window shopping

So the boys are both in school....ahhhh....

Yeah, yeah.  I know they grow up fast, BUT this mama is HAPPY 2 of my 4 children are in school!  I am a much better mom when I have structure and a schedule.  Without it my house is pure chaos! 

The other day after we dropped the boys off at school the twins and I headed to the mall...it was still closed...but honestly, that's the way I prefer it with two two year olds!  We just strolled amongst the mall walkers and did a little window shopping.  They were thrilled to be out of the stroller.

And I was thrilled to be in the air conditioner.

We pretended to ride rides.....but only pretended....75 cents?  Outrageous!

Camille & Maya

I am so very blessed and love spending quality time with these peanuts.

Deep Thoughts with Zander

Zander is definitely his father's son.  This is his conversation with Gavin today at lunch.

Gavin:  "Mom, your flowers are dying." 

Zander:  "Everything dies Gavin.  That's life."

Gavin:  "I know..."

Zander:  "I mean everything dies....plants, people, animals, even this house will one day die."

Gavin: "Yeah, I KNOW!"

Zander:  "Flowers have a short life Gavin."

Gavin:  "I know."

Zander:  "Do you know what even has a shorter life than a flower?"

Gavin:  "Ummm....what?"

Zander:  "Voice.  "

**SCREAMS**

"See?  That sound already died.  It's over."

**WOOOO!**

"See?  That sound I made already died too. That's life Gavin."

Pretty deep for a 1st grader. 

another "accident"

I was busy washing dishes after dinner this evening and Gavin came down stairs and tattled, "Mom!  Maya and Camille are naked again!"

"I'll be right up."

After I finished rinsing plates I headed upstairs where Gavin met me at the top.  "It was an accident, Mama."

Uh-oh.  That's never good to hear. 

"They're stuck in my room,"  he explained.

Gavin had locked his naked two year old sisters in his bedroom! 

Not a huge deal if you have normal bedroom door knobs, but the boys bedroom has a knob like this...

Yeah.  I never noticed until tonight. 

Anyway.  I tried my best to pick the lock but had no luck.  I tried talking the girls into unlocking the door but they just got frustrated with me for not letting them out.  I called the hubby at work....he was no where near being off work and wasn't much help.  He mostly just laughed and told me to knock the door down as a last resort. 

By this point a good twenty minutes had gone by.  I decided to call my sister, Jacque.  Her boyfriend tried to help over the phone....but it was useless.  Nothing was working. 

Soon I heard the dreaded "uh-oh" on the other side of the door followed by "Mama I poo-poo!"

"DON'T TOUCH IT!!"  I yelled through the door. 

I ended up calling the non-emergency police line.  When Gavin heard this he flipped out. 

"Mom!  PUH-LEEEEEASE don't call the police!!  I don't want to go to jail!"

Gavin then burst into tears.  It was hilarious.  (call me cruel, whatever, YOU try not to laugh at that situation!)

A HUGE thank you to Tulsa Fire Dept for coming to our rescue!!  Our hero's!

We are officially the talk of the culdesac. 

It only took them 3 minutes to open it up.  This is what we found.

Two babies in the buff (well, they were wearing converse and socks!) They obviously had a good time destroying their brothers room.  One of them pooped and Camille stepped in it and smeared it in the carpet.  Not to mention, there were tinkle tracks throughout the room.  It was great.

gavin's haircut

For weeks Gavin has begged for me to cut his hair for school.  I ignored him hoping he would wise up....but he didn't.  Instead he brought me pictures of Asian teenagers with short straight black hair and said he wanted hair like them.  He was just fed up with all the attention his long gorgeous hair received. 

But seriously, how could strangers NOT comment....just look at him!

I finally gave in to his persistence.  This obviously wasn't a phase.  It was a sad day for this mama.

very.  sad. 

He thinks he looks tougher with short hair.

Come on Gavin.  Can you just act "normal" for one picture?  This is his break dancing move which he specifically asked me to capture on film. 

 

There we go....Obi got a smile out of him....

He looks so grown up now! *sniff, sniff*

Yes, I'm still alive....

