Boys Will Be Boys

Boy, it's been a long, long, LONG time. I'm not sure I even know where to start. Well, for one, no more babies! It's been more than a year and a half with no new baby news - a Bee family record! [cheers] On a not-so-celebratory note, Momma & Poppa B have recovered the 'baby weight' we lost last year. [chorus of "aww's"] ...but that's still better than having new baby news!

Beyond that..hmm..Well, we are in the midst of the ultra-busy Memorial season. We have the assembly the same week as the Memorial. Plus, Dedrick has the Special Talk, and I have a part on the school the week before (which now sounds rather small compared to the preceding...). So what- it's still busy!

I know - you really just want to know how the Baby B's are doing. They are doing just fine. Starting to grow up a little too quickly for me. They are boys through and through: Busy, competitive, and destructive! Our loves. We marvel at them daily. They really are funny kids.

One particularly rough morning, Momma was just about at her limit and trying desperately to get us all ready to go out. Boys are dressed, jackets on and one is already at the door. As I finish readying myself, I hear "Mommmm! He took his shoe off!" SIGH - a punch in the gut to this stressed-out Mom. I pleadingly whine to the baby (age 1, mind you) "Whyyy did you take your shoe offff??" To which my 3-yr-old replies, "Because babies DO that, Mommy. That's why." I wanted to laugh and cry at the same time...in addition to being a little embarrassed. But, that's my Bud.

The little one is more...how do you say...bratty. His favorite word is "Huuuuuuurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrt!" It's got about 8 syllables. And he'll readily point to a faux injury at the request of a seemingly sympathetic ear. He could walk into the room laughing. But if you say "Awww..what's the matter, baby?" On que, he'll drop his smile and whine "Huuuuuuurrrrrrrrrrrrt!" And, if you inquire further, "What hurts?", with his tiny pointer finger, he will identify a different body part every time. Crazyboys.

Ok I hope that's a sufficient update for now. I'z tyred! Oh, Welcome back!

It's Potty Time!

Howdy! I'm coming to you live - Post-Party! It turned out so nicely. It was simple yet very enjoyable for the kids. And -very importantly- low-stress for the parents! We had an unexpected change of plans. Our downstairs neighbor very rudely ...nevermind. Anyway, we set up the tent at a nearby playground and playing field. The kids ate barely ate the PBJ and grilled cheese. They were too ready to play and check out the gifts ...but the parents LOVED them. Go figure. We filled them up on sweets and let them run it off til it was time for bath and bed. They played on the swings, the slide, the basketball court, tried Buddy's new bicycle. And, as the grand finale, Papa B instigated and initiated an ice water fight with the leftover cooler ice. Nobody escaped. It was lots of fun. I thank Jehovah that we were able to do it and everything was nice and safe. Big Boy had a great time. He smiles when he speaks of it. And, it seems he's looking forward to the next event. He set aside half of his lunch the other day - a PBJ - to "save it for his party". I guess we better start planning!

Pressing On To Maturity

Hello! Hello! Hello! I'm sneaking a few minutes to fill you in on the latest in this busy hive of ours. Let's see...Babies...still got 'em... :) Ok Big Brother is all-but officially potty trained!! (singing "It's been a lonn-on-on-ong...long time comin'...) And Mama and Papa B are very proud (and relieved!). That being said, we will celebrate on Sunday. Yes, the long-awaited "Potty Party" shall be realized in a matter of days! I'll be sure to let you know how it all goes. The littlest Bee...boy oh boy...is starting to show all of his true colors. Gone are the dreams of the quiet, calm book worm I dreamed of. This boy is just as crazy and hype as the first. Then comes his little (big) attitude! He sure had us fooled for the first 3 months. He refuses to say "Mommy" and "Daddy". He laughs - literally laughs at us - when we try to get him to say it. He prefers to scream, yell or grunt to get more food or to be picked up. When I tell him to say "out" or "more" he mouths it or just pauses and gets madder. "Maybe he can't say it yet," you may think. But nooo...because he has said it. He just chooses not to. He snatches toys from his brother and smacks his own legs to protest my every command. He is 'a piece of work', as they say. Well, I asked for two boys and two boys I got! Love them to tiny bits and pieces though.

