Manners

One of the hallmarks of being a Southern mother .... reminding your kids of every rule of good manners ever known to man while taking them to any event away from home  ... a birthday party, a sleepover, whatever.  The poor kid is trapped in the back seat of the car all the way to their friend's house while you repeat the same age-old list ... "Don't ask for a bunch of food, wait until it's offered ... don't grunt when an adult speaks to you, say Yes M'am and No M'am ... be SURE and say thank you and please ... don't run in their house, and wipe your feet on the mat when you go in ... don't act like a buffoon or you'll never be invited again ..."  The kid just nods automatically at every rule you throw out there, like one of Pavlov's dogs hearing a bell for the millionth time.  By the time you pull into the driveway, they can't get out of the car fast enough and the only thing they are thinking is that they sure wish DAD had given them a ride instead of Mom!!!  :)

Bacon

ALERT FRIENDS AND FAMILY... Thanks to Lily, I was made aware of an important new law for EVERYONE in America that will apparently go into effect this summer!  Take note!  Wouldn't want to have to make a citizen's arrest ...

Apps

Grammie was asking Dylan which apps/games he didn't  need on her Ipad anymore.  After looking over a bunch of racing games and baseball games, etc, he said, "We could delete this one called dictionary."  Guess that one doesn't rank high on the cool apps list for boys!!!

Wrong Room

Speaking of crazy sisters, Deb and I were coming back up from the pool at our hotel one evening and realized we didn't have a key to our room.  The kids were in the room so we knocked and when no one answered, we started banging on the door over and over and over and shouting, "OPEN THE DOOR" and "COME ON" and yelling all the kids names real loud and annoyed through the door.  Finally we heard someone inside the room talking in a voice we totally didn't recognize and we noticed that instead of being at room 904 (our room) we were at room 704!!!!!  We had been talking and laughing on the elevator and we had gotten off at the WRONG floor by accident!!!  So we did what any grown 40+ year old women would do when we heard someone coming to the door after all our banging and screaming .... WE RAN!!! (with our two huge bags of beach buckets and toys and snacks AND beach mats and towels and sunscreen cans clanging all the way down the hall!)

Sea Turtle

Dylan is shedding his "cool guy-ness" for a little while this morning to play whatever Lily wants to play in the pool. At the moment he is having to be a baby sea turtle named Bubbles.

Balloons

Tonight when we were shopping around the boardwalk in Myrtle Beach, Dylan came rushing over with two huge balloon hats for he and Lily.  They were already proudly wearing them when he let us know he'd dug them out of a trashcan!!!!

Translation

Lily said to me today, "I am sooo glad this combo had a frequency!!!"  Translation: "I am so glad this condo had a vacancy!!!"

Marshmallows

Skeet bought Dylan a big bag of mini-marshmallows and now he's the new George Washington Carver of marshmallows!  So far he's had peanut butter, jelly, and marshmallow sandwiches, marshmallow cinammon toast, marshmallow and Cocoa Puffs cereal, marshmallow milk ... you name it and Dylan has put marshamallows on it!

Down South

You know you're in the south when you pass a restaurant called Big D's BBQ Trough situated amongst a trailer park, a baptist church, and Sharky's Firework and Moccasin Emporium.  Now to find that roadside stand of boiled peanuts....

FBI

Hmmmm... I wonder what happened to my cute yard decoration?!  NOT that I'm a professional FBI agent or anything, but MAYBE I should interrogate the 17 year old who lives with me who owns a BB gun ... Just a wild shot in the dark! (No pun intended!!!)

Kissing

We were at an indoor pool the other day, and Lily came up to me outraged and said, "Mom. There was a man and lady in the pool kissing ON THE LIPS!  That is NOT APPROPRIATE when there are a bunch of kids in the pool!!"
"Oh dear!" I replied, chuckling to myself.
"If they are going to do that," she continued indignantly, " they should do that at CHURCH!"
What???!!! I've obviously been missing out on some exciting times in church!!

Sleep Tight

I love tucking in my little girl into bed every night. We have our nighttime rituals before she falls asleep, which always include sipping a small cup of chocolate milk, then pretending we are a mommy and baby bunny in our warm rabbit hole, and then telling the same made-up story together about three kittens who live in a pink and white house and throw a party for all their kitten friends. I'm going to miss these days!

Cupcakes

Lily talked me in to buying cupcakes at the store. When we got home, she asked if she could eat one.  I said," Yes, but only one.  I am making supper right now."
Later I looked on the counter and 2 1/2 cupcakes were GONE!
"Lily!" I shouted sternly from the kitchen.  "Why is there MORE than one cupcake gone?!"
After a long pause,  Lily calls out from the other room, "They evaporated."
Nice try, kid.

Socks

A conversation with Dylan tonight ...
Me:  Dylan, give me your dirty clothes and get in the bath.
Dylan:  Mom!  Don't wash those socks (the ones he had just taken off) ... I"m going to wear them tomorrow!
Me:  No, Dylan!  These socks are filthy!
Dylan:  No they aren't ...  I've only worn them for three days.

Welcome to the world of boys.

Ragamuffin

Lily Claire lives life to the fullest, and at the end of every day she is covered with dirt and food and markers ... you name it!  The other evening we were heading home from a ballgame and I looked at her in the backseat, her hair and clothes and face a complete mess, and said, "Lily, you look like a ragamuffin!"  She said, "I like the "muffin" part, but not the "raga."