Yes.  It's been a while.  Some of you know that I have a "blog stalker".  It's really weird.  Someone has made numerous vulgar comments (which have all been deleted by me) in regards to my children....the latest of which has been a flat out proposition of sexual activities they want to perform on them.  Yeah.  I'm pissed.  So much so I have called the police and filed a police report....but nothing is being done. 

So here I am.  I lOVE to blog....but understandably haven't been "in the mood" lately. 

What would YOU do if you were in my shoes? 

Funny Kids

It's hard being a stay at home momma.  Some days are awful.  The kids are moody and I am preoccupied.  But other days....most days lately....are pretty fantastic.  I feel like I am finally getting this whole momma thing down.  My kids leave me in stitches everyday.  Here are a few of my favorite moments today...

We were at the Dollar Tree and, as you can imagine, we attract a lot of attention.  Every one we passed commented about the twins or their red hair.  Gavin had just about enough of the attention.  He was angry at me because I wouldn't let him get any cheap toys.  "I like cheap toys."  He kept arguing.

A little old lady past and told him what a handsome young man he was and that he had gorgeous hair.

He forced out "thank you" then turned to me and asked, "Can I dye my hair black?" 

Camille and I were spending some alone time cuddling on the couch this afternoon.  She was being so sweet, I tried to soak up every once of love.  "You're my little sweet pea" I told her.  She looked and me confused and busted out laughing.  "No, Momma silly!" 

"What's so funny?  You are my sweet pea!"

"Momma, you're my sweet poo-poo!"  she said. 

Go figure. 

stranger danger

I met up with a good friend this afternoon at our favorite splash pad.  We sat and talked while we watched our children try to beat the summer heat.  Then we then noticed something disturbing, a super creepy man sitting alone drinking a beer watching our kids play.  It's 11am on a weekday, I might add. 

We're talking straight out of a movie, stereo typical child predator looks here. 

For those who know me well, you know I am the last person to think bad of someone and will always defend the underdog.  In fact, I kept doing it with him too.  "Oh, he's probably some one's Grandpa." 

But deep down I just had a feeling in my gut I couldn't ignore.

We were determined to out stay him or to get enough courage confront him.  After 2 hours he finally left.  Alone. 

Was he there innocently watching children play?  Or was he a predator?  I'll never know.  One thing that I know for sure is that I need to teach my children about stranger danger....before it's to late. 

Teaching kids stranger danger

remember my kids are only 4 & 6

• 
  
  Teach them what a stranger is!  Seems obvious enough, but I have been teaching my children to be nice and polite and in return they don't know a stranger and will chat it up with anyone.  It's also a good idea to ask them what a stranger looks like.  Gavin told me a stranger looks like a ninja. 
• 
  
  Visuals!  Print out color pages and read books.  Remember McGruff?  He's still around and is a great online research tool for parents and kids. 
• 
  
  Role Play!  I don't want to scare my children but to empower them.  I want to give them the tools where hopefully they won't become a victim.  My boys love playing pretend and they thought it was so much fun that Mommy was "playing" with them. 

We dressed up and took turns being the stranger trying to trick the kid.  As a parent it's a little scary that your child falls for the lost dog or candy trick every time...even though it's just pretend.  Hopefully if we keep this up they will eventually get it and recognize the danger if it happens in real life.

It's a shame that the world isn't a safe place for our children.  I hope and pray that they will never come in contact with anyone wanting to hurt them. 

Family Watch Dog is a FREE website that you can put in your zip code and see all the registered sex offenders in your area.  I was horrified by the number in my area.  You can click on the map and see a picture of each offender and their crime. 

Disclaimer:  Not all registered sex offenders are child molesters or violent offenders, I've heard of people being put on the list for "indecent exposure" because they  peed in a parking lot leaving a bar.  BUT I did find a man in MY NEIGHBORHOOD charged with "lewd act with a child".  Yeah.  That's enough to freak this Momma out! 

Have you begun to talk to your child about stranger danger?  What have you done to teach them about child predators?  I would love to get more ideas from real moms!

**I realize that 90% of child predators are people you children already know!  Like a coach, teacher, or family member.  That's a whole other subject....and frightening one at that...