Thursday, April 29, 2010

Mommy's, Daddy's and Baby's

Well, those of you who have children know that the first two don't really apply. In the eyes of the child, it is ALL theirs. As sweet and nice as she is, Toddler in Chief is a strong supporter of the "MINE" principle. Especially when it is in her principle residence.

Some examples to support my statement:
Conversation while on the potty:
TIC: "My towel"
Mommy: "Okay. "
TIC: "My potty"
Mommy: "Okay."
(this is the part where mommy starts egging Toddler in Chief on)
Mommy: "My 'Tino"
TIC: "No, MY 'Tino"
Mommy: "My 'Tino"
TIC: "MY TINO!" She proceeds to lay a hand possessively on 'Tino who is oblivious.
Back and forth three times more
Mommy: "My Wellie."
TIC shakes her head and says something to the effect of I can have Wellie cuz she doesn't like her anyway (That was my interpretation...take it as you will)

Second incident:
Mommy has a ring box at toddler eye level (which will be rectified TONIGHT) that has been the source of debate as to the rightful owner. In it, I keep several rings and a couple pairs of earrings. TIC pretty much has access to anything in the bathroom while I get ready in the morning and today was no exception. We are all set, ready to walk out of the house when Kaitlyn starts to load up her "BOCKPOCK" (backpack for those of you not familiar with the TIC lingo). Once she has loaded up the items from the family room that she felt were essential for Ms. Lida's, she started emptying her pockets. Guess what was in her pockets? Yup, all of my rings and half of each set of earrings. She was just going to take them to Ms. Lida's with her. When I snatched them up from the floor where she had dropped them, the ensuing "My rings" "Mommy's rings" conversation ended with me as victor and TIC in meltdown mode. All I could think was, we moved up from the penny ante stuff (change from someone else's house) to full blown HEIST in the span of a couple of weeks. What do you do with that kind of talent???? Thinkin' a trip to Tiffany might be in order!

This is my last post before the Avon Breast Cancer walk. Daddy and bebe are on their own once again, but this time, they can come cheer mommy on! YEAY! Wish me luck, peeps! I'm gonna need it. I got all the tools, it's time to put my mouth (and legs) where the money is! If you haven't already added me, follow me on Twitter so you can catch all the hilarity.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Twitterwhatted?!?!

Nothing too exciting to report other than I felt like the last post didn't cover enough of the whole family. It's just we're so boring!

Brent is doing well. For those of you who don't know, he retires from the Army National Guard in June. 22 years of service to the National Guard. Just thinking about that kind of commitment is making my hands sweat! Anyway, I'm so proud of him I could bust a button! Lifetime commissary privileges, here we come!!!

Kaitlyn continues to awe and amaze her parents. She's so tall! And so cute! And so smart! I know that parents say the same thing about their kids, but really, she is super smart. Next hurdle to tackle will be potty training. I *think* she gets it, but mostly she just likes to sit on her potty and hang out. 'Tino usually joins us so she winds up talking to him and trying to get his attention. For his part, he guards the door from intruders (because, of course, potty time is sacred) and ignores her. But it's a ritual and we all enjoy it! She's heavily into Curious George (have you watched it lately? Seriously, the adults around him have lost their minds! "George, you mind the store while I go get more supplies." A monkey??? minding a store??? I give up), jewelry, purses and her mommy and daddy. She's got her favorite boys (Josh and Jeremy) and her favorite girls (Emma and Anna Joe (though the feeling isn't mutual on AJ's part)), her favorite fish (Nemo) and her favorite monster (Elmo). She loves it when the dogs play around her and loves to play with the kittens at adoption days. If you have done something she doesn't approve of, she'll wag her finger, shake her head and jabber at you until she feels like you've gotten it. She's the apple of her daddy's eye and the center of her momma's universe and that's the way she likes it!

The pets are the pets. Tempers flare, teeth get bared, feelings get hurt and then we move on. Mostly Brent and I look at each other and say "Do you know what that was all about??" "I don't know (said in a resigned tone)" "Yeah, well, it's over, so I guess we're good". "Yup, guess so." Sunshine's had a rough go of it lately, so there may be a trip to the internist in our future. Gotta love canine diabetus.

I continue to pound the pavement in search of a job that makes lots of money with very little work on my part. Haha! Not entirely true. Some significant nibbles recently, so we'll see what the universe brings my way. This weekend I'm going to have a mini vacay (in the form of a wholesale abandonment of the Shoup House) visiting Terri in Knoxvegas, TN. Looking forward to seeing her new house and seeing TN in the spring. Almost as much as I'm looking forward to a trip to L'il Dollys. Need a quilt? Hit me up!

Next weekend, as I mentioned in my previous post, I will be doing the Avon 2 day walk. Thanks so much for all the donations. I really can't express just how much I appreciate the love and support. In preparation for the walk, I have my stuff all packed! HA! Just kidding. Those of you who know me well were probably shocked to your core! In true Kelly Anne Hughes Shoup fashion, I still have a lot of things to get settled before the event. HOWEVER, I took care of a major component which is the communication portion. I signed up for Twitter (hence the title). I'm www.twitter.com/tnkgurl Czech it out if you tweet yo!

That's all for now folks! See you when I get back from the bible belt!

