Sunday, March 16, 2008

Sunday Summary

On Monday, Emma and Gabe OF COURSE informed me that it was "Dress up as your favorite character day" at school 10 minutes before the bus left. And because I am an awesome mother, this is what I came up with:

We are reading the Poppy series by Avi and so they were Poppy (Emma, with little ear buns, whiskers and a pink nose) and Rye (Gabe, with a furry hat, notched ear, and similar whiskers and nose).

We also had Miles,2, our cousin, over for an hour on Monday. Jane informed me (with Miles sitting in the car) that "I don't really like Miles, Mom, but I won't say that." Me: "Um, Jane, you just did." Jane: "I know, but now I won't say it again, because you will say it is a mean sing to say." Upon arrival home, she proceeded to play with him the entire time.

Emma also decided that she was done with piano on Monday. Her friends came over to ask her for a bike ride...and a lifetime of piano-playing was tossed out the window. Except I wouldn't let her, even though I was informed VERY emphatically that: "It's my choice, MOM!!"


On Tuesday, Emma and Gabe completed the much coveted (let's be honest, mostly by MOM) Reading is the Ticket Program, in which they receive a free ticket to the local amusement park if they read a certain amount. The month previous was filled with a bunch of (mostly idle) threats of "You are NOT going to Silverwood if you don't do this. I'm serious. Really. We'll get a babysitter and leave you home, because we can't afford to take this whole gaggle of kids to an amusement park. And you'll pay for the babysitter. I'm not kidding.) They were scared into submission.


On Wednesday, at Cub Scouts (Tammy will appreciate this) we learned about Litter to Glitter by reading children's conservation books, discussing how we can help and then Saving the Earth by collecting trash at our local park.



Friday we got to attend this Mexican fiesta:


at the Nebekers, where we ate steak, potatoes, rolls, spinach salad and asparagus. The plans for a fiesta were obviously changed, without the Albrechts knowledge, who came fully decked out and then forced the rest of us to dress-up and take pictures so they wouldn't feel dumb.

(we had SUCH a fun time)

Saturday was filled with the usual chores, basketball games and Ryan/Jessica date. Most notable, however, was Seth's nightmare episode, in which this bear:


kept us all up for a good hour.

I heard Seth crying and came into his room to find the bear lying on his face. He, crying hysterically, told me: "The bear is eating me, mom." I dropped the bear to the side of the crib. Seth cried louder: "NO! Dat bear tan't wook at me mom." So I dropped the bear, down the stairs. Seth, relented a little, checking: "Did dat bear go back to his mom's house, now, mom?" I white-lied, "Yes, he's back at his mom's house." I kissed him, tucked him in and left.

He cried again, on and off, for another half hour. Each time I would go in, check what was wrong and he would say, "I'n dust fine, mom. I'n happy. I'n scared, mom." After an attempt to have him sleep by me, so he would calm down, during which he chatted with me for 10 minutes about the whole scary bear problem, I laid him down and instructed him to sing a Primary song if he was scared. Upon returning to my bed, I heard in the other room, at the top of his lungs, Seth singing "I'm a Child of God." He eventually went to sleep but upon coming downstairs in the morning, was re-traumatized that the bear was not ACTUALLY at "his mom's house". He took him downstairs, and returned upstairs, telling me" Dat scawy bear is watching Amewcan Idol, now, mom." We're hoping Simon scared the Scary out of that mean Care Bear and that we'll have a good night's sleep tonight.

Sweet Dreams (Care Bear-free), from the Romneys.

34 comments:

Lauren in GA said...

Poor Seth, those blasted Care Bears will scare ya, everytime...

I loved the pictures...especially the one of you and Ryan getting drunk on A1 and, (I couldn't make the one you were holding out...was it another condiment?) Lushes...

I love it when you type out what Seth and Jane say with exact phonetics...it is serioulsy so fun to read :)

Hollyween said...

That care Bear story is hilarious. You wrote it out perfectly because I visualized the whole scenario in my head.
The mexican party sounds like fun. I want to come and live by you.

♥Shally said...

Seth is too cute. I Loved that he was screaming I AM A CHILD OF GOD!!

You are teaching him well... :)

Lindsey said...

My husband and I agree, that bear looks DASTARDLY. I mean, look at that smile. . . that bear is UP to SOMETHING!

Paige said...

You win the cub scout prize this week. For the trash one, I showed them a video on the internet, and then had them pick up trash in MY yard! There was lots.

Seth is cute but the scawy bear has got to go.

Your reading thing is good. Sol gets a prize at the end of the year for doing his book list monthly- at the end of every month I run around the house gathering "you've read this book! You've read this book!" Write it DOWN NOW. It's midnight!

jessica said...

Be honest, you were in on the "fiesta change" weren't you...It was all about humiliating the Albrecht's wasn't it! Good thing we are secure in our friendship...or are we?...

Loved Seth and the attack of the Care Bear. Seriously I laughed out loud!

Margaret said...

Who knew a more than lifesize care bear could be so traumatic?! Well, apparently Seth knows. Thanks for the heads up! I'll be on the look out. Maybe you should read him "We're Going On A Bear Hunt!" The bear looks like he just wanted to play at the end as he walks back to his cave.

