Big Boy Helper

Robby is such a big boy that he even has chores, which include helping to dry the dishes after dinner, putting away his toys, and helping to water the flowers.

This week, he and Daddy watered the flowers right before bedtime, so he was already in his PJs. We didn't want to get them too wet, so we took of his shirt. The result was classic. I am sure that at some point down the road if Robby sees these pics, we will find ourselves in big trouble both for allowing him to model this fashion and then for taking pics of it :)

A Fun Send-off

This weekend we have headed down to Houston to see off Bryan's brother who is headed to Honduras for a year to do mission work. We have managed to fit in some really good times, including golf, swimming (Juliet's first time), and a great game of hide and seek. Our first night in town, the electricity went off about 8:00pm after a short lived but violent storm. The lights did not come back on until 1:00am. So, it was the perfect excuse for a great game of hide and seek:



The boys did 18 holes on both Friday and Saturday. I am not sure how they managed the heat, but they all seemed to have a great time.

Saturday we also took a quick trip to the HBU swimming pool, and it was Juliet's first time to go swimming. She seemed to like it, but it was Robby who really had a great time.

Showing off the latest in baby swimwear fashion!

Not My Proudest Parenting Moment

So....we have been working on potty training for a year this summer. Of course, we did not get serious about it until after Christmas, but it has been a long process for us. Lately though, Robby has been doing really well at school, even coming home in the same big boy underpants that he went to school in. At school, they have a woman whose only job is to change diapers and help the older kids go to the potty/wash hands, etc. (which is crazy in and of itself if you ask me). I was talking to Ms. Carmen today, and she told me that she is really proud of Robby. She said that she will be recommending a tuition break next week because he is potty trained. Well, of course I was thrilled, but I was also surprised because Robby has never in his life done anything other than pee pee in the potty. He will tell you that he is supposed to take care of all of his business on the potty, but frankly, he is just all talk when it comes to anything other than pee pee.

So, being the conscientious mother that I am, I mention this final hurdle that Robby really needs to overcome prior to being considered truly potty trained. Imagine my shock when Ms. Carmen tells me that Robby takes care of any and all necessary pottying in the actual potty at school. And, apparently this is not a new thing.

When I asked Ms. Carmen her secret, she said gives lots of hugs and bribes with a little bit of candy now and then. A little bit of candy?? Is she kidding me? I have presented elaborately decorated gift bags with promises of wonderful surprises inside. I have been known to hall an entire plate of cookies or a whole pan of iced brownies to right outside the bathroom to notify Robby that if he were to overcome this last hurdle, it would be his key to all the brownie or cookie he wanted. And, all of this to no avail. But, for Ms. Carmen, he will comply for a little bit of candy??

When I asked Robby today if does all of his pottying in the toilet at school he matter-off-factly told me yes. When I asked why he does not do the same thing at home, he simply shrugged his shoulders.

I am at a loss for words. And, I'm out of ideas, so if you have any great tips, please do share.

If This Doesn't Tug at Your Heartstrings....

Happy 7 Months Juliet!!

Juliet is now 7 months old, and she is continuing to amaze me each day. I am blessed with such a happy and well-adjusted little girl. She is eating all manner of baby food now from sweet potato, to avocado, to carrots, to squash. She even gnaws on the occasional cracker. She rolls over every which way, works hard to get anything she can put her hands on, and she has the most infectious laugh.

Here are some recent pics:

Happy Mother's Day to Mommy :)

Wearing her tea party dress

Sitting pretty at the Botanic Gardens

on tah

This last week, Bryan and I went on a vacation to Washington DC. (More to post on that later). We had the opportunity to stay at a lovely boutique hotel that was the childhood home of Al Gore. Part of the hotel's charm are rooms that are throwbacks to the 1920's or 1930's. One thing included in our room was an old fashioned alarm clock. This alarm clock charmingly ticked away each second for us so that we would always know as each second passed us by. About three minutes into the room, I declared the alarm clock banished, and it was stuffed in a drawer under a blanket. I do not like clicking, ticking, tocking noises. This includes clanky fans, silverware scraping, and especially ticking clocks. As I banished the clock, I was flooded with a memory of my mother, a memory of something for she did for me that is so small I am not sure she remembers but so characteristic of that certain love that really only a parent can experience.

The year is 1996. I have just broken up with my first boyfriend (who proved my parents right by being very bad news). My parents decide that I need to experience a little bit more than what I have seen in small town Texas thus far, and so they sign me up for a mission trip to Zambia.

Because I was only 15, my mother was not comfortable with me going alone; thus, she and I both signed up for our first trip out of the country. I could talk all day about how that trip continues to have lasting influence in my life, but instead I want to talk about a moment I had with my mom.

Mom and I did not always, shall we say, see eye to eye when I was a teenager. Those years were tempestuous, as we were [are] both very strong willed. But, I don't remember fighting with her on this trip. Here is what I do remember: there was not much space in the missionary compound, and Mom and I had to share a bed. For some reason on this particular night, we knew that we had to get up very early the next day, so my mom set her alarm clock. And, you guessed it, it was the loudest ticking clock on the planet. Perhaps my memory is simply fuzzy, but I don't recall being overly sweet or adorable in my complaints to my mother about the infernal thing. But, instead of upbraiding me or ignoring me, my mom simply put the alarm clock under her pillow so that the sounds would be muffled from my ears.

She put it under her pillow. A big boxy alarm clock. A big boxy alarm clock that ceaselessly ticks the seconds away. A big boxy alarm clock that ceaselessly ticks and then at some point begins to relentlessly clang.

I should also mention that my mother has supersonic hearing. She takes cottonballs to movie theatres to stuff her ears and drown out the sound and refuses to watch TV with my dad on a regular basis because she feels he watches it too loud. My mother is not a noise person either.

But she did that. For me. Without complaint. Without ever bringing it up again. That night of what must have been very restless sleep became an incredibly powerful testament of a mother's love for this daughter.

I hope as a mother to follow her example and show my children my love for them with similar reflexive acts--unpremeditated moments that are simply and willingly borne out of love.