Half Deer

So if you haven't heard, I've been working incredible hours plus driving 45 miles each way for about 10 days now. We're getting a new POS up and running at work and it is a hands-on type of installation. As a result, getting home late makes for a very short evening with my girls. The Mrs. is about ready to pull her hair out too because her day is longer as a result of all my long hours.

Anyway we seem to be eating out a few times a week just to make things easier on both of us at the moment. Tonight it was Cracker Barrel Night. The girls were of course precious as usual and pretty well-behaved. Somehow our conversation turned to hunting. I have no idea how or why really. I think Emma brought it up but I can't be sure. Whenever you eat at an establishment that has half a deer sticking out of the wall, odds are at some point during your visit the topic will come up.

"Mommy some people shoot deers and cook them and eat them!" Emma said.

"Well... that is how some people eat." Momma replied.

"What do they shoot the deer with, Emma?" I asked.

[EDITORIAL NOTE: Now at this point in time, I believed this to be a rhetorical question. I just knew she would answer "a gun". However, my daughter is a Hendrix and is already showing her divergent thinking...]

"Well...." She began. "They take this pointy thing and put it in a tube and PPPPPPPPPPPPPPFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFT it at the deer."

Ok fess up - who the heck is teaching my children the fine art of large game hunting with a blowgun?

Ohhhhhhhhhhhh Daddy - Timeout, TIMEOUT!!!

Tonight at dinner, the girls were being absolutely adorable. Nothing special - just being their sweet selves. Emma decided it would be a good thing to play with her spaghetti noodles on the table. I simply asked her not to do that and to put her food back on her plate.

Chloe immediately pointed at her and in a half-panic-stricken voice looked at me and said "Oooooh oooh Daddy - Timeout TIMEOUT."

I think I choked when she said that.

5

The Mrs. and I celebrated 5 years of marriage yesterday. Lots has changed since we first got married including 2 new residences, three babies, and a major employment shift for myself. Vacations, happy and sad times, cherished memories we have made. You have changed my life for the better! I love you sweetheart.

A Perfect 10

Tonight I was cleaning up after dinner and Chloe Bug was crawling around on the floor acting like a little kitty cat. On her second lap through the kitchen between the "meows", my little angel counted to 10 - clear as a bell. Now to make sure that I wasn't mis-understanding her, on the third lap through the kitchen I asked her to count to ten and she did it again. Of course there were assorted YAYs and HOORAYs and hugs flying in all directions.

A Scary Song For Daddy

Well this morning was a treat for sure. Since we moved into the new house, neither me nor the Mrs. have parked in our own garage. The reason is because we have been using that as a collection point for all of the stuff we wanted to donate to Amvets and not bring into the house. I would estimate that it ended up being about 2 or 3 pickup truck loads worth of stuff and I am positive that it will go to someone that really needs it. Anyway, they came to pickup the stuff last week so we can actually park one of our vehicles in the garage at the moment. The Mrs. suggested last night that I park in the garage so I wouldn't have to wait for my car to warm up this morning. She is so smart! What a great idea. That is why my day started out as a treat - not having to let my car run to defrost the windows and warm up. The garage is a great invention for sure and will not be taken for granted.

After Emma said that Daddy was silly for "parking the car in the house", we buckled up, opened the garage door and started the warm car.

"This is the life!" I thought to myself as I sipped my coffee.

The girls were exceptionally cute today in their matching Halloween shirts we bought at Cracker Barrel a few weeks ago. After a night of pumpkin carvin' (or puhkeens as Chloe calls them), the girls were primed to be excited about dressing up in their costumes tonight. They are really into it this year. Emma drew her own design on the pumpkin and momma expertly carved it out - complete with all four of the eyes. As Emma said "4 eyes is more better, Daddy". (What do you bet she will color the squirrels purple when she's at school?)

We were half way to school when Emma said "Hey Chloe let's sing a special scary song for Daddy!"