Perhaps the biggest thing I have to share today though has nothing to do with the children. But Ol' Papabear...I mean Bee. Although the rest of the world won't know until Thursday, you can get the inside scoop right here! My Poppi has the privilege of serving as a Christian elder in our congregation. I am very proud of him. And, it seems Jehovah is too. We are both very humbled by the appointment (translation: nervous and feeling unworthy). Personally, I feel I am but a Young Pup...too young to be an "elder's wife". I'm skerred. And boy do I have a lot of working on myself to do! Pretty much all we've said is "WOW..." and "WHOA..." It's pretty surreal. And yet SO real. It's sure to have many challenges and even more blessings. So it's exciting and humbling, to really say the least. He has certainly put forth a lot of effort to improve our family spiritually and reaching out to many in the congregation. He has surely grown in a spiritual sense from the young man I married (see picture above -taken a few years ago) to a responsible spiritual head, endeavoring to serve Jehovah aright. And I'm sure he'll be growing ever more now as he shoulders his added responsibilities. I guess you can tell by all my gushing, that YES, I did cry :) For HIS side of the story, you'll have to give him a 'buzz'. (get it?) hehe. Ok talk to you after the party!

Virtual Tantrum

Sorry for the delay...I threw a "virtual tantrum". I couldn't get my Post to look that way I wanted it (at least as not as easily as I hoped), so I quit. I wanted to put pictures in the middle of my post. Apparently I would have to edit the HTML coding and cut and paste and ...faggetabahhtit! But I'm back :)

After navigating through some rough waters for a couple weeks, Mama and Papa B have regained control of this emotional rollercoaster and are headed for better days. Whew! The kids are fine. We are in the final phase of potty training with Big Brother and ... sigh... I am up to my elbows in wet sheets, blankets and teddy bears. How do you train someone to recognize "pee-pee" signs while they sleep. And I mean SLEEP. He sleeps like his Daddy-dead to the world. [someone might want to take away my " " buttons today] I'm clueless. I'm trying to bribe him with a party. This is the same party that was to be held a couple weeks ago. It got postponed due to "rain" (really PEE). Can't really justify having an "Almost Trained" Party. So I'll wait. But it's killing me. I've got so many cool ideas now! We also make sure to pray to Jehovah every night to help him 'listen to his body' while he's sleeping. We've tried waking him up in the middle of the night...but we're usually too late. Daddy is soon going to use the tried-n-true Spanking Method. Breaks my heart, but it works every time. A Daddy "spanking" is really just a few smacks..with some pretty hefty hands though. Anyhoo..Baby B is getting around well now on his hands and knees. He still reverts to the "Dead Man" Crawl when he's really on a mission, but he is realizing the conventional way works too. He's still pretty brat-ish, contrary to popular belief. He's a big-time Mama's boy. Fancy that - the first didn't want me near him and the second can't stand to be apart...wow. I guess as long as he grows out of it before he's 18, I'll live.

