Hud's pet lizzard

Apparently from recent trips to the amphibian and reptile exhibit at the zoo, Hud has gotten it in his mind that his lizzard needs water. So, he put his lizzard in this red bucket and frequently checks to make sure there is water in it. I've probably had to add water to his bucket almost every day for the last 5 days. The funny thing is, his lizzard is one of a pack of plastic lizzards I bought at the Dollar Tree. I'm hoping that this will work in a few years when he really wants a dog! I'm going to keep my eye out for a realistic rubber dog. Better yet, a rubber horse!

Taking a picture for China

As part of our dossier, we are required to submit several photos... formal family shots, "action shots," shots of our home... so tonight our a friend came over to take a formal shot of us. The exciting news is that we received our last piece of paper for our dossier (paperwork) to send to China. I thought I'd include the winning pic (the first one), and a few extras that are pretty cute.

Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease

No, it's not the same as hoof and mouth disease common to livestock. However, one of my cute little animals (Han) has contracted it. (The picture above is during one of Han's finer moments last summer.) The poor thing has had a mouth full of ulcers for the past week, and has lost her appetite. She seems to be recovering now, as she ate quite a bit for dinner and finished off her meal with a donut. Hudson apparently really likes donuts, because he burst into tears when he finished his off and couldn't have the one waiting for Russ to eat. We told him that maybe his PaPaw would buy him a donut when he goes to see him soon. When Russ was praying with the kids before bed, Han paused trying to think of more things to pray, and Hud prompted her with, "Pay donut, Pay donut" (Pray donut). She carried on with, "Pay donut, Pay donut," then paused. Hudson jumped in to help her again, "Pay PaPaw, Pay PaPaw." She repeated after him, then paused for her next cue from Hud which was, "A-em!" (Amen!) She finished off with a sincere "A-EM!"

What nots and goings on at our house...

Here's an update on Han's matching and potty training... the matching is definitely an important aspect of Han's life. The other night she wanted a pink spoon to "match her bib." Today she is wearing "big girl panties." This has been a pretty big deal of course. She did pretty well in them yesterday with the Pee Pee, but did have an accident with Poo Poo. This morning she doesn't want to wear any pants. Apparently she wants to have quick access to her panties... not for potty purposes, but so that she can interchange them frequently throughout the morning according to the color she feels most moved to be wearing at the moment. We've already seen pink and yellow on!! And by the way, those worried about her teeth, we have been giving one M&M now. I just didn't realize the power of just one M&M. If only that's all it took to motivate me!
Wednesday night was Russ's Bible study group night, and the guys all come over here. The kids were just getting out of the bathtub when some arrived and Han, wearing only her pink hooded bunny towel which was on her head and flowing behind her like a cape, ran up to one of the guys and gave him a big hug. Hud, who had decided that he wanted to join the guys' night was sorely disappointed and sad when he wasn't allowed. Han, the sweet sister she is, was trying to console him saying, "Tay Huddie, tay." ("It's O.K. Huddie.") When that didn't seem to help she said, "Tee DammMa toon!!" ("See Grandma soon!") Guess you know how you rate, DammMa! Fortunately it didn't take Hud long to recover from being banished upstairs with the girls, gather his wits about him, grab the extension hose to my vacuum, and proceed to stand at the top of the stairs, blowing on the tube to make elk bugel sounds down at the guys. That'll teach 'em!
Yesterday while coming home from the store, I spotted a turtle trying to cross the road. Since turtles have been a big part of our life lately, I decided to stop and get him. The kids were sooo excited! We put him in a box with some mulch and a few rocks, and Han ran to get him some lettuce. We talked about how we helped the turtle by getting him off the road so a "big tuck" couldn't come and give him an ouchie! When Russ came home, we all took a walk to the neighborhood lake and set him free. We think he likes his new home! At bedtime we talked about how God made all the animals and turtles, and they both prayed and thanked God for the turtles.

Yes, twins do run in the family!

The kids have been wanting Dad to go to the zoo with them lately, so Saturday, we decided to make it a family event. It was cold and drizzly, but we braved the wild animals anyway! Hud especially wanted to show Dad the "Big tutul" and "Giaf." Russ's favorite exhibit was the gorillas. As you can see by the pic, he made a friend. I've always said that Russ is pretty friendly, he can make friends with anyone. Come see us, we have a really great zoo!!

A green sucker to match!

Han is really quite skilled at matching her outfits and assessories. Today she picked out this dress, shoes, and (after the picture) a matching green bow. Since she went Pee Pee in the big girl potty, she got a sucker. She decided she needed a green one... to match, of course. We're sort of working on the whole potty training thing. To be honest, it seems easier to just change the diapers. But Han seems ready, so I'll give it my best shot. Poor Hud, he's not quite ready, but he cheers her on, gives her "high fives," and fives "owhn low," and even lifts her up a bit so he can peer in the potty to see if there has been success. He can't understand why Han is getting a sucker about every 10-15 minutes. He tried to go Poo Poo, but he had already gone in his diaper, so I gave him 2 fruit snacks to reward the effort.
Anyone know how many suckers/day it takes to rot teeth? Han's caught on to the whole perform, get candy concept.

It's a Monday...

The day started out with me waking up realizing that the 2 nights I worked this weekend, on top of the pot luck we hosted, and the cold I've been trying to fight off had finally caught up with me. Never fear though, because I have two lovely assistants who follow me around all day eager to "help" me with whatever I'm doing. I know, I know, you're all really jealous... a partial stay-at-home wife with two house helpers.
One of my helpers, Han, does actually turn out to be helpful on occasion. Take today for example, while I was washing up the breakfast dishes, she went into her room, picked out a shirt and a coordinating skirt and brought them into the kitchen. She then proceeded to take off her p.j.s, and get dressed, only requiring my assistance with getting the shirt over her head, and untwisting the waistband of her skirt after pulling it over her fully saturated diaper. Once she was dressed, she went her room to put her p.j.'s in the correct drawer, then she went to the laundry room to retrieve a few used Wal-Mart sacks. These sacks are used to carry around all the things she anticipates needing for the rest of the day (a little trick she learned from her Aunt Carly). Today they contained a ladybug costume, an easter basket, and her security blankets. It's amazing that just two years ago I had two helpless babies, relying on me for their every inkling. Now I just have one, and one almost ready for college. (At this point I'd like to give a shout out to my sweet friend, Emily, who just brought home twin girls from the hospital. She's learning how to be a mom on about 2 hours of sleep a night. Hang in there!! It gets so much better!!)
By late morning, a friend arrived to play for a couple of hours while his mom was away. Good picture of what it would have been like with triplets! I'ts amazing that none of them can pronunce very many words correctly, but they all understand each other. We had lunch, played in the rice tub (an indoor sand box) and then his mom came to get him.
By then, the three of us were ready for a good nap. Hud and Han indulged for over 3 hours!
Russ got home around eight, just in time to help with teeth brushing, Bible stories and prayers.