"Uh Huh..." Chloe said as she pointed and yelled "HOBBY HOBBY!" as we passed by the Hobby Lobby. Emma still calls it the Hobby Hobby too and I'm not one to stop them - it is so cute when they do it!

As I drove onward, I wondered just how special this song would be. Would this song be like The Daddy Song, by Emma? Would it be something new with words like "I adore my Daddy" or "Daddy is my best friend" or "Daddy, Silly Daddy"? I shook with anticipation as the girls cleared their throats to begin their song, as conducted and soloed by Emma:

A - B - C - D - E - F     BOO!

"Oh Emma! That really was a scary song!" I shouted as the girls cackled in the backseat.


Happy Halloween Everyone!

Halloween Smells

Last night we had our first frost of the year. What a relief! Cooler weather has prevailed for a few weeks now and I think the heat from the summer is finally gone until next year. Now if we could just get some rain....

This morning it was cold - cold enough I needed to start the car well before we headed to school. I could tell that someone around us had a fire going because the smoke hung heavily above our street and the air smelled of days gone by sitting around a campfire.

I went back inside and shook off the cold. The girls were still asleep all snuggled under their covers. I hate waking them up when they are sleeping so well. I wonder what they dream about.

After getting the girls ready for school, they both put on their new winter jackets and we headed out. The cold air rushed at the girls as we headed to the car.


"Ooooooooooooooooh Daddy - It smells windy!" Emma said.

"Yeah Daddy, windy." Chloe mumbled.

Peas and White Cereal

Emma and Chloe woke up early this morning and ironically went straight to their playroom rather than playing "Crawl all over Daddy". CAOD is quite fun for them especially when I am asleep. One time not too long ago, Chloe played WDOD which I do not care for. WDOD stands for "Wet Diaper On Daddy." She woke me up a few weeks ago by smacking me in the face with her wet pullup while saying "duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuurty." I really don't care to wakeup in that manner.

Anyway I was able to take a shower and get dressed this morning without interference. Usually the kids want to come into the bathroom and just chat. Other mornings, Morgan will come into the bathroom and lick the shower door. That is his special way of saying "Hey jackass, I'm thirsty."

It still creeps me out.

I walked into the kitchen half asleep and poured my coffee. I was getting something to take and eat on the drive to work when Emma popped her head around the corner.

"Gooooooood Morning Daddy!" She brightly exclaimed.

"Hello there, Sweety. Did you sleep well?" I asked.

"I sure did and now I'm wide awake!" she responded.

"I can tell" I chuckled. "What are you and your sister up to this morning?"

"Oh we are having a wonderful picnic in the paywoom" Emma said.

"I sure hope you remember to eat healthy" I quipped.

"Well, we are. We're having peas and white cereal (frosted shredded wheat) with our dollies - and it is goooooo-ooooooooood." Emma said with a beautiful smile.

"Are your dollies eating too?" I asked.

"Ummmmmmmmmmm no Daddy - they are dolls." She replied.


I'm still giggling about that one 12 hours later. She makes me feel so smart.

Mommy Yaryoo

Tonight after dinner, the Mrs. went out for some "me time". I think she likes her time even if it's a quick trip to one of her favorite stores just to walk the aisles. Don't get me wrong - we love all of our kids beyond words. We are lucky enough for one of us to be able to stay home with the kids; however, after 11 hours of booger wiping, sippy cup refills, "don't do that", "do this", "don't eat that", "get your foot out of your mouth" and other assorted micromanagement tasks - a woman needs time just to get away. So the Mrs. left for a few and I cleaned the kitchen and got the kids ready for bed.

As I was loading the dishwasher, Chloe was walking from room to room screaming "MOMMY YAR YOO?"

It wasn't a panic type scream. It was simply an inquisitive scream which was probably loud enough for her mommy to hear across town at Target.

Mommy - just know your kids love you immensely and miss you when you're away even if it's for a very quick "me time."

We love you mommy.