Family Weekend

Gorgeous weather (sorry- Mama's got a touch of S.A.D. so weather is important to me...not to mention being stuck in the house all winter with 2 babies) ...ehm..anyway, it lent well to a nice 3-day weekend. We played in the yard with the boys Friday evening, then took a little walk to close the night. Well, we thought we were ending the night...but Buddy decided to stay awake for another 2 hours. In fact, he did that almost every night this weekend. This Mama B does NOT like to share my Down Time with anyone under age 18. So I was more like an angry wasp, than a Mommy Bee by the end of most nights. But back to the lovely days... Saturday, Papa took the boys out in some door-to-door activity. So I finally got to have a nice, uninterrupted Bible Study. Oh how nice it was! Afterward, was lunch and naptime for the boys while Daddy B conducted 2 of his studies in the early afternoon. My sister lovingly pushed the boys along in the stroller while I did the grocery shopping. We had to give the Mister time to finalize his public talk he would deliver the next day. Oh he also grilled a big salmon fillet for us. Yum. The Lakers defeated the Nuggets (I think) and I sleepily studied my Watchtower lesson. I was kid-free again Sunday morning as I attended the Public Talk at our congregation, in an effort to encourage a student to attend. We got ready and (barely) made it to the Mount Something congregation. [I won't mention that we were nearly late b/c nobody listened to my suggestion to leave in plenty of time] Brother B did a swell job delivering the talk. I was able to comment on the WT lesson. We came home and fired up the grill again for a couple (turkey) dogs and (turkey) burgers. Then we heard a beep. Crys arrives with all the makin's of a real bbq. So we call the rest of the fam and have a real throwdown. After putting the kids down, Daddy decided to forgo the final quarter of the NBA game to stay home with me. We watched Selena and I drank my "Jamaican Splash". Ahhh...Now that's how a night should end. Monday Buddy B and I rushed to meet the group for service and worked with Uncle D. That was cool. We cleaned for a couple hours. Then Papa went to play ball while I (of course) held down the hive. The baby started officially crawling this weekend so we had fun with that, baked cookies and broke out the sidewalk chalk for a little Summer fun. When Daddy returned with the car, we took some special cookies to Mommom and (a sick) PopPop. Then back home for bed. Monday night didn't go as well as the prior. But that's family life, I suppose. Ups & downs. So I guess you could say it was a Family-style Weekend.

Happy Day!

I decided to type midday in hopes to bring you a more positive, happy story! I'm feeling pretty good after a Nice walk with Aunt Maris and Amiyah. The boys are asleep...there is no better peace in a day than that! I should really be studying at this very moment..and I will be as soon as I'm finished. I'm happy I finally set up a mid-week field service appointment. I need it badly. I hope it's just the beginning. The morning was pretty good. Baby B had a super-tantrum when I refused to pick him up and he actually had to crawl to me. He was so worked up, it was a full hour before we could remove the pacifier without real tears and double-sniffs and all. The boy was pret-ty not happy with this Mama. Big Brother B tried a free-for-all when I got on the telephone. But we stopped him short of the spanking he was headed for. Ahhh...there...a happy report. I'll not type tonight lest the evil Sleepy Mother gets hold of the keyboard. Happy day!

Another Day

Wish I had a better report today. Weather was lovely. The boys and I got to spend time outside together. And - guess what - we still had LIGHTS when we came back in! Woohoo. Baby B is being a Capital B....R.A.T. He doesn't feel 100% but I'm not sure that accounts for ALL of the whining and crying and mommy-hold-me. Buddy, on the other hand can't seem to stop talking all week. By "talking" I mean loudly and constantly. I have found it starts to wear on a Mama B after the first few hours. On a positive note, he has done a WONDERFUL job keeping his pants dry. To celebrate, we'll have a party on Monday. He has helped with the planning. The menu: Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches and "Real" Grilled Cheese (yes, he literally said that) Water and Chocolate Milk. Tomorrow, I'll let him choose the color scheme. I'm guessing he'll say "Blue"...because that's what he always says. "What kind of popsicle would you like?" BLUE. "Which shirt would you like to wear?" The BLUE one. "Underwear?" BLUE. Got it. But I'll ask anyway since it's his party. What's up with Big Daddy B? Well, he is working on TMS scheduling and preparation. He has a part tomorrow for which my brother and I have a demo. So we finalized that today. Now he probably just wants me to go to bed so he no longer has to wonder what's wrong with me and can enjoy a moment of peace. I'm going to grant his wish now. And tomorrow...will be another day.

Madhouse

Boy what a day...what a week! Weather was gorgeous, we took a nice long walk. Mommy even got a shower! And still...what a day! The boys are 'off' in every way this week and I seem to be emotionally UNequipped to handle it. Daddy, of course, is just tired. He works hard and stays up late. The second part is his doing. So it takes some of the "aww" out of when I see him falling asleep on the floor while Buddy is literally pouncing him repeatedly. A part of me feels bad then I remember - the kids go to bed at 8pm...no reason he has to be up. Then I'm back to 'GetupandGetoverit' again. Not much to share today, just glad to have made it. My supper didn't even turn out as yummy as I planned. Welp, what more reason do I need to go to bed and try again tomorrow, right? G'Night!