Friday, January 30, 2009

Alphabet Soup

My kids have always been obsessed with letters. They both learned the alphabet very early on and love nothing more than sitting in my lap drawing letters on their Doodlepro. At least Cooper still loves to do that.

It's nothing for us to be somewhere and hear Cooper spelling out whatever's written on a wall, sign, book, tires,etc. He can be easily entertained on a parking lot pointing and calling out letters on tires. While sitting outside a restaurant with Cooper in Gulf Shores last summer, Mom and Mark heard him spouting off some letters.... H-O-O-T... see below if you still haven't figured out what he was spelling. And, no, we weren't actually eating there. It was across the street.

His obsession with letters has gone to a new level lately. For Christmas, he got an easel with a magnetic dry erase board and letters, which he plays with constantly. He gets really excited about his letters... they are not just A, B, C... but are now referred to as "letter A," "letter Z,".... imagine a 2-year old running around shouting this in a very enthusiastic high pitched voice. Last week, he brought me a handful of letters and said, "Alphabet Soup." That came from Ms. Jane, I'm sure....

Car rides are more exciting these days too... Cooper goes bonkers at stop signs shouting, "a shape, an octagon, S-T-O-P." The 5-minute car ride across town from Ms. Mae's to Ms. Jane's every morning is so entertaining because we go through about 5 different signs... I'm hoping this obession with letters and such is a sign that he will be very academic!

Letter Q

Every Friday is "Show and Tell" day at Kamdyn's school. She is supposed to bring something that starts with the letter they have been studying that week. This week's letter is Q and we always have fun coming up with our words each week.

When I mentioned that her cousin Quentin's name started with Q, she said "maybe he can come with me!" Quentin lives in Rogers and wasn't able to make it today, but Aunt Carmella (Carla) emailed this great picture of Q for Kamdyn to take.

I snapped this picture of her and her "Q" before we went inside this morning.

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Cubbies and Hide n' Seek

It's been a relatively uneventful week. We had AWANA last night at church, which always wears me out. Mark had to work late so I took the kids to McDonald's to eat and then on to church for me to eat. My kids won't sit still long enough to eat there and I spend the whole time running around chasing them (which is why I'm always tired afterwards!).

I always love to hear what the 4-year old Cubbies have to say. We talked about how God wants us to love our neighbor.... when asked how we can show love to others one little girl said, "you can sugar them and hug them." So cute!! When one little boy said he didn't love me, Kamdyn looked at me and said, "that's ok Mommy, I love you anway!" It was priceless and made my Kamdyn's quotes list to the left.

Later that night, I let Kamdyn get in bed with me since Mark wasn't home. I muted the TV (yes, I know it shouldn't have been on to begin with) so we could say our prayers and talk about what we learned at AWANA. After a few questions, Kamdyn looked at me and said, "Mommy, when you quit talking can you turn the TV back up?" So much for pillowtalk!!!

If you've been around Cooper, you know he's a man of few words, or sentences, I should say. He babbles all the time and will repeat anything you say, but rarely does he put words together in a short sentence. So I was so surprised when he crossed his arms in front of him and proclaimed, "not fair!" in response to Kamdyn getting pancakes for dinner and him getting manicotti earlier this week. We've heard that phrase a few more times in our house this week since then....

Here's a not-so-good picture I snapped of Cooper "finding me" in the closet while playing hide and seek. We've played a lot of that this week. Kamdyn hides in the same place every time--her closet..... when Cooper and I walked in her room to find her I said, "I wonder if she's under the bed" and I heard a giggley "No" come from the closet. Even Cooper figured that one out!

Monday, January 26, 2009

Happy Birthday!

Mark's birthday was Friday so we had dinner and cake that night with the family. Kamdyn insists that everyone blow out candles on their birthday.... Mark is awful to buy for because he doesn't use anything we ever buy him and he won't tell you anything that he wants or needs usually. He told me that he needed socks this year, so that's what he got!

After the Hog game on Saturday, we took the kids to Mom's and headed to Little Rock for a "date." I had a few stops to make along the way and Mark was actually a very good shopper. Most of you know that Mark would rather donate an organ than go shopping, but he's getting better! I told him that he was being so good that it must have been my birthday, instead of his!

We ate at Macaroni Grill and it was wonderful. I am seriously addicted to that place right now... We were going to go to a movie but Mark decided that it was too late and he didn't think he could stay awake.... we are getting old!

We have gotten the biggest kick out of Cooper lately.... he is really doing funny things! I can't tell you how many times he's come into the living room dragging a gallon of milk to let you know he wants some. Saturday morning he crawled into bed with us toting a gallon of milk and then went back for the bag of pancakes. I guess he was hungry!