Daddy Wuvu

As I said earlier, yesterday was a gloomy day. As soon as I got in my car to head home from the office, the skys seemed to open up. I rounded a curve and hit a pothole covered in water and blew out my back tire. I wobbled on 3 tires for about a quarter mile and went in the wrong way to a parking garage in a not-so-good area of town. Visions of getting shot in a driveby or mugged in that dark place filled my head. I could only think of my beautiful wife and little girls as I worked furiously to get the spare tire on the car as I periodically stood up and surveyed my surroundings. Needless to say it was a creepy situation. The spare tire was on the car but it had very low air pressure. I decided to take my chances and go around the corner to a gas station and fill up the tire there.

A spare tire is kind of like a get-out-of-jail-free card. You never know when you'll need it but it's always good to have. Make it a point to check their air pressure in your spare tire as often as you do your other tires. It's a good habit to start.

I arrived at the gas station going very slowly as to not bend the rim or hurt the spare tire any more.

NO AIR? What the hell. This is a national chain gas station and they don't have air? I shall write a letter over this one for sure. The next gas station was about 2 miles away so I headed out.

Through pouring rain and stoplights I slowly crept on a wounded tire. The sweat stung my eyes but I couldn't wipe my brow because I had grease all over my hands. I managed to find a wipe under the seat left by one of the kids and cleaned a finger good enough I could clear the sweat from my eye. I have to be very careful with my left eye because I just had the second of three shots to try and stop this hemorrhage from leaking in my eye and it's very suseptible to infection at the moment.

I rolled into the parking lot and found their air service. I went into wash my hands and get something to drink and snack on. It would be a long drive home at 45 mph through the blinding rain on a tiny doughnut spare tire. NOTE TO SELF: Next car you purchase, inspect the spare to make sure it's a full size tire.

I finally pulled in the driveway and the rain was still coming down pretty good. I walked up to the front door. My beautiful wife was preparing the children's dinner plates and I could see Chloe sitting in her chair. The light from inside the house seemed to blanket the front porch making it feel warm and inviting. The dog was curled up on the floor probably dreaming about chasing his ball or picking on the cat.

I stood there for just a second to take this scene in. "My God, I am blessed!" I thought as I smelled dinner knocking on the slightly foggy window panes. I snuck in the door and softly shut and locked it behind me. After setting down my daddy stuff, Chloe finally saw me and just turned to me and as clear as a bell said "Hi Daddy, wuv u".

The anxiety of my day just didn't matter any longer and just drifted away. My middle child, without pompting, had welcomed me home and told me that she loved me.

I am so lucky. I fixed my plate then kissed my family and sat down at the table. The girls bowed their little heads, said the blessing, and then resumed being the wonderful kids they are.

After dinner I cleaned the kitchen and gave the girls a quick bath. They had the choice of wresslin on the floor or reading bedtime stories. My girls chose wresslin just to have a little more time with daddy before they had to go to bed.

It was a good day yesterday.

Homesick...

Yesterday was a gloomy day. We are finally getting some of the rain which we so desparately need! On gloomy days it just seems harder to wake up and get going. It's also a good day to just not feel well. Perhaps the rain and gray skies make us feel better when we're feeling bad. Yesterday I was getting ready to take the girls to school and Emma looked at me and said "Daddy I'm homesick."

Confused, I replied "Baby you are at home, how can you be homesick?"

"I have a cough and other things. I need to stay home sick and not go to school."

That immediately brightened my day.

Do you want fries with that?

Ok try this. Close your eyes and picture your typical McDonalds restaurant. I'm sure you can vividly see the playground, the yellow and red sign, the chocolate milkshake which always seems to spill out of the bottom of the outside garbage cans, and the red roof with the yellow lights. I've never bothered thinking about what they are - or what they could be. They were just the yellow lights illuminating the night sky.

This morning on the way to drop the girls off at their school, the stars were still shining brightly as the sun crept over the mountains. We were at a stoplight and playing rounds of "I Spy". Which by the way, every time it was Chloe's turn, she just said "cooooooooookie".

