had Abby. I kept them all for Harper.

She loves Cheetos

2010-05-18T21:25:00.000-04:00

These are the messy little hands (really just one hand because she only needs one hand to reach into the bag and eat Cheetos) that were coming at me and my new chairs. My new nightmare is that I will go upstairs and these hands will go after everything...the door, the cat, the sofa...you name it. I should just get over it, right? Easier said than done when you see this wet cheese hands.

Just so tired

2010-05-16T21:26:00.000-04:00

She just couldn't go on any longer. A lot of food...a long day...it is tough being 8 months old and this cute.

Come on, let's go out!

2010-05-11T21:51:00.002-04:00

For his birthday, Matt wanted to go out. You only turn 31 once, right? Right. We decided to not go out to dinner because it was late and the children didn't take naps (dinner at 8pm with three sleepy kids spells D-I-S-A-S-T-E-R). Let's get takeout instead. Thanks to Shay-Shay and Aunt Stephanie, Matt and I went out with his dad and brother to pick up food.

We stopped at the first restaurant we saw and ordered takeout. We sat at the bar and ordered drinks (shots for some) to wait for our order to be ready. Wait, I remember this...this is going out...and this is fun. We remembered what it was like to go out and it is really fun! This is great, let's go home eat dinner and come back out!!! Oh yeah big plans to come back out!!! O-U-T! We are going out!!!

We went home, ate dinner....and never went back out. I was asleep by 10pm.

So we can blame it on the kids right? Wrong. We only have Harper this week (Shay-Shay has the big kids, thank you again Shay-Shay) but we went to sleep last night at 9:30. Not only in the bed at 9:30, but lights off and noisemaker on at 9:30pm. We might go out this weekend.

Go the other way

2010-05-11T21:01:00.002-04:00

One afternoon on vacation, we took the kids to ride go karts. Matt and his brother Adam took the kids around one time. We had a few left over tickets so my sister in law Stephanie and I took the kids for one more trip around.

Pulling out of the gate, Stephanie went the wrong way around the track. Like a lemming, I followed her. The attendants went crazy. Three grown men came sprinting over the race track. They chased after us in order to turn our go karts around so that we wouldn't cause a head on collision with the go carts speeding down the track the CORRECT way.

I could hear Matt laughing over the roar of the engine. Stephanie swore that she heard me yell about my child's safety over the roar of the engine.

They need to put signs on that track.

Turns out, I don't like fishing in the ocean

2010-05-10T21:00:00.001-04:00

On the last day of our beach vacation, Matt's dad chartered a boat to take us out fishing in the ocean. I was so excited. I packed a big cooler of beer, put on my sunscreen, and waved goodbye to Abby and Harper for the afternoon. I kept telling Will how much fun we were going to have on the ocean.
It was a beautiful day with clear skies and lots of sun. We got into the boat and headed out to sea. Wow, the boat was rocking a lot! That's okay, I will get used to it, right?
I did not get used to it. From 3pm until 8pm, I was nauseous. Soon after we got out there, Will started to feel bad. I knew he felt really bad when he said to me: "I want to go back and stay with Abby." So bad he wants to be with his sisters? Dang. The only person who felt worse than Will and me was Papa Tim.
While the three of us sat at the front of the boat feeling awful, Matt, his brother, and sister in law sat at the back of the boat with the captain. They laughed. They joked. They reeled in fish. The daggers I shot at them with my eyes did not phase them.
When we started moving again, I started feeling better. I looked over at Will but he didn't seem to be better yet. Very quietly at first and then a bit louder I heard: "I am Iron Man, I am Iron Man, I am Iron Man, I AM IRON MAN!"
Me: Will are you feeling better?
Will:(pause) Yeah, I guess I am.
Me: You ready to go back home now?
Will:(pause) I want to stay on the boat now. Do we have anything to eat?
He was better.

Hair Cuts in the Perryman House

2010-04-25T09:54:00.006-04:00

Friday night, I looked around my house and saw two shaggy little kids.

Me:"Who wants to get their hair cut tonight?"

Will and Abby: "MEEEE!!!"

Off we went to the hair cut place that only costs 5 dollars each. We got there and Abby was in the chair and got her normal little trim. She has bangs ever since I cut them (badly) last fall. While Will was waiting, he saw a little boy in front of him getting a really short cut. Will said that he wanted the same cut.

Me:"Are you sure?"

Will:"Yes. I want it."

Okay, let's try it. It is only hair right? I watched my little boy get into the chair...and watched a grown man get out of the chair. He looks like....like...my brother Thomas. The important thing is that Will LOVES his new hair. It is so short, which he thinks is great.

After I get the hair cuts, I took the kids over to Target to show Matt (he was working). Matt had the same reaction that I had...total disbelief on how different Will looked.

What are you wearing?

2010-04-22T06:46:00.000-04:00

It was look alike day at work. My team dressed in Goth...and won the prize for the best look alike team.
On the same day, Abby stayed home from school because she wasn't feeling well. Matt already had the day off, so it worked out well. He brought Abby by my office to visit. Abby had picked her outfit herself that day. It included a winter dress with no shirt under it. She also wore a pair of shorts under the dress, which she promptly showed me.
I looked at Matt and said: "What is Abby wearing today? Why is she wearing that?"
Matt looked back at me, cut his eyes and said: "What are YOU wearing?"
Abby looked up at me and said: "I love your dress mommy!"

Appropriate toys for baby

2010-04-18T09:59:00.002-04:00

Harper is getting so big! I love this stage where the baby can sit up (but can't go anywhere) and starts discovering toys. I have a bag of toys just for Harper to play with. When it gets busy around the house, we forget about the bag and hand her whatever is close. Sometimes it is not the best toy choice for a tiny baby.

I snapped a few pictures of Harper with a toy that was not appropriate. While she was very happy with it, the toy is not safe. I switched it out with a soft truck so that she wouldn't hurt herself. She was not as happy with that.

Matching Dresses

2010-04-15T06:40:00.001-04:00

I can't stop myself. I have a sick fascination with matching clothes for the girls. I know that they don't mind today, but one day they will. I have got to get them in as many matching things as possible now.

Double Time Out

2010-04-09T08:41:00.006-04:00

Oh yes, pictures during this time out are priceless.

Let me set the scene for you: Will, Abby and Matt are playing on the couch. It is a rough and tumble type game, with lots of jumping and falling. Matt told both kids to stop after about 15 minutes of the game because it was getting a bit out of control. Of course the children did not want to stop. Seconds later they bonked their heads together. Please note, they did not cry when they hit heads. Matt told the kids to stop again. They did not stop. Time for a time out.

Once they got into time out, the tears started. "My head hurts! I have a hurt head!" I decided it was a good time for a picture.