Friday, March 28, 2014

She's been this way since the beginning

Re-reading my post on Addi and the twins got me thinking.   Yes, she's my kid, so I expect a level of humor to be a learned trait both kids will have, along with lyrics to 90s rap songs and the plot line to every Full House episode memorized.  But Addi has always had a quick wit about her, something that must run deeper than just the nurture aspect of child rearing.  It's something that will likely get her in trouble throughout her life but will hopefully be something she can use as a positive in her professional life someday.  Either that, or she can use it to talk her way out of speeding tickets or prison. 

Originally posted on Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Outsmarted Again!
As I have described before, we are constantly working to make Addi a well-behaved, law-abiding citizen. Most days the job is harder than it looks, and today was no exception.

Recently I found out that taking stuff away from Addi works as better punishment than time out (since she thinks time out is hysterical). Not really a novel idea to most, but when you have a kid who rarely likes the same toy two days in a row, it makes it difficult for her to see the consequences (click here for more info). You take away a doll, a spoon is her new best friend.

This morning I was trying to get her dressed and she kept running away, hiding, etc. So, I told her if I had to come upstairs to get her, then Cocoa (her newest bear obsession) would have to stay home with me today while she went to Kim's house.

Well, I had to go upstairs after all and found her hiding under the baby bassinet with Cocoa. I said, "I told you to come downstairs or I would take Cocoa away. You didn't listen, so give him to me," and pointed to Cocoa.

She looked at him and said, "No, this not Cocoa, this Bob."

My kid... the genius.

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Twinsies!

The kids really liked going to Camp Carnival, and after their first afternoon there we asked them if they made any friends.  They both talked about Alexis and how cool she was. She was 7, so in between their ages (the camp had Sam bumped up to age 6) and Alexis had a twin but the girls didn't get to meet her.

The next time they went to camp they met some other kids, but no Alexis. They DID however meet her twin, Lexi.  Addi said, "I went up to her and said hi and she said, I don't know you, you must have met my twin Alexis."  Addi told me that Lexi had different clothes than Alexis and that's how she tells them apart.

As a mom I was thinking, who in their right mind would name identical twins Alexis and Lexi? but kept that to myself.

The girls went to Camp for dinner one night while Jay and I went to grown up dinner and to the casino (which had carnival games like the claw game - but instead of stuffed animals had stacks of CASH!  Oh, yes we sure did play that one!).  After Jay and I picked them up (a few bucks poorer) Addi said she played with Alexis again.  I said, "Where was Lexi?" and Addi said, "Oh their mom and dad have a rule that they aren't allowed to be together ever. That's why you only see one of them at a time."  Sam chipped in that yes, that was in fact true, and they had fun with Alexis because Lexi was mean to them last time she was there.

Get where this is going?

Because I can't let things go, I pushed the issue.  I tried to find a reasonable way to tell the kids that I was pretty sure they were getting tricked, but they were adamant that no, there were two girls, the parents just won't let them be seen together.

The last night of the cruise the girls went to Camp for dinner again so Jay and I could use up our casino money and start packing.  When we got in line for check in, Addi said, "Hey look! There's Alexis! You can tell because that's not the kind of shirt Lexi wears."  She looked again at Alexis standing in between her parents and little brother, looked up at me, and said, "There's only one of them, isn't there."  

That night we talked about it and Addi came to the conclusion that Alexis must like to do bad things when she's Lexi and uses the alter ego to get herself out of trouble.  I figured the kid was either crazy or had a really vivid imagination, but Addi's reason seemed plausible too.

Once we got home, we joined the real world again and a few nights later Addi brought home school papers.  I glanced at them, then did a double take.


Apparently, Addi has a twin too.  I hope this one likes dishes.

Friday, March 21, 2014

She's so hot

The first day we were hanging out on the pool deck, we noticed the close proximity of a few things that could be dangerous.  The first were the two bars - enough said.  The second was the Guy Fiero's burger joint with really, REALLY good french fries - not good if you are attempting to not gain weight.  On the opposite side was a burrito place that had a great selection of salsas and peppers out but never seemed to be open for actual burritos.  Finally, there were the soft serve ice cream machines (TWO) that were open 24/7.

