Boys: 4 Girls: 1

So in our house we operate on a team basis (Parents Team vs. Kids Team or Family Team vs. World Team, etc...) usually the teaming system we use is Girl Team vs. Boy Team - it makes it easier to navigate gender lines (girl team gets to wear lipgloss, boy team gets to pee standing up :)) While the Girl Team has been outnumbered for a few months I was dismayed to lose my only teammember on Sunday when I was taking Naomi up to take a nap. This is how it went...

Mom: Naomi, it's naptime.

Naomi: NOOOOOOOOOO!!!! ARGHHHHHH!!! ROAAARRRRRR!!!

Mom: (Scuffling - then dragging Naomi up to bed) Right now!

Naomi: (In tears) Mommy, I am not going to be on your team anymore!

Mom: Why not?

Naomi: Because you are taking me to bed.

Mom: Whose team are you going to be on?

Naomi: The BOY team!

Dad: (Smirking)

I think I could've handled the rejection until last night. I was filing in the office - an awful task to do with three kids ganging up on you. As I was getting more and more frustrated I had the sudden urge to scream. So you know what? I did. I screamed - I figured it was better then punching a wall and I wasn't screaming at anyone just letting off some steam. This is how it went...

Mom: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tal, Naomi and Calvin: (Silence, mouths hanging open, staring at me in horror)!!

Tal: Mom are you gonna kill us?

Mom: No.
Tal and Naomi: (Hysterical laughter at what a lunatic their mother is)

Okay, so what was I supposed to do at that point but laugh and give them a big kiss. (Please note: he does not actually think I am going to kill him...) Remember that scene in Monsters Inc. when Sully scares Boo and then sees himself on the TV monitor and is shocked by how scarry he looks. Well, I used to tell Andy that is how he looks when he gets mad :) but now it would seem to apply to me too :)

One more thing: Who needs a dog? Tal is playing fetch with Calvin right now. Throwing a stick to him and saying: fetch boy...nice huh??

Spring is here...

Spring is here and we are loving every minute of it. March and November are definitely my favorite months to be in Houston - the weather is usually beautiful and we get to spend lots of time outside. Tal saw a Curious George cartoon about gardens and he has been asking me if we could plant peas and carrots so last Saturday we finally built our garden. We've never gardened in Texas so we're using this as an experiment - but succeed or fail we are having a great time with it. The kids love playing outside so I've attached a couple of pictures and a video - you'll notice Naomi is donning her favorite gear...a t-shirt and rain boots!

Sorry about my commentary - I always sound so dumb on video:)

I love my kids...

A few more funny quotes from yesterday:

T: My bum is itchy...I think I'll have to itch it forever. (I'm not kidding - that is exactly what he said :))


T: Thank you, my lady for making this wonderful, yummy surprise. (His comment on dinner last night)


N: Help! Help! I'm in a cage.
T: Don't worry, I'll help you.
N: Thanks Prince.

And one more funny thing. Naomi is potty-training (3 days in big girl undies!!) So she got to pick out a prize. She wanted a Cinderella dress, I found one at Target that could also pass for her Easter dress. As soon as we got home she wanted to wear it, and as soon as she put it on she started twirling and singing (if you listen very closely you can hear that she is singing "I know you" from Sleeping Beauty) - pretty priceless :)

Cinderella Hulk and Pink Freckles...

Just a few excerpts from a typical day at the Law house:

Yesterday at the Doctors office Tal found a hole in the wall. He looked into it and saw that it was full of bad witches - that were apparently after us. Valiantly he declared himself the Incredible Hulk. Not to be outdone Naomi got very serious and declared herself "Cinderella Hulk" (I'm thinking of trademarking this one :))

The kids found a dead bird in the yard yesterday. Instead of listening to their mothers warning about leaving it alone they picked it up (yes, bare hands) and brought it to the picnic table. As we were telling Dad about it this morning he sternly reinforced that they should not pick up dead animals. Naomi wouldn't have any of that insisting that she was "making a bed for it!" (I have a feeling we haven't had the last "don't pick up dead animals" talk :))

After I tucked the kids into bed last night I turned the light off and shut the door. As I stood by the door listening I overheard this conversation:
Naomi: Tal? I love you.
Tal: I love you to sissy.

This morning as we were walking down the stairs to breakfast Tal asked me what color his freckles were. I replied that they were brown and followed up that most people have brown freckles. At that Naomi piped up, "NOT ME. I have pink freckles!"

Have you ever...

Have you ever held a baby and felt all of your troubles melt away? Every once in a while I will be holding Calvin or Naomi (she still likes to be held) and I can just feel all of the tension and stress in my life disappear - it's the best kind of medicine :)

Tonight when I was putting Tal and Naomi to bed Tal said:

"Mom, I love you more, I love you 59 times: I love you because..." and then started listing all of the reasons he loves me which include my head, my heart and my "goodness" :) (I know he threw this in there because I didn't lose my temper at dinner when he trashed my bedroom :)) he also love his dad because "he takes care of us by killing all of the bad bugs" :) Is there anything cuter than a four year old?

Naomi has discovered the world of makeup. Now anytime she sees someone on TV with lipgloss she quickly declares how pretty that person is and that she must be a princess. I am trying to convince her that she does not have to wear lipgloss to be a princess :)