Anyway Emma was quietly looking out the window with a smile on her face and patiently waiting for her turn at the game. I could tell that she was looking at McDonalds and then she caught me off guard.

I was expecting for her to say "I spy a slide" or something like that.

"I spy yellow french fries Daddy." Emma said.

"Where do you see that, baby?" I asked.

"On the woof on McDonalds!" She exclaimed.

Now You See Me...

Tonight at dinner, Chloe started closing her eyes and giggling hysterically. After watching her for a few minutes I caught on.

"Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeere's Chloe?" I asked.

She sat their giggling for a few seconds then peeked out of the corner of her eyes.

"OH MY GOODNESS! THERE SHE IS! YOU SCARED ME CHLOE!" I shouted.

It's funny to see your kids do something cute for the first time. How lucky would we be as adults if we could just close our eyes and think that no one could see us. I shall try that tomorrow at the office.

Bricks

Things have been nutso on the job-front for me. Long hours and technical problems abound but I think things are getting back on track. This past weekend was great. On Saturday we went to the Fall Harvest Festival in town. The kids enjoyed all of the rides and the weather was superb. I had fun - I really did - even pushing a 100 pound double stroller uphills both ways. When we got home, we cleaned up and went out to eat Chinese. It really was like a mini-vacation. We ate out three times on Saturday! It was all good too. At the Chinese place, Emma enjoyed her very own bowl of soup and Chloe played Rice Hooray. If you don't know what that is, imagine a very cute 2 year old eatting a little bit of rice and flinging what is left in her hands straight up in the air. I believe she only did this while only I (and not her mother) was looking at her. The girls we so tired when we got home they just passed out without making their usual nightly banter as they drift off to sleep.

Sunday was totally different. Emma wasn't feeling good and I think Chloe was just tired all day. Lydia wanted to be held and cuddled at all times and I didn't mind a bit. We spent the day just kind of not doing much of anything. I worked some and watched the kids and Christina worked on some things around the house. Sunday night after dinner, the girls were again exhausted. However, it was time to pick up the toys and the girls really didn't want to help out.

"Girls I guess if you don't want to pick up your toys then we'll just give them away to a charity and get you bricks to play with. Would you like to play with bricks instead of these toys?" I asked.

Almost as if dancing in perfect synchronization, the girls answered "Yes Daddy we want bricks".

I turned around and just came down stairs chuckling under my breath. My girls have kicked my ass for the first of what I believe will be many times throughout our lives. I love them dearly.

Hey Man, Nice Turd

When I was a young man growing up, I often dreamed of what my life as a father and husband would be like. I had visions of my children running to the door shouting "DADDY'S HOME" as they hugged my legs looking up and smiling. I also dreamed that my wife would hug me and kiss me and say "I missed you today - I'm glad you're home!"

God has blessed me and this is usually now a reality on a daily basis. I am a very lucky man.

Sometimes, however, my welcome home isn't quite as I had dreamed so many years ago.

Yesterday I came home from a long day at the office and saw Emma and Chloe peeking through the narrow windows that encase our front door. Emma had her cute little smile from ear to ear and she waved at me and giggled. Chloe had her face pressed so tightly against the glass that it looked as if she had a pair of stockings over her head. She loves to play "lick the window". Daddy loves to play "Windex the window" quite often.

I approached the door and I could hear both of my older children just giggling and saying "Hi Daddy!" through the glass. This unknowingly would be the last glimpse of my normal welcome-home-daddy-time. I opened the door and entered the family room and immediately had two 30+ pound children on my legs just hanging on for a ride as I walked to my chair to set down my briefcase.

"Daddy, Poop!" said Chloe.

"Ok i'll change your diaper." I said as I told Christina "Hi".

"No Daddy, she pooped in the big girl potty!" Emma said proudly of her little sister. "Come here and look."