A quick Kamdyn story.... We ate at Taco Bell Sunday and both kids were throwing fits as we were leaving..... it was meltdown city for both of them and Mark and I were on the verge of our own meltdowns listening to them. Finally, Mark told Kamdyn he had enough and for her to "zip it, lock it, and put it in her pocket," to which she replies in between horrendous sobs "but, Daddy, I don't have a pocket!" I couldn't help it... I lowered my head and laughed til I hurt.

Friday, January 23, 2009

Big Boy Bed

So we got Cooper a "big boy" bed last weekend. Kamdyn slept in it the first night but we finally got Cooper in it the second night. It's gone pretty good so far... he sleeps there until about 2-4 a.m. and then cries to come get in bed with us.

This morning I heard him walking down the hall at 4 a.m. and I thought to myself, "great, he's finally making his way to me and I don't even have to get up now." Little did I know he had stopped by Kamdyn's room to wake her up and bring her along!!! When I asked Kam if Cooper woke her up she said, "yeah, he needs me."

For 1 1/2 hours they crawled all over my side trying to get where they wanted to be. Of course, Mark laid there oblivious to the whole thing. Note to self: buy new king size pillows....it's not easy sharing a regular pillow with 3 people.

This is how Mark found them after getting out of the shower this morning. They really are little angels when they are sleeping!

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Birthday Season Has Begun



We call it "birthday season" in our family. The parties start in January and literally go 1-2 weekends a month until May before taking a few summer months off and resuming again in August. We have 13 (if I'm counting correctly) great-grandkids in our family! I think 5 of them were born in the same year... it's a joke in our family.

When I was pregnant with Kamdyn, my Papaw asked me just to name her something that he could remember. I think he suggested "Jessica." When we are all together, I honestly get my own kids' names confused. The little "greats" consist of: Kenzie, Kylie, Kamdyn, Kamryn, Canon,Cooper, Braden, Aiden, Avery, Bricen,and Braxton. Say that out loud and see how confused you could get! I joked that Brooke and JJ chose names that didn't rhyme, but I think they started their own pattern!! Honestly, none of that was ever planned...

Anyway, Canon's party was a few weeks ago at the bowling alley. The kids had a great time! Braxton's first birthday party is next weekend, followed by Bricen's the following weekend. In all honesty, we love this.... we are making memories and love the fact that our kids are able to have close relationships with their cousins. What a blessing!





Wednesday, January 21, 2009

You can call me ABR...

I don't know what it is about Kamdyn and her name. From day one, she has had a variety of nicknames: "the Punkin," "Kami-flage," "Kamisole," Kambo," Kami," Kam," and "Sissy" to name a few. I swore I would never call my child "Sissy" but it just comes out of my mouth without thinking. Lately, Kamdyn has made it clear that her name is Kamdyn -- nothing else. Cooper calls her "Sissy" and it drives her crazy. I just about fell out the first time she corrected me by saying "actually, my name is Kamdyn." As if I didn't know...

At church on Sunday, Bro. Robert gave her a high five on the way out the door and said "hey, Kambo!" Next thing I know, Kamdyn is walking away muttering emphatically under her breath "my name is Kamdyn...just Kamdyn!" Thank goodness he didn't hear her!!

A few weeks ago when I was putting Kam to bed I said "goodnight, Sissy." She replied, "my name's not Sissy" to which I responded "what is your name then?" She said "you can call me ABR." We have no idea what ABR stands for but she will answer to it!

The Couch Picture


The Efird grandkids have a tradition we call the "couch picture." The first couch picture was taken on my mom's couch at my cousin Brett's last Christmas with us. Little did we know how special our picture would become to us. We strike the same pose every year (and, yes, I know it's not the most flattering pose for me!) and we even had a professional version done at Brooke's wedding. We attempted to begin the same tradition with the great-grandkids, but it's almost impossible to get 10+ toddlers to cooperate and sit at the same time. They'll have to come up with their own tradition!

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

The Rockettes


I took a group of students to see the "Rockettes Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular" right before Christmas. Mom, JJ, and Kamdyn were able to join us and Kamdyn loved the show. Afterwards, she turned to Mom and said, "Mimi, I can be a Rockette when I get big!" I laughed and told Mom that I'm sure the heighth requirement might get her on that one!

I'll Never Blog....

Yes, I said that. I've asked myself a hundred times if I should blog or not. Who would really read my blog? When I asked my husband, Mark, if he would read my blog about our family, his reply was "I live it, why should I read about it?" I guess he's right about that; however, I've decided this is a way to document our lives. I guess you could call this "digital scrapbooking" maybe. My mom assures me she will read my blog daily if no one else does, so I'm going to give it a try!