When the Cat's Away...

Drew and the boys headed up to my grandparents' house in Oklahoma yesterday. Drew has been itching to get back up there before school starts. I love going, as well, but it is so much more difficult to travel with Addison. She has started getting car sick when we have to drive very far, and that is no fun for any of us. Plus, we have to take the dogs with us when all of us go. So, I decided I would stay here this time and the boys would go with Drew. They are just going to be gone until Sunday, so it might be a fun break for everyone.

The boys were so excited about going~ they were even nice to each other. They really do get along most of the time, but the last week has been tough. They were arguing about EVERYTHING for no reason at all. I even threatened to give them away on Facebook! (I would NEVER give my children away, so you don't have to tell me I am a bad mother!) We told them two days before that if they couldn't get along with each other they weren't going. They started acting better~ not perfect, but better. Yesterday morning while Drew was getting everything ready to go, they were being WAY TOO nice to each other. I even heard Jackson say, "Yes, sir," to Bryson. Before they left they wanted to take some pictures so they "wouldn't forget what we look like."

Bryson had to take a picture.

Then Jackson had to take a picture. Of course, Bryson wanted to take a funny picture. What is it with 9 year-old boys wanting to take pictures with everyone sticking their tongues out?

Addison and I decided to watch Wipe Out last night and have some snacks on the floor. We had some Jiffy Pop popcorn in the pantry so I thought Addison would like to watch it puff up. WRONG! I had her sitting up on the counter by the stove. It started sizzling and I started shaking it a little bit like the instructions said to do. That was fun and she kept telling me to "shake it, Mommy!" As soon as the first kernel popped though she freaked out! It was popping like crazy, I was shaking it and she had backed herself into a corner as far as she could and was screaming her little head off. I tried to calm her down while continuing to shake it by saying (calmly), "It's okay, Addie. It's okay. Listen to the popping." She kept saying, "It's NOT okay, it's NOT okay." Finally, it stopped (It only takes about a minute. Don't think I was torturing her for hours on end.) and she was fine. She did tell me she didn't want to do that again, though.

I spread a blanket on the floor, set out our popcorn and fruit and we watched Wipe Out. She is so funny when she watches it because she makes all these noises when they fall down. She laughs hysterically, too. When it was over she said she was ready to go to bed. Tonight I think we will watch a princess movie. She doesn't get to watch "girl" movies when the boys are around. I think I will use microwave popcorn this time.

Today my friends Laura and Katie came over to hang out. We went swimming for a little while and she played with Katie and Laura. Addison was in rare form. She copied what we were saying, jumped off the side of the pool, squirted Laura and Katie with the water blaster, and tried to join in the conversation. I think she likes hanging out with the girls, also. We came back to my house to eat and talk. Addison took a nap and we were able to have a good time talking about all sorts of things. I am so blessed to have two wonderful friends who I also get to work with. Thanks for coming over, friends! I had a great time!

I don't know what we will do tomorrow. It may be really exciting. Stay tuned!