Field Trip!

What to do on President's Day when the kids are out of school in Memphis, TN?? You take a field trip to the Pink Palace Museum!!


Now, when I first heard the name of this museum, I was quite perplexed. What kind of things do they show at a museum named "The Pink Palace"?! Apparently, the founder of the Piggly Wiggly (a southern grocery store chain) built a 36,000 square foot house made out of pink stone. A year afterwards, he went bankrupt and the city of Memphis turned it into a museum. It was called "The Memphis Museum" until the '60's when it became known as "The Pink Palace".


Here are the highlights of a trip with the kids, my sister, and her children!

A Bison head ... with Ethan and Clayton standing in front.

The Girls - Haley and Maecie - looking cute as they "stroll" around the museum.

They have a really cool circus display with wood-carved animals and people that perform tricks.

Ethan, Devin, and Clayton sitting in front of a life-sized triceratops!

CLEANING AGAIN?!

When I was a work-out-of-the-home mom, I spent my entire weekend trying to clean the house, do all of the laundry and yard work was an after thought. When I began staying home with the kids, I had to readjust my thinking. I wanted to have a clean house so when visitors just dropped by, I wouldn't be embarrassed. I wanted to be able to pick up the house once a day and have it stay that way. I wanted to be less stressed when the weekend came.

And then reality set it! I couldn't clean just once a day. Then I'm ALWAYS cleaning! And as I cleaned, I had little mess-makers trailing behind me to undo all I had just done.

So strategy #1 began. I would assign one cleaning task a day. Monday was laundry day, Tuesday was bathrooms, Wednesday was floors and so on and so forth. But then came the problems-I am cleaning everyday, ignoring my children because I have to get my cleaning chore done, and sometimes I'm not in the mood to clean the thing that is scheduled to be cleaned that day.

So I have a new strategy. Clean ONE day a week! Now, I'm not doing this under any false pretenses. I know that the dishes still have to be done and the floors swept and vaccuumed. However, if I take one day a week to clean the house from top to bottom, then I'm less likely to flake out, ignore my kids since I've spent quality time with them all week, and accomplish my goal.

Now for my next problem...and it's something I have been troubled with in all of my cleaning woes. What do you do with your kids when you are cleaning?? I hate turning on the TV in order to "entertain" them. And they generally can be distracted with a toy for about 10 minutes before losing interest. What do other mom's do? What are your cleaning strategies and woes?

The real reason I can't complete the laundry in a timely manner! :) A cute distraction, though!

Ode to Amelie's

So, I have lived in Charlotte for approximately 6 or 7 years. (It's hard to say because of going to school in Rock Hill and then having an apartment in Charlotte, but not really staying in Charlotte until I got married....blah, blah, blah) And it's so amazing how much this city has! Of course, it is a fairly large city, but I continue to be intrigued at what great places you can find. Thankfully I have friends to show me around!

Perhaps I need to venture out more and stop going to all of the normal, hum-drum places. Forget Panera Bread or McAllister's and even every other food chain! Charlotte has Amelie's! This swanky, posh, and yet, still comfortable venue is the most wonderful French Bakery you can imagine. They offer sandwiches, soups, tartines (whatever that is, and even though I haven't tried it yet, I will be!) as well as breads, breakfast items, fruit tarts, eclairs and much much much more!

This incredible, edible space is fully decorated with amazing trinkets, paintings, photos and chandeliers that you can PURCHASE! You love it? You can buy it! Their decor is changed regularly because of this awesome aspect. Want a cute place to cuddle up and read your little one a story? Head to Amelie's and curl up on the couch with a salted caramel brownie.

And you haven't heard the best part yet ... they are open 24/7! No, really! 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and they don't even close for holidays. You can go to Amelie's at 3am and eat a bowl of spinach, asparagus, and leek soup (that they actually have everyday and I tasted it and it was YUMMY!) or opt for a cupcake. There is nothing about this place that I hate ... it's impossible to!

I am so loving this wonderful "Paris shabby-chic" atmosphere and feel as if numerous visits will be made often!

Valentine Cuties

We made Valentines for all of the grandparents ... just have to get a few of them in the mail!!

The artists hard at work...