I am so glad they think of me. We walked to the bathroom and all three of us just stared down into an empty bowl.

"Um, there's nothing here Emma." I said.

"Well I know, Daddy, we flushed it but it used to be there - she really did it Daddy!" Emma replied.

"ALRIGHT CHLOE! Gimme Five" I said.

Emma wanted a high five too and I obliged without hesitation.

Now the question this raises is this - When do we stop praising our children when they don't crap themselves. Trust me i'm very glad that Chloe could be making the movement (haha no pun intended) to the realm of potty training. The only thing that parenting books say is to praise your children and make a big deal of it... but not for how long. I don't remember how old I was when my folks stopped with the praise. Emma has been potty trained for quite some time yet we still praise her for pooping or peeing in the potty.

I know this is going to get awkward if I don't find the answer. I see myself seeing the girls off on their first date or Prom and I really don't want to say "You need to go potty before you leave." I have this fear which is growing inside me that one day I'll be in the bathroom with my co-workers and as they leave the room, I slap them on the shoulder and say "Hey man, nice turd!"

If you know the answer regarding LOTP (Length Of Turd Praising), feel free to forward that on to me.

Weeshullin'

Well it appears that Chloe is going through a rapid development stage. It seems like just since Lydia was born that her vocabulary is really developing. She can string together 3-4 word sentences and we've really started communicating with her on a more advanced level which is nice - especially if she's hurt or not feeling well.

For the past few days, Chloe has been following me around tugging at my pants saying "Daddy, weeshull". I haven't been able to figure out what that meant. It was driving me crazy not having a clue what she wanted - especially since she has really started talking.

Well on Saturday, we were all in the same room and Chloe was running around saying "Daddy, weeshull" again so I finally said "I'm sorry baby I don't know what you want." She hung her head down a little and it broke my heart to see her feelings hurt.

Emma said, "Daddy she wants to 'wrassle'".

Me and the Mrs. burst out laughing. Not only is that the coolest thing ever when your children take the initiative and tell you what they want or need, but also the fact that Emma knew what her sister wanted. Emma is now our official baby-talk interpreter when we can't figure things out.

Needless to say, the girls and I just "weeshulled' on the floor like crazy after dinner. We ended the night all tied up in one huge tickle ball with all of us giggling on the floor.

Red Letter Day

So we all knew that the day would come when Chloe crossed that boundary from toddler to "big girl". Yesterday was such a day. Chloe used the training potty for the first time before bed with big sister there at her side just a coaching her and cheering her on. As I was getting their beds ready for the night, I heard Emma shout from the other side of the wall in the bathroom.

"DADDY! CHLOE PEED IN THE POTTY!" She exclaimed.

"Did she really?" I skeptically questioned?

"SHE SURE DID DADDY!" she replied as she pointed to the training potty.

Chloe was excited and stood up to show me.

As I peeked in the potty, I'm not sure, but I do believe I heard the angels singing Handel's Messiah with the full Hallelujah chorus.

Before I could tell Chloe just how proud I was of her major accomplishment, Emma chimed in with "OH HOW PRECIOUS, DADDY! Chloe pee-peed in the potty. She's a big girl now. We are so proud of you Chloe." I'm sure they gave each other high-fives (after washing their hands of course).

Nothing builds teamspirit like a family urination milestone.

Chloe threw her hands up over her head and said "HOOOWAAAAAAY". She was excited to finally be a big girl. Let's just hope the trend continues.

Way to go Chloe - you get a "special" gold star today.

An Evening Chat

Tonight Emma was really not feeling well. She probably has a stomach virus and has had a fever since early this morning. After dinner she just laid on the couch and watched Wheel of Fortune (hey it's good for her) as I fed Lydia her early evening bottle. A conversation ensued...

"Daddy you're my friend" Emma said.

"Well what a nice thing to say, Emma. You are my friend - and my daughter too! You are my oldest of three daughters." I replied.

"I have two sisters!" She said proudly.

"Oh really?" I questioned. "What are their names?"

