Not a number

I’ve been really busy with university reports and lectures and things, plus all the other usual stuff, but I finally have a small moment to  myself, so here is a blog post!

“What’s your favourite fruit?” Aaron asked Daniel one night as we all ate dinner together. They’d already gone through about five other favourite things.

“Um..” he thought about it for a few seconds, “apples.”

“What’s your favourite number?”

“GOOGOLPLEX!” Daniel answered excitedly. For all you non-nerds out there, that’s 10^(1*(10^100)). A very large number.

“You can’t even count to googolplex, Daniel,” Hannah told him.

 

“Yes I can, one, two, three, googolplex,” Daniel told her with a mischievous grin on his face.

“Did you know there’s a number even bigger than a googleplex?” Aaron asked Daniel.

“No.”

“Yeah, it’s called Graham’s number, and if a googolplex is this big,” Aaron held up his hand and measured a small gap between his thumb and forefinger, “then Graham’s number is THIS BIG,” he said, stretching his arms as wide as he could.

“Grahams not a number,” Daniel laughed. “SILLY DADDY.”

If you enjoyed reading this, please vote for my blog. All you have to do is click the link below. That’s it… Clicking the link brings you to the Top Mommy Blogs home page. You don’t have to do anything else. Any clicks from my site to theirs is a vote.  THANKS!

Like my blog? ‘Like’ it on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mommy-Adventures/203964682967827?ref=tn_tnmn

Pin It You officially have my permission to pin this (as long as it links back to my site).  Just don’t act like you wrote it. Because you didn’t….

Copyright 2014 Sheri Thomson

What happens if you jump

“What happens if you jump in a muddy puddle?!” Daniel often asks me cheekily.

“What happens?” I ask him back.

“You get all MUDDY!!!” He says whilst laughing like it’s the funniest joke he’s ever heard.

Recently though, he’s started expanding his questions.

“What happens if you jump in a table puddle?” He asks, already laughing in anticipation of his answer.

“I dunno, what happens?”

“You get all CHAIR-Y!!!!”

“What happens if you jump in a tree puddle?”

“I dunno, what happens?”

“You get all LEAFY!!”

Then Hannah joins in and they ask each other what happens when they jump in random things.  One asks, the other answers and they both laugh heartily.

Eventually, it turned into people.

“What happens when you jump in a Mommy puddle?” Daniel asks Hannah.

She thinks about it for a couple of seconds and then says “You get better at stuff.”

Daniel: “What happens if you jump in a Daddy puddle?”

Hannah: “You get ice cream!!!”

Daniel: “What happens if you jump in an Aunty Jess puddle?”

Hannah: “You get babies!”

Note to self, don’t let kids jump in an Aunty Jess puddle.

Daniel: “What happens when you jump in a Rosie puddle?”

Hannah: “You get naughty!”

 

These are some funny kids

Daniel: “What happens if you jump in a Daniel puddle?”

Hannah: “You get cheeky!”

Daniel: “What happens if you jump in a YaYa puddle?”

Hannah: “You get treats!”

Daniel: What happens if you jump in a Grandma puddle?”

Hannah: “YOU GET TREATS!!!”

Me: “What happens if you jump in a Hannah puddle?”

Hannah: “I don’t know.”

Me: “You get cute.”

Hannah: “YEAH!!!”

If you enjoyed reading this, please vote for my blog. All you have to do is click the link below. That’s it… Clicking the link brings you to the Top Mommy Blogs home page. You don’t have to do anything else. Any clicks from my site to theirs is a vote.  THANKS!

Like my blog? ‘Like’ it on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mommy-Adventures/203964682967827?ref=tn_tnmn

Pin It You officially have my permission to pin this (as long as it links back to my site).  Just don’t act like you wrote it. Because you didn’t….

Copyright 2014 Sheri Thomson

A lesson on unicorns

Hannah LOVES prep.  When she’s not at prep, she wants to play prep.  First we dress all of her dolls, then we sit them down together somewhere in her room, and then she pretends to be the teacher.

Yesterday, she taught them about unicorns:

“I’m going to tell you about unicorns.  Unicorns are real.  They are pink with white horns,” she told her class of dollies confidently as she held up a plush example.