Erin said...

Excellent stories and hilarious Seth. We can't wait to see him-- and the rest of you--in a few short weeks!

Laurie said...

Loved hearing about Seth's nightmare. Nate would probably agree with him, because the care bear is green. Nate's afraid of frogs, no idea why.

And next time you lie to your kids, follow through. At least hide the bear in the garage. :)

Lorena said...

Care Bears scare me, too. Poor Seth!

And, just a teensy bit jealous that a whole bunch of the family will be in Utah without us.

You look amazing in that picture with Ryan, except what exactly were you drinking?

Kate said...

I just discoverd your fun blog! The carebear story made me laugh out loud- nasty old bear.

Annie said...

Oh, those sinister care bears. Hopefully Simon will get it all straightened out.

My daughter has nightmares that her HANDS ARE TOO BIG. She just stares at them and cries. It's tough to get them out of her sight but maybe American Idol can help her with that one, too.

gab said...

Beary scary!

And, off the subject...do you have a special Irish menu planned tonight? Please post...

day in the life of a prince said...

Loved the bear story! Your a good mom, I totally forgot it was dress at your favorite character at school!!!

the wrath of khandrea said...

love the care bear story! i'm almost crying and laughing at the same time. that was great.
i hear you on the book tickets. i'm the "book it nazi" myself. i figure, hey, free pan pizza, i don't have to cook that night...

Ilene said...

Tell Emma if she sticks to piano lessons the longest out of all your children, she will get to inherit the piano. I made that deal with my mom and now I have our old antique piano. Of course my 10 years of lessons resulted in me being able to play like five hymns, "Heart and Soul", "The Spinning Song" and "Fur Elise".

Oh, well. I look forward to torturing my children on it in a few years. Isn't that the point of having a piano, anyway?

Melinda said...

I love the Care Bear story! So funny!

Christie said...

That is a very scary bear. I think it would give ME nightmares. Did you hear about the Elmo doll that malfunctioned and started saying, "Kill Joey," which was the little boy's name that it belonged to (it was one of those that you could program it to say your name). I think we should just get rid of all large stuffed animals. And big ugly dolls, too. Remember Chuckie?

Meridith said...

Man, I never thought the Care Bears were that scary. I hate scary dreams, though.

You and Ryan totally looked the part at the Fiesta. I don't know if you should joke about drinking A1, though. That might be taking it a little too far!!!!

shauna said...

Is the Care Bear's mom's new house gonna be the Goodwill?

Nice trickery and great backfire. The path to hell is paved in little white lies AND Scare Bears.

You know how to tell a great story. Thanks for sharing your week with us.

Melissa said...

that is one VERY big care bear!

Adrianne said...

I'm scared of the bear too - especially thinking about the amount of space such a monstrousity takes up... I want your necklace from the photo, please send me a close up so I can copy you.

Erika said...

Still laughing about the scare bear! I don't blame him one bit--I would have had to send that bear home too!

Kristin said...

Curse the Carebear!!! Heres to a better nights sleep tonight.

Bridget said...

If I had a stuffed animal that was bigger than me, I would probably have nightmares about it too. That is so cute.

The party looks fun. Did I mention I am a great party-er? ;)

Stacy said...

Where in the world do you buy gy-normous Care Bears like that anyway, or was it won at Lagoon?? Hannah is currently terrified of the Spiderwick toy that came with her Happy Meal (or more appropriately, "Un-happy" Meal) and as a result it has also been banished, except during daylight hours. Your kids are so cute, can't wait to see you guys!!

Audry said...

That is so funny. But Care Bears are suppose to be nice. I love that he was singing I Am A Child of God at the top of his lungs.

Jacki said...

I too am scared of anything life size that should NEVER really be life size. Care bears belong on the TV, 1 dimensional. Well, I guess they could come alive, but only on Halloween.

And green does look great on me. Huh, that probably is the reason it is my favorite color! Ok fine, that totally is the reason I love green!

Mique (as in Mickey) said...

I'm seriously laughing my head off with that bear story. Love the phoenetical (however you spell that darn word) spelling.
Do you and Ryan ever not have fun weekend plans? Seems like you are always partying somewhere. Guitar hero (it was Guitar hero wasn't it?)? Karaoke? Now fake Mexican fiestas? I can barely keep up.

crystal said...

I am of the firm believe that Care Bears are the stuff of LSD trips gone bad.

Seth! Obey your intuition! Kick that giant weird bear to the curb!

crystal said...

p.s. You have just taught me what to do the next time Mike goes out of town & I am home alone at night.

Yep, that'll be me, under the covers scream-singing "I Am A Child of God."

Valynne said...

I need to steal some of your getting-your-children-to-read tactics!

TexasTwinsTwice said...

that care bear story is a crack-up. love that you stuck to your guns about the piano--wish my mom would've made me stick it out--that's what I plan on telling my kids when they try to quit one day! =)

Lindsay said...

Well I can see why you're nauseated...obvious hang over, that has lasted for almost 8 weeks now!