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Criminal!

Growing up, I had an Uncle Sonny whose nickname for me was "Criminal." When visiting my mother's parents, we had a penny ante game we played called Michigan Rummy. When all was said and done and it was time to close out the game, whatever money was left went to the person with the best poker hand (I am certain that this is what started my poker playing). The max you were looking at was $5, if that, but that's a lot of pennies! I wouldn't say I regularly won, but I won enough that Uncle Sonny gave me the "Criminal" moniker. It's kind of a family legend to be honest and a title I wear proudly, as odd as that may sound.

Fast forward to the present. Kaitlyn and I had a long weekend filled with a lot of activities last weekend. From soccer games, to shopping, to visiting with friends, we were joined at the hip (yup, you guessed it, Brent had military duty). Kaitlyn weathered most of the whirlwind weekend very very well, especially considering on at least one of the days, she had no nap. During our outings, we stopped by my friend Heather's house. Heather has two girls which equals a lot of fun toys for Kaitlyn. I told Kaitlyn it was time to go and got distracted. I turned back to see why Kaitlyn wasn't leaving with me only to see her furiously stuffing the money she found amongst the toys in her pocket!!! Heather saw it too and said it was fine. We got home and counted the booty and Kaitlyn had appropriated 80 cents!!! She later gave her daddy 30 cents, which I grumbled about. I was the one that drove her to and from the heist! I should have been the one to get the cut, not daddy!! Now I've got my own little "criminal".

I'm less than two weeks away from the Avon 2 day! Lots of preparation and training left to do. I haven't made the time to do a long distance walk, so we'll see what kind of shape I'm in after the walk!! Wish me luck cuz lord knows, I'm gonna need it!

Monday, April 5, 2010

Poker, puppies and picking up eggs


We had a fabulous weekend in the Shoup House (I use that a lot cuz it rhymes). Saturday was kicked off with a community Easter egg hunt. The community separates the egg hunt in two age categories: 3 and under and 4-8. I am glad because it takes a lot of the pressure off of the kids to compete. Our initial strategy was to have Kaitlyn and mommy conduct the search while the paparazzi (daddy) took pictures. At the last minute, the Todder in Chief decided she wanted daddy to help with the search. Mommy was relegated to taking pictures. I gave daddy the strategy I overheard while waiting in line: Go straight for the middle cuz you'll get more eggs. You can't see it in the picture above, but the strategy netted at least 20 eggs. Toddler in Chief's general attitude was one of puzzlement: why would anybody randomly drop a bunch of eggs on the lawn and why in the WORLD does she have to pick them up?? Once we left the hunt and started checking out what was in the eggs, it suddenly made sense...there was CANDY in the eggs! I think next year, we'll have a couple of dry runs so she understands the importance of candy gathering. Momma needs her sugar fix! ;-)
To show respect for this blessed weekend (Christ was resurrected after all), I hosted a ladies poker night! To be honest, I didn't really relate the weekend to the event, other that it was one of a few Saturday nights I had free! A good time was had by all and the winner took home $70! Not bad for a first time event. Maybe it will grow in popularity and the prizes will get even bigger!
We had visitors in the form of puppies all weekend. It was a great diversion during breaks on Saturday night, but overall, I'm relieved that they are back in their regularly scheduled foster home. Somehow, it's more daunting to take care of neonate puppies than actual human infants. More mouths to feed? I dunno. I just don't have a knack for puppies. However, in 8 and a half weeks, there will be four ADORABLE puppies available for adoption! Spread the word!
Sunday was a nice quiet day. Toddler in Chief discovered the Easter basket the Easter bunny left her and opened the eggs the Easter bunny forgot to hide. (better luck next year, Easter bunny). Kaitlyn and daddy planted a tomato plant of her very own and generally had a lazy day. Mommy and Kaitlyn went for a 6 mile walk (two hours Kaitlyn tolerated in the stroller very well) and came home to a wonderful ham dinner. All in all a lovely Easter weekend with wonderful weather and a beautiful family! Hope everyone's Easter weekend was just as lovely!

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Bbbbaaaaaaaaad....Bad to the bone



What can I say? My daughter is bad to the bone! And too cool for her parents!

It's been a busy couple of weeks. Chasing after a toddler, prepping for the Avon Two day, saving neonate puppies...is there anything this mom can't do?? Oh yeah, sleep! Who needs sleep??

This weekend is Easter. We plan on doing our first REAL Easter egg hunt with other kids. We'll see how well daddy handles that. Generally speaking, when there's kids and chaos, daddy's not very happy. Plus, we're losing our number two bodyguard as Chris is going down to Virginia Beach to visit mom and dad for Easter. We'll just have to provide a ton of pictures!

As for the neonate puppies, I'm sure you're wondering if I broke my Lenten promise to not take in any new animals. To that I say, technically, no. LOL I've been babysitting them off and on since last week, but we've secured fosters for the remaining 4, so I think we're out of the woods both for fosters and for the health of the puppies. Not sure why someone would dump a box of two day old puppies at the shelter, but I'm glad Sharon Huber picked them up. I know a few people who couldn't imagine their life without these pups. :)

Happy Easter every one! Remember, if I don't answer your phone call, it's cuz I'm in a chocolate coma!!!