“They eat lettuce and butterflies.”  At this point, I made sure my giggles were well stifled.  She was doing such a good job of thinking on the fly, projecting her voice, and speaking confidently, but I wasn’t expecting her to say they eat butterflies.

“When unicorns see other unicorns,” she continued, “they bite their tails.”

“That’s all we know about unicorns.”

Thanks Hannah, now we all know a little bit more about unicorns.

If you enjoyed reading this, please vote for my blog. All you have to do is click the link below. That’s it… Clicking the link brings you to the Top Mommy Blogs home page. You don’t have to do anything else. Any clicks from my site to theirs is a vote.  THANKS!

Like my blog? ‘Like’ it on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mommy-Adventures/203964682967827?ref=tn_tnmn

Pin It You officially have my permission to pin this (as long as it links back to my site).  Just don’t act like you wrote it. Because you didn’t….

Copyright 2014 Sheri Thomson

All those Christmas toys

As usual, the kids got way too many presents from everyone, which means we had to cull lots of their old toys to make room.  And luckily for me, ToyTainer sent me a bunch of their products just before Christmas, which means extra storage places for all those Christmas toys.

For every day use, this hang on a door ToyTainer is our favourite.  As you can see, there is no room IN the closet for toys….

The princess castle (picture above) is a great space saver since it goes over the door.  It also has adjustable height straps, which is super awesome.  I put it on it’s very lowest setting so that Hannah can see in the mirror from the ground (which she loves), and reach even the highest toys with her stool.  Most importantly, Rosie (our new puppy) can’t get any of the toys in it, which makes it a great place to store all of Hannah’s enticing, chewable, puppies-like-to-rip-the-hair-off dolls.  When we travel somewhere that doesn’t have any toys, we can fold up the princess castle, with all the dolls and things in it, and take it with us.  Easy, and perfect for holidays/vacations.  Daniel got the boys version, called games centre, which has a basketball hoop at the top.  Hannah likes using the hoop, but Daniel is a bit too small for it.  He will appreciate his games centre when he is a little older.  And taller. For now though, it’s great for extra toy storage.

The hoop makes cleaning up super fun.

We also got a shoe box for each kid.  Hannah decided immediately upon opening hers that it is called a “Caravan Bag” and likes to take it in the car filled with my little ponies and other girly things.  Daniel likes to drive his cars and trains around on his and then put them away through the little opening at the bottom.  I like how they are portable storage, but also a toy in themselves.  We had to go on an unscheduled trip over 4 hours away to attend Aaron’s Nanna’s funeral and the kids piled their caravan bags with chosen toys.  Daniel’s fit heaps of Thomas engines, train tracks, cars, dinosaurs, and the mat I talk about below.  Hannah’s fit ponies, books, play jewellery, and her play mat.  I was surprised at how much stuff can actually fit in them, and they were perfect for taking away with us.

aka “Caravan Bags”

Another easy clean up and travel item is the EZ-mat.  There is a pink one with dirt roads/trails, and a blue one with roads.  The kids can play on them and then use the cord to turn them into a bag with all the toys and cars inside.  Brilliant for travel.

The blue version

There is also the pink ice cream truck which Hannah absolutely loves because it’s fun to push around and unlike most cars and trucks that size, is not made with boys in mind. She loves that it’s pink.  Open the top of the truck and it’s completely hollow, designed for storage. Hannah stores all of her little toys that Daniel is not allowed to play with due to their choking hazard.  They are now all in the one place, and easy to store away from Daniel’s prying hands when Hannah isn’t playing with them.

Finally, a pink truck for girly girls

GIVEAWAY!!!!!!!

If you would like to win over $150 worth of ToyTainer products, leave a comment below and I will pick a winner using a random number generator from random.org.  For an extra entry, like the Mommy Adventures Facebook page (click here to go there).  I will assign each new like a number (in order of the like, starting with the number that immediately follows the number of comments), which will then be included in the random number generator.

COMPETITION NOW CLOSED

The winner is Hazel.  Thanks everyone for entering 🙂

*Entries open to U.S. residents only

*Competition closes 11:59pm 12 January 2014

*I received ToyTainer items in exchange for my honest opinion about them, I did not receive any money for writing this post.

