Once in a Blue Moon

Since this almost never happens, I want to document it. Tonight we ate dinner out as a family and it went sooo well. We almost never go out anymore just the 4 of us because (a)- B is probably the cheapest guy I know and (b)- one or both of the boys whines or fusses the whole time and it stresses us out too much. But tonight, probably because of the blue moon, it went well. It was amazing to sit back and simply enjoy a dinner out. No stressing that Ben is yelling or fussing or Briggs is crying or making a huge mess. And Mr Impatient was even willing to wait for a table and we ended up getting one right away. It's as if there was a blue moon or something ;)

The picture doesn't have anything to do with tonight, but I thought it was cute. The boys love to play McDonalds after bath time. If only they could make me my favorite mcd's cokes!

Bill the builder

We decided to join a home group at our church at the beginning of the summer.  Our group is trying something new where we meet as families have dinner and then trade off one parent leaving with the kids while the other stays and then switch.  The problem was that they needed a house that could keep everyone and it not bother them to have lots of kids playing and running around.  Welcome to the Mahrer’s!  That kind of thing doesn’t bother us at all and our house is always chaos with toys so really it’s not much different.  The problem was that we needed a table.  We sold our dining room table before Briggs came around and our kitchen table is just too small for 6 families.  A normal person would head to a furniture store and buy one.  Not B.  He decided to make one.  He’d been talking about it, but this gave him the drive to do so.

 

The boys LOVED helping him along the way

We also got a new chandelier.  The original one try to kill me one day by falling down and it took over a year for someone to get around to buying a new one.  So happy to FINALLY have light in the dining room.

I love this!  B burned this into the wood.

Since we have so many kids here between Home Group and playgroups he built a bench for one side so we could squeeze more hineys on one side.

I LOVE the ‘kid’ chair in the middle.  Reminds me so much of the blue chair Grammy had that Aunt Linda stole.  The chairs we purchased and they just happened to be the perfect match to the table legs.

 

The bench.  Still needs the clear finish, but we’re happy with it!

My favorite part  

A little fantasy football draft/coloring time with chocolate milk tonight.

 

The shelves in the back have to go, but we have a kitchen to renovate OURSELVES (please start praying for my sanity now) before that happens. 

All about Ben

So that I don’t forget the quirks of Ben being 3 years and 2 months:

*fascinated with his boy parts.  Ugh!  I hate this!  He also likes to be naked.  There are many times when he’ll walk into the room and his clothes are missing.

*refers to himself in the 3rd person ALL THE TIME (Ben is hungry, Ben wants to watch tv, Ben needs to go potty).  It’s so weird.

*cannot pronounce his ‘l’ sound.  Part of me hopes he never gets this because it’s kind of cute.

*has developed a distaste of milk just like his mommy and Grams.

*now tells us to “GIVE ME ______!”  This does not go over well with mommy at all.

*when he sees a toy he wants at the store, he will tell me that it’s 3 years old just like he is so he should get it.  <sigh>

*is obsessed with super heroes now.  LOVES to play Iron Man, Wolverine (aka the scratching guy), spider man, etc. 

*doesn’t like to drink from “baby” cups anymore, only wants to use “big boy” ones.

*believes that “stupid” is a bad word and NEVER misses it when someone says it.  NEVER. 

*we’ve also taught him that “hate” isn’t a good word so he’s quick to catch everyone on that, too.

*loves to put mommy/daddy/Briggs/toys in “jails”.  Not jail, but jails.  And don’t you bother telling him he’s wrong.

*finds pure enjoyment I think in arguing with me about just about everything.  Don’t bother correcting him because he’s right all the time.  Must get that from his daddy

*still keeps an eye on Briggs making sure he doesn’t eat peanuts. 

*knows how to get us home from just about anywhere in Frisco. 

*will still run all day if allowed

*is the DEEPEST sleeper and snores so loudly just like his daddy

*high a very high word quota he has to reach each day. The kid even talks in his sleep.

*today he pooped in his pants for the second day in a row (after a LONG time of being accident free).  While I was cleaning everything up he grabbed his xylophone and started singing, “I pooped in my pants and mommy is not happy…”  It was so hard not to laugh and smile while I was trying not to murder him.

*bedtime is still hell!

*doesn’t seem to need as much sleep as they say.  Gets about 11 hours and doesn’t nap…EVER!

*has two patches of eczema on his head that cause his hair to grow funny in those spots.

*gives tons of hugs and kisses a day

*goes bonkers if we don’t see his friends each day

*tells us “I am ANGRY” if he doesn’t get his way and stomps off

*wears 4T tops and 3-4T shorts and size 10 shoes (and adult size hats)

*cannot stand to have his nails cut.  After 3 years I finally figured out to do it while he’s sleeping.

*favorite toys: Cars movie cars, ‘guys’ (super heroes), any pretend food (especially the McDonalds kitchen Addie gave him), puzzles and tools

*idolizes his daddy

*getting better and better with being a good big brother.  He really loves Briggs and loves to play with him (as long as Briggs doesn’t touch his toys).

*makes me laugh, smile and thank God everyday that I get to be this crazy kid’s momma!

 

pretty much sums up how silly he is

'home' school

So I'm a bad teacher mom who rarely sits and works with her three year old. I have a firm belief in letting them play and be a kid, it goes too quickly. But...in an effort to change, I've been trying to spend some of Briggs' nap time working with my little man.
It seems to be hit or miss on how he does in his attention span. It does appear that he doesn't like to follow directions from mommy or a workbook. He told the book it was wrong yesterday.
Gotta love him!

My little peanut

Oh sweet Briggs! We get it-you are unique and an individual!  And now you are officially a ‘peanut free’ kid.

  When we were up at Grammy’s Briggs ate a peanut butter cookie and immediately broke out with a rash on his stomach.  I called Michelle because Addie has a peanut allergy.  We gave him some Benadryl and put him to bed.  All was good the next day.  I knew I had never given him peanut butter before, but thought he had some when he ate the crusts of Ben’s pb&j’s.  We had our appt Wednesday morning.  The doctor tested him for peanuts and tree nuts.  Within just a few minutes he started reacting to the peanut one.  The dr told us to avoid anything peanuts and even tree nuts because he could still develop an allergy to that and cross contamination.  In a year we can introduce tree nuts again and see what happens.  He even told us to avoid ballparks!  Does he know who Briggs’ father is???  Avoid ballparks, I don’t think so!

But for now we’re learning how to scrutinize food labels and keep an epi pen and Benadryl with us at all times.  Ben is super cute about it.  He knows Briggs can’t have peanuts and when he sees me studying food labels, he tells the other people around us, “Briggs can’t eat peanuts or he’ll choke.”  Love that sweet protective brother!

 

Our little man’s back during testing.  That top spot is the peanut.  Sorry kid!