"Wydia and Chloe" She replied. "Wydia is a tiny baby sister and Chloe is a bigger sister, but she's not the big big sister. That is me. I am the biggerest sister"

As the Mrs. was unpacking a tote full of clothing (we're doing the seasonal clothing shuffle), the conversation followed Emma throughout the family room. At this time, Chloe crawled up into my lap to look at her baby sister. She patted Lydia gently on the back and said "oooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhh schmall!" Even Chloe, as little as she is, seems to understand just how precious a baby is to the world. As long as there are babies, I feel there is hope for this world.

Emma came walking back from her momma wearing an all-too-big set of foot apparel.

"LOOK DADDY! I'VE GOT FRIP FROPS!" She shouted as she walked like a big-shoed clown across the carpet.

She crawled back up onto the couch and laid down, picking her toenails like the rest of the women in this family. I'm sure Lydia will do it too as soon as she can sit up.

The next statement Emma made kind of came from nowhere. As she was watching tv and picking at her toes, she calmly said "Daddy you have big boobies like mommy. I have little boobies." Her eyes never left the tv.

I am now officially on a diet. Well.... tomorrow. I must now hurry to Sonic to get a shake so the Mrs. and I can watch The Biggest Loser on NBC and be amazed at how much weight those people lose and what strong will they must have.

Daddy, your face is broked!

Yesterday was officially "cut your grass or get sued by the neighborhood association day." I think the last time I cut the grass was a month ago. It has been so dry the grass hardly grew. We got a little bit of rain last week and kaboom - knee high grass/weeds in some places. I must say it looks much better.

So after cutting the Dust Bowl, I came in to get cleaned up. I noticed that my beard was full of dirt. I know, I know - that just screams sex appeal. I never had a full beard until we got pregnant with Emma and a "daddy beard" just seemed like a cool thing to do. I shaved the beard completely each time we found out that we were pregnant so that each baby had their own special daddy beard. I didn't want them to think that I favored one child over another.

I sat there staring at my dirt filled beard and figured it was time to go back to my standard goatee type beard. "It would definitely be much cooler!" I thought. After shaving I took a shower and came out to the rest of the family. Chloe was the first one to realize that Daddy looked different. She pointed to me and laughed and said "fuuuunnnny".

Emma smiled but didn't say anything. The Mrs. didn't notice for about 20-30 minutes until I said "you didn't even notice." I think she likes it this way better than a full beard but i'm not really sure.

Later in the day, the kids crawled up in my lap.

Chloe just looked at my face and touched my cheeks and kept saying "Schmoove, Daddy".

Emma looked at me, not quite sure of what happened and said "Daddy, how did you broked your face?"

"Is it a truth or the lie, Daddy?"

So my little experiment with truth and consequences must have really sunk in the other day. For the good part of the week Emma has been testing me to see if I know the difference between the truth and a lie. She's pretty creative. One statement really caught me off guard:

"Deoxyribonucleic acid is a protein." She said.

(Not really - that is a lie but her vocabulary is getting so big it won't be long.)

Anyway I gave the girls their bath tonight and got them ready for bed. After brushing their teeth, Chloe just crept back into their room not saying a word and crawled under her covers. I think the poor girl was a tad bit tired.

"Emma you need to go potty." I said.

"I just did Daddy the other day while you were shutting the blinds, remember?" she asked.

She doesn't quite have the concept of time yet. She's good with "in a few minutes" or "tomorrow" but as with most kids, "yesterday" could be 3 minutes ago or last year.

"I didn't hear you go potty. Are you telling the truth or a lie?" I asked.

After pausing for about 20 seconds or so she quipped "Well it's a kinda truth" with a huge smile on her face.

As she sat their going to the potty I realized that it is now 'Game On' so-to-say and I'm in deep s**t with her from here on out. She now knows how to manipulate me pretty well.