If you enjoyed reading this, please vote for my blog. All you have to do is click the link below. That’s it… Clicking the link brings you to the Top Mommy Blogs home page. You don’t have to do anything else. Any clicks from my site to theirs is a vote.  THANKS!

Like my blog? ‘Like’ it on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mommy-Adventures/203964682967827?ref=tn_tnmn

Pin It You officially have my permission to pin this (as long as it links back to my site).  Just don’t act like you wrote it. Because you didn’t….

Copyright 2013 Sheri Thomson

The line

Princess dresses, fairy outfits, tiaras and handbags were being strewn about on the playroom floor as Hannah searched for a specific costume.

“I want to wear a purple skirt.” Daniel told me, eying the purple dress that landed at his feet.

He carried the item in question over to me and I helped him put it on.

Dressing up is fun for ALL little kids.

“Here Daniel,” Hannah said as she put a purse over his shoulder.

He slipped his feet into a pair of Hannah’s plastic dress up heels.  “I’m walking, I’m walking!” He told us, excited that he could walk in them without falling over.

Hannah grabbed the hot pink wig and placed it on Daniel’s head.

“NO, I’M NOT HAVING PINK HAIR.” He told us disgustedly while flinging it off his head.

Dress: Fine
Purse: Welcomed
Heels: Super fun
Pink wig: Absolutely not.

The line has been drawn.

If you enjoyed reading this, please vote for my blog. All you have to do is click the link below. That’s it… Clicking the link brings you to the Top Mommy Blogs home page. You don’t have to do anything else. Any clicks from my site to theirs is a vote.  THANKS!

Like my blog? ‘Like’ it on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mommy-Adventures/203964682967827?ref=tn_tnmn

Pin It You officially have my permission to pin this (as long as it links back to my site).  Just don’t act like you wrote it. Because you didn’t….

Copyright 2013 Sheri Thomson

The big boy bed

When Hannah was about 22 months old, we transitioned her from her cot to a junior bed.  She was so excited to help us pick out her new bed at IKEA.  For a week or so after putting the new bed together, we found her asleep on the floor, having played to exhaustion, and falling asleep where she sat.

After hearing Daniel yelling for help the other morning because his chubby leg was stuck between the cot rails, we decided it was time for a big boy bed.

Except he was adamantly against it.

“Do you want to get a big boy bed?” We asked him excitedly after freeing his leg, expecting squeals of delight and possibly some jumping up and down.

“NO.”

Oh.  We were kind of surprised.  Hannah was so excited when we asked her the same question at a younger age.

“If you have a big boy bed, you will be able to get in and out of bed whenever you want to.” We told him.  “You will be able to play with Hannah in the morning if you wake up before your clock turns green.”

“I don’t want a big boy bed.”

“Ok, no big boy bed.  How about we take the rail off of your cot so you can get in and out of your cot?”

“NO.”

We left it at that.   We didn’t want bed advancing to be traumatic. It had to be something he wanted to do and was excited about.  At least if we value sleep.  Which we do.

Hannah, on the other hand, was so excited about the prospect of Daniel being able to play with her outside of his cot that she didn’t give up.

“Daniel, if you don’t have a rail on your cot, you can get out of bed and read books in the morning,” she told him.  He really likes looking through their books.

“No. I don’t want to,” he told her stubbornly.

“Daniel, it will be really fun, we can play together before Mommy and Daddy wake up.”

“No. I don’t want to take the rail off.”

Relentlessly, she told him all the good points of having no cot rail until he suddenly decided that it was the best idea ever.

“YEAH!” He hollered “Daddy take off my cot rail tonight!”

We expected chaos.  Mr. Mischief with nothing to keep him in his bed at night?  I braced myself for clothes to be pulled out of drawers, books to be pulled off shelves, and toys to be strewn about.

Instead, he laid down in his bed, and stayed there quietly reading one of his Thomas books.  When Hannah went to bed a bit later, she was super excited.

“I’m going to play with Daniel!” She declared.

“Don’t wake up him if he’s asleep.” We told her.

But he wasn’t asleep, he was just laying in his bed.