Addi and I took a walk to the ice cream machine and on our way back, she grabbed an orange pepper off the counter of the burrito place. They looked exactly like the peppers Jay gets at Sam's regularly and she popped it into her mouth. I didn't notice any of this until she started saying, "It's hot! AHHHHHH!" and whining.

We got back to our seat and she continued to freak out, only louder and louder.  Jay got a kick out of it and was laughing until he realized what exactly she ate - a habanero chili pepper.  A quick wikipedia search has this lovely thing listed as the world's hottest chili pepper in 2000.

Apparently, on the official "Scale" of peppers, a bell pepper rates a 0 and a banana pepper 100-900.  Addi's particular one rates typically between 100,000 and 350,000 - in the top 25% of hot peppers. So yeah... Just a little warm.

Oops.  Jay laughed at her at first, and after she finally got a cool mouth she was MAD. She ran over and grabbed another pepper and told Jay he had to eat one for laughing, then when he wouldn't she brought it up every time she could the entire trip. He put her off repeatedly saying he was afraid, his stomach hurt, anything to not have to eat one, and when we left the boat he never ate one.

After we got home I came downstairs to him gagging and running around, and the kids laughing and pointing.  Turns out Addi found another orange pepper and got Jay to eat it.  But when they weren't looking, he winked at me - because he was eating a regular Sam's club pepper, not what was once in the Guiness Book of World Records.  Oh well - Addi was happy!

She knows how to count

The kids loved being on the boat, especially the soft serve ice cream machines that are available 24/7.  That was the very first thing they did after trying out their bunk beds and it was a hit all week long.

On the boat days we hung out at the pool and were fairly entertained.  The pool, hot tub, live music, miniature golf, waterslides, water park, ropes course... And for Jay and I, a steady stream of waiters just begging to bring you a cold drink.  The deck was big enough that the kids could have a bit of independence but small enough that we could always see them, even if they were grabbing food or sitting in the hot tub.

One early afternoon I saw Sam walking back from the ice cream machine and said, "Sam, isn't that like your THIRD ice cream cone today?"

She looked at me and said, "No Mommy, it's my fifth."

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Spring Break, Mushroom-Style

For spring break this year, Jay and I planned on the girls going to the daycare they go to during the summers and maybe taking a short trip to Chicago for a few days.  We would work, they would hopefully have fun, and we would take a family vacation this summer.  Well, 11 days before the kids would be out of school we found out our daycare couldn't take the kids, thanks to our school having a different break than the public schools. 

We tossed around ideas... I could take off a few days... Jay could take off a few days... But with the never-ending cold we have had, even Chicago may not be possible because of snow. Jay said, "If we are taking vacation we need to go somewhere warm! Where can we go with no passports for the kids?"

Twenty-four hours later, we were booked on the Carnival Sunshine for eight days of what we hoped would be warm, relaxing, and fun for us all.  We had nine days to get ready (we had NO summer clothes for Addi!), get the car ready for the 12 hour drive to New Orleans, lose 30 lbs, pick our vacation song, fix my last minute broken windshield, figure out where Roatan even WAS (Honduras, FYI), have my mom overnight my summer clothes she had borrowed for a trip, get work settled, get a tan, and pack.

Jay started having buyer's remorse about two days later, but he took that energy and did our taxes.  When it was all said and done, our refund was $5.34 LESS than the cost of the cruise.  Literally, $5.34.  Jay quickly got over his nervousness and did something he has never, ever done before and will likely never, ever do again. He packed himself seven days before the trip.  I think he was excited.

Well, we made it, and it was totally worth the stress. We blasted our chosen song "Beachin" by Jake Owen about 10,000 times on the trip to New Orleans, we got to catch up with college friends we haven't seen in way, WAY too long, Jay got the girls to scream, "We're FUN GUYS! FUNGIS!!! MUSHROOMS!!!!" every hour (especially after we found the 24 hour pizza place that served the #4 - Funghi pizza), the girls did dozens of things they've never done before, and we managed to gain less than 5 pounds each.

I have a lot of great stories to blog about the trip, so I'll do my best to tell them in a timely manner (ehem, Patty Carey), but to be honest, I'm still on island time.  :)


The Farm Life

I'm not sure what part of this is the bigger issue: that Sam turned my shower into a farm or that it's been that way for three days and Jay and I haven't mentioned it or moved any of them. 
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