Tonight the girls faded off to sleep very quickly. As I write this from the next room over from their bedroom, I cannot hear the traditional Indian drum beat of their little feet on the wall that so often accompanies their drift into slumber.

Sweet dreams baby girls. Your Daddy loves you.

World Records

Tonight the family took a trip to IHOP (there's a shocker). It was just one of those nights where you just don't feel like cooking. This trip was the very first time that the Dude and all of the women folk went out in public together as a family of five. There can be no better place to christen your child in public than at your local IHOP.

We pulled into the parking lot and I steered right into our reserved place. I'm not making this up. I think they really reserved us a particular parking spot at IHOP because it's always available. I got out of the car and took Lydia out in her baby carrier and walked around to the other side. After handing her to the Mrs., I unlatched the other two kiddies and we walked hand and hand and hand and hand and baby carrier right into the restaurant. We waited for the hostess and Chloe decided it would be fun to entertain herself. After jumping up on the bench seats for waiting customers, she put her little hands up on the glass window and squealed with joy. When the family of four on the other side of the glass looked up at her she let out a loud

"DUUUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHH..."

A smart man would have realized this as an omen and just turned around and left. So we are seated by a new hostess. Hostess Cookie and Tamara were no where to be seen. Yes we know the employees by name - don't judge us. As we looked over the menu and patiently waited for her return, Chloe started the chaos by playing a game called "lick the pepper". It was quite entertaining for her and she broke into a regular routine:

STEP 1: Shake the pepper like hell onto your hand.
STEP 2: Lick the pepper off of your hand making sure to get in between the fingers.
STEP 3: Blink both eyes at Daddy as you swallow.
STEP 4: Say "MOAH" (That's Chloe Talk for 'MORE')

Repeat steps 1-4 for no less than 5 minutes or until tongue catches on fire.

About this time, someone across the restaurant was playing "Howl Like Morgan Dog". At least that is what it sounded like. NOTE TO SELF - Find good trademark and patten attorney and protect all rights for HLMD.

As Chloe was eating her pepper by the fist-full, Emma shrugged and shot me a "What the hell look" and began to tilt her head back. I gave her the evil eye and she quietly drank her milk. I think the Mrs. knew in my heart (not to mention the barely audible inner howls I was making) that I really wanted to howl at the kid across the restaurant but she gave me her "Just Do It" look. The JDI look is her trump card. I know if I get that look I'm in big trouble.

As Chloe heard the little boy howl from across the room she decided to see where it was coming from. She stood up on the seat and peeked over the booth dividers. Of course everyone in the restaurant was amused at the little redheaded whack-a-mole and she told most of them "Hi!" in her cute little voice. After convincing her that good girls sit in their booster seats, the waitress (who was also the hostess) came back to the table to take our order and laughed at Chloe who was laid back in her booster seat with her belly showing and her arms behind her head. The Mrs. ordered strawberry pancakes for the kids and French toast for herself. The waitress looked at me and without missing a beat I said

"Yeah I'll have the leather restraints with a side of narcotics please."

I did not smile but the waitress cracked up. I ordered my standard Philly sandwich and then tended to Chloe as she poured out the sweetener packets onto the table. After getting those back in the holder, I turned to check on Lydia and heard Chloe playing with the tiny packets of jelly.

The rest of the evening went a lot like this. Chloe played more games such as hide the shoe, throw the kiddie art book and crayons, blow milk bubbles all over the table, and my favorite - jab the straw into daddy's bicep. After paying our bill, we left the restaurant the same way we came in - as a family with whom I am madly in love.

The girls did well on the way home and the Mrs. flew over the Doopy Doo which made the girls giggle with delight. I can't drive anymore at night and the Mrs. didn't let me down.

After cleaning the girls up and tucking them into bed, I stood outside their doorway as they faded off to sleep singing "The Wheels on the Bus". I know I broke two world records tonight for the most consecutive "No's" and "SIT DOWN's" in a single setting. It was worth it to see the kids have fun at one of our favorite restaurants. Good Times!