The cuties all dressed in the Valentine Day red

The Final Product

Imaginary Friends and Cranky Bedtimes

So my sweet, imaginative little boy has imaginary friends! Clayton actually has quite a few... their names are Bodo, Hummingbird, Robot, and Boys. They aren't always around, but when he gets bored or wants to "get away" with something, they are right beside him.

Today, for example, he played hide and go seek with them. Apparently they hid and he went around the house and found them. It was kind of funny to watch.

Nothing that he has done makes me worry about him having these "friends". I'm pretty sure they are normal. Has anyone ever really worried about imginary friends? I think it's so cute and just goes to show how inventive he can be. And at the same time, shows how much he needs to have friends to play with!

On the other hand, there is his sweet little sister, Maecie. She has been an awesome baby with little to no problems. She has had her teething bouts, her fussy times, and even a little attitude here and there. But nothing, until lately.

My little princess does not want to cuddle with me anymore! Sure, she likes to be held often and played with. But when she is tired, she does not want to snuggle and rock. It's like trying to hold a cat! She arches her back, moves her legs, constantly looking around. And I KNOW she is tired! I wondered if it was just her being over-tired, but I don't think that's the case either.

I used to rock her to sleep every night...but now I have to put her in her bed before she falls out of my arms from all of her moving around. That's not even the hard part .... after I put her down, she gets upset and has to cry for a while before she goes to sleep. Is this how other parents do it? Do they just put their children in bed at bedtime or naptime and allow them to cry themselves to sleep??

We didn't do much of that with Clayton, which may be part of the reason he is such a terrible sleeper even now. And she only cries about 5-10 minutes before going to sleep. I just feel bad that me walking out of the room while she is crying is the last thing she remembers before going to sleep! Makes a mommy sad!

So these are my thoughts on my wonderful, creative, and loving children! Is it all normal and am I still the greatest mom that I think I am?! :)

Sickly and Still Smiles

This week Maecie has been under the weather. Her week-long cold has brought about an ear infection. Which, to parents, means sleepless nights and fussy babes.

However, Maecie is one who, even when not feeling well, she always has a smile on her face!

Playing at 4AM! And see, smiling while doing it!

Chocolate animal crackers make all sickness feel better!

Clayton-isms Part 1

This is labeled Part 1 because I know there will be more in the future!

Sometimes I think my kid is too smart! He never forgets anything you tell him and understands soooo much! Here are some examples:

During some morning time rough-housing play, Daddy pinned Clayton and the conversation went like this:

Dad: "you can't go nowhere!" .... (i, of course, corrected his poor grammar!)

Clayton: "yes i can!"

Dad: "where?"

Clayton: "to work with you!"

There are many examples of Clayton singing songs that I could share, but here are just some:

Patrick is bad about singing portions of songs that are stuck in his head and not thinking about it. One such instance is a song that included the line, "Call me Mr. Flintstone, I can make your bedrock!" After hearing him sing this, Clayton turns to me and says, "Mommy, Daddy can make your bed rock!"

After we heard Clayton singing a Kesha song ("Everybody Take it Off"), we decided to change our radio stations. So I stuck with K104.7, known for it's mix of 80's, 90's, and some selected today's music. I guess we listened to it often and heard the K104.7 commercial jingle enough that one day Clayton asked if K104.7 was a fast song or a slow song.

As I've shown in previous posts, Clayton dresses himself and sometimes those clothes can be turned backwards. He has improved with the backwardsness, but now likes to pick out clothes that are not seasonal appropriate or have already been worn and are dirty. One day, he picks out a brown shirt and blue jeans that he had already worn that week. I inform him of his dirty shirt and that he needs to choose another one. To which he responds, "My shirt is not dirty, it's just brown!"

Clayton has the memory of an elephant (or so Patrick and I joke). We go visit his cousins every so often in Rock Hill. Every time we leave, we stop to get gas at the same gas station. The gas station is across the street from a Toyota Car Lot and generally have a car on a spinner to show off all sides of the car. One time the car was not spinning and Clayton asked if the car was broken. How does he always remember stuff like that?!

He also remembers certain people and events that previously occurred as well. For example, Patrick and I went on a cruise in September 2009. Clayton stayed at Grammie and Grandpa's house while we were gone. Despite the tons of fun he had, then next time we visited Grammie and Grandpa, we had not even entered their house before Clayton clung to me and said, "Don't leave me, Mommy!" It just amazes me sometimes!