“NO HANNAH, IT’S NOT PLAY TIME NOW!” We heard him telling her from inside their room. “Go lay in your bed.”

She is not the sort of child that gives up easily.

“No Hannah, I’m trying to sleep.” He told her.

Eventually they fell asleep, Hannah on her little couch that she unfolded and put next to Daniel’s bed (instead of sleeping in her bed), and Daniel in his cot.

Daniel in his newly rail-less cot

I’m just hoping Daniel’s nap time goes that well….

If you enjoyed reading this, please vote for my blog. All you have to do is click the link below. That’s it… Clicking the link brings you to the Top Mommy Blogs home page. You don’t have to do anything else. Any clicks from my site to theirs is a vote.  THANKS!

Like my blog? ‘Like’ it on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mommy-Adventures/203964682967827?ref=tn_tnmn

Pin It You officially have my permission to pin this (as long as it links back to my site).  Just don’t act like you wrote it. Because you didn’t….

Copyright 2013 Sheri Thomson

My name’s Henry

It seems like the kids are always fighting.  When one of them has a toy, the other wants it.  If one is drinking from a water bottle, the other wants to drink from that bottle.  A different one is just not the same.

Sometimes though, the nature of their fights makes me want to roll around on the floor in fits of laughter.  I don’t, of course, since I don’t want to scar them for life.

Although the subject of the fights differ, they always start, proceed, and end the same way.  Daniel tells Hannah something completely untrue just to annoy her, or maybe he thinks it’s hilarious, I’m not sure.  Hannah gets all defensive and tells him no, whatever he said is wrong.  He says it again, she gets increasingly mad, he says it again, she gets madder, and so on and so on, until I can’t contain my laughter any longer and they both come to me to back up their cases.

Daniel’s favourite way to torment Hannah with un-truths is to tell her that his name is Gordon or Henry (from Thomas the Tank Engine).

For your entertainment, here is a video of one of these hilarious fights.

If you enjoyed reading this, please vote for my blog. All you have to do is click the link below. That’s it… Clicking the link brings you to the Top Mommy Blogs home page. You don’t have to do anything else. Any clicks from my site to theirs is a vote.  THANKS!

Like my blog? ‘Like’ it on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mommy-Adventures/203964682967827?ref=tn_tnmn

Pin It You officially have my permission to pin this (as long as it links back to my site).  Just don’t act like you wrote it. Because you didn’t….

Copyright 2013 Sheri Thomson

The princess

“I’m the king!” Daniel exclaimed excitedly as he put Hannah’s plastic tiara on his head. In case we didn’t hear him, he told us again, “I’m the KING, mommy!”

“I’m a princess!” Hannah said, wanting to play royals too.

Daniel looked at her for a split second before declaring “I’m a princess!”

“No, you’re the king.” I told him.

“I’M A PRINCESS!!!!!”

Sigh.

If you enjoyed reading this, please vote for my blog. All you have to do is click the link below. That’s it… Clicking the link brings you to the Top Mommy Blogs home page. You don’t have to do anything else. Any clicks from my site to theirs is a vote.  THANKS!

Like my blog? ‘Like’ it on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mommy-Adventures/203964682967827?ref=tn_tnmn

Pin It You officially have my permission to pin this (as long as it links back to my site).  Just don’t act like you wrote it. Because you didn’t….

Copyright 2013 Sheri Thomson

The new bed

We were going to put the kids in their own rooms when we moved, but they didn’t want to be by themselves, so we didn’t.  They have been together in the same room for about a year and a half now, so it’s understandable that they wouldn’t want to be alone.

Instead, they can share until Hannah’s 7 or so, and in the mean time, we will have a spare room.  Something that will come in very handy when Aunty Jess and/or Uncle Jim come to visit from Adelaide, and even more handy when my parents come to visit one day.

Currently, the room is full of junk.  Ok, not actual junk, but the stuff that we didn’t need immediately and dumped in there when we needed to give all the boxes back to the movers and hadn’t yet had the time to actually unpack them.  I’m sure you can imagine the state it’s in.  We just kind of shut the door and ignore it, never wanting to give up our hour and a half of freedom each night after the kids go to bed and before I go to bed, to do something so tedious and boring.

But, The Jess and Jim are coming.  This Sunday.  (I wrote this post last week, so that statement is no longer true…)

We bought a bed for in there, and after the driver failed to call me to give me a delivery window as he was supposed to, and then delivered 2 boxes containing the same bed head, and 0 boxes containing a bed foot, then came back and switched boxes so we’d have a complete bed instead of 2 half beds, we now have a spare bed.

In a box in the living room. And a spare mattress,  leaning against the wall.  The room is still too full to actually put them in there.

The kids, however, were delighted when they came home from daycare and preschool to find a big mattress in the living room.  To them, it meant only one thing: “CLIMBING!!!!”

How does a little kid climb up a mattress that’s leaning against a wall at a very steep angle, you ask? Well, I won’t waste words describing it for you, I’ll show you instead:

Tonight we’d better start cleaning up the spare room….

If you enjoyed reading this, please vote for my blog. All you have to do is click the link below. That’s it… Clicking the link brings you to the Top Mommy Blogs home page. You don’t have to do anything else. Any clicks from my site to theirs is a vote.  THANKS!

Like my blog? ‘Like’ it on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mommy-Adventures/203964682967827?ref=tn_tnmn

Pin It You officially have my permission to pin this (as long as it links back to my site).  Just don’t act like you wrote it. Because you didn’t….

Copyright 2013 Sheri Thomson

Failed sleep in

I stood next to the bedroom door, my ear pressed right up against it. I could hear Aaron and Hannah making breakfast in the kitchen. I couldn’t hear Daniel, which meant he was either getting into mischief, or playing quietly. I slowly turned the door handle, which makes loud noises no matter what you do, and peeked my head past the doorway.

Daniel was sitting in the living room, his back towards me, reading a book. Or maybe playing with a train or something. I couldn’t really tell, since his back was to me. He didn’t seem to notice the noise the door handle made, and continued playing without even a small glance over his shoulder.

I decided to go for it, tip-toeing my way to the bathroom and opening the door as quietly as I could.

It was my sleep in day. And by sleep in, I mean laying in bed reading on my Kindle until 7:30am. Aaron gets to sleep in on Saturdays, I get to sleep in on Sundays. The kids don’t know that we aren’t actually asleep during our sleep ins, otherwise they would stand and the door banging, wanting whomever is having the sleep in to come out and play. For some reason, they don’t bother us if they think we’re actually asleep. It’s a great system.

Except that I always have to poop about 5 minutes after I wake up in the morning. I held it as long as I could this morning, but then I needed to go. I had to take a gamble and try to get to the bathroom without being spotted.

My efforts were paying off. I didn’t hear any cries of “MOMMY!!” I didn’t hear any little feet bounding down the hallway, nor did I hear any tell-tale banging on the bathroom door. I was home free. I’d managed to get there and do my business completely unnoticed.

I stood inside the bathroom, ear to the door, listening for signs of anyone in the vicinity who might hear or see me upon my exit.

I could still hear Hannah and Aaron making breakfast gleefully in the kitchen. I still couldn’t hear any noise from Daniel. He will sit and read books for ages.

Slowly, I turned the door knob and opened the door, quiet as a mouse, chuffed with my efforts.

And then, I saw him. There he was, standing right next to Aaron’s and my bed, his chubby little fingers playing with the iPad.

He turned around, a cheeky smile on his face, and saw me standing there like a stunned mullet in the hallway, my eyes wide as saucers. How did I not hear him going in there?

“Mommy!”

Busted.

“You should have shut the bedroom door.” Aaron told me.

Needless to say, I didn’t get to sleep in this morning. Sigh.

If you enjoyed reading this, please vote for my blog. All you have to do is click the link below. That’s it… Clicking the link brings you to the Top Mommy Blogs home page. You don’t have to do anything else. Any clicks from my site to theirs is a vote.  THANKS!

Like my blog? ‘Like’ it on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mommy-Adventures/203964682967827?ref=tn_tnmn

Pin It You officially have my permission to pin this (as long as it links back to my site).  Just don’t act like you wrote it. Because you didn’t….

Copyright 2012 Sheri Thomson